Water (Buryoku Book 3)

by Aaron Oster

  Epilogue

  Aika stared at the spot that Roy had been in just seconds before, feeling her heart sink all the way down to her feet. Roy had been snatched from right under her, again! She wanted to scream in frustration, to rail at the world for continuously doing this to them over and over again. But she knew she couldn’t. She had to contain herself. She had to figure out who had taken him and why, and most importantly, where.

  The joy at having passed her test to advance to Blue-Belt was now nothing more than a distant memory as she stared at the blank space, knowing that she might never see him again. Aika allowed herself a single moment of self-pity, before she hardened her heart, forcing down her emotions and straightening her back.

  She could sense that Hermit was far away, somewhere in the heart of the city, but aside from that, she couldn’t feel much else. Her eyes flicked to the doors, which were ajar, leaving her a way to get out. Ferry was being confined several stories below, so she would be going there first. But after that, she’d be going directly to Hermit. He had a lot to answer for, especially since his bringing them here had cost both her and Roy so much.

  They had gone through all that pain, all that suffering, and she’d felt the joy of throwing him through that gate, knowing he’d be saved... And now, she had to feel the rage and uncertainty that came with him being taken right before her very eyes.

  “I’ll find you,” she promised. “No matter how long it takes.”

  Then, Aika activated her Movement technique and dashed from the room, heading to free Ferry from her prison.

  ***

  Tonde Kaeru stood in the center of a boiling ocean, facing down a massive kraken. He’d entered this place nearly two days prior and hadn’t so much as sensed the two people he’d come in after, something he suspected was part of these Trials. He could have felt animosity towards the Itachi clan leader, but in truth, it was his own fault for not asking if he’d even be able to find them.

  But now that he was here, Kaeru knew that he couldn’t simply leave, at least not yet. This entire world was packed with Water Essence, more than he could likely find anywhere within ten thousand miles. The creatures here were strong, as well. They were strong enough to challenge even him. Kaeru pulled his arm back, summoning a massive lance made of water and pulling on the molecules until they froze solid.

  His hand flashed forward, sending the massive spear directly into the mouth of the kraken, sending a fountain of blood and ink spraying into the water around it. There was no way he could leave. Not yet. The mystery of who inflamed the Beast King into starting a war that devastated so many lives in the Crater was still fresh in his mind. Whoever had orchestrated that attack had to be stopped.

  Not only for the sake of his clan, but for the entire Crater as a whole. Their way of life was at risk, and he could clearly see how much stronger those on the outside really were. His clan needed him to be far stronger than he was currently, which meant training and more training. Kaeru was already the strongest Tonde in the history of his clan, and he planned to keep that title, not by assuring that others could never reach his level like those petty power mongers of the past, but by continuing to grow too quickly for anyone else to catch up.

  ***

  Hermit stood in the sky with his arms folded over his chest as he watched his sister directing Martial Artists in the carving up of the dead Cavern Beast. There were more than a million people that had died in total, and her only concern lay in fetching the Core for herself. It was typical of her to claim the prize, even after so many had worked to bring this thing down. Her argument would be that she had brought the Beast down, so it was hers by right.

  The fact that she’d also killed half a million of her own people in the process wouldn’t even register. Hermit could feel his disgust for the woman growing by the second as he watched her yelling at the Martial Artists for not moving quickly enough in uncovering the Core. He could see thousands of people lying dead in the streets, their homes collapsed and fires raging through the city. People were desperately trying to stay alive, all while his sister was busy with her prize.

  “Absolutely appalling,” Hermit said as he turned and rocketed towards the closest of the blazes.

  “I would tend to agree,” the Core said as the fire, which was threatening to spread to nearby buildings, was immediately snuffed out as he passed.

  “What are we to do?” he asked. “She is past redemption, yet wields all the power. Would the honorable thing to do be to depose her? And if so, would I even have the strength to do so?”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” the Core replied solemnly. “This is a decision you must make on your own. What does honor demand in a situation like this, and is there someone else more suited to the role of leadership? I know you do not want that burden, but if not you, then who?”

  Hermit didn’t know how to answer that question, so he remained silent. He took wide loops around the city, putting out fires as he went. He knew he couldn’t help everyone. He simply didn’t have the ability to be in more than one place at a time, and right now, the biggest threat to their city was the spread of fire. Luckily, there were others around to help. Those who were not close enough to the actual fighting to be dragged into Ikari’s irrational demands that the Cavern Beast’s Core be freed before they go do anything else.

  As he flew, Hermit witnessed hundreds of Marital Artists helping those in need. They were pulling their fellow citizens from collapsed buildings, removing rubble, and carrying the injured towards the infirmities. This was a bit heartwarming and reminded him that not everyone in the Itachi clan was as horrible as his sister. His loop finished as he came back around, having put out all the fires.

  Ikari was standing next to the body of the Beast and in her hand was clutched a gigantic rainbow-colored Core. It was easily twice the size of her body, yet she held it aloft with no great difficulty, admiring its smooth glassy surface with obvious greed. A Core like this could give her that little push she needed to keep advancing, propelling her enough to perhaps make it to the ranks of the Scions, something which she had, up until that point, believed to be impossible.

