Ayo ran, the sweet burn of essence growing in her chest as she pushed herself further and faster. Air filled her lungs with each inhale and energised her, carrying her ever onward. Behind her, she could hear the chaotic cacophony that was the boys, Mairo and Wole as well as Narai and Luan giving chase. Also in the marathon were Theti and the other kids, who after weeks of begging and promises and outright bribery, had been allowed to begin their training. Right now, their task was aligned with everyone else’s. Hunt down Ayo and take the token around her neck from her.
For Ayo, it was a little bit different. While her primary goal was to keep the token on her neck and away from everyone else, it was not her true focus. She was attempting to complete her mastery of Flowers on the Wind and synergize the movement art with her affinity. Only then could she make it truly her own. Apparently, that was the difference between a good cultivator and a great one. While the System would normally automatically synergize and merge two arts that worked well together, on any other occasion she would have to do it all herself.
And for that she needed understanding. Like all Houses, House Whiterose’s signature arts were based on certain affinities, in this case: Plant and Life, derived from those of the founders and originators of said houses. Unless one was part of that familial line and thus possessed the same affinity or was lucky enough to unlock one that matched their Houses’, they would have to rework that art to better fit them. But to do that one needed to understand the underlying Concept or Concepts behind that art. Verdant Blood Body was still completely beyond her and Eyes of the World worked well enough that she felt fine leaving it at what the System had managed. The one art she was getting close to conceptualising completely though, was Flowers on the Wind.
As she sprinted through the city, the others hot on her heels, she turned her mental eye to her soulspace and the spinning whirlwind of petals that was the construct of the art. At first glance, one might be forgiven for assuming that it was a Wind affinity art and it was how she'd thought of it in the beginning. But now, she suspected its true nature lay in the petals themselves. They were not generating the wind themselves or fighting its motion. Instead, they let it move them. Going with the flow, yet still maintaining their cohesion and identity.
Control of speed through reflection and redirection, Ayo realized. Order derived through apparent chaos. And as she thought about it more, it became obvious that it was a sister to the Moon's Concept of Gravity that she had already worked with before. Its effect on the tides, the light that it gave, none of it was generated on its own and at will. The speed granted by Flowers on the Wind was a side product of its nature as a movement art but it was not the true intent. No, that was evasion through the Concept of Randomness. The question now was how could she do something similar using her own affinity.
A shout came behind, then several loud thumps and Ayo danced away from Luan's grasping hands. Wole followed suit, leaping off of Mairo's shoulders like some great squirrel, but she flowed under and past him, then ran back the other way, charging through the confusion with ease.
She dodged their lunges and leaps with effortless grace, as if their very attempts to catch her pushed her away. As if them spending their energy gave her just enough to slip out of their grasp. Ayo's heart beat faster. That was it! That would be the underlying idea of her synergized art. Speed and redirection through the very movements of others and her environment. Evasion through Reflection.
It was enough.
At once a bolt of light shot from the moon in her soulspace and struck the whirlwind and it exploded, rapidly reforming into six large mirrors, three of which floated around and reflected the bolt of light back at each other continuously. A surge of essence filled up her soulspace as she raced for the finish line with even more speed, laughing as the others fell behind and several System prompts popped up in her face.
[ALERT! Synergy created! Art: Flowers on the Wind has successfully merged with the Affinity: Moon into the new art: Moonlit Mirage!]
[You have been awarded 500 essence for this feat!]
[Art: Moonlit Mirage [Essence Cost: Variable [Class: Active
[Description: An upgraded art. Unique. Infused with the affinity Concept of (Reflection) this art utilises force and redirection to gently nudge the user away from attacks. Upon a successful dodge will create and leave behind a silver afterimage to further confuse the target. Also increases the speed of the user by up to 200%.]
Ayo skidded to a stop, the others panting and collapsing around her and stared at the prompts in disbelief. Moonlit Mirage was perfect.
"Did you guys see that?" she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "I did it! I synergized Flowers on the Wind!"
Her friends groaned, too exhausted to even give her a high-five. But Ayo didn't care. She was on top of the world. The Elders had warned her that remaking an art was far more difficult than just constructing or upgrading one and not to expect success until at least three months of trying.
And she'd done it in three days. Ayo almost cried. For the first time in her life, she was good at something other than weaving.
The others, however, did not seem to share her enthusiasm. Narai in particular, eyed her sourly as she gasped for breath.
"Congratulations Mairo, Wole. You guys have successfully made her as annoying to fight as the two of you."
"I object to that accusation," said Mairo, but he was smiling. "How is it our fault that Ayo came to a similar understanding as us? Some would say the ability to avoid hits entirely is far superior to pure, unadulterated speed you know."
