As he left Fang and Escora behind, Verus grumbled to himself. They were seriously misunderstanding him. Unlike them, he wasn’t some sort of battle-maniac or tribal hunter. He was an ascetic! The peaceful contemplation of enlightenment was his goal. It was just that the flawed nature of existence always led him to strife. That was unavoidable. He certainly didn’t enjoy violence. Wrath was a worldly desire and a distraction…

Before Verus got to the arena, he was intercepted once again. This time it was by a pale outer disciple with a purple gem on his forehead. Blinking in surprise, he recognized Inanis Praestigiae. The strange disciple’s presence startled Verus, and he hesitated upon seeing him. What did he want? Their last meeting had been back in the Reaches and more than a little weird, and although it was difficult to believe, Verus suspected Inanis was stalking him.

“Greetings, Inanis. How can I help you?” Verus said as he gave a slight bow. Politeness was warranted here. Not only did Inanis come from a powerful family, he was one of the strongest outer disciples and obviously not particularly mentally stable. Verus didn’t dislike him, but who knew what would set him off?

The strange disciple blinked. “Listen.”

Several long awkward seconds passed as Verus waited for Inanis to continue, but he didn’t, he simply stared at Verus. Eventually, Verus suppressed a sigh and took the initiative.

“You have something you wish to share?” Verus asked. You could never be sure with Inanis. It was entirely possible he wanted Verus to go listen to some birds in the gardens sing or something else trivial.

“Your soul is unstable,” Inanis replied matter-of-factly without changing his expression at all.

Despite the bland delivery of the statement, the words sent a shiver down Verus’s spine. This had nothing to do with birds or anything trivial. Somehow Verus could feel the height behind the words and knew they were true, even though he had no idea what they really meant. Souls weren’t often discussed in the sect, outside some vague theoretical musings in theology. He knew he needed his to live though, and cultivate, so the idea of his being unstable was deeply uncomfortable.

“You’ve taken in something rare and dangerous,” Inanis continued as he gave Verus a meaningful look. “A catalyst of eternal change. How this happened should not be spoken of. You are right to keep silent, but you must know of its consequences. As your soul churns around the catalyst, the pieces of what was shattered are falling back into place. Once reunited, they cling to each other.”

Verus flinched as he felt dread deep in his gut. He’d been afraid of this. As a scion of the Praestigiae family, Inanis was supposed to have the ability to see into souls, and it definitely seemed like he was aware of the Splinterseed.

“What are you talking about? What was shattered?”

Inanis shook his head. “What you were. More than that I don’t know. It is vast and seeing is not understanding. All of us were once different. All souls are old, but yours has not yet surrendered its last burden to eternity. It yet dares to defy heaven.”

At the moment, Verus really wished that Inanis would explain what he was trying to say clearly instead of being so mysterious. “So, what is it you want me to do?”

Inanis gave him an annoyed look. “Listen.”

Verus sighed. He should have seen that coming. This situation was just getting worse and worse. Looking around, he saw that many of the nearby people were now giving him and Inanis odd looks.

This didn’t stop Inanis from continuing though. In fact, much to Verus’s concern, he gave no sign that he realized they weren’t alone. “To progress, you must allow the change to happen. Listen to the voice of what was. Only then will you have the strength necessary to survive. You must let go of yourself to understand yourself.”

“Do you mean to win the fight?” Verus grimaced. Was Inanis trying to give him advice for the duel now?

A forbidding aura suddenly surrounded Inanis as his and Verus’s eyes met, and Verus found himself unable to look away.

“If you wish to survive, you must listen,” the pale disciple said. His words now contained an unnerving intensity. “Do not be like the others, the blind liars and ignorant fools. See that which is around you before it is too late. Free yourself from the illusion. Face the horror that is truth. Only then will you be free of heaven’s chains and eternity’s fires. Once you defied them, but you still lost much. Now, you must listen to the voice within you and accept it. Otherwise, you will go mad and the coming storm will tear you apart. Do you understand?”

Cold sweat appeared on Verus’s back. It was almost like some powerful presence was reaching through Inanis to oppress him. More than the other disciple’s words, this presence convinced him of the seriousness of the matter. He couldn’t ignore this, even though he had no idea what this was.

“What…” Verus began to stammer, but then Inanis’s eyes narrowed and flashed with power.

“No more questions. It is not answers you need, but courage.”

Verus quickly nodded. He could feel the truth of the other disciple’s words. If only he knew what was going on…

“All designated combatants are to enter the ring! The time of the challenge has come,” an elder suddenly yelled, causing Verus to glance toward the arena for a moment.

When he looked back at Inanis, the pale disciple had already turned and began walking away. Verus could only make a sour face.

“I suppose I should go fight,” he remarked. His opponent would be waiting and it seemed Inanis had said all he intended to.

Reluctantly, Verus thus walked over and stepped up onto the raised stone floor of the dueling arena. Why had Inanis decided to confront him with this now? He didn’t need this kind of distraction in the middle of a duel.

Avon Fortex was already present and standing on the far side of the ring. There was also a vaguely familiar elder standing off to the side. Verus thought he’d seen the man judge other duels before, but he didn’t know his name.

