Something possessed him to speak, he could not resist despite his best efforts and thus he spoke a name he could not even understand.

“V*E()D(@AS.”

Words he could not pronounce forced their way out of his mouth, his vocal cords ripped from their hinges.

“Great Bestower of Truth and Veracity.”

An aura unlike any he had ever felt, the presence of something that shouldn’t exist, something that denied his very nature.

“Caelum…. Juravi…..” Something that could hardly be called a voice sounded, it was more like a mix of jumbled murmuring.

When the words entered his mind he could feel them physically eating away at his mind, as if the words were alive.

It was as if someone dropped a flesh eating centipede in his head.

“You… you’re the one from the battle.”

A memory resurfaced in Feng Zhiming's mind, he had heard this voice before when he had slain that creature before entering the Assembly.

“What is it you want!?” Feng Zhiming felt out of his depth with this interaction, his usual antics would not work here.

The library vanished and he found himself standing in a graveyard, surrounded by figures composed of darkness, dressed in the robes of scholars.

Withered trees and dead soil populated the environment. It wasn’t quiet for long as the dark figures began to chant.

“Let one speak.”

“Let one preach.”

“Let one teach.”

“Assimilate the Actual.”

“Embrace the Elucidator.”

“Gaze upon our Veracity.”

The dark shadows began to consume him from his fingertips.

Feng Zhiming's eyes were different than usual, his normally confident and calm eyes were erratic and bloodshot. He was still trying to break free, even in the face of overwhelming suppression.

“Be not afraid...unborn one, I know what you seek.”

The detached voice spoke to him again.

…

“Your employer seems to fall asleep quite often, he wastes a majority of his time.” Lyra complained as she downed some alcohol.

She was sitting alongside Anissa, Dolly and Ellia. Since Feng Zhiming was sleeping peacefully or at least that’s what it looked like.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

They were all surrounding a fire that Dolly had built on the deck of the ship, since Feng Zhiming was still asleep she decided to entertain herself in other ways.

“He is unlike most cultivators.” Anissa replied, drinking some tea that smelled of roses. She was a little more relaxed than usual, after all everyone on this ship was oath bound to Feng Zhiming except Dolly, and to Anissa, Dolly didn’t seem to be a threat.

“The knight’s order always said that the measure of a man is what sets him apart from others.” Ellia chimed in, also drinking some alcohol, in a cup significantly larger than Lyra’s.

He slammed his cup down on the ground, clearly trying to signal something.

Lyra looked over at him and he winked at her in response.

Lyra rolled her eyes and refilled his cup.

Anissa glared at the two.

“Keep your flirting in your room.” she thought as she continued to drink her tea.

“The measure of a man?” Dolly asked with a confused expression on her face, clearly not familiar with the expression.

Ellia raised his eyebrow, not sure what exactly to reply with.

“Well, I suppose you could say it is what makes him….Him.”

"What is him?" she wasn't satisfied with the answer.

Ellia rubbed his chin while trying to think.

"Him as in his value as a person."

“Do you mean it's what makes him human?” she wanted to confirm if she had understood correctly.

Ellia did not believe he had an explanation that she would grasp, this was the closest he could get.

“Indeed, it's what makes him human.” he replied firmly.

Dolly looked up to the sky thoughtfully, the luminous shine from the moon illuminating her pale skin.

Lyra’s lips curled up and she scooted closer to Anissa.

“What’s with the glaring huh?”

Anissa looked away.

“Who’s glaring?” she brushed off the question.

Lyra laughed as she poked her side.

“I thought you were made of stone after you beat Ellia into the ground, but it seems you can get jealous too.”

Anissa spilled her tea after being caught off guard by the comment, and Lyra continued to push her. She could tell from Anissa's response that she was still quite young.

Anyone who was teased this easily had to have been no more than a century old.

“What’s the big deal, why don’t you go curl up with that scheming man?”

Her eyes darkened and she responded by unsheathing her sword and standing up.

Did Lyra imply that she was in a relationship with Feng Zhiming, in a relationship with the Vessel of the Forgotten One? She who was now serving the Forgotten One, it was near blasphemy.

“Me and him, we’re not....like that.” She spoke in a cold tone.

Lyra held her hands up in front trying to play her statement off as a joke.

“Relax, relax, I was joking.”

Anissa put her sword away and sat back down.

“I see, was the idea so nauseating that you wanted to attack me for saying it?”

Lyra thought about it and understood why Anissa would lash out at the idea so violently.

Ellia and Dolly curiously observed the situation, not sure how to approach it.

“No, that's not the reason, I just feel that he’s different. I can’t imagine him in a relationship like you and Ellia.”

Anissa had seen Feng Zhiming, his priorities and his actions. He seemed to be neither sentimental nor romantic. He was an extremely goal oriented person, even if he was eating or drinking in the grand scheme of it all he was chasing something.

Her hands shifted around the new cup of tea she held. She knew that despite his goal being finding the creature in the Heart of the Wildlands, he was looking beyond just that.

“I am only for the sword, and he is only for his cause.”

As she spoke she looked deeply into her pink tea, losing herself in her thoughts, entranced in a deep contemplation.

Drip, drip.

until a drop of darkness appeared in the cup.

Drops of dark blood fell from the sky into her cup.

She looked up and saw the source of the blackened rain.

The crows nest where Feng Zhiming was sleeping, it was dripping black blood.