Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

“I truly knew that Dragonfly’s damned words would cause trouble. And yet, I walked into it willingly. Perfection yet remains a distant peak,” Soul lamented inwardly as she kept her demeanor stern and neutral before the villagers, where the local three elderly women who led the village were each currently in a full kowtow before her.”

“-truly bring Warrior’s blessing to us. Your prowess knows no bounds, and saving us from the ravages of those beasts has shown us the way. We swear that Lord Warrior will have our utmost dedication in the years to come, and that future generations will -”

It hadn't been too much to Soul, just a silver-ranked chimera of some kind and its bronze-ranked brood of who had happened upon the village and nearly broken through their fortifications when she had in turn happened upon them. Dispatching them hadn’t taken much, and Soul was about to go on her way when the village heads had started professing their gratitude. At length.

“The worst thing is that they actually are just that grateful,” Soul grumbled inwardly. She could sense the auras of the locals clearly, with their strongest fighters being local bronze-rankers, and knew that the old woman currently speaking meant every word. Which made just leaving in the middle a bit too awkward even for Soul. Contrary to everyone’s impression, she did have some tact. Truly. But as this was only the latest in a series of delays caused by Soul taking the time to kill a monster here or clear a contract there, her already lacking patience in these matters was wearing thin.

And when the village head started on about a feast in Soul’s honor, enough had to be enough.

“I cannot. More battles call, as I am off to find the one called Pathbreaker,” she stated curtly after silencing the crowd with a burst of her aura. Apparently she went a bit overboard as more than one of them fainted, but as they weren’t in any real danger, Soul continued. “Strive to emulate Warrior, and you too will find strength.”

With that, she flickered away, activating one of her greater bursts of speed to forestall any more protests. The forests flickered past her in the second of enhanced speed, but Soul suddenly ground to a halt, her momentum carving a deep furrow in the forest floor as she fell into the ready stance of the Morning Mist style, elusive and reactive. Because Soul had felt something; a presence. A dangerous one.

A second later, the same presence appeared more openly, the silver-ranked aura unfurling like a pale flower of moonlight previously thought only a reflection in the still pond. Or at least, that was the image which Soul’s aura perception conveyed, its origin a celestine man with onyx hair and eyes who suddenly stood perfectly balanced on a nearby rock, clad in colorful robes with an equally lustrous parasol resting across one shoulder.

“Tengu’s greetings to you, honored traveler,” he called, voice pleasant. Still, Soul couldn’t shake the feeling that the imagery his aura conveyed held unseen dangers, like the glint of a blade hidden perfectly in the crescent of the moon. And she trusted her instincts, not lowering her stance as she regarded the man in silence while all her senses quested outwards to see if he had any companions lying in wait around them.

“Not the talkative sort, eh?” the man continued. “I suppose one wouldn’t reach your level of competence without at least a modicum of caution. Very well, I’ll skip straight to the matter at hand. I happened to pass this place during my travels after a nice wandering priest of Knowledge gave me the advice that the route through these woods was most scenic and worth experiencing. Much like you, I sensed the village’s plight, but arrived only in time for a show rather than dashing heroics. As I said, you are most impressive.”

“So much for getting straight to the matter,” Soul thought inwardly as the smiling celestine prattled on, but her flat look didn’t seem to deter him.

“But it was then, just before leaving, when I heard you mention a certain name; Pathbreaker. And this, honored traveler and blessed of Warrior, is where my question lies; what will you do when you find him?”

Once more, the sharp sense of imminent danger caused Soul’s smoldering fighting spirit to flare slightly. But as no violence was initiated in the moments of silence which followed, she chose to answer.

“To fight him,” she stated simply, the sentiment echoing through her aura.

“Oh? And why, pray tell, would you do that?”

“Because he is a challenge worthy of fighting; a stone upon which to temper myself.”

“I see… I see… And, should you fight him and win… What then?”

Soul frowned at the return question. That was an obvious one if there ever was one.

“Wait until we’ve both recovered, and then fight him again? At least as often as his other duties allow. The Pathbreaker does squander his potential in that regard.”

“So you are his friend then? Or at least acquaintance. Do you think that the Pathbreaker would agree to your wish?”

“He should. At least he did before, when he asked if we could exchange pointers in the future.”

Once more stillness reigned where the man seemed to regard Soul for a few more moments. Then, as if it had never been there, the edge hidden just out of sight seemed to once more meld into the darkness of the metaphorical moonlit sky, as if it had never been there.

