A full-blown party was ongoing when Tunde made it back to Red Blossom house, casks of dark brown swirly liquids had been opened in dozens and it seemed to him like the entirety of the house itself had turned up for the event. All hopes of sneaking in unseen went out the window the moment Lady Ryka spotted him, drawing all attention to him, cringing as cheers were raised, a mug of what was gradually becoming his favorite spicy fruity beverage smacked into his hands, and the celebrations thrown into full gear.
Lots of faces he hadn’t seen before came up to him, multiple handshakes as the faces blurred with one another, Tunde saw a few disciples he recognized as well as peak initiates that if he was right would go on to be the pillars of house dark fist were around to, but no signs of elder Joran. Perhaps it was him growing accustomed to the elder being around, but Tunde once again found himself without the presence of the all-seeing elder around him.
Aware that he was possibly the strongest ranker within the room, he made himself comfortable in a corner, watching Isolde, Draven, and all the others laugh and dance around as the merriment continued late into the night, the constant itching on his left breast a constant reminder of the tattoo etched into his skin. It had reduced to a gentle scratch, nothing more than a slight inconvenience that was rapidly relieving him. Sipping from the mug again, feeling the swirly spicy tang of the alcoholic fruit beverage in his mouth, he watched Lady Ryka as she made her way to his side, sitting next to him in silence.
Simply enjoying the festivities as hundreds of initiates somehow crammed themselves within the tavern of the house that seemed to impossibly stretch for as far as the eyes could see, he guessed the inscriptions on the walls at the far corners of the room had something to do with it. She bumped his shoulder, dragging him from his thoughts.
“It’s not the end of the world you know,” she said.
“The duel, life will go on Tunde” she continued.
Tunde shrugged.
“It’s my one chance at an assured advancement, all our hopes are hedged on it,” he said softly, his voice clear and loud over the music.
“That’s what Joran wants you to think,” she said with a smile, sipping from her own mug as he turned to her.
“He loves to live at the edge of the blade, makes everything a do-or-die affair, if there’s one fault of him I’ve ever known, it's that” she continued.
“And I guessed he was going to drag you into his schemes, this pointless tussles of powers between himself and the other adepts,” she said.
“And the moment he brought you here and I heard your tale, well, I always knew you were going to be his fine blade,” she said with a soft smile.
“I have things to lose” Tunde replied, sipping again.
“I lose my direction, I lose my one straight path to adept rank, I lose- “he said, pausing, taking a deep breath.
“I lose my way home, Crystalreach” he finished.
Ryka said nothing, staring at him for a few seconds before she pointed at where Isolde and Draven were dancing together.
“See them?” she asked.
“Isolde and Draven?” he asked as she nodded.
“Whatever happened between you all back at the wastelands, it jarred them,” she said.
Sighing to herself, she ran a finger across the tip of her mug.
“Everyone wants to advance, delving rifts and flinging techniques around are fun, till when you face a true challenge and it dawns on you that there are no second chances at life” she continued.
“Isolde and Draven delved rifts all their lives, they’ve faced countless rift monsters, but the Corespawn and the severity of the situation revealed to them they weren’t cut out for life as rankers,” she said.
“And now, they’re getting married” she completed as Tunde choked on his drink.
Eyes wide as he stared at where Draven lifted Isolde up, the one-eyed lady laughing much to the clapping tunes of the rankers around them.
“Marriage?” he echoed.
“Shocked me too, one mission outside the protection of Jade Peak and they no longer crave the thrill of a battle,” she said.
“Both have decided to open businesses within Jade Peak, stay the path of a cultivator and not a ranker” she added.
“Is there a difference?” Tunde asked curiously.
“We're all cultivators in one way or another, born with affinities that we harness either for our businesses or simply for the betterment of our bodies, rankers on the other hand, are fighters, living for the sole joy of hunting and advancement” she explained.
“Then you have nulls, unfortunate souls born with no affinities but supposedly monstrous bodies, such as yours,” she said, bumping him again.
“Met my match out in the mining territories” Tunde replied.
“And yet you returned with nothing but mere exhaustion, give yourself some credit Tunde, you were trained by the best, your foundation is as solid as it gets,” she said.
