Seated within the endless Void, I cuddle Buddy close and take stock of my barren surroundings before settling in to seek Insight.

It’s still a little shocking to reach for Balance and find myself in this dark and desolate landscape. Gone is the condo building surrounded by the village I call home, one modified to fit around the reduced scale model of the Azure Sea, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it. My room especially, with my comfy bed and battle station PC, complete with multiple monitors, flashing lights, and an office chair which had long since been moulded in the shape of my ass and lower back. The floor to ceiling windows overlooking the docks, the white stucco ceiling plastered with movie and video game posters aplenty, the bookshelf laden with books, toys, and comics, all of that and more is gone now, no longer fixed into my Natal Palace and soul, but merely a memory to fondly reminisce of.

Even though I know none of it was ever really real, I still miss being able to sit here and take it all in, to see my past and current lives merged in harmony without care or consideration for distinction. It was the one place I knew I was free to just be me, where I no longer had to live with the burden of my deepest, darkest secret, but now it’s gone and all I have left is the dark emptiness of the Void. Many fond memories were made here, playing with Buddy, Ping Ping, and Pong Pong, while later sweet Lin-Lin joined in on the fun and we took things to a whole new level. Water slides, wave pools, roller coasters, and hang-gliding, these were but some of the activities we can no longer enjoy, or at least not until I get a better handle on my Blessing and figure out how to land a glider in reality without crashing.

Honestly, I don’t entirely understand everything I’ve done to get to this point along my Path, not well enough to really explain it in words. I mostly just went with my gut and did whatever felt right, with the logic behind my actions making just enough sense for me to proceed onwards without too too many questions. Getting rid of my Natal Palace was necessary, this much I know, but the why is still iffy and I wish I could have it back again. As I am nothing if not inquisitive, I settle in to take Dad’s advice and figure out my shit, reflecting upon the steps I took to get here and wonder if there are any improvements to be made.

The answer to which should really be a no brainer. Of course there are improvements to be made, considering there is literally nothing here.

Well, not entirely true. The Call Centre of the Void is here, suspended off in the distance below where I sit, but it will only remain so long as I and the Natal Souls stationed there continue to Will it in existence. The second we stop paying attention is the second the Call Centre disappears, leaving me all alone in the emptiness of the Void once more. It really brings to question what would happen if I were to be infected by Spectres and there was no Blobby here to save me. When Spectres try to seize control of their host, they do so by occupying the Natal Throne, or at least that’s what I suspect, but I have no throne to speak of really, so what will they go after first?

No clue, but I’m not in any rush to find out either.

More to the point is that the Call Centre is temporary and adjustable as needed, and I suspect its temporary nature greatly reduces the cost of expenditure compared to if I were to fix it in place and remake it over and over again. I only really discovered this after following Dad’s advice to rest, as it felt natural to just downsize the Call Centre in capacity and proportion to reduce the strain on my mind, soul, and focus. I didn’t sense any injury or spiritual ‘lessening’ like Shen ZhenWu noted shortly after I remodelled my Natal Palace in Nan Ping, but maybe that’s because the Call Centre is still around and populated by a handful of tethered Natal Souls to aid me in a variety of boring but pivotal tasks. One is monitoring my surroundings using my physical senses, while a second does the same using the metaphysical, and just to be safe, I have a third Natal Soul keeping watch with access to both sets of senses, on the off chance that the sum of the parts are greater than the whole. It’s also good practice just to get in the habit of using all my senses at once, though I would love to retain the ability to shut down my Spiritual Senses the same way I can close my eyes or parse through what I’m hearing to phase certain sounds out. I also have one Natal Soul on weapons duty, mostly to make sure I don’t accidentally impale someone while walking by, but also on standby to defend and attack should the need arise, and lastly, one Natal Soul to rule them all.

Kidding. About the ruling part, though I do have a supervising Natal Soul to keep the other four on task and skim through their reports to pass along the most vital information, while storing the rest in memory for later perusal. I don’t need to know that there are twenty-eight soldiers glancing at where they last saw me in a mixture of awe and admiration, or that Hongji has killed eighteen Defiled tribesmen in the short time since I’ve left, or the exact notes of Luo-Luo’s melodic strumming ringing out overhead, not here and now at least. I’ll probably want to go over all of it at a later time, because it’s a nice change to be admired for once, but also because this is some fascinating stuff. I can sense Hongji’s Chi flowing through him as he familiarizes himself with all the variants of Ethereal attacks, as well as the harmonies of Heaven and Earth intermingling with Luo-Luo’s notes as the music speaks to me in a way I don’t entirely understand, not to mention the deluge of information flooding through my senses both physical and otherwise as the battle rages on all around me, but now is not the time to indulge my curiosity.

Or introspection, I admit, but in my defense, there are reasons besides nostalgia for reflecting on the emptiness around me.

