Red Rose

Chapter 13 — Red Rose

"Where did you go, Vlad?" A young pretty girl sighed ruefully with her bright eyes reflecting the shimmering moon.

Vlad had vanished from the town for many days now. After removing the corrupt and wicked of Sunset Town, it simply felt like he went away.

However, the girl clearly knew that new darkness would reappear sooner or later without the presence of Vlad.

As for why Vlad silently left the town, she pondered deeply about Vlad. Soon, her eyes lit up while looking very enlightened.

"Vlad has already gone to the next stage…"

As she thought of that, the girl started heaving heavily with a very flushed expression.

If Vlad went to the next stage, he would be able to rescue more people from the hands of beasts!

At the same time, Vlad would be able to become even more stronger to protect himself from stronger threats. His safety was of the utmost importance.

And since 'they' loyally supported him from the shadow, it was necessary for them to keep the peace that was made by Vlad very safe.

"As your most loyal followers, the Red Rose Company shall always keep your ideals safe."

The first step of the Red Rose was to protect the peace of Sunset Town. That was the only way for them to repay their gratitudes for Vlad.

"This reminds me of the recent past…"

After Vlad rescued the girl from the hands of the scums that wanted to defile her own body, she soon became extremely infatuated with the unique existence of Vlad.

After all, would you normally see a normal boy being able to fight against a large gang?

And the moment Vlad was known to the public, the girl always found herself listening to the news that described his horrific deeds.

Vlad wasn't a true hero since his actions were extremely brutal and violent, but to the people he saved, he was their own hero that rescued them from the pits of hell.

As Vlad continued to destroy the corrupted and wicked people, as well as rescuing kidnapped people, the girl realized that most of the kidnapped people were either discarded or sold by people close to them. There were also various orphans and elderly amongst them.

All of them have no places known to return, causing them to wander aimlessly on the streets.

At this rate, their lives wouldn't be much different than before.

The girl desperately tried various means to tell Vlad about this issue. Fortunately, Vlad soon went to meet with her.

Vlad had already known this serious problem, but he was clueless on how to really solve it.

After meeting with Vlad, the girl realized that he was just a young boy that was about the same age as her.

Upon this revelation, the girl was further amazed and devoted over Vlad. She then started to explain her plan to him who listened carefully.

The girl proposed a plan to build a home for the kidnapped people. A plan to help them have the ability to survive and sustain themselves. The home was actually a company that will not only help themselves, but also their benefactor who saved them.

Actually, the girl was also homeless since she ran away from her home. She was a noble lady from a wealthy family that dealt with various major businesses.

Of course, Vlad expressed his doubts about her own capabilities. This plan wasn't guaranteed to succeed. Yet the girl was very confident about her money making talent and luck that was even praised by her entire clan.

The only issue was money to build the foundation of the company. They also needed talents.

The girl possessed a lot of money, but it wasn't enough to start the company she envisioned.

Vlad decided to give her a huge amount of funds to start with. If it went successful, he would give her more funds to use. Vlad didn't care much since the funds he gave her were from the corrupted officials and Scorpion Gang.

The girl explained that the main theme of the company would be about his image. To Vlad, it sounded like a cult that would worship him.

But upon thinking about it, the image of Vlad already sounds captivating. It was fairly popular in Sunset Town and its nearby areas. In addition, Vlad's background of a normal boy warring against the corrupted side of reality would definitely attract the attention of people. It was a good plan to sell products that had stories behind them.

However, this plan of using his image would also bring many risks to them. To counter that, the girl simply said they weren't openly gonna support Vlad, but would merely act as a company that took advantage of his popularity. It was like selling spider man's costumes in the world of spider man. Their company would also add other supporting or even villain characters besides Vlad.

Yes, that was her plan.

The company would first sell comics, novels, toys, etc. The main goal for now was to sell entertainment stuff to catch the interest of people.

In the end, Vlad decided to agree to the girl's plan.

He then asked for the name of the company.

But the girl simply asked for his own opinion.

"Red Rose."

That was the name that Vlad decided with after remembering the favorite flower of his sister.

