Chapter 159

Brenna

The Earth

Frustration, that was the word and motivation that pushed Brenna onward. He had done it again, left her behind. Then he nearly left her completely. The fact that Lykan was a prodigy was indisputable. Yet, all he did was seem to leave Brenna behind in the dust.

Dust, such an idea. The spot where earth and air meet and form a union. One that most never appreciate, yet it was all Brenna had. Dust, she was small and unsubstantial in the grand scheme of things. She was only a burden to Lykan, that much was apparent. Still, she needed him, wanted him.

While there was always more left to do, to catch up, she had been so close. Then the undisputed mastery that Lykan seemed to possess, the ability to gain insights into the world from his own personal self-reflections. He was so infuriating. On the one hand he knew himself so well that he could easily interpret profound world meanings by his mere existence. Then on the other, he seemed to completely miss how important he was to her. How she was completely empty without him.

That need for him, that was why she pushed herself so far right now. They were both grieving in their own way. Lykan was meditating overhead, letting his new insights into his cultivation method sink in.

Brenna felt the loss of Kosha profoundly. For Kosha’s absence affected not only her, but Lykan as well. Also, their interactions since her departure have felt hollow. She knew that Lykan had chosen this place due to how close it was to where the boy took Kosha. While she wasn’t sure how far his new connection to the wind was, she could tell that he seemed to follow in a distinct path, until finally choosing this area to settle down for the night.

She didn’t need to ask, but he nodded anyways, a sign through their bond that her suspicions were correct. He had chosen to rest here because he could see Kosha. He could see if she needed help, and he would be there within a heartbeat to protect her if needed.

That was why he asked for time to cultivate and strengthen his understanding of what cultivating was. He had given a brief description of what cultivating was, at least as it pertained to him. He understood the nature of Air, and made it so his core was like air.

Brenna was like the earth, and therefore the exact opposite. While theoretically none of what Lykan used to gain his cultivation should help her. She couldn’t help but think there were a few core components that needed to be focused on. First, she needed to understand what earth was. This was where she was currently at in her frustration. But she also had the road map for everything else that Lykan had presented.

In addition to understanding earth, she would need to find a way to embody the very elemental nature of earth within herself. Then from there, perpetually call forth the energy in a way that would infuse her body and constantly strengthen her core, while simultaneously allowing for continual growth and improvement.

Lykan said he did this by creating a void at the center of his core, then letting his qi circulate the way air would. Then all the ambient qi, that he absorbed from the world around him, would be infused slowly into his core. From there the energy would be condensed using centripetal force of the ever flowing current of power within Lykan to condense down the energy until it became denser and denser.

The only problem was, how could she do something similar with earth? Earth was nothing like air, in fact in many respects it was the exact opposite. In fact, even the notes of dust had nothing to do with cultivation, no inspiration could be gained from such an idea.

But there was something that she thought of. Something that made her think she might have an idea that can be used. The idea of using force and energy to make the qi around her denser had some appeal. She knew that only under extreme heat and pressure could some of the rarest minerals and materials be forged. That was the process of the earth, slow methodical, and unrelenting.

She thought she had been onto something with her diamond shaped core, a core that Lykan could not copy. At the time Brenna almost wondered if part of his unwillingness to develop such a diamond shaped core was because he was jealous, he didn’t create it on his own. Of course, she saw him work and try at doing the very same thing when they stopped to practice for the evenings. The only problem was, he could not exert the inward force needed. With his new understanding of Air cultivation, this made sense.

The only problem was Brenna seemed to be stuck. Yes, she had developed a different type of core, one that could very likely be improved upon. But that was not a cultivation method and cultivation seemed to be the next evolutionary step in the way of Qi.

Fear hindered her progression, she knew that. Knew that the fear of her holding Lykan back from his mission, from his calling was too much. That should she be a burden to Lykan, then she herself would have him move on without her. Yet, she wasn’t there yet. She still had a chance to catch up. But she needed to figure out a way to get the earth to cultivate with her. Or rather, she needed to get the earth to cultivate for her.

The only problem is, how does the earth move? The air moves, water rolls in wave, fires flicker as their inclinations take them, but the earth does move. Or when it does, things have gone exceptionally poorly. That said, there was something there.

But the more she thought about it, the earth didn’t move, but it did allow energy to pass through. The earth would allow for certain energy waves to speed through and bounce back. While others bounced like a band with the tension suddenly released. All of these showed the ways that the earth moved, but in these cases the earth itself wasn’t supposed to move, but rather only moved when it was forced to do so.

