Mion wasn’t the patient type so when his uncle told him to wait, he took that as permission to explore the area around the Red Forest. Well, not so much exploration as hunting down scourbeasts and chimeric beasts in order to find a worthy opponent. Normally he’d stop after killing a pack or two of beasts, but after his encounter with the Wilding he’d grown an insatiable appetite for combat. That night had been eye opening for him; never did he think a beast of such power could exist and that he had the power to defeat it. If there were more creatures of that caliber, creatures that could push him, then he’d need to find more of them.
A Stonebear cub wailed in agony as Mion’s aspect empowered strike blew off the right side of its body. It fell to the ground in a wet heap next to all the other cubs, red blood mixing with the already blackened ones. Mion wiped his crimson red hands off on its brown fur and stared disgustedly at his fallen foes. He had found a cave of Stonebears and slaughtered the cubs to draw in the mother, only to be disappointed when she hadn’t arrived.
“She must be hunting for a new mate,” Mion said as he pulled out a short dagger from the pelt around his waist. He peeled the fur off his fresh kill with the ease of a hot blade cutting soft bread and tied a piece of it to his arm. This way, the mother can track the scent of her slain cub and take revenge; Stonebears have incredible memories and can remember friends and foes. “Maybe she’ll bring him with her, I’d love to face them both at once.” Mion sensed the excess Earth Aspect in the dark cave, but decided against cultivating it and instead took a cub in each arm and carried them out of the cave.
Each step Mion took echoed throughout the forest. Trees shook and lost their red leaves and the ground was littered in six-inch deep footprints. Stonebears were exceedingly dense with even a cub weighing over two-thousand pounds, and Mion had effortlessly carried both of them overhead. When he was a Lesser Iron such a task would have taxed his Physical Tera, but now he had to occasionally look up just to see if they were still in his grasp. Still, his strength was nowhere near that of his fathers’ and that burned his pride; the sooner he reached Greater Iron, the sooner he could challenge his father and prove himself to his patriarch.
Mion hadn’t noticed that he stood in front of Jahn’s hideout until he couldn’t sense any Tera at all. A glance around him revealed small bushes and trees of an impossibly dark black, lined up around the perimeter of a red cave. The cave entrance was incredibly massive, easily thirty times the height of Mion and the bears, and its edges were unnaturally smooth. Once Mion crossed the threshold, he heard the voices of Jahn and Instructor Gazin coming from the back of the cave.
“Fascinating,” Gazin said as she studied the dead Wildling. “ It’s been dead for over twelve hours, yet no signs of physical degradation…and this energy, it's unlike anything I’ve seen.”
“The Tera from the Broken Wilds is significantly more potent than anywhere else,” Jahn said from over her shoulder, “a creature like this would most likely have the Physical Tera of a Lesser Iron.”
Gazin adjusted her glasses, “I see, that would explain why it’s body is so well preserved, save for its head. But look,” she made an incision across its back and the wound closed, “its healing ability is still active after death. Do you know what that means?”
They were both still in conversation when Mion arrived. The space had been turned into a facsimile of Gazin’s lab. Elixirs of all sorts were bubbling in clear vials while a green vapor hung in the air. Golden snake patterns adorned the red cavern wall while the ground was covered in some kind of array that Mion figured must be extra security; he never paid much attention to the non combat applications of Tera. The array spanned the entire length of the floor and glowed when Mion stepped on it.
“It’s a security array,” Gazin said while still examining the Wildling, “if your Tera isn’t imprinted in it, it’ll activate something nasty. How’ve you been by the way Mion, out cultivating more Tera? You’re already a Middle Iron Soul so you’ll only need three-hundred and twenty more Cultivation Cycles until Greater, unless you absorb insanely large quantities of Tera, but that runs the risk of crippling your core and-”
“Gazin, you’re here to assist me in the removal of its core, not analyze Mion’s growth.” Jahn turned to Mion and clasped his hands behind his back. “I see you’ve been busy, is this what kept you?”
“I wanted to find a challenge,” Mion replied as Jahn eyed the dead Stonebears, “but my effort was in vain.”
“So then you decided on not only bringing the bodies her, but wrap your body in their scent? I don’t have to tell you how excellent of trackers Stonebears are, so I’m assuming you knew that and still decided on bringing them here.”
It was at this moment that Mion understood his error; if the mother Stonebear tracked him this far, she could easily destroy all of the work Jahn kept here..or bring unwanted attention. “Apologies Uncle Jahn, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Clearly. Take that fur off and dispose of the bodies.”
“Jahn, look at this,” Gazin said, “the body is reacting to the influx of Tera. Hurry up.”
Jahn went back to Gazin and peered down at the Wildling. Its muscles were tightening and its tail began to thrash against the red, stone table. “It’s cultivating?”
“More than that,” Gazin said with delirious glee, “ look at the stump of its neck, it’s healing.”
Jahn’s sight was already enhanced as a Greater Iron, so he didn’t need to activate Divine Sight to see the miniscule twitches of the neck muscles as the flesh stitched itself back together; he did however activate it to see the flow of Tera and saw it drawing it in from the dead Stonebears.
