[Tian] 1:11 (Patreon)

THE ESH ARE ATTACKING THORNTHISTLE.

Shouts fill the streets as the machines land on rooftops, raising their hands as their tinny voices echo throughout the city.

“CITIZENS OF THORNTHISTLE, DO NOT PANIC. YOUR CITY IS HOUSING INSURRECTIONS WITHIN ITS WALLS. WE SHALL EXTERMINATE THEM, AND YOU MAY PROCEED ON YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES.”

Nindran and Seiled watch on with wide eyes. They are speechless. The Esh are back, and so are the En. The weaker metallic constructs march into the city by the dozens, while a handful of Esh fill the skies, leaving behind trails of flame where they go.

I take a step forward, a grin plastered on my face. “Go get the others, Seiled,” I order the boy.

He blinks, breaking free from his stupor. “Wha— but there’s so many of them!” he protests. I glance back at him once, and he hesitates. “Just… just don’t get hurt, alright?”

“That’s the liberator of Utana you’re talking to,” Nindran scoffs. She grabs Seiled by the shoulder and drags him back towards the den. “Now c’mon! We’ve gotta do our job!”

“I was not talking to you, Nindran.” She pauses as the words leave my mouth. I crane my neck, facing her with a light smile. “Only Seiled will go. You shall follow me.”

“Whaaaaat?” the azure-haired woman lets out a surprised voice. “Oh, you don’t want me, Tian! I’m useless in battle! I’d only drag you down, y’know?” She backs away slowly and tries to hide behind the boy.

“You have the Mark of the Elocunive, do you not?” I cock my head. “At least, that was what you told everyone. I would have assumed someone with a mark would be more than willing to welcome any challenge with vigor, not cowardice.”

She paused. Nindran chewed her lip, sighing. “You’re nasty, Tian,” she finally says and steps forward. “I never thought you’d play such a dirty move.”

I smile. “You must have never seen me fight before.” I nod at Seiled. “Go,” I say, and he does.

Nindran and I approach the En marching down the streets, clearing a path as people flee into  their homes, screaming, crying as their celebration is cut short. A single Esh hovers over this patrol. Its glowing blade is held out to its side while it scans the surroundings for its targets.

“Think you can handle the En?” I ask, turning back to Nindran.

Clusters of Lifeblood are already gathering around her. She pumps a fist, wreathing her arm in flames. “That’s easy mode, Tian, and you know it!”

“Good. I will deal with the Esh.” I raise a hand and fire a beam of light from my fingertip.

Ray of Esh.

The Esh continues its announcement, even as its gaze rests on me. It seems as though it is processing something.

“DO NOT PANIC—”

Unfortunately, it is too slow. I lop its head off with the Feat, before closing my eyes and activating Void Walk. I am swallowed by darkness for a brief moment. I spin and flip through the void, until I come crashing back into the ground. I do not waste any time. I pick myself up and leap onto a tiled roof as blasts and explosions resound from a nearby street.

Hopefully Nindran can handle herself, I think, and focus on the first of the heavy, metallic beings landing before me. I take on a wide stance and cycle my Qi. But I pause as I feel something else in my chest.

There is a second pool. Previously, I only had a single sea of power within my body. It spread out into many rivers— channels that spread through my body. These meridians send Qi to and from my core, thus completing a full cycle when it is finished.

And while it still exists, there is the existence of something else. It is not separate from my core. When I heard I achieved the Feat of Dual Core, I assumed there would be a second… core? However, it seems there is only a different source of energy.

It is not Qi. It feels different— alien. Foreign to my body. But the power is connected to my meridians. It does not flow seamlessly. It is like I am a Bud again, struggling to bring forth my very own Qi. Except it is not my Qi I am trying to bring out. It is my Aspect— the creation of my own kind of Lifeblood. Or an Aura, as it is called.

The Esh does not wait for me to figure out how it works. It charges me, glowing sword bared, slicing at my neck. I duck under the swing, circling around it until we initial places. It turns around as another Esh arrives. I am flanked from both sides. But this is what I am waiting for.

They rush me at the same time. A simple illusion leads them to attacking each other. An arm breaks, and I seize my opportunity. Without expending too much Qi, I slam a fist into the exposed insides of the first Esh. It collapses as I turn to the second.

“You know, you are starting to bore me,” I say as I easily avoid its attacks. I do not strike back, instead, choosing to focus on the Aura inside of me. I prod at it. I try to mold it. It does not move.

There is a crash behind me. Chips of stone are sent scattering around. I whirl around, barely dodging a golden beam of light as it tears through the building. I frown as I raise a palm, preparing to face this third Esh. Just before I can do anything, a fourth, fifth, and sixth Esh arrive.

I am surrounded. I grit my teeth, feeling my hand trail for my novacloth pouch. Ten left… I hesitate. Perhaps I took too many risks here. The first of the Esh moves. I steel myself—

And a yellow blast strikes one of the Esh from behind. It does not leave a gaping hole on the armored body of the Esh. But its defenses do tear open. I spot Seiled standing at a street corner, lowering his lightshooter and waving at me.

He yells something. I cannot hear it, but I am certain it is something along the lines of, “I did my job!”

The Esh spin around to address its new enemy, when wisps of black energy surround the already-injured machine. It covers it like a hand, crushing it, crumpling it, and tossing it aside. Kalmat leaps up and lands where the Esh once stood, his blade drawn, his body still covered in bandages.

He squints as he sees the many Esh on the rooftop with me. He looks like he has questions, however he saves it for later. “How many of them can you handle, Tian?”

