Soul of Blades - Chapter 66: Mortality (Patreon)

The vortex had devoured everything. A profound silence fell, only punctuated by the gentle rustling of torn foliage against the wind. Nothing but carnage remained - the skeletal outlines of trees stripped of leaves, a circular tear in the forest itself. A place that once teemed with life was devoid of all energies, drained by the terrifying phenomenon.

Within the center of this void, a faint surge of energy began to flicker into existence. It pulsed rhythmically, in tandem with the heartbeats of an unseen force, steadily gaining momentum. The energy grew brighter and larger, materialising into a concentration of Qi, pulsating with a life of its own.

Slowly, but steadily, the Qi began to take the shape of a human body. It started as a strangely dark and dense skeleton, the bones outlined in luminescence. Then muscles and nerves took shape, layered over the bones, fleshing out the human form. Skin followed, smooth and clear, the Qi reflecting off its surface, creating a halo-like effect. Last to form was hair, strands growing individually, falling into place like a piece of a meticulously crafted puzzle. Within moments, where once a void existed, a fully grown, muscular human body lay in the centre of the devastated clearing. A body made of myriad forms of Qi, Mana, and materials settled, lying prone in the centre of the ravaged clearing.

And in the centre of the destroyed clearing, Alex opened his eyes, his vision blurry, and his mind clouded. The feeling of being dead had become all too familiar, but this was different. He had felt himself being torn apart, every atom of his being scattered across some unknown vortex. Death should have been inevitable. Yet, How was he alive, let alone breathing?

Slowly, his vision adjusted, taking in the devastation around him. His eyes fell on the strange circular treasure that Jun Li, the arrogant cultivator, had attempted to use, partially buried in the rubble. A dark glint caught his eye from a distance – Eclipse, his trusty sword lodged in a tree some distance away, a stark reminder of the violent confrontation. His sword looked different, somehow.

A sharp pang of anxiety coursed through him as he realised Mei was nowhere in sight. Did she survive? He held onto hope, praying that she had somehow escaped the destruction. And Jun Li? Alex glanced around anxiously, once again praying he was the only one to survive. There was no sign of Jun Li to be seen. The cultivator had surely died. Alex embraced the surge of satisfaction at the thought of the cultivator meeting his end.

It seemed their ‘superiority’ was relative.

Struggling to his feet, he felt strangely light. A strange sensation ran through him as the breeze graced his skin.. He was naked. Panic set in as his hands shot to his neck, his fingers feeling the cold absence of his necklace. His ears, smooth. His skin, bare without his talisman. His equipment was gone, destroyed in the vortex, their power vanished with them.

Confused, he stretched experimentally, expecting the harsh world to crush him. Expecting pain, expecting resistance. But there was none. He looked at his body, unharmed and pulsating with myriad energies. It made no sense. In such a high-grade world, he should be dying, overwhelmed by the environment. Instead, he stood tall, every muscle in his body responding effortlessly to his commands.

With the help of his passive skill, inner focus, he noticed the vibrant energies seeping into the center of the destruction, and a concentration of energy deep in his navel that he barely noticed, until he really focused. It wasn't mana, it mimicked the strange rush of energies filling the clearing. It was identical to the energy Jun Li had in his navel, that strange white furnace of cultivation. Was this his doing? Was this Qi… his? Mei had said it was impossible for system users to utilise the energy, so how did he have Qi? What would happen if he tried to use it? Would it clash with his mana and kill him? Would the Qi itself strike him down?

As questions swarmed his mind, he sought the familiar voice of the system. His lips moved, the single word uttered just a whisper in the desolate forest, but enough to trigger the all seeing system,

"Status."