Scarlet Moon
We spent the next few days clearing rifts and hunting beasts. Sadly, the number of beasts in the halo was nothing like that in the trial, nor were they as highly Invested. Which meant that my advancement stalled again, I got only one carving. Though that pushed me to Ninth Carving, which put me on the precipice of Third Investment.
I was, obviously, ecstatic about that. I hoped that I would get another skill, though since I already got two, I might not get another.
I still felt weird, as if my body was one size too small for me. I didn’t know how exactly to describe the sensation, but it got worse every time I drank blood. When I say worse, I don’t mean that it was bad. It was just… strange. It subsided quickly though each time after I feed, so I assumed that it had something to do with my Mask approaching the next tier so fast. I knew from Shadow that such advancement was rare on Kirios. The only way we here could do it was because the Grand Spell accelerated our growth.
“Hey, it’s time,” Jiyun said as she came over.
I glanced at her and stood from my watch post. “Good, I need to take a look around my soul space for a little bit.”
Jiyun relieved me of the watch, but as I was about to walk away, I saw the expression on her face.
“What is it?” I asked.
She hesitated, then seemed to make a decision and her expression turned determined. “How do you have any hope left?”
I blinked, surprised by her question. “What do you mean?”
“Hope about the future, that we’ll be able to survive, that we’ll be able to find each other outside of this trial, that we’ll manage to hold against the other factions. It all seems so hopeless. Out of here, we are surrounded by rifts and monsters, by survivors that all just want to look after themselves. We can barely survive that, yet you want us to stand against an invasion in barely a few months. I know that you went to Ish Vimza, so you didn’t see them not really. I’ve seen the Oni-yi, they are warmongering brutes the size of giants and with the strength of an Adult Vampire. All they want is to fight, their clans constantly war against one another. The only time they don’t is when there is a new Expansion Interval, when new land is added to Kirios. They will gather all the clans and cross the oceans in a crusade, to make new clans and take land.”
“You underestimate what we can do. We weren’t some primitive people dropped into the depths. The Source might’ve messed with our technology, but we’ll recover it quickly, it is what we do. We’ll figure out new ways of making things work. It is they that don’t understand, they’ve never met anyone like us before.”
“You really think so?” Jiyun asked.
“I do,” I nodded. “I don’t think that even Shadow understood all that I explained to him. He’d given me many warnings, told me what to expect, but I could tell that he too was looking down on us. It is understandable, Masks are the only thing that matters to them, and we’ll be limited there. Perhaps if we’re lucky we’ll take advantage of the time the Grand Spell gives us and get a few people over the Fourth Investment tier, but if that is all that we’ll have then what you fear would be true.”
I looked away from her eyes and up at the sky, at the names and lists displayed there.
“But we aren’t just that, we are vampires, and shifters, and humans. And I… I won’t let what happened to other Harpiem happen to us.”
Jiyun didn’t comment right away. When she did, her voice was low. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
“What? You think that I’m arrogant to think like that?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I wish that I had that conviction. And if I’m being honest, I believe it of you. You are the first vampire that I’ve met, but… I somehow doubt that others are like you. I… I know that you’re not telling us things, I mean, it’s obvious,” she smiled at me, and I tried not to wince.
“But,” she continued. “I trust you. And I know that you’ll do what you say you will. I wish that I could be like you. Would—would you ever consider making me like you? Turning me?”
I froze, my brain shutting down completely. I hadn’t expected that question from her. My first instinct was to refuse her, and I opened my mouth to do that, but then I paused. “I… I’ve never done it.” I admitted to her.
She blinked. “I thought that the process was straightforward.”
It was; I had my blood drained while being fed my sire’s. It was a lengthy process, something that I didn’t quite remember. The issue was what happened after. Fledgling phase was lengthy, and dangerous.
“It’s dangerous. Few vampires survive the transition, the fledglings lose themselves in the blood thirst, they require constant attention. And a high percentage of them just never get enough control to be able to function normally. They are put down.”