He gave a soft smile, turning back to stare at Isolde who caught his eyes, a flicker of an uncertain smile on her face before Draven drew her attention back.
“She feels they let me down back there, which is odd because I felt guilt at coming back to you with their dead bodies,” Tunde said.
“a ranker’s life is as certain as a toss of a coin Tunde” Ryka replied.
“Not even you would expect to be the face of a new house the moment you stepped foot in Jade Peak City, and yet, here you are, on your way to break a jinx so old that the new generation of initiates barely consider it a mere memory,” she said.
“I met Miria,” Tunde said softly.
“Oh,” Ryka replied, staring at her mug.
Tunde turned his eyes at the lady who glanced back at him, a soft smile in her eyes.
“And how’s she doing, the lady of tyrant’s haven?” she asked.
Tunde shrugged.
“Apart from the fact that she’s like me?, fine I guess, seems to have the entirety of the haven under her thumb” Tunde responded.
“Ah, that, yes, she seems to have descended from Crystalreach as you, although she shares none of your calm nature,” Ryka said with a frown as Tunde chuckled.
“I got one of these” Tunde said, revealing the tattoo on his chest.
“that’s what your aura looks like?, I must confess, I’m surprised” Ryka said.
“Same thing I said” Tunde replied.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, with your penchant for battle and how your eyes light up, I assumed it would be something else, something worse,” she said with a smile.
Tunde rolled his eyes.
“My eyes don’t light up for battle” he replied.
“Even you don’t believe that,” she said with a snort.
Tunde sipped noisily from his mug as she laughed.
“My point, Tunde, before we got derailed, is that you need a reason for living and not just the race of advancement, one in a hundred make it to disciple, one in a thousand, adept, well, you see where I’m going with this, don’t you?” she asked.
Tunde nodded reluctantly.
“And to put it into perspective, Jade City boasts of more than fifty thousand residents, more than half of those, admittedly are initiates, cultivators, not rankers mind you,” she said.
“Random people who live their lives in relative peace, keeping off the ranking systems of the city and the empire as a whole” she continued.
Tunde frowned at that, turning to her in curiosity as something occurred to him.
“The ranking systems aren’t universal if that’s what you’re about to ask. Of course, I haven’t gone past the continent, but most merchants carry tales of different systems of rankings used in continents” she said.
“The technocrats don’t believe in such systems from what I’ve heard, and Silvershade has something called the chosen I heard,” she said.
“The world’s a big place,” Tunde said.
“My point, again, is that don’t live simply for advancement, you do that, or whatever goal that ties you to the pursuit of martial strength, else you’ll find yourself devoid of something to live for soon enough” she completed.
Tunde nodded.
“Thank you” he replied, turning his gaze back to the party.
“I asked her to join us, dark fist,” Tunde said.
“Miria?” Ryka asked as he nodded.
“I wouldn’t keep my hopes up on that, she’s as ruthless as they get” she replied.
“we’ll see” Tunde softly responded as they watched on in silence.
*****************************
He had gone to bed early, waking up with the first light of the sun as he came down from his room upstairs to meet the near comatose looking members of red blossom, bodies strewn everywhere as he tiptoed his way to the front door, lady Ryka awake and humming away at the tavern.
“Leaving already?” she asked.
He nodded silently, adjusting his robes as he glanced at the room.
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“Seems like you’ll have your hands full with them,” he said, gesturing at the members that lay around.
“Nothing a good wake-up call won’t solve” she replied as the maids behind her perked up, pots and pans appearing in their hands with mischievous looks in their eyes.
He gave a soft, chuckle.
“Might as well get to the training field, although, since I’m a disciple, not sure how that’s going to work” he said.
“Head to the knowledge hall, you should find Elder Joran there, I doubt you’d be given access to the Jade Towers district even as his student,” she replied.
“Will do, thank you,” he said as he turned to leave.
“Tunde” she called as he opened the doors, groans coming from the bodies on the floor with the sunlight filtering in.
“Remember what I told you,” she said softly.
He nodded, stepping out of Red Blossom and into the cobbled road of Petal Street.
“How was the celebration?” the voice of elder Joran came from behind him.
