AbyssalRoadTrip
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Abyssal Road Trip - 447 - New horizons
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 05:22:24 +0000 UTCAmdirlain’s PoV - Barents Sea - North of the Russian plains
With the house packed up, they reappeared on the edge of the ice-covered sea, only to find a blizzard had erupted since their departure. Kadaklan wrapped his arms around himself, clutching his flapping robe about himself.
“This place is far worse than where we were staying. Truly, no Phoenix should be in a place like this,” Kadaklan declared, his teeth chattering despite the enchantments in his robes that shrugged off Norway’s cold.
Sarah handed him a bracelet. “Put this on. It will insulate you.”
He slipped it around his wrist without questioning her and slowly straightened the colour, returning to his lips. The winds slipped by him, leaving his robes untouched. “Thank you.”
Next, she turned to Jinfeng only to find ice shining from beneath the surface of her skin and grunted at the visual indicator of the Ki Infusion effect. A quartz orb appeared in her hand, and when Sarah activated it, the inside glowed and pushed back the swirling snow to let the others see clearly.
With the snow streaming down the side of the surrounding barrier, Sarah held out another bracelet to Jinfeng. “I’ve another bracelet. It will save you maintaining the Ki Infusion.”
With a polite nod, Jinfeng slipped the bracelet about her wrist, then let the shimmering blue beneath her skin fade.
Kadaklan had been peering northward towards the island where they’d fought the demons and shook his head. “Even with the snowstorm, I can sense the lingering corruption here. We can’t leave it untended.”
“What do you advise?”
“The first thing that comes to mind is going through all the tunnels beneath the island with your Phoenix’s Rapture active,” proposed Kadaklan. “Once you’ve seared the worst from stone, things should balance out.”
“Just that?”
Kadaklan hesitated. “I’m not an expert, but this could develop into a nightmarish place if left unattended.”
“Then what needs to be done, and what are the most important aspects to focus on bringing things to order?” asked Sarah.
“The slain demons soaked this place with their blood. We must cleanse the stone so the energy doesn’t attract forces like itself. ”
Jinfeng opened her mouth to protest, but Kadaklan’s stern look stopped her.
“Okay. What’s with that?” asked Amdirlain.
“None of us are exorcists,” said Jinfeng.
“I know the viewpoint possessed by those from the Martial Pavilion,” said Kadaklan. “Unless there is a foe to fight, the problem is outside their responsibility. Yet no exorcist will want to come this far from the centre. If we don’t tend this wound, then it will become a future problem.”
“In a few hundred years, it might be something for others to challenge themselves against,” countered Jinfeng. “If you smooth the edges of everything in life, those that follow won’t learn to watch for dangers.”
“If you don’t tend to infections properly, you risk losing a limb,” argued Kadaklan. “Life has plenty of opportunities for new challenges to develop without deliberate neglect.”
Dozens of Asian ghost stories and horror movies leapt to the forefront of Amdirlain’s mind.
Does it need significant issues like the suicide forest near Mount Fuji, or just a haunted house like depicted in The Grudge?
“What sort of locations can develop into problems? Does it need this scale of events, or can they grow from accidents, suicide sites, and murders? What level of bad vibe does it need?”
“Time allows many things to come to pass if left untended. This place will attract malicious ghosts quickly and continue to strengthen until they are the least of what it gathers. The longer it stays this way, the stronger the site will grow,” said Kadaklan. “Care to play healer?”
“You told me it’s not something to be played at,” huffed Amdirlain playfully. “Though I’m up for a bit of pruning.”
Kadaklan spread his arms helplessly. “Gardener it is then, as you’ve done for Gideon. The land needs to be purified, and I cannot cleanse it with the weight of Yin here.”
“I’ll take care of what maintenance I can. I need energy in opposition to the demonic blood and the corruption of Di Yu. What is it? It didn’t seem like Abyssal corruption.”
Flying through the tunnels is inefficient when I can cast spells using the same energy. Kadaklan isn’t a spellcaster, so his mindset is based on the proximity approach.
“It is not born from the sins of living beings, but the essence of demons. The inhabitants of Di Yu are as cruel as the deeds that draw the dead to those lands,” clarified Kadaklan. “Some say they’re unbridled desires, but desire can inspire insight. I feel the tipping point of the demons is not desire but malicious intent.”
“I can sweep the tunnels out with firestorms of yang energy,” proposed Amdirlain.
“Good. In a harsh place like this, the land will benefit from such energy,” said Kadaklan.
Sarah deployed the house, and the others took refuge inside. As the blizzard wrapped around the house, Amdirlain considered her approach.
With the ongoing storm still dumping piles of fresh powdery flakes, seeking the cave mouth from above seemed pointless. Amdirlain teleported directly to the intersection where she’d held against the first waves. From there, she sent forth swarms of ectoplasmic eyes through the tunnels, identifying all the areas that bore scars from the black veins anchoring into the stone. She chained out the eyes to give herself a perspective through the tunnel system to confirm she had complete coverage of even the tiniest crevices.
