Queltsom:
I woke up on the bed, feeling rather well. I tried to remember what happened to me before I slept, and a cloudy thought of me hitting Brel with some sort of weird attack came to mind. I hope he isn't angry at me! On the upside, I don't feel angry anymore! Well, I do, but not as tangibly as before. I guess I finally found an outlet to relieve that anger. Now I'm only as angry as I need to be, not a little bit more. It's better this way. I sensed a pressure opposite me, knowing it to be Kerrio's. Tangled with that pressure was an energy I was familiar with. Kota? I'll just ask him later. I left the bed and stood up, heading to the door. Then I heard voices speaking rather loudly in the direction where I and Brel had walked earlier, meaning the kitchen or somewhere near it. I walked closer to better hear what they were saying.
"Have to let us see him, ma'am! Lady Jane wants to apologize,", a male voice was saying. It wasn't ruff, like Brel's, but smooth and insistent. A familiar female voice cut him off.
"No, Guard. I am sorry, but I don't trust you or your lady. I am not letting you touch anyone in my home ever again, not after one of your lady's agents snuck in and kidnapped the boy. Do not make me use violence, guard, or you will regret it,", Lady Eileen said, sounding way angrier than she ever did. I never imagined that she would hurt anyone, but if it was necessary, I knew deep in my bones that she would do it.
"It's different now, ma'am! You have to let us in! Lady Jane's orders, her requests!", the man said.
"I have tried to convince you with words, but you wouldn't listen. Let's see if actions will sink it in,", she said, sounding much calmer but still serious. "Sov, let's do this!".
The pressure in the air thickened, and I suddenly sensed a familiar but segmented presence ahead. It almost felt like... me.
"Verdant sovereign!", she roared in a growling voice similar to mine when I become angry. It was also deeper and lower-pitched. I sensed several pressures suddenly appear to face off against her—five of them, to be exact, along with the one who had spoken earlier. I suddenly felt the urge to rush in there and help, so I immediately ran forward. Due to my distress, I didn't notice the speed at which I was running, so I bumped into one of the men at full tilt, making both of us fall to the ground. I fell on top of him and dug one of my fingernails into his forehead. A metallic armor covered most of him, but his head was unprotected. What kind of idiot would leave their head unarmored? I sent a strange attack with some weird power that was focused on a single point, piercing his forehead and causing blood to drip onto the floor. The man groaned. I didn't want to kill him, so I drained all but the thinnest threads of his life force away from him and into my body. I sensed a little bit of Kota inside him, so I was sure it would be turned into life force to replenish a bit of what I drained from him. Then I felt weird. What did I do just now? I tried to remember what I did, but I couldn't place it. Remember? Why would I try to remember something I don't even know the context of?
Out of the fight, I left him and joined Lady Eileen's side. Her large form was huffing and panting heavily, so I sent all the excess life force I had somehow collected into her, reducing her tired breathing. That felt weird. Why did I have more life force than usual? It had been convenient, and I had already given it to her, so I stopped thinking about it.
"Verdant...", she screamed, and I felt a mass of energy build up in the center of her pressure, which always takes the size of the one who bears it. "Fire!", she shouted. The word was so dragged out it sounded like "Faaaaayer"!, and I heard a loud crackling extend from her with a swoosh, striking one of the men's armor and causing it to sizzle and melt away, eliciting a hiss of pain from the man in question. The one who had spoken with her previously started talking again, saying crap about calming down and needing to resolve this peacefully, but Lady Eileen was having none of it. They didn't even seem to notice me and what I did to their friend.
"Verdant Sovereign Strike!", she yelled, and the man's speech was interrupted with a boom and a scream of agony.
"This is my house,", her voice thundered.
"Verdant... And when I say no,", she continued. A huge amount of energy I had never dreamed of gathered around her. "It... means... no!", she finished. After a while, she said, "Piercing, burning, Wave!". The gathered energy shot out and struck the six men. Metal gave way and melted, splashing on the floor, and six bodyfalls sounded out at once. "Let that be a lesson for you, you bunch of vagabonds! Never try to impose yourselves on me or mine for any reason whatsoever! My house, my call If I say yes, yes. If I say no, it means no, and neither you, your lady, nor any other creature will ever force me to do its bidding. Now scram!", she ordered. The other pressures disappeared, and I heard a body collapse to the floor.
A strange sound filled the room. Strong rising and falling of breath, and sniffling. A lot of sniffling. I realized Lady Eileen was crying. I could never figure out that action; it seemed like I wasn't able to do it. I felt lost sometimes, saddened at finding myself away from Dragnoria and surrounded by strangers—most enemies and few allies—but I never cried. I couldn't. I didn't know why, but I was somehow biologically incapable of doing so. Not knowing if it was a good or a bad thing, my anger restored itself, and I knew for a fact that the one who hurt her wasn't Jane or any of her guards. I didn't know how I knew that either, but I knew it with certainty. And for the first time since I woke up, I let my anger rip the world apart for a moment. My voice rang like heavy rain. I sent a pulse forward to link with her, then I took a deep breath and roared.
