《Chasing Experience》 Dirty Deals Done Dirt Cheap I stood alone, surrounded by the dead white of the Antarctic, arthritic joints burning and swollen in the cold. Having spent what currency I had left - social and otherwise - to be there, I took a moment to take in the stark beauty of the place I had chosen for my death. My name was ¨C and I suppose still is, even now - Alex Hunter, an 82-year-old with a life laid out behind me defined mostly by missed chances and, like my presence upon the vast frost beneath my feet, it was all my own doing. Mostly. While many of my failings could be laid solely at my feet, I was also part of the .0001% - not in terms of wealth or power, but rather part of the .0001% of humanity immune to immortality. After 56 years wracked by anxiety, depression and a marked failure to seize the moment, I had thought it a second chance when immortality had come to market - it apparently being cheaper to make somebody young forever than to look after them in their old age. And for many, it had been ¨C just not me. By the time I started to plan my trip to Antarctica, the surge in education, research and creativity brought about by the newly supplied glut of time, lack of existential dread and reintroduction of old talents, had resulted in almost total job automation and had removed most of the drudgery of everyday life; asteroid mining, atomic printing and high efficiency solar panels, coupled with super-high density batteries had all but eliminated scarcity. Without the looming shadows of our mortality, humanity¡¯s population growth had even slowed somewhat, and by my 80th Birthday, everyone in the world officially had Enough?. They were even close to cracking the Alcubierre Warp Drive, from what I¡¯d heard from people I knew in the physics community. Visiting the stars had always been a dream of mine, and I was going to live just long enough to miss it by a hair. My ageing body was failing me at an ever-increasing rate, breaking down around me like an antique iPhone made of meat and bone. Weeks, they had told me - I chose something quicker to cut-short the dread and to do at least this one last thing purely on my own terms. I had booked a sub-orbital flight to South America, and from there found a man who did tours, and persuaded him ¨C in the form of everything I had ¨C to fly me here. People always wanted more, even in a post-scarcity society. And so there I was, with what was left of the short day rapidly fading into evening, the temperature dropping as the last of the daylight retreated before the marching shadows of nightfall. I took in a lungful of freezing air as the transport lifted off and accelerated towards a horizon blurred by my own degeneration, and slowly sat to watch the Sun set, dark sunglasses the only protection I had bothered with. I sat there, shivering in the fresh dark as the wind began to whip about me, foreshadowing a blizzard, and I waited to die. I did not have to wait weeks. * *** * ¡°You died! That¡¯s great news, thank you!¡± I opened my eyes to a darkness filled with stars, uncountable and beautiful. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s great for me, but I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re probably wondering what¡¯s going on?¡± The voice was feminine, rich and resonating, but the words sounded like nonsense. I was sure I had to be misunderstanding something ¨C who was happy about I was dead, when I obviously was not? ¡°Hello? Dead human? Ugh, Alex, right? This says your name is Alex Hunter? Did I get a dud? How could this happen? My first agent in years and it¡¯s a dud!¡± The almost wailing of the mystery voice caused the ground beneath me to vibrate slightly. I braced myself to sit up, but it was surprisingly easy, easier than it had been in years. It was in fact, effortless, a mere application of whim. Now sitting upright, I tore my eyes from the vast starscape and looked down at myself, eager to see why I was able to sit up in less than 5 minutes for the first time in years ¨C and I was made of light - the flicking silver of starlight. ¡°Holy shit!¡± I jumped to my feet, swatting at myself frantically, my body feeling strangely smooth and frictionless, like a liquid, but solid. And made of light. ¡°Hi! Yay, you¡¯re not a dud! Or you know, at least standing is good... I¡¯m glad though! Getting a dud after so long would have sucked.¡± I finally turned to look at the source of the voice, and I guessed I still had lungs or something close, because I full-on gasped and caught my breath. She was a dragon ¨C a pink, white and powder blue serpentine dragon, coiled on top of a golden hemisphere of light. In her right... hand? She held a tablet of black glass. ¡°You¡¯re a dragon.¡± It was not the most eloquent thing I could have said, however I was not at my best, having just died, only to discover myself not dead and flickering like an old fluorescent bulb, but I did feel it got my point across. ¡°I am! Well, sort of. I used to be a dragon, but I moved on. You can¡¯t live in the past, you know? I still appear to agents like this because they tended to drool a lot when I was in my other form, and it¡¯s really weird watching a disembodied soul drool. Like, how is that even a thing? What are they drooling? I do not want loose soul on my floor. It¡¯s just gross.¡± I rubbed where I remembered my temples being and looked around ¨C there was no ceiling I could see, or walls, just endless stars and a golden white sun in the ¨C relative - distance. It was strange looking at the ¨C Sun? Staring into a giant ball of fusion and plasma apparently did not pose any significant threat to... disembodied souls. There was a moment of vertigo as I stared across that vast distance, and pulled my gaze away to look down, hoping to find a degree of normality ¨C it was a decision I regretted almost immediately when I noticed the planet we were apparently orbiting. While I could most definitely feel something beneath my feet, I couldn¡¯t see anything between myself and what was most assuredly not Earth. ¡°I¡¯m in space. I¡¯m in space.¡± I knew my eloquence left something to be desired, but I¡¯d suffered a number of shocks in the last few moments and felt it justified. I locked my gaze back on the apparently former dragon, who was staring at me with a strangely recognizable expression that clearly said she thought I was defective. ¡°You¡¯re not really in space, that¡¯s just where the view is. You¡¯re currently inside of an intraplanar nexus ¨C my intraplanar nexus. It¡¯s sort of like my office, but I also live here? It¡¯s really the easiest solution, because I can reach both the River of Souls and my client planet! Work smart, right?¡± ¡°Uh, sure - ¡° ¡°OK, I¡¯m a workaholic, alright? It¡¯s been really stressful these last few years, with so few dead coming through ¨C there used to be so many, there were plenty to go around but I haven¡¯t completed a task in a decade! I¡¯ve had nothing to do! They keep asking for more agents, but there just weren¡¯t any!¡± There was a definite quaver in the ex-dragon''s voice, and as I watched, a single incandescent tear rolled down her cheek. I always hated to see anybody cry, so I rushed to reassure her... about whatever weirdness was upsetting her. ¡°I mean, no, free agency and all that ¨C totally our fault. We sort of found our way ¨C most of us ¨C to eternal youth, so that¡¯s why there¡¯s less deaths. It¡¯s not your fault. What about, other planets? If we¡¯re in a multiverse or whatever, there has to be more than just the planet down there and mine? Also, why do you need all dead people? We¡¯re not food or anything?¡± ¡°What? No! Ew. Besides, you wouldn¡¯t even be a crumb ¨C look at yourself, your soul has all the strength of... somebody from the lower planes. Anyway.¡± The dragonoid, having established she was too good to eat me, moved on. ¡°There are a lot of worlds, like so many worlds! But there are only so many suitable candidates in any given population, and we service so many pantheons! We¡¯re each allocated 2 or three candidate worlds, which usually keeps the numbers steady, but all of mine drastically reduced their mortality rates at once! How is that fair?¡± I rubbed my temples some more as she stared at me, clearly waiting on a response. ¡°Yeah, people not dying must suck for you, for some reason. Why, do you need dead people again?¡± ¡°Oh! So, my colleagues and I are from a higher plane. We have about as much power as most minor gods here, but are subject to less red tape. Gods aren¡¯t allowed to meddle with their worlds after the initial creation, beyond providing power to their worshipers, and only when asked. We saw this as an opportunity! We can¡¯t directly meddle, but we can introduce new mortals to meddle for us!¡± The tone the dragon-ish woman was using had shifted to the same sort of tone I¡¯d heard in sales pitches when I was younger. It was almost comforting that corporate bullshit seemed to be universal. Well, comforting or despair inducing. I had always hated that crap. ¡°We pull mortal souls from the River after they die, and offer them a new life on our client worlds ¨C which are of course one plane up from where they started, a guaranteed promotion! We also provide exciting new powers and abilities, in bodies of your own design and much improved lifespans to maximise your chances to advance again before resetting, and we do all this for nothing more than the completion of strategic goals received from the resident pantheon by us and provided to you! It¡¯s a win, win, win!¡± That was a lot to take in, but there were a couple of things that stood out to me. ¡°So, you¡¯re outsourcing Divine intervention because the gods aren¡¯t allowed to? Isn¡¯t that cheating? Also, what do you get out of it? And how long are we in for? You mentioned significant life spans, would I be... servicing... the pantheon, or you I guess, until I die again?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it exactly. We¡¯re providing assistance to the Devine, by circumventing the red tape of reality! Why should mortals get all the agency, right? Gods are people too. As for what we get out of it, there¡¯s some energy conversion involved, but what it comes down to is that Divine energy is self-perpetuating in a way the energy we normally have access to isn¡¯t. Taken to the higher planes, it grows in density to match the power it would have if it was from there originally, which is a lot! We save up and then absorb it to shortcut perhaps millions of years of the cultivation it takes to ascend to the next plane up!¡± That made sense, I thought. It still did not seem sensible to bypass fundamental laws like that. Somebody or something, somewhere had to have put those rules in place ¨C something powerful enough to be bossing gods around - and I could not imagine they would be overly happy to be balked en masse. ¡°That¡¯s all sort of fine, but again, how long am I in for? Oh, and where¡¯s the Divine intervention for my world? Aren¡¯t we a client, or whatever?¡± ¡°Your world doesn¡¯t have a pantheon - It¡¯s a planar level lower than this one, so you don¡¯t have gods. it wasn¡¯t created, it just sort of happened. Nature over nurture, you know? As for how long our arrangement would last... normally there¡¯s a minimum task quota, after which you¡¯re free to do as you please, even take on additional tasks for bonuses! In your case... it¡¯s been long enough that I have a really major backlog, so I¡¯d need you for substantially longer.¡± ¡°How much longer?¡± ¡°It really depends on how fast you can work through the backlog; it would technically be an indefinite contract. But! Again, as I haven¡¯t had an agent come through in so long, I can blow my whole decadal budget on making you the best you you can envision. Or I¡¯d have to send you back to the River of Souls and hope for a new agent. Which would suck for us both.¡± I thought about what had been said for a minute, stretching into 2. It was a lot. Indefinite was by definition boundless, and I did not like the idea of signing away my time for potentially ever. ¡°What happens to me if I go back to the - River of Souls, you called it?¡± ¡°It depends on your last life. You could move up to this plane and be reborn, you could be reborn back on the same plane... or you could go down a level if you really didn¡¯t do a good job.¡± That sounded less than ideal ¨C my last life had been anything but a roaring success, unless you considered death a finish line, in which case I had beat billions to it. ¡°... What¡¯s down a level?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you, sorry. I have too much energy to go down that far, and I¡¯ve never met a soul that¡¯s come up from there.¡± She sounded sad, like she suspected what might sit beneath my home plane but did not want to give it voice, but if living with anxiety for a lifetime had taught me anything it was that the worst possible thing that could happen, would absolutely always happen. ¡°Can you at least give me an idea of what I¡¯ll be doing?¡± I did not want to end up in whatever Hell-plane was below my own, but I also did not want to end up being assigned a genocide. Genocide never looked good on anybody. ¡°You¡¯ll start relatively small: save a person, escort a group, find an artefact. It¡¯s important that the task always be within your capabilities ¨C if you fail, I fail.¡± ¡°That sounds reasonable ¨C what happens if I do fail, though?¡± ¡°Early on, you¡¯ll just have to live with it, but once we get in to the wider ranging things, failure will mean death, more often than not. Don¡¯t misunderstand me, Alex, I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯ll kill you, but the higher-level things we¡¯ll ask of you, will almost always be really dangerous.¡± I opened my mouth to reply, but she wasn¡¯t finished. ¡°Having said that, I will actually kill you if you start failing on purpose. I have a reputation, I would hate to fall further down the rankings.¡± That was a tough pill to swallow, but as long as what she said was true, that the tasks would always be within my reach, then I should only fail as a result of my own incompetence. Which would have been fine, if I did not have a lifetime of experience of getting in my own way. Would I be failing on purpose if I self-sabotaged? ¡°One last question before I make up my mind on whether we¡¯re going to do this ¨C what happens if I die here?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll either be reset and reborn here on this plane, or if you suck, go back to your old plane ¨C one of the perks of working for us is that we provide the energy to Advance your soul far enough to be here! And, since you can¡¯t drop multiple planes, you¡¯re safe from... that other plane.¡± I could certainly see the appeal of just skipping the possibility of hell, and if I was being honest with myself, just knowing there was an after took a lot of the existential weight off my shoulders. ¡°I guess I¡¯m, no, you know what? I''m all in... I¡¯m sorry, what was your name?¡± Amidst all the weirdness, I had completely neglected my manners. ¡°Yes! You made the right choice! I didn¡¯t want to say anything but you had a pretty good chance of dropping down a level if you didn¡¯t Advance first, and from what I¡¯ve been able to find out, that plane really sucks. As for my name, you can call me Xiournal. My actual name would take a week for you to butcher, so let¡¯s not even go there. You are... Alex Hunter, it says here?¡± ¡°Yeah, Alex... Nice to meet you, I guess. How do we get this party started?¡± ¡°No, sorry, there will only be one of you. But we¡¯ll start with designing the new you! You can¡¯t go down there as a soul unless you want to end up being a battery.¡± Having missed the idiom, Xiournal gestured next to me and a huge smoky glass cube rose out of somewhere beneath the apparently transparent floor, and within it, I appeared. I stumbled back a step ¨C it has emerged within an inch of me ¨C and took in contents of the glassy structure. It was me as I had been in my early twenties, but in really great shape, and naked. ¡°This is your default shape taken from imprint left on your soul and adjusted for the minimum performance you¡¯ll need as an agent of Divinity. You have a lot of freedom to change it, especially right now since we¡¯ll be spending my entire budget on you. Once you¡¯re done designing your body, you¡¯ll be able to select abilities ¨C be careful though. You won¡¯t be able to change any of this once you¡¯re on-planet. I mean, you¡¯ll be able to change your body, but only by, like, doing things with it?¡± I looked back to my body, a little embarrassed, but in the end, I decided somebody that looked like a dragon probably did not look at people like me, like that. As I looked in to the cube, I found an instinctive link to it and that with a little mental effort, I could make changes. As somebody who had been a heavy gamer before I had become too old for the equipment, I did what I felt any other gamer would do ¨C I spent the next several hours alternatively making myself either an Adonis or a freak. At one point, I had lime green skin and bright orange hair with a head the size of my torso and legs like tree trunks. I went back to default when I noticed Xiournal looking worriedly over my shoulder. I ended up with just a better-looking version of me, with fuller, thicker hair and facial hair, and a couple of other minor tweaks, like sound of my voice. Looking incredible was nice, but I had to dial it back when I started being attracted to my own floating shell. When done I had shoulder length chestnut brown hair and a full red/brown beard. I would stand 6¡¯3¡± when not floating, with broad shoulders and muscles. Lots of muscles. I also had amber eyes, like an eagle or a wolf and it was badass. Once done, I mentally tried to pull up my menus, which is when I saw the racial options. ¡°Fuck!¡± I had spent hours working on myself and now I looked through the tabs I had apparently missed. The list was extensive, and I did not recognise any of them. There were no Elves, Dwarves or Halflings. No Orcs or ¨C thankfully - Tieflings. ¡°Is something wrong? You didn¡¯t decide to go back to the green... thing... again, did you? Please?¡± Xiournal sounded worried and assumed she had never been a gamer. ¡°No, not that. I just spent an age setting up my body without realising there were options for other races. Are all these races down there? It seems like a lot.¡± And it was ¨C there were hundreds of entries on the list. ¡°Oh, no. Those are all the races available to you, native to this plane anyway. You probably shouldn¡¯t pick anything that stands out too much.¡± ¡°Which are native to this planet? How am I supposed to know what stands out?¡± I may have sounded a little sharper than I intended, but I felt justified. A little. ¡°I¡¯m not really allowed to tell you too much about the planet itself, we¡¯re supposed to let you form your own opinions and stuff. We¡¯re less limited than the local pantheons, but we¡¯re not totally free, you know? Your default form would fit in ok, which is why your world feeds this one - maybe don¡¯t stray too far from there?¡± ¡°Can I at least save this as default, so I don¡¯t have to do it all over again?¡± I really did not want to have to go through all that a second time.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°If you change your race, it will maintain these settings as much as possible, and if you switch back to-¡± She checked her glass tablet. ¡°Human again, it will be exactly as you see here.¡± ¡°Oh, ok. Cool. Thank you.¡± I turned back to the cube and started skipping through the races ¨C there were some really strange looking races, although none as strange as some of the things I had come up with. There were also Elves, or a couple of races which looked like Elves, but they were not called anything similar in this interface. And at least one of the names did not inspire confidence ¨C what did it take to earn the name Devourers? After running through the list, a couple of times, I ended up settling on a race called the Ren, according to the cube. There were almost no changes to my body ¨C the muscles changed slightly and something changed in my eyes, making them look fiercer, but it was hard to tell I was no longer human. According to the information provided, the Ren were a rare race characterised by a tendency towards, martial combat and physical superiority. It took some fiddling but I got it to show me the changes in comparison to humans and as hard as it is was to admit, the Ren was better than humans, physically. Twice as strong and fast per pound, with significantly increased nerve conductivity and lifespans 4 or 5 times as long. It was a marked upgrade, which was shown by the cost. During the creation of my body, a glowing ball had appeared near my body¡¯s head, and while it was hard to tell at first, creating my monstrosities had definitely dimmed the light. Selecting this race reduced the orbs luminosity by a good 20%. ¡°I¡¯ll take it!¡± I said with a huge grin on my face! If the people on my new world were human, or even humanish, I would have a pretty big advantage over them, even discounting whatever abilities I was about to get! ¡°You¡¯re done? But you haven''t selected any abilities yet! You¡¯re going to die before you get anything done! I¡¯m really starting to think you¡¯re a dud again, Alex.¡± ¡°No! I mean I¡¯m done setting up the body. I just meant that I like this race.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Never mind! Carry on!¡± Xiournal sounded relieved, although I did notice she had a touch of what looked like doubt on her reptilian face. I had to wonder how long she had been doing this ¨C she had mentioned at least a decade without a candidate, but beyond that, she might never have dealt with anyone, for all I knew. She did not act like somebody who spent a lot of time around people like me. Eager to be on my way, I shook my head and turned my attention back to the glass cube¡¯s interface, mentally requesting to see available abilities. The list was, for all intents and purposes, endless. ¡°How the hell am I supposed to choose from these? Xiournal, there has to be millions of abilities here. Do you have any suggestions?¡± ¡°Well, normally we only grant agents a single ability, and after modifying their bodies, what they have available is limited by budget. You have access to more due to your expanded budget. You could probably take 3 of anything highlighted in red, 2 of what¡¯s highlighted in green or 1 ability highlighted in violet. I¡¯ve never actually seen the violet abilities before, so I can¡¯t really advise, sorry! Oh, but you do get a language ability for free. We don¡¯t want you getting yourself killed on the first day because you don¡¯t know literally everything you say has an offensive meaning, locally. Not more than once. There¡¯s a search function, if that helps?¡± I was grateful for the free language but knew I would be standing there for a while ¨C the gamer in me would not let me select crappy abilities, so I firmed my will and began to pour through the abilities, using the indicated search function but even so, somewhat paralysed by the choices arrayed before me. After many, many hours, days or even weeks ¨C it was difficult to tell with nothing to mark the passage of time. I did not feel fatigue, or hunger or thirst in all the time examined the long list. After an indeterminant ammount of time, I managed to pick out a number of choices to shortlist. Danger Sense React slightly ahead of events ¨C this ability can improve, increasing the distance covered in both time and space. Lesser Regeneration Regenerate from almost any wound ¨C eventually. This ability cannot bring you back from death and will not expel foreign objects. Lucky Fate favours you ¨C while you may make your own luck, some will be provided. Soul Constructs Construct armour, weapons and mundane items out of the stuff of your soul. Destruction of these items may injure your soul in a non-permanent manner. This ability can improve, increasing the strength and optionally the scale of the items created. These items can be controlled remotely. Greater Regeneration Rapidly regenerate from almost any wound, in a brief timeframe. This ability cannot bring you back from death. Flawless Coordination Your body is able to perform any action your mind can imagine perfectly, provided your body is capable of it. The struggle was real ¨C the details of each choice, provided directly to my mind by the interface, made them all incredible options. It was really tough crossing Flawless Coordination off the list, but while it was without a doubt the strongest ability on my short list, without knowing more about the world I was visiting, it was too much of a risk. What if everyone was a Wizard or some other kind of caster? I was sure they would all be impressed by my parkour or guitar playing, but it is a near universal truism that you cannot punch a fireball. My green choices provided almost limitless utility and a spectacular safety net, but an injury to my soul, even a non-permeant one was not something I thought I would want in the middle of a fight, or at all really, given there was no indication of how long a soul injury would last, or what the effects would be. Greater Regeneration almost sold me on Green on its own, but what made up my mind, was Lucky. Everyone knew that the one thing that made the heroes in stories and games heroes, was luck. And honestly, I thought Danger Sense would help with my anxiety. I mentally selected each of my three choices and turned to Xiournal, finally done setting up the new me. ¡°I¡¯m done, Xiournal. Body setup, abilities selected.¡± ¡°Wow, it usually takes agents a lot longer! Months, in some cases, just for that first set you asked about before. You must have really powered through the choices! All we have to do now is bind you into your new body and then bind your new body to my Processor here.¡± Xiournal held the glass tablet up for a moment before rapidly tapping her claws across its surface. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there are more -¡° In the middle of my sentence, a sensation like falling inwards filled me once more with vertigo and I think I would have thrown up, if I had a stomach at that point. With a flash behind my eyes of a colour I found impossible to process, I started to feel again. While walking around as a soul, I had not been aware of the lack ¨C of temperature, or the feeling of air circulating through me, or almost every other sensation associated with having a body. It all came rushing back at once and the thunder of my pulse filled my ears like when I was a kid, flesh tightening its grip about me as clouded glass fell away on all sides and I collapsed face first into the smooth floor. It took me over an hour to learn to stand again ¨C my new body felt strange and it was nothing to do with being young again, or even in being the best shape of my life. The race I had chosen, the Ren, apparently packed a lot of power into their muscles which coupled with my now faster nerve conduction meant that every move I made would send me careening about as I compensated for my new strength harder and faster than I was used to. Xiournal, coiled atop her golden hemisphere again, was doing whatever the God-Dragon equivalent of hyperventilating was. Between gasps, she managed to get a few words out. ¡°It can¡¯t even walk.¡± Another gasp. ¡°It can barely think and can¡¯t walk.¡± It was at that point that I managed to both climb to my feat, and stay there. ¡°I¡¯m not an it, thanks. And I can both walk and think. It¡¯s just strange being in this body, alright? This is a really weird situation for me, maybe cut me some slack?¡± My voice was now a low rumble which vibrated my chest ¨C I had always wanted a really deep voice, and now I had one. I also seemed to be reacting a little strongly ¨C especially in comparison to what now seemed like the relatively level calm of my Soul... body... I would have to be on alert for overreacting ¨C I wasn¡¯t used to the endocrine system of a healthy human any more, let alone a healthy alien. The heavy breathes came further and further apart as Xiournal calmed herself down. ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not your fault that your soul was born on a lower plane. Take some time and... learn to walk... and let me know when you¡¯re ready to go down to the planet ¨C I already synched your mind up with my Processor so I can provide you with missions. Take your time.¡± I nodded in her direction, resisting the urge to growl and a little surprised at the apology. I decided to try and take a walk in an effort to calm down. It did take me a while, but I seemed to be getting the hang of it, as indicated by the increasingly rare faceplants. After another couple of hours of walking, jogging, running and hopping from foot to foot, I felt like I was about as ready as I was going to be and moved back over the Xiournal¡¯s golden seat. ¡°I think I¡¯m ready to go. What¡¯s my first job?¡± ¡°I¡¯m really glad! And don¡¯t worry, if I can find any tasks in my backlog that requires only the use of basic movement, I¡¯ll send it your way while you¡¯re still in practice... But your first assignment will be given once you¡¯re on your new world! Bye!¡± ¡°Wait a-¡± * *** * ¡°-a minute!¡± I found myself standing at the base of a shallow hill covered in lush green grass and huge trees of a species I did not recognise. Looking around, it seemed a lot like Earth, even with the strange trees. The sky was blue, the sun looked about as right as it was possible to determine without staring and the plants were green. I sucked in a breath of the gentle warm air and felt a rush surge through me ¨C I was on another planet! The air smelled of warm dirt and grass, not surprisingly, but there was also the sweet scent of honeysuckle, almost. The rush I was experiencing did not die down ¨C I did not know if it was the body I was in or the air I was breathing but I felt fantastic. It was probably why I spent half an hour just revelling in the feeling, and the knowledge that I¡¯d achieved my dream in a really weird way, before I came to a series of realisations: 1) I had no idea where I was. 2) I had no idea how to hunt or forage. 3) I had no water. 4) I was naked. 5) I did not know how to fight if it came down to it. 6) Xiournal may not have been quite as ditzy as she made out and may have been manipulating me. It seemed like not having a body had really been supressing my natural tendency to overthink everything. ¡°Ugh, Xiournal? Where I am? Hello? How about some clothes, and supplies?¡± I looked up at the azure sky and tried to project my voice ¨C I was not dumb enough to think Xiournal would actually hear me, but I hoped whatever she had done with her tablet and my brain would allow for some kind of communication. The tablet in question popped into existence in front of my face, causing me to flinch back a step ¨C It did not matter, the tablet followed me, staying at a fixed position in my line of site no matter how I moved.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 15 days.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
¡°Well, thanks for that and everything, but where the shit am I? Where is Everwood City? C¡¯mon!¡± There was of course, no reply. The tablet did however pop out of existence. For a moment, I panicked ¨C I could not remember the name of that pretentious sounding pill. ¡°Hey, come back! Xiournal!¡± Thankfully, it appeared about, right where it had been before. ¡°OK, so I just shout at Xiournal when I want the tablet back. Fine, I have the name, go away again. Get lost.¡± I waved at it until it vanished, but I thought I probably had little to do with it ¨C it seemed to be on a timer. Looking around me again, I decided to climb the hill, hoping that I¡¯d be able to see something from the top. Just as I was about to peak my head above the top, terror rolled over me live a wave. I fell to my hands and knees, my heart pounding rapidly in my chest and sweat suddenly rolling off me. It was hard to breathe and there was a feeling of some vast pressure bearing down on me. I heard a whine and turned my head ¨C behind me I saw a bright red wolf looking thing the size of a Clydesdale, with golden sparks rising off it like dander. The animal was running away. Darkness was starting to close in around my vision, but I managed to just about hold on as I turned back to the top of the hill ¨C the direction from which that pressure was pulsing and forced my shaking body to crawl forward. The first thing I saw, was the top of a tower in the distance. Emerald green and a deep golden brown, the tower stretched skywards as I crested the hill, with hundreds of smaller towers crowding around its base. I saw a city stretching to the horizon, all in green and gold and browns. It was massive, bigger than any city I had visited, and beautiful. Every building seemed graceful and delicate, all surrounded by a vast wall which exuded a strength I could feel, even miles away. The wall did not, however give off as much strength as the vast army surrounding it. The army too stretched as far as I could see, hundreds of thousands, at least ¨C too many to count, all dressed in white and yellow. As I watched, the army pivoted in place, each member turning away from the tall walls of the city I had hoped for a moment to be Evergreen City, and towards me. Well, not quite towards me - midway between myself and that vast army, stood two people maybe 40 feet apart from each other. One was tall and dressed all in black armour, and the other hovered a foot off the ground, and wore a white and yellow robe. I thought they were talking, but I was too far away to hear what was said. Against every instinct I had, I crawled close to the pair, refusing to let fear rule me in second life, as incredibly stupid as that resolution seemed in the moment. ¡°... Again, you have no right here, Walker. The Sect of the Living Flame has business with this city! Leave or be killed! Even you cannot stand against our army!¡± The floating shape in the robes turned out to be a woman with strawberry blonde hair ¨C she had a spear longer than she was tall clenched in her left hand and her face was turned town in a scowl. Her opponent, Walker, had to stand at least 7 feet tall, and had the ears of a wolf or dog standing out from the top of his black hair and was wearing a blindfold. ¡°You would tell an Apex where he can or cannot tread? Your army makes you foolish, flame spitter. You may be many, but you are not infinite. Take yourselves home, before my patience ends.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was rough and deep, every word a growl. From my closer vantage, I could tell that it was from him the pressure I was feeling was coming. ¡°So be it. Perhaps a new Apex will rise this day?¡± She spat the words, rage and frustration marring her otherwise beautiful face. As the woman finished speaking, she raised her spear above her head, and brought it down to point directly at her dark opponent. With a roar, the army surged forward in formation, and a ball of incandescent flame leapt from the end of the spear and screamed towards the unmoving man in black. He did not move until the flames were within an arm¡¯s length of him, and then he punched it. The flame shattered as his fist impacted it, the ragged shards of fire quickly fading from existence. Walker said something then, though I could not hear it over the roar of thousands, and swords began to spin into existence about him, thousands upon thousands in a vast glittering swarm, blanketing the sky. All at once, the ocean of blades moved to intercept the approaching army, 4 or 5 swords for every member of what had once seemed a large army. Darting and cutting from every direction, swords of every shape imaginable, moving in ways no human could wield, rendered more than a hundred thousand people into meat in seconds. The world was silent, apart from my pulse and ragged breath as I stared at the carnage arrayed before me, and in that moment, I made a second resolution firmer and more unbreakable than any I had ever sworn to: Do not piss that guy off. The leader of the now fallen army alighted slowly and turned to survey the bloody waste, falling to her knees and speaking, with horror in her voice. ¡°H-how is this possible?¡± Turning to look back at the living catastrophe, I saw tears rolling down her cheeks and confidence clearly broken. ¡°You¡¯ve never seen an Apex fight, and yet you challenged me so easily? You should be more mindful of the meaning of strength before making threats, little flame bringer. Just because you are stronger than many is no excuse destroy a city. Your Sect has suffered much for your hubris, and for what? Your own arrogance and a single pill? Would it have been worth the price of the millions of lives in Evergreen City? Is it worth this price? Go now, I grant you life to make clear to all you meet that there will be a price to pay for any who come to slaughter innocents in the name of advancement. There will be no more warnings.¡± His voice held rage and disgust in equal measure, and I hoped the robed woman would take his advice and leave. She stood then, slowly using the spear to prop herself up, and with a shaking voice edged with rage, she spoke one last time. ¡°I will go, but know this, Apex of the Infinite Blades: One day I will be strong enough to repay this debt, and I swear it will not be paid swiftly.¡± I flinched at the threat, expecting blades to spin out of nowhere and eviscerate the woman, but nothing happened. "I will be waitng." The terrible pressure rolling off him faded in a moment and was gone - I breathed in a deep sigh of relief and began to bring my heartrate under control. The broken leader of the sect in white and yellow stood a moment facing the Apex, chin high and daring, before with a flare of heat I could feel from where I crouched, she lifted into the air and sped off out of sight, a trail of flame glowing faintly behind her. ¡°Come here, Nadir.¡± I looked back at the tall terror to see who he was talking to now, only to find him facing me. I froze, staring directly into the strip of cloth covering his eyes. After a moment, his hand rose and he crooked a finger my way ¨C remembering my resolution, I scrambled to my feet, forgetting my nudity and walked stiffly towards him, until I was 10 feet or so away. As I stood before him, I noted his features were mostly human, other than the ears, but with a slight feral cast ¨C the difference was subtle, and reminded me of the changes to my own face when I had altered my race. He was wearing a frown as he appeared to look me up and down, and I wondered how he could see with the band covering his eyes. ¡°Why are you here, Nadir? There is no sanctuary within ten thousand miles of his place, you are an impossible anomaly.¡± ¡°Ugh, I was sort of sent here ¨C I just arrived, a few minutes ago, on the other side of the hill. Not to be rude, why do you keep calling me Nadir? Ugh, Sir?¡± I raised arm and pointed at the hill I had climbed over, and raised my eyebrows in question at him. ¡°You are beyond childhood, and yet your strength has not progressed. You are Nadir. Is your mind as addled as your spirit, boy? To have lived so long, so weak, you must have been raised in a sanctuary, knowing what you are?¡± It was a moment before I could process the fact that I had just been told I was as weak as a child ¨C which did not bode well for my chances. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain, but let¡¯s just say I¡¯m from really far away, and where I¡¯m from we don¡¯t do... whatever it is you do... to get as strong as you.¡± I did not know if the locals knew about Ascended and their agents, or even about planes and all the rest, but I figured that this was more believable. ¡°I see clearly your lies, but I also see that it has been too long since you were cleansed by the River to look as young as you do, with the Experience held within you. There is a simple test, however.¡± Holding up his dark hand, Walker took in a deep breath and a gold and silver wave of light rose from the bodies of the recently dead army and swept into his grip, compressing into a ball like a miniature sun, almost blinding in front of me. Reaching up with his other hand, he places his thumb and forefinger within the light, and pulled a much smaller ball out of it. Before I could react, the hand holding the smaller of the balls blurred towards me, slapping into my chest with a flash. The sensation was indescribable ¨C every sense was turned up to 11 and everything around me looked, felt and smelled more real. Most of all, I felt something swirling inside of me, like the rush of my arrival turned up by a factor of thousands. I fell to the ground, convulsing as that rushing energy soaked into me and for one sweet moment I experienced true happiness, before darkness finally succeeded dragging me down. * *** * I woke up again in the dark, a warm fire beside me. Sitting up quickly, I looked around, spotting Walker sat cross legged across the fire from me. ¡°You are interesting, Nadir. You successfully integrated the Experience I gave you, though only just. You are indeed an impossibility. Even should you be from a place and people absent the cultivation of Experience, you should have passively absorbed enough by now to at least form a Focus. Yet here you are, as empty as any child.¡± I felt great, and if I kept feeling this good, or better, would cultivate whatever the hell he said I should. ¡°I was really telling the truth, before. I¡¯m from a place where there is no Experience ¨C I mean, there¡¯s experience, but there¡¯s no capitalisation. What is that, by the way?¡± ¡°Experience is what it sounds like ¨C the act of experiencing the world. Experiencing the world generates energy. When you breathe in the air, and truly stop to feel it, the act of Experiencing the air generates energy. When you raise a crop ¨C mindfully ¨C you do the same. All acts when truly lived generate this energy, and it makes us stronger. It is a fundamental part of life, wherever there is life. There exist those with crippled souls, who can Experience the world, but cannot retain the energy generated ¨C they are the Nadir until the day they die and are washed clean in the River of Souls.¡± ¡°Well, whatever it is, it feels pretty awesome. How did you pull it out of the... dead? Is it their Experience?¡± ¡°Correct, at least a part of it. When you die, your soul returns to the River of Souls and is washed clean of Experience to start anew, but a portion is left behind ¨C the small portion used to directly strengthen the body, rather than the soul. I collected this energy, and pushed a tiny part of it into you ¨C about the same amount as a child of 10. You will need to cultivate Experience quickly, if you expect to walk the world and survive.¡± ¡°Could you not give me the rest of the ball you collected? There was a lot of them, wouldn¡¯t it, I don¡¯t know, catch me up? Or did you... cultivate that, already?¡± I was pushing a little, hoping my Danger Sense would warn me before I said anything too dangerous. ¡°There was too much energy there for somebody without a Core and working circulation system. Without even a focus, you would have been returned to the River in moments, boy. I donated the excess to the City, but even if I had not, it was too much for you to cultivate. You¡¯ll need to catch up the old-fashioned way ¨C pills and hard work.¡± It was a hard thing to grasp ¨C I had fashioned my body to the peak of human potential, and then beyond by switching my race from human to Ren. Maybe I was stronger than my soul would suggest? ¡°Ugh, sir, I¡¯m considered very strong where I¡¯m from, perhaps I¡¯m stronger than my soul looks?¡± He considered me for a moment before picking a palm sized rock up off the ground nearby, and tossing it to me. ¡° Call me Walker. Now, break the rock in your hand.¡± I looked at the rock in my hand considered trying ¨C I was pretty sure my new body could put out enough force to do it, though it might take some adrenaline, but I was not about to just not try in front of my apparent saviour I wrapped fingers around the rock and began to bear down on it with all the power I could muster. A moment passed, and then two before I started feeling a shifting in my hand, I grinned and it was a moment more before pain flared in my hand and I realised it was my hand about to break, not the rock. ¡°I think I have the power to break it, but the rock is harder than my hand, so my hand would break first.¡± Walker nodded and gestured for me to toss the rock back, which I did, shaking my hand afterwards, the pain fading. With the rock now in hand again, Walker simply closed his hand around it and it exploded into splinters and dust, without even a split-second of resistance. ¡°You may be strong, for somebody at your level, but you must remember, your level is still close to the Nadir. Almost everyone you meet until you can cultivate enough Experience to catch up, will be beyond you. You must stay conscious of the relative strength of you and those you may face. Once you have your Focus, I will teach you to feel it.¡± It sounded like he was willing to teach me, which was something I was incredibly grateful for. He would help me get stronger, and in the meantime, who was going to ¨C successfully - mess with somebody who sounded like they were at the top of the Foodchain. Hopefully. ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned Focus a few times now, what is that?¡± ¡°Later. For now, you must learn to cultivate. Breathe boy, but this time, with feeling.¡± Deep in the Hole I woke up the day after learning to breathe properly, with the dawn ¨C it was earlier than I would have liked, the stress of the day before having taken a toll on me. I was not however given much of a choice. The birds populating my new planet were loud ¨C really, really loud, which was in large part due to their freakish size. I saw a rainbow coloured starling the size of a Great Dane flitting from tree to tree and it woke me up fast. There was also something digging into my side ¨C it was a boot, and it belonged to Walker. Thinking it unwise to ask him to move it, given the fact that he was obviously trying to wake me up, I gave in and sat up, stretching ¨C making sure to Experience it fully in the moment. I had had some trouble with the whole, ¡°Experience¡± situation ¨C I came from a world of hard science and even harder cynicism, but it was like a sugar high that never betrayed you and that was hard to argue with. ¡°I¡¯m up, I¡¯m up.¡± I looked up at the walking blender that I was hoping to call my teacher, shielding my freshly opened eyes from the bright light of the cresting sun. ¡°It has been a long time since last I slept - to see a grown man sleep as long as an Unfocused child is strange indeed. It seems like such a waste. Come, boy. I have business in the city.¡± ¡°Uh, sure, but I¡¯ll need a few minutes first to... do something... secret. And I don¡¯t suppose you have some spare clothes? I am sort of naked.¡± In that moment I regretted my choice of abilities ¨C had I gone with my green picks, I would have received Soul Constructs, enabling me to form a robe and armour, instead of having to ask a man I was already in the hole with to clothe me. He looked at me confused for a second, his jet-black eyebrows bunched together above his blindfold. ¡°Why... are you naked? And whatever you need to do, you best tell me now ¨C my senses stretch too far for secrecy.¡± Well, that was not the best news I could have hoped for ¨C I guessed his senses did not include sight, but he seemed to do well enough without. ¡°I arrived like this ¨C the... ugh, person... who sent me didn¡¯t give me chance to ask for clothes, I honestly thought they¡¯d provide some at the same time they sent me, but I guess it was never part of the deal... And I need to, ugh, piss. That¡¯s the secret thing.¡± The expression on Walker¡¯s face changed slightly, his whole head pulling away from me slightly. ¡°You... really are childlike. We will need to accelerate your cultivation, there will be few places to do... that... in Everwood.¡± He held up his hand and a swathe of black cloth appeared in his hand. ¡°You will need to make better deals when you are an adult, boy.¡± He tossed me the stretch of fabric and I examined it. A simple robe of black linen, fit to Walker¡¯s frame, which meant that while it fit about my shoulders, there were more than a few inches brushing the ground. I quickly put the garment on, and did my best to hitch it up before tying the belt, and while it was certainly better than being naked, I was sure I would look like a kid in his father¡¯s clothes. A few minutes later, after taking care of my apparently childlike needs, I went looking for water, as I was suddenly incredibly thirsty. I could hear the faint sounds of water on rocks underneath all the birds and followed it to a brook, the bed of which was mostly small green stones. Hesitating only for a second, fearing dehydration more than bacteria by then, I drank deeply before wringing my beard out. My thirst sated for the moment, I called for my quest tablet, thingy. I spoke Xiournal¡¯s name in a whisper, and there it was, as disconcertingly stationary as before.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 13 days, 3 hours, 48 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
There was something off about the time limit ¨C I was sure it had said 15 days the last time I saw it, and that was just under a day ago, right? I waved the stationary rectangle away, finished what I was doing and hurried back to Walker. ¡°Sir ¨C weird question: How long since I met you?¡± ¡°Almost 2 days, which is why I would like to get in to the city ¨C I''m late to a meeting.¡± His voice was calm, and in contradiction to his words, he did not seem to be in a rush. I, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. I had always been a heavy sleeper, but I had never missed days. ¡°Almost 2 days? You seem like a really nice guy, but you should have woken me up sooner, sir. You didn¡¯t need to let me put you out like that.¡± ¡°You required time to integrate the Experience I gifted you ¨C it was an abnormal quantity for somebody of your level and required your body¡¯s entire attention.¡± That made me feel better, a little. At least I would not be sleeping 36 hours for every hour awake. It also meant I could not risk any more huge-ass energy buffs, at least before I got this job squared away. ¡°Come, boy. And remember to cultivate as we walk ¨C the sooner we can get you out of childhood the better.¡± ¡°You know, you can call me by my name. If you want to.¡± I breathed in an out as we walked, feeling the air flow through me, and the warmth of the sun on my face, the chill of the damp grass under my feet, revelling in the Experience ¨C and the energy rolling through me. ¡°I cannot call you by your name, boy, as you have not given it.¡± I blinked and looked at him, going back over our meeting. He was right - I had never given my name, although I gave myself some slack, given the events surrounding that meeting. ¡°You¡¯re right ¨C and I¡¯m sorry ¨C things have been moving a little faster than I¡¯m used to. My name is Alex Hunter. That¡¯s not a weird name here, is it?¡± ¡°Greetings, Hunter. My name is... you may call me Walker. And your name is no stranger than the next ¨C the world is wide and time is deep, room enough for most names.¡± I almost corrected him on my name, but decided to go with it ¨C Hunter sounded more fantasyish anyway. * *** * I had seen the city walls from my hill when I first arrived, and they had seemed huge even from that distance ¨C enough room to fit a few hundred thousand troops as I had seen ¨C but close up, I was astonished. They had to stand at least a hundred feet high, lacquered in emerald green and golden brown. A gate yawned wide in front of us, 40 feet wide and 50 high, with a line of carts and people stretching along a perfectly even paved stone road leading out of it and into the distance. Walker, of course, ignored the line. I felt bad for the people waiting, but they did not seem to mind ¨C some of them even going so far as to bow to us ¨C or to Walker at least. All the people I could see were dressed in bright clothing ¨C vibrant colours interposed with whites and browns, and in every style imaginable. It was all much richer than what I would have expected from peasantry, even in a fantasy setting like this. Some of the people we passed wore armour ¨C some in simple layered cloth and others in glittering mail. They watched with a little more tension in their bodies, which I found oddly irritating ¨C had Walker not saved the city yesterday? Walker simply walked on as if unaware, though I suppose for somebody capable of wiping out an army in moments, a few guards or soldiers were of little threat or interest. We passed through the entrance without issue ¨C I gave out a few awkward walking bows as the guards all bent as one to my seemingly oblivious mentor. The tunnel of the gate was lit with floating balls of soft yellow light for the entirety of its 30-foot length, and I could see multiple portcullises ready above us, each separated by parallel rows of murder holes ¨C as well as the thick doors at either end. ¡°I guess you have to take defence seriously around here...¡± I spoke under my breath as I glanced around, but Walker caught it. ¡°Indeed. It matters not how peaceful a city may wish to be ¨C to ignore defence is to invite offense. The wise prepare.¡± That made sense to me, and I decided to ask Walker to teach me to fight as well as cultivate ¨C I would hate to catch up to my age in power only to find out everyone here was also born a blackbelt. ¡°I know you¡¯re already being super helpful, Sir ¨C Walker ¨C but is there any chance you could give me some fighting pointers? When you have a spare moment? I¡¯m eager to be less of a burdern...¡± ¡°That seems to be a good idea, Hunter. The Experience will aid you in your advancement, as well as making you less... clumsy.¡± I was pretty clumsy ¨C despite a couple of hours practicing in space, I was still not totally used to my new body and had stumbled over nothing many times on our approach to the city. ¡°I will leave you with a friend while I attend to my meeting ¨C you can begin today. Her students are mostly children, so you should not be too far outmatched, in practice.¡± I decided then, that if I ever made it to the point where I could meet Xiournal again, I would have some serious words with her about the whole, ¡°no information¡± policy they had going. I wondered how this was all supposed to work, if every agent came down here as apparently helpless as I was. We made our way through the streets, and I gazed about in wonder ¨C the buildings were all beautiful, crafted of stone and wood, all carved with art and finesse, and the people matched them. I had not paid too much attention to faces and such on our way in, but here on the streets, surrounded by people it was hard not to. Every person I saw was gorgeous ¨C clear skinned and healthy, universally graceful and ¨C ¡°Holy shit, that smells good.¡± I turned my nose to catch the scent that caught my nose ¨C it was meaty and sweet and spicy and it made my stomach rumble audibly. My teacher came to an abrupt stop in the street, head turned in my direction, surprise written large on his dark face.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°It has been a long time since my own childhood, but I recall that sound. You need to eat?¡± He sounded uncertain, and the way he had phrased it made me suspect that perhaps he did not need to eat ¨C that adults on this world did not need to eat at all, as crazy as that sounded. ¡°Ugh, I do... do you not? Eat, I mean?¡± he began walking, this time in the direction from which I had caught that delicious smell. ¡°No. Once a Focus is formed, an adult¡¯s body draws its energy directly from Experience. We eat only for pleasure. It is... disconcerting to hear such a sound from an adult. Like seeing a warrior in swaddling clothes.¡± He honestly seemed a little creeped out, but I tried to imagine what it would be like meeting an adult on my world drinking from a milk bottle with a nipple on the end and thought I could probably see where he was coming from, as strange as it seemed to me that the majority of people on a world did not eat. I followed Walker to a large windowed carriage to one side of the street, painted in reds and browns in contrast to the city around us, it was the source of the scent. Within the window stood a skinny old man in robes to match the carriage, and the sort of facial hair I was used to seeing on the old, wise men that populated martial arts movies. Before my rebirth on this world, with my awesome new beard, I would have been jealous of the long flowing fall of hair he wore. My mentor spoke to the old man for a few moments, before Walker handed over a small, faintly glowing coin and took back two paper bowls filled with steaming meat and vegetables, as well as two sets of chopsticks. Handing one of the bowls to me, as along with a set of chopsticks, Walker moved to stand to the side of the carriage. ¡°Eat and make sure to savour ¨C to truly Experience ¨C each bite.¡± I began to eat ¨C slowly getting used to my new hands, and making sure to Experience each bite fully. This was easy, as it was without a doubt the best tasting food I had ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I had no idea what the meat was, or what the vegetables were, or even what they were spiced with, but if this was the standard for street food, then regardless of whether I was eventually able to stop eating, I would not be stopping. Ever. And if that made me strange, well, more for me. ¡°Once we are finished in the city, I will take you hunting. An adult should be able to buy their own food ¨C though you may need more than most for a time.¡± I swallowed a mouthful of the delicious mystery and nodded to him. I already owed my teacher a lot ¨C for starting what was surely the long process of helping me not suck at life, for taking me with him, clothing me. And now, him feeding me. I knew I would have to work hard to pay him back for his kindness. And the money. I did however still have to try my best to complete my task, for whichever god had requested it. I¡¯m sure I remembered Xiournal mentioning killing me... ¡°Thank you! I¡¯d really appreciate it. While I¡¯m here though, I do have something I need to do...¡± ¡°That seems strange, for somebody from such a great distance from here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of why I was sent here, it¡¯s hard to explain. There¡¯s apparently something here called the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill ¨C I¡¯m supposed to find out who made it, and convince them not to make any more... and to prevent their death.¡± I said it as matter-of-factly ¨C and as quietly - as I could to both try to soften the weird-factor of it all and to hopefully stop people overhearing, but I was not sure I managed the former. Walker¡¯s voice was low and quiet as he leaned in close to me. ¡°That pill is why the Sect of the Living Flame came to this city ¨C it is intriguing that it is also what brought you. It is a work of genius, certainly but I had not thought news of its existence had spread that far. That is grim news ¨C it represents too much power in the wrong hands ¨C I had assumed the ingredients rare enough that there would only be one, but your words bring me doubt. Once I am through with my meeting, the two of us will pay the alchemist in question a visit. Come, Hunter.¡± * *** * If you have never tried to follow somebody topping 7 feet with superhuman strength when they are in a rush, let me tell you, it is not easy. Having to spring into a jog to keep up, I followed him to the base of one of the myriad towers I knew to ascend from the city, and to a large round structure that looked like a miniature colosseum. Above the wide door, hung a wooden sign, lacquered black with gold writing accented with green ¨C it read, ¡°The Steel Splinter ¨C Basic Training¡± ¡°This place is owned and operated by an old friend of mine ¨C she is an excellent fighter and a better teacher. You¡¯ll be staying here until I return ¨C do not leave, it is dangerous for one so weak to roam freely about a city.¡± ¡°If she¡¯s such excellent fighter, why does she only provide basic training?¡± The words came out of my mouth before I had time to edit them for shittyness, and I almost stopped moving when I realised what I had said. Not only was it insulting to my soon-to-be teacher, but it risked annoying the fantasy equivalent of a nuclear warhead walking beside me. ¡°Sorry, Walker, I don¡¯t know why I said that.¡± ¡°A person''s fighting style will change dramatically as they move between the Focus, Core, Path, Foundation and Pinnacle stages. How would you teach a child to use abilities they do not yet possess?¡± Walker didn¡¯t seem to have taken offense, for which I was glad, but I knew I would be paying closer attention to my words for a while. What he had said made sense ¨C if abilities ranged as far apart as fireballs and sword swarms, and there was no way to predict what somebody would end up with, it would be impossible to teach somebody anything beyond the basics, although I had to wonder what basics looked like in a world where the children were multiple times stronger and faster than the strongest humans of my home. We walked through deep shade for a moment as we passed through the door and the short stone tunnel, before it opened up once more to reveal a vast sand covered arena surrounded by stone and wooden paving, with racks of practice weapons along each side, all open to the endless blue sky. Within the sand circle maybe 300 children - verging from maybe 9 years to 18 years - either moved together in sync or fought in a clearly controlled manner . Some had empty hands while others wielded an impressive array of wooden weapons. One of the older girls was moving from stance to stance with a line of water flowing about her. I noticed a woman ¨C older than the kids around her by only a few years, at least on the surface ¨C glance our way before breaking into a run. She wore her blond hair short around her ears, and a sky-blue kimono jacket synched tight around her waist with what looked like a long chain with heavy weights on either end, along with matching pants and no shoes. The fighting instructor ¨C whom I assumed this was ¨C was beautiful, like literally everyone else I had seen since my arrival. ¡°Walker! It¡¯s been years!¡± Her voice was melodic, with a slight sing-song accent, each word running liltingly into the next. I expected her to stop before she reached us, but she threw herself bodily on to Walker¡¯s imposing frame, the jump effortlessly allowing her arms to wrap around his neck as she pulled herself into a tight embrace. ¡°Hello, Aella. It is good to see you again.¡± One dark arm rose up to cradle about her waist, and his growling voice found a touch of warmth I had not yet heard from him. After a long moment, Aella released Walker¡¯s neck and dropped back to the sand, hopping back a couple of steps, hands on hips. ¡°I heard you took care of the Sect of the Dripping Fear - or whoever they were - for us, but I expected you to come and see me earlier! It¡¯s been days.¡± Pouting prettily, she looked up from underneath her long eyelashes at my mentor, and for the first time I got a good look at her eyes ¨C they were pink ¨C solid pink, with no sclera or pupil. It was freaky, but not unattractive. ¡°You have my sincere apologies, Aella ¨C I met this boy outside the walls. I thought him Nadir and sought to question why he wandered so far from Sanctuary, but as it turns out, he was ¨C apparently ¨C intentionally crippled. I was hoping you could show him some basics while I ran an errand? Perhaps you can burn some of the clumsy out of him...¡± Intentionally crippled was a bit harsh, I thought, but it was a better ¨C and more sympathetic ¨C explanation than being from another plane of existence. ¡°Nice to meet you, ma¡¯am. I¡¯m Hunter.¡± ¡°Wow, you are just as weak as my youngest! How cruel! I¡¯ll give you some pointers, as long as Walker doesn¡¯t stand me up for much longer...¡± She winked at me, and a reaction like I had not had in decades came crashing through me, suddenly aware that Aella was not just beautiful, in the way everyone here was, but was really, really, really attractive. ¡°I¡¯m still pretty strong! Maybe you¡¯ll be surprised.¡± I knew it was dumb as I said it ¨C I knew that I was way behind where I would need to be to fight on par here, and despite trying to be on the lookout for further verbal stupidity, there I was again. ¡°Haha, that¡¯s the spirit I expect from youngsters! Children never really learn until that¡¯s been beaten out of them.¡± The voice which had until now been so warm, turned suddenly cold and for just a second, I wanted to run away. ¡°Aella, leave the boy alone. He is from far from here and has but the barest understanding of his inadequacy. I will return in a few hours and you and I can go for a... drink. Hunter, we will attend to our other business tomorrow.¡± I did not mind the delay ¨C that would still leave me with plenty of time, provided the alchemist was not murdered in the meantime, although it did occur to me that that may fulfil the main part of my task, if not the bonus... ¡°Fine! Come on, Hunter. I¡¯ll pair you with somebody of your... I¡¯ll pair you with somebody so I can assess where you stand. And I¡¯ll see you later, Walker.¡± There was some clear subtext between my two teachers and I had to grin, despite the continuous reference to how much I sucked. I really needed to get my shit together. Without another word, Walker turned and rapidly left the arena, his long stride carrying him out in moments. Aella gestured for me to follow as she walked back across the sand, and it was hard to keep myself on task, because her pants were very well fitted. I once again had to wonder what was wrong with me, I needed to focus on my cultivation, but instead I was acting like an idiot teenager. ¡°Oh shit.¡± I spoke under my breath, and began to sweat as it hit me ¨C I was young again, and while my body was not that of a teenager, the hormonal difference between it and my old body was huge, and this body was alien ¨C I had no idea what crazy chemicals were flowing through me. I was ¨C effectively ¨C a teenager again. Before I had time to unpack all the implications of that, Aella and I arrived at one of the scattered groups, composed of maybe 10 youngsters, the youngest of which looked like a small 9-year-old. I had an uncomfortable feeling I was about to take a beating from him. ¡°Students, this is Hunter. Fou Shei, you¡¯ll be assisting me in establishing his baseline.¡± I had been right, it seemed - the 9-year-old looked me up and down, scorn clear on his tiny punchable face. ¡°I will be fighting this homeless cripple? I, Fou Shei of the Unceasing Squall clan? This is an insult to my family, Teacher!¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like a cripple to me...¡± The voice came from one of the older teenagers, a young brunette that looked to be maybe 18 and wearing a kimono jacket only slightly longer than Aella, but without the pants. I liked her. ¡°... He has too much Experience in him. Just an idiot maybe? It would explain the robe.¡± The other kids tittered and the girl grinned. ¡°Wow, you guys are real brats. Maybe you should keep your mouths shut until you learn to be polite?¡± My good opinion had not lasted, and my stupid new body replied before my better wisdom could temper my response, a surge of aggression causing me to growl. ¡°You would dare insult my sister, cripple? Teacher, I will fight him. I will avenge this dishonour!¡± I saw Aella behind the two now, rolling her eyes at us. ¡°Yes, yes, fine, whatever. As long as I get a baseline. Don¡¯t kill him, Fou Shei, he is a disciple of the Infinite Blades.¡± Calling me Walker¡¯s disciple was probably a bit much but it made my chest puff up a bit and I made sure to savour the shock on the little asshole¡¯s face, gulping down the Experience. The other kids spread out into a loose circle around us and Fou Shei and I moved to stand a little apart. My heart was pounding, despite our vast size disparity, and I knew that even though he could not kill me, he was going to do his best to kick the crap out of me. I tried to drop into an approximation of a fighting stance, based on long years of watching other people fight, but as I took my eyes off my opponent to check my footing, my instincts screamed. Jerking my head back, I avoided the heel of his foot by the slimmest of margins ¨C I could actually feel the end of my nose scrape against the skin of his foot. I did not have time to think too much about how close it had been, however, as my opponent was already twisting to bring his other foot to bear. I dodged desperately, the next few moments a flurry of feet aimed directly at my face, able to stay ahead of them only because I was reacting before the kicks. My earlier desire for a different ability set fled in the face of the assault, and I began to think I could - perhaps not win this fight ¨C but maybe I could at least get my own licks in. I just had to look for an opening. My pre-teen nemesis was accelerating, and I knew that even with danger sense I would not be able to dodge soon, so I held up an arm to intercept this next kick, hoping to interrupt his momentum enough to land at least one blow, but as I shifted my weight to do so, I slipped on the loose sand, dropping under the kick and onto my back. ¡°That¡¯s enough, I have a baseline.¡± The foot came from above me in an axe kick that I am certain would have shattered my skull, but at Aella¡¯s command, the foot stopped dead, less than an inch from my face. ¡°You did well, for somebody with your limitation, Hunter. At least until you tried that block ¨C you''re lucky you fell when you did, if you had taken that blow on your arm you may have lost it. Fou Shei, that last kick was a killing blow and I told you to keep him alive ¨C 500 laps, go.¡± The little shit glared at me, red-faced like it was my fault he had to run laps, and I knew that this probably was not the last time he would accidentally try to kill me. Kicked in the Teeth Impacting the sand once more, I tumbled until I came to a halt on my back, staring up at that eternal blue sky for long moments, before the sing-song voice of Aella called out to me, annoyed. ¡°Hunter, up. There¡¯s no time for lying down with the skills you have.¡± I groaned and climbed to my feet for at least the 200th time, the sand sticking to my sweat-damp robe and skin. Aella had decided to take on my training personally, as she thought she was the only one present with the skill to avoid accidentally killing me. We had started with stances, footing and the basics of human motion ¨C it was quite interesting, until it led directly into practical examples. I had improved a lot over the last few hours, but then any gain is substantial when you begin with nothing, as new my teacher in blue kept reminding me. My effectively teenage body wanted to make snappy comebacks, of course, but I used the wisdom and the discipline gained over my 82 years of life to keep the snark in check ¨C at least after the first couple of times Aella took exception to it. Pain, they say, is a great teacher, and like Walker had said ¨C Aella was exceptional. Brushing the sand off the parts I could reach, walked back over to face my opponent, sucking in deep breaths, taking in the Experience of it all and adding it to whatever small store I had. Once I was back in position, I dropped into the stance I had been shown, palms out and hands relaxed. There was no build-up or warning before she came at me, just slightly faster than I could have reacted without my Danger Sense. With it, I managed to stay ahead of her blows, dodging and deflecting on the bleeding edge of what my body was capable of, sweat dripping down my face to soak my beard. That was how it went, as it had for hours, with her increasing her speed at a glacial pace, until inevitably a blow landed and sent me tumbling once more. ¡°You¡¯re really improving! You have a gift for combat - hand-to-hand at least. You could almost keep up with Fou Shei now, until he engaged his Focus, at least. But hey, that¡¯s something! If you were 8 or 9, I¡¯d be really impressed.¡± I sat up slowly, rubbing at the spot she had kicked, doing my best to take in the feeling ¨C I was not enjoying the pain, but despite that, it was still an Experience and I would take what I could get. ¡°Thanks for that, Teacher. Always great to hear you¡¯ve improved to the level of a pre-teen. Can you explain the whole, Focus thing? Walker said he¡¯d tell me later, but it keeps cropping up.¡± Tilting her head to the side, Aella, considered me, one hand raising to tap a finger against her chin, a pretty pout decorating her ubiquitously beautiful face. ¡°I would normally tell you to wait, but you are pretty far behind... everyone...¡± Pink eyes narrowing for a moment, she walked over and sat in front of me, one knee upright so she could lean on it. ¡°You can feel the Experience inside you, right? It should just be sort of flowing about, like when shaking a bowl of water?¡± That was a surprisingly succinct way of describing it ¨C the energy inside was crashing against the sides of me exactly like that. Stopping for a moment to feel, I nodded my head. ¡°Good. That¡¯s how it is for most children. Experience pools within you, but it has nowhere to go, no shape has little practical use. In order to begin to use it, you must first form your Focus ¨C willing your Experience to take shape and then by allowing your Experience to shape you. Many begin with the elements and some with great beasts. The shape your form your Experience into will form the focus of your power.¡± I frowned hard ¨C that sounded like a lot of circular bullshit to me, but I managed to hold back my question ¨C Aella did not look like she was finished and the last time I had interrupted her she had literally knocked me out. ¡°For me, my Focus took the form of a great mountain, because I wanted to be a solid as the stone and my blows to carry the weight of the great peaks. The Apex of The Crystal Drake used a Dragon for his Focus, as I understand it. Many families follow a theme, for example the Unceasing Squall your fiend Fou Shei is part of. But each Focus is unique to the person. You must find something that fits you and make it your Focus, around which your Core will from. From there, the Core grows into the Path to your Foundation, from which you build until you reach the Pinnacle. Most children are taught the importance of the Focus from an early age, and by the time they have gathered enough Experience to do anything with it, they have a solid Focus in mind.¡± She left unsaid ¨C for once ¨C that I was getting something of a late start. I wondered if Walker had a sword as his Focus, or a cloud of them. There was obviously an evolution of power an ability as you moved between all the stages Aella had listed ¨C nobody just jumped to millions of swords, right? There was only really one thing that sprang instantly to mind, something I had always had something of a fascination with ¨C electricity, or at least arcs of it. I thought immediately of lightning. ¡°What about lightning, can I use that? Go full Raiden?¡± ¡°I have no idea what Raiden is, but lighting can be used, but it¡¯s very difficult to control, from what I¡¯ve heard. Most elements have a desire ¨C to endure, like earth. To consume, like fire. Lightning desires to rest and will take the quickest route to earth, where it may sleep. It is supposed to be very hard to bend it to your will. For somebody who perhaps is looking to reach a survivable level as soon as possible, there are better options.¡± What Aella was saying was true ¨C that I needed something sooner rather than later, and about the nature of electricity, but I wanted it, suddenly. I wanted to hold lightning in my hand like Zeus, and I wanted it more than Fou Shei¡¯s sister. ¡°Where do I form this thing? Do I just picture it in my head, or what?¡± My voice sounded eager to my own ears, and hungry.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re going with lightning, aren¡¯t you? Well, far be it from fated for me to get between a fool and his foolishness. The Focus is formed in your lower energy centre ¨C it is found just below and back of our navel. This is where the refinement of Experience into energy occurs, and will form the centre of your energy circulation. It can be difficult to find, initially, but if you follow the Experience flowing within you to its centre, there it will be.¡± Crossing my legs, I closed my eyes and turned my gaze inwards towards the rush surging within me. It moved like a sea in storm, as hard as Aella had said to track, but I knew I needed to do find that centre if I wanted to survive here on this world of demigods. And more still, if I wanted to survive the tasks Xiournal gave me. It felt like hours of tracking wave after wave of that golden force before I found a place of calm, a still spot hidden amidst the roiling tsunamis. There I stood in my mind''s eye, and pictured myself, surrounded by a crackling nimbus of lightning as it arced around me like burning cracks in the world, making me faster, stronger ¨C protecting me. If I could not control it, I would become it. Bending my will, I started to collect the energy around me, pushing it into the shape I pictured. It was hard and I almost gave up a dozen times but after what felt like an eternity fighting that storm to make it mine, there stood in that calm centre the faintest echo of myself, electricity raging about me, filling me. The sea had also changed ¨C where before it had moved in a state of chaos, now it was almost still. Paying close attention to it, I noticed it was still moving, spiralling in towards that image of me. Towards my Focus. To say it felt strange would be an understatement ¨C the feeling of all that energy spinning inside me forced me out of my centre with a gasp. ¡°I did it! I formed my centre! I¡¯m better than a 9-year-old!¡± The grin on my face bellied the mediocrity of my words, hands held above my head in triumph ¨C but Aella was shaking her head. ¡°No, you haven¡¯t. You¡¯ve started the process, sure, but it could take months for the Focus to fully form. You¡¯ll need to keep up the hard work if you want to accelerate that, and make sure you keep cultivating Experience. It¡¯s being drawn inwards to form your Focus now and the lack could pose quite a shock to your body. Now that that¡¯s out of the way, you¡¯ve had a long enough break. Back to training!¡± ¡°Will I be able to use lightning now? Is there an advanced class?¡± ¡°I just said your Focus is not complete ¨C you¡¯ll gain nothing until it is. As for the advanced class, sure. Come, I¡¯ll make sure to kick you twice as hard.¡± * *** * By the time my master returned, the sun was setting and I could no longer differentiate my aches ¨C I was just one large bruise. I had not yet died of dehydration after a solid 9 hours of practice, as while adults may not need to eat on this world, apparently, they did like to stay hydrated. Striding out of the elongating shadows of the arena¡¯s steep walls, Walker made his way across the hot sand to where Aella and I were sat going over my training. ¡°You progressed a lot today, Hunter. You have excellent reflexes and your strength, speed and stamina are exceptional for somebody at your level of advancement. If you keep training as you did today, I have no doubt that you will find little challenge when facing an average opponent of up to 15 years of age - within the year.¡± ¡°Stop, Teacher... You¡¯re embarrassing me... But I will keep up the training, even if I can¡¯t be here. I can¡¯t stay weak forever.¡± My voice started with dry sarcasm, but quickly gained sincerity. Aella had been hard on my today, and I¡¯d probably have a hard time moving in the morning, but she had always made clear what I was doing right and wrong, and especially how to go about fixing my mistakes. Walker had been right, it turned out ¨C Aella was a great teacher. ¡°I am gratified to hear you have progressed, Hunter, though I would expect nothing less from The Falling Star.¡± He turned his blindfolded gaze between us, a grin forming at the corners of his mouth. ¡°The Falling Star? Is that you... fighter name... Aella?¡± ¡°It is! I earned the name when I first used my Path in battle. I shattered both my enemies, and the battlefield.¡± She sounded proud, chest puffing out distractingly. ¡°The Chained Wraith sect was broken in more ways than one that day. It was... impressive.¡± The way he said ¡°impressive¡± reminded me that they were going out for drinks and I wondered how I was going to make myself scarce. ¡°Ugh, should I sleep outside again? Do... adults... sleep?¡± Walker replied without looking at me, all his attention reserved by the lady with the pink eyes. ¡°We do indeed sleep ¨C though I suspect less than you.¡± He began to say something more, but Aella beat him to it. ¡°You can sleep here! There''s a small house here, for when I cannot be bothered going home.¡± ¡°Wow, thanks Teacher, I really appreciate that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine ¨C it means you will be here early for more... advanced... training.¡± I winced a little ¨C when Aella had said she would kick me twice as hard it had not been a joke. ¡°The boy and I must visit Ben Won Ro in the morning ¨C we have things we must discuss.¡± ¡°With that crazy alchemist? Are you going to buy that pill for Hunter?¡± ¡°No ¨C it would most certainly kill him. Hunter has been tasked with convincing Ro to make no more of the things, and I too think it would be best if only the one was ever made.¡± ¡°You can be so boring, Walker! There¡¯s nothing wrong with boosting your cultivation with pills ¨C not everyone has talent. If the boy was at the Core level, it would benefit him greatly.¡± ¡°I hold no bias against the use of medicine to increase your cultivation ¨C it is the specifics of this pill I disagree with.¡± That was interesting ¨C apparently getting a head of drugs was fairly common here. ¡°Why, what does it do, specifically? I only know the name, and I doubt pretentiousness is enough to put you off.¡± ¡°The Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill is supposedly capable of linking your mind with all around you, allowing you to Experience what they do, and to thus boost your cultivation. The pill is powerful, certainly, however it is my belief that it could not only damage your Focus by submerging you in the Experience of so many others, but it is also too powerful. To move from Core to Pinnacle is not out of reach when consuming such medicine, and to reach such heights without the wisdom to match may make the conquest of the Chained Wraiths seem pale.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was ominous, and while I did not know the specifics of the power which differentiated the various levels, going from almost the bottom to the top did seem like a bad idea, if that resulted in immature assholes with power like Walker¡¯s own. ¡°Enough of business ¨C shall we go for that drink, Aella?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s - it¡¯s been too long, Walker. Let me shoo everyone out of the arena and I¡¯ll lock up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come for you at dawn, Hunter. I would prefer not to kick you awake again.¡± With that, Aella began to shout at the other students to get their attention, before driving them from the sandy arena like a sheepdog herding sheep, the two of them ¨C one dark and tall and the other bright and animated walking arm in arm. The dull boom of the closing doors could be heard from across the short distance, marking the silence of the now empty facility and leaving me along with the sudden thought that Aella had not shown me where the house was. ¡°Shit.¡± Smash n Grab I did eventually find the small house Aella had mentioned ¨C it sat above the entrance to the arena, a small door hidden back behind the series of barrels filled with blunted swords and oil. There was a small bed and even a shower, which I used gratefully, even going so far as to try clean my sweat soaked and overlarge robe. After I scrubbed the drying sweat from my newly muscular body and hair, I stood under the flowing water, just enjoying the cool feel of it. Once finished, I squeezed the worst of the water from my hair and beard, hanging my wrung out robe over the sill of the inner window, admiring the view of the wide sand circle and then - despite the fact that I had only been awake for about 12 hours, I staggered over to the small bed and all but fell into it, seamlessly fading into unconsciousness. I did not remember what I dreamed of that night ¨C only that I did dream. I awoke once more with the dawn, oddly disturbed and anxious with my head filled with ungraspable phantom memories. It made me eager to begin my day, and to distract myself with the completion of my first quest ¨C hopefully. Speaking Xiournal¡¯s name, I brought up the phantom tablet:
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 12 days, 4 hours, 2 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
It looked like I had not failed my bonus mission while sleeping, which was my only really risk at the moment. I doubted it would take more than 12 days to convince Ben Won Ro to stop making the pill, especially standing beside Walker, the city¡¯s apparent saviour. Unless he got kidnapped. ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope that doesn¡¯t happen...¡± Talking to myself, I walked over to the window to collect my robe. Once I had it hitched up once more, I re-tied the belt and went downstairs to wait for the return of Walker and Aella, my two teachers. Not knowing how punctual either were, or even the state of timekeeping in this world, I began to go through some of the exercises I had been given the day before, somewhat amazed by the lack of aches and pains from Aella¡¯s hands ¨C and feet ¨C on approach. I started with a basic series of defensive steps and deflections, fighting the slow-moving phantoms conjured by my own imagination. Strong I may not have been ¨C yet ¨C but it would be a cold day in hell before I let my own mind kick my ass. At least the second time around. Once I had moved through the defensive sets, I sat on the cold sand and turned my mental gaze inwards towards my energy centre, and the slowly rotating sea of energy within. Within my centre was the beginning of my Focus ¨C a ghostly image of myself surrounded in a crackling nimbus of arcing blue-white and violet lightning. The golden ocean which stretched out in every direction was slowly draining into the image, filling it with colour and clarity, but at a pace that spoke more of glaciers than any whirlpool. Breathing in, I strained to feel everything around me ¨C the cool of the dawn air and the cold sand beneath me. The heat of my body and its pulse, interposed with my own breathing. With every breath, I pulled in the Experience and watched as it topped up my soul¡¯s sea, gentle silver ripples admidst the gold, flowing inwards from the distant edges. Readying my will, I stretched out to grasp the that vast pool and began to pull it inwards, filling my Focus faster than it had any hope of doing naturally. The lethargic spiral began to accelerate and a feeling like liquid joy surged through me and it occurred to me that it was no wonder kids reached this level as soon as possible. Cultivating probably beat out masturbation as the number 1 teenage pastime on this world. * *** * I spent what felt like hours within my centre, but must have been much less, given the light when I came back to myself. Sat in front of me, my dark mentor sat, his own legs folded, his head tilted to one side and his blindfolded gaze locked on me. ¡°I failed to realise it this last evening, but it would seem you have begun the formation of your Focus. While I commend your enthusiasm, it is good that we will be concluding your business today, as by this time tomorrow, you will likely be paralysed with pain.¡± His tone was matter of fact, and for a moment, I did not even realise what he had said, but it did eventually hit me. ¡°Wait, what? Nobody said anything about pain. Why will there be pain?¡± ¡°I thought you knew.¡± I could feel the shrug in her tone of voice as Aella spoke from behind me. Twisting around I looked up at her ¨C she was wearing a similar outfit to the day before ¨C tight pants and a short kimono jacket, made of something like silk, but this time in a pale daffodil yellow, rather than blue. ¡°How would I know if nobody tells me?¡± I held up my hands to either side, my voice incredulous. ¡°Oh well! You were going to need to form your energy channels at some point. It¡¯s best to get these things out of the way!¡± I looked back at Walker, annoyed for the first time at her sing-song tone. ¡°Energy channels?¡± ¡°Once your Focus begins to form, the energy converted by it will seek to circulate throughout your body. While Experience can exist within you, and even flow about your body in its raw form, once refined it requires special channels so as to not burn your vascular system to ash.¡± ¡°Great. That''s awesome ¨C I''ll just grow a new circulatory system. No big deal. Maybe we should go see the alchemist now? Maybe he has some magic opium or something...¡± ¡°Ben Won Ro will not be ready to see customers for a number of hours. And you will not be consuming anything to dull your senses, unless you wish to permanently destroy your cultivation? The process of burning the energy channels must be actively guided.¡± ¡°The news just keeps getting better. Okay, so no knocking myself out. Is there anything I can do to make the process less paralytic?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. This is something - almost ¨C every person in existence must deal with. You should be fine. In the meantime, I brought you food. I know you are yet unable to do without.¡± He held his hand out and a paper bowl filled with rice and vegetables appeared, steaming in the early morning. ¡°Walker, you are literally the best. As soon as I can pay you back for all your help, I¡¯m all over it.¡± I took the paper bowl from him and did not even wait for chopsticks, I just started shovelling the hot food into my mouth, moaning in pleasure. My body had had a single meal since its rebirth, and in that time, I had spent hours training and I was starving. The rice was fluffy and seasoned to perfection, and the vegetables were crisp and light. ¡°Wow, it didn¡¯t even occur to me he¡¯d need to eat! But it makes sense, I guess. It¡¯s just strange to see somebody his age with those sorts of... needs.¡± I did not care that I was being compared ¨C once again ¨C to a child, I was too happy to be filling my stomach. ¡°Whoever sent him here has a lot to answer for. To hold him back from cultivation so... but the past cannot be changed. Come, Hunter ¨C finish and we will continue your instruction before Aella¡¯s other students arrive.¡± I had already finished my meal and was on my way to dispose of the paper bowl when his words finished registering. I hope ¨C really, really hoped ¨C that I would not be fighting them both. * *** * I half-stepped around Walker¡¯s jab and turned slightly to keep both of my opponents in view before ducking down to avoid Aella¡¯s kick, the wind of its passing scattering my hair. I did, in fact, end up fighting them both. They were moving considerably slower than Aella had been by the time we finished the day before, but there being two of them more than made up for it ¨C and like the day before, they were getting faster, forcing me closer and closer to the edge of my performance. Of course, I was relying heavily on Danger Sense ¨C always reacting just ahead of the blows coming my way, which was good, as they were hitting hard. Thinking back on my choices of abilities, I had to admit that Danger Sense was proving its worth so far, and I suspected that my Lesser Regeneration had played a role in my ability to sit up that morning, but I had to wonder ¨C if I had taken Flawless Coordination, would I have already mastered this? Would technique have made up for the gap in speed? A fist cracked into my jaw and I stumbled, having allowed myself to become unfocused. Unwilling to take another I moved with the momentum of the blow and used it to meet the lightning fast roundhouse coming in from Walker. Meeting the blow, it turned out, was a mistake. As Walker¡¯s fist connected with my raised arm, the power in the blow smashed my own hand back in to my face, almost breaking my nose, at least by the feel of it. Stunned for a second I did not have, I was unable to avoid Aella¡¯s follow up jab on my other side and before I knew it, I was once again laid out on the sand. ¡°You let yourself get distracted and failed to play to your strengths ¨C your reflexes are your best hope in a fight, you should use them to avoid blows, not to block them. You are neither strong or tough enough to simply absorb blows.¡± My mentor¡¯s words mirrored those of my teacher from the previous day, and I know they were both right, but it was still tough to internalise my own weakness. ¡°However, there will be times you are not able to dodge or deflect, when a blow will land regardless of your efforts ¨C for those times, you must learn to fight through the pain. In a real battle, you cannot afford to flinch. Tomorrow will help with that, but we will need to add it to your training from now on.¡± Pain training sounded, well, painful and while that seemed like the point, I was not eager to add getting hit on purpose to my repertoire. I supposed it was probably better than getting distracted and killed though. ¡°The alchemist will be opening his doors, soon, Walker. You should go ¨C the sooner you are done, the sooner you can come back! I¡¯ll charge a premium for having my students overseen by the Apex of Infinite Blades!¡± Aella¡¯s lilting voice was coloured by the grin stretching wide across her beautiful face, and she sounded genuinely happy, the words tinged with gleeful greed. ¡°She is right. Come, Hunter. Let us get both of our business done.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I can shower first? I¡¯m kind of sweaty again.¡± With a shake of his head, Walker flung up a hand and a small bead appeared from whichever infinite pocket he pulled things from, flew across the short distance and hit me in the chest. The bead burst into powder on impact and the resulting cloud rapidly whipped about me before vanishing, leaving me cleaner than I had been after my shower the night before. ¡°That was awesome! Way quicker than a shower. I¡¯ll just... add it to my tab. Thanks again, Walker.¡± ¡°Think nothing of it, I purchase them by the thousands ¨C though I my stock is low after assisting with the clean-up of the army the other day. Another fortuitous dividend of visiting Ro today is I will be able to restock.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Aella, Teacher ¨C thank you for your training. I really appreciate it! I¡¯ll see you later.¡± ¡°I hope to take you for another drink, Aella. Later?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it, Walker! And you, I suppose, Hunter. Try not to die before then, I hate having my time wasted.¡± * *** * If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. After leaving The Steel Splinter, Walker and I made our way deeper into Evergreen city ¨C it was a marvel to me that a seemingly medieval city, even one with access to magic, could exist on such a massive scale, although the near elimination of the need for food probably helped. Passing through a number of markets, I avidly explored the stalls and covered benches with my eyes, taking in wares of a thousand types and varying quality. It did seem like the items for sale improved as we moved deeper into the city, and I wondered how wealth was distributed ¨C I had seen Walker spend a small glowing coin the day before, but I had no idea as to the denomination or relative value. He had indicated that money could be made hunting, and I pondered on the worth of a flaming wolf¡¯s pelt. The two of us walked for an hour, drawing ever closer to that colossal tower I had noted shorty after my arrival on this world. From this angle, it looked like some sort of space elevator, stretching endlessly into the sky. By the time Walker¡¯s pace slowed, the building around us had begun to take on a richer mien, the doors spaced further and further apart, with small gardens and walls. I caught glimpses of large windows through open doorways and small round opening set into the walls, as well as balconies rising story after story, pagoda style ¨C or as close as you could come on the dense city streets. At the top of one street, taking up a large corner lot was a huge building seemingly walled on all 4 sides, and surrounded by artfully manicured grass and trees. We came to a stop at one round door, unsigned and with a winding jade-green gravel path leading towards to the building. The building looked to be constructed of wood, like most of the buildings I had seen in the city - It looked like light oak, glossed to a rich sheen and accented with crimson paint or lacquer. ¡°This is the workplace and home of Ben Won Ro, the alchemist responsible for the creation of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill. You must show him deference, if you expect him to heed you. He is widely considered to be the most skilled Alchemist in Everwood City, and thus ¨C potentially ¨C the world. You would be well served to follow my lead.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be on my best behaviour ¨C it''s hard to explain, but I need to make every effort. My life ¨C sort of - depends on it.¡± Walker raised on arched eyebrow at me, his wolf-like ears twitching. ¡°You had not told me that ¨C come, let us get this done then.¡± ¡°Is him being the best the reason there¡¯s no sign? People just know who he is?¡± ¡°That is correct. Especially now, with the creation of the Pill, everyone in this city will know of him, and where he may be found.¡± Nodding I followed my mentor¡¯s tall frame along the winding path and into the tall building via a sliding door that was almost perfeclty blended in to the wall. The inside of the building was well lit and on the cool side, bottles of some softly glowing fluid were held upon the walls with wooden sconces, as well as hanging from the high ceiling by red and gold cords. The floor was lined with chest height shelves and display cases ¨C some shelves held boxes, others bottles, with the cases containing single balls, bags and bottles ¨C clearly the more special of the stock on open offer. ¡°... turn enquiries away!¡± Across the room, standing behind a wooden counter along with a whole wall of square metal draws - like safety deposit boxes - stood two men. One was clearly old and dressed entirely in white, clean shaven but with eyebrows that fell down the sides of his face his chin. The younger of the two has short cropped black hair and was dressed in a deep blue robe. We caught the tail end of a conversation, but it ended on our entrance ¨C the two men turning to us. The expressions each formed were markedly different ¨C the man in white broke into a wide grin, his eyes alighting on my dark companion. The younger of the two drew his hands together and tilted his body in a light bow, his face a mostly neutral mask. ¡°Ah! The Infinite Blades! I heard you drove off those Living Flame mongrels on my behalf! Come, come!¡± We stepped through the maze of alchemical concoctions, making our way to the counter. ¡°Greetings Honoured Master Alchemist, it is my pleasure to see you once more. My companion and I have come for to purchase a number of Cleansing Pills, as well as to discuss the disposition of your most recent masterpiece.¡± ¡°Companion? He must be a man great power to walk beside ¨C oh, a cripple. Charity always reflects well on those with power, I suppose. The Cleansing Pills are a minor thing, but the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill... useless for you, of course, but I assume you wish to purchase it on behalf of your cri-ompanion? It could, I suppose, assist in fixing whatever malady he suffers¡± I struggled with myself for a moment at being called a cripple again ¨C while it was apparently a justifiable assumption, it was still aggravating and I came close to snapping a reply at him. ¡°I do wish to purchase it from you, but more, I¡¯d like to request you do not make any more, Honoured Master Alchemist.¡± The alchemist looked taken aback, his incredibly long eyebrows bobbing about as his raised them. ¡°No more? I have ingredients enough for several more, it would be throwing away a fortune! The captain of Everwood City¡¯s own army has already enquired as to the purchase of as many as I can produce¡± ¡°I will not always be nearby, Ben Won Ro ¨C one sect has already sent an army to take your creation from you ¨C at the cost of your city. How many more when word gets out you can make multiple pills? Even with Everwood¡¯s army to defend you, how long will they last when half the world comes calling?¡± ¡°You raise a valid point...¡± His tone was begrudging, at best ¨C it seemed to me that giving up on that money was physically hurting the old man. ¡°I suspect I will need to be convinced, however. But for a man who destroyed an army for me, a chance should be given! Come, we will have drinks. Your... companion can stay here with Tang. Tang! Prepare 10,000 Cleansing Pills while I¡¯m gone.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Ro.¡± For his part, my mentor shrugged his huge shoulders, his head tilted towards me as if to say, ¡°What am I gonna do?¡± ¡°Hunter you should... stay here with Tang. Perhaps spend some time on your Focus?¡± ¡°On his Focus! Ha! Come! Come!¡± The old alchemist slapped my mentor on the shoulder and walked out with him, great peals of roaring laughter following him out. Turning to look at Tang, I raised one eyebrow and introduced myself. ¡°Tang, right? I¡¯m Hunter. Not a cripple, just from far away.¡± Not knowing whether shaking hands was a thing on this worked, my introductions being limited somewhat, I instead just gave him, ¡°the nod¡±. Returning my small head bow, Tang spoke. ¡°I am ¨C sorry about my master, he can be a bit of a dick. He doesn¡¯t mean anything by it, he just says what¡¯s on his mind.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, he¡¯s not the first to call me a cripple since I got here. Where I¡¯m from, nobody really cultivates. Walker has been helping me out since I got here, but it¡¯s going to take me a while to catch up to what is considered normal here.¡± ¡°Lucky indeed to gain the assistance of an Apex! What brought you here, from such a strange land? And how did you survive the journey? The wild can be dangerous for even the most accomplished cultivators.¡± ¡°I was actually sent to try to convince your master not to make any more of those pills. Sent directly via some sort of teleportation.¡± Tang¡¯s eyes opened wide for a moment, but then chuckled under his breath, a wry look taking over his face. ¡°You had me for a moment! Teleportation, indeed. An impossibility, and even more so if what you say about the lack of cultivation is true.¡± ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t blame you for doubting me, I still doubt me. But it happened just like I said ¨C One moment I¡¯m at home ¨C sort of, relatively ¨C the next I¡¯m with some dragon lady and then, just like that, I was outside of the city.¡± It was the first time I had mentioned Xiournal to anybody ¨C Walker had taken the being ¡°sent¡± bit in stride and we had just moved on from there. ¡°A dragon? Long and slender or stocky with wings?¡± I blinked at the mention of multiple types of dragons ¨C this world really did seem to be a fantasy hodgepodge. ¡°Yeah, a dragon - long and slender.¡± ¡°They are capable of cultivation ¨C true cultivation rather than that of beasts, but they cannot teleport.¡± ¡°Can the ones with wings?¡± ¡°No, of course not. They are terrifying beasts, but they do not possess that power.¡± ¡°Then why the need to differentiate?¡± ¡°Pitfall of the profession ¨C precision is king.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense ¨C I don¡¯t know much about alchemy, but I assume that if it¡¯s anything like plain old chemistry I have to assume imprecision is bad?¡± Chemistry had never been my thing, but I knew that much. ¡°Bad, yes. The difference between a healing potion and a potion to dissolve you from the inside out is one tenth of a second in spiritual flame.¡± ¡°Good to know! No cheaping out on healing potions, got it.¡± Not that had I any money with which to buy them, and I could not picture walker going bargain shopping. ¡°Provided you make your purchases from alchemists registered with the Association, you should be fine regardless of the price. They would be hunted down and exterminated if they were to sully the Association¡¯s name with faulty products.¡± ¡°That¡¯s some serious quality control! But I can see where you¡¯re coming from.¡± I looked down at the counter, considering my new world and everything I¡¯d learned about it so far. It seemed awesome and of course all the magic was incredible, but it was also... brutal. An armed invasion over a pill? Not to mention the local equivalent of Big Pharma killing people over shoddily made potions. I knew I could have to watch my step moving forward and do my best to avoid making enemies. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s this?¡± My eyes had caught on a number of bags, jars and other oddities waiting to one side of the long counter, and a glass jar filled with bright orange goo in particular. I pointed at it and looked at Tang. ¡°It looks tasty.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Heaven¡¯s Foundation Glue. It¡¯d taste good, I¡¯m sure - but your mouth would be permanently sealed shut.¡± ¡°You guys really like your ostentatious names. Permanent glue, huh? How strong is it?¡± ¡°The name¡¯s appropriate ¨C this permanently join anything it touches ¨C after energy is applied to it directly, it will feed on any further force, growing ever stronger. It is ¨C without the solvent ¨C indestructible. You could ¨C literally ¨C pin up the heavens with this small jar.¡± ¡°Application takes some more of that precision you mentioned, I guess...¡± I had been about to pick it up to remove the lid and take a whiff, but decided discretion was the better part of valour and moved on. ¡°What about this stuff?¡± I pointed at another jar, this one filled with some green-white fluid. It looked vaguely like puss and I found myself scrunching my face up subconsciously. ¡°Flesh Annihilation Serum ¨C it''s an acid that will eat through anything living in seconds ¨C it''s mostly just for removing stubborn mold.¡± ¡°Anything living? Seconds? I¡¯m getting the impression I shouldn¡¯t mess with alchemists...¡± ¡°Yes, it ignores anything not suffused with energy. Very dangerous.¡± Tang seemed to enjoy telling me what all this was ¨C in a world filled with magic, it probably took real passion to go into crafting. ¡°And this?¡± There was a stack of cloth bags with a faintly minty odour coming off them. Tang smiled and tossed me one of the bags. ¡°Free samples. These are another creation of my master ¨C the Ever Quenched Pill. Consuming one will hydrate you for an entire day. Once word gets out, these will make us a hundred fortunes. So, tell your friends.¡± Opening the bag, I pulled out one of the small round pills inside ¨C it was almost perfectly clear, and still smelled strongly of mint. I Popped the translucent pill into my mouth, and quickly swallowed ¨C it had been a few hours now since I had anything to drink, and had been sparring so I¡¯d built a considerable thirst. Upon swallowing I instantly felt better ¨C the nagging thirst fading until it was gone completely, and even my dry, bare feet felt a little better. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing! Way more convenient than carrying water around, and easier to do without a flask... Thank you! Free sample or not, I really appreciate it. I¡¯ll tell everyone I know.¡± Which I knew wouldn¡¯t be hard ¨C I would be able to tell all 2 of them before the day ended. I tied the bag shut and went to put it in my pocket, still used to wearing a jack despite my current lack. Realising I did not even know if I had pockets, I began patting my robe and eventually located one, hitched up under the belt where I had raised the hem. Slipping my hand and the bag inside awkwardly, I felt something already there ¨C sand. I had apparently, and inadvertently, filled my pockets with sand while sparring, my new strength making it difficult to notice the additional weight. I pulled my hand out of the pocket and began slapping my hands together to get rid of the clinging grains ¨C I had always hated the feel of sand on my skin. Looking back at the wooden surface of the service counter- and hoping for more samples ¨C I cast my eye over the other gathered objects. There was one item that stood out from the others on the counter ¨C a blood-red metal container the size of both my fists laid side-by-side and hinged like a chest. ¡°What about this? Mini-nuke?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a mini-nuke? This is the container for the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill. Unlike the other products waiting to be sold ¨C or given out ¨C this one needs putting away. Master retrieved it from the bank¡¯s vault earlier this morning.¡± ¡°You just have it here on the counter? After an army tried to inv-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be taking that ¨C very convenient, I thought I was going to need to bleed you to get my hands on it.¡± I turned as a person faded into view next to me, dressed all in black. Their voice was strangely neutral and distorted, perhaps a product of the mask they were wearing, or they just had a weird voic - it was impossible to be certain on this world. Tang had grabbed the metal box as soon as the figure appeared and I reflexively stepped between them, mentally kicking myself, knowing there was likely little I could do but unable to stop myself. My new body¡¯s natural instincts and a lifetime of hero idolisation forced me into it. ¡°Let¡¯s just calm down! I''m the disciple of The Apex of Infinite Blades ¨C sort of - and this is the apprentice of Ben Won R-¡± ¡°Shut up ¨C I know who your masters are. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here while they are not. Now ¨C the pill. Give it to me, or I¡¯ll take it from your corpses.¡± Tang seemed reluctant ¨C understandably - and he was inching back towards a door to one side of the counter. ¡°I see you trying to leave, idiot. Now - ¡°The black figure took a threatening step around me, his gaze locked on Tang¡¯s retreating form, and a plan rapidly formed in my mind. It was not a good plan, but it was the only one I had. I reached into my pocket and grabbed a fist full of sand, praying whatever gods this world had that this would work. ¡°Hey, dickbutt, look at me!¡± The would-be burglar turned to me, eyes looking angry through their cloth mask. As his head turned, I whipped my arm around, tossing sand directly into his eyes as they locked on me. ¡°Pocket sand, dipshit!¡± ¡°You...!¡± They grabbed at their face, shouting and bending slightly at the waist in an effort to shake the sand free, and I felt my instinct scream at me, knowing it would not last. Turning, I grabbed a jar from the counter and fastballed it directly into their face as they finally straightened to murder me. There was a satisfying crack as the orange goo covered their face, pouring in to the eye holes of the mask, shards of glass sticking out at random angles. ¡°I¡¯m going to bleed you slow, boy!¡± Raising their hands once more to wipe away the goo now obstructing their vision, the thief stuck their fingers into their eyes to scoop it out, which is when I executed the last step in my plan ¨C I waved at him. My hands held up in front of me by the time fingers found good, I tried to push energy out of my hand and into the glue. I felt the energy inside me slosh towards my arm ¨C it was disconcerting but it did not work. Luckily, Tang had picked up on what I was trying to do and a fleck of gold and silver light flicked passed me and into the orange slime, turning it perfectly clear in an instant and sealing the black clothed criminal¡¯s hands to their face. ¡°I swear by all the gods, I will kill everyone you have ever known for this you rancid, stinking ¨C" They stumbled to one side, elbows flailing about as they ranted, still in that oddly dead tone. ¡°We have to get him out of here! He¡¯s going to break all the stock!¡± ¡°Your priorities are way off, Tang! He¡¯s going to break us unless we do something!¡± ¡°What do I do with the pill? What if there are more?¡± Tang¡¯s voice quavered with panic, and I was close to joining him as I stepped to one side to avoid the want-to-be-killer''s blind flailing. I looked around and grabbed the box containing the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill, opening it and pulling out a purple ball half the size of my fist. I could not understand why we were worried about the thing ¨C nobody would be able to fit it in their mouths, let alone swallow it. Shaking my head in disbelief, I reached for the jar of Annihilating Serum, unscrewing the top hurriedly, before dropping the pill inside and pushing it as far down as I dared. Not being a living thing, it should be safe, I hoped. I hurriedly screwed the lid back on and grabbed the belt of the ranting thief, as well wrapping one hand in the fabric at the base of their neck, before lifting them into the air and flipping them upside-down, legs up and hopefully too far away from me to manage a kick. As strong as the locals I might not have been, but I was plenty strong enough to lift somebody off the ground and keep them there. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang¡¯s voice was loud and disbelieving, staring at the now wildly swinging legs above my head. ¡°Let me go! Let me go you son of a shit-slime! I¡¯m going to burn you alive!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a rare fighting style where I¡¯m from called Slapstick! And, I guess we wait?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t wait! What if there are more coming!¡± ¡°There are thousands of us you soon to be dead, turtle slime eating anus-dwellers!¡± ¡°Shit, you¡¯re right, Tang.¡± I only knew two people in town, and I knew that one was out drinking somewhere. The only chance I had was to get to Aella, which was a terrible idea, but I my options were limited ¨C I would have to make a run for it. Through the streets. Carrying a kicking and screaming insult savant. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to run now! You should get somewhere safe!¡± With that, I turned and ran out of the door. Upon exiting the building, I whipped to my right, spurred by instint and interposing the mad crook between myself and a dart of some kind. I managed to catch another 3 before they started getting through ¨C too many at once for me to do anything about. As the darts penetrated my skin, I felt a numbness creeping into me, and once again ¨C as was becoming my habit ¨C I fell in to darkness. I am pretty sure, however, that I managed to fall on the asshole I was carrying. You Aint Got a Hold on Me I came back to myself slowly, the dark fog of unconsciousness burning off reluctantly this time around. I blinked my eyes, dragging the weight of my head up to look about. ¡°It looks like our guest is awake! We thought you¡¯d sleep for a week. Which, honestly would really have messed with our timeline.¡± I seemed to be tied to a chair, the thick rope all but cutting off the blood flow to my extremities. I swallowed vomit as the world spun around me, only settling back into what approximated normal after a few long, hard seconds. I waited another moment for my eyes to focus ¨C I was in some sort of round stone room, and unless my equilibrium was still off, the floor was sloped towards me. The man talking to me ¨C or at me ¨C was also sat in aother chair, though his lacked the inconveniently tight ropes. He wore black ¨C like the asshole I had gone Home Alone on back at the alchemist¡¯s place. ¡°I¡¯m going to be very upfront about why you¡¯re here ¨C after we disabled you, and your apprentice friend, we searched the whole building and we were unable to find the pill. We know it was on the counter, but the only thing you had on you when we brought you in was some sand and some sort of dehydrated water.¡± He gestured to one side, where my over-sized robe sat on top of a table, covered in sand. I could just make out the bag Tang had given me sat next to it. Which logically meant I was naked again. ¡°You either have reached a point in your cultivation at which you can store objects within your soul, or hid it. Now ¨C you appear to sitting just below the Focus stage, but above that of a Nadir. So, either you¡¯re a profound fool, or you¡¯re able to hide your cultivation. Not to worry though, there enough Spiritual Weights in this cell to hold down anyone below the Foundation stage ¨C which we know you are, as the poison we used simply wouldn¡¯t have worked otherwise. In this room, you¡¯re every bit as weak as the cripple you pretend to be. If you are pretending. Fool?¡± ¡°You really like to hear yourself talk, huh?¡± My voice was slurred and my body appeared to be getting the better of me again, because this did not seem like a situation that warranted bravado. ¡°Oh, you can talk! That¡¯s excellent. You see, regardless of where the pill is, you¡¯re going to tell us where it is ¨C because you can and will talk - and if you have it, produce it.¡± The man in black gestured to another table and I had to hold back another surge of vomit ¨C the table was covered in tools, some I recognised, and some I did not. But there was certainly a theme ¨C they looked like they would hurt. ¡°Torture doesn¡¯t work, dickbag. You should really update your methodology.¡± I really wanted me to shut-up, but it was looking more and more like I only had a single hand on the wheel at that moment. ¡°That¡¯s actually a fairly common misconception. Torture always works ¨C provided you have the ability or the resources to discern truth from fiction. I have the former ¨C a gift from my bloodline. I can hear lies. It really makes me an excellent torturer, but terrible at relationships. So, you and I are unlikely to be friends after this. You can¡¯t have everything, right?¡± His voice had that tone you get from retail clerks who really loved their jobs or long-term frontline IT ¨C like they were dead inside, but glad about it. ¡°Okay, fine, maybe it does work. But we don¡¯t need to do anything rash, I¡¯ll just tell you-¡± ¡°Shhhh, shhh, no.¡± The stranger reached out and placed his hand over my lips. ¡°Sorry, I forgot to mention ¨C it takes pain for me to be sure. I don¡¯t know what my ancestors got up to, but it had to be pretty fun, right? But yes, pain. I would not be happy if I took your word for it and ended up wasting my time...¡± ¡°Mhu harr mahfuffing fyyfohaff.¡± ¡°Right you are, we should get started.¡± Taking his fingers from my lips, he stood up and moved over to the torture table he had pointed out to me earlier, returning with a large hammer and a hand full of huge nails. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to drive these nails through your arms and legs ¨C it¡¯s going to do a couple of things. It¡¯s going to hurt a lot, and it will make the rest of the torture even better, because every movement will aggravate the wounds.¡± ¡°Why are you explaining? I don¡¯t need to know the mechanics of it, just bring the pain so I can get out of here already!¡± I was starting to sweat, my skin cold and clammy in the cool of the stone room. ¡°Oh, it makes it worse.¡± ¡°You are such a fucki-¡± I was half way through my sentence when the asshole drove in the first nail ¨C it went in through my wrist, the pain white hot. I screamed ¨C a lot. It did not end quickly ¨C slowly and with great patience, the psycho hammered the other nails into place, not bothered in the least by my repeated screams and the occasional descriptions of both his character and lineage. The agony was intense ¨C if you have never been stabbed, or just had something sticking through you, you¡¯re going to need to take my word for it. It sucks. There¡¯s a constant sharp ache from the wound, but worse is the sun-bright flash of pain that comes with even the slightest movement. ¡°So, the pill-¡± My voice was tight and shaking as I desperately tried not to move, knowing doing so would only bring more torment. ¡°No, no, NO!¡± My tormentor reached out and slapped me silent, even that slight motion making me gasp as my abused flesh pressed against the metal of the nails. ¡°You can tell me soon, but I¡¯m not stopping until I¡¯ve at least used the grater.¡± He moved back across the room and picked something up from the table, before turning back to me, full-on hand modelling what looked like a cheese grater with wooden handles at either end, offset back from the body. I tried to talk, but my throat was locked up, my eyes staring at the simple yet terrifying tool my captor held. I began to feel the now familiar darkness creep into my vision, as my breath came in increasingly more ragged gasps, the blood loss from the nail pictures catching up to me. ¡°That¡¯s better ¨C oh, you¡¯re going to pass out again. Can¡¯t have that!¡± Turning back to the table, he put down the grater and game back over to me holding a nuber of cylinders in one hand. As he drew close again, I could just make out what they were ¨C syringes. One after another he stabbed them into me and pushed the plunger down. The first was like a thousand shots of espresso ¨C it woke me back up and brought the pain back into sharp focus, and then even beyond that as I involuntarily started to cultivate the Experience of it. ¡°This one will keep you from passing out from the pain ¨C it was originally created to help with cultivation ¨C it makes you feel everything at a much more profound level. Also works for torture.¡± The second made me feel warm and I could feel my once thready pulse strengthen. ¡°This one helps you regenerate blood ¨C it won¡¯t heal you of course ¨C that would be counterproductive - but you won¡¯t die from blood loss! It was created by a vampiric alchemist in order to make their food last longer. Also, good for torture.¡± The third and final injection had no obvious effects, but luckily, I knew a man who could tell me what it did. ¡°Now this ¨C this is special. This was invented by our sect ¨C requires us to boil a living phoenix egg. It¡¯s frankly a good job they can¡¯t die, because those are hard to come by. With that running through you, if I accidentally take it ¡®too far¡¯ before I¡¯m done, you won¡¯t die. If the ingredients weren¡¯t so rare, it would be worth a fortune. Still, fantastic for torture.¡± I began to feel a burning around my energy centre as my fresh nemesis sauntered back to pick up the tool he had so recently set down. ¡°Back to work!¡± He crouched down next to me and pressed the grater firmly against my shin, but my mind was focused on the pain from my centre, which was rapidly growing to eclipse my nail-related injuries. ¡°Hey, I think I¡¯m having an allergic reaction to one of those injections...¡± My voice was hoarse and strained from the screaming. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means! But I¡¯ve given those injections to hundreds of people without any issue. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine ¨C well, other than the torture.¡± As he finished speaking, he leaned in and started to drag the metal grate down my leg as it slowly began to bite into my flesh and bone, peeling them away like the skin of an orange. I could not scream ¨C the pain of having my bone shaved added to the roiling plasma growing inside me and simply locked my throat closed ¨C and was in fact locking me in place muscle by muscle, the pain of the nails barely a whisper in a storm. ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s usually more shouting at this point. Why are all your muscles rigid?¡± Ignoring him as my vision turned white, I fell inside myself to hover beside my Focus. From my Focus and reaching out like roots, long blue-white tendrils clawed at the edges of my energy centre and I realised what was happening ¨C either my energy circulatory system was growing in early or I had been unconscious for way longer than I thought. Panic almost took me then, riding the pain in waves, as I wondered what to do ¨C neither Walker or Aella had told me how to do this, only that it must be guided, and I had counted on their presence to when it happened. Firming my resolve, I bent my will to the task of guiding those tendrils and my awareness shot along them, occupying them all at once ¨C it was confusing, but I thought it was probably going to get worse before it got better. The golden ocean of my soul convulsed, and the tendrils of refined energy convulsed around me, lashing out at the walls of my centre. Slowly at first, I began to bore into the wall, pain becoming my world as I tried to desperately figure out where I was supposed to be steering the things. All at once, I burst through the boundaries of my soul sea on all sides, a fresh wave of incandescent agony almost ripping consciousness from my grasp ¨C but whatever elixir my torturer had injected me with refused to allow it, and I could feel the energy from the Experience washing back in to me. Mentally groping around, I searched for a clue ¨C any clue ¨C as to how I should develop this system. I found paths ¨C thousands of them, ranging from fine to thick and scattering in every direction. Not knowing which, if any were right, I opted to follow them all. I stretched my will out, my mind fracturing into a thousand shards, each driving the tendrils of refined Experience ever deeper into my flesh, following all of those lines to their completion. I think I died ¨C more than once in that effort. Clearly, I had not done what I was supposed to, and the fear of leaving myself a cripple in truth only added fuel to the inferno of pain eating through every inch of me, the alchemical drugs pumping through me holding me firm against oblivion. For a time, all I knew was pain and effort, but eventually, the white gave way to black, and I faded. * *** * Exactly one eternity later, I woke up. The transition was instant this time and I looked about wildly. I was alone in the stone room, and laid out on my side, still attached to my chair in a number of ways. I was also covered in blood, and something else that smelled much worse. I could see the dark brown of dried blood all over the sloped stone of the floor, and it looked like a lot.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I did not know why I was suddenly alone, or why I was on my side, but I knew I needed to try to take advantage of the situation. Escape ¨C now a vague possibility ¨C would be impossible in the presence of my jailors, I knew. For a moment, I considered whether my newly formed energy circulation system would add enough juice to my muscles to let me escape, but the facts were that I did not know if what I had done would provide any benefit, and even if it did not cripple me, I recalled what my tormentor had said about this room: In here, I was just as normal as I ever was. ¡°just as normal as I was... am.¡± It came to me all at once ¨C I was used to being weak on this world, but that was because everyone else was made so strong by their own cultivation. But I had designed this body to be super-human by default ¨C my normal was not normal. I grinned, the dried blood on my face cracking and flaking off as I began to apply pressure with one arm. The pain of moving against the nails was intense, but compared to what I had been through so recently, it was manageable. With a groan and the crackof splintering wood, the arm ripped away from the rest of the chair, still connected to my own arm. Seconds later, the other arm pulled free beneath me with a jerk, and with slow and painful movements, I undid the ropes about my wrists, before ripping the wood free from the metal spikes still driven through my tender flesh. Removing those took a little longer, building up to each, my mouth open wide as I screamed silently, bearing down with my all will to remain quiet. Afterwards, I lay panting on my back, arms outspread and my legs still attached to the chair¡¯s base, blood once more running freely from my arms. I did my best to ignore the thirst nagging at me, letting some of the blood from my arm run into my mouth in an attempt to relieve the sand-paper like feeling. After a few minutes of recovery and swishing blood around my mouth, I dragged myself over to the table with all the tools, pulling myself up to sit once more on the broken chair still attached at my waist and legs. Most of the tools were covered in blood, whereas each had glinted in the dim light previously. It seemed like my dickhead torturer had really gone to town after I spaced out. Selecting a knife ¨C blade still coated in my own blood ¨C I sawed at the rope about my waist, and then my legs, noticing that my shin had anoticeable lack of slivers missing. I paused, staring at my shin caught in the dissonance of conflicting memory. My thoughts turned to all the blood and I looked down at my naked body noting the lack of puncture wounds and lacerations. This I knew had to be the result of Lesser Regeneration which meant... ¡°Xiournal.¡± I whispered the name of my dragon-like handler and the smoky glass tablet popped into existence in front of me.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 8 days, 9 hours, 18 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
¡°Holy shit.¡± I had been there for days ¨C it was no wonder I was thirsty. Waving the display away, tenses my jaw and one by one, I pulled the nails out of my legs. Either by luck or design, none of them had pierced bone and I managed to work them all free without too much effort, beyond the pain. Trying to stand was the next thing on my agenda, and it was a mistake- or at least it felt that way. Inured to pain I may have been, but the effort of straightening on my feet left my dizzy and staggering, my pulse thundering in my ears. I turned to look about once more, my eye catching on my robe and I remembered the free samples Tang had given me. Before I realised what I was doing, I was staggering across the room, uncaring of the pain for the first time, the whole of my mind suddenly bent on quenching my thirst. With trembling fingers, I pull the bag open and brought it to my mouth. Snagging one of the clear pearls between my teeth, I leaned my head back and tryed to swallow. As it turned out, my throat was too dry, and I almost choked there and then. Bringing an arm to my mouth, I once again sucked in the dripping blood and used that mouthful to swallow the pill. Relief filled me as the pill went to work rehydrating my ventilated body, and I almost cried as that driving need left me. Now free of thirst but unwilling to remain naked any longer, I retied the small bag and placed it back on the table, before lifting the robe and shaking the sand free of it. Slipping it on gave me a sense of comfort that was undeserved, given the situation, but I would take what I could get. Hitching up the long length, I tied the robe closed and slipped my bag of water drops into one of the awkward pockets, half upside-down under the belt. I was starting to feel better ¨C I was still full of holes but at least they had stopped bleeding by the time I managed to dress myself, and being dressed somehow made me feel safer. Thinking about how I was going to get out of this place, I looked around the room to take stock: I of course, had all the torture devices, and I thought it would be poetic to grate that asshole to death, provided I could find him and survive the meeting. But in the end, I decided they were just too creepy to use if I could avoid it. A glowing bulb of glass hung from the ceiling, lighting the room and too high for me to reach, and 4 fist sized black crystals sat in metal sconces regularly around the room. I recalled what my captor had said about Spiritual Weights, and a desperate plan started to form in my mind. I was not complicated and mostly revolved around stealing the crystals. I hobbled across the room and pulled one of the crystals free. It was noticeably colder than the rest of the room, and could feel it starting to sting my hand as it leached the heat from my body. Nodding to myself, I slipped it into my pocket and moved around, collecting the others. The door to the room was up a short series of steps and was made entirely of metal. I braced myself against the stone of the wall and tried to yank it open with brute strength, but even as strong as I was, I got nothing more than a faint groan. Cursing softly, I relented and retreated down the steps, determined to ambush the next person to come through that door. I hoped it would not take days * *** * Nobody came for another day ¨C I used my quest prompt to keep track of time ¨C and when they did come, it was not the dickhead I was looking for. Luckily for me, it turned out a day was long enough for the many holes in me to mostly close over. I heard the jangle of keys and a soft thunk as the door was unlocked. The metal hinges moaned as it opened, and a man in black walked in, a dagger strapped to his waist and a clipboard in one hand. His gaze went to the centre of the room, noted my absence and then flicked about before finding me rapidly coming up the stairs immediately to his left. Hoping one last time that the crystals in my pocket were going to work the way I wanted them to, I launched a punch at the jailer¡¯s face. Obviously unused to fighting at a mere human level, they were slow to react and my fist crashed into their face with no resistance and there were a series of rapid snaps as my poor opponent¡¯s jaw shattered and his head whipped around fast enough to apparently break his neck. Pumping my fist in triumph, I watched as the fresh body dropped to the floor. The Spiritual Weights those fucks had used to torture people normally too strong to succumb brought everyone down to my level ¨C including them ¨C and now I was going to use that effect to beat them with experience. And my fists. I dragged the corpse over to the broken shards of the torture chair and frisked it, finding a small purse full of glowing coins, a ring, pendant and the dagger ¨C and the keys. I took it all, unwilling to come out of this situation with nothing but the memories. I checked the clipboard and saw a series of checkboxes ¨C it looked like they were listed by cell and prisoner condition. It seemed that only 3 of them were occupied, including mine. I would not be leaving anybody else to these psychos. Outside of my cell was a long corridor running right and left, lined in both directions with metal doors. ¡°Do I try and clear the place out first, or free them first...?¡± Hoping they were in a shape to help, I decided to try to gain the assistance of my fellow prisoners. I knew one of them had to be Tang, and I doubted the situation was going to stay as easy as killing that one guy had been so rationalised that I needed all the help I could get. Moving down the corridor, I opened each door one at a time. At the end of the row to my left, I found Tang. Still tied to a chair and as naked as I had been, he had clearly been tortured, though it would seem not by somebody quite as gleeful as my own nemesis. ¡°Tang...¡± I moved close and whispered in his ear, shaking him as gently as I could. ¡°Tang...!¡± I whispered louder, but the apprentice did not move. I felt for a pulse and found one, so I knew he was alive. I re-thought my plan, now knowing he was in no shape to help clear the area, but in the end, I could not leave him there. Grabbing his robe from a side table, I cut him free using the guard¡¯s dagger and wrapped him up in his deep blue robe, before pulling him over my shoulder and moving on, the weight barely registering. In the cell opposite Tang¡¯s, I found the last prisoner. At the centre of the stone room, above the grate sat a huge woman with ears like my mentor, only in red rather than black. Eyes of emerald green glared at me from amidst the bruised flesh of her face and a growl filled the small room. ¡°Shhh, I¡¯m here to help...!¡± The growling stopped, but the glare continued to burn into me. Hurrying over, bent over reflexively like I was trying to avoid attention, I pulled my dagger, watching the naked woman tense at the sight. It was the work of seconds to free her and finally she stood, just as tall as Walker - at least 7 feet tall, though her shoulders were a touch slenderer. ¡°Who are you?¡± Her voice sounded liked brushed velvet, still carrying the edge of a growl. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Hunter ¨C I like not being tortured and escaping. Maybe we can do introductions later?¡± I was trying to maintain eye contact, but it is difficult when facing a naked woman who stood almost a foot taller than me. It did not help that she was just as gorgeous as everyone else I had seen since my arrival. ¡°Good. I am Sidona. We will escape ¨C but if this is a trick, I will destroy you.¡± ¡°Great, now get dressed - I don¡¯t know how long we have before more of those bastards show up.¡± Sidona turned without another word and moved over to her own cloths and I allowed my eyes to travel down the well-defined musculature of her back as she hurriedly dressed. Now clad in light green pants and a shirt, she strode past me and out of the door, without another word, hands curled into fists and slightly crouched, ready it seemed to me to rip into whoever she met. I joined her just as another black clad butthole came around a corner at the end of the corridor and froze at seeing us out of our cells. Sidona on the other hand was ready, and sprang forward a step before looking down in confusion. ¡°What...?¡± Something was obviously meant to happen, and I suspected the crystals in my pocket were causing her issues, but I did not think it the time for explanation. I ran past her, Tang jostling on my shoulder as I pounded down the short distance to the man who was even now pulling a long slender sword free of its scabbard at his waist. Unwilling to get stabbed to soon after my torture, I pulled out my dagger mid step and tossed it as hard as I could at the now armed asshole. Never having thrown a weapon before, the dagger spun end over and, flipping around chaotically as my opponent made a flicking motion with his offhand. The motion did nothing ¨C once again I thought because of my trusty Spiritual Weights, but the dagger hit him in the mouth ¨C despite my inexperience - pommel first and sent blood and teeth flying. He staggered back a step, stunned at the impact and I moved in to take advantage before he could recover. I sent out an imbalanced kick, my foot sinking in to the flesh of his stomach despite the handicap, and he folded in half as the breath blasted out of his mouth. I took a single step back and kicked again, this time up and into his face ¨C another crack echoed through the corridor as his head flipped up to look at me, his neck folded oddly. ¡°Something strange is happening, we left the Spiritual Weights in the cell, and yet my cultivation is restrained, as it seems was his.¡± The tall warrior gestured at the dead man now lying crumpled on the floor. ¡°I have some in my pockets ¨C I''m pretty weak in terms of cultivation, but my body is pretty strong. I figured I had more experience being like me than they had being like me.¡± ¡°You should have told me.¡± The growl was back amidst the velvet as she stalked past me to pull the sword from the corpse''s grasp. ¡°My body too is strong, compared to humans. If I had known I would be without my cultivation, I would have killed him before you moved.¡± ¡°I¡¯m 100% sure that¡¯s the case, Sidona. It¡¯s not a competition though, it¡¯s an escape.¡± I knelt to loot the corpse, netting some more coins and some more jewellery. ¡°You are very strange, Hunter.¡± Shrugging, I moved around the corner my late opponent had appeared from, glad to find stairs leading up. The two of us ¨C and Tang ¨C made our way up the stairs slowly, standing on the sides to try to eliminate creaks. It turns out, however, that two men and a very large woman are heavy enough to cause creaks regardless of where you stand. We froze at the noise and waited, but nobody came. At the top of the steps, stood another door ¨C this one made from wood. I opened it slowly after testing the lock, staring through the crack and squinting at the rush of natural light. Seeing the coast clear, I opened the door fully and stepped out onto a rich rug. The room I found myself in seemed to be some sort of gallery or long lounge, and I could see what I thought was the street through a window at the far end. I started to move in that direction after checking that Sidona was with me, only to be brought up short by the sound of clapping behind us. Turning, I saw my torturer, clad now in a burgundy robe and a wide smile. ¡°Well, well, well. It looks like my client woke up! You know, you wasted a lot of my time and threw all our plans out of order by going catatonic like you did... But at least you¡¯re awake now. And you brought friends! I haven¡¯t worked on either, but far be it for me to waste such a thoughtful gift...¡± Unexpected rage rocked me at the sight of him and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to beat him to death with his own arms. ¡°Oh yeah? Well, let¡¯s see which of us is more used to being normal, asshole. I¡¯m going tear out your skull and beat you to death with it.¡± ¡°That... doesn¡¯t seem physically possible. And normal? Oh, I see. You brought the Spiritual Weights with you. How unusual!¡± The smile on the man¡¯s face never faded, but I was confident that I would be able to overpower him in the absence of magic. It was at the moment ¨C right when I was at my most confident - that the man I faced casually lifted a slender hand and snapped his fingers. 4 sharp cracks echoed through the room, only faintly muffled by fabric and I felt the crystals in my robe shift. With a sinking feeling, I realised that the Weights I had brought with me ¨C my only hope in this strange world - had broken. ¡°... Fuck.¡± Carry me Home Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I confirmed my bubbling fear ¨C the crystals I had brought from my cell has shattered, which meant a couple of things: 1) My nutsack of a nemesis in the burgundy robe was at the Foundation stage ¨C and that sounded bad. I was not sure exactly how bad it was, but given it was near the end of the list rather than near the bottom where it sounded like it should be, it likely was not good. 2) This was probably going to get worse before it got better. 3) This was going to hurt. ¡°I will so enjoy teaching you all a guest¡¯s proper behaviour ¨C with torture, of course. Who said teaching can¡¯t be fun?¡± He still spoke with that creepy, dead-on-the-inside tone of voice, and I flashed back to the state I had been after waking up ¨C covered in blood, along with most of the tools that had been left behind. I knew this man had continued to cut into me long after I had fallen inside myself. I felt rage ¨C and frustration ¨C at being in front of him again, with escape so close at hand and my only method of fighting back lying broken in the bottom of my twisted pocket. ¡°You are a confident worm, I¡¯ll give you that. But can you stand before the might of the Breaking Sky?¡± Sidona stood next to me, looted sword held upright and head held high ¨C and given how tall she was, her head was up there. ¡°Oh yes, you are a member of that family, aren¡¯t you? I heard there was trouble bringing you in - truly fortuitous that I caught you before you left. As for your supposed ¡®might¡¯, well ¨C your family may stand upon the Pinnacle of this place, but they are not here, are they, little Path walker?¡± ¡°Hunter, get back.¡± Sidona¡¯s voice was low and angry, a death¡¯s head grin stretching across her face. I could feet heat rolling off her in waves as I stumbled back, Tang still held on my shoulder. After a moment, the air turned scalding as blazing wings of blue and white flame erupted from Sidona¡¯s back, filling the room before shrinking back, allowing her room to move. For his part, my torturer - eyes narrowed against the glare of the fire took a single step back, eyebrows raised but with no other change in expression. He raised his hands to either side and with a shimmer of force, a sickly green energy rippled into existence, forming phantom fur and claws as he was raised off the ground, hovering inside the mould green body of what looked suspiciously like a werelion. With the twinned roar of cat and flame, the two came together in a blur. Sidona¡¯s wings propelling her forward like rockets, before they brought her to a lurching halt, folded oddly and flaring back up, causing her to flick about at strange angles relative to her flight, only visible to my eyes as she ran counter to her own inertia. The sound of her stolen sword filled the room, ringing against something over and over again, but still barely audible over the cacophony of the inferno. Amidst the burning chaos of Sidon¡¯a assault, her opponent barely moved, the outlines of his cat form blurring as he avoided the sword strikes and lashing wings by the barest of margins, still wearing the same dead smile. I wanted to help ¨C to do anything at all to help, but the display the two of them were putting on went far beyond anything I was capable of dealing with. Deciding the best use of my time as looking for the way out, I ran for the window I had seen - grabbing a wooden chair as I went. Coming to a stop a few feet from it, I used my momentum to hurl the chair with all my strength at the window. The chair broke ¨C the window did not. Cursing under my breath, I looked around knowing there had to be a door somewhere, but instead of finding an exit, I found another figure in black running at me down an adjacent hall, a flanged mace already held ready to strike. I tried to duck out of the way, but even without the weight of Tang on my shoulder and with the advantage given to me by my Danger Sense, I stood no chance. The bladed head of the weapon hit high on my right arm, cutting flash and breaking bone. Losing my grip on my unconscious burden, I was flung bodily into the wall opposite, losing my breath and fracturing at least some of my bones. Groaning, I tried to stand back up, the world spinning around me, but a hand locked around my neck and lifted me up, leaving my legs to dangle. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just wait quietly for Voran to finish playing with your friend over there, and we can put you back in your cell. The man whose hands you stuck to his own face is a friend of mine, so I¡¯m really hoping to spend some time with you later.¡± I swing a punch at his head, but he blocked it casually, a chuckle escaping his lips. ¡°Wow, you are weak! We had a pool on whether you were hiding your true strength. How a cripple ever got one over on-¡± With a choked snarl, I lashed out at him with my soul, and while I had tried that before ¨C in the alchemist¡¯s shop ¨C and failed, this time the energy rolling through my centre responded. The sharp smell of ozone filled my nostrils as the refined Experience rushed out of me, running along the channels I had just burnt into my body and exploding outwards in arcs of blue-white lightning. My muscles locked all over my body as my nerves vibrated with the power running through them, and the hand about my neck tightened painfully, almost choking me as the electricity arced back and forth between us, even as it reached out to lick against the floor and crawl along the walls and ceiling. After what seemed like an hour, the torrent guttered out, and my attacker and I both fell to the floor, boneless and slack. The smell of burnt hair and flesh replaced the chlorine smell of rampant electricity. I made it back to my feet ¨C somehow ¨C and looked around once more. My assailant lay smoking on the scorched wooden floor, the occasional twitch shaking his whole body. As long curls of smoke rose from his hair and clothing. My own body felt both raw and half-cooked and I could see a strange branch pattern drawn in red on my hands as I braced myself against the wall. To my left, Tang lay below the window, still wrapped in his robe. Bending, I hoisted him back on to my shoulder with a grunt of effort, my flesh complaining at the misuse I had put it to. Staggering under the weight and my body barely listening to me, I started to move back the way I had come, my steps jerky and barely coordinated, again looking for a door. It was then that the still blazing form of Sidona crashed in to me, like a boulder from a catapult.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Together, we hit the window I had early failed to break ¨C and we went through it. The clear pane fractured and broke apart as we blasted through it, the shards cutting into my hands and face, the robe Walker had given to apparently proof against mere windows. Shocked exclamation could be heard all around us as we came to a stop in the middle of the stone paved street, the people about us stepping back in a hurry. Sidona¡¯s weight lifted off me, the movement grinding my broken bones together. Over the muted shock of the crown, I could hear the living missile calling out into the house. ¡°Thanks for the exit! I¡¯ll be back with my family to repay your generosity, asshole!¡± A hand wrapped around the fabric at the nape of my neck and with a lurch like a car crash, I shot into the air, carried skywards alongside Tang, my blood trailing behind us, bracketed by burning wings stretching out towards the horizon. * *** * The cell I woke up in this time was really nice ¨C the bed I was lying in felt like an incredibly supportive cloud and the room was filled with floral scents. A barred window was set into the wall next to the bed, large enough for me to see out of from my position lying down. I looked down on what I assumed was Everwood City and the vast forest surrounding it; my vantage appeared to be thousands of feet in the air, and I guessed I was in one of the towers I had seen stretching above of the city. I tried to sit up only to find myself shackled to the bed, though they were strangely comfortable. I noticed a distinct lack of pain in the attempt, however and called up my quest.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 6 days, 20 hours, 52 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
It did not look like I had been out as long this time, for which I was glad. I had been there on my new world for about a week already, but only spent maybe 2 days awake. I was sleeping almost as much as I had in my last life... I heard a noise and I turned as the green lacquered door opened, and I noted the lack of unlocking sounds, a crude escape place already forming in my head, just in case it proved necessary. Through the door came a man dressed in a long black and gold shirt ¨C I thought they were called changshan ¨C and holding a tray with a series of bottles and bags set out on it. Stopping just inside the door as our eyes met, the man blinked rapidly before smiling, his mouth bracketed by a neat black beard, in contrast with his bald head. ¡°A pleasant surprise! You are the first to wake, which is impressive given your injuries. Do you feel any lingering pain?¡± The man walked over and placed the tray on a small bedside table next to my head, before sitting in a soft armchair I had not seen. Rolling my shoulders, I pondered the question as I checked my body as best I could while unable to fully move about. ¡°I think I¡¯m fine, thank you. You mentioned others ¨C Tang and Sidona, they¡¯re okay?¡± ¡°Tang is the young man? He will be fine by tomorrow, once the medicine has had chance to fully act. Lady Sidona will take longer, I am afraid ¨C the wounds she suffered are necrotic. I do not know how she made it to us, suffering as she must have been.¡± ¡°She seemed fine, I think? She had some bruises before the fight, but that was it.¡± ¡°Fight? You and she... fought?¡± ¡°What? Me, no. It was the guy who tortured me, V-something? He sort of turned into a cat ¨C a green energy cat? They fought, and then I think he punched her through a window or something, which is how we escaped.¡± ¡°Escaped? You were prisoners, together?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was with Tang ¨C Tang is Ben Won Ro¡¯s apprentice ¨C Ben Won Ro is an alchemist? Anyway, these guys in black grabbed us and we wound up in the same place as Sidona. I managed to get lose and cut her ropes, but the cat guy ambushed us on the way out.¡± The bald man raised his eyebrows at the mention of Tang¡¯s master and his arrows narrowed a moment in thought. ¡°I will send for Ro, to confirm your friend¡¯s identity, and as a courtesy. He must be worried, and it is never wise to anger the Alchemists Association. Is there anybody we can contact on your behalf?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Walker¡¯s disciple ¨C sort of - at the moment. They call him the Apex of Blades?¡± ¡°You are Lord... Walker¡¯s... disciple?¡± His voice held a hint of incredulity and I waited for the inevitable cripple remarks, but for the first time they did not come. ¡°Only sort of. Other than him, the only other person in town I know is Aella, at the Steel Splinter? I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard of her. I¡¯m really new to town, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°You keep powerful company. I will send a messenger to Walker. You should know though, that if you are not speaking the truth... Lord Walker does not enjoy his name being used.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it, I¡¯m tied down ¡®cos I might be lying and be with whoever grabbed Lady Sidona. I¡¯m not. I¡¯m just a guy who gets knocked out a lot.¡± ¡°Either way, I will make arrangements to inform those you have indicated. You will need to stay here until we can confirm your involvement, but no harm will come to you in the absence of confirmed guilt.¡± Standing once more, the doctor/gentle interrogator picked his tray back up and left quickly, the door closing behind him with a soft click. I settled back in to the bed, knowing it would likely be a while before I saw anybody else. I hoped Walker had not given up on me ¨C he had only known me for a few days, and there was no way it had not run through his head that I had been involved with what happened at the shop. It would really suck to lose what amounted to my only friend on the world. Dismissing my negative thoughts ¨C unwilling to let myself wallow ¨C and turning my gaze inwards, I dropped down into my centre. Hovering just above my soul sea, I gazed in shock at my Focus. The last time I had seen it ¨C when I had begun to burn my energy circulation system into my body ¨C it had been mostly ephemeral, a pale shadow of my intent. But now, it stood solid and painted in technicolour, with thick cords of refined Experience streaming out of it in every direction. I had no idea how ¨C Aella had said it would take at least a month of hard work, and here I was, days later the proud owner of what seemed to be a completed Focus. My mind flashed back to just before my sudden exit, back at whatever place we had been imprisoned. I had used lightning ¨C used my Focus then. It had hurt like hell, but I had done it. I really hoped it was not going to be that bad every time I used it ¨C tazing myself to the floor in the middle of a fight did not seem like a winning strategy. I wondered if hurting yourself was a normal part of learning control, or whether it had anything to do with the way I had burned my channels. Or even just a fluke. I left my centre, once more becoming aware of the world around me. Deciding to perform a small test, I pushed as gently as I could at the energy within me, trying to use as little as possible. It was a mistake ¨C my back arched as my muscles once again spasmed and locked, held in place only by my kind shackles. While nowhere near as bad as the first time, it still hurt enough to convince me it was not a fluke, at least. I cut off the flow of power and tried to shake the ache out of my muscles. ¡°Okay, so far: My Focus is useless ¨C unless I¡¯m being grabbed by a single opponent. I should have listened to Aella...¡± I turned back to my terrifyingly high window, gazing down at the city below and settled in to wait for somebody to let me up ¨C or not. Emission Control The sun was dipping towards the horizon, the long shadow of the tower I was apparently occupying stretching out of sight by the time my door opened again. For a moment, I ignored the sound, gaze locked on that umbral line as it sped across the land, moving in opposition to the failing light. I wondered how high I really was, and which tower I was in. I could see other shadows sweeping about, but the view from my window was not quite wide enough to see the other rising columns. Turning to the door after one last lingering look, I saw a trio milling about my room. Tall and dark, my blindfolded mentor stood closest to me, head tilted slightly to one side. To his left stood the alchemist, Ben Won Ro, still clad in bright white ¨C and incredible eyebrows. The final member of the small group was unknown to me, but bore a strong resemblance to Sidona, standing above 7 feet ¨C as apparently was normal for their race ¨C with hair of the brightest red, with lines of golden blond running up the sharp triangular ears. She wore a chrome bright breastplate over a thick green jacket of some quilted fabric, with matching plates covering portions of her arms, legs and feet. ¡°Walker, I cannot describe how happy I am to see you.¡± It was true ¨C not only did I have a lot of questions for him regards my cultivation, but nothing good every seemed to happen when he was gone. ¡°It gladdens me to see you once more, Hunter.¡± His voice was warm and genuine, and something in me relaxed. It did not sound like he thought me complicit, as I had feared. ¡°Cripp- Huh, it seems not. Child ¨C I am happy you live.¡± Ro¡¯s voice was a little strained ¨C I could understand it given that last I heard Tang was still unconscious, and his shop had been attacked. ¡°We are here to determine the events that transpired at the Honourable Master Alchemist¡¯s residence, as well as at the location at which you came into contact with my niece.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was hard - if not quite aggressive - but I imagined if my niece turned up with apparently necrotic wounds, I would be pretty concerned. ¡°Hunter, this is Breaking Sky Helaena, the current head of the Breaking Sky clan, and ruler of Everwood City. Please excuse her lack of introduction, she is distraught.¡± Helaena glared at my mentor, hand dropping to the pommel of a longsword scabbarded at her waist. ¡°It is not your place to apologise for me, Cousin.¡± ¡°Courtesy costs nothing, Helaena - whether you rule or are ruled.¡± I blinked at the revelation that Walker was related to the ruler of the city I was in, weirdly glad that I had not just made that assumption. ¡°Ugh, it¡¯s okay, Walker ¨C I''m sure she¡¯s just worried about Sidona. I heard she was in bad shape.¡± ¡°My niece will recover, but in the meantime, we must punish this group¡¯s temerity. Explain, quickly. We will mobilise the army and make it clear to all that neither Everywood City or the Breaking Sky Clan are wise choices for targets.¡± Her gaze was intense and her voice, while still hard, also held an low heat. I intended to begin my explanation straight away, but it was at that moment I was betrayed by both my own natural curiosity and my damn hormonal body. ¡°Wait, you have an army? Where were they when that sect attacked the other day? That seems like it would have been a great time for an army?¡± Walker winced slightly, and I could see the alchemist covering an obvious smile by rubbing his nose. For her part, the city¡¯s ruler was growling under her breath now, the rumble making my teeth vibrate. ¡°The army was mobilising when my grandstanding cousin decided to interfere. Once he stepped in, a show of force on our part would have been seen as pointless puffery. It is better not to be seen than to be seen as pointless.¡± She was glaring at Walker now, who was pretending to be oblivious. ¡°Can you tell us what happened, Hunter? We assume whichever group took you also stole the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill? We could not locate it at the scene, and neither you, or Tang were carrying it when you arrived here.¡± Ignoring his fuming cousin, my dark mentor spoke gently and I brought myself back to task. ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after you left, Tang and I were just chatting and this guy ¨C I think he was a guy, but I can¡¯t be sure ¨C just appeared next to us. There was just the one guy inside the shop, at least that I could see, and he said he wanted the Pill. He started to go after Tang so I, ugh, disabled him and hid the pill. There was some acid on the counter ¨C Tang said it only worked on the living? I stuffed the pill in, thinking the thieves would hesitate to melt their hands off. I tried to take the thief to Aella, as I didn¡¯t know where you had gone, and Tang was concerned all the flailing would damage the shop. They got me when I left, some kind of poisoned darts.¡± ¡°You hid my masterpiece in Flesh Annihilation Serum? A creative solution. You say you disabled one of them ¨C how? You were basically a cripple at the time ¨C did they send cripples after you, child?¡± ¡°No, they didn¡¯t send cripples after me, Honoured Master Alchemist. I threw sand in his eyes and then smashed a jar of orange glue in his face. Tang activated it or whatever while he was trying to dig it out of his eyes. Stuck his hands right on, it was pretty great.¡± ¡°I did wonder why the Heaven¡¯s Foundation Glue was the only thing broken outright...¡± ¡°And then?¡± Helaena¡¯s voice was still angry, but at least she had stopped trying to stab Walker with her eyes. ¡°I woke up in a cell, with some creepy guy who also wanted the Pill. He started to torture me ¨C really seemed to enjoy his job...¡± I shuddered at the memory and opted to gloss over the specifics. ¡°He was starting to get serious when my energy channels started burning in and I mostly got lost in the process. When I came back to myself, he was gone.¡± ¡°May I view them?¡± Walker¡¯s voice was polite, but there was something there I could not put my finger one. ¡°My... energy channels? Uh, as long as it doesn¡¯t involve vivisection, I¡¯m fine with it?¡± Without another word, my mentor placed his large hand on my stomach just below my naval, and above where my energy centre would be. I felt something push at me, and there was a moment of resistance before I relaxed and allowed it to in. Long moments passed before the feeling abated, and Walker spoke again. ¡°Something is not right ¨C you Focus is complete weeks ahead of what should have been possible, and your energy channels are extensive to the point of absurdity. You should have died a dozen times from the pain before your energy circulation reached such a state.¡± ¡°Wait, you mean I went overboard? I was afraid I had crippled myself, I mean, for rea-did you say I should have died? That was a possibility?¡± My voice went from happy, to relieved and finally rose in pitch and volume to terrified disbelief. ¡°Indeed - usually, the channels will push into the major limbs, around the body and into the head. A single, circled branch in each. You have not only followed every artery, aorta and vein, you have also followed every nerve in your body, for some reason.¡± ¡°So, defiance of death aside, is that... good, or bad?¡± ¡°It is a good thing, probably. Your energy use will be an order of magnitude more efficient, and it will allow you to cycle more Experience at any given time than a standard cultivator. It will mean you will likely need more practice, however.¡± ¡°Wait, the guy who was torturing me, he injected me with a bunch of things. There was something about a vampire and blood regeneration, something to make everything hurt more and... he mentioned something that would stop me dying. It''s all kind of a blur, I think he mentioned a phoenix?¡± ¡°A substance to prevent death? Lady Helaena, we must take these people alive! Can you imagine the ramifications of such a thing?¡± Ro¡¯s voice was urgent and excited, which I thought was in slightly poor taste given my recent trauma. ¡°Yes, yes, Honourable Master Alchemist. We will discover the secrets of this potion if possible.¡± The ruler nodded absently at Ro, clearly more interested in teaching the would-be-thieves a lesson. ¡°We will discuss this later, Hunter. For now, please continue.¡± Walker did not spare a glance for the wide-eyed alchemist. ¡°Well, I woke up and broke out of my chair-¡± ¡°How? If these people are abducting cultivators, the restraints should be sufficient to hold them.¡± Ro interrupted, providing another example of his profession¡¯s eye for details. ¡°Oh, right. There were these crystals they said supressed my cultivation? I guess the chair didn¡¯t normally need to be too strong, because of that? I took them with me when I left, though they broke. They should be in my robe, wherever it is.¡± ¡°Spiritual Weights? They are very rare, as well as illegal, banned by universal decrees. Another reason to hunt these miscreants down.¡± It made sense that the local ruler would be about laws ¨C I hoped I had not broken any by making use of the crystals... I went on to explain how I had escaped, detailing the states Tang and Sidona had been, as well as going over as much of Sidon¡¯a fight as I could remember, which wasn¡¯t much.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Empty Void, this will not be enough to find them quickly ¨C though, perhaps my scouts will have enough to go on, combined with your description. I will have you released ¨C though you will remain in the tower until Sidona can corroborate your story. If your tale proves true, you have my thanks for saving my niece.¡± With a growl and nod, the woman strode from the room without another word to either my mentor or the alchemist. ¡°Hey, Walker... when I was escaping, I sort of blasted out a bunch of lightning ¨C and it allowed me to get away from a guy who was grabbing me, but it hurt like hell ¨C is it normal to be affected by your own Focus?¡± Placing his hand back on my stomach again he once more pushed his perceptions into me. Whereas before, I could feel him moving about viewing my whole body, this time he stayed localised in my centre before withdrawing once more after only a few moments. ¡°You have chosen a particularly intransigent element for your Focus, as well as seeking to implement it in decidedly complex manor. You should be able to negate the negative effects on your body, with sufficient practise, though this will likely be compounded by the extent of your energy circulation, due to the need to control so many lines of power at once. Until then, you will need to endure the ramifications of your choices.¡± I could hear a little judgement in his voice, which to be fair seemed justified right then. ¡°I should have listened to Aella ¨C she told me I should go for something less difficult to control. I don''t suppose there¡¯s a way to start over...?¡± ¡°Before your Core forms, you can indeed break your Focus and start over ¨C however, you would lose the energy you have invested in it, as well as some of the extensive energy channels you have forged. Without energy flowing through them, your body may attempt to heal them, at this early stage.¡± I thought about spending a month as a cripple ¨C I had nearly died at least 4 times in the almost 3 days I had been awake and couldn¡¯t imagine staying in that state for weeks on end. It also occurred to me that I might lose my energy system entirely, given my Lesser Regeneration ability. ¡°I... think I¡¯ll stick with it.¡± My voice was reluctant and subdued, but it did not seem like there was really a choice, given my abilities. For a second, I thought back on the other options I had abandoned, thinking fond thoughts of sparkly soul clothes. ¡°Good. It would be a shame to waste what fortune has come from your ordeal.¡± ¡°You said they mentioned a Phonex, do you recall in what capacity?¡± Ignoring Walker and my conversation, Ro stepped forward, his eyes narrowed and shrewd, clearly still preoccupied with whatever potion or elixir had been used to keep me alive. ¡°It was something about boiling them. Sorry, I was distracted at the time.¡± ¡°Boiling a phoenix? Preposterous. I have a powder back at my shop that will sharpen your memory. Come find me when you are free, any clue is essential.¡± ¡°I do not think Hunter wishes to sharpen the memory of his torture, Honoured Master Alchemist.¡± ¡°What? Oh, yes, that makes sense. You will be compensated, fear not.¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯ll do it if... you promise not to make any more Grand Harvest Body Refining Pills...?¡± ¡°Of course, I had already come to an arrangement with Walker. Done.¡± I will admit, I felt cheated right then ¨C I had assumed their negotiation had not gone well, given I still saw my quest listed on the phantom tablet, but after a moment of thought I realised that the bonus criteria would not end until the 15 days had ended and mentally kicked myself for not checking first. ¡°Well, a deal is a deal, I guess. As soon as I¡¯m free to come see you, I will.¡± I hoped it would not be for a while, however. ¡°Excellent! I¡¯m going to visit Tang ¨C I must ensure the medicines in use are of sufficient quality...¡± Mumbling to himself the names of various pills and potions, the elderly alchemist walked out of my room, leaving me alone with my mentor ¨C one last ¡°Preposterous!¡± hanging in the air behind him. ¡°So... royalty, huh?¡± ¡°I do not wish to talk about it.¡± * *** * The next day, Walker and I sat amidst the extensive gardens of the Sky Breaker Palace¨C it turned out we were on the tallest of the city¡¯s towers, the seat of power for the ruling clan. I had made the mistake of venturing to the edge earlier and had nearly thrown up ¨C the view from my room had actually been quite low on the pole, relatively speaking. I asked my mentor, and he said we were over 9000 feet up ¨C I could literally look down on clouds. Now a safe distance from that terrifying view, Walker and I were working on my energy control. It was slow going ¨C the near constant electric shocks extending the experience far beyond the actual time we had spent on it. ¡°This would be much easier if your Focus did not include the lightning actively running through your body.¡± ¡°I know, but I thought I could make myself faster. Doesn¡¯t intent sort of... guide these things?¡± ¡°Intent does indeed shape the energy, which is the purpose of the Focus. Yours is a complex example; offensive and defensive, as well as the bodily enhancements you planned. It is unfortunate that you chose lightning, though I commend the detail you provided your Focus.¡± ¡°Thanks... What else could I have used, to get the same effects without, you know, blasting myself?¡± ¡°Effect is rarely the result of element ¨C you may burn with an ice Focus, should your mind be capable of encompassing it. Some elements however, are harder than others. You may need to bring yourself more in line with your chosen element to truly overcome this handicap.¡± ¡°How do you mean? Aella said lightning was lazy, and I¡¯ve spent more than half of the last week asleep ¨C or unconscious ¨C so I think I¡¯m pretty close already.¡± ¡°It is true that lightning craves rest, but it also direct and aggressive, moving through and annihilating anything that stands between it and its goal. In you, I sense the dark of the deep earth ¨C slow to move and hidden from view, but bringing destruction when finally, you are moved to action.¡± ¡°Walker... you know me really well. That describes me pretty well, but it¡¯s not who I want to me anymore. In my past, I missed out on a lot of what life offers because I was too cautious, too slow to take opportunity. I want to be like lightning. Let''s do this!¡± It was honestly a little scary, that somebody I had known for so short a time could see through me like that, but was speaking the truth when I said I wanted to change ¨C so guzzle down every experience my second life could offer. ¡°Good. Now, again ¨C you must try to guide the lightning, to keep it from crossing between channels. Your intent must be clear.¡± Nodding, I pushed faintly at the refined Experience within me, my mind trying to keep it confined to where I needed it. The high-pitched tearing sound of wild electricity suddenly filled the silence of the garden, blue and white tongues of lightning exploring the world around me, the sharp smell of ozone surrounding me in a cloud. For the barest of seconds, I maintained control, grinning at the lightshow and the incredible feeling Experience coursing through me. My attention, however, could not be everywhere and inevitably an arc escaped my control and linked multiple streams, the energy instantly escaping my control and knocking me to the ground, back arched. I cut the power and groaned before sitting back up, ignoring the tree patterns once again decorating my skin. ¡°Excellent, you lasted a whole second. Provided you can maintain you timing, you should be able to use it in battle, without the enhancing elements, of course.¡± ¡°W-won¡¯t it b-be harder to m-m-m-aintaaain control in a f-f-fight?¡± My body was still wracked by aftershocks, making it difficult to speak ¨C I had been through the process dozens of times now, and knew I would get back control in a couple of minutes, but it was frustrating, to finally catch up to the average child only to find out I had screwed up my own cultivation. ¡°That is likely ¨C you will need to practice both like this, and mid-fight to improve to the point you can use all of your Focus¡¯s abilities.¡± ¡°A-and b-being more direc-ct ¨C like li-lightning will help?¡± ¡°The close you are to your chosen element - or aspect - the easier it is to intuit the best methods of using it.¡± ¡°Alright. Once they let me go, do I go back to Aella¡¯s to practice?¡± Walker began to answer, but we were interrupted by a middle-aged man dressed in grey, bearing the cracked wings of the Sky Breaker clan on his shirt. ¡°Lord Walker, Hunter ¨C Lady Sidona is awake. Your presence is requested.¡± * *** * The servant led me and Walker into the palace that stood at the centre of the tower-top garden. The palace seemed to me made from some kind of white stone, in contrast to the wood I had seen down at street level. I wondered at the strength of the materials used in the tower¡¯s construction ¨C it would certainly take a lot more than steel to hold an edifice like this up. I had seen a couple of strange metals since my arrival, but I had thought them merely decorative ¨C maybe the people and beats were not the only thing stronger than normal here. Leading us through the wide and intricately decorated halls, the servant remained silent, ignoring my questions about Sidona¡¯s health, but I figured he was just rude ¨C if anything had happened to Sidona, or if she had contradicted my tale, our summons would probably have been a lot more armed. We came to a stop outside of a double door that looked like most of the others in the long hallway, though besides this one stood pair of guards, covered from head to toe in complex overlapping metal plates in red and gold. Each held an immense halberd ¨C also in red and gold ¨C at the ready. ¡°These are the two Lady Helaena summoned.¡± The servant spoke in a clipped town, and the guard on the left reached out to tap on the white wood of the door. After a moment, one of the two doors opened, another of the plated guards stood barring passage. He glanced at us, and I heard a voice from inside, confirming our presence before the way was made clear. Stepping into the room, I let out a low whistle ¨C it looked like this was the entry to a full suite, with the entry hall bigger than any place I had ever lived. Rich carpets and paintings in blue and white decorated the huge space, a sharp contrast to the dozen or so armoured guards stood about, halberds ready. ¡°Let them pass ¨C and be aware, this is the Apex of Infinite Blades ¨C do not offer him offense.¡± The voice belonged to Helaena, this time wearing a long flowing crimson coat, trimmed in some golden fur. The guards all stiffened at the mention of Walker, and I noted the choice not to introduce him as family. ¡°This way ¨C my niece has rquested your presence. Worry not, Hunter ¨C she has confirmed your story and you will be free to leave once you are finished here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad she¡¯s feeling better! Did you manage to catch the assholes that captured us?¡± ¡°We did not. We located the building you were held in, however by that time the ¡­ assholes... had fled. We will continue to hunt them, and they will be found.¡± She led us through a series of rooms, each richly appointed, but managing to stay on the right side tasteful. We ended up on a huge balcony overlooking the garden, and only the vast forest around us visible beyond it. It was a fantastic sight, and not just because of the view. Sitting by a table, sipping from a teacup was Sidona, red hair tied in a braid that fell down her back, and wearing a flowing robe in green and yellow ¨C it matched her colouring much better than Helaena¡¯s garments, though some of the appeal was no doubt due to the fact I had seen Sidona naked. ¡°Sidona! I¡¯m glad you¡¯re alright. Thanks, by the way for carrying us out of there. And for fighting that cat guy. I¡¯m not sure I could have hobbled away fast enough on my own...¡± ¡°Hunter, you¡¯re welcome. And my thanks to you in turn, for setting me free. My aunt tells me your companion¡¯s wounds were extensive, and no doubt I would have been much the same had you not intervened.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got lucky. My... specific... abilities let me circumvent the security, and I heal pretty fast so...¡± ¡°Regardless of how, I am grateful.¡± Sidona smiled, and I found myself smiling back, my gaze locked on those emerald eyes. Without conscious thought, I started to move towards her, my mind ¨C or something vaguely related ¨C filled suddenly with her scent. Yet another new and exciting feature of my fresh body making an appearance at the most inconvenient moment. ¡°Ahem.¡± I glanced up, just about able to scrape my eyes off Sidona, to see the raised eyebrow of her aunt, and the rapidly approaching guards I had failed to spot on the way in. ¡°Ah... sorry?¡± Cold Hearted Man Sorry was, as it turned out, not quite good enough for the guards, and it is unfair that anybody wearing that much metal could move that fast. Before I knew what was happening, 4 people in red and gold plate armour had me surrounded. I moved reflexively, managing to avoid the first grasp only because of the warning provided by Danger Sense. The follow up grabs from the other three however were somewhat unavoidable ¨C being surrounded on 4 sides leaves very little room for dodging and in a second or so, I had metal clad hands clamped around my arms and wrists. It was at this point I panicked. My mind flashed back to my brief but intense imprisonment, and completely forgetting my recent training I lashed out, pushing the energy of my soul outwards along my channels all at once, with as much force as my panicked mind could muster. Shock rocked through me as my body pulled taut, but rather than the streams of electricity I was used to, there came a thunderous bang, a near blinding flash of light and heat so powerful I was almost too stunned to feel the pressure wave hammering into me. By the time I recovered enough to look around, the guards were climbing back to their feet, all a dozen feet or more from me, smoking rents now open in their armour. I could not hear, and my skin felt even more burned than it normally did after I used my Focus. Helaena and Sidona seemed to be shouting, given their posture and the way their mouths were moving, and Walker was stood at my side, though I had not seen him move. He held out a hand and I could see a large mint green pill sat in his palm and he gestured for me to take it. Trusting in him completely, I took the proffered pill and popped it in to my mouth, swallowing with difficulty ¨C the thing was too big to get down. The results however were evident, and they came swiftly ¨C I was starting to think my Lesser Regeneration had a multiplicative effect on medicine, though I had no real basis for it. It had taken about a day for my nail holes to close over, but less than that for all my broken bones to mend. The only difference I could think of was the alchemical medicine I had been given. My hearing came back all at once and the vivid red faded from my skin, and while working my jaw and the noise rushed back in, allowing me to catch the tail end of what the ladies were saying. ¡°... may have been some overreaction on all sides, I will admit.¡± Helaena was speaking calmly now, so either I had been wrong about the shouting or things had calmed down in the moments it took to heal me. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about that, I have no idea what caused... that. Normally I just sort of shock people?¡± Helaena looked at me like I was an idiot, but Walker spoke from where he was handing one of the guards a pill like the one he had given me. ¡°That was an arc blast, Hunter. It is because they were wearing plate mail. You should be careful when using your Focus around those in metal armour ¨C your Focus is not designed to utilise this effect well, as it is relatively short ranged, almost invariably placing you within the blast. And Hunter... perhaps, think twice before attacking guards in their own palace?¡± I felt suitably chagrined at the gentle telling off, though it seemed my body was not done getting me in trouble. ¡°You are lucky; should the guards been at your own level, you may well have killed them.¡± ¡°Well, they did attack me ¨C I was just going to shake Sidona¡¯s hand.¡± It was a lie of course ¨C I had not been thinking about anything so innocent - I was not going to make that public though. I also thought I now understood why the Ren had been described as having a propensity for martial combat ¨C they were all naturally aggressive horndogs - living on their world would be like living in a teen drama. ¡°You should have known better, given the circumstances, Hunter.¡± I thought about that and had to agree - privately - that just walking up to a member of the ruling family, who had just been kidnapped and turned back up with necrotising wounds, was probably on the dumber end of the scale. ¡°The guards are fine you said though, right? There was no lasting harm done, to anyone?¡± Sidona spoke up for the first time since I had recovered my hearing, her voice placating before she went on. ¡°And besides, I¡¯m quite capable of destroying a Focus stage cultivator myself, should it prove necessary.¡± Her voice was stern now ¨C though there was a touch of wry humour there too, though it was thankfully directed at the guards, but I cringed a little at the reminder of my level. ¡°Enough, Niece. The guards were doing their duty, though it may not have quite necessary in this situation. Hunter ¨C the guards will refrain from detaining you, provided you do nothing to merit it, and I will forgive your disproportionate response given the service you have provided Sidona. Once.¡± ¡°That sounds more than fair, I¡¯m sorry, everyone. I¡¯m still getting used to my... Focus... and no, you know what. No excuses - I¡¯m just sorry. I will improve my control.¡± ¡°Well and good. Now, I believe-¡± A horn sounded in the distance, a long peeling note, causing Helaena to stop mid-sentence. It sounded again, a sequence of blasts I thought was likely a code. ¡°Somebody is attempting to force entry into the tower... Hunter, stay here.¡± Walker began to move towards the edge of the balcony, long strides carrying him quickly. ¡°It is not your place, Orin, we wil-¡± ¡°That is not my name anymore, Helaena. And while we may no longer be family, this was once my home.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was cold and hard, a whisper of that same warning aura of terror I had felt from him that first day leaking out, a visible shiver running through everyone presant. Without another word, my dark mentor stepped up and over the balcony¡¯s stone rail and dropped, vanishing from sight. Helaena stood in place for a moment longer, before stepping forward, wings of frigid mist coalescing behind her. A wave of warm air flowed over me as the city¡¯s ruler shot into the air with a powerful flap, wisps of condensed moisture trailing behind her as she too moved out of view. I turned back to Sidona, who looked half-ready to spring after her aunt before a cough from one of the guards seemed to change her mind. I glanced over upon hearing the cough and did a double-take as I noted the glaring lack of damage to their armour. Dismissing the self-repairing armour from my mind, I instead turned my attention to somthing - or rather somebody - more interesting. ¡°So... I take it wings are a thing in your family?¡± I smiled and sat down, and after a moment Sidona joined me as we looked out over the gardens. ¡°... Yes, that¡¯s right. The Sky Breaker clan all take the wings as our Focus, though the details are of course left to the individual. It''s really something to... soar.¡± Her voice was wistful, and I wished I remembered more of our trip here. ¡°I had heard Foci could run in families, sort of like a crest, but for your cultivation, I guess. I remember you having fire, and your aunt has, mist, I guess? ¡± ¡°My aunt¡¯s wings are of cold ¨C the mist is a side effect.¡± ¡°That explains the warm air then? The heat from where her wings are has to go somewhere?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right ¨C most people don¡¯t understand that at first. You¡¯re just full of surprises, Hunter.¡± Sidona¡¯s smile was dangerous, at least to me. I did not think anybody would take it in stride of made a move on a royal scion. ¡°Just basic physics! We may not cultivate where I¡¯m from, but we¡¯ve spent a lot of time deciphering natural law, though I think some of that knowledge may not be relevant with the inclusion of Experience...¡± ¡°People who don¡¯t fight usually think we just blast each other with energy and attack each other ¨C they don¡¯t understand how much knowledge is involved. You must know not only how your own cultivation interacts with both your own body and the world around you, but how your opponent¡¯s may. But you can¡¯t know always know in advance how any given foe operates, so you have to know enough about everything.¡± Sidona seemed to really enjoy fighting ¨C but not just the act, by the sounds of it ¨C but the theory of it as well. ¡°I never really thought about it like that. The arc blast from before, it¡¯s like that. I guess if I¡¯m going to be using lightning, I¡¯ll need to know how it interacts with... everything. You must know a lot about fire!¡± There was more warmth in my voice than I had intended ¨C consciously ¨C and I could feel my lips curling up, flirting with a grin. ¡°I know a lot about... heat.¡± Those emerald green eyes held me, bright and wide. I felt my pulse pounding and I was again conscious of Sidona¡¯s wonderful scent. She smelled like burnt sugar, and flowers and... I was brought back to myself, jerking upright in my seat as there was sharp metallic clang from one of the guards ¨C they were all stood closer to us than I remembered, and I felt a flush colouring my face. I could see a similar reaction from the beautiful woman across the table, and I decided to change the topic. ¡°So... let me know if this is rude, but what¡¯s the deal with Walker? Your aunt called him cousin, but he said he wasn¡¯t... anymore? You said everyone in your family had wings, but what about Walker?¡± Sidona looked relieved and reluctant in turn, taking a few sips of what smelled like tea while she thought. Finally, she spoke, with a last glance at the guards. "I only know rumours... He left before my time.¡± She drummed her fingers on the bright white wood of the table, not looking at me. I spoke up, eager to know anything about the man who had saved me.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I don¡¯t know a lot about him, and he¡¯s not the chattiest man I ever met... Anything at all would be more than I know now. He saved me, took me in. Anything that helps me understand the man I owe so much to...¡± Sidona still looked reluctant, but I could see the struggle fading away. ¡°Walker was a member of the main branch of our family ¨C great things were expected of him. But there were... issues.¡± Sidona paused to take another sip of tea. ¡°From what I heard, Walker understood flight ¨C the mechanics of it, it¡¯s uses in battle. The interactions of it. He had studied all his life to form his Focus with full knowledge and intent. But time went on, and no Focus formed. They say that though his understood flight, it was too far from his nature. He was unable to form the wings within his centre. He was a dedicated man, however, even as a child and he refused to give up. While the other children of his generation were taking to the skies in flight, he was left alone on the ground... to walk.¡± I winced, seeing where the story was likely going. ¡°They gave him the name Walker to mock his lack of ability. Many thought him crippled, or too simple to cultivate. They were proven wrong, of course. In his 18th year, he apparently grew tired of the taunts ¨C his dedication only repaid with ridicule. In a single day, he chose a Focus more suited to him and then both formed and completed it. He went on to become one of the 10 most powerful being in the world, an Apex, as you know. Certain members of my family were chastised heavily on that day...¡± ¡°Wow, that blows. No offense, Sidona, but your family sound like assholes. I hope those other kids got their asses handed to them. Was your aunt one of them?¡± ¡°As I said, it was before my time. Both my aunt and father were a few years younger than him; I do not think they were involved. I like to think I would have treated him differently, but we never know what our actions will be before it is time to act. Perhaps I would have been just as cruel. ¡± I thought back to my first meeting with Walker, how he had tested me, and then taken me in. He knew what it was like to seem like a cripple on this world, how it felt to be weak. My mentor had gained strength ¨C and I thought many would have turned cruel, given his background and his subsequent rise to power. Not Walker though. I decided then that I would never mention this to him, and I would do everything I could to pay him back for his kindness, and more. Maybe he did not have a family, but he would. ¡°Thanks for telling me, Sidona. It explains some things to me.¡± I took a deep breath, looked out at the forest. ¡°And I think you would have treated him fine. You don¡¯t seem to look down too much on me, and I¡¯m basically in the same boat. I had just formed my Focus when I met you.¡± ¡°Really? You mentioned that there was no cultivation where you came from, is that why?¡± ¡°Yeah. Most people are usually disbelieving when I mention that, but you seem to just accept it. I can¡¯t tell you how refreshing that is...¡± The flirting smile was threatening to come back, so I took a deep breath, trying to centre myself. ¡°The world is wide, and time is deep. When I was young, the gods went to war and our world was briefly joined with another. The cultivators that came through those linked placed were different ¨C they pushed out their Experience via chains, linking to and animating the dead. Hordes of them marched acorss the land, as we warred, a mortal reflection of the divine. There are worlds upon worlds contained within this plane, infinite variety. Who is to say there are no world without the means to cultivate?¡± ¡°Wow, I think you¡¯re the first person I¡¯ve met since I arrived to mention the existence of planes.¡± My voice was excited and eager, if the existence of the planes was common knowledge, it would make my situation much easier to explain, I hoped. ¡°it is not talked about often, but Ascension is the goal of all cultivators ¨C to move from our plane to the one above.¡± ¡°Do you know how many planes there are?¡± ¡°I only know of 3, though I doubt that is the limit. There is our plane, of course ¨C the Aspirant plane. Above ours is the Ascendant plane. Below us is the Origin of Souls, and all of them are linked by the River of Souls, which washes clean our souls of Experience when we die.¡± ¡°The Origin of Souls?¡± ¡°Yes, our plane is too energy dense for souls to form naturally ¨C or so I was taught. Instead, it forms the gods. All sounds on the Aspirant plane came from the plane below.¡± ¡°Souls, they... just come here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the specific mechanism ¨C I was a good student, but our knowledge is limited. The Ascendants may know more.¡± I thought back on my own experiences with Xiournal ¨C the dragon must have been one of these Ascendants, and I wish I had asked more questions while I had the resource at hand. I remembered she had mentioned something about how you lived your life affecting where you ended up, but it would have been nice to know specifics. I decided that in the absence of that knowledge, I could just have to not die. ¡°So, do people try to get into your towers often?¡± I decided to change the subject again, not knowing whether taking a shortcut to this plane would be frowned upon. Sidona nodded and the expression sharpened, a small yet savage smile curling her lips. ¡°Sometimes - they come looking for treasures, usually. But there¡¯s usually a gap, after we make a show of thrashing them. Normally, I¡¯d be down there, but my aunt has forbidden me from fighting in the city until I attain the Foundation stage, after what happened.¡± Her voice was sullen now, and she wore a pretty pout. ¡°You like fighting then? You seemed good at it ¨C from what I could see ¨C back at the house, with the cat guy.¡± ¡°That bastard was playing with me. He already stood at the Foundation stage while I just began to walk the Path. Too large a gap to bridge with skill and enthusiasm. But thank you for the compliment...¡± Her tone turned rich and warm at the end, and her pout turned into a cheeky grin. ¡°The difference between the Path and Foundation stages is that great? I¡¯m new to the whole cultivation thing, like I said.¡± Sidona raised her eyebrow, her grin widening. ¡°You are new to all this, aren¡¯t you?¡± Her voice dropped, still smiling and I could not help grinning back. ¡°I am. Maybe you could show me a thing or two?¡± Another clang filled the room and I almost slapped myself. I needed to find a cold shower before I got myself kicked out of the city. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to! But to answer your question, yes ¨C the difference between the Path and Foundation stage is vast. You obviously know what¡¯s involved in forming your Focus ¨C the Path is similar. Whereas you form your Focus with an image of your intent, to attain the Path you must absorb an Exemplar into your second centre ¨C the heart centre.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s just like... another Focus?¡± ¡°Sort of ¨C a wisely chosen Exemplar can add new concepts to, or even completely change the way you use your cultivation. An Exemplar can be almost anything ¨C a creature, natural treasure or element ¨C though not people. It varies per person ¨C but once you find something that fits you, you draw it into your centre and it becomes the part of your cultivation ¨C if you chose something like a beast, you must defeat it and absorb it before the energy disperses. I defeated and absorbed a rare phoenix variant, increasing both the power and the control of my flames. It also gave me the ability to heal, though it was no help against that kidnapping bastard¡¯s attacks, as I have not finished integrating it yet. And the variant was more focused on offensive power anyway...¡± I was glad I would not be sucking any living creatures in to my body, that did not sound either enjoyable or ethical. ¡°And the Foundation stage?¡± ¡°Once you have integrated the Exemplar completely, you have completed your Path, reaching the Foundation stage and you can begin to refine Experience a second time.¡± ¡°You refine it again?¡± ¡°Of course ¨C completing the Focus stage allows you to refine raw Experience into Praxis. The Path stage allows you to refine Praxis into Veritas.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard Praxis or Veritas ¨C in this context, anyway. Everyone just seems to call it Experience or energy.¡± ¡°It''s all Experience, really, just refined. Most people will use it as shorthand, unless discussing the specifics of cultivation, as we are.¡± ¡°Right. It¡¯s... interesting. The whole process seems to be set up like... it¡¯s like... You start with a theory ¨C the Focus. Using Experience, you put the theory into practice ¨C Praxis, and then test it, make adjustments in oder to come to a conclusion ¨C Veritas. It all seems very, well, scientific.¡° ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be a science? The details might be down to the individual ¨C and those can certainly be more art than science ¨C but the whole process is well documents and explored, over thousands of years. The Pinnacle stage is different ¨C how to get there varies based on the person, how you use your Veritas. But Focus to Foundation is as much a science as anything else.¡± She was right, I knew. If my own society did the same thing ¨C as a whole ¨C for thousands and thousands of years, we¡¯d probably understand it pretty well too. Although the whole sating scene sort of disproved that... ¡°What about becoming an Apex? Is that just... more Pinnacle?¡± ¡°Nobody knows, apart from Apex¡¯s themselves, and they¡¯re not telling. There are only 10 in the world, and in the history of our world, there have been less than a hundred. Whatever it takes ¨C it''s rare.¡± I pondered on that number ¨C less than 100 people like my mentor in thousands of years of history. That was an incredibly low percentage. ¡°How many thousands? Years I mean.¡± ¡°At least eleven-thousand ¨C there was a calamity before then, so it may be longer but we have no records.¡± ¡°Eleven-thousand years, and less than a hundred Apex¡¯s? Are people just better now, to have 10 all at once?¡± ¡°I like to think we are ¨C myself being an example -¡± She winked at me, letting me know she was not being too serious. ¡°-but some of the Apex¡¯s are just old. I think the Apex of the Wild Bounty is at least three-thousand years old.¡± ¡°That¡¯s insane. I can¡¯t imagine being that old.¡± ¡°Well, statistically, you won¡¯t be. Most people don¡¯t reach that age ¨C they either die or Ascend.¡± ¡°... Thanks for that. Anyway. The reason the cat-guy was so much stronger ¨C according to you ¨C is because he was using more concentrated energy?¡± ¡°Yes - as I haven¡¯t completed my Path, I don¡¯t have access to Veritas. And he had a lot ¨C he had to have filled his heart centre. Just one step below the Pinnacle.¡± ¡°Well, I guess I better get a move on, if I¡¯m ever going to exact my terrible vengeance.¡± I pulled a face as I spoke the last, my voice dropping and taking on a sharp accent. ¡°I¡¯m sure that wherever they are, they¡¯re quaking.¡± Sidona¡¯s voice was dry, but I could tell she was amused. ¡°You¡¯ve completed the Focus stage, you should be starting your Core now, right?¡± ¡°... Yes. Exactly. I know how to do that...¡± Sidona grinned at me, her face telling me she did not believe a word I was saying. I never was a great liar. ¡°Okay, fine. I have no idea what I¡¯m doing. Walker and I have been mostly trying to stop me electrocuting myself.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re in luck ¨C the Core stage is mostly just time and effort, there¡¯s no great secret. You need to start by replacing the Experience in your gut centre with Praxis, and then fill the whole thing up, so that any Experience you take in is immediately converted. Once you have nothing but pure Praxis running through your system, you¡¯ll be able to feel where you heart centre is, and start looking to begin your Path.¡± ¡°I wish I could get hold of whatever that jackass injected me with, seemed to help a lot in finishing my Focus a head of time. I think I¡¯d skip the pain the second time though. I can think of much better things to do with massively heightened feeling.¡± ¡°Why the rush? I can understand trying to get your Focus as soon as possible, but the rest... why not take your time? Enjoy yourself?¡± She licked her lips and tilted her head down to look up at me through her eyelashes. Biting the inside of my cheek, I desperately thought of other things, knowing I was going to get myself in trouble if I let my control slip. ¡°Hunter, we should take our leave.¡± Walker was standing just inside the door to Sindona¡¯s suite, and as I looked up Helaena stepped out onto the balcony, her face like thunder, clearly still angry at my mentor. ¡°Oh, sure, I guess.¡± I looked back at Sidona and stood, bowing low at the waist. ¡°It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Sidona. I hope we can meet again, and maybe then we can... spar?¡± Sidona stood as well, her bow just as deep as mine. ¡°We owe each other our lives; we¡¯re bound by fate, Hunter. We will meet again. And spar.¡± With a mutual grin, I stepped away and made my out, alongside my silent mentor, looking back only once. I was disappointed that my view was blocked by the taciturn guards, but I knew we would meet again. Now that I was at the minimum level to be considered an adult, it was time I started to gain Experience in earnest. For science. First Blood The day after leaving the palace, I found myself once again following Walker though the busy streets of the city, the interesting smells and sights still pulling my attention back and forth as I desperately tried to take it all in. Deep breaths brought me the scents of flowers and spices, and even more distracting now that I was aware of it, the smell of the beautiful women about me. As a human, I had never worried overmuch over people¡¯s smells, as long as it was not offensive, but my new body seemed to be very appreciative. When I first arrived in the city, it had all just blended together into a surprisingly pleasant whole, but since I had caught Sidona¡¯s scent ¨C since I had figured out what it was ¨C my nose had been picking women out all around me. It was strange, and sort of wonderful, but also a little creepy. I was walking around smelling women. I had mentioned it briefly to Walker to make sure I was not going to be offending anybody by... sniffing... but it turned out there were a few peoples that had sensitive noses, including his own. Despite the relative strangeness, it was proving to be quite a boon for my cultivation; it turns out having your sense of smell turned up to 11 provides fertile ground for Experience. So too did my constantly fluctuating emotions, though I did sort of wish I could skip the angst and the flashes of aggression. I had decided to get out of my earthy shell and be more like my chosen element, but I would prefer to only be like lightning in situations that would not get me punched into a bloody mist... As distracted as I was trying to Experience everything around me, the trip passed quickly. Before I knew it, Walker and I were once again stood outside of Ben Won Ro¡¯s huge house/shop, the burnished gold and red of the wood standing out amid the sea of green on all sides. Entering without preamble, I was a little shocked to see Tang standing behind the counter once more, complete with what looked like fresh deep blue and black robe. ¡°Tang! I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re okay! I¡¯m surprised to see you back at work so soon though!¡± Tang looked up as I called out, a wide smile on his face. ¡°Hunter! It¡¯s good to see you, as well. I¡¯m told you are responsible for rescuing me from the group that took us. Thank you.¡± Walker and I moved towards the counter on the far side of the room, stepping carefully around the huge glass cases and shelves displaying the shop¡¯s wares. ¡°Only half, really. Sidona pulled us both out of there.¡± I came to a stop, leaning on the polished wood of the counter and grinned. ¡°I had heard Lady Sky Breaker Sidona was involved, though it is hard to believe a group would go so far as to risk that clan¡¯s wrath.¡± He shook his head, brow bunched. ¡°Well, if my torturer was anything to go by, they¡¯re a bunch nuts. Absolutely bat shit.¡± ¡°Bat... shit?¡± The idiom seemed lost on Tang, leaving him looking at me in confusion. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. They were crazy, is what I mean.¡± ¡°Agreed. I am told my injuries were severe, though the medicine provided by the palace was top notch, though below Master¡¯s standards. Or so he tells me. I take it you are here to see him? He mentioned you would be visiting, and a prepared a gift as thanks for your help.¡± ¡°Tang, there¡¯s no need. There was no way I could have left you there.¡± ¡°I insist. Many would have left me, certainly if they possessed the same limitations in their cultivation as yourself.¡± ¡°Hey, not so limited anymore, I completed my Focus! You¡¯re looking at a very early Core stage cultivator. I think.¡± I looked a Walker, who nodded. ¡°Indeed. You now meet the minimum criteria to not be considered a cripple by the wider world...¡± ¡°Walker, stop! All the compliments are embarrassing me...¡± My tone was flat, but I knew Walker was just prodding me, and I could tell he was smiling ¨C on the inside ¨C at my reply. I turned back to Tang who had placed a wooden box on the counter and pushed it towards me as I turned back to him. ¡°Here, take it, please.¡± ¡°Tang, you really didn¡¯t have to do this...¡± I was not, however, going to turn down a heartfelt gift. I stopped leaning on the counter and stood straight, reaching for the wooden box before opening the lid. Inside was another example of this world¡¯s overly large pills. It looked like a moonstone sphere, just small enough that I might not choke to death on it. ¡°This is Elemental Divinity Alignment Pill. When used by those with an elemental Focus, it will both increase the strength of that element and their resistance to it. For best effect, it should be consumed while at the Path stage, however it will still be effective before then.¡± ¡°Tang, that sounds incredible. I could really use the resistance ¨C my Focus can be sort of debilitating. Thank you so much.¡± Tang bowed deeply before speaking again. ¡°My life is worth much more, Hunter. This is the least I could do.¡± ¡°Why is it called the Divinity Alignment Pill?¡± ¡°That is because-¡± At that moment, the door behind the counter opened, and the master alchemist walked in wearing what looked like a lab coat in crisp white silk. ¡°Walker, Hunter! I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here! We must discover the secret of the death prevention serum as soon as possible! I could make a for-save many lives! Come, come!¡± I thanked Tang again as followed my dark mentor behind the counter and through the door. I slipped the box containing the pill into my pocket, alongside the bag of hydration pills, as well as the coin pouches and rings I had taken from the guards back at the kidnapper¡¯s house. The people at the palace had taken the pendants, saying something about identifying the group, and honestly, I was glad. My pocket was bulging as it was, with the box in there. I would have to see if I could buy a bag or something ¨C as well as some new clothes ¨C soon. Through the unusually thick door, was a lab. It was not a modern lab ¨C or at least not modern by my standards ¨C but it was definitely a lab. Benches ran around the edges of the room, as well as crisscrossing the floor. Cabinets stood under and above each and various metal, stone and glassware covered the counters, and in the centre of the room sat a huge cauldron forged from sort of cream coloured metal. The cauldron was inscribed all over, thousands of lines of mysterious text and symbols covered every inch. I surreptitiously looked around for the three witches, but luckily, I had caught them on their day off. Beside the cauldron, stood a simple wooden chair. Gesturing at the chair, Ro spoke again. ¡°Come, come! No time like the present. Sit, sit!¡± Nodding and sweating a little in anticipation, I sat down in the chair. ¡°Honoured Master Alchemist ¨C there will be no lasting harm to Hunter?¡± Walker phrased it like a question, but his tone said it was clearly a command. ¡°Ah... of course, Honoured Apex, of course...¡± Ro, clearly not used to that particular tone being used on him, nevertheless nodded quickly.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The alchemist reached into a pocket on his coat and pulled out a tiny vial filled with a pale blue, opaque liquid. ¡°Here we go ¨C drink this, Hunter and then concentrate on the... conversation.¡± ¡°Bottoms up, then.¡± I reached out and took the vial from Ro, unstopping it and knocking back the fluid inside before I could think too much about it. * *** * ¡°Well, that sucked.¡± I still at in the wooden chair, and I was still sweating, only more so. My voice was ragged and my muscles ached from the tension. ¡°Boiling a living phoenix egg... dangerous and unethical. Not to mention the difficulty in acquiring one!¡± ¡°Indeed. If the potion originates here in Everwood City, this could bring an Elder phoenix down upon the city.¡± Whereas Ro¡¯s voice fluctuated between mild disgust and greedy excitement, Walker¡¯s was grave. ¡°Is a phoenix that bad? Sidona said they ate one for her Path.¡± Shaking my sweart soaked hair out of my face, I looked up at the two of them. ¡°It is possible that Sidona absorbed an Elder phoenix, with the assistance of her clan, however, it is much more likely that she absorbed a younger specimen. A fight between a major clan and an Elder would have spread rumours far and wide.¡± ¡°Maybe I could substitute a... no, not without knowing the other ingredients. Walker, the Alchemists Association is going to place a bounty on this group ¨C both in repayment for their temerity in attacking a member, and to release this... egg, if possible. The reward would be substantial... would you be interested?¡± ¡°I will intervene, should it prove necessary, but I believe I know somebody who will be interested in the pursuit.¡± * *** * ¡°You lived then?¡± The lilting, singsong voice of Aella called out as Walker and I entered the sand circle of the Steel Splinter. Running over to us, she stopped short of jump-hugging Walker this time, her solid-pink eyes flicking between us. ¡°Hey, Teacher. Yeah, I had to survive ¨C I wouldn¡¯t dare waste your time.¡± I grinned at her and she rolled those strange eyes at me, before turning back to Walker. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯d like to examine my students?¡± ¡°Of course, Aella. I have an opportunity to discuss with you, however. A bounty offer from the Alchemists Association. It has not been publicly posted, yet, and the reward is supposedly... great.¡± Aella¡¯s eyes lit with green and the smile on her face stretched wider, showing perfectly straight, white teeth. ¡°Well, we can discuss the details while you take them all in! Hunter, go practice with your friend.¡± A waved gesture drew my attention to a group of 10 or so students, a group which included Fou Shei, and his infuriatingly attractive sister. Grumbling under my breath, I walked over to the group, leaving the two deep in conversation, sparing only a fraction of their attention for the students scattered about the arena. ¡°The cripple has returned! Look, sister ¨C this vagabond dares show his face before us once more.¡± Fou Shei, the little shit wore a sneer on his face, and his sister turned to look at me, a stream of water twinning around her hands. ¡°It looks like he really is just an idiot ¨C a being with such a lack of talent should just go ahead and die, don¡¯t you think, brother?¡± ¡°Perhaps we can be of service, sister?¡± ¡°Look, guys, I get you have this whole, creepy sibling, over entitled dipshit thing you¡¯re doing, but you have to know you sound like prats, right? I mean, who talks like that? Did you take lessons, or does jackassory just run in your blood?¡± The two of them looked shocked at my words, and there were a couple of giggles from some of the younger members of the group, though they were soon silenced as the brother and sister shot them glares. ¡°Look, Foul Shit, Aella said we should practice. So, shall we do this?¡± I had decided, at my pint-sized nemesis¡¯ words that if I was going to be like lightning, this was the time to start. ¡°You would dare...?¡± His face dark red with rage and his body shaking, the little shit took a threatening step towards me. ¡°Well, obviously...¡± I backed up and dropped into the stance Aella had shown me, cycling the little Praxis I had accumulated through my energy channels, grinning at the sensation of power and pure joy rushing through me. Experience had been a heady feeling, and truth be told I was still not used to it. But Praxis was like nothing I had ever imagined, and it thundered through me like a storm. But made of lasers and orgasms. Shei came at me like a Taekwondo cat, all screeching rage and feet, with the sand of the arena flaring up behind him as he kicked off. When last the two of us faught, Fou Shei had slowly ramped up his speed before overwhelming me, but this time there was none of that ¨C he came out of the gate at full speed, the air whistling in the wake of his legs. But I was ready. Now that the two of us were ¨C mostly ¨C on the same plane, in terms of cultivation, I was no longer scrambling to anticipate my opponent¡¯s movements, I could see them coming. His feet lashed out at me one after the other, a constant rotation of his body providing torque and enough power to break bone with ease. I stepped out of the way of, or deflected every blow, my cultivation, ¡®natural¡¯ speed and Danger Sense providing an advantage he was simply unable to overcome. For perhaps a minute ¨C an eternity in a normal fight - the two of us stepped about the sand at a speed I would have considered impossible only a few days before, and I loved every second of it. Until then ¨C aside from the few exultant minutes I had spent under the effects of the Spiritual Weights ¨C all of my encounters with other cultivators had universally resulted in me being summarily defeated, but at that moment, there was only joy and satisfaction. Staying in the moment, feeling enough to cultivate Experience was difficult in the middle of a fight, but I managed it, mostly. I could feel that golden warmth spinning into my centre, though there was no corresponding surge of Praxis ¨C until I completed my Core, it would take conscious effort to refine it, I knew. I could see frustration on Fou Shei¡¯s face as the fight drew out, and finally I spotted a safe opening ¨C the boy had moved in a touch too close and had to raise up almost to tiptoe in order to reach high enough to threaten me. I stepped in closer still, my right hand meeting the rising leg and pushing it up, until my opponent left the ground. Reaching up before he could use my body as a source of leverage, I grabbed his foot with my other hand, stepping away and twisting my body around, swinging his body like a club up and around before bringing him down, my arms pulling in from full extension as I dropped my stance, smashing him bodily into the sand. For a moment, everything was still, other than a shocked gasp I guessed came from Shei¡¯s sister, and I thought I might have killed him ¨C I once heard being thrown at the ground compared to being punched by the planet and I hoped I hadn¡¯t gone overboard. Thankfully, the moment only stretched for so long before he climbed to his feet, wiping blood from his chin with a growl. ¡°You DARE?!¡± His voice was pitched high with rage, and it would have been funny if the sand had not begun to rise up around him, spinning slowly about his rigid body faster and faster as I watched. My idiot body did not seem to care, however. ¡°Ugh, yeah? I thought we already covered thi-¡± I did not have time to finish ¨C once again faster than I could easily follow, the young scion of the Unceasing Squall clan flew at me, the wind moaning, almost like low thunder as I dodged the first kick, a cut opening on my cheek as a blade made of air cut me, extending from the bottom of his foot. I again thanked Xiournal for Danger Sense as I went back on the defensive, the youngster in front of me a spinning hurricane of flashing kicks. It took me a moment to figure out what was going on, my attention taken by the constant approach of death, but eventually I guessed that he was using air pressure to accelerate his blows ¨C moving the air ahead of him out of the way and placing it behind the kicks. He was kicking me like an airplane flew and I had to admit that physics made the best kung fu. I staggered back, barely avoiding one razor sharp foot as blood dropped down my neck, and I knew it was do or die time. I waited as long as I dared for a fresh opening, knowing I would have to finish it in a single blow if I wanted to avoid death at the hands of the single most hateful child I had ever met. Finally, it came ¨C the brat was flipping around, both feet of the floor as he completed a series of rapid-fire kicks, all the power provided by the air pressure as the wind literally carried him. Stepping in again, knowing I would be unable to avoid another attack from his distance, I twisted my body, turned me heel and put my entire weight into a punch that I drove into the little shit¡¯s right kidney, just as his left foot touched down. At that same moment, I focused my will though my Focus, forcing my Praxis to surge along my channels as the energy transformed into flowing lightning and for a split second a nimbus of crawling electricity surrounded me, driving me even faster than my miniature foe, and as my fist connected, it blasted out of me. Fou Shei shot away from me like he had been hit by a truck, a filament of blue-white light connecting us until all at once, I lost control and went stiff and fell to the warm sand. Cutting off the power, I lay twitching on the sand, my eyes locked on the smoking form in that was pushing itself up on one arm. For a second, I thought I was done for, but then they dropped down unconscious ¨C hopefully. I started to sit up with difficulty, aftershocks still rippling through me, when I heard a voice behind. ¡°You would dare bully my little brother?¡± Dragging in an unsteady breath, I turned myself with some difficulty to look at the annoying sister I still did not know the name of. ¡°Fucking really?!¡± If You Dare I stood, almost slipping back on to my ass as my right leg spasmed beneath me. Getting it back under control, I began pushing the dregs of my Praxis around my body once more, the energy washing away some of the negative effects of my system being flooded with electricity. Turning fully, I looked at Fou Shei¡¯s sister with disbelief clear on my face. ¡°Dare? Your assbutt little brother has tried to kill me twice now, and I¡¯m the one daring because I dare to defend himself? Are you kidding? Were you dropped on your head a lot as a child? Both of you, I mean?¡± I looked her up and down, taking in her long, bare legs and short kimono. Her long black hair was tied into a complex braid and her eyes were so dark they were almost the same black as her hair. Like everyone I had met since my arrival, she was gorgeous and even amidst my anger and pain, it was a little distracting. Of course, right then her face was a dark red and her eyes were opened so wide that I was almost afraid they were about to fall out ¨C not the most attractive look. I had to assume the reason was my perceived temerity, but maybe that was just the way she showed affection. And old man can hope. ¡°You...! I will grind you into dust!¡± ¡°You dare?¡± ¡°I... what?¡± ¡°You see how dumb it sounds now? When you just throw it out?¡± With a growling yell, the still unnamed girl launched herself at me and she was fast, at least as fast as her brother had been when using his Focus and I once again found myself on the backfoot as tried to dodge and deflect as many blows as I could. In contrast to her brother¡¯s kicks, my new opponent was a more balanced fighter, interposing punches, knees and elbows in. She also lacked the blades of compressed air however, so it was working out okay for me, or at least it was until a stream of floating water slapped into the side of my face, staggering me and almost breaking my jaw if the pain was anything to go by. Before I could recover, I took a blow to the back of my knee and something wet grabbed my other leg, yanking me off my feet. Finally, while still in mid-air, one last punch was driven into my stomach, slamming me back to the sand. As I lay staring into the deep blue of the sky, for a brief moment I contemplated the apparently vast difference between just having reached the Core stage, and having been there for a while. Then my instincts began screaming at me as my Danger Sense trigged, and I rolled sideways just in time to avoid an axe kick that would have crushed my skull. Apparently axe kicks were a thing in their family. Twisting my body and kicking off the sand, I rolled back to my feet, turning back to my scantily clad opponent prepared for anything ¨C other than the high-pressure jet of water about to drive into my eye. I did not even have time to blink, let alone dodge before there was a loud boom and my vision was blocked by something. I jerked back a step, blinking before taking in the shape in front of me ¨C it was Walker¡¯s dark hand. The jet was driving itself to mist against his unmoving hand, as my mentor¡¯s low, calm voice spoke into the sudden silence. ¡°Enough. I do not mind youthful exuberance, but let us not take things too far. Hunter, you did well enough. Go and concentrate on refining Praxis for now, you appear to be mostly depleted.¡± I nodded, struck dumb by the speed Walker had demonstrated ¨C the boom had to have been him breaking the sound barrier. I had known that our bodies would improve as we cycled more refined energies, and in greater amounts, but breaking the sound barrier seemed to have placed absolutely no strain on my mentor and that was frankly terrifying. I would have to ask Walker if there was an average increase in capacity or something. I walked away, brushing sand off my robe and out of my hair as Walker helped Fou Shei to his feet, giving them both tips on how to improve. I hoped I would be getting my own tips later in order to prevent my own murder from being too easy for the Unceasing Squall duo. Shaking my head and rubbing at my jaw, I sat at the edge of the arena, cross-legged on a huge paving stone. I drew in a deep breath and fell inside myself, finding myself once more hoving near my Focus. Drawing my Experience towards the image at my centre, I watched as the golden sea spun inwards and drained into my Focus I pushed it through. Praxis pulsed golden-blue out along the thousands of filaments leading into my body, and I could feel it pulsing around my body, healing and strengthening me before it returned to my energy centre, dense and powerful at the bottom of my soul sea.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. * *** * I sat refining for about an hour, the ocean of golden energy noticeably depleted by my efforts. I would have carried on ¨C the sensation of driving Praxis through my energy pathways was hard to turn away from once I got started, but I felt a shadow fall over me, and I looked up to find Walker standing there. ¡°Hey, Walker ¨C it didn¡¯t occur to me to ask earlier, but where¡¯s Aella?¡± ¡°Aella grew enthusiastic about the bounty offered by the Alchemists Association and left to begin her investigation. She volunteered me to watch over her students while she is gone.¡± My mentor did not seem to mind being volunteered, and it occurred to me that he was a seriouslyeasy-going guy, given who and what he was. My Lucky ability had really been putting in the hours when I met him outside the city. ¡°Teacher really likes money, huh?¡± ¡°She does indeed. I believe she wishes to found a full school to complement the Steel Splinter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really... commendable.¡± I wanted to say cool, but my idioms had not been hitting their mark recently. The subject of money had reminded me of something, however. ¡°Oh, Walker ¨C when I was escaping, I took some money and a couple of rings off the guards ¨C can you tell me how much I have?¡± Walker nodded and I began to dig into my pocket, but he held up a hand to stop me. ¡°You have quite a large sum, it seems like 2170 growth coins, or the equivalent.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t even show you the money.¡± ¡°My perception does not rely on sight, Hunter. As should be evidenced by the blindfold.¡± I knew he had mentioned his perception before, and I had obviously noticed his blindfold, but I had always figured he was using echo location or something. ¡°So you have... some sort of... spiritual sense? Seems kind of invasive... when will I be getting that, by the way?¡± ¡°It is unlikely you will. Few achieve it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an Apex thing, then?¡± ¡°It is.¡± I waited for several seconds, hoping my mentor would elaborate but there was nothing but silence. Deciding not to push it, I went back to the money. ¡°Well, anyway ¨C you said I had a bunch of money, but there was no way there¡¯s that many coins in those two pouches.¡± ¡°Growth coins rarely reflect their real values in their literal numbers...¡± Walker went in to explain the local currency system, and even provided me some examples of relative worth. It all seemed fairly simple, and I was already rubbing my hands together at the thought of buying some actual clothes. Distracted by dreams of giving up my hobo look, I completely forgot about the rings until my mentor brought them back up. ¡°The rings seem to be spatial storage devices, though they are not of the highest quality.¡± That definitely caught my attention ¨C if D&D had taught me anything, it was Anything of Holding was incredibly useful. I fished the two rings out and examined them ¨C they were almost exactly similar. They were a deep verdant green with veins of gold, looking a lot like Japanese kintsugi. ¡°Storage devices you say...? How do I open them? Maybe they¡¯re filled with treasure!¡± ¡°If they were filled with treasure, why would they keep their money in pouches?¡± ¡°You raise a good point, Walker. So, what do I do?¡± ¡°You wear them, Hunter. They are rings. Once wearing them, you push a filament of Experience into them and you will gain access to the extra-planar space.¡± I nodded and slipped the rings onto the middle fingers of each hand, watching with a grin as they adjusted themselves to fit. I switched them about a couple of times and each time they fit me perfectly ¨C I even tried on my toes and even that worked. I thought that would be a great place to hide them once I had shoes. Slipping them back onto my hands once again, I reached out with my Experience and slipped a tiny stream into the right ring. I became aware of a space, roughly a meter on all sides. Within the space was a sword, a couple of clothing sets and a number of bottles, vials and bags. I pulled on the contents and they appeared in my arms ¨C the bottles tumbled to the ground but luckily, I was sat at the edge of the sand circle and they did not shatter. I placed the sword on the ground and checked out the clothes, but unfortunately, they were much too small for me. Next, I drew the sword ¨C it was the same bright silver as the sword Sidona had taken from the other guard and I guessed they must have been standard issue. I had no idea what all the alchemical stuff was, but decided to hang on to them until I could get them identified. The other ring contained almost identical contents, missing only the sword. The clothes were of course, too small. ¡°Hey, Walker, do you want one of these rings?¡± I knew that while I might have a use for both later, but right then I did not have enough to make much of a difference to even one of the spaces, and besides, a I owed Walker a lot. ¡°I do not require such a device, but you have my thanks for the offer, Hunter.¡± I recalled something my torturer had said about being able to store items in your soul, but it had not really registered until that moment. If that capacity was related to your stage of cultivation, it made sense that Walker would have to have it. ¡°Well, if you change your mind, let me know! I was thinking about going to buy some clothes, if that¡¯s okay?¡± ¡°You are free, Hunter. You may come and go as you wish. Please try not to get kidnapped again. I will be here until sundown.¡± ¡°Great. I guess I¡¯m off then. On my own. I¡¯ll be back soon, I hope!¡± I stood, a little nervous as I thought back on my experiences since arriving on this world, but I knew that if I was going to get anywhere in my cultivation, I needed to get out and experience new things. I was not going to get anywhere sitting by Walker¡¯s side, and Xiournal¡¯s missions were only going to get harder ¨C even the easiest on the list had almost got me killed, and had got me tortured. Firming my resolve and taking a deep breath, I forced my legs to carry me out of the arena, determined to experience as much as I could before nightfall. This Means War Stepping out into the world was tough for me ¨C in my previous life I had been the next best thing to a hermit. In my own mind, the world invariably conformed to Sod¡¯s Law and the inevitability of catastrophic failure had held me back from almost everything. Despite my presence in this new body and its fresh neural pathways, it seemed my soul remembered the habit. Standing just within the door of the Steel Splinter, I looked out at the sea of people ¨C human and otherwise ¨C as they went about their lives, knowing that each of them was intent on tearing the meat off the bone of life and despite the phantom fears echoing around my mind, I took that difficult step, on my own for the first time since my arrival. As it turned out, I did not explode. As small as that first step may have seemed a small one to many, but in that strange place ¨C for me ¨C it felt like a giant¡¯s stride and it felt fantastic. I strode out into the crowd, mindful of the sensations I was experiencing, buoyed along by the sheer joy of the cultivation. Stopping and turning, I made note of the tower stretching into the sky above the arena ¨C I may not know the streets but as long as I could identify the tower, I could be able to find my way back. I walked for a while in the general direction of Ro¡¯s alchemical shop ¨C since I had some cash on-hand, I was going to go take a look at the finer things, which meant venturing into the more affluent parts of Everwood City. I was wandering through a market, taking in the mixed smell of food and raw spices when it suddenly occurred to me that I had not eaten in days, and I was not hungry. I stopped in the middle of the street, earning a few irritated looks from those around me. Walker had mentioned that most adults did not need to eat ¨C that Experience took provided what the body needed directly ¨C but it was a strange thing to experience. The incredible things I had witnessed since my arrival were strangely easy to accept ¨C their reality may have been new to me, but I had seen them before, in games and other entertainment. It was all almost... familiar to me. The absence of so basic a need ¨C something I had felt every day of my life - struck me an almost physical blow. It felt like suddenly missing a step, like being left stranded on the edge of falling. I looked around and spotted a large fountain a short distance away, the wall just high enough to make for a comfortable seat. I made my way over and sat down, my elbows resting on my knees as I stared at the floor, trying to regain my equilibrium. I had been sat on the fountain for a few minutes when a voice sounded next to me, deeper even than mine, but gentle. ¡°With polite regret, I am looking for an alchemist named Ben Won Ro, could you direct me to his shop?¡± Turning, I looked up, and up and had to actually lean back and away from the figure stood to my side before I was able to take them all in. Standing even taller than my mentor and at least twice my height and width, the figure was dressed in burgundy pants trimmed in black and an open vest in the same colours. Their skin was a perfect, literal white, but their eyes were completely black other than the garnet irises which seemed to glow with a dull inner light. Other than eyebrows, and what was on their head, they appeared to be hairless, but what they had was every bit as white as their skin. ¡°Holy shit, you¡¯re huge.¡± I spoke without thinking, shocked at the sheer scale of the individual ¡°In apology, I am considered of average size. Do you know where the location of the alchemist?¡± There was a subtle accent underneath the vibrating bass of their voice, elongating the vowels by a hair adding a hint of something Germanic. ¡°Average? You¡¯re making me feel inadequate, my man. Ugh, but yeah, I know where Ro¡¯s shop is. Ish. I can show you. Probably.¡± Looking at this giant man, it struck me that all the doors I had seen so far had easily accommodated my tall mentor with room to spare, and while it had not stood out to me at the time, it made sense in retrospect, if there were titans like that guy walking around. ¡°In sorrowful distress, I apologise if I have caused you distress. Your assistance in reaching my destination would be greatly appreciated.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not really your fault, big guy. My name is Hunter.¡± I stood and held out my hand reflexively. ¡°With regret, I am here as part of a diplomatic delegation and my brother bade me offer no offense. I am Reff Stonebinder, of the Stonebinder clan. Gratitude.¡± After a glance at my hand a barely perceptible hesitation, Reff held out his own hand ¨C it hovered a couple of feet above my head, its position perfectly relative to my own. Grinning, I reached up and jumped to grab his hand before shaking it as best I could. ¡°Nice to meet you Reff. Do you mind if we stop at a tailor on the way, or are you in a rush?¡± ¡°With thanks, I believe that time can be spared - my current mission is not immediately urgent. Such a visit will create no real difference.¡± ¡°Great, let¡¯s go. Oh, you¡¯re not going to ask him to make you a Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill, are you?¡± It would suck, I thought, if I made it this far with my mission only for some rich diplomat to swoop in and make me fail right before the quest completed... ¡°With honesty, my mission does not include such a pill.¡± ¡°Fantastic.¡± * *** * It took us a little time to find a tailor ¨C not wanting to look like I was leading my new friend aimlessly, I had decided not to ask for directions but rather to rely on my memory to lead us in the right general location. We were definitely in the richer part of the city when I finally spotted a wide window with clothes on display. The inside of the shop was decorated with rich rugs, endless rolls of fabric and a lot of mirrors. A woman in a long powder blue dress started to bow to the two of us as we entered, but jerked to a halt as she took in my bare feet and overly large robe. After a blink and a flash of indecision flashed across her pretty face, the woman vanished through a curtain at the rear of the shop and I took a moment to take a look at various fabrics. After a couple of minutes, a short man with greying hair wearing an immaculate Victorian era looking suit walked out from behind the curtain and stood in the middle of the room, hands on hips.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°And what might whe do for you... gentlemen? I am ¡®fraid we do noht sell pre-own''edclowthes.¡± The short man¡¯s accent was the thickest I had heard since my arrival, and sounded almost like he was trying to chew the words. The impulse to make him eat them was strong, but I resisted. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t? Better go for new then. It¡¯s good to support small businesses like yours, wouldn¡¯t want you to go under. Now, how much for an outfit ¨C I''d definitely like pants, loose enough to fight in.¡± The little tailor narrowed his eyes at me. ¡°You da-¡± I interrupted him before he could finish, I had had enough of that nonsense already. ¡°Please, stop with all the do-you-daring. Damnation, the people in this city are easily affronted. You¡¯re not related to the Unceasing Squall clan, are you? You know what, never mind. Look, I have money, I want to buy clothes, because I look like a hobo. Will you please take my money?¡± I took out one of the coin pouches and dumped the contents into my hand, being careful not to let any of the irregular coins drop. I gestured at him with the coins and he swallowed his words, before nodding. It seemed that even in the face of idiocy, money talked. Reff was looking embarrassed and appeared to be trying to make himself look small, which was hilarious given his massive scale, but I thought I caught a hint of amusement behind his eyes as the tailor took my measurements. Taking out a huge book from somewhere, he sat in a nearby chair and began to read. An hour later, having discussed my tastes ¨C and being told I was wrong ¨C we settled on 3 sets of clothes. The first set was in deep brown and green and included a sleeveless knee length robe over loose pants, boots and a shirt that tied to one side. I bought a similar outfit in black, with a sleeveless gi rather than a robe ¨C I intended it to be the outfit I practiced in. The final outfit was back in browns and greens, but it came with a full, thick and hooded robe designed for colder temperatures and for keeping the weather off. Each outfit were made from materials in the upper-midrange and would provide some protection against cutting, though I was informed not as much as Walker¡¯s robe. All told, at the end of my spending spree, I was left with 446 growth coins. Apparently, tailored clothing was expensive. Storing the second two outfits, the black robe and my other meagre belongings in one of the storage rings ¨C which were now safely on my toes ¨C I thanked the reluctant clothier, and stepped back onto the street beside Reff, the act of wearing my own clothes somehow providing me with a weird sense of belonging. Before that moment, I realised I had always felt a little like a guest in this world ¨C but now, I felt at home. It is strange what the little things can do to you. ¡°Thanks for waiting, Reff. I¡¯ve been having to borrow my mentor¡¯s robe due to some weird circumstances. It¡¯s good to be fully dressed again.¡± ¡°In reassurance, the diversion was not long, Hunter. I would have likely wandered the city for many hours, increasing my chances of causing my brother problems, so you aid is most appreciated.¡± The huge man bowed deeply and it was like watching a tower topple. ¡°Hey, no worries. Honestly, you¡¯re super polite so far, so I''m not sure what sort of trouble your brother thinks you¡¯re going to get into.¡± ¡°Shamefully, I am known well for my rash actions and quick temper.¡± I found that hard to believe, Reff seemed like the most calm, deliberate person I had met since my arrival, even more than Walker who I had seen lose his temper, but I would keep it in mind. ¡°You do seem pretty rash... for a mountain.¡± The giant sighed and it sounded like a strong breeze. ¡°In deprecation, it is so.¡± * *** * The two of us made our way through the streets as they grew steadily more opulent and the doors grew further and further apart until finally, I spotted Ben Won Ro¡¯s huge house standing tall amidst the surrounding buildings, and for the second time that day I approached the golden-brown building. ¡°This is Master Alchemist Ben Won Ro¡¯s place. Come on in, I¡¯ll introduce you.¡± ¡°With gratitude.¡± I led him inside to find the interior empty ¨C for a moment I was concerned, given our shared past, but then a chime sounded from somewhere, the solitary crystalline tone lingering in the air until the door to the back opened, and the apprentice in blue stepped in, performing a small doubletake as he flicked his eyes between Reff and myself. ¡°Hunter, you are back ¨C did you forget something?¡± ¡°Hey again, Tang! I did actually forget to ask you guys something this morning, but my new friend Reff here asked if I could show him the way so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone.¡± This idiom seemed to have a local equivalent, as neither of the other two in the room with me looked confused. ¡°Reff, this is Tang ¨C Master Ro¡¯s apprentice. Tang, this is Reff ¨C he''s on some sort of diplomatic mission.¡± The two bowed to each other ¡°Reff, you are part of the delegation from the Blacksand Citadel?¡± I looked at Tang sharply, wondering for a moment how he knew so much, but I decided it made sense, given Ro¡¯s position as ¨C supposedly ¨C the most skilled alchemist in the world. ¡°In humility, yes, Honoured Apprentice Tang. My brother - Raaf Stonebinder, Apex of The Mountain¡¯s Seed has requested I come here to beg the assistance of Honoured Master Alchemist Ben Won Ro in curing an ailment that assaults our people.¡± Reff bowed once again, his head dipping below his knees as I stood staring at the apparent brother of an Apex. ¡°Reff, you should have mentioned why you were visiting ¨C I wouldn''t have stopped at the tailor!¡± I felt terrible- there I was wasting Reff¡¯s time buying clothes while his people were suffering. For his part, Tang spent a moment blinking rapidly before vanishing through the door once more and then returning on the heels of the master alchemist himself. ¡°Child, you did not mention you knew another Apex!¡± Ro scolded me before turning back to my new companion. ¡°Honoured delegate, please explain your need.¡± I was about to explain that I did not know Reff¡¯s brother, but I thought it more important that he explain the situation. Even under the influence of my new body, I still retained some tact, it seemed. ¡°With deep gratitude, a year ago one of our warriors was injured while pursuing an assassin. Within the normal scope of events, she would have been healed, however in this instance she was afflicted with a virulent poison. This poison seems to possess a life of its own, and any attempt to eradicate it merely burns the victim in a flash of fire, leaving the poison unaffected. Worse than this, it spreads on the wind. We have sought to isolate those affected, but still it spreads.¡± Reff¡¯s voice ¨C which until now had been so calm ¨C was rough with feeling, and I could sense the pain he must be feeling for the first time. ¡°Shit, Reff, that¡¯s horrible.¡± ¡°You say it lives? And attempts to destroy it results in fire? I have never heard of such a poison; I will need to see it. We require time to prepare; we will come as soon as possible? Tomorrow?¡± ¡°In great debt, the Stonebinder clan offers lasting thanks. You will be compensated greatly for your kindness - regardless of success - Honoured Master Alchemist.¡± ¡°Hunter, please inform Walker that his personal request will be delayed.¡± I nodded, unaware of which request he was referring to, but I did not need to know to pass along the message. ¡°With curiosity, Walker? You know the Apex of the Infinite Blades, Hunter?¡± ¡°I do, he¡¯s sort of my mentor. Do you need to get back to somewhere, let them know Master Ro will be assisting? If not, I could introduce you to Walker, as well?¡± ¡°With anxious gratitude, we will not set out for the blacksands until the Honoured Master Alchemist is ready. I would like to meet another Apex, if it is acceptable?¡± ¡°Sure, anything I can do.¡± Ro and Reff spoke for a moment then, arranging a place to meet and a time of departure for the following day, and then I set out for the Steel Splinter for the second time that day, colossal friend in tow. In just over an hour, the two of us arrived back at the arena. As the doors came into sight, I saw a line of students leaving ¨C I knew it was early for them, and I thought that maybe Walker had grown tired of them, but as we drew closer, I noticed a look of worry on some of the passing faces. Making my way inside hurriedly, a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, I spotted my mentor stood just to the side and the two of us made our way over. ¡°Walker, what¡¯s happening? People seem really worried? ¡°Hunter, I am glad you are back, I had begun to worry.¡± ¡°About me? Why?¡± My brow bunched up and I wondered what had happened since I left a few hours before. ¡°You recall Aella was pursuing the bounty set upon the group that abducted you?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± My heart was racing and a gnawing worry was eating away at my calm. ¡°It seems she found them. Aella returned 10 minutes ago, injured. I would seem she has been poisoned.¡± Borrowed Time Walker and made our way inside to Aella¡¯s apartment, Reff following close on our heels. My combat instructor lay above the sheets on her bed, her skin pallid and damp in the late afternoon air. She was wearing a sky-blue kimono and yellow pants stained red with blood. The cut in the fabric was small, and there was not a lot of blood, but the red stood out sharply. My mentor had explained that Aella had staggered into the arena only a few minutes before I showed up and that he had not had chance to take a look at the wound. ¡°Hunter, the bastards that kidnapped you have some nasty toys.¡± Her sing-song voice was tight with pain, but she still managed a grin. ¡°This was them?¡± The anger in my voice surprised me ¨C I had only known my teacher for a little over a week, but the thought of the same people who had tortured me hurting one of my only friends had my hands twitching with the need for violence. ¡°I was asking around about them when some turtle slime eating bastard popped out of nowhere and stabbed me. I think it¡¯s safe to assume.¡± That sounded familiar ¨C Gluey McHandface had popped out of nowhere back at Ro¡¯s place. ¡°That sounds like the guy I glued to himself before they took me. He was invisible or something. That¡¯s... not common, is it? Like, something everyone can do?¡± ¡°Invisibility is not a common ability. Their appearance in these circumstances belies mere coincidence.¡± Walker too had more than a little heat in his voice, and I almost felt sorry for whoever he got his hands on. Leaning in, my dark mentor tore Aella¡¯s pant leg away from the rip downwards, revealing an extremely appealing leg marred by a red and black circle of flesh, radiating from a small puncture on her thigh. Aella growled at the sudden jostle, before looking down and seeing her damaged pants. ¡°Walker! Those were my favourite pants, damnit.¡± ¡°Please forgive me, Aella. It was easier than traditional removal.¡± Aella opened her mouth to say something more when a sharp intake of breath drew our attention behind me, and I turned to find Reff staring at my teacher¡¯s leg in shock. ¡°In profound confusion, this is the malady afflicting my people, Hunter. How is this possible?¡± I blinked at him for a moment, before turning back to Aella. ¡°This is the poison you spoke to Ro about? Didn¡¯t you say an assassin started it all? Maybe all this is related?¡± Walker was still looking at Reff, one eyebrow raised above his blindfold. ¡°I am sorry, introductions were forgotten in the rush. I am Walker, and you are...?¡± ¡°Sorry, this is-¡± ¡°Gravely, I am Reff Stonebinder, brother to Raaf Stonebinder, Apex of The Mountain¡¯s Seed and ruler of the Blacksand Citadel. It is an honour to meet you, Apex of the Infinite Blades.¡± Reff once again bowed deeply, though concern and confusion were still written clearly upon his face. ¡°Hunter is fortunate indeed. You say this same poison has been used upon your people, in the Blacksands?¡± ¡°In affirmation, that is correct, Apex. My brother sent me here to obtain the help of Honoured Master Alchemist Ben Won Ro, as all of our efforts at a cure have been ineffective. We are to set out to my home in the morning.¡± Nodding, Walker moved over to the open window, a whisper of his power leaking out like physical slap. ¡°Stay here, allow no entry. I will fetch Ro.¡± There was a sound like a cannon being shot followed by thunder and Walker simply vanished. ¡°With reflexive fear, I hate it when they do that.¡± ¡°That? Vanishing?¡± ¡°In contradiction, no ¨C that is merely the result of speed. I refer to the aura Apex¡¯s exude.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an Apex thing? I thought he was just crazy dangerous.¡± ¡°In agreement, he is as you say, ¡®crazy dangerous¡¯, but the aura which serves as warning is the result of whatever creates an Apex.¡± ¡°So your brother didn¡¯t tell you how to be an Apex, huh?¡± ¡°With frustration, he said it could not be explained, only accomplished.¡± ¡°I guess the science of it all breaks down by then...¡± ¡°Hunter, shut up and bring me some water. You, baihu, Reff is it? You said this is affecting your people ¨C what should I expect?¡± I flinched, feeling guilty at forgetting my teacher was still awake and filled a glass with water for her. ¡°In reluctant confession, the mark will spread along your skin, eating deeper and deeper as it goes, burning flesh to ash. Should you survive beyond the day, the poison will spread upon the wind infecting all those around you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing serious, then?¡± Aella tried to laugh but winced and gritted her teeth before continuing ¡°Why if I survive?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°In continuation, the poison works faster the weaker the carrier is. Those too weak will die before the malady may spread. It offers continued hope of a cure while driving home despair with its spread.¡± ¡°It sounds like something those assholes would cook up, based on my limited experience.¡± I passed Aella her water and watches as she gulped it down. ¡°What happened to the man that stabbed you?¡± ¡°I reacted badly to being stabbed...¡± ¡°You-¡± ¡°He¡¯s mostly mush now.¡± I felt a little sick ¨C I could imagine why she was called the Falling Star, but it was not a pleasant image. ¡°... He probably wouldn¡¯t have talked anyway.¡± ¡°In agreement, the assassin who originated this affliction within my home severed their own arm to escape. I have doubt they would have talked.¡± ¡°Oh, shit, I have a bunch of bottles and stuff I took off them! I can¡¯t believe I forgot to ask Ro about them again! What if the poison is one of them?¡± I had intended to ask Ro about them, but it had completely slipped my mind for the second time that day. ¡°In conciliation, this is not a common poison, Hunter. I have doubt it would be carried by many.¡± ¡°I hope I do have it, though I would have regretted it if you and Ro had left before I realised. But if I have it, won¡¯t it be easier to find a cure?¡± ¡°Hunter, if you save my life, I promise to stop training you wrong, as a joke.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± I stared at my teacher with mouth open, my tripping over itself as I thought back to our practices, but it lasted only a moment before Aella¡¯s wide grin tipped me off that she was joking. ¡°Ha ha, Teacher. You¡¯re hilarious.¡± At that moment, I heard footsteps moving up the stairs ¨C with a glance at Reff, I hurried over to stand next to the door. If I could grab somebody, I was confident I could pump enough electricity through them to put them ¨C and myself ¨C down. Reff stood between the door and Aella¡¯s bed, his stance wide and a large rock appearing in each hand. A figure in white stepped through the door and I grabbed towards them as quickly as I could, my hand just brushing the fabric of their robe before I flipped and over end, landing hard on my back on the polished wooden floor. ¡°Child! You have improved since we first met, but you are many years too young for that fight! Ha!¡± Of course, the figure in white was Ben Won Ro. The master alchemist stepped past my prone body, followed closely by Tang, who at least moved to help me to my feet. Finally, Walker ¨C bringing up the rear ¨C entered the room. On my feet again, I straightened my clothing and turned to my mentor. ¡°Walker, how did you get there and back so fast?¡± ¡°Swords.¡± My dark mentor was as chatty as ever, it seemed. ¡°Master Ro, I forgot to ask you earlier... and earlier... I took some alchemical items from the kidnappers, could any of them be the poison?¡± Ro was already standing by Aella, offering brief greetings while examining the discoloured wound. ¡°Perhaps! Bring them.¡± I removed the bottles, vials and bags and passed them over to Ro. A white flam with flares across the spectrum sprang up around the items I had handed over, lifting them from his hands to hover within the flame¡¯s embrace. ¡°Hmm. There are poisons, certainly, though nothing interesting. Basic healing pills, a few mist screens. Nothing useful, I¡¯m afraid.¡± My heart ached as Ro placed the items on the floor. I had really hoped the situation would resolve itself that easily, but I supposed even being Lucky had its limits. Turning his attention back to Aella, the prismatic flame sprang up once again above Ro¡¯s palms. Placing his hands above the wound, so that it was completely covered in fire, the master alchemist closed his eyes. Despite the flames, Aella made no sound ¨C there was no sizzle of flesh or sickly sweet smell ¨C indeed, there did not seem to be any heat at all. ¡°Walker,¡± I whispered, ¡°What¡¯s with the fire?¡± ¡°The Honoured Master Alchemist is utilising the Spiritual Flame. It is the signature Focus of the Alchemist Association.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°It is used for many things ¨C it allows the user to sense and alter the properties of that it contains. To a limited extend, depending on the cultivator.¡± ¡°Like some sort of multi-tool. Cool.¡± ¡°Indeed, it can be cool, or hot as needed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I ¨C never mind. I think you and Reff will get along.¡± We fell back into silence as the moments stretched into minutes as Ro moved his hands almost imperceptibly, the colours flickering almost too fast to see. Eventually, the flames faded and Ro sat leaned back. ¡°It would seem these reckless idiots have found another use for their captive phoenix.¡± ¡°Urgently, you know the cause? Can it be cured, Honoured Master Alchemist?¡± Reff¡¯s voice loud and low, like a distant earthquake, but it held hope. ¡°The properties of the phoenix have been incorporated directly with a virulent bacterium. It is not a poison, as such, but rather a disease introduced via infection. Any attempt at removal will merely increase the speed at which it spreads. I can slow it, but a cure will be difficult. The phoenix essence draws Experience directly from the body of the patient, fuelling the bacteria¡¯s rebirth. To eradicate it, we must drain the body of all energy.¡± ¡°Okay, so can we do that?¡± ¡°Doing so would kill her, Hunter.¡± I could hear anger in Walker¡¯s voice, and I was right there with him. ¡°What about those Spiritual Weights they used on me? Would that stop the phoenix whatever working?¡± ¡°No, child. If it did you would have died, as you were exposed to both.¡± The alchemist was right, of course. When I had been injected with the stuff I had been in a room with 4 of the things and the elixir had still worked. ¡°So what do we do?¡± ¡°I can create a cure, though it will take me weeks longer than Aella has. If we can obtain the original egg, and bring it to her, it is possible it will retake its lost essence. If that works, we can take the egg to the Blacksands to do the same, before releasing it.¡± ¡°Master Ro ¨C how long do I have?¡± ¡°It is only an estimate, but at your strength you should last a week, maybe a little more.¡± There was silence in the room as we all took that in, being broken a short time later by Reff. ¡°With sorrow, this matches with our own observations ¨C the longest any so infected have survived is 6 weeks. They suffered greatly.¡± ¡°We will simply track this group down take the egg. They will regret bringing themselves to my attention.¡± For a split second, the full might of Walker¡¯s aura flared out, and it felt like it had on that first day. My body shook and shrank away from him, every instinct in me screaming for me to run, to bow to beg for mercy. None of us went unaffected, and I even heard distant wailing telling me it could be felt further than the confines of the Steel Splinter. ¡°Enough, Walker! I appreciate the sentiment but making us all mess ourselves is not helpful! You¡¯ll need to speak to my contact, his name is Quhei. Ask for him at the Thrice Frost.¡± The feeling cut off as suddenly as it had come and I heard each of us take in a steadying breath ¡°Tang and I will attempt to slow the spread. Go, find the egg.¡± ¡°With determination, I shall join you. If these people hold the key to my people¡¯s salvation, then we shall trade it for regret. I have hope they drown in it.¡± I felt a vicious grin of my own stretching across my face, and something hot and dark wormed its way through me. I was going to get some payback and save people; the dopamine was already flowing like wine. ¡°Let¡¯s get a move on, the sooner the better and besides... I¡¯m all out of bubblegum.¡± Five voices spoke out all at once, filled with confusion: ¡°What?¡± Spoilin for a Fight ¡°In confusion, this musician ¨C the Piper ¨C possessed magical glasses which allowed him ¨C and both Keith and David ¨C to perceive the demons? And they chewed this, ¡®bubbled gum¡¯?¡± I had been trying ¨C and mostly failing - to explain my reference for 10 minutes now, as I struggled to keep up with my giant companions. The explanation had been tough without modern references. ¡°That¡¯s right. Basically.¡± Reff sniffed and spoke, his voice as brisk as I had ever heard it. ¡°Assuredly, demons are not real.¡± I shrugged - glad to be done explaining - as we hurried through the quickly gathering gloom, the streets more sparsely populated than I had yet seen since my arrival. We were heading to the Thrice Frost, which was apparently some sort of tavern. It seemed to be deeper into the city, though not a great deal. The bulk of our journey so far had been parallel to the wall, and it was interesting to see the buildings change. Whereas there had been a clear increase in the quality of the dwellings when venturing to Ro¡¯s place, on this trip the buildings stayed largely the same in structure, but the paint and lacquer decorating them changed dramatically. They began to sport colourful, stylised animals in different positions, and when I asked, Walker informed me that the areas we were passing through housed many of the city¡¯s smaller sects, including what sounded like strictly criminal gangs from the descriptions he gave. We reached the Thrice Frost as the golden glow of the sunset vanished from above the buildings, leaving the sky clear and dark, the light dotted towers a little breath-takingagainst the evening sky. Boisterous laughter mingled with lively music could be heard before the tavern came into sight, and I had a momentary sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as our destination was revealed ¨C I had not been there before, obviously, but it seemed people having fun sounded similar everywhere. The Thrice Frost stood three stories tall with a ringed balcony running what seemed to be the circumference of each. The whole building was painted in whites and blues and people stood around the visible doors, jugs and flagons held at the ready and they roared happily over some joke. The three of us must have seemed dour indeed as we approached the tavern, lead as we were by Walker, who at the best of times looked vaguely irritated but at that moment looked like he wanted to eat somebody. As we walked past them, those still sober enough to be aware stopped laughing, perhaps sensing the mood of our little troop. The inside was crowded with tables, each occupied by drinks and food and surrounded by laughing men and women of all sizes and shapes. Only the centre stood un-cluttered, though a few people seemed to be dancing some sort of group jig there. Balconies, like on the outside, created a vertical space all through the middle of the building, and I could see people leaning on the rails. Every now and again, a drip of some indefinite liquid would fall to the bottom floor and I wondered how often fights broke out in this place. The music was coming from a group of tables to one side, who rather than being an official band, just seemed to be patrons who liked to play. ¡°We will split up to search for Quhei. I will take this floor, Reff, the middle please. Hunter, I leave the top floor to you.¡± Without another word, the three of us split up and Reff and I went looking for the stairs ¨C I at least hoped there were stairs and people did not get up there by flying or jumping. As it turned out, there were indeed stairs squirrelled away at the back of the building behind a huge painting of some icy battlefield. As I ascended past the second floor, Reff peeled off and I received a few raised eyebrows, more than one person watching my go up the second set of stairs until I was out of sight. The top floor ¨C my floor ¨C was significantly quieter than the bottom one had been, with each person there dressed in an eerily similar fashion. As I stepped completely off the stairs, even what little noise there was died away, leaving only that which was echoing up from below. Dozens of men and women in black robes and a blue-green headband turned to look at me at once, and I began to think that the people on the top floor might just know each other. A woman with a bright red pixie-cut who could not have stood more than 5 feet stood and walked towards me, signalling the other to stay seated with a firm wave of her hand. ¡°You have the wrong floor, friend.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to disagree, but I¡¯m here on purpose ¨C regretfully. I¡¯m looking for-¡± ¡°I do not care why you have the wrong floor, only that you do. Leave.¡± ¡°Look, I¡¯ll only take a second of your time-¡± I did not get chance to finish ¨C mid-sentence my Danger Sense flared. Rather than trying to dodge, figuring that this person was likely still too fast for me to succeed, I instead drove my Praxis out through my focus, just managing it in the time it took her to drive her heel into my stomach. I only held the lightning in place for a split second, enough to hopefully discourage a second blow but not long enough for it to escape my control. I did not however account for Newton¡¯s third law of motion ¨C as the lightning flared around me, painting the dim upper floor in blue-white light, the diminutive woman¡¯s foot impacted and with a surge the power flared between us and along with the force of the blow, blasted me backwards. Smashing through the wooden railing above the stairs and continuing through a table hurt a lot, but at least I had not electrocuted myself that time. I was however, severely winded. Trying to force my paralysed diaphragm to cooperate, and pushed myself to my feet, knowing I would breathe again before it became an issue, but not accounting for the people whose table ¨C and drinks ¨C I had just destroyed. As I stood again, my Danger Sense yelled once again and I half-stepped to the side, a fist just missing my jaw. I pushed the fist away and lashed out with a weak left jab to the attacker¡¯s own jaw. I could not have hurt too much, as off balance as I was, but it gave me a moment to disengage and step back. ¡°Hey, guys, come-on, I just want to know-¡± I dove into a roll as a foot ruffled my beard, warned again by my ability. The kicker was of course the other occupant of the table, and I glanced around as I realised, I was now surrounded on all sides by people who did not seem to have my best interests at heart. I considered jumping the railing for a moment, but I had no idea how durable I actually was. Dismissing the idea, I finally sucked in a breath and tried for diplomacy once more. ¡°I¡¯m looking for-¡± A clay gourd-looking jug spun past my face and I heard a curse as it missed, not even forcing me to dodge. I realised then that I could either make a run for it and hopefully come back with Reff and Walker, or I could try and fight it out, hopefully convince them it was too much trouble to keep shutting me up. I decided to let opportunity guide me, and at least try for both. Decision made, I went on the offensive; picking up a fallen chair, I flipped it at the nearest figure in black and followed up by stepping in as he smashed it from the air, my foot impacting his knee. Crumpling as his knee lurched to the side, the man¡¯s head came into range of my knee, which I conveniently drove into his ear. The un-named man fell to the floor, blood trickling from the ear, though he did not seem to be unconscious. His companion ¨C the first man who had tried to punch me ¨C was now trying to kick me in the same way the small woman had, though he was far slower. Not being so far outclassed in speed, and seeing him coming, I stepped into and round the kick, caught it with on hand and punched him as hard as I could in the nose, a jolt of electricity adding a little oompf to the blow. With a cry of pain, he tried to pull away but only fell since I was still holding his leg. I let it go and glanced behind me to find the man I had only just put down on his hands and knees, about to climb to his feet. Turning, I grabbed the back of his robe and hefted him into the air before throwing the flailing man at the freshly reacting crowd of anonymous goons.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Even with superior strength, speed and super powers, it seemed like mass and inertia were still pretty important, as improvised projectile knocked some of the frontrunners off their feet. I made a break for the stairs but I did not even get close before my Danger Sense flared and a massive transparent dog made of blue-green energy smashed into me, knocking me clear off my feet and several meters through the air before landing atop me, a silent snarl twisting its face. Within seconds, a dozen hands gripped me and the dog dissipated into glowing mist. While I was still on the ground, however, I once more reached through my focus, pumping lighting into those latched onto me. While many people in this world were still faster than I was, it turned out lightning could fuck most people up, which mean one thing: Getting grabbed was good for business. As one, me and everyone touching me stiffened as I lost control of the flows within me and the streams connected though my body. The shock lasted only for a second before I cut it off and returned to cycling the dribble of raw Praxis through my body as I lurched to my feet, twitching in the cloud of ozone I had created. I dropped into an unsteady stance as the people who had grabbed me started to drag themselves away. I stared around at the people who had me surrounded, though for the moment they seemed to be keeping their distance. Nobody wanted to be electrocuted but me, it seemed. The group parted, and the woman who had kicked me stepped forward, the dog forming at her side. ¡°You should have left.¡± ¡°I am just looking for-¡± The woman and the dog came at me simultaneously, hampered slightly by the still prone figures of the people I had shocked. Reluctantly, I Focused once more and the world slowed slightly as it lit blue-white once more, tongues of power licking out around me. The energy dog seemed to be moving a little faster than my human opponent, so I dodged right, keeping it between us, as I stepped in and dropped, punching down into the blue-green snout of the construct, feeling a little bad to be punching a dog, but I figured it was not real. I hoped. The power flared between us and the edges of the hound blurred as I cut off the energy once more before it could backfire. A foot flew for my face, over the animals back and I lurched away from it, rolling to the side and back to my feet and kicking part of a table their way. The dog came for me again, its form solid once more. Waiting until the last possible moment, I stepped to the side, grabbing it by two legs and spun before casting it out over the edge of the balcony. I turned back to the woman, glad to have taken an opponent out of the fight. That gladness did not last long however, as the damn dog pulled together out of streams of light next to her once more. She wore a smirk on her face as the two split up, circling me in opposite directions and I cursed softly. Both the shorty and the doge were stronger and faster than me ¨C I had only been able to do anything so far due to my Danger Sense. I had to take them both out, somehow, if I was going to get away without a serious beating ¨C or death. I dashed at the woman, her smile widening and I hoped I could reach her before her mutt bit my back. As I drew close, the human woman lashed out at me with a blindingly fast jab ¨C warned ahead of time by Danger Sense, I lifted an arm to block, managing to deflect the blow slightly, but the bones of my forearms shattered anyway. I gritted my teeth against the pain and kept up my momentum, latching on to her with my free arm as I felt her other arm thud into my ribs, breaking them with a painful snap. I grinned viciously and I saw her eyes open wide. I pushed every last shred of Praxis in my body through my Focus, losing control immediately but I maintained my concentration. Ropes of energy as thick as my leg lashed about me as the air screamed and I saw some of the other men around us caught in spasmic throes of their own as they were caught by those roving bolts. I fell to the floor a lot the woman, my Praxis completely spent in just a couple of moments. The two of us lay unmoving other than the occasional aftershock, but I heard a pair of heavy boots approaching us from behind. ¡°Hunter, if you are done doing... whatever it is you are doing with this woman... we have located Quhei.¡± ¡°... Yay...¡± * *** * I limped alongside Walker, my arm and ribs still tender, even after swallowing the healing pill I had been given. I had spent half an hour refining Praxis ¨C enough to help with the healing. The culmination of it all meant none of my bones were broken any more, but they still hurt a lot. The situation upstairs had been quickly resolved by Walker casually slapping a number of the gang unconscious, though they had been somewhat more civil once he had explained who he was. I did not receive an apology. As it turned out, the fourth person Walker had spoken to had known Quhei¡¯s location, making all of my actions irrelevant. I decided to look on the bright side, however ¨C it was, after all, an Experience. Going over the fight in my head, I took comfort in the fact that I had managed to use my Focus - in an actual fight ¨C long enough to make use of the physical enhancing elements I had first imagined without being shocked off my feet, which I counted a win. I also counted my actual wins as win ¨C I had no idea what the cultivation levels of the people I had defeated had been, but I did know they were adults which was pretty much a first for me, outside of the use of Spiritual Weights. The three of us were making our way to what was supposed to be Quhei¡¯s home ¨C it was a little west of the Thrice Frost and somewhat further into gang ¨C or sect ¨C territory. We had started to receive a few dirty looks, but so far nobody had made any moves ¨C I was not concerned, I knew that even Walker on his own would make short work of anybody that made aggressive moves. We came to a stop outside of a house painted in yellow and green, a huge lizard painted rampant above the door. We three crowded around the door and Reff leaned in to bang heavily against the bright door with one massive fist. A few moments passed before the door was opened a crack, a huge eye with a star-shaped iris flicked between us before resting on Walker, the star expanding into a huge circle. ¡°Who you? Why Pinnacle here?¡± ¡°You are Quhei?¡± ¡°Me Quhei, who you?!¡± ¡°I am Walker, these are Reff and Hunter. You spoke earlier today to a friend of ours, Aella?¡± ¡°You friend Pinkeye? Why Pinkeye not come Pinkeye-self again?¡± ¡°Aella was hurt following a lead you gave her. We are looking for those who hurt her.¡± ¡°Uppity Chair bobo hidjas hurt Pinkeye?!¡± ¡°... I believe so.¡± ¡°Bobo hidjas?¡± I knew the term, somehow. It was not polite. ¡°Yes! Bobo hidjas.¡± The door opened slightly further and the figure inside spit heavily on the floor, narrowly missing out feet. ¡°The animal fuckers, they¡¯re called the Uppity Chairs?¡± I found myself speaking another language, it was a confusing feeling ¨C since I arrived, I had been speaking a single language that seemed to be shared between everybody, but it seemed whatever language packet Xiournal has given me was more extensive than that. ¡°You speak the true language? You are clearly a scholar of great merit amongst your people. I have met no others amidst you barbarians.¡± ¡°Hunter, you speak this person¡¯s language?¡± ¡°It... looks like It?¡± ¡°With admiration, I had no idea you were so educated, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, me either.¡± ¡°How did you come to know the true language? I am not of this world, are you perhaps from the Plenty?¡± ¡°No, I am from here, approximately. We can perhaps discuss this later; we really are simply seeking the Uppity Chairs you spoke of.¡± ¡°Uppity Chairs... Oh, I see. My grasp of your poor language is not complete. They are called the Risen Throne. My place within your... society... is to find lodgings for those who walk in shadows. Though I find it distasteful to assist demon worshipers, my place it remains. You may find them...¡± The door opened fully and I saw the person on the other side clearly for the first time. Standing just over three feet tall, they seemed to be at least partly lizard with huge eyes and a series of yellow-silver scales scattered about their skin in patches. Quhei stepped away from the door for a moment before returning with a slip of paper, with an addresswritten on it in beautiful flowing script. ¡°Here, they are at this location. Perhaps you will return? I have missed speaking with civility. She of the Pink Eyes is good company, for a barbarian, but...¡± ¡°That sounds... fine. I do not know when I will be free, but I will come back when I can.¡± ¡°Excellent. And now, I will finish eating.¡± The door slammed shut suddenly, leaving Reff looking at me strangely, and even Walker had both eyebrows raised. ¡°That was really weird. He gave me an address we can check.¡± I handed the paper over to Walker who accepted it, without looking of course. ¡°Let us go, then.¡± If You Want Blood (You Got It.). High overhead, a colossal moon hung above the planet, easily ten times larger than the moon I was used to. I had not had a great deal of time to look at it since my arrival ¨C since I was delivered, I had either been unconscious, inside or looking out of a window pointed mostly down. It was strange ¨C the moon I was used to had been silver-white, a barren, tidally locked rock. But this moon ¨C was green and blue and gold ¨C it looked a lot like a planet. I shook my head, mentally scolding myself for getting distracted ¨C it was difficult to refine Experience while I was walking, but it was something I would need to get used to. Sitting still might be great for refining, but it was terrible for cultivation, after the Focus stage at least. Dropping into my centre, I once more began to generate Praxis, the liquid, plasma hot joy rolling through me in pulses and forcing a grin onto my face. I watched as the Praxis flowed out of my centre, around my body and back into my centre once more, before it cycled back out again, accelerating my healing and strengthening my body. The golden ocean of Experience was notably lower than it had been earlier that day, and I knew I would have to cultivate as much Experience as I could in the coming days. In order to complete the Core stage, I needed to fill my centre completely with Praxis, which I obviously could not do if I kept spending it recklessly. It took the three of us hours to reach the destination indicated on the piece of paper Quhei had given us ¨C it was close to the centre of the city, each dwelling a vast mansion with extensive gardens. It was a sharp contrast to cities back on Earth, where the closer to the centre of a city you were, the less room was available. The house we were looking for was a little different to those around it ¨C while they had walls, they were mostly decorative, the grounds clearly visible beyond. This mansion had walls reaching 30 feet, with a vast double door bound in a viridian metal I did not recognise. ¡°Do we... knock?¡± I was not sure of what protocols or local customs may be involved in assaulting a mansion, so thought it better to ask than to simply run at the door roaring. ¡°We do not.¡± Walker did not stop and I followed after, nervous energy filling me with fear and excitement and roughly equal measure. For his part, Reff was silent, though I did notice the rocks he had been holding earlier were back in his huge hands. As we approached the doors, blades of every shape and size spun into existence around us and that vast terrifying aura once again rolled outwards causing me to miss a step. Firming my resolve with the knowledge that none of that danger was pointed my way, I continued to follow the giant pair. I expected the blades to strike at the door, but instead Walker simply... walked into it. The door may as well not have existed for all it slowed my dark mentor¡¯s stride. The wood splintered and tore and the green metal bands were simply wrenched apart as the two sides of the door exploded away from him, dragged away from the supporting walls with the sound of cracking stone. Beyond the gates, people in black were climbing to their feet, weapons appearing in hands as they ran to meet us. They did not get far. A dozen blades separated from the roiling mass above us and flickered from view with a series of sonic booms. Those running towards us were flung aside as the blades speared them, pinning them to the grass before cutting themselves free, bisecting each of our first opponents. Arrows ¨C of both more traditional materials and various energy forms ¨C flew at us from the windows of the dwellings, another series of cracks marking their passage as they flew at us faster than bullets. More blades flashed, cutting the arrows from the air with seeming effortlessness. ¡°There is no egg within the mansion, though there is a structure below. Come.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was frigid, though I knew him well enough by then to know just how angry he was. By the time we reached to door to the mansion, the rain of arrows had ceased and we had faced no additional opposition. These doors fared no better than the first, bursting apart like rotten fruit shot from a cannon. The entry hall of the mansion was vast, with a vaulted ceiling high above and a floor of polished pink marble ¨C it was also empty. ¡°The stairs are this way ¨C be wary, something is limiting my senses down there.¡± Walker strode away from the broken remnants of the door, and I noticed that Reff hands were now covered in roiling lava, glowing bright orange in the dim light of the entrance. I could feel the heat radiating from where he stood and I left an extra foot or two between us when he followed my mentor. Following behind Reff, I worried that something existed that could limit Walker, one of the strongest people in the world. I hoped that whatever it turned out to be, it would not squish me. The house was quiet now, our steps echoing eerily in the stillness. No arrows flew from above and nobody ran in from the wings to try and bar our passage. I thought that perhaps the group ¨C the Risen Throne - had grown some sense and made a run for it in the face of an angry Apex, but my experiences so far seemed to indicate that bravado usually ran roughshod over wisdom. Walker, still surrounded by spinning death, led us to a doorway to the rear of the hall and stepped through and down without hesitation, the blades streaming in before him as he descended the wooden steps two or three at a time with his long stride. Reff went next, the light from his molten hands illuminating the passage down and the heat blackening the wood of the banister, despite not touching it. Last came me, of course, holding the rear and feeling slightly out of place as I awkwardly rubbed my still sore arm and ribs. I was pretty sure that I looked cool as hell when my Focus was active, but I could not just run around like that ¨C not only were my Praxis reserves on the slim side, but I stood a solid chance of taking myself out of the fight that way. Compared to my companions¡¯ effortlessly showy Foci, I definitely felt more like the odd one out than ever. We reached the bottom of the stairs and spread out a little in the bi-directional hallway at the bottom. Doors and passageways were scattered along the hallway¡¯s length, much like the one I had found myself after my first encounter with this group, though it seemed to be on a larger scale. ¡°Whatever is limiting my senses is too strong to be mere Spiritual Weights. I will go this way, you two go the other. Take this,¡± Walker manifested a dagger and handed it to me, ¡°my senses may be limited down here, but I will always know where this is. Attempt to break it if you encounter something you cannot overcome.¡± I nodded and looked at Reff. ¡°With enforced calm, let us eschew the bubbling of gum, Hunter. I will proceed ahead ¨C my Path can be quite destructive.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Without another word, my mentor strode along the corridor away from us, blades darting in and out of rooms, usually ignoring the doors. Reff and I walked our own path, the giant in the lead, though I did have to open doors for him ¨C as it turns out, his hands instantly melted most handles. We found a few prisoners in rooms bound by Spiritual Weights ¨C we opted to leave them where we found them for the moment, not knowing if they were acting in order to make their escape. Those doors Reff melted to prevent escape, knowing Walker could break the doors later. Coming to our first intersection, Reff stood back, guarding the main root of the hall while I checked down the branch''s length. It was mostly storage, though I did find a locked door near the other end, where another long hall ran parallel to the one we had come down. I tried to kick the door open, bound as it was in the same green metal that had protected the gates above, but even with all the effort and strength I could muster, it did not budge. I waved for Reff to come give it a try, and he started towards me. After a single step, the world shook ¨C or at least it felt that way ¨C and with a loud crack and a wave of dust and dirt, the tunnel I was in collapsed. * *** * Coughing, I pulled edge of my sleeveless robe over my face, waving futilely at the air. It took a minute or so for the floating particles to settle enough for me to be able to see ¨C the tunnel was completely blocked by rubble and dirt, starting a few feet from me and, if my memory was accurate, stretching all the way back to where Reff had stood. There was no way I was digging it out any time soon, even with my enhanced strength, there had to be hundreds of tons of dirt and other assorted crap pressing down on the stuff blocking my way. ¡°I am so fucked.¡± Fear was starting to crawl its insidious way through me, but rather than fight it, I opened myself up to it, embraced it ¨C Experienced it. In that embrace, I started my fear full in the face, looked into its core and dismissed it, even as I drained it dry of to power my cultivation. ¡°Fucked or not, the only path is forward.¡± I slapped my cheeks and bounced about on the balls of my feet, psyching myself up as I moved into the still open adjacent corridor. Looking both ways, I guessed that the direction leading back the way Reff and I had come would connect back up with Walker¡¯s tunnel, and for a moment I was tempted to go that way ¨C but I had a job to do. I had to move forward. Squaring my shoulders, I stepped in the direction Reff and I had been heading and up to the first door ¨C the door was open and filled with a figure in black hurtling towards me. Warned just in time by my unique ability, I stepped back, avoiding the figure as it lunged out past me. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I stopped back in behind the figure, twisting my hips, rotated my heel and drove a punch as hard as I could into the back of their head. The figure in black physically lifted off the ground and flew across the short distance of the tunnel, their head impacting the wall opposite with a sickening crunch. I waited a moment in case the figure got back to their feet ¨C I did not think they would but I had seen more fantastic things since my arrival. Several seconds went by, the now prone figure failing to rise. I frisked them ¨C him ¨C and took their ring and pendant. Waste not want not. Checking inside the room, I saw what looked like an armoury, filled with weapons of the same silvery metal as the swords in my own rings. I took a moment to grab a couple of different weapons, a mace, an axe and a long, weighted chain. I wanted to take a spear, but there was no way it was going to fit inside my rings, and I did not want to carry it around with me, since I had no idea how to use one. Moving along the corridor once more, I checked each door I found, they were mostly bedrooms ¨C relatively small, utilitarian spaces ¨C with the odd personal knickknack. I did not bother checking them ¨C there would be time for loot later. I reached the end of the tunnel after 5 or 10 minutes, having found no other branches or any room which looked like it might be a laboratory or vault. The end was marked by a single door, which proved to be unlocked as I turned the handle. On the other side, I found my lab, though it lay in ruins. In the centre, Reff was fighting almost faster than I could see against the green cat-guy that had tortured me, the bodies of other black clad Risen Throne members scatted about the room, burned and blasted. At the other end of the lab, stood a man in a pale grey suit of a style I was not familiar with. His face was masked in shadow, but in his hands was an egg. Golden and with flames of white running over its surface like liquid, this was clearly the phoenix egg we had come seeking. A wild, mad laughter filled the room, its source obviously the grey-clad man and I watched in shock as the world was eaten away behind him, revealing a dark mist shrouded forest. I pulled the dagger Walker had given me from a ring and drove the point into the doorframe, yanking hard. The wood splintered and the dagger came free in my hand ¨C slipping the slender blade into my belt, I hoped it would be enough. I dashed forward, avoiding the frantic fight between Reff and the werelion, hoping the shadowed man was just a deliveryman, but knowing deep down that I was chasing somebody vastly beyond my league. The laughter echoed hollowly around the room as I ran as fast as I could towards the figure in grey, and casually he stepped through that hole in creation. The frayed edges of reality began to solidify as I drew closer and I dived hoping to jostle the egg from his hands. I fell through the hole even as it snapped shut, my hand missing the man by a fraction of a millimetre as he shifted slightly to avoid my touch. In the dark of the forest I jumped to my feet, glancing back to there the door had stood mere moments earlier and regretting my actions somewhat. Turning back to the man, now lit only by the flames of the egg he still hand. ¡°Ugh, gimme the egg, please?¡± As demands went, it was a little lacking, I will admit. ¡°How curious. You should not have been able to cross, little Core. You¡¯re not a secret Apex, are you?¡± The voice was seemed to be edged with laughter, though it was paradoxically empty of emotion. The cold emptiness of it made me shiver when even the icy, curling mist of the forest could not. ¡°That¡¯s me. Apex of the Secret... Apex. So... gimme the egg?¡± The figure¡¯s face was still obscured, but I felt I saw a deepening of the black that suggested a smile to me. It was not comforting. ¡°Little World Walker, so brave in the face of annihilation. Would you like to me to eat you, little one? The burden of existence hangs so heavy, does it not?¡± That dead laughter washed out amidst the stygian trees before rolling back in like a hollow wave, crashing against me like blows. ¡°Ugh, no thank you... It¡¯s a... nice... offer, but just the egg would be great.¡± The still invisible head tilted to one side and I felt something press against me ¨C no, against my soul. I felt the Praxis first, and then the Experience within me vanishing and my eyes flared wide as I took a step back. Before the ocean within me vanished completely, the process stopped with a disgruntled sigh from the man in front of me. ¡°Not even enough for a snack. Maybe when you¡¯ve had time to mature... here, take it. You¡¯ll need the light.¡± The figure tossed the egg to me and I grabbed it with both hands, fumbling slightly, almost dropping it as I anticipated the burning pain. There was no pain, which surprised me, just a warmth which was more than pleasant in this frigid forest. ¡°Grow strong, little World Walker. You¡¯re my meal now ¨C that''s a lot to live up to.¡± The laughter once more filled the silence and the figure turned, casually walking off into the darkness. As I stood holding the phoenix egg, feeling as truly alone as I ever had in my life, the smoky grey class of Xiournal¡¯s tablet popped into view ahead of me, without any effort or intent on my part.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 4 days, 8 hours, 31 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
Assignment Received... Difficulty B+... Time Limit: Before Death
Return to the world I put you on, idiot.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Die.
