"Endless clouds…"
Wade lay on a broken land filled with corpses. His flimsy armor was riddled with holes, revealing the locations of both fresh and badly healed wounds.
The sounds of battle and despair were constant in his ears. He didn't pay attention as dozens of corpses lay there, beheaded by his blade.
His gaze was fixed on the drifting clouds, silently admiring nature and its ability to ignore human madness.
"They say gods watch us from above. Indifferent forever."
His comment reached nobody. Only a bald vulture that was eyeing him from the sky served him as an audience.
It flew so high out of his reach. He couldn't do anything to it. Yet, it silently mocked him as he sprawled out in a puddle of blood.
"Your gaze would be different if I broke your wings, don't you think?"
He smiled at the ugly bird, but only received a predatory glint from its eyes as a response.
Wade stretched out his hand and clenched his fist as if imagining the demise of creatures that coldly watched him from above.
"You have the ability, but who decided that I can't do the same? Don't we live in a world of cultivators?"
Suddenly, a colorless beam of energy shot out from his stretched-out arm, hitting the vulture right in its abdomen.
With a miserable cry, it crashed on the ground. Blood leaked from a gaping hole in its stomach.
Wade grinned as he slowly stood up and stretched his limbs. His bones creaked and muscles twitched.
"The air is fresher than yesterday!"
He remarked and slowly walked toward the struggling vulture and picked it up by its beak.
"You aren't so indifferent anymore, are you?" He gently stroked its head while the vulture desperately thrashed in his grip.
Its claws attempted to scratch Wade, but he simply lowered the bird and stomped on its feet with his tough boots, breaking the delicate bones.
"Arrogance is innate to all living beings. One should be careful when displaying it and consider the target of superiority's past deeds and future potential."
He calmly spoke as if lecturing the mindless vulture.
"Everything has a price. Power is paved with blood, while insults are amended by giving one's life."
His hands reached down for the wings as he twisted and broke them. Muffled cries were the only response from the vulture.
"Mercy and compassion are also part of life. One without a heart is just a mindless puppet of existence, unable to guide themselves through the darkness of the world."
He ruffled the feathers on its wings as his hands slowly slid up and gripped the vulture's neck.
"A lesson is due like all things in life. The price can be postponed, but the lesson can't be stopped."
Crack!
He snuffed out a life, a life that arrogantly looked down at him moments ago.
"Haah~, I get too philosophical at times."
He threw the bird among the beheaded corpses and looked at the battlefield that was filled with people like him. Haggard, malnourished and powerless.
"So many corpses. What a waste of blood full of vitality! I heard that some underground sects specialise in creating alchemical products using vitality. They are always sold out on the market and here we have so much spoilt good stuff!"
Wade walked on the battlefield like a phantom. He rarely confronted anyone openly. He preferred a more concealed way of reaping the lives of his victims. After all, the goal was to kill, not to be a flashy hero.
At times, the number of people he had killed would be noticed and others would try to gang up on him, but Wade was too experienced for those recently recruited slaves to do anything of meaning to a veteran like Wade. After all, it had been almost a year since he had become cannon fodder for Warhounds. An organisation that traded war slaves across the Skyripple Continent.
Ironically, both sides employed slaves supplied by Warhounds. It was a mercenary organisation that didn't choose sides for its own safety. At least, that was what the public thought.
The true military forces rested on the backlines, watching the show with ridicule and mockery, lavishing in the feeling of superiority.
Wade didn't mind. He couldn't care about something he couldn't touch, but everything would change once he had the chance.
"Ah, I need to exchange contribution points for another energy beam. I was too impulsive with that birdy. Couldn't I just pick up a random stone on the ground?"
He started walking toward the encampment as a horn blared, signalling the end of the bloodshow.
In the distance, a towering fortress could be seen, lined up with rows of cannons and massive crossbows that gleamed with qi.
Even Wade couldn't help but shiver at the sight of weapons of mass destruction.
"Those things must be hefty on the wallet!"
Wade dreamed about casting away his status as a slave. He desired to possess power and authority over others. Free to do anything he wished.
"But I can't rush. All wars present an opportunity. Even a slave like me can rise given enough merit. I need to be patient."
His gaze turned solemn as he entered through the gates, revealing a whole different world inside.