Chương 207: True to yourself

"Victory goes to Soul, of the Autumn Wanderer's guild. Both of you have fought well, and Warrior is pleased," the bronze-ranked acolyte of the very same deity called.

From where he sat beside Laevyeth atop the low wall surrounding Soul's arena next to the Convergence guild hall, Kite couldn't help but appreciate the celestine's seemingly perfect poise which she had held after the open-palmed strike which had ended the clash; remnant wisps of transcendent light rising from the hand before dissipating into the sunlight.

"Thou art correct, Kite. She is most impressive," Laevyeth murmured from beside him, her words drowned out by the cheering and murmuring of those gathered as the fellow sect-members of Soul's prone opponent helped the woman back to her feet. From the colors of their robes, the challenging group belonged to the Wandering Winds sect, and Kite's expectations were thoroughly subverted when all of them - the defeated challenger included - bowed as one to the victor.

"Thank you for your assistance in tempering my path," the human swordswoman intoned once she straightened.

"Let it be known that I - inner disciple Fated Song of the Wandering Winds sect - acknowledge the rumors of your prowess and honor to be true, Soul. I will accept any pointers which you would be willing to offer, to further improve." Soul bowed politely in return, albeit a lot shallower, as was her right as the victor.

"Before the eyes of Warrior, I thank you in turn," the celestine intoned before falling into a more relaxed stance.

"Your master have taught you well and I can see that you have experience. Even so, there is an imbalance in your stance and poise whenever you step into your special attacks, probably a remnant habit from bronze-rank not yet corrected. If you want to give me a proper challenge, you will have to correct that as well as-" Kite was surprised once more as the inner disciple bore the suggested corrections which followed with surprising equanimity, considering Soul's characteristic, almost irritated bluntness.

He did sense a few winces in the auras of the woman and her fellow disciples, but they were tightly controlled.

"She is indeed most terrifying in many aspects," Kite replied to Laevyeth.

"And it seems like what my uncle said about her - and the guild's - reputation is true as well. Apparently, fewer and fewer challengers arrive at our gates with words of spite these days. Almost feels like a miracle in the making, honestly, although I don't know if I should be praising Warrior or Unity for it. With how things are going, our guild may even be invited to send a participant to the Grand Proving in the future, although I would expect that to be decades away, if at all."

"And thou thinkst it safe to share my nature with her?"

"I do. Soul is, in my experience, exactly what she seems to be. She has not a shred of intrigue in her, but I think that she would be supremely qualified to help further seek a wielder for you, should you not resonate with my wayward friend, Will." Laevyeth did not immediately respond, but seemed to look at Soul in a new light.

"I believe you…" she soon ventured, looking pensive.

"Part of me wishes to feel her spirit for myself first, but I don't think that I would be able to without also revealing myself. I suppose… I suppose that it is the part which still fears."

"Which is most understandable. Do you wish for me to speak with her alone?"

"No… No, I will join thee. As soon as the others have left." The pair remained seated for half an hour longer, watching the sect students leave and Soul interrogate a whole slew of guild members - from iron to bronze - in her exchanges as well as some of their own which had taken place earlier in the day.

"-but now, don't you all have contracts to be about? Go on, get to them! Warrior won't smile on those who just keep hanging onto the hem of my robes," the celestine eventually said, waving off the lower-rankers like she was shooing away all too curious kittens that annoyed her. All of the guild members left, some even bowing or calling Soul 'Teacher' or 'Mistress' before departing. The celestine ignored them all, instead turning to finally lock gazes with Kite where still sat in his perch across the arena.

"Oh dear."

"What?" Laevyeth asked, confused.

"Don't worry. This is just Soul being Soul. I'm not actually in dang- Wall!" Kite sprang from the low wall just as he called out his chant, and a cage of force walls appeared around Soul who had suddenly become a blur as she began a charge towards him. It didn't slow her down the slightest.

"Break or blink? Blink!" Kite's mind thought as his thoughts and reactions struggled to keep up with the sudden teleport as Soul appeared to his side mid-swing into a spinning kick. She already knew that she would, at most, get one of her teleports off against Kite and his Spirit Singularity as long as she did it quickly enough before his power found purchase.

The glow of Kite's mantle sprung to life as the spectral arms appeared to aid in his defense which led to Soul's kick colliding with his chitinous shield that had similarly made its appearance. Simultaneously, the other arms of the mantle swung as best they could at the awkward angle, more to ward off the celestine and prevent a second or third attack than having hopes of actually accomplishing anything decisive.

That, at least, worked as Soul twisted quicker than most silvers were capable of and used her gliding power to stay airborne for another moment so that she could use her other foot to kick off Kite's shield and disengage. Her feet had barely touched the ground, however, before she accelerated significantly as one of her boons activated.