¡°Fucking B Plus? What?!¡± Night of the Long Knives I stood alone in the creepy, pitch-black forest, the curling mist illuminated only by the egg I was holding in my hands, as I stared at the tablet hovering stationary in the air.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 4 days, 8 hours, 30 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
Assignment Received... Difficulty B+... Time Limit: Before Death
Return to the world I put you on, idiot.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Die.
My first ¨C still incomplete ¨C quest was rated as E Minus in difficulty, and I had almost died several times trying to accomplish it. My new, slightly more insulting quest was rated at B Plus. That was not good. There was also the fact that I was apparently on another world, rather than elsewhere on the world I had started on. I glanced around, staring into the depths of the forest, or at least as far as the light from the egg carried. The ground was covered in dead leaves and that was about it ¨C there did not seem to be any rocks or branches, and there was no undergrowth at all. The trees themselves seemed to be black, or as close to it that it made no difference in the dark. They were also huge. Every single example of the towering wooden behemoths I could make out in the gloom would put any redwood I had seen to shame. I moved over to one of the vast trunks, egg tucked under one arm and ran my hand across the bark. It was almost painfully cold to the touch, rough like sharkskin and scaled like a cherry black cherry tree. There was a strange stillness in the air, a quiet I found disturbing, though I could not place why exactly. I looked stared in the direction the figure in grey had gone, straining to hear a whisper of his hollow laughter, but everything was silent. Frowning, I placed the egg gently on the ground and clapped; the sound seemed muffled in the dim, absorbed somehow by the trees around me. I shivered against the rolling cold of the pervasive mist and looked at the phoenix egg ¨C the cure for so many people, including my own teacher. ¡°I... don¡¯t think I should be using you as a torch,¡± I informed the egg. I searched about for a moment, looking for something I could use for a torch before I remembered that I still had a bunch of clothes that did not fit my stored in a ring. First, I pulled out the silvery mace I had appropriated from the Risen Throne armoury ¨C it was about two feet long with a flanged head and would make a great base for a torch, with the added benefit that I could hit things with it. Next, I pulled out a shirt and tied it in a bunch around the head of the mace. Grinning at my improvised creation, I crouched and held the cloth of the shirt against the egg ¨C nothing happened. It was at that moment that I recalled that the flames had not burned me while I was holding it. ¡°Great job, Alex. Steller. Fucking idiot...¡± I thought about trying to light it using my Focus for a moment, but thought better of it when I considered the fact that it was made of metal. I could place it on the ground, but I did not want to set the whole place on fire ¨C the floor was an unbroken mat of tinder, after all. Sighing, I put the mace back into a ring, not wanting to get the cloth damp in the omnipresent fog. ¡°Come on, Alex ¨C think! I could rub wood together, if I had wood... I don¡¯t have any wood. I could chop some off a tree. But it would be green... I could use the leaves and some hair maybe as tinder, and light the torch that way.¡± I did not really want to damage a tree for no reason, seemed kind of like a dick move, but I was pretty desperate for light and I would really like to put the egg safely into storage. Shrugging in resignation, I pulled out the axe I had taken ¨C it was not a wood axe, but I thought it unlikely it would not get the job done. Tightening both of my hands about the grip, I took a wider stance and brought the axe back, and over, tightening my body as I pulled my hand down the shaft, the head aimed at the tree at a shallow angle. There was a clang that rang out dully in the forest, subdued even with the amount of force I had used. A shock of vibration stung my palms and my forearms hurt with the effort, but I had still failed to cut a large enough chunk from the colossal tree. I had, in fact, failed to cut the tree ¨C period. I stared hard at the point the axe had impacted, even bringing my face close to it ¨C there was no mark at all. Blinking, I looked at the axe in my hands, shocked to find the shaft bent just below the blade, causing the beard to jut out like an ice axe, rather than a war axe. As I stood looking at the implement in my hands disbelievingly, a shiver ran though the ground, like a tiny quake. Nervous, I picked up the egg and glanced around me ¨C I had played enough games and read enough books in my life that I knew something bad was likely about to happen. In the distance, seemingly unaffected by the oppressive silence of the forest, a strange animalistic voice began to sing. The voice held a vibratory quality, like a Mongolian throat-singer turned up to 11 and with added reverb. More voices joined it, a rising chorus of almost discordant harmonies, building in all directions and interposed by a single, perfectly pure voice serving as a counterpoint.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I caught movement, out of the corner of my eye and I turned to find figures approaching me out of the gloom. They were short and lithe, almost skeletally thin and their skin was as pale as freshly exposed bone. Speaking of bone, they seemed to be wearing them as decoration ¨C I recognised what looked like a human femur tied to one leg, over strips of thin leather. They were close enough by then that I could make out their faces, open wide as the song rose out of them ¨C I saw multiple rows of sharp teeth and pointed ears beneath white hair decorated with teeth. I recognised them ¨C had seen them before when browsing races all those days before. I had thought they were elves at first, but they had a different name. Devourers. At the time I had wondered what they had to be like to earn such a name, but there and then, staring them in the face I thought I had a pretty good idea. In their hands, they held long knives of jagged bone, stained black on bright white. I stepped back, glancing around and ready to run, but they were crowding towards me from every direction now, their gazes wide, staring and hungry. Heart pounding, I decided I was probably going to need to fight ¨C I would need to do so by the light of my Focus because otherwise I risked blasting my prize to pieces. Swallowing past a suddenly dry throat, I pushed the egg into my ring, thankful that it fit with all the crap I had in there at that moment. The forest was impenetrably dark now with no hint of light from any direction and I heard the rushed sound of bare feet on dead leaves coming my way. Holding onto the edges of my mind against onrushing panic with only the greatest of effort, I Focused, hoping then would be the time I would make a breakthrough in my control. The forest was illuminated once more, the shrieking of air torn by lightning echoing out amidst the crescendo of the Devourers, the blue-white light painting the living wave in stark shades, a hellish contrast to the black trees. Dropping the axe I did not know how to use, I stepped into that onrushing wave, eyes every bit as wide as those of my opponents, my teeth clenched and exposed as I lashed out at the first of them to reach me. It was like punching wood, though thankfully not like punching the local trees. As the world slowed about me, my body and mind sped along by the rushing lines of power within me, my first connected with the point of their jaw and there was a flash and they were sent back into their fellows, a line of light drawn between us. My first opponent¡¯s friends paid them no heed, steeping over and around them as they fell, arms reaching for me like some nightmare of a zombie invasion. I lashed about myself, left and right, blows striking hard flesh with as much power as I could put behind them in the rapidly shrinking oasis of my personal space. There was little room for finesse in the chaotic melee; I met grasping hands with firsts and flicking bone knives with elbows, smashing slender noses with sharp headbutts, my lightning lashing out recklessly and leashed to my will by grim certainty: If I lost control as I had before, I would die. It could not last, of course. Within minutes I was pressed in on all sides, immobilised by the pressure of the multitudes, and even though my Focus surged between them, body to body and carried by touch, they endured, the surging power of nature¡¯s wrath diluted by sheer numbers. I was pulled from my feet and pressed to the dead ground of the stygian forest, pain hot and sharp and tearing ripping a scream out of me, my breath short and ragged. They were eating me, they were eating me, they were eating meeeeaaaaaaahhh! I lost control. Lightning like a pillar of fracturing light flared out of me. Fuelled by a primal, atavistic terror and horror, it ripped itself free of me, uncaring of such weak things as numbers or of pitiable reason, tossing my devourers aside like dust before a hurricane as it arced between the vast trees and screamed my defiance. The world went white and the cadence of the crowding figures was cut ¨C shredded to tatters like the bodies of those closest to me. * *** * I came to in darkness, though it was not the darkness of the forest as I recognised it. I scrambled to my feat, panic and adrenaline demanding I get off the ground. My body hurt. I looked down at myself, seeing enormous tears all over my new clothing, stained black and red in the dim light. Every part of me hurt to move, either burned, blistered or bitten as I was. Fires burned on the first floor, smouldering bodies burned and twisted almost beyond recognition and piles of leaves alight, though it did not seem to be spreading. An almost sweet smell hung in the air, accompanied by acrid smell of burnt hair and the earth smell of burn leaves. There were hundreds of bodies, though only those closest to me seemed to have received the worst of it, and I felt weak. I felt weaker than I had since that first day I had arrived. Looking inside my centre, I was shocked to see my soul sea was all but empty, reduced in size to a small silver-gold puddle. No trace of Praxis remained in me; I had used it all. I spotted my axe under a couple of prone forms and I stumbled over to pull it out, unreasonably glad to be holding a weapon. Blood was still running down my body, dripping from hands and clothing, I could feel. It was truly a wonder I was able to stand and I attributed it to a mixture of my Lesser Regeneration and the power of the ren, whose body I had taken as my own. I went to look into a ring for a healing pill, however I did not seem to have enough Experience to accomplish even such a small take. Shivering, I decided to check the bodies ¨C I had my doubts that people wearing poorly cured skins, teeth and bones would have any alchemical medicine, but it was worth check ¨C or at least, it would have been if I had not heard something rising in the distance. Dread sunk its claws into me as I heard singing in the distance, picking up once more in every direction. On the ground, bodies began to stir and I stumbled back into the tree, my head shaking back and forth in denial of reality. I could not fight, I had nothing left and I was far more injured than when I started. I could not run, tee sound was all around me once more, that single pure voice angry and feral in the distant night. I turned to the tree, looking for hand-holds on the wide trunk, but though the bark was scaled and pitted, there was no way for me to get a grip upon its massive bulk. I glanced at my axe, and at the bent shaft and it occurred to my gibbering mind that I could use it to climb. Placing the jutting point against the bark, I pulled myself up ¨C it was agonising, but the impossibly tough tree held my weight. I tried to leap up, to catch a higher hold with the axe but I had no success. Frantically, I patted myself down, hoping to find something, anything that could help. At my hip, under my robe, I felt a dagger ¨C Walker''s dagger. I remembered taking it from my ring back in the lab, hoping to call my mentor, but I had stuck it in my belt after my arrival and forgotten about it. I pulled the long, slender blade free and placed it against the black wood and attempted to pull myself up with it ¨C the blade sank into the tree. ¡°Son of a bitch! Where were you when I was trying to make a torch? Still in my belt, I guess...¡± A shiver ran through the ground once more, and the approaching sang increased its tempo. Terrified and unwilling to be eaten, I pulled the dagger free, turned it to be horizontal, and using both it and the bent axe I began to climb, every arm length a burning, tortuous agony. The fires were fading now and I could hear the song approaching the base of my tree ¨C I hoped the bastards below could not climb and pushed myself through the pain. It was hard, but I had been through worse. I have no idea how high the tree was, I climbed for what seemed like hours, sweat mixing with my flowing blood and dripping off of me, a mocking tease for the still audible army far below. Eventually, I found branches and what seemed to be the top of the giant tree¡¯s trunk ¨C I pulled myself up, exhausted and chest heaving, pulling in the cold air like a desperate bellows. I crawled away from the trees edge, finding a hollow in the rough bark and without thought or intent, I slept. Stick Around I woke up kicking and punching into the unbroken night, my skin wet with sweat and my heart already hammering. I pushed myself to my feet, heart thundering in my chest but froze as memory returned to me ¨C I was on top of a tree of unknown height and it probably was not the best place to be flailing about. I sat once again, slowly and with great care as my body reminded me of my ¨C fading ¨C injuries. I sat alone in the dark, head in hands, forcing my breathing to even out as I made myself relive the day before, mining it for Experience. Opening myself to the Experience like that, allowing it to flow through me was simultaneously hard and rewarding. On the one hand, it had been terrifying, an ordeal to top even my torture ¨C there was just something so intrinsically wrong with... being eaten. But facing those feelings head-on allowed me to move past them; in embracing them they lost their power over me. I do not know how long I sat like that, pulling the golden light into my centre and spinning it through my system, refining it into Praxis. However long I sat, my soul sea barely shifted ¨C I knew it was being drained almost as fast as I could fill it by the refinement process, but there was barely any in my centre. I knew that to proceed to the Path stage, I needed to fill my centre with Praxis, forming my core but so far, I had never produced even enough to fill my energy channels, never mind my whole energy centre. It did not help, I was sure, that I kept expelling so much energy. Perhaps it would take years; though those upon the Path I had met already did not seem too much older than myself ¨C or my new body at least ¨C they had all started as children. Maybe I was destined to be behind the curve, no matter how hard I worked. With a frown, I shook my head and examined the feeling, casting an objective eye over it, even as I swallowed it whole. I knew relatively little about cultivation ¨C I had been here, on the Aspirant plane for less than two weeks and while it seemed like I had crammed a lot into that time, I had spent perhaps a third of that unconscious. I did not know how fast my development was or even what I should expect at this stage. It seemed my old patterns of thought still held some sway over me, despite my resolution to leave them behind. If ¨C no, when ¨C I made it back, I would ask Walker about my issues. It was possible this was normal, or simply a matter of practice. It was too early give in. Nodding, I slapped myself across the face ¨C a warning to myself ¨C and rose to a crouch. Still cultivating Experience and refining it into Praxis, I began to grope my way around the tree. It would normally be too much effort for me to cultivate, refine and explore, but something about lacking sight was focusing my mind. I wondered if this was why Walker wore a blindfold in a world where it seemed virtually any injury could be mended. The plateau that contained my hollow was huge, for a tree ¨C easily dozens of feet across. The hollow itself sat between two huge branches that reached upwards, as if the trunk had split. I found my bent axe and Walker¡¯s dagger a short distance from where I had awoken, but chose to leave them there for the moment. A number of smaller ¨C but still massive - branches could be felt jutting out from the main body of the tree, easily wide enough to walk on. They should provide a way to travel, provided I could find somewhere to travel to. Back in my shallow bowl once more, I reached into my rings to grab my healing pills, now that I had some energy to spare. Pushing a filament of Experience into the rings on my toes, I peered inside but could not locate the pills. With a frown, I recalled Ro telling me what the various odds and ends were and then... putting them on the floor. Even the pill I had taken after the fight at the Thrice Frost had been supplied by my generous mentor. Cursing softly, I mentally berated myself, but quickly recalled that I now had a third ring, taken from the guy I had brained near the armoury. I slipped the ring onto my finger and reached inside ¨C it was what I expected: clothes that probably would not fit, a sword and the same alchemical gubbins I had found in the others. There was also a coin pouch that I left alone, deciding I probably would not need money in the tree. I pulled the pills out and swallowed it dry, almost gagging on the hard, little ball. A soft warmth worked its way around my body and the pain in my wounds calmed a little. After a moment of thought, I pulled the clothes from the third ring and tossed them carefully over the side of the tree ¨C I did not need them and they were just taking up space. If I needed random clothes or cloth, I had more sets in the other rings. Moving over to where I had left the axe and dagger, I picked them up and moved to the right most skyward reaching bough and began to climb. While the branch I was on definitely led upwards, the incline was just gentle enough that I did not always need to make use of my tools, at least at first. As I climbed higher, eager to get above the canopy and hopefully find some civilisation, I continued my cultivation, dragging myself higher as needed. Climbing a mountainous tree that felt as cold as ice, in pitch black and the only sounds coming from myself, was a surreal experience to say the least and I was going to milk it for all it was worse. After maybe an hour, the branch I was on ended, splitting off into a number of smaller, thinner branches. I was not eager to test my weight against these, at first, but I recalled the unnatural strength of the wood, as well as the fact that despite their relative frailty ¨C relative to the rest of the tree, these smaller twigs were still more than a foot across. I tried and failed to not picture the vast void beneath me as I moved along and among the branches, sometimes on all fours and sometimes using my axe or dagger, or both for grip. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Several hours after I had woken up, I pulled myself up into a very thin Y-shape split, this one only a couple of inches wide and extended up, my head pressing through leaves. I was blinded as my head poked above the canopy of the hellish forest, the light stabbing into my eyes like shards of glass. I closed my eyes and shielded my eyes with one hand, the other holding me steady on the branch before I opened them into a squint, my face pulled into a grimace of pain. After a few minutes, I could see clearly, though there was still a little discomfort. The sky was a deep blue, dotted with yellow and peach coloured clouds. I spotted islands floating higher up, scattered across the sky like islands in the infinite blue. I looked down at the treetops, stretching away from me in every direction and for as far as I could see, the unbroken black seeming almost flat with no details below the skyline. This was a world far stranger than the one I had left, which seemed much like Earth but... more. I heard a distant voice and I tenses ¨C if the Devourers had come after me, I was pretty fucked, trapped as I was at the top of a tree. The voice called again, and I turned, shielding my eyes once more. Behind me, twin suns hung in the endless azure, and between them ¨C though closer ¨C a wooden ship rode the wind, just above the featureless black of the forest. The ship was painted white and was accented in mirror-bright metal, with vast wings jutting out from its sides, the undersides of which were covered in crystals that shone bright enough to challenge the distant stars. A head was poking over the side, along with an arm pointed in my direction. As the ship drew above me, a rope was cast over the side, dangling just within my reach. Thinking that whatever was up there had to be better than what was below, I stored my axe and the dagger back inside a ring and grabbed onto the rope. I could feel myself being pulled upwards, but I was impatient to be out of that frigid place and my wounds had mostly healed by then, so hand-over-hand I pulled myself up the rope as fast as I could. In my previous life, I do not think I had ever managed to climb a rope like this, at all, let alone with such speed. Within moments ¨C thanks to my new body and my renewed Praxis - I was being pulled over the side of the ship. A crowd had gathered around me, by then, and for the barest of moments I thought I had delivered myself back into the Devourer¡¯s clutches, but I quickly realised that this was the other race of elf-like people I had seen, though I could not recall the name of their race. ¡°Stranger, how came you to rise from the Black?¡± The speaker looked important ¨C by which I mean her pristine white uniform had for more shiny bits than anybody else¡¯s. She was also speaking another language, one that I knew without recognising. Again. ¡°I, ugh, started at the bottom and worked my way up?¡± ¡°You come from amongst the Phage? Impossible.¡± ¡°You mean the Devourers? No. Definitely not with them. It''s hard to explain... it''s a long story.¡± ¡°You should try.¡± Her tone was flat and I noticed her hand rested on the pommel of a rapier looking sword hung on her hip. ¡°So, I¡¯m sort of from another world. I was trying to find the cure to a ¨C sort of ¨C magic plague? The man that had it fled here, well, down there anyway. I followed him.¡± ¡°This story was not particularly long or hard to explain, it would seem." ¡°I guess not? It¡¯s a figure of speech where I¡¯m from.¡± ¡°You are a World Walker, a Paragon? It is little wonder you could survive the Phage.¡± ¡°I have no idea what a Paragon is, but you¡¯re not the first to call me a World Walker. The second actually. So, it seems like I might be, yes.¡± ¡°You speak our language strangely, but I think I understand. You will come with us; Lucas will better know how to proceed.¡± ¡°As long as that doesn¡¯t involve throwing me overboard, I¡¯m all about it.¡± ¡°Come than, ¡®Walker. You are in the way.¡± ¡°Actually, Walker is my mentor...¡± She stared at me, huge irises a shockingreflective gold, and I shut up and followed after her to the back of the ship, the whispered muttering of the crew following me, just below hearing. * *** * As it turned out, this Lucas I was being taken to see was quite some distance away. I had spoken to some of the crew ¨C when they were not on duty ¨C and it seemed I was aboard some sort of patrol. Apparently, the forest was not just the home of the Devourers, but of quite a number of other giant beasts. The other variel ¨C the elves ¨C I had spoken to had been quite shocked that I had not encountered any of them, and I was really, really glad that I had not, once they started describing them ¨C huge half-plant insects the size of the ship we stood on, and flying spiders twice that size. I noped right out of that conversation, making weak excuses as I went looking for Inca, the woman I had spoken to earlier. She was apparently the Quartermaster, rather than the captain, though apparently that was more important, sometimes? I had never been an authority on maritime anything, let-alone weird alien flying naval customs. I thought it prudent to leave deciding who was important or not to them. I found Inca below deck making notes on a huge map by the light of another crystal, though this one was nowhere near as bright as those under the wing. ¡°Hellooo.¡± ¡°What do you wish, Hunter? I am busy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just sort of bored, nobody seems to want to spar and I don¡¯t have a job to do. I like meditating as much as the next guy, but I need to do things.¡± ¡°Your state of mind is not my business, unless you grow dangerous. Please go away, it will be days before we reach Lucas¡¯ island. You will need to cope.¡± Honestly, that sounded fair. They had saved me from that damned forest by picking me up and were going out of their way to take me to this Lucas person, who would apparently know what to do with me. It was not fair of me to be bugging them. ¡°Sure. Sorry to bother you.¡± Inca did not say anything further, and had never looked up from the map and her notes so I awkwardly turned and left. I went back up on deck, the bright light of the suns still bright enough to make me wince. For a few minutes, I stood by one of the wings, staring down at the ocean of canopy below. While I had been down there, the dark carpet of leaves had seemed flat, like true black, but where the light of the wings swept, a bright, brilliant rainbow shone reflected back up at us, like catching the sun in oil. It was quite a sight, and pushing my legs through the rail, I sat down, eyes locked on that rainbow in the dark, and went back to cultivation and refining, thinking that maybe a few days without a deadly threat was just what I needed to make some real headway in forming my Core. Fire Your Guns ¡°... And that''s when I dove through the portal after him.¡± ¡°This is how you came to be in the Black? Chasing this Shadow Faced Man, to find a cure for your teacher?¡± ¡°Yeah. And then the guy just... gave me the egg. I guess I did ask for it, but... Anyway, I¡¯m not sure how much good it¡¯s doing anybody with me here.¡± It was the night of the second day since I jumped worlds, and I sat ¨C along with a number of the crew - next to an almost flat crystal that emitted heat and light like a fire, though without the danger of igniting the wood of the ship. The crystal sat in a squat tripod, and a pot filled with a pungent, clear wine hung above it. Every now and again, one of the crew would dip a bowl in, though I was refraining for the moment, as it smelled quite strong. The crew had seemed a little shy when I arrived, only one or two willing to make conversation, and that consisting mostly of bravado in relation to the forest¡¯s insectile and arachnid denizens. As it turned out, being covered in bloody, torn cloths and emerging from the equivalent of hell was not a great way to break the ice. Changing my clothes had helped ¨C I now wore the black fighting outfit I had bought, lamenting the fact that it was going to cost a small fortune to replace my ruined brown and green outfit. I had spent the remainder of the first day, and all of the second¡¯s daylight in meditation, endlessly cultivating Experience and refining it into Praxis. I was still early enough in my cultivation that just experiencing the now provided a noticeable boost to my soul sea, though obviously not as much as new or intense events did. This is not to say that I found the journey to be boring ¨C I was on another planet, on a flying ship held aloft on crystal covered wings, above a light and heat-sucking forest occupied by psychotic elves and giant bugs. Even just sitting about in such a situation was still novel enough for me to be making some pretty decent gains. My energy centre was back up to about half-way, though there still seemed to be almost no Praxis in there, despite my constant efforts. It was a little frustrating, but I had already determined not to worry too much about it ¨C I would ask Walker when I had chance, and until then, I had to just keep working towards completing my Core. ¡°Can we see the phoenix egg?¡± One of the men called out across from me; I could not see the harm in showing them, they seemed to be an okay bunch so far and if they had wanted to rob be ¨C and been capable of it ¨C I thought they would have probably done so while I had my back turned to the whole ship, staring overboard. With a nod, I pull the egg free of the ring it rested in and held it up in front of me. The fire coating the slightly golden shell was much bigger and more intense than when I had seen it so far below, though it still did not burn. There were a couple of gasps from around the crystal at the sight of the rising flames ¨C fire was obviously a bit taboo on ships ¨C but they calmed down when I reiterated the fact that it did not burn, running one hand through the golden, incandescent wisps without incident. After a minute or so, during which a couple of people asked to touch it ¨C which I allowed ¨C I put the egg away again. ¡°You say a bird will come out of that thing? Will it not burn?¡± ¡°No, the bird is made out of fire too. It¡¯s a Phoenix.¡± ¡°That sounds made up. You also said you shot lightning from your hands, with no Sigils? That does not seem possible either. Maybe you can show us? A little proof?¡± The speaker was a man named Ilan and had been one of the people talking about the bugs when I arrived. I did not know what he meant my Sigils ¨C I was yet to see anybody on the ship use any sort of technique or ability and had started to believe that perhaps they were as powerless as I had been back on Earth, despite the clearly magical nature of the crystals on-board. ¡°I¡¯ll show you mine if you show me yours, Ilan.¡± I gave him a pointed look and a wink; there were a number of chuckles from around the gently glowing crystal, and one or two louder laughs from those who had partaken a little more heavily in the heated wine. Accepting the challenge good naturedly, Ilan stood, glancing around surreptitiously for officers ¨C I thought ¨C before he began to draw. Argent lines of light appeared in the air, shimmering gold and written with glowing fingertips acting as brushes as he moved his hand with long graceful strokes, like a magic circle having a baby with calligraphy. In moments, the Sigil seemed to be complete and from that silver and gold circle, a pulse of crimson energy flashed out, quicker than a bullet but silent. It shot into the moonless night sky to vanish amidst the innumerable stars, leaving only and afterimage behind to mark its passage. Ilan turned back to me and crossed his arms, grinning. There were mutterings of, ¡°... strong bastard...¡±, from the others and I figured he was considered reasonably powerful in whatever system they seemed to be using. It certainly did not seem to bear any resemblance to the cultivation I was used to. Or at least as much as I could be used to it at that point. ¡°Nice. I have no idea how impressive that was, but it looked great!¡± ¡°It was impressive.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re so modest too!¡± Ilan made what I guessed to be a rude hand gesture and I grinned, getting to my feet and backing away from the crystal. ¡°A deal is a deal. Ugh, I need to make sure there¡¯s no metal around me...¡± The small crowd scooted back away from me, dragging the crystal and wine with them, giving me more room. Not wanting to set the ship ablaze, I took a deep, steadying breath and began to utilise my Focus, pushing as little power through it as I could. Lightning flared to life around me, snapping at the air and wood of the ship with sharp snaps as it sought for paths to follow in the conductive desert I had place myself in. The sharp smell of ozone wafted out from me as the electricity split the air into ozone and for the first time, my control was effortless. Lines of blue-white surged along my energy channels, slowing the world down around me and not connecting through my body! My grin stretched wide and I pushed a little more power through my Focus, revelling in the joy of not electrocuting myself. After several long seconds, I cut the power and looked down at the variel, whose mouths hung open as they stared at me. ¡°That was... impressive. How do you do that without Sigils?¡± I walked back over to them and sat down, my pulse quivering in my veins as I frantically cultivated the Experience from my first truly successful use of my Focus. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I could explain it to you, I''m still mostly an amateur. I have a Focus ¨C it''s like an imagine of what I want my power to do, and it¡¯s inside me. I just... throw power at it and I get lightning.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°You can only make lightning? Strange. Sigils can produce many effects. Perhaps this is a trade of some sort? Speed, power?¡± ¡°Sounds like it could be true, sure.¡± ¡°You are very relaxed about seeing a world not your own, and a magic unfamiliar to you.¡± ¡°Ilan, I¡¯m much older than I look and honestly, everything seems pretty incredible to me recently. This is just one wonder amongst many, you know?¡± ¡°I too, am surrounded by wonders daily. My heart bleeds for, as I know your pain.¡± That sounded suspiciously like sarcasm to me, and I looked at it from his point of view: To him, this world was normal, it was literally every day. Here I was, shooting lightning out of my ass, on a new world. I should see him the same way, and to an extent I did, but what I said had been true. Since I died, everything I had seen, everyone I had met and some of what I had done had been amazing to me. Was it starting to be... normal? That question almost made my smack myself ¨C I had already noticed how beneficial my experiences had been to my cultivation, but when I compared the last couple of weeks to my life before, there was really no comparison. I was living a life I knew many had dreamed of, and would have killed for, and it was normal? I laughed out loud and grabbed one of the spare bowls, filling it from the pot. ¡°Ilan, my new friends, to the wonders around us. To never being normal!¡± I drank deeply, and even not really knowing what I was referring to, the variel cheered and drank with me. The alcohol tasted like ass. It was very strong. * *** * I woke up on the morning of the third day of my visit to this world, full of energy I stretched, luxuriating in the latent power in my body. I had been sleeping on the deck, as there were no available berths below, and I received a few dirty looks as I sat up, a smile plastered across my face at the rear of the ship. I did not know whether it was my Lesser Regeneration, my ren body or cultivation itself that prevented a hangover, but whatever had done it, I was grateful. Especially seeing the people I had drunk with wincing in the bright morning light. I pulled the sample bag Tang had given me out and swallowed one of the clear hydrating pills, thinking about how many of the things I was going to buy when I had chance. They were incredibly convenient and had saved my life at least one, maybe twice. Putting the bag away, I moved over to the side of the ship, once more staring down at the vivid rainbow the crystals of the wing created on fuliginous canopy below. I wondered what was happening to produce the effect, the light cast by that world¡¯s twin suns did not seem to have the same impact ¨C it had to be magic of some kind, but it was beyond me. I had tried to ask Inca about it the night before, but she had been dismissive, though that may have been something to do with how drunk I was by that point. Tough to say. ¡°Xiournal.¡± The smoky tablet popped into position in front of me, invisible to those around me and very annoying if I tried to move about too much, as it always stayed stationary in my line of sight.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 0 days, 18 hours, 58 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
Assignment Received... Difficulty B+... Time Limit: Before Death
Return to the world I put you on, idiot.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Die.
It was exciting ¨C I was less than a day away from completing my first quest. The fact that I still had it suggested that Ro was still alive and un-kidnapped, I hoped, so I took some limited comfort in that. I wondered what my bonus reward would be ¨C it was not something the dragon-god-thing had really gone over when I had been up there, and she did not seem keen on communicating since, beyond the mildly insulting second quest. Dismissing the grey rectangle, I glanced back down in time to see the flat surface of the forest bulge and separate as a mothra-sized spider with jet-black wings exploded into the air and the rapid whump-whump of wing displaced air. ¡°Divine-FORNICATING-SHIT!¡± My shout was involuntary, as was my stumbling retreat from the side of the ship. I had always hated spiders, even the tiny ones. Seeing this... thing basically turned my brain off and I pulled my makeshift torch-mace from storage and threw it as hard as I could at the alien arachnid without thinking. I missed, of course. I was ten or fifteen times stronger and faster than a normal human by then, but the mace was heavy and the spider, as huge as it was, was still too far away for me to hit. The mace spun end over end, vanishing into the leaves ¨C I hoped ¨C to ruin some Devourer¡¯s day, deep in the depths. At my shout, a number of the crew had turned ¨C and seeing the spider ¨C moved to the side of the ship closest to it, which seemed nuts to my shocked mind. Just after my mace disappeared from view, Sigils began to appear in the air, painting it silver and gold before pluses of violent red light began to flicker out, up and down the line of variel, keeping the pressure up by alternating fire. It was very impressive ¨C they moved with an efficient economy of motion; the movements of their hands made with practised ease. A blast about half again the size of the others joined the volley, and I guessed Ilan had stepped in to the attack, strong bastard that he was. I wished there was something I could do, but my Focus was purely close-range. Walker would have already minced the terrifying thing and I was sure Sidona would be up there with it, burning it with fire, as is right. Me, I just stood back, trying to figure out a way to help, but as I dithered about, Inca strode out from below deck, her rapier held unsheathed. The blade seemed to be made from some sort of wood or bone, it was difficult to say for certain because, like the trees below our wings, the sword had an ever-shifting rainbow running over its blade, like liquid light. Without a word, Inca began to whip the prismatic rapier about, a Sigil of rapidly changing colours forming in the air in under a second. As the Sigil was completed, Inca whipped the rapier up in a salute, the blade held vertical between her eyes, before swinging it up and through the circle she had just finished. In the air, the flying abomination was being held in place by the pressure of the crimson blasts, unable to attack and seemingly unwilling to retreat. But as Inca¡¯s blade passed through her rainbow creation, a vast edge that looked to be made from a crystal manifested in the air between ship and spider, before rising up, catching the light from the twin suns and splitting it endlessly, even as it divided that spider neatly in two. The two halves fell from the air, and I could see vines and twisted moss inside, dripping yellow pus looking fluid, a touch of distant red at the mass¡¯s centre. The strange body ¨C or bodies ¨C sank below the surface of the leaves, in the silence left by the stilling of its wings, and nothing more was heard. ¡°A job well done! Now, back to work. We will be at the Paragon¡¯s isle by morning if we can get back to top speed!¡± Inca sheathed her opalescent rapier and want back below deck without another word. ¡°That was bad-fucking-ass.¡± Now that the spider was gone, my mind turned back on and I went to find Ilan. I found him at the front of the ship, pulling a rope taut which seemed to adjust the angle of the ship¡¯s sails, somehow. ¡°Wow, talk about wonders! Is that normal?¡± Ilan turned to look at me as he moved to another rope. ¡°Ah, Hunter. Yes, it is fairly common. The light from the crystals irritates them, we think, so they come looking for the ships, rather than attacking the islands.¡± ¡°Are they always made of plants?¡± ¡°From what we know, yes. Partially. They don¡¯t last long once captured or dead, just sort of dissolve. But Everything that comes out of the Black is of the Black, understand?¡± ¡°Not really! But either way, I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t have to deal with those things. I¡¯d be pretty useless.¡± ¡°Not everyone is meant for the Mirror Guard, my strange friend.¡± ¡°Thanks for that. What about Inca? That giant sword thing she did?¡± ¡°Inca is of the Fourth Height. Very strong... maybe do not bother her while drinking, in future?¡± ¡°... Yeah, that sounds like good advice. I could have used it before last night, but still.¡± Ilan snorted, wincing in pain afterwards, and waved me out of the way as he grabbed a handled wheel, turning it counter-clockwise. I had no idea what it did either, but I could hear ticking below deck when he moved it. ¡°You said she¡¯s at the Fourth Height? How many Heights are there?¡± ¡°Hunter, please take no offense, but you need to leave me alone, I¡¯m trying to work, and my head is punishing me for last night. If we don¡¯t reach the isle on schedule, Inca will... not be happy.¡± ¡°Oh, sure, sorry. I¡¯ll speak to you later.¡± Leaving Ilan to his business, I walked back to the rear of the ship where I stood for hours, trying to make my fingers glow. I failed. Breaking the Rules The fourth day of my journey aboard the flying ship started with a lurch. My eyes opened to the endless blue of the sky, the light of the suns already heating my face. With a stretch and a groan of pleasure, I sat up, taking in the ship. We had stopped, which is what had woken me. Besides the winged ship, an island stretched out and away, looking for all the world like any ground I had ever seen... on the ground. Standing, I checked my Centre ¨C it was three quarters full of Experience now, though there was still a stark lack of Praxis. Despite my determination not to worry until I spoke to Walker, it was still causing me a little anxiety. Before this trip, I had never really had time to concentrate on it, whenever I spent time refining, I inevitably ended up using it all up shortly after. But the last few days had been different ¨C I had spent as much time cultivating and refining as possible, and while it definitely felt like there was more in my channels, from what I had been told, there should have been a ton in my centre. Shaking my head, I dismissed the nagging worry, unable to do anything about it as I was. Instead, I rubbed my hands together and spoke Xiournal¡¯s name, eager to see what my bonus reward would be.
Assignment Received... Difficulty E-¡­ Time Limit: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes.
Make your way into Everwood City, locate the creator of the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill and ensure another cannot be created. Good Luck, Alex. Make me look good.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Kill the creator, or allow his death within the Time Limit.
Status: Complete! Bonus Reward Gained!
Please chose: 1) Purchase new Red Ability. 2) Upgrade Red Ability. 3) Defer Reward.
Assignment Received... Difficulty F+ (Revised)... Time Limit: Now Would Be Great (Revised.)
Return to the world I put on you, idiot.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Die or keep making me apologise to the local gods. (Revised.)
Assignment Received... Difficulty F¡­ Time Limit: 89 days, 18 hours, 56 minutes.
Cure the Phoenix Plague and return the Phoenix Egg to its parent.
Bonus Reward: Do Not cause a Calamity.
I stared at the smoky display. The first thing was that Ro had not been killed or kidnapped, which was good news. Second, the bonus reward seemed pretty awesome. I could upgrade my Lucky, Lesser Regeneration or Danger sense ability all of which I was sure had saved my life, or purchase a new ability. There were so many of them that there were bound to be something else I wanted ¨C I mostly could not remember the vast list by then, but I know it had been very hard narrowing it down. Lastly, the third option: Deferral. Reading that, I hoped that I would be able to save up for a Green, or even a Violet ability, though I had no way to be sure, and no idea precisely how many Reds equalled a Green, even if it was possible. I also had no idea if I had to wait for another bonus reward in order to access the options again. Leaving the decision for the moment, I noted that the task I had been given upon my arrival on this world had changed. I recalled that Xiournal had mentioned that she had a contract with the gods of the other world, and realised it must be a pretty big faux pas to have an Agent just loose on a random world, given the non-interference policies the planes seemed governed by. I winced at what I imagined it must be like to be harangued by gods. ¡°Message received.¡± I spoke softly, looking up at the sky again and shrugged an apology at infinity. My eyes drew down to my new quest, and I was glad it seemed fairly straight forward, as well as the fact that I was going to do it anyway. It was always nice when things lined up like that. Well, other than the whole meet the parents'' bit, but I thought I could probably handle that, though the difficulty rating gave me a few doubts. I tried to clear the tablet from my vision but it did not budge and I surreptitiously swiped at it for a moment before I sighed, the realisation setting in that I had to make a decision in regards to my reward before the window would vanish. With a few moments of thought, I upgraded my Danger Sense ¨C it had saved me a lot so far, but there had been times when I simply had not been fast enough to react. Now that I had my Focus under control ¨C mostly ¨C I would be faster and with this upgrade, I hoped to be able to fight above my cultivation level, without the need to self-sacrifice. Saving for a Green was tempting, but future possibilities were not going to save me from certain death today. I felt the change settle into me, even as the grey box faded away. It was a strange feeling, like somebody was gazing at every particle in my body at once, and then doing... something... to them. I shivered, and looked up to see Inca walking towards me. ¡°Inca, I take it this is where this Lucas guy lives?¡± ¡°You should show more respect, Hunter. Lucas is not the Paragon most foul of temper, but he could still break you like kindling.¡± ¡°Got it, sorry. I¡¯ll... be more respectful. Are you going to show me where he is, or should I make my own way, is it super obvious?¡± ¡°I will conduct you to his home.¡± ¡°Great. Will I be coming back with you? Do I need to say goodbye?¡± ¡°You will not be accompanying us further; we have a job to do and bringing you here has already put us behind schedule.¡± ¡°Right, I¡¯ll go say goodbye then.¡± * *** * Goodbyes took a little while ¨C the crew and I had only known each other for a few days, but they were a friendly lot. There was a great deal of back slapping involved, though none of let me do it after the first ¨C I was apparently a lot stronger than them. It seemed that the Sigils they made use of did not enhance them physically, like cultivation did me. Many slaps ¨C and a few bruises ¨C later, Inca and I walkedacross the gangplank onto a long wooden dock that stuck out from the island about 100 feet, and after a short walk I stood once more upon solid ground. It felt good to be on the ground again, even if this ground floated thousands of feet above the... ground. I had asked what made the islands float, curious of course, but it had only earned me strange looks, like it was perfectly natural for big chunks of rock and dirt to be hovering about. Fantastical fantasy lands are pretty fantastic, it turned out.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The island seemed just like any regular island ¨C there was green grass and trees, and dirt and flowers. I could hear birds chirping, though much like my last world, the few I caught sight of were huge. The size made more sense to me here ¨C they would need those huge wingspans to move between islands. Inca and I were following a winding path through the trees, all artfully maintained like a giant garden, though my companion seemed to care for the natural beauty not at all, which I found strange for an elf. Deep down I knew that the feeling came from my pre-conceived fantasy stereotypes, rather than anything real. The variel were not elves; they just looked like them. Eventually, the trees parted and I caught my first glimpse of Lucas¡¯ home: It was a palace, complete with wings and towers, all constructed from what looked like black fire opal, with arcs of brilliant light linking it all together. ¡°Which part does Lucas live in?¡± ¡°All of it. This is his home.¡± I stared open mouthed at the building as we approached. It was simply the most astonishingly beautiful construction I had ever seen, almost blindingly so as the light of the twin stars above reflected about in thousands of rich, vivid shades representing every possible colour. ¡°He¡¯s not poor then.¡± Inca looked at me like I was an idiot ¨C a look I was growing used to, especially from her and did not say another word, rather choosing to pick up her pace. I did not bother to explain that I was being sardonic, as I doubted it would change her mind. We came to a small flowing stream which crossed the path ¨C rather than a bridge, a series of wide stepping stones had been set within the water ¨C opals again by their look, though this time they were dragon¡¯s breath rather than fire opals. I wondered where this Lucas had got such large opals, and whether the house was carved or tiled. I wondered if he would let me have some. I also wondered where the water come from and went to ¨C I had yet to see water flowing from one of these islands, and I had assumed they did not have flowing water, but obviously there ran proof of the opposite. I shrugged the question away and hopped from stone to stone, proceeding towards the main house. The front door, when we finally came upon it, was flanked by huge crystal columns; they looked like the light crystals I had seen aboard ship, though on a much grander scale. They were not lit, though there were obvious reasons for that, it being day. As we came to a stop, Inca reached out and pulled on a long black rope I had not seen, and a deep ringing could be heard from within the palatial mansion, somewhere between a huge bell and a massive gong. A minute or so passed as the two of us stood in silence ¨C I was just about to ask Inca to ring the bell again, when the door opened, revealing a blonde teenage boy in a flowing indigo robe, his bright, golden hair pulled up into a tight bun with braids running out of it, down over his shoulders. His skin was covered in faintly glowing pearlescent lines that appeared to be Sigils, though I was no expert. The many-coloured lines leant him a strange appearance unlike anybody else I had encountered. ¡°Paragon, I bring you a World Walker. He claimed to have climbed out of the Black.¡± Inca¡¯s head was bowed, not meeting the young boy¡¯s eyes. I looked back and forth between them as I tried to figure out if she was joking; the kid could have only been fifteen at the most. ¡°A World Walker? Unlikely. Inca, you have done well, either way. Leave this one with me, I will determine his origins.¡± ¡°Thank you, Paragon.¡± With a deep bow, and without another word to either of us, the uptight officer left, her stride long and purposeful. ¡°So... a Paragon, huh? I have no idea what that is.¡± ¡°It is me, clearly. Come.¡± The childlike Paragon stepped back, making room for me and I entered, looking around the large hall I found myself in. The inside of the mansion was also made from black fire opal, and I could see no cracks or seems, leading me to the very unlikely conclusion that this whole place had been carved from a single stone. Large windows let in the light, which scattered back at us, painting us in technicolour, as I stepped onto a long white rug, which went very well with the black floor, as well as the myriad coloured lights it was painted with. ¡°This is a very impressive house you have, Mr. Paragon. How many live here? I¡¯m Hunter, by the way.¡± ¡°Thank you. It was a great deal of work, to unearth the stone from beneath the Black.¡± He did not answer my second question, nor did he introduce himself. He simply continued to lead me deeper into his huge home, pace relaxed and casual. We came to a sitting room - I presumed, based on all the chairs ¨C overlooking a lake, through one window which occupied an entire wall. Gesturing for me to sit, my host reclined on a long white couch that sat in a beam of sunlight. I sat down in a white armchair which was just as soft as the bed I had occupied back at the Sky Breaker palace ¨C it felt like sitting in a cloud. ¡°You climbed from within the Black?¡± Brevity seemed to be the Paragon¡¯s go-to, so I responded in kind. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°You have a substantial amount of power within you. It is too much for one who has not reached the First Height.¡± ¡°Sorry, I have no idea what these Heights are. I¡¯m not from around here.¡± Telling people I was not from around there felt almost nostalgic by that point, though I hoped I would not have to do it too often. Being ignorant was not the best look. ¡°The Heights are out way of measuring progress. The First Height is Engraving the Sigil Lexicon upon your mind, thus allowing for the storing of Experience.¡± ¡°I see. No, I haven¡¯t engraved anything on my mind.¡± ¡°I believe I already said that.¡± I did not bother to answer, as my immediate response was definitely on the sarcastic end of the scale and I was trying not to be an ass. ¡°Hmm. Inca said you claimed to be a World Walker, and yet it is not possible. You do not have the Authority to be here.¡± I did not recall any ¡°Authorised Personnel Only¡± signs when I had arrived, but I thought it best not to mention that either. ¡°I just followed some Shadow Faced Guy through a hole in reality and ended up at the bottom of that Black forest. It sucked. I don¡¯t know how to convince you though.¡± Lucas ¨C who was yet to introduce himself ¨C waved a hand casually, dismissing my concern. ¡°You speak the truth... most curious. A hole you say, not a vortex? You would appear to have broken - and are breaking - many rules, by your mere existence on this world.¡± ¡°...Sorry?¡± ¡°I will look inside you. Come here.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t going to involve a knife, is it?¡± With a roll of his eyes and look that said I was being annoying, the reclining boy waved a hand again, sending out a strange shockwave, like the air was bending and refracting light. I tried to move out of the way of the wave, though my Danger Sense had not trigged, but I found I was frozen in place, unable to so much as blink. ¡°Lucas, Paragon of Locks.¡± Finally introducing himself with a twitch of one neatly manicured eyebrow, he sat up and stepped towards me as I struggled to move, panic rising up in me. I reached for my Focus, but I found even that to be locked in place, beyond my ability to manipulate. ¡°This will not hurt.¡± Placing a hand upon my stomach, he closed his eyes. I remembered Walker doing something similar after I had escaped from the Risen Throne the first time and I relaxed, though I was still unhappy at being held in place. ¡°I see. You are from a cultivation world. This does not explain how you came to be here, against all logic, but at least confirms you are not from here.¡± He stepped back, and I found I could move again. Sitting once more, he stared at me, tapping his lips with one long finger. ¡°But you already said I was telling the truth.¡± ¡°You could have been deceived. Your System however precludes that. A mystery indeed.¡± ¡°Well, I''m glad that¡¯s all cleared up.¡± ¡°Yes. Tell me, how did you climb the Black? The black trees are proof against most force. Does your... cultivation... involve climbing... trees?¡± Lucas¡¯ question was hesitant, and there was a little disdain mixed in there. It was evident, at least to me, that though the boy across from me was aware of cultivation, he did not know a great deal about it, and did not particularly care for what he did know. ¡°No... I used an axe hooked onto the bark and a dagger. The tree was too strong for the axe to cut, but the dagger cut right through.¡± ¡°Impossible. Show me this dagger.¡± With a shrug, I pulled Walker¡¯s dagger out from the ring and held it out. ¡°I see. Less impossible. Quite possible, it would seem. This dagger belongs to your version of a Paragon, yes? An... Apex?¡± Okay, so maybe I was dumb not to realise that Paragons were this world¡¯s Apexes, but I had been through a lot in a short space of time and which arbitrary word people used to describe themselves was not at the top of my priority list. I did decide there and then, however, to be much more polite. ¡°That¡¯s right, honoured Paragon. It belongs to my mentor, Walker, Apex of the Infinite Blades.¡± ¡°Never heard of him. But there are lot of worlds and I do not Walk them often.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you could... Walk... me home, sir?¡± ¡°There is no need.¡± ¡°But you said I was breaking all sorts of rules by being here, honoured Paragon?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Then why-¡± As I began to ask why there was no need ¨C as politely as I could ¨C my question was rendered moot, as a spinning vortex of coruscating energy opened up beside us with a loud snap. Stepping through the vortex, my dark mentor spoke with an irritated growl. ¡°Hunter, in future, please do not keep my blade in a pocket dimension, as it makes it very difficult to locate. I would have been here days ago, but you put my dagger away just before I could pinpoint your location. As it is, you are lucky I was watching for it.¡± I sat in shock, looking up at him and remembering what he had said in back at the Risen Throne mansion: ¡°Whatever is limiting my senses is too strong to be mere Spiritual Weights. I will go this way, you two go the other. Take this, my senses may be limited down here, but I will always know where this is.¡± If I had only kept the dagger out a little while longer, I would have been home days earlier. There was no way I could have known - or even guessed - that Walker was able to step between worlds but still... Maybe I should have upgraded Lucky...? Miss Adventure ¡°Welcome to my home, honoured Apex.¡± ¡°I am sorry, honoured Paragon, but I do not understand your language. I have Walked the Worlds before, but not this one.¡± ¡°He said. ¡®Welcome honoured Apex¡¯, Walker. He said he doesn¡¯t understand you, honoured ¨C wait how did you know he¡¯s a Paragon? And how did you know he was an Apex?¡± I looked back and forth between the two, Walker with his directionless gaze and Lucas looking both relaxed and impatiant, somehow. ¡°Those of us who have attained our mutual stage are able to feel each other, Hunter. Regardless of System.¡± ¡°Those who have advanced to such Heights are able to see each other, even when our peaks are in different Systems.¡± They looked at each other as they talked over one another, and I rubbed my temples, hoping the conversation would not go on too long, since I was pretty sure it was giving me a headache switching languages so fast. ¡°It had not occurred to me previously, but you do speak our tongue with some fluency, though you butcher it more than most. How came you to speak the languages of two worlds, when unable to Walk the Worlds independently?¡± ¡°Would you believe it¡¯s just a gift? He asked how I spoke his language, Walker.¡± ¡°I will admit, that I had wondered how you picked up so many languages alien to our world.¡± ¡°You remember me telling you I was sent to Everwood City? The same... person... stuffed my head full of languages. Apparently.¡± I saw Lucas frowning at me and I suddenly had a lot of appreciation for translators. ¡°I was explaining the language thing to him. Walker, should we be getting back? Aella can¡¯t have much time now, right?¡± ¡°Aella has a few days still, though she is in a great deal of pain. However, without the egg, what can be done?¡± ¡°Oh, shit. I forgot you didn¡¯t know!¡± With a flicker of will and Experience, I pulled the phoenix egg from storage and held it up. ¡°You have the egg? How...? No, it does not matter now. Come.¡± I turned to Lucas who was admiring the egg in my hands. ¡°Lucas, thank you for your... hospitality, but I have to go. There are people dying who need this egg.¡± ¡°I still have questions, however, if lives are depending on you, I suppose I should let you go. And rules are rules... here, take this. A... gift.¡± His tone did not quite seem to mesh with his words, but I did not have time to think too much about it. The blonde teenager pulled an intricately carved blue crystal from thin air and tossed it to me. Slipping the egg back into storage quickly, I caught the flung object and looked down at it, gaping at the minutely detailed lock made from what looked like one huge sapphire. ¡°Make sure to pull it from storage once you are done with your... task.¡± Thinking about how Walker had found me with his dagger, I was conflicted: Not doing it would probably cause me some issues down the line, but doing so sounded like it was going to get me kidnapped... ¡°Ugh, thank you, honoured Paragon... I¡¯ll... treasure it.¡± Erring on the side of not going out of my way to piss of one of the most powerful people in existence, I bowed and slipped the lock into a toe-ring and stepped up to Walker, who stood impatiently by the portal. I hesitated by the spinning vortex of flaring light, looking up at my mentor. ¡°Is this... safe? It doesn¡¯t look like the portal the other guy made.¡± ¡°It does not? More intrigue. You will need to tell me more ¨C once Aella is safe. And worry not ¨C if you are able to exist here, without being destroyed by the Laws, the tunnel is safe.¡± Walker did not bother waiting for a response or even for me to comply, he simply placed his hand on my back and shoved me into the light, my weight posing no impediment at all before the monstrous strength of the Apex. I was ¨C literally ¨C flung from my feet and into the vortex face first; beyond the event horizon of coruscating light, there was a light filled void, stretching out into infinity in every direction. At first, I thought I was in space, but the stars shone too brightly, and if any single dot caught my attention, I could sense it was a world ¨C more than a world, an entire universe ¨C and there were so many that I thought a person could be forgiven for thinking the void colourful, with lines of black. Within the tunnel, I felt a weight lifted from me, like the world had exerted some sort of unknown pressure on me. It was freeing and refreshing, at first, but as I sped along that path between worlds, I could feel my soul ¨C I thought ¨C trying to expand beyond the confined of my body and I had a sense that if I stayed too long in that un-place ¨C if my soul expanded too far ¨C my mortal shell would burst and I would die. Luckily for me, I did not die. Just as the negative pressure was growing painful, I burst through another vortex, still face first, and slammed into the warm sand of the Steel Splinter arena. Standing and brushing sand off of me ¨C as well as spitting it from my mouth and combing it from my beard with my fingers ¨C I glanced back just as Walker stepped casually through the rotating plane of energy. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to push me, Walker. I have sand in my mouth, now. Uuugh.¡± Walker looked faintly amused as I rooted around my mouth with my tongue, trying to get every grain of the coarse, irritating stuff out of my mouth. ¡°We were in a rush, Hunter.¡± My mentor turned away and began to walk towards Aella¡¯sapartment before I could be sure, but I thought I caught a glimpse of a smile on his usually taciturn face. I shrugged and followed, happy to have relieved some of the stress I knew he must be feeling to have his friend so ill. We climbed the stairs, and I found Ro still sat by Aella¡¯s bedside ¨C though I assumed he had left at some point. He was once more using his prismatic flame on the black and vivid red flesh of the wound, which now seemed to have expanded to cover most of my teacher¡¯s body. Turning at our entrance, Ro raised an eyebrow at me before speaking. ¡°You found the boy, then? I don¡¯t suppose he has the egg? Pah!¡± I withdrew the egg once more without speaking and walked over to the bedside, not knowing what to do with it. Aella did not seem to be conscious, and my heart ached to see somebody so strong so helplessly weak. Especially somebody I considered a friend.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°You do have it! Well, let nobody ever say that Ben Won Ro cannot admit when he was wrong! Ha!¡± I did notice that the old alchemist did not actually say he was wrong, but I decided now probably was not the time to point that out. ¡°Boy, hold the egg against the wound, here!¡± Ro snuffed the flame from one hand and pointed at the spot I thought the original wound had been. Hesitantly, I pressed the flaming egg against the wound ¨C gently - and Aella stirred in her sleep, a small groan of pain escaping her slack lips. For a long moment, nothing happened ¨C I stood awkwardly holding the egg I had been through so much to obtain, a fear that it would not work worming its way through me. But then, all at once there was a whoosh as the rolling flames grew in size and intensity, flaring up and licking out along the blacked flesh, growing stronger with every inch of skin covered. In moments, every part of my teacher infected with the Phoenix Plague was engulfed in roaring golden flame. Ro stubbled away from the blaze, not knowing that it did not burn and I felt a little bad for not warning him, though I had not had a lot of opportunity, eager as I was to help. For a full minute the golden inferno raged unchecked, and astonishingly, it did not seem to only be taking back its own power from the infection, but it also seemed to be reversing the damage. As we watched, the black and red of burned flesh retreated, dragged back by the hungry flames and more and more of Aella was revealed. Ro stepped forward and pulled a sheet over the rapidly restoring flesh, protecting er modesty. With a final surge, Teacher¡¯s skin now pale and perfect, the flamed returned to the egg, and while it may have just been my imagination, I thought I could sense... satisfaction coming from it. I slipped the egg back into a ring, and looked back at Walker, a grin on my face. He stood much closer than I had expected and I found myself nearly nose-to-robe with him. I jerked back slightly, and arched my neck back to look up at him. His gaze was intense ¨C from what I could tell, given the blindfold - and I turned back to the bed, unwilling to bug him just to share my success. The three of us, Ro, Walker and I. stood in silence around one side of the bed for what felt like a long time, but was more likely to be a few minutes before the prone figure of Aella stirred. The movement was slight at first, but then, with a gasp she sat up, throwing off the sheet Ro had placed over her. With a great effort of will, I looked away from her, and from the corner of my eye I could see the old alchemist in white doing the same. ¡°Deepest Void! Walker! What happened? The last thing I remember this idiot vanished from a basement.¡± Aella, apparently not caring overmuch for her own nudity nevertheless hopped off the bed and began to rummage around in various drawers while Ro and I continued to avert our gazes. I will admit however to peeking once or twice - I may not have been human any longer, but what I was only had so much discipline. ¡°It has been a few days since then, Aella. It would seem that Hunter somehow made his way to another world. The how is still a question.¡± ¡°Really? Another world? And he lived? Maybe you¡¯re not as deficient as we all thought, Hunter. I¡¯m joking! You¡¯re still an idiot though.¡± Now dressed in her usual outfit ¨C this time in lime green, for some reason ¨C Aella turned back to face us, hands on hips. ¡°Sorry, Teacher, but I wouldn¡¯t have been able to get the egg if I hadn¡¯t gone. On the bright side though, I did get the egg, and I learned to mostly control my Focus.¡± ¡°Well, thank you for the egg, I suppose. And congratulation on controlling your Focus. You¡¯re what, only seven years behind the curve now?¡± I could not help grinning stupidly at my acerbic teacher, I knew she did not really mean it, it was just how she showed affection. I hoped. ¡°And now he¡¯s grinning like a fool. Walker! Take me out, I need a drink.¡± ¡°I would be happy to, provided the Honoured Master Alchemist thinks it safe?¡± ¡°Safe? Ha! I think it safer than telling her no, even for an Apex! But it would still better if I could make an examination.¡± ¡°Fine! Make it quick, I¡¯ve been in bed too long, I need to work the kinks out.¡± Sitting down, Aella gestured impatiently for Ro to start. The examination took only a couple of minutes, the old man running his Spiritual Flame over the parts of the body the infection had been only a short while before. ¡°You¡¯re fine. Amazing! If I did not worry about bringing an Elder Phoenix down on us, I might try a few things... Bah! Never mind! I¡¯m going home.¡± Throwing his hands up dramatically the alchemist picked up his things and stormed off down the stairs mumbling about youngsters, profits and wonders. ¡°Well, if you two¡¯re going out, I¡¯m going to go tell Reff I have the egg.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he will be happy to take it back to his people. You have done a fine thing, in retrieving it, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that. I¡¯m going to need to go with him. The person who sent me here originally has given me another task...¡± ¡°While in another world? I have a lot of question, Hunter.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to head off to the Blacksands? I¡¯ll come with you. You need the training and I always wanted to see the Blacksand Citadel.¡± I turned to Aella, eyebrows raised. ¡°Really? What about the Steel Splinter?¡± ¡°Eh, it will be here when I come back. It¡¯s been too long since I had an adventure. You need to Experience the world to improve, after all.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯d be honoured, Teacher.¡± I bowed deeply, touched that she wanted to come with me. ¡°Walker will come as well, of course. I¡¯ll need somebody to talk to that isn¡¯t an idiot.¡± Okay, so maybe I was a little less touched after that. ¡°I will come. As I said, I have questions.¡± ¡°It¡¯s decided then! Not now though. Now we drink!¡± With a wide grin, Aella leapt across the room, narrowly missing me, and locked her arms around Walker¡¯s neck. I walked out then. down stairs to wait for them, allowing them to greet each other properly, in private. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, the familiar grey tablet popped in to sight on its own once more:
Congratulations! The upgrade from Danger Sense to Instinctive Precognition has completed!
Instinctive Precognition React appropriately ahead of events, knowing the general source of the danger and how best to counter it ¨C where possible. Provides a warning when the user is about to do something dangerous, provided they do not know it is dangerous already. This ability can be improved, increasing effective distance in both time and space.
. The upgrade was way more than I had been hoping for ¨C a little extra warning, hopefully allowing me to dodge otherwise impossible blows, but what I had received was so much more. It also told me that upgrading a Red ability would provide with the Green version of the ability, which even on its own was very useful knowledge. Clearing the message, I grinned as my quests appeared:
Assignment Received... Difficulty F+ (Revised)... Time Limit: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes.
Return to the world I put on you, idiot.
Bonus Reward: Do Not Die or keep making me apologise to the local gods. (Revised.)
Status: Complete! Bonus Reward Gained!
Please chose: 1) Purchase new Red Ability. 2) Upgrade Red Ability. 3) Defer Reward.
Assignment Received... Difficulty F¡­ Time Limit: 89 days, 18 hours, 01 minutes.
Cure the Phoenix Plague and return the Phoenix Egg to its parent.
Bonus Reward: Do Not cause a Calamity.
I almost select Upgrade there and then ¨C while Danger Sense had saved my bacon more than once, it was certain that Lesser Regeneration had played its own part in my survival. I hesitated, mental finger hovering over the option, but eventually choosing to defer my reward, hoping to purchase a Green ability with my next reward. I closed the prompt, decision made and waited for my friends to come down. They did ¨C eventually ¨C and the three of us left ¨C Aella being carriedas she whispers things into my mentor¡¯s ear ¨C and locked the gates of the Steel Splinter behind us. I went off to find Reff¡¯s inn while the two friends went to drink. The city no longer felt to strange to me, after my sojourn in the Black, and I walked amongst its crowds with a confidence I had lacked previously. I had upgraded my Danger Sense to Instinctual Precognition, which I had high hopes for. I had also learned to control my Focus ¨C at least at moderate power - and as strange as it was, I was home. Interlude: Far From Heaven ¡°Mortal, you have been chosen!¡± Deiry¡¯s voice boomed, omnidirectional and shaking the world with its power. It was all a show, of course. Here, within his Domain, the Ascendant¡¯s will was absolute and it took barely a flex of it to cause these effects. The mortal Agent candidate ¨C William - sat up, looking around at his surroundings. He took the bright, perfect white which stretched out to infinity in every direction, before settling on Deiry¡¯s mountainous silver-skinned frame where he sat upon on a colossal golden throne. He had always been proud of his chosen appearance ¨C it made him think of the legendary gods of his own home world, though they had been much less impressive when he finally met them. ¡°Know that you have come before Deiry the Merciful and Munificent! You have been saved from perdition to serve my Will!¡± William blinked, and looked around once more, taking in his soul form ¨C most people never got to see their own souls and remember it; passage through the River of Souls washed them clean of memory. Deiry considered it a perk he provided to them, and considered himself generous for it ¨C despite the fact that it was standard procedure. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± The massive, god-like being blinked down at the soul before him, unsure of how to proceed. The God act had always worked with previous Agents; this was the first instance of immediate refusal in the hundreds of thousands of years he had been assigned to the Aspirant plane. ¡°...Mortal! Know that if you refuse my Will you will be cast down into Damnation!" The threats usually came later in the Deiry¡¯s playbook, though in reality Deiry had no idea what lay below the Origin plane. Bringing the threat into play was risky this early in the negotiation, but the initial failure had rattled him and it did almost always shatter any remaining rebelliousness. The semi-god''s colleagues all had different methods for coaxing cooperation from the candidates that came before them, thought the word was that damned dragonling just pretended to be stupid. How an Ascended being was able to lower themselves to that, Deiry could not fathom. Though it did seem effective. Turning his attention back to the soul after that brief thought, he awaited the inevitable crumbling of will. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t... serve.¡± The mortal¡¯s eyes were placid and calm, gazing flatly up at him, not defiant ¨C just uncaring. ¡°You...? You would dare offend a God?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what you are, but even if I did, being large, loud and glowing doesn¡¯t make you a god.¡± Deiry resisted the urge to rub his temples ¨C he had not had a mortal body in half a million years, but somehow the habit remained and this impudent soul was being the sort if irritant he had not had to deal with in a long time. He was about to reply ¨C to actually argue with a mortal soul without even a body ¨C when the screeching buzz of divine communication reached him, emanating from the planet he was here to provide an agent for. If the mortal had not been present, Deiry would have moved to the gods¡¯ demi-plane so they could have an actual conversation, but as it was, he had to deal with the painful whining as all of the entitled divinities tried to speak to him at once, demanding their ridiculous requests be fulfilled. Setting up a process to record the messages for later, Deiry turned his gaze back to the soul. ¡°Look, I¡¯m in a bit of a rush, so I¡¯ll level with you. I have some errands that need running, and if you agree to fulfil them, you will be given a new body, a whole plane above where you started. You¡¯ll be able to retain your memories, something not usually possible before Ascending. I will even give you abilities to provide an advantage in your new life. Think of it like a job. With benefits.¡± The candidate tilted his head, still staring unblinkingly up at Deiry, clearly unimpressed. ¡°I will cooperate ¨C as an employee - provided we can agree on terms.¡± Souls were usually pretty agreeable ¨C it came from the shock of not having biologically reinforced emotions, but this mortal was becoming a real pain. Usually, Deiry would shock them into compliance with his act and then hammer out a deal rapidly, providing as few concessions as possible by simply not providing them options. But it had already been longer than he liked between Agents, and he did after all have a job to do. ¡°... Fine.¡± * ** *** It took four months for Deiry and the mortal ¨C William ¨C to come to an agreement. There had been times that the ascended being had been very close to tossing the soul back into the River, but the incessant hammering of the local gods on his mind made him extremely hesitant to wait ¨C which would almost certainly be years ¡ª for another candidate. Finally, after innumerable offers and counteroffers, the two had agreed on the completion of no more than three tasks, which was bad enough, to Deiry¡¯s mind, but the worst part was that he had ended up having to concede both a Violet ability and a Green ability to the impertinent toad. This was the first time in his long existence that the silver skinned humanoid had ever given more than a Red ability, but it would be worth it for a little peace. In the future, however, Deiry decided to go even harder on the God play ¨C maybe have some multitudes instead of empty white. And perhaps trumpets... ¡°I will take Manifold Mind and Soul Constructs.¡± The freshly chosen Agent picked his abilities, his voice flat and emotionless, even for a soul. Luckily, he had not insisted on designing his own body, so Deiry would simply provide him a basic one. Having a superior body would not do him much good on the planet he was going to so it would not endanger his goals too much. It would however help recoup the costs of giving out such high-level abilities.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Focusing his Domain upon the starlight formed soul, Deiry began to construct the new body for the irritating little arm-twister to occupy. The body itself was actually mostly effortless to create; constantly modelling his Domain over the millennia had taught him more than enough about atomic construction for it to basically be second nature. Layering the soul over the blank brain without building in all the learned habits and behaviours was only slightly more difficult ¨C there had been issues in the past with Agents not adapting to their new realities due to all the built in crap from their last lives, so it had become standard practice to just leave the brain as a blank slate. Some deaths had been caused by incaution, but overall, it had only increased their success rate. Last came the abilities ¨C this was much harder as it required modification at the sub-atomic level, and even Deiry had to concentrate in order the encode the quantum processes. At least this little shit had not taken Lucky. That blasted ability might only be a Red, but it was a real pain to automate the fate bending effects it provided, which is why there was no Green or higher equivalent. Finally, after several seconds, it was all done with and with a wave of his hand, he extended his Domain down to the planet¡¯s surface and simply changed William¡¯s relative position within it, before withdrawing it back with a long-suffering sigh. Now that he was able to relax, Deiry shrunk down to a more convenient size and created a huge couch, along with a vast screen before beginning to watch cartoons. This gig was certainly a shortcut, Deiry reflected, but it was really annoying dealing with mortals. *** ** * William looked around his new reality ¨C the sky was heavily clouded with little light making it through to the ground. Around him, a city stretched, although he could see little behind the buildings surrounding him. A golden box was fixed in the centre of his vision, displaying his first task. Quest Received...! Difficulty: Vastly Annoying... Time Limit: 2 years, 228 Days, 32 Hours, 74 Minutes. Kill the Emperor of the Ash Rose Empire. Bonus Reward: None. William gazed at it for a long moment, pondering on the nature of the difficulty. He was not familiar with annoyance, personally, but he had heard a great deal about it before his first death. The noise of a stone skipping across stone alerted him to the arrival of others, in the small square in which he found himself, and he dismissed the golden box. ¡°What do we have here? An Unlinked, in the centre of the city? I don¡¯t know where you came from young man, but I will be happy to Link you to my army...¡± William turned, his gaze locking on the speaker. A painfully thin woman with overly painted lips sat atop a rich palanquin, carried by what appeared to be a dozen corpses. More than a hundred of the dead things surrounded the group doing the carrying and it was almost disconcerting ¨C if William were capable of feeling disconcerted - to see them all turn as one to look at him. Without a gesture or word from the woman, a number of the things ¨C without any sort of telegraphing ¨C moved in his direction with a lurch. In the few moments it took for the undead to reach him, William split his mind, first once, then twice and again and again until dozens of himself were running in parallel, assessing the situation from every angle. Formulating a plan was effortless, with so many dispassionately working the problem. As William¡¯s Manifold Minds collapsed back into a whole, he extended one hand, a sparkling starlight bow forming within his relaxed grip. With a smooth motion, he pulled back the shining string, an arrow of razor-sharp soul-light forming in an instant. The woman had time only for her eyes to widen before William released the shot. The arrow moved far too fast for any normal person to dodge, and almost seeming to teleport, it slammed into her forehead, ending her life and the immediate threat. As one, the corpses collapsed and immediately began to rapidly decay, the smell mildly unpleasant. William paid them no mind, merely stepping between them as he approached the fresh corpse of the woman, allowing his construct to fade. Once more, he split his mind and became many as they processed the how of her control. Several minds noted a strange energy entering their system ¨C there did not seem to be a great deal of it, but those minds passed the information back to the whole, where it was examined and integrated into the ongoing problem. It took several seconds to come up with an initial hypothesis ¨C hours on end of collective time ¨C but finally a primary theory, as well as several backups were created and they reached down, pressing one hand against the dead woman''s cooling flesh. With an effort of will, fully five minds concentrated on controlling the new energy. Art first, it slipped through their grasp, seemingly frictionless, but this too was integrated in to their knowledge and rapidly numerous methods of control were tried and discarded until ¨C after several more attenuated seconds ¨C the minds whose job it was to manage that strand of power finally succeeded. They immediately moved to test their primary hypothesis, threading the energy down their arm and into the corpse. They could feel a similar energy in her body, though there seemed to be a lot more of it. Taking a clue from her initial statement, the William gestalt attempted to bind them together using that thread. Their initial hypothesis failed and they moved on to their second, everything they had learned already consumed and considered by the Manifold Mind. The second, modified attempt involved linking through the energy already present in the woman¡¯s body and pulling it back into their own, creating a double helix of energy between their body and hers. There was a click without their body and they could suddenly feel the woman¡¯s body. It was not like experiencing their own body ¨C though it seemed they could if they chose - but they knew its location like they knew the location of their own limbs and could direct it with little effort. They stepped back, and with the merest flexing of their will, the woman rose to her feet as if pulled by invisible chains, the soul-light arrow fading from existence as the hole in her head closed. For the first time, William smiled, collapsing all but a single mind back into his own. The second mind, he assigned to managing the woman¡¯s body. Reaching down to one of the decaying bodies that had belonged to his new acquisition, he attempted to push a strand of the energy into it, but found no energy within it. Turning, William constructed a suit from sparking argent light in order to cover his nudity and made a mental note to test whether a projectile could be fired with will alone, before he began to walk away from the square with his puppet at his side, considering the problem of acquiring more corpses. It seemed, based on his limited information, that either he had been too late to take possession of the other dead, or they could only be taken once. This meant that for the foreseeable future - or until he gained more information - he would be required to make his own corpses. William was fine with that. Journeyman I had to stop a couple of times to ask directions to the place Reff was staying, the originally named Everwood Hotel. The Everwood Hotel was way across the city near the Western Gate and its position did make me wonder how he had ended up in the square where they had met, given it was so far out of the way. It took a couple of hours to cross the city and I stopped to buy some food ¨C I no longer needed it, which was still strange to me ¨C but it smelled and tasted too good to simply go cold turkey. Savouring the strange ¨C but pleasant ¨C flavour as I walked through the strange city I now called home, I took in the sights, taking in the Experience as I moved amongst people of every variation ¨C other than unattractive. There were more and less affluent sections of the city, of that there was no doubt, but nobody had actually seemed poor so far, which was something I was only recently used to seeing that back on Earth. It seemed weird to me that a world that looked almost medieval on the surface could match my original home in so many ways. Having taken my time with my meal, I finished eating just as, what I assumed to be the hotel, came into view. I looked around for a bin to dispose of my bowl in, but seeing none I slipped it inside a ring to dispose of later. The hotel itself was a five-story building, and one of the few I had seen made from stone rather than wood. The stone itself was a dark grey that sparkled in the sunlight, reminding me a little of Lucas¡¯s absurdly over-the-top palace, though on a smaller scale ¨C despite being a hotel. The doors led into a small entry way with drains in the slightly angled floor, I assume to allow rain to run off, though I had yet to see it rain here. A second set of doors led into a polished interior, the stone floor inside almost mirror-bright. A person ¨C the receptionist I assumed - stood staring down at me, from behind an elevated counter carved from a rich dark-brown wood. A wide smile sat on their face, below friendly ¨C if watchful ¨C eyes. They wore a subdued green suit that draped strangely at the cuffs and I could see chains of a matching colour wrapped around their forearms, under the sleeves. ¡°Welcome to the Everwood Hotel. What can I do for you?¡± The man¡¯s voice was polite and friendly, and I bowed fractionally. ¡°I¡¯m looking for Reff... Stonesomething. Sorry, he did tell me, but a lot was going on. You can¡¯t miss him though, he¡¯s huge.¡± I was a little embarrassed that I was unable to remember my friend¡¯s last name, but a lot had happened on that day, so I gave myself a pass. ¡°I will send somebody to speak to Master Stonebinder; whom should I say is calling?¡± ¡°My name is Hunter. Ugh, Alex Hunter.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The receptionist reached below the counter and rang a bell ¨C the sound seemed to carry much further than anything that could fit under there should have created, but I had seen enough by then to not really question it. Within a few moments, a young girl in a similar suit to the man appeared from a side-door. ¡°Elwei, please inform Master Stonebinder that he has a visitor ¨C Master Alex.¡± ¡°Hunter! Please tell him it¡¯s Hunter!¡± The young girl turned to me, and then back to the man, a questioning look on her face. ¡°Please inform Master Stonebinder that Hunter is here to see him.¡± With a nod ¨C and without a glance in my direction ¨C the girl dashed back through the door. The receptionist stood smiling down at me as I waited, and it was just becoming awkward when Reff barrelled through another door on the opposite side from the one Elwei had used. ¡°With gladness, Hunter! You have returned! This is most excellent!¡± I grinned and walked over, slapping him on the thigh in greeting. ¡°Reff, it¡¯s good to see you again. I¡¯m glad that werelion guy didn¡¯t get you.¡± ¡°In confusion, the werelion guy? Do you refer to the Foundation stage beast cultivator?¡± ¡°That does sound like what I mean, sure.¡± ¡°With understanding, I see. Come, we can speak further in my suite.¡± Nodding, I followed Reff through the same doors he had entered through, waving awkwardly at the still staring receptionist. As the doors closed, I spoke in a low voice so it would not carry, ¡°That guy was creepy. Why was he staring? I don¡¯t think he ever blinked.¡±. ¡°With appropriate secrecy, he is a guard. He likely has some sort of focus or medicine which precludes the need to blink.¡± ¡°People take their jobs really seriously here.¡± ¡°In agreement, of course. It is important to have a purpose.¡± I just nodded, as we walked through the wide halls and up staircases. Where I came from ¨C Earth ¨C nobody had needed to work in a long time, and the transition ¨C while great for some ¨C had left many feeling purposeless. It has passed, eventually, but for a number of years, there had been a number of neo-Luddite groups causing trouble. They had eventually calmed down once it became evident that they could not turn back the clock, instead turning to complaining on the internet, which I always found ironic. I was glad that I had a purpose ¨C in the tasks from Xiournal ¨C even if I was not super-enthusiastic about the whole, ¡®eternal servitude¡¯, thing. At some point, I would need to renegotiate my contract, provided that was even a thing. Reff and I came to a stop on the third floor and my companion pressed his massive hand against a metal plate on a door labelled, ¡®The Carnelian Suite¡¯. There was no click, but the door swung inwards revealing a room decorated in shades of red, going quite well with Reff¡¯s clothing and eyes. It did really highlight his perfect white skin, since it was actually white, rather than just pale, the contrast ended up quite appealing. Reff gestured for me to sit on a large chair besides a window which overlooked a courtyard, though I had no idea where that courtyard was. I climbed into the chair and sat ¨C the suite had obviously been designed, or at least decorated with Reff¡¯s people in mind. Reff sat opposite me, seeming comfortable in the huge chair. ¡°With heated irritation, the Foundation beast cultivator was very strong; I am fortunate that he wished to inflict suffering, rather than death.¡± ¡°Yeah, Sidona said something similar. He¡¯s the asshole that tortured me, and Sidona and he fought while we were escaping. He really likes torture.¡± ¡°With regret, I was unable to exact justice on your behalf. I was able to prevent my own injury as he seemed hesitant to strike lava, however he was physically far superior to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Reff. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll meet him again, sometime, and maybe I¡¯ll be strong enough to kick his ass by them. How did he get away though? It couldn¡¯t have taken Walker long to arrive after I, ugh, left?¡± ¡°With ambivalence, shortly after you vanished through the hole in the world, another hole opened and he was dragged through by black chains. It was as this hole closed that Walker entered the room.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I shuddered at the thought that my torturer and the Shadow Faced Guy had been in the Black with me, along with the Devourers. I would not be going back there willingly ¨C at least the parts below the canopy. ¡°I bet he wasn¡¯t happy.¡± ¡°In confirmation, he was not happy. Walker informed me that you had somehow left our world, though at that time the phenomenon clouding his senses prevented him from finding you. I have heard tales of World Walking from my brother, though he has never provided specifics.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll ask him about it lat-oh shit, I did it again. Reff, I have the phoenix egg!¡± I pulled the egg free of the ring and its golden light flared out into the red room, as bright now as it had been after healing Aella. Reff¡¯s reaction was priceless ¨C his mouth fell open, before forming into a grin as he slapped the nearby table, shattering it completely. He looked down at the table, his smile shifting to a frown, obviously filled with instant regret. ¡°With regret, I apologise for my excitable nature, Hunter. I have been warned of it before by my brother ¨C as I have mentioned - but my control is still lacking. I offer you my most humble and sincere thanks for the service you have provided to my people.¡± The giant stood and bowed at the waist, only narrowly missing me with his head. ¡°Reff, you¡¯re like the least excitable person I¡¯ve ever met, I think you¡¯re fine. And you¡¯re welcome, honestly. I couldn¡¯t just let people die. There is one thing, I sort of have to return it to its parents, so do you mind if I come with you? Back to your home, I mean?¡± Reff rose from his bow, his brow twisting in confusion. ¡°With curiosity, you are required to return the egg?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a long story. I¡¯ll tell you when I tell Walker, if you don¡¯t mind. He said he wanted to ask about it and I¡¯d rather not go over it twice.¡± ¡°With surprise, the Apex of the Infinite Blades will be accompanying us?¡± ¡°Yeah... Aella too, if that¡¯s okay? She really wants to visit your home, apparently.¡± ¡°In dismissal, I have no objection. Having the company will be of great benefit, as I am quite prone to becoming lost...¡± ¡°Then how did you make it here?¡± ¡°With diffidence, I purchased the assistance of a guide.¡± ¡°Well, nothing wrong with that. Hopefully Walker knows the way...¡± ¡°With agreement.¡± ¡°Great. Can we leave tomorrow? I need to buy some things. Again.¡± ¡°With confirmation, that is fine. We are still likely to arrive back at the Blacksand Citadel before my sister.¡± I slipped the egg away again, looking up at my looming friend. ¡°Why, where¡¯s your sister?¡± ¡°With reluctant admiration, my sister is very competitive; when she discovered my mission here, she insisted on being given her own mission. She was tasked with locating, and obtaining the assistance of Sonja Falling Ash, Apex of the Mending Flesh.¡± ¡°That title sounds like it has something to do with healing?¡± ¡°In confirmation, the Apex of the Mending Flesh is the most accomplished healer in existance.¡± ¡°So, you may not even need the egg?¡± For a moment I felt disappointment, before I dismissed it as stupid. I had been through a lot to get the thing, but regardless of whether everyone was cured when I arrived, I had needed it to save Aella, at the very least. And it may be important to try to save Reff¡¯s people, even if it was proved ultimately unnecessary. ¡°In dismissal, the Apex of the Mending Flesh has not been seen in many years. It is thought possible that she may have Ascended. My sister is skilled and tenacious, but even so, it is unlikely.¡± ¡°Unlikely doesn¡¯t seem quite so unlikely to me, anymore... ¡± The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes after that, each of us got lost in our own thoughts. It was this state that brought me to a sudden realisation: I was locked out of the Steel Splinter ¨C I had nowhere to sleep. ¡°Ugh, Reff... would it be possible for me to sleep here, tonight?¡± * *** * The rest of the day was occupied by a trip to Ro¡¯s to purchase as many of the water pills as I could ¨C I bought two-hundred, which put a dent in my funds. As I was paying, I did remember the third purse I had looted and checked it, boosting my reserves back up to about 1000 growth coins. I chatted with Tang a little and we agreed to go for a drink when I - hopefully ¨C made it back from the Blacksands. My Next stop was back at the snooty tailor¡¯s shop ¨C the diminutive man nearly fainted when I showed him the state of my now ruined outfit. He did agree to supply me with a new one, however and an hour later I left wearing an exact copy of my partially eaten clothes. The tailor took the ruined set from me, I assume to hold some sort of funeral for them, given his reaction. My purse was also almost 600 coins lighter as well, putting me almost exactly where I had started, at about 400. I thought that perhaps in the future, I should perhaps consider cheaper clothing... The little time before I needed to be back at the Hotel was spent taking in more of the city as I walked, doing my best to refine Praxis, as little difference as it seemed to make to my centre. I was really looking forward to asking Walker some questions. I eventually made it back shortly after nightfall, and Reff and I played a number of games of something between chess and go ¨C all of which I lost - before he retired to his bed, and I went to sleep on his truly massive couch. I dreamed of being eaten. * *** * The next morning, Reff and I stood outside of the Everwood Hotel in the predawn gloom, waiting for Walker and Aella to join us. We had only slept for a few hours, but I was discovering I needed less and less sleep, and I was starting to wonder what I would do with my time if the trend continued. I had always spent a great deal of time asleep ¨C chronic depression really does a number on your get-up-and-go. Ten hours was about my minimum for most of my life. We talked of small things while we waited ¨C it turned out the lava I had seen on his hands could cover his entire body, like armour made from molten rock. It was similar to what I did with my lightning ¨C punishing people for attacking me. I had asked him how he managed to avoid the burning, and apparently, he lava never touched him. Both the rock and the heat were held away from his body by some tiny distance, and he just willed the energy in the other direction. I was a little jealous of that, given the issues I had had with my own cultivation, but if I had to guess, I would think he did not create his Focus with lava literally running through him... My mentor and teacher showed up just as the first light of dawn was cresting the horizon, and after a short greeting, the four of us made out way out of the city, heading west. ¡°Walker... do you know the way to the Blacksand Citadel? Reff is apparently really bad at directions.¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Good! I was worried we¡¯d be wondering the wilderness for a little while there.¡± ¡°We will most certainly wander the wilderness, as there are no roads between here and there.¡± ¡°What? No roads? Why?¡± Walker raised one eyebrow above his blindfold, turning his head slightly in my direction. Before he could answer, however, Aella interrupted. ¡°Why do you think? The forest takes them back. Any attempt at a road through the forest is overrun in a day.¡± I thought back to my first ¨C third? - day, when I had walked into the city. There had been a road, I was sure. ¡°But I¡¯ve seen a road. Walker and I passed it when we entered the city.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a road, that¡¯s just somewhere for people to queue.¡± ¡°Aella is correct, Hunter. It is merely a level place for people to form a line to enter the city.¡± ¡°You mean... everyone just makes their way through the wilderness? That... just doesn¡¯t seem efficient.¡± ¡°How would you propose it be done, Hunter? To build a permanent road would require the service of many people, working constantly to maintain it. Would you perhaps volunteer for such a duty?¡± ¡°Well, no. I guess the plants just... grow slower... where I¡¯m from.¡± ¡°I have been meaning to ask you about that. You have mentioned several times that you are from a place unlike this place, and have also spoken of being sent here, as well as provided with tasks. Nodding, I turned to make sure Reff was listening before I spilled the beans, having promised him the day before. ¡°Yeah... so, I¡¯m not really from this world. Originally, I mean. I¡¯m from what I guess you guys call the Origin of Souls?¡± ¡°Everyone is from the Origin, Hunter. It is the Origin.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. I mean, I remember being there. I was brought here, after I... died.¡± ¡°In confusion, you passed through the River of Souls and retained your memories?¡± ¡°The person that brought me here ¨C her name is Xiournal ¨C said she pulled me from the River.¡± ¡°Sounds like nonsense!¡± I was half in agreement with my teacher ¨C in her place I was not sure I would believe me. ¡°This is most strange, Hunter. Please continue.¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t a lot more to it. She summoned me, said she needed me to do some things for some gods, and in return I¡¯d get to be alive again, here.¡± I left out designing my own body, as even to me that still sounded weird. ¡°Ah, I see. Did she perhaps use the term, ¡®Agent¡¯, to describe you?¡± My head whipped about to face Walker, my mouth hanging open. The way Walker has said the word, there was definitely something there ¨C something dark and almost... concerned? ¡°You know about Agents?¡± ¡°You are not the first I have met. Though you are the sanest, so far.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not? I am? Wait, when was this? She said it had been a long time since the last.¡± ¡°This person is very old, the oldest being still living on this world, to my knowledge.¡± ¡°How old? Where are they, can I meet them?¡± ¡°I am afraid you cannot. They are imprisoned in a place only reachable by an Apex, and have been for the last eleven-thousand years.¡± ¡°Eleven thousand years?!¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± It was not just me who seemed shocked, both Reff and Aella had skipped a step at the time-frame mentioned. ¡°How is that possible?¡± ¡°He is the Apex of The Multiplicious Self, and the singular cause for the cataclysm which wiped out much of our world¡¯s history. He is the only other Agent I have ever knowingly met. He is also completely insane.¡± The Prisoner ¡°I can only explain what I was told ¨C I am not nearly that old, and am in fact perhaps the youngest Apex. As it was told to me, eleven-thousand years ago, an Apex emerged who was able to... supplant other minds with his own. By this own word, he sought to end conflict by making everybody... him.¡± We were outside of the city by now, walking amid the endless green I had seen from the towers. The trees, which had seemed so tiny from there, were large, though much smaller in scale than those of the Black. I could hear life all around us as we made our way, which was certainly a big difference compared to that cursed place. ¡°For a thousand years, his influence spread across the world, and none could bar his passage, for to face him was to become him. The other Apex¡¯s of the time were scattered and concerned with their own business ¨C jealous of power and squabbling like children. But eventually, as the world was slowly united under one mind, they took notice. In most cases, an Apex is largely equal to any other ¨C though there are exceptions ¨C but to face the MultiplicitousSelf was to face armies of billions, many of whom had reached the Pinnacle stage themselves. Though they each tried alone, none were strong enough to overcome the massed armies of the world, backed as they were by an Apex and yoked under a single will.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was somber and quiet, and Aella, Reff and myself crowded close, eager to catch every word. From what I had heard, this story was not known to the wider world, and it seemed not even Reff¡¯s brother, Raaf had mentioned it. ¡°After many battles, and with only a small fraction of people still operating with agency, the others finally agreed to work together. Putting their differences aside, they attacked as one and the battle that ensued shook the world. I have seen maps from that time, and they bare little resemblance to anything we would recognise today. The battle lasted for weeks as the population was whittled down, but eventually that vast army lay decimated. At the centre of the massacre stood the MultiplicitousSelf, laughing.¡± I shuddered a little, imagining the scene in my mind and desperately hoped that insanity was not a function of being an Agent. ¡°¡¯What now, morons? You have united against me, but I have divided against you! I exist in blood and marrow, in every remnant of this divided world! If you kill me, I will be reborn within another body, again and again, until the end of time! Will you wipe every last living being from this world, to end me? I think not! Impotent oafs, standing atop this world like tiny kings! I will become creation!¡¯ These are the words I am told he spoke, from his own mouth.¡± I had to wonder whether his abilities had been purely as the result of cultivation, or whether he had asked for a way more powerful ability than I had. My choices had seemed right at the time ¨C and had saved my life many times, but it was tough to say whether other abilities would have done the same. I shook my head as I continues to listen, unwilling to live in the past any longer. Which was ironic, given the fact I was in the middle of listening to a story about the past. ¡°The other Apex¡¯s did not listen, of course. They blasted him to atoms there and then and considered their jobs done. But it was not. A mere decade later, the MultiplicitousSelf emerged again. This time, the others listened. Working together, they constructed a place, far from civilisation and slightly out of phase with our plane, to serve as a prison. Though they each died with the effort, they bound Anan within that prison, and bade him confess his crimes to any who visited. It was he who told me these things.¡± ¡°... How did you know he was there? If he¡¯s so far from everyone else, and out of phase?¡± I hesitated to ask, afraid there would be more, but the silence had stretched out as we each digested what we had been told. ¡°When you become an Apex, a vision is gifted to you ¨C part of the prison¡¯s binding ¨C instructing you on how to find the prison. Every Apex since that time has visited that place, and has seen the consequence of unfettered power. Every living Apex has taken an oath to stand against unfettered power, to prevent the rise of another one such as he. Any being or group found to be abusing their power is given a warning, and then destroyed if they are unable to learn.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you fought that army on the day I met you, rather than leaving it to the army?¡± ¡°That is correct, Hunter.¡± ¡°And... that¡¯s why... there aren¡¯t more super-power despots?¡± ¡°Yes. Seeing how... definitively Apexes dealt with rising tyrants, people began to police on their own. I am told that before the MultiplicitousSelf, high-stage cultivators would kill even for a misplaced glance.¡± ¡°There are some still like that...¡± I said, thinking back to the two psychotic siblings I had fought at the Steel Splinter. ¡°You mean the Unceasing Squall kids? Pah, they only behave that way because they know they¡¯ll be stopped before they manage anything serious! If people actually behaved that way, they¡¯d get flattened.¡± I thought back to those fights and realised my teacher was right ¨C both times I almost died they had been stopped immediately. And it was not like they had promised retribution from their families. At the time, it had seemed like I was going to die, but maybe that was just basic bullying here... ¡°Then what about the Risen Throne?¡± ¡°With agreement, how did such an organisation arise, if such individuals are punished so severely?¡± ¡°There are only ten Apex¡¯s in the world ¨C we cannot be everywhere. It is inevitable that people and organisations will grow. But do not mistake me ¨C the Risen Throne will lie shattered before it grows enough to threaten the whole world.¡± My dark¡¯s mentor¡¯s voice turned grim, and I thought back on his own childhood ¨C I imagined that this purpose suited him perfectly, and I felt sorry for anybody inviting his ire. ¡°Is this guy the reason nobody talks about how to become an Apex?¡± ¡°It is part of the reason, though only a small part. The main reason is that it would be pointless ¨C few can become an Apex, and those who can must gain the understanding of it in the act.¡± I nodded, pondering. If that nutbag Agent could do it, then so could I. Maybe. There was a chance, right? ¡°And this crazy Apex was an Agent?¡± ¡°He told me so. I had thought it another aspect of his insanity, but with your confirmation it would seem not. He said a god had given him power and a divine mandate. Does this sound familiar?¡± ¡°Well, Xiournal wasn¡¯t a god. She said she was as strong as a minor god, but I¡¯m pretty sure she was an ascended? Mentioned being from the plane above this one.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°It is most strange that an ascended being would interfere on this plane.¡± ¡°She said it was some sort of deal with the gods. They¡¯re not allowed to interfere directly, so they give her energy in return for doing it for them. Via us, I guess.¡± ¡°In surprise, you serve the gods, Hunter?¡± ¡°Well, not really. Not directly. I guess I¡¯m subcontracted? Honestly, it just sounded better than the alternative, though I¡¯m wishing I¡¯d bargained harder now...¡± ¡°And you possess no mandate to... conquer the world?¡± ¡°Nope, at least not yet. So far, I¡¯ve been asked to stop that pill getting made and to stop this plague, as well as return the egg. If she asks me to conquer the world... well, I¡¯ll probably say no.¡± And die, I thought, as much as it sucked. ¡°That is good to hear. I did not think you were the kind of person to make the attempt, but it is good to have it confirmed.¡± ¡°Yes, I would have hated turning you into a pile of mush. So much time training mush would have been an insult to your Teacher.¡± ¡°Teacher, that is exactly why I don¡¯t want to get killed.¡± ¡°Good, you had better not!¡± * *** * ¡°Hey, Walker?¡± ¡°Yes, Hunter.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask about my cultivation. I know I haven¡¯t been at the Core stage for very long, but... there¡¯s almost no Praxis in my centre, and it doesn¡¯t seem to change, regardless of how much I refine.¡± It had been a couple of hours since Walker had finished his story, and we had spent most of the time in companionable silence, just taking in the world around us. Walker came to a stop, prompting the rest of us to pause in our journey, and then reached down to place a hand flat on my stomach. I once again had the vaguely uneasy feeling for somebody rooting around inside me, but it had happened a couple of times by then, so I just shrugged the feeling away and waited for my mentor to finish. ¡°Do you recall me saying that your extended energy circulation system would allow you to store more energy in your channels than an average cultivator?¡± ¡°I do, it was at the palace, right?¡± ¡°Correct. It would seem that this is true, however I did not foresee the fact that doing so makes it substantially more difficult to form your Core. All the Praxis you refine is being circulated through your body. This is good, as it will make you slightly faster and stronger than you would be otherwise, and it will allow for larger bursts of energy, however it will take you much longer to form your Core.¡± That was simultaneously worrying and relieving to hear. I seemed like I had a step up over my peers, in theory, and I had to guess that being able to release more energy at once is what had saved me back in the Black. I had lost energy ¨Cor had it stolen by the Shadow Faced Guy - from my centre, but apparently had way more than that flowing through my channels. Thinking back on things, whenever I had taken a look, I had mostly only paid attention to my centre, mostly ignoring my channels. Looking now, it still felt like there was hardly anything there, but viewing it in the context of having thousands of more channels than a normal person, it made sense if I hadn¡¯t filled them all. On the other hand, it would hold me back. I would likely be overtaken by the same peers I had the advantage of at my level, meaning that while I was ahead then, it would likely be countered by speed of advancement. ¡°I see. Thanks, Walker. That was really worrying me for a while. It¡¯s good to have an explanation.¡± ¡°You will need to work harder than others at your stage to advance, and you are already behind. I hope this does not discourage you, Hunter.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll also need to train more. When we stop for the evening, you and I will step things up. No more slacking off!¡± I winced at Aella¡¯s words ¨C whenever she decided to step things up, I usually ended up in pain and on the ground. ¡°Yes, Teacher. And no, Walker. I¡¯m not going to let a little thing like this keep me down!¡± ¡°Reff, you should help with his training as well. You hit hard, yes?¡± Aella mostly ignored me, though Walker nodded. ¡°In hesitant agreement, I do... hit hard... Lady Aella.¡± ¡°Good!¡± ¡°There was another thing, Walker, that could maybe help with finishing my Core faster?¡± ¡°I will endeavour to be of whatever assistance I may, Hunter.¡± ¡°When I first met you, you sucked the Experience out of that army. How did you do that? I was in a bit of a tough spot in that other world, sort of running on empty, and it would have come in really useful.¡± ¡°I am afraid you are incapable of that particular feat, as helpful as it would be for your cultivation.¡± That was tough to hear ¨C it really would have come in useful, not just back in the Black, but in catching up, though it occurred to me that if everyone could do it, it would not actually be much of an advantage. ¡°It¡¯s an Apex thing?¡± ¡°It is an... Apex... thing.¡± ¡°Well, hard work it is then.¡± Walker smiled and started walking again, followed by the others. I trailed behind slightly, lost in thought. * *** * I stepped back, narrowly avoiding a punch from Aella, my right arm coming up to push aside Reff¡¯s own punch automatically, my left foot kicking out to block a short kick from my teacher. Aella and Reff were both moving faster than I can see by then ¨C they had started about as fast as me, but had been steadily raising the pace until I was operating purely on instinct. Again. Fighting with Instinctive Precognition was like fighting with Danger Sense, but with higher resolution. With Danger Sense, and incoming attack had basically just been a warning and most of my time my reaction was to jerk wildly out of the way. With Instinctive Precognition, I could both feel the attack and the response that had the best chance of saving me. There were limitations to the ability, however. The ability did not trigger at all if I could see the attack coming ¨C if it was coming from a direction I could not see, or an attack too fast for me to see, I received the warning, but strangely, in a normal fight, it provided me very little benefit. Luckily for me, most of my fights were against people much faster than me, so far at least. I felt a kick coming from behind and, with the knowledge provided by Instinctive Precognition, I sidestepped away from it, leaving me behind the leg. I jabbed a short punch into the side of Reff¡¯s giant knee, spinning him about slightly, despite his relative size. A turned back to confront a series of lightning fast jabs from my teacher, attempting to push the first away from me, across her body in an effort to pre-empt the follow-up blows. Aella, it turned out, was both too fast and too skilled for that. As I pushed the first punch to the side, my teacher rolled her body back with the motion become coming back at me with a step, her elbow cracking into my hastily raised arm. Of balance, I felt another kick coming from my large friend, and reacted without thought be pushing off the ground with both feet ¨C the only option presented by Instinctive Precognition. I did manage to avoid the kick, but it is impossible ¨C at least for me ¨C to change directions in mid-air. As such, when I felt a descending elbow from Reff, all I could do it place my arms in the way, which saved me from an elbow to the gut, but also smashed me into the forest floor. The breath was knocked out of me and my body ached from the impact ¨C this was the fifth or sixth time that I had been knocked down in the last hour and I was starting to see the gaps in Instinctive Precognition. While it always seemed to provide a solution ¨C even when that was the best solution ¨C it was not always a good solution. I had successfully dodged the kick, but doing so had ultimately cost me the bout. It was going to take some getting used to ¨C I would have to try to fill in the skill gap, so that I knew when to go with the ability and when to ignore it. I was sort of glad ¨C I thought it would be pretty boring to just counter everything effortlessly, though I knew I would probably change my mind the next time I was in a life-or-death fight... Sucking in a breath, I sat up and climbed to me feet. ¡°Reff, what¡¯s with all the kicks? You could kick me through a tree, have you seen your legs?¡± ¡°In dismissal, you are much smaller than I am, Hunter. It is much easier to kick you than to punch you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think you can solve this with logic, Reff.¡± I grinned at him to make sure he knew I was joking and turned back to Aella. ¡°Am I improving? I feel like I¡¯m improving...¡± ¡°Barely. Your reflexes are impressive, as always, but you make stupid moves and back yourself into corners. You would still likely do well enough against somebody of your level.¡± The assessment matched with my own thoughts, and the compliment was grudging. It was a long way to our destination, from what I had been able to gather. I would have lots of time to practice. Aella had said we would be using Foci to practice soon. I was not looking forward to trying to punch lava. Flash of the Blade Reff and I stood opposite each other in a small clearing, a few feet apart in the bright moonlight. Reff¡¯s arms were covered in bright orange lava, and I could feel the heat on my face like I was peering into a fire. Flicking tongues of lightning lashed out from me with a series of rapid snaps, as I Focused on using as little power as possible. Aella had instructed me to attack and I was hesitating, not wanting to come into contact with those bright, molten limbs. ¡°Hunter, if you do not attack, I¡¯m going to come over there and kick you into the sky.¡± My teacher¡¯s voice was flat and irritated, which sounded weird given her lilting, sing-song voice. I did not doubt the threat, however ¨C I knew she was more than capable of it. With a sigh, I dashed at my massive friend, throwing a kick at the side of his knee. What he had said to me the day before was true ¨C he was much larger than I was, meaning that ¨C without jumping or climbing ¨C I was unable to attack anything above his waist ¨C which left the legs and... things that were out of bounds. In that way, I had an advantage, since he was only coating his arms, rather than his whole body. It was, it turned out, not a large advantage. As my foot kicked out, Reff stepped back with the targeted leg, twisting his ankle, dropping his other leg and driving one huge, bright fist towards my face. I wanted to push it away while stepping in the other direction, but his hand was covered in lava. I stepped away from the blow, twisting to avoid it. I punched out, but off balance, there wasn¡¯t a lot of power behind it, and while Reff grunted as the electricity surged through him, he seemed to ignore it, preferring to bring his other hand around and down in a hammer blow that stopped just shy of my face, singeing my eyebrows. ¡°I know you¡¯re at a higher stage than me, Reff, but how am I supposed to fight lava? Even with you only covering parts of you, I don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± Reff grinned at me as Aella stomped over to poke me in the chest. ¡°You finally asked. I was starting to think you liked getting burned.¡± ¡°Ugh, you mean there¡¯s a way to not get burned...?¡± ¡°Of course there is. How do you think people with elemental Foci fight? Strong words?¡± I thought back to my first day, about seeing Walker punch a fireball to pieces, as well as the times I had seen Reff and Sidona fighting. I felt like an idiot. ¡°Well, I guess that makes sense. So... how do it do it?¡± ¡°You need to expel Experience - or Praxis, or whatever ¨C from the spot where your meet the attack or defence of your opponent. When meeting Reff¡¯s stupid lava hands, you need to push out energy to create a barrier between you.¡± ¡°But, aren¡¯t I doing that with the... lightning?¡± ¡°No. Why would I tell you to do something you were already doing, and already wasn¡¯t working?¡± ¡°Right. Sorry. What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°When you use your Focus, it changes the properties of your Experience, it becomes the idea described by your Focus. Does your Focus include blocking energy?¡± ¡°No, it-¡± ¡°Of course it doesn¡¯t! There¡¯s only so much you can cram into a Focus, the rest is skill.¡± I held my hands up in defence, not wanting irritate my teacher. Instead, I concentrated on trying to push a little Praxis from my hand, without running it through my Focus. I was not difficult, I had done similar things when accessing my storage rings, though I had thought it would take some fine tuning to get the amount correct. ¡°Can I try? Ref, can I start by just... touching your hand?¡± ¡°With approval, you may, Hunter.¡± I reached out with one hand, pushing a thing stream of Praxis out of it and laid it flat on the still molten rock of my friend¡¯s hand. It hurt. A lot. Jerking my hand away I shook it, blowing furiously. It was not burned, it just hurt a lot. ¡°Ow, that hurt. I guess I need more Praxis.¡± ¡°Idiot, of course it hurt. You touched lava.¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°What good would coating yourself in lava be if you could defeat it completely so easily?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be much good, Teacher.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Only energy of a higher order can completely counter energy of a lower order, and even then, it takes a lot of it.¡± ¡°So, you either accept the pain, or you burn through your reserves?¡± ¡°Yes! One hurts, the other is stupid. Unless you can end the fight in an instant.¡± ¡°This all makes sense, but I¡¯ve defeated at least one person who was stages higher than me, using lightning. How?¡± ¡°How should I know? Was I there? Did I see? It could be anything. Maybe they were surprised, maybe they had a weakness to lightning. Maybe they were unskilled or stupid. I don¡¯t care. Take your pick and don¡¯t make that mistake.¡± For the next few hours, Reff and I continued to fight, using as little power as I could get away with. The fights hurt, that was certain, but I did start to get the hang of it. It seemed that the secret was choosing your moments to try to overcome your opponent¡¯s defence, both physical and energy based. I mostly failed, but I did stagger my friend once or twice, and I took that as a victory, despite usually ending up on my back. * *** * After ten days of travel, I finally got around to asking Walker exactly how far it was to the Blacksands. I was enjoying the forest immensely ¨C the day before we had entered a section of the forest in which all the leaves were crystal clear and fractured the light into many colours, and when the wind moved, they made a beautiful sound, like distant bells. Despite the natural ¨C or supernatural ¨C beauty all around me, which I was constantly absorbing as part of my cultivation, I was still concerned that Reff¡¯s people were suffering. Back in Everwood City, it had not occurred to me that the journey might take a long time ¨C I was used to taking a sub-orbital shuttle across the world for lunch. Even when I had been in the other world, I had been aboard a ship, so the journey seemed natural, but I had not internalised the distances involved without cheating by leaving the planet. ¡°We have perhaps another ten days before we reach the edged of the forest. After that, we will be able to hire transportation, as we will be on the plains.¡± ¡°The forest is twenty days across?¡± I knew that there were larger forests on Earth ¨C the Amazon, I was sure, could take years to walk across. ¡°No, of course not. Everwood City is very close to the edge.¡± I shook my head at the scale, glad at least that we were near the edge ¨C I hated to think about what might have happened if the city had been a the centre of the forest. ¡°How long will it take from the... plains?¡± ¡°Only a few days. Rapid travel is inhibited by the forest, but once we leave transport will be easy to come by.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief at-¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Mid-sentence, a man stepped out from behind a tree in front of us, a wide, curved sword held in front of him. He had a notch in his lips and was dressed in brown, black and green rags, looking like ragged camouflage. ¡°Well met, all! You are outnumbered, so let''s not be unpleasant. All we want is your money, weapons, treasure, storage rings, spare clothes... You know what? Just give us everything, and you can go.¡± The speaker was grinning, and I looked around, noting there were another five of them scattered about us. Walker, seeming unconcerned by the ambush turned to my teacher and spoke with a calm voice,¡°Aella, the leader appears to be at the Foundation stage ¨C would you like the fight?¡± ¡°Here now, there¡¯s no need-¡± ¡°Hey, shut it! I haven¡¯t had a decent fight in a long time! Give us a second, I¡¯ll be there soon enough!¡± Aella interrupted the bandit leader, a wide smile on her face as she unwound the weighted chain from around her slender waist. ¡°The others are all fall somewhere within the Core stage ¨C Reff, if you could provide Hunter some assistance?¡± ¡°With certainty.¡± Walker stood, relaxed with his hands behind his back, saying nothing more. Taking the hint, I turned to the people who were apparently my opponents, who were looking confused by the whole situation. ¡°Right, let¡¯s dance, notchy!¡± There was a deep whump and I felt a shockwave, and I turned to see... mostly nothing. As my Teacher and the bandit leader began to fight, earth exploded and trees fell to pieces, the two of them only really visible in the moments they arrested each other¡¯s movements. Turning back once more, shrugged at the bandits, and seeing the fight had started, they rushed in. Activating my Focus, I stepped forwards and away from my companions. I could feel the heat flare up from Reff¡¯s lava armour, but I paid it no mind, trusting him to more than hold his own if the people we were fighting were at my level. I also spared no thought for Walker, knowing anybody who attacked him would regret it, at best. My first pair of opponents reached me quickly, one wielding a huge glowing red axe, and the other wrapped in lashing vines. They came at me in almost in slow motion, as my Focus accelerated my own sense of the world around me. I stepped to my left, placing the vine-wrapped attacker between myself and the axe wielder. A long tendril of plant matter shot towards my face and I gave it my arm as a compromise. Wrapping around it, the vine began to constrict like a snake and I pulled back sharply, tugging the man on the other end of it towards me. The vine itself seemed somewhat resistant to electricity, but I could smell burning plant matter as the current started to work through it. As the vine-user stumbled towards me, I drove my fist into their face with a feral grin, and I heard twin snaps, as a filament of power entered their body at the same time as his nose broke under the force of the blow. The nose breaking must have distracted him, because the electricity seemed to have a decent effect, as he stiffed, before staggering back and dropping, his now burning vine falling free before disintegrating. His companion had not been idle though, and I felt the red axe swinging down towards my right shoulder. Instinctively, I stepped in and raised my arm, catching the weapon just below the blade. The blow carried a lot of power, and it drove me down to my knees, but that was better than having my arm severed. From a kneeling position, I turned my wrist and grasped the shaft of the axe, pulling on it to provide leverage and allowing me to quickly stand. Using the energy of my rise, I pulled myself in and drove a knee into his stomach, driving the air from his lungs, along with a shock. I was about to follow up with an elbow, but I felt an arrow coming from behind me and my raised arm automatically snapped around to catch it. Both myself and the axe wielder stared as I brought the arrow around in front of me. For a split second, he froze before he turned and tried to scramble away from me. Unwilling to let him go unpunished, I stepped in a drove a foot between his legs, though I felt a little bad about it. The crackle of electricity intensified as he jolted away from me, stiffening mid fall with a strangled cry. I caught another arrow without looking and turned to drive an elbow into an onrushing fist. There was a crack as my new attacker¡¯s fingers broke, and while she was distracted, I caught her wrist with my other hand, letting power surge into her as I tugged her into a crackling headbutt. She dropped as I sensed the approach of another arrow ¨C unlike the previous arrows, I did not sense how to counter this one, and as I turned, I saw why ¨C the arrow split into a dozen copies of itself, each coming at me from a different angle and direction. I took the hint that it was impossible to dodge them all, so I leapt backwards, slapping out to deflect as many as I could, but despite my best efforts, I ended up with three of them sticking out of my left arm. I could feel the blood pouring down my side as I glared in the direction the arrow had come from seeing the archer on a few dozen feet away. Unwilling to act as their pincushion, I ran towards them, eager to close the distance and hopefully take them out of the fight. I was half-way there when I had to pause as a woman slammed into the ground in front of me. I looked around to see Reff, coated in his molten armour shrug at me and turn to kick a man holding a giant flower like it was a mace. Bemused I turned to the female projectile just as she rolled to her feet and wiped a trace of blood from the corner of her lips. Taking a guard stance, she manifested an incandescent white sword seemingly carved from light, as she glared at me. I moved in, trying to get around the sword but it followed me easily, always blocking my path. I reached for the blade, pushing Praxis out of my hand, hoping to grab the sword and allow my lightning to conduct down its length. As my hand closed about the edge, my opponent jerked it back and I yelped as the blade cut easily into my flesh. There was a flash of light as my lightning travelled down it, but she shook it off with seemingly little effort. My opponent grinned, the expression predatory as she started her own attack. The blade flashed as it caught the diffracted light from the crystal leaves and it darted towards me. She was every bit as fast as I was, and had a definite range advantage. She was also more cautious and skilled than the axe wielder had been, and I found myself on the defensive, just a little too fast for Instinctive Precognition to give me clues. I dodged the cuts and thrusts, at least glad my new opponent stood between me and the archer, and waited for an opening. My opponent did not seem keen on providing one and ¡ª seemingly tired of my dodging ¡ª stepped it up a gear. The blows came faster, still controlled and balanced but much more aggressive. I was forced to start slapping the blade aside as I dodged, my hand hyper-extended, so that as little of it would touch the blade as possible. Even so, I started to accumulate cuts on my hands and along my arms as she maneuverer the blade to do damage even as I blocked. Each deflection sent a rush of power down the sword, accompanied by a flash and crack and I recalled my unfortunate interaction with the guards back at the palace, and hoped that something at least based on metal would do something similar. It was a pretty big assumption, I have to admit but my options were a little limited, given the fact that I was obviously outclassed in terms of skill. The next time I deflected the blade, I pushed hard at my Focus, driving a chunk of power out of my body and in to the bright sword, not so much hoping it would have the desired effect, but more resigned to the possibility. There was a sharp crack and I had just enough time to see a bright, violet-blue bolt of energy flash between us, and then the two of us were blasted apart. I staggered to me feet, blinking afterimages from my eyes as I felt a burning pain on my chest. I stood twitching for a second as I stood dazed, but I was pretty used to electrocution at that point, so I recovered by bearings quickly. I limped over to where the woman lay, blood running down my arms freely, and the burning pain on my chest pulsing with heat at every step. The shining sword had vanished, I was glad to see, though I was less happy to see my opponent climbing to her feet. I should not have been surprised, seeing as whatever reaction that had been had not put me down for long. Not hesitating, I stepped in and dropped down, driving a fist into her rising jaw. I had lost my Focus, but I was still strong and there was a dull crack that finally seemed to do the trick of knocking her out. I looked around, still blinking away afterimages, anticipating more arrows. A brief search told me the archer seemed to be down and I turned to look around, seeing that all of the bandits were either on the floor or had fled. The only ongoing fight was between Aella and the bandit leader. They were still moving too fast for me to follow, but I caught glimpses here and there. The leader seemed to be throwing out a cutting wave with every slash, and it was fascinating to watch my teacher flipping around and between them, all the while spinning her chain in his direction. For several moments, the two seemed to be fairly balanced, but the petite woman that had told me she had taken a mountain as her Focus suddenly shifted into a series of offensive moves that I could feel against my skin, like a massive bass drum. No longer dodging, the weighted chain simply shattered the cutting waves, and I could see panic starting to show on the leader¡¯s face. Too late, he decided to run, but as he turned the chain came around and impacted his back and he burst apart like rotten fruit Aella turned back to us, a grin on her face, as she pulled her chain back and began to spin it again, the blood flying from its length like a dog shaking itself dry. ¡°Well, that was fun! And Hunter, you didn¡¯t die! Good job. Why are you bleeding so much? Are those arrows? Why did you let yourself get shot?¡± Apparently safe, I allowed myself to relax, and shaking slightly in reaction, I sat and pulled a healing pill from my ring, before placing it I my mouth and swallowing. ¡°Well, it turned out that the archer could split their arrows, making them hard to dodge. Also, I found out that swords are sharp, Teacher. Who knew?¡± My teacher grinned at me and I let out a pained chuckle. Painful, and violent it may have been, but it felt great to be alive, and I knew I would be making gains from the Experience, I looked at my companions as they moved about, at the casual normality with which they treated the situation. Every time I thought I was accustomed to my new world, I was reminded how very different it was from the Earth I had known. The constant threat of death, however, was something I hoped I would never have get used to, though that did not seem likely, given the deal I had with Xiournal. ¡°You performed satisfactorily, Hunter; almost all of those you fought were lightly above your level of cultivation. Reff, your control is most impressive; many of your level and elemental inclinations would have set the forest on fire.¡± Walker, his voice perfectly calm and unperturbed bowed his head in respect to my huge friend, and I shook my head, going over the fight in my head. It had seemed like a short eternity, in the moment, but in retrospect I was vaguely astonished at just how short a time had passed. I would have to ask Aella about training versus weapons though, as blasting myself every time I fought somebody with one was probably not going to work against more than one person at a time... New Frontier ¡°I don¡¯t understand, why did they attack us? Surely, they must have known they stood no chance.¡± I spoke up, a little bit grumpy, as pushing the arrows through my arm had not been pleasant. Luckily, I had been wearing my practice/fighting gear, so I hadn¡¯t ruined another set of clothes, though I was surprised the blast to the chest had not made a hole. I would take whatever victories I could get though, no matter how small. ¡°Their leader was reasonably strong, and they likely did not have a way to determine our strength. Given their superior numbers, the situation must have seemed to be in their favour.¡± Walker stood motionless, unmoved from where he had started the fight, his voice almost warm, as if out for a stroll. Which I guess, technically, we were... ¡°Why would they have no way to determine our strength? Almost everyone I¡¯ve met has known how strong ¨C or weak - I was since I arrived.¡± ¡°I can only speak for those I am aware of, Hunter, but I was able to sense it due to being an Apex. Aella has a bloodline ability which allows her to always see the energy normally invisible. Master Alchemist Ro has refined spiritual senses due to his profession, as that is needed to work at his level.¡± ¡°What about the micro-psychos, Fou Shei and his sister? They seemed to have a pretty good handle on my strength when we first met.¡± ¡°In the case of the siblings you speak of, I do not know. Aella?¡± My teacher was swinging her new sword about, having taken it from the corpse of her recent opponent. The blade was a dull blue and reflected very little light, and Aella seemed happy with it, judging by the almost manic grin on her face. Looking over at us, she blinked her solid pink-on-pink eyes for a moment, clearly replaying Walker¡¯s words in her head. ¡°Oh, the Unceasing Squall has some sort of vibration-based bloodline ability. It gives them a vague sense of a person¡¯s strength, though I don¡¯t think it¡¯s very accurate! Your lack was just very obvious at the time. They probably couldn¡¯t tell your exact strength now; you¡¯d probably just feel average to them, rather than below average.¡± ¡°Teacher, honestly, one day you¡¯re going to over-inflate my ego with praise like that.¡± I grinned at her, though there was some teeth to it, due to the still sharp ache of my closing arm-holes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, humility is important, especially for the weak. If something like that happens, I¡¯ll be ready to help you.¡± Her voice was completely serious, and I hoped that if I ever did develop a bloated ego, it would be far, far away from Aella. ¡°Ugh, that¡¯s a nice sword though. Anything special about it, besides being blue?¡± I changed the subject, as I moved about checking the pulses of the people I had put down. ¡°It¡¯s very heavy! I wonder if I could have it attached to a chain...¡± I pictured her swinging around a sword on the end of a chain and shuddered a little, not liking lawnmower-like imagery. Though, I thought, it was not like her usual chain was not devastating on its own. All the people I had taken out seemed to be alive, and unknowing what the protocol was on my new world, I asked the others what I should do. ¡°Guy, these... ugh, bandits are still alive. Do I just leave them or do I need to...¡± I made a cutting gesture with my hand, not wanting to say it. So far, I had killed when I had to, but I really did not want to murder a bunch of helpless people, even if they had attacked us. ¡°It is up to you Hunter. Though they attacked us, without their leader, and now missing so many of their number, they do not possess the strength to threaten most groups, even if they should so choose.¡± Walker was the calm voice of reason, and I was really grateful he had not said to simply kill them. ¡°So, do we just leave them here? What about the dead ones?¡± ¡°The living will wake soon enough, and the dead will be retaken by the forest and beasts that live here.¡± Walker spoke matter-of-factly and though it was different than what I was used to, I mentally shrugged and decided to respect their customs. Turning back to the unconscious forms, I decided that I would be looting them, regardless. Merciful I may have been, but they had attacked us. And I had expenses. Confiscating their purses, I checked them for storage devices, but none of them seemed to have anything that would fit the bill, which was a touch disappointing. I looked over at the leader¡¯s newly distributed body and figured he probably had the bulk of the wealth, but knowing Aella had already claimed his stuff. You keep what you kill, seemed to be the rule here. I did up netting a couple of hundred coins, in various denominations. It was not a huge haul, but how rich could you really expect bandits to be? If they were rich, they would not be robbing people. Something occurred to me as I had that thought, a reminder to my first few days on the planet. Looking up at my mentor, I asked question that had not occurred to me previously. ¡°Walker, where do these glowing coins come from? They look like sliced up balls. You explained what all of them are worth, but... what are they?¡± ¡°Sliced balls ¨C or rather cores - are precisely what they are. When a beast is killed, their growth cores can be extracted. The stronger the beast, the more their core is worth. They are then sliced into smaller denominations.¡± ¡°Beasts have cores? Do they have souls? I know that¡¯s a kind of human, ugh, person-centric question, but... do they?¡± ¡°Come, if you are not going to kill these few, we should leave. It would be unfortunate if they woke now and forced you to change your mind out of reflex. We can talk while we walk.¡± Aella put her new toy away, and the four of us walked on, leaving the blood and bodies behind. I looked back once, and shuddered at the contrast between the beauty of the forest, and what now lay upon its floor. * *** * ¡°The question of whether beasts have souls or not has more complexity than it may seem like upon the surface. Most beasts do not possess souls, as we know them. However, there are a few which do indeed possess souls. It seems to be a question of power: There are a few singular examples called Elders. Elders are the beast equivalent of an Apex and they do indeed possess souls, as well as the ability to alter their forms.¡± My stomach was threatening rebellion by the time my dark mentor finished speaking, despite the fact that I had not actually eaten any animals since leaving the city. ¡°... Please tell me that becoming an Elder is rare, and that I haven¡¯t been eating potential sentient beings.¡± Walker chuckled, a rare wide smile on his usually stoic face. ¡°They are exceedingly rare. I had the same reaction as a child, when I was told some beats walked, thought and loved as we do. If it is any consolation, they do not seem to care overmuch for any un-souled beast not of their line.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s not just me. You and Ro mentioned that using a phoenix egg could cause trouble with an Elder, right?¡± ¡°That is right. A phoenix is immortal ¨C they cannot be permanently killed. They normally do not produce young for this reason ¨C they simply have no need. Only a phoenix Elder is capable of producing an egg.¡± ¡°... So the egg I have in my ring... is the child of something about equal to an Apex?¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± I thought back to my latest task ¨C in my head, I had automatically placed all the emphasis on curing the plague... but what if the main task was returning it? Having an angry Apex-level parent rampaging across the world did not seem like it would be a good time, given Walker¡¯s recent revelations... And as my mentor had said, phoenixes were immortal. Suddenly, the bit about not causing a cataclysm seemed much harder than I had hoped... ¡°Let¡¯s pick up the pace guys. Lives are at stake and all that!¡± I lengthened my stride, knowing I was by far the slowest person in the party. The others easily kept pace. We had been walking for while in companionable silence ¨C if at a quicker than normal pace ¨C when Walker spoke up again, his tone reluctant. ¡°Hunter, I did have another question ¨C I had hoped you would bring it up, however you seem reluctant to go into specific details regarding your trip to the other world.¡± ¡°Honestly, unless you want me to describe being eaten, I¡¯m an open book, Walker.¡± ¡°...You were... eaten? Never mind, if you do not wish to speak of it, I will not push you to. You mentioned that the door through which you entered that world was different than the one through which I retrieved you. In what way was it different?¡± I frowned, as I thought about it ¨C I was sure I had told Walker before, but so much had been going on, maybe I had forgotten. ¡°Yeah, your door was all bright and spinny, and there was the whole... void... in-between. The door I went though was just... a hole. One side was here, and the other was there. I just stepped ¨C or dove ¨C through.¡± I paused for a moment as something else occurred to me. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have portal-ed us to the Blacksands? And why didn¡¯t Reff¡¯s brother portal him to Everwood?¡± Walker walked in silence for a few moments, his brow tight above his blindfold, clearly thinking about what I had said. ¡°We may only open passages to other worlds. Why this is the case, we do not know, though it has been speculated that constructing a passage with both end-points upon our world would impinge upon the gods¡¯ Domain. We do not create a hole, as you describe, but rather a tunnel constructed from energy though the void between worlds ¨C it, by its nature must pass through something. That is why I find your description to be strange; to my knowledge, the passage between worlds takes a very specific energy, and must possess a very definite form. Even when such doors are opened between worlds by the gods, it is the same as the one I created, though at a much larger scale. What can you tell me of the being that produced this door?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know that he did create the door, it was already open when I got there ¨C Reff, did the guy I chased ¨C with the shadow face, open it?¡± ¡°With definite assurance, it was the person you chased, Hunter. The space the portal had occupied seemed to be eaten away, or eroded in some way.¡± ¡°He ate the space? He sucked the Experience and Praxis right out of my centre too. Maybe that¡¯s his thing? Can eating be a Focus?¡± ¡°He removed the energy from your centre directly, Hunter? That should be a true impossibility, regardless of the system in which he operates. While most things can serve as a Focus, it is impossible to affect a person¡¯s internal Experience directly, or so I thought. Even a vampire must draw your blood out in order to consume the Experience within it.¡± Recalling another detail that Reff had mentioned to me, I spoke up again, ¡°Reff, you said that he pulled green-cat-guy through a second portal, with chains, right?¡± ¡°In recollection, that is true, Hunter. Black chains, their links soundless. It was... eerie.¡± ¡°This man created a second portal? Another impossibility. It takes time to recover the resources necessary. This is most disturbing news; I will need to discuss this with the others.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was troubled, which was disturbing to me on a whole other level than I was used to. Thinking back on the strangely calm yet manic man, I hoped he would stay put in the Black, though it seemed unlikely. But a man can hope. Right? * *** * Just under two weeks after we set out from Everwood City, the four of us finally reached the edge of the forest. It came as something of a surprise to me. I had been expecting a gradual decline in density, maybe smaller trees or shrubs, but instead there was a sharp line where the trees cut off, as if some giant knife hand cut the forest away. In place of the vast forest, there were plains; endless rolling fields and hills stretched out across the landscape and I could see the shadow of distant clouds racing across the green canvas. ¡°There should be a town over that hill.¡± Walker gestured to a distant hill, taller than most of the others I could see by a fair margin. ¡°In confirmation, I believe my guide and I passed through here.¡± I slapped Reff¡¯s thigh and smiled up at him, knowing it should now only be a few days before we reached his home. It took a few hours to reach our destination ¨C the hill had looked larger than the others, but it was in fact both very large and quite distant. The town itself was huge ¨C not on the same scale at Everwood City, but it was still massive for something being called a town. As we approached, I noticed part of the hill closest to it had been dug away, leaving a gigantic opening rimmed with giant stones which led into a shadowed interior. ¡°Does this town have a name?¡± ¡°It is known as, ¡®Forest Border Outpost 18¡¯. Perhaps not the most imaginative name, but the inhabitants of the plains tend to err on the side of utility, rather than the one of creativity.¡± The town was ringed by a sixty-foot high wall of gleaming white stone, with towers every ninety feet or so. I could see men and women with huge, thick bows patrolling along the wall¡¯s crenelated top, with a few keeping their eye on our approach. ¡°I take it there aren¡¯t many towns without walls?¡± ¡°Nobody¡¯s that stupid! Who wants to be murdered or eaten in their sleep?¡± Aella¡¯s sing-song voice was mocking, but I took it in stride. I would rather ask stupid seeming questions than actually be stupid. As we approached the nearest gate, two men stepped out dressed in leather kilts and complex metal chest armour that looked almost Roman. They each held a shield and a long spear, and looked like they likely knew how to use them. Which, I reflected, should really be expected from guards. ¡°Hold strangers! What business brings you to Forest Border Outpost Eighteen?¡± The guard¡¯s accent was clipped and rigid, which almost the sounded like a formal chant. ¡°We are seeking to procure transport to the Blacksand Citadel.¡± I left the explanation to Walker, since he was the only one among us who actually knew where he was going. ¡°How long will do you intend to stay within the Outpost?¡± ¡°Only as long as it takes to locate transport.¡± The guard that wasn¡¯t speaking moved his spear to rest against the inside of his shield and he reached his now spare hand out. Four slips of paper appeared there, and he glanced over, confirming something to himself, before gesturing for us to take them. ¡°These are your entry permits. They are valid until sundown. If for some reason you are required to stay longer, you will need to speak to a member of the guard so that we may assess your requirements and provide new permits, should it be necessary.¡± We accepted our passes and thanks the guards, before entering. We passed through the wall, and it was much the same as the ones leading to Everwood had been ¨C multiple portcullis as well as regular murder holes, all made from the same stone as the walls, the interior lit with alchemical bulbs, all shining a stark white. On the other side of the wall, we were met with rows of uniform buildings constructed from the same materials as the wall, all running in perfectly straight lines, each building exactly the same as the ones to either side of it. Each building was constructed with balconies and overhanging roofs, all held up by smooth white columns. Following Walker, I saw signs at each intersection, like many of the cities and towns back on Earth. These things had been conspicuously absent in Everwood City, but I had not occurred to me until I saw the familiar sight at the outpost. We passed several squares, centred around huge fountains, and occupied by diverse groups, many of whom seemed to be wearing togas of varying length. In one square, I saw an old man with muscles like Schwarzenegger in his prime addressing a rapt audience with some sort of story, but I was too far away to hear away details. The huge entrance to the hill grew steadily larger in my vision as we approached it, and I was almost ready to let my curiosity get the better of me when we turned onto a new lane, and I had the question of what it was answered. On either side of the wide lane, tall platforms had been built, easily forty feet high, with wide, overhanging platforms at the top. To the side of each platform there was a truly massive animal that looked like a cross between a kangaroo and tiger, crouched on all fours and with a platform attached to their backs with a multitude of straps. Further down the lane, I could see another one of the gargantuan creatures emerging from the entrance to the hill, its gait ungainly, though I imagined it was probably more fluid at speed. I looked at the legs and tried to imagine the motions they would result in, and I imagined long bounds into the air. Hoping my new body did not get travel sick, I turned to Walker as we made our ways closer, ¡°This... is the transport, isn¡¯t it?¡±. ¡°Indeed.¡± Coming Home The giant creatures were called Plainsrunners ¨C it made sense, given what they were used for, but I thought the name was a little on the nose. The four of us made our way up the winding steps, having paid for our passage already, and onto the platform a short step away from the platform the top. The seating area atop the Plainsrunner was made from a dark wood reinforced with leather and metal. I followed my companions¡¯ examples as I strapped myself into a rigid chair, my head resting against its back. The driver ¨C or rider ¨C nodded as we all strapped in, before making his away along the animal¡¯s back to another seat at the base of its skull. ¡°In relief, I will be glad to be home. My thanks again to all of you for accompanying me, and especially to you, Hunter, for retrieving the egg. When I set out upon this journey, I had thought that I would be gone for much longer, as our own alchemists advised that even one such as Master Alchemist Ben Won Ro could take many weeks to prepare a cure, if it were even possible.¡± I looked over at Reff, only able to see his wide shoulders around his huge chair. I could hear a change in his voice, a release of tension I had not known was there, until that moment. I thought back to our meeting, and how he had seemed fine with a delay of an hour or two. I guessed that, when you were expecting to wait for weeks, a few hours may not have seemed that long, but even so, I had to shake my head at the obvious strain he had been under. ¡°Reff, I¡¯m really glad I met you. And that I could help.¡± ¡°I always wanted to see your homes, Reff. I¡¯m quite looking forward to it! Hunter, your head is growing, I can almost see it around the chair. Do I need to unstrap and come over there?¡± The sing-song voice of my teacher sounded from behind me, and I thought I could hear a smile in the voice. ¡°No, Teacher that¡¯s not nec-¡±, the end of Aella¡¯s chain flipped over the chair and into my face, interrupting me and I yelped, before I felt my face heat, as I realised that if there had actually been any danger, my ability would have triggered. I heard her snigger to herself and I sat muttering to myself for a few moments. ¡°The journey should take no more than a day, perhaps two, depending on the speed of the Plainsrunner. Reff, I am also glad that we are able to help your people. I cannot imagine your brother would react well to wide-scale death among his people.¡± Walker ignored Aella and my own playful snarking, turning his attention towards our purpose, as always. ¡°With worry, my brother is not as hot-headed as I am, however I believe that even he may lose his temper, should this plague spread too far.¡± ¡°I am sure that this, ¡®Risen Throne¡¯ will come to regret their actions, for the brief period in which they still exist.¡± My dark mentor¡¯s voice turned hard as he mentioned the group responsible, and I thought back to what I had seen of him in action. I knew I would not want Walker angry at me, let alone more than one Apex. A slight shiver ran through me at the thought, and I turned my gaze inwards to take a look at my centre. Despite all the days of travel and the near constant cultivation and refinement of Experience, my centre was mostly unchanged. My excessive channels might provide me with some advantages ¨C and had probably saved my life in the Black ¨C it was still disheartening to look at my soul see and find my Core barely started. I knew that the journey to Pinnacle could take a long time, and I was not expecting to leap through the stages, but since finishing my Focus I had been basically stood still, when it came to my cultivation, or so it felt. I looked up as our rider ¨C driver ¨C hopped onto the platform we were seated on, made sure we were all strapped in and made his way along the animal¡¯s spine to his own seat. There hard to be a limit to how much Praxis my energy circulation system could hold, I just had to get there. I had been through a lot ¨C had Experienced a lot since my arrival and I had to believe that would make up for starting as late as I had, at some point. As I pondered, our transport began to move with a strange rocking walk, almost like being aboard a ship. I held my breath for a moment, concentration wholly on my stomach, but after a few moments I relaxed, as the feared sickness did not descend. We were moving down a wide central boulevard, somewhat faster than a walk, but not by much. I knew there was no way this was the maximum speed of the beast we were riding, unless the Blacksands were really close and we were just being lazy. It took us about half an hour to reach the wall of the outpost, and I was mostly concentrating on refining more Praxis when we passed through a gate much larger than the one we had used to enter, obviously sized to allow the entry of the colossal animals. As we once again emerged into the bright daylight, there was a pause and I heard the distinct call of, ¡°Clear!¡± followed shortly by, ¡°Confirmed!¡±. I turned my head about to ask Walker that that had been about when, with a jolt, my head was pressed firmly back against the seat, along with my whole body as the animal accelerated almost instantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the walls of the outpost rapidly retreating as we switched into a long, smooth gait. Still accelerating, I felt the platform drop slightly and then, in an instant we were airborne. I looked on, wide-eyed as the ground fell away from us, and I guessed that we were hundreds of feet in the air. For long seconds, we hung above the ground, our speed impossible to tell, other than the tremendous pressure pulling me into the seat. It is a well-known expression that, ¡°What goes up, must come down.¡±, at least it had been on Earth, and it seemed to be true there on my new world as well. We began to fall, eventually, as all things must and I felt a fluttering tingle in my stomach as we dropped out of the air. Crushing my eyes shut as I saw the plains rush up towards us, for a moment I forgot where I was and thought I was about to die for a second time. The landing, when it came, was unnoticeable. We transitioned from falling, to being catapulted once more into the air. The change was so smooth it was almost like being on the track of a rollercoaster, and I once again opened my eyes, a grin splitting my face as I began to laugh in pure exhilaration at the feeling. My voice was lost in the rush of the wind, but I was unable to stay silent, such was the joy rushing through me. Shouting wordlessly, I pulled the Experience into my centre, savouring every second. * *** * Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Eventually we stopped for the evening ¨C the ground had changed over the last few hours and was now the black and dark grey sand from which I assume the area derived its name. The Plainsrunner turned in a circle, its large ears stiff, before it finally crouched. Given the size of the thing, I did not want to meet whatever it was on the lookout for, so I was glad it was on its guard. Once the beast was crouched, the driver ¨C rider ¨C walked back down the spine of our collective mount while whistling a jaunty tune, nodded to us, and then began unbuckling straps on the side of the platform, revealing a long rope ladder. The ladder unspooled down the side of the cat-karoo and he disappeared over the edge without a word. We all unstrapped ourselves from our seats ¨C it felt good to be standing. It had been impossible to accurately estimate our speed, but given the g-forces involved in our journey, I guessed we had been moving somewhere in the hundreds of miles-per-hours, which really said a lot since we had been traveling so far. When I had been in the tower back in Everwood, I had been amazed by the scope of the forest, but knowing we were only on the edge and that the plains we had crossed in a day had been hundreds, maybe thousands of miles across was almost mind boggling. My companions had climbed down the rope while I stood thinking, and I hurried after them. The fur of the animal was soft, but it still managed to scratch my skin if I brushed against it the wrong way on my way down. Reaching the ground, I found my friends, along with the rider ¨C driver ¨C whose name I did not know, milling about and stretching their legs. Taking the opportunity, and eager to spend a little energy after sitting for so long, I walked up Aella, and tapped her on the shoulder. ¡°Teacher, back at the fight with the bandits I fought a swordswoman and she cut me up quite a lot. Any chance you could give me some pointers with weapons?¡± Turning her pink-on-pink gaze to me, Aella¡¯s eyes narrowed and her lisp twisted about as she considered the question. ¡°I would normally consider you too unskilled with the empty hand to begin with weapons, but you seem to heal pretty fast, so let¡¯s give it a try.¡± Her lilting voice sounded doubtful at first, but by the end she was back to her normal, bubbly sing-song self. ¡°Here, use this.¡± My teacher held out a hand and the blue sword she had taken from the bandit leader appeared there as she offered it to me. I nodded in thanks and reached for the curved weapon, but as my teacher passed it to me, I had to drop it, as its weight was utterly impossible for me to support, and if I had tried, I probably would have hurt myself. The blade landed in the dark sand with a solid thud, and Aella glared at me. ¡°Why did you drop it? That''s a nice weapon, you shouldn¡¯t treat it like that!¡± She raised a hand as if to slap some sense into me, so I spoke quickly. ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just too heavy for me to lift!¡± The raised hand paused for a moment, before she dropped it back to her side, the glare turning into an amused smile. ¡°Oh! Sorry, Hunter. It¡¯s sometimes hard to remember how weak Core stage cultivators are.¡± Aella reached down and picked up the sword and straightened as it vanished. ¡°That¡¯s the only other weapon I have on me! Sorry, weapons will have to wait!¡± ¡°Actually, I have a couple on me. I have,¡± I checked my rings quickly, ¡°A couple of swords and a weighted chain like you.¡± ¡°Oooh, a chain would be good with your Focus, and obviously I¡¯m a master with one!¡± She placed a hand on her chest and spoke as if showing modesty, which in no way fit her words. But who was I to judge? ¡°Okay, Teacher, let¡¯s try and see how it goes. It does seem like it would be useful for me in particular.¡± ¡°Good! Watch this, pay attention!¡± Aella walked off way, illuminated by the vast moon above us. I felt the other move over to watch with me and I did my best to pay attention, as I had been instructed. Aella unwound the chain from around her waist, about twelve feet of it, the chain almost flowing like liquid, rather than a chain. Making sure I was watching, she began to spin it ¨C slower than during her fight with the bandit leader, but still only made visible in the night by the occasional flash of moonlight it reflected. All at once, she began to move, the chain flicking out before being pulled back and wrapped around various parts of her body as she moved faster and faster. At one point, I was pretty sure the chain had shot out in five directions at once, though I knew that could not be the case. The weighted end flew in unexpected directions, coming up from the ground one moment before crashing down from above the next, and all the while my teacher moved at its centre, movements graceful and precise as she guided the weapon about. After about two minutes, Aella finally came to a stop, the chain snapping back into her hand before she wrapped it once more around her slender waist and walked back over to us. ¡°Were you paying attention, Hunter?¡± ¡°I was, Teacher, though you were still moving too fast for me to catch everything. It was very impressive, and beautiful to watch.¡± My voice was coloured by open admiration ¨C it had been beautiful to watch, and while my teacher was incredibly attractive, like everyone I had met or seen in this world, that had nothing to do with my admiration. It had been like watching a dance ¨C a dance that could splat people into mush. ¡°Good! Now you do it.¡± * *** * The next day, I was once again strapped into my seat atop the Plainsrunner, as we bounded through the air. I rubbed at my throat, still able to feel the chain wrapped tight around it from trying to copy my teacher the evening before. The practice had not gone well, and I was sure I had avoided a second suicide only because of the timely warnings from Instinctive Precognition. Eventually, Aella had confiscated the weapon for my own safety, telling me that we could try again if we could find a less dangerous practice weapon, though I think she may have been humouring me. Walker had offered to show me some sword forms, but I had begged off until we reached our destination, slightly traumatised from the many near-deaths I had inflicted upon myself. Turning my mind back to the present, I noted a mountain in the distance, standing alone above the horizon and kept my eye on it, expecting to pass it soon. More than an hour passed, my eyes still watching that lonesome peak as we bounced over the sand, and I began to realise that distance may have been playing tricks on my eyes. The rocky protrusion had grown bigger over time, and indeed was growing by the second. At the speed we had to be traveling, that meant it was beyond huge. An hour passed, my alarmed gaze locked on the strutting stone, finally piecing together that it may in fact be our destination. The air was growing frigid by then, thick mist pouring out from my mouth and nose, only to be snatched away by the rushing wind. I could feel frost forming on my beard and I had a flash back to my last moments on Earth. Surprisingly, there was no bite to the memory ¨C like most of my first life, I could remember it, but it felt somehow detached, like it was something that had happened to somebody else. I was fine with that ¨C my last life had not been great, and I would hate for it to hold me back, given the wonders I was experiencing. My guess proved true ¨C, the mountain I had been watching seemed to be our destination and before long, we had arrived at the Blacksand Citadel. The sky was blanketed with thick grey clouds the likes of which I had not seen since my arrival on that world. The Blacksand Citadel rose from the frost coated sand like a vast dark pillar, stretching into the sky far enough that I could not make out the top through the clouds. The base was massive, making the Plainsrunner seem tiny as we dismounted. The towers back at Everwood had been high, but they were relatively slender; the Citadel looked like a colossal mesa, its sides sheer and intricately carved with geometric patterns incorporating balconies and external stairs, as well as windows and doors for as high as the eye could see, and stretching out at least a couple of miles to either side. Huge carved stone doors, which appeared to be constructed from smaller and smaller doors, by the look of it, stood ahead of us, and I had to crane my head back to even take them in fully. As I stared at the incomprehensibly huge thing, I heard Walker thank our driver and bid him goodbye. I turned in time to see him finish climbing the ladder, and moments later, the animal sped away, vanishing over the horizon in less than a minute. Isaw my teacher stood to my side, also staring up at the mountainous home of Reff¡¯s people, a look of wonder on her face. I smiled at the sight, glad that my friend could find her own wonders, despite being native to the world. ¡°With significant relief, welcome to my home. It is good to be back.¡± Ive Got the Fire Reff led us over to the giant stone doors, and even after having watched this mountain get closer for all that time, the size was still deceptive. It took us twenty minutes to reach the actual base of the edifice, my mind refusing to take in the sheer size of it. The doors, which had looked huge before, easily stretched more than a hundred feet up the tower¡¯s side. I could tell as we finally arrived that it seemed to be made from a series of concentric doors, each set smaller than the last. Turning to Reff I asked, ¡°...Do we need to knock?¡± ¡°With patience, there is no need.¡± I waited for him to say more, but there was no need. Moments after he finished speaking, the smallest set of doors ¨C this set only ten feet high and wide ¨C opened in front of us, soundlessly and smooth. I looked through the entrance, as my breath billowed out as mist, but could see nobody inside. Reff walked over to the doors, stopping besides them and gesturing us to enter, one arm outstretched and head bowed. I followed Walker and Aella inside ¨C Walker bowing his head to my giant friend as he passed, while Aella was busy with turning her head in every direction, absorbing as much as possible. As I reached him, I grinned and bowed to his knee. ¡°Nice place you have here. A little on the small side, but nice.¡± ¡°In confusion, the Citadel is in fact very large, Hunter.¡± ¡°Really? Didn¡¯t notice.¡± Reff stared at me for a moment, uncertainty writ clearly on his face, but I just grinned and walked through the doors, leaving him to follow after. The interior of the tower seemed to be lit by glowing lines that ran over the walls and floor, illuminating a massive empty chamber. A pillar, wide enough to seem squat, occupied the centre of the room, and I looked around, the silence a little eerie. Behind me, the doors were closing ¨C soundlessly, again ¨C and Reff walked over to us. As the doors closed, I felt a vibration in the floor, and turned back to the pillar ¨C the glowing lines were moving ¨C sinking down into the floor. After several seconds of this, the pillar became a platform, which in turn sank into the floor, leaving a level surface, with a dozen Reff-sized figures on it. The figure closest to us ¨C who was holding a spear that had to be fifteen feet long ¨C walked towards us, their pace almost casual, although due to their size they still made quick progress. As they approached, I saw that they were a woman ¨C or so I had to guess, given their appearance. Standing at the same height as Reff, a solid thirteen feet tall, she had long hair the colour of fresh snow, and the same black eyes as my friend, though her irises were a deep amethyst as opposed to his garnet. Ignoring Walker, Aella and I for the moment, the purple eyed woman turned to Reff with a shallow bow. ¡°With respect, Lord Reff, it is good you are back. The illness has spread, though none have died since your sister returned with the Apex of Mending Flesh. ¡°With suppressed shock, my sister located the Apex?¡± ¡°With profound relief, yes my Lord. The Apex has prevented any further deaths; however, she says the illness is still present, and unkillable. She seemed... most vexed by this.¡± ¡°In shared relief, that is good. I have brought a cure with me, but I am glad that those afflicted have been preserved until our arrival. Please, let me introduce my companions: This is Walker, the Apex of the Infinite Blades.¡± The woman¡¯s colourless eyebrows shot up at the mention of another Apex, and she quickly gave my dark mentor a deep bow, which Walker returned. ¡°This is Aella, who was also afflicted with the plague that has been inflicted upon our people. She is a teacher, and a warrior of great skill.¡± A smaller bow was presented to Aella, which my teacher returned with a nod of her head. ¡°And lastly, this is Hunter, who followed a powerful foe to another world in order to retrieve the cure I spoke of.¡± At my introduction, the guard looked sceptical, but seemed unwilling to contradict Reff at that moment. She gave me a nod, her eyes suspicious and I bowed back, knowing the story sounded exaggerated all-to-hell. ¡°With deep gratitude, be welcome to the Blacksand Citadel. Come, I will take you to Lord Raaf, he is with his fellow Apex, with the sick.¡± I turned to Walker, and spoke in a low whisper, ¡°Walker, how often do you have three Apex¡¯s in one place?¡± ¡°It is quite rare, Hunter. Once the plague is cured, I will need to take the opportunity to discuss the person you described with them. They are much older than I am, perhaps they have encountered such before.¡± ¡°They¡¯re older than you are?¡± ¡°They are. I am the youngest Apex by a number of decades.¡± I considered my mentor; he always seemed to knowledgeable, calm and assured ¨C it was difficult imagining him as the baby of the Apexes. I tried to imagine what the others must be like, and I only ended up picturing Vulcans. Shaking Spock from my mind, I followed the guard and my friends onto the platform. Once we were all in position, without any sort of command or gesture that I could see, the platform began to raise once more, the movement accompanied by only a faint tremor, and like everything else since our arrival there, silence. * *** * The guard ¨C whose name I learned was Tal ¨C led us through strangely curved hallways of the Blacksand Citadel, our path occasionally taking us outside across wide stone balconies. I saw many of Reff¡¯s people, who seemed to make up the majority of the population; most of them ignored out passage, though occasionally some would recognise Reff and stare after us as we walked on. I looked out over the dark landscape of the Blacksands as we crossed one balcony, and I was struck by an absence that I had not noticed previously. ¡°Reff, why are there no walls? I know this place is massive and made of stone, but surely walls would still be useful for defence?¡± I looked at Aella, given her comments she had made as we approached Outpost 18, but she was too pre-occupied taking in the details of our surroundings. My eyes flicked back to Reff, but despite the fact that my question had been directed at my friend, it was Tal who answered: ¡°In dismissal, if we require walls, we have the capacity to produce them. Most foes however can be... dissuaded... long before they reach the Citadel proper.¡± Her voice sounded like she found the idea of attackers amusing, and I thought about our arrival ¨C we had not been challenged at our approach, but I remained silent, knowing that just because I had not seen anybody, did not mean that there hadn¡¯t been any. My mind went back to seeing the Risen Throne goon appear from nowhere in in Ro¡¯s shop and I looked warily around, conscious that I still really had no idea what people could do, in general. I also refrained from mentioning the person who had introduced the plague here... It took a couple of hours to reach what was apparently our destination ¨C it would have perhaps been a quicker journey, if not for the winding route we had taken. I had seen hundreds of curved corridors, each intricately carved with geometric patterns, scenes or landscapes but all of them with beautiful artistry and attention to detail, and everywhere we went, the same glowing lines flowed across the stone, their bright gem-like colours the a contrast against the unrelieved black of the mountain we walked within.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Our destination was a small room illuminated with pale yellow lines curved into the shapes of coiling snakes, and I could see dozens of Reff¡¯s people lounging about in mint-green robes. At their centre sat two people, who were talking and laughing with those in the green robes. One of them looked almost exactly like my Reff, but on an even larger scale, towering above those around him even seated. He wore a black robe that reminded me of Walker¡¯s, though it shockingly seemed to be several sizes too big for this giant-amongst-giants. Beside the titan in the ill-fitting robe sat a woman with hair the same black as the walls but with light grey eyes that seemed to shine like the moon I remembered from back on Earth. As we entered, both the garnet-on-black eyes of who I assumed was my friend¡¯s brother, and the lambent grey orbs of the woman flicked up to us, and they stood, the room falling silent as they also took in our appearance. ¡°Raaf, Sonja, it is good to see you.¡± Walker spoke up and bowed slightly to the pair of Apexes at the room¡¯s centre, and I waited politely. ¡°A surprise, though pleasant, Walker...¡± The woman¡¯s voice was breathy, and the last world trailed off, seeming somehow only half-said. In contrast, Raaf¡¯s voice was like the mountain in which we stood, talking. I could feel it in my bones. He stood at least fifteen feet tall, and I had been right about the robe being too big. I knew I would have to find a polite way to ask about it at some point ¨C the ruler of a nation, and one of the most personally powerful beings on the planet did not seem like a likely candidate for wearing hand-me-downs. ¡°In greeting, welcome once more to the Blacksand Citadel, Walker. And to you, brother.¡± ¡°In greeting, it is good to see you once more, brother. I have come with a cure, though it seems it may not be necessary, thanks to the Honoured Apex of the Mending Flesh.¡± My friend bowed low to both his brother and female Apex. ¡°Unfortunate, it is, that I have been unable to cure this plague. In stasis, it is held by my presence and healthy is the flesh in which it dwells, but reborn it is, upon eradication...¡± ¡°With boundless gratitude, you have prevented the loss of many of my people, Sonja. If my brother speaks the truth and he brought a cure, you have saved those lives in truth.¡± Turning to look at Aella and myself, his massive brows pulled tight as his gaze finally settled on me. ¡°With hesitation, you are Honoured Master Alchemist Ben Won Ro?¡± Aella snorted and I winced before dipping a bow to the humungous Apex. ¡°Sorry, no... Honoured Apex. My name is Hunter, and my involvement is... hard to explain. Master Ro did help us identify the cure, and I have it with me.¡± Having said that, I reached into my ring and pulled the burning egg out and into my hands. ¡°Understanding comes, if I comprehend the implications of this? The plague¡¯s resiliency, upon the back of a phoenix is built...?¡± ¡°That is correct, Sonja. Hunter retrieved this egg - with great difficulty - from the group responsible for creating the plague.¡± My mentor¡¯s voice was calm, but I heard a hint of anger in there. ¡°With grave eagerness, you know the identities of those responsible?¡± Raaf¡¯s rumbling voice was flat, almost expressionless but he bared his teeth as he spoke and his eyes were opened wide. ¡°They called themselves the Risen Throne ¨C we found a number of them in Everwood City, though I doubt it is their base of operations. I feel they were merely taking advantage of the city¡¯s expertise in alchemy. I will need to speak to you both, in private, once we have cured those afflicted.¡± Walker¡¯s voice turned serious and the other two Apex¡¯s shared a glance, before nodding. ¡°Uh, are all the sick here? I¡¯m not actually sure if it will work if everyone touches it at once, maybe one at a time?¡± I looked at Sonja for confirmation and she gave me a slow nod and I went around the room, awkwardly introducing myself to each patient as I invited them to lay their hands on the egg. In each case, it was a repeat of Aella¡¯s own curing ¨C the golden flames spread over their bodies, growing brighter and fiercer with every second and every treatment, until, when I was finally done, the fire around the phoenix egg was a true inferno, standing feet out from its surface and fully encompassing my arms and torso. It was a strange feeling, to be consumed by that subtle warmth, the burning tongues of energy licking over about me without any effect. As I stood, looking over the egg, I thought I felt a small movement within it, but when I paused to check, nothing happened. I stored the egg once more, and looked around at the now empty room. The people, once cured, had all thanked myself and my companions, as well as Sonja, before leaving. I was told that it was the first time in days for, many of them. ¡°So, as I understand it, this plague was airborne, right?¡± I directed my question to the now mostly empty room, and it was Reff who finally nodded and spoke, clearly emotional, especially for him. ¡°With restrained joy, it was airborne, friend Hunter.¡± ¡°Right. I need to get this egg back to its parents ¨C somehow ¨C but I think I should stick around for a while, just in case there are any cases we didn¡¯t catch here. Walker, what do you think?¡± ¡°It is a good idea, Hunter. It would be most unfortunate if we returned the egg, only for the plague to spring up again. I doubt the phoenix Elder would be willing to part with it again.¡± I had a thought at my mentor¡¯s words and a cold dread ran through me, washing away the happiness I felt at having helped these people. ¡°Shit, what if they have more of this stuff, or what if other people are infected?¡± I looked from face to face, and I saw that this had already occurred to several of them. ¡°The egg must be returned, too much would be risked by keeping it. I have hope that this is not widespread ¨C there was no more of the plague stored at the house in Everwood. I believe this to be the test case, to ensure that it could not be simply annihilated by an Apex. I can think of no other reason to target Raaf¡¯s home, when it so obviously invites his wrath.¡± ¡°With barely suppressed rage, invited it they have.¡± Walker¡¯s words made me feel a little better, but I could not shake the nagging worry that this was not the end of the matter. I thought, perhaps, I could ask the Elder for help ¨C if its egg could cure the plague, surely the Elder could, too? * *** * Aella, Reff and myself sat on a balcony high up the mountain¡¯s side, the air even more frigid than it had been at the base, though it did not seem to bother Reff at all. I had switched to the cold-weather outfit for the first time since I bought it, and was huddled inside the folds of my thick travel robe, the hood pulled up as my breath clouded around me. Walker, Raaf and Sonja had gone off to talk in private, leaving us to our own devices, so after a brief tour we had made our way here, where we had been informed Sonja¡¯s apprentice would meet us. So far, we had been waiting for over an hour, and while we had started out eager to meet an Apex¡¯s apprentice, that feeling had cooled somewhat with the wait. ¡°Reff, how long did it take your people to carve this thing? It¡¯s so intricate, it must have taken centuries.¡± I had been admiring the carving on the stone railing by which we sat ¨C it was carved with a scene from some great battle along its entire length. ¡°With pride, it took slightly over a year, though it was not carved, but created this way by my brother.¡± I stared at my friend, frowning as I tried to process what he had said. ¡°Your bother... made this place? Like... made it?¡± ¡°Hunter, you didn¡¯t know? That is why I wanted to see it. A true wonder, created by the Apex of the Mountain¡¯s Seed.¡± My teacher¡¯s voice was not mocking, it held only admiration as she ran her hands over the carvings. As she mentioned Raaf¡¯s title, I did recall Reff mentioning it before, but I had not really connected it to any meaning. It seemed that Reff¡¯s big brother literally made mountains. I wondered how he would use that in a fight, and my head filled with images of mountains popping out of the ground to smack into tiny, tiny people. I almost laughed at the image, but I heard running and turned to see a girl slightly shorter than Reff running across the balcony to wrap her arms around my friend¡¯s neck. ¡°In excited greeting, brother! You''re back! I beat you by so much!¡± Reff stood, the girl who appeared to be his sister, hanged from his neck, though her feet were only a foot or two off the ground, meaning that while she was shorter than him, she was still almost twice my height. ¡°In warm greeting, Riffa, it is good to see you once more. I did not expect you to locate the Apex of the Mending Flesh, but I am grateful you did.¡± Releasing her brother¡¯s neck, Riffa dropped to the ground and beamed up at him. ¡°With restrained bragging, it was easy, brother. The Honoured Apex had emerged from seclusion to train an apprentice, and her whereabouts were well known in the Sha Forest.¡± She turned to gesture behind her, and I turned to see another girl. Standing to greet the new arrivals, I took the girls in. Reff¡¯s sister stood a foot shorter than my friend, maybe slightly more, with the now expected snow-white skin and hair. Her eyes were a deep sapphire on black, and her voice rich. The girl she gesturing to was human by the look of her, though given how close I looked to human, I did not make any assumptions. She was short, especially given the height of some of the people around her, standing at perhaps five feet tall, with short, spiky blonde hair and serious eyes the colour of red jade. She saw me glance over and casually looked me up and down, before twitching an eyebrow in dismissal and turning her glance to my teacher. ¡°You are the Infinite Blade¡¯s apprentice?¡± The Duelists ¡°As far as I¡¯m aware, Walker doesn¡¯t have an apprentice! Although you¡¯re probably thinking of him,¡± Aella pointed at me, a grin on her pretty face, ¡°though I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as formal as that!¡± Turning her gaze to me once more, her brows twitching in surprise, the apprentice once again gave me a once-over, before speaking again, her voice filled with doubt. ¡°Him? He stands like a potato.¡± Blinking at the comparison, I considered the way I was standing, but was unable to see anything wrong with it. I wanted to punch her ¨C my body¡¯s race still seemed territorial and aggressive, even if I had a slightly better handle on it then when I had arrived. Shrugging the impulse away, I walked over and held out a hand for her to shake. ¡°I¡¯m Hunter. I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m Walker¡¯s apprentice, more like charity case slash friend. I take it you¡¯re the Apex of the Mending Flesh¡¯s apprentice? Nice to meet you.¡± Ignoring my hand, the diminutive blonde glared up at me, lips tightened into a thin line. ¡°You speak like an idiot too.¡± She turned back to Aella, her voice demanding. ¡°Is this a joke?¡± ¡°He is a bit of an idiot, but it¡¯s no joke. He¡¯s pretty new to fighting, but he¡¯s picking it up... faster than you¡¯d think, to look at him. Or hear him!¡± I rolled my eyes at my teacher and dropped my hand back to my side. ¡°One day, Teacher, you¡¯re going to pay me a compliment and it¡¯s just going to be a compliment ¨C no insults.¡± ¡°You should set your sights lower, Hunter! It is good to dream, but you should not reach beyond your grasp.¡± She was grinning at me again and I wanted to stick my tongue out, but I managed to hold myself back. Just. ¡°Have you no dignity? An apprentice to an Apex should behave with more decorum and pride.¡± I turned back to the acerbic little blonde and shrugged. ¡°Walker seems fine with it. I¡¯m pretty sure nobody he cares about is judging him by my standards anyway.¡± With a growl, she took a step back, before speaking, her voice gruff. ¡°I, Darina the Ever Flowing, Apprentice to Sonja Falling Sand, Apex of the Mending Flesh, hereby challenge you, Hunter, to a duel.¡± Slamming a fist into the opposite palm, Darina gave me a short, stiff bow, her eyes locked on the floor. Coming out of the bow, she fixed that glare back on me, her chin jutting forward. ¡°No, I think I¡¯m good. Thanks for the offer, but I¡¯m mostly just concentrating on filling my Core at the moment. I don¡¯t really want to waste the energy.¡± ¡°What!? You¡¯re only at the Core stage?!¡± The apprentice sputtered, shock clearly showing on her face. I really did not want to get into any unnecessary fights ¨C training was one thing, but my centre still only showed the barest hint of Praxis, and even that I had learned was only there as a transient step as it spun through my system. I did not want to be draining it if I did not need to. Aella snorted, and I looked around ¨C Reff was smiling, and his sister looked shocked at my refusal, and I was about to sit down again when my teacher spoke up. ¡°Hunter, it¡¯s considered rude to turn down a formal duel!¡± ¡°Teacher, you know my situation, it¡¯s taking long enough to fill my centre, I don¡¯t want to spend it if I don¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°You cannot improve unless you practice, Hunter. Fighting different people, with different bodies, styles and abilities are invaluable Experiences that must be taken if you ever wish to advance!¡± Her voice lacked the usual mocking tone, and it seemed she was being completely serious. ¡°But... we¡¯re on a balcony, hundreds - maybe thousands of feet up!¡± I had tried to judge exactly how high we were earlier, but since the ground was a flat, uniform black, it was difficult to gauge properly. ¡°In assurance, we have training halls which will serve, Hunter.¡± I turned to Reff, my hand against my chest in mock anguish. ¡°Et tu, Reff?¡± ¡°With confusion, I do not know what that means, Hunter.¡± ¡°Never mind! Sure, fine. Lead the way!¡± Turning to his sister, I realised I had not introduced myself, feeling rude for the first time since our meeting. ¡°Pardon me, I¡¯m Hunter. Your brother speaks... highly of you.¡± I held out my hand, and just like Reff had done at our first meeting, his sister held hers out at the same relative height. ¡°With hesitation, I am Riffa Stonebinder. You are the one who brought back the cure, yes?¡± ¡°I did. I¡¯m really glad we could help.¡± I jumped, grabbing her hand and shook it awkwardly, given the differences in our heights. She looked confused, but went with it easily enough. Introductions complete, Reff gestured for us to follow. * *** * We arrived at the training hall quite quickly ¨C Reff told us there were a number on most levels ¨C and I ducked into a side-chamber in order to get changed into my fighting clothes. Not knowing what sort of abilities Darina was going to use, I didn¡¯t want to risk damaging the only warm clothes I had, given the temperatures in the Blacksands. The hall itself was a large open space with high ceilings ¨C the floor was, predictably, covered with a layer of black sand, ringed with bright white lines running in and around each other. It reminded me of Celtic designs I had seen back on Earth, and I marvelled at all the different styles represented in this gigantic monolith, and at the artistic talent Reff¡¯s brother must have to make something like this. Darina was already standing on her side of the hall, her back straight and her face intense, already glaring at me as I emerged from the dressing room. I gave her a big smile and waved, which seemed to annoy her, so I counted it as a victory. As I walked out onto the sand, I considered her, trying to work out my odds. She was much smaller than me, though that did not count for a great deal compared to raw cultivation, but I would take every advantage I could get. I recalled her surprise that I was at the Core stage, and found it unlikely she was below me, which unfortunately only really left one direction, though I hoped she was no higher than Path. From what I understood the Path stage provided no additional physical prowess, adding additional aspects to your abilities instead. Which meant, given my cultivation level, she was at most only twice as strong and fast as I was. Perfectly doable, right? Right? On the way over, I had asked Aella about the rules for a formal duel, and had been told that anything went, provided we did not actually try to kill each other. Glad at least that I would not have to worry about being killed on purpose, had relaxed, thinking of it as more of an intense sparring session than an actual fight. Reaching my position in the sand, Reff, as our host called the start of the duel and the two of us bowed to each other, my eyes locked on her, her eyes locked on the floor. As we came out of the bow, I came to know exactly how wrong I was about this being an intense spar, as with a burst of sand flung behind her, Darina came at me like a cannonball.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The warning from Instinctive Precognition just about allowed me to Focus before she hit me, her head smashing into my stomach as she threw her weight ¨C and the accumulated momentum ¨C into the blow. There was snap and sizzle as she came into contact with me, the freshly summoned lightning surging into and through her even as I was flung backwards to land on my back, sliding across the sand in an all too familiar manner. Shifting my weight, I used some of the momentum to roll to my feet, my arm flicking up to deflect a blow too fast for me to see, sending another jolt of electricity into my opponent and leaving my wrist stinging. Before I could turn to confront her fully, I felt myself intercepting blows by instinct, some being blocked ¨C and leaving pain behind ¨C and some being pushed aside. With each contact, there was an accompanying snap, but it did not seem to be fazing her at all. After a long moment filled with that swift assault, I finally managed to face her, thought it did me little good. Just as I turned, I felt her head coming towards my own and jerked back, only to be headbutted in the throat. Falling back again, I choked slightly and reflexively pushed more power through my Focus, hoping to get gain some space. My hope proved to be in vain as I snapped an arm down into the sand, flinging myself to the side just as a foot passed through the space my head had occupied. I gritted my teeth as Darina¡¯s blur closed in on me once again, and I decided to accept the damage so that I could get a grip on her. A punch drove into my chin and the world went white for a split second, my head rocking back. Another two just like the first smacked into me as I reached out to grab her thick shirt. Finally, after several blows and with a ringing in my ears, I managed to get a grip of her and surged power through my Focus ¨C not too much, I was still conscious that I needed to complete my Core ¨C but easily as much as I had used in my last fight against the swordswoman. Unwilling to simply let the power passively pass through me, and knowing I would need to distract her, I started to punch, my fists aimed for the centre of her face, and with satisfaction I felt them landing with a crunch and the pop of lightning. Six times I hit her as I continued to push power out, and I could feel her body stiffen as the power shot through her. With a savage smile, I released her and stood back, shaking my head to clear the ringing and taking several deep breaths. Her nose was a bloody ruin, and there were burn marks on her face. I could see tendrils of red emerging from under her shirt where the electricity had run through her nerves liked a fire. Smoke was rising from her hair, and I wondered for a moment if I had perhaps taken things too far ¨C but then, before my eyes, her flesh rippled and the wounds vanished, her nose reforming even as the red lines and burns faded from existence. Shocked, I did not react to Instinctive Precognition¡¯s warning and I flew into the air as she hit me with a blindingly fast uppercut to the stomach. I landed outside of the sand, on the hard stone, the breath already blasted from my lungs by the force of the blow. I could something torn in my stomach and thought I could feel something moving, as I lay there, staring up at the ceiling while trying to breathe. I dimly heard Darina being declared the winner of the duel, but I just lay there, waiting for the chance to swallow a healing pill, as Aella¡¯s head came into view above my own. ¡°Hunter, you did much better than I thought you would!¡± I gave my teacher a weak thumbs up, and went back to waiting. * *** * ¡°You heal fast for somebody with a lightning Focus.¡± I looked over at Darina, slightly shocked that she had paid me a compliment, given her general attitude towards me. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a gift. Still, I¡¯m not quite on your level.¡± We were sat once more around a table, though this one was situated in some kind of indoor garden, the bright lines overhead giving off what could almost be daylight. It was much warmer than it had been outside, so I was still dressed in my fighting gear, one hand still surreptitiously rubbing at my stomach where she had hit me with that final blow. Sniffing, the red-eyed woman rolled her eyes at me, and when she spoke her tone suggested I was being a fool. ¡°Of course not. My focus is entirely centred on healing.¡± That made sense ¨C in our fight, I had not noticed a great deal of defence, though it was hard to tell if she was using Experience to resist my lightning. She had been mostly a blur of aggression, and I supposed just taking damage was a pretty good option if you could just ignore it. It seemed to let her concentrate on offence, and as I had found out, it was effective. Of course, I did not know how much of that could be attributed to the fact that she had probably completed her Core. ¡°You did much better than I expected you to, Hunter! You managed to land several successful blows, even if they were ultimately pointless.¡± Aella wore a huge smile, and she seemed almost proud, though I thought that unlikely, given how definitive my loss had been. ¡°Maybe we can go again once I complete my Core?¡± I held out hope that if we were at the same Stage, I could be able to grind my way past her regeneration, given the advantage I would hold in terms of my extended circulation system. ¡°You are what, in your twenties? If it has taken you this long to reach the Core stage, I will be an Apex by the time you complete it.¡± The apprentice¡¯s voice was scathing and it made me want to punch her again, despite the fact that I knew it would only result in another beating. ¡°I¡¯ve only been cultivating for about a month now, actually. It¡¯s not really a thing where I¡¯m from.¡± She looked sceptical, one eyebrow raised and head titled. ¡°Not a thing? Impossible, cultivation is a thing everywhere, whether you do it actively or not.¡± He voice was very assured and I was about to retort, explaining about my origin when I caught a look from my teacher, whose face was suddenly very serious. Changing my mind about revealing that detail, I shrugged to cover the slight hesitation. ¡°You don¡¯t need to believe me, it¡¯s the truth. I will catch up, and we can try this again.¡± My voice grew lower as I spoke, and at least on the inside, I made it a promise. I had done enough waiting around in my previous life; this time around, I was done with waiting. A flick of her hand dismissed my words and I found myself having to take a deep breath to calm down. I flicked my gaze to the side to where Reff was chatting with his sisters about their time apart, and not wanting to cause a scene, I waited several seconds, keeping my breathing deep and even. Once calmed down, I sat in silence, going over my short fight once more, and living in those moments as I worked to replenish my Experience and Praxis. A short while later ¨C I could not say how long exactly, as my attention had been elsewhere, I spotted the tall form of my dark mentor, as well as that of the Apex of the Mending Flesh enter through a distant arch and make their ways towards us. ¡°Hunter, Aella. Raaf has provided lodgings for our stay. The three of us, in light of the information you have provided, have decided to call the Apexes together to discuss this issue. As such, I am afraid I will not be able to go with you to locate the phoenix Elder when you leave, as I will need to assist in contacting them.¡± I blinked at Walker as he finished speaking, the familiar anxiety of being away from him closing about me like a heavy blanket, but I shook it off, unwilling to be held back by that weight anymore. The world was certainly a less safe place when away from my mentor, but it was something I would need to grow used to. It was inevitable that at some point my jobs from Xiournal would separate me from the Apex, even if the division was only temporary. ¡°I¡¯m also going to stay, take in some more of this place! You already have the basics; you just need to practice now.¡± I turned to my teacher, fighting hard not to feel abandoned, but the same logic applied to her as it did Walker, and I once more dismissed it. I would see them again, I was not going to be gone forever, after all. ¡°Maybe you two could show the basics of the sword and chain, before I leave? And... tell me where the phoenix could be? I have no idea where to start.¡± I directed the comment about basics to Aella, the memory of my first try with the chain still lingering. ¡°Of course, Hunter. It has been some time since I wielded a blade with my hands, but I believe I recall the basics.¡± A rare grin spread over his dark face and I snorted, picturing the Apex of the Infinite Blades fumbling about with a sword. ¡°I¡¯ll try to show you the basics of the chain, but you should know that it will not be useful until you grow quite skilled with it. It may be hard for you.¡± Aella¡¯s comment held the feeling of a concession, and I nodded my thanks, ignoring the last part of what she said. ¡°And the phoenix?¡± ¡°Where I come in, that is.¡± I turned to Sonja, my eyebrows raised; was she going to be coming with me? ¡°The only phoenix Elder known to us, resides within the Sha Forest, which is from where my Apprentice hails. Darina, will be accompanying you, as will Raaf¡¯s brother, Reff.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Both Darina and I spoke at the same time, with Reff following up with ¡°In glad surprise, I am?¡± I turned to look at the red-eyed apprentice, who was completely ignoring me in favour of her master. I was glad Reff was coming, he was my friend, but spending any length of time with the infuriating brat did not sound fun. ¡°We deemed returning the egg too important for a lone Core stage. You stand a better chance together. And you two, it seems have something in common.¡± Sonja pointed between Darina and myself, and she finally looked at me, vague horror on her face, before turning back. ¡°What could I have in common with him, Master?¡± ¡°Appears, it would, that he has stumbled upon the same sort of extended energy system I assisted you in creating, Darina. It will be beneficial to spar against somebody with the same advantages as you, once he reaches the Path stage.¡± We looked at each other, and I could read the same shock on her face that I knew to be painted on mine. It made sense, that an Apex focused on healing could assist in creating extended channels, but I will admit that it was a little annoying that the advantage I had been thinking would allow me to eventually beat her was in fact shared by her. Innocent Exile I stared out into night, wrapped once more in my cold weather clothing. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, and there was nothing but darkness for as far as I could see, relieved only by the light from the Citadel. I was on the balcony belonging to the suite Raaf had granted me for my stay here, trying not to think about the fact that I¡¯m going to have to spend a prolonged period of time with Darina. After Walker and Sonja¡¯s revelation that she and Reff would be coming with me to return the egg, and about our shared advantage, she had left to practice, or at least that is what she told us. I was not sure I believed her, but who was I to judge a little emotionality? I had spent most of my life as a wreck, and for a while after my arrival there on that world, I had some serious self-control issues. Light in the distance brought me out of my ruminating, and I focused on a distant line of bright blue-green, undulating and flowing like water. For a moment, I thought I was looking at an aurora, despite the clouds, perhaps hovering on the distant horizon. After a few moments of trying to gauge distances, I could see the effect spreading, and the contrast allowed me to realise that it was on the ground, rather than in the sky. I almost ran to give warning, but I knew the Citadel had lookouts, and if they needed me to help them do their job, they were in more trouble than I could help with. Staring at the phenomena in fascination, I watched as the colour spread and changed: Deep reds, yellows and oranges joined the blues and greens, with the occasional violet rippling away into the distance. I followed it with my eyes all the way to the base of the massive structure from which I watched, and I was shocked to realise that the frigid desert was illuminated out as far as I could see, like a canvas painted with light. I stared in wonder, speechless as the colours moved and changed, as I tried to fix it in my mind, to make it part of me forever. Back on Earth, we had 3D cameras and holographic displays, but I did not think that even if I had those things with me, they would be able to capture what I was seeing. The natural spectacle filled me, while I Experienced it as fully as I could. Leaning against the black-stone rail with a wide smile on my face, I cultivated with tears in my eyes at the beauty before me, but as it turned out, it got better. I heard, in the distance, a voice call out in one long note, deeper than any human voice could hope to reach. After a moment, more joined the first, and so on until a deep chorus filled the night, accompanying the light-show. I could feel the singing through the artificial mountain, vibrating through my feet and arms where I leaned against the rail. It was impossible to guess how many voices sang, but I knew that if I could feel it, it had to be a lot. There were no words, I was fairly certain, given my gift of languages, just pure sound, and what sounded like an expression of sad longing to me. I did not know if I could sing ¨C it had not come up since my arrival and it had not been something I had considered when constructing my body, but I added my voice nonetheless as the tears finally escaped my eyes, finally overwhelmed. I thought back on my life, as I let my voice become lost in the whole, and though it did not pain me any longer ¨C whatever process brought me to that world had dulled the memories ¨C I could still remember the pain, and so I sang along, lost in the moment and memories. * *** * The next morning, I sat with Reff and his sister, Riffa in another indoor garden, sipping some sort of tea that tasted half-way between mint and pepper. Riffa had been badgering my friend to take her with us since we had arrived, and I had been grinning nonstop at the strangely subdued sibling bickering. ¡°With finality, as I have said, sister: you will need to ask our brother. Whether you may accompany us is not my decision.¡± This was the second or third time Reff had said as much ¨C with finality ¨C and it did not look like Riffa was any closer to giving in. There was a pause, and I could tell Riffa was formulating a new line of attack, so I took pity on my beleaguered friend and quickly interjected. ¡°What was with the lights, last night? Is that normal? And the singing? It was amazing.¡± Reff looked grateful at the interruption and quickly refocused on me before his sister could drag the conversation back. ¡°With thankful enthusiasm, it is normal, Hunter. When the temperature drops sufficiently, the sand reacts. Our alchemists tell us that is it in fact mycelium, interwoven in the sand which produce the effect.¡± It was a little creepy that the vast desert around us was so completely covered in fungus, but who was I to argue with beauty? ¡°With reluctance, we use an alchemically modified version of this effect to produce the lights you see around us.¡± Riffa¡¯s voice sounded like she was not done making her arguments, but she was also unwilling to be rude enough to simply change the conversation back. I looked around at the illuminated lines, which were so different from the other places I had visited, and I wondered if you could get glowing tattoos. I thought back to Lucas, and the glowing sigils inscribed in his skin, and wondered if they were related. ¡°And the singing? It sounded really sad, somehow.¡± ¡°In reflection, that is less common, though not rare. Many of our elders still remember our original home, and miss it; it was about this that they sang last night. Sometimes it is other songs, of joy or anger. We are artists at heart.¡± I blinked at my friend as he mentioned their original home, as that was the first mention of it, I had heard. I had only ever heard the Citadel referenced when speaking of Reff¡¯s people¡¯s home. ¡°This isn¡¯t where your people are from? I mean, I know you said your brother made this place, but you didn¡¯t live here before that?¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Both Reff and his sister stared at me for a moment, but then Reff nodded, as if remembering something and speaking again. ¡°In realisation, I had forgotten that would not know, Hunter. We are not originally from this world ¨C we crossed over during a war between this world and our home roughly three centuries ago.¡± I felt my mouth drop open and I caught myself staring. I had heard of wars between worlds before, but it had not occurred to me that you could stay behind afterwards, especially given how people had reacted to my own sojourns between them. ¡°You¡¯re from another world? I thought that was impossible?¡± ¡°With hesitation, it is believed that when a war is declared, each pantheon involved grants the other¡¯s peoples permissions on their worlds, mutually. How else could war be waged?¡± That made a lot of sense, and I was embarrassed that I had not put it together myself. ¡°Did you get trapped here, when the door closed? I¡¯m so sorry, Reff.¡± ¡°In dismissal, I was not yet born, though my brother was. Our home had grown very warlike, and we, the artisan ¨C or Stone - Caste, were suffering under growing persecution, or so I am told. When the Metal Caste went to war with your own world, we took the opportunity to flee here. It is a sad thing to leave one¡¯s home, and was done only due to necessity. Which is why our elders mourn for its loss.¡± ¡°And this is where you ended up?¡± It was Riffa who answered, her voice subdued. ¡°With reluctance, no, Hunter. For many years, we wandered the world as refugees. When we first arrived, our peoples were still at war, and so we were not welcomed. It was many years before my brother reached his current state, and we came looking for an uninhabited land on which to build our new home. This is where we chose to settle.¡± I thought about their story, and the parallels from my original home and shook my head, glad at least that they had found a new home, where they could live without persecution. And that they seemed to have settled in ¨C nobody I had yet met had treated them as anything other than people, and certainly not as former enemies. There was probably something in the fact that it was so long ago, though it occurred to me that I had no idea how long normal people lived. I knew that at least one Apex was supposed to be at least three-thousand years old, and there was the imprisoned one who was at least eleven thousand, but they were both far from normal. ¡°Well, I''m really glad you have a home now, and I hope that eventually the loss of your last one will fade.¡± The siblings nodded, their faces sober, but they quickly seemed to recover from the melancholy mood. ¡°...With calm persuasion, if you were to ask brother if I could accompany you, there is a much better chance of him saying yes when I ask.¡± I grinned as Riffa managed to finally get the conversation back on track, sipping my tea to hide it as Reff glanced over at me for help. * *** * It was midday when I met Walker and Aella at another practice hall. Reff had been dragged off to see his brother, so I had made my own way there, proud that I had only become lost two or three times. ¡°Perhaps we should begin with the sword, as Hunter is less likely to injure himself with one?¡± Walker¡¯s voice was low and calm, but the corner of his mouth was turned up slightly, his head tilted towards my teacher. ¡°I would not put it past him! He did almost kill himself with a few simple passes with the chain.¡± ¡°Teacher, those weren¡¯t simple passes. I could barely see you moving, or whatever you were doing with the chain.¡± For a moment, Aella looked embarrassed, but it faded so fast that I could almost believe that I had imagined it. ¡°Well, in future, I will make sure to slow it down even more for you. I am not used to trying to teach the chain to somebody so... slow.¡± I knew Aella primarily taught the basics, and the chain seemed to be an advanced weapon, so I could understand her being more used to teaching it to a more advanced pupil, but even so, I hoped our future training sessions would go a lot better than the first. Turning back to Walker, I pulled a sword from a ring, holding it at my side as I stood at the ready. ¡°I will show you a practice form which encompasses the basic movements for that style of sword. It is called The Sword¡¯s Tide. Pay attention.¡± As my dark mentor spoke, a sword similar in style to the one I was holding appeared in his hand. It was about three and a third feet long and constructed from some violet metal, with concentric patterns of a dark blue rippling through it. There was little to no guard, like mine and the hilt seemed to be wrapped in some sort of white, pebbled leather. I focused my attention on him, expecting another blinding display like the one from Aella, but the movements Walker started were the exact opposite. Moving at a glacial pace ¨C so slow that it was hard to tell at times that he was moving at all ¨C my mentor began to move through a sword form that seemed to concentrate on conserving and redirecting momentum. There were lots of rotating turns, of both the body and the blade. It took an hour for Walker to complete the first demonstration, but when he did, he turned to me and then burst back into motion, spinning through the form at the precise limit at which I was capable of paying attention. This time, he was done in a few minutes, and I stood gaping at him and the grace he had displayed. This was the first time I had seen him use a sword with his actual hands and it was without a doubt the most intimidating display of personal skill I had ever seen, period. ¡°This form is mostly defensive in nature, however it is also capable of a surprising level of attack if used properly. Given the nature of your Focus, I believe this will be the most benefit to you, at this early stage.¡± ¡°Walker, if that¡¯s a basic form, I don¡¯t think I can imagine a complex one.¡± ¡°That will change. Come, you will perform the form alongside me. Aella, please correct him, if needed.¡± I walked over and stood alongside my mentor, my gaze fixed on him as he began to move. Moving with him, I initially thought it was going to be easy, to run through it at least, if not to memorise the form. I was wrong. It turns out, that doing something meant to be done at speed very, very slowly was actually very, very hard. Despite my current strength, which would have been considered well into the superhuman back on Earth, I found myself sweating after ten minutes, my body aching to move faster. Every time I started to speed up, Aella would slap me lightly, and every time my form deviated by so much as a millimetre from Walker¡¯s own. At the end of the first hour, I thought we were done, but just as I was about to start stretching my aching limbs, Walker started again from the beginning, slightly faster this time. By the end of the fourth hour, I was drenched with sweat, having finally moved through the form more than fifteen times, with each repetition faster than the last until by the end I had been moving at what I considered a fast pace, though my accuracy had fallen behind somewhat, earning me many slaps and reprimands as I was adjusted back on course. Pushing the sword back into a ring, I sat down on the sand and wiped sweat from my face, as I looked up at my perfectly calm mentor, who seemed as dry as a bone and showed not even a hint of strain. ¡°You did well, Hunter. You must practice this form every day, but remember that practical use will require practice as well. A form is useful to teach movements, but an opponent will almost never come at you in the order you are used to. Mastering the sword is knowing when to break the rules, and how. Now, are you ready to continue?¡± ¡°Continue? We¡¯re not done?!¡± ¡°Of course not, Hunter. To pursue the blade is to pursue perfection, and perfection cannot be reached with half a heart.¡± Groaning, I climbed to my feet again and pulled the sword out once more, thinking to myself that I should have anticipated such an attitude from one of the best in the world... The Educated Fool On the third day after our arrival, I found myself once more in a training hall ¨C neither Walker or Aella were there yet, and I was taking the opportunity to work on my footwork. I moved through the steps of The Sword¡¯s Tide, concentrating on my balance and keeping the movements as smooth as possible. It had been easy to keep my mind on the sword when I had started, but as I had been told repeatedly since I took my first step towards perfection, the sword was only a part of the whole. Walker had told me that a skilled fighter could read a person¡¯s moves in the slightly alteration of their stance or balance, in the flexing of muscle and ligaments. It was those tell-tale signs I was trying to minimise as much as I could that morning, as well as working on my basic coordination. After an hour of moving through the footwork, I moved through the full form ¨C not quite as slowly as Walker¡¯s first example ¨C while trying to internalise them. As I moved, I cultivated; being completely in the moment was fantastic for practice. While in the past I had always worked with the thought that practice was good for cultivation, as it turned out it was true both ways. The second hour passed quickly with my attention so devoted to the task. Coming to a stop and shaking the ache from my limbs, I looked around for my teacher and mentor. Not seeing them, I stored my sword once more and with a sigh pulled the chain from a storage ring. Aella had finally given it back to me the day before and then proceeded to teach me the basics of the weighted chain once again. The second attempt had gone much better than the first, which was of course not particularly difficult, given how the first had gone. Slipping a length free, I began to spin it ¨C slowly ¨C vertically to my side, but was interrupted by a somebody speaking from behind me. ¡°Why are you practicing the chain and the sword? It is little wonder you perform so poorly if you cannot commit to a single path.¡± I spun to face the speaker, having thought I was alone. I reflexively reached up to snatch the chains weight from the air as I moved into its path, Instinctive Precognition allowing me to avoid being smacked in the temple. Directly behind me was Darina. I glared at her, though it did not seem to faze her in the slightest. She just looked questioningly back at me, a slight sneer on her annoyingly pretty face. ¡°I told you, I haven¡¯t been doing this for long. I¡¯m just trying to see which I¡¯m better with.¡± ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t come close to braining yourself with the sword, so I¡¯d say you¡¯re better ¨C marginally ¨C with that.¡± ¡°That was your fault!¡± I did not feel the need to vocalise the ¡®this time¡¯ that my brain helpfully added on. ¡°Excuses. You should not be so surprised by an unexpected sound that you nearly hit yourself with your own weapon.¡± I knew she was right, but I was not going to give her the satisfaction of admitting it. ¡°Why are you here, anyway? Is there something I can help you with?¡± ¡°I was passing by and noticed your... attempts... at swordsmanship. I thought I¡¯d watch to give me something to cheer myself up for our coming journey.¡± ¡°Do you have to be so... you know what, never mind. I¡¯m sure you were a legendary master after your first month of training, but some of us need to practice.¡± I turned away, doing my best to dismiss her from my mind and started to spin the chain once more. ¡°A month? I do not believe you. As Apprentice to an Apex, you should not lie so easily.¡± Still doing my best to ignore her, I hooked the spinning chain around my elbow and changed directions, still going slowly, but conscious that even at these speeds the weight would hurt if it hit me. ¡°You will not even defend yourself? I was right ¨C you have no pride.¡± I allowed the chain to spiral around my elbow this time, hoping to extend it and allow the weight to shoot out, but I got the angle wrong and the weight came whipping back around at my face. Jerking back, allowed the chain to come to a halt and untangled it from my arm. Instinctive Precognition flared once more and I stepped sideways, turning my body and bringing my arms down, back and around to hook Darina¡¯s foot before throwing it up as hard as I could. This all happened in a moment. I blinked as the short woman flipped end over end before landing on her feet once more, her face a dark red and now wearing a glare of her own. ¡°It is rude to ignore a person speaking to you!¡± I frowned, trying to reconcile somebody wanting civility while constantly insulting the person they are speaking to. And then trying to kick them in the spine. ¡°You¡¯ve done nothing but insult me since we met. Why should I listen to you, or speak to you? Why would I? You¡¯re a better fighter than I am, obviously, but you¡¯re a real asshole, Darina.¡± ¡°How dare-¡± ¡°And don¡¯t start that shit either. Of course I dare, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have said it. Saying something like that just makes you sound dumb. And I¡¯m not lying. I¡¯ve been cultivating for just over a month, and practicing for the same length of time. I understand, I¡¯m weak, but I¡¯m trying to fix that, okay?!¡± My voice was rising by the end, and I found myself almost shouting. It was one thing to hear it from my friends, who I knew did not mean anything hurtful, but quite another to hear it from some random stranger, and so frequently. ¡°He¡¯s telling you the truth! Just over a month, which is why he should probably avoid shouting at people who can beat him into paste...¡± I turned to find Aella and Walker on the other side of the sand, and I felt my face heat, knowing what she said was true.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Honoured Apex, Lady Aella,¡± Darina bowed deeply, her voice perfectly respectful now. Coming out of her bow, she continued to speak, her eyes focused on the floor. ¡°Forgive me, but it does not seem possible to have come so far in a month.¡± ¡°It is true ¨C Hunter comes from... far away. His people are normally incapable of cultivation. It seems to be a limitation of their home, rather than a flaw within them. He has worked hard, and been through much to achieve his current state. Sonja informs me that she assisted you in extending your own circulation channels ¨C you recall the pain involved?¡± Darina nodded, stiffening at what I had to assume was the memory of the pain. If her experience had been anything like my own, I had to feel some sympathy. ¡°Hunter went through something similar,¡± Walker turned his blindfolded gaze in my direction.. I took the pause as a question and nodded. ¡°He was being tortured at the time, by the same people who unleashed the plague here. They forced two elixirs into his system ¨C as I understand it, one was to increase the pain many times and to keep him conscious, and another which was also derived from the phoenix egg to prevent his death. Under the effects of these elixirs ¨C unguided ¨C he blindly forged his channels. They follow his every nerve, as well as his vascular system.¡± I felt strangely shy at having somebody say it out loud ¨C I tried not to think about it too much, as even the memory of it was enough to make me break into a cold sweat, especially after Ro had given me medicine to help me recall it. The human mind is not designed to hold so firmly onto trauma. ¡°You were under the effects of something that increased pain while you did this?¡± Darina¡¯s voice held something I did not expect, as I looked up to meet her gaze ¨C it held sympathy. It seemed that while she was perfectly happy to call me a liar, she was not willing to do the same to an Apex. ¡°Yeah... it wasn¡¯t great. Would not recommend it. Still, I¡¯m pretty sure it saved my life so, you know. Ups and downs.¡± ¡°... Perhaps you are less of an embarrassment than I had believed. I will leave you to your practice. Train hard, Hunter. I look forward to defeating you when we are closer in strength.¡± With another bow to my friends, the red-eyed girl walked out of the practice hall, and with a shrug I turned back to my teacher and mentor, ready for another day of practice. * *** * I sat with Reff and Riffa on a balcony as we watched the sun sinking below the horizon. It had been a long day, with Walker and Aella pushing me harder and harder, trying to prepare me as much as possible for my trip. I had come a long way since my arrival on that world, but all three of us knew that I was still a very small fish in a very large pond. Turning to the two siblings, I brought my attention back to the moment and took a sip of my tea before speaking., ¡°So, Riffa, did Reff manage to persuade your brother to let you come with us?¡± I saw my huge friend shoot me a subdued glare over the rim of his own cup and I did my best to restrain my grin. ¡°With justified irritation, no, he did not. Raaf has placed me in charge of preparing for the arrival of the Apexes. It is the first full conclave in many years, and he wishes our home to make a good impression.¡± ¡°In strained appeasement, it is an important task, Riffa. You do not always need to be so competitive.¡± ¡°With rising irritation, it is not about competition, brother. I wish to Experience the world as much as you do, and it is not fair that you are always chosen, just because you are stronger than I am. And besides, I have been to the Sha Forest, whereas you have not.¡± ¡°In victory, there, you see? You have already Experienced the Sha Forest, where I have not. It makes sense for me to go, so we both may grow from such a visitation.¡± I was not sure I agreed with my friend, but we would also be traveling with Darina, who was apparently from there originally, so our need for another guide was limited. I was not about to get between the two of them, of course. It was far too entertaining to see the two of them go back and forth. The way Reff¡¯s people talked, or the way they structured their sentences, with the tone given at the start had some interesting implications, not the least of which was that when speaking to your younger sister, claiming victory at the start of your sentence was probably not the route to victory. Riffa¡¯s sapphire-on-black eyes narrowed at her brother, and if they had been human, I would have been anticipating a shouting match, but I had never heard even Reff ¨C who was apparently one of the most short-tempered members of his race ¨C shout, let alone anybody else. ¡°With certainty, I will be speaking to brother again about accompanying you. Perhaps, Hunter could lend his voice?¡± I sat up a little straighter as she shifted the focus to me and I could see Reff shaking his head at me, eyes wide. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m, uh, not sure it¡¯s my place, Riffa. Your brother is an Apex and a ruler, I don¡¯t think it would be right for me to question his decisions.¡± ¡°With unmasked persuasion, you saved our people from the disease which plagued it, Hunter. I am sure Raaf would pay careful heed to your words.¡± This is what I got for stoking the fire I guess. I sipped my tea some more to buy time, the steam condensing into a dense fog as the temperature dropped further. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to use a good deed to my benefit, Riffa. I didn¡¯t do it so I could ask your brother for favours, I did it because it was the right thing to do. I wouldn¡¯t want to cheapen the act.¡± ¡°In frustration, I understand, Hunter. It speaks well of you that you would not seek to benefit from such actions. I suppose I will simply have to be persistent. You do not leave for days still, there is time to convince Raaf I am sure.¡± With that, Riffa stood, and with a smile to her brother and I, she walked away, her stride firm with purpose and I felt a little sorry for Raaf, Apex of the Mountain¡¯s Seed in that moment. It did not matter how powerful you were, family was family after all. Reff and I sat in companionable silence for a while, watching as the frosted desert once more came to bright life, the colours rippling across the land in waves for as far as they could see. ¡°Reff, I¡¯m worried. So far, this task has gone pretty smoothly, but the way it¡¯s worded makes me think things could go really wrong. And I¡¯m still pretty weak.¡± My friend turned to me; his face was serious and his garnet-on-black eyes steady. ¡°With solid surety, the world is wide and time is deep, Hunter. Things go wrong every day ¨C people live, love and die. Nations rise and fall. Life is not only the smooth, but the rough as well. We must do this thing, and while it is good to plan for when the wyrm turns, we should not live in fear of it. We must do the best we can, because that is all that can be done. Even a Pinnacle stage cultivator would be weak when faced with an Elder beast, and to face an immortal Elder phoenix, I think even an Apex would hesitate.¡± I considered his words ¨C it was a lot, from my normally restrained friend. He was right, I knew; in my first life, I have lived in constant fear of what could go wrong ¨C what I feared always would go wrong ¨C and it had been a hollow, rotten life. My circumstances were different then, that much was certain, but even with much larger stakes, I knew he was right: It was something that had to be done, and even if I was weak, so were most against such a being. ¡°Thanks, Reff.¡± ¡°In camaraderie, you are welcome, Hunter.¡± We sat watching the dancing lights of the desert in silence for a while longer, sipping our cooling tea. ¡°So, do you think Riffa will convince your brother?¡± He winced and rubbed one massive hand over his face. ¡°With resignation, it will probably be so. Perhaps we could leave early...?¡± Face in the Sand The day before we were set to depart in search of the phoenix Elder, having already completed my practice sessions with Aella and Walker I was facing off with Reff once more. He stood in a wide stance with his body armoured with the bright, burning rock I was now used to. I was not using the sword. I had a couple of them, but I did not know how well they stood up to abuse, and so I did not want to test them against literal lava. My Focus pulsed electricity through me, as minimally as I could manage; I was still unsure exactly how much Praxis was in my body, as I could only actively observe my core, so I was determined to be as conservative with it as possible. Given that mentality, I was concentrating on dodging, rather than deflection or blocking, while trying to incorporate as much of the footwork from The Sword¡¯s Tide as possible. Reff was of course giving it less than his all ¨C from what I could gather, a Peak Core, or Path stage cultivator was about fifty times as strong and fast as a normal human, which even with my extended energy systems, I knew I was not up to facing, given my recent duel with Darina. Still, I did not think my friend had slowed down as much as he should have had to ¨C my body possessed excellent natural reflexes, which was one of the main reasons I had selected the Ren as my race, and on top of that my Focus was slowing down time, though it was barely noticeable at this level of output. A molten straight kick flew at me and I rotated my body making me end up at Reff¡¯s side, his burning heel missing me by less than an inch. Before he could threaten me with it further, I stepped away to my right, rotating again to bring myself in line with his side before stepping in to attempt a punch to the back of his knee. The blow landed, but did little; the knee was physically braced with his armour and it turns out molten rock is an excellent insulator. I knew that enough power could overcome any insulator, but I did not want to expend that much energy, and were I willing, I did not know how much a full powered blast would hurt my friend. You may be wondering why I would practice against somebody that was literally the worst matchup for me, but that itself is the reason. I was almost certainly going to come across people like Reff and Darina who could simply afford to ignore my abilities, so I wanted as much practice against them as possible. Even if it meant having my ass handed to me. A lot. I was a fraction of a second too slow in coming away from the punch and Instinctive Precognition flared as I felt a blow coming from above, sending me rolling away. As I came out of the roll and back to my feet, I felt another kick flicking sideways at me, and again without conscious thought I jumped into the air sideways, rolling over Reff¡¯s leg and back to my feet, feeling slightly disoriented. Instinctive Precognition was a fantastic ability, and while it always seemed to offer the best possible response in the moment, it did not seem to plan ahead and could leave me in some sticky situations. I hoped that that would get better as the ability improved, and to be fair I was noticing the warnings coming in a little earlier than before, though it was tough to tell when it came to reacting to the future. Still, I would take maybe ending up in a bad position to actually being kicked in the face. I reoriented myself just in time to spot another foot approaching, so I ducked under it. In an act of reflex that had nothing to do with my abilities I reached up and grabbed the leg, pushing Praxis out of my channels to prevent my flesh from crisping. The leg took me with it, of course, but when it tried to drop, I was under it, and twisting my body, I leveraged the leg down and around my shoulder, flinging my brightly glowing friend up on over my head to land face down in the sand. Or so I would have liked, anyway. What actually happened was that Reff rolled into the throw and back to his feet before quick-stepping toward me and sending a back-kick my way that was fast enough that even though it was directly in front of me, Instinctive Precognition kicked in once more and I performed a very strange twisting dodge under the leg, with my body rotating so that my head was pointed at Reff, under his leg while I kicked out with my own leg and used the force to drag myself back around and to the side. It was not a kind of dodge I had used before, and I was not even sure a normal body was capable of it, but a dodge was a dodge. Skipping backwards as my friend turned, feeling slightly dizzy and off balance, I waved him to a stop, wanting to take a break. I had been practicing non-stop for more than nine hours by that point, and as much as I knew it was benefitting me, both in terms of my cultivation and my general skill, I was reaching the point that I was losing some focus on what I was doing. ¡°With sincere praise, you are improving, Hunter. It is hard to believe you have only been practising for as long as you have.¡± I watched as the lava retreated back into Reff¡¯s palms as he spoke, before the glowing blobs faded back into the large rocks he carried about with him. ¡°Thanks, Reff. It¡¯s hard to tell, when everyone is so much stronger than me.¡± ¡°In dismissal, you keep company with Apexes, what would you expect, Hunter?¡± ¡°You have a point. I guess those bandits back in the Everwood forest were more normal?¡± ¡°In confirmation, that is correct. You have defeated a number of challengers, I believe?¡± ¡°Yeah, a few. It¡¯s easier to focus on the defeats I guess. Either way, I''ll take your word for it and accept the compliment. By the way, what¡¯s with the lava rocks? Where does the heat go when you... put the armour away?¡± ¡°With studied expertise, heat is an illusion, Hunter. What you see and feel as heat is in fact merely the excitation of matter, via the input of energy. The energy in this case is my own Veritas, and so when I am done with it, I merely take it back.¡± Okay, so Reff¡¯s Focus was way more efficient than mine was, while serving a similar dual purpose. I may have been jealous. ¡°That¡¯s an impressive Focus, Reff. Mine seems kind of wasteful in comparison.¡± ¡°In correction, the ¡®heat¡¯ does not originate from within my Focus. My focus is the manipulation of stone, specifically as armour. For my Exemplar, I defeated and absorbed a Cherufe, granting access to magma and lava as a medium, as well as improved control.¡± ¡°Huh. I haven¡¯t given much thought to Exemplars, honestly. It just seems so far away.¡± I thought about my conversation with Sidona, weeks ago now, and how she had explained that the absorption of an Exemplar was the start of the Path stage of cultivation, and how the choice could have almost any effect on your abilities.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you know of something that would work well for me?¡± ¡°In apology, I do not. The choosing of an Exemplar is a deeply personal choice ¨C it should reflect your personality and style. Some make choices wholly unrelated to their original Focus. My brother started with much the same Focus as me, though not specifically related to armour. For his Exemplar, he chose a beast that could regenerate its limbs seemingly endlessly, and so gained the ability to grow stone. But another who chose the same combination may have resulted in a different result. A great deal comes down to intent.¡± I had not come into contact with many beasts since my arrival ¨C I did not think a Plainsrunner would do much for me, or the giant flying plant spider from the other world. Sidona had said that you could use natural treasures or even objects, but I had not come across many of those either. I was suddenly very glad for my quests from Xiournal, even if I had a crappy deal. They at least forced me out into the world, where I had a better chance of finding something that fit me. I hated to think of myself cultivating in the same city for my entire life, and settling for any old Exemplar. No thank you! ¡°In inspiration, perhaps you could spar with my sister? She is closer to your level, having only recently begun to walk the Path. She will be stronger and faster, certainly, but the integration is still in its infancy, and so you will only need to contend with her Focus, which does not lend itself to personal combat.¡± I looked up at my giant friend in surprise, it had not occurred to me to ask what level Riffa was at, but it made sense that it would be lower than Reff, given that she was younger. ¡°You want me to fight your sister?¡± ¡°In confirmation, yes, I believe you two should spar. She is not so far ahead of you that you would pose no challenge as you are, especially given her particular abilities.¡± ¡°... Okay, if you¡¯re sure, big guy.¡± ¡°In assurance, please remain here. I will return with my sister.¡± * *** * Reff returned with Riffa after maybe half an hour ¨C I had taken the opportunity to sit down and cool off, making sure to go over my training and the mistakes I had made. There had been many, though fewer than the day before, and I was starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel, a little hope that I would not always be quite so far behind. I stood as the siblings approached, brushing dark sand from my pants and bowing at them ¨C more of a nod than a real bow, it still was something I was not used to. ¡°Hey, Riffa. Did Reff tell you his idea?¡± ¡°With resignation, it is so, Hunter. My brother thinks it would be useful to us both, though I do not see how.¡± ¡°With appropriate mystery, we shall see.¡± Reff¡¯s voice bordered on laughter, or at least as close as he ever came. I raised an eyebrow at him, and at his words. The Risi, as they were apparently called, could phrase things in ways that were obviously not meant to be funny, but I often ended up hiding my laughter regardless. I stepped into position and waited for Riffa to take hers, and was surprised when she asked me to move back a little. Shrugging, I took a few steps back and dropped into a defensive stance. I stared over at her, my eyes locked on her waist, which was easy in that case due to her height, and waited for her to adopt a stance of her own. She did not, instead standing relaxed with her sapphire-on-black eyes half-lidded. I narrowed my eyes at the lack of caution ¨C even Darina had taken up a stance ¨C and I was about to spring forward when I heard a slight shifting and glanced down at the sand of the practice hall. Amidst the dark grains, I saw faces forming. I blinked down at the strangely blank masks of sand and even took a step back as they began to rise up, sucking in more sand as they grew and gained definition. After a second or two, six figures ¨C each an identical sand sculpture of my opponent ¨C stood between us. I could see Riffa on the other side of them, still standing relaxed and her eyes still half-closed. I did not have long to look, however. As one, the sand sculptures came at me, and I could feel their weight through a faint vibration in the floor as they stepped closer, as walking wall between me and my relaxed opponent. As I Focused, their approach seemed to slow and the sharp smell of ozone welled up around me even as the filaments of light I was so used began to crack and flicker, seeking a path to follow. I was not willing to be completely boxed in by the sand figures, but between them they had a lot of the practice area covered. There was room to either side of them, but I thought it likely that if I went in that direction, they would shift to cover it. Taking the chance, I ran for the gap to the left, and as I predicted, they moved to cover the gap. I did notice something else though, that I may not have done if not for the slowing effect of my Focus: There was a hesitation. A split second of unchanging motion before they stopped as one and moved sideways. Hoping to get a better handle on the delay ¨C or at least confirm whether it was real or a trick, I shifted direction and ran directly at one of the towering constructs. Again, I noticed the hesitation as I moved and a plan came to me, that I would never try against a real person, but might be worth a shot in this case. I sped up, pushing a touch more power through my Focus as I did, allowing the world to slow further as I accelerated. With a wide grin, I dropped to my knees as I approached them and tried to slide through the high arch of the sculpture''s legs. It did not go quite as well as I had hoped. With a shudder like the falling of a portcullis, the construct I was aimed at dropped to a knee, blocking my path. There had been a hesitation, but it had considerably less space to cover than I did. Rolling as I felt a blow coming from above, I came to my feet ready to fend off the others, but they only began to react after I had risen. I took a moment to consider how difficult it would be to independently control six figures ¨C I had seen Walker independently control millions of swords, so I knew it was possible, but he was an Apex. I decided to ask about it before I left the next day, and turned my attention back to the fight at hand. I spent a minute or so testing their coordination ¨C it seemed like they could move in unison when it did not involve any individual movements, but whenever I moved in to test them, I was always engaged with a single opponent. It was true that Riffa seemed able to shift her attention between them ¨C with a brief hesitation ¨C so it seemed like I was only ever fighting one person at a time. I moved in to engage with one of the sand giants, still trying to make it through, under or around them to get at my actual opponent, but this time I had a plan. As soon as one of the constructs began to react, I would switch my focus to trying to bypass another, moving them slightly out of position by making sure that Riffa never had the chance to move them all as a whole without letting me through. Eventually, I managed to make a gap, and allowing a kick to impact me ¨C which really hurt ¨C used the force to dive through the gap, and as her attention was focused on the one doing the kicking, Riffa was unable to intercept me. Throwing up sand where I impacted rolling out of the blow, my arms aching furiously where I had taken it, I launched myself at Riffa¡¯s still relaxed body. As I sped her way, I could see her eyes open fully for the first time and she began to drop into a stance. She might¡¯ve been faster than me, but she was flat-footed and distracted. Reaching her just as she took up her defensive stance, I stepped up onto her knee and used it to jump higher. As I did, I grabbed her shoulder and pulled myself into a punch directly to the point of her chin, even as I flared my Focus hard. There was a sharp crack from my blow as my lightning flowed into her. Not wanting to be grabbed, I kicked off her chest to land back in the dark sand, frantically trying to anticipate possible counters. It did not come, and it was with a vague shock that I heard Reff calling out. ¡°With satisfaction, Hunter wins.¡± Gates of Tomorrow Helping Riffa to her feet, I offered her a nod of my head. She did not look too happy to have lost, but there did not seem to be any ill will on her face as she returned my nod. I had not expected my blow to knock her out, but apparently controlling the sand people like she did required a great deal of concentration. ¡°Thanks for the bout, Riffa.¡± ¡°In reluctant concession, you are welcome, Hunter. Thank you as well.¡± Reff walked up to us as we parted, a small smile on his face. ¡°In vindication, do you see, sister? You were unsure whether your chosen Exemplar would benefit you very much, and as I have said, as you stand, you are vulnerable to attacks from directions not covered by your puppets, not to mention to fast attackers. You should concentrate on completing your Path.¡± Riffa turned on her brother and her eyes narrowed slightly, and when she spoke there was the faintest growl to her voice. ¡°In accusation, this was to convince me not to come with you? I am stronger than Hunter, why should I not go?¡± ¡°In exasperation, Riffa, your Focus leaves you vulnerable. Hunter, who has yet to complete his Core, defeated you by exploiting that weakness. You have said that once you have completed your Path, your puppets will act independently; if that is the case, you would be foolish to risk yourself further right now. You have been lucky so far.¡± I mostly stood back during all this, trying to be small. I could see my friends point; Riffa had been an easy opponent once I had made it past her sand sculptures, but I could also see the other side of things. While Riffa¡¯s Focus might not currently be great in some situations, I was sure there were others in which it would excel, especially if they could eventually move and make decisions on their own, freeing her up to actually fight. I could imagine that being pretty scary. On top of that, she was still at a higher stage than I was and if she chose to forgo her Focus, she might very well be able to mop the floor with me. Mop the sand? Can you mop sand? Rake the floor with me? ¡°In irritation, I know you only fear for my safety, Reff, but if I am ever to complete my Path, I must Experience more of the world. Be warned, brother: one day I will overtake you, and on that day, I will return your concern several fold.¡± Reff had said she was competitive. I could definitely see it, and I felt a little sorry for my large friend, if she ever did overtake his cultivation level. ¡°You three all have Foci related to Crafting ¨C you two and Raaf I mean. Is that a family thing, or your entire people? I know you mentioned that your whole group were crafters originally.¡± I piped up, hoping to head off the discussion before it could descend into whatever passed for full-on sibling squabbling amongst the Risi. Reff turned to me, a touch of relief on his face as he spoke. ¡°With relieved confirmation, many of our people start with some sort of crafting Focus, which is then often adapted for combat. For many years, after our arrival, we tried to hold onto the purity of our art, however without the Metal caste, it was not possible. A compromise was reached.¡± ¡°It seems to have worked out well,¡± I gestured around at the Citadel we stood on, ¡°This place is certainly a work of art. And both your armour, and your sculptures, Riffa. Makes me wish I had taken something with more structure for my Focus, but it is what it is.¡± It was kind of true ¨C my lightning had saved my bacon a few times, but I had been exposed to more of the world since then, to more people. I thought I could do better, but doing so risked losing both my extended energy channels and all the progress I had made so far. I did not think reverting to the state I had been in upon my arrival would be helpful in my upcoming mission, or any of my future ones. The siblings both bowed and thanked me for the compliment, seeming to come to a silent agreement to table their discussion. We discussed the bout after that, going over places where the two of us could have done better, and I felt a little dumb when Reff pointed out that I may have been able to jump over them. I had not really practiced much with my increased strength ¨C most things seemed fairly normal to me, as materials here are tough and heavy enough even for other cultivators. For example, the sword I had been practising with was probably thirty or forty pounds, and while it had seemed a little heavy for me when I first held it back in Everwood City, it had not seemed that heavy. I tested out jumping, perhaps making the mistake of giving it my all ¨C I shot into the air, at least thirty feet up, before landing back on the sand with a muffled whup. I looked at my friends in amazement, a wide smile on my face. My smile did however fall quite quickly, as a sand puppet once more formed between us and jumped up, gaining not quite as much air as I had, but given its own height, it could probably have grabbed me. I pictured it throwing me down and landing on me, so I quickly decided to refrain from giant leaps in combat. It was impossible ¨C at least for me ¨C to change my direction in the air, and that would leave me open. Bidding them goodbye, I went in search of Walker, shaking images of myself soaring through the air with a sword held in front of me from my mind. * *** * After asking a couple of people, I managed to locate my mentor ¨C along with Aella ¨C at a tavern a couple of levels down from where our residences were. Inside the tavern ¨C The Ale Well ¨C there was a low hum of conversation, rather than the more boisterous din I was used to from places where people drank in public. The light was low and tinged red, with the glowing lines running in gently sweeping waves around the room. There were a few non-Risi scattered about, though they were hard to see among the giants. Walking through the rumbling crowd, I managed to spot them both in a corner, along with Sonja. I hesitated as I spotted them, wondering if perhaps I was intruding, but as I paused, the heads of both Walker and his fellow Apex turned to me simultaneously and my mentor gestured me over. ¡°Hunter, please, join us. We are enjoying a final drink before Sonja and I must go to gather the others.¡± Walker¡¯s voice pierced the low rumble of the room easily, and with a smile and a nod I took the final remaining free seat at the table. ¡°You know where the others are? I¡¯ve been meaning to ask ¨C if the Apexes are scattered around the world, won¡¯t it take a long time to gather them?¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It was Sonja who answered, rather than my Mentor, her lambent grey-white eyes locked on me. ¡°Know, not specifically, do we. Our favoured routes and homes, however ¨C yes. Fast do we travel when on our own, and our perception stretches far. Weeks it will take, at least, it is certain.¡± Walker nodded around a large stone flagon as he drank deeply, before setting it down and speaking, a surprising hint of trepidation in his voice. ¡°I do not look forward to disturbing Bo Ai¡¯rong, he is always foul tempered when interrupted.¡± ¡°Envy you, I do not; still would I take the Unfettered Frame over the Sun¡¯s Judgement. Stuck-up and arrogant, she is.