Chains Of Heaven

Medusa's P.O.V.

This is such an interesting place.

Back in the village, I heard tales of places like this, places where so many curious and unique things exist and so much is there to explore and see.

This must be the blessing of the Great Zou, there is no other way for me to be so lucky.

I look at the person beside me, his face was pensive as we went to stall by stall in this bazaar and I could not help but smile.

Enkidu was not like anyone I have ever met before.

He is probably the kindest soul I have ever seen before, he helped me in my time of need, I saw how he acted towards the people on the streets and that kid Levy, who is a bit mean but that Enkidu wants to help for no other reason than because Levy needs it.

He must be the type of person that the elders spoke about, the types that can become friends to our race. It is such a sad thing that for so long the village has had no friends in the outside world.

He is even quite capable in so many things that my head was spinning when people talked about him in the stands. It was to such an extent that they didn't even raise an objection that me, a Beastkin, was in the stands as well because I am his.

It is a bit distasteful to think of this. That I am technically his 'pet' feels terrible no matter what, but it could be worst I suppose.

Honestly speaking I am not anything special when it comes to power if compared to my village as a whole. I am talented, sure, but nothing compared to the two great elders who managed to pass through the trial grounds of Zou and got rewards. I have a chance to try my luck soon as the trial ground for Zou will open in soon just as the Heavenly Gu Jars will reappear soon as well, both great lucky chances with one being suitable in special for Beastkin and the other being particularly great for my type of beastkin, but it is still doubtful if I can pass on either of them.

Sigh, I just need to keep trying to get stronger, with luck I would manage it.

///---///

Levy's P.O.V.

One more.

One more.

Come on, one more!

I finally drop, not able to move anymore.

Beside me, the doc looks at me and sighs before beginning treatment.

Quickly enough my tired body began recovering, not waiting much I began training again.

I would not waste this chance, I have seen those who wasted away and those who never got a chance before. I will not end up like that.

I will not end up abused and killed by someone powerful like my mother was.

"That is enough, Levy. If you continue any further now it will damage your muscles and even if your veins improve the muscles in your body are still very important." Yun Gu said and I decided to accept his words.

It tasted like piss, but it was good for me I guess.

After finishing this I noticed that Yun Gu was now sitting in his chair with a content smile on his face as he drank some tea. His pose and elegance, his posture, all made him look like if he was an immortal of some sort.

It made him look beyond human, which honestly was similar to Enkidu in my eyes.

Both are strangely nice, too nice if you ask me.

However, despite how nice Enkidu undoubtedly is he also has an edge on him, it is simply buried under a whole lot of niceties. He also knows more than anyone can say for certain, he is as I heard in the stands during the tournament.

The highest genius this continent has ever produced.

This is good but also terrible for him, he will definetly be able to grow into someone formidable in the future as he is not even that older than I am to begin with. The type of person that can define the continent's future. And that is exactly why he is in a terrible position.

I have seen and lived beside the worst this world has to offer for as long as I can remember, and if there is one thing humans know how to do is to pull the others down. Someone like Enkidu would most likely be pulled down and killed by others due to jealousy or for some other petty reason, I am not sure he can be trusted not to end up cheated and killed.

Honestly, he seems helpless in not ending up with a knife to the back as of right now.

"Hey, doc, why exactly did you want Enkidu to show off what he can do in this competition? You should know that this is a dangerous thing."

"Because I had no idea Enkidu was this good." Yun Gu easily admitted. "Before I met him he did not have a single clue about cultivation or anything of the sort, he had just been thrown out of his clan, which I will not tell you which it is as I myself have no idea despite having suspicions, and his state then makes your current state look healthy by comparison. I noticed his talents and took him as a disciple, what you see here is what he accomplished after not more than a year of practice. I originally wanted him to just show his medical skills and not be too terrible in the fighting competition, make him someone valuable to others while not making him a target of jealousy and other negative emotions.

"The problem is that Enkidu was beyond my expectations, he is not only just as good, if not better, at medicine than me he also is a prodigy like no other in all fields. I can only hope he enters the Master Teacher Association next for protection as no one would ever, EVER, mess with a Master Teacher.

"No one is that stupid.

"I just want the best for Enkidu, he is like a son to me, you see, and what type of father, blood or not-blood related, would I be if I were to not want the best for him."

... Okay, I can respect that. I still think idiotic that he won't tell Enkidu to just lose in purpose but if he wants him to show off because of this reason then I can accept that.

Not agree, but accept.

But, that made me wonder.

Who and what exactly is Enkidu that even his teacher could not measure at all? What secrets does he hold? And, can those secrets help me in my path?

3° Person's P.O.V.

In a hotel room, a group of elders was talking with deep frowns in their faces. They are members of the Ancient Sword League, a sect that was once one of the top sects of the continent but since the last 400 or so years has been on the decline after their great elder died of old age. They are now considered a thing of the past with all sects that before looked up to them now mocking them with impunity.

They are located near the northern side of the Giant Beast Mountain Range, they have long since been used to face enemies constantly due to the presence of the Profound Beasts trying to descend the mountain range. Their numbers keep lowering constantly and they are now close to becoming just a middle or even low tier sect.

However, the Heavens gave the sect an opportunity in the form of the young clan head.

Wangquan Fugui.

He was a matchless genius with a near unparalleled talent for the sword, a true monster in combat unlike any the sect has ever seen. Towards such a genius the sect put all their hopes in him, he was given the best of all the sect had to offer and they would never let him go away from the sect, his safety was just far too important. The only moment he would ever leave the clan's inner grounds was when profound beasts descended the mountain, they would send him if the beast was of appropriate power and he would kill it.

