Staring at Murai had barely left any changes on her head, eyes, or body. Lisa kept on flying as if she was flowing along the wind. Perhaps deep down, something moved within her, but Murai was never certain how to see her besides taking her words for words alone. There might be something else hiding within her, striking one with a resemblance of depth, wisdom, and a great history.
It might not be wrong if one took Lisa for an ancient being that she might be.
Murai had very little ways to know her besides trial of words, persuasion, or force. Her acts often disregarded her words, and she could even lie, force little gray lies, or speak whenever she liked. In truth, she just... didn't speak a lot.
That was worse, wasn't it?
Murai wasn't sure if lies were worse than a bunch of excuses or silence, or perhaps there was no difference. She might not even lie at all if she preferred not to voice what mattered.
There were a variety of ideas Lisa had in mind when she glanced at this struggling duck wearing a hoodie. It wasn't tall, its beak gripped Bagus's feathers, and it surely wasn't clever. It was stubborn, often stupid in its act, yet powerful in its own ways. Anything within was sort of ridiculous and insane to a whole different dimension. Perhaps literary, though Lisa didn't care if she was wrong or right as she glared at him in silence.
Previous fights left some rare moments, keeping words behind, and acting closer than far. She helped and watched how he got rid of a literal horde of Level 40 through 50 bests and even fought numerous demons and gang members that came later. He couldn't kill them, though defending and waiting for Bagus was a clever tactic. She had to give it to him; Murai's depth was increasing day by day, so she wondered what it would be like if he had no shortcomings at all.
Perhaps that was why he was this... Cursed, and prevalent over the Skies. Just how many worlds could survive this? Her ideas were long turning to weird directions when she was getting familiar with him with things she didn't know she needed. She shouldn't worry. She shouldn't care!
Perhaps it was a misunderstanding? Lack of insight? Perhaps she was getting some emotional attachment? Not the last one. Lisa didn't want to spend a lifetime with him in the slightest, nor to feel that sort of link.
Lisa had no doubts Murai felt the same way about her too, but his living was even more questionable than hers, but she wasn't giving herself the benefit of the doubt. She knew about her situation well enough to be like this, while Murai had no clue about her and even his living. It was unfair, but living and seeking any sort of Sky from a lofty position was never fair.
“Keep staring and I will fall.” Murai sent her his words again after he had enough. “Pinch is a pinch. I like that word, even though my head is weird in Will. It is my voice, or is it something else besides my quacks? I think I am turning insane after enduring this life. Better than Rocky, though. Worry is there too. You said something funny to Ultium before our department. That devil is hiding things by the way. I can tell that. You seem to care about some things, while other people matter when they matter to us. You remind me of some folks that I used to know. I think.”
“Think?” Lisa saw it as a bad thing.
“A bad reminder. I would like to forget I even said that. Oh, done.” Murai chuckled as if forgetting was that easy.
It never was.
“Well, I won't give you one damned word in this sky. You don't deserve me at best or worst. That's why I am trying much more than usual. Perhaps that will go on and on until we are all happy and alive. I am already pissed by every circumstance that is following you from behind like a curse. Maybe it connects and won't leave you. It flows like water or laws down the streams of misery.”
“Is that so? Does it feel...good? Sounds like every word you say describes some worlds out there, surviving or holding onto nothing. Maybe I should think of it like a certainty of changing Epochs, eh?”
Lisa rolled her eyes, making her face feel as if she was swallowing some words and emotions. “Eating this shit up, solving it, or helping you is already more than I deserve to give you, whereas Epochs are just ways of nature.”
“I sometimes feel like that too. You too...Well, shit karma, I guess. Heard of it before?” Murai tried to cheer her up. It wasn't working, he bet, though he tried it anyway.
“Karma? That is... a name in some cultures of weird deities from the Endless Skies, isn't it? That is far away from my head, so don't give me that crap.”
“But you know about it.”
“Sure as the Skies over our head. Oh, wait...” Lisa chuckled to ease the mood and turned upside down to look at the ceiling. “You see, it is weird. Sky or not, a ceiling is a ceiling and this place is the same. They aren't that different because they are hiding things above them and below.”
“And I am a duck and you are a ghost. Say something new.”
“We aren't either,” Lisa said seriously, speaking by moving her mouth. She thought the wind carried her words away, but it didn't.