“Drop the bears, now,” Jahn ordered. Mion obeyed and the bears crashed to the ground and activated the array. In an instant, a barrier of translucent black-the same color as the tree-surrounded the bodies and the Wildling ceased its reaction. He turned his attention back to the Wildling and saw the Tera from the bears work its way to its lower abdomen. “Gazin, cut the core out now.”
“I’d love to, but the incision closes as soon as it's made, remember?”
“I do,” Jahn said, “but that won’t be an issue. You’ve already determined that it’s responding to Physical Tera so its safe to assume it's using it to recover, so if you use this it’ll be fine.” Jahn handed Gazin his scalpel, “be quick with it, I need to see something.”
Gazin inspected the scalpel and gave Jahn a sly grin. “ Well if it’s like this, then it should do the job. I guess it makes sense why you never revealed this in Watercliff, it would have ruined all your careful image crafting.” She made another incision, this time across the lower abdomen, and the wound sizzled with small, green bubbles. Gazin covered her right hand in Physical and Spiritual Tera- a standard technique for surgeries- and inserted it in the wound. A moment later, she pulled out a black and neon green core the size of her palm.
“Truly fascinating,” Gazin said as she held the core, “ I’m picking up Physical, Spiritual and Mental Tera all at the same time. Oh, and some other energies I can’t seem to decipher…hey!”
Gazin protested as Jahn snatched the core and placed it into a black container he suddenly possessed. “Quit your complaining, this was our arrangement: I get the core and you get the body.” The container melted into Jahn’s body and he pulled out a scroll at the same time. “Here, this should help you with your work. It’s a diagram of a Wildling that the Ten Shadows gave me.”
“You sure do keep a lot in your Spirit Storage,” Gazin said as she accepted the scroll, “ it almost seems as if you’re keeping secrets from your own secrets.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Jahn ignored the remark and addressed Mion. “I’ll be going back to Golem’s Peak, my equipment is there and I can’t afford to be disturbed. You go back to the village and tell your father that Noki was responsible for the attack.”
“Golem’s Peak? If you’re going back home then shouldn’t I come with you? With my Earth Aspect it’d be much easier for you to traverse it.”
“Mion, do I look so weak to you that a freshly minted Middle Iron could support me?” Jahn accelerated the Tera in his pathways until it erupted out of him. The force of the Tera blew Mion back and the large teen’s body felt like it weighed thousands of pounds. Mion couldn’t summon any Tera of his own due to Jahn’s overbearing presence. The pieces of the ceiling fell onto the ground but Jahn didn’t let up, instead he repeated himself and allowed more of his Tera to spill out.
“I think he gets it,” Gazin said completely unphased, “and if you keep going, you’re gonna destroy my specimen and then I’ll have to get my revenge and it’ll be a whole thing.”
“My…apologies…uncle..” were all the words Mion could muster before dropping to his knees.
Jahn reeled his power back in and glowered at Mion. “Good, never forget your station again, Mion. You’re to go back to the village and inform your father of Noki’s fugitive status but don’t mention the Kolo or Baira.”
“Yes, uncle.” Mion’s voice was still shaken and sweat had formed all over his body, but he righted himself in order to give him a proper bow. “I’ll leave immediately.”
“Also, when you arrive in the village, I left you something in my home. With your level now, you should be able to locate it.” Mion bowed again and took off for the exit, bounding for Watercliff.
“That was a bit harsh,” Gazin said as she resumed dissecting the creature, “it’s obvious he wants to support you, it wouldn’t hurt you to feed that. Look at Baira, I let her follow her theories on Tera and now she’s on her way to being one of the best crafters of elixirs.”
“Don’t presume I know nothing about my nephew. He responds to shows of force and has a crippling need to validate his strength. Mion won’t go straight the village, he’ll most likely try to find Noki and kill him before he goes back since he thinks its what I truly want.”
“But that’s not what you want, is it? You want to see if your little experiment was truly a success.”
Jahn didn’t bother trying to hide the truth from her, Gazin was incredibly perceptive. “Mion will find Noki and either kill him on the spot or find something else to push him to greater heights. Either way, this is all for Mion’s growth as a Divine Artist.”
“Mhm, and it has nothing to do with any future plans you have for him, right?”
“I’ll take my leave,” Jahn said, dismissing the conversation. “If I detect even a hint of the Ten Shadows-”
“Making threats now Jahn? Please, don’t waste your breath. I already told you my relationship with them was truly transactional. Here I’ll tell you another secret, this way you’ll stop worrying. They found one of Blackhide’s storehouses.”
“What? You’re serious?!”
Gazin continued working on the Wildling as she spoke. “Yep, but it’s layered in protective arrays, so the Shadows plan on creating a competition for anyone that can crack the layer and retrieve the inheritance inside. It’s set to go down next month, so if you wanted to make a detour…”
If what Gazin said was true, he’d be an idiot not to go. Blackhide was one of the first people to explore the Broken Wilds; one of the Twelve Legendary Delvers. “I can’t show my face there, but I have other ways of being present.” “Where is the storehouse?”