First off is the lack of… well, anything really. No warm golden glow, no shifting darkness, no patch of suspicious not-quite nothingness, and no hidden presences lingering at the edge of my perceptions. If Zhen Shi is hiding within the Void, then he’s doing a much better job of it this time around, though that might be because he doesn’t have a ‘living’ Rune of Spectres to Conceal alongside him. That being said, even though the Void is always empty, it feels… lifeless, I suppose, too still and quiet for something that I always perceived as still and quiet, which is weird, I know. Aside from Buddy, Blobby, and the Call Centre of the Void, my ‘Natal Palace’ is essentially just a patch of nothingness indistinguishable from the Void itself, yet it feels wrong now, but not because I’m doing anything different. Emptiness within and emptiness without, this is how I keep to the fine line between struggle and surrender, by finding Oneness. There is no division between myself and the Void, no distinction save for one of location, and I make no effort to contain or direct the Energy of the Heavens as it flows in, out, through, and around me as if I were part and parcel of the whole. I make use of the Energy of the Heavens by directing my Will to harness its flow, becoming the dam, the wall, the forge, the drill, the Call Centre, or whatever other tool is needed for my intended purposes, only to return to this base state of nothingness once there is no longer any need.

Which honestly, is a highly inefficient process, but wholly unavoidable.

Take the killing blow I used during my ‘duel’ with pre-Demon Vyakhya. I performed Tiger Swipes the Rushes, and the physical Movement brought about a change in the flow of Heavenly Energy within my Spiritual System to create a temporary Keystone or metaphysical Rune. The flow began at my toes, moved up my calves, knees, quads, hips, spine, shoulders, and arms before flowing out my glaive in accordance with my Intent to cut, to sever, and to kill, something that made perfect sense at the time and still does, except I don’t understand how. If I were to model the pattern of flow and look at it from an outside perspective, I don’t understand why Heavenly Energy flowing more or less in conjunction without my physical movements would embody those specific Intents, except it makes perfect sense when I’m in the moment and feeling the Energy flow through me.

I wanted to kill Vyakhya, so those movements and that flow embodied my Intent.

Simple enough really, so long as you don’t think too hard about it, but the real problem is how clunky this process is in real time combat. From start to finish, it took two seconds of prep work to model this flow, two full Mississippi’s before I was ready to execute my attack, which is a long ass time in the middle of a fight. Though I often find myself subconsciously harnessing the flow of Heavenly Energy in a similar manner to utilize minor Chi skills like Scrying, Sending, Reinforcement, and even manipulate my Spiritual Weapons without touching them, this all happens quickly on a base, almost instinctive level. That’s cool and all, but sometimes, instincts aren’t enough, or even harmful to the situation at hand, and I’ve found that I am much slower at consciously directing the flow with my Will and Intent.

Such as creating the tidal wave which brought us all the way from Meng Sha to Shi Bei. Like I told Hongji, it was easier than expected, but the hardest part was getting it all started and setting off that first mini-wave of Water Chi into motion. We arrived here about thirty minutes after Mataram YuGan, and most of that time was spent standing on the prow of the ship and rocking back and forth in an effort to figure out the flow pattern of Heavenly Energy needed to set the wave of Water Chi into motion, as well as the timing needed to keep it going without losing momentum. Were I to do it again, I would have to go through that process all over again because the variables won’t be the same, stuff like windspeed, temperature, current speeds, and physical layout, alongside a whole slew of other things I have yet to account for.

Hence why I would love to create a more permanent Keystone/Rune, so I don’t have to painstakingly piece together the correct flow pattern from scratch every time. Even though I have a near picture-perfect memory, there’s more to harnessing Heavenly Energy than just knowing how it flows, the same way memorizing all the words to a new language doesn’t instantly make you fluent. There’s still matters of grammar and syntax to take into account, not to mention inflection, enunciation, eloquence, idioms, slang, and so much more, things that only come with practice and familiarity.

Which perfectly explains my difficulty with empowering the Forms. Using the general movements is fine, but if I want to do more than just swing a Honed sword, to make use of the Energy of the Heavens themselves, then I need to first figure out the proper flow before I make any moves. What’s more, even if I were able to create a Keystone that replicated the flow I utilized against Vyakhya, it would be a Keystone unique to that specific variation of Tiger Swipes the Rushes which I used to cut him down. The flow pattern would change significantly if I were to use Wolf’s Twisting Snap or Bear’s Standing Fury instead. Even a different variation of the same Movement, like say an overhand chop instead of a horizontal slash, would need to be modified to work correctly, as the flow of Chi must harmonize with the physical movements of my body. Now, the easy workaround is to just give up on making Keystones for the Forms and look to create one for a more general-purpose skill, like my hammer-and-anvil Amplification Keystone or the feather Lightening one, but the basics come pretty naturally now, and even more complicated workings require little more than a modicum of Intent. Cloud-Stepping is slightly more taxing than running through a forest, and Concealment comes so naturally I have to work to turn it off, while stuff like regular Reinforcement, Amplification, Honing, and Guiding just happens when needed.

