by Turtle Me
As I returned to the battlefield, a low thrum sounded from the titan—more specifically, its mouth.
It was going to use its breath attack again!
Arian had retreated to a safe distance, drinking several vials of elixir in an attempt to recover.
Meanwhile, the titan was focused on Taegen, whose giant stone-clad hands were scooping up equally giant pieces of earth, condensing them like snowballs, and launching them at its legs, which were now covered in deep wounds, though this didn’t seem to hamper its ability to move.
Its fang-lined maw was spread even wider than before, and I could feel the fluctuations in the air. Even without the ability to sense mana, I knew what would soon be coming.
I needed to get below the beast’s head before it released that beam attack.
Except the only non-elemental ability I could use to move quickly enough was one that I had only tried with mana. Back in the forests of Epheotus, my body couldn’t withstand the burden of it, and even if it could now, I wasn’t able to manipulate mana.
Taking a sharp breath, I focused on the internal state of my body as I sprinted toward the beast. I tried to feel every muscle in my leg, back, hip, and core move in a predetermined manner and a set order, to push my body to move a certain way.
I wanted to enhance every step of this process, imbuing power into each and every micromovement of muscles, tendons, and joints in order to far surpass the limits of even asuras.
I wanted to use Burst Step.
Derived from the pantheon’s use of a single explosive step, the Burst Step that I had developed, merging the fundamental theory of mana manipulation with my knowledge of human anatomy, meant going from a standstill position to an explosive dash in a single instant, almost as if, to the unsuspecting eye, I was teleporting directly from one place to another.
Albeit still linear and incomplete, I had surpassed the original technique used by the asuras with Burst Step. The real question at this moment was, could I even replicate the technique with aether, or would I tear my body apart trying?
With my newly formed passages within my body, I timed the strength, location, and flow of aether, at least trying to replicate the explosiveness in speed even if I had to forgo starting from a standstill position.
Aether stimulated my muscles, nerves, tendons—every component of my biology that let me walk, run, and sprint. I wasn’t entirely ready for the sensation of jolting forward, the world around me turning to a brown and red blur, as if it was being pulled away right from under me.
My position and timing were both ideal. In the space of a single breath, I had cleared the distance and was standing directly below the titan’s jaws as a shimmering sphere of energy formed between its teeth.
I should’ve been happy. Hell, I should’ve been ecstatic. With enough practice, I would be able to fully use Burst Step to my heart's content.
But I wasn’t satisfied. I felt like I was missing something—the same feeling as a word lost on the tip of the tongue. Touching upon the basis of Burst Step, seeing the world pulled from under me as I used this technique, made me feel like I was on the cusp of something greater. Except I didn’t know what.
With no time to ponder, I coalesced the remaining aether into the center of my palm and pushed out a condensed blast of violet energy that slammed the beast’s lower jaw shut just as it was about to release its devastating breath attack.
As if it had been orchestrated beforehand, a giant boulder hurtled from the sky an instant later, crashing into the titan’s head and helping to pin its mouth shut. It took me a moment to realize the boulder was actually Taegen, who had molded his entire armor into the head of his mace to form a giant earthen sphere.
With its mouth pinned shut, the beast’s breath attack imploded.
A muted thud resounded across the broken fields of dirt, and the shockwave generated within the beast’s mouth from the implosion was enough to send Taegen hurtling through the air like a cannonball. Even Arian was knocked off his feet.
Since I couldn’t let up on the aetheric blast until I knew it worked, I had no time to react to the explosion, and was blasted into a crater in the ground for the second time in only a few minutes.
While drained and in pain, I knew that the beast was still alive by how it struggled to regain its balance despite the clouds of smoke billowing from its head. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I stared up at the wobbling titan. I was out of options.
I patted the dagger strapped to my side, reassuring myself it was there in case I needed to drive it into my leg again.
‘Regis. Let’s do it,’ I said. A simple grunt of affirmation was all I got before a tsunami of knowledge, insight, and—most of all—power, washed over me. The dancing amethyst flame flared around my hand like a glove, eagerly awaiting my instructions.
Hoping that Caera’s guards were too disoriented to pay any attention to me, I thrust my hand upwards, and the cold fire leapt from me to the wounded titan. In mere moments, the beast was engulfed, helpless against this manifestation of Destruction itself.
I could feel the fire eating, greedily taking everything it could get. It was hungry, so hungry even the colossal meal of the titan couldn’t sate it. I didn’t dare withdraw it, though, until I was sure the guardian was dead. I wasn’t quite sure why I wanted to stop the fire, except that I had wanted to do it before I unleashed Destruction. I had been worried about the flames spreading… eating… eating everything.
The aetheric fire was consuming something else, too. Something within me. I was too weak and too tired to think about it. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Not if I just let the fire go where it wished, consume what it wished.
It was there, on the edge of sanity, that I found the word stuck on the tip of my tongue. A sense of epiphany came to me, momentarily clearing my mind. I knew what was missing in Burst Step.
Then the purple flames winked out, and darkness overtook me.
