by Aaron Oster
“Does our presence here risk waking the Beast?” Roy asked. “And tell me the truth,” he added as Akushu opened his mouth. “I’ll be able to tell if you’re lying.”
Akushu, who’d clearly been about to do just that, flushed in embarrassment.
“No, your presence isn’t enough to wake the Beast. From the scrolls passed down by our ancestors, we know that in order to gain the attention of a Beast of this power, someone of Gray-Belt or above would need to enter the Darklands.”
Roy stared at the man to ensure he wasn’t lying. There was no way he could actually tell if the man was being truthful or not, but Roy was confident he’d scared him enough not to.
“Tell us about the monster who attacked the city,” Roy finally said, leaning back.
Akushu’s brows came down even further, the man seeming genuinely angry for the first time since they’d come down here.
“A dragon,” the man all but spat. “It came through our city wanting nothing more than blood and destruction. It tore through our defenses as though they were nothing, ripping apart the protective scripts around our perimeter and putting us at the mercy of the storms.”
“Did you get a feel for how strong it was?” Aika asked.
If it was anywhere within a Belt or two of his own, it might be possible, and if the Beast had made no attempt at cloaking its presence, even more so.
“More powerful than you,” Akushu said, a hint of his inner anger at how Roy had handled the situation finally bleeding through.
Roy raised an eyebrow and the man paled, bowing his head and sweating profusely. He took the chance to share another look with Aika, one that said they’d need to talk more once they were out of here.
“Which way did the Beast go?” Roy asked after letting the man sweat for a few minutes more.
“Southeast. Deeper into the Darklands, toward the Towering Slopes. We tend to avoid the area, so we don’t know much about it.”
Roy nodded, mulling it over. It seemed it was maintaining its course, which meant that it should be relatively easy to follow. Additionally, with the storm raging outside, it would have had to take shelter, making their chances of catching up once the storm ended pretty high.
“Good to know,” Roy said, staring up at the ceiling and extending his Spirit Sense outside.
The storm still raged, which meant they would be stuck sitting here until it was over. But that was plenty of time to teach the lesson he had in mind. His Ideal was to free those who were oppressed — at least, that was the very bare understanding he had so far.
This man, Akushu, was clearly an oppressor, based on how the people outside looked.
Roy hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was going to enjoy forcing this man to have a sudden and inexplicable change of heart about sharing his food and clothing.
19
The storm raged on for the rest of the day and well into the night. After scaring the clan head half out of his mind, Roy took the time to sit and cycle, weaving the Essence in his Core to Qi and then forging it into more Chakra. He’d yet to form any techniques or even use Chakra in a fight, but that was because he was too busy focusing on the Essence sitting in his Core.
He felt like he was behind, like he needed to find some way of discovering a Full-body and Full-area technique so he could finally learn a Conqueror Essence technique and claim the title of Master. He might be powerful, but compared to other Red-Belts, he was pretty sure he was behind.
His capacity was massive and the amount of power he could generate at once was even more so, but as far as actual technique and experience went, he was still severely lacking. So it was — with Aika keeping an eye on the others — that Roy began visualizing how he could turn his disparate Essence techniques into the more powerful ones.
It should have been easy. He’d already done it with Qi, but no matter how hard he tried, he felt as though he were missing something. He went back and forth, between refining and visualizing, taking break after break to try and temper his mounting frustration.
“What am I doing wrong?” Roy finally asked, desperate enough to turn to Geon, despite knowing how the Core would react.
“Everything, obviously,” Geon replied smugly.
“I meant the fact that I can’t seem to figure out these Essence techniques,” Roy replied, trying to hide his aggravation.
“I know this will sound strange coming from me,” Geon said, “but you’re thinking too much.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re overthinking,” Geon said. “Essence is the most basic of energies in the Martial Arts. You’re thinking in terms of Qi for these techniques. Try retracing your steps to how it felt when you discovered the Essence techniques.”
Roy thought about it, realizing that Geon was, as usual, completely right, not that he would ever admit as much to the Dungeon Core. He retreated deeper into himself, thinking back to how it had felt when he’d discovered the Exploding Fist or his Shockwave.
He remembered how the Essence had reacted to his testing and how many times he’d failed before finally finding the right balance. By the time Aika nudged him to let him know the storm had passed, Roy already felt like he was on the right track. It would take some more time, but he was confident he’d be able to discover the techniques now and set himself a more solid foundation to build off of.
“You ready to go?” Aika asked as his eyes flicked open.
It was dark in the bunker, everyone having gone to sleep to wait out the storm. Roy had a much easier time seeing, his Perfect-Body’s improved eyesight showing him the room in more detail than should have been possible.
“More than ready,” Roy said, standing up and stretching.
They moved quickly to where some of the people had propped the door up, attempting to shove the crumpled piece of metal back into place and only partially succeeding. A quick tug tore it free once more, and without a backward glance, the two of them headed up the stairs and into the outside world.
