by Aaron Oster
Ferry’s nose twitched as she smelled the scent that she was following change direction. Her pursuit suddenly sped up as well, forcing Ferry to pick up her pace. The pads of her bare feet splashed through murky puddles, the humanoid ferret paying them no mind as she set herself completely to the pursuit of this mystery human. The sky continued to darken as night fell, though it hardly bothered her. Her night vision was almost as good as her sight in the daytime. So long as there was a little moonlight, she would have an advantage over the human.
The buildings around her began to grow more and more decrepit, turning into half-standing shacks. She began seeing more people moving about, half-starved skeletons who eyed her hungrily as she passed. She could sense their anger, bitterness, and loathing. Their murderous intent was clear, yet still, she did not worry. Only the weak lived out here, and as far as she was concerned, only the strong survived.
She turned a hard right as her quarry changed direction once more, but when Ferry pulled around the corner, she found herself facing the towering city wall. She came to a skidding halt, stopping right before she slammed into it, only just managing it in time. Her head turned first one way, then the other, scenting the air and trying to find her prey. Oddly enough, the scent trail had completely vanished, which made no sense at all.
A Core could be veiled, but a scent? It was possible, but most people wouldn’t even think to mask something as innocuous as that. Who could track them by their scents, after all? Another thing was that even if the trail went cold, it shouldn’t have been that abrupt. Her nose continued twitching as she turned back around, only to find herself facing a group of some twenty-odd Martial Artists, a group comprised mostly of Yellow-Belts and a few Oranges.
It was hard not to notice the Orange-Belts, as they were the best dressed and seemed to be the least malnourished. Still, none of them looked good, and judging by the way they were eyeing her, they didn’t view her as anything other than a Beast, even if she did carry a human shape. Their presumed leader, a 2nd Dan Orange-Belt, stepped forward then, clutching a rusty knife and eyeing her like a starving dog.
“No use in running, beastie. Just lie down nice and quiet, and we’ll make this painless.”
Ferry bared her teeth, letting out a hiss and getting into a fighting stance. She was unaccustomed to this human shape and had yet to test it in actual combat, though, by a purely power-based perspective, she was many times stronger than she had been. This wasn’t the perfect opportunity to test her new body, as it wouldn’t really offer much of a challenge, but it would have to do.
There was a loud thump from behind, and Ferry’s thoughts were interrupted as she whirled in place, finding herself facing – oddly enough – the bear-man she’d scented earlier. She only had time for a confused squeak, before his beefy arm flashed out, catching her in the side of the head and sending her sprawling.
Ferry head rang as she hit the ground, seeing stars popping in her vision – something that was quite alarming as it had never happened before. She sensed the bear-man pouncing and threw herself to one side, feeling the passing air as his heavy foot slammed into the ground, sending up a spray of murky water.
There was a flash of movement to her left, and Ferry shoved down hard against the ground, throwing herself into the air and avoiding the knife aimed for her throat. Though there was little chance of such an inferior weapon harming her – especially when wielded by such a weakling – it was always best to err on the side of caution.
The jump allowed her to regain her feet, and Ferry whirled, turning to face the bear-man, confused as to why he’d attack her. That confusion was cleared up just a moment later, as one of the thugs moved to bow to the massive slab of muscle and bone.
“Thank you for bringing her here, Boss. We owe you much.”
The bear-man let out a huffing grunt, then waved an oversized hand away. His small eyes moved up to meet Ferry’s then, and in an instant, she understood what had happened. The bear-man’s lips peeled back in a wicked smile as the air was suddenly permeated with Aika’s familiar scent. It was practically oozing off him in waves. She didn’t understand why he’d lured her here to be attacked by these humans, but she knew now that she was in a bad spot.
The bear-man was far stronger than she was. He wouldn’t even need the thugs’ help to take her down, and all the way out here, there was no one she could rely on for help. Ferry bared her teeth at the bear-man, as Darkness Essence began cloaking her body. She was angry at herself for having been fooled, but for some reason, she felt hurt as well. It was a strange mix of emotions, and one that didn’t really make any sense to her.
After all, why should she be hurt by this bear-man’s actions? It wasn’t like she knew him, or vice versa. Did this have something to do with the whole attraction thing that Aika had explained to her earlier? The bear-man’s grin didn’t waver, even as he let out a soft grunt and took a few steps back. Then, for the first time, he spoke.
“Ensure that the pelt isn’t damaged too badly,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. “If there are too many holes, it’ll bring down the value.”
Ferry’s lips curled back, fully baring her enlarged teeth. There was a light snick as claws extended some four inches from the tips of her fingers, and her eyes narrowed as she was let in on this bear-man’s motivations. He wasn’t hunting her for food. He was after her to collect those shiny pieces of metal that the humans seemed to prize. That, more than anything, made her angry. It was so unlike any of their kind that it aggravated her to no end, and there was no way Ferry was going to allow herself to be killed just so this man could make some shiny coins.
“Don’t worry, so long as we get to keep the meat and Core, we’ll…” the man began.