“Oh,” Jiyun said.
Now that she’d asked, I started thinking about it. Turning people would be a way that we might be able to get more power to defend ourselves. Though, it would also pose a danger, if the new fledglings turned feral.
I glanced at Jiyun. “I’m not completely opposed.”
“You’re not?” Jiyun looked taken aback.
“No, there are just… factors that I am not sure of. I… can you keep a secret?” I asked.
Trust wasn’t easy for me, but… Jiyun had stood by my side, fought and bled with me. I considered us friends, more than that even if we’ve known each other for a short time only.
“Of course, Marianna,” Jiyun answered.
“There is a reason why my vampirism progressed so fast, I… It has to do with who my sire is. Most people think that vampires grow with age, and they do. But diet matters too, and one more thing. Their generation. How far away they are from the originator of our race. And I… my sire was the firstborn son of one of the original vampires. That’s why I’m as strong as I am, why I grew so fast. Blood does more for me. I think that Investment in the blood contributed significantly, but I can’t know for sure. All the vampires alive today are separated from the original by hundreds of generations, that’s why it takes them so long to grow.”
“Wow,” Jiyun just said, clearly shocked.
“I wish that I could tell everyone,” I shook my head. “But Khalil… His people have been opposed to mine for a long time. I don’t think that they know the real reasons behind how vampires grow. I wish that the world ending could make us more united, but I just don’t know. It’s one of the reasons why I want to go to Constantinople, to see for myself.”
“I understand, I’ll keep it a secret.”
“So, I am not opposed, but I would need time to speak with my sire again. According to him, fledgling made by us would have a harder time of it. More of them turned feral. It would be a great risk.”
I met her eyes. “What made you ask?”
Jiyun shrugged. “I’m falling behind.”
I pulled back. “What? You’re in your Second Investment.”
“Daehyun is catching up to me. My Mask… it is harder to advance, and I feel like I’ve been stalling in my craft.”
“It’s barely been a month in here, you can’t judge your progress like that. You gain most Investment through introspection through mastery of the blade, you didn’t have the time to do it here.”
She nodded, but I could tell that she wasn’t quite convinced. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me.
“I know that you want to protect your ancestral home, so if you don’t want to search and meet up with the rest of us, that’s fine. Dig in, survive, I’ll find you. And then we’ll see about making you a vampire, if I can be sure to do it safely.”
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She gave me a shaky smile and stepped away. “I will, I promise.”
Ornament of the Revelator (Weave, Esoteric) — No Investment; Tenth Carving > Ornament of the Revelator of Secrets — First Investment; No Carving
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Once I finished the conversation with Jiyun, I retreated back to camp. I didn’t need much rest, so I entered my soul space. I’ve only had the time to go in and take a few new skills from the beasts I drank from in the trial. None of them were anything of note, mostly lesser mundane skills that I probably wouldn’t ever use. And more than half of the beasts were missing, meaning that I already had skills that they would’ve given me, or they didn’t have any skills at all. Some were fairly low Investment, so that was possible.
Only two of the Suul granted me skills, the [Lesser Stomp] and the [Lesser Strike]. The lesser skills were all underwhelming for the most part. When used they gave a slightly increased power to an act, but in general the best use for them that I’ve discovered was to rapidly change one’s flow. Depending on how and when a skill was used, it could completely shift my momentum, redirecting me in ways that I couldn’t ordinarily move.
The kings had given me better skills. The Shadow Ferrorn had given me the [Shadow Spike] skill which let me manifest a spike out of a shadow. It wasn’t particularly tough, probably because my Weave attribute was so low, but it could be a good distraction. The Dragon Tortoise, sadly, hadn’t given me its dragon breath, instead I got [Stone Skin], which as it implied turned my skin to stone for a few seconds.
It was a good skill, it just made it harder for me to move, so I didn’t like using it that much.