I’m immune to Fire, but it’s not elemental flames I want to utilise.
With the network prepared, she activated Phoenix’s Rapture and Ki Body, the Primordial and yang flames layered across her to shield her from what she was about to do. Abusing the line of sight provided by the psionic scrying orbs, Amdirlain unleashed yang firestorms through all the locations, casting so fast the thousands of eruptions from start to end took only seconds to occur. With one set done, she cast again, pouring Mana into hundreds of thousands of spells, ensuring no trace of corruption remained to stain the stone.
The tunnel walls turned molten as Amdirlain’s spells roared through the passages. The initial force of the layered firestorms cracked the stone, and the explosions sent a shockwave of superheated air and flame racing past Amdirlain to the surface. One after another, more openings exploded into steaming vents as the spells continued. She kept casting until her Mana Pool was low and felt the world about her inhale the power into its ley lines. Amdirlain held off drawing in Mana until the rock cooled and the energy flowed from the island.
The inferno that had battered the tunnels had left the walls coated with symmetrical patterns, where rivulets of stone had descended from the ceiling to pool across the once rough floor. Above it, Amdirlain hovered and delicately drew energy from the ley line she’d saturated with excess Mana. Her Mana draw paradoxically jumped despite Amdirlain controlling the draw as tightly as she could, and she clamped down further, letting the energy cycle through her spiritual net before entering her Mana Pool. With her attention on the flowing energy, the entry of the first droplets into her pool came with a notification that sparked brighter than usual across her thoughts.
[Mana Finesse [S] (194->195)
Mana Finesse evolved to Mana Mastery
Mana Finesse [S] (198) -> Mana Mastery [S] (50)
Mana Multiplier progressed from x13 to x15.]
Amdirlain kept the flow under the same tight restraint and continued cycling the energy inwards, ignoring the next few notifications that appeared.
When she returned to the house, Sarah was relaxed on the couch watching a newscast. She lowered the barely audible sound as Amdirlain entered the room.
“And you teased me about not cutting ties properly,” said Amdirlain, sitting beside her.
“I was just ensuring there weren’t any issues with the new training facilities. The narrator of the last show mentioned them being discussed in the news, but it was an ‘expert’ talking head going over the changes you made,” said Sarah as she wrapped her arms around Amdirlain. “Though some places aren’t adapting as well as you hoped.”
“Still no reports of spectres?” Amdirlain rested her head on Sarah’s shoulder.
“Not since you and Gilorn sealed the graves. It was one topic they broached. There have been more debates about building reform.”
“People might want to save the expense of the whitestone, but it also handles Mana flow for their infrastructure,” said Amdirlain. “They’ll need to figure out a replacement for that first. It’s completely someone else’s problem.”
Sarah stiffened slightly before she suddenly grinned. “Let's leave that in that bucket. However, we could benefit from it. I can see potential in them ending up with spare manufacturing capacity. Whitestone holds preset wards, and Qil Tris has a Mana generator system.”
The boundary design appeared in the air before them. Instead of being anchored by metal boundary plates, hexagonal towers dotted the landscape, and external generators fed the wards.
The pair cuddled, quietly discussing possible approaches, and waited for the morning to arrive.
Kadaklan came downstairs first, with Jinfeng right behind him, and they exchanged morning greetings; the smile lines around Kadaklan’s eyes revealed his relief.
“Did you think I’d have trouble?” Amdirlain leaned forward to turn the receiver off.
The sound cut off as the pair headed into the kitchen area.
“I never know what you are going to do.” Kadaklan’s voice faded out slightly as he dug around in the cooler and emerged from the deep freeze with a container of vegetable stew.
The cooking unit in the kitchen buzzed briefly, and the heavily spiced aroma drifted into the lounge area.
“I think we’ll head south in the morning,” announced Amdirlain.
“But the weather here is so enticing,” drawled Sarah. “Why would you want to run away so quickly?.”
“Can the sarcasm you,” grumbled Amdirlain playfully.
Sarah snorted. “Nope, must use the fresh stuff.”
She jumped slightly when Amdirlain’s fingers tweaked a sensitive spot.
“Okay, I surrender. Are you sure nothing further is tugging at your Precognition in these parts?”
“If I missed something, I missed it. I’m not responsible for everything,” replied Amdirlain.
Though there was a slight niggle of self-recrimination, the statement still sat comfortably with Amdirlain.
Jinfeng nodded towards the front door. “Are we going outside to fly, or will the house walk us south?”
“I’ve been scrying south from here and gotten reference points as far as the north coast of the black sea,” said Amdirlain.
“We could just teleport to the east coast of the Mediterranean, where I summoned you to visit the Lómë,” proposed Sarah.
