image [https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/646bd9baef7e904ad31912d5/c2609650-09c4-4b53-869f-b2a44342717f/Akh+Nara+no+labels.png?format=750w&content-type=image%2Fpng]“I can't! I just can’t!” Maiya guffawed. Her face, while not perfectly projected through the communication orb, was more than sufficient to convey her emotions. “I mean, Demon God Vaak!? Seriously?”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Vir replied. “Blessed Prophet.”
Maiya’s mirth disappeared instantly. “Ugh. Did you have to bring that up?”
“Hey, fair’s fair!” Vir said with a satisfied smirk. “And your title’s much more meaningful. You’ve got a whole cult worshiping you, now!”
“Really wish I didn’t,” Maiya said. “Still, I’m glad we’re able to talk like this. Was worried you’d have a hard time trusting anyone to charge it.”
“You and me both. I found someone, though. It shouldn’t be an issue from now on. At least, while I’m at Samar Patag.”
“Glad you did,” Maiya replied. “Janani, right? That was really nice of her.”
“Yeah, it was. Didn’t even ask any questions,” he replied, looking off into the distance. “Of course, returning with a haul like that didn’t hurt.”
It’d been a week since Vir’s run-in with the Chitran ambush, and since then, he’d gone on another two raids without issues. There wasn’t any amount of gold in the world that could buy the look on Janani and the orphans’ faces.
The children weren’t back to being healthy, but if Vir wasn’t mistaken, he thought he saw a bit more flesh on their bony bodies these days.
“What are you thinking about?” Maiya asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Vir said distractedly. “You won’t believe the sky here. Perpetual sunset. It’s really something else. Like it’s always on fire.”
“Wish I could see it,” Maiya said wistfully. “Still, I suppose I should be grateful I can even see your face. Speaking of… Where’s the face I wanna see?”
Maiya made a show of scanning the horizon.
“He’s right here,” Vir said, rolling his eyes. “Shan? C’mon, don’t be shy. Introduce yourself.”
The black wolf sauntered up to the orb, eyeing Maiya suspiciously.
Maiya drew in a sharp breath. “He’s… beautiful!”
Shan gruffed, obviously pleased with her response.
“Count on you to befriend an Ash Wolf,” she said. “Can you imagine how much of a stir he’d cause here in the Human Realm?”
“Oh, believe me,” Vir said, “he causes plenty here in the Demon Realm, too. He’s mainly kept himself out of sight until now, lest he terrorize the city.”
“Smart.”
Shan strutted in front of the orb for a few more minutes, thoroughly appreciating Maiya’s ooh’s and aah’s.
“That reminds me. Just a few days until you’re back at Sonam, right?” Vir asked.
“Yup! You can’t know how much I’m looking forward to it. And don’t worry, I know you wanna see Neel. I feel so bad for the poor guy. I have people looking after him, but he misses me. And… He misses you.”
“That makes two of us. I can’t wait,” Vir said with genuine excitement. It’d been ages since he’d seen the bandy. As impressive as Shan was, he simply wasn’t the same as his old friend. No one would be.
“So how’d Bolin’s run go?” Maiya asked.
“Well. No issues at all.”
“Still, I can’t believe you got him to wear that mask,” Maiya said.
“It wasn’t even my idea,” Vir said, shaking his head.
“You think that bully Svar spread the word?”
Vir shrugged. “Either him or those guards. Had to be.”
Now, half the orphans were running around with black masks, ranging a gamut of materials and designs.
It wasn’t just them, either. News had spread faster than Vir could’ve hoped, and the masks had started popping up all over the city. Even—to his surprise—among the Chits.
They’d kept most of the food from their raids at Greesha’s place as a precaution. There wasn’t any telling when Chitran guards would come to investigate the orphanage, after all.
Yet, nothing like that had happened. Vir’s deception had worked better than he could’ve hoped. As far as Greesha could tell, nobody suspected ‘Demon God Vaak’ of being an agent of the orphans.
