My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1014: Chapter 1016: Path Of Kings Carries Demon

"Where is he going?" Damon asked as Mugu began to walk away from the village, carrying nothing but the sword the knight had tossed to him.

He walked like a dead man, moving in the opposite direction from where Abellona had been taken. Hot tears streamed down his face, but he did not wipe them away.

Damon watched in silence, then slowly shook his head.

’I was wrong. He is not like me.’

Ashcroft’s voice came without hesitation. ’He is far braver than you. And far more foolish. You love at a distance, always careful to protect yourself from what can hurt you. Mugu does not. He loves with everything and burns for it.’

Ashcroft paused.

’In that regard, perhaps you and I are similar.’

Damon let out a dry chuckle. That was a strange compliment coming from someone who was scheming to take over his body. Damon was already aware of that and had measures in place. Speaking of his body, he could no longer sense his shadow clone. And the capsule in his shadow storage. It had better still be there.

Mugu wandered for days.

He walked without direction until his legs gave out and he collapsed from exhaustion. He spotted a mushroom near his face, picked it, and ate it. Damon worried it might be poisonous, but it was not. It only tasted bitter.

During those days, Damon tried to possess Mugu again but failed. Whatever was happening now was part of the fixed story.

Three days later, Mugu stumbled into a town. He looked haggard, like a beggar. His clothes were dirty. The sword he carried had lost its shine.

He sat under a patch of shade along an unpaved road and listened to people talk as they passed.

"The flea market opened again. Someone offended a noble and got his head blown off."

"Speaking of nobles, I heard the crown prince got a new wife."

"Really? That is his fourth one. Where did you hear that?"

"From a traveling merchant."

"Hope she does not end up dead like the last three."

"Most likely. I heard she screamed the whole night when the crown prince took her. Poor girl will not survive the abuse."

Mugu’s shoulders trembled. His eyes widened.

He stood and tried to cross the road, but a carriage rushed past and knocked him down. He was too weak, too tired, too broken.

He lay at the side of the road as the sun beat down on him.

Tears streamed into the dirt.

He did not move.

By evening, the sunlight faded. A shadow fell over him. An old woman stood there with a basket of buns. The scent reached his nose before her voice did.

"Hey, laddie. Have a bun."

Mugu did not respond.

"It is pointless. I have no reason to live. Just let me die here as the nameless nobody I am."

The old woman frowned gently. "I do not believe that. You do not need a reason to live. Even a nobody is still someone."

She pressed a bun against his mouth until he reluctantly took a bite.

"Tell me what caused such hopelessness in one so young."

He chewed slowly, swallowed, and let out a bitter laugh.

"My childhood sweetheart was taken by the crown prince. And I can do nothing. I have no power. I do not matter. I can only hate, and my hatred means nothing before huge swords and tower shields. I want to save her, but I cannot."

The old woman shook her head.

"There is nothing that is impossible."

Mugu stared at the darkening sky as the first stars appeared.

"Nobles train their knights in secret so boys like me can never rise. Peasants like us will always depend on them. We give and give. They take and take."

She looked at him for a long moment.

"That will not always be so. I had a grandson. He died in the flea market a few days ago because a noble did not like the way he looked."

She took a breath.

"Shall I tell you of a place?"

Mugu glanced at her.

"Far beyond the sea, on the war continent of Soltheon, past a terrible mountain filled with horrors, there lies a city like paradise. A city of learning and legend. They say anyone who reaches that city and learns can become a sage, a hero, or a king. Power beyond mortal limits."

Mugu’s eyes sharpened.

She smiled faintly.

"This place is real. But normal people cannot reach it. The path of kings. Lysithara."

"Lysithara," Mugu whispered.

She nodded.

"They say the city does not care where you were born or who your father is. Only your desire to learn matters."

A tear rolled down her wrinkled cheek.

"My grandson wanted to go there. He wanted to change the world. But peasants cannot make the journey. The road is filled with monsters and bandits. Nobles block the ports. And no one crosses the sea without their permission. A place where nobility is earned is not a place nobles want commoners to reach."

She sighed.

"It is best to move on. You will find another girl. Live another life. Have children. You will only suffer if you chase this dream."

Mugu’s eyes began to glow.

Damon had never seen anything like it. There was a fire there that refused to die.

"So what if she was taken," Mugu said quietly. "I will become strong. I will save her."

He stood up.

"I will go to Lysithara."

The old woman blinked in surprise.

"It might not even exist."

"I will go to Lysithara."

She studied him for a long moment, then slowly reached into her basket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

It was a hand-drawn map.

She gave him some clothes and a small bag of supplies.

Two days later, at dawn, Mugu left the town.

He walked with the sword at his side and the map in his hands.

And though no one in that era knew it yet, this boy would reach Lysithara.

And the world would never be the same.