SSS Transmigration: I Can Extract And Evolve Overpowered Shadows

"Okay kids, huddle up, it’s story time." The voice of an old woman with a slouched back and slightly wrinkled face echoed through the small playground of a village far to the East.

"Story time!" One of the several children galloping behind her squealed out.

"Grandma Pat, are you going to tell us the story about the immortals?"

The old woman laughed. "Is that what you want to hear?" Her laughter grew even brighter. "Who even told you about that in the first place?"

Another one of the kids, a girl with orange hair and green eyes, pointed toward a small shed by the side.

"It was big brother Dimitri!"

All the small girls around began giggling at the sound of the young man’s name.

"Handsome big bro!"

"Big bro is the best!"

The girl with orange hair puffed out her cheeks. "Hey! Big bro is my big bro and my brother-in-law, don’t shout his name like that!"

The old woman let out an awkward laugh, her gaze drifting briefly to the small shed by the side.

Inside it was a very handsome young man with light lilac hair that bore a strange hue. He was at most sixteen years old, and his eyes were shut, giving him an almost ethereal look.

By his side was a young girl around his age with red hair and green eyes, and although she had faint freckles on her cheeks she was without a doubt a beautiful young woman who could stop men’s hearts.

The young man’s head rested on her lap while she curled his silky hair between her fingers and fanned him with her other hand.

The old woman, seeing this sight, couldn’t help but smile. She looked down toward the orange-haired child and chuckled. "I guess the ladies shouldn’t fight him with your sister any longer."

The orange-haired girl’s face practically lit up at the woman’s comment, her steps quickening as she rushed in front of the group.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be an aunty soon."

The red-haired girl in the shed immediately choked as her sister’s words reached her ear.

At that moment she became self-conscious of the boy sitting on her lap.

She raised her hand slowly and tapped him on his cheek.

"Dimitri, wake up, everyone is staring at us," she whispered, leaning closer to his ear.

The young man laid there for a long moment before slowly opening his eyes.

"Bunny girls."

"Bunny girls?"

Dimitri turned so he could face Amy. "What happened to bunny girls? Do you like them too?"

Amy’s expression went paper blank. "Young man, you were the one mumbling it in your sleep."

Dimitri stared into her eyes with his lilac gaze, starry particles swirling through them like the night sky. "Oh right..." he said, as if just remembering something profound. "I did dream about you, and the other village women wearing bunny outfits. God, you guys were really hot."

A pout that was very hard to miss appeared on Amy’s face as she tugged at his eyelid. "Hey, I don’t know what bunny outfits are but it sounds inappropriate if you want us ladies to wear them."

Dimitri’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He raised one finger like a scholar about to say something that would change history.

"It is inappropriate as hell."

Amy’s expression soured. She raised her hand with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for someone as frail and delicate as her and flicked hard on his forehead.

Dimitri winced from the pain, immediately jolting to his feet. "What the hell, that hurt."

"It was meant to hurt you, dumbass."

Dimitri opened his mouth to say something, only for the voice of the old woman to make the words die in his throat.

"Are you ready, kids? Today I’ll be telling you the story about those who live on those islands above."

Both Dimitri’s and Amy’s gazes lifted toward the sky. Their pupils simultaneously dilated as the sun hit them. Squinting, they were able to make out the faint silhouettes of what lay above.

Several islands filled their vision, some as close as the firmament and others far into the heavens.

These were the kingdoms of gods and immortals. Those who could control elements and soar with magical gear.

It was a world different from their own, a world that those without spiritual roots could never glimpse into.

Bringing his gaze down, Dimitri sighed. "Is she about to tell that story again?"

Amy leaned on her arm. "It seems so. Should we leave?"

Dimitri shook his head. "Nah."

"What’s a ’nah’ again?"

He tilted his head so he could see Amy’s face, then stuck his tongue out playfully. "Not telling."