The cultivation of Fugui was beyond simply 'fast', it was absurd to the eyes of the sect. His powers on the young generation, to the sect elders' eyes, was above all as if an immortal aloofly looking down on pebbles. Their pride was Fugui, their hope was Fugui, their d.e.s.i.r.es were in Fugui's shoulders, their destiny was in Fugui.

And now, they saw someone that just might be beyond Fugui.

Enkidu's very presence was like a knife to the heart of the elders who dreamed of returning to glory, with every show of power from Enkidu more they feared Fugui would possibly not win. Something that before they considered simply impossible now was a possibility.

"What do we do? We need Fugui to be known as unparalleled, but with that freak around our Fugui will not shine as much."

"That truly is troublesome, but only if he is strong himself. In the fighting rounds, the only thing that matters is pure combat so there is little risk that the freak would be that strong, one cannot be great at everything."

"True, true, but what do we do if it looks like he might be too much for Fugui?"

"Well, in that case, I am sure we can find some allies to eliminate him, he is just a boy and he humiliated so many young masters by winning so much, there is bound to be some that would be on our side."

"Brilliant, truly brilliant."

"Of course, of course, I, your grandfather, must be at least this amazing."

And thus the elders laughed evilly while ignoring the young man sitting beside them. That was normal, however, as Fugui would rarely ever express or have an opinion about anything.

He had no friends, no hobbies, no experiences to call his own, everything he eats is decided by the clan, what he drinks is decided by the clan, what he learns is decided by the clan, what he sees is decided by the clan, what he IS is decided by the clan. He was taught to fight, honor the clan, think for the clan, marry for the clan (but not love the one to marry him, it would be a distraction from the clan if he were to like the girl so instead he should just do his duty and create offspring before being done with it) and, one day, die for the clan.

He did not think of himself as a person anymore, he was a weapon of the clan and that was all he was in his own mind and in the back of the head of the rest of his clan.

A bird appeared in the window where he was looking over and a stray thought passed through his mind, it was just a quick thought that his discipline and indoctrination quickly crushed while he played with a jade pendant his mother left him. He never met her, she died not long after he was born and leaving to him only this jade she felt was destined for him

'I wonder, will I be able to be free when I am able to fly like a bird?' He mused, quietly in a corner of his mind that was still Wangqian Fugui, not the fighting machine for the clan.

///---///

In a state not so distant from there a girl was laying on the floor, her body covered in cuts as a man stood before her.

"Stand up already, if you are to not embarrass our family you must be better." An old man said with a stern face, not a single emotion on his face while talking to the girl on the floor.

"I understand, father." She said as she stood in shaky legs.

"Good, I need you to remember that our Sheng family will not accept anything bellow being the best assassins in the world. To be the best assassin it means one must be able to kill anyone. If you are not the best of the best then you are worthless, you either is the best or you are trash." Her father said with scorn, his scorn being born of the fact that she was a she in the first place and how she only got third place in the competition.

She was the strongest female, true, but that meant little to nothing in his eyes unless she proved herself the best of the best. That is the costume of their family, the Tachibana family

"I understand, father." She said as she took a stance, her features as emotionless as it could be, emotions were expurgated out of anyone from the family as soon as possible.

The father nodded and continued fighting, in his head, he wondered if he should kill Enkidu for the risk of him being above his daughter in the fighting competition or if he should kidnap the boy and make him and his daughter have relations until she is with child before eliminating Enkidu and likely his daughter too for good measure. The clan only breeds and improves with the very best, the most talented and most capable. His own 'wife' was just a woman he kidnaped from a certain clan and forced to carry his child. The problem was that the child born was a female and he suffered from an attack by a certain person and he was unable to reproduce anymore.

In his rage of getting a daughter and 'failing' his ancestors by continuing the line via a female (his clan usually killed any and all females born as they are considered weak) he killed the mother who he had forced himself into.

Since then he raised the girl with all he had, if he were to have a daughter she at least would be the best beyond everyone else of her age. That was only made worse when she was actually compatible with the divine weapon of their clan, the one which all their inheritance steems from.

The dagger of Sansara.

Normally, if any of the clan were to be born compatible across the generations it would have been a happy affair, but the one that was compatible was a female. The moment he realized that the man felt like throwing up blood and kowtowed three hundred times for his ancestors asking for forgiveness for allowing such an absurd to happen. He would honestly rather see the clan end with himself as the last to have his name, it is what his ancestors would have wanted, instead of letting a woman of all things be the next Sheng Family master and actually the one to be able to use the Dagger of Sansara.

She only breathed because the man decided to leave her one chance in not killing her, if she was the absolute best. Only if she was decidedly the best one would he not eliminate her and let her be the successor.

The girl, by her part, just continued to fight but in her mind, she wondered what the man who had defeated her in the scores was doing now, if he too was working hard like her and how did he manage to be good in other things besides fighting.

This was probably the first time she was ever actually curious about someone else. She felt it strange, in all honesty.

///---///

In the top of the highest building belonging to the Master Teacher Association an old bald man with a long beard was stroking said beard while looking out of the window. He had a wistful look in his face as he looked to the side to the person there.

"In this competition, there are many talents, wouldn't you say, brother Meng?"

"Quite, there really are quite a few good talents." The second person, this brother Meng, said. He was much more youthful but still had a head full of white hair. He looked in his forties to fifties instead of looking in his hundreds like the first one did.;

"It would be a shame if they were to find themselves in danger from external interference. I feel a storm brewing in the distance and the great talents here might become the deciding factor in the future, do not let them be extinguished just like that." the first one ordered. As he did so the brother Meng could clearly see a gigantic golden dragon circulating around the first one, it looked old but it was still incredibly strong, one would be wise not to antagonize it.

"This junior accepts this request." Brother Meng Chao Ran said with a respectful bowl before leaving to do as commanded.