Scarfing down the last of the core formation’s leg on his way back, and to think I was going to try bluffing my way out.
Absorbing the residue on his fingers, through his fingers. I don’t think I can lie to the snake pseudo-god that has been watching me lie this whole time. It seems nice though.
This forest really do be quite dead. There is such a lack of life. I wonder If I can summon something with enough lifeforce to make it worth the effort? Maybe I summon them straight into my stomach and automate the process? Perhaps there’s another way to generate ki.
Can I take other chi and convert them? Perhaps it would be like aluminum stripping oxygen from iron oxide? I suppose the difference between ki and life chi is the intent impressed upon it. If I can undo that impression, I should be able to purify the chi. Although I still don’t know what purifying something like fire or earth chi would do, what does it become? Does it even get a name or was my cognizance of a name required for the system to denote one?
Is the system limited by me? It was quite bugged to start…maybe? It could also be a mix of factors, as many things tend to be. Impossible to pin blame on one thing.
…
Aden’s eyes widened. Long…was it not your fault? A blasphemous pseudo-god dwells below your cult…
Many factors…
Aden stares in the direction of the pseudo-god, pondering along his walk.
Questions for later. The question for now is, is it safe to fly?
Aden gazes at the sky, enthralled by it.
Oh, how I longed to be free. Trapped within the coils of human machinations, a man could dream. Within the game, the feeling was surreal, but it always left me wanting more. Something better, something real.
Aden stopped. Standing, staring at the sky.
My dream is just ahead of me.
Feeling his instincts guide him, Aden crouches, ready to strive for greater heights.
And now I have it.
With the greatest force he can muster, the ground fractures beneath as he exits beyond the treetops spinning like a bullet. His wings unfurl, his momentum slows, and he straightens out. Sitting at the apex of his momentum, a period of serenity.
Wearing an unbidden smile, and now I have it!
“I CAN FLYYYYYYYY!”
Making his return to the earth, Aden tucks his wings to gain speed. More, he wanted more. He needed more. To feel it rattle through him. To feel the sky take him in.
Nearing the treetops, he snaps his wings open, entering a glide. Left wings up, he spins. Right wings up, he drops. Open once more, he’s grazing the sea of leaves.
Giggling like a child, “I CAN FUCKING FLYYYYYY!”
With great force, he pulls the sky like swimming through water, hurling himself upwards. Just to perform some more rolls and skim the leaves.
Feeling the greenery strike his feet, Aden looks below.
…
…
Aden drops down, diving right through a thicket of branches and dodging them all. Nearing dirt, he opens up once more, plowing the ground with his feet for a moment before straightening up. Angling right, he avoids a tree. Angling left, one more is avoided. Completing his roll, he brings his feet around and kicks off the next tree. Zig-zagging through the forest until the clearing before town comes to sight. Then using his next kick off to go beyond the sea of green once more.
From the sky he looks down upon the ants.
“Where do I enter from?”
“Here”
Banking towards a temple, Treeforce one flying VFR coming in full stop.
Priests look to the sky, some begin to point. Others look, others turn, more and more see Aden as he nears the temple courtyard.
ATC quiet, looks like I’m clear!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Aden continues to take on speed, narrowing his angle and adjusting his body to lower parasitic drag.
Shouts from below begin to pick up, most not noticing who it is that approaches. Many run for cover, some begin chanting while those near them begin to inscribe characters into the ground.
Too late anyways, daddies here!
BOOM!
Aden strikes the ground at an angle, slipping into a roll going out of the cloud he made, then springs out of it and lands on his feet with his hands in the air. Then gives a bow.
Perfect landing! Not that these zealots will appreciate it.
The priests cease their actions the moment Aden’s form becomes clear. His identity apparent. Staring.
I choose to believe the DO appreciate it. Now where was I… Ah! That way.
Making his way towards one of the temple compound’s buildings, “Pay no attention to the god in your midst. I’m just taking a stroll.”
As he strides on, he is met with nothing but stares and prayers.
