Legacy of the M'Zee Chapter 15

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

So, I've written 1.5 chapters in a new story that will eventually show up here. Mostly I've been working on it because I couldn't get it out of my head. I still was able to complete chapter 15 of Legacy and 20 of Essence Wave, so progress on my main stories is progressing (he,he). Right now, my plan for what is tentatively called Stormy Mountain Sect is to write as I can, only once I've gotten a decent bit on Legacy and Essence Wave completed. Once I've got a bunch of it written, it'll show up as a Patreon only story for a time. Expect the first chapter next week or the week after at the latest. 

Otherwise, enjoy! He he

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

“Is anyone there?” Jamila’s voice called out from the bushes.

“Light, you scared us!” Jon yelled back.

“Jon!” Xiao shouted, then he and the rest of his team burst out of the bushes.

Sia’s mental laughter in my head made me glare up at the shining bird, “Ha, ha, ha,” I enunciated clearly the fake laugh back to him.

Jamila took one look at Vaya lying on the ground and immediately sprinted to her side, almost seeming to teleport she moved so fast. Wow, that is a new technique, I thought. “Wait, it’s okay,” I said aloud. “She’s just processing a natural treasure we found. You can’t heal her while she is doing that.”

“But why was she screaming?” Jamila asked.

“Because it hurts like your insides are being flayed,” Bridget said. “At least at the end.”

Vaya took that moment as the time to sit up, “That was the worst experience of my life. Oh, Jamila, where did you come from?”

“Uh, we were heading inward and south from our starting area,” Jamila answered, “We saw Aiden’s attack blast through the sky, so we turned this way. When we heard screams that sounded human, we came to investigate. I was afraid it was you.”

“She means she turned our path to immediately come and heal whoever was injured,” Ming said, a fond smile on his face. “Since she would heal anyone, even our competitors, if they were injured in front of her.”

“Not true,” Jamila said with a pout, “I would not heal any Illyrian.” She turned to Vaya, “Can I do anything to help?”

Vaya shook her head, then looked over at me. “How many berries do we still have?”

“Enough, but they should use all the other Elements first,” I said. “Come on, you all need to eat up.” Ming just gave me a questioning look. “The berries. Start with your main Element, then go through the clearing and finish off all but the white ones in the center. You’ll know when you're done.”

I stood and watched as my friends followed our directions, nomming upon the sweet and Elementally pure berries. After a minute, I moved with Vaya to the center, and we proceeded to pluck every berry we could from it, only leaving a small section for the others to enjoy. If enjoy is the right word, I thought to myself.

“I hope we can figure out how to grow these,” Vaya said. She took out another of our limited supply of preservation containers, and filled it with the soil around us. “Can you write out what you sense in the Aether around us?”

“Good idea,” I said, chagrinned. “I should have thought of that.” I set down my bag and dug out a notebook. With a thought, I channeled more Aether into my senses meridian, engaging my Divine Senses technique to the utmost. Massive swirls of Aether, always visible to me now, became clearer, both more transparent and easier to see the details of. A whirlpool of every Element, generated and guided by the plants around us, led into the center, where all eight colors blended and shone through, gradually turning white with brilliance.

I suddenly knew that the other plants were just as important to the thriving of the Light Berries as the soil around us. They bushes formed a natural Formation, directing and corralling the correct Aether through a massive rune sequence, creating Light Aether out of every other kind.

My hand flew across the page, drawing quickly and clearly everything I saw. One overview sketch followed by individual runes drawn out. “Sia, lift me up please? I need to see from the top.” I asked in a pique of inspiration.

Massive claws wrapped around my waist, gently lifting me into the air without interfering with my arms. I saw more, the runes driven deep into the soil, twisted around themselves over and over again. In between the plants, every forty-five degrees across the perfect circle I now saw the bushes made, metal spikes had been driven into the ground and covered with dirt. I could see the Inscriptions running down the closest side, each spike a square pyramid. Cords of Aether flowed deep underground, only visible to me due to their intensity and the angle I was looking at.

The complexity was beyond me. I strove to write down everything I saw, every bit of detail I could get onto the pages, even if I had no idea what each part could do. Sia felt synced up with me, flying to and around the edge of the clearing, giving me a good look at each spike and different angles of the massive Formation that allowed these wondrous berries to grow. Finally, he set me down in the center again, and I realized that I was just about out of paper. Off to one side, I saw Ming laying on the ground, surrounded by Jamila, Vaya, Lampart, and Fluffy. Just beyond him, Xiao was being seen to by Bridget, Jon, Kami, and Lea.

“How long was I sketching?” I asked.

“Nearly two hours,” Sia said. “It is good I am still strong enough to carry you all day, though your flapping about did make control difficult. Did you get what you wanted?”

“Yeah, I think I did,” I looked at the notebook. “Maybe with this we’ll be able to plant more of the berry bushes. Though we do need to make sure we have enough of each kind.”