Thus, the act of movement by the earth, was contrary to what the earth actually needed. In those cases when the earth moved, it did so begrudgingly, then when no longer forced to act against its will, it reverted back to its natural position. But the whole art of cultivation was about movement, was about constantly drawing in the energy of the world and applying that pressure to form a more stable base.

In the end, that is what Brenna saw her role as, what she saw herself as being. She was the base, the foundation of her and Lykan’s relationship. While Lykan was the part up, that everyone saw, she was the foundation that Lykan could come back to when he began to doubt himself. That was why she needed to advance now, not just because she was a burden to Lykan if she couldn’t keep up. But because she couldn’t be the strong base that he needed, if she didn’t continue to improve.

This was so aggravating for her. It felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, then she realized that was it. Or rather she realized she was close to a revelation. While most people buckled or crumbled under the oppressive yoke of the weight of the world, she was different. She needed to be different. Rather than taking the weight of the world as a challenge, she needed to accept that weight, to accept the burden, the strain. That wasn’t the world trying to crush her, not that was the world accepting her for who she was, a future diamond in the rough. A diamond that had not completed its hardening processes. A diamond still in need of proper tempering. Rather than fight the pressure of the world, she decided to embrace the weight, like a thick blanket. Rather than feeling trapped, she let her mind relax as the world slowly embraced her.

The earth was loving, from it all life grew, had a place to come back to. The earth held the water, it held places for flames, it provided an ending point for air, so air could find its natural boundary. In that, the earth was the center of all. That is what Brenna herself wanted to be, to become.

She wanted to be so vital that she was never discarded or left behind. Her time at the temple had scarred her. At that time, she felt so small, so insignificant, a pebble in the world. A pebble that was overlooked. In retrospect it was good that she was overlooked, that she had been held back as one of the few guards for the children. She would have been killed to a man. But she never wanted to feel so small as she did at that moment, never again.

But now, even looking back at that time in her past, there was pressure. But there had never been a moment that was too much to shatter her resolve. Now, she needed to reforge that resolve, to fold it in on itself, and compact it. Then as if I a moment of clarity, her method of cultivation came to her.

Compaction. She needed to compact the forces of the world and harness them into a singular point, before letting the earth fold in and harden. Then let the weak and brittle edges flake off, only to be compacted inward again. Over and over, in a perpetual motion. The force of the internal compression would cause loose particles of qi to expand out, that would then begin the process of circling back in on her core. Everything went towards strengthening her core, her center. She was the rock, upon which everything else could depend on. So was it that her core was the center of herself, the place where she could go to make sure she was strong enough to stand up for what was going to come next. To be strong enough to stand up for what needed to come next.

With this process in mind, she did the method she mentally referred to as a full core compression method once. After that, she realized there was more, ways to improve, ways to not waste as much energy. She did the process again, and again. Each time she performed the feat, the process became easier and easier. Until finally she paused to catch her breath, only to find the process continuing without her.

That was the moment she was rewarded with her notification letting her know that she had succeeded in her task. Not when she forced herself to continue, but the moment she relaxed and let her body continue to do what it had already been doing to begin with.

Blessing Bestowed: Basic Earth Cultivation Method Obtained. Basic Earth Cultivation Method Obtained. You have taken the first step to beginning true mastery of your chosen Element. By unlocking the Earth Cultivation Method, you have blocked all other elemental cultivation methods. You will also need to progress in your Earth cultivation mastery before new paths are able to be added. Results: +7 Strength, +5 Power, +3 Intelligence, +3 Awareness, and +1 Mobility. All earth-based attacks are increased by +10%. Increases earth-based detection methods by +15%. Defensive Skills and Abilities are increased by +20%.

With that one notification from the gods, she let out a long sigh of relief.

Rumble.

The earth hearing her content responded back with a gentle vibration. This was enough force to cause animals in the surrounding forests to panic and take flight if they could. But for Brenna, she knew the sound for what it was. This was the earth letting her know it was proud of her. The earth gently rocked her, in a supportive way, that only the earth could. It was a glorious feeling, and one that Brenna made sure to enjoy.

Letting out a long breath, she lay back on the ground. Letting her body gently breathe comforting breaths, as her body continued to cultivate and draw in the ambient qi of the world, all on its own.

She had made it, while she knew Lykan would never leave her behind. She had made it. She had proven to herself that she deserved to be right there, right by his side. Regardless of whatever evils might come, she would be there with him, the help ground him, when he needed help the most.

She decided not to boast or brag, but to see if Lykan would notice. With a contented smile, she lay on the earth, arms and legs spread wide, as she slowly took in the corrupting energy that was slowly changing the world. She had so much to say, but instead she realized that if she wanted to keep up with Lykan, then she needed to solidify her foundations.