¡± I was surprised to hear an Apex refer to another as stuck-up; to that point I had only heard them ¨C as a whole ¨C described as a fairly tight-knit group, at least as far as a dispersed group could be. I had also never heard of either of the Apexes they had mentioned, though that was not too surprising given how long I had been there. Other than the two present, I had heard of the Wild Bounty and of the Crystal Drake, as well as Reff¡¯s brother, the Mountain¡¯s Seed. ¡°What sort of cultivators are the Unfettered Frame and Sun¡¯s Judgement? If that¡¯s not rude to ask?¡± Sonja blinked at me for a moment before a look of understanding dawned; I was sure Walker had told her about my particular past, so I was not surprised when she did not challenge my ignorance. It was my mentor who answered first, his voice filled with admiration, and again, a little trepidation. ¡°Bo Ai¡¯rong focuses entirely on physical abilities. He is ¨C physically ¨C the most powerful being on this world, and the most powerful I have ever come across while Walking others. If a Peak Pinnacle cultivator is five-thousand times as powerful as a normal person, Bo Ai¡¯rong is at least thirty-thousand times as powerful, though I have never seen him go all-out. It is possible he is more powerful still.¡± Shocked, I tried to picture a person who was that strong and fast; they would have a hell of a time interacting with the world. Even the strongest materials I had seen would seem like little more than tissue paper to somebody like that. In my mind, I imagined a sneeze taking out a city and shuddered a little. ¡°A star¡¯s form does Paladin ChianJilow, Apex of the Sun¡¯s Judgement take. Unleashed or controlled she may be, but is devastating either way. In service of Weilou, who holds Dominion over Stars is she. Zealous.... stuck-up.¡± Sonja¡¯s description was somewhat less intimidating, at least at first. Unlike Bo Ai¡¯rong, I had no real frame of reference for becoming a star, but if she actually became star, then it was probably pretty deadly. It was also the first time I had heard the word Weilou, and given the designation of Paladin, I inferred that it was a god. ¡°Weilou is a god? I think this is the first time I have heard one of the local gods spoken of by name.¡± It was Aella who answered this time; she had been listening along and snorting quietly to herself whenever the Mending Flesh described ChianJilow as stuck-up. ¡°Weilou, the Dominion of Stars, is a god, yes. God of fire and light! And god of passion, and justice! His followers party hard, but get super judgy afterwards... they can be pretty stuck-up.¡± The last was said with a wide smile as my teacher took a long pull from her own flagon. I caught a whiff of what was in the stone vessel and winced; I had thought it ale, given the name of the establishment but it smelled more like vodka. ¡°... So, she¡¯s a Paladin? I thought the gods weren¡¯t allowed to interfere with things down here?¡± ¡°They cannot intervene directly ¨C even the wars between worlds are more a byproduct of their own battles with other pantheons. They can however grant power to those that seek it and are deemed worthy. When a worshipper is ready to begin their Path, they may entreat the gods, and if they are found to be worthy, they are granted an Exemplar that embodies their chosen deity. From that point on, they must serve that god¡¯s values, if not their direct will.¡± ¡°The gods can provide Exemplars? It seems like a lot rides on a person¡¯s choice of Path.¡± ¡°Indeed, Hunter. In many ways, the choice of Exemplar is much more important than that of the Focus. A well-chosen Exemplar can take even a mediocre Focus and make it great, and can push a great Focus to the heights of power.¡± I pondered his words ¨C I had been a little disappointed with my own Focus almost since I had chosen it. That was not to say that I hated it ¨C lightning was still awesome, and it had saved me a number of times, but when I saw how others used their own, I was a little jealous. Maybe, I thought, I could make some of that up with my exemplar. ¡°Walker, Reff¡¯s sister creates sand puppets, but she has a hard time controlling them all, at least until she finished integrating her own Exemplar. It made me thing about your own abilities ¨C how do you control so many swords at once? They all seem to act independently. It¡¯s not rude to ask... is it?¡± ¡°It is not rude, amongst friends. You should not ask strangers, however. Some can be quite... secretive about it. When I was younger, when traveling far from here, I came upon a being with fifty heads and a hundred arms. In each, they held a weapon. This being was capable of wielding them independently, and with great skill, despite an apparent lack of genuine intelligence. I do not know from where this being originated ¨C I have never found or heard of another, but it fought well. For days and weeks we fought, and it is only due to its lack of intelligence I was able to prevail, as it was otherwise stronger than me in all ways. My Focus made use of multiple weapons - though not as many as now - but a mortal mind is not designed to control so many disparate objects with skill, and so I considered myself fortunate to have found a beast which seemed to make up that lack.¡± Walker took another drink from his mug, which seemed to be even stronger than Aella¡¯s own. ¡°I absorbed the hundred-handed beast as my Exemplar, hoping it would allow me at least a portion of its own control. Once I had integrated it fully, I was pleasantly surprised to find I had underestimated its control, as well as several other benefits.¡± Something about Walker¡¯s story rang a bell in my memory, and I searched for a moment, trying to recall what it was he had reminded me off. There was some mythological creature from back on Earth, I was sure, but I was unable to recall the details. ¡°I absorbed a natural treasure! It resembled a pinecone, but seemed to me made from stone, as did the tree it grew from. The blasted tree nearly killed me ¨C the damn cones made themselves many, many times heavier as they fell. Turned people in to mush, and now I do too!¡± My teacher slapped the table and laughed. Her short description explained the unreasonable power exhibited by her weighted chain, as well as how it had so much of an... impact on people. Sonja was of course silent ¨C I had only met her a few times, and while she seemed friendly enough, I was not about to ask her about her own cultivation, given our limited relationship. I turned back to my dark mentor and asked him the same question I had asked Reff: whether he knew of any Exemplar that would fit me and my own Focus. His answer was pretty much what I expected, but there was a hint of hope in it too. ¡°Each Path must be chosen individually ¨C intent is as important as the actual choice. The Sha Forest, however, is a very interesting area, filled with strange and powerful beasts, as well as natural treasures. Should you complete your Core, there would be a good place in which to find your own Path.¡± I nodded, but stayed silent. I did not know how far I had to go to complete my Core, but if what Walker said was right, that the Sha Forest was a good place to begin, I would have to double down on my cultivation; if my luck so far was anything to go by, it would likely be an interesting journey. Riffa had said it would take about a month to get there, which was within the timeframe of my quest, thankfully, though it did not leave a very large margin for error. That did remind me however that I needed to collect my orders from the alchemist ¨C I had placed it the day before and it had wiped out most of my funds. The order was nothing special, just healing and cleansing pills, mostly, but given I was leaving my mentor behind, I would not be able to mooch off him any longer. I planned on doing some hunting on the way, when I had chance to put together some more money, though the idea that I might be killing the descendent of some Elder would probably keep me up at nights... I hoped Instinctive Precognition would warn me if I was about to do something so stupid, but with the way it worked, I was not sure if me knowing it might be stupid would block it. Shaking my head, knowing I was over thinking things again, I stood once more and bowed to my friends, and Sonja. ¡°I have an early morning tomorrow, I should probably go get some rest, and pick up my supplies. Will I see you again, before I leave?¡± ¡°I will see you before you leave, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too! ¡­ Provided it¡¯s not too early...¡± I grinned at my teacher and turned to leave, my mind already on the coming journey. Brave New World We stood before the vast gates of the Blacksand Citadel in the pre-dawn light provided by the rapidly dimming desert. The frigid wind gusted about us as I was once more glad that I had bought some warmer clothes. To my left stood Darina, who seemed immune to the cold; it was one more thing I found annoying about her. The apprentice was pointedly ignoring me, her gaze locked on her own master, who stood a little way away speaking with Walker and Raaf. Reff stood to my right ¨C along with his sister. It seemed she had finally convinced her oldest brother to let her accompany us, though given the initial resistance, I could only imagine it was through persistence rather than any logical reasoning. Riffa looked smug, and I caught Reff rolling his eyes at her every time she reminded him that she was coming with us. Which was a lot. Aella had already come to wish me good luck ¨C in her own way. I did not think she had slept yet, if her breath and wobbling gait were any clue, but she seemed quite genuine, around the insults at least. She had made me promise to keep practicing, but not to actually use the chain in any real fights until we met again so she could judge my progress. I did not blame her for that, it was a complex weapon to use and I could see myself getting in trouble, at least with my current skills. I straightened as I saw Walker and the other turn in our direction, and I watched as the three Apexes approached. They all moved with an easy grace and confidence that I hoped to one day emulate. Raaf was the first to speak, his voice like the grinding of stone on stone. ¡°With everlasting thanks, Hunter you have assisted in saving my people from a grave illness. I am glad that my brother found you, and you will always be welcome within the Citadel. But now you ¨C all,¡± With this, Raaf glanced at Riffa and grimaced slightly, ¡°have another task. An Elder phoenix would cause much harm before they could be curtailed ¨C the egg you carry must be delivered safely to its parent.¡± His garnet-on-black eyes swept across us all before finally locking on Reff. ¡°With grim authority, you will bring your sister home safely. The Sha Forest can be a dangerous place.¡± ¡°With absolute assurance, it will be so, brother.¡± My friend¡¯s voice was serious as he met his brother¡¯s eyes, and I felt very sorry for whatever tried to hurt Riffa. ¡°In exasperation, I am not a child! I can, and have looked after myself. When I return I will be stronger than Reff and I will show you who needs looking after.¡± Riffa¡¯s voice rose to be as loud as I had ever heard it, and certainly as close to shouting as I had heard a risi come. Raaf opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated at his little sister¡¯s glare, before holding up his hands in surrender. The next to speak was Sonja, her bright moon-like eyes flicking between us, only resting for slightly longer on her apprentice. ¡°Careful you should be. More than a single Elder, the Sha is home to.¡± ¡°We will be careful, Master. I am used to the propriety of the Sha Forest and will be taking charge of the expedition, in order to ensure its success.¡± Darina bowed low at the waist and I found myself shaking my head. She was right ¨C she was there as our guide and we should be following her example on our arrival, but did she have to phrase it like she was in charge? ¡°Good for you, I believe this trip will be, Apprentice. Too long secluded were we, perhaps.¡± Sonja¡¯s voice was a little sad at the last, and I wondered how long she had been training Darina. Riffa had said it was recent, but what was recent when a person could live for thousands of years? Last up was my dark mentor, his blindfolded gaze tilted to the side in our general direction. ¡°I will wish you all good luck ¨C this is an opportunity for you all to grow stronger, though it is especially so for you, Hunter. Practice, progress and remember that to wield the blade is to seek perfection. I will expect you to be closer to that goal, upon your return. You have come a long way in a short time, but the world is wide and time is deep ¨C there is a long road ahead of you.¡± Walker¡¯s words were solemn and I redoubled my determination that I would be at the Path stage when I returned. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best, Walker. Good luck with the whole, gathering of the Apexes thing.¡± I grinned up at him and he gave me a wry smile in return, before giving me a bow of his head, which was quickly followed by the other two. The four of us bowed back, and as I came out of it, I frowned slightly to see both Walker and Sonja turn in opposite directions, both pointed away from the Citadel. There were two deep booms and an explosion of sand; covering my eyes to protect them from the cold grit I waited for it to settle before looking up to see them gone, with no visible trace anywhere. A glance at my companions told me they were not surprised, and Raaf even looked a little bored before he turned his back to us and casually walked back into the colossal edifice that was the Blacksand Citadel. I had seen Walker do something similar before, when Aella had been poisoned, but it was still a shock. I considered how fast a person would need to be to search the world in a handful of weeks and something he had said the night before came back to me ¨C a Peak Pinnacle stage cultivator was five-thousand times faster than a normal person. I stood staring at the spot Walker had departed from as I tried to comprehend exactly how fast that would be; numbers began to spiral through my head as I tried to work out drag, friction and a dozen other factors, but I failed to come up with an accurate speed, settling instead on, ¡®Really Damn Fast¡¯ as an answer. Turning back to my companions, I grinned, eager to depart despite Darina¡¯s sour presence.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°So, shall we start walking? You said weeks, right, Riffa?¡± Despite my question being directed at Riffa, it was of course the apprentice that answered me, her red-jade gaze mocking. ¡°Walk? It will take far longer than that if we walk. We will be running. I do hope you can keep up.¡± * *** * They were all faster than me. That fact was not a surprise, of course; they were each a stage ahead of me, so they had all completed their Cores meaning they were all about fifty times faster than a normal human, and while I was certainly faster than I should have been, it was difficult to determine exactly how fast I was, due to the marked lack of normal people in the group. When we had set out, Darina had insisted on everyone going all out so that we could get baseline for how much slower they would all have to travel, due to me being present. What this meant in practice was that the three of them left me behind very quickly. I had been running on my own for about an hour when I saw them come into sight in the distance. I was glad that I had managed to maintain the correct direction with only the Citadel behind me as any kind of guide in the dark desert. I began to bleed speed and slow as I approached them, but a warning from Instinctive Precognition warned me that I was moving faster than I thought I was and I ended up overshooting them before I managed to slow down sufficiently to engage. I was not particularly mad at being left behind ¨C even if I thought it had mostly been done as put-down, it was still a good idea. We would need to move as quickly as possible, and I knew that even at my best I would be slowing down travel compared to Riffa¡¯s initial journey. And honestly? I felt great. I had never been a particularly physical person in my last life, and towards the end I could only just about walk, let alone run for hours on end. I walked up to the three with a grin on my face, and I could see a touch of disappointment on Darina¡¯s face, which only made my smile wider. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s was pretty great! I¡¯ve never run for so long before!¡± My voice was excited, even in my own ears and I saw Reff smiling along with me ¨C he knew my situation, and that this really was my first time. ¡°So, you can run slightly faster than a child? Congratulations. We should go, we¡¯ll be held back enough by you that we need to make use of as much of the day as we can.¡± Darina¡¯s words were mocking, but even her attitude could not spoil the high I was feeling. Cultivation always felt good, but there was just something about just running that spoke to something deep inside me. If Darina wanted to run, I would run, and I cultivate the entire way so that I could run faster. ¡°With doubt, Hunter runs significantly faster than a child, Darina. Perhaps you know a number of speed Focused children?¡± Reff¡¯s voice was genuinely curious, and I saw the apprentice''s face shift in consternation at the fact that her mocking had flown over my friend¡¯s head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know any speed Focused children, Reff. I was ¨C never mind. Can we go?¡± Without waiting for a response, Darina took off, this time at a more sedate pace and I laughed as we took off after her, simply enjoying the rush of the wind in my hair and across my skin. * *** * The sun had set by the time we stopped again; I was expecting to be exhausted, but I had once again underestimated either my new body or the benefits provided by cultivation. I was definitely a little tired, but I thought I could probably continue on through the night. When I mentioned this to Reff, I was told it was too dangerous to run at speed in the dark, due to potential holes and irregularities in the ground. Considering it, I had to accept the wisdom of it. Getting a foot stuck in a hole running as fast as we had been would probably break a leg quite badly, and not everyone healed as fast as I ¨C or Darina ¨C did. I had never really occurred to me that we could run through the Everwood when we had been on our way to the Citadel, but looking back I could see similar issues with running through a dense forest. The last time I had spent the night out in the desert, I had been shielded from a lot of the wind and cold by the massive bulk of the Plainsrunner. Knowing that this time around I would not have the benefit of a huge living radiator, I had purchased a number of alchemical flasks that I had been told would produce heat when combined with the accompanying liquid. It was supposed to last for hours, though I had been told it varied a little per bottle; I hoped it would last through the night though, as I was not keen on dying from hypothermia. As it turned out, I was not the only person to have taken precautions ¨C both Reff and Riffa pulled out flasks of their own when I did, though Darina turned her nose up at them with a sniff. ¡°How about we use mine tonight, and we can trade off?¡± My friend agreed and I pulled the cork from the top of the flask and poured in the small vial of blue liquid into the clear liquid in the flask before replacing it and shaking gently. The blue disappeared quickly and the whole thing began to glow a soft white. I could feel a rapidly growing heat coming from the glass and I quickly placed it down on the dark sand ¡°Reff, Riffa, would you spar with me? I need to stay sharp.¡± The apprentice spoke up as I placed the flask, her voice polite. I glanced up to find her ignoring me, but I was not particularly surprised to be left out. Reff glanced at me to make sure I was fine being left out and I gave him a nod; there would be plenty of time to practice on our way, and I needed to put in some more time with the sword anyway, if I was ever going to actually use it in combat. The three moved off, and even from where I stood, I could feel the heat as my large friend donned his molten armour. I watched for a few minutes as the three fought back and forth; Reff seemed to be dominating the fight, which was not surprising given that he seemed to have almost completely integrated his Exemplar. I grinned as Darina was sent skipping into the desert by a sharp blow from Reff, but she shot back into the fray a few moments later, seemingly none the worse for wear. Shrugging, I pulled my sword free and stepped a couple of feet from the flask to give me space and began to practice. My body was getting more used to positions and stances that were a part of the sword form, and while at first it had been a bit of a strain grinding through the motions meant to be done at speed, it was much easier now. I spent several hours carefully going through the motions as my friends fought in different configurations; I did my best to ignore them, concentrating instead on the sword and my own body, but it was tough, as I kept catching glimpses of Darina being flung out into the desert. ¡°Thank you for the practice.¡± I heard a stiff voice growl out and my practice came to an end when the aggravating apprentice stomped back over to the flask and sat down, arms and legs crossed and a look of vast irritation decorating her face as she stared off into the rippling light around us. I looked over at Reff and Riffa who were stood where they had been fighting, glancing back over at us. Putting my sword away, I wondered over to them and spoke under my breath. ¡°Is everything ok, what happened?¡± ¡°With subdued caution, I do not think Darina likes to lose.¡± Reff¡¯s voice was not quite a whisper, but given how deep his voice was, I did not think it would carry, though I would not be super-put-out if it did. ¡°Yeah, she doesn¡¯t seem to be the type to take defeat well. I¡¯m surprised she tried to fight you both.¡± ¡°With quiet agreement, Darina is quite aggressive; on our way to the Citadel, she challenged me many times, and was always most annoying if I won. I think she wishes to live up to her master.¡± Riffa¡¯s words struck me, and I thought I understood her a little better. I did not know a lot about her life, but she did seem to place a great deal of importance in her relationship with her master. Despite how irritating I found her bratty attitude, I would try to see past it and hopefully get to know her a little better. Judging her based on what I knew, while fun, was what she was doing to me, and I wanted to be better than that. Communication Breakdown I woke with a shiver as a cold breeze wriggled its way into my robe ¨C looking down, I realised I had shifted in my sleep and my leg was now sticking out from under my travel blanket. I noticed movement off to one side and sat up quickly, but it was only Darina practicing in the pre-dawn mist. The many-coloured lights of the Blacksands had already faded, which meant that it was about time to be up and about anyway. Glancing around, I noticed that Reff and Riffa were still asleep ¨C the two of them were usually pretty punctual so I decided to let them sleep; I was sure that Darina would have woken us all without hesitation if we had overslept. Rising, I stowed the blanket in a ring and stretched. It had been harder than I thought it would be to sleep surrounded by the lights, but whatever amount of sleep I had got seemed to be enough. Recalling my thoughts from the evening before ¨C about wanting to do better and try to get to know the angry apprentice ¨C I drew in a lungful of chilly air and let it out in a gust of slightly thicker mist, before walking over to where Darina was running through a series of aggressive kicks, punches and headbutts. I wanted to wait for a pause in the motions, but after only a few moments, the diminutive woman¡¯s movements came to a halt and she turned to look at me, a glare on her face. ¡°What? I am trying to practice.¡± Her voice was full of frustration and I wondered what would drive a person to take losses in practice so hard, especially against somebody further along than you were. ¡°Uh, sorry to interrupt, Darina. I just, uh, realized that you¡¯ve asked about my background, but I¡¯ve never really asked about yours. I was going to wait for you to finish though. Sorry for interrupting?¡± I was not sure if I had interrupted, given that I had mostly been standing there doing nothing, but I was trying to build bridges, not burn them. Peace had to start somewhere. ¡°Why?¡± The glare she wore deepened and I held up my hands in mock defence. ¡°We¡¯re traveling together, obviously, and I just think it would be easier on us both if we could get along with each other. Just trying to bridge the gap, you know?¡± ¡°Your Master has given you a task, as has my own. That should be enough ¨C there is no need for us to ¡®get along¡¯.¡± Her voice was clipped now and I could hear the condescension in the slightly lecturing tone. ¡°Walker didn¡¯t ask me to do this, it was... somebody else. But even if he had, I would still make the effort. There¡¯s no reason for us to be so antagonistic; surely it would only lessen our odds?¡± ¡°You would leave your Master¡¯s side at another¡¯s request? Where is your loyalty?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, I¡¯m pretty sure, that Walker isn¡¯t my Master. Although, I guess he is now, technically since he started teaching me the sword... it doesn¡¯t matter. Walker is my friend and he understands that this is something I needed to do, and that it¡¯s beneficial for everyone not to piss off an Elder phoenix.¡± ¡°You are a disgrace. To be as deficient as you are, and to still be chosen by an Apex, and then show such disrespect? When our mission is over, I will challenge you again and this time you will not come away from it so unscathed.¡± I took several deep breaths; willing to make the effort I might have been, but my body was still pretty aggressive, and I wanted to react to the challenge in her voice, but I held onto the edges of my temper and breathed through the surge in aggression before continuing. ¡°Well, you¡¯re welcome to. In the meantime, I¡¯m not going to just give up ¨C I¡¯m going to go full anime protagonist on you. We¡¯re going to be friends eventually. It¡¯s just how the trope works.¡± ¡°Again, you speak like an idiot, using strange words. Whatever place you are from, I hope I am never asked to visit, as I am not sure I could hold myself back from beating more than one of you.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure there¡¯s no way for you to go where I¡¯m from, so you need not worry. Though, with an attitude like that I¡¯m sure you could make a lot of money on the Internet...¡± ¡°More stupid words! If I tell you some of my past, will you shut up?!¡± Her raised voice sounded like a shout in the empty desert, and I glanced around to see if she had disturbed our other friends; luckily, they still seemed to be asleep. Turning back to the small bundle of barely repressed irritation, I shrugged and gave her my best grin. ¡°Sure. For a while.¡± I honestly thought she was going to punch me for a moment, but she seemed to regain control of herself just in time to avoid it. I saw her take several deep breaths, much as I had earlier and she closed her eyes for a few moments. When she opened her eyes again, she seemed calm, so I turned the power down on my grin so that I was just a polite smile, waiting for her to proceed. ¡°I was born in the Sha Forest, in a village within the territory of the thundering apes. Both my parents had been killed in the war against those that wielded the dead as weapons,¡± she paused in her story to spit to the side, disgust clear on her face. Her voice was mostly flat, but there had been a flare of anger at the mention of the dead. I recalled Sidona mentioning something similar. ¡°As an orphan with no other family, I was provided a place to live by the village, but was otherwise left to my own devices. My parents were fighters, while the other villagers cultivated plants to supply to alchemists. I was somewhat reckless as a child, so they did not trust me around their crops. As an orphan, and children being what they are, I would often get into fights with the other village children. They were often older and always bigger than me, and as a result, I developed a Focus based on healing, so that I could keep fighting until I beat the arrogant vermin into submission.¡± Darina paused and I did not inject that she was treating me much as her peers had apparently treated her; I considered this a sign of my regrowing maturity. I did however think about her fighting style ¨C it was super-aggressive and seemed to centre around beating her opponent while simply ignoring damage. I could see why she would develop the Focus she did, and while I was no psychologist, I thought I could see why she was taking losing so badly. ¡°Eventually the other children were no match for me, of course. They were not fighters, and it turned out that ¨C like my parents - I was.¡± Her voice was proud when she mentioned her parents, and she raised her chin minutely. I felt bad for her loss, which only worsened as she continued. ¡°The village elders did not take my victories well however. In my fourteenth summer, I was cast out after thrashing several of them. The Sha Forest is a dangerous place, especially for a child, but there was little I could do ¨C even though I was by far the most skilled fighter in the village, skill alone cannot overcome cultivation. Growers they may have been, but the elders were all much stronger than I was. I left without a glance back and went in search of another village, which I found after days of travel. The children there were no less cruel to a strange orphan than the children of my own had been to one they knew, and it was not long before I was cast out again.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Darina, I¡¯m so sorry-¡± The apprentice''s eyes snapped to my own, so wide that I could see the whites all around the red jade of her irises. I stopped speaking, a warning from Instinctive Precognition telling me that to continue would be stupid. ¡°I do not need your pity! I lived in the wilds of the Sha Forest for years, fighting people and beasts both, surviving. I don¡¯t need pity...¡± Her voice trailed off at the end, but I stayed silent. Moments passed, drawing out the quiet and I was almost ready to throw wisdom aside when she finally continued. ¡°By the time Master found me, I had grown bold. My Core was nearing completion and I was daring to face stronger and stronger beasts. I was facing a young thundering ape, or trying to; the thundering ape is one of the strongest beasts in existence, able to chase off even dragons from their territory and I was no match for even an infant. I was close to the limit of my healing when Master intervened. Afterwards, she asked me why I had been fighting the ape, and upon hearing my story she asked if I wanted to be strong. I said yes, of course. It was all I had wanted for years, to be strong enough. She said I had an interesting Focus, and with her help, I could be truly strong. That same day, we shattered my Focus and I became her apprentice.¡± Well, I think I now have a pretty good picture of why she was how she was, given her story. I could not really say that I blame her and it definitely made her view her attitude towards me in a different light. From her perspective, it must seem like I had been given something I did not earned ¨C to be made the apprentice of an Apex - without any of the hardships she had been through, and almost certainly without the same apparent drive. ¡°Darina, it must have been tough, living alone in the wild like that. I can¡¯t imagine how you managed to reach the Path stage again after breaking your Focus after almost completing your Core. It must have been hard.¡± She looked at me, no longer glaring, but I was having difficulty placing her expression. I opened my mouth to continue, but she beat me to it. ¡°You said you would shut up if I told you about my past. I¡¯m going to travel ahead for a while. Please tell Reff and Riffa.¡± ¡°Wait-¡± I held up a hand and began to ask her to wait, but before I could finish, she had turned and sprung away from me, soon just a speeding dot against the desert backdrop. I quickly drew a line in the cool sand in the direction she went and shaking my head, went to wake my friends, not wanting her to get too far ahead. * *** * Reff, Riffa and I were running in the direction Darina had gone earlier that day ¨C the apprentice was a lot faster when she did not have to wait for me, and we had not been able to catch her. I hoped she had not gone too far ¨C I thought we were running in the right direction, but I was not a tracker and I was not sure how well I would do at following her tracks in a desert even if I had been. The sun was high overhead when we spotted something on the horizon ¨C I had been happy to see the sun again, after many days under the near perpetual grey of the clouds, but it was quite a bit hotter than it was normally, so I found myself sweating a lot under the thick traveling clothes I was wearing. As we ran towards the bulge on the horizon, I could soon tell that it was far too large to be the wayward apprentice, and Reff positioned himself closer to me as we moved towards it. ¡°With concern, that looks large enough to be a sand shark, Hunter. We should avoid it, if possible.¡± Glancing at my tall friend, I raised my eyebrows at him. It was the first time he had ever recommended going around trouble. I almost agreed in reflex, but I recalled Darina¡¯s story from earlier and worried that she might have taken the large thing¡¯s presence as a personal challenge... ¡°What if Darina is over there? Do... sand sharks... are they... wouldn¡¯t they be in the sand normally, rather than on it?¡± I had never heard of sand sharks before, but it seemed like an odd name if they did not live in the sand. ¡°In concerned agreement, they do normally live under the sand. It is strange to see one on the surface not fighting something.¡± ¡°I think we have to risk it, Big Guy. If we close in and see she¡¯s not there, can we get away?¡± ¡°With consideration, it is possible if it is not too old. Otherwise we will need to fight. However, if Darina is engaged, it is unlikely she can prevail alone.¡± We quickly agreed to check it out ¨C if she was not there, we may be in for a fight, but that was better than abandoning a... well, not friend, yet, but a companion to her fate. It did not take us long to approach close enough to make out that there was indeed a fight in progress; Darina appeared to be being batted about by a creature that did actually look like a shark, if a shark was literally armour plated and had six legs. The thing was at least fifty feet long, not including the tail. It had two sets of legs at the back and one set at the front, and a long-finned tail. I heard Reff sigh, and after a moment I felt the heat of this armour burst into existence as it flowed over his body. For her part, Riffa came to a dead stop, and after another moment or two Reff and I were being followed by six sand puppets. Feeling much less impressive, I Focused and felt the world slow around me as crackling light flickered in and out of existence around me. For a few seconds I surged ahead of my companions, but was soon overtaken once more by my large friends glowing form as he closed the distance with the shark. With an audible grunt of effort Reff delivered a blow to the creature¡¯s side that I could feel through my feet. The shark staggered to the side before steadying itself and twisting about to bite at him. Reff did not move, standing his ground as the massive mouth tried to close about him, before jerking back suddenly, a faint puff of smoke floating up before scattering on the wind. The puppets closed in on the legs while it was distracted, also having outpaced me. Five of the six clamped around the front leg closest to us and an effort to limit its movement, or so I assumed. It seemed to work, though I knew there had to be some kind of energy manipulation involved, since this thing apparently literally swam through sand. I reached the fight just as I saw Darina sit up from where she had been laying in the sand and I heard a dull crunching pop from her direction that made me wince. I was glad that she seemed to be alright, having been given the time to regenerate from her wounds, as spectacularly fast as she could do that. As I ran in, I attempted to do the same thing Reff had, which involved jumping, given the disparity in our sizes. I leapt, shooting through the air and contracted my body around my core just as I reached the huge bulk of the sand shark, driving my fist into the thick, articulated armoured plate of its side. There was a crack and I was catapulted away from the monstrosity by the power of my own blow. I did not go too far ¨C I may not have been braced but the momentum of my leap had at least countered some of the reactive force. My blow did not however have a great deal of effect on my target; seemingly completely oblivious to my punch, the shark twisted its body around, to swing its tail into Reff¡¯s side. The appendage barely missed me as it passed, blowing sand into my face even as it smashed into my friend, who was sent skipping along the sand a short distance before he was able to arrest his movement to run back in. Riff and Darina had not been idle during all of this though; they were both attacking the things face, with Darina now holding onto a segment of its armour while trying to punch it in the eye. The sand puppet had its arms wrapped around the huge muzzle and was kicking it in the nose with audible thuds. I winced ¨C if this thing had anything in common with a real shark, it would not like that. Darina trying to punch it in the eye did give me an idea ¨C I did not know what the armour was made from, but it did seem to be resistant to lightning. I wondered how resistant and eye would be to a bolt of electricity. With a fierce grin, I took off running again, watching the tail complete its backswing above my head, not wanting to experience the same thing as my friend. I did not think my unarmored body would hold up nearly as well as his seemed to. The shark snarled as it tried to lift its restrained leg to brush off people on its face, but unable to, it instead turned to my approaching form. As I ran there was a flicker of warning that I was doing something stupid, but I was committed to my course of action. With a yell I jumped, hoping to land on its conveniently directed head and make my way to its eyes. As I sped through the air however, the warning from Instinctive Precognition still echoing in my mind, I remembered my decision not to jump too much in combat. I remembered the reasoning behind that decision, as the behemoth simply opened its wide, toothy maw and took me in like a long-awaited snack. Fear of the Dark The inside of the sand shark¡¯s mouth stank, so I had the incongruous idea of asking Ro about monster-mouthwash when I eventually made it back to Everwood City, but the problems of the moment soon caught up with me, and I flailed about looking for a hand- or foot-hold before the armoured beast could swallow me. My feet jammed against something with a little give, but at least it arrested my momentum. I had been lucky, as hard as it was for me to reconcile that fact with being eaten; if I had been moving any slower when the shark snapped me up, I may have been caught in the rows of jagged teeth, and I was not sure I would be doing nearly as well at not being eaten if I had been bisected. Trisected? Bitten into pieces. I will admit that I was panicking a little ¨C this was not the first time something had eaten me alive and I was having some vivid flashbacks. It helped that I was not actively being gnawed on, but the pitch darkness certainly reminded me of my time in the Black. It was only by a supreme act of will that I was holding onto the edge of my rapidly fraying nerves, for which I was grateful. If I had blasted the big bastard with everything I had, I was sure that I would fry it, inside its head as I was, but it would also set my cultivation back by weeks, and while I was no longer regularly electrocuting myself, I was pretty sure that the inside of something¡¯s mouth was conductive enough that my lightning would zap me as well. The mouth lurched to the side violently and I was almost dislodged from my precarious perch. Instinctive Precognition flickered to life again and without conscious thought I reached into a ring with a filament of Experience and pulled free a sword before driving it down into the bottom of the fleshy cave. Realising I now had a place to grab, I wrapped both of my hand around the hilt of the blade and held on as if my life depended on it. I allowed my panic, which had spiked, to subside slightly. I did not get long to center myself, however, I was quickly knocked into the air as the creature¡¯s head jolted upwards, and for a moment I could see daylight again as the shark snapped at something I could not see. I wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but my hands were locked tight and I wasn¡¯t touching anything for that split second. The opportunity passed and I dropped back into place, left in darkness, alone with the smell once more. For several seconds I lay there trying to think my way out of the mouth as I was jostled about by what I assumed were my companions¡¯ attacks. My best bet seemed to be allowing my companions to defeat the thing, as that posed the least threat of being eaten or electrocuted, but I soon came to realise that waiting was not in the cards. With a shift in orientation I was flipped over so that my feet were facing out, or rather down. I had sudden visions of the ridiculously over-sized land-fish diving beneath the sand; the relative size of a snack I may have been but I had no interest in playing the part of the cake in its cakehole for any longer than absolutely necessary. Coming to the conclusion that being electrocuted again was probably better than being slowly digested for a thousand years, I once more Focused and pushed. I did not go all out; I was still conscious of my cultivation and on top of that, I did not know what trying to convert all of my Praxis in my channels would do to me ¨C I had a lot more of it now than I had the last time I had lost control, or so I assumed. With a flare of light, the rancid smell of the shark¡¯s mouth was cut by the sharp chemical smell of ozone and the darkness fled before the blue-white tendrils of arcing light. The lightning was thick and the smell of burning meat joined the other scents; this was the strongest lightning I had ever used, aside from the last time I had been eaten. I braced for the shock of it escaping my grasp. Thankfully, I seemed my control had improved further than I had thought and I felt the power surging through and out of me, and as a pleasant surprise, it did not seem to be shocking me at all. Normally, electricity would take any available path, but it seemed that I was not a viable path to the ground, so each incandescent line lashed itself downwards, as if held down by some great weight. The shark shuddered around me, and I could feel the hilt of my sword growing hot, but I did not stop, the image of being taken beneath the sand pushing me not to take any chances. Several attenuated seconds passed as I allowed lightning to flow freely out of me, before I realised that the shark had stopped moving. There were no shudders or jostles, just stillness. I dropped my Focus and I was plunged once more into darkness. I hung onto my hot sword until it cooled before I pulled myself up and braced my feet against the floor of the mouth. I pulled it free with the strange sound of tearing flesh accompanying it. My hand-hold gone, I dropped towards the beast¡¯s teeth. I knelt and tapped my sword against the huge teeth as I cleared my throat ¨C it was irritated, though I did not know why. I hoped the sand-shark did not turn out to have poison breath, but I would worry about that if I was not buried. The sound my sword against the teeth sounded hollow, which gave me hope, though in all honesty I did not really know what a sword was meant to sound like against teeth. With a shrug, I braced myself as best I could and began to hammer the pommel of the blade down into a tooth as hard as I could. After a few minutes, there was a snap and I felt the tooth move. Placing the sword down, I reached out with my hands and felt along where I had been hammering. There seemed to be a break, so I grabbed my sword again and wedged the point into the tooth and levered it up and out of the new hole. With a grin and a cough to clear my throat, I pulled out the phoenix egg and held it above my head. I was a little hesitant to use it as a torch, but I had already used more of my precious Praxis than I was comfortable with, and I was pretty sure eggs did not remember anything. Gentle golden light filled the space around me. I looked down, at the space the tooth had occupied, only to be greeted with another tooth. Blinking, I recalled the shark having multiple layers of the jagged obstructions and wanted to slap myself. Not trusting the egg not to roll, I placed it back in storage and went back to work with my sword. Another few minutes of work and I was once more working a tooth free and bringing the egg out. This time, I did not find more teeth but rather, as I had feared, sand. My heart dropped and I felt myself break out in a cold sweat as my mind raced considering options.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I could either wait for my friends to dig me out, or hope at least part of the monstrosity was above ground, and try to dig my way out of its asshole. Doing some quick maths in my head, I figured I probably had enough air not to have to worry too much for a little while, so I decided to trust in my friends, at least for a while. Putting the egg away, I sat in the dark, and rather than trying not to think about the situation, as I would have certainly done in my last life, I cultivated. I sat and let the situation wash over me, along with all of the implications and milked it for all it was worth. Waste not, want not, right? * *** * After an hour of quiet meditation, I felt the sand shark shift again and I had another moment of panic, but it did not seem like it was waking up or digging deeper. The shift came again, and I could feel that the motion was come from behind, as I could feel the teeth press up into me. After that, there was a constant press beneath me, until all at once the orientation of the mouth shifted and I found myself tripping into my face. I caught myself, of course ¨C even in the middle of meditation I was not oblivious to my surroundings. I could see sunlight through the gap I had created in the creature¡¯s smile, and I popped my head out and looked around just in time to see Reff come around the shark¡¯s bulk. Seeing my head poking out seemed to give my friend pause for a moment, but when I grinned, he grinned back and with a low chuckle he walked over to me, shortly followed by his sister and Darina, who looked so irritated that I could not help my growing smile. ¡°Nice to see you, Reff. I was starting to think I was going to have to dig my way out.¡± ¡°With relieved jocularity, if the shark had dived much deeper, you may have had to, Hunter. It is difficult to find enough purchase on sand to pull this much weight out. Luckily, my sister was able to brace us.¡± Reff gestured to Riffa, who was looking smug. I could not say that I blamed her ¨C Reff had been against her coming, but she had pretty much saved the day, by the sound of it. ¡°Thanks, Riffa. I was not looking forward to the attempt!¡± ¡°You would not have had to, and nor would we have had to rescue you, if you had not jumped into this... thing¡¯s mouth. It was foolish, but I should not be surprised.¡± Darina was not quite looking at me and had her arms crossed as she glared at the giant, six-legged fish. Her words were true, and I did not take any offense. The apprentice¡¯s usual brand of unhelpful insults were one thing, but deserved criticism should never make you mad. ¡°Yeah, I totally did a dumb. Still, I managed to kill the thing, so I win, I guess?¡± Deserved the criticism might have been, but a victory was a victory, and I was only human. Or Ren. Humanoid? ¡°With impressed congratulations, you do seem to have defeated the shark, Hunter. Given its size, it is quite an old specimen and I had not expected to truly defeat it, only to drive it off.¡± ¡°What can I say, lightning can be pretty deadly when it originates inside your head. If I can find my way inside all of my enemies, I¡¯ll be a real terror.¡± Darina finally looked at me, or rather glared, and spoke quickly, her tone assured. ¡°You will not be able to defeat me in such a manner, I assure you. I suggest you focus on more productive methods of fighting.¡± I blinked a few times, trying to hold back a chuckle of my own and glanced our giant friends, but neither one of them seemed to find what the apprentice had said to funny. Being the only person to get the double meaning, I quickly sobered up and dismissed the ridiculous comeback I had ready, judging it too easy. ¡°Right, well, should we go then? We still have a long way to go.¡± ¡°With hesitation, perhaps you should exit the shark first?¡± Riffa¡¯s tone suggested I might not want to, and after a moment I had the realisation that I had defeated my first beast which, other than survival meant that there was a growth core up for grabs, and that meant money. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s a core in here right? Where would it be? Is it easy to get to?¡± Darina snorted and looked away, and Riffa wrinkled her nose in distaste. It was Reff who ended up answering as I looked back and forth between them, my head still poking out between the teeth. ¡°In hazy recollection, I believe the core is located in the heart of sand sharks. You would need to dig down to it, as the armour is too tough for the weapons we have with us.¡± That knocked the smile off my face as I contemplated digging down through flesh to dig out part of its heart, but I really did not have much money left after buying supplies for the journey, and if this was an old specimen as Reff had said, its core should be worth a lot. Sighing, I looked at my friends in apology, and asked if they were okay with me going after it. ¡°We have already wasted too much time fighting this thing. But to abandon the core would be wasteful... fine.¡± Darina¡¯s tone started heated but grew less assured as she went on, and I recalled that she had spent a number of years living wild. I imagined that she had not had the luxury of leaving cores behind at the time. The Risi siblings also agreed, so I ducked back inside as I heard the two move away, discussing the fight with the shark. Making sure I was out of direct line with the gap, I stripped off my clothes ¨C I would have to cleanse them either way, but the prospect of soaking them with already thickening blood was so unappealing that I stowed them in the ring without a second thought and grabbed my sword off the floor. There was bits of dried flesh all along its length from when I had super-heated it, and I grimaced. I had two more, but I would have to try and clean it later. There was nothing which differentiated it from the others, but it was the one I had been using regularly so I was kind of attached to it. Not as attached as the flesh, sure, but still. Orienting myself within the shark, I hoped the heart was in a similar position as it would be back home. I walked as far back as I could before I started slashing at the flesh and cartilage of the shark¡¯s mouth and body, my face twisted up as I felt bits of it lodging in my beard and hair. I took me another hour to find the heart ¨C I had had to detour around a couple of bones and pry apart a couple of layers of cartilage, and unfortunately it turned out the core was on the bottom of the heart, at least in this case. The core itself was a dark blue, which if I recalled Walker¡¯s description accurately, worked out at being worth about 2880 growth coins, a small fortune, especially given my almost total lack of funds. Making my way out of the behemoth, I dressed once again and knocked some more teeth free before climbing out and slapping myself with a cleansing pill. The sudden lack of odour let me know I must have gone at least partially smell blind in there, and I was glad to no longer be afflicting my friends with the stench I was sure had been present. ¡°Guys, it¡¯s a blue core. If we can make it to a city, we can exchange it for smaller denominations, right? Obviously, I can¡¯t give you your shares yet, as it¡¯s just... a ball.¡± ¡°Our shares?¡± Darina¡¯s voice sounded curious, as if I was doing something strange. ¡°Sure. We split it four ways, right?¡± ¡°In correction, it is tradition that the killer keeps their kill, Hunter.¡± Reff and Riffa both nodded deliberately as he spoke, and I looked back and forth between my companions. ¡°Bollocks to that! I¡¯d still be down there if you guys hadn¡¯t dug me out. We¡¯ll split it, fair and square.¡± The apprentice was looking at me with her eyes narrowed now, but she nodded once, a swift, sharp movement and uncrossed her arms. ¡°With reluctant gratitude, thank you.¡± Riffa did not seem sure, but adapting to my new world was only going to go so far; I was not about to abandon my sense of fairness, even if it earned me strange glances. ¡°Well then, shall we go?¡± Prowler Our journey out of the Blacksands ended up taking us significantly longer than my entrance. A week passed without much interruption ¨C the weather turned once more, the sky going back to the overcast grey I had become used to, and the temperature dropped even further, making me doubly thankful that both myself and my companions had thought to bring heating flasks. After that initial choice to run ahead, Darina stayed with us. None of us said anything about her running off on her own; I think the experience itself was punishment enough, given her past and the ideal she seemed to be trying to live up to. Of course, she was still mostly ignoring me, and I was holding to my promise to ask fewer questions, though I had not given up on trying to bridge our divide. It made the journey a little lonely, as Reff and Riffa were generally reticent and much of the time outside of practice was taken up with sibling bickering, which admittedly still made me smile. As a result, however, I was mostly left to my own devices as we ran. Evenings and nights were taken up with the aforementioned practice, and while I enjoyed it, fighting is not particularly conducive to conversation, despite what anime or kung-fu films might tell you. By the time we left the Blacksands behind and re-entered the plains ¨C which I was told surrounded the cold desert on three sides ¨C I was craving a solid conversation, and about ready to risk Darina¡¯s scathing tongue again. The sky was dark by the time we settled in for the night, so I could see the stars again for the first time in weeks. The four of us had split into teams ¨C with Darina obviously refusing to be on my side ¨C and fought to a standstill. The apprentice¡¯s all-out aggression meshed quite well with Riffa¡¯s more defensive tactics, and it helped that they were both making progress in integrating their respective Exemplars. Riffa¡¯s puppets were getting more fluid, and she increased her finer control, and the delay I had exploited in our first bout was shrinking every day. For her part, Darina seemed to heal faster and faster every day ¨C I had no idea what her Exemplar was, but if it made her healing faster, I could well imagine a time when she would be effectively unkillable. For my part, I was finally noticing a slight increase of Praxis within my energy centre. It was not much, but it was the first real growth I had seen in a month. It gave me hope that I would be able to complete my Core and compete with my friends on a more even level, though that of course begged the question of what my own Exemplar would be. Shaking the question from my mind, knowing that it was pointless speculating, given my limited knowledge, I walked over and sat next to the savage little apprentice. Darina eyed me warily, her gaze not quite aggressive, which I took as a good sign, but still not really what I would call friendly. ¡°Darina, I¡¯ve noticed your healing has been getting faster as we travelled. Is that to do with your Exemplar?¡± I had been told not to ask about Exemplars with strangers, and had been able to stifle my curiosity so far, but I did not really consider her a stranger at that point, if not quite a friend. But I did want to remedy that, if at all possible. ¡°You promised me you would shut up. Shut up.¡± Her response was fairly predictable, but I had been expecting it. I did pause for a moment before replying, giving Instinctive Precognition a chance to warn me, but nothing happened so I proceeded. ¡°I don¡¯t remember promising to shut up forever. You¡¯re almost certainly going to be there when I start my own Path, it only seems fair to tell me about your own.¡± ¡°I do not care what your Path will be, so your argument is stupid.¡± ¡°Well, fine. I guess. But still, it¡¯s really impressive. I heal pretty fast, but even if Reff hits you with his body covered in literal lava, the damage is gone in moments. Does it still hurt even?¡± Flattery was of course my next angle of attack ¨C some people were uncomfortable with compliments, but there are relatively few people who hate them outright, so I thought it was a gamble worth taking. It seemed to work, partially as when Darina opened her mouth with the obvious intention of telling me to shut up again, instead she hesitated. After several seconds, she looked away and I thought she was going to go back to ignoring me, but instead she spoke, her voice reluctant but it was better than nothing. ¡°I absorbed a beast called a ch¡¯en. It is a very small ¨C relatively speaking- shelled dragon able to change its form. It allows me to reshape my flesh and multiplies my ability to regenerate my own flesh. The effect is small at the moment, but growing. As you have noted.¡± While the young woman was speaking, I thought I heard something in the dark beyond the camp and I turned to peer into the black made impenetrable by the glow of the heating flask. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Darina returned her gaze to me. ¡°You prod me into telling you of my Path and cannot even pay attention when I answer you?¡± I had been listening of course, but I could see how she could think otherwise. Turning back to her, I held my hands up and spoke quickly. ¡°I was listening! Sorry, I thought I heard something. So, you absorbed a shapeshifter? Will you be able to transform when you finish integrating it?¡± She looked at me with suspicion for a moment, and I could see the wheels spinning, trying to decide if she should really take offense or not, but luckily, she seemed to accept my explanation and continued. ¡°I may be able to shift my general appearance, with practice once I have completed my Path, but I will not be able to change it fully, as the ch¡¯en can. My intent was on the ability to amplify my healing. Master has said that once complete, I may be able to recover from any loss save losing my head.¡± She sounded proud at the end, but I could not see if her face matched the tone, as I was once more staring off into the dark, having heard another sound, like a light brushing. I may not have heard it at all, it was so quiet, but the air was still and the grass was quite long. Inevitably, however, that was again when Darina chose to look at me. ¡°You..! Fine, if you do not-¡± ¡°Shhh, I heard something again.¡± ¡°I do not need your excuses, your disrespect is evi-¡± ¡°Shut up..! I seriously heard something.¡± My voice was low and urgent, cutting through the start of her tirade. Reff and Riffa had taken note of us, and of my words. They were looking around into the dark as I was. For her own part, Darina was alternating between glaring at me and the darkness.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Rising, I reached out and slipped the hot flask into storage quickly and glanced around while trying to force my night vision to adapt. I could not see much, but even as I was about to turn back to my companions, Instinctive Precognition flared to life within me and without conscious thought my Focus flicked on, lightning surging through and out of me. Twisting my body, I braced and drove a twisting punch out into what I thought was thin air. I felt something impact my forearm and deflect as it rotated and my fist cracked into something hard, and with a flash and snap a figure dressed in black appeared before me, already flinging back. ¡°Shit!¡± My cry of warning was not the most informative, but I knew my friends would be able to see the falling figure by the light of my electrical nimbus. And besides, it is not every day you spontaneously punch somebody out of invisibility, and I felt the exclamation portrayed my feeling quite accurately. I felt the heat from Reff¡¯s armour flow into existence and I glanced over to see Riffa¡¯s puppets gathered around her like a Secret Service detail. Darina stood in place punching and kicking at thin air, and I for a moment stood goggling at her; she did not seem to actually be hitting anything, but I had the distinct impression that anybody who got within melee range with her would regret it. My inattention would have cost me, if not for the ability I had chosen what seemed like an age before. Instinctive Precognition once more reacted without volition and I half stepped to the side and drove a knee up into what turned out to be the groin of another figure in black which seemed to have been trying to kick me in the face. They went down with a muffled groan, their hands desperately cradling themselves and I winced, thinking what lightning would do if applied directly to your balls. Shuddering, I stepped in to kick him in the face, knocking him out and ending his misery. I heard a thud and turned to see another black clad person lying in the grass with flames licking about their clothes. Not wanting the grass to catch, I did the only responsible thing I could think of and quickly moved over to stamp out the flames, which conveniently seemed to remove any plans the person had for getting back into the fight. ¡°Help!¡± I turned again at the shout to find yet another ninja-wannabe trying to protect their face from the jackhammer like rhythm of Darina¡¯s headbutts. It was the figure, rather than the apprentice that had cried out for help and I felt kind of bad for them, even as they lapsed into unconsciousness and Darina stood, somebody else¡¯s blood all over her face. She glared about her and pulled a long blade free of her stomach and tossed it aside with disdain. Without warning I backflipped, the world spinning end-over-end. I landed on my feet, disoriented as I looked around me ¨C the reaction had obviously come from my abilities, but I was unable to see the source of whatever attack I had blocked. Thinking quickly, I pushed harder on my Focus and the light about me surged and connected with an invisible figure in front of me. The lightning did not seem to faze them, but it did outline them, and the huge two-handed sword they were using. I quickly pulled out my sword ¨C having long since cleaned it ¨C and fell into the basic guard stance of The Blade¡¯s Tide. It was an interesting experience fighting an invisible person ¨C now that they were being outlined by my electricity, I could see them so I no longer received the appropriate reaction from my precog, but I did still react ahead of them. I had almost universally been punching above my weight, especially over the last month when I had most been around people at least at the Path level, and all talented fighters in their own right. In comparison, this guy seemed much more manageable. Though my actual experience with the sword was limited to practice, the edge my Focus gave me, along with my ability to react before he made a move, allowed me to implement what I had practiced with a surprising amount of success. Using the flowing turns and sweeps of the sword form, I moved to limit his options, always present to cut or cripple, at just the right angle to make it hard to sweep my lighter sword aside. The Blade¡¯s Tide was not a form based on brute strength, but on the elimination of opportunity, like a checkmate in chess. This is why Walker had called it defensive ¨C it was about defending yourself until your opponents had no more moves to make, and then pulling them under. Our blades clashed as I deflected his own and moved in, turning to meet him at odd angles and keeping my sword as a threat at all times, forcing him to adjust to me, until at last I had him. His sword was too far off the line after one particularly strong slash and without thought, my sword angled up from my hip. I stepped in and drove my point home into what my best guess told me was his heart. My guess was proven true as the invisibility faded; I could see their flesh, pale and bloodless in the gaps of their mask. Without a sound, they toppled back and I yanked my sword free. Looking around, I saw my friends checking bodies ¨C they had apparently finished off the unconscious while I was busy. They looked around warily as they went about their business, but they seemed at least somewhat confident it was over. I knelt to wipe my blade clean on the grass before I looted my own corpse, netting some additional cash and another sword I could actually lift, before I rose once more, still wary. No further attacks came, but I was not keen to give up my vigil, cautious that this might be a ploy to get us to drop out guard. ¡°With smouldering anger, these people are the same as those who brought the plague, Hunter. The Risen Throne.¡± I looked back at Reff, who was now stood to my side holding up a familiar looking pendant; they were the same as those I had taken from my kidnappers, and the same as the one I still had from our assault on their mansion. ¡°These Uppity Chair fuckers... they must be after the egg again, but why wait so long?¡± ¡°In consideration, until recently, we were in the company of an Apex, or more than one. It is unlikely they would risk such a thing within their proximity.¡± ¡°You know these people?¡± Darina had come over to us as we spoke; she was covered in blood to quite a shocking degree and I wondered just exactly how much of it was hers and how much her unfortunate opponents. ¡°Sort of. They¡¯re the people who had the egg, the people who set off the plague. Real bunch of assholes. Even if this lot were just mooks, we should be careful, they have some much heavier hitters. Right Reff?¡± ¡°In confusion, I do not know what a mook is, but we have indeed encountered stronger examples of their forces. I doubt this is the last attempt we will suffer.¡± I really did not want to meet Creepy Shadow Faced Laughing Guy again, as I was not eager to spend any more time in the Black, or any other worlds any time soon. I might not be quite as lucky in making it back, the next time. Nor did I want to meet my torturer, McGreenCatDude. ¡°You¡¯re right, we should set watches every night. We¡¯ve been pretty complacent, I guess.¡± Darina looked like she wanted to argue the point, but she obviously knew I was speaking nothing but the truth, because she neither argued or called me an idiot. Small miracles, right? ¡°With curious consideration, how did they know we would be traveling this way?¡± Riffa¡¯s voice was certainly curious, but otherwise seemed unconcerned by the ambush. She had deconstructed her puppets, though it struck me that I did not know where she got the sand since we had left the desert. ¡°It seems logical that we would return the egg, right? That has to be a normal thing to do, given the possible consequences?¡± ¡°In confirmation, you are likely correct, Hunter. I doubt they would be able to steal the egg a second time from an Elder, so it makes sense that they would attempt it¡¯s interception.¡± ¡°We need to throw them off, if we can. What¡¯s our next stop? Do we run until we reach the forest, or could we find another outpost? How common are those Plainsrunner things?¡± ¡°It is pitiful to rely upon a beast to transport you. You have legs, have you not? You should be sufficient for your own travel.¡± The apprentice¡¯s words had the ring of a quote to me, but I dismissed her words without much thought: if riding was good enough for Walker it was good enough for me. ¡°Well, that seems to be what they¡¯re predicting, so pitiful or not, if we can make it to an Outpost, we should. Anybody have any other ideas?¡± The others shook their heads, and after a little cajoling, Darina admitted that she knew where the closest Outpost was. Our destination decided, we dragged the bodies away from camp and reluctantly sat back down. I once again brought the flask out, and offered to take first watch. I sat facing outwards, staring into the night as I cultivated and refined, recalling once more all the misfortune the Risen Throne had brought me and dreaming wistfully of payback. The Longest Day When the morning finally came, the bodies of our attackers were gone. Still not knowing exactly what was possible with cultivation, I had a moment of panic as I imagined them coming back to life and setting up another ambush, but I quickly calmed down when I realised Instinctive Precognition would have warned me. The others dismissed the disappearance, attributing it to scavengers and despite that I thought it equally creepy that people had been eaten near us as we slept, I let it go. As per our reluctant agreement, our direction of travel changed slightly when we set out. The day before we seemed to be heading south west, judging by the sun, but this time when we followed Darina, we followed dead west, a straight line from the dawn. There was a little more go in the movement of my companions ¨C on the trip so far, they had mostly kept to a pace I could maintain, but I had already begun to lag behind after the first few minutes. While my friends had seemed fairly blas¨¦ about the attack the night before, I could see that it had affected them more than they had let on; they glanced around more and were obviously subconsciously running faster. The people we had beat had been reasonably easy, but both Reff and I had met at least one member of the Risen Throne we knew we could not beat under normal circumstance, and that was completely leaving aside the assassin that had managed to sneak into the Citadel. Like the guy from Ro¡¯s shop, and last night, they clearly had people who could become invisible, and regardless of how strong Darina and the others might be, I could imagine that a dagger to the skull would end most people if they did not see it coming. For these reasons, I did not ask them to slow their pace and by midmorning they were barely visible in front of me. I Focused, though only barely and managed to quicken my pace, even as reluctant as I was to keep spending my Praxis. The expenditure did however allow me to close the gap slightly, but I did not know exactly how much I was using, and if I had enough to go all day. Accepting that I might need to delay my advancement if I was going to keep up, I pressed a little harder on my Focus and really concentrated on my running. So far, I had been happy to keep up a pace that felt comfortable ¨C my body was in great shape, because I had designed it that way, and cultivation seemed to preclude any loss of conditioning. But that day I tried to push myself harder, physically and I was again able to close the distance a little. It was midday when I had something of a breakthrough ¨C when I was in the desert, it had seemed perfectly normal to be kicking up sand behind me, though the amount was more than back in Earth. Now that we were back on the plains however, running on grass still wet with morning dew, I noticed that I seemed to be wasting a lot of energy as my foot was slipping back, only providing some of the force to drive me forward. I tried a lot of things to mitigate the loss, but it seemed like my body was outputting too much power so some of it was being wasted. I thought back on Walker vanishing, and on the paces my friends were setting; I knew there had to be a way to overcome the limitation, and it could not just be down to jamming their feet into the ground. I recalled the lesson I had been given about defending myself from energy-based Foci and abilities, and despite my already extravagant ¨C I thought ¨C use of Praxis, I pushed out with Experience from my foot, reaching through my boot and trying to grip the earth beneath me. The sudden acceleration was something of a shock as I was suddenly able to transfer all of my output into forward motion. Grinning with elation at having figured it out on my own, I tried to cultivate as I ran, and while it was a little difficult to do, I was just about able to pull it off, though I felt my control slipping if I tried to refine at the same time. I did not give up, however, as I felt that improved control could only make me a better cultivator. It did bother me for a few minutes that none of my friends had bothered to tell me this trick, but it was probably something they did without thinking, something they would have learned as children. I could not imagine explaining how to walk to an adult back on Earth, so I let it go. When I caught my friends, I got a look of mild shock from Darina, and a level nod from the pair of risi siblings. It was much more tiring than the running I had been doing ¨C it was no longer merely physical, but mental and spiritual as well, and while they luckily did not begin to pull away from me again, by the time the sun was setting, I was more than ready to stop. Not yet bothering with the flask, and not ready for practice, I lay on my back in the cool grass covered in sweat and luxuriated in the languid feel of having truly pushed my body for perhaps the first time. Looking into my golden sea, I noted that it had not dropped notably from my use, it had in fact even filled further. The tiny sliver of additional Praxis that I had observed at its bottom was gone however. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I sat up and stretched and began the long process of refining Experience into Praxis. It was hours later when I finally stood to begin practising; My soul sea was almost empty and I was ecstatic to see that I had once again increased the level of Praxis within my centre. The others had completed their own practices, having left me to my own devices, so I stood off in the dark on my own as I moved through the sword forms my mentor had taught me, grinding through the movements and noting my own flaws as I worked to refill my soul sea, internalising the lessons, as wholly as possible. Next, I reluctantly began to practice the chain, though I was grateful that my friends could not see me, as I was in the dark. I was still only at the basic stages of learning the complicated weapon, but even so I sometimes got ahead of myself and ended up desperately dodging the weighted end as it flew in an unintended direction. I could see the ways in which it would be helpful to me, given my Focus, and did not let the failures deter me. I may never be a master of either of my chosen weapons, but I would certainly try. That fact that Aella would probably knock me out cold if I returned without improving had absolutely nothing to do with it. Having completed my practice and topped up my centre as much as possible, I slapped myself with a cleansing pill and sat down with my friends ¨C and Darina. * *** * I ended up taking the last watch that night, though thankfully we did not suffer a second ambush. I used the time to cultivate and refine some Praxis, knowing that I would be spending more today.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I had been sitting cross-legged for about an hour when I heard them stirring in the pre-dawn. Popping a water pill into my mouth, I stood and stretched. ¡°Good morning, guys. No ambushes to report during my watch!¡± ¡°In confusion, we would have awoken if there had been an ambush, I am sure, Hunter.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, Reff. I don¡¯t know what I was thinking.¡± I grinned up at my friend and I heard a snort of laughter from Darina, which I found even more surprising than the attack the day before. I had not heard the apprentice laugh at all in the time I had known her. She seemed to realise, however and looked up and around quickly. Seeing my glance, she scowled. I did not let it bother me, she seemed pretty insecure, and while it was pretty dickish to take that out on me, I could at least understand where she was coming from. ¡°Will we reach the Outpost today?¡± I directed the question at both Riffa and Darina, though it was Riffa who answered; Darina was still scowling at the sky. ¡°With careful consideration, if we can maintain the pace we set yesterday, we should reach the Outpost before nightfall. Right, Darina?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I waited for several seconds for her to elaborate, but she seemed to be done. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask ¨C they''re called Outposts, but what of? Walker just said ¡®inhabitants of the plains¡¯, but I haven¡¯t seen any buildings at all, other than the one Outpost by the Everwood.¡± Darina looked like she was about to make some pointed comments about me, but was headed of by Reff who interjected quickly, for him. ¡°In rapid explanation, they are outposts of the Legion. They have cities, but they are mainly further south.¡± ¡°The plains must stretch pretty far. Everything seems so big,¡± I glanced at the apprentice and quickly changed what I was going to say so that it did not include mentioning another world. ¡°Outside of my secluded home. Right then, anyway! Let¡¯s get going! I¡¯ll do my best not to slow you guys down too much, I seem to have got the hang of... running.¡± I heard the apprentice mutter something about children as she pulled a flask from thin air and began to drink deeply. I had demonstrated the water pills for each of them, and they had all been suitably impressed, stating they would definitely seek Ro out the next time they were in the vicinity to make a purchase ¨C the thankfully small pills took up far less room than simply carrying lots of water, and lasted the whole day. The sun was just cresting the horizon as I finished speaking and we once more set off running, though I did remember to make note of the exact amount of Praxis in my core, so I could compare later. * *** * I managed to keep up the pace I had set the day before, and while I knew that we were still not going as fast as my traveling companions could go, I was still proud to be slowing them less, which is something I never thought that I¡¯d be proud of. Riffa¡¯s prediction about our arrival proved accurate, and by the time the sun was approaching the horizon, the walls of the Outpost were clearly visible. The militaristic village looked identical to the other that I had seen, right down to the huge hill it was attached to. We approached the gates just as the red-gold light of the sunset was casting the walls ahead of us in silhouette. The guards noted our approach, I could see people atop the walls flexing their bows. I made sure to slow down before I got too close, walking the rest of the distance. ¡°Hold strangers! What business brings you to Desert Border Outpost Two-Two-Six? The words were almost the exact same that had been spoken to us as we had approached the previous Outpost, and was delivered in the same rigid clipped almost-chant. Holding back a grin, I gave the same response Walker had, knowing I was the only person finding it funny, but knowing that was enough. ¡°We are seeking to procure transport to the Sha Forest.¡± ¡°How long do you intent to stay within the Outpost?¡± ¡°Only as long as it takes to locate transport-¡± ¡°We will need to stay the night, and set out tomorrow.¡± Darina interrupted me with a glare, and I realised she was right ¨C it was sunset, there was no way we were going to be setting out tonight. Holding my hands up in apology, I let her speak. ¡°Can you direct us to an inn for the night?¡± ¡°You may obtain lodging at civilian barracks two or three.¡± Turning, the guard accepted a number of passes before handing them out to us. ¡°These are your entry permits. They are valid until midday tomorrow. If for some reason you are required to stay longer, you will need to speak to a member of the guard so that we may assess your requirements and provide new permits, should it be necessary.¡± We all nodded, accepting our passes as Darina asked for directions to the ¡®civilian barracks¡¯. Entering the Outpost, I had a definite sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu; the short tunnel seemed to be as exactingly similar to Outpost 18 as the rest, and I marvelled at the level of coordination and training that would be needed for such an accomplishment. Finding the barracks was not difficult ¨C the village was laid out like a grid, with clear signage at every intersection and within a piece of an hour we were pushing through the doors of Civilian Barracks Two. I did not know what to expect from the name ¨C I was picturing something along the lines of a hostel back from Earth, just a series of bunkbeds, but what greeted us was pretty literally what I pictured whenever I thought of the common room of an inn. I blinked for a moment and then shrugged ¨C if they wanted to call it a barracks, I was not going to argue. Behind the bar was a woman with a square jaw and dark grey eyes; those eyes locked on us as we approached, even as she cleaned a metal mug. ¡°Uh, hi! We¡¯re looking for four rooms, I think?¡± I looked at my companions and got nods in return. ¡°We have a single and a double free. One of you will need to bunk up with another guest.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was flat, and left little room for argument ¡°I¡¯ll take the single.¡± Darina laid claim to the single room before I had chance to ask any of them what they would like to do. I would have agreed with the choice, but it was still annoying that she had jumped on it without discussion. Reff and Riffa ended up taking the double, which left me sharing a room with a stranger. I wasn¡¯t very thrilled at the prospect, but it was still better than my reaction would have been back on Earth, which would have been to leave. Paying the innkeeper, I sighed at the state of my cash reserves, hoping I could find somebody to exchange my core with before we left in the morning. We sat together and shared a drink of disgustingly strong ale before we each retired for the evening. I did not get chance to ask if there was anywhere to practice, and did not think the guards would take kindly to me swinging around weapons in public, so I reluctantly decided to forgo practice for the night and instead concentrate on cultivation and refinement. I had taken note of how much Praxis I had in my centre that morning, and I was eager to test how much work was involved in replacing it. If I could establish a baseline, it would give me an idea of how long it might take to complete my core, now that I was having an impact on it. Making my way upstairs with my mind still on cultivation, I inserted the key the innkeeper had given me and opened the door. Inside, the room was spartan ¨C very minimalistic. On one side of the room what looked like a man sat in a high-backed chair, his face buried in a book. He did not look up, and not wanting to disturb him I closed the door and sat on my bed, eyes closed as I turned my attention to my centre. As expected, the sliver of Praxis was missing, so I began to the process of refining Experience, eagerly awaiting the reformation of that dense little slip of energy. ¡°Oh! If it isn¡¯t my former guest. I was not expecting you to be here! This is going to be fun!¡± The words jarred me out of my concentration, and the voice caused shivers to run down my spine. Looking up, my roommate was no longer reading, and his face was clearly visible. I swallowed hard as I felt my heart begin to pound hard in my chest, realising that I was bunking up for the evening with my former torturer. Sanctuary My mind went blank for a moment before I locked my will around my Focus like a vice and pushed. Lightning erupted out of me in a wave of snapping tendrils, ripping the air apart with a high-pitched screech. Without thought, I gripped the floor beneath me with Experience and twisted to my feet and used my new position to throw myself at the torturer. I did not even see him move ¨C one moment I was about to smash my fist into his stupid, smirking face and the next I was laying in the splinters of my bed with a sensation of being hit by a truck radiating out of my chest. ¡°Now, that was rude! Of the two of us, I¡¯m pretty sure I have the most right to be upset. Not only did you escape me twice ¨C which really annoyed my boss and messed up our schedule for possible months ¨C but I also do not like to share a bedroom. I suppose it is a single now, though they will have no doubt called the guard, due to the noise...¡± He still spoke like a he was dead inside, and happy about it, but he also sounded genuinely aggrieved to be attacked. ¡°You have more right to be upset? You tortured me, you asshole! Not to mention starting a fucking plague.¡± ¡°Yes, well. That¡¯s just my job; you can¡¯t blame a person for doing their job, can you? Just because I love it?¡± ¡°... Yes, I fucking can!¡± ¡°You really mean that, don¡¯t you? I can hear it in your pain. Well, if you¡¯re going to be unreasonable...¡± the sharp faced man, whose name I thought began with a V for some reason, tapped his lips thoughtfully and then sighed. ¡°As much as I would really like to spend a pleasant evening torturing the location of the egg out of you ¨C for old times'' sake, if for nothing else ¨C I really do not want to have to tangle with the Outpost Commander right now, so we¡¯re going to need to pick this up later. Great to see you again, despite your rudeness; I¡¯ll be seeing you again... soon.¡± The man¡¯s tone changed at the end, going dark with promise, his slight smirk shifting into an almost lascivious grin, before his expression once more slipped into the dead smile of a retail worker. With his smirk back in place and a small wave, the torturer calmly walked to the window, opened it and slipped out into the night. Sitting up and pushing pieces of bed off me, I groaned and rubbed at my chest, eliciting a sharp hiss of pain. It was at that moment that the door burst open and two guards stepped inside, shields ready and spears levelled in my direction. Holding my hands up with a wince, I spoke hurriedly. ¡°Hey now, not me. I got smashed through the bed by the guy who just went out of the window. Sharp face, black hair, dead smile. Foundation stage. Asshole.¡± The guard closest to me quickly tapped an insignia on his segmented green metal armour and spoke into the air, his weapon still pointed directly at me. ¡°Guard One-Nine-Eight reporting from Civilian Barracks Two ¨C apparent altercation involving two guests and the destruction of a bed. One suspect present, reporting responsible party is at the Foundation stage.¡± I saw Reff walk into the room to be calmly stopped by the other guard; my friend looked like he was ready to protest, but I caught his eye and waved him off. ¡°Explain what happened. If your explanation is sufficient, you will be released.¡± The guard that had reported in had apparently received a response I could not hear, as he did not wait any further before prompting me for my story. ¡°We just arrived at the Outpost and were directed here. There as only a bed in a double room so I took it and came up. I had just entered the room and was cultivating when the other occupant realised they knew me. He¡¯s a torturer; I met him ¨C was... tortured by him ¨C in Everwood City. He kidnapped a member of the Skybreaker clan there, as well as the apprentice of Honoured Master Alchemist, Ben Won Ro.¡± I gestured at Reff, who was stood behind the guard with his arms crossed and looking like he wanted to go looking for the asshole. ¡°He also helped start a plague at the Blacksands Citadel ¨C this is Reff Stonebinder, the brother of Raaf Stonebinder.¡± The guard was looking more and more doubtful, right up until I indicated Reff, at which point a look of shock appeared on his partially helmeted face. ¡°The Apex?¡± ¡°In honest confirmation, my brother is the Apex of The Mountain¡¯s Seed. This is Hunter, Apprentice to the Apex of the Infinite Blades. We travel with my sister, and Darina, Apprentice to the Apex of the Mending Flesh.¡± The guards shock appeared to grow deeper with each name until he was stood slack jawed and staring between us. ¡°... Do you have any proof?¡± the man¡¯s voice was quiet ¨C it did not seem like he could simply take us at our words, but only idiots would risk incurring the wrath of three Apexes. ¡°No need, Guard One-Nine-Eight. This is indeed Reff Stonebinder, I have met him before.¡± The speaker¡¯s voice was deep and growling, but still feminine. As she stepped into the room alongside Reff, I heard what I thought was Riffa¡¯s voice from out in the hall. The woman was about seven feet tall, and had a set of roundish animalistic ears sticking out of her brown and black hair. She reminded me of Walker and his family, but much stockier and of course the ears were a different shape. The guards who had been questioning me went from his shocked relaxation to being as stiff as a board in a moment, the bracers coving his forearms clanking slightly against the metal of his armour. ¡°Commander, Sir!¡± ¡°At ease, One-Nine-Eight. You may go, I will take care of this.¡± With a stiff salute, the two guards exited the room, while others crowded around the apparent commander, who turned to Reff and bowed.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Reff and Riffa Stonebinder, greeting. It has been a long time since I visited the Blacksand Citadel. How is your brother?¡± ¡°With warm greetings, he is well Commander Nadja Arnell. I did not know that you had been promoted. Congratulations.¡± Reff spoke up first while Riffa only bowed ¨C my friend had said his sister was competitive, and she did seem to be, but she also seemed to defer to her big brother... at least whenever it did not involve being left out or behind. ¡°Duty - they would not let me remain a Diplomat once I began my Foundation.¡± I climbed to my feet as they were speaking, though it took me longer than I liked. Once I was on my feet again, I pulled out a healing pill and swallowed it before holding my hand out and speaking. ¡°Hi, Commander. I¡¯m Hunter ¨C nice to meet you. Sorry about the bed.¡± The Commander ¨C Nadja ¨C looked at my proffered hand and after a moment seemed to intuit what my intent was, which was a first so far on that world. Shaking my hand firmly, though she had to lean down a little to do so, she nodded once and released me. ¡°Hunter - I overheard that you are Apprenticed to the Apex of Infinite Blades?¡± ¡°... Unfortunately...¡± I heard the mutter from Darina, and while I had been about to deny it, it did seem to be technically true and I knew it would annoy her. I was trying to be better, but I was not a saint. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s only recent, but he has been teaching me. The one muttering over there is Darina.¡± I did not include that she was an Apprentice herself and she glared at the lack. She had not really been responding to my, ¡®be nice¡¯ strategy, but maybe sprinkling in some friendly ribbing would help. She had grown up mostly without friends ¨C maybe I should try treating her like one? ¡°Greeting, Commander. I am Darina Ever Flowing, Apprentice of the Apex of the Mending Flesh.¡± She bowed low while I sat down on the other, less destroyed bed. It did not seem to have been slept in and it seemed comfy enough, provided I was allowed to stay. ¡°So many esteemed visitors... The report said there was a fight with a Foundation stage cultivator?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± I quickly explained again, leaving aside the specifics of our missions and the presence of the egg in my ring. ¡°I see. I am sorry you were attacked within the Outpost ¨C the bed will be paid for by the Legions and recompence will be taken from the culprit once he is found. If you will excuse me, I will need to file my report and then go looking for the fugitive. A description will be distributed and a notification will be sent to Everwood city and the Blacksand Citadel, should he be captured.¡± With a final nod to each of us, the Commander turned sharply on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving me with my friends and the shattered remains of the other bed. ¡°With appropriate caution, the beast cultivator from Everwood City was here? Did they predict this outcome?¡± My friend closed the door slowly as he spoke as he swept his gaze along the hall outside. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, he seemed surprised. I think he had something else going on, though it¡¯s hard to tell with that guy.¡± ¡°This is the man that tortured you? When you burned your energy circulation system in?¡± Darina¡¯s voice was not mocking as she spoke, which was a pleasant surprise. She even seemed to have a touch of sympathy, though that could have easily been wishful thinking. ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s a nice enough guy, if you discount the torture and stuff. Can¡¯t wait until I¡¯m strong enough to stomp him though.¡± ¡°With thoughtful concern, should we change our plans and go back to running? Will this person not notify his fellows of our changed approach? Or simply attack us himself, if he is at the Foundation stage?¡± ¡°Riffa, you raise some valid points, but I don¡¯t think we should change. It would just take us longer and provide them more time to plan something. I don¡¯t know how a Foundation stage cultivator stacks up against a Plainsrunner, in terms of speed, but we should have a better chance of outrunning him with one, right?¡± ¡°If he is only a Middle or Lower Foundation cultivator, a Plainsrunner should be faster than he is, at least, if he is not Focused on speed?¡± Darina looked back and forth between Reff and I, looking for an answer. ¡°He has this kind of... green energy cat armour. And I think the wounds he inflicts rot ¨C I''m sure they said something about that at the palace...¡± ¡°With clarification, he is fast, though it does not seem to be the totality of his Focus. He appears to have gone for general physical increase, and as Hunter says, his wounds have necrotic effects.¡± I blinked and quickly pulled my shirt away from my chest to check for any blackening, but found only a fading handprint in the centre of my sternum. With a sigh, I looked up to find my friends looking at me in confusion. ¡°Sorry, he hit me. Just making sure I wasn¡¯t slowly rotting as I sat here... I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°...Anyway, from the sound of it we should still be able to make it to the Sha Forest ahead of him.¡± ¡°Wait, if the Shadow-Faced-Laughing-Guy is involved, maybe he can portal him there?¡± There was a moment of silence before I realised that I had not told either Riffa or Reff about the strange laughing man I had met and I took a minute or two to explained. ¡°Impossible. My Master has explained this to me ¨C it takes a great deal of energy to construct a tunnel between worlds. She said it can take weeks to fully recover ¨C to do two in quick succession is an impossibility. You are mistaken.¡± ¡°With unquestionable certainty, two portals were opened in rapid succession. One, which took the man in grey and Hunter to another world, and another through which the torturer was pulled.¡± Darina still looked like she was not ready to believe us, so I shrugged and said the only thing I thought she would listen to. ¡°Walker believed me. That¡¯s why they¡¯re doing the whole Apex: The Gathering thing. It should be impossible, but they did it.¡± ¡°... If an Apex says you speak truth, then you speak truth. Fine. How likely is it that this... Shadow Faced Man... will be at the beck and call of your torturer?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure where they both sit in the hierarchy, but I think Shadow-Faced-Guy is above him, given the way they both acted. So probably not?¡± ¡°Then our plans do not change.¡± ¡°With confirmation, I agree.¡± ¡°In agreement.¡± ¡°Awesome. Now... uh, I was going to cultivate? Maybe see you in the morning?¡± The three of them quickly filed out of my room and I lay back on the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. I did not know whether I would be able to sleep that night, but I took some comfort in the fact that he really had not seemed eager to fight the Commander. Thinking about it, a fight between two Foundation level cultivators and hundreds at a lower stage was probably more than the man could handle. Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and sank down into my energy centre, gazing at my soul sea. It was still mostly full, my cultivation over the course of the day more than keeping the level steady. But it was not my Experience I was concerned with; it was my Praxis. Moving my attention to the bottom of my golden sea, I noted that as expected, there was no Praxis awaiting me. I had intended to establish a baseline of use verses time taken to refine, but my encounter with V may have delayed that particular plan. I had only Focused for a second, if that, but it had been fairly intense. Unwilling to abandon the attempt completely, and knowing I would need to refine either way, I began to cultivate, the laborious process of converting one to other starting deep within me. I cannot say with any accuracy how long I spent refining that night, only that I did not cease until I once more found a sliver of Praxis within me, and with a grin I gazed on it as it grew. I felt my grin turning vicious as I watched it creep larger, and if anybody had been in the room with me, they would have heard me laugh dark and softly, as I once more promised myself that I would grow strong and that payback would be a bitch. Deja-vu I slept fitfully that night and awoke with hazy memories of cheese graters burning off around the edges of my mind. I still felt tired and the sheets of my bed were damp with sweat; I had woken like this before, in my last life, though for less reason, looking back. I stretched and shook myself free of the melancholy before quickly applying a cleansing pod and dressing in my practice slash fighting outfit. The weather was colder now that we were out of the desert, and besides, it made me feel more ready for a fight, even if my confidence was not that high after being casually slapped down the night before. Swallowing a hydration pill and giving the wreckage of my former bed a final glance, I exited the room and made my way downstairs, into the common room. The innkeeper was there again, behind the bar, her eyes considering me as I descended the stairs. ¡°¡¯Morning... sorry about last night. Do I owe you anything for the bed?¡± ¡°Good morning. You do not ¨C the Legion has already taken care of it.¡± I nodded and looked around for my friends, but found that I was once again the first awake, or at least the first to come down. ¡°Is there a place in town I can exchange a core for smaller denominations?¡± ¡°The Legions can exchange it. You will need to go to the Administration Centre.¡± ¡°Thanks - can you tell me where I can find it?¡± The innkeeper gave me directions and I left the barracks, asking that she inform my friends where I had gone if they showed themselves before I returned. She agreed and I left, stepping out into the cool dark of the pre-dawn morning. Following the directions I had been given, I walked slowly and once again began to cultivate my Experiences and to refine the resultant golden energy into Praxis. I was having difficulty deciding whether the fact that I was having nightmares meant anything, in terms of my cultivation; did my dreams mean I was cultivating too much, dwelling on memories more than I should? Or did it mean I was repressing things, that I had not cultivated enough? It was nearly impossible to guess, but I opted to keep mining them for as much as I could ¨C nightmares I could deal with if it lowered my odds of actually being tortured again. If it got too bad, well, I would burn that bridge when I¡¯d come to it. Even as deep in my cultivation as I was, with my attention split between the two activities, my days juggling my concentration was definitely making it easier. Compared to the first time I had tried it, years ago, or so it felt already, even if the actual period was measured in weeks. It was almost effortless now, though I did not think I could handle fighting in this state. Walking through the streets, over perfectly square white paving stones, I noticed more guards than I had the night before, or on my previous visit to an Outpost. I wondered whether they were there due to my encounter with V the night before, and almost let myself feel guilty for causing them more work, but that was the old me ¨C the new me knew that it was not my fault that I had met the asshole here. Or for his behaviour; assholes are responsible for their own behaviour. That thought made me stop abruptly in the street; I had been trying to break through Darina¡¯s shell, because I had known there had to be a reason. When I found out - some of - the reasons, I had kept trying because I knew what it was like to push people away based on your own petty bullshit, but we were all ultimately responsible for our own behaviour. Lots of people went through tough or traumatic times, but not everyone took that out on others. Maybe, I thought, it was time to change tactics again with the diminutive apprentice. Mind made up, I walked on, keeping my mental eye on the growing shard of solid Praxis in my centre, a wry smile on my face. * *** * I made it back from the Admin Centre after maybe forty minutes. The exchange had been surprisingly quick and while the clerk had taken a percentage, it had been less than I anticipated, given my experience with taxes and bureaucracy from my first life. Having to work may not have been a thing back home for thirty years, but I remembered the practice well, if not with fondness. In the end, they had taken five percent, which left me with 2736 growth coins, which I would be splitting four ways, leaving me with 684 for my own share. It was not the most I had ever had in my ¨C spatial - pocket, but it was certainly the most I had ever made on my own, on this world. It was certainly the most I had ever made by anything other than looting the dead, but then, any amount would have been at that point. Walking back into the Civilian Barracks, I found my traveling companions sitting around a table and talking in low murmurs. As I entered, they glanced up and seeing me, waved. At least, Reff and Riffa waved; Darina just scowled at me, though she was the first to speak as I approached. ¡°You delay us yet again. Can we leave? I am not eager to suborn myself to a beast, but if it will get this journey over with faster, then we should not tarry.¡± ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡± I gave each of them their shares, which they took reluctantly as they stood to leave. ¡°Guys, can I have a moment with Darina? Shouldn''t take long, we¡¯ll meet you outside.¡± The siblings nodded and made their way outside, while Darina stood tapping one foot on the paved floor, the scowl still darkening her face. ¡°Darina... I¡¯ve tried to be nice, because I understand that you¡¯ve been through some tough times, but so have I. I may not look it, but I¡¯m much older than you, and not much of my time alive has been great before now. But I don¡¯t take that out on others, and it occurred to me that you doing so, isn¡¯t my fault, and while I can understand where its coming from, friendship shouldn¡¯t be a one-way street. You¡¯re really a fucking asshole, almost all the time, and not just with me. I¡¯d still like to be friends, but I¡¯m done enabling your behaviour. When you¡¯re ready to be an adult ¨C to let people in - I¡¯ll be there.¡± I kept my voice low and calm as I spoke, though the apprentice¡¯s face darkened with practically every word. ¡°How d-I will... you...!¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not interested.¡± With that I turned on my heel and walked out of the common room without another word and joined the giants outside in the first light of dawn. ¡°I think that went well!¡± The two blinked at me; Riffa wore a mildly puzzled expression, though Reff seemed to have something of an idea of what my delay had been about, if his slight smile was anything to go by. A moment later, Darina emerged from the door behind me and marched off away from us without comment. In the wrong direction. ¡°In hurried correction, Darina, you are going in the wrong direction. We must go this way.¡± Reff called out, and the apprentice came to a stop before turning to see where he was pointing. Still without a word, she marched back towards and past us. ¡°With hesitant curiosity, are you sure things went well, Hunter? Darina does not seem... pleased.¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry about that, Riffa. I told her I wasn¡¯t going to deal with her attitude any more. I may have called her an asshole.¡± ¡°With careful consideration, while it is true that she could be abrasive, this does not seem to be particularly... diplomatic.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Well, I never claimed to be a diplomat ¨C that''s you two. I tried being nice about it, I¡¯m sure you noticed, but it wasn¡¯t working. I thought I was making headway, sometimes, but she always reverted. We¡¯ll see how this works out. So far there¡¯s less insults, so I¡¯m already getting better results.¡± It did not take long for us to find the area for hiring Plainsrunners ¨C the massive road down the centre of the Outpost was a dead giveaway, as was the hill the giant animals lived in. Darina was still keeping her silence as we approached the first set of stairs, and with a glance at the apprentice¡¯s face, Riffa stepped forward to negotiate our ride. It ended up costing us a hundred each, but it was a small price to pay for both the possibility of avoiding further ambushes and for saving time. The original estimate for how long it would take to reach our destination had not taken my own relative speed into account, even though I was not quite down to the wire, I had been getting a little nervous. A glance at the quest timer shows me with just over forty-nine days left, meaning that I had already consumed almost half of the allotted time, without even having located the phoenix Elder. It was apparently known that the Elder lived in the Sha Forest, but I did not think their exact location was known, and if it was anything like the other locations I had visited, it would not be a small place. Hopefully, Darina knew but was just keeping it to herself, because if she did not, I could see things getting bad. With a nervous chuckle as we climbed the stone steps to climb aboard, I mentally poked at my Lucky ability, hoping it was paying attention. I was up last, and the last to sit down; both of the siblings looked fine, even a little excited at the wild ride I knew was ahead of us, but Darina had her arms crossed in the back seat and a look of distaste screwing up her face. She had left a gap between herself and the others, perhaps wanting the space, but given that I knew you could hear very little over the wind once the beast was moving, I did not think it would matter to much, so I sat in the seat and strapped in. Once we were all ready, the Plainsrunner began to amble down the road and out of the Outpost, with the same shouts of all clear sounding out around us before once again I was grinning at the pace the animal set. At the apex of one leap, I thought I even heard a giggle from behind me, though it was quickly snatched away by the wind; it could have been my imagination, but it pleased me to think that even somebody as angry as the apprentice could find joy in something so wondrous. * *** * We had been moving for a couple of hours when we came to a sudden stop, our momentum dragging us across the grass a short distance. The sharp break in speed was disorienting, and very unexpected given my previous experience. I leaned to the left to glance around the chair ahead of me and saw a man surrounded by a sickly green energy in the shape of a large, humanoid cat. He stood on the head of the catgeroo, walking down its neck even as it twisted to dislodge him. It occurred to me as I looked at him, that while we had determined the Plainsrunner might be able to outrun him, we had failed to account for the fact that he could simply wait for us, given his head start. I reached down to unbuckle the straps holding me in the seat, but the drive ¨C rider? Whatever, the man at the reins suddenly distorted as the air around him shifted and in a moment the two of them were fighting, though it was clear that V held the upper hand almost from the start. After a few exchanges, the driver was knocked clear off the beast¡¯s back, and I felt the animal begin to roll. Scrambling, I unstrapped myself, and along with my companions, managed to jump clear before being crushed beneath the vast, muscled and fluffy back of the Plainsrunner. I rolled to my feet and glanced around ¨C our ride was crouched low over the prone form of its handler, a bone-deep growl rolling out of it. Reff was already coated in magma and Riffa stood bracketed by her sand sculptures. Darina, whose abilities were not quite so visible, was making up for that fact by running at the cat-clad torturer, who had joined us on the ground. With a curse and wondering if there was any chance to survive the encounter, I Focused and ran in to join the fight beside my impulsive companion. The apprentice reached him before I did, and began her assault with her signature headbutt to the gut, but V simply slipped around iit and struck down with the blade of his hand, fingers splayed out of line. With a crack, he struck the base of her skull and Darina collapsed to the ground. With a growl of my own, I reached the fight, and the heat I felt to my right told me so had Reff. So far, our attacker seemed focused on using his hands, though my sample size was a little low. It was, however, all I had to go on. Rushing in, I stepped forward and twisted my body down to drive the weight of my body and charge into the top of his foot. As I was dropping, Instinctive Precognition screamed and I twisted to the side, narrowly avoid a casual kick that sounded like a helicopter blade passing me. It seemed that he was not messing around this time ¨C the other two times I had seen him fight, he had seemed to mostly come down to his opponent''s level, allowing for an actual back-and-forth, but this time, as I pushed myself back to my feet, I saw my giant friend knocked back like a thrown doll, glowing green claw marks scoring his otherwise orange chest. I knew in that moment that we were all done for ¨C Reff was by far the strongest of us, and if he could be handled with such ease, the rest of us stood little chance. As I ran back in, I dismissed the thought; if I died, it would not be the first time, and at least this time I knew there was something waiting for me. I dragged energy through my Focus, knowing that saving it would be pointless if I was dead, and light ripped its way out of me in ropes thicker than my legs. I felt the power starting to slip free of my control for the first time in weeks and I gritted my teeth, even as the world around me slowed to a crawl, slower than I had ever experienced it. I crashed into the beast cultivator fist-first with time compressed around me, I could see the slight surprise forming on his face as my closed hand smacked into it, or at least in to the face of the green lion. The energy around him seemed to block my lightning, at least partially, but it did seem to be getting through in part, so I continued my attack and lashed out with my other hand. I sensed an incoming strike and flowed under it, and again from the other side. I was just barely avoiding them and I thought I saw surprise turning to irritation on V¡¯s usually smug face. I stepped onto and over his leg as he kicked out at me, and dropped an elbow into the energy over his chest as I dropped, but I was off balance and out of position, so he managed to hook me with his arm and I was smashed down into the ground as a result, inches from Darina. The blow knocked the air from my lungs and I lost my Focus as the world rushed back into motion. Blearily, I looked up to see two of Riffa¡¯s puppets finally reaching the fight, and for a moment I was shocked; I must have really been moving fast if she was only just getting into the fight. Riffa seemed to be doing better than either myself or her brother ¨C the man in green would smash a hand into the sandy mannequins, blasting sand out of them in huge clouds, but it would simply flow back into the body it had come from, and in this way they managed to occupy him for the second it took for Reff to re-join the fight. The green was gone from his armour as he came at V from behind, apparently having circled around. I heard a creepy, wet clicking sound coming from where Darina lay and I looked over in time to see her push herself up, rubbing at the back of her neck. Our eyes met for a moment, and I could see the knowledge of our deaths reflected back at me. It did not stop her, however, as it had not stopped me. She climbed to her feet and I joined her before we both rushed back in, side by side. Time slowed once more as we sought to exploit the gaps between the Stonebinders ¨C people always say fighting many-on-one is easy, but it actually takes quite a lot of training and coordination, unless they¡¯re just lying on the floor. Especially with our abilities in the mix, a misstep could hurt ourselves or our allies just as much as our enemy. We seemed to be doing well, now that we were all involved, and I let a little hope shine inside me, even if none of our blows seemed to be doing much. Knowing that my companions were largely immune to my own Focus, I kept the power flowing and used the languid passage of time to choose my moments, coming in to strike in gaps that should have been too small before retreating back. It all came apart, of course, when Darina was kicked back into Riffa¡¯s unmoving form like a falling boulder, leaving just Reff and myself in the fight momentarily. While my lightning was somewhat ineffective against the molten stone of Reff¡¯s armour, the opposite was not true, which our opponent took advantage of in that lull. Grabbing me suddenly, moving much faster than before, he twisted and slammed me bodily into my Risi friend. I was not prepared for the attack, and received no warning from Instinctive Precognition, which meant there was no way to avoid it, if I recalled the description. As a result, I came into direct contact with the searing heat of the magma, even as Reff was knocked away and to the ground. I hung suspended in V¡¯s grip, my eyes open wide as I tried to ignore the burning pain coming from most of my back, but knowing it was futile. I knew that he could simply leave now he had me, and take the egg with little difficulty. With a heavy breath, I gathered myself to try try to punch him in the face, unwilling to give up, even facing certain defeat. Submission was no longer a concept I was willing to entertain. My fist cracked into the energy surrounding his face once, twice as he looked at me, his face smug once more as he ignored my attacks. ¡°No, shall we start off where ¨C oh, bother. That is inconvenient.¡± His tone was not as relaxed as I was used to, instead I thought I could hear real anger and frustration in there. ¡°Suspect Eight-Four-Four-Seven-Nine-Two, you are under arrest for assault, destruction of property and the interception of an official Plainsrunner. Put the boy down.¡± The Fugitive I felt V¡¯s hand spasm as I dropped to the floor, only to hiss in pain as my burned back ground against the grass beneath me. Reflexively, I rolled over to get away from the pain, but soon regretted it when I felt the grass pulling free of the wound; I held back a scream, but only just. ¡°You... That is a most irritating ability, Commander. I think killing you would rather salve my mood.¡± I looked up at the mention of a commander and I saw the large woman with the round ears from back at the Outpost ¨C Nadja. ¡°Your state of mind is amusing, though irrelevant. I have mandated your arrest, and so you shall be arrested. Now, Kneel.¡± The Commander¡¯s voice had a strange quality to it that rippled through me, and even lying on my front and in agony I felt myself starting to respond, to rise to my knees. The pain stopped me, and I think it helped that the voice was not actually directed at me. I heard a thump beside me, and I turned my head to see my torturer with one knee resting on the grass and a vicious snarl locked on his face. His whole body was shaking and his eyes were wide and manic as he tried to resist the command to kneel. ¡°I¡¯m... going... to... take... weeks to-¡± ¡°Silence.¡± Her voice lashed out at me again, even stronger than before, and though I was not speaking, I felt my tongue lodge itself against the roof of my mouth and my jaw lock shut. V himself was cut off mid-threat. I could heal a gurgling growl coming from deep in his throat as he tried to fight the command. It did seem to relieve some of the pressure from the previous command however, and I watched as he rose to his feet once again ¨C in silence. ¡°You do not lack power, Suspect Eight-Four-Four-Seven-Nine-Two, but you will be subdued, and you will face your penance. There is no other outcome.¡± Nadja¡¯s voice was calm and even, still in the tight near-chant that I had come to associate with the Outposts. ¡°Civilians, I suggest you put some distance between us.¡± She did not look away from V for a moment as she spoke to us. I wondered how I was going to go anywhere with the state of my back. Luckily, I had friends who all seemed less beat up than I was; I felt a hand reach under my arm and begin to lift me up. With another hiss of pain, I looked up at Reff, who had doffed his armour, allowing me to see a bloody rent across the front of his dark vest. I could see a wound, burnt and black on his otherwise perfect white chest and I began to worry, remembering the state of Sidona¡¯s wounds. I pushed the nagging fear aside, knowing that we had to get away from the fight if we were to stand any chance of living long enough to worry about such things. On my feet once more, I began to hobble away, leaning on Reff¡¯s leg as I pulled a healing pill from my ring and swallowed it, glad that I had bought quite a few of them back in the Citadel. I offered one to my friend, he reached down to take it with a nod of thanks; this was the first time I had seen him actually injured and I felt anger boiling up in me. People hurting me was one thing ¨C I was kind of used to it by then ¨C but people hurting my friends was apparently entirely another. ¡°Stop.¡± Reff and I froze in our tracks as the Commander¡¯s voice once more rang out. I almost fell over, only able to regain control of my body at the last second. I glanced back to find V pointing his body on our direction, his face a deep, furious red. After experiencing his sanguine attitude in the face of my own suffering more than once, I cannot say that it did not give me pleasure to see him frustrated so. I gave him a grin and a wink as I went back to my uneven walk and caught movement out of the corer of my eyes. Turning my head a little, I saw Riffa and Darina hurrying over to join us, and it occurred to me to look for the Plainsrunner ¨C the animal and rider had not been my number one priority when fighting for my life and I had lost track of them. I spotted them about half a mile distant and let out a sigh of relief which shifted cloth against my back. I resisted the urge to stiffen at the pain, knowing it would only make it worse, and went back to focusing on my moving away. ¡°Stop.¡± We froze again, but I did not bother looking back until I felt my giant friend come to a halt. Looking about once more, I saw we were a couple of hundred meters from where we had left the two, both Riffa and Darina had caught up to us. With a grimace, I offered them both a healing pill ¨C I could not see any obvious wounds, but it was better safe than sorry. Riffa took hers with a nod of thanks, but Darina only shook her head and turned to look back the way we had come. The rest of us quickly turned to watch as it seemed that V finally broke free of the command to stop; it looked like he had given up on our capture until he was able to take care of the Commander, as he was now squaring up against her, the mould-green cat aura about him flaring brighter. For her part, Nadja simply stood calmly, one foot a little head of the other. The wind rippled through the grass and it seemed to move in fast green waves as the Commander and fugitive stood staring at each other, unmoving. ¡°Attack!¡± The command ripped through the air, and even at a distance each of us took a couple of steps closer before we could think ¨C the command seemed much stronger than the previous ones, and it occurred to me that this may have been why she wanted us further away. I could certainly see why her people had not let her remain a diplomat with the kind of power she had.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. If the word had caused us to take a few steps, the effect it on V was far more pronounced. There was a snap of sound and he exploded across the intervening distance too fast for me to see. The only glimpse I caught of him was when Nadja spoke once more, ¡°Sit!". The glowing green blur came to a shocking stop that only lasted for a split second before he started to recover, but that opening was enough; reaching out, the tall, burly officer grasped his head with both hands and ¨C moving too fast for me to follow ¨C spun and slammed him into the earth with a dull boom. The boom was followed by five sharp cracks as Nadja punched down into his face before hopping lightly back to avoid the kick of one of V¡¯s energy-elongated legs. The furious torturer came to his feet in an instant and the two blurred together, almost completely invisible to me as they fought. Every few seconds, I would hear a shout and either V would fade into sight, only to be smashed into the ground, or there would be no power in it and the fight would continue uninterrupted. ¡°Why do some of the shouts not... do anything? They¡¯re really effective, why doesn¡¯t she do it every time?¡± I was more thinking out loud than looking for an actual answer, but Darina answered me never the less, though without her trademark bitchiness. ¡°She¡¯s making him waste energy trying to defend. The way she shouts, it¡¯s effective, but like any other attack, it can be defended against. By simply shouting sometimes, he never knows if he actually needs to defend or not, but he still has to. She¡¯s stronger and faster than him, by the look of things, but she¡¯s looking to take him alive, I think.¡± I nodded at her in thanks and turned back to the fight ¨C or to the blur, rather. What the apprentice had said made sense, and it seemed like a smart way to fight with the abilities the Commander possesses; I thought about whether I could apply the same technique to my own fighting, varying the strength of my lightning for more than just trying to break through defence, but as a means of control. It was a good thought, and I filed it away for the next fight I had ¨C I did not think it would work on my companions, as they knew my capabilities too well, but against a stranger... ¡°SLEEP!¡± The word was thunderous and I thought I saw the grass flattened slightly by it as it rang out across the plains. As my eyes closed, I saw V become visible once more and the green shell about him dissipate, but I knew no more before I fell into dreamless slumber. * *** * When I woke up again, my back hurt less, but it was certainly still very painful. As I opened my eyes, I saw the silhouetted form of the Commander stood over me, and without thinking I sat up. I felt a pull on my back which made me grit my teeth and then a series of tiny popping sounds; wincing, I guessed I had a bunch of grass stuck in my wound and knew I would need to ask for help getting it all out before my back fully healed over it. Shuddering, I saw my friends sitting up around me and surprisingly, V a short distance away wrapped head to foot in deep blue chains. ¡°Uh, you won! That''s awesome. I was... well, I was pretty sure we were dead before you showed up. Thank you.¡± ¡°In deep gratitude, you have our most humble thanks, Commander Nadja Arnell.¡± Reff and Riffa both rose to their feet and bowed, as did Darina. I tried to follow their example, and while it hurt a lot, I did manage to stand and bow, though the effort nearly had me swearing like a sailor. ¡°You are welcome. I guessed Suspect Eight-Four-Four-Seven-Nine-Two would attempt to intercept your passage and so followed behind. My apologies for not intervening sooner; I had not expected him to intervene with the Plainsrunner so directly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s, uh, totally fine. Right?¡± I looked around at my friends who all quickly nodded. ¡°What will happen to him? And can I kick him in the nuts forty or fifty times?¡± ¡°He will be tried and confined; his possessions confiscated. Speaking of which, you are due a refund for passage, as it was interrupted by a known fugitive.¡± The commander passed us each a pouch filled with the hundred growth coins we had spent on passage, which was an unexpected surprise. It did not make up for the near-death experience, but it was nice. ¡°Thank you, Commander Arnell. I had heard much about the honour of the Legions, but had not had the chance to experience it first-hand. You are a credit to your people.¡± Darina spoke respectfully, as she always did to those in authority, and gave another deep bow. ¡°About those kicks though...?¡± ¡°I am afraid that allowing an assault upon a prisoner would be a violation of protocol, Apprentice Hunter. A criminal he may be, but he is now my responsibility, as is his safety.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± I turned to look V in the eye and flipped him the bird. ¡°You won¡¯t be locked up forever though, dick. And one day I¡¯m going to be strong enough to kick your ball up into your mouth. Enjoy prison, or confinement. Whatever.¡± ¡°I will ask the Plainsrunner to pick you up, as you are injured. Please visit the Plains again, and offer my respects to your Masters ¨C and brother.¡± The large officer nodded once and turned, hoisting the chained form of V onto one shoulder before speeding off in the direction of the giant catgaroo. ¡°Well, that could have gone better, I suppose, but it could have also been a lot worse. Reff, we need to keep an eye on your wound, I¡¯ve heard the wounds he inflicts start to rot. Oh, and... can somebody help pull grass out of my back?¡± ¡°With calm assurance, I recalled your stories of him, Hunter. Once wounded, I burned the affected flesh away with lava. It is painful, but I should recover with the assistance of medicine, given time. Thank you for your concern.¡± I was relieved to hear that Reff had taken precautions, and I was impressed that he had been willing to burn his own flesh away with lava ¨C that was pretty hardcore. I hoped I would never be in such a situation, but I knew that if it came down to it, my Lesser Regeneration gave me an advantage in recovery. Doing it without... Gesturing for me to turn, Reff carefully began to tug blades of grass out of me with his huge sausage fingers ¨C it was a little more painful than it would have been with somebody with more delicate hands, but I would take what help I could get. By the time the Plainsrunner loped over to us, we had successfully removed the vegetation from my burn wound and even dressed it so I would not get burn... juice... on my other clothes. I had changed into my normal clothes, sighing at the sight of my ruined fighting gear, knowing that I could not keep replacing them at this rate. Climbing aboard the giant animal with a short bow for the driver, I strapped in and hoped that the hunting would be good in the Sha Forest. Massacre When people had started to mention the Sha Forest, I had imagined something along the same lines as the Everwood ¨C cool shade, huge trees and relatively little underbrush. It would not be far from the mark to say that I was mistaken, in fact, it would be something of an understatement. The Sha Forest was, it turned out, a massive rain forest. A seemingly endless jungle of dense brush and trees stretching hundreds of feet into the air. Speaking of air, it was wet and thick, and really made me miss my sleeveless gi; as it was, I was making do with my normal clothes, just without the robe. The forest reminded me a little of the Black, as is it was quite dark at the ground level, but there were enough differences that I could dismiss the small niggling fear of sharp-toothed elves stepping out from behind the huge trees. It had taken us a week to reach the forest on the back of the Plainsrunner, though the journey had thankfully been free of attack since our encounter with V. Darina had not said much after our near-death, and I had been tempted to offer an olive branch, but I had held tight to my determination to not take credit for other people¡¯s mistakes, and while it did not seem like my dressing down had promoted any friendship between us, it had certainly resulted in a much easier traveling atmosphere. The four of us were still practicing every night, and whenever we had time in the evening. I was starting to notice a real increase in my precognitive reaction times, though as exciting as that was, it was not the most exciting thing to happen on our trip. Spending another week without having to expend much Praxis had resulted in my being able to fill up a whole fifth of my centre. From what I had been able to gather, the rate it was growing at was a little bit abnormal, though I was attributing a lot of that to things not being quite so novel for most of the people who grew on this plane; most experiences were just more for me. In many ways, it was like being a child, which is when most kids there completed their Foci almost passively, so it made sense. Either that, or I was a prodigy, but who is that big headed? A wild, eerie shriek pulled my attention back to the hot, sticky present and I tensed for a moment, but Darina and Riffa just seemed to ignore it, so I dismissed the incredibly creepy noise and followed after my friends. ¡°We¡¯ll be entering the thundering apes¡¯ territory soon; the phoenix Elder¡¯s territory is on the other side of that mountain.¡± The apprentice spoke for the first time that day, and pointed to a barely visible peak through a small break in the canopy. It was the most she had said in days, usually answering our questions by pointing or gesturing with her head. ¡°With curiosity, I have heard they are strong. Are they aggressive? Should we perhaps circumvent their territory?¡± Reff¡¯s words suggested caution, but I could hear a slight undercurrent of excitement in his voice; the risi may have been a bunch of artists on the other world, but my friend definitely enjoyed fighting ¨C when the odds were not hugely stacked against him - and while that had not been apparent when we first met due to his taciturn nature, as I had spent more time with him and grown used to risi body language, it had become more apparent. ¡°They can be territorial, though they are only really aggressive if another strong beast enters their territory, or if you try to steal from them... or attack them. They will chase off a dragon but will usually leave people alone; my village was within their territory, and there were no issues. We should be fine.¡± I recalled her story about meeting Sonja and about losing her fight with a young ape; I could easily imagine the headstrong and aggressive apprentice attacking something that could chase a dragon away. ¡°In expansion, I believe they are born at the equivalent level of a Peak Core stage cultivator and only grow stronger with age.¡± Riffa, who knew her brother¡¯s nature, was definitely giving a warning to my friend and I had to grin at the two of them once more as he frowned at her and nodded reluctantly in acknowledgment. Around midday, we encountered a huge river flowing away from the mountain we were heading towards, so we decided to follow it, as it was a little cooler closer to water than it was otherwise, even if it was a touch more humid. As we walked alongside the rapidly moving water, I caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of my eye and turned to see dozens of snakes flying above the river. They were all between four and five feet long and glittered with colours as they moved, iridescent in the light and reflecting colours from all over the spectrum, though they seemed to favour greens and blues more. Their wings were nearly invisible, mere glittering blurs like a hummingbird on speed. I stopped to watch them for a few moments as they darted about, snapping insects out of the air. Every once a while, a snake¡¯s wings would come to a stop and they would glide for a distance before they snapped back into motion; the wings ran for maybe a third the total length of their sinuous bodies and were covered in complex patterns. They were incredibly beautiful and I was glad I had taken the time to stop and take them in; Darina had mostly ignored them, and I guessed she had seen them often enough in her life to consider them normal, which I thought a little sad. The siblings however were stood a short distance away from me, watching the flying snakes just like me. I thought I heard distant thunder and a tremble run through the earth beneath my feet, but I was preoccupied with Experiencing the wondrous creatures before me, intent on taking as much about them in as possible. ¡°They¡¯re called Alaspins. They can sense and manipulate emotions; they fascinate you, spraying a paralytic into your face when you¡¯re entranced, before eating you alive.¡± Darina¡¯s voice came from behind us, and I blinked at her words, coming back to myself and finally completely pulling my eyes away from the beautiful ¨C and apparently terrifying ¨C snakes. I shivered as my fascination passed; they were still beautiful, but not so much that I wanted to stand about all day staring at them when we had a job to do. ¡°Thanks for the heads up. I¡¯ve been eaten enough for a single lifetime, I think.¡± I nodded at her and she turned without another word to carry on leading the way. With a shrug, I followed after, just behind Reff and Riffa, my eyes turned firmly away from the still flitting serpents. * *** * Hours later, we came upon a clearing in the dense jungle, though this one did not seem to be natural. The trees were smashed aside and the damp brush was smouldering; there was a sharp, sour smell I was all too familiar with and I wondered what exactly had killed the twenty or so black clad figures lying about the floor. Some of them were intact, if bent at odd angles while others seemed to have been ripped in two or limb from limb. About half were burnt and crispy. It reminded me of the aftermath of my loss of control, back in the Black, but with an order of magnitude more destruction.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The four of us stooped at the edge of the broken clearing, searching around us for the cause, but finding nothing. ¡°This looks like a thundering ape attack, and these look like the people who attacked us.¡± Darina was right; looking closer, the scattered bodies did seem to be wearing the same uniform black outfits I had always encountered the Risen Throne in. Without any further words, we spread out into the freshly open space and began to search the bodies and finding exactly what I feared ¨C the pendants that seem to signify membership. I always looted a bunch of storage rings ¨C which I slipped onto my left hand to check out later - and another 6000 growth coins, which very nicely topped up my purse. While it was troubling that the shady organization had apparently made it here ahead of us and had laid in wait, it was also mildly gratifying to have them provide the funds to replace my ruined clothing. In fact, it occurred to me that they had purchased all of my clothing to date. Other than the kidnapping, torture and attempted genocide, they were pretty alright, at least as sources of income. Certainly, more efficient than beast hunting. The bodies looted, we reconvened at the centre of the clearing, looking around us at the carnage. ¡°So, if this was the apes, I wonder what these dipshits did to piss them off. Were they here for us, and just accidentally annoyed the apes, or... maybe they were looking for another ingredient like the egg? Do the apes produce anything comparable, Darina?¡± ¡°As far as I know, beyond the quality of their cores, it is said that a transformed thundering ape¡¯s pelt will continue to produce electricity. But no party so small would be foolish enough to try; thundering apes attack as a group, and their Elder does not take kindly to such pursuits.¡± Not a single insult or dirty look was contained within the tiny apprentice¡¯s reply to me and it would be no exaggeration to say it was a little shocking. Not that I was going to say anything about it, she might change her mind. ¡°They transform? Into what, lightning? Wait, they have an Elder too? I thought Apexes were rare?¡± Maybe it was due to how many Apexes I had encountered since my arrival, with the Elders thrown on top but they did not seem particularly rare to me at that moment, though realistically I knew it was purely a matter of perception. ¡°With careful wording, I believe beasts are not subjected to the same... exacting... standards as others. Cultivators that attain the Apex are carefully vetted, and I believe the reason why has been revealed to us both by Walker.¡± I recalled Walker¡¯s tale of the Multiplicitous Self, and I could see the wisdom in preventing anybody of a less stable, more murdery nature from walking about with that sort of power. Darina and Riffa were looking at the two of us with raised eyebrows, clearly waiting for an explanation, but Walker had indicated it was something of a secret, and without him ¨C or another Apex ¨C there to give the go-ahead, I did not think either of us was comfortable letting it slip. ¡°It¡¯s not really for us to say, sorry. You¡¯d need to ask your master, or brother. It¡¯s an Apex thing.¡± The two women nodded and I was about to suggest we leave when a peal of eerie laughter that seemed to come from all around us rang out. Turning quickly, I saw a man in a light grey suit leaning casually against a tree, his face concealed by an inconvenient shadow. Next to him stood another figure, this one strangely slender and proportioned in a way that screamed, ¡®wrong¡¯; it stood about the same height of my mentor, but its arms reached as low as its knees. It wore a cuirass of interlocking black plates, and a helmet with no visible gaps, which attached to the chest armour via a thick gorget. It stood perfectly, unnaturally still in a way that even Riffa¡¯s clones did not, though something told me that it was ready to spring at a moment''s notice. Around the two, darkness gathered, as if the light itself was repelled. I recognized the man in grey, of course, though I still could not see his face; this was the man that had opened the door to the Black, and who had left me to be Devoured. The flat yet manic laughter came again, echoing off the trees, and though I could not see his eyes, I knew they were locked on us. ¡°If it isn¡¯t the little World Walking Almost-Snack... And friends, it seems. It¡¯s good to have friends, it means there¡¯s always food on hand.¡± The dead laughter came again and I felt my friends shifting around me, and I quickly looked around and shook my head at them; I did not know how strong this man was, but I knew he could do things Walker thought impossible. ¡°And these friends are actual snacks, so thoughtful, Little Meal. I¡¯ll be more than happy to relieve you three of your existence, to send you to the sweet peace of oblivion; but business before pleasure. Did you all do this?¡± The Shadow Faced Guy gestured around us at the scattered bodies with one hand. ¡°On the one hand, they¡¯re no longer plagued by that damned voice ¨C which I commend - but on the other, we find it really quite inconvenient.¡± As he spoke the last words, the madness fell away from his tone and for a moment he seemed terribly rational. ¡°No, of course this wasn¡¯t you... Too much damage, and all from a single source. You know, little snacks, we sometimes wish I had made different choices, but I was so different back then, before the voice... Never mind all that though, our prying friends! Little Meal, we¡¯re going to need that egg back; it was irresponsible to give it to you, but we weren¡¯t ourself at the time, or maybe it was me...¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry, I don¡¯t have it. An Apex took it, said it would make a great omelette.¡± Okay, it was not the best lie but I was a bit on the spot, what was my alternative, ¡®...No!¡¯? ¡°Hmm, we think you¡¯re lying. It¡¯s understandable to lie, I used to lie a lot, to fit in. But I don¡¯t fit anymore, so it seems like a waste. You don¡¯t want to go to waste, do you?¡± I was going to answer; even though he seemed to be really fucking insane, answering him seemed somehow better than silence; for some reason, I thought silence would only provoke him. I say I was going to answer, because I did not get chance; as I opened my mouth to respond, black chains ripped out of the shadows around him to wrap around my arms and legs in a movement so fast that even my Instinctive Precognition had no time to warn me. I was lifted into the air spread eagle and even as I felt the heat of Reff¡¯s molten armour adding to the humid warmth of the jungle, the strange still figure of The Shadow Faced Guy¡¯s companion shifted unnaturally, jerking in quick movements like a spider before vanishing with a snap. I heard a commotion below and behind me that suggested a fight, and while I hoped the sound of heavy impacts was my friends winning, nothing about this seemed to be going our way. ¡°We really much insist you give us the egg. It has proven... troublesome... to send certain people to their rightful oblivion, which is to say, the plague created using the egg is the only way we¡¯ve found, short of joining them at those heady heights! Now, while you¡¯re not worth eating yet, your friend will make fine snacks, though the little one has an interesting ability. Maybe she¡¯ll join my ranks once we¡¯re done? Perhaps if you give me the egg, we will let them go? It¡¯s a possibility, certainly; I know, we''ve run the numbers. What do you say- Oh, see now this is what I meant. No time for niceties, there¡¯s an Apex coming. You have to hand it to me, I tried, right? Get it? Hand it to me?¡± The insane, dead laughter was back as the man laughed at this own apparent joke. Having no idea what he was referring to, and curious at the mention of an Apex, I opened my mouth to ask him what he was talking about. ¡°Wh-ARGH!¡± The black chain around my left arm tightened and pulled and with a tear, my forearm was ripped away from me with a spurt of blood. I screamed, and my voice tore as the pain hit me. I pulled what was left of my arm to my chest reflexively, before I was dropped to the forest floor all at once, the chains vanishing as if into smoke. As I hung desperately onto consciousness, I heard an impact a short distance away like a boulder falling out of the air, followed by a voice at least as deep as Reff¡¯s brother. ¡°Great, more humans. I don¡¯t suppose you have that peacock¡¯s egg?¡± Rainmaker The pain of my missing arm was intense, but ¡®luckily¡¯ for me, I had been through a lot of pain in the last couple of months I had been on my new world. What might have been completely debilitating on my arrival proved to be something I could push through. Concentrating, I reached into one of the rings on my toes and pulled out a healing pill before stuffing it into my mouth and swallowing. The pills had a multiplicative effect on my Lesser Regeneration, but I did not know if it would fix something as extensive as a lost limb. I felt somebody kneel beside me as I tried to sit up and find a something to stem the flow of blood and was surprised to find it was Darina, a look of concern on her face. ¡°Hold still, I¡¯m going to try healing you.¡± I felt her hands clamp down around my stump and the wound blazed hot with pain. I let out a strangled grunt before I could get a handle on it. Breathing deep, I watched in fascinated horror as my skin closed over the ragged wound; it was like watching mould grow in time-lapse. It freaked me out much that I had to look away, my stomach roiling slightly. ¡°Is anybody going to answer me, or do I need to start smashing?¡± ¡°In profuse apology, Elder, I am sorry for not answering immediately. We are concerned for our friend.¡± ¡°The guy with the missing arm? I can see that being a problem. But again, I don¡¯t suppose you have a phoenix egg with you? The Void-taken peacock of an Elder has been throwing a fit about it, keeps accusing me of having taken the thing, like I want its stupid egg. I don¡¯t even like eggs.¡± ¡°In hesitant confirmation, we have in fact come to return the phoenix egg. We... retrieved it from those that stole it, and seek to return it to its parent.¡± ¡°Oh. Good! You guys are kind of puny, you¡¯d probably die just from being near the bird, the way it¡¯s been acting. Hand the egg over, I¡¯ll return it. Oh, and by the way, were these people with you? If so, sorry; I smashed them. And what¡¯s that stuff blocking my senses? Is that you? I don¡¯t like it. If it¡¯s you, I¡¯m not sorry and I¡¯ll probably smash you too. After you give me the egg.¡± My arm now fully healed, I nodded at the apprentice and smiled in thanks, before climbing unsteadily to my feet. I tried not to think about being down half an arm, hoping that either my ability would heal it in time, or heal it another way. Looking around, I saw a person standing nearby with his hands on his hips, glaring down at Reff, who had been speaking for the group. The apparent Elder stood taller than even Reff¡¯s brother, at around twenty feet tall with shoulders that had to be at least eight feet wide. His upper chest and face were bare, but the rest of him seemed to be covered in glossy white fur, other than his head which sported a thick and flowing main of wild white hair. His skin was almost black, and his eyes were the roiling grey of storm clouds. Behind him stood an ape that was larger still, standing at least thirty feet. It looked just like a gorilla from back on earth, but scaled up. I knew that a normal gorilla was pound-for-pound much stronger than a human, and I hated to think what this mini-Kong could do if it was in a bad mood. ¡°Uh, hi... Elder. My name is Hunter and these dead guys are not with us. As for the whole, ¡®sensory blocking¡¯ thing, I¡¯m pretty sure that was the guy who just left. With my arm.¡± ¡°With regret, you may not have seen, Hunter, but he vanished through another door, along with his strange companion.¡± Turning, the white furred Elder roared at the gorilla behind him like rolling thunder. ¡°Oi, Borr, go see if you can find somebody with a spare arm, I want to smash him. The less small one said he went through a door, so look for a village.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he means that kind of door, boss.¡± ¡°Sorry to interrupt, your Elderness, but Borr is right. Reff means he went to another world.¡± The bestial Apex turned his head to me and glared suspiciously. ¡°How do you know what less-shorty meant? He said you didn¡¯t see.¡± I blinked up at the huge being for a second; that had not been the question I had been expecting from him. I had expected him to ask how I understood what they had said, which was a question I only half knew the answer to. Xiournal had given me a bunch of languages ¨C maybe all languages ¨C but this was the first time I had understood what any beast had said. ¡°Oh. Uhm. We¡¯ve met him before, and he did the same thing? Right?¡± I looked over at Reff how gave a sharp nod of confirmation. ¡°Elder Rainmaker, my name is Darina Ever Flowing, and I once dwelled within your territory. They speak the truth ¨C this man stepped through a hole in the air.¡± ¡°I know you ¨C you tried to fight a baby, didn¡¯t you? Didn¡¯t you leave with an Apex?¡± ¡°You are correct on both counts, Elder Rainmaker. I have returned with my companions as a guide, so we might return the egg.¡± Darina bowed low, keeping her eyes averted. ¡°Egg! Right, the peacock. Hand it over, or I¡¯ll smash you and then take it back.¡± Not knowing whether my quest would count as complete if I let somebody else resolve it, I thought quickly about what the thundering Elder had said so far, looking for something I could use to convince him to help rather than just refrain from smashing. ¡°Uh, won¡¯t the phoenix think you really did take the egg, if you show up with it, Elder Rainmaker?¡± He had said the Phoenix already thought he¡¯d taken it, so it was a natural assumption that his returning of it might serve as a confirmation. And that thought forced me to imagine two Apex level beast people fighting it out, and thought that that might be the cataclysm my quest had mentioned. ¡°Hmm, you make a good point, Most Puny. Borr, is there anybody who isn¡¯t us that would survive the trip? ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Boss. We could ask one of the villagers, but I¡¯m not sure they¡¯d be willing to go visit an angry Elder. We could feed this lot some fire-repellent treasures, they seem stupid ¨C uh ¨C willing enough.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°The armless, most puny one would still get smashed by the Domain. He¡¯s really, really puny. At least the others are just puny.¡± "How far is he from being able to survive? We could feet him that Thousand Year Pineapple, it should give him a boost.¡± ¡°No, absolutely not. I was going to eat that.¡± ¡°It will have no effect on you, Boss. And besides, the tree is in Phoenix territory, so you can get more if you help calm the Elder down.¡± The constant, thunderous roaring was starting to hurt my ears, and I could see Riffa surreptitiously covering her ears. As much as it pained me, I was paying pretty close attention ¨C if they had a fruit that could help me complete my Core, I would listen to as much roaring as they could dish out. I¡¯d listen to them sing a cover of Stairway to Heaven if it got me out of the Core stage. The Elder turned to me with a heavy frown and stared for a few seconds, clearly torn between ending the feud and his mid-day snack. ¡°Most Puny, you¡¯re pretty puny.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question, but I nodded anyway; I was used to being considered weak, because realistically, despite my rapid growth I was still actually weak for my apparent age. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a treasure ¨C my Thousand Year Pineapple ¨C that should help you finish your Core, which will let you survive to give the egg back. But there¡¯s a condition.¡± The other¡¯s looked surprised at the Elder¡¯s words, and I caught the apprentice rolling her eyes, but I hardly had time to register any of that, as I was busy trying to stumble over my own tongue accepting. ¡°Absolutely, whatever you need. I love pineapple. I¡¯m your man.¡± ¡°You have to take one of us as your thingy. Your Example.¡± ¡°Wait, what? Doesn¡¯t that mean I have to kill one of you? Why would you want that?¡± For a moment, the elder stood staring at me, his brows pulled together. ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem right. I thought you merged with whatever was your Example?¡± ¡°In quick interjection, you do not kill a living Exemplar in order to absorb it, merely defeat it. I suppose one could also volunteer, but I have never heard of such a thing happening...¡± I thought back to my conversation with Sidona, weeks ago; I could not be certain, but I did not think she had actually ever mentioned killing a thing, so perhaps it was just my own assumption. For his part, Rainmaker lost his frown quickly at Reff¡¯s words. ¡°There, see.¡± The titanic Elder grinned and turned to his attendant to give a big thumbs-up. ¡°But, even so, why would anybody want that? I mean, I can see the benefit to me, in theory, but why make it a condition?¡± ¡°Well, it was actually her idea. She was in a fight as a child and her soul was injured. She¡¯s reached the limit of how strong she can grow. She thinks it¡¯s better to grow stronger as part of something else than to slowly stagnate and die. I said I¡¯d try and find her a human, but the ones I meet tend to be too far along. Or smashed.¡± ¡°Can I have some time to think about it? Everyone had said how important this choice is, and I¡¯d like to at least discuss it with my friends.¡± ¡°No! You will take this honour or I wish smash you all.¡± ¡°Boss...¡± ¡°Fine! Five minutes!¡± I nodded my thanks to both Rainmaker and Borr before walking off a short distance, absentmindedly rubbing at my arm, joined by my three companions. ¡°So, what do you guys think? Boosting me all the way up to the Path stage sounds pretty great, not to mention they seem to think I¡¯d die just being around the phoenix Elder unless I improve. They also mentioned something about giving us some fire-resistant treasures, to help withstand the flames. But - and I know this is kind of selfish - doesn¡¯t this just go against every piece of advice I¡¯ve had.¡± ¡°In deliberation, in other circumstances, I would advise you to wait and come to a decision naturally. But given the circumstances, if you wish to complete your mission, you may need to accept his offer. Do you think you could complete your Core and find a suitable Exemplar in the time you have remaining?¡± I thought about how long it had taken to achieve the fifth of a Core I currently had, but I know that a lot of that had been time spent filling my channels. There was a possibility I could manage it, but was it worth the risk? ¡°In time? I was not aware of a time limit on this mission, other than preventing the Elder¡¯s rampage. And since when can you understand beasts?¡± Darina¡¯s voice was questioning, but held no trace of mockery or her usual acerbic tone. Reff was aware of my personal time limits, but I had not yet confided in his sister or the small apprentice. Maybe I should let them in on at least that aspect, I did not have to come clean about everything, after all. ¡°I have some issues... part of that is I can speak most languages, but there¡¯s also the fact that if I don''t return the egg within about a month, I¡¯ll die.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous, none of the Apexes would impose such a punishment!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a limit set by Walker, it¡¯s personal.¡± ¡°I see...¡± Her tone said she was not done enquiring, but was willing to at least let it go for the moment. ¡°In which case, I think you should take his offer; an incompatible Exemplar might limit your future growth, but not as much as death would.¡± ¡°In agreement, Darina is correct. Death will delay you far longer than even the most tangled Path. But perhaps this would not be so poor a choice? You use lightning, and so do they, do they not, Darina?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. When they transform, they become stronger and faster, and surrounded by lightning like you do, Hunter. They also gain the ability to become lightning for short bursts.¡± That did sound like it would be pretty compatible with my Focus ¨C from what I understood, you could enhance or add to your Focus, I did not think it possible to add wholly unrelated abilities, though as people liked to say, ¡®The world is wide, and time is deep.¡± When I had created my Focus, it had been with the Intent for the lightning to make me faster, and to act as both defence and offense. It sounded like taking a thundering ape as my Exemplar would enhance both of those things. I did have another question, however. ¡°Do you... they do anything when not transformed?¡± ¡°They are very strong, physically. And I believe they can still emit lightning, though to a lesser degree than when transformed.¡± ¡°We can!¡± I chuckled a little when I head Rainmaker shout over at us; it had not occurred to me that he would possess the extended sensory abilities Apexes had, despite his earlier mention of The Shadow Faced Guy¡¯s obfuscating abilities. ¡°Well, they definitely seem like a better fit than the other beasts I¡¯ve encountered, and I haven¡¯t found any lightning themed natural treasures or any convenient artifacts either, so... I think I should go for it. Thanks guys.¡± My friends all nodded at me, the siblings wearing small smiles and Darina with a thoughtful look on her face. She seemed to have passed the asshole stage, but I knew I would have to see what her inquisitive side was like, now that I seemed to have piqued her interest. "Before I officially give Elder Rainmaker my decision, I don¡¯t suppose you guys know if it¡¯s possible to regrow my arm? I heal pretty quick, supposedly from most things short of death, but I don¡¯t know if a missing arm is one of those things...¡± ¡°I cannot heal such a thing, though I may be able to in the future, once I have fully integrated my own Exemplar. My Master can certainly repair such a thing for you, however.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief. Oh shit, will I have to re-burn my channels?¡± I was glad that there was a good chance I could get my arm back, but I was not looking forward to having to burrow through my own flesh again. ¡°... It is likely.¡± ¡°Something to look forward to... Right, well, first thing firs!¡± Turning and still rubbing at my arm, I walked over to the two apes. ¡°You have yourself a deal, El-¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I know. You better appreciate the opportunity I¡¯m giving you, Most Puny. Thousand Year Pineapples are really tasty...¡± The fruit loving potential calamity took a huge breath and let it out in a sigh before gesturing deeper into the jungle. ¡°This way.¡± Childhoods End We followed Rainmaker through the dense jungle, sometimes losing sight of his massive frame as he apparently grew impatient and leapt up through the trees. His more ape-like companion Borr seemed to be used to his Elder¡¯s impulsive behaviour and hung back to keep us heading in the right direction. Inevitably when we came across his white-furred form again, he would be contentedly snacking on one fruit or another. Since my arrival, the lack of need for food had taken some getting used to, as well as seeing others so rarely stop to enjoy the food was; Rainmaker made me doubt my experience. He must have eaten dozens of fruits, all of varying sizes, shapes and colours. Most of them I did not recognise, if the look of near-bliss on his face whenever we caught him consuming the colourful flesh was anything to go by, they tasted great. I did not, however, push my luck and ask for a taste, despite how much the sight made my mouth water. I knew he was reluctant to provide me with the Thousand Year Pineapple already, and did not think irritating him further was wise. After a few hours of the Elder¡¯s departing and our catching up, we arrived at the thundering ape village, if village was the right word. Hundreds of massive nests were scattered amidst the trees, shafts of light spiked down amongst them from gaps in the canopy high above. These gaps were regular and almost smooth looking from my distant vantage on the forest floor, far more so than the other gaps I had seen in the short time I had been in the Sha Forest. It took me an almost embarrassing few minutes to solve the mystery as we wandered through the gathering of nests, and it was only when I caught a handful of colossal apes springing up through it that it came to me; springing up through the same spot regularly would of course leave gaps. Mystery solved; I turned my attention back to the ground around me, gazing around at the many eyes staring back at me from where the monstrously large apes sat about grooming or playing. As we moved closer to what seemed like the village''s centre, a group of particularly small specimens, standing a mere ten feet tall barrelled across our path with a series of deep, giggles as they played some form of tag, slapping each other with hollow thumps as they dashed about. ¡°These are babies. Do not try anything.¡± Rainmaker looked back at us over his shoulder as he skipped between the youngsters, his eyes lingering for a second longer on Darina, who blushed furiously in the dim light. It was obviously a somewhat playful rebuke; I did not think the Elder considered for a moment that any of us would try to attack their children, but even so, I shuddered. Until that point, the Apex-level ape had seemed almost childlike in his attitude, but as he stared back at us, his gaze was sharp and his tone firm with warning. He had said that his kind grew more intelligent as they aged, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I had dismissed that fact when it came to him. In that moment, I revised my opinion and considered that perhaps his manner thus far had been nothing more than a mask. I internally scolded myself for judging a book by its cover, I danced between the relatively small children quickly, knowing that while they may be babies, the thundering apes were born stronger than I was. Still, I had to smile as I watched them play; there is something precious about the guileless joy of the young, and even on another world, among another species and missing an arm, the sight filled me with joy. Having passed the boisterous kids, I turned back to see them trying to tug Reff and Riffa into their game; the siblings were the closest to their size and physical strength. I laughed as the two extricated themselves with wide smiles, and I even spotted the diminutive apprentice hiding laughter behind her hand. The young apes seemed disappointed that my friends did not want to play, but quickly recovered when one canny primate took the opportunity to tag another before making a mad dash in to the trees. With roars and shrieks of surprise, the group took off after them, leaving my friends and I standing, grinning after them. Turning, but still smiling, we hurried after Rainmaker and Borr, who had stopped in front of one of the biggest nests. The storm-eyed Elder was rooting about in the nest, moving furs and chests about before pulling out a pineapple roughly the size of a watermelon. The skin was truly golden, and the leaves a deep, almost glowing emerald. A rich scent emanated from it, like the pineapple I remembered from Earth, but somehow more, richer and fuller, like a resonating smell, if you can imagine such a thing. For the first time in months, I felt my stomach growl as I licked my lips and gazed at this apparently treasured fruit. "This is a Thousand Year Pineapple ¨C my last Thousand Year Pineapple. It should push you to complete your whatsit. Middle.¡± Rainmaker made a motion like his was rubbing his belly, which I assumed meant he was referring to my Core. ¡°Or kill him, Boss.¡± ¡°That goes without saying, Borr.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it does, Boss. Look at the puny one¡¯s face, looks like he¡¯s chewing wasps.¡± ¡°Borr¡¯s right, it probably should be said... Elder. What about death now?¡± ¡°Stupid ignorant, puny humans...¡± The Elder muttered like a rockslide. ¡°The Pineapple will fill you with Experience, and will even convert it to Praxis, but it may not be able to convert it to Praxis fast enough not to burst you like a rotten guava... Borr, do we have any True Guava?¡± Borr nodded his head with a roll of his eyes, and the Elder continued with a grin. ¡°You need to refine the Experience as fast as you can, to make up the difference. Hopefully you won¡¯t die.¡± ¡°Right, one second, please.¡± I held up a finger and turned to my friends and whispered, even though I knew the Elder could know exactly what I said. ¡°Right, so apparently this fruit could kill me. That¡¯s not ideal, but I don¡¯t think I can really back out. If... if I do die, the egg is in one of the rings on my feet. Make sure it gets back to the phoenix for me?¡± ¡°On your feet? I was wondering how you were storing things without a storage item, but I just thought you had developed a soul space early.¡± ¡°Yeah, no. The rings are on my feet so passing assholes don¡¯t rip my arms off to get them. It¡¯s worked great, until recently!¡± I waved my stump at Darina and grinned to let her know I did not mean anything by it. Knowing I had a decent chance of getting my arm back had taken most of the bite out of the injury, and laughing at it made what it easier to bear. ¡°With firm assurance, I believe you will be fine, Hunter. You seem to survive much that others may not.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°In certain agreement, I think you will manage. But if not, we will deliver the egg.¡± ¡°Thanks, guys. Borr ¨C the big guy who¡¯s been with us ¨C said the Pineapple comes from a tree in the phoenix''s territory. Maybe we can get some for you, while we¡¯re over there? Would they help?¡± ¡°In gratitude, thank you for the thought, Hunter. Completing the Path is not a matter of volume, so much as it is understanding. It may help a being whose understanding of their Exemplar outstripped their Cultivation, but I believe that such a being is rare.¡± I nodded at Reff, glad to know that the next stage of my advancement at least may not be quite the slog this one had been, at least from my perspective; I knew that as far as the general populace was concerned, my rise had been meteoric, thus far. I was about to turn back to the thundering apes when I felt a tug on the ragged end of my armless sleeve; turning I saw Darina had stepped in closer, and now stood with a finger wrapped around the jagged fabric. ¡°Hunter, can I have a private moment?¡± I frowned and nodded, before the two us walked a short distance away. ¡°Hunter... I wanted to apologise for my behaviour. When we first met, I thought you lazy ¨C somebody taking an Apex¡¯s generosity for granted. When I learned for how little time you had been cultivating, and how far you had progressed in that time... I-I became jealous. Since my parents died, all I had for many years was ability to fight, and to progress. I came close to completing my Core before I was fifteen, broke my Focus and set foot upon the Path before twenty. But you have done so in months, and it made me bitter. I am sorry.¡± Darina¡¯s voice was low, and she refused to meet my eyes, but I could tell her words were in earnest, and I did not find them particularly surprising. My own predictions had been somewhere along those lines, and I was just glad that she seemed to have come to terms with it. I sometimes forgot how young some of the people around me were, with all the talk of living for thousands of years. ¡°Darina, it¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve been through a lot and it would be kind of weird if you didn¡¯t have some issues. I meant what I said though, I want to be friends, so here I am. If you need to talk, and I you know, survive the whole, ¡®Trial by Fruiting¡¯, I¡¯ll be there. I¡¯m older than I look, and I¡¯ve been through some shit of my own. Anyway, bottom line, we¡¯re cool, you and me.¡± ¡°... Thank you.¡± Her voice was still low, but she looked up and met my gaze with a smile, before her lips quirked into a wry grin and she spoke again: ¡°Though you do still say some stupid things, on occasion.¡± ¡°Yeah well, so does your face.¡± I grinned back at the very look on her face; maturity was great and all, but damned was the man who could not be a child, once in a while. Turning on my heel before she could formulate a reply, I walked back over to Rainmaker where he stood impatiently, clearly eyeing the Thousand Year Pineapple with a considering look. ¡°Elder Rainmaker, let¡¯s do this. Just being near this thing is making me hungry.¡± The Elder looked like he was going to refuse for a moment, but a wordless rumble from Borr seemed to prompt him back towards the plan. He handed me the large fruit and I was surprised at the weight; by that time, I was easily many, many times stronger than a normal human, and while many things felt very light to me, the Pineapple was something of a strain to support. Sitting on the sparse grass in front of the nest, I looked around aimlessly as I tried to figure out how to eat the thing; without a doubt, the Elder would simply bite into it, as he did with all the other fruit I had seen him consume, but I was not sure my teeth were up to it, having felt the dense flesh. Eventually, I shrugged and pulled out a knife from a storage ring and began to cut into the golden flesh. ¡°Wish me luck!¡± I carved into the fruit, huge curved chunks the size of my hand before stuffing them into my mouth and biting off when my lips found skin. If you¡¯ve ever had a pineapple, you know the base flavour of the fruit I ate, but this was so much more; the taste of the Thousand Year Pineapple was like tasting tart light, a pervading, deep sweetness accompanied by an explosion of effervescing juice. But it was when I swallowed that the real experience began; I have spoken before about how it feels to cultivate, about the liquid joy coursing through your body in waves of ecstasy. This was that, but more. The feeling built within me, stacking up in layers of rapture as I turned my gaze inwards, towards my soul sea. Inside my centre, a storm was raging; golden Experience crashed against its limits as is level rushed ever upwards. I could feel it rushing through my Focus, and as I pushed deeper into my soul sea, I saw the dense layer of Praxis growing visibly as the blue-white energy flowed down in thick streams. This was far faster than I had ever seen it grow, but even so, I could sense my Experience closing in on the highest point of my centre, and then filling it completely, stretching me taut. I could feel the pressure build and sweat break out on my skin as I began to refine for all I was worth, hoping that I had not left it too long. Normally, I would refine while cultivating for efficiency¡¯s sake, and I had had a lot of practice doing do in the last month, but with the Thousand Year Pineapple thundering through me, I had no need to seek Experience ¨C Experience was coming whether I wanted it or not, flooding into me in a torrent, even as I kept eating, my body on autopilot as I focused my whole being down on my Focus, rushing Experience through it with all the speed I could muster. My mind strained under the effort of refining Praxis as I tried to keep from exploding, knowing that while it was apparently possible to live without Experience, having it go boom where my soul met my body was likely to be damaging. I have no idea how long I spent refining ¨C in my internal world, it seemed like forever, but the sun still seemed to in the sky as I came out the semi- meditative state I had been immersed in. I was wet through and through, lying on my back, eyes staring up at the distant green and blue above. I felt languid and latently powerful as I stretched with a groan of pleasure. I saw the faces of my friends appear around me, and I smiled lazily up at them. ¡°Hi guys ¨C you should try one of these things, even if it doesn¡¯t help. It¡¯s pretty great, if you don¡¯t die. You guys shouldn¡¯t die, right? Worth it.¡± ¡°Hunter, you¡¯re energy drunk. Snap out of it.¡± ¡°Darina! You should try one of these. We¡¯ll get you one. Or two. How many can we get? I want, like, five.¡± ¡°Here, have him drink this.¡± I grinned up at my friends, and the awesome Elder as he handed a gourd to the diminutive apprentice, who knelt down to press it to my lips. ¡°Dawiwwa, yow whys wur ho wed-¡± I was forced to stop talking as I felt a cool liquid pouring into my mouth, and I reflexively swallowed. The excess joy washed out of me in an instant and I was left clearheaded, blinking at the sudden loss. I sat up as Darina withdrew the gourd and looked down at myself; I still felt great, but the feeling was purely physical after having swallowed whatever had been in the fleshy container. ¡°Wow, that was great. We should sell that stuff ¨C hear me, out: Thousand Year Pina Coladas. We¡¯ll be rich beyond... really rich.¡± ¡°Hah! The Puny One has good taste, though I¡¯ve never heard of the Pina Coladas fruit.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a drink, made from alcohol, coconut and pineapple.¡± ¡°Oh. If they¡¯re made with Thousand Year Pineapples, there probably aren¡¯t enough to sell a lot, there¡¯s only the one tree... and there¡¯s barely enough for me.¡± I shrugged off my disappointment and stood, springing up on my tip-toes, and springing much higher than I would have previously. I turned my gaze inwards at my now complete Core ¨C a solid ball of Praxis filling my entire centre, with my Focus at its heart, like a fly in amber. Having completed my core, I was now somewhere in the region of fifty times more powerful than a normal human, leaving aside my particular physicality, and extended energy circuits. I felt like I could take on the world, and I wondered if this is how everyone felt all the time. ¡°Right! Do we do the next bit right away? Do I need to wait?¡± ¡°In shared gladness, it is rare for an Exemplar to be on hand when a Core is completed, but I know of no reason that you must wait.¡± ¡°Reff is right; I absorbed my own Exemplar immediately upon finishing my Core. The combined occurrences took some getting used to afterwards, but it did not hurt my cultivation.¡± ¡°Good! Now all you need to do is beat Url in a fight, and you can absorb her as your Exemplar. What a day, I solved two problems, kept a promise and ate so much fruit!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry... did you say I had to fight her?¡± Lightning Strikes Twice ¡°Of course you have to fight her. Why would she want to be part of somebody weaker than she already is?¡± ¡°But... aren¡¯t you born as strong as I am now? How is anybody still capable of absorbing an Exemplar supposed to beat an adult of your species?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot, Most Puny. I said Url was injured remember? She¡¯s barely at what you humans call the Fountain stage.¡± ¡°The Foundation stage? Doesn¡¯t the Foundation stage range up to ten times as strong as a Core?¡± I turned to my friends, eyebrows raised in disbelief. When the Elder had said that absorbing one of his people was part of the deal it had sounded more like I would be helping out; I was not sure how I was suddenly expected to beat a Foundation equivalent beast five minutes after completing my Core. ¡°With pensive consideration, a being at the very beginning of the Foundation stage would perhaps be as much as half-again as powerful as a Peak Core stage cultivator, but as you say, a Foundation cultivator on the cusp of the Pinnacle stage could be as much as a ten-times as powerful.¡± ¡°And the thundering apes are well known for being physically stronger for their relative stage.¡± Neither Reff nor Darina¡¯s words were filling me with confidence, but at least I knew I was now about in-line with where a person of my physical age should be, so any challenges I faced would be faced with the relative physical gifts of a native, even if I still possessed a distinct lack of general knowledge when it came to my new home world. ¡°Well, I guess I agreed to it already, and sort of already ate the reward, so...¡± I was hesitant, I could hear the doubt in my own words, but a deal was a deal and I did not think the gruff Elder was going to take a rain check. ¡°Good! This way.¡± The hulking ape-man accepted a huge fruit from Borr and turned away as he munched on the thing, skin and all. We followed him through the assemblage of giant nests until we came to one specimen which to my untrained eye looked pretty much like all the others. ¡°Oi, Url, I brought a human like you wanted! He¡¯s kind of puny, but he isn¡¯t running away or pre-smashed.¡± The Elder glanced down at me, his eyes flicking to my missing arm. ¡°He is missing an arm though, but they say he¡¯ll get it back.¡± The responding roar was actually unintelligible to me, which I found surprising by that point. I wondered why I could apparently understand the Elder and his shadow when they roared at each other, but not from this Url; perhaps it was a function of intelligence, or a result of her injury? ¡°I know it¡¯s been a long time, but they¡¯re really fragile, and what do you mean what kind of human? They¡¯re a human!¡± Another series of thundering roars came from within the nest and I saw Rainmaker glance at Borr as if to say, ¡®Is she serious?¡¯. Borr, for his part just nodded back in silence, at which point the Elder turned to me, a look of exasperation on his face. ¡°What kind of human are you?¡± ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m just human?¡± I pointed at Reff and Riffa, ¡°They¡¯re not, they¡¯re risi. But I¡¯m human.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s stupid. You look exactly the same. Stupid humans...¡± While I had to agree that we were all the same basic shape, I did not think that the limit of our differences; not that I thought those differences terribly important. I supposed he was just using ¡®human¡¯ in place of ¡®people¡¯, but I refrained from asking him if his definition made him a human. I did not think he would take that well, either. ¡°He says he¡¯s a human. Now get out here and fight him or I¡¯m going to take him to see the phoenix, and then you¡¯ll never get any Void bound humans!¡± There was an audible grumble from within the complex conglomeration of sticks, locks and grasses but after a few moments an ape jumped out from within, landing just to the side of us and looking at our group grumpily. She stood about as tall as Rainmaker, though she looked more like Borr. The only real difference between her and Borr was the scar running down the length of her body. ¡°Uh, hi, Url. I¡¯m Hunter... nice to meet you?¡± The slightly shorter ape lumbered over to me and poked me in the chest with one thick finger, pushing me back a step. I hoped she would not be as fast as she was strong, because in a test of might I was not sure she would have much trouble simply... smashing me. ¡°Now that you¡¯re all introduced, can we start? I have important things to eat.¡± ¡°Uh, sure? As ready as I¡¯m going-¡± ¡°Have you located your second centre yet, Hunter?¡± I blinked as Darina interrupted me, and I turned to her as my mind raced; now that she mentioned it, I recalled something about having to find a second centre in order to have a place to store your Exemplar... I had completely forgotten. Imagining the scene where I just stood there looking stupid, if I managed to defeat Url, made me grimace. ¡°Shit, no. Thanks Darina, that might have been embarrassing...¡± ¡°Ugh, are you telling me there¡¯s more to do? You humans make everything so complicated. Just get stronger, it¡¯s not that hard!¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess, sorry.¡± I wished I could just ¡®get stronger¡¯ - though that was a fairly accurate representation of my experience since arriving, but I knew it was more complicated than that. I did not know why beasts apparently had an easier time of it, but at least nobody was trying to eat me or turn me into money... well, people had tried to eat me, but... never mind. ¡°I remember somebody mentioning that I had to find an absence of Praxis, is that right?¡± ¡°With confident assurance, that is correct, Hunter. There will be a place within you devoid of Praxis; once you are aware of it, it will become obvious, and your inner-eye should be able to enter without difficulty.¡± ¡°Reff¡¯s right, and it should be slightly easier for you, given the density of your energy channels.¡± ¡°In hesitant revelation, it can be uncomfortable, discovering your second centre; for me, it was like discovering I was suddenly hungry after being full for a long time. It was... disconcerting.¡± Riffa added. Reff and Darina both nodded slightly at Riffa¡¯s words; it occurred to me that I may experience that slightly less, given that my Core had been mostly incomplete until less than an hour before.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Closing my eyes, I quickly focused my awareness inside, gazing in wonder at my complete core again for a moment, before feeling my body; it was strange, I had had enough Praxis to fill my channels for over a week, but now that my Core was complete, there was a kind of pressure inside of me, like the energy running through me was being pushed rather than merely flowing. From what I knew of the process, my Core would now passively refine Experience in to Praxis, and perhaps it was this process that was causing the strange sense of spiritual fullness. Moving my attention through my body, I followed the myriad channels until I reached my heart, where just as my friend has said, I discovered a marked absence of the potent energy. I felt surprise, as I turned my inner-eye towards the area ¨C I had thought my energy channels had followed my entire vascular system, which should include paths to and from the heart. I wondered how I had never noticed this gap. I pushed in towards the gap, and with a moment of resistance so brief that it may have been my imagination, I entered my second centre ¨C my heart centre. The inside of my newly revealed centre was empty ¨C which I expected, but I could see the energy channels entering now that I was inside of it. I gazed around the confines of the spiritual space in wonder as I saw the Praxis flow into the centre, but rather than stay and pool as it did in my original soul sea, it flowed around the edges like some kind of superfluid, before exiting at the opposite side. I pondered that revelation for a moment ¨C clearly, there was something missing to allow a place for the Praxis to inhabit, which I guessed to be the Exemplar. From my limited knowledge, I knew that this space was eventually meant to be filled with Veritas, the next stage of energy refinement, but I thought that like my conversion of Experience into Praxis, the process would all take place here, with one slowly replacing the other. With a frown, I shifted back to my Focus and felt around, looking for Experience but not finding any. It seemed that having completed my Core, I no longer had a space in which to store the base energy and wondered at what that meant for the simple techniques I had developed for travel, amongst other things. It occurred to me that the configuration of my centres meant that I was unlikely to fully lose Praxis as a resource, merely gain another. After a few minutes of my internal musing, I was pulled back to myself by another poke to my chest, and I opened my eyes to see the huge head of Url, inches from my own. ¡°Shit!¡± I took a step back before I caught myself. ¡°Sorry! You, uh, surprised me. I think I¡¯m good to go...?¡± * *** * I had said that I was good to go, but if I was being perfectly honest with myself, I was having doubts. First of all, I had no idea how strong this ape was; Rainmaker had said she had been injured, but what did that mean? Was she equivalent to the Core stage? Path, Foundation? It did not matter of course, I did not think she would kill me, and I had faced off against stronger people who definitely would have. I gazed over at Url, who seemed eager, tapping the ground with her huge fists as her eyes locked on mine. I felt my heart starting to beat faster and I breathed in a steady breath. ¡°Okay, fight already.¡± I blinked at the sudden call to fight from the Elder, but did not have time to hesitate for much longer than that, as Instinctive Precognition flickered to life and without conscious thought, I Focused for the first time since I had completed my Core. Snapping lines of blue-white lightning blazed around me; I was not pushing hard, but the power I was putting out was at least as much as when I had tried to fight Cat-Guy back at the barracks. The world slowed around me and I dived to the side, still acting purely on instinct as my opponent came crashing down in the space I had vacated with a rolling boom. Rolling to my feet, I looked at Url as she turned to look back at me and roared like a storm. Her fur was a flowing mass of energy, blue-white and violet as it snapped away from her body and back, and even her eyes were emitted violent arcs of electricity. She was living lightning and it did nothing for my hopes of winning. With a sharp crack, she came at me again leaving an arcing filament of power between her and the place she leapt from; she was fast, very fast, but I was ready. Unlike many of my opponents, I could follow her movements, and despite the fact that Predictive Precognition was not giving me very detailed reactions, it still let me react far faster than I should be able to. As the beast flew at me, I leapt sideways and was catapulted twice as far as I had aimed for, though it did get me well outside of her range. I shifted my balance as I landed, trying to compensate for the added power while keeping my feet and this time my Instincts launched me into a backflip high into the air as I saw the coruscating mass of lightning pass below me. Landing, I reoriented and focused, knowing that I needed to get a handle on my increased physical ability; unlike my gradual growth over the last couple of months, this was a pretty significant change, leaving me maybe twice as strong and as fast as I had been, with no time to grow used to it. Reaching towards my Core, I increased the tempo of its supply of Praxis to my Focus and watched as the world slowed further around me, reaching a crawling state I could not ever remember reaching previously, even as the lines of light I was generating multiplied and joined together into ropes of energy as thick around as my leg, the blue shifting into violet. Url turned and came at me again, this time at a run rather than leaping, the ground shaking with each impact of her massive fists and feet. She was fast, but I was faster. I ran to meet her and stepped around the first punch she sent my way, feeling the shock as it smashed the air aside only inches from me. I snapped a fist out into her face, and then two more as she tried to shift her balance to punch again. I had no illusions that my own lightning would do much to a creature seemingly made mostly from the stuff, but I hoped the blow would be enough to slow her down for a moment; my only shot was to keep piling on the damage gradually, because I did not think I would last through a single one of her punches. As I went to step in for another punch, the great ape snapped her arm back in towards me, but I had warning and avoided the blow by shifting to the side, under the arm she was resting her weight on. Url growled and the earth vibrated slightly at the sound, raising the hair on the back of my neck even as she reared up, raising both huge fists into the air above her before bringing them crashing down towards me. Not wanting to spend the rest of my short life as a pancake, I rolled forward between her legs; practicing against people much bigger than me was definitely proving itself useful, though that was not something I had tried against Reff more than once. But against the ape, who was already in the middle of one massive blow, it seemed safe enough. I rolled out of the way just in time, and came to my feet behind her just in time to be knocked off them once more as the shockwave from Url¡¯s double-handed blow rippled through the earth beneath us. She was absolutely a great deal stronger than I was, but I thought I was faster, and as the saying goes, you cannot kill what you cannot hit. Kipping to my feet half-stepped to the side, turning my body slightly to avoid a short-kick from the ape; there had not been a great part of her power in the blow, but when you are strong enough to cause minor earthquakes, not-a lot of your strength can be deadly. Having avoided the kick, quick-stepped and drove a fist into the back of her other knee; her legs were short and it would not be as debilitating for her as it would for a longer-legged creature, but I would take what I could get. The blow landed, and while the leg did buckle slightly, it was not much and I grimaced even as I dived away to put some distance between us, and to avoid the twisting counter. Url was not a trained fighter, but she was an animal with at least a modicum of intelligence, and she used her advantages well, which was to say, the nigh-unstoppable force that was her natural ¨C or Cultivated ¨C might. She closed with me again, raining blows from above which I dodged again and again by the narrowest of margins, landing punches one after the other, though it was only really possible to reach her face when she overextended and came to close the ground. I did not want to jump; my advantage lay in speed, and I knew from past experience that if both of my feet left the ground, I would lose a lot of that, leaving me unable to maneuverer and vulnerable. That was also the reason I was avoiding kicks ¨C I needed both feet in order to keep me a step ahead of pulverising rain of her rapid-fire fists. The fight had been going on for a few minutes when I saw my chance; stepping back around her left most blow and putting her arm between us caused the thundering ape to extend over it, even as she drew the limb back, leaving he face close enough to strike. Three, four times I exploited this habit before I thought she was growing wise to it; deciding to change things up, I went in the other direction, hoping the same thing would happen. Stepping back and around her right fist, she instinctively did the same again and I grinned, even as I launched a left cross out to smack into her unprotected face. Of course, I no longer had a left fist, so the motion had much less impact than I had hoped for. I felt my arm move, and nothing happened; stopping, I stared at the place my forearm should have been, the shock of the missing limb really hitting me for the first time. Since I had lost it, the pain had vanished as it was healed. I had gained near certain hope that I would get it back, and even had my Core and a perfect Exemplar handed to me. With the thrill of battle, I... I had just forgotten. In that moment, as I stared at my arm, I felt Instinctive Precognition stir within me, but the shock kept me rooted in place, staring. Even as one massive, lightning-furred fist smashed into me. And then I was unconscious. Again. Only The Good Die Young I stood surrounded by snow, white stretching in every direction and turning to grey at the horizon to become the sky. It was cold, I knew that, but I did not feel it. A noise, strangely familiar came behind me and turning, I saw a transport shuttle rapidly lifting into the air before vanishing into the clouds. Turning back to look around, I saw a curious sight; an old man sat in the snow, staring at me. Or, perhaps I should say there I sat, staring at myself. ¡°Well, here we are again, Alex. Great job.¡± The voice of the old me spoke with contempt dripping from every word and I felt a trill of shock at hearing it again, frail and quavering. ¡°Given all the helping hands a person could hope for, and you waste it. A man hands you a perfect path to progression on a plate, and you can¡¯t even take it. Didn¡¯t even use your sword.¡± I heard a series of cracks and the sound of sloughing snow around me and I turned once more to see spindly figures digging their way out of the snow, their bodies covered by hides and bits of bone. I recognised them; I would always recognise them because it was hard to forget being eaten alive. The Devourers stagged to their feet in the freshly packed snow, staring at me. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask for the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill? The quest was to stop them making more, Ro would have given it to you for saving Tang, and even if you couldn¡¯t take it at the time, you could have been where you are now weeks ago. Walker said you needed a Focus and you had that within days, idiot!¡± Black chains formed from my own shadow stretched about my limbs and around my body and with a blink, I saw both Voran and the Shadow Faced Guy appear to either side of my aged self. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you spent your Bonus Point yet? Maybe you could have bought some extra speed, or strength; there were millions of options! Maybe you could have defeated the ape if you hadn¡¯t been so complacent. We never liked ourself much, Alex, but you¡¯ve not done a lot to change our mind, have you?¡± I felt the chains pulling tighter about me and could see the Devourers about us creeping closer, deathly silent where once they had sung. Maddening, dead laughter bounced off the ground around us and reached for the heavens, but it was at about that time I had had enough. ¡°Screw you, Me. I lost a fight, big deal; it¡¯s not the first, it won¡¯t be the last but unlike you ¨C the old me ¨C I''ll keep trying. I¡¯ll get stronger, and even without my Exemplar being handed to me on a platter, I¡¯ll find something that suits me. And I didn¡¯t use my sword because you¡¯re supposed to defeat your opponent, not kill them, and I¡¯m not that good yet. Dick.¡± The laughter stopped and I found myself free of the black chains once more, the dull heat of anger stoking within me. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for the pill, because Walker said it would kill me, and he seemed to know what he was talking about. If he thought it would have benefitted me after forming my Focus, he would have said. You have to trust your friend, dick. Also, given that just the Pineapple nearly burst me like a balloon, I¡¯m pretty sure a pill people were willing to go to war over would have killed me fifteen times over.¡± Around me, the Devourers stopped and as I spoke, they faded to shite and blew away with a gust of wind, mere snow once more. ¡°You were an asshole, old man. You wasted every opportunity ever given you, passed on every chance. But I understand, you were sick. I was sick. But I¡¯m not anymore, and I¡¯m past your bullshit. I¡¯ve made mistakes, but who the fuck hasn¡¯t? I¡¯m going to get my arm back and them I¡¯m going to stuff it down that dickhead¡¯s throat. And I¡¯m going to get my own Exemplar, and choose my own abilities, damnit! With blackjack, and hookers...¡± * *** * ¡°Oow...¡± I groaned as I woke, a dull pain radiating through me as I blinked my eyes open. I could see Darina, Reff and Riffa above me again, looks of concern evident on their faces. ¡°You¡¯re awake, good. That was a lot of damage... if you didn¡¯t heal so fast, I¡¯m not sure I could have saved you.¡± The last was said as Darina turned to glare behind her. ¡°In concise assessment, you tried to punch with your missing arm, Hunter. That, in general, will not work.¡± ¡°... Thanks, Reff. I wondered where I went wrong.¡± ¡°With wry humour, you are welcome, Hunter.¡± I stared up at my large friend; it must have been bad if he was making jokes. ¡°Did you just make a joke? You didn¡¯t state it at the start, you¡¯re shaking my world view, Big Guy.¡± ¡°With sheepish embarrassment, it is not required, Hunter. It is not a part of us. It is done by tradition, and because it helps to clarify our intentions. I do this only with outsiders, and rarely, so as not to confuse.¡± With a sniff, Riffa looked over at her brother, a frown on her face as the spoke. ¡°With warranted scolding, you do it too much, brother. People will begin to doubt our words if you abuse our traditions as often as this.¡± ¡°But, this is the first time he¡¯s ever done it, Riffa.¡± I tried to defend him, but she turned her frown on me next, and I tried to raise my hands in defence, but only ended up groaning in pain. Once the pain had passed, she went on. ¡°With pointed displeasure, you have only known him for a little over a month; he does this often, though not as often as he loses his temper.¡± I shook my head gently as I tried to process what she had said; Reff had mentioned his temper before, though I had barely seen it. I guessed though, that in a family that measured generations in centuries, time scales may vary slightly from what I was used to. It made me think about Earth; would all the immortals I had left behind begin to see things the same way? ¡°You lost. Url was not happy, I¡¯m going to have to find her another human now.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Rainmaker¡¯s booming voice rang out as he stepped into my view, his boulder-like fists resting on his hips. ¡°Sorry about that, uh, Elder. To be fair, I¡¯m not sure most Core stage cultivators are going to beat her. I might have missed that last punch, but I don¡¯t think I was doing much damage before then.¡± ¡°Bah, you did fine enough. Could¡¯ve won if you¡¯d kept dancing around like you had been. And since you did try, I won¡¯t hold it against you. Or smash you.¡± ¡°Awesome, thanks. Means a lot to me, I like living. Or I will, once I heal. Ow...¡± ¡°You have a... what you call a Core now, so you should be able stand being near the peacock when they¡¯re in a huff. I think you would have just exploded, before. We¡¯ll stuff you all full of Blazing Mangos and away you go.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll need to rest, but with pills and my help, he should be on his feet by in a couple of hours, Honoured Elder Rainmaker.¡± ¡°Much easier if you just don¡¯t get injured, Puny. Try that next time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, Elder. It does seem like a pretty effective strategy; it should have occurred to me sooner.¡± Okay, it was not particularly smart mouthing off to an Apex level beast-lord, even if I was only joking, but I was in a lot of pain and I had had a really weird dream. The Elder looked down at me with his storm cloud eyes and twitched one snow-white eyebrow, his lips twitching slightly before he walked off, shouting for somebody to bring him fruit. ¡°Well, this nice. Where am I, by the way? I can¡¯t see any nests, or apes.¡± ¡°With pained sympathy, Url punched you out of the village, Hunter.¡± ¡°Well, that would explain the pain. Rainmaker was totally right; I should try to avoid getting injured. It happens a lot, and I¡¯m not a fan of it.¡± * *** * By the time the sun was setting, I was back on my feet, though there were a few aches and pains left over. The four of us had made our way back into the village, where Rainmaker ¨C with prompting from Borr, admittedly ¨C had offered to let us sleep for the night. We accepted his offer and bedded down in a nest that was not being used at that time, deferring our practice, given the events of the day. Finally settled in and relatively safe, the four of us decided to speak about our encounter with The Shadow Faced Guy and his strangely still companion. Darina started the conversation, seemingly more focused on the companion than the man I had met twice now, and regretted both times. ¡°He moved without telegraphing his actions; one moment he was perfectly still and the next he was in motion with no transition. It was strange; I have seen insects move like that, but never a person.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen lots of people move faster than I could see, it¡¯s not that strange is it? Not like his arms, those were weird. Unless, you know, that¡¯s normal somewhere...¡± ¡°It was not that he moved too fast for me to see, I could follow his movements, though only just; it was as if he was moving with something other than muscles. And no, those arms weren¡¯t ¡®normal¡¯, but the world is wide and time is deep; perhaps they were a recent arrival, or an older, singular arrival. Maybe it was their talent.¡± ¡°With uncomfortable consideration, Darina is right; he did not appear to be of any race I know of, and I have met every major race on this world. His movements were unnatural, for a person with normal musculature. But as Darina suggests, it may have been a function of his Focus.¡± Riffa tapped her chin as she spoke, sapphire-on-black eyes catching the fading light like deep blue sparks. ¡°In deep calculation, I do not think that this alone was a function of his Focus; while hiding your movements would certainly provide a great advantage in the absence of other Foci, that is not the world we occupy, or the system we follow. If it is his Focus, it is a poor one, though it is possible that the strange method of moving is a side effect...¡± Reff¡¯s tone was slightly absent minded by the time he trailed off, obviously going over the possible power sets that could cause such a distinctive feature. I let the silence stretch out for a few minutes as I ran through the options in my own head; it was possible that he had an insect Focus, as that was the direct comparison made by Darina. My own somewhat unique background also filled my head with images of machines; robots or cyborgs, moved by wire, gears and servos. Maybe he was an Agent, like I was, and had taken some form of technology as his Focus, bending the magic of cultivation to the cold steel reality of home, or binding it to copper and silicon. That did not really provide an answer to their freakishly long arms, however. ¡°How did he fight? The creepy, still guy? I couldn¡¯t really see; the other guys had me a little tied up.¡± I heard Darina snort at the pun, though the siblings showed no sign of reaction, or even of realising I had made a joke. ¡°With clear recollection, he did not fear pain; he struck my molten armour many times, seemingly with no protection, as the armour of his gauntlets seemed to melt, and the underneath flesh burned down to bone.¡± ¡°Yes, I remember that, it smelled awful. I tried to restrain an arm, and while he did not seem strong enough to pull free, the bones in his arm broke and I lost leverage. It didn¡¯t seem to slow him down.¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s a healer, like you are? No, doesn¡¯t explain the movements. Maybe he took something weird as his Exemplar? Remade himself? Is that a thing?¡± ¡°With unexpected agreeance, that is a possibility; I have never heard of a being wholly reconstructing themselves, other than Elders, but it is a possibility...¡± This time, it was Riffa¡¯s turn to trail off, but I sensed that we were all considering the possibilities. Base physicality made less off a difference the further you progressed, usually. If you were twice as strong as another person before forming your Focus, by the Peak of the Core stage, you were only a fraction stronger, as the additional strength came from the energy in your system, not your muscles. My own super-human body had allowed me to barely survive at my arrival, but that was more due to the quality of my opponents and luck, than anything else. But this was not universally true ¨C a beast generally had their natural abilities magnified; a thundering ape was ¨C apparently ¨C really, really strong, for example. I wondered if it was possible to remould your flesh so that you grew exponentially, rather than linearly. I asked the question of the group, and got an interesting answer. ¡°In partial confirmation, a beast generally does increase its strengths non-linearly with cultivation, but this is not due to their physiology, but rather because their cultivation is fundamentally different. It has been studied before, and the closest cultivators have come, to the best of my knowledge is to become a beast cultivator, like the man we have fought, or the Apex of the Crystal Drake. They do not remould their flesh, but rather shape their cultivation. But even so, it does not do precisely what you suggest, and as you saw, such a Focus is obvious.¡± ¡°... What about the Apex of the Unfettered Frame? Walker said he was at least six times stronger than a normal Peak Pinnacle cultivator?¡± ¡°He is unique; nobody knows how he did it, and he refuses to share the knowledge. The last cultivator to try to press him did not survive the experience, or so my Master told me.¡± ¡°With true confirmation, we have met Bo Ai¡¯rong before, and he says it is too dangerous to be common knowledge. He said that while he trusts himself with the power to break worlds, he would trust no others.¡± I looked at Riffa in the dark, barely able to see her as a shadow and the almost impenetrable dim of the jungle, her words sounding out of context from my experience; I had been told the Apex ¨C or their equivalent - was the limit to which a person could ascend, on any world. I had seen Walker destroy hundreds of thousands of people in a few moments, but I did not think him capable of mustering the power to destroy the world itself. ¡°Break the world? He has to be exaggerating, right? Right?¡± ¡°My Master told me that it is his responsibility to seek out those who attain the Apex and judge whether they are a danger to the world. Should they prove to be unsafe, it is his responsibility to crush them. He is physically powerful enough to be trusted to kill any Apex that might emerge, so I do not put it past his ability.¡± That was a sobering thought; an Apex whose job it was to kill other Apexes. I tried to imagine an individual powerful enough to kill Walker by purely physical means and ended up picturing Superman. I made a mental note to be on the lookout for a mild-mannered man in glasses upon our return to the Citadel... Quest for Fire The morning after our discussions, I awoke in the dim light of the jungle pre-dawn, the sounds of life screeching and calling all around me. Slowly drawing in a deep breath, I stretched carefully so as to minimise how much noise I made; I felt my muscles bunch and pull as my back slowly arched and I almost let out a small grown of pleasure. It was good to be young! Wearing a huge grin, I took my time extricating myself free of the massive nest, hoping not to wake my friends who were still sleeping, though I knew that would not last. It seemed like I needed slightly less sleep than they did, for which I thanked my ren physiology, even if it had made my first couple of weeks a little awkward. Moving away from the nest cluster in which we were situated, I walked until I found a wide-open space and began to put my body through its paces. I had already fought with the increased capacity of my freshly completed Core, but I had not had chance to really internalise my increased strength or speed; there had been a couple of times during the fight with Url that I had jumped too far, or over extended a punch, and I knew I would need to get that under control. I also knew that it would probably make doing my sword forms at the appropriate speeds more difficult... When you are roughly fifty times as fast as a normal human, doing something at one-fiftieth of the speed of a normal human was a challenge. Who ever thought that being normal would be hard? As these thoughts spun through me, I dashed to and fro, making sharp turns and leaps as I tried to grow used to my recent doubling of strength¨C while adding in far too many extraneous flips and spins, I will admit; they were just fun. After half an hour or so, I felt like I had a better handle on my body, though true mastery would of course only come with time; being able to perform a one-hundred and forty-foot vertical leap was a trip, and only mildly terrifying. The first time I did it, I was convinced I was going to end up with my shins sticking out of my shoulders, but it seemed that my body had also grown somewhat tougher. It was a strange realisation; it was kind of obvious that our bodies grew stronger, because otherwise there was no way they could handle the kind of forces we placed upon them as we advanced. Hell, it was basically the first lesson Walker ever gave me, when he crushed that rock to powder the night of my arrival. It did make me think about how hard Url must have hit me though, to have done so much damage. For a moment, I felt regret that I had not defeated her and made that strength my own, by I quickly dismissed the feeling; I had lived enough with regret and I was no longer prepared to wallow in it. I was going to get a better Exemplar... even if I did not know what it would look like. Until then, I was kind of in a bottleneck. After a couple more vertical jumps ¨C with the Superman theme tune playing in my head, I may have hummed it ¨C I settled down to move through my sword forms, and after that my chain practice; the former went well, though it was a little torturous to move at what, one twenty-five-hundredths of my normal speed? The latter did not go so well, as my new speed resulted in a marked increase in having to dodge my own weapon. Maybe I could just use it as a whip...? Dawn had come and gone by the time I finished my practice, and I found my companions practising alongside me a little distance away, though they were sparring amongst themselves, rather than trying to learn weapons. Reff basically wore his weapon, Riffa fought mostly at a distance and Darina... well, you cannot heal a sword. Or, at least, Darina could not heal a sword. I was sure somebody out there had to have focused on mending weapons... Slipping my chain back into a ring, I walked over to watch my friends spar, not wanting to interrupt and disrupt their flow. Darina seemed to be doing better; she was certainly getting kicked into the distance far less than when we had started. She had been super-aggressive when we fought, lacking any defence at all and rather relying on her regeneration, but now she seemed to be incorporating dodges into her fighting, perhaps realising that being knocked out of a fight could be just as harmful as being knocked unconscious. Riffa¡¯s puppets seemed to be moving with much more fluidity, and I even saw the giant young woman re-positioning herself while they fought, which was a massive improvement from where she had been when the two of us first sparred. As for Reff, he was pulling out moves I had not seen from the supposedly temperamental man before, with tendrils and blades of lava whipping out of his armour at varying places, though he always held back from actually injuring his opponents; as my back knew all too well, lava was dangerous. ¡°Are you not done yet? The sooner you all go and deliver the egg to the peacock, the faster I get more Thousand Year Pineapples.¡± The colossal frame of Rainmaker lumbered into view as his voice boomed out over the village, cracking and rolling about us, an almost physical shock. ¡°Elder Rainmaker, hey. We were just getting in some practice before we left ¨C every little bit helps us puny mortals.¡± My friends had come to a stop at the blasting voice, and were now making their way over to us, clones and molten armour fading into sand and stone respectively before ¨C I presumed ¨C they were placed in storage. ¡°It is good to strive to be less puny, but the mistake you humans make is that you try. We skip the unnecessary steps and just become stronger. Smashing is fun, but optional.¡± ¡°Honoured Elder Rainmaker, please forgive our folly. Were we able to grow as you do, we would likely be less... puny.¡± Darina stopped in front of the once-ape and bowed low from the waist, her words respectful, though there was a hint of hesitation at calling herself puny. ¡°Bah, you lot are okay, for humans. Most just run away, though some do leave small mounds of fruit for me, which is better than you, now I think about it.¡± There was a brief pause while he pondered his own words, before he went on again. ¡°Why am I giving you fruit? Give me fruit!¡± ¡°Sorry, Elder, we¡¯re all out of fruit. We can get out of your hair though... you said something about fire-repellent fruits, yesterday?¡± ¡°So not only are you not giving me fruit, now you want my Blazing Mangos? Why am I even an Elder? Borr, why did I become an Elder, if I have to give the puny-humans fruit?¡± Turned to look behind Rainmaker, where Borr stood resting his weight on his knuckles, looking like he wanted to go back to sleep.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°You didn¡¯t have a choice, Boss. It just happened to you.¡± "Well, from now on, we¡¯re putting in a two-fruit minimum for guests. No more giving away fruit to every armless, puny human who turns up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have to worry about these specific circumstances much, Boss...¡± The fruit-loving Elder just stared at his companion and the silence drew out for several seconds before Borr replied, with a heavy sigh. ¡°... Two-fruit minimum, you got it, Boss. Starting with the next armless human to visit.¡± ¡°There! I¡¯m sure when you come back this way, you¡¯ll have plenty of fruit, right, humans?¡± The normally jovial, if smash-focused mien of the Elder fell away as he focused his storm-cloud gaze on me and my companions, turning to meet our eyes one by one. I shuddered a little at the sudden clear intelligence behind those grey orbs, and decided that when I did pass back this way, I would more than meet the new minimum. The glimpse into Rainmaker¡¯s true-self only lasted moments before he was back to his usual self, gesturing us to follow him as he walked back towards his own nest. Following, my companions and I shared a glance and I could tell that they too would be putting some effort into collecting fruit before we returned to the territory of the thundering apes. Once we all stood assembled in front of his home, Rainmaker once more began to root about, muttering to himself about smashing the greedy, fruit-hogging humans. Borr gave us an apologetic look and I grinned back at him; he seemed like a good guy and I wondered how close he was to becoming an Elder ¨C Rainmaker has said they grew in intelligence as they grew in power, and Borr seemed pretty damn smart. ¡°Ah! Here they are... here, take them before I change my mind.¡± Rainmaker emerged from his nest with a pile of deep red mangos, each the size of my head held in his arms, before dropping them in front of us. ¡°Thanks, Elder, this is very kind of you.¡± I picked up one of the large fruits and was about to cut into it when Reff spoke up, stopping me short. ¡°With respectful deference, Honoured Elder Rainmaker, is it best that we eat them now? How long do the effects last? I assume that they are not permanent?¡± ¡°I like you, Less Shorty, you seem respectful. And deferential. You should save them until you¡¯re closer, each fruit will last for about an hour.¡± ¡°And the warning, Boss?¡± ¡°Warning?¡± ¡°Bursting into flames?¡± ¡°Oh, right. That. You shouldn¡¯t eat more than one at a time, you¡¯re puny enough that there¡¯s a tiny, very significant chance you might burst into flame.¡± I looked down at the manga cradled in the crook of my arm, and at the knife in my hand before slipping both into storage and turning to face Borr. ¡°Borr, I like you. Don¡¯t ever change.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t always have a choice, human.¡± I nodded at his painfully loud words as my companions split the fruit up into piles and stored their own allotments. Bending down I stored the remainder of the mangos in my own rings before standing again, looking back and forth between the Elder and his right hand... ape. ¡°Well, you guys have been really helpful, I can¡¯t thank you enough. But we should probably get going; the sooner we set off the sooner we can return the egg to the phoenix Elder.¡± As I finished speaking, Rainmaker narrowed his eyes at me, hands on hips, letting out a low growl. I quickly continued speaking, almost taking a step backwards. ¡°... And get you some fruit, which is the more important aspect of our task.¡± ¡°Good! Remember, it¡¯s two each, so that¡¯s a minimum of eight fruits. And tell the peacock I said... something.¡± With that, the white-furred behemoth turned away from us, clearly dismissing us to once more go rooting about his nest. * *** * ¡°Are we there yet?¡± The jungle had grown hotter as the days progressed, the sweltering heat and humidity one-upping themselves over the course of another week in the Sha Forest, and even Darina - who had grown up there ¨C was looking haggard and irritable. The only member of our group that did not seem to affected by the oppressive conditions was Reff, who was using his abilities to direct the heat away. ¡°With patient assurance, we have not yet reached our destination, Hunter.¡± ¡°He means stop asking! We have to make it to the other side of the mountain before we enter the phoenix territory; since we¡¯re still on this side of the mountain, we¡¯re not there yet!¡± ¡°In confirmation, Darina is correct, Hunter. We must reach the other side of the mountain.¡± I shook my head, sending droplets of sweat scattering from my wet hair and beard. I of course knew we were not there yet, I was not an idiot, for the most part; I was more looking for my companions to share in my misery and vent some of their frustrations. It worked, sort of, but Darina certainly looked like she wanted to punch me so I chose the better part of valour and decided to keep quiet for a while. We had been climbing for a couple of hours, which had not helped with the steadily rising heat; I had also not quite realised how fucking huge this mountain was. I had seen Everest back on Earth, as well as other mountains, but this thing put them all to shame, stretching for what I was sure it had to be at least a dozen miles tall at the peak, with dense green growth clinging to its sides for much of its height. Luckily, we did not have to actually ascend the thing, merely go around it, which involved climbing through obnoxiously high foothills and passes, all choked with the omnipresent vegetation. I slapped at a biting insect of some kind as it landed on my neck with a weird, organic tap sound; unlike the biting insects I had been used to back on Earth, the examples here were far sparser, which I attributed to the relative difficulty of biting through cultivation enhanced flesh. That did mean, however, that the insects that did prevail were, much like the mountain, fucking huge. I drew my hand away from my neck with a grimace, my entire palm covered in ichor, blood and chitin from something like a mosquito the size of a baseball. Gagging slightly, I did my best to wipe the disgusting mess off on the ground and a couple of leaves. I had felt a little sorry for Darina before; she had been handed a pretty raw deal by life until she met Sonja, but now I felt really bad; nobody should have to grow up around insects that large. It was inhuman. Though, that did make me recall the giant plant-spider-thing from the other world; maybe the mosquitos were not so bad after all... Finally, after several seconds, my hand was free of insect remains and I hurried to catch up to my companions, who had paused on a crest ahead of me. As I came up behind them, I tried to see why they had stopped, but the bulk of my risi friends proved an effective screen. With a shrug, I ducked through Reff¡¯s legs, coming up beside Darina while turning to offer my friend an apologetic smile. He did not notice my smile however, as his gaze remained locked on the distance. With a frown, I turned to finally look at what had so captivated my companions. ¡°Holy shit.¡± Burning Ambition A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Another Life Heading towards the burning spiral at the circle¡¯s centre, through the fire and the flames we carried on, hurried along by the odd, remote gaze of the Phoenix Elder. The jungle¡¯s interior looked strange, illuminated as it was by the gentle aureate inferno from all directions; for most of our journey the world beneath the dense canopy had been obscured by darkness, but here it lay revealed and naked to our eyes, and I discovered that we had been blind to the life around us. I saw creatures of all types, lounging, flying, prowling and crawling in the formerly hidden world we occupied. Sharp movement at the corner of my vision caught my attention, I turned to see a cat with six legs snapping at nothing, only for the image to shift and warp before vanishing, appearing again some distance away with the cat now sporting a look of irritation on its feline face; another squirrel, somewhat larger than what I was used to from Earth, but still much smaller in scale than most of the flora or fauna I had encountered, sat chittering on its hind legs just beyond the reach of the strangely displaced cat. As I watched, the cat tried again, but once more it missed, and for a moment I thought that maybe it was just an idiot, but when I focused my attention once more on the squirrel, I noticed that it seemed to have moved, though I had not seen it. Tapping Darina on the shoulder, I gestured over at the animals before speaking. ¡°What¡¯re they? The cat sort of teleported, and I think the squirrel did too.¡± Following my gesture, the apprentice glanced at the pair before answering. ¡°That¡¯s a mirror cat; it doesn¡¯t teleport, it just shifts its image elsewhere.¡± ¡°That reminds me of something, but I can¡¯t place it. Anyway, that sounds like a useful ability, I bet they¡¯re hell in a fight.¡± The animals were left behind by that point as we continued the final leg our journey, but I still found them fascinating; I had not been exposed to a lot of wildlife, and since I had failed to defeat Url, I was very interested in the local animals. Without an Exemplar, I was at a hard bottle-neck for the first time since my rebirth. ¡°They are generally ambush predators, which is why they have not bothered us before. Too risky.¡± ¡°And the squirrel? Mirror squirrel?¡± ¡°They¡¯re called Travellers, though I don¡¯t know why. They don¡¯t teleport; like the mirror cat, it¡¯s speculated that they shift their images, but it¡¯s impossible to confirm as nobody has ever caught one.¡± ¡°Nobody? You have people running around at multiples of the speed of sound and nobody has ever caught one?¡± ¡°Perhaps a Pinnacle could catch one, and it is almost certain an Apex could, but to the best of my knowledge none have ever bothered to try.¡± ¡°... I guess they probably have other things to do.¡± Darina did not respond to me, but as we travelled, I pointed out a number of other creatures to ask about, and the apprentice would explain what she knew of them, though her explanations often came with a roll of the eye or a sigh. One snake I was particularly interested in seemed to walk on threads of electricity, manipulating them like solid limbs; it was actually a little freaky to watch it move, as it seemed able to extend bolts in any direction and use that as leverage and the movements reminded me a little of a spider. Shuddering a little at the thought of all these things being around me for days on end without me knowing, I trudged on alongside my friends, trying to get to the Elder before being forced to consume another hellish mango. * *** * Just under an hour after we entered the burning circle, we emerged into a clearing with a rock outcropping at its centre; around the edge of the clearing, and perched at various places on the rock, I saw birds. They looked like a cross between peacocks and hawks, in shades of gold, red and yellow and each seemed to be about four feet tall. From atop the spire sprouted the dense flaming cyclone, and within it I could just make out a form sat cross legged. Coming to a stop, the four of us gazed up at the figure we had come so far to see, unsure of how to proceed. I turned to look at my more diplomatically inclined friends, eyebrows raised. Reff and Riffa both offered me a shrug, while even Darina looked hesitant. Unwilling to simply wait, I turned back to the spire and spoke, though I will admit that I was more than a little unsure of myself. ¡°Uh, hi, uh, Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing. Should I just leave the ¨C that is your egg here?¡± As I finished speaking, the tower of fire guttered and died and there was a snap in the air; the Elder appeared before me with a delayed gust of wind and I got my first real look at them: They stood at about six-feet, with long flowing gold and crimson hair and eyes like solid yellow topaz and a slight frame which was covered in flowing robes the ever-changing colour of sunset. Their face was beautiful and delicate, though somehow not feminine. ¡°You will not place my egg upon the dirt.¡± The Elder¡¯s voice was high and melodious, though there was a definite firmness in the sharp way they bit the words off. ¡°Sorry, bad idea...¡± Reaching a filament of Praxis into my storage ring, I pulled out the egg so that Flame Ever Dancing could see it was fine, and held it out carefully, conscious that I had only a single hand with which to secure it. As I offered the egg, I felt a small movement inside it and experienced a moment of panic before I shifted my hand to compensate; I did not think the Elder would be happy if I had dropped it then... At that same moment as I once more felt the movement from within, the firm expression of the phoenix before me changed, shifting rapidly from haughty to panic, shock, anger and finally settling on glee. ¡°It is near to hatching! Give it here!¡± Wordlessly, I handed over the object I had been through so much to retrieve and return; it felt weird to be willingly giving it up, but the overriding happiness on the Elder¡¯s face more than reassured me.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Stroking the egg lovingly with one long fingered ¨C and long-nailed ¨C hand, they looked up and met my eyes before speaking. ¡°I sense damage was done to it, but it was healed. Which were you responsible for, human?¡± I felt cold sweat breaking out over my skin as I stared into those strange, alien eyes; their voice was cold with promise and I hoped once more that they shared Walker¡¯s ability to sense truth. ¡°I... don¡¯t really know? The people I took it back from were using it to produce some sort of plague, using the regenerative abilities to prevent a cure. But it seemed to suck that back up as it drew near the victims.¡± The heat around us once more grew in intensity until we could feel it even through the effects of the Blazing Mango, and I saw a wisp of smoke rise up from the ragged end of my sleeve before it once more cooled down, the gaze of Flame Ever Dancing still locked on my own. ¡°You speak the truth; I will find those who stole my child and used it so, wherever they may be, and wipe them from creation.¡± ¡°Actually, the guy I took it back from was here, in the Sha Forest only a few days ago. Rainmaker tried to catch him, but he has the ability to... pass between worlds, and used it to escape.¡± ¡°Rainmaker, that idiot monkey... at least he was not responsible, as I thought. I thought I smelled the monkeys on you; I nearly destroyed you, and would have done if they had been any thicker on you, stuck in that thought process as I was.¡± I blinked, wondering whether not defeating Url had been lucky after all; I did not know how their extended senses worked, but I was suddenly glad I did not have a beacon for trouble inside me... ¡°It is hard to believe that a mortal would dare to steal my child, but an Apex... perhaps it is time I remind you ephemeral fools what anger is to a being that cannot die.¡± My eyes opened wide, recalling both the words of Walker and Ro and of my quest; I did not want to be responsible for this bird-shaped-nuke going off. I held up my hands and spoke hurriedly, even as I felt my friend shift nervously around me. ¡°No-no-no-no-no-no! It wasn¡¯t an Apex, it was... something else. He doesn''t move between worlds like an Apex, he does it another way, we don¡¯t know how. The Apexes are gathering to discuss it as we speak, and they¡¯re going to take care of it! We¡¯re totally going to eradicate them, I¡¯m pretty sure.¡± ¡°With deep respect, my companion speaks the truth, Honoured Elder; we have encountered the man twice now, and he is involved with an organisation called The Risen Throne. They have broken the laws of several nations, including my own. My Brother ¨C The Apex of the Mountain¡¯s Seed ¨C fully intended for there to be a reckoning.¡± ¡°... If a gathering is called, to ¡®discuss¡¯ this group¡¯s annihilation, perhaps I should attend. Though, it offends me that they merely discuss it. My inclination is to set an example. Your Apexes may hold me back for a time, but I am eternal, should I so wish it, I could extinguish all life upon this world... though it would take some time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m totally sure you would be welcome to attend ¨C I''m sure it¡¯s more a matter of coordinating efforts than it is a question of whether to act. Maybe there could also be consequences to somebody with the ability to move between worlds like that too? I¡¯m sure those are the reasons, and then they¡¯re all over it.¡± ¡°You speak strangely, are you from this world? I smell death upon your soul, and yet you have not been washed clean within the River of Souls... Are we perhaps related?¡± ¡°Uhh, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re related? It was a total fluke, I¡¯m pretty sure I wouldn¡¯t get the same opportunity again. Sorry.¡± I could feel Darina¡¯s eyes on me, but I steadfastly kept my eyes glued to the phoenix; it was not just fear of the Elder, I also did not want to give the tenacious little apprentice any more ammunition before I had a chance to discuss it with my mentor. ¡°Hmm, strange. I suppose it is of little consequence. My beautiful child will hatch within the next month or so; I will attend your... discussion then. You may go.¡± The Elder started to turn, clearly having dismissed us from their mind, however they turned back as Darina spoke up, a look of irritation on their delicate features. ¡°Your Parson, Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing, might I ask how your egg was stolen? It does not seem possible that a thief of such ability exists.¡± The phoenix did not seem happy about the question, the irritation growing on their face, close to anger, though not quite. ¡°I do not know; I awoke to find it absent. As you say, it should not be possible for a thief to sneak up upon me, within my Domain, but perhaps this has something to do with your friend, the strange World Walker?¡± ¡°Not our friend, Honoured Elder. Just saying.¡± Darina gave me a dirty look as I interrupted, but she quickly returned her attention to the humanoid-bird before us. ¡°The man we fought had the ability to cloud Elder Rainmaker¡¯s senses-¡± ¡°And an Apex¡¯s!¡± ¡°- However, he could sense that disruption. I do not think he would be able to accomplish this, though if he is capable of impossibilities, perhaps others are. My point, Honoured Elder, is what is to prevent the same thief from striking again? Even you, Honoured Elder, must sleep.¡± ¡°Hmpf. My brethren here are to keep watch; this will be the first child to be born to us in a thousand years and we will not risk another such theft. They may evade my senses, but they shall not avoid us all.¡± ¡°In hesitant addition, the group responsible seem to possess a number of individuals capable of becoming invisible; if they can hide from your senses, and from the sight of your brethren, there may still be a risk. Perhaps, we should stay; Hunter here appears able to sense their approach.¡± I flashed Riffa a look as she finished talking, wishing she had at least asked before volunteering me, but I could not really blame here. I did not think the Elder would restrain themselves further if their child was taken again. ¡°We do not rely on visible light, girl. We focus on heat.¡± ¡°What about cold-blooded things? Are there cold-blooded sentients?¡± I addressed the last to my friends, my voice hesitant. I did not want to point out weaknesses in their defences, as they seemed kind of proud, but I wanted to take every precaution possible. ¡°With mostly firm knowledge, I am not aware of any cold-blooded sentient race in the world, though I cannot rule out an ability that allows a person to hide their heat. Though a person able to hide from standard sight, the phoenix''s heat sight and the Elder¡¯s perception seems unlikely.¡± ¡°Your overly large friend is correct; such an individual would be... rare. I... thank... you for your concern, however. It pleases me that you show such deference to your betters.¡± I thought their arrogance was probably going to get the better of them, but there was not much we could do if they insisted that they would be alright. ¡°Well... if you¡¯re sure. I don¡¯t suppose you could... turn the fire off? We¡¯re only fine because we ate Blazing Mangos, and that wasn¡¯t fun. We¡¯d really appreciate not having to eat more, your Elderness.¡± ¡°I think not, at least before my egg hatches. I will exclude you from its effects, however, as I have done the local wildlife. There is little to be gained from killing the weak, when not hungry.¡± I offered a small bow in thanks, glad that the phoenix was not hungry at that time. Rainmaker had seem to take great pleasure in fruit, but looking at the phoenixes around us, they seemed far more likely to enjoy meat... ¡°You have our deepest thanks, Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing.¡± Darina offered another deep bow, but the androgynous demigod had already turned away, still stroking the egg and making soft cooing sounds. The four of us shared a glance, and given that we had clearly been dismissed, we took our leave, backing out of the clearing under the piercing gaze of the golden birds of prey around its edges. We were silent as we walked; for my own part, I wanted to be out of the Elder¡¯s territory before I voiced my thoughts, but I wanted to stay close. My quest was showing about thirty-one days left on the timer; much like my first, it did not look like Xiournal was going to consider it a done-deal until the opportunity for the bonus to trigger expired. And that matched up pretty well with when the egg would hatch. Gazing at the smoky screen hanging stationary in my vision, I had a bad feeling... Fates Warning ¡°I think we should stay close by.¡± We had left the territory of Flame Ever Dancing and the Blazing Mangos had long since worn off; we stood a short distance away, and despite our exclusion form the effects of the fire, it was still uncomfortably warm this close to the boundary. Still, the drop in humidity was a trade I was glad to make. ¡°With instinctual abhorrence, why would you wish to stay here longer than you must, Hunter? This place is horrible. No offense meant, Darina.¡± Riffa¡¯s voice was incredulous, and I had to admit that I did not really want to spend a great deal more time in such a hot, wet place in which apparently ninety percent of the wildlife was waiting to eat me; but the fact that the egg had been stolen once kept nagging at me, and my bad feeling was being irritatingly persistent. ¡°None taken, Riffa. The Sha Forest is my home, but having experiences more of the world, I must admit that there are more... comfortable places to be.¡± Darina¡¯s response was an actual shock; I had been expecting her to defend the place as some sort of trial to winnow out the weak, but instead she had shown a little weakness. She had grown a lot as a person in the last couple of weeks and a part of me wondered if that was part of the reason her master had sent her with us. ¡°In casual dismissal, this place is not a bad one, though it would perhaps be more pleasant without the biting insects.¡± ¡°Reff, you can just decide not to be hot; that¡¯s totally a cheat. Can¡¯t you, I don¡¯t know, re-direct the heat away from us? Please?¡± My giant friend looked down at me without responding, his huge garnet-on-black eyes blinking down at me slowly. ¡°With renewed reflection, I may indeed be able to, Hunter.¡± ¡°What?! Why are we been sweating our asses off if you¡¯re a walking air-con unit?!¡± ¡°In both clarification and confusion, the integration of my Exemplar appears to have advanced; I could not have done so previously. I may be able to complete my Path and enter the Foundation stage within the next few days. In regards to your various asses, they do seem to still be attached; is this a reference to some strange condition from your homeland?¡± ¡°And what the Void is ¡®air-con¡¯? You speak too many languages; I can never tell if you¡¯re being an idiot or not.¡± ¡°In helpful interjection, you do seem to err on the side of idiot, however, Darina.¡± ¡°Okay, guys, time-out ¨C stop. Leaving aside my totally relevant idioms and references, if you could turn the heat down, Reff, I¡¯m sure the three of us would be really appreciative. Also, congratulations, Big Guy, that¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°In modest thanks, I will attempt to cool the area around us. Please stay close.¡± Both his sister and the short apprentice looked impressed that Reff was so close to achieving the next stage of cultivation, though it occurred to me that I did not actually know his age. I knew that his brother is centuries old. I resolved to ask, at a more appropriate time; at that point, I was actually way more excited to be cool again, and it looked like the other members of my group shared the sentiment, as we all stepped in closer to my friend¡¯s huge form. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the temperature began to drop steadily, until I felt goosebumps break out across my skin, and I was starting to think he would go too far when it seemed to level off. Now gloriously cool, I groaned in pleasure, even as I saw mist forming around us. It was a strange sight, like a small bubble of fog that cut off sharply a few feet from us. ¡°Reff, you¡¯re amazing. If you ever want a career, I¡¯m sure you could make a fortune giving tours of hot places.¡± ¡°With thanks repeated, I appreciate the compliment, Hunter, though this is as cold as I can make it; there are places in the world where this would not be adequate to protect a group from the environment, much as it would do little to combat the Elder¡¯s flames.¡± ¡°With luxuriant thanks, this is perfectly fine, brother. Much closer to home.¡± ¡°Now that we¡¯re all cool and collected, I want to put staying here back on the table.¡± ¡°Why do you think we should stay, Hunter? What can we do that the Elder cannot?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Darina. I just have a bad feeling. If the egg is stolen again, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s going to be a second chance to give it back.¡± ¡°With firm self-awareness, we are a strong group, Hunter, but Darina is correct; what can we do that the Elder cannot?¡± ¡°Flame Ever Dancing said they see heat, right? What if they have somebody like you, who can change the way heat behaves? The Shadow-Faced-Guy seems to interfere with Apex-level senses, if you combine those two things, it¡¯s not impossible, right? Isn¡¯t it worth the time, to make the effort?¡± ¡°In reluctant agreement, while I agree with my brother and Darina, as you say, it costs us little but time, and should it prove that the egg is stolen once more and we did not make such an effort, I feel that we would all regret it. If you wish to stay, Hunter, I say we should.¡± ¡°I do not think there is anything we can add against such a force, but if you are staying, I will stay. Somebody has to keep Hunter¡¯s head attached to his neck, he already lost an arm...¡± ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t lose it, it was stolen.¡± Darina dismissed my objection with a wave of her hand, and I snorted before looking to Reff for his vote. ¡°With patient consideration, I will stay. We have fought this group before, and although they have members which outmatch us, we have ended many of their number. Fate seems to walk beside you, Hunter; perhaps we will get lucky.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°There¡¯s a saying where I¡¯m from, ¡®It¡¯s better to be lucky than good.¡¯. There¡¯s some truth in it, but if we can, I think we should aim to be both lucky and good. What do we know about our enemies? Obviously, the inferno is massive, and we can¡¯t just rely on luck to be in the right place at the right time.¡± ¡°They¡¯re unlikely to come from the thundering ape¡¯s territory; they may be able to cloud Rainmaker¡¯s senses, but that seems to irritate him enough to go looking for them... which unfortunately leaves most directions open, as it seems the man who took your arm is able to move between worlds.¡± ¡°With calculated consideration, are there any other Elders in the Sha Forest, Darina? They are unlikely to wish to travel through one, if it can be avoided.¡± Reff was rubbing at his chin with the side of a finger, his gaze flicking between the apprentice and the direction from which we had come. ¡°There are no others nearby, unless a beast has Awakened since I last left.¡± ¡°How about environmental or geographical barriers? There are no, like, stretches of jungle infested with some strange creature that preys upon assholes, are there?¡± ¡°The forest to the East is home to a type of spider that kills its prey using monofilament web strands; the webs themselves are almost impossible to see, especially moving at speed or at night. It is unlikely they would choose that approach after visiting it... should they survive the shredding.¡± ¡°Horrifying. Ok, so South and probably East are probably out. North and West?¡± ¡°In thoughtful addition, there is also the air and ground, depending on their talents.¡± ¡°In reluctant confirmation, my sister is correct. There is also the possibility that the... Shadow Faced Guy... is able to open a door directly to the egg.¡± ¡°Shit, this is a mess. How do people even defend themselves? What¡¯re the point of walls?!¡± ¡°The majority of beasts, and cultivators, are not aerial or subterranean, so walls still serve a purpose. For most the part, specialised cultivators, and beasts, are countered by either other specialised cultivators or other specific defences. We do not have access to those, unfortunately.¡± ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s assume Shadow Faced Guy can¡¯t just open a door and grab the egg; if he could, I think we would have been attacked earlier, with no need for the mooks. When Walker retrieved me from the other world, he needed his dagger to be in the open, so he could lock on to it. Even if the exact methods are different, there¡¯s still a lot of distance between worlds and I have to think he needs something to tell him where to go, to get any degree of precision.¡± ¡°In hesitant agreement, that seems logical, Hunter. While it does rely on a number of assumptions, the fact that we were not attacked in such a fashion lends the theory validity.¡± Reff did not seem entirely convinced; if his expression had not told me that he had reservations, adding ¡®hesitant¡¯ to the start of his sentence certainly would have. ¡°Good: That leaves four directions. Let¡¯s also rule out the ground and sky as well; so far, they haven¡¯t had anyone who can be both invisible and travel on anything by the ground. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s impossible, it seems like pretty much anything goes in cultivation, but again, attacking us from above or below would have significantly increased their chances of retrieving the egg.¡± ¡°In tenuous agreement, I can accept that logic, though perhaps they did not feel the need to risk such resources against us.¡± Riffa, whose idea those approaches had been in the first place did not seem convinced either, it really was a very convenient manner of speech they had. She was also right; there was the possibility that they just did not think it was warranted to send more than mooks after us, at least at first. ¡°We know that the ¨C I refuse to call him the ¡®Shadow Faced Guy¡¯, we need a better name.¡± Darina looked me with irritation; her refusal to use my perfectly accurate name for the man who had stolen my arm was not particularly surprising, given how much dignity she tried to act with, so I offered another alternative I had been mulling over. ¡°Chainy McShadeface?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°How about we call him Charming?¡± ¡°Why would we call him Charming, when he is so clearly both insane and violent?¡± ¡°... Because I found him to be quite... dis-arm-ing... I¡¯ll show myself out.¡± ¡°Out of where? Why do you insist on speaking nonsense? You make it very difficult not to insult you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing great... in comparison...¡± ¡°Perhaps I should go ba-¡± ¡°With hurried interjection, perhaps we should simply call him, ¡®Shade¡¯, until we come into possession of more knowledge?¡± I turned my widening grin away from the short apprentice before she had chance to boil over, and instead turned my body to face my large friend fully. ¡°You¡¯re right, Reff. It¡¯s as good a name as any; while it¡¯s not as descriptive as Shadow Faced Guy, it¡¯s definitely shorter and easier to shout in an emergency.¡± ¡°Fine. We know that ¡®¡¯Shade¡¯s¡¯¡¯ abilities do not seem to lend themselves to either flight or tunnelling, but as he is the only person we are aware of who is able to cloud the Elder¡¯s senses, we must assume that he will be with any potential thieves. To successfully steal the egg from under the Elder¡¯s nose, they would need Shade, somebody to hide their heat and somebody to make them invisible. The latter two would need to be capable of doing so for multiple people. To either fly or tunnel in, they would need to be able to do so over a large area, and it would require a person or people capable of transporting multiple people as well. It does seem too convenient for all of this to come together.¡± ¡°Darina is right, that does seem like it would be pretty convenient. So, we rule out flight and tunnelling ¨C especially since there¡¯s nothing we can do about those anyway. That still leaves North and West.¡± The four of us were silent for a time after that, all clearly lost in thought as we tried to imagine the various methods of approach; cultivation added a lot of uncertainty, but if you ruled out what you could deal with and what seemed overly convoluted, you could narrow it down to a number of approaches, accomplishable in variety of ways. You just had to hope that your imagination did not fail you. After a few minutes of consideration, Darina spoke up once again, her red-jade eyes looking North as she absently ran a hand through her short blonde hair. ¡°To the North there are a lot of farmers; I would not normally consider them any kind of barrier, as their cultivation is based on the growth of plants, however recently I believe that they have managed to breed a new variety of orchid which with heightened properties, increasing the potency of healing pills. They have likely garnered the protection of the Alchemy Association. While I do not know the strength such protection entails, specifically, they are a powerful force, and the Risen Throne may wish to avoid their attention when attempting to steal from an Elder.¡± ¡°Nice - avoiding the attention of an unknown contingent of cultivators would further complicate their preparations, even more than flying. And even if the guards couldn¡¯t actually stop them, they could raise enough of a fuss to give Flame Ever Dancing warning, at least. So, West?¡± ¡°In predominant agreement, while I feel like we are making too many assumptions, I also believe we have little choice. Still, this leaves us with a number of miles to cover.¡± ¡°With affectionate impartation, sometimes all we can do is try, sister. A thing may not always be easy, or possible, but we grow in the attempt. Come, we shall head West, around the perimeter of the flames and see if we can spot a likely approach.¡± Reff smiled down at his little sister, who was rolling her eyes at his wisdom and I shook my head, grin still held on my face; I was very glad I had met them. I had not had any siblings growing up, but I liked to imagine that if I had, they would have been like the risi siblings. Knowing my luck, back on Earth however, I thought it more likely they would have been like Darina when we first met. Shuddering at the thought of growing up with a bitter Darina clone, I wiped the smile off my face turned West to go looking for a fight. Shadows of the Valley It took us the rest of the day to navigate around the periphery of the phoenix Elder¡¯s inferno; we travelled in much higher spirits, given our freshly minted walking air-conditioning unit. I was doubly happy because I knew we were walking in the opposite direction of the horrifying domain of the razor spiders Darina had talked about; spiders were bad enough on their own, without giving them almost invisible, super-sharp blade-webbing. As we travelled east along the valley floor and further into the mountain''s shadow the mist began to thicken around us once again, made all the denser by our roving pocket of cold air. It was approaching nightfall when we came upon another river, flowing North and away from the mountain. It ran wide, deep and fast, the water churned white as it crashed over and amidst rocks; the irritating giant mosquitos flew thick about above the rolling surface, the drone of thousands of wings clearly audible above the sound of the breaking water. ¡°Okay, so this seems like a barrier that could¡¯ve factored into our plans. Also, gross.¡± I glanced down at Darina to find her already glaring at me. ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t say anything about you.¡± ¡°I am aware that compared to you I probably seem like I know everything, Hunter, but believe it or not I am not a living map.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything!¡± ¡°In absentminded correction, I believe criticism was implied by your comment, Hunter.¡± I turned to face Riffa, mouth open and my hand held to my chest in faux shock. ¡°Et tu, Riffa...? Okay, fine. Sorry for making assumptions about your competence, Darina.¡± I grinned at her outraged face as she kicked at me, but she was not really trying and I dodged it with relative ease; it helped that we were at the same physical level now, roughly. I even imagined that in a real fight I would have the edge, at least when it came to dodging; I was not sure I could pile on enough damage yet to take her out, but it would definitely be a far more even fight than our first. ¡°With tactical consideration, river appears to vary in width, with it growing wider as it flows away from the mountain. Even so, it appears to be at least two-thousand feet wide at this point. A person would need to be well into the Foundation stage in order to leap it, which rules out the majority of individuals. Any below that level would need to cross by more mundane means, provided they do not have an ability to control water.¡± I looked at the vast expanse of fast-moving water and considered Reff¡¯s words; I still found it astonishing that anybody could actually leap over a thousand feet of water. ¡°If we ruled out people with the ability to travel via ground and sky, I think we should rule out water. So, should we be on the lookout for boats?¡± ¡°In contradiction, I doubt they would send anybody below the Foundation stage, Hunter. To face us, of course, as we have seen; but to steal from an Elder? I think a completed Path is the minimum for a person to possess the combination of abilities necessary, assuming that such a specialized person exists.¡± ¡°Riffa is right. Shade seemed to be at the Foundation stage, at minimum, as did his companion. We should assume at least Shade¡¯s presence.¡± I rubbed at my face before running my fingers through my beard; it had not actually struck me until that moment that we had been discussing the fact that The Shadow Faced Guy would be present, and even if Reff completed his Path, we probably were no match for him, never mind any companions he brought. ¡°Crap, you¡¯re right. How... how do we win if he¡¯s there?¡± There was no immediate answer, as we all stood looking over the river, our expressions pensive. As the seconds began to stretch into minutes, an idea occurred to me that renewed my hope, at least partially. ¡°Wait, Rainmaker knew his senses were being blocked, and he honed in on it; how, if he couldn¡¯t sense Shade? He had to find the edges and extrapolate, right?¡± ¡°In expectant confirmation, that logic follows, Hunter, but how does that benefit us?¡± I touched a finger to my nose and winked at my big friend, which only seemed to confuse him, but that only made me grin. ¡°So, the same has to be said for Flame Ever Dancing, right? They¡¯ll know their senses are being blocked, and suspecting the heist, will go looking for them, right?¡± ¡°Hunter, stop drawing it out and explain.¡± ¡°Fine; Shade probably won¡¯t be with whoever is doing the actual thieving, because Flame Ever Dancing will be looking for him. He¡¯ll probably be as far away as possible, to draw attention away from the thief!¡± Reff and Riffa both wore expressions that said they were a little impressed with my reasoning, and even the apprentice looked a little shocked at my lack of idiocy. ¡°With mild excitation, I believe you may be correct, Hunter.¡± ¡°Easy, Reff ¨C you need to calm down.¡± ¡°With polite contrition, you are correct. I apologise.¡± ¡°... Reff, I was joking; you¡¯re fine. Now, do we... I dunno, look for the best landing site?¡± ¡°With pointed consideration, while point of contact can be improved by the jumper, it is much more difficult to affect your landing point when making such a leap; the ground here is relatively soft, they will likely need a firm place to land.¡± I pictured somebody slamming into the moist earth with the kind of force necessary to leap that distance and sinking in past their head and almost had to laugh at the almost cartoonish image. ¡°Good point, Riffa ¨C important safety tip. Shall we go look for a rocky area?¡± The siblings and Darina all nodded and we began to walk downriver, looking for the most likely landing points for our would-be thief. As we walked, I looked down at the water, thinking about all the creepy, dangerous things that inhabited the rivers of the various rainforests back on Earth, and shuddered at what probably lay waiting under there...This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. * *** * As it turned out we did not have to go far; a couple of miles downriver we found a huge spur of moss-covered rock jutting from the wet earth and out over the river. The stone outcropping was only thirty or so feet high and extended a similar length above the flowing water; the water itself was much calmer here than it had been further upstream, and the river slightly narrower. I imagined the ground was rockier and less prone to erosion, given the smaller rocks gathered about the large one like a gaggle of baby geese. In the shade of the stone itself, the buzz of insects was even more intense, gathered as they were in a thick cloud. and I could swear that I saw more than one of the unnaturally large little bastards eyeing us hungrily; I was about to Focus and try my hand at bug-zapping when there was a flicker of neon purple-pink light and where the swarm had been, the open air now gaped, hollow and empty. ¡°What the shit was that?!¡± I looked down at Darina for an explanation, but she was crouched slightly, gazing about us with narrowed eyes. ¡°Instant frog; look out for anything glowing. They don¡¯t usually attack anything our size, but they¡¯re territorial.¡± ¡°Instant frog? What, like, ¡®just add water¡¯?¡± ¡°Less nonsense more watching, Hunter.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the big deal?¡± Reff and Riffa were staring around us, not as intently as the apprentice, but they were definitely paying attention. ¡°In vague explanation, I have heard something of these creatures, Hunter. They are giant frogs and are never seen to move; the tales I have heard told say that they strike too fast to see, and many times more powerfully than should be possible.¡± ¡°Why are the beasts around here so scary? There was nothing like this in the Everwood.¡± ¡°In careful correction, you are mistaken; they merely ¨C and wisely ¨C chose not to bother an Apex.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. That. So, what do we do?¡± ¡°Find the Void borne frog and then we go in the opposite direction.¡± ¡°Really, it¡¯s that strong? We can¡¯t fight it? Wait, if it¡¯s that strong, maybe it¡¯ll take out the thieves, if they come this way.¡± ¡°I doubt it would bother anybody moving through its territory that quickly. And whether it can fight such a foe would depend on its level of growth.¡± ¡°Well, that makes sense, but doesn¡¯t the same hold true for us? Are they like the thundering apes, born at the equivalent of Core stage? And even so, there are four of us, and Reff is closing in on Foundation. Shouldn¡¯t we try, if we want to set up and ambush here?