《Honey and Poison- Cradle (By Will Wight) fanfiction》


 Policing Actions

    Iteration 00645 Earth


    Police actions¡­ That is what those invaders decided to call it. How dare they? As if their assault on innocent lives was merely an exercise in maintaining order. The words dripped with arrogance, a flimsy shield to deflect the weight of their atrocities. They could not bear the responsibility for their own actions. Yet here he was, facing the consequences. His heart was heavier than the body wrapped in white cotton, and he gently lowered it into the earth. His grandson''s small form disappeared beneath the dark soil, each handful a cruel farewell as he said his final goodbyes.


    He stared at the pale white as dirt began to swallow it. His hands trembled, and his knuckles were raw and bloody from digging.


    "Should''ve been me," he whispered, shedding a tear hot with anger and grief.


    A hand rested gently on his shoulder. "Sinar," the man, his best friend Akhan, whispered behind him, having finished helping to bury the child. "We need to go."


    Sinar did not move. "Go where?" his voice broke. "My family is all dead. Our village was reduced to ashes by their flamethrowers. Men, women, and children gunned down like animals." His eyes fixed on the grave, the weight of his loss pressing on his chest.


    "We rejoin the army. We take the fight to them. Make them answer for this," Akhan waved at the grave. "This wasn''t somepolice action. This was a calculated massacre. This wasmilitary aggression!"Akhan seethed as he spat out his words. He took a moment to calm himself. "Let''s get back out there. Just like old times."


    "Akhan," Sinar said, shaking his head. "We''re old now. Our fighting days are behind us."


    "Then we use what little time we have left and die killing them," Akhan replied, gripping the shovel in his hands tightly. "But we need to go. Two men alone in this jungle will be happily gunned down by their patrols."


    Sinar took a moment to stare at the patch of dirt among the grass, strengthening his resolve. "Then let''s go die. Let''s make them bleed even if it''ll cost our two old lives."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Forward without fear!" Akhan yelled as Sinar sprung to action, jumping out of the bushes they were hiding. Their target was a convoy of enemy trucks struggling through a rugged, narrow path. The pothole they had created had done its job.


    Sinar darted towards the first soldier he saw with a blade in his hand. The soldier was a young man, barely more than a boy. Raising his rifle too slowly, Sinar''s blade sliced through his arm. The young soldier screamed in anguish.


    "You should''ve never come back, little boy!" Sinar spat before driving his blade through the soldier''s chest. A fleeting thought passed through his mind: somewhere, the boy''s parents would be devastated for their child would not be returning home. But the memories of Sinar''s children and grandchildren, lifeless and wrapped in white cloths, crushed any mercy.


    Before Sinar could turn to face the other soldier, he heard an explosion and instantly knew Akhan had achieved his task. Sinar was thrown away by the force of the blast. He lay still on the ground, awaiting the bullets that would be coming to quicken his death. He and Akhan had achieved their target, contributing to their small part of a bigger goal.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Iteration 110 Cradle


    Current time


    Wei Shi Lindon had died. He had felt the cold grip of finality when he saw his legs lying next to him. And then, impossibly, a messenger from the heavens descended and made him whole again, stitching his body together. Now he had a goal: find the sword sage''s apprentice and leave Sacred Valley to save it. Thirty years. That was all the time he had before the dreadgods would come and destroy Sacred Valley.


    Lindon stood at the centre of the arena. Everyone was silent, and hundreds of eyes fixed on him. Most were filled with scorn and disdain.


    Lindon bowed to the box with representatives of the four schools. "Honored elder of the of the Heaven''s Glory School! This one begs for one more chance to prove himself!"


    The crowd erupted, with hundreds of protests and outrage at what Lindon had requested. Some even laughed at the audacity.


    In the box above, a boy dressed in white and gold stared Lindon down with cold, calculating eyes. The boy stood; he was short, but he stood tall. The arena went silent almost instantly. The elder''s gaze bore into Lindon. A drop of sweat ran down Lindon''s head at the cold eyes staring at him.


    The elder spoke a single word. His voice was as high as a child his age would be, but it carried both strength and experience. "Why?" he asked.


    Lindon swallowed hard. "Wei Jin Amon is to become a disciple of your school. If this one manages to force him out of the ring or make him admit defeat, surely this one has demonstrated his own value. I request a place in your school under these conditions." Lindon spoke out loud nervously.


    The boy elder did not hesitate. "No."


    Lindon''s hopes died with one simple word. He was about to make another plea, but the elder spoke again.


    "I''ll allow you a place in our school," the elder announced, the crowd murmuring in surprise. "But the one you''ll be facing isme."


    A collective gasp swept through the arena. Lindon silently baulked at what the elder said. His right hand fidgeted on the glass marble in his pocket. Before he could answer, the Wei elder intervened.


    "Forgiveness, Elder Whitehall," the Wei elder stepped forward, his disapproval clear. "This unsouled needs to learn his place. When we return to the village, I''ll discipline him for his transgressions."


    "I do not remember speaking to you, Elder," Elder Whitehall said coldly, his gaze never leaving Lindon.


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    "I accept," Lindon replied before he could think twice.


    Behind him, he heard his sister, Kelsa, gasp. "Lindon, what are you doing? He''s a Jade!"


    Kelsa continued to speak but Lindon was no longer listening. He stared nervously back at the small elder.


    "Based on how you''re staring at me," the elder said, a faint smile formed at the corner of his lips. "It seems you think you stand a chance."


    Lindon did not.


    "Of course not, Elder Whitehall. This one is simply honoured to have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from a powerful Elder like you." Lindon tried to appease the Elder. He did not even need to lie. The fear in his voice was genuine. But this Elder was not so scary when compared to a dreadgod.


    Elder Whitehall did not reply. Instead, he leapt from his platform, landing in the arena in front of Lindon. He stared at Lindon calculatingly and frowned.


    "Defend yourself," the Elder said. And he attacked. Fast.


    Lindon saw the fist coming towards his face and lifted his arms to block. His forearms broke, followed by his nose. Loud gasps of shock came from the crowd. Some were satisfied that the unsouled was put back in his place, while others scoffed that a Jade Elder was beating down an unsouled.


    Elder Whitehall said nothing to the audience as he stood over Lindon. "Do you admit defeat? There is honour in knowing when you are beaten."


    Lindon tried to get up, but his legs were swept under him immediately. With his face lying on the arena floor, he muttered silently. "No," he first said to the Elder. "Be free."


    The emerald hornet remnants shattered their prison underneath the arena."Attack."As one, the swarm of remnants attacked Elder Whitehall. The Elder, caught by surprise, took a step back. But he was a Jade and recovered quickly. Scorching streaks of light tore through the remnants one by one until none was left.


    Lindon lay on the arena floor with his arms broken and his legs refusing to move. Lindon watched through one eye as the elder approached him and bent down close. Lindon thought he saw a smirk.


    "What''s your name?"


    "Wei Shi Lindon," Lindon answered, attempting to lower his head in respect. But even that sent a spike of pain.


    "Eat," the Elder spoke softly so only he could hear as the Elder placed a hand over Lindon''s mouth.


    Lindon felt a tiny ball cupped in the Elder''s hand and swallowed it. From the outside, it looked like the Elder was silencing Lindon. Lindon felt a spike of madra entering his core before he lost consciousness.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Lindon woke up slowly, blinking his eyes to clear his vision. He expected sharp pain all over his body and was surprised he found none. He tried to move his arms but found them to be tightly wrapped in scripted bandages and in a sling. The sun shone brightly above him. He shuffled slightly, feeling softness underneath him.


    "Good morning, sunshine," a high-pitched voice called out to him.


    Lindon, recognising the voice, immediately sat up and tried to bow. Not realising he was on a thousand-mile cloud, he fell. With his arms tightly bound in a sling, he fell face first. Lindon recovered quickly, ignoring the brief pain, and bowed. "This one greets Elder Whitehall. Please forgive this one for wasting the resources of the Heaven''s Glory school and the precious time of the Elder."


    Sitting on a carpet by a small table, the Elder chuckled and then began to laugh. Lindon, caught on the wrong foot by the Elder''s laughter, simply remained bowing.


    Elder Whitehall continued to laugh for some time before stopping. "You''re a funny boy, Wei Shi Lindon."


    Lindon, still unsure of what to do, bowed deeper.


    "Oh, stand straight, you fool," the Elder ordered.


    Lindon complied immediately.


    Elder Whitehall watched his face. "Damn," the Elder said. "Your face does make you look like someone looking for a fight."


    Lindon was about to bow again and ask for forgiveness, but the Elder waved it away. Elder Whitehall picked up a paper from his desk and began to read. "Wei Shi Lindon, son of Wei Shi Jaran and Wei Shi Seisha, and younger brother of Wei Shi Kelsa. Born an unsouled and tried to cheat his way to a badge several times, it seems."


    Lindon could feel his sweat slowly dripping, and that was not due to the temperature.


    "And yet here you are, a Heaven''s Glory school student."


    Lindon had to take a moment to let the words sink in. "You took me in as a student?" He asked, forgetting all sense of proper decorum when speaking to his betters.


    "Yes, I did," Elder Whitehall replied, placing the paper he held back on the table. "Do you know why disciple?"


    "This one does not dare to claim to understand Elder''s wisdom," Lindon bowed.


    "The Elder commands the disciple to seize bowing," Elder Whitehall said, annoyed.


    Lindon immediately straightened. Feeling very uncomfortable by the height difference, he lowered his head slightly.


    The Elder looked up to meet Lindon''s eyes. "Because you refused to bow to your betters and admit defeat."


    Lindon really did not know whether this was a compliment or a warning. His sweating redoubled.


    "Because you have the mind to find and do whatever it takes to win." The Elder smiled. "Even if it means cheating."


    Lindon''s sweating tripled.


    "But tell me, Lindon," the Elder continued. "What is driving you to these extremes?" The Elder asked curiously. "And don''t lie to me; I''ll be able to tell." Then, the Elder''s face grew severe. "And I hate liars!"


    Lindon was sweating so profusely that he would not fault anyone for thinking he was a water construct. Lindon thought of Suriel, the heavenly messenger. Whatever she saw, she must have known that he could go through this.


    "A heavenly messenger showed me the destruction of Sacred Valley," Lindon muttered quickly before he could begin to overthink and prolong the awkward silence. He told of the coming of Li Markuth, Suriel, how she reversed time, the dreadgods, the monarchs, and what he''ll need to do next to save Sacred Valley. Everything else he kept secret.


    Lindon thought Elder Whitehall would accuse him of being mad or even a liar. Instead, the Elder remained silent as he listened, stopping Lindon occasionally to clarify certain things.


    "Forgiveness if this one''s story is unbelievable. But this one swears he has been telling the truth," Lindon added.


    "Honey and Poison," Elder Whitehall muttered softly, clenching his fists. "And what did the heavenly messenger say you must do now?"


    "I need to leave the valley," Lindon said.


    "Because there you''ll be able to reach gold," Elder Whitehall finished Lindon''s sentence.


    ''Beyond Gold'' was the right answer, but Lindon did not correct the Elder.


    "Here," Elder Whitehall threw a small piece of wood at Lindon. The wooden piece hit Lindon''s chest gently, and Lindon fumbled to catch it. "Bring it to the lesser treasure hall. You can exchange it for an item there."


    "This one is grateful for Elder Whitehall''s benevolence," Lindon bowed.


    Elder Whitehall ignored Lindon, gesturing him to get going.


    Lindon did not move away. He looked left, right, then behind him.


    "Why are you still here?" Elder Whitehall snapped.


    Lindon stood to attention. "Umm, Elder. I don''t know where we are," Lindon nervously said, not even knowing which mountain he was on.


    Elder Whitehall raised his eyebrows. "Oh."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall faced the tall white tower standing before him in the dead of night. He entered the tower silently, carefully veiling his spirit to remain undetected.


    He counted the steps one at a time as he climbed the spiral staircase up Elder Whisper''s tower. He lost count after the first four hundred. He reached the top of the staircases and faced the door to Elder Whisper''s chambers.


    Whitehall knocked on the door three times before cycling his madra, releasing it lightly against the door lock. The lock spun open, and Whitehall pushed. Elder Whisper lay on the ground on his belly behind the scripts on the floor, watching Whitehall enter.


    "Isn''t this a surprise," Elder Whisper drawled, his voice a low, melodic murmur. "Returning so soon, only a day after leaving the Wei clan territory. Surely, you aren''t here just to visit this old fox?" His purple eyes twinkled, and his tails flicked lazily.


    Whitehall placed a wooden bucket in front of the Elder Whisper. The scent of fresh fish filled the room. "I have questions I felt only you would know the answer to." He gestured towards the bucket of fish. "I brought snacks."


    Elder Whisper chuckled, "You know how to keep an ancient fox entertained after all." The fox reached out and swallowed one of the fish whole. "Go on, I''m listening."


    "How do you reach Gold?" Whitehall asked, his voice carrying a hidden desperation.


    "I see your ambition never faded after all," Elder Whisper said, his sharp eyes narrowing. Whitehall could swear Elder Whisper was smirking. "And here I thought you learned your lessons already? Your body certainly did."


    Whitehall''s jaw tightened. "Yes," Whitehall answered, not bothering to respond to the rest of what Elder Whisper said. "Mistakes were made, mistakes that I intend to correct."


    Whitehall''s lifeline was in shambles, and he could feel it. The sword sage could have helped him, but that path was closed now. But gold, gold would save him. He had read that advancement would always enhance the body.


    "Please," Whitehall bowed at the waist. "Tell me how to reach gold?"


    A soft rustle came from his right. Another Elder Whisper materialised, identical in every way to the first. "And what makes you think I know the answer?" he asked.


