MELODY

“Focus Melody.” Melody sits in the middle of a pool of water with closed eyes, resting on a fragile platform made of wood. Her figure has grown as she recently left her childhood behind and grew into a teenager. Her feet crinkle at the touch of the water as her hands feel the water dance around them, Sister Merri’s voice echoing in her ears. “All Aesyn elementalists face this trial.” Sister Merri pulls apart the suit on her hand, lowering it to hover just above the water. Her eyes look into Melody’s. “I’ll do this with you. I know it’s hard.” Stifling the trepidation whirling around inside her Melody nods her head and cuts open the suit covering her own hands. She lowers it to just above the water and looks at Merri, trying to draw strength in her teacher’s surety.

“Water has a myriad of expressions.” Merri says as she gazes at her disciple with warmth. “It bears the emotions of all that passes through it. In this reserved place it will be a little calmer for you. You’ll find that not just a single emotion will touch you when you take hold of water. But it’s different from the earth. You won’t have to suffer. Just focus on your experience and yourself. What is water to you? Find your own feelings inside of it. Draw on it and establish a connection. Your training up to this point has prepared you for this.”

Merri waits until Melody gives a determined nod. “Let’s begin.” She says, sinking her hand into the water. A flicker of different emotions pass over her face as the familiar feeling embroils her. At the same time Melody’s own hands dip into the water and trail across it. A mass of emotions immediately assault her. She feels the the joy of swimming, the satisfaction of a full meal, the curiosity of the unknown. A number of different emotions converge inside her, each one telling its own story. Melody lets out a gasp as she struggles to maintain hold of herself in the embroiled sea of emotions as they wash over her.

She recalls the training and anchors herself inside an old memory, one that fills her with happiness. As she gradually calms down Melody starts to focus on the water again and feel for the connection she’s seeking. Soon an emotion brings itself to the top. She can feel the fish’s imprint inside the water, its experiences. The purest of joy-filled curiosity fills her, a faint image of a fish swimming in never-ending water, nothing changing and yet always looking forward to the next day, its endless yearning to see what is out there filling herself.

Tears drip down her face as the emotions resonate with Melody, building a connection inside of her. Merri has already released her hand on the side, looking gently at Melody’s heartfelt figure. Slowly Melody’s eyes open, their emerald shine now mixed into a glowing blue. Melody felt an urge, an instinct that called to her and drew her hand up, gathering that yearning inside of her. As she does a tiny pool of water congeals in the air in front of her, its virescent shine highlighting her face.

As she does so Melody can feel her strength quickly drain out of her, causing Merri to reach over and clasp her hands. The connection breaks and the water dissipates into the atmosphere, releasing an exhausted Melody. “Well done.” Merri says, bringing Melody into a hug.

“I’m so weak.” Melody mutters into Merri’s clothing, her figure trembling. She had read the books. A genius could wield their element as easily as they breathe. And here, she was exhausted from the first moment. “Can I really live up to your expectations.”

“You’re not weak,” Merri says softly, tightening her hold around her. A frail figure flashes in her mind, that same look of always wishing to be better, do better. Merri tries her hardest to send Melody her warmth as that figure fades away. “You are incredible. Magic has faded away for a long time. The fact that you can do this at all shows how special you are.”

Melody sinks into the hug, the two of them remaining silent for a time as Melody gathers her strength. When Melody recovers, she turns to look at Merri. “What did you feel Sister Merri?” Melody asks. Merri pauses, giving her a look for a moment before answering.

“Melancholy.”

Melody stares down at the strange orb in front of her, its depths unseen through the inky darkness that pervades it.

Old Ticket Type Single-Use Familiarity n/a Rank Unique An accomplishment of strength. Entry fee to the Old Conglomerate.