There’s also another wrench in the spanners regarding my desire for a Natal Palace chock full of useful Keystones, one which is almost philosophical in nature. In order to become One, I had to remake my Spiritual System to have a Core that is not a Core, a Natal Palace that is not a Natal Palace, and a Domain that is not a Domain. Sounds complicated, but I like to think of it like Schrödinger's cat, which I admit is a concept I don’t entirely understand either. My Core is there when I observe it is there, and not there when I am not observing it, and the same can be said for my Natal Palace and Domain, both existing and not existing at the same time. This works because again, there is no distinction between myself and the Void, but that changes as soon as I create a Keystone. With the Call Centre in existence, I cannot say that I am at complete Oneness, because in bringing forth the Call Centre, I have created an area that is noticeably distinct from the Void, which will have some effect on the flow of Heavenly Energy in and around me. Essentially, I have reserved a section of my Spiritual System to make use of it in the form of the Call Centre of the Void, and any Heavenly Energy that needs to flow through that specific area will be hindered, if not completely blocked. Thus, the more Keystones I have in existence, the more the natural flow of Heavenly Energy is affected, and the harder I have to work to avoid struggle and surrender.

Like… I dunno… turbulence or something, from having too many turbines in one place. That’s a thing, right? Congestion? I dunno.

So the real question is: how do I create a Keystone that is not a Keystone, one I can whip out and use whenever needed?

…The same way I created a Core that is not a Core, I suppose, by having it exist when I need it, and not exist when I don’t. To this end, I begin working through what I can do with the Energy of the Heavens and memorizing the patterns of flow for future use, but this much is far from enough. As I noted earlier, even if I take a snapshot of all the various flow patterns needed for every variation of every Movement of the Forms, I can’t just bring them out fully formed as needed. There’s a step-by-step process to the flow and movement, a rhythm and timing not wholly unlike the tempo of a song, the cadence of a poem, or the transitions in a dance, stuff that doesn’t come naturally just because I memorized the steps. The only solution I can think of to speed the process up is practice and repetition, but that requires time I don’t have right now.

So… now would be a great time for Insight to fill in the blanks. That’s how this works right?

After long seconds of nothingness, an image of an older lady pops into my head as she stands up and says, “That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.” Disheartening as my failure might be, the meme makes me chuckle all the same for reasons I’m not entirely sure of. The thing about memes is they’re like digital inside jokes, and while I might once have been totally in on the punchline, I’ve long since forgotten what made it funny in the first place. Memes require a certain amount of cultural knowledge to really understand and appreciate, but I’ve long since forgotten the knowledge associated with most memes, meaning they’re little more than funny pictures or videos that bear some form of nostalgic humour or meaning which I am only tangentially aware of. Like, why does a doge speak in broken English? Why does the glasses guy not know what a butterfly is? Why is it that every time I think of Mila’s Blessing, I have the urge to raise my arms and shout, ‘Praise the Sun’?

No idea, but it still makes me laugh regardless, not because the memes themselves are hilarious, but because of the emotions and memories associated with them. That being said, I would love it if I could dial the memes down a bit, especially in public and out loud, because I’m pretty sure I would shrivel up and die on the spot if someone asks me why I shouted ‘Suppressing Fire’ and ‘Parry this, you filthy casual’ at Vyakhya. I mean, it’s funny to me, but having seen my Natal Soul General cackling as he shouted, “Unlimited Power!” was cringe enough for two life-times, though I will say it was pretty awesome seeing him channel his inner Kenobi to make Zhen Shi actually flinch and hesitate.

…

Oh No.

It can’t be.

Why, Mother in Heaven? Why?

Am I a joke to you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no power greater than hope, and in Alsantset’s eyes, there was no one who embodied this better than her dearest younger brother.

If she were ever to say this out loud, she expected she would be laughed out of the room, as most knew little Rain as an unrepentant cynic, a gloomy naysayer who always expected the worst and planned accordingly. Not entirely untrue, but life had beaten him down so many times, his behaviour was more pragmatic than cynical. Some people could spend their whole lives living in the forests and never once coming across any dangerous predators, but given how little Rain almost lost his life nearly every single time he went out for a stroll, he could hardly be considered cynical for carrying a spear and checking every shadow and crevice for danger while complaining all the while.