“Well, it seems that Fortune has truly smiled upon me then. Perhaps Knowledge too, now that I think of it. Meeting that wandering priest was most serendipitous,” he said, twirling the parasol resting across this shoulder.

“And why is that?” Soul asked, now lowering her stance.

“Because I too am traveling in search of my dear adopted brother Kite. Or the Pathbreaker, as you called him. I have important news that he must hear, and apparently now a fellow companion. You know what they say; a journey is but a step and a breath in the right company,” he said with a smile, gracefully leaping down from the stone and walking over as if to fall into step beside Soul. Who was having none of it.

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

To make her point, Soul even turned and started running in her original direction. From her maps, northeast was still the way to go. Much to her satisfaction, the man didn’t try to catch up or even run after her, only giving her a pensive look as she started gaining some distance to him. Before he cheated.

“Not even if I promise to fight you every evening before we make camp?” came his call from off in the distance behind her.

Part of Soul wanted to just keep on running. She truly did, just imagining his smugness if she actually did stop and turn around at such obvious manipulations. But another part, her lust of battle, had already been smoldering. And the man’s words, combined with the hidden lethality of his presence, had stoked it into a bonfire.

So Soul did stop, turning around slowly. The celestine man quickly caught up even though he seemed to only walk at a sedate stroll, giving her a beaming smile.

“Would you even be worthy tempering?” she still asked, trying to retain as much of her skepticism as possible. And upon seeing the glint in his eyes, Soul had to admit that he had her right where he wanted to.

“That, honored traveler, is a fair question. I can throw in a bit of an added bonus to sweeten the deal. Let’s go at least a few exchanges. You and me, right here. Then you decide.”

“Done,” Soul said, not needing to give it any more thought, her battle lust beating in her ears like the mighty beat of Warrior’s blade upon the shields of his foes.

“Excellent!” the man exclaimed, stepping back a little. Soul felt his aura harden, reading itself for conflict. “But first, let me at least introduce myself. My name is Curious Crow Plucks the Moon. I am both pleased and honored to make your acquaintance.”

“Convergence ever remains busy,” Kite noted, taking in the bustle of people and the blur that was their auras overlapping. It was a nice spring day, with plenty of river boats on the stretch of water that split the city.

“From what you told me of Port Singhni though, doesn’t it feel small?” Dragonfly asked, handing him a bag of steamed buns as she returned from a nearby restaurant.

“In comparison? Maybe. Port Singhni had a lot more people, and plenty more essence-users too,” Kite admitted, depositing one of the buns into Glint’s bottle where the familiar currently rested after pulling the floating boat all the way to the city. “But I still remember the first time we came here together. Just because I’ve seen bigger cities doesn’t make this any less lively in and of itself. But-”

He was about to continue when a conversation from across the street pricked his ears. Having the heightened perception of a silver-ranker meant that he could have tried to listen in to most conversation within earshot, but that would wear one out rather quickly. With experience and training though, Kite and those of similar rank learned to filter out most things, but also to note when certain more known or interesting words came up in their vicinity. And in this case, said words were also quite troubling.

“You mean that guild or whatever it was called?”

“The new place, yeah. From what I heard, people from the sects are still blockading it, claiming them to be a danger to our way of life. From what I heard, there’s even three sect elders on the scene.”

“Heavens. Best avoid it then. Shame though. They seemed decent.”

“Bah. Just sounded odd to me. Why not just form a proper sect instead?”

“No, no let me finish. You know Hazel’s boy?”

“The one who inherited the essence? Lucky brat.”

“Jealous of a child, are you? Grow up. I’m just saying that the guild apparently gave him a good deal. The rest of his essences against a rather decent term of service-”

As the conversation devolved into speculation of what the unknown boy would get in the way of essences, Kite’s attention snapped back to Dragonfly. Seeing the look on her, she had apparently heard it as well.

“Glint? Little beauty? Sorry to wake you already, but we could use your assistance,” Kite said, looking out and across the river to where their latest guildhall should be located. He couldn’t see it from where they stood, but his mind’s eye painted the ever-worrying picture.

Initially, he got only a sour, grumbling sense by way of response through their familiar bond, but with a moment of focus, Kite sent his feelings to the tired carp a bit more thoroughly as he continued.

“Glint, uncle Walker and the guild might be in trouble. Real trouble.”

