—Ki—

  “Ok, I see the blue-colored thread,” Ki said.

  “Good, now push your awareness down the thread, until you reach the end,” Fey explained.

  Ki slogged through the muddy blackness, every movement feeling like an eternity. When she reached the blue thread of light, it began to tear apart.

  “Wait, take in your surroundings before continuing.”

  Ki kept her eyes closed, letting the ripples of the pool wash and glow from the vines walls wash over her.

  “Ok, you’re calmer now. Continue.”

  Ki skated her awareness across the light at high speeds, generating a head rush. Her awareness collided with a ball of orange energy, shocking her eyes open and bringing her face-to-face with Fey.

  “You did really well! You’ve connected your spirit to the object. This last part may cause some discomfort. I’ll need you to trust me~!”

  Ki nodded and closed her eyes again.

  She felt a push against her forehead and naturally began to resist it. Before a tug of war could begin, Ki threw her own head backwards as hard as possible. The sound of splashing water reverberated through her ears, echoing inside her mind and drowning out her thoughts. She felt her body sink, yet didn’t feel the need to hold her breath.

  She inhaled.

  Energy that resembled a mix of adrenaline and elation surged through every fiber of Ki’s being, filling the dark void with an overwhelming light.

  ~?

  “Huh?”

  Ki’s eyes filled with water as she crashed through solid ice—ice in the real world.

  She hadn’t stopped inhaling, making her convulse in the water. Using her last remnants of energy, she hauled herself out of the pond and on to dry land.

  “WHAT THE F—”

  She only saw stars, and ice water fell like shards of glass from her mouth, burning her constricted lungs and throat. Ki gasped for air, but just as the corners of her vision darkened, hot liquid splashed against the back of her neck. Immediately afterward, Ki was moved backwards with great force and slammed into the nearby tree.

  “KAH-”

  She vomited out water, barely missing both Cassie, who had tackled her, and Ben, now covering her in a large towel. Cassie let go of the impromptu hug and pressed her hand against Ki’s shoulder, keeping her upright. It took Ki another minute before everything subsided. She blinked, looking down at Cassie’s arm.

  Her right arm and shoulder were covered in a layer of ice.

  Ben moved to Ki’s side. “Are you okay!?”

  “Y-yeah,” Ki tried to push Cassie’s arm away, “you’re going to hurt yourself!”

  Cassie let go, slowly. Then she smirked.

  “I was trying to figure out how to do that again, thanks.”

  On second inspection, Ki realized Cassie’s skin looked frosted over, like a window in winter. Cassie flexed her arm, shattering the window and revealing her unharmed skin.

  “That’s twice I’ve used my power on myself. Hopefully the third time won’t involve pulling you out of danger,” Cassie said.

  Ben glowered at Cassie. “Was the tackle necessary?”

  “If Ki’s training, I should be training too, right? Also, it was either that or my bat, and I just ran out of those.”

  Cassie looked toward the water.

  “We can’t all suddenly forge an Edge,” she turned back to Ben, “let’s not forget about you throwing boiling water at her.”

  “Um, feel free to pour more,” Ki said, pulling the hardened towel around her.

  Ben sighed, then, with Cassie’s help, lifted a nearby pot and dumped boiling water on Ki’s head.

  —

  The water fell over Ki and steamed away her worries.

  The relief was short-lived. However, instead of despairing, she was struck by a different fact.

  “Is it bad I don’t actually feel cold?”

  Ben said, “Good question. At the very least, your skin doesn’t look great. It would be a good idea to change clothes and use one of the showers.”

  Ki nodded, motioning away help and standing on her own.

  Ben continued, “Speaking of the showers, when you use the gem, trace a circle around it. That will give you manual control. Don’t judge by feel; when your magic is overflowing like this, your senses are untrustworthy.”

  “What abou—” Cassie began.

  “We’ll worry about other things later,” Ben said.

  Once they reached the inn, Ben tried to lead Ki to a ground-floor room. Ki, seeing Cassie in the corner of her eye, shook her head and went up the staircase.