Except, of course, the orphans themselves. It hadn't taken long for Bolin and the others to suspect the identity of the one bringing them so much food. Vir hadn’t had much reason to hide it either—Neel was yet another fake identity, after all.
Soon after that, Bolin himself had volunteered.
Maiya chuckled. “Look at you! Setting trends. Helping orphans, making the world a better place! Sometimes I wonder when we finally meet again whether you’ll still be the same Vir I knew.”
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“I hope not,” Vir chuckled. “I better be stronger.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Maiya said, pouting. “All I ever do are blood rituals, recitations, and other profane acts. All for crazy people. I feel like I’m wasting my life here.”
“Your actions might very well thwart a war between Kin’jal and Hiranya,” Vir said softly. “You oughta give yourself more credit.”
That Maiya had soared to such heights within the Children of Ash astounded Vir. It seemed like she’d bypassed all the rungs and leaped to the summit overnight. If he was honest, he was a little jealous of her success. Vir had barely even begun making inroads with demonkind himself.
“Just keep yourself safe, alright? Even demigods can die,” Vir said. “I don’t like that you’re surrounded by cultists all the time, without any allies.”
“I have a couple of friends, but hey! Now you know how I felt when you were in the Ash!”
Vir pursed his lips. It had to have been even worse for her, being unable to communicate.
“It isn’t all a waste, at least,” Maiya continued. “I dunno, I feel like there’s more to the Children than meets the eye. That chamber with the tree. The way the Blessed Chosen acts. Every day, I wonder if these blood rituals are just a front for something deeper. Or maybe I’m the one going crazy here.”
Vir’s expression darkened. Until now, he’d chosen not to tell Maiya about everything he’d experienced in that cavern in the Ash, where he’d fought Ekanai. Where Maiya had saved his life. He wasn’t sure if it was all real… until he’d met Greesha. She remembered being called there. If not in body, in spirit.
Which meant Maiya likely had been as well.
“Maiya, there’s something you should know…”
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“And then I woke up, and I was in a room identical to the one you described,” Vir finished an hour later. Maiya had listened quietly the entire time. Her expression had changed continuously, from curiosity to disbelief and wonderment, to shock, horror, and finally acceptance.
“You probably think I made all of this up, don’t you?” Vir asked.
“No. I…” Maiya trailed off, deep in thought. “I thought you were hiding something, but I never guessed it’d be something like this. Wow. This… is a lot to take in.”
“I don’t even know how much of it was real,” Vir admitted. “It’s bothered me ever since. What was that place? Who built it, and why? When you said there was an identical room in the Human Realm, I really didn’t know what to think.”
“This confirms it,” Maiya said. “It was real, Vir. At least, I think it was. Ever since I touched that tree, I’ve felt… off, somehow.”
Vir frowned. “Why haven’t you said anything?”
“Well, why didn’t you say anything?” Maiya fired back.
Vir cringed. He really had no good comeback to that. He’d wanted to wait until he knew whether or not those events were real, but now that he thought of it, wasn't he just running away from a hard conversation?
“But what do you mean by ‘off’?” Vir asked. “Are you… hurt? Is it…”
“My soul?” Maiya said with a smirk. “No. At least, I don’t think so. It’s not a bad feeling. The Blessed Chosen thinks…”
“What?”
“Well, he thinks I’ve ‘awoken’ some power of some sort. Says we’ll be training it up. So that I can serve them.”
“Oh yes, your almighty Prana Swarm,” Vir said sarcastically. “I’m sure you’ll become a great servant of the mutated pranite terror.”
He’d expected Maiya to reply with a witty comeback, but she just bit her lip.
“I don’t think he meant the Swarm. Dunno why, but that’s just the feeling I got. Anyway, I gotta head to my next blood ritual. Talk when I’m in Sonam?”
Vir nodded. “Let’s.”
Maiya looked around anxiously, then brought her face closer to the orb. Too close.
“Did you just… kiss your orb?” Vir asked, dumbfounded.
Maiya flushed furiously. “It’s an indirect kiss, okay! Geez, way to go and ruin the mood.”