To her credit, once the severity of the situation was impressed upon her, Glint was out of her bottle before Kite had even finished speaking. Plenty of people around them cried out in alarm as the carp assumed her larger, serpentine form, with the water of the river surging up to carry her as she plunged into the waters. Kite and Dragonfly didn’t wait, both leaping over the nearby railing before being caught by two cushions of water and deposited on Glint’s back even as she started speeding across the river, zigzagging between the boats and their rather alarmed crew. It was to her credit that the familiar had the presence of mind to control the water around them enough that no waves caused by their rapid passing stretched for more than a few meters out from her form, as capsizing a vessel or three would have been most unfortunate.

They quickly reached the other side and Glint didn’t slow down. Guided by Kite’s mental imagery of which direction to go, she instead shot up in a grand arc which let her easily clear the river wall, people on the street and even nearby houses in a mighty spray of glittering water. Said water quickly gathered beneath the carp’s draconic form and continued to carry the familiar and her riders over two more streets and rows of houses before the guildhall of the Autumn Wanderer’s guild came into view in the distance, as well as the row of robed people arrayed before it in a human wall.

Kite could feel their proudly displayed auras even from this distance, sensing the tense contention between what he would assume were rival sects change into alarm and readiness when they no doubt spotted the approaching Glint.

“Three silvers. The sects sure are determined,” Dragonfly noted as they approached.

“Indeed. Just crashing down among them might cause trouble before we know more. Would you mind if I take the lead?” Kite asked as he tried to get a feel for the three silvers through their spirits.

“Please do. But save at least one for me?”

“I will do my best.”

Another mental image sent to Glint guided the familiar’s eventual descent. Even though she would have been able to, the carp didn’t gradually slow down. Instead she conjured a huge globe of water over the street a few meters away from the line of sect warriors, and around two heartbeats later, Glint entered it with a magnificent splash. While her water manipulation brought them to a rather abrupt halt that might have injured an iron-ranker, the familiar did not in any way restrict the surface of the sphere during the impact.

The mighty splash of her entrance caused a massive spray of water to cover the entire street, sect warriors and all. While the three silver-rankers managed to keep themselves dry through a conjured barrier, a blast of sound and magical umbrella respectively, most of the arrayed bronzes were thoroughly soaked.

As he unhurriedly descended from Glint’s back, stepping upon small discs of force as if walking down a set of stairs, Kite noted that the silvers - probably sect elders - each wore robes of different colors, as were the accompanying bronzes in an even split between the three. He recognized them as belonging to the sects of Perfected Step, Luminous Cloud and Mirrored Mountain, and while he had only visited or interacted much with one of them, you did not spend much time in Convergence without at least taking notice of the others. As his final step touched down on the wet, cobbled street, Kite spoke his mind before any of the indignant elders managed to find their words.

“Three mighty sects all united in front of one little guild. You’ll have to excuse me, elders, in that I find it difficult to fathom why you or your so-called honored organizations would be here today.” While his tone was ostensibly polite, the words carried a clear edge impossible to miss.

“And who might you be, brat, to dare speak to us in such a way?” the leonid man from the Mirrored Mountain sect barked in return, puffing up his sizable frame even more as he towered above the rest of those present. But Kite didn’t even need to reply, as another of the elders spoke up before him.

“I know this man! He is the one called Pathbreaker, friend of the traitor outcast Soul,” the elder of the Perfected Step sect all but spat, even though Kite did catch a hint of fear in his aura as he mentioned the battle-mad Celestine. Kite did also feel a slight hint of recognition now that he got a better look at said elder, having seen the man once or twice during his time spent with Soul in their sect.

“Such presumption from one so young. I’ve heard about it, but didn’t think it to be true. Claiming such a name without the deeds to support it… Disgraceful,” the elder from the Luminous Cloud sect spat, the runic woman’s glowing mark seeming to flare with her indignation.

“And alas, it was the one given to me,” Kite retorted, his smile unwavering. Pray tell then, elders, who might you be?”

“I am Spine of the World, elder of the Mirrored Mountains sect,” the leonid proclaimed proudly, followed by the runic woman.

“And I am Twisting Descent of the Skies, elder of the Luminous Cloud sect.”

“And I-” the final man continued, “-am Thunderous Intent, elder or the Perfected Step sect.”

“I see. Most humble names indeed,” Kite said, unable to help the bit of sarcasm that slipped into his voice. His time spend in the capital with all those duels had given Kite quite some experience in this posturing, and he was overall rather comfortable in his own style of patient politeness while only letting the occasional barb or sarcasm slip through. “And pray tell me, elders, do you intend to bar our path as we intend to enter our guildhall?”

