by Aaron Oster
Hato stooped, throwing the unconscious Porto over her shoulder, and ran as well. She couldn’t help looking back one last time to her brother, standing and facing off against a massive enemy force without so much as a care. He stood like a mountain, his power towering above them all and holding everything in place. Her eyes moved from his back, traveling down to his waist, where his Belt fluttered back and forth in the light breeze.
She knew he was moving it on his own, as Belts were made of the Martial Artist’s Essence and couldn’t be affected by outside forces. But still, he struck quite the intimidating figure. The Belt around his waist was red as blood and shining on one end, was a single, brilliant slash of gold.
The leader of the Tonde clan had finally advanced to 1st Dan Red, something which had eluded both him and the Beast King for decades. If the pattern held true, he would need to reach 8th Dan before he could test for his Gold-Belt.
Hato smiled, despite herself, even as she ran alongside her fleeing clan mates. Because she knew that if anyone could do it, could rise to the challenge, it was her big brother.
26
“Gold-Belt? Are you sure?” Roy asked a bit skeptically. “Isn’t gold a brighter color than red?”
“And isn’t red a brighter color than green?” Geon retorted.
“Fine, I see your point,” Roy conceded. “But are you really sure?”
“Yes. As sure as you are helpless without me, the Belt after Red is Gold.”
Roy shrugged. If the Dungeon Core was so sure, he wasn’t going to argue, though he could have done without the insults. Instead of responding, Roy turned his attention back to his latest mission.
His time inside the trial had been well over an hour, though judging by the way the night sky appeared, it had only been a few minutes out here. All the better for him, since he still needed to absorb some Essence before heading out to rescue Aika. He only hoped he would have the strength to go through with it.
Several hours passed in this fashion, with Roy pulling Essence from the Beast Core in greater amounts than he’d been able to before. His Core seemed bottomless as he continued pulling in Essence, refining it and beginning to push for the next advancement.
It was nearing four in the morning when he finally unfolded himself from his cycling position and rose back to his feet, stretching mightily. He was, admittedly, exhausting himself. He forced himself to continue, as he knew that this would be his best chance to go and save Aika. Right now, he had the confidence to make an attempt, and should he wait to think too much about it, he might be tempted to talk himself out of such a foolish gambit.
Before he set out, Roy buried the Beast Core he’d been using, removing a single Fire Essence Core and tying it to his waist. Then, covering up the remaining Core, he set off running in the direction of the camp.
“I sometimes wonder why I ever bonded with you in the first place,” Geon said as he made his final approach.
He was crouched low behind some underbrush and moving forward carefully. His Core was completely suppressed, though his Spirit Sense was straining to the maximum he could manage. Just as he’d suspected, Aika was still here, being held somewhere near the center of the camp. She was in exactly the same spot as he’d been.
“Probably because you didn’t have much choice,” Roy replied, not daring to speak out loud. “There weren’t many others with no Core just happening by, so you took what you could get.”
Geon sighed.
“Yes, indeed. And a poorer choice I could not have made.”
Roy simply rolled his eyes at his friend’s theatrics. He’d been trying to talk him out of this course of action for his entire trip here, citing all the horrible ways he could end up dead. No matter what the Core tried, Roy refused to back down.
“Have you found Ferry yet?” he asked, to try and make Geon focus on their rescue mission.
Roy was having a difficult time detecting her presence, as Darkness Essence was particularly difficult to sense on another being, especially at night.
“Yes, she’s on the far side of this camp, being held in a pen that’s suppressing her Essence. For some reason, they’ve been keeping her alive, though her endless complaining is starting to bug me.”
Roy had to grin at the irony of that statement. If anyone was annoying, it was the Dungeon Core, though he didn’t voice his opinion out loud or in his mind, for that matter.
Slowly circling the perimeter, Roy spotted several guards. It was difficult to make out the colors of their Belts at this distance, but since he had a line of sight on them, he could accurately gauge their power. Not a single one was under 3rd Dan Green. He continued circling, intent on Geon’s instructions.
“There,” he finally said. “Straight ahead, right on the other side of that building.”
Roy stopped, squinting as he peered through the gloom. A long, low building stood just a few feet from the perimeter line. He was a bit annoyed, as a direct line of sight would have been far better, but at least it wasn’t too far from where Aika was being kept. Now he had to put his plan into action.
Slinking a bit back into the forest, Roy ran to the farthest side of the camp, away from both Ferry and Aika. He really hoped this plan would work, because if not, not only would he be killed but his friends would likely end up dead as well.
“You know, it’s still not too late to stop this,” Geon said as Roy pulled the 4th Dan Blue-level Fire Core from his waist. “We can still leave and pretend nothing happened.”
Roy took careful aim, then hurled the Core into the camp with all his strength. It was considerably a bit more strength than he’d expected, as he hadn’t had a real chance to test his body since advancing. As a result, the Core flew a bit farther than expected, sailing well into the camp, instead of hitting the stone close to the perimeter.
He threw himself to the side, using his Shockwave, and dashing back around to the other side of the camp, cursing under his breath as the Fire Core struck near one of the central buildings, then shattered.