The half-circle she ran around Kite seemed to be completed in an instant before coming at him from the other side, transcendent light seeming to circulate within her body as she constantly moved the charging special attack around to confound and feint. Two quick jabs landed on the force discs of Heaven-and-Void Warding, the unenhanced attacks only creating small cracks before a leg sweep followed beneath the barriers.

That was a series of quick attacks which had scored many a hit against Kite during his and Soul's numerous bouts against one another, and Kite felt a surge of pride as he this time managed to have his staff appear in the last moment to intercept and disperse the charging transcendent light which - due to his precise timing - Soul failed to hold back.

The celestine allowed the momentum to carry her a bit further and wove between a pair of projected strikes from Kite before coming to a stop in a more relaxed ready stance a few meters away.

"Pathbreaker. You improve. Usually, I come out victorious in seven out of ten first exchanges, and less so when I take the initiative like today" she noted, her normally flat look and neutral facial expressions showing a hint of actual excitement.

"And how do you know that this wasn't just one of those three, most serendipitous instances?" Kite shot back, relaxing somewhat in turn. Not all the way, though. You never knew with Soul.

"Call it a warrior's instinct. Another?"

"In a moment. First, I'd like to introduce you to someone."

"Is that truly necessary? Tempering should always come first."

"Well, in this case I believe that politeness is more prudent. And it is someone whom you might even find interesting," Kite shot back, turning to wave for the still startled Laevyeth to come over.

"Soul, meet Laevyeth. We happened upon one another during my last contract with Gauntlet which turned out more complicated than we initially thought. And Laevyeth, may I introduce you to Soul, blessed by Warrior and champion of the Autumn Wanderer's guild."

"My greetings to thee, Champion," the outworlder said, making a decent Hua-Xi bow.

"I greet you in turn. Do you have any idea why Kite believes that I would find you interesting?" Soul replied forthright, as was her way. Laevyeth hesitated for a moment, looking to Kite before seeming to steady herself.

"It is due to my nature, I would assume. I come not from these lands, or even this world."

"I see," Soul said, nodding before turning back to Kite.

"Well, introductions have been made. Sparring?" Kite, in turn, instead turned to Laevyeth with a smile playing across his lips.

"I did tell you of her ways."

"That… that you did."

"I would suggest that perhaps a more proper demonstration would be prudent," Kite ventured, looking around at the empty arena.

"Assuming that we have some privacy?" Soul, apparently not battle-mad enough to be entirely disinterested at the hint of secrets, walked over to one of the pillars just outside the arena. Touching a crystal to it, the controls for an array appeared on its blank surface. A few motes of mana and deft manipulations later, the normally barely visible barrier around the open area became an opaque dome of shimmering white, changing the ambient lighting accordingly.

"Well?" the celestine asked expectantly as she turned back to the waiting pair. Laevyeth hesitated for a moment, but then shifted. In a surge of light, her form became that of the spear with the vibrant carvings and Kite gently caught her by the haft before she fell to the ground. Looking to Soul, Kite realized that it might have been the one of the few times he had ever seen the celestine surprised; her face retaining its normal, impassive features even as she distinctly cocked her head to one side.

"This is mine original form," Laevyeth stated, voice manifesting from the spear.

"As Kite said, I am Laevyeth, the Blooming Lance that Pierces Iniquity." Soul walked over, looking up and down the length of the weapon, seeming surprisingly reverent as she reached out a hand but paused just shy of grasping the haft.

"May I?"

"Thou mayest, but know that our spirits will then be open to one another. I will know thee, Soul, and thou wilt know me." Unsurprisingly, Soul did not hesitate, taking Laevyeth from Kite's hand as she started moving the spear around in slow, controlled motions while her eyes seemed forlorn.

"An implement of battle, given flesh that can walk among us," the celestine murmured.

"Warrior be praised, this is indeed remarkable. There is discomfort, though. Why?"

"Dissonance between thy spirit, and mine. Small though, much like that between Kite and myself," Laevyeth explained.

"Most others would suffer a lot worse, should they touch me without the purity needed. And thou, Soul, are indeed pure in most ways. I can sense it in your spirit. But you lack the purity of nobility, even though your dedication to your ways are most impressive." Soul only nodded, apparently taking the words in stride.

"I see. It is only right that something like you, holy one, should only truly accept the perfect hand for you."

"Holy one? What does thou mean?"

"As I said, you are a blessed existence. Should you wish for it, I do not doubt that the priests of Warrior would elevate you to the highest position within his church. Are there more of your kind?"

