To Fling a Light

by Wong Yoong Le

  I smiled at Hao Wei’s quip and got up. “I’ll go wash up first; tell me who wins later.”

  I left the room, leaving the commotion of battle behind me. The fray had gotten more cluttered, with Hao Wei and even the elderly Miles joining in. At this rate, lunch wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

  I splashed some water on my face and left the little hut. There was a sheltered glade there, and I sat down on the wooden bench tucked comfortably inside. The tall walls surrounding the mansion didn’t block out the wind, and I idly watched the flowers dance as the gentle breeze caressed my skin. The sunlight streamed down, and I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I yawned and closed my eyes.

  “I see that Mr. Newton likes his afternoon naps as well.”

  “Hmm?” I stirred, opening my eyes as Aurora came into view. “Uh, hello there.”

  She giggled at my dull response. Way to go, me. I straightened my back, and my bones protested with some audible pops. Stifling a yawn, I ran a hand through my hair to tidy it. “May I help you, miss?”

  “I’m fine for now, but you’re occupying my favorite napping spot.”

  “Sorry.” I moved to get up, but she held me down. I relaxed and thanked her. “So, young miss, when did you become aware of the supernatural?”

  “Couple of years ago. Seven or eight… I think.” She tilted her head, trying to recall. “It’s no good, I can’t remember.”

  I shook my head. “It’s alright, there’s no point in pushing yourself.” I stifled another yawn, putting in more effort. The afternoon sun, a cool breeze, and a full tummy was really getting to me. With a bit more effort, I turned and looked at her properly. “How old are you? We might be able to remember with some luck.”

  “I’m eighteen years old.”

  “That’s nice, you’re at the legal drinking age… wait, forget I said that. Your father might kill me. Still, encountering the supernatural at this age… isn’t that quite problematic?” I looked up at the sky, where a few clouds were hanging around idly.

  “Large families do it earlier still, but I can see where you’re going.” She nodded thoughtfully, sunlight sparkling off her silvery hair. “But there are many ways one can come into contact with the supernatural without being overly traumatized.”

  “I guess so.” I yawned, making no effort to stifle it this time round. My eyes roamed over to the hut where sounds of metal knocking against metal rang out. “Before you left the dining room, how many pieces of meat were still left?”

  “Quite a few, I think. Why?”

  “No reason, really. I’m just going to sleep for now; wake me up if something happens.” I leaned back on the bench, and closed my eyes, relishing the warm afternoon wind.

  Chapter 11

  The sky had taken on a crimson-orange shade. By the time I woke up, it was relatively cloudless, and I squinted as the light of the setting sun assaulted my eyes. I was still drowsy, but it was around the time that I should start work. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and entered the little hut.

  The interior of the hut was illuminated, and it now gave off a cheery and homely feel. Frankly speaking, it was quite the drastic change from the original atmosphere, but I chalked that down to the presence of having five people occupying the space. I directed my feet to the dining room, where everyone would most likely be.

  “How was your nap, Mr. Newton?”

  “Quite fine, thanks.”

  Mr. Meng nodded. “You should get used to this for the coming few days. We’ll be resting during the day and keeping watch at night in shifts.” He pointed to the table, where some pieces of paper were lying around.

  “We’ll all stay awake until ten. I’ll treat you and your friend as a single unit, so we’ll do four shifts of two hours in total. Naturally, if something happens, do not hesitate to wake everyone else up.” He smiled and stretched, some bones creaking in the process.

  “Where’s everyone else?”

  “Miles is setting up some defenses, while Crow’s scouting out the estate to check for any vulnerable locations. As for your friend, he’s reading some books.”

  “Got it, thanks. I’ll go set up some defenses too.” It made the most sense to set up the ward in the hut, at the dining room where everyone would naturally congregate. I gathered up my will and stretched my hands outwards.

  “Ward. Reinforce. Sanctuary.”