“Bah! This foreign nonsense is a travesty; a true insult to our proud sects,” the leonid elder huffed. “The Hua-Xian way will ever reign supreme. Your guildmaster would do wisely to take this pathetic little gathering of outcasts somewhere else. Somewhere nice and remote, so that actual warriors wouldn’t need to see the eyesore.”

“And yet you did not answer my question, elder. Your opinion of our guild matters little.”

“Brat! You dare! A fledgling little silver like you should know better when in presence of your superiors.”

“I would still like an answer, elder. Empty bluster and outrage is just that; empty.”

As he replied, Kite could almost feel Dragonfly’s silent cheer from his side, apparently enjoying herself quite a lot. She had even started to munch on one of the steamed buns from the paper bag she was still carrying, further adding to her feel of a rapt spectator.

The leonid didn’t seem to be enjoying himself quite as much though, and the man’s feline eyes thinned dangerously. “We do not intend to let anyone through here, brat. Just the presence of our might is enough to choke out the pathetic little weed you have snuck into this city. And what will you do about it? Attack us, and our sects will strike back in full even after we’re done feeding what’s left of you to the fish of the river.”

“I see… I see,” Kite replied, seeing the other elders straighten as well. While their sects probably weren’t on the best of terms normally, they had all apparently found the guild threatening enough. “Now, if only there was a way to resolve such issues without devolving into an outright brawl.”

“Shut up, brat. Your betters are-”

“A way that was even mandated by the Queen of Jade and Sky,” Kite finished, uncaring at the attempted aura suppression that was leveraged against him during the last protest. “Elders, I, the one named Pathbreaker, challenge you all to a clash of paths. You may choose the order in which you fight, or prove yourselves to be spineless cowards acting like thugs while hiding behind the thinnest veneer of honor.”

“Kite!” Dragonfly protested from beside him after hastily chewing through her snack.

“Listen to the girl, Pathbreaker. Those words of yours… They cannot be taken back if you choose to go further,” the runic woman from the Luminous Cloud sect noted even as her eyes promised death.

“Oh, apologies, Dragonfly,” Kite said, giving her a small bow before turning back to the elders. “One of you will fight Dragonfly instead.”

“Thank you,” his friend and lover said happily, even though Kite could see the telltale signs of her inner flames starting to flicker.

“Well, then, elders. Accept or stand aside. I will even let you choose who takes on Dragonfly instead. Fair warnings though… Her touch is a lot less gentle than my own.”

For a moment, the trio actually seemed a bit hesitant, but any such hesitation were quickly swept aside as pride and the need to save face took precedence. Normally, challenging a much younger warrior might have been seen as shameful, but Kite challenging them first would let the elders throw all such concerns aside. But the elder had also painted themselves into a bit of a corner in this regard as they had brought their students with them as support, as well as their rivals. Backing down now with their honor intact would be a most impressive feat of self-deception.

“They probably only took uncle Walker into consideration,” Kite thought as he continued to level his even stare towards the three of them, with Dragonfly now munching on another steamed bun at his side.”

“Well?” Kite pushed, even adding a quirked eyebrow for some added hints of scorn. And that was apparently enough.

“Fine, brat. If you wish to court death, I shall step up and show you that you aren’t ready for this dance.” Spine of the World said, his leonid form towering over Kite as he stepped forward.

“Not so fast, elder Spine,” the runic woman added. “He insulted all of us. I demand that the Luminous Cloud sect will be the ones to correct this wrong.”

What followed was a silent staring-match between the two, but all silvers present could feel their aura’s briefly warring for supremacy. After a few tense seconds, the leonid eventually shook his head as he got the upper hand in the brief spiritual clash.

“No, elder,” was his simple statement. And while her eyes thinned in dissatisfaction, the runic woman stood down.

“Then I will take up the challenge of the girl,” elder Thunderous Intent said, his rueful smile a theatrical mask. “But know that I relinquish my chance at putting the upstart Pathbreaker in his place only out of courtesy to your sects. Please remember this bond of karma between us.”

“Warrior teaches us to fight with boldness, and to not underestimate our foes,” Kite couldn’t help but remark, as he felt Dragonfly’s aura intensify slightly at being treated as some kind of consolation prize. “It seems you chose some semblance of honor in this, elders. Now, I believe that it is time to talk terms.”

As the upstart Pathbreaker dragged the limp form of Spine of the World off to the side of the dueling arena and unceremoniously heaved the unconscious leonid unto a nearby patch of grass, elder Thunderous Intent was starting to feel that his little charade had paid off.

