A frightening figure barely resembling a living human was struggling for its life under carefully crafted constellations. Drenched in copious amounts of dirty blood, emaciated muscles shivered and expanded with vitality, only to shrivel up again with the next movement. Oceans of nurturing energies continued to revitalize barren deserts while the mysteries of the archaic chanting burned his vitality and potential to complete the next step.


    NINE!!!


    Lil Davie had finally completed the ninth step!


    The first few movements were still considered bearable, but once he reached the fifth, he needed more than just willpower.


    Blood boiled.


    Bones disintegrated.


    Flesh burned.


    Willpower alone wasn’t enough for a mortal to endure the remodeling of their body.


    “Man cannot live without dreams. Immortal hearts cannot beat without conviction. Gods cannot rest without satisfaction.” The deranged sage had preached. “The movement of the Heavens hide the layered secrets of the Origin… embody the world’s will and tread freely between darkness and light…”


    At first, he had payed little mind to the ramblings that were recorded in his mind, focusing on the technicalities of the movements and not messing up the chant that cramped his tongue to pronounce, but as the cycles of destruction and rebirth of his very essence started becoming too much for a teenager to bare, the nonsense didn’t seem so senseless.


    The magical tombs contained knowledge akin to a detailed instruction manual, but the wisps contained a master’s insights. If only the dude didn’t talk in annoying roundabout ways that made lil Davie’s head hurt.


    The Great Heavenly Movement was an ancient art that sought to steal from the heavens and the stars, to seize the ancient light that had traveled the vastness of the universe, to rule over the celestial and become immortal.


    Lil Davie still didn’t know what that fuck that meant, but he was able to sense the presence of a new energy flowing through his body. Starlight was coursing through his veins and nurturing and reconstructing his destroyed body, leaving traces of its essence with every passing. He could feel the starlight becoming a part of him, resonating with his will.


    No longer able to blink away all the filthy blood that dyed his eyes, lil Davie could not see past the crimson haze. Countless times, he thought he could’d continue, his body constantly threatening to betray his trust, and countless times, he dug deep within himself and sought out a little more reason to continue.


    He brought out and burned all his hate and resentment he felt for his own mother and brother, who so casually abandoned them to complete the sixth.


    He brought out all his conviction to live a life they could never dream with a happiness they would never have tasted to complete the seventh.


    He brought out all his hidden selfish desires to be the best, that needed this transformation to soar to untouchable heights to look down at all those that belittled and mocked him to complete the eighth.


    He brought out his ambition to stand by his incredible brother’s side and help him save the world and let the countless innocent souls see a tomorrow to complete the ninth.


    His blood drenched foot planted firmly, and despite his body’s agonized wails for rest, he didn’t pause as he began the movements for the final step.


    Only one point of his body had yet to go through a cycle of destruction and rebirth. Even his heart had been repeatedly ruptured and reformed from the seventh to ninth steps. With a single step remaining, the last thing left was his brain.


    Davie was going to have a very intimate conversation with his bro about reasonable expectations.


    ----


    A child was running through the darkness, the echoes of her clumsy steps screaming violently back at her as tears and snot marred her pretty features.


    She was alone.


    She was lost.


    She was cold.


    She was so scared.


    She wanted someone to save her.


    Someone to make the darkness go away.


    Someone to hold her tight and give her warmth.


    Someone to make her feel safe.


    Because she couldn’t do anything.


    Because she was just a little girl.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Because she wasn’t good at anything.


    Because she was just a burden.


    Because she was not loved.


    “…no.”


    That’s why her father left her.


    That’s why her sister left her.


    That’s why everyone would leave her.


    “…no.”


    No one cared if she was in pain.


    No one cared if she was sad.


    No one cared if she was dead.


    “…no.”


    Everyone thinks she’s ugly.


    Everyone thinks she’s stupid.


    Everyone thinks she should die.


    “…NO.”


    Davie doesn’t love you.


    “NO!”


    Something shattered. She knew this because she felt it. The whispers and visions broke away like glass and the feelings of anxiety and fear faded like a lie, only a lingering bitterness remaining.


    In this place of blankness where not even her five senses existed, she recognized a malevolence. A vague presence that felt like a heavy shadow was exerting its power to break her spirit, and she had survived the first round.


    The Void.


    A place that both did not exist, yet found in every corner of existence, where the normal laws of creation held no sway.


    It didn’t want her to be there.


    She remembered the teachings of the lady elf contained in the wisp and began speaking in a language that sounded like music, strengthening her mental fortitude and lightening her spirit. It started in a low registry with a series of clicks and whistles and coursed through several melodies before accelerating into spirited chants that differed with every repetition. It was a strange language expressed in emotions and melodies that made no sense until the full thought was stated. This particular song took many verses and lines and many minutes to express and held a single thought.


    “I am.”


