Chapter 26: A new danger

That night, Astora had some trouble to sleep at night because the neighbor next door did not seem to have slept at all. The girl kept hearing whispers and all sorts of noises from time to time. She wanted to make them stop but she remembered who were inside that room. Afraid of something that might happen, the girl did knock on the door to see how the two were doing. But unexpectedly, the person who opened it was Karuma. Meanwhile, a foxy figure was sitting in front of a canvas, painting something with extreme focus. Not wanting to disturb the man, Astora retreated to her room.

The next morning, Astora woke up from her bed and packed up her stuff. It was time to leave Nadir. When she visited the room next to her, she was struck in awe by the canvas next to the window. A complete painting of the view of Nadir one could see from the window of the room, it appeared that Valanor has found some inspiration.

“This is great.” Astora cheered.

“It is thanks to you, miss Astora.” Valanor said.

“Me? But I didn’t do anything.”

“You gave me hope.” Valanor held his painting. “Even if you are not the person I am looking for, you being here is no coincidence. I would like to think that fate brought you here to tell me not to give up my search. To be honest, I have thought after it, the idea of giving up after so many years of failures. Then you showed up. At that time, it was like you rekindled something within me, a passion I have lost. And this is the result of that.”

“I am happy for you.” Astora smiled.

“So am I. Hehe!” Valanor smiled.

“What are you going to do with the painting? Bringing it with us?” asked the girl.

“No. I will give it to in innkeeper as a gift. For the troubles I caused.”

“Wouldn’t it be a waste? You spent so much effort on it.”

“It is nothing much. Besides, my only goal is to make another painting of the Fair Lady. While this one is acceptable, it is far from the ultimate masterpiece I have in mind.”

“I see.” Astora said and turned to the silent person in hood sitting in the corner of the room, “Shall we go then, Mr. Karuma?”

“Karuma is fine.” Said the former Hero.

* * *

The group aimed to depart as soon as possible in early morning. The streets were still empty and the guards still sleepy. It made the exit easier, especially when an infamous person like Karuma was accompanying them. No one wanted to reproduce a scene with Ruk and the likes again. When the sign of civilization was no longer in sight, only then could they rest easy. Truly, traveling with Karuma would not be easy.

“How far are we now?” asked Valanor. For a painter, the man was surprisingly agile and knew his way around. Despite having walked for miles, he showed no sign of tiredness and passed through the treachery paths with ease.

“Not far. At this rate, we should arrive by noon.” Said Karuma.

“That is closer than I expected.” Said Astora.

“The temple is a place for martial artists to train and cultivate themselves but also for those who wish to seek an alternative path to magic. As you might know, it is quite common since mages, true sorcerers and not some idiots who can cast a fireball and call it magic, are quite rare. For most of the students, it is already good enough that they learn how to defend themselves. For others who wish to ascend to the path of power, it is a different story. It is not the goal of the founder of the temple to make warriors, merely to provide the weak a place where they can find themselves. So, it is not exactly a secret location or any of the sorts.” Explained Karuma.

“How did you become a student?” asked Astora.

The former Hero became frozen at the question for a moment then resumed walking. “…This one was an orphan. Until the old master found this one and made him his disciple. That was it. It was nothing special.”

“Nothing special? You did become a Hero, didn’t you? I don’t think any of his students could have achieved the same.” Said Astora.

“And look at what this one is now. A Hero indeed!” Karuma jested sarcastically.

“Tell me, what exactly happened at Holbeck? You didn’t cause it, did you?” Astora continued.

“What made you say that?”

“I don’t know. It is just a feeling. You don’t seem like someone who would do such a thing.”

“What would you know?” grunted Karuma. Then he quickly toned down a bit. “You should not concern yourself with this one’s problem. It won’t do you any good.”

“But…”

“Miss Astora.” Valanor called the girl back, shaking his head.

With a downed mood, the three climbed the mountain path. Amidst this serene nature, a seemingly endless road made of stone steps led toward the top of the mountain.

“This is the way.” Karuma said.

An hour has passed and finally, after an arduous climbing, Astora arrived at the peak of the mountain. Panting heavily, she swiped her sweat and leaned onto the wooden gate. Made of two red pillars and a curved top with no actual doors in between, the top of the gate showed a wooden board with words inscribed on it.

