Divine Path System

For the first time in his life, Netchaz was unsure how to reply.

Varian didn’t make any movements to show that he really intended peace.

Taking that gap as an opportunity, one of the pirates nearby raised her hand and conjured a spinning fire wheel.

The sizzling fires reached Varian’s back in a blink. The tongues of the fire wheel’s flames turned blue before touching him, reaching a ridiculously high temperature, promising to melt his bones upon contact.

Netchaz noticed the attack and held his breath. But what happened next made his heart stop for a moment.

Varian grabbed that fire wheel and channeled his water power. “Heater? How generous.”

The flames looked the same but their temperature dropped to a comfortable degree.

Varian rubbed the flames between his palms like one would do around a campfire on a cold night and grinned.

Looking at the prince staring at him in utter shock, he smiled, a bit embarrassed but not at all apologetic. “I always wanted to do this, it’s kinda cool, right?”

Netchaz’s mind kicked back into action and his thoughts raced faster than lightning.

The one who attacked him was a level 9 fire awakener. That woman was pretty famous in the group and was touted to become a sovereign in a year or two. If he could discard her attack so easily, then he must be a celestial ranker.

Celestials weren’t that rare in Havoc tribe. But they’re head and shoulders above everyone else.

Despite all his achievements, Netchaz was still a Sovereign. Even his best hopes of reaching the celestial rank would be in 7 years.

‘No one here can take on him.’

Netchaz made a signal with his fingers and every havoc member fell silent and showed a peaceful front to this man they just tried to kill.

“Why did you blow up my ship?” He asked, not too forceful but certainly not with any subservience.

“You have to believe me when I say it’s a technical issue.” Varian said with an innocent expression, like it’s actually him who’s tricked and suffered a loss, not the young master who lost his prized spaceship.

“Let’s say I did believe it, what do you intend to do about the loss you caused?” Netchaz asked after a short silence.

Varian pursed his lips and then shrugged. “I’ll pay up. But I’ll need some time as I don’t have any cash on me for now. Of course, if you don’t believe me, the only way is to follow me to the spaceport—”

“I believe you.” Netchaz suddenly replied and gave him a deep stare before jumping into one of the other ships.

“Hey, wait! Where can I find you if I want to pay?”

The spaceships shot off into the distance and only his voice echoed. “When we meet again.”

“Was he angry or speaking casually?” Varian rubbed his face in confusion and looked over his shoulders. “I thought he’d explode, but he’s calm, so I can’t tell if he’s really good or bad.”

“Master, I have a bad feeling about that guy.” A little hologram projected on his left shoulder and spoke in a concerned tone.

“Me too. He has a lot of blood on his hands.” An energy body of a pair of wings on his right shoulder and echoed the sentiment.

“How much blood do I have on my hands then?” Varian asked rhetorically and the little wings, Oob, fell silent.

If the prince was standing in a lake of blood, then Varian would be above an ocean, no, even an entire ocean wouldn’t be enough to contain the bloodshed he caused.

“I’m not here to pick fights. Just buy the ingredients, get artifacts repaired, drag those little beasts and not let humans get massacred by our neighbors.” Varian glanced at the two in the spaceship off handedly and muttered. “Whatever fights happen here, I don’t care.”

“…”

“…”

Oob and Boo both stared at him with obvious musing.

After not so long, Varian sighed and walked into the spaceship with apparently reluctant steps. .

Ash, who was crying over his dying Uncle, was startled and looked up at this foreigner who even scared away those pirates.

“Only limbs are torn?” Varian looked a bit disappointed by the level of injury. “Waste of my healing prowess, to be honest.”

Even so, a green light flashed enveloped the Captain. The torn arms and hands in the spaceship were pulled back and reattached in a blink. The bleeding stopped, his pale face started to regain color.

In just a minute, the Captain opened his eyes and gasped like a fish out of water. “Ahhh…Fuck, I thought I died.”

Varian gave him an amused glance and took a seat near the pilot space. “I didn’t help out of kindness, drop met at the spaceport in exchange for healing you.”

‘Master is trying to put up that act, again!’ Boo chuckled in the corner like a little kid that caught an adult doing a mistake.

‘Of course…he’s trying to play the ruthless Emperor role. As a ruler who only thinks objectively every time and won’t let kindness lead to future problems.’ Little wings shook slightly.

It had understood his transformation more than others.

The war gave everyone a scar. Including Varian. His scar was different from normal. After his experience, he firmly believes that showing kindness could be dangerous. Had the Abyss Emperor been ruthless enough, he’d have won humanity already.

Varian being Varian kept ending up at ‘What if?’ every time he performed an act of kindness that could lead to unfavorable outcomes.

Not noticing the two little guys, Ash helped the Captain to a seat. Thankfully, the pirates didn’t drag them way.

“W-Who’s this guy?” The captain stared at Varian seated in the front with vigilance and confusion.

What happened to the infamous havoc pirates? Did they spare him? Then why did this guy heal him? Just for a trip to spaceport? Bullshit!

“He destroyed one of their ship, they tried to fight him and failed. Then they left.”

“Even him? The young leader failed?” The Captain looked up at Varian with disbelief before turning to his nephew.

Ash shook his head and explained the nuances.

‘A Celestial ranker…’ The Captain’s emotions cooled down. ‘Only someone like that has such power.’

He almost wanted to beg Varian to get his supplies back but held himself back at the last moment.

‘I almost died…what’s some money? I can always earn it back. But this life…fucking life, I don’t want to die. I better quit this shitty business and live in my home planet.’ He decided then and there.

“If you don’t mind, I am in a bit of a hurry, so can we start the journey, already?” Varian turned from the seat and asked with a smile.

“Y-Yes. T-Thank you for saving my life.”

“And mine as well.”

The Captain and Ash thanked him profusely even as they operated the ship and flew them toward the spaceport.

Silence ensued in the spaceship for a while.

“It’s just thirty minutes from here.” Ash said with a nervous chuckle.

He didn’t know how to speak to this guy but he really couldn’t help not speaking.

“Can you tell me more about it?” Varian asked with visible curiosity.

All his information, including his language, were from Boo’s memory. Thankfully, the language was still the same but a spaceport likely wouldn’t remain same after 500 years.

“People don’t go there…I heard. We weren’t supposed to go there either.” Ash told what his Uncle told him just a while ago.

“Why?” Varian pressed for an answer.

“Because of the pirates, of course.” The captain said and took out a small packet of white crystalline powder before offering it to Varian. “This is the most expensive stuff I got. You saved my life, so please take it.”

Varian gave him a strange glance before taking the small packet. He dipped his finger into the powder to check what it actually was. He didn’t have this habit nor did he intend to acquire it, but he was curious about the materials used in this product.

The moment he came into contact with is, his senses screamed dejavu and Varian’s finger instinctively withdrew.

He couldn’t place a finger on it but it reminded him of something unpleasant and harsh, something that really caused him a lot of suffering.

“What is this?” He closed the packet and asked in a not so pleasant tone.

“Everyone in Centaurus knows that stuff!” The Captain’s gaze towards him was full of suspicion. “Who are you?”