“In Thunderhead’s Nest.”
“Of course it’s there,” Jahn thought, “only a Delver of that caliber would use such a beast as a guard.” “Perhaps I’ve misjudged you Gazin, your relationship with the Shadows does seem to only be transactional; you’d have to be a fool to divulge such important information.”
“Fighting over an inheritance that we don’t even know is there is the true foolish endeavor,” Gazin retorted, “besides, I have everything I need right here.”
After that, Gazin grew silent and completely immersed herself in her work. Jahn took a few things from the lab and made his way for the exit before stopping. “I almost forgot, I placed-”
“A protective array on the scroll that’ll disintegrate the moment my Tera interacts with it. I’ve already disabled it, Jahn. Now go away, I’m busy.” Gazin gestured repeatedly towards the exit until she could no longer sense Jahn’s Tera.
“I think I can feel it now,” Noki said aloud. He was standing inside of the house while Kila stood just outside in front of the door. She had told him how to sense Tera and they had been practicing for a few hours until he got the hang of it. As he understood it, it was similar to using Divine Sight but instead of keeping the Tera in the Mind Kulda, he needed to send that energy to his Body Kulda and it would do the rest. Surely enough, after a few attempts he felt a sensation in his core. “It feels like a cold flame in the pit of my stomach.”
“Yeah,” Kila said from outside, “that’s what it’ll feel like when you first sense Tera. When you get more accustomed to it, you’ll be able to pick up on the waves of individuals. Now, focus on it and tell me what I’m doing.”
Noki closed his eyes and tried to focus on that sensation. A white flame appeared in his mind’s eye and he instinctively channeled more Tera into his core until the flame took the form of Kila. It lacked significant features but the smoky white flame started moving its arms up and down. “You’re moving your arms…and now just one arm, your right arm. You’re…very funny.” Noki had sensed Kila making a rude gesture and lost his focus.
“I’m impressed,” Kila said as she entered the house, “you picked up on Tera Sensing so quickly.” She was genuinely impressed; for someone who only ascended to Earthen Soul a few days ago, he had a talent for picking up on things quickly, almost like he’d done it before and had just simply forgotten. “If he gets some real training, he could be an asset,” Kila thought to herself but said, “since you’re an Earthen Soul, you’ll only be able to sense Physical and Mental Tera. Keep sending Tera from your Mind Core to your Body Core until using those pathways becomes second nature, then you’ll be able to passively sense Tera.”
“I will,” Noki said graciously, “thank you.” He had been wanting to thank Kila for more than that, she had been an invaluable aid. Thanks to her, he now knew so much about Corporeal Arts and Tera Manipulation; how the Arts influence the flow of Tera, how to circulate Tera outside of meditation, and why certain meditation styles even exist. He asked her to show him a Corporeal Art but she refused, stating that each Divine Artist has to pick the Art themselves, called it the Divine Path.
There was a question that had been on Noki’s mind the entire time, one that ate at him. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you helping me? Really. I know you said Kolo Amani wanted you with me, but why? I’m nothing special.”
“I don’t know why Amani wants this, only that she does and since she’s a Kolo-and a Monsari- I’d be an idiot to refuse. Does it really matter though? You get to survive another day and I get my reward.”
“So you’re doing this for a reward?”
“In a sense, yes.” Kila thought about her next words carefully, it was apparent to her that Noki was the type to do things without expectation of a reward-probably due to his upbringing- and if she came off too callous, she might lose an important contact. “I originally was assigned to find you and bring you back, but Kolo Amani tasked me to take you to Blackhide City and I accepted. When I drop you off there, she’ll give me resources to help with my cultivation.”
Something about her statement seemed off to Noki, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. Afterall, it’d made sense for a Divine Artist to want to cultivate and ascend, especially after she explained to him how difficult Divine Paths can be. If a Kolo offered to back him, he’d jump at that opportunity too, which brought him to his next question. “You said Amani wants me to go to Blackhide City. Why? I’ve never even heard of that place.”
Kila shrugged. “All she told me was to take you there and that you’d figure out what to do from there. Now, let’s take all this stuff to go, Blackhide City is still a ways from here.” Kila slipped a hunters bag over her shoulders and waited for Noki to do the same. They scoured the entirety of the house and took everything that wasn’t nailed down; they’d have enough provisions to last a few months.
“It’s still hard to understand how this thing works,” Noki said as he looked at his bag. It was like Kila’s, a black leather sack that was about the size of his torso, and like hers it had an array on it. Kila went over the idea of arrays and how by creating artificial Tera Pathways, you can create things that naturally don’t exist. His bag was one of those things. The array altered the Physical Tera of any object placed inside, which had surprised Noki when he placed the meats inside and they shrank before his eyes. “There’s gotta be a hundred or more pounds of meat, bread and water in here, but the bag still looks empty.”
“I’ll give that to Jahn, his array work is fantastic.” Kila walked over to the open door and turned to Noki. “You ready?”
“Yes. I still have a lot of questions but you can answer them on the way.” He fastened the bag to his back and left the house with Kila.