I infused a bit of chakra into the ring, just as Melina instructed. Nothing happened—no whistle, no sound, no horse suddenly appearing beneath me, no sign of Torrent at all.
I looked around the clearing with my Sharingan, seeing no bundle of energy except Melina's own. Hm.
"Not your 'chakra,' husband. Spiritual energy, the energy of the world, native to the Lands Between," Sellen said from beside me, apparently realizing I was trying to summon Torrent. Not that it was hard to figure, I must have been making weird faces while staring at the ring.
"You mean, the one that everyone here seems to have, but not me?" I asked.
She cocked her brow. "Are you sure about that?"
Pretty sure I didn't have it. I wasn't even sure I could use this different energy in—
Oh, I did have it. I stared at my own body, and sure enough, there were two different.. spiritual forces around me, to say the least.
One was the blue of chakra, the other was white, like everyone else I'd met so far in the Lands Between.
How did I miss that? Was I that ignorant of my own body? And, was this really the first time I used Sharingan on myself?
I was distantly aware that Soul Talent would help me learn the different flavors of supernatural energy and ensure they played nice with one another. But I thought I needed something like Added Potential first to enable me to learn, while Soul Talent facilitated the process of learning.
Like writing, you know? I couldn't write if I didn't have hands, but if I had them, school would help me learn writing faster. The hands were the Added Potential, while school was the Soul Talent in this case. Kind of a bad analogy, but whatever.
"How did you know I had it inside me all this time?"
Sellen shrugged. "It just seemed like something your patron would have done for you. Based on what I saw from your Catalog, most of the choices are centered around convenience."
"Yeah, I did notice that." I nodded.
Well now, if I had it inside me all this time, logically, I could use it, right?
I tried moving the white stuff— err, the white based energy using only my will into Torrent's ring, and to my surprise, it worked.
There was a neigh beside me, which turned out to be Torrent herself when I glanced to my left.
"Oh, hello there, Torrent. It's lovely to see you!" I smiled at the spirit horse, extending my hand toward her muzzle, palm first.
She nudged my hand and gave a neigh. I took that to mean she approved of me.
I patted her long neck as I walked to the saddle, then jumped atop her, landing perfectly. Gripping the reins, I looked back at Sellen, who stood with her arms crossed, a little smile on her face.
"Hop on, beautiful."
She laughed a little and took my hand to help her up. She hugged me sideways, her robed clothing preventing her from sitting facing the front. Well, she could, but then she would be showing the world her bare creamy soft thighs, and that was a big no-no for me.
Besides, we weren't going far, just ahead to where I could feel another site of grace inside the ruined church building I'd seen before, and which I knew from the game was the location of Kale, the weird Santa Claus-looking merchant.
"Well now, I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
I was a little surprised by Kale's greeting as we arrived inside the remains of the church, because I definitely hadn't seen him in real life yet.
"Have we met before?" I asked as an opener.
"Never, but I saw you getting close and familiar with your giant Sentinel friend a week ago," Kale responded, his eyes crinkling. I suspected he was smiling beneath those hoods, but I couldn't be sure. He might just be smirking evilly, who knows.
"Oh, yeah. Probably heard it from all the way over here, huh?"
Kale chuckled. "Right on the money, but you made it sound like all I do is sit here all the time."
I shrugged with a smile. "Well, I personally know someone who'd do that."
"Quite the interesting friend, then," he said, placing his mysterious-looking instrument on the ground beside him.
"Well, I'm glad to see another friendly face who's not after my throat. Not that I could do anything to you," he shrugged. "Come, sit around the fire." He gestured toward his little campfire.
We dismounted from the horse and headed toward the fire.
"You mind?" I asked as we arrived nearby, gesturing around the ground.
Kale looked confused but tilted his head nonetheless.
I kneaded my chakra, then a moment later, a crude wooden bench appeared beside the fire.
"Why, thank you," Sellen said, giving me a peck on the cheek.
We sat on it together closely while Kale looked on astonished, his face glued to the newly made bench, modeled like something you would have seen in a park somewhere.
I smiled cheekily. "You want one too?"
Kale gazed at me for a moment before standing up hastily and clearing the area a bit.
I made a chair for him, complete with a backrest so he could lean back on it.
Kale approached it slowly, his hands going through it almost in reverence, then he tried it. A big sigh of contentment left his mouth.
"Well, now I'm really gonna stay here twenty-four-seven at this rate," he said, eyes closed, enjoying the newly made wooden chair. I didn't think it was that good of a chair, but it definitely beat sitting on the ground, I'm sure.
"You're welcome," I said.
