The little group was well out of the village now, hiking through the desert of the Desolation. They were heading South, Silas could tell with the sun's setting. No one really talked much. Some idle chatter here and there between varying members of the party. Silas noticed Magnus talked little, only when he was spoken to first. It was difficult to get anything out of him.

Kio and Silas spoke a little of the School of the Jade Mountains and of Master's Eichi elemental body. The man’s body now resembled bark on a tree.. This was a fantastic feat and something Silas only saw a few times. The sect he was a part of, The Divine Body sect, was some of the few people who really wanted to hone in on their elemental bodies. Usually, people focused on their spirit cultivation once they were able and forgot about their body cultivation.

Silas sighed, it was nice talking about his friends and past life with his oldest friend. His mind wandered though as they spoke. He couldn’t help but think of The Divine Body Sect and what going with this group meant for him. The Divine Body sect was the group he joined when he was at the school to further separate himself from his father. After his last meeting with his father however, Silas guessed there was already plenty of separation.

Was he part of this rat, unnamed beggar sect? He didn't even have access to the metal madra he used his entire life. Now he had an entirely unique thing called mana, which was shadow. What was it capable of? What sort of abilities did he have access to? Maisy told him he was basically starting over with everything. He had a larger mana pool than most new Sacred Artist because of his experience. Still, he had to reforge his body and basically start over. The whole idea was a little hindering, but he figured he could do it over again since he had done it once.

"So, what's the plan here? I'm almost positive there's a lot more desert until we get to the ocean that separates Paimon from the island of Sunhae?" Silas finally asked. Not that he minded walking. After this past winter, walking without traipsing through the snow was the easiest thing. It would take a long time to hike all that way and catch a boat.

"No worries, Silas, yer precious feet will be saved. There's a small town up ahead, and vessels stop to buy some last-minute supplies or sell off things. From there, we can buy passage on a ship heading to the island, and then visit the monks. It'll be a grand ol' time." William told him.

Silas frowned. That's not what he worried about, but he supposed they probably meant it was just friendly ribbing. William was a jokester. Fun, a loving guy who didn't take things too seriously outside his cultivation.

Magnus had a slightly disappointed look in his eye when he looked at Silas. Oh well. Silas had proved himself repeatedly in his life. He had nothing to prove to him. All Silas had to do was sit and work out his new abilities.

Eventually, as night fell, as William had promised, they reached a small fishing village along the river. The crew walked down from the rocky hillside into the town, which was mostly calm and empty for this time of day. The stores were all closed up, and not much was happening on the docks.

"Come, I know a pleasant inn here." Magnus is actually the one who spoke up, "and it is run by The Divine Body sect, surprisingly."

It was common for the major sects to own and run businesses in various towns to keep a flow of money to keep supplies to their sect. Silas supposed it was a bit of a surprise that they had anything this far away from Okuhama, which was their seat of power. Still, he figured most of the significant sects got along anyway or pretended to do so. So why not own some inns around in towns and villages they didn’t have a sect office?

Magnus led them through the dull town, and into an inn that was small and cozy. Only had a couple of tables and a bar counter in the main room, with a large fire going in the corner. Magnus went up to the counter where a small, mousy man was standing, wiping the counter down.

"Sit. I'll take care of everything," Magnus told the crew and then went towards the bar.

The group sat like Magnus told them to, and William grinned at Silas. "Don't worry, lad, you always look so worried. We'll get some dinner, maybe a drink or two before bed."

Silas tried to smile at William and nod his head while they sat down, but Silas couldn't help but feel anxious about everything. Even though, thanks to this Kenji person's instruction, Silas wasn't as broken as he was before. Silas got a grip on what was happening to him. He didn't quite believe it all or know what to do from here. He felt like he finally had an understanding and knowing what had happened was a good first step.

Magnus took only a short time until he returned and sat with the group, everyone looking at him expectantly. "They're going to bring over some stew and wine for us and give us two rooms since there's so many of us. The owner didn't really like it, but he said he had the rooms open. He was happy to help members of The Divine Body Sect." Magnus looked at Silas and winked a little with a smirk.

"...but they're not, not really, are they?" Silas frowned and mulled it over in his head. Silas wasn't exactly a part of the sect anymore. He just felt removed because of what happened.