I haven’t entered the room with the Ungoir Emperor. It was a Fourth Investment beast, and powerful. I defeated it before with Aurora and Jiyun’s help, which was significant as I’ve come to realize. Both of the kings had been tougher fights in my souls space than they had been outside of it.
I was strong enough to kill them, but I still didn’t want to risk it, it was why I haven’t yet gone after other of the more powerful beasts or Guo Zhang in my Hallway of Doors. The shifter had been a strong opponent, and again Aurora had interfered and saved me.
Another worry I had was just how he was going to act as a copy in my soul space. The real person had underutilized his skills, probably because they were a foreign concept to him. He had learned to rely on his own power. He hadn’t even manifested his Mask. The copy on the other hand was made by the Grand Spell, and it would fight like the real thing, at least it was supposed to. I worried that it would utilize its skill a lot more. So, I left him for later, once I was stronger.
For now, I finally had the time to attempt Shadow’s test again. I walked up to his plateau to find him in his usual spot. He stirred at my arrival, and turned around.
“You are different.”
I tilted my head. “In what way?”
“You are close to the Third Investment, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good, you don’t have much time. Passing the Fourth Investment barrier is the least that you must do in order to stand a chance when the portals open.”
“You’ve mentioned that before, about the Fourth Investment being special.”
Shadow nodded. “Most people take their entire lives to reach the Fourth Investment, it is the culmination of all their efforts. It is a leap forward, a greater change. It is the point where Mask and person become more intricately linked, you become the embodiment of your Mask.”
“Well, I plan on reaching that point soon,” I said. “Now, I have a test to pass.”
Shadow grinned. “Go for it.”
I walked up the steps and to the first arena. The mist welcomed me once more, and I stepped into it.
I took a few deep breaths and then started the dance. The movements came to me easily, I’ve practiced them a lot, not in here but by using my [A Lesson Remembered] skill to relive the first time I learned them.
I could feel the mist on my skin, feel it in the air around me. I was… it was more intense now than it was before. I could smell it, I could feel the changes around me with every movement I made, as I displaced the mist or caused currents to send it into a spin.
I’ve noticed that my senses had been slightly elevated ever since I drank Zhang’s blood. The sensation of tightness inside was constantly present, it was only greater when I drank more blood. I realized that I should’ve asked Shadow if that was because of me being close to the Third Investment.
I finished the dance, and nothing happened, again. I dropped my head, the mist settled, the energy my movements created dissipated, and it stilled once more.
This wasn’t working. I was somehow supposed to resonate with the world, to make the mist move by my will alone. That was ludicrous. I had no skill that could do that.
I paused, then switched my profiles.
[Mist Step]
I stepped forward, my body turned to mist and flowed through the lake already present. For a split moment, I became mist, my momentum carried me forward and pulled the mist around me along.
I reformed and felt the lake of the mist still again. Somehow, I felt closer to the mist. Not in any magical way, except that I understood it more, somehow. It wasn’t a logical thing, more instinctual.
I started the dance again, following the movements I learned. Now, I could put my finger on what I’d been feeling since the beginning. The movements were somehow wrong. They didn’t fit, something was missing.
I finished the set and paused again, thinking.
The only way that I would be able to pass this test was if I moved the mist out of the arena and through the gaps in the walls. The only way to achieve this, that I knew of, was via a skill, or magic.
I sat down with my legs crossed and used my skill [A Lesson Remembered] to look back on Shadow’s instructions back on Ish Vimza.
Esoteric is … you could call it the perfection in all things. A farmer after a lifetime of work, every action done with purpose and understanding. Imagine a blade master that had spent his entire life trying to master a cut. The moment he achieved it, he would gain a waybound skill that would tap into that perfection.” He raised his hand then dropped it fast toward the ground.
[Azure Moon Style; Ruthless Palm]
The skill echoed in my mind. I felt it impact the world around me. And just how he said, there was a perfection there. His palm stopped just shy of hitting the ground, but a ripple of air surged around it, blasting the dirt and dust away in a perfect expanding circle.
