The next morning, Garnet rushed over to Akiza's room under the tower. Akiza was meditating in the water this time. She was sitting nearly completely submerged in water. On her little island was a small cup filled with tea along with a few cookies on a white and blue porcelain plate. Her red hair floated on the surface of the water. All of the colors in the pool were divided into sectioned off into different areas and slowly entering Akiza's body at different rates.
As Garnet looked closely into the water, she saw that there were various stones, bones, leaves, and other objects in the pool of water. Akiza was absorbing the energy of the pool of water into herself. The power that was being generated by the water most likely came from those objects.
"What did you need?" Akiza asked.
"Answers," said Garnet.
Akiza stepped out of the pool and onto the island. "Phoenix Wings!" The burst of heat instantly dried her clothes. She approached Garnet. "I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities," she said.
"I want to know about you," said Garnet. "What do you have against the Golden Dragon Clan?"
"The Golden Dragon was a friend," said Akiza. "They sealed him when I let their clan roam free," she said angrily. "And I will take him back."
"Friend? You befriended a spirit?" Garnet asked.
"I didn't have many friends or a family growing up," said Akiza. "In reality, I only had one friend and a few Masters who taught me. Now, most of them are dead and my spirits are the only ones left around here."
"Why is that?" Garnet asked.
"How long ago was this?" Garnet asked. "The Golden Dragon Clan seems to be an established clan."
"Almost a year," said Akiza. "From what I know, they fed their original Dragon Spirit to my Golden Dragon Spirit and fused it into one of their own disciples in order to prevent it from escaping. That was when they started to attack other clans openly."
"Why doesn't the Emperor or others do anything about it?" Garnet asked.
"Because the Golden Dragon is on a completely different scale," Akiza replied. "Even the Emperor and his retainers do not know how to handle it at the moment. Its power is beyond the spirits that you encounter because it is a spirit that has trained and developed itself like any other fighter you've encountered. The spirit itself though is very old, possibly thousands of years old. Although the Emperor does not want to admit it, the spirit is a match for more than his forces."
"So how do we free it?" Garnet wondered.
"Just make the vessel expend their energy," said Akiza. "Once they run low enough on energy, the Golden Dragon should be able to free itself and find a new host."
"I see," said Garnet. "Thanks, for some reason, my friends don't trust you."
"Of course they don't and you probably shouldn't either," said Akiza. "I'm using you and them to help me get revenge to destroy a rival clan."
Garnet felt like she could trust Akiza, mainly because Akiza was honest about everything that she was doing. She answered her questions and even revealed her intentions. If Akiza said she would betray them, Garnet would probably believe it as well. "Can you help me become stronger?" Garnet asked.
Akiza looked closely at Garnet. "Give me your hand," Akiza.
Garnet put her hand out face up, revealing her palm. Akiza took Garnet's palm into her hand and placed her index and middle finger onto Garnet's wrist. "For someone who only has access to mana and nature energy, you're pretty strong," said Akiza.
"I have access to nature?" said Garnet confused.
"You didn't know?" Akiza asked.
"No," said Garnet. "I thought that I only had access to mana and spirits."
"Spirits reinforce one of the existing types," Akiza explained. "Your multi-elemental magic is most likely a result of long term exposure to spirits or the absorption of different elements into your body."
"I want to awaken my chi, but I can't," said Garnet.
"That's because you probably don't have the calm personality needed to awaken it yourself," said Akiza. "You will only be able to awaken it by force at the current rate."
"Thirty percent of the power is better than none," said Garnet. "But Xiaomei won't do it for me."
"What if I told you there's a way to awaken it to one hundred percent?" said Akiza.
"There is?!?' Garnet was surprised. Forcibly acquiring power usually had downsides. Then again, there were ways to boost your mana without compromising yourself.
"Well, it only works if you trust the person who is trying to awaken it within you," said Akiza. "If you don't trust the person, then you only get a fraction or it might even fail and leave you injured. Afterwards, there is usually a long recovery period."
Garnet checked to make sure that there was no one else coming down yet. "Do it," said Garnet. "I need to be stronger."
"Why do you want power?" Akiza asked.
"Because I have met many enemies that I cannot defeat," Garnet replied. "They nearly killed me the last time we fought and I need to be ready to fight them should they appear again."