"No, friend. You are no longer part of the sect. Get any thought of being one of them while you're with us out of your head." Magnus looked at Silas. Dead in his eyes, showing more emotion than he really had since Silas had met the man.

Kio spoke up now. She was sitting next to Silas and put a hand on his shoulder. "What he means is, since the sects are the ones who don't let everyone know the truth of the world, we are." She paused now and looked over Silas's face.

"Our enemy," Magnus spoke again. He said the words flatly, devoid of emotion. He said it in a matter-of-fact way that didn't really leave room for debate.

Kio frowned a little and pulled Silas's face to look at hers. He looked into those almond eyes of the fairy, and he couldn't help but smile looking at his old friend. "We aren't part of sects anymore, Silas. We are our own thing, and we try to inform the people about the actual way the world works."

"Aren't we going to fight dragons and mana users, though?" Silas asked the table.

"We're going to fight dragons, who are creatures of mana, but they are still dragons." Magnus said. "Dreadful creatures of destruction and those cults who use their abilities are unpleasant."

By now, the stews and cups of wine were delivered, and most of them had eaten. The only two who hadn't were Silas and Kio. With Kio still looking at him, he turned back to look at her. "It's like this. We want the people to know there's more to this world, but the cults twist it to their will and not for the good of the people. The dragons are just dangerous beasts who cause chaos and destruction to fulfill their own selfish desires."

Silas nodded and supposed just like anything else, there were good people and bad people. Finally, he pushed it from his mind and started eating his stew. It was thick and stuck to his ribs, and he was grateful for it after the long day he had of hiking. They all had trekked through the desert and only ate some nuts and berries.

After they all ate, a barmaid came and took away their bowls and refilled their wine. A tasty rice wine which Silas found came from a town not too far from where Kyoto was. Silas remembered the town and knew it was famous for making rice wine. They weren't the nicest about their wines in the town and greedily protected their process and recipes.

The group shared some stories together and laughed while having a few more cups of wine until they decided they should get some sleep. The rooms ended up being Silas and Kio in a smaller room, and Magnus, William, and Maisy shared a larger room with two beds. Kio and Silas looked at each other when they went inside their room and smirked at each other, but Silas finally shrugged.

"It's not like we haven't been close before, right?" Kio looked over at Silas and returned his smirk.

The room wasn't much more than a simple room. It had four walls and a medium-sized bed in it. There was also a tiny armoire so people could hang their clothes. The only other piece of furnishing was a small nightstand next to the bed with a vase and some old, almost dead, flowers.

Silas bobbed his head, taking off his outer robe, and then looked to Kio for her lead. God, it was like they were children again. Kio was his oldest friend, and he was a grown man. She is a mature woman.

He decided he'd just strip down to what he usually slept in his undergarments. They comprised a tight pair of shorts and a tight shirt that hugged his body. He hung his robes and clothing in the armoire before climbing into the bed and covering himself under the crimson blanket.

"You've lost weight, Silas." Kio remarked while she stripped down, her undergarments much the same as his, but her shirt fit a little looser.

Silas frowned, looking up at her, but finally shrugged. "I was out in the woods all winter living like a hermit, and I could not cultivate."

Kio looked down at him and frowned before she finally climbed back into the bed and sighed. "I know, Silas, I'm sorry. I wasn't sure where you wound up after you left the city after seeing your father. If I had known you were so close, I could have helped."

Silas looked at Kio, grinned a little, and shrugged. "Not much you could have done, I don't think. We were stuck up there till the snow melted. It's kind of funny Maisy was out there, too. I couldn't tell she was a sacred artist when I met her. Just thought she was some girl who worked at the inn."

Kio nodded her head, and they lay there. She looked into his eyes with her almond-shaped doe eyes. She smiled, putting a hand on his chest. "It's because of the mana versus the madra. You aren't a sacred artist in the traditional sense. Your power comes from something more than this earth now, Silas. You'll need Maisy to help you so you can navigate what to do and how to do it."

Silas nodded softly. "When I was passed out, I saw Kenji. He's one of the Kami, I guess?"

Kio gasped and pulled back a moment, blinking, "you met him?!"

Silas stopped short and stared into Kio's eyes, "uh, yeah?" He wasn't sure what the big deal was.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Kio explained how Kenji was the most reclusive of the Kami on the mortal plane. People saw him naturally for the tournaments and stuff the Kami held and for whatever other reasons. Kenji never spoke to the mortals, never treated them with anything other than a simple disdain. He was better than them, and he knew it.