“All of them,” I reply honestly. “However, I would rather not waste more Qi than necessary.”

Nodding, Kalmat activates his Feat. “Sword of Esh.” A glow overcomes his blade while his Aura flares up into what is almost a miasma of black liquid. “Then I shall deal with them for you.”

I shake my head. “I did not say I do not wish to join the fight. I would like to test myself.”  Raising a single leg and raising my hand in a taunt, I smirk. “Without Qi.”

“Very well,” he says, and all the Esh charge us.

As much as I would like to have crushed them all without my Qi, I struggle to even take on one. Even engaging the single Esh proves to be difficult. I strike at its joints, hoping to whittle it down until it breaks. Meanwhile, I watch from the corner of my eyes as Kalmat tears the Esh apart with his Aspect.

His Sword of Esh proves to be powerful, too. It is not a one-time use like my Ray of Esh. But it also does not completely rip apart the metallic beings with ease. He shatters their armor with the blade, before focusing his Aspect out into various weapons. His Aura does not move disjointed from him.

It seems like a dance. There is a connection between each of his movements and the rippling of his energy. It acts like an extension of his body, not like Qi which interacts with the environment, manipulating the elements. Nor is it like the Essences that is borrowed from the Heavens.

I narrow my eyes as he flips over an Esh’s ray, concentrating his Aura into a tendril that pushes him off the ground and lets him hover over the attack. That is his Aspect. To create a weapon for him to fight with. A sword.

Kalmat swings his blade as the glow leaves it, but an image of a larger sword made entirely out of his black Aura follows behind it. It crushes the last of the Esh, sweeping them off the roof and onto the streets as nothing more than broken bits and parts.

He finishes off all his opponents before I am even able to defeat one on my own. Granted, I probably can do that if I use my full potential. Unfortunately, I am running low on ginsoul pills.

The man slices off the head of the Esh I am fighting as his Aspect recedes back into his body, becoming nothing more than the dark Aura it is. I cross my arms.

“I do not remember asking for your help.”

“Sorry,” he says, offering me a not-so-apologetic smile. “But I can’t just let you show me up again, after yesterday.”

“Your apology can come in the form of lessons.” I gesture at the dissipating Aura. “Teach me how to do that, and I will forgive you.”

He lifts a eyebrow. “That’s very kind of you,” he chuckles. “I’ll be sure to accept your lenience with the utmost gratitude.”

“Be grateful that I do not demand you kowtow to me, like many elders and masters in my sect would.” I stalk past him, sweeping my gaze across the street. “The En still remain, and while I am sure your Keepers can deal with them just fine, I would prefer if we make haste.” My eyes fix in the direction of the outpost. “Then, we shall investigate.”

***

“Galgom is dead,” I say, looking at the congealed puddle of purple blood. “This is all that is left of him.”

The outpost lies a broken mess. The edifices that once stood tall are now in shambles. Our victory from the day before clear. And Galgom’s corpse remains untouched. I draw back from it, walking past Beihal who is investigating the meat puzzle as if it will unlock some kind of revelation for him.

“It seems my assumption is incorrect.” I stop right before Kalmat.

Seiled is in the background, sifting through the rubble for anything else he can scavenge from the outpost. Nindran did not come with us. She was busy showing-off to the people of Thornthistle— flexing and bragging about how she helped save them.

My lips press into a thin line. “Galgom has not regenerated. He is truly not immortal.”

Kalmat breathes a sigh of relief. Rubbing at his shoulder, he leans against a kwyer tree as his entire body relaxes. “That’s good,” he says, “if Galgom came back from… that, then our fight would be entirely hopeless.”

“Did you not think he was immortal?”

“We were told he was.” Kalmat glances past me at the destroyed outpost. “However, we hoped that he wasn’t.” He takes a deep breath as a small smile slips onto his face. “This just means we have to destroy what’s left of his Esh and his En. With Galgom still dead, it’s a lot easier to convince others to join the Keepers.”

I raise a brow, but do not immediately respond. Instead, I follow his gaze and wait for a moment to pass, before saying, “So, the Esh and the En are acting on their own. Perhaps Galgom had some kind of failsafe. Something that would trigger their actions when he dies.” I pause, letting a single heartbeat pass and continue. “Or the person I killed was not Galgom.”

Kalmat frowns. “Didn’t you say the Elocunive told you that you defeated him?”

“The man I fought is dead, but I was told Galgom was defeated.” Shrugging, I meet Kalmat’s puzzled look. “It may have meant that I defeated Galgom in this battle. Beating his forces may be considered beating him.”

“That’s…”

“All this means is that Galgom has more secrets than you thought,” I say, walking around Kalmat and standing opposed to him. “I told you, did I not? I only have two goals. One is to attain his secret of immortality. If he really is dead, then I have no reason to fight with you. The second is simple: to find a way back to Jhisie.”

“What are you saying, Tian?” Kalmat asks, an uncertain look on his face.

I reply simply, “I will not be fighting the Esh or the En alongside you, Kalmat. Maybe they would be useful for training my Aspects, but otherwise, battling them would only drain me of my Qi. Even right now, I am on the brink of consuming another ginsoul pill when I have ten left. I fought in Thornthistle today because I thought Galgom would be there. I was wrong.” His eyes grow wide as I finish. “If your city is ever attacked in the future, I will not aid you beyond what I can do without my Qi, Kalmat. That is what I am saying.”

Author's Note:

Check out the comic I commissioned between my fics here.