Seifr redoubled his efforts in his physical training. He was still melancholy about the whole situation, but he was more confident in his ability to stand up for himself. He was finally able to concentrate again without being reduced to an endless loop of misery. Before his confrontation with Kohl and his coterie, Seifr had held out on some foolish hope that there was still a chance with Celia, but after listening to her words after the fight, that illusion had finally been broken.

Seth had shown up with the sword earlier and was busy whacking away at the training dummies on the third floor of the hall. He had a different instructor for guidance, and he also made it clear that he had absolutely no intention of becoming anything more than familiar with using a sword, so he was not subjected to the same exacting standards as Seifr was with Instructor Nalai. As such, he was having a lot of fun as he practically got away with fooling around with a deadly weapon.

Seifr was itching to get back to his swordsmanship. He had taken a break from it like was suggested, had run himself ragged, and he had used his fists to break things. Now he wanted to get back to training. He had become addicted to improving himself. He knew that his father had certain expectations of him, but he had nearly fiver years at the academy to learn what he needed to learn. If he increased his cultivation and fighting capabilities sooner, he would be able to focus more attention on other things later on with his less structured time. Once one entered the Spirit Realm, no longer was it required to push the body to the limit constantly to gain improvements. By this point, the body had nearly reached its maximum potential without the aid of ki, and Spiritual Energy accumulation no longer suffered from a bottleneck imposed by the muscles.

Seifr made the decision to go reclaim his sword to get back to serious training and cultivation again. He found that focusing on the one thing he had found he enjoyed the most was the best way to keep his mind off of other things. He made his way to the third floor where he knew he would find Seth slashing and stabbing at inanimate objects. As he reached the third floor, he looked around for his friend. He did not see him anywhere, so he approached one of the instructors to ask if he knew where Seth had gone.

"Instructor, have you seen my friend Seth anywhere?" Seifr inquired.

"You just missed him. He left not too long ago to go meet up with a friend at the Stone Garden. I think he said her name was Sephia, or something?" the Instructor answered.

"Celia?" Seifr ventured.

"Yes, that was the name he gave. He said they had something important to discuss and it could not wait, so off he went. You might be able to catch him if you hurry." The Instructor turned back to the pupil he was mentoring.

Why would Seth be meeting Celia? And why would they meet off campus? The Stone Garden was a small courtyard set off between some of the buildings in the nearby commercial district. It was a popular place for people to meet when going on an excursion out into the city. It got its name from the large stones that were set up as benches and pathways. Supposedly they were naturally formed there and had not been moved there, and the city had grown around it. Seifr did not know if that was true or not, but it made for an interesting story. And finally, why would he not tell me about it?

Seifr trusted Seth more than anyone else, but he was definitely curious as to why his friend would do such a thing. He understood that his friend most likely did not want him dwelling on Celia anymore, but Seifr was sure Seth would have mentioned this kind of thing. None of that matters, but I still need to get my sword back. I'll go ahead and head over to the garden, but I'll wait for him to do whatever it is he's going there to do.

Seifr made his way to the commercial district and towards the Stone Garden. The courtyard was off in a secluded spot down between two prominent stores, and Seifr decided to wait at the corner of one of the stores on the main thoroughfare. He leaned back against the wall and watched the crowd walking around going about their business around him. He started to fidget as he waited at the entrance to the courtyard as he felt a peculiar feeling welling up inside him. It was a sense of dread and deadly crisis that he had never felt before. He had no idea where it was coming from, but it was causing his heart to pound and his adrenaline to pump through his veins.

He could not take it any longer and decided to just go into the garden and dispel this strange feeling. As he walked down the path he spotted Seth standing in the garden facing away from him. He was cradling the sword in its scabbard resting across both his arms in front of his chest. The other person was concealed by Seth's body, but he knew instinctively who it was. Seifr briefly thought that it was a kind of strange way to be holding the katana, but his mind quickly shifted to other things. That sense of crises was becoming stronger and stronger. He began to look around frantically, expecting the sky to be falling with how on edge he was.