Utter devastation greeted them upon exiting. The city had been damaged far more than the dragon could have managed in an entire week. Not a single building remained standing, the whirling tornadoes having flattened the area.
Stark moonlight shone through several thin, drifting clouds, the last of the Essence dissipating into the wind as it blew across the devastated city. Even the walls had been destroyed, as the scripts had been designed to keep tornadoes out, not to protect themselves from the inside. A few pieces of rubble lay scattered here and there, but aside from that, nothing else was left of the place.
Roy’s Spirit Sense flared, and after a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief as he sensed the Cores of those hiding underground. Below the city’s surface was littered with hundreds upon hundreds of people who’d made it down. The destruction of the city would be devastating, but they were alive and would recover eventually.
“Come on,” Roy said, turning to the southeast, where they’d been told the dragon had gone. “We need to put an end to this.”
Aika nodded in agreement, and together, they took off back into the woods. Vast swaths of forest had been torn to pieces, the storm transforming the landscape from flat forest to hilly wasteland.
Some trees remained, but they were few and far between, offering little in the way of shelter. Massive trenches had been dug out as well, the dirt piled up in huge mounds. This severely limited visibility, but that didn’t bother either of them. At this point, their senses were put to better use than their eyes, especially when trying to find a creature that flew.
Night turned to day, and with it, the rain returned, falling in heavy drops and starting to fill the trenches, making travel even more difficult. The tornado storm must not have been as widespread as the two of them had thought because signs of destruction began to fade over the following day.
It seemed that the storm had been mostly limited to the area surrounding the city and perhaps some of the nearby villages. Now that they had more tree
cover, it was easier to shelter from the storms, and when they reached the next village and found it already destroyed, they knew it wasn’t a storm that had done it.
“These bodies are still warm,” Aika said, standing up from one of the many corpses littering the village. “We’re not far behind.”
Despite the rain pounding down on them, the smell of smoke was also thick in the air, some of the nearby homes still smoldering, despite the downpour.
“If we keep up our current pace, we might be able to intercept it at the next village,” Roy said, noting the somber tone in her voice. “What will you do when we find him?”
“I don’t know,” Aika admitted, standing to her full height.
It was as honest an answer he was going to get from her. There was a low groan from nearby, and they both whirled, turning to see a woman, burned and bleeding, pulling herself from the wreckage of a home.
In a flash, they were both by her side, Roy removing the heavy planks in her way while Aika helped the woman lay down. Roy looked down at her grimly, noting the grievous injuries covering her frame. It was a gruesome sight, seeing so many wounds on someone, especially knowing how helpless she had likely been against a creature so powerful.
“Thank you,” the woman croaked as Aika offered her a drink from her water skin.
The injured woman drank very little, but when she finished, she seemed to have relaxed a bit.
“What did this to you?” Aika asked in a soft voice.
“A monster,” the woman coughed, blood flecking her lips. “A monster, who was also a man.”
She began coughing harder then, her eyes going wide. Her entire body trembled, and she slumped, her head rolling to the side and eyes glazing over in death.
“A monster who is also a man,” Roy said grimly as Aika closed the woman’s eyes.
Though they’d suspected this monster was Doragon, this was the first confirmation that the creature attacking these villages was anything more than a wild Beast.
Aika let out a long breath as she rose, sodden hair clinging to her face and eyes blazing in anger.
“How many more people will he be allowed to kill before we can stop him?” she asked, her voice choked in rage.
“We won’t let this happen to another village,” Roy said. “Once we get him back—”
“No, Roy!” Aika yelled, whirling on him. “We don’t need to get him back. We need to put him in the ground.”
“And what good will that do for the rest of the world?” Roy asked soothingly. “You heard what my mother said. Doragon is the only one who can help us against the Ancient Beast. So, unless you’ve come up with some way of stopping it on your own, we need him.”
Aika let out an angry scream, then whirled and punched the wall of a nearby house, shattering it to splinters. There was a loud clattering of stone as the rest of the house caved in, the damage too great for it to keep holding together.
Roy placed a hand on her shoulder, but Aika flinched away.
“I understand why we need him,” she said, her voice tight. “But I still think it’s a mistake to rely on a monster like this to be our salvation.”
With that said, she vanished in a flash of white light, running southeast again. Roy waited for a few moments, looking down at the now-dead woman and wondering if this was going to be what finally drove them apart. Aika had stuck with him through thick and thin, but when it came to the man who’d killed her father, they clearly had differing opinions.
Had his mother not explicitly stated that they needed him, he probably would have let her kill him, uncle or not. Hell, he’d probably have helped her, and gladly so. But something his mother said stuck with him.
“He’s lost…”
Doragon wasn’t himself, his personality having fractured. Who knew how many different people lived inside him by now, all with their own personalities, Paths, Ideals, and temperaments? How could they blame Doragon for the actions of another person just because his body had been used to carry them out?
