Morning came too soon for Tabatha. She was laying on her cot, depressed. She’d been like that since yesterday when she had attempted to attune to blood like her master. It has rejected her. She had felt the attunement for body and even that of life. But for blood? There was nothing. Why? Why had it forsaken her? She was just like her master… wasn’t she? A quite frustration escaped her lips. If she was being honest with herself, which appears she must, she wasn’t like Azura. The fighting, the blood and death, it scared her. Yet, she knew there were times to fight rather than flee. It was a hard reality she learned when Toren had died. There were those that would take and take, until you had nothing left. But if blood wasn’t for her… what was then?

With a mental command she strained against the ki bringing it out, resting it on her fingertip. For long minutes she stared into the crystalized perfection losing herself. Azura said she had to attune her ki and that it should reflect who she was. So, who was she? She wasn’t certain but she knew one thing. This sucked.

With that realization she leaped off the bed and exited her burrow. Once on the surface she waved to the kin training nearby, then began to run. With each step, enhanced by her ki, she felt the wind blow her worries away. On and on she ran with a speed that was astounding. She couldn’t use her full potential. She couldn’t until she mastered the ki steps technique. Despite this, she moved faster than any mana beast or mage ever could. She couldn't be stopped. She flowed over obstacles, laughed in the face of any foolish predator that chased her leaving them far behind. Soon she was out of the forest running along the grassy plains. She made sure to exit on the far side away from the mists. That was a problem for another day. This time was hers. She ran and ran without a care. Only the fastest of birds could match her speed gliding along on the carefree wind.

Tabatha stopped. The revelation was so obvious that she couldn’t believe she didn’t see it. This was who she was. A spirit as carefree as the wind. With a grin she summoned her solid ki suspending with her as she ran. As she did the attunement grew. Yet it wasn’t just the wind but her mindset. She had to be like the wind, ever flowing, never caged. For wind only existed when it moved. As if that realization was the final piece her attunement was complete.

Daughter of the skies and all that laughs. Is this who you are?

“Yes!” Tabatha cheered aloud as her ki took on a wispy hue before it returned to the others. Her elation lasted for about a minute.

“How am I supposed to cultivate wind?” Her depression returned in full.

A predator stalked the caravan. The caravan was one of many that had left Deepmere several hours ago, fleeing the oncoming mists. While most headed east together for safety, this particular group headed north. The noble who owned this caravan wasn’t concerned. He had over thirty mages to guard his private carriage and the goods he took from Deepmere. What possible harm could befall him? His confidence was well reasoned and would’ve been correct, if this predator wasn’t a rather blood thirsty half badger-kin.

Gwen watched the caravan with hungry eyes as it drew closer to her ambush spot. The urge to leap out was hard to restrain. She’d waited far too long for this moment. The monster in her wanted, no needed, blood. It would soon bathe in it… after she got what she wanted. She looked down to the small crate next to her. The mana dampening shackles it contained would give her all the time she could possibly want. She didn’t want the mages blowing themselves up or something. Who knew what they would do? Mages weren’t exactly sane like her.

The caravan was starting to pass by her hiding spot. She held herself back waiting for the perfect time. Almost there… Almost there… Gwen trembled in anticipation as she perched besides a larger boulder. She just needed the fools to get a bit farther. Just, a bit farther. Gwen reached down grabbing two of the shackles as she waited.

NOW!

Gwen sent down a flow of ki into the ground below her. Her skill with the ki steps technique was still clumsy. However, she needed to clear the distance to the caravan quickly. This was the best way. Extra ki flooded her body as she leaped with her full power. She cleared the distance nearly instantly… then kept going. She went through the front of the noble’s carriage, which exploded into a shower of splinters. Her momentum wasn’t slowed as she plowed through a horse and the mage atop it. The horse was bisected as Gwen was bathed in pieces of meat and viscera. The mage fared little better as the lower half of his torso became a mangled mess intertwined with the dead animal. Gwen paws touched the ground a few meters later, a deep furrow forming as she kept moving. Gwen crouched sending her ki into the ground halting the rest of her momentum in a spray of earth. She stood up her eyes wide at the mayhem she wrought. The mages were shouting as bits of flesh rained around from her unintended victims. She looked down at her gore covered torso and crimson painted clothes. A giggle trickled out of her which became a full hearty gale of laughter. The manic glee escaping from her lasted several minutes as the humans all looked on silently. That made her laugh more. Oh, what fun! This is what she’d been missing! The power… The Magebane must truly be a master of control to not destroy everything when she used her ki. She tilted her head giving the human’s a savage grin. Many trembled taking several steps back at her expression and gory appearance. The more intelligent ones started casting.