*****

Lykan

Confronting Your Past

There comes a time when people realize they either succeeded or failed in life. For those that failed, the recognition of failure always comes too late. Often the time to learn, to change, are short narrow windows, where potential never truly manifests for those who dare to peer through.

Lykan was nearing a point when he realized just how close he was to reaching his true potential. Or at least is how he felt now that he had a cultivation path to follow, one that was inherently his. When had settled his gains, when he had come back to earth. He was the first one to congratulate Brenna on her successes as well.

While she had tried to hold back her improvement, it was obvious that she had grown in leaps and bounds. She was amazing, having been able to figure out how to cultivate from just his words alone. In a way he felt he was not worthy of her, that she was too good for him. That he would only keep one like her down. Yet, she chose him anyways and he was thankful for that.

Not wanting to stay in the north and risk provoking both the Azani Conquering King once more, or his the King’s sister for a third time, The pair decided to head south.

This would be his first homecoming to what he considered his third home, the lands of Sidhertha. In a way he felt a need to check up on the lands. He was the one responsible for either setting up the land for success, or its own destruction.

Sidhertha was the land where he enacted the third and most powerful of Old-World Laws. During the ceremony he bound the land, to King Philipon. At the time the land and people had been more than willing to accept such a union. There were of course measures to be put in place to protect the land and people. The protection of the people was the most obvious, in that there was one man, a hydra that was forever bound to the land. Should they die, then two more would spring up in his place, then two more from any one slain, on and on until finally more would be unhappy than happy with the king.

Such was the protection the Hydra gave the people against a tyrannical king. Or a king that slowly grew more and more tyrannical as time went on. While this was the case for the humans, the lands that had bestowed their faith in the king also had their ways to challenge the king. To warn him, or to warn the people of his corruption.

Only once the lands were truly bound to a person could they begin to see the true heart and soul of the person they had joined their fates to. Once joined, the lands would serve as a direct representation of the king and his personal mood. If the king was happy, the fields would also be happy and yield a bountiful harvest. If the king felt sad, the lands would slowly yield less and less.

If the king was corrupt, swamps and other uninhabitable lands would begin to appear throughout the kingdom. Disasters would befall regions at the worst of times. Anything from heavy rains destroying crops, to lack of rains causing fields to dry out and burn. These disasters would even fight against the Mages who would be employed to ensure proper balances were achieved. While Mages did make these defiant acts by the land tougher to be aware of, there were still signs of the lands unrest. Animals would grow feral; monsters would evolve in ways that were hard to comprehend.

But easiest of all signs that the land was ruled by a corrupt or saddened ruler, the luster and sheen of life was gone. When Lykan first came close to the lands, he felt the air and noticed that it tasted stale, that the life was gone from the air separating the lands of Sidhertha and the jungle basin.

This stale air was likely a boon for Sidhertha, for this meant the dragons of the Jungle Basin had fewer and fewer reasons to go into the lands of Sidhertha. Not that there was much of a source of a threat there to begin with. It appeared that either the Sidherthan kingdom had expanded upon their initial concept of sending out experienced teams to hunt the monsters of the Jungle Basin, or they had met another natural predator that was more powerful than even dragons. Regardless of the reason, both the basin and high mountain ridges protecting the basin were blessedly clear of dragons. This only meant a few that a few dragons were even spotted along their journey south.

To Lykan’s surprise, Brenna was able to keep up now, on her own. While she could not move as gracefully as he could, she could find the best direction to travel. Each step took her dozens of paces, despite her small size and stature. She moved with a power and grace that spoke of slow movements that covered vast distances. While all could feel his movements, the air all but blowing and billowing around him. The earth subtly hid her movements, masking them. If not for Lykan’s intense senses related to bot Qi and Mana, usage he would never be able to tell how Brenna was moving. In a way it was like teleporting. One second, she was there, so far away and the next second she took a single stride and managed to move over a thousand paces closer to her intended destination.

Still, even Brenna felt the odd sense of foreboding that seemed to linger on the lands of Sidhertha.

As the two approached the border lands between Sidhertha and the Jungle Basin a dense sense of tension filled the air. The tension built up denser and denser until it was a thick cloud that seemed to cling to the skin. One that spoke of danger to any who would dare to listen.

Then when the foreboding wind touched Lykan, a stark contracts began. The wind that had been lying dormant, began to move and come to life at Lykan’s gentle touch.

“Betrayed.” The wind spoke, a word. One that Lykan seemed to understand. Even the land seemed to call out to him, though it spoke in a harsher rumbling language that was hard for Lykan to comprehend.

Yet, the wind still spoke, continued to share its thoughts. Though it was still hard to fully comprehend, there was a lot that Lykan found himself instinctively understanding.

