....
"HAHA HAHA HAHAHA.."
"°^°"
"HAHA... History is sure full of lies.... It said I can rival King Spartacus... That's a big lie..." Achillia laughed out loud, her voice echoing across the vast throne chamber, discrediting the History tale that was being narrated by the red-haired teenager.
"You can't defeat Spartacus?" Socrates asked with surprise, his brows tightening slightly, and Achillia gave him a smug look from where she lounged lazily on her massive throne.
"You call that name so ordinary, boy.. Do you know who King Spartacus is?"
"Forgive me, Senior. This junior doesn't have much knowledge about the Great King Spartacus.."
"He's not a Great King...." Achillia rested her back on the throne, the dark metallic surface creaking faintly beneath her weight. "..But a Grand King."
"A Peak Gladiator who was at the peak of the King Realm and at the verge of breaking through to the Monarch Realm... A realm so distant..." Achillia narrated the tale of an ancient Gladiator, her tone lowering into something almost reverent. "He's the father of Gladiator... the one true man who terrorized the whole Hellenic Republic.."
"But Senior.. if Grand King Spartacus is so powerful.. How did he fall by the blade of a junior... "
The moment those words came out of Socrates' mouth, a powerful pressure forced its way out of Achillia's body and slammed into him immediately, distorting the air like an invisible hammer.
"aah.."
He landed on the ground with a grunt as he coughed out blood before dragging himself back up, his fingers digging into the cold stone floor beneath him.
"You dare call my Dominus a Junior..?" She hissed, her eyes glowing faintly with killing intent, as Socrates quickly bowed. She retracted her pressure slowly as she stared at him with piercing intensity.
"I don't blame you.. it's history... But one thing you should know is that Wisdom and Craftiness are part of power.. My Dominus.. Grandmaster Ashur has all of this, and that was how he was able to defeat Grand King Spartacus and build his ludus, which I became the Champion of. I'm the first female Gladiator ever, and I rode to glory in the House of Ashur, bringing the house to the peak of the Hellenic Republic, reaching the very King Realm... But I fell in the Universal war.. This is the remnant of my consciousness.."
"Senior.. what's the King's Realm, and how can one reach the King Realm?" Socrates asked, curiosity burning in his blue eyes, and Achillia burst into laughter.
"HAHAHA.. I feel you just asked me the most stupidest question... Although I've given you the most suitable foundation, it's basically worthless because your meridian is completely broken.. you can't be a cultivator.. At best, you can be a top figure in this ludus.. your strength should be on par with a mid-stage Energy Condensation Realm Cultivator.. your physique is an Ocean Rank Physique.... But that is just it, you can't grow any stronger.. your body has reached the limit of what an ordinary human could achieve.. the very peak."
It was even surprising that you could reach this level.. You're the first human that has ever entered my space with 1000 lives.. you've a strong soul power.."
"I don't really understand you, Senior.." Socrates mustered courage to interrupt the lady, lifting his head slightly though he remained kneeling.
"This is a world created by me. Every King Realm Expert can create such a space.. the way to enter this world is by tapping through my consciousness.. I believe you found the remnant of my consciousness in a sculpture, and that's why your consciousness is able to enter this space... This is basically a training realm designed for those that believe in me. The training has helped stabilize your foundation.. the image that you saw at this summit earlier was an illusion formed from your mindset... An illusion that triggered you to train without hesitation... Your soul power determined how long you can last in this world. Most people's consciousness can't go past a 100 or 200.. it's only surprising that your soul managed to get a 1000.."
A faint silence followed her explanation, the heavy air inside the vast throne hall vibrating faintly with unseen energy.
'Wow. It should be the effect of the two energy cores I swallowed.. probably it has strengthened my soul.'
"If this is my consciousness here.. How about my body?"
"Don't worry.. your body is in a safe condition, protected by a barrier, and although you don't see any changes here.. Every training you went through, the changes have appeared in your body. Although same won't be said if your death count reached 1000..." Achillia stared at Socrates directly in the eyes, her gaze sharp and merciless. "..You would have truly died in the real world.."
Socrates' body shook at the sound of that, a cold ripple running down his spine.
'Seems like the Bermutha island is also a space created by a Gladiator King... Just what's this King Realm?'
"Seems like you're really curious about this King Realm..."
'Shit. I forgot she can read mind..'
"I'll tell you."
Socrates' heart almost flew out of his chest as he heard Lady Achillia whisper.
She had suddenly appeared right in front of him, her movement so fast it left behind a faint distortion in the air. Her body crouched down, bringing her face dangerously close to his, her presence overwhelming, her breathing steady and controlled.
"They're nine realms in the realm of Cultivator.."
Her voice lowered into something heavier, more deliberate, as if each word carried ancient authority.
"Apprentice Realm... One that can be achieved by every human.."
"Energy Condensation Realm... this is the very first realm.."
"Foundation Establishment Realm.."
"Master Realm.."
"Grandmaster Realm..."
"Above the Grandmaster are the King Realm... this is the realm where most top-level figures are.. a realm of peak power.. only a few can reach this realm, and those few are considered genius."
The throne chamber dimmed slightly as her words echoed across the massive black pillars surrounding them.
"Above the King Realm is the Realm of Monarch.. this is a Realm of ancestral figures... over the years... there's only four known Monarch in the Hellenic Republic.."
"And the realm above it... the Ascendant Realm... there's only one known Ascendant in the world.."
"So these are the Realms of Cultivator..."