Sellen sighed beside me. "Stop with the smug smile, husband. It's just a chair."
Kale laughed, not quite a full belly laugh, but it was big. "It's alright, missus. I would be quite proud too if I could do that. Why, my wanderer friends will be so jealous, indeed! Though I have to ask, it will stay when you leave, right, friend?"
"Don't worry, it will stay like normal wood does," I assured with a smile. It was nice to finally interact with a normal person, though a bit weird since I also knew him from a game I had just played.
"Now I feel like a truly bad host. I haven't even introduced myself, and you came here bearing gifts!" Kale said enthusiastically. I took it as a good sign that he acted differently from his game version. He was quite friendly and upbeat compared to the game. Of course, that was obviously because of my masterfully laid plan.
"My name's Kale, simple merchant and wanderer. Nice to meet both of you." He didn't offer his hand but did tilt his head toward us. I guess shaking hands wasn't quite a culture here.
"You can call me Aaron, and this is my wife, Sellen," I gestured toward her.
Kale tried to hide it, but I saw his eyes widen momentarily as he turned his gaze to Sellen after my words.
But then his eyes crinkled again. "A Tarnished, with a Sorceress of the Academy. You must be quite a charmer, friend," Kale finished.
I took it as a compliment and smiled at him.
"Perceptive, aren't you, Kale?" Sellen noted, probably about my status as a Tarnished.
"Not really, ma'am. Not when you saw that big knight's reaction to him," Kale chuckled. "Not to mention, I'm quite familiar with the outfits people wear in this land. I'm a wanderer, after all."
Well, I did look kind of weird with my Akatsuki-themed outfit, but I liked it, so I'm keeping it.
"Well, it doesn't feel right to just receive, so I'll give back something so we're even." Kale rummaged through the enormous bag beside him as the silence began to wore on.
"Where... ah, here it is. Flask of Wondrous Physick," he said while handing me a flask. I knew this; it was supposed to be in another ruined church, but Kale did have the information about it in the game. I guess he decided to pick it up himself?
I grabbed the bottle from him. It looked kind of like a hip flask, one of those you usually see in medieval use, or well, a potion. Though this one was decorated with unknown engraving.
"It's a magical flask, different from the one that can hold crimson tears. But you can achieve, like the name implies, wondrous and magical benefits if you insert the right combination of crystal tears inside it while a site of grace refills it with its magical liquid gold," Kale explained in a low voice, as if he were explaining something wondrous, which I guess it literally was. Heh.
"Thank you, Kale. It's a thoughtful gift," I said gratefully.
"No problem, not that it has use in my hands anyway." Kale responded.
"It certainly is. Though a pair of crimson and cerulean flasks would have been nice as well. Do you have those for sale, perhaps, Kale?" Sellen asked from beside me.
Kale was about to answer, but a new voice beat him to it.
"No need. I have a pair for you, m'lord." Melina appeared suddenly beside me, kneeling while handing me two of the mentioned flasks. I sent the gift from Kale to the other dimension, making sure to send it to the pocket space from the Company rather than my Kamui dimension, so that Sellen could retrieve it as well.
"Ah, thank you, Melina," I said while I received yet another two flasks. Her hands shook a bit as we made contact, which I noted for later. After I picked them from her, she retreated to stand behind me silently.
Sellen huffed as she looked between us but didn't say anything.
Kale looked at the entire exchange with wide eyes. But seeing me act no differently to Melina's sudden appearance, he visibly calmed himself and sat down again.
"Again, do you have a pair for sale, Kale?" Sellen asked once more.
"Ah, sorry, ma'am. It's quite hard to find the magical flasks these days. You know how it is— as far as I know, the way to make them has been lost to time," Kale said apologetically.
She nodded with a regretful expression. "You're right. And I lost mine some time ago, but I guess my husband and I can share." Sellen shrugged.
"So, what's the deal with the flasks? Are they special or unique in any way? Why can't I just use any random flasks? And why do I need to stay at a site of grace to refill them?" I asked curiously, since the game itself never properly explained it.
"Ah, should I?" Kale asked Sellen, who then tilted her head to him as a signal to go ahead.
"Well, Aaron, I don't know the specifics, you see. But each of these magical flasks, when you stay at a site of grace for a period of time, will absorb something from it, filling them with what seems like liquid gold.
"Depending on the flask, the liquid itself will change color to match the function of the flask. Crimson tears flasks will rejuvenate your physical body when you drink from them, while cerulean ones will rejuvenate spiritual energy. That's as much as I know about it," Kale finished with a shrug.
"What about normal flasks, then?"
