The growls of the magical beasts inside the gorge made Noah experience their feelings, he stopped his flight as he immersed himself in those sensations.
He knew them too well.
The yearning for freedom, something that he had fought so much to obtain, but that was still threatened by the many enemies that he had made along his path.
He knew what it meant to be the best of your kind but still unable to escape the grasp of beings far stronger than you, he had felt that helplessness often in his life.
To put it simply, he empathized with the beasts trapped inside that place.
'Yet, I don't yearn for the light, my path can only lead me deeper in the darkness.'
Noah thought as he closed his eyes, the only thing that his mind could perceive were the growls of the beasts.
'You were just following your nature, someone or something else has forced you to suffer because of its needs.'
A tinge of anger formed inside Noah, both his human and dragon side could sympathize with that situation.
The Cursed dragon species had been deprived of its reproductive capacity and wings, confined in a cage that it couldn't escape, forced to see its heritage dwindle over time.
Noah had been treated as a prisoner for most of his life, his efforts had always been seen as a feature to exploit rather than as something to nourish.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt'They made a mistake too.'
Noah realized when his reasoning reached that point.
The Balvan family, the Elbas family, Daniel, the soldiers of the Empire, even the orthodox organizations in the Coral archipelago, they all made the mistake of underestimating him.
They all thought to be in control of the small human cultivator that was Noah Balvan.
'It's as if my essence spreads to whatever comes in contact with me, a mistake that generates mistakes wherever it goes.'
The others in Noah's group managed to notice that something was wrong with him when they raised their gazes from the gorge, some of them were about to speak, but Elder Hope promptly stopped them with a gesture.
'When something that shouldn't exist affects the world, chaos is born.'
Traces of a smile appeared on Noah's face, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when he reviewed the positive influence that he had through his life.
The guard without a future found a worthy disciple to nurture;
The solitary girl who had lost faith in her family was entrusted of a power that even middle-size noble families didn't have;
The ruined cultivator who spent his days fighting his endless pain obtained an heir that could fulfill his dreams;
A nation on the verge of collapse left a grain of hope in his hands;
An organization that hid under the surface was finally able to rise to power and claim its independence;
An almost extinct species flew once again in the sky and shouted its anger toward Heaven and Earth.
'I am the first one, the human destined to be a commoner, but that ended up as a monster to defy his fate. Why would I despair if darkness surrounds me?'
His aptitude had caused most of Noah's problems, his element was his curse but also the reason why he managed to shine so brightly among his peers.
'If darkness surrounds me, I will just turn it into my darkness! My essence is devoid of Heaven and Earth's will, I don't have to abide by their laws!'
Noah's aura changed slightly right under his companion's gazes, the coldness and savagery that he exuded diminished in intensity, it was as if a dark veil began to cover his existence.
'Chaos spreads whenever I take a step, what I touch leaves the predetermined fate chosen by Heaven and Earth. My darkness won't bind nor hide, it will create paths where there is only void instead! Because a mistake can live and void can exist, and it will affect the world around it.'
Something inside Noah changed when he reached that point in his thoughts.
'Spending so much time taking lives makes you forget about those that you give. In the same way, focusing too much on destruction makes you forget that you can create, even if you have been creating things all along.'
Noah opened his eyes after those thoughts, he felt the eyes of the elders fixed on him, but he didn't care, he had to give another look at the dark gorge.
Growls resounded unceasingly from the depths of the canyon, Noah could almost see himself being forever trapped in a similar place by the hands of a power that he couldn't match.
He knew that he could have ended in the same way and that such a chance still existed, but that was the very reason why he had managed to gain some understanding from their situation.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm'I'll trail the paths that have been taken from you. If darkness has been made to blind and destroy, I'll be a darkness that illuminates and creates. Your desperation won't be wasted.'
Noah felt a bit of gratitude toward those beasts even if he knew that they were just following their instincts, their growls were never meant for the enlightenment of a cultivator.
Yet, Noah wasn't a simple cultivator, he was a hybrid who could relate with their situation.
The understanding that he had just obtained didn't only concern the laws of the darkness element, it even explored the depths of his individuality.
He had always thought to be only a destroyer, someone that kept on severing what appeared in front of him to advance.
He had always neglected what remained intact after his passage, he had never managed to see what he created, the paths that he forged.
"Prince?"
Elder Hope probed when she saw that Noah heaved a sigh and moved his gaze away from the gorge.
"What is it?"
Noah asked, his voice was calm as his eyes crossed Hope's, it was as if he was unaware that he had just stopped flying in the enemy territory for a while.
She felt as if she was staring at an abyss, his mental energy concealed the proprieties of his aura, but everything about him was visible.
'Darkness that doesn't act like darkness.'
Elder Hope thought before shaking her head and resuming her flight, the other elders shot a quick look at Noah before following her.
Noah didn't have anything else to do in that place and followed her too.
His mind though wasn't on the environment under him, but it studied the basis behind the creation of spells instead.