  The shower was a welcome relief and actually made her comfortable. She fell asleep almost immediately after, not even waiting for her hair to dry.

  ———

  Ki pulled the covers around herself.

  A dropping sensation made her bolt upright.

  “The Edge!”

  She dragged her body off the bed and threw on a sweatshirt and jeans. Ki rushed down the stairs, through the living space—where Ben was currently napping—and out to the willow tree.

  Ki’s fingers twitched.

  She felt a vibration in her fingers, bringing her attention to an invisible thread leading to the pond. Ki pulled her hand backwards, sending something out of the water and racing to her side.

  The object stopped and hovered in front of her.

  Ki walked around the hovering weapon, a single-sided felling axe. She couldn’t remember where she’d heard the term, but it was a tool meant for cutting down trees.

  She grasped the nearly three-foot handle. On contact, glowing lines of ice traced over the weapon and illuminated it in the moonlight.

  Ki suddenly heard sniffling, coming from the blacksmith’s house. She let the axe hang over her shoulder and entered the open door. In the dim illumination, Xia placed her hand on an anvil and raised a shaky hammer with her other hand.

  “Xia? Are you okay?”

  “Eee!” Xia dropped the hammer with a loud clang, then fell on her knees and started sobbing.

  Ki laid her axe against a wall and rushed over to Xia. Kneeling down, she embraced the small figure in a bear hug.

  “It’s okay, you’re not alone.”

  Xia continued to shake in Ki’s embrace, so Ki held her tighter and stroked her hair.

  “I-I-I’m sorry, I j-just was having a bad time.”

  “No need to apologize. Is it okay if I stay with you?”

  Xia nodded and laid her head against Ki. Even after she stopped crying, Ki continued to hold her.

  “” Xia whispered.

  “I was going to say something similar about me, no worries. I should be thanking you: you’re the first person I’ve been able to touch and feel their body heat.”

  A few minutes later, Xia pulled away from the embrace.

  “Thank you,” Xia said, staying seated and looking away from Ki.

  Ki tried to offer a reassuring smile. “Of course. I won’t press, but is there anything you want to talk about?”

  “…”

  “You have my word, anything you say won’t leave this room,” she added.

  Xia let out a jittery sigh and sat on a nearby chair. Ki lit a fire in the forge and found a seat of her own.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Avoiding Ki’s gaze and staring into the fire, Xia said, “I overheard Ben and Cassie, you got some type of new weapon? They seemed really surprised.”

  “That’s right. It’s called an Edge. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on.”

  “That’s awesome. You seemed really unsure about your powers so that seems like a big step.”

  Ki said, “It’s a big step, yeah. I get the impression I wasn’t supposed to even consider something like this until I was much stronger. Want to know a secret?”

  Xia finally looked at her. “Yeah?”

  “I don’t feel bad at all. My whole life, I’ve felt like everyone had a head start in a race I wasn’t invited to. I’m not going to settle for being a spectator anymore,” Ki smiled, “huh. That felt great to say out loud.”

  Xia whispered the word “spectator” to herself.

  Ki let silence reign until Xia finally spoke up.

  “I feel like a spectator. Did you know I can’t leave this area at all?”

  Red, shadowy liquid dripped from Xia’s hand and formed into a swirling ball. She squeezed the ball tightly, and when she opened her fist, a rat made entirely of crimson shadow dropped out of her hand and ran into the fire.

  After a small squeak, it vanished in a puff of smoke.

  “These things—and worse—keep coming from . I can’t control it without Ben’s help. I’m lucky found me when things were getting bad. Anyone else would have killed me on the spot.”

  Xia shivered.

  “And they would have been called a hero, and me a demon. Some days I wonder if it would have been…better…”

  Ki’s mind went into overdrive.

  She walked over and knelt beside Xia.

  Putting a hand on her shoulder, Ki said, “Xia, you are not a demon. Heck, if you were, I wouldn’t care—and neither would any of the other people here. Never apologize for being alive.”