    Whitehall did not falter. "You''re older than even the oldest man''s grandfather in Sacred Valley," he answered, still bowing. "If anyone would know, it would be you."


    A third Elder Whisper emerged to his left. "I can tell you one thing," it said.


    The first Elder Whisper, still devouring the fish, turned his gaze upward. "As you are now, you''ll never reach Gold."


    Whitehall grimaced. "I expected that. Tell me what I need to do."


    "Why should I?" The second Elder Whisper sneered, circling Whitehall. "Aren''t you the brightest young talent in this whole valley? The young striker who rose to become the youngest elder of Heaven''s Glory school. The one rumoured to have bested the School''s Patriarch in a spar."


    "Rumours are just rumours," Whitehall replied. "And to answer your first question. Honey and Poison."


    All three Elder Whisper turned their attention to Whitehall, sensing there was more to Whitehall''s words.


    "Elaborate," the first Whisper said. "If I find it interesting," Whisper left it at that.


    Whitehall stood straight and took a deep breath. "It''s a saying from when I was growing up. They say fate always has two hands behind its back; one holds honey, and the other holds poison. We''ll never know which one shall be handed to us. I believe I have been handed the honey so far," Whitehall clenches his fist, and his voice dropped into a whisper. "But the poison is on its way."


    Elder Whisper''s eyes gleamed. He leaned closer, tails flicking. "Interesting indeed."

 2. Bastard

    Whitehall left the base of Elder Whisper''s tower in his thousand-mile cloud. The sky was still dark except for the light from Samara''s ring. He was not sure if only a few hours had passed or if it had already been more than a day. Being around Elder Whisper had distorted his sense of time. He hated illusions, but he had learned to respect its power. Elder Whisper had given answers to Whitehall''s questions, albeit infuriatingly vague. That ancient fox either enjoyed speaking in riddles or had turned senile and knew less than what it wanted everyone else to think.


    As he approached Heaven''s Glory above Mount Samara, he heard the distant echoes of shouting. The school buzzed with chaos. As soon as he landed, he intercepted and grabbed a disciple passing through. The disciple had an iron badge with a shield carved onto it.


    "What happened?" Whitehall asked, his voice was steady, but the girl flinched.


    "I... I don''t know Elder Whitehall," she gulped, nervous from suddenly being yanked by an Elder. "Word is there''s been an attack. Elder Rahm was injured."


    Whitehall released the girl and immediately sped towards the Medicine Hall. He smelled blood and medicine as he got close. Inside, he found Elder Rahm being treated by a healer. Cuts covered all over Elder Rahm''s body and one of his arms was ruined.


    "Who did this?" Whitehall demanded. He could tell the healer wanted to protest, but something told her she should not.


    "The Unsouled," Elder Rahm panted. "And the Sword Sage''s disciple."


    "Bastard," Whitehall cursed. "Did they mention where they''re going?"


    "They flew towards the ancestor''s tomb," Elder Rahm said between ragged breaths. "I''m sure that''s exactly where they went. She probably thinks her master is still alive."


    Without another word, Whitehall turned and left the medicine hall. He released his Thousand-mile cloud and launched into the night towards the Ancestor''s Tomb. As he approached, he first saw a male and female Heaven Glory jade meant to guard the tomb sprawled on the ground like discarded dolls. Then he saw a battle between the Sword Sage''s disciple and a silver humanoid remnant. The remnant was so lifelike that he had to take a second look to ensure it was not the Sword Sage himself.


    As he landed, the remnant of the male guard began to rise, and Whitehall sent a beam of light to destroy it. He approached the body of the female guard first, pressing two fingers on her neck. She was still alive, yet barely.


    "Swallow," he ordered, placing a pill against the woman''s lips. The woman hesitated. "Hurry if you want to live." She finally complied and swallowed. Whitehall, too small to carry her, dragged her body into a hut nearby, placing her inside.


    As he stepped outside, he noticed Lindon with a large pack on his back, hiding behind a boulder, watching the fight between the remnant and the Sword Sage''s disciple.


    Whitehall fired a beam that singed the stone next to Lindon''s head. Panicked by the sudden attack, Lindon yelped and fell backwards against the boulder as he turned to face him.


    "What is the meaning of this, Wei Shi Lindon?" He demanded.


    Lindon raised his hands in surrender. "Elder Whitehall. This one is helping Yerin to absorb her master''s remnant to advance to gold."


    Whitehall took a moment to digest what Lindon had just said. "I see." Anger rose in Whitehall''s belly. "And which part did it require you to maim Elder Rahm?"


    Lindon put his fist together and bowed. "Apologies, Elder Whitehall. There was a... misunderstanding. Elder Rahm attacked before we could explain."


    Whitehall''s jaw clenched. Of course, Rahm would do that. There was a reason he was placed to guard the treasure hall instead of being sent out. He tended to be hostile towards everyone who was not part of Heaven''s Glory.


    Whitehall considered the situation. "I''ll make you a deal. I''ll leave the apprentice to advance unmolested. But once she absorbs the Sage''s remnant, you both leave."


    "Of course, venerable elder." Lindon bowed deeper. "This one can only thank the Elder for his generosity."


    "Ugh," Whitehall expressed his tiredness as he approached the boulder and knelt behind it next to Lindon, watching the fight between the disciple and the remnant.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He was amazed at what he saw. The fight was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was so fast that he could only see sparks from the clashing swords. He previously felt that he did not stand a chance against the Sword Sage''s disciple, and now he knew it for sure. Then, with his two own eyes, he saw the disciple advance. It was a slow process, but each time the remnants and the disciple''s swords clashed, part of the remnant was absorbed into the disciple''s spirit. Slowly, the remnant''s body grew fainter, more transparent. The disciple''s advancement was complete as the remnant was finally fully absorbed. The disciple stood tall; a silver sword arm gleamed as it grew from her shoulder.


    She turned her attention to Whitehall.


    "I know you," she pointed her sword at him. "You were one of them. The ones who killed my master."


    Lindon slowly turned to face Whitehall, gulping nervously.


    "Your boyfriend and I made a deal," Whitehall said. Lucky for Yerin, the blush of her cheeks was covered in blood. "I leave you to advance unmolested; in return, you two shall leave immediately."


    "Unlucky for you, I did not make that deal," Yerin said defiantly, still pointing her sword at Whitehall.


    "Reinforcements are on the way," Whitehall said. "You don''t have much time left. You may kill us all eventually. But Lindon over here," Whitehall pointed to Lindon with his thumb.


    "Please don''t leave me here to die," Lindon winced, begging Yerin.


    After a moment, Yerin sheated her master''s sword. "Bleed and bury me!" She cursed. "You better hope we never see each other again," she pointed at Whitehall with her finger. "Next time, I''ll cut you."


    Lindon immediately summoned his thousand-mile cloud and flew towards Yerin, hauling her up through sheer strength. "Forgiveness, Elder Whitehall!" he yelled, flying away as fast as possible. "She didn''t mean it!" Yerin said something in protest, but she did not fight Lindon''s hold. And soon, the thousand-mile cloud disappeared in the distance.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall watched the entrance of the Ancestor''s Tomb. The entrance had collapsed entirely, sealing the Sword Sage''s body inside. Many of the School''s Elders had hoped to find the Sage''s treasures, believing he had brought them to his grave. Whitehall thought otherwise. Credible eyewitnesses mentioned that the Sword Sage carried no pack or chest as he entered the tomb. The Sage must have hidden it somewhere only the apprentice could find. Judging by the size of the pack Lindon was carrying, Whitehall reckoned he was right.


    Whitehall cursed the Sword Sage silently. If only that man treated the people of Sacred Valley with more care and respect, then maybe he would not be dead and buried. All that is left for Whitehall is to do it the hard way.


    Whitehall made his way to the guard hut, finding the jade he had saved awake and leaning against the entrance wall. She pressed her fists together and bowed.


    "This one thanks the Elder for saving her," she thanked Whitehall.


    Whitehall closed the door behind him and sat on the floor, his back resting on the door. "What''s your name, disciple?"


    "This one is called Nasiri Sadi," the disciple bowed.


    Whitehall recognised that name. "You related to Elder Nasiri?"


    "He''s my brother," she answered, and an emotion Whitehall could not discern flashed across her face. "Was my brother," she corrected.


    ''Of course, she''s related to that idiot of an elder.'' "I''m sorry for your loss," Whitehall said.


    Sadi looked nervous as if she had something she wanted to say or ask, but she did not dare. "Thank you, Elder," she said after a moment of silence.


    Whitehall crossed his legs, sat down, and began cycling. He replayed the apprentice''s advancement in his mind.


    "Umm, Elder." Sadi started softly. "Did you kill the apprentice?" she asked, watching Whitehall''s clean robes and comparing them to her tattered ones.


    "No," Whitehall answered a matter of factly. "I let them go."


    Sadi winced.


    Whitehall opened his eyes. "You think it was cowardice?"


    "I wouldn''t dare to," Sadi began speaking but was cut off by Elder Whitehall.


    "She killed every iron our school sent after her and bested two jade guards of the Ancestor''s Tomb, including you. And a few moments ago, she had advanced to gold."


    "Gold!?" Sadi exclaimed. "I wouldn''t dare to question Elder''s judgement, but surely Elder could be mistaken."


    Now that she mentioned it, Whitehall resigned and began to laugh. He had gained so much new information today, so many new things he had witnessed, and so little time to process it. "I know what I saw, Nasiri. If only you could''ve seen it. She absorbed her master''s remnant into her spirit and grew a sword arm."


    Sadi said nothing, processing what the Elder had just said.


    Whitehall, exhausted as he was, did not bother with formality. "I''ll tell you something for free, Sadi. Outside Sacred Valley, gold is nothing. Even a child can be gold. We call those people barbarians, but they see us as insects. It makes sense now why the Sword Sage didn''t care for us."


    Nasiri did not like what she heard. Her whole life had been dedicated to her advancement, and now she was told that a child in the outside world easily achieves more than she ever had.


    "What do we do now, Elder." She asked.


    "We wait for the reinforcement from the School," Whitehall answered.


    "That was not what I meant," she scoffed and regretted it immediately. "Apologies, this disciple had putten her words wrongly. This disciple wants to know ... "She was not sure how to put the right words together.


    "I know what you mean, Nasiri Sadi. I have plans, of course," Whitehall said.


    I , she noticed he used. This meant Elder Whitehall had no interest in involving the school. "May I know what your plan is?"


    Whitehall eyed her. "And why would you want to know that?"


    Sadi clenched her fists. "The apprentice swatted me like a fly. She didn''t need her sword to cut my staff in half."


    "You want revenge?" Whitehall asked.


    "No," Sadi shook her head. "I don''t want to feel helpless. So if your plan involves advancing to gold, I want in."


    Whitehall nodded. "I can respect that." He thought for a long while after, not saying anything. Hearing the movement of thousand-mile clouds coming closer in the distance, he made up his mind . "I would need you to swear on your soul. As a warning, we will be working behind everyone in Sacred Valley. The Elders here are too proud to ever agree with us."


    She knew instantly what her answer would be, but she had to ask. "And if I don''t swear on my soul?"


    "Then either you swear on your soul to never reveal our discussion intentionally or unintentionally, or I''ll kill you now." Whitehall shrugged.


    "I''ll swear anything you need me to," she said.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall flew towards Heaven''s Glory on his thousand-mile cloud, with Sadi flying beside him. Most of the reinforcements had remained behind at the Ancestor''s Tomb to try and clean up the mess. And find whatever treasures they could find once the entrance was cleared , Whitehall was sure. Just as he was sure that the other Elders at the school were salivating with greed once they knew that the remnant was no longer a problem.


    Two iron disciples greeted them when they landed.


    "You," Whitehall pointed to the one on the left with a hammer on his badge. "Take Sadi to the Medicine Hall, and tell Elder Rahm she gets to pick any treasure she wants from the treasure hall."


    "Yes, Elder Whitehall," the disciple joined her fists and bowed.


    Whitehall was about to ask the other disciple why they had not left immediately but paused when he noticed their expression.


    "What is it?" He asked the iron.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall stepped into what remained of the Lesser Treasure Hall, noticing broken glass and blood splatters in the now-empty hall.


    Bastard stole everything

 Chapter 3. In the dark forest the hunter must remain silent

    Whitehall sat in his office, hands on his face. He knew this day would be coming. The day when the poison would come, yet it had come so soon. And now he wished it would never come. He was so tempted to continue ''business as normal'', but with everything that had happened, he could not bet on the future of Sacred Valley on a foundation sacred artist and the apprentice of a sage.


    He looked at the two spherical constructs on his desk, his hands trembling. "Time to go back to war," he muttered. He tried reaching for the orbs, but his hand trembled as he got closer. Cycling his madra to calm himself, he reached out for it.


    Someone knocked on his door before he could reach it. "Who is it?" He asked.


    "It''s me," Sadi answered.


    "Come in then."


    Sadi entered Whitehall''s office, shutting the door behind her. Whitehall activated the privacy scripts in his office, making it almost impossible for anyone to spy on their conversation. Sadi raised an eye.


    "The walls talk," Whitehall shrugged.


    "Can you imagine the scandal that could cause?" Sadi smirked.


    "Hah!" Whitehall laughed for the first time in a while. "You with an eight-year-old elder?"


    Sadi took a seat across the desk and pointed at the two constructs. "What''s that?"


    "Took you long enough to get fully healed," Whitehall said. "How long has it been? Two, three months?" He asked.


    "Four," Sadi said, raising four fingers.


    "Well, then. I guess now would be a good time to tell you about what will happen."


    "Go on," Sadi remarked. "I''ve been waiting for long enough."


    Whitehall shrugged. "Remember the disciple that was with the Sword Sage''s apprentice?"


    "The Unsouled?"


