Eight billion had become only a few hundred. Before this desolate landscape, the question echoed through the silence of the ruins:
— "How did it come to this?"
If anyone asked the old master, the first of the awakened, he would say it all began sixty years ago. Dark rifts appeared in many places, and beings initially called extraterrestrials emerged from them.
Unfortunately, human weapons were futile. They fought them for five years, even using nuclear weapons, but the damage was insignificant.
In the sixth year, people with incredible abilities—like those seen in movies—appeared. They thought hope had finally reached planet Azure, but they soon discovered those people were from another world, from a region called Murim.
They looked upon humanity with contempt. They defeated the monsters for a time, but humans soon became slaves to the so-called Murim Martial Artists.
Women were sold and children disappeared; it was a hell where millions died every year.
After five years of slavery, the first human awakened a power similar to that of the Murim world. Over time, others awakened, and a system of status and rankings, like in games, began to dictate strength.
Using the Murimians' disdain to their advantage, they grew stronger in secret and struck back. It took a decade of blood to drive the invaders out.
A year of peace followed, but soon even stronger beings emerged. The growth of human strength was slow, and the system's absurd difficulty caused many to stagnate in the tutorial.
Progress depended on climbing a Tower: every ten floors, a new rank was unlocked.
Those who passed the fiftieth floor were rare. The master, as the first awakened, reached floor seventy and could go no further, giving up on growing through the system, just like almost all of humanity.
The population numbers dropped like boiling water in a kettle. To make matters worse, corrupt government officials conspired, diverting resources and betraying the human race in favor of Murim.
Many talents died in these conspiracies. Then, forty-five years after it all began, insuperable beings appeared.
The weakest of them was Rank A. There was no hope, for even the master, the only Rank SS, was unable to defeat them.
It was then that Vivian, the only Rank S Black Mage, devised a plan: a magic of time and space traversal.
However, the technique required an absurd amount of Ki, Mana, life force, and a body strong enough to endure the journey.
No one had the individual power for it, but Linia, the Saint, revealed a dark absorption art she had stolen from Murim.
— "Little Master, I confess! I was planning to capture those Murim trash and suck them dry to the bone... it would be fun to watch them suffer, hehe... Ah! It's a shame I couldn't try it on them!" argued Linia, with helplessness in her eyes.
Besides the master, there were ten Rank S warriors. Being an old man, he was ready to give his power to the young, but no one possessed a body resilient enough besides him.
The energy of everyone was required, which meant that within two hours after the transfer, the donors' bodies would wither into ash.
— "There is no other way! Master, you are the only one capable of completing this plan," Vivian expressed with a serious gaze.
— "Yes, the master was the one who liberated humanity and guided us to where we are... Master, you are the only one who should carry our hopes," stated Lucas, the Ghost Swordsman.
— "Master, there is no one else who can do this but you!" confirmed Sebastian, the Guardian Warrior.
— "The little master has been the only hope for us since the beginning... accept it, master!" justified the flaming archer, Lucia, with firmness.
The old man looked at his pupils with a weight of indignation and exclaimed, irritated:
— "Brats! Why won't you let a poor old man die in peace, huh? Have you no pity for me?"
Their gazes, however, were like arrows. He could only sigh.
— "Haa... if you look at me like that, it's hard... you faithless disciples who have no mercy for your poor master! If this is the only way, okay."
Hearing the answer, Lucia ran and hugged him.
— "Little master, hehe... remember to take care of your Lucia again!"
He thought of dodging, but looking into the eyes of those ten orphans he had saved and raised, his heart tightened. Before leaving, the master still questioned Vivian about the consequences of the journey.
— "Vivi, if I truly cross through time to the past and change the beginning, what will happen?"
— "That... Master, I didn't want to talk about it..."
— "If you don't tell me, I'd rather meet my end with you," he expressed seriously.
Filipe, the Spearman, tried to intervene:
— "Master, I will speak..."
— "Shut your mouth, idiot!" Vivian shouted with a lethal glare, making him back away.
The master sat on the ground, ready to give up, claiming his old bones preferred to be buried there. Vivian, frustrated, finally yielded.
— "Haa... alright... the master wins... I'll speak. Even if the master goes back and changes the past, this future will still be the same. Another timeline will be created, branching off from where we are."
He smiled bitterly, for he already imagined that not everything would be roses.
— "Tell me Vivi, do you think I'm trash who would suck the life out of my family just to live?"
— "N-No, never! The master is everything to us," Vivian replied. "This world is also ruined; even if we search everything, we will only find a few hundred people..."
— "Master," Lucas said, "this sister of mine is a tragedy, and many times I want to pretend I don't know her, but I have to agree with her! You must live and lead humanity once more... the master is the only one capable of that."
Linia shook her head before completing:
— "Little master, at least there will be a version of us that lives and will be happy! And also... we want you to be happy. This is our gift to you for having taken care of us all!"