  Fresh tears fell from both of them as they embraced.

  “Even Kossetsu is going to leave and be an adventurer. I-I’m really scared of being alone again,” Xia said, between sobs.

  “Even in the short time I’ve known you two, I can see how much cares about you. I guarantee that he won’t leave you,” Ki squeezed Xia tightly, “I can also guarantee keep coming back until you can leave the inn whenever you want.”

  Ki smiled. “After that, I won’t have to visit: you can join up with Kossetsu and the rest of us.”

  Xia’s head shot upwards, almost bonking Ki.

  “Do you mean that!?”

  “Definitely! I mean, I don’t know all the details, but by your attitude alone you’d generate enough power for our party to keep going! Let’s keep working hard together, okay?”

  “Ok!” Xia wiped away the tears.

  “Thanks for listening, Ki. You’re like a big sister!”

  Ki tried to play it cool and not show how happy she was. Of course, she failed, breaking out into a huge smile.

  Xia’s eyes lit up. “Check this out!”

  She stood on her chair and opened a cabinet. “Don’t tell Cassie that I sometimes ‘borrow’ her supplies.”

  Xia held her treasures in front of Ki. “How do you feel about s’mores?”

  While Ki enjoyed chatting with Xia and indulging in a sugar rush, Myrah’s voice played in Ki’s thoughts.

  …

  —Kossetsu—

  Kossetsu absentmindedly looked around the forest and headed to “Adventure Welcome”.

  Kossetsu leapt backwards as a squirrel sprinted past him. He exhaled and went back to replaying the last week in his head.

  “Hope the training was worth it, Myrah.”

  He had been excited when Myrah told him Ki and Cassie were going to invite him to their party, and Myrah joining only added to that feeling. Even though he’d have to fight her oversight, he usually enjoyed being with her.

  He had still been excited when Myrah said they’d train on their own. Sure, leaving his friends was disappointing, but part of him was excited to do a ‘training arc’ on his own, then come back and impress everyone. Of course, the other reason they needed to go off on their own was the catastrophic potential of his training, and Myrah had the experience to help him push his powers without harming himself or others.

  The excitement died by day three, when the only things Kossetsu had done were cutting wood, organizing said wood by hand (and without gloves), meditating, swimming, and going for brisk walks. Every part of him ached.

  The fourth day was when things became especially frustrating. At random intervals of the night, Myrah would wake him up, sometimes with cold water, other times with an alarm, and once by burning incense in his tent.

  His lack of sleep continued to pile up, until Myrah let him do his first actual healing practice. On . That took another full day.

  One particular scene kept replaying in Kossetsu’s mind. On the sixth day, Myrah woke him up in the middle of the night with a bloody wrist. Even worse, when he started to help her, she said if he messed up, the next thing they’d train on would be rabbits.

  Naturally, Kossetsu lost focus and ended up with a wound on his arm. True to her word, that afternoon, Myrah brought a rabbit to the camp.

  He’d yelled.

  The pain on her face surprised Kossetsu more than any midnight wake-up call.

  — She’d said.

  He chewed on his lip and raised his hand to the inn’s gate. As he crossed the threshold, a loud boom caused him to bite down.

  “” He hissed.

  The taste of blood quickly became unimportant when he caught sight of Ki and Cassie swinging their weapons at each other. He ducked, barely avoiding the resulting ice shrapnel.

  “Gonna have to do better than that!” Cassie said, between deep breaths.

  “I told you this was crazy. Even with us standing apart and only aiming for weapons, we might hit each other,” Ki replied, also barely managing a response.

  Cassie let her bat disappear. “Heh, you say that, but I saw the look in your eye. Not so sad now about using a heavy axe, are you? Gonna go full berserker?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Keep talking and you’ll run out of bats—”

  “Kossetsu, you’re back!” Ki said, catching a towel thrown by Cassie.

  “Hey guys, did I miss anything?”