"Interesting," said Akiza. "May I know the name of your enemy?"
"I have lots," said Garnet. "Grey Ghosts, Dark Mages, Apollo, Yarik, and Anzio so far, but that's not counting the nobles in the country that hate me."
"I'm hated by many as well," said Akiza. "The Grey Ghosts are a common enemy that we share. That's why I spend most of my time down here."
"So, will you help me?" Garnet asked.
"Alright," said Akiza. "I'll help you, but only if you listen to what I ask you to do. Is that a deal?"
"Yes," Garnet replied. "I'll listen."
"It also depends on whether you trust me or not," Akiza added.
"What do I have to do?" Garnet asked.
Akiza grabbed Garnet's hand. "Follow me," she said.
"When I strike you, drink this, roll into the water, and meditate," said Akiza as she placed the potion on the floor next to Garnet.
Name: Supplement of Fortitude
Quality: High
Effect: HP+10000, Max HP+10000 for 120 minutes, HP Regeneration +500% for 120 minutes.
"This is going to hurt isn't it?" Garnet asked.
"Yes," said Akiza. "And you must lower your Mana Armor to do it."
Akiza recognized Garnet's defensive ability even though she never really took a clean hit. For the first time in forever, Garnet deactivated her defenses. "You really are trusting," said Akiza. "Aren't you afraid I'm going to kill you?"
"I have to for this to work right?" said Garnet. "I also feel no ill intentions from you."
"Or maybe I'm just really good at concealing it," said Akiza as she dashed forward.
Akiza was suddenly in Garnet's face. BANG. Akiza struck Garnet in the stomach. BAM. Then once more about an inch and a half above it. BAM. Once more right next to her heart.
"Ugh!" Garnet vomited blood from the impact and the pain. There was a little, but she only lost about ten percent of her health. However, it also allowed her to breathe more easily for some reason. Compared to how she was breathing before, it felt like some kind of blockage was cleared.
"Quickly, drink the potion," said Akiza.
Garnet drank the potion and tried to roll herself into the water, but she could barely even move. "A little help?" she asked.
Akiza pushed Garnet into the water. Slowly, her health was filled, but she was still being affected by a weakness status effect. "Do not reactivate your defenses until the pain stops," Akiza instructed. "And don't throw up or infect in my pool with your blood otherwise you're cleaning it!"
SPLASH. Garnet sunk into the water as she sat with her back against the water and only her head was above the water. She could feel some of her strength returning as she absorbed some of the water into her body. She closed her eyes so that she could focus on it. She understood now why Akiza closed her eyes when she meditated. It was so that she could feel the flow of energy within her body. The energy that was in the pond flowed through the pores in her body and went into her heart. From there, the heart pumped the energy throughout her body in bursts. Each burst of energy swelled the veins in her body, causing her pain. She started thinking that it was possible that Mana Armor was what was affecting her ability to sense other forms of energy. Since mana was always flowing throughout her body, everything else was blocked off.
Garnet could feel that the mana flowed to a spot just above her stomach and that spot began to push something warm into her heart. This warm sensation was the chi that she was trying to hard to acquire. Slowly, that warm feeling began to ease the pain in her body with each beat of the heart.
"Anyways, you'll still need a spirit that is able to utilize chi before you can use it properly," said Akiza. "Elemental spirits won't help you unless they know how to use it as well."
"Could you tell me more about yourself?" Garnet asked as she tried to divert her focus away from the pain.
"I assume you've heard of the Ancient Graveyard?" Akiza asked.
Garnet remembered it was what many of the schools were after. "Yes, I heard it was what many of the schools are after during the Annual Tournament," she said.
"Do you know what makes it so valuable?" Akiza asked.
"There are tombs of powerful individuals with powerful Artifact Weapons and items that can enhance your strength in there," said Garnet.
"That's partially true," said Akiza. "The land itself is an amalgam of destroyed worlds, formed as fractured and destroyed worlds collided with one another and merged into one, so there are remains of items that were strong enough to survive other worlds."
"What does this have to do with you though?" Garnet asked.