First and foremost was the fact that the old-world spirit betrayed Philipon, leading to the current state of unrest. This betrayal has led to a recent poisoning of the soul of the king. This has also caused some confusion with the land itself, for it doesn’t know how to deal with these turns of events.

On the one hand the mother, or at least an old aspect of her, one who is responsible for enacting the old-world laws to begin with was the cause of betrayal.

On the other hand, the land does have a duty to warn the king of the consequences of their actions. That continuing down this line of actions will only breed discontent. The problem of course being that the land feels responsible for how the king is currently feeling. How can the earth punish a king for feeling sorrow for actions it, or rather the one true mother of the planet caused.

When they arrived the elements, themselves were more than happy that he had returned. Then the earth itself was particularly happy that Brenna had decided to come along.

Together the two were an instant boost of energy for the entire region. Where they went, qi and mana followed. Qi followed both, while Lykan was able to steadily increase the growth of mana around him. This was a new aspect of him, or rather his cultivation method. As he seemed to draw in all forms of energy nearby, then only accept the qi into his core. But this just meant the mana created a line of where he went. This was a healing process for the planet. Not only was the qi being absorbed completely, but then fresh mana was drawn into the void that was created by the pressure from a sudden lack of qi in the area. This meant that even with the world protesting the king’s heart, the world would still react favorably to Lykan.

As the two approached, Lykan dropped to the ground. No longer wishing to draw attention by flying as the undisputed monarch of the skies. He walked on the surface, though even as he walked, he did so with his fee just off the ground. The reason he walked in such an odd manner, was so he could continue to improve and enhance his cultivation method. He made a conscious decision not to absorb or force the qi up from the ground. Instead, he felt the lands and all qi in the grounds were Brenna’s. That she was the undisputed ruler of the lands that they tread upon. He knew she would never deny him access to her lands, just as he would never deny her access to his skies, but he did not want to impose. He did not want to show that they were anything less than equals in this journey they had begun.

Now if people watched the two, they would see what at first appeared to be an old windswept man, walking in the fields with a walking stick, with someone who clearly had to be his daughter. If either of the two heard such a comment, they would of course laugh at the absurdity of the claim. Lykan was younger by eight years and should anyone actually take a moment to truly look beyond Lykan’s now silver hair with blue streaks, they would find that he appeared to be in the body of someone who just turned out to be just on the cusp of adulthood.

In fact, coming to these lands brought a strange form of nostalgia to Lykan, as these lands were the last lands where his body underwent any sort of physical change. Here, he grew over a foot and a half, then grew into his strong muscular body. Only once he had left the capital of Sidhertha with Nayali in tow did he lose the last vestiges of body fat he had and take on the eternally fit form he has now.

“You okay?” Brenna asked, as she watch Lykan keep his head on a swivel, staring with wide eyed wonder at everything around him.

“Yeah.” Lykan said, there was more. He could tell she wanted to know more, but at the same time, he couldn’t tell her exactly what had him on edge right now.

It was as if the land was waiting for the other shoe to drop, as if there was more to come, the closer they got to the capital.

Sure enough, the strange feeling of foreboding did increase the further the two got towards the capital. Sadly, the capital was exactly where Lykan and Brenna needed to go. For the Academy, Lykan’s own alma matter was ground zero for hosting a dungeon. At least according to the map that was provided by Fulowin, the dwarven king of the Obsidian Fist Clan. The map had proven to be invaluable, as it provided a known location of seemingly all dungeons that existed on the eastern continent. According to their map they had a few dozen dungeons to take care of in Sidherthan alone, but rather than go to them in any form of time saving pattern. The two opted to take a more direct route for the capital, especially after receiving the warning given by the very land itself.

Something was wrong with this kingdom, that much the land was trying to say, but what exactly was wrong was unknown to the pair. At least it was unknown, until they finally made their way to the capital.

Once they were at the capital, the cause for concern and unease was apparent. The entire capital was at war. At least the sealed gates and burning parts of the city and the way fires blazed brightly in the poor section of the city.

Worse, the people that were doing the sieging of the city, the reason the castle gates were drawn. They were all farmers, farmers, and citizens of the lands. They were not some noble invaders, nor were they a foreign army sent to take advantage of a distracted force. These were the people the king had sworn an oath to protect.

Just seeing the people, caused a cold breeze to swirl around Lykan, as his eyes flashed an icy sky blue.

Seeing the look of resolve and determination overtaking Lykan, Brenna just asked. “So, what do we do now?”

With that question, Lykan nodded, not wanting words to ruin his resolve. He rose higher, as Brenna withdrew her giant battle axe from her back. One way or another, there would be a reckoning.