I feel stuffy, like my nose is clogged and I can’t blow it. But it’s for my whole body. Gah! It’s driving me insane; what the heck is this feeling!? Did someone curse me? Which bastard was it!? None of these stupid animals could use curses: not the two-headed dogs, not the one-eyed snakes, not the weird eight-legged monkeys with horns, not the stupid, stupid acid-spitting birds in the sky. So why am I feeling this way? Maybe I should ask Liana or that Briarwood envoy. I have no one else to ask after all.

Let’s see, where’s my messenger?

…cia.

Hmm? That’s odd. I thought I heard something.

Lucia….

Okay. That’s creepy. Is someone watching me? I don’t sense anyone, not even with my web of qi. I recently learned how to do that. If I project my qi outwards like shooting strands out of my body, I can roughly sense everything around me. I guess that’s what Durandal meant by high-ranking warriors could control their qi outside of their body. Wait. Durandal?

Yes….

“Durandal!” I grabbed mini-DalDal. Durandal was in here, right? How did I enter it last time? Focus on the hilt and… whoa. The ball of light I saw last time was shining even brighter than before. There was another orb of light floating around. If I touch it, it’s probably going to hurt like last time. “Durandal?”

“Touch the orb, Lucia.”

…Dammit. Even when you’re asleep, you want me to feel pain, huh? “Are you awake?” I miss you, you stupid sword spirit. You said you’d never leave me. Well, I guess you didn’t. But falling asleep for however long it’s been is just as bad!

“Fading … consciousness…. Touch the orb…. Get stronger. Lucia, I’ll … be waiting.”

Just what does Durandal have in store for me now? Please don’t be painful, please don’t be painful. Deep breaths, Lucia. And … touch it. Gah! Motherfucker! It hurts! It wasn’t this painful before! Last time it was like someone hammering open my head. This time, it’s like someone’s using a chisel to chip away every single one of my bones at the same time! I can’t feel my limbs. All I can feel is pain. Everything is pain. I am pain. I’m dying. Dying….

It was nighttime when I woke up. A circle of dead animal corpses surrounded me. My body was drenched in blood, and the ground was dark and damp. Did I do this? I sat up and looked around. I’m no stranger to slaughter, but even I thought this scene was a bit gruesome. The animals looked as if they had been torn apart by teeth and claws. Some weren’t even recognizable. Mini-DalDal was still strapped to my back, and it didn’t seem like it had been used much. My nails on the other hand…, they were pointed, sharp, and curved like a panther’s. There were also lots of dried blood and flesh underneath them. Gross.

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And there’s a metallic taste in my mouth—blood, I guess? It had been an extremely long time since I last slept, and I woke up to something like this. Oh, hey! The stuffiness is gone. I feel great! But first, let’s check what kind of nasty surprised Durandal gave me. It better be worth all that pain and suffering I went through. I inspected my body while gathering the corpses. Unfortunately, most of them were so torn apart that the dismantle spell didn’t work. But I did find a decent number of beast cores.

My body didn’t change much after being tortured by Durandal. Was the orb a prank? I’ll review my techniques: Breaking Blade, qi projection, Steady Mountain footwork, unrelenting path of slaughter, the art of bone engraving. Wait. Hold on a second. What the heck is unrelenting path of slaughter!? When did I pick up something so ominous?

A dull drone rang in my head, followed by an eerie voice. “Listen well, Lucia. You’ve reached the peak of high-ranked warrior, and without guidance, you’d’ve been stuck there forever. I forcibly broke you through to low-ranked spirit warrior. Unfortunately, I have no idea what path you’ll unlock. Your path will reflect the actions you’ve done while reaching the peak. Continue following your path until you become a high-ranked spirit warrior.”

That was an awfully convenient explanation. I guess this is part of the benefits of inheriting the Godking’s legacy—an easy pass to the next rank. And—

“Oh. If I wake up, and I find out your path is something stupid like the path of sloth or the path of ‘hey look, an acorn’ then I’m disowning you.”

Phew. Good thing I seriously invested my time and energy into improving myself. So what exactly can I do with this unrelenting path of slaughter? This is something spirit warriors unlock, right? Should I know how to use it instinctively?

“To activate a path. Send your qi to your forehead and follow the sensation. Your qi will want to flow a certain way. Allow it to.”

…You’re actually awake, aren’t you, Durandal?

“I’m not awake. This is my last message until I wake up. Lucia, there’s something I have to tell you. I … no. When the time comes, I’ll tell you in person.”

What the heck! You can’t do that! What were you going to say!? “Answer me, Durandal! You bastard!!! That was a totally a confession flag!” Gah! Forget it. Focus. Send my qi into my forehead and follow the path…? Oh, that feels comfortable. Close my eyes, relax my shoulders, lightly bend my knees, tilt my neck upwards, open my mouth and howl at the sky. …What the heck is this qi path making me do?

When I opened my eyes, my vision was white. There were a few black outlines of trees and leaves and rocks and the dead bodies around me, but the contents were white. Everything was black and white like a child’s drawing.

Slaughter…

The space I stood on turned red. Red footprints sprawled outwards from me like a spider web, staining the white landscape.

Blood…

My legs moved without my permission, stepping into one of the red footprints. The rest of the paths disappeared except for the one I took. My other leg advanced forward, stepping into the next footprint, then another. What exactly was this supposed to do? Well, I couldn’t do anything except follow the path laid out before me.