"Well, some would be stupid," grumbled Narai. But her annoyance didn't last long. Theti and the rest of the kids seemed possessed of boundless energy and it wasn’t long before the young adults were run ragged by their demands. Elder Nuru, whose turn it was to supervise, watched it all with deep amusement.
"Ah, the chaotic sounds of the young at play. I must admit I once thought I'd never hear it again," he said, wiping away a faux tear.
"So will you help us?" asked Wole in despair. One of the kids–Ayo suspected Theti–had gotten a hold of a bunch of one of the iron tree’s squishy-looking fruit and the whole thing had exploded all over him the moment he'd confiscated it, leaving his formerly pristine robes dyed a deep blue.
"And why would I do that?" replied Elder Nuru, rainbow eyes dancing with mirth. "How will you teach a future generation if you don't start now?"
Wole sighed and stared mournfully at his clothes. "I'll never wash it off," he complained.
Ayo smiled and shook her head. "For what it's worth, I think it suits you." She reached out and played with one of his curly locks. "It matches your hair."
Wole eyed her for a moment, as if trying to detect a lie, then sighed again and gave her a dopey grin that did odd little things to her chest.
Stop it Ayo. Don't ruin this.
Thankfully, a distraction was quick to present itself in the form of Elder Nuru clapping his hands and drawing all attention to himself.
"Well children, I think it’s time we all took a break for lunch. Let's all return to our homes and—," he began, then paused mid-sentence, his head turning at once in the direction of the horizon. Every other person was instantly on guard, eyes darting everywhere as they sought what had drawn the elder's attention.
Then they heard it. The city's bells, ringing out a specific pattern.
Monster attack.
Elder Nuru immediately took charge. "Right, everyone listen up! Every person is to do their part in this emergency. Luan, you will be responsible for gathering every able-bodied adult in the city and leading them to the outer gates to defend against the attack. Narai, you will go and warn the other Elders if they have not yet heard the bells, then take the children back to their parents. The rest of you will follow me. We must make haste and defend the city limits."
Ayo quickly nodded her agreement before taking off running, the others tightly in tow. Elder Nuru was a blur ahead as they flashed past scenes of people hurrying to bring in their wares and rushing out of their homes clutching weapons. A fast, buzzing thing darted out of a side street but one of the men moved and it fell past them in two, sizzling chunks.
"Secure the city then make for the outer gate," Elder Nuru called back and the men nodded and scattered. They proceeded like that for a few more minutes, occasionally swatting away more of the flying creatures, then rounded a street corner and came face to face with a bloated monstrosity. Blood red, with skin like some grotesque frog, its great fleshy body staggered around on six, massive clawed feet. Twin, tentacled eyes glared at them from above a giant, gaping maw and Ayo felt Eye of the World activate almost instinctively.
[Juvenile Fleshfiend. A creation of House Redwood and a potentially insane cultivator. Highly dangerous.]
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A roar signalled the arrival of two bigger, meaner Fleshfiends behind it and Elder Nuru diverted towards them, using hand signals to tell the three of them to focus on the smaller one.
"Begin," barked the elder and there was no time to think anymore.
Ayo struck first; a leap carrying her into the air as thin tendrils of silver light unfurled from her and lashed out at the beast.
Her threads struck true, shearing through the creature's slimy flesh like a hot knife through butter. The Fleshfiend bellowed in rage and charged at Ayo, but she was already in motion, evading its attack with a swift sidestep. She spun around, her Moonlit Mirage art kicking in as she blurred across the battlefield, leaving afterimages in her wake.
The Fleshfiend snarled and charged her once again, but Mairo was there to meet it, a sudden flash of golden-orange light exploding from one hand. A wave of heat followed that attack, sending the monster reeling, right into a spear thrust from Wole. The Fleshfiend struck again, bringing its massive claws to bear but Wole activated One with the Fog, his modified movement art and they passed harmlessly through his misty, transparent form.
Without hesitation, Mairo sprang into action and fiercely struck the monster with a powerful palm strike. A great, golden-orange copy of that hand flared to life above him as he did so and copied the motion and one of the monster's legs came apart, completely destroyed by the blow.
The Fleshfiend let out an agonizing scream and opened its gaping maw, spewing forth a boiling, blood-red liquid, but Wole artfully spun his spear and plunged it into the ground, conjuring up a cascade of cool blue water that fell upon the fiery liquid like a hammer. Ayo grinned and launched herself over the duelling fluids, swinging down with a bolt of Lunar Fabric, yet her attack missed its mark as a stray movement of the beast's head shifted it just enough to sacrifice another one of its legs instead.