"No… Or at least, not here. Perhaps somewhere, out in the cosmos," Laevyeth said, sounding sorrowful.

"I know not what became of my creator." Soul didn't interrupt her slow spear-katas, the weapon seeming at least decently familiar in her hands as she turned to Kite.

"You were right, Pathbreaker. This was interesting. I would like to hear all of it," she said, before adding.

"As long as the holy one approves, of course." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Triumph of Indomitable Will stood high at the cliff in the rising dawn, looking out over the still ocean where other islands could be seen dotting the horizon. While he was outwardly calm and collected, the would-be saint of spears had to continuously fight down the creeping frustration within.

But he was drawn from his inner turmoil when he saw it in the distance; a set of sails.

"Oh thank the heavens!" he breathed, turning to call down to the gaggle of people spread out beneath makeshift shelters at the treeline of the tropical island where they had found themselves stranded in the aftermath of the pirate attack. Will still winced at the memories and how his moment of glorious intervention, while effective, had proven unable to halt the advance of the charging pirate vessel and the silver-ranked familiar pulling it.

Even as the pirate ship had been torn to pieces by his barrage of heavenly shafts, the ravager dolphin had just upped its pace further, crashing into and cleaving the passenger catamaran in two. At his cry of joy, the others looked up at him with gazes mostly adoring and hopeful, and Will couldn't help but straighten at least a little as he turned back to sea.

"At least it has been two days well spent," he thought as he started to conjure glowing javelins that were launched in a stream straight up into the air to relay their plight to the ship in the distance. Should that fail, Will's armor - enchanted to the brim with ways for him to navigate aquatic environments both in and out of combat - would carry him over there in short order.

It had been a must for someone like him when operating in the Sea of Storms, and he remained thankful for the investment, even expensive as it had been. But leaving, even briefly, was an option of last resort as the uninhabited island had proven to have a thriving monster population with a few silvers lingering. If one of them happened upon the other survivors… Well, that wouldn't be very saintly of him, now would it? But Fortune did favor Will this time, as the ship in the distance turned toward them.

The captain of their own sunken vessel soon identified the flags to be that of a merchant vessel, and cheers and celebrations broke out all over the beach as the three dozen people realized that they would be saved.

"But please, Fortune, please… May the portal courier still be waiting for me in port," Will thought in fervent prayer as he went down to guide and organize the castaways as the merchant vessel sent smaller boats in towards shore.

"Because if there are any more delays, I might as well just start walking instead."

"Ahh… This is the beeest," Dragonfly moaned happily as she sank a bit further into the hot spring at the edge of Kite's family compound. Laevyeth's approach was more measured, the outworlder carefully dipping a toe into the steaming water, stopping as if to properly catalogue the sensation before she stepped in and slowly submerged herself as well. At first, she seemed to not know what to make of the experience, but eventually Dragonfly saw the other woman slowly lean back as well.

"This… is most odd," Laevyeth eventually said.

"The water is warm, a concept well known to me. But warmth and chill were mere concepts to me before; something of which I knew, yet carried little other meaning. Unless, I suppose, they would have been extreme enough to threaten the integrity of my original form. But this pool, this warmth… It feels… Pleasant. Most pleasant."

"Then our guesses so far seem to hold up," Dragonfly replied, glancing at the outworlder through barely open eyes.

"Your new body is mostly like the rest of us, sensations and all. I wonder why? A metal juggernaut or something similar might have been more safe or helpful, given how you arrived. But I know nothing of outworlders except for what Kite has told me, and his knowledge is mostly what those people from Gauntlet told him."

"Why indeed…" Laevyeth mused.

"I will try something. Please, don't be alarmed." Then she shifted, the water sloshing to fill the suddenly empty space as her spear form appeared in her stead before promptly toppling into the pool, vanishing from sight. As she could still feel the other woman's steady aura, Dragonfly leaned back and let Leavyeth do her thing. About a minute later, a glow from beneath the water heralded Laevyeth emerging in an impressive sloshing of steaming water.

"Hmm, curious. Mine true form still feels the warmth, but the pleasurable aspects are gone. The temperature is simply recognized, not enjoyed."

"Well, it would be pretty inconvenient for you to feel everything the same between them. Just imagine if you felt pain each time your spear form clashed with something?"

"Thy words… hold truth," Laevyeth replied, troubled by the mental imagery.

"But no matter the reason, I will strive to experience more. Food can be wonderful. And, apparently, baths. And listening to ye all laugh and make merry. The feel of silk upon my skin…"

"Yeah, the world can be a pretty great place in many ways. There should be plenty for you to try out," Dragonfly agreed. The two women fell into a companionable silence after that, each of them lost in thoughts. Eventually though, it was Dragonfly who first rose from the warm waters, stretching.