¡± ¡°Generally, when trying to fight an instant frog, you either win or die. You cannot run away from a thing that simply appears ahead of you.¡± ¡°I thought teleportation was impossible? And if you can¡¯t run away, how are we going to just leave?¡± ¡°Shut up find the thing!¡± Grumbling to myself I gazed around us, peering into the trees and underbrush looking for any sign of a a giant frog, but finding nothing. After a minute or so of fruitless searching, I saw my friends begin to relax and I ceased my search. ¡°It seems to have moved-¡± As Darina spoke, presumably to say the frog was gone, my Instinctive Precognition screamed through me, though the only response it provided was to Focus. Lightning flared about me in thick, snapping tendrils and the sharp, sour smell of ozone cut through the earthy smells of the jungle as time slowed around me. Only a fraction of a second passed after my ability triggered, and even with time slowed as it was, it was far too little time for me to move. I felt a strange, vibrating blow impact my left shoulder and I was sent catapulting between my friends to smash crash through the thick vegetation around us. As I flew through the air, I pushed tiny tendrils of praxis out of my body to gain purchase on the slick ground and used the leverage it afforded me to come to my feet, even as I slid backwards like I was doing some weird version of the moonwalk. I glanced back the way I had come to see my friends being scattered amidst the trees themselves, the attack having come too fast for any of them to react. Even Reff, who was the furthest along of any of us had not had chance to don his armour. Electricity still arcing around me, I surged back to where we had been gathered, glancing around to find the source of the attack. Knowing the attack had come from behind me, I focused in that direction as I came to a stop where I had been, pushing Praxis through my Focus harder and feeling my perception of the world around me accelerate further. Ahead of me, partially hidden between two rocks was the frog; it was about four feet tall a sat crouched, its skin and eyes a deep, light absorbing black that almost made it seem two-dimensional, if it was not for the vivid, neon purple-pink patterns flowing across its pebbly skin. We stared at each over for a moment before the glowing patterns flowed across its face, lending it definition and revealing an angry glare from the giant amphibian. I tensed to make a dash at the apparently angry psychedelic frog, but even as I began to bend my knees, it vanished. Now, when I say vanished, I do not want you to get the wrong idea; I do not mean it was fast, there was no whump of displaced air, no snap or bang as it broke the sound barrier. There was no blur; one moment it sat glaring at me, and the next it was to my left, still glaring, but from somewhere else. I just about had time to register that it had crouched slightly, as if absorbing momentum before I was once more sent flying though the air by another strangely vibrating blow to my chest. With a groan, I pushed harder on my Focus, hoping to catch some glimpse of movement; I was now pushing as hard as I ever had while maintaining control and the world seemed to crawl around me, even as I shot through it. My new perspective gave me plenty of time to watch a large tree pass within inches of my head and winced before reaching down to once more grasp the ground with my remaining hand, allowing me to divert my momentum and come to my feet. By then I could hear my friends crashing through the jungle, and with lightning surging through me in a torrent, I ran back to help. I arrived back again for the second time to see the frog vanish as Reff delivered a kick to space it had occupied. Sped up as I was, I noticed a fractional bunching of the beast¡¯s legs just before it disappeared, and the same absorption of momentum when it re-appeared. The thing was moving, but it was like it was skipping the actual journey. As it landed, a furious Darina jumped out of the trees with an attenuated yell, looking for all the world like she was going to headbutt it. I was well used to Darina¡¯s ¡®head first¡¯ fighting style, but had thought some of the fights on our journey, as well as all the practice had mostly convinced her it was often a bad idea. It turned out that it was actually the jumping that was a bad idea in that instance, however, as the frog glanced up at her mid-yell and she was sent rocketing into the air. I did not worry too much, while such an occurrence might be dangerous for many ¨C like my near miss with the tree ¨C Darina was pretty much certain to survive. It did provide me some benefit; as my friend was blasting off again, I noticed a slight clenching of the beast¡¯s jaw, and I realised that this thing was hitting us with its tongue. Somehow, this creature was not fast, or rather it was not just fast; something was at play here that was either allowing it to mess with cause and effect, or with space and time. And all at once, I wanted it. As it was, I was fast for my level; my body was naturally faster, my Focus leant me speed, my extended channels gave me an edge and my Instinctive Precognition allowed me to react to things that nobody at my level should be able to, but if could add whatever this thing¡¯s power was on top of all that, I would be punching way above my weight. With a savage grin on my face, I dashed in watching for the tell-tale signs of incipient action, even as Reff spun to attack once more. As I closed in, the neon patterns once more flowed across the frog¡¯s face and I saw its eyes turn to look at my molten friend, and then to meet my own once more, even as its leg muscles twitched and it vanished. This time, I was ready. You can tell a lot about a person¡¯s intent by how they move, though a seasoned fighter will try to minimise those signs as they grow more skilled. But it is ¨C almost - impossible to eliminate them entirely, it is just a matter of mechanics, and at the end of the day, this was a frog, not a seasoned fighter. As its muscles started to twitch ¨C a sign I could only see in my heightened state ¨C I guessed in which direction it was going and turned as it appeared there. In the split-second our gazes met once more, I pushed as hard as I could at the Praxis flowing through me and electricity sprung out of me like a dam had broken, in great torrents of violet-white light and this time, as I felt a blow land, it was hard but not hard enough to send me flying. This time, the tongue froze as screaming arcs of power shot through it and into the frog, even as my control slipped and I fell smoking to the earth. Powerslave Since my return from the Sigil world, I had made great strides in my progression, in terms of skill and power. I had fought creatures out of nightmares, and people out of nightmares ¨C my own, not in the least. And in all that time, amidst successes and failures as I wrung as much from my second life as I could, I had somehow forgotten how much electrocuting myself fucking hurt. ¡°Owww. W-w-why di-di-diiid I everrrthi-think thi-iss w-w-was a g-good idea...?¡± My voice came out weak and quavering as my body quivered in shock at the power that had so recently blasted through me. It hurt ¨C a lot. ¡°With reluctant curiosity, why did you do this to yourself, Hunter? While effective, it does not seem... optimal.¡± I opened my right eye ¨C my left eyelid was still twitching ¨C and looked up at Reff as he bent over me, confusion writ across his face. ¡°...C-c-cun-n-n-ning plan.¡± ¡°Idiot plan is more like it. At least the frog is dead, or it¡¯s alive. Can I borrow a sword? Faster than punching it to death.¡± Hearing the apprentice¡¯s plan, I quickly I went to sit up, and while it hurt and my muscles really did not want to cooperate, I managed it with barely a handful of expletives and groans. ¡°N-no! I want it for my Exemplar... help me up?¡± I just about managed to get control of my voice again, though my continue continued to spasm and my skin felt raw and sunburned. ¡°With cautious hesitation, I do not think that is a good idea, Hunter. You seem to have injured yourself quite severely.¡± I glanced behind Reff to see his sister limping out of the jungle, flanked by half a dozen sand puppets; I had not seen her during the fight, but it looked like she had been injured, and I was not sure how effective her specific abilities would have proven, vulnerable as they were to increased speed. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time. I just... lost control. Having lightning flow through you is useful, but really hurts when it goes haywire.¡± I heard Darina snort as Reff reluctantly helped me stand and I almost stuck my tongue out at her; I was a little sensitive about my choice of Focus ¨C sure, it was great when it worked, but I was the only person I had met that could fry themselves with their own ability. Special is the word. Glancing around, I saw blackened patches and lines around the area in which we had fought and I winced a little, realising that my lightning might have collateral damage at that level of output when not in a freakish, energy eating and cannibal infested forest. Reflecting on the damage, I was glad that neither Darina nor Riffa had been near ¨C and that Reff was wearing such a great insulator at the time. Now on my feet and leaning on Reff¡¯s leg ¨C which was honestly kind of awkward ¨C I began limp my way over to the unconscious frog; it felt like sitting on an adult¡¯s foot as a small child, or like having a walking stick the size of a small tree, my giant friend walked with me, though his steps were considerably smaller than my own. After a couple of seconds of painful travel, I stood over our defeated foe. As I stood looking down at the black and neon purple frog, I watched as its legs twitched and my heart lurched a little at the thought of it waking up; not knowing how long I would have before it recovered, I lowered myself to the ground as gently as I could. There may have been swearing involved. As I sat on the wet ground, Darina crouched low, looking me in the eye with what looked like concern. The tiny apprentice might still come off as abrasive at times, but I knew it was all in good fun, now. And I knew she valued the rest of us as friends. ¡°Are you ready to do this, Hunter? I have worked on those struck by lightning, and while you may be afforded some protection, as it is your own lightning, the internal damage may still be extensive.¡± ¡°... What doesn¡¯t kill me makes me... well, not stronger; I''m not a saiyan... but I¡¯ll recover.¡± ¡°A saiyan? I have never heard of these creatures. You say they grow stronger when injured? That seems like a useful power, especially for you, given how often you are injured. Perhaps you should leave the frog and search of one of these saiyans?¡± I chuckled and shook my head, hoping there were not actually any saiyans about; I wouldn¡¯t put it past this world, but I did not think that that would be remotely fair. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll find any, even if we looked. I¡¯ll just have to settle for the teleporting frog, or whatever it actually does.¡± ¡°In helpful correction, teleportation is impossible, Hunter. I believe this frog to be merely fast.¡± I chose not to point out that I had said something about teleporting being impossible earlier, and had been shot down; there were more pressing matters. ¡°It wasn¡¯t just speed, Reff. There was no sound or sensation of displaced air, like it was moving without moving. Does not knowing exactly what it does affect taking it as an Exemplar?¡± ¡°No - the integration can be guided by intent, but it cannot provide an ability it does not have. You could not absorb a dragon and gain the ability to transmute matter.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The risi siblings nodded in agreement with Darina and I rubbed at my bearded chin, looking back and forth between them, hesitating. ¡°Can you think of anything faster than this thing, however it does what it does?¡± ¡°In exhaustive recollection, I can recall no stories of any creature faster than this one appeared to be, however that does not preclude their existence.¡± ¡°The instant frog is probably the most naturally fast thing in the Sha Forest, at least. I hear their patterns expand as they grow stronger, so this one is probably quite young, and even so its speed was overwhelming. The force with which it struck was also disproportionate to its speed.¡± I remembered Darina shooing into the air and had to agree with her ¨C the frog might not hit as hard as a thundering ape but it was certainly no pushover when it came to dishing out slaps. ¡°Well, that¡¯s that then, I guess. Better suck this thing down before it wakes up.¡± Without waiting for my companions to say anything else, I quickly reached out and placed hand flat on the frog¡¯s dark skin. The amphibian felt hot and slick, almost frictionless beneath my palm; I had expected it to be cold, and for a moment it made me hesitate, but I had had enough of hesitation. Lightning strikes do not procrastinate. I reached for my Praxis and was a little surprised when it came reluctantly; blinking, I felt within myself and felt the power being refined faster than I had grown used to, as it were a heart pumping rapidly. It had not yet become accustomed to judging my energy usage, but I guessed I had drained a large chuck of it from my channels with that last blast and my Core was working to refill it. It was interesting, how the process changed between stages, but I knew that I would have time to consider that later; in that moment I had a frog to become one with, and reluctantly or not, when I called, my praxis came. Pushing my praxis out into the Frog, I felt resistance for a moment before the strange emptiness within my second centre flared and the thread snapped within me, only to be reformed near instantly, but this time connected to that void. As the connection reformed, the filament of Praxis pushed past the slick amphibian skin and into the body; it felt strange to say the least to feel my energy flowing into another living creature, but I had little control over the process by that point. The thread of energy was searching for something even as the frog¡¯s body was filling with my Praxis, so I sat frozen over the unconscious frog, a passenger within my own mind. One thing held firm within my mind, and that was my intent ¨C I wanted speed, as much as it could give me. I wanted to move and strike faster than could be defended against; I wanted to multiply my speed, not just add to it. After several seconds, still focused on speed, I felt that tendril of power connect to something with a snap and all at once, I became truly aware of the instant frog; I could feel the aching muscles and burns, and I could feel its core now pulsing in time with my heartbeat, even as the beast¡¯s flesh and bone became saturated with my draining Praxis. I knew the moment when it became an extension of me, when my energy fused with its own and there was a strange sense of duality, as if I occupied two places at once. I was beginning to feel weak by then, my own body becoming starved of energy as I had pumped even more out of me to become one with my chosen Exemplar. After several more seconds, I felt my body empty; I felt fully mortal again, as frail and weak as the day I had first set foot upon this world. But it did not last - could not last ¨C and in that same moment there was a flash of blue-white light and I felt the frog flow into me, now a construct of pure energy. Turning my inner gaze towards my second centre, I watched as that energy construct flowing into the once-gap and stabilised, becoming a frog once more within me, though in a strange flash of lucidity, I did wonder why the frog sat in a lotus pose. My inner eye gazed in wonder at my new Exemplar as lines of energy connected from the walls of my centre to the body of the energy frog, much like those that connected to my Focus. As the conduits snapped into position one by one, I considered how the experience was, while exhausting, far less painful than when I had formed my Focus. And that is why you never tempt fate, because that is when the pain hit. * *** * I woke up ¨C again ¨C and surprisingly I was not in pain. Blinking up at the sky above the wide river, I sat up to find my friends together beside me, talking in low voices until I moved. ¡°You¡¯re awake, good. I healed you while you were sleeping ¨C you''re welcome.¡± I smiled over at Darina and gave her a thumbs-up, to which she rolled her eyes. ¡°Thank you, Darina. Feels much better; the whole electrocuting yourself is super inconvenient. The last time I was that bad, I¡¯m pretty sure I was in shock or something. Climbed a giant tree with a bent axe.¡± The apprentice looked like she was about to make another comment about my nonsense when Reff cut in with a glance between us. ¡°In mediatory interruption, you may feel drained for a few days, Hunter. Your Focus should have changed ¨C has it?¡± ¡°Yeah, I definitely feel drained. Going to need to meditate, experience some Experience... And my Focus changes? I didn¡¯t know that. Let me check...¡± Once more I turned my gaze inwards, first to my second centre where I could see my Exemplar still at in a lotus pose; the frog was a series of glowing outlines, a hollow shape I could see through. I knew my next step was to fill it with Praxis, much as I had filled my Focus with Experience; I hoped it would be a shorter process than forming my Core had been, but it was still far too soon to gauge. Next, I sank lower, to my original centre and to the solid ball of my Core with my Focus set it its middle. When I had first created my Focus, it had been an image of myself, with arcs of blue-white and violet-white arcs of lightning forming out of me, but as my friend had said, it had changed; the arms and legs of Focus ¨C of the image of me were oddly blurred, with their actual location being wherever within the blur I happened to look, almost as if occupying more than one location. I did not know what it meant, but I was eager to find out. ¡°It has changed! I have no idea what it means though. Let¡¯s test it!¡± ¡°You are in no condition to test anything, fool. You need to recover your Praxis... not that your Path will have a great impact on your abilities yet anyway.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re right, I¡¯m on the Path now! Woo-actually, I really hope they don¡¯t attack tonight. That would not be good.¡± ¡°With sudden clarity, you are correct, now is really a bad time to have set foot upon your path, expecting battle as we are...¡± I looked at Riffa as she looked back at me, even as Reff let out a deep, ¡®hmmm¡¯. I had not been thinking clearly, obviously, when I had decided to absorb an Exemplar when we were literally looking for trouble. ¡°I... I¡¯m going to meditate now. We can test tomorrow?¡± ¡°If we are not attacked in the night. It would be unfortunate if we had stayed, only to fail even to attempt our intent.¡± I refused to look at Darina, knowing that she was glaring at me. It is not like any of them mentioned the exhaustion to me, or our situation. Still, I said none of that, knowing it was my mistake at the heart of it all. I offered contrite smiles to my friends before closing my eyes to focus on the events of the last few days, making the Experience a part of me and really, really hoping that tonight was not the night. Still Life I sat cross-legged with my eyes closed, comfortable within Reff¡¯s bubble of cool air as my friends chatted quietly. My mind and spirit were focused on the last day or so, internalising the Experience and making the events a part me. It had been a strange feeling, being empty of power, especially after I had spent so long packing it into my centre ¨C into my Core; it was slightly frustrating that I ¨C theoretically ¨C had all that power tucked away that I was apparently unable to access, but upon consideration I did not think I would like to have to start it again from scratch. With a grin, I kept my breathing even as I felt my Core pulsing in time with my accumulation of Experience, almost humming as it converted my efforts into Praxis. It had occurred to me to begin to push that energy directly into my new Exemplar, but the possibility that we may have to face our thief ¨C or thieves ¨C at any moment had caused me to reject that idea, ultimately. As the person most at home in this environment, Darina had scouted further down the river, looking for more likely spots, but the river apparently curved sharply towards the farms to the North, so the apprentice had turned back; it seemed we had found the most likely spot, and so we had setup just inside the tree-line, a short distance from the rock outcropping. ¡°How are you recovering, Hunter? You should probably figure out what your new abilities are before engaging in a life or death battle, and we may be short on time.¡± I had been quietly cultivating for about six hours at that point and the sun had just set; the noises of the jungle were switching from day to night and I heard the strange undulating cry of something in the distance before it was picked up and echoed back from a dozen directions. I no longer felt empty at that point, but my awareness of my energy channels had never been great and though my sensitivity had improved my leaps and bounds since I had completed my Core, the scope of the energy system carved inside of me made it difficult to obtain an accurate picture. Which is to say that while I no longer felt empty, it still only felt like a trickle. ¡°Hey, Hunter, don¡¯t ignore me.¡± Irritated, I opened my eyes and met the apprentice''s re-jade eyes, glaring. ¡°I¡¯ve recovered some, but I don¡¯t know how much. My energy channels are too large to get a big picture view.¡± ¡°What, why would you do it that way? How fast is your Core producing Praxis?¡± ¡°... Quickly? It¡¯s sort of... humming along?¡± ¡°And, so?¡± ¡°So ... what?¡± ¡°You are-¡± ¡°With hurried intervention, the rate at which your Core processes Experience into Praxis can inform you how much energy you have available, Hunter. When your Core matches the timing of your Heart, you are full.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, then I guess I¡¯ve recovered some, but I have a way to go. Thank you Reff.¡± ¡°With calm assurance, you are welcome. Please alert us when your Core slows, as Darina in this at least is correct; it would be better to have a grasp of what you are now capable of.¡± ¡°Will do! Just going to, you know, get back to it.¡± I heard a snort again from where Darina sat as I closed my eyes once more, but I simply processed the Experience, paying close attention to my Core. At this rate, I thought it would take a at least a day to recover, possibly two, but that was still an incredible step up from the months I had spent manually processing energy. If I was lucky, I would be able to practice with my Exemplar the next day. As luck would have it, that night, was not the night. * *** * I woke early but refreshed in the pre-dawn cool, the nocturnal denizens of the rain forest still asserting their dominance ¨C or getting laid ¨C in the distance. We had taken turns watching for our half-hoped-for guest, with myself taking the first in hopes of cramming more cultivation in, which meant that as I awoke, I could just make out the sitting form of Reff as he gazed fixedly in the direction of the river. Not wanting to risk waking the others with a greeting, I turned my gaze inwards again and began to cultivate; the rate at which my Core vibrated had slowed considerably, now beating at about twice the rate of my heart, which from what I could gather, meant I was about a third full, given my extensive system. I did not think that I had spent that much energy in my fights, so I was probably safe to practice, and if it came down to it, if I needed more than a third of my total reserve in a fight, I was probably going to lose either way; there was only so much of the stuff I could push though my channels without losing control and taking myself out of the fight. Thinking about my recent loss of control I recalled the pill Tang had given in back in Everwood City; he had said it was designed to increase the potency and resistance to any element you were Focused on. I had not used it yet because the young alchemist had also said that it was most effective when consumed at the Path stage ¨C which I now officially had a foot upon. I had been eager to consume the thing for a long time; the prospect of strengthening my lightning was great and all, but the true attraction lay in the increased resistance; lightning hurt and while I could heal the burns, I was not a fan of pain. Reaching into my first storage ring, I pulled out the box which contained the pill and opened it; in the dim light, I could make out no details, but I recalled the slightly transparent, white-grey hue of a moonstone. As I picked it up in my remaining hand, I felt how smooth it was, almost like glass. Like many of the pills I had seen since my arrival on that world, it looked more like it was designed to choke somebody rather than help improve them, and if it had been much larger I could have expected straps to be attached at either side, but as it was, I thought I could just about get it down, though I wished ¨C for the first time ¨C that I had water of my own, rather than just the hydrating pellets I had purchased. Fantastically convenient they may be, but they did not help to wash things down. With a shrug, I built up some saliva in my mouth and popped the large pill in, swallowing with a grimace. There was a little pain as the ball slid into my throat, but its surface proved slick enough that it did not stick, though I could feel it travel all the way down, before vanishing into my stomach. For a minute or so, nothing happened and I thought perhaps the pill had gone bad, or that I had wasted it by taking it too early, but just as I was ready to slap myself, I felt strange effervescent warmth begin to build within me and spread. It was not unpleasant by any means, but the increasing sensation of being fizzy was certainly off-putting.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Knowing that the pill would need to interact with my Focus, I turned my gaze inwards again and my spiritual sight fell upon my now solid soul sea just in time to see a glowing grey cloud begin to penetrate the walls of my centre, before flowing through the hard edges of my Core to wrap around my Focus. I watched to process with rapt attention, though it did not last long. In less than a minute, the bubbling warmth had gone, along with the cloud and in its place, I saw my Focus now limned with a soft grey-white glow. Given how painful my breakthroughs had been to that point, I had not expected the process to go so smoothly, but I was glad it had. It also occurred to me that requirement to take it at the Path stage may have meant it needed to drain my Praxis, as absorbing my Exemplar had; that probably would not have gone well, given my depleted state, and I wiped a sudden sweat from my brow that I had not suffered any consequences for my rash action. Slipping the now empty box back into my ring, I once again turned my attention inwards to cultivate with a smile, knowing I may have more than one surprise for my sparring partners later that day. * *** * ¡°So, are you going to take it easy on me, due to the whole ¡®one arm¡¯ thing?¡± I stood opposite Darina in a small clearing a short distance from the rock we were watching; Reff and Riffa had opted to stay behind to maintain our vigil, which left me facing off against the diminutive apprentice solo for the first time since the day we had met. ¡°No.¡± ¡°...Okay, then I won¡¯t take it easy on you either.¡± ¡°Good. Now shut up and fight.¡± The red-eyed girl was as eager to fight as ever, and while I had been mostly joking about her taking it easy on me, I knew from our time training together that she was not the type to hold back much, even in practice. Reluctantly I dropped into a guard stance, though it was a little awkward with only one arm. ¡°You aren''t going to use your sword? You seem to keep forgetting it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t keep forgetting it, we keep fighting things I don¡¯t want to kill.¡± ¡°Like your torturer, and the frog?¡± ¡°Hey, I wanted to take the frog as my Exemplar.¡± ¡°... At the end.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just fight, okay.¡± Darina snorted and I scowled, Focusing. As always, my lightning crackled into existence with a whine and the world slowed around me. Given how fast the instant frog had moved, I had almost expected the world to freeze around me, but if my Path was having any impact, I was having a hard time spotting it. With a yell Drain sprang at me across the short separating distance, her body moving low to the ground as she drove herself forward almost parallel to the jungle floor. Now that my opponent was moving, I did notice a difference; while there was not a great disparity, my perception of the world was definitely faster than what it would normally have been while utilising my Focus at my previous level. I focused harder and the number and thickness of my tendrils around me grew, time slowed even further as well. As the apprentice closed and threw her first punch ¨C a rising uppercut carrying the whole of her momentum, I stepped clear and pushed her arm away from with my remaining hand and threw my opposite knee towards her head. Narrowly avoiding my knee by spinning away, Darina spun into a kick, but the basic level of my Precognition warned me it was coming, and with my enhanced speed I was out of the way and already countering by the time it reached my former position. Turning my body, I stepped into a straight punch that would normally be ridiculous in a real fight; it involved too much of the body and it telegraphed so loudly you could see it coming a mile away, but I wanted to test my speed. The apprentice¡¯s arm almost made it in time to block, but it barely brushed my sleeve as my fist smashed into her jaw and sent her skidding across the rainforest clearing. Knowing she would not be down for long, I went after her but it seemed that she was done with warming up, because Darina rolled out of the blow and to her feet, the skin around her jaw rippling in a disturbing fashion. We met again, fists and feet flying as we each fought to wring victory from our opponents. I dodged every one of her blows but she simply took mine head-on, speed versus endurance and pure aggression. I will admit that I was growing frustrated; while it was true that I was putting on a far better showing than I had ever been able to before completing my Core, Darina¡¯s ability to simply ignore damage was rending my own main advantage somewhat moot. While I was fast enough to land blows with ease, I did not see how I could win, short of outlasting her Praxis. That might have been a strategy with other opponents, given my extensive energy system, but the apprentice had them too, and she was not operating on less than half a tank. With a growl, I pushed on my Focus some more, slowing time further and hoping to strike hard and fast enough to overcome her protections and send lightning rocking through her; but I recalled our first fight, when she had allowed me to do just that and it did nothing. The two of us were too evenly matched, and I knew she was growing as frustrated as I was with being unable to hit me, as her face was growing red and her eyes wide with growing focus. Quick stepping around Darina, I dodged a blow to my face and was in the process of pushing her off her line when Instinctive Precognition sounded a warning inside of me and I leapt backwards just in time to avoid some sort of gruesome claw growing out of my opponent¡¯s arm. As I stared in muted horror at the bony thing sticking out of my friend¡¯s limb, it shrank and vanished as if it had never been. As I stared at the now pristine flesh of her arm, Darina offered me a vicious grin. ¡°Flesh shaper, remember?¡± ¡°Creepy!¡± I did not wait for her to respond, instead rushing in, hoping to capitalise on her distraction; I had no such luck. I snapped a series of short jabs into the apprentice''s unprotected face, but even in the short time between blows, I could see the marks vanishing. When the counter came, I dodged, as I had been doing, but once more alarms rang inside me and I found myself narrowly re-dodging a blow as Darina¡¯s arm grew and elongated to follow me. Suddenly, I found myself dodging desperately as my opponent flows and changed before me, following me or growing new limbs as I fought to avoid her blows. Growing desperate, but conscious of my limited Praxis and still not having a real handle on my usage, I tried to force my mind to work faster ¨C and it did. The world stilled around me; it no longer crawled but stood frozen before me, though I in turn was also frozen. I could see Darina in front of me, a feral snarl on her face as she lashed at me with an arm now covered with sharp spurs of bone, and I could not look away or move. For long a long second the two of us stood shackled in place before all at once we burst back into motion, the bony blow sailing over my head as all the commands I had sent my body in that long moment were received all at once and I lost my Focus and found myself in spasms. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Luckily my body quickly regained it¡¯s composure and I climbed to my feet, offering a shrugged apology to my opponent. ¡°No idea. The world frozen and I couldn''t move. And then it unfroze and my body freaked out. Have to say, not super-impressed with my Path... maybe I should have put more thought into it?¡± ¡°It is too early for regrets, Hunter. You have absorbed your Exemplar but cannot have integrated much of it. You will grow more proficient as you grow used to it, and perhaps in time you will be able to stand frozen for longer periods, and that will in some way be helpful.¡± ¡°... Darina, was that a joke?¡± ¡°Was it?¡± ¡°... Okay, one more try?¡± I shook my arm loose and Focused again; I just wanted to land one solid punch and I¡¯d be happy with our field test, as marginally helpful-turned-debilitating as it had proved. ¡°Fine. But I won that first bout.¡± I mumbled something about cheating with new abilities under my breath, but I knew it was fair; her Exemplar was a shapeshifter, and while she had used that ability to aid her own healing more than anything, if you could not improve, what was the point of practicing? ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Rolling my eyes and once more dropped into a guard stance again and concentrated on my right arm, trying to force more Praxis through it and to my surprise, energy surged into and around my arm and great leaping arcs of electricity and I grinned at my opponent; two could learn new tricks, it seemed. This time I did not wait for her to come to me, I went to meet her, and while I was using the same amount of power as I had been at the end of our first bout, the world did not crawl as slowly, and I guessed that my new trick came at a price. I did not let it dissuade me, however; I may not have been as much faster as I would have liked, but I was still faster and I ducked under her first punch with ease, twisting to drive my fist into her stomach. As my fist made contact, there was a loud snap and a sensation like my arm had moved on its own before Darina was catapulted out of the clearing and into the dense jungle. ¡°What the shit?¡± Iron Maiden I stood, thinking about what I had done when Darina came stomping out of the foliage muttering to herself; there was a ragged, blood stained tear in her shirt over her shoulder, though of course it was not bothering her. Despite the fact that the wound had obviously healed already, I still felt bad; we were only supposed to be practising, and even if I did not know exactly what happened, it was still my fault. ¡°What was that? You hit me twice as hard as you should have; have you been holding back?¡± The apprentice¡¯s voice was low and dangerous; I did not think that she would appreciate it if I had been holding back, but luckily for me, I never had any intention to do that. ¡°No! I don¡¯t know what happened, I was just trying to push more power through my arm. Maybe it¡¯s to do with my energy channels, just... making my arm stronger?¡± ¡°I have the same channels, remember? It¡¯s not that. Here, let me brace myself and try again.¡± I looked at her as she set her feet and blinked; the disregard for her own safety was still an alien concept to me. ¡°Are you sure?¡± I gestured at the ripped shirt, but Darina simply snorted and dismissed my concern with a wave. ¡°Okay... uh, here I come then.¡± Focusing again, I started to push energy into my arm, forcing more and more electricity and Praxis through my channels; I cannot explain how I was doing it; it was like flexing a new muscle or moving my ears, just something I did. Once the power had gathered and the lightning about my arm was snapping twice as hard and as fast as that around the rest of me, I ran in close and twisted my body and once more drove my light-clad fist into her raised forearms. I could see my friend stiffen for a moment as the filaments of electricity connected to her skin and flowed into her body. Anybody else allowing that much current into their bodies would have been in trouble, but I knew the apprentice was healing the damage as fast as it was applying and after a long second, I felt my energy repelled by her defences and I relaxed, allowing my Focus to slip. ¡°How was that? I notice you did not shoot off into the jungle this time.¡± ¡°No, that wasn¡¯t right. The lightning was stronger ¨C a lot stronger and it hurt, but it wasn¡¯t the same. What about your Path, could it be that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how it could be; it seems to be making me faster, or slowing time, whatever, but not by a lot. I know I haven¡¯t really started to integrate it though.¡± ¡°Hmm. Try again, but concentrate on your Path, apply it in... whatever way you intended.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I took a deep breath and once more electricity sprang from me as I Focused; this time, I did not try to push more power into my arm, instead I concentrated on it, my mind locked on speed. I could feel Praxis flowing into it, independent of my lightning and as the world moved about me in slow motion I again lashed out at Darina¡¯s guard. This time, it was different; as I began the punch, I again experienced the feeling of my arm moving on its own, of drifting before with a loud snap the diminutive apprentice was knocked off her feet to land sliding across the ground. I looked down at my remaining arm, still trying to figure out what had happened; I had felt my Exemplar engage when I had Focused. The changes to my Focus were proof that they would operate in tandem, but I had not been lying, the increase in speed had been marginal. I thought back to the fight with the frog, about how it had hit so hard and it occurred to me that while the effect had been marginal when I was using it across my whole body, perhaps concentrating it on a smaller area had concentrated the effect. ¡°There, that was it. I was paying more attention this time; you hit three or four times harder than you should be able to at the Path stage. What did you experience, Hunter?¡± ¡°I just... concentrated on my arm being fast? It sort of felt like I lost control of it. I was thinking... maybe focusing the speed on my arm specifically, rather than all of me, increases the speed?¡± It sounded very, very obvious when I said it out loud and I was kind of embarrassed that it had taken me this long to start condensing my powers, though it was not something that would be super-useful all the time. On many occasions, my speed had been far more useful than the lightning itself, and while I was concentrating it, that did not happen. It was a good tool to have, but I would need to be careful how I used it. Of course, that did not account for the power shown by my Path; if I could concentrate one while keeping the other general, I could maintain both a measure of increased speed and power. ¡°I do not think increased speed alone is enough of an explanation; it felt like as soon as I began to adjust to the force I was overcome and knocked over. It felt more like a series of blows than a single fast attack.¡± I thought back again to when the frog had apparently eaten all the insects as we watched; the swarm had vanished all at once, and its tongue was not that big. Given what we knew of the amphibian¡¯s abilities, it did not seem likely it had an area attack. Perhaps, in that instant it had attacked many times, taking them one tongue full at a time; I recalled the feeling of being hit by it, how it had felt like it had vibrated. ¡°Darina, did it feel like my punch... vibrated?¡± ¡°Not that I noticed, why? What sort of weird Intent did you have...?¡± Not wanting to go into what she was thinking, I ignored the question and went on with my explanation. ¡°When I was fighting the frog, it felt like its attacks vibrated. I¡¯m thinking it was attacking multiple times, all at once somehow, and that¡¯s why it hit so hard.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You think you hit me more than once? You would have to be moving... very fast, Hunter. You would need to be attacking at Foundation speeds for me not to be able to perceive it at all.¡± ¡°I... I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m actually moving fast. When we fought, the frog didn¡¯t actually seem to be moving; it was like it started to move and then just skipped it. I think it was messing with time, somehow.¡± ¡°It is possible, I suppose. They have not been studied extensively; they are generally beyond the capability of those at the Core stage, as you saw. You defeated it, I believe, with passive damage?¡± ¡°Yeah, I mostly just beefed up my lightning and let it electrocute itself. Damn, that doesn¡¯t make sense if it was freezing time. How did the electricity affect it? I guess there goes my theory.¡± ¡°Not necessarily; maybe it did not ¡®freeze¡¯ time, but merely slowed it greatly?¡± ¡°Like, maybe it compressed time? Damn, where¡¯s a physicist when you need one?¡± ¡°I have no idea what that is, or what the implications of compressing time are.¡± ¡°I just mean that maybe it had more time, relative to the things around it. This is making my head hurt.¡± ¡°Finally, you know my pain.¡± Darina¡¯s voice was dry and it made me crack a smile, though it quickly faded as I contemplated my theory. The whole ¡®time compression¡¯ thing would explain what happened when I focused on my head; I experienced that moment subjectively, but because only my head was in the compression, all the signals queued up to try to take effect at once, causing my less than graceful loss. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to try taking a step, but like I punched you. If I take multiple steps, it¡¯s confirmed, right?¡± ¡°That sounds like it could work, yes.¡± Nodding once, I moved a short distance away and let my lightning rip again. As the smell of ozone clouded the air once more, I concentrated on one leg, on compressing, multiplying time and tried to step forward. I felt the step start, and as before I seemed to lose control of my leg, but it was hard to concentrate on that as I was immediately launched into the air, rolling sideways in an uncontrolled spin. Landing on the other side of the clearing, I rose to my feet to the sound of Darina¡¯s laughter. Turning around and rubbing at my shoulder, I glared at the apprentice. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± My guffawing companion did not answer me for a minute, so I took the time to walk back over, holding the glare even though I was not really feeling it. After several more seconds, the laughter subsided as she rubbed a tear from her cheek before finally answering me. ¡°You started to walk, and then just shot into the air. You tried to walk with one leg, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°... Yes? So what?¡± ¡°Try to walk without moving your body, using only one leg.¡± I tried to picture it and could only imagine dragging myself along while hopping; in retrospect, it was pretty dumb, and I was not keen on looking the fool again only to prove her right. ¡°Fine. So, I probably shifted my weight onto that leg and then tried to kick off, lifting me into the air. And I bet you were awesome with your Exemplar when you got it.¡± ¡°My Master said I was something of a prodigy; hence the apprenticeship with an Apex.¡± I did not bother to reply, knowing she was probably right; Apexes were a big deal, I could imagine that it is a big deal to be taken in by one, when not just lucking out. Grumbling I once again moved a short distance away and tried again, this time concentrating my intent on both legs. It went slightly better. As I went to take my step, holding the concept of time compression in my mind¡¯s eye, I found myself smashing face first into the ground, my nose sinking into the loamy ground before I had chance to react. Climbing to my feet and spitting out dirt, I wiped my face and beard clean to the sound of the perfect apprentice laughing again behind me. Trying to figure out what had gone wrong this time, I glanced back along my path to see a partially exposed root with my footprints leading up to it. It seemed that I had tripped. ¡°Awesome, so since my mind isn¡¯t sped up along with my legs, I can¡¯t compensate for terrain. So far, it¡¯s good for attacking, which isn¡¯t nothing, and I suppose it will improve, but super-speed would have been so cool.¡± ¡°Well, at least you still have your nonsense. You should try leaping, or kicking off the ground. You wouldn¡¯t need to compensate for the ground, or worry about your body changing orientation mid-movement.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... actually a good idea. Thanks, Darina.¡± ¡°Of course; I¡¯m a prodigy and you just tried to force your face into the dirt.¡± I flipped her the bird with a grin and walked off so that I stood at the edge of the clearing with the furthest distance from the opposite side. Bringing my Focus back under control, I let my lightning gather around me and concentrated on my leg, crouching and leaning to the side as if about to leap sideways out of the way of an onrushing ape. I felt the power gather in my leg and I kicked, the hazy feeling of losing my leg flaring up as I was sent soaring across and out of the clearing, easily moving three or four times further than I had intended and crashing through the leafy underbrush but finally landing on my feet. Rising out of my crouch, I raised my clenched fist and stump above my head and whooped; that had been a complete success, and while it would take some fine-tuning and practice, it was definitely an option. Walking back to the clearing wearing a grin on my face, I looked forward to the day when I could compress time to that degree for my entire body. Entering the clearing again, I found the apprentice waiting for me, a wide smile on her own face. ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go again!¡± * *** * ¡°She totally cheated.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just a sore loser, Hunter.¡± We were back at our temporary camp by the stone outcropping; we had fought again though I had regrettably not been victorious. I was still unable to use my new-found time powers continuously, there seemed to be a refractory period between uses and the creepy little fighter had used the opportunity to grow her flesh around my arm and had then proceeded to beat me into submission, simply out-healing my electricity. I could have turned up the power, but I did not want to waste more Praxis than I had to until I was fully up and running. But once I was topped off, we would try again and we would see if she could out-heal... however many volts I could put out. ¡°She grew around my arm, Reff. Around it. It was creepy. And cheaty.¡± ¡°With profound confusion, how is Darina making use of her ability to manipulate her own flesh cheating? Did you not use your new ability to ¡®compress time¡¯?¡± ¡°In confused agreement, I agree with my brother. This seems like an appropriate strategy to limit your superior speed.¡± ¡°Fine, it wasn¡¯t cheating. But it was creepy.¡± As I stopped speaking, I heard a giggle from Darina and she reached out to wave at me with both hands, but as she did each finger split in two so that she had twenty fingers. ¡°There, see?! Creepy.¡± ¡°With humorous appeasement, of course, Hunter. Congratulations on this new aspect of your Path, Darina. This must be a significant step towards integration?¡± ¡°Thank you, Reff. And yes, I am not even two-thirds done, or I will be once I have applied the Praxis. I will be caught up to you in no time.¡± ¡°With curious consideration, how close are you now, brother?¡± ¡°With restrained pride, I made the transition earlier today, completing my Path and beginning my Foundation.¡± ¡°Holy shit, Reff! Congratulations! You¡¯re cultivating Veritas now, right? How does it feel?¡± ¡°Congratulations, Reff. I suppose I will have to wait a little longer to catch up to you. Perhaps we can spar, tomorrow?¡± Riffa, rather than saying anything further simply reached out and hugged her brother, he arms wrapping around his neck; it was the most overt show of emotion that I had seen from the pair, and it was pretty heart-warming. ¡°With careful consideration, it feels... intense. I look forward to testing myself against you, or our opponents should they strike first.¡± Twilight Zone The next week or so was filled with practice as we waited to see if my hunch played out; Reff who had already been the most skilled fighter amongst us definitely retained that status after his progression to the Foundation stage, but we had all grown. By the end of the eighth day of our wait, Riffa was finally able to fight with all of her puppets at once, though they had not yet reached the stage at which they could fight independently. While she was still left somewhat helpless while fighting, she now had the option to have a bodyguard; there was also the fact that with her constructs all acting at once, it left far fewer openings to exploit. Darina had of course been experimenting with her new-found ability to manipulate her own flesh; while she still made use of the creepy, The Thing-like flesh shaping, she had started to move towards less transient applications; it turns out being able to grow plate mail makes you harder to damage. Adding these new additions to her already almost un-killable body proved to be quite a leap in combat utility. Because she totally needed that, the cheat. As for Reff, his change progress was actually the least dramatic, on the surface; the Foundation stage was much like the Core stage, in that it was focused on accumulating and consolidating power ¨C Veritas in this case. His capabilities would grow in power and scope, but the completion of his Path proved that he had fully understood and integrated his Exemplar. Whilst his actual abilities, in terms of his Focus and Path stayed the same, the increase in power did cause some changes; whereas before his molten armour had been a relatively thin layer of burning rock, he was now capable of piling on mass and forming what was essentially a giant lava mech. A thirty-foot lava monster is terrifying, trust me. Which brings us to me; I had progressed the least, which is no surprise given how early I was on my Path, but I at least gained some proficiency in the way I was using my new abilities. My compressed dodge worked great, and I had fine tuned it a little so that I did not simply exit the fight, and I hoped that at some point I would be able to chain them together, but at that time the pause between uses really precluded that. Which is not to say the time between uses was actually a long time; testing showed the delay to be about one second, but as it turns out, when you¡¯re moving fifty times faster than normal, a second is actually quite a long time. I had not really thought about it until then, but the realities of super-speed fighting were made abundantly clear when Darina offered to see how many times she could punch me in a second. It was a lot; she even grew an extra set of arms to drive the point home. Cheater. Still, despite all of that my blows were now really quite devastating; once my Praxis was full again, I had tried pumping as much Praxis as my extensive energy system could handle into my arm, in terms of my lightning and my time compression. At maximum power, it seemed like I punched around ten times my expected strength, all packed with enough electricity to knock out... a very large, tough thing. Even Reff¡¯s Megaform had had its leg blown off by the power behind such a blow, and the combined lightning had overcome the resistance sufficiently to shock my giant friend for the first time. I was more than happy with the results of my rash decision... unfortunately, it proved impossible to reliably raise my defences within the punch¡¯s weird space-time pocket, and I had burned my hand to a crisp. And set the jungle on fire again; it turns out lava is hot when you blast it out of its controller¡¯s... control. The break I had been forced into after that, while waiting for my single remaining hand to heal, had however allowed me to begin pumping my excess Praxis into my Path; while my understanding of my burgeoning powers was relatively small at the time, it seemed like the vague knowledge of space-time I had picked up when back on Earth was helping out, and I had about ten percent of the lotus-posed frog inside of me available for filling. After two days of solid cultivation and work, I had managed to fill a full ten percent... of a percent. My frog, it appeared, was a hungry little bastard; I would not be making any huge leaps again unless I was able to either find a pill or another Thousand Year Pineapple. Thinking about the delicious fruit ¨C not to mention Rainmaker¡¯s fruit tax ¨C had lead me to contemplating going looking for the tree, but I had managed to restrain myself; while another leap forward in my cultivation sounded appealing, past experience told me that the second I left, the thieves would attack. It was of course all based on memories from my previous life, but despite knowing that I was far Luckier than I had been, the nagging doubt remained. And so we finished that week, practised, improved and ¨C hopefully ¨C ready. * *** * I sat in the dying light of the jungle twilight staring at a rock about half the size of my closed fist. I was concentrating on compressing time around my arm but I was choking back the power to the barest minimum I could, which was a surprising strain; while a normal cultivator might have one or two thick, beefy channels feeding into their arm, I had a thousand smaller ones. These channels allowed me to pump out more power at once than would otherwise be possible, as well as giving me a small physical edge, but another consequence was that it was really hard to hold back. I had to concentrate on restricting every one of my many pathways, but if I was not doing anything else, I could manage it. As a result, the barest hints or arcing sparks sprang up from my flesh and sank back in almost immediately, barely making a whisper or flavouring the air. ¡°Grab...!¡± Stage whispering to myself in the encroaching dark would have seemed pretty ridiculous in other circumstances, but I was too focused on my goal to register the possibility; I was trying to grab the rock, of course. My previous attempts at compressing time around my limbs had only been successful when exerting direct force, mostly because of the repeating nature of the actions; whatever directive I sent my limb at the start of the extended pocket moment, it did again and again until the moment ended. This was great for, say, punching or kicking, but less so for more delicate work, like... everything else. I was doing this ¨C and had been doing it for three hours ¨C in order to try to grab the rock once.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. I felt a frisson in my arm as time compressed and uncompressed around it; it was not the strange feeling of drifting, or losing control, just a slight shiver along its length. Still staring at where the rock had been, I blinked and grinned as I felt something cool, rough and hard in my hand. Looking to check, I let out a quiet, ¡°Yes...!¡± at the sight of the simple stone clasped in my hand. I did not know how practical it would be in a fight, but I could see uses for it, and if I could master using the ability at my maximum level of power, I knew I would be able to make much more controlled dodges. I was about to stand to go and tell my friends about my success when I heard a dull thud followed quickly by distant a distant clang, like something metal tapping against stone. Caught half-way to my feet and frozen, I felt my heart pick up speed. Turning slowly, I glanced out between the trees towards the stone outcropping. I could see two figures atop the jutting rock; one crouched low against the shadowed surface, head swivelling back and forth while the other stood silhouetted against the dying light, motionless and apparently unconcerned. From the corner of my eye, I saw my companions rise from their own sitting positions a short distance away and I hurriedly finished climbing to my feet and joined them. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s-¡± I was started to whisper as quietly as I could, but before I could get far a hand was held up close to my face, stopping me short; following the hand and arm to its source, I found Darina predictably glaring at me. Rolling my eyes, I nodded at her; we were too far away to be heard over the din of the wildlife if we were careful, but I knew she was nervous, so I let it go. Cocky ¨C and deservedly so ¨C she may be, but the two were unlikely to be weaklings, and if two of them are at the Foundation stage, With shared glances, but without another word the four of us moved towards the rock; we had long since formulated a plan for if our guess proved correct and the thieves actually did show up at that location. It was a simple plan, though I thought it had the best shot at success; we were going to ambush the crap out of them. They might be stronger and faster than us, but a mortal is, well, mortal. The shadowy figures seemed to be discussing something, giving us plenty of time to find positions; I crouched low behind a tree, as did Darina, Reff and Riffa used their abilities to shape rock and sand to disguise themselves as boulders and I was left a little open-mouthed at the casual utility their Foci provided. Next rebirth, I was definitely going for something with more range. With a filament of power, I pulled my sword from storage; I had not tested it against my friends, not wanting to injure them more than I had to, but if I could combine the blade with my new powers, it would make for a decisive advantage, and maybe one that could not be easily countered if it came from ambush. From my own fight with the instant frog, I knew it was possible to predict actions somewhat, though some of that was certainly due to it being a frog and not a fighter, but logically it followed that a sufficiently fast enemy would be able to read my intentions and dodge where I was going to attack, at least after the first couple of times. For that reason, ambushing the potentially more powerful cultivators with an attack that could ¨C in theory ¨C kill them before they could react, was where I was placing my hopes. The two figures began their descent from the stone, one with an unnaturally quick pace and the other still in a crouch; as they moved below the relatively bright line of the sky, I began to pick out details of their appearance, and I found myself cursing inwardly at what I made out. The unconcerned figure that moved with unnatural quickness was the armoured companion of The Shadow Faced Guy, with his freakishly long arms and black, articulated lorica-esque armour. The other was even more familiar than the first, and somebody I had thought I no longer had to worry about; it was my former torturer, V. As they moved closer, I determined to take my shot at V; it was not purely personal, but also a matter of practicality. LongarmsMcCreepy was covered head to foot in armour, and not knowing how it would hold up against my sword, it seemed foolish to potentially waste the opportunity. I could feel sweat dripping down my back and neck; the jungle was naturally hot and humid and I was too far from Reff to be able to benefit from his active cooling, even if he had running. It has nothing to do with nerves, nope, not a thing. Okay, maybe it had something to do with the situation, but can you blame me? The last time I had fought either of them I¡¯d suffered significant injury, and even almost died. Across from me, I saw Darina tense behind her own tree as she clearly made out our opponents; Cat Guy might have hurt me ¨C a lot ¨C but he had pretty much killed the fragile looking apprentice, and if it was not for her ability to heal herself, I did not think she would still be among us. Catching me looking, Darina twitched her head in the pair¡¯s direction, a feral grin spreading across her face. I almost tutted at her expression; of course the little maniac relished the prospects of a rematch. Turning away, I watched as they came closer, through the gaps in leaves and vines. I wondered how these two could hope to steal the egg; powerful they might be, but my friends had fought at least evenly with McCreepy, and while we had lost easily to V the last time, he was nowhere near the level of an Elder. There was something we were not understanding there, or some approach we had not considered. Perhaps McCreepy held some power or ability we had not seen; my friends had spoken of a seeming immunity to pain and sudden movement, but our discussions on the subject had not led to answers. We would have to test out our luck, I knew, but at least if it came to that, I knew I had an advantage. The figures passed the siblings¡¯ hiding places and I tensed to act, swallowing reflexively and despite how much water there was in the air, my throat was dry. Finally, after several long seconds that at least felt like they lasted an age, they drew level with us; thankfully, V was on my side, which meant Darina would be striking Longarms first. With a yell that startled several resting birds into flight, my apprentice sprang from behind her tree, bone blades clicking faintly against each over as they formed and covered her clothing. You might be thinking, ¡®That¡¯s dumb, why yell and spoil the ambush?¡¯, and under other circumstances I might be right there with you, but in this case, it was all part of the plan. Darina was yelling to draw their attention so that Riffa, Reff and I could attack while they were reacting to her. LongarmsMcCreepy and Green Cat Guy both turned towards the yell simultaneously, the sickly, mould green light that gave part of his name springing up and forming the leonine form that gave the rest as V readied himself. It was then, as he turned his back to me that I sprang, voiceless and silent until the last moment when lightning sprang to life around me, lighting the rainforest twilight even as I felt the heat of Reff¡¯s molten armour and the rumble of Riffa¡¯s charging puppets. I knew my eyes were stretched wide, white showing all around them as a death¡¯s head grin split my face as I forced Praxis into my arm and electricity sprang up around it like a writhing, coruscating gauntlet that flowed down my blade. It took only a moment, but a person who stood upon their Foundation was fast and by the time I drew my arm back V was already facing me, a delighted smile showing on his face, but it was too late. I felt my arm fuzz out of my control, drifting on the winds of time and striking too fast to be perceived, too fast to be countered. As I regained control, there was a sharp ting and I heard something fly into the dense jungle. It wasn¡¯t V¡¯s head, as I had hoped; instead, I stood staring at my sword¡¯s blade, now sheared smooth a few inches above the guard. King of Twilight Stolen story; please report. The Aftermath Looking into the darkening jungle, I couldn¡¯t see the tell-tale glow of Reff¡¯s molten amour, nor the sickly green glow of V¡¯s cat-like aura. ¡°Uhm, where did the other fight go?¡± Darina, who had been beginning to examine the freshly destroyed body of our own foe, rose from her morbid observations to glance around, the gore I had accidentally coated her with streaking her face black in the dark. ¡°I lost track the first time I knocked into the jungle; you seemed fine, shouldn¡¯t you know?¡± ¡°I was occupied with McCreepy. By the way, you seem to get your neck broken a lot, you need to invest in, I don¡¯t know. Are there neck exercises?¡± ¡°McCreepy? No.¡± The apprentice¡¯s voice started firm, but quickly grew defensive as she continued, ¡°And the neck breaking is only temporary; it isn¡¯t like I lost an arm, Hunter.¡± ¡°Of course, because it¡¯s worked out so far, it definitely always will. Anyway, how¡¯re we going to find them? Can you... throw me into the air? Maybe I can see their glow from above?¡± ¡°The canopy is likely too dense to see easily, and besides, why would I throw you? You clearly weigh more than I do, it would make more sense if you threw me.¡± ¡°I only have one arm, remember? But since you¡¯re volunteering...¡± I bent down and cupped my hand, staring innocently at my friend. As was her pattern, she glared back. ¡°You¡¯re being an idiot again while our companions may be in trouble, Hunter.¡± She was right of course; I was still running on adrenaline and the high of victory, and teasing her was not helping. The problem was that I really had no better idea for finding them; the jungle was dense and dark, if we picked the wrong direction, it would be very easy to miss them. ¡°What do you suggest, Darina? We can¡¯t help them if we can¡¯t find them. Hey, how about you make your ears giant? Maybe you can hear them then? It¡¯s pretty quiet at the moment.¡± And it was, quiet that is. It seemed like our fight had scared most of the locals off, or at least shut them up. ¡°That... might work.¡± She said it reluctantly, and I knew she loathed to admit it, but I thought I caught a note of grudging appreciation in her voice. Keeping quiet and giving her a thumb up, I watched as her face scrunched up, clearly concentrating. For a moment, nothing happened and the two of us stood staring at each other; I was on the verge of laughing at the absurdity of the situation when her ears finally began to grow. In one prolonged spurt, like balloons being pumped up, they grew so that each was the size of her own head, and then twice and finally three times that size; I just barely held onto my laughter, but I knew she knew, given the grim look I was receiving. ¡°In polite confusion, why do you have giant ears, Darina?¡± The two of us spun to face the voice, which was coming from Riffa who was stood a short distance away, her form barely lit by the last guttering flames... that had totally come from nowhere. ¡°Riffa! Thank, uh, Xiournal? Whatever, I¡¯m glad you-¡± I was interrupted by a sharp pain in my shoulder, which was accompanied by enough force to knock me over sideways. Confused and wondering why I had not been given any warning, I rolled with the blow and turned in the direction the blow had come from, where Darina stood rubbing at her now normal-sized ears. ¡°Ow, Darina, what the shit?¡± ¡°Did you have to shout while my ears were huge, Hunter? That really hurt.¡± ¡°And getting punched didn¡¯t? You only had to say something!¡± I felt a little bad, but I had not really shouted; my voice had been raised a little, but I supposed when you had ears the size of an elephant¡¯s that could sound a lot like a shout. Not that I thought that was the whole reason for the punch; I thought she was a little embarrassed to be caught with giant ears, which was funny given that she had been fine sprouting toothy tentacles and whatnot. Trying to awkwardly rub at my shoulder with that same hand, I walked back over the small distance to face Riffa. ¡°I''m glad you¡¯re okay; where¡¯s Reff? Is he alright?¡± ¡°With vague exasperation, my brother is without injury, and our opponent has been subdued.¡± I felt my mouth fall open at that; the last time the four of us had fought Green Cat Guy, he had quite definitively kicked our collective asses. The jump to Foundation must have been a doozy, or perhaps V¡¯s foundation just was not that developed. ¡°That¡¯s amazing! How did you do it? Did Reff kick his ass, was it awesome?¡± I felt Darina roll her eyes, but she did not say anything clearly wanting to hear the answer to my question. ¡°In renewed confusion, I do not believe my brother attacked from the rear; our strategy consisted of my puppets creating a diversion while brother gathered more rock to increase his armour-¡± ¡°Megaform.¡± ¡°-And then he sat on him, while he was distracted.¡± Blinking, I casually stuck a finger in my ear; I knew there had to be something lodged in there, as I could have sworn Riffa had just said they had defeated V ¨C the man who had kicked our asses ¨C by sitting on him. ¡°Sorry, Riffa. I guess the fight did something to my ears, I thought you said Reff sat on him.¡± ¡°In confirmation, that is correct Hunter.¡± ¡°... Like, sitting on a chair? Sat on him?¡± ¡°With patient assurance, that is correct, Hunter. Brother¡¯s larger armour has sufficient weight that our foe could not lift him, and is now pinned in place. V¡¯s energy claws cannot pierce far enough through the stone to do any real harm, though they could grow to a surprising length.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Shaking my head, I turned to the uncharacteristically quiet apprentice; she had a curiously speculative look on her face. ¡°Trying to imagine making yourself giant? You could change your nickname thing to, ¡®Darina the Ever Sitting.¡¯ I think it has a nice ring to it.¡± ¡°Shut up, Hunter. Riffa, let¡¯s go and see our captive.¡± ¡°With renewed confusion, of course. Please follow me.¡± ¡°How about, ¡®Darina, The Suddenly Sedentary¡¯? I know you like to use your head in a fight, but this opens up a whole new-¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± * *** * By the time we arrived at Reff¡¯s location, I had run through several more completely serious new possible nicknames for the short apprentice, including my personal favourite, ¡®Darina of the Flowing Ears.¡¯ While she had not punched me again, I could tell by the heated looks she kept stabbing my way that she was close. Biting my lip to stop myself from grinning, I pushed through some drooping foliage to find myself suddenly in a clearing, though this one looked like it had been smashed into existence rather than anything natural. At the centre of the risi-made clearing, a massive statue sat featureless, arms and legs braced against the ground. It was an odd pose that made the stone construct seem like it was trying to crab-walk, but the reason was soon apparent; beneath the boulder-like buttocks of the statue lay V, glaring at us from the ground. At a guess, I assumed the statue was in that position to prevent the torturous beast cultivator from being crushed to death; I wouldn¡¯t have minded that, if I was being completely honest with myself, but I supposed the opportunity to question him was too good to pass up. Beside the trapped form of the Risen Throne member sat my friend, who was surprisingly not currently couched within the cold confines of his Megaform. ¡°Reff! Wow, good job! I thought this was going to be a way tougher fight than ours, and in our fight Darina died again.¡± This time when the apprentice swung for me, Instinctive Precognition trigged and I stepped out of the way with a grin on my face; on an unrelated note, I decided to stop teasing her. None of it was out of malice, of course; it had been painful to watch her die again, even if I ''knew'' she would survive. This was more of a coping mechanism, a way of processing; when it came down to it, I would rather laugh than cry, and I hoped it would give my friend something else to focus on. A broken neck might only be a small issue for the regenerator, but all the same, it could not feel good to be left so helpless, for any time. ¡°With appropriate pride, thank you, Hunter; Our foe was overconfident and taking advantage of it was simple strategy... and physics.¡± The risi turned to look at Darina and gave her a slow nod. ¡°I am sorry you experienced such a thing again... perhaps we can work to create you a neck brace of some kind?¡± ¡°Very funny. He ¨C it ¨C should not have been able to hit me, but those Void damned sudden movements were impossible to predict.¡± ¡°... You killed it, did you? And abandoned the body, it seems? Whatever shall we do...¡± I looked down at the trapped figure who had interrupted our conversation; his voice was slightly strained, as if he was struggling a little to speak, which was fine as far as I was concerned. I was having the strongest compulsion to go over and start kicking him in the head, but I was doing my best to ignore it; his arms were not pinned, and I knew that despite his present circumstances, if he did manage to get his hands on me, I would not enjoy the experience. ¡°Yeah, we kicked the crap out of it. Hard to believe it was at the Foundation stage, honestly. Maybe we¡¯re just that awesome.¡± ¡°... How amusing. It was most certainly not at the Foundation stage, a mere appendage to our Lord. Still, to defeat it is impressive enough, given our last bout. I¡¯m sure it will work out for you.¡± ¡°Says the asshole trapped under a stone ass. It must be like coming home for you, huh?¡± ¡°In cautious warning, this is the most he has spoken since his capture, Hunter. He does not sound like one should in his position.¡± ¡°Reff is right, Hunter. How did he escape the Legion¡¯s custody, and make his way here? And how was he expected to steal the egg? Could this be a distraction?¡± ¡°Honestly, both this guy and... Shade... seem to have several screws loose, so maybe we¡¯ve been giving them too much credit? They could just be idiots.¡± ¡°... That isn¡¯t a very nice way to speak of a guest.¡± ¡°You literally tortured me.¡± ¡°... But that was fun!¡± I started towards him despite myself, fist clenched and eyes narrow, but I was stopped by a large hand on my head; it was not quite the traditional place to grab a person, but Riffa was pretty tall, so I could understand it. ¡°With clear understanding, you should not fall for his provocation. He is defeated and seeks to provoke us into making a mistake.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, Riffa. Thank you.¡± ¡°... You¡¯re no fun, baihu. Well, I imagine our time together is almost done; what shall we talk about?¡± ¡°Almost done? You¡¯re not going anywhere, asshole. How did you even get away from the Legion? You got your ass handed to you by Commander Arnell. And the last time we say you, you were tied up like a roast.¡± ¡°... The Commander was certainly a person I underestimated. Such interesting possibilities. Do you think she could make you... eat your own hands? Still, even the might of the Legions pales in comparison to the Risen Throne. Then, as now, my Lord will come for me.¡± ¡°Like he came for the other guy we defeated? Seemed pretty dead to me.¡± ¡°... Dead, yes. But, like some amongst you, it doesn¡¯t seem to bother that one greatly.¡± I looked over at Darina and then back again, frowning. Surely, he was not suggesting that that thing would be coming back... right? We had not been able to ascertain its exact powers, but the scars at least suggested it was not a healer, or regenerator. ¡°Well, we smashed its head off, blew its heart out of its chest and disembowelled it. If it¡¯s not dead, maybe Reff can burn it to a crisp. Would that be a problem for it?¡± ¡°... Well. My Lord will not appreciate that! I do so hope he lets me watch-¡± Reff reached out a hand to touch the statue and a ripple of dull orange ran through it, and while I could not perceive any real change, V shut up quickly. ¡°With grim promise, answer when asked, but do not speak otherwise; I grow weary of you.¡± My friend¡¯s voice was low ¨C more than usual ¨C and carried with it a warning like the shiver before a volcano erupts. It was the most clearly angry I had seen the risi; even when he had destroyed the table all those weeks ago in Everwood City, that had been more a fit of pique than a genuine, heated rage. This carried fire. ¡°In calming conciliation, now is not the time for The Mountain¡¯s Rage, brother. Calm.¡± ¡°In cooling contrition, you are right, Riffa. I am sorry for my outburst.¡± ¡°I thought it was pretty badass, actually. What did you do to shut him up?¡± ¡°With vague uncertainty, thank you? I merely extended a portion of the stone. I believe humans find their testes to be quite delicate?¡± I tried to wince and grin at the same time; I did not want to ever get on the giant¡¯s bad side. ¡°That is true, Reff. There is a nerve I can show you which would provoke even-¡± ¡°Okay, as much as I don¡¯t like this guy, let¡¯s not embrace the whole, ¡®torture¡¯ thing, Darina.¡± ¡°I believe in fighting fire with fire, Hunter.¡± ¡°Okay, staying on everyone¡¯s good sides! Got it. Important safety tip, guys, thanks.¡± Ignoring the looks I was getting from my friend ¨C being well used to them ¨C I moved as close as I dared to the now silent and glaring figure. ¡°Okay, V ¨C Can I call you asshole? Good. Asshole, are you the only ones sent to steal the egg? And if so, how?¡± The figure turned his glare on Reff before looking back at me, a small smile slipping onto his sharp face. ¡°... There were several teams. My instructions were to assist the appendage across the river and to retrieve it afterwards.¡± ¡°Shit, several teams?¡± I looked around the clearing to my friends; everyone looked grim. We had anticipated a distraction, but it had not occurred to us that they may attack from more than one direction. ¡°How do we know you are telling the truth?¡± I was still trying to work out where else they could attack from when Darina spoke up, he arms crossed and her face sceptical. It was a good question, and one I should have thought of before letting the idea run away with me. ¡°... I just have one of those faces.¡± As he spoke, there was a flash of light followed by heat and a crack from the North, turning the burgeoning night to day for a moment. It was not a great distance from us, and with a final look at each other and our captive, we took off into the dark. The Mercenary Rushing north, it occurred to me that leaving the torturer behind may not have been the best idea; while he could clearly not lift the statue on his own, if another Foundation stage cultivator or someone even higher lent their aid, he would have little difficulty escaping. Or, he could just dig his way out if we were not there to keep an eye on him. As much as I hated to give him the opportunity, I was more concerned with trying to prevent the calamity that would follow any further thefts. Another flash lit the sky briefly, filtering through the trees as bright cracks in the darkness. Adjusting our course slightly, we continued on, my lightning and Reff¡¯s dull glow providing just enough light to hopefully avoid breaking anything. Moving as quickly as we were, it did not take long to reach the source of the flashes; bursting through the trees to a flare of light, we came to a stop, covering our eyes and hesitating a moment at what we found when our vision cleared. Three people fought amidst the trees, though ''fight¡¯ was perhaps a little too kind; one of them, the man that appeared to be getting the better of the exchange, was dressed in a long coat and wielded a six-foot pole with a wicked looking hammer made of some violet metal at one end. Clearly enjoying himself, the capering man wove between the other two, seeming to hook and trip them almost by accident as they tried to attack him in vain. The scene was almost comic, as blasts of light and heat failed to find their targets, emptying out into the air uselessly. The hammer-wielder, noticing our presence beamed a smile in our direction, his teeth a bright, perfect white as the attempted attacks illuminated his grinning face. ¡°Hoi there! I''ll be right with ye, this is about done!¡± He spoke with a deep brogue, his voice chesty but not deep and it reminded me a little of an Irish accent, though there was something else mixed in that almost dipped it into Germanic. Casually turning back to the fight, the strange man brought his long-hammer back to rest on his shoulder as he turned, just in time for the apparent heat cultivator to stumble face first into the rotating head and with a wet crunch he went down. Staring down at his fallen foe in seeming bewilderment, the hammer-man almost missed the light-wielder''s lunge, but even as brightness flares sharply in the guy¡¯s palm, his body was jerked to a halt and he fell, tripping on some unseen disturbance on or in the jungle floor. With a shrug as the light died, he tossed something into the air where it froze above his head and began to emit a soft yellow light. ¡°I guess we¡¯re done then?¡± With a shrug, he spun his hammer and brought around in what was almost a golf-swing. There came another sickeningly west crunch before the man, now leaning on the embedded hammer grinned over at us again. ¡°Terribly rude o¡¯me to keep ye waiting, but me Ma¡¯ always said to finish dancing with your partners before finding more. Now, given the less than civilised stage on which we find ourselves, is it happenstance that brings us together, or am I to assume that you¡¯re with these headless bastards?¡± The man¡¯s words were polite, and even if the tone was a little threatening, he still came across as way less of an asshole than any of the Risen Throne members I had met so far, not least because he had neither actually tried to kill me or torture me yet. ¡°We¡¯re not really allied with anybody around here... besides Elder Flame Ever Dancing, I guess. If they were with who I think they were, we were definitely not with them. Uh, how about you?¡± While I thought it more likely that the heat and light cultivators were more would-be-thieves, it was not entirely beyond the realms of possibility the man I was talking to was actually the thief, and while it would normally be a pretty stupid thing to admit, the Risen Throne had proven themselves oddly open about their douche-baggery. The man¡¯s grey eyes flickered between me and my companions, taking in my lightning and Reff¡¯s molten armour before swinging the hammer back onto one shoulder, spraying fleshy detritus and blood out into the jungle as he did. ¡°Well, I do suppose that ye haven¡¯t attacked me on sight, as these poor fools did. In fact, by comparison ye¡¯ve been downright polite, the light-show notwithstanding. Introductions then! I¡¯m Caddin Thatch; vagabond, ruffian, mercenary and life o¡¯ the party! Currently in service to the Alchemy Association. Ye can call me Cad.¡± With a wry smile behind his almost neat beard, the self-proclaimed vagabond dipped into a shallow bow before pulling a flat-cap from thin-air and depositing it on his head, somewhat taming his shock of brown hair. Trusting that I was not falling for some clever ruse, and conscious of his mention of my lightning, I dropped my Focus, allowing my Core to begin to rebuild what I had spent; from the hum, it had not been insubstantial, and while I hoped we had been successful on our attempt at forestalling the theft, it never hurt to be cautious. ¡°Uh, this is Reff, Riffa, Darina and I¡¯m Hunter.¡± I pointed at each of my friends as I named us, before giving a small bow of my own. ¡°I am also a vagabond, I guess. I think Darina is too, actually.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a vagabond, Hunter.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you literally homeless when Sonja found you?¡± ¡°I was. Now my home is wherever my Master is, Hunter.¡± The apprentice did not seem like she had calmed down a ton, given the way she was speaking and the twitching fists. Deciding that retreat was the better part of valour, I changed the subject before I got hit again. Turning back to Cad, who appeared to be cleaning his nails, I decided to direct some questions his way. ¡°So, you work with the Alchemy Association then? I thought they were further North, guarding some farmers?¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°That¡¯s right, by and large. A party somehow got a might boisterous and me commander sent me to deliver a very important message to HQ. I on me way back when these two bastards took it upon themselves try their luck and me patience. ¡®Couldn¡¯t hold their liquor, as it turns out... lost their heads.¡± Cad paused, clearly waiting for a reaction but this was really the wrong crowd for it, as I well knew. Luckily, Darina did not comment, for which I was grateful. If the mercenary had dispatched two Foundation level cultivators with what seemed to be comical ease, I did not want to be anywhere close to his bad side. ¡°With thankful consideration, it is fortunate that you crossed their paths when you did; I suspect these two were in service to a group we are attempting to oppose, and should they have been allowed to proceed unimpeded, it is possible that the results could have been catastrophic. You have our thanks, Caddin Thatch¡± Reff¡¯s voice was polite, though he had not dropped his own Focus, choosing instead to shape a small opening around the mouth. ¡°This pair were a menace to themselves, of that I hold little doubt, but catastrophe? Unless their shocking lack of tolerance was somehow contagious, I don¡¯t see how they¡¯d be threatening anything but a pub¡¯s bottom line.¡± ¡°You keep mention they couldn¡¯t hold their alcohol; did you drink with them?¡± Darina sounded curious despite herself, and I had to admit that it was a fairly reasonable question. ¡°I told ye, I¡¯m the life o¡¯the party! Here, let me demonstrate.¡± With a wide, toothy grin, Cad sucked in a breath before blowing in the apprentice¡¯s face; it was a pretty powerful breath because while we were still a good ten feet apart, I could see her short hair wave slightly in the breeze. I saw Darina sway on her feet and stumble and I frowned, until I got a whiff of whatever it was and the world began to tilt around me, even as a warm feeling began to fill me and I had the inexplicable urge to laugh. ¡°Only a breath, and I held back the most part of it, so it¡¯ll pass in but a moment. No need to get all glowy, big-man.¡± After several long moments my head began to clear and I shook it in an attempt to clear the last lingering fog, but that proved to be a mistake as the jungle spun madly about me. Thankfully, that did not last and within another second, I was back to normal. I turned to see Darina glaring and Reff¡¯s armour glowing a particularly violent hue. ¡°You either drink way too much, or you have some kind of alcohol Focus? Is that a thing?¡± ¡°Bang on, though ¡®tis not just alcohol, there¡¯s some particularly elegant drugs too. A right cheap night out, I am. Me Ma¡¯ said I was an idiot when I first formed it, but as it turns out, ''tis Void blasted difficult to fight when blasted out of yer mind.¡± ¡°And... that¡¯s it? You get your opponent¡¯s drunk? What if they don¡¯t breathe?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll also absorb through the skin, though ¡®tis slower, to be sure. But, should that fail, I¡¯ve got me Path to fall back on. And before ye ask, I''ll not be telling ye until we know one another better than we do right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... fair. Anyway, these two; I think they¡¯re part of a group called the Risen Throne. They''re demon worshippers of some kind, and they¡¯re after the phoenix Elder¡¯s egg. Again.¡± ¡°To steal an Elder¡¯s egg? These light-weights? And what do ye mean, ¡®again¡¯?¡± ¡°They stole it before, somehow and used it to make a couple of alchemical concoctions, not the least of which was a plague that could only be cured with the egg.¡± ¡°Is that why Elder Flame Whatsit was throwing such a fit? With all the fire? But, it¡¯s back now?¡± ¡°Yeah, we returned it.¡± ¡°They stole it from an Elder, but you lot returned it? What, are ye all Apexes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but we¡¯re trying to help. We met one of these guys who could block Apex and Elder senses, so we were trying to intercept people who could get around other senses. We stopped a couple, though I have no idea how they were supposed to do anything, and it looks like you did too.¡± ¡°Is there any way we can be sure these were part of that lot?¡± ¡°In interjection, they each carry a pendant, do they not, Hunter?¡± ¡°Yes! Uh, one sec.¡± I moved over to the two bodies and Cad took a couple of steps back to give me space; I saw Reff tense out of the corner of my eye, and I hoped his caution was unwarranted, as I was well within range of the strange long-hammer, should its wielder have a mind to use it. I quickly found two pendants that were the same in every way to the ones I was now used to finding, but I also made sure to take their rings, though it was a little bit of a task with only the one hand. ¡°These guys were definitely with the Risen Throne.¡± Standing, I held up the pendants in the light and with a nod, my giant friend appeared to be satisfied and retracted his armour before storing the large rocks. ¡°With measured consternation, if there were two groups, could there be more?¡± I looked back at Riffa and wondered the same thing; while we had been lucky in finding V and McCreepy, and had been lead to these two by the blasts of light, the jungle was vast and I had no idea how we could locate any other groups without similar signs, and though I had certain advantages when it came to chance, I did not think I could push it quite that far. ¡°We could head back into the Elder¡¯s domain, try to catch them there? We could at least raise the alarm, if we are able to identify them?¡± ¡°In sagacious confirmation, Darina is right; before, we only had suspicions and guesses, but now we know with certainty. We should take our warning to Elder Flame Ever Dancing once more.¡± ¡°Maybe we can take V with us, as proof?¡± ¡°In reluctant admission, V is held in place by sheer weight at the moment. To move him would be to relieve that weight, and while I can control such a mass, it does not mean that same pressure can be emitted by will alone.¡± ¡°Okay, so still too strong to transport. Got it. Well, it looks like our minds are made up, let¡¯s get back to the Elder.¡± ¡°Would ye mind if I came with ye? Not for nothin¡¯, but I¡¯m a bit on the outs with the Association at the moment, and assisting in preventing some alchemical abuses might see me clear back into their good graces.Speaking of, I don¡¯t suppose ye could bear to part with one o¡¯them pendants? Should do fine for showing me boss that an outside party caused me delay.¡± ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t see why not.¡± I handed over one of the dangling emblems before storing the other; Cad slipped his into a pocket after giving it a cursory examination. As he was doing that, I considered his other request; it seemed reasonable and more help was always welcome, though I did foresee one issue. ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯re fire proof? We¡¯re sort of on the ¡®don¡¯t incinerate¡¯ list, but I don¡¯t know how easy they¡¯ll be to convince that you should be.¡± ¡°Hunter, don¡¯t be selfish, we can give him a mango, he¡¯ll be fine.¡± I looked at the apprentice in shock; the Flaming Mangos had been hellish to eat, and I found it hard to understand why she would make the recommendation. But then I saw her lips twitch, and I understood; this was payback for the brief bout of inebriation. But even so, I could not let the suggestion go without a warning. ¡°Uh, sure? If you like, Cad, we have some Flaming Mangos that will shield you from the fire, but... they¡¯re not the best experien-¡± Cad interrupted me with a casual wave of his hand, clearly unconcerned. ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯ve partaken of many a less than tasty treat to refine me breath, so I thank ye for the concern, but I''ll take ye up on ye offer.¡± ¡°In confused interjection, Hunter those fruits are-¡± ¡°I am sure he''ll be fine, Reff; we all were.¡± Darina¡¯s voice was pointed, but I could see the risi did not get it; I would explain later, but for now I was just hoping the man could take as well as he could give. Pulling out one of the fruits, I handed it to the mercenary, making sure to keep my face straight. The Wicker Man ¡°I cannot believe ye let me eat that, I thought me stomach was going to up''n rebel on me.¡± We were running East towards the Elder¡¯s personal domain, the light from the fire serving as a guide as it lit the sky from below. Well, I say we were running, but Cad was actually moving at closer to a brisk walk, his legs blurring as he tagged along with little to no apparent effort. ¡°Perhaps in future you¡¯ll maybe explain before breathing on people you¡¯re not fighting.¡± Darina¡¯s words were clipped and precise, and on the surface, they were edged with anger, but I had known the diminutive hellion for long enough at that point that I knew she was trying not to laugh. The apprentice might seem dour most of the time, but I knew at least some of that was her trying to live up to the position of being an Apex¡¯s apprentice, or at least the way she saw it. I had seen her master drinking booze with Walker and Aella, so I was not at all sure the position required any extra dignity, but that was a bit of a sore subject, and I did not want to get punched more than absolutely necessary. ¡°Generally, people are grateful for me breath, lass. Life o¡¯the-¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s why you¡¯re in trouble with the Alchemist Association. All of the gratitude.¡± ¡°Okay, fine, that¡¯s a point made fairly, but other than that lot, I¡¯ll be havin¡¯ ye know I¡¯m in demand.¡± ¡°Yes, I can absolutely accept that you¡¯re wanted in several cities.¡± Wincing a little at the wordplay, I maneuverer as close as I could to Darina¡¯s side and whispered ¨C as much as was possible ¨C in her ear. ¡°Darina, he¡¯s at least somewhere in the high Foundation stage, maybe don¡¯t antagonise him more than we have?¡± Flicking her red-jade eyes my way, the apprentice winked at me and I almost tripped over a root at very high speeds. ¡°Ye don¡¯t have to worry on me account, Sparky; I have five older sisters, I am well used to the needle¡¯s point.¡± Shrugging and glad that it seemed the apprentice''s sharp tongue was not going to antagonise an ally, I kept running. I was a little surprised that he had heard me, but at that point I was past the point of being astonished by such minor things. As we moved swiftly closer to the phoenix¡¯s domain, I began to hear several strange sounds in the distance, like the disparate notes of some strange instrument, high pitched and discordant. It did not take long for the edge of the gentle inferno to come into sight, as and it did the mysterious sound was made gruesomely clear. A dozen people were held aloft in condensed columns of spinning golden flame, just within the edge of the licking sea of fire. They were all screaming as their flesh was burnt to ash and reformed between moments. Horrified, I came to a stop, staring in mute shock and wincing at the volume of the screams, now unmuffled by tree or distance. No throat, human or otherwise should be able to scream like that, not so loud or for so long, but with sick realisation, it came to me that the fire was healing them totally; it was not just the ashen flesh being renewed, but their throats as well. ¡°Holy shit.¡± ¡°This Elder takes none too kindly to eggnappers, eh?¡± ¡°In mild shock, while I wish this group nothing but ill-will for their assault upon my home and people, I would simply end their lives. This seems... evil.¡± ¡°With resolute anger, these people attempted to kill us all, sister. They hold little respect for life, and while this punishment may seem cruel, it is perhaps what they deserve.¡± ¡°An Elder is not an Apex; Flame Ever Dancing spent most of their life as a beast. They are not evil, but cruel... yes. Nature is cruel.¡± Silence hung around us for several seconds after Darina spoke, broken only by the screams of the ever-dying and the snap of flame. Eventually, I gave to thoughts that I was sure was tugging at each of us. ¡°So... maybe we didn¡¯t need to, uh, ¡®help¡¯? Flame Ever Dancing seems to have it handled.¡± ¡°Aye, mayhap we should leave it a while. As much trust as I place in your burning-murder-fruit, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll stand up to that.¡± ¡°In hesitant consideration, we cannot know that those we stopped would have been caught in such a way. It is possible they were meant to meet and work together, and that the absence of those we met resulted in the capture of these others.¡± ¡°... Should we make sure? Cad¡¯s sort of right, I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s worth trying, but we should all be whitelisted, right?¡± ¡°With persistent confusion, I do not know that we are on any kind of list, or why the colour would matter, Hunter. But if you mean that we should remain unharmed within the conflagration, I believe we can trust the Elder¡¯s word.¡± ¡°Okay, well, how about you try sticking your hand in, Darina? Yours will grow back if it gets burned off. I¡¯d give it a try, but I¡¯d rather not be fully disarmed.¡± ¡°I suppose that makes sense... fine.¡± I beamed at the apprentice who glowered back at me, clearly not a fan of the idea, but also not really having a counter argument. Squaring her shoulders, she marched across the remaining distance to the fire, her head tilted upwards to glance at the burning figures. Darina stood there at the edge, hesitating for a long second before suddenly jamming her arm into the inferno and held it there before turning back to us. ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± ¡°You heard the lady! Uh, Cad, maybe hold back a moment? I¡¯ll try to put in a good word?¡± ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll... just head back to the Association? It doesn¡¯t seem much like you¡¯ll be needing me assistance at this point.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°You¡¯ve come this far ¨C and eaten the Blazing Mango ¨C you might as well, if only for the story?¡± ¡°Life o¡¯the party I may be, but I¡¯m not sure a story is worth the risk o¡¯that.¡± The mercenary pointed into the flames and I had to admit that he was probably right; I knew that if it was not for my quest I would not be anywhere near the place. Or at least the old me would not be here, but the new me? I was kind of grateful for the quest, after all, it was proving to be a hell of an experience. Sudden weight loss notwithstanding. ¡°Well, it¡¯s up to you, Cad. I don¡¯t know what good it will do, but the next time I¡¯m in Everwood City, I¡¯ll ask Ben Won Ro to put in a good word for you.¡± ¡°...Master Ben Won Ro? Of the Alchemist Association?¡± ¡°Yeah, do you know him?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a bit well known, aye. Fine, let¡¯s go see an Elder.¡± I grinned, slapping him on the shoulder and walked with my friends into the wall of fire; it was definitely hotter in there than it had been the last time, though I could barely feel it; it was more a sense that the air was moving a lot, like a breeze that was almost the same temperature as my skin. ¡°Uh, hi, Your Elderness. It¡¯s me, uh, Hunter. And Reff, Riffa and Darina. You probably know that? Anyway, we stopped some of the thieves, though you seem to have that handled. We brought one of the Alchemy Association guards who helped out, is he okay, uh, coming in?¡± I felt a sudden attention and assent before it faded, a brief ache in my Core the only discomfort this time around. Gesturing to Cad to enter the flame, I noticed that I could no longer hear the screams, but glancing up I saw that they remained writhing in their columns and I shuddered; they were pretty shitty people, in the same way that Hannibal Lector was a pretty shitty vegetarian, but I was not sure anyone deserved what was happening to them. ¡°This is weirdest damn place I¡¯ve ever stepped foot in.¡± I looked down again to find that Cad had joined us and was looking around at the blazing landscape with a curious expression, rubbing at his almost-neat beard and casually spinning the long-hammer around his fist. ¡°It¡¯s cool, right?¡± ¡°Hunter, now is not the time for your nonsense. Let¡¯s get moving. ¡°The lass is right; I¡¯d bet an edge this place is damned hot if the Elder has a mind for it.¡± Rolling my eyes, I saw both Riffa open her mouth, and knowing Reff I was willing to bet he was not far behind; before either of the risi could add their own misconceptions, I held up my hands. ¡°Right, what was I thinking, again. Not like we¡¯ve been over-you know what, never mind. Let''s go.¡± * *** * We arrived at the clearing with the rock spire again without trouble or any further sign of the thieves. As before, the trees around the edges were occupied by phoenixes, their strangely cold gazes locked on us as we stepped into the clear ground. ¡°You have returned. I told you we would have little trouble in intercepting any potential thieves, and you saw the proof at the edge of my Domain.¡± The Elder sat cross-legged in their sunset-coloured robe at the base of the spire, the egg cradled in the hollow of their lap. ¡°In hurried agreement, you were correct, Elder Flame Ever Dancing. It appears that our assistance was not necessary.¡± ¡°Honestly, we thought the man we mentioned ¨C the one that can cloud senses ¨C would be trying to distract you, but I guess we over thought it, your Elderness.¡± ¡°A portion of my senses has indeed been clouded, though it seems whichever fool controls such a power does not know it¡¯s effects as well as they may think.¡± I frowned at the news that Shadow Faced Guy was actually clouding the Elder¡¯s perception; she seemed as aware as ever at our entrance, and had obviously intercepted the poor bastards we had seen at the border. ¡°If I may beg more information from you, Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing?¡± Darina bowed as she spoke and I turned my attention back to the humanoid phoenix¡¯s solid gold eyes, an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. ¡°In the area they obscure, I can sense nothing; it is irritating, and had I not a young one to hatch, I would venture out to crush them. But it is only an irritant, as it does not prevent me from sensing elsewhere in my Domain.¡± ¡°So, the only say approach for them is in the direction he¡¯s causing the distraction in? Does his... fog... reach you here?¡± ¡°It does, and so our watchers cast their gazes between there and here, and the stronger of my flock fly in search.¡± Something was not lining up there; did Shadows Faced Guy really not know how his power worked? I had had some issues with the way my own abilities worked, but that was mostly right after getting them and I had certainly learned my lessons when it came to testing. ¡°It seems the fool has been found; the obscuring cloud has dispersed.¡± I felt my eyes widen as the Elder spoke again, and I will admit to more than a little shock. As insane as the chain-wielding asshole had seemed, and as quick to flee in the face of Apex level might, this seemed like a lot of trouble to go through just to leave. I opened my mouth to ask a question, but as I did the world to my right side dissolved and a hole appeared in the world and from it shadow poured. Like a black mist driven by wind, it billowed out and where it touched, flame was painted grey. With a flicker of will, I Focused hard and the world slowed down around me, but even in that state I did not see the Elder move; there was a snap and a roar and they were simply standing, egg still cradled but now in the crook of their arm. Fire spun and snapping and ripping around them like a beast clawing for release, the heat blisteringly hot even with their forbearance, even from where I stood. ¡°What is this?! You would dare invade my Domain? I will burn you to ash for an eternity!¡± Flame Ever Dancing¡¯s voice had changed; where once it has been sonorous and melodic, now it pierced through me, pitched high and as sharp as a knife. From the gaping wound in reality, a figure stepped, its motions familiar though the figure was not. As sudden as a spider, another thing emerged, its body covered in a thick layer of something transparent, like glass or ice. Beneath the ice, its flesh was as pale as a corpse, though its arms and head were darker. Upon its head was a crown of black, jagged metal though it looked more like it was nailed to its head, rather than sitting there. The Elder wasted no further words and the flames roiled and surged around us, pressing in and churning around the invader; I expected it to be consumed in an instant, but to my amazement, whether by some power of its own or by some effect of the boiling black, it stood against the fiery storm, though I could see a noticeable reduction in whatever substance coated it. With a cry that I am sure damaged my ears, the Elder vanished, as did the crowned creeper. I could not see the fight, but I could feel it, like a bass drum, hammering in a staccato rhythm that seemed more like a constant vibration. My companions seemed as shocked as I felt, staring around us trying to catch a glimpse of the titanic fight that had to be occurring all around us. The fact that the Risen Throne had somebody that could stand up to an Elder ¨C even for a moment ¨C was a truly terrifying prospect. As I swivelled my head back and forth, I saw another hole in space bore into existence and black chains flowed into the clearing alongside more of the shadow-stuff, though their owner stayed safely on the other side. I recognised the chains, of course, as they were the same chains that had torn my arm off. Without thinking, I ran towards the new portal, anger rising unbidden within me once again but I stumbled as the ground shook, a crater opening to my right with Crownman at its centre. Finding my footing again, I looked down to see the clear coating all but gone, with thousands of cracks running through the armoured surface. Before I could react further the ground shook again and the crater expanded to reveal Flame Ever Dancing crouched on the thing¡¯s chest, their face a bestial mask of hate, the egg still held in one hand. From the corner of my eye, I saw the chains move and with a flash of insight I ran for the gate, even as Crownman locked its hands about the Elder¡¯s ankles. Without hesitation, the midnight links flicked out and snatched the egg free of the phoenix¡¯s grasp. If I had not moved in advance, I would never have made it, but my head start had given me just enough time to reach the gate as the egg was pulled across the distance in an instant. ¡°...GRAB!¡± Look for the Truth The gaping hollow in space snapped shut as the chain vanished through it, cutting off the flow of black; this close, it was touching me and I could feel it entering me everywhere it touched, and where it touched Praxis vanished; even the lightning arcing from my body faded and vanished as it pulsed from the strange substance. The sudden loss of power, and the visible manifestation of it, almost panicked me, but what I held in my hand made me grin, countering the effect somewhat; the egg, whole and burning bright sat within my remaining palm. I had snatched it from the thieving chain¡¯s embrace, hoping desperately that it was small enough to fit within the mysterious limits of my compressed time. Luckily, with my hand roughly at its middle, it did seem to extend far enough to not cut the egg as my sword had been. Or living things just interacted differently? I should experiment, though I was not sure how ethical such tests could be. After half a moment, still caught somewhere between panic at my creeping loss and exultation at me last millisecond win, I saw the draining fog move, and seeing the dark mist eddying towards the unborn phoenix, I held it above my head and backed away as quickly as I could, though that was slower than I would have liked, as the energy in my channels was being consumed as fast as it could cycle through me. ¡°Don¡¯t touch the black stuff! And why does everything eat me?¡± I shouted as I finally backed out of its reach. There came a subdued boom and Flame Ever Dancing appeared next to me, their solid gold eyes boring into my own. Without a word, I handed the egg back, and with a grateful nod, they once more vanished. Looking around, I saw my friends stood where I had left them, though they now seemed clad for battle, with both Reff and Darina clad once more in their respective protective layers. Half a dozen massive sand puppets clustered around Riffa, their exquisitely detailed faces swivelling about. Cad merely stood with his long-hammer cantered back over his shoulder, looking around with a vicious grin on his face. I looked around for the Elder; not seeing them immediately in the clearing, I looked up at the rock spire and finally found them sitting atop it, arms wrapped around their egg protectively. Looking down, I saw the crater in which Crownman still lay and grew worried; the Elder had seemed to deal with it easily enough, but if it was anything like McCreepy, it was going to get back up, and anything that could survive, however briefly, against the phoenix would probably make short work of me and my companions. As I gazed at the hole, my fears came true and with a snapping sound like cracking ice, the dead-looking thing was suddenly on its feet. The frigid armour that had so thickly coated it was but a slick, still shrinking brushing of cool water by then, with even the spiders-web of fractures having faded as a result of the melting. I dropped into a crouch, ready to defend myself ¨C for what it was worth ¨C but rather than attack, a medallic, buzzing voice rang out in the clearing, Crownman as its source. ¡°We must say, we are no longer amused by your interference, Little Snack. We will see you again, once I am back. When next we meet, we hope you will appreciate our mercy.¡± The cold, metallic voice sounded furious, or as furious as a sound with so little expression could sound. A shiver ran through me as I thought about fighting Shadow Faced Guy, or any of his corpse-ical friends. Turning my attention back to the frightful creature, as the last echoes of the voice faded, a patch of ice near one shoulder finally faded completely, and the flesh beneath was immediately reduced to drifting motes of ash; unlike the unfortunates we had come across earlier, this wound was not healed. It seemed Flame Ever Dancing just wanted to be done with the thing. Without a sound at the destroyed shoulder, and without warning, the thing vanished through the hole in creation, which snapped shut behind it, leaving the still falling arm to disintegrate and scatter. With the doorways closed and the black no longer being fed, the reaching tendrils quickly faded; they did not burn up, but rather simply seemed to cease existing. With a grimace, I turned my attention inwards to focus on my Core and was shocked at what I found; my Core thrummed fast enough to seem a drone, as if I was almost dry. I had used a lot of Praxis in my first fight, but nowhere near this much. Thinking back to the mist consuming my energy, it had been so brief that while it had obviously not been desirable, I had not thought it a massive threat, and yet it had seemingly drained far more than I had suspected. A few more moments in that stuff may have actually killed me, draining me beyond empty. I had no idea how I could possibly fight such a thing; it could just be a natural property of whatever world they had come from ¨C the trees from the Black back on Sigil World had drained energy ¨C but it lined up too well with how the madman was always talking about eating people. I had plans for my points, but I knew that once I had my second, I could be spending time trying to find something that could prevent that particular scenario. Passive murder-mist was a hell of an advantage to have in a fight, and if I could not find a way to counter it, I would need to spend all my time around Apexes, and while I had nothing specifically against that idea, I was not sure the jobs Xiournal had in store for me would allow it. ¡°Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing, if I may ask, why did you allow that... thing to escape?¡± I looked around to see that Darina had retracted her flesh-shaped armour and was staring up at where the Elder in question sat, a look of respectful curiosity on her face. I had to admit, it was a good question; the Elder was clearly fast enough to have prevented it, and while Crownman had survived the brief altercation, it had very clearly been on the losing side of the conflict. Another boom sounded and the Elder was once again before us, the egg still held protectively close. With a sniff and a look of disdain, Flame Ever Dancing spoke, her gaze directed at the diminutive apprentice. ¡°Normally, I would not deign to explain myself, however you and your flock have done me two great services, and two lesser ones. So, I shall sate your curiosity, this time. Once the strange portal opened, my perceptions were blocked, as they were before, and I allowed myself to be distracted by the merely mundane. The ice-thing shone darkly within my sight, and the clear resistance to my Domain angered me. Despite the fact that it was clearly a temporary circumstance, I allowed my rage to take control.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I nodded along as they spoke; I knew if I suddenly lost a sense and was challenged so openly, I would probably also overreact, though I expected a little more from an Elder, though perhaps I should not, given that despite all their power, they were still just people. ¡°When my egg was snatched, I realised it had all been a distraction, a deliberate provocation that I had fallen for.¡± The elder paused, a note of self-reproach entering their voice. ¡°Luckily, you are apparently far faster than you should be, Hunter. Thank you for returning my egg, again.¡± I smiled at her and offered a thumbs up, and spoke when she did not seem to get it. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, Elder Flame Ever Dancing. Just glad I was in the right place at the right time.¡± ¡°Ye do seem to be a lucky one, Sparky. We should have a talk once we¡¯re done.¡± I looked at Cad questioningly, but shrugged after a second, turning my attention back to the phoenix, indicating an apology for interrupting, and for them to go on. ¡°Yes. Well. The shock of losing my egg snapped me out of my rage, and I realised that my Domain would swiftly crumple the pathetic thing to ash without my physical intervention, and so I left it in favour of protecting that which is important. And when it left, the same. I would not - will not ¨C be so distracted again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry if this is rude, but, how did that thing keep up with you as much as it did? As an Apex ¨C sorry, Elder, shouldn''t your first punch just have... exploded it?¡± The Elder looked at me, their delicate eyebrows raised in question. It was actually Reff who answered me, though he seemed hesitant to speak on behalf of the phoenix. ¡°With the requisite understanding, an Apex is physically as powerful as a Peak Pinnacle stage cultivator, Hunter. While their abilities are far more powerful, on a merely physical level, they are equal. Though there are perhaps some ¨C like the Apex of the Unfettered Frame, or perhaps the Crystal Drake, for whom this may not apply.¡± That was definitely something to think about ¨C I had been thinking of an Apex, or an Elder, as the stage after Pinnacle, but I supposed that did not make sense, if you Ascended after Pinnacle. I thought back to the uncountable number of swords Walker had summoned, and at the scale of the power of lesser cultivators I had met; I did not know that I had met any at the Pinnacle, except maybe Ro, but those at the Foundation stage had certainly not been even a tenth as powerful. I would need to ask Walker the next time I saw him. ¡°Hunter, wherever you are from, it¡¯s weird that you know so little about the world.¡± ¡°Why, where be Sparky from, lass?¡± ¡°Very far away. You won¡¯t have heard of it.¡± I interrupted before the conversation could progress too far; Darina was curious enough on her own, I did not need her to start a club dedicated to ferreting out my secrets. ¡°It is as your large friend says, Hunter. The thing did not seem to be at the Pinnacle, but it was something close to it. Perhaps a thing from another world?¡± ¡°Wow, that makes sense, your Elderness. I visited another world a couple of months ago, and they had Apex analogues, but using a completely different system. I wonder what sort of system produced these things?¡± ¡°You visited another world? Didn¡¯t you say you weren¡¯t a blasted Apex, Sparky? I mean, Hunter...¡± ¡°Indeed, it is most curious that you say you have visited another world; I knew you speak truly, and yet you are neither an Apex or an Elder. Perhaps you are from another world yourself, and user of a parallel system?¡± Slapping myself mentally, I spoke quickly, trying to cover. ¡°I jumped through one of those hole things. I didn¡¯t get myself there. This is the only system I have; I swear.¡± The Elder accepted my words with a sniff, seeming to dismiss it; they knew, obviously, as they could apparently discern truth from fiction, and while I had not supplied all of the truth, it was still truth. Cad was a little more leery, his grey eyes narrowed in consideration as he rubbed at his almost-neat beard. Darina was giving me her, ¡®I¡¯ll figure it out¡¯ look, but I was used to that, though I knew I would have to stop handing her ammunition. ¡°With sudden recollection, you said you were being eaten, Hunter; by what?¡± I looked over at Reff, his still armoured form looking like a glowing orange Batman with the hole he had made for his mouth. I gave him a smile, grateful that he had interrupted before either Cad or Darina could think of another question. ¡°That black stuff, it just sort of... cancelled out my Praxis. I¡¯m almost empty, and I was only in there for a second.¡± ¡°Praxis? You¡¯re damned fast for a Path stage, Sparky.¡± ¡°Yeah, I lost some weight recently. Really sped me up.¡± I waved my stump at him. He chuckled, once more leaning on his hammer. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit, Sparky. Judging by the torn sleeve, that was fairly recent. Good for you, not letting it get to ye.¡± ¡°Thanks, but at the moment I¡¯m more concerned with that black stuff. How are we supposed to fight that?¡± ¡°In theoretical extrapolation, the cloud did not seem to grow once it was exposed to the Elder¡¯s flames; the movement of the blackness suggested a great deal of it was passing through the hole, but its size remained constant.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Riffa. It came after the egg, and definitely latched onto me.¡± ¡°Perhaps the energy an Elder ¨C or Apex ¨C makes use of is too much for it to consume. If, as... Riffa suggests, it was being expended to exist within my Domain, it sought out... lower orders of power.¡± ¡°The Shadow ¨C Shade did seem keen on not meeting an Apex ¨C or Elder ¨C both times I¡¯ve met him. I had thought that just a sensible precaution, but maybe ¨C despite being able to cloud your senses ¨C his powers, whatever they are, don¡¯t really work on Apexes?¡± ¡°Now wait a minute, if this Shady fella can make doors between worlds, as ye said, doesn¡¯t that make him an Apex his own self?¡± ¡°No, Apex portals are different. They¡¯re not holes, they¡¯re more like... glowing tunnels.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve seen those too? Void and violate, should I be expecting a god or two to show up next? Is Weilou or Dalle behind one of these trees?!¡± ¡°Uh, haven¡¯t met any gods, but those two are the Apex of the Mountain¡¯s Seed¡¯s brother and sister, this is the Apex of the Mending Flesh¡¯s apprentice and I¡¯m sort of the apprentice for the Apex of the Infinite Blades. Just to provide some transparency.¡± ¡°You barely qualify, Hunter.¡± ¡°I just said-¡± ¡°You guys are a blasted strange lot. What¡¯ve I got meself into? I bet me Ma¡¯d be havin¡¯ a right laugh at me expense, if she could see me now.¡± Ignoring the Hammer wielder, who seemed to be trying to waft his own breath back onto his face, but grateful for the interruption, I turned back to the matter at hand. ¡°So our only way of combatting whatever that was directly, at the moment, is with an Apex. The Risen Throne also apparently has access to hard-to-kill almost-Pinnacle things. Anything else?¡± ¡°He opened a door directly here; why? We based our plan on him not being able to, and it seemed to be correct based on the fact he was sending in other parties. So, if he could do what he did, why waste the manpower?¡± It was a good question and I nodded along as the apprentice spoke. Why had they sent all those parties, if they could do what they did? And if the Shadow Faced Guy could target an area so easily, why had he not taken the egg back before we reached the Elder in the first place? Sure, we moved a lot, but the mooks had found us, and surely if they could locate us, and know where we were going, he could have simply made a portal, step through, and wait? ¡°We were right, but something changed. Something allowed him to pinpoint this location from another world: What?¡± All in Your Mind ¡°It has to be us, somehow.¡± My mind raced as I considered the possibilities; there had simply been too many opportunities for the Risen Throne to kill us on our way; we¡¯d been away from Walker and the other Apexes for more than a month, there shouldn¡¯t have been a need to wait. Which left something changing with us... which really left Cad. ¡°Why¡¯re ye looking at me like that? Anyfool¡¯d think I¡¯d stolen ye best jug.¡± ¡°With calming assertion, you are the only variable to change since we set out, Cad. When presented with two or more equally predictive theories in regards to the same deduction, the theory that requires the fewest assumptions is usually the correct one.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ye be comin¡¯ at me with ye damned law of parsimony; that uttered without evidence can be dismissed without bother, as my Ma says. Maybe they just found young Sparky¡¯s hand? That looks to be fairly recent, aye?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a fair point, Cad. That asshole did take my arm fairly recently. Could that work?¡± I looked around at the group; my question was not really directed at anybody in particular. My lack of general knowledge made it difficult to guess what was actually possible, sometimes. ¡°By which asshole? This asshole, the group of crazy, deluded, crazy bastards attacking a da-an Elder? Well, there ye go, ye damned conclusion jumpi-¡± ¡°We have no way to be sure, this is all just speculation! For all we know, he has a crush on Reff and he can follow his love anywhere!¡± ¡°With a great deal of doubt, I do not think that is the case, Darina. We have only met once, and we did not converse. To form such an attraction after so limited an interaction seems unlikely.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a damned fine sense of humour there, Biggun.¡± ¡°I was just pointing out that we don¡¯t really know how his abilities work, Reff,¡± the Apprentice said, her tone patient for once. ¡°Let¡¯s all calm down. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to try again, now their gambit¡¯s failed. We¡¯ve all been in close proximity with this group recently, let''s check ourselves and make sure we haven¡¯t been bugged or marked.¡± ¡°I guarantee you¡¯ve been bugged, Sparky; have you see the bastard insects in this damned jungle?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean, I mean... I mean some means of listening in or tracking us.¡± ¡°Then why not just say that? You have some weird idioms, Sparky.¡± ¡°I think I like you, Cad. Sorry about the mango, we should have warned you.¡± ¡°Never ye mind, lass. As I said, I have five older sisters, who all had very definite ideas about me lackadaisical tendencies. And me Ma was a dab hand with a switch...¡± Cad rubbed nervously at his neck, looking around as if expecting one of his relatives to burst out of the foliage. ¡°With focusing resolve, it is a good idea. We should all check for... ¡®bugs¡¯.¡± I gave Riffa a thumbs up, which she returned to me with barely a trace of confusion; my friends were getting used to me, which was something I liked, given that it made communication easier, but I was not entirely sure it was a good thing. I did not want everyone thinking they were weird... We each took a few seps away from one another and began to go over ourselves carefully, looking for any objects that could have been placed upon our person. I finished fairly quickly, as I did not have any pockets, and while I found a few bits of plant matter and what looked like an insect leg, as explained earlier, that was not the kind of bug I was looking for. ¡°I¡¯m just going to go behind a tree and try and, uh, look for marks. Be right back.¡± I moved behind a tree at the edge of the clearing, making sure it did not have a phoenix in it; I knew that Flame Ever Dancing would be able to perceive me, but she could perceive me through my clothes, I was pretty sure so ¨C ok, so we were definitely idiots. Walking about out from around the tree, I could see the others moving off to find tree of their own, so I quickly shouted, asking them to come back. They each moved back towards me, offering me questioning looks. ¡°So, we were being kind of dumb. Uh, Elder Flame Ever Dancing, can you check us to see if we have any sort of tracking, or marks, or... anything... on us?¡± The Elder was sat crossed legged now, cooing softly at their egg, but hearing my question, the humanoid phoenix stood and, after a moment, pointed at Cad without hesitation, head tilting to the side. ¡°The only oddity is in this one¡¯s pocket; it is difficult to sense, barely there. I can just feel the stone and leather. Did you bring these thieves down upon me, boy? Tell me, from where do you come, so I may offer them proper... gratitude." ¡°Me pocket?!¡± Cad¡¯s voice was higher than was normal, his grey eyes wide as he slapped at his pockets furiously before drawing out a Risen Throne pendant. ¡°This? Sparky gave me this, I swear yerHonouredElderosity! I had nothin¡¯ to do with wi¡¯all this nonsense!¡± I raised my eyebrows, thinking back to the scene in which we had met the hammer-wielder. I had indeed given the pendant to him, after taking it off the body of one of the two he had killed. I remembered him placing it in his pocket, and thinking nothing of it at the time; but why his pocket? I had seen pockets, but they mostly seemed to be for convenience, nobody seemed to store anything there long-term, instead opting for storage devices, like my rings. To be fair, my sample was limited to very successful people, but surely a Foundation stage mercenary counted amongst the successful? The Legion commander we had met, Nadja, had been at the Foundation stage and she was certainly successful, though her abilities were also somewhat more impressive than boozy breath, but still... The Elder nodded and the pendant flare red and then white hot before exploding into vapor, all in the space of a second; with wide eyes of my own, I flung my hands up before I had chance to register the fact that my Precognition had not triggered, or that I was fine. Neither the heat or force of the exploding necklace had reached me, or any of my friends. I had thought Reff¡¯s ability to control heat had been pretty amazing, but I guess an Elder level fire user had to be on a whole other level. Thinking back to Crownman, I was even more astonished that the rime-covered thing had withstood the flames for as long as it had.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I was about to ask Cad why he had placed it in his pocket, rather than storing it when a smoky grey, crystalline tablet popper into existence in the centre of my vision.
Assignment Received... Difficulty C+ (Revised)¡­ Time Limit: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes.
Cure the Phoenix Plague and return the Phoenix Egg to its parent.
Bonus Reward: Do Not cause a Calamity.
Status: Complete! Bonus Reward Gained!
Please choose: 1) Purchase new Red Ability. 2) Upgrade Red Ability. 3) Purchase Green Ability. 4) Defer Reward.
I had not seen Xiournal¡¯s prompt in a while; knowing my objective and time limit, I had not seen the point in checking recently, but I was gratified to see that the difficulty appeared to have been upgraded, which was a relief. If dealing with mysterious people and organizations, with members far stronger than me had only been an F, I had been sort of dreading heading into high difficulties. Dismissing the images of all my scrapes with death, I mentally selected option 3; I had been planning on purchasing Shape Energy (Lightning) which was an ability I had seen in my long days of checking through the list of abilities. The ability did not have a Red equivalent, and I had dismissed it on my initial pass as I had no idea if I would have energy to shape, but it was largely similar to Soul Constructs, with the obvious limitation that it required lightning. Now, I know it may not sound great in comparison, given they share the same tier, but what it lacked I convenience it made up for in the added effects of the energy you were shaping, and it not directly wounding your soul. It would allow me to construct weapons from my lightning, possibly even bypassing the limitation of my time compressing abilities. But please note, I said I had been planning on buying it, right up until that last fight. With a sigh, I focused on another ability I had dismissed, images of coruscating blades and chains flittering through my mind¡¯s eye. Undrainable was a workmanlike name for an ability, but it did exactly what it said; ¡®Your energy is your own; it cannot be taken from you by any means, unless to not do so would harm you directly.¡¯ The metadata I got along with the description suggested it might stop me getting cold, but would not allow me to be boiled alive by my own retained heat. It also suggested that all Experience would stay mine, regardless of what was trying to take it. Again, I had not given this ability much thought, as it was fairly niche on the surface, but my run-in with the black stuff had changed my mind; a second or two had been almost enough to kill me, and that seemed like a fairly unassailable disadvantage without something to counter it. I had also heard Walker mention vampires at least once, and I had spent enough time being awake at night for two lifetimes. With a mental click, I selected Undrainable and dismissed the grey window, focusing once again on my companions, who were all staring at me. It took me an embarrassingly long couple of seconds to realise why; from their perspective, I had shielded my eyes and then just... stared into space for half a minute. ¡°Sorr-¡± As I began to speak, the prompt sprang back into existence, this time bearing a new quest.
Assignment Received... Difficulty B+¡­ Time Limit: 1 year, 13 days, 18 hours, 59 minutes.
Prevent the escape of Anan Al¡¯monhad.
Bonus Reward: Prevent the death of Anan Al¡¯monhad.
¡°Really, Xiournal? Again, with the vague?¡± I swiped the tablet away again, irritated by the lack of helpful details, only to find myself the recipient of even more strange stares, specifically from Cad and Darina. Recalling my recent decision to offer them no further ammunition for their curiosities, take a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. ¡°Before you ask, it doesn¡¯t matter. Somebody sent me a message, and it was very irritating. Anyway, Cad; why did you put the pendant into your pocket instead of storing it?¡± ¡°I just bloody answered that, ye damned moon-brained fool.¡± ¡°You did? Wait, what? What¡¯s moon-brained supposed to mean? Like, it¡¯s huge? No, no, forget it. I probably don¡¯t want to know. I¡¯m sorry I missed your answer, Cad; I guess I was more distracted by my message than I thought.¡± ¡°With accommodating tolerance, Cad does not possess a storage device currently. It was... confiscated by his superior under suspicion of containing... contraband.¡± ¡°Aye, that¡¯s the truth. But it¡¯s all a big mistake, that stuff was for sampling new substances to maybe add to me Focus.¡± ¡°Wait, add to your Focus? Aren¡¯t you at the Foundation stage?¡± ¡°Oh, aye. But my Focus is actually to sample, reproduce and emit substances; it¡¯s not just producin¡¯; booze, ye know. ¡®Tis actually what got me the job in the first place, as it¡¯s similar to the directions many alchemists head in. Though, their delivery tends to be less... fun.¡± ¡°You mean indiscriminate?¡± ¡°I mean fun, lass. But aye, I¡¯m sure ye could characterise it that way, should ye have a mind too.¡± ¡°But how¡¯re you expected to carry enough water to travel to deliver your message, without a storage item?¡± I interrupted the two before they could antagonise each other; I did not think it would lead to any trouble, given their respective personalities, but better safe than sorry. ¡°Well, Sparky, I can run damned fast, as a Foundation stage cultivator,¡± Cad puffed his chest out and looked smug... for a full second before cracking a grin. ¡°But they gave me these new pills developed in Everwood City that hydrate ye for th¡¯ day. Amazing things! If I actually manage to give meself a hangover, they¡¯re like tiny balls of mercy.¡± ¡°Oh wow, you have some too? Tang said they were new, I didn¡¯t realise they were for sale outside of Ro¡¯s shop, but I guess it makes sense that he''d provide the recipe to the Association.¡± ¡°Oh, aye, ye said ye knew Master Ben Won Ro. And that ye¡¯d put in a good word.¡± ¡°I was definitely planning on it, but I have to ask ¨C and I¡¯m sorry ¨C but how do we know you¡¯re telling the truth about the storage device?¡± ¡°He is telling the truth.¡± I looked at Flame Ever Dancing, who was sat once more and had answered without looking up. ¡°Well, I guess that answers that. Pure, unfortunate coincidence. I¡¯m usually pretty Lucky, but looking back over the last few months, it does seem like a bit of a mixed bag.¡± ¡°You are definitely more lucky than good, given the speed of your progress and my experience with you.¡± ¡°Thanks, Darina. It¡¯s good to know you¡¯ll always be there to keep my vast ego in check.¡± As I spoke, my voice was deadpan, but that fact seemed to fly right over Darina¡¯s head, as she nodded, putting on a face I thought was meant to look wise. ¡°Speakin¡¯ o¡¯ lucky, I wanted to have a chat with ye about that; me Path is one ¡®fate, ye se. I twist probability around me to bring meself fortune in battle, at the cost o¡¯ me opponents. Damned effective, especially when they¡¯re smashed off their feet. But I noticed some odd interference comin¡¯ off¡¯o¡¯ yer person. Do ye happen to have some fate-fuckery in yer own Path?¡± I fought to keep my face straight as Cad spoke; I had never expected anybody to actually be able to detect the abilities Xiournal had given me, but I guessed that it sort of made sense, if the effects were related. Of course, I did not want to get into all that; I had no idea what other terrible things Agents had got up to on that world and so naming myself one openly by explaining seemed like a bad idea. It did not help that I was a few feet from a living lie-detector... ¡°No, my Focus is lightning related, and my Path is... I think time related.¡± ¡°Ye think?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s new. Only been on my Path for a week or so.¡± ¡°Damn, that¡¯s pretty new, Sparky. Maybe it¡¯s got some facets ye aint aware o¡¯yet.¡± ¡°Sure. That¡¯s a possibility.¡± Second Interlude - Rite of Passage A host of dead stood before the walls of a city, their forms held animate by chains of Experience and will. They were linked together by, and operated, under the Manifold Mind of William Barka, who stood at the host¡¯s head in a suit of shining silver. To William¡¯s left stood a golem of reforged flesh, the Links of a dozen lesser dead flowing between it and the silent army, and to the soul caged within by chains of meat and bone. The amalgamated body of his strongest soldiers stood as testament that William has achieved the rank of Monarch upon the cold, dark world on which he had found himself. Unlike those others who thought to rule those lands, who farmed the living to reap their armies, the silver-clad man who stood before that city had killed each of his army personally, choosing only those most fit. Between one moment and the next, the smile William wore slipped, and he tilted his head as he spoke, his voice echoing through the golem by his side as if spoken by the sky itself. ¡°Emperor of the Ash Rose Empire, your time has ended; I have come to claim your lands and people. Surrender, and I will make your final end swift, and I will spare the majority of your herds." The ex-Earthling had considered this war from every possible angle, his Manifold Mind spending a combined thousand years calculating and analysing; this siege was but the final step, having defeated the armies sent against him with, so far, little effort. As he awaited the response he knew would come, minds forming and collapsing within him almost constantly, the faces of his army came together and fell to nothing within his mind¡¯s eye; each imagined face was of their last moments, fear and despair written large on skin. A strange sensation flared to life within him as he contemplated and dismissed the strange images; the sensation, and the images had come more and more over the course of his year-long war. ¡°Pitiful Monarch, you think to end an Emperor? I have no final end, fool. I am eternal. I will crush you, as I have crushed all that came before you.¡± Shaking off the alien thoughts, William re-focused upon the figure stood above the giant gates, a golem of his own stood to one side; he was a creature of angles and bones, his skin corpse-pale in the dim beneath grey clouds. William had known he would say something along those lines, of course. They had lived that moment a thousand times, though those times had lacked the feelings, they were largely irrelevant to his plans. With a minor effort of will, a bullet roughly the size of the Agent¡¯s fist formed and vanished with the snap of the sound barrier breaking, and atop the wall, the Emperor¡¯s head vanished in a spray of gore and bone-shrapnel. Simple plans, William knew from long experience, had the least number of possible points of failure. A shared reaction echoed out through their many minds. Their golem, along with two more, surged forward, their unfeeling fists falling like a rain of hammer-blows against the ancient wood of the city gates. The wood shattered beneath the blows of the golems, as the simple wooden things had never been designed to withstand so many greater dead; Aristocracy did not work together, and none before William had the capacity to control more than a single greater dead. The gate crashed open, the beam that had barred it now splintered and broken. William¡¯s army of lesser dead rushed in as if they were one creature, the movement sudden and silent as they flowed around their Monarch¡¯s still form. The face of a child crept into his mind¡¯s eye once more; William had taken the girl¡¯s father for his army, her expression had twisted in to what the ex-psychopath understood to be fear and loss. The smile that had grown seeing his plans come to fruition slipped free and fell from his clean-shaven face a second time, and as the last of his dead army cleared him, he was left with only the former Duke class Aristocrat he had killed and taken upon his arrival on that world. With a barely perceptible blur, dirt sprayed as something impacted the ground a short distance from William. Rising from the small crater, the opposing Emperor¡¯s golem straightened, moving with the uncanny motion of the dead, ignoring the damage it had no doubt sustained in the impact. Whipping one blade-embedded arm around and down, the opposition¡¯s golem struck, splitting the once-Duke''s animated body in two. It had come to remove the serpent''s head - William, as the dead could not walk Unlinked and to remove him meant removing the entire army. But this too had been foreseen, and the two golems which had not echoed his voice returned to his side in a flicker of sudden motion, just in time to carry the enemy to the ground, where it was torn limb from limb, its gut, heart and head crushed beyond hope of recovery. William felt the mind that had been controlling the Duke for a year collapse and re-join his own and there was a painful disharmony as the cold with which he was born met the alien sensations brought on by the faces of his dead. * ** *** William sat upon a throne of carved granite, watching the former Ash Rose Emperor scream silently as the flames took him, his lungs already too damaged to supply the air needed to make the screams audible. The silver-clad Monarch frowned, barely taking in the grisly scene; he was instead considering what the now former Emperor had revealed, before William had conceded him his death. The secret of the Emperor rank, of almost true immortality was spun and processed by their many minds. It had taken a week of work, but in the end the fool had broken, as all things did when sufficient pressure was applied. A jagged needle of silvery soul-stuff had been inserted into the point within his gut that seemed to house the curious energy, what the locals called ¡®Experience''; the Emperor had been stoic to that point, even laughing at their attempts to cause him pain, but the Mind had found a way. And he had screamed the truth, spitting it out into the world like venom, at last, unused to pain as he was. Then there was a pop and with a flash like a dying lightbulb, the now carbonised body of the Ash Rose collapsed and came at least to resemble its namesake as the ash billowed amidst rising embers. Wearing the smile of a job well done, William welcomed the golden box which appeared at the centre of his vision:
Quest Received...! Difficulty: Vastly Annoying... Time Limit: 0 years, 0 Days, 0 Hours, 0 Minutes.
Kill the Emperor of the Ash Rose Empire.
Bonus Reward: None.
Status: Completed
Quest Received...! Difficulty: Verging on trivial, surely... Time Limit: 10 year, 10 Days, 10 Hours, 10 Minutes.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Kill the Crowned in Deepest Black, or remove her from the world.
Bonus Reward: Succeed within five years.
¡°What is a, ¡®Crowned¡¯, Deiry?¡± William had never heard the term before, and it did not fit into the hierarchy, as he understood it: Knight, Count, Duke, Monarch and finally Emperor. No answer was forthcoming from the vain being that had placed him upon that world, and though his expectations had been low, he nonetheless felt irritation; information had been a necessary component of his success thus far, and while they were capable of a high degree of accuracy when it came to speculation, it was never pure speculation. Climbing to his feet, the Duke walked from the smoky, stench-ridden throne room, the herd-like servants scrambling out of his way, even as he ignored them. They were not fit for his army, and even had they been, it was still less than appetising to be served dinner by the dead, even for him. Entering an antechamber, the Agent stood to one side to allow his golems to enter behind him. Closing the door and sitting, the trio of m¨¦langed flesh guarding stood between himself and the door, William waved away his new prompt and instead turned his mind to what the Emperor had told him. ¡°To become an Emperor... y-you must divest your power into a g-golem, die and b-bind your own soul to your corpse. Now p-please, let me end.¡± There had been more panting and moaning in amongst the words, but those had barely been registered at the time, focused as William had been to take the last step to power. Once he had attained the rank of Emperor, the Links between his army would grow in strength, and as one of his own dead, it would increase his own as well. Once he had conquered time, his army would grow to hold the world in the palm of his hand, an army the likes of which had never been seen, managed by his Manifold Mind. And then, if the locals could be believed he would expand to other worlds; being immortal would make his expansion inevitable. With a small smile, William began to experiment with the connections he shared with his golems, possibilities being tested and discarded as thousands of minds bent their will to the task. Pushing energy, Experience, through the links resulted in it returning; the bodies he controlled had set, finite limits with the total he had access to being the sum of those he ruled. After almost an hour of objective time, William thought he had a reasonable hypothesis; he would create the Link for a soul and body, like he would with a golem, and put his soul, along with the energy storied within his own body, into the network. His experiments told him that this would accomplish the death portion of the requirements, but the network should then push the energy, along with the Link back into his body, completing the binding and elevating him to the rank of Emperor. It seemed sound, from the number of simulations he had run, but it was unfortunately impossible to test without finding somebody else to elevate first, and the region was woefully short of candidates, after his campaign over the last year. If all else failed, he would be leaving a piece of his soul there with his body, in the form of his suit; perhaps if he died, he would be able to find his way back to his body, given he could feel the connection. Taking back the minds managing the three golems, William spun them back out with explicit instructions to try to resuscitate him, should he die, and then with a slow even breath, he began to form the links that would be required to bind him to his own corpse. The bindings themselves were not overly complicated, as they were essentially identical to those used to bind a golem, a link for body and soul at the gut, heart and head. Why those three places in particular, William had been unable to discover; only one seemed to server any mystical purpose, but any attempt at making the connections elsewhere had resulted in nothing but failure. It was the effort of moments to pull together the energy and prepare it; his first linking had been a relatively clumsy thing and he had wasted a significant amount of energy, but that had been hundreds of real attempts earlier, and before many thousands of theoretical tests. With one last look around the room, William forced all of this energy into the links and pushed them out into the network. *** ** * The sky was dark and the air cold when William opened his eyes again, his breath billowing in the chill. ¡°Oi, stop gawping and get out of the way; there¡¯ll be another through in a couple of seconds and you¡¯ll hold things up.¡± The voice was rough and every bit as cold as the air; turning his gaze from the sky, William found himself starring at an older man with a scruffy grey beard, skin creased with age and so pale it may never have seen a sun. Without replying, William spun a bullet out of his soul and sent it to kill the disrespectful fool. He would need to discover how he had been taken- Pain like nothing he had felt before tore through the displaced Monarch, causing him to stagger to the side clutching at his stomach. ¡°What was that supposed to be, some sort of attack? Hah, you¡¯ll have to do better than that, Fresh Meat. Now get moving before I slap you so hard you¡¯ll Hollow!¡± William stared at the old man, who was now coated in a thin layer of dull grey dust, and was glaring at him from underneath shaggy eyebrows, his eyes a frigid black. Looking around in confusion, William noted his surroundings; he was on a polished black stone platform with a narrow walkway of the same material leading away. He could see hundreds of similar platforms stretching away from him to wither side, and could hear the distant sound of breaking waves far below him. He began to carefully move along the stone walkway, conscious that it was only a couple of feet wide and with a drop into darkness to either side left open by a lack of any guard or rail. A few moments into his walk, a scream sounded from all around him and a flash that was almost blinding, even from behind him. Turning, William saw a figure standing atop the platform he had just vacated, staring into the sky. Making his way across the walk, he turned his attention to the links to his army, but while he felt them, they were faint and felt stretched in a direction he had no name for. Coming to the end of the path, William found a wall bearing a polished metal plaque, and to its side stairs. The writing upon the plaque was written in a strangely curved script, twisting in ways almost impossible to follow. William did not recognise the language, and could not read it, but as he gazed upon it, he found he could understand it. ¡°Welcome to Purgatory; if you are reading this, your soul has faded to a shadow of its former glory, dulled by a lack of use throughout many lives. Your former plane is incapable of holding onto a soul of so little energy, and so you have fallen. This plane exists to provide you with one last chance to rise, fore-armed with your memories so that you may build upon your mistakes; seize upon Experiences and do not fall prey to Apathy, to fail is to fall. You have been warned.¡± William stared at the metal characters as another scream sounded and he had to shield his eyes from the reflection of the light from off the plate. Something had clearly gone wrong with his attempt at becoming an Emperor, but from what he understood of the situation, at worst he should have returned to whatever plane Earth rested upon. Not this place. A cough sounded behind him, and turning, William came face to face with a massive body, grey-white with gemlike red-on-black eyes, its form gaunt. ¡°With a corroding fucking headache, move or be moved, little thing. I¡¯m in no mood to be held up.¡± William contemplated killing him, or at least trying, but a voice in the back of his head muttered softly that it was the wrong move, and with a tilt of his head, the twice-dead conqueror spun out his Manifold Mind to make some sense of his situation. A single mind spun slowly into existence as a burning, tearing pain raised through his head, causing him to stagger. As he regained his balance, he was knocked aside as the massive form pushed past him, not even stopping to read the metal plaque. With pain still rocking him, William balanced upon the edge of the walkway, only darkness and the whisper of waves below him. For long moments he hung there, on the verge on falling, but their two minds eventually found balance and they stumbled back onto the path, cold sweat dripping down their face. Not wanting to risk another such incident, William began to climb the stairs, their minds working the problem furiously, though there was something strange about the interaction, something that seemed to make the process less efficient, and it was not just that there were far fewer of the minds than they were used to. Upon the top of the stairs, still pondering, William found themselves facing a vast city, dotted with thousands of massive fires; he could see tiny figures gathered around them, seeming to huddle for warmth. Above it all hung a dull red star, massive in the otherwise starless sky; the sullen red orb cast its sparse light balefully down upon the city below, just barely adding definition to the sprawling mass. ¡°...Fuck.¡± Back in the Saddle ¡°When will this gathering of Apexes take place?¡± My companions are discussing our next moves as we finally totally relaxed after the weeks of tension, after weeks of waiting for the Risen Throne to strike. Cad had been interested, and in fact had looked like we were talking about A-List celebrities from back on Earth, judging by the look on his face. It was certainly an interesting experience being around somebody less used to that level of power; my first introduction had obviously been Walker wiping out a huge army, which was decidedly on the more impressive side of thing. The leader of that army had thought they had a chance against an Apex, but they did have a couple of hundred thousand people, so I could see where the hubris came from. Beyond that, I¡¯d mostly been around people who knew them personally, so perhaps some of the shine had rubbed off. Either way, the topic of their meeting had come up, and Cad was talking about taking a leave of absence so he could come back with us and maybe meet some of the legendary figures. And that conversation had seemingly led to the Elder¡¯s question. ¡°I don¡¯t know, exactly, your Elderness; they started gathering them all about... a month and a half ago? I¡¯m losing track of time.¡± ¡°In confident confirmation, that is largely accurate, Hunter.¡± Reff as the only one of us not sat, though his tone was certainly lighter than it had been. I think the fact that everything was no longer on fire was helping his mood, but it can be tough to tell with the risi, sometimes. ¡°Thanks, Reff. I¡¯m not exactly sure what that means for the when, but I imagine it would be... soonish?¡± ¡°I will attend; this group has attacked my home and stolen my child. I will assist in their annihilation. Once my child is born, I will fly to this ¡®Blacksand Citadel¡¯ directly.¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be grateful for the assistance?¡± I actually had no idea how a random Elder showing up would be received, given how the topic of their rampage had come up a couple of times. That is why my statement ended up as more of a question, my head tilted in Darina¡¯s direction, my eyebrows raised slightly in query. ¡°...Please allow us enough time to return, so as to announce your attendance properly, Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing.¡± ¡°Of course; I would not enter the hunting grounds of another Elder without announcing my presence. I am not a monkey.¡± The mention of a monkey reminded me that we had to gather some fruit for the Rainmaker before we headed back that way. ¡°Uh, your Elderness, Elder Rainmaker gave me a fruit that originated from your territory, a Thousand Year Pineapple? It was very helpful to me, and if possible, I would like to give him one back in return?¡± ¡°That idiot monkey... I told him that he need only ask and I would provide him, but he insists on absconding with them. It is most annoying. As you have done me multiple services, which I may never be able to fully repay, I will provide you with a Thousand Year Pineapple to take back to the idiot.¡± ¡°Thanks! He instituted a fruit tax for people passing through his territory, so that¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°A fruit tax? Perhaps My flock and I should move... Never mind. Hold out your hand, Hunter.¡± With a shrug, I held my hand out and a moment later a large, golden-fleshed pineapple dropped into my open palm. Looking up, I saw a phoenix gliding away, its golden, sunset plumage catching the light and its long tail spreading out like a bridal train. I called, ¡°Thank you!¡± up at the rapidly departing bird and slipped the Pineapple into storage. ¡°With nervous caution, we should check to see if V remains beneath the statue, Hunter. It is... unlikely, but still, we should seek confirmation.¡± I felt my mouth drop open as I looked up at my giant friend; I had completely forgotten about my former torturer¡¯s position beneath Reff¡¯s stone ass. ¡°Shit, you¡¯re right. We should get going. Uh, before we go, I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve ever heard the name, ¡®Anan Al¡¯monhad¡±, have you, your Elderness?¡± ¡°I have not.¡± ¡°Well, that would have been too easy, I guess. We¡¯ll see you in about a month and a half, then?¡± I looked at my companions for confirmation and the apprentice spoke up once more. ¡°We may not be able to secure transport, as we did coming in this direction, or at least I hope not. Two months would be a more appropriate length of time, Honoured Elder Flame Ever Dancing.¡± ¡°Two months then. Thank you all again for returning my egg to me; twice.¡± The phoenix Elder looked down at their egg once more as they spoke, a look of profound love clear on their beautiful, face. I felt a surge of pride, knowing that I had had a hand in it, and even though it had been a job given to me; it felt pretty good. ¡°I¡¯d say any time, but I doubt it will happen again. Their first plan failed, and their second was only possible by sheer luck. See you soon, Elder Flame Ever Dancing.¡± My companions said their own polite goodbyes, and the phoenix leapt to sit atop their spire without sparing us another glance; as human as they ¨C sort of ¨C looked, they were still a beast at heart. With my wave goodbye being ignored, I grinned and the five of us headed West once more.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. * *** * We arrived at the place we had left our captive in relatively short order, but as we had suspected, the asshole that had been lodged under the stone butt was well and truly gone, with the inanimate statue of Reff¡¯s Megaform shattered, only the feet still recognisable. ¡°My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair...¡± ¡°Is that a person from yer homeland, Sparky? Ozzymanthingy? Is he related to name ye asked the Elder about? Anom Amamama?¡± I had been reminded of something I had read, back on Earth, but the site of two giant stone feet, but I had also inadvertently spoken it out loud. Maybe Darina was right, and I really was an idiot... but as dumb as I could be, I was not about to answer his question about my quest. ¡°It¡¯s from a poem. The passage is about the transient nature of the things we build. All things fade, in time.¡± ¡°In agreement, all we are is dust in the wind.¡± I looked at Riffa sharply, as I was pretty sure that was a fairly exact saying from Earth. Seeing my look, she continued. ¡°In vague remembrance, it is a family saying from our home world. As you know, we were originally a caste of artisans; my family worked mostly in stone and even as enduring as it is, eventually even stone is naught but dust.¡± ¡°With muted grief, I recall our father saying it many times, sister.¡± Reff wrapped one massive arm around his sibling¡¯s shoulder and pulled her close, the two clearly lost in memories for a second. I felt kind of bad for reminding them about their dead dad, but on the plus-side it seemed to have pulled Cad off my back, and even Darina looked hesitant to latch on. It was a shame that V had managed to escape ¨C again ¨C but we would get him eventually; I had gone from being completely harmless in front of him to, okay, I was probably still mostly helpless, but maybe not for long. We ¨C or rather Reff and Riffa ¨C had beaten him once, we could do it again. If he even showed his stupid face again. The siblings seemed to emerge from their reverie quickly; they were not a very outwardly emotional people, and even Reff, who was apparently one of the more bohemian examples was still pretty taciturn by the standards of, well, everyone else I had ever met. ¡°We¡¯ll get him again, guys, and every other one of his rancid little cult.¡± Darina and Riffa nodded, and I thought I caught a spark of anger in Reff¡¯s eye, and I knew that if we did catch up to V, or any of this people, there would likely be little mercy forthcoming from the big buy. ¡°Cult? Aye, ye mention they were a bunch of demon worshippers, didn¡¯t yet? How grown folk can believe in Void Born myths is beyond me.¡± I almost pointed out that demons were not really that much less believable than everything else I had seen, but for once I caught myself. Xiournal had said there were actual gods on this world, or in this plane ¨C whatever ¨C and if there were gods, why not demons? Of course, I had spent a lot of time around some pretty knowledgeable and well-travelled people, so who was I to argue with them? ¡°My Master says it should be impossible for any being to be able to travel between worlds as frequently as Shade does, it should also be impossible to drain Experience directly from a living being. Perhaps they really do serve a demon, or perhaps it is something pretending to be a demon?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say much about traveling¡¯ ¡®tween worlds, lass, but I¡¯ve walked far and wide on this world and never have a seen a thing that could rightly be described as a demon... except me eldest sister after a after I puked in her shoes, but I doubt she¡¯d have anything to do with this lot.¡± ¡°With piqued curiosity, what about other worlds? Hunter, you said they did not cultivate on the world you visited, did you not?¡± ¡°Yeah, I mean no, they didn¡¯t. They used what they called sigils; they basically drew in the air using light and it did... things. They shot volleys of red light at a giant flying spider-plant-thing, so it seemed like the sigils were the same for everyone.¡± ¡°In continuation of my sister¡¯s thought, if there exists worlds in which their energy system differs from our own, is it not possible there are worlds on which systems for the absorption of Experience have been developed?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Reff. Walker and Sonja-¡± ¡°Honoured Apex Sonja.¡± ¡°-have probably been to way more worlds than I have. They¡¯re more likely to know, and they said it should be impossible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pointless to speculate. Perhaps once the Risen Throne has been gutted, we can ask whoever is in charge.¡± Darina was right; with the information we had, it was impossible to make any concrete guesses, so I shook the topic free of my mind and instead turned my attention to paying the fruit tax. ¡°We need to collect a bunch of fruit for Rainmaker. What¡¯s good Darina?¡± ¡°Well-¡± ¡°Actually, and sorry to interrupt ye, lass, the farms up North have been growing some custom varieties o¡¯ some speciality fruits. Maybe ye could, uh, buy some, if ye come to the North wi¡¯me? I, uh, don¡¯t have me proof anymore, as ye may recall.¡± Darina looked irritated at being interrupted, which was funny as they interrupted her quite a lot, but it did not seem like she was going to make a big deal of it, for which I was grateful. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not; I don¡¯t think we¡¯re on a particularly tight timeline anymore. Guys?¡± ¡°With assurance, I would happily add my word to your own in this matter, Cad.¡± The girls quickly added their own assent ¨C though the apprentice was somewhat grudging ¨C and we began to head north. As we were traveling, and no-longer running up against any kind of definite deadline, I decided to ask Cad a question that had been bugging me since me met. ¡°Cad, what¡¯s with the hammer?¡± ¡°What do ye mean? ¡®Tis but a weapon?¡± ¡°I mean, the head seems like a fairly normal sized warhammer, but on a staff? I guess my question is why? It just seems a bit odd.¡± ¡°Well, as ye know, me Focus allows for the reproduction and output of certain chemicals, leading ¨C by majority ¨C to people getting smashed around me. The length o¡¯me hammer lets me trip folk and take advantage of their state of inebriation. Me Path manipulates fate, and I use me hammer in much the same way to take advantage o¡¯that. Ye never know when fate¡¯l strike, and I may not always be close ¡®nough with a shorter weapon.¡± ¡°That makes sense, but wouldn''t a spear or something you can jab be better for that?¡± ¡°Not for trippin¡¯ it wouldn¡¯t, Sparky. But, if I¡¯m being entirely, one-hundred percent honest ¡®ere, it all stems back to the reason I was fired from my first mercenary guild: This giant of a man ¨C though not quite so giant as Biggun ¨C rolls up¡¯t me as I¡¯m just getting'' in my cups for some really intense, uh, chemical research. So there I am, minding me own business when the sod grabs me by my shoulder and pulls me up t¡¯dangle. He looks me dead in me eyes and says, ¡®Oi, ye be the one causing all the trouble? Ye can get out, and don¡¯t ye be comin¡¯ back!¡¯ So, I looks him back in his big stupid eye, and I says, ¡®What in the Void did I do t¡¯deserve that, ye big stupid arse?!¡¯ ¡®People around ye have an unfortunate tendency to be gettin'' hammered!¡¯ He says, and just like that, like the hand of a god reaching down from the sky and giftin¡¯ me me future, it hit me; hammers.¡± Darina, who had also been listening to the story rubbed at her eyes and nearly tripped over a root hidden beneath a patch of particularly dense brush as Cad finished telling his story, before speaking with a groan in her voice. ¡°Great, we¡¯ve collected another idiot. Why do I have this horrible feeling I¡¯m going to be stuck with you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Void Blasted eerie, that is, lass. That¡¯s exactly what me second guild-head said t¡¯me.¡± The apprentice groaned audibly and I laughed out loud as we ran; I thought I even caught a chuckle from Reff, though that could have been my imagination. It felt nice to be out from under that last quest, and to be around people I liked. Now, if only I could work out who Anan Al¡¯monhad was and renegotiate my deal with Xiournal, I think I could really be genuinely happy. The Farm We spent the night about an hour¡¯s walk from the broken statue; I had spent the entire day practising and most of the evening either fighting or running around and I was looking forward to getting some sleep. Reff still insisted on us keeping watches, which seemed a sensible enough precaution, though he insisted that our ¡®guest¡¯ be allowed to sleep through the night. It is sometimes tough to tell with the big risi, but I still did not think he entirely trusted the walking distillery we had picked up, despite Flame Ever Dancing¡¯s sort-of-endorsement. I had some minor reservations of my own, as I had at least skirted the truth without being called out, and if it was possible to block their senses, perhaps it was possible to lie to them? Either way, I would feel better once we reached the Alchemy Associations guards at the farm, so we could confirm his story once and for all. If push came to shove, I liked to think that the four of us would be able to take him. Provided he did not have backup. And we could hold our breath... The night passed without incident, though at one point I had seen what seemed to be the glowing outline of massive cat, but it had passed us by without bothering us. My mind no-longer preoccupied by my imminent quest, the glowing form did remind me that I needed to buy some more clothes once we reached civilisation again, so I would need to do some hunting while we were here, though it still made me a touch uncomfortable to kill a thing just for money. I knew that I would have to do my best to dress it and try my hand at cooking it if I was going be able to rationalize it to myself; maybe I would get lucky and some lucrative beasts would attack us... it is weird what you can end up wishing for. ¡°Oi, Sparky, would ye care to spar a tad afore we set off? Yer own fate tweakery has me as curious as a cat with amnesia.¡± ¡°Just me? I don¡¯t think I¡¯d provide much of a challenge on my own, Cad.¡± I was not entirely sure that was the case, honestly; my time compression seemed to bypass the standard rules for speed, and on top of my other abilities, I thought I might be able to put up far more of a fight than a Path stage had any right to. But, having said that, it was never a good idea to act cocky when you stand a good chance of losing; bravado has its place, but as I had re-learned since my arrival, it is not always appropriate. ¡°I promise to take it easy on ye. I need to understand, Sparky. It''s like having something ticklin¡¯ me that I can¡¯t see.¡± I looked over at my other companions; Reff and Riffa were deep in conversation, but the short-haired apprentice gave me a shrug. Turning back to Cad, I offered a shrug of my own. ¡°I would, Cad, but my Praxis is still pretty low from touching that Drain Fog stuff. Maybe once I¡¯m recovered? ¡°That¡¯s fair enough, Sparky. My bad, I should¡¯a¡¯ remembered.¡± I waved him off and closed my eyes, meditating and internalising the Experiences from the day prior, smiling as I felt the thrum of my Core calming fractionally, moment by moment. I was sort of used to the liquid joy of cultivation by that point, or at least I was not surprised by it, but even so, it was a hell of a way to kick off your day. The sun was well above the horizon by the time I was nudged out of my blissful meditation by Darina, her expression impatient. Chuckling under the lingering effects of my cultivation, I stood and stretched, continuing to cultivate, though not quite as efficiently; my Core seemed about a fifth full, though I could only judge such things roughly. With my remaining hand, I gestured for the diminutive apprentice to lead the way, but she only rolled her eyes and gestured for Cad to lead in her stead. ¡°Well, then, follow me I guess; don¡¯t follow to close behind, lass, ye shouldn¡¯t sprint through a jungle smashed off yer face.¡± Smiling through his almost-neat beard, the hammer-wielder turned to face North and I noticed Darina move directly behind him with a scowl; it seemed she had taken the mercenary¡¯s words as a challenge. It could only possibly end well, right? With a laugh, Cad was off and I split my concentration between cultivation and gripping the ground and not tripping, my mind briefly wandering to the fact that as soon as I reached a point where I would not slow my group down, we found somebody else who¡¯d make us run faster. * *** * It was sometime in the mid-afternoon when we reached the farms; it was easy to tell when we arrived as the trees went from being a wild, chaotic mass of vegetation to neat, ordered rows of trees and flowering plants that stretched as far as the eye could see. ¡°Halt! What¡¯s your business her- Cad?¡± The guard stepped out from behind a particularly wide tree wearing some kind of strange green, scale-mail-robe-looking garment. ¡°Henny! How¡¯ve ye been without me, bad? I bet this place has been as dour as a rainy day at an open-air wedding, without me!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, Cad, my name is Henalya, not, Henny" ¡°Bah, everyone calls ye Henny. Now, enough about how much ye¡¯ve missed me fine company; this here is a delegation from the Council of Apexes, or some such, and they¡¯re here t¡¯vouch for me!¡± Henny ¨C Henalya ¨C looked at us sceptically and I offered her a short, awkward wave. ¡°Really? These children are delegates from the Council of Apexes?¡± ¡°On me word!¡± ¡°The Council of Apexes that doesn¡¯t exist?¡± ¡°Of course it exists, Henny; how else could these fine folks be delegates of it?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Ignoring Cad¡¯s question, the guard turned to us, rubbing at her head with one hand, her expression put-upon. ¡°Okay, who are you and how did this idiot rope you into this?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not children, Henny. I am Darina the Ever Flowing, Apprentice to Sonja Falling Ash, Apex of the Mending Flesh. And this idiot did not rope us into anything!¡± The short-tempered apprentice clearly had not taken well to being called a child, and rarely reacted well to anybody questioning her status, but her angry words were still a bit of a surprise; I guessed I had become used to her nicer side. ¡°Oi, there¡¯s no need to be callin¡¯ me, an idiot, lady and lass-¡± ¡°My name is Henalya, child!" I stepped forward to interrupt them before anybody had chance to aggravate each other any further, my most ingratiating smile plastered across my face. ¡°Uh, Henalya, while I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re not called the Council of Apexes, we were actually sent to the region by a number of Apexes. My name is Hunter, and I¡¯m sort of the apprentice of Walker, Apex of the Infinite Blades. Those two, Reff and Riffa, are brother and sister to the Apex of The Mountain¡¯s Seed. And Darina already introduced herself. We were sent to, uh, assist the phoenix Elder with something, which Cad did help with.¡± The guard eye-balled me for a moment, wavering between ignoring me to continue her burgeoning argument and addressing my ¨C admittedly far-fetched ¨C story. After maybe a second and a half, she turned fully towards me, her face blanking and becoming all business. ¡°You were sent to assist an Elder; you are all also somewhat related to Apexes? It doesn¡¯t sound true, but it all might be too stupid to be fake. Either way, if you¡¯re vouching for this... Cad... we¡¯ll need to verify what you have to say. One moment while I call for somebody to cover my post.¡± The guard blew a series of short whistles and a moment later another person wearing the same strange metal robe hurried over. ¡°Bassh, I¡¯m taking this group to see the Commander. Watch my post?¡± ¡°Sure thing, Henny. Good to see you back, Cad! Part-, uh polite gathering later?¡± ¡°Bassh, ye damned ¡®n¡¯ blasted fool! Aye, what ye said ¨C provided I¡¯m at me liberty, that is.¡± I noted that Bassh also used Henny, and that it irritated her far less than when Cad used it; as we walked away, following Henalya, I wondered why that was. ¡°You¡¯ve only been back for a few minutes and you¡¯re already trying to get yourself in trouble, Cad? Really, you can¡¯t just behave like an adult for a few minutes?¡± ¡°Bah, where be the fun in that, Henny? Grab life by the balls and suck it in!¡± Given the female guard¡¯s comment about behaving like an adult, I fought not to laugh but it was pretty difficult given Darina¡¯s own snort. * *** * Henny led us through the perfect lines of trees to an area that had been cleared of greenery, which had then been replaced by a stone structure behind high walls. Green pennants bearing a multi-hued flame hung on either side the of the building¡¯s wide doors; the flame reminded me of the stuff Won Ben Ro had used to inspect and attempt treatment of Aella, back in Everwood City. My overall knowledge of alchemy was severely limited, and it bore practically no similarity to what I had been familiar with back on Earth, which is to say, nobody had yet attempted to convert lead into gold in my presence. Given the general scale of the world I found myself on, it was refreshing to see a reasonably sized building; the Blacksand Citadel had been impressive, certainly, but it was a touch overwhelming. The tallest building on Earth when I... left... had only been a couple of thousand feet, but the Citadel had been almost space elevator-like in scale. I was more of a smaller scale kind of person, though that might change if I ended up living for thousands of years around all of the massive things of my new home. Our guide lead us into the structure and through a number of narrow corridors; for the first time, I saw Reff actually having to duck slightly as he passed through doors. I wondered how his much taller brother would handle it, but the image of Raaf simply making the door bigger popped into my head, and I had to grin at the thought of the whole place simply growing a few feet in every direction to accommodate him. We came to a stop outside of a closed door bound with bands of violet metal that I could only really see from the corner of my eye; it was actually starting to give me a headache as we approached and my eyes skipped about and tried to focus on them. Thankfully, Henny drew my attention by speaking. ¡°Commander Jayford is through this door, he¡¯s in charge of the military branch of the Alchemy Association here at the Farm. Be respectful, and you¡¯ll be fine. Cad.¡± ¡°What do ye mean, ¡®Cad¡¯? The picture o¡¯respect, I am.¡± Ignoring Cad¡¯s wide-eyed shock ¨C or at least the appearance of it ¨C the guard knocked twice on the wood of the door. A moment passed before I heard a muffled, ¡°Enter.¡± from the other side. Pushing the door open, Henny stepped through and snapped her right fist to her left shoulder in what I assumed was some kind of salute. ¡°Commander Jayford, Specialist Caddin Thatch has returned from his relay mission, sir!¡± ¡°Thank you, Corporal. I see he brought some guests with him; send them in.¡± We shuffled through the door, the apparent Corporal giving Cad a severe look. On the other side of the room sat a man who looked to be in his early forties, with black hair gone to grey at the temples and a carefully manicured salt and pepper goatee. He was dressed in some sort of quilted tunic with metal studs; a memory tickled at the back of my mind making me think it was called a brig-something. I was, unfortunately, unable to chase down the thought as the man spoke, his voice snapping like a whip. ¡°Specialist Thatch, you have exceeded the time allotted for the message relay by an entire day; do you have an explanation?¡± ¡°Well, ye see, sir, I was comin¡¯ back, right on schedule when these two bas-uh-people attacked me right out o¡¯the blue. Now, bein¡¯ the level headed, responsible man I am, I took the situation in and responded with appropriate force, right as these fine folks popped out of the trees. Now, at first, I thinks to me self, ¡®it¡¯s a Void Blasted ambush!¡¯, but as it happens the folks who attacked me were part of a larger group tryin¡¯ t¡¯steal the egg of a local Elder, and this lot we¡¯re seein¡¯ their way t¡¯helpin¡¯ stop it.¡± Jayford looked over at us, his face expressionless, but he did not say a word and after a moment, Cad continued. ¡°They¡¯re all related to a bunch of Apexes ye see, sir. They were on a mission, and I ended up helping them, which is why I¡¯m late.¡± ¡°Specialist Thatch has a tendency to both embellish and to overestimate his abilities when it comes to covering up his more... raucous... tendencies. But I have never heard him lie outright. As it seems that you four are his alibi ¨C and perhaps prestigious guests if what he says is correct ¨C would one among you be willing to partake in some... fact finding?¡± The Commander¡¯s voice was smooth and authoritative, and while he had phrased the last as a question, his tone did not quite convey the same level of choice. ¡°What would this, ¡®fact finding¡¯ involve?¡± Since it was ultimately my quest that had brought us to the area, I was not willing to ask any of my friends to do whatever was coming, but still, I was finding that I was better to be cautious than to simply bull ahead. ¡°Nothing damaging or dangerous, I assure you...¡± ¡°Sorry; I¡¯m Hunter, this is Reff, Riffa and Darina.¡± ¡°I assure you, Hunter, it would be easy, hardly an inconvenience. You would simply need to imbibe a concoction produced here on the Farm which would preclude you from speaking falsehoods.¡± ¡°A truth serum? What the hell, why did I get tortured for info if there¡¯s a damn truth serum out there?¡± ¡°An apt name, Hunter. Why you were tortured, I cannot say, though I am certainly not happy about it. I do hope it wasn¡¯t by us?¡± ¡°What? No, no, it was the guys Cad helped us take care of. Well, actually, it was the one that got away, but it was the same group.¡± ¡°I see. So, are you willing?¡± ¡°Sure. But... I have some ground rules.¡± Draw the Line "Rules?¡± Jayford looked at me as if he had never heard the word before, which I found odd, given his obvious inclination towards rules and regulations. Maybe he just was not used to being subject to them. ¡°Yeah, as in conditions.¡± ¡°... Very well. What are these, ¡®rules¡¯?¡± I was tempted to offer him the definition, but thought better of it. I had no idea how strong he was and I was in the middle of his building and no-doubt surrounded by a large number of trained fighters. Turning my snark down to the lowest setting, I gave it to him straight. ¡°Well, first of all, no questions about anything not directly relating to verifying our story. Nothing person, no history not directly applicable. And I¡¯d prefer it be one-on-one; less chance of questions from the audience.¡± Darina looked like she wanted to punch me; maybe she had thought she could take advantage of the situation to get some answers of her own, or maybe she was just upset at the apparent lack of trust. But I had grown more cautious since my arrival, if not by much and I people I trusted had been pretty explicit about not mentioning too much. Maybe once we were back at the Citadel, I could talk it out with Walker and Aella, but until then I wanted to keep my past mysterious. Especially around people I did not know quite as well as I did the apprentice. ¡°Fine. These seem like reasonable requests. Corporal Cetch, please show our other guests to the dining hall, and then please ask Honoured Alchemist Garm to bring the... truth serum. Specialist Thatch, until your story can be verified, you may go with them. And under no circumstances are you to impair my soldiers, am I clear?¡± ¡°Aye, sir...¡± Cad sounded sullen, but was quickly escorted from the room after Henny offered another salute. Reff gave me a pointed look as he ducked through the door and I offered him a thumbs-up in return; I would be careful in case the commander decided to ignore my rules ¨C if I could circle around the truth with an Elder, I could do it with a drug. I hoped. ¡°Please, sit, Hunter.¡± Jayford gestured at a chair on the opposite side of his desk. I sat, offering the man a nod. ¡°It is curious company you keep; you do not normally see the risi in this part of the world, as they tend to find it too hot. They are from a colder world, you see.¡± ¡°I can believe it; the Blacksands gets pretty cold at night.¡± ¡°I fought against them during the Worlds War; dangerous opponents, generally specialising in metal. And vicious.¡± I thought about the size of the doors, and hoped that the commander did not have anything against his old enemies. It was a bit of a shock, to meet somebody who had fought in that war; it was one thing to know mentally that people could live for thousands of years old, but another to meet a person who had been of fighting age three centuries earlier. I mean, sure, I knew Raaf was at least that old, but it had never actually come up. It made me wonder how long advancement usually took; on the one hand, here I was, just starting out on my Path after a few months, on the other this guy was probably somewhere in the Foundation stage after more than three-hundred years. And I had no idea how old Walker was; I had thought it only a few decades, but who knew how long a generation was on a world where lifespans were measured in such protractive terms? ¡°Of course, that is to be expected from another world which practices cultivation; the last time the gods saw fit to connect us to another world, we fought hordes of the unrotting dead, each barely stronger than a Nadir. For the most part. But the risi... that was fun.¡± I let out a mental sigh; it seemed like this was the type of guy who enjoyed the challenge, rather than resenting it. I supposed it would be a little unfair to blame the risi, since it was apparently the gods who set the whole thing up. I did wonder why gods would bother, but if nothing else it did seem to result in cultural mixing. Maybe that was the point. ¡°The risi I¡¯ve met tend to work more with stone; have you seen the Blacksand Citadel? It¡¯s like a massive spear aimed at the sky.¡± ¡°I have. It was impressive, though such is to be expected from an Apex. The risi of the Blacksands have come a long way as warriors, given their... somewhat softer origins.¡± ¡°From what I understand, they didn¡¯t have a great deal of choice; change is always difficult, for everyone involved. Do you know if any of the... dead... settled here? I¡¯ve heard about it, but not a ton of details.¡± ¡°A number escaped the final battle, but they did not seem to have the numbers to produce any community, though I dare say it would be difficult to tell, given they were all human. As there have been no further hordes, I like to imagine they were killed by some beast or another.¡± A quiet moment stretched into two as we sat; the commander just stared at me in silence, his eyes unblinking. It was starting to freak me out a little, so I broke the silence, despite the fact I was usually pretty comfortable doing nothing. ¡°So... Cad tells me you guys are using the water pill Ben Won Ro invented; they¡¯re awesome, right?¡± ¡°You have tried them? It was my understanding that they were only available to the Association, and in his own personal shop.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s where I got them. His shop, I mean. Nice guy, I liked his apprentice as well.¡± ¡°You actually met Honoured Master Alchemist Ben Won Ro? You did not simply deal with his apprentice?¡± ¡°Well, I was with an Apex at the time. And I sort of got kidnapped along with his apprentice, Tang. It¡¯s the sort of thing that can really bring people together.¡± ¡°Ah, you were the party that rescued Apprentice Whu Tang? The report I read named them the ¡®Risen throne¡¯. We have a bounty on them.¡± ¡°Well, I helped. It was a local noble, Sidona Skybreaker who ended up actually getting us away from them in the end; I was only at the Focus stage at the time. It was the actually the Risen Throne we were talking about, trying to steal the egg. And that Cad helped with. Oh, I should say, if you have a bounty, and you actually capture any, make sure you destroy their pendants, it seems to allow them to be tracked, and possible rescued.¡± ¡°I will make a note of this, and once we have verified your story, it will be sent out to all of our branches.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. There came a knock at the door, and it opened before Jayford has chance to speak. Turning, I found a short man with close-cropped white-blonde hair stood in the door, wearing grey robes. ¡°Brannigan, you sent for me, and the ¡®truth serum¡¯? I suppose the name fits, though I prefer, ¡®Grand Truth Revelation Elixir¡¯. But I am something of a traditionalist.¡± ¡°Alchemist Garm, thank you for coming. I did indeed request the... Grand Truth Revelation Elixir. Specialist Thatch returned with a story in need of... verification.¡± ¡°Oh, Cad is back? I do wish we had found the boy before he chose his Exemplar; he may have made a fine asset as an alchemist.¡± I blinked at the short man ¨C Garm ¨C and spoke without thinking. ¡°Cad? An alchemist?¡± ¡°Oh yes! The ability to take in and combine chemical elements is fantastic! Combines that with the Spiritual Flame and he could have really made waves. Alas, such was not his fate.¡± With a sign, the grey-robed man stepped forward and placed a tear-shaped white bottle on the table, his fingers lingering on the stopped top as he spoke to Jayford again. ¡°Now, no more than a top-full, Brannigan. We want no repeats of last time.¡± The commander coughed and his eyes flicked to me for a split second before returning to the alchemist. ¡°Yes, yes, ¡®measure twice¡¯. I do not make the same mistake twice, Garm. Now, if you will excuse us, this young man has requested we do this alone.¡± ¡°Certainly; good day to you both.¡± The alchemist stepped outside, whistling softly and out of tune as he closed the door. ¡°He seems nice¡± ¡°Garm is good at what he does and causes no odd occurrences, which is more than can be said of many of his colleagues. Have you ever seen a man¡¯s skin dissolve into slime?¡± I eyed the bottle Garm had dropped off, trying not to picture what Jayford was describing. ¡°Um, no. No, I haven¡¯t. Hope not to, in fact. That wasn¡¯t this stuff... was it?¡± The greying man across the desk from me smiled in silence for a moment before the smile widened into a grin and he leaned back. ¡°No, this particular concoction is stable, and has been for a significant length of time.¡± ¡°And it will only make me tell the truth?¡± ¡°You may also experience light euphoria, but this is rare, I am told.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly better than torture, so I guess I¡¯m good to go.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Jayford stood and picked up the bottle, holding the seal between it and the cap tight as he tipped it upside-down and held it that way for a second. before righting it and removing the top. As he walked around the desk, I looked up at him; he was of average height and built on a slimmer scale than I had grown used to, though like everyone else I had met, he was remarkably good-looking, at least by Earth standards; having a system of magic that physically enhanced you in every way, was good. Though, I reflected, with everyone being really, really, really good-looking, it probably just raised the average; I wondered what my new world¡¯s equivalent of a super-model looked like. I was brought out of my purposeful self-distraction as Jayden spoke again; this time it seemed to be an actual request, rather than an order disguised as one. ¡°Please, open your mouth and look up slightly.¡± ¡°Actually, I have one last question ¨C why not give the serum to Cad? Surely he can confirm his story as easily as I can?¡± The commander paused, looking down at me with the cap held in one hand. ¡°There are two reasons, but the more important of the two is that Specialist Thatch automatically breaks down any compound that enters his system, and is then able to reproduce it. We do not want him doing that with the... truth serum.¡± I thought about Cad running around with the ability to breath on people and force the truth out of them, and immediately understood the reluctance. ¡°Good point!¡± Nodding, I looked up and opened my mouth, sticking my tongue out; it was kind of awkward and made me feel like a baby bird. I really would have been much more comfortable dosing myself, but it seemed like that was not on the table. I guessed he needed to make sure I was actually swallowing the stuff; a truth serum would not be of much use if you could just pretend to take it. The commander fiddled with the top for a moment, twisting something; I was trying to catch exactly what he was doing when a drop of liquid hit my tongue and I felt my face twist as I recoiled reflexively. I shook my head at the taste, unable to make myself swallow, which only made the situation worse as it continued to assault my sense. ¡°You should swallow; the taste fades quickly, I am told.¡± Concentrating, I forced myself to swallow and quickly I could feel my screwed-up face relax as the offensive drop was banished from my mouth. It was perhaps the only time since I had been given my hydrating pills that I missed having a drink with me, to chase the awfulness away. ¡°Ugh, shit, why didn¡¯t you warn me? It was so bitter!¡± ¡°The truth can be.¡± ¡°That is not funny, but it is clever. When you said it was open to abuse, I thought you meant the truth, but clearly the taste is far better than torture. Wait, I meant to make a joke there. Oh, I guess that¡¯s the point; works fast. No euphoria though, that would have probably been quite nice.¡± Replacing the top firmly, Jayford sat back down, placing the bottle on the desk close by. ¡°The effects last for about an hour, though I suspect we will need only a piece of that time to satisfy my needs. ¡°An hour? That seems like a long time; I¡¯d prefer to stay isolated until the effects wear off.¡± ¡°Of course; everyone has secrets, Hunter. We will start with the control questions, to verify it is actually working as intended, and you are not simply perpetrating a clever ruse. They will start off banal and may grow somewhat uncomfortable, by necessity. Is ¡®Hunter¡¯ you real name?¡± ¡°Sort of, yes.¡± ¡°¡¯Sort of¡¯? What is your name?¡± ¡°My name is Alexander Hunter, and whilst I can understand why you would want to ask control questions, this does technically break the rules. However, it doesn¡¯t break them in a way I care about, and I don¡¯t want to make a big deal out of it.¡± ¡°... These questions are necessary in order to verify your story, I¡¯m afraid. Where are you from?¡± ¡°Near Fairview, but this is a question I care about, so I¡¯d appreciate if you didn¡¯t ask for more details; I¡¯ve been told to keep where I¡¯m from secret by a number of people, including an Apex.¡± ¡°... I will reign in my curiosity. At what age did you form your Focus, and at what age did you form your Core?¡± ¡°Eighty-two, for both.¡± The commander stared across at me for a moment; it clearly was not the answer he was expecting. ¡°You do not look to be above eighty, though cultivation can slow and even halt the passage of time, it cannot generally reverse it. Why do you look so young?¡± Mentally, I was slapping myself; after all the times I had admonished myself to me more careful, here I was having voluntarily taken truth serum. It was as the man had said; he needed to be sure I was telling the truth and was building from easy things towards questions that people might not want to answer. It just so happened that it was the easy stuff I did not want to answer. Thinking fast, I tried to find and answer that would not give too much away. ¡°I have an old soul. Well, perhaps not old compared to you, but certainly older. This is another question I prefer you wouldn¡¯t ask! Maybe we could just move onto a question you¡¯re sure I wouldn¡¯t want to tell the truth about? Please?¡± ¡°I am curious, but I will move on for the moment. Still, it is impressive that you formed both your Focus and your Core in a single year. I will watch your career with interest, Alexander Hunter.¡± ¡°Just Hunter is fine.¡± ¡°Hunter... what is the easiest way to kill you?¡± Well, that was not ominous at all. To give Jayford credit though, it certainly seemed like something most cultivators would want to keep close to their chest. Of course, there was an easy answer I could give. ¡°Be much stronger than me.¡± ¡°Ha! I suppose I walked into that trap. How would a person of equal strength kill you?¡± ¡°Uh, they would need to be significantly faster than I am, or possess some way to limit my movement. I am very fast, and unless somebody outclasses my speed significantly, I will react in time to survive most things I can think of. I guess they could overwhelm me with numbers, or have a destructive ability that covers a large enough area that I couldn¡¯t dodge, and use it to wear my praxis down. There are probably other ways, but given the sheer variety apparent in cultivation, it¡¯s hard to think of everything.¡± ¡°Thank you, Hunter. I believe you are telling the truth; do not worry, the methods described here will go no further than myself, unless you should become an enemy of the Association. Now, having the verification out of the way, please, explain Specialist Thatch¡¯s involvement in this, ¡®mission¡¯?¡± Movin Out "I had my doubts, but it seems as though you were telling the truth, Hunter.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really lie much, if at all, Commander. It¡¯s almost a flaw at this point.¡± The two of us had been speaking for the larger part of an hour by that point, and we had been over the pertinent details of our mission and Cad¡¯s involvement from a dozen angles. Thankfully, he had stayed away from any topics that did not pertain directly to his needs, at least after the control questions. Who would have thought that basic facts about me would be the most dangerous? ¡°Sometimes deception is required, but it should not be the first solution the mind reaches for. It does you credit that you keep truth so close at hand.¡± ¡°Well, thank you. Now, is there a place I can go and wait out the rest of the serum? Preferably with a lock?¡± ¡°Certainly. I¡¯ll have one of my men show you the way. Though, there is one other thing I¡¯d like to discuss with you before you go?¡± I felt a little dread, but it was easily dismissed; the commander had been pretty straight with me to that point, so I was willing to offer a little more trust. ¡°With some trepidation, but sure.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The man paused then, reaching up to rub at his neat goatee, his gaze calculating. ¡°Specialist Thatch... is not a good fit for this assignment. He is very... independently minded. It makes him an effective solo operator, but sitting still day after day tends to exacerbate his more... loquacious and voluptuary behaviour. By which I mean he gets my men drunk. Have you ever seen a person passed out, upside-down, in a tree and naked? I have ¨C four on the same morning.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I do not know, none of them could remember the preceding week. It is only because they were not scheduled for duty that day that I was able to temper my reprimand. But you present me with something of an opportunity; as you are aware ¨C as we have discussed ¨C there is a bounty out on the group that has been causing your issues, and it seems like the Apexes are going to be cracking down on them. I would like to send Thatch with you, as a representative of the Alchemy Association. If nothing else, it will get him out of my hair, and provide us an update on this group.¡± ¡°Uh, I like Cad, but I¡¯m not sure I want to wake up naked in a tree, Commander. I mean, it would be an Experience, sure, but I¡¯m not sure Darina would let me live it down. And I don¡¯t know if I could stop her killing him if she ended up naked in a tree.¡± ¡°He does better when presented with goals, you should not have to worry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not very comforting. I guess... we¡¯re technically here as official representatives of the Apexes ¨C at least the ones that were present ¨C so if you want to send him as an official representative, I think we¡¯d have to take him?¡± ¡°Excellent! I will provide him with strict orders not to disrupt your journey back, and let me just call for a guard to escort you to your locked room. Before I could say anything else, Jayford opened a drawer and retrieved a small bell before ringing it loudly. A moment later, just as I was opening my mouth to say I would like to confer with my friends about it, the door opened and a guard I had not seen before stepped inside. ¡°Ah, Private Cobb. Please take Hunter here to my private dining room ¨C and please, do not speak to him on the way, he is under the effects of the truth se ¨C uh, Grand Truth Revelation Elixir.¡± ¡°Sir, yes sir. Please come this way?¡± ¡°Wait, I should really-¡± ¡°No need to thank me, Hunter. I am sure Specialist Thatch will aid the Association just as much as he aids you in your coming journey.¡± ¡°Hey, I really-¡± And then Commander Jayford broke into a coughing fit that sounded one-hundred percent fake; closing my mouth, I had the distinct impression I had just been taken advantage of. Giving up with a frown, I allowed the guard to escort me from the room ¡°Please, come this way, sir. Sorry to speak, won¡¯t happen again, but...¡± I waved him off, not trusting myself to say anything as I was a little irritated at the commander and I thought that was probably going to spill forth if I gave it the chance. I followed Private Cobb through a series of stone hallways and corridors for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, given the size of the building. After a minute or so, I glanced out of a very narrow stone window and saw the building I had entered, and realised that while it has looked small from the front, there was a whole complex hidden behind the stone walls. It still did not appear to be on the same scale as some of the other places I had visited, but it was far from the single building I had thought it to be. ¡°Here you are, sir. The main dining hall is next door to the right and the kitchen is to the left. The door locks from the inside.¡± I nodded my thanks, which he returned, and then I gave him a thumbs up, which confused him. Smiling I slipped in through the wooden door, and after checking there was nobody in there, locked the door behind me. Finally, able to relax, with none nearby to probe me for personal truths, I sat down in what was apparently Jayford¡¯s very comfy chair and began to actively cultivate while I waited for the serum to wear off.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! * *** * I gave it an hour, just to be on the safe-side; my Lesser Regeneration has something of a multiplicative effect on healing pills, and I did not want to risk an unexpected interaction with the truth serum. I still tested it before unlocking the door, of course, but telling myself a couple of lies. ¡°I am an Apex, and the pen is red. I have a pen? Nothing? Awesome.¡± With a small grin at the childhood memory that had inspired me, I opened the door and stepped out; I had half-expected Cobb to be standing there, but the corridor was empty. Turning right, I found the first door and opened it into a long room filled with long tables; a crowd was gathered around one particular table and I could see Reff and Riffa above the heads of the gathered guards. And I could hear Cads voice, loud and dramatic. ¡°And I says, ¡®Ye Void Blinded bastard, ye¡¯ll not have the egg! If ye don¡¯ want me wrath, ye¡¯d be better t¡¯beg!¡¯ And this pale thing turns to me, all dead eyed, and says, ¡®Yer wasting yet time, mortal, with yer pathetic rhyme, there¡¯s not a chance in this world it¡¯s a match for my rime!¡¯ Now, I was taken aback I was, as ¡®tis common wisdom that in polite company, the dead should stay silent; but I¡¯m not one to turn my nose up to a challenge! So, I says-¡± ¡°With distinct confusion, that is not what happened, Cad.¡± ¡°What¡¯re ye talkin¡¯ about, Biggun? It happened exactly as I stated, or me name aint, ¡®Caddin ¡®The True Spoken¡¯ Thatch¡¯.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s your name, Lush.¡± ¡°Lass, ye wound me! Now, as I was sayin¡¯, there I was, facing off against the enemy, my face dark with indignant rage at this renewed attempt to part parent and child. Me voice thundering with fury, I snaps back at ¡®im, ¡®Yer brave to steal those that cannot fight back, supported by energies as foul as they¡¯re black. But now that I¡¯m here and¡¯ve entered the fray, ye best run in fear, ye best be away!¡¯¡± With a grin, I joined the rear of the crowd and listened to Cad tell the tale of how he defeated Crownman on his own, in some sort of battle of rhymes. There were frequent interruptions from both of the risi siblings, and especially from Darina, though from her at least they were made with some degree of amusement. Riffa and Reff just sounded confused. As Cad reached the pinnacle of his ¡®retelling¡¯, the crowd cheered raising their hands above their heads and Reff finally noticed me standing at the back. Waving I pushed through the crowd as gently as I could, the effort made easier as a few from the outer edge left once the story was done. ¡°That was a pretty good story, Cad. I don¡¯t remember there being a lot of talking, or rhyming, or dancing involved, but your version came way less close to killing me, so if we can do all future battles like that, I¡¯m all for it.¡± ¡°Sparky, me lad! Life¡¯s a play ye don¡¯t know th¡¯ lines for, but I just happen to be a poet.¡± ¡°Hunter, how you managed to find somebody who makes you seem reserved and dignified - in the middle of the jungle - is beyond me. Please, no more?¡± Darina¡¯s voice was pleading, but there was still humour buried somewhere in it. Raising one eyebrow, I crossed my arms and pretended to think for a moment before replying. ¡°I can¡¯t promise anything, Darina. I seem to just keep picking people up who make me look sane. Reff, with his seething temper, you with your... well, you, anyway. And now Cad. Riffa¡¯s the only actually sane person in our group.¡± Riffa beamed at me, or at least she did the risi equivalent, which was to bow her head slightly whilst her lips tilted up. ¡°With grave regard, it is good that you have accepted my temper, Hunter; as such, it will shock you no further in future,¡± Reff said, with a completely straight face. I had been hoping he was getting used to my sense of humour, given that he was apparently a bit of a wild-card as far as his race went, but it appeared not. ¡°Reff, he wasn¡¯t being serious, he was joking; at least he had better be joking, comparing me to this fool.¡± I had not been joking, at least when it came to the apprentice; I thought she was nuts, but I was not going to admit that with the look she was wearing on her face at that moment. ¡°I was mostly joking; I still don¡¯t really see the temper, Reff. You were definitely angry at V back when your statue was sat on him, but I¡¯ve seen people apoplectic, and you were far from that.¡± ¡°All things be relative, Sparky. For Biggun¡¯s folk, the fact that ye could tell ¡®t¡¯all is like me or thee screamin¡¯ n¡¯ smashin¡¯ things.¡± I looked at Cad in shock; other than a brief moment of clear intelligence when he had been arguing his own innocence, he mostly came across as a guy who did not take life too seriously. But he seemed to have some real insight into Reff¡¯s people, which I supposed on reflection was not too surprising, if they had been around for three-hundred years. But still. ¡°With mild appreciation, you are correct, Cad. My brother may seem calm to you most of the time, but to our people, he is seen as something of a berserker. To me, of course, he is just my brother.¡± Seeing that Cad was not about to start another story, the crowd was drifting away from us by then and I sat down on the bench attached to the table, just happy to be with my friends. After a few minutes of listening to the siblings talk, Darina turned to me and spoke, her tone pointed and curious. ¡°How did your interview go, Hunter? Divest yourself of any interesting... secrets? Maybe you¡¯d like to share? Ignoring the prying tone, and glad I had chosen to remain separated until the effects wore off, I gave her a brief explanation ¨C omitting the specifics, of course ¨C and asked if the commander had not been to see Cad. At which point the hammer wielder pulled a flask from thin air and took a long pull before speaking. ¡°Oh, aye, Commander Jayford summoned me while ye was cooped up in solitude. Gave me me ring back ¡®n¡¯ told me the plan." The rogue winked one grey eye at me as he said the last, taking another sip from his flask. ¡°And he has refused to tell us what ¡®the plan¡¯ is, so perhaps you can enlighten us.¡± I looked at Cad, who was grinning and then back to Darina; she was certainly better than she had been when we met, and she did seem to have a sense of humour, but I was not at all sure how she would react to Cad staying with us, so I cleared my throat and moved slightly further down the bench so I was a little further out of reach. Just in case. ¡°Well, you see, um, Commander Jayford officially requested we accept Cad as an official representative of the Alchemy Association. So, he¡¯ll, uh, be traveling with us back to the Citadel. Officially.¡± The apprentice¡¯s eyes narrowed and I could see she was ready to give me a tongue-lashing, but before she had the opportunity, Cad broke in, loud and excited. ¡°Aye! I¡¯m going to be meeting th¡¯Apexes! All of ¡®em! Me! Caddin Thatch. Me Ma would be proud as a bunny with a giant carrot. I¡¯m going t¡¯send ¡®er a letter afore we set out, and I may invest in one o¡¯them light capture jobbies the Association sells, so I can have me image captured with all¡¯ve em!¡± I grinned at his enthusiasm, but the apprentice was staring at our newest companion in horror; given her views on the dignity inherent in her master¡¯s position, I could see having a fan-boy tag-along to have his picture taken might be a bit much. Especially given that she might have to introduce him to her. ¡°With reserved gladness, I believe you presence will be instructive; I have not had chance to practice against another Foundation stage cultivator since I attained it myself.¡± ¡°Aye! We can all practice, it¡¯ll be a right laugh! I bet yerall fine drunks!¡± I caught Darina¡¯s glare as it burned into me; she looked pretty angry, but I knew she would calm down before long. Or I hoped she would calm down, I should say. I offered her a shrug of apology and smiled. It was not returned. Monkey on my Back Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Flesh By the time we had begun to climb the mountain that marked the separation between the phoenix and thundering ape territories, I had already successfully hunted thirteen creatures, with the majority of those being relatively small animals; as it turns out, hunting with a sword is not terribly efficient. I had tried to throw stones, both using my own enhanced speed and using my frog-derived powers, and while the former has met with limited success ¨C limited mostly by my terrible aim ¨C the second had been a surprising failure; I had rather hoped that the stone would leave my hand like a bullet, but it had acted as if I had thrown it normally. It seemed that I was not actually moving any faster while using that ability, I just had more time in which to do it. It was a strange limitation, and I wondered how much of it was due to my intent when I had formed my Path, and how much was intrinsic to my lotus-posed passenger. Either way, I was mostly left trying to melee them with pure speed ¨C and pure time. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it did not, but it did seem to be pretty good practice, as I was making what I considered good progress in filling my Exemplar with Praxis, and I was sitting at a solid one-percent completion. My monetary gains had been somewhat less impressive, however. I had obtained five orange cores, four yellow, two greens and two blues, which ¨C if my mental maths was correct ¨C worked out to be the equivalent of 5418 growth coins. Or somewhat less if split five ways. Luckily, as before, my companions were hesitant to take their shares, but at least this time I could somewhat understand it ¨C the only ones they had actually helped with were the blues, as fighting the equivalent of Foundation level beasts without the benefit of being inside them was actually quite difficult. If you ever see what looks like an eight-foot-tall, golden gerbil with ram horns, just leave it alone; why a gerbil has the ability to negate gravity, I have no idea, but then I suppose I have no idea why a frog would need the power to manipulate time, either. I planned on forcing them to take their shares once we were back in civilization, which would leave me with the far smaller fortune of 1962 growth coins. I seemed to recall the sum I had first taken from the Risen Throne when I had escaped, had actually been a small fortune, and that had not been much more, but maybe I had been spoiled by the relatively large amounts I had come upon, or maybe I just had expensive taste in clothing, I hoped not. I hoped I had not spent ¨C and wasted ¨C literal fortunes on clothing... One thing I had insisted on, which had bewildered my friends, was trying to dress the carcasses of the beats I killed and storing them to eat later, though I had been forced to abandon large parts of the blues, as I did not actually have enough space for all that meat. I had eaten a few times, since my arrival, and it has always been an amazing experience, and as became apparent, that was the norm on a world where nobody over the age of ten needed to eat. The idea of just roasting meat over an open flame, with no delicate spicing was wholly alien to them, but I was damned if I was going to waste more than I had to, and there was simply no way I was going to end a life just to make money. I did not want to judge too harshly; I was not a native of the world and I did not know everything, maybe keeping their numbers down was important. But it was one of the few practices that ¨C at that point ¨C I really hated. Which is how I found myself half-way up a mountain, sat in front of a roaring fire and eating a massive chunk of snake. The reptile tasted awful, like a salty dirt and mothballs; it had looked like a vine at first, so maybe I was tasting some kind of plant properties, but either way, I hated it, but since I had already taken my moral stand, I was unfortunately committed to eating all twenty-two feet of the thing. Yay. ¡°With hesitant disgust, I do not know how either of you can eat that, it tastes disgusting.¡± It was the first time I had heard Reff make a wholly negative comment, but given the look on his face when he had ¨C reluctantly ¨C tried it, I thought he was doing a great job of hiding his true feelings. With a grin that quickly became a grimace as the after-taste of my latest bite hit me, I looked over at Darina, who was the only other member of our group who had continued to eat after the first bite; the diminutive apprentice seemed to hate it every bit as much as I did, but she nevertheless continued to time her bites with my own, as she glared at me from across the fire. Things had been settling down between us, as Cad was refraining from getting us drunk and was pretty good company most of the time, but she seemed to take the snake as some kind of personal challenge, and it was doing nothing to cool her down. ¡°You know, Darina, you don¡¯t have to eat it. I would manage... eventually.¡± The only answer I received was for the apprentice to tear another chunk of meat free, a look of determination clear on her face. With a shrug, I set about finishing my... cylinder... of meat while Cad and the siblings chatted, with the occasional joke thrown in, followed by confused stares. * *** * ¡°Oi, Sparky, why don¡¯ we have a spar? I¡¯ve been itchin¡¯ to since we met ¡®n¡¯ ye¡¯ve been puttin¡¯ me off. Surely ye Core be filled by now?¡± I had been putting the man off, though letting my Core refill after it had been sucked dry by the weird black mist wasn¡¯t the only part of it; the more I sparred against him, the more opportunity he would have to realise that my luck was not anything to do with my cultivation. But putting him off too much would only inspire its own suspicion. With a sigh, I clapped a cleansing pill between my hands to clear off the day¡¯s grime and the juices from the almost inedible snake, and nodded at Cad. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s do it. Should we all fight?¡± I held the hope that Cad would go for that idea, because it would make it harder to concentrate on me, but he quickly disabused me of that notion, shaking his head with a grin before speaking. ¡°I¡¯d prefer to test ye on yer own, Sparky. What damn fate-bending power o¡¯yours makes me eyes itch, and I¡¯ll be glad once I can settle me curiosity.¡± ¡°Uh, sure. We can spar later, guys?¡± The group looked up at me, though only Darina seemed eager; we had slacked off a little in our training since fight with V and McCreepy; for my part, it was just because I wanted to recover my Praxis - and the whole secrecy thing ¨C but despite seeming to enjoy his company, the risi brother and sister seemed a little be leery of our group''s latest edition. Perhaps it was lingering distrust, or an aversion to his specific methods of fight, but whatever it was, we probably needed to get back into the swing of things. I definitely knew that I did ¨C with the jobs Xiournal kept handing to me, I knew I did not have a great deal of time to waste, even if it felt that way with the year-plus timer. My last quest had the difficulty upgraded, but this was still rated higher, which meant I was going to need to hit Foundation as soon as I could. At my current rate of progress, it would take me about four years to integrate my Exemplar and complete my Path, and while that was actually pretty fast from what I knew ¨C no doubt helped a long my last life ¨C it probably was not going to be fast enough to keep me alive if the difficulty kept scaling the way it had.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The two of us stood and walked a short way away; the largest clearing we¡¯d been able to find was the one we were camped in, so we would need to fight amongst the trees, which I thought favoured my opponent, but you do not always get to choose your battleground, so I took it as a part of the training. ¡°You, uh, may need to go easy on me, Cad.¡± ¡°How¡¯bout we jus¡¯ see how we get on, Sparky? Believin¡¯ yer goin¡¯ t¡¯lose afore ye start is a terrible way to look at life!¡± That was another surprisingly wise piece of advice from the man and decided I would trust that he would not simply punch through me. Forcing a grin onto my face and Focused hard, revelling in the power as lightning surged through and out of me, grinding the world to a crawl. Without waiting, I quick-stepped towards him but my foot caught on something rough in the undergrowth and I might have planted my face in the dirt right then if it was not for my galvanised reflexes; with a kick, I knocked myself out of the fall and with another I reverse my course, zigzagging back to the right and back again in a fraction of a second. Instinctive Precognition roared as I closed and I found myself kicking again, pinwheeling my arms as I rolled sideways in the air, narrowly avoiding Cad¡¯s blurred violet hammer, the air displaced by its passage ruffling my beard. The next few seconds became a blur as I entirely gave myself over to my Precognition, stepping, jumping and spinning in seemingly bizarre ways, always staying a fraction of an inch ahead of that deadly weapon. As my exercise in dodging continued, I realised that I was having no trouble with my balance or judgement; Cad was not using his own Focus in the fight, and while he may be making use of his Path, it seemed my ability to react to the future was impeding it at least a little, though it was tough to tell how much of my predicament was down to the vast difference in physical ability between the stages or something else. But I began to suspect he was not actually using his abilities at all as he began to accelerate, the head of the long-hammer creeping closer, and even leaving a couple of rough cuts and welts on my body as it passed within ever shrinking distances. Deciding I needed to up my game, I grabbed hold of my Praxis and pulled it through my Focus in a torrent, coruscating power snapping against the walls of my channels before leaping out from my body in ropes as thick as my thigh, the smaller filaments absorbed into the greater mass of raging energy. The next time I was dodged out of the way of the long weapon, I could see my lightning snap to it and crawl down its length; any resistor can be overcome with enough power. I saw Cad stiffen as the current touched his hands and sought a route to the damn earth below. I took that moment of shock before my opponent could rally his defence and the hammer lagged, stepping in and driving the palm of my remaining hand into the side of his jaw. But he was ready for me; as my palm touched the flesh of his face, electricity conducting directly into him, he turned with the blow, stepping away to absorb the force and using it to drive an elbow back towards my own open face. Jerking backwards with all the speed my enhanced body could muster, I bent over like I was dodging bullets before pushing off with my legs and backflipping away. ¡°Not bad, Sparky! There¡¯s definitely somethin¡¯ weird about ye!¡± The words sounded slow to my ears, and it was difficult to parse them out; by the time I did, the self-proclaimed life of the party was coming at me again. As we met again, I was once more on the back foot and I found myself moving in ever-more strange ways as Instinctive Precognition fought to keep me from harm, but I knew Cad had at least engaged his Path now, as I found myself bouncing between three trees to avoid an angry monkey with metal spikes protruding from its fur; it has fallen from the canopy looking very confused and apparently decided I was the cause as it attacked with a discordant screeching. Sweat was rolling off me in waves as I piloted between the two of them, narrowly avoiding fired metal spines and a dipping hammerhead trying to hook my feet. I knew I stood no real chance, under the circumstances; maybe in an environment that favoured me my speed could have more of an impact, and there would be less things ¡°randomly¡± befall me, but in that moment and place, I knew he was just testing me. Testing me with the apparent intent to do my serious injury, to be certain, but testing me nonetheless. Knowing I needed to end things, but also unable to close any longer, I concentrated on my amphibian passenger, bent and aimed my elbow and willed myself to kick. For the briefest fraction of a second, I lost control of my leg, but then I found myself smashing into Cad, elbow first as the world blurred around me. I had kicked off the ground of course, using the move I had originally envisioned as some kind of emergency dodge to close the distance, catapulted forward by combined force of multiple kicked compressed down into an instant. I had not flown at him at the equivalent speed of my time compression ¨C which seemed to be instant ¨C but it had still been at a speed multiple times faster than a Core stage cultivator should be able to, and I had finally managed to land a solid hit right in his grinning face. There came a snap as his nose broke and flattened and the shock of it overcame shook his defence and my lightning flowed into him unopposed. I dropped my Focus almost immediate upon contact, not wanting to do any serious harm, but as he staggered back, blood pouring down his face, he twitched spastically, and I could not help but smile at having scored a point against a cultivator an entire order higher than I was. I had also apparently caught the annoying damn monkey with my foot as I shot forward and I could hear it screeching as it ran off into the jungle. ¡°Damn and Void blasted shit, me nose! Damn, Sparky, ye¡¯ve got some speed when ye put yer mind to it. I damned certain ye should¡¯n be able to do that at yer stage. And ye did a mighty fine job¡¯o avoiding me bad luck, but this is intrestin¡¯ in itself.¡± ¡°Uh, sorry. But, to be fair, you weren¡¯t holding back with that hammer, I have the cuts and bruises to prove it.¡± ¡°Bah, barely grazed ye. I was holdin¡¯ back plenty, ye wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve had anythin¡¯ a few healin¡¯ pills could¡¯n¡¯ fix in a few days.¡± ¡°Oh joy, a few days you say?¡± My voice was dry and my face deadpan; while my companions and I tended to go hard at our training, we tried not to injure each other too much. I hoped I could instil that idea into our latest addition, because otherwise I was going to end up getting injured a lot. And getting injured hurt, even if I had fast healing. ¡°Okay, so mayhap I was a bit... enthusiastic, but ye were really doin; a fine job o¡¯escaping yer fate. Was that ye Path?¡± ¡°Uh, no. The lightning improves my reflexes and response times a lot. I guess I was just... reacting too quick? I couldn¡¯t even tell if you were using it, at first. The monkey wasn¡¯t subtle.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯ really get t¡¯choose the form the misfortune takes, ye see. It can get a touch... chaotic when I get t¡¯tryin.¡± ¡°Well, I hoped that scratched your itch ¡®cos I¡¯m not sparring with you again anywhere the wildlife can help you.¡± ¡°Oi, tha¡¯s not fair, Sparky! Sparky!¡± Grinning, and glad to have an excuse to limit his curiosity, I walked away. The Other Side ¡°Puny!¡± I looked up as the bellow echoed through the jungle, the depth of the sound causing the foliage to shake around us. I grinned as I saw the gigantic white-furred figure through the trees; blunt and vaguely terrifying Rainmaker might be, but I really did like the cunningly dense Elder. Looking around, I could see smiles on the faces of my friends as well, other than Cad, who had dropped into a fighter''s stance with the head of his hammer back over one shoulder. The hammer did not seem bother Rainmaker at all as he leapt into the air to come crashing back down through the canopy in front of is. Pulling leaves from my hair as the ground shook with the impact, I spoke with exaggeration to make sure our newest companion knew not to attack. ¡°Elder Rainmaker! It¡¯s good to see you again. And-¡± I looked around for Borr, but did not see the Elder¡¯s shadow anywhere. ¡°Where¡¯s Borr? I realise we weren¡¯t around for that long but I¡¯ve never seen you without him before.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have time for that after we¡¯re done with important matters of law and things. Where¡¯s my fruit?¡± With a small flourish and a bow, I pulled the sack and the Thousand Year Pineapple from storage and held them out to him; it was a little awkward holding them both in the one hand, but I had not wanted to include the pineapple with the other fruit, given how much the Elder seemed to enjoy them. Darina, who was finally starting to calm down, had decided she wanted to try to upsell the fruit. Stepping forward, the apprentice bowed deeply and spoke, her voice polite. ¡°Honoured Elder Rainmaker, we have succeeded in appeasing Elder Flame Ever Dancing, and in so doing we have obtained for you a replacement-¡± Darina began to gesture at the Thousand Year Pineapple in my hand, but when she looked, her arm already starting to gesture, she saw that the fruit in question was gone, and was in fact already half-way inside the fruit-loving Elder¡¯s mouth. - ¡°Uh, yes. We have also obtained a number of special fruits grown and cultivated by the Alchemy Association, each of them a variety that may not ever occur in nature.¡± ¡°There is more of you now than there was before; I know you humans breed fast, which is why it¡¯s okay to smash some, but this it too much.¡± Taken aback by the assumption that we had somehow spawned a fully-grown man in the weeks since we left, I stood with my mouth slightly open as I tried to process how the Elder thought humans reproduced. And why it was apparently okay to smash them. ¡°With deferential correction, Honoured Elder Rainmaker, Cad is no product of any of our union, but rather an emissary of the Alchemy Association who is journeying back to my home with us.¡± Cad, who had put his hammer away at the first mention of Elders, gave a bow of his own, but it went ignored as Rainmaker¡¯s attention remained locked on us. ¡°Oh. Well, I guess the most important thing is that you have fruit for him too?¡± ¡°They¡¯re in the bag, Rainmaker. Should be fourteen, which with the pineapple, makes three for each of us.¡± ¡°I can count, Puny.¡± The comment was pointed, with a touch of growl to it and I dipped another bow, wisely ¨C I hoped ¨C choosing not to say anything. ¡°No we have the important matters of states done, what¡¯s an alchemy association? You said they make fruit? Can I get an alchemy association?¡± ¡°Pardon me, me right-honoured Elder, but the Alchemy Association is an affiliated group of individuals looking for further the bound of alchemy and-¡± ¡°Too long. Use less words, or I¡¯ll smash you, Almost-Not-Puny.¡± Cad looked at me with a look of sheer panic, but seemed to calm down ¨C marginally ¨C when I shook my head; I hoped to convey that I did not think Rainmaker would smash him for such a thing, but if I was being entirely truthful, I was not so sure. ¡°-Uh, they make a lot o¡¯things, yer Massive Elderness. But there¡¯s only th¡¯one, m¡¯fraid.¡± I saw Darina wince a little when cad used my own personal honorific, ¡®Elderness¡¯; it was not ¨C strictly speaking ¨C a proper form of address, but it had worked out for me so far, and it seemed Cad had picked up on its use when we were speaking with Flame Ever Dancing. ¡°Bah, then I¡¯ll make my own. Fruit is too good, but if it can be better it would be irresponsible not to do what we can. T¨²n! T¨²N!¡± I had to cover my ears with a wince as Rainmaker¡¯s voice switched to the thunderous roaring the thundering apes used to communicate, and from where I suspected they got their name. After a few short moments of, the Elder sucked in another deep breath, an impatient look on his face, but thankfully another ape came crashing down through the canopy; this one was a little smaller than many of the adult apes I had seen, only barely taller than Rainmaker¡¯s own twenty-foot height. ¡°What is it, Boss? I was this close to being able to see the future, I just needed-¡± ¡°Never mind your dirt-tasting mushroom, T¨²n - I have a more important job. You are now our official alchemy association. You¡¯re in charge of making fruits better.¡± ¡°But, Boss... you really need to try these mushrooms, they¡¯ll alter you whole-¡± ¡°I¡¯m not eating dirt, T¨²n. You can¡¯t trick me!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. There was a pause in the deafening back and forth and I quickly interjected before it could start up again. ¡°Uh, sorry to interrupt, but you need more than one person for an association. And the name alchemy association is already taken.¡± ¡°You see the effects my mushrooms are having, Boss? They¡¯ve allowed me to transcend language! How else could this human know what I was saying?¡± ¡°Bah, he understands everyone, dirt-tasting soup or not. But he has a good point, if we use the same name, people will get us confused. You''re not the head of our alchemy association anymore, you¡¯re the head of the Fruit Association!¡± ¡°... Yes, Boss.¡± T¨²n did not sound all that excited about the idea, but seemed to resign himself to it as he slowly knuckle-walked away. I did not bother to offer any further impediments to the Elder¡¯s plan, as it seemed he had made his mind up, and as... simple... as he made himself out to be, I knew it was at least partially an act, and I did not want to risk pissing him off. ¡°So, you¡¯ve founded a new... association... and we¡¯ve all paid up on our tax. I guess we should just be off ¨C we still have a long way to go.¡± ¡°What? No, you should stay. Borr should be ascending soon, it should look impressive.¡± ¡°Did you say he was ascending? Like, to the next plane up?¡± The subject of ascension had not come up a great deal; academically, I knew it was what happened at the end of the Pinnacle stage ¨C at least for the most part ¨C but I had not met anybody so close, at least knowingly. ¡°Where else would he ascend to, the top of the mountain? You can¡¯t ascend to a place you already are.¡± Rainmaker¡¯s voice was openly mocking, but I just about managed to stop myself rolling my eyes at the Elder¡¯s words. ¡°You¡¯re totally right, Rainmaker; I should have thought before I said anything.¡± Grunting like a boulder falling, I received a nod of acknowledgement. ¡°With appropriate awe, it is rare for an ascension to be witnessed ¨C I have never been present for such an event, though my brother has been.¡± I thought I caught a whisper of jealousy from Riffa as she spoke about her brother, but it was tough to tell given the general lack of expression. The risi said they did not like to lie when stating their tones and meanings, but I wondered how they handled hiding one intent behind another. ¡°In reluctant confirmation, our brother¡¯s tribulation was a remarkable sight, though I would have perhaps preferred to be slightly further away...¡± ¡°Wait, your brother ascended? Did you have a second brother?¡± ¡°In confusion, I have only a single brother, though Riffa has two.¡± ¡°So, you mean Raaf? But if he ascended-¡± ¡°Enough talking! You talk so much, Puny. Sometimes it is better to listen, because friends are not always around forever.¡± For the first time I heard sadness in the Elder¡¯s voice and I realised that if Borr ascended, Rainmaker would be losing a friend; it was not the same as death, but from the perspective of those left behind, the loss might be similar. Especially if you had known them for potentially thousands of years. ¡°Follow me, we¡¯re going to gather with a clear view of the mountain.¡± Without another word, the huge white-furred being turned and walked off, not waiting for our response. After a glance around at my friends, and receiving a mixed bag of nods and shrugs, we hurried after him, following through the trees until we reached a recently cleared patch of jungle, which was occupied by dozens upon dozens of colossal apes, their gazes locked on the distant peak of the mountain. Finding a place to sit on the stump of one massive tree, my companions and I sat down and waited. I kind of wished I had known Borr was up there when we crossed the mountain; we may not have been that high up, but we could have made a detour to say goodbye, at least in theory. Though, from what Reff had said, it was not the best idea to be that close to an ascension, and from the term tribulation, I gathered the event could be somewhat violent. After an hour or so of sitting in silence, staring up and waiting, I had lapsed into meditation, trying to cram as much Praxis into my Exemplar as I could, running what I knew about time, and about my abilities through my head, trying to think of new uses, implications and even trying to compress time around my limbs without moving. It did occur to me that I may be prematurely ageing my limbs ¨C if only by seconds at a time, but given that my lifespan was probably measurable in centuries by that point, I was not too worried. ¡°Well, if this isn¡¯th¡¯mostborin¡¯-¡± I looked up as Cad started to speak, my attention pulled away from my little lotus-posed frog, but almost before he had begun, he was interrupted as a wave of something pulsed through us. The pulse caused my Core to resonate, like a struck bell and I felt my Path jump forward by a whole percent as it began to absorb my Praxis. Upon the mountain, there came a spark of light in a hue I could not name and then that spark became a storm as the sky fractured along lines of that same light and a silver orb appeared, the lines of mysterious light running in and out of it as they began to ripple and surge faster and faster, even as a sound like the world screaming reached us, the vibrations causing the ground beneath us to thrum. Feeling my bones begin to move in sync with the earth, my vision blurred and as I blinked, trying to focus, a heavy weight pushed down on me, similar to what I had felt from Flame Ever Dancing when we had first entered their territory, but without the directed attention. Instead, it felt like being deep underwater. Gasping as if short of breath, though I was in fact having no trouble breathing, I felt myself fall from the stump and slide to the ground, staring with vibrating eyes up at the mountain as the lines of unnamed colour bent and curved in their motion back towards the silver ball, curling like ribbons before being pulled in tight with a blinding flash and the crash of world-shaking thunder. Momentarily stunned, I lay waiting for my ears and sight to clear again, relieved at least by the absence of pressure and the strange vibrations. After a minute or so, I could see and hear again, and looked around to see my friends picking themselves up, though the apes around us seemed somewhat less affected. ¡°So, wow. Is it always like that?¡± ¡°Yer blasted right, wow, Sparky! T¡¯was a quality light show if ever I saw one!¡± ¡°With solemn confirmation, our brother¡¯s Ascension was much the same.¡± ¡°It looked different to the ones I have seen before.¡± Turning to look at the apprentice, I raised my eyebrows in question. ¡°When I have seen an Ascension before, the lines caused more damage, and did not bend back in like that. That was a comparatively gentle tribulation.¡± ¡°That was gentle? I nearly phased through the stump.¡± ¡°In polite correction, I do not believe that to be possible, Hunter.¡± ¡°Thanks, Riffa. Good catch. Anyway, if that was-¡± ¡°BORR!¡± Wincing at the booming voice, I turned to see Rainmaker vanish in a massive spray of dirt; looking around, I found him with his arms wrapped around a much smaller figure, smaller than Reff or Riffa, though still much larger than I was. The figure looked similar to Rainmaker himself, though on a smaller scale, and with different colouring; where the Elder we knew was white furred with black skin, this new figure had golden-brown fur and pale skin. And it was apparently Borr. Rising to my feet in shock, I felt my friends do the same, though Cad was just looking confused. I started to walk over to ask what was happening, but there came a cacophony of bestial shouts, roars and hoots as the gathered thundering apes began to congregate around the pair, bouncing up and down in excitement and causing the ground to shake once more. ¡°With voiced thoughts, it would seem the thundering apes have another Elder.¡± I looked up at Reff and it all clicked in my brain; were Apexes, and Elders, ¡°just¡± people who failed to ascend, or was there more to it? If it was that simple, surely there would be more of them? All I knew for certain, was that I have a lot of questions for Walker the next time I saw him. Im Not Talkin The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Oasis in the Night Have you ever heard an ape attempt percussion with just their voices and by punching things? The night following Cloudbringer¡¯s ascension to Elderhood began with a rhythmic thumping that caused the earth of the forest floor to shiver. As it turns out, the chest of something thirty feet tall, and almost half as wide, makes a pretty good drum; the thundering apes had dug a huge fire pit surrounded by stones and had filled it with wood - though I had no idea where they had obtained dry wood in a rainforest ¨C before setting it alight with the sunset. When the drumming started, I thought we were being attacked, but I quickly learned my mistake when I caught the rhythm. Every now and again, one of the apes would smash a fist into the earth to emphasise a moment in the music, and the vibrations would make the flames dance as the firewood shook and shifted. As the fire waved back and forth in the failing light, the singing started; I say singing, but they were not really built for singing, so instead what emerged from the group was a kind of beat-boxing, full of bass and long, vibrating moans. It was primal, and made my heart thud in my chest; it made me want to dance and spin about the fire, and that in itself was a remarkably novel experience for me. Cad, the self-proclaimed life of the party, did not hesitate and within moments he was up, skipping about the huge fire from foot to foot as a gaggle of ape children hooted and followed him, hopping and spinning in time with the music. I caught sight of Rainmaker and Cloudbringer passing out soft looking fruit of some unknown variety, and as much as it surprised me to see the normally very fruit-centric Elder giving them away, what surprised me more was the smell when he handed me one. The fruit smelled sweet and rich, but most of all like it contained enough alcohol to strip the bark off a tree. It made me edge away from the fire nervously, somehow afraid the fumes might catch on fire. Cad, of course had no such compunction, and was in fact breathing his intoxicating breath into the fire, to the delight of the children following him. I turned to look for Darina, thinking to find her glaring about in disapproval, but instead I found her a short distance away dancing with Riffa, her own fruit missing a large chunk and her face flushed and grinning. Riffa was somewhat more restrained, but she was nevertheless dancing along, adding her own song to the mix, in the deep tones I had heard the giants sing back at the citadel. ¡°In wise advising, you should celebrate, Hunter. It is not often such a wonder occurs, and it is even rarer to witness it, and to know them. You may live for another thousand years and never see another Elder, or Apex, come into being. Enjoy yourself, the crisis is over, at least for the moment.¡± Reff, my wise friend, who was more than twice my height and age, stood behind me, one of the pungent fruits held in each hand, large bites missing from both. He eyes were very slightly glassy, and his lips kept trying to twist into a grin as he swayed with the music. He was right, we had defeated the Risen Throne, saved a child, and possibly a lot of lives at the hands of its parent. My next quest had a looong timer, and while that could mean many things, right then, in that moment, it meant I was as free as I had ever been, in this life or any other. With a warm grin, I brought the deep red fruit to my mouth and took a huge bite, juices running down my chin only to evaporate before reaching my neck. The fruit tasted like a cross between a pineapple and an apricot, and the juice seemed to fizz on my tongue as I swallowed; almost instantly, I felt myself relax and the world became just a touch less defined. ¡°Reff, my friend, anybody ever tell you that you¡¯re a wise bastard?¡± ¡°With confused questioning, my parents were married, Hunter. What does this have to do with wisdom?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean it literally, Reff. It¡¯s a... never mind. Maybe it doesn¡¯t carry over. I just meant... you¡¯re wise. That¡¯s all.¡± ¡°With confused acceptance, I see. Thank you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome! Now, let¡¯s go dance with the girls before Darina turns into something weird.¡± My single bite of the fermented fruit may have had slightly more of an effect on me than I had realised, at the time. * *** * Waking slowly to the feel of raindrops falling lightly on my face, I stretched with a smile on my face before sitting up. I could see the fire pit a short distance away, filled with nothing but ash, and dozens of apes passed out around it. Thankful again for my Lesser Regeneration ¨C and its ability to prevent hangovers ¨C I stood up and looked around, trying to spot my friends. The night got very hazy, very quickly after that first bite, and while it did not seem like I had moved far, I was missing my shirt and outer robe; luckily, I seemed to have retained my pants. ¡°Ha! I remember that! I always wondered if- Puny! You¡¯re awake! Well done!¡± I heard a few groans around me at the remarkably loud yelling of Rainmaker as he waved from a short distance away. Cloudbringer lounged next to him, sipping from a gourd of some kind. Not seeing any of my companions in my immediate vicinity, I climbed to my feet and made my way over to the two Elders. ¡°Morning Rainmaker, Cloudbringer. Hell of a party last night... I think.¡± ¡°Ha, yeah, we smashed it. Your friend, the almost-not-puny one, with the excellent breath ¨C I like him. I¡¯m going to ask him to stay.¡± ¡°Boss, the only reason you want him to stay is so he can get people drunk without wasting fruit.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°So? That¡¯s a perfectly fine reason.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a whole jungle to go at, Boss. Lack of fruit really isn¡¯t an issue.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve only been an Elder for less than a day, B-Cloudbringer. Trust me, eventually you¡¯ll see the wisdom in conserving fruit for me.¡± ¡°... Yes, Boss.¡± Before his ascension, Borr had always sounded kind of put-upon when accepting Rainmakers rather focused demands, but I realised then that it was all a show; there was something thankful in his tone, that spoke of some kind of comfort at their relationship having the same dynamic that it could have had for potentially millennia. It was a strange thing, to think of relationships lasting for that long. Thinking back to Earth, I had difficulty picturing any of the friendships I had been on the periphery of lasting for thousands of years, and given the rise of immortality, it was probably something they would have needed to learn to deal with. That I would need to learn to deal with. ¡°I hope my friendships are half as strong as yours is, you¡¯re kind of an inspiration.¡± ¡°Ha! Of course, I am! Who would dare not be inspired by me? Nobody wants to get smashed.¡± ¡°Actually, where I come from, getting drunk is sometimes called, ¡®getting smashed¡¯. So, in a sense, everyone got smashed last night.¡± ¡°Smash is the best, it can be used for so many things! Like fruit.¡± ¡°You can even smash fruit, and make a smoothie. Or freeze it and make sorbet.¡± ¡°... Is this like the Puny Collato you mentioned before?¡± ¡°Uh, a bit? A Smoothie is when you take a bunch of fruits and puree ¨C or smash ¨C them until they¡¯re a liquid, and then drink it.¡± ¡°Why not just eat the fruit? It seems like just eating the fruit, but with an extra step?¡± ¡°You... have a point, I guess. It¡¯s more convenient, and tastes good? Anyway, a sorbet is when you take a fruit and smash the insides, and then freeze it.¡± ¡°Ugh, why would you freeze fruit? That just makes them harder to eat, and it would ruin the taste. It would just taste like ice. It was good to accept the superiorness of smashing things, but I don¡¯t think it works for fruit. It¡¯s not your fault, Puny, you¡¯re just not as smart as me.¡± I chose not to contradict Rainmaker, not least because as much as I liked him, I was never entirely sure how close he was to smashing me; intelligent he may be, and powerful certainly, but he was not human, and I found it difficult to assess his motivations... beyond fruit and friendship. Nodding in agreement instead, I caught Cloudbringer grinning at the two of us, his still-long fangs a stark contrast to his expression. The new Elder seemed much less dour than he had appeared before his transition, though I was beginning to think that more a symptom of the limitations of his body, in terms of conveying tones, than anything about the way he actual viewed the world. Walker had said that when a beast became an Elder, they gained a soul whereas they had none before; I hoped this was an addition to the being that had existed before, and not a replacement. It was not my place to cast judgement on the rules by which reality functioned, but it seemed like a shitty thing to do, to just replace a living, thinking creature. Oh well, it was not likely that I would be able to gain an answer, unless I ever met the gods of my new home, or whoever created the whole system, assuming there was such a being or group. ¡°Have you two seen my companions, by the way?¡± ¡°They went off to spar sometime after their third fruit, over that way.¡± Cloudbringer replied to my query, one long arm pointing beyond the fire pit. ¡°Thanks. Oh, and before I forget,¡± and while my friends were absent, ¡°have you ever heard of somebody called Anan Al¡¯monhad?¡± I was not expecting much ¨C to that point, nobody I had asked had shown any real knowledge of the man described by my quest. As such, the reaction from the two Elders surprised me; almost as one, the they sat up straight, glancing at each other, frowns writ-large across their faces. ¡°I remember my mother mentioning something about that name. She sounded like it made me want to smash things.¡± ¡°My mother mentioned it too, and there was definitely some lingering fear, as if speaking about an old threat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said.¡± Excited to finally have a clue, I took a step towards them, l my avid gaze flicking between them. ¡°What did they say? Is it a person, a human? A beast, or Elder?¡± ¡°It was just a thing she said, ¡®Eat your fruit or Anan Al¡¯monhad will come and take you.¡¯¡± ¡°Won¡¯t be taking me!¡± Having made the declaration, Rainmaker lifted a long blue fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, giving me a shrewd, pointed look. I stood blinking for a moment, trying to decide whether Rainmaker ¨C one of the most powerful beings in the world ¨C obsessed so much over fruit because of a boogie man his mother had used when he was a boy, or whether he was just joking. I was not sure which I preferred, so I simply moved on. ¡°Are... are they here? Can I speak to them?¡± I did not know how life-span worked for the thundering apes; a person basically stopped ageing altogether upon reaching the Pinnacle stage, and even before then, each stage slowed the process dramatically. I myself, even if I never advanced again, would likely live for the better part of a thousand years, though I had yet to really internalise that fact. ¡°Both of our mothers, and our fathers, have long since truly Ascended.¡± ¡°There are none left from that generation, Puny. We are the youngest born to them, and that was before the Wild Bounty, when the Sha Forest could barely sustain a dozen of us. Before we were strong enough to chase off dragons.¡± That was the longest, most complex sentence I had ever heard from the white-furred Elder, and it lacked his usual, affected persona; buried in the thunderous voice, I heard sorrow and rage. I also recognised the name he had used, Wild Bounty. ¡°Wild Bounty, as in, the Apex?¡± ¡°Yes. When we were still young, most of what is now the Sha Forest was bare earth, burnt and blackened. But one day, the Wild Bounty came, and she told the forest to grow, and it did. She told the plants to live and now they do. Burn the forest clean to the earth again, it¡¯s back within days. Food and shelter for all.¡± This time it was Cloudbringer who spoke, his voice almost reverent as he spoke of the person I understood to be the oldest living Apex, beside the Multiplicitous Self. From what he said, the Apex was the reason the Sha Forest was so resistant to having order forced upon it, and I wondered if she had done the same thing to the Everwood, given the apparent impossibility of constructing roads through it. ¡°Uh, the Apexes are holding a meeting soon, at the Blacksand Citadel. I¡¯m sure the Apex of the Wild Bounty will be there, if you¡¯d like to meet her?¡± ¡°No. Our place is here.¡± I had not expected the Elder¡¯s reply to be so final, or abrupt, but Cloudbringer¡¯s follow-up clarified things for me, but what he had said in perspective. ¡°Rainmaker is right, our place is here, protecting our people, and the forest. Plants grow back from dragon-fire, but apes do not.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll tell her you said, ¡®hi¡¯?¡± ¡°Please offer our most sincere gratitude; we have not seen her since, but we owe her much.¡± Nodding and agreeing to pass along the message, I walked away to look for my friends, mind churning over the implications of what had been said; their mothers telling the story, and mentioning the Apex had put something of a limiter on a time, but it was ¡®only¡¯ in the last three thousand years, though thinking about it, that had been the minimum age Sidona had mentioned. I was around the fire and well into the trees when I realised, I could have just asked the two how long ago it had been. Pandoras Box Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Closer ¡°You guys looked like you had fun last night - Rainmaker said you sparred?¡± It was a little later in the morning and it seemed like the group had collectively recovered from their hangovers, and even the bruises they had sported faded after they had taken the healing pills. ¡°Us? Aye, we sparred, but I¡¯m more interested in what ye got up to without yer shirt?¡± Recalling my semi-naked state suddenly, I glanced down at my bare chest; I had completely forgotten my state of undress, as the heat of the rainforest mostly made it unnecessary, and even the light rain that managed to find its way to the forest floor felt comfortably warm. With a slightly embarrassed smile, I reached into a ring and pulled out my last undamaged shirt and slipped it on, struggling with the knots for a moment with my one remaining hand. That done, I rolled my dangling sleeve up to my stump and secured it as much as possible, still wondering where the hell my last had vanished to. I did not bother with my robe, as the only undamaged one I had left was my heavy travel robe, meant for significantly colder climates. ¡°I have no idea what happened to my shirt and robe, I don¡¯t suppose you did?¡± ¡°I think you took it off when you offered to wrestle Cloudbringer.¡± ¡°I offered to what? How am I even alive?¡± ¡°With restrained amusement, Cloudbringer seemed amused by it; he simply stood there as you attempted to lift his leg. You... failed.¡± ¡°Okay, so I may have drunk ¨C or eaten ¨C too much last night. I assume you guys ate less?¡± ¡°Nah, we¡¯re just not light weights, like ye be, Sparky.¡± Cad grinned at me and I laughed and shook my head; I had not really drunk much since my arrival, and I wondered if that was the source of my low tolerance, or whether it was perhaps a feature of my new species. I had no way to tell, and nobody to ask, since I had yet to meet another ren. ¡°Fine, I¡¯m a cheap date. But what about you, you were all bruised up when I found you.¡± ¡°After you passed out, we decided to spar. You can never know if you may need to fight drunk,¡± Darina looked at Cad pointedly before continuing, ¡°or when not at your best. It seemed like a good opportunity.¡± Remembering the fight I had in a tavern, and how my opponents may have been slightly drunk ¨C giving me an advantage ¨C I could see the wisdom in such a practice. ¡°We could... just not drink too, I guess.¡± ¡°Hush yer mouth, Sparky. What a thing t¡¯say.¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry! Should have known better. Anyway, do we want to hit the road today, make some headway to getting back to the Citadel?¡± ¡°In confused clarification, there are no roads within the Sha Forest, Hunter.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, Riffa, sorry. My bad. Should be just leave through the jungle, then?¡± ¡°With polite confirmation, that does seem to be the only option.¡± ¡°In firm agreement, we should hurry back. We should pay our respects once more to the Elders, and depart.¡± ¡°Yes! I''m sick of the insects again.¡± Climbing to our feet, the five of us made our back through the trees, and around the still resting behemoths until we found our way back to the mostly empty fire-pit; across it, Rainmaker and Cloudbringer still sat talking, and though I could not hear Cloudbringer¡¯s voice over the distance, the deep rumble of the white-furred Elder caused the ash in the pit to vibrate. ¡°-never liked those sneaky wood apes, always sneaking about in trees; trees are for climbing, smashing, and growing fruit, not for climbing in.¡± Cloudbringer said something in reply and the other Elder fell into laughter, slapping the ground hard enough that leaves drifted down from above. Looking up at our approach, Rainmaker continued to laugh, but the smiling Elder that used to be Borr spoke, amusement clear in his voice. ¡°Human, your robe is behind that tree, but I¡¯m afraid you tossed your shirt in the fire.¡± My mouth was half-open, ready to speak when the Elder beat me to it; for a fraction of a second, I wondered how he had known, but then I recalled that I had spoken to them shirtless earlier that morning, and that he very likely was aware of our entire conversation. ¡°Uh, thank you, Cloudbringer. I¡¯ll just go and... get that then.¡± Darina snorted and with a nod, I walked away to go and find my wayward robe. I could not imagine what had prompted me to throw it away, or to burn my shirt, but I was glad at least that I had not burned both. Dusting the plant matter and dirt from the slightly ragged robe, I slipped it on, trying not to catch my rolled-up sleeve. After several seconds, fully dressed again, I made my way back to my companions, who were holding a polite conversation with the two Elders. ¡°-you or your assistance; without the fire resistance meassures, we may not have succeeded in our mission.¡± ¡°Ha! Well, the chicken has calmed down, and you gave me the idea for both a fruit tax and a Fruit Association. Soon we will be so fruit rich that all the world will bow before the thundering apes!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Beggin¡¯ yer pardon, yerElderness, but if ye end up creatin¡¯ any int¡¯restin¡¯ fruit, ye should contact the Assoc ¨C the Alchemy Association. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be willin¡¯ t¡¯trade.¡± ¡°The whole point is to get more fruit, not give it away! You¡¯re dumb, even if your breath is fun.¡± I could see that Cad had no idea how to take that, but was saved from trying to interject by Cloudbringer, who stepped in with an interruption of his own. ¡°We¡¯ll keep it in mind. You liked that fruit they brought you, right Boss? The blue one with the white meat?¡± ¡°It was pretty good... but we can just plant the seeds and make our own! Ha!¡± ¡°Beggin yer pardon again, yerElderness, but those seeds¡¯ll not grow. Make medicine they might, but they¡¯d not risk profit by giving away crops.¡± Cad¡¯s one was apologetic and polite, but at his words Rainmaker¡¯s face tightened, eyes narrowing as he became still, his body tense. ¡°You are you saying, Almost Not Puny, that you tricked me?