I went through what we had stored, counting up berries and comparing to the overview drawing I’d made. “Okay, we have three berries to get seeds from for each position in the Formation. That should hopefully be enough.”

“Berry bushes like this can also grow from cuttings,” Lea said from her crouched position nearby. “I can help make some cuttings later. My uncle had a large berry patch on his farm.”

“That would be awesome,” I said with a grin.

Over the next two hours, we helped the other team fully temper themselves with the Light Raspberries, and then Lea and Vaya made some cuttings of each bush, taking extra from the Light one after determining that it wouldn’t hurt the ridiculously valuable item. I looked on with pride, and said, “Hopefully this area will be around still in five years when the Territory opens again.”

“Not that we will be able to enter then,” Ming said with a grin. “I expect you, at least, will be well on your way to Perfect Core.”

“True,” I laughed. “But we can instruct the Craesti contingent in the next tournament where it is, and further strengthen the next generation of youth.”

“Now what should we do?” Xiao asked.

“Did you all discover the hidden history alcove under a pond?” Vaya asked. A stunned silence responded. She described the location, though without giving away exactly how to get the rewards.

“That one does not have any more rewards,” Bridget said.

“The guardian told me there were more, so you all should explore in the opposite direction,” I said. “Since they are all between the starting locations. Did you find anything similar to this?” I gestured to the field.

“There was a small orchard of apple trees,” Jamila said. “We harvested all of them, though. They did not cause tempering like these berries, but they, uh, work like a natural refilling powder. Eating one after our fight with the Beast guarding them refilled a third of my pool. You can have some.” She looked down and blushed, realizing she’d given away some of her team’s gains without asking.

“We have over one hundred,” Ming said. “How about we give you thirty six, one for each Element of berry eaten?”

“That sounds more than adequate,” I said with a laugh. “Not that we expect anything.”

“Keeping all of us alive and capable will improve our nation’s odds in the coming war,” he responded. “We are among the strongest Condensation gatherers, and are the strongest of our age group. I firmly expect we will all be sent to war sooner, rather than later.”

I nodded, and Xiao helped pass out apples to all of us. I looked into the sky and the false sun was starting to head towards the horizon. “Do we want to wait for tomorrow to split? Spend the evening gathering. I feel close to advancing, but it’ll probably still be a while.”

“Yes,” Jamila said exuberantly, then blushed again.

“We should set up a gathering formation,” Ming said. “But not here, since we will need to clear away some of the berry bushes.”

“Over here,” Bridget said from the side of the clearing. “There is enough space between these trees. We will only need to rip up a few of the bushes here.”

We all moved to that side, and Sia sent a wave of carefully controlled flame that burnt through every bush in a five meter radius. The Fire was nearly white, it was so hot. “How?” I asked him.

“You practiced combining Air, Fire, and Lightning. I figured out how to make Fire more. Combining two Fire Elements together produced this Flame Aether,” Sia bragged to me.

“That is awesome! Can you put a third in? Is it hotter than the Plasma I made? What happens if you add Plasma to Fire, or to Flame? So many questions now!” I asked

“You should practice later then,” Sia laughed. “I cannot just give you the answers, now can I?”

“Fine. Gather with me, once we’re ready? I think with your help I might be able to advance tonight,” I asked.

“Of course,” he said. “My level is now equal to yours, so you advancing makes me stronger too.”

I sent him a feeling of agreement and thanks. Over the next hour, I helped the rest of the group flatten the dirt in a circle five meters in diameter, barely avoiding the closest tree trunks. Vaya cut off the few limbs of those trees that would have interfered with our Formation, a combination of Wood and Water Aether drying the large branches out to the perfect amount for a cook fire. We roasted the few bits of Manticore meat we hadn’t processed yet, combined with tubers and vegetables that Kami, Lampart, and Lea had found, made a delicious meal shared between friends and allies.

“I wish Lilianna and her team were here,” Xiao said wistfully, then immediately went wide eyed.

“Yes, brother, you said that out loud,” Ming laughed, sitting extremely close to Lea.

“Ooh, so Lilianna has her hook in you?” Jon asked, grinning deeply. “I guess I will have to inform her of your desire next time we meet.”

“You will do no such thing!” Xiao jumped to his feet, before swaying slightly as the effect of the Condensation-tier rice wine they’d shared with our team made themselves known. “I will, I will, tell Bridget what you said about Milenna!” He declared loudly.

Jon winced, looking to his left where Bridget was now glaring at him. “Milenna huh?” She said, her tone icy with wrath.

“You are the most beautiful, capable, and forgiving young woman to ever exist,” Jon said hurriedly. “Forgive me for stupid comments made under the influence of too much drink?”

She wrapped her arm around his shoulders with a grin, “Of course.” Her biceps tightened, pulling Jon into a sideways chokehold. “Once you have paid the price of course.”

Jon struggled a bit, but then relaxed, giving up and letting her smack his head a few times before she pulled him into a kiss. “You can look, but no touching,” she told him. “Or.”

