It had been a few hours since Noki and Kila entered the western area of the Red Forest. The area was far flatter than the previous one and had only one path forward. Yellowbark Trees were plentiful here and the midday light gave them an otherworldly glow.
“These trees look weird,” Noki said as he trudged alongside Kila. He had been practicing his Tera sensing and was able to identify a few of the smaller animals that were nearby. “ They kind of remind me of the torches the night guards used in the village.”
“Well, this is where they got the wood for the torches,” Kila replied. “This place is known as Nature’s Light, because each of the trees look like torches being held up by the land.”
“That’s a stupid name,” Noki said, “ why not call it Torchland? Or Standing Fire?” Kila let out a small laugh and caught Noki’s attention. “Oh, so you do laugh. I was starting to think you only had two moods.”
“What about you? At first you had the personality of Stonebark but here you are, saying unexpectedly passionate things.”
“Well, the names should be cooler. Think about all the names of Corporeal Arts, its stuff like ‘Rushing Tide’, ‘Moonless Night’, ‘The Empty Palm’.”
“Only the first one you said was real,” Kila said as she bounded over a small chasm.
“Still you get the idea.” Noki cleared the chasm but took a misstep and almost fell backwards, righted himself at the last moment, and-when he was sure Kila hadn’t noticed- continued speaking. “They don’t call it ‘ Big Fist Strike’ or ‘ Bunch of Punches’, they all have cool names. Take Blackhide City, that’s an amazing name, the name Blackhide itself is cool.”
“You sure do care an awful lot about what things are called.”
“Of course I do! Sometimes a name is all you have, so why not make it as awesome as possible? It’s what people will remember when it’s all said and done…your name.” The sudden emotion at that caught Noki by surprise, but he shook it off. “Speaking of Blackhide City, you told me it’s not affiliated with Queen’s Embrace, but it’s allowed to exist? How’s that work?”
“I don’t know, but there are a lot of territories not under the Queen’s control. If it were me, I wouldn’t needlessly expand my territory but take only strategic points; if I spread my forces too thin that’s just asking for my enemies to attack.”
“Hmm, I guess even the Queen can’t watch everything at once. Hey, why are we stopping?”
“Something’s off.” Kila scanned the environment and pointed to a tree to the right. “We’ve passed that tree before.”
“What? How do you know, they all look alike.”
“Because knowing your surroundings is the first step of survival in the wild,” Kila said before activating her Divine Sight. Thin strands of purple mist floated in the air with a thick concentration of it surrounding both herself and Noki. “Damn, when did this happen? If I couldn’t notice someone laying a trap, then they must be extremely skilled.”
“Hey, something is watching us, I can sense it.” Noki readied himself and channeled Tera into his fist and legs. “I can’t sense anything other than Mental Tera, is that normal?”
Kila’s stomach sank. If Noki could sense it and she couldn’t, that would mean that whatever it was, it was targeting her. “Noki, get away from here, it only wants me.”
“What? No way. I’m not gonna abandon you here. Let’s fight it together.”
“Do you really think someone of your level can fight an opponent that got the drop on me? You’re an Earthen Soul, you’ll just be in the way.”
“Well I’m already trapped too right? So why not let me help you?” Noki moved so he was back to back with Kila,” I can at least try, right?”
Kila could tell he was determined to stay, so she gave up on that fight and prepared for the one at hand. “I’m pretty sure I’ve worked out what got us; a scourbeast called a Psybat. They use Mental Tera to capture prey and drain them of Tera until they are comatose.”
“Great, so how much time do we have until then?”
“Depends on how voracious it is,” Kila said, “ this one seems to be content with keeping us in this illusion until we presumably tire ourselves out, which means it must be hunting alone.” It struck Kila as odd that a Psybat would do that; they were normally nocturnal creatures that hunted in packs. “I can use a technique to stop it, but I won’t be able to recover immediately”
Noki thought back to what Kila had told him earlier about scourbeasts. Except for rare occasions, scourbeasts only have a single kulda and merge with only one Heavenly Aspect. “Go ahead and do it,I’ll take it out before it can make a move.”
Kila turned her head slightly and saw a look of unwavering confidence in Noki’s eye. “He’s like a different person when it comes to fighting beasts. Wait, his eyes..” Noki’s eyes bled to a dull orange and Kila felt a subtle change in his Tera Waves.
