Chương 33: "You've not even started the Ordeal. You've earned the right to attempt it."

Ch 33: "You've not even started the Ordeal. You've earned the right to attempt it."

As he walked forward, Zhen looked at the stone steps. They were wide and shallow, but there were just five of them, and they looked completely normal. He would have thought that getting to the altar at the top should be trivial, but he was certain there would be more to this than appeared at first glance. Above him, from where he stood behind the altar, the Shaman reached up to pluck another bundle of herbs from the ceiling. He tossed the whole lot onto the brazier.

The dried leaves caught immediately, and released a cloud of thick smoke that billowed upward, then rolled down the steps. As the smoke reached him Zhen took a cautious sniff. It had a sickly sweet but not entirely unpleasant smell. It spread through the cave, growing thicker as it did so. It was quickly clear to Zhen that the amount of smoke that was being given off was far more than he would have expected from a single bundle of herbs. As the smoke grew more dense, it became harder to see the shaman.

"Like I said. All you have to do is climb the steps." His voice rang out clearly despite the growing haze. Unable to avoid it now Zhen breathed in and the smoke filled his lungs. A warmth spread through his chest. It was different from when he had drunk the mixture of blood and herbs. This warmth pulled at his limbs and made them feel leaden. At the same time his thoughts felt sluggish, forcing him to put in a concerted effort to decide what to do next. He activated the Eye.

Earth-attuned qi saturated the smoke, but that was all it told him. No weaknesses to exploit here. If he was to get through the Ordeal, the Eye wouldn't help him. He stepped forward and placed his foot on the first step. Even through the fug of his thoughts he was surprised. It was, well, normal. The second step required more effort. His leg moved slowly, as if pushing through water, but he managed it. Just three more to go. Zhen lifted his foot for the third step but the movement felt wrong.

He had to remind his muscles how to move. They responded eventually, but their strength drained away as he put his foot back down. He took another step. The sixth? Maybe the ninth. It was much harder now. Gravity pulling him down wasn't the problem. The air itself was resisting him. Beside him, seemingly unaffected, Gaarch matched him step for step. Zhen took his twelfth step, then his fourth. His mind drifted.

The smoke grew ever thicker, wrapping around him until nothing existed except the step below his feet and the next step in front of him. Gaarch, whoever he was, had vanished. Good riddance. Zhen lifted his foot, then paused with it still hovering in the air. He looked at the foot. Whose foot was it? How many steps had he climbed? At least one. Definitely at least one. He couldn't remember how many there were supposed to be. He was so tired. Sleep. That's what he needed. Just to lie down for a little while.

Maybe just a quick nap before he started again. The stone floor looked comfortable. No. He had to keep climbing. Because if he didn't… Because… Why did he have to keep going? What a waste of time. He turned and headed down a step, then stopped. There was a reason, but he couldn't remember what it was. He turned and took another step upward. He didn't know why, but he was certain he had to keep going up. Another step. Then another. Maybe one more. He would definitely stop after the next one. His legs trembled.

Each time he breathed in, he was able to fill his lungs with more of that sweet, wonderful-smelling smoke. More smoke. More steps. The smoke consumed everything now. He couldn't see beyond the single stone step ahead. All he wanted to do was sleep. One more step. His foot lifted then came down. Why was he doing this? It didn't matter. Only the next step mattered. He climbed. And he climbed. And… the stone altar appeared through the smoke.

In a rush his mind cleared, and his memories and his purpose, came back to him. He was here to face the Ordeal and awaken the langren bloodline Gaarch had given him. All he had to do was take one more step away. He reached forward, lifting his foot to take that final step, and his boot landed on nothing. The world tilted, and Zhen blinked. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

A warm sun blazed down from a clear sky and grass swayed around him stretching out around him across a plain that reached to the horizon. Although it had been night when he entered the shaman's cave, from the position of the sun he would guess it was late morning here. Wherever 'here' actually was. A langren stood a few paces away with his arms crossed. In older middle age, his white cultivator's robes were pristine despite the wilderness setting.

A war hammer, easily the same size as Gaarch's own, was strapped across his back. The langren's brow was furrowed, and he had a puzzled expression on his face as he studied Zhen. He had the same jaw and coloring as Gaarch but looked like an older version of the langren War Leader. Zhen activated the Eye and wherever he looked, all he could see was earth-attuned qi. The new langren was made entirely from it. But that wasn't what shocked him. Everything, the grass, the sky, the ground, was made of qi.

There was no distinction between the langren and the world around him. They were just a continuous mass of energy. Footsteps approached from behind him and Gaarch stepped up, then dropped into a low bow. He held it for three heartbeats before rising.

"Ancestor Hagra. Greetings." The older langren waved a hand dismissively.

"Yes, yes. Greetings to descendant and all that. Oh, and nice armor. Well done on becoming War Leader, never doubted it for a second." His attention snapped back to Zhen, his amber eyes narrowing.

"But never mind all that, what's this?" He gestured at Zhen.

"More precisely, what is a human doing in my Ordeal?" Before either could answer, Hagra leaned forward, his nostrils flaring as he drew in a long breath. His eyes widened.