    "Yes, him. His name is Wei Shi Lindon. He told me he was visited by a messenger from the heavens, who showed him the future. In thirty years, we will be under attack by a dreadgod."


    "Dreadgod?"


    "Yeah. Remember those dreadbeasts that have shown up ever since the Sword Sage arrived?"


    Sadi nodded.


    "Imagine a bigger one, worse and larger than Mount Samara."


    Sadi grimaced.


    "Imagine one where even a thousand Sword Sage would not be able to defeat it, fighting together."


    Sadi''s expression worsened further. "And did Wei Shi Lindon tell you all this?"


    "I didn''t sense he was lying," Whitehall answered. "But our good old fox helped me fill in the blanks."


    Sadi nodded; indeed, Elder Whisper was more trustworthy than some unsouled.


    "So what now?" She asked.


    "I''ve been thinking," Whitehall said. "And I need your opinion on this. What?" Whitehall asked when he saw Sadi giving him a strange look.


    "Didn''t expect you to want my opinion," Sadi explained.


    "Hey, you''ve known me long enough to know I don''t operate that way." Whitehall pointed a finger at her and narrowed his eyes.


    "Fair enough," she replied, raising her hands in peace. "What do you need my opinion for?"


    Whitehall crossed his arms. "Elder Whisper told me that in our current state, we might be able to reach gold after about two or three decades outside Sacred Valley. And only if we spend every second of our lives dedicating ourselves to advancement."


    "Outside Sacred Valley?"


    Whitehall shrugged, "Fox said we needed to leave to reach gold. He didn''t elaborate on why. But it makes sense, considering Lindon said he needed to leave." Whitehall waved his hand. "Anyway, that''s not the point."


    "And the point is?" Sadi asked.


    "The point is both Whisper and Lindon said that we needed to reach beyond gold if we ever dream of even peeling dead skin off of the dreadgod."


    "So," Sadi said, clamping down her surprise. "There''s a beyond gold, after all."


    "Yes," Whitehall said, shaking his head. "And in our current state, we''ll never reach beyond it even if the heavens dropped us a pill."


    "And why is that? Isn''t every child out there gold?"


    Whitehall took a deep breath and exhaled. "Because our foundation is flawed and is working against us."


    Sadi hung her head on the back of her chair, sighing. "Tell me we can fix it."


    "We can," Whitehall said. "And this is where I''ll need your opinion. We''ll need to empty our spirit and shrink our cores forcefully." Whitehall paused. "Yes, it''s exactly what you think. We''ll need to start over our advancement from copper."


    Sadi sighed. "You''re a disgraced Elder for failing to defeat an apprentice, and I''m a disgraced Jade for failing to defeat an apprentice two to one. So obviously, no one will listen to us if we ask for help."


    "Exactly," Whitehall snapped his fingers.


    "So," Sadi continued. "When do we start?"


    "As soon as possible, of course. But the question is, where should we do it?" Whitehall asked. "We could do it in Sacred Valley, where we will be relatively safe and could slowly advance back to Jade after one and a half decades. And get our names further dragged through the mud for returning to copper, of course," he added.


    "Or?" Sadi asked.


    "Or we leave Scared Valley in our current state, reset our advancement out there, risk ourselves being killed by an insect, and advance to gold in a quarter of that time."


    "We do have thirty years," Sadi said.


    "You do," Whitehall corrected her.


    "What do you mean?"


    Whitehall sighed, stood up, and faced the window. His back faced Sadi, and his hands clasped behind his back. "Whatever I did had cost me. You''ve heard the rumours," he stated. "I have a decade or even less before my body disintegrates. And that''s me being optimistic."


    "I feel like you already made a decision," Sadi said.


    "No," Whitehall shook his head and turned to face Sadi. "You''re my backup plan. If you want to stay in the valley and advance, I''ll guide you to the best of my abilities and tell you everything I know from Elder Whisper. I''ll make plans which I expect you to finish after I''m gone. If we leave in our current state, we will need to be extremely lucky, which is unlikely."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Sadi remained silent, thinking. "You saw how the Sword Sage treated us," she finally said. "To him, we were a waste of space. No one will come to our rescue. We can only rely on ourselves." Said clenched her fists. "We can''t spend more than half of our time left to reach gold if we must go beyond it. I''m more inclined to leave now. We should gather everyone that can be trusted; I may know a few people."


    Whitehall nodded. "I agree. However, there''s no one else we can trust. Tell me someone who wouldn''t rat us out to the other Elders on a whim."


    Sadi grimaced. Greed. She knew it well; they would be ratted out when someone thought they could receive a reward. "You don''t trust many people."


    "Not when it comes to this," Whitehall said. "I told you because I respect your drive. Even then, I bound you with multiple soul oaths. You''re already in too deep to back out now. I''ve been able to steal treasures now and then to speed up your recovery. But since we''re about to go against the whole school. We might as well steal everything."


    "Fine," Sadi agreed. "Give me a few hours to gather my things, then we can leave."


    Whitehall raised a hand. "Not now," he said. "All four schools are currently still on high alert. If we''re going to do this, we''ll need to prepare carefully. This," he gestured towards the two orbs on his desk, "Will absorb all our madra and empty our core. After we reset to copper, we must immediately refill our madra to fend off whatever dangers lurk out there."


    Sadi eyed the orbs, noticing Whitehall''s grimace when he spoke. She knew the orbs would not be pleasant.


    "We''ll need to set traps and create a route to escape, not to mention getting everyone used to seeing us together without raising suspicions." Whitehall pulled out a map.


    It could have been a better map, but it is detailed enough. It showed mainly Sacred Valley but with a few islands outside of it. She never knew they were this close to water.


    "I got this from the few merchants who occasionally trade with us. Cost me more than a year''s stipend, but it''ll be worth it.


    Sadi eyed the map. "We should go out through here, placing a finger west of Sacred Valley. I know the forest well. I can set the traps and clear our escape route."


    "Good," Whitehall. "Hoping you would say that."


    "You knew where I was going to point? She asked skeptically.


    "Oh no," Whitehall said, smiling. "Believe it or not, I never really explored Sacred Valley."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall entered the Elder Whisper''s room.


    "It''s been a while," Elder Whisper said. "It has been two months since your last visit. Can''t say I don''t enjoy the company."


    "Forgiveness, Elder Whisper," Whitehall pressed his fists together and bowed. "I''ve been busy."


    "Children these days," Elder Whisper mused. "Only come looking for the old when they need something."


    Whitehall placed the bucket of fish in front of Elder Whisper before retreating to allow the fox to eat.


    "Tell me, child," a second Elder Whisper spoke from his side. "What knowledge do you wish to know?" Elder Whisper smiled. "Not that it seems you need much of my help as of late."


    "We''re leaving soon," Whitehall told the fox. "Just wanted to tell you," He smirked. "Not that I needed to tell you."


    Elder Whisper laughed, which came out as a bark.


    "I came here for your blessings," Whitehall said. "And to ask if you wish to come with us."


    The main Elder Whisper stopped eating and turned to watch the valley below in sadness. "My place is here, Whitehall. My bonded entrusted this place to me; thus, I must remain."


    Whitehall had expected the rejection, yet he still wanted to ask anyway.


    "But you do have my blessings." Elder Whisper said and saw that it meant a lot to Whitehall.


    "Thank you," Whitehall said, bowing low. Very low.


    "I hope we meet again, Sinar," Elder Whisper said.


    Whitehall bowed once again and left.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sadi crept out of her room in the middle of the night, carrying a bundle of clothes in her arms. She wore her standard outer robes, hiding the armour she and Whitehall had stolen underneath. A few other disciples spotted her, but none batted an eye. She had often been going to Whitehall''s chambers in the night this past year. At first, some people were suspicious, and she was questioned by Elders who saw her sneaking out. But now, no one bothered to ask her.


    After all, she was a Jade, and Whitehall was an Elder. The rumours started to irk her, but their plans had borne fruit. No one questioned where she was going or her plans for the night. She did not knock on Whitehall''s door; instead, she used her madra on the handle, automatically unlocking the door for her.


    "Got everything?" she whispered as she entered.


    Whitehall was arranging the most essential treasures for their journey. Sadi unfolded the cloth she had been holding. Since last year, she had gathered several robes, sowing them to make a makeshift backpack. A very large backpack.


    Whitehall has a slightly smaller bag pack, which he begins filling with the treasures they have stolen so far . She began attaching the clips to the giant backpack and activating the scripts to strengthen it.


    "Didn''t expect you would come up with the idea to steal everything for ourselves. Not with all your charity missions," she remarked.


    "Tried to help when I can," Whitehall shrugged. "Gotta take a page out of the original run-aways though." He had long since admitted that maybe that bastard had a point.


    Having completed his mental checklist, Whitehall placed the smaller backpack on his back. "Ready?" He asked.


    "I''ve been waiting long enough," Sadi answered.


    "Let''s go."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    They walked together, Whitehall leading the way and Sadi following from behind. A few disciples saw them and bowed to Elder Whitehall as they passed. They reached the lesser treasure hall. Whitehall knocked on the door.


    "The treasure hall is closed!" He heard Elder Rahm yell.


    They had not expected anyone to be inside this late, but they had planned for it.


    "It''s me, Elder Whitehall."


    "Heh?" Elder Rahm said beyond the door, scrambling to unlock it. "Elder Whitehall, what brings you here this late at night?" Elder Rahm said as he opened the door.


    "We have something for you, Elder Rahm."


    Elder Rahm eyed the two. "It looks like you''re about to rob me with the bags you''re carrying."


    Whitehall chuckled. "Oh, come on, Rahm."


    Elder Rahm began chuckling, too. "Come inside already," the old Elder said, moving out of the way.


    Whitehall and Sadi entered the treasure hall. "We developed a pill for you, Rahm." Whitehall gestured towards Sadi. "It was my apprentice''s genius." He then gestured at Elder Rahm''s missing arm. "Took a while to work, but we can bring back your arm."


    Sadi pulled a pill from her pocket and tossed it to Elder Rahm, who caught it with his remaining left hand. "It''ll take a while to grow back, maybe a couple of months to a year," Sadi said.


    Elder Rahm looked at the pill, conflicted. "I... You''ve done more than enough for me, Whitehall. If it weren''t for you, I wouldn''t even be here." The older Elder rolled the pill on his palm. "I can''t accept this."


    Whitehall smiled. He had always liked Elder Rahm. The older man was rough around the edges but always did his job to the best of his abilities.


    "Please, Elder Rahm. The School should''ve treated you better for your decades of service."


    Elder Rahm sighed. "Over the past year, I have finally accepted that I''ll never have my arm back. Now," he held the pill up, " you gave me this."


    He tossed the pill back at Sadi. "My pride can''t accept it."


    Sadi frowned. This was not going to plan.


    "How about an exchange then," Whitehall suggested. He could work with this. "How would that sound?"


    Elder Rahm frowned. "As long as you don''t give me a mockery of an exchange."


    "Don''t worry. I am requesting something of you that is slightly dangerous and will probably anger the other Elders. How does that sound?"


    Elder Rahm smiled. "Perfect. What do you need?"


    "Lindon''s family," Whitehall said. "I want you to protect them while I''m gone. Free them if you have to."


    "And why would I want to help the family of the Unsouled that did this to me?" Elder Rahm pointed to his missing arm.


    "Because they had nothing to do with it. You know it. I know it. And you''re getting your arm back," Whitehall said sternly.


    Elder Rahm sighed. "Fine, I''ll keep them safe. And that''s only because you''re the one that asked." He turned to Sadi. "And what about you, apprentice? What do you want?"


    Sadi had not expected it. "Me?" She asked.


    "Your master said it was your genius that made this pill. I won''t accept it without giving you something in return." Elder Rahm crossed his arm and stump.


    Sadi thought about it and had an idea. "My brother''s knives. I would like to have it."


    Elder Rahm nodded, went to the archway separating the lesser treasure hall from another, and placed a hand on the wall. He grabbed a Jade token similar to the wooden ones used for the lesser treasure hall and tossed it to Sadi. "I''ve disabled the scripts for the greater treasure hall. The token will ensure the defence construct recognises you."


    Sadi pressed her fists together and bowed. "This one thanks the Elder."


    Elder Rahm looked uneasy when she thanked him. "The Karambits are towards the back. Just be careful there. It''s the greatest of our treasure halls."


    Sadi left the two Elders and went through the archway, passing by another treasure hall on the way to the second archway where the greater treasure hall was.


    "You should take it now," Whitehall said, bringing Elder Rahm''s attention away from Sadi. "The pill," Whitehall tossed it back to Elder Rahm. "The first time you take it may cause instability in your spirit. It''s better that I''m here while you take it if anything goes sideways."


    "And where will you go?" Elder Rahm asked. "Now that I mentioned it, you said you''d be gone."


    "Secluded training," Whitehall said. "Ever since last year''s festival, I''ve been rethinking my advancement."


    Rahm smiled fondly. "And here I wondered if your drive from advancement had disappeared. Can''t say I missed it."


    "It had for a while," Whitehall answered. "But I realise now that I need it more than ever."


    "I hope you succeed, my friend." Elder Rahm said.


    "You really should take it now," Whitehall suggested. They were running on schedule.


    "Fine, fine," Elder Rahm said, looking at the black pill once before closing his eyes and swallowing it.


    Whitehall approached Elder Rahm, placing a purple pill on top of a glass display case of one of the treasures. "Take this when you wake up. The pill will rejuvenate your madra and vitality."


    Elder Rahm looked at Whitehall, confused. "Whaaaddd?" he tried to ask, but his voice came out slurry. His legs collapsed underneath him, and Whitehall caught him.


    "I''m sorry, Rahm, but I''ll have to beat you up." Whitehall winced. "Just a little. And don''t forget about Lindon''s family, yeah."


