ROTLE- Chapter 164- Tribreed

The endless dark blue was a sight Boten could not get accustomed to. He’d been standing here, doing nothing, saying nothing, for hours now. The beauty of what he now was lay in the fact that time was not a problem. He could stand here for what could seem like eons and his mind would not cave under the pressure of time.

As for Jang’Uk, he seemed to be handling it as best he could. He fidgeted every now and again, mostly to Boten’s annoyance.

“You must learn control,” Boten said, seeming to talk into the blue around them. Its deep darkness engulfing them.

“I am sorry,” Jang’Uk said, apologetic. “It is not the easiest thing.”

Boten sighed. “Did you not cultivate in your world?”

“Cultivate?”

“Channel the power of your world into your soul,” Boten explained. Was it not called cultivation in his world.

“I do not know what that is,” Jang’Uk said, still apologetic.

Boten finally turned to look at him. “Then how did your people grow?”

“Well… it was actually not that difficult,” Jang’Uk said with a shrug.

“I asked a question,” Boten said, controlling his patience. “How did your people grow.”

“Cannibalism.”

Boten paused. “You fed upon each other?”

Jang’Uk nodded. “Once you slaid your opponent, you had to feast on their flesh. As much of it as you can.”

Boten made a face, then returned his attention to the deep dark blue in front of him. “You don’t have the teeth for cannibalism.”

“A lot of people in my world took to sharpening their teeth,” Jang’Uk said. “I never truly saw the appeal. We had men who claimed that we were not supposed to feast on each other for that very reason. If we were meant to eat each other, we would have the teeth for it.”

“Perhaps,” Boten agreed, half-heartedly. “Perhaps not.”

They lulled into a simple silence after that. Boten wondered how a man who had quite literally eaten his way to the top was not volatile.

Curious, he broke the silence. “What was the final push that led you out of your world?”

“I ate my father.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Boten asked, confused. “How did that help?”

“In my world, they saw him as a type of god,” Jang’Uk explained. “When I rose to becoming something of his equal, he wished for my growth to stop. I did not want to stop.”

“So you clashed,” Boten guessed.

“We did.” Jang’Uk’s voice grew reminiscent. “We turned the sky green with blood and laid the seas desolate. The air shook with the tremors of our blows and the trees died as our blood shed. In the end, I was victorious.”

“Congratulations, then,” Boten said, but Jang’Uk didn’t seem to mind him.

“When I fed on my father,” he said, a touch of emotion seeping into his voice, “our world cried. It was like feeding on a piece of my world. It was… in its own way… solemn.”

Boten nodded. “And your ascension?”

“Quiet.”

“Some tend to be.”

With that, Boten returned his attention to the empty space before them. The wait resumed. It would not be long before their purpose for being here arrived. Its task was nearly complete.

“May I ask a question?” Jang’Uk asked.

“You may.”

“Why have we simply been standing and waiting?”

“We are waiting for a [Prisoner].”

“Why so long?”

“Because it has a task somewhere that it is completing. Its task will be done soon.”

“They have tasks?”

“Yes, they do. We are waiting for the one that we require.” Boten sighed, staring at the darkness. “It should be arriving very soon.”

The darkness twitched slightly. Something seemed to emerge from within it. A soul took shape, slight and quiet, yellow. Boten watched it. It formed a star first, then a square, then a cube. Then it became a cube within a cube. A tesseract.

Then a body formed around it, coalescing from the darkness. A torso. Limbs. A head. Each limb was bound by strings of darkness. Four wrists wrapped in blackness. Three ankles wrapped in darkness.

Hair the color of lava, orange and a deep red, flickered in the darkness, settling upon a head. Boten looked at the [Prisoner] from head to toes.

“Joleleh,” he said simply.

Joleleh looked at him, three eyes, green, black, and blue focusing on him.

“Lesser,” the tribreed said.

“I have a task for you.”

“I just returned.” Without a [Fragmented Tongue] his voice was almost lost in the void. It was like a child’s “Can I refuse?”

“You cannot.”

Joleleh sighed in resignation. “What is the task?”

“Transmigration.”

“Species?”

“Human.”

Joleleh scoffed in disgust. “Useless Bipedal beasts. Two eyed and one brained.”

If he could spit, he would.

“You are scheduled to arrive in a few days,” Boten said, ignoring the creature’s disgust. “Prepare yourself.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

“Where will I begin?” Joleleh called out.

“Not the beginning.”

“What will I become?”

Boten paused, tearing a hole in the darkness, Jang’Uk silent behind him. He looked back at the tribreed.

“A Prince.”

…

Aiden’s foot tapped impatiently on the ground. They were spending another day in the forest. He knew he had said that they would move regardless, but he wasn’t a tyrant. They didn’t want to move. Even Ted didn’t want to move. Ted had said nothing but he could see it on his face.