    Lost in a place where lost things vanished, it was a declaration. She was Lily Khis, proud daughter of Mary Khis and future bride to Davie Guard. So fuck off!


    Lily opened her ‘eyes.’ She ‘saw’ the malevolence. A chaotic swirl of screams of hate, fear, and despair. In a place where all things faded, only the most powerful elements remained and gathered into something pitiful.


    The wisp of Lady Cynth shared her views on the best practices of ‘Taming the Void’. She had approached the task as an indomitable conqueror. The sheer hate that boiled for the despicable traitors that cast her into the void drove her into a madness that actually helped to preserve her identity from being stripped by the void. It made her strong when she should be weak and bright, when she should be fading, and after a titanic confrontation between mortal and immaterial, Lady Cynth had used her boundless pride to bind the Void to her service. She was the OG queen of badass bitches.


    Lily saw it a bit differently though.


    She saw something pitiful shivering in fear and pain. It reminded her of the first time she met Jun.


    The start of the second verse was supposed to be loud and domineering, but Lily didn’t feel comfortable with that, and following her heart, she started softly. Magic flowed with the harmonies and intentions, and the healing tune ended and completed its thought.


    “You are.”


    The malevolence had stilled. The screams were held and emotions calmed. While Lady Cynth demanded service, Lily offered a heartfelt prayer.


    You have suffered enough. You are free. Rest.


    Lily opened her ‘eyes.’ She ‘saw’ the coagulation of filth calm and fade away, and she was happy. But, wait. Wasn’t she supposed to tame that thing?


    ----


    Those of the Martial Paths distinguished themselves from the others in their interaction with the laws. Sorcerers and rune masters sought out the truths of the laws to manipulate reality, while martial masters were enlightened to the laws by breaking them. The swordsman didn’t need to study the laws of earth and fire to take burning steel and slice the heavens.


    Body refiners of the Marital Path did not aim for an indestructible body like pure body refiners, but to build a physique suitable for martial arts and fortify a mind that could withstand demons as a foundation for enlightenment. The path of violence could be walked in infinite directions, and depended on how it was walked as much as who was walking it.


    Mary Khis had been a member of a small Guild with less than fifty members in her youth. She had been a talented newcomer that was closing in on her third cleansing at a young age with many expectations on her shoulders, which was fine, because she thirsted for it. She had a dream of one day becoming a Ranker and gaining fame and fortune and leaving the mundane world behind to walk with giants. Even when her former comrades advanced ahead and others dropped behind, she held onto her convictions and went on one more hunt.


    Then her best friend and teammate, Camilia Towers, introduced her to a man that was destined to shatter her heart. He swept her off her feet with honeyed words and made her sacrifice in quitting her dreams to start a family into a beautiful expression of love before making it all a joke.


    A sword thinner than a cicada’s wing danced through the wind, desperate to conquer it, yet continuously failed to even get its attention.


    Mary was falling again.


    The Falling Leaf was a free thing, eager to travel the sky as it pleased with the wind as its companion.


    Mary was not free.


    Shackles of anger, frustration, and insecurities weighed down her sword. She could feel how it should be, but was always a little off.


    Too slow, too shallow, too rapid, too erratic.


    The wind, feeling the dancer’s agitation, grew impatient, fighting for control of the flow.


    Mary swung her sword with a murky heart.


    The wind brushed her aside.


    Mary was falling again.


    This time, she didn’t resume her practice. Recognizing that she was too impatient, she closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling the air slip past her in her perpetual fall. The deluge of energy bursting from her core finally had a chance of catching up in repairing her worn out body from excessive cultivation.


    She could feel herself at the cusp of her third cleansing, threatening to breakthrough with the slightest exertion, but was stopped each time by the Falling Leaf Sword Dance reforging her foundation. When her foundation was reset, she knew instinctively that she would breakthrough to the third.


    The wisp of consciousness did not teach her through words. The misty green apparition of the mysterious master smiled, a refreshing grin full of teeth and sincerity. She didn’t say a thing. She just danced.


    The First Sword Dance of the Falling Leaf, The Unfettered Wind.


    Gleams of passing sword strikes flashed all around like falling leaves, while the figure in the center of the glittering storm moved slowly and gracefully, her sword deceptively tame.


    She looked like a goddess.


    A goddess couldn’t be shackled. Not by a lowly man like Tony. Not by a snake like Camila.


    She would cast them out of her life as undeserving trash and move forward refreshed, ready to bless others with her presence.


    She wouldn’t just sit around and watch her child stray and ruin her life. She would drag her back and beat the fear of the goddess back into her.


    A casual wave and a gleam flashed in the distance, too far for Mary’s sword to physically reach, but in the next moment, with another wave, there was more. From flashing in ones and twos, the number of gleams continued to stack. Mary swayed to her own music, her sword drifting with her, showing no signs of cutting the air, yet the gleams of falling leaves still increased around her.


    The wind conceded, and a swordsman found her next step.