Kano shivered, his body embraced by spine chilling cold. He began panting as he desperately tried to remain conscious. The sound of drizzle echoed louder and louder in his ears. The volcano erupted, allowing for lava to come rushing down.
'Master….your safety has been compromised. It is high time we left lest your wish is to be devoured by the lava. Appeasing my hunger is not of utmost importance, your well-being is.'
Water Art: Discordant Torrent; Absolute Dissonance. The sphereof water that was floating beside him released yet another wave of bullets. He then dashed forward running down the mountain. A desperate attempt to escape the lava.
"Damn it, that bastard is fast," said one of the other candidates, particularly, the one who wielded tidal rift. He sped up, trying to outrun Kano.
Kano held up his blade as two streams formed from the water around his blade. They coiled around the blade, revolving faster and faster.
"He is slowing down," he must be running out of steam.
Kano suddenly jumped forward before pivoting using his right foot. In an instant, he shifted his entire body weight, allowing him to turn 180° before dashing. The coiling water converged at the tip of the blade before he thrust it forward.
"So your intention was a surprise attack! Nice try. Water Art: Tidal Rift; Splitting waves." The candidate's hand became coated in water as he placed his hands beside the drilling water. The water scattered before he parried Kano's blade to his right. "Now, you are done….Water Art: Tidal Rift; Plate shift then Plunge." The water that coated his hands shot up, forming a canopy of water. He coughed out blood before looking to his torso. A blue stripe had barreled through his chest and tightly gripped his heart. "How…" The water turned to aura before the stripe threw him back. He fell into the lava. The stripe then returned to Kano. It formed from his shoulder and extended to roughly three meters.
[Name: Asim Binger] [Candidate Rank: D]
[Attribute: Water]
[Unique Ability: Unknown]
[Point value: 150/ 1000]
'Master…imbuing your soul in such weakened Crystalis is a risk I would rather you not take.'
Is that why you imbued yours before I could add my own…you know that if it broke, you would have died.
'I am a being who possesses not a single soul…survival was guaranteed.'
I see…that's good. A quick counter was the only way I thought I could deal with his Tidal Rift. He was splitting apart my magic. If I was going to win, it had to be when his magic was heightened, his guard raised. In that moment, he would have focused on defense and countering, all I had to do was land the killing blow before he landed his. He thought as he continued running. "Water Art: Discordant Torrent; Absolute Dissonance," he exclaimed as the sphere floating beside him released another wave of bullets. He then sped up before jumping. Water materialized around his blade, forming four streams. They coiled around his blade, forming a bigger mass of discordant torrents. "Now, Water Art evolved…." This technique just manifested itself when I lost control in the forest. My delusional outburst turned into an actual art…a variant of a shifting tide. "Dark Water….Water Art: Discordant Torrent; Storm Surge!" The revolving water accelerated further and further before he began descending.
[By using his unique ability to unify water and shadow, he temporarily grants the water half of shadow magic properties. Particularly, the enhancement abilities on par with that of its counter part, lighting. The sudden increase in force causes a drop in atmospheric pressure around the technique. The sudden pressure drop forces the water to be pulled in several directions, increasing the overall force further. This rapid release of energy generates a Shockwave on impact, changing the wind pattern and influencing atmospheric changes which can lead to weather changes, albeit abruptly. However, Kano is yet to reach that level.]
He thrust the blade into the ground. Generating a Shockwave that shook, bystier and candidates alike. Blood left through his ears, eyes and nose, his palms and arms were completely ripped by the rush of magic through them. When the candidates looked where he stood, he was nowhere to be found. He had used shadow magic to blitzed past them when the impact of the Shockwave was still palpable.
Hey…thanks for reinforcing my body. I don't think I could have moved after landing that. I am spent. Plus…that….Kano fell unconscious in the forest. Under the light of a full moon.
'Master…that art would have ripped your body apart. Why command it when your body can not handle the backlash.'
~
What is this feeling? If I recall correctly, this calm feeling only ever fills me ever so often. At this moment, why am I completely immersed in it?
"…"
"....."
"...."
The name I was called by,was one I could not hear. His voice glitched only at that moment, almost as though to keep me from ever hearing it. "Huh, What's wrong?"
"I am asking if you understood the directive." The man sighed, his gaze was fixed on me. Frightened though it was. His voice, stern as he instructed me. "This is precisely why I loathe your kind. Was it too much to ask for, for you to die during that time of war."
His insults never phased me….I would even go as far as to say that I felt like the insignificance lived not in his words alone but he himself.
"One of the masters from Hollow veil directed you to head to that newly formed kingdom…Conflagra-something. Apparently, one of their towns is being plagued by fog. Apparently, it is black fog and it leaves nothing but destruction in its wake. Your job is to get rid of it. You are a familiar-less shadow. So if it indeed turns out to be a being not of this world. Tame it or eliminate it, no half measures. Even if it means you become a corpse, it is not like you have a family to go back to."
