Chương 37: "Pride Does Have Its Costs, It Seems”

Ch 37 "Pride Does Have Its Costs, It Seems" Amber walked out of the mouth of her little tent shouldering her bag and spear over her new clothes and bandages. The misty midday swirls greeted her as she let the canvas tent flap fall behind her.

"Little Cabbage, you seem quite well after… such a lively night." A girl in elegant red robes that flowed in the breeze greeted Amber outside of her tent. Ember had her signature red fabric fan swaying gently in front of her smile. Why did her smile always seem… like the exact same smile? Amber wondered. It was a strange thought that left her feeling funny.

"I feel great!" Amber grinned wide, placing a bandaged hand on her hip.

"It would take more than a little demon to ruin my day!"

"As expected of the partner I chose!" Ember let a joyful laugh ring genuinely enough to put Amber at ease.

"So tell me the truth, what really happened after dear Wing and I left?" she asked, moving her fan slightly further in front of her face.

"Hmm, it's a bit complicated…"

"Did you really slay the demon?" Her eyes narrowed behind her fan.

"Well, a demon."

"Not our acquaintance?" Ember raised an eyebrow over her deep red eyes.

"Well, it depends on if you count him as someone we know."" Do tell," Ember said with increased interest as she fluttered her fan.

"Mr. Tusk. The asshole judge."" The Gold Dragon of Blue Cloud City?" Ember had a look of curiosity that Amber hadn't seen before.

"Remember Bone Eater?"

"How could one forget such a charming fellow."

"The mask was blood magic. Or so I heard. He stuck it on Bone Eater. And I pissed Tusk off when I exposed it and unmasked Bone Eater during our fight. I don't know anything about blood magic, but it seems like you can't just stick the mask back on."

"Hmm. I know little about blood magic either. Pity. Is that enough to condemn him as a demon?"

"Maybe. But the demonic elixir definitely was!" Amber whispered the critical words.

"Hmm, I have indeed heard of such an evil thing," Ember said, her gaze dropping in thought.

"You have?" Amber asked curiously.

"Supposedly, our peaceful era is experiencing a rising amount of… demonic activity. And there are plenty of tales of humans succumbing to the demonic path in one way or another."

"Why would people do that to themselves?" Amber finally got to ask a question that had been burning at her. She had seen a few people walk that path now, and the downsides seemed like reason enough to stay away.

"Why wouldn't they?" Ember scoffed, exhibiting a rare lapse in her smile.

"What do you mean?" Amber asked, caught off guard.

"The powerless seek means to prop themselves up. The demonic path is a fool's choice. And how many powerless fools exist in the world?" Ember's fan stilled for just a short moment, barely a breath. Then the fan moved again. Amber put her hand on her chin and looked down in quiet contemplation.

"Well, my dear Little Cabbage, I'm glad that you are well and that our partnership will continue." Ember continued smiling once again.

"You should rest well today, and focus on your Qi."

"I will, thank you." Amber smiled.

"How are you feeling after drinking so much?"

"Hmm, mostly fine. Pride does have its costs too, it seems." Ember laughed, touching her temple slightly.

"Less severe than the demonic path, I assure you." The girls shared a laugh. After bidding their goodbyes, Ember glided away in a swirl of red fabric as Amber made her way to her destination, a big tree about 200 meters from the Lucky Tiger Encampment. It was practically invisible, given the thick mist that hung around Blue Cloud City.

"I know! We're almost there!" Amber spoke loudly to her shadow. As she reached the shade of the giant yew tree, she dropped her pack and spear gently to the ground. The little cub couldn't wait anymore, and popped out of her shadow. Amber laughed as the little thing circled her and rubbed itself against her legs.

"I have what you want right here!" Amber said, unfolding the paper to reveal the glorious raw steaks. Flask had certainly gotten her some top cut, excellently marbled slabs of meat. The little cub's eyes spread wide in interest as Amber squatted to place it on the ground. The feline darted to the paper as Amber watched it easily chew off chunks of meat with its razor-sharp teeth. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"You know, little one, since you've decided to stay around me… I should give you a name!" The tiger seemed oblivious to Amber's excitement as its sole interest at the moment lay in the beautiful stack of meat before it.

"I've never picked a name before!" She smiled ear to ear, feeling special that she was the one to name such a cute and unique little cub.

"What about Shadow?" she asked, squatting near the feeding little cub. It seemed concentrated on its meal. The cub didn't even look up from its feast.

"Hmm, well, I liked it." Amber pouted. The girl watched the feline happily feast for a while through her golden eyes while she remained pensive.

"Hmm… you remind me of…!" She opened her bag and pulled out the obsidian hunting knife given to her by her father long ago. Unsheathing the blade, the material reflected her own image back in its shiny black void. It was nearly as dark as…

"You're totally the same as this obsidian!" she exclaimed, looking at the cub's luxurious black fur.

"Hmmm… totally obsidian… what about… Tobi?" Her face formed a smile as she pushed the words together into a name she found cute enough. The little thing shifted its gaze towards her while it chewed a large chunk of meat with its mouth wider than what seemed necessary, before returning to its meal.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Amber beamed with pride and happiness. She thought it was an excellent name.

"Much better than 'demonic cabbage girl', or 'Little Cabbage,' or 'Cabbage whatever!'" Amber basked in a feeling of pride and joy. Amber left the little thing to its meal. She sat down under the big yew tree and crossed her legs, her palms resting on her thighs. She shut her golden eyes and took a slow breath, drawing air down to the deepest parts of her being. Amber did a few more cycles of deep breathing before returning to her Burning Sun technique.

