DEAD MAN'S JOURNEY

CHAPTER - 4

Now that I check myself, I can say that I wasn't normal anymore.

Superhuman strength, check.

Inhumane regeneration, check.

These two were not the only ones. With some more tries, I learned another ability.

Thermal Vision, check.

With this, I can see heat which is radiated by the living or non-living creatures.

If I am not strong now. Then what was I even before?

Sigh… I watched as the sunlight fell on the ruined city.

I wasn't tired anymore. Didn't know why.

'I guess because I died not long ago.'

My leg had grown again from the lower portion. I am now not even surprised.

But I was hungry. So I stepped out of the house and went outside with caution.

What if there weren't any monsters roaming. No one knows when one might pop up from a corner.

I walked around the roads and streets. In between I encountered a few Big-Foot monsters.

All of them later turned into nothing.

"Can their meat be eaten?"

I murmured. The buildings that still stood erect didn't have any food in them.

Not packed food at all.

Did someone wipe the entire food stock here?

Can be.

I came to the middle area where the huge crater had formed. Blue and clean water was filled there.

My eyes widened in shock not because of that but because I saw an altar down there in the water.

A blue crystal placed in the high, a black glove laid down next to it.

The other glove!

I immediately understood what I needed to do. I ran around and went to hunt something.

Empty stomach was not good.

But hunting another deer was hard. No, finding one here was looking almost impossible.

Instead, I meet with the Big-Foot monster, Hairless monster and the huge Praying Mantis.

"Ahh!"

I was getting frustrated. A day went by as I could not find a single animal to eat.

I went from one place to another while trying to hide from the monsters.

Obviously I was not scared.

It's just too much trouble to deal with them.

Going outside the forest I finally got my hands on a mole that ate the natural vegetables.

Behind a tree, I hid and watched it as my left hand was ready to shoot flames.

Burning it to half death, I feed my stomach with proper meat. And drank the pure water from the glove.

Can I now be a lead in Man Vs Wild?

Well let's not stay in the forest for long. I can already hear and see some very scary creatures.

How do I describe them? Devils? Demons?

They had red bodies with horns and were somewhat human-like.

Some even had wings behind their back.

I didn't go further and returned back to the ruined city for shelter.

The night was the same. Clear sky with very light clouds.

First time here, I had a proper sleep.

* * *

Next day___

I stood in front of the huge crater filled with clean and clear water.

Some normal fishes swam in it. Thankfully there wasn't any monster in it.

"I can do it! Yes!"

I encouraged myself and dived in the water with great courage.

*Splash*

Many people didn't know how to swim but I wasn't among them.

I learned how to swim by myself in a lake. Then slowly I got used to it.

My breath was held in the water as my eyes fully opened to see underwater.

The sunlight helped me a lot as I could almost see everything.

Collapsed ceilings and pillars, cars, houses, roads and many more things were submerged.

In the middle of these was an altar with a stand in between with a blue crystal on the top.

I moved my legs faster and went near it. I saw that the crystal was radiating a brilliant aura.

But I can't touch it just like that.

Looking down beside the stand, I saw the black glove stuck to an iron piece.

Carefully I took the glove and went up to check it once again.

"Haa!"

I breathed in relief as soon as my head came out of the water.

Swimming forward towards ashore. My body felt heavy because of something.

Even though I only have my pants on.

"Let's check it out!"

I wore both the gloves as nothing like the blue light came out.

From the gloves, an energy erupted through my blood vessels which reached my heart.

Don't know if I still had the heart or not.

Thump!

Thump!

Just before my eyes went blank, I heard my heart beat which I missed a lot.

* * *

One of the Seven Wonders.

Name- Floating White Island

Creator- Kabin Babur

Purpose- For his dead wife, Briya Gulab

Design- A Palace that can be the resting point for a life to live peacefully even in the afterlife.

Story-

Once upon a time, in the year 200. An Emperor was born with blue blood.

He created his own empire which slowly started growing larger as the years went by.

But soon Emperor Kabin Babur realized that he wasn't happy at all.

He was missing something.

Not money!

Not power!

Not fame!

But love, which he wasn't able to get.

And so he made an order in the empire. Bring him the best woman to become his wife.

Countless kings offered their daughters to the Emperor but not one was selected.

Then came the turn of ministers and lower ranks. Still, the same thing repeated as none was selected by the Emperor.

Finally after lots of hesitation, the Emperor decided to go on a journey himself.

To find true love!

One where he would be happy and complete.

Few years later, the Emperor met a young lady in a small village.

She wasn't beautiful like the many King's daughters. Nor was she any rich.

She didn't even have a family of her own as she lived all alone in a small hut.

The Emperor would come every morning and see the young lady working hard on the fields.

One day, he went up to her and talked. At first the young lady was not comfortable with him as he was a stranger to her.

But with time passing on, they got closer. Now she would share her little dreams of having a family and friends.

As if it was time to finish the test, the Emperor disclosed his identity to the young lady.

Surprised and stunned, the young lady barely managed to get on her knees to bow down.

The Emperor once asked her, "What kind of life do you wish for?"

She answered, "Very normal. I want a small family. A loving husband and two children. Not much."

The Emperor asked again, "What would you do if a high official wanted to make you his wife?"

She answered again, "If I had a choice, I would decline. I want to be happy. If I married a high ranking official, our family will not always be together."

And so, that day when the Emperor disclosed his identity to the young lady, he asked.

"Will you be my wife? I have everything. Wealth, Fame and Power! These all can be yours if you agree!"

But the lady replied.

"I-I am sorry Emperor! I-I don't want to marry you!"

She declined to the Emperor's request.

The Emperor was surprised at declining his request. It was not the first time someone did so.

Many women declined his request and thought that the Emperor would force them and make them his wife.

But the Emperor left all of them.

Because he saw greed in their eyes. His identity as an Emperor created the carving of power and wealth in them.

Yet the young lady in front of the Emperor showed no greed or lust in her eyes.

There was only respect because of him being an Emperor and nothing else.

First time in his life did he see someone like her. And so, the Emperor decided.

He will marry her. Even if he had to give away all his power, fame and wealth.

And so the rumors spread that the Emperor left with a village girl to settle down somewhere.

Somewhere at the sea far from all those responsibilities.

They lived happily on an island covered with fog.

The Emperor, no, Kabin Babur, learned that his wife had a disease which was incurable.

Soul Lost!

A special disease that slowly eats away a person's soul within half of their life span.

Briya Gulab, was her name.

The last words she said before she died was, "You must not forget me no matter what."

Kabin Babur was sad, yes he was truly sad that the one to bring happiness in his life passed away.

But that didn't make him lose himself.

"I will build a Palace for you and me! A Palace that the world will never forget! And…You and I will live together even in our afterlife."

He spent all his life building a magnificent and majestic white palace.

In his last breath he muttered, "I gave you all my life! Let us be at peace!"

Those words before his death made the whole palace run in magic.

And so was how, "Floating White Island" was born.

Requirements- A pair of magical Black Gloves.