The blast of Fire Essence and Qi completely blocked out the noise of his Movement technique, sending a mushroom cloud of searing flames shooting thirty feet into the air. The violent explosion blew several buildings apart, killing those within near instantaneously. Had they been awake, Roy knew they’d probably have been able to defend themselves – Blue grade Core or not. But asleep, they stood absolutely no chance.
The screams came next, Martial Artists running from the fire, which seemed only to be burning larger and hotter as the seconds passed. Roy did his best to block the pained screams out, flashing through the forest and out into the open ground. No one noticed when he crossed over the barrier into the camp, too preoccupied with running for their lives.
Roy dashed around the building, skidding to a halt before a large pen. There, chained up and looking quite docile, were several large Beasts. No one was guarding them, for which Roy was thankful, and it took only a few seconds for him to spot Ferry. A large, black chain was bound around her neck. Smaller chains bound her legs, and yet another encircled her body.
“Ferry!” he shouted, dashing over and vaulting the gate in a single bound.
The giant ferret, upon hearing her name, looked up sleepily. Although Beasts didn’t actually need sleep, there must have been precious little to do here, so he wasn’t surprised she had been asleep. As soon as she laid eyes on him, she shot to her feet and tried to run towards him. She suddenly found herself arrested by the chains just a second later and was jerked backward by them.
Roy approached quickly, laughing as Ferry bumped her head against his chest and licked at his face.
“It’s good to see you, too!” he said, scratching at the Beast’s head and ears.
He tried to get his fingers under the restraining chain but found himself unable to, both from Ferry’s excitement and because they were made of forged Essence.
“Sit still, please,” he said, still grinning. “I need to get you out of here, and you’re not making
it easy!”
The ferret stilled then, though he could still feel her body quivering in excitement as he attempted to remove the chains. He dug his fingers in, trying to rip them free with the strength of his arms. When that didn’t work, he tried enhancing himself with Essence, strengthening the power of his muscles.
When the chains still refused to budge, he tried using some Essence of his own to blast the chains away. All that accomplished was singing a bit of Ferry’s fur. The chains remained where they were, completely unharmed and without so much as a scratch. His heart sank then, when he realized that his previous assumption – that these were made of Essence – had been wrong.
“The chains are made of Qi! I can’t break them. What do I do?!”
“Well. Isn’t that friend of yours a Green-Belt? Go ask her to do it. Not that my opinion matters or anything,” Geon grumbled.
Roy could have smacked himself.
“Thanks, Geon! You’re the best!” he said, turning to head towards the cells where he’d very nearly ended his own life.
He felt something latch into the back of his tattered robe as he did and turned to see Ferry looking at him with wide eyes.
“I’m sorry, girl, but I can’t free you on my own. I need to get Aika, but I promise I’ll be back. She can do it, I’m sure!”
Ferry let out a low squeaking sound, her eyes going watery.
“I won’t leave you here. I promise. But you have to let me go. The distraction won’t last too much longer. Sooner or later, someone will figure out what happened and start looking for the attackers. And seeing as I’m not exactly equipped to handle a bunch of Green-Belts, I doubt we’ll survive the encounter.”
Ferry stared at him for a few long seconds before slowly releasing his robe.
“She says that if you leave her again, she won’t be your friend anymore,” Geon said.
“Oh, quit sulking,” Roy said, giving her one last pat on the head. “I won’t leave you behind again. Just be ready for me when I get back.”
Ferry sat back on her haunches in response, then lifted her paw and began grooming her long claws. Rolling his eyes, Roy turned and ran across the pen. Vaulting the fence one more time, he ran for the small cell block. Luckily, it was still well away from the shooting flames which seemed to finally be calming down.
He sped up, using Shockwave to cover the distance faster. He inwardly winced as the sonic boom followed him an instant later, knowing that this time, it had undoubtedly been heard. Roy knew his time was limited as he skidded to a halt outside the first cell. He could no longer sense Aika through the overwhelming presence of Fire Essence and Qi in the air. But that was fine with him. As much as it was blinding his senses, it would do the same to the others, at least for a few more minutes.
Aika was not in the first cell, and Roy began running down the line, stopping to stare into each one. Though he was backlit by the fire, he had to lean in close to each one and squint inside, trying to see if there was anyone within. The further along he checked, the more his heart sank. He’d been sure Aika was here but perhaps he’d been wrong?
The next cell door he checked was slightly ajar, and Roy felt his heart leap in his chest. Had Aika used the advantage of the explosion to make her own escape?
Quickly running up to the door, Roy wrenched it open and stepped inside, peering around to see if he could find any sign of her. He had no warning as something hard slammed into his chest, sending him careening into the opposite wall.
The air was knocked from his lungs and he felt his ribs creak from the strain. Then, he fell forward, landing hard on his stomach, his spine smarting. A scream sounded in the silence as something heavy landed on his back. Then, a blinding white light filled the dark cell, and despite his prone position, Roy was forced to squeeze his eyes shut.
“You thought you could just hold me here and torture me for all this time?! Thought you could just shatter my Core, and I’d go along quietly!? Well, think again!”
Roy recognized that voice and tried to turn over but felt something hot and razor-sharp poking at the side of his neck.
