Osamaru Ta
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Book 1 - Lesson 29: "Never assume you see the whole board"
🕑 Added 2023-05-24 20:18:48 +0000 UTCHmmmm. Might have to rewrite this one. Tell me what you all think!
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Ganaa watched from a distance as Ulagan put his spear through another penguin as it tried to crawl out of the small gap in the wall. As a group, they’d plugged most of the gaps the Grassbreakers had found with rubble or penguin bodies. Yet the intruders were relentless and constantly found or made new entry points. Only ten minutes had passed since the battle began, and nearly a dozen Grassbreakers had already slipped into the main temple through alternate routes.
After all, it wasn’t like they were having much luck at the breech. The constant rumbling thunder of the Lord Protector’s assault hadn’t stopped once in all that time. The rate of attacks themselves slowed somewhat, though. Not that they could tell what he was doing; the one time Ganaa had approached to get a better look over the barricade, he’d been stopped by the formation ring. When he’d gotten within a few meters, the red ring had flared to life, with several flowing pictograms showing a clear warning to stay away.
Even from that distance, Ganaa could feel the sheer heat radiating off the Lord Protector. Getting close would have likely ended poorly for anyone without the proper affinities.
Regarding affinities, the survivors were divided on what the Lord Protector’s might be. The Spirit Beast had an obvious strong metal affinity, but beyond that, none could say. The pictures it could produce suggested a powerful light or illusion affinity, but those were exceedingly rare, especially when paired with metal. Its thunderous, lightning-fast attacks suggested it might also have some affinity for that rare subset of air. Yet it would take greater earth affinity than even Ulagan to burrow through the obelisk-reinforced temple floor so easily. Now, it might even have some fire affinity?
Most creatures, human or otherwise, were typically born with a single affinity. Two, if they had some talent. Three was the mark of a genius, and most would be snatched up by the sects or larger clans. Three was also the minimal requirement to be chosen for Grassreader training. More than four? That was the stuff of legends and tales of heroes.
Of course, anyone could use most affinities if they trained hard enough, but it was typically considered a waste. One’s natural affinities came so much easier and cost so much less to use that most people learned only a little more than the basics of other affinities. Certain natural treasures were said to impart natural affinities as well, but such treasures were among the most rare and valuable imaginable. A single such treasure would be enough for the Slatewalkers to buy multiple top-of-the-line [Earth furnaces] with room to spare.
It was also enough for the village to be wiped out by some greedy scion just to get their hands on it.
Most of the group debated which three or four affinities might be the Lord Protector’s primaries. Ganaa, Ulagan, and Kallik shared a knowing look, however. So many affinities were just another check on the list of their progenitor theory.
Whatever the truth might be, there was no doubt the Lord Protector was holding his own. The steadily growing scent of blood in the air was proof enough.
“AHRGH!”
Kallik’s frustrated scream was audible even over the sound of battle.
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Kallik threw down the bloody tool in her hand, even as Zolzaya wiped away the sweat from her brow. Damn the blood bastard who’d invented this heinous thing, damn whoever had given it to the Beast Lord, and damn herself most of all. If only she’d still had both her arms. If only she’d been strong enough to protect her charges. It was always If, if, if.
Had the peaceful life of a teacher really made her go so soft?! What happened to Kallik of the Blood-Stained Grass?
Zolzaya was helping where she could, but the girl was still too inexperienced for something like this. Even working together, they’d only been able to stave off the creeping wires, not push them back. It didn’t help they were feeding off Yutu’s own Spirit energy. Any time they made progress, Yutu’s Spirit energy would recover some, and the invasive metal would chew through it to undo all of their progress. Whoever had modified this strain had done so in a way that none of the typical tricks were working well.
That suggested the alchemist was intimately familiar with it. Changes like this would have taken years and many, many… test subjects. If she’d not seen his head on a spike herself, Kallik would have suspected the Copper Artist had reappeared. Could this be a copycat? Why here? Why now? More importantly, why work with the Beast Lord? What was their end goal?