I see…he is one of those people who lost his family during the war. I wouldn't be able to relate to that even if I tried. I lost everything much earlier, and under stricter circumstances. Nothing I did changed that…all I was left with in the end, was a body that never ages.
" ...., Damn it..why did it have to be you of all people? Your attention span is pathetic, I can even tell that you are not paying attention. Do you even understand how serious this situation is?"
"I do," my voice, it's deeper. Wait no, this voice doesn't sound like mine at all. In fact, I am convinced it's not. "But do you? You see, that tone you are taking…I find it rather unpleasant. I would very much like it if you lost your ability to speak ….that way, I would never have to hear that squeaking voice of yours. Shall I help you lose your voice?" I stepped closer as the former stepped back. His expression grew more distressed. I then let out a sigh, "Never mind that. I can always do that later. How long ago was that order sent?"
"Just yesterday, the master is never tidy."
"Then I suppose you are. Thousands of people should have died by now. You are a failure of a senior officer. Hollow Veil's reputation can only be hallowed if the victim count is left to a minimum. But then again, they won't blame you. I will take my leave."
Wow, I used to be rude. The straightforwardness feels in a way alleviating but I know for a fact that one of the masters of Hollow veil sent me there for a reason. He had always poked at the idea of my death. Believing that my death would incite a change so grave it would rewrite the whole concept of existence. What a blatant exaggeration? There is no salvation after death for those who've lived like I have. Only suffering. Besides, he, out of everyone else, knows beyond a shadow of doubt that I can neither age nor die. After all, it's the same for him. Once I died, universal seed would form. He believes that to be true…how disappointing.
I made haste for the central lands, the place where the kingdom of Conflagraflaria was erected. It was truly a closed region, a forest as far as the eye could see. Simple hunts for settlements amidst the forests. This was the age of grand magic. .an era where everyone could hunt a magic beast. And yes, not like the weak bystier of the distant future yet to pass. These beings were calamities, through and through.
The sky darkened, clouds set ablaze by the invading magic. Conflagraflaria's flame magic belt and Allovian star were doing their job. Preventing the land from ever being totally overrun. Flames descended from the sky and nourished the earth, allowing for more giant trees to consume the land. The trees formed a canopy, shielding the kingdom's people from the storm that was yet to come.
I stood, bearing witness to grand level of destruction. The safety of the people weighed heavily on my mind that I decided to follow the fog in the clouds where they now sought refuge.
"It's fine, I will make the clouds go away." I climbed the massive trees, looking down just to see how many people chose to watch anxiously. I made it to the top of the trees and looked up. The rain that poured down eroded my flesh as the cold embraced me. If I never feared death, I could have run away. But I knew I could never die, or rather, I knew it could never happen regardless of how much I wished it would.
A black and blue fog descended from the sky, hungering for my flesh. It devoured me, eroding my body and flesh. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, I a good in awe. Glimpsing at death's door without ever being able to cross through. My body regenerated, extending the hell I was experiencing. The pain I felt would last for a moment felt like it persisted for years on end regardless of the fact that it was only for two days.
But within that time, I understood the fog. It was starved. The woe, anguish, joy lust and even fear of those it trampled were the nourishment it so desperately sought. Born into the world without ever knowing your purpose, bringing nothing but carnage to this world. I could relate, as I was the sole reason the war broke out to begin with. Though, that is ancient history that must never come to see the light of day.
"If you are this hungry, I can be your nourishment. The body that will lead you to experience even greater delicacies. All I ask in return as that you become a part of me, only ever leaving my soul when I ask of you." It could not speak yet, I understood because it destroyed my body while attempting to find my soul. It attached itself to me, becoming an integral part of my soul and the reason why my emotions became defective. I lost all sensation, I felt no pain, no joy, no woe, no desire to love nor to receive it. I became plain, someone who existed solely as he could not die. Walking the earth as I had no home to go back to.
~
Hey….those memories, who were they for? Why do I feel them so deeply as though they were my own?He opened his eyes, looking to the sky. The sky of a dark void he had found himself in. He was floating on water as the fog lay beside him, it's body humanoid as though to mimic his form.
'Master…because those indeed are yours. I wot you have noticed. Your choice of words is changing. You sound less like yourself and more like who you used to be. From the moment you and I first resonated. Parts of you began to fade. You will lose yourself in me…and I, in you.'
So what you are telling me is that, if he was who I used to be, then I am not Calida's brother.
'Do not misunderstand me, Master. You are and the lady Calida shared one mother, one father and even shared one womb at the same time. She is your sister and yet, she is not. You are her brother and yet, you are not. The deeper you dig into who you are, the more the truth will make itself known to you. Calida knows of what your relationship with her entails. Yet, like I, she is forbidden from ever mentioning it to you. You alone must unravel the confusion. Once you do, plunge this world into war. As it was written. Formless.'