  A brilliant circle of light erupted from me, expanding rapidly. By the time it stopped, it was roughly fifty metres in radius, which was slightly too big. A silvery flame, enclosed in a crystal, appeared in the dining room, revolving smoothly and peacefully; and I nodded in satisfaction. The barrier had no issues, so it would intercept and block incoming attacks and unauthorized personnel.

  Miles’s defenses would probably work the same way, but on a smaller scale. Mr. Meng looked around, before closing his eyes. Presumably, he was assessing my defensive measures. It didn’t take him too long for him to reach his judgement.

  “Isn’t it a bit too big?” Mr. Meng looked out of the window, where the barrier had extended to include even the thorny and leafy maze we went through earlier.

  I shrugged. “Can’t be helped. I never really got the knack of keeping things small.”

  “Is that so? Well, go big or go home I suppose.”

  He nodded, and I left the room. I decided to look for Miles and found him squatting in front of some random brush, muttering something to himself. He had a marker in hand and was prodding at the foliage in front of him occasionally.

  “What’re you doing?” I joined him and squatted down, examining the marks with interest.

  Miles jumped and turned about face.

  “Oh, it’s you. I felt what you did just now, that’s an excellent barrier. It’s kinda big though.” He nodded thoughtfully and turned back to the brush.

  I got closer, and saw a circle, and a pentacle enclosed within.

  “It’s a sensor of sorts. I’ll be able to tell if something extraneous is nearby. I’ve fixed up two more in different directions, so we can triangulate any ping.”

  I looked at him, somewhat perturbed. “Are you sure you’re a centenarian? Some of the words you use are a bit too modern. Half the old men I’ve seen don’t know them…”

  He smirked. “I’ve the right to indulge in modern media as much as the rest of you here. The past twenty years have been far more interesting than the previous ninety combined; and they include two World Wars. A shame I forgot to bring my gaming consoles along for this job though.”

  He stood up, dusting off his robe. He had probably changed into it while I was asleep, and probably because it had defensive functions on it. It was said that every piece of apparel an official wizard of the Conclave had was enchanted to be bulletproof at the minimum; but I couldn’t exactly test it out now.

  “Can that robe of yours stop a bullet?” My eyes turned towards the piece of black cloth. It didn’t look all that impressive, but there was a certain cool factor to it. The robe billowed majestically and gave the impression that its wearer was standing on a windy cliff, holding up a steel sword as he commanded an army.

  “It can, but the impact will still get through, and my old bones would probably break from it,” Miles replied. He tugged at his robe lightly. “Anyway, I think Mr. Meng’s setting up a barbeque stand. We’ll probably be having barbeque for the next few nights.”

  “Barbeque?” I echoed.

  “Yep.”

  I scratched my head, before turning around to leave silently. Having a barbeque at this time wasn’t exactly the best thing to do, but I guess he had his reasons. I found him near the front door, setting up a grill and fire. He must have noticed me coming, as he waved to me from afar while preparing the charcoal.

  “It’s to keep morale up; or so my daughter says.” He broke the silence as I approached, somehow managing to answer the question I had in mind. Was I that easy to read?

  “Seems like you read my mind.” I picked up some lighter fluid and poured it onto the brickets. B
oth of us moved around busily, and it didn’t take long before a cheerful flame was brought to life. A fragrant smell, tinged with the slight odor of burned food, wafted into the air and all around us.

  “Is it really such a good idea to be so relaxed during this job?” I speared a morsel of meat, bringing it up to my mouth.

  “Given the physical defenses of this mansion; only denizens of the Far Shore: the Outsiders, would be able to pose a realistic threat. As for Earth-bound supernatural beings… Intelligence did list a few, but I doubt many will come.” Mr. Meng eyed a sausage as the oil on it hissed, before turning that critical eye to look at the sky above us.

  I found myself agreeing with him. Beings of the Far Shore were hostile to everything, including malicious supernatural monsters. Even if they seemed nice and polite, it would be nothing but a farce. History had proven that time and time again, to the point that only the deranged or clueless would interact with them. According to my mentor, the shadow of the Outsiders loomed over the most destructive human conflicts… and they were probably side projects to boot. Serbia’s Black Hand: later the Unification or Death organisation, was apparently under an Outsider’s influence, to quote an example that Igor gave.