A whisper from Moonlit Mirage had her shifting to the left, dodging a sudden strike from a rapidly emerging flesh tentacle and another one of Mairo's Golden Palms landed on the creature, forcing it back a few paces.
"How are you two doing on essence?" Ayo asked the moment they could catch a breath. One lingering effect of the Usurper's Curse was an inability to cultivate essence past a certain point and she knew that Golden Palm and Ocean's Fury were very essence-hungry arts.
"Decent enough, although we can't give you an exact number with our status screens still glitched out," Wole replied. "We won't be running low anytime soon though. We'll have enough to take down this thing at the very least."
Ayo nodded, wondering not for the first time just what rank the boys were. Her dual casting of Lunar Fabric and Moonlit Mirage had lowered her essence count to just about half and she was supposed to count as one of the more powerful members of what had been the House's previous outer disciples. Just how strong had Mairo and Wole been at their prime?
But there was no time to just sit around and ponder. Their attacks had clearly weakened the Fleshfiend and as they launched themselves back into the fray, Ayo found herself with enough opportunities to observe the other fight.
It put theirs to shame.
Elder Nuru was taking on both Fleshfiends at once, his body aglow with a fierce, rainbow-coloured light. Ahead of him, a whirling, metallic monstrosity danced with the fiends, its bladed arms slicing into the creatures with contemptuous ease, batting aside their squirming tentacles and blocking the flood of boiling liquid with sheets of metal that popped out of nowhere.
Ayo couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and admiration towards the Elder. Was this what it meant to be a cultivation expert? His movements were fluid and his attacks were precise, each strike landing with incredible force. The metallic monstrosity was equally impressive, its arms moving with a speed that made it almost impossible to follow.
But even with the Elder and his monster taking on both Fleshfiends, the battle was far from over. The juvenile Fleshfiend that Ayo and the boys were facing still had some fight left in it, and it wasn't going down without effort.
Ayo launched herself into the air once again, three Lunar Fabrics trailing behind her as she prepared to strike. But the Fleshfiend was ready for her this time, and it leapt into the air to meet her in mid-flight. Its massive jaws opened wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth that glinted in the sunlight as it prepared to swallow her whole.
Ayo gritted her teeth and cast several arts at once; her Moonlit Mirage kicking in to nudge her out of the way of its mouth, leaving behind an afterimage and the Fabrics dissolving back into their constituent threads and rushing forward to ensnare the creature. Both completed with only a second to spare and Ayo landed on her feet, heart beating fast to another Golden Palm smashing the bound monster back to the ground. It roared and opened its own to unleash another blood tide but Wole was quicker and an Ocean's Fury-enhanced spear slash hit the Fleshfiend in the belly, disembowelling it in a thrice. The creature fought desperately, lashing out with its claws and tentacles, but the three of them were too fast and too skilled. They dodged and weaved, striking with lightning speed and incredible power. And finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Fleshfiend let out a final, pitiful wail and collapsed to the ground, dead.
Ayo let out a desperate, gasped-out breath and looked around the battlefield. The other Fleshfiends were down, and Elder Nuru was giving orders to the other cultivators to secure the city and tend to any wounded. Pockets of fighting were still going elsewhere as others fought swarms of the flying creatures, which turned out to be large, strange-looking insects but by all measures, it seemed like the attack was over. Ayo felt a sense of pride and accomplishment overcome her, the knowledge that she had played a part in defending their home and it only grew when the status screen popped up in her face.
[Enemy Defeated!]
[x1 Fleshfiend killed.]
[You have been awarded 1,500 essence for this feat! (Essence penalty applied due to defeat by team effort.)]
Ayo felt a rush of excitement as she absorbed the essence, the energy filling her body and replenishing her depleted reserves. Her mind raced with the possibilities of what she could do with this newfound strength, but she pushed those thoughts aside for now. There was still work to be done.
With a determined look on her face, Ayo joined the other disciples in securing the city and tending to the wounded. It was hard work, but she felt a sense of purpose in it. This was what she had been training for, to gain the power to protect her home and the people she cared about.
Thankfully, most of the city had been untouched by the monster attack and what few buildings that had been affected were starting to slowly repair themselves. Satisfied that they had done what they could, the trio proceeded to the Mousetrap Stop, the unofficial city centre since the inner gates were still no-go areas and discovered a crowd of people shaking their heads and muttering darkly to themselves.
Mairo and Wole exchanged a worried glance as they approached the group, but Ayo was the first to speak up.
"What's going on?" she asked, her voice tight with concern.
One of the crowd turned to her and Ayo's eyes widened as she recognised the woman to be Amha, horror and tears etched onto her face.
"Theti", she whispered. "My baby..."
An icy chill ran through Ayo's body as those words were uttered, and there was a sharp intake of breath as she came closer, seeing for herself what had happened.