Alsantset remembered one particular week so many years ago when little Rain almost died on three separate occasions. First, he slipped and fell down a steep slope, surprising a foraging boar which then proceeded to gore him as it ran past. By the time he passed out from blood loss, Taduk had already arrived to Heal him, having been called over by Naaran who was watching over little Rain. Two days later, he went hunting for the boar and caught a deer instead, only to stumble across a giant python on his way back which then tried to swallow deer and boy both. That put an end to his wandering for all of five days, after which he went out for a ‘brief jaunt’ and ended up kicking a literal hornet’s nest while taking out his frustrations on a random tree. She still remembered it now, how he left and came back all of fifteen minutes later so riddled with stings that his face was almost unrecognizable and unable to do more than slur and stumble.

A memorable week, having come so close to death three times in quick succession, but there was hardly a month in which little Rain escaped his trials and tribulations unscathed. Part of it was due to his complete and utter lack of forest-craft, because despite having taught him as much as she could, there was just so much to learn that she couldn’t keep track of it all. However, despite his many close brushes with death, and somehow never realizing he had a guardian watching over him at all times, little Rain never stopped going out on his solitary walks. He learned his lessons and made more careful preparations, like bringing Pafu and Suret out with him sometimes, but even that wasn’t enough to keep him safe, like the time he ran into that Terror Bird and had to cut it down with his sword.

And then had the gall to leave its feathers unplucked. Honestly, what sort of hunter collects the inedible beak and talons while leaving the most valuable part of the Terror Bird behind?

Ignorance and foolishness aside, little Rain’s stubborn insistence on taking solitary trips was the definition of optimism, always hoping for the best whenever he set out for the day instead of asking someone to come along and openly protect him. At least now he’d learn to also plan for the worst, but for those first few years, Alsantset wasn’t sure if little Rain was preparing to leave the People or if he just had a death wish and lacked the determination to take his own life. Perhaps a combination of both, or perhaps she was entirely wrong altogether, but never let it be said that Rain wasn’t an optimist. Sure, he loved to complain about all the terrible things that might happen, but he still had the courage to go through with whatever mad schemes he had in mind, and more often than not, his efforts paid off, sometimes to staggering effect.

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All because he clung to hope and refused to ever give in.

A lesson Alsantset would do well to learn. Difficult to say when she lost all hope during the siege of Shi Bei, but suffice it to say she’d made her peace with her coming end. In her brief moments of respite, she’d found time to write five letters to say goodbye, one for Tali, Tate, Rain, Charok, and Mama. Then, she’d taken the time to speak with Machali to make peace with the woman who birthed her, and though Alsantset still resented being given up as a child, she at least understood why it’d been necessary. That wasn’t the same as forgiveness however, and Alsantset had said as much, for she refused to die with a lie on her conscience while pretending to forgive the Ancestral Tigress for her irresponsible ways. Though Machali showed plenty of regret and contrition, she waited more than thirty years before revealing herself when she could have done so much sooner. The why didn’t matter, whether it be out of shame, regret, or indifference, but the fact remained that Machali had been absent from most of Alsantset’s life and even now was still a stranger.

Well, not entirely a stranger, as she trusted the Ancestral Tigress to bring the letters to Mama, but that was all. Alsantset had her family already, and if her birth mother wanted to be a part of it, then she would have to earn her place with time and effort.

Time neither of them expected to have, as the Enemy seemed intent on razing Shi Bei to the ground and killing everyone inside, but then little Rain arrived bearing miracles aplenty to restore hope and confidence to the beleaguered defenders. There’d been a time when she doted on him so and worried about his every decision, but she’d long since learned the folly of trying to influence his Path. Though his trials and tribulations were far more challenging than most, she now understood that this was to prepare him for the staggering heights he’d reached, with so much more room still left for him to grow. His accomplishments today were made possible because he never gave up hope, because if he’d had, he would not have survived to make it to this day. Hope saw him out of the mines and brought him into her arms that fateful day, and hope carried him along through all the pain and suffering to come, and now, he'd created another miracle and brought hope to the hopeless with his appearance here in Shi Bei.

As the cool rainfall washed away the sand and fatigue, Alsantset let loose with a resounding cheer that stemmed from her heart of hearts, for she saw a chance for victory now when before there was none. A sentiment she was not alone in having, as Sentinels and Imperials alike raised their voices in cheers to welcome her little brother to Meng Sha, and though those cheers died out as the fighting started up once more, they were no longer fighting to stave off inevitable defeat, but in a desperate effort to emerge victorious over the Enemy. All across Shi Bei, the Warriors of the Empire held fast to hope and it made all the difference in the world as they held firm against the Enemy’s overwhelming numbers.

Rain’s presence alone was not all that sustained their hopes, for the roar of cannon-fire filled them with courage and determination aplenty. Every time they sounded off, the Defiled died in droves, and the Imperials fought all the harder for knowing it. Mila’s domineering presence alone was enough to clear whole sections of the wall, buying precious seconds for her allies to reform their ranks and refocus their efforts on defense. Yan’s phenomenal mastery of Air put Tenjin’s skills to shame, or so Alsantset thought until the downpour came to an end and the quiet Sentinel manifested a massive fire-bird overhead, one bearing a wing-span of at least five-meters long and flew out to drop blazing pinions upon the Defiled which exploded amongst their ranks.