The sky did fall. To be more precise, a shadow fell. It landed between Seth and Celia, and then it straightened up to reveal a middle-aged man with a wicked cast to his face. Seifr knew that this was the deadly crises that his body had somehow had a premonition to, but anyone who could land steadily from a fall of that height was not someone to be taken lightly. Seth and Celia both cried out in shock involuntarily as this man seemed to literally materialize in front of them. Seifr began to run towards his friend and was about to shout his name.

"Do you think it's wise for the deputy director's daughter to be walking around without an escort? Hahaha. He's got a lot of enemies. Case in point, me." The man whipped his hand around and grasped the hilt of Seifr's katana in Seth's arms. He backhanded Seth across the face and sent him flying away just as Seifr released the yell to warn his friend, but the sword remained in the man's grasp. Celia tried to turn and run, but the man lashed out with his foot and kicked her in the upper abdomen. Her eyes went wide and she stumbled back a bit, unable to move. "Hahaha. I've just crushed your dantian. All of your cultivation, gone like that." He casually brandished the sword as he smirked at Celia. "And now, your life gone too, just like that."

It happened in slow motion. There was nothing Seifr could do, but at the last moment, his eyes locked with Celia's. The man stabbed Celia straight through the heart. He cackled wildly and left the sword impaled in her chest as he leapt onto the roof of the adjacent building and disappeared like that. Seifr ran as hard as he could to Celia, who had collapsed on the ground, writhing in agony. Her hands were holding the blade of the sword as blood gushed out between her fingers and seeped out of her mouth. Her legs were moving like she wanted to walk. She was making short, gurgling grunts of pain as she watched Seifr appear.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Seifr bent down next to Celia, unsure of what to do. His hands hovered over her body, next to the sword. He had no idea what to do. Celia placed a blood covered hand on Seifr's face and directed his gaze to her eyes. There was a hint of sadness, a hint of regret, and a hint of...joy in Celia's eyes. The shining brightness of the vitality of life slowly dimmed in her eyes as she held Seifr's vision locked onto her. As the light went out of her eyes, her hand slowly fell from Seifr's face, giving one final, gentle caress.

"NO!" Seifr wailed at the top of his lungs as hot tears poured out of his eyes to patter on Celia's body before him. He placed his hands on her dantian and tried to cycle his ki into her, but there was nothing there to accept the ki. Her dantian had indeed been destroyed, and now her body was nothing more than a corpse, devoid of all Spiritual Energy and life. He pulled his sword out of her chest and wrapped her body in his arms, heedless of the blood that was getting all over him, as he rocked back and forth in sorrow.

That man's face had burned into his memory, and he would never forget it. He wanted to chase the man down right now and cut him into a thousand pieces, but his body refused to move from his hold on Celia. He just continued to cry as he held her, unable to do anything else.

"What's going on down here?" Seifr looked up at the voice that issued a challenge. Somewhere in the back of his mind he made note that Seth was no longer laying on the ground unconscious in the garden. The voice that had asked the question belonged to a City Watchman. As the Watchman drew closer and saw blood pooling on the ground and Celia's lifeless body, his eyes widened and he pulled out a signal flare to alert more Watchmen as well as his captain.

The Watchman drew the sabre at his side and advanced on Seifr without even asking any questions. Seifr watched the man approach with trepidation, not understanding what was happening until the man lashed out with his weapon in an attempt to cut Seifr's head off. Seifr quickly rolled away as he deflected the blow aimed at his neck.

"What are you doing?!" Seifr screamed at the Watchman. He could not believe this supposed law man would not even ask any questions, but would just immediately assume Seifr was the killer. With the circumstances, that did not make any sense to Seifr at all. I'm clearly distraught, why would he assume I'm the killer? Seifr had no time for further contemplation as the man once again advanced with intent to kill clearly in his eyes.