"Wait. That's my blood flowing in his veins." He straightened and tilted his head.

"How is that even possible?" A cheeky smile spread across Hagra's face, transforming the stern ancestor into something far more mischievous.

"Have some of my descendants been messing around with humans?" He chuckled.

"Honestly don't blame them. Wasn't for me, but did I ever tell you about that firebrand I met when we were pushing back the Veinwalkers? Zie Ruo-Chen her name was." He let out a low whistle.

"A temper like an angry wasp and a glare that could've collapsed a mine. I'm not normally into humans, but I tell you now…"

"Ancestor Hagra, please." Gaarch's voice cracked with horror.

"Lady Zie speaks very fondly of you, but I do not think this is appropriate." Hagra sighed, the grin fading.

"Fine." He planted his fists on his hips and studied them both.

"But someone better explain what's going on." Gaarch straightened, his voice formal.

"Ancestor, I gave the human my blood because he needed to take the Ordeal of the Ancestors. Lady Zie requires him to infiltrate the Veinwalker tribe and…"

"Don't care." Hagra's hand sliced through the air, cutting off the explanation.

"Mortal affairs stopped being my concern a long time ago." He gestured at the endless grassland around them.

"This fragment of my consciousness remains here with the other Duskmane elders simply for the Ordeal. I'm only here because one of my blood has made it this far." His amber eyes fixed on Zhen with renewed interest.

"So what's the human's name?" Gaarch opened his mouth, then shut it again. His ears flattened slightly. Zhen stepped forward and bowed.

"My name is Tie Zhen, Master Hagra."

"Master Hagra?" The langren's eyebrows rose.

"I like this one already. Polite, at least." He circled Zhen slowly.

"Well, Tie Zhen. Do you know why you are here?"

"I've just completed the Ordeal," Zhen said.

"I'm here to receive my bloodline techniques." Hagra threw back his head and let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh, no, little human." He stepped closer and a grin spread over his face.

"You've not even started the Ordeal. You've earned the right to attempt it." He wagged a finger in Zhen's face.

"But credit where it's due, you've done surprisingly well to even get here." His expression became more serious even though there was still amusement in his eyes.

"The fact that we're on the plains means you made it all the way to the top of the stairs. That has earned you the right to face the Ordeals for all the langren bloodline techniques." Hagra paused, studying Zhen's face.

"I don't know whether to pity you or congratulate you. Probably both." Hagra clapped his hands together.

"Anyway, while getting to know each other has been fun, we can't just stand around chatting. You're here for the Ordeal after all. Let's start." He dropped into a wide stance, his powerful legs bending as his palms pressed together. His eyes locked on Zhen.

"Pay attention." Hagra drove his fists into the earth and his knuckles disappeared into the grass." Earthen Citadel!" The ground erupted, and raw stone tore upward, earth-attuned qi flooded out of Hagra and shaped the stone into a wall. It was clearly the same technique that Jatrix had used when she had sparred with Zhen, but Hagra's use of the technique was at a whole different level. Zhen used the Eye to try to follow the flow of qi.

In addition to using the qi inside him, Hagra drew earth-attuned qi from the surroundings, to compress the rock into interlocking layers. The wall climbed until it was twenty feet tall. As it grew, Zhen tried to memorize what Hagra was doing, but there was just too much to take in before the stone barrier blocked him from his sight. As the wall reached its full height, the surface rippled. Stone spikes erupted from the wall's face, each as thick as his thigh and half his height in length.

They emerged in rows and transformed the defensive barrier into something far more lethal. Zhen's Eye continued to track the qi inside the wall as it shifted again. The pattern changed. Where before the flows had been stable, now they started to move rapidly. Without warning, half the spikes tore free from the wall and launched toward him. Zhen dove left as the first spike carved through the space where he had been standing. The second hummed past his shoulder. He rolled and came up in a crouch.

He looked around a fraction too late as the third spike caught him on the right side. Pain exploded through his ribs as the stone punched through flesh and muscle. The impact lifted him off his feet and he hit the ground hard, the spike pinning him to the earth. Two more spikes slammed into him before he could move. One through his left thigh, driving deep into the soil beneath. Another through his shoulder, the stone grinding against bone as it punched through.

Blood pooled beneath him, and each breath sent fresh agony through his chest. The spikes held him immobile against the grass. His vision faded and he heard unhurried footsteps approaching. Hagra and Gaarch stopped beside him, looking down. Zhen tried to speak, but his lungs wouldn't fill properly. Blood filled his mouth.

"Help." The word came out weak, barely audible. Hagra rubbed his long jaw, then turned to Gaarch.

"Seeing as you came here as his guide, would you like to do the honors?" Gaarch nodded once, his expression unreadable. He reached back and pulled the war hammer from its harness across his shoulders. Gaarch hefted it, adjusting his grip on the haft. Horror flooded through Zhen as Gaarch stepped closer, but he had no energy to move or speak. Gaarch raised the hammer overhead, his amber eyes devoid of pity. For a moment, it hung there, silhouetted against the bright blue sky. Then it fell. Darkness. Then nothing.