While he would never relinquish his thirst for vengeance against that outrageous Soul for how she had humiliated him and his fellow elders that night when they went to seize her, his powers of self-deception weren’t great enough to let him deny her prowess. And the Pathbreaker had been her chosen sparring partner.

And now, only his rivals from the other sects stood to lose face while he would further their cause. Only one of the elders had to win for the pair of outcasts to back down and promise to leave the region for a year and a day. Truly, an oath made in folly, when bringing a weaker link into the mix. The girl named Dragonfly had made no name for herself and won no recognition. She might be silver, but what little that the elder’s disciples had managed to dig up in regards to her during the time it took for them to find a dueling arena and replacements for the blockade of the so-called guildhall, Thunderous Intent wasn’t overly worried. A simple brute of a monster hunter. Unremarkable.

“I do believe that taking turns is the most polite way to go about this. Don’t you agree, honored elders?” the Pathbreaker called to the rest of them as he approached. “Would you like to go next, my ardent Dragonfly?”

“My pleasure, dear Pathbreaker,” the younger woman answered, brimming with the confident folly of youth as she turned to Thunderous Intent. “Elder, ready for some fun?”

“This will be over in short order, girl,” Thunderous Intent shot back as he straightened while gathering his aura into a knife’s edge. “The Perfected Step sect will be the ones to send you outcasts back to the wilds where you belong.”

“Eh, we’ll see. The heavens favor the strong, elder. I believe that a few months of staying put in your sect might do you some good,” the girl shot back, all arrogant.

As he took his place opposite her in the dueling arena, Thunderous Intent took some time to size up his opponent; a young human woman with an unruly mane of pinkish, curly hair. Short, but with the compact musculature and fairy-like looks of a silver-ranker. He had already seen her leaning against her weapon of choice, a brutish greataxe, but she was also wearing rather distinct armor; a medium-heavy suit of reddish-tinted metal focused around the vitals.

But what was odd was that the thing seemed to also be sprouting life of its own, with vines of purple leaves sprouting small flowers which looked like small motes of flame covering much of it. The suit gave off a sense of vibrant life and smoldering growth, clearly a piece made from most exotic materials.

“Perhaps I should have demanded it as an additional prize,” Thunderous intent mused as he assumed his stance, drawing his falcata from its sheath as the power of his path caused it to thrum with echoing vibrations that blurred the air. “Donating it to the vault of the sect would have given me a great amount of contribution.”

Still, he understood why his so-called peers had vouched for something more directly linked to their united cause, as forcing two of the guilds no doubt miniscule amount of silver-rankers away for over a year would no doubt cripple any further resistance the pathetic organization could muster.

“Heavens, I’m baffled that they had more than one. And that Pathbreaker is apparently a rather foolish one too, to draw the ire of someone in the capital like that. Curtailing him will no doubt bring great favor to our sect.”

“Are both the participants ready?” the acolyte of Warrior which the Pathbreaker had insisted should preside over the clash called out to the pair.

“Ready!” the girl named Dragonfly called, brandishing her single-edged greataxe which trailed a series of floating stars.

“Ready,” Thunderous Intent grunted, his aura already starting to grind against the younger woman’s.

“Then may Warrior witness your clash, and both of you learn from this tempering. Begin!”

Thunderous Intent did not hesitate, shooting forward as he started channeling his mana into one of his staple powers; a field of reverberations that continuously dealt resonating force damage over time to nearby opponents. The elder’s path consisted of the harmonic, pure, potent and reverberating essences, and he prided himself as an offensive scourge upon his foe with his clean, devastating slashes leaving zones of reverberating death to slowly but surely tear his opponent to pieces; a perfect mix of instant might and inevitable doom, at least in his own mind.

The effects of his reverberating zone was instantly recognizable as the girl, also charging eagerly ahead, entered the shimmering fluctuations in the air around the elder. Her skin started rending in places and fragments started breaking loose from the edges of her armor. The process was a painful one, providing an additional layer of distractions to the damage itself.

Thunderous intent did not stop to admire his work, however, instead stepping even further into the spinning slash, his humming falcata leading his way to victory. In an ideal world, he would have lopped off one of the girl’s hands in that very first exchange, leaving her two-handed fighting style crippled and bringing her one step closer to being completely at his mercy.

But the world rarely delivered, and in this case, it even seemed as if it wanted to test the elder a bit.

“Kyaaaaahhh!”