“I missed this before.” Melody says, mostly to herself. It had been thrown away into a corner, hidden by its dark colours. Melody only found it when she went searching to gather up a few more snacks for Raze. Raze looks at it for a second before losing interest. “The Old Conglomerate…” The Wervern had told her she would understand more if she visited the place. Now she held the key. But if there’s a key, where’s the door? “Is it alright if I hold onto this?” Melody asks Raze. He nods in assent. “Okay.” Melody ties it to her belt, next to her precious cube.

Walking back over to Raze she pulls him to sit down and gathers herself next to him. Melody conjures some water and spreads it over his wounds, doing her best to soothe his pain. “I know it’s hard but please continue to bear with it.” Melody says softly. Her eyes trail along his arms, seeing their slight shivering. “You aren’t recovering.” Melody looks up at him. “Please.”

“No.” Raze says coldly.

“You don’t have to be so stubborn.” Melody sighs. “My race has always been willing to bear the burden, just as yours has protected us. If you let this continue, you’ll eventually lose control. Please-”

“No.” Raze says abruptly, cutting her off. She goes to speak more but he cuts her off again. “I won’t hurt you.” It is a simple answer. But one that is so much harder to respond to. Many emotions trail themselves across her eyes as she reaches over and grasps hold of his hand.

“You have to.” Melody says. “Even if it’s not now. This is a pain I’ve chosen to bear. Let me bear it.”

“…No.” It takes a moment, but the plain response is still given. Melody feels frustrated but lets go in the end, breaking her eyes away from him. She picks herself up and turns toward the tunnel.

“It’s time for me to explore again.” Melody says, her feet carrying her toward the exit. Partway there she pauses, half-turning back toward Raze. “Think on it for a while.” Leaving those words behind she enters the tunnel and heads toward where she was last. It takes her a little while to reach the location but she doesn’t encounter anything on the way, becoming a sort of tranquil walk to Melody, if that walk is in a gloomy never-ending cave. When she reaches that cavern Melody confirms that it is still empty.

The trial she had experienced disappeared without a trace, only the essence it took from her indicating it had ever existed. Melody falls into thought as she looks around the area. It was a strange experience. What defines its rules? Why did it appear here? It doesn’t matter. Melody shakes away her curiosity and moves across the room, entering the next tunnel. As she proceeds through the darkness a soft skittering can be heard racing across the ground. After Melody conjures water and uses her ability to combine it, she twists it into a familiar whip shape before letting it coil around herself. At the same time she sends out another light mist of water in front of her which nearly instantly picks up three bodies heading toward her. Melody steps backwards and lets her whip strike out, cutting through one of the bodies as a screech can be heard. Soon the creatures are revealed in front of her.

Engorged Rat

[ Monster ]

They have the shape of a rat, but is far too large to be considered one. The rodents come up to her waist with bodies so over-enlarged their body ripples with each step. And yet, their feet are terribly light, barely making a sound as they move forward. As Melody withdraws her whip, having only pierced its flesh, the three pairs of beady eyes bore into her as they come to a stop. She backs away further and observes them. The three seem to be speaking to each other, their mouths making high-pitched sounds that Melody couldn’t discern.

Eyes narrowing Melody twists the whip around and sends both ends flying, two edges piercing into one of the rats bodies. It screeches and tenses its body, causing the whips to be unable to dig in any further. At the same time the rat in the middle starts shrinking rapidly, the extra flesh on its body dispersing at an incredible speed. At the same time Melody’s internal perception skill triggers and she feels an overwhelming sense of danger. She imediately connects the dots and dives to the side, an explosive rat rocketing through the air where she once stood.

She’s unable to get a moment of relief however as the moment the rat hits the floor it rebounds and rockets backwards up to the roof, which then causes it to further rebound back toward her. Melody immediately withdraws the whip and gathers it back around herself as she twists her body to the side. She attempts to place the whip in its path as it rockets by her but its speed ends up being too fast. Instead she sends it careening like a speer straight toward the remaining rat that had been preparing itself to do the same trick. The whip strikes directly at the rats legs and tears through them, causing it to collapse to the side as it screeches in pain.