  Nonetheless, destroying their ectoplasmic forms was the best that we could do, and it was a universally accepted convention to banish them on sight. As for them physically crossing over… the moment daybreak arrived, they’d just die outright. Apparently, it was the handiwork of the Dawn Protector which caused their weakness to sunlight. With all these factors in play, it wasn’t so hard to see why he was relaxed.

  I bit down on a particularly succulent piece of crab stick, relishing the juices that spurted out. “Seeing as you’re that confident in setting up a barbeque for the next few days, you’re only expecting an attack from the next week onwards, right?”

  “A full-fledged attack,” he corrected me. “We might see a few lackeys here or there, but they’d be mindless automatons. I’m very confident in that regard.”

  “You’re being overconfident. How can you be so sure?”

  “Because,” Miles cut in from behind me, “there was a joint effort between the Conclave and the Alliance to seal all entrances and exits from the Far Shore. As a result, nearly every active wizard and cultivator has been put out of commission. In return though, we’ll probably not see any of those buggers for this week, at least. As to why this week of all things? It’s a coincidence, I guess.”

  He walked over to the grill, picking up a chicken wing. “It’s a bit unhealthy, but it won’t hurt to indulge once in a while.” He bit down on it, and I could hear the meat squeaking in protest. Wasn’t he a bit too old to be eating so heartily? I had some preconceived notions of the elderly, but he was apparently proving me wrong on every single one of them.

  “For this week at least, it’ll be like a holiday,” Miles said, his words somewhat muffled as he chewed vigorously. “We’ll take this time to work out some chinks in our protection plan.”

  I nodded. Just then, the door opened, and I saw a rather tired Hao Wei walk in. He must have spent quite some time reading; although I didn’t know which books he read while I was asleep. He seemed rather out of it. Picking up some satay, I walked up to him and handed it over.

  “Thanks.”

  We spent the next few minutes watching the grill in silence, the silence occasionally broken by a grunt or swallow.

  “Miles,” said Hao Wei. “You said that there’s a seal on the Far Shore, right? But isn’t our world typically out of reach from Outsiders? I remember reading that traversing the planal gap between our world and the Far Shore was not easy.”

  “Put it that way, yes.” Miles nodded and shot an approving look towards Hao Wei. “But apparently there’s intel that a regiment’s worth of Outsiders is about to force their way into our world; so the Powers-That-Be decided to activate the seal; which a magi laid down a few hundred years ago.”

  “Magi?”

  Miles laughed loudly, and said, “Your knowledge is really half-baked, huh? Listen, us wizards used to be ranked. First came wizards, who could only draw from mana present in their body. To be called a sorcerer, you had to engrave a Magic Crest on your body, which if completed; increased your natural mana reserve and regeneration by an order of magnitude.”

  Miles picked up a stray sausage and bit down on it. “Finally, magi are sorcerers who succeed in expanding their Magic Crest to include their surroundings. It’s a logical progression that allows magi to become akin to walking nuclear reactors of mana.”

  Hao Wei nodded eagerly. “After that? What’s next?”

  Miles snorted. “We have no idea what the strongest users of magic were like before the First Collapse. No names, nothing. The Inquisition’s ravages reached the ancient records, so magic regressed to square one after the twelfth century. At least the Chinese had the sense to note down what the realm after Core Formation was called.”

  “Sorry, did someone say something?” Mr. Meng interjected. There was a stick of satay in his left hand, and his voice was somewhat stifled. He didn’t look that imposing like this; but neither would anyone else. “Heard something about cultivation realms.”

  “Just recounting past glories to a newbie here.” Miles sniffed. “Also, it’s rude to speak with your mouth full. How about you go teach the kid about cultivation instead of bothering this old man here?”

  Mr. Meng forced down what he had in his mouth and apologized. There was something distinctly off about this scene, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. He gazed thoughtfully at Hao Wei, whose eyes were still gleaming with curiosity.

  “So,” said Mr. Meng. “Are you interested?”