He shrugged, "Nothing happen to it."
"Hm. Interesting," I said, nodding to myself. "Quite valuable then, no?"
"It is, husband. But the land is littered with them. They're creations from before the Shattering, but you'll find one quite easily if you know the right person," Sellen added from my side.
Kale nodded as well. We continued talking for quite some time.
I offered Melina a seat at some point, she agreed, and I made another chair for her. Though she never inserted herself into the conversation after her entrance.
We emerged from the forest into what looked like the ruins of a small town. Half-toppled stone buildings were strewn around lining the road, patrolled by soldiers in armor, the chest plate covered by clothing of green and red, with unfamiliar symbol on it. I could also see a big fire in what looked like the plaza of the small town, packed with many more soldiers around it.
I said small, but it really was relative. Compared to the game version it was significantly bigger. I counted about 30 ruins of building just from my spot atop the hill overlooking it.
We also had been walking for half an hour through the forest before reaching this place. It was a big difference from the size of the game I played, I realized, not for the first time. This kind of ruined my plan of collecting all the useful items I had found in the game if the scale difference was this big.
I shook my head as we made our way down the hill, Melina still following behind us. She had been silent and contemplative since some time now. I was surprised she even wanted to stay physical this long around us, which is why I kept my eyes on her.
I noticed her bewildered expression first, though there was no indication why she made such an expression in the first place. Then it changed into a contemplative silence for the past hour. I didn't know what was on her mind, so I intended to find out after we found a nice resting place.
As we neared what looked like the entrance to the remote town, two soldiers guarding it saw us from afar. One pulled something from his back, though I didn't see what it was since I couldn't be bothered to activate my Sharingan just for it.
The one with the device nodded to the other one, and they instantly became alert.
"Hail, travelers," the one on the right raised his free hand, the other one carrying a torch.
We stopped a few meters in front of them.
"Are you traveling with this Tarnished, ma'am?" Torch guy asked Sellen, his tone nervous.
Sellen's face was impatient, arms crossed beneath her bust. "Yes, what of it? You're not going to bar me from passing, are you?" she glared at them.
"No, ma'am, of course not. You're free to go. But we, uh, have orders from Lord Godrick, you see," he glanced at me from the corner of his eyes.
She squinted her eyes at them. "We have a deal," she said simply.
"I'm aware of the agreement between Lyendell and Raya Lucaria, ma'am, but—"
"No, what I mean to say is,I have a personal deal with Godrick," Sellen cut him off.
"Oh, uh..." The soldier said intelligently, which made me chuckle, ignored by both of them as their faces suddenly became white, most likely realizing Sellen's identity.
"I-I can... uh, I'll talk to the captain, ma'am. Please wait a second," he stuttered, then ran back toward the plaza, leaving his sweating friend glancing nervously between us. His spear was clutched tightly in his right hand, while he held a tower shield in his left.
"You never said anything about a deal with Godrick?" I asked while we wait.
Sellen huffed, "Not important, husband. Just a little deal to let me through unimpeded through his domain, since this is the only way forward toward the academy. Academy students and staff usually get this automatically, not that the bunch of them ever actually leave the Academy, but I was... you know." She finished. I got it—she was a criminal.
Torch dude came back with a knight in what I now assumed was Stormveil colors, a funny-looking helmet on his head.
"A witch," he said as he looked at Sellen. "And a Tarnished, with his maiden," he said, and I detected a bit of disdain from his tone.
"Sup!" I raised my hand in greeting, which somehow agitated the knight, judging by how he grasped his spear tightly. I began suspecting this wasn't going to go well, at all.
The knight signaled something to torch dude, which made him gulp. He nodded and ran back toward the plaza.
"Witch, are you associating yourself with this Tarnished?"
"You have a problem with it?" Sellen said casually, in contrast with our guest.
"Yes, you see, witch. We have orders," he said while slamming the butt of his spear to the ground. "To bring any Tarnished back to the castle."
As he finished his words, soldiers came out from between buildings and ruins from the back. Weapons already out: swords, spears, morning stars, and some even had bows on their backs, serious expressions all around. All of them advanced toward our position, except their bowmen.
Sellen sighed while she called her staff from our pocket space, "Are you sure about this, captain?"
I laughed out loud before the knight could answer. My laughter echoed around the place, causing the soldiers to almost stop in their tracks as they heard it. It was just so predictable. For a second, I thought we would be allowed to pass freely without any conflict. But it was a pipe dream after all. Not that I expected any less from this particular game world.
No matter, though. This was a perfect time for an experiment.
"Let me," I said simply to Sellen. She nodded and stepped back.