"A long time ago, there was a young boy and a young girl," Akiza continued. "The two of them entered as disciples, hoping to become stronger. Little did they know, the young girl's actions caused someone who hated them immensely to lock them inside a dangerous world as a dense fog and powerful creatures descended upon them."
"What happened to the two of them?" Garnet asked.
"The young boy and girl survived off of the carcasses of monsters until they met an old man who lived alone in that world," said Akiza. "The old man taught and trained the two of them. Little did they know, the young girl's hatred physically manifested, causing her great pain, consuming part of her, and nearly killing her."
"How did they escape then?" Garnet asked.
"They survived for a full year fighting under the old man's protection and tutelage until the path to return was opened once more," said Akiza. "They didn't learn the truth about the land until long after they left."
"What happened to the land?" Garnet asked.
"It became a hiding ground for people when the powerful monsters came through the black star," said Akiza. "For many years, many hid in there, fought, trained, and eventually returned to take back their home from powerful undead creatures."
"Were you that girl in the story?" Garnet asked.
"No," said Akiza. "She was a different person who could not believe in anyone but herself and her one friend."
"Where is the boy now?" Garnet asked.
"Gone," said Akiza. "He's not around here anymore."
"Easy to acquire immortality?" Garnet thought. She had semi-immortality and so did Zedd. There are people who would kill for this information. As Garnet looked at Akiza, she realized that this was a painful memory for Akiza. She stopped talking and just went silent.
Pain was still surging throughout Garnet's body. Every time the liquid from the pond was absorbed into her body, she felt a rush of pain that spread from her stomach to the rest of her body.
"What happened?!?" Zedd shouted. He had jumped down last several flights of stairs.
The others had arrived. "I'm okay," said Garnet. "I just hurt myself a little while training."
"What kind of training were you doing to get yourself hurt so badly?" Zedd asked.
"Flight training," said Garnet. "I was trying to practice flying in a confined space and I took a pretty bad fall, so I drank a potion and sat in this water."
Riley, Xiaomei, and Quinton arrived shortly after. "You don't look so well," said Riley.
"I'm okay," said Garnet as she continued to lay in the water.
They all looked at Akiza suspiciously. "You did this didn't you?!?" Zedd shouted at Akiza.
Akiza did not respond. She did do it after all. "I'll be okay after a while," said Garnet. "Just let me rest here."
"I heard you were attacked yesterday," said Akiza.
"Yes, five men attacked us in two separate groups," said Xiaomei.
"They interrogation team told me that they were mages from the west who were after three of you that they referred to as traitors," said Akiza. "Care to explain?"
"We ran away from a clan that wanted to unite the mages against a group known as the Grey Ghosts," said Quinton. "We were only protecting ourselves."
"Those guys again," Akiza whispered to herself.
"I need you to tell me who you really are," said Zedd. "You know a little too much to be some Master of the Divine Phoenix Clan."
"I suppose you'll tell your fellow disciples everything you've done then Warlord Zedd?" Akiza asked. "Or should I call you the Seeker of Immortality? Maybe the leader of the Hero Worshipping Cult?"
"How do you know those names?!?" said Zedd as he drew his sword. He felt threatened by Akiza's statements.
"A powerful mage from the west matching Zedd's most recent description shows up with disciples and is hunted by the Golden Dragon Clan," said Akiza. "That Zedd is replaced with another, much younger Zedd two days later? Not a coincidence. You're more famous than you think."
"We already know," said Garnet. "He told us why they're after him. If the other clans found out they would be after him as well. As for the rest, let's save those for another day."
Zedd still held onto his sword, still aimed at Akiza. "Stop it Zedd!" Garnet shouted.
"Not unless I know that I can trust her," said Zedd.
"Did you think you were the only one with knowledge of mana?" Akiza asked. BOOM. A massive shockwave was released by Akiza as she released her Intent. Everyone except Zedd already fell to their knees. Even Zedd appeared to be paralyzed. "Do you think I don't know what it's like to be hunted?!?" she shouted at Zedd.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
BOOM. Another shockwave was released. A purple aura of flames surrounded Akiza and formed the silhouette of a phoenix behind her. "You may have been hunted for a few decades, but I have been hunted for centuries!"
