The Martial Unity - Chapter 4: Orphanage

Starting from today, I am retired. But what should I be doing? I neither have the skills, nor the mind to do business, my only advantage is this pair of hands which have taken this world. What a headache…

Note: The usage of the term “retired” here doesn’t mean retiring from old age, work etc. It’s a specific term to refer to not involving oneself in the affairs of a certain society.

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It was supposed to be a perfect deal in which both parties got what they needed. However, after the child was born, he tore up the agreement with discontent and told her, “Who said that we’d only have one child? I want twins! Twin brother and sister! You’ll continue giving birth to more children until you bore me a pair of twins!”

Shuu is a member of the literary club that can’t write. One day, he gets a mysterious message on his phone from a girl called Eina, and from that impulsive contact, they begin to exchange messages. They talk of things like their shared interest in novels and grow close. However, when they try and meet, they discover a shocking truth. Eina lives… not in the present, but five years in the past! How will their love develop, parted by five years of nights…!?

Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn’t even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late.Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge (2022)Notes on cultivation levels:There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages.1. Body Tempering2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars)3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars)4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars)5. Ascension