Chapter 15: The Marking

Bandit’s Home - Forest, Jade Empire

Esquire turned in interest but Kai had fainted from the pain. They just met but he while conversing he had a favorable impression on him so when he collapsed, he was slightly concerned and instantly blinked to his side with a single step.

He bent down to examine his body and saw a luminous shine permeating through his shirt. Decisively removing his shirt, he discovered the source of the light.

On Kai’s chest, above the location of his heart, a tattoo-like marking gradually and slowly appeared out of thin air. The marking shaped into a single circle and it the insides contained numerous symbols.

In his mind, memories incoherently flashed by…

…… “Get up.”

The master yelled at the boy sprawled on the ground. The boy was more tired than he ever had been in his life and struggled to stand. Gritting his teeth, he stood on his feet and resumed running. His master nodded in approval……

…… The young man had his karambit against another man’s neck. He impassively slit his throat and watched as the man descended lifelessly to the ground. Dozens of corpses crowded around him and another man. The young man turned to face his last opponent.

“The best assassin in the underworld”, the opponent snarled. “I will claim the title today.” ……

…… “Kai!” ……

…… The little girl was kneeling on the ground, holding her father’s motionless body as she cried, “Father!” ……

…… A beautiful woman cried. Her perfect face wore a sullen expression as endless tears streamed down her cheeks. A man was holding a mysterious sphere that emitted a brilliant crimson hue. His weak eyes wandered to the unnaturally still baby in his arms and slowly brought the sphere closer……

While Kai was submerged in his memories, his breathing grew ominously rapid but Esquire paid no heed as the marking took his full attention. More details appeared and concentrated towards the center of the marking. The single circle shrinked as another circle materialized in its place and the symbols steadily moved in tune with the changes of the circles. As the marking transformed, he grew more and more astonished.

“One… three…”

The process repeated itself as more circles came into view. When a new circle appeared, the prior one would further shrink along with the circles and symbols it contained, allowing the new circle to encase them. The symbols multiplied and moved in between the gaps of the circles.

“Four… seven… good heavens…”

When the eighth circled materialized, the transformation finally ceased. The resulting marking was the size of a fist but it was compact with various symbols and eight circles. As the marking settled, the radiating light it emitted slowly waned away and Kai’s breathing returned to normal.

“Eight… it’s an Octane Seal”, Esquire softly breathed. “It must have reacted to the pure Essence in his body. I am unable to identify half of these symbols. Boy… what, or who, exactly is your origin…”

He knew Kai was a special individual but this was beyond his imagination. When he conversed with Kai, he was amused at the fact that boy was able to see him and carried a playful and affable attitude. Now, however, he wore an unnaturally serious expression and exuded a majestic aura.

“Should I inform them of this…” Esquire mumbled to himself. He carefully contemplated his next move. “...It is best if I take no action and allow him to flow through the hands of fate.”

His eyebrows raised as he thought of an interesting idea. Esquire extended his hand with his palm upwards. A light flashed from a ring on his finger and an ancient piece of paper appeared on his hand. He delicately placed it on top of Kai’s unconscious body.

“Maybe this paper was also an act of fate”, Esquire continued to mumble to himself. “This paper has not been in my possession for long but it is as mysterious and obscure as this boy. Perhaps I am fated to deliver it to him.”

Not waiting for Kai to awaken, Esquire turned to walk away. As he walked he suddenly realized, “How was the boy able to lay eyes upon me…”

Before he could think further, Kai started to stir. He instantly disappeared into the air, avoiding any possible chances for him to be bombarded with questions. Flying! In less than a second, Esquire was far into a distance; a dot in the sky.

“Ugh”, Kai groaned, slowly lifting himself from the ground.

What… What was that vision…

The terrifying pain was no longer there but a faint throbbing still lingered on his chest. He felt an object fall off his stomach as he sat up, looked down, and saw the piece of paper.

Curious as to what it may be, Kai grabbed the paper off the ground and scanned its contents. Writing was inscribed on both sides of the paper... at least, he believed it was writing.

Or is it a picture… strange… what in the world is it?

No matter how much he scrutinized the paper, he was unable to comprehend it. The paper was painfully blurry as well which made it additionally difficult to examine. Worried the prior immense pain damaged his eyesight, he quickly rubbed his eyes but it proved useless. Thoroughly stumped, he suddenly remembered he forgot someone.

Wait… where’s Esquire?

He glanced at his surroundings but was only able to see the wolf’s corpse. He sighed in disappointment.

I had more questions too… but I did not take him as someone so heartless that he would leave me to alone.

The wolf’s blood was nearly completely dried so Kai estimated that a decent amount of time elapsed. His eyes continued to roam but stopped when he shivered from the cold morning wind. Groping his body, he realized he was naked from the waist up.

What in the world… why did he take off my shir-

His question faded when he saw the marking on his chest. His eyes widened as he softly touched it. The lingering throbbing pain slightly increased.