His voice was abruptly cut off as Ferry flashed across the distance between them, Darkness Essence trailing like mist, and slashed her claws across his throat. The man, a 1st Dan Yellow, didn’t stand a chance. With a loud gurgle, he fell to the ground, throat torn beyond repair. Ferry whirled then, making a dash for the wall, and looking for an avenue of escape.
The bear-man appeared before her in a flash of brown, his massive hand snapping out and colliding with her head once again. Ferry twisted her body this time, avoiding any serious damage. The force of the attack still sent her flying, and though she recovered mid-air, she found herself landing amidst the rabble that had gathered to take her down.
They attacked without preamble, all seeking to end her life so that they might eat, and though Ferry understood their motivations, it didn’t mean she would simply allow them to kill her. Though her new shape was still unfamiliar to her, Ferry soon found that instinct was kicking in, driving her moves and alerting her to all incoming attacks.
It was similar to her old form on a fundamental level, yet different in so many ways. Still, the differences were all positive, and Ferry found that she had little trouble maneuvering around, especially when using her techniques.
A ragged woman came at her from behind, a board riddled with nails clutched in her hand. Ferry’s arm swiped out, shattering the board with a powerful swing and ripping the woman’s chest wide open. She spun, her back leg coming up, the claws extending from her toes, tearing the head from another man’s shoulders.
She was far taller than the humans, and with her speed, they wouldn’t even be able to get within reach, unless the bear-man interfered. Ferry chanced a glance at the now-hated figure, who stood back, arms crossed over his broad chest and teeth still bared in a predator’s smile. It seemed he was content to stay back until she’d finished, though for what reason, she could not understand.
If these humans had any chance of weakening her, it would make sense. Wounded prey was much easier to take down. But there was no way they could wound her, so he was simply wasting resources. It was only when Ferry savagely tore the head from another human that she began to realize that his actions were not driven by instinct, but rather, by human greed.
For some reason, she’d been thinking of
this man as a Beast, rather than a human, even after the declaration of selling her hide for some coins. If she looked at his motivations from a Beast aspect, they made no sense, but if she shifted her viewpoint to that of a human, it made complete sense. If there were no others left alive, this bear-man would reap all the benefits without having to share his reward. This was hardly conducive to keeping one’s pack safe, but it would be conducive to gaining him more wealth.
This made Ferry even angrier, and she attacked with even more ferocity than before. Her claws, now stained red with the blood of her attackers, were suddenly cloaked in Darkness Essence as she used her Physical technique. Black claws, nearly a foot long, extended from her bloodied ones and Ferry set off in a whirlwind of destruction. Her claws tore through flesh and bone, ripping the remaining humans to pieces in a matter of seconds, leaving her facing the bear-man from the midst of a circle of carnage.
“Very good, little ferret,” the bear-man said, his grin undiminished. “I like my prey to have a little fight in them. Makes this kill all the more exhilarating.”
“You are no better than a greedy human!” Ferry hissed.
Though she knew that the bear-man would be unable to understand her words, the sentiment would still show. The bear-man’s eyes narrowed at the insult, clear by the tone of her vocalization. Beasts had a strange way of understanding one another, even where human speech was not involved. They learned to speak for the simple reason of convenience. Humans wouldn’t understand them, so unless they lived far from humans, it was more prudent to learn to speak out loud.
“Say what you will, little ferret,” the bear-man said. “Soon, you will be dead, and your hide will fetch me a fortune. We will see how well you speak once I cut your throat!”
The bear-man charged, his body cloaked in brown Earth Qi as he prepared to make good on his threat. Ferry could already see that she wasn’t going to survive the encounter. There was little she could do against someone who was a full stage of Advancement ahead of her. She regretted not being able to see Roy one last time, and just hoped she would be reincarnated. Though with Geon’s Dungeon having died long ago, there was little chance of that.
Ferry bared her teeth, then gathered herself to attempt one last attack. It wouldn’t do her much good, as she was using an Essence technique against a creature using Qi. It was the equivalent of throwing a few droplets of water on a raging inferno, but Ferry didn’t much feel like going down without a fight.
The bear-man closed with her in an instant, his massive arm pulled back to deliver an overpowered blow intended to end her life in a single strike. Ferry struck back, empowering herself with her Physical technique, speeding her attack with her Movement technique and cloaking her body in her Armorer technique. It wouldn’t be enough to stop the bear-man, but where she was aiming, she hoped to at least damage him enough that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy his victory for too long. And though there was little chance of her shattering his Core, she hoped to hurt him enough that he’d be forced to abandon her body.
There was a muffled boom as Ferry’s clawed hand and the bear-man’s collided, sending a shockwave over the surrounding landscape and sending ripples flowing across the murky puddles, now mixed with the blood of the humans that Ferry had killed.
Ferry had been expecting to feel a lot of things when the bear-man struck. She anticipated the agony of broken bones and ruptured organs, followed swiftly by the cold feeling of death. Instead, she felt nothing. It was only then that she became aware that while her attack had landed, it didn’t feel anything like she’d expect the bear-man’s hide to be.