Yet even all their combined efforts were not enough to match Luo-Luo’s moving melody, one which stoked the flames of hope and confidence both as they fought and killed without any end in sight.

Thus far, the bulk of the effort was being borne by the rank and file accompanied by Junior Officers, but Alsantset had taken up her spear to stand on the front lines as soon as the fighting began. How could she not when her little brother had come so far to save them, wielding such power with his customary disdain for authority? That was little Rain, a child who always thought he knew best and usually did, but this was not the sole reason Alsantset saw fit to fight from the start. No, she fought because she knew it was best to strike while the iron was hot, for little Rain had gone above and beyond by providing her with a princely gift of Heavenly Energy to help further her along her Path.

Insight came so easily as she fought against the unwashed Defiled, even weakened and enervated as they were, but this was far from the best part of little Rain’s gift. No, that came in the form of his unbridled emotions as he opened up to her in a way she never thought possible, not for someone as unsociably aloof as him. When he first came into her care, he found every excuse he could to avoid her hugs, and he scowled something fierce when she tried to hold his hand or sit too close to him on the couch. Unless it was Lin-Lin, Tali, Tate, or the quins, he avoided any and all forms of physical intimacy and was leery of showing anyone any affection or receiving any in turn. This improved over time and these days, he was all too happy to hold Papa’s hand or link arms with Mama as they walked around the market, a dutiful and loving son few could match, to say nothing of his scandalous behaviour around his wives. But for his sister, he rarely had anything more than a smile, and she’d felt as if they’d grown distant in recent years, as if he no longer needed his older sister anymore, but now she knew that nothing could be further from the truth.

The love he bore for her was to be expected, and his admiration pleasant to find, but it was the gratitude which came as a surprise. Such a foolish child, as even after all these years, little Rain still felt beholden to her for being the one to take him in. It was merely luck and happenstance that brought them together, the clouds parting at just the right time for her to see him stumbling towards their camp, a child so battered and beaten it was a wonder he could still stand much less walk. In his eyes, he owed everything he had to her and did not know how he could ever repay her, and being the fool that he was, he did everything he could to avoid ‘burdening’ her even further. That’s why he wanted to buy them a house in the Citadel or always spoke about hiring servants and tutors for their household, because he wanted to pay back at least some of his debt even if he knew she would never try to collect. That was the way with family, where love and support were freely given and accepted without obligation, except little Rain wanted to go above and beyond what was expected and do anything and everything to make her happy.

Well then Alsantset would hold him to it, and tell him in no uncertain terms that he was to greet her with a hug and a peck on the cheek from here on out, and allow her to hold his arm just like Mama every now and then. That’s all it would take to bring her joy, for she had everything else she could ever need, everything save for the unrestrained affection of her sweet, silly little brother.

With love and hope aplenty, Alsantset fought to her heart’s content, pushing herself ever forward along the Martial Path. There were limits to what she could learn however, for her foes were too weak to prove a challenge, and she yearned for the Enemy Experts and Peak Experts to take the stage. The tribesmen counted many a Champion or Chieftain among their ranks, but anyone crazed enough to join in on this reckless assault of Shi Bei was hardly worth killing, not for Alsantset personally. Though no Peak Expert herself, little Rain’s gift of Insight had led her to discover the essence of Domain Plating which had plagued her for so long, and thus brought her yet another step closer to the Peak. Greedy as ever, she was not satisfied with just this little progress, but in order to continue advancing, she would need opponents of a higher calibre than crazed savages.

After two hours of non-stop fighting, Alsantset’s spirits had dampened a fair bit, for the rainclouds were no longer blocking the sun and their precious cleansing shower long since dried up. Burning hot and caked in blood and sand aplenty, she fought on regardless in the noted absence of booming cannons. Those weapons of war had once again fallen silent, their ammunition well spent to kill countless Defiled, but still more tribesmen continued to pour in and the Warriors of the Empire could not hold forever. Without cannons, crossbows, or catapults to thin the Enemy hordes, this job fell upon the Peak Experts now, namely those with wide-area attacks such as Exarch Gam, Grandpa Du, and the formidable Lei Gong. Awakened Peak Experts one and all, Alsantset thought the first two were impressive enough, but then the Lord of Thunder took the field and she understood just how he earned his name. The earth shook and the wind howled as Exarch Gam and Grandpa Du plied their bloody trade, but the din of their efforts paled in comparison to the cacophony Lei Gong raised with every sweep of his dazzling blade, a colossal sabre larger than any weapon a Martial Warrior could ever wield were it not crafted from dazzling lightning. Wherever his scintillating blade swept through the Defiled ranks, screams of the dead and dying sounded briefly before being drowned out by a succession of booming thunderclaps, so loud that even Luo-Luo’s music could not match it.