"Alas, I believe that I need to get going. I have a tiny - yet stubborn - student to entertain, as she should soon be done with today's lessons. She and Crow seem to get along well, too. With Kite away to help some of the guild members, how will you spend your afternoon?" Laevyeth didn't immediately respond, looking pensive as she too emerged from the baths along Dragonfly.

"I… do not know," she eventually said.

"I… what… should I do?"

"That's the fine part of freedom, no?" Dragonfly replied with a grin.

"Whatever you want." Laevyeth seemed to give it some thought, before she nodded, pensiveness giving way to determination.

"Thou art right again, Dragonfly. There is so much to experience. I should - how goes the saying… - seize the day?" she said, excitedly increasing her stride as she continued towards the exit.

"Ehm… Laevyeth?"

"Yes?"

"Maybe it would be best to put dressing yourself at the top of the list?" The outworlder stopped and looked down at her naked form.

"Ah," she said, before grumbling.

"These social norms and conventions occupying my mind will be quite the challenge to remember to put into practice, I see."" Unfurling Petals of Dawn!" A dozen two meter long, curved swords of light manifested around Noel LanCaire and his allies, living up to the spell's chant as it did indeed look much like a blooming flower. The technique sundered and scattered the smaller rock elementals which tried to form as a primal kind of honor guard for the Crevasse Tyrant, a silver-ranked monster of the same variety.

Second Spring and two other bronze-rankers of the guild quickly followed suit, sending attacks and spells of their own to further help clear the way towards the tyrant as the group stayed mobile while keeping close enough together to support one another.

The tyrant, a towering mound of stone which looked like a rough human torso attached to a rumbling pillar of clattering stones, raised a slab-like 'sword' of its own in challenge before it swung towards the incoming adventurers to send clusters of sharp shrapnel their way, only for the adventurers to split into two pairs and scatter into a pincer strike in the last moment.

Spring, transfigured into her fluffy and soft-looking sugar glider form, easily carried Noel in her hind claws as magical winds filled the membranes between her limbs to allow a surprisingly agile mode of flight even with the additional weight. Mid-air, she let go just at the right time to send the blonde man flying towards the silver-ranked tyrant, and Noel spared no time in drawing Carmine Sunrise from its sheath.

Water condensed and formed along the sword's edge before rushing onwards like a whip-like extension which cut into the stone-shell of the tyrant with surprising efficacy.

"Children. They truly grow up so fast, don't they?" Jarvan said, voice full of pride as he stood beside Kite at a nearby cliff top.

"That is indeed the old adage, even if I have yet to know it as well as you do," Kite agreed. The guild's bronze team seemed to have things well in hand for now, or at least as in hand as one could expect when fighting up a rank.

"Some of my older ones have reached silver already, while others take things slower," Jarvan continued, neither of the two silvers taking their eyes off the fight below.

"Noel though… He is ambitious. Running a guild branch while also pushing ahead to have his place within the more combat-specialized teams… The boy might need to take a note or two from his father and learn to kick back and relax. And that girl Spring… When I first met her, I thought her timid, but something seems to have lit a fire beneath her in recent years."

"Well, she has her eyes set on a prize, at least of sorts," Kite said with a chuckle even as a misstep below had him readying himself to conjure a barrier to protect the group's healer - a freckled elf woman called Ember - who found herself out of position. But Spring once more showed off her mobility as she made a gliding u-turn to land in between the healer and the encroaching smaller elementals who had reassembled themselves faster than expected.

She landed in a burst of cutting winds before shooting off through the gathered rocky monsters, leaving a trail of detonating pollen while throwing wind slashes left and right.

"Wait, she still hasn't given up on Walker?"

"As I said, she is persistent. But Uncle Walker hasn't exactly done overly much to put an end to it, other than cite their differing age and rank as a reason."

"Hah. Well, we might as well already consider it a done deal then," Jarvan said, barking a short laugh.

"I'll give them until she reaches silver, not a day longer."

"We should have a handful more silvers as company within the guild soon too, so she'll be in good company. This team and the other one show great promise, at least in my humble opinion. Or would the honored branch director disagree?"

"The honored branch director does indeed agree. I know their service records after all. This low-magic region doesn't make for the quickest going by any means, but they are most diligent in their work. Combined with your guild striving for travel-related powers, they can cover large areas and clear a lot of contracts even in these sparse lands. The guild you and Walker founded is probably one of the best things that has happened to the common people of northern Hua-Xi in recent memory, Kite. And they know it."