Applause would have been better, but I suppose this will have to do.
Hmmmm, I’m gonna have to move that statue. The entrance hole must be under it.
At the center of a four-way intersecting building along the paths sits the stone figure of two snakes, black and white, coiling around each other, reaching to the sky.
Aden deforms himself, reaching around the stone, getting an unnaturally uniform grip, then lifts it like a child picking up a puppy.
Hyup! Carefully now…carefully…close enough.
Aden places it unceremoniously off to the side. Now apparent in the center, a hole seeping a dense fog of black and white tendrils.
How inviting. I suppose this would be foreboding but it just looks like the usual.
Aden jumps in, feet first, unafraid of falling.
The air dense with writhing chi, he slips down like a rock through aerated water. Falling and falling, longer than he had just done.
No wonder they were able to hide…there it is.
Buffeting his wings, he temporarily clears the air before the chi floods back to fill the void, and steps onto the ground.
This chi is so dense it's slightly visible to my normal vision. Crazy that they are still wounded, It must have carried through with them as they kept advancing.
Advancing through the tunnel, he passively scrapes the walls with his outstretched wings, feeling the smoothness. Artificial, and neatly done.
From all around, worming through the wriggling shadows, “Wⷲeͤᶫlͨcͦoͫmͤe”
It’s voice shifting from place to place, changing in tone and source, “ᶠwͦaͬitⷱeͦdͧ”
“Wⷲeͤ wⷲaͣiͭtͨeͪdͤᵈ”
“Iⷱnͦsͧolⷲeͤnͬtͤ”
“ⷱHͦeͧlpⷲfͤuͬlͤ”
“wⷲaͣtͥcͭhͤeͩd”
“pⷲaͤtiⷲeͤnͬtͤ”
Snakes hidden within the writhing chi emerge from the shadows, forming the head of a serpent. Its body a swirl of black and white, its eyes open to reveal the same.
“I was patient”
“And then I got in trouble?”
Narrowing its spiraling eyes as it slunk back into the living shadows, “Yessss”
“You were unsure what to do with me. Unsure of what I was, what I could do. Weighing risk and reward. Seeing me help your people, but also loot them. Now you want to determine if I was worth saving or if you should kill me?”
…
“Merging your existence with belief… Was it worth it to lose yourself? Did you know that would happen?”
“No”
“What is it you want from me? To explain myself? Bring clarity? Beg?
…
“I took advantage of your weak and naive followers while giving back a bit. I made a transaction.”
“You fought”
“I ate Mingzhu.”
“The lost one tried to eat you”
“You’ve been watching a while.”
“You fell. From outside”
“Curiosity? Fear? Yes, I am an outsider. I am from very very far away. What is it you want? A solution like I gave that ancestor?”
…
“Maybe I can. Maybe I can’t.”
“You said the same before”
Cracking a smile “I guess I can’t pretend in front of you. Since you don’t seem evil, I have some ideas, but they will be mentally uncomfortable for you.”
“Patience”
“Not this time. I too can play the waiting game, but this will require action instead. Option one, you reveal yourself to your people in material form and portray your self as what you want to be. Their perceptions of you refining your form, away from this riskily partially obscured state you are in. Option two, you leave and let the connection of their faith to you and the faith itself die over time as you work to refine your material form. Option three, I create a vessel for you to inhabit, perhaps a most fitting one after letting me sample you.”
…
“I suppose patience can be applied here. Take your time to make a decision. I can return to pilfering that library.” Thumbing over his shoulder, back the way he came.
“...Yessss… Patience… Return, I shall think”
“Can I get a sample before I go, though?”
“Leave”
“Just a tiny amount of anything will do.”
It’s head forms once more, staring him down.
Hands half in the air, making his exit. “Alright alright, I'm going! Sheesh. I’ll ask again later.” He finishes quickly, hastening his pace as he giggles away.
Staring up the shaft without a light in sight, his wings unable to open all the way in the hole above the tunnel. Now how the hell am I squeezing my way up there?