With a mighty shout, flames shot from the back of the incoming axe to give it even greater force all while even more fire started washing out from the blade to envelop the elder. While the latter was dispersed by a thought and a burst of resonating force, the former proved too much. Instead of an elegant deflection, Thunderous Intent’s blow was sent reeling out of alignment as the stones beneath them cracked at the force of their collision. The girl was indeed a brute, but her strength was no mere paper tiger.

The elder’s next attack was forcefully shifted into a sidestep as he aimed to, at least, land a glancing blow while the heavy weapon was out of alignment from the mighty swing, but this too was countered as Dragonfly just continued spinning. Once, twice, thrice and more did her axe cut cleaning arcs through the air, spewing flames all the while, and Thunderous Intent was forced to first skip, then block, then make a mighty leap back in order to avoid the worst of the spinning flurry. And while he constantly kept up the pressure with the reverberating auras and zones left behind by the clashes of his falcata, the girl just seemed to ignore them as she continued her relentless charge. Worse, he could note several boons coursing through her body which just kept ramping up in intensity.

“Is my attrition empowering her? Fortune curse me,” he thought, quickly disabling his aura even while he was mid-leap, the silver-rankers mind working quickly. But it turned out that even this process was soon interrupted as the elder’s instincts screamed of danger. It was just in time that he managed to summon his echoing barrier to intercept a flaming greataxe that had come flying in from above while staying within his blind spot. The weapon kept hounding him even after his first clash with it, floating as if wielded by the thoughts of his foe, which was probably also the case.

To make things worse, Dragonfly still came at him. Finding himself pressured from both sides, Thunderous intent knew that he had to turn the table.

“At least my purity of purpose keeps her flames from lingering,” he thought, the thought a slight consolation as a not inconsiderable part of his path was rendered moot with his foe apparently relishing in any damage dealt over time. “It is time to turn the tables. Tranquil Step of the Water Strider.”

For a split second, all the reverberating zones of death seemed to freeze with an odd sense of clarity. Then, the next moment, the world seemed to slow down as well to a near standstill. The elder could see the flames shimmering beneath the skin of his foe move with sluggish, dream-like motions while he himself turned mid-air and stepped while delivering a single slash. Using one of his stronger attacks early was always a pain, but Thunderous Intent had enough experience to know that one couldn’t dictate every fight to one’s preferences.

His single strike seemed to somehow carry all the motion of their halted surroundings built up and focused into a razor’s edge. In the frozen moment, he could see the armor and skin of his foe’s throat and collarbone start to part as all that potential was delivered unto the thinnest of lines. But that glorious process of severance then stopped with surprising abruptness, as a light burst up from within the girl, swift and undeniable even in the moment where the elder should have reigned supreme.

Then, the moment ended, and Thunderous Intent found his own momentum abruptly halted as his falcata suddenly stopped, as if it was a rather dull axe trying to slash into the thickest of trees. He didn’t even have the time to curse this new development, obviously some kind of potent defensive measure, before a gauntleted hand shot up and grabbed the wrist carrying his blade before the elder found a chance to pull it free. A one-handed slash of her axe followed, obviously aiming for his arm, and Thunderous Intent was forced to step backwards, painfully extending his arm as much as possible to avoid the strike while showering his foe in a torrent of rending vibrations in an attempt to distract her and weaken her hold.

It was then that he noted Dragonfly’s slight grin, even as the skin and flesh of her face were being torn apart by the point-blank destructive torrent. And that moment of notice was soon followed by searing pain as the burning axe once more descended from just behind and above him, the blasted thing having once more managed to elude the elder’s senses for just a single, vital second. And with the force of what was obviously some kind of special attack, it lopped his right arm off in a single brutal swing.

Shoving the pain to the back of his mind, Thunderous Intent managed to at least kick off the ground and leap back now that his grabbed arm was no longer attached to the rest of him. This time though, his foe didn’t pursue straight away. With her face drenched in blood, the girl instead remained in place while holding up the elders own severed arm, its fist still clutching his sword, and using it to wave at him. Then her armor lit up to his magical perception as life and fire seemed to course through the length of ivy covering its surface, now looking more like glowing veins of the earth, while the small flowers started blooming and setting the air around their wearer aflame. And from the way her skin started to char slightly, apparently the wearer as well.

“Nice opening exchange, elder. Very decisive,” Dragonfly commented even as the fire within her seemed to rise with every moment. “Soul probably wouldn’t rate it very highly though, and part of what she taught me did work really well. I promised that I would deliver her greetings should I ever find myself clashing with one of your sect. So… Soul sends her greetings. The rest of her message… Well, that’s what comes next.”