“BARRIER!” One mage shouted as a protective dome surrounded the broken carriage. Two more helped reinforced the protective spell as the others began offensive spells.

“FORCEBOLT!”

“LIGHTENING!”

Gwen coated her arms in extra ki replicating the Magebane’s technique. With ease she slapped away the attacks. She gleefully laughed again at the looks of fear she received. The mages outside the barrier drew steel as they began their own spells.

“IRONSKIN!”

“LESSER HASTE!”

And so on, and so on. Gwen let them cast their pathetic spells. Hopefully they would be enough so she wouldn’t accidentally kill them. That wouldn’t be any fun. After their spells were finally casted, they began closing in. That was when Gwen moved. Once again, she used the ki steps technique but with far less ki powering her movements this time. To the mages she appeared to teleport right in front of them. Gwen reached out grabbing the first mage by the wrist, slapping a shackle on him. She turned… and forgot to let go. The arm came with her. The man shrieked at his missing arm blood gushing out from the stump.

“Whoops,” Gwen said. This might be harder than she thought. She tossed the involuntary gift at the nearest mage, a woman, who dropped her sword as she fumbled with limb. Her shriek of surprise was transformed into an unintelligible gargle as Gwen fist connected to her jaw. The bone caved in like it was made of straw. Whether from pain or the shock the woman collapsed, unconscious. One down, many more to go.

It wasn’t a battle. It was a nothing more than a playful game of tag to the liquid cultivator. The mages spells couldn’t touch her. Gwen dashed back and forth slapping mana dampening shackles onto the mages breaking a few bones in the process, before moving onto the next. The only difficult part was not killing the weaklings. After two minutes the only mages left were behind the barrier spell. She frowned at the group. Not in worry, but at the noise. The rich ass hiding in the ruins of his carriage was making more noise than a swarm of cicadas.

“SHUT UP!” Gwen screamed slamming a ki infused foot down. A small tremor silenced the idiots.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. Either you can be good little lemmings and do what I say or I make you. Please choose the latter.”

“W, What do you want?” The noble said still hiding. The mages maintaining the barrier just glanced at each other.

“I want you to do what I say, dumbass.”

“Swear it!” The frighten man said. “Swear on your mana pool that you won’t hurt me or my men, if we do what you want.”

Gwen hesitated. She didn’t have a mana pool so it shouldn’t matter. “Fine. I swear I won’t hurt you or your men if you do what I say.” A squeezing pressure filled Gwen’s entire being as the oath seeped into the pieces of her core.

NO! That wasn’t supposed to happen. She looked up to see the noble had finally stop hiding. He cautiously emerged from the wreckage. That bastard! Now she couldn’t harm them. This was all pointless! Her fury suddenly dissipated as the monster inside her had an idea. A wonderful, glorious idea. She rushed off grabbing the crate of shackles.

“Get out here and put these on,” Gwen commanded. They hesitated, looking at the restraining devices she was pointing to.

“You said you wouldn’t harm us,” the noble said a lot less confident now.

“I’m not harming you. Are you refusing to do as I say?” Gwen asked sweetly.

The noble stiffened. He looked to his men who nodded. Gwen knew they would. They were outclassed and they knew it.

“Fine. Just take what you want and go,” the noble said as they put the shackles on. Out from the carriage a young girl, probably sixteen, looked terrified as she put her own restraints on. Now for the fun part.

Instead of plundering their belongings like the noble expected she pull a small dagger from her belt and tossed it at the noble’s feet. He glanced to the sunken blade then back to her.

“Pick it up.”

“You can take anything what you want from the carriage,” man said picking up the blade.

“I have what I want. Now, cut off your manhood,” Gwen said smiling.

“… What?”

“I said, cut off your manhood.”

“…W, W, W, What?” The noble stammered unable to comprehend the request.

“Are you stupid human? I told you to cut off your cock. Do you have one right? I know it’s small, but I’m sure you can find it.”

“I, I’m not doing that,” the noble said dropping the knife. Gwen felt the oath lift as the mage violated his side of the agreement.

“Oh, okay,” Gwen said and a pause fell over the group. “Then, I’ll do it for you.” She moved. All the still standing mages fell as she shattered knees and fractured femurs. In seconds all the mages were on the ground screaming. Those that weren’t screaming, were begging.

Ugh, so annoying. Gwen quickly went to the carriage. There she found some clothing, which she shredded. She then gagged each one of the bastards. Better. Now she could truly begin.