    Elder Rahm tried to say something, but his eyes slowly closed, and he fell asleep. Whitehall placed Elder Rahm gently on the wooden floor and went to follow after Sadi.


    Sadi was busy filling the large pack with all kinds of treasures she could find. Whitehall noticed a pair of knives were attached to the back of her hips. "That was smart," Whitehall said. "Did you know the knives would be in the greater treasure hall?"


    "Of course," Sadi replied, continuing to fill her pack. "I asked for it after my brother passed. It was a family heirloom."


    Whitehall bit back his tongue. "Sorry again for your loss. I can only imagine what losing a brother would be like."


    Sadi sighed, not expecting the topic to come up now. They would be living together for the foreseeable future and probably be dead in the next few hours. ''Eh, why not?'' she thought.


    "I know you publicly called him an idiot," Sadi said. "You called all the Elders, who wanted to go after the disciple, an idiot."


    Whitehall cringed. "I mean... She was innocent."


    "I agreed with you, for the record," Sadi said. "But greed got the better of my brother."


    Whitehall sighed. "For what it''s worth. I didn''t want anyone to get hurt."


    "I know," Sadi nodded. "I know what you did for many of the people of Sacred Valley." She paused her work and turned to face Whitehall. "And some of those people you helped were close to me," she smiled. "For what it''s worth, I trust you."


    Whitehall smiled. "Thank you."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    They slowly crept out of the treasure hall. Whitehall had checked on Elder Rahm one final time to ensure that the pill was working and did not cause any long-term problems. Elder Rahm was bruised and battered, but other than that, he was fine. The night was still dark as they moved through the shadows of buildings and trees. Once they reached the mountain cliff, they activated their thousand-mile clouds and flew down under the cover of the trees.


    "That went surprisingly smooth," Whitehall commented.


    "Don''t-," Sadi said but was immediately cut off by a roar behind them. "Say that," she finished.


    They looked back and saw a shadow growing larger and larger. "This way!" Sadi yelled, pushing her thousand-mile cloud forward and leading the way.


    The shadow was gaining on them, and not interested in finding out what beast it was, Sadi threw several scripted papers into the air behind them. The paper touched several trees with scripts she had etched in the last few months. The trees burst in an explosion of madra. The burst of light revealed a twisted-looking bear with a jaw expanding like a snake.


    "Keep throwing it!" Whitehall yelled.


    Sadi kept throwing the scripted papers behind her as she swerved through the preplanned route with Whitehall on her tail. She was running out of madra fast as she pushed her cloud faster. "I need madra!" She called out.


    "Take it," Whitehall threw a pill right in her path.


    Sadi caught the pill with her teeth and swallowed, cycling the injection of madra through her spirit. Suddenly, she heard another roar behind her, followed by complete silence. The roar was not one of intimidation but sounded like fear.


    She was about to ask Whitehall when he flew forward next to her with a finger on his mouth. She understood what he meant. Stay silent . She nodded. They moved through the trees quietly. Finally reaching the end of the mountain range and through the forest, they went out to a beach. Sadi turned back to see the mountain and Samara''s ring glowing above it. It looked beautiful.


    Sadi felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Whitehall pointing. A giant sword was stuck on a mountain in the middle of the beach. Whitehall silently pointed in a direction, and she nodded and followed. They stepped off their thousand-mile cloud under the cover of trees at the threshold of the beach and forest.


    "Who can wield such a thing?" She asked quietly.


    "I don''t know," Whitehall replied, staring at the giant sword. "But I wouldn''t want to find out."


    "I feel like we eventually will if we''re going to make it beyond gold," she muttered.


    "It''ll be a good weapon to fight the dreadgod," Whitehall said as he set up their tent.


    "How''d you kill the bear-snake?" She asked.


    Whitehall shivered. "I didn''t."


    "If it wasn''t you, then who did?" She asked; chills ran down her spine from what predators they had just passed through.


    "In the dark forest, the hunters must be careful," Whitehall said, looking deep into the forest. "For in the dark forest are other hunters like them. If they find another hunter, there is only one thing to do. Eliminate them."


    "Stop doing that," Sadi hissed.


    "Stop what?" Whitehall asked, looking over his shoulder.


    "Monologing and freaking me out," Sadi said.


    "Oh," Whitehall said. "I just mean there''s a lot of predators in the forest. If one is found, no one knows if they''re friendly. Therefore, the best case for them is to eliminate it and find out later."


    Sadi shook her head. "Yeah, I get it."

 Chapter 4. Danger

    Whitehall woke up to a feeling of dread. Every fibre of his body screamed danger. He tried to get up but found an invisible pressure pressing down on him. Whatever it was, they needed to run. He opened his eyes and found Sadi staring back at him, her eyes wide with fear.


    The pressure came and left every other second. One second, they could breathe, and the next, the air was stuck in their lungs. After a while, Whitehall and Sadi gained a read on the rhythm of the pressure, and with great effort, they both managed to shift towards a sitting position.


    It came in flashes, but they saw a red light high up in the middle of the ocean shooting through the air. The next was an earth-shattering roar of a beast. A serpent rose through the water, blasting a blue breath across the sky before promptly stopping. An invisible force then smashed the serpent down back into the ocean.


    Then, the two felt it, too. As if the heavens had sent them an order and their will would be followed. "Down." Then, both of them were pushed back down into their mattress. Whitehall could not breathe, and he soon went unconscious.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sadi woke up to the sound of music, which confused her. She gripped the knives on her back, and she saw Whitehall, also awake, looking through the entryway of their tent in suspicion.


    They slowly approached the tent''s entrance, the soft melody of ringing metals getting louder.


    The music stopped. "Come out, you two; I mean you no harm," a rough voice called out. Whoever he was, his voice sounded more friendly than cruel. "That knife of yours would do you no good," the man said before continuing to play his music.


    Sadi and Whitehall turned to face each other. Sadi shrugged. "He could''ve easily killed us if he had wanted to," she whispered.


    "I won''t," the man called out to them.


    Sadi shrugged and stepped out, followed by Whitehall. They both pressed their fists and greeted the man. "This one is honoured to meet you," they both said.


    The man was large and muscled, with thick hair covering his bare upper body and a large, unkempt, greasy white beard. He sat on a log with a large handpan on his thighs. He eyed them weirdly. "You two look way too clean," he said.


    "We only made it here last night," Whitehall said, bowing.


    "When they said there were interesting people out here, I didn''t expect the two of you." The man said, more to himself than to Whitehall or Sadi. Whitehall felt a sharp pain run through his body and winced. Judging by Sadi''s expression, he reckoned she felt it, too. "Really didn''t expect the two of you."


    "We were honoured to have watched bits of your battle last night," Sadi said, bowing.


    The man turned his attention to his handpan and started tapping the metal surface. "That wasn''t me," he said.


    Whitehall and Sadi looked at each other, unsure what to say without causing a hint of disrespect.


    "You two are lucky my friend took an interest in you. You both were almost dead when I found you," the man said.


    "Thank you for saving us, honoured one," Whitehall said.


    "Beast King," the man said. "Everyone calls me the Beast King."


    "This one, thank you, Beast King," Sadi said.


    "This one, too," Whitehall said.


    "Enough of that," The Beast King said. "Why are you both out here?"


    "We descended from the mountain last night and were chased by a beast," Whitehall began.


    The Beast King raised his hand. "I know where you came from." He pointed a thumb backwards towards the forest. "My friends already told me. I want to know why you are out here?"


    ''Friends?'' Sadi thought. ''Could he be?'' She looked to Whitehall, who she knew was also thinking the same thing. She signalled him to say something.


    "Umm," Whitehall began. "Honored Beast King, your friend, another Heavenly Messenger, told us that a dreadgod is coming for us. We were told we must leave our valley and advance so that we may return to save it."


    The Beast King stopped playing his instrument and turned to watch them with one long eyebrow raised. He first looked surprised, confused, thoughtful, then confused again. "And what did this heavenly messenger look like?" he finally asked.


    "She was wearing white armour that moved like water," Whitehall answered, remembering what Lindon had told him.


    The Beast King stretched his neck closer so that his face filled Whitehall''s view. "And did this heavenly messenger tell you about this dreadgod?" Considering Whitehall was in an eight-year-old''s body, The Beast King''s brown nose was almost as big as Whitehall''s face.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "No, honoured Beast King," Whitehall answered. "She told one of our disciples."


    "And you believed him?" The Beast King asked, not moving an inch.


    "I confirmed some of what she told him with one of our eldest members. A sacred beast we call Elder Whisper." Whitehall nervously answered.


    The Beast King leaned back and nodded affirmatively. "Yes, a Sacred Beast can always be trusted. What animal is this Elder Whisper of yours?"


    "A white fox," Whitehall said.


    "Good," The Beast King nodded more eagerly. "Haven''t met one of them in a while, but their intentions are usually true." Then, The Beast King stopped nodding and frowned. His face grimaced, and smoke started coming from his nose and ear. "STUPID ABIDAN! ALWAYS RUINING EVERYTHING!" The man pointed accusingly at the sky. "IF THIS IS YOUR WAY OF RECRUITING, THEN YOU''LL NEED TO TRY HARDER!" Having finished his rant, he turned to his two guests. They were sprawled on the floor, covering their ears in pain.


    The Beast King righted himself and coughed. "You two can get up now."


    Whitehall and Sadi stood up, trying to hide the ringing pain in their ears.


    "Come with me," the Beast King grumbled.


    Whitehall and Sadi looked nervous. "Where are we going, honoured Beast King!?" Sadi asked.


    The woman was yelling, but the Beast King did not blame her. His rant had damaged her ears.


    The Beast King smiled. "Other Heralds and Sages always have apprentices. It''s probably about time I got some." Then he waved his hand. "Eh, I sort of already have one. But he''s a bit boring and depressing," He muttered. He clapped his hands, a bit too hard by the grimace of his two new apprentices. "Enough question, been away long enough already. Stupid dragons need to be reminded I''m still alive."


    Whitehall and Sadi bowed. "We are grateful for your help, master," they both said.


    "First rule," The Beast King barked, raising a finger. "None of this overly-respectful stuff."


    The two stood straight up, arms on their side. "Yes, Master!"


    The Beast King sighed in disappointment. He turned towards the forest and whistled. Two giant flying scared beasts birds descended from the sky, landing nearby.


    "Dagon, Rota," the Beast King greeted the sacred beasts. "Meet," he paused and turned around to his new apprentices. "What, are your names again? I forgot to ask."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Beast King strolled through his forest. It was not officially his, and he never claimed it. But he ruled here anyway. Having settled his two new apprentices, he made his way towards the patch of forest where he rarely visits.


    "I saved your cripples!" He yelled at the trees above.


    "We thank you for your help, Beast King." A Golden Bird descended and bowed.


    "Yeah, yeah," The Beast King said calmly. "I owed you anyway."


    "Friends don''t owe each other," The Bird said.


    "No, we don''t," The Beast King said, smiling. She had protected him from the dragons, taking him in when he was a crippled boy. This was the least he could do. "They told me interesting things," he continued.


    "Oh?"


    "Yeah. Were you aware the Abidan went down and greeted them personally?"


    "No," the bird said slowly.


    "I thought that was why you asked me to save them."


    "Our divination showed us that they will play an essential role in the future. Some small, some large, but of critical importance."


    "They said the Abidan told them a dreadgod is coming for their valley."


    "Then we''ll need them for the fight to come. I don''t know why. But I am sure of this," The Bird stated.


    "Their Elder seemed to agree. Their Elder Whisper, a white fox, gave them his blessings."


    "Whisper," The Bird said fondly. "I have not heard that name in centuries."


    "A friend of yours?" The Beast King asked. "They said he still resides in the cursed valley."


    "He would be, wouldn''t he," the bird nodded. "Honouring his bonded sacred artist''s wishes even centuries after her death."


    The Beast King took a seat on a log. "I feel this is the start of a story."


    "Not today, child." The ancient golden bird said. "It''s an old, long tale. One that I wish not to divulge."


    "That''s too bad," he replied, lying on the log and placing a grass blade on his mouth. "I took them in, by the way."


    "You''ll make the Dawnwing train them?" The bird asked curiously.


    "Nah, not Zeal?" He snorted. "He''ll make them depressed just by talking."


    She gave him a curious look.


    "I''m feeling of giving them a bit more personal touch," he mused. "That way, at least, they''ll gain something with their depression."


    "Good, good," the golden bird said. "Bring them to me when they''re ready." Then, she flew away.


    "Yes, Master," he muttered respectfully.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "So," The Beast King said, holding a round construct. "You two made this to empty your cores and reset your spirit to copper?"


    "Yes, master," Sadi said.


    "And who thought this was a good idea?" The Beast King asked.


    Whitehall gulped. "I did."


    The Beast King nodded in amusement. "Not bad. Not bad. But too easy!" He yelled, but not loud enough to hurt his pair of cripples.


    "I''ll reset you both, don''t worry," The Beast King continued. "I''ll set you right." He pointed at Whitehall. "But first, Whitehall. What''s wrong with you?"


    Whitehall gulped. "I tried to find a way to prevent ageing. So that I''ll have more time to advance. To reach gold," He said shamefully.


    The Beast King snorted. "Even that snake over there is low gold," he pointed to a purple snake on a tree. "The only reason it''s not attacking you is because I''m here. You''re a foolish little man." The Beast King shook his head disapprovingly.


    Whitehall squirmed.


    The Beast King sighed. Maybe he was being too hard on them. ''Wasn''t he also just a cripple when the sacred beasts took him in?'' "Lucky for both of you, I am more Sacred Beasts than human. We don''t leave our young to face the wild alone when they''re not ready."


    The two apprentices nodded, relieved.