“There is greatness in the perfectly executed actions that resonates with the world around us, beyond just bending the Source to your will.”
I came out of the memory. What I felt there, that skill, I didn’t realize it then, but it didn’t feel anything like the other skills I’ve felt before or since then.
When he used that skill, it didn’t feel like he was triggering something and having the Grand Spell help him channel power. It was… it was just a movement, a perfectly executed action. It echoed with the world around us, it drew on the power that was at the core of everything, the Way.
That got me thinking more about the nature of this test. It was intended for the Tengu-gi, and it was old, a remnant from the time before the Grand Spell collected their world. It was a remnant from a time before Masks.
The Tengu-gi didn’t have spells, they didn’t have magic in the way the Ancient Ones—the Vim of Kirios—did before Valair Ankah made the Grand Spell. No, they were a people in touch with the world around them, they had no skills to move the mist.
The skill that Shadow showed me wasn’t something that he had gained from his Mask, from the Grand Spell. In fact, the Grand Spell is just a medium to allow for growth of personal magical ability, a system to allow advancement regardless of talent, a framework for easier channeling of power.
It wasn’t needed, magic existed anyway. Shadow’s movement was acknowledged by the Grand Spell, but it wasn’t tied to it.
He had called it a waybound skill. An action that resonated with the Way in such a way to create an effect. A perfectly executed action that held power.
Shadow had told me that his Mask had changed after he completed these tests, that it had gained the name Mistweaver of the Old Ways.
For a moment, I thought that perhaps this test was impossible to accomplish here in this place, everything here was fake. Yet, I had to trust that the Grand Spell knew what it was doing. I pushed that thought away and focused.
I returned back to the center, settling in the first position. The different positions were shown for a reason, but something was wrong. So far, I’ve been trying to make the most efficient and direct movements in between the two positions.
Now, I focused inward, I drew on my emotions and on my school of being. On my oaths, and the techniques I was taught, that I adapted into something that was mine alone. Scarlet Moon Style was rooted in survival, in fervor and fury. It channeled my emotions into a wild movement set, one that was not based in control but in relentless aggression. There was no defense in Scarlet Moon Style, there was only advancing, only going forward.
I moved through the mist, not in calm, direct, and efficient movements as before, but in wild uncontrolled dance that resembled a battle with the world itself. I filled in the gaps in between the positions with the move set of my own.
I danced, and the mist whirled around me. My mind was filled with the thrum of blood crawling through my body. Anger at the world rose, things that I’ve tried to ignore, so many injustices done to me. So many things that were unfair. My inability to say my piece, to yell and rage and just let my emotions out.
I killed so many things, people and beasts alike, since I returned from Ish Vimza. I had more power than I ever had. My Mask advanced, and my nature grew. I learned the secrets of this new world, I learned the secrets of my old one, about my sire, my bloodline.
And still I felt powerless to convince people to follow me, to fight. Even those that were by my side were uncertain, I could see it in them.
I realized that this was never about saving the world for me. About ensuring that we as the children of the Earth retain something of what was ours. It wasn’t even about our survival. I was robbed of everything that my life should’ve been. I was sold, I had no childhood, no mother’s love. I had nothing. All that was inside me was a holy wrath, my everything, my whole world, my pain, my sins.
It was all about me. I wanted more, I wanted everything that I never had and more. I wanted to look my old Master in the eye and smile down on him as I pulled his spine out through his throat. I wanted to bathe in a river of blood and have everyone fear me and love me in same measure.
I wanted the things that I was never destined to have.
Now, I had the power, and I was going to take it all.
I reached the final position, and I poured everything I had inside of me out into the world as I came to a stop, opening my body and throwing my hands wide.
All my emotion, thoughts, desires, and intent flowed out of me.
The world around me trembled, a pressure built.
[Scarlet Moon Style; Dance of the Shifting Mist]
The mist moved.