The Watchman he was facing off against was at the Peak of the Elementary Realm, the strongest cultivator he had ever faced. Seifr offered silent thanks to Instructor Nalai for her demanding instruction in the sword forms, as he found out he was actually a better swordsman than the older Watchman trying to kill him. They moved back and forth exchanging blows, Seifr on the defensive, not wanting to exacerbate the situation by being aggressive and trying to hurt the opponent, and the Watchman constantly aiming for killing strikes.

More Watchmen began to come down the pathway from the main thoroughfare with the captain in charge of this section in the lead. Seifr sighed in relief as he dodged backwards. "Finally. Captain, I'm not..." Seifr felt a burning sensation in his waist as the Watchman he had been fighting with rushed forward and slashed him with the sabre. Luckily it was not a deep cut, but Seifr still looked up at the man in astonishment as pain suddenly slammed into him. He had never felt anything so painful before. He had always had daydreams of heroically bearing all sorts of wounds and soldiering on to save the damsel in distress, but the reality of the pain from even such a shallow wound let him realize how foolish those daydreams really were.

The Watchman smirked as he stepped back and said to his captain without turning, "Sir, that's Lord Barnart's daughter, Celia. I witnessed the two of them quarreling, and in a rage, this young man murdered the lord's daughter right in front of my eyes."

Seifr stared at this man in astonishment and knew that there was no way he was going to convince anyone of his innocence. He did not know why this man wanted to place the blame at his feet. Maybe it was easier to claim credit for stopping the murderer of someone so prominent if they blamed someone weak instead launching any kind of investigation. Seifr looked at the faces of the captain and the other Watchmen coming into the garden. He found nothing but murder in their eyes.

Seifr turned and dashed away without hesitation towards the other exit of the garden. He heard the captain ordering his men to chase after him. Seifr had subconsciously grabbed his scabbard laying on the ground earlier when he had held Celia, and he just noticed he was holding it. He sheathed the sword into the scabbard and held it in the manner instructed to him to allow for the least interference in his balance and speed. The Watchmen thought they would quickly catch this youth who was only in the Late Mortal Realm, but they were surprised to find that he was actually slightly faster than they who were at the Peak Elementary Realm were.

Can't go back to the campus. They won't protect me from the City Watchmen. That leaves the only option as escaping home. Seifr had been home on numerous occasions during some of his breaks and had long since identified the quickest route to his house cutting through the back alleys. Seifr used the crowd to help obstruct the path of the Watchmen who were chasing after him. More Watchmen joined the chase as he made his away across the city, but his superior speed and knowing where he was going eventually allowed him to lose the current group that was following him.

I still need to be careful. My description will be passed around shortly as a wanted murderer of a prominent nobleman's daughter. Seifr momentarily choked up at the reminder of Celia's death. The only hope I have is to use my father's connections to get these damn Watchmen off my back. Seifr continued his mad dash across the city, trying to keep as low of a profile as he could. It was obvious the Watchmen did not know who he was, as he did not run into any more on his journey home.

He eventually made it to the Kyian manor. He meticulously set his scabbard properly on his belt and sash before he dashed across the yard and through the entrance way. He did not pause and directly entered his father's office. As he entered, he saw his father standing in front of that strange mirror, just staring at it. The noise of Seifr entering the room startled Morcai, and he quickly turned to see who it was who had disturbed him. A small smile came across his lips as he spotted his son and said, "Ahh, what a surprise! What brings you home all of a sudden in the middle of the week? Did you get some time off that I didn't know about?"

The scene in front of Seifr was very puzzling. Something was off, but he couldn't place his finger on what it was exactly. The blood drained from his face as he realized what it was and he pointed towards the mirror and said in a terrified voice, "What, what what..." He could not get out what he was saying. Morcai's face fell as he immediately knew what had happened. He looked back at the mirror with a look of frustration and the reflection shrugged its shoulders at him as an impossibly wide grin split its face. Seifr's mind was spinning at this scene in front of him.