Akiza stopped projecting her Intent once more and everyone stood back up. "What was that?" Riley asked weakly. She was still feeling the after effects of Akiza's Intent. Her forehead was dripping with sweat as she tried to wipe it off. Xiaomei and Quinton were in no better shape.
"That was an extremely trained and focused Intent," said Xiaomei. "I never experienced anything like it. I literally could not move no matter how hard I tried."
Garnet was on the opposite side, so she did not experience it at all. It was directed away from her. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.
"Yes," said Zedd as he clapped his hands against his cheeks. He had taken the full blast of the Intent twice head first, yet he was still alright.
"Who are you?" Quinton asked.
"I am Akiza, caretaker of the Divine Phoenix," said Akiza as she released the Divine Phoenix from her body. The Divine Phoenix circled above them.
Zedd was suspicious. Akiza was clearly hiding something from them, but he had nothing to work with. Asking around town did not help because not everyone knew her name despite being the one who manages and controls the Divine Phoenix. The Masters of the Divine Phoenix Clan were unwilling to meet with him and many of the disciples refused to talk about it. Zedd was certain it was out of fear more than respect.
The Divine Phoenix entered the water once more. "Why doesn't it speak to us like the others?" Garnet asked.
"She hasn't deemed any of you as worthy yet," said Akiza. "None of you have proven yourselves to her yet."
New Skill: Shared Resource (MAX)
All skills can be casted using mana as a resource.
Garnet's health was starting to recover, but at a very slow pace from the injury. It was not just an external injury. The forced unlocking of chi likely caused some internal injuries as well. The chi resource also did not appear. It was possible it did not work.
"Until you free her brother, the Golden Dragon, she probably will not speak to you," said Akiza. "Anyways, you're free to meditate here. Just stay off my island, she said as she pointed to the small piece of land in the middle of the lake."
Akiza returned to the island in the middle of the lake. It felt like she rarely left this place. The water in the pool began to move just a little bit as the Divine Phoenix swam around in it, creating small ripples. The water suddenly gained a regenerative effect from the presence of the Divine Phoenix, allowing Garnet to heal up faster despite the abnormal condition.
"What really happened?" Zedd asked as he looked at Garnet.
"It was nothing," Garnet replied. "I was floating my way down when she released a burst of power. She did not know that I was here and I was smacked against a wall before I fell down."
Garnet elaborated a little on what happened, but still lied. She did not want to tell them that Akiza awakened chi and other potential resources by force. After all, there were supposed to be extreme negative consequences. They would blame Akiza for anything that happened to her from this point on. If it was just this pain, the rewards were certainly worth it.
Zedd turned to Akiza. "If we're going to work together, I need to know that you won't betray us," said Zedd.
"I can guarantee you that I won't as long as you don't attack me," Akiza replied.
"That's not good enough," said Zedd. "You are keeping many secrets from us."
"And you're still keeping secrets from your students," Akiza countered. "Have you told them why you were once known as the Lightning Warlord? Do they know about why you have that black stone?"
Zedd was suddenly surprised by this. Garnet rarely saw Zedd like this and for the first time, Zedd showed fear. "How do you know that name?" he asked. "Everyone who knows it should be dead by now."
"History does not die when the people who witnessed it dies," said Akiza. "It is recorded forever in the memories of its people. That's why the Golden Dragon Clan wanted to capture you alive, so you can stand judgment for all the people you've murdered in the name of the Emperor, not because of your knowledge or your abilities."
"Stop it!" Garnet shouted. "We shouldn't be fighting. We're both getting something out of this are we not?"
Zedd stared down Akiza. "I'll stand by your decision, but I still don't trust her."
"You don't have to," said Garnet. "You just have to work together until the Annual Tournament when we can retrieve the Golden Dragon for her. Then, we can earn the power of the Divine Phoenix for ourselves."
Akiza remained calm. She just stared back at Zedd. After a moment, she turned her back to Zedd and sat back down in her meditative stance.
Everyone else just stood back and watched. They did not want to get in a fight between Zedd and Akiza. For now though, it looked like they were willing to work with one another. Xiaomei began to instruct everyone on how to utilize chi again, hoping they would be able to sense it. It was clear that Akiza knew more, but she stayed silent. She did not want to share or help them. Once in a while, Akiza would look at them to see what they were doing.