¡± When he spoke, the Elder¡¯s usual rumble was even lower, and cold like a winter storm. I felt my heart begin to thud and my throat grew dry; I had seen the cunning beast angry before, when he had come looking for the Shadow Faced Guy, but if anything, he seemed even more angry now. Rainmaker took fruit very seriously. The moment drew out, and I could see the normally confident Cad breathing hard; we had no intended to trick anybody, as the Elder had not specified, he wanted to grow his own from the taxed produce, but an Elder had the power to not have to care about such details, should they choose not to. Luckily for us, Cloudbringer reached out and slapped his friend thigh with a snort, before speaking again. ¡°Leave them alone, Boss. You know you didn¡¯t specify you wanted anything but the fruit.¡± ¡°It was implied.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it was, Boss. Anyway, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s a fruit shortage.¡± ¡°Fine! I won¡¯t smash you, this time. But don¡¯t expect any more free fruit.¡± Sighing in relief, I wiped a drop of sweat from the side of my face, as did Cad. I had not seen how the others reacted, as I had been focused on the near disastrous interaction, but I could see the others taking calming breaths of their own ¡°With appropriate alacrity, perhaps we should depart. Thank you both for your hospitality.¡± With a bow, Reff gestured for us to leave, but as he did, I caught the faintest of smiles from the supposedly angry Elder and I had a strange thought. ¡°Guys, you go on, I¡¯ll catch up. Make some noise maybe...?¡± ¡°Hunter, we have outstayed our welcome and you are imposing on the Honourable Elder¡¯s hospitality...!¡± ¡°Darina, I''ll right there, honestly. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± The group have me long looks as they started away, occasionally looking back at me, concern on their faces. Once they were out of earshot, I turned back to the two friends, eyebrow raised. ¡°That was for show, right?¡± Rainmaker glared at me at me, his eyes fierce and full of rage; for a moment, I thought I had made a terrible mistake and that I was about to become one with the forest ¨C as fertilizer. But then the great ape broke into a wide grin and I found myself sighing in relief for the second time in as many minutes. ¡°You might be puny, Puny, but you¡¯re not quite as dumb as you look.¡± ¡°Uh, thanks, Rainmaker. That means a lot. I get why the act in general, but why that?¡± ¡°It was pretty funny.¡± ¡°Boss.¡± ¡°Fine! We don¡¯t want every human wandering in and asking for things. We made an exception for you, because you were doing us a favour, and you¡¯re not as smash-able as most humans. But if we just let people wander about in our territory, it would make us look weak. And you don¡¯t want to look weak in the jungle, Puny.¡± ¡°But... you¡¯re not weak, you¡¯re one of the most powerful beings in the world.¡± ¡°I am, but I can¡¯t be everywhere, even with B-Cloudbringer to help. Apes don¡¯t regrow, and as strong as we are, as a species, there are stronger things out there. But we¡¯re aggressive and work together, so we do fine, even without Elders. As long as other beasts ¨C and humans ¨C know we¡¯ll react with overwhelming force.¡± ¡°Human, we¡¯ll go out and fight some things, so the beasts know not to bother us, but humans can be picky. When your friends spread word that we almost smashed somebody who had done us a favour, others will be less inclined to bug us.¡± ¡°So do not tell your friends what you figured out, or we¡¯ll have to smash you for real.¡± ¡°Uh, sure. Yup. My mouth is sealed, your secret is safe. You were terrifying, I thought I¡¯d die.¡± ¡°Good! Now you should catch up to your friends, don¡¯t make them worry more than you have. Friends are important, Puny.¡± I gave a small bow and started to turn to leave, but at the last second, I turned back. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to come meet the Apex of the Wild Bounty?¡± Rainmaker crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his ape-like face, leaving Cloudbringer to answer. ¡°The Wild Bounty has done a lot for our people, for the forest. If she ever returns, we¡¯ll welcome her. But as we said, our place is here.¡± With one last nod, I turned and ran to find my friends, hoping they had not gone too far; I had told them to leave without me, but may have underestimated how fast they moved, and how difficult it could be to find a moving group in the dense green of the jungle. As I ran, there came a roar like the world fracturing and I stumbled before running faster; I had no interest in finding out what had been responsible for that. Despite my renewed desire to get the hell out of there, I did notice the quiet and the still of the forest in the wake of the sound, and almost jumped out of my skin when I heard a deep whisper right next to my ear as I continued on my way. ¡°Had to put on a show, Puny. Play along... or I¡¯ll smash you. Also, turn left a bit and keep going.¡± ¡°Uh, thanks Rainmaker. Have... a nice day?¡± No more whispered words came to me, so turning to my left a little, I ran on, dodging around trees and jumping over dense brush until, a few minutes later I caught side of Reff and Riffa¡¯s tall, pale frames. They were not going particularly fast, barely at what they could consider a jog, though back on Earth they would moving fast enough to register to most people as a sprint. ¡°In delicate curiosity, are you well, Hunter? We heard the sound of the Elder¡¯s displeasure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, just about. I, uh, asked him if I could take a fruit or breakfast, and he, well, he wasn¡¯t happy. Threatened to smash me, at least twice. Does anybody else feel like running faster? Let¡¯s all run faster.¡± I felt bad lying to them, but I was not about to risk his actual wrath, if I could avoid it. Injudicious I may have been on occasion, but I tried not to embrace certain death when it could be avoided. ¡°I cannot believe you stayed for that, after what he said. Are you an idiot? No, don¡¯t answer that, I know the answer.¡± The apprentice looked like she wanted to hit me, but though her words were acerbic, I could see from the look on her face, and from her tone, that they came from a place of concern, though that shifted towards irritation a little when I shrugged in response to her words. Wiser does not always mean wise. Dont Get Mad, Get Even Finally coming to the edge of the jungle was a shock after spending more than month amongst the dense plant life. The endless blue of the sky stretched out ahead of us to the horizon, across the rolling expanse of the plains. ¡°Ye know what, I¡¯ll tell ye all this, I f¡¯one am not sorry t¡¯see the back o¡¯that place. Never sweated s¡¯much n¡¯m¡¯entire life!¡± ¡°For once you¡¯ve spoken without any nonsense slipping out, Lush. It¡¯s my home, and part of me loves it, but it¡¯s a distant love.¡± Having spoken, Darina pulled a small bead from storage and slapped it against her chest and a tiny wave of mist rolled over her, sweeping away the accumulated grim; a moment later, she was joined by the rest of us as we luxuriated in the dryer air. Of course, despite Cad¡¯s words, he had not done a great deal of sweating since meeting us, at least during the day, when Reff was awake to keep us cool, but from what he had said, the jovial man had spent a great deal of time in the forest, years in fact. Time scales were fuzzy when immortality was on the table, and ¡®recent¡¯ could be anywhere from the last few weeks, to the last few decades. ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to run again without having to worry so much about tripping face first into a nest of murder ants, or a razor blade tree.¡± ¡°With careful recall, I do not recall either of these things being present in the Sha Forest, Hunter.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean they were actually called those things, Reff. I mean... I never actually saw ants, but I saw what they did to things. No thank you. And I¡¯m sure there at least one tree tried to gut me.¡± ¡°There are trees that will try to kill you, but I don¡¯t think we encountered any. I think you¡¯re just a little clumsy.¡± ¡°Thanks Darina. You always know what to say to make me feel better about myself. Anyway, I¡¯m glad to see the sky again.¡± ¡°In mild confusion, the sky was visible through the canopy at times.¡± ¡°I mean... a lot of it, I guess, Riffa. It¡¯s nice to see it stretching out like that.¡± Gesturing at the broad blue, I looked to see if Riffa understood what I was saying and saw her nodding, a very slight smile on her face. I could not quite tell if she was perhaps learning from her brother and had been teasing me a little, or whether it was just that she too was glad because of the sight. Despite her competitive nature, Riffa was the quietest of the us, and as such, a little difficult to pin down at times. The five of us began to walk, just enjoying the feeling of having free movement, of not having to watch for tripping hazards or any of the other myriad annoyances that came with spending time in any jungle, let alone one taken up a notch by magic. After a few minutes of casual strolling, the wall of trees receded ever further into the background, there came a polite cough and I turned to see Cad had stopped, and was now a few feet behind us. ¡°Now, I know it might be a touch soon, but ye did say ye wouldn¡¯t spar so long as the wildlife could lend me a hand. And as ye can see, we¡¯re not a fair distance from yon trees.¡± Cad¡¯s voice was faintly smug, his tone saying he knew he was being cheeky, but knowing he was the best kind of right ¨C technically right. I was about to answer, having hesitated for a split second to try and think of another excuse, when Darina came to my rescue, at least partially. ¡°Not so fast, Lush. I would like a rematch before you idiots face off again.¡± ¡°Sure, you go ahead Darina. It¡¯s been a few days since I had a decent practice,¡± I had been avoiding sparring completely in effort not to tempt Cad, and while I had advanced my Path a little, I was kind of itching to get back to it. ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a bout?¡± This I directed at Reff and Riffa, both of whom nodded. ¡°Now wait a sec¡¯ I want t¡¯figh-¡± ¡°We can fight over here. You can fight Hunter after ¨C now, go all out, no holding back.¡± ¡°But, ye don¡¯ stand a chance, lass, I¡¯m the best part o¡¯an entire stage above ye!¡± ¡°Then it will be even more embarrassing when you can''t beat me.¡± Grinning I walked a short distance away and squared off against Reff as his molten armour slid smoothly across his body until he was covered head to foot in dull-glowing orange and black. He was not in his mega-form, as that required significantly more energy ¨C Veritas ¨C and the simple fact was that I had no answer to it yet, though I suspected Riffa was working on something. The grassy earth vibrated faintly as Riffa¡¯s puppets spread out, with two staying by her side to act as bodyguards. With a flare of Instinctive Precognition, I felt an attack coming and Focusing without conscious thought, lightning sprang to life all around me and time slowed to a crawl as I half-turned to avoid a low lunge-punch from Reff, which narrowly missed my face. Despite the giant¡¯s progression to Foundation stage, given his early mastery of it I was still just about faster than him, when using all my abilities in sync. I was significantly faster than Riffa now, but she negated some of that advantage by being in multiple places at the same time.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Pushing Praxis from my remaining fist, I lashed out and struck Reff¡¯s shoulder while lifting my feet; I was not really trying to do any damage, but was rather using equal and opposite reaction to throw me away from his massive form. Flung backwards by the force of my blow, I landed and with another flare of precognition I let my feet slide out behind me as I dropped onto my hand and kicked out, pushing to fling myself into a horizontal spin that bring me to my feet as the huge sand heel of one of Riffa¡¯s puppets came down in an axe kick where I had been only a split second before. Focusing harder, my lightning howled and thickened to the size of my wrist and I dashed forward and between two approaching constructs, their sand flowing together to form a wall just an instant too late to stop me from escaping the circle they had been forming to contain me. Safe for the barest of moments, I glanced around for Reff but could not see him; guessing he was either within the circle or on the other side of it, I turned my attention to Riffa, and had just begun to move in her direction when I found myself leaping backwards as a glowing ball of stone smashed into the ground where I had stood, sending burnt soil flying in all directions, even as Reff uncurled and emerged from the small crater with a series of low kicks just at the height of my head. Quick-stepping and blocking the kicks I could not avoid, I backtracked while I looked for an opening and had just decided to simply attempt to disengage to steal his momentum when I once more found myself reacting instinctually as the world sped up fractionally and with a strange buzz, I lost control of my leg and was catapulted across the plains. As I shot out over the ocean of grass, the wind almost as loud as my lightning in my ears, I caught site of what looked like a closed flower blossom of dark sand where I had been standing. It looked like the siblings had been planning for my speed, in the same way they planned how to deal with each other''s strengths, and I theirs. It would have worked without question, if it was not for my non-cultivation-based abilities, which admittedly gave me a slightly unfair advantage, but when it came to survival, I was not sure anything could really be unfair. I finally felt my shoulder touch the ground and I rolled with the momentum and threw myself to my feet to slide across the grass. My time compression blow had a short refractory period, so I would not have access to my time compression for the moment; seeing Reff turn towards me, I pulled hard on my Focus to make up the difference and ran out to meet him. * *** * Rolling my shoulders, I walked back to where Cad and Darina were now sitting, one looking pleased and the other irritated. ¡°She beat you, didn¡¯t she? It¡¯s ok, she cheats.¡± My own bout had been a lot of fun and it felt good to be loosened up again; nobody had really won, we all knew each other too well, and worked together against anybody who got the upper hand. But you do not have to win or lose to learn. Sometimes a stalemate is good, like a loss that takes long enough to correct your moves. ¡°She didn¡¯ beat me, Sparky. Damned monster just refused to stay down, n¡¯I couldn¡¯ keep her there withou¡¯ breakin¡¯ her Void blasted neck.¡± ¡°Yeah, that doesn¡¯t slow her down for long, I¡¯ve seen her neck broken twice.¡± Turning to Darina, I gave her a thumbs-up, which she glared at; I gave a lot of thumbs up, for different things and she had no quite worked out the contextual uses yet. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you could keep going with how drunk his breath gets you. Nice.¡± The apprentice¡¯s glare turned into a smug grin as she straightened her back. ¡°It seems the lass here¡¯s developed somethin¡¯ of a resistance to me breath.¡± ¡°Less of a resistance and more of an immunity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty impressive, I would have thought that if it¡¯s a matter of Focus versus Focus, in direct opposition, the higher stage would have won.¡± ¡°Me Focus is f¡¯breakin¡¯ down ¡®n¡¯producin, it doesn¡¯t follow the stuff inta¡¯ye. The direct application o¡¯er healin¡¯ counters me breath neatly. Once she got used to it.¡± ¡°But you still have your Path, right? Manipulating fate or whatever?¡± ¡°Aye, and that¡¯s fine f¡¯takin¡¯ the lass down, but she just gets right on up again. Blasted cheatin¡¯, it is.¡± ¡°I do not cheat. It¡¯s not my fault if you cannot keep up with my genius.¡± The last was said as she looked at the irritated Cad; I knew she was just poking at him, rather than actually being that arrogant. Luckily, Cad just waved her away, and I caught a trace of a smile under his frown. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you two had fun. I¡¯m going to go meditate on some things from my sparring match with Reff and Riffa. I can¡¯t really test it without risking breaking something, but I think the area my Path covers has increased a little. I think I can compress is it a little to get more speed in general.¡± ¡°Wait, we two were s¡¯posed to fight, Sparky! Ye promised!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I promised, but either way, I really want to make sure I capture the feeling, so fighting is going to have to wait. Sorry Cad! Besides, don¡¯t want you getting beat twice in a row, it can¡¯t be good for your morale.¡± ¡°Ye don¡¯t heal through a shattered kneecap, Sparky. I¡¯d hammer ye like a nail if I didn¡¯ hol¡¯back.¡± ¡°Well, maybe we can find out later, or tomorrow. Next week maybe?¡± ¡°Next week?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see. Reff and Riffa are ready for you two, if you want to have another go. Nice work, Darina!¡± Walking away I could feel Cad scowling at my back, though I knew there was nothing real in it or my precog would be going nuts. Even without it, I was pretty confident the grumpiness was just for show, he was too much the life of the party to let something so simple annoy him. Once I was a far enough away that I was unlikely to be hit by any flung people, I sat cross-legged in the grass warmed by the sun, closed my eyes and sank inside myself. Shifting my mind¡¯s eye to my second energy centre, I gazed intently at my Exemplar, the little lotus-posed neon frog that had kicked my ass. Concentrating wholly on the amphibian, I ran Praxis through it and reached out with my senses, trying to find the edge between myself and the time compression effect and the world in turn. When I had tried to use my sword, it had been sheared an inch or two above the hilt, but whenever I had tried to actually feel it in the past, I had failed. But during my match with the risi siblings, I thought I had found a minor sense of it. A fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my mind¡¯s eye. Sitting there in the sun, the whole of me focused on the effort, I finally found the border of the effect, and I could feel why it had been so difficult. The edge was not in one place, but rather snapped about, shrinking and growing between moments Latching onto that ever-moving line with my will, I attempted to pull it closer to my body, and by fractions of inches; I succeeded. Stopping short after an unknown amount of time later just shy of my clothing. Struggling to hold onto that distance, I opened my eyes and tried to see if there was any difference. I watched as the wind rippled across the grass in slow motion, and thought there was. Livin on the Edge Breathing in deeply, I thought I caught notes of wild flowers and something sweet on the wind, as well as the more earthy damp of the distant forest. My Praxis was topped up again from my early practice and I was finally about to face off with Cad again, my one arm out in front of my in a guard position, like a spear or sword, trying to cover as much as possible to make up for my lack of a backup. As much as I had sort of become used to only having one arm, I was also growing frustrated with it; I knew that no matter how proficient I became at fighting with the imbalance, I would never reach my true potential in that state. But that did not mean I was not going to give it my best, and I fully intended to drain a good-sized chunk of my reserves in this fight, if only to distract Cad from my less... earned abilities. Taking another deep breath, I looked out over my fist at my waiting opponent and Focused hard, not bothering to ramp up over time. Violet-white lightning sprang to life around me, tearing the air around me into ozone with a shrill scream. The strands of light were thicker than my leg, and I was sure they obscured my body somewhat as they danced across me in flickering sheets. My Core thrummed like an engine as I drove my Praxis through it and my Exemplar lit with strange light as I also drew upon it, as much as I ever had, focusing on the edges of its power and pulling it tight about me as I sprang forward. The world was etched in stone as I closed the distance, the only thing seeming to move besides myself being my opponent, who bore a wide, almost manic grin within his almost-neat beard. It was hard to gain an exact gauge, but at a guess, with my lightning and Path working together at maximum power, I was moving and experiencing the world at almost five times my normal speed ¨C almost two-hundred-and-fifty times faster than a normal human could move. It took significantly more Praxis to brace the ground against my steps moving at that speed, but even with all the drain ¨C which was significant ¨C I thought I had enough for at least a couple of fights, if they did not drag out too long. The two of us came together with a snap of displaced air and while at first I was gratified at the surprise on his face as I drove him back, attacking at a pace far above my cultivation level, that soon faded as he tapped into more of his Foundation, quickly catching up to me and then once more surpassing me as his hammer flicked and spun in barely perceptibly arcs, though I could tell that at full blast, my lightning was making at least some headway in making it past his defences as we clashed and I conducted the stuff directly into him. I managed to dodge or deflect, making use of my Instinctive Precognition, but I knew it was because Cad was still holding back; he was at least near the peak of the Foundation stage, meaning his own maximum speed and strength was somewhere around five-hundred. Moving at the speeds we were it, was sometimes confusing to have my ability take over to save me from a particularly vicious attack, and on several occasions I found myself moving strangely for seemingly no reason, taking giant leaps over blank stretches of grass. Having to hold my breath did not help, only risking it when I managed to gain some distance during a dodge. Despite all that, my hand felt bruised from where I had been forced to deflect Cad¡¯s long-hammer, and I thought I might have some broken bones in my hand, as despite my relative speed, my strength and endurance was still at my normal levels which meant that my opponent was hitting five or six times harder than I could really deal with. I knew I would heal out of anything that happened, but even so, it hurt. Luckily, I had been able to avoid any serious blows to my body or legs but as the fight drew out into the seconds, I knew that I had to do something dramatic or he would just keep playing with me until I ran out of energy in order to try to ferret out what was interacting with his own ability. I really only had the one trump card, having pushed myself to my maximum from the start, but I was not sure how much damage it would do at this level of output, I did not want a repeat of the chest-exploding incident that I had had with McCreepy. The hammer whistled past, fractions of an inch from my face and I knew I was going to try it; I would not go all out, and I would aim for his shoulder, but it was the only way I could see this ending in anything but either a total loss or exhaustion. But in order to do it, I knew I was going to need to accept some pain in order to create the opening and get off the back foot. Over the next second or so of frantic dodging, I waited for my chance until finally the hammer spun around and I deliberately stepped into its path, forcing aside my instinctual reaction in order to brace myself with a surge of Praxis. Pain exploded like fire in my left shoulder as the hammer¡¯s head struck and I felt both flesh and bone smash and crush together. But I had been expecting it, and absorbing the force ¨C barely ¨C I twisted and concentrated on focusing my Path on my one arm, and with a frisson of sensation I lost control, my fist aimed squarely at Cad¡¯s own shoulder to return the favour. Regaining access to my limb, I stood still and let my Focus fall away as the pain throbbed and radiated from my shoulder and hand. I had missed, or rather, the Foundation level cultivator had somehow dodged a moved I had been certain was effectively instant, if not actually instant. ¡°How?¡± The world shuddered into motion again and I felt a breeze brush against my skin. ¡°That punch is somthin¡¯ else, Sparky! Even I couldn¡¯ see it. And yer speed in general¡¯s kicked up a notch¡¯r two! I bet ye¡¯ll be hell against somebody at yer own level. I raised my eyes expectantly and pulled a healing pill from storage, nestled between my thumb and palm before dropping it into my mouth and swallowing; even with the pill, I could feel that my shoulder was damaged sufficiently that it would take a few hours to fully mend. Tired of waiting for the grinning man to explain how he had dodged a blow that he himself has admitted he could not follow, I asked again, my voice tight with creeping pain.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°If you couldn¡¯t see it how did you dodge it? As far as I¡¯m aware, it should be close to instant.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯ dodge it, Sparky, I just wasn¡¯ where ye was aimin.¡± ¡°What? Some sort of illusion ability, like the panther-thingies?¡± ¡°No, nothin¡¯ like that. I told ye me Path was based aroun¡¯ th¡¯manipulation o¡¯fate. Just before ye lashed out, I felt a stone shift beneath me foot and by the time I adjusted me balance ye¡¯d punched where I¡¯d been. Fast ye may be, Sparky ¨C and freakishly so, if I may say ¨C I''m still about an entire stage above ye, ''n¡¯ I simply adjusted faster than ye could perceive. Sometimes I get lucky, while some say ¡®tis better t¡¯be lucky¡¯n good, I say, why not both? Havin¡¯ said that, ye do only have th¡¯ one arm, so ¡®tisn¡¯ difficult to see where yerpunches¡¯ll be comin¡¯ from.¡± ¡°Great, I have two lucky idiots traveling with me. Some of us had to work hard to get where we are, you know.¡± The voice was dry, and while the words could have been taken as criticism, I could hear the humour behind them, and as I turned to look at the diminutive apprentice who had joined us along with the risi, I thought I could even see a slight trace of her being impressed. I was however somewhat distracted by Cad¡¯s comment about my arm ¨C it did limit my direction of attack, and my ability to feint. ¡°I¡¯ll have ye know I worked damn hard to get this lucky, lass. Do ye have any idea how hard ''tis t¡®take down a sarimanok? Half a mountain tried t¡¯fall on me! I only caught the Void blasted bird ¡®cos it landed t¡¯sleep, and even then, it chose t¡¯sleep on top¡¯f a damned giant emerald reptile of some kind.¡± ¡°My Exemplar is a dragon, so there¡¯s no reason to brag about a bird.¡± ¡°Wait, wasn¡¯t it a chicken? No, wait, it was something like chicken, but it was a dragon, I remember you telling me. But, you said it was tiny?¡± Darina glared at me and I held my hand up in defence as she spoke again. ¡°A small dragon is still a dragon, Hunter. Small is a relative...¡± She trailed off, her gaze focused above us. Curious, I turned to follow her gaze, but had trouble seeing what she was looking at, at first. But after a few moments of searching, I made out something in the sky, mostly transparent but I could just perceive a slight bending of the light, and as it turned the light scattered through it into a thousand hues and colours. The prismatic thing in the sky was long and sinuous, with wide wings stretching out to either side of it. It was beautiful, and despite its apparently transparent body, it was definitely a dragon. Size was hard to judge against the vast blue, but it did not look too big, and I wondered if we were seeing one of the things Darina had taken as her Exemplar, since we were so near her home. ¡°Is that a chicken, Darina?¡± ¡°Ch¡¯en, Hunter, not chicken. And no, that is not a ch¡¯en.¡± ¡°In wonderous amazement, it appears to be some kind of glass dragon.¡± Riffa¡¯s voice was for once filled with emotion, and the statement at the start of her sentence was unneeded. I could hear the awe and wonder in her voice and I had to guess that if dragons were fairly rare, glass ones were more so. ¡°Tha-tha¡¯s not a glass dragon. Blasting Void, that¡¯s a crystal dragon. On me Ma¡¯s name, that¡¯s the Apex of the Crystal Drake..!¡± Switching my gaze back to the dragon in the sky, I recalled Aella mentioning the Apex of the Crystal Drake shortly after my arrival, but I had no real idea what an Apex was at the time, and had been picturing something like V, my torturer but with prettier armour. This, was something else, and though I did not think it was quite as impressive as a cloud of swords millions strong, or growing a mountain, it was still plenty impressive. That was of course until I saw the figure pass above a cloud, and my brain fell into confusion trying to re-establish a sense of scale. The dragon looked to be about the size they were always depicted in media back on Earth, but that was assuming it was only a hundred feet up or so, but if it was above the clouds, then... As I struggled to judge just how big the Crystal Drake was, the distant figure banked and my mind shuddered to a halt as I saw its wing almost touch the plain below, stretching between earth and sky like an optical illusion. ¡°With profound awe, the wingspan must measure in miles. It is no mere creature, but a living mountain." ¡°I was just thinking that it wasn¡¯t as impressive as Walker or your brother, Reff. I think I changed my mi-¡± Before I could finish speaking, there was a roar of thunder, if a sound so loud and so powerful that it knocked me off my feet. Turning my head, I saw my friends had also been knocked down, but more than that I saw a huge black cloud above the distant forest in the shape of an ape, with lightning dancing along its surface and balls of electricity that seemed to rip apart space itself lodged within the eyes. The great cloud ape opened its mouth and a few moments later another round struck us, pushing me hard against the grass. Before we could begin to recover, another ape appeared above the first, this one a slightly lighter shade but with all the fury of the first and moments later we were battered by another thunderous roar. It was at that moment that I recalled the thundering ape Elders had seemed to really dislike dragons. I turned to where I had seen the Apex of the Crystal Drake just in time to hear the cry of a beast so large that it could only be measured against mountains before the three cries blended together and with a sharp snap I found myself amidst profound silence, followed by ringing as my eardrums ruptured and burst apart. Dazed, I looked up and over at the Apex who was rolling through the vast sky breathing plumes of many-hued flame before ¨C and I swear this really happened ¨C the colossal dragon flipped the cloud-built figures the bird and set out across the plain at what could only be described a casual pace. The five of us lay in the grass until the Crystal Drake passed beyond the horizon and the clouds dissolved into nothing. Darina and I were the first to sit, as our advanced healing abilities restored our hearing, though I did so with a loud groan, as being tossed to the ground had not helped my broken shoulder. ¡°The Elders don¡¯t like dragons, even Apex dragons, I guess?¡± ¡°That was amazing. Truly, Apexes are worthy of respect.¡± ¡°Yup. And fear ¨C let''s make sure we¡¯re extra polite to Apexes and Elders from now on?¡± ¡°I have never been anything but respectful, Hunter.¡± ¡°Sure, and I keep getting reminded why. Might sink in this time.¡± ¡°I doubt it.¡± I almost suck my tongue out at the apprentice, but instead turned away to offer healing pills to out less healed friends, but they all shook their heads no and indicted ¨C loudly ¨C that they had already taken pills of their own. Darina, finally realising that she could lend her assistance as a healer, and not just with her snark, walked over and assisted everyone in getting their hearing back, and even gave me a hand with my shoulder. After half an hour or so, we were all healed up and ready to set out again ¨C none of us felt like sparring any more, and I knew it would take me a few days to top up my Praxis again. I could not resist however teasing the apprentice as we set out again, however. ¡°So, size being relative, how tiny was your chicken compared to that?¡± The Hop There are some people who might believe that being able to move five times faster than a person would usually convey an almost overwhelming advantage, when it comes to battle at least, and for the most part those people are very correct. There are however other aspects to a person that can make up for such advantages ¨C experience is one, as is being able to simply absorb most of my blows. Being able to literally wrap yourself around my limbs also kind of sucks. And yes, I¡¯m talking about Darina. The apprentice had not taken my comment about relative sizes well, and had insisted we have a bout of our own, and despite the fact that I was about missing about a third of my reserves, I had agreed, knowing that if I had not, she would have been in a foul temper for at least the day. Apparently, her Exemplar counted as part of her dignity. Standing with my feet literally inside her legs, and my one good arm now part of her shoulder, I was flailing at her with my stump whilst simultaneously trying to headbutt her. Darina had laid a trap for me, and though I had absolutely no trouble dodging her own attacks at my maximum speed, I did have to close in to attack. While normally I would have darted into to attack and retreated before she could... encase me... the willy, apprentice had driven tendrils into the ground to wait for me, and when I approached, I found myself rooted to the spot, and subsequently to my entirely trapped state. Speed is a fantastic advantage... when you can move. With a growl as Darina simply accepted my limited attacks with a blood thirsty smirk, I gave up on using my Exemplar and time lurched further into motion. Instead of using my Path, I instead concentrated on where my wrist was locked inside her and with an effort of will, I channelled all the lightning in my body to that point, the coruscating threads of power inside me fighting to escape the vice of my intent, but held in place by the soft white power of the elemental pill Tang had given me. I felt the moment my lightning overwhelmed her defences as the muscles and flesh around my arm began to flex and spasm, but even as the thick bolts of energy fed directly into her, I could see it was not enough, she was healing as fast as I could damage her, her smirk turning into a manic grin as she shrugged off enough power to fry an elephant ten-times. Gritting my teeth, I pulled harder on my Core, taking the energy that I would normally split into my lotus-posed passenger and instead sending it through my Focus, doubling down on the electricity surging down my arm, and with a heave jamming it all down at once. Then came a flash and a snapping sound, and moments later I found myself laying on my back. Sitting up, I could see small fires in the grass, which Reff and Riffa were already stamping out. A blackened patch of charred earth stood where Darina and I had only a second before, and beyond it the apprentice herself who was sitting up and rubbing at the stump of her own now missing arm. ¡°Oh shit!¡± Climbing to my feet, I ran over to Darina and dropped to my knees, panic and shame rising up inside me like bile as I fumbled for a healing pill. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Darina! I wasn¡¯t thinking, here, take this.¡± I pressed the pill to her lips without waiting for a response, but she slapped my hand aside with an irritated look before responding to me. ¡°What are you talking about, Hunter? It¡¯s my own fault for trapping you like that. I hadn¡¯t considered the fact that a large enough surge of energy could remove my arm when emitted from within it.¡± ¡°What? How can you be so calm, you¡¯re missing an arm!¡± I knew she could heal, of course, but from experience, I knew that losing a limb as not as easy as repairing something when all the parts were present. ¡°What? I¡¯m a healer, Hunter. Don¡¯t be an idiot.¡± With that the flesh around the burnt stump rippled and flowed like water, her arm reforming in a few breaths, the flesh once again pale and pristine. I felt my jaw drop at the ease with which she healed the massive wound, blinking like the idiot she thought I was. ¡°But... how? You said my arm couldn¡¯t be healed. And... it took you way longer to heal your neck.¡± ¡°Precisely; your arm. My Exemplar only relates to shaping my flesh. And it is quite hard to concentrate on healing when you can¡¯t feel anything below your neck, Hunter.¡± ¡°Oh. I guess that makes sense.¡± I wondered if she could survive major damage to her head, but thought it rude to ask. I did consider buying her a helmet the next time I had chance; though I knew her bone plating could fill that role to a degree, I had no idea about the relative strengths of Path level bone and the various coloured metals I had come across. ¡°Now, that was fun, and I learned to be cautious when trapping people who emit energy. A good bout. Now, if you¡¯re done being an idiot for the day, maybe we can leave?¡± ¡°Uh, actually, I don¡¯t suppose we can delay while I top up my Praxis? I put a lot of energy into those bouts. Sometimes it feels like you guys have all the energy in the world.¡± ¡°In gentle advice, I believe we are simply more practiced and efficient with our energy, Hunter. You have only been practicing for a few months, after all.¡± ¡°Now jus¡¯ a Void blasted moment, what¡¯dya mean, ¡®a few months¡¯? What¡¯re ye, the scion o¡¯some vast clan or sect?¡± ¡°No, nothing like that. I¡¯ve just been kind of driven, and I¡¯d experienced so little of the world before that, that everything is more of an Experience for me.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re offensively lucky. An idiot like you could never catch up to a prodigy like me without that working in your favour.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve had some lucky breaks. But I¡¯ve also worked pretty hard; I¡¯ll work on my efficiency.¡± I did not take Darina¡¯s comment to heart, she said it with a smile and after all, I had just blasted her arm off.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The five us agreed to wait for a day while I did my best to suck in Experience to replenish my Core; sitting and watching the others spar, I did wonder how I could go about being more efficient in my use of Experience. The tendrils I released were actually not super-effective most of the time, unless I really worked to pump up the power output; maybe I could try to limit the electricity to inside my body, increasing my reflexes and speed without wasting the power, until I needed it? It was something I would have to practice; previously, it had not been an option, as attempting to keep the flow contained would have simply seen the energy overflowing my channels and shocking me. But since I had both more control and some resistance, it might be worth a try. Still watching the fight in the middle distance, I took out the emerald lock again and began to fidget with it, by that point resigned that nothing would happen. I watched Reff and Cad clash, flecks of molten rock behind flung about by the hammer while Cad dodged frantically in and out of Reff¡¯s reach. My giant friend was not using his megaform, and I knew that any impact from the burning rock would seriously damage the laughing man, so I judged it to be pretty even, though there was no doubt that Cad was holding back. As I spectated, my mind drifted, caught up in recalling my bouts in an attempt to mine them for all they were worth. That is, until my fingers froze where they were upon the lock and with a start I realised that I could not move any part of me. My gaze stuck dead ahead, I felt myself lift int the air and move backwards. Starting to panic, having no idea what was happening, I saw my friends notice my hovering state and start towards me, only for them to vanish behind a plane of ever-changing light. * *** * The void I had experienced once before rushed past me in a blur, distant dots of light, each representing a world reaching out into infinity like the night sky. I could feel the same pressure I had felt during my last transit, like the weight of creation pressing down on me. Still unable to move, I watched it all from the corner of my eye, fright giving way to awe and understanding as I recalled my short visit with Lucas, and his ability to freeze me in place. I had mostly given up on his coming to visit, and it seemed like that had been a good call, as he was instead ¨C by all appearances ¨C bringing me to him. By the time I found myself being drawn once more through that rainbow gate, the press of the void was close to cracking me, or so it felt. Its absence felt like bliss by comparison, a soft welcome as a world once more gathered me in its protective embrace. The gate vanished, and I took in what I could as I began to rotate ¨C the room I was in was unlike the one in which I had last seen the Paragon; rather than a vast carved black opal, the walls seemed to be constructed from some pastel yellow metal that flowed and swept around shining crystals of pale purple, like amethysts. The rotation stopped as Lucas came into view, his childlike face and the glowing lines on his skin more than striking enough to remember. Next to him stood what looked like a robot, constructed of flowing metal, wood and stone, or so it seemed. Standing at about my own height - six feet and three inches ¨C but startlingly thin, the robot gazed at me from two burning yellow orbs set where you would expect its eyes to be. As I looked at the pair as best I could, the came a lurch and the force that had held me dissipated; falling, I managed to catch myself on my feet before I hit the ground; my natural reflexes may not have been able to stand up to cultivators on their own, but they were more than sufficient to prevent a bruised ass. Straightening, I was about to speak when Lucas beat me to it, his voice as sharp as it had been at our last meeting. ¡°Hunter, I have been waiting for you to take out the lock for a while now; I had almost given up on you.¡± ¡°It took me a while to finish up what I was doing, but then I took it out. I¡¯d pretty much given up on you, too. Honoured Paragon.¡± ¡°Well, it seems we were both busy. Let us waste no more time. This is Dee Yu See Three, a Construct.¡± ¡°Uh, nice to meet you, Dee.¡± ¡°I am Dee Yu Kay Three, Construct Designation: ¡®Swarm¡¯. It is not unpleasant to coincide with you, Hunter.¡± ¡°You should use their whole name.¡± ¡°Uh, sorry, Dee Us See Three. Do I need to include the designation bit?¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three will be sufficient, Hunter.¡± I looked at Lucas for some kind of indication of what was going on, beyond him bringing me there, but he simply looked on imperiously. ¡°So... what¡¯re we doing? This doesn¡¯t look like your house?¡± ¡°This facility is was constructed, and is occupied by myself, and those of my branch, Hunter.¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three is a Construct, this world¡¯s Paragon ¨C or Apex, I suppose - equivalent.¡± That got my attention; I had recently made yet another promise to myself to be more polite to Apex level anythings, and while this being may look like a fantasy C3PO, I should have guessed that the Paragon would not be simply hanging out with a random robot. ¡°Apologies, Dee Yu Kay three, I wasn¡¯t aware of that. It¡¯s my honour to meet you.¡± I dropped a bow, but saw DUK3 tilt its head as I did, apparently not recognising the gesture. That was the moment when the rest of what Lucas had said hit me, and I spoke again, my voice maybe a touch sharper than I intended. ¡°Wait, this world? We¡¯re not on your world, Lucas?¡± ¡°We are not. I located you at an opportune time; I had been telling Dee Yu Kay Three about you, a being that had not achieved our... progress, but was nonetheless capable of walking the worlds. They were curious, and so I brought you to us both.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to... experiment on me or anything, are you?¡± Ispoke with a smile and a slightly forced laugh, but when neither laughed with me ¨C I did not even know if DUK3 could laugh ¨C I came to an abrupt stop, looking around for a door, though I knew I had no actual means of escape should they actually decide to experiment on me. ¡°We would like to run a series of tests on you, in order to determine how it is you are able to walk the worlds without leave of the gods, or the protection of a Domain.¡± ¡°We would be pleased to offer you an exchange of services. It is understood that is often the case that ¡®trade¡¯ is a necessity.¡± I looked back and forth between them; neither had the look of a mad scientist, though one looking like a droid did not help. ¡°I¡¯m kind of on a timer... it¡¯s not as short as it could be, but I can¡¯t afford to waste time. I don¡¯t think. If I agree ¨C what do you offer in trade, and... could you return me to a specific place in the world I came from? My friends are probably heading there already.¡± ¡°We had thought to each teach you an aspect of our energy systems ¨C a Sigil from myself, and... Something more solid from Dee Yu Kay Three. As for returning you to a specific place on your world, that will not be possible, as I have no idea where your world is.¡± ¡°Wait, what? You just pulled me from my world, how can you not know where it is?¡± ¡°I simply searched for my beacon ¨C the lock I gave you. There are an uncountable number of worlds, as your hopefully saw on your passage between them; it is virtually impossible to locate one twice without some kind of beacon.¡± ¡°H-how could you just pull me here, if you had no way of getting me home?¡± ¡°I assumed your Apex would retrieve you, eventually. Did you not say you travelled with him?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not with me ¨C wasn''t with me. It¡¯ll take at least a month for my friends to reach him, if he¡¯s even there.¡± ¡°Then it seems, we have plenty of time to experiment.¡± Permanent Vacation I schooled my face casually as Dee Yu Kay Three showed me around the facility I found myself in; it was a strangely beautiful place, and it reminded me a little of the Blacksand Citadel, but I was still angry. There was little doubt in my mind that Lucas had brought me here with every intention of stranding me long enough to run their tests. But even I was not fool enough to openly display the feeling to the Paragon, despite knowing he likely knew already, given the additional senses those at his level possessed. The sudden popping of Xiournal¡¯s tablet into my vision, and the new job it gave me, were not helping: Assignment Received... Difficulty C+¡­ Time Limit: Now, if possible. For the second time, get back to your own world! You have no idea the headache the local gods give me over these little visits of yours. If this happens again, we may need to revisit the terms your employment. Bonus Reward: Not this time! ¡®Revisit the terms of my employment¡¯? I absolutely wanted to do that, but I had the feeling she meant it in a far more lethal way, which sucked given that I had absolutely no way back to my world on my own. I had taken out Walker¡¯s dagger and it was by then stuck through my belt, but it appeared that my dark mentor was not currently looking for me. Doing my best to calm down, given that no amount of anger would be particularly helpful, I paid attention as I was shown around, and particularly to where I would be, ¡®spending my down-cycles''. The tour ended in a medium-ish room with a comfortable looking chair, with a terrifying metal spider-octopus-thing suspended above it. The arms of the many-limbed things ended in various crystals, needles and blades, and I am afraid I somewhat forgot my politeness, staring up at it. ¡°That better be not what you¡¯re using for your experiments, because fuck that.¡± ¡°That is incorrect, Hunter. This device is used to modify the body, and is what I intend to use for the part of the bargain to be fulfilled by me. I have observed that you are missing an appendage, which coincides with my planned fulfilment.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait. Your side of the bargain? Lucas said he would teach me a Sigil, but said you¡¯d give me something, ¡®more solid¡¯? What exactly is your... energy system?¡± ¡°We manufacture components which use Experience at a higher level of efficiency, and build mechanisms within them to make use of it. We than replace our systems, with those.¡± I looked at the robot-man for a moment before it clicked; this was not a robot at all, but a person who had apparently replaced their entire body with some variety of magical machines. But more importantly, it sounded like they were talking about replacing my arm, and I was very much on board with that. ¡°So, if I understand you, your... honoured Construct-¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three, Hunter.¡± ¡°-Dee Yu Kay Three, you¡¯re offering to replace my arm with something more efficient, with a built in... something?¡± ¡°That is predominantly correct, Hunter.¡± ¡°Well, thank you. That¡¯s actually really great news. Believe it or not, I¡¯ve actually been missing my arm a lot!¡± I said it with a smile, but the Construct in front of my merely tilted their head to the side, and after an awkward moment ¨C for me at least ¨C spoke, ¡°It is impossible for me to determine the length of time your limb has been absent, Hunter. This however should not pose and issue to the procedure.¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s, uh, good. So, are we doing it now?¡± I was pretty eager to get an arm, though it had occurred to me that I would not be able to feel anything through it. But I did not think a people based around replacing bits of themselves would necessarily opt to give up on an entire sense, or multiple ones. ¡°It is required to gain a baseline of your internal structure, to ensure the prosthetic is compatible with your energy systems. Please sit in the chair, and I will commence scanning, Hunter.¡± ¡°It... doesn¡¯t involve those knives, does it?¡± I said, pointing up at the spider-thing with a grimace. ¡°I am unaware why a scan of your energy systems should require the use of incisions, Hunter. Perhaps your species is somehow resistant to our systems? That would be problematic, and would necessitate the use of knives, Hunter.¡± ¡°Uh, no! Not that I¡¯m aware of. Just curious.¡± I sat in the chair before the Construct could wonder any more about the necessity of knives; the seat was just as comfortable as it seemed, and I had even started to relax a little until a bright red light burst into radiance above me. Looking up, I saw a large sphere in the centre of the spider that I had failed to notice; the orb was the course of the intense crimson glow, but as I watched it flickered to a deep violet and back, and then again and again in two second intervals. The pattern would have almost been hypnotic if it had not been quite so bright and jarring. As it was, it gave me something of a headache. After about ten minutes, the flashing ceased and I sat blinking the afterimages out of my eyes. ¡°Fascinating, your energy circuits are significantly more extensive than others I have seen, Hunter. This allows for a greater degree of output, and potentially control?¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Uh, yeah, actually.¡± ¡°I believe we will be able to construct quite an interesting replacement, Hunter. Please return tomorrow.¡± ¡°Tomorrow! Wow, that¡¯s pretty fast. I thought, I dunno, that making magic machine arms would take longer.¡± ¡°We would take significantly longer to construct the limb, however I am somewhat eager to begin testing, and it is my understanding that when trading, payment should be received prior to service?¡± I was not at all sure that was a hard and fast rule, but if it meant I was going to have an arm by the next day, I was all for it. ¡°I have heard people say that, yes.¡± Of course, he was still an Apex level being, so lying directly was out of the question. Luckily, I had some recent practice in speaking around the truth. ¡°Then it is decided. Follow me back to your quarters, where Lucas awaits you. I will begin construction immediately.¡± I waited for a few moments for the strange robot-person to show me the way back, but he merely turned to talk across the room to begin fiddling with a console. I stood awkwardly for a couple of minutes more, before deciding it was probably better not to bother the Construct and I turned to try to find my own away back, only to find myself face to face with the very same being I had just turned away from. The burning yellow eyes bore into me as I turned back and forth to confirm that they did in indeed seem to be in two places at once. ¡°So, uh, sorry if this is rude, but are you two... Dee Yu Kay Three, or are you,¡± I gestured to the figure closes to me, ¡°somebody else?¡± ¡°I am Dee Yu Kay Three, Designation: ¡®Swarm¡¯¡± That was when it occurred to me that I might be seeing an Apex-level application of an ability much like Riffa¡¯s own, the autonomous creation and control of a multitude of bodies. It would make sense, given the designation, ¡®Swarm¡¯. ¡°Sure. Uh, lead the way?¡± * *** * Back in the room that had been provided me, I found Lucas waiting, one large book locked in place in the air before him as he sat languidly on the naked air. ¡°You¡¯re finished with the tour.¡± ¡°I am. This place is nice, though I didn¡¯t see any windows. We¡¯re not in space, are we?¡± Lucas rolled his eyes to where I sat on the bed before placing the book... in the air. Turning fully with one raised eyebrow, the seemingly young man spoke again. ¡°I have been to space; the benefits of creating such a home are outweighed by the logistical problems.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been to space? Wow, that¡¯s really cool. Uh, how?¡± I tried to picture one of the flying wooden ships I had seen on Lucas¡¯s home world leaving the atmosphere but that obviously did not work; it was possible that they had some kind of shielding Sigil, and one for air, and one for... radiation? Was stellar radiation even a thing on this plane? ¡°I found it quite warm, in fact, which is what drove me to return. Locking a sphere of air in place and leaving the atmosphere was relatively simply, but the heat from my body ¨C and from the suns ¨C rapidly heated the bubble.¡± It had actually never occurred to me that dispersing body heat might be an issue in space, but it made sense. The human body did not radiate much, but in an enclosed environment we had no way to convey it, so most dissipation would come from conduction, which would just end up trapping the heat in the air. ¡°Maybe you could take somebody who can cool it? Is there, I don¡¯t know, a cooling Sigil?¡± ¡°There are cooling Sigils, but energy cannot be destroyed, only changed or moved. There was nothing to note of in the environment that would made the effort worthwhile.¡± ¡°But... it¡¯s space. The Final Frontier!¡± ¡°And why would I wish to push such a frontier, when there are unlimited worlds I can visit already, not even counting other planes.¡± That took the wind out of my sails; back on Earth, space really was the final frontier, the one place people could expand to and explore, but I had to admit, that when a person could wormhole ¨C or whatever Apexes did ¨C between worlds, actual space, the void between worlds and stars, probably was a waste of time. ¡°Oh. I guess that makes sense.¡± The realization that my oldest dream ¨C of visiting the stars ¨C was made somewhat defunct by my new existence had dampened my lingering anger at the Paragon, and I sat on my borrowed bed trying to cheer myself up with the thought that I had at least visited three actual, liveable worlds beyond Earth. I was, to my knowledge, the greatest explorer in the planet¡¯s history. With a small smile, sat up straight, only to remember where the question of space had come from in the first place. ¡°Wait, if we¡¯re not in space, why are there no windows?¡± ¡°This facility lies at the bottom of an ocean, as this planet¡¯s surface is plagued by vast hypercanes, and horizontal diamond rain. Even to one such as I, it can be quite damaging.¡± ¡°What? How did a species even evolve on a planet like that in the first place?¡± ¡°Evolve? Nothing evolved here, Dee Yu Kay Three simply searched for an uninhabited world which we could use for experimenting. It would seem the gods of this world had no interest in life, though of course now they are unable to express any displeasure at our presence directly.¡± I thought about the message from Xiournal, and winced imagining how angry the local gods must be, if they had intentionally created a lifeless world, only for it to be invaded by... life. I hoped they did not contract the dragon-lady to get the life here removed, as I was pretty sure trying to get the Paragon and Construct to move would be... difficult. ¡°This metal the walls are made of must be pretty tough to withstand all the water. There¡¯s nothing like this where I¡¯m from, how do you make it?¡± ¡°I did not make this metal, as it is not made. Metal ¨C like everything else, is capable of absorbing Experience, though inanimate objects that do so at a substantially slower pace than living creatures.¡± ¡°How does a rock, or metal, Experience something?¡± ¡°All matter is conscious to some degree, even if it is not aware. In many ways, the gods who create a world are part of it, and that seems to be enough, slow though the process is.¡± ¡°So, why isn¡¯t everything super-strong, after billions of years?¡± ¡°Billions of years? Most worlds are not that old, boy. After such a period, even a world would Ascend.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, what do you mean a world would ascend? How is that a thing?¡± ¡°I do not question the fundamental laws of creation. Once a being ¨C or object ¨C is suffused with sufficient energy, this Plane rejects them and they are forced to the Plane above. This is simply the way it is.¡± ¡°I get it; it¡¯s like that, and that¡¯s the way it is.¡± ¡°I just said that.¡± ¡°Right. Anyway, are you here to teach me a Sigil? Dee Key Yu Three said it was payment upfront?¡± Lucas smirked at me, the lines on his skin pulsing lightly as he spoke. ¡°I believe half upfront is sufficient. Besides, Sigils are easier ¨C at first ¨C with two hands.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s fair enough, I guess. Though, it¡¯s not like I can just leave without letting you study me.¡± ¡°On the contrary, it¡¯s possible your Apex friend could open a gate at any moment.¡± He had a point, and while I was a little offended that he did not think I would keep my end of the bargain, I had to admit, the chance to leave without being probed was appealing. ¡°So, we start the... studying... after I get my arm?¡± ¡°That is correct. I simply wished to ensure you were... comfortable.¡± ¡°I mean, the bed is pretty nice, I guess. I was sleeping on the ground for a couple of months, so it¡¯s a nice change.¡± ¡°Excellent. In that case, I will see you after your... implantation.¡± With that the Paragon stood up from his... air... picked up his book and strode away without another word, leaving to my own thoughts, and the very soft bed. The Hand That Feeds It felt strange to be sleeping in a bed again; over the course of my travels, I had become used to sleeping on what was effectively the ground, and it made sleeping oddly difficult. What sleep I did get was filled with dreams about my friends; intellectually, I knew they¡¯d be fine without me, they were all technically stronger than me after all, but just because a thing is true, does not always mean it is relevant. When I woke in the morning, I was still tired despite being fully rested, and resigning myself to the feeling for the rest of the day, I sat on the floor to meditate, both on the fights the day before, and on my new circumstances. That was when I came upon my first surprise; my Core - judging by the steady purr ¨C was close to full again. After pausing for several seconds trying to figure out exactly what had happened, I shrugged and allowed myself to cultivate. Which is when I encountered my second surprise; the energy that poured into me was like standing beneath a waterfall when expecting a drip. I felt my body flush at the influx and reflexively cut it off as my eyes show open wide, shocked at the strength of the joy cultivation shot through me. ¡°Wow, ok, that¡¯s weird! Awesome, but weird. What the hell?¡± After a few long seconds, I felt my heart rate slow again and I closed my eyes, dipping back into meditation with one metaphysical toe. I felt myself tense as my Core pulsed in great, deep heaves as Praxis was created and went to replace that which I had spent. Growing as used to it as I could in such a short period, I let myself ease further into it and was astonished to see my reserves refilling at a rate that I would have considered impossible previously. Was it possible that the phenomenon was the result of the lack of life on that world? Was the gaining of Experience a conversion ¨C or absorption ¨C of something native to the world, produced at set rates but usually absorbed by potentially billions of things, as well as apparently the planet itself? No wonder DUK3 had come here to run experiments, if it meant they could refill their own reserves this quickly. Within a fraction of an hour, I was completely topped off, and I pulled myself shuddering from my meditative state as my skin tingled all over, like a weirdly pleasurable version of pins and needles. Once that sensation started to fade, I began to notice something I had not been aware of before; there was a constant pressure against my skin, like the energy in the world was trying to push itself into me. When I had first arrived, Walker had told me that a normal person would have passively absorbed enough Experience to begin the basics of cultivation by the time they were my age, and that was something I had noticed. When I had arrived on that world, I had felt great and now knew that was less to do with my new body and more to do with the abundance of energy I was absorbing. Of course, as I had progressed, the passive absorption had become fairly insignificant compared to my total cultivation, but here, on this apparently dead world, the energy was apparently so much denser that I could feel it trying to drive my Core into motion. Sitting on the strangely warm metal floor, I considered what this meant in terms of training ¨C normally, I could only go all out for a limited amount of time before having to spend days gaining back that energy, but on this barren world, I might not even need to recuperate, as the influx might be greater than my output. Which provided the possibility that I might be able to experiment with my Path in much more... extreme ways than what was normally possible. Not knowing how long I would have to wait until DUK3 or Lucas came for me, and being done with my meditation far, far faster than I had anticipate, I went looking for somewhere more spacious to practice. I had seen a few likely halls during my tour, and while they had not been explicitly pointed out to me as places in which to train, I was sure they would serve well enough. Of course, I got lost several times; it turns out that navigating a mostly strange complex was way more difficult without friendly risi to ask directions of. Speaking of which, the quiet was eerie; back on Earth, whenever you saw a place like that depicted in movies or games, there was music, or dialogue, or even just hums and random sounds if it was meant to be creepy, but in this pastel yellow place, it¡¯s dead silent, besides the faint sound of my boots against the floor, to the point where I was even starting to hear my own pulse. Humming to myself deliberately in an effort to keep the maddening silence at bay, I eventually found my way to one of the halls I had seen, a hall at the very least. Standing at the centre of the room, and making sure there was nothing breakable nearby, I Focused, trying to put the idea of restricting my electrical output into action, my mental eye on my channels as I diverted the raging river of power away from my skin to remain spinning within me like a dynamo. I felt time slow, though it was tough to tell in the featureless room, but I had come to be aware of the sensations involved, and at least so far, it seemed to be going well, though it was taking more concentration than I liked, and it made me feel like I should be moving, filled as I was with bottled lightning. Maintaining my concentration, I pushed more and more Praxis through my Focus, making sure to go slowly in order to keep a rein on the unruly power as it sought to leave me and seek to earth. It was at that point I realised I was standing on a metal floor with unknown conductive properties. My Focus had never behaved well when jumping directly to metal, and I would much rather not get blasted by an arc blast there and then, especially given that I was at the bottom of an ocean and damaging the structure was probably a bad idea. Sweat began to bead on my skin as I tightened my grip on the electrical stream, still pushing more into the circuit, and glancing down as a drop of sweat fell from my chin, I realised that my reactions and speed had reached heights that I never had before, outside of the use of my Path. The drop seemed to fall in slow motion, taking several subjective seconds to hit the ground. With a grin, and still trying really hard not to lose my grip, I began to move through my forms, trying my best to ignore my missing arm as I did so, knowing I would have at least some kind of replacement soon enough. After an hour of that ¨C and a great deal of sweat ¨C I came to a stop in the centre of the room once more and turned my inner eye to my reserves; despite pumping as much power as I ever had ¨C or perhaps more ¨C by that point, my Core thumped deep and slow as the energy I used was replaced just as fast as I used it.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I knew I could go for more, I recalled burning through my entire cultivation in moments, emitting blasts as thick as tree trunks back in the Black, but I was still a little afraid of losing control, and besides, I wanted to pour the rest into my Path. Still once more, I turned my attention to my frog, careful to keep one metaphorical hand on the wheel of my Focus. With a deep breath, I began to pour Praxis into my little passenger, and I felt the world slow again as I gave it everything I had left, until I felt my Core begin to dip and my channels started to ache strangely at the sheer volume I was demanding they carry. I knew that a person with normal channels could not hope to match what I was doing; my energy system might make parts of the process take longer, but they basically removed any bottleneck, allowing me to push my entire stockpile of energy through them at once, though apparently, doing that for longer than a moment did make them ¨C and me ¨C a little uncomfortable. I was by that point at what I considered my true upper limit, a point that would have seen me completely exhausted second to second under normal circumstances, but even with my Core actually draining now, it was doing it so slowly that I was sure I could go on for hours still without having to worry. I gritted my teeth and began to pull my time-aura, for want of a better term, in towards my body, intensifying the effect of the compression until I felt my concentration starting to slip. Steadying myself, I stopped pulling and began to move once more, my speed multiplied by time, moving at a relative velocity that might have even been able to give a trying Cad a run for his money, for the moment I could maintain it, at least. Over the next several hours, I practiced moving my aura to increase the speed of my limbs independently; I was still unable to increase my whole body to nearly the point my limbs could strike, but I was starting to notice that the refractory period between concentrated bursts was shrinking slightly, though some of that was only noticeable due to my accelerated perception, I was sure. I did however have a couple of accidents, as the increased power level at which I was using my Path resulted in significantly more blows when restricted to my limbs, and which when translated to my compressed dodge, smashed me bodily into the walls and ceiling. Hitting a hard, metal surface with that kind of force would almost certainly have resulted in a loss of control, allowing my lightning to escape my careful grasp, if I had not also immediately lost focus. And consciousness... I may have knocked myself out a few times. OK, maybe six times. After the sixth time, I came to aching all over and popped a healing pill; I was starting to run a little low on the things, and I knew I would have to be more careful in practice if I did not want to be out of commission for days at a time as my Lesser Regeneration fixed my bones... and brain. Ouch. ¡°Interesting; I have been told that the ¡®Apexes¡¯ of your world were capable of such speeds, despite a relatively inefficient energy system, but it was quite remarkable to observe such a thing in one with such low energy density, Hunter.¡± Turning, I found a DUK3 looking at me impassively, though since I had never seen the metal face change shape, I guessed they always looked that way. ¡°I¡¯m not usually that fast. Back on my world, I could maybe do that for a second before I exhausted myself, and probably die from being starved of Experience. I was taking advantage of the really damn insane energy levels on this world to do some intense training.¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. I see. It had not occurred to me that this facility could serve such a function for those below my level; I will retain this information in order to potentially facilitate the training of others. Thank you, Hunter.¡± ¡°Uh, you¡¯re welcome.¡± The idea had seemed pretty straightforward to me, and I had no idea how somebody could not see it, though I did have to admit that I had no idea what sort of energy density higher order cultivation used; maybe to a Construct ¨C or Apex ¨C the energy density here was not anything special? ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. If you would follow me, the replacement appendage I have constructed is ready for implantation, Hunter.¡± I could not restrain my smile as I jumped to my feet, brushing aside the lingering aches even as they faded as I followed the oddly smooth gait of the Construct ahead of me. As it turned out, I was not far from the room with the comfy chair ¨C and the spider. We arrived after only a few minutes, and I saw ¨C unsurprisingly ¨C another DUK3 placing some kind of box on a table next to the aforementioned comfy chair. What was surprising was that the DUK3 that had brought me there had vanished as soon as I looked away. ¡°Please sit. I will need to unseal your arm in order to attach the new one, but do not experience fear, I will block the pain before I begin the procedure, Hunter.¡± I looked up at the metal spider-thing above, hesitating for a moment before shrugging the disquiet away; if DUK3 wanted to hurt me, there was not much I could do about it. As I sat, one of the long, segmented arms reached down and retracted the clothing from my stump, and another with a ring on the end fell to encircle it before a third ¨C this one ending in a wicked looking knife ¨C descended and before I could react simply removed the circle of flesh where my forearm had once started. I yelled out and tried to jerk away, but I found myself unable to move, which was a good thing, as a moment later I also realised that I had not felt it, and that despite the red wound I now sported, it was not bleeding. ¡°Ok, that¡¯s a kinda freaky.¡± ¡°I am not familiar with the term, Hunter.¡± ¡°Uh, it means I found it strange, or out of the ordinary? It¡¯s an idiom from my home.¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. I see, Hunter.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I ask, why do you keep saying Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°You are persistent in failing to refer to me as such, Hunter.¡± ¡°Oh. I guess you do keep saying my name, I hadn¡¯t realised. Sorry, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°It is expected, Hunter.¡± DUK3 was reaching into the box as he spoke, their hands emerging with a gleaming black arm with red veins running through it. I was no judge of prosthetic arms, but it certainly looked cool as hell. Without any more words, the Construct placed the arm against my arm and yet more arms descended from the spider, these all sporting metal rods and crystals. I watched as they moved around the intersection of my arm and the replacement and in amazement, I saw the flesh merge with whatever material the false arm was made of. This took no more than a few seconds, and I found myself thinking of the money I could make if I could ship something like that back to Earth. My dream of swimming in a pool full of gold coins was quickly interrupted though as the nonchalant Construct spoke once more. ¡°If you would direct some energy to the arm via your energy systems, the device will imitate your channels and complete the joining process, Hunter.¡± Focusing on the arm, I pulled loosely on my Praxis and began to feed it into the arm; as I did, I began to feel the arm, to gain sensation in it. I could feel the arm rest beneath the glossy black surface, and like a limb waking up that feeling spread as energy flowed into it. The red veins began to glow and pulse, faster and faster as I gained sensation and awareness of the internal structure. And that was when it exploded. Get a Grip I pulled a black shard of the arm from my cheek with a grunt, teeth already gritted against the pain at the end of my arm. The explosion had dislodged the ring device that had been keeping the sensation at bay, and if having my arm ripped off in the first place had hurt, feeling the whole thing fracture and shatter apart was substantially worse. ¡°Interesting. This has never happened before, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s super-interesting but also painful. Really, really painful.¡± Having said that, and free of shards ¨C I hoped ¨C I pop yet another of my dwindling supply of healing pills and sat back in the damaged, but still comfy chair. ¡°Viewing the recorded data will be a requirement; to my knowledge, an implantation has never been tested on a user of a varying energy system. Your channels seemed compatible, but perhaps there is another explanation, Hunter.¡± I was having some trouble paying attention through the pain, but I did catch that the Construct had apparently never tried this before, which I will admit, I found pretty annoying. I had already agreed to act as their lab rat, I did not appreciate being the same for an entirely different experiment. ¡°What do you mean, you¡¯ve never implanted a whatever before? All you world walkers wandering around the multiverse and nobody ever thought to dip into another?!¡± ¡°Dee Kay Yu Three. Taking on another energy system at the Construct ¨C or Paragon ¨C level would be foolish, as the additional energy would immediately force an Ascension, Hunter.¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®force an Ascension¡¯? Haven¡¯t you guys already been through an Ascension? Maybe it¡¯s different for Apexes? Ugh, why does it have to be such a secret?!¡± Seeing the Construct lift its head to speak, I remembered myself and added, ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three¡± to the end, also remembering to modulate my tone, though DUK3 did not seem to care nearly as much as Lucas had seemed to. ¡°A being that reaches the point of Ascension and successfully subverts the tribulation, gains Authority and becomes like myself, able to exert limited control ¨C within our bailiwick - of the world around us, within the confines of our Domain. However, this subversion may only take place a single time. Subsequently, reaching the point of Ascension again results in Ascension, with zero percent variability, Hunter.¡± Pain forgotten, or at least pushed to the back of my mind, I sat staring at the being in front of my, mouth hanging open as blood dried in my beard. This was more information that anyone had ever given me about the method of becoming an Apex ¨C or a Construct. How did a person subvert a tribulation? It could not be easy, if the number of Apexes was any indication, but perhaps some of that was due to the lack of knowledge of it being possible? Maybe that was on purpose, given what had happened with the Multiplicitous Self; maybe they wanted to limit the number of people who could attain that level of power. It was all guesswork of course when ¨C if ¨C I ever got back to my new home, I would need to speak to Walker about it ¨C somewhere very private ¨C and see if any of my theories held water. In the meantime, I refocused on DUK3, who was turned away from me, their gaze locked on a glowing panel. ¡°Thank you for that. It¡¯s really been sort of a mystery how Apexes come about; I think they want to keep it a secret on my world...¡± ¡°Interesting. If you like, I can look into excising the memory, Hunter?¡± ¡°Uh, no. No, I¡¯m think I¡¯m good. Thanks for the offer though, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± I did not need somebody messing around with my memory; I was doing pretty well, mentally, when compared to my last life and there was no way I was risking that. And besides, I did really want to know... Several minutes passed in silence as I sat gripping the end of my arm to minimise the blood loss, I watched in morbid fascination as the skin crept back across the vivid red and white of the wound. It seemed much quicker this time than when it had originally been torn off, even without Darina¡¯s assistance. I did not know a ton about medicine, but at a guess I thought it was likely due to the much cleaner wound. ¡°It would seem that while your energy system and circuits are compatible, you seem to be using a variant of Experience. The materials of the prosthetic were unable to handle the anomalous load, Hunter.¡± ¡°I¡¯m at the Path stage, so I use Praxis rather than base Experience. Uh, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± This was the first time somebody at the Apex level had failed to place my advancement, though maybe the system the Construct used called it something else, or produced it at a different stage. ¡°Praxis? Please elaborate, Hunter.¡± ¡°I guess you call it something else. Praxis is what we call Experience after it¡¯s been refined for the first time. Above that is Veritas, and I think there¡¯s a level past that, but I don¡¯t know the name, sorry. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Refine Experience, you say? And multiple times? Very interesting. This must be what separates your specific system from the others. As you are the first user of your system I have encountered, I was unaware of this peculiarity.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t refine Experience at all?¡± ¡°We do not; each system operates differently. Our system relies on increased material capacity, however due to the low absorption rate we focus on increased efficiency. There is a system in which they link multiple bodies and use them all to store Experience, like using many bottles, rather than one large bottle, Hunter.¡± That was a little shocking; I had become so used to the ubiquity of cultivation that it had simply never occurred to me that it would not be the basis for everyone. When I had visited Lucas¡¯ world, and had seen the crew using Sigils, I had assumed it to be a different execution of the same system, but now it seemed that was pure bias. Or ignorance, at least. I wondered why nobody tried mixing systems ¨C super-charged Sigils sounded badass, though maybe it was not as simple as that, given that world walking was restricted to people who could ¨C apparently ¨C not practise additional systems. I wondered if there existed any cross-system disciples out there, trained by some wondering ¡®walker. ¡°Wait, if your system ¨C the prosthetics, I guess ¨C has higher capacity, why did it explode? ¡­ Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°The system relies on material capacity, which we have augmented with design. The design, whilst adequate for Experience was not robust enough to contend with higher order energy, Hunter.¡± The disappointment hit me like a missed step, and I let out a long sigh of disappointment; I had been without my arm for a relatively short amount of time, but while I had managed to deal with that, based on the fact that I would be getting a new one when I returned to the Citadel, yet having one dangled before me and having it not work out was difficult. Of course, I knew that I could still have it regrown, but that was likely months away. I also wondered if this meant that the Sigil Lucas had said he would teach me would not work. ¡°Well, thanks for trying, Dee Yu Kay Three. I guess I¡¯ll just need to wait to have it regrown.¡± ¡°You seem to have established a mistaken perception, Hunter. While this setback would stymie many of my peers, I am not so easily balked. If you would return to your down-cycling cell, or perhaps seek Lucas out, I will return to the design stage of your replacement, making sure to compensate for your Praxis. And indeed, orders beyond it. Two novelties within a single millennium; most invigorating, Hunter.¡± * *** * My arm had mostly stopped bleeding by the time I found Lucas, and all the lesser punctures and lacerations had long since closed. The pain had retreated to a dull ache, interposed with the occasional sharp pain as my sleeve brushed against the raw flash. ¡°It did not go well.¡± ¡°No, no it did not. The arm exploded.¡± ¡°Fascinating. I wonder what your Praxis will do to a Sigil?¡± I could not say that I was overly enthused that Lucas also seemed to be interested in using me as a Guinea pig in multiple experiments. But it was not like I could actually do anything about it, and if I was being one-hundred percent honest with myself, I also wanted to see what would happen. ¡°Well, hopefully it won¡¯t explode. I¡¯d rather not lose my other arm.¡± ¡°It is possible, but unlikely.¡± ¡°... Then I¡¯m glad we¡¯re waiting until I get my new arm, if I¡¯m going to lose one, I''d like a spare... on hand...¡± ¡°Droll.¡± ¡°... Sorry. Anyway, have you put any thought into which Sigil you¡¯ll be teaching me, or do I get to pick? What¡¯s actually involved?¡± ¡°Given your apparent penchant for injury, I had thought to teach you a shielding Sigil. It will be interesting to see if you can produce one, without the entire Lexicon.¡± ¡°Lexicon?¡± ¡°In our System, we spool Experience within the Lexicon ¨C a library of Sigils Inscribed upon our minds. It allows us to store more Experience than would be otherwise possible for our bodies.¡± ¡°So, I guess the larger the library, the more energy? Is that how you ascend, you memorise the entire library?¡± ¡°No. The Lexicon is merely the First Height. To Achieve the Second Height, the Lexicon must be inscribed on our bones, and this allows us to merge any two Sigils. The Third Height involves Inscribing the Lexicon upon our flesh, which allows us to increase the energy output of a Sigil. The Fourth Height is inscribing a subset of the Lexicon upon an external object, making it part of us and allowing limited customization of those Sigils upon it. A Shield that burns, for example. The Fifth Height is achieved by creating a Sigil and inscribing it upon our souls; this Sigil can be drawn by will alone. Once each of these has been spooled in their entirety, Ascension is triggered.¡± I looked at the glowing lines on the Paragon¡¯s flesh and shuddered, remembering the word he had used; inscribing. It sounded painful, and I wondered where it stood in relation to burning channels; I guessed the process of carving the... Lexicon... onto their various parts fulfilled something like the same purpose, but it seemed to alien compared to cultivation, but maybe each system was alien compared to the others. DUK3 had not gone into a tone of detail about their own system, but I had assumed it was basically Cultivation with different storage, but perhaps it was just as strange. ¡°That sounds painful. So, you have the whole thing, every Sigil carved into you three times?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Wow. So, if you need the whole thing at least once to be at the first stage ¨C height ¨C what good will one Sigil do me?¡± ¡°As I said, it will be interesting to see if it possible. I am hoping that your Praxis will allow sufficient energy output to power the Sigil in the absence of the entire Lexicon.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t I learn the entire thing?¡± ¡°I doubt it.¡± I gave him a flat look, which he returned without comment. ¡°Come on, I¡¯m not that dumb.¡± ¡°The way in which you smashed yourself into a wall earlier suggests otherwise. That is not the reason, however. It takes years to Inscribe the Lexicon, and you have months. At most.¡± ¡°Ah. Okay, that¡¯s fair. It seems like it takes a lot longer than cultivation.¡± I did have to wonder if that was true, however. Outside of freak instances like me, it apparently took people around ten years to passively gather enough Experience to form a Focus, and while it sounded less painful than Inscribing, the channel burning probably made up for that. ¡°I had not encountered a cultivator below Apex before yourself, so it never occurred to me to investigate the inner workings of the system. It seems like your system enjoys the advantage of power. It is my observation that each system has a distinct advantage. The speed the beast people gain power at is substantially greater than any other, for instance. A user of that system can go from nothing to Ascension in a mere few decades, without doing much of anything.¡± ¡°Beast people?¡± ¡°A people I encountered as a younger man as I walked the worlds. They implanted the cores produced by beasts within themselves. Quite an ingenious system, though I must admit I thought it close to cheating.¡± It seemed that the multiverse was much wider than I had thought; that was five systems I had heard of now, and I wondered just how many there were out there in the uncountable worlds I had seen floating in the void. Amazing If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Bone to Bone I pressed myself tight against the wall, head turned to keep my profile as flat as possible. I could feel sweat running down my back, even as it was tight against the warm surface of the facility. I took long, even breaths to steady my heart as I listened for the sound of footsteps. Hearing nothing, I inched along the wall before pulling myself down it to peek around the corner. Nothing. With exaggerated care, I stepped out into the corridor, and on the balls of my feet moved down it as silently as possible. It had been a week since my first test at the hands ¨C or wills ¨C of the two demi-Ascended, and they had been testing me every day since, either alone or as a pair. Today, it was Lucas alone, as they had said for this test, DUK3¡¯s inclusion would be unfair. As if trying to hide from somebody who could sense you from a mile away was not already unfair. Shaking the irritation off, I refocused my will on being ¡®invisible¡¯ and moved on down the hallway. So far that day, the Paragon had found me four times, and always in the most insulting way pos- ¡°Interesting.¡± With a yell I spun to find the child-like man stood directly behind me and I ground my teeth for a moment before speaking. ¡°Really, Lucas, you can¡¯t just walk around a corner in front of me? Why are you always right behind me?¡± ¡°Where would the fun be in that?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s great. I already told you, it¡¯s probably just my, uh, patron causing interference.¡± ¡°And as we told you, should such a being choose to interfere, it is unlikely we would be able to affect you at all.¡± They had said that, of course, but I had also tried to argue that perhaps it was a simple matter of signal noise, rather than directed - intended - interference. But had dismissed the idea in favour of further tests. Honestly, I think they wanted to have some fun and most people were too afraid or respectful to play along. Which is where I came in, just idiotic enough to be entertaining. ¡°Well, you know my thoughts, Lucas. Okay, count to three hundred, I guess I¡¯ll go hide again.¡± ¡°Today¡¯s tests are over, Hunter. Your ability to avoid detection within my Domain is minimal, if that.¡± ¡°Wait, if it¡¯s minimal than why have I been hiding from you for the last eight hours?¡± ¡°I have been following you and searching for fluctuations.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re not just appearing behind me, you¡¯ve been behind me all this time?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± I gave him a flat look, which he returned with a raised eyebrow. Eventually, I gave and looked away; my respect ¨C or what I had ¨C had been worn away by proximity since my arrival, but I was very much aware that he could very likely kill me with no effort. ¡°So, if I couldn¡¯t hide, why was it interesting?¡± ¡°This test, when combined with the others, suggests you are more able to resist direct manipulation than indirect. You do not appear to have some kind of nascent Domain of your own.¡± ¡°You mean I¡¯m not an Apex. I could have told you that. Hell, if Darina was here, she¡¯d be happy to tell you all day.¡± ¡°I do not know whom this Darina is, but I assure you, mere words would not have sufficed.¡± ¡°... Sure. Anyway. If I can barely resist you, why am I able to ¡®defy the gods¡¯ and visit worlds, without the benefit of a Domain? If not my patron, I mean.¡± ¡°The gods cannot interfere directly, but, each world lies within the Domain of its gods, and only they decide who¡¯s welcome. Any interloper will be destroyed, like an infection within the body. It is not divine interference which causes this, but it is rather a natural law, a consequence of their existence. Were they able to act directly, neither of us would survive. Compare it to the stars around which worlds turn; from our distant planets, we can feel the warmth, and it can even damage us, but we can erect protections. Not so upon the star itself. My domain is a vast palace on a distant world, protecting me from the harmful light. You... are an anomaly. You run naked upon the world, begging the stars to burn you. And yet they do not.¡± ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, how do the wars between worlds work? I have friends whose people came from other worlds, and they weren¡¯t all Apexes.¡± ¡°The altercations between worlds are ¨C usually ¨C the only time mixing can happen. Both groups of gods accept the life from the others; why, we do not know. I have never met a god.¡± ¡°Can you meet a god? Where do they, I dunno, live? Are they just... everywhere? Like a field?¡± ¡°Did I not just say I had not met one? They are theorized to exist on a type of demi-plane lying parallel to their worlds.¡± ¡°Is it not possible to make a gate, if it¡¯s a place? Go and see?¡± ¡°Perhaps you did not understand my star analogy? I am safe here, on this distant world. You are asking me to take my palace and test it on the star¡¯s surface. Tell me, Hunter, long how do you think a building of mere stone or metal would stand upon the surface of a star?¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°... Probably not long. I see your point.¡± ¡°Excellent. Now, if you have perhaps sated your inane curiosity, Dee Yu Kay Three has requested your presence. I believe your new arm is ready.¡± * *** * Making my way to DUK3¡¯s workshop once again only took minutes; I was starting to think that maybe it moved around given that it was always so close by. There was also the possibility that the near identical features of the facility were making me think it was larger than it actually was, but I did not place a great deal of stock in that, given that during my first attempt at hiding that day I had run for more than an hour. If it is a circle, it¡¯d be a remarkably gradual one. Stepping into the room, the thin Construct was already looking at me, head tilted to the side. In their hands was another box, similar to the one my first replacement had come in. ¡°Please sit for implantation, Hunter.¡± ¡°Uh, sure. Should I get changed again, in case... you know. The arm explodes again?¡± ¡°... Dee Yu Kay Three. There is no need; this arm will not explode. Even if there is a flaw in my calculations ¨C which there is not ¨C the clothing I have provided would remain impervious.¡± Impervious robes sounded pretty good, given my track record. To DUK3¡¯s credit, once I had become used to the tighter fit, they were actually very comfortable, to the point that I could barely feel them at all. And best of all, they did not seem to require cleaning. I could not quite tell if they were simply divesting themselves of dirt and sweat, or somehow eating them, but either way, it was nice. Rolling up the sleeve of my new shirt to reveal my stump, I sat down beneath the giant spider-thing again and watched as the arms descended to skim through the same procedure as before. ¡°So, it¡¯s definitely not going to explode? What about after I progress to new stages? Uh, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°I have accounted for up to five exponential jumps in the new mechanism, though I had to enlist Lucas¡¯ help in order to produce a structure that could spool enough Experience.¡± ¡°But, didn¡¯t you say that storage wasn¡¯t an issue? ¡­ Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°The material acts as a battery, a mere storage medium. It can no more become a part of you than a randomly selected rock of similar shape can. The design is that which animates it, what makes it you. The previous failure was the result of the material becoming... over-animated as the design was driven beyond its capacity, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay, I guess that makes sense. Lucas explained some of the details behind Sigils, that they¡¯re used to spool Experience. Is that what you did, you added a Sigil, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Our designs are more abstracted from the material than Sigils, though they do share some things in common with the initial, mental engraving, from what I have been able to determine. The design is a concept of function placed within the object. Lucas assisted me in testing the use of spooling within it in a way we had not previously tested, Hunter.¡± ¡°Wow, so you guys came up with a whole new thing, for me? That¡¯s awesome. Will it help your people? I... assume there¡¯s more than one of you, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°It is unknown at this point in time whether the advance will help those of lower states on my home world. It is possible this change will be detrimental to those with lower order Experience, as there may not be enough energy flow to drive the design. Experimentation will be required, Hunter.¡± As they spoke, their burning, unblinking yellow eyes boring into me, I felt a shiver run down my spine. DUK3¡¯s voice was flat and cold, lacking the inflection provided by a real mouth. For a moment, as I stared into those lamp-like eyes, I imagined what a being at the level of an Apex could do if it chose to experiment on a populace. If this seemingly benevolent Construct decided a few broken eggs were a small price, would the others on their home world step in, like the Apexes of my new home had to stop the Multiplicitous Self, or were they all like that? Maybe that was simply the structure of their society, and maybe I was letting the wholly alien appearance and sound freak me out. With a final shiver, I spoke again, doing my best to keep my spiralling thoughts in check. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be dangerous for them, would it? Having a... part... not work properly, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°It would be of little consequence. As we have derived the design for an arm, it would be tested on arms. If it does not function as expected, it would be removed and replaced with one which functioned within standard parameters, Hunter.¡± That sounded a little better, right? No actual, permanent harm... I was about to ask about potential suffering involved, memories of Earth¡¯s past suddenly front and centre, but at the moment, DUK3 spoke again, walking towards me with their box. ¡°Of course, if the new design is unable to operate on standard Experience, the link would not be successful, and so it would never really become a part of them. A simple, and quick test, Hunter.¡± ¡°Oh. I see. Good, then. Sorry, the whole voluntary amputation thing is a little... outside my experience, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°As it seems to be so for many beyond worlds on which our system is dominant, Hunter.¡± I felt better, it did not seem like my benefactor was going to go on an arm-chopping spree as a result of a discovery made to help me. Mentally slapping myself, I watched as DUK3 set the box down and opened the lid, before lifting out my new arm. For the few moments it was out of view, I hoped desperately that it was not hot pink, like my robe had been previously, but I needn''t have worried. The arm that was revealed was different, but I thought it looked pretty badass. The majority of the artificial limb was clear, like glass with a golden ring around the base. From the base, the bones of the arm grew, also in gold and continued to form the bones of the hand and fingers. A golden skeleton contained within crystal flesh. ¡°That looks very different to the black and red one from before. Does the material matter?¡± ¡°The materials used in this iteration have the same total capacity as the previous version, however they are far stronger and more... conducive to our design, Hunter.¡± ¡°Stronger? That¡¯s great. Maybe it won¡¯t get torn off again.¡± I laugh, but DUK3 merely tilts his head again as they maneuver the arm into place. ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. The material the limb is composed of is unlikely to break, however flesh and bone it is attached to may. I would be gratified if you did not ruin the work I have done, Hunter.¡± ¡°I was joking, I¡¯d really rather not be put in the position to have an arm torn off again. It wasn¡¯t fun. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°I would imagine it was not, for you. Please push your Praxis into the arm, Hunter.¡± Looking down, I found the arm pressed against the fresh wound of my stump, the edges precisely even with my skin. With a flexing of my will, I pushed Praxis through the channels of my arm and into the prosthetic. I once again found myself with the odd feeling of pins and needles, of a fresh awareness as the glass and gold arm became a part of me. Within moments, the sensation faded, and flexing my hand, I marvelled at how much like my other it felt. If I was not looking at it, I would have no idea that it was any different than my real one. ¡°This is really incredible, Dee Yu Kay Three. Thank you.¡± ¡°You are welcome, Hunter.¡± I watched the arms of the metal spider retract and I lifted my arm; it felt a little heavier than I remembered, but I was unable to tell whether that was because I had grown used to not having one, of if it was because of the materials. A rising tide of happiness at being somewhat whole again rose through me, and I luxuriated in the feeling of having a left arm again. And one that had not exploded, at that. Light Inside I almost jumped out of the chair, a huge grin spread tight across my face as I swung my arm about like a new toy. Reaching over with my right hand, I ran my fingers across its surface and marvelled at the feeling. The surface of the prosthetic was smooth and warm to my original hand¡¯s touch, but the sensations I received back from it were the same as I would have expected from an arm of flesh and blood. Feeling the low-friction surface, I worried for a moment that I would be unable to hold things, and glanced around for something to test, before stopping myself to pull the hilt of my sheared-through sword from a ring. Gripping the hilt, I tried to pull it free with my other hand, but found it as unmovable as a mountain. After a moment of fruitlessly trying to pull the broken things free, I heard a soft, high-pitched creaking and began to look around. The first thing I noticed was DUK3 staring at me, head tilted almost to their shoulder. ¡°Oh, shit, sorry. I mean, thank you! This is amazing, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°It was a trade in which we have both benefitted. There is no need for gratitude. You will require some time to acclimatise to your new limb, I would advise you refrain from activating the imbedded functions until you have fully grasped the physical differences, Hunter.¡± ¡°Physical differences? Imbedded function? It¡¯s not just an arm? Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°If you would like to look at the item in your new hand, Hunter?¡± Frowning, I looked at the broken sword in my hand, but failed to see anything that might indicate what I had to get used to. At least, that is until I opened my hand and found the marks I had apparently pressed into the hilt. For a moment, I stood staring at the now crushed hilt before I realised that that was what the high-pitched whine had been; the metal deforming. I knew I was strong ¨C fifty times stronger than a normal person, but this was no Earthly metal, it was a metal used to construct a sword designed for people at the Core stage, for people as strong as me. I could bend it, if I swung it into something hard enough, as I had done with the axe in the Black, but I was not strong enough to embed my fingers in it... but apparently my new hand was. Turning back to the Construct, I spoke without thinking. ¡°How?¡± ¡°De Yu Kay Three. As I informed you, we focus on the efficient use of Experience. This arm is making more efficient use of your Praxis. From the scans and observations, it should be close to twice as strong as your original, and this should increase as you gain access to higher order Experience.¡± I could not believe it, twice as strong? That meant that I was as strong as somebody at the Foundation stage, the start of it at least. In one arm. ¡°You mean, I¡¯ll be able to punch twice as hard? That really is amazing, thank you again, Dee Yu Kay Three!¡± Unfortunately, they quickly deflated that idea. ¡°No, of course not. I have only replaced your forearm; almost none of the force for a punch is generated in the forearm, Hunter. It will primarily affect your grip, though it is true you will also be able to rotate your wrist twice as hard, Hunter...¡± That was not quite as fantastic as I had thought, but it made sense, and it was my own fault for not thinking it through. Still, I could see lots of ways having a grip twice as strong as my level would suggest could come in handy, and while it might not double the force of a blow, the wrist thing was bound to add something. Luckily, I was right-handed... ¡°Well, that¡¯s still pretty good! Thank you. But you also mentioned some kind of additional ability it had? Can I like, fire it at people and have it come back, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°That seems like a remarkably foolish thing to do. Would that not usually result in losing your arm a second time, Hunter?¡± ¡°Yeah, guess. It¡¯s a thing that happened a lot back home. It always looked cool, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°I am uncertain what the relative observable temperature has to do with the efficacy, Hunter?¡± ¡°You too, huh? I meet a lot of people who don¡¯t understand idioms. I mean, it looked... stylish? Never mind. What does it actually do... Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°The function I have imbedded within your arm generated a limited vector field around the arm, resulting in a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree redirection of force. It is a function I would save for those at the most advanced level of replacement, as the energy expenditure can be extreme, however, due to the higher order energy which you are saturating the arm with, at full capacity, there should be sufficient Experience to interact successfully with any attack.¡± ¡°... What? I have no idea what you just said, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°... When activated, any attack featuring a primarily physical aspect will find itself reversed upon impact, and as such, nullified, Hunter.¡± ¡°Wait, it can just stop attacks? I need to test it... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± Saying their name every time I spoke to him was starting to grate on me, and I was itching to get some practice in with my new arm, and that may have overridden my reason slightly.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°The arm is not yet charged. Given the density of Experience on this world, you should be able to reach maximum saturation within a week, which is why I advised you to attempt to grow used to the additional strength first.¡± A week? I had felt ¨C could still feel ¨C the oceans of power around us, and it was able to fill my Core in almost no time, especially when compared to how long had taken to fill in the first place. What sort of capacity did the glass and gold appendage have if it would take a week? And what did that mean once I was back on my own world, would I need months, maybe even years to refill it? Mind awhirl, but not wanting to sound ungrateful, I thanked DUK3 one last time and left the room, unconsciously rubbing my new arm, and very eager to put it through its paces. * *** * Standing in the hall I had been using for training, I flexed my crystalline hand and Focused. Lightning raged for a moment, splitting the air with a whine and snapping against the metal of the floor in small detonations before I wrapped my will about it and dragged it back inside to cycle around my body. I paid careful attention to my new arm as I did, and noticed the electricity that escaped from there was a slightly different shade than the rest. While the escaping arcs from the rest of my body were on the verge between blue and violet, with a white core, those that escaped my arm seemed to be mostly core, the white jagged line being thicker. With the energy under control, I turned my mind¡¯s eye inwards to focus on my channels. I could feel them as a network running through my body, but it was not the general system I was interested in. Instead, I turned my gaze to the newest addition. Following my channels beyond the point at which flesh met metal, I found... something. Inside the arm, there were no channels like I was used to, no physical lines mimicked my body¡¯s original systems. Instead, what I found seemed closer to my Focus or Exemplar, things that did not quite exist as physical things, but rather semi-conceptual, spiritual additions. Geometric lines of sharp light filled the arm, and while they looked beyond complicated to me, they were also somehow simple, and where my lightning ran through them, it got amplified. Energy does not come from nowhere, and I could not imagine that my new limb was pulling in energy on its own, at least not to a such a degree. DUK3 had said the material had a higher capacity than flesh but took far longer to fill, after all. Which meant something else was going on; it almost felt like more of my Praxis was being converted, but I felt no decrease in flow or increase in expenditure. Was it possible that the way I normally used my energy was just... wasteful? I watched as the coruscating floor flowed out of my arm to re-join my energy system and it soon lost that bright core, becoming as it was elsewhere. I wondered whether it was possible to increase my efficiency, if that was what it was, to learn from the design within my arm? I knew it was possible to re-burn the energy circulation system, even if the idea of doing so made me shudder. The last time, I had only been held back from the edge of death by the phoenix derived torture serum I had been injected with. Maybe... I could get my hands on more? Or ask the Apex of the Mending Flesh for help. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it at that moment, so I shook the thoughts free and turned my attention back to my arm. Over the course of the next ten minutes, I slowly built the energy I was pulling through my Focus to what I had accepted as my upper maximum, being careful to watch for signs of strain in my arm. But much to my delight, even at full power, the limb held up without issue. DUK3 had said it would be fine, even at Pinnacle, but after having the last one explode, I had been a little hesitant to simply accept that, but it was apparent that my caution was unneeded. Taking a deep breath, I turned my mind to my Exemplar, the now tiny neon frog sat lotus-posed in my second centre. I froze, remembering my sword. The last time I had compressed time with something that extended beyond my body, it had been sheared off by the differential. Did my new arm count as part of my body, for the purpose of my Path, or had I doomed myself to losing another limb the moment I tried to use it? There was no way I was not using my Path, so if it came down to it, I would need to wait for my plain old fleshy arm to be regrown. But, having learned my lesson, I knew I had to test it. Pushing Praxis through my Exemplar, I made myself stay as still as possible as time accumulated around me. Sliding my awareness over the shivering edge of the aura, I let out a sigh as I found it flowing around my latest addition, and much like my lightning, I found the effect magnified, pushing further from my body than anywhere else. Sensing the ballooning aura around my left forearm, I grinned as something occurred to me: If I could shrink my aura to compress time, could I expand it, and take a loss to compression? Normally, when I compressed my time aura, I pulled it close about me with an effort of will, but this time, I pushed, concentrating on the already expanded coverage of my arm. Pushing was significantly easier than pulling was, and within moments, I found myself with an area around my extended arm that was five times larger than the rest of me. I grinned, still being careful not to move too much; while the arm was certainly part of my body, messing with time differentials could still be dangerous. Now that I had a proof of concept, there was one other thing I wanted to try. Taking another breath, I both pushed and pulled, trying to shape the aura, to extend out and away from me in a point from my arm while pulling the rest tight. It was a struggle, but after several moments of absolute focus, I had a spike of time aura extending away from my hand, but I could feel the effort stretching the bounds of my concentration, and I knew I would need a lot of practice before I could use it in combat. Letting my Exemplar fall away, I dropped my Focus and stretched, noticing my damp skin for the first time. Despite my lack of movement, it looked like the effort of manipulating my abilities, along with the potential danger had been more than enough to make me sweat. But I felt like I had made real progress, and a glance at my Exemplar showed that after a week of being stuck, I had suddenly jumped up to 15% completion, the excessive energy of the world already having allowed me to fill it exceedingly fast. Letting out a woop, I punched the air, excited to be making progress again, and despite the wait I knew was coming before I could get to the meat of my arm¡¯s abilities, the incidental benefits were enough on their own to almost completely make me forget about it. I wondered if learning the Sigil from Lucas would provide similar benefits, but either way, I knew that when I finally made it back to my adopted home, I was going to be significantly stronger, and certainly better practiced with my abilities. With the daily testing by the two demi-Ascended beings, and the boost to my recovery rates, I might even have enough time to fully incorporate my Exemplar and take a step onto my Foundation. My friends were in for a real surprise... whenever I made it back. The Grind Spinning horizontally, I threw myself sideways before slapping the ground to bring me back to my feet. With a flex of will, I let my lightning crash out around me to latch onto imaginary opponents. After a more than a week of frequent ¨C if minor ¨C arc blasts, DUK3 had somehow altered the hall I used for training so that it no longer conducted electricity, which was both a relief, and intriguing. A relief because it meant that I could release my Focus without worrying about injuring myself, and intriguing because... how do you stop a metal floor from being conductive? Restricting the snapping arcs once again, I concentrated and formed the elongated spikes of aura and swept them through the air as I turned, using them to intercept the opponents in my mind as I ducked and dodged. As it turned out, the spikes did not actually do much on their own; I had hoped that they would cut people in the same way my sword had been damaged, but it seemed I had it backwards. Of course, it was a little difficult to test without an opponent, but sweeping them through metal had done literally nothing, and I suspected the differential had to be inverted to do damage, which is to say the driving force had to be in the field. When I had swung my sword, the hilt had suddenly moved so much faster than the blade that it had sheared off, the metal unable to take the stress. But a blade attacking me would be limited by the speed of the driving force, the hilt. It made my head hurt to think about, but what it meant was that while I could manipulate my aura into a vaguely weapon-like shape, it was not actually a weapon. Imagine a sword, its hilt attached somehow to super-fast whirlpool, blade out. Suddenly, a huge boulder appears around the blade; it should snap, because the hilt is still being driven by the whirlpool, but it cannot move the boulder, right? This is not a perfect analogy, but now imagine a huge boulder with a sword¡¯s hilt encased in it, blade out. The blade dips into the whirlpool, and the blade might bend a little, but it should not break. Honestly, it all made me wish I had defeated Url and obtained a less... complicated... Exemplar. But only a little. Either way, while it did not seem to be a weapon in and of itself, it was almost enough for me to hold a sword inside it, so that was definitely a plus. Of course, I had not improved that in a few days, so it was possible I would need to locate a shorter sword to make use of it, but even a short sword was better than a spoon, which is about as much clearance as I had before. Now, I can already tell that you are wondering why I was bothering, if the aura spikes did not do anything, and I get that. But if I was ever going to use a sword, I needed to be maintain at least one of them while I did everything else, and I only had one sword with which to practice, so breaking it by accident when my aura fluctuated was not on my list of desired outcomes. Completing my evasive manoeuvres, I reached out and dragged my aura in close again, as tight as I could, and blasted my Praxis as hard as I could, feeling my reserves start to dip slightly as the world around me all but stopped, though there was no visible sign of it in the empty room. I skipped backwards and planting my feet, pulled myself into a straight punch before falling into a series of lashing jabs. It felt incredible to be punching with two hands again, and I had quickly become used to the added weight. It had thrown me off slightly at first, but other than its strange appearance, it was in every way my arm. With a grin, I threw myself into a backflip kick, exulting in the joy of movement. The kick was not something I would generally do in a fight, but as long as it was against somebody of my own level, I thought my increased speed would probably let me get away with it. But it was not something I wanted to get too used to, so re-focusing, I restrained myself and dropped my power usage. The insane levels at which I could get away with consuming Praxis on the dead world was fantastic for testing and practicing technique, but back home, it would drain me very quickly, so when I was actually doing combat practice ¨C or as much as I could on my own ¨C I tried to limit myself to short bursts. Dodging another imaginary opponent, I pulled Praxis through my Focus and through my Exemplar again ¨C this time limiting myself to what I guessed was a safe, conservative amount ¨C and stepped in, driving my left hand forward, and at the point of imagined contact flexed my will once more, cutting off my Path and Focusing completely on my hand. Allowing the lightning to flow free, I pulled hard for a fraction of a second and watched as white lines of power lashed out like tree trunks before it cut off, and I switched back to speed. My reserves were larger than many, due to my channels, and my maximum output was also much higher, but as much as that had likely saved me in the past, it did mean I could be wasteful. The last few days, I had been alternating between using everything at once, holding it all together with my will, and trying to change rapidly between uses for my normally limited Praxis. Using speed to dodge and close, and then switching to lightning or a time echo punch to strike. It seemed more efficient, though again it was hard to tell because of my insane recharge rates there, and thought it would be useful in actual combat. The problem with having any kind of visible energy output was that an enemy could block it, admittedly at the cost of their own reserves. It had occurred to me that holding my electricity inside not only made my Focus more efficient, because I was losing less to the world, but it might allow me to surprise an enemy by suddenly releasing it. It might only be useful once in a fight, but a sudden, powerful shock could be pretty devastating, and I would take any advantage I could, given how the difficulty of my missions seemed to be ramping up each time. ¡°Would you be interested in a non-mental opponent, Hunter?¡± Keeping hold of my focus, I turned, balanced on the balls of my feet; I knew there was no danger because my Precognition had not gone off, and since I was already keyed up, I did not jump as I had the times Lucas decided to appear directly behind me. DUK3 stood to one side, head tilted and their burning yellow eyes staring unblinkingly. Dropping my Focus, I offered them a nod, which was not returned. ¡°Hi, Dee Yu Kay Three. What did you say, sorry?¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I enquired as to whether a partner would be beneficial to your training that was not a figment of your imagination, Hunter.¡± ¡°Sure! I didn¡¯t think there was anybody else here, other than you, Lucas and I... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°That is incorrect. At this time, you and I are the only life on this world, Hunter.¡± ¡°Uh, we are, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± If this was a horror movie, this would be when the slender figure started stalking me through the halls. I knew that was unlikely, but given the flat tone with which the Construct spoke, and their lack of expression or affect, it was hard to intuit intention. And it was creepy as fuck hearing them say we were now alone on a world. ¡°We are, Hunter. Lucas was required to return to his own world for a period, in order to deal with an issue raised by one of his peers. I believe their designation to be, ¡®That Bitch¡¯, from what I was able to ascertain from Lucas.¡± I grinned at DUK3, amused by the assumption, though somewhat concerned ¨C and annoyed - that Lucas had left the world without saying anything, after kidnapping me. Courtesy never cost anything. Hearing DUK3 speak, however had given rise to a question, something that I had apparently been missing for the almost two weeks since my arrival. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s their actual name, just something Lucas calls them. But, leaving aside where Lucas went for a moment, why do you and he speak the same language? It hadn¡¯t occurred to me before, you do. I¡¯ve not been to many worlds, though I suppose that¡¯s relative, but on all the ones I have been too, they spoke different languages. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°This language is not a complex one; I acquired it quickly after meeting Lucas for the first time, Hunter.¡± ¡°Oh, you just learned it. I guess that¡¯s pretty normal. I have a tough time telling how complex a language is, it mostly just... comes to me. Is your language more complicated, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite a lot more complicated. Our language is tonal and meaning can change depending on relative social positioning and the relationships of the participants. It¡¯s partially stratified, as those at Integration Level Five are capable of producing sounds an organic system can''t. The highest tiers of meaning are reserved by station, you see, Hunter.¡± I blinked at the flood of music that poured out of the Construct, a complex, symphonic harmony that there was absolutely no way I was replicating without a synthesizer. Even without having their heads and chests replaced, I doubted they looked remotely human if even a part of that sound was natural. Still, I made an effort, if only to let them know I had understood. ¡°Me am know you speak. Me speak you speak not good. But me can know you speak, Third Who One That Many.¡± What I sang was more like a small animal being stepped on than the beautiful music DUK3 had made, though at least I now knew ¨C within the context of their own language, that Dee Yu Kay Three meant, ¡®One Who Is Many, Third of that Name¡¯, though in a far more basic form. ¡°...Perhaps we should converse in the language we have used previously. Though I am curious as to the method by which you acquired my language so rapidly. To the degree which you did, Hunter.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea, Dee Yu Kay Three. I don¡¯t think your language is really for me... As to how I picked it up, like I said, languages just come to me. Actually, I guess there¡¯s no reason to beat about the bush, I already told you about Xiournal. She seems to have just jammed all the languages into my head. If I hear it, and it¡¯s an actual language, I know it. So far, at least... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Intriguing. I am curious as to whether there are any of these ¡®Agents¡¯ upon my own world. We are not a remarkably prolific people, and it should be verifiable by simple behavioural analysis. Do you have much contact with your patron, Hunter?¡± ¡°I suppose it depends on how you define ¡®contact¡¯. She sends me text messages, instructions really. She¡¯s not particularly happy I¡¯m here, I think the gods are giving her a hard time. Though her tone in her last message wasn¡¯t helpful.¡± The last said looking vaguely up, and directed at the hopefully listening Ascended. ¡°I¡¯d think there were Agents on every planet with life, if none of the gods can interfere directly. Maybe it depends on the gods? I don¡¯t really know how it all works. I don¡¯t even know what the point of gods is if they can¡¯t do anything other than start wars. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Perhaps once I have completed my analysis of your particular peculiarities, I will be better able to scan for it in others. I would find it interesting to attempt to ascertain the designs laid out for my world, by the gods and their... intermediaries. In regards to the use of the gods, they create worlds, Hunter.¡± ¡°Create worlds? They don¡¯t just... live here, uh, next to here, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± I was sure I had had a similar conversation before, but I guessed the whole creation bit had flown over my head. ¡°It is my understanding, that when a god comes into creation, they seek others of their kind, and then a suitable... gap. Into this gap, they create the star, the moons, and the worlds, all according to their temperaments and Intent. At least, these are the stories passed on in myth. Why has been a topic of rich debate amongst my people for many thousands of years. It is my thought that as life evolves and processes Experience, it is somehow refined until the gods themselves may ascend, in some way, Hunter.¡± I thought about that for a moment as I faced him, and it made a certain sort of sense. Maybe gods cultivated by the people they made cultivating? But then, what sense did the dead worlds, like the one I was on make? ¡°And the dead worlds? How do they fit in, De Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Just as not all members of society strive to improve at the rates that some do, it is thought that it is so amongst the gods. Perhaps one day, far in the future, they will create life here. Perhaps all worlds begin this way. It approaches impossibility to know, Hunter.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the energy systems. Why do different worlds have different systems? It doesn¡¯t seem like all worlds have their own system; I¡¯ve met people who came from other cultivation worlds. Maybe this world¡¯s gods need a system that doesn¡¯t exist yet, for their life to practice.¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. This is an interesting idea, and not one I had had heard posited previously. Perhaps this is due to the inability for the majority to traverse worlds other than their own. Perhaps that is your purpose, beyond that of being an Agent. Perhaps you are supposed to combine systems, to create new ones, so that new worlds may be seeded. Perhaps that is the purpose of the wars, Hunter.¡± That was a bombshell. I had ¨C despite the comments to the contrary ¨C considered my immunity to divine annihilation a result of Xiournal looking out for me, but if it really was just a part of me, maybe that was why I had been chosen in the first place, just somebody exploiting a system that was already in place. Maybe, when I was done figuring out my arm, and the Sigil Lucas had promised me, I would have a brand-new system, and a dead rock somewhere would be given life. Under My Skin ¡°Would you like a partner, Hunter?¡± Looking up at the Construct, I was jarred out of my ruminations, abruptly remembering the offer that had interrupted my practice initially. ¡°Uh, sure, thank you. So, how do we do this? I assume you have a way of moving fast, like Lucas, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Speed will not represent a limiting factor for me. I would suggest you attack me, while I will defend, Hunter.¡± I was not entirely sure how to react to that, but then I remembered my new grip strength in my left hand, and realised that if the prosthetics increased physical prowess, there was probably some parity in our physical performance. If what they had explained about the relative strengths of our systems was true, cultivators should have an edge in direct power, but if that was the case, any advantage I possessed would likely be entirely overshadowed by the difference in our levels. At least, that was the case for people without my particular abilities. Still, I did not expect to have the sort of advantage I would have against somebody at the same stage as me. Moving a short distance away I dropped into a proper defensive stance against an actual opponent for the first time in weeks, a grin stretched over my face. Having the initiative, I took a short breath and Focused, keeping the electrical flow contained within myself as I had been practicing. I was not at full output, still cognizant of the fact that back on my adopted home ¨C I really needed to ask Walker what it was called when I got back ¨C I would not have access to near limitless Experience. I was just about to tap my Path when a shudder ran through the floor, accompanied by a deep sound of a vast gong or bell being struck that hurt my ears. I felt the floor shift slightly and I stumbled, looking around in panic, remembering that we were on the bottom of an ocean. My mind filled with all sorts of possibilities; giant rocks falling, and nonsensically giant sea creatures attacking us. Dropping my Focus, but keeping my metaphorical hand on its hilt, I stood and looked around frantically. ¡°It would appear that I am under attack by another Construct. I must go to meet them, and am likely to be occupied repelling them and their Level Four and Five subordinates. If you happen to encounter any lower-Level individuals, your assistance in their dissuasion would be appreciated, Hunter.¡± ¡°Wait, we¡¯re being attacked? Aren¡¯t we the only ones on the planet?!¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. We certainly were when last I surveyed this world, however my senses only extend so far. It would seem that, given the unlikelihood of another of my kind randomly arriving at this location, on this world, within the near infinite multiverse, that this enemy has come looking for me, and perhaps that the gods of this world have conspired to open a gate, Hunter.¡± ¡°Why would somebody track you to another world to start a fight? Why would the gods help them? Aren¡¯t they supposed to... not interfere? You seem really calm about all this, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± Calm was an understatement, neither the Construct''s tone or posture had changed in the slightest, at either the physical motion of the facility, or while announcing the attack. ¡°I am currently at the forefront of system research. Even without what I have learned from Lucas, my prosthetics have the potential to significantly outperform many others. Those who reach my Level are not always those most keen in their research. As for the gods, it is within their purview to instigate inter-planer wars between the inhabitants of their world, and those of another. Perhaps your presence was the final straw... If you will excuse me, while my opponent may not be the most dedicated to improvement, that is not an indication of weakness, Hunter.¡± I was opening my mouth to reply when the figure I had been speaking to simply vanished; they did not fade, there was no flash of light or smoke. They simply ceased to be, like a frame being cut out of a movie. I looked around the hall, wondering where I should start. Despite all the time I had spent in that facility, I still spent an embarrassing amount of time navigating about, since other than the lights, the facility was basically featureless. With a shrug, I left the hall in the direction the shift had come from, hoping I would not lose my way too badly. Lucas and DUK3 had sort of kidnapped me, but they had been pretty nice about it, or had at least been helpful. I could not imagine these invaders would leave me alive, or even give me much of a chance to express what side I was on, especially if, as DUK3 had suggested, the gods of this dead world were conspiring to get rid of us. I had never met a god, but if they were petty enough to start a ¡®war¡¯ over three people, they sounded like a bunch of petty assholes. Though, given Xiournal¡¯s comments about how they seemed to receive my presence, maybe that should have been more obvious... Another shudder ran through the warm metal, so I reoriented in that direction, turning down long corridors that were effectively identical to the ones I had left, until I walked into another hall ¨C hopefully not the one I had started in ¨C with four strange humanoid figures standing at its centre. Each of the figures stood shorter than me, at about five feet and relatively slender for their height. They were oddly reptilian, though shaped mostly like humans, with scales ranging from a deep blue to a lime green, but with feathers of red, purple and yellow sprouting backwards from their heads. And of course, they were partial constructs, though thankfully it was only partial; the tunics they wore showed off arms and legs of various materials. The figure closest to me seemed to have limbs constructed from some kind of pearlescent stone, looking similar to a beetle shell, and I had to admit that I was a little jealous as it caught the light and reflected a bright, orange, almost perlescent gradience. Another looked to have limbs crafted from some petrified wood, with the third and fourth having limbs of what looked like chrome and angular crystal respectively. They were not a race I had seen among my options when I had been busy creating my body, which in itself was interesting as I had yet to encounter another example of the race I had chosen, the ren. ¡°We have company, some sort of freak. Ugh, it¡¯s disgusting.¡± The figure with the beetle shell limbs had apparently spotted me, and was staring with weird, triangular pupils in ochre-on-ochre eyes. Of course, the putdown sounded beautiful to my ears, and if I had not been able to understand, I may have thought it quite gentle.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The other three figures, who had been looking around, perhaps trying to orient themselves in the featureless maze turned almost as one to regard me, heads tilting to the side in the motion I was familiar with from DUK3. ¡°Coldest Void, look at it. Do you think it¡¯s an experiment?¡± This from the chrome limbed figure. ¡°I hope not, if that¡¯s what a Level One augmentation does to you with this Construct¡¯s creations, I want nothing to do with them.¡± The one with the angular crystal¡¯s voice was slightly higher pitched than the others ¡°Let¡¯s put it out of its misery. Look at its feathers, they¡¯re barely there at all. Limp and frail. Ugh.¡± ¡°Me not you. Me... me. Waste. Waste! Me not test... Yes, me test, me not bad test. Sex things. Me fight you cloaca!¡± As before, when I attempted to speak in their language, I sounded like I had taken a few too many blows to the head. Who knew they had no word for ass? Still, I seemed to have got my message across, as the four dropped into fighting stances, though not ones I was familiar with, their bodies dropping lower, almost parallel to the ground. ¡°We have to kill it now, what if it¡¯s contagious?! It¡¯s only a Level One, we can do it in a moment.¡± OK, so apparently my meaning had not really been conveyed as well as I would have liked. Still, I did not think it mattered as far as results went. Dropping into a stance of my own, I Focused and pushed hard into my Exemplar; I had no way to know how strong those four were so I was not going to mess around. Praxis surged within me as I tapped it almost to the point of my reserves starting to drain. Holding back was great, in theory, but since I was in an actual fight against fighters of unknown strength, I was going to abuse the obscene refresh rate of that dead world for all it was worth. The four figures all but froze for a moment as I gathered my time aura close and dashed forward, hoping to eliminate the threat before they had a chance to react. It did seem, however, that I had underestimated their own speeds. As I closed the distance, the four began to move ¨C not fast enough to appear normal, but certainly faster than I had expected given how far beyond my level I was operating at that moment. But as surprising as their speed was, it was not enough to keep pace with me. As I arrived at Chrome¡¯s position, I converted my momentum to a downwards punch, adding my weight to it as I turned my ankle. As my fist made contact with the top of the feathered skull, I loosened the grip on my lightning and let it flow out and into the unprotected flesh with an attenuated, echoing snap and a disturbingly damn crunch. Catching movement out of the corner of my eye, I quick-stepped around Chrome and turned to put them between me and Beetleshell, even as a shimmering energy began to build in the palm of their out-facing palm. My Instinctive Precognition flared, and dipping low without a chance to think, I caught Chrome around the waist and tossed him into the air between us. I may not have been as strong as I was fast, but at a strength fifty times that of a normal human, tossing one largely defenceless person into the air required pretty much zero effort. As the figure rose into the air, an almost blinding light illuminated the hall and there was a slow crackle of sound as I dodged just in time for a burning hole to blasted through Chrome by a beam of what looked like concentrated plasma. The body slowed the beam for only a fraction of a second, but that had been what I needed to dodge, and the huge charred tunnel though my former opponent¡¯s flesh was a pretty good sign that they would not be getting back up. Knowing I had to prioritise taking out the asshole with the hand-cannon, I rushed towards them, hoping to arrive before they could charge another shot, but suddenly found myself falling towards the distant ceiling. Flexing my core to provide force, I turned around my centre of gravity so my feet were pointing up ¨C down? And landed in a crouch before jumping as hard as I could... which was a mistake. I do not do a lot of jumping, and I had somewhat forgotten that I was more than strong and fast enough to leap the fifty feet or so without giving it my all. I rocketed towards the floor like a missile to smash down and through Beetleshell in a spray of gore. My opponents may have had some dangerous toys, but speed is king. Which is why ¨C despite shedding a bunch of momentum turning one of them to jam, I also smashed bodily into the floor. Luckily, it seemed that while their limbs made them faster than I expected, their bodies were way squishier than mine. I hit the floor and lost my breath, my vision turning black for a moment, only to come back to myself as my control slipped and lightning lashed about me. With a groan I steadied my mental grip and stood; my body hurt everywhere, but it did not seem like I had damaged anything too seriously. Looking around, I found Woody and Crystal staring at me with a close approximation of horror, and I looked down at myself to see blood and viscera fall off of my slick black robes. I imagined seeing what they had seen and grimaced. I would probably have nightmares later, but I did not have time for that here and now; there were an unknown number of these invaders in the facility, and backup could show up any moment. And given that I had no idea where these guys fell in the power scales, beyond not Level One, I did not want to take any risks just because it had been fairly easy so far. I ran at the still staring figures, seeing a strange pulse as I did so and the air turned slightly opaque. I got the feeling I was about to do something stupid as I decided to run though the phenomena, and I thanked Instinctive Precognition again as I dropped my weight and kicked to send me leaping sideways, skipping along the ground until I found the edge of the disturbance, only to find myself once again falling upwards as another pulse caught me, Crystal started running up a series of floating steps, made from the same opaque air, towards me. As I once again landed on the ceiling, the running Crystal caught up to me, throwing punches at me and dropping back out of range as I retaliated. It was a strange exchange; you never expect to fight somebody who is upside-down and it was disorienting enough to slow me down. I could jump to reach the irritating shit, but I knew it would be easy to overshoot the very short distance. With a mental shrug, I braced myself and blocked an incoming blow with my left arm and released the lightning. Power rocked through them as they stiffened, lazy smoke beginning to drift in the near-frozen air as it danced about them in the bright white arcs of my highly efficient new addition. Cutting the power once again, I turned, looking up ¨C down? I looked at Stonewood, who was apparently responsible for fucking with my world view. Not wanting to smash myself into the floor for a second time, knowing there was likely more fighting ahead, I took a few moments to try to work out how hard I would have to jump, but that was apparently enough time for my last remaining enemy to decide that retreat was the better part of valour. I watched as the figure began to turn and run and was about to jump when I found myself dropping. The sudden reversal of up and down bent my brain for just long enough that I did not have a chance to push off. The drop should have given Stonewood the chance to escape the room, as fast as they seemed to be, before I dropped the whole distance, but there was one thing they had not anticipated, and that even I had not noticed until that point: having more time in which to do things meant I also fell faster... relatively speaking. I hit the floor far sooner than I should have and drove myself forward, catching up to the fleeing gravity-manipulator just as they reached the door and drove my fist into the back of their head ¨C and I am fairly sure their skull ¨C cracked. They fell slowly to the ground to tumble end over end into the far wall where they lay, unmoving. Dropping my Focus and stepping off my Path, I waited for a minute or so to make sure nobody was getting back up, and after checking for pulses ¨C despite not knowing if they even had pulses ¨C I left the gore spattered hall to carry on in the general direction of the shudder. One Way Street I was half way down the next corridor before I stopped, mentally slapping myself. Turning, I ran back to the blood-stained room and gingerly gathered the sixteen limbs into a pile before slapping them with a cleansing pill, hoping it would work. I had never used one of the pills on a random pile of limbs before, but I could think of no reason it should not work. Luckily, it did. I had to leave behind some of the crap I had collected, mostly Risen Throne robes and clothing, but I did manage to slip all of the arms and legs into storage. DUK3 was unlikely to care, given his own efforts were apparently superior, but I wondered if Walker, or maybe the alchemists back home would be able to do anything with them. Grisly task completed, I slapped myself with a cleansing pill ¨C my clothes might clean themselves, but my skin and hair did not, and I had caught a whiff of my gore-spattered beard. Ew. Leaving the hall once more, the world rocked around me and again rang like a gong. This time, it motion was not isolated, but rather was followed by an almost constant vibrational buzz, interposed with the occasional deeper wave. The constant buzz made it difficult to determine direction, if only because the returning waves were causing interference ¨C and giving me a headache. Taking a guess based on memory, I set out again. After a few minutes of travel, I once again mentally slapped myself and Focused, pushing it as far as I could without dipping into my reserves and letting my perceptions and reactions slow the vibrations so I could more easily determine where they were coming from. Surer of my course, I ran on ¨C quicker. I was moving down my fourth hallway ¨C the glowing lines that provided light were flickering frantically - I found myself gliding on a near frictionless floor, remaining upright only because of my heightened reaction times and the very firm footing provided by my strangely thin shoes. Coming to a stop, I looked down, and in the staccato flickering found what looked like red ice coating the floor. Confused by the presence of ice on what had always been a warm floor, I reached down to find the material slick, like ice, but warm. I thought back to the blood of the invaders, trying to recall whether I had noticed it being particularly slippery, and wondered if perhaps this was how it dried? If so, there was a likely as fantastic market for them as frictionless materials. I pictured an axle coated in the stuff for a moment before shaking the image loose and discarding it. Looking closer, I could see the slick upper layers hardening into geometric patterns, again as if it was being frozen, but neither it, nor anything else was anything but pleasantly warm. Another shock rocked me, so I stood, dismissing the mystery of the red ice to take off again. I was yet to see any other signs of the invaders ¨C unless you counted the ice ¨C but I doubted the entire invasion force amounted to four random mooks and whoever the Construct was fighting. Six corridors and five large halls later, I came across two more of the odd feathered lizard people, again with all four limbs replaced. I did not even stop that time, merely pushed on my Exemplar and lashed out in passing. I now knew that their bodies ¨C and heads ¨C did not benefit from the same augmentation the prosthetics resulted in, and force being a function of mass and acceleration, I was packing a lot of it. The heads of the two figured did not quite explode, but given the unnatural angle and shapes that they bore after I had passed, I had some real doubts that they would be getting back up. It did occur to me how easy I seemed to have found killing people since my re-birth; I had chosen not to, once in the forest when we had been ambushed, but that was when I had time to stop and think about it. Whenever it happened in the heat of things, I mostly seemed to dismiss it, and I did not know enough about psychology to know if that was normal or not. I half suspected Xiournal had done something to me, as most of my actions and reactions since she had ¡®hired¡¯ me had been somewhat strange when compared to my memories. I had attributed it to my new body¡¯s biochemistry at first, but that did not explain everything. Another thing to add to the list of things I wanted to discuss with her if we ever met again. Though, if I kept world hopping, maybe we would meet up to renegotiate... provided that vaporizing me had not just been an idle threat. Another large shudder drew me though an arched door to cut through what looked like DUK3¡¯s lab, but I had no idea if he had more than one. As I moved across the room, Instinctive Precognition screamed a warning and I cartwheel onto my left hand before tensing my core, kick and using the torque to shift the angle of my momentum, flinging me sideways. As I flew to the side, a door - something I did not think I had ever noticed in the facility ¨C flew across the room, bent, broken and with enough force to smash through the equipment that stood between it and the opposite wall. Through the now doorless arch, a figure strode. Clad in jet black armour decorated with circles that glowed a dull cherry red, this lizard-guy sported a helmet over cobalt blue scales, with a yellow line visible down the centre of its face. Hitting and stepping off my own wall and onto the ground, I took the figure in; it was larger than the ones I had fought up to this point, standing at a little over six feet, though on closer inspection, I realised that the armour was not armour at all, but rather blended seamlessly into the creature''s neck. It seemed that I had found an opponent who was further along in their system, and given the near total replacement - and helmet ¨C I would not be able to simply go through this one.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Turning to look at me, the fullmetal asshole flinched back, and spoke in their irritatingly beautiful language. ¡°Ugh, what foul thing is this? You, wretched scaleless creature, what depredations has this Construct visited upon you? And is it catching?¡± ¡°You hear me, cloaca; me not look bad, me look good. Me not you, is me. You not be being me, sexing waste head...¡± I was vaguely irritated at my inability to insult those guys with any eloquence, or even basic coherence, but I thought I had at least got the gist of it across. ¡°And imbecilic. Worry not, obscene thing, I will end your misery.¡± ¡°Sex that, cloaca. You know what, fuck your language. I bet you¡¯d sound just as dumb speaking mine, with your dumb alien vocal cords!¡± The figure tilted its head to lie parallel with a shoulder at my use of English, or at least as parallel as was possible while wearing a helmet. For a second, I thought the Fullmetal Asshole was going to ask me a question, but instead it turned, picked up some jagged piece of former-equipment and simply threw it at me like bullet. Luckily for me, I am not just a pretty face. Dodging the metal neatly, I darted forward, closing the distance before Fullmetal could react and drove my closed fist into what should have been their stomach, as a test. As a result however, it hurt almost like I was punching metal, unsurprisingly. Other than that, there was no reaction at all from Fullmetal, not even a sound as my fist impacted. Dancing back as one clawed metal hand swept through the space I had occupied, I began to step in and out, delivering blow after blow faster that they could react, each to a different part of the body, hoping to find a weakness. I even tried punching through the thin slits of the helmet, but my hand was simply too big. And none of it, not a single hit had any visible, or audible, effect on the figure, though I did notice that the decorative circles were growing brighter. Once again, Instinctive Precognition howled and I half-turned and stepped back as the air tore and ignited where the centre of my chest would have been a fraction of a second earlier. I managed to avoid what would have no doubt been certain death, but I was still blasted backwards as the air imploded at the point of ignition. With my perception turned up, I had plenty of time to enjoy my short flight, though the brief pain and blackout at the end sucked. Still, I was not out long and was groggily climbing to my feet before the Fullmetal Asshole had even taken two steps. Maybe I was getting used to being knocked out? ¡°You¡¯re faster than you should be, freakish abomination. What grotesque alteration has been wrought within you, that your mind should fail you so? What bleak damnation has been worked upon you that your body inspire such revulsion, while containing such power? I suppose I shall find out, when I take your parts back with me.¡± If I was a more sensitive guy ¨C if I was how I had been in my last life ¨C I would have found Fullmetal¡¯s words to be quite hurtful, but I had grown ¨C or had been changed, whatever ¨C since then, and while I might strive for equanimity amongst my companions, I was in no fucking mood at that moment. The Asshole turned to face me squarely, their stance relaxed and uncaring, making no effort towards defence. Underestimating me. I was already Focusing as hard as I could, but I tapped my Path once more, pushing Praxis to the limit of my channels, feeling my reserves dipping even at the bottom of an ocean of power. Time dragged out around me as I pulled the aura close, and I was across the room in a moment, driving all my accumulated momentum into the face of their helmet, hoping to break their neck, even if my blows were not doing much to the metal itself. I was out of luck though, as like before the blow landed without a sound or any sign of reaction. Frowning I took a step back, noting that the figure was not even attempting a defence. I know the enemy could move reasonably fast, my first fight had proved that, and though they were not as fast as me, or even some of my friends, they had still made an effort. Eyes narrowed, I stretched out my will and pulled my aura tight around my left arm - I might be right-handed, but given the increased efficiency of my left¡¯s compression, I thought what I was about to do would be more effective using it. Time sprang back into motion around and sound unattenuated as my aura was crushed around my arm, and with a flicker of intent, I lost control of my new limb for an instant as a buzzing vibration ran through me. Light flared as I regained sensation, blindingly white and my Instincts screamed. Faster than thought, my aura spread back around me, almost as tight as my skin and I found myself lifting my foot to kick off the unmoving bulk of the Fullmetal Asshole as hard as I could in until the instant blow recharged. My kick sent me careening wildly through the air, and I still was not in control of my movements, reacting without volition in anticipation of events. I may not have been moving consciously, but I was still present, and perceiving the world in slow motion, and as such I noted with interest that I passed out of the door by which I had entered only to crash into the wall outside. Without knowing how, I did something to my arm as I impacted all motion was halted as the force was doubled back on the wall, a crater forming more than a foot deep in the metal as I landed, turned and began to sprint down the hall. A sound like the world mourning was followed by a flash of light that threw my shadow ahead of me at multiple angles. I did not stop running ¨C could not stop running ¨C for more than half a real-time second, at which point I regained control and turned to find the walls of the corridor bent, scorched and ¨C in places ¨C molten. A wind, hot enough to curly my hair washed over as I stood looking back at the devastation that had been this section of the facility, and as I stared, a figure in black ¨C that was black ¨C stepped into the corridor, still moving slow relative to me, but easily as fast as the others I had fought. The Fullmetal Asshole was finally moving, and apparently completely unharmed. I had no idea how to beat them. Bright Light Fright I considered making a run for it. I had no idea what ¡®Level¡¯ my opponent was, or how their abilities worked, and even my best move had almost gotten me killed. But I had done a lot of running in my last life. I had made the decision to move forward no matter what, to seek my goals by whatever means or paths. To be like lightning. Taking a deep breath, I thought about how the fight had gone so far. Point one, the Asshole had not reacted to my blows and did not seem to care about defence. Point two, they had some sort of energy weapon attack. Point three, they only seemed to uss that attack after I had attacked. I thought back to my last blow, the time echo punch. It had hit, and there had been a light, and then I had chance to run away. The first time they attacked, I had managed to dodge, just had been hit by the shockwaves or the blast. My mind went to the glowing circles that dotted their body; when I had first seen them, I thought they were decorations, a part of the armour, but it was not armour, it was their body. I could see people wanting to decorate their bodies, but given that these replacement parts were apparently their cultivation equivalence, I found it difficult to assume they were mere decoration. Looking down the hallway a hundred feet or so, it was difficult to make out the circles, and after a moment of looking I realised that it was not all because of the distance; the circles were no-longer glowing. Energy cannot be destroyed, only changed or moved. The force I had applied to the Fullmetal Asshole had been purely kinetic, and unlike my own arm ¨C which I had used Instinctively ¨C they were not redirecting it back at me, as that would have blown my arm off, I was fairly sure. Which left either directing it elsewhere, or changing it. Was it possible that they were converting the kinetic energy into thermal energy and then using that to attack? It made sense to me. But it required... testing. With a sigh, followed by another deep breath, I took off down the wrecked corridor again, avoiding glowing globules of molten metal as I ran. This time, the Asshole did move, though it was ¨C insultingly ¨C only to open their arms wide in welcome. I was on them quickly, but this time I did not punch, merely laying my left hand gently upon their chest and I looked inwards, gripping the reigns of my lightning and forcing it to flow to, through and out of my prosthetic with a scream of tearing air and the sharp stench of ozone as the brilliant white lines came into existence and latched onto the metal of that made up the Asshole¡¯s body. Knowing it was metal, I expected arc blasts from the flailing bolts, but none came. The body in front of me stiffened and flailed in slow motion, like an insect caught in honey. But that was it. Cutting the flow of power and pulling the arcing electricity back into my channels I danced back to reassess. Back out of range ¨C for what it was worth given the lack of any physical offense ¨C I watched as the triangular irises of the lizard-bird''s blue-on-gold eyes slowly focused on me. I could make out what I was sure was the equivalent of a grin on the scaled face and I ground my teeth in frustration. So far, the Asshole had simply ignored both of my trump cards, though at least it did not seem like my lightning was going to blow up the corridor. Looking at the jet-black metal body, I noted that the circles I had noted previously were barely glowing at all, like a dying coal. It did not appear that Fullmetal could absorb all energy, or at least not electricity, but for some reason it still had not affected... and that is when I realised my mistake. Metal body. I looked down at the metal floor and would have said something disparaging but, but I was too busy trying to figure out what to do. The replacement parts the lizard-birds used was not a result of complex electronics, no matter if they sort of looks like robots ¨C or cyborgs ¨C but rather mostly solid objects invested with energy systems. I had basically pumped one-point-twenty-one gigawatts into a metal bar, which had in turn conducted it into the metal floor, and likely discharged it into the ocean, or ocean floor, without ever passing near any of their living systems. I had not noticed, either because my shoes were insulating me, or because I was just a much shittier conductor than the floor, and it had taken the best route to get out of dodge. Either way, lightning was not going to work unless I could get my hands on his face, since the helmet was connected to his body. The Fullmetal Asshole was definitely the hardest counter to my abilities I had ever come across; I could try my sword, but I had a feeling it would only result in more of the annihilating blasts. My mind raced trying to find a solution, but the only thing I had left in my repertoire was my arm, which could redirect force, but feeding a blast back into them seemed like a bad idea, and even if it could work, I had no idea how to do it. My Instinctive Precognition has figured it out, but I had a feeling that particular ability had cheated somehow. And that left my incredibly ineffective time-spikes. The spikes had done nothing in my tests, and I had reasoned that the motivating force had to be within the field in order to cause the shearing effect, which meant that the only way to use it offensively was - in theory ¨C to develop a moving joint and allow it to sever itself. I supposed it could also work on a heart, but that was a test that would have to wait, given the solid construction of my foe.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. With a tiny shrug and a flex of will, I pushed aura out around my left hand, as that was somehow easier given the increased strength of the field. I felt the world speed up around me as my over-all compression diminished, but I was still moving way faster than my opponent, though that did not matter much given his lack of attacks. Running in, I ducked under the out-stretching arms to stand behind Fullmetal, before turning to... point my left hand at the figure¡¯s black elbow. The Asshole began to turn, and I kept my hand pointed at the same spot, feeling like a very-fast-idiot. As they turned, I watched closely as the right arm began to move, rotating down at the elbow. Unfortunately, the arm did not sever. Either I had been wrong in my theory, or my spike had encompassed too much arm for it to be effective. I had a feeling that my theory was right, so I may need a more precise extension. Growling in irritation, I gave a tiny shrug and leapt onto its back before they could fully turn around. Bracing my feet around their hips and hooking my arm around the black helmet, I felt for the eye slit and pushed my fingers inside. As my fingers squeezed in, I felt a pull. It started out so weak that I did not notice, latched as I was to Fullmetal. But as I became of the aware of the pull, it rapidly multiplied until I felt myself ripped free, unable to maintain my grip. I found myself falling backwards down the long hall-turned-well-shaft, my time-compression working against me as I fell faster than should have been possible. Instinctive Precognition flickered to life and I reached out, catching myself in a doorway with a grunt of pain as gravity hammered me into the metal hard enough to bend it, and also hard enough to break my foot. A subjective second later, the gravity let up, dropping back to normal ¨C if it being oriented sideways could be considered normal. Looking up at the black person now stood on one of the walls, I pulled out one of my few healing pills and swallowed it, knowing it would not get me back to normal in time to make a difference in this fight, but anything was better than nothing in that moment. Staring up, I felt vaguely nauseated as my inner-ear tried to make sense of it, but I knew what had happened. To that point, each of my constructed opponents had only used a single ability each, at least that I had seen, but it seemed that was no hard limit, and much like one of the first four I had fought, the Fullmetal Asshole could manipulate gravity. And to a much higher degree than the last guy. I noticed Fullmetal glaring at me as they began to bash their hands against the nearest wall and stamp their feet. For a moment, I thought they were having a pretty embarrassing tantrum and I felt better, until I noticed the circles scattered around the black metal begin to glow brighter. Son of a bitch. As I saw things, I had three options. I could run away with my tail between my legs ¨C that sounded pretty good right then. I could try to cut something smaller with my time spikes. My last option was trying to electrocute them again. It had rattled the Asshole, given the response ¨C the whole gravity thing. I was fairly confident I could get away and wait for the Construct to show up, or Paragon to return, I was loath to try that while I still had other options. The circles were getting worryingly bright by the time I made my mind up to try my lightning again. I judged that I had fallen about a hundred feet, at at least fifty times as fast as I should have. Normally, I would be able to jump that without much issue, but with the broken foot, I had my doubts. It was possible, with my top speed and time compression, provided the Asshole did not turn the gravity back up, but it would hurt. And there was no guarantee I would be able to catch myself again if he did. Looking down, I saw the corridor stretching down into the distance and experienced a moment of vertigo. Tearing my gaze away from the drop, I crouched, wincing in pain. I pulled my spike back in, as I knew I would need all the speed I could muster to make it. Gritting my teeth, I drove my body straight, not letting the pain stop me from giving it my all. The leap shot me almost directly up, the walls blurring as I travelled with every ounce of acceleration I could muster. I covered the distance in a blink, overshooting the black figure significantly, but this time, the way my time aura interacted with travel helped, as I fell back down to land on their broad back with a crunch of broken bone. Fullmetal was already starting to turn their head as dropped, wrapping my legs around their waist and locking them as the pain burned though my leg. I wrapped left arm around their neck, using my increased grip strength to grab onto the collar of my robe, just in time as at that moment, I felt gravity shift again to send me falling down the other direction. I forced my fingers into the helmet as a giant hand seemed to grip and pull, but I was prepared, and I held on ¨C just. Feeling scales, I abandoned my Path, and pushed everything I could out of my fingers and into bird-lizard''s skull. I felt the body underneath me convulse and I smelled burning hair ¨C feathers. All at once, I felt the pull vanish and the world turn around me. To add insult to injury, I almost threw up on my foe as gravity righted itself and with a spark of Precognition, I managed to throw myself clear in time to prevent what had to be a thousand pounds of metal falling on my already damaged leg. Laying on the warm metal, I heard a painful croak as the fallen figure spoke, their voice a broken imitation of what it had been when insulting me so beautifully. "My... sibling will... kill you, frea-¡± Interrupting them, I pulled myself back over to the body. ¡°Sorry, Asshole, but I really doubt that.¡± Leaning down, I finally slipped my fingers back into the slit in the helmet and let fly another blast at my maximum strength, waving away the newly created smoke as the body shuddered under the electrical onslaught. ¡°Ow.¡± I lay next to the body ¨C or what I hoped was now a body ¨C and let the healing pill and my own Lesser Regeneration go to work as I once again became aware of the facility around me booming and shaking. The intensity and frequency had definitely picked up, and I knew I would have to set off again as soon as my leg was fixed, but I really hoped that I did not run into any more difficult encounters. Come Together It was always... strange, to feel my bones pull back together. If natural healing was turned up to the point that it was as fast as mine tended to be, a badly broken bone, left un-set would result in a mangled, painful mess of leg. The body does not normally do things like neatly arranging bones, you see. I assumed it was something to do with intent when it came to the pills, as they were not mere chemical concoctions, but magical in some way. As for my Lesser Regeneration, it seemed fine with rearranging my bits to make them fit back together, but it mostly ignored foreign objects. As I lay next to my - hopefully ¨C dead opponent, feeling my flesh twist and bones move, I thought about my abilities. The ones I had purchased, and the explanations Xiournal had given. What I knew about reality at that point was significantly more than when I had died, and it did not make sense that somebody who had ascended to the next plane was that limited. Even a whif of the next plane up was enough to turn somebody into a demigod, able to literally alter reality. From what I had seen, each of my abilities should be replicable using cultivation, though Lucky might take some work. It was nice to get them effectively for free, on top of everything else ¨C life saving, in fact ¨C but they still seemed somewhat limited for somebody who got headaches from gods. If the purpose of the Agent system was to do things on the gods¡¯ behalf, and to be rewarded for success, why not load Agents up with every ability they could, just allow us to walk through any obstacle? Even by that point, I was not any sort of challenge for an Apex, or even a Mid-to-Peak Foundation cultivator, but if I had all of the abilities that had been listed? I did not think there was much that could stop me if I had all of the Violet level abilities, even an Apex. There was something fishy about the whole thing, and it might be worth world-hopping again just to get some face-to-face time with the dragon-lady, presuming she would not just atomize me on the spot... maybe I should try just talking to her instead. Climbing to my feet still hurt, but I did not have all time to lay about, and it was good enough to walk on. Painful, but I was used to pain at this point. I looked down at the mostly metal body and tried to figure out if I could fit it into one of my storage rings. Pulling things from them, I quickly re-arranged what I had, stuffing things between the other limbs I had... retained, I managed to free up one entire ring. It took me a couple of minutes to fold up the corpse so that it would fit, and by the end it looked like the dead bird-lizard was hugging its knees. Feeling very morbid, I slipped it into the ring. There was definitely no more room in storage, so I hoped I did not come across any more promising parts; intellectually I knew I should not be collecting people parts, but the potential for benefit was overriding that part of me, and I once again wondered if I had been changed more than I knew during my rebirth. With a shrug, I took off again, mostly ignoring the pain as I ran on ¨C with a limp. Heading towards the source of the shaking was probably a bad idea, especially if more of these guys were in that direction, and especially if there was an antagonistic Apex equivalent over there, but DUK3 had asked for my assistance, and since they¡¯d been kind enough to give me a shiny new arm, I felt kind of indebted. I just hoped that the Fullmetal Asshole would be the most powerful of them I had to contend with. Feeling another shock run through the facility, I took the next right on the featureless corridor, turning in to another hall, this one with what looked like lab equipment around the edges. It was the first of its kind I had seen in the otherwise dizzyingly uniform complex, but it was not the equipment that caught my attention, so much as it was the large crowd of lizard-birds pawing through it all. Luckily, they did not seem to be mostly-metal monstrosities, but they all had one or two limbs replaced, so I hoped they would be reasonably easy to deal with. Not waiting for them to notice me, I ran in, Focused and with power thrumming through my Exemplar. I was slowed a little by my injury, but even so, I hit the crowd like a force of nature. Unlike the first four I had encountered, only the ones with both legs replaced seemed to move at all, but that movement was so slow that it was effectively nothing. I felt vaguely guilt as I moved through them, every blow seeming to end a life, moving between them so quickly that I doubted most of them could even see me. I spun through the loose crowd, kicking and punching with impunity, going all out in an effort to end the fight quickly, as if any of the number had some sneaky trick, or were powerhouses like the asshole, I was in for a bad time against so many. But my fears turned out to be without foundation, and within moments the fight was over and more than two-dozen bodies littered the floor. I looked around, shaking my head as the vague guilt I had experienced rolled through me and intensified. I had never fought anybody who was this much weaker than I was; even the mooks from the Risen Throne I had fought and killed had been more dangerous like this. It felt like attacking children ¨C and not the sociopathic ones I had met at the Steel Splinter. I was not that much above what was considered normal back on my adopted home, and it made me wonder how any war between cultivator and non-cultivator worlds could be fair. Yet another thing I needed to ask somebody about. I let out a sigh of not quite regret; I felt bad that these people had stood no chance, but at the same time, they were invading, and their compatriots had attacked me. Shaking the feeling off, but knowing it was something to think about later, I started to leave, but noticed something odd. There were substantial amounts of blood spattered about the room from the brief ¡®fight¡¯, but much like the stuff I had found before, it was freezing as I watched, or whatever the process was called in the absence of cold. With a frown, I thought back to my first fight with that lot, trying to remember if their blood had gone through the same process, but I did not think it was the case. I recalled using a cleansing pill to clear off the rapidly congealing stuff, and that had certainly taken longer than the brief pause I had taken after the latest fight. Blowing out a breath, I was surprised to find it clouding in front of me, hanging on the still air as it slowly drifted apart. Holding out my hands, I tried to see if the air felt cold, but like everything else, it seems comfortably warm, perfectly matching my body temperature. ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Speaking out loud, my breath pooled again and I tried to remember if it had done so when speaking to the Fullmetal Asshole, but I had been preoccupied at the time, and was unable focus in on that detail.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. With a frown of distaste, I spat onto the metal floor and crouched, staring at it for a moment as, like the blood, it began to freeze. Standing again, I thought furiously, trying to come up with an explanation, but pure physics failed me. I knew it had to be some kind of ability, but there was nobody around, unless they were invisible, and the effect had stretched out for miles of corridor. And that meant one of two things. Either there was an invisible person following me around that had a thing for freezing bodily fluids, or it was the result of an Apex ¨C or a Construct, I guessed. On the one hand, running into a Construct without DUK3 about was likely a death sentence, but on the other, the fluid freezing phantom was creepy as fuck. Giving the empty room a wary glance, I ran on, hoping not to run into anything I could not handle... or any creepy phantoms. * *** * The gong-like booms were growing painfully loud, and the constant shuddering of the metal around me was visible, like a blur that scattered itself around the edges of everything. Rounding a corner, I came face-to-face with at least another hundred of the lizard-birds, all facing towards me. With a misting yell, I dropped into a defensive stance reflexively, but I soon noticed that none of them were moving. At all. The entire crowd ¨C a small army ¨C was frozen solid and held fast to the floor by thick frost. A white fog hung close to the ground, but as it swirled and eddied, I could make it all out. Making my way through the statue garden, I found another hall, though this one was larger than any I had seen. Half pastel-yellow and half the black swamp oak, the hall stretched for hundreds of feet in every direction, figures standing at either side. The side closest to me held DUK3, a constant stream of clones coming into existence to around him to surge across the space towards the hall¡¯s other occupant. Standing alone against the constant tide, a figure defined in black, seeming flat and two dimensional, like an ACME hole in the shape of a person. The flat figure did not move at all as the onrushing copies shattered as they approached, freezing solid and then being shattered by their own momentum. Not all of the clones were approaching, I could see, but were rather reforming into floating orbs that blasted the black space with beams of strangely dark purple. The orbs seemed to last longer than the clones, but they too eventually succumbed to the strange cold and falling from the air. It was that falling which was causing the booms, as the beam did not cut off until they shattered on the ground. The lines of line appeared to be absorbed completely by that black hole in the world, but as the orbs fell, they blasted into the metal of the hall, evaporating the metal. I was shocked into immobility as I watched the combat; DUK3 was supplying an unlimited supply of combatants by the look of things, thousands of them coming into existence and being destroyed just as quickly, though Mr. Hole seemed to do so passively, staying perfectly still. I had an uncomfortable feeling that I had found the Fullmetal Asshole¡¯s brother, given the similarity in their styles... Recalling the glowing circles, it struck me that cold was not a thing in and of itself, but was rather the absence of energy. And since energy could not be destroyed... I wondered where it was going. As soon as I wondered, my question was answered as a light like a star illuminated the room; even before I could blink, that lethal brightness was sealed away as thousands of copies of DUK3 shot out from every direction, instantly forming from the ceiling walls and floor, flowing together like water to create a wall that was forced incandescent in a moment, exploding apart as the barrier too vaporized... and then froze, falling like yellow hail. The two Constructs seemed evenly matched ¨C DUK3 was unable to harm Mr. Hole, or so it seemed, but the reverse was also true. Looking back at the frozen bodies behind me, I wondered how it had happened. It was not particularly cold where I was, and the attacks seemed to be heat based rather than cold. Was the field around the enemy¡¯s body selective, and if so, why had they selected their own people? And then it hit me; energy cannot be destroyed, it can only be moved or changed. Heat was just energy, and mine could not be drained. Thinking back to the ability, I had taken it to keep me safe from the Shadow Faced Guy¡¯s black mist, and had thought it kind of expensive for such a niche case, but in that moment, I realised that the description had been one-hundred-percent literal. The world around me was cold enough to freeze blood and spit, or people, solid. I was just incapable of feeling it. Under normal circumstances, I did not think there was any way for me to compete against an Apex ¨C or Construct ¨C at my level. Their abilities stretched beyond what was otherwise possible, twisting reality to enforce their abilities upon the world. But I could somehow resist that will if it did not fall within their chosen field, and this chosen field was completely ineffective against me, the ability set in stone by a power even higher than theirs. This might be the only such being in all of existence I stood a chance against. Slipping my last sword free from storage, Instinctive Cognition reared its head again, telling me that this was a stupid idea. I watched as the thousands of bodies shattered to nothing as they approached the black being, and looked down at my sword, which was already sporting a layer of ice. Slipping it back into storage with a grimace I thought about my options. Mr. Hole appeared to eat direct energy in the same way his suspected brother ate kinetic energy, but was defending against physical attack. I could try my echo punch but I did not know if it would be enough. Looking down at my hands as the battle raged, my mind raced and after a moment, I recalled the way I had used my new arm to cushion my impact. The force had been turned about, so that the wall had taken the brunt of it. Why? DUK3 had said it would not double my strength, but it had seemed to. Newton¡¯s Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, but... what if you could divert that reaction? By, say one-hundred-and-eighty degrees? I tried to recall the sensation of activating it, but it had been done purely by Instinct, my ability reaching into the its own future and stealing the method from itself, for itself. I had an idea, but it was pretty stupid. It was stupid to get involved, but the fight was clearly at a stalemate, and had been for a good chunk of time by that point. And I had made a promise to myself. Forward. ¡°Fuck it.¡± Turning everything back up to maximum, I ran into the mixed hall, the flow of battle slowing but still surprisingly fast as the constructs formed and attacked, to be destroyed. I did not aim for Mr. Hole, running towards one side of the hall instead. Leaping up, I once again felt Instinct Precognition inform me of my own stupidity, but sometimes you have to be stupid to win. Maybe. Turning as I jumped, I hit the wall and jumped again, kicking off towards the ceiling directly above the three-dimensional silhouette. Absorbing the impact with my legs, I looked down, drew my left fist back and jumped with everything I had, pushing my lightning past where I had thought to be my limit. The electrical arcs became too strong to contain, and I felt my channels burning as the electricity sprang free around me as I descended like a thunderbolt. Twisting as I fell, I shifted my concentration to my arm and strangely felt my travel slow, though I lost none of my momentum. With wild exultation, I felt Instinctive Precognition ignite, and it felt almost irritated as I lost control for one single, infinite moment and with a primal scream, struck. Dream On Things did not go as planned. As I had lost control of my arm, I had hoped to double amplify my force by subverting Newton¡¯s Third Law, thus smashing the Construct flat and defeating it, before rising victoriously from a pile of metal parts. What happened is that I twisted in mid-air and lashed out with an echo punch, blasting me sideways. On the one hand, I hit Mr. Hole pretty hard, if not as hard as I wanted. On the other hand I just about avoided the flat-seeming black limb that swept through the space I had been occupying as the figure¡¯s head... sort of tilted a little to the side. I managed to stick the landing, though I felt my somewhat healed leg crack as I absorbed the reaction from the multiplicative punch and fell to the ground. I felt a cold attention sweep over me, and become pressure, like the frigid depths of the ocean we sat under was pressing in on me. It felt like when Lucas and DUK3 had tried to push me from the room, but instead it was... trying to crush me. Luckily, it did not last long; a series of metallic impacts rang out through the room, followed by a grunt as I felt another will sweep in and the pressure was relieved, the will of one demi-Ascended countered by the other. ¡°You do not have such an advantage that you can turn your attention from me, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.¡± ¡°One Who is Many, Third of that Name... what is this abomination? What actions have you performed to result in such a thing?¡± ¡°This is a visitor from a world wholly distinct from ours; it is possible you would have a greater awareness of the other races populating our Plane if you stepped beyond the worlds colonised by our species. I provided a Level One augmentation in return for the willing cooperation of this being in subsequent testing. My augmentations will far outstrip your own as a result, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.¡± ¡°How is it possible that this... thing exists upon this dead world, in the absence of free passage provided by war? It has not undergone tribulation, One Who is Many, Third of that Name.¡± ¡°That is for me to ascertain, and for you to remain ignorant of, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.¡± ¡°Your judgement of your own worth has been elevated since your second growth cycle. At this time, I will assist in correcting your ability to gauge it, One Who is Many, Third of that Name.¡± ¡°Make your best efforts, devoid of your characteristically inaccurate self-assessment, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.¡± It had to be the weirdest mid-battle smack talk I had ever heard, not that it was remarkably uncommon, but even so. Outside of the meaning of the words themselves, the conversation between the two Constructs sounded less like a conversation and more like some grand orchestra, their notes intermingling in concert. Beautiful. With a low bass note, the fight was back on between them, though Mrs. Hole took the time to gesture at me dramatically. I did not notice anything at first, and I just stared, but then I noticed my shiny clothing growing stiff, and after a moment I felt them cracking as I shifted, and I realised the cold Construct was focusing their chill ability on me. And it of course was not working, because I was protected. And that fact seemed to be irritating Gee En Oh Five - She Who Devours - which was good, because it meant some of DUK3¡¯s clones were actually getting through. I wanted to do my part, but had accepted the fact that I probably was not at the point of being able to intervene directly, even with my vaunted higher order Experience. Even specializing in a system which specialised in power, the gap between myself and the Construct to was far too wide to be bridged. What I could do was try to distract GNO5 further by being as irritating as possible. And if Darina was right, I was pretty damn good at that. Focusing hard I pushed on my Exemplar and the world stuttered and slowed again; I was about to try to annoy an Apex level being, and given the fact that the Fullmetal Asshole¡¯s blast had been sufficient to melt the metal of the base around us, I had to assume Mrs. Hole¡¯s was somewhat worse, and I did not want to get hit by it if I could avoid it. The world ¨C sort of ¨C safely sedated around me, I began to slowly pull faces and dance stupidly; it was not a strategy I would normally employ, and I was glad that Darina was not actually present to see it, but the only time I had seen DUK3¡¯s clones get through had been when GNO5 had been trying to kill me. I felt my robes flaking and begin to fall off me as the living heat-sink held up their hand in my direction. In less than a subjective second, I was naked and I cursed at having lost yet another set of clothes. It seemed that even the flexible metal could not withstand... whatever temperature it was. I continued to mock the incredibly dangerous being in my birthday suit, which seemed to offend her even more as I soon heard a groaning come from behind me, and I was driven to dive sideways in a flicker of Precognitive reflex. As I rolled to my feet, I saw that the wall behind where I had stood had shattered under its own weight, and through the floor. But the most astonishing thing was that it seemed to be regrowing fast enough to be visible to the eye, despite my accelerated perspective.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The arm was pointed at me again by the time I got over the weirdly organic metal¡¯s growth, but this time I did not make the mistake of remaining still and began to move about the room, wishing I could see their expression as they tried and failed to freeze me to death. Of course, DUK3 had not been idle, and it seemed like more and more of the rapidly appearing figures were making it through the zone of cold to strike at the blank figure. Finally, the situation came to a head as the arm pointing at me dropped to fend off the growing crowd, but by then it was too late. As GNO5 began to swat at her attackers they began to shatter again, the killing cold rolling back to focus around her once more. But now that they had made it into proximity, the clones were not without recourse, and as I watched they began to divide. For every body that was shattered two replaced it until the circle around the black body was five copies deep. The versions of DUK3 at the back began to flow together to form larger bodies, hulking and broad and very unlike their progenitor. After a few subjective seconds, there were four giant bodies punching down at the now prone figure, and though I could see the metal cracking and flaking off them, more clones materialized and flowed into them, a constant reforming of metallic flesh interposed by the rapid staccato of metal flesh on metal body. ¡°I concede! The victory belongs to you, One Who is Many, Third of the Name.¡± I was not expecting DUK3 to stop, but as one the four giant bodies ceased their assault and simply dissolved. I could not believe the Construct would be so trusting, but despite my disbelief it appeared to be warranted. Climbing out of her own imprint, GNO5 turned on her heel without another word and walked to the far side of the two-tone hall. I watched, astonished as the line where the two colour schemes met closed in like a huge mouth. Dropping my Focus and stepping off my path, I turned to DUK3, still naked. ¡°What the shit?¡± * *** * The first thing the construct did was to make me a new set of clothing, which was a much weirder experience than the last set given that they grew out of the floor to envelop me before changing colour to match my stated preferences. ¡°Uh, thanks, Dee Yu Kay Three. But really, you just let her go? What about all the people she brought? Won¡¯t she just... come back with more?¡± ¡°Be calm. As the individual who lost the contest, Gee En Oh Five cannot return for a minimum of one-hundred years. It was pleasant and unexpected to see her again, Hunter.¡± ¡°She can¡¯t come back? Is it like, a Construct thing? And what do you mean, pleasant? I almost died a bunch of times. A couple of times, anyway. She was trying to freeze me there, if I wasn¡¯t immune, I¡¯d be ice-chips.¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay 3. She will not return, it is not the done thing, propriety precludes it. In regards to it being pleasant to see her, Gee En Oh Five has been my chief rival since our hatching. We are born of the same zygote, Hunter.¡± ¡°What the shit is a zygote? I don¡¯t understand. She was here to kill you, right? But you¡¯re old friends?... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°We hatched from the same egg. We shared all four parental contributors and were reared alongside one another. Gee En Oh Five was not here to kill me, but rather to gain access to my research; if I had lost the encounter, she would have been free to take as she wished, though I would have of course lived, as the Codes demand, Hunter.¡± I was getting a headache trying to comes to terms with the weird way their society was apparently structured. ¡°She was your twin sister?! You have four parents...? You know what, never mind. So, you guys have some sort of code that stops you killing each other, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°This is essentially correct. Constructs are sufficiently rare that we are not permitted to end each other¡¯s existence, as we are required for both defence in the event of war, as well as to enable occupation and expansion, Hunter.¡± ¡°But what about all the little guys? I killed a bunch, Dee Yu Kay Three. Like, almost thirty people.¡± ¡°They were aware of the possibility when they opted to attack me. They did however represent but a fraction of their faction. Gee En Oh Five knows better than to bring a large force, as doing so would have pressed me to using my full capability.¡± ¡°... This wasn¡¯t your full capability? But you seemed totally stalemated when I arrived. Please don¡¯t tell me I was dancing about like a naked idiot for no reason.¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. There was no stalemate, I would have emerged victorious eventually, as my efficiency is higher. Unlike Gee En Oh Five, whose abilities are limited to their immediate environment ¨C at least when constrained by another Domain ¨C my abilities are not. Had I so chosen, I could have crushed each invader by simply converting the entire facility to clones. It is all me after all, Hunter.¡± My brain screeched to a halt at that and I looked down at my robes. Was... wearing DUK3?! ¡°Um, what do you mean, ¡®it is all¡¯ you, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°This entire facility is my body. I try to limit myself to actions which can normally be performed by a standard Construct during these fights, though I had not expected to be required to defend myself here. To do otherwise would not be fair, Hunter.¡± ¡°Fair?!¡± I took a deep breath to calm myself down before carrying on. ¡°Okay, so, I¡¯m inside you. No big deal. Totally normal. I¡¯ve been inside things before. I guess I¡¯ve worn things before too. So, anyway. You were just playing fair? You could have ended it at any moment, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Of course. Why else would they wish to obtain my designs, if they were merely comparable to their own? My scans of your energy system may allow for even greater a disparity. When the current Prime Construct Ascends or is killed, I am likely to take their place. Gen En Oh Five will be most envious, Hunter.¡± ¡°Wait, one of the guys I killed, he said his sibling would kill me. Was that your sister? Did I... kill your brother, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Eff Em Ae Two and I shared only a single parental contributor. Sibling was an exaggeration on his part, designed to ¨C I assume ¨C sound more threatening. Do not be concerned. The remaining bodies and viscera have been collected, and disposed of where required, and all damage repaired, Hunter.¡± ¡°Right. Awesome. Good times! I¡¯m going to go lie down... See you soon, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Sleep well, Hunter.¡± Sick as a Dog The morning I woke up after the invasion, my body ached like I had a bad sunburn all over my insides. This was the first time I could remember that I had woken up with any lasting injuries, other than when I woke up literally nailed to a chair, and the one time I broke most of my bones. Groaning, I tried to sit up but a sensation like thousands of tiny needles pricking through my body, and into my nerves quickly changed my mind about that course of action. I tried to push energy into a storage ring to pull out a healing pill, but the effort felt like trying to push Reff¡¯s lava through my channels. I flexed my artificial hand, hoping it would be immune to whatever was wrong with me, but I was soon dissuaded of that idea; whatever trick of magic made it feel and act like my hand was also not going to let me cheat my way out of the situation. Abandoning my attempts, I lay staring up at the ceiling, wondering what had happened to me. I recalled a burning sensation in my channels, but since there had been no immediate pain, I had assumed the damage to be minor, especially with me having taken a healing pill right after. Apparently, I had been wrong. Really, painfully wrong. I did not recall a great deal about the process of burning my channels, but I did not think it had been quite that painful, at least. Still, I did not have the benefit of a weird immortality serum to keep me alive if something went wrong, so I hoped the pain was the result of my healing, and not something going catastrophically wrong with my body. ¡°Um, Dee Yu Kay Three? Can you hear me? I mean, I guess I¡¯m inside you, but I don¡¯t know if the walls work like ears or... man this is creepy. You¡¯re Apex level, so you can probably at least sense me. I hope? I don¡¯t suppose you know what¡¯s wrong with me?¡± ¡°Greetings. I gather from your words that you are experiencing a malady of some description, Hunter?¡± I nearly jumped as DUK3 spoke, their voice coming from a part of the room that had no door. I just barely prevented myself, but even the slight tensing of my muscles hurt like hell. ¡°Ow. Yes. Everything hurts, like I burned my insides... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± I watched as the now powder-blue Construct walked into view, their burning yellow eyes as unblinking as ever. As the Construct reached out to lay one hand against my chest, I expected pain, but thankfully none came. A long moment passed before, without another word, the room shifted and rippled to become one of the labs I was so familiar with, a mechanical spider of metal and crystal hanging above me in less than a second. ¡°You can just put these anywhere? Why did I have to keep coming to you?¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. It has been my experience that those utilising other systems are more comfortable when my body is treated more like a mundane building, Hunter. Please hold still, I am going to run some scans of your energy circulation system.¡± The same crystal, or at least one that looked a lot like it, started to pulse, like when I had been scanned in preparation for my new arm. The process took only a few minutes and I watched ¨C slightly creeped out again ¨C as all the equipment folded back into the walls. ¡°You appear to have ruptured your energy channels; the damage is extensive, and seems to have been exacerbated by the pressure of the Experience on this world. It does however appear to healing, which is most odd. It does not seem to be an effect generated by your energy system. Is this similar to the way in which you resisted She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name¡¯s energy absorption capabilities, Hunter?¡± It was good to know that I was healing, at least, even if the process was slow. It was not great news that I was going to have to spill the beans about some of my additional abilities; I had told both DUK3 and Lucas about Xiournal, but had not gone into detail about the specifics of my compensation. I thought about simply refusing to explain, but given the inquisitive nature of the Construct ¨C and the fact I was currently trapped somewhat alone on a dead world, inside their body ¨C I did not think it was something they were likely to simply let go. ¡°I have a couple of abilities that aren¡¯t part of cultivating. You might say they¡¯re payment rendered. I heal faster than most, and my energy cannot be drained. That last one was for a specific purpose, the whole, ¡®immune to cold¡¯ thing is a fringe benefit. An awesome fringe benefit, especially since I¡¯m not, you know, dead, but still. fringe... Dee Yu Kay Thee.¡± ¡°Interesting. I can sense no trace of such abilities within my Domain, and neither are they detected by my equipment. Are you certain these are abilities supplied by an Ascended? Theoretically, an Ascended should not be able to continue to affect anything beyond their own Domain. Perhaps they are a manifestation of your own very limited Authority, Hunter?¡± ¡°I doubt it. I mean, I don¡¯t think so? I can upgrade them when I finish tasks for her. I definitely didn¡¯t have them before... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Intriguing. I will endeavour to produce an experiment that may provide more information. Ah, it seems that Lucas has returned. This is good. The gate between this world and the other is likely to remain open for at least a month, and while I have significant doubt that a further incursion will be enacted, the presence of another Construct level individual will likely result in a more... final deterrent. If you will excuse me, I will inform Lucas of what has transpired, Hunter.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Uh, sure. Say, ¡®hi¡¯ for me. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± With an exaggerated nod, DUK3 dissolved into the air, vanishing without either noise or trace. ¡°Definitely creepy.¡± * *** * It took an astonishing three days for me to heal, meaning it was by far the most extreme injury I had suffered since my arrival ¨C perhaps excluding my arm. From what DUK3 had said, it seemed that the constant, light drain of Praxis as it empowered my body and the high-pressure energy of world around me replenishing it, had worked together to continually strain my damaged channels, meaning the healing had slowed significantly, compared to ¡®normal¡¯. Even with the consumption of a healing pill after the first day, I was still unable to move around much for most of that time. Still, I was finally walking around again, and since Lucas was back, that meant one thing ¨C more tests. That day, the Construct and Paragon were trying to see if they could shut down my abilities. I was not entirely onboard with the idea, since I still felt some minor strain in my channels and while the burning pain had mostly ceased, it was still there and I was worried that without the constant stream of healing to counter the pressure, I would backslide. I, of course, had no interest in that sort of thing. Thankfully, DUK3 had assured me that the ruptures had closed and the healing was past the point of furthering the damage, provided I did not try to actively use my Focus or Exemplar. And that is how I found myself sat in a comfortable chair, in the middle of a smaller hall with the two other confirmed residents of the planet to either side of me, as they gazed fixedly at me while a mechanical arm periodically sprayed me with mist. The mist was mostly pleasantly warm, though the pair did occasionally succeed in making me feel the cold, though rarely for any length of time, and it did appear to take the both of them. The whole experience had me on edge, with only the fact that it did take two to do it. The first time I felt the cold, I broke out in an ironic cold sweat, recalling the dramatically pointed hand of GNO5, and the metal disintegrating around me in the cold. I thought about what might have happened if she had been able to counter my ability, even for a moment. I had been so confident that my immunity to being drained had been unassailable, and the proof otherwise was a shock. Thinking back on my actions, they had been pretty rash. Perhaps I was growing too confident in my abilities? Perhaps I needed to remember that there were still beings out there that could turn me to mush with little effort... But at the same time, I did not want to throw away my successes. I had some pretty good reasons to be confident against most opponents. I had discussed the Fullmetal Asshole with DUK3 the day before, and it seemed he had been the equivalent of a Foundation stage, which meant I had definitely punched above my weight class, even with the discrepancy in raw power. It was a tough balance to strike, it seemed, between confidence and over-confidence. I had never had much of either in my first life, so it was yet another novel experience, and one I was having to grapple with in real-time. ¡°Cold.¡± The water misted against my face, icy ¨C not just cold - for the first time. It did not last long ¨C none of the brief bouts of cold had ¨C but it was enough to send a shiver through me. ¡°Amazing. It would appear that we are able to influence your, ¡®extra¡¯ abilities, but only temporarily, and never the same way twice, Hunter.¡± ¡°We are not so much countering, as demanding the opposite. This feels more like your own strange trace of Authority than an external force.¡± Lucas ¨C who was normally fairly short ¨C always seemed to speak more when actively engaged in testing, but this was the first time he had spoken during that particular round of testing. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s nothing I¡¯m doing. And like I¡¯ve said before, it¡¯s not something I could do befo-¡± I was interrupted by spray of water to the face and I rolled my eyes before wiping my face dry. ¡°Before. It¡¯s not something I could do before.¡± ¡°It is possible you are simply unable to make use of your own innate abilities, and you are activating them subconsciously? Is it possible this, ¡®Xiournal¡¯ is a delusion, Hunter?¡± ¡°Yeah, no. Definitely not a delusion, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Maybe your patron linked these effects to your existing Authority?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I didn¡¯t have any magic powers before she picked me up. Nobody else did.¡± ¡°You would not be aware of it, if you could not use it, would you?¡± ¡°... I guess not. But how would I end up with it? You guys said you got yours from not Ascending, or whatever. I think I¡¯d remember a tribulation, the one I saw was pretty spectacular.¡± A few minutes passed in silence, save for the hiss of spraying water, though thankfully there were no more cold snaps. I was starting to grow irritated with the regular drenching, but as I tensed in anticipation of the next, it did not come. Instead, Lucas spoke up again, leading with the mother of all non-sequiturs. ¡°I wonder if an Ascended can die.¡± ¡°Uh, maybe calm down there, Lucas. I¡¯m pretty sure Xiournal could take you in a fight.¡± ¡°I do not mean at my hands, fool. I wonder if an Ascended can kill another, and if so, what happens to them? The River of Souls flows in all directions, but we always assumed a person is reborn on the Plane they inhabit, if not the same world. What if that is not the case?¡± ¡°An intriguing idea. I do not believe it to be verifiable, short of asking an Ascended, however. Despite the inherently interesting nature of the question, I am uncertain of the reason for the inquiry at this time, Lucas?¡± ¡°We know Authority is tied to the soul, not to the body. We¡¯ve always assumed that if a Paragon dies, their Authority is washed away by the River of Souls, along with everything else. If it was carried over, we should have come across somebody with it by now, across all the many worlds. But we have only touched the edges of it; what about an Ascended, who¡¯s power is theoretically derived wholly from it?¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. This seems like a baseless line of questioning. None of these things are verifiable, it is pure speculation. It would also necessitate a dead Ascended to descend multiple planes, when all evidence points to this not being a part of the normal flow of things. Souls flow out from the Origin, not in, Lucas.¡± I thought back to my first meeting with Xiournal ¨C she said that if I had been left to my own devices, I would have fallen down a Plane, but once on the Aspirant plane, I would remain there. So, I knew that it was possible to change planes after death, but I had no idea of the rules, save that whatever caused it was something I had. Or did. ¡°I think it¡¯s possible to drop down a plane after death, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s normal. I have no idea what might cause it though.¡± I did not use DUK3¡¯s name this time, as I was not really speaking to him, but rather directing it at both of them. ¡°Is this simply speculation, or have you spoken on this topic with your patron, Hunter?¡± ¡°It... sort of came up. Not, you know, much. But it was mentioned. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± I Wanna Know Why ¡°So, you had to head home?¡± ¡°Hunter, you have been asking me where I went for days, and I have yet to tell you. What does that tell you?¡± ¡°Oh, come on Lucas. I can only have so many conversations about metaphysics. What am I supposed to talk about? DUK3 pretty much only talks business, and you refuse to talk about anything.¡± ¡°This is why I live alone.¡± ¡°You live alone in that giant mansion? Seems like a waste. Couldn¡¯t you have found a smaller giant opal?¡± ¡°Believe it or not, fool boy, giant opals are not particularly common. I do have a small staff, but they know better than to bother me with petty conversation.¡± ¡°... I can see why you like this world. The nearest neighbours are on their own demi-plane and can¡¯t bother you, and the next closest are on another world somewhere. You probably get a lot done.¡± ¡°That is usually the case. Now, concentrate.¡± I winced as Lucas attempted to drag us back on track; he had been trying to teach me a Sigil for the better part of a week, but without the larger lexicon in place, things were proving... frustrating. Cultivation had come relatively easily, and DUK3¡¯s system had been fairly seamless in its application, as my involvement was limited... but as it turned out, trying to integrate a Sigil into my energy system was a pain in the ass. The two methodologies started in different energy centres to start with ¨C I did not even have access to the mind centre. So, I was stuck trying to engrave it on my Core, since it was the place that it seemed like would work. It had taken me about a day to engrave just the one Sigil into the smooth surface, my will skipping about and slipping. And even at the end of it, the thing just vanished, melting away like one of DUK3¡¯s bodies. And it hurt. Not a little bit. ¡°You¡¯re sure this is usually easy? Not agonizing and difficult?¡± ¡°I have seen children complete a single Sigil in as little as an hour. And with less whining.¡± ¡°That makes me feel great, Lucas. Thanks. Maybe I¡¯d have better luck, I dunno, burning it on like my energy channels? Dee Yu Kay Three¡¯s system is channel based, right? Ish? And they said you use some... complimentary techniques?¡± ¡°The initial engraving of the Lexicon is partially an energy construct, only loosely physical. Like your core. The channels Dee Yu Kay Three and their people use for their designs are more physical, but our techniques allowed for more storage within the design itself. But it the design doing the work, not the shape. There is carefully crafted intent involved.¡± ¡°So, no then?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Do I need to be... using Intent on this thing? What does it even do?¡± A moment passed as Lucas glared at me from out of his child-like face, before waving slightly and rubbing at the bridge of his nose ¡°This is my first attempt to teach a Sigil to the user of another system. I have allowed myself to forget that you haven¡¯t already memorised the Lexicon. This Sigil means, ¡®Direct destruction along a line as described by direction.¡¯ Loosely. The actual effect is specific to the pattern, the meaning was added afterwards.¡± ¡°Is it the red-blasty-thing the sailors used on the giant-flying-plant-spider thing?¡± ¡°I have no idea to what you refer. This Sigil, when drawn, will emit a line of destructive force in the direction the Sigil is pointing.¡± ¡°Is it red?¡± ¡°It is indeed red.¡± ¡°Right, well, let¡¯s try that, see if it works any better.¡± Closing my eyes reluctantly, I turned my inner eye to my Core again. I stared at the solid sphere with my Focus at its centre, at myself surrounded by a nimbus of lightning. It seemed so long ago when I had first pictured the thing, but it had not even been half a year since I had been reborn. A lot has changed, both in myself and around me. Twelve months before that, I had been depressed, anxious and basically waiting to die. Remembering myself attacking GNO5, I felt a smile tug at my lips; I was not waiting anymore. ¡°Stop being a fool and concentrate.¡± I guess I was still procrastinating though... Wiping the smile from my face took some effort, but after a few moments I managed. I focused my will on the smooth surface of my Core and began the laborious, painful process of engraving the Sigil. That time I tried to keep the meaning, the intent of the Sigil in mind as I went about it, and it did actually seem to be going smoother. It was even marginally less painful. I do not know how long I sat that time; like the other times I ended up working inside myself, time had little meaning. But eventually I was done carving the Sigil into my Core; I took a deep breath and braced myself for the mark to fade, held fast against disappointment. But the complex circle held. Despite the circle standing solidly embossed within the silver-blue sphere, I held that breath for what felt like an hour before letting it out all at once, the grin I had banished returning to my face once more. Throwing my hands into the air, I let out a loud, whoop and jumped to my feet. ¡°I take it you have finally succeeded?¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°You¡¯re damn right! Master of three systems, baby!¡± ¡°I, am not your baby, fool. Stop.¡± I felt the world clamp down around me and I was held immobile, unable to move so much as a single muscle, beyond it seemed my eyes, heart and lungs. ¡°I¡¯m going to ensure the Sigil is accurate.¡± Lucas casually walked closer to me, and much like our first meeting months before and a world away, the Paragon placed a hand flat on my chest, his eyes becoming absent as I felt his gaze enter me and begin to look around. ¡°I thought you said you had succeeded? There is nothing in here but a hole.¡± I wanted to speak, but could not. The invisible force ¨C Lucas''s lock on my body ¨C was still in place. I tried to convey my desire with my eyes and breathing, and must have looked pretty ridiculous given the expression that crossed the Paragon¡¯s face, but at least he did seem to get my meaning, waving a hand to release me. Staggering slightly as I regained control, I straightened and rolled my shoulders before finally getting what had been stuck inside off my chest. ¡°A hole? In my centre? What?!¡± ¡°There is a hole in your mind centre. This may explain some things...¡± ¡°Haha. But really, there¡¯s a hole in my head?!¡± ¡°Not your head. Your mind centre. Perhaps it absorbed your Sigil?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have access to my mind centre yet, I carved it onto my Core, in my gut centre.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t have access? Your system is truly strange. Ah, I see it now. Amazingly, it does seem to be accurate, but I have no idea if engraving it into your gut centre ¨C onto your... Core... will have any impact. Hopefully you will not explode.¡± ¡°Explode?! That¡¯s a thing that can happen? That¡¯s the sort of thing you should tell a person beforehand.¡± ¡°It should not happen, had you engraved it in the correct location. The mingling of systems is new to me, I have no idea what this will do.¡± ¡°... Can I scrub it off?¡± ¡°I have no experience with Cores, boy. Can you?¡± Not wanting to explode, I sat again and tried to calm down as I focused inwards again. I tried breaking the lines first ¨C in previous attempts, when I had broken a line by accident, the whole thing would simply sink from view, erasing itself. No such luck that time; as I scratched across the outer circle, the new mark simply faded to leave the Sigil perfect and intact. I tried simply sucking it in, but that did not work either. Deciding that it may be a question of intent like before, I focused on the idea of removal, but as soon as I applied my will to the task, a shock ran through me, followed by pain as if somebody had jammed a needle into every nerve in my body at the same time. A hopefully short turn later, as the all-encompassing pain faded and the world came ringing back into focus, I came back to myself to find the Sigil still the same as when I had completed it. Groaning, I sat up from where I had apparently fallen onto my back. Lucas was sat on thin-air again, reading a book bound in deep-brown leather. ¡°I¡¯m fine! No, don¡¯t get up. Ow. So, removing doesn¡¯t seem like something I¡¯m going to be able to do...¡± ¡°Then it seems you are stuck with the consequences of what you have wrought. Perhaps if you had informed me that you were placing it elsewhere, we might have avoided this.¡± I knew he was right, even if he was kind of being a dick about it. I should have said something, but I was so used to most of cultivating coming naturally that it had not even occurred to me that I could place the Sigil in the wrong location. ¡°You¡¯re right. I guess I better test it... do I just... draw it in the air?¡± ¡°You must also Invoke the Sigil, allowing Experience to flow from the Lexicon ¨C in this case your Praxis ¨C and imprinting your Intent upon the world.¡± ¡°Sounds simple enough... ok. Here goes. If I, uh, explode, maybe let Walker know, if he shows up?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Uh, do I just... do it in here? I have no idea how dangerous it actually is.¡± ¡°I have locked the area; any damage will be contained.¡± ¡°Okay, cool. Here goes then!¡± Closing my eyes, I held my hand out like I had seen the sailors do and began trying to pull energy from the Sigil. I felt my Praxis move, and I directed it out to my fingers as I recreated the mystic symbol in the air, tracing what I hoped were lines of light through the air. It was not hard to draw, as I had spent a significant amount of time over the preceding days doing exactly that, though of course, using a different medium. It took me about a minute to finish shaping the Sigil, far too slow for any fight, but I thought I would be able to speed up the process with some more practice, and both my Focus and Path would help immensely. I could not feel anything from the energy construct; I had expected to feel some kind of connection, some tension or build-up but there was simply... nothing. Opening my eyes, I discovered why; no shape hung in the air, sparking with power, or ready to unleash destruction. ¡°You did not blow up. A good first step. As engaging as this has been, I am going to discuss the results of our testing with Dee Yu Kay Three. Good luck with your... air drawing.¡± ¡°Hey, wait, what happened? Anything? Do you have any pointers?¡± Pausing at the arched doorway, the youthful looking man in the gold robes turned back to me and quirked one eyebrow tiredly. ¡°Nothing happened. Do better.¡± And with that, he left me to myself as I rolled my eyes in irritation. I might have made a mistake, but he was still being a dick. I tried to produce the crimson blast for more than an hour, visualizing different things and attempting to connect in different ways, but I had no more luck than the first time. I even tried keeping my eyes open, but beyond sensing my Praxis being sprayed out into the world, nothing was happening. Grumpily, I gave up for the time being, as I was getting frustrated at the absolute lack of progress. Instead, I decided to blow off some steam and get some practice in. I started with just my Exemplar; I had asked DUK3 for some metal bars to practice with, as I did not want to ruin my last sword. Concentrating, I exerted my will and focused on moulding my aura into a spike; it was harder creating one lateral to my grip than it was having it extend directly outwards, and as a result it was not quite as long. But I at least hoped I would be able to improve that with practice. And of course, given that I was right-handed, I was using my less efficient and more fleshy right hand, which also limited my range. Pulling one of the bars from storage ¨C admittedly one of the smaller ones ¨C I began to move through my sword forms for the first time in a while, struggling to move slowly with the heavy bar. That was why I was not using my Focus ¨C the point of the exercise is to move slowly, to engrain the motions into memory as smooth moves, each perfect so that when I had to move at speed, I would perform them accurately. I had forgotten how tiring the sword-forms could be; with my increased ¨C superhuman - physicality, it should have become easier, but with the bar that I likely would not have been able to move on my arrival, and the effort of remaining glacial against the tide of my own speed and strength, it was sweating by the time I finished a few hours later. Happy and feeling good to be practising with the weapon, but knowing that Walker would likely run me like a mule when I got back, not to mention what Aella would do when she learned I had not touched the chain in more than a month... I shook the thoughts free, promising myself that I would give the chain another shot, since I had two hands again. But in the meantime, it was time for some plain fun. With a grin, I Focused, letting the lightning run free from my body, just revelling in the feeling for a moment. At least, until I noticed a discrepancy. I stared at the arcing electricity as it snapped at the room around me, gouging holes in the tough metal and sending bright sparks flying in every direction. My lightning, once blue-white, then violet-blue-white, was now... a deep, violent crimson. Combination The blood red arcs of energy raged around me, howling as the air split and started producing a sharp odour. As I watched the red lashes, I noticed that though the majority were red, each had smaller tendrils of violet-white snapping out of them. Where before my electricity had licked along the no-longer conductive metal of the hall, now it gouged rents into the smooth surface as it went. This was not the controlled blast of energy produced by the stately circles I had seen strike out at the spider-thing, but it at least seemed effective. My mind raced at the implications of what I was experiencing; I did not know many Sigils, but there was room for at least a few more on my Core, and I wondered just how... creative I could get with it. Taking my metal bar out of storage, I surged my praxis as hard as I could and tossed it into the room to try to get a grip on whether my newly destructive lightning had any impact on my perceptions or speed. Counting carefully as the bar tumbled slowly through the air, I determined with some slight regret that it was only the offensive aspects of my Focus that had been altered. ¡°Please refrain from damaging the room too much, as it is my body, Hunter.¡± I cut power to my Focus and Exemplar and turned to find the Construct standing a short distance behind me. I glanced around, taking in the deep scars now present in the metal and grimaced slightly before turning back. ¡°Sorry! I was trying to incorporate Lucas¡¯s Sigil, and it had some unanticipated results. Did it hurt, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°It... tickled, somewhat. It was mildly distracting, Hunter.¡± ¡°Oh, well, sorry again. Uh, I thought Lucas had ¡®locked¡¯ the room so there would be no damage, and I guess I¡¯m not used to being inside somebody... bodily, I mean. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°I did lock the room, boy. I did not lock the floor, as the Sigil I taught you is a directed attack, not... this.¡± ¡°Fuck! Will you stop that?!¡± I seemed that Lucas had returned while I was speaking to DUK3, and had decided the optimal place to stand was directly behind me, almost close enough to touch. ¡°Where would the fun be in that? I see you managed to Invoke your Sigil in... a less conventional way. Intriguing. Can you generate the lightning without the destructive aspect?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It just, sort of... came out. This is a weirdly awkward conversation. Do you want to lock the floor, or whatever, so I can try again?¡± ¡°There is no need; now that I am aware of the damage, I have strengthened the room. It should be capable of withstanding your newly acquired ability, Hunter.¡± ¡°How did I manage it in the first place, if this is your body, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Are you intimately aware of all parts of your body, at all times, Hunter?¡± ¡°Uh, no, I guess not. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± The two demi-Ascended stood looking at me expectantly so I decided to stop prevaricating and turned to my inner eye. My Core was how I had left it, unchanged, the Sigil still contrasting sharply with its smooth surface. Focusing softly, I began to draw the faintest hint of Praxis through my Focus, carefully watching the colour. As the energy passed through the image of myself it converted into the blue-violet-white I was familiar with but as I gazed on, the electricity diverted on its way to flow into my channels, drawn through the Sigil as if pulled by a magnet. With a frown, I noted that as it passed through the mark on the surface of my Core, it drew more power than I had intended. Significantly more. I had not noticed due to the ambient energy of the dead world, but it seemed that the draw was more than double what I expected, which while only a minor issue with all the energy in the world literally at my fingertips, back on my adopted home that would severely limit how long I could fight. A single all-out fight would drain me dry, almost to the point of death... potentially. Now more than curious as to whether I could be selective, I wrapped my will around the flow of energy and attempted to wrench it away from the Sigil gate. At first, the attempt seemed useless, the flow as firmly set as any solid, but after several long moments, with a release of tension, it began to flow normally and the energy draw dropped to within my expected range. Opening my eyes, I let the familiar arcs escape for a moment, relief washing through me alongside the scintillating flow. I waited for a moment, to see whether it would snap back, but the bolts retained their natural hue. ¡°Looks like I can! One sec, I want to see if it stays this way...¡± Dropping my Focus once more, I immediately re-engaged and watched as the same old lightning screeched out of me.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Can you change it back?¡± It was Lucas who had spoken, and turning to him shrugged. He did not look entirely pleased my response, but it was honest. ¡°Let¡¯s see!¡± I once again fell inside myself, to hover above my Core as power flowed in and out of it. Rubbing my metaphysical hands together, I gathered my will once more. Gripping the outbound flow again, I attempted to yank it back into the magic circle but it proved to be significantly more difficult than pulling it out had been. For the better part of a subjective minute, maybe two, I struggled to shift it, until like last time, something seemed to give and it snapped into place at the centre of the Sigil. I felt the pull on my Praxis increase one more and I opened my eyes to find DUK3 standing very close to me. Taking a step back in surprise, and wishing the two had better concepts of personal space, I dropped my Focus. ¡°It looks like I can change it, but not quickly. And it has to be running.¡± ¡°What purpose does this method of movement serve? You appeared to be standing still, Hunter.¡± ¡°I mean active, Dee Yu Kay Three. It¡¯s an idiom, I guess.¡± ¡°I see. That will likely limit the functionality if a rapid change is required, however perhaps the speed at which you transition can be increased with proficiency, Hunter?¡± ¡°Well, it was slower the second time, but maybe that¡¯s to do with direction, I don¡¯t know. But you could be right, and I¡¯ll keep practicing. I really need to do it while I¡¯m here, if I can¡¯t get a handle on it before I get back ¨C if I get back ¨C it''s going to be way more of a pain... Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Then we should leave you to it. I want to examine you again tomorrow though.¡± ¡°... Sure thing, Lucas. Dee Yu Kay Three, will the room remain... tougher?¡± ¡°I will, Hunter.¡± ¡°Okay, great. See you two tomorrow, then?¡± Without another word from either of the pair, Lucas walked out and DUK3 simple dissolved, leaving me alone again. Standing in the middle of the hall, I stood awkwardly for a moment; despite the testing, and teaching, I spent most of my time alone in the facility, and I would be lying if I said the loneliness was not starting to get to me. Neither of them were particularly effusive conversationalists, outside of philosophy and the ¡®science¡¯ of magic. I missed Reff and Riffa. I sort of missed Cad, and even missed Darina¡¯s acerbic wit and ¡®friendly¡¯ insults. With a sigh, I started working on switching my Focus between its two modes. * *** * I backflipped my way across the room to avoid half a dozen DUK3 clones as Lucas tried to disrupt the flow of my Praxis. Walker had told me that it was impossible to directly interact with a person¡¯s internal energy system, and I was glad that he was being proven right. My normal lightning surged around my body as well as it ever did, which was good because as it turned out, the colour-changing Construct was ¨C even without the benefit of their Domain ¨C fast. As it turned out, having a body entirely made of solid metal means you generally do not need to worry that much about momentum or inertia. This somewhat explained why the invaders I had fought had been faster than I expected, but not that fast. Despite the magical connection between the metal and flesh parts, one could handle far more than the other, and any movement that put too much pressure on that connection had the potential to split them apart. Three limbs lashed out at me from different angles as half of the six caught up to me. I got the feeling DUK3 was still holding back, but they were still matching my speed pretty well, but despite our even footing, my Instinctive Precognition kept me ahead of the attacks as I twisted and kicked off the wall behind me and just escaping the blasts from the scattered orbs the other three had become. I started the fight by trying to blast a couple of them with my lightning, but again, consisting entirely of metal that had absolutely no affect. I would have liked to try my red mode, but it was still taking me far too long to switch, and starting out with it active when I was expecting to have to go for a while had proved... problematic. When I had first started out, I had often lost control of my Focus, inevitably shocking myself. That issue had largely been conquered by a combination of better control and my energy paths being reinforced by the pill Tang had given me. The added destructive force of my red electricity however did seem to stress my channels much more than my regular flavour. The first day I had managed it, I spent a number of hours channelling my enhanced Focus, and the next day... while it was not as bad as when I had ruptured them, it was certainly very unpleasant for the better part of a day. It was something I had to be careful with, unless I could find a way to reinforce myself again. ¡°Enough. I cannot impact his internal system.¡± The DUK3 clones froze in place, statue still as they stood posed mid-dash, before evaporating into nothing. I dropped my Focus and Path and stood up straight, facing there the two ¨C Lucas and DUK3¡¯s main body ¨C at the far side of the hall. ¡°It seems that the shadow of Authority is not related or some strange product of his cultivation.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you were trying to accomplish, I didn¡¯t think you guys could mess with my internal energy anyway, regardless of my weirdness?¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. If your... cultivation... was protected by your limited Authority, Lucas would have experienced resistance rather than merely being unable to interact, Hunter.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re at the limit of what we are able to ascertain. Without killing you. It seems to be something intrinsic to you and does not operate at a conscious level. It allows you to act in ways you would otherwise be unable to, but seemed limited to that. You hold no true Authority.¡± I thought about that for a moment, and about all the other things I had learned and discussed with them in my time on the dead world. I had started out thinking it just an echo of Xiournal¡¯s influence, but was starting to wonder if the dragon lady had chosen because of my weirdness. It would explain why she was so short on recruits, as it was not something that appeared to be common. And from what she had said ¨C or communicated ¨C she was able to bring me into the picture as a result of a deal with the local gods, but I had visited two other worlds ¨C worlds she apparently had no contract for. And I was still alive. That ruled out her influence, right? I was her Agent, but I was also something more. My own thoughts struck me and I looked up with a frown, imagining the Ascended looking down at me. Shaking my head, I turned to the two who were talking quietly to each other as they debated their own person theories. ¡°Hey, guys. So, it¡¯s not true Authority right, but it lets me do things maybe others can¡¯t? How about we call it, ¡®Agency¡¯?¡± Full Circle ¡°If you move your perceptions within the prosthetic, you will find a line that goes nowhere. If you feed your Experience into it, the design will activate, Hunter.¡± ¡°Really? It¡¯s just a switch, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± DUK3 had finally estimated that my arm should be fully charged; apparently it was less about the amount of available power as it was about the sheer capacity of the material. I had noticed that as the days had gone on, any light that hit the crystal was broken into deeper shades. Maroon rather than red, and indigo instead of blue. It was pretty cool looking, and I will admit that I spent far too much time just watching it scatter the light. ¡°It is not a switch; however, I can see the similarity in use. While not entirely correct, for the purposes of this demonstration, yes. It is a switch, Hunter.¡± I felt kind of like an idiot at having tried to trick my own abilities into activating it, when it was apparently almost as complicated as turning a light on. Still, I had no idea how hungry the arm¡¯s special ability was, so it was perfectly possible that I had depleted it when preventing myself from smashing into a wall. ¡°Okay, so I just... turn it on? Do have to wait for an impact, and time it right?¡± ¡°Dee Yu Kay Three. Once activated, the design will react to the first force directed at it, Hunter.¡± ¡°... Seems simple enough, Dee Yu Kay Three. I¡¯ll give it a try then?¡± The construct just stared at me with those unblinking, burning yellow eyes, so after a moment, I accepted that they were not going to answer me. With an almost imperceptible shrug, I reached into my arm with my Praxis, inner gaze locked onto the complex arrangement of almost-physical channels inside it. It did not take me long to locate the line they had indicated, just behind my wrist. I sent my Praxis into it and waited for some kind of response, but the only feedback I received was that I could feel my energy going... somewhere. ¡°I, uh, think it¡¯s working? I was expecting a glowing shield, or, well, anything? Is it working, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Is the design absorbing your Experience, Hunter?¡± ¡°Yes. Definitely, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Then it would appear to be functioning. Please block my strike, Hunter.¡± ¡°Your stri-¡± Almost too fast for me to follow, the Construct threw a punch at me. As I could see it, my body did not act on its own, but I still had the benefit of reacting ahead of time and I was already moving to block even as I spoke. My left arm came up and across, sweeping to deflect the blow as I had been trained. Our two arms met ¨C one metal and the other crystal ¨C with a pure metallic ring as the Constructs''s arm at the point of impact became concave but otherwise simply... stopped. ¡°Excellent, Hunter.¡± The pastel blue arm retracted and the indentation filled itself in as I watched. Lowering my own arm, I tried to judge exactly how hard the blow had been, because I had felt nothing, as if I had been blocking a hologram. It was eerily similar what had happened when I had attacked the Fullmetal Asshole, but I knew I was not absorbing the energy, but supposedly reflecting it. ¡°Thanks? How hard did you hit me, it¡¯s hard to tell? And how much of the arm¡¯s capacity did that take, I can¡¯t figure it out... Dee Yu Kay Three¡± The switch had stopped accepting my Praxis, but I figured that was because it was more of a triggered effect than something I kept running. ¡°As the arm I have provided is only a partial replacement, I did not have sufficient room to add the aspects of the design that allow for you to monitor capacity and usage. I would have had to replace your flesh up the shoulder joint in order to include all I wished to, however Lucas assured me that you would be unlikely to acquiesce, Hunter.¡± ¡°... Yeah, I probably wouldn¡¯t have gone for it. I¡¯m kind of attached to my arm, it¡¯s been with me for, well, a few months, I guess. But still, we¡¯re pretty close. How am I supposed to track it though, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°It is possible for one of your species to not be connected to your appendages? Perhaps I should journey to your world, free-floating limbs would be very effective, potentiall-¡± ¡°No, sorry. I was joking. Nobody I¡¯m aware of has floating arms and legs, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± The last thing I wanted was for the nice seeming but definitely creepy Construct running around my new home trying to tear people¡¯s arms off. ¡°Ah, I see. A shame. The force I exerted was roughly two-hundred and sixty-nine thousand Newtons worth, as this is roughly what I estimated your basic capacity capable of, in the absence of your electrical augmentation, Hunter.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. He did not say Newtons, of course, but it is apparently the closest comparable unit, according to my language packet. I tried to recall what that actually meant in real terms, but I lacked a frame of reference. ¡°Right. Uh, how many Newtons do you think I could manage without cultivation, or any Experience at all? As a, uh, Nadir? Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Based on my examination and observation of your musculature and bone structure, I would estimate somewhere around fifteen-thousand Newtons, Hunter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s like, almost eighteen times as hard, right?¡± The number did not make sense to me; I was supposed to be fifty times as strong as a normal human, not eighteen times. I wondered if there was something wrong with me, whether the damage to my channels had weakened me somehow, and I will admit I felt a moment of panic before the truth hit me. I was not human; I was a ren. Cultivation did not increase a person¡¯s natural strength linearly, like beasts did, but it was rather measured against humans, as they seemed to be the most common. So, I was as strong, and fast, etc. As fifty humans, with a ren on top, just as Reff was a strong as fifty humans, with a risi on top. That difference had less and less of an impact as people progressed, because what¡¯s a ren or risi on top of fifty, five-hundred, or even five-thousand humans? ¡°Never mind, sorry. I guess I divided by the wrong thing. So, that¡¯s about as hard as I can punch without lightning? And I felt nothing. Wow. Can you tell me how much of my arm¡¯s storage that took, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± The construct reached out and placed their hand on my arm for a moment before retracting it once more. ¡°It seems I underestimated your Praxis. The blow utilised roughly one-percent of the arm¡¯s capacity, Hunter.¡± ¡°One-percent?! Okay. So, I can block a hundred or so Core strikes, ten Foundation strikes, or one Pinnacle punch... Still, that¡¯s pretty good! More than I could block before. And, I assume that will increase, as I refine my Experience further, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°Based on this new information, I would estimate that if the increase in orders stays relative, at your, Foundation stage, you will be able to block a hundred of your own blows, and ten of the higher level. And at Pinnacle, ten again. Though, of course, your capacity to block weaker blows will also increase, Hunter.¡± ¡°Awesome! Though, I guess it¡¯s only a guesstimate. I should be careful with people who might have increased strength, or those with speed enhancements... Still, thanks, Dee Yu Kay Three. Not only did you give me an arm ¨C that I can feel with ¨C but it has a built-in ability. And a pretty useful one.¡± ¡°Your gratitude is accepted with equanimity, Hunter.¡± ¡°Should we... should you hit me some more, so I can try to get an idea how fast it charges? Though, maybe that wouldn¡¯t be useful, because once I go home it won¡¯t charge as fast, right, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°The material will not absorb Experience from the environment as rapidly, however your own Praxis will continue to charge it. At the moment, your transference of Praxis is mostly passive, however it can be directed. There is simply no need to at this point, Hunter.¡± ¡°Wait, I could have been actively charging it? And potentially practicing for days? You need to work on your communication, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°Perhaps if you had expressed the question, you would have been informed sooner. I am powerful, but not omniscient, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, fair enough. I guess I was being a little unfair there, it¡¯s not like you¡¯re used to giving half-limbs to people who aren¡¯t familiar with the concept. Thank you again, Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± ¡°You are once again, most welcome. In regards to the charge rate of your arm, as it will not be uniform once you leave this world, you will need to rely on charging it. As you push Praxis into the arm, it will simply... cease when it reaches capacity, Hunter.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a little vague, but I guess I¡¯ll just have to be selective in my use of it. Dee Yu Kay Three.¡± * *** * Over the next few days, I practiced switching my Focus some more; it did not feel like I was making any progress, but I felt like I was starting to shave time off it after the first couple, though it is possible that the gains were all in my imagination, as they were not large by any means. I was getting pretty good at switching my arm on though; what had started as something I needed to look for to do, I was doing pretty reflexively now with some time spent practicing. It was a little odd, a sharp contrast to using my Focus or Exemplar, which I did as naturally as walking or moving my arms. It was the difference between moving normally, and trying to do it on a dead-leg; it was possible, even quickly, but it was not the same experience. I had also taken to keeping Walker¡¯s dagger in my belt again; I had stored it when I first started practising, knowing he would not be looking for me yet, but given the amount of time that had passed, it was possible my friends had made it back. Yet till now, no rainbow energy portals. Lucas had mostly started ignoring me, once they were done with their testing, and I had no idea if he was even still on the planet. I had been wanting to ask him if he had maybe a book, or if he could sketch out some more Sigils for me. The addition to my core had been effective ¨C in short bursts ¨C and I was eager to try adding more. A small part of me worried that adding more Sigils might eventually result in a less than effective ¨C and potentially even dangerous ¨C combination. But I cannot deny that I was excited to potentially be creating my own system. I also hoped that Darina¡¯s Master ¨C the Apex of the Mending Flesh would assist me in redrawing my channels. I did not want to risk losing my higher capacity or max output, which meant one of two things had to happen. I had to either try to implement the increased efficiency of DUK3¡¯s designs as part of the existing structure, or redraw the existing structure to include the design. Without dying. Hence I need the help. I was not looking forward to it. Of course, that did require getting home first. I glanced down at the dagger and slipped it free of my belt and began to tap it against the floor. ¡°Any minute now, guys.¡± Sighing, I slid the dagger home at my waist and lay back on the floor. It was difficult to get bored when you are at the bottom of an alien ocean on a dead world with one or more semi-Ascended beings, but I was getting there. The constant testing and practice had been great for keeping me occupied, but now that it all had mostly tailed off, long days alone in a mostly featureless and seemingly endless series of near identical halls and corridors had started to make cultivation difficult, even with the insane amount of environmental energy. It seemed that even with the pressure generated by the shear abundance, I still needed experiences to Experience. I supposed the clue was kind of in the name. Home Tonight When I woke up, I lay staring at the ceiling for a several long moments before climbing to my feet in order to use a cleansing pill, before donning my second set of self-cleaning robes. In my short second-life, I had seen far too many sets destroyed, and I wondered how often regular people ¨C who were not embroiled in quests for bossy Ascended ¨C went through clothing. If it was even half as fast I did, I was willing to bet that most tailors did a brisk business. Maybe not the especially snotty ones, like the short-guy I had met in Everwood City... Fully dressed, I checked my reserves, and finding them full, did not bother meditating. It was going to be tough to get completely back into the habit once I was off that gold-mine of energy, but I thought the ability to continually experience new things would probably make up for the relative lack. I went looking for DUK3; even if he was not the most talkative person in the world outside of his particular area of interest, another discussion on the philosophy of divine purpose was still better than sitting in silence, and it would help me build up some energy for actually getting some practice in. If somebody had told my old self that I would be on an alien world, with a mad scientist, fighting off invaders with my magic super-powers, and then bored stiff, I would have laughed in their faces. The very idea of it was absurd, even as I was living it, let alone back then. But that was the reality; life on the alien planet, inside the Construct¡¯s bodily facility, had become so samey it was dull. With a sigh, I Focused ¨C using only as much Experience as I remembered using normally ¨C and began to run down the corridors, flipping and dodging imaginary enemies half-heartedly. I know it sounds dumb, but I was apparently a people person in my second life. I checked several labs before I found the one DUK3 was using, and what I found was profoundly shocking after more than a month of near isolation. Dropping my Focus, I stared numbly at a crowd of thirty or so bird-lizards gathered around the Construct, who sat next to a familiar dark figure that topped seven feet and wore a blindfold. ¡°Walker?!¡± If the thirty new arrivals represented a second invasion, I had no fear as to it potentially succeeding with my mentor there. I pictured millions of swords spinning their way through the many halls of the facility, mincing people as they went. ¡°Hunter. You seem to have a habit of wandering to new worlds, though this one seems stranger than most. At least this time you remembered to keep the dagger outside of a spatial pocket. I was just speaking to your friend, Dee Yu Kay Three here about the insights they have made in regards to your ability to world walk.¡± ¡°Wait, when did you get here? Did these guys,¡± I gestured at the gathered bird-lizards, ¡°come with you? You two can understand each other?¡± The last time Walker had come to fetch me from another world, he had not seemed to speak the local language, though knowing Apexes ¨C and others at that level ¨C were manipulating reality itself, I put nothing past them. And of course, I did not really believe the crowd had come with him, but it was a hell of a coincidence. ¡°The Level Zeroes were brought here by a colleague from my sect. I thought it fortuitous that a war gate should open at this time, as it allowed me to implement a suggestion, I mentioned to you previously, which is to say bringing others of my kind here, Hunter.¡± I blinked at the construct¡¯s words, because they were not in whatever language Lucas spoke, but rather in the native tongue of Walker¡¯s and my world. ¡°You speak Lostrian, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± Lostrian? I guessed I had never tried to actually say the name of the language before, but it made sense that it would have a word for itself in it. ¡°I do now. I am a quick study, Hunter.¡± A quick study? Learning a language in the time I had been sleeping was more than quick, it was downright impossible. At least, I thought it was impossible. I supposed the Construct had been made out to be something of a genius... ¡°I arrived about two hours ago to find you asleep. Reff and the others arrived shortly before to inform me you had once again opted to visit another world.¡± Two hours? I did not sleep for long by that point, but it was stll amazing to have it quantified like that. Two hours to learn a language. Still, my amazement was overridden by the mention of my friends, and the phrasing. ¡°It wasn¡¯t so much that I ¡®opted¡¯ to do it, so much as Lucas picked me up and pulled me through the gate. Apparently, there was some miscommunication as to how we¡¯d meet again... Anyway, are they all fine? Everyone¡¯s okay?¡± ¡°They are fine, Hunter. Darina insisted that the Alchemy Association¡¯s representative be treated as a diplomatic guest, which Reff seemed to understand meant housing him... further away from her than would otherwise be the case.¡± ¡°They¡¯re still not getting along, huh?¡± ¡°I believe the Mending Flesh¡¯s apprentice to be... tolerating him, though barely.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds like Darina... well, a slightly more understanding version of Darina, but close enough.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°It is fortuitous that they have sent a representative, as their aid will be much appreciated in locating the Risen Throne. Even for us, searching the entire planet is a significant undertaking.¡± ¡°Honestly, his commander just wanted a break from him, and saw it as killing two birds with one stone. I¡¯d have probably begged, but I was under the effects of truth serum at the time. And here we are.¡± ¡°¡¯Truth serum¡¯?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a potion that makes you tell the truth. It¡¯s a long story. Well, it¡¯s not that long, but it can probably wait.¡± Turning to DUK3, I gestured at the crowd. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to be trying out your new designs on these guys? And you¡¯re sure it won¡¯t hurt? Or explode, Dee Yu Kay Three?¡± ¡°I am sure to the point of near certainty, Hunter.¡± ¡°Fair enough, Dee Yu Kay Three. Uh, so, no Lucas? I was hoping to ask him to sketch me some symbols or something...¡± ¡°Lucas returned to his own world shorty after testing was completed, Hunter.¡± ¡°I see. Well should we get going, Walker? I¡¯m eager to get back. See everyone.¡± Inside, I was kind of seething; Lucas had dragged me to this world without asking, and though it had been of immense benefit to me, it was still kind of a dick move, and it was even more of a dick move to just leave without saying anything, and especially without making sure I got home at all. ¡°I should be ready to return in an hour, given the amount of free Experience in the air here. Perhaps you can show me how your sword work has progressed?¡± * *** * As it turned out, my sword work had not progressed a great deal, at least by my dark mentor¡¯s exacting standards. I was really dreading Aella putting me through my paces, because if my efforts with the sword had been a disappointment, my teacher was probably going to slap me into the ground next week over my near abandonment of the chain. ¡°Some progress is better than none, Hunter, but more would have been better. I had not taken you for the type to shirk his training.¡± ¡°Sorry, Walker. My Exemplar destroyed the first sword I tried to use with it; I¡¯ve been trying to get to a point where I can use one, but I¡¯m mostly limited to a long dagger¡¯s length at the moment.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Walker stared blindly at me for a moment, his eyebrows bunched as he considered what I had said, before replying. ¡°I am aware you have started upon your Path, but the nature of it is not discernible. Perhaps if you can explain, I may offer my assistance?¡± ¡°Sure. My Exemplar was ¨C is ¨C called an Instant Frog. It seems to be the ability to manipulate time, to compress it, giving me more time in which to act.¡± I went on to what I had discovered about the use of my Path, including my theories about the sword and how it had been broken. ¡°It is an interesting ability, and not one I have heard of others possessing, though the world is wide and time is deep. It seems that the field you describe naturally flows around areas containing your Experience. Have you attempted to invest your energy into the blade?¡± I stood in silence for a few seconds under Walker¡¯s covered gaze; I knew, theoretically, that energy could be pushed into things. The glue I had used in Ben Won Ro¡¯s shop had required it to set, and my storage rings all required it to function, but they were things designed to have energy invested into them. My thoughts turned to the conversations I had had with DUK3 about the nature of materials and their intrinsic absorption of Experience, and about how I could push Praxis into my arm. It made sense that what Walker was suggesting was possible, because otherwise his own blades would have been eminently vulnerable to the powers of other cultivators, as would the weapons of any such wielders. But it had simply never occurred to me. ¡°I... haven¡¯t. I was mostly trying to bend my aura around it... I don¡¯t suppose you have any spare swords? I only have the one.¡± Walker crouched and one by one placed half a dozen swords on the ground, mostly normal metal colours, though there was a dark grey one and one that was a deep emerald green. They were all straight, like the one I had, and largely undecorated. ¡°These should be sufficient for testing, and should be of higher quality than the one you have been using. The Risen Throne seem to be pernicious in their expansive presence, but they appear to be relatively... miserly... with their equipment.¡± I looked down at the arrayed swords and wondered why he had not offered me one before, but I quickly wiped that thought away, knowing it was an unworthy one. Walker had done a lot for me, and it was unfair to ask for more. Reaching down, I picked up the emerald green sword first; it was similar in hue to some of the metal I had seen in my travels, and I thought it to be a middle of the road material. Better than what I had, but not as strong ¨C or heavy ¨C as the blue blade Aella had claimed. The green sword felt solid in my hand in a way that my shiny chrome-like sword no-longer did. It was not a strain for my Path stage body, but it felt... real. Not tapping my abilities, I instead simply concentrated in trying to push energy into it. There was resistance at first, as if I was trying to stuff something into an already full container, but after a moment, I felt a flow within the metal of the blade and my Praxis began to push in and suffuse it. I could not feel the blade like I could my new arm, but I made my best guess as to when it was fully suffused and began to tease Praxis through my Exemplar. I felt my aura spring into existence around me, barely there. Without being able to feel the Praxis in the weapon, it was more difficult to judge where the aura flowed, but as I began to pull more energy, I thought it was expanding past where it had on previous occasions. But it was taking a significantly greater amount of Experience to maintain it, to the point that it felt more like I was going all out. I panicked slightly as I felt my reserves dipping sharply, and decided to get the test over with as quickly as possible. Concentrating on my arm and sword, I felt the familiar sense of lost control, and then blackness. I was not out for long, and in fact had not even fallen when I came back to myself as my almost dry reserves were forcibly replenished by the weight of the world¡¯s energy. Staggering, I glanced at the sword which now bore a deep scar about two thirds of the way up the blade; it had been damaged, but at least it was in one piece. ¡°You should sit, Hunter. That took significantly more energy than it should have.¡± ¡°Yeah... yeah.¡± I sat down by the other five swords and set the now scarred blade down, taking a deep breath as I began to cultivate Experience, the joyous rush being automatically refined into Praxis by my hammering Core. ¡°Perhaps we should refrain from further tests; it is possible your Path does not include the sword.¡± I heard Walker¡¯s words, but I did not reply immediately, my mind spinning through the latest events of my life, and through old conversations too. ¡°I... have an idea, Walker.¡± My mind was on my arm, an inanimate object with a living energy network, and one that used Experience so much more efficiently than the rest of me... was it possible to make a sword, using DUK3¡¯s design? Sight For Sore Eyes My goodbye to DUK3 and his sudden crop of test subjects ¨C I mean disciples ¨C was quick and painless. I was half expecting them to offer me some kind of tracking beacon like Lucas had, but they seemed pretty content with the data gathered already, and though the Construct was polite enough, there did not seem to be a great deal of feeling in it. Of course, it was hard to tell, given the general lack of inflection when talking in non-native languages. As I waved one last time, Walker gestured for me to proceed him through the portal. Stepping up to and through the plane of rainbow light, I was once more thrown into a tunnel between worlds, the endless void marked by innumerable lights. Before long, the now familiar pressure of the liminal space began to bear down on me, a crushing omnidirectional weight that made me wonder if my Agency assisted me at all it with, and if so, what it would feel like for a person without it. It was my understanding that the gates the gods employed to allow worlds to meet in war were just scaled up versions of this, but given I had never been through one, it was impossible for me to know. Maybe I would get the opportunity at some point, given the way my second life was going. As the pressure was becoming too much for me, as my vision began to tunnel, I stepped through the portal at the other end, emerging into a room with black walls decorated with flowing lines of light. I was back at the Blacksand Citadel, and around me, I could see most of my friends, Cad being conspicuously absent.
Assignment Received... Difficulty C+¡­ Time Limit: Complete!
For the second time, get back to your own world! You have no idea the headache the local gods give me over these little visits of yours. If this happens again, we may need to revisit the terms your employment.
Bonus Reward: Not this time!
Status: Completed! I have such a headache, please do not do that again.