Vir laughed. “I didn’t mean—”
Maiya had cut the call.
Grakking chal. She’s gonna be mad about that one, isn’t she?
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As he often did these days, Vir took a stroll through the city wearing his Outcast Calling badge. While no Gargan Callings technically existed, it was only the Gargans who bore that unsightly mark. They, and certain criminals.
It’d been eye-opening just how poorly the Calling was treated, especially when donning the Outcast badge after wearing a Chitran Warrior badge. In a matter of moments, Vir went from living well to not living at all.
Someone spit at Vir’s sandals, which he, of course, dodged.
“Tch. This city’s gone to Ash,” the Chitran woman said, giving Vir a look of utter disgust.
Such encounters were entirely commonplace. Vir had initially been at a loss for how to react. Now he just bowed, avoided eye contact, and moved on.
Any other reaction generally resulted in a beating.
His destination was a spot he’d grown fond of—the summit of Greesha’s temple.
The tiered four-story stone steeple was tall enough to avoid the eyes of those below yet low enough to be close to the traffic of the city square.
A requirement for training the Life Chakra.
Vir had often come here during his free time. It was usually full of people and thus made for an ideal practice environment.
Sitting cross-legged, Vir settled into his meditation. Shutting off Prana Vision, he closed his eyes and attempted to sense the life that thronged around him.
As usual, after an hour of concentration, he felt the faintest thread of something, drifting far away.
Attempting to pull the thread was of no use; it just wiggled away from his grasp. Focusing too hard on it caused it to dissipate entirely.
This time, Vir opted to simply stare at it. To try to understand what it represented. Was this life force itself? Was it the power of the soul?
Thin and wispy as it was, it was difficult to say.
Eventually, Vir’s concentration broke, and the wisp dissipated.
Opening his eyes, Vir ground his teeth. This wasn’t working.
Right now, he was at an incredible disadvantage, lacking the Shield and Warrior Chakras.
Even forgetting the ability to dish out Chakra-infused attacks, which would make his existing attacks far deadlier, the Shield Chakra was what Vir was really after.
His inability to defend against them meant he had to avoid them entirely. Prana Armor had protected him thus far, but it had its limits. Its capacity was finite, and it only protected him from the physical medium carrying the Chakra-laden attack. If a Chakra attack even grazed his skin, he’d be crippled.
Thus far, he hadn’t faced a single warrior capable of launching Chakra attacks independently of their weapons. While rare, Cirayus could, which meant others could as well. Those, Vir would have to dodge entirely. No amount of Prana Armor would help him then.
The Shield Chakra negated that weakness, giving him a true Chakra-based defense.
The Life Chakra was, in many ways, a necessary stepping stone to the higher Chakras. Its utility in battle was negated by the Foundation Chakra, which protected against it. Much in the way the Warrior Chakra was negated by the Shield.
Still, it could be a potent weapon if used properly. Chakras could not be held open indefinitely, and so tactical applications became incredibly important. As Vir had learned firsthand, a successful Life Chakra attack was as good as incapacitating one’s opponent.
Vir fully understood that Chakras were supposed to take years and decades to master. Except he didn’t have decades.
Besides, it all felt wrong to him. Ever since he’d learned about Chakras, it felt like such a waste that he had to relearn it. Ekanai had mastered them, and Vir was pretty sure all of his prior incarnations had as well.
Why did he have to start from nothing every time? It wasn’t just unfair; it was wrong.
Except there was a solution to this problem, wasn’t there? A solution Vir had considered and rejected several times.
But perhaps…
Vir drew in several deep breaths and closed his eyes again. If this worked, it’d be a windfall. If it didn’t… Well, Vir was about to have an incredibly hard fight on his hands.
Calming himself, Vir entered his mindscape.
Suddenly, he was no longer in Samar Patag. He was in the center of a circular meadow in the Godshollow, where gargantuan trees soared to the sky.
This had better work.
Vir opened his Foundation Chakra… and summoned Ekanai.