“Go on already! Let’s get this Psybat thing!.”
He still sounded like Noki, but his tone was more aggressive. Still, if he was this confident then he must have a plan, so Kila channeled her Tera into her Mind Kulda and followed the trail of Mental Tera back to the Psybat. It was a creature outlined in neon purple and filled with a dark pink hue. Its face was like a squashed diamond and it had ears that extended for several feet into the air. Thick fogs of Mental Tera emanated from its pink oval eyes and it stood on top of the Yellowbark tree, surveying its prey.
“It’s on top of that tree, five-hundred feet to the left,” Kila strained to say. Using her own Tera to reverse track the Psybat was hard enough, but overcoming its own Tera to use her Ethereal Tether was draining her by the second; had she not made it to Middle Iron she would have already passed out. “Go…now!” She unleashed her technique and both she and the Psybat were stunned.
Noki moved with speed far greater than he should have possessed and was at the base of the tree in only three strides. Instead of bounding up the branches, he used the Physical Tera stored in his legs and erupted upwards. Yellow flashed in front of him as he made his way up the length of the tree, shooting past the leaves and coming face to face with the Psybat. The creature’s eyes were wide and its head swayed back and forth ,but it was quickly recovering. Not waiting to give it a chance to attack, Noki struck the ten-foot scourbeast directly in its smushed snout, knocking it clear off the tree. Noki leapt to meet the creature and delivered another strike, this time to its abdomen.
The Psybat wails of pain echoed throughout the Red Forest as it plummeted down to the forest floor. It crashed and detonated the ground, creating enough dust and debris to obscure the entire area. Kila regained her senses and found herself surrounded by red dust and yellow leaves so she activated her Divine Sight. Her Tera was more potent now so even the little bit she had was more than enough to grant her the clarity she needed. Through the wall of dust she saw Noki from behind with an orange light coming from in front of him as he stood over the fallen Psybat.
“Wow, I guess he really did it then. That’s good, I can cultivate and recover my Mental Tera.”
Kila entered her meditation and began replenishing her Tera, but suddenly the Psybat’s Tera completely vanished and she broke her meditation. As she opened her eyes, she saw the orange glow fade from Noki’s body, along with the body of the Psybat and all traces of its energy.
“What happened?” Kila made her way to Noki as the dust cleared. “Where’d the body go?”
“I don’t know. One minute it was here, and the next it started burning away to nothingness. Maybe I hit it too hard and it exploded.”
“That’s not how it works,” Kila said. “Scourbeasts are concentrated, living Tera; once they die they slowly disperse their energy back into the environment, it's why they’re great for cultivation.”
“Well I didn’t cultivate it. All I did was hit it a few times.” Noki stared at his hands in amazement, “Do you think I hit it so hard it faded away? Is that a thing that can happen?”
“I-” Kila ruminated for a moment and thought better of it, “If you didn’t cultivate it, then maybe there was just something wrong with it. Let’s just keep going, the more we stop the greater the chance of someone finding us.”
“Like Mion?” Noki jumped and landed next to Kila. “What’s his deal anyways? He’s had it out for me even before the execution order.”
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“Well, what do you know about the Okari Clan?”
“Not much,” Noki said, “oh wait, you need to recover your Mental Tera. Are you sure we should be doing this? Doesn’t talking or thinking mess you up?”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine,” Kila replied, “besides, focusing on a conversation actually helps with Mental Tera recovery, so again, what do you know about the Okari?”
When they were younger, Noki had asked Baira why she and Mion didn’t get along. She had just arrived in the village and it was apparent to Noki that Mion harbored some ill will towards her and she reciprocated that feeling.
“I know that the Okari and the Monsari are cousins, and the Okari are jealous of the Monsari for some reason.”
“Yeah, that’s just about what I thought you’d know. Look, I think we should travel through the trees, it’ll make us less of a target. Think you can talk and run at the same time?”