She finally looked to the bear-man, only to see them separated by a wall of glowing blue water, seeming both solid and pliable at the same time. Her claws were sunk halfway through, as was the bear-man’s fist, yet neither had broken the barrier, leaving their attacks suspended mid-air.
“My, my. First day in the city and I seem to have wandered into the worst part of town.”
Ferry and the bear-man both turned to see a man dressed in black and white robes – mostly open at the front – approaching at a lazy pace. The 2nd Dan Red-Belt gracing his waist told her that this man was powerful, yet his scent was oddly familiar, containing traces of the same as Aika’s. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if the bear-man was using his false scent trick again, but as the man neared, it became clear that it was indeed coming from him.
“So,” the man continued, a placid smile spread across his face. “Which one of you can give me directions to the more civilized part of the city? I’d be ever so grateful.”
31
“So, what do you make of this?” Roy asked, scratching his head and staring up at the massive stone door standing in the middle of the path ahead.
It was obviously part of the Trial, judging by the simple fact that it was there to begin with. It was a monstrosity, towering over twenty feet tall and carved with all sorts of odd symbols.
“I’m assuming this is what our keys are supposed to open,” Aika replied, fetching her key from her robes and holding it up.
“I guess,” Roy replied, removing his key and moving up to the door alongside her.
It was midafternoon, and the two of them had been walking for a couple of hours before stumbling upon this door. In that time, they’d both caught one another up on all that had happened in their week apart. Aika had been very impressed at Roy’s unconventional attack when trapped in the water and was thrilled by his discovery of an Armorer technique.
She’d told him all about her experiences and fights, and Roy found that he was glad that he hadn’t had to fight the same monsters as her. If they’d been enough to challenge her, he’d have stood little chance. She also filled him in on what exactly the Pill did, and how much it would affect his future growth. In a nutshell, the Pill was designed to ease the flow of Essence in his channels, allowing for greater Essence use and faster cycling.
While that didn’t sound like much at the level of Essence, the real improvements would begin to show when one used Qi. It tended to move a lot slower than Essence, due to its higher density, making cycling and creating Qi a daunting and lengthy process. This allowed the creation of Qi at a much fast rate, and from there, it only got better. When Chakra had to be formed, things became infinitely more difficult.
To create Chakra, one would have to take all the time to weave Qi from Essence and only then create Chakra from that Qi. The problem with doing that was that after hours upon hours of work, only a few precious drops of Chakra would be formed before the process had to be started all over again. When put into that sort of perspective, Roy understood the value of such a Pill.
It would save him countless hours of cycling further down the line, which meant that this Pill was probably one of the most valuable items he’d received, and made the entire week-long Trial seem worth it. Even now, as he approached the door, key held aloft, he could feel the new ease in which his Essence flowed. He’d been pretty confident that his cycling technique – learned and then improved upon from an ancient scroll in his pack – was the best around.
Now, even though there hadn’t been any actual change to his technique, he could feel a real difference, not only in his Essence flow, but in the strength of his channels as well. They felt more solid and robust, giving him the feeling that he could force far more Essence through them than he could before, meaning that the Pill had been a perfect complement to his evolving fighting style that seemed to favor heavy Essence use.
“Woah,” Aika said, a gasp escaping her lips unbidden as both of their keys were sucked from their hands when they got closer to the massive door.
They both stared as the solid constructs collided with the door, sinking halfway into the solid stone and sticking there. There was a momentary flash that outlined one more keyhole, sitting at a point between the two already set in the door and forming a triangle. The light faded then, leaving only the two keys, still shining in the door.
“Are we missing a key?
” Aika asked, her face bunching up in a puzzled expression.
“Please don’t tell me this means that we have to go back out there,” Roy complained.
Glad as he was for the amazing reward, he didn’t much feel like going through all that again just to receive the final item needed to open the door.
“I don’t…” Aika began, but she was interrupted when a bright flash of blue engulfed them.
There was a rushing sensation, and when the world came back into view, Roy and Aika found themselves in a new area, this one covered in marshy ground, tall stone outcroppings, swaying grass that reached up to their shoulders, and an oddly cloudy sky.
“Great,” Roy muttered. “Another challenge.”
“Hey, don’t be so grumpy,” Aika said, bumping him with her shoulder. “At least we get to stay together this time.”
“Yeah,” Roy sighed. “I guess you’ve got a good point.”
He turned back to examine their surroundings and briefly wondered in which direction they were supposed to go. However, his question was answered a moment later, as the same blue light suddenly began tracing its way across the landscape, disappearing into the tall grass and presumably heading to their eventual destination.
“Well, at least the Trial’s being nice enough to guide us,” Aika said, her voice still sounding quite cheery. “Come on. I’m sure there’s a whole boatload of excitement up ahead!”
That said, she snatched his hand in hers and began dragging him along as she headed into the tall grass. Roy wasn’t quite as optimistic, but there was little he could do to fight her strength. Besides, he couldn’t just stay here and hope they’d be fine, or that someone would come to pull them out. It had been a full week, and no one had shown up yet, so by this point, it was fairly obvious that they’d have to make their own way out, or not make it at all.