Every breath began to draw in Qi, even permeating her flesh a bit. That effect hadn't stopped since her first droplet of Saint Tiger blood. Amber continued this practice as she felt the spark of Saint Tiger Qi inside her begin to swell in and out, as if it were breathing as well. After assimilating a few blood drops over the last few moons the Saint Tiger Qi seemed to find a home inside of her, and she could draw on it without the power of the blood.

It was a very small amount in comparison to a blood drop, but it had proved extremely valuable after her tussle with Mr. Tusk. She pushed more Qi towards the Saint Tiger Qi and felt it tingle. This thing was drinking it up! Amber couldn't supply it fast enough and her bodily Qi was rapidly draining. Amber opened her eyes and reached for the Qi Vitality Elixir in her bag. Another drop was just what she needed right now! She placed it on her tongue and resumed her closed-eye position.

"Drink up!" she muttered under her breath as the Qi in the air moved easier into the depths of her very being with each breath. The skin on her body began to tingle as she felt the world Qi flowing through her with ease. It was like someone had opened the faucet a bit more. It was quite a cool and refreshing feeling. Her Burning Sun felt twice as efficient under the elixir drop.

As she amassed growing swirls of world Qi inside her, she began pushing more and more of it towards the flame of Saint Tiger Qi in her body. This thing seemed bottomless! She spent the next two hours pushing her Qi control hard, taking advantage of the precious Qi Vitality Elixir time. By the end Amber was sweating and leaned back on her hands in the cool grass. The chilly environment of the misty Blue Cloud City felt luxurious after the Saint Tiger Qi and hard concentration had rocketed her body temperature.

She smiled and giggled a bit between breaths as she felt the Saint Tiger Qi flickering much more lively inside of her. The girl was excited at the possibilities if she kept feeding it. Amber rolled her shoulders and neck a bit. Her body felt happier and injuries from the night before already felt much better after her Qi work. She looked over to see the little tiger licking its paws.

"Tobi!" She joyously rolled over to pet the cub. She secretly feared that each time she looked for him he would disappear again. Every time the girl opened her eyes to see him again filled her with happiness.

"Did you like the steak?" The little tiger let out a wide yawn.

"I knew it! I'll make sure to tell Flask he did a good job!" She smiled as she rubbed Tobi. Amber sat up again after a few minutes, and pulled out her family's manual. She sat back against the tree and pulled open the pages. Her goal today was trying to get one of the blank pages of her mother's paper books to reveal its secrets to her, just as it had done when she successfully completed the Saint Tiger blood baptism. Amber heavily suspected information about her mark and how to use it was in there.

After all, her mother had also had the mark. Well, it was called the Abyssal Seal actually, if she could trust the words of the demonic swordsman. She couldn't, of course, but… why would he lie about it? And why did he help her? And how did— Amber shook her head and pushed those thoughts out of her head. She needed to focus and experiment while she had some rare spare time. As for speculation, she would have plenty of time to do that while marching on guard duty.

She looked down at her palm and willed the mark to show. After a few seconds she was worried it wouldn't listen to her like in the past, but she was relieved to see the inky black spiral pattern rise to the surface of her skin. Amber studied it again. A simple spiral pattern surrounded by six smaller circles, five hollow and one fully black. Funny how such a little design was such a threat to demons. Was it… a threat to her? Sure, everyone had called her a demon. Of course she knew she wasn't. But what if…

She always found it strange how the demonic Qi she absorbed with the mark didn't affect her body in the slightest, unlike those she had seen drink the elixir. Was it a problem with the elixir? Was her body compatible with the demonic Qi? Was the mark actually absorbing it at all, or just… sending it somewhere?

"Little Tobi. Do you think I'm a demon?" she asked the feline casually. It opened its eyes briefly and exhaled loudly before closing them again, its tail softly swishing all the while.

"I knew you'd be on my side." Amber smiled. She silently hoped that she and Tobi would always be together. She pressed her palm with her Abyssal Seal face down onto the paper book. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to make the blank pages reveal themselves. The last time she had revealed any, she wasn't sure exactly what it was that had made it appear. Amber flipped through the book. Nothing new yet. She sighed. Did she need to use demonic Qi on it?

Something to do with her Saint Tiger Qi had unlocked the pages about Tiger Claws and Predator. The girl looked down at her Abyssal Seal palm mark. It had saved her life before by absorbing demonic Qi, but she never tried to spit it back out. Was that even possible? Assuming she could trust the demonic swordsman about the name, what exactly was being sealed? Was the purpose of the mark to defend against demonic Qi, to seal it away… Or was she the one being sealed? Could she be a demon?

Was it possible everyone had been right about her? Suddenly, she felt cold all over at the thought.

"Cabbage…?" A deep voice came out of the mist that jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Tobi, quickly! Get in my shadow!" Amber whispered to the little tiger. It sank down instantly as the figure became clearer. It was a tall man, who looked to be in his early twenties. He had a fierce but empty look about him. His style struck her as a bit odd, with facial piercings and a head that was shaved on one side, with long luxurious hair falling to the other. There was nobody like this in the Lucky Tiger Caravan. Wait a minute… could it be? Amber's eyes began to recognize him.

"Bone Eater?" she asked in surprise.