The girl was happy with that name. She promised her best for the success of the company.

After that meeting, the girl gathered the kidnapped people under her wings before strictly training them to reveal their unpolished talents.

Due to her strictness, she was able to let their talents reveal. But since the starting point of their company was comics, she prioritized people that had drawing talents and creative minds to create a comic about Vlad. To do that, they interviewed Vlad about his own experiences. After a while, they left with nauseous faces from the extremely detailed interview.

Aside from that, the girl created a snack shop called 'Red Rose Garden' with the help of talented bakerist and experienced drink makers.

The 'Red Rose Garden' was filled with different kinds of delicious snacks and drinks that were unique. All of them were designed with cute cartoonish arts. Apart from the snacks and drinks, this was the only place to buy the comics. It was even possible to read inside the shop for a better experience.

In just a short time, the snack shop and first comic exploded in popularity for their uniqueness. The comic was extremely popular due to its intense story and good artwork. After finishing it, people were already going mad for the next volume of the comic. After all, this world lacked good entertainment. This was even more true for the normal people.

From the snack shop that swiftly flourished due to the popular variety of menus and comics, Red Rose gradually expanded into other business fields. They were able to quickly enter new fields because the kidnapped people possessed all kinds of hidden talents.

There was now a restaurant shop, blacksmith shop, tailor shop, and dojo temple that received lessons from Vlad himself.

It was even more evident to the blacksmiths that inherited Hu Yu's Blacksmith Shop.

All of the shops complemented each other's businesses. These shops even began to make special items related to the comics like Vlad's costumes, figurines, pillow cases, real cosplay weapons, etc.

Due to their rapid success, Red Rose also earned the capability to begin expanding into other nearby towns and small cities.

Vlad was extremely stunned upon seeing the success of Red Rose. He was impressed by all of their abilities. As for his money from the Red Rose, the girl handed him a bank account that contained all of his money.

And thanks to Red Rose acting like an intelligence network, Vlad was able to smoothly find corrupted officials and gangsters to eliminate them. He was also able to protect them from troubles. Still It wasn't needed since they have guards from the dojo temple of Red Rose.

However, Vlad silently vanished into obscurity when he eliminated every wicked and corrupt person of Sunset Town.

"I know that you're still out there… fighting against the unfairness of this world."

The girl silently recalled the awakening ceremony that every six-year-old child undergoes. She hasn't awakened herself yet. It was likely the same for Vlad, too.

That's why she was certain Vlad was undergoing his awakening ceremony somewhere.

"If he awakens, I wonder how much Vlad would become stronger…?"

The girl called Ning Shui shook excited from that thought.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Leaving the chamber, Tang Wulin looked very disappointed upon learning the name of his martial soul.

He then remembered the scary boy from before.

"I wonder what happened to him?"

Tang Wulin grew somewhat curious, but upon remembering that fierce expression that resembled a wild lion, he felt his back covered with cold sweat.

"I'm sure he awakened something very scary and fierce! I'm sure of it!"

Tang Wulin then wondered if he was born with a fierce face, would he awaken a fierce martial soul?

He stared at his Bluesilver Grass that looked slender and beautiful with specks of resplendent aquatic blue lights floating around it.

His martial soul looked very feminine. It was also a trash martial soul…

Tang Wulin was further depressed upon remembering that even his face was girlish.

He then thought of the beastly physique of the boy from before.

"Alright! I'll workout to become a true man!!"

A blazing determination ignited within his eyes. He doesn't want to get mistaken and teased as a girl again!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The man stated that I was a genius for having a rare Body Martial Soul and Full Innate Rank.

I remained unmoved by his praises since there was still a chance for me to still easily die if I ever encountered a threat beyond my level. However, It was very fortunate that I was able to awaken with a rare Martial Soul and Full Innate Rank.

The Soul Master invited me to join the Spirit Pagod. I declined his offer since I still haven't decided on whether to join an organization or not since there was a possibility it would affect my future plans for revenge.

So for the time being, I decided to join the Red Mountain Academy to learn proper knowledge about Soul Masters.