Amy couldn’t help but chuckle. "You always speak so weirdly sometimes."

Dimitri didn’t say anything. His eyes were fixed on the old woman though his mind was somewhere else entirely.

’Well, I guess I would sound weird to them,’ he thought with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. ’After all, I’m a reincarnated Earthling.’

Dimitri couldn’t remember much of his past life. All he knew was that he had been a high schooler who had just gotten into college and died during an outing with his friends.

After that he woke up in this world as the son of a woman he couldn’t remember. The only thing he knew was that his mother had vanished after giving birth to him and his father had died a year later from depression.

Ever since then, the village and its people had become his family.

Dimitri would have been a liar if he said he wasn’t curious about the immortal world. After all, he still remembered the novels he had read back on Earth and how cool he had thought it would be to shoot fireballs from one’s hands.

But if any of that meant letting go of those he loved, he would prefer just dying.

Besides, he was pretty sure that even if his mother was an immortal as the rumours said, she wouldn’t care if he remained in the mortal world, and he doubted he even had the qualifications to go up there.

The old woman was still telling the kids the story about the world, about how awakening a spiritual root meant travelling to the domain that shared such a root, entering a sect, climbing the ranks, and ascending to higher islands, when Dimitri stood up from his seat.

He tilted his head back slightly toward Amy, who was staring at him. "Hey, do you want to go for a walk?"

"A walk?" Her expression immediately darkened, a deep frown framing her beautiful face. "Don’t tell me you want to go to the..."

Before she could finish, Dimitri clamped his palm over her lips. "Don’t say it so loudly," he whispered. "I promise this will be the last time I go to the borders."

"Mmmhmmm..." Amy struggled to form words, but Dimitri’s palm stopped any sound from coming out.

"Promise you won’t yell."

Amy nodded several times.

Seeing her compliance, he let her go. "So are you coming or not?"

She sighed. "The village chief almost skinned you alive the last time you did that. You do know rogue cultivators kill people who wander out of their village."

Dimitri nodded, though his eyes didn’t lose their spark. "I know that, but don’t you want to see it again? The outside world, I mean."

Amy lowered her gaze, then raised it back with renewed vigor. Perhaps because of Dimitri’s influence, her pupils too had begun to take on a starry green quality.

"Okay, let’s go."

Dimitri smirked, then stretched his hand out to her. "Let us go for an adventure, my cowardly girlfriend."

Amy used his hand to pull herself to her feet before kicking him in the back of the knee. "Don’t say stupid things."

"Hey, but you’re my girlfriend, aren’t you?"

"Yeah, but I’m not cowardly. And don’t you call every pretty girl in the village your girlfriend?"

"Hehehe, I’m a sucker for beauty, but you, my dear Amelia, will always be my number one."

"I don’t know why I feel happy about something so disgusting."

"It’s because our lives transcend all moral boundaries!"

The two of them kept walking for a long moment until they found a path through a dense forest.

The moment they stepped several paces into it, a loud sound echoed around them.

Boom!

Dimitri turned first, then Amy.

Behind them a massive flash of light spread outward, turning everything white. In the next moment a surge of flames erupted from the village and sent them flying deeper into the forest.

Dimitri didn’t know how long he had been unconscious.

When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed his lashes were completely crusted with sand.

His body ached everywhere and the sound of ringing filled his ears, driving a splitting headache deep into his skull.

The moment he could move and his awareness returned, his first instinct was to find Amelia.

He didn’t have to look for long. In fact he didn’t have to look at all.

Directly in front of him was Amy, her back pressed against his body as though she had been shielding him.

Dimitri parted his lips to say something, only to notice her body trembling violently, soft sounds of wailing escaping her lips.

He stumbled to his feet and moved closer, and that was when he saw it.

Flames as tall as a mountain completely engulfed their small village, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

Dimitri’s face turned as white as a sheet. "What’s going on here..."

Their village... it was gone.