In the week after entering the Sword Temple, Elias and Alice worked together on interpreting the tome. They sparred together and tested their skills. Alice started to get more comfortable with the Dance of the Dragon. He felt it too as he practiced the moves. Now they needed to perfect it and connect all of the pieces.
Alice continued to practice and read through the new book with fervor. She applied her learning to her swordsmanship and took to it in a way that she couldn’t put into words. All of her time was put into the improvement of the final move. She could now show it off, but now she needed to apply it to their sparring. It wasn’t seamless. Not yet at least.
Elias happily took her on as a sparring partner and spent most of his day training with her. In his off time, he checked in on Thompson’s reading of the day and the horses. They hadn’t gone out much since they entered the temple, so he brought the horses around the temple grounds. No one would mind that horses were wandering around the temple. No one was anyway.
He also spent some time hunting and setting up traps. The corrupted beasts that they killed served as good meat now that Alice’s power had cleaned the creatures of their evil. Their insides hadn’t quite returned to a natural state. Elias set up the traps for other corrupted beasts that may be in the area. They had seemed to spawn from nothing, so he was cautious. He didn’t have a way to set up a warning system, so he made do with the traps and hoped for the best. Thompson also occasionally joined him in setting up traps or more often checking if the traps had worked. So far the traps had not worked.
While out scouting he found the remains of a destroyed trap but no remains of a monster. He couldn’t get a clear idea of the animal tracks that might be in the area and gave up. Twice while checking the traps, he heard corrupted beasts. Only once did one of them make a visible appearance. He felt them stalking him, but only the one tried anything. Elias had his blade out by the time it got close.
That night Alice worked on extending her magic out to the dead beast and they were able to eat a bit more meat that night. The process was one part of the larger ritual that Thompson had started reading about. She didn’t need much of her strength to draw out the corruption, but she still felt it tiring her out. To complete the process, she placed her hands on the freshly culled beast and felt the power within her core. Despite the creature being dead she felt the liveliness of the corruption. She then, with her will, drew the corruption away ultimately cleansing it.
“I’m glad that worked,” said Alice. She sat back exhausted. “It seemed like a crazy idea to use them as food. Now though.”
“Now though we only need to worry occasionally about food,” said Thompson. “The horses are grassing on the overgrown temple grounds. They will need more area to forage from. Maybe once you are able you will be able to cleanse the ground instead of dead monsters. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure it would work.”
“It definitely feels surreal and also weird. The power stretches itself in a new way when I do it. I guess that I am just not used to it. In the end, it is one step closer to our ultimate goal.”
“But a necessary step and one that is quite vital to our success,” said Elias. “You have done quite well Thompson in helping and becoming a vital member of our team.”
Thompson smiled a hint of pride in his eyes. "I'm just glad to be of use. This temple and its secrets have been long forgotten, and it feels like we're bringing it back to life, piece by piece."
The next morning, Alice stood outside on the steps of the temple grounds. She prepared to perform the larger ritual, one that the witches had used before. Further up the steps Elias and Thompson watched. Her hands were spread out as she focused. She felt the corruption around her. It had sunk into the land for years. The ground was now dark and held an unnatural feeling. Using her power, she felt the power within herself in contrast to the external energies.
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As she started to follow the steps of the ritual the corruption rose in the air. It swirled around her to meet and clash with the magic within her. In doing so it cleansed all of the area she was able to pull from. The grass swayed in a nonexistent wind. It pulled toward her softly as the centerpiece of the magic.
Alice's concentration deepened; her eyes closed as she attuned herself to the very essence of the land. The swirling corruption, a dark, malevolent force, seemed to resist her at every turn, yet she persevered. The ritual, complex and draining, demanded every ounce of her focus and magical prowess.
As the minutes passed, a subtle change began to occur. The darkness that hovered around her started to dissipate, like mist under the morning sun. The corrupted energy, once so potent and threatening, was slowly being replaced by a gentle, nurturing light emanating from Alice herself.
Thompson and Elias, watching from a distance, could feel the shift in the air. The oppressive aura that once blanketed the temple grounds was lifted, replaced by a sense of peace and renewal. They exchanged glances, a mix of awe and pride evident in their expressions.
Alice, in the heart of the ritual, remained oblivious to the transformation around her. Her mind was a conduit, channeling the pure energy within her to cleanse and rejuvenate the land. She could sense the corruption receding, the natural balance of the area being restored, but the effort was immense. Her body trembled with the strain, sweat beading on her forehead.
Finally, as the last vestiges of darkness vanished, Alice opened her eyes. The world around her was transformed. The grass was a vibrant green, flowers blooming in places that had been barren only moments before. The air was fresh, the heavy, oppressive weight gone, replaced by a sense of lightness and clarity.
Elias and Thompson rushed to her side. "Alice, that was incredible!" Thompson exclaimed; his voice filled with admiration.
"You've done it," Elias added, his usual reserve giving way to genuine excitement. "You've restored life to this place."
Alice, still catching her breath, managed a weak smile. "This is just the beginning," Alice said, a new determination in her voice. "We've cleansed this land, but our journey doesn't end here. We have a greater battle ahead, against the corruption that threatens our world."
“Why wasn’t this known to the witches in their sanctuary? They should have been able to perform this to cleanse entire areas around their home,” Elias asked Thompson.
“There are two possible explanations. The second one seems more likely. One answer is that maybe the witch coven doesn’t have a record of this ritual anymore or lost it. The other answer is one I had to double-check and be sure of before presenting the ritual as a whole to you, Alice. When performing the ritual without enough power. Without enough individual power adequate for a hero then there are side effects. The corruption is successfully cleansed not entirely by the magic within the ritual but by the body of the user as well. It gets reabsorbed into the individual instead of the land. With so few witches left alive, I don’t think they wanted to risk performing the ritual for so little gain.”
“But now I will be able to cleanse it all. We just need to find the source and then I can end it.”
The group spent the rest of the day exploring the revitalized temple grounds. Grass perked up with a bit more energy. Around them, they could not smell as much of the rotting and decay. The grounds were still very much empty but were no longer so dead. Alice took breaks after each ritual. It became easier to perform the motions, but it still drained her of most of the magic within her. She needed to wait each time for the exhaustion to fade and the power to return to her.
Alice continued her progress inside the temple and then outside of it as well. The greenery returned to the area in patches. Thompson continued his research, delving into the depths of the temple's archives.
Elias, meanwhile, deepened his training with Alice. They sparred with a newfound intensity, each bout sharpening their skills and understanding of the Dance of the Dragon. The sword form was no longer just a series of movements; it had become an expression of their inner strength and resilience. Their swords clashed and sang in the rejuvenated air, a harmony of steel and spirit.
Alice kept her blade steady as she moved through each of the forms. She barely touched upon her Sword Breath while sparing or in general practice. It was now a scarcer resource that was needed to cleanse the corruption.