A flaw the talented woman made up for by not playing at all and allowing the deafening din to speak for itself, only to resume playing again once it all died down.

The Imperial Consort’s symphony was woven into the fabric of battle itself, and it spurred Alsantset on to greater heights in spite of her growing fatigue. For another hour, she fought and killed without rest, except now she spent her stamina as sparingly as possible. A single thrust of Plated and Honed Domain to impale three tribesmen was still not efficient enough, so she resorted to cutting down five or more with every sweep of her spear as if it were a halberd instead. An easy enough transition, for she’d seen Papa fight this way a thousand times if she’d ever seen it once, and it came as naturally as breathing to her once she set her mind to it. By now, even Nian Zu had taken the field, announcing his presence with his titular Shooting Star to kill hundreds of Defiled in a single blow, but still the Defiled advanced only now with the odd armoured Chosen scattered amongst their ranks.

Alsantset’s spirits soared when she spotted her first armoured foe, and her heart sang with glee when her Plated Domain flowed across the surface of his Runic helmet before biting deep into his exposed face and killing him before he could even reach her, a most thrilling accomplishment and fortuitous turn of events. Even seeing others accomplish the same feat did nothing to dampen her spirits, because the stronger her allies, the greater their chances of emerging from this battle victorious. Her old friend Maral had also uncovered the secret to Domain Plating, as did Altan, Kiril, and even Orgaal who had supposedly reached the end of his Path several years ago. There were similar achievements among the Imperials, which led Alsantset to suspect she was not the only recipient of little Rain’s gift, but that didn’t make it any less precious or timely.

So focused on the battle and making the most of her stamina, Alsantset was a hair too slow in recognizing her foe as he landed atop the battlements and sent his spear lancing out towards her, a mistake that could prove costly as she reacted to an all-too-obvious feint. Now, her spear was hurtling at an angle to intercept a thrust that would never come, leaving her unable to block or parry the true attack lagging a heartbeat behind. Were this four hours ago, she would’ve had no choice but to retreat and give up ground to her foe, perhaps even taking grievous injury in the process, but little Rain had given her all the help she would need to deal with the Half-Demon before her. Compressing her Domain down to the size of her palm, she Plated and Deflected for all she was worth while turning sharply to her left, avoiding the thrust by the narrowest of margins while redirecting her spear to strike her opponent’s knee. The blow glanced off the black-plated armour, but the force was enough to stop him in his tracks. A half-second was all it bought her, but it was all she needed to find her footing and bring her spear straight up in an ascending strike, whereupon her Domain Plated spear tip cleaved clean through the Half-Demon’s chin-guard to excavate a large portion of the man’s face.

If he could be called a man at all, having melded with his inhuman armour, but even this was not enough to preserve his worthless life.

A shame it wasn’t the amber-eyed Half-Demon who injured Grandpa Husolt so, but that one had yet to show his face again. Though she had many questions regarding their history, Alsantset was too afraid to give voice to them even inside her head, and she lacked the time to do so regardless as her next foe approached to die. Minutes passed as she continued to fight tribesmen, Chosen, and the odd Half-Demon as the Enemy continued their assault unabated, and though her morale remained high as she saw Peak Experts taking action all across Shi Bei, she was fast approaching her limits despite having benefitted so much from the cleansing and refreshing rains. Four hours of fighting was difficult enough, but it felt like ages since she’d last had a moment to breathe, but still she fought on with leaden arms, burning lungs, and a head so light she feared the wind might well carry her away on a breeze.

And yet the thought of retreat never once crossed her mind as she moved and fought mostly on instinct. Thrust. Strike. Circle. Square off. Thrust. Parry. Strike. Circle. Thrust. The movements came easily, and her foes fell one after the other, but then she felt her parry miss and knew she’d pushed herself too far. Death came hurtling towards her in the form of a bleached-bone spear tip, indicating that she didn’t even have the good fortune to die to a proper foe. No, Alsantset of the People was about to be sent into the Mother’s warm embrace by a lowly tribal Champion, and there was naught she could do to stop him.

Except death never came as the bone spear disappeared from before her eyes, and she was left standing face to face with the foe who almost killed her. Then, he toppled over, or rather his torso toppled over followed shortly by his lower body, having been bisected from hip to hip in one, clean swing. Following the trajectory of the attack, Alsantset saw eight more bodies falling over in similar fashion before she found her benefactor. There he was, her precious little brother, down on two knees as he slid across the rough concrete battlements as easily as one skated across ice, circling about in a graceful and elegant fashion while cutting down his foes with sword and shield both. None of them saw him coming, approaching as he did from below, and Alsantset’s smile could not grow any wider as she took it all in. His movements were so sublime she could scarcely believe her eyes, for there were Peak Experts fighting in battle today who would be unable to match him in this feat of poise and finesse, weaving this way and that unnoticed on two knees and killing with every pass before leaping back to his feet to continue coasting about without missing a beat.

