Traitor Of Humanity 50 Tribulation Of Death's Calling

On one weekend afternoon...

In one of the rooms on the second floor of a certain 3 story house...

The room was covered in pink wallpaper, with sky blue hydrangea flower designs, from the walls to the ceiling. The pieces of furniture in the room are also of the same shades, being either pink or light blue.

Some books rest atop a desk, next to a number of beauty products and some scented candles. One of the doors of a large wardrobe was left slightly open, and through that gap, one can see many cute articles of clothing hanging on the rack, and many pieces of jewelry spread on the bench below. Next to the wardrobe is a large and glossy mirror, capable of reflecting a person's figure from head to toe.

Overall, it is a very girly room.

On a big and bouncy-looking, pale pink bed, sat a pretty girl in a pretty pink dress. Her silky black hair flows all the way past her waist and onto the bed sheet. If she were standing, she would be about 155 centimeters tall. Her body is slim, but her figure is modest. The most noticeable part of her, is her protruding belly. With one look, anyone would be able tell that she is carrying a child within her.

There is a worried look on her face as she caresses her belly with one of her hands. Her other hand is holding a small gla.s.s...o...b.. smaller than an eyeball, blue in color, and with what looks to be some sparks of electricity within.

She is speaking to a handsome young man sitting besides her. This young man is taller than her, looking to be about 165 centimeters tall. The two of them each have an identical golden ring on their left ring fingers, proof that they are a married couple.

"Seth, promise me that if I die, you'll save our baby..." The girl said in a sad tone. She is still ma.s.saging her belly, thinking of the unborn life within.

"Uh... I promise. But like I said, Nala, you won't die. There is a very low chance of that." The young man said, trying to comfort his wife.

The girl that was speaking in a sad tone is the 15 year old Nala Zefer, and the young man comforting her is the 14 year old Seth Zefer. They are currently in Nala's room. Seth's room is right next door.

3 years ago, when they had first promised to get married, Nala was still a few centimeters taller than Seth. But after they both became teenagers, Seth had entered a growth spurt and quickly grew taller than her.

Less than a year after they had settled down in dark ash city, Seth and Nala held their wedding.

It was not a big wedding, as they had only invited their relatives from Haradur city, and the few friends that they made in school after arriving in the city. Besides them, the only other people whom came to the wedding, were the old doctor Liao, or elder Liao of the Savant Snake alchemic school, and the nanny who raised Seth back when he was a baby, during a time when his mother was still depressed.

But no matter how small the wedding was, having an official wedding still made Nala really happy. In the mortal city where she was born, many couples whom don't have enough money would get married without holding any public celebrations. In the eyes of the bride, that is too pitiable a wedding.

The reason that the two of them still have their own rooms despite having gotten married, is simply for the sake of convenience. For Seth, it is easier to train in his martial cultivation technique in a room all to himself, as his training usually makes quite a bit of noise. While for Nala, it is easier for her to focus on her magic cultivation in a quiet environment. Thankfully, the walls of this house are pretty thick.

During the nights, Seth would usually sleep with Nala in her room.

Less than 2 years after their wedding, Nala became pregnant with Seth's child.

Currently, she is in her final month of pregnancy. Their child could be born any time during the next few weeks.

As for what Nala was talking about just now, about that "If I die..."; That actually has to do with her breakthrough from the 2nd stage of cultivation, the heroic bearings stage, to the 3rd stage, the escaping fatality stage.

After every 2 stages in the cultivation system of the people in this world, there is a Destiny Tribulation.

As the name implies, a destiny tribulation is a tribulation that decides one's destiny. If the cultivator can pa.s.s it, they can reach the next stage and gain a new power(s). But if they fail it, they will die.

The tribulation that a human cultivator would have to go through after reaching the peak of the heroic bearings stage is called, "The Tribulation of Death's Calling".

Once this tribulation is initiated, the cultivator will enter into a state similar to a deep sleep. It is a sleep that if the cultivator is not able to forcibly wake himself or herself up from, then they will never wake up.

The call of death grabs at your soul, and pulls you into a bottomless abyss. Your connection with your body grows dim, to the point that you'll barely be able to feel it. All you have left is the strength of your mind and your will to live! ...These few sentences pretty much sum up this silent but deadly tribulation.

Depending on how well the cultivator fulfill the conditions, he or she can awake at any time within the 24 hours after the tribulation of death's calling is initiated. Though, that also means that 24 hours is the limit. After that, the cultivator would be certain to be dead.

This was the same bottleneck that Merab Zefer had been stuck at for a good several years, and was only able to pa.s.s after the battle with the bandits. For those several years prior, the chance of success he could sense with his eye of forewarning death, was too low for him to dare risk his life on. To be more accurate, what he sensed was the high chance of death he would have if he undertakes his tribulation.

This was not due to his mind being weak.

The strength of a person's mind is dependent on that person's way of living and how stubborn he is. It can be affected to a limited degree by the strength of the body, and is the defense necessary to resist death's pull, to buy the time necessary to struggle your way to survival.

The man known as Merab Zefer had a really strong and stubborn mind. His low chance at pa.s.sing his tribulation was due to his will to live being too weak.

Here, the "will to live" does not refer to the desire to not die. It refers to the desire to press on in life. Although they may sound similar, they are not the same. It is the difference between one being "pa.s.sive resistance" and other being "active resistance".