  Hermit had to admit that the Core was a sight to behold. It was the only one of its kind in all the world. Every Cavern Beast had a different type of Core, though they all shared a single similarity. Anyone could absorb the power from their Cores, regardless of which Path they were on. Ikari, as though sensing his eyes on her, looked up, her lips pulling into a self-satisfied smirk. The Core was engulfed in Darkness, and when the cloud vanished, it had gone along with it.

  Hermit had known his sister for long enough to know where she’d sent it, and it was the work of only a couple of seconds to locate the sphere of power in her palace. Hermit was about to withdraw his attention when he felt the familiar presence of Aika. She was stronger now, apparently having advanced to Blue-Belt, which was astounding in and of itself.

  Ferry was with her, but Roy was nowhere to be found. Hermit’s eyes swiveled back to his sister, and he wondered what she’d been up to while he’d been away, fighting the Beast to save this city while she sat pretty upon her throne. It didn’t matter anymore. Ikari had to be stopped, but right now, he needed to find out where Roy was. So, turning away from the corpse of the huge Beast and his gloating sister, Hermit headed back towards the palace at a breakneck speed.

  He ran into Aika and Ferry, just as they were leaving, both of them looking distraught and angry.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  He listened carefully as Aika told her story, inwardly cursing his sister for her tactics in getting around their deal and nearly getting the two of them killed. The Trial of Water was meant to be completed by three people of equal advancement, not two where one was a full Belt ahead. Had Ferry been there, they’d have had a much easier time of it, but it still would have been all but impossible for Roy to complete.

  The fact that the two of them had managed it was a testament to how powerful they were becoming an
d how strong-willed Roy had been to not give up. However, when Aika got to the end, about a man and Roy vanishing in a cloud of light, Hermit almost lost his composure.

  “Take me there,” he said. “Now.”

  Aika simply nodded, turning back towards the open doors and dashing inside, Ferry following close on her heels. Hermit already suspected what had happened, though he didn’t want to say it out loud. However, when they arrived in the room and he sensed the lingering residue from the Exit Gate, he knew that the worst had come to pass.

  “It seems that the Herald clan has finally come to claim him, though why they’d have gone through all the trouble to fetch him is beyond me.”

  “Wait…What?” Aika asked, more than a little stunned. “You know where his real clan is?!”

  Hermit let out a long sigh, but nodded all the same, knowing that Aika would be less than happy that he’d kept this from Roy. He’d always wondered about his real family, especially after being raised by the Shah, who’d treated him horribly due to his deficiency with Essence. Still, those in the Herald clan weren’t exactly the nicest lot, and Hermit hadn’t wanted Roy to become mixed up with them.

  “We’re going after him,” Aika said, daring him to argue with her.

  “So it seems,” Hermit replied.

  His dismantling of the Itachi clan leadership would have to wait. Roy was his responsibility, and honor demanded he go after him. But so long as he was here…

  “Go pack up,” Hermit said, feeling a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I’ll meet you at the gates in five minutes. There’s something I need to get first. Something that needs to stay out of the hands of the undeserving.”

  ***

  The cage shattered in a splintered pattern of bright light, and Tonde Irusaru found himself in his body once more. He was so weak that he could barely move. His body was emaciated, nothing more than skin and bones due to his lack of nutrition over the past few months. His throat felt more like sand than anything else and he felt himself fading fast.

  There wasn’t so much as a spec of power in his Core, the stores of Essence and Qi dried up to keep his body alive. That was fine. There was always more Power if one knew where to find it. Irusaru extended his Spirit Sense, scrabbling for the few scraps of Essence in the air. There was a lot of Wind Essence, that much he could tell, but among all the green, he could feel something else.

  As the wind battered against the stones that littered this land, they created the same effect as waves crashing upon a beach. Power Essence crowded in the areas where the wind impacted the stone, and Irusaru called to it eagerly. The first trickle of Essence was immediately pulled away, consumed by his dying body as it searched for any source of energy to keep itself sustained.

  However, as the stream grew steadier, Irusaru felt his strength slowly returning. It would be many days before he had the strength to walk again, but he would walk. His prison had been shattered, and Doragon would be none the wiser. A dry cackle escaped the madman’s dry and cracked throat. Soon enough, the entire world would feel the wrath of the monkey!

  ***

  Roy stared into a world of colorful light, the grip on his arm being the only sensation he could feel, aside from the very obvious rushing of wind. He assumed that they were in some kind of high-speed tunnel, though how they were traveling so fast was beyond him. The shock of hearing that his father was alive, and even more, a Sovereign of a clan, was too much for him to handle. Sure, the way this stranger had grabbed him wasn’t exactly nice, having eluded to wanting to kill Aika for some reason, which was why Roy was now so conflicted.