They want to perfect everything first.

He could commend them for their determination, but it was messing with his plans. At this rate, they would reach the [Heart of Nosrath] very late.

It’s not like you plan on facing the monster, though, he reminded himself.

The main plan was to steal the heart from whoever got it. It was easier and avoided bloodbath for his team. The only problem with it was finding the person who had it. Like the crystal, the heart could not be placed in a storage space.

Aiden was seated very long before Zen walked over to him. Looking up and taking himself from his thoughts, his gaze met Zen’s. Fjord was standing beside Zen.

Aiden raised a brow at them.

“We believe we are ready,” Zen said.

Fjord nodded in support. “We practiced with the blink stones you made for us all night. We think we’ve gotten the hang of it.”

It was Aiden’s turn to nod. Having the [Enchanter] class was convenient for tasks like this. Having the type of [Weaver] class that he had was even better. He had spent his free time since entering the forest enchanting stones and sticks and anything that could hold an enchantment. Unlike the blink daggers which could be used three times before their durability hit zero, all the things he enchanted with the blink enchantment were all single use.

Aiden got up and dusted the butt of his pants. “I watched you all practice.”

He also knew how many times Zen had run into a tree. Personally, he didn’t think that Zen was ready. He had only learnt the [Dash] skill yesterday. And, for the sake of time, he’d just skipped into using the blink items.

Aiden gestured forward. “Lead the way, then.”

Zen and Fjord obeyed as instructed. They led the way. They walked under the morning sun, and Aiden followed.

The walk was short, and they brought him to where Ted stood rested against a tree. It was one of the trees with a sigil from the runescript that protected them from being tracked. Although, anyone with any real tracking skills over level two hundred would still be able to find them.

“We’re out of blink items,” Ted said.

Aiden wasn’t surprised. “I’ve got more in storage.”

“Good.” Ted paused, looked at Aiden. “Where’s the crystal?”

The sack that held the crystal was not strapped to his chest currently.

“Somewhere safe, for now,” he answered, then held his hand out.

The air refracted and a pile of sticks and stones fell out of his storage space. They gathered on the floor, a small heap.

Aiden sensed an approach as the others gathered at his feet to pick their sticks and stones, and looked back. He found Oncot watching coming to a stop at a tree near them. Curious, he looked past Oncot.

Not too far away, he found Elami still holding on to a motionless Valdan. Feira sat not too far from them, watching the [Healer]. They had gone days without Valdan. In these days, the world had felt uncomfortably silent to Aiden.

There was just something sad about going so many days without the sound of Valdan’s voice or his chiding gaze or frustrated sighs or exasperated groans.

Aiden didn’t like it. He did not like it one bit.

Would you like to join us? He signed to Oncot in the man’s sign language.

Oncot shook his head, not signing back.

Aiden shrugged. Suit yourself.

He returned his attention, wondering if Feira would be able to do anything if Elami decided that he wanted to do something very tricky.

“Are we ready?” he said to Fjord, Zen, and Ted.

All three men nodded. They each had sticks and stones strapped to their waist bands and in soldier pockets. They all struck an odd look in their soldier belts.

Aiden walked forward until he stood among them. “Alright, then. We will do this all day with very short rests. You will learn it as best you can, but the main purpose of this is to show you the flaws of the process. Got it?”

Zen raised a hand.

“Yes, Zen?” Aiden asked.

“How come you know how to do this and your older brother doesn’t?” Zen asked.

“Because he specializes in a different type of winning fights.” Aiden looked at Fjord. “Do you have a question.”

Fjord shook his head. “No. I’m good. Just happy to be learning.”

Aiden nodded. “That’s good. The rule is simple, you are only allowed a maximum of three strikes before blinking. No more than three. The goal is to blink and hit me. Hitting me before blinking does not count. You are to hit me the moment you appear.”

“Or you can just tell us what the flaws are,” Ted suggested.

“I can,” he agreed. “But experience is the best teacher.” He took a defensive combat stance. “Please know that I will be hitting back. Now, begin.”

Ted moved first as if he had been waiting for this moment his entire life. Aiden stepped into him as he threw a blow. Aiden weaved to the side and slammed a fist into Ted’s chest. His fist struck air as Ted blinked out of existence.

Aiden stepped forward, hoping to avoid the incoming attack only to hear Ted’s pained grunt as he slammed into something. He ignored it as Zen and Fjord attacked him as one. Fjord sent a piece of stick flying at him, thrown like a dagger, while Zen leapt forward with a very sloppy flying knee.

The stick missed Aiden’s head as he ducked his head to the side. Instead of rushing forward, he hopped backward, blocking Zen’s flying knee with two hands and guiding the attack’s trajectory to the side just as Fjord blinked out of existence.