"Really? Now I'm going to have to wipe his mind, and that might cause permanent damage and hamper our efforts," Morcai said with annoyance.

A deep, gravelly voice seemingly filled with hatred that cause Seifr's skin to crawl came from the mirror, "No matter. His soul should be stronger from when we exterminated his twin brother. He should be able to handle such an intrusion into his mind."

Seifr was rooted in place. His mind was in tatters as everything was falling apart around him. The one place he thought he could find sanctuary turned out to be the den of a monster. Wait, twin brother?! This thought quickly flashed through Seifr's mind, but was quickly dispelled as his father advanced towards him.

"Who are you? What are you?" Seifr managed to stammer out as he backed up from the advancing man. A physical manifestation of darkness started to congeal with Morcai as the epicenter. The impossibly wide grin from the reflection transferred itself to his father's face.

"I am Morticai Theodos, the perfect symbiotic organism with the Barathrumian Prince of Darkness. But don't worry about the little details, you won't be remembering them." Morcai advanced steadily towards Seifr as the darkness emanating from Morcai's body began to fill the room.

Seifr's mind felt as if it was going to collapse at the pressure bearing down on it from the quick succession of revelations and from the sudden increased intensity of the aura from this creature he had thought was his father. In a panic, Seifr performed the only move he could think of - he performed the draw. Ridicule flashed through Morcai's eyes as he raised a single, solitary finger to stop the sword's advance. Seifr's strike halted in place without so much as a quiver as the sword came into contact with the finger. With no other options and no other ideas, Seifr poured all of his ki into the sword, hoping against hope that it would have some sort of effect - any effect.

Seifr stood there panting for a moment with everything in the room stock still. Morcai no longer advanced towards him and appeared to be frozen in place. Seifr could feel his ki almost uncontrollably being sucked away into the Ki Sword like that first time he had held it, but this time the effect was not as wild. Seifr quickly retracted the sword and noticed that there was no change in his surroundings or Morcai. He struck at the creature again, hoping that he could destroy it, but the sword simply bounced off of it. He ran over to the mirror and attempted to thrust his sword into it and destroy the mirror, but the sword again was repelled without so much as a scratch.

Seifr decided that the only course of action that he had was to flee, and so in frustration, he left the office how it was and ran back into the city. He had no idea where to go or what to do, but he would have to figure something out if he was to survive the bleak future.

If he had stopped to pay closer attention, he would have noticed that his surroundings were not actually at a standstill, but were in fact moving at an incredibly slow pace. Several powerful cultivators sensed the movement of Seifr as he rushed through the city, but they all assumed it was a peak powerhouse in the later stages of the Heaven Realm. Even Master Kveld took note of it in his office at the school as a Watchman Commander questioned him about Seifr.

~

"Damnation! That brat got a hold of a Bending Artifact! How is that possible!" After Seifr made his escape, time quickly restored to normal and Morcai knew what had happened. Even though he was extremely powerful, when a Bending Artifact was used, it restricted even him. He closed his eyes and sensed the threads around him. "Ahhh, I see. Kyumen! You bastard, you got me again. Is there no end to your scheming. You kept the thread of this artifact out of my vision by sending it down the stream the normal way, and you employed a Fate Sealer to nudge it towards the boy. Your schemes cannot escape my notice forever, though, and I will defeat you. You're already dead, but you're still meddling in my affairs!" The creature known as Morcai raged in his office in the manor that he was residing in.

He sat down at his desk and looked into the mirror. Nobody else could see anything out of the ordinary except for a faint hazy reflection, but to Morcai's eyes, he was not looking at a reflection of himself. Instead he was looking at the Barathruman he was in a symbiotic relationship with. Conversing with his "other half" had a calming effect on Morcai.

He addressed the being in the mirror, "We'll get him back. Our time of isolation is nearly at an end. Just a little more patience."