Maybe we should do that, and I could apologise for my behaviour. Do I want to? The Lómë elder viewed me as a child, but it felt like he was scheming to undercut me. It doesn’t change the fact that I behaved childishly. The emotional pain I was restraining only explains so much inappropriate behaviour.
Yet they didn’t know I was in pain until my showing off leaked it past my concealments. I’m still avoiding even thinking of his name. Part of me wants to accept Gilorn’s offer to remove his song altogether, but I’ll stick by my choice and see if he’s learned anything from the song Gilorn performed.
It’s still hard to put the Lómë in perspective; Ori had so much disappointed related to them and the Anar.
“Somewhere warm would be great,” Kadaklan proclaimed.
Amdirlain gave him a teasing smile. “I’ll think about our next stop. It’s just so far we’ve not done any teleporting, and I’d prefer to continue travelling relatively normally. How about we have the house walk us southwards as much as possible while this blizzard lasts?”
“If I’m inside, I’ll take what I can get,” sighed Kadaklan.
“Are you blindly following orders or your perception of them?” questioned Jinfeng as her knife beat out a rapid cadence against the chopping board, slicing up ingredients. “What more did you want in the west?”
“Even if I jump back to Persia, we’re still in the West,” countered Amdirlain. “Yet if I do that, we’ve skipped the Slavic lands completely.”
“Do you think there is more trouble there that needs you poking its nest?” asked Sarah.
“No idea. A wildness now itches under my skin whenever I think about the Slavic territories.”
“Fey.” Sarah’s pronouncement earned a nod from Amdirlain. “Can we skip that region?”
The potential trouble involved in dealing with entities connected to Mab threatened to sour Amdirlain’s mood as possibilities rang within her Precognition. “Fine.”
Kadaklan emerged from the kitchen with a large bowl brimming with stew; he grinned at Amdirlain’s pronouncement. “Warm lands.”
“Feeling a touch peckish?” asked Sarah.
“I hope Klipyl isn’t gone too long,” Kadaklan responded drily. “She has better taste in puns.”
“Is that the only reason you’re missing my little sister?” asked Amdirlain playfully.
“Her absence lessens the energy in the house,” said Kadaklan.
With him not rising to the bait, Amdirlain motioned northwards. “Speaking of energy, can you feel anything to the north of here now?”
Kadaklan smiled wryly. “I’m not an expert, and though it feels gone, I’d still like it if we could get someone to check this place. The cold makes it feel like I’m sensing energy through a thick fog.”
“Do you need Klipyl warming you up?” Sarah asked. “That might clear the fog away.”
Kadaklan primly ignored her and set about eating breakfast.
“Once we get to a monastery, I’ll earn some contribution points,” said Amdirlain.
“Paying someone to undertake an expedition so far out will be costly,” cautioned Jinfeng.
“If we open a Gate for them, that will kill any argument about the hazards of travelling in the hinterlands,” said Sarah.
“A boring inspection instead of the promise of a grand adventure despite the distance,” Jinfeng groaned above the sound of her meal preparations. “You’ll disappoint so many.”
“Has it been a boring inspection with us?”
“It’s been a learning experience,” said Jinfeng. “Sifu has pushed my capabilities far beyond what I expected to achieve.”
“And you even got cooking classes,” drawled Sarah.
Jinfeng laughed. “My family would find it appalling. Imagine being asked to cook and clean in another person’s house.”
“Such a spoiled rich merchant’s daughter.” Sarah sat up haughtily and pretended to look down her nose at Jinfeng.
“At least Sarah knew how to cook beyond the basics,” said Amdirlain.
“I had lifetimes to learn.”
“None of my memories from past lives include cooking, especially with facilities like your kitchen. You spoke of gold and silver dragons blending in with elves,” noted Jinfeng. “How often did you blend?”
“Mainly, I ‘blended’ with the elven families that accompanied the Anar between planets,” clarified Sarah. “They knew who I was, but maintained a polite fiction about it to prevent those outside their communities from learning of my presence.”
“I find it odd for an unenlightened Soul to possess every memory,” said Jinfeng. “While I know you’ve said that Dragon memory is different, even immortals don’t recall everything from every lifetime.”
Sarah smirked. “I’m just weird that way. Let’s blame it on Ori’s meddling.”
Jinfeng looked up from her preparations. “You never said when you first met.”
“It was my first lifetime,” said Sarah. “She was a unique individual and working out the details of her music.”
“A precise yet vague explanation tells me I should keep some questions to myself,” Jinfeng said while mixing ingredients in a bowl.
“It’s a long and messy situation and something we’ve only recently resolved,” allowed Sarah.
“And I’m still a work in progress,” Amdirlain kissed Sarah’s cheek.
Jinfeng inclined her head respectfully. “Was that a Yin attack you used to slay the last of the demons, Sifu?”