“So you aren't a ghost?” Murai said suspiciously; he didn't need to know what she was or wasn't. He was more curious about who she could be.
“Have you seen someone like me before?” Lisa asked. “Sona is rarer than some questionable duck, isn't it?”
“Perhaps I did. I have a hunch for sure about your kind...of whatever race. I don't really care to catch the correct words or pictures. Numerous ideas might point to nosy things that I don't like, but let's not pretend my living has its merits and memories are all where they should be. It is Cursed, I can tell you this much. It has no good sides at all!” Murai faked a cry, taking this ride for an unfortunate accident like most of this life.
But he didn't want to crush it, let alone forget it existed.
“Agreeeeed.” Lisa chortled a laugh. “You are just one massive cursed mess that looms over this world and myself.”
“Me too!”
“Sure. You revolve around yourself like a giant mistake. Anyway, Karma is a bitch. Some Blessed of the past gave it many views, bringing ideas and cultures from the Endless Skies because one is never sure where those freaks come from. Some are from various Sectors though, flooding this world with weird ideas and folklore, powers, or personalities that have guided this world for tens of millennia. Can you imagine what it did with Gods, weird beasts, powers, and magic? It is a mash of things and everything about this world's history has notes of many figures, stories, legends, and Gods who either forget them, help them, or people take them for something new to pass for the future. Some Gods don't like the word change.”
“Sounds like godly playground began to draw some problems and it slowly turned to bite their backs.” Murai guessed.
“I wonder if that is right. Some poor ideas are useless. If I am honest, none should care about them when dreams are very real at the top of some worlds, or... beyond.” She retired her mood and turned back to her serious nature.
She cared about facts if she had this option. That much, Murai must tell was true and correct. Layers of weird psyche about Lisa were like the bark of a tree. Slowly digging through the layers uncovered more of her personality, but which was right or truthful?
Murai at least had an opinion that those barks might be deeper than he thought, layered, or there were much more of them than he could see. Maybe there was even an empty void beyond them or a surprising vastness.
When one saw enough of lives and people, or... worlds, the word meaning turned to a new page. Lisa had her reason to be what she was or would be. After all, everyone was the master of their own Fate, even if in seeming shackles to someone else, weird because of one's choices or the lack thereof.
Something like Fate was intangible, yet many considered it to be the epitome of living, saying that it was a tangible thing, flowing like water and Laws, and one should see it as a predisposition, natural path, and endless patterns. It was common out there where power flooded the minds, yet it didn't matter when one saw life close to the peak. From outside, within, or in other ways, lives had many faces and lies.
Then, some people believed they were higher they they were, but they weren't. They were just ants in a much broader universe, and one's perspective was the reason for that. It was about the ants. They might have a nest in one place, call themselves masters, or hunters, and skim for great resources without knowing the broadness outside of their vast surroundings.
Murai met that occasion many times, with people, demons, worlds, and many cultures. Because of his living, he saw the numerous shattered ceilings and some worlds never took it all that well. When met with a higher existence, things often change for the worse; never for the better tomorrow. It either required a massive leader, or the opposition had to be understanding and nice.
Which was more doubtful than a flame freezing a planet.
Lisa believed numerous other beliefs were as useless as one would fear, feel, or hear. Murai thought of worlds as individual paradises, filled with many individuals who were the same as him, but without the curse. They followed what they desired and the difference was the remembrance of their former selves. Everyone had some story to tell, even if it could be brief like a small talk, worth a few pages, or full of despair.
“I will make it worth that. Make it new.” Murai said, sounding weirdly convincing this time around.
“How, I wonder. You are barely something good in my eyes. Just a pawn in the hands of something you can't even change. And some want to handle you like a fool or a tool. Gods do that all the time, while whatever else is out there should remain there. Using you to unknown lengths is odd, yet for what? This? What are you even?” She looked around, at him and implied to the whole mess around him metaphorically.
“Tell me about you.” Murai changed the subject for no apparent reason; perhaps he didn't want to take this metaphor to heart.
“Me?”
“Right.”
“Why would I do that when you refuse my...I mean, your Fragments! I wanted to know about you since the start, and now this? Call me shook.” She exaggerated her surprise by gasping and looking away. “Don't kid yourself? I do this for myself. Not for you.”