To make an example, this pa.s.sive resistance is like when a man comes running at you with his sword pointed at your chest. In fear, you either turn to run away and eventually get stabbed in the back, or you block with your arms and eventually get both your arms and your chest stabbed through.

Meanwhile, active resistance is when even if there are no weapons besides you for you to pick up, you raise your fists and fight back against your a.s.sailant, no matter how low your chances are of winning without a weapon.

This will to live is the breakthrough point necessary to break death's hold on your soul. It is the key to getting through the tribulation of death's calling, and is affected by one thing only, how much you look forward to the future.

In the past, Merab Zefer did not have much to look forward to, despite being the leader of a large family in a mortal city.

He wanted to rise as a cultivator, by breaking through to the immortal stages, but that was simply a distant and vague ambition of his. It was a dream that he was not willing to toss his pride away for and work for someone richer than himself, let alone one that he would toss his life away for.

Despite having a wife and several concubines and mistresses, there were none among them whom he care so much for that he would want to spend his life together with them. In fact, to him, all his women are disposable.

The future that he eventually found that he wanted to see, was the future of his sons. This unexpectedly fatherly reason appeared only after he had lost his reproductive capabilities. After acting on his newfound fatherly instincts enough times, by risking his life to defend his sons when they were in mortal danger, he was able to strengthen that desire and use it to breakthrough to the 3rd stage.

Afterwards, he was able to enjoy an increase in strength and life span.

Nala's case is different from Merab Zefer's.

Her strength of mind is not as strong, because her personality is a timid one. There is a limit to how much the personality a person is born with can change, and Seth did not put much effort into changing hers'.

Instead, over the last few years, he fed her enough elixirs to strengthen her body from an ordinary mortal's, to one concealing a physical strength equivalent to that of a peak heroic bearings stage martial artist's. This was done without making her practice any martial cultivation techniques, or any physical training, so it can be imagined how costly it was. Even very few of the rich families in most immortal cities can afford to do that.

Unlike her personality however, Nala's will to live is plenty strong.

She was able marry the first boy she ever fell in love with. Her family is healthy and alive, and although the earlier part of her childhood was bit oppressive, she has almost no complaints about her current life at all. If it were not for this tribulation of death's calling, she would have no reason to even consider the thought of death. Unfortunately, back when her hometown was attacked by bandits, she learned how important personal power is in this world. She knows that she has to pa.s.s this tribulation even if she does not want to risk her life.

If she had to mention a complaint she has in this life... It is that her husband would occasionally flirt with other girls, right in front of her eyes. Unfortunately, that can't be helped, since this is a world that allows something as annoying as polygamy. Every man who is at least a little bit rich would have at least 2 partners. ...At most, she would only just give her husband a kick when he flirts.

As for her dreams... despite how docile she looks, Nala is actually quite a greedy girl.

She wants to live in the best house, in the best room. The one she is living in now is the tallest and finest one that was available for purchase in the Savant Snake alchemic school's territory 3 years ago.

She wants to wear the prettiest clothes and jewelry. Her wardrobe is large, and packed to the brim. The amount of money she spent on clothing, jewelry, and the beauty products imported from supreme cities, in the last few years, would be enough to stun any of the ladies of the rich families in dark ash city if they knew. Of course, the more she spends, the more those very kind people that Gelard gets money from would lose...

She wants to taste the tastiest foods. If it were not for Seth casually saying that he will dump her if she were to get fat, she would probably have turned into a chubby not long after she arrived in this immortal city, which has a greater variety of dishes than her hometown.

Although she does not have any specific dreams, she wants to continue to follow Seth and let him bring her to new and richer worlds.

The most important factor however, is the baby currently in Nala's womb.

There are times when the instincts of the body, overwhelm the strength of the mind.

With an unborn life inside her, her body's maternal instincts would flare up the moment she starts her tribulation and falls into a state of half-death. Without her noticing, it would add to her will to live, and significantly raise her chance of overcoming her tribulation.

The only drawback is that if she fails, her baby will die with her...

That is why she did not agree until Seth told her that if they wait until the last month of her pregnancy for her to undergo her tribulation, then if she dies, he will still be able to save their child by cutting it out of her womb.

This factor is one of the reasons why, among those powerful and G.o.ddess-like female cultivators higher up the hierarchy, only a very small percentage of them are still pure of body. It's a fact that breaks the dreams of many men...

Nala's eyes gradually put on a drowsy look, as her body leaned against Seth's chest. She said in a sleepy voice, "Seth, what you said back then... About how you would dump me if I turn fat... That was a lie, right?".

Wrapping his arms around his wife, Seth thought about his answer. He did not want to lie, not at this moment.

"Love between a man and a woman is first built upon outer appearance. If the appearance of the other is not, at the very least, acceptable to the eyes, then love will not sprout." After saying that with a factual tone, he continued in a upbeat voice. "But even if Nala were to get a little bit chubbier, you will still be just as cute. So that's fine. How about, after you pa.s.s your tribulation, we go for a dessert buffet?"

With her eyes closing, Nala made a weak reply. "Okay, you promised..."

Before falling silent, she spoke some final words with the sweetest tone. "Seth, I love you..."

Then, her body lost all its strength, as if she had merely fallen asleep.

"..." Without saying anything, Seth gently caressed her head.

Squeak Squeak

It was then that the sound of kitty paws walking across the floorboards sounded within this silent room.

Gelard appeared, with a unhappy expression on his little kitty face. "So, stupid master, how much of a chance does Nala have?"

The gentle look on Seth's face gradually turned grim.