After spending more time in the pool, Garnet felt well enough to step out of it.
New Skill: Earth Chakra (Level 1, Passive)
10% increase in all stats when activated.
New Skill: High Speed Regeneration (Level 1, Passive)
Recovers 1% of your missing health every 5 seconds
Garnet started to feel her strength returning. There were noticeable improvements, mainly to the efficiency of her magic. Akiza's technique actually worked. Strangely enough though, Garnet did not gain a new resource. Her abilities just improved.
"Are you ready to continue?" Akiza asked.
"Yes," said Garnet.
Akiza placed her hand on the wall and a silver portal appeared. "This is where you will go," she said.
"What is it?" Garnet asked.
"Another world," said Akiza. "A world where numerous people on the path of immortality have trained in an attempt to be stronger. There are powerful creatures and powerful items present. However, I want you to go alone."
"You can't! It's too dangerous!" said Zedd.
"Wait," said Garnet. She wanted to know more first.
"Why alone?" Garnet asked.
"There's a man you have to meet in there," said Akiza. "Like me, he is able to read emotions and your friends aren't exactly friendly people. You will know him because he has short white hair. His name is Serph."
Garnet turned around and looked at the others. They were all focusing on their training, trying to take in the benefits of the rich atmosphere in the Holy Ground in order to increase their strength.
"How will I find this man?" Garnet asked.
"With some luck, he will find you," Akiza replied. "However, he will most likely be in one of the clearings within the Ancient Graveyard. Inside one of those clearings is a small city. If you find fog, you're probably in the wrong place."
"What if I cannot find him?" Garnet asked. "What should I do then?"
"Look for a woman named Himiko," said Akiza. "She wears fairly plain looking clothes and if you see other people, ask them. They will know for sure."
"Other people?" said Garnet confusedly. "There's people who live there?"
"Yes," said Akiza. "There's a small town there that is built by survivors of various worlds."
"I'll go," said Garnet. She was not good with sitting around. She needed to move around and actually do things in order to learn and become stronger. On top of that, her attempts at sitting down to try to learn that way proved fruitless.
Akiza handed Garnet three stones. "Break one of them in order to return here if you get in trouble," she said. "Other than that, you're on your own."
Garnet took the stones into her ring. "I'll be back soon," said Garnet as she turned towards the silver portal.
"Are you going to be okay like that just after taking such a fall?" Riley asked.
"Yeah," said Garnet as she walked in.
Spoiler :
Name: Garnet
Level: 55
Class: Chaos Mage / Queen / Hero
Sub-class: Queen of the Night
Stats:
HP: 4350/4350
MP: 16360/16360
Fame: 220
Strength: 207 (+5)
Dexterity: 172 (+7)
Intelligence: 516 (+22)
Vitality: 145 (+5)
Agility: 180 (+7)
Charisma: 62 (+20)
PROFICIENCY:Weapon:
- One Handed Sword – 7
- Hand to Hand – 5
- Staff - 1
Magic:
- Fire – 10
- Lightning – 16
- Wind – 7
- Water - 2
- Summoning – 12
- Blood – 6
- Metal - 0
- Shadow - 0
SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):
- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)
- Double Slash (Level 3)
- Crescent Slash (Level 1)
- Triple Slash (Level 1)
- Delta Attack (Level 1)
- Spiral (Level 1)
Weapon (Hand to Hand):
- Palm Strike (Level 1)
- Wind Palm (Level 2)
- Explosive Palm (Level 3)
- Lightning Palm (Level 2)
- Lightning Fire Palm (Level 1)
- Sweeping Kick (Level 1)