“Find yourself”

“Find yourself?” Astora read the board.

“It is the saying of this one’s old master. To him, practicing martial arts is just for fighting but also a way to discover oneself.” Karuma spoke. “This is where we will part. You two on ahead.”

“Wait, you are leaving?” the girl inquired.

“This one has brought you here as promised. What more do you want?” Karuma turned around.

“Going so soon, Karuma?” A bald man with pointy ears and a furry tiger beastman appeared at the gate without no one hearing them coming. Wearing yellow robes with long sleeves, the two bowed respectfully at their guests.

“Seniors!” Karuma quickly bowed down.

“Ohoho no! You have long surpassed all of us to call us senior anymore. If anything, we should have called you senior.”

“This one dares not…”

“Why don’t we come inside? The grand master has been waiting.” Said the two seniors.

“How did he know that we are here?” asked Valanor.

“You should ask him that directly. Please, this way!” The two seniors made the way. “You too Karuma!”

Passing through the gate, the group entered the temple. Constructed with thousand pieces of woods all painted in red, the temple was divided in multiple large sections. From the main gate, going straightforward and you would enter the Disciples’ quarters where the new and inexperienced disciples lived and trained every day. Pass this section through another great gate was the Seniors’ quarter. Then finally, the third and last section which could be found at the end of the corridors were the Master’s quarter where the dean of this temple and Karuma’s old master resided. Astora noticed some features of the temple in term of architecture, like the intricate wooden window screens on every door and window, which could be compared to those of the eastern countries back in her world. It was fascinating two worlds completely separated from each by time and space could somehow come to the design despite their differences. According to the two seniors, the temple was founded about three centuries ago by the current master and had only one dean ever since. In short, the person in charge of this place was more than three hundred years old. Some said that was thanks to his training. But no one knew for sure.

Each quarter gathered more than a hundred of people. While most were humans with humble background, there were still a few oddities sticking out among the crowd. Lizardmen, who were said to be of demon origin, were once considered barbarians and practically monsters were now accepted as regular citizens of Valhalla. Possessing much more intelligence than they seemed, the lizardmen remained rare to be seen because of their vagrant tendency, always moving around and living in deep forests. Aside from them, there were quite a few others of different species who looked like they were half monster half men like harpies and devils. All of them were considered as a whole: the demons.

The demonic race has existed since the beginning of time together with the other races. However, because of their scary appearance which was associated with monsters, they were subjects of intense discrimination for hundreds of years. All because of the petty political agendas of the time. There was no denying that this was an ugly part of history no one dared to forget. However, history changed when the Dark Lord came and threatened the existence of all lives in the world. Together with their once sworn enemies, the demons forsook their differences and joined the war, helping the alliances and finally defeated the Dark Lord with the help of the heroes of the time. This event triggered a worldwide reaction toward the demon kin with many leaders standing up against their discrimination. Eventually, thanks to the continual efforts of many, the demons were accepted and recognized as one of the official races of their new world: Valhalla. The acceptance of the demons gave way to many other races that were once persecuted, granting them equal rights to all. To this day, many scholars agreed to a controversial conclusion, that this peace came from the common foe the people in the past shared and in a way, the appearance of the Dark Lord granted them the peace we knew today.

Back to the temple, Astora could see rows of people all practicing the same moves performed by the senior members. Some used long staves. Others used their own arms and legs as their weapons. One fascinating scene was a very thin guy, who used to be a simple farmer, managed to break a rock apart with a palm strike. Astora immediately recognized it as the technique used by Karuma to knock Ruk out. The strike itself did not look that impressive but the air coming from the strike was amazing, like an invisible force entered the rock and broke it from inside. It appeared that the farmer did not come alone but also with some men of his own village. Being in a secluded area made their lives dangerous so they came here in order to become stronger in order to protect their family. Unlike magic which was something one must be born with, martial arts were for everyone. But certainly, not everyone could become a master without spending years of training and efforts.

