[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 265 – Primordial Painter

Sam took Komachi to their room, where he hoped to spend the rest of the day sleeping away the fatigue of the last few days.

It wasn’t every day you fought ghostly pirates, sorceress lamias, and stood on the frontlines of a city’s invasion one after the other.

He barely had enough time to lock the door before he collapsed onto the low-lying bed. Just for peace of mind, he jammed the key into the lock so he would hear if somebody tried to pick the lock. If they did, the key would fall out. He hoped he would be able to hear it.

More than likely Komachi would wake up at the unfamiliar sound and alert him to the danger. She had hunted enough invading spicy noodles in Hawai’i to make him confident of that. Those things had a nasty bite that was hard to forget.

Despite his suspicions, the Scarlet Lotus turned out to be fairly safe. At least, none of the guild members tried to steal from him or attack him while he slept.

Sam slept for a solid day before anybody bothered to disturb him.

A gentle knock on the door pulled him from his restful slumber and he sat up in bed, his heart hammering in his chest.

For a moment, he forgot where he was. Torn between the Wavedancer, the Dead Echo, Sil’mara, and his home of Hawai’i, Sam struggled to make sense of his current environment.

His room was fairly austere. Tiled in light-colored sandstone with no wall coverings beyond bare beams of dark wood. There were only a few rugs and pillows piled up near a low-lying table, and of course, the bed he was resting on.

It reminded him of when he put his mattress straight on the ground instead of on a bed frame. He had heard it was supposed to be better for your back.

That might have worked anywhere else but Hawai’i. The bugs that he found in his bed left him unable to sleep for several days. Spiders were the least of his worries.

After a while, there was another gentle knock. He heard a soft voice, but it was muffled.

Komachi stretched and yawned. “Want me to get it?”

Sam looked over at his cat. Usually she would be hunting the venomous centipedes and spiders that got into the apartment. What Komachi colloquially referred to as “spicy noodles”.

“I got it.”

Realizing he hadn’t even taken off his armor, Sam struggled to get out of bed and open the door. “Yes?”

Renni, the red-haired cat girl from earlier, was in the middle of bending over and placing a tray of food on the floor. Hearing him, she jumped and hastily straightened.

“Oh, hello Samuel!” she said cheerily, her flaming red cat ears twitching like Komachi’s did when she was excited. “I was just making sure you were alright and seeing if you needed anythin’.”

When he didn’t answer, on account of still being tired out of his mind, she said. “Well, do you want anythin’?”

The smell of the food hit him before his brain processed what she had been doing. “Food would be good.”

“Here you go then!” She handed it over.

Sam did his best to give her a thankful smile as he took it. “Thanks. Renni, right?”

“Yep.”

Komachi darted out between his legs and wove around Renni’s, much to the girl’s amazement. The way her eyes lit up, you’d think she had never seen a house cat before.

“Thank you,” Sam said. “Komachi thanks you too, it seems.”

Komachi greatly enjoyed the rump scratches she got and the gifts Renni offered her.

“No problem!”

Sam took the food inside, holding the door open for Komachi, and sat down at the small table to eat in peace.

It seemed a century to Sam since he had such quiet and solitude. As much as he loved his time aboard the Wavedancer, there was little privacy to be had except in his room.

Back in Hawai’i, he always used to start the day with a few moments of peace and quiet. Komachi was usually rather boisterous and high-energy, but for those first few minutes of every day, she seemed to understand his need for peace.

Knowing what he knew about Komachi now, there was no doubt she understood what Sam needed.

“I like it here, Sam,” Komachi eventually said, digging through the box of gifts. She pulled out a paintbrush and studied it as if she had no idea what it was.

She probably didn’t.

Sam reached over and placed the brush the right way around in her paw. Komachi had been holding it upside down.

“I want to come back here one day when we save everybody. Maybe make it a regular thing.”

“I hope we can,” Sam said softly. He wondered if he would ever see Zarishna or the Empire again after all was said and done. He was so focused on the goal that he never thought too much about what would happen when the Empire and its Worldshard was saved.

“I believe we can,” she said with complete confidence.

Sam dropped a heavy hand onto her head and rubbed her soft furry noggin. “Then I have no reason to doubt.”

He trusted Komachi implicitly. She was a part of his soul. A fact that surprised him despite how much he loved the little fur ball.

She was oftentimes frustrating to deal with, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He couldn’t imagine going through everything he did without her. Not back in Hawai’i, not in Il’dran, and definitely not in the Dead Echo.

The moment’s respite, however, allowed his revitalized mind to remember everything that had recently happened. How many years had passed since the Wavedancer was nearly sunk? Was Zahif even alive? Yulan? Salii?

Even if it had only been a few decades, even Galbast might not be alive. People he could have easily seen himself spending years alongside fighting pirates, slaying monsters, and running free on the salt.

Whiskers twitching, Komachi peered up at him. “Are ya doing okay, Sam? You can talk to me about anything, ya know.”