  Hao Wei nodded. His eyes were starting to look like jewels under a bright light. Mr. Meng smiled and started speaking.

  “Well, lianqi, or Qi Refining, is the initial stage; when we gather ambient qinto our bodies to make them our own. In the process, we create something we call a Qi Sea in our dantian: which is roughly three finger widths below your navel.” Mr. Meng pointed to his own torso, his fingers aiming at a certain point. “After that is zhuji, or Foundation Establishment; which is when we create a Seed of Solid Qi from the Qi Sea, which increases the speed at which we gather qi at exponentially and offers more methods for using Qi. Follow so far?”

  “Yes.” Hao Wei’s eyes were starting to look valuable to me, and I briefly fantasized about plucking them out to sell in an auction. He was quite the bookworm and researcher, but you’d think he was a butler at first; or club bouncer, depending on the face he had at a certain time.

  “As for what follows… it’s all theoretical, so I’m not too sure. Jiedan, or Core Formation; other than making the seed of qi large enough, apparently involves the refining of the qi seed to create a Gold Core. The realm after Core Formation is what the records called yuanying, which is what we call Nascent Soul in English, which occurs when the Core ‘hatches’.” Mr. Meng shrugged, his eyes somewhat distant.

  “But that’s a thing of the past now. Any Core Formation cultivator or magi today would create waves in our world—they’re walking weapons of mass destruction. The fact that Earth is still habitable after nearly five thousand years with these monsters of magic and qi running around is nothing short of a miracle, in my opinion.” Mr. Meng picked up a sausage and bit into it, his eyes reflecting his enjoyment. “So, how was the lecture?”

  “It seems like important pieces of knowledge are lacking,” replied Hao Wei. “But you have my gratitude.” Hao Wei bowed to Miles first and then towards Mr. Meng.

  Mr. Meng broke into a gentle smile which I assumed was reserved for Aurora alone. Patting Hao Wei’s shoulder with his right hand, he brought the now cold satay in his left hand up and examined the burnt part closely. He was about to eat it, when his head turned to look somewhere.

  “Seems like everyone has gathered,” said Mr. Meng. I followed his gaze and saw the silhouette of a hooded figure: Crow. Did he finish his work quickly because he was hung
ry, or was it the other way around? I found myself idly thinking and focused on his shadowy figure. The way he moved reminded me of a panther or something I’d seen in a wildlife documentary before, and it was chilling to watch him mimic a predator at night.

  “Hmm? No more sausages?” Crow looked around and moved over to examine the packets of uncooked food. He tore a packet open with his teeth and placed the contents on the grill.

  “A bit wild, huh.” Hao Wei piped up, who was fanning himself with a plastic plate which had some oil on it. I winced as some droplets of oil splattered on his face, and I rubbed my face unconsciously. As for Crow, he ignored Hao Wei’s comment, but whether it was a testament to his character or just the fact that he was too preoccupied with stuffing his face, no one knew.

  Time drifted by quickly, and soon, the embers from the barbeque started to flicker and the remaining heat died down.

  Chapter 12

  Moonlight illuminated the little garden, where I was standing. I had chosen to stand guard outside, while I made Hao Wei keep watch on the representation of the barriers I’d created. An hour passed in the darkness of night uneventfully.

  Hopefully, it would stay the same throughout. I had put on the bracelet that was connected to my Beacon earlier on: at the request of Mr. Meng and Miles. The bracelet would allow me to receive updates from the Practitioner Circle regarding the seal on the Far Shore: in case it weakened earlier than scheduled. It was a nifty thing to have for this job; useful to say the least. In the stillness of night, it seemed like the world had forgotten about me, but I preferred this to the alternative.

  Suddenly, I felt a weak, unnatural chill, and looked up.

  “This is…”

  A bird was flying in circles directly above us, but something was off; the creature was far too shiny. If its beating wings weren’t visible, I’d have mistaken it for a drone or something. At any rate, I wasn’t sure what that thing was, but I wouldn't be willing to bet any money on it being alive—no matter how favorable the payout.