“Oy! I deserve at least something. Haven't you said that you would give me some answers after the conquest of these Gates? A chance?! Don't you think it is a bit unfair when you've got to know me like a book, read and handle me like a fool, while your personality is just shit?”
“Book so long, that one can't read it all, nor understand many parts without crashing the brain apart. That kind of book?” Lisa retorted. “Bits would pass as enough, but I don't care about myself and you to this extent right now. Why? As a Life Companion, my parts are closer to being a slave. To a smaller degree, of course. Many Blessed believe in that idea, handling their Companions and Life Companions like tools.”
“Can I do that? How?” Murai tried to sound sincere, but he was joking. Lisa glanced at him, growing her hands in clear annoyance. “Fine. You aren't a slave, for obvious reasons that better remain unturned,” he said.
“Yet I am part of doing something I wouldn't ever want to do! So don't talk to me about talking to you about my past.”
“Who said something about your past?” Murai said as if she ran into bothersome conclusions.
Lisa grunted. “What?”
“I have David for that. That old man has a certain knack for words and history. He lets his tongue loose when Bagus is around, or a drink is close. What I want to touch upon are the present issues. Past is whatever. People can change, think, and take it for something good. When one sees people with multiple lives, it is that sort of thing. It needs different perspectives.”
“That guy...” Lisa sighed. “Let's not think of that for a second. I don't think that matters when I am with you, whose past is even more questionable, while the future is even worse.”
“Alright. Then what about the present you? That sounds interesting enough and like something I should know for our mutual benefit. Past is past. You should care about my presence.”
“You think I don't do that at all?!” Lisa shouted. “I do only that for the sake of our damned lives! Past can fuck off.”
“Is that so? I got a hint that many things are stretching far or slow and you do care about a bunch of things. Like excuses, you are a liar. Interest can be part of that, or you can call it my hunch which is smelling like a charm.”
“And?”
“You've done some things before I almost died. Went asleep, forced something I didn't feel and know, and ate a part of a pie that should have been mine. What was that even for? I don't get it. Was it a blunder on my part or a miscalculation? You feel freer than a wasp in a room, I think. And you are in my damned head!”
“A minor thing... doesn't matter. That I had to do. Reached my Evolution too and became much more helpful afterward, and even at a time when you got Encounter upon yourself, so that is that. I told you it was important before entering this shitty temple. I have a Path to follow as well, same with my race and evolutions that do have their principles. Both are nowhere near something interesting for you or near. Trust me. It is a process like breathing.”
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“Trust? Not yet? There we go again... You are downplaying the reality again. Is that something that you used to think about all the time? You say trust while dancing around the important topics. Do you need something then? I feel like you want something from me. You reaaaaly want it. Desire it like a candy!”
“So what If I do?” Lisa said angrily. “I can't care about desires or wants right now. Do you think Soul Stones are common? That Soul Essences grows on trees or the ground?” She put one part of the truth into her statement without telling him what she truly wanted or what mattered.
Murai felt it a little, but her words carried some truths so he followed them along.
“Soul Stone?” Murai piqued that word up with quite high standards. He knew such things by numerous names, syllables, visions, and rarities from many worlds. They were powerful memorials ranging from powerful beings or lost vigors of previous Epochs.
Soul Essences were easy to figure out or what they depicted. They were Mana Essences that essentially turned into something like the manifestation of mana and souls, depicting rare occasions when naturally occurring sona changed via the link with Afterlife and turned into mana, which then came out as physical Soul Essence that had bizarre properties. Their forging creations were complicated even if one mastered some soul powers, and finding them in the wild was less than easy.
It should be nothing normal, though natural it became when some souls died, bodied burned under tides of Laws or soul powers, or techniques, worlds, or Gods or Laws were involved. Everything could exist in nature, even though artificial ways of creation were much better, for the universe came off as forceful anyway.
Lisa personally knew numerous artificial methods to gather some Soul Essences, and neither meant anything good right now. For example, this place should have them at lower Gates, and one couldn't buy them. Harvesting souls was close to being taboo in many ways of power and cultures.
It was nothing that Chaos couldn't accept. It went against the natural order of the Afterlife, so what about some soul powers or similar things? Couldn't Essences turn to sona when soul-based powers came in clutch, souls died within, or under some great essence-gathering constructs?