"I'll make you pay!".
*Thump... thump*!
The pulse carried all that anger, and with a loud bang, it escaped. Since I sent all that anger-filled roar through the pulse, it didn't get through to the room. No, that would wake Kerrio and a lot of other people up. I didn't know how I did it, as with a lot of things I did, but my anger amplified my voice, expressing what I felt more eloquently than words or even sound ever could. The pulse went on its way, hopefully carrying my message to whoever hurt her like that. When I got stronger, I was going to find them and make them pay, just like I promised!
Done with that whole business, I inspected her pressure. It was full of strange holes. I went to her side and touched her head. I sent my life force through my hand, letting it enter her body. The body didn't react negatively to the energy, which meant it recognized the beneficial effect. Not letting go of the life force, I controlled it, letting it mingle with the energy she used while fighting the guards. Verdant something, she called it. The energy gobbled up the life force I sent, and the holes visibly knitted themselves together and closed.
"Thank you, first master.", A weird buzzing voice spoke in my mind. Once again, my mind fortress alerted me, and I knew it was safe to speak with whoever this was.
"No problem, but who are you? And why are you calling me first master?", I asked the voice.
"I am called Sovereign of Buzz, nicknamed Sov by the second master,", it replied.
"Oh, you're the Sov everyone's been talking about? Who's the second master?", I asked.
"Kerrio,", he answered. "I was generated when you cut a piece of your being to save the hostess, and I reside within her to protect her, following your wishes, master,", Sov added, his voice almost like Gelrahq's but a bit higher.
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"The hostess is Lady Eileen?", I questioned.
"Yes, first master. It is her, and you have earned the ire of her clanmates by threatening them so clearly,", he said with what sounded to me like a chuckle.
"Who cares? All the more reason to get stronger so I could crush every last one of them for making her cry,", I said seriously.
"Good luck, first master!", he said, and the connection cut off.
Somewhere beyond the world:
"Well, well, look what our little failure has brought upon us. I look forward to playing with you, angry little boy!", a smooth, silky feminine voice said with interest, and Sylvia Valdris licked her lips in anticipation.
"How dare he threaten our clan like that? I can't wait to crush that bastard and end what little bonds my demon of a sister has forged, sending her back to the loneliness she deserves for being born a failure!", Michael Valdris yelled in outrage.
"Why doesn't he stop yapping and let me cultivate in peace? Oof, little crap won't escape me alive,", Victor Valdris grumbled.
"I hope you're doing well, Eileen! I wish it wouldn't have been like this! Oh, how much I hope to come together with you, sister, but I'm sorry! I hope you're not angry at me. Whoever you are, please bring back my sister safely, ok?", Mary Valdris thought to herself.
"Awooooooooo!", a howl reverberated in the distance, and Brave, Eileen's etherwolf, howled, her heart filled with longing for her human. She had many things to say! She wanted to be with her human instead of the human's pack! The human's pack wasn't a good pack for the human at all! They expelled her from the pack, and Brave was left here, unseen and unheard. She heard the roar of promised vengeance, and the mental link she wanted to grasp and teleport through slipped through her grasp, leaving her to grieve alone. A growl escaped her throat at her situation. The human had protected her by creating an invisibility array that isolated her from sight, sound, hearing, and energy senses, so no one else but the human herself knew about Brave's existance. She knew how to strengthen her energy, though; the human pack had called it cultivation. Brave didn't have those tiny circular things they eat to give them more energy instantly, though, so she had to work harder and collect the energy on her own. It took time, even more so with the invisibility array disrupting most of the energy flow, but she only had to grow strong enough, and she'd never have to fear the evil pack of humans again! She would strike all of them down and look for her human! Brave's old pack was killed, and she was the only survivor. She had been a little pup back then, but the human found her wounded and healed her. That was why she would only follow her command and no other creature's! Besides, the human never ordered her; she respected her decisions and supported her. And when she evolved, the human pack would face their end, their throats ripped open by Brave's claws and teeth.
Queltsom:
"Hey, Lady Eileen?", I asked her after she stopped crying.
"Yes, Queltsom?", she replied.
"What did the guards say?", I asked.
"They say Jane wanted to apologize to you. Their suspiciously urgent behavior suggests that Jane is planning something bad. I tried to refuse the guards, but they don't seem to understand the word 'no'. So I used Sov's power to enhance my strength,", she answered.
"What was the energy you were using?", I asked, changing the subject.
"Verdant energy. It's an artificial type of energy made by combining fire, earth, air, and water energy and weaving all of them through plant energy. The newly created verdant core would convert my stores of Vak to verdant energy, increasing my strength, speed, and will,", she said.