Gwen stood above the nearest mage. The terror in his eyes was a soothing balm to the cultivator after the earlier excitement. She took several steadying breaths as she looked over her captives. All twenty of them shivered in fear as her gaze meet theirs. More breathing was required to calm her excitement. Yes. This is what it truly meant to be a cultivator. She would take what she wanted. She gave herself a long moment to enjoy herself before reaching inside herself to her core. She grasped one of the particles of crystalized ki pulling it forth. It slipped her grasp.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Gwen blinked in surprised. Azura had made it seem so easy. She reinforced her will making it stronger than the ki’s resistance. Gradually she pulled out the ki having it rest on the tip of her claw. That was harder than she thought it would be. She would need more practice.

With the ki on her fingertip she drove her spear hand down into the first mage’s heart. Essence of all types flowed around the solid ki, as blood gushed around her palm. With the sanguine fluid came a familiar feeling as an attunement possibility grew. Gwen rejected it. Blood was Azura’s path, not hers. Next came small traces of… what was that body? No, she rejected that as well. There! As the fleshy muscle stilled around her fingers, she found it. Small at first, then exploding in potential. She accepted the essence as her ki darkened. Gwen smiled as the potential of death filled the crystalize ki.

Task completed; she pulled the ki out of the corpse admiring the faint dark shimmer. Azura had accidentally attuned herself to blood when she had awoken the kin’s mana pools. It worked well for her, but it lacked the finality that Gwen sought. This was her path. This was the path of death.

Gwen gave the corpse a ki infused kick. It splattered like against the boulder where she started her ambush. She allowed herself another moment to enjoy the fear around her before repeating the process. Each time the ki grew steadily darker as the possibility became more real.

It took ten more kills before the crystalize ki was ready.

Bringer of death, giver of unlife. Is this who you are?

“Yes!”

Immediately the ki left her control joining the liquid ki flowing through her before returning to her ki spiral. There the darkness began to spread to the other ki particles. Soon each piece of her core contained the lovely dark luster.

It was done. Gwen triumphantly roared to the sky causing the mages to flinch. She had done it! She, Gwen, was a death cultivator.

Nothing left now but to… try it out. Gwen smiled. She walked to the next mage and drove a ki infused fist into her head. The woman’s death was quick. She would prefer to have her suffer, but this was for science! She could play with the next one.

Death essence filled her, drawn to her core. The essence was quickly converted into ki. Gwen grinned. The ambient mana she been absorbing didn’t even produce a fraction of the amount of ki this single death provided.

She walked to the next mage. It was the whiny noble. She had to take her time with last few. After all she only had eight left. Time to play a bit.

Instead of killing this one, she sat on the man while she thought about what she could do. How could she practice? After all, having fun while learning was best.

Would she absorb more essence if the crystalize ki was in the mage when he died? It seemed logical.

“Don’t worry we’ll have so much fun together,” Gwen told the noble as she playfully patted his cheek and pulled up his shirt. Once again, she pulled out a particle of her core. Instead of driving it down into the mage she stuck the ki on one finger then placed it on his exposed abdomen. She pushed down, her claw’s tip drawing a trickle of blood. She didn’t rush, even as the mage thrashed. With Gwen’s ki infused body he might as well be a caterpillar struggling against a steel web. Gradually her finger entirely entered the man’s flesh. She gave it a fun little wiggle as the man screamed, his gag mostly blocking the sound.

With the ki in place Gwen looked down at the mage her fist raised. Then she paused as a thought struck her.

Why not? Gwen thought with a chuckle. Instead of killing the man, she directed the ki inside him to his mana pool. Once there, she immersed her ki inside. Instantly she felt the mana like it was her own. While the mana shackles prevented spell casting, it did nothing to stop the internal use of mana. That was great for Gwen. She never learned any spells. Why bother? Mana was weak.

The mage tried to resist her pull on the mana. How pathetic! Gwen who spent countless hours folding and compressing her mana easily took control. With a fun little twirl, she spun the man’s mana to her crystalized ki converting it into death mana.

The mage shuttered as the mana in his body was filled with a dark taint. Once every bit was converted, she looked down into the terrified man’s eyes. Then she forcibly inverted his mana pool. Death mana surged through every part of the man. His body convulsed as the death mana saturated his entire being. Once it reached his brain the mage went limp, his inverted mana pool shriveling like rotten fruit. He was dead.