Murai knew they did, and he thought this temple should be helpful in that matter. For example, he more or less figured that any being etched into this temple's essence-gathering ways was not so simple as some denizen, or visit. They were part of some process, their souls weren't as free, and perhaps this must be the work of Levandis, who threaded a fine line in Chaos as master of Path of Thousand Graves.
Unfortunately, Murai had no way to check or see if his tries were correct, or if something worth was up for Lisa's life. Maybe if she would bathe in his soul, memories, or soul space, could she grow? Wouldn't she devour him like a curse? If she needed those things, could she suggest some nasty threat?
At this moment, something hit Murai's consciousness, and he understood where this was going. He was more or less aware Lisa didn't want to spend any time in his soul space. The reason was odd since his hunch pointed she could get stronger in here like a flame spirit bathed in a volcano.
She didn't have to be savage; just spending time there and accumulating her life might be enough. Still, it was curious since it pointed to her like that.
“So, you want your upgrades without stealing shit from me? Interesting. How to get them is what you want, huh? Committing to some upgrades next is like me. That is a nice desire or dream. I have mine to follow, but I never heard about these specific soul urges that you have. Evolutions are not up to this world alone. All kinds of beasts can change via bloodline rites and so on, but you have no body. So, what kind of race does this weird justice, what will it change about you, or what does it need?”
“As I've said. It matters little, if any right now. You are my priority and I am not. You forced my wants from me as I did with mine, and you shouldn't have had... any problem with it.” Lisa said, hesitantly muttering some truths along with a bunch of nothing
“I am not sorry or anything. So listen. I am bending a knee. Almost... Not now. Where else do we have time for this calm and private conversation? No Crows are around, nor we are hunted like flies. Well, some might come around that corner, or that mountains, or that city, or... You get the picture. Going with the flow matters more than being a stressed shitless ghost and your hesitations keep me doubtful. Perhaps something wouldn't mind us from sharing some bits.”
“Hmp!” Lisa flicked her head away, looking away and gliding far to see better or flee. “Tell me about it when you will actually matter in your reputation or time. You are nothing right now, but you have every right to be something. Then, I will talk.”
Murai looked at her leaving and that shut him up for some reason, even if he had numerous words to tell to her. In truth, he had all intentions to give her some of his Fragments for some exchanges, but now, he changed his mind. If she expressed this excuse again, couldn't she do it later or every time?
Lisa was no longer in his line of vision. She flew down, and up, unclear to his eyes, though he sure could talk to her through their connection the same way as if she was before his face.
“It sure is weird. This whole context of forcing a Life Companion to a Blessed reincarnated figure. Feels like chains of interest in this world that is much more intense than some things from beyond. All Blessed are with past Blessed, creating some weird loop. What does that mean, exactly? It sounds so strange, yet, I've never actually met a Blessed apart from Razmund. They shouldn't be rare, or so it is told. Bagus, Itrosh, Ultium, and David are all normal... well, relative to the rest. Ceila, Lia, Iris, or Timmy.
Well, when I think about it, I've hardly met many people, eh? Razmund had no visible Life Companion, so perhaps his soul space had it too? As far as I could tell, he had his basic companions alone, so what to make of it? Murai thought as he followed the flying and sight below him with calmness.
He wondered if the companions and weight of Blessed were that big of a deal. So far, he hadn't touched on that concept, but Vermillion mentioned a thing called Temporal Power Chain in hindsight to Iris.
Then, he had his Encounter status, which complicated things to another level. Helpers were similar and good, while his overall sentiment from the past chasm came to his mind next. He saw Lisa battling again, but he was far too busy fighting like a maniac and reaching some redefining interests and views about his current arsenal.
He was shocked to uncover the difference between regular Mana Blade and Sharpblade with much greater targets and passable familiarity with Heavenly Shaping. The difference between this evolution was even more crazy than the difference between Beak's Fury and Beak's Blitz from the simple way magic worked for him. But it was also true that Blitz and its Fatality could deal a great deal of damage.
Sharpblade cut and flew very well, adhering to the Heavenly Shaping in greater deals than the rest of his spells, though he couldn't tell if the prior Blade would work the same if not better. Sharpblade took much more mana and Sharpness into consideration, making it much more powerful and harder to wield Blade.