Turning in surprise, he saw the elder at the far end of the building, simply seated, on a stone bench near the wall, staring into the distance, Tunde bowed at the waist.
“I greet the elder,” he said.
“The celebrations,” Joran said, waving his greeting.
“You were missed” Tunde replied.
Joran snorted.
“I highly doubt that, an adept and elder of the clan amid initiates and disciples, you’ll barely hear a peep,” he said.
Rubbing his void ring, Tunde spoke.
“Was that why you weren’t around?” he asked.
“Partly, and I wanted it to sink into you, all this” Joran said, waving at the building itself with its moss-covered lower parts and worn-out bricks.
“Contrary to Ryka, I believe it’s worth putting your life on the line for” he continued.
“So you were around,” Tunde said.
Joran shrugged.
“Out of sight isn’t out of hearing distance in my case, just assume I’m there even when I’m not,” he said with a smile.
“I’ll take that into consideration” Tunde replied.
“You fight not just for your place in this clan and city, but at a chance at seizing something that comes so rarely, it would place you within the ranks of one of the strongest rankers within this part of the continent, relatively speaking that is,” Joran said.
“You want a way home? You want the strength to be left alone and stay safe? then this is your chance, but you knew that already, do you not?” Joran asked.
“I don’t intend on letting it pass me by, no matter the cost” Tunde replied.
“Good, now how was your encounter with Miria?” Joran said with a soft smile.
**************************
They had left Petal Street, moving farther into the depths of Jade Peak City, passing entire areas and districts he hadn’t seen before. Tunde considered getting a map, something to help him navigate the city well enough to avoid being caught like a fish out of water every time they left areas he thought were the limit of the city. He had spoken about the tattoo to the elder who had raised one finger to his lips in contemplation before they began their journey.
Within a relatively small metal ovoid vessel that zipped past the streets with moderate speed, they had first gone to the requisition hall to acquire more elixirs and pills from elder Wren who was all smiles at him, Tunde looking awkwardly.
What was even more unnerving was the level of respect afforded to him now by regular cultivators and rankers, he had proven his strength, and he heard the whispers of the inevitability of him supplanting a ranker in the upper rankings of the clan.
He wondered if they didn’t realize he was about to either die in the battle with Thalas or lose everything he had, his mind however, went back to the absolutely ridiculous number of resources they had acquired from the hall, his extra void ring used to hold them all.
More than enough meat, essence tier fruits and drinks to feed more than half of red blossom house, elixirs like he was going to war, nearly cleaning his reserve of lumens. He had nearly wept at the sight of all his coins going down the pockets of an all too eager Elder Wren who kept on recommending special Ethra crystals of uncommon ranks and even elixirs.
Of course, elder Joran bought them all, stating it was for his training, yet, Tunde wore a look of tremendous frustration as he kept quiet, leaving the hall.
“I had a little chat with our forgesmith,” he said.
That dragged Tunde out of his thoughts, waiting for the elder to continue.
“Funny though, seems like half his smithy seemed to be on leave, anyways, we’ve both agreed you get an offensive weapon” Joran continued.
“Which means from now till when I say so, you no longer you that,” the elder said turning to him.
The relic.
“you’ll live or die by the weapon he forges, and don’t worry, he swore on his soul again, you’ll be getting a proper soulbound weapon this time,” Joran said.
“it’s no relic, but it’ll have to do” he finished.
“What sort of weapon?” Tunde asked.
“That, I do not know, something about a blade weapon, not an actual sword though, I hope” Joran replied.
“I could train, get better with a blade,” Tunde said.
“You could, but the weapon is just meant to be an extra in your arsenal, unless of course, you want to deviate from your hand-to-hand combat?” Joran asked.
Tunde stared at his hands, clenching them into fists.
“No, I think I’ll keep my hand combat for now” he replied.
“I believe there’s a connection between the name the forgesmith calls me and the tattoo,” Tunde said within the vessel as they moved farther and farther from the populated areas.
“No doubt, but we’re here to work on you, with a few days left till your battle, we have more than enough time to delve into it” Joran replied.
“Are a few days truly enough?” Tunde asked.
