Bodies.
The clan-less bastard previously known as Grey surveyed the scene of carnage with a face as expressive as stone. The macabre sight spread out before him merely the latest in a long string of gruesome landmarks.
A meandering trail of broken bodies which chronicled a harried migration from one end of this profane expanse to the other. He watched as acolytes dragged the few corpses still recognizable into neat and orderly rows.
Likewise, he did not flinch away as everything else was scooped up and shoveled into large, unsightly mounds.
The hoard will feed quite well tonight at least. One consolation amidst all this wanton savagery.
With a huff, Second looked away from the gruesome scene, turning his attention back to that of his companion.
Third Sheath of the Divine differed from him in more ways than one. Taller than most with a bulkier, warriors frame, it was apparent to anyone with eyes that the clan-born was not one to be taken lightly.
“Well?” Second asked. “You’ve been rather tight lipped, my friend. More so than usual. Tell me. What are you thinking?”
Third, for his part, took his time in answering. The grinding sounds emanating from his mouth the only indication he hadn’t simply ignored the question entirely. His mind slowly crafting an appropriate response as his jaw habitually wore away at the thighbone held between his teeth.
Second merely waited patiently, well accustomed to their lopsided way of conversing by now.
“Waiting to collect horde… big mistake,” Third rumbled.
“Oh?” this surprised Second. “You believe them to be insufficient for the task?”
Third did not reply, though this time, the silence which followed implied his opinion should be so obvious, as to make voicing it unnecessary.
Second was intrigued by this. Personally, he’d thought the idea to be overly cautious, if anything. After all, releasing the entire horde of ten thousand upon the city of ancients for the sake of a single slave seemed rather extreme. Apparently the third was not of that same opinion. Second found his curiosity peaked.
“May I inquire as to why?”
Another pause.
“He… is strong,” the words came out as if torn from his throat.
“And yet he is only one, while the horde is many. I still do not see the cause for your reservations, my friend.”
“Numbers mean little to the strong,” he paused. “Would have been better to catch him before. Now that he’s crossed into forbidden lands… uncertain.”
“But…?” Second was momentarily at a loss for words. “I doubt even a joint effort of the four would be enough to overcome such odds. Not without sacrificing some of our member to the swarm at least. Are you telling me that you see this slave as more capable than the master’s chosen?”
Another silence followed, though Second didn’t need a response to understand the certainty held in the words unsaid. Third, while proud to a fault at times, was nevertheless renowned for his pragmatism. If he truly believed this slave to be that large of a threat…?
“And if the four sheathes were to join the hoard?” came a young female’s voice from immediately behind them. “What then?”
Second felt the overwhelming presence before he saw it and seemed to act even before then. They were both upon the intruder in a flash, though Second was just the slightest bit faster.
My will splits the air; my spear his claw unsheathed—let none stand before the master’s might.
His spearhead lanced forward like the fang of a lunging serpent—closing the distance between them in the time it took to blink. Sickly tendrils of greenish mist pulsed out from Second’s chest, wound down his arms, then ran along his spear-shaft to pool centimeters from its very tip. A churning ball that grew rapidly before their eyes. Growing until fist-sized, head-sized, and then as large as his torso before, all at once, the roiling mass of pulsing aura shrank down to that of a single liquid bead.
A droplet of condensed spearing force so terrifically potent that, when the tight bundle of aura was finally released, the very air seemed to howl in the wake of its passage.
Mantra: [Howling Spear-Thrust] (3rd Aspected)
Grade: (Good Quality)
The missile crossed kilometers in the time between blinks, punched through several cavern walls as if they were made of paper, and ended the life of not one, but two misfortunate clan-born before the force it contained was entirely spent.
A split second later and a titanic tremor rocked the cavern floor as Third’s hammer came down just a hairs breadth behind. When the dust finally settled, a wide fissure split the cavern floor for as far as the eye could see.
“Well? I’m waiting~? If I recall correctly, hmm, oh yes, I do believe I asked you a question! Really now, I know his whole shtick is that he’s the “big brooding silent type” but I really must say I expected more from you Grey.”
Second spun around in shock, weapon held at the ready, though he was now far more hesitant to use it.
This girl… this thing…!
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He hadn’t sensed even a ripple of aura or internal energy on her. For that matter, he hadn’t felt… well… anything at all! And yet somehow this small child had not only evaded his, but both of their strikes.
Just who or what in the world was she…?
And then he played back her words in his mind, and his confusion only redoubled. Because she hadn’t been speaking the crude slave tongue of the surface dwellers, but the exalted tongue of the under.
And not only that, but she’d known his first name.
A name he’d gone to great lengths to erase. Second made to take a step forward, when a meaty paw landed on his shoulder. With a start, Second looked up to find Third with his massive hammer already lowered, gesturing for him to do the same. After a moment of hesitation,
Second begrudgingly complied.
“To answer your question,” Third replied cautiously. “Were that the case, my worries would not burden me nearly so much as they do now. Although… it does remain an impossibility however.”
“Huh? And why’s that?”
Second was incredulous. Why was Third even humoring this… this… abnormality. This blasphemous, repugnant, inconceivable…!