    "But," The Beast King pointed out. "We abandon those sick or have a high chance of not surviving. Which, the case for both of you, are the ones that show no drive."


    The two apprentices nodded more furiously this time.


    "Good," The Beast King said. "Now, show me what you can do." He took a few steps backwards, his arms wide.


    The two apprentices looked at him, confused.


    "Are we meant to attack you, master?" Sadi asked.


    "Obviously," The Beast King snorted. The apprentices looked at him, still unsure. "HURRY UP, OR I''LL START STRIKING!" He yelled, this time loud enough to hurt them.


    A light beam shot at The Beast King, who took it straight onto his chest. It did nothing to him. An arrow of light came immediately after and struck the same place. Again, it did nothing.


    "Enough," The Beast King said. "You both use a light path, yet you use it as if you''re on a flame path. Light arrows? Really?" He asked his apprentices disappointedly. "A copper dragon''s breath would at least tickle me, but this?" He gestured. "I felt it less than if a fly landed on my hair."


    The two apprentices looked down to the ground. Nervously? Embarrassed? Angry maybe? He really should spend more time with humans. Other than Zeal, of course, that man is more one-dimensional than an ant.


    "Did your previous master never teach you anything?" The Beast King asked.


    "No," Sadi answered. "They would set us on a path and leave us to develop our own way of fighting."


    "They value their techniques a lot," Whitehall added.


    The Beast King looked at his apprentice, baffled. "You''ve got to be kidding me. You''re an Elder, aren''t you? Surely you don''t think the same way." He pointed at the smaller apprentice.


    "No, master. I mean, yes, I was an Elder, but I didn''t share the same mindset as the others. I received some pushback from the other Elders, so I had to do things more subtly. More slowly," Whitehall replied.


    The Beast King sighed, which produced a gust of wind around him. "Might as well start you both on a clean slate. Come on then, let''s empty those cores."


    Whitehall shuffled his feet. "Master?"


    "What is it?"


    "Is it possible to change one''s madra aspect?" Whitehall asked, which surprised both Sadi and The Beast King.


    "You want to change your path?" The Beast King asked curiously.


    "Yes," Whitehall replied. "Recent events have made me think of things differently."


    "There are ways," The Beast King started. "But it''ll cost you your advancement. Few sacred artists would want to restart decades or even centuries of hard work." Then, the Beast King smiled. "But you''re restarting anyway. Oh, this would be interesting." He rubbed his palms together in excitement. "I always wanted to witness this."


    That made Whitehall very nervous.


    "What path were you thinking of?" The Beast King asked, still excited.


    "Poison," Whitehall replied.


    "Oh, that''s perfect," The Beast King muttered. "What better way to take down a foe stronger than you."


    Whitehall nodded in approval.


    "What about you?" The Beast King asked Sadi. "Still sticking to light?"


    Sadi nodded. "I quite like the light," she said.


    The Beast King rubbed his hands even more furiously, getting increasingly excited as the gears turned in his head. He started cackling. "You two will be a menace of a duo when I''m done with you."

 Chapter 5: Bleeding Phoenix

    "Keep firing!" The Beast King ordered his apprentices. The two apprentices were draining whatever madra they had left onto an ancient tree. The tree absorbs light madra, using it as sustenance to grow. So it was a win-win situation.


    The Beast King''s two apprentices were bloody and beaten, and their bones fractured everywhere. He needed their bodies near broken, but not their minds. They will need it soon. So, instead, he had put them to work hunting some minor sacred beasts. Well, minor for a herald. He had a True Gold crow watch over them quietly while he went to hunt some dragons.


    After a week, he returned to see his two projec-, apprentices. His apprentices. He returned to see his two apprentices finally looking like a sacred artist of the wasteland. Bloody, bruised, and with clothes no better than rags. He could not be happier.


    Should''ve got me some actual apprentices sooner, he thought. No wonder other sages and heralds love to do this so much.


    "I know you still have some madra in there!" The Beast King yelled. "Do you two want to stay a cripple!?" He yelled again.


    "No, Master, No!" They yelled in unison.


    "Then keep firing!"


    "Yes, Master!" They yelled again in unison.


    He did not know when they started speaking to him like this during training, but he was okay with it. He enjoyed it a bit, to be told.


    "My mother can do better than that! AND SHE''S DEAD!" He hated that woman.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Their cores were emptying rapidly, and The Beast King was amazed by the rate at which they kept firing. Most sacred artists would have dropped at this point. He should give his apprentices more credit and thank the golden bird for sending him to them.


    Once he sensed that the two had barely a drop left in their cores, he exerted his will to stop them. Their arms remained extended in a shooting motion, but their firing stopped. "Sit," he ordered them. They dropped like a sack of rice.


    He lifted the round construct using wind aura and placed it before his apprentices. "Use it now."


    Too tired and drained to argue or even feel afraid, they activated it, and the orb showed a white light. As soon as they touched the construct, they twisted in pain and screamed.


    "Focus," The Beast King ordered. "You have to be empty any madra remaining, or you''ll be crippled forever and die within the next few months." It was not precisely accurate, but he felt they needed the motivation.


    As he expected, neither of them removed their hand, no matter how loudly they screamed. He had improved the construct they made, making it more stable and to stop once their cores were empty automatically. Whitehall''s condition meant that he needed to advance fast; his decline in advancement would eat his lifeline even quicker.


    That brought his thoughts towards Sadi. She was afraid, always afraid of being incompetent. She thought it was her weakness. He will make her realise it was her strength.


    The construct shut off, the white light dying. The two were sprawled on the ground, but the Beast King''s will forced them to remain conscious. He took two starlotuses that he had taken from their pack, which he had confiscated when he sent them after the dreadbeasts.


    "Swallow," he ordered, placing the fruit against their lips using wind aura. "Cycle like how I taught you two. Your cores are as empty as they could be. Absolutely no madra resides in them. So the starlotus will fill it with pure madra."


    "Good," he said, feeling his apprentices fill with pure madra and cycling it properly. He waited until their cores were full. "Now squeeze your core. Do not stop pressing until I tell you to stop."


    "Keep squeezing!"


    "Do not stop!"


    "Keep going!"


    "Press harder!"


    On and on he went, and his apprentices'' bodies shuddered and snapped. He pressed them harder.


    "Squeeze, damn you! Do you want to reach beyond gold or not?"


    He felt them squeeze even harder until their cores were the size of the tip of a sharp grass. Then, they both immediately passed out.


    The Beast King stood over his unconscious apprentices, a proud master.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sadi woke up to a loud trumpet screaming into her ears. She yelled in surprise and scrambled back, reaching for her knives.


    "Oh, hi there. Sorry, I didn''t mean to scare you like that," a Sacred Beast said.


    She was an elephant, a baby elephant.


    "Hi," Sadi greeted, smiling.


    "Sorry for trumpeting in your ear. You weren''t waking up. And I''ve been waiting here for a long time," The Elephant chided.


    "No worries," Sadi replied. "My name is Sadi."


    "I''m Ellie," the elephant replied, holding her head high.


    Sadi just stared at Ellie, who kept her head high¡ªnot saying anything. There was an awkward silence.


    "Nice to meet you, Ellie," Sida finally said.


    "Nice to meet you too," Ellie said smugly. "So, what''d you think?"


    "Think?" Sadi asked.


    "About me," Ellie answered. "Aren''t I majestic?"


    "Oh," Sadi remarked. "Yes, you are very pretty."


    Ellie ran in circles, her tail waggling. "I like you."


    "Thanks," Sadi said awkwardly. "How long was I out?"


    "Five minutes," Ellie replied.


    "Really?"


    "Exactly," Ellie replied. "You''re lucky I was here to wake you up."


    Sadi had not slept in days ever since she was thrown to face the dreadbeasts. "Thank you," She said.


    "My pleasure," Ellie replied pridefully. "Oh, I almost forgot," Ellie jumped, which in turn caused Sadi to jump. "The Beast King wanted me to help you prepare your Iron body."


    "Iron body?" She asked.


    "Yes. You humans are soft; you''ll need your iron body to help you survive."


    "I see." She had questions but was still determining if Ellie might be the right source to answer her answers. "Out of curiosity, what''s your advancement, Ellie?"


    "I''m low gold," Ellie replied. "But we sacred beast don''t tend to advance as fast. Advancing in a hurry is usually for you humans. I''m only twenty."


    Sadi cringed, thanking the heavens for having shown respect to the elephant. And did Ellie say she was twenty? They were almost the same age. And the elephant had called her advancement slow.


    "Speaking of," Ellie continued. "Are you sure you''re not a sacred beast? You seem to advance at the pace of one."


    "I''m sure," Sadi said.


    "Half a sacred beast?"


    "Nope," Sadi crossed her arms in an X.


    Ellie eyed her suspiciously.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "About this iron body?" Sadi asked.


    "Ah, yes. I almost forgot. The Beast King wanted you to sunbathe on the highest tree."


    "Sunbathe?"


    "Yep."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall had no idea how he ended up here, his leg tied to a tree branch on top of a hole full of an unknown boiling liquid with multiple colours and a tiny yellow lizard sitting on his nose.


    "You''re awake," the lizard hissed, sticking a tongue out.


    "Hello?"


    "Mocha," the lizard replied. "My name is Mocha."


    "Hello, Mocha," he pressed his fists together, bowing awkwardly. "This one is called Whitehall."


    The lizard stuck out its tongue.


    "Where am I?" Whitehall asked after realising Mocha was not going to talk.


    "You''re interesting," Mocha said. "Why is your lifeline so short?"


    "I did some experiments on myself that backfired," Whitehall admitted.


    "Unsurprising," Mocha stuck his tongue out. "Humans always rush their advancement."


    "Um, yeah?"


    "No wonder the Beast King told me to get your iron body as quickly as possible. You''ll die in a few weeks if you don''t advance," Mocha snorted.


    "Wait. What?" Whitehall said in surprise.


    "Down there is the venom of every Sacred Beasts of the wasteland. Don''t forget to cycle them, or you''ll die."


    "Wait, hold on."


    "Oh, yeah, almost forgot. You''ll need the poison in your blood, too." Mocha bared her fangs, sending sword aura to create cuts all over Whitehall''s tiny body.


    Whitehall grimaced at the pain from the cuts.


    "And he said something like medicine is just another type of poison and that the dose of poison makes the medicine."


    "Wait, say that again."


    "Good luck," Mocha said before jumping off Whitehall''s nose and baring his fangs mid-air. Sword aura cut through the rope on Whitehall''s leg. "Don''t forget to cycle the venom aura." Mocha extended its limbs, revealing connected skins which he used to glide away.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sadi lay on the leaves of an emergent, as naked as the day she was born. When she first saw the tree from below, she dreaded the climb. Ellie simply wrapped Sadi with her trunk and jumped. Ellie had told Sadi that she must show as much skin as possible, considering the torn robes turned rags she was previously wearing. It was not much of a difference.


    "Ellie?" Sadi asked.


    "Yeah?" Ellie replied from a bundle of leaves below Sadi.


    "How long must I stay like this?"


    "As long as possible," Ellie replied. "The longer you stay, the better your body will be."


    "What do I need to do while I''m up here?"


    "Cycle, I guess. Oh, and you must turn your body every day."


    "What about at night?"


    "Continue, of course."


    "And food?"


    Ellie trumpeted proudly. "I scouted the trees previously. There should be plenty of fruits there."


    Sadi looked around, finding many purple fruits she had not seen before growing around her. She took a bite of one. It was horrible¡ªbitter with the texture of a thick liquid. "Thanks," she said to Ellie.


    "You''re Welcome!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall''s body burned. He started screaming the moment he fell into the pool of venom. He stopped yelling once his stomach started burning, too, due to the venom he had swallowed.


    But pain was a familiar feeling to him. It was something he could handle. Medicine was just another type of poison, and medicine was just another dose of poison. ''I get it now,'' he thought.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sadi''s skin was peeling and covered in blisters, and the sun''s rays continued to beat down on her. She looked at her fingers. They were red, covered with dead skin and large blisters. She thought the cold of night would soothe her, but she was very wrong. The nights up here were freezing, and she could not move, her muscles frozen.


    She did not know how long she had been up here, but she burned during the day and froze at night. She would remain still, cycling the light aura that shone above her. Weirdly, the light aura soothed her. Cooling the heat and burning the cold.


    As she ate, she got used to the taste of the fruit. It was bland now, no longer bitter. And even a hint of sweetness.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall did not know how long he had lost consciousness in that pool, for the next thing he knew, it was the voice of his master.


    "Cycle, Whitehall. Focus!" The Beast King''s voice growled.


    A surge of Madra rushed through him, and he cycled it through his thousands of madra channels. He tried screaming in pain, but his screams came out as a gargle. He continued to push the madra around his body, but his core kept filling with more and more. His core threatened to burst.


    "Once your core bursts, you must fill it to every madra channel you have." His master said, and Whitehall felt a hand on his belly. "Nod, if you understand."


    Whitehall nodded once, focusing on keeping his madra cycling.


    "Here we go," The Beast King said.


    Whitehall felt the fingers on his belly twisted, and his core broke. He felt the madra bursting out like a broken dam. He focused his cycling, pushing all the madra he had to fill every single madra channel he had. But there was too much madra, and the venom madra began carving new channels in his body.


    "Focus the excess towards every single part of your body," His master said. "Direct it. It''s your madra, you need to force it."


    Whitehall focused on the excess madra, starting from his insides, his organs, his bones, and then his muscles, and then his skin. More and more channels were being burned into his body until there was no more space, and then it started leaking out of him. Then Whitehall noticed the madra he had inside his veins began to harden, fusing into a more solid form. His cycling became easier and easier, and when he checked his core, he found it to be slightly larger than previously and much more condensed with poison.


    "Congrats," The Beast King said. "You''re an iron again."