278
Your Name
When my eyes strained open, I was looking up at a domed ceiling, dimly lit by a flickering orange light. That was all I was able to take in before my body reminded me why I had fallen unconscious in the first place. I felt like I was being wrung like a damp towel, like my body had been twisted into a knot and was now slowly trying to unravel itself. The pain of it pushed the air completely out of my lungs
My vision spun and it took me several minutes to even realize that there were other people present. They were talking, but the words seemed far away.
“—anything we can do?”
“Princess will be fine. He just needs some space.”
“Talking Wolf is right, Lady Caera. Since elixirs don’t work on Effeminate One, all we can do is wait.”
“Am I the crazy one here? How have you so calmly accepted the fact that we’re conversing with a wolf made of shadows and purple fire?”
“You were screaming at me to save you just fine back in the convergence zone, Miss Booty Shorts. I don’t see why you’re so baffled by it now.”
“B-Booty Shorts? What are you even—”
“It was fairly obvious that Effeminate One was always cautious. It comes as no surprise that he’s been hiding some of his abilities.”
With the room stable and my wounds only debilitatingly painful now, I managed to prop myself up on my elbows. “I thought I told you to stop calling me Effeminate One.”
“Ah, it seems you’re fully conscious now,” Arian replied. He, Taegen, Daria, Caera, and Regis were sitting around a small fire with a black pot simmering above it. “You’ve had a few seizures like this before so we assumed you’d fall back to sleep again.”
“Where am I?” I asked, trying to sit up. Regis helped by pushing my back with his head.
“You can relax,” Caera answered, her expression a conflicted mix of wariness and sympathy. “We’re in a sanctuary room.”
I inspected the highblooded Alacryan, feeling like I was looking at her for th
e first time. Her navy blue hair was tangled and discolored with dirt and blood. There were dark smudges down her cheek and across her forehead, and her lower lip had been split open and not yet healed. Her scarlet eyes locked with mine, and I saw again the black fire running along her blade.
Black fire just like Cadell and Nico had used.
Swallowing back the emotions I had come to associate with those flames—pain, loss, regret, and anger—I said, “So that giant beast guarding the tower…”
Arian shot me a confident smile. “It seems like your plan to let the beast’s breath attack explode in its mouth worked.”
“Effeminate One’s plan would’ve failed if I hadn’t assisted,” Taegen added, snorting. “Although I didn’t think it would actually work.”
So they didn’t find out. The shockwave from the beast’s breath attack must’ve been strong enough to knock Taegen and Arian unconscious while I utilized the rune of Destruction to destroy the titan.
Since the carallians in the convergence zone disintegrated upon dying, they must’ve assumed the same thing had happened to that colossal beast.
The others seemed curious, even suspicious, but I was relieved that they hadn’t witnessed my use of Destruction aether.
“We all have questions for you, but I think it’s best to get your strength up,” Daria said softly as she handed me a bowl filled with steaming stew. “I heard you’re from the south, but you’ve tasted it yourself. The Lehndert blood is famous for our cooking. These dishes aren’t only delicious, but they have restorative properties, too.”
“This particular member of the Lehndert blood seems to be particularly stingy, however,” Taegen muttered. “Restricting everyone to only two servings per person…”
Daria hissed at Taegen, shooting him a glare. “That’s because you started eating straight out of the pot using the ladle as a spoon!”
“We still have our own rations, Taegen,” Lady Caera said as she calmly withdrew something from her dimension ring. It looked like a moist brown brick with chunks of dried fruit sprinkled in it.
“…Thank you, Lady Caera.” The towering mass of red hair and muscles let out a disgruntled sigh before he bit into the ration bar.
Despite the fact that my body technically didn’t need to eat, my hands automatically reached for the bowl. I let the warmth spread from the bowl and into my palms before taking a sip.
The broth was both rich and hearty, and I immediately felt refreshed. It made me think of days spent watching snow fall through a cabin window with a warm fire at your back and the homey aroma of a cooking pot over the fire. My expression must’ve given away my thoughts, because I looked up to see Daria with a smirk, Caera inspecting me with intrigue, and Taegen staring longingly at the bowl in my hands.
“The power of Lehndert cuisine triumphs again,” Daria said happily. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to have any expression aside from annoyed or deadpan.”
Regis curled up beside me, his purple flames licking coolly at my arm. “He’s a softie once you get to know him.”
After finishing my second bowl of stew, I finally felt ready to continue the conversation. “While your actions were unnecessary, I thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious.”
I patted Regis. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, you’re just going to leave now that you’ve had some rest and a meal?” Daria asked, jumping to her feet.
I regarded the brown-haired ascender. Her mage robes were pulled tightly around her, and the coquettishness she had displayed on our first meeting had vanished. “Is there a reason why we should continue travelling together?”
“You’re powerful—freakishly so—and it's obvious that you haven’t revealed all of your abilities,” Daria answered. “But there are only one or two zones left until the next exit portal comes up. Let’s work together and guarantee we all get back home safely. I’ve already agreed to team up with Lady Caera’s team.”