“I know,” he said. “You are the one for me, forever.”

“So sweet,” Lea said with a grin, only for Ming to put his arm around her.

Xiao pouted, “Everyone here has a girl but me.”

“I thought (Name, Ashkhas) was interested?” Jamila asked from my left.

Xiao blushed deeply at this. “She wanted children,” he said simply. “And we know of no way that an Ashkhas and a Craesti could breed.”

“You could adopt,” I said. He looked at me. “As fast as we acted, I’m sure there are dozens of orphans from the most recent attack on (Ashkhas city). There are always more Orphans than people willing to take them. Use your desire for children to give those with no family a home.”

He leaned back in thought. With a deep breath, he said, “I, I will bring it up. Thank you.” He had tears in the edges of his eyes, a shaky smile on his face.

“There is always the chance the Librarian Narwan would take your compatibility as a challenge anyway,” Vaya said. “He did make the (Pill) that let my parents have me and my sister.”

We laughed at that, all of us picturing Librarian Narwan making Xiao and (name) take pills and make love, then recording every biological reaction before nodding and saying, “Hmm.” Over and over again, until her womb was quickened with a half-breed baby that would change the world.

“Okay, we should spend time gathering now,” Ming said.

“Sia, Zimnodlot, Lampart, any Beasts nearby?” I asked aloud. After a series of negatives, I nodded. “We can all gather. I’ll put down one of the alarm Formations we brought. Just in case, but we should all be safe to push as hard as we can towards advancement.”

Sixteen Formation plates were set out, eight for the Alarm formation to alert us to any Beast within fifty meters, and eight to contain my Aether from the Beast Core, or Cores, we’d place in the center of the area we’d made.

“Let’s push as hard as we can,” I said, then held up the Manticore’s Core. “Friends, allies, more, we are united in the defense of our home and our world. Together, stronger, united and ready to destroy our enemies.”

“Aiden, that,” Lea started, unable to continue.

“Yes, a level six Core of a Beast of at least three Elements. All of us are a minimum of a High Affinity with at least one of them. We could sell this for almost a platinum, but I’d rather we all use it now, and emerge from this forest stronger than we’ve ever been.”

“Does everyone have a strong gathering pill?” Ming asked. A chorus of nods answered him. I held one of my Air focused pills (name), knowing the Beast was focused in that direction, then threw it into my mouth.

Once everyone else had taken their pills, I gently slapped the Core down into the Beast Core Processing Formation. A flood of Aether, Air, Wood, and Earth most prominent, exploded out of the half-meter square piece of metal with dozens of rune Inscribed on it. I leapt backwards to my spot, equidistant across the edge of the artificial clearing from every other person in our combined group. Vaya on my right gave me a tight grin, Jamila on my left a brilliant smile, before I dove into my center and focused on gathering in the massive quantity of Aether the Core had spawned.

The Aether density in our new clearing shot skyward, quickly reaching enough that it rivaled the shattering of the Dungeon Core. Of course, we were all significantly stronger than we were back then. This time, the flood of Aether poured in, dozens of times faster than in the Dungeon. Supported by the pill, my technique, my new sturdiness, and most importantly Sia’s mind and willpower, however, I was able to handle it. More than handling, I accepted the Aether and cycled it, pushing through and expanding my meridians.

Pulses shot through me, incrementally increasing the diameter of the channels that controlled and stored my power, each one an experience of pain. I squeezed every tiny fraction of a percentage increase that I could, feeling the free expansion that I had received from the Light Berries. After the first two full cycles all the way to sixty-four times the amount of Aether my meridians could process normally, where they expanded like balloons, stretching outward with the sensation of tearing muscles and stabbing neurons, I grabbed a chunk of Essence. My Core was pulsing with the Essence of the Manticore, the Fuzhu, and every other Beast we’d taken down while here. The Manticore’s was the main culprit of my Core being uncomfortably full.

The wash of Essence was excruciating, but not as bad as the pain the Light Berries had put me through. I pushed past it, letting it flow through me and vanish from my mind as I controlled and corralled the Essence through each meridian, keeping it away from my connection to Sia just in case. I watched, amazed and horrified yet again as it basically dissolved my physical and spiritual flesh and then rebuilt it in a continuous wave.

After using Essence, I did another full cycle through Librarian Narwan’s technique, then repeated myself. On the fourth round, the Beast Core of the Manticore having been replaced by Xiao with one from a level five Ice and Water Beast, something clicked. “You are ready to advance,” Sia told me. “Do you remember how?”

“Yeah. Fill up my center, then squeeze as much as I can into my meridians and hold. Hold until the Aether almost explodes through my meridians into the rest of my body,” I responded.

“Good. Remember, the more you can push into your meridians, the stronger the initial tempering is, and the better your starting point. Just, be careful. Too much can cause your meridians to break. This will require you to heal them and restart from the beginning of Circulation. I will assist,” Sia said.

“No pressure,” I said, taking a deep breath.