    Whitehall opened his eyes and saw his master standing over him, smiling. The Beast King was covered in dried blood and wet black goo.


    "Can you stand?" The Beast King asked.


    Whitehall tried to stand and instead jumped a few metres off the ground.


    The Beast King laughed. "Must be good to finally have a perfect iron body, heh?"


    Whitehall looked at his hands and clenched and unclenched them.


    "Iron?" He asked.


    "Yeap," The Beast King replied. "Now you see what you were missing?"


    "Yes," Whitehall muttered. His cycling was much smoother, and he felt like a jade instead of an iron.


    "Iron body E6254," The Beast King said.


    "What?" Whitehall asked.


    "Iron body E6254, that''s what the Monarch who created it called your iron body. But since you made it to such an extreme version, I guess it''s not exactly it."


    Whitehall was still so stunned by his current advancement that he found himself speechless.


    "Godkiller," The Beast King said. "Since you''re going after dreadgods with it. Might as well call it Godkiller." The Beast King smiled, seemingly satisfied with the name.


    Whitehall pressed his fists together and bowed. "Disciple thanks his master."


    "None of that," The Beast King said. "I can''t spend too much time here, but I''ll give you the gist of your Godkiller iron body. You have more madra channels than almost everyone alive, which will work against you currently but will do you good in the future. For now, it''ll help you release your madra externally. But if you get cut, you''ll start leaking madra rapidly until the wound is shut." The Beast King placed his hand on Whitehall''s head. "So don''t get cut," he said firmly.


    Whitehall nodded. "Yes, Master."


    "Good," The Beast King nodded and turned, positioning himself to jump.


    "Master," Whitehall called out, and the Beast King paused. "Are you going to help Sadi now?"


    "No," The Beast King said. "There are rumblings nearby that I have to deal with. Her iron body is not ready, but a friend will care for her." The Beast King left with a giant leap.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Cycle, child." Sadi heard someone say to her sweetly.


    Sadi felt sharp claws pierce deep into her stomach; the pain was both physical and spiritual. She twisted in pain, but the grip on her stomach was strong. She tried to open her eyes, but the burned skin on her eyelids had fused. She felt the claws pierce deep into her core, and light madra rushed into her.


    "For this to work, child. You must cycle." The voice said again more urgently.


    Sadi complied; the voice sounded as if they wanted to help. She focused on cycling, moving the madra through her channels, but her core was bursting with madra and would not stop anytime soon.


    "Push it to your skin," the voice ordered. "But do not let it out."


    Pushing her already overflowing madra to her skin was easy; the difficult one was preventing it from leaking. She held her madra, blocking as much as possible from escaping her pores.


    "It''s settling," the voice said. "Now you must suck them back into your core. Do it now." The claws twisted the other way, and she felt her cores shrink rapidly.


    The pain redoubled, and Sadi screamed. She focused her cycling, pulling back the madra underneath her skin and in her channels into her core. Her now tiny core, unable to hold the madra, cracked and burst. Light Madra flooded her body. Her cycling came easier, her breathing lighter.


    She opened her eyes, her eyelids no longer shut. She realised she was still on the emergent. The sun was beating down on her, but her body did not burn. She checked for wounds on her stomach and found none. Above her, she saw a giant golden sacred beast bird hovering. Golden rays shot out of its back in an arc, and golden wings wrapped around the bird''s front.


    "How do you feel?" The bird asked her.


    Sadi checked her body and spirit quickly, finding nothing wrong. "I''m fine," she said.


    "Good," the bird exhaled. "It worked."


    "My iron body?" Sadi asked.


    "Yes. Your Solarshroud iron body."


    "I''m iron?" Sadi had to make sure.


    "Yes." The bird answered.


    Sadi clenched and unclenched her hands, and a familiar black liquid covered her.


    "It feels different," Sadi muttered. "I''m stronger than before." Almost like when I was a Jade, she did not say.


    "Your master had to reset your advancement if you and your companion are to advance far. You have advanced from foundation to iron in just over two weeks." The bird said.


    ''So fast,'' Sadi thought. We''re their teachings in Sacred Valley that flawed? "Foundation?" Sadi asked. "Forgiveness," she immediately pressed her fist and bowed. "This one is called Nasiri Sadi."


    The bird nodded knowingly. "My name is Sunda. And we must go." The bird started flying away. "Follow."


    Sadi was not sure how to follow. Screw it, she decided. She jumped, aiming for the nearest emergent patch. She overshot and reached the one after. Sadi looked back at where she came from, noticing the distance she had just covered. She could get used to this.


    Sunda kept flying, and Sadi followed. Sadi was sure the bird was purposely flying slowly so that she could catch up.


    After flying for some time, the bird dove down. Sadi followed, jumping from one branch to a lower one. As she reached the ground, she stood by the side of a hill. Thousands of Sacred Beasts were nearby, some small but most huge. Sadi saw Sunda entering a nearby cave and followed her. Inside, she found a vast underground cave system full of sacred beasts.


    Ellie came up, running out of one of the tunnels, "Sadi, you made it!" The baby elephant yelled, her tale waggling side to side.


    Sadi waved at Ellie. "Where are we?"


    "A sanctuary," Sunda answered. "Come, follow me."


    Sadi followed Sunda, who led her through several passageways until they reached an empty, dark room.


    "You shall cycle here," Sunda said as Sadi entered the room.


    "But there''s no light," Sadi replied. "There''s only darkness."


    "It''s not about light or darkness," Sunda answered. "It''s about finding the light in the darkness."


    Sadi stood in the middle of the room, looking around and seeing only recently carved rocks.


    "This is the Path of the Solar Dusk."


    Sadi turned to face Sunda, only to find the bird closing the cave entrance with a large round stone.


    "Find the light in the darkness and advance to Jade, dear child, for this dark world will not wait for you."


    The room went completely black.

 Chapter 6: Blood

    "Medicine is just another type of poison, and the dose of poison makes the medicine," Whitehall muttered, alone in the part of a cave with plants with multicoloured leaves covering the surface. The room was teeming with life aura.


    Once the Beast King had left, Mocha had fallen from the trees and landed on his head. The lizard had led him into the cave and told him to keep cycling until he reached Jade. When Whitehall protested due to only having life madra present, Mocha just stuck a tongue out and leapt out of the room. The lizard activated the scripts as he left, which formed a barrier that locked Whitehall in.


    Whitehall tried deactivating the scripts, but his madra was too weak and did nothing. He reckoned it was designed only to be deactivated by someone with a Jade or above advancement. Now, he sat alone, trying to cycle the life aura into his venom-madra-filled core. He was failing miserably.


    ''If medicine is just another dose of poison, then maybe a different dose of life aura can make poison,'' Whitehall thought. He tried cycling in the life aura in small amounts, increasing it over time. At first, his spirit rejected the life aura, ejecting it out of his body. As he increased the amount of life aura he took in, however, the aura began to poison him, looking to heal him, and when nothing else could be healed, it started harming him instead.


    Whitehall seized the minuscule levels of venom aura from the overwhelming life aura. Although it was working, it felt¡­ inefficient . His madra channels burned in pain as he channelled life madra through it. Whitehall stopped before he could cause any permanent damage to himself.


    He needed something else: a new perspective. He closed his eyes and sat. He was not cycling but instead thinking. After a while, his eyes snapped open. Could it be?


    Medicine was a cure for a symptom, and poison was just another dose of medicine. Whitehall focused on the life aura and absorbed it into his spirit. This time, however, he imagined a medicine to cure people from the burden of life¡ªa medicine meant to cure someone from being healthy¡ªa medicine to remove the symptoms of living¡ªthe perfect poison.


    He urged the life aura as he absorbed the madra and twisted it with his will. He commanded the life aura, ordering it so that its goal was to heal the burden of life. And it worked. The madra flowed through his channels freely as he understood that healing and poisoning were the same. A pill that can advance a sacred artist straight to jade from copper can also halt their advancement. Every medicine has its side effects.


    An elixir for eternal youth eating on your lifeline .


    Whitehall paused his cycling as he felt something wet and sticky climb onto his shoulder.


    "About time you figured it out."


    Whitehall looked down onto his shoulder to see a sacred beast talking to him. It was a snail, an average-looking snail.


    "This one is honoured-"Whitehall started saying before the snail cut him off.


    "I almost got tired of waiting and was about to explain it to you directly."


    "Why didn''t you just-"


    "Meh," the snail snorted. "You''re not too bad for a human child."


    "I''m not a chil-"


    "Alright then, see you later," the snail leapt off and crawled away¡ªa very slow crawl.


    Whitehall just sat there, unsure what to do as the snail crawled ever so slowly.


    "Excuse me-"


    "Atterist," the snail said, not letting Whitehall finish his question.


    "What?"


    "Your path. The path of the Atterist." The snail continued to crawl, not bothering to look back.


    That''s good to know, Whitehall thought. It did not have the most scary-sounding name, but at least it was not a mouthful.


    "Thank you," Whitehall said.


    "I know what you''re thinking," the snail said. "Fine, name it whatever you want."


    "Wait, that wasn''t-"


    "I come travelling all this way to teach a human the fundamentals of my kind''s path, and all he does is talk trash about our path''s name."


    "But I didn''t-"


    "You know our core teachings already!" The snail yelled. "That was the deal we struck with the Beast King. No way I''m spending any extra second with an ungrateful human."


    Whitehall pressed his fists together and bowed. "This one is grateful for your-"


    The snail suddenly disappeared in a flash, leaving echoes of its final words. "Goodbye!"


    Sadi sat in the darkness. She eyed the whole room, looking for any spec of light. She thought she saw a speck and rushed to absorb the madra. There was nothing.


    She reckoned if she lit a fire, it might work. Does fire even release light, madra? She wondered. Having run out of ideas, she decided to give it a try. Except, she had nothing to light a fire with. All she had was a torn Heaven''s Glory robe that was more rags than clothes.


    She yelled to the darkness in frustration, closing her eyes. Sadi breathed deeply, exhaled, relaxed her muscles, and fell backwards. She lay on the soft earth. Sleep will help, she was sure. "Goodnight," she said to no one in particular.


    As Sadi drifted away slowly, she began to see colours. She could not identify exactly what the colours were, as they seemed to disappear before she could focus on them. She opened her eyes and saw mostly darkness. But now and then, she saw the light of different colours that disappeared as soon as she tried to focus on them. She could not even be sure what colours she was seeing.


    Sadi sat up in a cycling position. Her face was grim in concentration, but she soon relaxed and began to smile slowly.


    Sunda stood outside the sanctuary that she had made. There was a reason why the Beast King had asked for this place to be made for the weaker sacred beasts to hide. Sunda reckoned he would not have done so if it had not been for the presence of his two new apprentices.


    Nonetheless, a great danger was coming. It may not be after them. But it did not need to in order to inflict great harm. Not many things could scare the ancient bird, but this was one of them.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Get ready!" She yelled.


    Nearly a thousand Highgold and higher sacred beasts came to attention. Large mammals, reptiles, birds, and even the smallest bugs have gathered here. Their species do not matter; if they are advanced enough, they are strong enough. Some began to cycle their madra, while some prepared their techniques.


    A dreadgod was coming.


    The sky turned red, and the Sacred Beasts of the Wastelands braced for battle.


    The Beast King hovered above the Wastelands. He watched Akura Malic engaging the Bleeding Phoenix in the Blackflame Empire. Their battle destroyed mountains, and the Phoenix was driving the Monarch back. However, there was a method in the way that Akura Malice fought. She was not winning, sure, but The Beast King would not call in losing either. She was redirecting the dreadgod.


    "Chicken''s going to come this way, isn''t it?" Hissed the Komodo sacred beasts herald floating on a thousand-mile cloud.


    "Yes," The Beast King replied unhappily. He almost snarled but held himself back.


    "Three Heralds versus the bleeding pheonix," replied another herald sacred beast, this time a tiny horned beetle. "That is not good odds."


    The three stayed silent, watching the ongoing battle of Akura Malice and the Bleeding Phoenix.


    "Will Northstrider come to our aid?" The Komodo asked.


    "No," The Beast King replied.


    The horned beetle sighed. "What''s the plan then?"


    "I say we give the dragons a present," The Beast King answered.


    The Komodo hissed enthusiastically, "Oh, that would be fun."


    "The dragons would retaliate," the horned beetle replied. "Malice wouldn''t be happy. She would be weakened just from this fight."


    "Even better. That''ll teach everyone that we are not some fodder to throw their problems at," The Komodo said.


    "Agreed," The Beast King nodded.


    "Then so be it," the Horned Beetle reluctantly agreed. "But I''m leaving once my life is in danger."


    Malice fired a large arrow of shadow with authority that nearly warped the space between her and the Phoenix. The arrow found its mark, straight on the Phoenix''s chest. Blood madra dispersed from its chest, and the Phoenix screeched. Realising its prey could bite back, the Phoenix turned away and left the Blackflame Empire.


    Straight towards the Wastelands. The three Heralds, who were waiting for it, unveiled their spirits. Malice snapped her head towards the jungles of the Wasteland. ''Interesting,'' she thought before disappearing into her shadows and reappearing at Moongrave to nurse her wounds.


    Sadi did not know what had happened. She was cycling the light madra in the dark when the round stone covering the entrance to the room was suddenly yanked away.


    "We must go now!" A black crow entered and wrapped its claws around Sadi''s shoulders before flying out of the room with great speed.


    "Where are we going?" she asked. In the cave, there were many movements of Sacred Beasts, and to her surprise, injured ones were being transported in to be treated. "What''s happening?" she asked.


    "The Beast King and a few others are holding it back far away," the crow began as it dropped Sadi in the middle of a line of Sacred Beasts. "The stronger ones among us are holding the bloodspawns from entering, but more and more are getting wounded."