I activated my MS, creating a little illusion of both my eyes glowing red menacingly. It sapped my chakra quite a bit since I was doing it to so many people, not for all of them though, only the front half, which count to about 10 plus. But it was only sight based illusion, and only of my own eyes.
The result was quite what I expected. Most stopped in their tracks, even the knight became wary as he positioned himself in a defensive stance. This suited my purpose fine, as it gave me time to knead my chakra.
My hands blurred as they watched me silently, not having any idea of what I was doing. The knight managed to advance a step sensing danger, but it was too late.
Wood Release: Wooden Enclosure.
Big blocky woods pierced the ground from all sides around the tightly positioned group of soldiers. It closed on them quickly, trapping them in a prison of wood, with no way to escape.
It was an original technique of Obito's, meant to be used to hold Tailed Beasts. But he never got the chance to use it, and he almost forgot about it entirely as time went on.
The knight finally reached me, stabbing forward with his spear. It passed through me, which of course made him stumble a bit, expecting the resistance of flesh but instead his weapon only met open air.
Sellen used the opportunity to hit him with a spell. He managed to bring his shield up in time to block it, but he was thrown back as a consequence.
Sellen fired another spell which forced the knight once again to hide behind his tower shield.
I kneaded my chakra once again, this time fire.
The familiar bubbling heat came to my throat as I finished the hand seals needed.
Fire Release: Searing Migraine.
Fire sprayed from my mouth, small at first, then widening as it touched and traveled through the ground in front of me, slowly becoming a firestorm. A combination that I've been wanting to try, two high level technique one after the other.
I saw the knight take a step back before he was engulfed by the huge fire, swept by it as if it were giant waves of water, becoming bigger still as it traveled further until it reached the wooden prison where I managed to trap most of the soldiers. It was almost 20 meters wide by then as it washed over the trapped soldiers. As expected of a B-rank technique.
It encircled the prison in seconds, with no huge explosion at all, only the sound of flames passing over a large area, similar to how a forest fire would sound, I imagined.
Then came the screams. I winced as the continuous screams reached my ears. It took about 30 seconds before the screaming stopped, coinciding with streams of golden lights traveling through the air into my body.
'Runes.' I thought distractedly, as I watched the fire begin to dissipate after traveling to almost the other side of town, its fuel completely spent as I cut it off.
"That's.. a bit much, wasn't it, husband?" Sellen's voice reached my ears, not judging, just curious.
"Well, uh, I didn't expect it to be quite that destructive, honestly. The fire technique was slow after all." I shrugged. "Besides, most of them are immortal, surely. They'll come back alive, and that will surely send a message, no?" I asked.
"Sure, husband. It will." She answered. "And they won't be staying here forever anyway; they weren't occupying these ruins when I last passed through here."
I heard a cough somewhere behind me and turned around in surprise, not expecting there to be any survivors. Two knights lied on the ground, the only ones left. The others had disappeared into motes of light, while some stayed burning—those ones likely would never come back alive.
Huh, didn't see the other knight before. Might have been trapped with the others?
Quite resilient, which means good retinue material! Two of them! Now I could sell the Kaiden merc.
I bound both of them and proceeded to send them into my Kamui dimension.
With that done, I turned to my two companions.
"Right, where to next?" I asked, placing both hands on my waist.
Melina stared silently to my eyes, offering no input at all, but her expression was carefully blank, not her usual expresionless face, she was hiding something.
Sellen still had her arms crossed, a difficult expression on her face as she stared at me, I didn't know why though, so I just filed it into the back of my mind.
"How about our original plan?" Sellen suggested finally, tilting her head.
"Which is?"
She sighed, then said in a soft voice, "The hiding place, husband."
"Right. Let's go. Oh, before I forget." I teleported around, collecting all the fallen weapons. Sadly, no armor—those ones went with the motes of light. Not that I needed it, per se, but it would have been nice to have.
We continued on our way, moving through the ruins, taking some time to loot the weapons inside the long big black carriage looking thing, and then continue toward our destination east of here. The encounter with the soldiers had been a reminder of the dangerous(not really so far) and unpredictable world we were navigating, but it also reaffirmed my mind..
Sellen gripped my hand tightly, which stopped the shaking.
Huh.. when..?
The silence was deafening.
We kept walking for several moment like that.
"I've never killed before." I said while looking forward, but I wasn't feeling anything at all..
No regret, and certainly no glee from the act of it. I didn't break down from it, I just felt.. empty. Did that make me weird? Evil, perhaps?
So why did my hands shook?
A/N: new chapter, thoughts?