Fortex studied Verus and smiled confidently. “Let us get this matter done and over with.”

After a moment of hesitation, Verus nodded in agreement. “I look forward to exchanging blows with you and sharing insights.”

An amused chuckle escaped Fortex. “I will instruct you if you wish, but I hope you’re ready to feel the difference between us with your body. For you are not my peer, and this is undoubtedly the only thing you will learn today!”

Verus stared at his longwinded opponent. Could Fortex hear himself talk? Was this how people in his social circle all talked? If it was, Verus was glad he was a simple temple ward.

The elder referring the match stepped forward. “Are you both ready to fight?”

Both disciples voiced their consent so the Elder nodded. “Then let this challenge for an amulet begin and may the heavens and the Archon look upon you both with favor.”

The elder then raised a hand and stepped back, signaling the start of the match. Immediately, Verus charged forward. However, all his opponent did was calmly raise a hand and point it at him. A moment later, golden orange ki surged down his arm and began gathering.

A shiver of anticipation went down Verus’s spine as he cycled his void ki enhancement technique. Thanks to his research on his foe, he recognized this technique, and was glad to have a technique that smoothly empowered his muscles and lightened his steps.

After two seconds of preparation, Fortex unleashed his attack, and a beam of golden orange light shot out of his hand. It sizzled through the air, right at Verus, but he was ready for it. Using a quick bit of footwork, he threw himself sideways and dodged the beam. Thanks to his smooth movements, he even managed to resume his charge with only the slightest of interruptions.

Verus’s opponent frowned upon seeing this. He looked slightly annoyed, but not too concerned. The Fortex family was a baronial house, true landholding nobility, which was rare in the empire since it preferred to control its territory directly. They also had a powerful bloodline that granted their children the attunements they needed to use the techniques developed by their founder and patriarch. These techniques were a powerful combination of fire and light ki that had been refined over centuries, such as the beam of burning light that Avon Fortex had just shot at Verus. It was far more troublesome to dodge than a normal fireball, and according to what Verus had heard, Avon had defeated several outer disciples with it.

As Verus dashed forward, Fortex simply widened his stance and prepared to meet him. Then, the two disciples met in a flurry of punches. Verus threw the first blow, but the orange glow of a body enhancement technique appeared around Fortex and he easily deflected the attack and countered. Soon, both disciples were exchanging blows as they warily circled and took each other’s measure.

Verus grimaced as he shifted to duck under a jab aimed at his face. Fortex was easily keeping up with his speed and strength. Not only was he faster than Escora, but his movement were also far more polished. It was obvious he was a skilled martial artist with years of dutiful practice under his belt. It seemed like there really was a difference between the top tier of disciples and everyone else. This wasn’t simply a matter of talent. Underneath Avon Fortex’s silk and make-up, there was a truly dedicated cultivator.

A kick shot toward Verus’s knee, so he twisted around and took his weight off his front leg to absorb the power of the hit. The blow still stung his thigh muscles when it connected, but it didn’t do any real damage. However, Verus knew he was being pressured and needed to shake things up. Thus, he prepared another technique as he stepped forward to throw another punch.

As Fortex parried the blow and moved to counterattack, Verus made a quick hand gesture and used the Unseen Hand technique. The invisible stream of void ki latched onto the elbow of the arm Fortex was throwing a punch with, pulling it aside so that it missed and breaking his balance. As he stumbled in surprise, Verus jumped forward and reached out to grab his arm.

As Verus’s fingers closed around Fortex’s arm, the other disciple’s eyes went wide in alarm and he flared his enhancement technique. The golden orange ki around his body flashed brighter for a second as he jumped back with startling speed, and Verus failed to get a grip on him.

“I have no idea what that little trick of yours was, but it won’t work on me,” Fortex hissed. The energy around him faltered for a moment before regaining its normal strength.

Ignoring his foe’s words, Verus considered what he’d just seen. It looked like Fortex could flare his body enhancement technique to greatly increase his speed and power for a single moment, but it left his ki unstable and weak for a moment after he used it. That was concerning because it would allow him to overpower Verus’s Unseen Hand and escape every time Verus tried to grab him.

Verus wasn’t afraid though. His battles instincts were just starting to kick in, keeping him calm and focused. Thus, he skipped forward and threw a low kick at Fortex’s front leg, but the other disciple easy sidestepped the attack. Verus now looked overextended, so Fortex threw a high kick at his shoulder. The blow slipped through Verus’s hasty guard and collided with his shoulder, only to pass through it as Verus’s afterimage dispersed into loose ki.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Verus then used Vanishing Feather Step to appear to Fortex’s right and immediately threw a straight punch at his chin. The other disciple’s eyes went wide in surprise as Verus’s fist slammed into his face, but then Verus’s attack failed to connect. He could only gawk as his opponent dissolved around his hand. An afterimage! Pulled off balance, Verus stumbled into the cloud of bright light ki in front of him, which then exploded.

With a loud bang, burning orange light enveloped Verus, singeing his skin and blinding him.