Silas listened to her explain why it was a big deal that he had actually spoken to Kenji. Kenji even taught him some things, and he'd nod. "Well, he definitely seemed like he thought he was better than me."

"Yeah, but he trained you. That's… Silas, that's…" She shook her head, unable to finish the sentence. Clearly, she thought it was one of the most amazing things in the world.

"Well, I don't know if he taught me much. He just had me meditate a lot. The Elder taught me more than Kenji did, really." Silas explained this to her while still looking into each other's eyes.

He smirked a little. "Really, he taught me more in one conversation that I learned in the past thirty years, and Kio, something is happening."

"What do you mean?" she pressed him for more information.

Silas kind of paused and looked around the room a moment before returning his gaze to her. "I'm not sure. When he spoke of his siblings, the rest of the Kami, it seemed like there was a lot more going on than just some demon attacking a village randomly."

Before Silas knew it, Kio pushed her head towards him, and their lips met. It took Silas aback for a moment and he wasn’t sure what to do, but eventually, he realized that this felt right. It was like this is how it always should have been.

They had known each other for so long, and everyone said they acted like they were together, but Silas could never think of her like that. Now, though, with their lips locked together, he could not help but think of the fairy in a new way. It didn't take long until he wrapped his arms around her, and she removed his shorts.

______________________

Morning came, and Silas woke with a wave of depression and regret. What had he done? Silas looked at Kio, who was still sleeping, her eyes closed, and she looked in peace, a slight smile on her lips. He closed his eyes and rode the wave of sadness, thinking of Himari. His body trembled slightly, imagining it was her laying in the bed next to him, and they were just somewhere vacationing. It only lasted a moment before Silas felt hands on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Kio looking into his own eyes.

"Silas, no. I know what you're thinking. You did nothing wrong. She's gone, Silas. She would want you to be happy." Kio spoke to him, trying to smile a little while she talked to him, but Silas could see a bit of hurt in her eyes.

"No, Kio, I…" He paused for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts.

Kio shook her head and put a finger to his lips, "no." She then pulled his head into her breast and wrapped her arms around his bald head.

The wave of emotion hit him, and he couldn't control himself. All the feelings he had been trying not to think of for the past months. He thought of them, always, but he didn't quite ever let the realization hit him like they were right now.

He knew they were dead, all of them. Everyone from the village, his friends, his wife, his student, and Himari's family. All of them were dead and gone. He knew it now. Silas broke down. Kio held him like this, saying words Silas knew were supposed to be calming, but he couldn't make them out or comprehend them.

"Oi! Come on, you two, we gotta go!" William’s voice was heard beyond the door, and he was knocking on it loudly.

"We're coming. Meet us downstairs in ten minutes," Kio answered, still holding Silas's head in her chest while he tried to compose himself. She rubbed his back a little, and he finally calmed.

Silas pulled himself away and looked at Kio, his eyes still damp. He nodded his head and pulled away. Kio smiled at him and even reached to give him a soft kiss on his head. He smiled a bit and looked into her eyes. He still saw a little hurt there, but he understood.

You wouldn't expect someone you just slept with to cry for their dead wife the morning after you slept with them? She pulled away from him and stood, moving to the armorer. They dressed in silence and then headed to the restaurant area where they had sat the previous night.

William, Maisy, and Magnus all stood there, watching the staircase expectantly, when they heard people coming down. Magnus and Maisy looked at the two curiously. They could tell something had happened but weren't sure what, and they weren't sure if they should even say anything.

"Good then. Now that you two lay abouts are up, we can get on with this. We need to find a ship heading to the island and get them to allow us on board." William was the only one who didn't seem to notice how Kio and Silas were at the moment. Silas's eyes were still red, and Kio just stayed quiet.

The crew was off then, Magnus taking a moment with the owner back at the bar counter. The owner was helping the morning guests who were having breakfast before they left or some morning tea. Magnus thanked the man and shook his hand, giving a nod to him before they all left.

Since it was early now, the town was much more alive, with people buzzing about. Silas could hear the yelling and movement from the docks as they approached. It was much like any other waterfront town that did serious business and relied on the water.