Roy let out a long breath, rubbing at his temples to try and rid himself of the headache that had been threatening to surface all day. It seemed that these were still entirely possible to get, despite his advancement. He had no idea what the next few days would hold, but he sincerely hoped that when they found him, Aika would be able to control her anger.
Despite what Akushu had said, Roy didn’t actually need to beat Doragon. He just needed to get close enough to force the stone down his throat. After that, his original mind should reassert itself and the murderous impulses should die down. Or so he hoped.
Roy took one last look around the destroyed village, memorizing the state of the devastation, before turning to follow after Aika.
The next day was a silent one, the two of them running flat out to try and beat the monster to the next village. They didn’t quite make it in time. However, judging by the screams, roars, and flaring of green power, Roy and Aika could tell that the monster was still here, and this time, it wouldn’t be able to get away before they arrived.
Roy looked nervously in Aika’s direction, hoping she wouldn’t take off in a mad rush and dive headfirst into a fight she couldn’t win. Thankfully, she remained rooted in place, her hands clenched into fists and her jaw set.
Roy placed a careful hand on her shoulder, and she jumped as though having forgotten he was with her.
“Are you sure you’re okay to go into this fight?” he asked, making sure to meet her eyes.
He could see her anger, the rage that had been building ever since she’d discovered that they were going to be sent after Doragon. Roy knew how she felt. He had taken plenty out on the Shah clan after discovering that they were responsible for his mother’s death.
“I’m fine,” Aika said, shrugging off his arm. “I’m thinking clearly. I won’t do anything stupid or reckless.”
Her voice didn’t sound like it belonged to her. It was so cold and devoid of emotion. The usual cheer or smile that he could hear in her words was gone. Roy didn’t like this version of her, and not for the first time, he wished Hermit could be here. He would have known what to do and what to say.
“Please think carefully before you do anything,” Roy said, knowing instantly that it wasn’t the right thing.
Aika took off in a flash of light, streaking toward the burning village. This time, Roy couldn’t afford to wait and give her space. There was a monster in that village, one that Aika most definitely couldn’t take alone, no matter how angry she was.
He didn’t feel particularly good going into this battle, especially seeing as he had yet to learn any Chakra techniques. But he’d been at a disadvantage his entire life, so what was one more impossible battle?
20
Tonde Kaeru’s feet slammed into the ground with such force that a normal person’s legs would have snapped like dry twigs. Thankfully, he wasn’t a normal person, and after a moment of disorientation, the world around him came into focus. There was another flash to his right, and Violet slammed into the ground, landing far less gracefully than he and plowing face-first through a tree.
She let out a groan as she staggered to her feet, though it probably had more to do with the travel than the tree. She was a Red-Belt, after all, not someone who would be so easily hurt by something that simple.
“Where are we?” she groaned, swaying a moment more before steadying herself.
“Judging by that gap in the stone wall, I’d say we’re right where they said we’d land,” Kaeru said, pointing over his shoulder to the clear path leading into the Weeping Darklands.
“Couldn’t they have been a bit gentler with the landing?” she muttered, looking down at her robes, which were covered in splinters.
“In their defense, they are still new at this,” Kaeru replied.
Secretly, he was glad they’d been sent on this mission. After what they’d been through, Violet needed something to keep her occupied, and getting this far from the front lines was a perfect distraction.
“That favor better be worth it,” Violet muttered.
Her foul mood all but disappeared when Kaeru offered her a hand. She took it wordlessly, though her cheeks reddened a bit.
It was strange, Kaeru mused, that he would be so interested in a girl this much younger than him. It was common in the world of Martial Artists for there to be vast age gaps in couples, but this girl was barely an adult, while he was hundreds of years old. It was why he’d been taking things so slowly with her, offering her every opportunity to turn him down. But Violet adamantly refused.
Apparently, she liked him. Enough so that she continued to stick with him, even after what had happened to them.
“This place is practically brimming with Darkness,” she said as the two of them entered the forest.
“Water as well,” Kaeru said, noting the storm already threatening to begin. “The name of this place should have already told us as much,” he continued, flashing her a smile.
The last of Violet’s annoyance seemed to leak away then, as she returned it in kind, her lips quirking up in a shy smile of her own. The two of them continued talking, commenting on the odd landscape, trees, and piles of snow that stuck around, despite the fact that it clearly rained often here.
Their conversation was cut short when they both sensed the approach of a group. There were over a dozen of them, all Martial Artists. Despite that, neither seemed too worried as the men and women launched themselves from the nearby trees, techniques building as they prepared to destroy the couple.
“Should I…?” Violet asked.
“Go ahead,” Kaeru said, crossing his arms.
With a ripple, Violet tore the veil from her Core, her power so immense that the attacking Martial Artists were driven to the ground before they made it even halfway to them. It only made sense. She was a Red-Belt, but not only that, Violet was a Grandmaster as well and had already learned five of the eight Chakra techniques needed. Because of that, her Core shone with more power than any of these people had likely seen in their lives.