"Senior.. you said there are nine realms, but you made mention of only eight.." Socrates asked, looking up at the lady, confusion visible across his tired yet determined face.
Achillia also raised her head slowly and looked toward the sky above, her gaze distant, as if staring into centuries of forgotten history.
"Because the last realm is history... no one... no one has been able to reach that realm in the History of cultivation."
Gladiator King Achillia stated this calmly, yet her voice carried a strange weight, as if even speaking of it required restraint.
At that moment, she appeared back in her throne, seated once again with effortless dominance.
"They call me the Goddess of Death.... it's only a title... only a title, for I'm nowhere close to being a goddess... the last realm of cultivator that can't be achieved by anyone and had never been achieved... the realm that all cultivators chased for thousands of years but couldn't be achieved... The realm of Gods..."
" The realm of Gods..." Socrates muttered in his mind, his voice barely more than a whisper as the words echoed faintly inside his head.
"Yes.. the last stage of Cultivation... the God Realm.. The realm of immortality, a realm where one can't die anymore.. This is a realm that no man has ever attained."
'The realm of God...'
Bubbles of imagination flowed in Socrates' mind as he imagined himself being a god... seated in the midst of wealth and power... controlling universes and life with a blink of his eyes, standing above all existence like an untouchable sovereign.
"HAHA HAHAHA .."
Achillia laughed out loud while reading Socrates' mind, her laughter echoing through the dark hall like thunder rolling across distant mountains.
"A man is a man and a God is a God....
One can never achieve Godhood. You can only be born a god....
ALL MEN ARE MORTAL... SOCRATES YOU'RE A MAN, THEREFORE, SOCRATES YOU'RE A MORTAL... You must die..."
Lady Achillia's words pierced into his very memory and brain but didn't get into his mind.
'How can all men be mortal? Why can't a man transcend mortality and become immortal...? Why? Why can't a man achieve Godhood? Why has this conclusion been accepted for thousands of years?
I'm not going to accept this....'
Socrates rose up from the ground, his fists tightening slowly as his breathing deepened.
"I shall become powerful.. I shall transcend. I shall ascend. I shall break this cursed logic..." Socrates said to Goddess Achillia, his voice trembling at first but gradually growing firmer.
"ALL MEN ARE MORTAL... SOCRATES IS A MAN, BUT SOCRATES SHALL BECOME A GOD..." Socrates screamed out loudly.
The clouds rumbled immediately as the sky darkened violently, thick layers of black mist swirling across the heavens above. The ground quaked beneath his feet, cracks forming across the ancient stone floor as Lady Achillia stared at Socrates in amusement from her throne.
"FOOL..." She muttered coldly as she snapped her hand.
A red vortex appeared behind Socrates instantly, swirling violently like a storm of blood and fire, sucking him inside at once as his consciousness was ripped out of the world created by the King Gladiatrix.
...
(In the real world, back of the Earth mountain)
Socrates' eyes flashed open in the darkness, his pupils contracting sharply, just to see that he's surrounded by three beasts whose glowing eyes shimmered faintly in the night.
The moment he raised his upper body, one of the beasts lunged at him with a guttural snarl, but he lazily countered it with a punch.
The moment his fist landed on the beast's head, the head of the beast was blasted off as its body was flung away with great force, crashing violently against nearby rocks.
The remaining two beasts, on seeing this, quickly fled away immediately, their bodies vanishing into the darkness as the red-haired teenager stood up slowly from the ground.
He stared at his naked body through the dark night... his blue eyes glowing faintly as his red hair seemed to cover his face, swaying lightly in the cold mountain wind.
"How long have I been out? I feel so hungry..." Socrates touched his stomach as he tried to recall everything that had happened to him.
Winning the Judo competition..
Killing Alee and defending his sister..
Participating in the Gladiating Tradition..
Navigating the brutal world of Bermutha with Mr. Jaggers...
Duel against Mr. Jaggers..
Claiming the title of champion..
Navigating the Earth Pavilion..
Defeated by the Sky Pavilion Champion..
Cultivating under the Lady Achillia Sculpture..
Ambushed and killed by fellow disciples..
Drawn into the space of Lady Achillia..
Trained for years to build a foundation..
Physique evolving from Earth Rank to Ocean Rank..
"According to Lady Achillia.. I've a power that can contend with a mid-stage Energy Condensation Realm Cultivator.." Socrates stared at his body and was surprised to see the metallic cuffs in both his hands and legs.
"Why is this thing here? No wonder my body felt heavy." He tried to remove it but couldn't, the cold metal refusing to budge no matter how hard he strained.
"This will definitely slow me down.." He cursed Lady Achillia heavily.
And then he remembered her last words....
"No.. I've to become powerful... I've to find way and fix my meridians.... I must become powerful.. I must attain power and I must become a God.." Socrates assured himself as he folded his fists tightly, the cold night wind brushing against his skin while his muscles tensed with renewed resolve.
"But that is in the distant future.... for now, there're many things I need to take care of... many grudges that need to be settled.." Socrates' eyes flashed with killing intent as he stared into the direction of the Earth Pavilion, his gaze sharp and unwavering beneath the dim glow of the night sky.
The mountain wind howled faintly around him, carrying dust and dry leaves across the rocky ground as silence stretched across the vast terrain.
The wounded lion is coming back, and this time around.... it's going to be nothing but BLOODSHED.
...
END OF ARC 1 — The Broken Cultivator