Noki gave her a nod that didn’t exactly fill her with confidence, but she took him at his word and leapt onto a Yellowbark tree branch fifty-feet away. She waited for Noki to do the same and the two became blurs of color, hopping from one branch to the next and leaving nothing but shimmering, yellow leaves in their wake. This was the first time Noki had traveled like this, and it was exhilarating. The power coursing through his body, coupled with his sudden agility and coordination, made propelling himself through the treetops a breeze. It almost scared him just how much of his mind wasn’t focused on finding a safe spot to land, it was like his body knew exactly how to move through space and exactly how much force to use to keep the branches from snapping.
“My body has improved so much that even moving as fast as I am, it feels no different from walking around the village with Baira. If this is how I am at the lowest level, how much different will I be when I’m an Iron?”
At that thought, Noki looked at Kila. She was a few feet ahead of him so he focused on her movements and was amazed. Kila moved through the air like a shadow; each time she landed on a branch it was as if she weighed nothing at all. Just from her movements alone, Noki could tell she was indeed far above him in skill and it made him a bit sad; it was just another reminder of how behind he was compared to everyone else.
“Alright,” Kila said, “Looks like this is a speed you can keep up with so we’ll maintain it for a while.” Noki blinked as if snapping back to reality and Kila continued. “Overall you’re right about the Okari, but you’re missing a few key details. The Monsari, Okari, Vanri and Teiri are the five major vassal families of the Queen. The Okari used to be the strongest in terms of fighting power, but over the last two-hundred years or so, they lost that spot to the Monsari.”
“Vassal families?” Noki thought to himself. “Baira did say the Monsari were important, but I didn’t know they were that important.” “SO, IF-”
Kila winced as she bounded off another branch and turned to Noki. “You don’t need to yell to speak, enhanced senses remember? Just speak normally.”
“Sorry, this is all still new to me. So if the Okari used to be strong, how’d they lose their spot?”
“Every five years there’s a vassal tournament that determines the order of the clans. The strongest clan gets access to territories, treasures and a myriad of other things that help with cultivation. The second strongest clan gets second pick, third clan gets third and so on.”
“That seems a bit unfair,” Noki said, “if you’re at the bottom, then doesn’t that mean you get next to nothing in resources? How are you supposed to compete when you’re at a huge disadvantage?”
“Oh, there are ways.”
Noki waited for Kila to elaborate on that point, but after bounding through a few more trees and getting no response, Noki moved on. “ Ok the Okari are the second strongest clan, what’s that gotta do with Mion and his hatred of me?”
“Each major vassal family can sponsor a minor family, and the minor family doesn’t have to be blood related. Watercliff Village is a breeding ground for potential minor family members for the Okari. It’s why the Head Chief is an Okari, are you starting to understand now?”
“I think so,” Noki said. “The Okari scout potential Divine Artist to join the minor family in order to improve their overall fighting strength? I guess that means the minor family members can..fight on behalf of the major vassal family? Or maybe even join them.”
“Wow, I’m impressed, you actually grasped that pretty quickly,” Kila said in a clearly mocking tone, “maybe your Mind Kulda isn’t so weak after all.”
Though she wasn’t looking at him, Noki made a displeased face towards Kila back, just in case Iron’s could sense things like that.
“So then Mion doesn’t like me because he doesn’t think I’d want to join the family?”
Kiia sighed, “After I complimented you, you go on and say something so stupid. No, Mion hates you because you were a Null.” She quickly spoke before Noki could come up with a retort. “ I don’t mean to be offensive, but look at it in terms of this: If you were in a swimming race, wouldn’t you want the best swimmers on your team?”
“Well, yeah. I’d want the best chance to win,” Noki said.
“Ok, now imagine instead of your team being full of experienced swimmers, you have someone that’s never seen water before.”
The picture was starting to be clearer and clearer for Noki. If the Okari were in fact using the village as a recruitment ground, then they’d want all of the best candidates possible; a Null would have no reason to be in the village, especially if they are taking the place of a potential ally.
“So then if I was such a waste, why did they let me in the village in the first place? Why not have gotten rid of me and let someone else in?” Noki kept that to himself, he knew that Kila wouldn’t be able to answer that, at least not in a satisfying way, so he buried it in the back of his mind along with the other questions.
“Mion hates me because he thinks I’m dead weight,” Noki said aloud, “and I’m guessing he thinks if he gets rid of me, they’ll have room for someone better.”
“That, I can’t say for sure,” Kila replied,” I can only say that Mion has a general hatred for people he sees as lesser than himself. He does seem to have a particular interest in you though, which is why I think the faster we get you out of here, the better.”