I still held my expressionless face, but I still couldn't believe that I got a Full Innate Rank.

"The Poison Blood Refinement really worked…"

I was glad to see the pains I've suffered not turning useless.

I'm now a Soul Master.

A distant dream that no one from my family was able to achieve.

If my parents, sister, Tang Jin, and Hu Yu were still alive, would they have been very proud of me?

Would they throw a celebration party and boast about it?

I didn't know.

Various imaginations ran through my mind, but it just made me feel pain.

My martial soul was a Spirit Heart. I tried to recall the martial souls that everyone from my family awakened.

"Strange, I can't remember their martial souls…"

I just felt my head blanking out when trying to remember their martial souls. It was even accompanied by pangs of uncanny pain.

I soon left the chamber and went down the stairs. The boy I met previously, I managed to come across him.

The two of us glanced at each other for a moment before he sighed dejectedly.

I was able to feel the soul power signature coming from him, so why did he become depressed?

In the end, it was none of my business, so I stopped caring about him.

I went to look around for a great place to stay for several years. After working for a year, I still possessed a huge sum of money when excluding the profits I received from Red Rose.

After looking for a while, I soon stayed inside a large inn that had every necessities I needed. It also has a free kitchen I can use to cook my own nutritional foods.

As soon as I entered my room, I saw a large comfortable bed, and a personal bathroom.

I quickly sat down on the bed while inwardly feeling excited to try out my Spirit Heart.

Today, I wanted to try out my martial soul and explore its functions.

Firstly, I tried meditating with my eyes closed shut. As I submerged in total darkness, I saw specks of lights gradually filling the darkness.

I felt my mind getting sucked deeply into something within this darkness.

As the feeling grew intense, I saw myself suddenly appearing inside of my own mind. I didn't know how it was possible, but it came to me as naturally as breathing.

Before my eyes, I saw a boundless chaotic sea of red lights that stretched everywhere.

This place was inside of my mind.

As I gazed at it, I could feel a strange faint sensation that filled parts of the sea of red lights.

The aura of death.

Since I've already died, I realized my mind was tainted slightly by death. If it was fully tainted, it signified I was really already dead.

Fortunately, I was able to forcefully revive myself before it could happen.

At the very middle of the ocean, I saw a vague silhouette of a human figure that resembled myself. It was getting washed from the waves of the chaotic red sea.

The human figure didn't have facial features. It was completely transparent and barely visible except for the crimson heart that was beating firmly and sharply within its chest as a dense network of red lines spread out from it.

That heart was my Martial Soul.

In contrast to the chaotic red sea of solemn death, this martial soul was beating with vigorous life.

As my martial soul got slowly washed by the waves of death, I could feel it getting tainted with the attribute of death. At the same time, the martial soul also gave life to the sea with every wave.

The contrasting attributes were influencing and reacting to each other, causing strange changes to occur on both of my martial soul and mind.

With death, life flourish. With life, death flourish.

I felt like those words were becoming clearer to me.

As I wondered what kind of change would occur later on, I looked at the sky and saw it was completely filled with ominous darkness.

I could feel something foreign within the darkness, but I couldn't see it.

Since I wanted to experiment with my martial soul, I quickly touched the Spirit Heart to summon it.

As I summoned my Spirit Heart, I felt my chest growing warmer and warmed with heat coursing my entire body. I soon felt my body growing stronger and lighter than before.

It felt extremely comfortable.

"Why does my Spirit Heart already have two abilities?"

I was able to understand the abilities of my Spirit Heart. And I didn't know the exact reason, but my Spirit Heart already has its own inherent abilities despite having not attached a spirit ring.

It was born innate, so I decided to call it natal abilities.

I think the natal abilities might be born from the life and death within me.

The two natal abilities were split into active ability and passive ability.

The passive natal ability was always active without consuming anything. On the other hand, the active natal ability consumed something in exchange to activate. The two natal abilities were reliant on each other.

However, the active natal ability wasn't complete yet because my martial soul's Life-Death Mutation wasn't complete yet. Only the passive natal ability was complete.