Arriving at the innermost quarter, the two seniors stayed behind at the gate and asked the group to go forward. Unlike the previous two areas with their imposing stone terraces used for practice and marvelous rooms, this section was actually quite small, about a tenth compared to the other two. Designed to be some sort of aesthetic garden with a small pond, white sand, grey sharp stones and soil covered in plants and mosses, the place only had a small hut made out of wood and straw at the end. At first, it looked very harmonious with the surroundings. But the closer the group got to hut, the odder it looked. When Astora was right in front of it, she could not believe her eyes. The hut barely surpassed her in term of height. In fact, considering the triangular shape it had, there was no way Astora, being the smallest person of the group, could even stay inside that hut. How was she supposed to pass through the gate that was the size of her palms? More importantly, who could live inside this tiny hut? Then the door of the hut opened and a small figure walked out with a walking cane in his hand.

“Welcome home, Karuma!”

“Master, this one is ….” Karuma quickly got on his knees and bowed his head to the ground.

“You don’t have to say anything. I already know. Though I am a bit disappointed that you didn’t even visit me once for the last ten years. But enough of this. I see you brought some guests.” The small figure turned to Astora who was struck with awe. “So you are Astora. I feel like you have a lot of things to say.”

“Yes…a lot. But first, can I ask you something?” said the girl.

“Of course. Go ahead!” the old master said.

“Are you a hamster?”

* * *

Somewhere nearby the temple, a menace was coming in the form of a young girl. An ominous presence emanating a dark aura walked casually on the stone steps toward the peak. It could have flied directly to the top and dropped right in front of its enemies. But no, it didn’t. It was in no rush. The prey was here and unaware of its presence. Thirsted for blood, the thing has been looking for a certain girl. The thoughts of tearing her apart, making her bleed, making her beg for mercy made it shiver in ecstasy. Imagining all the terrible things it could do to the girl, the figure gave off a devilish smile on her face as it prepared for the grand opening of its entrance. As the entrance came into sight, the thing met a group of disciples who were just on their way down.

“Greetings, may I ask the reason for your arrival?” one of the asked politely. “If you have business with the grand master, I am afraid that he is attending to some of our guests today so I would ask that you return later.”

“These guests of yours, was there a girl with long white hair with them?” asked the figure.

“There is actually. Why, are you her friend?”

“No. I come here to kill her.” A sinister smile appeared on the figure’s face. “”

On the spur of moment, the girl’s left arm turned into a hideous giant dark claw as big as her own body. An eyeball, located on the back of the claw, watched eerily as it grabbed the poor disciple between its sharp fingers. The man screamed in agony. His body was being devoured alive until he busted into a bloody stash of flesh. The crimson liquid splashed onto the long blue hair of the young lady while she licked that juicy gore on her monstrous hand. Confronting the gruesome murder of their fellow man, the rest of the disciples charged at the beast.

“MONSTER!”

“Hehehe ” A dominating aura spread in an instant, halting all the disciples in place. “Now, kill each other!”

As if their minds have been rendered impotent, the disciples followed the order given to them. The began to slaughter each other, the people they saw as brothers and sisters just a moment ago. The scene quickly turned into a bloodbath as these peaceful individuals turned into bloodthirsty monsters. Their soulless eyes watched while their hands strangled and broke the necks of their friends, while their tooth sank into the skin of their comrades and bit off their flesh. It was over pretty quickly with only one single survivor at the hand.

“Congratulations! You won!” the girl snapped her finger, waking the poor soul from his trance. The man, confused by what just happened, only realized now what he has done. The blood, the flesh on his hand, he could not clean it away. Tears dropped from his eyes as he turned toward the true monster. He wanted to express his rage. He wanted to make the beast pay for what it did to him and his friends. But all he did was shivering in fear. He could do nothing to this maniac, not now, not in a million years.

“Blue hair and a monstrous arm…you…you are the Beast of the Infernal Chasm.” The man mumbled in fear. He wanted to flee but his arms and legs refused to move. He has heard rumors of the girl but never expected to see the real thing face to face. After all, who would want to meet the creature after hearing all the bloody rumors about it? Could it really be it? Could this girl be really the creation from those legends?

“It has been a while since I heard that name…To be honest, I never really liked it that much. Not that it matters. I have a new name now. As for you, since you won the contest, I will let you live for another day.” the abomination walked passed the man who was pissing himself and entered the temple. “I am Dark Lord Cornelia Argent, successor of Dark Lord Alastor. Live and spread my name! Hahahahaha!”