Gwen frowned. She was hoping for something… more. She didn’t even feel the surge of death essence. That was a waste. She was about to pull her ki out when she felt it settle into place. It was like a puzzle piece locking into position. Confused, she was about to pull it back anyways when she felt it. A mental connection had formed. She could suddenly feel the body she sat on. Not physically, but magically. The death mana began cycling in the man. It became a critical part of some new mana-organic system. The heart didn’t beat. The blood didn’t flow. The brain didn’t send signals. Yet the mana replicated all these functions, somehow directed by her single piece of crystalized ki. The mage’s eyes opened. His eyes had turned pitch black.

“Master,” was the first word the reborn mage Vincent said. He wasn’t sure why he said it. Perhaps in his confused state it was one of the few absolute certainties he had.

Water was wet.

Birds can only fly because they all know the 'Flight" spell.

The kin before him was his master.

All of these were immutable facts. Anyone who would deny such simple truths should be burned. The kin for her part stared at him wide eye before toppling off him.

Oh no! He had caused his glorious master to fall. He should destroy himself right now for such an affront! Vincent’s thoughts cursed his stupidity as he quickly got to his feet offering a hand to the kin. She stared at the proffered hand for a moment before taking it.

Once she was on her feet, the pair regarded each other.

What glory! His master was looking at him! How could he be so lucky?

Vincent admired his masters physically beauty for a moment before his attention was drawn down into his mana pool. He frowned for a moment. His mana pool was gone? Shriveled? This was horrible! How could he best serve his master with no mana pool!? What a disaster!

“Master I’m so sorry! In my foolishness I appeared to have destroyed my mana pool! I am unworthy of serving you. Please destroy me so you may find another!” Vincent said as he dropped to his knees groveling before her.

Laughter was the only response. Pure enjoyment rang with the bellowing guffaw. Hopeful, Vincent looked at his master.

Gwen laughed. She couldn’t help it. This… This was so much more than she dreamed of. The mage was a walking bundle of death mana. The mana was weak, but still. Experimentally she pulled a bit of the death mana to the piece of her core inside the mage. The mana was squeezed then purified into the tiniest amount of ki before accelerating down the connection she had to the mage to her core. The mage swayed as the power left him. Gwen regarded the dead man, curious to see what he would do.

“Master, I’m… hungry…” The mage said. He seemed ashamed of such a weakness in front of her.

Oh? This was interesting. The man wasn’t looking at the packs of supplies. He was looking at the bound mages. An evil grin plastered to her face.

“You’re hungry my pet? What would you like to eat?” She crooned at the mage.

The mage seemed hesitant and confused. “I, I, I don’t know why, but, but I want… ThEm…” The last word came out twisted. Drool leaked from the mages mouth as he hungrily looked at the restrained mages. The bound mages terror became full blown panic as they tried to flee. With the broken legs Gwen inflicted on them, they only ended up doing a pathetic crawl. She let them, her cruel smile in place.

“I will allow you on two conditions,” Gwen said sweetly.

“Anything master,” the mage said.

“First answer two questions. Then I get to pick whom you eat.”

“Of course, master,” the mage replied instantly.

“What is your name my pet?”

“Vincent Lamberg. I am the son of…”

“Enough. I don’t care about your lineage. Second question. Is there anyone here you are close to.”

“That’s my youngest daughter,” Vincent said pointing to bound girl two mages away. She was the girl that exited the carriage earlier. She stared at her father, her eyes wide and fearful.

“No one else?” Gwen asked.

“No. My wife died during one of the mist attacks. My older daughter is at Dageth for specialized training.”

“Very well my pet. You have done well. Now you may feed.”

Vincent trembled with excitement and knelt before the nearest mage when Gwen spoke again.

“Not that one,” Gwen said. She pointed a lazy finger at his daughter. “Her.”

Vincent hesitated. A three-way battled raged in his mind. The desire to feed. The lingering feelings for his daughter, which even now grew fainter, like a memory long since forgotten. Above all others, the desire, THE NEED, to obey his master. Trembling in strange combination of dread and anticipation he knelt before the girl.

“Wait…” Gwen called before he could do anything. “Remove her gag.”

Vincent did so.

“Daddy?” The girl asked tears and snot running freely.

“Now you may eat… slowly. Start with the face,” Gwen said excitedly. He did.

His mouth open Vincent took his daughters cheek into his mouth and bit. Blood and tender flesh filled his mouth as the wailing of his daughter filled his ears. Over it all his master laughter rang out.