That snapped him back to the present. The present of the past, Sam thought with a snort of laughter. His blue gaze locked with Komachi’s green. “A lot has happened in a very short period of time. For us it’s been hardly more than a day since we last saw the Wavedancer. How long has it been for them? I can’t help but wonder.”

“Hmm, I dunno. We didn’t ask anybody what year it was. Haven’t here either. Could probably find out about the Wavedancer though. People like us enough for sure.”

“It was one ship, Komachi. And not a massive one either. I don’t know if we’d find anything about it in such a large city.”

She shrugged her furry shoulders. “Maybe, but if you wanna find out, I’m willing to try.”

Sam leaned back and propped himself up by his hands. He stared at the dark beams holding up the ceiling. A single chain at the center of the room held a light source of unknown make. It shone softly through the brass covering, seemingly responding to whether Sam was asleep or not.

Could be time-sensitive, he thought. When he had been asleep, he woke up a few times to find the light nearly out. Now it was at a comfortable level.

“I figure they lived their whole lives,” Komachi eventually said. “And for the better, cause we were there. Just cause they’re maybe in the past doesn’t mean they’re gone.” She pulled out some trinkets, books, and paint bottles.

Sam struggled not to frown.

He knew Komachi had a point. No matter how long it had been, the crew of the Wavedancer were able to live out their lives because of them. They intervened not once, but twice, to save every soul aboard.

Aside from the first mate, who Sam had some deep suspicions about, the Wavedancer only lost three souls before Sam arrived.

“To me, it’s not too different from us never aging. I might be young, but I know that isn’t gonna be happenin’ to us, Sam.” Komachi began to paint with her paws, using blues and whites. The beginnings of an ocean. “Eventually, some people we know aren’t gonna be around anymore. And that’s okay, because they still lived their lives. And we lived ours with ‘em, for however long we did.”

“Yeah, but at least then we’ll be around for all or most of their lives,” Sam said. He blew out a gusty sigh. “I think I need to make some changes when we return to Sil’mara. I’ve been keeping myself holed up away from people. There was nothing more exciting than seeing what that blob on the horizon turned out to be. Whether it was a monster, just a rock, or a trick of the light, I never got tired of it. I want to chase the horizon again, Komachi.”

She looked up at him curiously. “What kinda changes? The adventuring kind?”

He smiled and looked down at her. “With you, of course,” Sam said. “And Raiko. And Kale, Chris, Matt, Kylie, Kai…everybody. I want to make something worthy of calling home, but I don’t want to stay there governing and putting down roots. I want to see what’s ahead. Explore new and dangerous Skyshards full of monsters. Delve the deepest Dungeons.”

With the inclusion of more and more of their friends, he could tell Komachi was relieved. And then she grew increasingly excited hearing about his plans to explore all those new things.

Sitting upright, Sam scooped Komachi into his lap. “I’m not giving up on Sil’mara or anything. But this journey has taught me how much of my life I was willing to sit around instead of going out and exploring.”

“I want to see new realms too! And Worldshards like the Empire. I bet we can find tons of ‘em.”

“We will return,” Sam assured her. “If one doesn’t reveal itself to us, we’ll find our own way. Not just the Empire, either. Every Worldshard that we could possibly want to visit, and more than a few that we probably never want to speak of again.”

Komachi let out a little howl of glee.

Sam scratched beneath her furry chin. His shoulders straightened as if a burden had been lifted from them.

He still felt melancholic over the Wavedancer. That would never change. It might shrink over time, but Sam would always miss the time he spent on the deck.

Komachi had been right. At least he had spent time with them. However short it was, he would always have those cherished memories. Beyond the skills they imparted to him, the knowledge, and the greater fighting prowess, it was the friendships that he found most satisfying.

Just because his time with them was short, did not make it any less meaningful. For a brief time, he had found a family that he didn’t know he was missing.

When he looked down, he saw what Komachi had created.

A painting of the Wavedancer carving a path through a brilliant blue sea with a silvery streak of bandlight gleaming overhead.

It was surprisingly good. He had expected something like a child’s finger painting, but this was good enough to hang in a museum by Sam’s estimation.

The power of stats, no doubt.

He could even see himself and Komachi on the prow of the ship, with Zahif and Salii beside them.

“It’s gorgeous, Komachi.”

“Huh,” Komachi said in wonder. “I made that…” She didn’t seem to realize that color shifting mana shimmered on her paws.

Sam pointed at her paws. “What’s going on there?”

Komachi’s eyes widened sharply as the blooming light on her paws burst like a pricked water balloon and vibrant color splashed across the walls, the bed, the ceiling, and the floor.

Covered in a prismatic glow of color, Sam watched as Shardscript appeared before both of their eyes.

An inner dimensional plane resonates with your soul.

You gain the Primordial Painter Path.

You gain a new Attunement: Paint Mana (★★☆ Limited).

Sam watched as the paint that stained Komachi’s fur lifted off her body and created a living work of art that swirled in the air before vanishing with a faint pop.

“Komachi got a Path!” his cat cried ecstatically.

Sam looked around the room and himself, covered in at least 12 different colors. He couldn’t help smiling at her. “An amazing Path if I ever saw one. What abilities did you get?”