At the same time Melody dodges the rocketing rat again, using her momentum to conjure a dozen water needles and send them striking to the first rat. Its cries are cut short as its body ends up like a porcupine, so many wounds piercing its flesh it can only collapse as the life slowly drains out of it. However, unexpectedly, the rat she had injured continues to burn its fat. With determined eyes it sends itself rocketing forward, knowing it can no longer change its trajectory. At the same time the other rat still bounding around heads toward her from the opposite angle.

In the moment she has, Melody gathers the water around herself and sends it exploding downward, sending her shooting straight up toward the roof. Twisting her body around her feet slam into the roof at the same time as the two rats pass each other. The injured rat is unable to stop itself and slams into the wall, its injured legs collapsing along with the rat itself as it lies in a pool of its own blood. The last rat continues to rocket around the room. Melody gathers all the water back to herself and forms them into water needles, the whip included, forming over two dozen needles in the end. As it rockets toward her she sends all of them forward along the tunnel like a blanket, covering every inch of surface area.

Unable to avoid it the final rat slams into them and spirals to the side, the wounds on its body splitting wide open as it crashes into the wall. Like the other two rats it falls to the ground and the light dies out of its eyes soon after. Dead. Melody lets out a groan as some of the tension fades away, reforming the whip to coil around herself. She still felt full of strength, though the fight had taken a bit out of her. “I’d prefer some normal creatures once in a while.” Melody mutters. As her eyes trail along the tunnel’s walls, she catches a trail of symbols carved into the wall. Melody’s eyes widen in surprise. They had grown marred from a long period of time but she could still make out some of their structure. Although she couldn’t understand most of it, she caught a symbol that she remembered.

“Path.” It is a word in the Al’mardi language. The author mentioned that they used this symbol to indicate safe passageways as they tunneled. The fact that Melody found this tells her she’s closer. As Melody’s fingers trail across the symbols a loud crash is heard nearby. Then a sickening crunch. Melody steps backward as she raises her whip in front of her. She stares forward into the ensuing darkness and waits. Silence fills the long pathway for a moment, and then the heavy thud of footsteps hitting stone echoes out toward her.

Melody feels tense as the footsteps grow louder, awaiting whatever is coming. The tension continues to thicken as the sound draws near. And then the shadows give way to reveal a towering figure in front of her. It wouldn’t be strange to call it a man, but at the same time it would be far off. Human in structure its appearance looks as if it’s been directly carved out of stone and given life, chiseled into a symmetrical perfection that exudes strength and dignity. On the beings head are two short antenna’s twitching back and forth as they respond to stimulus. Its body is covered with varying sized carapace’s that link together and act like a natural armor, with onyl its hands and feet as well as its face left uncovered.

The rich white dusting on its stone body only further builds on the idea of the creature being carved out of the very stone itself. A gray stone sword is clutched in its right hand. Melody has never laid eyes on one before, but as she stares up into its yellow iris’s she knew she was face to face with an Al’mardi. It opens its mouth to speak, but the sounds that come out of its mouth make no sense to Melody. With confused eyes she speaks in turn. It takes a minute but the creature’s eyes quickly lights up and its language switches to match her own. “Friend of Al’mardi.” It is a rich voice, deep and thick as if it’s the earth itself speaking to her. “Leave. You shouldn’t have come.”

“I wish to offer my help,” Melody says, showing it the water that flows around her. “I can fight.”

“The Al’mardi, too, can fight!” It suddenly shouts, banging its spear against its chest. “We do not beg to friends to take our burdens. Strength in stone, strength in self. We will overcome this!”

