High above the earth, a lone man stood among the clouds, his feet stood on nothing but air. Around him were several floating boulders the size of mountains drifting along weightlessly
Although the harsh freezing wind constantly bombarded him, his long black hair did nothing but drift lazily as if the wind never touched it while his robes billowed gently in the storm.
As the space around him rippled the man smiled to himself
*flip*
Five streams of light erupted from the distortion, sealing the sky around him in an instant.
A cage of energy formed, yellow beams of energy turned into bars locking whoever was inside in
Walking out of distorted space were five figures, each donning distinctly styled robes, aside from one.
One figure steps forth, his bare abdomen rippling with power, his gaze doomering and vicious enough to make the air feel suffocating
"You have refused our offer for the last time" he told the man "We will not ignore such a rogue cultivator any longer"
"Chose which clan to serve under or you will be eliminated" he declared with a face full of fury
With an expression of serenity, the lone figure twisted to gaze upon the imposing aggressor.
"I'm afraid I can not" with that his entire figure dissolved into wind
*flip*
The sound of giggling carried across the wind.
The five each search frantically for the white-robed man, instilled with a sense of dread by how easily he had escaped their senses.
"I have always been a carefree spirit" A voice echoes from behind, and all present whip around to see him laying lazily on a cloud as if it was a couch
Everything went dead silent
Their focus lazered in on slow movement of the man's lips
"May the carefree breeze blow"
The harshly blowing wind stopped.
The sky itself fell silent for a heartbeat.
Then his body unraveled into wind
Feeling this drastic change in the air itself distorted the faces of the clan leaders with fear
*Slam*
The book snapped shut
The boy hugged the book tightly against his chest, a grin stretching from ear to ear as he rolled across his bed.
"That was so cool!"
His eyes beamed as he squirmed with excitement
'If only I could be like that'
After a long moment, he sat up and looked down at the worn cover in his hands.
'The tales of the Carefree immortal'
*yawn*
Only then did he realize how heavy his eyelids had become.
"Silas, it's time to get up and go to school"
He heard his dad say from behind his wooden room
A gentle stream of sunlight filtered through his paper windows brightening up his room filing it with color
"Ah… is it morning already?"
With a tired sigh Silas got up out of his bed and stretched his cramped body, blood rushed to his head making him wobble for a second before he caught himself.
He rubbed his eyes and glanced into the mirror.
A tired ten year old stared back. His short black hair stuck out in every direction, dark circles hung beneath his bright green eyes
Silas laughed quietly at himself.
Turning back to look at his room he saw the plants he collected over the years
Clay pots covered nearly every shelf, windowsill, and corner. Tiny flowers, climbing vines, herbs, and strange little seedlings crowded every bit of open space. Some had names written on small wooden tags, while others were simply plants he thought looked interesting.
He smiled.
"Morning, everyone."
Walking up to over to his desk he picked up an old slightly rusted watering can and started his favorite morning routine
Humming to himself Silas danced between all of his plants making sure each one got just the right amount of water needed
With his body slowly wake up more as the buzz in the back of his head set in he put away the watering can and walked into the living room
The first thing that immediately caught his attention was his dad's hunched back
His white hair reflecting some of the morning sun and the same bright green eyes with dark circles underneath
In his arm hung many half rolled scrolls
"Dad, did you stay up all night again going through the archives?"
Turning around his dad looked at him with a knowing smile
"Yeah and you think your any better, I bet you stayed up all night reading again"
Freezing in place Silas's face slowly turned into a sheepish grin
"You really need to stop doing that your spirit binding ceremony is coming up soon"
Hearing the sound of another door close Silas turned around to see another older boy with the same black hair but bright blue eyes
"Hey- broo" Silas said shifting awkwardly
He had a completely expressionless face as he walked right past Silas without even glancing at him
Staring intensely at their dad
"The breakfast is in the kitchen with Oscar" he said while pointing his thumb towards the large ethereal orange owl pecking at some bread on the plate
Nogging silently he walked over to the kitchen where the owl spread its wings in a wide display of its dominance over the kitchen
Petting Oscar the older boy picked up the two pieces of fresh toast with jam covering them
Walking towards the door to their house he paused the moment he was next to silas and silently handed him some toast
"Ah… thanks" Silas said while awkwardly taking the breakfast from his brothers hand
Without another beat his brother left the house
Staring at the door for another minute after his brother left his dad woke him out of his stupor
"You know you should getting going too if you don't want to be late"
Seeing Oscer now perched on his dad's head using it as a nest with a look of pride and with what looked like playful a playful smirk Silas couldn't help but laugh a little
"Yeah"
Walking towards the door, Silas hesitated for a moment before stepping outside.
He looked back at his house and murmured
"Bye mom"
The wooden floor beneath him creaked softly as he crossed the threshold.
A rush of cool air hit his face.
Taking his first step outside his house Silas was immediately greeted with the sight of several Gigantic wooden circular platforms stretched across the massive trees, each platform was like its own island suspended in the sky with bridges made out of vines connecting them
Looking over the edge of the platform he could barely make out the forest floor hundreds of meters down
Walking over to the nearest bridge he spotted some people walking out of their houses going to work, as the city started coming to life with the morning sun brightening up the city with color
Walking to the nearest bridge he smelled the scent of freshly baked bread, following the direction of the smell Silas spotted his neighbor who had just opened his stall
A young man with a small red salamander next to him blowing a strong fire into the oven used to bake bread
With a smile the young man smiled and waved at Silas
Waving back Silas crossed his first bridge onto where he passed by two builders getting into an intense argument, screaming about support beams
Walking onto another platform he passed by many happy pedestrians walking around with small glowing creatures dancing around them
Glancing to his right he saw several younger children running around chasing a spirit with smiles on their faces making a smile grow uncontrollably on his face
After walking a bit he saw a few people people start to shuffle to the side making way leaving a large open space on the already somewhat cramped platform, a little curious Silas walked over to see what was happening
It was the daily guardians that just came back from the forest floor, they were carrying the body of a large black bear over their shoulders
The faces of the citizens were of deep respect and immense gratitude and many bowed and thanked the guardians with great respect
Silas only stared at the bear for a moment before having his eyes naturally drifted to the small blue vines wrapped around its legs
As the sound of the buzzing crowd in the background defended as all he could see was the strange blue vines he had never seen before
With shining eyes full of quiet curiosity Silas sheepishly approached a warrior in the back holding the legs of the bear
"Umm… excuse me sir could you tell me why those vines are wrapped around the legs of–"
Turning his head to see the kid speaking to him instantly become quiet when he looked at him, the warrior simply glanced at the blue vines
"It burst out of the ground for a second the moment the bear stepped on it slowing the bear down for a moment, just long enough for us to kill it"
Hearing this Silas's eyes started glowing with excitement
"In that case could I perhaps have a sample to look at!"
Looking at Silas in confusion the warrior simply shrugged and ripped off a piece of the blue vine and handed it to Silas
"Thank you sir!"
Running off with the new vine being hugged against his chest Silas tried to burn off his excitement
Before he knew it he was already at school.
Seeing the building that was larger than the average house made completely out of wood with a giant bell standing above the door calling for him
His smile of excitement receded
Swiftly schooling his expression as he forced his emotions back into the back of his head, he put on forced smile like putting on a mask