“Wonderful!” Gwen crooned. As Vincent fed, she watched the mana inside her pet replenish at a startling rate. More and more mana saturated her pet converting to death mana as he feed. He was a walking generator of death mana! All he needed to do was feed. Could she pull on the power wherever she was? She needed to test this. Suddenly a surge of death essence entered her pet as his daughter pleading and struggles stopped. The essence cycled to the piece of her core inside her pet. There it condensed into ki. The ki just sat there like aphid honeydew.

“Keeping feeding my pet until only two mages are left,” Gwen instructed. “I’ll be back.” Gwen didn’t bother waiting for a response. She was too excited. She dashed away with all the speed of her ki enforced body. Once she was several miles away, she reached inside herself. The link to her pet was there, not diminished at all by the distance. She felt the liquid ki gathered in him and pulled a small portion to herself leaving the rest in place. The ki instantly was inside her as if it had traveled no distance at all. It wasn’t as much as if she did the kill herself, but it was significantly more than she could generate from refining ambient mana alone.

She could send her pet out to collect ki on her behalf! Best of all she could have him kill mages for her! She paused. What if he was destroyed? Would she lose her ki? She didn’t think it was likely. She could feel her piece of ki in him. Even now with this distance she could call it back.

When Gwen returned only two mages were left uneaten. Each dead mage had several bites taken out of them, but at some point, Vincent had stopped feeding and moved onto the next one.

“Why aren’t you finishing your meal?” Gwen asked.

“It didn’t taste good anymore,” her pet replied.

Gwen focused on each corpse feeling for any residual mana that would naturally be leaking into the environment. Nothing. It appeared that he stopped feeding shortly after death. Perhaps his bite was parasitic, taking not only living matter but mana with it. She needed a learned mage or a necromancer whom she could consult. She didn’t know much about this stuff. She was about to have him start on the next one when she felt something inside her pet besides her ki. There! What was that?

“Come closer,” Gwen commanded. The undead mage moved to her. She noticed he was faster. The death mana inside him acted like body magic granting him extra speed. How much stronger could he become?

She put that aside for now and focused. There! Was that… crystalized mana? She had heard of crystalized mana. It didn’t compare to crystalized ki, but it was a well-known phenomenon. Bits of solid mana sold for good prices and were used in enchanting. This was clearly crystalized death mana from the feel of it.

“My pet do you fell that solid piece of mana inside you?”

Her pet frowned as his scarlet eyes went distance. A moment later he replied.

“Yes master.”

Interesting. Even though he was dead and his mana pool nothing more than a shrivel raisin he could feel the death mana. How? She really needed a learned mage to help with this. Could he control the death mana?

“Good. I want you to try to move that crystalized mana into your mouth. Then bite the mage.” Gwen had a hunch what was going on. She remembered rumors that crystalized death mana was how necromancers could create undead. That didn’t matter right now. The question was could her pet make more undead? Would they be connected to her? So many questions.

Actually, it was strange now that she thought about it. Undead were mindless. Her pet wasn’t. Perhaps it was because he was created from crystalized ki instead of mana? Right now, she could only make a few undead. Her core only had so many pieces and she didn’t want to think what would happen if she gave away too many. Perhaps she could create one or two more of these… revenants. Yes, that is a good word for them. They were the remains of the person she revived. They could gather ki for her. She watched in anticipation as her pet followed her instructions. The solid mana moved, and her pet took a large bite out of the man’s face.

Gwen tried not to giggle as the mage screamed. This wasn’t the time. She was being scientific here.

She watched as the deposited solid mana was drawn to the man’s mana pool. Once there it slowly it began to convert the man’s mana into death mana. Very slowly. Gwen frowned. This was taking too long. She walked over to the mage and twisted his head so it faced the opposite direction. She didn’t draw in the death essence. She wanted to see what the solid mana would do. As if obeying her wish the death essence moved to the solid mana where it contaminated the rest of the mana before seeping out into the flesh.

A groan escaped the dead lips as what was clearly a zombie awakened. Gwen grinned for several reasons. One, she could feel a connection to the zombie. Although it was muted, like trying to feel something through many layers of clothes. Gwen doubted she would get much from this zombie as it was twice removed from her, but she would get something. Of that she was certain. The second reason was that she could have her pet make an undead horde all for the single purpose of gathering ki for her. Best of all, she now had a potent weapon to kill mages… all of them.

She stood as her pets fed on the last mage thinking. She had her attunement. Should she head back? Nah. The Magebane had given them two weeks to practice. Where better to do that than here? There were still so many pests fleeing the cease pit that was Deepmere. The pigs had grown fat. Now it was time for the slaughter… and the harvest.