1 CLAN OF HOLLOWS (1/2)
Everyone in the world was bound to the laws of nature, except a certain few—the ones at the top of the Martial Chain. It was the dream of most if not everyone to reach such level which can be attained at best through the pursuit of Martial Arts.
Countless members formed groups, divisions, legions, clades, clans, tribes, sects, kingdoms, empires and everything they could imagine to help themselves get close to the summit of the Martial Way which required overcoming the long and arduous path—the end of which always appeared to have stretched to an infinite extent.
It was backbreaking enough for anyone to win over their little world. As for winning over the whole world one lived in, it was beyond the realm of reason. Nevertheless, most people still stated that both pursuits need enough power. Howbeit, if you asked those same people to define, 'ENOUGH,' they would all fail in a miserable way. No one knew what was enough to conquer themselves let alone the whole world.
So much of the life was uncertain, so much in fact, that it made most people live in ways they had no sense of their lifestyles. Some lived for themselves while some others lived for their families, for their clans, for their hometowns, or for their kingdoms. Happy one moment and sad the next moment. Too many minds in the world were at a loss unable to make out their role in the world. Many had looked for answers only to fail at some point. In due course, it led the majority of people to stop caring about their purpose of living at all.
Without frills, they began to do whatever they want with no real purpose in their lives. These individuals eventually came to be known as hollows—entities belonging to the lower classes. The class that thrived above the rest was the Martial Class. Martials were the entities who set their souls on fire by pursuing the Martial Way—the aim of which was to become stronger in body, mind, and spirit and someday unveil the secrets of the world. Just living was not enough for a martial unlike it was for a hollow.
A certain martial stated another crucial difference between the two classes: A martial gives more to the world than what a hollow takes from it.
Hollows made a living through undertaking different laborious things from farming to working as slaves; however, to a great extent, they engineered it by breathing in and out. Living in itself was fighting for them who liked to reckon on the end of everything before they took part in it. Life was alright with the end in sight for them like it was for a mortal visiting the death's door as their age neared hundred.
Unlike hollows, martials primarily looked not for the end of things, but for the experience that the journey of life would bring by itself and bask in it to their best possible extent. Thanks to such a lifestyle, over time, martials managed to uncover untold secrets that lay dormant in the world. Knowingly or not, all their collective efforts helped them become stronger and better beings.
Being healthy, rich, and powerful were the kind of goals that hollows bound themselves with whereas such goals were just a way of living for the martials.
Though the number of martials was quite high in the world, it wasn't much as compared to the number of hollows.
'Hollows only exist, and the world will act upon them. Martials just be themselves, and the world will associate with them.' A certain martial worded out his perspective in an attempt to enlighten those who were beneath him.
'Wake up and live without limits.' Martials informed this expression to hollows throughout history; however, sometimes, the easiest actions were the hardest to comprehend much less follow. Many hollows viewed 'Awaking' as nothing more than getting up from one's bed and 'living without limits' as the money-making necessity which included earning immeasurable wealth and gaining incomprehensible power.
”How you want to see the world is how the world sees you,” Martial Godrick had a few words with the hollows in the backwoods of the past. Seeing how their efforts were failing, the martials reduced their efforts on refining hollows by degrees; the latter of the two, on the surface, liked being stuck in the past, or maybe, they were afraid that the Martial Way would only bring their death sooner thanks to all the onerous trails one would encounter. Leading an easy life seemed like a way better option for a hollow.
Many hollows formed groups, guilds, clans, clades, and whatnot to improve their lifestyles while depending on one another.
On the face of such similar ways, three families formed a clan they named themselves as Faceless. These three families were Basha, Basuvu, and Vesta. They held onto one another for many decades—through all struggles—and helped themselves from getting eradicated from the world.
In the year 4218 AD[1], on one auspicious morning, dozens of people were gathering at the open hall of the Faceless clan. Three men, each of them a little above fifty years old, occupied respective seats while everybody else stood and gazed at the two young ones standing on the center stage of the hall. One was a seventeen-year-old red-haired girl, Sariyu of the Basuvu family who grabbed the attention of most, and the other was a twenty-four-year-old purple-haired boy, Burton of the Vesta family who also got his share of attention from young girls in the crowd.
”I wonder which sect granted permission for us to participate in...” Burton wore a complex smile on his face. ”I'm going to become a Martial Child this year and will elevate our clan's status better than it ever was.” He glanced at Sariyu. ”Then you will have become mine. Am I correct?”
”I failed for three straight years, but you failed for ten straight years,” Sariyu opened her ten fingers and flitted them at him. ”Don't put too many hopes on yourself. At least this year, we must work together and pass.”
”Cooperation is the last thing on my mind,” Burton exposed his palms to the heavens.
”A fame-hungry freak like you is never going to become a Martial Child at this rate,” Sariyu said in a teasing manner, ”I will team up with Lirzod if you don't change your ways.”
”Pfft, you want to work with that good-for-nothing moron?” Burton didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
”I don't see much wrong with that,” Her veracious voice pierced Burton's heart like an arrow shot from a bow, ”You deem him as a worthless one, but I don't think you are much better.”
”Hmph, don't compare me to him,” Burton replied in an irked tone.
As the two young ones prattled, the clansmen in the crowd engaged themselves in heated discussions, too.
”This time, all the three main families are participating. We may finally get to decide whether it is good to stay in this clan or not in a couple of days,” Syam of Yerram family adjusted his sleeves while seated in a sculpted seat. He was a stylish man every time except when he stood thanks to his habit of sticking his belly out.