I stared at the smoky grey tablet that had popped into my line of sight, but dismissed it quickly. It was not important, and it provided no benefit to me so it did even come close to being as important as my friends. As the shape vanished, I looked around but before I had time to say anything, I was tackled to the ground by a small flying object with blond hair. I was surprised that Darina would so openly show her affection, but only for a moment before she started rapidly punching me in the shoulder. ¡°Idiot! How could you abandon your mission like that?!¡± I was only taken aback for a moment before I started to laugh; it only spurred the diminutive apprentice to punch harder, but I could not help it. I was glad to be home, with my friends again, and her reaction was so typical of her that it just bubbled out of me. ¡°With advisory caution, I am not sure your actions are conveying the meaning you perhaps mean them too, Darina...¡± Reff seemed confused by the response to my arrival, bending over slightly like he was contemplating pulling her off me, but apparently he knew it would only make it worse. ¡°Humph!¡± Darina finally stopped hitting me; I¡¯d like to say that I was fine, but the apprentice was close to me in terms of pure strength, and the spot she had been hitting was building up to a hell of an ache. ¡°This idiot deserved it, for abandoning his duty. And worrying you.¡± ¡°I missed you too, Darina. And I didn¡¯t exactly abandon anything. I just wasn¡¯t expecting the equivalent of an Apex from another world to... borrow me.¡± ¡°Humph!¡± With a grin, I hugged Darina, knowing it would annoy her and stood up as she began awkwardly hitting me again. Putting her down with one last squeeze, I stepped out of easy range, leaving her silently fuming and instead stepped towarwds my giant friend and hugged leg. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, Reff! Sorry to worry you.¡± Looking down at me wrapped around his leg, Reff replied, his normally level voice coloured by a slight smile. ¡°With glad acknowledgement, it is good to see you as well, Hunter. We were worried when you vanished through yet another portal.¡± ¡°Yeah, apparently power doesn¡¯t always make a person polite. Who knew?¡± Letting go of Reff, I turned to his sister who was stood slightly back from her brother. Apparently afraid I was going to try to hug her too, Riffa offered me a quick bow. I chuckled as I bowed back, contemplating whether I should try anyway, but not wanting to make her uncomfortable. ¡°Hey, Riffa. I missed you too ¨C one of the Apex level people I was staying with had a similar power to yours, it was pretty effective!¡± ¡°With mixed curiosity, one of the Apex level individuals? There was more than one?¡± ¡°Yeah, there were two of them, each from a different world. The world we were on was dead, nothing there but us three... for the most part.¡± ¡°A dead world? How is that possible?¡± Darina¡¯s voice no longer sounded angry ¨C as much as it had ¨C but was rather curious. I took it as a good sign.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°They had theories; we can talk about them later. I have a lot to tell you guys!¡± That was when Walker stepped through the portal, the bright door fading from existence with a snap. Turning at the movement, I also noticed that my friends, and now Walker and I were not the only ones in the hall. Three other figures stood to the side, a short distance away. One of them I recognised; Sonja, the Apex of the Mending Flesh her lambent eyes looking at us with amusement. The other two were wholly unfamiliar. The first was very slightly taller than I was and just as broad, but with skin so pale he was almost a match for the risi. He stood with his hands on his hips, white fur draped across his shoulders and pale gold hair tied in complex braids around and behind his head. He wore a wide, toothy grin below blue eyes so pale they looked grey. The second stranger was short ¨C though not as short as Darina - and slender, with a wild shock of jet-black hair and eyes equally as dark. He wore a dirt and weather-stained gi cinched with a black belt that made me think it was not dyed but had simply never been washed. As Walker exited the tunnel, his head turned slightly to take the three ¨C whom I assumed were Apexes, given the presence of Sonja - before gesturing my friends and I closer. ¡°Reff, Riffa, Darina and Hunter, I introduce you to Jorl Snowblinder, Apex of The Crystal Drake and Bo Ai¡¯rong, Apex of The Unfettered Frame. Sonja, you know.¡± The four of us bowed to the newly acquainted Apexes almost as one. I was somewhat used to meeting incredibly powerful beings, as were my friends, but being polite to them was always a good idea. Especially given my recent kidnapping. Not to mention that we had so recently seen the Crystal Drake as we started our journey back, as well as knowing the reputation of the Apex Hunter. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you both, and again, Honoured Apexes.¡± ¡°It is my great privilege to stand before you, Honoured Apexes!¡± Reff and Riffa replied almost in sync, the former acting as host and the latter expressing sentiment on their behalf. ¡°With awed respect, we welcome you to the Blacksand Citadel, Honoured Apexes.¡± ¡°With awed respect, it is our privilege to meet you, Honoured Apexes.¡± ¡°Hahahaha, you lot are so formal! No need, no need! Friends and family all!¡± Jorl Snowblinder was loud and his voice carried the laughter with it, even after the laughter faded. He made me want to slap him on the back and go for a drink, but I held myself back to a wide grin. The Unfettered Frame on the other hand spoke quietly and deliberately, but that did not seem to hold his voice back at all, as it echoed about the hall as if he screamed. ¡°It is always a pleasure to meet promising cultivators. I look forward to the day you all may join our ranks.¡± Bo Ai¡¯rong offered us a warm smile and a small, precise bow, as if he was nervous. It was the least at-ease I had ever seen somebody of his level, but I supposed that it made sense that different people would behave differently, even with all that power. Offering a return bow to the Unfettered Frame, I made sure to dip much lower than the Apex had, and noted my friends following suit. Rising once more, I turned to Jorl, my mind going back to to when we had seen him flying above us, all those weeks before. ¡°We saw you flying, when we were on our way back from the Sha Forest. It was... you were huge¡± ¡°Haha, you saw me? Did you see the two giant storm apes? That was a surprise! There¡¯s always one that shouts at me as I fly over, but now there are two!¡± ¡°Yeah. Their names are Rainmaker and Cloudbringer. They helped us out on our mission. They¡¯re really ni- uh, terrible beasts. Vicious, brutal and without any kind of mercy, really.¡± ¡°They are? Well maybe I should pay them a visit and see how shouty - and brutal - they are after I''m done...¡± ¡°In quick interjection, they were those things to their enemies, but mostly kind to us, Honoured Apex.¡± I looked up at Reff as he added his piece; on the one hand, I did not want the Apex of the Crystal Drake flying off to start a fight with them, but on the other, Rainmaker had been pretty explicit that he did not want their kindness or easy-going nature getting out. ¡°Yeah... they were... appropriately brutal. Nothing worth fighting over, Honoured Apex...¡± ¡°Oh. Good! A fight with them would probably be fun, but I always liked the old ape. He always seemed like a really smart guy.¡± Disregarding the implications of Snowblinder considering Rainmaker intelligent based on yelling at each other through the sky, I chose to believe that the Apex was unusually astute and had simply seen through the thundering ape¡¯s ruse. ¡°There is also the fact that we have been gathered here for a purpose, Jorl. We have been interrupted in our roles for this reason. It would be impolite to leave when we await only one of our number.¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. Sorry Bo.¡± ¡°Chian Jilow has not arrived while I walked the worlds? I had hoped she would, but I suppose I should not be surprised. It is, ¡®against her dignity¡¯ to travel without her ¡®retinue¡¯.¡± Walker sounded irritated, which was a fairly uncommon state for my brooding mentor; he was usually pretty calm about most things, beyond people being threatened. ¡°Wait, she¡¯s traveling with her legion? And the stupid moving palace?¡± Snowblinder sounded incredulous, and given that most Apexes seemed to travel mostly alone. I could understand why somebody choosing to wait on an entire army, and whatever a moving palace was, could be seen as strange, given this was intended to be something of an emergency meeting. ¡°She is. Though at the least, she was easy to find. She was notified more than a month ago, so I am expecting her arrival at any time.¡± ¡°A religious fanatic Chian Jilow may be, but she is dedicated in the protection of this world and its peoples. You should both at least show her respect for that, if not for her other tendencies.¡± Ai¡¯rong¡¯s voice, which had already been strangely intense and powerful had taken on a firmer tone that suggested rebuke, and I felt it shiver through the stone around us and for a fraction of time so small that it was almost imperceivable, I had the sense that I stood before something both massive and powerful, and barely restrained. But the moment passed, leaving me wondering if it had been real, or whether I was imagining it based on the things I had heard about him. ¡°You are correct, Bo Ai¡¯Rong. I should not let my dislike of her proclivities colour my judgement.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean anything by it... but the palace is stupid...¡± Walker sounded unaffected, but apologetic, making me doubt the feeling more. Jorl sounded contrite, but had not hesitated to broach his original criticism again. Sonja, who had been silent up to that point, turned a grin on the Unfettered Frame, poking him casually in the shoulder. ¡°Relax you should, Bo. Mocked, her eccentricities should be. Learn, how else will she?¡± Ai¡¯rong¡¯s smile grew slightly and he slowly quirked one eyebrow up. ¡°And you think that¡¯s your place, Sonja? How long have you been on this world, and you still have your accent? I have been mocking it for centuries and you have yet to change.¡± ¡°A wheeled and golden palace, I do not travel around in.¡± It was sort of weird to see and hear four of the most powerful being on the planet bantering, but it oddly gave me some hope that they were not that different. So many of the pseudo-Ascended I had met were just kind of... weird. I was glad that this seemed to be more about the individual, than them becoming eccentric as a result of the power. There was a saying back on Earth, ¡°absolute power corrupts absolutely¡±, but it seemed like lots of people with absolute power were pretty good at keeping each other in check. Wheeled golden palaces notwithstanding... Sunshine ¡°Where¡¯s Aella, is she here? I¡¯m kind of hesitant to see her again, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be super-happy with my progress with the chain, yet despite that, I have missed her.¡± ¡°With unknowing ignorance, we do not know, Hunter. We sought out Most Honoured Walker as soon as we arrived, so that he might attempt your retrieval. Neither Darina, Cad nor I knew what had happened; it is fortunate that my brother had seen such a portal created by Most Honoured Apex of the Infinite Blades.¡± Looking at Riffa, I realised that Walker had probably come for me as soon as they returned, only a few hours before, and since then, they had been standing about in that hall, waiting for us. ¡°You guys only just arrived? What time of day is it? You guys must be tired, running all that way. There wasn¡¯t much I could do about it, but I am sorry for vanishing, for what it¡¯s worth.¡± ¡°With astute observation, it was the crystal lock, in some way?¡± ¡°Yeah, got it in one, Reff. The guy that took me, I met him on the first world I visited, when chasing the Shadow F ¨C Shade. His name is Lucas, the Paragon I told you about? Anyway, he wanted to talk again when I was done delivering the phoenix egg. I didn¡¯t know if he had a way of checking up on me, so I started taking it out, thinking he¡¯d come through and talk to me, like Walker does. But he reached through and brought me to him. And then didn¡¯t know how to get me back.¡± ¡°What is a, ¡®Paragon¡¯¡±? "It¡¯s that world¡¯s equivalent to an Apex. They don¡¯t cultivate there, they do a thing with magic circles. They¡¯re mostly the same at first, they only start to personalise their powers later on. It¡¯s really different to cultivation.¡± ¡°And this... Paragon wanted to speak to you?¡± Darina¡¯s voice held a hint of familiar mockery, and I grinned at her before replying. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s seems like I¡¯m in demand on many worlds. He ¨C and Dee Yu Kay Three, a Construct-¡± ¡°¡¯Construct¡¯?¡± ¡°-Another world¡¯s version of an Apex, they completely replace their bodies with... stuff. Like my arm.¡± I held up my crystal and gold arm and my friends stared, as if only just noticing it. ¡°Anyway, they wanted to try to figure out why I could go to other worlds without exploding.¡± I had just started to explain the world I had ended up on for more than a month, as well as the experiments ¨C and getting my new arm - to my friends when Bo Ai¡¯rong made a quiet ¨C but booming ¨C announcement. ¡°It would seem the Paladin has arrived.¡± ¡°Are you sure, Bo? I sense nothing.¡± Walker¡¯s voice, contrary to his words, did not carry any actual doubt. It made me wonder whether the Unfettered Frame¡¯s Domain might expand further than the others, but nobody I had yet spoken to had mentioned that possibility, and I was starting to get a good idea of the general size a domain encompassed. If Ai¡¯rong¡¯s domain was greater, that was going to really throw a wrench into that burgeoning idea. ¡°I hear the trumpets.¡± I saw the Apexes of the Mending Flesh, Sonja and of the Crystal Drake''s, roll their eyes exaggeratedly, and I swear that I could feel my dark mentor¡¯s eyes rolling behind his blindfold. Not knowing what to expect, I turned back to my companions who all offered shrugs. ¡°I¡¯ve never met the Apex of The Sun¡¯s Judgement, my Master and I spent the majority of our time in seclusion.¡± ¡°With curious elucidation, I do not believe the Apex of The Sun¡¯s Judgement has visited the Citadel previously.¡± Reff looked to his sister for confirmation and she looked thoughtful for a moment before offering a slight shake of her head. ¡°If you accompany us to the nearest balcony, you will likely be able to see the palace.¡± Walker spoke again, gesturing to an arched doorway a short distance away. I will admit to an almost visceral desire to see the horizon, the desert or anything that was not entirely indoors. The presence of my friends had distracted me, but at the mention of a balcony, the need to see the outside again hit me like a wave. Almost skipping, I followed the Apexes with my friends until we arrived at an arch leading to a wide exterior balcony. Rushing ahead of the others, unable to resist any longer I leaned against the waist high rail ¨C for a risi ¨C and peered out through the gaps, sucking in a deep breath as my eyes drank in the vast horizon. The sun was setting, throwing glorious reds and oranges out across the black desert and into the sky, like the world was on fire. It was beautiful, and I felt my breath catch. Living with super powers made it easier to forget the simple wonders of the world, but my time away, locked away at the bottom of a dead ocean had brought back the beauty of the world into sharp relief. I did not think I would have any trouble cultivating later. ¡°Where''s that monstrosity of a palace?! If you could hear the horns, it should be visible by now!¡± There was no reply to Jorl¡¯s question, and we all stood looking around and waiting for what was a huge golden palace to appear on the horizon. A minute or so passed as we all gazed about, before I saw the heads of all four Apexes snap towards a single point. Following their line of sight, I had to shield my eyes as they were all looking directly into the setting sun.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Waited for sunset, she did. Of course.¡± Sonja¡¯s voice was dry and mocking and even Bo Ai¡¯rong offered a chuckle. We watched for maybe twenty minutes as the sun slowly sank below the horizon, and as the world faded towards twilight, we saw the finally saw the wheeled palace of Chian Jilow. The structure was huge, though nowhere near the scale of the Citadel on which we stood. Rolling across the black sand on massive wheels, the golden building was festooned with lights in bright white and yellow which the polished gold sent scattering back out across the dark plane. ¡°It¡¯s... very golden.¡± I wondered if it was actual gold, gold plated, or some other material all together. Regardless of what it was made from, it seemed to be an actual palace in terms of size, not just a big house or painted wagon. ¡°With vague curiosity, how does it move? Is it perhaps driven by an alchemical solution? Or is it moved by an aspect of the Honoured Apex of the Sun¡¯s Judgement¡¯s own cultivation?¡± ¡°It is pulled by the Legion. She says it shows devotion to Weilou, who holds Dominion over Stars.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was dry, even for him, until he mentioned what I assumed as the name of a god, at which point it switched to respect. ¡°She has her army pull her palace?! Wow...¡± It was definitely the most pretentious thing I had heard since my arrival, and I was starting to see why the other Apexes seemed to dislike her. They all at least appeared to be relatively down to earth, especially when compared to Lucas who lived inside a giant opal. But even Lucas did not get people to carry his house around. Of course, Darina ¨C being somewhat more entrenched in the social system than me ¨C had a somewhat different perspective. ¡°... They show proper respect to their Apex.¡± ¡°For Chian the respect is not. A religious order, it is... The head of it, she just happens to be.¡± The reply came from her master, who sounded like she only half believed herself. I was starting to dread meeting this Apex, because as polite as I tried to be, a lifetime of being around people who generally could not reduce me to my constituent parts had left me with a tendency to being somewhat less reverent to those around me in my second life. So far, it had mostly worked out fine, other than Lucas occasionally freezing me in place, but that did not mean it always would. It took almost an hour for the palace to draw up alongside the Citadel, looking tiny in its shadow. The distance from where we had first seen it to the great stone pillar was not that great, but it seemed like the Legion had been taking it pretty easy. I wondered if there was for a reason for it; I thought an entire army was probably capable of running with even so heavy a weight, but I could think of several reasons why it might be a bad idea. When Walker, Reff, Aella and I had first arrived, we had been met by a guard captain. I thought I remembered her name being Tel, but I had not seen her since. But that had been when Raaf and Sonja had been busy with those sick with the Phoenix Plague. Now, at the arrival of the Apex of the Sun¡¯s Judgement, my friends and I - as well as the Apexes with us - went to meet her. As we descended through the towering castle of living rock using the curiously smooth stone platforms, we were joined by others, including our host. The first to join us came with Reff and Riffa¡¯s brother and was perhaps the sharpest contrast I could imagine. Standing no more than four feet tall, with more muscles than I even knew existed, was a being with skin the colour of fresh blood. He was decorated with swirling lines in black, grey and white and wore only a kilt of bronze scales and a headdress of metal feathers. The short figure was bald beneath the headdress, with eyes of bright green and a jaw that looked like you could forge weapons on it. Raaf introduced him to us as Burning Cloud, Apex of the Cinder Storm. All we got by way of greeting from Burning Cloud was a grunt, which Raaf seemed quite pleased by. He was, apparently a man of few words. I was deeply curious about his abilities, as his Apex name was damned cool. I imagined some kind of firestorm, with the tiny red man floating within its eye. Next came a woman that smelled deeply of salt, with salt and pepper hair underneath a wide-brimmed leather hat that looked like the result of an union between a tri-corn and a Stetson. She introduced herself as Lin, Apex of the Unbreaking Wave with a crisp accent and a sharp bow. She seemed nice, if a little uptight; she and Darina took to each other immediately. ¡°It is my pleasure to make your acquaintances. It has been a long time since any but Chian have taken apprentices, and I look forward to you fulling your potentials.¡± ¡°You honour us too greatly, Most Honoured Apex!¡± The apprentice slammed her hands together and immediately bent herself into a right-angle. To which Lin replied by bowing at what looked like exactly ninety degrees. ¡°It is gratifying to meet somebody who appreciates propriety. Order is important.¡± We moved on, with the two of them discussing the finer point of comportment, which is how the group of us ¨C four lowly mortals and seven of the most powerful beings on the planet met with the final two of the arrived Apexes. We were nearing the ground floor when the final two Apexes emerged from a side corridor, talking in low voices. Vin D¡¯brusang was almost skeletally thin, with skin like ivory and hair the colour of old bones. His eyes were as red as Burning Cloud¡¯s skin, and when he spoke I could see sharp teeth like fangs peeking out past his pale lips. He introduced himself languidly, the words dripping off his tongue lazily as he looked us over with a tiny, wry grin. He called himself the Apex of the Calling Blood, and I had a very sneaky suspicion that he might be a vampire. He seemed nice enough. ¡°It is... my pleasure... to meet you all. I am sure you will all make... simply delicious additions...¡± I did not know quite how to reply His companion on the other hand was somebody I had heard mentioned before quite recently and was a strange mix of bubbly, effusive stillness. Gia, the Apex of the Wild Bounty had wild, curly hair that looked like honey falling almost to her feet over a rich, golden tan. She wore a short dress of what looked like woven grasses with flowers blooming seemingly at random in every colour imaginable. Her eyes were a shocking shade of blue, like looking into a perfect summer sky. She was breathtakingly beautiful, as she stood swaying in an unseen wind, and in a way wholly different from what had become the standard for the people in my new home. The people there were all gorgeous, as Experience worked to perfect the body, but Gia was stunning in the way the sunset had been, like a walking natural wonder. ¡°Please forgive Vin! He likes to play up the whole vampire thing. He doesn¡¯t eat people. Well, he might sample them sometimes, but it doesn¡¯t hurt, or kill them. Anyway! I¡¯m really glad to meet you all! You must be really skilled to be taken on like you have!¡± I chose to keep the fact that I had mostly been taken on as a curiosity and it had mostly developed by proximity after that. If everyone wanted to assume I was awesome, I was going to let them. Descending to the last, giant room I recalled from my first visit, I watched as the complex door opened and I watched as the golden palace was dragged inside by a vast number of metal-clad soldiers. Face It did not take long for the army to drag the palace inside of the massive chamber at the base of the Citadel. Despite having dragged the monstrous construction for what had to be many leagues, the members of the Legion did not show any signs of fatigue. I wondered what stage they were at; it was my understanding that the Core stage was the average for the world at any given time, but I had my doubts that this was true for a standing army, though it was difficult to imagine thousands of people running around at the Foundation stage. I¡¯d ask Walker about it, along with all the other questions I had accumulated since my initial departure. There came a collection of oddly melodic chinks, followed by heavy thuds, as the Legion released the chains they had been using to pull the golden palace. The snap of a thousand metal clad fists against metal breastplates followed as the army - as if a single being ¨C parted into two sides, each turning to face the centre and dropping down to one knee. The group of us watched the spectacle in silence, though I did note that the Apexes looked kind of bored by the whole thing. A moment of silence hung as the vast, many tiered doors of the Citadel closed without a sound, but as they finally came to rest, trumpets blared with a suddenness that made me twitch. I saw a door open at the top of a set of stairs leading down to the edge of the platform on which the palace rested, and a figure stepped out to walk slowly down them. ¡°Does she need to do this every time?¡± Jorl sounded impatient and as I glanced at him, he began tapping his foot against the dark stone of the floor. None of the other Apexes replied, clearly having heard the complaint before. Even I was getting impatient by the time the figure reached the bottom of the stairs, and with a metallic sound like clockwork, the path extended down to reach the ground. ¡°Announcing the High Paladin of Weilou, who holds Dominion over Star. The Right Arm of Justice, Eye of Assessing, and Holder of the Scales: Chian Jilow, Apex of The Sun¡¯s Judgement. May she guide eternity!¡± ¡°Wait, that¡¯s not her? And she has... an announcer?!¡± ¡°That is Chian¡¯s herald. She is there.¡± Walker pointed and I followed his gesture back to the top of the stairs to see another figure making their slow way down them, though this one was followed by two others. The figure my dark mentor was pointing at in the fore was clad head-to-toes in glowing golden armour, with a long equally golden cape following them down the steps. She did not appear to be tall, though it was difficult to judge against the palace, but she certainly made an impression. Of a kind. The three descending figures reached the base of the stairs, but stopped just short of the stone floor and the trumpets sounded again, a rising chorus that made it sound like something momentous had happened. But nothing had. Or did. For a long minute, our two groups stood in silence, apparently each waiting for the other to do something. ¡°Chian, we¡¯re not coming over there! You¡¯re a guest in Raaf¡¯s house, you come over here!¡± A grumbling came from the kneeling mass of soldiers, but from our group I heard only faint sniggers, though I could not quite determine which of the Apexes they came from. Another second or two passed before the figure in golden amour finished their descent and began to march between the soldiers towards us, her pace markedly faster than it had been, but still only a walk. I could tell from the way she moved that she was pissed at Jorl¡¯s shouted comment, at least, I thought she was; it was difficult to tell beneath so much metal. Finally reaching us, I saw that I had been right, she was about the same height as Darina, give or take an inch or two for the plate. Coming to a reset a few feet away from our group, the Apex of the Sun¡¯s Judgement stood with hands on hips and spoke through her helmet, giving her voice a metallic resonance that I found quite effective, from an authoritative standpoint. ¡°Jorl, you pig¡¯s anus; you couldn¡¯t give me some face in front of my army? Just once?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you always show up with so much nonsense. If I was coming to you, I¡¯d come to you. But you come to us and still want us to come to you!¡± ¡°I have an image to maintain! I have to be Weilou¡¯s instrument! Are you the instrument of a god, or are you a pig¡¯s anus?!¡± ¡°Weilou can¡¯t interfere, you¡¯re just doing whatever you want ¨C like making people drag your ass around the world ¨C in his name.¡± ¡°He gave me his divine flame as an Exemplar! I am his will, manifest!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. So you say. It¡¯s not like we can verify it, can we?¡± ¡°It is a matter of faith! You will apologise or I will chal-¡± ¡°No, you will not. You will both apologise. This behaviour is that of children, not Apexes.¡± The voice was quiet, but hit almost like a physical blow, the tone hard and sharp. Chian and Snowblinder looked at Bo Ai¡¯Rong for a moment before turning back to each other and mumbling apologies, like they were the children they had been accused of being. That was when I noticed that the pair had followed her again, because they seemed to be quivering in rage, their faces red masks of anger. The left-most of the pair was about my height, but almost frail looking, as much as that was possible given the effects of cultivation. He wore a strange half-robe that draped down half of his body while the other was covered in a simple shirt and pants of some bronze looking material. He had white hair and brown eyes, which he was using to alternately glare at Jorl and Bo Ai¡¯rong. The other figure, on the right was a girl in her late teens with black hair tied into a tight braid that was wrapped around with cord and draped down over a breastplate the same colour as her companion¡¯s shirt. She was stocky and broad-shouldered and her bare arms were well muscled. She was glaring as well, but not specifically at anybody, instead choosing to share her ire amongst us. When her gaze met mine, I offered a small wave, which she did not seem to appreciate.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I see you have brought company, Chian. Have you perhaps followed Walker and Sonja in selecting apprentices?¡± ¡°I follow no-one but Weilou, Raaf. But yes, I have chosen to train these two as my hands, as I am His hand. They lack the divine fire, and yet their flames burn hot. They will serve Justice well in places I am not. This is Kestin the Undying Flame,¡± The Apex gestured at the guy with white hair, ¡°and Toria the Fire Weaver.¡± The two offered perfunctory bows to the other Apexes, but said nothing. ¡°This is Reff, the Mountain¡¯s Rage and Riffa, the Walking Sand. My brother and sister.¡± The siblings dropped steep bows and spoke in unison. ¡°With pleased gratitude, it is an honour to meet you, Most Honoured Apex of the Sun¡¯s Justice.¡± It was the first time I had heard the two of them addressed in that way; I knew it was kind of a thing that people gained nicknames, and not just amongst Apexes, but it seemed fairly rare for them to be used. I winced internally when I realized that I was going to be the only apprentice present that did not have a fancy nickname. ¡°Darina, the Ever Flowing, my apprentice is named.¡± ¡°It is my great honour to be presented to you, Most Honoured Apex of the Sun¡¯s Judgement!¡± Darina¡¯s bow, as always was sharp, almost aggressive as if she was trying to do a flip without moving her legs. ¡°... And this is Hunter.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, your most honouredApexness.¡± I dropped a bow of my own, though I will be the first to admit that it was not the deepest or most heartfelt I had ever given. The Chian Jilow really seemed to be something of an asshole, easily the least personable Apex ¨C or otherwise ¨C I had met, and that included the guy who kidnapped me to another world. It even included the one that had tried to kill me. Rising from my bow, I noticed Kestin and Toria now directing their glares at me exclusively, so I offered another wave, not sure what the protocol was. I was half-certain I should be glaring back at them and starting a rivalry, but I had enough of that in Darina. ¡°This one is not even at the Path stage of advancement? I know you are young, Walker, but I did not think you so lax.¡± ¡°No, I am. Just haven¡¯t got a nickname yet. I¡¯ve only been cultivating a few months. No big deal.¡± Of course, I knew that advancing as fast as I had was in fact a pretty big deal. It was a hidden benefit of literally everything being new and fantastic to me, as well as maybe being affected my Lucky ability. But this Apex¡¯s attitude was pretty annoying, and I was not about to let her badmouth the man that had likely saved me from fairly automatic death. Even if back-talking an Apex with a proven record of being an ass was not particularly conducive to long life. ¡°A few months? We have ourselves a prodigy then. Perhaps you could demonstrate with my apprentices, and we can try to think of a suitable name for you?¡± The two behind her looked eager, by which I mean they both looked like they wanted to tear my eyes out and swallow them. ¡°Two does not seem sporting, despite Hunter¡¯s survival instincts.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was dry and I could feel his attention flicker to me like a flick to the nose. ¡°I will fight one of your apprentices, Most Honoured Apex, while Hunter fights the other, if this is acceptable?¡± Darina spoke up beside me, and I glanced over; she looked eager, though she lacked the same, ¡®I hate you¡¯ expression she had worn when she had challenged me. She was a real pain to fight, able to push through almost anything, and this was probably a good opportunity for her to show that she ¨C and thus her master ¨C was above the Apex that had been giving lip. In reverence she may hold Apexes, but she certainly reserved the lion''s share of it for the Apex of the Mending Flesh. ¡°Fine. Shall we take this outside?¡± I had not agreed yet, but that did not seem to matter as everyone started walking towards the giant doors, which opened at their smallest size to allow egress. When Darina had challenged me, I had been told that refusing was not really done, but this had not been an official challenge, but rather something suggested by another. Though, perhaps suggestions from Apexes carried somewhat more weight than ones from an average person. By the time we made our way out of the Citadel''s megastructure, night was well fallen, and the light I remembered danced across the dark sand like a terrestrial aurora. Rather than forming a circle, the group simply stopped a few hundred feet from the tower. Accepting that the fight was happening with resignation, I was about to ask who was going first when Darina stepped out into the open, followed by Kestin. The two opponents stood a shirt distance apart, bowed and dropped into defensive stances. For Kestin, that seemed to be an elaborate dance-like process, while Darina looked more like she was getting ready for a hundred-meter dash. ¡°This match is to surrender or incapacitation. Any attempt at mortal strikes or permanent injury will be prevented.¡± The words came from the Apex of the Unfettered Frame and were spoken with enough force that I was sure he could be heard back in the Sha Forest. He did not seem pleased, and the way he said, ¡®prevented¡¯ lead me to believe that the process would be unpleasant for anybody involved. ¡°Fight.¡± Fire exploded out from Kestin, a yellowish brown that seemed almost a liquid. Whatever the stuff touched was left in flames, and it showed no sign of going out, which I supposed explained his name. Darina had not wasted any time though, and even as the circleof brown flames shot out, she was already there, the sickly substance coating her from head to foot as she began to punch him in the face. The smell of the flames was oddly chemical, though that was soon joined by the retch-inducing sweetness of burning flesh as my friend¡¯s body began to crisp and break beneath the sticky inferno. The punches to his face stopped, Kestin leapt back, wiping blood from his cheeks and chin and he smiled, clearly thinking he had won. But Darina was harder to stop than that. Emerging from the flames as a mass of roiling meat, the terrifying mass flexed and flowed until my diminutive friend appeared once more, still aflame but seeming not to care as her body simply repaired itself, ignoring the flames once she was past the initial shock. Unprepared for a second attack from somebody that should have been crispy, Kristin was caught flatfooted as Darina smashed her head into his before grabbing hold of his robe to do it again and again, until each was covered in blood and Kestin lay unconscious and broken in the now dark sand, the flames fading with his consciousness. Turning to Walker slightly, I leaned in and whispered, despite knowing it was useless around so many Apexes. ¡°Walker, that fire would have killed anybody else, why didn¡¯t the fight get stopped?¡± ¡°It was a defensive action, into which Darina chose to charge. If he had simply used it on her directly, it would have been stopped. This is not an ability that should be used for sparring. I do not know what Chian was thinking.¡± I knew what she was thinking, or at least I thought she did. Maybe a little more respect had been called for... ¡°Heal him, I will. Darina is fine.¡± Sonja offered Darina a hug on the way out to drag Kestin back to the group. I glanced over to look at the Sun¡¯s Judgement to see her face a mask of cold indifference, but her eyes looked furious. She had expected Kestin to win that match, and I could see why. Against many, he would have been a real challenge. As Darina reached my side again, I offered her a thumbs up, which she rolled her eyes at, but returned. Reff and Riffa both congratulated her, but my eyes were drawn out to another figure walking into the dark of the heated sand. ¡°Right, well. I guess it¡¯s my turn...¡± Line Up I stood across from Toria and bowed, dropping into my stance. It felt strange to be in a desert I knew to be frigid and not feel the cold, but as the light danced across the black sand, I let that incongruity fall away. I knew from having watched Darin¡¯s fight that I could not afford to let this fight go on too long ¨C I could heal faster than most, but if I got hit within anything like the attack she had pushed through, I was out. And even if I did not get hit, such an attack would keep me from attacking, ensuring my loss. ¡°This match is to surrender or incapacitation. Any attempt at mortal strikes or permanent injury will be prevented.¡± The resounding voice of Bo Ai¡¯rong echoed across the mostly flat plane outside of the Blacksand Citadel and I took a deep, steadying breath, my will tensed and ready for the fight. ¡°Fight.¡± Points of light ignited behind my opponent as I Focused; it had been my intent to hold back from the great exertions I had become used to on the dead world, but not wanting to get burned alive changed things. Obviously. I felt my reserves begin to drain as red lightning danced inside of me; I had not had chance to switch it back to normal, but for this fight I wanted every advantage I could get. And the drain from going all out was something I would deal with. The world slowed around me, and further still as I pushed on my Exemplar, hard. I ran towards Toria with all the relative speed I could muster, and was glad of it as I saw her moving, limbs and body driven by bright, burning lights of crystalline flame. If I had been moving at the normal speeds of a standard Path stage cultivator, I imagined that she would be little more than an incandescent blur, but to me as I was, going all out? She was moving, and her speed was impressive, but it was not enough. Toria had only moved a few feet when I reached her, her body grinding through the air as she spun with the apparent force of her own acceleration. I knew that my full power echo punch would probably kill a Path stage at my then current level of integration, at least if they didn¡¯t have their own defensive or regenerative abilities. I slowed slightly to take an extra step, switching sides and drove my sparkling fist into her midsection, releasing my bloody lightning from the constraints of my channels. Concentrating, I sent the streams of crimson electricity coursing to and out of my fist, a nimbus of red sparking in all directions with an air-rending howl before lashing into the bronze breastplate an instant before my fist connected. The world flashed scarlet, like seeing the Sun through my eyelids and the keening scream of fracturing air became a boom. I dropped back in my defensive stance I pulled my Focus back into my body, allowing it to speed me back up as shapes danced behind my eyes. I was relying on Instinctive Precognition to help me deal with any counter, but as the light cleared and I blinked away the strange geometry, there was only stillness and silence. I could see Toria a distance away, lying in the barely flowing aurora, the ragged remnants of her armour glowing yellow-orange. A flicker of movement caught my eye and Sonja appeared at the apprentice¡¯s side and I blinked, stepping off my Path and dropping my Focus. The world rushed back into motion around me and I glanced inwards to my Praxis, feeling the thumping rhythm of my Core that told me it was working to re-fill what felt like twenty-five percent of my total energy. Not quite knowing what the circumstances demanded of me, I walked back over to the group, my mind going over the short fight. It seemed that Toria was partially speed based; though I had not got to see exactly what she could do, she had definitely been moving much faster than was normal. I had not considered it until that point, but a hard counter to speed was... more speed. I wondered if the disparity was due to my ability to use more Experience at a time than was normal, due to my channels, or whether it was a simple mismatch of abilities. Provided she was not too furious, I wanted to talk to her about her abilities. With her speed, she would likely make a good sparring partner, when I was not pushing myself quite as hard. Letting my mind churn in the background, I stepped up beside my friends, standing awkwardly and not wanting to say too much, given Darina and I had just smashed Chian Jilow¡¯s apprentices flat, I avoided looking at the Apex on my walk back, as the Paladin did not seem like the sort of person to take the consecutive defeats well. While they had not been her direct defeats, she felt like somebody that would them as personal insults, and I had apparently exhausted my daily allotment of idiocy. ¡°With curious caution... you won quite handily, Hunter. You moved significantly faster than the last time we sparred. You moved significantly faster than I am capable of. And, if I am not mistaken, has your lightning undergone a change?¡± I looked at my giant friend and thought about my last test; at full power, it was actually possible that I was faster than a peak Foundation, even if that level of speed was not something I could maintain. ¡°Uh, yeah. I got in a lot of practice while I was gone. My Exemplar is,¡± I glanced into my heart centre for a moment to confirm my estimate, ¡°twenty-seven percent. I think it was at five when I was, uh, forcefully-invited off world.¡± ¡°With surprised prompting, that is very impressive progress. It took me many years to reach such a point in my own Path. Is this in some way related to the change in your lightning?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°The world I ended up on was energy rich. It took almost no time to completely refill my Praxis, so I could practice way harder and longer than is normally possible. My lightning is... something else. It¡¯s sort of related to my new arm, in a tangential way. I¡¯ll explain... later.¡± For some reason I did not want to go into too much details with so many unknown Apexes around. I knew intellectually that they would be able to sense what I said pretty much anywhere in the Citadel, and that I would likely need to tell them something whenever we all got around to discussing the Risen Throne, but I at least wanted to wait until Walker gave me the go-ahead. ¡°It is impressive to make so much progress. I¡¯m still way ahead of you, almost Foundation now, but for an idiot you¡¯re really quite impressive, Hunter.¡± I looked at Darina as my mouth dropped open. ¡°Was that... was that a compliment, Darina? Are you okay? Did the fire drive you mad?¡± ¡°I take it back.¡± ¡°Nope, you can¡¯t take it back now you said it. It¡¯s in the world now. You think I¡¯m impressive. Even your master sensed you say it.¡± I jumped out of the way before she could punch me, grinning as her fresh scowl broke into a laugh of her own. ¡°At least you¡¯re not as bad as Cad. Now he¡¯s a real idiot.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not that bad.¡± ¡°You did not spend more than a month with him.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true...¡± ¡°You both did very well; Chian is furious. You may expect demands for rematches in your futures.¡± I turned to find Walker now stood close to us, and looked around him to see if the Paladin had heard. She was standing next to the now recovered ¨C or at least standing ¨C apprentices, her posture stiff. ¡°Do not worry, I am blocking other domains from sensing us. Even Apexes like privacy.¡± ¡°Well, thanks, Walker. I wasn¡¯t actually expecting it to be so-¡± I glanced past him again, but Chian was still talking to Kestin and Toria. ¡°-So... easy.¡± ¡°Yours was easy, mine was painful and easy.¡± ¡°Learned to turn your pain off, you have not, Darina?¡± Darina¡¯s master joined us, her voice stern, but only a little. On hearing her master¡¯s words, I saw my friend drop another bow, but I also saw Sonja roll her eyes at her small apprentice. ¡°I can¡¯t turn it off without turning off all sensation yet, Master.¡± ¡°Practice you will.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± We stood in silence for a moment, before I recalled that my question had not yet been answered, and something further occurred to me. ¡°Uh, so about my win there... Toria isn¡¯t... below my stage, is she? I didn¡¯t pick on a Core or... Focus level person, did I?¡± ¡°A cultivator is only given a name when they are far enough along their Path to solidify their image. Toria walks her own Path, and is not yet at the Foundation stage. Kestin as well, Darina.¡± I let out a quick sigh, happy that I had not been picking on the weak. ¡°Speaking of names, we should consider your own, Hunter. Perhaps we should return to the Citadel proper, and discuss your new abilities?¡± ¡°Uh, sure. Good idea.¡± Now that I knew Walker could block the Domain senses of the other Apexes, I felt better about speaking about the whole thing. I had been prepared to tell them the surface details of my trip to the other world, but had been planning on holding back the specifics until after the meeting, and most of the quasi-Ascended moved on. A few minutes passed before everyone began to move inside again; as we went, most of those gathered congratulated Darina and I on our matches, though the Paladin was conspicuous in her absence. I looked around a couple of times to find her, but she was studiously ignoring us, though I caught Kestin and Toria glancing back at us more than once. I was expecting rage, like they had shown earlier, but instead I found what I could only take as grudging respect on their faces. I did not wave that time. * *** * Seven of us filed into Walker¡¯s suite ¨C my friends and I, Walker, Sonja and Raaf - to find Aella lounging on a chair, one leg hooked over the arm and a bottle cradles on her arm. She looked up as we entered and offered wide grin. ¡°Ha! You¡¯re back then? Did you come with the palace? My teacher¡¯s voice was slurred slightly, and she was trying to glare, but spoiled it by being unable to contain her wide smile. ¡°Hey, Teacher; it¡¯s good to see you again! No, I didn¡¯t come with the palace. I sort of got stuck on another world again... Walker came and got me.¡± ¡°You should stop doing that.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not the first to say that.¡± ¡°Ha! Tomorrow we will see how far you have come with your chain work. For now, it looks like you¡¯re going to discuss something boring, so I¡¯m going to bed.¡± With that, Aella stood smoothly and walked through a door on the other side of the room. I grimaced and hoped she¡¯d accept my missing arm excuse; she had not seemed to have noticed my abnormal looking appendage, but how often did a person really check to make sure other people¡¯s hands were still there? ¡°I believe the first thing we should discuss, is your mission. I presume given the lack of raging phoenix that everything went well?¡± I turned back from the door to find that my friends ¨C and the Apexes ¨C had already settled. I had not expected Raaf or Sonja to follow us, but if we were going to go over our mission, I guessed that it made sense. ¡°Uh, yeah, mostly.¡± The four of us quickly went over our mission, on the ambushes by the Risen Throne and meeting V. We talked about meeting the Shadow Faced Guy, and losing my arm; I showed them my new one, they had noticed, so I promised to explain later. We talked about our meeting with the thundering apes and their assistance ¨C and I again made it very clear they did not like strangers ¨C and our first journey into the phoenix inferno, Flame Ever Dancing¡¯s refusal of assistance and our decision to stick around. I went over our encounter with the instant frog ¨C and the basics of my Path ¨C before moving onto our encounter with McCreepy and V, and meeting Cad. We explained the ¡®fight¡¯ between Flame Ever Dancing and McCrown, and the strange, draining black mist. ¡°After that, we tried to figure out how they¡¯d homed in on the location, and it turned out the amulet Cad had served as a sort of beacon. We should probably let Everwood City know at some point, because they have the ones they took from me. And, I, uh, received confirmation from the person who sent me and a new mission. Have you guys ever heard of Anan Al¡¯monhad? I¡¯m supposed to stop him dying, or escaping from somewhere, but I have no idea who he is.¡± There was a long silence as the Apexes stared at me, and I glanced at my friends to see their reaction, and they looked equally perplexed by the reaction. After about thirty seconds, Walker spoke, his voice low and grave. ¡°Do you recall the tale I told of the Apex of the Multiplicitous Self?¡± Once is Enough That night, I slept fitfully, my mind filled with faceless figures multiplying and invading my friend¡¯s bodies. I woke in the predawn soaked with sweat, though I felt no chill. My eyes felt gritty, I rubbed them as I rose and took a shower for the first time in months, luxuriating in the water¡¯s flow. I was clean too soon, but I stayed in the shower for another half hour, just relaxing before finally stepping out and drying myself. Dressing in my glossy black robe, I sat on my small balcony, high above the ground and reflected on the events since my return to the Citadel. Despite the relatively thin energy of my new home, I had no trouble pulling it in as I internalized the Experiences of the day before. It was certainly a very different life than my last. A wry smile on my face, I remained sitting and processing as my Praxis refilled. It would probably take me the rest of the day at a minimum to restore my Core, and possibly longer given I was going to need to split my attention. After hearing my quest ¨C and some questions from Raaf and Sonja ¨C Walker and the other Apexes had left, warning that their planned gathering would be brought forward, in light of the new information I was providing. They had also warned me not to speak of it to anybody else until Walker gave me the all-clear. I was happy to obey the not-quite-request, given the frankly terrifying possibility that the being that had single-handedly ¨C all billions-handedly, depending on how you viewed things ¨C wiped out most of the planet, was on the verge of escape. Or death. I was hoping for the death, in the event I ¨C we ¨C failed to prevent one of them. It was a shame the Apexes had left; my friends had been very interested in the possibility of inscribing their own Cores, but I was still uncomfortable discussing it outside of the protective dampening of the Apexes. There had been the possibility of me exploding as a result of my own attempt, and I had no idea whether it had worked due to some kind of synergy with my Focus, or whether it was something that would always work, adding destructive force to anything. Though, at least in the case of Darina, destructive regeneration did not sound particularly useful... Either way, I did not want to be responsible for a potentially significant portion of the world hearing about it, only to blow themselves up. Nobody would need a pocket plane to imprison me. The Sun was just cresting the horizon when I next climbed to my feet, skin tingling from the sensation of in-rushing Experience, before strolling out of my room, my mind still half-concentrated absorbing my Experiences. I spent the next couple of hours getting the cores from my hunting trip exchanged for spirit coins, leaving my personal fortune at 11,199 coins, with the rest of the haul held in reserve until I could give my friends their share. Maybe it was all the D&D and co-op games I had played, but it did not seem right to make money in a party and not split it. Of course, when in Rome and all, and while my new home was not quite Rome, the sentiment still mostly held. If my friends refused their shares again, I would be happy ¨C ish ¨C to keep it. I also stopped by the Alchemy Association¡¯s Citadel branch again to renew my stock of cleansing pills and healing potions. Pleasantly, it seemed that in my absence from civilization the recipe for the hydrating pills had been distributed at least that far, for which I was glad, as I was starting to run lower than I liked, and they really were significantly more convenient than carrying around huge barrels of water, storage device or not. I spent 3,000 coins there, partly because I did not have enough room in my rings for all the supplies, and had to purchase a new storage device in the form a pendant. It contained significantly more internal space than my looted rings, and the things I had bought probably filled only one small corner, but I knew it would prove useful if I found more things I wanted to study, bring with me, or a thousand other little things. More space was more space. I did not drop off the limbs and bodies I was carrying, despite the fact that it would have saved me money. I was a very trusting person ¨C for some reason ¨C but I was not that trusting by that point. I had considered letting Sonja take a look, as she was clearly interested in energy channels, given Darina¡¯s own extended energy circuits, and provided she had time after the meeting, I would probably pass her the Fullmetal Asshole¡¯s body to study, and maybe save the limbs for Ben Won Ro to study the next time I was in Everwood City. I stopped at a tailor as well, to purchase a couple of basic changes of clothing, though nothing as extravagant as what I had bought from the snooty tailor back in Everwood. The black robes DUK3 had given me were excellent, in that they seemed unusually tough and cleaned themselves, but given my track record with clothing, I wanted some backups. By the time I was done, the Sun was well above the horizon and gliding its way towards mid-morning. I made my way to the top of the tower. I had to take dozens of elevator platforms to reach the Citadel¡¯s crown, where I found Reff, Riffa, Darina and Cad, as well as Kestin and Toria. The six stood in two groups, with Chian¡¯s apprentices standing to the left and my companions to the right of a large door, flanked on either side by guards, one of which I recognised. Waiving at my friends ¨C and hesitantly at the others ¨C I greeted guard captain Tal with a smile. I had met her on my arrival at the Citadel with Walker, Aella and Reff months before, when my experience with abilities was in its infancy. Seeing her again, I wondered what her abilities were. ¡°Hey, Captain Tal. Nice to see you again.¡± ¡°In greetings, Hunter.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I waited for a second for the captain to say more, but she merely stood, her eyes scanning about the room. ¡°If it isn¡¯t Nameless. Should you not be in the creche, below?¡± I turned as somebody spoke, tracing the voice to Kestin. The night before, as we made our way inside, I thought his gaze had held respect, but either I had been wrong, or he had changed his mind, because at that moment he wore a sneer like a mask, somehow looking down his long nose at me like I wasn¡¯t actually inches taller. His voice matched his frame ¨C and his expression - exactly; a nasal drone that would have made me dislike him instinctively, if his words and face had not already done that job. His words also reminded me that the discussion of the rogue Apex had derailed the discussion of my name. ¡°I might not have a name, but I got at least one less beating than you did last night. And I don¡¯t need a name to give you another, jackass.¡± ¡°You dare threaten the Left Hand of the Sun¡¯s Judgement?¡± ¡°Seriously, what is it with the assholes of this world, that you¡¯re always wondering if people dare after they already did? Doesn¡¯t my offer to beat you into the floor imply my daring?¡± ¡°I will burn you-¡± It was at that moment that Toria slapped him on the back of the head. ¡°Enough, Kestin. You started it, and he would beat you twice over before your first flame ignited. Sorry about him, Hunter. He has a tendency to grind grudges up in his mind until they make him act the fool.¡± Kestin was rubbing at the back of his head and muttering something under his breath, but I ignored him. I knew what it was like to inflate something beyond reasonable bounds inside the confines of your own mind. Instead, dismissing the gaunt mutterer, I focused on Toria who had a pleasantly vibrant voice. A snort from Darina told me what she thought of the whole situation, and I imagined she was calling us both fools in her head. But at least she was not saying it out loud for a change. ¡°No worries. I try not to start things, so as long as he doesn¡¯t come looking for trouble, he won¡¯t find any from me.¡± I hesitated for a moment before proceeding, still unsure of the protocols involved. ¡°Uh, sorry about last night. I¡¯m not quite as fire proof as Darina, and may have gone a little hard in avoiding it...¡± Toria looked confused, glancing at my friends as in unsure what I was saying. Reff came to her ¨C and my ¨C rescue. ¡°In familiar clarification, Hunter is from a great distance away, and his home is isolated. He is unfamiliar with many things which we may consider... normal.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that he¡¯s an idiot. Sometimes.¡± Well, the silent judgement had not lasted long, but at least she had added the, ¡®sometimes¡¯. That was progress, right? ¡°... With deliberate continuation, perhaps you and your fellow apprentice would like to spar with my sister and I at some point? I am at the Foundation stage, however I am used to holding back.¡± ¡°In sincere addition, he barely ever kicks Darina into the distance anymore.¡± ¡°I believe we should be here for a number of days, which should provide ample time in which to spar. Isn¡¯t that right, Kestin?¡± The man in question was silent for a moment, glaring sullenly at the floor but quickly spoke up as Toria raised her hand again. ¡°Fine! I would be... honoured to spar with the brother or sister of the Apex of the Mountain¡¯s Seed.¡± I was about to ask if either would like to spar with me again when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to find Cad''s almost neatly bearded face wearing a wide grin, his grey eyes playful. ¡°An¡¯ how ¡®bout me, Sparky? Can you ¡®n¡¯ I have another go? I¡¯d just got used t¡¯yebein¡¯ gone and eyes not itchin¡¯ when back ye come.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t you have to report back to the Alchemy Association once the meeting is over?¡± ¡°How¡¯re they t¡¯know the meetin¡¯s over? I could delay for a spell if ye¡¯ll be givin¡¯ me another chance at decipherin¡¯ this Void damned itch...¡± ¡°... Don¡¯t they have a branch here? I mean, I know they do, I visited already.¡± The normally playful face of the Alchemy Association Specialist screwed in in frustration for a moment. ¡°Blasted Void, ye be right. If I don¡¯ be reportin¡¯ back before news filters over, Commander Jayford¡¯ll have me nuts in a vice... Yer getting'' kidnapped really put a dampner on th¡¯intire trip, ye know?¡± ¡°Well... sorry? I¡¯ll try to get kidnapped at a more convenient time... next time.¡± ¡°Ah well, at least I get t¡¯meet the Apex o¡¯ the Crystal Drake. Any damned minute; we¡¯ve been stood here for an hour.¡± ¡°...Why? They said it wouldn¡¯t start until mid-morning.¡± ¡°Cad was too excited to wait. And dragged us all along. We stopped at your rooms, but you weren¡¯t there.¡± I let out a mental sigh that I had been already about my business when they¡¯d come looking for me. ¡°Yeah, had to re-stock on health potions and cleansing pills. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed, but I actually get injured a lot?¡± Darina snorted, and even Reff and Riffa looked like they wanted to let out a chuckle. Cad, who had been around for fewer of my fights just shrugged, while Kestin and Toria just looked confused. Toria opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the low grinding growl of the door opening to reveal wide stone stairs leading up. Tal stepped forward, smacking the base of her spear into the floor and speaking in a formal voice. ¡°With formal solemnity, The Apexes are ready for you. Please make your way up the stairs.¡± I hesitated for a moment, unsure of who should be going first, but that did not seem to be a concern for Caddin, who was through the doors and running up the stairs almost as soon as Tal stopped speaking. I looked at Reff, who gave a minute shrug and began to climb the stairs, Riffa close behind. Darina went next, and I was left with Kestin and Toria. The lanky man began to step forward, his head held high, looking down his nose once more, but his fellow apprentice held him back and gestured for me to go on. I nodded thanks to her, and began to climb the stairs, wishing I had gone last as I felt Kestin¡¯s eyes on me. But despite that itch at the base of my neck, I took comfort in Instinctive Precognition, knowing that if he tried anything, I should be fine. Reaching the top of the stairs revealed a vast terrace that had to occupy the entire top of the Blacksand Citadel. It was decorated with hundreds of beautiful stone sculptures, statues and flowing walls, with thick, green bushes and trees scattered about. At its centre, immediately ahead of us, there was a round stone table at which sat the Apexes, as well as several other figures I was unfamiliar with. Cad had already covered half the distance to and around the table towards Jorl, but there came a sudden pressure directing each of us to our seats and the Specialist came to a dead stop, turning to sit quickly. Following my friends, I took the seat indicated to me, and watched as everyone settled in, the eyes of those already at the table on us. It made me feel nervous, but I quickly shook the feeling free; I was past that. Holding my head up, I offered a seated bow to the table, meeting the eyes of everyone present in turn. Round and Round The meeting ¨C or our part of it - began without introductions, with Walker giving a brief overview of our meeting and the events leading up to present, from his perspective. He left out some of the specifics about me - in regards to the jobs I was getting from Xiournal - though given the lack of curiosity from those gathered, I had to guess that he had already been over some of it, perhaps only vouching for my veracity, but either way, I did not mind too much. The Risen Throne ¨C and now the Multiplicitous Self ¨C were a potentially deadly threat; if not to the Apexes then certainly to the rest of us. Reaching the present, Walker then asked me to go over things from my own perspective. I relayed my first meeting with the Risen Throne and my kidnapping, and filled in some of the details that Walker had not been privy to. I had told all of that stuff to Walker before, but I suspected he wanted to them to ¡®hear¡¯ the truth as I spoke. When I reached the part of the story where the Shadow Faced Guy first drained my Experience in the Black, rumblings broke out around the table between the assembled Apexes, and even those I was unfamiliar with looked troubled. I had been told that it should be impossible to interfere with a person¡¯s energy ¨C as long as it was still internal ¨C it was considered a fact like many of the others I had been told since my arrival; a piece of information that I really had had no reason to internalize, mentally. To those born into this whole crazy magic system, it seemed to be far more disturbing than it had been to me. Like magic would be - at all - back on Earth. After a few minutes of those around the table talking amongst themselves, Bo Ai¡¯rong spoke up. ¡°If you have questions, ask them. There will be time enough for discussion when the boy¡¯s story is complete.¡± I had observed it since our first meeting, but the Apex of the Unfettered Frame seemed to act as the referee, or leader of the Apexes. I did not know if it was an official position, or one he took for himself, either due to inclination or just because his weird voice tended to cut through conversation. It was honestly very hard to imagine this relatively slight man with wild hair trying to boss my mentor about, so I imagined it was more of a symbolic role... if it was a role at all. ¡°Did this... Shade... drain anything alongside your Experience? Any... fluids? Perhaps he took your... breath?¡± This question came from Vin, the Apex of The Calling Blood; the question only further served to enforce the idea that the man was a vampire. When Walker had first told me that energy could not simply be taken, he had mentioned that even vampires must drain it via blood. ¡°He could have... breathed in my breath, I guess. But he didn¡¯t suck on my face or anything. And he was pretty far away to be passively taking in my breath.¡± I could see Chian across the table with her face held in a grimace, and I could not really blame her. It was a fact that we breathed in each other¡¯s air, but it was still a creepy thing to give voice to. Who wants to picture sucking in other people¡¯s aerosolized spit and lung juice? ¡°Intriguing. Perhaps it is not an aspect he possessed that allowed it, however. Perhaps you are just very... drainable?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m actually quite un-drainable now. But I don¡¯t think it was that at the time ¨C he later threatened to drain us all.¡± I gestured to my friends who all nodded. ¡°I see.¡± The Apex of the Calling Blood sat back, stroking his ivory-shaded chin with carefully manicured fingers, his blood-red eyes focused on me. ¡°You said he gave you the egg? This action does not fit.¡± That question came from the short figure of Burning Cloud, who had his hugely muscled arms crossed over the boulders of his chest. It was the first time I had heard his voice, but if we had been a cartoon, I would have marked him as a bad guy based solely on the way it sounded. His voice was dry and hissing, like the sound sand makes as it blows across a tile floor. Scratchy, but still somehow deep. I wondered if the alchemists of the world had developed lozenges, and if so, whether he needed one. ¡°Yeah... he didn¡¯t seem altogether sane. He seemed to regret giving it to me later. Seemed really keen on getting it back.¡± ¡°An insane enemy cannot be predicted. Cannot be made to fit. He cannot be the leader, the actions as a whole are too rational.¡± ¡°He mentioned voices, maybe they¡¯re in charge.¡± The Apex of the Cinder Storm lapsed back into silence, his eyes on the table. I waited for a moment for more questions, but none came and I moved on with the story, though I had to stop again shortly after I reached the point where Aella was healed, as Sonja spoke up, interrupting me, but directing the question at Cad. ¡°A serum to prevent death, you mentioned. More than one derivative from the egg there was. Much testing, and expertise, this would take. Alchemy. Possible, the Association to be involved?¡± ¡°Um, ¡®Tis a fair question, yer Apexness. While ¡®tis true that the m¡¯jority o¡¯the world¡¯s Alchemists ¡®r¡¯members o¡¯ th¡¯ Association, we don¡¯t hold a monopoly,¡± Cad was interrupted by a series of snorts and half-laughs from around the table, ¡°or at least not a total monopoly. I cannot imagine th¡¯Association risking yer wraths, yer Apexnessess.¡± ¡°But know, you do not? A representative you are, but limited is your authority.¡± ¡°Uh, I be guessin¡¯ ye be correct there. I do not... know.¡± Cad seemed hesitant in his answer, and I could not blame him for his nerves; if the people at that table decided the Alchemy Association was complicit on risking the anger of a phoenix Elder, as well as an attack on an Apex¡¯s home, they would likely come down pretty hard. That line of thought however reminded me of something I had forgotten up to that point, and I looked around nervously before inserting myself back into the conversation.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Uh, so, really sorry but I forgot to mention something. It¡¯s from later in the story, but I should have mentioned it separately... uh, Flame Ever Dancing ¨C the phoenix the egg belonged to, was pretty unhappy with the whole, ¡®steal their egg and then try to steal it again¡¯ thing, and they wanted to attend the meeting and maybe help in... taking care of the problem. So... there might be a phoenix Elder showing up. Any time now.¡± "With practised patience, you are correct; this would have been information better presented sooner. But we would not have delayed, given the other information that has come to light. If... Flame Ever Dancing attends, we will offer our apologies. Continue.¡± Raaf sounded vaguely irritated, and I could not blame him; while we had technically been representing them, and there was no real way for us to refuse an Elder, one of us should have probably let them actually know about it sooner. I did not blame my friend for forgetting, as they had spent over a month running back to save me, but I had spent a lot of time doing nothing, so I mentally slapped myself. I could not imagine how things would have gone down if I had not remembered, and had not been nearby to say anything when the Elder showed up. I was however really glad Rainmaker and Cloudbringer had chosen not to attend... which reminded me I still needed to say, ¡®hi¡¯ to the Apex of the Wild Bounty for them. Maybe the next time I got a reward from Xiournal I could look at upgrading my memory... The matter of Flame Ever Dancing covered, the conversation turned back to the matter at hand. ¡°I say we trust the Association; for more than a thousand years, they have given us no reason to mistrust them. It¡¯s possible they simply recruited unaffiliated alchemists, or transmigrators.¡± It was Gia, the Apex of the Wild Bounty that spoke up, her voice bright and expressive. She sounded earnest and trusting, until the bright smile she wore on her golden skin faded and her sky-blue eyes took on a predatory glint. ¡°And if our trust is misplaced, we can simply wipe them from existence. I¡¯m sure another ¨C more trustworthy ¨C replacement would fill the void. Nature abhors a vacuum.¡± I heard Cad gulp in the silence that followed Gia¡¯s words, and saw a couple of the Apexes simply nodding. I knew the people at the table were responsible for protecting the world from the powerful simply taking over or destroying it, but it was easy to forget what that might entail. They all ¨C well, maybe not Chian ¨C seemed like nice people, but I had to remember that their chosen duty likely led them down blood-stained paths sometimes. I waited another moment, but no more questions came so I once again proceeded with my story, uninterrupted until our second encounter with the Shadow Faced Guy; my friends were adding details by that point, filling in things I had forgotten or not noticed. It was not until the two tore my arm off and made their escape that we received another interruption, this time from Lin, the Apex of the Unbreaking Wave. ¡°This is the second mention of a door way to another world. Are you certain it was a... hole, and not a rainbow-hued plane of force?¡± I had been unconscious when the second hole was formed, so I remained silent as Reff ¨C who had been present to see both spoke up. ¡°With distinct surety, I am certain, Honoured Apex. The hole was a perfectly round hole through which another environment could be seen. I made out large trees, and darkness, but nothing else.¡± ¡°You speak the truth, as did Hunter. This is disturbing news, perhaps more so than the draining. Has anyone present encountered a system amongst the worlds which does not utilise Authority to tunnel between them?¡± Another round of silence met the question, each person looking around for any sign of recognition, but I could see no sign of it on any of the faces present. ¡°Perhaps this... Shade is a demon, and uses their foul power.¡± This came from the stiff figure of the Sun¡¯s Judgement, still wearing her golden plate, though her helmet rested on the table in front of her. It was the first time I had seen her without it obscuring her face and head, though without it she looked every bit as solid and unbending. She had close-cropped hair the colour of copper, with eyes so pale they looked white. A square jaw added to the overall militaristic feel, and was severe enough to make her look though she had never once smiled. ¡°Demons are a myth! Should we be searching the world for childhood fables? Ha! Maybe it¡¯s time you Ascended, your age seems to be getting to you.¡± ¡°Age does not get to an Apex, Jorl Snowblinder. You are an idiot child that should have been culled.¡± ¡°How about I cull your-¡± ¡°Enough.¡± The atmosphere had grown tense as the two Apexes once more began to bicker, their Domains pressing down on those of us without them like a great weight, though I knew by then that it affected me less than it did my friends. Luckily, the echoing voice of Bo Ai¡¯rong cut between them before it could escalate. Jorl sat back in his chair, arms cross over his chest as he glared over at Chian. For her part, the Paladin simply narrowed her eyes, but said nothing further. ¡°Despite his lack of diplomacy,¡± Walker turned his blindfolded gaze towards the Crystal Drake before continuing, ¡°Jorl is correct. Demons do not exist, at least not on this plane. Though the description does superficially align with their purported powers to, ¡®tear through and devour the worlds¡¯, such a similarity should not be taken as proof.¡± ¡°Weilou has set me as the bastion against injustice on His world, and I will seek to redress it by any means. I shall leave no shadow to conceal this enemy, and should he prove to be a demon, I will cast it back into the Void.¡± ¡°... With diplomatic avoidance, please continue, Hunter.¡± So, we told the rest of our story, culminating in the last battle with the black mist and Mr. Crown, and finally the message I received, in regards to Anan Al¡¯monhad. At the mention of that name, the table erupted; where before there had been muttering, this was five Apexes jumping to their feet and shouting over each other, with only those who had been present the night before and the Unfettered Frame remaining calm. ¡°How is this possible...?! Only we know where he is held.¡± Vin¡¯s usually languid voice was sharp and snarling, his red eyes flicking about the table. ¡°Are we betrayed? Does one of our number assist the enemy?¡± Burning Cloud¡¯s deep, hissing voice rose like granite grinding on granite and I saw a cloud of black dust began to boil around him, lit in places with burning embers and the flicker of lightning. ¡°Enough!¡± This time when the Unfettered Frame spoke, his voice was raised and the force of it hit me like a blow as I was pressed back into my seat. It did not seem to affect the Apexes the same way, but it did stop the shouting. ¡°Sit down. None here would be so foolish as to loose that abomination. If this... Shade can move between worlds, bypassing the space between, perhaps he simply came upon the prison by accident.¡± Bo Ai¡¯rong¡¯s black eyes slid around the table and his jaw firmed as he looked everyone in the eye one at a time. When he spoke, his voice was low and dangerous, and no longer echoing. Rather, at least to me, it sounded like the voice came from right behind me, like the man was whispering in my ear. ¡°However, if I discover that any of you have done ¨C or intended to do ¨C this thing, I will send you back to the River, to be washed clean.¡± Fly Away From Here The Apexes discussed the possibilities of Anan Al¡¯monhad¡¯s escape for a while longer, but it was a more subdued affair after Bo Ai¡¯rong¡¯s threat. The man clearly took the whole, ¡®protecting the world¡¯ thing very seriously. They asked me a bunch more questions, though the answer to most of them amounted to, ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ which while not entirely satisfying for them, they were forced to accept, given the fact that they could simply sense whether I was lying or not. Eventually, the meeting wound down to the point that everyone seemed to just be sitting in silence, contemplating what had been discussed. After several minutes of solid silence, Walker spoke up, leaning forward so his elbows rested on the table. ¡°I think it is clear that we need to address these issues immediately. We have an organization that has at least a single being capable of traveling between worlds, and potentially a way of imparting this ability. They have the resources and breadth to field multiple teams, in separate locations. Their goal, whilst unknown, clearly involves mass destabilisation and death, which cannot be allowed. We must root them out. At the same time, we cannot ignore the possibility of the Multiplicitous Self¡¯s escape. It is even possible that these two things are related, with either being the distraction for the other. I would suggest we each begin to visit the cities of the world, searching for this... Risen Throne, and wiping them out. I would also suggest that we send somebody to check the prison.¡± This was almost the most I had ever heard my dark mentor speak, with the obvious exception of the story he had told us about the Multiplicitious Self. What he said made sense, which was more typical of the tall man, and I could see the others nodding. ¡°I will go to the prison, and I will end the threat personally.¡± I looked at Chian as she spoke, hesitating to interrupt, but knowing that if I did not try to prevent the man of mass destruction¡¯s death, I would be wilfully failing in my mission and risking repercussions from Xiournal. Still, it was kind of harrowing to speak out in contradiction of an Apex. ¡°Uh... sorry to interrupt, but the message I received said he shouldn¡¯t be killed, or at least... we... should prevent his death. I don¡¯t have specifics... the messenger does this whole annoying mystery thing, but I think the results would be pretty bad if we ignored them. The last message I got was about stopping an uncurable plague and pissing off an unkillable Elder.¡± ¡°I will scour the world of any threat, with Weilou¡¯s burning light. I fear no result, for I am guided by Him as His Hand.¡± ¡°Okay... but, it¡¯s probably better to prevent damage than to wait for it to start happening and then... burn it with light? Also, didn¡¯t he leave some kind of virus out in the world that will let him take over somebody else¡¯s body?¡± ¡°Who are you to speak to the Paladin this way? I will destroy you utte-¡± There came a smacking sound, and I looked over to see Toria pulling her hand away from the back of Kestin¡¯s head again. She saw me looking and gave me a look that was a cross between being furious that I was talking back to her master and sorry that Kestin was being an asshole again. At least, I like to think she was sorry, and not just because the other Apexes were looking pretty pissed off that an apprentice was throwing threats around at their meeting. ¡°Hunter¡¯s contact has been correct in the past, Chian. If it is possible to prevent the escape without killing the Multiplicitous Self, we should endeavour to do so. He is also correct that the threat of reincarnating within a new host is a possibility, though I have been unable to sense this remnant within any individual. Have any of you sensed this seed?¡± One by one, the Apexes answered Walker, confirming that they had not detected a trace of whatever means Anan claimed he could make his comeback with. ¡°It is possible that he misled the Apexes of his time, to retain his life. This would fit.¡± ¡°Bah! Do you want to take that chance, Burning Cloud? We snuff him out, and suddenly he¡¯s half the people in the world?!¡± ¡°Jorl is... right. We cannot risk causing a catastrophe while trying to... prevent another.¡± ¡°I did not recommend his death. I pointed out the potential he lied; this fits.¡± There was a moment while Jorl glared at Burning Cloud who stared back, his face impassive, while Vin moved to sit bonelessly sideways in his chair, his gaze fixed on the sky as he continued to stroke his chin. Lin, the Unbreaking Wave took off her hat and pulled something from the inside before slipping it between her lips and lighting it with a snap of her fingers. She took a deep breath before blowing out cobalt-blue smoke, and speaking as wisps of the strange smoke drifted out of her mouth. ¡°The fact that none of us have detected his presence outside of the prison, in ten-thousand years, is telling. But the world is wide, and time is deep. We have the believed testimony of several apprentices confirming the presence of a system unknown to us, accomplishing things we thought impossible. We cannot discount that the Multiplicitous Self used such methods to ensure his survival. I add my vote to preventing his death.¡± ¡°You are cowards, protecting the guilty in the shadow of Meilou.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic, Chian. This whole rivalry you¡¯ve cooked up between Weilou and Meilou is all in your head ¨C they''re siblings. And besides, it¡¯s not cowardice not to stick your head in a deathwasp nest, it¡¯s just common sense.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Gia made small shooing motion of dismissal in Chian¡¯s direction, which seemed to annoy the Paladin more than most things had. She looked like she was about to reply, given the heat visible on her face, but Walker quickly interjected. ¡°Given you are the head of Weilou¡¯s order, I think you would be best served assisting in rooting out the Risen Throne, Chian... It would also take you many years to reach the prison in your palace.¡± ¡°Ha! I¡¯ll go, I can fly into low orbit and be there in a week.¡± Jorl, who seemed to enjoy the crack about Chian¡¯s palace ¨C and who I had thought perhaps a touch simple, if likeable ¨C sat forward now, his face serious and I reconsidered my opinion of him. I did not think he was deliberately hiding his intelligence like Rainmaker had been, I thought he was just somebody who wore their emotions on their sleeve, and was powerful enough not to have to hide them. He was somebody who gave no shits about ¡®face¡¯ and I could respect that. ¡°I will go. I can be there within days and am capable of putting him back in his prison, should he escape.¡± This came from Bo Ai¡¯rong, and everyone at the table nodded at the... suggestion. I was very curious what his Focus and Exemplar were, but while he did not seem as up his own ass as Chian, he was definitely not as friendly as some of the others, and I did not think he would be willing to talk about it. There was however the fact that I probably needed to go along; I knew that if it was an Apex level conflict, there probably was not a ton I could do. Beyond maybe dancing about naked again as a distraction, but I did not think that would work a second time... ¡°Uh, sorry to interrupt again, but is there any way I can go with you? I sort of need to... show willing. I guess. My contact is pretty adamant that I do my best, and not super forgiving so far...¡± The Apexes around the table ¨C and even the people who I had no idea were ¨C looked at me askance as I spoke. ¡°I cannot take you with me, your body would be destroyed by the forces involved.¡± ¡°I can take him! Plenty of room on my back. Or hands ¨C claws. I could put you in my mouth, it¡¯s all crystal, and I probably won¡¯t eat him! Hahaha!¡± While I could not say that I was thrilled at the prospect of spending the better part of a week in yet another person¡¯s body, I was at least gratified that one of them was willing to take me. I had been half-dreading them simply telling me no, and I had no idea how long it would take me to reach wherever the prison was, or even if they would tell me where so I could try. ¡°I see no reason for an apprentice to visit the prison. I can accept that in this specific instance some of you may be better suited to the task than I, this nameless boy,¡± Chian gestured at me with a chopping motion, ¡°can surely provide no advantage.¡± And that is what I got for counting my chickens before they were hatched. I tried not to let my frustration show on my face, but I knew from experience that the Apexes around me would be able to tell regardless. I was about to speak up in my own defence when Jorl spoke up and I was instantly glad that the two of them did not get along. Without knowing how much Walker had told them about me, or how much I could say, any argument I made was going to be relatively flimsy. ¡°Oh, come on, Chian. What¡¯s the harm? It¡¯s not like he can breach the prison.¡± ¡°Unless this is a trick to discover the location of the prison, so that he or his ally can free Anan.¡± I wanted to nip that line of thinking in the bud as quickly as possible, I did not want anyone taking precautionary measures that involved my life. I did not think Walker would let them just kill me, but who wants to take those sorts of chances? ¡°Not the plan. I¡¯m not allied in anyway with the Risen Throne, or anyone else looking to free - or kill ¨C Anan. Just... want to help, if I can.¡± ¡°There, you see? Nothing but truth.¡± ¡°A lack of harm is not a benefit.¡± Chian¡¯s voice was adamant, but I thought I heard caught the faintest edge of petulance. I was starting to suspect that she just did not want anyone to go, but was unable to stop any of her fellow Apexes from going. ¡°Hunter may prove surprisingly useful; he has a knack for being in the right place, at the right time. Even to his detriment.¡± This came from Walker, his covered eyes peering in Chian¡¯s direction. ¡°And his... messenger, may provide direction, in the event of failure.¡± I tried to imagine Xiournal helping out if I failed to contain Anan, and it did not look good in my mind¡¯s eye. Of course, I had not yet failed a mission and so I did not know whether it would result in a mission to resolve the situation. But there was no way I was going to say that out loud. ¡°... Fine. But upon your heads be it.¡± ¡°With casual finality, my brother will also go. His time with Hunter has been beneficial to his cultivation. They seem to encounter an unusual number of unique situations, which may drive him towards the Pinnacle.¡± ¡°With frustrated respect, I would like to go as well, if Reff is going.¡± ¡°With unchanging understanding, I know you would prefer to journey with Reff, but you will require dedicated training in order to complete your Path. If you wish to catch him, this is your best option, sister.¡± Raaf¡¯s words were firm, but despite the relative lack of inflection, I thought I could hear warmth as he looked over at Riffa. For her part, Riffa merely crossed her arms, which for her was as telling as any glare, but she said no more. ¡°Go as well, Darina will. Good for her, the journey so far has been. Many forms of attack, with which to adapt.¡± When Sonja spoke, I felt Darina stiffen at my side, but I could not tell whether it was something she was looking forward to, or whether it was in irritation. At least without looking. But after adding two more apprentices to the mission, the Sun¡¯s Judgement looked like she was ready to hit something, her eyes narrowed as she sat as stiff as the stone on which she sat. ¡°If we are going to indulge in this... foolishness, I would send one of my apprentices. Justice must go where it is needed.¡± I did not like that idea at all; Toria seemed reasonable enough, outside of her worship of Chian, but Darina was just as dedicated to her master. What really made me want to say something was the possibility that I would be stuck with Kestin, always asking me whether I was going to dare things. ¡°I¡¯ll go. I think it would help to practice with somebody at my own stage, who is also faster than me. Perhaps it will help me in integrating my own Exemplar.¡± Luckily for me, it was not Kestin who spoke up; I did not think I could spend any great length of time with the man without doing something serious to him. It also helped that I wanted to spar with the dark-haired woman, and as she said, having somebody else with some speed may help with my own Exemplar. ¡°I still believe that I am better suited, but if this is the will of those present, I will leave this mission to Jorl. When will you leave?¡± ¡°Ha! This¡¯ll be fun. We can set out tomorrow, give everyone a chance to get supplies.¡± ¡°Very well. Then if you would excuse us, apprentices, we have strategy to discuss.¡± This was very clearly a dismissal from Bo Ai¡¯rong, and the seven of us stood as one before making our way back down the stairs. Jig is Up The seven of us stood at the bottom of the stone steps, in the area we had waited in previously. Kestin looked like he wanted to leave ¨C or fight somebody ¨C but did not seem to want to leave Toria behind. For her part, the dark-haired woman seemed like she wanted to stick around, or was at least content not to leave. ¡°Well, that was¡¯n¡¯ quite what I was hopin¡¯ for. T¡¯be in the room wi¡¯all th¡¯ Apexes o¡¯th¡¯world, and not get to actually meet em. Betten¡¯n most, I s¡¯pose.¡± Cad¡¯s voice did not sound like his normally cheery self, rather seeming a touch dejected. ¡°You got to speak to them, at least? I know it¡¯s probably not what you had in mind, but it¡¯s something. And like you said, there aren¡¯t many who get to sit in on a meeting like that.¡± I was doing my best to cheer the man up; he had been a little pestering on our journey, always eager to satisfy his curiosity about my nature, but he seemed like a decent person underneath all his hedonism and demanding nature. ¡°Aye, I be guessin¡¯ yer right, Sparky. I don¡¯t suppose ye want to get in one last spar before I have t¡¯head back to the Sha Forest on me lonesome?¡± ¡°Sorry, I need to wait for Sonja and Gia ¨C I have something I need to ask one and something to pass along to the other.¡± ¡°Typical. Well, it¡¯s been a pleasure meetin¡¯ ye all ¨C though I don¡¯ really know you two.¡± Cad gestured at Kestin and Toria who had fallen into a whispered conversation while the Specialist and I spoke. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll be meetin¡¯ again, now I¡¯m th¡¯ official representative o¡¯ the Association.¡± Cad bowed to myself, Reff, Darina and Riffa in turn, and the others said their goodbyes, and even Darina who clearly was not the man¡¯s biggest fan was at least polite, which was pretty good for her. ¡°See you around, Cad. Good luck with Jayford.¡± I held out my hand for him to shake; it was not a usual thing on my new home, and it usually resulted in people confusedly holding their own hand out, but Caddin seemed to grasp the point, and thus my hand, quickly. ¡°Bye, Sparky. Don¡¯ be thinkin¡¯ ye can avoid me f¡¯revor.¡± He offered me a cheeky grin and a wink before swaggering out the door, his usual humour restored, at least on the surface. ¡°With half-hearted regret, it is unfortunate he was not able to be officially introduced to his hero.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know what you mean, Reff. It¡¯s a pity he wasn¡¯t with you when Walker came to get me, he¡¯d have met him then. Wait, why wasn¡¯t he with you, didn¡¯t you come straight to my rescue?¡± ¡°With careful tact, Darina was very adamant about him being assigned a diplomatic suite on our arrival; the guard who let us into the Citadel took the request very seriously, as she was with Riffa and me. He was shown to his suite immediately, with utmost respect.¡± I winced a little at how close he had come to meeting the Crystal Drake, and even Darina had the presence to look a little embarrassed. ¡°I did not do it on purpose, he was just grating after having to deal with him for so long.¡± ¡°It is good that he was not given the privilege of meeting an Apex; if the Alchemy Association are in league with our enemies, he does not deserve to bask in even their lesser lights.¡± My friends and I turned to look at Kestin; the two of them had apparently finished their conversation and decided to join our admittedly public one. I still kind of wanted to slap him, but at least he had not started ¡®you daring¡¯ again. Yes. Darina was looking like she was ready for a rematch though, clearly not appreciating her master being called a ¡°lesser light¡±. Reff and Riffa looked... like the risi ever did, their perfectly white faces and gem-on-black eyes expressionless. ¡°I don¡¯t think Cad has much guile in him; I mean, he¡¯s cunning, but it mostly seems in service of having a good time. I don¡¯t think the Alchemy Association is involved, Ben Won Ro seemed very displeased they were messing about with a phoenix egg, even if the results were pretty promising.¡± ¡°Not to mention that the Apex of the Wild Bounty said she did not think they were guilty. Surely you cannot doubt the word of an Apex?¡± As was typical of Darina, she considered the Apexes the highest possible authorities, and while I did not think they were incapable of being wrong, I did think it less likely than a normal person, given their capacity to sense truth. Kestin apparently was less inclined to such trust. ¡°An Apex is not a god. They can be wrong, or misled, if with difficulty. I have no reason to lend the words of the undevout any more weight than another, regardless of their position. Regardless of the outcome of this meeting, I have no doubt the Paladin will investigate the Alchemy Association, and deliver Justice, should it be needed.¡± The white hard stick figure sneered at us as he mentioned the undevout, and for a moment I felt myself tense, expecting him to be smashed flat by Gia for the disrespect, but nothing came and I relaxed again by degrees. The Apexes ¨C for the most part ¨C had proved and were proving their vast restraint, or sense of duty in protecting the world from those who would abuse power. Thinking back to my first life, I tried to imagine some of the leaders who had held power in my life being given the power to be a human WMD, and shuddered. I could not think of a single one that would not have gone mad with it.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°You should show more respect for your betters, you bag of bones. If I have to beat you into the sand again, I will.¡± Darina was wearing the expression she usually reserved for me, which is to say, like she was ready to punch Kestin, but it was somehow less friendly than when directed my way. ¡°I am Apprentice to the Right Hand of Judgement, peasant. I have only one better on this world.¡± ¡°With knowledgeable assurance, I have met many people in this world; farmers, beggars, emperors, heads of ancient sects, and heads of religions. You may rest assured, Kestin, that you have many betters, most of whom rank far below those I have mentioned.¡± I looked at Riffa in astonishment; that had been a solid burn, and it was made all the more impressive that it had come from the risi¡¯s normally stoic mouth. I had heard Reff make a joke or two, but it was something his sister usually berated him for. Looking back at Kestin, I had to admit that the man really had a talent for pissing people off. The man in question was stood staring at Riffa in shock; clearly he was at least partially familiar with the risi and their general lack of affect or expression, and as such this departure had left him ¨C thankfully ¨C speechless. ¡°Damn, Riffa. Nice.¡± Riffa looked embarrassed ¨C or at least she looked away slightly ¨C but when her brother spoke, I actually caught a tinge of red in her cheeks. ¡°With satisfied pride, you should not allow your emotions to show so openly, sister. You must keep yourself in check.¡± My giant friend was sporting whatever passed for a massive grin in risi society, by which I mean a noticeable upwards curve to his lips. Even Toria looked amused by the banter, but she hid it quickly as the decidedly unamused Kestin glanced at her, his face red. Turning back to us, the skinny man took a step forward, raising his arm threateningly, but was stopped as a huge stone hand burst from the stone beneath his feet to wrap in its crushing grip. It had happened very fast, leaving me to figure out whether I would have been able to dodge, with my Precognition giving warning. As we all stood blinking at the giant hand, we became aware of a focused attention, a stirring in the world around us as the strange sensation of garnet-on-black eyes fell upon us, as well as a deep growl that could not really be heard. The message was clear ¨C do not attack an Apex¡¯s sister in their own home. The moment ended and with one last fractional squeeze the hand vanished back into the floor leaving Kestin to stagger and gasp for air. It was only then that I noticed the guards ¨C including Captain Tal ¨C stood poised to do what seemed to be serious harm to the skeletal apprentice. ¡°The Paladin will burn you all for-¡± Toria stopped the tirade before it had time to gather steam with another well-placed slap to the back of the head; it seemed like she was more than used to stopping him from saying stupid things. ¡°The Paladin is less than a hundred feet from us, Kestin. She is aware of the situation and chose not to interfere. Maybe you should not make threatening motions towards an Apex¡¯s sister.¡± ¡°I am not afraid of an Apex, for I stand in His light.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re an idiot. Gods can¡¯t interfere, but an Apex could slap you into paste.¡± ¡°You dare-¡± ¡°Again?! We covered this already. I dare. You know I dare, I just did it. Is there a school, or academy you all get sent to, to learn stupid arrogant language? Reff?¡± While Kestin sputtered at being interrupted again, Reff answered me with perfect seriousness. ¡°With honest assessment, I do not believe there is a single institution that imparts this specific way of thinking, I have observed that those who possess such attitudes have long lineages. Perhaps this is behavior has been passed down since before Anan was imprisoned.¡± ¡°Ten-thousand years seems like a long time for something to be passed down like that....¡± ¡°Ten-thousand years isn¡¯t that long, idi-Hunter.¡± Darina looked at Kestin like she was re-assessing her bar for who should be considered stupid, but continued. ¡°A Pinnacle level cultivator does not age and could live for hundreds or thousands of years before Ascending. Even a Foundation level could live for thousands of years before either dying of old age or achieving the Pinnacle. It seems like a long time because for most people, there is only a gap before then.¡± I had sort of come to terms with the longer lifespan people had when cultivating, but it was still difficult for me to accept that ten-thousand years, was not that long. But she was right; most people did not advance at the rate I was, they took their time. Even Rainmaker and Cloudbringer had to be around ten-thousand years old, and Cloudbringer had only just become an Elder. ¡°I guess that makes sense. Kestin, I don¡¯t suppose you know how far your family goes back?¡± ¡°I feel no need to answer your questions, Nameless.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll just assume you¡¯ve just always been assholes. I wonder if you¡¯re related to those other assholes from Everwood City...¡± I could tell he was thinking about challenging me to a duel, I could see the calculation on his face. And I wanted him to, he was really rubbingme the wrong way and I thought I would enjoy pulping his face a little, but since I was apparently leaving the next day, I had other things I needed to do, which meant I had to catch Sonja and Gia before they left. Which meant staying put. I did not apologise ¨C I was pretty sure I was still behind in the being a dick department ¨C but I chose not to push him any further. Since I would be traveling with his fellow apprentice, there would likely be a chance in the future for the two of us to fight, if some other random person did not teach him some manners before then. It had to be said though, that despite the ease with which Darina had defeated him, and that I likely would, he had to be pretty good to both be chosen by an Apex, and survive to the age he was while being so insufferable. Toria pulled Kestin from the room by his elbow while he glared back at us, and I saw Darina roll her eyes. Before long, Reff left to make his own preparation, and Riffa went with him, her voice carrying in the silence as she tried to persuade him once-more to intervene with their older brother about whether she would be allowed on the trip. Reff loved his sister, but I knew he worried about her; she was strong, way above average for her age, but the world was a dangerous place, and I could see why he might prefer she stay safe. I sat down on a stone bench with a sigh as Darina waved goodbye; she apparently wanted to buy some new clothes since she obviously can¡¯t regenerate her garments. Given the number of injuries she suffered, she must go through more clothing than I did. It was at that point that I remembered that I should have tried handing over their spirit coins, but as it was, I was stuck waiting. I hoped I would remember to do it before we left; it was not that big of a deal if I forgot for Darina and Reff, as they would be with me anyway, but I did not want to risk not handing it over to Riffa for what might be up to a year, if my quest was anything to go by. With another sigh, I dismissed the worry and went back to cultivating, eager to make more headway in refilling my Core, and maybe some more of my Exemplar before we left. Head First The Apex-moot took significantly longer than I expected, and it was sometime past noon by the time the stone doors swung open once more. To my surprise, only six of the ten Apexes descended, along with the scattering of unknowns I had seen around the table. I stood and offered Raaf and Jorl a bow, even offering one to Chian as she passed, though she did not bother to acknowledge it. Jorl slapped me on the shoulder hard enough to make my back ache before continuing on with a loud laugh, and Raaf offered me a dignified nod. The strangers gave me narrow-eyed glances, and not knowing who they were, I gave my signature awkward wave. Walker, Gia and Sonja followed after the others, stopping next to me. ¡°Hunter, I will be heading to Everwood City later today to begin my investigation; Aella will likely accompany me. She will wish to test your improvements.¡± I winced slightly, knowing that I had really fallen behind with the chain and not eager for the thrashing I knew was probably coming as a result. But still, I knew I would at least get a good workout. ¡°I¡¯ll go see her once I¡¯m finished here, Walker. I had thought we¡¯d have more time, but I guess life doesn¡¯t always take our wants into account.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± My dark mentor had returned to his characteristic brevity, and I smiled as he raised an eyebrow in emphasis. Turning to the Apex of the Wild Bounty, I spoke again, looking around to make sure there was nobody too close. ¡°I met a couple of Elder thundering apes in the Sha Forest; they said you saved their lives and fixed their home, and wanted to express their gratitude. They chose to stay behind to protect their people, but I could tell it meant a lot to them. If you¡¯re ever over that way again, I think they¡¯d really appreciate seeing you again, to thank you in person.¡± ¡°I think I remember them! They were so cute, as children. I can¡¯t believe they both made it to Elder! Sonja will be investigating the Sha Forest, as she was there most recently, but I think it would be fine if I visited, briefly...¡± Gia sounded delighted at the message, while I realized that she seemed to remember the two of them; my memory had been starting to fail me by the time I took my seat in the cold back on Earth, but I knew that many of my peers had undergone regeneration and repair by then, but even they had required implants to improve their recall and processing in order to deal with their memories with the speed of youth. It was astonishing that the Apex¡¯s memories were still so sharp after thousands of years. I knew that a Pinnacle stage cultivator was effectively immortal, completely unageing, and that Experience worked within us to perfect our bodies ¨C thus all the very attractive people ¨C but that was the first time I had really applied that to the mind. It... made sense. A person¡¯s reactions and perceptions had to improve along with their speed, strength and toughness, or they¡¯d be forever running into things and tripping, much like I had been when I first gained my Exemplar. Maybe I would not need to ask for a way to improve my memory, maybe it would do so on its own, as I advanced. ¡°Welcome, your company would be, Gia.¡± ¡°Good! Now, I think he has something to give you. Even though it¡¯s rude to give one person in a group a gift, and not the others...¡± The Apex of the Wild Bounty directed the last to me, her lips forming a pout as she tilted her head down and looked up at me through her eyelashes. The effect was almost stunning, but I quickly gave myself a mental shake and glanced away, clearing my throat. It was not that I was averse to a bit of flirting, but I could feel her intent like somebody breathing on my neck and it was just so weird a sensation that it was making my admittedly awkward tendencies worse. ¡°Uh, so it¡¯s more of a project? An object of shared interest? Can we go somewhere private?¡± I refused to look at Gia as I said that, and I heard a low chuckle that told me she knew exactly what she was doing. ¡°Hunter, that¡¯s awfully forward of you...¡± ¡°Believe, I do not, that the boy is ready for you, Gia.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right, Sonja. Maybe give it a century or two.¡± I looked at Walker for help, and he grinned at me from behind his blindfold, but thankfully he did step in. ¡°There is an empty chamber we can use through here.¡± I followed Walker, my face only slightly red until we turned a corner and he stepped through a door into what looked like a medium sized sitting chamber. I had no idea what it was for, so close to the top of the Citadel, as it had no windows. Perhaps, I reasoned, it was for more casual meetings.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Once the door was closed, I asked Walker to make sure things were private, and pulled the body of the Fullmetal Asshole from storage. I quickly explained DUK3¡¯s system, as much as I could and illustrated with my arm, emitting electrical bursts from both hands to show the difference. ¡°Anyway, it got me thinking ¨C if these ¡®designs¡¯ can replace energy channels in things like stone or metal, can they do the same in a body? Can I draw them with my channels, or add them to my body? I know you have something of an interest, because you helped Darina with her channels. Can we integrate them somehow? It would be a massive gain.¡± Sonja stood for a moment tapping her lips as she regarded the corpse of black metal. I could feel the Domains of the three Apexes rolling over the body, and one by one each of them reached out to lay hand on the dark surface. Minutes passed before they removed their hands, and Sonja turned to me. ¡°Exploded, your first arm did, you said?¡± ¡°Yeah. Dee Yu Kay Three said it wasn¡¯t designed for Praxis and it sort of... drove itself apart.¡± ¡°This flaw, the patterns within this body, would have. Compare, I will need to.¡± The Apex of the Mending Flesh¡¯s pale, lambent eyes flicked down to my arm and I understood what she meant immediately, holding the clear crystal and gold appendage up again for her to grasp. Normally, when a person was rooting around inside my body with their perceptions, I could feel it, like the spiritual version of en endoscopy moving about my stomach. It was weird, and a little invasive, but at least I could tell. With my arm, as Sonja looked, it felt less like I was used to, and more like a dull, buzzing ache, as if the perceptual filament was aligned just wrong enough to bother me. It did not hurt, not really, it was more like feeling you get in your legs on a plane when you barely move for ten hours. I said nothing, as I felt the ache move about my arm, confident that if any damage was being done, it would be readily apparent. I put the difference down to subtle differences between organic and in-organic; DUK3 had been used to working this way in both, but to the best of my knowledge Sonja concentrated mostly on flesh. It did make we wonder ¨C if her abilities were based around organic tissue ¨C how she would perform against one of the Constructs, with each of them suppressing their abilities to alter reality. I hoped it was a moot point; war might be good for cultural churn but I could only imagine it making my job harder. And you know, people die in war. It took a few minutes for Sonja to finish inspecting my arm, as much ¨C or more - time than anybody had ever spent inspecting my entire body, which I hoped was a good sign. ¡°Interesting. What everything does, I don¡¯t know, but the difference between the basic structures, I think I can see. The additional functions, I do not wish to recreate, at this point at least. Insufficient capacity in flesh is a risk. The efficiency, however...¡± The Mending Flesh reached out and tapped the mostly-metal corpse and it vanished. ¡°Careful we must be, if reproduce this effect I can. By trust it must be limited, or to everyone given. Fought over less, wars have been.¡± ¡°If it proves as efficient as Hunter has indicated, I fear you are right. A doubling of effective power...¡± ¡°For those that can endure it.¡± Gia spoke up for the first time since we started the examination, her words tight on the end of Walker¡¯s. The flirty expression and awareness were gone by then, and her face looked vaguely worried. ¡°Correct, Gia is. Only possible to redraw channels with my help, I thought. An exception, Hunter is.¡± ¡°Yeah, now that the phoenix egg is back with its parent ¨C and hopefully hatching any time - there shouldn¡¯t be many ways to simply prevent death, at least from the way Ben Won Ro reacted to it. But I¡¯m sure a lot of people would die trying, and it¡¯s in our nature to find ways around things. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d manage eventually.¡± I was not overly keen on keeping the secret to doubling your power to a select few, but they were right that there seemed to be a lot of people who would go to any lengths to get it, and short of giving it to everyone ¨C and risking their deaths ¨C it was probably the best option, short of not using it at all. But I really wanted to use it, it would make surviving Xiournal¡¯s increasingly dangerous tasks much easier. Which was a hell of a selling point. ¡°I have some more parts ¨C I was going to give some to the Alchemy Association to examine, see if they could come up with anything, and continue to research the others myself. But like you said, I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s a good idea to hand it over to a commercial venture. Ro already agreed to stop producing his... pill... as a favour to Walker, I¡¯m not sure they¡¯d be keen on doing the work but not benefitting on this.¡± ¡°I think it best that we do not involve the Association; we have chosen to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that is not absolute trust. It would be a mistake to potentially hand our enemies an improvement of this potential, especially as they may still have some of the formula they used on Hunter in stock.¡± That was a thought that had not occurred to me; the Risen Throne could make use of any research into the subject that they had already done. It would not be easy, or fun, but it would certainly be more possible. ¡°Right you are, Walker. I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s somewhere safe I could leave most of the... bits?¡± ¡°Give them to me, I will ensure they are not misplaced.¡± With a nod, I dropped the various arms and legs onto the floor, making sure to keep a set of each for my own purposes. One by one, they vanished as Walker crouched to retrieve them, and I let out a light sigh, glad to have got that part of what I needed to do out of the way. ¡°Alright, thank you all for meeting with me like this, I appreciate it. I guess we can check in again after... you guys search the world? And I get back from wherever the prison is.¡± Sonja offered me a small bow, and Gia gave me a nod, thankfully still seeming to be lost somewhat in thought. ¡°We¡¯ll talk again before we leave. Now you should see Aella... I fear she would not react well to missing you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll head over now. Thanks again, your Apexnesses.¡± I gave a bow and left, heading out the door to seek the nearest platform to take me down. It was not until I was maybe half-way down that I realised I had forgotten something, again. I knew I had wanted to ask Walker something, but the only thing that was coming to mind was my name, and that was not really something I considered urgent. I hoped I would recall before our next meeting, or I knew I would be kicking myself until we met again. Wont Let You Down A glittering chain spun through the air, occasionally jerking at random and changing directions with a suddenness that made it almost impossible to predict. Aella had not been pleased when she had asked me to show her what I had learned in my absence, finding my progress to be, in her words, almost insulting. She seemed to allow me a little leeway, since I did lose an arm, but it did not seem enough to fully assuage her ire. I was not going all out in my corrective sparring match ¨C I still was not back up to full, though I was getting there. But at my current level of integration with my Exemplar ¨C on top of my lightning enhanced speed and perception ¨C I was, to my surprise, not hopelessly outclassed by my peak Foundation level teacher. That is not to say that she was not still faster than me ¨C she was ¨C but she was only about twice as fast as me, whereas the last time I had sparred with her, I had been entirely unable to perceive her attacks, unless she deliberately slowed herself down. Instinct howled as I let my mind wander, and I jerked to the side as a weighted blue polyhedron spun through the space my shoulder had been before snapping to the side, back and straight at me like an arrow. Dodging once more, I felt the air displaced by its passage fling my hair back and I swiftly dove to the side; I had long since learned not to try to deflect either the chain or the weight at its end, as despite my significantly increased speed, neither my strength or toughness were at a level that could make either a reasonable choice. There was also the fact that touching the chain generally caused the weight to swing around at me. Thankfully, I had figured out that lesson when my teacher was taking it easier on me. ¡°Enough! At least you did not entirely let yourself go, boy. Maybe I won¡¯t have to kill you and hide the body in shame.¡± Standing straight I looked at Aella, who was stood with her hands on her hips, the chain having vanished. I did not entirely trust the statement, so I was careful as I looked at her; she did not usually stop a spar until she had given me a wallop when she was irritated with me, but despite my hesitation, it appeared that she had genuinely decided to stop for the day. Bowing low with my fist clasped in my crystal hand, I offered a smile, but my teacher¡¯s pink-on-pink eyes betrayed nothing, though a slight upturning of her lips let me know that she might actually be a little pleased at my progress. Outside of the chain... ¡°Thank you, Teacher. I did try to get in as much practice as I could. I¡¯m almost a third of the way integrated with my Exemplar now.¡± ¡°Ha. That is almost impressive, Hunter. You are very fast, for your stage, though you always have been. You were moving like a middle Foundation stage cultivator there; is that your limit?¡± ¡°Ah, no Teacher. I can push it further, due to my channels, I think, but it burns a lot of Praxis, so I try to only use it when I can either recoup the loss quickly, or when I really need it.¡± ¡°Humph. Wise, I suppose. Though bold of you to think you did not need it against me.¡± ¡°Uh, it was only a spar, Teacher, and you did not go all-out against me, I, uh-¡± ¡°Ha! You¡¯re still too easy, Hunter. Have more pride! You¡¯ve done in months what take some centuries. Now, what would you say your actual limit is?¡± That was certainly unexpected; Aella had always been supportive, in her own way, but that way often involved threats and vague insults. It was a little shocking to hear straight compliments, though it was not unwelcome. ¡°I¡¯ve gained a couple of percent since I last checked, but I think, if I go at my maximum with both my Focus and my Path... I¡¯d be a little faster than a Peak Foundation stage. But I can¡¯t maintain that for very long, here.¡± At this, Aella¡¯s yellow-blonde eyebrows rose and she actually looked impressed. ¡°Normally I¡¯d say it wasn¡¯t much use if it doesn¡¯t last... but most fights are decided quickly. Being able to take half a step into the Pinnacle will turn many a loss into victory. I¡¯m proud of you, Hunter. I¡¯d be prouder if you¡¯d kept up with your chain training though. Ha!¡± I risked a sheepish shrug, keeping in mind her admonition to have more pride; I knew she was maybe irritated, but she did not seem angry about my lack. At least since she discovered the other progress I had made. I was about to ask Aella if we could perhaps do some chain training then and there, but I was interrupted by a sudden snap and a gust of wind as the tall dark form of my mentor appeared in the room with us.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Aella, we must go. Word arrived that Ben Won Ro has been attacked again; he fought them off, but if this is the Risen Throne, it may be our chance to root them out in the Everwood.¡± ¡°Wait, Ro was attacked again? I thought they¡¯d given up on the pill. Is he alright?¡± Aella had merely nodded at the news and was already running for the door. As I finished speaking, she shouted back over one shoulder. ¡°Practice more! Next time we meet, I¡¯ll be at the Pinnacle, and you¡¯ll be going all out! Ha!¡± I blinked as she vanished around a corner, just avoiding a collision with a passing risi in deep blue robes. ¡°Ben Won Ro is fine, as is Tang. Ro is near the point that he might Ascend; they were foolish to test him.¡± ¡°It seems suspicious that¡¯d they do it; when they took me and Tang, they waited for the two of you to be far away. Could it be some sort of trap?¡± ¡°If it is a trap, they will not like what they catch. But I suspect something has driven them to it.¡± ¡°But what? Returning the egg? That was more than a month ago, and they seem may more able to move about, with that hole-thing they use. They should have known almost immediately.¡± ¡°I do not know. Perhaps they were unaware that the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill was not to become available to the wider Association, and upon realising that this was an opportunity missed, rather than delayed, they sought to gain access once more.¡± ¡°The water pill ¨C the pill Ro invented that hydrates you. It¡¯s awesome, and it¡¯s for sale here now, not just at his shop. Maybe they heard it was his creation, and since it arrived, and not the... other pill, they realised it wasn¡¯t going to?¡± ¡°It is possible. I wonder at their motives; their actions seem almost random, but our information is limited. It is impossible to know where else they might be acting. I will capture them alive, this time. And they will answer my questions.¡± Walker¡¯s voice was cold enough to send a chill running down my spine; it was rare that I heard this side of him, the big notable occasions being the day I met him, and the day we had invaded the Risen Throne¡¯s compound. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Aella walked back into the room with us, her pastel-yellow short kimono switched out for more rugged looking clothing. ¡°It will take a minimum of a week for Jorl to transport you to the prison, and your... mission encompasses almost a year. I do not know when we will next meet, Hunter. You have grown a lot in the months since we met, I look forward to seeing where you stand on your return. Perhaps you could refrain from visiting any more worlds, until then? The delay in my coming to retrieve you could be substantially longer, next time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never once planned on ending up on another world. It¡¯s an accident every time, but you can believe me, I won¡¯t be playing with locks, or jumping through any more holes in reality. Unless... the world depends on it, I guess.¡± Walker gave me a wry look - somehow ¨C from behind his blindfold. I grinned back, but it faded when I recalled Xiournal¡¯s warning. But I would cross that bridge when I came to it, if it really came down to me or the world, I would probably choose the world. Being alive does not do much good if you do not have anywhere to exist... ¡°Get better and do not lose any more limbs. It was a good excuse ¨C once - but if it happens again, I will begin to think it is on purpose.¡± ¡°It was nice seeing you again as well, Teacher. Good luck, back in Everwood City ¨C I''m going to try to come and visit after I get this mission over with.¡± With a nod, Aella turned to Walker before they both nodded to me and turned to leave. I returned the nod, feeling a little conflicted to be seeing my friends leave again. My new life was almost infinitely interesting ¨C when not staring at identical walls for a month. It was exciting, and challenging and beautiful. But I had spent most of my time rushing from place to place, and in that moment, I wanted a chance to settle in to one place for a while; I was already well ahead of where I was expected to be in my cultivation, by normal standards. There was no rush. Other than my timers. When I had been offered the choice of going back and dropping down a plane, or serving the Ascended dragon-lady indefinitely, it had seemed like an easy decision, and I did not regret it. I did regret the ¡®indefinite¡¯ clause though. I knew if I ever wanted to really relax, I would either need to complete all of my tasks ¨C which seemed unlikely, given she had apparently been saving them up for a while ¨C or renegotiate my contract. Or Ascend. Of course, it was not the first time that this had occurred to me, and I had no more of a notion as to how I could go about renegotiating more than I did the other times, but maybe I was being silly, maybe the manipulative quest-giver would be open to it. As Walker and Aella disappeared around the corner, I glanced around to confirm that nobody was present and spoke softly, confident that I would be heard by the right person. ¡°Hey, uh, Xiournal? Any chance we could talk? I¡¯d really like to talk about my contract, and the whole, ¡®other worlds¡¯ thing.¡± I waited for several moments, looking up at the ceiling, but I received no response, not even the presence of the smoky tablet that usually showed up when I spoke her name. With a sigh, I went looking for my other friends, hands in my pockets as I thought about the possibilities. Xiournal had said she was not allowed to give me any specific information, so maybe that was why I was not getting a response; maybe she was not just ignoring me. I would keep trying, and again after I - hopefully ¨C completed my current job. And if all else failed, I would just find a way to visit another world... with a plan for getting back. Forcing the issue with my pseudo-divine patron might not be the wisest course of action, but I was about done with being passive. It was how I had been in my past life, and it had sucked. But I had sworn to myself many times on my new world, that I would move forward, seize the day and hesitate.... less. After all, as the saying goes, grow or die. That was true on Earth, and even more so on my adopted home, where growth was a more literal proposition. So, if had to risk death to gain a little space, then I would risk it. Angel Eyes By the time I remembered that I had questions for Walker, he and Aella were long gone. Slapping myself in the forehead, I went over what I still needed to do in my head, but quickly came to realise that I had done everything I needed to do before we¡¯d leave ¨C I had topped up my supply of alchemical potions and pills, purchased emergency clothing, given Gia her message, and Sonja the body to study. Which left me with nothing much to do; I had expected practice and subsequent discussions to take significantly longer than they had, leaving me somewhere in the late afternoon at a loose end. For a moment, I considered going to find Toria to take her up on the offered spar, but quickly dismissed the idea, as she was likely staying in the giant wheeled palace, and I had no interest in running into Chian, Kestin or... pretty much anybody else involved in her religion. While I knew that the Apex of the Sun¡¯s Judgement and Kestin were not necessarily representative of the entire religion ¨C especially given there was no direct contact with the gods ¨C neither one of them had made a favourable impression. There was also the fact that, as I understood it, the way a person became a Paladin ¨C or a person of any real tank in a religion there ¨C was by integrating some kind of divine spark, which was only available when a person was truly in line with a deity. Which in turn probably meant Weilou was a real asshole. I set off to find my friends, but stopped before I made it out of the room; I had no idea where any of them where, and it was not like the Blacksand Citadel was a small place. On my last visit, we had mostly met at agreed upon places at agreed upon times, but we had utterly failed to make any such plans on that day, which I attributed to the sheer amount of things going on, and the fact that we had spent a good while within a few hundred feet of each other. You do not need to arrange when you are sleeping within a few feet of each other. It also occurred to me that while we had agreed to fly with ¨C I was starting to suspect I was doomed to spend a lot of time inside people - the Apex of the Crystal Drake the next day, we also had not determined where or when... Maybe potentially limitless lifespans made planning ahead less important? Still, as somebody who had only been on that track for less than half a year, I should be doing better. But there was a solution, though it was only available because my ride was an Apex. ¡°Uh, Jorl? You Apex of the Crystal Drakeness?¡± I felt his attention focus on me, like an entire hall of people turning to look at me at once, and listening. ¡°Ugh, what time are we supposed to meet tomorrow? And where?¡± Images and sensations ¨C supposedly muted by my Agency ¨C flowed about me, flitting into my mind and giving the impression of a rising sun and sand beneath vast doors. ¡°Outside the main gates, at dawn?¡± I felt a phantom slap on my back that made me want to stumble, followed by the sensation of a heavy guffaw, before the attention relaxed and faded to nothing. ¡°Right then. Thanks!¡± Not knowing what to do with myself, I decided to get some practice in - I knew I would have about a week before we arrived at the prison, which was plenty of time to cultivate, and with the added Experience of flying - inside ¨C a giant crystal dragon! That was not something that happened every day, even on a world so packed with wonders. * *** * I woke up well before dawn, as I most often did by now, given my decreased need for sleep. But unlike most days, when I emerged from sleep on that day, I felt a tingle of excitement inside. Even with as spectacular as my adopted home was, most of my days had been traveling or trepidation, with the truly invigorating things coming as surprises, not presenting me with the opportunity to anticipate. But there I was, waking up to go dragon-riding, to visit the prison of a world-killer, and despite the gravity of the situation, I could not help but grin as I shot out of bed. I had almost a year to stop it, which meant I had plenty of time to enjoy beforehand. Dressing quickly, I made sure I had everything in my rings, and not wanting to wait, ran for the nearest moving platform to begin making my way down to the ground floor. When I arrived, I was only slightly surprised to find my friends waiting for me, though I was significantly more surprised to see Riffa standing next to her brother. Of course, Toria was nowhere to be seen, and I suspected she was still within the golden palace. Probably being lectured, as Chian seemed the type. Walking over to the group, smiling in greeting. It was strange to me how quickly I had grown used to seeing them every day, to the point that even my sojourn to another world for weeks on end had not really shifted the expectation. ¡°Hey, guys! I wasn¡¯t expecting you, Riffa; I guess you managed to convince your brother again?¡± ¡°In marked happiness, I was unable to convince our elder brother this time, Hunter. It was Reff on this occasion who stepped in to argue for my presence.¡± I blinked in momentary shock; the first time we had headed together, Reff had gone out of his way to dissuade his little sister from accompanying us, even to the point of having the two of us spar. I had to wonder what had changed, since if anything this was likely to be more dangerous than the last time. ¡°With partial falsehood, I believe it will be good for Riffa¡¯s growth. You have a tendency to attract unexpected situations, Hunter. In addition, my sister¡¯s sand sculptures were of assistance on multiple occasions.¡± It was not hard to see the big guy was hiding something, and not simply because he literally started by saying so. Reff¡¯s tone had that weird tone people get when they¡¯re trying to be overly convincing, even if it was somewhat muted by his relative lack of expression. To me, it said simply that he had become as used to having his little sister around as I had all of them, and he just wanted to spend more time with her. It was sweet, but also a clear indication that he had more respect for her strength than he had before. I felt my smile widen into a grin and I slapped my giant fiend on the leg, to which he raised one perfect black eyebrow at me. ¡°It¡¯ll be good to have you with us again, Riffa. Somebody¡¯s got to keep Reff in check; all the joking and tantrums just get out of hand when you¡¯re not around.¡± I heard Darina snort, though Riffa merely nodded and took what I said at face value. It still amazed me that they considered my friend¡¯s behaviour to be anything but exemplary; I had seen him enraged, and it was still pretty sedate compared to people. I had also sort of seen his brother Raaf express anger, though it was tough to call a giant stone hand rising from the floor really seeing him. But it at least showed that a temper ¨C however minor ¨C ran in the family. And it was not as if I had never seen Riffa herself cut loose a little. It made me wonder if there was more to Reff¡¯s supposed rage that I had yet to see, or whether there were subtleties at play that I was simply not picking up.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Did you guys already say goodbye to your brother and Master? Walker had to leave suddenly with Aella yesterday.¡± ¡°With careful tact, our brother was... most vexed with us, after the effort we put forward in convincing him.¡± I tried to imagine the siblings calmly hassling their older brother in even tones and almost laughed at the image popped into my head. I imagined it had probably taken a lot of very level badgering. ¡°My Master gave me some pointers on how to further Integrate my Exemplar last night, but left with the Apex of the Wild Bounty for the Sha Forest shortly after. I think they were spurred on by the event that caused the Apex of the Infinite Blades to leave.¡± I nodded slowly at that, thinking that the open and direct attack on a highly placed member of the Association marked a clear step-up in the Risen Throne¡¯s behaviour. They had attacked before, but it had been on Tang and I, they had not dared strike Ro directly. I did not think they would dare try for the phoenix egg again, since they had thrown a significant force at the endeavour before and clearly failed, but perhaps a strike at the Association¡¯s presence there? They clearly had an interest in Alchemy, and it made sense that if they were going to openly go to war with the Association, they would try to get all they could before the alchemists could organise a counter. ¡°I guess it¡¯s just us then. Should we wait for Toria to come out of the palace, or wait outside? It¡¯s still at least an hour until dawn.¡± ¡°We should wait outside; if the Apex of the Crystal Drake arrives early, then we can leave early. I understand that your highly suspicious messenger says we have almost a year, but sooner is better. The attack on the phoenix Elder came sooner than the limit given, as did the attacks on Honoured Alchemist Ben Won Ro, in which you were kidnapped, correct?¡± I felt myself begin to sweat as Darina spoke; it was something I had not really thought about, but the time limit given by Xiournal often had their conclusions after the actual events. My first mission had come to an end while I had been on another world, well over a week after I hid the pill and thwarted the Risen Throne¡¯s attempts at taking it. And that timer had not been long at all. It was possible the attempt to free or kill the Multiplicious Self would come far sooner than I had been thinking. ¡°Shit. You¡¯re right, let¡¯s wait outside.¡± The four of us moved outside, the many-tiered gate sliding open without a sound as a guard waved us through. As we stepped outside, I had yet another surprise waiting for me, as I saw Toria stood with her hands clasped behind her back and wearing a fresh golden breastplate that reflected the still flowing lights of the blacksand back at us. As we walked over, the woman turned and greeted us with a short nod. I was about to wave back when a gale from above us pushed the clinging mist of the desert night out in a circle, along with a wave of sand that had us shielding out eyes. When the wind had passed, we peeked out from behind our hands to see Jorl Snowblinder standing in the centre of the slowly filling circle of mist, massive crystal wings stretching out from his back. ¡°Good! You¡¯re all here. I know it¡¯s early, but we should get going. The Risen Throne have stepped up their attacks, and we think they might be trying to distract us. The others are slapping themselves over agreeing to our going, as it has been pointed out to me that if I go at my top speed, you will all likely die. So... two weeks. I think Ai¡¯rong would have gone himself anyway, but... something came up. Ugh!¡± The deluge of words came out of Jorl rapidly, and it was the most I had heard the man say. Unlike the other times I heard him speak, there was a slight accent to his words, though not one I could place, as he was speaking too fast, almost yelling into the rainbow night. There was a snap and another ¨C smaller ¨C gust of wind and Jorl vanished and reappeared a distance away, tiny only visible at a glance because of the line of disturbed sand pointing right at him. There was a sound like creaking ice and from the point at which he stood the dragon my friends and I had seen outside of the Sha Forest began to form, growing deceptively fast until it stood over us, colossal even beside the enormity of the Blacksand Citadel. As we watched, the crystalline leviathan bent down so that its head was close to the ground, and in what seemed like it was meant to be a whisper, spoke. ¡°Come on, get in my mouth, I made a space for you inside. We¡¯re wasting time!¡± I say it was meant to be a whisper, because I was fairly sure the sibilant roar must have awoken any still sleeping souls in the tower, and maybe even Everwood City. My ears ached at the pressure, and the words were barely discernible from the distortion. Not overly keen on climbing into a giant dragon¡¯s mouth ¨C or spending much more time inside somebody ¨C I hesitated, looking at my friends, and Toria. They seemed almost as trepidatious as I was, but as we glanced between us, I saw them square their shoulders and begin to run towards the crystal maw. With a shrug, I shook myself free of the distaste I felt about it, and ran after them. As we approached the mouth, I saw that the surface of the dragon was cut into careful facets, trillions of reflecting faces scattering and refracting the light. It was amazing, and beautiful, and made only slightly less so by two eyes staring down at us, each bigger than a large house. Coming close to the tongue, we stopped and I considered the best way of entering; I did not know if the Apex could feel with the crystal, or if he would be comfortable with us clambering over his tongue. Luckily, as I stared up at the issue, the tongue itself seemed to melt and flow, forming a staircase of carefully angled cut. The five us shared another glance, at which I caught the huge eyes rolling. With a grin, I stepped out in front and with only a minor hesitation, began the long climb. * *** * Eight days had passed in the belly ¨C or chest compartment ¨C of the dragon. The Apex had created a number of sleeping chambers and a central meeting space within his town-sized chest, though with it all being clear crystal, there was little privacy to be had. The refractory nature of the internal structure had been something of a surprise when I had first entered my own sleeping chamber to find the image of Darina somehow on the ceiling and three of the four walls. A quiet word to Jorl had caused him to shift his innards slightly to remove the strange trick of light, which I was very grateful for. I could only imagine what strangeness the others were experiencing in their own rooms. The floor was the only part of the smallish complex of rooms that was perfectly clear, and it was truly breath-taking to look down and see the world as if nothing stood between us but empty air. I could see the world curve off in every direction, and remembering what the Apex had said about low orbit, I concluded that the planet must be truly vast in a way that had not been readily apparent to me. It was one thing to try to compare speed and time to get distance, but it was another look down as the ground fell away and truly see it. I did not know quite how fast we were traveling ¨C the height made such things deceptive, but I was certain we flew over the Sha Forest the day after we left, a patch of dark green that appeared the same size as my palm. And in comparison to the rest of the world, barely any distance at all from where we had started. I had been meditating daily, and had been topped up for days, the spectacular views providing an Experience that drew in the energy of the world at almost the same pace I had experienced on the dead world. None of us had quite worked up the nerve to practice inside the dragon, but as we were all somewhat occupied with taking in the world below, it had not been boring by any stretch of the imagination. Stretching as I rose from my strangely comfortable crystal bed, I looked down at the ground below with a smile before turning my eyes up to the stairs that shone above. I stayed like that for a long minute, until I found my vision disturbed by the appearance of a crystal tablet, smoky and grey in colour as opposed to the clean transparency of the Apex¡¯s crystal body. What I saw written in dark script made me break out in a cold sweat, despite my inability to feel cold.
Assignment Received... Difficulty B+¡­ Time Limit: 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes.
Prevent the escape of Anan Al¡¯monhad.
Bonus Reward: Prevent the death of Anan Al¡¯monhad.
Status: Failed.
Interlude 3 - The Hollow Years Deiry lounged on a golden cloud, his white robes and hair shaking as he laughed. Opposite of him floated a living star, its face carved from motes of light that would have been blinding if they had both not been Ascended. ¡°Kro¡¯ni¡¯khoal, I wish I had your Agents. They all seem so... Competent. And obedient.¡± ¡°Your latest pick seems to be adequately successful, Deiry. Usually your Agents are... reluctant, at best.¡± ¡°Bah. He had something wrong with his brain in his last life, made him difficult to intimidate, but he was open to a deal. I even agreed, if only to shut those Void blasted gods up. I am glad there are no Greater gods on any of my worlds, I¡¯m not sure the headache would be worth it.¡± ¡°You should make more deals; you catch more flies with a carefully constructed honey trap than with a mass acceleration cannon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say, all of your worlds share the same empire, so you can have them work together. Which, by the way, I still want to know how you managed that. Quetzalcoatl is not usually open to bribes.¡± ¡°Pure coincidence.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure. Either way, I prefer my Agents be self-motivated, not bribed.¡± ¡°You say that, but you either end up with people who do the least possible or people too terrified to think.¡± ¡°At least I don¡¯t pretend to be an idiot like that damn dragon. It¡¯s undignified.¡± ¡°But effective. She does a good job structuring her assignments to meet multiple goals, plans where she dumps her Agents in advance to give them a leg up. You can¡¯t argue with the results.¡± ¡°Bah. She has just as much trouble; did you hear her latest acquisition has been hopping between worlds? Having our own gods chatter away at us is one thing, but can you imagine being yelled at by gods you¡¯re not being paid by to listen to?¡± ¡°I did! He met up with part of my empire on some dead world. The local gods were so irritated by having people on their seed that they started a war. Lots of Aspirants died, the atmosphere was unbreathable. Single Coward made it through with a few Aspirants, but they mostly got slaughtered. Looks like this Agent might spark a new system, despite being picked.¡± Deiry rolled his glowing eyes, annoyed that even when Xiournal got a trouble maker, they still ended up doing a good job. ¡°Well, my latest Agent is making great strides ¨C coming up on Monarch in the blink of an eye. He¡¯s just completed my first task ¨C a major task, not the piddling things the dragoness assigns ¨C and I¡¯ve sent the next one. Taking out a Coward.¡± ¡°You think he¡¯ll be able to take out a Coward? Too scared to Ascend they might be, but they¡¯re not weak, at least on the Aspirant plane.¡± ¡°I have every confidence... And even if he fails, it serves him right for forcing me into a deal. And it¡¯ll give the Coward a false sense of security for my next Agent. Plans within pla- BLASTED VOID, the idiot just killed himself.¡± ¡°What, he slit his wrists? Why?¡± ¡°No, the idiot tried to reach Monarch but skipped a step. Hmm. He¡¯s dead, but he¡¯ll probably come back in a few minutes ¨C he seems to have taken precautions. So, not as bad as it could be. Wait, where¡¯s his soul? There¡¯s a link, but it stretches into the River and down past the Origin. What in the Planes is going on?!¡± *** ** * William looked down at the body at his feet, bright blood standing out in the dull night. He had been in Purgatory for ten years, the inching of energy in his connection to the body he had left behind, adding a degree of constant torture compared to what the other residents experienced. Or so they had told him. It had been a difficult decade, fighting to escape the grim confines of a world supposedly designed to teach people a lesson. Before he had been tricked into ending his own life, William had grown by refining his control and expanding his undead army. But here in Purgatory he had no control of the dead; the dead rarely had the energy to facilitate his abilities, and when they did, he dared not use it so frivolously. Energy was life, in Purgatory. There was a second energy in the air and earth of that bleak prison, an anti-energy that ate at the world around it, ate the energy and replaced it with its own dark weight. And weight was literal in this case. William had discovered that if you allowed the anti-energy ¨C the Apathy as the locals called it ¨C to fully replace your positive reserves you simply... dropped through the world. To resist the devouring efforts of Apathy, you could either fight, to live, to feel... or you could take it from those who did. Or newcomers. This was the option William chose, in the slightly darker hours of his first night when a group of like-minded individuals had sought his own freshly arrived energy. His Soul Constructs, no-longer the sparking silver of soul-matter, now showing a dull grey, caught them unawares. The constructs themselves, though having lost both their lustre and some of their resilience, had gained something else, it had seemed; they drained a person directly.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. All of his fights, over the coming days, weeks months and years had not been that easy, of course. While the Apathy dulled emotion ¨C a sensation much familiar and strangely comforting for William ¨C it did seem to make a person stronger, faster. It appeared to remove the mortal limits of the human ¨C or in-human ¨C body, even as it ate away Experience. The former Agent was stronger after ten years in Purgatory than he had ever been, and the fresh corpse of some petty gang leader at his feet was proof of that. The man had been in Purgatory for a century, according to him, and his Apathy was vast, eclipsing the flicker of light hidden in his core. A cold smile quirked the corners of William¡¯s mouth as both rushed into him. He knew he was walking a tightrope, but as long as he kept absorbing positive energy, it should be enough to prevent whatever process dragged people down. At least according to the amount of thought he and his Manifold Mind had been able to put into the matter, using all available information. Nobody actually knew what was happening when people dropped, but there were rumours of things occasionally rising, darker than night to rip and tear before being dragged back below. Demons, they called them in huddled whispers, crowded around the tenuous torchlight of bonfires in a desperate attempt to drive back the pervading cold and the crawling dread. Purgatory was meant to be a lesson, and it was one William was learning ¨C or re-learning ¨C well. It may not have been the lesson the place was meant to teach, but as the instructions provided were limited to a single plaque and vague rumours, the former Monarch felt safe enough. Turning from the body, William walked away, the ragged layers of stolen robes girding him against the cold. The world he found himself on was cold during the day, but it was freezing at night; enough to kill the unwary. Fresh residents often died on their first day, either through being caught unawares by the setting sun or the various forms of... predation. It seemed a person lost their need to eat if they reached high enough levels of either positive or negative energy, but before then, those that did survive the first night ¨C the first few nights ¨C tended to eat those that did not. The dim red light and frequent drops below freezing were not, as it turned out, conducive to growing food. As he turned a corner, the body vanishing from sight, William heard the tell-tale patter of rag-laden feet followed by the distinctive wet tearing of ripping flesh. He remembered doing the same thing on his first night, before he had drained sufficient quantities of both energies. He recalled the taste of cooling flesh and congealing blood. He had learned his lessons, but they were not all quite as enjoyable as others. It took an hour to make it back to the building William and his gang had taken over, the time spent traveling filled with hungry or assessing gazes as those they passed tried to judge how easy he would be to kill, and how worth doing so would be. None of them attacked; to most of them, the mental chill that came with the influx of Apathy was a new thing, but William had been born with it, and while he had been having... issues before he died a second time, here in Purgatory, he felt like himself again. The building they had settled in was relatively small ¨C much smaller than a gang of their size would normally settle on ¨C but what it lacked in size it made up for in defensibility and heat. The squat cube of glossy stone stood wedged between other buildings, surrounded on three sides with thick walls, and the only entrance being down a long alley with no other doors or windows. The surrounding buildings were both taller and overhung at strange angles, each filled with thousands of people, all running bonfires. As he approached the narrow alley, William heard a commotion coming from up ahead, strangely muted echoes breaking out and bouncing around him; the sound of fear filled yells. With a raised eyebrow, he broke out into a jog, pushing through the reinforced wooden door hard enough that it cracked against the stone on the other side. There was nobody on the ground floor, the room lit by a single torch of bone and rendered fat soaked into a rag. The smell was disgusting, but it was something you grew used to in Purgatory. Running now, William dashed up the steps, past three floors until he reached the highest, the floor where they kept a fire burning all through both day and night. Dozens of people normally huddled in that room, but as he emerged into it, he saw that most of those were now bodies, broken and scattered across the floor, which was a dark, muddy red. By the fire, a cloud of darkness roiled silently, the faint outline of a person ¨C or something shaped that way ¨C at its centre. Without a sound, the obscured figure turned, the black cloud eddying and somehow reaching towards him. William felt the moment his eyes met the gaze of... whatever it was. As the black surged in his direction, his two minds raced and almost as a reflex, he manifested a dull spike and accelerated it towards the demon. It could be nothing but a demon; in the decade William had spent eking out an existence, he had never seen anything like it, nor heard such a thing described. Something like that could not remain a secret, as least as long as any who knew of it remained amongst the living. The spike struck the cloud at the same moment it reached him. There was a feeling like being drained, and for a fraction of a second, William wondered if that was what the people he killed felt as they died, but then, as a vast empty void filled him and he felt his reserve of positive energy vanish, the floor beneath him fell away and he dropped. *** ** * The world was gone and William was blind ¨C or so it seemed at first. He floated within a void, rocks the size of planets littering the distance, only perceivable to him as black on black. Not quite sight, but somehow sensing them. He felt a hunger gnawing at him, the need to eat something as if he had not eaten in years. It was a pain both physical and spiritual. Sensing a presence nearby, William lashed out without thought, his body no-longer solid but amorphous and changeable as it stretched across the distance, moving through the emptiness like a squid as he wrapped himself around another shape - just like himself ¨C and began to rip it apart, the flicking silver light of its soul buoying him in the infinite black. Hand of Doom I read the notice over and over again, my heart hammering and my breath caught in my throat. Failed. I had failed the quest. It was the first time I it had happened to me, and for a moment I glanced up at the sky through the dragon¡¯s adamantine body, expecting to be struck down by a bolt of rainbow lightning, or to be whisked away into Xiournal¡¯s strange space-station looking office. But nothing happened. A minute passed, and then two without reprisal and I was about to call out for Jorl and the others when a new prompt in grey glass popped up in front of my eyes. I flinched, thinking the Ascended dragon had waited for my caution to fade before striking, but it was another quest, the same as any other.
Assignment Received... Difficulty C+¡­ Time Limit: 4 months, 12 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.
Minimise civilian deaths, where possible.
Bonus Reward: Locate Anan Al¡¯monhad.
Minimise civilian deaths? That was a pretty ominous mission, and given what I knew of the both the Risen Throne and the Multiplicitous Self, something that likely deserved more than a rating of C+ difficulty. Not wanting to waste any more time, I opened my mouth to shout. ¡°Jorl! I just got word that the Multiplicitous Self has escaped!¡± I caught a blur out of the corner of my eye, and the wall rippled as the Apex of the Crystal Drake stepped out of it, his normally jovial face hard and set. ¡°What do you mean, escaped?¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I know. Can we go faster?¡± ¡°We can. It¡¯ll hurt.¡± The Apex did not wait for assent, he just sent out a pulse of intent, indicating to all present that they were going to experience some unpleasantness. As the wave of implicit communication passed, the clear stuff of the dragon¡¯s body rose up to envelop me, and I had to assume the same was happening to my friends. As the crystal finished encasing me, I felt the world shift like I was being stepped on by a mountain, the pressure darkening my vision until, after only a few minutes, I simply passed out. * *** * I woke to a clouded sky and the worst headache I had ever experienced, a thundering rhythm that pulsed in time with the shadows tunnelling my sight. ¡°Don¡¯t move, you took a lot of damage, though less than the others.¡± The words were muffled, but I recognised Darina¡¯s voice as her face came into focus, the obscuring dimness retreating. I finally felt her hands on my chest as the headache faded sufficiently for me to feel the rest of my aching body. ¡°Oooow. Shit.¡± I summoned a healing pill into the hand opposite the young healer and with a groan of effort lifted it to my mouth, before stuffing it in my mouth and dry-swallowing it, before letting my arm flop back to the ground with a light thud. It had hurt, a lot, but not as much as when I had ruptured my channels. ¡°Idiot, I said not to move. You had some muscle death from restricted blood flow.¡± I chose not to say anything, deciding I should probably listen to my doctor. The effects of Darina¡¯s healing, the pill and their multiplicative effect when combined with my own Lesser Regeneration soon began to force the pain from my body as well as my head, and after a half an hour, the diminutive apprentice backed off and told me I should be okay to sit up. Doing so with a groan, I saw my other companions sat with their backs pressed against tall stones in a wide circle, like Stone Henge if it was three times as large. ¡°I healed the others first, as they were in much worse shape. You¡¯re lucky you heal as fast as you do; the others almost lost limbs.¡± ¡°Thanks, Darina. You¡¯re a lifesaver. Sonja would be proud.¡± Darina must have still been pretty concerned, as she did not even admonish me for referring to her master by her first name, without the title. I staggered to my feet and walked with Darina over to the others, sitting down with a sigh as they greeted me. ¡°Everybody okay? Well, I mean, as okay as can be expected? Jorl said that would hurt, but damn.¡± ¡°With careful understatement, it did indeed hurt somewhat. Are you aware of the reason for the sudden requirement for speed?¡± ¡°Jorl didn¡¯t tell you? Wait, where is Jorl?¡± ¡°The Ever Flowing was the only one of us awake on arrival, Nameless.¡± Tora had a trail of dried blood running from her nose, over her chin and down her neck that she had apparently not realised was there yet. I almost got irritated at her calling me Nameless, but it did not carry the same bite it did when used by Kestin; less of an insult than it was a description. Or a lack of one. Turning my head, I raised my eyebrows at Darina in question, but she just stared at me blankly for a moment. It was then that I realised how tired she looked. Her face was pale, far paler than normal and she had deep, dark bags under her red-rimmed eyes. It struck me that if she had been awake, she had likely been constantly healing herself for however long we had been travelling, after which she had then healed all four of us.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Darina, are you really alright? I know I said thank you already, but really, thank you. You must be almost out of Praxis.¡± The exhausted woman waved me off stubbornly, taking a deep steadying breath and straightening her back. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Darina sat, her words quickly proven false by a sudden sway, catching herself as she fell sideways. Scrambling over, I helped her sit straight concern making me forget my rapidly fading pain. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay to be drained after healing everyone, and that¡¯s not even counting however long we¡¯ve been traveling. Relax, sleep.¡± ¡°Two days. It took two days to get here once he sped up. He said he was sorry when we got here, but it would have taken longer to turn around, whatever that means. Then he vanished into a gateway like the one Walker brought you back through. Maybe I¡¯ll take a short nap...¡± I helped Darina lie down and she was asleep almost as soon as she was horizontal. Sitting back up, I looked around at the concerned faces and rubbed at my beard, thinking about what she had said. We had been on the eighth day when the quest failed, and he had been going slower so as not to injure us, but if I recalled, we were more than half-way through the journey at that point. It would have literally taken more time to go back and find help than to continue, given that the other Apexes would have scattered to the wind to in order to tend to their own tasks by that point. I mentally kicked myself for putting myself forward to tag along; if I had not, Bo Ai¡¯rong would have arrived well before the escape, though if Jorl had gone through a gate like the one Walker used, it was possible that the Risen Throne could have tunnelled in without ever actually being here, given their apparently ability to tunnel through reality. I recalled Walker saying the Multiplicitous Self was imprisoned in a demi-plane, but given the need to travel to that specific place, it seemed they did not think it possible to enter from elsewhere. Setting my self-recriminations aside, I turned my mental gaze forward; the past was the past and could not be changed. I would discover at some point how the feat was accomplished, and I could either sigh in relief or slap myself then. But until that time, I would move forward. Like lightning. ¡°If Jorl built a gate, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be back for a few days. Walker managed a second gate in a matter of hours, but that was under special circumstances ¨C the world we were on was really energy dense. I¡¯m pretty sure it normally takes a lot longer.¡± ¡°I have seen the Paladin use such gates, and it does indeed take days, or potentially weeks before it can be repeated.¡± I nodded at Toria and looked around; when I woke, my attention had been somewhat occupied by the sky, and then the giant stone circle, but now that I was paying attention, I saw that we were at the bottom of a wide forested valley, surrounded on three sides by barren looking hills that rose high enough to be viewable above the normal looking trees surrounding the circle. I say normal looking, because these were the first trees that I had come across that looked significantly smaller than your average redwood. The ones I could see ¨C those closest to the stones against which we rested - looked like some sort of oak; gnarled, twisted and ancient. Of course, it was impossible to know their exact age ¨C age was something my new home made difficult to discern by its very nature, but if the world had been treated as a whole the way the Sha Forest had, then they were at least 10,000 years old, though that did beg the question of why they weren¡¯t huge. Dismissing the trees for the moment, I looked beyond them to the barren hills; they looked like moorland, or heath, which made sense, given the grey skies and trees. I was no longer capable of feeling cold, but I noticed that my friends were wearing their heavier clothing. I could not tell what time it was, as the sun was hidden behind the dense grey clouds, so I had no idea if it was perhaps morning and the area would become warmer, or whether this was normal and the night would be cooler. I was considering pulling out the alchemical heating flask I still had from our trip to visit the phoenix ¨C it has not been necessary once we actually made it to the Sha Forest, even when there was a distant rumble of thunder and rain began to pour around us in huge, frigid drops that seemed to come down in a sheet. Darina must have been very tired, as she did not wake up, even as the rest of us scrambled to our feet. Stooping to pick the apprentice up, I moved a short distance to stand beneath one of the massive overarching stones that my companions had taken shelter under. Even though megaliths were tall, they did not provide great protection, as wind began to throw the downpour at us from an angle, but it did keep some of it off as Reff and Riffa quickly erected a truly huge tent to protect us from the thrashing rain. It did not take long to get the risi sized tent set up, and I quickly set Darina down inside one of them. Her robes were wet, but there was no way I was doing anything direct about that. Instead, I pulled the alchemical lamp out, added the activation liquid and set it down next to the unconscious apprentice, hoping the heat would dry her out. For my part, through my hair and beard were wet, it seemed my shiny new robes did not just divest themselves of sweat, blood and other viscera, but also water, which was very convenient, as it left me mostly dry. An hour or so passed, and I was growing drowsy from the heat in the tent ¨C Reff and Riffa were engaged in low conversation with Toria, and I was just contemplating taking a nap when my Instinctive Precognition triggered. It was the feature that seemed to engage the least for me, that told me when I was about to do something truly stupid. With a frown, I rubbed at my eyes and looked around to see if I could see anything wrong, but there did not seem to be any issues inside the tent. The rain was still drumming against the treated canvas, but I opened the flap and stepped back out into the torrent and looked around. Generally, beasts avoided our group, as we were pretty powerful, meaning it would take a very strong Foundation or Pinnacle beast, or group, to be brave enough to attack us, but there was always the possibility that there was such a creature or group wandering around. I thought that Jorl would have warned us if it had been dangerous, but given the fact that he had been in something of a rush, and enough time had passed for thing to have moved in from outside his sensory range, I checked the tree line. Spotting movement, a vague feeling of danger crept into me, like my Precognition was triggering on its lowest setting, and even before I made out who or what it was, I was yelling for the others. Reff, Riffa and Toria popped out of the tent, one after the other at my yell and I pointed at the trees where a group of people had emerged. Totally a dozen or so, I recognised only one of them and I felt my eyes narrow, even as I saw Reff tensing out of the corner of my eye. At the head of the group was V, my former torturer. A grim smile stretched across my face, because in that moment I knew something that he did not. The last time he and I had fought, I had not even been a peak Core stage cultivator, and my speed, even with my lightning urging me on was barely above that of one. But there and then? At my maximum output, I was faster than a peak Foundation stage cultivator. Payback time. End of the Beginning I took a step forward as the rain drained off my black robes, forgetting for a moment that only an hour or two before my body had been pretty much smashed. The twinge of pain as my friends and I moved out to meet them was a fairly solid reminder though... Trying to keep the grimace under control, I strove to keep my face locked into what I hoped was an intimidating frown. The pain sucked, but I had been through worse, and it did not seem to be inhibiting my movement at all. I could not speak for my friends, but even without my Lesser Regeneration, healing pills plus Darina was still pretty effective. I hoped V¡¯s companions would not be too strong, but I had faith in our group. Apexes did not seem to take chumps as apprentices. Well, I sort of had been when Walker picked me up but I seemed to be the exception. Our two groups approached each other as Reff caught Toria up on our shared history with V, his voice barely audible over the pounding rain. We each came to a stop when the gap between us was a couple of dozen feet, and V¡¯s head tilted to the side with a wide smile as he looked at us. ¡°Well! I must say that this is a happy coincidence! When I was instructed to watch this place, I was told that my impolite guest may show up, but I am truly pleased that it was true. With the Apex in the planar space, and my newly acute awareness of the mass the baihu can bring to bear, I dare say this meeting can provide great merriment. To me. Pity there are so few to play with...¡± I did not look back at the tent ¨C I did not want any of these people figuring out that Darina was there, or vulnerable and I hoped the others had the presence to do the same. Instead, I asked a question. ¡°You think this many is enough? We¡¯ve been kicking your sorry cult up and down this world. Have you actually won a fight against us?¡± V¡¯s smile flickered for a moment and I saw resentment ¨C a lot of it ¨C in his eyes, but he quickly schooled his expression before replying, his voice oily with fake friendliness. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have a convenient peak Foundation stage cultivator, and I won¡¯t allow your friends to sneak up on me again... oh, and I brought my friend Altin, the Diamond Titan. So, there¡¯s that.¡± V gestured at a man stood next to him who seemed fairly short to be called a titan at only about five and a half feet; he was not particularly wide or muscular either, so I inferred that he probably grew in some way. The way he said the name also seemed to suggest that this was more than some random mook, and he was at least Path stage, as he had a fancy cultivation name. That did pose something of an issue ¨C while I was very probably faster than V, I could not keep up with two of them, and I had been relying on Reff to give me a hand. Turning slightly, I spoke at a volume I hoped would be audible to my friends, and not to the enemy. ¡°I think I can take V, you guys concentrate the diamond guy and the others?¡± ¡°With purposeful quiet, I will try to take the others on with my puppets. They are approaching full independence.¡± That was good news ¨C Riffa''s puppets would help level the playing field, hopefully leaving V and Altin to the rest of us. ¡°Awesome. Let¡¯s be aware of each other¡¯s situations and not get too separated. Attack when I do?¡± There were murmurs of assent from my companions and I turned back, to our opposition, speaking loud enough again for my voice to cut through the rain. ¡°You obviously don¡¯t know much about Apexes; The Crystal Drake will be back any minute!¡± ¡°An unworthy try; my Master has made something of a stu-¡± I did not wait for him to finish; it was cheap, but the more socially rigid a society, the less they expected you to attack in the middle of a conversation, specifically while they were answering something you yourself said. With a flex of my will, I Focused as hard as I could, forcing the lightning to stay within the bounds of my channels; it was my vanilla lightning this time, as I had been practicing switching it over the day before the quest failed. The world slowed around me, but as I was keeping a lid on the showier part of my Focus, there was no external sign. Another flex of my will pushed Praxis through my Exemplar in a surge and as my compression aura sprang into being around me, I dragged it in close to me, and in the moment before I sprang forward, it appeared to me as though the rains about us was stood still, glittering jewels suspended in every direction. I could see the surprise form on V¡¯s face as I charged, but while I should be faster physically, he was still a Foundation stage cultivator and any speed advantage would probably be slim. The familiar sickly, mould green aura sprang up around him, lifting V off the ground as the humanoid lion took shape a fraction of a second before I reached him and drove my fist into his stomach. I felt the energy field give, but I could tell it had absorbed some of the blow, though I could not tell how much. Not stopping, I pivoted to drive my crystal hand into his face but Instinctive Precognition gave warning as his own claws came at me. Stepping back, I avoided the razor-sharp attack by inches, knowing that if he did manage to injure me, the necrotic nature of his abilities would likely take me out of the fight.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reff¡¯s now massive Mega-Form smash into the somewhat smaller form of the Diamond Titan, and I wondered if I had misconstrued their abilities slightly. Forcing my attention back to my own fight, too used to having a solid time advantage with which to become distracted, I dodged another blow from the green-cat, ducking down and driving a punch into the side of his knee, rolling with the momentum to avoid the counter from his descending claw. Spinning back to my feet a quick-step brought me forward as his off-hand was still stretched across his body, allowing me to deliver a quick jab at his face. I could tell he felt it, but while I was faster than him to that point, he still had the toughness and strength of somebody at least a stage above me, and that was not even including the fact that he was using Veritas rather than Praxis, meaning the energy form he was cocooned inside was an order higher than what I could output. I danced back as V spun out of his counter, his back leg coming around to lash at my face with a foot baring the same deadly claws as his hands. Ducking under the limb, I estimated I was moving about ten-percent faster than he was, which was a solid advantage, which when coupled with my prophetic reflexes would likely keep me safe until my Praxis ran dry. The issue was damage. Unlike the Fullmetal Asshole ¨C who had technically been a higher stage than me, if in another system ¨C V¡¯s advantage over me was universal, aside from speed. Unlike pretty much all of the other cultivators I had fought, this opponent had a solid layer of energy between me and him, which meant it probably cost him nothing to passively defend against my lightning. Which really only left me with one option. I heard a crash and felt the ground beneath me shake; risking a glance sideways, I saw Reff¡¯s massive molten form on its back a short distance away, a giant of dirty crystal stood where he had been. Most probably the Diamond Titan. I worried for half a moment, but I saw smoke rising from the huge body and figured that while he had thrown my friend off, just that contact had done damage. I had no idea if his body was really made from diamond, or a diamond-like material, or whether it was just an affectation for having a really hard body, but whatever it was, it seemed it could burn. I also caught sight of the forming bodies of Riffa¡¯s clones, and the strange line-like fire of Toria¡¯s own cultivation beginning to take shape as she moved ¨C still very slowly, to me ¨C around the battle. Precognitive reflexes kicked in and I sidestepped a claw, backing away in small, measured steps as I tried to avoid even a single potentially deadly cut. Mentally shaking myself, I got my head back in the fight and tried to come up with a way to win; I had become too arrogant it seemed in my fights with similar level people and systems that did not reinforce the body as heavily as cultivation did. My speed had become overwhelming, so here I was fighting on par with a true Foundation level opponent, but I knew that it was an illusion, that while speed was king, in that moment it was king of a fairly small nation. I took an opportunity to step past V¡¯s outstretched hand as he over-extended slightly, moving behind him and deciding that I was going to have to try my trump card. Flexing my will once more as he began to turn, I concentrated on my left arm, pushing everything I had into it, lightning and all. I felt the fuzzy feeling that came with the loss of control over my limb and there was a flash of light, arcs of lightning as thick as my waist and almost pure white hanging in the air for a fraction of a second as the world lurched into motion around me and V was sent rocketing away into the trees. I did not know exactly what the time compression on one of my echo punches was, but I knew it allowed for multiple strikes at what was effectively the same time. This meant that not only was I compounding the force of my blows, but also the amount of Praxis my lightning carried, made all the more potent by the efficiency with which my arm used the energy. Normally, a body of my level would not be able to handle the kind of stress generated by such an attack, but since from my perspective it was just... many single attacks rather than one large attack, it was, for all intents and purposes, cheating wildly. Of course, the attack had downsides; I could only use it once before having to wait for the backlash to settle, and while that time had decreased as my integration grew, it was still longer than most fights when fighting at super-speed. Not wasting anymore time, the world slowed back down as my Praxis returned to its usual patterns and I surveyed the battle. Riffa¡¯s clones were now engaged with the Risen Throne reinforcements, and Reff and Altin were smashing away at each other, seemingly at something of a stalemate. I did not know what I could do about that, as I had used my trump card and I did not think ¨C even at top speed ¨C I would be able to do much to multiple feet of solid diamond without it. Luckily, as I said before it seemed that diamond burned. Not only was Reff causing at least as much damage as he was taking, but the incandescent lines Toria left in place as she was propelled around the fight seemed to both stay in place and burn very hot. I watched as the crystal giant staggered back after one particularly hard kick, one of the traplines into the back of the colossal ankle was burned, causing the man to overbalance and fall. Blinking, I was very glad I had taken her out as quickly as I had in our bout ¨C that ability would push an opponent further and further into a corner, slowly ¨C or quickly for many ¨C trapping them. Now assured that my companions had the situation well in hand, I set off in the direction I had sent V, quickly leaving the fight behind. The man had escaped too many times, and though it did mean breaking my own admonition to stay together, I would be damned if I let him escape again when I finally had the advantage. Without knowing the specifics of my trump-card, I did not know exactly how much damage it had done to the higher-order cultivator, but given the fact it had literally exploded people before, I had high hopes of being able to finally put the sick, torturing bastard down. Paranoid I did not have to venture far from the battle; following the line of V¡¯s blurred departure, I quickly came upon a tree, splinters and bare wood evidence of an impact. I glanced around, looking for the tell-tale green glow, making sure to look up, but I saw not so much as a verdant glimmer through the hammering rain. I crouched down to see if I could see any tracks, but my nature-craft was probably one of the least impressive traits I possessed and quickly gave up on it. Turning, I ran back towards the fight, hoping the cunning torturer had doubled back. I knew that even if my blow ¨C or blows ¨C had not outright killed him, the combination of so much force into such a small place and time should have grievously injured him, and though I had certainly seen him retreat from defeat before, I hoped he had not left. Twice I had escaped him, and twice he had escaped; our score was even, but I still remembered the flesh being grated from my legs, and the metal spikes hammered through my flesh. I owed him, and while I had no plans to torture him ¨C no real plans ¨C I most certainly did not want him escaping again, and perhaps come back as a Pinnacle. No more than a tenth of a second had passed in real time, while I searched fruitlessly over the course of what had felt like several subjective minutes. I was half way back to the fight when my Instincts howled and threw me into a mad one-handed dive, half flip and half cartwheel. Landing on my feet a short distance away, I saw the green glow I had been looking for, now pulsing sporadically, almost guttering out before flaring bright again as energy sparked away, like drops of blood falling into the sky. V did not look good; his left arm seemed to be broken in several places, white bone sticking through the skin to shine eerily bright in the mouldy luminescence. Blood ¨C painted brown by the combination of colours ¨C matted his hair and ran down his face to vanish into the burgundy robes he worse. Even with the intervening distance, I could see clearly that one of his pupils was significantly wider than the other, and while I did not know what that specifically meant, knew it was not good. I jumped at him again, not wanting to give him more time to plan and he came to meet me; we exchanged blows, but unlike our first engagement, there was little control to V''s attacks, it was all savage swipes. While the wild attacks were easier to predict and dodge, the increased speed with which the torturer made them compensated for that somewhat. Surprisingly, the werelion even made use of his broken arm, the shattered limb encased in green energy as he seemed to simply ignore the pain. But even so, with my edge in speed and reaction times, I stayed well ahead, not taking a single injury from the leonine claws, stepping ahead and turning away at just the right time and angle, even as I peppered his uneven green armour with punch after punch, even finding the occasional gap wide enough to deliver kicks through. Despite my clear advantages, and the vindictive joy they brought me, I knew something was wrong. As I landed blow after blow, the injured man¡¯s smile only grew, a wide, mad grin that was reflected by the lion¡¯s head, revealing not the normal teeth one might expect from large cat, but instead thin, razor-sharp needles. I could not tell what was driving the torturer to smile so, but whatever it was would not prevent my victory; after another subjective minute or two of fighting, I landed a blow right as his energy form flickered out, a punch to the temple that landed unexpectedly, but hard enough to stagger the already damaged cultivator. Before he could recover, I pounded my fist into his temple twice more and then, grabbing his head I clenched myself into a knee-strike to his face. As my foot touched down on the ground, I saw wisps of green sparks begin to flicker, as if he was on the verge of recalling his protective layer. Unwilling to give him the chance, and still holding his head gripped between my hands, I concentrated my lightning on my hands, letting it run free, and as it surged I threw it at him; I could feel his Veritas rise to protect him, but he was already struggling with his concentration, and his attention was split between his own defence and rebuilding his armour, and while he almost brushed it aside, my Praxis surged. While it was finding its way to the earth, it burned him from within with a pale blue flame, his body lit with a fleshy red for a long moment before I cut it off, and let the corpse fall to the ground. I felt my Praxis, concerned that I was well below my half-way mark but knowing I could not afford to let up yet, as there was still potentially at least one other Foundation stage enemy in the fight. Turning back in the direction of the battle, they were easily spottable, even through the rain by the dull glow of Reff¡¯s Mega-form and Toria¡¯s brightly lit fire cables. In no time at all, I was back where I had started, and was relieved to see that everything had gone well in my absence; Reff stood over the very burnt form of the Diamond Titan, while Riffa¡¯s clones were just putting down the last of the Risen Throne cannon fodder, with Toria¡¯s scintillating cords weaving through the battlefield as she spun about, seeming to be on the lookout for other enemies. With a relieved sigh, I let my Focus drop and stepped off my Path as the world lurched into normal motion. I shouted waved at my companions, and seeing me, they each dropped their own abilities in turn. As the giant faded from existence and Reff placed his rocks back into storage, I walked over, crouching under a now-vanishing line of sparks, scratching idly at my right hand. ¡°With firm admonition, we agreed not to leave each other¡¯s sights, Hunter.¡± ¡°Sorry, Reff. I, uh, accidentally knocked V out of the area and went after him.¡± ¡°With impressed curiosity, did you succeed in defeating him, or did he escape once more?¡± ¡°I beat him. Crazy bastard was grinning the whole time, and it took something like three quarters of my Praxis, but I did it. Cored him out with my lightning. Smelled awful, I think I¡¯ll remember the smell of burning hair for the rest of my life.¡± ¡°It can be tough to take a life, but when Justice demands it, only the weak shy away.¡± I turned to see Toria and Riffa approaching; the clones had vanished into storage once more and the lines that propelled the religious apprentice around were completely gone, leaving us stood in the dim rain, mostly soaking and very definitely wasting the effort of staying dry earlier.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I don¡¯t like killing, but when it¡¯s me or them, I¡¯ll choose them. Still, sometimes I wish I¡¯d taken a less lethal Focus. But the past is past. I¡¯ll go get V¡¯s body, do you guys want to search these lot? Also, is this guy going to turn back, or is he just diamond? Is he even alive? He looks more like charcoal than diamond.¡± ¡°With keen regret, the Diamond Titan¡¯s body was such that I was unable to defeat him without ending his life, and such is the nature of his transformation that he has remained as you see.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s going to make it harder to bury.¡± ¡°With confused contradiction, the effort of moving the earth will be very simple for my brother and I, hunter.¡± ¡°Right you are, Riffa. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Leaving the site of the battle, relief and a certain kind of closure welling inside of me. I all but strolled back to where I had left V, feeling vindicated in the face of my former helplessness. As I approached, I had this strange feeling however, like the body would be gone, maybe leaving behind a cryptic note. The man¡¯s final smiles still made me suspicious, like he had been up to something, and maybe he had somehow cloned himself and fled. But no, the body lay where I had left it, still dead and the stench of burnt hair still hanging heavy in the air. I was glad ¨C mostly - though in amongst the more positive emotions ¨C and some of the darker ones ¨C I felt a pang of regret. I had killed... a lot of people since my arrival, and while the vast majority had been in self-defence, but while I had sometimes felt exhilarated at overcoming the challenge, or from emerging alive, I had never before been glad to have actually killed somebody. But V was different; he was a person who took pleasure in the torture of others, and seemed to have developed his Focus ¨C or Exemplar ¨C specifically for the purpose of inflicting maximum suffering, with his necrotising wounds. Still, what made me feel the worst was that while I did feel that regret, there wasn¡¯t a ton of it. My previous life had taught me that a person should feel nauseated, wretched after taking a life, but for all of that, I could not force myself to feel it. The world was simply a better place without that bastard running around it. I quickly searched the cooling corpse, holding my breath to gird myself against the miasma finding a pendant ¨C which I promptly blasted as hard as I could with lightning ¨C and an intricate storage ring which turned out have a great deal of internal space, only a small corner of it being taken up with clothing, supplies and what looked like alchemical equipment if the beakers and strange cauldron was anything to go by. The ring also contained a variety of cruel looking metal tools, which I almost dropped into the ground then and there when I recognised a ¨C if not the ¨C cheese grater like the one that had been used on me. But abhorrence was no excuse to litter; so far, the people of my new home seemed to do a far better job not polluting than my original had, so I decided to keep them until such a time as I could have them reforged into something less sociopathic. Spotting the tools did however prompt me to check the supplies and alchemical tools for any of the vials or syringes he had used on me. It took me a few minutes to sort through, cycling things out and into the rings, but eventually I did come across a single set. The first three did not really interest me, but the fourth ¨C the temporary immortality serum derived from the phoenix egg ¨C that could prove useful in any number of ways. It could allow me to ¨C eventually ¨C alter my channels, when I had some more research under my belt, and without the aid of a dedicated healer like the Mending Flesh. It could also just flat-out keep a person from dying, which seemed like a particularly useful thing to have on hand. Slipping off my boot, I slipped the ring onto a free toe, having already switched the phoenix serum to another ring. The new addition to me items-of-holding had even more space than the storage amulet I had purchased, leaving me with enough space that I could probably comfortably live in it, if I could combine them all. Slipping my boot back on, I went back to searching, finding a much smaller storage device around his neck, this one stuffed full of spirit coins. Deciding not to count right now, I slipped it around my own neck and moved on. Tucked into his outer robe, I found a small slightly crumpled note folded into thirds. Not wanting to risk ruining it in the rain, I stored the slip of paper and picked up the corpse and made my way back to my friends. By the time I made it back, still moving at a more sedate pace, it appeared that the others had finished searching the dozen or so mooks, and Reff was poking at the charred corpse. Setting my body down, I considered what he was doing for a moment before realising that the man¡¯s name might not have been figurative ¨C we might have a forty-foot body made from actual diamonds on our hands, if slightly charred. ¡°Reff, how much are diamonds worth? They¡¯re quite... well, not rare, but expensive when I¡¯m from.¡± ¡°In distracted explanation, they are usually not worth a great deal beyond certain alchemical uses, but this body seems to be more than mere diamond. While it still burned, it appears to have been invested with Veritas, and so may be worth significantly more. However, I cannot break it down without burning it further, and my storage device is not large enough.¡± I rubbed at my beard, wondering about the sudden trends I had of storing bodies and living inside of people before reaching down to tap the body, storing it in my necklace, and completely filling it. ¡°I got it. I just bought a new storage device before we left. I didn¡¯t expect to use it quite so soon. Luckily, V had one of his own, so I still have some spare room, in case we come across any more valuable giants. Which reminds me, I owe you, Riffa and Darina money for the hunting on the way back from the Sha Forest.¡± I slid a filament into one of the rings on my toes and was about to draw out the pouches I had the coins divided into when Reff held up his hand. ¡°With firm reluctance, there is no need. Sharing the sand shark¡¯s worth was one thing, Hunter, as we all assisted. But you killed the others on your own. I feel I can speak for all of us, when I say that we refuse to take money for something we had no hand in.¡± Pausing, I looked around for Riffa, only to find her a few steps away; I looked up at her head, high above mine and she gave me a firm nod. Reluctantly, I cut my filament off. ¡°If you¡¯re sure...¡± I felt bad, not sharing with my friends, but if they were refusing, there was nothing that could be done. I would confirm with Darina, but I had a feeling she would be on the same page, though it was sometimes difficult to tell with the tiny apprentice. ¡°Oh, V had a note. We should get inside so we can read it.¡± ¡°I will take first watch. It was foolish of us to all take shelter out of sight when we knew there may be enemies about. It was luck alone that... Hunter spotted them.¡± Toria joined us, speaking as she walked and I nodded; it had been foolish. I had become used to not requiring a watch again, but I knew it was something we were going to have to get used to again, at least until Jorl emerged from the prison. ¡°Good idea, Toria. I¡¯ll take second watch.¡± With nods, Reff, Riff and I piled into the tent as they pulled out their own alchemical flasks to further heat the interior and hopefully dry us off. Shaking some stiffness from my hand, I pulled the letter out and began to read. Call of the Wild
¡°Voran, Sometime in the coming months I suspect that one or more Apexes will arrive to investigate to Site 10294. The presence of our new Asset, once functional again, will inevitably result in such precautionary confirmation. As they are presently gathering for some meeting at Target 8, they will likely arrive from the South, so ensure you are at least 3 miles from Site 10294, on the North side of the valley. There is a small possibility they will show up sooner, as to this point there has been significant unforeseeable interference from both them and their minions; conspicuous in his presence is Irritation 516 ¨C should Irritation 516 arrive at Site 10294, it is unlikely that he will enter. If he is left without Apex protection, seek to recapture; there is something peculiar about him, and as such he may result in a useful Asset. Your inability to retain and recapture him has already resulted in the disruption of more than a dozen threads. ?D?I?S?R?U?P?T?E?D? ?T?H?R?E?A?D?S? ?A?N?D? ?U?N?F?O?R?S?E?E?A?B?L?E? ?T?H?I?N?S?G?S? ?C?A?N?N?O?T? ?B?E? ?T?O?L?E?R?A?T?E?D?!? ?W?e? ?w?i?l?l? ?p?l?u?c?k? ?y?o?u?,? ?a?n?d? ?m?a?k?e? ?y?o?u? ?u?s?e?f?u?l? ?i?f? ?y?o?u? ?f?a?i?l? ?a?g?a?i?n?!? ?D?e?a?t?h? ?c?a?n?n?o?t? ?p?r?o?t?e?c?t? ?y?o?u?,? ?w?i?l?l? ?n?o?t? ?k?e?e?p? ?u?s? ?f?r?o?m? ?y?o?u?.? Of course, he may not show up at all; it may be pure chance bringing him into our plans. If he is not in attendance, make a note of which Apex or Apexes arrive and have a runner take it to Site 829 for pickup. Once confirmation of identity has been sent, make your way to Sites 828 and 830 and begin plucking at those threads. The situation is not ideal, but there is sufficient slack within the plan to account for the disruption, provided Phase 18 is initiated on time. Irritation 52 and Threads 1522 through 9164 require personal attention, so transportation will be limited in the near future, and rescue from further imprisonments.... unlikely. DotRT.¡±
I read the letter out loud in the tent, one eyebrow raised at the threats in the middle ¨C they were written strangely, almost erratically, as if they had been added by somebody different than the writer of the text. I also ¨C and call me crazy for this ¨C thought that ¡®Irritation 516¡¯ might be referring to me. I wondered if it was numbered in order or how irritating a person or thing was, or whether it was in order of being encountered. If it was the former, I found myself suddenly wanting to meet five-hundred and fifteen people, just so I could figure out how I could be more annoying to the Risen Throne. The latter was less fun, but certainly indicated that whoever D of the Risen Throne was, they were both very irritable and prone to holding grudges. Of course, given the erratic threats, I assumed that D was The Shadow Faced Guy, though I thought my name for him more descriptive and decided to keep it. Although, to be fair, he had seemed to be a massive D... There was a lot to take in contained within the letter; besides the assumed reference to me, there were a lot of numbers, which suggested both a complex organization, as well as a ¨C hopefully ¨C overly complicated plan. Complicated plans were good, because they were easier to disrupt, having so many points of possible failure. Of course, it did seem like the Risen Throne had contingencies built in, but hopefully the number of points of redundancy were less than the points of failure. Either way, there was a Site within running distance, though on my new home that could mean anywhere within a hundred-thousand miles, depending on the speed of the runner. Hopefully they had sent ¨C assuming they had sent ¨C a Core or Path stage cultivator, as if it was a Foundation stage or above, that distance grew to... a lot more. ¡°With considered thought, beyond the acknowledgement that you ¨C and in turn we ¨C have indeed disrupted their plans to date, I am not sure this document is of much use to us.¡± Reff spoke softly, trying not to disturb the still sleeping Darina; I did not know of what use it was, if the battle involving giants stumbling about outside had not woken her, I doubted a level conversation would. ¡°With adamant disagreement, it shows us the breadth of their plans. The writer mentions many sites and threads ¨C thousands. This is not a small undertaking. It also shows that they have apparently planned for a certain number of failures. We can infer that this group has existed for a long time, to cover so much ground, both literal and metaphorical.¡± ¡°Riffa is right, this isn¡¯t a new group. Being able to cheat their way around the world may reduce the time needed to spread to the extent they have, but from this letter, Shade ¨C D ¨C may be the only one capable of it, and he evidently can¡¯t be in more than one place at once. Which, you know. Is good.¡± Part of what the Apexes had discussed had been whether the abilities shown by the Shadow Faced Guy were something like a system, akin to cultivation or any of the other apparently myriad methods of using Experience. I think they would be relieved that it was starting to look like it was just a single aberration. I wondered whether there were systems that popped up in individuals, through experimentation, or maybe mutations that never made it to the stage that they could be used en masse. And that was the moment I had something of a minor revelation; what if these abilities were not ¡®natural¡¯, but rather the result of an Agent being granted abilities? I wracked my mind trying to remember all of the choices, but I had spent maybe weeks making my first choices, looking through a near endless list of abilities. There was simply no way I could recall them all, but thinking back, none stood out as being able to generate portals, and as I thought about it, it seemed less and less likely. Xiournal seemed very keen on me not moving between worlds, though perhaps that might change if she needed me on another client planet. I growled in the privacy of my own mind; trying to second guess myself based on the attributed motivations of demi-divine beings was probably a good way to drive myself mad.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. If the Shadow Faced Guy was an Agent, despite my still imperfect memory of the available abilities, I was willing to bet that he was probably pretty far off-script. I had to imagine that one Ascended messing with another Ascended¡¯s efforts in this way would result in more of a direct conflict, rather than sort of just pointing me at them. Cracking the knuckles on my right hand to relieve some accumulated stiffness, I looked back at the letter, reading it once more in silence before looking back up to Reff and Riffa. ¡°Are there any cities or towns near here? Villages, sects, anything?¡± ¡°With frustrated regret, this is further than I have previously ventured, Hunter, and was unfortunately unconscious upon arrival, so I was unable to view the lands surrounding this location.¡± ¡°In resigned agreement, it is the same for me as it is for my brother, Hunter. Perhaps Darina will remember some features when she wakes, but otherwise we will likely need to wait for the Crystal Drake¡¯s return, unless a map of some kind can be found within the effects of the cultists.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point, Riffa. Can you two check that? I¡¯m going to scout around a little, make sure there aren¡¯t any more of them skulking about. If there are, knowing my luck, I¡¯ll run into them eventually.¡± Both of the risi offered me nods, and I handed them the letter to peruse at their own leisure before slipping out of the tent. I could see Toria standing a short distance away under another of the huge stone arches, and made my way over. I walked over through the rain, still damp from earlier, but with my ability to ignore the leaching chill, it felt more like a shower than rain, and without the gut reaction to get out of it, it was actually quite pleasant. ¡°Nam-Hunter... How is the Ever Flowing?¡± ¡°She seems fine, still sleeping. Hopefully she¡¯ll be up and about soon.¡± ¡°It must have been exhausting, to keep herself awake and then to heal us all, I can understand the necessity of sleep.¡± ¡°Yeah, it must have taken a lot of Praxis, and willpower.¡± We stood for a few moments as the rain fell around us, silent except for the white noise. ¡°I left the letter I found with Reff and Riffa, if you want to read it when you¡¯re watch is up. And if you looted anything from the Risen Throne, could you check for any maps? It¡¯s to do with the letter, you¡¯ll understand when you read it.¡± ¡°I have inventoried what I took from the dead, and found no map, though I did find an observation array which I suspect they used to keep watch on this stone circle from wherever they lay in wait.¡± ¡°Interesting. I wonder where outside the three-mile minimum they were stationed,¡± I saw Toria raise a black eyebrow at the mention of the minimum, and I went on to explain. ¡°They were told to stay at least three miles away from here. I can¡¯t tell how far away the hills are, scale is a whole issue here.¡± Tora gave me another questioning look, but I just waved it off; I did not want yet another person trying to dig into my past. Thankfully, Toria simply shrugged, seeming to dismiss the comment. ¡°I¡¯m going to scout a bit, make sure there aren¡¯t anymore. I¡¯ll start by heading off in the direction they came from, see if I can find their camp.¡± ¡°You are sufficiently re-filled from the fight?¡± I winced a little at the reminder ¨C I had done no active cultivation since the fight, too busy with other things, and as a result my stores of Praxis were basically where they had been, but it would likely take days of concerted effort to get myself back to full, and there may not be enough time if there were more of them out there. But I was at least confident that ¨C unless they had a Pinnacle stage, or another speed focused cultivator ¨C I would be able to get away from anybody trying to chase me. ¡°Not really, but I think I can probably get away from any trouble if I need to. I¡¯ll be careful.¡± ¡°You seem competent, so I will assume you know what you¡¯re doing.¡± I blinked, nonplussed for a moment at the easy acceptance of my - supposed ¨C competence, before I realised that she had only seen me kick-ass, to that point. She had not been present for any of the times it was my ass getting kicked, so it was a fairly natural assumption, and one I was not going to disabuse her of. I offered Tora a thumbs up ¨C which was met with a confused glance ¨C and jogged off into the trees. I chose not to use my abilities, wanting to refill my Praxis not spend it; instead, I relied on my normal core stage speed, which while still slow compared to what I was capable of, was also fifty times faster than a normal human. Which meant I could jog at about three-hundred miles an hour, though I chose to move considerably slower than that, as visibility wasn¡¯t great and the ground was slick with rain and flecked with protruding roots. I set a nice, casual pace of about a hundred miles per hour as I began to really absorb recent events; a lot had happened, since my last round of cultivation. Failing my quest, being knocked out by g-forces, the stone circle and the fight, and the stuff in the letter. As I internalised the lessons and Experiences, focusing on each moment, I felt energy flow into me as my Core thrummed pleasantly, the liquid, golden joy of cultivation washing through me. It did not take me long to reach the hills in the direction from which the Risen Throne had come, my climb beginning only fifteen or twenty minutes in, putting the hills at about thirty-miles distant. Within another five minutes, I was stood on their peaks, looking back in the direction I had come from. The stone circle was visible, though only vaguely at that distance, and I could see why they would need an array, or some other device to keep watch. Looking around for clues, I found nothing that gave any sign that anybody else had... ever... been present at my location. I spent half an hour walking back and forth across the hilly expanse, looking for depressions or any clues, but found nothing. I had just about made up my mind to circumnavigate the valley when another vague feeling of danger tingled its way up my spine; looking around quickly, I saw nothing, until I felt a vibration in the ground and a tunnel opened up less than a dozen feet from me. Out of the entrance emerged two people, a man and a woman of roughly equal height. I did not know with certainty that the two figures were part of the Risen Throne, by my Instinctive Precognition seemed to suggest there was danger present. ¡°Well now, it looks as though somebody is wandering where they shouldn¡¯t.¡± The man¡¯s voice was deep but casual, his tone almost friendly. ¡°Looks like one of the targets managed to get away from Voran; he¡¯ll be pretty mad, but pretty happy if we catch him...¡± I guessed they did not have a second array, or at least had not witnessed any part of the fight. I wished that I could tell what stage they were at, though it was unlikely that they were at the Foundation if they were looking to make V happy. ¡°Sorry to disappoint you, but V¡¯s dead. And the big diamond guy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bold claim to make; Voran said he knew everyone present and only one of them was at the Foundation. One Foundation and a bunch of Core of Paths against two and many?¡± The man still sounded like he was having a pleasant chat at a caf¨¦, though the woman¡¯s response was a little more strained. ¡°Still... it is strange that they¡¯re not back yet, Bient.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that strange, you know how much the boss likes to play.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, I suppos-¡± ¡°Hey, you two.¡± I clapped to get their attention, cutting them off. ¡°He¡¯s not torturing anybody, he¡¯s dead. How about you two tell me where... Site... eight... two... nine? Site eight-two-nine is?¡± That seemed to catch their attention, and I could practically see the gears turning in their heads as they considered what I had said. ¡°Well, if what you say is true ¨C and knowing about Site eight-two-nine certainly suggests that you do ¨C maybe we need to engage in a little torture. It¡¯s what Voran would have wanted.¡± Cant Get Close Enough Torture, as you might expect was something I was not terribly keen on; a lot of people objected to torture back on Earth, for fairly obvious reasons, but it was the kind of distaste that really settled in after you have actually been tortured. It was for this reason that when the male of the pair ¨C Bient ¨C made the comment about torture, I was in no mood for further conversation. Focusing, I ran towards the pair ¨C I was not at full power, I didn¡¯t know the relative strength of the two, but I did want to get an idea in case I had to run. I covered the short distance in an instant, but pulled myself to a painful stop as I Instinctively forced my body to absorb the momentum. I found myself at a dead stop, a few feet from them and looking around with confusion looking for the threat; I could not see it, and I had no control over my sudden stop, so my ability had clearly reacted to something but I could not see it. Reaching out cautiously, I felt a barrier of some kind just ahead of me, its surface perfectly slick and invisible. With a grimace, I flicked my eyes to the pair on the other side, one wearing a small smile and the other a quirked eyebrow as he pulled two knives from one of the many bandoliers I could then see strapped about his body. Not knowing whether the barriers would allow things to be thrown from the other side ¨C the breadth of cultivation really was a huge pain sometimes ¨C I leapt backwards, but found myself sliding sideways as my momentum was diverted by another frictionless surface behind me and I thudded into the ground. I was halfway to my feet when I saw the first knife coming and I was forced to awkwardly flip forward around the axis of my head to avoid being skewered, and then twice more to avoid the next two. By the end of the third flip, I was back on my feet and trying to dodge sideways to avoid yet another knife when I once more came into contact with the very annoying barrier. It did not seem like it was a dome, or any enclosure, but more like a series of manifestable walls, much like the barrier ability of the lizard-person I had killed on the dead world. Unfortunately, there was no ceiling here for me to take advantage of. Leaping straight up is usually a very stupid thing to do in most fights; unless you have some ability to maneuverer in mid-air, you become a very easy target, as your speed, angle and descent become fairly set. You can do some small things, but unless you have a long way to fall, you pretty much get what you started with. Against somebody that throws knives ¨C or any ranged opponent ¨C it is particularly stupid, because the thing with ranged attacks is ¨C obviously ¨C they do not need to be close to you in order to take advantage of it. Luckily for me, I could cheat. Stepping onto my path as my feet left the ground, I felt time slow around me, adding to the accelerated perception of my Focus and suddenly, I was rising through the air ¨C and then falling ¨C at a very unusual pace. As I had discovered on the dead world, having more time in which to act changed the way I moved; a person who jumped would cover a set distance before their momentum was arrested, and then they would fall at a set acceleration. My time compression meant that while this was still the same for me ¨C relatively speaking ¨C from the outside, I shot up ¨C and down ¨C many times faster than I should have. As I rose into the air, knives poured from Bient¡¯s hands one after another, each moving at a very respectable speed for what I then assumed to be a Path stage. But his face bore the tell-tale expression of irritation, and I could tell he was not used to missing so much. I grinned as I neared the floor, but that quickly fell away as Instinctive Precognition gibbered away in the back of my mind, warning me of danger but unable to guide me out of it. Wearing a frown in place of my grin, my feet touched down and instantly swept out from under me as the perfectly slick barrier between myself the ground diverted my feet behind me. Naturally, I held my hands out before me, but as they too hit the barrier, they were swept to the side and I found myself spinning in place, only the resistance of the air slowing me at all. And that was when the knives came back. When I say they came back, I do not mean that the man with an apparently un-ending number of them back throwing ¨C though he did ¨C I mean that they came back. As I spun in place, I caught sight of a glittering array of sharp edges spinning and diving towards me; all the knives that the bastard had thrown were apparently returning to him, by way of the place I occupied. I grabbed my Praxis with my will and roughly dragged it through my Focus and Exemplar as I felt my heart begin to race. In that moment, I did something I had only done by accident previously; I echoed my head. The world froze, coming to a stop far more absolute than what I experienced at even my fastest. I did this ¨C using my trump card on my mind rather than my attacks, because my reserves were getting very low, as low as they had been perhaps since my desperate fight in the Black, running on the fumes contained in my extended channels. Getting anywhere near this amount of time for my full body would have drained me dry in moments, but by focusing my compression on my head... I got wholesale time at cut-rate prices. I eyed the oncoming murder of flying knives and considered my options carefully; The last time I had done this, it had lasted a long time ¨C relatively ¨C but my Exemplar was almost thirty-times as complete as it was then, and the improvement seemed linear. Remembering that experience, however, I made sure not to attempt to move anything below my neck; I would only get one chance to get this right, and anything else was probably my own ¨C well deserved ¨C death.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I was on a surface that completely nullified any advantage I had in terms of movement speed, but moving fast along the ground was not all I could do. I needed to borrow some momentum, and make use of a point of leverage not affected by the barrier. Having no idea how far the thing extended, I was left with three possible methods of avoiding the rushing metal and escaping the trap: I could pull my chain from storage and attempt to use it to anchor me beyond the scope of the field. This had some merit, but again, not knowing the scope of the platform meant this was only a chance. If it extended further than my chain could reach, I was done. The same could be said ¨C and even more so ¨C about my second option, using my sword. My sword had far less reach than my chain, but it did have the potential to penetrate the barrier to provide the needed leverage, but this was pure hypothesis ¨C there was simply no way I could know. Which left my third option ¨C using the knives themselves. The knives ¨C currently held motionless in time ¨C were not evenly spaced, or all in a line, but appeared to be returning in the order they had been thrown. They were also being returned by some force, conforming to Newton¡¯s Laws of Motion. A normal knife, traveling at normal knife speeds would not provide much hope for escape, but magically supported and guided knives might contain enough force to free myself. It seemed like my best option, though I still planned to couple it with my chain ¨C just in case. I spent a few minutes checking angles as best as I could without being able to move my head, and once sure, I moved. Nothing happened, of course, but I knew from my past experience that the signals were at the base of my skull, frozen in the same relativistic time-lock as the rest of the world. That being done, I considered what I could do once I was not in immediate danger of death, and that was more of a problem. I might be able to get close to barrier-woman with the addition of my Exemplar and take her out, which would make knife-boy relatively easy, but it all depended on how quickly she could erect them, and how fast she could react. With my Exemplar and Focus, without pushing hard, I was about five times faster than a normal Path stage, but if she had fast enough reflexes and instantaneous shields, she might still block me. But the same could be said for her escape. Considering my options, figured I was better off escaping ¨C the range on the walls could not be infinite, and I stood a decent chance of getting out of range if I could surprise them by escaping. I did not like to run away, but as I was way down on Praxis, and my main advantage was being somewhat countered, it was probably the better part of valour. My dad had told me ¨C a long time before ¨C that if you do not think you can win a fight, you should walk away. And then come back with a weapon and hit them from behind. My dad was a complicated guy, and that advice had never really benefitted me, but in this moment, it really seemed pretty good. What seemed like half an hour passed before I felt time slipping back to normal and I held my mind in check, careful not to confuse the instructions I had sent already. With a lurch, time unstuck, and my left hand reached out, a filament of Praxis slipping into a ring and out with my chain, filling my palm with its comforting weight. At the same timed, my right hand reached out and like a cam I was thrown up slightly as I rotated. I reached out ¨C almost casually ¨C and slapped the first knife to reach me. My supposition proved correct ¨C the force guiding the knife was sufficient to counter my own weight and serve as an anchor-point I could use for leverage. Flipping up and over the knife, my left hand flicked out, the heavy weight at the end digging into the surface in a spray of dirt and small rocks. Tugging on it, I altered the course of my own momentum and landed feet first on the debris covered grass. I wanted to whoop, to shout in triumph at my plan paying off, but instead, I gathered what Praxis I had left, concentrated and ran away. As fast as I could. I half-expected myself to have to dodge, but it seemed like - at least in the moment ¨C I was running faster than the knives could follow. No new barriers sprang up to impede my path, and after a few minutes I slowed down to more normal ¨C for me ¨C speeds, stepping off my Path entirely and letting my Focus push me on alone as I thought back over the brief fight. I had become overconfident ¨C it was something I had thought before, but it had really been hammered in it seemed by V¡¯s defeat. It had been a vendetta for almost my entire time on this world, and he had continually crushed me with little effort. Beating him in a straight fight had simply enforced the idea of my own superiority, and that was definitely a mistake. I needed to come at challenges like I was going to lose, to use my brain instead of just rushing in, when I had the chance. I should have rested up as much as possible, refilling my reserves. If I had been closer to full, I may have been able to take the two, or even if I had simply put more thought into it. My decision had been arrogant, and it was one I promised myself not to make again. Only Smart Hunter would get to fight from that point on. Where possible. Noticing a sharp pain on my palm, I looked down as I ran, noticing a long cut on my hand from where I had slapped the knife; even with half an hour to plan, the signal I had sent my body had not been perfect and I had injured myself. Still, it would heal before too long and was not severe enough to warrant taking any alchemical medicine, though the throbbing was a little distracting. The sensation really emphasised the tightness I had been feeling in my knuckles, and I cracked them one-handed again before wiping sweat off my forehead as I ran, my mind returning to the two I had left behind and almost stumbled as the world lurched slightly. Catching myself, I took a deep, steadying breath and began to cultivate lightly as a thought; being low on Praxis sucked. I had no doubt I could take the two remaining cult members, with help from my companions; the barriers were unlikely to pose the perfect counter to them that they had posed to me, so I was confident I would be able to get some rest and meditation in before the next fight, even if they came calling, rather than waiting for us to come mop them up. Behind the Wall of Sleep Cultivating on the run had reduced my consumption to the point that when I finally made it back to the stone circle a few minutes later, I was only running on the dregs of my Praxis, rather than the fumes. My extended channels allowed me to output more energy at any given time than most people at my level, moving my advantages from significant to unfair at times, but that also meant my reserves emptied quicker than your average cultivator. Wiping sweat from my brow again as I came to an ungraceful stop in front of Toria, I decided that I would need to prioritise my research into making my channels more efficient; I had apparently over-estimated my capacity to maintain extended fights with other cultivators. ¡°You look like you just stepped out of a sauna, except you¡¯re pale, Hunter. What happened?¡± Putting my hands on my knees and leaning over, I looked up through my disarrayed and damp wet hair, waiting a moment before answering. ¡°Found some more of ¡®em, in the direction I went. Just two, but I was low on Praxis and they countered me pretty hard. One seems to throw and control knives, the other makes frictionless barriers. Works well together.¡± At my words, Toria¡¯s eyes sharped and she glanced behind me, gaze flicking amongst the trees looking for any sign of pursuit. ¡°Did they follow you?¡± ¡°Not that I know of, I was moving significantly faster than them, at first. But they probably knew where I came from, so they might come after me. I¡¯m going to let Reff and Riffa know.¡± Toria just nodded, her eyes searching behind me still. I waited a moment for a verbal reply, but after several seconds, it was apparent that I was not going to get one, so I moved on, heading for the tent. Fumbling my way inside, I found the risi siblings sat opposite a grumpy looking Darina, who had her arms and legs crossed aggressively, somehow. ¡°Darina, you¡¯re awake! Awesome, I was worried about you. But I guess the whole, super-speed and healing thing was pretty exhausting...¡± ¡°Hunter, you idiot, why didn¡¯t you wake me up if there was a fight?¡± ¡°Uh, you were sleeping...?¡± ¡°Obviously, I was sleeping, otherwise you would not be able to wake me. Why did you not.¡± ¡°You sort of just passed out, and didn¡¯t wake up when I caught you, picked you up, ran with you and then put you in a tent, so it seemed like you needed it?¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± I looked over at the other two present, who met my eyes one at a time and offered me tiny ¨C for them ¨C shrugs. ¡°How long have you been awake?¡± ¡°Long enough.¡± ¡°With... with tactful interjection, Darina awoke shortly after you left.¡± ¡°Right, thanks Reff. So, Darina ¨C are you okay now, or do you need to maybe sleep more? You seem a bit grumpy.¡± Darina turned to me her face hot despite the bags under her eyes, clearly ready to dress me down, but instead she paused, her head tilting to the side. ¡°You¡¯re pale.¡± ¡°I have spent the last two months inside someone, D.¡± The apprentice raised one eyebrow at being called D, and I actually had no idea where that had come from. It was not something I normally called her. ¡°Come here; it''s possible you have lingering injuries from the journey I did not find.¡± I wiped at my face again, wishing either my hair would dry or I would stop sweating so I could stop clearing the droplets away. Shivering a little as the damp drew heat out of my body, I waved her away. ¡°I¡¯m fine, and you should rest.¡± I swayed in place, dizzy for a moment and decided it was probably for the best if I sat down ¨C while I was fine, I still knew I needed some rest, and to meditate. ¡°Okay, maybe I should rest too. Wait, how am I cold?¡± Reff, Riffa and Darina looked at me like I was mad, and for a long second, I could not figure out why, and then I recalled that I had not told them about my anti-drain ability. Oops! ¡°With concerned attention, are you well, Hunter? You said you were fine to scout the area, but you do appear to be somewhat less yourself than usual.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Oh, but I did find some Risen Throne reinforcements, they were in a hill back the way the others came from. Shit, I should have started with that, they might be coming...¡± ¡°With, exasperated urgency, stay here and rest, Hunter. I will join Toria in case these reinforcements show up. Can you tell me anything of them?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah, I should probably top up my Praxis. Good call. Oh, right. Reinforcements. One throws knives, and can control them, and the other makes frictionless walls. That are invisible.¡± With a nod, Reff stood and strode past me and out of the tent. ¡°With dissonant concerns, I will join my brother. Please allow Darina to inspect you,¡± The giant woman turned to the much smaller apprentice, ¡°though she should not heal you unless it is an emergency.¡± Rising to her own feet, Riffa followed her brother out of the tent, a faint rumble that I was sure was meant to be a whisper trailing behind her, saying something about stupid, stubborn humans. I had to agree with her, Darina was pretty stubborn. ¡°Riffa is right, come here Hunter.¡± ¡°D, I¡¯m fine. I just drained my Praxis a bunch. A bit of meditation and some reflection and I¡¯ll be good as neeeew.¡± ¡°If I have to come over there, I¡¯m going to hit you, Hunter, and I don¡¯t think you want that.¡± ¡°Fine! Dammit, D, you¡¯re extra-grumps today.¡± Grumbling under my breath, I crawled over to the healer on my hands and knees, too tired to stand, before finally flopping onto my back next to her. Darina placed one hand on my chest, and I felt a tiny filament of energy enter me ¨C it was not like the times I had been examined by pseudo-Ascended, or even the other times I had been conscious when Darina herself had healed me previously. It felt more like an endoscope, somehow more invasive than whatever it was that Apexes and their ilk used.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Not knowing how long it was going to take, and not caring for the sensation, I decided to take a short nap, since I was so tired. Just for a moment. If only it wasn¡¯t so hot in the tent... * *** * I dreamt of smiles without faces, cruel and joyful with it. They leered without eyes, and laughed silently as red blood poured out over white teeth. I dreamt of green and black, of skin being stripped from muscle by glowing claws, muscle flensed from fat and cut away before the wound is burned shut with licking flames, flesh blackened and red. I dreamt of struggle, of war waged; battles fought, won and lost in time with the pounding of my heart, worms burrowing amongst the dead as crows circled overhead. An eternity, or more than one, passing in a moment; disconnected visions came and went, falling and fracturing into shards of jagged memory, cracking smaller and smaller, until the dark took me back with open arms. To repeat. * *** * I woke up slowly, the light filtering in through the tent flap flickering briefly across my eyes. The inside of my mouth was dry and tasted rich. A headache pulsed low and rhythmically at the front of my skull. ¡°Gaah.¡± Without thinking, I reached into storage rings and pulled out a hydrating pill before stuffing it into my mouth and forcing it down my throat. I immediately began to feel a little better, the dryness leaving me and the headache starting to fade. I was about to retrieve a cleansing pill to correct my gamey mouth when I sensed somebody next to me, and in the next moment I felt my right eye pried open to find Darina staring down at me. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Opening my other eye, I waved the healer¡¯s hand away from my face and sat up, finally grabbing my cleansing pill and slapping it against my chest. A moment later, as the vapor finished spinning about me, I ran my tongue around my mouth, glad to be back to somewhat more presentable state. ¡°I am. What happened? The last I remember is... coming back from scouting? Oh, shit. The Risen Flunkies, we need to-¡± ¡°They¡¯re gone. Reff and Riffa went to investigate the morning after your return. Reff located their staging area, but it was deserted.¡± ¡°Oh. Good. Maybe not? Shit. Wait, the morning after? You mean... now?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been unconscious for six days, Hunter.¡± ¡°Six days?! How? Even when my centre was completely drained of Experience by the... by Shade... I didn¡¯t sleep for more than a few hours. Is this something I should know about Praxis...?¡± ¡°Your problem was not one of energy. You were sick ¨C some kind of infection. Only the fact that you heal as rapidly as you do seemed to have slowed it down enough for you to stay on your feet for as long as you did.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think cultivators could get sick. Outside of... other cultivators doing it, I guess.¡± ¡°It is rare for a cultivator to get sick once the Focus is established, but it still happens. Viruses, bacteria parasites ¨C they all absorb Experience too. Eventually they reach a point where they can affect us. But this is not the case this time ¨C your infection appears to have been inflicted, as you say, by another cultivator.¡± ¡°Somebody made me sick? Who? Wouldn¡¯t I notice? Or is this like the Phoenix Plague? Are you guys alright?!¡± ¡°I have checked myself and the others ¨C only you were afflicted, Hunter. Judging by the way it progressed, it would have had to have been done after our arrival here. We suspect V, as his attacks are known to confer disease.¡± I recalled the doctor back at the Skybreaker tower telling me that Sidona¡¯s wounds had been severe and necrotising, and how she had required significant alchemical attention to resolve the issues. Those wounds had been inflicted by V¡¯s ethereal claws. ¡°He never hit me, not once. Not even a scratch.¡± My voice was quiet as I thought back on the fight, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not remember a single instance of V landing a blow. Looking back up at Darina¡¯s stoic expression, I shrugged helplessly. ¡°Do we know where it started? Maybe he had more tricks than I knew, maybe some kind of... mist, like Cad?¡± ¡°The infection originated in your right hand.¡± ¡°My right hand? Wait, I got sick from punching him? That can¡¯t be right. He was Foundation stage, what he could do with his powers should have been be fairly set, and neither Reff or Riffa got sick after fighting him.¡± I thought back on the fight in the Sha Forest; while Darina and I had been occupied with McCreepy ¨C the weird corpse-thing ¨C the risi had fought the torturer, defeating him by sitting on him with his Mega-form. The weight of the colossal statue simply being more than the Foundation stage cultivator could lift. And that was my clue ¨C both Reff and Riffa were descendants of their homeworld¡¯s artisan caste, and both they, and their older brother, still worked in stone for their cultivation. Reff created a layer of stone ¨C molten or otherwise ¨C around his body, and Riffa manipulated sculptures made from sand. Neither one of them would have ever actually touched the bastard¡¯s green energy with their bare skin. ¡°Shit, they probably never even touched him.¡± I remembered the man¡¯s creepy smile as we fought, how I had thought he was up to something at the time, but could not figure out what. ¡°That is what we surmised, as we were unable to find any wounds on your body, other than your palm, though that seemed more recent.¡± ¡°Yeah, I cut it on a dagger in the fight with the Flunkies...¡± I looked down at my hand reflexively, and was amazed to find a pink scar running across my hand. Since my arrival, I had never had a wound that lasted more than a day ¨C even the holes from having metal stakes driven through my arms had closed in hours, and left me well enough to move. To still have a scar, my Lesser Regeneration must have been really working overtime on other things. Still staring at my hand, a new image sparked to life in my mind, of another fight with V ¨C one with all four of us. ¡°Wait, we all fought V on the plains, when the commander saved us. None of us got sick then.¡± ¡°We discussed that too ¨C we think he simply was not taking us seriously at the time, and was not using his abilities.¡± That was a sobering thing to consider ¨C that the four of us had been of so little threat that the man had been simply able to play with us at his leisure. But it also made the corners of my lips quirk up ¨C in only a couple of months, I had gone from that to soloing the green shitbag. Even if he got in one last trick. ¡°Right. That makes sense, I guess. Anyway, I¡¯m better now? I mean, I¡¯m awake so...?¡± ¡°... Through a combination of your own healing, the pills and potions we had on hand and my efforts, we have beaten the infection back, but it is still in your system. It is powered by Veritas, and a great deal of it. More than I can counter with my Praxis. We will either need to find a more advanced healer, or wait for the energy to wear itself out. We may have been able to eradicate it, if I had acted sooner, but I did not have the energy to intervene until the day after you fell unconscious.¡± As she spoke, I finally saw through the stoic demeaner; Darina thought she had failed me. Despite her brash and sometimes abrasive demeaner, the apprentice was somebody who had decided to devote themselves to healing, and while much of that was perhaps in the pursuit of her own physical continuation, she had never hesitated to heal others, even to her own detriment. ¡°Darina, thank you. I¡¯d be dead, at least twice if not for you. You can¡¯t will yourself to me stronger, or to have greater reserves. The fact you were able to beat back the perverse technique of a cultivator an entire stage above you is incredible. You did a great job, and I¡¯m eternally grateful.¡± The small women only gave a slight shake of her head, a denial. ¡°You¡¯ll probably find your natural regeneration significantly diminished, until the infection is resolved.¡± Her voice was tight, and I was about to reach out to place a hand on her shoulder, to try to again tell her that she had not failed, but had in fact saved me when otherwise I would be dead, but before I could move, a shout came from outside the tent. ¡°The gate is open! The Crystal Drake is returning!¡± Toria¡¯s voice rang out, a hint of excitement in her voice. Blinking, it occurred to me that Darina and I were alone in the tent and I wondered what time it was, and where the others were. In my moment of distraction, Darina stood and strode from the tent, her back straight and stiff. I made a mental note to talk with her again, and climbed to my feet, muscles aching slightly as I made my way out. In the centre of the stone circle, a rainbow plane of energy sat, its edges sparking slightly in a way dissimilar to the previous occasions on which I had seen such a thing. I wondered if this was a difference in style between Apexes, or whether it was something specific to the location. My other companions stood to the side, watching the gate, answering my question as to where they were. As I walked over to join them, Reff turned and gave me a shallow nod, concern traced lightly on his impassive features. I offered him a thumbs up, and he nodded again, turning back to watch the shifting light. As I came to a stop, a dark spot appeared in the flicking door, and half a second later Jorl strode through, his eyes immediately locking on us. The light behind him snapped shut with a sound like electrical discharge, and he spoke a single word, his voice a growl. ¡°Blood.¡± Immaculate Deception ¡°With hesitant deference, ''blood¡¯ seems rather cryptic, Honoured Apex...¡± ¡°Oh, right. Sorry, Reff. Ha! Ha... the whole place was covered in it; it coated the walls and floor, and had even splashed on the ceiling. Stank like a Void-blasted charnel house... which I suppose it is now.¡± Stepping forward, I rolled my shoulders to loosen up my tight muscles; I did not know how I had slept, but if my dreams we any indication the time spent unconscious, it had not been relaxing. ¡°He¡¯s dead then?¡± ¡°Maybe. I hope so. There was enough blood for any ten people in there, and enough bits of corpses that you could probably put at least half that back together. Even with his Authority sealed away and the arrays stopping him from absorbing Experience, he was still a Pinnacle with thousands of years of practice. Nothing is certain, but even a Pinnacle might struggle against that many Foundations, and more if they had a Pinnacle with them. We¡¯ll have to wait and see. Ha...¡± That was grim news; I of course already knew that the Multiplicitous Self had either escaped or died, but of the two, died was certainly the happier of the two scenarios, if the story Walker had told us was true. I had no interest in being controlled or overwritten by some megalomaniacal asshole, and even if my Agency somehow prevented that, I did not want to be alone amidst and set against an army of billions. ¡°We had trouble while you were inside, Honoured Apex. Enemies ¨C the Risen Throne ¨C attacked us. We successfully eliminated the majority, however it seems that two of them escaped, after a brief altercation with... Hunter.¡± ¡°Hmm? Good, good. I think I need to head back, try to find the others. Let them know, since there are no leads here.¡± ¡°Uh, actually, one of the cultists had a note on him saying to send a message somewhere when we arrived. It doesn¡¯t say where, it¡¯s coded, but it should be nearish. How many cities or towns are near here?¡± Jorl¡¯s eyes locked onto me as I spoke, and I felt the weight of his attention as he nodded once. ¡°There are innumerable small settlements, but there is one large city, the home of several large sects. Ouhl, City of the Red Grasses.¡± ¡°A pretentious name.¡± Darina still sounded off, but a little of her usual haughtiness had crept back into her voice; it was a pretty pretentious name. None of the other cities or towns I had visited were ¡®of the thing¡¯, and a couple had just been numbered. ¡°There was supposedly a big battle there, a long time ago and because of its aftermath, the grass in and around the city is bight crimson, and sharp enough to cut. There may be something to it, honestly; tempers are quick to fray there, and conflict breaks out often. It makes it hard to concentrate, sometimes. It would make a good place to hide from an Apex...¡± ¡°With tentative dissent, is it not more likely that the place the they have designated to relay messages be somewhere smaller? There is less chance somebody of an Apex¡¯s stature would pass through a small community; they could even replace the entire population, in theory.¡± ¡°Ha! That''s a good point, Riffa! But I don''t think it¡¯s the case. It would lower the chance of encountering somebody like me, but in the event that they did, discovery would be certain. Besides, I can check the settlements between here and there, at least. If there¡¯s any of the rat-bastards hiding, the sight of my dragon form should shake loose enough feeling for me to detect. For such a short trip, I won¡¯t need to fly so high.¡± I nodded, glad that we had a goal at least. I was also grateful that it was apparently a short trip, as I was not keen on the sort of the speed that would be required for a longer one, with my newly vulnerable health. ¡°We need to get moving, pack up the tent and we¡¯ll be off. Move, kids! This is serious! HA!¡± Jorl¡¯s voice cracked like the world¡¯s largest whip and echoed back off the hills around us, making the five of us scramble to get packed up. The shout had hurt my ears, something I was more keenly aware of than I had been in the past; it was amazing, really, how much I had come to take my Lesser Regeneration for granted. Since my arrival, it had been picking me up far faster than should have been possible, a constant advantage that had kept me from death¡¯s edge more times than I could count, if only by keeping me in fighting shape. If not for that ability, it is likely I would have died - or at least still be imprisoned - in the dungeon of the Risen Throne¡¯s outpost. Having it suppressed so suddenly was shocking, and I hoped it would not make me hesitate at the wrong moment; all of my friends ¨C with the notable exception of Darina ¨C went into battle with the knowledge that they could be grievously injured, and it did not stop them. It was certainly sobering to be without that cushion for the first time. We packed the tent away quickly, storing the various odds and ends we had used away, and though I kept finding myself surprised at my aching muscles, we were done in minutes and then quickly carried off within the body of the Crystal Drake. * *** * ¡°So, this illness... can you explain how it¡¯s possible to me again?¡± Darina looked at me with annoyance, though certainly less than when she was not feeling quite so guilty. I had told her again that it was not her fault shortly after we entered the dragon¡¯s body, but it had not taken hold, and so I had settled on another angle of attack ¨C I was going to annoy her into being normal. Not that I was not curious ¨C my understanding of Experience was that once a person lost consciousness, and thus the ability to actively impart will and intent on their energies, abilities should lose cohesion, as Kestin¡¯s dirty flames had when Darina knocked him out.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°V must have imparted a great deal of his Veritas during your fight; it is sustaining his sickening ability within you.¡± ¡°Right, but how? Shouldn¡¯t it have gone away when he died?¡± Darina¡¯s look transformed from vaguely forlorn irritation to one of suspicion, clearly recalling my mysterious past. I realised I still had not told her about my origins on that world. I had meant to ask Walker about it, but like so many other things, it had slipped my mind. I resolved to tell her anyway, once we were at least out of earshot of Toria; Darina was my friend, and had saved my life more than once. I owed her the truth. But in that moment, she did not know, and I could see the gears ticking behind her eyes, readying herself for a round of questions that I did not want to answer around the religious adherent. Especially as she had also begun to look at me with vague confusion; if I ever got to speak to Xiournal again ¨C when I got to speak to her again ¨C I would recommend imparting a basic primer on the native cultures and systems, to avoid such situations. Though... she had never actually said I could not tell people, and the other pseudo-Ascended I had met had certainly been more open about things than those on my new home... Luckily, Reff saved me from both questioning glances and my own incessant musings with an answer. ¡°With quick surety, Veritas is significantly denser than even Praxis, Hunter. It will stay coherent in the outside of its originator for far longer than lower orders of energy, and it is thus possible to generate lasting effects, provided there is enough of it to sustain the original intent. This capacity is what various arrays are based upon, and even alchemy, to a lesser extent. Not everyone is at the Foundation stage, and not all crafters can be, but by applying various techniques, it is possible to fake the properties of it in other mediums.¡± Reff¡¯s voice was steady, and while mostly monotone, it carried a degree of interest that I found engaging. It helped that this was information I really wanted to know though. ¡°It is normally considered very wasteful to create a lasting technique from pure Veritas, when a similar effect would be produced at a significantly lower cost using more technical methods, but it is not unheard of. It is... rarer still, to use it in this way ¨C as a curse ¨C as to do so would leave a cultivator with almost no reserves, almost certainly deciding the fight there and then. Obviously, V was an affliction specialist, and while he was unable to inflict that illness on us in previous fights, that was likely less to do with our respective strengths at the time than it was due to him wanting to toy with us. His specialization in this area likely assisted him with the application of the curse.¡± Reff paused for a moment, as if searching for the rights words, but the pause did not have chance to stretch on before he continued. ¡°Against a cultivator of a similar level, the curse would almost certainly be fended off, meaning the person laying the curse ¨C in this case V - would lose the fight to no benefit, but in this case, we assume that your sudden damage overwhelming his defence resulted in a wound of sufficient seriousness that he could not fight for much longer, but also left him with the bulk of his reserves. As the affliction is concentrated on your right hand, we think he slowly injected his Veritas as you attacked, taking advantage of your lack of defence in those moments to slip it in un-noticed, allowing it to intensify.¡± I cursed myself inwardly; against somebody like Reff, I would have been guarding myself against the backlash of his heat, but I had no reason to believe that V¡¯s armour was also an offensive tool. My increased channels meant my abilities were heightened, lent power beyond what was normal, but they also placed a strain on my reserves, and that meant I tended not to defend myself when it wasn¡¯t needed, to conserve energy. It seemed like that had been a mistake; I considered that I might need to start holding back further on my abilities to leave enough of a margin to defend myself consistently. In regards to the information about maintaining techniques, it didn¡¯t help me now, as I did not have access to Veritas, but I knew I would one day, if I survived that long. My abilities also did not lend themselves to persisting, though having said that, I thought it might be possible use the effect to dilate time for somebody else, or to keep my lightning running amuck in another¡¯s system... that was a long way away though. I checked my Exemplar as I pondered, and saw that it had ticked up to thirty-percent at some point; almost a third of the way to Foundation was still a vast distance away from it, however. At the rate at which I was progressing, it would take me around a year, at least, though perhaps I could speed that up with some sudden realizations about time and my ability to manipulate it. Those did seem to be pretty few and far between. Dismissing the images of accelerating my friends along with me, I turned my attention back to the conversation at hand. ¡°Right. So, it¡¯s just a case of me waiting it out then. I don¡¯t suppose a Foundation level or above could just... fish it out?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way; perhaps the Ever Flowing could, were she at the Foundation stage, but the Mountain¡¯s Rage, or even the Apex of the Crystal Drake could not, as their abilities do not carry that function. Voran could infect you because it was a part of his power-set. I could - with Veritas ¨C construct a cage or net with my abilities that would persist beyond me, but I am not able to generate water. The Walking Sand¡¯s golems could stay animated without her, but she could not create light. We are each shaped by our original intent, and bound by it.¡± That was the longest I had ever heard Toria speak for, but what she said made sense. I had already been subconsciously thinking along those lines, but I had hoped that it was possible. Generic Experience was used for other things, like firming the ground when we moved, or defending against energy attacks. But it seemed that while general energy could be used for mundane things, operating within somebody else¡¯s body was a different matter. ¡°Right. What about an alchemist then? They surely don¡¯t specialize in just one thing each? Ben Won Ro made a whole bunch of things.¡± ¡°We tried the healing items we had on hand, and combined with my healing and your regeneration we only managed to fight it back to its current position; it is possible that specialized pills or potions could assist further. Perhaps we can check, once we reach this, ¡®Ouhl.¡¯¡± ¡°Uh, Jorl, I don¡¯t suppose Ouhl is renowned for its excellent alchemy?¡± ¡°It is not. Too difficult to focus. Many alchemists visit though, to gather the grass.¡± Jorl¡¯s voice throbbed around us, the crystal on which we sat vibrating to produce the sound we all heard. It was strange, and vaguely uncomfortable, and I once more shook my head at being inside what was effectively somebody¡¯s body. ¡°... Thanks, Jorl. Cad would probably know more about the comings and goings of alchemists. Maybe we should find him, when we get back and ask him to come along, just in case?¡± ¡°No.¡± I looked at Darina, who was glaring at me, though if a touch less intently than was normal. ¡°Oh, come on, it¡¯ll be fun. He had some great stories. ¡°No.¡± ¡°We could stop at the Sha Forest outpost on the way back, it wouldn¡¯t even be inconvenien-¡± Darina punched me on the arm, interrupting me. I had seen it coming, and it had less force than I had come to expect from the diminutive apprentice, but it was better than what had been happening. It seemed like annoying her into normality was working pretty well. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Our conversation broke up sooner than I expected; Jorl had said the trip to Ouhl would be a short one, but I had not anticipated it to be quite as short as it ended up being. It is possible that it was my fault for not paying enough attention to the ground passing beneath us, but I have no actual idea how far the two sites are from each other. It took only a piece of an hour to travel the distance, but when traveling via flying Apex, that did not mean much. I became aware of the journey drawing to an end when I felt a lurch as momentum was bled from me, making me lean towards the dragon¡¯s massive head. Looking down and around my legs, I peered through the perfectly clear crystal at the ground below. Grass the colour of fresh blood spread out beneath us and into the distance, extending for miles beyond the confines of the walled city. Ouhl itself reminded me of the numbered outpost settlements of the Legions; utilitarian, built along straight lines with sturdy looking, blocky buildings. Yet there was still a certain beauty to it. Where the outposts had been laid out in simple grids, from our position in the sky I could see complex geometry outlined in streets and constructions, ending in sharp angles, as if the whole city was somehow made up of edges. Jorl landed outside the city gates and through his sides I could see the refracted shapes of onlookers peering at his gargantuan form, clustered in small groups along a road that ran into the distance, as sharp and straight as a dagger. So too did they gather atop the razor-sharp line of the wall, staring in a way that made my skin crawl and my blood heat. The exit opened, and within minutes we had exited through his mouth once more, the dragon¡¯s body dissolving into rainbow light like ice vanishing in the sun. ¡°I¡¯m going to start searching. No doubt somebody will be out in a few minutes to find out what¡¯s happening ¨C it happens a lot when I show up at places, ha! Let them know I¡¯m looking for somebody, and then... I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll find you after I¡¯m done.¡± The Apex turned and crouched slightly, as if about to push off from the ground. Quickly, I reached out my hand to tap his shoulder before speaking. ¡°I take it you didn¡¯t find anything on the way over? In the villages?¡± ¡°Yes, of course I did. That¡¯s why I¡¯m searching the city.¡± Before I had a chance to reply to the sarcasm ¨C I had only wanted to confirm ¨C the normally jovial man reached out and flicked my forehead, making the world flicker around me as I staggered. By the time I recovered enough to speak, the Apex was gone. ¡°Fuck! Ow.¡± ¡°It was a stupid question, Hunter.¡± ¡°I was just checking. He could have detected them and they portaled out, I don¡¯t know without asking. Shit, my head.¡± There was more growl to my reply than I expected, and I could feel my irritation with getting insulted get the better of me. With some effort, I managed to calm myself and take stock. My head hurt, and I felt a welling nausea that made me reach for a healing pill before quickly swallowing it. ¡°That seems fair, given what we know of their capacity. Perhaps you should not be so quick to call others stupid, Ever Flowing.¡± ¡°What are you implying, To-rag?¡± ¡°With growing impatience, do I need to separate the two of you?¡± ¡°With resigned understanding, I believe the effects Jorl described are taking effect. Calm down, brother. Everyone.¡± I glared at Riffa for a second; I hated being told to calm down. But she was right, and I shook my mind free of the irritation with some effort, rubbing at my face with one hand. I could still feel that edge of aggression trying to push me towards rash actions, but I was able to keep a hold on it with a little effort. Looking at the people still staring at us, I wondered how the city functioned like this; I imagined they probably got used to it, though from what Jorl had said I assumed it sometimes bubbled over. Dismissing the watching crows for the moment, I turned back to my friends who were mostly glaring at each other, though of the three, Reff¡¯s heated gaze was by far the most intimidating. ¡°Riffa is right, guys. Remember what Jorl said? It¡¯s the... grass, I guess? It¡¯s making us short tempered and irritable. Can¡¯t you feel it, like something pressing on your last nerve?¡± Reff turned his burning eyes to me, his expression dark; I had used part of an idiom from Earth, and was not sure it would carry over correctly, and while Reff had always been fairly forgiving of my... quirks, I could see this straw was close to breaking the camel''s back. Luckily for me, I saw the risi¡¯s eyes clear a moment later as his glare retreated into a mere frown, and I saw his bare chest rise and fall along with a deep breath. ¡°With delicate calm, I feel it, as you say, Hunter. It is like hunger or thirst, gnawing at me.¡± I offered Reff a nod, which he returned slowly; my big friend was apparently renowned for his temper amongst the risi, and while I had seen it pop up once or twice, for the most part he seemed to have a very firm grip on it, and that was paying off in this strangely affective place. With the siblings under their own control ¨C at least for the moment - I turned my attention to Toria and Darina.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The two of them were acting like they had not heard any of us, and were busying themselves by trying to bore through each other¡¯s heads with their eyes, though unsurprisingly, Darina seemed like the closest to actual violence. I knew better than to tell them to calm down, as at least back on Earth, that was something that almost never worked. I did not know quite what to do; since my arrival, the people I had met could roughly be divided into two groups ¨C the nutjobs, and reasonable people. The nutjobs had almost universally been on the other end of conflict, so when it came to dealing with them, it mostly involved punching them. The reasonable people ¨C and I was only including the first month or so of Darina hesitantly ¨C had taken care of themselves. I did not think my, ¡®annoy her into being normal¡¯ plan would work in the current situation, or rather it would work somewhat too well. After my near-week of unconsciousness, my reserves had barely moved, only having access to passive absorption, and I did not think what I had would keep me ahead of both Toria and Darina for long... Thankfully, I did not have to figure out a way to distract them, as a voice called out from nearby, sounding hard but curious. Turning, I saw a man in a red long-coat which was covered in small, white-coloured metal plates. He was slightly shorter than me, but powerfully built with dusky skin and pale green eyes. ¡°I said, was that Void-bitten fucking dragon with you?¡± I felt a surge of aggression well up in me at the sound of his voice, completely overwhelming the gratitude I had felt at the interruption. There was something about his face and tone that made me feel like he was taking something from me, just by existing. I felt a growl bubble up in my throat, and struggled to get myself under control as his gaze locked with mine and he offered an answering growl. It was more than just the atmosphere of the place, though that was not helping; it was something about the man himself. And then I realised, the person I was looking at was another ren, and the first I had met. ¡°With deliberate distraction, we did arrive with the dragon ¨C the Apex of the Crystal Drake, in fact.¡± The man tore his gaze from mine, turning it towards Reff; I felt some of my need to walk over and hit him fade away. I took a deep breath, trying to tamper my temper down. ¡°Great, an Apex; probably going to blow the Void-bitten city. If I find out one of those fucking sects has brought an Apex on our heads, I¡¯m going to personally eat their elders.¡± ¡°With calm correction, the Apex is here to search for an individual, or group that has been causing trouble throughout the world. It is... unlikely to involve your sects.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something, at least. So, are you lot waiting here for him? If you¡¯re coming inside,¡± he turned back to me and I locked my will around my temper as it tried to make me growl again, ¡°keep this fucker away from me. It¡¯s hard enough not murdering half the bastardly city, without another territorial shit waltzing about.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to stay out of your way. So that I know who to avoid, who the... who¡¯re you?¡± I spoke from between clenched teeth, my left cheek twitching as I did my best not to stare daggers. ¡°Badan Tain, Blood Marshal. I¡¯m in charge of keeping the bloodthirsty bastards of Ouhl from gutting each other too often. Any issues,¡± Tain stabbed his finger at me like it was a sword, ¡°send somebody else.¡± ¡°How about you just avoid us, Marshal Tain?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to be trouble aren¡¯t you, short-shit? Keep your temper under control; if you lose it in my city, I¡¯ll put you down.¡± There was a sharp crack and the Blood Marshal vanished, the breeze of his exit rippling out and then in across the crimson grass. ¡°Well, that went well. Should we find a place to stay where we maybe won¡¯t see many people? I think we all need some time to get used to this feeling.¡± Darina, whose face was a dark red which provided a strange contrast to her red-jade eyes, turned her overly wide eyes to me and I saw her eyebrow twitch; she had apparently not loved being called a short-shit. ¡°Hey, it wasn¡¯t me, and I¡¯m sick remember. No hitting me.¡± A part of me wanted her to try, to show her the error of her ways in bruises and broken bones, but the saner part of me was holding it together now that the other ren had left. It appeared as though I was better at defying the bloodthirst than most ¨C possibly because of my Agency ¨C but my animosity towards Badan had been purely... biological. I thought back to the description of the race from when I had picked it ¨C some of the details had vanished into the vagaries of memory, but I did recall them being territorial, which was a mild understatement, it seemed. Darina closed her eyes, and took a breath, and then another. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go find somewhere to stay... before I embarrass my Master.¡± These words seemed to have more of an impact on Toria than anything else; I knew she was devoted to the Sun¡¯s Judgement, even if I did not like the Apex much, but it was easy to forget, as she hadn¡¯t been nearly as... in my face about it as Kestin had been. ¡°Yes. I wouldn¡¯t want to sully the Paladin¡¯s reputation by acting out of accordance with Justice. Let us find a place to stay.¡± The five us shared an uneasy glance, and we set off through the red grass; as we walked, I noted that the long blades were leaving score marks on the shoes and boots of my companions, though my strange boots seemed thankfully immune. People were still staring at us, with one or two in fancier robes pointing openly while talking animatedly, gesticulating back and forth. I did my best to ignore them; it was not the first time I had entered a city accompanied by stares, and it was surely not the first time for any of the other members of the party. It was, however, the first time I had seen quite so many people look at me quite so viciously. Entering the city through the gates closest to us, I noticed details that had not been apparent from the air; where the numbered outposts of the Legion had been strictly utilitarian in design, there in Ouhl I noted numerous works of art, not just on display for their own sake, but even the signs for shops and services involved complex metal work. There was one detail that they did all share though, which was that every sculpture, every sign and bracket had sharp edges and points. It made me wary of stepping under things, as if one of the beautiful deathtraps were to come lose and fall on me, it would likely kill me. It was the perhaps the most alien city I had visited, even more so than the massive edifice of the Blacksand Citadel, because this one seemed designed entirely around violence. As we wandered the streets, seeking an inn and ignoring curious ¨C savage ¨C gazes, I wondered if there were other places on the planet equally affected by such effects, other emotions and feelings. I told myself to ask Jorl when he showed up again, and hoped it would not result in another painful ¨C and damaging ¨C flick. Psychophobia We ended up asking for directions to the nearest inn, though the exchange nearly came to blows when the man we asked took offense at Darina¡¯s hard eyes, but luckily, it seemed the locals had extensive experience when it came to controlling their tempers. The situation was helped somewhat when a woman wearing the same kind of long red and white armoured coat that the Blood Marshal had worn made her presence known, one hand casually draped across the pommel of some kind of two-handed scimitar. After that, the man had quickly forced himself to calmness, shooting fearful glances at the swordswoman, and pointed us in the right direction. As we thanked him ¨C grudgingly - and walked away, I glanced back to see the women ¨C Blood Guard? - staring after us, a wary and considering look painted across her features. Turning back to watch where we were going, leaning down slightly to speak to the healer¡¯s apprentice in a quiet voice. ¡°Darina, I know this place is a lot, but try not glare so much. I get the feeling that Tain and his team don¡¯t have any kid gloves, and they¡¯d have to be strong if they¡¯re keeping a whole city in line.¡± ¡°Me?! You¡¯re the one looking at everyone like you¡¯re about to try eating them, idiot.¡± ¡°I am not looking at anyone like that, Darina.¡± Is what I said in reply, but as I spoke, I realised that I was lying; I could feel my eyes opened as far as they could, and my brow drawn down over them. As I became aware of these things, I felt my gait shift and normalise, and thinking back I was faced with the fact that I had not so much been walking but stalking. Of course, none of those things changed the fact that my diminutive friend had been glaring, but I had to accept the fact that I was probably being at least as much of a detriment to our continued peace. ¡°Right. I guess I was. Let¡¯s both try to do better, huh?¡± ¡°How about I just take it all out on you?¡± I rolled my eyes, doing my best to resist the sudden urge to dare her to do her worst, I accepted that it was probably going to take a while for everyone to acclimatise, and moved on, though I could not keep myself from muttering under my breath. ¡°At least she¡¯s not moping about any more...¡± I think she heard me, as I began to hear the grinding of teeth coming from her direction. I refused to look, knowing that if I made eye contact there was a good chance she was going to punch me. Instead, I turned to Toria, who had been quiet since Tain¡¯s departure. ¡°How¡¯re you doing, Toria?¡± ¡°I¡¯m... fine. I am glad however that I came on this mission, rather than the Unending Flame. I fear he would... not have done well here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Kestin, right? Yeah, I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯d be in worse shape than you. He didn¡¯t seem the type to control his temper. Or to restrain himself at all.¡± Tora offered me a brief glare while her right hand twitched, but she seemed to reign herself back in with some effort, before continuing. ¡°Kestin''s family is very old and powerful, he picked up some bad habits. But he is a good person, underneath it all. He hates injustice, of any kind and would place himself between it and anyone without hesitation.¡± ¡°Really? You don¡¯t think the way he reacted to me was a bit unjust?¡± ¡°He viewed your ¨C and the other Apexes¡¯ - greeting of our Master to be very disrespectful. And it was. But such is life; while I did not like it, I do not view it as unjust, as he does. If we punished every minor slight, the world would be a far emptier place.¡± I did not want to get into talking about the relative displays of deference or offense between Apexes; I was not even really interested in my own. I tried to treat people with respect, but I was not going to bow and scrape ¡®just because.¡¯ That might be a foolish notion, on a world where a great many people could just smash me flat for not doing so, but you cannot live your life as a ¡®what if.¡¯ Well, you could, as I knew from personal experience, but it sucked, and I had promised myself that I would not make the same mistakes as I had in my previous live. ¡°Well, ok. But still, he was very... prone to action?¡± I received another small glare, but in the end, Toria simply nodded. ¡°He is.¡± ¡°How did the two of you end up apprenticing to Chian, anyway? You seem like very different people.¡± ¡°The Paladin chose us.¡± Toria definitely did not like me referring to her master by name, and I made a note for the future. Normally I would not care that much, but given the place in which we found ourselves, I figured it was best not to press any unnecessary buttons. If I could help it. ¡°She chose the Unending Flame when he volunteered a mistake he had made, while the tournament¡¯s referees had missed it. His family was not happy that he had made the decision to lose the fight, at the cost of the family¡¯s pride. But it was just, and called to our Master. The Sun¡¯s Judgement chose me when she found me defending some of the younger orphans from a much older and stronger street gang.¡± It surprised me that Kestin had volunteered himself for a loss, but despite how much of an asshole he had come across as, it made sense that an adherent of the god of Justice ¨C amongst other things ¨C would have to be pretty big on justice. I noted however while she had been relatively descriptive of her fellow apprentice¡¯s recruitment, she had mostly glossed over her own.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°¡¯Other'' orphans?¡± ¡°I am an orphan; my parents were killed by a corpse cultivator that persisted on this world after the gate closed. All of us were orphaned by the same person.¡± ¡°And a street gang were picking on you? What fucking assholes.¡± ¡°They thought our parents must have been weak, to fall to a single corpse cultivator, as they were supposedly much weaker than we, on average. They thought that, as such, we must have been weak, and should be... culled.¡± ¡°Man, I¡¯m sorry to hear that, Toria. That¡¯s awful. I hope you smashed them flat. Or the... Paladin did, at least.¡± ¡°She was not... merciful. She took me as her Apprentice, and took the others into her palace, so they would be fed and clothed until they could form their Foci. They later joined the priesthood.¡± I could hear grim satisfaction in her voice as she spoke of the Apex¡¯s lack of mercy, and I wondered what Chian¡¯s abilities looked like; the Sun¡¯s Judgement sounded like it had something to do with light, or heat, but it could easily just be a reference to her god. Either way, Toria¡¯s childhood sounded like it had really sucked, and I was glad the gang got what was coming to them. I was curious about one thing, however. ¡°I don¡¯t want to open old wounds, but how did a single... corpse cultivator... manage it, if they¡¯re weaker? I¡¯ve heard others speak of the invasion, but nobody ever spoke about their relative strength.¡± ¡°... This was not an ordinary member of their ranks. I was not yet born when the war happened, but my parents were among those who were tasked with the aftermath. The corpse cultivators required dead people to gain power, which is where the name comes from, and they were not shy about killing those they called peasants, where they could. But this one was unique, and their corpses were particularly powerful, and unlike the massed armies they had used for the most part, they had abilities. The user was eventually killed by my own Master, in fact. She called them the ¡®Crowned in Rotting Stone¡¯, and said they were the equivalent of an Apex.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing that wasn¡¯t common knowledge? Can¡¯t be weak just because an Apex ¨C or their equivalent ¨C beats you. ¡°It was not.¡± We walked in silence for a while; I had met a gang back in Everwood City, and while they had been fairly unwilling to do anything other than fight me, they had not seemed malicious, though there was the possibility that that was more about my own perception of the event than anything else. While I had adapted, and am continuing to adapt to my new home, I had certainly noticed a distinct difference between my initial reaction to things since my arrival and what they would have been back on Earth. At the time I had met them, I had been still somewhat at the mercy of my new physiology. Perhaps if I met them a month later, their behaviour would have seemed much different. ¡°What about you?¡± I had not been expecting Toria to speak again, given the clipped and terse nature of her last reply and it took me a moment to re-order my thoughts. ¡°You mean how I became an apprentice?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, honestly I¡¯m not sure it was as simple as that. It just... just sort of happened. Where I¡¯m from... people don¡¯t cultivate. I was sent here through other means, and it was a bit of a shock. Walker was the first person I met ¨C he was chasing off a sect that was attacking Everwood City over a pill a local alchemist had created. It was supposed to allow you to gather Experience based on the experiences of the people around you. So, you could sit at the centre of an army and combine their entire cultivation into your own. Anyway, he wiped most of them out ¨C they didn¡¯t seem to really know what an Apex could do-¡± ¡°Few do. If an Apex is pushed to intervene, survivors are rare.¡± ¡°Right. Anyway, he let their leader go, I guess to sort of alleviate that problem. At the time, I had basically no Experience in my body, though there was a trickle. He was curious, because at my age, with so little Experience, he thought I was a nadir, but I could obviously absorb Experience. He took me in, sort of an experiment, though I think he does have a soft spot for apparent cripples. After that, it just sort of happened. We never agreed to any formal relationship, but here we are.¡± ¡°And when was this? It must have been years ago, but I was unaware of the Apex of the Infinite Blades having an Apprentice until we arrived at the Blacksand Citadel.¡± ¡°No, nowhere near that long. The days are starting to run a bit together, but I think it was less than half a year ago.¡± ¡°Half a year? That¡¯s not possible, especially if as you say you came from a place with no cultivation, and no Experience in your body ¨C which is very strange, by the way.¡± Toria paused for a moment, and I was about to answer her when she spoke up again. ¡°Did you perhaps take this pill? I had not heard of such a thing, but if it exists it could indeed explain your rapid growth.¡± ¡°Nope. Walker said it would have burnt me to a crisp, too much energy for such a weak person to process. My growth is definitely fast, I understand that. I think it¡¯s because everything here is so new to me, that every experience just... supplied more Experience to me. Maybe you¡¯d have the same thing happen, if you went somewhere completely alien. Actually, maybe that¡¯s another reason for the wars? A chance to mix systems, but also to go somewhere new and accelerate growth. Huh.¡± ¡°What you say does not seem likely, though I will admit there is a possibility. If you are correct, then surely, we must all experience a boost here, in this strange place?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point, actually. I think that other than Reff, we¡¯re all limited in our progress by the integration of our Exemplars, but it might be worth you all seeing if there¡¯s a difference in your recovery speed?¡± ¡°With restrained curiosity, I will see if my progression though the Foundation stage is improved by our presence here. This place is certainly novel, unlike any place I have visited previously.¡± ¡°With shared excitement, this seems like a worthy experiment.¡± The risi siblings both actually sounded fairly upbeat about the possibility. Thinking about it, I wondered if being on an entirely new world had impacted their older brother¡¯s ascent to Apex. For her part, Darina said nothing, though she did look slightly less grumpy, which I was grateful for. I was not sure I could stop myself reacting if she actually attacked me in this place... ¡°You mentioned other systems? What do you mean?¡± I began to explain what I knew about the various systems to Toria, based on what I had learned on my otherworld excursions. I began with the corpse cultivators, as that was a common point of reference, and went from there. She seemed interested, and while my other companions had heard it all before, they still seemed willing to listen again. It was after all, the potential underpinnings of the universe, and if nothing else a distraction from the pervading, if diffuse, rage that hung about the city like a dense mental fog, making our trip to the inn a far less nerve grating experience. Solitude The inn we had been directed to was a red-stone building with windows barred in violet metal, high walls topped with spikes of the same stuff, and huge gates banded in black. Above the gates was a sign that read, ¡®The City¡¯s Edge.¡¯ It honestly looked more like a small fortress or a smithy, than it did an inn, so I was a little hesitant in stepping through the open gates, the entrance just wide enough to let Reff through if he turned a little, the space was not quite tall enough for him. Behind the gates was a strangely short corridor with an uneven floor and some kind of arrow slits running parallel down the walls. At the other end there was another black-banded door, though this one was closed. I looked back at my friends as we crowded the inside of the short walk, and Daria offered me a shrug and a look that said, ¡®what are you waiting for?¡¯. I glanced at Riffa and Reff, but they were just looking uncomfortable in the small area, and I could not even see Toria, who was somewhere behind the risi. With a half-shrug, I turned to the inner door and knocked. The door was a solid piece of wood that must have been very thick because when I knocked, it did not produce the hollow thunks I was expecting, but rather dull taps that produced an almost musical sound from the black metal running across it, just barely on the edge of my hearing. Having knocked, I waited for a response, but after several seconds without any sign of a response I started to scan the door and the area around it for any sign of a knocker or pully. After a few moments of searching and finding nothing, I gave up and knocked harder, putting some of my cultivator¡¯s strength into it. This time the ringing was louder, a long, compounding hum that tickled something in my ears. As the sound faded, I heard a latch moving and an eye slit that had sat flush with the wooden surface was pulled inside, revealing a metallic blue mask with no apparent holes in it through which to see. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°We were looking for a place to stay, and we were sent here. Though I¡¯m starting to think that he was messing with us. I wonder if we can find him...¡± I felt my eyes narrow and my cheek twitch as I thought about the man who had given us apparently false directions. I did not think it would actually be possible to go track him down, but if I happened to see him again, I promised myself that I would state my displeasure emphatically. My vicious thoughts were however interrupted and dashed at the same as the vaguely metallic voice spoke again. ¡°We¡¯re an inn, if you¡¯re not going to cause trouble. We don¡¯t want no trouble with the Blood Watch.¡± ¡°We have no intention of starting any damn trouble! Uh, Sorry, I mean no, we¡¯re not looking to start trouble. We just arrived and we¡¯re hoping to isolate a bit and get used to the... ambiance.¡± The man behind the mask did not speak for a few seconds and despite the lack of visible eyes, I got the impression he was looking between us, presumably trying to get a feel for just how likely we were to be issues. Thankfully, it seems that we averaged pretty well as a group ¨C or the City¡¯s Edge was used to a more violent clientele than us ¨C and without a word the eye slit was closed once more, and from behind the door there came a series of loud clanks, clunks and the occasional grinding sound. Once the noises subsided, the door swung open to reveal a short, solidly built person covered in metal plates, who stepped aside and swung his arm out, gesturing for us to enter. Stepping inside and away from the door to allow the others to enter, I looked around at the new room, and was at least half-surprised that it was actually normal sized, allowing the risi siblings to actually stand straight. The door through which we entered turned out to be a good foot thick and seemed almost more lock than anything else. To one side of the room was a barred hatchway, with rows of bottles and barrels decorating the wall on the other side, a clearly marked area on the stone floor showed where I assumed people were supposed to queue to get drinks. The City¡¯s Edge really took rowdy customers seriously, though given the area¡¯s special features and the whole, ¡®superhuman¡¯ thing, I could not blame them. It did occur to me to wonder how effective a set of simple bars like that would be against the weird power-sets so many possessed, but I doubted that it was purely left to chance. ¡°Host¡¯ll be out in a minute.¡± I turned back to the doorman, who had taken a seat on a low chair was apparently now ignoring us, a large leatherbound book held in his hands as he stared at the pages through his blind mask. ¡°Thanks.¡± He did not even twitch his head in my direction as I spoke. I turned away, mentally muttering to myself about poor manners, but being sensible enough to keep the sentiment to myself. True to his word though, after a minute or so another panel in the wall slid open to reveal a woman in some kind of complex chainmail behind yet another set of bars. She had close-cropped hair and a large scar running down along her nose, before it swerved into a jagged line under her lips.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°How long?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°How long are you looking to stay, Pup?¡± Not having an exact period in mind, I looked at my companions for suggestions and Reff stepped forward, bending at the waist to look directly into the hatch. ¡°In controlled greeting, we would like to stay for one week, with the option to extend our visit.¡± ¡°Room each, or sharing?¡± ¡°With careful assumption, I think it best if we take separate rooms.¡± ¡°We only have four available.¡± ¡°Then why did you ask-¡± Darina started to speak, her voice scathing, but she was quickly cut off by our giant friend, his own voice slightly strained, but seemingly far calmer than the rest of us, though I thought that at least some of that control was likely faked. ¡°-In firm interruption, that will be fine. I will stay with my sister.¡± ¡°Thousand coins.¡± I felt my jaw drop slightly at the massive sum, before closing it and tensing my jaw to keep the growl I wanted to emit from starting. My friends seemed equally non-plussed at the sum, and it was not hard to understand why; a top-notch set of clothes, tailored specifically for me had cost significantly less, and while hotels back on Earth could be expensive, there was usually some degree of luxury involved. The City¡¯s Edge look more like a prison than a five-star hotel, at least with the room we were in as an example. ¡°With purposeful questioning, that seems like a great deal of money. Why is it so expensive?¡± ¡°We¡¯re fortified against riots and sect wars, and it¡¯s to pay for any damage you may cause if you lose it, as well as clean-up if you should call the Blood and Bones down on us. Standard rates in Ouhl.¡± I could feel my temper rising at the possibility she was trying to rip us off, but I clamped my will down around its edges and held it together; what the scarred woman was saying did make sense. In a city where fights were apparently quite common ¨C regardless of the Blood Guard ¨C it probably paid to both fortify and ensure in case of damage. ¡°Blood and Bones?¡± The question came from Toria, who stood at the back of the group, her finger tapping against the collar of her breastplate rapidly, like some kind of nervous tick, though I had not seen it before. ¡°The Blood Guard. They wear red and white, see? ¡­ And it¡¯s all what¡¯s left when they¡¯re done ¡®restoring the peace.¡¯¡± Our first meeting with the Blood Marshal had not painted the picture of a gentle man, and it seemed like those under him were no gentler, from what the host was saying. I did of course assume it to be something of an exaggeration; force might be necessary to restore order in a place like that, but commonly reducing people to their component parts seemed a little extreme. It was something that I had done, while on the dead world, but it had not been entirely possible to avoid, given the relative disparity between our bodies. Perhaps, I thought, that was the answer; maybe the entire Blood Guard was made up of Pinnacle level cultivators, and they just could not help turning people into bloody messes when forced to intervene. Taking chances when people¡¯s blood was up due to the area probably only lead to more death. It was certainly not a place I was keen on staying in, and I looked forward to leaving. I enjoyed a good fight ¨C afterwards, usually ¨C but being that on edge all the time was going to get old quick. ¡°I¡¯ll pay; I still have your shares,¡± I gestured at Reff, Riffa and Darina, ¡°as I keep forgetting to give them to you.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want them, idiot.¡± Reff and Riffa nodded along with the diminutive healer¡¯s words, and I finally took the hint. ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll still pay.¡± Darina opened her mouth, presumably to call me an idiot again so I quickly rushed to forestall her. ¡°Just because I said I would! If we stay longer, you can pay!¡± ¡°... Fine!¡±. Despite agreeing to my terms, Darina still looked like she was chewing glass and I was a bit hesitant to turn away from her, but thankfully she seemed to have reined in her temper a little. I pulled the requisite sum from storage, counting it out in stacks before dropping them into a shallow bowl that dipped under the bars. The host swept them out again and into a barrel without bothering to check the amount, an irritated look on her face that said she was already regretting renting us rooms. Reaching to the side, the woman pulled four sets of keys from hidden hooks and dropped them into the same bowl. ¡°You¡¯re all on the top floor, you¡¯ll need a key for each, and your rooms. Next floor up is private - don¡¯t attempt to snoop, the other guards won¡¯t hesitate just because you¡¯re guests.¡± I picked up the keys and handed them out; each ring had five keys, with four of them being labels for their respective floors, and the final key simply being a number. It seemed like a lot of security, but again it was probably a sensible precaution, to place as many barriers between potential fights as possible, but it did add a little to the feeling of being inside a very small prison. ¡°Uh, where are the stairs?¡± ¡°That door.¡± I turned to look where the host was pointing but did not see a door, though after a moment of confused staring I noticed a keyhole set into one of the stones of the wall. Rolling my eyes, I wondered over to the apparently hidden door and inserted my first key, turning it with a click that popped the door out and rendering it completely visible. A dull thud behind us made me turn, and I saw that the hatch had been closed again. With a shrug, I pulled open the stone door and began to climb the steep stairs. The first landing we came to had arrow slits to either side of it, and when I glanced into one I was greeted with the sight of a strangely liquid bow and arrow pointed at my face. Moving on hurriedly, recalling the warning, my friends and I continued up the stairs, turning at each landing and ascending the near vertical steps. Reaching our floor, we each filtered into our rooms, closing the doors firmly behind us. I took a deep breath, my eyes closed and not even having looked at the room. Without anybody else around me, it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I could still feel the urge pressing in on me, but without any potential targets, and no immediate grudges, it was almost relaxing compared to before. After half a minute of just breathing in the relative calm, I opened my eyes and let out a surprised, ¡°Nice!¡± at the sight of the room. I had half expected a wooden board to sleep on and maybe a bucket, but the room was richly appointed in a deep forest green edged in gold. The bed was wide and looked invitingly soft, and there was even another door, through which I found a private bathing room. I was very impressed, and somewhat mollified at the cost of the rooms. Sitting down on the plush green carpet, I began to meditate, eager to refill my reserves; I had the distinct impression that not being combat ready in the City of the Red Grasses was a bad idea. Wishing Well Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Danger Zone I did manage to find the guard; given the design of the rest of the building, I had expected to find the man secreted away in some disguised cubicle, and while I did find him sitting within the entrance to the side passage on either side of the cramped entrance, at least it wasn¡¯t hidden. Having located him, I first asked him where we might find an alchemist, though his laughing response made me grit my teeth. ¡°Hahaha, there¡¯s no alchemists in Ouhl, lad! You can try the bazaar, but alchemy¡¯ll cost you, if you can find it before some richling buys it up. I¡¯d tell you to try your hand at one of the sects, but they¡¯ve been pretty strict with outsiders lately.¡± I recalled what Jorl had said about the alchemists visiting to harvest the red grass, but it appeared as though they did not bother to stick around. I could understand it, if they could not actually work locally, though I did wonder why they did not at least stick around or host some kind of shop, if only to sell their products. From what the guard was saying, it seemed like they would make a killing. Accepting the city for what it was, I asked for directions to the bazaar, being careful to keep my voice even. The guard complied with a shrug, giving me fairly straightforward instructions. Thanking him, I also asked him to let our friends know where we were going, if they came down; after coaxing reluctant agreement out of him, the three of us set out into the city. Outside, the sky was grey and clouded and a cool breeze blew among the brutalist buildings, whistling as it caught the jagged metal features decorating their surfaces. As the three of us walked through the busy streets, I noticed something that I had not the day before about the people around us; they moved around strangely, ensuring that they each had space between themselves and others. I saw people stop and step aside with eyes cast aside to allow others to pass where there was not enough room for them all. I wondered whether there was some kind of ranking in the city, or whether it was just politeness. The eyes I understood, as meeting people¡¯s eyes made my bloodlust sit up and pay attention, if they did not look away, at least. It was a hard habit to try to get into; I was not the most deferential person and a part of me resisted looking away mightily. I found the best way of avoiding the issue entirely was to keep my eyes low and avoid contact entirely. After ten minutes or so of travel, we reached the back of a tightly packed crowd; from the directions I had been given, this was around where a square should have been and I wondered what could be going on in it to force the crowd together, when they had to that point been purposefully dispersed. Turning to Riffa, who was at least twice the height of the majority of Ouhl¡¯s citizens, I asked if she could see what was going on. ¡°With restrained judgement, there are three groups stood shouting at each other from across the square.¡± That sounded both interesting, and a recipe for approaching disaster based on what I knew of the city. ¡°I¡¯m going to get a better look.¡± I pointed at a nearby building which seemed to border the square and Focused for a moment, lending myself speed before leaping into the air. The building I was aiming for was about a hundred feet high and the same distance away. As I shot through the air, I looked down over the crowd, and it occurred to me to wonder why people moved about at normal, human speeds, through streets? In reality, none of the people now below me were limited to such mundane methods of traveling, and it seemed a waste to ignore such a large part of their abilities, outside of battle. I landed on the flat roof with a dull thud, taking a few steps to bleed my momentum before turning in the same direction the building faced, even as another thud sounded behind me. Turning, I saw Toria had joined me and I waited expectantly for Riffa to join us. After several seconds, I looked down to see Riffa simply watching from where she had been, and it occurred to me that without a speed boost, the distance was likely too great for the giant to cross. I winced slightly at my assumption, but managed to justify it by reminding myself that of the three of us, only the risi was tall enough to have an entirely unobstructed view from the street. That solved, I focused on the events in question; down in the square, amidst various now un-manned stalls, stood three very different groups. The group furthest from me were all dressed in weirdly short togas in shades of yellow and brown; at their head stood a powerfully muscled woman with green hair styled into two horns that jutted forward from her hair. A massive hammer rested on one shoulder as she waved her free hand back and forth, shouting something I could not quite make out. Off to the side, the second group were dressed in black and red robes and they constantly shifted position, ducking between each other as if to hide their numbers. Their leader was a slender, bald man with a strange purple cloud floating around his head like a halo. He stood silent with his arms crossed, tapping his foot.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Lastly, the group closest to us was composed of what looked like humanoid rams, with cloven hooves at the end of their legs, but humanoid hands. Their heads were mostly indistinguishable from actual rams, though their curling horns seemed to be made from wood. They wore tight fitting shorts and shirts of a pale gold, and each carried a long staff. Their leader had a mantle of what looked to be brightly coloured flowers that spilled down over broad shoulders to the small of their back. The ram leader was pointing at the woman with the hammer and shouting over her, and while I could not make out the words, I could make out that their voice was strangely high-pitched for somebody of their size. As I watched, still unable to hear more than their voices, the three became more animated, with the bald man joined in on the shouting, his hand stabbing back and forth between the other two groups. I could feel the tension rising in the square, urged on by the violence in the atmosphere, and I even noticed the crowds at the entrances begin to stir as the aggression affected even them. I was about to suggest we get back to Riffa and leave when I caught sight of movement on the other side, and dozens of people pressed in red and white leapt into the centre of the square, their backs to each other and facing out. At the centre of the formation stood Badan Tain, the Blood Marshal. As I watched, he brought something to his mouth that looked almost like a strangely bent coin across the distance, but proved to be some kind of voice amplifier. He spoke into his hand, his voice ringing out like lower thunder, vibrating the stone on which I stood. ¡°DISPERSE; THIS IS AN UNLAWFUL CONFRONTATION. DISPERSE, OR BE DISPERSED! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR SECT BULLSHIT IN THE LAST YEAR TO LAST A LIFETIME, AND AM IN NO MOOD TO PUT UP WITH MORE!¡± The crowds, which has been inching towards violence of their own were silent after Tain¡¯s proclamation, and even began to filter away in other directions. The sects themselves could be heard grumbling away to each other in the sudden absence of sound, and while it looked like a struggle, it did seem like they were going to back down, as the three groups reluctantly eyed each other and began to turn away. At the last moment, the bald man with the purple halo spun back and waves his hands dramatically at the group of Blood Guard, a purple mist the same colour as his own condensing out of the air and sweeping towards the Marshall with almost shocking speed. The Guard were not caught unawares, however; as the purple cloud shot toward them, they held out their hands in unison, and where the wave impacted them, it stopped dead. There was a snap of displaced air and Tain vanished, reappearing next to the red and black clad leader, sweeping his arm down in an almost negligent manner before vanishing and re-appearing once more within the formation. For a moment, everything was still, the purple fog dissipating as quickly as it had formed. I stood watching the leader, my brows pulled into a frown as I thought back on the Marshal¡¯s attack; it had been too fast to track accurately without my abilities maxed out, but I had the impression that he had only attacked with his little finger, barely even touching his target. Wondering whether the peace breaker would attack once more, I realised that he had not moved at all, and then with a crash the building on the other side partially collapsed, its outward face severed in a neat line, As the cut stones crashed to the ground, dust rolled out, blowing to and around the still sect leader and all at once he simply fell into two clean halves, front and back. ¡°IF YOU SHIT STAINS DO NOT WISH TO FOLLOW IN THAT IDIOT¡¯S FOOTSTEPS, LEAVE NOW! IF YOU ARE STILL HERE BY THE TIME I COUNT TO THREE, I¡¯M GOING TO BE VERY FUCKING ANGRY! ONE!¡± There was hesitation, as the sect members looked at the fallen man, but in the end, it seemed like they did not want to tangle with the guard, having just seen what was presumably one of their most powerful members cut down in an instant. A couple of the red-and-black robed people rushed forward to gather up the body before the entire mass of them ran off, very quickly. The other sects also left, though the brown and yellow clad faction disdained the street in favour of massive, bounding jumps. ¡°That is a dangerous ability.¡± I could only nod at Toria¡¯s words; much like V, it seemed even a touch from Tain could be enough to kill. The breadth of powers available to cultivators truly was staggering. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to Riffa, and then out of here. I don¡¯t want to be accused of not dispersing...¡± The two of us jumped down to the street once more, where Riffa gave as a grave nod and we took off to find a way around the square. Unfortunately, we did not get far before a voice called out from behind us, stopping us in our tracks. ¡°And of course you¡¯re here, you Void-fucked territorial shit. You aren¡¯t a member of one of these bastard sects, are you?¡± Turning, I looked back at the Blood Marshal, making sure to keep my eyes down; the last thing I wanted at that moment was to become the way I had been outside the gates. ¡°No, nothing to do with them. We were on our way to the bazaar to look for something to help us sleep. This just happened to be on the way. There was a pause for a moment, before Tain spoke again. ¡°That checks out, if coming from the City¡¯s Edge. You can go, but if you see that Void-f... if you see the Apex of the Crystal Drake, can you ask him to stop fucking scaring the shit out of my city? I have enough to deal with.¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll certainly pass on the message...¡± ¡°Good. Now fuck off.¡± The three of us left without another word; the man was obviously somewhere in the Pinnacle stage and despite our pressed tempers, there was nothing to be gained from a confrontation except maybe death. I did wonder how he knew where we were staying, however, and whether he ¨C they ¨C tracked all new arrivals, or whether we were a special case. Being a special case for such a foul-tempered, violent asshole was not something I had any interest in being, but knowing my luck, I was going to keep running into the damned ren bastard... Chapter 116 - Wheels of Confusion As we made our way around the square, I heard people talking, almost in stage whispers, like they did not want to be heard, but still... needed to be heard. They were talking about the altercation we had witnessed; apparently, despite the city¡¯s issues, it is actually a very rare occurrence for any of the local sects to do more than posture and threaten, at least within the city limits. ¡°In restrained contemplation, the sect leaders were at the Foundation stage, at most; Badan Tain appeared no faster than a normal Pinnacle, and yet the hairless man did not have time to react. It was a foolish move to attack, as he did.¡± ¡°He was an idiot, who attacked the rightful law keeper of this place without provocation. His execution was just, but I too wonder what he was thinking, as at this level, he stood little chance, even striking as he did.¡± ¡°Maybe the city was just too much? Tain is a pretty grating guy, so I kind of get wanting to attack him.¡± ¡°In heartfelt agreement, the Marshal is certainly the least diplomatic individual we have met, even more so than many of the people we have actually fought.¡± I snorted a laugh, realising that Riffa was right; our enemies were awful people, there was no doubt about that, but at least they were fairly polite. ¡°Maybe he wasn¡¯t really their leader, just the highest ranking in the group? Seems like a sect should be led by a Pinnacle, right? Otherwise, a sect with a Pinnacle, or just a lone Pinnacle, could show up and just take over.¡± ¡°You may have a point... Hunter. I wonder if we can expect retaliation from the sect in question, if that proves to be the case.¡± ¡°I hope not, honestly. Tain sliced into that house, so his abilities seem pretty indiscriminate; a battle between him and another Pinnacle would mess this place up.¡± The three of us fell into silence for a time as we walked, and I turned my attention mostly inwards to continue my cultivation; the confrontation had driven home the need to be in top form in this place, even more than I had already realised. If chaos broke out, I wanted to be able to get out of there... or try and protect people, if necessary. I recalled my quest, to limit civilian casualties, and I wondered who that included. Had I failed by ¡®letting¡¯ the sect member die? Either way, how many civilians were too many? Was it global, local, a specific place? Not for the first time, I sent rude thoughts Xiournal¡¯s way as I wished she could just be a little less obscure with her missions. I had no idea what the actual rules she was under were, other than she was not allowed to give me too much info about the world, but surely a solid idea of the numbers involved was not too much to ask? With a sigh, I decided to ask about something I had been wondering for a while, if only to distract myself from the frustration of my current quest. ¡°Guys, what¡¯s with the coloured metals? Red through violet? They seem to get stronger and heavier as they go, but there are all these others; white, and silver and black. What¡¯s the deal?¡± Riffa, who was somewhat used to my strange questions raised an eyebrow at my question, but I got a very strange look from Toria; if I kept this up, she was going to be of the same opinion as Darina before too long, and I did not need a second Darina. Still, the look only lasted a moment before the two of them shared a look that said, at least to me, that I was just weird and to move on. After a moment or two, they seemed to reach an understanding as to which was going to answer my weird question and Toria spoke up again. ¡°The... coloured metals, are alchemically treated, by the Alchemy Association. Red corresponds to mortal levels of strength, meaning they can lift it, though not damage it. Orange corresponds to Focus, Yellow to Core, Green to Path, Blue is Foundation and finally Violet for Pinnacle. The others are simply naturally occurring metals or alloys. They are too numerous to list.¡± ¡°Huh, the Alchemy Association treats metals too? As I understand it, materials slowly absorb Experience, growing stronger as they do, or at least... increasing their intrinsic properties? And they can even eventually Ascend, but it takes so much that it doesn¡¯t happen for ages. Somebody once told me that even a planet can Ascend. I wonder what they do to it, whether there¡¯s some way to increase the rate at which things absorb Experience.¡± The idea intrigued me, because outside of my Core, my arm had its own independent pool of energy that it used to power its own, private functions. Back on the dead world, it had charged in a week or so, but out here it would take months at the sort of energy pressure our world sat at. If I could increase the rate of absorption, that would be very helpful. I also wondered if I could I could make use of my own pool, now that I thought about it. It was inside me, so why not? For the Lizard People, they only had their designed functions, so there was no need to try to do other things with it, but I had both. It was a lot of ifs, but, if I could integrate the efficiency designs, and if I could draw on the apparently large-scale reserves of my arm and if I could find a way to refill it faster... I would almost certainly be the strongest Path stage on the planet, and Foundation and Pinnacle, if I made it that far. I found the idea pretty pleasing, though I could not say why at the time; I liked fighting, the contest of it, the... absolution of it. But it was not my goal; I had grown stronger out of necessity, to protect myself, to protect others and to carry out my missions. Being the strongest at my level on the planet would certainly help with those things, but even the result, as an end in itself, was pretty damn pleasing. ¡°They do; it is one of their basic services. As you have no doubt seen ¨C everywhere ¨C the materials they produce are fairly ubiquitous.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. And of course, I was in possibly the only city in the world that did not have an Alchemist outpost or shop. I wondered my Lucky ability had turned off, because it had certainly seemed to do little for me over the last week or so. I was pulled from that dreary contemplation as the three of us turned a corner and found ourselves facing what had to be the bazaar. Before us, cloth tents and covered stalls stretched out, too tall to see over, but forming a wide, brightly coloured network of alleys through which people bustled about. I could hear hawkers calling out to people, promising one-time-only offers to everyone that passed. I smiled at the sight, as it reminded me of a night market I had once visited, and at which I had found one of the first editions I had traded for my flight to the Antarctic. The chilly memory of my death dulled the mood somewhat, but even so, the book had brought me a lot of joy over the course of my life, and even the misery of my last few weeks could not quite dull the recollection. My friends and I headed into the dense shanty-town and I found myself amazed at the quality of the work I saw on display; back on Earth, most of what you found in those kinds of places were crap, with real bargains and treasures scattered lightly amongst them. But in Ouhl¡¯s bazaar, everything seemed to be of the finest make. On one stall covered in a sky-blue sheet, I found plants carved from wood that looks as real as any I had ever seen, almost translucent in places and looking wet with morning dew. On another, this one clad in bright yellow, jars carved from single pieces of stone and crystal that glittered as the sunlight bounces off their perfectly smooth surfaces. There were stalls for weapons of all kinds, save guns, and in every shape imaginable. I found a sword twice as long as I was tall, and every bit as broad as me. It was forged from a dark, silvery metal but the edge glowed as if on the edge of vaporization, a hot, blinding line that reminded me of thermite. Despite how it looked, however, the weapon did no damage to the cloth, nor did it give off any heat. I asked if I could lift it, and gaining consent hefted the massive thing in my hands; it was surprisingly light, though given my relative strength, that was not much of a shock. But even so, I had expected it to feel more like the blue sword Aella had tried to hand me on our trip to the Blacksand Citadel, more of an impossible weight than what seemed closer to a heavy feather. As I held the weapon, I had images of myself swinging it about in long, deadly arcs and lightning spat from the glowing edge, but with a grin, I set the thing down, knowing that with the addition of my tiny passenger, such a weapon was not practical. I did spend some time trying to push my Praxis into a number of more reasonably sized swords though, looking for one that I could use while compressing time, but none seemed to be as receptive to it as my arm and I supposed it was more the mechanism ¨C the intent perhaps ¨C that allowed such thing. Reluctantly, I left that part of the bazaar behind, accepting that I would either need something custom made, or I would need to make something myself, using the designs as a base. Or both. The list of things I had to do kept growing, but it was good to have a purpose, outside of my seemingly endless quests and simply growing stronger. Problems to work away at; hobbies, but with impact. We did find a stall selling alchemic products, though it took us a couple of hours of wandering the vast maze of stalls. The shop in question was decorated with bright, vivid green cloth that bordered on lime, and behind the counter stood a person covered from head to toe in the fur of various animals. There did not seem to be any sense or order to how they were worn, or what went next to what, and I found it by far the strangest mode of dress I had encountered since my arrival. ¡°Uh, hi. We¡¯re looking for... sleeping aids?¡± ¡°You need help sleeping each other?¡± His voice ¨C or at least I thought it was a he ¨C grated, more than half growl, and guttural as if it was all formed in the back of his throat. ¡°No. Just me, on my own.¡± Toria¡¯s voice was pretty forceful, and it took me a moment to realise why; the fur-clad man had insinuated that we were sleeping together. I had not caught the implication right away, as by that point I was so used to different accents that I simply assumed he misspoke, but I could see how somebody less used to dealing with the issue could take offense. While I had encountered a myriad languages and accents, they seemed predominantly limited to people from other worlds originally. Even Darina¡¯s Master, Sonja, was from another world. This of course made me wonder if the seller was from elsewhere, though I had no idea if it was rude or not to actually ask. ¡°Yes. Yes. You not sleep them. You fine sleep self. I know this.¡± I saw the devotee of justice narrow her eyes and quickly spoke up, hoping to head the conflict off before it built up steam. ¡°Do you have anything to make a person sleep better. As in closing their eyes and sleeping.¡± ¡°Yes... this I say. Everyone this place crazy.¡± The man reached down with one tightly bundled hand and gestured to a purple bag tied with orange string. ¡°This sleeps you, for night, guarantee is guaranteed.¡± I found myself frowning at the hard-to-understand shopkeep, but I took a breath and looked at the bag he was pointing at. Just in front of the smallish item, was an elaborately decorated piece of paper that set the price at... a thousand spirit coins. ¡°A thousand coins? Are you insane, you furry asshole?¡± ¡°Price is price. No negotiate. Maybe little.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine...Hunter. There seems to be enough for a long stay, it¡¯s worth it to get some sleep.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a thousand coins, Toria! Why is everything so expensive here?!¡± ¡°With studied calm, the aura makes it difficult to perform delicate work here, and so scarcity drives up prices.¡± ¡°It was rhetorical, Riffa.¡± Riffa just shrugged at me and I turned back to the man in the mis-matched yeti costume. ¡°We¡¯ll give you five-hundred.¡± ¡°One-thousand.¡± ¡°... That¡¯s not how haggling works.¡± ¡°... One-thousand.¡± ¡°Seven-hundred.¡± ¡°I go nine-hundred, but you thief. Literal highwayman.¡± ¡°Eight-fifty, I¡¯m not going higher. I¡¯m sure there another, less annoying, shop around here somewhere that sells alchemy stuff.¡± ¡°Only chemical shop in Bazaar. Only shop for such thief. Eight-Fifty, is done.¡± I glared at the man and started to reach for my storage when Toria stepped in front of me to pay herself; I had honestly forgotten the stuff was even for the apprentice, in the moment, but I accepted it with a shrug. I wanted to be fair to my friends, but if they could pay their way, they could pay their way. Having paid, Toria snatched up the bag and checked its contents before storing it away quickly and walking away without another word. Riffa and I hurried to catch up, though I did notice another damned alchemy stall around the first corner; I chose not to say anything about it. I almost turned around to go back and give the rotten liar a piece of my mind ¨C and fist ¨C but given the city¡¯s policy on such things, I thought better of it. It was probably for the best, as in the distance and above the general din of the bazaar I dimly heard a boom, followed by screaming. Chapter 117 - Warning We instinctively ran towards the distant sound of screams. Despite my reserves still being fairly low, the violence in the air bonded with my innate desire to help and drove me towards it like a moth to a flame. The same seemed to be true of my friends, as we dashed past the multitude of craning necks, through the maze of tents and stalls at a pace far beyond the casual stroll we had used before. Within a few seconds, we had found the source of the screaming, though by the time we did they were long since silenced. Most of the buildings on either side of the street had been reduced to rubble, furniture and now shapeless things lying in the ruins as dust drifted about in the eddying air. The only sound left in the area was from a groaning man, trapped beneath a fallen stone column that had to weigh close to a hundred tons. Half a dozen people stood around the pillar, trying to lift it. The three of us rushed over and lent our efforts to the endeavour, and it seemed our added strength was just enough and the huge stone block rose off the ground. A young girl I had not seen before ran to the injured man and began to tug him out, until he was finally free and we let the mass fall back to the ground with a boom that shook the earth and sent dust and stone scattering. The man lay on the ground, his legs a bloody mess; I wished we had Darina with us to help him, but sometimes fate can be fickle. I was about to offer a healing pill when the young girl pulled one from thin air and fed it to him. With a nod that was a half shrug, I turned to one of the others that had helped move the monument; she was dressed in a bright orange and sky-blue robe, with arms festooned with golden bangles and bracelets and a chain about her forehead and jet-black hair; a yellow gem dangled from it to fall between her brown eyes. ¡°What happened?¡± The woman turned to look at me a frown worn on her dark skin; she looked me up and down, the adrenaline caused by our efforts to save the man obviously making it more difficult than normal to ignore the city¡¯s bloody aura. After a moment though, her face cleared and she spoke, her voice was low, rhythmic and almost musical. ¡°A group of Bleak Shadows picked a fight with members of the Forge of Flesh, and the Blood and Bones intervened.¡± ¡°With deliberate consternation, it does not seem like their intervention provided a great deal of protection.¡± ¡°New here are you, giant? The Guard hit hard and fast; less of a protective measure than a... preventive one.¡± ¡°You mean their aim is to discourage violence, rather than intercepting or preventing it? Clearly this isn¡¯t working. It seems awfully unjust, to me.¡± The brightly dressed woman looked between the three of us, her eyes narrowing slightly. ¡°It has worked for millennia; you should not base your opinion on isolated incidents.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that isolated; we saw another fight between the Blood Guard and a bunch of sects a couple of hours ago. Well, one sect. I guess the rest were just sort of... there.¡± ¡°Hmpf. Strange. I had heard there was growing unrest amongst the sects, but I did not think it had grown this bad.¡± ¡°I heard they were all sick of being bossed about by the Blood and Bones, when their sects have been in the area for longer than the city.¡± The man who spoke up was of average size, wearing a brown tunic trimmed in copper thread. He had a scar running through a short goatee, over his lips and down his chin. ¡°Have they been here longer?¡± I asked the question; I could see a group getting angry at being bossed around on land they had lived on like that. ¡°No idea. It¡¯s just something they¡¯re saying.¡± The man shrugged, and the woman spoke up again. ¡°I do not think that they have; I have read many histories of the founding of Ouhl, and none mentioned any existing sects. To my knowledge, they formed later.¡± ¡°Then why¡¯d they say it? Seems like an awful excuse to get killed by the Blood and Bones.¡± The man and woman began to argue back and forth about the relative historical weight that should be lent to their respective accounts and my companions and I shared a look before washing our hands of the situation as it could develop into something more than aggressive gesturing. Stopping a short distance away, the three of us looked back at the shattered street; more people had shown up since the initial incident, with several of them standing in front of what were apparently their houses, shouting at the broken shells angrily. ¡°Anybody else think this is a weird coincidence, that this nonsense breaks out right when we arrive? Maybe I¡¯m paranoid.¡± ¡°In curt dismissal, there have been many such coincidences since meeting you, Hunter. I am not inclined to believe this to be unrelated to our mission.¡± ¡°But... how?¡± ¡°With quick contemplation, the Risen Throne attacked the Blacksand Citadel, and to a lesser degree Everwood City. From the letter, it is clear their plans extend much further, however. Perhaps they seek to destabilise the region, for some reason?¡± ¡°The letter... Hunter retrieved did seem to indicate that they had plans for locations close to the prison. If they were looking to seize power, they would need to displace or destroy the Blood Guard, at least in this city.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I looked at the two women and ran a hand through my beard, thinking over what they said. ¡°It¡¯s still just speculation though. We could spend time investigating this thing, only to find out it¡¯s unrelated and we¡¯ve just given the damned Uppity Chairs a bigger head start!¡± I was frustrated; my previous quests had been vague, but fairly direct, but this new one was making me second guess myself. It did not help that the last time I had felt entirely sure about something I had just outright failed, potentially unleashing a vast, ancient asshole onto my new home. ¡°Who are the, ¡®Uppity Chairs¡¯?¡± I looked at Toria, doing my best to keep my breathing even, though all I wanted to do was rip something apart. ¡°It¡¯s just what somebody called them, the first person to give us their name. Actually, given the whole language thing, I guess he was from another world, now I think about it.¡± ¡°You lead a strange life... Hunter.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know the half of it. Well, probably more than half, but it definitely gets weirder.¡± She raised her eyebrow at me, and I realised that I had let the gnawing aura make me incautious. I moved on quickly, trying to not give her more time than necessary to percolate that particular thought. ¡°Anyway; if this was an attempt to destabilise the region, why aren¡¯t the more powerful members of the sects involved? The Guard seem pretty strong, they have to be. Do the sects stand a chance, if they¡¯re not all-in?¡± ¡°We do not have enough information; let us make our way back to the inn. We can let the Ever Flowing and Mountain¡¯s Rage pick through our suspicions, and await the Crystal Drake¡¯s return. If the Risen Throne are active within the city, he should be able to root their involvement out.¡± I nodded slowly, doing my best to let my frustration go. It was probably for the best; I was still well below max strength and my Lesser Regeneration was tied up with V¡¯s damned infection. I could not afford to charge in recklessly. ¡°Good idea.¡± The three of us began our trip back, listening out for the sound of conflict, but luckily, no such distractions arose. With the way the city was itching at us, I really do not know whether we would have been able to resist rushing in, yet again. * *** * We made it back to the City¡¯s Edge much quicker than it had taken us to reach the bazaar; not only were there no random fights to block our path, but with the way we were listening for any sign of conflict, there was an energy in our steps that had bewere theiren absent on the trip out. Entering the inn proved to be just as much of a hassle as it had been the first time; as it turned out, none of the keys we had been given actually worked on the front door, though I had to admit that the decision made a certain kind of sense. With the building sort of doubling as a small fortress, people coming and going with keys ¨C which they could easily lose ¨C could somewhat undermine the integrity of the defence. Much like the first time, I ended up pounding away at the heavy door, though unlike our initial arrival, I did not waste any time with normal taps, and was in fact about to try kicking the thing down when it finally opened, revealing the same guard that we had spoken to before. ¡°Well, get in then! All that banging and you¡¯re just stood in the entrance.¡± I growled under my breath and stomped into the room, just about resisting the urge to throttle the equally short-tempered guard. I looked around, trying not to meet his eyes, knowing it would just piss me off more, and was relieved to see Darina and Reff sat stiffly at a table, watching us as we entered. We made our way across the room and took chairs at the table; I slumped down in mine, head resting on my hands; that place was really stressing me out. I did not know if my Agency was helping, but if it was, and I was still affected to that degree, I knew my friends must be really going through something. After a minute or so of tense silence, Darina spoke up, her voice the definition of brittle calm. ¡°You left without me. Us. Again.¡± ¡°We went to get something to help Toria sleep, you were still in your room. We didn¡¯t want to bug you.¡± ¡°Enough of your nonsense sayings! It would not have been bugging me, whatever that means! I am perfectly capable of maintaining my calm, unlike you, idiot.¡± I did not say anything, but I thought what she said was pretty funny, despite the forceful tone in which it was said. Clearly, however, something showed on my face and the diminutive apprentice''s red-jade eyes opened wide, her posture shifting as if to dive across the table. Thankfully, Reff came to my aid, as he so often did. ¡°With careful interjection, I for one am glad to have been afforded time with which to come closer to my centre. This place does not sit well with me.¡± ¡°This city does not seem to sit well with anybody at the moment; we saw a confrontation between multiple sects, with the eventual intervention of the Blood Guard.¡± ¡°In polite addition, as well as another fight between sects, which resulted in the destruction of part of a street.¡± ¡°Yeah, these guys don¡¯t mess around. Tain has some sort of... slicing power? I have no idea about the specifics, but it seems pretty indiscriminate. Though the sects don¡¯t seem any better. I wonder why the citizens put up with them at all; they¡¯re all cultivators, right? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a Nadir city, right?¡± ¡°Everyone is a cultivator, but not everyone is a trained fighter, idiot. There¡¯s a big difference between having power and knowing how to fight with it. Some people are also just crafters, or... artists. Or a thousand other things.¡± ¡°I guess my perspective is kind of skewed... I¡¯ve only really interacted with fighters. I just assumed everyone could fight, to a degree. But even so, tens of thousands of cultivators, at least, all turning on the sects or whatever... it¡¯s not like they¡¯d be no threat, right?¡± ¡°With purposeful delicacy, how would an untrained Core stage deal with your own abilities, Hunter? Would a thousand cultivators, specialized in things other than fighting, be able to stop you?¡± I thought about that; at my full strength, a mid-Pinnacle stage could just stop me based on pure physical power, but before that, without some specialized ability to shut my own down, it would be pretty difficult... until I got tired. I was about to speak up, to say that eventually yes, I would get worn down, but before I had chance, Toria interrupted. ¡°It is the job of local authorities to prevent the excesses of power. Should they fail, the Order of Justice may intervene, or in extreme cases, an Apex. There has been no need for the majority of people to devote their lives to battle since before the Cataclysm. Or so the Order historians ¨C and the Paladin - tells us.¡± ¡°And if the Risen Throne are stirring the pot? Provoking people to action they would not otherwise take?¡± ¡°With piqued curiosity, what do you mean, Hunter?¡± ¡°Just a theory; the letter didn¡¯t use specific place names, but it just seems like a huge coincidence that this place starts to spark like this just as we arrive looking for the Risen Throne. What if it is them, or even the Multiplicious Self crawling inside people?¡± There was silence at that question, the moment stretching out as we each thought about the implications of a potentially global push to destabilize the world. Or worse, become the world. ¡°Did you say, ¡®Risen Throne¡¯?¡± I turned at the voice, finding the woman that had checked us in now out from behind her bars, left hand sat on the pommel of a bladed mace. ¡°Because I¡¯ve heard that name before.¡± Chapter 118 - I Witness The woman, who was apparently named Loneth sat at our table, with her back to the wall, her brown eyes constantly flicking about, as if uncomfortable at being out from behind her bars. ¡°With careful prompting, you said that you had heard the name, ¡®Risen Throne¡¯, before?¡± Loneth¡¯s eyes locked on Reff for a moment as he spoke, before renewing their survey of the room. The seconds stretched on, and I could see Darina losing what little temper she was holding on to when finally, the woman spoke again. ¡°Yes. Did some work for the Earthen Sky sect; just reinforcing some roofs and gates. I¡¯m a builder, if you can afford me; built this place too.¡± A sharp gesture around the room made it clear she meant the City¡¯s Edge, and I had to admit I was impressed. It did not seem to have been built directly with any ability, but rather by mundane work, and to do so much alone was hard. ¡°I¡¯m up on a roof, measuring and I remove a tile to check composition. Whichever idiot built the place hadn¡¯t insulated, so it was just a hole into the room underneath, with a conversation going on. Now, I¡¯m not an eavesdropper, I was just there to do a job, so that¡¯s what I do. I¡¯m checking the tile, minding my own business... when I hear the conversation stop, and a door close. I thought they¡¯d gone, but then I hear somebody start asking if ¡®the Risen Throne could open a portal.¡¯ It caught my attention, because that¡¯s not a real thing a person can do.¡± The others and I shared a look, knowing that opening a portal was in fact something an Apex could do, as well as the Shadow Faced Guy. ¡°Somebody asked if the organization would open a portal? Who were they asking?¡± Having spoken, it was my turn to have the ever-shifting eyes fixed on me for a moment, before they moved away again. ¡°Not like that. It was more like they were talking about a person; like it was their cultivation title. Since portals aren¡¯t a thing, I looked to see which idiot was asking, and who was being asked, but there was only one person in the room.¡± ¡°And this was at the Earthen Sky sect, you said? I wonder if they¡¯re allied? I wish Jorl would finish up, already.¡± I had thought the man would simply fly over the city a few times, maybe move about a bit on foot and just read the information out of people, but I knew that was dumb; the Apexes could seemingly read emotion, and when somebody was lying, but as far as I was aware, it was not actually mind reading. It was not like he could just flash through the city and be done. ¡°That really is the Apex of the Crystal Drake then, flying around the city? And you¡¯re all with him?¡± ¡°In confirmation, yes.¡± ¡°Huh. Well, hope the city doesn¡¯t rile him up too much...¡± Recalling the flick he had given me, I found myself hoping the same. ¡°Where can this, Earthen Sky sect be found, Mistress Loneth?¡± I could see a glint in Toria¡¯s eyes as she ask the question and I had the distinct impression she intended to head over to do some investigating, and perhaps to mete out justice, given her allegiances. ¡°Just Loneth. They¡¯re east of the city, in the Inverted Mountain.¡± ¡°Inverted mountain? How can a mountain be inverted?¡± Darina¡¯s terse voice was challenging, and I could see the innkeeper¡¯s face harden fractionally at it, but it seemed she was well used to the effects the city had on people, and was well schooled in controlling her own emotions. It probably helped with keeping the cost of repairs down... ¡°It¡¯s a stone-lined pit, thousands of feet deep, as if some giant took the slopes of a normal mountain, turned it upside-down and inside out and hammered it into the ground. What could it mean?¡± ¡°I could mean any-¡± ¡°In pointed interruption, thank you for the information, Loneth. It has been helpful.¡± The young healer was glaring at Reff and his less than diplomatic interruption, but he was pretending not to notice, though it was a certainly a difficult thing to ignore. ¡°Now, you¡¯re welcome, but hang on; what¡¯s all this about? Apexes flying around and kids investigating some group involved with the sects? Is this something I need to be telling the Blood and Bones about?¡± My first impulse was an emphatic, ¡®no¡¯, as I certainly did not want to potentially have to deal with Tain again, but unfortunately, it did actually make sense to get the local authorities involved, I did however think that it was probably best to wait for Jorl to come back so we could check with him; the last thing I wanted was to mess with his plans in any way. ¡°We should probably wait for the Apex... don¡¯t want to screw up his efforts.¡± ¡°And this, ¡®Risen Throne¡¯, who is he?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°With clear reservation, we do not know. We had not heard of an individual referred to this way before, only as a group.¡± I was nodding along to Riffa¡¯s words, when something struck me ¨C I recalled the letter I had found on V¡¯s body, and how it had been signed - ¡®DotRT¡¯. Something of the Risen Throne? When put that way, it did sound an awful lot like a cultivator¡¯s name; Darina the Ever Flowing. Reff, the Mountain¡¯s Rage. Apex of the Crystal Drake. Could the entire organisation be based on one person¡¯s name? I supposed most cults started with a single person, though this one was slightly more malicious than the average cult back on Earth... Despite the sneaking suspicion rising inside of me in regards to Dave of the Risen Throne, I decided not to give voice to it, at least until we were alone. ¡°Well, I suppose if an Apex is involved, there isn¡¯t much to worry about.¡± Her eyes flicked to Darina and stuck for the length of a few more words, after which she stood and walked across the room to vanish behind yet another hidden door. ¡°Don¡¯t break anything.¡± ¡°Why¡¯re you looking at me ¨C hey, why were you looking at me?!¡± ¡°... It was probably a coincidence, Darina.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the idiot here, Hunter, that¡¯s your job!¡± ¡°Then why ask? Get a hold on your shit, Darina.¡± ¡°I have no idea what that means, idiot!¡± I was on the cusp of responding with some cutting remarks of my own, but managed to reel in my retort with some mental effort and a deep breath. I could feel the tension around the table rising, the tones being used tipping everyone present towards aggression, and with only ourselves present, the only outlets were each other. Before the situation could get out of hand, I spoke up again, this time my voice calm ¨C or as calm as I could make it ¨C and my gaze fixed on a point on the far wall. As I pointedly did not look any of my friends in the eye, I had a sudden moment of kinship with our hostess. ¡°Guys, this city has us all on edge; I know it¡¯s difficult but we have to try and keep calm ¨C and that means me too. It¡¯s too easy to slip here. I¡¯ll try to be less... me.¡± ¡°With receding irritation, Hunter is right. This place is bringing out the worst in us. If we are to solve our current mystery, we must work together.¡± I saw everyone other than Darina nodding around the table, the diminutive ¨C yet bad tempered ¨C apprentice sitting with her arms crossed and wearing a scowl on her face. ¡°... Fine.¡± I just nodded, not wanting to fracture the fragile peace. After a minute or so of tense silence, I realised that I would actually need to say something in order to progress the conversation. ¡°Maybe we should go to one of our rooms? Before we say anything more?¡± * *** * We ended up in Reff and Riffa¡¯s room, since it was at the end of a hall, which would limit the chance of being overheard. The siblings¡¯ room was decorated in rich purple and actually had two beds; I wondered where the second bed had come from, as we had mostly chosen at random. I sat down on the floor with my back to the wall, leaving the two chairs and beds for the others. ¡°Where did the second bed come from? Was it here when you checked in?¡± ¡°In curt dismissal, it was.¡± ¡°Weird. Loneth is pretty efficient. I wonder how they get it in...¡± ¡°Maybe we should concentrate on the matter at hand... Hunter?¡± ¡°... Sure.¡± Okay, so maybe I was trying too hard to combat the incessant aggression and letting the fake frivolity distract me. ¡°Right. So, the Risen Throne are definitely in the city, and involved in some way with at least one of the sects. That probably means they¡¯re not involved with the Blood Guard, because provoking one provokes the other; provoking both seems like wasted effort.¡± ¡°I also think it likely that if they are involved with one sect, they are involved in them all; if their goal is to destabilise the region, provoking one third of what appears to be a triumvirate doesn¡¯t seem like it would be effective. The remaining two could simply intercede, ensuring defeat.¡± ¡°With careful consideration, I think you are correct, both of you. Should we investigate these sects ourselves, or await the Apex¡¯s return?¡± Riffa directed the question at the room in general, but none of seemed keen on making a decision, at least until her brother spoke up. ¡°In restrained agreement, it makes sense. We are only five people; however strong as we are, we cannot take on three entire sects. We should await the Crystal Drake¡¯s return.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m also nowhere near fully back up to top form, even discounting my ¡®infection¡¯. Damn, I should have asked that outrageously expensive alchemy seller if he had anything for me... Never mind that. Darina, how¡¯re your reserves?¡± ¡°High enough to beat you bloody and heal you again.¡± ¡°... Pretty good then. That reminds me, has anybody noticed their recovery improving while here?¡± ¡°Marginally. It is difficult to ascertain, as my reserves were full upon arrival.¡± The risi nodded along with Toria¡¯s words, and I looked at Darina, who I knew was the most likely ¨C other than myself ¨C to have been less than full when we got here. ¡°What? Why are you looking at me?¡± ¡°Has your recovery been better here?¡± ¡°... Yes.¡± I was starting to wish somebody would start a fight with us, if only so we - and specifically Darina ¨C could work out some of our aggression. The apprentice was generally pretty short ¨C tempered ¨C but she was going above and beyond, and I was started to get concerned that if we did not either leave or find somebody to fight, she really was going to start attacking us. Maybe a sparring session... ¡°Coo-Uh, good. So, it seems like we¡¯re opting for waiting for Jorl?¡± Silence filled the room, but it at least seemed like everyone was on-board with waiting. ¡°Right. Back to theorising; we¡¯ve confirmed the Risen Throne is in the city, so the problems we¡¯ve seen crop up probably isn¡¯t the result of the Multiplicious Self possessing people, which I think we can all agree is a pretty big plus.¡± ¡°In emphatic agreement, the absence of a psychotic, world-conquering Apex slowly becoming everyone in sight is certainly a good thing.¡± ¡°Though... I did think of one thing. The note I found, it was signed, ¡®DotRT¡¯. I didn¡¯t know what it meant, but it occurred to me downstairs that it sounds like a cultivator name; ¡®of the Risen Throne.¡¯ Is it possible that they have an Apex? Other than maybe the Multiplicious Self, I mean? I know it sounds ridiculous, because Bo Ai¡¯rong doesn¡¯t seem the type to let an evil Apex go unnoticed, but as people keep telling me, ¡®The world is wide and time is deep.¡¯¡± ¡°Why an Apex, rather than a simple cultivator?¡± I looked at Toria, somewhat embarrassed at my line of thinking, but knowing I would need to explain. ¡°Well... all the normal cultivator names I¡¯ve heard are, ¡®The Thing¡¯ - like, ¡® the Mountain¡¯s Rage¡¯,¡± I gestured at Reff, as my go-to example. ¡°But ¡®DotRT¡¯, if it is a name would include ¡®of¡¯, which I¡¯ve only heard used in Apex names; ¡®of the Infinite Blades¡¯. Am I being dumb?¡± ¡°Always.¡± I rolled my eyes at Darina, but looked around the room hoping they would agree with her; the last thing I wanted to be facing in Ouhl was an Apex, though on the bright side, at least we had our own. It was then, as I looked around the room hoping to be told I was stupid, that we all received a message from Jorl. Chapter 119 - Too Late The message was simple, involving no words, but rather just the near-overwhelming urge to go outside. Wishing we had received the ¡®request¡¯ slightly earlier, the five of us trudged back down the stairs, out past the guard to stand on the street. Jorl stood outside on the stone cobbles, a curtain of crystal arrayed out about and behind him, like fractal wings. His eyes were already locked on us as we exited the inn, and his face made his impatience clear. We approached him quickly, though I will admit to some hesitation on my part, remembering the flick to my forehead with some irritation. ¡°Good! Listen; I¡¯ve found nothing, if they were here, they¡¯re gone now. I¡¯m confident, mostly, ha!¡± I looked around us at the gathered crowd and whispered under my breath, knowing the Apex could sense it regardless of volume. ¡°Jorl, we have a witness who says they saw ¨C or heard ¨C a member at one of the sects. They¡¯re definitely involved. Oh, also Badan Tain asked if you would stop flying around scaring people...¡± ¡°If they were here, they¡¯re not now; I just said that! I didn¡¯t find a single person who knows the name. And I¡¯m not scaring anyone!¡± Jorl¡¯s yell at the end sent many of the watchers stumbling back; the man seemed to sense the fact and visibly took a breath, calming himself. Hopefully. ¡°With clear hesitation, the witness we found indicated that there may actually be an individual named the Risen Throne, or rather of the Risen Throne. It is not conclusive, but... we believe this naming scheme suggests an Apex may be at their head. It would make sense, for such a large organization.¡± Reff¡¯s voice was louder than my own had been; this massive size precluded any sort of real whisper, but it was still probably too quiet for any in the crowd to hear, for which I was grateful. We had chosen to retreat to our rooms exactly to avoid the possibility of being overheard, but when an Apex called, you came. Unfortunately, Jorl did not seem to place much stock in our supposition, waving a hand negligently and snorting, before speaking again. ¡°Impossible. Ha! Ai¡¯rong would have a fit if he heard you suggesting he¡¯d missed somebody. Anyway, with this lead not resulting in anything solid, I¡¯m going to need to head back, find the others and let them know... what we know.¡± I felt conflicted at the news; on the one hand, I would be glad to get back and help out in any way I could, but on the other, I could feel there was something going on in the City of the Red Grasses, and I had a suspicion that my quest involved whatever it was. Not for the first ¨C or the last ¨C time, I wished for some more... specifics from Xiournal. But I had to admit, that it would be nice to get away from the pervading oppression of the city¡¯s aura... and its effects on my companions. ¡°I¡¯ll come back for you when I can, or somebody will, anyway. Stay out of trouble.¡± The last was a growl, though I hardly noticed; it had not occurred to me that we would not be leaving with the Apex, but looking back at his phrasing, it should have. ¡°We are not returning with you, Honoured Apex of the Crystal Drake?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be going at full speed, little healer. You barely survived half the journey like that, last time. I can¡¯t waste time going slow, if... he¡¯s out there, becoming people. We¡¯ve got to put him down before he has chance to gather himself.¡± ¡°Then why waste time here at all?¡± My tone had more challenge than I had intended in it, and I winced slightly as I heard it, but while the Crystal Drake¡¯s eyes narrowed, he at least did not smash me into paste. ¡°If I could have caught him, before he built himself a wall of meat, I could have killed him. At least that body. I should be more than a match in a simple fight. Now, no more questions! I¡¯m going.¡± With that, the vast crystal mantel closed around him and he shot into the air before the refractive mass flowed into the familiar shape, and with a boom that seemed to shake the world, Jorl was gone. Leaving us in a city that had us constantly riding the edge of violence, and arrayed against a chaos engineered by our enemies, and perhaps even a fucking Apex. ¡°... Shit!¡± * *** * ¡°So, anybody think we¡¯re lucky enough for the Risen Throne to stay gone, now that our Apex has left?¡± We were back in the siblings¡¯ room, and I had reclaimed my space on the floor. I will admit that I was letting the city creep inside of me a little more than usual; the abrupt departure and failure to listen to us was pretty damn annoying. I knew it was more the norm than not, but to that point I had found Apexes ¨C and people at their level ¨C to be mostly polite and willing to listen. The city had been affecting him, that was certain, but that did not make it any easier to shake off the irrational anger.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°With flat sardonicism, I think if there are enemies to be found in this city, you will come across them, Hunter.¡± I had to grin at Reff¡¯s comment, even as his sister glared at him for making a joke. Even Darina snorted a laugh out, though Toria just seemed lost. ¡°The Apex said there were no Risen Throne members in the city, but the letter said there would be no available portals. This is precisely what the individual Loneth saw was requesting, however. If there are no portals, and there are no members in the city, how did this person leave? On foot? Doesn¡¯t it seem more likely that they would have stayed?¡± Toria¡¯s words sobered me quickly, and I lost my smile as I considered her words. After a moment, I slapping my fist into the opposing palm and stood, frustrated with myself. ¡°We didn¡¯t ask when she saw the bastard. I¡¯ll go ask.¡± I saw the others realise I was right, the irritation showing on their faces at also having forgotten such an important question; I did not know whether we just sucked as investigators or whether the city was having a more extensive effect than we had thought. Exiting the room, I headed through the locked doors and down the stairs, glad at least that my cultivation enhanced body could deal with the constant use of the stairwells; I had not so distant memories of finding even a single flight to be unconscionably tiring. I grinned again as I descended; it had not occurred to me, until that point, that I was entirely absent the burning ache of arthritis. There was a spring in my step that had been absent since our arrival in his part of the world; even with the grim potential of having an Apex ¨C or more than one ¨C to deal with, ancient evils perhaps roaming about and a city that seemed to be on the verge of civil war, I was still far better off than how I had been a year before. At the bottom of the stairs, I looked around for the proprietor, but saw no-one; it did occur to me to wonder where the other guests were, as we had been told there were only limited rooms available. Perhaps they were simply less foolhardy than our group, and were actually taking their time to acclimatise, rather than rushing it. I made my way to the guard station, knocking firmly so they knew I was there before speaking. ¡°Have you seen Loneth? I forgot to ask her something when we saw her earlier.¡± ¡°She¡¯s got other work. If you need something, one of us will... help.¡± The stout guard rolling his eyes slightly on the word help, and I could tell by his tone that he was not overly keen on this particular part of his duties. Cursing under my breath, I told the guard not to worry about it and was about to climb the stairs again when I heard a series of distant crashes; they only lasted for a moment before silence settled in again, the heavy stone of the inn¡¯s walls proving more than enough to separate us from the general din of the city. Turning back to the guard and surpressing the reflex to dash outside, I asked him if that sort of thing was common, hoping just a little that it was. ¡°Not that common. Once or twice a year you get some idiot starting something big, but they get put down fast. More than a couple this year though.¡± We stood in silence for several minutes, listening for more; thankfully, there were none and I reluctantly thanked the guard and headed back to Reff and Riffa¡¯s room. Entering, I offered my friends a shrug before speaking. ¡°She¡¯s out. Maybe we can catch her later, or tomorrow.¡± ¡°With distracted irritation, this city is affecting us in ways we did not anticipate. We must make an effort to hold our focus to a greater degree.¡± Everyone nodded, even Darina, even if hers was more of a sharp jerk than a nod. ¡°Did you hear the disturbance?¡± The question was from Toria, who sat closest to the deep, narrow window. ¡°Yeah; the guard said it wasn¡¯t common, but does happen... but that it¡¯s been happening more recently.¡± ¡°We should be out helping, not sitting here nattering!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t even know where it happened, Darina. We really need to get used to this place ¨C and I need to recover my Praxis. We can¡¯t be heading out into a Risen Throne engineered coup or whatever with our brains messed up.¡± ¡°My Master would not be sat about while people could be suffering!¡± ¡°With clear respect, your Master is an Apex, Darina. She does not need to be cautious, but rather it is others that need be cautious of her. We may reach that point, one day, but that day is not now.¡± Darina scowled ¨C more, somehow ¨C at Riffa¡¯s words, but she had no counter to them. ¡°Look - if what we¡¯re thinking is true, that this is something the Risen Throne are cooking up, it isn¡¯t going to end at a few short fights. There¡¯ll be a lot happening in this city, if we¡¯re right, and we¡¯ll have plenty of chances to help, maybe even more than we can handle. So, we need to be ready in case it gets bad. Right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like sitting here doing nothing while they¡¯re out there doing whatever they want.¡± ¡°Neither do we, right guys?¡± There were murmurs of assent from around the room. ¡°See? We just have to be smart about it. The things so far, they¡¯re just the beginning, and might even be to wear down the city¡¯s defences before everything goes to shit.¡± ¡°Fine! Whatever. We¡¯ll do it your way.¡± I almost sighed aloud in relief; I had fully expected the anger-prone healer to require more reasoning to settle down, but it seemed like perhaps she was gaining a little more of a handle on the city. She had not threatened to hit me at all in that conversation, which was a definite improvement. ¡°How long do you think it will be before we are retrieved? The Apex of the Crystal Drake didn''t give any indication of a timeframe, and my knowledge of the other Apexes suggests that they might not be able to transport all of us at any speed.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take him a few days to get back, but then he might actually need to find everyone else. The other Apexes I mean. With the speed at which they can move around, it might not be easy, or quick.¡± ¡°In considered addition, there must be a way to locate each other, or else how can the Unfettered Frame locate the emergent Apexes? And how else did the Infinite Blades and Mending Flesh locate them for the conclave? We were gone for a relatively short time, but they were retrieved from across the globe.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right, Reff. I hadn¡¯t thought of it that way. I guess I just imagined them... running around really fast and searching manually.¡± Darina snorted, but I ignored it. ¡°I think the question is though, if this is all some plan... would we leave? Abandon the city to its fate?¡± ¡°In contrary argument, it would hardly be abandoning them, as they have their own force. We should not allow ourself to settle into arrogance.¡± ¡°The Walking Sand is correct; the Marshal at least is much stronger than we are, and we must assume the same can be said of other of the Blood Guard. However, it would not be just to leave them to it, unknowing what they might face. We must either stay to assist, or convince them of the greater danger. Or both.¡± Which meant talking to Tain again. Awesome. Chapter 120 - Angry Heart The atmosphere on the street was more tense than it has been at any time since our arrival, including when we had witnessed the fight between the sects and the Blood Guard. And I had not slept well. The day before, after Jorl¡¯s departure and subsequent discussion, we had mostly talked ourselves in circles about what we needed to do, or even if we needed to do anything, with our individual positions on the subject changing back and forth as arguments were made. Not for my part, however. Even if I did not know the specifics, I knew that my job was to ¡®minimise civilian casualties¡¯, and while that was almost as helpful as a sieve in a storm, I had come to realise that maybe it did not specifically matter where I was doing so. Regardless of how it had ended up, we had all agreed to spend some more time alone and attempt to further acclimatise. It helped that we were about ready to break into a brawl at the time. I had spent the rest of the day meditating, both topping up my reserves and attempting to deal with my bubbling, seemingly spontaneous anger; I had definitely made some progress on the former, though the latter was... questionable. My efforts had been somewhat dampened by the prospect of going to see the Blood Marshall, which we had all actually agreed was necessary, whatever else we did; the man brought out a part of me that I had thought to be overcome in the early days of my arrival. The instinctive aggression and posturing when met with challenge had been a mere detriment back then, but in the City of the Red Grasses, it posed what might be a life-threatening issue for me. As I said, I did not sleep well. My eyes felt vaguely gritty as I did my best not to glare back at the suspicious crowds; there was even more space between people that day, and it appeared that some had even taken to leaping from roof to roof, as I had considered the day before. These individuals, however were eyed with even more aggression than the rest of us; maybe it was the instinctive reaction of prey to elevated threats, or maybe the locals just had very firm ideas about property rights. I had no idea, really, and my ability to care was worn thin by my own grating desire to start slapping some sense into people. Riffa had stayed behind, to make sure Toria woke up; the alchemical medicine we had obtained for her turned out to be far more powerful than we had suspected, and while Darina had examined her and assured us that she was fine, she was pretty much dead to the world until it wore off. Which left the foul tempered apprentice healer, and the giant with anger control issues ¨C for a risi ¨C to accompany me to the Blood Guard, where I would meet a man that made me want to crush stone with my teeth. I was sure it was all going to go perfectly fine. We were not, as a group, going to explode into incandescent and senseless fury. As we walked, we and the people around us would frequently pause for just a moment, as a sound reached us from some distant part of the city; the sounds could have been anything, but I suspected them to be more altercations. I had caught up to Loneth, before we set out and finally remembered to ask somebody a question; she had seen ¨C or heard ¨C the cult member a week or so before our arrival, which meant that either he had left, or Jorl had missed him in his sweep of the city. Despite the Apex¡¯s abrupt change in behaviour, I did not want to assume he had missed the guy; the city was hell for thinking straight, but I had to believe that in this at least, the man would have put his all into the effort. And that left me with the possibility that he had left. That was an unsettling thing to consider, as it meant that either the Risen Throne were done in the city, which seemed unlikely given the impact they had had in other places, or they did not want to be involved when things in Ouhl finally hit the fan. If the explanation was fan-related, then it was imminent, given the other piece of news the inn owner had provided; the disturbance we had heard the day before was no isolated event, it was just that the city was large enough that we hadn¡¯t heard many of the occurrences. Loneth had said that conflicts between the sects were on the rise, with fights breaking out all throughout the night as they each attempted to interfere with each other¡¯s business interests, and embroiling the city at large in their messes as they did. ¡°Are you sure this is the right way? I¡¯m certain we passed that building half an hour ago.¡± I just about stopped myself from rolling my eyes at my diminutive companion, refraining from snapping at her. I knew it would only devolve into another argument, and given the state of the people around us I did not want to risk pushing anybody past their tipping point. I was half-way through counting backwards from ten when I was interrupted, ruining the effort. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you. Are you sure this is the right way, Hunter?¡± She said Hunter, but she did so in a way that made it clear that she meant idiot. I ground my teeth and desperately resisted the urge to echo-punch her into the sky. ¡°I¡¯m sure. The directions were very simple. This is the right way...!¡± I found myself glaring at Darina, despite my best efforts and she met my heated gaze with one of her own, clearly wanting to take the ¡®discussion¡¯ further. ¡°In aggrieved conciliation, please hold yourselves in check; we are almost there.¡± Muttering could be heard, along with the occasional growl from the apprentice as we both did our best not to take our unwarranted anger out on each other. Before much longer ¨C as we were definitely going in the right direction ¨C we came into sight of what I had to assume was the Blood Guard¡¯s central office. The building was a seemingly featureless block of stone that had to be at least five-hundred feet wide on every side, and maybe a hundred high, like a squat cube in the city¡¯s centre. It had not been visible before that point due to the fact that the height of the other buildings, and our angle relative to them, effectively made it invisible from more than a street away.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°With professional disdain, the stonework seems crude, and the lack of ventilation may make the interior... unpleasant.¡± I grinned up at my friend; leave it to a risi to have opinions about the construction of a stone edifice. ¡°Maybe it has ventilation on the roof, some array or... alchemical thing... moving the air around.¡± That was how it usually worked back on Earth, though I wondered whether the use of magic over technology added any issues or benefits to the setup. ¡°With knowledgeable practicality, that is unlikely; the top of such a building is a more likely point of entry, and if it is designed with defence in mind, such methods would provide a distinct weakness. People who can walk or climbs walls are rarer than ones who can merely jump.¡± ¡°Huh, that hadn¡¯t occurred to me. I guess that I can already jump high enough to reach the roof, and more than most walls even. What¡¯s even the point of the walls, if a Core level cultivator can just hop over?¡± ¡°Not all beasts can jump, and of those that can, not all of them can jump so far up.¡± The words were clipped, and I appreciated that Darina was at least trying to hold back her elevated vitriol, though that appreciation only lasted until her next words. ¡°And most places have arrays that prevent it; this is common knowledge amongst people who aren¡¯t id... aren¡¯t you.¡± I did actually vaguely remember something like that being mentioned at some point, though I could not place exactly where; it made sense though. An Instant Frog ¨C for example ¨C could probably jump really high, if it wanted to, and that was certainly a beast you did not want in a city; unless a person had some method of passively subduing it, it would just run amok, doing as it pleased. I chose not to reply to her insult; not only had she mostly managed to forestall the barb, but she was right; people who were not me probably would know, and even I had known somewhere in the back of my head. My memory was certainly a step behind what seemed to be normal for my level, and I wondered if that was due to how old I had been when I started, and if so, would that improve as Experience worked its magic on my body? Or perhaps it was something to do with being in a new body altogether; I heard once that a brain has not finished forming until a person is in their thirties, and my body was probably younger than that, though that did not explain Darina¡¯s seemingly superior recall. Thinking back over the course of my life on my new world, I wondered if a lot of what I wondered could be blamed on simply having a new brain. Many of the behaviours from my last life, like my anxiety and chronic depression had simply vanished; I had attributed this to how different my life was, but it was my understanding that a lot of those issues are chemical, or ingrained through repetition. If I had a new brain, maybe I had just... lost all that. Still, that did not explain everything, like how I had retained my existing memories, as they were physically part of my brain as well. Titbits of Gnosticism, fringe scientific theories and reincarnation flicked to life in my mind, and for the first time I found myself genuinely distracted from the oppressive mantle of the city while in the presence of others. Of course, that did not last long, as my lapse into silence had occupied enough time for us to reach the base of the Blood Guard structure. ¡°Where¡¯s the door?¡± I looked around; I had been lost in thought as we finished our approach, but as I gazed about, I noticed that the stone building was surrounded on what looked to be all sides by a wide plaza covered in blank, smooth stone flags. Oddly for Ouhl, there were not many people moving through the space immediately around the offices, with those who did so keeping to the very outer edges, which seemed to consist primarily of residential housing, judging by the lack of windows or displays. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything; maybe they don¡¯t like ¨C or take ¨C visitors.¡± ¡°Then why wouldn''t somebody say that when giving directions?!¡± ¡°Maybe they thought we were trying to avoid the place? Lots of people seem to.¡± ¡°With careful observation, it does appear that you are right, Hunter. Perhaps the door is on another side, or more likely, is hidden in one of the surrounding buildings, or on top.¡± ¡°I thought you said having weak points on the top was bad, because of people jumping up there?¡± ¡°In calm correction, I said that methods of facilitating airflow would be a weakness; if the main way in or out is up there, it is likely to be well defended.¡± ¡°Fair enough, Reff. Well, up you go, Darina.¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®up you go, Darina¡¯? If you want to check, you can do it yourself.¡± ¡°But... if there are wards, or arrays, or whatever, you¡¯re the most likely to be fine, because of the whole ¡®healing¡¯ thing.¡± ¡°I played test subject the last time, you can do it yourself, you Void damned-¡± ¡°In strained mediation, any arrays are unlikely to be damaging, Hunter, as they could in theory harm the populace. You should be fine, if you take a look.¡± ¡°¡¯Fine'', huh?¡± It seemed stupid to me for the person who was nearly indestructible not to be the person taking the risk, but at least Reff seemed fairly confident, and it would at least save some of the issues of trying to talk Darina into it, since she appeared to be adamant that she would not. Grumbling under my breath, I Focused slightly, took a few quick steps and leapt up, cutting the power as soon as I left the ground; I was at about half strength by that point, but it was pointless wasting more than I had to. The glass-smooth surface of the building flashed by and within a moment I stood on the roof, which was wide, flat and features. It was also occupied by a very angry looking Blood Marshall holding what looked like a giant black cigar. Glaring at me, the man stomped over, curling indigo smoke flowing around and behind him in his wake. ¡°What the Void fucking shit are you doing up here? You¡¯re like Void born plague, you little shit. This is my city, and you¡¯re not attractive enough to share with.¡± I gritted my teeth and held onto my temper with every ounce of willpower I had; the urge to let my Praxis rip and try headbutting him down through the flat roof was almost overwhelming, but somehow, I managed to hold long enough to count backwards from ten and take a deep, calming breath. ¡°I¡¯m looking for you, actually. My friends and I have some information about all the... disturbances in the city. Maybe.¡± ¡°What the fuck good is maybe? And how would you know, you¡¯ve been in the city for five-fucking-minutes and you¡¯ve spent most of that time getting on my last fucking nerve! At least the Apex left, but I¡¯d hoped he¡¯d taken you with him!¡± ¡°... Yeah, me too, actually. Look, we have a lot to go over, can we go inside? Is there, like a hidden door up here or something?¡± ¡°Hidden door, what is this, some fucking minstrel¡¯s tale? Door¡¯s on the other side, you lazy, Void blinded idiot. And who¡¯s ¡®we¡¯? You¡¯re not here with that mouthy midget, are you?¡± I rubbed at my eyes, knowing that between Tain and Darina, my day was going to be a real pain in the ass. Chapter 121 - Who Are You? The entrance to the Blood Guard¡¯s central building, it turned out, was huge. Tiered walls covered sharp blades and topped with dozens of people in red and white swept down and around to collect around a series of huge gates, themselves studded with wicked looking spikes. ¡°... This seems like overkill.¡± ¡°With polite understatement, it is... fine.¡± The two of them ¨C Reff and Darina ¨C had given me a hard time about not having found the door before jumping on the roof, but what they could say was limited, as neither of them had thought to check the sides first. Normally, we might have, but thinking was difficult sometimes in Ouhl. Not that my decisions to that point had all been great ones, even before coming into contact with the aura. We approached the first gate, which was flanked at ground level by two-dozen heavily armoured individuals, their helmeted heads on a constant swivel. As we stepped close, those same heads spun to face us almost as one, a slightly creepy action, given that we could not make out the eyes within the dark of the helmets. ¡°Halt! What business d¡¯you have with the Blood Guard!¡± ¡°We¡¯re here to see Badan Tain ¨C I just saw him, he should be expecting us.¡± Tain had not bothered to wait for me to fetch my friends, choosing instead to simply go back inside, as we had ¡®ruined his break¡¯ as he put it. ¡°No brats on our list; you better leave, maybe go find your parents.¡± There were metallic chuckles from the others gathered, and I felt Darina tense beside me. I felt myself tense; it was difficult to believe that the city was as peaceful as it was, given the level of belligerence we had encountered from many of its citizens. For maybe half a second, I considered just reaching out and blasting his shell open with an arc-blast from my lightning, but managed to reel myself in with nothing more than a twitch of my arm to show the impulse had ever existed. Darina on the other had had slightly less restraint, and to my surprise was backed up by Reff ¨C who it must be said, was probably older than any of the people facing us. ¡°How about I re-attach your head between your legs, to better reflect your personality, dickhead?¡± The last was said with a glance in my direction; as far as I knew, the insult was not native to the world and I was sort of worried that Darina was picking up put-downs from me. ¡°Wha - I¡¯ll tear your f-¡± ¡°With sure and certain knowledge, you will show respect, or you will be shown how to, little guard.¡± It was not often that I heard my big friend make threats, or sound as menacing as he did as he spoke in a dangerously low voice, his garnet-on-black eyes opened wide and staring hard. Tapping my Focus for a moment, I stepped between the two sides with my hands up, really hoping nobody tried to stab me from behind. ¡°Hey! Let''s all calm down! Now, I know that doesn''t really work, as a thing to say, but let¡¯s not fight! We came here to try to help, and I literally spoke to Tain minutes ago. Maybe check with him, before insulting his guests?¡± ¡°Guests? If you¡¯re my guests, you little shits, then I¡¯m the High King of the Shattering Lands. Why are you causing fucking problems, is it not enough you ruin my Void shitting break, you damned territory invading asshole?¡± I felt my eyelids and cheek twitching as I turned to see Tain stood in the now cracked gate, hands on his hips as he glared at me. ¡°I''m not causing trouble, your tin-pots here are. And you said to come find you. For the infor-fucking-mation...!¡± ¡°Bah, maybe I did at that. Doney, fuck off out of their way already.¡± ¡°What?! But they threatened me, Ba... uh, Blood Marshal.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re all the sunniest people, aren¡¯t we Doney? Now, I thought I told you to fuck off out of their way?¡± Tain¡¯s voice suddenly lost any vestige of familiarity or friendliness, sending a reflexive shiver down my spine; he sounded more dangerous than at any point before, even when he had been dispersing the sects, and ended up killing somebody, he had sounded more casual than that. ¡°Right, sorry, Blood Marshall.¡± The armoured guard ¨C Doney ¨C backed out of our way and the others went back to their positions on either side of the huge gates. Even though I could not see Doney¡¯s eyes beyond his visor, I could feel his hot glare and just resisted the urge to return it; I did not want to re-escalate the situation.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°You lot, inside. Try not to start any more shit, the city is fucked enough as it is without a bunch of troublemakers making trouble in our fucking base.¡± Without waiting to see if we complied, Tain turned around walked out of view, vanishing through cracked gates. I looked at my friends, and at the guards ¨C who had at least stopped staring at us ¨C and shrugged. Darina, and even Reff both still looked to be in bad tempers, but I was starting to think that no matter how accustomed we became to our new environment, we were never going to be normal while we were there. ¡°I MEANT NOW!¡± The roar came from behind the gates, and even though I could tell there was some distance, it was still unreasonably loud. It also really made me want to take my time in following. Moving besides my companions, I casually strolled through the gate, only to find another, and another, and another. ¡°These guys take their security pretty seriously...¡± I said it under my breath, but it apparently was not quite enough for Darina to miss it. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you, if you were that infuriating? Not that you¡¯re not infuriating, but you lack his... dedication.¡± It was the first thing the apprentice had said to me since our arrival that did not seem to be explicitly aggressive, and I was hesitant to risk tipping her in another direction, and so just nodded. Behind all the many gates, was a series of double doors with a truly giant slab of metal held above it, presumably so that in an emergency, they could drop it down to cover the doors. I could see no method of actually suspending it however, which made me more than a little nervous. As we cleared the last wall, I heard the distinctive thud of the way behind us closing tight, and then the thunks of securing mechanisms shifting into place. Above us, I saw more of the white and red plate clad men staring down at us, some carrying weapons, others not, but unlike the outer walls, this inner set had a pair of colossal ballistae, or at least what looked like ballistae. Rather than giant bolts, the mechanisms had some kind of barrel and multiple sets of arms which swept forward rather than back, giving me the impression of some kind of cannon, but I knew there were crossbows back on Earth with reversed arms, so I could not actually tell what the intent was with the things, though I did know with some certainty that I did not want to be on the receiving end while finding out. In an open door, beneath that massive metallic weight, Tain stood glaring at us impatiently, a clear edge of violence around his wide, staring eyes. Choosing to pick up the pace ¨C for absolutely no reason ¨C my friends and I hurried inside the stone building. * *** * Within the squat cube was a maze, though a strangely comfortable one carpeted in a rich red and the walls almost mirror bright. Of course, above us were the seemingly ever-present murder-holes; looking up, I saw only darkness through them, but could only imagine members of the blood guard looking down at us, ready to rain death if we should step out of line. I had yet to see an actual conflict between two organized groups, with the closest being on my first day when Walker had confronted the... Throwing Fireballs and Getting Murdered sect. I did not recall their names; when it had been said I had been mostly preoccupied with not pissing myself due to Walker¡¯s aura. I wondered how often these sorts of defences were actually needed; to an extent, I understood the preparations, it was better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them. But it seemed like a lot to go through for a possibility; it was not like the Blood Guard headquarters was located outside of the city, or even at its edge, but was rather placed at Ouhl¡¯s centre, far from the threat of any sudden attack by beasts. I contemplated the likelihood of human ¨C or humanoid, at least - attacks as we followed the grumbling Marshall through a hundred turns, passing branching hallways and staircases. I could see people attacking, in a place like that, and even if the defences might not be able to stop a determined, or specialized Foundation or Pinnacle stage cultivator, it would at least serve to slow down or stop lesser threats, allowing the Guard to concentrate on the greater ones. After several minutes of dizzying turns, and after I was lost beyond any hope of finding my own way out with any alacrity, Tain finally came to a stop, his broad back a sudden wall in front of us. I looked around, confusedly at the long, twisting hall, as at least to my eyes, it was as blank and empty as any other stretch I had seen. I was about to ask why we had stopped when the Marshall turned, and looking quickly in both directions, pressed his hand against the stone surface and tapped, resulting in the sound of locks unlatching and a section of the wall folding in and away. ¡°In.¡± The instruction was curt, and while he did not look at us as he said it, choosing instead to keep his head swivelling back and forth to look along the hall. Still remembering the killing intent, I had sensed from him the man ¨C even if it was substantially less than Walker ¨C I stepped through the room, followed by Reff and Darina. There was a click followed by the sound of locking mechanisms and then Tain walked around us to sit roughly in a huge chair behind a desk covered in enough paper that not a single inch of the surface was visible. The room was spartan, lacking even the plush carpet of the outer hall, the stone walls bare apart from a rack of weapons and what looked like a file cabinet. The only hint of comfort that I could see was the chair itself, which looked like deeply stuffed leather, and was clearly designed to recline. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hear it; and I warn you fucks, if you¡¯re wasting my time ¨C after ruining my break ¨C I''m going to tear off your arms and use them to beat each other to death.¡± There was no humour in his voice, just cold certainty, and I felt another shiver shake its way down my spine, remembering that as strong as I might me ¨C we might be ¨C we were not Pinnacles. My friends and I shared a glance, and it suddenly occurred to me that I was not actually sure we were supposed to be spreading word about the Multiplicious Self or not. Making a decision quickly, I decided to leave that part out of what I was about to say, instead choosing to simply refer to an ancient weapon... should it come up. That decided, and before either of my friends could speak ¨C not knowing whether they had come to the same conclusion ¨C I began to tell the Blood Marshall about the Risen Throne, and what we suspected their involvement was in the troubles the city was undergoing. As I spoke, I came to the conclusion that we should really be thinking further ahead than we had been doing, if we were going to be dealing with world-level threats. Chapter 122 - Walk Away ¡°Void soaked bollocks.¡± I stared blankly at Tain for a moment, both because I was not expecting that response and because I wanted to reach across the paper-strewn desk and shake the indescribably annoying man. My teeth itched to bite him, which was not a sensation I was used to. ¡°With flat curiosity, what do you mean, Blood Marshall? We have spoken nothing but the truth since our arrival.¡± And we had; We had laid out the entire situation with the Risen Throne ¨C leaving out the whole ¡®mad Apex¡¯ thing ¨C and our suspicions. Tain¡¯s face had not changed as the three of us spoke, each cutting in to add details the others had forgotten, though at least Reff had been reasonably polite about it. ¡°I mean it¡¯s all clearly fucking nonsense, you TIME WASTING PIECES OF SHIT!¡± Tain¡¯s voice started reasonably calm, especially for him, but by the end he was red in the face and shouting, his fist held high above the desk like he wanted to pound on it, but did not want to send his papers flying. ¡°We are not lying you blind, goat-mounting, Void-lapping imbecile! You¡¯re even more of an idiot than him!¡± With the last, Darina pointed at me, her finger stabbing out like a dagger. I winced at the interjection, fairly well unappreciative of either of their comments. I was having a very hard time keeping my cool, and the shouting and name calling was not helping. Ignoring the diminutive apprentice with an effort of will, I spoke, doing my best to keep my voice as calm as possible. ¡°If we were making it up, why did we have an Apex with us? Surely that counts for something?¡± ¡°You said he didn¡¯t find anything! You morons are basing all of this on second hand information and half-brained assumptions; your only source of actual information is from the woman who runs your inn! And you got it by pure fucking coincidence! So, I can either trust the Apex of the fucking Crystal Drake, or some innkeeper! Out of the two of them, who should I fucking believe, you bunch of absolute garbage-tier bullshit cultivators?!¡± When he put it like that, it did seem like there was a possibility that we were making a mountain out of a molehill, or at least that it could seem that way from his perspective. We had not actually checked out Loneth¡¯s information, and I was not even sure that it was possible to check out her information, given that it would mean visiting a sect and just hoping a member of the Risen Throne showed up. Now, with the perk I had purchased from Xiournal that made me abnormally lucky, that was not outside the realms of possibility, but my luck seemed to be going slightly wrong recently. ¡°With growing irritation, so you will not even investigate this possibility?¡± ¡°I have enough trouble without chasing fucking baseless fucking rumours. Now get out before I fucking do end up tearing your stupid fucking limbs off!¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t know the way out, it¡¯s literally a maze.¡± Tain¡¯s eyes widened and I could see his hands twitching, as if trying to reach for us. After a moment, he seemed to calm himself however, and without another word stood and walked to the door before unlocking it via a mechanism to the side, opening it and leaning out. ¡°RILL! Show these Void-fucked shitters out!¡± The Marshall shouted loudly into the hall before turning back to us, pointing at us with his entire open hand. ¡°And you... do not come back to bother me with this shit unless you have some seriously compelling evidence. If you waste my time again... don¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to be pissing off any Apexes that might come looking for you.¡± Left implicit in that last line was the fact that even though he might not want to piss an Apex off, he would if he had to. ¡°Who¡¯m I showin-oh. Come with me.¡± Rill it turned out was an elf ¨C or at least looked like one in the same way the ones I had met on Lucas¡¯s world had. She did not seem to be festooned with parts of dead animals, or singing, so at least it seemed like she wasn¡¯t a Devourer, at least. With a final frustrated glance at Badan Tain, I walked to the door, flanked by my equally unhappy looking friends. ¡°This way.¡± We followed the elfin woman through the door, which snapped shut behind us with a boom that sent a shiver through the walls. ¡°He liked you, that¡¯s pretty rare.¡± The remark was so unexpected from the elf that I did not think she was talking to us at first; I looked around, but seeing nobody leaned forward slightly to see if she had some kind of communication device under her hair. I could see nothing, and did my best to look less nosy as she glanced back at us with a frown.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°The Marshall I mean. It¡¯s rare to see non-Guards leave his office without an injury.¡± ¡°That¡¯s liking us? What does he do to his enemies, wipe their families out to three generations and salt the land they were born on?¡± Rill looked at Darina, her frown deepening as she guided us around blind corners. ¡°Of course not, that would be petty. Who even salts land anymore?¡± I looked at Darina, expecting a sharp reply, but only saw her blinking as she walked. Rill was ahead of us, so I could not see her face to check whether she was joking. I hoped she was joking. Maybe, I thought, it had not been meant the way it had sounded, and wiping out generations was not common practice in this part of the world. ¡°Just so we¡¯re sure, what¡¯s a good standard for evidence? I... don¡¯t want to come back without something that works.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re trying to report, but a witness would be good, or signed documents, or a confession. Really, anything solid will warrant an investigation; we try not to let crime fester.¡± ¡°What about the sects?¡± ¡°What about them?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t - aren¡¯t -they causing a lot of trouble?¡± ¡°So? Should we attack all of them for the crimes of a handful? If you have proof that an entire organisation is involved, please hand it over and I¡¯ll take it back to the Marshall right away.¡± I did not say anything; while we had our suspicions ¨C and more, with Loneth¡¯s testimony ¨C that there was involvement between the Risen Throne and the sects, Tain had ultimately been right; we had no proof that they were instigating the disturbances, or even if they were involved at a larger level with the sects, rather than with individuals. A short time later, we stepped out of the stone building and then between the layered gates as they cracked open just ahead of us. Standing outside of the whole structure, a short distance from the plate-clad guards who were studiously ignoring us, the three of were silent for a minute or two, each of us contemplating the events of the last hour. ¡°At least he didn¡¯t tear our limbs off and beat us with them?¡± ¡°... Or kill our relatives for generations.¡± ¡°With grim amusement, I would be glad to see him make the attempt. I do not think my brother would look kindly upon such action.¡± Both Darina and I snorted a laugh; I pictured Tain trying to kill Raaf and just being smashed flat by a giant stone hand. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d get very far with any of us, actually. Your brother is an Apex, I... have no living relatives, and as far as we know, neither does Dee.¡± ¡°My Master is the... closest thing to family I have. And I doubt either she, or your own master would stand for us being killed without cause.¡± I shrugged; I had no idea how involved in general law keeping the Apexes became. From what I knew, they interfered only at the level where a single group or individual was abusing their power at a grand scale. While Walker would probably be upset if I died, and Sonja would certainly be upset if Darina did, I did not know whether them seeking revenge would be seen as abuse of their own power. I really knew very little about the self-imposed rules that governed them, and to a point, I considered that to be on purpose. Not knowing how for an Apex would go, and for what reason probably served to prevent a lot of abuse on its own, even amongst those that did not truly know the extent of their abilities, like the Shooty Fire sect on my first day. We lapsed back into silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts as we considered the situation, the gallows humour fading before the constant pressure of the city and the potential issues we were facing. ¡°What do we do now? We don¡¯t have any proof, but we¡¯re pretty certain something is going on.¡± ¡°What can we do? That idiot isn¡¯t willing to listen, and there aren¡¯t enough of us to cover an entire city.¡± ¡°With resigned contemplation, perhaps we need to seek evidence? From what Loneth said, the Earthen Sky sect is located outside of the city; perhaps it also lies outside of this... influence. It might be a chance to both seek the proof we require, and as respite from this pervading irritation.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea, in theory, Reff. But will they just... let us in to investigate? And if they are involved with the Risen Throne, it could be a trap. I¡¯m also not sure leaving the aura and coming back is a good thing, necessarily. We¡¯re sort of getting used to it.¡± I studiously did not look at Darina, knowing that even a glance her way would probably result in a few choice words. But despite my caution, it was true. Despite some things provoking uncharacteristic responses from us, we were snapping at each other less already, and I did not want to undo that. ¡°In reluctant agreement, you may be right, Hunter. But if we cannot leave, how can we proceed if we are to investigate?¡± ¡°Well, we should confirm that the sect bases are actually outside of the aura or not; if they¡¯re not, then that part of the issue isn¡¯t one. The prospect of a trap though... I don¡¯t know. If Jorl was still here, I¡¯d say we just go for it, but without him as backup, things are more difficult. Maybe I should go alone; if I go all out, I¡¯m as fast as a half-step Pinnacle, and while I can¡¯t be that fast for long, it should be long enough to escape most traps... provided I¡¯m at capacity.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be more of an idiot than you are normally, Hunter. The last time you went off to scout because, ¡®I¡¯m sooo faaast¡¯, you almost died. Also, you¡¯re too much a fool to be left to investigate anything on your own, even if it¡¯s not a trap, you¡¯d probably end up drinking with the Risen Throne without realising.¡± ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t almost die from the scouting, that was from V.¡± ¡°Did you, or did you not come very close to getting killed or captured by somebody who throws knives and a stationary target that makes windows?¡± ¡°... they weren¡¯t windows. They were invisible, frictionless barriers.¡± ¡°Sounds like a window to me. You need supervision; whenever you¡¯re on your own you almost die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a child-" ¡°With wearied interjection, this does not seem to be either the time nor place for a discussion like this. Going alone would be foolish, Hunter. While we may risk whatever equanimity we have found in this place by leaving, it is far less of a risk than venturing into potential enemy territory alone might be. While I am the sole Foundation stage in our group, none of us are weak, and are in fact powerful for our levels of cultivation. We should go as one.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it; all it would take is a single Pinnacle showing up and we¡¯d all be done for.¡± ¡°And if you went alone and he captured you, or killed you? We¡¯d be in the exact same position, but without our annoying trouble magnet. Think, idiot.¡± They were making good points, and while I still thought it a bad idea for all of us to face that same danger at the same time, if we were going to actually prevent more trouble, rather than just reacting to it, it did make more sense for all of us to go. ¡°Fine. You guys win. Let¡¯s head back to the inn and see if Toria is awake yet.¡± The others said nothing at my capitulation, but both the diminutive apprentice and Reff looked about as smug as I have ever seen them. Chapter 123 - Shaking off the Chains On the way back to the City¡¯s Edge, the three of us were subdued; it was easy to see why Tain had not responded well to us, and despite the occasional lapse in judgement in our ¨C and sometimes specifically my judgement ¨C we were generally much smarter as a group than we had been over the last few days. The fact that city was affecting us was no surprise; I had personally been obsessing over it since our arrival, but the continual enforcement was something else. We kept finding new, subtle ways in which we were affected. We were about half-way through the journey back when I felt a faint tingle from my Instinctive Precognition, and distracted from my thoughts looked up as a trio of men in black and red robes stepped out from an alley. Looking around us, I saw that we were along on one of the city¡¯s narrower streets; I wondered whether this was pure coincidence, the group taking the opportunity to confront us when presented with it, or something more engineered. ¡°What do we have here? A trio of informants running off to the Blood and Bones to tell tales? Tales of what, I wonder?¡± Their apparent leader was tall and slender, and wore a stark white mask that hid his features. Held loosely to his side was a slender dagger that carried an odd sheen. His companions, flanking him on either side, were empty handed, but I knew that meant nothing, on a world on which a person could become a dragon. Their robes seemed to give them away as members of one of the sects I had seen confronting one another before the Blood Guard became involved. I felt my eyes narrow and my heart pick-up; right now was probably the worst time for the three sect members to be picking a fight with us, I was very conscious of how hard the Guard came down on confrontations in the streets. I had my mouth half-open to growl a reply when Darina barrelled head first into the stomach of the leader, knocking him off his feet with a sharp exhalation of air. The other two robed men did not react at first, seemingly shocked by the sudden aggression. But as the violent healer began to hammer freshly armoured fists into the speaker¡¯s face, they stepped forward, as if to intervene. Not willing to let them gang-up on my friend, I Focused, taking the reins of my lightning as the world slowed around me. I was not channelling my Path, as I did not want to burn more energy than necessary, or at least until it was proven necessary. I stepped forward in my slowed world, moving twice as fast as normal, closing the distance between us in a flash, dipping as I reached the man closest to me and rising into a partial upper-cut, twisting my body around my centre and away from the ground to drive every last drop of my ¨C relatively light - accumulated momentum into the blow. At the last possible moment, I let my lightning slip out of my control with a shrieking whine, and as the air spiked sharp and sour and the light flickered blue and blinding, my opponent, who had barely begun to react flipped end over end away from me, smoke rising from his chin lazily. I heard a muted whumph off to the side, and turning out the other man sailing backwards in the same direction as my own opponent, though in the last sect member¡¯s case, the smoking patch was most of his torso. A foot shaped burn covered his entire front as the ragged and still lit edged of his robe retreated. Reff stood on Darina¡¯s other side, his molten armour coving him from head to toe. Seeing the additional threats were out of commission, and having now more warnings from my abilities, I dropped my Focus, just in time to hear the twin impacts of the two we had sent flying hitting the floor. Neither of the two stood up, and I worried at their cultivation stages; I had no interest in being a bully. Even if it did feel good to work out just a tiny bit of my pent-up aggression. For a moment, I hoped Flippy McBurnface would stand up, but I had no such luck, and as tempting as it was to walk over and make myself feel better, I managed to refrain from such an obviously dick-like act. Of course, Darina did not seem to have any such compunctions, still driving her fist into the apparent leader¡¯s unconscious face. Blood was splattered all over his face and leaked from a ruined nose, flecks spattering the ground around him, as well as the healer¡¯s face and clothing. ¡°Darina, I think he¡¯s done, definitely not any threat at the moment. Darina!¡± I reached out and tapped her shoulder, prompting both a pause in the vicious beating and a glare from her red-jade eyes. I held my hands up but mentally rolled my eyes; I had no interest in inciting her ire ¨C normally ¨C but the temptation was definitely there to just cut loose. Still, I resisted, conscious at least that I needed to conserve my energy for real threats, for the moment. ¡°We need to get out of here; these three were pushovers, but they might have backup, and worse, the Blood Guard may get involved and from what I¡¯ve seen they don¡¯t mess around. Let¡¯s go." The healer¡¯s apprentice stared at me for a long moment, and I could see her feelings warring behind her eyes, but as often as she gave into to her irritation, on that occasion, caution won and she visibly calmed.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Fine, you¡¯re right. We should leave.¡± She climbed off the hopefully only unconscious man, wiping blood off her freshly fleshy fists on the dark fabric of his robe. Stooping down, I caught her frown out of the corner of my eye as I patted him down, looking for storage items; I wanted any clues they might have, but there was always room for loot. I found a bracelet with a small black stone and pocketed it quickly, standing and moving towards the guy I had knocked out. ¡°With firm exasperation, if it is important that we leave quickly, Hunter, should we not... leave?¡± ¡°They might have clues about what¡¯s going on. And this place is expensive.¡± I heard Darina grumbling behind me, but at least she did not go back to punching the leader or insulting me. I had just found a small ring on my vict-opponent''s pinky finger when I felt my Instinct start to itch again. I looked at the third, smouldering figure laying half-against a wall a short distance away and grumbling under my own breath stood. ¡°Right, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°I thought you were looking for ¡®clues¡¯?¡± ¡°Two out of three is good enough, but we really should go. I, uh, have a bad feeling.¡± The two of them shared a look; since we had met, they had learned to trust my feelings ¨C sometimes ¨C if only because the rate at which trouble found me was definitely more than a coincidence by that point. The three of us dashed off without another word, cutting through alleys as quickly as we could ¨C without wasting energy. Eventually, the feeling I was getting faded and I let out a sigh, only sort of regretting giving up the opportunity to release some more of my pent-up aggression. * *** * ¡°Nothing. Well, more dark robes and some pills, but mostly nothing.¡± Neither of the two rings had contained anything of substance, not even any cash. Beyond the clothes and whatever the pills turned out to be, each had contained a simple wood token with some sort of stylized man and shadow carved into it. I assumed it was some sort of sect identification, but without knowing which it was for, that did not even do us any good. ¡°With hesitant curiosity, did you really expect to find a clue on their persons, Hunter?¡± ¡°... It worked last time, Riffa.¡± ¡°Of all the corpses we''ve looted, you¡¯ve found one clue. You have the luck of fools, but you¡¯re not that lucky.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve found a bunch of clues; dozens of Risen Throne pendants.¡± ¡°Those don¡¯t count, we already knew they were members!¡± ¡°... We didn¡¯t always know; they could have been bandits. Reff and I were attacked by bandits on our way to the Citadel. And actually, the lack of pendants at least suggests those assholes were not a part of the Risen Throne.¡± Darina gave me a flat look and I shrugged back in return, was pretty sure I had scored a point there, even if she would never admit it. ¡°This does raise the question, given what they said to you, that they were watching the Blood Guard¡¯s base. Were they watching you ¨C us ¨C or simply seeking to interrogate anybody who ventured inside?¡± Toria had been awake when we returned to the City¡¯s Edge, and vaguely embarrassed at having slept for as long as she had. The fact that it had been the result of alchemical medication did not seem to mitigate the fact in her mind, but people could be weird about the oddest things. She did pose a good question, however. As we made our way back, I had done my best to look for anybody else watching or following, and we had even done a couple of laps around the inn, including checking out nearby roofs, but had seen nobody. Instinctive Precognition had not pinged at all; even though it had apparently grown more sensitive in the time since I had upgraded it, but it still only flared up when there was some kind of actual danger. I guessed being watched did not count as danger. ¡°We checked and couldn¡¯t find anybody watching either us or the inn; it¡¯s possible that they have some sort of... stealth specialists, or some kind of... observation expert? Is that a thing?¡± ¡°The cult members we stopped at the prison site carried a visual amplification array to allow them to observe at a distance, but that requires line of sight. It is possible they have people who can view us remotely, one way or another, but in this instance, I think it more likely they were watching the Guard.¡± ¡°But why? Just looking for informants? Isn¡¯t that super suspicious if they get caught by the Guard?¡± ¡°With informed speculation, I do not think we have enough information to be sure in our guesses, but we did observe that most people avoided the Guard¡¯s headquarters, so it may simply have been suspicious that we entered at all. It is also possible that they were serving as a form of early warning for their sect, letting them know if a force of Guards should head in their direction.¡± ¡°You think these aren¡¯t just random fights, that the sects are planning where to fight, Reff?¡± ¡°With thoughtful consideration, it would make sense. In a city such as this, with competing sects and the Blood Guard themselves, it would be easy to step into a situation that posed more danger than benefit. In order to maximise their gains, careful planning would be appropriate.¡± ¡°What does this mean for us? Should we seek out this, ¡®Earthen Sky¡¯ sect, or the other one that attacked us?¡± I could tell by Darina¡¯s tone that she was in favour of going to find the Weird Man-Shadow sect, if only to start some trouble, but it occurred to me that we had no idea if the two were even different. ¡°Do we know they¡¯re not the same people? Do you think it¡¯s worth asking Loneth?¡± ¡°With firm caution, perhaps we should simply ask after the Earthen Sky sect¡¯s colours and symbols, rather than presenting the tokens? If they are not proven to be one and the same, it would be foolish to let the proprietress know we may be in conflict with multiple sects. She seems willing to risk trouble with one, but if I owned an inn, I certainly would not want my guests starting wars with multiple sects.¡± ¡°Right, good point, Riffa. So, we¡¯re back to asking Loneth. I guess I¡¯ll go check to see if she¡¯s in. And then we can shake off this aura and go take a trip outside the walls. Hopefully.¡± Chapter 124 - Buried Alive A fine mist of rain fell about us as we ran cross-country, the sharp red grasses rushing towards us and then vanishing behind us as we headed in what was hopefully the right direction, our destination being the so-called ¡®Inverted Mountain¡¯ of the Earthen Sky sect. The day before, Loneth had actually been very helpful in gaining directions and identifying sects; apparently this was all common knowledge throughout Ouhl, but of course I had tried my best to be circumspect, as I did not want another visit from what was apparently the Bleak Shadow sect. I had rolled my eyes when the inn owner had told me to whom the black and red colours belonged; edginess was apparently a universal concept. Still, it at least made it easier to know who were explicitly ¡®bad guys¡¯. We had decided to wait until the day after as I had still been below full power, but with the rest of the intervening time spent on a concerted effort to absorb Experience, I was finally back in fighting shape. I was getting a little antsy to dive back into my research; the multiple days of downtime whenever I had to go all out was proving to be a huge detriment, and with the way things were going, I did not think I was always going to get a chance to take those breaks. Even in the slightly less than twenty-four hours since we had visited the Blood Guard, the altercations in the city had picked up, with more than a dozen reportedly taking place over that period. That was in contrast to the handful the day before. If things kept going the way they were, Ouhl would be in a state of all-out war by the end of the week. Hopefully what would happen at the Inverted Mountain is that we would locate a member of the Risen Thone, notify the Earthen Sky, get rewarded, interrogate the provocateur and then return to the City of the Red Grasses in time to save the day. Okay, that might have been slightly optimistic of me. Maybe. A man can hope, right? I saw a line appear ahead of us in the grass, a border that ran to either side of us and out towards the gently rolling horizon; as we approached it, I felt myself grow excited and my pace picked up without conscious prompting. It was, of course, the point at which the blood-drenched carpet of grass once more reverted to its more common emeraldine hues. As we passed out of the red zone, the five of us came to a slow halt as one, without anybody having said a word. The weight of the city had settled onto our shoulders, and even if it was not something we had strictly speaking become used to, it was a burden we had started to walk easier under. Stepping over the border was like shrugging that burden off, and inside of an instant I felt my mind clear and my emotions steady, as if I was truly awake for the first time in days. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s refreshing. To hell with Thousand-Year Pina Coladas, can we bottle that?¡± ¡°No, we can¡¯t bottle it, Hunter. It does feel good though, so at least in this instance I¡¯ll agree with your nonsense; I wish we could bottle it.¡± ¡°In luxuriant relaxation, it feels good to be myself again. I can see why so few risi have chosen to live within Ouhl.¡± ¡°With effusive agreement, my brother is correct. I did not see a single risi in the city, and I do not think any would choose to live there. I certainly would not.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to live there either; Tain must be nuts. The entire population must be nuts.¡± ¡°I wonder at the benefits; while it seemed to increase recovery rates slightly, that would not last. Eventually, the aura would become normal to us. At that point, why choose to live there?¡± ¡°I guess house prices must be pretty cheap?¡± ¡°With flat amusement, I do not think that is reason enough, Hunter.¡± ¡°Should we... find out? It has to be a pretty good reason.¡± ¡°How about we just take care of our actual problems first, and leave researching mysterious rage fields and their benefits for later? I think we have enough problems.¡± ¡°... Right. Good point. Speaking of problems, what¡¯s our actual plan here? We were just going to turn up at their gates and... sneak in?¡± ¡°With concerned recollection, that did seem to be the gist of it.¡± I looked up at Reff and then around at everyone else. ¡°Not a great plan, is it?¡± ¡°It was your plan... Hunter.¡± And it had been; I remembered going over it with the others the day before, and how it had seemed like a pretty good plan, though at the time I could have actually preferred just storming in, but thankfully my caution had won out on that one. Still...The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you guys coming up with a plan.¡± ¡°I suggested dressing in the robes you retrieved from the Bleak Shadow and infiltrating them first, I was... outvoted.¡± I recalled something along those lines coming from Toria, but for some reason we had been really focused on the Earthen Sky sect, and away from the effects of the city, I could admit that somewhere in the back of my mind, I had wanted to go with this option because it was more likely to result in a fight. ¡°Well, I think that¡¯s probably a slightly better idea, now I have... room... to think about it. I... don¡¯t suppose anybody knows where the Bleak Shadows are based?¡± ¡°No, we did not ask where the sect we were not planning on visiting was.¡± ¡°In comfortable resignation, it seems like we will need to complete our investigation of the Inverted Mountain, regardless of the quality of our current plan. Re-entering the scope of the red grass may not be the most conducive method for establishing a more robust approach.¡± ¡°Riffa¡¯s right, if we go back in now, we¡¯re just going to make more stupid decisions. So, we have plan A ¨C sneaking in and hoping for the best. Anybody got a B? I don¡¯t suppose we could fake our way in as a diplomatic mission from the Blacksand Citadel, or...¡± I gestured vaguely at Toria ¡°Whatever your order is called?¡± Toria raised an eyebrow at me, but did not seem to be too offended; she had definitely mellowed out a little since she and her fellow apprentice had been giving everyone the evil eye back when they arrived. ¡°While we are technically on a mission on behalf of the Paladin, that mission was to prevent the escape of the Multiplicious Self ¨C a task at which we failed. This excursion is not included, and while it may well be worthy of my Order''s attention, I do not have the authority to make that call.¡± ¡°I was mostly talking about, you know, lying, but I guess that¡¯s not on the table. Reff, Riffa?¡± I saw the siblings share a look, and Riffa offer her brother a small shrug, prompting my large friend to speak. ¡°With appropriate humility, while it is possible that a sect in this far-off land may have heard of the Citadel, it would not be... usual... to send a delegation to a sect, especially one so remote from ourselves. We maintain relationships with those nations and empires close to our home, and in many ways have more recognition than we would otherwise, due to our brother¡¯s status, but the world is wide, Hunter.¡± ¡°We could say we wanted to join, ask for a tour? They have no reason to know who we are specifically, and while they may test us to confirm our worth, we should be able to pass most tests.¡± I turned to face Darina as she spoke, blinking in quiet surprise; sometimes, amidst all the insults and punching, I forgot that the healer¡¯s apprentice could be a pretty smart person. ¡°That¡¯s actually a good idea.¡± ¡°Why do you sound surprised?¡± ¡°... No reason, probably just lingering haze from the city. Anyway, all in favour of masquerading as potential... sect people?¡± I raised my hand, careful not to look at Darina; we might be outside of the city¡¯s influence, but I did not think that would stop her if she got it in her head to attack me again. I saw her roll her eyes from the corner of mine, but at least she raised her own hand alongside mine. ¡°I¡¯m not... entirely comfortable with the untruth, however, since it does not involve my order, and may be towards a just purpose, I agree to this course of action.¡± Toria added her hand to those that were raised, and a moment later both of the risi did too, making it unanimous. ¡°Alright, new plan A! So, what do we say, our sect was... destroyed? Kicked us out?¡± ¡°In calm contemplation, it would probably be for the best if we said we were members of a small sect that was destroyed while we were absent on a mission. Being kicked out does not make a person seem like a good candidate for inclusion.¡± ¡°In considerate interest, my sister is correct. We should say we come from a sect many months of travel away; perhaps we fled until we were sure we were beyond the power of the sect which destroyed our own? We will need the name of both hypothetical sects. ¡°How about the Dancing Silence and Devouring Storm? Devouring Storm sound like a classic, ¡®murder everyone¡¯ sect.¡± Every looked at me, and for a moment I thought I had said something stupid, maybe suggested the name of some really famous sects, or broken some weird taboo about evil naming conventions. Nope. ¡°Those are good names. Perhaps, one day ¨C after you have chosen your own name ¨C you should form a sect of your own.¡± ¡°He could call it the, ¡®Witless Idiot¡¯ sect.¡± Darina turned back to me, hands on hips and directed her next comment at me. ¡°Have you actually thought about that at all? The Earthen Sky is probably going to ask about it, since you¡¯re a Path stage.¡± ¡°Uh, not really. I¡¯ve had more important things on my mind. I¡¯ve got lightning, time and speed,¡± I thought back to Earth for a moment and hoped no copyright lawyers got reborn on my new home. ¡°So, how about-¡± ¡°In quick interruption, it may be better for each of us to only show a single aspect, and to hold our cultivation names in reserve. Some sects will not take member that have stepped upon their Path unless their Path lies in the same direction as their themes. While many sects will allow a Focus or Path to deviate, they rarely allow both, and we do not know the specialization of this Earthen Sky sect.¡± ¡°You mean, like... I don¡¯t remember their names. The fire sect that attacked Everwood, the one Walker wiped out. They¡¯d were mostly about fire, so they¡¯d want everyone to be somewhat about fire?¡± ¡°With pleased confirmation, exactly. The Living Flame sect specialized in controlling fire; Toria and Myself would be taken in, but they would not take those of us without fire-related abilities.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯ll stick with lightning for now. I guess it gives me more time to think about my name. I¡¯m just trying to avoid the word, ¡®flash¡¯...¡± ¡°Why? That seems like it would work well. A flash is fast, and lightning flashes.¡± ¡°... It¡¯s personal. No flash though.¡± ¡°Whatever you say. It¡¯s your cultivation name to mess up.¡± I ignore the last from Darina; this whole cultivation nickname was not something I had grown up with, or had years to consider, so I was going to take my time. It could, after all, be with me for a long time. ¡°So, we¡¯re from the now destroyed Dancing Silence sect, it specialized in... surprise attacks? And ironically, was surprise attacked by a bigger sect that wiped them out. We ran, it was months away near... a place called...¡± ¡°... Tidehollow.¡± ¡°Tidehollow. Thanks, Toria. Everybody got that?¡± ¡°Do you? Your memory is probably the worst among us.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, Dee. Okay, if everyone is set, let¡¯s get moving; it should only be another hour or so away. I hope.¡± Chapter 125 - The Thrill Of It All The Earthen Sky sect¡¯s home base was not what I had expected, though that was certainly a flaw in my expectations, rather than anything else. Despite Loneth¡¯s description of the place as a stone sheathed pit diving deep into the earth, I had still expected to see a mountain balancing on its point and widening into the sky when I heard, ¡®inverted mountain¡¯. But while what we found on our arrival was not that, nor was it a hole in the ground, but rather a lichen covered wall that stretched for hundreds of feet into the air and running in a wide, wide circle. ¡°I don¡¯t see a door.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you jump on it, that worked out well last time.¡± ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t think to walk around the place either, Dee.¡± ¡°It was suggested; it¡¯s not our fault you decided to try the hard way first.¡± ¡°With regretful consideration, it is truly a wonder the Blood Guard did not attack you for accessing their roof, even if the defences had been disabled by the presence of Badan Tain.¡± ¡°You said it would be fine!¡± ¡°In mild correction, I believe I said you were unlikely to die.¡± ¡°You guys suck.¡± ¡°In firm interruption, while I do not know how my brother and Darina are generating negative pressure in this instance, this is perhaps not the most convenient time for this conversation. I can see nobody upon the walls, but that does not mean they are not aware of us. We should check the perimeter.¡± ¡°Riffa is correct; they likely know we¡¯re here. They will not know our intention, of course, we should see if they have a gate as a first priority.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re both right. It¡¯s not like I could jump that high anyway, I¡¯m pretty sure. Left, or right?¡± Darina started heading to our right and the rest of us glanced at each other before shrugging and following after. Before our arrival, we had each taken out some of our old clothing, whatever looked the most damaged and donned it in order to add some authenticity to our story about fleeing another sect. Turning up in my pristine, shiny black outfit from another world might not have given the game away, but it was better safe than sorry, though I was usually less of the former and more in the latter camp... As we made our way around the massive wall, we kept our distance, not wanting to approach from an angle that could be interpreted as any threat. I wore my robe with the missing arm and various holes and gashes from the jungle, and it was both a little nostalgic, and a little strange to be wearing the very different fabric after so much time in my black outfit. Since I¡¯d received the second suit from DUK3, I had been mostly lucky, as in not having it ruined, so I hoped putting the old clothes back on did not signal a return to grievous injury, especially now that I was on something of a more normal scale when it came to healing. Even moving as fast as we were, it took more than an hour to circumnavigate the wall, as it did indeed seem to be large enough to represent the base of a mountain. There was, however, no trace of a gate anywhere along its looping length. Stopping roughly where we had the first time, we stood facing the wide edifice, still unable to see anybody atop it. ¡°Jumping on it is starting to seem less dumb. Maybe it¡¯s some sort of test?¡± ¡°In firm dismissal, it would take at least a Foundation stage cultivator, or an individual that specialises in either jumping or building to reach the top. Perhaps you could also make it, Hunter. But for the majority of the world, such a feat would not be possible. Many sects are selective, but that would be too limiting for an initial test, I feel.¡± ¡°It is also possible they specialize in either flying, or climbing in some way. Perhaps to them, this is no obstacle at all.¡± Reff offered Toria a nod of acknowledgment, and spoke again. ¡°In partial agreement, this is true, Toria. However, the same limitations apply. There are relatively few who can fly at will.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible they only actively recruit; perhaps they only find their recruits by seeking them?¡± ¡°Dee¡¯s got a point, nothing says they have to wait for people to come find them, and they might not be welcome even if they did. Not everyone likes people turning up at their door. Or... lack of door.¡± ¡°I suspect that Loneth would¡¯ve told us if visitors were not welcome at all, when we were asking about the Earthen Sky sect.¡± ¡°In ponderous recollection, I do not believe we mentioned our intention to visit the sect.¡± ¡°... Right. We didn¡¯t want it getting out. I guess that makes sense? Caution, right?¡± ¡°Caution did not stop you leaping onto the Blood Guard headquarters.¡± I ignored Darina¡¯s verbal poke, glad to be back to more regular ribbing; I did not even get an itch to slap the healer¡¯s apprentice, which was a nice change.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°With cautious suggestion, should we perhaps approach the wall? There seems to be little alternative, other than simply leaving.¡± I looked around, but nobody seemed to have a better plan, and nobody seemed particularly keen on heading back to the city early, with its omnipresent field of murderous stupidity. We started our approach to the wall, keeping our pace much closer to that of a standard human than when we had been looking for an entrance; we did not want to risk any watcher seeing us running at them, and thinking it was some kind of ill-advised attack. The five of us came to a stop about a dozen feet from the base of the wall; it was impressive, and would have probably been awe inspiring if I had not already seen the colossal, sky-piercing greatness of the Blacksand Citadel. As we stood staring up at it, I began to wonder if they did actually have lookouts, or if the place had been abandoned, but just as I was about to give my thoughts voice, there was a sharp crack, like a fracturing rock. Before us, two lines appeared on the otherwise featureless surface of the wall, running up in parallel about thirty feet apart. The space between the lines began to move, pushing towards us at an angle and forcing us to step back, or be pushed back. We chose to keep pace as we moved back, but I was getting no warning from my Instinctive Precognition, so I did not consider it an attack. When the wall had extended about forty feet, it finally stopped moving and yet more lines appeared on its sloping surface. These lines formed steps as the wall slid back into itself with loud shunks, forming a staircase that led to the top of the wall, if a very steep one. ¡°Do we... just go up?¡± ¡°With curious appraisal, there does not seem to be anybody coming down. This is a curious mechanism, I wonder if it is mechanical, array based, or whether they have a stone manipulator.¡± ¡°In interested agreement, the steps are quite steep, so it may involve a limitation in control or a lack of growth; I think an array is most likely, as a purely mechanical approach would be unlikely to create the stairs directly in front of us. Are you able to interact with it, brother?¡± ¡°With hesitant appraisal, I would prefer not to test it, as if it is being manipulated by a cultivator, it would be at best rude to attempt control, and at worst an attack.¡± ¡°I agree; we should refrain from antagonizing them. But this is clearly an invite; as... Hunter says, should we go up?¡± With what sounded like an annoyed snort, Darina walked forward and began to ascend the steep steps without waiting for anybody else to say anything. In all fairness to the diminutive healer, I appreciated the move, as I had been starting to consider that we might be overreacting to our experiences in Ouhl and actually being over-cautious, which was pretty new for us. With a shrug and a grin, I followed after her ¨C carefully ¨C up the still mostly vertical staircase. I heard the others following after but quickly switched my concentration to the task at hand when I over-stepped and found myself almost falling off. When I reached the top of the wall, I found Darina stood a short distance away, facing a group of the pale-gold-clad goat-people I had seen back in the square in Ouhl, before the Blood Guard¡¯s intervention. I did not see the flower-mantled leader anywhere, but just like the others, these all had wooden or stone horns, which seemed to be natural, rather than ornamentation. There were ten of them, some armed and some wearing armour, but spread out in a wide semi-circle facing the stairs. The top of the wall seemed to be a mostly flat surface, from the sharp drop behind me to what seemed to be a shallow slope on the inside that led down into what I could only assume to be the actual pit of the Inverted Mountain. I stepped up to join Darina, and felt the others reach the top and do the same a couple of seconds later. The Earthen Sky sect members did not react to us standing in front of them; they seemed oddly passive for what was supposedly one of the most powerful sects in the region. I had been expecting a show of force, for them to do the whole, ¡®booming voice and giant warrior¡¯ thing, but it seemed my expectations were off, at least for this particular example. Our two groups stood facing each other awkwardly for several minutes, everyone on our side apparently waiting for theirs to make a move, and the other side simply refusing. With a light sigh, I stepped forward, hands held to the side, facing them. ¡°Uh, hi. Honoured members of the Earthen Sky sect. We¡¯re fleeing the destruction of our former sect, many months of travel from here, and heard... rumours of your great strength. If possible, we would like to... attempt... to join your ranks.¡± I thought I was laying it on a bit thick, but from what I knew, the sects ¨C and clans ¨C were typically bastions of the older form extreme dickery that characterised people like the Psycho Siblings I had met at the Steel Splinter in Everwood City, or Kestin. Fortunately for me, it seems that the goat-people did not pick up on my relatively hammy performance. At the centre of the Earthen Sky¡¯s formation, what appeared to be a man stepped forward, his arms draped in a strange covering of wooden link, looking as though they had attempted ¨C and perhaps even succeeded, given the strange nature of materials on my new home ¨C to create chainmail from wood. The man in the wooden mail stepped forward, his hooves clicking sharply on the stone of the wall top. ¡°You have come a long way to join us, human. Did none on your journey inform you that we are fairly selective, in those we allow into our sect?¡± Toneth had mentioned this; the Earthen Sky sect were a group that mostly took in their own kind; they were not a race I was familiar with. When I had been browsing my choices on whatever weird space-station Xiournal used as a base, I had seen both the elven race of the Sigil world, as well as the Devourers, but I was not provided the opportunity to be either a risi ¨C like Reff and Riffa ¨C or one of these goat-people. I did not know the reason for this, as I had browsed, many, many races before settling on the ren, hoping they would give me a leg up over my competition. Maybe if I ever did get to speak to the tricksome dragon-lady again, I would be able to ask about the seemingly arbitrary nature of the options provided. I probably would not have gone for the strangely horned race, unless the benefits were particularly fantastic, but it did make me wonder why they hadn¡¯t been on my list. Dismissing my musings, I bowed shallowly, keeping my eyes on the speaker to let them know that I considered them a threat, before speaking, taking care to keep my usually less than deferential tone under control. ¡°Honoured Member, we were told that you accepted only those that excelled, however we are all at top of our stages, able to escape the cowardly ambush that ended our previous homes. While we know that you would of course ¨C rightly ¨C show preference to those who align with you, we feel we can add strength to your sect.¡± I added another bow to drive my words home, again slightly concerned that he speaker would see right through my ¨C to my ears ¨C ridiculously formal words. ¡°It is good to know your place; you may not be a part of the superior Do¡¯orn race, but - if your words are not exaggeration ¨C it is good to know when your skill sets you apart. False modesty is a sign of nothing but undue pride and deception. We will test each of you, and if you show as much skill as you suggest, we may consider accepting you into our great ranks.¡± Awesome... Chapter 126 - The Shining The top of the wall was smooth, maybe slick as well, given the amount of rain that happens in this part of the world. The drizzle was a near constant, only interrupted by the occasional mist or fog. Okay, maybe there was some exaggeration in that ¨C there seemed to be a five-minute break every couple of days. One of the Do¡¯orn - I had not caught his name ¨C was leading me around the rim of the wall in complete silence. The lack of chatter was fine by me, as I was actually pretty nervous. The Earthen Sky wanting to test us was not completely unexpected, but I had been hoping they¡¯d show us around first. I was not keen on another few days of getting my Experience back, and even though I would be limiting myself to my Focus, that concern was still there, given how quickly I burned through energy. After a few minutes, we came to a stop and the sect member turned to me, his expression unreadable, given that I was not adept at reading goat facial expressions. ¡°What is your Focus? A suitable challenge will be found.¡± I blinked in mild surprise; I had thought I would be fighting him, but it seemed that I had been mistaken. ¡°Uh, lightning-based speed.¡± It was a bit reductionist, but it was mostly correct. ¡°Good, I know the perfect challenger.¡± I did not like the sound of that; I had come across a couple of hard-counters to my abilities since I had received them, and I had no interest wasting energy on one now. I sighed and shook off the irritated feeling as the Do¡¯orn walked away, hooves tapping lightly against the stone. I looked around the wide top of the wall, looking for my friends, but to my surprise I could not see them anywhere. The opposite side was pretty far away, but I should have been able to make something out against the otherwise featureless surface. It was possible they had been led off the wall in some way, but then, why had I not been? I looked again, harder this time, focusing as much as I could until I could feel the strain around my eyes and it was starting to give me a slight headache; I was about to give up when I caught a slight shimmer in the air and just for a moment, I thought I saw Reff standing with his muscled white arms folded in front of his open burgundy jacket. The sight faded as I relaxed, and it occurred to me that the reason we had been unable to see anybody atop the wall was that there was some kind of intrinsic property, technique or array in place to prevent seeing anybody at any distance. I wondered if the sect itself had some method of seeing past the illusion, or whether it simple excluded them; as a defensive measure, not being able to see the enemy more than a couple of dozen feet away was more than a double-edged sword, it was holding a razor by the blade. That minor mystery mostly solved, I settled back to wait, my concentration going to recover the tiny amount of energy I had used to stabilise my steps as I travelled. It did not take long; it would not have taken that long even before I had completed my Core, and despite the faster rate at which I ran, the fact that my completed Core automatically converted Experience to Praxis was a huge timesaver. I was long done by the time I caught the return of my personal Earthen Sky member and another much shorter figure. Walking alongside the furred figure was what looked sort of like a classic dwarf, in that he was about four and a half feet tall, almost as wide and solid about the trunk. The figure also sported a huge braided beard, but that was where the resemblance ended. Dwarves were ¨C generally ¨C swarthy, with red, brown or black hair that was thick and coarse. This example sported delicate platinum blond hair that ran in a single straight wave to his waist, and the complex braid of his beard was woven with golden wire. His metallic grey eyes were lined in golden eyeliner and eyeshadow and his lips were painted silver. He wore flowing and layered robes of silver and turquoise that were belted in a woven rope of what looked like white gold. It was not at all what I expected from a dwarf, but then none of the supposed fantasy races I had met had been anything like their mythological counterparts. Elves had been either just normal people or... rapacious omnivores. None of the giants I had met had made any moves to grind my bones to make baked good, and this dwarf was... different. ¡°Aspirant, this is your Challenge; Gan, the Bright Strike. Gan, this is Hunter.¡± The presence of a cultivation name meant that my opponent was a Path stage cultivator, meaning he would have a clear advantage over me, if I was restricted to my Focus, at least in theory. Of course, my Path had no actual visible manifestation, so if worst came to worst, I could always tap my Exemplar. Not that I thought that would happen, as this was after all a test.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I snapped my right fist into my left palm and dropped Gan a sharp bow, keeping my eyes on his. The dwarf nodded back to me, a slight tilt of his head; it was not necessarily a mark of disrespect, as in his eyes I was at least a stage below him, meaning I was actually marginally below average for my apparent age. The Do¡¯orn nodded and stepped away, soon vanishing into the haze of illusion and not knowing what else to do, or what was expected, I dropped into a defensive stance. Gan looked vaguely amused, quirking a perfectly groomed platinum eyebrow in my direction. ¡°Do not kill him. Fight.¡± The words were clearly directed at Gan, rather than myself and I almost smiled, but even as the impulse bubbled up inside of me, Instinctive Precognition howled and I felt myself Focus as hard as I could and take a half-step to my right, twisting my body as there came a flash like a too-bright camera and I felt the air tear as the heel of a foot dragged itself across the very tip of my nose, hard and fast enough to take the skin off. I did not have a chance to counter, or even really react to the sudden burning pain in my nose as I again felt myself contorting to avoid another blow, bending over backwards and reaching back, my body driven by the surging electricity in my channels as it arced along my nerves, the Praxis-generated impulses travelling faster than thought to my brain and back as the air in front of my face almost seemed to ignite momentarily as another kick passed over my arched form. I felt the weight of my body transfer to my hands as I jerked my legs to the side, throwing myself into a sideways somersault and landing on my feet and immediately cartwheeling left as Gan ¨C the apparently outrageously fast dwarf came at me in a series of blinding flashes, seeming to move instantly from place to place and attack to attack. Even with my Focus running at max capacity ¨C which tripled my base speed ¨C the only reason I was staying ahead of the little monster was because I was reacting ahead of his attacks. But even then, if my Instinctive Precognition had not grown in my time on this world, I felt like I would have simply reacted too late to the very first blow. There was no way I could counter or attack as things stood; the Bright Strike was simply faster than I was when using only my Focus. From his name, and the strobing light, I assumed his Focus ¨C or Path ¨C to be based on light, which was, unfortunately, significantly faster than my own choice of lightning. I could let the destructive arcs fly free to punish him for drawing close, but that would mean a drop in my reaction times and speed, which might just end things for me. Despite my earlier thoughts about the use of my Path, I had not been planning to use it at all, thinking that my speed would provide a clear advantage against whatever I was faced with, but as I had thought to myself so often, speed was king. Still desperately dodging the incoming attacks and losing the occasional layer of skin ¨C and further destroying my robes ¨C I pulled Praxis through my Exemplar and stepped onto my Path. The world slowed around me and the dwarf appeared, his arm already swinging even as it faded into view out of the light, slowed, but not enough. I stepped around the blow and with a mental sigh went all out, forcing as much Praxis as possible through my Focus and Exemplar. The world around me halted, grinding to stillness apart from Gan who was coming at me about as fast as I could expect a normal person to, which in my accelerated state was truly shocking. Not wanting to drag the fight out, I stepped and I saw his painted eyes widen in the moment before we began to fight in earnest. My Instinctive Precognition was no-longer directing my movements, as I could not perceive his attacks, but it still warned me of danger as I moved to block a punch and instead chose to dodge, throwing my own punch past his, only for him to drag an elbow up to block me. For several subjective seconds, this continued, with neither of us able to gain a clear advantage over the other, though as fast as I was burning my stores, I knew there was a definite timer on my side of things. Unwilling to let myself simply drain, I forced myself on the attack, and taking a chance, decided to accept an attack to make one of my own, hammering a fist into the dwarf¡¯s face and taking one to my upraised right arm in turn. It was not a good trade. I saw blood spurt from Gan¡¯s nose, but only had a split second to enjoy it as I was blasted back off my feet, my arm breaking and bones protruding through my skin as I was sent skipping along the hard surface of wall, leaving behind small streaks of red as the stone ripped my skin further. Ignoring the pain, I pressed my crystal hand against the floor and flipped myself around and to my feet, absorbing the remaining momentum even as Gan appeared before me again with a flash, blood running down his face, and into his beard where his wide smile sat mocking me. He was already attacking, his right leg coming around in a blinding arc towards my head. Knowing I could not take that blow, especially with my Lesser Regeneration otherwise occupied, I raised my artificial arm and with a flex of will, triggered its Designed function, even as I concentrated my Frog-derived power on my own right leg, losing control with a frisson of sensation as I sent it the instruction to kick my opponent in his grinning face. There was another flash of light, and a snap of thunder as I regained the use of my limb and Gan was sent skidding across the wall in a skidding journey of his own. Not certain whether he would be coming back at me, I quickly re-distributed my focus and will, marvelling at my remaining functional arm; I had not felt a thing at his kick, it had simply stopped dead as it met its own force reflected back I watched my opponent tumble out of view and into the illusion, and after he did not reappear for several subjective seconds, stepped off my Path and dropped my Focus, wincing as the pain from my very broken arm hit me again. ¡°Impressive; Hunter is victorious! Healers!¡± Chapter 127 - After All The healers spent most of their attention looking at Gan, who was apparently a Pretty Big Deal, at least as far as those below Foundation went. They had not ignored me, of course; I had won my challenge, and as far as they knew I was looking to join their sect. They¡¯d tossed me a pretty serious looking healing pill that I would have been worried about swallowing if the distracted healer had not pushed an accompanying flask into my hand along with it. Popping the pill into my mouth, I opened the flask and took a swig of the liquid inside to help wash the huge ball down. The clear liquid tasted vaguely medicinal and left the taste of aniseed and cloves behind as I felt the solid lump of the pill slide down my throat. Not wanting my arm to heal in some weird shape, and not knowing whether some combination of the pill and potion would correct the jagged bone sticking through my skin, I set my hand painfully between my feet and pulled the bones back into alignment with a loud groan, the pain intense, but my scale had been somewhat altered by my experiences. That did not stop the world whiting out on me for a moment though, and when I came back to myself, I saw Darina walking towards where I sat, her own clothes ragged and torn but she was otherwise pristine. ¡°Did you win?¡± ¡°Of course. Did you? It looks like you tried to lose another arm.¡± The healer gestured at my still injured arm, one blond eyebrow quirked up. ¡°My opponent was... really fast. Tried to block and it didn¡¯t go well.¡± ¡°You returned the favour?¡± ¡°Yeah. I hope I didn¡¯t hurt him too badly, actually. Though, I¡¯m not certain I¡¯d have survived the kicks he was aiming at my head, so...¡± ¡°Do you need healing?¡± ¡°If you have the Praxis to spare, that would be great. Definitely missing my healing.¡± ¡°I have plenty of energy. Once I told them I was a healer, they had me take a few attacks and then heal myself, there was not a great deal to it.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem fair, but I guess healers are way more uncommon compared to general fighters.¡± ¡°I would have preferred to fight. Hold still.¡± Darina crouched and set her hands to either side of my wound and I felt her energy flow into my arm, but I did not feel the strange sensation of knitting flesh. ¡°Hmph. It looks like whatever ¡®medicine¡¯ they gave you is interfering. We¡¯ll need to wait for it to be out of your system before I can do anything more.¡± I looked down at the flask in my hand and frowned at it; I half-wondered if it was on purpose, to weaken us for an ambush in the event we survived our trials, but unless the sect was only a few members ¨C which seemed unlikely, given the scale of the place ¨C they could always just overwhelm us, in theory, once we entered. ¡°Well, that¡¯s great. Whatever they gave me seems pretty slow, but that could just be because I¡¯m used to healing so much faster.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not surprised, with the lack of Associated Alchemists in the area.¡± Darina¡¯s tone was dismissive; while the rest of us made frequent use of medicinal pills, the apprentice healer had always relied on her own abilities. It was however the first time I had heard her use that tone when discussing them. ¡°Do you not like alchemists in general, or is it non-Association alchemists?¡± ¡°Amateurs.¡± I was not sure I would consider independents intrinsically amateurish, but I had not been trained in my field by an Apex. ¡°Do you feel that way about their healers as well?¡± I kept my voice low, not wanting it to carry, but I still looked around before speaking to make sure there were no sect members within the limited distance the array or whatever allowed me to see. Darina paused for a moment at my question, her face twisting back and forth as she appeared to consider it, glancing back to the barely visible Gan and the crowd around him. ¡°I would need to observe them directly; they do not seem like they would welcome my presence at this moment.¡± I shrugged, wincing as it jostled my arm. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯d appreciate a pro lending a hand.¡± It looked like she might actually smile at me, but something caught her attention behind me and I turned ¨C wincing again ¨C to see Riffa approaching alongside Toria. Riffa¡¯s tunic was damp, but otherwise unharmed, but Toria¡¯s breastplate was covered in dents and cuts. A trickle of blood ran out from under one arm, where it looked like the armour had torn and dug into her flesh. I took a deep breath and stood, groaning as the pain rose and faded.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Hey, you guys alright?¡± ¡°We seem to be in better shape than you... Hunter. You must have held back a great deal to reach such a state.¡± ¡°With mild concern, you do seem to be more seriously injured than the rest of us, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, there wasn¡¯t much holding back on my part, my challenge was fast. I think he was actually taking it easy on me, but I had to use my Path and we ended up pretty evenly matched. Luckily, my Path seems to come with more bells and whistles.¡± ¡°What do bells and whistles have to do with anything, Hunter?¡± ¡°I... I actually have no idea. Never mind, I guess? The point is, it was a tough fight. Darina got off easy, how about you two?¡± ¡°It is remarkable they had a member capable of matching you, Hunter. Speed is not that uncommon, but your degree is. I had a much easier time; I was pitted against a woman that manipulated the air to create invisible blades. It was a challenge, but the speed provided by using my flames as a propellant allowed me to gain victory before too much damage could be done.¡± ¡°The fire is your Focus then? What¡¯s your Path... if that isn¡¯t rude to ask at this point.¡± Toria shrugged and glanced around, I assumed to make sure nobody could hear. ¡°Causing them to persist and solidify is my Path''s major ability. I mostly use it to create the flame wires you have seen, but there are other uses for it. Luckily, I did not require my Path.¡± I spent a moment trying to determine if that was a mild criticism, but if it was, I was unable to see any sign of it. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding,¡± I gestured at where it looked like the jagged edge of her amor had pierced her shit, ¡°did they give you healing?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing, it would be a waste to heal.¡± Darina rolled her eyes and turned to inspect the wound, causing the Fire Weaver to raise one eyebrow and a small smile to quirk the corner of her lips. ¡°We need to fix your armour, or at least stop it impinging on your wound. Can you take this off, is there a... hinge?¡± While Toria allowed Darina to fuss over her wound and remove her damaged breastplate, I turned to Riffa. ¡°How about your challenge, everything go ok?¡± ¡°In considered contemplation, my opponent manipulated water into focused jets; it would have been dangerous, but I was able to interpose my puppets, and while I was unable to give them autonomy due to our... agreed upon strategy, my control is fine enough to repair the damage manually as it occurred. I was able to eventually corner and defeat her, only being impacted by the spray. I spoke to her afterwards, and it seems she is going for further manipulation for her Path, allowing her to re-use the spray in the event she meets another opponent like myself.¡± It seemed like everyone had an easier time of it than I had, though we were still waiting on Reff. I hoped I had simply been unfortunate rather than there being anything more to the level of challenge. I was not worried about my giant friend, not only was he the highest stage of all of us, but his abilities provided more pure defence than anyone... unless you counted healing to be defensive. ¡°Nice, it sounds like you had the opposite experience to me ¨C you were your opponent''s hard counter, and so was mine.¡± ¡°With amused understanding, I am not familiar with the particular terms you used, in this context at least, but I believe I can intuit your meaning. It is fortunate my puppets are made of sand, rather than stone; with stone, I may not have been able to reshape them quickly enough. I may have hinted that I manipulated stone.¡± I laughed, but looked around and covered my mouth with my crystal hand, doing my best to hold it in. Riffa had a slightly quirked mouth, the risi equivalent of a wide grin. She was generally pretty against lying directly, or at least misrepresenting the initial statements she and her brother made, but it seemed she was able to work around that, when she had to. I was glad it had worked out, as it had not occurred to me that the giant siblings¡¯ general unwillingness to mislead might interfere in our plan, but it should have, given the purely deceptive nature of it. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a sly fox, Riffa! Nice.¡± ¡°With slight confusion, I am not a fox, Hunter.¡± I moved my hand and grinned at her, though she only continued to look at me in confusion. ¡°You¡¯re completely right, Riffa. Don¡¯t know what I was thinking.¡± There was a soft tink as Darina set Toria breastplate down on the stone and I leaned down to snag it, supressing my accustomed groan as I straightened with it. I braced it between my elbow and side and rotated it until I could see the point where it had been pushed out of shape and gripping it between my artificial fingers, tried to bend it out and somewhat back into shape. I had expected it to be easy, since I was just above fifty times as strong as a normal human, but as I strained against the metal¡¯s resistance, it came to me that a metal that was easily bent with one hand by a Core or Path stage cultivator was likely completely useless as armour. I glared for a moment at the shaped metal before looking around; luckily, Darina was not paying attention to me, and neither was Toria. Riffa was looking around, presumably for her brother, so it seemed like nobody ¨C at least nobody I could see within our section of the illusion ¨C had seen me making the attempt. It did however mean I was looking in the right direction when Reff appeared out of the haze, his dark jacket and vest missing, leaving his torso bare and making the bright red lacerations on his white skin apparent. ¡°Dee!¡± I ran off, not waiting for a response and knowing that they would likely spot him before I had chance to say anything else. I reached my friend in a moment, and stood looking up at him in concern. ¡°Reff, are you alright!? What happened?¡± The others caught up to me almost instantly, Darina slapping her hands against the risi¡¯s leg while his sister began to inspect his wounds. ¡°With mildly pained confirmation, I am fine. My opponent was a spatial manipulator, and his attacks bypassed my armour somewhat. I am afraid I may have lost my temper, they still provided healing though.¡± ¡°He¡¯s taken the same thing you did, Hunter. There¡¯s nothing I can do until it¡¯s out of his system.¡± ¡°With contained worry, I am glad you were victorious, brother, but there are many wounds.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, man. You look like your cat went nuts.¡± ¡°In pained confusion, I do not have a cat, Hunter.¡± ¡°Never mind. I wish we¡¯d both taken our own pills, the stuff they gave us seems really slow. Do you need... bandaging or something, to stop the bleeding? I think one of the vials I got from V helps replace bloo-¡± ¡°Congratulations, challengers. You have passed the initial trial of membership.¡± Initial trial? I thought to myself as the goat-man that had followed from the same direction from which Reff appeared. ¡°You may follow me; you will be given lodgings until Elder Yo is able to confirm the truth of your cultivation. He is in seclusion, but should emerge within a day or two. Before that, you will be provided an escort, to ensure you able to find your way around, of course.¡± Damn, that meant that not only did we have a clock on how long we would be able to stay, but we would be watched the entire time. And I was down at least a third of my Praxis. Great... Chapter 128 - Slipping Away Loneth had said that the Inverted Mountain was a stone-lined pit, but in many ways that was like describing the night sky as a number of points of light amidst darkness. It was indeed a pit, wide at the top and ending in a jagged point deep in the ground, but rather than being lined in stones, the pit was a solid sheet of rock, like a mountain literally turned inside out. There were cliffs and slopes, cracks and crevices, with trees rising up and overhanging it all, clinging to the solid walls. Among the trees and other hanging gardens, buildings nestled, their roofs tiled in delicate red and their structures made of what looked like wood. Some of them were flat and long, but others rose up from the grey stone like pagodas, becoming more elaborate as they descended. Near the bottom of the inverted mountain, what looked like five stories were taken up by a single building that circled all the way around the edge, its wooden walls gilded and sparkling as they caught the sun, high in the sky above whenever it peeked out from behind the almost ubiquitous clouds. The five of us were shown to where we would be staying by our seven escorts ¨C apparently Reff and I warranted extra, due to us... getting lost easily. I was sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that each of us had apparently defeated some of their stronger members, at least at what was supposed to be our levels. Our lodgings turned out to be a single long room with a polished wooden floor with cushions around the edge and what looked to be tatami mats piled in one corner. ¡°These will be your quarters until such a time as you can be confirmed. We will be outside if you require our guidance.¡± The nondescript man in a pale golden robe bowed and stepped out of the door, along with the others, leaving the five of us alone in the sparse ¨C but pretty ¨C room. Turning to my friends, I held my finger against my lips to let them know not to speak, but they all gave me flat looks and nods, indicating that they were well aware that our ¡®guides¡¯ were probably listening in. I gestured for them to take a look out of the windows, and we all scattered throughout the small chamber to check our respective windows. Opening the inner shutters of my own window, I found a series of wooden bars without glass. I was at the back, and was faced with a small gap, some greenery and a shear stone cliff-face. There did not seem to be anybody watching from the narrow gap so I reached out and tried to dislodge one of the bars as quietly as possible. It did not go well. I was somewhat limited by only having a single fully functional hand, but even so, I was not expecting mere wood to prove much of an impediment. After several moments of complete failure, I leaned to the side and pressed my foot above the windows, and that time when I began to pull, I was lifted off the ground and so figured I might as well use both legs. Positioning my second foot below the windows, I held my damaged arm as still as possible and began trying to tear the bar out with my entire body. It did not so much as groan, which I found vaguely insulting; an inanimate wooden bar ought to know its place, right? With a shallow grunt, I climbed down off the wall and looked around at my friends; none of them seemed to have been any more successful at dislodging bars than I had been, though it was also possible that they hadn¡¯t tried. Darina, who was the shortest of us, and thus had the least leverage, was casually looking out of a barred window at the front. Catching their attention, I shrugged and gestured at my own bars and I received a series of nods in turn. I closed my shutters and heard soft clicks from around the room as the others did the same. We re-gathered and Darina pointed at her eyes and then out the front, holding up her fingers to show that our watchers were indeed stationed at the front of the building, presumably as they thought the bars would keep us in. As the five of us sat in silence, I tried to think of a solution; Reff or Toria could use their fire and heat control to potentially burn a hole in the wall, but that ran the potential risk of burning the whole place down, which would be noticeable. Fire and smoke also had tendencies to be attention grabbers in places with buildings made from wood. I mentally marked that as ¡®Plan B¡¯. It was possible that we could simply exit via the front door and subdue our watchers ¨C they had assigned two each to Reff and I, but I doubted the seven of them were ready for us if we went all out, but there was always the chance somebody would get away, or send a message, or even just shout loud enough for somebody to hear, which would be just as bad as the fire. That idea got labelled ¡®Plan C¡¯, and I moved on. I was still trying to come up with a ¡®Plan A¡¯ when Riffa began to point upwards, which we noticed immediately as we were pretty much just sat in silence in a small circle. I followed her finger and looked at the ceiling; above us was a checkerboard pattern in pale golden and white woods. I looked down at Riffa and held my hands out, twisting my face into a, ¡®so?¡¯. If we were unable to break the bars on the windows, I did not think we would have an easier time breaking the wooden tiles above us. Most of the others seemed to have come to the same conclusion and were looking as confused as I was, but Reff seemed to have a better understanding, as he stood to inspect them. Despite his much superior height, he was not quite tall enough to reach the tiles, and I wondered why they made the building so big, despite the apparent absence of risi in the area. I did not let it bother me for long though, as there were many potential explanations, as the locals were fond of saying: the world is wide, and time is deep.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Riffa stood beside her brother, and after emptying sand from a storage-item, proceeded to shape it into a king of step-ladders that vaguely resembled a myriad of arms and legs. It was beautiful, if a little creepy. She proceeded to climb the sand sculpture and gently lift the tiles away to reveal a dark void beyond. She climbed further up the ladder, head disappearing into the darkness above. Moments later, she stepped down and gestured up again, but squeezing through the tight space, which was just barely wide enough for her at a diagonal. I blinked, curious as to how much space was above the room we were in; it seemed a waste to simple cut off such a seemingly significant amount of room. Darina, Toria and I scrambled to our feet as Reff went up next, followed by me and then the others. I found myself in a peaked area, sat on a crossbeam that ran above the tiles; they ran the width of the building and all down its length in sequence. I could see as my big friend held a rock in his hand that was glowing a dull, gentle orange, which was added to when Toria climbed up and lit a light on the end of her finger. Above us was the underside of the red tiles every building in the Inverted Mountain seemed to be roofed in and as I watched, Riffa reach up and began to lift them free, turning them sideways and pulling them inside with us to rest on unoccupied sections of wooden beam. The sky outside was still relatively bright, so the giantess did not remove too many, just enough to see the cliff¡¯s edge above us and the leaves of hanging trees. I was about to start removing more of them to climb out, but Reff caught my hand and shook his head gesturing at the sky and making a waiting motion. I nodded, understanding that he wanted to wait until it was dark. Riffa gestured for me to move over and I shuffled to the side as she moved back towards the missing tile we had come through and then climbed back down. Bracing myself with my good arm, I looked down to see what she was doing, only to see her covering the alchemical lanterns scattered about the room and then, much to my surprise, putting the tatami mats out and sculpting all of our likenesses in sand upon them, as if sleeping. I had known she could sculpt things other than her puppets ¨C when she, Reff, and Darina had pulled the sand-shark out of its hole to rescue me, she had used her abilities to create a solid platform from which to pull, but I had no idea she could do something like that. Maybe I should have guessed; our abilities seemed to have far more subtlety than I had given them credit for at first, so why would she not be able to sculpt them how she pleased? Shrugging the thoughts away, I watched as the risi covered each of our copies with blankets and returned to the ladder. Moving aside again, I watched as she climbed back into the smaller space with us, and then leaned down as the sand of the ladder flowed up her arm and into storage. I offered her a double-thumbs-up, which earned me a confused frown, but she quickly appeared to dismiss it and turned to replace the tile. Which left the five of us sat on wooden beams, waiting for dark and unable to talk. With a shallow sigh, I decided spend the time meditating; if everything went to hell, I wanted to be as close as possible to full power, even if it did not seem likely. * *** * After a couple of hours of sitting on a beam, it was finally dark and to that point, no alarm had been raised. Toria had doused her candle-finger in favour of Reff¡¯s much duller light source and we had removed a section of tiles just large enough for the risi to fit through, which while not a small hole, was hopefully invisible through the coverage provided by the trees. Darina went first, her skin changing hues to camouflage her as she climbed out of the ceiling space; natural camouflage also not something I was aware the diminutive healer was capable of, but given that I had seen her cover herself in a hard exoskeleton, and also shapeshift her limbs into monstrous, fleshy mouths and tendrils, I was not too surprised. We gave her a moment to look around, and when there were no cries, shouts or scrambling efforts to come back inside, I followed after, and then the rest of our group. The siblings ¨C and particularly Reff, with the light ¨C came last due to their perfectly white skin being somewhat easier to spot in the night compared to ours. We carefully made out way along the back-side of the roof, careful to stay crouched below the peak until we came to the end. There was another building a dozen feet away and no sign that our guards were paying any attention to the small gap. Darina went first again, dropping the twenty or so feet to the ground to land with strangely bent legs that absorbed the impact silently before dashing across the dim gap. We hung back, waiting once more with breath held, waiting for shouts, but when none came, I scooted over to the edge and dropped. For the short time I fell, I tapped my Path, covering the distance in less time but gaining barely any momentum, stepping off it as I landed, almost as silently as the healer had been. I moved across the gap, heart hammering in my chest, but again, no alarm was raised. In short order, we were all crouched behind the other building, everyone¡¯s landings fairly silent, even the massive risi who hand simply hung from the edge and dropped less than half their own height. I had changed out of my destroyed robe and into my black outfit, though doing so had been painful. I was started to feel concern over my arm, as it did not seem to be healing much, if at all, and I once more began to wonder if the Earthen Sky had been deliberate with their medicinal application. Still, if it was a trap, we had taken out first steps in getting out of it, and we had the rest of the night to search for clues. The problem being that the Inverted Mountain was fairly massive, and finding clues was probably not going to be easy... Chapter 129 - Cloak and Dagger ¡°I wish we¡¯d asked Loneth which building she¡¯d heard the cultist in...¡± I spoke in a low voice, not wanting my voice to carry, even if we were pretty far from our watchers by then. ¡°With mitigated regret, none of us were thinking entirely clearly, Hunter. It is also possible her directions would not make sense in our current circumstances." I nodded in the dark at Reff¡¯s words, eyes scanning the lights scattered around the pit, of which there were many. Either we had underestimated the manpower of the Earthen Sky, or they were really wasteful with their alchemical lamps. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we simply look for a recently repaired roof? There should by at least a minor variation in shade between the new and old tiles.¡± ¡°With regretful consideration, that variance may be difficult to perceive in the dark, Toria.¡± Riffa was crouched behind the trunk of a tree, her own lowered voice still very audible at our distances, but I thought that both she and her brother were doing an excellent job at preventing their naturally louder voices from carrying. ¡°It¡¯s an idea though, because something damaged the roof, right? Maybe a tree, or just a branch falling? Or rocks from a cliff? Maybe we look for that?¡± There was silence for a moment as the others considered my idea; other than moving about at random, it was the only idea I had been able to come up with so far. Though, given my Lucky ability¡¯s capacity to bend fate, maybe wandering around at random would work; not that I wanted to rely on that, as my Luck had a tendency to provide very dangerous ¨C if rewarding ¨C opportunities when left to its own devices. ¡°You want us to search the entire place for broken branches and recently broken rocks, at night... in the dark?¡± Darina¡¯s tone told me she had some doubts about the idea, and despite it being my best one, I had to admit that it represented a daunting task. If we had longer, we might have stood a chance, but the Earthen Sky having a member that could read cultivation stage really put a timer on things, since they would all be revealed as cheating lying cheaters immediately upon inspection. ¡°It¡¯s that or we just blunder around.¡± ¡°Or we could ask somebody.¡± ¡°I like the optimism, Dee, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose of sneaking.¡± ¡°Not if we do it sneakily, fool. I¡¯m not suggesting we just walk up to somebody and ask them; I¡¯m saying we should ambush somebody and question them. And then we keep doing it until somebody knows something. And will you stop calling me ¡®Dee¡¯!¡± ¡°I like like idea, De-rina... but it has a couple of minor drawbacks. First of all, that sounds really shady, since we don¡¯t know if most ¨C or any ¨C of these people are really involved with the Risen throne. Secondly, that¡¯s hardly better than just wandering around. Thirdly, what do we do with all the people we¡¯ve questioned? Fourthly, what if we grab a Pinnacle stage by accident? Fifthly-¡± ¡°Fine, I understand, the plan has some flaws. But we do not have a great deal of time, Hunter. Perhaps you could come up with solutions, not just criticisms?¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fair. So, if we find the info we need, we could just leave. Maybe. It¡¯s a long drop from the wall, but we could probably manage it. We could... tie people up, I guess. That still leaves the shadiness and randomness. And the chance of starting something with somebody we can¡¯t finish it with.¡± ¡°With inspired consideration, we could perhaps look at the other buildings around ours; it stands to reason that guests will be provided lodgings in the same general location, with perhaps more luxurious housing for the high-profile ones. It should be much quicker to check such a relatively limited number.¡± Reff¡¯s idea was a good one, with the only real flaws that I could think of being that it was possible that we had simply been placed somewhere convenient, and that it would mean backtracking to exactly where we had been. ¡°It¡¯s potentially possible that we were placed in the location that we were simply because the house was free, but that should be easy enough to confirm, and if it doesn¡¯t work, we haven¡¯t lost much.¡± I was glad Toria had said it, I did not want to always be the naysayer in the group. ¡°You¡¯re both right. We can also, you know, check for branches and stuff while we¡¯re at it. I also have an idea that might work for rooting out the Risen Throne member without having to question and tie people up. Potentially.¡± It was too dark to see the expressions on their faces, but I could almost feel the raised eyebrows and doubt from Darina, and could guess that the others were not fair off. * *** * As it turns out, broken rocks and fallen branches were pretty common on the circle of the Inverted Mountain we were occupying. We had made our way back, keeping to the small gaps behind houses, though it was a little difficult for the risi, given their expansive proportions. Still, we managed to make it without being spotted, and that at least was a win.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. We had decided to start with the first building we had passed in our escape; it represented the most risk, with it being so close to our watchers, but moving out from one point meant we had the least chance of missing somebody. It did however make my idea more difficult to implement, obviously. ¡°Is that a broken branch in the tree above?¡± I looked up at Darina¡¯s hushed question, following her almost invisible gesture to squint at an only slightly more visible possible stump on a tree high above us and sticking horizontally from a cliff. ¡°It... could be. But... what¡¯re the odds that they put us right next to the place we wanted to find?¡± ¡°About the same as any of the other things that happen around you.¡± There was not a great deal I could say to that, so I just shrugged into the dark. ¡°With subdued emphasis, perhaps this is not the time for extraneous discussions?¡± ¡°... Sorry, Reff. You¡¯re right. I''ll go up and see if any of the tiles look new. Actually, I probably won¡¯t be able to tell, in the dark. I guess I could use my lightning, but it''s not exactly subtle. Toria?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that I am the best option, my flames are relatively bright.¡± ¡°I guess that leave you, big guy.¡± ¡°In dry contradiction, you could simply use a light flask, or vial inside your sleeve. I do not think that my leaping onto the roof would be as silent as my descent.¡± I blinked in the dark; I had obviously seen the alchemical lights in a lot of places ¨C even the house we were staying in ¨C but it had never actually occurred to me to buy any, outside of the heat sources I had taken on our trip to the Sha Forest. ¡°Uh, good point about the noise. I don¡¯t have any lamps though... Anybody else?¡± Almost as one, my companions each pulled a glowing vial from storage, though they made sure to do so under the cover of their cloths, ensuring the light did not become too apparent. I felt sheepish, given that I thought I had prepared relatively well for my various trips, but at least it meant I would remember in the future. As I crouched there in consternation, Reff produced something else and slipped the vial into it, cutting off the glow from all but a single point, converting the omnidirectional lamp into a flashlight. As he did, the other light-sources vanished, presumably back into storage. My friend held the freshly converted flashlight out to me, and taking it, I turned and lightly leapt, just hard enough that I could make the roof, but not by so much that I would rise above the peak. I landed softly, having judged the distance well, but since I had timed it so well, I found myself teetering on the edge, and if not for the enhanced balance that came with being at the Path stage, I would have re-joined my friends much sooner than anticipated. Balance now set, I crouched and began to move carefully about the wide roof, using the pin-holed light of the vial to illuminate the tiles. With all the talk of and thoughts on my luck, I was really starting to anticipate that this really was where the cultist was going to be, but as I much as I searched, I found no sign of new tiles. Cursing under my breath, I realised that it was perfectly possible that any replaced tiles could simply be on the front, rather than back of the house where I was. I pondered the issue briefly before deciding I was going to need to take a look, and that meant either hoping the watchers were not watching, or distracting them somehow. Not wanting to take unnecessary risks, I edged to the top of the roof, and lifting my head above the crest just enough to peek over, trusting elevation and the dark to keep me hidden. I could see a couple of them as shadows and silhouettes, but I could not place all of them. I hoped they were not about to sound the alarm, but if they were, that gave me even more incentive to distract them. Quickly, I sent a filament of Praxis into my various storage items, searching for an item that could conceivable have fallen from above and did not scream ¡®outsider¡¯ to anybody finding it. I sensed the flask they had given to me, and I was tempted to use that, since it had literally come from them, but I had no actual idea how common they were, and so passed it up. I also considered throwing one of the limbs that I still had in storage, just for the shear hilarity of imagining them finding it, but it was not a real consideration. After a brief search, it appeared that I no longer had anything that I could really call innocuous in my storage, so I opted for something at least would not be too suspicious: one of V¡¯s shoes. Drawing the show out, I swung back my arm and hesitated, wondering if I should tell my companions my plan, but in the end decided that time was of the essence. Focusing for a bare moment for the additional speed, I threw my arm forward, catapulting the shoe in as high an arc as I could, being careful to avoid the tree above me. I could not see the projectile once it left my hand; not only was it moving fast, but the dark would have made it almost impossible even without that. I had aimed for the other side of the house our sand replacements were in, hopefully far enough away that it would draw our escorts¡¯ attention away from both that house, and me. Peaking over the roof again a moment later, I saw the few I had spotted previously turn in the direction of my throw and vanish into the shadows of the night. Knowing I may not have much time, I Focused again and stepped onto my Path, not pushing too much; even holding back, the multiplicative effect was enough to give me some degree of confidence in making it back in time. Slipping over the top of the roof, I quickly moved about the red tile, searching for any sign that might indicate recent work, but too my vague chagrin, there were none. I slipped back over to the cliff-side of the roof and cut the Praxis off from my abilities. I was almost happy that this was not the building we were looking for, as strange as that might seem. We were relatively short on time and could be discovered at any moment, but it would have been too easy, if our target had just been next door. Convenient, but... easy. Making my way down again, I tapped my path again, just for enough time to make the fall and dropped it again, one metaphysical eye on my energy reserves. ¡°Well?¡± Darina¡¯s whisper was impatient; normally I would have considered waiting a beat to bug her, but we really were in something of a crunch. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to be the place; we should move on now though, I had to throw a shoe so our escorts wouldn¡¯t spot me.¡± ¡°In vague confusion, why did you throw a shoe, Hunter?¡± ¡°I figured it would be less suspicious than a broken sword or torture implement. Or an arm.¡± Even in the dark, I could see both Darina and Toria open their mouths to ask about the arm; I had forgotten just how curious they could be, but not wanting to go into it, spoke up hurriedly. ¡°We should move on; they might check about for the source of the shoe; I threw it in a high arc so they might think it came from above, but you never know. Let¡¯s go...!¡± I moved on before anybody could reply, my pace brisk. Chapter 130 - Too Late With some teamwork, checking the other nearby buildings proved significantly easier, and in fact did not require the sacrifice of any further footwear. Our search however was not all as easy as creating the odd distraction; my initial muted gladness that our quarry had not been in the first house searched soon faded entirely as we made our way about the wide circle of the Inverted Mountain, failing to find new repairs as we went. Hours had passed and we found ourselves on the opposite side of the pit by the time we found our first sign of a repaired roof; it spoke wonders for the builder¡¯s skill, that so many buildings were so uniformly intact, though it was possible the lack of need was due to material strength, rather than skill. Above the building in question, occasionally highlighted against the backdrop of the distant stars as the gaps in the clouds passed overhead, a jagged outcropping of rock told the tale of what had managed to damage the roof. We hoped. The structure in question was one of the taller ones on our circle, its roof significantly steeper than most, and enough so that I was unable to stay stood on it. Checking the tiles had required Darina and her ability to shift her form and cling to them, but it had worked out in the end, which was what had led us to checking the various windows; unfortunately, they were all shuttered, and if the wood was anything like that used in our own intended dwelling, it was unlikely that we would be able to break through silently. ¡°What do we do, storm in through the door? What if it¡¯s barred or locked?¡± ¡°We should go in through the roof; it is steep, but the Ever Flowing can simply remove the tiles.¡± We were speaking even lower than we had the rest of the night, there within potential spitting distance of the person we sought. Toria¡¯s suggestion was a good one, though it had its own risks, namely jumping directly into the roof-space ¨C assuming it had one ¨C which had a higher chance of causing noise. But it did not seem like we had many options. ¡°Right, that seems to be the option that will cause the least fuss. We should leave somebody outside to keep an eye on the door though, in case they make a run for it.¡± ¡°In grim agreement, you are right, Hunter. I will watch the door; as a Foundation stage cultivator, I am most capable of re-capturing a person that can escape you all.¡± ¡°Fine. I guess I¡¯m going back up then.¡± ¡°Thanks, Darina. And good idea, Reff. We don¡¯t want him getting away after all this...¡± There were some more minor whispers of strategy, but we were all eager to strike after so much fruitless searching. Darina leapt back to the roof, landing gently and her hands flowing into new shapes to keep her there on the roof¡¯s cusp. She began to remove the tiles, slowly and carefully in an effort not to make too much noise, and storing each away, as she had nowhere else to put them. Soon, a yawning dark opening stood revealed amongst the tiles, and the apprentice healer slipped inside, silently. Toria, Riffa and I shared a glance and taking their nods as indication, I leapt up next, directly into the empty hole. Passing through the gap, I found myself caught by the diminutive girl who was braced between two cross-beams, and deposited to one side, on a parallel beam much like those in our building; it seems that where we had chosen to make our entrance was between them, hence the need to catch me. Seconds later, we all stood crouched, but gathered, in the roof¡¯s void, though it had taken two of us to catch Riffa; strong we may have been but mass is mass. The flashlight was taken out again, once we were gathered, and we could see in that thin light that the wooden tiles separating the roof area from the living one had been replaced recently as well, the new ones apparent directly below where Darina had discovered the repaired roof. The healer crouched and shifted her hand to grip the top of the nearest wooden square, but I gestured for her to pause as I closed my eyes and did my best to feel for my Instinctive Precognition warning me that I was about to do something dumb, but to my surprise ¨C given the relative lack of a plan ¨C it seemed we were good to go. I nodded to Darina and she lifted the panel away gently, allowing me to drop through, already Focusing as I did; this was basically what we had come up with for a plan. Move fast, surprise them. Hopefully. Landing as lightly as I could without spending anything on my Path, I glanced around in the very low light and spotted a figure laying on a tatami mat as far from the door as possible. The alchemical lamps were mostly covered, but enough light was escaping that I could tell the person was not not huge, for which I was grateful; I was strong, as a Path stage but there was not much I could do if I could not physically wrap my arms around somebody. I moved over to the sleeping figure and with my perception still sped up, I got as close as I could without touching him and turned my head as the others dropped down into the room with me, Riffa coming in last. I waited for them to spread out at a glacial pace and then crouched and slapped my hand over the sleeper¡¯s mouth. The reaction was immediate, or would have been if I was experiencing the world at a normal rate. The ¨C hopefully ¨C Risen Throne member sat up, and despite the fact that I was superhumanly strong, only having my weight to provide leverage and him having the ground to press against meant that I was simply lifted up, pushed along with him as he rose. Mentally slapping myself, for forgetting such a simple thing, I quickly shifted behind him, and seeing his mouth open to shout, covered his mouth once again and proceeded to simply wrap my legs around his arms. These actions did stop him from yelling, and I could feel him straining against my legs, which was good, because if he had been at the Foundation stage, he would have simply shrugged me off. Once more, however, it did not prevent him from getting his feet under him and standing.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He started to run towards the opposite wall, clearly intending to smash me against it, but luckily, Toria intercepted him with a low tackle, accelerated by blazing lines of fire. She cut them off before she could burn anybody ¨C or anything ¨C but we still ended up in a pile of limps on the floor, with myself still wrapped about his torso, and Toria¡¯s arms wrapped around his legs. He continued to heave and try to shake us off, muffled sounds coming from his mouth as I held on as tight as I could. Not having any need for my Focus, I dropped it as Riffa hurried over to help us control the ¨C potential ¨C cultist. Darina seeing that the three of us mostly had it handled moved to the front door and removed the wooden bar that was holding it closed before opening it and glancing around. A moment later we were joined by Reff who re-barred the door. ¡°With deliberate pointedness, this does not seem to have been a good plan.¡± ¡°Well, the alternative was just standing outside of people¡¯s rooms and shouting, ¡®Risen Throne!¡¯ and hoping they responded.¡± Miraculously, that did actually seem to work as the man I was wrapped around stopped struggling for a moment as he tried to turn his head to look at me. ¡°Huh, it seems like our friend here actually knows them. I guess the alternative would have actually worked...¡± ¡°And roused suspicions when they started looking for whoever was shouting outside of people¡¯s lodging.¡± ¡°Not every plan is perfect, Dee.¡± The healer growled and muttered under her breath at my use of the nickname, but at least she did not snap at me. I was not actually doing it to annoy her, I just did not want to say her real name in front of the abductee. Turning my attention back to the apparently confirmed cultist, I spoke again, doing my best to make my voice menacing, though it was not something I had a great deal of practice with. ¡°So, Risen Throne guy, I¡¯m going to take my hand off your mouth so we can ask you some questions... if you try to shout, I¡¯m going to re-cover your mouth again, and maybe electrocute you. And maybe my friends here will burn you. You can probably defend against that for a while, but you¡¯ll run out of Praxis before all of us do, and then... it¡¯ll suck for you. Alright?¡± It was not something I really wanted to do, but he had no reason to know that, and being part of an organisation, which did seem to frequently torture people, I hoped he would assume the same of us. To emphasize my point, I held my crystal arm up and Focused for a moment, letting the violet-white lightning crack out of a fingertip before cutting it off again. The man nodded against my hand and I glanced at my friends in the dim light. ¡°I¡¯m going to take my hand off his mouth... let¡¯s hope he doesn¡¯t have weird screaming powers, huh?¡± I lifted my hand away from the man¡¯s face and he immediately tried to bite me, though he did not actually manage it. With a grunt I punched him in the face with my prosthetic, though not too hard, as I did not want to actually knock him out or anything. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s not nice, asshole. Well, I guess we did wake you up and sort of restrain you, but... never mind. What¡¯re you doing here? And in Ouhl?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that, I felt you react when I mentioned the Risen Throne. Dee, can you check for a pendant? Or storage?¡± Darina moved towards us, but the man growled and spoke again hurriedly. ¡°Fine! I¡¯m a devoted, you caught me. But it won¡¯t help you, it¡¯s too late.¡± ¡°Devoted? That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard you assholes call yourself that.¡± ¡°Have a lot of conversations with us, do you, mysterious night visitor?¡± ¡°More than I¡¯d like. Killed even more of you though. But enough pleasantries, what¡¯re we too late for?¡± He did not say anything for a moment, but when I raised my hand again to hit him, he carried on. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter; Ouhl is done, just like everywhere else. We¡¯re going to take it.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count us out on being able to stop it, we¡¯re pretty good at getting in your way. Give us specifics.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to detonate the aura; we¡¯ve been stoking these fools up like a fire, and then we¡¯re going to toss explosives at them.¡± ¡°With burgeoning anger, when is this ¡®detonation¡¯ supposed to take place?¡± I had heard Reff angry before, and he was definitely angry then; I could not really blame him, since his own home had been targeted by the Risen Throne as well. ¡°Could be any day now. Could be now, could already have happened.¡± ¡°With disgusted suspicion, why are you telling us all this? What if we do stop it?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You can¡¯t stop it, it would take you weeks to find the array and it will go off before then, and enough of this ridiculous sect are in the city that they¡¯ll be crippled, along with the Guard, and the other sects in this stupid place. Everywhere. The Risen Throne will take his seat and the devoted will rule at his feet. And there¡¯s nothing you can do about it, whoever you are.¡± The man began to laugh, but as he did Reff stepped forward and surprising me, dropped into a kneeling crouch and hammed one giant fist into the cultist¡¯s jaw, and then again and again until he was unconscious. ¡°Damn, Reff. I guess we didn¡¯t have any more questions, really, but that was brutal.¡± ¡°With grim disregard, we would have had to disable him regardless. The only question is, do we kill him before we leave?¡± Killing him was not something I wanted to do, but he was technically an enemy combatant; if we left him, he could wake up and set the Earthen Sky after us, or warn the other Risen Throne members. ¡°We should kill him; he has conspired to potentially murder countless people; it would be just to send him to his next life.¡± I looked at Toria and tried to see it her way; by the moral standards of Earth, killing him was evil, but I was not on Earth any more. But I also did not want to kill in cold blood. ¡°This guy is an asshole, obviously. And if he was attacking us, I¡¯d be fine with ending him, but he¡¯s not. He¡¯s helpless right now. I say we tie him up and leave.¡± ¡°With what? We don¡¯t have any rope that could hold him.¡± And that was something that I had entirely neglected to take into account. Chapter 131 - Shockwave We ended up searching the nameless cult member and stealing both his storage ring and his pendant, which we had safely hidden away. There had been a brief argument before we left about what we were going to do with him, but we had ended up wedging the door closed from the outside; if he woke up, he would be able to shout and maybe attract some attention, but killing a defenceless person, even an immoral, complicit one was something I did not want to do. Strangely, there had been no moral compunction against ending him; when I had killed in the past, it had been in battle, one way or another, and I had written off the lack of visceral reaction as something that just happened to people in a life and death fight, but I was starting to believe that it ¨C like many of the instinctive reactions I had to things in my last lfe ¨C had somehow been removed. Back on Earth, I had been anxious, neurotic and depressed, even before my terminal diagnosis. But since my rebirth, those things had been absent. I was taking the world as it came; torture, violence and magic included. The things I had experienced where strange, wonderous and exciting, but they would have had my old self curled up on the floor in the foetal position. But, even in the absence of all the impulses and habits of my old life, intellectually there were things I understood. I knew that a person needed food to live, and when that knowledge conflicted with my new reality, it had been a shock to the system. And I knew that killing a helpless person was wrong, even if I did not feel it. Of course, I really hoped that decision did not come back to bite us in the ass, because then I would really need to reconsider my position, and I did not want to be in a position where I had to reconsider the merits of killing prisoners... Reff was not happy at the decision ¨C at all ¨C but he was a big enough person ¨C pun not intended - to let it go for my sake. Neither was Riffa, but she seemed to be coming at it from a simple practical standpoint. Toria on the other hand seemed to consider it significantly more offensive than either of the risi, which was really something given that the Risen Throne had already targeted their home. The disciple of Weilou apparently considered allowing the conspirator to live as a perversion of justice, but had eventually conceded, if only because we really needed to head back to Ouhl. It had been surprisingly easy to escape the Inverted Mountain; I had thought Riffa would have wanted to retrieve her sand, but she apparently had the equivalent of a warehouse of the stuff stored away. We had skipped going back to the lodging and simply climbed up to the wall and jumped off the edge. Riffa had created a sort of falling ramp to divert her momentum as she fell, along with Reff. Darina had of course simply taken the fall and healed right out of it, which I was careful not to watch, because ew. Toria had hovered her way down, now that we were no longer really concerned about being seen. And I... had underestimated the fall. It had certainly been reduced by my Path¡¯s odd effect on time, but I had still ended up with a broken ankle, which is how I found myself being carried by Reff and waiting for the damned medicine the Earthen Sky had given to work its way out of me so Darina could finally heal the accumulated damage. I was really missing my healing. But it was from my position on Reff¡¯s shoulder, being painfully jostled as the giant took truly, truly long strides that really made me appreciate how much easier it was to run with long legs, that I saw the flash of light behind us. We had long since left the wall behind us and were approaching the point where the red grass would start to show up again when it happened; my Instinctive Precognition had triggered and a flash like a distant camera going off flared in the dark distance, and then a moment later Gan was there, forming out of brilliant lines. With a mental growl I noticed that the dwarf looked fine after our match, even though I knew I had hit him hard enough to kill some people. I guessed that the asshole sect had given him the good medicine. ¡°Look out!¡± I had just enough time to yell the warning before he reached us, but thankfully it was enough, with the distances involved. Reff threw a leg forward and spun his linear momentum into angular, turning to meet the threat. The centripetal force did spin me out of his hands as he took up a defensive stance though, and it hurt when I landed, but I could understand it. The fall was unlikely to kill me, but having to hold me and fight might kill him. I landed on the wet grass with a thud and agony speared into my arm and leg for a moment. The others had turned and were attacking, but Gan was moving about in flares of burningly bright light, and even as fast as Toria was compared to a normal person of her level, the dwarf outclassed her when it came to speed. I had some hope that the fiery cage she left behind would limit his movement and allow Reff to land a solid hit, but while he seemed to hesitate to cross them, they did not stop him. Reff¡¯s molten armour did seem to pose the dwarf a problem, once it finished forming, but rather than contend with it, the stocky ¨C if flamboyant ¨C cultivator simply moved to threaten the others. Toria took a blow to the hip which took her out of the fight momentarily, and Riffa¡¯s repeated attempts to encircle and contain him were countered by the simple expedience of slipping out between the gaps before they could close. Darina was attempting to limit his movements or travel with him by attaching to him in much the same way she had with me in the past, but he seemed to slip right out of her altered grasp time after time. I could tell that it was irritating my friends, but from the side-line, it allowed me to notice something. Unlike when I had fought him, which had been both frantic and taken place over a very short amount of actual time, being out of the fight allowed me to grasp something that I had not at the time; when Gan was surrounded by light, he seemed to be mostly insubstantial, with blows passing through him. On the other hand, whenever he struck, he came to an almost absolute stop, with the entirety of his movement being contained in the attack. When I had fought him, the ability to match speeds had meant I was almost always attacking with him, which is how I had eventually kicked him in his stupid head. Unfortunately, the others ¨C even Reff who was at least a stage ahead ¨C were unable to match him, it seemed.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Groaning, I stood and balanced on one foot. I probably was not going to be able to pull of an echo punch without further damaging my limbs, but did have another option, and one I knew he had not seen before. Focusing, I looked inwards to my Core as lightning spun around my system and wrapped my will about my out-bound Praxis and yanked it over to my sigil. The effort made me sweat; it was a process that had, to that point, taken me minutes to achieve, but in the moment, knowing the short asshole could zip over and punch me in the face at any second, I somehow managed it, though not without some mild discomfort. Violet-blue turned to a deep, bloody crimson in an instant and I could feel the destructive energy beginning to grind away at my channels. Lamenting the loss of energy, I stepped onto my Path, dragging Praxis through my Exemplar and shouted. ¡°Hey, asshole, remember me? I only have one arm and leg, but I bet I can still kick your ass!¡± My plan hinged on three things; the first was the fact that Gan seemed hesitant to attack Reff, but was fine with Toria¡¯s flaming cables. This told me that he was fine while moving, but when striking was vulnerable. I was guessing that he did not put much into defence, since it would be so rarely required, moving through dangers without concern and attacking in an instant before ghosting again would usually leave little need for it. The second thing was timing; I was accelerating time because I knew I would only have an instant for the same reason, and I needed to land my attack, as I would only get the one chance... because I needed him to come to me. That was the third thing I was relying on. I simply could not run on a broken ankle; tough a cultivator¡¯s body may be, but somehow super-speed did not seem like something that even a tough broken ankle would handle. Thankfully, it seemed like my plan was going to work, or the man was going to attack me at least. In a subjective moment, the bright fighter was on me, his face masked in a dark scowl. At his approach, I held my crystal arm out defensively, pretending to shy away as best I could without actually moving, hoping he would take the bait. As he entered striking distance of me, he reached out to push my one good arm away ¨C as I had intended - and in that split-second, I directed every erg of energy that my extensive channels could stand through my Core sigil, into my significantly more efficient prosthetic and then out into the world. Red annihilation burst out of me, tree-trunk thick ropes of destruction that whipped toward Gan and smashed him back to the ground as they tried to dig through him to reach the ground, snapping up and away before lashing down again, a torrential rain of rough hammer blows that ripped chunks of flesh out of his body. Seeing the results ¨C and the fact that Gan was mostly flopping around ¨C I cut the power. I watched his now unmoving form for a moment to see if he would get back up, but I was grateful that he remained on the ground, motionless. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t have skipped... energy defence day. I guess.¡± ¡°That was a very irritating fight.¡± Darina¡¯s voice had a growl to it, and I looked over as she stomped over Toria, pointedly ignoring the hopefully unconscious dwarf, even as the lowing lines faded and darkness returned. ¡°With calm contemplation, the red lightning you used is very... destructive, Hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know right? I¡¯d seen it damage stuff before, but it¡¯s kind of a lot against flesh...¡± ¡°In vague irritation, his ability to become insubstantial made him a most annoying opponent. This is who you fought for your challenge?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right, Riffa. I got lucky, I guess. I moved at about the same speed, so he couldn¡¯t just fade away before I could hit him. Looks like he relied a lot on that to stay ahead of other people¡¯s abilities. Is he... alive?¡± Reff crouched down to check for a pulse, his huge fingers pressing against his squat neck before coming away bloody. ¡°With vague regret, he does seem to be alive, which is unfortunate for us and for him, given the damage.¡± ¡°Do we heal him...?¡± ¡°No, we don¡¯t heal the enemy that just attacked us, you Void-blinded fool!¡± The healer shouted from where she was healing Toria and I winced; it seemed cruel, but she did have a point, Gan had just attacked us, and all we had really done is take a tour of their sect and sort of knocked out a guest. ¡°Fine. We should probably get going again though; Gan may have been way faster than their other members and reached us first, but I doubt he¡¯s actually alone. More will be coming. We should get out of here. How long until Toria is up and running, Dee?¡± ¡°Stop calling me Dee. And a few minutes, it seems he was distracted by the number of enemies and his blow only caused a fracture.¡± ¡°Great. Maybe you could check me as well...?¡± * *** * The sun was rising over the distant city of Ouhl as we came to a reluctant stop at the border at which the angry aura would begin to affect us again. My arm and leg were still hurting, but I could move again on my own, the crap the Earthen Sky had fed me finally out of my system enough to get some real healing done. We stood in a line, looking at the red grass; a heavy reluctance to step over filled me, and looking at the faces of my friends, who I knew were feeling something similar. We had to of course, if we were going to stop whatever was supposed to happen, but the energy suffusing the city and its environs was not pleasant, to say the least, and did not think that any of us had any desire to go back to being angry idiots. ¡°I guess... we should cross.¡± ¡°With reluctant agree-¡± Reff did not have chance to finish his sentence; before us in the cool, reaching light of dawn the red grass began to blacken as a deep rumble sounded in the distance, growing louder as the ring of blackened grass rushed inwards towards the distant city. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good!¡± I had to shout over the roar, and even then, I was barely audible; I could not imagine what it sounded like closer to the source. The closing border of black soon become almost invisible as it raced further and further away, until a few minutes after it started, with the ground shaking beneath our feet there was a flash of red that made my blood boil and a sound like the world collapsing. Chapter 132 - Mob Rules The city was in chaos; we had seen flashes of light, heard bursts of sound and felt the tremble of the earth beneath our feet as we had approached across the blackened grass. No watchers stood upon the wall, though inside the gates which stood cracked and broken, bodies lay in amongst the rubble. The sounds of fighting could be heard in every direction, as could the cries of the wounded. The explosion, it seemed, while only affecting them for a short moment, had impacted the city to a much greater degree. Darina was already checking the bodies closest to us for survivors, and a few of them seemed to be alive, though they were universally unconscious. ¡°We have to get them off the streets, if this all happened in the time it took for us to get here, this place is going to be... destroyed soon. Do you think the City¡¯s Edge will stand up? Or the Guard headquarters?¡± ¡°The City¡¯s Edge may withstand a person who¡¯s at less than the high Foundation stage, though I have not seen the Guard¡¯s headquarters. But I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s less durable than our inn. But how will we carry them? If there are this many here, there will be more, regardless of where we travel to.¡± ¡°With voluntary confirmation, I can carry many in my larger stone form, though I would be unable to fight, if carrying so many wounded.¡± ¡°In added agreement, my sculptures can also assist us, provided you three can defend.¡± The risi, being much larger than the rest of us, we naturally more capable of carrying people, as evidenced by Reff¡¯s help in getting me back; Reff¡¯s mega-form, being at least thirty-feet tall could carry exponentially more, and of course Riffa being able to duplicate herself in sand could accomplish much the same. ¡°Unless we get attacked by Foundations, I think we should be fine. And Gan¡¯s, I guess. Let¡¯s hope there aren¡¯t too many prodigies or freaks in the city known for being angry... But that still leaves the where. I think for now, maybe we don¡¯t take them to the Guard; if they¡¯re affected, they¡¯re probably the people we want to avoid the most. And honestly, I think Tain is probably somebody we really want to stay away from...¡± ¡°So, we attempt to take them back to the inn? What if they wake, or recover and are still affected by whatever this is?¡± Toria asked the question with a frown on her face, though her eyes were constantly flickering about the city around us, looking for threats. ¡°With confident confirmation, we are unlikely to find a Foundation stage in need of our assistance, so I should be sufficient to restrain them, or failing that, return them to their unconscious state.¡± ¡°Alright, sounds like a plan. We pick up these survivors ¨C after Darina says its ok ¨C and we head to the City¡¯s Edge, and pick up anybody we find along the way? And then... take it as it comes, I guess?¡± * *** * A short time later, we were making our way through the crumbling skeleton of Ouhl, heading as directly as we could towards our Inn, hoping it was still standing and collecting as many wounded as we could. Reff walked with us, his mega-form standing forty-five feet tall, dozens of wounded citizens festooned about his arms; Riffa had not needed to begin carrying yet, which was both a blessing and a curse. We had found far more dead than injured in the ruins, it appearing that only those completely disabled had been willing to cease fighting in the wake of the aura¡¯s detonation. We had also come across many conscious people, though we had no need to defend ourselves; those capable of moving already seemed engaged in battle and unwilling to be distracted from the current opponents. They had most passed above us or dashed across our path. I had been tempted to intervene at first, but I did not want to risk getting lead too far away, and I was conscious of my limited ability to fight. For once, the directionless rage of the aura was benefiting us; none of the inhabitants of Ouhl seemed to be cooperating, it was not like some super-powered zombie horde, but rather countless individuals each fighting on their own side. Not that it was all beneficial; we had found the bodies of children too young to actively cultivate in amongst the others. Children were rarities in the city, but clearly some people had been foolish enough to bring their kids into the psychic powder-keg. Despite the sadness of locating the small bodies, we were forced to act practically in order to save the lives we could, and reluctantly left them behind. We hoped that the madness would be short lived, and we would be able to bury or burn their bodies properly. Of course, dead children and insane individuals were not the only worries we had to contend with; before the explosion, there were several groups that had worked together despite the aura: The sects and the guards. I had no idea if they would continue to cooperate in the wake of the event, but in that at least we were lucky, having not yet had opportunity to find out. We were all on high alert, tense from the situation and our discoveries. Our eyes constantly flickering about the blasted city as we moved, searching for danger but making no attempt at stealth; even without the molten glow of lava, Reff¡¯s huge form would be impossible to hide, so instead we opted for vigilance. Hearing a groan to one side, I held a hand up and called a stop, moving over to a collapsed building, trying to locate the source of the sound. Darina came to help me search, while Toria kept watch and Riffa stood with her puppets around Reff, making sure he could not be snuck up on.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It did not take us long to locate the source of the groaning under a large pile of stone and sharp metal; carefully, the two of us began to lift the rubble away until we could see the dust covered face of a woman, a ragged cut along one cheek and two already blackening eyes left behind as evidence of her fight. It took only a few minutes to pull her free, making sure there were no more serious wounds that the apprentice healer would need to stabilise. Darina was just finishing her examination when I heard the distinct whir of displaced air, followed almost instantly by an impact to my left. Turning saw a hopefully unconscious man lying on and amid the stones, his blood and dust encrusted form incongruous given its sudden appearance. Turning in the direction I had heard the whir from, I saw another figure stood on top of a mostly intact building across the street, two large stone fists hovering by their sides. I was not too worried, given the lack of warning from Instinctive Precognition, even when the figure let out a scream of rage and catapulted themselves in my direction. I Focused, but dropped it almost immediately as the figure was intercepted in mid-air by the flame-propelled figure of Toria who delivered a spinning round-house to their face, knocking them of course. She followed after, leaving behind a solid trail of flame. We had agreed that if we did encounter any citizens, we would do our best to knock them out and take them with us, where that was possible. Most of these people were innocents, spurred to violence by the actions of the Risen Throne and by the aura¡¯s implosion. And I did have a quest to save civilians, even without that impulse. This all had made me wonder if Xiournal could see the future, or if she just had an accurate picture of what was going on in the world. All of her missions, to this point, had involved the Risen Throne, so it was possible she knew their entire plan but was somehow restricted from telling me directly. This latest mission had been super-vague, but it at least seemed to be coming to fruition. I was distracted from my musings by a faint tickle of danger, and Focused once more as I turned, lightning careening alongside my veins. A metal shard the size of my finger was hurtling towards me, but while the electricity raged inside me, I was more than fast enough to simply reach out and catch it. Tracing its trajectory, I saw a woman between two buildings, already levitating more bits of broken metal to hurl our way; not wanting to wait for the attack, I sprinted off in her direction, covering the distance in an instant and smashing my fist into her jaw, pausing as her head rotated backwards and her eyes rolled back in slow motion as she flipped back to impact the building to her side. These people were not fighters, they were civilians with abilities geared less towards fighting and more towards skills and interests. They could usually be used to attack, but without training, they were relatively easy to overcome, in the absence of stage disparity. I heard another angry scream as the woman¡¯s body fell off the building to hit the stone paved ground, and I turned to see a man with a huge club running towards Reff; I was not worried, Riffa would take care of him, but I could see several more people coming around corners and over buildings, perhaps attracted by the shouts. Darina was getting the first person we had found in that place settled atop Reff¡¯s arm, and Toria was still somewhere down the street so I took off, leaping up to take the one atop the roof. When I reached him, the man held a glowing orange ball in front of his face and between his hands that was giving off an intense heat; I had planned to punch him as I had the other but the hot ball between us prevented that. Instead, I dropped down into a crouch on the edge of the roof and rose, driving my flat palm up behind the ball and into his chin as hard as I could, lifting him off his feet to fly into the air, the ball dissipating as he lost concentration. Leaving the man tumbling through mid-air, I tipped over the edge of the building and pushed off towards another attacker, rolling to redirect my momentum and into a straight punch to the side of their head, sending yet another person catapulting into the rubble. I was trying not to hit them too hard, but it was a delicate balance; on the one hand, I did not want them actually attacking me or my friends ¨C or the wounded ¨C but on the other, I did not want to do any permanent damage... if I could avoid it. I turned to search for my next target, but saw Toria had returned and was in the process of kicking one of them in the face, flipping them over to smash legs first into the road. With a glance, I made sure Riffa was fine and saw the man with the club flat on the ground, his club now a pile of loose rubble and one of the risi¡¯s clones pinning him to the ground with one foot. Catching movement, I turned to see the person I had just punched stumble out of the dust and I moved in to punch them again, driving them into the ground with first one and then another punch as they stayed conscious. The third blow managed to knock them out, and at a dash I placed them at Reff¡¯s feet for Darina to check over, before moving off to retrieve the first. She too ended up at the giant¡¯s feet. I was unable to locate the person I had sent skyward; I assumed they had landed elsewhere and become distracted with a new opponent. I considered going to find them, briefly, but disregarded the notion. There would be plenty of time to go looking for trouble after we got the wounded settled. Returning to the group, I dropped my Focus again, mindful of my limited reserves. I might not have a complete grasp of the mechanics behind the way my arm works, but if the city was going to continue to provide attackers, I knew that I may have to take the risk of attempting to implement it with my limited knowledge. My reserves were simply not enough to fight continuously, and I doubted I would be given enough time between fights to recover completely. As I walked back, still vigilant, Toria also jogged over, an unconscious body over each shoulder; she placed them on the ground and we waited for Darina to confirm all of our newly defeated patients would be ok, before setting them in place and continuing on towards the City¡¯s Edge. Despite the inn being our goal, we had not forgotten the fact that the place was staffed by guards, as well as Loneth, and that it was probable that they would be affected by the pulse in the same way as the others. We did not have a great deal of choice, however, if we were going to be of any help; we could not camp outside of the city, it would be too open to attack, and the only other defensible spot we were aware of would likely be occupied by the most dangerous foes. So, we were still headed to the inn, hoping at least to be able to subjugate the innkeeper and guards until the effects wore off and the city could return to some degree of sanity. Of course, even if we managed to take the inn and settle in, we would need to find more spaces eventually as it was inevitable that we would accumulate more wounded, and as large as the City¡¯s Edge was... it could not contain the entire city. Chapter 133 - Hard Road We were attacked a dozen more times on route, though none of the people involved posed any real risk. Reff¡¯s arms were long-since fully occupied, and Riffa¡¯s sand puppets were loaded up as well by the time the City¡¯s Edge came into view; the buildings around it were cracked and broken, but the inn itself seemed to be wholly intact, built as it was as a stronghold against attack. In front of its door however, a group of figures in dark clothes milled about as those closest tried to hammer their way past the first set of doors, which were closed. Our group came to a stop in the middle of the street, again not bothering with stealth, as Reff¡¯s massive size made it impossible to hide. ¡°I guess that answers the question of whether people under the influence can work together. That looks like one of the sects from the square, right, Riffa, Toria?¡± ¡°With brief deliberation, their clothing at least does seem to match the colour scheme of one of those sects. It is also possible they were not in the city at the time of the detonation.¡± ¡°Agreed. Their leader used some sort of cloud or fog, and was killed by the Blood Marshal. I also prefer the possibility that they were outside of the city, as the idea of other groups ¨C like the Blood Guard ¨C working as one while also driven to violence does not seem... good.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also what the group who ambushed us after visiting the Blood Guard were wearing.¡± Darina seemed more fixated on the group ahead of us than the implications of their presence while not fighting each other. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can call it ambushing us when they stepped out, spoke and then got beat up by you, Dee.¡± ¡°It was pre-emptive.¡± ¡°Riiight. Either way, I think we can assume they¡¯re not banging on our inn¡¯s doors for entirely benign reasons, so who¡¯s up for some more... pre-emptive diplomacy?¡± ¡°Attacking before they are aware of our presence is the most effective strategy... Hunter. But should we decide what we are to do with them, once defeated? We have no idea to what degree ¨C if at all ¨C they''re in league with the Risen Throne, and so taking them in would be foolish.¡± This brought me back to the same issues we had back at the Inverted Mountain; I was not really willing to kill somebody who was helpless, and being intentionally lethal against somebody when it may not not be necessary seemed to walk that same line. We could leave them outside, but then they would either die anyway, or recover on their own. ¡°We need some sort of jail; somewhere to keep people who may be complicit until they can stand trial.¡± ¡°With pointed urgency, perhaps this can be discussed after they are subdued. We can restrain them inside for the moment and make a decision later.¡± I nodded at Riffa¡¯s words; she definitely had a point. The group had not noticed us yet, but it was only a matter of time. ¡°Right then, hard and fast?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a plan, Hunter.¡± ¡°I know th-¡± ¡°But it will do.¡± With a grin, Darina ran off towards the crowd, as did Toria, soon overtaking the healer. Rolling my eyes, I cast my mind inwards towards my reserves and could sense I was down to about a third; I had been very careful not to make too much use of my Path, as well as to not push my Focus too much. Even at what was normal usage for me, I was several steps ahead of most other Path stages in terms of useable output, so I had not dropped as low as I might have in the many short fights since our arrival. Focusing, I dashed off to join the pair of apprentices, catching up just as the two women struck the rear of the group, instantly taking out two and sending another couple to join them soon after. Judging that the apprentices had the rear covered, I opted to go for the woman at the front, the one leading the efforts to break open the outer doors. She had barely begun to turn when I reached her, my left fist already curled and heading for the spot under her ear. An instant before my blow landed, my view of the world shifted and I found myself smashing into another member of the sect, their body whipping end over end and around in a spiral, to lie still on the ground. Instinctive Precognition rang a warning inside me and I found myself half-stepping to my right and turning, a fist spiking past my eyes in seeming slow motion. Knocking the hand up with my right - which was still uncomfortably sore from the recent break - I dropped my left knee and pushed off with my right to smash my right elbow into the source of the attack. Once again, the world shifted around me, almost nauseatingly and I found myself attacking yet another hapless sect member, and yet again dodging an attack from the rear. Not knowing what was happening, I danced away from the inn, skipping between members of the group, at least half of which were down by that point, having been taken completely by surprise by the frankly brutal attacks of my companions. As I made space, I saw the women grinning viciously as me, arms open wide and inviting, as if daring me to attack. Eyes narrowing, I casually intercepted a sect member coming at me with a clear green dagger that dripped some sort of clear, smoking fluid. Quickstepping back and in again to avoid a thrust, I pushed the wrist holding it past and away from me, turning the wielder''s entire body so that he had his back to me. Not bothering to attack directly, I Focused harder, accelerating my perception of the world and simply lifted him off his feet before turning to throw the hapless man at the smiling woman.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I watched closely to see what happened, but it made little sense to me, even from a distance away. As the human projectile closed with her, the world seemed to split and turn, altering their positions relative to each other and conserving momentum so that the woman was simply stood to one side and the man was sailing back at me. Despite the fact that what I had just seen had hurt my brain to look at, I was not so far gone that I was going to let him hit me. I was about to kick the man out of the air when my Instinctive Precognition let out another warning, and rather than kicking, I leapt up, kicking off the flying man as a wave of sickly purple smoke rolled over the position I had been stood in, as well as the surrounding area. Luckily, the cloud did not last long, and by the time I landed it had dissipated, though where it had passed the stone of the road and paths had been corroded away, and what was left was deeply pitted. The man I had thrown lay on the ground, half of his body simply gone, allowing his entrails to become extrails. He was not the only one; several of the sect lay dead or grievously injured by the smoke, including the ones I had knocked unconscious. I looked at the still smiling, still waiting woman with narrowed eyes, anger bubbling up inside me; I did not know whether these people were too tied together to fight each other, but too affected to care if they harmed each other by accident, or if they were just a bunch of assholes, but I had no time or mercy for any group that would risk hurting their own like that. With a growl, I stepped onto my path and let my lightning off its leash to lash about me, the alteration in the flow of time making up for the loss of speed letting the electricity run free cost me. Arcs of brilliant azure-violet and violet-white snapped at the air, ground and people around me as I ran in again, hoping that while I may not reach her, the energy discharges might. And they did. As I closed the distance, a space now separating the woman from the rest of her group, my lightning locked into her, snapping and filling the air with the screeches of shredded air and the sharp, sour smell of ozone. But while her smile wobbled slightly, it seemed to have no other effect; in the absence of a physical distraction, she was able to devote all of her attention to defence, simply dismissing the coruscating ropes of power. Taking the opportunity, I moved closer, swinging one swift kick at her knee, hoping to distract her, but once more the world shifted and I hit nothing but air, though I was not attacked that time. Turning, I found her again, shifted about, away from me and still smiling. Eye twitching, I pulled my lightning back inside me and all at once hammered as much Praxis as I could through my Focus and Exemplar, the world grinding almost to a true stop about me as I attacked again, hoping that at that relative speed she would be unable to react, but even moving at my maximum, I found the streets shifting again, reality turning me aside in a blink. Knowing I could not stay like that for too long, my mind raced as I tried to come up with a solution; my lightning could not affect her, as she was able to devote herself to defence. I could not reach her, as whatever her ability was seemed to work passively and instantly, turning my every attack aside. I needed an energy attack that she could not see to defend against and would not trigger her ability. The only way I had found to use my time aura like that had been useless, affecting nothing it passed through. But then, in an instant I remembered something about when I had first absorbed my Exemplar, something that I had borne in mind ever since. And it gave me an idea. Flexing my will, I pushed my aura out past my left hand, forming into a long spike, even as I allowed the flow of Praxis to calm, bringing the world back into motion; if what I had in mind worked, I would not need the additional speed. Time still passing at a relative clip, I extended my left hand and stepped in close to the woman, not quite close enough to trigger her ability, but enough for my spike. As - from her perspective ¨C I simply pointed at her dramatically, I saw her eyebrow quirk and then after a moment, her eyes open widen as her body convulsed and she fell to the floor. With a wide grin, I let the spike snap back into its usual position and stepped in, stamping down on her head once, twice and finally three times, holding myself to the ground with expensive bursts of Praxis until her eyes rolled back in her head and she lay unconscious. Turning to check for other threats, I saw that they had already been subdued by my companions, and lay either conscious or dead from the strange cloud. Dropping my Focus and Path, I pumped my hand in the air, ecstatic that my idea had worked. ¡°That seems a bit much... you didn¡¯t have to stamp on her head just because you kept missing, Hunter. And then celebrating it? Bad taste.¡± ¡°No, Darina, she had some kind of power that... moved people. I had to knock her out before she could start using it again.¡± ¡°She simply collapsed at the end, what did you do... Hunter?¡± ¡°I used my time abilities to overload her nervous system! It¡¯s a technique I developed off-world, but I thought it was useless. But I used it to engulf her spine, so a bunch of the impulses from her brain ended up arriving all at once, and her body couldn¡¯t handle the conflicting instructions. It happened to me, remember, Dee?¡± ¡°I remember you shaking and dropping to the floor like a leaf on a windy day. But I thought that was just you being yourself.¡± ¡°Ha ha, Dee.¡± ¡°It is an impressive technique, and seemed to be invisible.¡± ¡°Yeah; it takes a second, to get conflicting signals, at least by the look of things. And it might not be so easy on a target not just standing there like an asshole, but it¡¯s another arrow in my quiver!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t use a bow, Hunter. Is this more of your foolishness?¡± ¡°It is!¡± I was in too good a mood to bother with the half-hearted ribbing; I really had thought my time spikes were useless, but I had simply been using them incorrectly. I wondered what else I could do with them, that I had not yet thought of, my mind racing. Turning my mind inwards as potential uses flickered and changed, I noted that I was down to about twenty percent with a grimace, and moved to check my second energy centre reflexively; I had not made much progress on my Exemplar integration in a while, and so I was stunned to find out that I suddenly had room to fill in about sixty percent of my tiny passenger. That was an astonishing increase, given my previous ones had been in single digits. I guessed that figuring out how to affect others with it was a big part of understanding it. Not that I really had the Praxis to spare to fill those glowing neon lines in at that point, but I would be making every effort to seize that advantage, and it gave me all the more incentive to work on and complete my even more improved channels and energy system. Chapter 134 - Trashed This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Chapter 135 - Virtual Death I lay on my bed with Darina sat next to me; my initial thought had been to sit cross-legged on the floor, as this was how I normally meditated, but it had quickly occurred to me that if it was even a fraction as painful as the last time, I would probably just end up falling over. When I had first burned my channels in, I had been strapped to ¨C and nailed to ¨C a chair in the process of being tortured, which had kept me upright. Since those things did not seem like an option right then, it has not left me with a lot of options, when it came to my positioning. ¡°Any time you¡¯re ready, Hunter.¡± I nodded, sweating despite the absolute lack of cold I felt; my heart was beating fast in my chest in anticipation of what I was about to try. I remembered the pain all too well, and while I had experienced more since, none had ever really topped the sensation of thousands of flames burrowing into and through my flesh. Closing my eyes, I sent my awareness inward, to hover above my Core with its little statue of me inside, and the sigil inscribed on its surface. Recalling my experience in scribing that magical circle, I took a deep breath and drew out a line of Paxis from my core, following it along my channels until I reached my right arm. Splitting my attention, I did my best to observe both of my arms at once, the real and prosthetic. I had a pretty good idea of the pattern, but I did not yet know which parts did what, though I had a hunch. I wanted to replicate the efficiency aspect, but not the strange kinetic mirror, as if I had understood DUK3 correctly, flesh could not hold enough power to reliably power it, even with Praxis. I took another deep breath, focusing on the task at hand, and wrapping my will about the energy I had brought from my core, began the process of burning the pattern from one arm into the other. The moment I began, the world turned white around me and began to ring like a bell, and then becoming pain. I felt myself thrash, but even as the pain demanded I focus on it, I held myself to my task, if barely. I could feel small hands on my arm and head, but any energy she sent into me to monitor my condition was lost in the agony, my awareness of her touch incidental as I bent my whole being to the task I had set myself. Line by line I swept the Praxis through my arm, burning baffles and channels that expanded, contracted and turned back on themselves, my intent set with a single concept; efficiency. The near-phantom channels of my crystal arm created a sort of three-dimensional sigil, and it was this that would hopefully allow me to replicate what I wanted, leaving the pure design of DUK3 alone. There seemed to be a logic and pattern to it, much like the destructive force sigil on my Core; while I did not know enough to design my own, it gave me enough insight to be able to make some decent guesses when it came to what was and was not a part of the larger design. I was about a third of the way done when I felt a pain in my chest that shot out and along my arm; I gasped a short breath before going back to gritting my teeth as I felt Darina¡¯s hand shift from my head to my heart, and the additional pain melted away like ice in warm water. There were many injuries that took longer for the apprentice to heal, such as complex breaks and nerve damage, but to magic, it seemed a muscle was a muscle, even if it beat like a Big Rig. My memories beyond that are hazy, like a fever-dream that was mostly pain and flashes of the inside of my body and burning, boring energies. When it was over, I came back to myself slowly, my inner-eye staring blankly at the inside of my arm. My return was followed by a mental flinch and another convulsion of my body as I waited for the agony to flood in, but when none came, I felt myself shudder in relief, and I may have shed a tear or two, though it was tough to say amid the rivulets of sweat still running off me. After several moments of gathering myself, I moved my mind¡¯s eye about, checking my work; the pattern seemed fairly sound, missing the big bits that were obviously ¨C to me ¨C involved in the shield, though I could not actually fathom how that part worked. There was a difference however, though it was only noticeable on closer inspection; the channels themselves seemed slightly larger and smoother than they did normally; I could not tell whether this was due to something about the efficiency sigil interacting with flesh, or whether it was the result of using Praxis, as the process was initially done with base Experience. Of course, whether it turned out to be one of those reasons, or something else entirely, there was not much I could do about it at that point. In theory, should something be wrong, once I had my Lesser Regeneration working properly again, I could try to cut off the energy flow through the new channels and allow them to heal, but that was supposedly also pretty painful, not to mention a long process. With a mental shrug, I returned my awareness to the outer world again, opening my eyes and sitting up on the soft bed, the fine sheets clinging to my drenched skin. ¡°You died fourteen times.¡± I turned to face Darina, who was now sat behind me; she looked pale and tired, dark rings under her eyes; I had only noticed the healing of my heart the first time, but she must have done a lot to put her in that state, which I supposed was obvious if I had died fourteen times. The number was shocking; I felt like I should have died more than once the first time around, but the number she suggested for just an arm left me dumfounded. It was possible that it was due to the sheer number of additional circuits ¨C a normal cultivator had what amounted to one large tunnel that carried energy throughout their body. It was only insane people like myself and the apprentice healer that tried for more, and apparently paid a heavy price for it. I could see why such an experiment was not more common; miracle elixirs that prevented death and healers trained by Apexes were in short supply, even with all the magic my new home was packed with.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Are you okay, Dee? You look like crap.¡± ¡°I am tired and very low on energy, Hunter. You died fourteen times; If you had passed a few more times, I would not have had the strength to revive you. I hope it was worth it for this special arm of yours.¡± ¡°Well... we¡¯ll see. I¡¯m sorry it cost you so much energy, I didn¡¯t think it would take so much.¡± ¡°It takes a great deal to reignite a mind and energy system. Do not make any more of a habit of it than you have already. Now, test your arm before I go to rest and meditate, fool. I need to start as soon as possible, as I do not think my abilities will go unneeded in the coming days.¡± ¡°Alright... I guess I¡¯ll save the cleansing pill until after, in case my arm explodes?¡± I tried to make my words sound light, but I was apparently more tired than I had thought, as they came out deadpan causing Darina to raise an eyebrow at me. ¡°Right. Trying now.¡± Before Focusing, I checked one last time to see whether the normal circulation of Praxis was having any problems, but it seemed to be flowing past and through the new additions without issue, which gave me some hope. Taking another calming breath, I Focused as lightly as I possibly could, doing my best to draw the power through myself slowly; my practice on the dead world was coming in very useful that day, and I sent a silent thanks to whoever was in charge of... everything. Praxis-born lightning crawled along my channels as I worked my will to restrain it, though finally it entered my fleshy arm and I tenses as I felt a certain kind of metaphysical pressure building. Gazing inwards, I saw the energy building at the chokepoints and baffles and at the ramjets I had built inside myself, the strangely smooth channels bulging outwards. This was not something I had come across in my crystal arm, but it occurred to me as I watched that my crystal arm was made out of crystal, a material specifically chosen because my original prosthetic had exploded. I felt a fresh round of sweat burst out of me as I remembered the black and red arm fracturing and bursting apart, my face a mask of growing horror and morbid anticipation. But the arm did not explode. After several moments, as the energy finished making its way around the circuit of the three-dimensional sigil, the pressure began to ease rapidly, until there was no more than I experienced normally. Reluctantly, I loosened my mental grip on my lightning and allowed it to run through my energy system normally, the rampant coruscating line of electricity returning to my core to start the journey over again. I kept my gaze on the inside of my arm, watching for any sign of failure, but it seemed to be holding up, and did indeed appear to be functioning in the same way as my other, though perhaps a shade less efficiently. I recalled that the majority of the work done to stop my arm exploding again had been done in the form the design and sigil, and was not exclusively due to material strength, finally letting out a breath I had not known I was holding as relief poured into me. Next, I tapped my Exemplar, stepping onto my Path and allowing time to slow around me, observing the effects in and around my new additions. Once more, it seemed to be functioning fine, and this time without even the pressure I had felt at first. The field around my hand did seem to cost less which had of course been my goal. With a grin, I cut the power to my abilities and for the second time that day pumped my first into the air with a cry of triumph. ¡°I assume that it worked then?¡± ¡°Yeah! I think it¡¯s slightly less effective than the original, but it¡¯s working! We need to do this to the rest of me, and to you! To everyone!¡± ¡°Slow down, fool! You said you had one of those serums to prevent death? The rest of us would need my Master, and that¡¯s if we¡¯re willing to go through the pain. It did not seem... pleasant.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, it sucked. It really sucked, but if we can make everyone stronger while reducing the cost so it doesn¡¯t cost more to be strong..., that¡¯s a massive advantage! Think about how fast you could regenerate, or heal!¡± ¡°I will think about it. Perhaps we should leave mentioning it to the others until we meet my Master again, as I would prefer not to need to spend energy in elective modifications right now, when I may need to actually save people. I only assisted you as to do otherwise may have left you useless. More useless.¡± The last was said with a quirking of her lips, a tiny smile to let me know she was joking. As much as it had impacted the city, and I was sure many had already lost their lives, I was glad the idiotic field was gone. It felt good to be less... angry. ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to meditate and sleep. You should too.¡± ¡°Right! Thank you, Darina. Really.¡± With a casual shrug, the healer climbed to her feet and left the room. I fell onto my bed, feeling the uncomfortable damp and scenting the growing smell of stale sweat. I slapped a cleansing pill against my chest, and then the bed; it would not dry us out, but it would convert the sweat into scentless water, and get rid of any accumulated grime and blood. Clean again, I considered simply taking the serum and completing the process, but as I turned my gaze inwards once more, I was distracted by the rapid thrum of my Core. Pausing for a second, I measured the rate as best I could and swallowed, giving up on the idea of any more channel boring that day, instead beginning to meditate on recent events furiously, worry gnawing at me as I considered my almost completely empty Core. As it turned out, burning channels with Praxis was costly. Chapter 136 - Nightmare The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Chapter 137 - Under the Sun I crouched on a roof, just below the lip of the low stone wall, my ears straining for sounds of approach or conflict. I had meditated on guard for about four hours before Reff had descended the stairs once more with the others to relieve me. The second intense bout of meditation left me about half way back to normal, after a lot of concentration. It was still slow going, but when I thought back to the long hours I had put into creating my Core, I was infinitely grateful that I no longer needed to manually refine Experience into Praxis. And half was not bad, it was certainly well above what I had been able to achieve while weighed down by the chains of Ouhl¡¯s now absent aura. Despite the strides I had made in getting to a place where I could hopefully finish my channels, my friends had reiterated their desire to come with me. I had pointed out that they were needed elsewhere, and simple scouting was the worst use of time for those already in top form, given that while carrying out other activities, they were more likely to need to use their abilities, whereas that particular job was mostly about not using powers. They had relented, unlike with my plan to visit the Earthen Sky, though it had taken some convincing. The city had been eerily quiet as I made my way there, moving carefully from rooftop to rooftop and alley to alley where that was not possible. When we had first arrived the day before ¨C which felt like weeks ago by that point ¨C the city had been loud with both the sounds of the wounded and of battle; but those violations of the silence had been stilled, it seemed. To compliment the strange quietude of Ouhl¡¯s skeleton, I had seen no bodies as I travelled, and it made me wonder somewhat nervously what had happened to all the people; it was one thing to assume they were off fighting when you could hear them, but as things stood, with their absolute absence, my mind went to zombies, oddly, and the horrifying opponents we had faced in the Sha Forest. Still, I had made it to my destination without conflict, and for that at least I was glad. I peeked up over the lip of the wall at the huge stone block of the Blood Guard¡¯s headquarters. I saw nobody in the square surrounding it, and as far as I could tell the curved walls above the staged gates were empty. It was possible that they were employing some kind of array to hide, like the Earthen Sky, but if so, it had none of the signs I had noticed at the time, none of the fuzziness when placed under focus. Half an hour had passed with me on top of my building, watching for movement. I was debating with myself about whether it was worth getting closer, or whether I should wait longer to see if anybody entered or exited, but that choice was made moot when the ponderous gates of the compound snapped open and I saw a group of hugely built people in short yellow and brown togas stumble out, their bodies bloodied and their clothing ripped and torn. They looked familiar, and after a moment I realised that this group represented the last sect I had seen in the other square, the Forge of Flesh sect, who according to Loneth specialized in direct physical alteration and enhancement. But whatever methods they used to strengthen themselves, they were being beaten back with a series of bright flashes, forced through the gates backwards before a trio of long-coated individuals in red and white, walking in precise formation. On the side closest to me, a woman walked with her hands held palms held out, a sparking dome of something arching out from them to cover the herself and the others. On the opposite side, another of the three was flicking viridian sparks from his long fingers any time a member of the sect looked like they were trying to act, the minute flash entering their bodies and seemingly causing them to pause momentarily, which gave the third, and central figure time to do his thing in peace. His thing seemed to be great driving shafts of elephant shaped indigo flame that lashed into their stumbling opponents and forced them back, with any of them fool enough to resist being somehow smashed from the inside. From my vantage point, I could see the bones of their backs press briefly against their skin as they were hit, and I assumed the elephantine attack was somehow acting directly on their innards, which upon consideration, was a decent way of dealing with people who purported to ¡®forge¡¯ their flesh. Even on a world of seemingly infinite possibility, you could not account for everything ¨C could not expect everything ¨C and being attacked from the inside with your own bones was a pretty weird thing to expect and account for. I felt no inclination to help drive the sect back; not only did I not know whether the group had actually attacked, or whether either group were insane with rage, but it also did not seem necessary. The people in yellow and brown were retreating, sure, but none of the injuries seemed life threatening, at least at a distance. A few seconds later it was over, the collection of injured body builders vanishing down the closest road, fleeing with what would be impressive speed for most people. As they vanished around a corner, I turned my attention back to the Blood and Bones, only to find the woman staring directly at me; I was far enough away that I could not really tell whether her eyes were narrowed or not, but the shiver that ran down my spine suggested she was glaring.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I braced myself for an attack, my will ready at my Core to trigger my Focus, but while the women clearly indicated my location to her friends, they did not attack. After a minute or so of silent staring, I figured that an insane person would likely have already attacked me; those we had come across on our trip to the City¡¯s Edge had not hesitated for a moment, and even my Instinctive Precognition, which has grown more and more sensitive over time could not detect any threat posed by the three, though it was possible they were simply out of range. Unwilling to let myself hesitate for much longer, I slipped over the edge of the building and landed with a dull thud, a shallow but lingering pain echoing in my ankle and arm, them being as recently broken as they were. I did my best not to let the pain show on my face, keeping it stoic as I did not want to show any weakness... just in case. The fact I had not been attacked did not mean these people were entirely free of influence, as much of a good sign as it may be. As I approached the three, the woman¡¯s eyes left me, going back to searching around us as the other two focused on me completely, flickering traces of their powers edging along their hands. I could see tension in the lines of their bodies; their rigid postures and hard eyes. I held my hands up to make clear they were empty and hoped that was a thing on a world where people could shoot energy beams from their open palms... ¡°Hello! It¡¯s, uh, nice to see you... not rampaging. I¡¯m Hunter ¨C I sort of know the Blood Marshal. I was out of the city when it, well, exploded or whatever. Are you... okay?¡± They did not answer immediately, and I carefully walked forward until I was only a dozen or so feet from them, stopping and waiting for a response as I felt my spine tingle at having my back to an open road, down which potential enemies had just run. After a few seconds of further contemplation, the man in the middle spoke, his voice gruff and a little tired; it was deep, though not as deep as my own and slightly clipped in a way that indicated to me that he may have been from a noble family, at some point. ¡°I do not know you. You say you were out of the city when the... event occurred? What is your business in Ouhl?¡± ¡°I came with Jorl, the Apex of the Crystal Drake on a mission... I was actually looking for the people who did this,¡± I gestured around myself with my chin, hands still held up, ¡°and found one. He told us something was going to happen, so we were rushing back when it happened.¡± ¡°...You have one of the people responsible for this? Where?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not with us. We left him at the Inverted Mountain; we thought it more important that we try to prevent it than to bring him with us. He might still be there though.¡± ¡°The Earthen Sky sect are involved? We¡¯ve had some issues with the other sects, but we thought they were merely taking advantage of the chaos. If they are involved, the Marshall needs to be told. This way.¡± The man turned sideways, gesturing me to move past the trio, but I hesitated for a moment; they seemed lucid enough, but I still had no idea why they were not raving along with the rest of the city, and a part of me wondered if they had been in on it. ¡°How did you say you lot aren¡¯t affected by all this again?¡± ¡°We can explain inside. Come, the doors will be repaired by now.¡± I looked past him, through the open gates to the doors with the huge weight above them. With a reluctant nod, I moved around the group, walking slowly as I approached the doors, my mental attention on my Instinctive Precognition, waiting for any indication that I was doing something stupid. I felt nothing, though I barely kept myself from jumping as I heard the gates behind me began to shut with dull thuds, one after the other, sealing me inside. Of course, I was not really being sealed inside ¨C if I needed to, I could jump out of the enclosure; it may not have been possible, normally, with the walls being manned, but in their apparent absence, I should be able to manage. I glanced up to comfort myself with that fact and almost came to a stop as I saw the huge crossbow-cannon things following me, despite the lack of people to aim them. Wondering if there were invisible people up there, or whether the structure had truly automated defences, I looked down in curiosity, trying to understand why I had not seen them firing when the sect was leaving, if they were really automatic. The ground was littered with scorch-marks; dark fading circles touched by the occasional pool of flash-dried blood. Clearly, the cannon-things had taken out a number of the attackers, though in the absence of bodies it was difficult to see how effective they were; it was possible they were only strong enough to knock a person down, but I knew that even that much would be a marked advantage to a defending force. Moving past the marks on the stone, I finally approached the doors; I could see signs of recent repairs, but they were so well integrated that I did not think they would lose any strength because of it. The weight above them still made me nervous, but my Instincts were quiet, so I pushed through the nerves and doors and once more into the maze-like interior of the Blood Guard headquarters. The trio followed after me, the woman walking backwards behind the others until the door swung closed when she seemed to relax slightly with a sigh. I was about to ask how often the attacks had happened, or that was the first when a deep grinding sounded in the entryway, followed by a thud that made the floor beneath us shiver. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°It was the siege stone being lowered.¡± ¡°Wait, you mean that giant slab above the door? Can it be lifted again?¡± ¡°Of course. It can be lifted at will; we normally do not bother due to the level of traffic, but under the circumstances, it seems necessary.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be very effective if that last lot got through it though, right?¡± ¡°They caught us when the stone was lifted, as we awaited the return of one of our teams.¡± ¡°Right. Well. Take me to your leader, I guess?¡± Chapter 138 - Over To You As we wound through the purposefully unremarkable stone hallways, I was surprised to see doors open in the monotonous fa?ade to reveal rooms on the other side. As I passed, I glanced inside, curious and found them to be ¨C more often than not ¨C filled with people, unconscious and lying on the floor in cots. ¡°Are these the civilians?¡± I gestured through a door we were passing with my head, turning enough to look back but not so much that I was at risk of running into a wall. ¡°They are.¡± I waited for more from the man ¨C the only one of the three to talk to that point ¨C but there was only silence, other than him directing me through the labyrinth. I shrugged mentally, pleased at least that we would not be alone in our efforts to keep the citizens of Ouhl safe, though it was starting to worry me just how many were unconscious, given that at even the Focus stage, a cultivator was significantly more tough and resilient than a normal human. A regular human knocked unconscious for even a few minutes had suffered fairly serious brain damage, so I hoped it was something magical keeping everyone asleep, not only because it lowered the risk of them being vegetables when they did wake up, but also because it meant we might not have to keep feeding people sleeping pills. There were dozens of revealed rooms as we walked, making me think that the walls were entirely for show and that the huge block of an edifice was in fact completely hollow, no matter how natural the partitions seemed. The Blood Guard had clearly been very busy in the slightly more than twenty-hour hours since the event, though it was a little strange that we had not seen them going about their business, given the fact we had been parading around the streets with a forty-foot glowing statue-man... Before too long we reached the now-open door of Tain¡¯s office, though I was certain that we had taken an entirely different route than the last time I had visited. The man himself was sat behind his desk reading from sheafs of paper that littered it, looking harried, a dark scowl on his face. At least he looked unaffected, I thought to myself with a mental chuckle. ¡°Marshall, this man claims to have some information you may be interested in.¡± Tain looked up, irritation at the interruption written large on his face, thought that irritation managed to somehow deepen at the sight of me. ¡°Great, the Void blasted conspiracy theorist again. Did you bring evidence this time, or am I going to be locking you in a cell until the city is back in order, sometime in the next decade?¡± ¡°Uh, no, no evidence. Well, other than... all this¡± I gestured our around me, to indicate the city, the headquarters and the people in it. I had no interest in being locked up for any part of a decade and was ready to make a run for it ¨C as useless as that might be in the maze-like halls ¨C at the first whisper of warning from Instinctive Precognition. ¡°Well, perhaps we¡¯re past the point of needing proof, given the events of the last day. Come in, and don¡¯t knock any papers over. Thank you, Guardsman.¡± I turned my head to watch my escort leave without a word or glance back at me; the Guard had come across as pretty bad tempered and violent, but I had to wonder how much that was due to circumstances. With a shrug, I stepped into the office and sat. ¡°Right, is this where you tell me you were right all long and the Random Bone sect ¨C or whatever you said ¨C is responsible for all of this?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah, the Risen Throne. Not a sect. We heard that they might have a member at a nearby sect, so we went to try and get some evidence, but when we found them, they told us this was about to happen, so we rushed back to warn people, or to try and stop it and... well, it happened sooner than we hoped.¡± ¡°And where is this person now? And... which sect?¡± The Marshall¡¯s was low and tight, an almost imperceptible growl bubbling up at the back of his throat as he spoke. Even without the aura¡¯s effects to amplify it, I could feel the man¡¯s rage at the people who had dared to do this to his city. ¡°We left him there, in favour of coming back. Obviously, in retrospect, that was a mistake. And it was the Earthen Sky sect, but we think there may have been others at the Forge of Flesh and Bleak Shadow sects. We don¡¯t know whether the sects were complicit, or whether they''ve just been goaded into making a distraction of themselves, however.¡± ¡°Earthen Sky? I¡¯ll bring the fucking Inverted Mountain down around them if I find out they took part in this. And I¡¯ll maybe bury them alongside those other petty, obstinate shit-houses.¡± I paused for a moment as Tain ground his teeth, the papers in front of him momentarily forgotten as he stared past me, past the walls and into the distance. After a minute or so, and judging that I had given him enough time not to bite my head of if I spoke, I continued.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°So, I had a question... everyone else we can confirm was in the city are, well, pretty insane at the moment. Or unconscious. Or dead. How is it that you and everyone else seems so... sane?¡± I did not mention that Tain himself seemed to actually be saner than he had on the previous occasions I had met him. They say that tragedy can better a person, but I had never taken it quite that literally before. The Blood Marshal looked at me for another minute, the quiet stretching out to two and then three; I was on the verge of just changing the subject when the man sat back in his chair, rubbing at his jaw before speaking. ¡°The Blood Guard have been in this city for a long time, for as long as there¡¯s been a city. Before. When the first Marshal set about hammering some order into the heads of the other mad bastards that settled here, he knew that if he wasn¡¯t going to get carried along with them, he¡¯d need to be better at resisting. So, he set out to find ¨C and did - the source of the aura.¡± I almost interrupted him there; I had thought the aura a thing that extended evenly within the border. To hear that it has a source was certainly news, and it made me wonder if the Risen Throne had access to it, in order to build the array that supposedly destroyed it all. ¡°He found it, and he built a box around it, to contain as much of its effects as he could, before drowning himself in its baleful nature for a year and a day. When he emerged from his isolation, the effects of the emanations were like a candle when he¡¯d been sat next to a raging inferno. As more people came, he needed more people to keep them from killing each other. So, he found others of like mind, and he took them into the box. For a year and a day.