    The crow pointed its beak towards where most of the injured were being treated. She saw Whitehall among the ones treating the Sacred Beasts. He looked slightly older now.


    "Who are we fighting against?" Sadi tried to ask.


    "They won''t last forever," the crow continued, ignoring Sadi''s question. "We''ll need to go deeper. All light artists will lead the way deeper into the cave systems." It pointed in another direction where sacred beasts were gathering.


    Whitehall''s madra channels were burning. His iron body should have prevented it, but the strain he placed on them caught up. He was healing the minor wounds, using smaller doses of venom aura to accelerate the natural regeneration of the injured sacred beasts.


    Whitehall had long since run out of madra and was now carrying injured from the entrance to their makeshift emergency hospital. Every time he went close to the entrance, every part of his body shivered and screamed ''fear.'' He was unsure what they were fighting out there, but whatever it was, it had injured hundreds of Truegolds and Highgolds.


    Whitehall saw a glimpse beyond the cave through a small crack in the entrance. The battle was fierce, as Sacred Beasts clashed with other beasts made entirely of what looked to be blood. But what caught his attention was the colour of the sky. He felt his stomach twisted in revulsion, disgust, and fear. The sky was blood red.


    The Beast King smiled a bloody grin. The Phoenix was fleeing from the Wastelands, the blue sky slowly replacing the red as the dreadgod went further and further. His beard had burned off his face, revealing a hairless face for the first time in half a century. It would grow back in a few hours.


    "Worth it," the Komodo hissed. She was missing a tail, and numerous scratches and wounds covered her body.


    "We were lucky," the beetle said, now missing a quarter of its horn. "It was weakened from its fight against Malice."


    The Beast King stayed quiet; his smile grew as he watched the direction the Bleeding Phoenix was fleeing towards.


    Seshethkunaaz, the Monarch of the Dragons, felt a disturbance in fate as he sat on his throne. He was in the throne room of his massive Qasr, decorated by gold ornaments and the skulls of his enemies. He activated his divination technique, Sands of Time, and his eyes widened. Previously, only the structure of the Akura symbol was being shredded by the Bleeding Phoenix. Now, however, a symbol with the image of a dragon joined the Akura''s. The Bleeding Phoenix clawed through them both.


    He felt the Bleeding Phoenix approach his territory mere seconds before screams of alarm and panic of dragons blasted throughout his empire. The Phoenix was on its way, and it was coming fast. Sand swallowed his childlike body; he entered through the Way and appeared far above his empire.


    He unveiled his spirit, unleashing it to its fullest. Hundreds of lower Sacred Artists probably died due to the sudden pressure of an unveiled Monarch spirit, but what he did worked. He felt the Phoenix''s attention snapped to him. Seshethkunaaz summoned the sand from the desert, which spun around him, forming a sand vortex. The vortex grew larger and larger until it rivalled the size of the Phoenix.


    A part of him hoped that the Phoenix would find them not worth the energy and flee. The Phoenix''s spirit was battered and wounded, but the bird screeched in defiance. It was going to be a fight, after all.


    Seshethkunaaz sent a mental message to Xhorus and Yuushi; they were to evacuate the area around him immediately and lead the battle against the dreadbeasts and bloodspawns in the distance, lest they will make the situation worse. He was going into a fight with a dreadgod, a battle where his precision would be crucial. Or risk the Phoenix calling his brothers.


    Among the Monarchs in Cradle, Emriss Silentborn was the oldest, and when it comes to reading and manipulating fate and the future- she was a step above the others.


    She had never been so surprised when her eyes, which had shown her the same branches of the possible futures every time, suddenly showed her different iterations¡ªnew iterations. It is as if that branches of the future had been shrouded, and only now have it taken place were it being exposed to the Way.


    What she saw in the new branches of fate terrified her. They were very similar to what she had seen in the older branches; only when she paid close attention did she see slight differences. Her eyes did not show anything beyond that. However, Emriss knew that the changes may be small for now, but the consequences could be catastrophic.


    Iteration requested. Asylum


    Date? Request Rejected


    Report Complete


    Malin leaned against a weathered wooden post, his bare feet sinking into the warm sand as he watched the merchant ships glide into the harbour. The vessels were grand, their sails billowing like clouds against the endless blue sky. He waited, his fingers drumming idly against his thigh, as the merchants and sailors began to disembark, their voices carrying over the salty breeze.


    The newcomers were unlike anyone Malin had ever seen. They wore clothes of such fine fabric that they seemed to shimmer in the sunlight¡ªthin, white tunics that draped loosely over their frames and billowing trousers that swayed with every step. Perfect for the relentless tropical heat, their attire was a stark contrast to Malin''s own. He glanced down at himself: shirtless, his skin bronzed by the sun, and clad only in a pair of oversized shorts, hand-me-downs from the village elders. The fabric was frayed at the edges, and the waistband hung low on his narrow hips.


    "Sweet bread, good sirs!" Malin called out, his voice cutting through the hum of the crowd. He straightened his posture, trying to appear taller and more confident.


    A man nearby turned to face him. He was tall, with hair that seemed to shift from brown to a fiery copper under the glare of the sun. His long leather jacket, the colour of rich mahogany, reached down to his calves, and his boots were caked with the dust of distant lands. His gaze was stern at first, but as his eyes fell on Malin¡ªon his bare chest and ill-fitting shorts¡ªhis expression softened.


    "How much for the bread, kid?" the man asked, his voice deep but not unkind.


    Malin hesitated, then held up three fingers, suddenly self-conscious under the man''s scrutiny.


    "Calder, we need to go!" a woman''s voice called from farther down the dock. Malin''s eyes flicked toward her, catching the glint of emerald earrings that swayed as she moved. They were the colour of the sea at dawn, and for a moment, he forgot to breathe.


    "Alright, alright," Calder muttered. He dug into his pocket, pulled out three coins, and tossed them to Malin. "Don''t spend them all at once, kid," he said with a faint smile before turning to join the woman. He didn''t even take the bread.


    Malin stared at the coins in his palm, then at Calder''s retreating figure. "Wait!" he called, but the man was already swallowed by the crowd. Malin''s fingers closed around the coins, their edges cool and unfamiliar against his skin. He held one up to the light, squinting at its strange markings and the odd, metallic sheen. It was unlike any coin he''d ever seen¡ªforeign, just like the man who had given it to him.


    For a moment, Malin stood still, the bustle of the harbour fading around him. He wondered where Calder had come from, what far-off lands had shaped him, and whether he''d ever see him again. The coins felt heavy in his hand, not just with their worth but with the promise of something more¡ªsomething beyond the horizon.


    The day had been surprisingly busy, and Malin had sold every last piece of bread before the sun dipped below the horizon. By the time he reached home, the sky was deep indigo, dotted with the first glimmers of stars. The village was quiet; the only sounds were the distant chirping of crickets and the soft rustle of palm leaves in the evening breeze.


    "Mom, I''m home," Malin called as he pushed open the creaky door to their small house. The familiar scent of wood smoke and dried herbs greeted him, a comforting reminder of the life they had built together.


    "Oh, you''re early today," his mother said, looking up from her seat by the fire pit in the centre of the room. An empty pot sat atop the flames, waiting to be filled. Her hands, rough from years of work, rested in her lap. "I was just about to start making dinner."


    "There were quite a few new ships at the harbour today," Malin replied, his voice tinged with excitement as he knelt by the corner of the room. He pulled out their worn coin jar, its clay surface chipped and faded, and began carefully depositing the day''s earnings. The clink of copper coins filled the small space, a sound that usually brought a sense of pride. But today, Malin paused, holding up the foreign coin Calder had given him. "One of them gave me this," he said, handing it to his mother.


    His mother took the coin, her fingers trembling slightly as she turned it over in the firelight. Her eyes widened, and for a moment, she seemed unable to speak. "Who gave you this?" she finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.


    "One of the foreign sailors," Malin replied, his brow furrowing with worry. "Is it fake?"


    "No, Malin," his mother murmured, her voice filled with awe. "It''s gold."


    Malin''s breath caught in his throat. Gold. He had only ever heard stories of such wealth¡ªtales told by the village elders of faraway lands where the streets were paved with riches. He had never imagined holding a piece of it in his hands, let alone owning it.


    "Oh gods," his mother gasped, clutching the coin tightly. She began to mutter prayers under her breath, her words a rapid stream of gratitude and reverence. Malin followed suit, his voice joining hers in the familiar rhythms of their faith. But even as he prayed, his mind raced with possibilities.


    One day, he thought, his heart swelling with determination. One day, I''ll become a merchant. I''ll travel to those far-off lands, and I''ll provide for us. No more empty pots, no more worn clothes. Just a life of abundance for me and for her.


    The fire crackled softly, casting flickering shadows on the walls of their humble home. For the first time in a long while, Malin felt a spark of hope¡ªa tiny flame that burned brighter with each passing moment.

 Chapter 7: Goodbyes

    "This way," Sadi led the sacred beasts through the cave. She did not know where she was going; her only instructions were to take the sacred beasts'' deeper.'' Ellie walked next to her; the baby elephant was shaking with fear.


    "Are you okay, Ellie?" She asked, placing a hand on the elephant''s back.


    Ellie yelped in surprise, jolting several lowgold and jade sacred beasts behind them. "Sorry, sorry," Ellie muttered. "You just surprised me," she said.


    "Apologies for startling you," Sadi said, keeping her eyes in front. "We''re turning left," she said loudly, her voice reverberating through the tunnel.


    "How are you able to see?" Ellie whispered. "It''s pitch black."


    Sadi could see that it was dark, but she could see nonetheless. She was not sure how to explain it. "I''m a light artist," she answered.


    "That makes sense," Ellie replied.


    Did it? Sadi wondered. Many elders in Heaven''s Glory needed to manifest light when exploring the dark. Even she was not able to see in the dark until very recently.


    "What attacked us?" Sadi asked and she saw Ellie shivered.


    "The Bleeding Phoenix," Ellie whispered as if speaking a forbidden name. "A dreadgod."


    Sadi shivered slightly as well. "How were we able to hold it off," she replied.


    "No," Ellie replied. "That was only its bloodspawns. The Beast King and other Wasteland Heralds are facing the real thing."


    "Can they kill it?" Sadi asked.


    Ellie snorted. "As if. Have you heard about the dread war?"


    "No," Sadi answered.


    "Several Monarchs died the last time they tried to take down the dreadgods. The best we can hope for is to hold it back until it eventually leaves." Ellie inched closer to Sadi so that her belly touched the human''s leg.


    "Can they hold them off, then?" Sadi asked.


    "Hopefully," Ellie replied, not sounding confident. "Last I heard, the Akura Monarch is helping. Even then, we won''t know."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall walked lifelessly near the end of the line in the tunnel. His mind was empty, his legs only moving on instinct. Today, he had seen many deaths, but that was not what frightened him. What scared him was how the blood of the dead rose back up, not as remnants but as bloodspawns. And whenever a remnant rose, the bloodspawns devoured them.


    He tried to help whoever he could, but his iron body was not attuned to life aura. He could cycle and use life madra, but his body was designed to poison. His core was empty, and his millions of channels required him to exert more madra than would be necessary.


    He kept walking. He would endure it. He realised today how far they still had to go. One day, he would be stronger. Strong enough to kill dreadgods. Just not today.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Beast King lay on the bed that had been provided to him. It was filled with soft, dried leaves and cotton. His entire body was covered with scripted bandages. All that was left was to light a fire, and it would be a funeral.


    "How''s my apprentices?" He asked the only other person in the room.


    "Uninjured," Ziel of the Wastelands, formerly of the Dawnwing sect, replied lazily.


    "You know I am also including you," The Beast King snorted.


    Ziel shrugged. "I''m not dead yet."


    The Beast King sighed; that was the most he would probably get out of Ziel. "Are the two ready for advancement?"


    "Yes," Ziel replied.


    The Beast King had asked Ziel to prepare Sadi and Whitehall for advancement after the battle with the Phoenix. It seems they needed to move faster.


    "What do you think of them?" The Beast King asked.


    Ziel sighed. "Not much, to be honest. They follow my orders without questions and complete them to the best of their abilities. I don''t like them. I reckon they''ll dig themselves an early grave."


    The Beast King snorted. "If it helps, they want the same thing as you do."


    Ziel raised an eyebrow.


    "To kill the dreadgods."


    Ziel looked away dissapointedly. "That didn''t help. Why take them in any way? They don''t seem special. Do they have some bloodline abilities I don''t know about?"


    "I have no idea," The Beast King replied. "I was just doing a favour for an old friend, but I have in good conscience that they''ll greatly benefit everyone." His old friend had never been wrong before; he still owed them a great deal even if they had.


    "Everyone?" Ziel asked sceptically.


    "Yes," The Beast King replied. "Everyone."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sadi walked tiredly into the room she shared with Whitehall, sitting on her mattress. Whitehall was by his desk, carved into the wall of their cave room.


    "More lessons?" Whitehall asked Sadi. He turned to look at her. "You''re drenched."


    "Yeah," she answered. "Ziel wanted me to have lessons with this anglerfish. They live in total darkness in the deepest part of the waters."


    "You left the cave?" Whitehall asked. "How''s the situation outside?"


    They had not been allowed to leave the cave in months and instead studied scrolls and scripts to learn more about their paths.


    "I didn''t leave," Sadi replied, drying her wet hair with a cylindrical heating construct. "Turns out the cave runs deep enough that there''s an entrance to the ocean."


    "And how was it?" Whitehall asked.


    Sadi touched her face, removing some of the slime off of it.


    "Yuck," she grimaced, wiping her hand on a towel. "Needed to put my head in a jellyfish so I could breathe. It was pretty cool, though," she continued. "The anglerfish have this special organ that allows them to produce light."