"Your words honor me, Jarvan. And I am sure uncle shares the sentiment," Kite said with a smile.

"It began as a way to connect the Autumn lands and to let some power stay within the region to help it grow. And now… Well, it seems like we'll soon have enough silvers to rival some of the sects around Convergence."

"Knowing what we do of the… interests… certain other parties seem to have in this country, I for one won't complain. Especially since me and the other branch directors get so many hard-working adventurers to boss around," the blonde man said, grinning as he clapped Kite on the shoulder.

"I knew my good feeling about you would pay off."

"Isn't that what they call anecdotal evidence? Mtanga - one of my friends in Gauntlet - was complaining about that a lot. Something about his work within the Magic Society."

"Hah! Trust a Magic Society guy to turn even some good natured smugness into some fancy phrase. But come on, things seem to start coming to an end down there. Let's congratulate our little adventurers on their first silver-ranked kill. And grill them thoroughly in the evaluation!" As he exited the portal, Will had to keep himself from falling to his knees. Not because of any actual faintness, with him being well-used to local dimensional travel these days.

Looking out over the ever so familiar curved rooftops, the bustling streets and the robes which never seemed to go completely out of fashion, it was pure relief that almost brought the would-be Saint of Spears off his feet.

"I am here. I am… finally here. Home," he breathed, the silver-ranked portal courier behind him forgotten. The leonid spent a moment looking at Will staring off into the distance before shrugging and returning through the shimmering gate, already paid in full and more by the bounties which Will had inadvertently gathered on his way back.

"Two pirate attacks, one shipwreck, one crime syndicate locking down a town, five wandering monsters causing trouble. Heavens?! Are you pleased?! Have I entertained you enough?!" The last came out as a shout as Will turned his face towards the late summer sun, the winds of his homeland hinting slightly that the tipping point into autumn drew near. The sudden outburst made some people passing by stop and look, before most kept going with a shake of their head at the adventurer's antics.

But one figure did not, rising from where he had been seated at a nearby stone bench and walked over with a posture worthy of his years of service. Will would probably have sensed his aura way earlier had he not been so overwhelmed with the sheer relief of having arrived, but when the unfurling of a parasol suddenly cast him into shadow, his surroundings and the recognition came crashing in as one.

"Grim! You came! Father got my message?" he cried joyfully, rising to meet the gaze of his guardian and manservant. The other elf, clad in his usual crisp robes of somber black, only bowed in response - the parasol unwavering - even though Will could feel the joy in the man's aura. Grim looked almost exactly the same as when Will had left for the Sea of Storms, the bronze-ranker aging very slowly so as to not yet show a speck of gray in his neat, black hair combed back over his head.

"Young master. You are quite late." Grim replied.

"From your message, we would have thought to expect you just over a week ago."

"Oh please, Grim, don't remind me. The amount of misadventures I had on the way back is enough to turn into a proper play for a whole acting troupe…"

"Indeed, Young master? Then I will commend you on your contributions to such a drama. That shout of yours towards the heavens did convey a lot of emotions, but I will remind you to think what your governess would have said, should she have witnessed such an outburst." Will couldn't help it; he winced at the thought, as certain habits - him being a silver-ranker or not - were most hard to shake.

"I do hope that it will remain our secret then," he said, before changing his tone as he clapped a hand onto the other man's shoulder, propriety winning out as he suppressed his instinct to give Grim a hug in way of greetings. Some things just weren't done.

"I truly have missed you, though. Father and mother too. And Kite, Dragonfly and all the others."

"I am sure we all share the sentiment, Young master," Grim replied, before gesturing back to the portal platform of Heavenward.

"But I hope I'm not too presumptuous when I would ask if we could begin the return journey as soon as possible, as it will be a few hops until we reach Gilded as I will need to send you ahead before catching up as soon as the delay allows. The Young Master being silver these days, while most impressive, does make my own relative weakness more felt."

"Gilded? Oh no, Grim. Bastion. We need to go to Bastion. Kite said he resides outside Bastion now!"

"Bastion, Young master? But surely, returning home to your father is more important than-" Grim fell silent as Will's other hand joined the first, the younger man now grasping both his shoulders as he spoke with true intensity.

"Bastion, Grim. We go to Bastion. Opportunity awaits me there… An opportunity to prove myself worthy to rewrite my destiny." The manservant remained silent for a few moments, gazing into his charge's eyes before eventually failing to entirely quench a suffering sigh as he recognized that the battle, as so many before, was already lost.

"It seems that you have stayed true to yourself in many ways, Young master," Grim finally said, gesturing to summon his glass portal arch.

"Bastion it is, then. May the Master be in a forgiving mood once we finally return home."