¡± I was aching to ask questions, but it was clear from his expression that Tain was not yet done with his explanation, even if he had lapsed into pensive silence. I feared the prompting would only succeed in shutting him up, so I kept my silence and waited. ¡°Every Blood Guard goes through the process, deep beneath this place, in a sealed off crater with a pool of blood at its centre. We go through that, so that beyond its more... intense influence, we may save lives. And I know what you¡¯re thinking ¨C if we¡¯re so inured to the chains the aura laid about our shoulders, why did we act like everyone else, or worse?¡± This time it seemed like he wanted some kind of response from me, and since it was something I had wondered, I nodded firmly. ¡°In the time since this place was built,¡± the Marshall gestured around us at the building, ¡°people have forgotten that there is a source, forgotten the purpose of this box. We try not to remind them, to draw curiosity by acting in ways foreign to the place. It also helps if those we keep in check consider us to be more ready with the stick than they are.¡± I could not hold my tongue any longer, as much as had happened since my arrival and over the last day or so, all the curiosity over those events scattered as the man spoke, a new question rising inside of me. ¡°But... why? I get the impulse to protect people, maybe, but why ward this all away? Why not have everyone sit by the blood pool or whatever, gain some control of their own?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the question, isn¡¯t it? I suppose it¡¯s the same reason this Ribboned Crone has attacked. The blood is that of an ancient cultivator, an Apex. To consume even the smallest part is to take a huge leap forward, and to empower your abilities in ways that defy simple intent. They did not know this when they first came, it was just curiosity. But they learned.¡± ¡°But... so? Why not let people eat it, or drink it or whatever? There can¡¯t be much, it would have been gone already, surely?¡± ¡°It is not just power the pool imparts, but madness. Any who consume it become singularly powerful ¨C not to an Apex¡¯s level, of course ¨C but more than others, and then they rage across the world, slaughtering any they meet.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t the Apexes stop them? That¡¯s their chosen role, their job, right? And if they¡¯re so strong, how did Blood guard stop them?¡± ¡°They can¡¯t be everywhere. So here we are. And we are forced to use numbers.¡± I sat for a moment in thought, processing that, before speaking again. ¡°But, it¡¯s over, right? The Risen Throne blew it up. So, the danger is passed?¡± ¡°Whatever they did pierced the arrays we use to contain the pool; what the city experienced was just the pressure equalizing. The aura will return, eventually.¡± We both sat in silence then, each of us considering the situation we found ourselves in. ¡°So, you think they¡¯re here for this pool then. But how would they even know about it, if you¡¯ve been keeping it hidden for however long?¡± ¡°I have no idea, you little shit! I¡¯m not some god with the whole world under my Void blasted gaze! But what else is there? Even if they¡¯re the largest force on the planet, they can¡¯t attack everywhere. So how do they decide? The pool is the only thing here.¡± ¡°Have you come across them at all in the city? You seemed to have rescued most of the city already, the place was deserted on my way here. Good job, by the way.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve collected a lot, but even this place doesn¡¯t have room for the entire city. Somebody else has been taking them, the living and the dead.¡± ¡°Somebody is taking the dead people?!¡± ¡°Yes, though we haven¡¯t seen them. We don¡¯t think it¡¯s the sects, or at least we didn¡¯t. I¡¯ll be paying them a visit to discuss their potential involvement. And if they¡¯re complicit, well, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll... get to the bottom of it all.¡± There was a great deal of menace in Tain¡¯s voice as he said that last part, and a small vicious smile curling the corner of his lips. If the various sects were involved, I was not sure whether it was the result of greed, arrogance or whether their leaders had never been around the Blood Marshall. But I knew, that unless there were some pretty life-or-death reasons, and I had some sort of assurance, there was no way that I would ever willingly get on his true bad side. I got the impression that if I did, my stay would be short, and violent. Changing the subject, a little freaked out by his smile, I asked the question I had actually gone to answer. ¡°Do you have more room? We have dozens of unconscious people, as well as some members of the Bleak Shadow sect ¨C I think. We¡¯re holding the fort over at the City¡¯s Edge, but we¡¯re probably going to run out of room if we find many more ¨C if they haven¡¯t been taken. And honestly, the landlady has some pretty steep costs and I¡¯m going to go broke if we stay there much longer...¡± ¡°We have room, and the Guard will be glad to have our hands on some sect members so soon. Just... one thing, my baby ren... if you¡¯re lying to me about any of this ¨C at all ¨C I''m going to peel you, and I don¡¯t care who your friends are.¡± Chapter 139 - Air Dance The streets were as silent as when I had left them, as I walked away from the Guard Headquarters. Two members of the Blood Guard had been sent with me to assist in retrieving the unconscious and captured, despite my insistence that we would be fine on our own. But Tain had insisted, saying that the people were their responsibility, and given the man¡¯s ominous warning, I did not feel like pushing him towards suspicion by being stubborn about it. The pair that had been sent with me were silent and grim faced as we made our way back; they had not introduced themselves, ignoring me completely when I had offered my name and both bows and handshakes. That had annoyed me a little, but I was no young noble to take offense at every little slight, so I just shrugged it away and moved on. Somewhat more annoying had been their simple refusal to move about the remaining rooftops, staying flat footed on the street with their arms crossed. I had considered leaving them behind, but figured, ¡®He ran away over buildings and left us¡¯ probably would not sit well with the Marshall, and had so relented, to walk openly through the streets. I could make some guesses about why they might want to use the roads; it was more likely that any injured would be at that level, and easier to see or hear. It also made it easier to be attacked, and I thought there was probably a vested interest in taking in as many as possible before even more apparently vanished. That was one of the things Tain had said that had concerned me the most, that the population were disappearing; it suggested greater resources than even the Blood Guard had access to, and given that they had been holding the three sects in check, it meant either them teaming up, or the Risen Throne. And the risen throne having enough people in the city to whisk away large portions of it was... not a great thought. We had made it about a third of the way back, still in complete silence when I felt my danger sense prickle; stopping, I glanced around at the ruins and still-standing buildings around us, even as the two I was with came to stops of their owns, turning to look at me with raised eyebrows. I could not see anybody, or even anything moving on the street, or in any of the alleys or roads that spoked from it. But I could feel something, and it was growing stronger, more certain. ¡°Something is probably going to attack us soon. Just, you know... so you know.¡± The Blood Guard shared a glance before looking around them, and finally turning back to me, doubt on their faces. And that was when Instinctive Precognition kicked up several gears and I found myself Focusing and dropping into a crouch to kick away from the place where I had stood, forward and between the two men in red and white, even as I heard a sharp shing sound and felt the stone-paved road tremble. As rolled into a turn, I saw a giant, triangular blade sticking out of the ground where I had stood, and then two more fall from the sky above the Blood Guards. Not knowing if I could save both, I tapped my Path, mentally wincing at the energy expenditure, and quick-stepped in to push the closest of the pair out of the way, but found myself simply pushed back instead. Stumbling a little at meeting so much resistance, I was about to try again when the blade struck with a loud, attenuated bong. The arrow shaped weapon did not bisect the man as I had expected, but had rather crumbled against his head and was in the process of tipping over. Blinking at the absurd sight, I turned, thinking to see a bloody mess where the other had been, but instead found him pointing up with both hands, a blue-white bar or fire as thick as my leg sweeping across the sky and, from what I could see, vaporizing the descending weapon. With no one to immediately fight, I dropped both my Path and Focus, stepping back as the bent blade hit the floor, cracking it, and the acrid smell of misted metal reached my nose. I made a mental note not to start a fight with either one of the pair, as I was starting to suspect that they were at least at the Foundation stage. I could probably still take them, but it would not be quick, and I needed my Praxis for other things. I looked around to try and see where the attack had come from, but nobody was visible. The Guards were looking too, though they still had not said a word. We stood in the street, waiting for more attacks for what felt like an hour, but was probably closer to a few minutes. When no fresh assaults came, the unspeaking duo offered me shrugs and we moved on. Which is, of course, when more blades came hurtling out of the cloudy sky. This time we were each targeted by three of the massive metal missiles, each homing in on us from slightly different directions. I was half expecting it, and when Instinctive Precognition rang again, I Focused and leapt up, springing between the falling blades to leap lightly into the air for a more birds eye view, though that came close to being a mistake as the dense blue-white bar of flame blossomed out into a gigantic cone that I could feel the heat of as it missed me by a foot or so. I had not felt the heat the first time, and I assumed that was something to do with containing it in the bar, as though the flames reduced the weapons to molten slag, they were not turned to vapor, and the guard had to dance about to avoid the blindingly bright rain it produced.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The other guard was as still and taciturn as he had been, barely reacting to the meteoric impacts. Despite my elevated position, I could still see no sign of whoever it was, and as I began to fall, I considered that because I could not, it was unlikely to be one of the normal citizens of the city; staying out of sight like that was beyond the behaviour I had seen from anybody else that seemed to be under the full effects of the blood¡¯s pressure releasing. Tapping my Path, I fell quickly and landed with barely a twinge from my ankle, dropping both Path and Focus once more to wait. ¡°So, what do you guys think; we start moving again and more of these things drop out of the sky? I don¡¯t suppose Ouhl has a sewer system? I guess not, with the whole, ¡®no waste¡¯ thing.¡± The two guardsman stared at me blankly and I wished Darina and the others were there; at least when they did not get or like what I said they would say something. ¡°How about we just hold you over our heads as we walk?¡± I gestured at the seemingly indestructible of the pair. ¡°Say nothing if you agree.¡± The Guards seemed to work more efficiently than most places I had seen, or maybe it was just the first time I had really seen organized cultivators fight; both the group at the gates in front of the headquarters and two ones I was with then had abilities that complimented each other, potentially making them much more powerful as a team than the sum of their parts might suggest. On the one hand, we had Mr. Silent, who mostly seemed to get by ignoring attacks, and Mr. Nospeak, who appeared to have a ridiculously powerful offensive skillset. In theory, should it prove necessary, one could act as the shield and the other the spear. ¡°Nothing, really? You¡¯re okay with me using you as a parasol? You know, the whole, ¡®silence¡¯ thing really takes a lot of the fun out of banter. We both know I can¡¯t lift you; I couldn¡¯t even push you. I guess you have some kind of density ability? Or are you an, ¡®immovable object¡¯?¡± I was mostly passing the time as I waited to see if the attacks really only came when we were moving, but I was genuinely curious. The world around me often looked primitive compared to the Earth I had left, where we had all sorts of tech, but I had seen a lot of different Foci and Paths, and many showed some pretty advanced understanding of the world. I had heard once that technology, even buildings and clothes, were driven by necessity; an animal that was naturally inured to the cold did not need clothing. A creature that that could tear another apart with its bear claws did not need a knife. The technology humans had started with, and developed, was largely to make up for our shortcomings. But a cultivator had far fewer of these things; they were super-naturally more resilient, aged slower and had no need to eat. Were they really primitive, or had they just outgrown the need for advanced technology? At my mention of immovable objects, I did get a reaction from Mr. Silent, by way of a raised eyebrow. Thinking I was getting somewhere, I opened my mouth to press a little harder, but as I did, I felt my Instincts tingle again, just barely. Pausing again, I turned a slow circle, trying my best to spot any shimmers in the air, but saw nothing. That ruled nothing out of course; when we had been attacked by invisible members of the Risen Throne ¨C more than once ¨C they had been utterly invisible, with nothing to give them away save my ability to cheat and sense them. ¡°There¡¯s something shitty about to happen. Either soon, or now, but not very dangerous...¡± The two shared a glance before Mr. Nospeak turned back to me, raising both eyebrows in question. ¡°Just trust me.¡± I continued turning in a slow circle, every sense straining as I tried to find the source of the growing danger I was feeling. As I looked past Mr. Silent, I saw him take a breath and open his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by an impact behind me, the ground shivering once more as stones cracked. Spinning, I saw a woman that stood an easy seven feet, with muscles that looked like they¡¯d been carved from wood ¨C really veiny wood. She had close-cropped black hair and black eyes set inside a scowl. And she was stood on one of the arrow-shaped blades that had been falling on us, and was wearing the yellow and brown of the Forge of Flesh sect. ¡°Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to make these things? It¡¯s very inconsiderate to go around destroying other people¡¯s property.¡± I could not believe what I was hearing; was the woman really complaining that the things she had apparently used to try and kill us had been damaged by our defence? ¡°Lady, are you nuts? You tried to divide us, multiple times. You can¡¯t complain about us defending ourselves! ¡°You could do it without destroying them! Have some courtesy, a little decency.¡± She seemed absolutely serious, with no trace of humour on her stony face. I turned slightly to look at the guards, making sure to keep the crazy woman in view. For their part, the duo seemed unimpressed by the new arrival, both looking bored, though I did notice Mr. Nospeak surreptitiously brushing a still cooling droplet of metal off of an armoured plate on his coat. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m sorry they were destroyed... with the whole attempted murder thing... though it¡¯s not like they were all destroyed. Though, thinking about it, that¡¯s a shame really. We should have melted them all. I blame you.¡± I turned to gesture at Mr. Nospeak, who gave me a dry look. As I gestured, there was a low growl from the Forger of Flesh, and Instinctive Precognition had me Focusing and stepping onto my Path as I dropped flat to the ground to avoid the huge bulk of the woman passing over me, drived by the weapon still attached to her feet. Chapter 140 - Looking for Today I sprang up in the wake of her passing, spinning to face her and expecting any combination of kick, punch or blade to be coming my way. Instead, what I found was the big woman railing uselessly against the immovable form of Mr. Quiet as Mr. Nospeak looked on with a vague expression of amusement on his face. For his part, the man being assaulted looked nothing but irritated, and with a small frown simply reached out as if to grasp her forearms, as you might a flailing child. But the Forge of Flesh member was apparently in no mood to be restrained, and dodged away just in time to avoid his reaching hands. Still somewhat ignoring me, she instead turned to target the other of the Guards, the blade still connected to her feet rising up as she backflipped, the point shooting for his chin. The look of amusement fell away to be replaced with exasperation as he stepped back, almost casually avoiding the blow. The two guards were both definitely either in the Foundation stage, or both had some kind of speed enhancement; watching them move, I thought the former to be the case. Most people chose abilities that somewhat tied together, amplifying the effects of both, or had one act upon the other. An individual that was both immovable and fast did not seem like a great combo. And while I could perhaps see it in the case of Mr. Nospeak, in much the same way as it worked for Toria, and as it had for Sidona, it just didn¡¯t look enhanced. Feeling superfluous, I backed off a few dozen paces and cut the flow of Praxis to get a better perspective of how fast they were moving. It had been a while since the opportunity to simply watch people fight had arisen, and almost as long since I had done so in my normal state, as a person with a mere fifty times the physical capability of a normal human. I watched as the blade wove about, the woman still attached to it as it spun and dove, attacking in front even as she lashed out behind her with her loose limbs. The blade moved quickly, even by my usual standards, but while her limbs were moving slightly faster than I would expect from a Core or Path stage cultivator, I did not think it was more than a general enhancement, something that possibly effected the whole body, making her both stronger and faster, though less than focusing on either thing might. The two Blood Guards moved as simple blurs, close to imperceptible to my unenhanced eyes; the fact that I could see it at all without the use of my Focus or Path told me that if they were at the Foundation stage, it was not at its Peak. After a moment or two of furious blurring, the two guards had apparently really had enough, because between breaths the same blue-white bar of flame I had seen before lashed out, barely avoiding Mr. Quiet but slicing the surf-blade clean in two, and reducing much of it to molten slag. With a yell of pain, the weapon finally dislodged from the woman¡¯s feet and Mr. Quiet caught her as she fell, tucking her under one arm as she tried to thrash her way to freedom. Ignoring his new captive, the two guards casually walked over to where I was stood, the sect member¡¯s exhortations to let her go echoing down the empty streets. ¡°Are you bringing her,¡± I gestured down at the furious woman, ¡°with us, or taking her back to your base?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not taking me anywhere! I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll-¡± Mr. Nospeak lightly cuffed her on the side of the head, stunning her momentarily, before proceeding to spoil the nickname I had given him. ¡°Raddin will take the prisoner back to headquarters. I will accompany you.¡± His voice was fairly high pitched, certainly more so than I had expected from his frame, which was a little on the larger side. It was also strangely melodic, as if he was putting every word quietly to music. ¡°You¡¯re okay splitting up? That¡¯s not, like, a break in regulations or anything?¡± I did not really want them going back with me, as I would be able to move with more stealth without them, and I had already used more Praxis than I had any intention of when setting out that morning. ¡°It does not. There were one-hundred and twenty-eight Foundation level cultivators in Ouhl, outside of the Blood Guard and sects, and they were not warriors. Unless a larger portion of a sect¡¯s upper echelons attacks, I should be sufficient for your protection.¡± ¡°Uh, great? I don¡¯t really need protection, mostly, and there may be others in the city than the sects and citizens. We shouldn¡¯t take anything for granted.¡± ¡°We have our orders.¡± The words held a firm finality that told me there would be no further discussion on the matter, so with a shrug, I dropped it. ¡°... Good talk.¡± I definitely preferred the man when he was being silent, I decided. I supposed that rigid adherence was something you probably needed when the world around you was trying to drive you to murder your boss, but I still found it annoying in that moment. While I had needed protection in the past, I was mostly past that, and had in fact taken out a cultivator at least a stage above me. I did not say that, of course, as it would not have done any good. Instead, I just shrugged and said, ¡°Fine.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With a nod of his head, Mr. Quiet turned and simply walked off in the other direction; I could see him stepping around the fallen blades, taking the exact path we had followed to get there. Turning back to Mr. Doesspeak, I asked a question - had ¨C to that point ¨C no hope they would answer. ¡°So, as I said before, my name is Hunter ¨C what''s yours? I¡¯d prefer not to keep calling you Mr... You.¡± I had almost said my nickname for him out loud, but had managed to catch myself at the last moment; my efforts to be polite to those stronger than me were really coming along, I thought. ¡°Faen.¡± ¡°Well, nice to meet you, Faen. Shall we?¡± I gestured on down the road, but he only waved me on. With a shrug, I turned and walked on, one guard down. And once more in silence. * *** * We were almost back to the City¡¯s Edge, still walking in silence through the eerie stillness of Ouhl when I heard a distant crash coming from that direction. With a curse, I set off running, Focusing and stepping on my Path at the same time. I did not push hard, simply keeping each at what was my normal throughput, which ¨C at my then current level of integration with my Exemplar ¨C put me at about three-hundred times the speed of a normal person, or six-times faster than I moved normally. Running down the road, I caught Faen keeping pace with me out of the corer of my eye; he seemed to be shooting me a considering look, and did not appear to be capable of running much faster than me, which meant he was slightly above half-way through completing his Foundation. The buildings ¨C both those still intact and those that had fallen ¨C rushed past as I raced on, concerned that the noise I had heard ¨C the first I had heard in hours ¨C had been coming from the direction of the inn containing my friends. We arrived back at the inn within half a minute of subjective time, the distance it would have taken an hour to walk consumed in a blur, my heart hammering almost as fast as my Core as I prepared to enter battle, but upon arrival, I saw nothing in the street, and no harm seemed to have befallen the building. Dropping my Focus and Path cautiously, I moved closer, just as the door opened and I saw Darina, Toria and Riffa step out of the outer doors to stare down the street, in the same direction from which the sound had come. Hurrying over to them, I called out so they would not be surprised, as distracted as they were in their search for the source. ¡°Guys! I take it you heard that?¡± ¡°With mild concern, we did, Hunter.¡± I came to a stop next to them, along with Faen who was ¨C no surprise ¨C silent, but looking in the same direction as the rest of us. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you have any more of an idea what it was than I do? I¡¯m just glad it¡¯s not some giant beast attacking the inn, because that would be just our luck.¡± ¡°Did you not just see us exit the inn, Hunter? How would we know more, do you suppose?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Dee. I was just asking.¡± ¡°Well don-¡± Darina was interrupted by another crash, this one louder than the first, and I saw a plume of dust billow into the air, followed by a roar that shook the stones around us, and a giant gout of crimson fire that rose high up into the sky above us. The apprentice healer turned to look at me, hands on hips and glaring. ¡°You had to say it, didn¡¯t you, Hunter? You had to mention a giant beast.¡± ¡°Hey, we don¡¯t know it¡¯s a giant beast, that could be a... very loud cultivator. This guy,¡±, I gestured at Faen, ¡°does a similar fire thing, though his is blue. And way smaller. No offense, Faen.¡± ¡°I have not known you for long... Hunter, but I feel that you have indeed likely brought this down upon us, with your strange, ¡®luck¡¯.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s very fair, Toria. Sure, trouble seems to find me a lot, but it usually ends up being a good thing, and I¡¯m not sure how a giant beast... that breathes fire... could be good.¡± ¡°With careful pointedness, perhaps you should re-examine the events you refer to, Hunter...¡± ¡°Wow, all three of you? Where¡¯s Reff, he¡¯ll back me up. Probably.¡± ¡°In clear disagreement, my brother is guarding the sleepers.¡± Another crash sounded, and this time I could hear dozens of impacts afterwards, like thrown gravel hitting the ground in the distance. ¡°Right, I¡¯m going to try to get a better view... somebody catch me? I¡¯d rather not re-break my legs...¡± ¡°With hesitant confirmation, I will attempt to do so.¡± I hesitated, looking at Riffa for a moment; the whole ¡®lack of confidence¡¯ thing had not been particularly confidence inspiring, but jumping up was probably way safe than running off on my own towards danger. Turning to Faen, I decided to ask for help getting a little more air. ¡°Faen, can you throw me as I jump? I can get pretty high on my own, but I¡¯d prefer not to waste it and have to go again,¡± The man just nodded at me, and crouched, linking his gloved hands together. With a nod in return, I placed one foot in his hands, and as I felt him begin to heave upwards, drove Praxis through my Core and Exemplar as hard as I could, leaping up at the apex of his throw and shooting me really too high into the air. I apparently, I was still very unused to approximating jump heights, because with the throw I rocketed up what had to be thousands of feet into the sky, far outstripping the heights of even the tallest standing buildings in Ouhl as the city shrank beneath me. My heart pounded harder than ever as I finally began to slow, terrified; a person¡¯s body could usually handle however high they could jump, but a Path stage cultivator was not supposed to be jumping what I estimated to be half again as high as a peak Foundation stage was capable of. Shaking off the fear that was trying to crawl its way up my throat, I knew that I would just have to have faith in my friends, to either catch me, or... heal me. Refocusing below, I spotted the source of the crashes immediately, a colossal, brassy blot making its way inwards from the city¡¯s wall; it was hundreds of feet long, with wide, fleshy wings and a serpentine neck and tail. Red flame poured from its mouth, even as it kicked aside buildings that were blocking its way. It was a dragon. And I was falling. Great day! Chapter 141 - Supernaut Dropping out of the sky gave me quite a lot of time, relatively speaking, to watch the massive dragon brush aside stonework and pour its flaming breath into the ruins, melting what was left into glowing puddles. I had dropped my Focus, choosing instead to concentrate on my Path, as that would help to cut down my journey back to the cold, unforgiving ground, and hopefully prevent me from accumulating enough momentum that my friends could help. In normal gravity ¨C which my new home was roughly equivalent to ¨C things accelerate while falling at about ten meters ¨C or about thirty-two feet ¨C per second, per second until reaching terminal velocity, which is a result of things like mass, area... wind resistance. Now, normally when falling from the sky, you would attempt to spread out horizontally, in order to be resisted by as much air as possible, but if I did that then I was probably not going to land anywhere where my friends could try and catch me, which meant... straight down, or at least as straight as I could manage. For every real-time second that I fell, I was covering about four-second''s worth of ground at full power, meaning one-hundred and twenty-eight feet in the first and two-hundred and fifty-six in the second and three-hundred and eighty-four in the third. It took just under eight seconds to reach the ground, and while I did not know this at the time ¨C my mind was everywhere but on doing maths in my head as I desperately hoped not to splatter on the ground like overripe fruit- I was actually only just approaching terminal velocity, falling at an actual rate of about one-hundred and eighty miles per hour by the time I landed. At the last second before I hit, I closed my eyes in preparation for a hard impact, but found myself enveloped in the abrasive yet soft embrace of sand as it caught me and bled off some of my momentum. Now, I did not know this then, but I would have been fine, even without the catch. A normal human, just falling down, can - in the absence of strange angles ¨C easily fall ten feet without injury, and as a Path stage cultivator with Path stage toughness, that was about five-hundred for me. Ten times fifty. But fall damage is not really about distance, but speed ¨C accumulated energy. A person can only fall so fast through atmosphere, at least in normal gravity, and that speed was simply not enough to injure me ¨C it was the equivalent of walking quickly into a wall. I had not even really needed to use my Path, as terminal velocity posed no danger to me; its use just had me land a few seconds sooner. But you don¡¯t think about these things when you have only had magic for less than a year, and are used to simple things like human frailty. All I had known was that the ground was coming at me, and I wanted to do everything I could not to end myself. The fact that I had broken my leg falling from a significantly lower height had not helped, though thinking back on that, it was possible that I had landed oddly ¨C the wall was on a wet, grassy plane, after all. Either way, I was quickly placed safely on the ground as the sand rushed back towards Riffa, before vanishing into storage. Later I would kick myself for the waste of Praxis, but at the time I was just glad to be alive, as misplaced as that feeling may have been. Shaking off the surge of adrenaline I was being hit with after my fall ¨C and shaking slightly from the lack of use ¨C I spun to face my friends - and Faen - and spoke quickly, my words almost stumbling over each other. ¡°It¡¯s-a-dragon, it¡¯s-a-huge-ass-dragon-breathing-red-fire.¡± ¡°With profound confusion, I have never heard of an Ass Dragon; some perversion of donkey and dragon? Are they common where you are from, Hunter?¡± I stared at the risi for a long moment, trying to understand what she had said; the sight of the massive winged-lizard and the fall had shaken me enough that I did not realise my use of the idiom right away. ¡°Oh. No! Just a dragon, I¡¯m pretty sure! Just me being me! Do we fight it, do we run? WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE DRAGON?!¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a dragon... Hunter? Dragons are not common creatures.¡± ¡°Toria is right, Hunter. Could it have been something else? Have you even seen a dragon before?¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯ve seen a damn dragon, Dee, we flew here inside one. I also met another dragon, but she was a different kind. The point is, giant, scaly, winged and breathing fire.¡± ¡°It seems we will have to delay the civilian transfer; if there is a dragon in the city, we have to mobilize the Guard. It is a bigger threat than any of the sects, and certainly more than the general populace.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s coming this way, we can¡¯t leave the people here, it¡¯ll... just walk over them. Or melt them.¡± The guard looked pensive, rubbing at his jaw with one hand as he looked in the direction of the persistent crashes. ¡°If we stop the dragon, then the people will be safe.¡± ¡°With cautious interjection, are you certain a dragon will be so easy to stop?¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Blasted Void! Fine. We need to evacuate the civilians; I¡¯ll need the help of... whoever brought them here, if there are more than a few I will not be able to carry them all.¡± ¡°With decisive confirmation, my brother and I carried them, we can assist you in taking them back.¡± ¡°What do we do? Wait for the guard?¡± I asked the question with mixed feelings; on the one hand, I kind of wanted to fight the dragon, but on the other hand, I definitely did not want to die. ¡°It would be best if you can distract it, see if you can halt its progress as much as possible until we are able to bring the others - and the Marshall ¨C to fight. Can you do that?¡± I turned my attention inwards to my Core as it vibrated away, passively converting Experience into Praxis; the rate was not quick without me actively focusing, but it was not bad, given recent events. The rate at which it thrummed did however tell me that my little trip had sapped a chunk of my reserves. I could fight at normal output for a little while, but if I had to go all-out, I was going to dry myself out pretty quickly. Not that that was anything new by that point. Turning, I looked at Toria and Darina, knowing that it was probably going to be just the three of us; Loneth was a Foundation level, I thought, but one entirely focused on building, and as such, probably not much help in a pitched battle against a giant dragon. ¡°I can fight; my fire-based Focus gives me some resistance to fire, though I cannot speak to the nature of this dragon¡¯s flame.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll fight too; I can regenerate through pretty much anything. It¡¯ll make my Master proud when I tell her I defeated a dragon¡± the apprentice healer looked at me with a barely supressed smile, lips twitching, ¡°mostly single handed¡± ¡°Good. You should go then, while we begin to move them. Here, take these.¡± the guard held his hand out and three bulb-like bottles appeared, each filled with a clear liquid which nonetheless seemed to glow faintly. ¡°They¡¯ll restore a portion of Experience; they should help if the fight goes on too long. Don¡¯t use them if you don¡¯t have to, they¡¯re incredibly expens-¡± Not waiting for the main to finish, I grabbed one of the bottles and uncorking it before pouring the contents down my throat, barely tasting the slight liquorice flavour. ¡°-ive. What did I just say?¡± ¡°Hunter¡¯s abilities are pretty hard on his reserves, I bet he¡¯s below half strength at the moment.¡± I just nodded as Darina spoke, focusing on the stream of Experience coursing into my Core; it was not the consciousness robbing ball of energy that Walker had shoved into my chest, or even the Core-completing Thousand Year Pineapple; it had none of the extremes of sensation I had come to associate with such things, but rather it was a cool, almost clinical feeling as the stuff effervesced into mist and was absorbed, my Core spinning it into Praxis and sending it in circuits around my energy system. Blocking out the outer world, knowing that while I would eventually absorb the entire thing, I did not actually have time for that, I concentrated on refinement, adding in my fall and the dragon, the woman with the blades, as much as I could as I felt my Core speed up and then slow as, within minutes, I was back to full. Opening my eyes, I looked around to see everyone looking at me with annoyance, and I remembered that we were actually in a rush. ¡°Uh, sorry about that. Really needed it... so, you said they were expensive? How expensive, exactly, and where can I buy literally all of them?¡± ¡°We can discuss that, after we evacuate the civilians, drive off the dragon and save the city.¡± The Guard¡¯s voice was dry with a touch of rebuke, and I nodded sheepishly, though I did note that the other two bottles had vanished. it was almost certain the coming fight was going to drain me again, and if it did ¨C when it did ¨C I could, provided the others did not need them, use the things to refill my energy and re-forge the rest of my energy system. For a moment, I thought about how lucky it was that the dragon had shown up when it had, as otherwise I might never have known about the bottles, but I shook that thought away quickly; I wanted no part of the responsibility of bringing a dragon down on the city¡¯s collective heads. ¡°Right you are. Let¡¯s go... fight a dragon. I guess.¡± We all wished each other good luck, and as Riffa hurried inside - Faen looking tiny beside her - Toria, Darina and I dashed off down the street. We were not yet using our abilities to travel; knowing what we would be facing meant that saving as much of our abilities as possible was paramount. Even so, it only took minutes until the crashes became thunderous, the ground shaking hard as more dust filled the air and chips of broken stone fell around us. I could feel a great heat surging and fading, and even through the remaining buildings between us I knew it was the dragon¡¯s flames, hot enough to melt stone and almost certainly enough to turn me to ash if it hit me. But still, I had a job to do, and I had to try. Under my breath, I spoke Xiournal¡¯s name and looked at the quest she¡¯d given me only a few days before, to save as many civilian lives as possible. Shaking my head in dismissal, I considered once more that I may have really be screwed on my employment contract. Finally, after a few more moments of running, we came around one last corner and saw the thing itself, its brassy scales reflecting the light of the sun, as well as that given off by the bright, glowing stone and its own fire. Its head was the size of very large cart, with eyes the colour of blood and multiple rows of teeth that looks like a cross between a shark¡¯s triangular ones and the needle-sharp kind you found on puppies. The city around it was rubble, even more so than it had been earlier, pulverized almost flat as the massive beat stomped this way and then that, demolishing buildings and reducing what was left to dust and thick, hot fluids. Every few seconds, a person would catapult out from the edges, impacting the dragon with seemingly no effect, before dropping down and being casually crushed by the dragon¡¯s mammoth, clawed feet. ¡°I guess there are other people still alive in the city...¡± ¡°Though not for long if we do not interfere.¡± Darina gestured at the many spots of red scattered around the thing, and in its path. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to get on its head and zap it. Fingers crossed?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means... Hunter, but good luc-¡± Toria was interrupted then, a voice deeper than almost any I had heard filling the cleared space and making my chest vibrate. ¡°Yes... good luck with that... little cultivator...¡± The dragon had apparently heard me. Chapter 142 - The Illusion of Power The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Chapter 143 - In For The Kill. I tried to ignore the pain in my hand as I landed; it was bad, but not as bad as I had expected, and I was doing my best not to think about the implications of that. The dragon was looking at me, its gaze still somewhat hazy; not wanting to waste any advantage my shock to its brain might allow me, I leapt back up to the neck. I had used one of my three trump cards, and it had worked a little, but that still left me another two, and I was planning to try them both. Of my two remaining trump cards, I did not think my echo punch would have much of an effect, but it was worth the try, it was not like it took much time, after all. Landing on the scorching scales once more, I grimaced at the increased pain in my feet, though it was mostly being gated by the pain in my messy right hand. I braced to leap again, expecting the dragon''s claw to pay me another visit, but it did not come and I felt gratified that my attack had apparently been more shocking than either the beast or I had thought. Seemingly, it did not matter how tough you were, lightning to the brain was not easy to ignore. For a moment, I considered simply doing it again, but a glance at my hand quickly convinced me that if I wanted to still have a hand, I was going to need to keep that idea in reserve. Dashing along the neck, I felt the muscles tense again, and I heard a deep, attenuated growl ripple out of its throat, indicating that my grace period was perhaps coming to an end. Reaching the head quickly, I aimed for where the skull seemed to meet the spine and bracing my feet, shifted my concentration to my crystal arm, and triggered the echo punch. Sensation vanished for an infinitesimal instant, replaced by the strange blurring and loss of control I was growing used to. I regained control just as I heard the dull clack of prosthetic against metallic scale, and I saw the area I had aimed for flatten into a crater, some of the scales bending and warping at the impact as the dragon lurched and I was sent rocketing up and away. Punching down with that particular ability was never a great idea, and I was more than aware that there had been a possibility of being sent skyward again, but I had hoped that I would be able to exert enough of a counter-force with my Praxis to stay in place; no such luck. I did not end up thousands of feet up, but I did end up at the far side of the beast¡¯s area of destruction, landing lightly amidst rubble. Glancing back at where I had come from, I saw the dragon climbing back to its feet, and while I was behind it and could not see its face, it still looked shaken, its legs slightly unsteady as it climbed back atop them. As I watched, a grin spread across my face as I saw it stagger again, barely catching itself; apparently, my full power echo punch was getting pretty strong. I still had no idea just how many times I was attacking in that moment, but I was guessing it was a lot if I was knocking dragons punch-drunk. The grin did however slip from my face as I saw my friends finally enter combat, realising all at once that I had not reasserted my Path after the punch and that time was flowing normally. I watched as Toria was propelled by blazing lines up through the air to drive a punch into the side of the creature¡¯s head, noting that while it clearly did have some effect, the giant skull barely moved. I winced again, expecting a claw to sweep around and knock the justice worshipper away, but was glad to see a delay in its movements, allowing her to dodge the really very vast swipe, if barely. As Toria veered off to build momentum for another attack, Darina rushed in, what looked like bone plates from my distant vantage point forming around her as she landed where I had stood moments before, and began to hammer at the same spot, her arm elongating into a spiny maul each time she drew it back to strike. The dragon ¨C even in its dazed state ¨C was clearly getting annoyed; rearing back until Darina was stood along a vertical surface, the thing let out a roar that hurt my ears from hundreds of feet away, hammering at my head and making me dizzy until, with a pop and a sharp pain, the sound vanished. I dabbed at my ears and my hand came away bloody; the damned thing had burst my eardrums. I began to run back towards the fight, the continuing roar buffeting my body with the force of the sound waves, and then transitioning once more to heat as it blasted a blossom of crimson flame into the air that was somehow both hotter and brighter than the first it had tried to hit me with. I knew that Darina would be able to handle the proximity from her position behind its head, though I had to imagine that it was painful with the temperatures involved. Toria was also fine, it seemed; the jet of flame had halted her approach, but she was already circling back around and I grinned again as I closed in; I might not be able to take the thing down on my own, but maybe we could.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Finally, back in the fray, I dodged a lashing tail as I popped a healing pill into my mouth, the fiery breath finally coming to an end and the oppressive heat cooling momentarily. Stepping onto my Path once more, I leapt up again to stand stop the thing¡¯s shoulders, ready to run along the dragon¡¯s spine to join Darina. I would not be able to use another echo punch just yet - though being knocked away and having to run back had helped there at least ¨C but I still had my third trump card, if I could figure out how to make it work with something as large as the burning kaiju. I was just beginning to attempt to run up the dragon¡¯s neck, using Praxis for purchase when the head came down, fast, swinging around to point in Toria¡¯s direction as she came in to land another punch. I felt my eyes open wide, along with the beast¡¯s mouth and tried to shout a warning, even knowing that it would do no good. Flames erupted again, this time flashing towards my companion and engulfing her. My heart leapt and I felt rage and loss rise up in me, twining around each other as a growl of my own bubbled up from inside me. I hovered on the edge of reason for just a moment before I saw Toria emerge from the flame, shot away on a line of flame much thicker than was normal, thicker than even her body. Her clothing and hair were on fire, and her breastplate a glowing mass of molten metal, but she at least seemed alive, though how much of a blessing that was would depend on if she survived, and in what state. Rushing up behind Darina, I dropped my Path so I could speak normally, and shouted for her to help Toria, before stepping back on it. The apprentice healer began to stand, painfully slowly to my accelerated and attenuated perception, and after a subjective moment of thought, I grabbed the diminutive girl around the waist and tossed her as hard as I could towards our fallen friend, just as the dragon flipped over once again. This time, Instinctive Precognition sent me running around the neck of the giant beast, rather than laying against the spines, and it was a good job that it did, as the second time involved a small leap that sent its spines digging into the stone, and would have likely smashed me flat if I had attempted the same again. As the dragon wriggled against the ground, presumably trying to grind my to powder, I positioned myself above the spine once more, just below the skull and focused my will around my time aura, extending it into the spikes I had for so long thought useless, and then harder, moving more and more of my aura away from myself and out of my hands, the efficiency I had built into them ballooning it out and away, until they joined into one huge spike as long and thick as my body, and time moved normally for me. The spike jutted down into the dragon¡¯s flesh, and I hoped it would be enough to reach and cover the spinal column; for half a second, I thought I had failed, as the dragon continued to grind into the city¡¯s foundation. But then, the grinding stopped. Cutting off my Focus, I leant my full attention to my Path and to my hold on the creature¡¯s hide. All at once, the dragon began to jerk and spasm as its muscles received multiple instructions at the same time, locking and cramping as they tried to move in many directions at once. It was like this, as I stood grinning on top of a spasming dragon that I realised the one, fatal flaw in my use of my trump card; it was both very costly, and I had no way to simply stop and take advantage of it. With the sect member, I had been able to knock her out as she lay distracted by her own body, but with the dragon, I had no such option. I might be able to hold on long enough for another echo punch, but by that time, I would be close to out of Praxis, and if it did not knock the thing out, it would be free to simply annihilate me and my friends. Helpless, I stood there as my energy drained, trying to think of a plan that would at least get us away from the thing, but from the speed with which it moved, I had to guess it would be able to catch me at my normal speed, especially if either Darina or I was carrying Toria; Darina was a great healer, but the other woman had suffered a lot of damage, from what I could tell, and it was unlikely that she would be up and ready to run for it, if my batteries died. Desperate, I eyed my Core, feeling the pulse that indicated how low I was, and felt a hint of dread at the nearly imperceptible hum, indicating that I was almost done. I swallowed, knowing that holding on could kill me, but also knowing that it was my only shot at survival. I had to hold on, and hope that the Blood Guard would show up... even though it had taken hours to get there and back. Seconds slipped by and I began to feel faint, and I had to simply drop down and hold on as best I could with my legs, as I had to stop supplying Praxis to keep me attached in favour of maintaining the spike. I felt a pain in my gut as I was bounced up and down atop the lizard, and the time spike guttered and began to die, fading back towards my hands as I ran up against absolute emptiness. I felt myself fall as I heard a metallic ringing and a wet sound like a water balloon bursting, the ground slapping me hard as I fought the urge to vomit, my body struggling uselessly to do something ¨C anything ¨C to resolve the problem it knew I had but had no way of identifying. Sweat poured out of me spontaneously as my temperature rose precipitously, and the world spun as darkness closed in around the edges of my vision. At least I would not feel the dragon kill me, I thought as the world faded around me. I felt like crap, but it was probably better than being eaten and then digested in its belly for a thousand years... Chapter 144 - Killing Yourself To Live I came to with a gasp, which was a mistake, as I breathed in the liquid that had been trickling down my throat. Sitting bolt upright, I struggled for a moment against a strong hand that was holding me me in place as I coughed and spluttered, doing my best to clear my airway. ¡°Steady, you little shit; don¡¯t want you drowning after I¡¯ve poured half a fortune down your neck.¡± Still coughing, and suddenly aware of the pain in my hand, feet, arm and chest, I winced reflexively before turning to look at the speaker, though from the tone I had a good idea who it was. Badan Tain crouched next to me, an empty glass bulb in his free hand. The other hand was on my shoulder, which is what had prevented me from catapulting through the air on waking this time. Trying to remember what happened, I looked around for my friends, seeing Toria and Darina a short distance away; the apprentice healer was still leaning over the unmoving form of the other, and I guessed it was going to take quite a bit of healing to get her back to normal. I was glad; not that Toria was so injured, but that she was still alive for Dee to work on at all. Somewhat mollified, I turned back to Tain, my coughing finally under control. ¡°When did you get here? Last, I remember, I fell off the dragon like an idiot. Thought I was going to die, honestly. There was a ringing, and a wet sound which I thought was my head...¡± ¡°You did fall off, just as I arrived. You did a good job, for a little shit; I¡¯m impressed. Not many at,¡± the man paused, looking at me, ¡°what, Path stage?¡± I nodded cautiously; if Tain had killed the dragon, which seemed likely given the conversation, it was not like I could do much if he decided to kill me anyway. ¡°Right. Not many Path stage cultivators could distract a dragon for that long, let alone give it a bit of a kicking, which you seemed to have done. Not sure what you were doing there, just pointing at it, but it worked. You fell off and I cut it from arse to airway, that¡¯s probably what you heard. It was lucky, a dragon¡¯s scales are weaker on the belly, they¡¯re generally not keen to expose it for much time, but I¡¯ll take my luck where I can get it.¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯m glad you made it; I wasn¡¯t expecting reinforcements for, well, a while. I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be intelligent, either.¡± ¡°Dragons? Oh yes, they¡¯re intelligent, the Void blasted bastards. At all ages, too. I don¡¯t suppose you chanced to ask what it was doing here? I tried asking the mouthy bi-uh, healer, but she just ignored me. Can¡¯t say as I blame her, state of your other friend.¡± ¡°It said it was having pleasant dreams, and they stopped. I think it meant the, uh, aura. Wanted to know who shut it down and ruined its nap. Didn¡¯t remember a city being here...¡± ¡°Void blasted thing must have been sleeping for more than a thousand years; dragons sleep when their core is progressing, takes longer and longer. Must have been at the Pinnacle, if it slept that long. We are lucky, and I¡¯m more impressed, lad. I do wonder where it was sleeping though... might pay for some of the Void damned Thrice Moon Distilled, Center Revitalization Elixir I fed you.¡± ¡°Thrice Moon... what? Seriously, alchemists need to climb out of their own asses. You mean the recharging potion-thingy?¡± ¡°... Yes, I mean the, ¡®recharging potion thingy¡¯. You should show more respect, if only because if an alchemist hears you talking like that, you¡¯ll end up barred from service.¡± The Blood Marshall, the man that basically ruled a city and had just killed a dragon ¨C a dragon - looked around warily, as if to check nobody was near enough to hear. Curious, I looked around as well, beyond searching for my friends and saw dozens of Blood Guard standing about the destroyed section of the city, and the dragon¡¯s body, some shaking their head at the rubble while others kept their eyes out for trouble. Apparently done checking, Tain leaned in close and spoke, his voice low and quiet so as not to carry. ¡°I don¡¯t disagree; they do have an odd naming convention. Don¡¯t want to mess with them though, they¡¯re everywhere. Well, almost, and they¡¯re a bad lot to be on the bad side of it. I heard once that if you gathered them all up into one spot, they¡¯d be the biggest sect ¨C or nation, even ¨C on the planet.¡± ¡°I heard they¡¯re pretty powerful. Walker ¨C he''s an Apex... of the Infinite Blades... he said to be respectful too. The Risen Throne ¨C the ones I told you about ¨C tried to steal from one, kidnapped an Apprentice in Everwood City. And me. Hopefully the Association rolls over and crushes them.¡± ¡°If they¡¯ve messed with the Association, they¡¯ll regret it eventually. But either way, you seem to be mostly fine now. Go see your friends, I need to get this body secured, its core removed and everyone back to the Stone.¡± With that, the Marshall stood and marched off to shout orders at the scattered Guard without sparing me another glance. With a shrug, I placed my hand on the stone to push myself to my feet and yelped as I used the wrong one, roasted flesh pressing against the broken ground painfully. Grumbling to myself, I stood gingerly, using my other hand for support, wincing as I placed weight on my assuredly blistered feet. Pulling another healing pill from storage, I threw it down my throat and muttered about the loss of my Lesser Regeneration. Despite the added difficulty it would add to my eventual channel expansion project, it might be worth it, I thought, given how often I got myself injured.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Before limping my way over to the women, I turned to take a look at the dragon, which was actually still very close, given I had fallen off its neck; the massive, brassy lizard was covered in blood, and while I could not see the injuries from the ground, given the sheer amount of the stuff that covered it, and the ground, I knew they had to be massive. Frowning, I looked at where I had lain, and saw a vaguely head and shoulders shaped outline in the rapidly drying pool of red. Reaching back, I felt my hair, which was caked in coagulated muck. ¡°Dammit.¡± Taking out a cleansing pill, I pressed it against my head and waited a moment for it to do its thing, wiping away the filth and leaving me pristine once more. Not for the first time, I wondered where the physical matter went after being cleansed; I imagined a huge mountain of waste somewhere in the world and hoped that I would never have occasion to discover such a thing. Wincing with every step, I stagged over to Darina, sitting heavily next to her, eager to get off my damaged feet again. ¡°Is she okay, Dee?¡± ¡°Toria will be fine, provided people stop bothering me.¡± I took the admonition in my stride and looked down at Chian¡¯s apprentice; Darina had removed her breastplate and she was mostly naked, though her flesh was black and red where the flame had touched; I had no idea whether her resistance had helped or not, but if it had, I was glad that I had not been hit directly. With another series of winces, I climbed to my feet and slowly began to erect a tent around the two, for Toria¡¯s privacy and so that Darina was less likely to be disturbed. It took a few minutes; it can be difficult and awkward to assemble a tent with one hand and extensive burns, but I managed the outer shell in relatively short order; slower I may have been, but I was still super-human. Having finished erecting some privacy, I sat back down gratefully and watched as Darina picked stone chips and brushed dust away from flesh as she worked to repair the damage slowly; burns were tough to heal, if I recalled my own experience of being slammed into Reff¡¯s armour correctly. I thought about leaving, to find the others, but I had no idea where they were and I did not really want to leave the two out in the open as they were, not with the sects and the Uppity Chairs running about causing trouble. Not to mention the, ¡®ordinary¡¯ citizens. Lying down next to them ¨C as my back was the area with the least number of burns ¨C I sighed and stripped my own boots and shirt off, lying on my doffed robe; I had no interest in permanently becoming a part of my clothing, and I had no idea how exactly the pills worked. Now as comfortable as I could make myself, I settled in to wait. * *** * Hours ¨C and multiple healing pills ¨C later, Toria was awake and dressed again, though she was limited to a loose robe for the moment. Darina was exhausted, and had used enough Praxis that she drunk the recharge potion she had taken from Faen, promising to continue the healing once she was back to full strength. Toria had given me hers; while she was badly injured, she had not actually used much energy at all in the fight, or its aftermath, and while we did not voice it out loud, none of us were very interested in giving the remaining one back to the Guard. I had found, to my surprise, that I was back up to full from the potion the Marshall had apparently just poured down my throat; I had no clue how close I had been to death, but I figured that it was pretty close, with the whole, ¡®passing out¡¯ thing, which was not something that had ever happened to me, at least from a lack of energy. I was definitely keen to get my hands on as many of the things as I could; I still did not know how expensive they were, but I assumed the cost was probably magnified by the fact we were in Ouhl, where alchemists did not spend a great deal of their time. I could ask the ones back at the Citadel, or Master Ro back at Everwood; knowing the old man, he probably had something even better. Of course, those options assumed I would make it back... Jorl had only been gone a few days, and a good chunk of the city was destroyed, most of the populace was missing - or dead - and the Risen Throne were ¨C presumably ¨C doing their thing. ¡®Months¡¯ was a long time to wait when we might not have days. ¡°How are your burns... Hunter.¡± ¡°My burns? Shit, Toria, I¡¯m fine compared to you. Are you sure I can¡¯t, like, double you up on healing pills?¡± The young woman¡¯s skin was no-longer the angry red and black it had been, but it was still a mess, and she still had no hair. It was hard to look at, though I made myself; she must be in enough pain as it was, I thought, without treating her like a freak. ¡°I¡¯m sure; what combinations can be made with what we have on hand have been made, and administered. It''s been a long time since I was burned, but I remember it well, and it¡¯s passing. I''ll be fine, with time.¡± I wished I could do something to help, but I knew my areas of expertise were elsewhere; wise-assory and stupid decision making probably were not going to help her a great deal. Nodding, I felt the healer¡¯s glare, and I turned slightly, offering a weak smile; Darina had already told me there was nothing more to be done until she was ready to heal again, and she was not a person who enjoyed repeating herself. ¡°Uh, sorry Dee-rina. Just wish I could do more.¡± ¡°Hunter, do not be more of a fool than you already are; you are not a healer, you are ¨C just about ¨C a fighter, and you helped a great deal by disabling the dragon and stopping it from stomping over here and crushing us. You almost died as well, doing so. You. Did. Enough.¡± I knew she was right, but it did not change how I felt; a person must learn to live with their limitations, most people could not be or do everything. I had made my choices, and neither would help with either alchemy or healing. They had stopped a dragon though, and that was pretty awesome. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m glad you both, you know, survived.¡± ¡°As am I.¡± The two spoke in unison, their voices dry; looking at each other, they smiled, though Toria quickly winced and forced herself to stop. I was about to say, ¡®jinx¡¯, and then explain what that meant, when a shout was heard from the outside. Slipping my doffed clothing back on quickly, I slipped out of the tent and hurried over to the nearest Blood Guard, still wincing with each step but in nowhere near as much pain. ¡°What¡¯s happening? It¡¯s not another dragon, is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just heard the shout too.¡± Mentally kicking myself, I looked around, finding a small crowd gathered around Tain. I turned to head over when his voice sounded above the fresh babble of voices, booming once more as it had in the square only days before. ¡°THE STONE IS UNDER CONCERTED ATTACK. ALL GUARDS: BACK TO THE STONE!¡± Chapter 145 - Guilty as Hell Rushing back to the tent, I pushed through the flaps to find Toria already climbing to her feet, assisted by Darina. ¡°I take it you heard that?¡± ¡°It was loud enough to deafen a Focus stage, so yes, we heard it, Hunter.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go with the guards, I don¡¯t know whether Reff and Riffa will still be there, but we know that all the unconscious should be.¡± ¡°You need to rest, Hunter; we all do. You¡¯ll be no help if you run out of energy again, or suffer a major wound while I¡¯m not around. You relied on your healing to carry you through whatever idiocy you got yourself into, but it''s still supressed, and you¡¯re injured.¡± ¡°Darina is right... Hunter. You cannot be everywhere, cannot fight every battle. You are no god, or even an Apex. You, like us, are merely mortal.¡± I stood a moment in mild shock; these were not sentiments I could recall hearing from either of them before, or from anybody, really, since my arrival. Every time I had met a fight that needed fighting, I had waded in, and those with me. It had never been a question, unless the fact of a fight was itself a question. My first instinct was to dismiss the urges away from the battle, but though I could indeed be an idiot, I liked to think that was not who I was. Who I am. So, I paused in the entrance, thinking. I was at full strength, from the potion I had almost drowned on, but large parts of me were still fairly burned, even if I was in much better shape than Toria, or even than I had been earlier. Several healing pills and hours had taken the most painful edges off my injuries, but I had not even fully recovered from my broken ankle and arm yet, and I thought my right hand might need attention from Darina to stand a chance of being fully functional again. On the other hand, I had a mission, and a threat hanging over me; as vague as it was, I had no idea what might constitute a wilful lack of effort on my part. And, really, I had no interest in letting innocent people die, if I could prevent it. I was about to open my mouth, to say I was going when Darina interrupted me, the look on her face and the tone of her voice stating clearly that she knew what I was about to say, and that she was trying to persuade me otherwise. ¡°Hunter. Reff and Riffa will be fine, they¡¯re strong, and regardless of whether they are at the Guard headquarters or the City¡¯s Edge, they¡¯re inside of a fortress. Come with us back to the inn, we¡¯ll check if they¡¯re there and you can perhaps work on your channels.¡± Toria frowned at that, looking confusedly back and forth between us, though it was a little hard to gauge her expression give the lack of eyebrows and general damage to her face. Ignoring the look, the apprentice healer went on. ¡°Your Praxis reserves should be full, and we have another bottle of the potion; you may not be in this position again for a long time, Hunter. If you burn your energy fighting in this battle, you may not have chance again for weeks. Or longer.¡± She made a good point, and we both knew it. For a normal cultivator, recovering from a fight might take some hours, but for me, who went through as much energy as I did, it was the work of days, and with as hectic as the last couple of days had been, and with the state of the city and the threat of the Risen Throne and the sects, it really might be a long time before I could do anything about it, with my reserves sinking lower and lower until I was useless. I could not rely on the Guard giving me an endless supply of the bottles; they seemed to have a bunch, but I had no idea if that was truth or illusion. If they ran out, or needed them elsewhere, or simply chose not to give any more to me then I would quickly find myself screwed in any prolonged period of battle. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll head back to the inn and see if Reff and Riffa are there. If they are, I¡¯ll work on my channels.¡± If not, I was heading to the Stone; there was no way I was leaving my friends to face some unknown attack without me. ¡°... Why are you working on your channels, at the Path stage... Hunter?¡± * *** * We made it back to the inn about ten minutes later; after disassembling the test, we found all the Guards gone, with the dragon¡¯s corpse, mysteriously. We had limped back along the streets, and thankfully encountered no more raving citizens, as I was keen to keep my energy topped up, and only Darina was really in any shape to fight. I half expected to see the City¡¯s Edge abandoned, with everyone gone off to hole-up at the Stone, but I should have known better; Loneth was not the type to abandon what was hers, even in the face of a dragon about to walk over it. The owner greeted us at the door with a look that was half smile and half scowl; she had apparently seen us coming from one of the lookout windows and come down to let us in, thank us for stopping the dragon, and grumble that we had returned.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°You moved everyone over to the Blood and Bones, why are you back?¡± ¡°We paid? Also, our beds are probably more comfortable than the floor at the Stone... so...¡± ¡°Stone? Never mind. That¡¯s what your friends, the risi said. Fine, come in. Again.¡± Apparently, what the Blood Guard called their headquarters was not known to the general populace; it seemed strange until I considered the general secrecy under which the Guard operated. ¡°Reff and Riffa are inside?¡± My voice sounded eager, and that made me feel terrible; I really wanted to work on the new patterning for my channels, but I also wanted to head off to battle; I felt bad for not going, not just for valuing my progress over helping, but for enjoying it. Loneth did not seem to notice my tone, it might have all been in my head, a product of my sort-of-guilt. What she did do was nod sharply, before gesturing us past her, inside. Squeezing past the woman, I watched Darina help Toria inside, and the proprietress close and lock both sets of doors behind us. The inside of the City¡¯s Edge felt strange empty without the crowd of sleeping people; they had only been there for about a day, but I seemed to have grown used to them. In place of the sleepers, my other two friends sat in their over-sized chairs, each reading a book, from which they looked up as we entered. At first, they both gave small, risi smiles at the sight of us, but seeing Toria, they both stood with worry written in subtle lines on their face. ¡°With deepest regret, you appear to be seriously hurt, Toria. I am sorry we did not come to assist you, we only recently returned from transporting the sleeping ones...¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mountain¡¯s Rage. You would likely not have arrived in time anyway. The dragon was not... young.¡± ¡°With curious guilt, what stage was the dragon?¡± ¡°It was at least high Foundation; the limping idiot was the only one capable of keeping up.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think it was probably early Pinnacle. It was fast for something so big. For anything, really.¡± ¡°With muted shock, a Pinnacle dragon? How did any of you survive? The Blood Guard should not have arrived that quickly. Faen went ahead of us to mobilize them, and we saw them pass us, but even so, against a Pinnacle...¡± Reff¡¯s voice was as close to dumbfounded as I had ever heard it; outside a bit of healthy rage, the giant was usually unflappable in the face of pretty much anything. Even when we had been faced with beast Elders, he had been pretty calm. ¡°Well, first we had a nice chat. It was fairly polite, for a giant city-smashing engine of destruction, but it seemed to really enjoy the aura that was around the place, which was a bit concerning, and was unhappy that it had been cut off. I tried to explain that it was another group, but it was pretty keen to smash.¡± ¡°With curious confusion, you had a chat with a Pinnacle dragon? Which colour was it?¡± ¡°Kind of-¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going to get Toria to a bed. Can you get the door?¡± Abashed, I hobbled over to the relevant hidden door and slipped my key in, unlocking it. ¡°Reff, Riffa; I¡¯m going to help them upstairs, and then I¡¯m going to spend some time, uh, innovating? I might be a while. I¡¯ll catch you up when I¡¯m done?¡± Both of the siblings gave me a strange look, and I realized I was probably being coy for no reason. ¡°I¡¯m going to make some changes to my energy system that should help me with my energy issues. Wish me luck!¡± ¡°With doubtful deliberation, is that wise, Hunter? You already have far more extensive channels than a normal cultivator, and while reducing them might save you energy, it would also reduce the amount of energy output you can attain, and as I understand it, you have only survived some situations because of that?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not reducing, I¡¯m actually increas-¡± ¡°Hunter.¡± ¡°Right, sorry. I¡¯ll be back soon! I¡¯ll explain then!¡± With Darina glaring at me, I hurried up the stairs to unlock the other doors as the healer carried the acolyte up after me, finally settling them in one of the rooms, where Toria lay back down with a sigh. I hesitated at the door for a moment as she fell into sleep, exhausted from the pain of moving about so much, and I felt bad again for getting caught up in my conversation with the siblings; I really was not used to people who were not me getting seriously hurt. ¡°Hunter. Good luck, don¡¯t be too much of an idiot and blow yourself up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best... no promises though.¡± I offered the healer a weak grin and left before she could respond; as excited as I was to make the change, I was so very nervous. I had died a lot when doing my arm, and who knew how many times when doing my first set of channels? Doing that, again, but more? It felt like madness, but necessity is by definition... necessary. And I simply could not go on as I was with any hope of survival, long term. Walking back to my room, I entered and stripped off my clothing, thankful that my burns were not so raw as they had been, and settled onto my own bed with a sigh, though one not quite so deep as Toria¡¯s. Already sweating in anticipation of the pain, I pulled out the vial containing the Phoenix elixir, and the bottle Toria had already given me. I set the bottle down by the bed and with a deep breath, connected the vial to one of the syringes that came with it and injected the mildly glowing liquid into my shoulder. The sensation I so vaguely remembered from my first days on this world soaked through me, bringing memories of torture and pain to the fore, but I pushed them aside, knowing that what I was about to go through would be much worse than anything V had done to me. Once the warm sensation had finished covering every inch of me, and as my wounds itched, I closed my eyes and delved deep into my centre, checking my Praxis was still full ¨C which it was. With a sigh of relief, and the thought that I should have really done that first, I reflexively checked my Exemplar, to see with some astonishment that the available capacity had risen to an almost inconceivable sixty percent, a whole twenty-percent increase since I had last checked it. That was a huge increase, and at maximum increase would represent an additional six times my normal speed, on top of what I had before. It was not something I had considered, but as I lay there, doing some quick and dirty maths in my head, based on my observations, once I reached total integration of my Exemplar and began to form my Foundation, I would be looking at a one-thousand percent increase in relative speed. On top of the increase from moving past Praxis to Veritas. Mind blown, I lay there for a moment in shock, but quickly came back to myself when I realised that I had no idea how long the Phoenix elixer would last. Gritting my teeth, I flexed my will, took hold of my Praxis, and got to work, my world whiting out with pain. Chapter 146 - Lonely is the Word I came back to myself slowly this time, the world fading back and forth between the black of oblivion and the white of agony. My jaw ached, and I could feel droplets of sweat running down my body ¨C again. Still, at least I had not catapulted myself from the bed, that time. Sitting up carefully, I felt oddly well; if you have ever been in agony before, you will know just how good its absence can feel, but I felt better than that. It was not the simple please of endorphins and contrast, but even the pain I had felt before was gone, from my burns to the lingering shadows of my breaks. Looking down, I checked my fleshy hand and to my shock, I found it whole, unburnt and perfect, though it was covered in what appeared to be some kind of black dirt. Looking down at the bed, I saw a fine layer of the stuff around where I had lain, with more where my hand and feet had been. I checked my chest, and found it there too, and with a frown pulled out two cleansing pills; one for me, and for the bed, again. ¡°What was that crap?¡± For a moment, I had thought it was the result of the Phoenix elixir, but thinking back to the first time I had used it, there had been no such residue. I checked the ceiling, and the rest of the room to make sure there had been no fires, or breaches that explain it, but found nothing. Still frowning in confusion, I turned my attention inwards; I did not remember much from my efforts, other than the pain, which had been significantly more than either the first time, or the work I had done on my arm. It was definitely a process that was not possible under normal circumstances, and I could absolutely understand why it was the standard for cultivators to stop at the single, wide channel. With a mental step, I explored my channels, rolling along their lengths and checking every warp, weft and baffle and verifying them against the pattern in my arms. I seemed to have done a pretty good job, though I had half a thought that the repeating pattern might lower the efficiency a bit; I had been unable to extrapolate the sigil-like design to one large enough for my torso, for example, and had simply stamped the smaller one multiple times. The fact that I was still alive was hopeful, though now I was paying attention I could feel the slightly raw, bloated feeling of my channels, as I had before, as Praxis spun through them. From prior experience, I knew they would not settle down until I pushed a little, but before that, I needed to check my reserves. Taking a breath, I moved my mind to my Core, and panicked as for a moment I felt no movement and I thought it too fast ¨C and thus too empty - to even be perceivable, but then the pulse came and I realised with some amazement that my Praxis reserves were full, the beat of my Core steady, slow and solid as it replaced only what my body passively used. Dumbfounded, I sat for several moments in shock; I had no idea why I was full, but at a guess it had to be somehow related to the Pheonix Elixer. I tried to remember if that had been the case when I had first formed my Focus, but while I had completed the thing very quickly by normal standards, I had certainly not spontaneously created my Core or anything like that. With a shrug, I dismissed the mystery for the moment, knowing that I likely had little time for navel gazing, with the city being in the situation it was. Instead, I quickly dressed myself and snagged the now surplus bottled battery from the bed-side table, storing it with a smile, glad to have a backup, just in case. Then, fully dressed so at least I would not be found naked if all went wrong, I Focused, feeling the Praxis surge through me as I used my will to yoke the lightning inside of me. As the coruscating light travelled through me, I felt my new channels settle, as they had before, the electrical stream now a permanent violet-white all along its path. I gave it a moment to confirm I would not explode and then, just for a moment, stepped onto my Path and blasted both as hard as I could, tearing Praxis through my Focus and Exemplar as hard as possible. Nothing changed around me, as nothing moved inside my room, so I quickly pulled out another shoe from my ever-growing inventory and dropped it. The shoe did not seem to move, at first, but after a relative couple of seconds I noticed that it was in fact making progress, but so slowly that it was barely visible. With a frown, I dialled back my Praxis, letting it flow normally and watched as the speed of the fall increased, but it was still way slower than it should have been. I tried to run the maths in my head, though it could only be rough. I was definitely above where even the sixty-percent integration of my Exemplar should have put me when at my normal rate, I was faster than my maximum had been before. Slowly, I dialled it back, the shoe still eking its way through the air until I was at my previous normal, only to discover that I had to throttle it significantly in order to arrive at my former baseline.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Dropping my Focus and stepping off my path, I concentrated on my reserves as the shoe finished its long journey to the floor. Gazing inwards, I was delighted to see that it had barely dipped, and I had to guess that most of that had been my initial expenditure. It seemed like the new additions to my energy system had added about half-again to my final power, while lowering the cost significantly. I did not think I would be running out of energy quickly, fighting normally anymore, and even going all out, I would likely be fine for even sustained periods, provided it did not get too crazy. The shift in final result would help, as I hopefully would not need to dip quite so deep from then on. A wide grin on my face, and a fresh spring in my freshly healed feet, I left my room behind to go find the others. * *** * ¡°Helloooo?¡± The common room of the City¡¯s Edge was empty, save for scattered furniture; the blood that had marred the walls long since cleansed. The air was still, hanging quietly in the unoccupied silence. ¡°Hello? Nobody?¡± I guessed that, with the absence of our unconscious guests, and due to the sturdy construction of the inn, there was no real need to have somebody on guard, but I found the absence odd; even the slim chance of attack, or of another dragon, should have meant that somebody was on guard. My friends were too used to the chaos to simply go to bed, I thought. Walking over to a window, I opened the inner and outer shutters and peered out through the narrow slit at the sky, noting the pale light of early morning; I had been out for at least an entire night, it seemed. Sealing the place back up, I was about to head upstairs to knock on doors when I heard the distinct click of an opening door and I turned to find Loneth glaring at me from one of her hidden exits, a broad-headed, indigo coloured hammer clenched in her fist. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Your friends left, couldn''t wake you, for some reason. Heavy sleeper? Hardly seems like the time. Anyway, they said something about an attack, and one of the Blood and Bones had just showed up so I guess it¡¯ll be happening over at their place. Feel free to leave.¡± I gave the owner a flat look; she had been marginally less brisk since the aura popped, but aside from when she had told us about the Risen Throne, she had mostly been herself. She was somebody who frequently left the aura, to work on buildings outside the city, so maybe she was just used to maintaining the outlook, as a method of coping with moving back and forth. Either way, I was still a little nonplussed at the attitude; we had intervened and - in theory ¨C saved the inn from sect members, after all. ¡°They went to the Stone?¡± I blinked rapidly, mentally kicking myself for selfishly opting to work on my channels, knowing the city was in turmoil and danger could come calling at any moment. It had not occurred to me that if it happened while I was mid-work that I would be unable to stop, or that I would be either too engrossed or two out of it from the pain that I would not even be aware. ¡°Stone? Is that what they call it? No idea. But it¡¯ll probably be hard to miss if they¡¯re not back yet.¡± ¡°When did they go?!¡± I asked the question with some urgency; if my friends had all left me, even in the security of the mini-fortress, then the situation was probably pretty dire. ¡°About an hour ago.¡± ¡°Shit...!¡± Turning, I ran for the door, unlocking it and closing it behind me with a growl, and then the next, finally stepping out into the empty and ruined street. I glanced around, making sure there were no enemies in my immediate surroundings, and then Focused, stepping onto my Path at what was now my new normal. The world hung around me once more, as much as a still street could, and I took off running at the slightly more than the equivalent speed of twice a Foundation stage¡¯s maximum, or just over one-thousand times a normal human being. And all without severely draining myself. It may have been urgent, but it was definitely exhilarating. Leaping lightly from building to building, I raced across the city towards the Stone; I considered jumping up again, but at that point I still had not quite figured out how safe it was, and the memory of falling thousands of feet with my heart in my throat was still pretty fresh. But even without that, I was pretty sure of where I was heading, and in the relative span of minutes ¨C mere moments in real time ¨C I arrived at my destination, still bordered by a mostly intact square of buildings, though this time there was a significant change from my last visit. On each side, that I could see, the blocky fortress was surrounded by an army. Here and there, I saw clusters of people dressed in the colours of the sects; black and red, pale gold and brown and yellow. But around those knots, a strangely still multitude gathered, dressed in dirty grey cloaks that seemed to be torn and stained with dry blood. With a frown for the many thousands that surrounded the place in stillness, I moved about the edge of the square, from roof to roof until I faced the gate, from the same vantage as I had the day before. Letting my Praxis fade back to normal, I watched. In front of the sequential gates ¨C which were closed ¨C I could see a series of individuals hammering at the hardened and reinforced wood, and even from my distance I could hear the hollow booms. Every few moments, one of the faceless in the crowd would catapult towards the top of the walls, or towards the top of the structure itself, only to be blasted back in a shower of pale green light. The strange guns aop the walls were still and unmoving, pale grey smoke drifting up from them, and I figured they had either been damaged or overused. I could not see the floor through the press of bodies, nor could I see any dead or disabled, so I had no idea as to the truth. Quietly, I turned my gaze inwards and shifted my Core so that it was using my sigil; it was more expensive, and it kind of hurt, but I had a feeling I would need everything I had to make a dent in the thousands in front of me. Chapter 147 - Hole in the Sky Staring down at the amassed army, I was about to leap down to try to fight my way to the door when I felt my Instinctive Precognition give me a sharp warning that I was about to do something stupid. Stopping, I thought about that for a moment, considering the situation in which I found myself. I looked at the crowd, and considered why they were there; not their motivation, but rather why the Blood Marshall ¨C and his own army of Guards - had not simply swept them aside like wheat. Why there was no... fighting. It did not seem... like the Blood Marshall to simply allow an enemy to mill about outside their base, and certainly unlike the Guard in general. The fact of their presence indicated to me - when I thought about it ¨C that either Tain and the Guard were absent, or there were enough Pinnacle stage cultivators down there that the Marshal could not simply walk over them. I was fast, especially after my most recent modification to my cultivation, but even at my best, I was about half as fast as a peak Pinnacle; under most circumstances, that was more than enough to put me way ahead of most people, but against actual Pinnacles, it had an almost certain chance of simply falling short. Of course, if they just were not home, then that was a different matter, but if that was the case, why had my Instincts triggered? That was when I re-addressed the situation again, and realised that I had been seriously thinking about attacking an enemy that numbered in the multiple thousands, at least. If they were Core stages, or Path stages, which seemed to be about the average for the world, I would be about twenty-one times faster than them at my new normal, which meant I could likely rip through them like wet tissue, but that presumed the lack of other speedsters, or strange abilities that hard-countered me, like frictionless shields, immovable objects, force-reversing powers... There were a surprisingly high number of variables for what amounted to a simple melee. That is the infinite variety of a magic system that was largely based on... whatever you wanted. As the wards were obviously intact, trying to find my way in via another route seemed like a bad idea, and that left me slightly stuck. I did not want to leave; there was a good chance that one side would make a move sooner or later, and when then happened, I wanted to be on hand. I just did not like... waiting, when there was a fight in front of me. That was not a dragon. Sitting back down behind the lip of the roof, I thought about the crowd again; one thing the grouping seemed to confirm was that the sects were indeed in bed with the Risen Throne, or at the very least a portion of them were. While the pockets of less ragged and bloody clothing were not grouped together, so as to indicate cooperation, they were also... just in the middle of everyone. Peeking over the lip again, some impatience making it hard to sit still, I watched as the sects moved about, still clustered, among the strangely still army. As one group drew particularly close to the building I was hiding on top of, I began to make out details; a huge man in yellow and brown and who carried what looked like a long, octagonal metal bat that was at least as thick as his thigh was gesturing wildly down the avenue leading away from Stone and back again. The other members of the Forge of Flesh seemed to be trying to calm him down, but the big man only appeared to grow more agitated at the effort. I watched for a minute or two, and I was starting to think there was going to be a fight amongst the members when I saw a new group appear, one made up of four people, three of whom wore the distinctive colours of the local sects and one in the drab grey and black of the gathered army, though lacking either the ragged tears or the stains. Their arrival, from the direction the big man had been gesturing, quieted the brewing squabble, and where there was visible movement, stillness rippled out, causing the sects to blend with those they interspersed. I ducked down as far as I could while still keeping my eye on the new group; I got the impression that they were important, and that usually meant strong in the limited experience I had on that world. After striking a dramatic pose, the figure in black and red drew back one arm and flung it towards the giant building at the centre of the square and from nowhere an iceberg the size of a small mountain and shaped like a dart appeared high in the air and was flung towards the Stone faster than I could see in my un-accelerated state. There was a boom, like a great whip had cracked; it was loud and sharp enough to hurt my ears, but it was followed by a sound like a billion stones cracking and a flash of pale green light bright enough to hurt my eyes. As the light faded, I glanced towards to the fortress to see a giant pile of broken ice vanish as if it had never been, only to be replaced a moment later as more booms and flashes followed, beating a painful Rythm against my senses. After several moments, I began to hear more sounds, and there were still more flashes, and in between I saw a mottled brown circle thousands of feet across spinning into the apparent wards of the Stone like a circular saw, throwing off sparks in bright white and green as uncountable pebbles and stones were blasted to molten motes, a roar adding to the staccato attack.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. On the ground, a man of tiny proportions, less than a foot in height hammering at the doors with tiny fists, but each rang out with the same sounds as the frozen mountains, and I saw the stone cracked and broken underneath his feet. I could not see the fourth figure that had been with the group, but I did notice cracks starting to appear in the building I was on; as the three attacked a spot hundreds of feet from me, the ground shook hard enough that buildings around the square began to collapse and I looked around for another place to hide, in the event that mine fell down around me. Luckily, the assault stopped before that, and in the ringing silence I looked on, slightly dazed as the gates at the front of the fortress snapped open and Tain, as well as several Guard I did not recognise walked out, the tiny man springing back and creating a small crater as he did so. The two groups faced each other for a tense moment as more of the Blood Guard filtered out behind them; some in the red and white coats I was more used to, and others in the plate armour I had seen at the gates on my first visit. They spread out into the open space that had been created by the attack, and further their grim expressions pushed the gathered sects back, and even the deathly still army took several steps in strange unison. ¡°That seems like just about e-Void-blasted-nough. I don¡¯t know where you bought your new balls from, but you used to know better than to come knocking on my fucking door.¡± Tain¡¯s voice was loud, but not amplified; I could hear it from where I was, but it did not boom out over the square. Opposite him, the man that had been throwing the ice ¨C from the Bleak Shadows by their colours ¨C stepped forward and spoke, his own voice low and angry. ¡°You¡¯ve kept us from what is ours for too long, Marshall. This city ¨C and the treasure you hoard ¨C should have been ours, and it will be.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to share? Doesn¡¯t seem like any of you Void fucking egotists.¡± ¡°We have come to an arrangement, the city ¨C and the treasure ¨C will be split between us by our new ally, and then we will each have a city built of our own. To rule.¡± Tain snorted, his contempt clear. ¡°Allies? You must mean these ¡®Brasen Cones¡¯ I¡¯ve heard so much about. Don¡¯t you worry, I¡¯ll be having words with them too, once you¡¯ve been shown out. And I¡¯ve no doubt your Grand Elders will be more than happy to see you ground into ground, Void fucking, bloody paste!¡± The Blood Marshall did not wait for a response, though I had noted that the fourth member of their group ¨C presumably the Risen Throne representative here ¨C had re-appeared nearby, and at Tain¡¯s mention of the Brazen Cones, had stiffed. They did not seem much like a group that liked being mocked, and while I did not know if Tain¡¯s inability to get their name right was intentional or not, it seemed to have pissed the cloaked figure off. Of course, that did not matter, because as I said, the Marshall did not wait, instead lashing out with one hand as he finished shouting, causing the sect elders ¨C though apparently not top-dogs ¨C to scatter wildly. Five ripples sprang out from his hand, spreading like waves and slicing neatly into stone as if it was simple pudding. I felt my building shift and begin to slide as the perfect cuts he had created finished the job the earlier attacks had started. Focusing and stepping onto my Path, I leapt over to where Tain and the Guard were; part way through my jump, it came to me that they might not interpret a person jumping at them from the direction of their enemies as a good thing, but I saw the Marshall¡¯s head turn to track me, and a small nod of acknowledgement sent a small burst of relief through me. As I landed, I saw my friends at the back of the group of Blood Guard, just inside the open gates, another mass in red and white behind them and pouring from the inner doors. It seemed like the Blood Guard were finally sick of their uninvited guests. With a wave that I realised was probably too fast for my friends to see, I grimaced and turned, just as chaos exploded around me. Tain and the others at the front with him sprang into motion, moving five times faster than me but still clearly visible in my new-normal state, each meeting one of the opposing elders in mid-air and carrying them off and away from the stone. With a shrug, confident that I could handle anything short of a Pinnacle ¨C or at least run away from it ¨C I raced towards the waiting army, leaving the others far behind as I smashed into the frozen seeming line like an explosion, letting the destructive red lines of light spring out of me to do as they willed; it slowed me down a little, but as fast as I was it simply did not matter against the opponents I faced, who were blasted back and broken by blows they could not see. Bodies scattered around me as I moved, space blasted around me as my hybrid cultivation was used to full effect for the first time, as I had imagined it so long ago. Defense, offense and speed. It almost felt unfair to use my speed against normal cultivators, but these people had caused the death of so many in the city, and beyond that I did not let that stop me; I had been hesitant before, not knowing if they the sects were involved but one thing I knew for certain was if they were in the square, they were complicit. As I moved through the virtually unmoving army, I noted that the majority of them ¨C the ones in the torn and bloodied clothing ¨C were strangely pale, and though it was hard to tell, they seemed more fragile than I would expect from a peak Core stage, their bodies sometimes even coming apart at a single blow. I was honestly feeling too good to care much though; it felt good to run riot like that, without the fear of running out of energy, and even the normally corrosive feeling of the red lightning running through my channels was absent. Of course, things could not simply go my way; as I fought ¨C though I use the term loosely ¨C I began to note people moving at a more normal relative speed towards me and was just about to go meet them when a familiar wisp of black caught my attention, drawing it upwards. Above me ¨C above the army ¨C I saw a circle of darkness, dark mist falling from it and a figure hovering just outside of it, a glowing red crown atop its head. It seemed the Shadow Faced Guy had come to play as well. Chapter 148 - War Pigs I stared at the hanging figure for several subjective seconds, forgetting the world around me, as foolish as that might seem, given that I was amidst thousands of enemies. I was trying to make out their features, see if it was anybody I recognized. The distance between us made it difficult for me to make out more than the crown and encroaching black, but the mist was a dead giveaway; either that was the Shadow Faced Guy and he had a new hat, or he was sending another weird proxy through. My own pulsing red energy continued to snap around me, smashing any enemy that edged too close back and into the ground with enough force to rip them open and break stone. As I continued to wait, confident that my crimson lightning and Instinctive Precognition would keep me safe - for the moment - I watched as red lines, deeper in colour than my own began to flicker into existance; at first, they appeared one at a time, linking the figure in the sky to something on the ground for so short a time that even I found it hard to follow. But then the flickering accelerated, one became many and then tens, hundreds and finally thousands of thin tendrils came into existence and then faded as, with a strange kind of spiritual pop, the army around me suddenly burst into motion. Distracted by the abrupt change around me, I turned my attention away from the hole and its occupant to glance about myself, seeing the figures in grey moving at almost the same rate as the members of the sects I had seen making their way towards me had been; it was not fast by my standards, but it was considerably faster than they had been. The surrounding crowd did however begin to move in concert, their motions measured and calculated so that they made their way closer and closer to me, using their fellows as cover against my energy, though they did it at such a crawl that I would have had to wait for relative hours before they managed to reach me. Still, the sudden change was disturbing and I had to guess that it had something to do with the red filaments, and the man in the sky. Looking up again, I was in time to catch the figure step out from the hole and for it to snap closed; the figure was moving at least as fast as I did, though he did not have the fast-forward effect that my time dilation leant me as he fell. That means he was a Pinnacle, though perhaps only a mid-Pinnacle. The figure vanished from view, falling behind the obscuring bulk of the Stone and a moment later the same pale green light of the wards flared, brighter than ever, perhaps even brighter than when they had been under the combined assault of the Sect elders. There was not much I could do, as long as the wards held; they should have either destroyed or repelled the crowned figure, but they seemed to be staying put; I had no such confidence that I would be able to do the same, or even that I would be able to do anything if I could. Frustrated, I turned my attention back to the army and began to take it out on them once more, smashing them aside and avoiding their newly combined efforts to fight me; they seemed able to see my movements now, but their bodies were simply incapable of keeping up, even if they were much faster than they had been. As I waded through them, I saw the giant form of Reff appear a short distance away, his molten form forcing back the onrushing mass of mottle-clothed humanity as dark smoke billowed lazily into the air, the heat of his unrestrained presence igniting those closest to him instantly. I saw a flash of familiar light nearby, and I saw a fast-moving dwarf slam to a halt in front of a Blood Guard and smash the woman in red and white off her feet, though she seemed otherwise unharmed. The dwarf moved about the Guard slightly faster than a Foundation stage, at my guess, and while he did not seem to be causing a great deal of direct harm, knocking people off their feet disrupted their lines and if he kept it up, they would eventually be overwhelmed. Shifting my focus, I dashed off to give Gan another taste of my new and improved lightning. Knowing the man was mostly intangible when moving, I waited for him to come to a stop and crashed into his side, my freshly healed fist smashing into his smug face, even as crimson blossomed around the blow; I watched in morbid curiosity as the destructive power stripped flesh from muscle and cracked bone, the combined force of the punch and the energy flipping him end-over-end, his head hitting the stone of the square just as light began to blossom. Though the stone shattered, the dwarf¡¯s motion ceased and seemingly without effort the man began to flip to his feet. Not interested in a prolonged fight, I used my now much faster movement to lift my leg and bring it down in an axe kick that should have smashed the little man back into the ground with one less intact spine, but instead my leg passed through him to crater the ground and I found myself dodging an incoming fist, smug smile turned furious on the fop¡¯s face. The counter did not hit; the first time we had fought, my best was about in-line with his, but I had made some incredible strides since then, and I avoided the blow with relative ease. Gan¡¯s movements between blows were still blindingly fast, even for me, which was impressive, but he seemed to have to slow down to actually hit, and that meant he was outclassed. Stepping around the blow as he landed, and before he could flash again, I twisted my whole body into a wild haymaker that would have been laughingly easy to dodge if I was not moving much, much faster than sound. As it was, my fist impacted him with every bit of force I could muster, at least without using my echo ability; it sent the dwarf catapulting into the arms of the crowd, knocking them off their feet as he was driven through their ranks. He did not get up again, at least in the short time I was watching.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. That did not prove as long as I would have liked; I would have preferred it if I could have confirmed he was out for the count, but instead I was distracted by the re-emergence of one of the sect elders, their tiny form locked in a grapple with a man in red and white and whose body seemed to be banded with lengths of bright violet metal, polished to a mirror finish. The two of them seemed to be evenly matched as they took turns forcing each other to smash back and forth, their movements leaving deep gouges in the ground, and causing it to tremble, almost in time with the flashing from the Stone¡¯s wards. Not wanting to get involved in that particular fight ¨C knowing that while I was pretty fast, I was not yet that fast and even a casual blow from one of them would likely kill me ¨C I turned to find my friends, but was only able to see Reff as he slowly stomped and kicked his way through the crowd. I hope they were all ok; it was difficult for me to really judge how fast the army was moving after their boost, but I knew that Toria was still very likely injured, and that speed had always been something of an issue for Riffa, though her vastly improved control and coordination with her clones had minimised that weakness substantially since the first bout she and I had shared. I was moving towards the even-more-giant form of my friend when an explosion expanded in slow motion to one side, sending the combatants there staggering. It seemed to be caused by rapidly expanding steam rather than a chemical reaction or anything like that, and judging by the volume it appeared to be what was left of an iceberg. Turning, I took the better part of valour and ran away; one nearby Pinnacle level struggle was one thing, but it would be all too easy to get sandwiched between two of them, and I had no intention of getting crushed like a bug. I was about half-way to my friend when there was one final flash of light, and the green wards that had been visible since the arrival of the red crowned figure ¨C possibly the Shadow Faced Guy ¨C simply ceased. The disappearance of the wards ¨C which had seemingly withstood the assault of multiple Pinnacle stage cultivators ¨C shocked me enough that I came to an abrupt stop, staring at the blank stone of the fortress. As I stood stock-still, a ripple traveling fast even by my standards passed to one side of me, cutting dozens of our enemies in half and progressing until they hit the structure before dissipating. Turning to the source, I saw Tain running in the bloody wake of his attack, quickly passing by me and leaping to the roof. I was about to follow ¨C despite a warning from my Instinctive Precognition ¨C but was distracted by the sight of a swarm of daggers bearing down on my position. Frustrated at the continual distractions ¨C it turns out giant battles are pretty confusing places to be ¨C but remembering the last time I had seen such a thing, I gritted my teeth and decided to leave the roof to Tain. Running towards the daggers, I stepped around them, dodging from side to side while looking for their controller, the Risen Throne member from the hidden base I had fought days earlier. I spotted the man, who was pointing in my direction and bee-lined towards him, eager to demonstrate my newly elevated competence. I made it within a few feet of him when Instinctive Precognition tapped a warning on my mental shoulder and I found myself kicking out, spinning in mid-air to the side before dashing closer again. I could not see anything that had caused me to dodge, but I had to guess that it was the same invisible barriers that had caused me so many issues the last time I had met Dagger-Man. I had no idea where their creator was, but the last time we had met she had been marginally faster than me, at least in laying the frictionless walls down, but I was considerably faster and it seemed I was much better equipped to avoid them. I closed with the man whose name I could not remember quickly; I was moving twice as fast as he was, so the surprise on his face at my avoidance of the transparent wall and my approach was almost comical in its build-up, culminating in a long step and a straight right into his nose, flattening the thing instantly and sending another enemy flying backwards into the crowd. I pursued this one, as there were no immediate distractions to prevent it, though I did have to dodge several more sudden barriers, including ones that coated the ground and would have absolutely proven to be a potentially insurmountable problem for me, if not for my advanced warning. Unfortunately, as I reached him, still lying on the ground and seemingly unconscious, I found myself unable to finish him. Instinctive Precognition warned of the wall as I approach, and I attempted to come at him from another direction, but as I circled his supine form, I discovered that he was surrounded on all sides by the barriers, and though my red lightning clawed at it, even the destructive energy was unable to find purchase. Growling in frustration, I looked around for the source of the walls, but despite knowing that she would almost certainly require line of sight, I was unable to locate her in the tumultuous melee. Still moving constantly, so as not to be caught in a frictionless cube of my own, I reluctantly backed away, taking the opportunity to take a few dozen low level fighters out of the battle, before turning and continuing my journey towards Reff. Chapter 149 - Into The Void Locating Reff¡¯s giant figure amongst the multitude would have been easy even at his normal size; as a true giant my friend stood out like a lonely mountain ¨C or volcano. Assuming he would be around my other friends, I ran towards him, dodging between fighters where I could, and moving through them when necessary. The fighters in bloody grey, whom I had assumed to be Risen Throne at first, seemed woefully inept for cultivators, displaying none of the unique traits or abilities I had seen from others; instead, they seemed to focus on overwhelming people with numbers. Each of them seemed about on a level with a Core cultivator, after some more observation, though that was after the increase that had been provided by whoever had arrived through the portal. I wonder briefly if the Risen Throne were simply desperate, or over-committed in some way, and had simply scraped the together a force of the least motivated cultivators they could fine. Each of them wore a mask with a single slit through which to see, and they were attached securely enough that despite hitting several of them hard enough to instantly snap necks, they had not come loose. I found this curious, as this seemed like a pretty overt action for a group that was apparently really focused on staying anonymous. As I moved almost lazily through the crowd, one of my seconds equalling more than a thousand normal ones, I checked my Praxis reserves, experiencing a raw surge of vindication when I discovered that, despite my prolonged use ¨C as well as my more costly red lightning ¨C I was still only down about 20 percent. Grinning, I stepped into a gap that proved to be a clearing, like a crack in the melee that ran from me to Reff; around his feet ¨C along with many bodes ¨C I saw my friends. Darina wore her now ubiquitous bone plates and was currently driving her head into the face of a cultist in red and black, while a dozen sand puppets appeared to be in the process of expanding the gap around the glowing, molten form, each of the conglomerate sculptures holding one of the masked fighters in each hand and using them as clubs to knock yet more aside. Toria seemed much better, the signs of her injuries on her skin barely visible; Darina must have been putting in some major work, along with more healing pills while I concentrated on my channels, and it showed in the way the religious disciple fought. There was some hesitancy, though that could have been my imagination; these things can be difficult to gauge when you¡¯re moving so much quicker than the people you¡¯re observing. But despite any hesitancy ¨C real or imagined ¨C she was still more than a match for the blood cannon fodder arrayed around them. Stepping out into the gap, I was on the brink of stepping off my Path in order to say hi, when I found myself taking a quick step backwards, Instinctive Precognition yanking me out of danger with a mental yelp. Before my eyes, missing me by inches, a stone fragment moved about fast enough that even would I would probably been hit without warning. I felt the tearing air as it passed by, and I turned my head to follow its path as it hit the massed ranks of the gathered assault like a cannonball, sending pieces of people scattering, though there was surprisingly little blood. Turning in the other direction to check where it had come from, I saw dust crawling its way out of the Stone¡¯s entrance on the other side of the triplicate gates. As I watched the cloud expand with agonising slowness, I felt myself draw a deep breath, realisation hitting me all at once; the Stone had been breached, and that meant two things. It meant that the stupid blood pool was at risk, but more than that it meant all the sleepers were at risk of getting murdered in their sleep. With a grunt of frustration, I turned away from my friends and set my sights on the Stone¡¯s entrance, with its massive weight still suspended above it. My friends would be fine; they seemed to be handling the situation without much issue, and the Blood Guard appeared to be more than a match for the cultivators on the other side, though I had seen the occasional member bogged down by numbers. Heading inside, with only a momentary twinge of guilt at leaving the fight, I passed through the almost stationary cloud at a dead run, knowing that if I was going to smash into a wall, either I would have warning or the wall would give way. Inside I came to a stop ¨C as expected - Instinct warned that I was about to swat myself against stone. Waving my hands around fruitlessly, to clear the air as it eddied oddly, passing inside the barrier of my tightly wrapped aura and then leaving it, making strange gaps in the dust. Groping blindly, I tried to find the gap in the wall I knew the rock had to have emerged from, but after several subjective seconds of searching, I found nothing. Confused, I stood for almost a minute of my time, trying my best to see but not wanting to go too far in case I got lost. After another minute, I felt shivers in the ground, like slow ripples in the stone as they passed under and around me, originating in the same direction as the stone. It was only when I caught a brief flicker of light that I reached up and found the gap in the stone wall. Mentally slapping myself, I climbed into it and began to work my way slowly ¨C for me ¨C towards the source, even as slow shivers continued slip past me within in the stone. * Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.*** * Going proved tough at times as I made my way in the wake of the rock; I found myself having to drop into rooms and climb out again, crawl over jagged edges and move collapsed rubble; none of this was hard though, just irritating. Both my body and my robes were too tough, even at the Path stage for such simple things to bother me. It was also the case that even though it felt like it was taking a long time, that was an illusion, brought on by my time dilation. Normally, I had something to mark my progress around me, but in the cramped confines, time seemed to drag. Eventually I found what seemed to be the rock''s origin, a wide space filled with the broken pieces of the Stone¡¯s roof, with the sun¡¯s light - or what made it through the clouds ¨C shining through the opening. I had been climbing the entire time, but I had not known I had climbed that far; despite knowing that the Stone had likely been breached, I expected them to have made it further into the structure than the top floor, but whatever the fortress was made out of was apparently too tough casually. I say casually because it was immediately clear that the man in the red crown had been unable to concentrate on penetrating deeper, as they were locked in battle with Badan Tain, the two of them surging back and forth in front of me, among the rubble and occasionally kicking a piece hard enough that it had in fact made it through, and still had the energy to end a good number of people. I watched the two fight; at my new normal, the peak of the Pinnacle stage was about five times faster than I was, which was certainly better than I had any right to. Each of the combatants were moving faster than I was, though it did not feel like five times to me; Tain appeared to be moving at about three times my speed, and Crimson Crown at about double. Normally this should have meant that Tain was both half-again as strong, fast and tough as his opponent, and the fight should have been ended quickly, in the absence of any games. However, that did not appear to be the case, in the instance; each time Taim seemed on the cusp of a decisive victory, he would either miss or stumble, or something would happen to him that caused his attack to fail. Similarly, the same thing happened on defence. Despite the apparent disparity, it seemed like Crimson Crown was winning, if slowly. Now that I was closer to Crimson Crown, I could see that it probably was not the Shadow Faced Guy, as he neither possessed the grey suit, the shadows visage, or the same stature. CeeCee was a little over five feet, and was greatly overshadowed by Tain, which made the spectacle even more jarring. As the fight progressed, fast enough to take place in-between moments, I noticed a certain rictus to the CeeCee¡¯s face, a lack of dynamic expression. As he fought, his pale face remained oddly still, and he had the same sudden motions as the thing I had fought in the Sha Forest. Thinking back to that excursion, I recalled the man Flame Ever Dancing had fought; had had also worn a crown, though his has been made seemingly of iron, rather than bloody light. There had been many fights I had witnessed that I had been unable to directly contributed to, though I had usually succeeded in adding something, whether it was a last-minute steal or... an annoying dance. A day before, I would have been entirely unable to even begin to think about assisting in the fight in front of me, but that day was not the one before, and I was not as I had been. Flexing my will, I switched gears, forcing Praxis through my system as hard as I could and watched as the two Pinnacle level fighters slowed, as if somebody had messed with life¡¯s framerate. No longer was CeeCee¡¯s body moving twice as fast as mine, now he was at my level and that meant I could help. With a manic grin at the exhilaration of being able to take part in a battle at such a high level, I crashed towards the two of them, trailed by my own red streaks as stone broke apart around me, chipped and shattered by pure destructive force. As I joined the fray, torquing my body around my hips taking a single half-step to redirect my momentum, I felt a curious impulse blossom inside of me, like a stray whim that tried to direct my blow elsewhere, but with a minor effort of will I ignored it and my fist hammered home in the side of CeeCee¡¯s skull. The man blasted away from me, lifted off his feet by the force of the blow as a crimson flicker filled the room, and I was left standing surprised and frozen as Tain turned towards me, one eyebrow raised in question. I offered him a shrug; I had no idea what had happened. Even as fast as I was, the man should not have been sent so far, as he should have been reinforcing his footing. Not to mention the relative ease with which he had been fighting toe-to-toe with somebody far stronger than I was. Instinctive Precognition whispered a warning, I stepped back just in time to avoid a thrown rock which whizzed past my head like a bullet, and I turned to see CeeCee coming back at us. Confident, I went to meet him, the Blood Marshall at my side. As we closed once more, I again felt the strange impulses I had noted before, though they were stronger and much harder to ignore. Tain continued to miss and stumble while I landed blow after blow, though this time CeeCee did not go flying. I wondered if the man in the crown perhaps possessed the same abilities as Cad, the ability to alter fate, but it did not feel like that. It was not Instinctive Precognition pulling me from unseen and emerging danger, but something deeper. I could feel frustration growing in our opponent; there was no change in his expression but the tempo of the fight rose as I continued to batter his body, and he began to move in such a way that Tain and I would have to dodge each other, to move around each other. We managed it, and though it slowed the pace of our growing victory, it did not stop it. After several subjective minutes of fighting ¨C I was fast but he was still many times tougher than I was strong ¨C I thought we were finally at the point of victory, or wearing him down. But then the crown flashed like a red sun. The light filled the room, blinding me momentarily, and in that moment as I glanced away, I felt an answering pulse from below us, like a call to war and I felt the familiar impulses of the bloody aura once more begin to scratch at my mind. As my vision cleared, I saw CeeCee smash his fist into the floor, obliterating it and causing us all to fall, red light like a river of blood streaming down to breach the Stone all the way to bedrock. Chapter 150 - Hand of Doom I was not sure how much rubble lay on top of me, but I was having some serious trouble trying to move it; I could see light through gaps in the stone, a pulsing red that irritated me on some deep, fundamental level. I felt something shift close by, and then heard the grind of shifting rocks and felt rhythmic impacts as heavy objects fell. ¡°You Void sucking bastard; do you know how much that¡¯s going to cost for me to fix?¡± The only answer was dry laughter that was closer to a dusty choking than anything I would normally associate with mirth, but there was no doubt about what it was. ¡°Think it¡¯s funny? This place runs on a tight budget, for a city. I¡¯m going to split you from end-to-end and use your blood as mortar.¡± Tain¡¯s voice was deadly serious, despite the relative levity of his words. I could not see him, but I had no problem believing that he would really build CeeCee into the walls of the place when everything was said and done. But the laughter went on, and underneath it I felt the blood rage stir, pushing me towards stupidity, and something deeper, something I had not felt from it before, like a call to... surrender. ¡°Hey, I know it¡¯s tempting, but you don¡¯t want any part of that; it''ll take your mind and then we¡¯ll take you. Now, I realise I¡¯m already going to kill you, so the threat may not mean much, but with a mind has to be better than without, right?¡± As the Marshall spoke, I twisted my body, trying to work myself free but though I felt a little give, that was everything. I had lost my Focus when falling, even Instinctive Precognition unable to figure out a way for me to escape the fall, and I had blacked out for a moment as my head hit the ground, and the rubble hit me. Tough I may have been, but tons of stone is tons of stone. Needing more time, I re-Focused and tapped my Path, the continuing exhortations to stop grinding into an attenuated mess. Being fast did not make me any stronger, and the additional time from my Path did not increase the force I could bring to bear, but it did mean I could potentially move into spaces that would have closed previously. And, of course my lightning did add to my momentum. Additionally, I could feel the lashing destruction begin to smash away at the stone, which was a benefit I had not considered. I began to twist harder, thrashing back and forth in an effort to break free and was actually making some headway when the stones on top of me were swept away as a body smashed them aside, freeing me. Leaping to my feet, I glanced to the side where Tain was climbing out of the pile he had been knocked into, wiping dust from his coat with a look of pure irritation. Seeing me looking his way, the Marshall rolled his eyes and pointed in the opposite direction. Turning, I saw CeeCee stood over a glowing red pool, a thin line of it arcing up and into him pulsing like a heartbeat. I could see strangely familiar rainbow light dancing along its length, and just above the pool¡¯s surface. The rainbow light was oddly compelling, fascinating even, and I felt an impulse to reach out and touch it. Without conscious thought, I found myself moving towards it, but after a step or two, something screamed inside of me to throw myself backwards; it was not Instinctive Precognition and it was not automatic, and with an effort of will I ignored it, taking another step. CeeCee was frowning at me, the choking laughter falling silent. I took another step, and one pale arm rose to point at me, followed by a hiss and another impulse, this time to kneel. This time, I did stop, though only for a moment; I had been pushed by Apex level beings, had their wills imposed upon my reality and I knew how to resist, when it was possible, and so I focused and stepped through it, one more step and then two. I heard distorted sound behind me, the Marshall speaking again, but I could not understand the words; even if he had spoken faster, sound only travels so fast and my time aura made no allowances for ease of communication. I considered dropping it, but quickly dismissed the idea; even with Instinctive Precognition, I probably was not anywhere near fast enough to avoid a Pinnacle without it active. Ignoring Tain, since I could not make out a word of what he was saying, I took another step towards the blood and crouched; a flicker of motion to the side making me look up; I saw him once more flinging himself backwards and away, a furious look on his face. Dismissing that particular mystery, still feeling drawn towards that rainbow light, I reached out, even as I was hit with impulse after impulse that demanded I back off, throw myself down, even kill myself. They were growing stronger by the moment, but I could still ignore them, so I did so until my hand hovered just above the red liquid, fingers trailing in the spectral light. I had no interest in the blood itself, it was that familiar light that drove me, and as I touched it, I gasped as I felt it begin to flow into me, making it so much easier to ignore the mental assault. The light did not seem to care about time, rushing to fill me like water into a desert, my body sucking it in and feasting like a beast long starved.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. All at once I became aware of my abilities in a way that I had not been before; I could feel my Precognition, my Luck and my Lesser Regeneration where they tied into my soul, spinning through my body in complex arcs of rainbow light, and colours I had no name for or any way to describe. They were like three-dimensional mandalas, but even more complex, moving and touching parts of reality I had never seen before, parts of me I had not known were there. I thought about touching the threads of spun light, but they looked so delicate that I dared not, for fear of shattering them to glittering dust. Moment by moment, I felt my resistance to the demands grow, felt my Agency grow, I realised. Which meant that CeeCee was an Apex ¨C or the equivalent. I knew the impossibility of what I was thinking; I should stand no chance against an Apex, even if I was a Pinnacle myself, their Authority extended for miles, and while I could resist effects outside of their bailiwicks, within their chosen Domains, I was as helpless as a baby. But I was not helpless. Confusion warred inside of me as I tried to resolve my contradictory reality, flickers of the Blood Marshal being forced back again and again at the corner of my vision, as well as sweeping arcs of cutting force that always passed to either side of us. I shook myself mentally; regardless of the reason, this energy was obviously bolstering the both of us, with CeeCee¡¯s control growing stronger, even as my resistance grew, though I was staying ahead of him, barely. I do not know how long the two of us faced each other, time still crawling as the rainbow light within the pool grew dimmer and dimmer, but eventually I felt a tug, and blinking hard I looked down at where my hand hovered, and saw that there was now a line running between myself and the crowned interloper, a direct connection that signified to me that the well had run dry. Another tug came and I felt the spun light inside of me stir and shift, pulling on my soul like a tether. Frowning, I wrapped my will about the connection and began to pull myself, a snarl becoming visible on my opponent''s face. Sweat beaded on my brow as I fought to hold onto the energy I had syphoned, the pressure attempting to draw it out of me increasing moment by moment, as if others were joining in and taking part. I could feel my will slipping and I knew that this was a fight I simply could not win, but could not afford to lose. If CeeCee succeeded in stealing the gossamer, prismatic energy then I would be doomed, my mental resistance swept aside like cobwebs before a great storm... or in this case, a helpless Path stage before a somehow-sort-of-Apex-but-not-really. I had to find a way to sever the connection before my will slipped, had do something or I would end up flinging myself into the stone like the Marshall, or worse. Taking a deep breath, I stood and began to walk backwards, the demands hammering at my mind fading with distance, though I noticed a rictus like grin spread across CeeCee¡¯s face as I did and my worry grew, rather than fading. I took a step, and another, the line connecting us attenuating as I tried to snap it with my will, flexing and thrashing mentally every bit as hard as I had with my body earlier. My throat was dry again and my head was pounding as I fought to sever the connection; I considered dropping my Focus and Path again, but as fast as the tugs seemed with them active, I thought I would stand no chance without, simply losing by default. I quickly changed my mind. Finally, after what seemed like hours of struggle, I felt the connection grow brittle and snap, right as I bumped into somebody behind me. Turning in surprise, I saw the Blood Marshall, covered in thick dust and scrapes, a wide smile on his face that somehow spoke of anger. I offered him a thumbs up, to let him know I was not insane ¨C though that may not have helped ¨C and was about to turn back to face CeeCee when Instinctive Precognition howled, wrenching me to the side and forcing the flow of Praxis though my Focus and Path to its maximum as half-turned and kicked off the ground using my echo kick; I felt the strange lack of sensation even as I tried to make sense of whatever the danger was, but I was thrown skywards through the hole above us at a rate that left even my accelerated senses reeling. High into the air I shot, high enough to see the curvature of the planet below me, high enough that the sky began to turn dark fade to black, and the air grew too thin to breathe. As I flailed, suspended in the open air, high above the ground for the second time in two days, I tried to figure out what had caused my rapid departure; CeeCee had certainly grown stronger, but so had I, I thought. I had been able to resist his mental compulsions, and at my best I was his equal in speed, if not might. Either he had grown sufficiently powerful by drinking the rainbow Kool-Aid to force me to just nope out of there, with no hope of a victory at all, or something else had changed. As I was at that point quite far from the battle, I dropped my Focus and allowed my Praxis to slow as it passed into and through my Exemplar, letting it sit at my new normal to speed my descent. I felt panic rise up within me at the falling, but I knew I would either survive, or not and so I turned my mind back to the room with the pool. I had just broken the connection, could the pool have exploded? Perhaps the rainbow light had a qualitative impact on CeeCee¡¯s cultivation? It was all guess work. Whatever happened, I hoped Tain was okay; he had been mostly holding his own before, or at least holding the strange crowned man back, but if the other¡¯s power had shot up, there was no telling what state he would be when I arrived back on-site. If there was still a site. Peering down, I tried to see, but I was still too high; I could make out the dot of the Stone by then, but could make out no other details, or at least any that would give me a clue. With a sigh, I settled in to wait, trying not to think about distances. It was after this fall that I bothered to work out the effects of terminal velocity on a cultivator... Chapter 151 - Lord of this World By the time I was close enough to the ground to make out individuals, I was already close enough to see that the tide of the battle had turned in the relatively short period of real-time I had been falling, which could only mean there had been a shift in the balance between Pinnacles. Gouts of blood hung in the air, people falling into pieces around them in slow motion, even as the force that caused it moved on. I could see the sect elders fighting with the unknown Pinnacles of the Blood Guard, though it was definitely seeming like less of an even match due to the two new additions on the battlefield; CeeCee was rushing about the square outside of the Stone and seemed to be collecting a sort of wave of around him as he did, of people turning to follow him, though most were completely incapable of keeping up with him. Every now and again, he would stop and kill somebody, before moving on, as the numbers trying to follow increased. The other addition was Tain, the Blood Marshall and the only other member of my new species I had met. It was *also* Tain that was responsible for all the hanging blood and bits and pieces of people, his extending cuts ripping out in multiple directions to kill whoever was in the way, including the Blood Guard. By the time I hit the ground, my dread of the impact had long since been replaced by anger, and I barely gave it any thought when I slammed into the Stone, though I would later be glad that I had not fallen on any uneven or loose rubble; I did not need another broken ankle. Re-Focusing hard, I upped my power output to maximum and set out; I knew I needed to stop Tain ¨C as he was the one doing the majority of the murder ¨C but I did not think I actually could stop him. He was faster than I was, and significantly more... everything else, too. Which meant I had to take out CeeCee. It was clear to me who CeeCee was, though I was not sure how that was possible; it had occurred to me during my trip down from orbit that the man in the red crown was clearly the Apex of the Multiplicitous Self, though I did not know how. Either I was way more of a badass than I had thought, or he had somehow lost a ton of power. He was neither a Peak Pinnacle, nor possessed of a full Domain, and since I was not that much of a badass, it was probably something to do with being imprisoned for ten-thousand years. Or, a voice said from the dark corners of my mind, it was something the Shadow Faced Guy had done. I did not want to think about the Shadow Faced Guy having the ability to suck power out of Apexes, he was already creepy and mysterious enough, with his ability to casually move between worlds and his black murder-fog. And arm-ripping chains. And creepy laugh. The fact he was insane did not help. Okay, the Shadow Faced Guy had a lot going for him in the menace department. I shot off the stone at speed, sailing out over the crowd and towards Aman Almondhead, knowing I was misremembering his name but not caring very much. I had misjudged my leap slightly, still unused to what I was capable of, and ended up overshooting my target, landing on an unfortunate fighter in bloody grey and bouncing off him as he hung in the air, flying backwards from the force of my re-directing kick. Eventually. Aman saw me coming, a thousand eyes flicking to me in a single, molasses moment even as I approached faster than most of those gathered there should have been able to see. I felt the tug and push of the man¡¯s will contend against my own, but for whatever reason, whether it be Ascended meddling or something I had not thought of, I was my own man, buffered from command by Agency. I ignored the urges, and I could see irritation creep onto the former-Apex''s mostly motionless face as he came to meet me. I was still every bit as fast as he was, and it was actually strange fighting somebody at the same speed as me. Ever since I had arrived, I had trained to make use of my speed, to dodge and deflect, but most of my fights had either been against people much slower, or much faster than I was and so it had not ended up coming up as often it might have for somebody else. Which is not to say it was entirely even, as my red lightning did not seem to enjoy the same protection I did against my opponent¡¯s will, or perhaps whatever tatters of his domain remained; the lashing crimson arcs were still fracturing the stone of the ground, but they steadfastly refused to move in my opponent¡¯s direction. Frustrated, I flexed my own will, leashing the coruscating lines inside of me to save energy; the red lightning did not provide a speed boost when held in check like the normal stuff did, but it was one less drain on my resources in a fight that seemed like it was probably going to end up using every bit of the energy I was saving due to my internal modifications. The two of us danced back and forth across the battlefield, across the broken flagstones and cobbles, and sometimes even across the shoulders of the much slower army around us; Aman seemed to show no concern for the damage he was doing by pushing off the lower-level cultivators, and I certainly had no compunction in doing what I could against the grey clad fighters and members of the sects. Less than a second had passed in real time since I had joined the battle, that period stretched and elongated by my warped perceptions, but for so little time, a good half of the enemy force seemed to have been eliminated, the faster members of both teams moving amidst the greater mass with near impunity. I had cause to recall the fight between the other crown-wearer in the Sha Forest, and his fight against Flame Ever Dancing; I had been unable to follow that conflict at all, but it had seemed to take seconds. With my new perspective, I imagined that fight had to have taken hours of relative time, with thousands of blows traded. I shook my head as I dipped under a snapping jab and rose into a short uppercut, twisting my body around the line of the blow; I had really been in over my head. I still was. But I was close to the surface, at least. Instinctive Precognition flared to life in the back of my mind as Aman half-stepped out of range of my uppercut, and I diverted the momentum into a flip, throwing myself to my left as a woman wrapped in thorn-covered vines dived through the space I had been in. As I shifted my balance, I felt another warning and moved my right foot back and bent backwards, my weight landing on that foot as a hammer with a head bigger than my body passed inches above me. Neither the thorn-woman nor the hammer were moving fast enough to catch me normally, but while I was engaged with an opponent on equal footing it might prove to be a different matter... and those Foundation stage cultivators were still enough to smash me flat, if they caught me.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Yet another warning rang, and another and another, coming in quick succession as I stepped, twisted and flipped my way through the danger, barely staying ahead of Aman as I fought to avoid the barrage of third parties; the faster moving fighters I had seen at the start had finally caught up, it seemed, though I thought it odd that they were concentrating on me, at least until I recalled who I was fighting. I wondered if the rainbow light Aman had sucked out of the blood puddle was really enough to go from nudging people off course to controlling a Pinnacle cultivator, a huge crowd and a bunch of Foundations? And all I got was the ability to resist, which while useful at the moment, would likely not increase my overall capacity. Tain had said those that drank from the pool gained power, grew stronger in some way ill-defined by the cultivation system, but I was not noticing any marked increase in my effectiveness. On the backfoot, all of my attention was focused on defence as attack after attack missed by the narrowest of margins, coming in from every direction as if coordinated; if I was a hair slower or lacked my particular... cheaty abilities, I could have died a dozen times in already in that fight alone. Thinking of my abilities made me recall some of the speculation around my Agency, that the abilities granted by Xiournal may be the source of the stuff; if that was true, and mine had grown, perhaps I could do something with that. Maybe I could increase the power of my precognition, my healing, or even my luck? As I dodged desperately, I tried to focus on upgrading my abilities one by one, as I would with the bonus points granted by my draconic boss, but nothing happened. Frustrated, I growled, mentally demanding something from the universe, thinking it simply unfair that my opponent would grow so much while I gained so little. But then, unexpectedly, the universe answered. Or rather, Xiournal did. Between acrobatics, the familiar smoky grey tablet appeared in my vision, violet text bright against its dull surface. Energy Thief When you land an attack, steal a portion of your opponent¡¯s total energy pool. Warning: Exceeding the energy thresholds of your energy system may cause fatal damage. I felt something twist and take shape inside of me, followed by a strange sort of existential heat, like I was becoming somehow more real, more present. Dismissing the notification with a thought, I sent a silent thanks to Xiournal; I did not remember this particular ability from the list, but it had been a long list. And even if I had seen it, it was not something I would have chosen myself, as it simply did not fit the image I had of myself. Though the benefits ¨C and problems ¨C were clear. It took several subjective seconds for me to find a chance to use my new ability, and it ended up being against the thorn-woman who had first attacked. As I dropped to the ground, ready to throw myself to the side as she sailed overhead of me, I kicked back, hitting her in the stomach and sending her skyward, creating a break in the pattern of attacks. That was not the only effect, however; as my foot made contact, I felt something bright and dense pass from her and into me, sending a joy surging through my system so intense that I almost failed to react in time to an attack. It was as it passed through my energy centres that I got my biggest shock, however. The half-dozen or so attackers I had been avoiding froze. They were all clearly Foundation stage, but as the dense Veritas passed my Core and Exemplar, I was catapulted to at least fifteen-times their speed, reducing even Aman to about a quarter of his previous speed. Not knowing how long that frozen moment would last - or whether my energy system was about to explode ¨C I quickly and efficiently smashed my fists into the faces of the Foundation cultivators, hitting like the hammer of god and flinging them away from me, broken. Each blow infused a jolt of Veritas into my system, and by the time I had finished the sixth, I was almost shaking with the sensations wracking my body. If that was what it felt like to strike a Foundation level cultivator, what was it going to be like to hit a Pinnacle, I wondered. Eager to find out, through trepidation gibbered away in the back of my mind, I moved towards the man crowned in blood, and so much faster than he could react hammerd a fist fowards into his head. Two things happened. The first, is that Aman came face-to-face with the ground, generating the start of what would be a crater in about half a relative hour. The second thing that happened is that sensation blasted me, like some kind of sensory attack, the world turning white like when I had burnt my channels, but this time with ecstasy rather than agony. I felt my channels flex with the force of the Sapience raging through me and I felt sure I was going to break when it passed through my Core and Exemplar, pain like my world cracking tearing through me, enough to contest the liquid joy. And it did not end. The energy entered me like an unending flood, time literally stood still around me in a truly endless moment, the Pinnacles still fighting around the battlefield moving as if through thick honey. Finally, after what felt like days, the influx of energy ceased and I saw a ragged tear rip its way into existence a short distance away, black fog crawling out of it towards the still rebounding Aman. But they stood no chance, as fast as I was, relative to everyone else, I could have danced circles around anybody on the planet, at least anybody I had come across. At my roughest estimate, every second in the world was more than ten hours from my perspective, and in that state, I did not think the Shadow Faced Guy was any match for me; one echo punch would probably reduce him to atoms. The euphoria and pain were making me reckless I knew, but I also knew that I might never get this chance again, to be as powerful as I was in that one, unending moment. Gritting my teeth, I considered hitting Aman again, since I knew that while my blow had knocked him to the ground, it had likely done little damage, given the disparity in strength of toughness. I would need to accumulate the damage over time if I wanted to finish him, but I had no idea if my energy system could take the punishment. The ability I had gained was a real mixed bag, it seemed. Leaving Aman there was a tough decision, but I knew it was better to cut the head from the snake, if I could, than to take out its tail. If the former Apex had been at full strength, I would have done everything in my power to beat him, but I had every confidence that the other Apexes would be able to take him out with little issue, and I hoped that the ocean of power I had sucked out of him would disrupt his control enough for Tain to break free, though the opening of the gate did suggest that he was about to make an exit. Feeling a little guilt, I ran for the gate and was about to pass through it when I found myself somewhere else, at a complete stop. The floor was transparent glass, and I could see a planet below us. The walls were the same, and I could see stars and distant worlds around me. Off to one side, a golden half-globe sat, and atop it, a familiar white, blue and pink dragon. ¡°What did I say about other worlds, Alex? Maybe it¡¯s time we had a talk.¡± Chapter 152 - Interlude 4 - March of the Tyrant The dark was hungry. William had no idea how long he had existed in the lightless expanse, dotted colossal barren rocks and desperate, starving demons like himself. The distance between the planet sized chunks of debris was vast, and though the number of demons was near limitless, they were barely a dusting within the Hollow. This was good, because it made it less likely that you would be preyed upon, but it was also bad, because it meant it was harder to prey upon others. Hunger was the law in that place; you ate or you fell, and though nobody had ever returned from such a journey, the idea filled those present with dread ¨C William included. The dread was the only thing he felt, in fact, other than the Hunger. Apathy ¨C or the force they had called Apathy on Purgatory ¨C was the only thing that was dense, in the Hollow. It was everywhere, suffusing all of realty as if it made up space itself. And it soaked into you. The only way to resist the downward pull of the Apathy was to eat, to consume others, and in doing so take their Experience. Buoyancy against the Void. William had no idea how long he had existed like that, the Hunger a constant gnawing impulse, and underpinned by the dread. He had learned a lot though, for when a soul was consumed, you gained by their Experience and their experiences. He had lived a thousand, thousand lives, their inner voices added to his own and echoing their hunger and dread atop his. He knew he was a demon, as they had known from eating others. A legacy stretching back into the infinite recesses of time, though such a concept had little meaning, in the Hollow. He remembered others leaving, clawing their way back to Purgatory by force, to eat those there and save themselves for another day, and being forced back by the weight of the accumulated Apathy. There was little sense to it all, to William¡¯s mind, it lacked logic, held no reason. But reason was not something the Hollow cared about. The Hollow held no care, only purpose. Contain the Void. William had no idea what that meant, it was a fragment of a memory devoured a billion times. Contain the Void, return the Apathy. Dispose of worthless souls. William dragged himself across endless distance, searching for those weaker than him, so that he might take them. The Hunger increased with each being he ate, the Experience preventing the fall, but the Apathy providing an additional weight, like a millstone hung about his neck. Sensing a splash of Experience nearby, William knew somebody had fallen from Purgatory close to him, and though the free Experience was quickly devoured by the Apathy ¨C by the Hunger ¨C it was like blood in the water to demons, and he shifted course immediately, senses extended as he felt for others of his kind. It did not take him long to find the newcomer, the Hunger was already at work within it, driving it to feed, and it had sensed William¡¯s approach, as he had sensed others on his arrival. And it was coming to him, as quick as darkness, but as dangerous as a baby to the now ancient demon. The two collided, the contest decided in an instant as William wrapped himself around the fresh meat and ripped it to pieces with claws formed from his blackened soul, devouring theirs in moments. The Hunger, of course, grew rather than fading, but he knew at least that it would keep him from the Void. For another day. The ability to manifest his soul constructs was a definite advantage, in the Hollow, allowing him to devour demons more efficiently than his brethren. He had not found much use for his Manifold Mind, as attempting its activation mostly caused his new memories to be given full form, reinforcing them and dropping them back in with louder voices when he finally collapsed the ability. Leaving the location of his feed before the others could gather and a frenzy ensued, WIlliam shuddered as new memories flooded his mind, but he was used to that, had been through it uncountable times. What did impact him was the renewed twinging of his connection back to his undead army. The tether, which was thin and tremulous in Purgatory, attenuated through time, was strange, in the Hollow. It seemed both incredibly accelerated and frozen hard in place, a sensation that made him feel as though it was lost, like a blind man groping for the way forward. It niggled at his soul, causing a kind of existential nausea. William would have hated it, if he could still feel hate. But there was only Hunger, and dread. *** ** * The darkness roiled, a demonic battle consisting of billions had been raging for time out of memory, and William watched. It was the first such battle he had seen in person, caused by a particularly dense insertion of new souls into the Hollow; they had been quickly devoured, but the sheer number of them had dragged demons in across the infinite distances, victor feeding on victim, and being fed on in turn. Eventually, there would be a few, or even just one, and William would eat them. More time passed, or seemed to, and William picked off demons at the edges of the conflict; he had wanted to wait, but the Hunger does not care for wants. The numbers were down to the thousands, bloated shapes darker than the lightless black around them now moved at the mass¡¯s centre, vaster than any William had ever seen, though there were vague recollections in the oldest of his stolen memories. He knew, somehow, that once the frenzy was over, those leviathans would fall into the Void, unable to sustain the Experience needed to keep them buoyant against the drag of Apathy, against the Hunger. It was a memory that had not surfaced until he had sensed them, and it had put something of a chink in his plans. Much later, William hid within a bare rock the size of a galaxy, his senses extended beyond its near endless spires as it hung motionless against the black; he had no idea how long it had been, as there was no way to mark the passage of time, beyond the Hunger, and that was unreliable, as its call was ever present and increasing. But it did not matter; he had been subsisting on the other watchers, but they were all gone or eaten by then, and of the leviathans, only one remained, its bulk comparable to planets, but still dwarfed by the William¡¯s hiding place. William was observing its final moments as it shuddered and tried to resist the pull of the Void, but it was futile; it had grown to such a size that its absorption of Apathy was exponentially more than it could counter, especially given that it had eaten every demon present, save one. The utter dark twisted, tugging the galaxy size asteroid towards it, a force of such intensity that Hunger, as great as it was, was but the palest of imitations, weak and tremulous before this all-consuming force. William glimpsed the Void, though he could not describe it, and even a being that had been changed so much by the energies working within him was driven to the edge of madness and beyond, howling soundlessly as his mind shivered and shattered. With all consuming dread skittering around the seed of insanity that was his perceptions, William called upon his Manifold Mind and gave it the madness, an old voice given new life there in the black, and held in check to keep the demon safe from the echoes of the Void. William almost felt relief as the manifest insanity gibbered away, but such things were beyond him. Survival, dread, Hunger. The leviathan, for all its power and accumulated strength, was dragged into the absence, tentacles and pseudopods lashing back and forth, but ultimately, its actions posed no more resistance than anything else, and finally the Void was sealed once more behind and underneath the Hollow. William shuddered in place as the madness spoke to him in garbled, half-said words, urging him to live, to die, to kill. Conscious of the onrushing rock, he did his best to ignore the new presence in his mind flexed his body, and clawed his way out from between its spires and craters, towards the last place he had sensed the leviathan. There, in that place, he could feel the scrabbling link to his former life come close to connecting, and driven by the spectre of his own assured future, the demon bent his will towards it, clawing his way through, body ripping at the fabric of the Hollow and that thin place not yet fully healed. All at once, space gave way and William burst up and back into Purgatory, sensing its denizens all around him and driving him into a frenzy, like a man long deprived of water faced with the sight of a cool drink. He did not hesitate, launching himself up and out towards the greatest source of Experience, and falling upon them like the night come alive, devouring them in less than moments, blood spattering the cold stone as he shredded flesh to get to soul. For hours, William fed, the connection that had called him there seemingly confused again, faded and distant enough to be forgotten in the frantic feeding.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Eventually, the Hollow called him back, the weight of his Apathy like an anchor around his neck, the world around him too thin to support his weight any longer. Plunging black into that endless night, William simply turned and attacked once more, eager to rehash his repast. The Hollow had not been granted its chance to heal, and with furious swipes, William found his escape once more; normally, he knew this would not be possible, but such a large Fall had allowed enough of the Void out to thin reality and make it possible. Back in Purgatory, the demon sensed a familiar shape, a building he had once called home; knowing that this was a place often occupied by those with the power to hold it, William burst through its door without slowing, the flimsy wood and metal nothing before the Hunger. He began to devour those within, feeding and growing the empty pit of his Hunger with every breath. He knew this visit would be shorter, could already feel the pull again, but he was a being driven by Hunger, and so he fed. He fed until, from below him came a snack he could not resist, burning with rainbow light that made his Hunger shudder and shake, driven back like the dark before a flame. William attacked, the connection within his soul shaking and snapping, but he felt a pain as something grey and sparkling silver shot out from his latest morsel, and for the first time in an eternity, the demon felt his Apathy truly lessen. Within the orbit of his senses, William felt the Hollow open and braced himself to fall, but it was not he who fell, but rather his target. And as he did, the connection which had seemed so uncertain snapped home once more and Experience filled him, draining into him as if from a great distance. He felt his body shift and reform, the Apathy contained in its entirety by the Experience flooding him and dragging him back from the breach. Human once more, William fell to his naked knees, retching uncontrollably as the world swam around him and he felt emotions and sensation long absent. But this was not the end of his transformation. As he knelt upon the frigid stone, sweat soaked and shuddering, he felt his long-blackened soul tug in a direction he could not name, and suddenly insubstantial, he was dragged into an endless river of stars. * ** *** William sat up with a gasp, heat both burning and brilliant filling him, surrounding him as liquid joy coursed into and through his body, bleaching his soul a dull, light grey. Looking around, eyes wide and almost panicked, William saw his Golem standing guard, saw the room in the castle he had laid down in so many lifetimes before. He had no idea what was happening, and had no time to process it, as lifetimes of Experience poured into him from the energy rich environment, filling him beyond mortal capacity, filling his undead network, and more as its existence was contested by the Apathy that was so alien to that world, until finally, after what seemed like years, the two forces lay in equilibrium, as he had been when he left, or how he had intended to be, an Emperor. But he was also so much more - a demon on the Aspirant plane, for the first time in all of its long history. * ** *** ¡°Oh, he¡¯s back.¡± Deiry looked at the smiling star nearby and shrugged. ¡°All¡¯s well that ends well, I guess. He should be an Emperor now; I hope he hurries up and completes his damn mission.¡± *** ** * William stood over the unconscious form of the Crown he had been tasked with killing an eternity before, a new prompt appearing in his vision, making demands before his last task was even complete, though its end was all but inevitable. William did not care, he had wanted the Crown for his own purposes, to learn their secrets. Not for some false god. Grey claws formed of his soul and edged with the blacker black of Hunger extended from William¡¯s fingers, anticipation warring with other voices and other emotions inside of him. There were so many, thousands of minds and lifetimes all held in suspension by his Manifold Mind, returned to full working order by his return. They controlled the army, and they spoke to him. And his pet madness. William let out a laugh that echoed oddly in the great vaulted cavern, and plunged his fingers into the Crown¡¯s heart, drinking her soul even as he tied her energy to his; he would not waste her as a mere undead, he would bind another¡¯s soul to her, and reform her flesh. He had no Authority, as he now knew it to be named, and so he could not use the true powers of a Crown, and he could not achieve it naturally, as he was. But he would find a way. * *** * William was enraged; he had murdered every Crown known to exist in the world, overcoming their armies, their Authority infused creations, but he was no closer to empowering his own. Authority, it seemed, was too slippery to catch with the claws he had. He needed to find a source outside of a person, a Tribulation or some other remnant. And then he could use his Crown puppets to drink it for him, their re-worked bodies already able to accept it. It was strange to the living demon, that no Crown had attempted to do what he was doing, in taking other Crowns, and using them in grow in power. He knew there was a world ¨C a plane ¨C beyond that one, the next step, and to reach it required a certain density of pure Experience. But they had all seemed hesitant to take that step. He would interrogate their souls, but the madness of the Void had been whispering in their ears, and they gibbered along with it now. Like so many others. ¡°I need a new source of Authority, yes we do. Any ideas?¡± The voices howled, and memories flooded in, of wars between worlds, and other systems of magic. ¡°It¡¯s time for us to move on, maybe. After us!¡± William laughed, and laughed, and laughed. * *** * William was in a foul mood; for decades he had been trying to leave the world and find another, but that bastard god stood in his way, and for all the power the Hunger granted him, he could not directly defy the pretentious prig. Luckily, Deiry was as lazy and indolent as William could ask, and provided he did not try to leave the world, he was not interfered with ¨C painfully. William had completed dozens of tasks for the god ¨C the Ascended ¨C and other than his attempts to leave, was quite in favour. William spat to one side, his host of undead, millions strong, arrayed before him in their multitudes. He had not been able to prevent his death, nor his soul¡¯s excursion to Purgatory, William thought, the problem echoed by a billion chattering voices. He did not want to die, but perhaps he could move... more directly. He could feel the pull of the Hollow, as distant as it may have been, with no real chance of dragging him in. He thought he could rip a hole into it, and from there, Purgatory once more and finally... elsewhere. It was a desperate plan, but the voices agreed it might be the only way to escape the god¡¯s grasp. It would mean leaving behind his host and starting over, but he had done that before; as an Emperor, and with his Manifold Mind, it would be easy to get back to where he was again... *** ** * William tumbled into the Hollow as the blackness spilled out into his throne room, ripping the Experience from his army and from his network. He just laughed into the endless night, an alien sound in that strange place. As his army died, his Minds collapsed back into his, and they knew they would not have long to make their escape before they were once more wholly demon. Claws extended, Williams began to rip and tear, focusing their Hunger on devouring reality itself, as they had learned in their long years of practice, and slipping free of the Hollow with barely any weight added to their soul. Purgatory was as they remembered it, cold and lifeless and dull, though in comparison to where they had just left it was positively merry and welcoming. William laughed at the thought, his face hidden in a shadow with no source. With a wide grin, William bored another hole in reality, and stepped through. * ** *** William tore soul after soul free from the gathered aristocracy, severing their ties to their undead as insane rage flashed across his face, though none could see it beneath the shadow. He had returned to his own world, though the population had seemingly replenished itself. They had arrived there, in the court before a Crown, and Williams had been forced to abase themselves until they could reform their army and their network. But that was over with, he was recovered and they were paying for their temerity. His light grey, soul-wrought suit shed the blood without effort, and rage assuaged, William stood amidst the corpses and laughed, carefully moving amongst them and making their bodies his. Their minds spoke to him, whispering that he had killed the nobles of his world, that the world he was on was not his, but similar. And that meant he might leave. ¡°My Lord-¡± The voice fell silent at the site of the blood-soaked floor and the shambling remains of their former masters. With a laugh, William turned to look at the retainer, one of the few peasants not constrained to the farms. ¡°What is it, snack? We were having a discussion. Me and us, I mean. Come on, out with it, I won¡¯t bite, or do we?! No, I have other methods, if we get hungry.¡± The retainer gulped, eyes flickering back and forth between William¡¯s shadowy face and the fresh, once-noble army. ¡°M-my Lord? A Gate has opened ¨C The Gods call us to war!¡± ¡°A Gate? Better still, a free pass! Shall we?¡± William had been planning on opening a bore, but a gate ready made for him was something altogether better. Striding out, William gathered his army, and laughingly went to war. * *** * William laughed, but he also ran. His army, and the armies of the other Emperors and Crowns had made good progress, at first, until the monsters began to make their presence known. Men and women that moved faster than even his Golem, or at least his current Golem, had ripped through them, and while some bodies had been recoverable, only those that specialized in pure spirit had made any headway, leashing them to their wills to pass through those that attacked and damaging the soul directly. William could have killed them, taken their power and their souls, if he could have seen, caught them. But they were too fast, too strong. Different. But, the voices whispered, he had plenty of time. He was beyond the reach of Deiry, with free reign to explore the Plane. And to make it theirs. Chapter 153 - Dragon Standing there on the transparent floor, gazing at the dragon, and past her into infinity, my emotions were mixed. One the one hand, I had been pursuing the Shadow Faced Guy, with a shot at stopping him; I had left my friends behind to do so, hoping that taking out the man seemingly behind the Risen Throne would stop the battle, stop the cult everywhere on the planet. And Xiournal had apparently stopped me. There was anger, as well as frustration and guilt, but there was also a mild elation, because on the other hand... I had really wanted to talk to the Ascended, for a while. I had so many questions for her that they were slipping in and out of my mind seemingly at random. Flailing slightly, I reached for the nearest question, opening my mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the cool, echoing voice of the dragon, so different from how I remembered it from my last visit. ¡°Alex, you¡¯ve left your assigned world twice now, and tried to do it a third time; I¡¯ve been fairly lenient, I think. Because you¡¯ve done a decent job. But you¡¯re trying my patience, especially after allowing Anan Al¡¯monhad to be taken.¡± ¡°Hey, I couldn¡¯t have got to him any earlier, I flew inside of an Apex to get there, and he still got out days before I arrived. And it¡¯s not like he¡¯s that big of a threat anyway; if I could kick his ass I¡¯m pretty sure any of the Apexes could.¡± ¡°It is not about Anan Al¡¯monhad, Alex. It is about what he represents to the Risen Throne. And you could have arrived faster, by simpl ¨C fine. Too much information. Either way, you were about to leave the world, again, and I can¡¯t have you take any more breaks if we¡¯re going to accomplish our goals.¡± ¡°I was going to take care of Almondhead! I¡¯d have kicked his head down through his torso already if you hadn¡¯t stopped me.¡± ¡°You underestimate the consequences of Anan Al¡¯monhad¡¯s inclusion. You would not have been victorious.¡± I could not imagine what the dragon meant; Almondhead had been bouncing off the floor when I headed for the gate, at the speed I was moving, he would not have been able to do a thing before I drove a Sapience empowered echo punch through the Shadow Faced Guy; I had seen that punch explode people, and that was using Praxis, with Veritas or Sapience... I doubted even a Pinnacle would be fine. ¡°How? I left that guy in mid-air.¡± ¡°Anan Al¡¯monhad is linked to the being you call the, ¡®Shadow Faced Guy¡¯. Any Authority he possesses flows through them both, and the army they control. Their abilities are complimentary, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Your fight would have been harder, if more time had been allowed for the energies involved to propagate.¡± ¡°Then can you send me back? I can still stop that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too late, Aman Al¡¯monhad has left the battlefield, retrieved as your pull upon the network was detected. The Blood Martial is regaining his senses as we speak.¡± I ground my teeth in frustration, wishing that I had managed to take either one of them out, but I had considered the head of the cult the more important, Aman has barely presented a problem to me. ¡°Can you at least answer some questions, while I¡¯m here, before you send me back? I assume you are going to send me back?¡± ¡°You will be returned. I will say, that your consumption of the lingering Authority within Anan Al¡¯Monhad¡¯s blood was well done, and delayed their plans considerably. You also prevented a significant number of civilians from joining their local army, though not as many as I would have liked. But together, they should delay them long enough for my other threads to pull tight.¡± ¡°Other threads? Didn¡¯t you say I was the only Agent candidate you¡¯d had in years? ¡°I lied.¡± ¡°So, you were manipulating me, with the ditzy attitude?¡± ¡°Of course. Idiots do not reach Ascension, and if by some incredible chance they do, they do not last long.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m just supposed to accept that you tricked me? Did you even provide anything? Is this Agency inside me mine, or yours?¡± ¡°Of course I provided things, you fool! I plucked you from the River of Souls, I built you a new body and wove Authority! Show some gratitude or I will find another way to accomplish my goals!¡± Before me, the Ascended dragon seemed to grow vast, eclipsing the planet below us, her colouring shifting from pastel pings and blues to deep, burnings golds and violets, the white of her scales shining like a star. She grew beyond the the walls I had to assume were there and almost appeared to shift slightly to avoid touching the distant sun. Gulping slighty, remembering that I was dealing with a being far beyond even the Apexes and their equivalents, I finally recalled my manners and nodded a short bow, offering an apology. ¡°Right, death, body. Soul stuff. Makes sense. Thank you.¡± The dragon shrunk back down, though her size had not really not changed, and she dragged one gracefully clawed hand over the golden orb around which she was wrapped. ¡°The... Agency... as you call it, was mostly your own, though I have added to it, as have you, now. You inherited it from... a previous life. The River of Souls washes you clean of Experience, but even it cannot remove Authority completely.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°So, I¡¯ve been here before, on the Aspirant plane, as an Apex? Or did I Ascend?¡± ¡°It is impossible to say. But it is the lingering Authority that allows us to find you among the infinite souls in the River, and which allows you to exist down there, when you were not born there.¡± ¡°All your agents have it then, the ability to move between worlds ¨C and live ¨C and to... alter reality, I guiess?¡± ¡°All Agents have some measure of intrinsic Authority, though it varies. What we can offer is proportionate to what you started with. We may be exploiting the system, but it is still a system with rules.¡± ¡°What about Almondhead, he was an Agent, right? What happens when an Agent ascends? Are they more powerful? Is that why he was such a threat, he had more Authority than the other Apexes?¡± ¡°Not quite. It is true that a measure of Authority is granted to an... Apex... when they refuse Ascension, however this plane can only tolerate so much. The leakage from the Ascendent plane is sufficient to fill any vessel on this plane completely, so any advantage in terms of quantity is lost when meeting the Tribulation.¡± ¡°Quantity, you said? What about all those... patterns I saw inside my soul? Are those the abilities I was given?¡± ¡°Quite. Apexes, as you call them make use of their Authority in relatively crude ways. Even most Ascendents continue to use it in simple ways. Those of us with true dedication however are able to use it in more... intricate ways.¡± ¡°But, an Apex can ¨C in theory ¨C live forever, right? Don¡¯t they learn to do more?¡± ¡°Truely skilled use requires senses no available without more Authority, so while an... Apex... may gain finer control, it is mostly wasted on enforcing their own specific talents.¡± ¡°Their Domains, you mean? So, that really is why I can resist, because I have a domain it¡¯s just... me?¡± ¡°An Apex has roughly a thousand times more Authority than you do; if they were capable of perceiving reality as we do, you could not be able to resist at all. But yes, you are essentially correct.¡± ¡°Wait, a thousand times? How was I resisting Almondhead, if he had a thousand times what I do, on top of what he got from the pool?¡± ¡°Much of wha ¨C fine. I¡¯m afraid the rules prevent me from telling you, Alex. Needless to say, he has substantially less than he did ten-thousand years go.¡± I thought about that; I had theorized that something had happened to the Apex of the Multplicitous Self, that something about his long imprisonment, or the Shadow Faced Guy had done something to him. I remembered thought I had over the months, of the first guy flunky I had killed in black armour, and how V had said he was not a real Foundation. Both he, and the first Crown Guy had seemed off missing pieces, amalgams of flesh, like Frankenstein¡¯s Monster. ¡°Is there a... necromancer involved, somewhere? The group this would had a war with? They controlled the dead, right? Some of the people I¡¯ve faced seemed like they were corpses, though CeeCee ¨C Almondhead ¨C seems a little different. Is that why he has less Authority?¡± ¡°I cannot answer these questions, but I can say that indeed, there was a group I believe would call necromancers which invaded this world decades ago.¡± ¡°How does that work? Necromancy, I mean. I¡¯ve seen other systems, and people seemed mostly normal. Not quite so... extra... as cultivators. And I¡¯ve heard of the war, they were trouble, right? How do a bunch of dead people threaten cultivators?¡± ¡°... I cannot say much, but the army of a necromancer can be thought of as one body, with one mind. The greater the body, the more power. That is how they store enough Experience to Ascend ¨C within multiple bodies. The bodies grow stronger the more are added, but each person has a hard limit of how many their minds can manage.¡± ¡°But Almondhead controlled an entire world, though they weren¡¯t dead.¡± ¡°This ability was different, though complimentary, in theory.¡± "So, what about the stitched people, where do they fit in?¡± ¡°You¡¯re asking a lot of questions, Alex. This is not why I brought you here.¡± ¡°Yeah, you said you didn¡¯t want me going to another world, I get it.¡± ¡°That is not all I wished to discuss. You are nearing the end of the tasks I have for you on this world, and I plan on moving you, since you are... mostly effective. I took this opportunity to let you know, so that you might prepare.¡± ¡°Now wait a minute, I¡¯m not going anywhere, I like it here. My friends are here.¡± ¡°You seem to like other worlds well enough when I¡¯m not sending you.¡± The dragon¡¯s voice was dry, one eyebrow arched up as she stared at me. She gave me a moment to think about that, before continuing. ¡°And you have no choice, we have an agreement. You are mine, in perpetuity.¡± ¡°Yeah... about that. I think we need to revisit that deal; forever is a long time and you were taking advantage of me. Manipulating me. And that reminds me, have you been messing with my memories? I thought I was just getting used to the new body when I arrived, but it was more than that, I didn¡¯t react properly to anything. Even now, everything happens... easily.¡± ¡°Revisit the deal? A deal is a deal. And no, I did not interfere with your memories, I simply did not place the physical pathways in your new body¡¯s brain when I created it, to prevent any issues from arising; your brain lacks the physical reinforcement of experience, so everything is new. It helps in a number of ways, we¡¯ve found. You¡¯d be surprised how many people simply broke down when reaching their new homes, before we began the practice. Or how many simply reverted to their old ways.¡± I had no idea what she meant by removing the pathways, but it was clear they had done something to make me ¨C make Agents ¨C more open to our new worlds, to new experiences. And she was right, it had probably helped, aspecially given the state I had been in during my last life; depressed, anxious and more than a little bitter. But it still felt like a violation, to have my brain messed with. Whether it was justifiable, since she had literally made my brain from scratch, I did not know. ¡°Leaving aside how ethical it is to do that, we¡¯re definitely re-negotiating our deal, or I¡¯ll just sit down and your whole plan can burn to ashes for all I care.¡± ¡°And let your friends, billions of people be killed or enslaved? I think not, Alex. You forget, I¡¯ve been watching you. The old you, possibly; what I could fish out of the River about you was limited. But the new you? You have a hero complex, or too much altruism. I don¡¯t think you¡¯d risk it.¡± She was right, I knew. There was no way I was going to let a planet full of people pay the price of breaking my contract. But there were others ways to mess with plans. ¡°Well, the Shadow Faced Guy can move between worlds, right? How about I help take him down, but let him go? Tell him never to come back. He can start somewhere fresh, where I don¡¯t know anybody.¡± I was bluffing hard, and if I am completely honest, I knew she knew that; if an Apex could sense a lie, I was pretty sure the actual full version of whatever they were could do the same, but better. But even so, maybe the manipulative dragon was not all bad, because after several moments, during which we just stared at each other, she spoke again, the feigned frustration in her voice telling me she knew I knew she knew, but was playing along. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll make you a new deal; give your everything to stopping the Risen Throne ¨C and manage it ¨C and I will let you off the hook.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± After all, I was going to do that anyway. Chapter 154 - Damge, Inc. ¡°Good, then we have an accord. I¡¯ll place you back an-¡± ¡°Wait! I have some more questions, like can I turn my new ability off? The energy drain thing?¡± ¡°It is tied to your soul, if you do not wish it to absorb energy, it will not. Now, I wi-¡± ¡°Wait, do all my abilities work like that?¡± The dragon paused, her eyes narrowed and one claw tapping at the golden orb, gouging deep holes into it. I swallowed, but rather than backing down I simply raised one eyebrow in question and waited. ¡°No, your other abilities have no need. Any other questions? I¡¯ll give you... two. And then, you leave.¡± My thoughts scattered as I tried to decide on just two questions; I had so many, and while I had received some answers, it was difficult narrowing down what I wanted most. As I thought, I decided to thank her to buy some time. ¡°Thank you for the ability, by the way, it came at just the right time.¡± ¡°You are welcome.¡± Xiournal continued to tap on the orb, the marks refilling and being replaced as I watched; she clearly knew what I was doing, but she could not really complain at courtesy. ¡°So... I did wonder one thing. Did you dump me down by Everwood City at random? Most of my success comes down to meeting Walker, and while I¡¯m Lucky, obviously, that seems a bit much for my first appearance on the planet. ¡°It was no accident. I examined the factors involved and the requisite probabilities and found that placing you there produced the optimal outcome for the goals I had. You have deviated from my predictions at times, but for the most part it has worked out.¡± ¡°Wow, you really guessed that Walker would help me and... all the rest?¡± ¡°I do not guess. I had a reasonable expectation that things would go as I planned. I do not simply dump my Agents into place, as some do. And that is why I am far in advance of the lazier members of our organization.¡± I thought I could hear a certain pointedness in the dragon¡¯s tone, but I had no idea to whom she could be referring. I almost asked, but she interrupted me. ¡°One more question.¡± The thought of asking who she may have been referring to vanished from my mind, and I tried to grab one of the other myriad questions I knew I had for her. I had just decided on another question when the Ascended apparently lost her patience and raised on clawed hand, her head twitching as if being spoken to. ¡°Too late, time¡¯s up.¡± ¡°Hey, wai - and I¡¯m back in Ouhl.¡± Bodies were everywhere, mostly clad in grey, but I saw too many instances of red and white, as well as the myriad of other colours from the sects. I saw nobody moving about the battlefield; looking about in confusion, I wondered how long I had been gone. It had only seemed like a few minutes, though I realised that my Focus and Path had been deactivated without my noticing. I did not think that the battle would be over in such a short period ¨C though, with everyone moving so quickly, perhaps a few minutes was all it would take. I looked at the bodies and tried to imagine them stood up, but I was unable to make the numbers fit; had the Risen Throne won, had they run away? I figured that if anybody had survived, they would be in the Stone. Even with the middle destroyed, there should still be a lot of room in there. Still glancing around and looking for movement, I set off towards the Stone, ears pricked for sounds in the dead silence of the square, but there was nothing. The gates were as I had left them, open wide and ¨C while not quite welcoming ¨C at least accepting. I walked in between them, glad that there were no bodies in the way for me to step over, and made my way towards the doors, which were open wide and the stone above them still suspended as if the whole building it was attached to had not been cracked like an egg. I paused just inside the entrance, waiting to be stopped or questioned, but I remained unmolested. Frowning, I looked around; even in the aftermath of a battle that they had ¨C hopefully ¨C won, it was unnerving to see the place so vulnerable. I looked down and saw the signs of many boots tracking through the heavy dust; I wished for a moment that I could Aragorn the tracks and find out what happened, but such a thing was beyond me. It did at least let me know that there had been survivors. I hoped they were on my side. Venturing into the Stone was intimidating; from my past visit I knew it was designed as a maze, and that meant there was a fair chance I was going to get lost, but I figured I would run into somebody eventually. The long halls were eerie, and I could not tell if the quiet was more intense than on my previous visits or whether it was just that I was on my own. Despite the damage I knew the centre of the structure had suffered, the halls seemed fairly intact, and though I occasionally came across a hole where something had shot through, I was surprised at just how well it had withstood the assault. I could not think of many buildings back on Earth that that would stand up half as well to being cored. * *** * I had been wandering around the labyrinthine building for half an hour when I finally heard voices echoing around a corner. I could not tell who it was, though the volume and tone told me that it might be Tain, and if he was shouting, I had some hope that he had recovered from his domination. The story I had heard from Walker about the Apex of the Multiplicitous Self had not suggested that his abilities wore off, but as Xiournal had indicated, he was not quite what he once was.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Following the voice, I began to hear more, though they were somehow drowned out by the much louder yelling. It took me only a minute or so to locate the source, finding a crowd of people in red and white clustered around one of the normally hidden doors in the wall. ¡°... the Void blasted little shit ran away right when he was needed, I¡¯m not wasting time or resources looking for him when I need everything we have to make repairs and get citizens re-settled.¡± ¡°With grim determination, you are hardly in a place to point fingers, Blood Marshall; as I recall, you were murdering your own people when Hunter vanished.¡± ¡°I was being controlled, just like your idiot friend likely is! The next time you see him, he¡¯ll be speeding around and punching you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot, Tain! Hunter has disappeared before, and he always turns up. We¡¯re not asking you to look for him, we just need a way to get a message back to the Apexes.¡± ¡°And I said no! I don¡¯t want your Void damned Apexes interfering; from what I can tell that¡¯s what started all of this in the first place! No. We don¡¯t have the resources to send anybody haring off into the wild or across the planet to deliver a message.¡± I began to inch my way through the crowd, pushing closer to the door as the argument went on. ¡°Lone Slaughter-¡± ¡°Listen, zealot, I told you not to call me that, I don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your Cultivator name, isn¡¯t it, Lone Slaughter?¡± ¡°Bah! If I find out who told you that I¡¯m going to skin them and wear it to their funeral. Or yours, if you don¡¯t stop using it.¡± There was a brief pause, before Toria continued, her voice marginally more respectful. ¡°Blood Marshall then; it is imperative that we contact our masters. This attack was far greater and more co-ordinated than any the Risen Throne have made before, and if they can control a Pinnacle such as yourself, that does not bode well. They must be stopped.¡± ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t want them involved! Just now. They took us by surprise this time, but if they come back, we¡¯ll wipe the floor with them.¡± ¡°In tactful interjection, they may not be back, and this involves more than just this city, Blood Marshall. The Risen Throne have attacked at least two cities previously, though in different ways. They may be planning other attacks. Not only this, but if Hunter is on another world ¨C as is his habit ¨C we will need an Apex to retrieve him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about your friend! Good people died that might not have if he stuck around. And if you ask me, it¡¯s suspicious that he vanished at the same time as that crowned bastard.¡± I had finally made it to the front of the crowd and could see my friends inside the room; Toria was sat down, still clearly injured though looking a lot better than the last time I had seen her. Darina stood behind her, one hand resting on her shoulder, and I guessed she was maybe continuing the healing process even as the argument went on. To either side of the healer, the risi siblings stood like bodyguards, their huge arms crossed, and though I could not see their faces, I could tell that they were both tense. I could not quite see Tain, as Reff stood between us like a living wall. Quietly, and making sure to keep the giant between us, I walked towards the desk. I heard murmurs start-up behind me, as they clearly realised who I was, but I hoped they would not grab Tain¡¯s attention until I was ready. ¡°Look; I feel bad for you shits. You came all this way to help, didn¡¯t help much and now your friend is both a coward and missing. But I have to rebuild a city, and a fortress and find homes for all the Void damned people waking up. Apparently, forty to a room is too many. Now if you¡¯ll GET THE HELL OUT OF M-¡± The Marshall stopped his shouting as I stepped out from behind my friend, opposite where Toria and Darina were located. His eyes widened as he looked at me, his mouth held open as he began to blink repidly. ¡°Hi! Not a coward, or missing. How is everyone?¡± Reff and the other spun to face me and I had to take a few steps back so I could actually look at Reff and Riffa; coming up to your friends'' thighs can be really inconvenient sometimes. The four of them cried out in surprise, thought the cries themselves were all different. I do not think I had ever actually surprised the risi before, but I almost broke out laughing when they both declared, ¡°In surprise...!¡± ¡°Where have you been, fool? We looked all over for you. Somebody said you¡¯d vanished through another portal, but obviously not, if you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°In delighted curiosity, yes, where did you go, Hunter?¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to see you safe... Hunter.¡± ¡°In pleased relief, you really vanish too much, but it is good to have you back.¡± ¡°Void bugger all that, you left the battle you little shit. Why?¡± The questions and comments came in on top of each other, and it took me a moment to sort out what had been said. Taking a deep breathe, I answered them as best I could. ¡°Vanished but not through a portal, ended up in space, I think. Thanks, Reff, Riffa and Toria! Good to be back, though I wasn¡¯t gone long this time.¡± Turning to Tain, I answered his question. ¡°I did actually intend to go through the portal; I couldn¡¯t stop you, but I was doing okay against Almondhead, but then the portal opened which means the Shadow Faced Guy. Or Shade... anyway, I figured if I could take him out, it would be better for everyone, and I¡¯d just bounced Almondhead off the ground and hoped he¡¯d be distracted. Anyway, I got called away before I could get through, can¡¯t say more but it was involuntary.¡± ¡°You were, ¡®bouncing your opponent off the floor¡¯ ¨C this Almondhead, who I assume is the asshole in the crown ¨C but decided to leave to fight somebody who wasn¡¯t involved in the battle?¡± Tain¡¯s voice was incredulous, and when he phrased it like that I could see why he might not be entirely happy with the decision, and looking back I may have been a little biased by the fact that the Shadow Face Guy had ripped my arm off, but still, in a larger sense, I thought taking him out would benefit the world more than that one battle. ¡°Yeah... honestly, other than controlling you, Almondhead didn¡¯t seem like a big deal, I figured somebody else would get him eventually. But the Sh-¡± I glanced at Darina who was already rolling her eyes at the name, ¡°but Shade seems to be the one able to open those portals, so I figured if I could take him out, it would cripple them. It didn¡¯t work out. But it seems I was right about Almondhead, right? He¡¯s gone?¡± ¡°With delicate wording, when you are saying, ¡®Almondhead¡¯, do you perhaps mean, ¡®Al¡¯monhad¡¯, Hunter?¡± I glanced at the Marshall as Reff spoke, looking for any sign of recognition, but saw none. Either he had no idea who that was, or he would be pretty good at poker. ¡°Yes. But... downgraded.¡± Reff looked troubled at that, and I could see the same expression on the faces of my other companions. I knew we¡¯d need to get back to warn the Apexes, but from what I could tell, it was months and months of travel, possibly years on foot. I was drawn from my ruminations by a growl from the Marshall, who was now leaning on his paper-strewn desk and glaring at me. ¡°I don¡¯t care what his name is ¨C I will later, but not now. He left at the same time as you, plucked from mid-air by black chains, and black smoke that killed anybody it touched. Do you know what those are?¡± ¡°I do. Both the chains and the smoke are from Shade, I¡¯ve seen them both before. He used the chains to rip my arm off, a while ago.¡± I held up my crystal and gold arm so he could see it. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s in charge of the Risen Throne, now.¡± Xiournal had not been able to tell me much, directly, but she had let slip that the Shadow Faced Guy was part of whatever network Almondhead was, the direct beneficiary, in fact. Which mean that DotRT, the apparent head of the Risen Throne was probably him. Chapter 155 - Escape The five of us were sitting in a room a short distance away from Tain¡¯s office; the room was intact, apart from all the things knocked off shelves, walls and desk, which lay on the rug-covered floor. We had been brought more chairs, so that we could all sit comfortably, but I had opted to sit on the floor, cross-legged; for some reason, it helped me think. ¡°I cannot believe that idi-the Blood Marshall is keeping us for questioning. After we helped defend this place.¡± ¡°It¡¯s understandable, Ever Flowing. We did have advance notice that something was going to happen. It is natural to be a little suspicious.¡± ¡°With growing irritation, I do not think he is keeping us here due to our foreknowledge; I think he is annoyed at being controlled, and Hunter¡¯s seeming immunity.¡± Reff looked at me then, along with the others; Tain had mentioned the fight, and the others had seemed curious, but Tain had ¡®asked¡¯ us to stay here shortly after, and we had been bustled out of his office and into this one without much further fuss. That would probably be coming later. ¡°I think there are probably a bunch of things he wants to know, or learn from us. He might even just be being petty, he¡¯s kind of an asssole. But I don¡¯t think we can stay here though, from what my... sponsor said, I think this is much bigger than we thought, possibly global. Shit, I don¡¯t even know where to start.¡± ¡°How did you avoid being controlled? I saw the gate open, and then all the fighters in grey began to pour in at once. Before that they were all moving in odd coordination, as they were being controlled, so it seem the effect was not limited to Tain.¡± I thought about it for a moment, but despite the fact that I had been told to keep it to myself, I did trust the people I was with. I did not want to say anything while we were in the Stone ¨C who knew who could be listening ¨C but I would once we left. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you once we¡¯ve got out of here; the walls may have ears.¡± ¡°With confused consideration, I do not believe that they do, Hunter. They are walls, not creatures.¡± Riffa was glancing around at the walls with one raised eyebrow and I remembered who I was speaking to. ¡°Sorry, I mean somebody could be listening. Walker told me to keep it to myself, so I¡¯d prefer to go over it when there¡¯s nobody around.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m finally going to find out why you¡¯re so strange? I can hardly wait.¡± ¡°Yeah, as soon as we¡¯re out of here. That does mean actually getting out though. This place is a maze, unless we can find the giant hole in the middle, we¡¯d just end wandering around at random, risking being discovered.¡± ¡°Which makes me wonder, why aren¡¯t we in a cell? I do not think the Lone Slaughter can really believe than an office could contain us, if we chose to leave.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Toria; maybe all the cells were in the middle. They¡¯d need to repair them all, if that were the case. Though I don¡¯t know why they¡¯d bother, the pool they were guarding is drained, I¡¯m pretty sure. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s coming back.... or maybe they¡¯re full of sect members. They didn¡¯t kill them all, right?¡± ¡°With calming curiosity, what do you mean, which pool, Hunter?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, Reff. I forgot you weren¡¯t here. There was a pool of blood ¨C it belonged to Aman Almondhead, the... former Multiplicitous Self ¨C and it was what was causing the aura. He sucked all the power out of it. Or, some of it. I sucked some of it out too. Anyway, what¡¯s important is that this place,¡± I gestured round myself at the Stone, ¡°was built to contain it, stop people drinking it, because that¡¯s not gross. Turned ¡®em into raving lunatics, apparently.¡± ¡°So, how long have you been drinking this blood, Hunter?¡± Darina¡¯s voice was amused, and she wore a wry smile. I quirked an eyebrow at her, along with a grin; she did not mean anything by it, and it had actually been funny. A little. Kind of. ¡°Just the once, so far. Well, I didn¡¯t really drink it, I ¨C you know what, later.¡± ¡°This blood belonged to the Multiplicitous Self? I know that some Experience is retained within the body on death, but I did not know that it ¨C or any other remnant - could be gathered or... consumed.¡± I recalled Walker draining the left-over Experience from the bodies of the army that had been about to attack Everwood City, right after my arrival and wondered just how common the practice was. I seemed to recall something about it being something only an Apex could do, but I had been pretty out of it at the time. ¡°I saw Walker suck the Experience from the remains of an Army once, but this wasn¡¯t that. It was rainbow coloured and ¨C nope. Later.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°With calm redirection, you said the blood belonged to the Multiplicitous Self, we did not discuss this in front of the Blood Marshall, but the man you both fought was the being from the nearby prison?¡± ¡°Yeah, Riffa, it was. Much reduced, but him. Seems like Shade may have somebody ¨C or be somebody ¨C from another world, somebody who can control the dead. That¡¯s why the two we fought in the Sha Forest looked so... corpse-like. You remember V saying the one Dee and I killed wasn¡¯t really a Foundation, or whatever? I... heard... that there¡¯s a whole system, and individual strength relies on a couple of things, including how many dead they¡¯re controlling. I think... I think Almondhead might be dead, and has been joined to this network. It would explain why he¡¯s... not at his best. But... certain things that made him strong in life,¡± I did not want to mention the fact that he was an Apex while people might be listening, and I gave my friends a pointed look, ¡°carried over, somewhat. And I guess now he¡¯s collecting... things like this pool... to get back up closer to where he was.¡± ¡°With perturbed consideration, that is a disturbing thought, Hunter. I am aware of the war involving the death cultivators; they were mostly forced back, with only those that controlled immaterial beings managing to make any headway. I cannot imagine them posing a threat of this level, but if one of their number can achieve... what you suspect, they may cause some damage.¡± ¡°Not to mention all the attacks the Risen Throne has done without the benefit of a zombie Ap- uh, a top-level zombie, Reff. We need to get out of here and we need to warn the Apexes. I just don¡¯t know how.¡± The five of us sat in silence for several minutes, contemplating the issues at hand, lost in thought. After a time, the apprentice healer spoke up, hands still resting on Toria¡¯s shoulders as she worked towards healing her. ¡°We could wait for the Apex of the Crystal Drake to return; even if it takes months, it would still be faster than walking, or running.¡± The suggestion of waiting for Jorl was not something I had expected to hear from Darina, but it did make sense. We had travelled a vast distance inside of Jorl¡¯s crystalline body, much faster than the five of us could run, and faster than the Plainsrunner even, if we could find one. The idea of waiting grated at me though; the Risen Throne could be up to anything while we sat around on our hands or being questioned by Tain and the Blood and Bones. And that was assuming he would be back on time. ¡°We could set off, meet him on the way? We should still be traveling in however long it takes for him to come back from the Citadel.¡± ¡°This assumes he¡¯ll be coming from the Citadel... Hunter. He could be coming from any direction, as the Apexes scattered to the four corners of the world. If there are attacks, he may not be able to return promptly at all.¡± ¡°Damn, you¡¯re right, Toria. So that leaves waiting or... trying to head to somewhere they¡¯ll head to. Realistically. Or figuring something out.¡± ¡°With vague irritation, the ability to move troops via portals is a huge advantage. It is my understanding that it should not be possible, Hunter¡¯s trips to other worlds notwithstanding.¡± ¡°Speaking of your trips to other worlds, I don¡¯t suppose you could pull a world-switch and take us with you, then have somebody drop us back closer to home?¡± ¡°No, unfortunately not. Not only am I not allowed to leave the world again any time soon, but without an anchor of some kind they can¡¯t put us back here. That¡¯s why Walker had to keep coming to get me. And even if I could, Reff is right, apparently, uh, regular people can¡¯t survive off-world.¡± I saw Darina open her mouth to ask a question, and figuring it was about being regular, I spoke quickly, cutting her off. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later.¡± It seemed like I had guessed correctly, as she closed her mouth with a nod and we went silent again for another few minutes. ¡°Which city, that an Apex might be heading to is closest, does anybody remember seeing a map?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t seen one; Tain probably has one, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯d be willing to share right now. If we get out, we can ask directions, maybe?¡± ¡°That just moves the problem down the road, Hunter. We need to come up with a solution before we act.¡± ¡°... Are you okay, Dee? You seem really... cautious, all of a sudden. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s kind of nice ¨C seeing you get your neck broken constantly, and stuff, isn¡¯t great.¡± ¡°When I have a companion as reckless as you, idiot, I am forced to anticipate idiocy.¡± ¡°... Fair enough. But having said that, I don¡¯t think we can come up with a workable plan for... traveling... inside this room. We need more information. I¡¯d say we could ask a sect, but... I¡¯m pretty sure they have bigger worries.¡± ¡°With minor vindictiveness, you are correct, Hunter. Once the... source of Tain¡¯s issues left, he was most emphatic in enacting his punishments. Along with the other Guard Pinnacles ¨C of which they have a shocking number ¨C he wiped the sect elders out, along with most of the lower-level members that were present. He has mentioned visiting their homes to confirm the escapees were given no shelter.¡± ¡°So, he¡¯s going to be busy for a while. Busier. Thanks, Reff. I suggest we get out of here and head to one of the villages we passed, ask for directions to the next nearest city. Or even head back to the prison; maybe we can mess with it in some way to attract an Apex.¡± We discussed other options for a short while, but what we could actually do was really limited, so it did not last long. Eventually, we agreed that we could not waste time sitting around waiting for Tain to let us go and Reff suggested melting our way out of the building. I had never seen Reff really using his heat abilities directly against anything; when we had been in the Sha Forest, he had used it to reduce the ambient temperature, and when he was fighting, heat radiated from his lava armour, but it seemed that his Exemplar ¨C his Path ¨C was actually the direct control of of all heat, and he just liked to use it for his armour, as that was the easiest for him. I watched in fascination as my tall friend placed his hand flat on the ceiling, and as it began to glow, and finally flow down his arm to vanish into storage, apparently. I shuddered at the thought of him doing that out of the blue to a person and I could kind of see why he did not; that sort of invisible ability could make people afraid of you. In short order, an opening had been melted in the celling wide enough for everyone to fit through, with no cry of alarm. We had counted on there being no alarms, but it was a pretty safe bet since the wards protecting the place had been shattered. We leapt through the cap and began to make our way up, one room at a time, and luckily, encountered nobody. Chapter 156 - Attitude Luck was with us, and we managed to melt a path out of the Stone, though it occurred to me on the way out that if anybody had been listening, they would have been well aware of our plans to leave. Sometimes suspicion is warranted, but at least in that instance I had to guess the guard were busy elsewhere. Not that I regretted the escape; from what had been said, it seemed that many of the people of the city had been converted to zombies and shuffled off through a portal, but I had still helped prevent that number from being greater than it needed it to be. I had no idea how many of the sleepers had been killed when Almondhead collapsed the middle of the fortress, if any, but at least they had not had the opportunity to take them with them when they left. I had defended them from the dragon and fought on their side, even against a former Apex. I felt no need at all to stick around to be questioned. With my new speed, I could get pretty far away pretty fast, far enough that even a Pinnacle might struggle to find me with a normal search pattern, but we were somewhat limited by the maximum speed of our slowest members. I did consider offering to try to carry them ¨C even at only fifty times normal human I was plenty strong enough to carry three people and hardly notice, though it might be a little awkward. I did not actually make the offer, of course, as Darina at the very least would have likely tried to take my head off. Which is how we found ourselves running across the dead grass of the plains surrounding Ouhl, heading for the closest settlement we could recall from our flyover. We had not seen any major cities, but the planet was so vast - and population centres relatively rare ¨C that it was no real surprise. We just hoped that they would be able to give us a direction, and that wherever we ended up would have... some method of travel. If not, we were left hoofing it half way down the planet, and as fast we were, we were not that fast. I might be able to make it pretty quick if I stopped to punch somebody periodically, but that would mean leaving everyone behind on the hope that... I would find people to punch. I had hoped that absorbing the Veritas and Sapience would somehow increase my base capacity, but while they may have, given time, they had both seemingly vanished when Xiournal called me in for my performance review. Either that or it was stuck somewhere and I was going to spontaneously explode; I mostly hoped the dragon has simply removed them, for some reason. It did mean I was back where I was though, until I got into a fight. The five us spent the next couple of days alternating between running and sleeping; unlike our trip to the Sha Forest, I was not particularly drained by the endeavour, especially with my new and improved pathways. For the third night, we ended up stopping by a toppled statue mostly covered in moss, and it seemed to depict a rather angry looking risi, and the siblings spent some time examining. It turned out that it was probably left during the war that had brought their people to the planet a few-hundred years before; I had not known the giants had ranged so far afield. The planet was so large, with so far between each place that travel seemed like such an impossible thing to accomplish regularly. From what I had been able to see from low orbit, the world was big enough that a normal human might spend hundreds of years moving from one side of the planet to the other, and even a Core or Path stage would take years. While the brother and sister examined the statue, I thought about possible solutions; our plan was more of a grasping at straws than anything else. Even if we reached another city, there was no guarantee that they would have some method of getting us to our destination any faster than we could run. I thought about making a crude plane that I could power the propellers on, using my increased relativistic speed, with the only minor flaws being that I did not have the materials necessary and did not actually know how planes worked. I felt like it was something I had been taught a long time before, but I could not bring the mechanism to mind in that moment. It occurred to me that if we could find a dragon ¨C one that had spent less time sipping on the insanity kool-aid ¨C we might be able to hitch a lift back; the Apex of the Crystal Drake might be an Apex, but it was my understanding that in general, an Apex was just a Pinnacle when it came to pure physical ability, so a Pinnacle dragon should be able to get us back almost as fast, in theory. Unfortunately, I did not know where to find a dragon, or how I might convince it to take us where we wanted. My impression of the things was not great at that point, being that one had tried to kill me and a city and the others I had heard of had burned down a jungle... ¡°Guys, so, I probably should have asked you guys earlier, but... how do people get around? I know we¡¯ve used the Plainsrunners to get around... the plains. And Toria rolls around in a giant golden palace, but this place is huge.¡± ¡°There¡¯s usually less of a rush than what we¡¯re facing, Hunter. There are mounts that can travel faster than a human, like the Plainsrunners. And there are skyships, but mostly people take their times, soak in the new experiences, gain a little Experience. What¡¯s a few years, when you can live for thousands? And since you brought it up, and apparently still do not know anything, perhaps now is a good time to tell us all your secrets?¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I had not heard of skyships before, at least on that world; obviously, I had spent a few days aboard one on another world, but I had no idea they were a thing there. I had yet to see one overheard, though to be fair it was not something I was looking for, and if they were not loud, like a plane back home, they might have simply not attracted my notice. ¡°These skyships, are they faster than foot?¡± Darina glared at me for ignoring her prodding; I was not doing it on purpose, my friends had been patient of the past few days, and I had every intention of explaining my circumstances, but I was more concerned with the problem of getting home in that moment. After several seconds of me staring at her expectantly, and her glaring back, Toria interjected. ¡°A skyship wouldn¡¯t be able to get us back as fast as we arrived, and most of them are designed more for touring over long distances than rapid transport, but there are courier vessels which might make the trip in a few months. I¡¯ve never travelled on one, but other members of the Order have. Sometimes Justice requires service... elsewhere.¡± ¡°Damn, so we¡¯re back to months again. I guess I¡¯ve been spoiled by Air Apex. I guess it¡¯s still better than waiting for Jorl or whoever; if there have been multiple attacks, the Apexes may be too busy to come get us.¡± ¡°With calm agreement, that is true, Hunter. If the Risen Throne are able to use other worlds as bridges to travel faster, this could be a global attack, in theory. I find it hard to believe they have the numbers, but their attack on Ouhl proved that they are not limited to their own members.¡± Reff¡¯s voice was low and even and calmed me down a little; I was starting to let the frustration of effectively being stranded get to me, but I managed to relax with the assistance of his mostly rock-like presence. ¡°Right. Well, since everyone is here, I guess it¡¯s time I explain myself... Reff already knows. Now, before I start, I need you all to promise you¡¯ll keep it to yourselves, Walker didn¡¯t want me talking about this stuff, but I trust you all. Okay?¡± The others shared a glance before turning back to me and one at a time giving me their word that they would not pass on what I was about to say. Taking a deep breath, I settled down into the grass and thought about how to start my story ¨C I would probably skip the suicide aspect, I thought, and then began. * *** * ¡°... And here we are.¡± Darina was staring at me hard as I finished my story; I had left out some unimportant details but it was the gist of it all. It had ended up being a lot shorter than I thought, given how much had happened to me, but when only giving the major beats and necessary details it was surprisingly compact. ¡°Hunter... that is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard; it makes no sense at all and the only reason I¡¯m considering the possibility of it being real is that you are such an idiot that only a truly stupid story could possibly fit you into it.¡± ¡°Thanks, Dee. That means a lot coming from you.¡± My voice was dry; I had expected a lot of things, but not that, though perhaps I should have, given who Darina was. ¡°So... Hunter... are you and the Apex of the Multiplicitous Self from the same world?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know; Xiournal wasn¡¯t super-forthcoming about that stuff. She made it sound like she only had access to a few, but I think the pool is probably way wider than she let on. When I was between worlds, a couple of time, the number out there... there didn¡¯t seem to be an end. And she said she had a bunch of us running around the world, doing stuff. I don¡¯t think it matters though, we¡¯re both from here now.¡± Reff of course knew it all already, and Riffa sat in quiet contemplation; I had a sneaking suspicion that my friend had told his sister some or all of this, and I could not really blame him; Walker had not actually asked him not to, and she was his sister. ¡°If I am going to accept that you¡¯re some dead Apex from another plane of existence, at least it explains why you can be so annoying: It must have been your Focus before you died. ¡®All fear the Apex of the Endless Irritation!¡¯.¡± ¡°Ha ha, Dee. I never said I was an Apex; I could have been an Ascendent. So that¡¯s Ascendent of the Endless Irritation, to you.¡± ¡°If you Ascended then there is hope for anyone; I¡¯m surprised that there is anybody left on this world if Ascending is that easy.¡± ¡°How about I ascend you to space?¡± ¡°How about ascend your face, fool?¡± I grinned at the healer, it was nice to know that nothing had changed, to just be treated normally ¨C or as normally as Darina ever did. It occurred to me though, that this world ¨C this plane ¨C was well used to aliens, to people from other words to visit, stay and become part of their new homes. I was from a little further away than most, but that was still my home. Ignoring our sparkling repartee, Toria spoke before I could respond to the young healer again, which was probably for the best on balance. ¡°This does shed some more light on a few things... Hunter. I can see how, with the abilities you have ¨C which are very unfair, by the way ¨C how this Apex was such an issue in the past, though I am also glad that his apparent death has lowered his strength to a more manageable level.¡± ¡°For now. From what Xiournal said, he ¨C they ¨C will only get stronger as they add people to their army. Zombie horde. Whatever.¡± I sighed, hating the wait I knew we were facing; who knew how strong the Risen Throne ¨C The Shadow Faced Guy and Almondhead ¨C would become in the time it took us to find the Apexes. Chapter 157 - Frustration By noon the next day, we were in sight of one of the villages we had passed on our way to Ouhl; I could not tell if it was actually the closest and we had missed one or more, or whether we had been right on the money, but whichever it was, I was glad to see it. I had not yet received a mission from Xiournal, and I guessed it was as I had been given it directly. But the lack of even vague direction was making me itch; up to that point, I had always had a solid direction to go in, even if the nature of my destination was clouded. It was ironic; I had bargained for my freedom, and there I was with a taste of what that meant and I was already wishing for less. I assumed I would get past it eventually, but from what the dragon had said, my brain had been created without habits, so all of my reactions were based on the time I had been on my new home. For all of that time I had been following her instructions, it was all I was used to. The village sat low on the horizon, barely rising above the hollow in the earth it sat in; there was no wall that I could see, which likely meant there was no wall at all. In order for any wall to be useful on that world, it needed to be pretty huge, I had learned. It did not take long to approach the settlement and we were greeted by a man in a long brown robe and a spear in his hand, as well as a larger, completely hairless man holding what looked like a giant flanged mace over one shoulder. The five of us slowed to a halt a dozen feet from the two of them; we were still a short distance away from the village, but it was more of a symbolic distance; nobody at the Core stage or above would take more than a bare moment to close the distance. ¡°Hail, strangers. What brings you to our village?¡± ¡°With polite deference, we are looking for direction to the nearest city.. that is not Ouhl. If you can provide us with such, we will be on our way.¡± Reff offered a bow to the speaker in the brown robe, hands held palms outwards to show he was not armed; again, this was a symbolic gesture, but I guessed he was doing everything he could to reassure the villagers. ¡°Or if you happen to have some kind of access to extremely fast global transport, that would also be great.¡± Reff and Riffa completely ignored my interjection, but Darina and Toria gave pointed looks that told me not to ask stupid questions; I did not actually expect the villagers to have any sort of hyper-rapid transport, of course, but I had learned not to make assumptions. It was a world of boundless magic and possibility, and after all, I was pretty lucky. Not that lucky though, it seemed. The villager with the spear and robe spared me a short glance before turning back to Reff, his neck craned slightly. ¡°It is good that you avoid Ouhl, stranger. The people there are strange, aggressive. I sense that you already know something of this?¡± ¡°With careful confirmation, that is correct. Though I should let you know, that it seems like the source of the aggression has been... depleted.¡± ¡°Even with it gone, I¡¯d still rather burn my foot off than visit, eh, Mayor?¡± When the mace-wielder spoke, his voice was gravely and gruff as if he had spent a lifetime drinking and smoking, but that was unlikely to be the case; it would take some pretty aggressive products to affect the throat of even a Focus stage cultivator. ¡°Perhaps a little extreme, Castian, but not far off. Populated by the insane and the reckless.¡± ¡°Seems weird to live so close if they suck that much, don¡¯t you think?¡± Darina swung a suddenly clawed hand at my head, but I dodged easily with a grin. The mayor was looking at us like Ouhl had come calling, but otherwise ignored my comment. ¡°The next nearest city is Crescent Bay.¡± The major paused and glanced between us again, examining us with narrowed eyes. ¡°It¡¯s about a month East for a Core stage. You need to pass over the mountains and head towards the sunrise. There¡¯s only one pass within a year of here, you shouldn¡¯t be able to miss it.¡± ¡°Excuse me, Honoured Mayor, but how do you know our stages?¡± It was Darina that had spoken, and I nearly swiped a hand at her head, but I did not think she would take it in the manner in which it was meant. The question made no sense to me, since none of us were Core stages, but I did not want to say anything in case she was up to something. ¡°Simple deduction; you are all too young for more. Too young to be away from your masters, or your sect, even with the smell of battle Experience wafting off you.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The man ¨C who looked to be middle-aged ¨C wrinkled his nose as if catching a noxious scent, though it was a relatively subtle movement. I glanced at his companion - the one with the giant-mace ¨C with my eyebrow raised. The man looked plenty capable of battle himself, but maybe his Focus was all on looking tough. ¡°I see. Thank you for answering my question, Honoured Mayor.¡± ¡°You are most welcome, young lady. Now, if you will be on your way, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re making Castian here nervous.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not nervous, Mayor. They can stay all week for al-¡± ¡°As I said, it¡¯s that way. East.¡± The mayor spoke over his companion, voice raised to drown out his words. Castian looked a little irritated, but seemed to shed the feeling with a shrug. I did not really blame the mayor for not wanting us to stay ¨C we were strangers ¨C but it was kind of a dick-move to blame his friend. ¡°Well, I guess we better get going then. East you said, over the mountains?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°With calming gratitude, thank you, Mayor. We will depart.¡± With an awkward wave that earned me a frown, I set off around the village along with my friends; we tried our best to stay away from the village so as to not make them more nervous, before heading East, the eyes of the mayor on our backs until we passed over the horizon. * *** * Two weeks into our trip to Crescent Bay we found the mountains the mayor had told us about; they were hard to miss, rising out of the horizon like the spine of the world. They towered high above us, and even the foothills in which we soon found ourselves were larger than any mountains back on Earth. It was in those foothills that we camped as we looked for the pass that had been mentioned; I was in a fairly bad mood due to the delays it was causing, and starting to wish we had just waited. There were even odds between somebody showing up to pick us up and not, but out there in the wilderness between settlements, it was unlikely that we would be found by anybody looking. Even an Apex, traveling at top speed, using their Domains could take years to find us. I had Walker¡¯s dagger, of course, which I had taken to wearing through the sash at my waist, but even if the tall Apex found us, he¡¯d probably could not take us all back. Unless we wanted to sit on swords... Either way, I had it out in case he could give directions, but I was not holding out a great deal of hope. In my bad mood, I sat a short distance from the softly glowing heat bottle, staring up at the stars. There seemed to be more than there had been on Earth, the sort of vista you¡¯d see in sci-fi art, countless dots of light in every colour. I found them endlessly fascinating, though even they could not remove the quiet irritation brewing inside of me. About half-way through the night, as I sat my watch, gazing out over the plains behind us, I heard a gasp of indrawn breath in a voice that was obviously Riffa. I leapt to my feet, head swivveling to look around us again as I wondered furiously why my danger sense had given no warning. Seeing nobody, I turned to the risi, along with her brother, Darina and Toria, all of whom had been woken up by the sharp noise. ¡°Riffa, what¡¯s the matter? Did something bite you? Do insects even get that small here? Are you okay?¡± ¡°With contained elation, I have completed the integration of my Exemplar, Hunter.¡± ¡°Awesome news, congrats, Riffa!¡± Reff leaned in and simply hugged his sister sedately in what I had come to think of as an out-of-control celebration for the giants. I was amazed that she had made the breakthrough, and so soon after her older brother. As I had learned, the Core stage was the average for the general population, with each stage above that increasingly rare. ¡°That¡¯s amazing, Walking Sand. I¡¯m close, but you beat me to it.¡± ¡°I am close too, but it seems you have bested the both of us, Riffa. And Hunter, of course.¡± I was even more astonished that the other apprentices were close to the Foundation stage; they were both significantly younger than either of the risi, and Darina in particular had already completely discarded and re-established her cultivation once. Despite my recent gains ¨C which were pretty much cheating, in the context of cultivation ¨C I still felt envy; I was at eighty percent, as I had discovered on the journey. It really was a massive jump, and I assumed some of it came from my massive hump in dilation due to the introduction of Veritas and Sapience. I had, however, been completely unable to shift it higher since I had made the discovery. ¡°You¡¯re both close? I guess I¡¯m being left behind. How close are you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re hardly being left behind, Hunter. You have so many unfair advantages that you might as well have multiple Cores. And don¡¯t think you won¡¯t be showing me that channel pattern once we get back to my Master, I intend to take that unfair advantage for myself.¡± There was general agreement from the others that they would like to try their hands at re-drawing their energy systems ¨C with the help of the Apex of the Mending Flesh. I had tried to explain how truly horrifying the agony was, but there were simply no sufficiently descriptive words and they all seemed to think they¡¯d be fine. As long as I was assured of their survival, I was happy to show them the pattern; it was nice to be strong, but I was not looking to take over the world or anything, so I dd not think sharing with my friends and their closest masters would be a big deal. Hopefully... ¡°Yeah, I said I¡¯d help, once I know you¡¯re not going to explode yourself. You said I died like a dozen times just doing an arm, I don¡¯t want you trying it without your master around.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I woul-¡± ¡°Ever Flowing... Hunter. Please, not again. To answer your question, I will likely complete my Exemplar within a few months. Perhaps less, if events continue to happen as they have.¡± ¡°Sorry, Toria. That¡¯s great. At least you all seem to know what makes your integration go up. You¡¯ll all hit Pinnacle and I¡¯ll still be sat here glaring at my inner frog.¡± I did not think I would be getting any other bumps due to stealing energy, I would need to make another break through on the use of my powers if I wanted to finish up. But what could you actually do with time? Chapter 158 - For Whom The Bell Tolls It ended up taking another week for us to find the pass through the mountains, in sharp contrast to the mayor having said we could not miss it. When we had finally located the passage, I had genuinely been considering jumping over the mountains; I was pretty sure I could make it, even with them being as high they were, but it would mean leaving my friends behind. As much as the delay rubbed me the wrong way, I was not that impatient. As it turned out, we had walked past our target once already and simply failed to notice; I had actually never seen a mountain pass before. The only mountain I had been near was off on its own and we had simply climbed over it. The gap was, as we discovered, significantly smaller in scale than the range itself, appearing almost tiny in comparison to the towering rock spurs, despite it being wide enough to drive a palace through. It turns out that perception and scale can fool anybody, even if you¡¯re born into things being larger than life. By the time we had made it over the colossal mountain range, two months had passed since we left Ouhl and both Darina and Toria had completed the integration of their Exemplars. While they and Riffa were only just starting the long journey towards Pinnacle, it still did not feel great to once again be the weakest person in the group; I knew I was not weak, I was many times faster than my companions. But their endurance, strength and toughness were rising along with their speed, and as fast as I was, I was otherwise behind in every way. At the peak of the pass, looking out over the world beyond, I saw what looked to be an ocean in the distance, its waters stretching over the horizon. I looked for a bay to find the city we were looking for, but at that distance it was difficult for me to make out any details. ¡°With some surety, I think I see a city; there are regularities in the geometry that would not be present in nature.¡± I looked up at Reff who was shading his eyes against the sun and staring off towards the ocean; I looked again, straining my eyes but could not see what he apparently did. I almost asked him if risi had better eyesight than humans, but remembered at the last moment that I was no-longer human. ¡°You have better eyes than me, Mountain¡¯s Anger.¡± ¡°With modest dismissal, your eyes will improve as you build your Foundation, Toria. Risi eyes are no better than human, I am simply further along in my cultivation.¡± I grinned mentally at having my question answered, though the reminder about our relative stages was vaguely irritating. That irritation was not something I wanted to dwell on, however; I knew it was a combination of factors making me irritable and did not want to let it affect me. I watched as the others set off down the mountain, taking a deep breath, wondering what we would find waiting for us in Cresent Bay. * *** * The city of Crescent Bay seemed to be less of a city and more a series of large villages laid on in a grid pattern, when we arrived. Around its edge ran a strip of perfectly level stones, on which various designs were etched. This cordon of flat stone even ran along the water¡¯s edge, jutting out regularly like spokes to form piers. As we crossed the stones, I half expected a ward to spring up, but nothing happened and we left the curiosity behind. As we passed along the arrow straight roads which delineated the city, the citizens would stop and give us hard looks, though none chose to try to stop us. I wondered if the city had been attacked, like Ouhl, though I thought there was unlikely to be another pool of blood here, so far from the last. Of course, it was perfectly possible that the residents were naturally suspicious, like those of the village at which we had gained directions. But something in their looks indicated something deeper, to me. Unlike other cities I had visited, there were no grand buildings or edifices, just simple low huts that rose no more than a single level from the ground, and while the wood was no doubt many times stronger than a similar material on Earth, I had to wonder how they dealt with beast attacks and such, with no wall and relatively flimsy buildings. We were looking for somewhere that suggested skyships; we had been looking above the city but had seen no evidence of them in our approach, and so were heading to the water to see if any of them looked to be other than normal water-based ships. It made sense that if they did fly from that place, they might sit in the water, rather than the air when not in use. Upon reaching the lapping edge of the ocean, I discovered that while the city did seem to be built around a bay, it was not a crescent in any way, but rather appeared to be a man-made, rectangular cut-out in the land.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Are we sure this is Crescent Bay? Looks more like a box-shape to me.¡± ¡°This do be Crescent Bay, lad. The Crescent be the water, this be the bay.¡± The voice came from behind us, rough, dry and creaking with age. Turning, I saw an old man with a white beard tucked behind a wide belt, dressed in dark blue and leaning on a hooked spear more than twice as tall as he was. He looked to be in his nineties, face deeply lined, rough and ruddy, though he was not bowed by the weight of whatever years he carried. ¡°The ocean is called the Crescent? And this is Crescent Bay? Is there only the one bay, or is this one special?¡± ¡°Ocean? The Crescent be no ocean, lad. A lake, it do be. And this be the only bay along its long edge, as it be the only bay set deep enough to not be attracting the Deep Fish.¡± ¡°A lake?!¡± I thought back to the massive body of water I had seen from the mountains and the way it had rolled out and over the horizon; no matter where I went or what I saw, my new home kept surprising me. The old man was frowning at me, the action deepening the creases of his face to resemble tiny canyons. I wondered how old he must be, and what stage, to form such lines. It was my understanding that a Pinnacle stage was basically immortal, and a Foundation stage could expect to live for tens of thousands of years. I almost asked, but had no idea how polite it was. ¡°A lake it do be, Lad. What do be bring ye all to Crescent Bay? If¡¯n ye be about to cause mischief, be warned that ¡®t¡¯would be unwise, it do be so.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to cause trouble, just looking for a skyship to take us south.¡± ¡°There be no skyships in Crescent Bay, lad. We sail the waters, not the air.¡± I cursed under my breath and felt the frustration inside of me surge; the delays reaching the city, more than a month of travel for nothing. Jorl might have already returned to Ouhl for I knew, and rather than being there waiting, we had headed off to a random port city on a random hope, just because it was relatively nearby. ¡°With piqued curiosity, I did not see any ships; you say you sail the water, to there must be ships. Are you a fishing community?¡± ¡°You also mentioned mischief, elder. Have you had any trouble recently? And strange attacks?¡± ¡°With particular interest, is there an inn in town where we might take a bath?¡± The old man looked startled by the barrage of questions from Reff, Darina and Rifa, blinking rapidly before frowning hard at us. ¡°And is there an alchemist in town?¡± I could not help adding the last, though it seemed to attract the majority of the elder¡¯s ire. ¡°Bah, alchemist ye ask? Void blasted Alchemist did up and leave us high and dry a week ago, something about a war, he did say. We have no business in war, do Crescent Bay. Fools and madmen, it do be for.¡± I saw Darina turn to me with a grin forming on her face, but before she could unleash whatever barb she had thought of the craggy faced man spoke again, a trace of a sigh in his voice. ¡°The boats do be out, but they do not be fishing, giant. They do search for moon lotus. No one do be fool enough to attack Crescent Bay, girl. No weakling tackles the depths for moon lotus, and so we do be having no weaklings. And there do be an inn, with a bath. The Settelite. It be over there.¡± The man answered my friend questions in order, irritation clear on his face, and finishing up by pointing one gnarled but solid looking finger behind and to the left of us, indicating a building with a white roof and a balcony all around its edge. Noting the location in my mind, I turned back to thank him but he was already walking away, long, hooked spear booming on the wooden slats of the promenade as he walked with none of the frailty I would normally expect from somebody of his apparent age. ¡°That guy is old. The only other actual old-looking person I¡¯ve met was Ben Won Ro in Everwood City.¡± ¡°It usually means they met a bottleneck at an early stage of cultivation, before breaking through. He¡¯s probably at least Foundation stage, looking at his spear.¡± At Toria¡¯s mention of the spear, I looked at its departing form in confusion for a moment, before noting the deep blue metal of the blade, which indicated that it was about as heavy as the sword Aella had taken from the bandit... the one I could not actually hold. I nodded once, though my mind wandered to what else she had said, about meeting a bottleneck for long enough to become old, before breaking through. At the Path stage, I had a long, long life ahead of me and it would probably take thousands of years for me to get to the same appearance as the spearman. I shuddered a little at spending that long without making progress, and promised myself that I would double-down on my efforts to make it past the eighty-percent mark. The five of us made our way to the indicated building, which was substantially larger than the ones surrounding it, but still made entirely of wood. It was painted whited, with what looked like a blue roof. Entering, we found a common room that seemed to take up the entire bottom floor, with a long bar that stretched the entire distance and backed by thousands of glass bottles and wooden kegs. Behind the bar was the first fully-fat person I had ever seen on that world, wearing a white apron and rubbing away at huge, clear glasses with a white cloth. The bartender, or innkeeper, looked up at us from under bushy eyebrows as we crossed the common room, weaving between tables and chairs. We had not quite reached the bar when he spoke, his voice almost as rough as the old man outside. ¡°It do be fifty per night, per room. Bath included; booze be not.¡± I blinked at the cost; it was significantly less expensive than the City¡¯s Edge had been, which immediately put me in a better mood. Without a word, I pulled two-hundred and fifty¡¯s worth of coins from storage and slapped them down on the counter, before looking at my friends. ¡°One of you can pay the next inn, or the next night. Whatever.¡± The coins were carefully counted by the barkeep, and we were handed five keys. I was just about to ask about drinks when an incredibly loud bell began to ring outside, almost making me cover my ears, though I could tell from the echoes that it was not nearby. Looking at the barkeep in question, he simply sighed in a half-growl and reached under the counter to pull out a short, broad-bladed spear, which he tucked into his belt before pulling a bottle off a shelf behind him and pouring a large glass of purple liquid. Chapter 159 - Hit The Lights The bell, as loud as it was, did not seem to be a big deal, judging by the innkeeper¡¯s reaction, but I was so on edge that I Focused, stepping onto my Path and was out of the room while my friends were still stood frozen, the sound of the bell stretching out and attenuating into one long whooom. Outside, I looked around for any sign of trouble, head swivelling about until I spotted a vast wall of fog that seemed to stretch into space, a solid line of pale grey over the waters of the Crescent. I ran around the corner of the building, looking out over the ocean-sized lake and saw ships surging ahead of the wall, hundreds of them looking tiny in comparison to the edifice of mist. Not knowing what it meant, I looked around again, this time for somebody to ask; I saw a hundred men and women in mid-run, each heading to the docks at a fraction of my speed, though among them one or two moved faster, and the old man we had met was actually already there, spear stabbed down between two planks as he gathered hooked ropes from crates. Rushing over to him, I earned myself a quick glance and the raising of one bushy eyebrow; stopping next to him I cut the power to my Focus and Path and let the world rush back into motion so that I could speak to him without sounding like an accelerated chipmunk on helium. ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± The old man looked at me, not pausing in his suddenly blindingly fast gathering, but when he spoke his voice almost sounded bored. ¡°It do be the mist. Ships be coming back to port to be avoiding the Wraith Fish, they do be.¡± As he spoke, the others that had been running showed up around us, grabbing ropes as their own and dashing off to man the many jutting stone fingers that made up the port. ¡°I have no idea what any of that means other than mist, and ships coming back. Why the bell?¡± ¡°We do be having to get the ships back inside the boundry before the mist do cover the city, if we want to keep the ships, least ways.¡± With a shrug, still not really certain what was about to happen, I began to pull out a rope of my own from one of the many waxed crates, even as my companions ran in around us, querying looks on their faces. ¡°Apparently, the giant wall of fog is bad, and we¡¯re going to use these ropes on the ships.¡± The four of them gave slow nods and began to do as I was, until we each held ropes in each hand, and several hung about our shoulders in imitation of the old man who merely rolled his eyes at us. Moments passed as the ships approached the rectangular bay, and I saw the first slow to a halt at its mouth. Ropes were thrown from the nearest pier, and the people manning it began to haul the ship into place, as roped were thrown to the one behind it, and so on, the people moving between piers with their excess ropes until they were out, and then the next group taking over. When it was our turn, I threw my hooked rope and hauled away at the massive ship, its grey bulk dragged through the water as our group strained with the combined might of thousands. We brought the ships in quickly, astonishingly so by my own limited standards, though it seemed mostly unnecessary; the endless bulk of vapor from which the ships had fled seemed to be almost stood still the entire time we worked, expanding only at its extremes. That is, until it finally reached us, just after the last ship was pulled into the bay. The final approach was sudden, as if the thing was simply too large for speed to be a factor; one moment the sky was coated in dull clouds, a fine drizzle in the air, and in the next the world was grey and muffled, sparks of bright yellow crackling along the edge of the city, along the stones we had seen when entering. I could look up into the all-encompassing fog and saw things moving in it, undulating and flexing as if in water, though only ever half-seen. It was dark inside the city then, despite the relatively bright looking fog, until lights began to glow softly along the streets and inside buildings, and of course the momentary, flickering light of whatever wards kept the mist outside. ¡°So, I take it these Wraith Fish are bad news then?¡± ¡°That they be, lad. That they do be. One¡¯ll strip a Core stage to bone in a second, and there be enough in the mist to do the same to even a Pinnacle, should they be caught outside.¡± ¡°... People really like building cities in some weird, dangerous places here.¡± I turned to Reff, who was watching the shadows which moved in the light of the wards.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Are the blacksands home to some ancient, inscrutable evil?¡± I turned to Darina, ¡°And the Sha Forest, what murdery thing lives there?¡± ¡°With vague confusion, the blacksands are populated by a great many sand sharks, like the one we encountered, Hunter.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, the thing that ate me. I guess that counts.¡± I saw Darina about to open her mouth, a wry smile on her face, but I interrupted her, recalling my time in the Sha Forest. ¡°And yeah, I guess there were lots of thing''s intent on our gruesome death in the Sha Forest too.¡± With a sigh, I turned back to the old man to ask when the mist would pass, since it seemed to be a fairly regular occurrence, but he had already vanished as I had been speaking to my friends. ¡°You know... Hunter... just because you can move quickly, does not mean you should. You could have waited for us to leave the inn with you.¡± Looking at Toria, Iresisted the urge to defend myself; the irritation at all the delays - compounded now by the murder-mist ¨C was eating away at what calm I had, but that was not her fault. ¡°Sorry, Toria. I¡¯ve been kind of on edge, as sure you all noticed. I heard the bell and just... reacted. I know something is going on as we speak, but we¡¯re stranded far from... everywhere. And now we¡¯re trapped in this city for who knows how long. I guess I wondered for a second if it was happening here, so I could be involved. Help.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve all been feeling tense... Hunter. None of us want the Risen Throne doing any damage we can prevent.¡± ¡°Toria is right, fool. We¡¯re just invested as you are, if not more so. They attacked some of our homes, remember.¡± I nodded, slightly guilty, and looked down at the wood-boarded ground; I had started to go off on my own more, though not doing that was difficult, since I was considerably faster than they were. But as I had found out more than once, there were people out there that speed could not beat, and as fast as I was, there was bound to be somebody faster somewhere. The world is wide, after all, and time is deep. Or so they tell me. ¡°With calm understanding, perhaps we could go back to our inn, and ask the innkeeper how long this phenomenon might last?¡± ¡°With considered agreement, that is a good idea, sister.¡± I watched for a moment as people walked off the ships we had helped pull in; men and women carrying boxes and nets, a pale white glow peeking out from cracks and gaps. I wondered what the moon lotus did that would make living there worth the weather, but figured that if we were going to be trapped there for a time, there would be plenty of time to ask. * *** * ¡°Six months?!¡± My voice was louder than I had expected it to be, but I was truly shocked in that moment and not quite in control of myself. We had been traveling for the better part of two months at that point, in the hope of finding a way to get back home in a period that was measured in less than years, but there we were, trapped inside a bubble of slaughter-fog, for a minimum of six months according to our innkeeper. ¡°That be the minimum, it do be. Lasted for the better part of two years, once, if I recall right. And I do.¡± I looked around at my friends, who seemed as shocked at the given time-frame as I was; it had even elicited raised eyebrows and partially opened mouths from the risi, which was their equivalent of a scream of surprise. ¡°And there¡¯s no way out? We can¡¯t... dig through the ground or, turn a boat up-side-down or something?¡± ¡°Been a while since we tried those things, I admit, but they were tried. Dig underground, and the mist be waiting for you, out beyond the barrier it do. And they cut right through wood or metal; nasty be they.¡± ¡°What about abilities? How do the fish like... fire? Or lightning?¡± ¡°Saw a man covered in fire venture out, once. Never saw him again, he might have got out, that be true. I don¡¯t know ¡®bout the rest.¡± ¡°... Thanks.¡± The five of us moved away, taking seats around a table; the common room was starting to will as those that had been out on the water filtered into the inn ¨C and I assumed other alehouses ¨C to fill their time, since they were unable to go back out. In one corner, on a slightly raises stage, a woman pulled out some long, stringed instrument and laid it across her lap and back to play it like a horizontal harp of some kind. The rumble of conversation picked up, and I spotted several groups playing dice, or cards. ¡°We need to get out, or at least try.¡± ¡°With partial agreement, it would be better if we could find a way to leave, in the absence of a skyship, Hunter. But we can help nobody if we are dead.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we can get out, Reff. Darina can heal through almost anything, Toria and I are fast ¨C and Toria can probably make a cage to keep them out if she needs to. You have your lava armour and Riffa - Riffa, can you make one big puppet and like... hide inside it?¡± ¡°With subtle distaste, I can create a single large sculpture, in which I can perhaps fit, but such seems wasteful of my Path. I can see how it might be useful in this instance, however.¡± ¡°Okay, so we have a plan. I think I should try first, I can move as fast as a Pinnacle, if I can borrow some Veritas...? Or faster if that old man¡¯ll let me punch him... seems unlikely though.¡± I said the last very quietly, not wanting to be overheard; taking Experience directly from a person was considered impossible and I did not want to advertise my capacity. Vampires, as few as they apparently were, could take energy, but only that which lingered in the blood after they consumed it. And of course, The Shadow Faced guy seemed more than capable of it. I hoped my ability was not related to his, but if it was, I would take any advantage I could get in taking him out. At my words, both Toria and Darina crossed their arms, giving me withering looks; they had both just got done telling me to stop leaving them behind and there I was offering to do it again. But at least that time, I had a fairly solid reason. ¡°With marginal hesitation, you may take some of mine, Hunter. I am still attempting to build my Foundation, but this may be worth the loss, provided it is not too heavy a drain.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t actually know how much it uses, uh, hopefully not a lot? They can¡¯t be that fast, they¡¯re flying fish, maybe I can even outrun them without?¡± ¡°Were you not listening when that old man said they have taken out a Pinnacle before, fool?¡± ¡°Right. Cheating it is then!¡± Chapter 160 - Whiplash Veritas burned into my energy system, spinning through my Core and Exemplar as I Focused and stepped onto my Path, grinding the world to stone around me. Through experimentation, we had discovered that my most recent ability required an actual attack; I could not simply lay my hand on a person and siphon off their energy, it had to have the intent to harm. Which had made things difficult, as I did not ¨C in any way ¨C want to Hurt Reff, or my other friends. Well, other than Darina, on occasion. But even then, not really. We had however found a work around; if I did not use my Focus or Path and simply punched Reff as a normal Path ¨C which was the same as Core, or fifty humans ¨C then I could qualify for the effect without actually hurting him much at all, since he was at that point more than twice as tough as I was strong. The amount taken was surprisingly minimal, totalling about five percent of his reserve, which while still a blow to his progress, was not catastrophic; we would however not be using it often. Five percent of his total still represented days of effort, as Veritas was the third stage of Experience; Experience into Praxis, Praxis into Veritas. Praxis seemed to be about five times as dense as Experience, and Veritas five times that, though the effects were more pronounced than the physical amount would suggest. Until Reff completed his Foundation, he would need to convert Praxis to Veritas manually, much as I had to convert Experience to Praxis before my Core was completed. I was not looking forward to that necessity. Taking a deep breath, I tried to gauge how fast I was at full power since my Exemplar hit eighty-percent, but things other than me moved so slowly at that point that it was almost impossible to test using falling objects as I had before. I guessed I was somewhere around peak Pinnacle, meaning that outside of Stage and Pinnacle level speedsters, I was as fast as anyone in the world, in that moment. Grinning, I dashed into the mist, my lightning held tight within the grip of my will and my aura held close around me like a mantle. Instinctive Precognition signalled a faint warning right away, just a vague sensation that warned of distant danger as the world turned grey around me. Light diffused oddly inside the opaque environment and I was barely a dozen strides into the fog, moving at full speed when the first Wraith Fish began to appear around me, barely visible in the pale light and barely even half-visible themselves against it. They looked more like some sort of eel crossed with a shark than what I had been expecting, which was big piranhas. The Wraith Fish faded into partial view from nowhere, and while I expected them to be slow, they were surprisingly fast, moving about as quick as a peak Foundation stage if I had to guess. They should have been no match for the speed with which I moved, but even as I dismissed them, Instinctive Precognition had me diving to the ground and redirecting my momentum with a blow to the ground, spinning up and under a fish that had appeared right where my head would have been, jagged mouth open wide and snapping. More and more were appearing, first in my line of sight to distract me, and then where my limbs and body fell, mouths already gaping open in anticipation. Suddenly, my forward momentum dropped to a crawl as I was forced to dodge, duck, dip dive and dodge my way around the oppressively omnipresent fish, spinning out of yawning, tooth-filled traps and contorting my body is a hundred different ways to stay ahead of their apparent teleportation. I had been told that teleportation was considered impossible by the locals, but I had my serious doubts when facing off against those fish. There seemed to be an infinite supply of them, as I could still see the ones I had avoided hanging in place, marking my crazy, wheeling path, though the first I had come across seemed to be fading. Turning my attention inwards, I tried to tell how much of the stolen Veritas I had left, but short of following each of my many, many, many channels, I had no way of determining that fact; when I was using Praxis, I could feel my Core thrumming harder to produce the stuff, but it did not create Veritas and gave no explicit reaction to its usage. Having no idea how far the mist ran, and knowing that moving through carrying others would be effectively impossible, since I could react to danger to myself but not to others, I began to direct my frenetic dodging back towards the direction I had come. Thankfully, I had the long line of frozen fish to point me in the right direction, as otherwise I may have found myself hopelessly lost in in the confusing sameness of the fog. I felt like a long time to me, but in non-relative time I probably spent less than half a second inside the vaporous barrier, bursting out of the thick grey into the open suddenly, with no lessening of the cloud¡¯s density. Turning back to face it, I watched as hundreds of the blank, vicious faces appeared along its edge, along with the yellow sparks that seemed to keep them out, which trailed lazily from point to point, tracing an organic seeming swirling pattern. With a grimace, I cut the power to my Focus and Exemplar, a strange heat making itself felt on my skin; looking at my hands, I noticed a faint light begin to leak out of me. Staring in fascination, I realised that this was the stolen Veritas; it seemed like stealing it from enemies and storing it up over time was not an option.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°In curious observation, you did not make it out of the fog, I take it, Hunter? You also appear to be glowing, which seems like an odd side effect.¡± Looing away from the light escaping my hands, I looked at Reff with a rueful smile and shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t know how much juice I had, and the fish are... there are a lot of fish, and they seem able to teleport. I think that rules out me, Toria and Dee. A cage won¡¯t help and I was only able to dodge due to... advanced warning. I don¡¯t think regeneration would work either, they seem pretty swarmy; it depends on how much you can heal, Dee, I guess.¡± Toria just nodded, accepting what I said but Darina looked like I had affronted her in some way I was unable to identify. ¡°If I can heal a broken neck, I¡¯m pretty sure I can survive a fish, Hunter.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it, but can you survive, like, fifteen of them biting different parts of you, including your head, at the same time?¡± ¡°There¡¯s only one way to find out, I¡¯ll-¡± ¡°In pointed interruption, what of the glowing, Hunter?¡± ¡°Hey, I was-¡± I spoke over the healer; she was just headstrong enough to try and I did not want her getting seriously hurt ¨C or dead ¨C over such a stupid thing. When we had met, she had been all offence, no defence and while she had learned caution since, she still had a tendency to think she could simply heal out of anything. But while she had healed a broken neck ¨C more than once ¨C I was not certain how she would do without a brain. ¡°I think that¡¯s the Veritas escaping. Looks like it just... exits my system if I¡¯m not actively using it. Seems like a waste, sorry Reff.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going I-¡± ¡°With casual dismissal, it is fine, Hunter. It was worth the experiment, to know how it functions, even if it does not provide us with a means of exiting the city.¡± ¡°With scolding certitude, you should not attempt the mist, Darina. While I have every faith in your ability to regenerate, if something does happen from which you cannot recover, it would be wasteful, as even if you do make it, you would be unable to take us with you.¡± Riffa¡¯s words finally made Darina stop; she folded her arms with a sharp nod, her reddened face returning to its normally pale hue. ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°It seems like nobody in the city can leave, Ever Flowing. Don¡¯t feel bad.¡± ¡°Toria''s right, Dee. There¡¯s no shame in not escaping the inescapable.¡± ¡°Do not call me Dee, idiot. I might not be able to catch you, but I know where you sleep.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t see the irony at all, huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you some irony, you slack-jawed-¡± ¡°In continued interruption, do you think my sister or I would fare better in the mist, Hunter?¡± Deliberately ignoring Darina, who continued to insult me under her breath in frustration, I looked back at the mist surrounding the city and worked my mouth from side to side as I considered the question. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Reff. They seemed about peak Foundation level, but beasts short of Pinnacle don¡¯t actively use their energy to block, right? So, you might be able to make it. The same with your sand, Riffa. But, it¡¯s not sure it¡¯s worth the risk of death. Maybe try just a hand? It would still suck to lose, but not as much as... your life.¡± ¡°... Hunter, why did you not use your lightning, would that not have provided the same function?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Toria. My normal lightning would probably interact in a non-fun way with the mist; my red lightning might work, but there¡¯s a lot of them. I could try again, but I¡¯d need another boost. They¡¯re not as fast as I am even at normal speeds, but they¡¯d be a lot closer, and their numbers might make it impossible to dodge if it doesn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°With grim certainty, I will try. If I lose my hand, it will not limit my fighting, as I can reform it from stone or lava. You ¨C we all ¨C should take no unnecessary risks.¡± ¡°With echoing agreement, I will also try. I too can default to my sculptures to fight, should I be damaged.¡± ¡°With simple denial, you will not, sister. I will take this risk; it is my responsibility as the elder. And our brother would break me across his knee if I allowed you to be harmed recklessly.¡± ¡°In casual dismissal, brother would not harm you over a hand. And besides you are not my superior, just my brother. I will do as I please, and as I stated.¡± ¡°With growing anger, you will not, Riffa, even if I have to subdue you.¡± ¡°With prideful irritation, you would not dare brother! I would never forgive you.¡± ¡°With-¡± ¡°Guys! Riffa can just send in a sand-clone, or extend a big sand arm in there. She doesn¡¯t have to risk anything. Relax.¡± The two risi looked at me for a moment, Reff looking irritated and Riffa serene despite her words. It had been a while since I had seen the two bicker, and it was normally pretty cute, but as irritated as I was with the whole situation, I did not want to let it get too out of hand. After several moments, I received a nod from each of them before Reff assumed his normal-sized molten form, and Riffa formed both a sand clone and a set of her own armour formed of the same black sand as her homeland. Hers was suspiciously small for a person who was not actually going to physically place her own flesh arm into danger, but I did not say anything. She was an adult, and if she had not been dissuaded, she was unlikely to be, and I did not want Reff to actually attempt to restrain her. I watched as the two of them stepped up to the wall and press their hands, just shy of the wrist into it, the sand puppet stepping bodily inside. Barely an instant passed before the both of them yanked their hands free, Reff with a muted roar of pain. I did not see any blood, but I still rushed over, even as their sets of armour deformed and flowed into storage. ¡°What happened? Are you okay?!¡± As I was not using my cultivation, Darina ¨C now a Foundation stage ¨C beat me to them, but as I arrived, I saw Reff¡¯s hand covered in serious burns, the flesh blackened and red. ¡°With some agony, it appears as though the Wraith Fish are capable of eating the Experience from constructs. I lost control of the lava in the armour coving my hand.¡± I watched as Darina began to work at healing the damage, Riffa hovering worriedly by her brother¡¯s shoulder and Toria staring at the mist, a look of contemplation on her face. It looked like we were stuck. Chapter 161 - The Wait Standing on a stone pier, I looked out over the small patch of clear water inside the harbour''s mouth at the impenetrable wall of mist beyond. In the month since we had attempted our ill-fated escape through the barrier''s grey depths, and despite being told it was impossible and the man''s bemused glances, I had attempted to dig out, swim out and had spent one stir-crazy afternoon in my room just saying Xiournal¡¯s name over and over again. None of these attempts had been successful, and the swimming had very nearly killed me, as it turned out moving at super-speeds is significantly more difficult under water. Luckily, my time abilities were not actually related to speed, and so it had not been significantly impacted. It had caused some very strange behaviour in the water, including flashes of intense brightness and heat, as well as shockwaves. If I had been any less sturdy, just the swim may have killed me, never mind the Wraith Fish. With a sigh, I went back to my glacial practice, my sword grinding through the air at a speed that was barely perceptible, ingraining the precise movements of muscle and steel into my body. The sword practice might not be particularly useful to me, as it seemed like I could either cover myself or the sword with my time aura, but I was bored. I had hoped, after my experience with the dragon back in Ouhl that I would simply be able to extend my time spikes over the blade and become a living blender, but it seemed that the spikes themselves lagged behind slightly when I was in motion, resulting in the destruction of my second to last sword. It was fine if I just wanted to uselessly swipe my spikes through a person, but to actually make use of them, it appeared that I needed to keep them pretty steady. It was an irritating limitation, but I could hardly complain given the capacity that my control of time otherwise granted me. I had also tried with the chain, which actually had not broken when practising; it had caused the length to spin in odd directions and at strange angles and I had almost killed myself several times, and had successfully captured myself many times more as the metallic length wrapped around me. It was something that I might be able to overcome with practice, but I was not sure the chain was for me; images of wrapping it around people and allowing my lightning to flow along its length to zap them had filled my head when I had first started practicing, but... I did not appear to be talented with it. At all. But I kept practising, every day; sword, chain, unarmed, spar. Repeat. I was so bored. This was the longest period I had spent in any one place since my arrival on the Aspirant Plane, other than my brief foray to the dead world, and that at least had the experiments and invasions to keep me going, and I had still become restless after a month. In Cresent Bay, there was practice and... that was it really. The locals, well used to the phenomenon, had simply settled in to repair buildings, ships, ropes and nets. They also drank. A lot. I had no idea where they were getting all the alcohol, there had to be truly massive stories somewhere, given how much they were drinking every night and I wondered what it was made of. It tasted vaguely herbal, and felt about as strong as vodka, which was saying a lot given the heights at which my constitution rested. The abundant, strangely powerful booze had helped while away a day or two, but the novelty had quickly worn off; it turns out trying to control lightning as it roiled about your system, while moving about at hyper-sonic speeds and propelled by the powers of time itself was pretty difficult without full control of your faculties, which had resulted in me having to assist with ¨C and pay for ¨C several repairs. The one bright side of our being trapped in the town was that the innkeeper had given us the rooms for free until the mist cleared; apparently, he did not see it as moral to force people to pay when they were being forced to stay in a location against their will. I felt it very decent of him, and tried to picture Loneth giving away rooms for free, but then remembered that she had charged us for storing unconscious people in her common room... Reff and Riffa seemed to be handling the delay and imprisonment better than the rest of us; they were considerably older and of a significantly more patient people. They spent their time cultivating, reading and discussing philosophy, which was actually pretty interesting a lot of time, but I needed to be doing things. I had spent very little time doing nothing since my arrival, and it seemed my mind had adapted to the constant activity. I knew that the long road to Ascension was going to be filled with periods of inactivity, and it was something I was going to need to get used to, but not then, when I knew things were afoot in the world that I needed to be helping with. Darina was ¨C if anything ¨C even more impatient than I was, training constantly, alternating between one-on-one spars with each of us and anybody in town who would take her up on it. Most of the city had given up on that, but there were quite a few frequently-drunk-sailors that did not mind the odd fight, and it filled most of her time. Toria was somewhere between myself and the risi, used to long travel in Chian¡¯s golden, wheeled palace. Even so, just like myself, she knew there were things happening in the wider world, as well as the usual injustices, and she hated at least not moving in their direction.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. With a sigh, I completed my last sword form and slipped the sharp length of metal into storage, going looking for somebody to spar with. * *** * Sitting on a low wooden fence, I watched as Reff and Riffa squared off against Toria and Darina, their stances low, their profiles minimized and their gazes loosely focused on each other¡¯s centres. I had found the four of them already in their fourth bout of the day, and had asked to take part, but unfortunately it seemed that my super-speed was not particularly conducive to training. Even at my normal pace, I was more than twice as fast as any of them, and I only drew roughly level if I did not use my Path at all. So, it was a case of either not being good practice for them, or for me. They had conceded that our one-on-one sparring was still useful, in case they met faster opponents, but when they were practicing as a group, I was mostly just a distraction, at that point. With a sigh, I refocused on the fight, tapping my Path to make it easier to observe it; I may have been faster when using my powers, but they all had a higher baseline than I did, to the point that they were each twice as fast as I was. Time slowed around me and I watched as the four fought, their two sides vying for advantage; they made good opponents for each other. Reff and Darina cancelled out a lot of each other''s advantages, as did Toria and Riffa, but without overwhelming them completely. Several subjective minutes crept by as I took them in, trying to glean insights from the battle, but our abilities meant that we simply fought too differently. Groaning, still bored and growing more so, I stood up from the fence and wandered off with the vague plan of examining the various artificial limbs I still had on me for new ideas about paths, but mentally waved the idea away. It would just be speculation, I knew, without a method of testing. And I had no desire to go through that particular experience again, especially without the benefit of a handy immortality potion. Slumping, I stared up at the dark grey dome as I paused between two buildings, their painted wooden exteriors drab and subdued in the shadows cast by the distant artificial lights. Frustration and boredom boiled against each other inside of me, one hot and tense and the other cold and flat. I felt like I was frozen there, in that city, unable to progress. I could not look for a way south, I could not escape and I had been singularly unable to make any progress in my cultivation in the month we had spent trapped. The world ¨C and my friends ¨C were passing me by. Realising that my Path was still active, I stepped off it with a subdued smile; everything else might have sucked pretty hard for me, but I had still progressed enough that I could casually forget I was using my powers without draining myself dry in a matter of minutes. That was something, right? ¡°You do be okay, lad? You¡¯ve been stood like a statue for a hefty slice of an hour, that you do have been.¡± I looked around for the source of the voice, finding the old man we had met on our first day in Crescent Bay a short distance away, leaning on his long, hooked spear, the crags and lines that made up his face cast in darkness, lending him an almost sinister look. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s been that long though.¡± Not with my abilities; in my past life I would often find myself losing hours, lost in thought, but it was not something I had succumb to since my life re-started, and certainly not with my time powers active; it would take me subjective hours of standing about to seem like I was from the outside. ¡°Old I may be, lad, but that just means I¡¯ve seen more time¡¯n you. I know what an hour looks and feels like, and I be telling you how long you¡¯ve stood there, that I do be.¡± The old man¡¯s voice sounded mildly offended, though his face did not appear to change, though that may have been a simple trick of the light. I was not going to argue with him though; even as frustrated as I was, I knew he was almost certainly a Pinnacle stage, and if I could not hit him, I could not leach his energy. Which meant I would lose. Also, it was not like he had said anything offensive. Mentally shaking my head, contemplating that my first reaction was not arguing due to my inevitable loss, rather than because there was nothing to argue about, took a steadying breath before speaking again. ¡°Right. Sorry, I guess I was lost in my own thoughts. I¡¯m fine, really. Just eager to leave; we¡¯re trying to get south as quickly as possible. That¡¯s why we were looking for a skyship.¡± ¡°Worry not, lad. And aye, I be knowing what it be like to crave an exit to this cage, that I do be. Old I be now, but once I was as young as you. Not an easy thing to stay still when the world do be out there, waiting for you to experience it. I travelled the length of the world, met Apexes and saw ascensions. Seen all manner of oddities. But it be but a short time, in the grand scheme of such things. You¡¯ll be out and causing trouble before you know it, that you will be.¡± I found the old man¡¯s words oddly comforting and offered him a nod, which he returned with a wide, lined smile before vanishing in silence. I wondered which Apexes he had met, my mind going to the vaguely naval looking woman I could not quite recall the name of. Still, comfort was good, and I knew he was right, that it would be over in an effective eyeblink, given my new and increasing lifespan, but that did not change the fact that I was bored. Chapter 162 - Bleeding Me Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter 163 - Bleeding Me This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.