  Ki grinned. “At the rate we’re going, another week and we’ll end up as two-star adventurers after our first visit to the Vault!”

  “This girl said she was going to be our strategist and is talking like that, you believe that?” Cassie said, laughing.

  Trying to keep a smile, Kossetsu said, “That’s certainly something, yeah!”

  “That’s why you daydream , so you can focus when the time comes!” Ki said.

  She turned to Kossetsu as they all headed inside. “Everything okay? Where’s Myrah?”

  “She said she wanted to help Aidan with something, so I thought I’d stop by.”

  “Aidan did mention yesterday he was investigating a place near the Mugen Mori. I know the look of one of his hare-brained schemes when I see one,” Ki said.

  “You’ve said that twice now, is he unreliable or something?” Cassie asked, wiping away a shard of ice.

  “I would say closer to mad scientist. Maybe that’s an exaggeration. He has some ideas.”

  “Hmm.”

  Kossetsu half-listened to the two, unable to fight the feeling of being an outsider.

  Before he could look around the inn, a thunderclap flashed in front of him with such force and brightness that he had to rip his sight-enabling mask off.

  All three of them fell to the ground.

  Rumbling sounds pitched upwards into an overbearing scream. Mercifully, the scream was short, but the ambient buzzing that followed was agonizing in its own way.

  Kossetsu tried to breathe through the vice-like pressure around his heart.

  “What the fuck was that?” Cassie grunted.

  A door was thrown open and banged against a wall.

  The pattering of feet.

  “I need you all to listen closely!” Ben yelled.

  “I am not entitled to command you, but this is an emergency and your loved ones could very well die if something isn’t done.”

  —Abandoned warehouse in Stokebrook, an industrial suburb of Taitale—

  A young, blue-haired man in formal wear lazed about the warehouse’s second floor, flipping through a hovering magic tome.

  “Is it time to finally stop hiding?” He asked aloud.

  Growing up, Will Cobbett despised his power. Instead of being able to help his poor family, his magic manifested as a book he couldn’t read. He tried for a time, but eventually gave up and fell in with a criminal crowd. It wasn’t ideal, but it paid the bills.

  He was content until last year, when he could finally read the first page.

  Each page described strategies to increase his “level”, a unique manifestation of his mana and skill. Every so often, he was told he had “skill points” to spend, and then abilities followed, allowing him to cross various disciplines. The thoroughness of the instructions allowed him to train on his own and secretly stockpile power.

  “Show level,” he said, summoning a number-filled screen.

  The book suddenly caught fire, and as he squinted his eyes, he read:

  ‘’

  An explosion shattered the remaining windows of the multi-story warehouse, followed by a hooded woman gracefully landing in front of him. The figure, wearing a crop-top sweatshirt showing off her sculpted body and the billowing, tied off pants of a martial artist, moved down the hallway in a flash.

  Before Will could wonder why he was being ignored, his head had already been removed from his body.

  The sound of crackling glass gave way to gunshots and another explosion down below. The woman slowed down, allowing a robed guard turning the corner to see her and raise his assault rifle. In the blink of an eye, she slit his throat, while an exact copy of her snapped his neck from behind.

  The mirror image disappeared, and Medeia Yatagami let the dead body fall. She used the man's robe to wipe off the knife while disinterestedly looking at the two pools of blood on the floor.

  “Level? Whatever.”

  On the first floor, members of her guild rushed in, killing dozens of other robed figures in a cacophony of spells, blades, and bullets. Seeing the situation was under control, she shifted her gaze to the catwalks of the second level, spotting the overseer's room on the far side. Inside, someone was picking up a phone.

  Dull white light coalesced into a second jagged dagger in her hand. She flicked her wrist, launching the dagger hundreds of feet, through the open door, and into the room. Less than a second later, Medeia was in the room and holding him up by his throat. She pulled her hood down, revealing braided white hair and her infamous purple eyes that bore cracks across the pupils.

  “Cleared out your competition,” she sneered, dropping the gurgling man and grinding his phone under her boot.