“Depends on how you look at it, like I said before, Thalas may be number two in the clan’s rankings of disciples, and he’s definitely strong, but you’ve crossed off every significant advantage he could have against you,” Joran said.
“True battle experience and rank” Tunde replied as Joran nodded.
“Your body boasts of the strength of a peak disciple, your reflexes are sharp or will become sharper by the time I’m done with you and you’ll have a weapon, same as he does, the playing fields are as leveled as it could get” Joran explained.
“And the clan won’t help him?” Tunde asked.
The elder crossed his legs, turning to look outside the window despite his blindfold.
“Lady Lirien has assured me he wouldn’t be getting a single bit of help from the clan, and to make it fair on my part, you also,” he said.
Tunde nodded, staring at his hands in silence.
“it’s getting closer,” he said.
“Indeed, a true fight till the end, not that the clan’s reassurance of the battle not being to the death does anything to me, the lords could change their minds at a moment’s notice,” Joran said.
Tunde turned to the window, watching as they passed through a dry area.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Jade Peak has a lot of abandoned landmasses, like the outer zones for example” Joran replied.
“Then why didn’t we pick this place for the house settlement?” Tunde asked.
If there was this much land within the city, why go as far as the borders of the wasteland?
“Because if you want to forge a house full of strong rankers, you can’t do it within the city, and especially not where the eyes of all the families are on you,” Joran said.
Tunde realized quietly to himself that Lady Ryka’s words were possibly accurate, every move the elder made was in some supposed response by the other adepts of the family. He wondered if tying his fate to him long term would be wise, but then, Tunde resolved to leave that till he was adept rank, for now, the protection of the elder was a good thing.
“This will be our home for the next five days, the duel will be held on the sixth day at sunrise, we’ll make it there in record time,” Joran said softly.
Tunde glanced around, seeing nothing for as far as the eyes could see, even with Ethra sight, only burnt yellow sand and rocks for miles.
“Are we staying under the sun and moon?” he asked.
“Why didn’t I think of that? Perfect training for your body,” the elder said as if in hindsight.
While saying a prayer of thanks quietly, he wondered what the elder had in mind.
“No, I borrowed a particular structure of the clan now abandoned, belonged oddly enough to lord Alaric when he was an adept” Joran said.
“I thought we weren’t getting any help from the clan, isn’t this technically one?” Tunde asked.
“No, besides, I booked it weeks ahead” the elder replied.
Tunde paused after a few seconds.
“Weeks ahead?, before I was a disciple?” he asked.
Joran turned to him and gave a soft quiet smile as he stamped his feet, force Ethra blowing the sand away to reveal a square carved rock surface beneath the sands, the crest of clan Verdan on its surface.
“Learn to think far in advance my student, it’ll save your life more times than you can count” Joran replied.
Touching the surface with a green crystal he produced from the folds of his robes, it lit up, green lines of jade Ethra running around the crest as what was evidently a door to some underground room began to groan open, revealing a darkened stairway that seemed to lead into the abyss.
“Enjoy the sun, it’ll be the last you’ll be seeing in a long time,” Joran said before casually walking into the darkness, and disappearing.
He had known Tunde would make it to disciple rank, that much was certain, but Tunde couldn’t help but wonder, what else did he know? Steeling his nerves, he glanced up at the sun, closing his eyes as he drank it in, its feeling across his skin before walking down the stairs, Ethra sight on as the rock covering groaned back in place, sealing them below, the sand above vanishing the entrance in the blink of an eye.
*****************************
A dilapidated sky vessel crept slowly through the borders of the city, its body cracked and barely functional, a miracle only made possible through the expert work of its creators. Within its belly lay two rankers, one with a deathly pale skin, dark hair, and black veins running across his skin, the other was the complete opposite, a female, with golden yellow hair, metallic silver eyes, and light brown skin.
Both wore torn robes that held the crest of no faction, looking almost like beggars as they stayed silent, chests moving rhythmically. The male was the first to talk, a revenant by his visage.
“we’re back within Jade Peak,” he said softly.
The lady nodded, struggling to her feet as she checked the small construct she had kept within the folds of her torn robe, recently healed gashes adorning her skin.
“Get this to elder Celia and I’m off to see a Rejuvant, still have a frozen shard within me the healers would need to take out,” she said.
