NOVEL NEXT Chapter 801 Changes
"... Why would they leave?" Rain asked with his eyes wide open.
As Rain listened intently to his grandfather Meiro's explanation, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Meiro's tone held a mixture of solemnity and reminiscence, his gaze occasionally drifting into the past as he delved into the reasons behind the decisions made by the survivors in the underground hideout.
Meiro recounted that after Rain's apparent death, the survivors faced a prolonged period of uncertainty and despair. The initial years were characterized by a sense of collective mourning and a constant fear of the unknown. They relied on the knowledge Rain had left behind, employing it to devise ingenious methods of sustaining themselves within the confines of the hideout.
Utilizing the knowledge Rain had shared, the survivors managed to cultivate an efficient system for food production underground. They optimized their resources, employing methods that required minimal energy and space to yield substantial yields of food.
However, as time passed, restlessness began to brew among the inhabitants. The monotony of living underground and the constant vigilance against potential threats took a toll on their spirits. After fifteen long years of hiding and survival, a growing sentiment emerged within the community – the desire to venture beyond the confines of their shelter.
"Around that time, Danny and Annie were already twenty and after training hard for fifteen years, they wanted to fight and claim a land for humans to live without having to hide," Meiro said.
"Twenty years old… almost 95 years ago, they were basically as old as me," Rain thought while rubbing his eyes. "How am I going to face them now?"
Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire
Rain's physical appearance remained frozen in time, a testament to the power of the relic he had created to preserve his life. Despite the passing of a hundred and ten years, his body exhibited no signs of aging or deterioration. His features retained the youthful vitality he possessed before the war that had altered the world.
However, while his body remained unchanged, Rain's mind had traversed the experiences of more decades than his physical form implied and amassed knowledge and wisdom far beyond his apparent age.
This paradoxical situation left Rain in a state of perplexity and uncertainty about his reunion with his children, who were now older than him in chronological years. The thought sounded surreal and perplexing, bearing the weight of an inexplicable truth.
He grappled with the notion of meeting his children, who, in the conventional understanding of time, had aged beyond him. Rain found himself facing an unprecedented and hard-to-understand problem…
"What about Sealyn?" Rain asked.
"She was sixteen, but she was trained by the sea emperor for many years, they would leave the hideout occasionally to look for monsters that we could eat and based on how much he boasted about her skill, I would say that she was quite strong," Meiro said. "However… over the years, she grew apart from her siblings… since she was the granddaughter of the sea emperor.
They never fought really, but they weren't close as siblings were supposed to be."
As Rain absorbed the revelation about his children, a powerful wave of emotion surged within him, gripping his heart with an icy, almost crushing hand. The realization struck him like a sudden and intense cold hand seizing his very core. The anguish and guilt that followed were almost unbearable.
The news that his children had not grown close to each other cut deeply into Rain's soul. It was a stark reflection of the consequences of his choices and the unintended fallout of his actions.
He couldn't help but blame himself, recognizing that his fear of death and reluctance to make the ultimate sacrifice had led to the incomplete measures he had taken to ensure his return. Those half-hearted measures had resulted in a prolonged absence, leaving his children to grow up without the guidance and presence of a father.
Rain's heart ached with the bitter realization that his own actions had indirectly caused a rift between his children. Their lack of closeness stemmed from not only his absence but also the fact that they had different mothers…
"... Danny and Annie were fine since they always sparred against each other, but even Terra and Seara stopped agreeing to each other in their decisions," Meiro added while he looked at Rain completely depressed and blaming himself for all that. "Thanks to that, the sea folk and the humans that left split up, and since then, I haven't heard anything from them… I am not sure if they are alive."
"Seadrei, that asshole… I told him that Sealyn should live more freely, but considering the circumstances… Why did you two stay?" Rain asked after a long sigh. "I can at least confirm that Terra, Seara and Branden are alive thanks to the powers of the seals. They didn't try to use them and confirm that they can use my strength, though."
"The people that stayed behind didn't have the strength or the vitality to leave on a dangerous journey, and they needed people with experience to lead them," Meiro said. "Your mother and father said that they would return as soon as they found a peaceful place where we all could live."
Rain nodded… that sounded like something his parents would say. Even after fifteen years after his supposed death, they didn't change that much. If they didn't return, something happened. Roan should have grown stronger as well and if Seara and Terra were still alive, they should be alive as well.
The real question was what prevented their return… considering that the dragons were busy keeping the continent on the ice age, the dragons shouldn't be the issue right now…
"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Rain asked. "Also, did you hear anything about the demi-humans?"
"No, I don't…" Meiro said. "Seadrei said that they saw some dragons around, but they didn't look to be looking for them… they should be busy with demi-humans, but we didn't have the chance to contact them at all."