  “Ah—I—wait!!!”

  She stabbed him through the shoulder, pinning him to the wall.

  “FFFFFFFFFUCK!”

  The fissures in Medeia’s eyes grabbed his attention. It felt like they were whispering to him, urging him to plunge himself into the abyss.

  He fumbled for words, finding none.

  The abyss’s call was interrupted by a twist of her knife.

  “I saw the red tiger on the other group’s wall, were you trying to get us involved in something?”

  Her upper lip curled into a snarl. “Or are you under the impression Kraagen Fang is an errand-running guild?”

  The pressure exerted from Medeia’s aura prevented the man from responding.

  The man desperately thought to himself,

  “T-they were our competitor, someone paid us to—”

  Medeia sighed, exerting more magical pressure to cut the man off.

  “Let me guess, it was anonymous.”

  The abyss captured his attention again.

  “Yea-”

  She slammed her palm into the man’s chest, collapsing his lungs and piercing his heart. The six-star adventurer and captain of the second most powerful guild in the world stood up, ignoring the gurgling coming from below her.

  She stepped forward, teleporting herself to the first floor and next to a male night elf. He saw she was in thought, so he continued to nonchalantly talk to a crying woman he was holding up by the hair.

  Medeia took in her guild’s handiwork: three members poured gasoline on various crates, four others were making their way up to the second level, and two roamed about, stabbing trainee’s spears into each of the nearly two dozen collapsed bodies.

  The phone in her hip-pack started ringing.

  She grabbed it and flipped the phone open. “What?”

  “Someone’s feeling important,” replied a deep voice, damaged from years of smoking.

  “My apologies, master.”

  “Right. How did everything go?

  “” A woman screamed.

  Medeia flashed a look of anger toward the night elf, currently holding a burning paper talisman to the woman’s face.

  he mouthed.

  He summoned a rigid talisman and cut the screaming woman’s jugular before she could make any more noise.

  “It sounds like the message was sent,” her master said.

  “We reminded them of who we are,” she replied.

  “And witnesses?”

  She held the phone away from her ear, looking at the elf.

  He nodded toward a collapsed man. She looked away, instead concentrating on his weak aura. She felt the man stand up and throw himself through a nearby window, tearing his skin on broken glass as he scrambled away.

  “Yeah, we left one,” she replied, letting annoyance slip into her voice.

  “…”

  “We left one,.”

  “Good. I assume you did the same at the other site. Have the others continue to search for more information; more importantly, there is a high probability of an occurring.”

  “Let me guess…” She trailed off.

  “I need you to find Surtyr. He will likely lose his mind and do something foolish, again.”

  “He wouldn’t—” she sighed, “he would. I’m on it.”

  “Good. Your burner card has an extra two million Ele on it, bribe who you have to and don’t drop too many bodies.”

  “As you say, master.”

  The line disconnected.

  She clicked her tongue and pulled out a small statue bearing the image of a six-winged angel. It was rather grotesque, but she’d been told beggars can’t be choosers with artifacts that can track someone on Surtyr’s level.

  Tears of blood started flowing from behind the wings that covered the angel’s face.

  She rolled her eyes and strode over to the elf.

  He said, “Hey that one was my b—”

  She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

  “You’re turning me on right now, but I need you to send me first,” She said.

  “Y-yeah, sounds good!” he replied, quickly throwing a stack of paper talismans around her.

  When she opened her eyes a moment later, she found herself atop a tower of the massive wall between Xandria and the Mugen Mori. She laughed to herself, grateful for conquering her fear of heights as a child.

  The Mugen Mori was a ways away from the wall, but she could still easily see the “unending” stretch of forest. Before Medeia could begin her search, her quarry revealed himself.

  Pillars of flame incinerated a forest entrance miles to the left, spewing dust into a growing mushroom cloud. She stared in amazement as the pillars became a firestorm that consumed miles of forest in an indiscriminate inferno.

  “Shit…”