Theti and Narai were lying there, unmoving; their bodies covered in numerous wounds and gashes. Ayo's heart froze as she looked at them, fearing the worst until she saw their chests rising ever so slightly with each shallow breath they took. Still alive.
"What happened?" asked Wole as ahead of her Elder Yasmin picked up the corpse of one of the culprits and examined it with great distaste.
"Scarlet Wasp swarm must have overwhelmed them,” she said, her voice cold and hard. "Normally their venom is dangerous only to mortals, but with the low essence in the area and the System still glitched out..."
She did not need to finish. Amha let out a fresh wail of despair at that and held onto her husband who looked upon his daughter's unmoving body with glassy, unseeing eyes. Luan also seemed to be in a similar state of shock, staring at Narai as though he expected her to rise that very moment and laugh the whole thing off. It was painful to watch.
"Come," said Elder Yasmin softly, drawing away Ayo and the boys and leaving the grieving cultivators to be comforted as best they could by the crowd. "We should tend to the other wounded first before we figure out what we can do about them."
"But what can we do?" demanded Wole and he sounded angry. "Is there a cure we can find? An antivenin or–"
"No, there's none for any of House Redwood's creations. You know this," replied the Elder tiredly. "There just was never any time for it."
Ayo could read between the lines. Translation: Since the venom didn't affect cultivators they just hadn't bothered to look for a cure. It was the same old story everywhere. The powerful never bothering to look for the solution to a problem that didn't affect them as well.
"There has to be something we can do," Ayo said, the sight of Theti's still form haunting her. "We can't just sit here and let them die."
"And we will not," came the voice of Elder Oneshi. The bearded man's face seemed to have aged several more decades in the past few hours and Elder Nuru followed close behind, watching the weeping Amha with a pained expression. "I fear the time has come for us to make some hard decisions."
Elder Yasmin made a startled noise. "Oneshi! Surely you don't mean—"
"We don't have a choice. The city must be reactivated if we want to save not just our disciples but survive the coming assault. We all know this attack was merely a probe. It's obvious that the Redwoods have brought along an Icon; their Fiends were summoned here directly and the Tree's aura will not repel cultivators or their arts."
"But who will we send? The inner city is dangerous and we still have no idea what sort of horrors are lurking there."
"Why ask questions to which you've already provided solutions?" replied Elder Nuru quietly and as one the three turned to stare at Ayo and the boys.
"You mean us?" asked Wole in disbelief.
"There are no better choices," said Elder Nuru gruffly but his voice was gentle. "You three have the best chance of succeeding and reaching the city's Core. Luan won't be much use without Narai and the three of you are the only inner disciples left. Ayo, you are Starborn and as a pure Spiderkin might be the only person left on this planet who has the highest potential to interface with the technology of the Ancients. The other Elders and I as well as the other cultivators will stay here, not just to tend to the fallen, but defend the city as well and buy you as much time as we can." Something dark shifted in his eyes but he shook it off and refocused on them. "This is a heavy burden we are placing on your shoulders but I can't think of anyone else I'd willingly give it to. So, will you do it? Will you venture into the inner city, find a way to reactivate it and save us all?"
Mairo nodded at once, planting his fist onto the chest in a salute and Wole was quick to follow, eyes shining with determination. Ayo paused, old insecurities raising their heads, then crushed them all ruthlessly. This wasn't about her, not anymore. Now, she was to take part in something greater. So, she looked up, into the Elder's strange rainbow eyes and spoke a single phrase:
"For the White Rose."
"For the White Rose," he repeated and then there was chaos as everyone scattered to prepare themselves for their various tasks. Under the Elders's instructions, the crowd dissolved into one group hurrying forward with tables and boxes and other odds and ends and beginning construction of makeshift barricades while others busied themselves resharpening weapons and organizing themselves into squads.
Someone must have informed Amha of their plans because she suddenly appeared as they were about to set off and shoved a bag of supplies into their hands.
"You three should make sure to come back safe," she demanded, her voice still husky. "Are you hearing me? I'll not have you sacrificing your lives just to try and save my daughter. She's not worth that."
"Yes she is and we will be safe," said Mairo gently. "We promise."
The woman nodded sharply then folded all three of them into a bone-crushing hug.
"Old gods protect you," she said, then hurried off to join a squad, drawing a thin blade from the sheath on her waist.
The trio exchanged looks and then set off for the inner gates, hearts heavy with fear and determination. Eyes followed them as they went, rumours of the mission spreading and more than one voice called out their well wishes as they passed by.
Let's do this, she thought, casting aside all trepidation and with one final, deep breath, they crossed the invisible line separating the two halves of the city.