If I were to describe how the two natal abilities work in one word, it was Rage.

After examining the natal abilities, I took out a dagger from my bag before stabbing it into my hand.

Thud!

The sound of metal clashing with metal resounded.

I looked at my hand, seeing a small cut appearing on my skin.

My Spirit Heart wasn't limited to my heart alone since it included my circulatory system that runs throughout my body. In simple words, my arteries, veins, and capillaries would become as hard as steel. Therefore, it granted me a reinforced circulatory system, increasing my durability, as well as increasing the overall resistance of my body and brain.

And since my entire body was made from dense materials, it meant I have an extremely dense amount of blood vessels compared to normal people in order to properly supply blood.

That's why my entire body was able to become incredibly hard. If I get stronger, It would grow even harder.

I then tried to manipulate the soul power within me, but something strange quickly happened.

My soul power began to dissipate as soon as it left my body. I couldn't externally release my soul power out.

"Why can't I release it…?"

I was puzzled at this strange phenomenon that was unheard of before. However, that puzzlement soon turned into visible panic as I saw the cold force escaping from my heart after reacting to the soul power.

I was now able to clearly discern the appearance of the cold force. It took the form of a thick sludge that was like the manifestation of darkness itself.

The cold force entered the energy channels before purging out the soul power that flowed across the channels. All of the cold force then gathered into the dantian, forcefully scattering my main source of soul power, while the cold force finally took position within the empty dantian and started to flow throughout the energy channels.

It didn't bring any positive changes since the cold force began eating some of the scattered soul power.

9th Innate Rank.

8th Innate Rank.

.

.

.

.

.

.

5th Innate Rank!

4th Innate Rank!

I could sense that my soul power was about to vanish.

Why!?

Why is this happening!?!?

As my rank fell to the point of oblivion, I could feel myself becoming extremely mad.

This was very infuriating.

Will I turn into a cripple!?

As my rage and frustration intensified, I saw the remaining soul power and my Spirit Heart.

In blazing rage, I furiously controlled the remaining soul power to gather toward my Spirit Heart. At the same time, I could feel my skin 'opening' to absorb a lot of energy from the atmosphere.

I felt my Spirit Heart swelling painfully as it absorbed a colossal amount of soul power to gather within it.

This was the same process as the Poison Blood Refinement!

I clenched my teeth before using the Steel Breathing Method to constantly remain in the optimal state.

It hastened my absorption speed of the energy from the atmosphere.

A change was ragefully occurring inside of me again.

My blood essence was gradually transforming after intertwining with the pouring soul power!

It produced a kind of chaotic reaction with each other.

Fortunately, I knew my Spirit Heart and circulatory system were currently reinforced to be hard as steel. It was able to endure the chaotic reaction brought by my blood essence and soul power.

I could feel my Spirit Heart rapidly adapting to the chaotic reaction of my blood essence and soul power that wrecked everything.

It was beginning to evolve.

My Spirit Heart began to beat louder and louder like a raging volcano. It glowed brightly with crimson light as the charred burnt skin on my chest began lightning up like a scorching sun.

The pain soon began to recede as my Spirit Heart started to pump a new type of blood that brought immense power and energy into my body.

The existence of blood essence and soul power was already gone from my body.

I panted heavily while examining the new changes of my body.

Soul Blood!

It was the name of the new blood that my Spirit Heart was now pumping across my body.

Soul Blood was the combination of soul power and blood essence. Its power was not doubled, but instead squared upon the successful combination.

Instead of the dantian and energy channels, it was now stored within my heart and blood vessels. If it was inactive, it would just remain inside of my heart, but when activated, it would flow throughout my blood vessels like a river that I have no way to control.

My Spirit Heart mutated!

As for my rank…

I gasped upon checking it.

"Negative 5th Innate Rank…!?"

I knew there was no such thing as negative rank…

"Crazy."

What was this?

I was puzzled beyond reason.

And despite being 5th rank…

"I'm not any weaker than Full Innate Soul Power Rank!"

...

Please donate on my kofi.com/ishyawrites! I really need money for my coffee boost to write! !