“Drink, girl.” A waterskin found its way to her lips, and Alsantset didn’t even think twice as she opened her mouth and drank as deeply as she dared, unwilling to risk wasting even a single drop. All was well now, for not only had little Rain joined the fight, but Papa had also come to hold the Heavens up. “Then fall back to rest. Don’t argue,” Papa added, seeing the flash of objection in her eyes. “Your mother will tan my hide if I allow you come to harm, and I would let her, for I would not have the heart to face my sweet grandchildren.”

“How is he?” It took more effort than she cared to admit to get the words past her throat, and she didn’t even bother gesturing towards little Rain because she lacked the energy to spare.

“See for yourself.” Papa was brimming with pride as he took in little Rain’s work, and he was right to be, for little Rain did the work of ten Warriors as he darted back towards them along the battlements. Sword and shield scythed through flesh and bone with superlative ease as he wove through and around the still-toppling bodies left behind by his first pass to slaughter a fresh wave of Defiled. His style was reminiscent of Papa’s, an unstoppable force of violence who could set the pace of battle all on his own, but where Papa was brutal and tyrannical to the extreme, little Rain did not rely on overbearing power or unmatched speed to rampage unchecked. Instead, he dominated his foes through what appeared to be luck instead, somehow always able to attack at a favourable trajectory which inevitably bypassed his opponent’s defenses. Difficult to say how he was able to accomplish this, because from her perspective, it seemed as if the Defiled were offering themselves up for the slaughter as they focused wholly on the offensive at the expense of their lives. His attacks weren’t subtle, but straightforward and domineering, matching aggression with aggression as he struck to kill without fear or hesitation rather than defend as expected, and his foes died without understanding where they’d gone wrong.

A predicament Alsantset shared, for impressive as the results might be, she found it impossible to gauge her younger brother’s strength, except to say that he was strong enough to find no challenge against his tribal foes. This meant he was at a minimum comparable to herself, though no matter how she looked at it, she still felt as if she could defeat him in single combat. His smooth, flowing maneuvers aside, his actual technique wasn’t all that impressive compared to other Warriors his age, simple and effective, but nothing extraordinary, while the same could be said about his speed and power. There was a good chance he was actually stronger and merely holding back so as to conserve his stamina for a long, drawn-out fight, but thus far, she could not see anything which set him apart from the other phenomenal young talents his age.

A thought which had barely finished forming when a half-dozen Chosen emerged from Concealment all around him, only to be cut down before she could even gasp. There was no change in little Rain’s facial expression as he slaughtered his armoured ambushers as easily as he cut down naked tribesmen, his blades scything through Runic plate like paper faster than her eyes could follow. He made it look so easy it took her a full second to register what he’d done, overpowering the defensive Runes with a single pass of his weapons, a feat not even Alsantset could match. She’d seen it done before, but usually with an overbearing attack, like Grandma Akanai’s Ground Shrinking Strike or Nian Zu’s Shooting Star, but little Rain did so as easily as turning his hand.

“My younger brother, the hero and dragon,” Alsantset whispered, so full of pride and joy, and though she said nothing else, little Rain turned his gaze towards her and flashed his adorable smile. By the time he looked away, Wraiths were dropping dead all around him, killed before they’d even emerged from Concealment. Alsantset failed to see how they’d died until she realized his sword and shield were no longer in hand, but instead zipping about to pierce clean through his foes as if carried about on wings, while little Rain took up his glaive to continue his slaughter unabated.

“A useful skill,” Papa remarked, slowly nudging her away from the front lines as a subtle reminder to go rest. “You will need more Spiritual Weapons if you wish to learn.” An offer, or as much of one as he would give so as not to affect her Path, though Alsantset had a better idea in mind, a way for little Rain to be rid of his unfounded obligation.

“A good thing my younger brother is so influential and wealthy.” Grinning from ear to ear, she handed Papa her waterskin and kept his so that he would not be lacking water. “And his wife a Divine Blacksmith of no small skill.” That being said, she herself was not suited to keeping track of multiple weapons, whether they be thrown or flying, but her beloved husband would surely excel if given a knife or three. As for Tate, he was too much like her, easily fixated on target to the exclusion of all else, but sweet, capricious Tali might take a shine to this skill, assuming she was interested enough to practice.