Nice subject change.
“I got a new Power that doesn’t relate to Ki. With Yin being considered a consuming force, I can see how it could be taken that way,” allowed Amdirlain. “Why?”
“I wondered if it were a technique you’d be able to trade for a large amount of contribution points,” explained Jinfeng.
A sudden urge for new books niggled at Amdirlain from within her continuing Precognition, and she decided on their course. “Time to seek technique manuals”
Kadaklan raised an eyebrow. “I’d recommend an arrival point beyond the borders of the West Wind’s Kingdom, and we can figure out travel plans from there. Unless you want to stand out, you could stand some practice blending with the locals.”
Amdirlain nodded in agreement and leaned further into Sarah’s embrace.
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
After some energetic discussion, the group teleported to the plains just south of the foothills leading to the Nepal mountain range.
With his brightly coloured robes, Kadaklan was positioned in the middle of the group, with two female monks and one chain-wielding warrior serving as his bodyguards.
“Sifu, I’m not sure you’ll pull this off,” stated Jinfeng.
“Why not?”
Jinfeng shrugged. “What reason would you like? Because you’ll see a farmer being hassled and act? Or because a child will be in danger, or the wind will blow the wrong way.”
“By your own admission, you fail at being subtle, but you still want to try?” asked Kadaklan.
“Some deeds of Ki practitioners are so outlandish I don’t have to be subtle to fit people’s expectations. No, it’s more I want to try for a slice of normalcy before I lose the chance completely,” said Amdirlain, pulling her now black hair into a ponytail away from her Human ears and rounded features. Her appearance was closer to that of Mongolian or Tibetan students than the more angular Persians. “A wandering Monk is a staple of Ki Practitioner tales, right?”
With her hair dealt with, she quickly settled the fit of her grey and black robes.
Kadaklan groaned. “Those same tales have monks fighting impossible odds and monsters at every stage of their travels.”
“That sounds like my version of normalcy,” drawled Amdirlain. “Let’s focus on not leaving a thousand tales behind us. Neither you nor Jinfeng wants me to teleport to the Monastery of the Western Reaches and upset the wards. We’ve got to find the tent city of the West Wind’s Court, so regardless of which I decide, we’ve got to travel overland. We’re storing the house and going on foot to avoid attention, hence I’m not in Elven form. I’ll keep a mental link to Jinfeng to let her guide me about the proper responses to people.”
“The more you complain about the likelihood of this being impossible, the more probable you’ll draw the attention of an Aspect,” noted Sarah. “They’ve shown they’ll play games with Am, so how about we get started? The border village should be along this route. You’re the healer who went off to do his gathering. These two took the job for contribution points, and I’m the friendly hired muscle. Let’s see how long we can stick to that story. “
“Without me giving the entire show away,” laughed Amdirlain. “Shall we take turns leading the way?”
“Might I suggest you please let Kadaklan or me handle the initial contact with the village?” requested Jinfeng. “So you’ve got a reference for the future without me having to guide your every response.”
Amdirlain nodded.
“Have you decided on names?” asked Kadaklan. “Am and Sarah will attract attention.”
“Tuya,” said Amdirlain. “Not that I plan to use it much.”
“Sarnai,” replied Sarah.
“That means rose. You had to go for something involving red?” laughed Amdirlain.
“You’re just as bad, miss ray of light,” huffed Sarah. “Red is merely an option for a rose, not a certainty. It’s bad enough that I need to avoid red clothing.”
“Children,” grumbled Kadaklan, and he motioned northward. “You wear red in town, but red doesn’t suit the disguise you picked for the road.”
“Fine,” huffed Sarah playfully. “Let’s get going.”
“How far is the village?” asked Jinfeng.
“At least thirty kilometres, but we can push the pace,” said Amdirlain.
Comments
AsheHides
I can honestly say that the character growth Am has shown over the course of this book is some of, if not the best, growth ive ever seen in a book. I love how she and her motley crew have changed and cannot wait to see their next shennanigans
James Skinner
TFTC!
CringeWorthyStudios
“Does it need significant issues like the suicide forest near Mount Fuji, or just a haunted house like depicted in The Grudge?” > The ‘suicide forest’ in Japan is actually a really nice forest if you ignore the fact that it’s the location used for the second most suicides in the world. (The highest is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.) Its proper name is Aokigahara Forest and if you look up some photos it’s really pretty and peaceful. Also amazing in winter especially. A little too quiet and eerie but absolutely beautiful. “I think we’ll head south in the morning,” announced Amdirlain. “But the weather here is so enticing,” drawled Sarah. “Why would you want to run away so quickly?.” “Can the sarcasm you,” grumbled Amdirlain playfully. Sarah snorted. “Nope, must use the fresh stuff.” > lmao, that made me laugh. Thanks for the chapter!