— "Don't reject us, Master!"
— "Even you, Lucky? I thought you were the most sensible of the ten..."
— "Little master, just take care of our younger versions and don't forget us, who followed you for over twenty years!" expressed Lucia with regret.
Lucia was one of the oldest. Rescued at twenty, she harbored feelings for the master, though he had always cut off any possibility. Despite being old, he maintained the appearance of someone in their fifties.
Time was scarce. The barrier protecting them from the flock of Dragons was cracking.
With a shattered heart, the master had no choice but to watch his ten disciples form a circle and begin the process.
He saw their bodies wither like old trees, one by one. His status rose to SSS, but fury grew as he saw the Dragon outside using them merely as teaching material for its hatchlings.
— "Little master... I must look ugly, right?" Linia murmured.
With tears streaming down, he caressed the dry face of the woman who was once the little girl who asked to play.
— "My Lininha, you are still my beautiful little girl!"
— "Hehe... you're still a terrible liar, you know?"
Vivian, in her final effort as the barrier shattered, screamed:
— "My master... I'm finished. I managed to open a fissure in space and time exactly decades back... Go, master, quick!"
Before jumping, he faced the adult Dragon and spoke in Draconic:
— "I will come back and wipe your stinking backsides out of this world!"
The Dragon's roar of fury was muffled by the master's entry into the rift. The Dragon appeared offended by the ant that dared to speak its sacred language.
Vivian threw him an orb, and his last words echoed:
— "I love you, my children!"
°°°
Vivian, Lucas, and Linia smiled on the brink of death, but they were soon perplexed when two youths appeared out of nowhere.
— "Brother... I wanted to have talked to him a little..." the young woman said.
The young man, however, stated they couldn't risk changing time. Immediately after, the youth disappeared, reappearing in front of the Dragon.
It was a comical sight: an ant punching an elephant, but the result was terrifying. The surrounding space cracked with the impact, and the great Dragon's head exploded in a rain of blood. The 400-meter body crashed to the ground.
Returning to the survivors, the young woman released a sphere of energy that restored their appearances and stabilized their powers.
Everyone was perplexed by the turn of events and stared at the young woman searching for answers.
— "Just like you, we are two children of the one who departed..." she explained.
Hearing this, they gave a sigh of relief and smiled, understanding that in the end, their master succeeded.
The young woman observed their smiles, and her face showed a certain sadness.
— "You know... he never stopped thinking about you. If I could tell him you are okay... perhaps his gaze wouldn't be so sad."
— "And why don't you say it?" Lucia questioned.
Her silence brought the realization: that future still existed, but the master had won in another life.
— "Little master... in the end, you didn't change... always sacrificing yourself for everyone!" Linia murmured through tears.
The young woman watched them all, and her eyes also moistened as she remembered the one who gave her a future.
— "Don't be like that... you know, that grumpy guy actually lived well! He is a legend in our world, he even got married and had children."
Everyone was stunned. Not because he was a legend, as that was natural, but his having married was a great surprise.
— "Hehe... it seems that stubborn man listened to me," Vivian laughed through tears.
Lucky commented that the master had only ever loved one woman: a teacher who had cared for him and died in a dungeon.
— "Hoho... you got it, brother Lucky? Haha, it was my idea!" Lucas expressed with a suggestive laugh.
Lucia, indignant and surprised, commented: — "Hey... that teacher snagged our little master, who got younger and hotter? What a hussy! We have to call 911. She's making moves on the master, she needs a lesson~"
Sebastian quickly covered her mouth, embarrassed.
Despite being sad, everyone smiled hearing that their master was happy. That master was everything to them.
"Remember! You are my children. If one day the world turns against you, I will turn against the world!"
No one forgot those words. They knew their master gave up his own happiness to care for them.
He always said no one asked him to do it; he chose to do it. He lived to the end with the conviction of "Sage Ben Parker": with great power comes great responsibility.
He truly was a grumpy and stubborn old man, but knowing he was happy this time was a profound joy for everyone.
As they reminisced, Lucia approached the young man who had defeated the dragons. She stared at him with a perplexed look, leaving him a bit uneasy.
— "Eh... is there something on my face?" the young man asked.
Lucia's eyes sparkled while her lips curved into a deep smile.
Noticing Lucia's strangeness, Linia observed him and didn't fail to comment, intrigued.
— "He looks like the little master..." Linia commented.
— "Are you the master's son?" Lucas asked.
The young man's sister replied:
— "No. The master is our uncle! He found me when I was taking my little brother to the orphanage and took us back home and cured our mother who was sick. And then, he presented a letter from our father to our mother and..."
She stopped, realizing that the pieces of the time travel now fit together in a way she had never noticed.
— "Hehe... hahaha... it seems I still have a chance," Lucia murmured.
Vivian looked at her friend, sighed, and finally understood everything. The master had changed everyone's destiny, including his own.