“I’ll just lay here, enjoy the freedom before I get thrown into that place,” the revenant said airily.
The lady nodded as multiple auras locked onto the ship, seemingly guiding it down, the guard disciples of the city no doubt tracking its progress from the moment its cloaking abilities had finally failed.
“Suit yourself, might as well find out what’s happening with Tunde,” she said.
“Either he’s alive or he isn’t, no two ways about that,” the revenant said.
Elyria glanced at him wordlessly as the ramp of the ship opened, disciples moving in.
“I doubt he’d die that easily, not him, should be interesting,” she said.
Revealing her hidden badge as a member of house Argent Rose, the lead disciple, a clean-shaven man spoke.
“Are you referring to the student of elder Joran?” he asked.
Elyria ignored the fake weak groans from Thorne as the disciples hesitantly shackled him, giving him suspicious looks like he could lash out at any moment. They wouldn’t see the attack coming, Elyria was sure of that, not against an adept like him, they’d be pasted on the already broken walls of the ship.
“I am, how did the mission go?” she asked.
Even Thorne paused to hear the response, the disciple dragging his chains in futility.
“Tore apart the Corespawns from what we’ve heard, rumors say even a tier 3 Corespawn as well” the disciple finished.
Elyria folded her hands smugly at Thorne who rolled his eyes, a faint smile on his face.
“So the kid isn’t dead, big deal,” he said.
Elyria left him to the disciples as she made her way toward one of the numerous ovoid metal transport vessels, her injuries aching a little less.
***********************************
The underground cavern was divided into large circular rooms connected by narrow corridors lit with Ethra crystals that had been dormant for countless years. A tiny infusion of Ethra by elder Joran lit the crystals of the first circular room, tiny holes at the top of the room brought in air, keeping the room fresh and clean.
“Place all your belongings in a corner, you’ll need to shed weight for what we’re about to do,” Joran said.
Sighting an upright rectangular storage space that was meant to take the spot of a wardrobe, Tunde piled all his belongings within it, emptying his ring. Turning back to elder Joran who stood in the middle of the large room, the black crystalline walls dimly reflected the light of the Ethra crystals that shone yellow.
Producing two pairs of black stone-looking cuffs, Tunde sighed.
“Cuffs again?” he asked.
“These are Lithrane stones, mined here and shipped to the far sea cities, they’re used for underwater constructions, they grow heavier rapidly with Ethra infusion, perfect for what I have in mind,” Joran said, throwing them at him.
“Speed training?” Tunde asked as he caught it.
Clasping two on his wrists and the other two on his ankles, he stood straight, sighing.
“Reflexes, like I said earlier” Joran replied, producing a long stone staff made from the same stone.
“Keep pouring Ethra into it till I tell you to stop,” Joran said.
Tunde prepared to imbue his body as elder Joran paused him.
“No imbuement,” he said with a smile.
Tunde blinked at the elder slowly.
“Your body is a gem, and you’re wasting it” he continued.
Tunde pretty sure thought he wasn’t, it wasn’t like he ignored its advantages, and he kept feeding himself as many resources as he could.
“I plan to beat your body to a pulp, tenderize your flesh enough to mold it into something better, something stronger” Joran finished.
Producing another stone staff from his void ring, the elder tapped the ground with its bottom, waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, Tunde poured Ethra into the stones, feeling them grow heavier by the second till he could barely move or lift his arms. The effort strained him even as he used the staff to hold himself up, breathing heavily.
“Ah, that reminds me,” the elder said as he blinked away from where he stood.
The click of a collar locking around his throat had his eyes and brain catching up with the action of the elder. An electric shock unlike any other ran through his entire frame, Tunde crashing to the ground in spasm.
“Your breathing has indeed been good for a while, but I’m about to raise it up a bit, I told you Tunde, this will take all you have, and we’re just starting,” Joran said, all mirth rubbed from his voice.
Tunde struggled to his feet, using the staff to raise himself, trying his best to control his breathing, the threat of the collar around his neck, he spoke.
“What now?” he said hoarsely.
“Simple, you defend against my attacks,” Joran said as he moved in to strike.