- Horizontal Kick (Level 1)
- Uppercut (Level 1)
- Ki Burst (Level 1)
- Demsey Roll (Level 1)
Weapon (Staff):
- Thrust (Level 2)
- Swinging Smash (Level 1)
- Double Strike (Level 1)
- Triple Strike (Level 1)
- Quadruple Strike (Level 1)
- Vertical Smash (Level 1)
Class (Dark Mage):
- Fire Bolt (Level 5)
- Fire Ball (Level 2)
- Incinerate (Level 1)
- Fire Breath (Level 1)
- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)
- Chain Lightning (Level 4)
- Lightning Ray (Level 3)
- Lightning Blast (Level 1)
- Lightning Breath (Level 1)
- Light (Level 1)
- Air Bullet (Level 4)
- Wind Blade (Level 1)
- Wind Breath (Level 1)
- Aqua Strike (Level 2)
- Jet Stream (Level 2)
- Aqua Breath (Level 1)
- Water Wall (Level 1)
- Icicle Lance (Level 1)
- Shadow Bind (Level 1)
- Shadow Grip (Level 1)
- Shadow Crush (Level 1)
- Shadow Wall (Level 1)
- Sword Rain (Level 1)
- Heat Wave (Level 1)
- Lightning Fire Bolt (Level 3)
- Crimson Lotus: Blade of Lightning (Level 2)
- Tri-Element Breath (Level 1)
- Mugen (Level 1)
- Mana Armor (Level 2)
- Call: Cerberus (Level 1)
- Call: Revenant (Level 1)
- Call: Death Knight (Level 1)
- Call: Romulus, Knight of Blood (Level 1)
- Call: Sylvia, Priestess of Blood (Level 1)
- Call: Lilith (Level 1)
- Call: Nuria (Level 1)
- Call: Mazu (Level 1)
- Call: Sino (Level 1)
- Call: Meliae (Level 1)
- Call: Serena (Level 1)
- Call: Nian (Level 1)
- Call: Sunny (Level 1)
- Call: Anna (Level 1)
- Call: Kaimera (Level 1)
- Recall
- Dismiss
- Quintessence Force (Level 1)
- Lightning Fire (Passive)
- Essence Absorption (Level 1)
- Blood Bind (Level 1)
- Blood Scythe (Level 2)
- Blood Sacrifice (Level 1)
- Blood Bullet (Level 1)
- Transformation: Lightning Form (Level 1)
- Transformation: Lightning Fire Form (Level 1)
- Transformation: Nine Tailed Fox (Level 1)
- Fox Fire (Level 1)
- Teleportation (Level 1)
- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)
- Instance Dungeon Creation (Level 1)
- Spirit Union
- Spirit Link (Passive)
- Spirit Transmigration (Level 1)
- Final Strike (Level 1)
Sub-class (Queen of the Night):
- Supernatural Body (Level 1)
- Captivation (Level 3)
- Cosmic Awareness (Level 1, Passive)
- Embodiment of Lust (Level 1)
- Shadow Warp (Level 1)
- Sonic Scream (Level 1)
- Doppelganger (Level 1)
- Doppel Rush (Level 1)
- Flight (Level 1)
- Aura of Nightmares (Level 1, Passive)
- Plate Armor (Level 1, Passive)
- Transformation (Level 1)
- Partial Transformation (Level 1)
- Transformation: Queen of the Night (Level 1)
Tradeskills:
- Hunting (Level 5) - Hunter
- Cooking (Level 9) - Cook
- Inspection (Level 5)
- Sewing (Level 4) – Tailor
- Advanced Magicraft (Level 1) – Alchemist
- Magic Seal (Level 1)
- Advanced Enhancement (Level 1) - Alchemist
- Disassemble (Level 1)
- Inventory Expansion (Level 4)
Passives:
- Hand to Hand (Level 1)
- One Handed Sword (Level 1)
- Staff (Level 1)
- Reflex (Level 5)
- Haste (Level 3)
- Scale Armor (Level 1)
- Protection of the Golden Dragon (Level 1)
- Scaled Wings of the Dragon (Level 1)
- Aura of Leadership (Level 1)
- Aura of the Hero (Level 1)
- Summoning Commander (Level 1)
- Queen's Presence (Level 1)
- Fire Mastery (Level 2)
- Transformation Mastery (Level 1)
- Earth Chakra (Level 1)
- High Speed Regeneration (Level 1)
Unique:
- Hero System (Level 3, Passive)
- Minion Development (Level 2, Passive)
- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)
- Golden Tongue (Passive)
- Mana Compatibility (Passive)
- Quick Learner (Passive)
- Channeling (Passive)
- Charging (Passive)
- Night Vision (Passive)
- Guardian Contract (Level 1)
- Thaumaturgy (Passive)
- Magic Negation (Passive)
- Double Jump (Passive)