“I did not ask you to beg.” Melody answers with a rueful shake of her head. She stares at the proud warrior in front of her, seeing her words won’t get through to him. So. She decides to be stubborn as well. “I’ll continue heading down this way. Whether I choose to help you or not is not up to you to decide.” The warrior goes to speak again but Melody cuts him off. “Shut it. As a friend of the Al’mardi, are you not showing bad hospitality right now?” The warrior closes his mouth at her words, a conflicted feeling flowing over him. “Besides…” Melody’s eyes soften as she sees its dilemma. “Your Queen must be in danger. Can you really turn away help at this fateful time?”

The warrior stares blankly at her, deep melancholy filling its figure. “My Queen…I do not even know if my Queen is alive.”

“What?” Melody blurted out. “I thought the Queen could always communicate with you?”

“Only if we are close by. But-” The warrior’s words are cut off midway as a loud groaning sound can be heard. The warrior snaps his eyes toward the end of the tunnel. “It is happening again. Quickly, follow me. Or you will be trapped inside this stone.” It starts to move its body down the tunnel at a speed that belies its size. Not given time to question why Melody simply follows, keeping her guard up as she watches everything around her. Soon she understands what he means.

The stone around her starts to shift, the tunnel behind her collapsing in itself like a river of stone. The two of them race as fast as they can, diving through the entrance of the cavern in front of them. As they do the river of stone stops at its entrance before smoothing out, merging with the stone around it as if there had never been a tunnel in the first place. At the same time the other tunnels inside the room do the same. The groaning of stone continues as something seems to continue to shift and shake until suddenly, just as the tunnels disappeared, a new one takes its place, covered by a stone door.

However, what fills Melody with worry is that it is only one tunnel, and it is leading away from where she came from. “Raze.” Melody casts her eyes backward, her hand pressing against the hard stone. “Is this what happened to you?” Melody asks.

“…Yes.” The warrior says, leaning his head forward as he sees where her gaze leads. “I am sorry. I have failed you, friend of Al’mardi.”

“It is not your fault.” Melody releases her hand with a sigh. She just worries how Raze will react when she doesn’t come back. But those are words she finds she cannot speak. Turning herself away, she looks over the cavern only to find it empty except for a few discarded bodies. The same rats she had fought, only she counted seven here. Formidable. Turning away from them she walks over to the lone entrance, and is greeted with a box.

Stone’s Gaze [ Challenge ] Essence 50

“What happens if we don’t have enough essence?” Melody questions as she reads the box. “This is our only exit.”

“It knows we do.” The warrior answers with a stoic gaze. “It always knows.” He places his hand against the door causing it to glow brightly and then recede, the two stone doors slowly opening as they drag themselves sharply against the ground. A new box forms in front of Melody.

Stone’s Gaze Challenge

All enemies must be defeated.

The area is filled with traps.

The world grows colder. Completion

Magi Bind Anchorite

A chill escapes from the opened doors, spreading through the room and drilling itself into Melody’s body. It feels cold, but Melody has often faced the cold in her pursuits. On the other hand the warrior doesn’t even recognise the change in temperature as he stares forward. A small tunnel is beyond the door, widening out into an unknown place. “Hey.” Melody says, her own eyes trying to make out what is beyond. “What’s your name.”

It takes a minute for the warrior to respond. “I am a soldier Al’mardi.” He says quietly. “Though the Queen loves us as children, we know our purpose is to defend, and die for our Queen. So we do not keep names. We are named from symbols instead. And when I die, my symbol will be taken over by another.” Melody gazes at the warrior, unable to find any words to say. In her eyes it’s sad. But she can see in the warrior’s that he is proud of his mission. “I am named -” he says, the incomprehensible word echoing out in his own language. “It means alone and standing. Always strong no matter what. In your language it would translate to Aei.”

“Aei.” Melody mulls the word over in her mouth, and flashes him a smile. “It’s a nice name.”

“…Yes.” Aei answers. “I only hope I can live up to it.”

“I’m sure you already have.” Melody says softly, coiling the water around herself. “Now let’s find out what’s inside, shall we.”