Kallik pulled her hand down her face, leaving a slight bloody trail, which Zolzaya dutifully wiped clean. The worried eyes of her charges bore into her. How was she going to tell them? How could she tell them she was fighting a losing battle? She could keep peeling away the wires, but eventually, she or Yutu would burn out, and the wires would win.
For the umpteenth time that day, she’d kicked herself for not learning proper healing magic. Healing magic typically converted the target’s Spirit energy directly into mana, fueling recovery, but they were extremely taxing and could cause other issues. An improperly cast healing spell could fuse a bone wrong or form cancers that only appeared years later. They were great for quick battlefield injuries, but pills could have similar results, and you didn’t need an entire team to undo the damage later if something went wrong.
Kallik had always turned her nose up at them. Proper doctors didn’t need such cheap shortcuts.
But now, a healing spell would have worked wonders. With the spell converting all of Yutu’s Spirit energy into mana, they might have been able to make some progress.
Kallik stared out the breech in the temple wall. How long would the battle last? If they could chase away the Grassbreakers, could someone make it to the village and bring another healer? … No, not likely. If the Lord Protector went with them, those left behind would be defenseless. Was that a risk they could take? What… if it was only she who stayed? She could stay behind and keep Yutu stable while the rest rushed to the village.
That… could work. It would be far easier to hide two people in ruins than a group, and the boy wouldn’t make it otherwise. This could be their only chance. With a deep sigh, she turned to the group to tell them her plan, but frozen, the words lost on her lips. There, just out of sight behind the gathered group, a pair of eyes peeked out from the floor.
Not a pair of penguin eyes, but two glowing orbs set on the beautiful face of a young woman. Though smooth as marble, her skin appeared gray and patchy, as if made from the stone floor itself. Her hair was the thick moss carpet that grew in the shady corners. And her eyes, her eyes, were two incandescent onyx gems of alternating black and white rings. Kallik had only seen such a being once before, and she wasn’t sure if they should be relieved… or terrified.
Kallik’s silent, wide-eyed gaze caused the group to turn and investigate what she was staring at. Once they saw the figure poking out of the stone, the closest jumped and hastily retreated. The figure only smiled, sending cold shivers down Kallik’s spine, then glided effortlessly through the impossibly hard stone toward her.
The Greater Earth Elemental stopped just short of the prone Yutu, then pulled herself out of the stone until she was only buried waist deep. A delicate hand that looked like it had been carved by a master sculptor gently caressed the young man’s face.
Kallik’s mind was racing, trying to process this turn of events. Was this the Elemental of the Obelisk? Why was it still around? With the obelisk destroyed, its contract was void, and it should have been free to leave. More importantly, what kind of psychopath would bind a Greater Elemental?! True, Earth Elementals were typically more manageable than others, but the mind of an Elemental was… difficult for a mortal to understand. Like the Beast Lords in the stories, a Greater Elemental might offer you a boon of untold power if you pleased them… or they might kill you for an offense you never knew you committed.
The group stood in ridged silence until the Elemental looked up, a bitter smile on her lips as she spoke in a voice that reminded Kallik of the gentle dripping of water in a vast, echoing cave.
“Well, now. I wasn’t expecting guests. I’d ask you to leave, but that’s not possible at the moment. Besides, it seems we both could use each other’s help. —”
The Elemental stared down at the young man in front of her.
“—How about it, boy? Would you like to make a contract?”
The words were like ice in Kallik’s veins, and she couldn’t help but wonder if this was fate… or a sign of something worse to come.
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The being stirred slowly from its long slumber. How long? It didn’t remember. After all, it was nothing more than a piece left behind. But that breaking had been her own choice, and the consequences were her own. Had she regretted it in the end? Had their gamble failed? Who knew? “She” surely shouldn’t have. “She” should have never been awake…
The being couldn’t even remember why, only that she was supposed to have remained asleep until called on. So what had gone wrong? A quick peek showed the immediate issue. Her anchor was broken. But even that shouldn’t have been enough to awaken her. Anchors had broken before, but they could always renew themselves if given time. So why did this one feel so weak?