So this is the cause of the sudden burst of pain. Did Esquire do it? No that can’t be, unless he was able to brand it onto me from a distance… but why would he do such a thing? But if it’s not him then who can it be…

He took a closer look at the marking and saw the circles and symbols. He squinted his eyes, further concentrating on the symbols, but was unable to decipher even the slightest of lines. Carefully feeling the outlines of the marking, he was surprised he felt no indents.

From the pain I had expected it to be a brand but it’s more of a tattoo…

Kai lifted his head and aimlessly gazed at the sky, contemplating the series of events that took place in the wild morning.

Morning… Ah!

His eyes snapped wide open as he fully grasped the color of the sky and the strength of the sunlight. Immediately jumping to his feet, he grabbed the shirt and the paper, and prepared to run but nearly tripped when he abruptly stopped.

Almost forgot the beast core.

Quickly locating the beast core nearby, he scooped it and place it in his pocket before urgently dashing towards his training location at full speed.

I hope she hasn’t come yet…

He rapidly dressed his upper body and tucked the paper between his waist and his pants as he ran. Nearing his training location, he heard Teresa’s voice.

“Kai!... Kai!”

Damn.

“I’m here!”, he called back.

Seconds later, he saw Teresa waiting at the center of his training location.

“Where’d you go? Ah, forget it. We’re going to be late for breakfa- WAIT IS THAT BLOOD!?”, Teresa casually began to speak but suddenly screamed at the state of his body.

Kai peered down and saw his shirt was most definitely covered in dried blood. With a speed he never knew Teresa could have, she closed the distance between them and hastily inspected every part of his body. Eyes zooming at an incredible pace, she attempted to locate his injury.

“Wait, it’s okay. That’s not my blood.”

Paying no attention to his words, she continued her examination. When she was wholly satisfied that he was in fact not injured, she halted and gave a sigh of relief. Her expression immediately became furious and stern.

“What happened?”, Teresa demanded, slowly pronouncing each syllable with a hard tone.

A single cold sweat exuded from Kai’s forehead.

Is this the fabled mother’s anger?

He coughed then explained, “A beast attacked me while I was training so I distanced myself and found an opportunity to kill it. I’m completely fine, don’t worry.”

Kai tried his best to reassure her. He completely trusted her but killing the wolf that nearly killed them last week was extremely difficult to explain or believe, therefore he decided to withhold half of the truth. Teresa continued her stern gaze at Kai before surrendering a sigh.

“If I asked you to stop doing this, will you listen to me?”

Kai gave her a resolute look and shook his head. She released an expectant sigh.

“Okay fine, have it your way. Let’s head back and have some breakfast.”

Kai squeezed out an apologetic, yet grateful, look and nodded. Together they returned to their house. The moment they arrived at the door, Sandy coincidentally walked out.

“There you two are, I just laid down your breakfast”, she smiled.

Teresa swiftly stood in front of Kai, covering the sight of blood on his shirt, and explained with a smile, “We just picked some berries, would you like some?”

She pulled a small bulging pouch from her pocket and opened it, revealing the variety of berries. Sandy gave an appreciative nod, gladly took a few, and popped them into her mouth.

“Thank you Teresa, you’re always so thoughtful. Enjoy breakfast you two.”

She waved good-bye and left. Teresa gave a short sigh of relief, opened the door, and entered with Kai. The others were startled at the sight of blood on his shirt but he quickly reassured them. They returned to their breakfast and while they ate, Teresa threw a newly knitted shirt on his lap.

“I just made this so you better not ruin this one too”, she ordered. Taking an exhausting breath, she sat down and began eating her untouched breakfast. Kai held the fresh shirt and unknowingly gave her a tender look.

Thank you.

The next day he carefully scouted around his training location before beginning to cultivate. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours, and the morning sun greeted the sky, bathing Kai in it’s warmth. He diligently continued but as more time passed he knew something was wrong. He looked towards the sky and the sunrays were incredibly vigorous.

Strange… It’s already this late, where’s Teresa?

A sense of unease consumed his mind and he hastily concluded his training. He nearly flew as he made his way back to their house. Walking past the exit of the wooden fences, he saw the reason Teresa did not retrieve him in the morning.

In front of their houses, the adults and children were gathered, kneeling on the dirt. Standing in front of them were unfamiliar faces except for a single one. Austin cast his gaze upon them wearing an ugly smug face. Noticing a figure on the corner of his eye, he turned and spotted Kai. His cheeks raised, forming a menacing smile.

“There he is.”

Everyone turned to see who he was looking at. When Teresa saw Kai, her face went pale.

“Kai! Run!”

“Shut up!”, Austin barked at her and heavily kicked her in the stomach.

-Twak-

The kick cleanly connected against the unexpecting Teresa. The force of the kick knocked her body back a meter, her body scraping along the way. She sat up with various scratches on her side, clutching her stomach in pain, and spat out blood. With a supreme amount of willpower, she fiercely glared at Austin.

Furious at her rebellious nature, Austin prepared another kick. When he drew his leg back, Kai yelled out in the loudest voice he had ever produced.

“STOP!”