Despite not meaning to, Daria had just revealed two incredibly important facts. First, that there are multiple exits, and second, that they had already passed an exit portal—or several—before reaching the convergence zone. This meant that I must’ve landed somewhere in the middle of the Relictombs.
Standing up, I gathered all of my belongings. Noticing that the dagger was still strapped to me, I unbuckled it from my waist and handed it to Caera. “I had to borrow it for the last battle. Here.”
She received the dagger without a word, her expression going carefully blank. It was only when I turned to walk away that she spoke.
“Stop,” she said. There was a weight in her voice that she hadn’t used before.
I looked back over my shoulder in time to catch the dagger she threw back at me. “You’ll need those once you get out of the Relictombs.”
I glanced down at the dagger in my hand. There was a golden coin tied to the strap that wasn’t there before. A design of feathered wings spread from a wreathed shield was etched delicately onto the face of the medallion.
“Lady Caera!” Taegen started, but the navy-haired ascender raised a hand and his mouth snapped shut.
“What makes you think I’ll need these?” I asked, my gaze on Caera, who had turned away and was pouring a steaming liquid into her metal cup.
“It’ll be the easiest way to prove yourself without having to reveal your identity in front of all of the kingdom officials waiting for ascenders that come out of the Relictombs.” Caera took a sip before looking at me seriously. “Just say you’re a nomadic ascender contracted under the Denoir Blood.”
I hadn’t considered the possibility of people waiting outside of the Relictombs. It was easy to forget that this wasn’t just some dungeon that adventurers could go in and out as they pleased. One of the fundamental purposes for the Relictombs was to retrieve lost artifacts of the ancient mages, so of course there would be officials to make sure items leaving the Relictombs were carefully regulated.
“What about the dagger? I thought this was your brother’s?” I loosened the medallion tied to the dagger strap, prepared to hand it back to her.
“It is. Which is why I expect you to return it eventually, along with the medallion,” Caera replied. “The Denoir estate will be easy to find once you get to the capital in the central dominion.”
“Central dominion?” My brows furrowed. “I have no plans to—”
“Then do you wish for me to take back the dagger and medallion?”
I clutched the golden coin in my hand. “What makes you think I’ll return it once I’m out of the Relictombs?”
“The Denoir blood has always had a great eye for people,” she stated simply. “You know a secret of mine and I know one of yours. I won’t try to force you to come with us, but I do hope that we can meet again and share a conversation under better circumstances.”
“Wait, you’re just going to let him leave?” Daria stood up. “I still have a simulet that you can hold onto. Once we’re out of here—together—Blood Lehndert can provide you with anything you want. I said this before, but we really are always looking for powerful Strikers.”
“And you also called him handsome,” Regis added.
Daria flushed and pierced my companion with a glare. “Yes, I did. And usually, throwing in a few compliments and exposing some skin works.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to refuse,” I said to Daria. ”As for the medallion and dagger: I’ll return them.”
I met the eyes of both Taegen and Arian. While Lady Caera’s guards seemed a bit reluctant for me to leave, they just gave me a nod.
I made my way toward the end of the sanctuary where a closed door awaited. Opening it revealed a shimmering portal that I knew would take me to a different than the others.
“Your name,” Caera called over the crackling flames.
Turning back, I could see Caera had stood and taken a couple of steps after me. “I don’t need to know what blood you’r
e from, but at least a name…”
It was a simple question that I found difficult to answer. Despite the changes in my appearance, going with Arthur wouldn’t be smart: too many Alacryans would have heard of the Lance with that name during the war.
At the same time, I didn’t want the name I would go by now to be a mere moniker to stay hidden. My motive wasn’t to stay in hiding. Not for long, anyway.
I needed some time under the radar while I got stronger, but this wouldn’t be the same as calling myself Note while I was posing as the masked adventurer.
No. I wanted my name to be a statement that no one else but my relatives, Agrona, and the asuras would know of. And my goal was that, by the time Agrona heard this name and connected it to me, that I would be a foe powerful enough to stand up against his empire.
“My name is Grey,” I answered, walking through the portal.
Regis and I were on full alert as we stepped into the next zone, expecting to be attacked by an army of aether-fueled beasts. I dared to hope that the door would remain, like it had in the first sanctuary. I had been able to unlock that door with my limited knowledge of aetheric runes in order to rest and challenge the level multiple times.
However, we were met with dead silence and a corridor about two shoulder-widths wide, brightly lit by panels of light running along the top of the walls. I turned back to see that the portal we had come through was gone, leaving me with only one path.
“Well, this is eerie,” Regis noted, the dim light of black and purple flames reflecting off the smooth walls as he walked beside me.
“Yeah.” My eyes darted left and right, never resting in one place as adrenaline rushed through me. It was quiet and calm, but there was something about the sterile white light and the immaculately smooth white walls that put me on edge.
As we walked, however, I must’ve triggered something, because runes suddenly lit up on the walls on either side of me, and the corridor lights faded from white to purple.