As they walked, Maisy and Kio stayed toward the back of the group, away from the three males. Silas tried to be respectful and not eavesdrop. Still, when he attempted to, the wind pushed his hearing away. He had thought it was weird, but he didn’t expect to find anything out anyway. They were fellow Sacred Artists, and knew he could probably hear them if he tried.

They all separated once they reached the docks to find passage. Asking the different captains where they were heading and if they could take five Sacred Artists as passengers to Sunhae. Silas had no luck, but he found a ship's captain who showed him an offensive gesture and told him to do something that he was sure was anatomically impossible.

Eventually, the five met back up where they left each other. They did not have any luck besides Maisy, who giggled slightly when they all looked at her, unbelieving. "The captain even said she'd give us free passage since there's five of us. I guess the waters have been bad with pirates lately." She told them and offered a shrug.

"Oh well, maybe we'll get some training then as well." Magnus responded with a grin, nodding in approval. "Lead the way."

So she did. Maisy took them all to the last ship at the docks. It was a small fishing vessel that only hunted some rare fish, considered a delicacy among the rich and influential people on the continent.

"Good, good! You're all here!" A woman was calling from the stern of the ship. She was waiting in the usual clothing sailors wore. The dull salt-washed faded leather coat helped protect the black clothing and her body from the waves. She was a more petite woman but weathered. Dark eyes and bright green eyes looked over the five of them.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll give them trouble if we run into pirates on our way to the island. Welcome aboard the Jade Pearl." She gestured for them to come aboard and stood aside the walkway. It was just a thin wood plank connecting her ship to the dock.

The five of them filed on and realized there wasn't much room on the ship with the regular crew aboard. It was a good thing Sunhae was close, and they should be able to make it there in a day.

"We were just about to make way when the young Maisy stopped us and spoke to me, so if you guys are ready, we'll take off?" The captain looked at them expectantly.

They all nodded and mumbled their agreements, and then she walked away from them towards the giant wheel in the middle of the ship, grabbing hold of it. She instantly shouted orders to her crew, who hastened to obey. They lifted the plank, brought it on board, and began working on different ropes and pulleys, getting ready to lower the sails when they reached the open sea. For now, though, the ship moved under the labor of the crew. A small bench on either side of the vessel was large enough for one man to sit with an oar so they could row.

"Make yourselves as comfortable as you can towards the back of the ship. We'll be on the island with the monks soon enough!" The captain then yelled to the five of them.

Silas and the rest nodded to the captain once he could snap out of watching the crew move around the small ship with such efficiency. Quickly to get them moving away from the docks and traveling down the river that would eventually put them out in the ocean.

They all walked to the back of the ship, an open deck with little on it besides some of the sailors' gear. Backpacks and such. Silas idly wondered where the crew ate and slept if there wasn't a galley or an area down below. He later found out it was because this ship only sailed during the day, and the sailors mostly worked regular working hours. They were home every day to their families and friends.

"Alright, Silas, we should take this time to train." Maisy walked up to him while he was leaning against the back railing, watching the land roll by slowly.

Silas perked his ears at the mention of training and turned toward her with a smile. He bobbed his head eagerly. "Anything you can help me with, Maisy, would be appreciated."

"Take a meditation pose and close your eyes." She instructed him, which he did quickly, without question. At this moment, he was the student. She was the master, and he would listen to his master without question.

"Now, since you have shadow mana, you meditate about darkness. Sounds fun." Silas could hear her grinning the way she spoke in a playful, mocking tone.

"It's really not that much different from traditional cultivation. You're just sensing our unique aura," Maisy told him.

Maisy explained all this to him as he sat there with his eyes closed, and he literally tried to meditate about nothing. Reaching out with his spirit, he felt the surrounding darkness.

The shadows of the ship on the water, the shadows of his comrades who were now sparring and training with each other. He could hear Kio dance and weave around William, her movements landing with precision. Silas knew she had some anger to get out from this morning, and he felt guilty about it.

"Stop." Maisy directed him, and Silas opened his eyes, looking at her. "You're not concentrating on the right things. I don't care about what happened between you and Kio. You need to focus." Maisy even stomped her foot on the deck to reinforce her statement.

Silas looked at her and nodded. He wondered for a moment what Kio told her, but she pointed a finger at him. "No," was all she said. Silas shook his head and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes before exhaling the breath.