    "Wouldn''t that attract predators?" Whitehall asked, turning back to read his scroll.


    "That''s what they wanted me to learn," Sadi replied, undressing her wet clothes and drying them with the heating construct. "Apparently, the fish has a technique where they use invisible light to warn them of incoming animals."


    "Then why would they need to produce their light if they can use invisible light?" Whitehall looked over his shoulder at her. Surprised to see her state of undress, he blushed and looked away.


    "Oh, please," Sadi remarked. "Nothing either of us haven''t seen before."


    That was true, Whitehall thought. Sacred beasts were always naked, so he guessed there was not much in the name of privacy to them. Their toilet was a hole in the corner of their room, with a water construct to shower and flush. Their Master had laughed when he brought them to the room Whitehall and Sadi would share.


    ''When you are strong enough, then maybe you can have your own room,'' The Beast King had snorted.


    Whitehall and Sadi should count themselves lucky. Almost all the sacred beasts shared rooms with dozens of others in the cave.


    "I''m just surprised," Whitehall muttered. "That''s all."


    "Whatever," Said sighed. "And to answer your question, the anglerfish can''t see in the dark. And their technique only warns them when a predator is moving fast. Maybe at higher levels of advancement, they can."


    "Interesting," Whitehall uttered. "I can see the benefits."


    "What about you?" Sadi asked. "What are you learning?"


    Whitehall slumped. "Biology," he said tiredly. "Who knew that poison artist needed to study about organs and diseases this much."


    "Sounds like a healer''s study," Sadi uttered.


    "Apparently, it''s more," Whitehall complained. "Most healers will just need to channel life aura to speed the natural healing process." He pointed to the pile of scrolls and recording constructs by the wall. "For me, though, I need to know everything. And considering how different animals have their unique biology. Well¡­"Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Sadi snorted. "I thought I had it bad. I wish they''d allow us to spar or train." She began to put on her dried robes.


    They were told not to train or do anything that would tax their madra channels to prepare their spirit for Jade. Neither knew this when they advanced to Jade in Sacred Valley. For them, it was always fight and advance.


    "Same," Whitehall concurred. "If only the other elders could see our preparations for Jade," he said sarcastically.


    Sadi chuckled. "They would insult us to death."


    Her laugh brought a smile to Whitehall''s face. Months of fear of another attack and frustration had not been easy for them both. Moments of jokes were rare.


    "Thanks," Sadi said, still half laughing. "I needed that."


    The door of their room, a large circular rock, slid open, revealing Ellie. Sadi sighed inwardly at Sacred Beasts'' lack of privacy and knocking, but she would not make a fuss about such a benign thing.


    "Hey guys," the baby elephant trumpeted. "The Beast King asked me to tell you he wants to see you both."


    "Thanks, Ellie," Sadi said to the elephant. "We''ll be there soon." Sadi grabbed a bunch of tied-up seaweed from her pouch and tossed it to Ellie, who caught them with her trunk.


    "Oooooh," Ellie salivated, bringing the seaweed close to her eyes. "That smells good. Thanks, Sadi."


    Sadi pressed her fists together and bowed, she was sure Whitehall was doing the same. "Thank you for delivering the message."


    Ellie sighed. "You guys should stop doing that. It''s bizarre. Look at me; how am I supposed to bow like that? Can you imagine the chaos among the Sacred Beasts if we have to bow like that, too?"


    "Apologies," Sadi said, continuing to bow.


    "I tried," Ellie sighed again. "Anyways," she trumpeted joyfully again. "Thanks for the snack."


    Sadi and Whitehall waited for Ellie to leave before straightening their backs. They looked at each other.


    "Master have not called for us in months," Whitehall said.


    Sadi shrugged. "Guess we''ll find out why. Have you been wondering why he took us in?" she asked.


    Whitehall nodded.


    "Saving us was enough, but giving us an iron body and training us personally is a bit much," She added.


    "It is," Whitehall said. "The benefits have been evident to us. But I don''t know how to ask him without causing any possible offence."


    "That''s true," Said agreed, exhaling audibly. "Let''s just go and see what he wants."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whitehall and Sadi bowed with their fists pressed together to their Master. The Beast King had long given up on getting them to stop bowing every time they saw him.


    Whitehall''s body shivered as he felt the Beast King sensing his spirit. He felt Sadi also shivering slightly next to him.


    "Good," The Beast King said.


    He was no longer covered in bandages as they had last met. He was back to his full strength. His demeanour had changed, however. Ever since the attack of the Bleeding Phoenix, The Beast King had looked and sounded more serious.


    "You two are ready," The Beast King said. "Show me your cycling technique."


    They both breathed in the pattern that they had been taught.


    Satisfied, their Master told them to stop. "Use this," he held a hand, revealing two identical parasite rings.


    They both wore the ring and immediately felt it harder to breathe, as if a great weight had pressed down on their lungs.


    "I want you both to go in your cycling rooms and cycle with the ring on. And make sure to keep your perception out," The Beast King ordered.


    "Master, is this what I think it is?" Sadi asked the question that Whitehall had also wanted to ask.


    For the first time, The Beast King grinned. "Yes. You both are advancing to Jade."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Beast King sat at the opening of a vast root, entwined with the ancient life force of the thousand-year-old Menhua tree. Its gnarled, silver-barked tendrils reached skyward, whispering stories of centuries past. Sunlight filtered through its emerald canopy, casting dappled patterns across the ground where sacred beasts and offspring gathered in sombre silence.


    "You should not have fought," he muttered, his voice cracking.


    His words felt small¡ªlike a child throwing a tantrum. He clenched the earth beneath him, knuckles white, feeling the pulse of life deep within the roots. This place had the strongest concentration of life aura in The Wasteland. Yet it was not enough.


    In front of him lay Sunda, the once-majestic golden bird now faded and frail. The ethereal glow of his feathers dimmed like a sunset retreating beneath a storm cloud. Around them, sacred beasts on the path of life stood solemn, their eyes reflecting the weight of an impending loss.


    "Come here, King," Sunda''s voice broke through the air, warm and commanding, yet softer than the Beast King had ever heard. Only Sunda ever called him by that name. It was not the title the world knew but the name of a promise, an identity forged in his despair.


    He approached, each step feeling heavier, each moment stretched out in a painful eternity. His mind wandered to the night they met fondly.


    Broken, battered, and exiled, he was left alone in the wasteland to die. Instead, Sunda had found him, nursed him back to health, and taught him the way of the wastelands.


    "What is your name?" Sunda had asked back then, sitting by the boy''s makeshift bed inside a hollowed cave. Her golden feathers glowed softly in the dim light, filling the darkness with her warm light.


    "Umm," the young boy hesitated, looking at the majestic bird with awe.


    "You may choose any name you want," the golden bird suggested gently. Her voice was soothing, like a lullaby in his unending nightmares.


    "Anything?" he had whispered, eyes wide with wonder.


    "Anything," she assured him.


    The young boy beamed then, hope igniting in his chest. "King!"


    Sunda had laughed. Her laugh rumbled like a distant thunder, yet gentle and comforting. "A bold choice."


    Now, the Beast King knelt beside Sunda. Her golden feathers, once a blazing sun in the wastelands, were now like autumn leaves, fragile and dimming. The bird reached out, a wing gently brushing the Beast King''s cheek.


    "You''ve grown so much," the bird whispered. "I am so proud of the beast you have become."


    The Beast King could not help but shed a tear for his master- his parent in all sense but species. He would allow himself to shed a tear for her.


    "Did you know?" he choked. "Did you see this day coming? Did you know you would die?"


    Sunda''s eyes softened. "We are never meant to stay in this world forever, my dear," the bird replied gently.


    "I can call for Northstrider," The Beast King insisted desperately. "He will help if I do him a favour."


    Sunda''s expression hardened, and she looked up at the sky. "Never trust the current Monarchs. They poison us for their selfishness," the bird hissed with a ferocity that he had only seen once. "I would rather die a thousand times before I reveal myself to them."


    "I can''t let you die," The Beast King clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms. "Not like this. Not from some bloodspawn."


    "That''s where you''re wrong, my dear," the bird said, closing her eyes in serenitiy. "I still have my remnant," she tried to joke.


    The Beast King snorted. He closed his eyes, too, feeling the fading warmth of Sunda''s golden feathers. Memories washed over him. He remembered their lessons, the laughter, and the battles they fought.


    "How are your apprentices?" Sunda''s voice brought him back to the present.


    "They''re currently advancing to Jade," King answered. The realisation hit him, and he looked at his master wide-eyed. "You can''t mean-"


    The ancient bird nodded, a knowing smile on her beak. "Let the girl absorb my remnant; we were always meant to be together."


    "You knew? That was why you sent me to save them," the Beast King muttered, the pieces falling into place.


    "Fate has always been fickle," the bird explained. "But this eventuality was set in stone the moment I was born in Cradle."


    "It doesn''t have to be like this. You could bond with her instead."


    "Don''t be sad, my dear," The bird brushed the Herald''s unkempt hair. "I will never die."


    "And the boy?" The Beast King muttered.


    "I would like to see him first once he advanced. I would like to talk to him."


    ----------


    Iteration requested. Asylum


    Date? Request Rejected


    Report Complete


    "No! I won''t allow it!" Malin''s mother''s voice rang out, sharp and unyielding, cutting through the stillness of their small home.


    Malin, now thirteen, stood his ground, his heart pounding. This was the first time he had dared to voice his dream aloud¡ªto become a merchant, to sail the seas, to see the world beyond their village. But his mother''s reaction was fiercer than he had anticipated.


    "But why?" he asked, his voice trembling with a mix of frustration and confusion.


    His mother''s face twisted with emotion, her eyes wide with fear¡ªalmost terror. "Because," she began, her voice breaking. She hesitated as if the words were too heavy to speak. Tears spilt down her cheeks, glistening in the dim light of the fire. "Because... your father."


    Malin froze. This was the first time his mother had ever spoken of his father. All he had ever been told was that the man had abandoned them when Malin was just two years old. The rest had been shrouded in silence, a mystery Malin had long stopped asking about.


    His mother''s expression shifted, her sorrow giving way to a simmering rage. "He said the same thing¡ªthat he wanted to travel, to become a merchant. And he never came back!" Her voice rose, raw and trembling. She jabbed a finger at her chest. "I took care of you! I raised you! I skipped sleep every night to make sure you had food to eat! I sacrificed everything for you!" Her voice cracked, and her face fell, the anger draining away to reveal a deep, aching sadness. "And now you want to leave me too."


    Malin''s heart ached at her words. He stepped closer, his voice soft but firm. "I won''t leave you, Mom. I know how much you''ve sacrificed for me. I won''t leave you."


    His mother''s sobs grew louder, her shoulders shaking as she buried her face in her hands. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with a desperate fear¡ªthe fear of being left alone, of losing the one person she had poured her life into. Wordlessly, she opened her arms, and Malin rushed into them, holding her tightly.


    They stood there, mother and son, clinging to each other as the fire crackled softly in the background. Malin could feel her trembling, her tears dampening his shoulder. At that moment, he felt the weight of her sacrifices, her fears, and her love. And though his dream still burned within him, he knew he could never abandon her¡ªnot after everything she had endured.


    <hr>


    "My son," she began, her voice trembling as a single tear traced a path down her weathered cheek. "I only ask one thing of you. Once you''ve made your fortune, once you''ve prospered... please don''t forget about your mom. I''ll always be here, waiting for you."


    Malin had never brought up his dream again after that first time. But she had seen it in his eyes¡ªthe way he gazed longingly at the ships that docked at their village harbour, their sails billowing like promises of adventure. She had noticed the envy in his expression as he watched the sailors and the other village boys board those ships, their laughter carrying over the waves as they set off for distant lands.


    With a heavy heart, she unlocked the small wooden basket where they kept their meagre savings. From it, she pulled a worn envelope, its edges frayed from years of being tucked away. "This is some money I''ve saved for you," she said, pressing it into his hands. Her fingers lingered for a moment as if reluctant to let go.


    Malin looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise. His mother managed a faint smile, though her lips trembled. "I''ve cried many nights, wishing you would want to stay," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "But deep down, I always knew this day would come."


    Tears welled up in Malin''s eyes, spilling over as he pulled her into a tight embrace. "Mom," he choked out, his voice thick with emotion. "I..."


    "It''s okay, Malin," she interrupted gently, her hand stroking his back. She hadn''t realized when it had happened, but her son had grown taller than her, his shoulders broader, his frame stronger. "You''re an adult now. It''s time for you to find your own path." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "A merchant ship at the harbour has agreed to take you on. The pay isn''t much, but it''s a start."


    Malin pulled back, his tear-streaked face a mix of confusion and hope. "How?" he asked.


    "One of their crew is an old friend," his mother replied simply, her smile bittersweet.


    Malin took a step back, his face breaking into a wide, radiant grin. It was the smile of someone who could see the future stretching out before him, bright and full of promise.


    "Just don''t forget about me," she said softly, her voice cracking. "Come visit me whenever you can. That''s all I ask."


    Malin placed his hands on his hips, his confidence shining through. "Don''t worry, Mom! I''ll come back as often as I can. Once I succeed, I''ll take us out of this place. We''ll have the biggest home in the village, and we''ll even open a shop to sell our sweet bread!"


    His smile was so full of hope, so full of determination, that it made her heart ache. She had never doubted he would succeed. She had always believed in him.


    But now, fifteen years later, she cried herself to sleep every night, her pillow damp with tears. The house felt emptier than ever, the silence a constant reminder of his absence. She had let him go, believing it was the right thing to do. But as the years stretched on with no word, no visit, no sign of him, regret gnawed at her heart. She had given him her blessing, but she hadn''t prepared herself for the possibility that he might never return.