Did this mean Murai could use his prior Blade as well if he would take his care and Shaping lower? Yes, but why use a lower-level thing when Sharpblade got handed to him like that? Murai didn't refuse that, and he even evolved Shaping and Blade at the same time, so he wasn't willing to see their difference. Both definitely changed his approach to magic, even though it felt a bit forced, and turned this journey into a trial set by these Gates, mana, and training.
He wasn't sure if the change to Heavenly Shaping was as great as evolution and other things, but Lisa told him numerous times it was better to change the fundamentals now than later. Murai agreed with that statement with all his mind and wings.
With Lisa gone and ideas close, Murai followed the fight without any hitch. Bagus didn't fly that fast, yet the remaining distance to the Scorching Light should be over in a few hours, or more, depending on what David and the situation below allowed. Bagus could take care of the voice midway through a fight, but as a handless individual, he let Lisa handle most of it instead.
From time to time, Bagus will need some rest, so some downtime and landing will come, while this last straight line of travel was bound to be tense. He couldn't push his flying too far, lest the ground team could no longer follow him from behind.
Frankly, he could leave them in the dust if he wanted, but Lisa argued that the group team should always be closer. It was for their benefit, so Bagus strained and lost more stamina in this manner because this was not a simple place, and his body wasn't that optimal for this lower speed.
The resting happened after an hour of flight, with Bagus landing in some strange angled forest. After Itrosh ensured that no obvious enemies were within a large-scale radius, what if they were hiding like their first battle?
To this point, Lisa questioned Carmilla who almost caught them off-guard. She had some interesting toys that suppressed some surveillance. If she had it, why not the others?
Still, with Ultium and others around, they landed to rest. Surprisingly, no airborne combat happened as Lisa feared, but there were some gangs around their landing that Itrosh picked on. There were also some beasts around, and their tactics might not be that pretty. No traps happened at least, so the group went to work.
They got the taste of the ground team in no time, leaving Murai silently grumbling in silent complaints because they didn't come too close. Lisa solved it by putting Ultium and David to good use.
Most of the enemies should be interested in those above the ground, but the availability of some flying mounts or means to go up that far was kind of lacking choice. None should be able to put spells or other weapons from the ground to such length without spreading a lot of mana.
That went within Lisa's calculations, so mostly, a lot of groups either waited or bid for their time before their landing. Lisa and Murai were worth a lot of points after all, while the ground team was full of danger when Ultium and Itrosh were around. David was an intercepting factor that ensured his team had no shortcomings. He was excellent support when he gave up on being something he couldn't be.
Previous confrontations and small wars gave a wake-up call for most gangs, military groups, and beasts around the first couple of Provinces, and many teams eyed them like tasty treats that might bark, but they could too.
Lisa's idea bore some results. She scared quite a lot of figures off when they crushed their opposition in a nasty method. These facts were clear, and no terrible pace came onto them. No big troubles were present in the Gorge Forest in Sector 32, which was a steep plot of land that was almost entirely flat, apart from the fact that it was angled like a ramp.
That went on for ten kilometers, looking like a square forest with many bushes and trees, and a wide part of the earth that looked as if earthquakes played with it, or some Overlords did.
Occasional mountain monuments were around this forest, followed by geometrical stones, big rocks, pillars, or round materials protruding from the ground as if everything were part of the earth. It didn't resemble two tectonic plates slamming into each other, forming mountains, or crashing earth. It looked too unnatural since many strange things could happen in unkempt lands where there was a lot of space, water, or already tense-up places because of politics and mana.
So yes. It could be natural, apart from those geometrical monuments scattered around the forest on a large scale. Some were even hundreds of meters tall. Murai bet those were traits left behind by some training, comprehensions, or play of some Giants, or even Titans. He didn't dare to think too far, but he knew how some ancient races felt and looked, and these things were ancient.
Murals were incomprehensible, runes long turned dull in age. Whether there was some treasure around here was long turned to dust. Some ancient beings like those with Titan Bloodline could reach a hundred meters, boasting strength in multiple ways, ranging from unfathomable sturdiness, aged like stone, and Physiques that might hide layers from the lost history.
Who would train with a whole mountain beside some freaks of nature? It seemed to have a long-lasting impression, looking as if they were decorations. It shouldn't be correct, though it wasn't far from it either.
There were deep ravines because of some fights, work around this decorum, or dug up earth, while the angled plate of earth left shadowy regions and places below this forest, creating yet another forest below this plate of earth that was dark, moist, and making up great natural zones.