“Don’t you even think about it, Itachi dog! Make so much as a move, and I’ll kill you!”
“Wow. You go through all the hard work of trying to rescue her, and she threatens to kill you. Great friend you’ve got there.”
“Aika, it’s me,” he croaked. “I’d appreciate it if you let me go.”
He felt the body above him stiffen at the sound of his voice, though she didn’t move off him.
“Roy?” she asked, her voice hesitant and disbelieving.
“In the flesh, here to rescue you like the hero I am. Though if we don’t get a move-on, I’m afraid neither of us will get another chance to get out of here, and my heroic act will have been wasted.”
“Nice speech.”
“Roy!”
This time she did move, and her voice sounded both shocked and relieved.
Groaning, Roy turned onto his back, squinting up at the indistinct figure above him. He couldn’t really make out any of her features, due to the lance made of pure white light clutched in her right hand.
Then, she crashed back into him, and the air exploded from his lungs once again. Aika’s arms wrapped around him in a bone-crushing hug which threatened to send him for a long nap.
“Can’t… breathe!” he croaked.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry!”
Roy gasped as Aika’s grip slackened enough for him to breathe, though she didn’t release him.
He stood there awkwardly patting her on the back, not entirely sure what to do. This wasn’t exactly the time for this, and he wasn’t used to displays of emotion like this. Anger, hatred, disgust, those he could understand. This was all new to him.
Thankfully, she stepped back after a few more moments, the light of her lance winking out, and he finally got a good look at her. He winced at what he saw. Her face was bloody and bruised, her left eye swollen nearly shut. Her robes were tattered and torn just like his, though he could see deep cuts and lacerations beneath.
Something must have shown on his face because Aika gave him a reassuring smile, though it didn’t do much to calm him, seeing the state she was in.
“It’s not as bad as it looks, trust me,” she said, her posture relaxing somewhat. “It’s so good to see you! I was so afraid you might be dead! I mean, I hoped you weren’t, but…”
Roy held up a hand to cut her off. Though he was glad to see her alive and in one piece, the fire was rapidly dying down, which meant their window of escape was narrowing by the second.
“We can talk later, but right now, we really need to get going. I can’t get Ferry out without you, so we’ll need to make a stop before we go.”
“Two,” Aika said as she seemed to remember their current predicament.
“What?” Roy asked, a bit confused.
“We need to make two stops. They still have all our stuff, and we can’t survive without it, at least not for very long.”
Roy wanted to disagree, but he really wanted to get the cultivation technique they’d stolen from him back. Besides, Azure had hinted at deeper secrets and he needed to know what they were.
“Fine,” he replied, heading for the exit. “Do you know where they’re keeping it?”
“Yeah. Itachi Joan, the leader of this little camp, has it in her quarters. I’ll go get them and meet you over where Ferry is.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Roy asked.
On the one hand, he wanted his cultivation technique back. But on the other, breaking into a Blue-Belt’s personal quarters to take them sounded more like suicide than attempting to blow up their camp.
“Yes!” Aika replied. “She has my staff, and I’m not letting that witch keep it for herself!”
“Fine!” Roy said, seeing that arguing with her was going to get him nowhere. “But I’m going to be the one sneaking in. I can’t free Ferry, so while you’re doing that, I’ll go get our stuff.”
> He could see she wanted to argue, but after only a moment’s hesitation, she nodded sharply, gesturing to a small building separate from the others.
“That’s where she lives. If you aren’t by the pens in two minutes, I’m coming after you.”
And with that said, she dashed off toward the pens. Roy followed her progress for a few seconds before turning his attention to the small house. He felt his lips turn down in a grimace as he began jogging toward it, not daring to use his Shockwave anymore. He couldn’t risk being heard.
“Just my luck,” he muttered under his breath.
Joan’s house just had to be on the opposite side of the camp.
27
Roy approached the darkened house cautiously. He was almost one hundred percent sure that the commander of an outpost would be commanding their people right now. In a situation where they were under attack and their camp was burning, she’d have to be a pretty bad commander to still be sleeping.
As he snuck around to the front and tugged at the door, he found it locked. Roy had no qualms whatsoever, as he tore the flimsy door from its hinges, tossing it to the ground within. The small house was neat, with bamboo matting, three separate rooms, and a small attached privy.
Roy stomped right in, dirty feet and all, and began tearing the place apart. He couldn’t be slow or careful. He’d taken too much time in getting Aika free and now desperately wished he’d brought along another Core. However, the cheap side of him, the one that needed to conserve them so they could be sold, did not allow for a second Core to be wasted.
This rescue was already costing at least a hundred Kinka, if not more, and he would be damned if he wasted any more money. As he ripped through drawers containing Joan’s personal belongings, he came across several scrolls, a small leather sack containing what felt to be coins and a wooden chest that clinked and rattled when moved.
He took all of these, silently thanking the psychopathic woman who’d tried to have him kill himself. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t lose money on this, after all. After looting the woman’s bedroom, he moved on to her study, where he found yet more scrolls and a signet ring. These were extremely rare, but Roy didn’t even bother trying to take it.