"Uh, what? I don't get it,", I said uncertainly.
"Oh, sorry, you're not at copper yet,", she chuckled. I laughed for some strange reason. I wasn't at the copper rank yet, but Dragnoria told me some basic things about it, and it sure as the Void didn't have anything to do with more than one element until the further ranks, that was the way humans cultivated. Was lady Eileen not human? Or was their another way? Or, was this verdant energy actually something that became one energy after forming, counting as one element and working as an artificial element made of five elements? That was weird, but it made sense.
"Listen, Jain might not be planning something bad. She was actually mind-controlled. I don't know what happened to her yet, but she's good now, I think. Still, it's probably for the best that you rejected her for now, since I'm not ready to see her yet,", I explained, returning back to the unpleasant topic.
"I see,", she responded.
Raiga's defense office:
Richard Jackal was in his office, waiting for the newly initiated defenders to report their accomplishments to him. There was a knock on the door, and he gave them the permition to enter. The door slid open, and two identically armored figures sporting a basic sword and shield and wearing a basic armor set walked in. They stood at attention and saluted.
"Brawler devision initiates David and Gustave reporting in, officer Jackal, sir! We have been accompanied by a group of senior defenders from the stealth division and have successfully stopped a G-grade threat! It was an Earth Weaver, but luckily it was young enough for us to handle! We have gained a core and have split it in half, consuming equal portions of it. Our Earth Conqueror iron bodies are still at the early low stage, but they are advancing smoothly, sir! The body tempering essence of the Earth, mind tempering essence of the Bolder, and spirit tempering essence of Steel have done wonders for our cultivation, making our Earth Conquerer iron bodies exceptional!", one of them spoke. Jackal wasn't sure which one of the two it was, and he couldn't care less.
"Only a G-grade threat? Adequate, but not impressive. Even a copper could defeat a g-grade threat if he put his mind to it. Did you inspect the core before consuming it?", he asked, bored out of his mind.
"No, sir, forgive us! We were so excited and happy about our victory that we forgot to use the detector. We will do better next time, sir!" said the other one this time around.
"You have earned 5 defense points. Try to do better next time, and don't forget to thicken your tempering, condense your core, and prepare your aspects before consuming another set of essences, or else you'll collapse your cultivation system completely and cripple yourself, understood?", he asked.
"Yes, sir!", they said in unison. They saluted once more and left the office. Jackal sighed and hoped he'd have more interesting candidates for the city's elite defenders, as scouts had reported increased beast activity to the north. He waited for another team to report, and the boring days were always like that for him.
Another knock sounded, and he let the new initiate in, now extremely bored. If it only were Raeven Urnus, it would be slightly less boring. In fact, it was indeed Raeven, the talented young boy who came from outside the city. Jackal gladly took him under his wing after discovering his talent for fire.
"Caster devision high initiate Raeven Urnus, reporting in, sir! I have successfully dealt with an F-grade lesser false air elemental. I have noticed that my fire magic did not affect it much, likely due to some resistance it gained upon consuming another creature with fire resistance. I have brought in the elemental core of the beast because I'm fire-aligned and can't consume it yet, sir!", he said with a salute. He fished out a deep green orb the size of his palm and held it out for Jackal to see.
"F-grade indeed! Good job as always, Raeven, my boy! Continue on this path, and you'll be a great defender! You've gained 20 contribution points upon being the first to slay an F-grade threat among the initiates!", Jackal beamed, sounding far more enthusiastic and proud. F-grade might have been only one stage higher than g-grade, however, the gap between grades increased, and at least 6 initiates who can fight g-grade beasts were required to beat an f-grade one
"Thank you, sir! I have a concern, though. I heard a call somewhere. Someone was very angry at another, and it sounded rather close by. I don't know if it's my ability acting up or if there's really a threat coming. It said 'I'll make you pay', then zipped by quickly.", he said.
"If it's gone, it's probably nothing, but thanks for telling me anyway. This is for you, my boy!", he told him. He opened his bag and rummaged through its contents, taking out an orange pill that was glowing red in the middle.
"This is a fire-aligned core condensing pill for you. Eat it and cycle it directly into your core. It will thicken it and make all the fire techniques you use in the future more potent. Good luck!", he announced. Raeven's jaw dropped in shock.
"Thank you, sir, thank you! I'll try to continue to try my best in the future!", He was so flabbergasted he couldn't even speak properly. Jackal grinned.
"Thank you, sir!", Raeven saluted again, gaining his composure after a long moment of stairing at the pill, and left, closing the door behind him.
"What a brilliant young man! That ability to hear the Voice of the Ether is monstrous. Are we going to face a new threat? Does this voice he heard have any reason to hate us?", Jackal frowned in worry. "We'll just have to be on guard and do our best. What am I saying? people are already starting to notice the increased beast attacks. Could something be riling them up? I am just running around in circles with no information!", he scowled.