“Because that accursed city is to us as a tunnel collapse is to a thriving community. It is death. That is why! Do you truly believe that it hasn’t been attempted before? The land is inimical to our very existence! The stones turn to hot coals under our feet! Creeping mists obscure visibility to no more than a digit's length in any given direction. Even the forbidden air turns to poison in our lungs!”
“Hmm? Oh, that? Beast wards and minor protections. A bit finicky seeing as they’re so old, but easily dealt with all the same. Oh! Does that mean that if I promised you all safe passage, you think you and your creepy little hoard would be enough to get the job done? Or do I need to find someone else better suited for the task?”
Second paused.
For a long moment the two sheaths of the divine merely stared blankly at the small child. Who for her part, appeared rather peevish, despite her earlier presence—openly impatient as she waited for their response. As if they’d rehearsed it, the two sheaths turned to one another in unison.
And then—surprising Second nearly as much as this entire interaction had thus far—the ever gruff, often stoic, and self-assured Third… shrugged.
image [https://i.ibb.co/rw6tMBB/IMG-2711.png]
Jun awoke to the burbling sounds of running water, and the weak slap of small waves lapping against his chest.
Recalling where he was, he couldn’t help but smile. Keeping his eyes closed, he sank deeper into the pool and simply allowed his mind to drift on the serenity of the place. It’d been a stressful couple of days, and he knew the trials he’d have to face were still out there waiting for him, but for now, he decided?
Right now, he figured it should be okay for him to just sit back and relax for… just another… minute or two…
Without warning a high-pitched squeal disrupted his peaceful tranquility. A whine that quickly morphed into a sinister growl. A growl which seemed to portend the end of the world.
Immediately, Jun’s entire universe shrank down to a single point. An ever-expanding void at the center of his stomach. A series of reverberations rippling outward from that spot, as a bestial hunger he’d never before experienced woke up with a vengeance. It spread out from his core like a blazing inferno. Subsumed his every sense, every impulse, his very mind.
To be replaced by the insatiable, uncontrollable, need to feed. It devoured anything and everything that made up what he was, and then—not yet satisfied—absconded with his very awareness as well.
Like a candles flame in a hurricane, all conscious thought was summarily extinguished.
image [https://i.ibb.co/rw6tMBB/IMG-2711.png]
When Jun awoke, he found himself lying prone on the slick tiles of the bathhouse, only recognizing belatedly that his body was seizing.
He felt the cause before he saw it. And it only took him a brief peek to confirm how screwed he was. How it’d happened, he had no idea, but the reality was undeniable. His body was nearly filled to bursting with excess amounts of spiritual energy—worse than any breathing rotation he’d ever experienced. The first thing he did was flare his aura before his mind could black out from the pain.
Once a brittle sort of calm had reasserted itself, he acted. Somehow, he managed to control his seizing muscles long enough to find and maintain a seated position. Once that was done, Jun surveyed his condition with a more critical eye. What he found there did not bring him much comfort.
He wasn’t just being flooded with spirit; he was being inundated with it.
His body was literally tearing itself apart, completely unprepared to handle so many conflicting energies all at once. The only bright side being the fact that said energies were too busy contending with one another to properly focus all their attentions on him. Though, again, that served as cold comfort when just the backlash of their clash was likely enough to kill him.
Looking more closely at the streams of energy, it was as if Jun had taken a handful of mending, spirit restoration, and meridian pills all at once. So that, while the spirit from the recovery pills was doing its best to ruin his channels, the rejuvenating energy from the meridian pills did their best to soothe the damage.
And as both of these opposing energies clashed, the conflict was constantly tearing into him. Injuries which the healing energies were quick to fix. It was a fragile equilibrium, he could immediately tell, and one which wasn’t likely to last long.
Further forcing his limbs into the lotus position, he quickly began the [Leaf Follows the Current] breathing form, thinking to absorb what of the rampant energies he was able. Unfortunately, his dantien’s capacity only extended but so far, and he soon found himself unable to compress leaves fast enough to meet the demand.
Thinking fast, he transitioned into the [Leaf Rides the Gale] breathing form and began pumping his diaphragm full of spiritual energy—funneling the churning rivers faster than he ever had before.
At first, the spirit fought him—racing through his meridians with such insane velocity that it wasn’t enough to simply guide it where he wanted it to go.
Instead, he was forced to jerk and shove the energy around—strong-arming the spirit onto the correct pathways until that terrifying velocity was working to his advantage instead of against him.
In this way, his diaphragm filled up in record time. Made even more impressive by the fact that, if anything, he now held more energy in his diaphragm than he ever had before.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the stupid levels of stubborn persistence he’d built up during his long flight across the expanse, Jun wasn’t sure whether he could’ve held the raging hurricane in check. It was definitely a feat he would’ve been incapable of even two days prior.
After an unspecified amount of time the influx of chaotic energies eventually slowed down to a reasonable pace. Jun wasn’t naïve enough to relax just yet, however.
He knew that the trial was only just beginning. After all, he still had to release everything he’d taken in. A prospect that would’ve been daunting at the best of times, but with the ludicrous amounts of spirit he currently held…?
No time like the present, he supposed.
And so, with another flare of his aura to bring about a cool head, he began to let out the first of many breaths to come.