  He wanted, more than anything, to see the man he’d yearned to see his entire life. He wanted to find out the real story as to why he’d ended up in the Shah clan. At the same time, he remembered the warning issued by Azure about trusting those who seemed to be on his side. There was a reason the man had given him that very specific warning, and it was for this moment, the one happening right now.

  There was no way for Roy to know how Azure could have known what would happen, but the man, although mysterious and frustrating, had always shown himself to be on his side —from saving his life in the Trial of Beginnings, to handing him a special weapon of his own. The odd advice he gave from time to time, and finally, the knowledge of how to advance to Green.

  Roy debated what to do for several long moments as he stared into the light. He blinked, trying to clear his vision as there was a small flash of color. Roy wasn’t sure if the light was playing tricks on him or not, but he could have sworn that he’d seen a flash of brown and green through the bright light.

  He thought about that, realizing that if this were indeed a tunnel, it only stood to reason that he could get out. The only thing holding him back was the grip on his arm. Roy looked to the man, trying to gauge if he was paying attention to him. But the whiteness surrounding them blanked out most of his features. Roy’s other arm twitched, thinking of the best way he could break the grip.

  If the other man — he’d said his name was Doragon — couldn’t see him, he could probably move other parts of his body without being detected. As Roy prepared himself for what he was sure was a very bad idea, he briefly wondered if he should just go along to meet his father. Then again, it was entirely possible this man was lying, and he was being taken somewhere to be interrogated and killed.

  Not giving himself time to think, Roy acted. His right arm came down, palm slapping over the top of his left fist. Then, he yanked hard to one side in the direction of the man’s thumb, using the weight of his entire body. The man, not having expected the sudden and violent movement, found his grip easily broken.

  He only had time to issue one, “Wait!” before Roy hurled himself to the side, slamming into and through the tunnel of light.

  The world came back into focus in an instant, and Roy found himself falling from nearly fifty feet up. For just a moment, he panicked, then, his training took over. Power Qi blasted from his hands and feet, allowing him to right himself and slow down. He still hit the ground pretty hard, rolling a few times to absorb the impact before regaining his feet.

  His head whipped up, just in time to see a tiny spec of light – presumably, the tunnel – vanish into the distance. It was only once he was certain that the man wasn’t following him or close by that he finally began to examine his surroundings. All around him was nothing but barren, blasted ground, dust being thrown up into violent twisters by powerful gusts of air.

  The entire area was cloaked in Wind Essence, the green power drifting, twisting, and flowing all across the blasted lands. Roy couldn’t be one-hundred percent sure where he was, but he had heard the name of a place that sounded like it would fit this area quite well — The Windblight.

  Roy spread his Spirit Sense out as far as he could, and, unexpectedly, came across a massive gathering of Power just a couple of miles away. Squinting out in the directing from where it was coming, Roy couldn’t see a thing. He wondered, just for a moment, if he might be imagining things, but the Cores of thousands of Martial Artists wasn’t just something that one could imagine sensing.

  He had no idea if the people around here were friendly or not, but he did know one thing for sure. Aika and Ferry would be coming after him. With or without Hermit, they’d find a way to track him down. And until then, it was his job to keep himself alive. If that meant going to a place filled with strange Martial Artists, then so be it.

  Roy was no longer the weakling he had once been. He was strong, powerful, and confident in his fighting skills. Herald Leroy was also apparently the son of a Sovereign, so he had the blood of powerful Martial Artists flowing through his veins. He began walking, heading toward the distant gathering of Power Essence. The wind whipped around him, tearing at his robes and hair, yet his Belt, shining Green, remained untouched, sitting calmly around his waist and proclaiming for all to see that he was strong.

  Techniques: The tools of the Martial Artist.

  All Martial Artists will trai
n various techniques over the course of their lives. While there are nine overall technique types, they can be broken down into two categories: Body and Spirit.

  Body techniques focus on enhancing the Martial Artist’s physical fighting power, enhancing strength, speed, and defense.

  Spirit techniques focus on enhancing the Essence-based attacks, focusing on distance, terrain, and containment.

  There are four each of Body and Spirit, with the ninth technique being a combination of them both. All those who manage to combine their techniques into a single one have earned the title of Master and are considered to be true Martial Artists.

  In addition, each technique can be improved upon a total of five times, increasing their power and potency, as well as cost and risk to the user. These improvements are called Stages.

  Body techniques: Control of the physical self.

  Physical: These affect the body directly, strengthening blows, or lending them special properties. They are great in hand to hand fighting, and are most useful to those following a more martial path. The downside to these is that the user must make physical contact for the techniques to work.

  Movement: These affect how the body will move. This technique can increase speed, flexibility, dexterity, and so on. These techniques cannot directly harm anyone, but they can be used to bolster one’s own body and techniques.

  Armorer: These affect how the body will stand up to damage. They are one of the most important for any Martial Artist, as they provide the bulk of their defense unless they manage to reach Green. While Yellow-Belts gain a certain degree of immunity to physical harm, it is nothing compared to what one would receive at Orange. Even that is a pale imitation of the immunity gained at Green. The downside to these is that the more punishment that is taken, the more taxing it will be on your Essence reserves.