Chapter One: Raider (1)

                                              ——PART  1: RAIDER ORIGIN——

It was a cold night in the East Canyons. The sound of the wind was overshadowed only by that of the torrential rain pouring down.

Nevertheless people were celebrating in the Barren Settlement. Tonight was a special night, it was the night the Clan Chief had chosen to announce his successor.

The Barren Settlement was called so because when humans first arrived here the land was absolutely barren. Nothing could grow here, and yet humans could survive.

The only reason for that was because every single one of those humans were cultivators. From their birth, these humans were born with cultivation and thus didn't require nourishment other than Natural Energies.

Even the babies who weren't able to cultivate for themselves were able to survive with the help of their parents.

The couple of hundred or so humans here, while united under the same clan, came from different families. The only thing they had in common, other than being able to cultivate from birth, was that they had all been driven away from their homes. This Barren Settlement had become a refuge for the unwanted talented cultivators of this world.

However, there was an exception. There was a boy in this settlement who was unable to cultivate from birth like the others. In fact, even now, as a 12 year old, he was still unable to cultivate.

The only reason he was able to survive in this barren land was because he was kept as a slave by the clansmen. Those powerful enough to travel to faraway lands would bring back enough food and water to keep him alive.

Being unable to cultivate, the boy was a pretty useless slave to the clansmen. The main reasons why they kept him there and alive were pity, cruelty and pride. They weren't proud of him, of course. They were proud of their lineage, of their ability to cultivate from birth.

They kept him as a reminder that they were unordinary. They kept him as a reminder that they were gifted.

On this night, Soho, the Clan Chief, had decided to announce his future successor. A magical and mystical fire was lit in the middle of the settlement. This fire could not be put out by any rain or wind, no matter how strong they poured or blew.

In this fire stood a young man. He appeared to be only around 18 years old but had a robust build. He had long hair floating around him due to the heat of the flames but he didn't look like someone being burned alive. Instead, he looked more like someone being anointed by the flames.

In fact, he was the chosen successor. His name was Alexander and he was the son of the current Clan Chief.

While all those who arrived in the Barren Settlement discarded their last names and became a part of the Clan, family ties always remained. It was also for this reason that the Original Settlers, as they came to be known, had issued a decree discouraging Clan Chiefs to choose their successors among their descendants.

This decree was passed in order to assure the continued harmony between the families and equilibrium within the Clan. Nobody knew why Clan Chief Soho decided to disregard this decree but no one dared to question him because he had recently broken through an unprecedented realm.

The Cultivation Realms in the Barren Settlement were named after bodies of water. At birth, cultivators entered the Dew Realm. For most, they would reach the Puddle Realm around 10 years of age and the Pond Realm by thirty. The Lake Realm was  the demarcation point between the common and the powerful. Only a dozen or so clansmen had reached this realm.

Above the Lake Realm were the Stream Realm, the River Realm, the Sea Realm and the legendary Ocean Realm. These were the teachings left behind by the Original Settlers.

Currently, apart from the Clan Chief who had recently been the first since the Original Settlers to break past the River Realm to enter the Sea Realm, all the most powerful cultivators in the settlement were stuck in the Stream Realm. That was why no one dared to argue with him.

At this moment, while everyone was reluctantly celebrating, a group of six children were running and cheering in the barren land surrounding the settlement.

It had to be said that those kids were truly fast. While none of them appeared to be older than eight or nine years old, they could all easily outrun a non-cultivating adult.

Most impressive of all, one of them seemed to be floating on puddles of water while advancing.

A few dozen meters ahead of them, another child was running and panting. Merely, this kid was much slower than the ones chasing him. In addition, he seemed to be putting in his full efforts to run at such a speed whereas the others were not even breaking a sweat. That panting child was Raider, the slave.

"Come on trash, run faster!", yelled out one of the chasing kids.

"Yeah! Make us work for it!", added another pursuer.

"This is no fun", complained yet another one. "He's way too slow for us, we should have three year olds running after him”.

As the kids were shouting insults at the fleeing teen in front of them, they were surprised to discover that he had suddenly disappeared.

"Huh? Where did he go?", voiced out one of them.

In actuality, Raider hadn't disappeared. He had fallen. He had fallen into an abyss.

"Aaaaaaaaah", he screamed.