”These coming days might just decide if this clan still deserves my merchant skills to be used for its well being,” Allda of Pudota family lit a cigar using an end of a burning rope. His turned-up nose and humpbacked body made him look decades older than he indeed was.
More than anyone, the three clan leaders could guess the weight of the event at hand without lending an ear to the words that winds wafted off the crowd.
”This term will decide our clan's very future,” The one sitting in the middle, Picazo Basha—a gaunt old man with little black shades to his white hair—had a determined look as he made eye contact with the crowd. The unceremonious garb on him befitted neither his stature nor the current situation.
”It's rare to see your son get positive attention from these many people,” Sinario Vesta had a corner of his lips curl up. His sinewy physique gave away most of his capabilities, but those watching him for the first time got astonished when their eyes witnessed him sip various wines with saucers in both hands.
”Well, is the end of our clan nearing?” Kwame Basuvu's lips lightly curled down as he glanced at those in the crowd he thought were not trustworthy. ”My concocting business will for sure take an unrecoverable dent if the clan weakens further. I must place all my trust in my child.” He stroked his long beard. Despite his old age, his muscle definitions wouldn't lose to any young man in an exhibition.
The trilateral stage having three pillars with three intimidating sculptures of masked dragons curling from bottom to the top—was where the three clan heads were present. The sculptures attracted attention quite like the three humans gracing the stage did.
”Where is Young Master Lirzod? How long will he take to come?” More and more members of the crowd got aggravated by the second ”Someone, please go and check his room.”
Sariyu glanced at one of the maids in the crowd who nodded and left to Lirzod's room without a wait. Just after reaching there and trying to push the door open, she became aware that the door was locked, from the inside. She peered through the gaps between the rods of the window and her eyes enlarged. Lirzod was still sleeping under a sheet that was colored red for one-third of it, green in the middle, and white for the last one-third of it. His snore reached her ears and made her twitch.
”When did he lock the door from the inside? If anyone sees this, it will bring shame to the main families and will result in a loss of some more face.” Quick tapping sounds spread out from her rhythmic walk. Her mouth opened up for a quick shout but right away shut it even faster. If the neighboring housewives were to hear her, they wouldn't just guess on what happened but also try to anticipate quite a many things as well. Standing like a pole for a couple of moments, she let her thoughts drift about in an attempt to find the solution.
A couple of seconds later, her face began to glow as she pulled out a tiny scent bottle from under her sleeves. Her hand slipped through the gap between the rods of the window and sprayed the scent into the room and waited as the scent diffused in the room. ”Please, get up. Please get up.”
The fragrance long filled the room. A few more seconds passed, but nothing changed.
When she was under the impression of failing in her previous attempt, a couple of whiffs came from within in the room.
Lirzod lifted the sheet and jumped out of the bed while keeping his eyes shut. ”This fragrance, it's definitely of Primera...” His nose sniffed out the source of the scent, and his footsteps traced all the way to the window. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed his nose with her fingers and pulled him closer.
”Wake up, Young Master!” Her voice was quick, yet so light that it was almost not audible.
Lirzod opened his eyes at his own dreamy pace and saw her face through his blurry vision. After a scant rubbing of his eyes, his lips curled up before they moved forward, trying to glue to her's, but eventually failed in reaching all the way up to her lips. ”Who put these bars between us?”
”Young Master! Today is your coming of age ceremony, did you forget?” She spoke in an urgent and somewhat exacting tone. ”It's also the day when you'll know of your participation in Sects Tests.”
Lirzod's eyes slightly enlarged and his breath paused.
”Stop dazing like that, and get to the Central Hall already! Everyone's waiting for you.”
”Yeah, sure. But...” His chin lifted a little. ”Give me a kiss if you want me to come out.”
”What?” Her head involuntarily moved back a bit. ”You are...” She didn't have to think much before replying with a stomp on the ground, ”I won't.”
”There's no one around, and I won't tell anybody,” His hand came out through the gaps in the bars of the window and caressed her chin. ”Please, Primera. You can do this much on a special morning like this.”
”That's...” The outer side of her curled-in fingers rubbed against each other as conflicting thoughts whelmed her mind. Her eyes glanced all around but found no traces of the peeping shadows. Her heart pounded heavily at an increasing pace as her body leaned ahead half-heartedly. Her subtle movement prepared her pinkish lips for a hot kiss. Her voluptuous chest pressed to the bars on the windows as her lips went between the gaps of the bars straight toward Lirzod's.
Lirzod shut his eyes and also moved his head ahead as well before sticking his lips out and maneuvered them like a madly-jerking snake's head. A couple of seconds passed as his lips moved in every possible direction and covered all corners of the space they could, yet they touched nothing but the metal bars of the window which tasted nasty, thereby forcing him to open his eyes.
The figure that stood outside the window made his eyes almost pop out of their sockets. Howbeit, his lips still stuck out like a snake. Primera stood beside that figure as she contained herself from making an amused expression. That figure grabbed his lips and stretched them out as far as they could be before letting them go.
His lips turned pinker than they already were and redness gathered on and around them. ”S-Sariyu! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the Central Hall right now?” Lizard's stare darted at her chest, ”Did you apply some cream to your chest?”
”Do you want a month of pain?” she narrowed her eyes.
”No,” he replied right away.
”Do you want a month of pain?” she narrowed her eyes.
”No,” he replied right away.
”Come out in five seconds, or...” Sariyu glanced at Lirzod's pants, and the bulge in it was as evident as day. ”I'll sever that python in your pants.”
Lirzod's heart skipped a beat as his instinct made his hands cover his private region. ”You devil ... You are the one girl I don't ever want to marry.”