Her mind still clouded from her long sleep, the being reached into the broken remains of her anchor… and froze.
It was gone. It was gone?! itwasgoneitwasgoneitwasgone! No! It couldn’t be gone! As if douches by a bucket of ice-cold water, the being snapped to full awareness. In desperation, she scoured the entire anchor multiple times, to no avail. Then she reached out to the rest of “her,” spread across the land.
Three more.
Three more were missing.
Not just them, either, but “her” as well.
What had happened? Why had she been left behind? Had some fool Cultivator meddled with things they shouldn’t, again? No, no, the Watchers should have prevented such a thing. But then, what of her own Watcher? She reached out for the connection with the Watcher. The contract could be passed down even if she’d been asleep for millennia. Yet, she felt… nothing.
Either the contract had been broken… or her Watcher was dead. Either was not ideal. This… was more than a little bad. But what could she do? She was severally weakened, literally just a fragment of her former self. Even if she was to awaken the rest of her, who knew what kind of damage had already been done? If her seal was in this kind of state, what about her siblings? Was everything they’d sacrificed for about to be undone?
She had to check. She had to see for herself.
But how? As she was now, there was no way she should even leave the area, let alone check on the others. Yet she had to. So much rode on it not yet being too late.
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“What do you mean it’s not there?!”
The shadowed figure slammed its fist into the stone pillar beside it, causing the building to convulse.
The small penguin in front of it shook took, but for different reasons, a cold sweat dripping down its beak. Then, its form rippled, and where once was a penguin, now kneeled an old man. When he spoke, his wizened shook under the force of the shadowed figure’s intent.
“I-m Sorry, ma’am, but yes. The child led us to the temple like you suspected she would, but… the piece had already been removed.”
The shadowed figure roared and struck the pillar once more. This time, the blow was powerful enough that the entire pillar exploded into a thousand pieces. The air itself shook with the force of its voice.
“That bitch! She moved it! I know she did! But how?! And to where?!”
The sound of grinding teeth could be heard from the shadows, sending a shiver down the old man’s spine.
“OH! I might have an idea!”
Both of the room’s occupants turned to find a young man leaning in the door well, an ever-present, cheeky grin on his lips.
The shadowed figure squinted their eyes and stared at the young man as they spoke.
“Oh… you’re back. I assume you were successful in sending the hunting dogs after the other target?”
The young man pushed off the door well and nodded.
“Yep! They took the bait surprisingly well. I was expecting more resistance. It seems good old Aunt Metis was better at her job than we expected. In more ways than one, it seems. She always struck me as the sly type, despite the whole happy-go-lucky airhead act.”
The shadowed figure leaned back in her chair and smiled.
“Good. I must say, the timing of it all is quite fortunate. Who would have thought a fallen star would fall right in our backyard just as our plans were put into motion? If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was a sign from the heavens themselves that our work is meant to be. You say you know where she might have hidden it?”
The young man folded his arms and nodded before answering.
“I do. Like I said, she always struck me as the sly type. I don’t doubt she expected we were planning something for quite some time. Otherwise, why move it? Why waste all that time and resources trying to restore the temple? What if the goal wasn’t to restore the temple but to move the object?”
The shadowed figure frowned as they spoke.
“But to do that, she would have needed… Ahhhh, I see. Sly indeed.”
The young man nodded in agreement before continuing.
“Right? Who would have thought Aunt Metis would have done something like that? I have to admit, that’s colder than I would have given her credit for. It would also explain why she worked so hard to get into the Origin sect’s good graces. After all, they were part of the Pact as well, or so the tales say. And it worked; we let it slip right through our fingers without even knowing.”
The two stared at each other, their sharp-toothed smiles mirroring each other. It was the shadowed figure who spoke.
“Not well enough, it would seem.”