A hundred emotions rushed through Noki, though none were as prominent as the anger that bubbled up from the pit of his stomach. Anger at Mion for making his life miserable for such a stupid reason. Anger at himself for being powerless to stop Mion. Anger at being trapped in this body.
“Wait, where did that last thought come from?”
“Noki, we’re gonna pick up the pace. I want to be near the forest edge by nightfall.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Noki said as he shook away the fleeting thought. Kila’s movements became quicker and Noki had a harder time keeping up, but managed to stay within two-hundred feet of her as the two darted through the forest.
Mion was alone in the infirmary with his father. He loomed over the unconscious man, disgusted at the sight. As he was instructed, Mion returned to Jahn’s house and found what he had left for him; a stack of scrolls hidden under a mat that was infused with an intense amount of Physical Tera to make it nigh immovable. Mion had to use his Earth Aspect to give him the strength to remove the mat, but once he did his entire world shattered.
“I always wondered why we were in this village and not back at the Peaks with the rest of the family,” Mion said to his father. “I thought it was because you were the most qualified to run the village and the family was jealous; that’s why they never sent anyone to visit. It made sense to me, until today.”
Mion threw the scrolls at his father’s unresponsive body. They sprawled over his body and moved as his chest rose and sank. Bain’s Tera hadn’t recovered yet, so he was as powerful as an Earthen Soul at best. This only served to fuel Mion’s anger and his words came out like venom.
“You gave it all up. Fifteen years ago you requested to be placed in this village, forfeiting your claim as the next Patriarch of the Okari! You were on the path of becoming a Diamond and you turned it all down for this village. Why?”
Mion’s words shook the room and had it not been for the concentrated amount of Earth Aspect, the infirmary would have split in two. Bain didn’t respond and it made Mion even more incensed.
He blew air from his nostrils and continued. “All this time I thought the family marveled at your power, but it turns out you’re the shame of the Okari. Uncle Jahn came here to get you to reconsider, but you refused,” Mion said as he angrily pointed at the note that was sliding off Bain’s chest. “ You didn’t tell him or anyone why you stepped away, but that’s not even the worst part. You personally let a Null into the village, knowing what that would do to our family. What’s a promise to a Delver compared to the pride of the Okari?!”
Every muscle in Mion’s body tensed as Tera circulated through his body. “Look at you, wrapped up in bandages. If you were a real Okari, you’d have killed the Null the moment it set foot here, we have no room for useless people.”
“Careful there,” Gazin said from behind Mion, “you’re overflowing with killing intent.”
Mion didn’t look away from his father when he addressed Gazin. “I don’t know how you got in here without my notice, but this doesn’t concern you.”
“Well, it looks like you were going to kill the man that grants me autonomy over my work, so it in fact does concern me.” Gazin glanced at Bain’s body and quickly studied the scrolls. “I see, you think if you kill him you’ll be in good with your family? That’s a possibility, but there’s also the chance that you end up tried for treason by the Queen.”
Mion’s face contorted with rage and irritation. “His presence in the village is cancerous. His weakness allowed for a Null to grow and fester within our midsts.”
“Then get rid of him,” Gazin said, “but quietly. Surely Jahn’s taught you a few things.”
“Those are not the methods I wish to use,” Mion said with barely contained anger, “ if I want for someone to die, it will be by my own hands.”
“It’s just that-”
Mion raised a fist and slammed it into Bain’s body, turning all the bones in his body into dust. The impact broke the bed and cratered the floor. It looked like a tera bomb had gone off in the center of the room and the only reason Bain was still in one piece was due to the protective nature of the wrappings.
“Well,” Gazin said as she peeked over the crater, “looks like a decision was made.”
“Don’t worry about your autonomy,” Mion coldly said, “I won’t interfere as the new Head Chief.”
Gazin looked at Mion for a moment, and then a sly smile crept across her face. “I see, this was the instruction Jahn left you. I imagine he wanted it done more quietly, but this is his plan. Make it a point to leave the village while Bain is alive, and then you come over and kill him off; it’s a solid alibi. But there must be a second part to this, to complete the cover up.”
“There is,” Mion said, “and if you want that autonomy, you’ll help me deliver it.”