Unable to glean her thoughts, Papa raised a single eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak, only to widen his eyes in alarm and disappear. When Alsantset found him again, he was slashing about with the Bloody Fang and fending off a Half-Demon assailant who’d come to claim little Rain’s head. A Peak Expert no doubt, as evidenced by how he still drew breath and kept Papa outside of his optimal range. Little Rain might have more luck with his flying sword and shield, but he was still reeling from blocking that same Half-Demon’s attack, his guard broken and hands bleeding as he stumbled back into the crowd. Though the Sentinels there stood ready to support him, he was utterly defenseless against the three Half-Demons materializing before him, their dark spears hurtling towards his head, heart, and stomach in what was no doubt a killing combination of blows.

She moved without even thinking, her spear lashing out to knock those weapons aside, but when her weapon glanced off an unseen barrier, she became conscious as to why she’d moved with such urgency. These were no nameless Half-Demons, but Mataram YuGan’s personal guards, Peak Experts here to kill little Rain while their traitor Patriarch kept Papa occupied. Her younger brother was strong, but still no match for even the weakest of Peak Experts, not from what she’d seen thus far, and while she was no match either, she could not stand idly by and watch him die. She was Alsantset the Tigress, a fierce and tyrannical Warrior, but also a warm and nurturing mother and sister, two seemingly opposing natures she embodied without any conflict, and her nature demanded she protect her younger brother no matter the cost.

Releasing her right hand from her spear, she forfeited control over the weapon in favour of letting its momentum play out, since she knew she could not bring it around in time to save her brother. Instead, she reached out with her bare hand towards the closest Half-Demon, who ignored her because he believed she could not stop him from driving his spear through little Rain’s guts. A mistake he realized all too late as Honed claws of Domain emerged from her fingers to pierce through his face and throat, cutting off a dying scream before it had a chance to even sound. Pulling on the weight of her dead foe, she lashed out with a forward kick that struck the second Half-Demon’s spear and sent him careening into the third, only to follow through by throwing their dead comrade into them to knock them off their feet. Still yet to recover from the initial Deflection, she released her grip entirely and reversed it as it slid through her fingers before grabbing her spear again, but now her hand was just under the haft. Bringing her weapon down like a dagger, she leaped forward and plunged the blade down at the closest Half Demon, only for the spear to glance off yet another invisible barrier. This time she expected it however, and had adjusted her aim accordingly. Instead of striking his chest, her spear skirted past the Half-Demon’s shoulder, whereupon she jerked her arm back and drew the edge of her spear across her dazed foe’s throat and all but decapitated him before he could react.

These were the first and second Peak Experts she’d ever killed, but while she hungered for a third, the element of surprise was no longer on her side. Leaping back to avoid a deadly thrust, she blocked the follow up strike with her forearm for lack of any better options and grit her teeth as her bones shattered like glass before the blow. Her spear flew out from her feeble grip and clattered across the concrete, but she refused to give way and moved to grab her foe’s weapon to at the very least hinder him a few seconds longer. As her fingers closed around the haft however, the Half-Demon drew his spear back and severed her digits as it passed before lining his weapon up for the killing thrust.

Too strong. Too fast. Too skilled. She was no Peak Expert and no match for this Half-Demon, nor was she a match for the two she already killed. They’d looked down on her and paid dearly for it, but this one did not make the same mistake. Even now, she was unable to understand just how the demarcating line between Expert and Peak Expert could be so wide, and why she had yet to cross it. She stood at the forefront of her peers and was supposedly close to becoming a Peak Expert herself, but it took two exchanges for this nameless Half-Demon to defeat her in so overwhelming a fashion.

Meaning all she could do was accept death and try to drag him along with her.

Leaping into the air, she grunted as the spear missed her heart and pierced through her abdomen instead. The pain was excruciating, worse than anything she’d ever suffered through before, but she fixated on the memory of that battered and beaten child staggering alongside the river and drew strength from his example. Her younger brother had come far in so short a time, and he’d go even farther given more, so she would see to it that this Half-Demon would trouble him no longer. Raising both her knees to her chest, she kicked with all her might and howled in agony as the spear tore her apart from inside, but she put her singular focus to work and Manifested her Domain into Honed claws on her feet as she raked her foe from chest to belly. Sickly yellow-green Ichor mingled with bright arterial blood as both sprayed out into the air, and Alsantset allowed herself a fierce grin as the world went dark around her, the tension spilling out of her muscles even as the blood flowed out from her body.

A heartbreaking scream tore through the din of the battlefield, one Alsantset recognized as little Rain’s, but even though she wanted to tell him so many things, to say that he should not grieve and to assure him that everything would be alright, she lacked the time and breath to do so. No matter though, for he would weather through this tribulation with help, and ensure that Charok, Tali, and Tate all weathered through it as well. To say that Alsantset had no regrets would be a lie, but trading her life for her precious younger brother’s?

That was a trade any good sister would take.

Chapter Meme