Free from Zen, Aiden turned into a spinning kick. The back of his foot cut through the air and cracked Fjord in the jaw when he appeared behind Aiden. It sent the boy flying.

Everybody froze when Fjord hit the ground. Aiden suppressed a smile. He had not expected the kick to be perfectly placed. He’d just hoped to hit the boy with the kick. That his heel had struck the boy’s jaw was nothing but a stroke of luck.

But he wasn’t going to tell anyone that.

Ted winced. “That’s gonna hurt.”

“Really?” Aiden gave him a flat look. “And the tree you threw yourself into didn’t?”

“I miscalculated the distance.”

Aiden waited patiently as Fjord picked himself up from the ground. Oncot watched the entire process with a blank expression.

It wasn’t until Fjord was standing without staggering and holding onto his jaw that Aiden spoke.

“Those are two flaws to using the blink dagger,” he said. “If your opponent knows where you’ve thrown your dagger to, he knows where you are going.”

“And you always have to calculate your throw properly,” Ted added.

“Correct,” Aiden confirmed, nodding. “Too far and you get lost. Too near, and you’ve practically wasted a dagger. So no fancy throws until you are good enough to make them and use them properly.”

“Then how are we supposed to throw these things without our enemy figuring it—”

Aiden’s hand shot out, cutting Zen off as a piece of rock flew from his grip. Zen spun, preparing to defend himself, turning his back on Aiden. Aiden darted forward and slapped him on the back of the head. Zen staggered, then turned around immediately.

“Misdirection is one way,” Aiden told him. “Just because you have a blink dagger doesn’t mean you should use it. You can always misdirect.”

He heard a sound as he was speaking and turned immediately, slapping the stone out from mid air. It flew to the side and Ted appeared in the distance, away from Aiden.

“Almost had you,” he said.

“Almost,” Aiden agreed before turning back to the others. “You know the rules of how the blink dagger works. I’m here to teach you how to properly apply those rules.”

The ground ruffled beneath Zen’s feet. It was a slight sound, but Aiden had heightened perception. He recognized it as someone trying to move stealthily.

“If you’re really good at it,” he continued, his attention on all three of them, “you can do interesting things like this.”

He turned, leaping away from Zen. Zen halted midway through whatever he was trying to do as Aiden sent two enchanted sticks flying at him.

Zen slapped one out of the air but failed to deflect the second one. He raised his hand, bracing for impact.

Aiden connected to the stick, felt the pull of the enchantment, then the world went black as if he had just blinked.

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Blink]

[Effect: teleportation across short distances]

He appeared squatted on the floor, one hand holding the stick Zen had struck to the ground. With Zen defending himself in the direction of the second stick, he was in Zen’s blind spot. Where he was standing, Fjord was already wincing as if he was the one about to be struck.

When Zen noticed the stick soaring past him was still going, he stiffened in realization. When he turned, Aiden was already standing.

“There are benefits to the blink dagger,” Aiden said, walking away, returning to a spot that placed him at the center of the three of them. “If you can exploit the flaws of the blink dagger as its user, you can do amazing things.”

Fjord threw a rock. Aiden grabbed it, making sure to conceal it entirely with his fist. Fjord closed his eyes, preparing to blink and Aiden felt the stone in his grip grow warm.

After a fraction of a second, Fjord opened his eyes.

“What happened?” he asked confused. “I connected to the enchantment.”

Ted looked at Aiden, expectant.

“You did,” Aiden agreed with Fjord. “But the thing about the blink dagger is that you cannot occupy a space that is already occupied by solid matter. You need to have enough space to occupy if not you won’t be able to blink there.”

“What if he’s trying to blink into a small space intentionally?” Zen asked.

Aiden released the stone, but it had already crumbled to dust. The enchantment, even if it hadn’t been used, had still activated and burnt up the stone’s durability.

“For your question, Zen,” he said, “there’s a variety of blink daggers just for that. But they are rarely used because you could get yourself killed using them. You don’t want to blink and find yourself stuck in a wall you can’t get out of.”

Ted folded his arms now. “Anything else we need to know?”

Aiden produced two sticks and held them up for all to see. “What I’m about to show you is a waste of blink dagger, something you should only do if you are desperate.”

He threw both sticks at Ted and connected to them. Ted was already moving as Aiden’s interface popped up.

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Blink]

Aiden appeared at the first stick which Ted had slapped away. He grabbed onto it, only to hold on to dust. He knew it would crumble once he touched it, but he still tried to grab it out of habit. Mid air, he sent two more sticks flying and connected to second stick he’d thrown at Ted. Ted was already turning, trying to keep track of the two more sticks he’d thrown when Aiden blinked out of existence once more.

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Blink]

Aiden appeared on the ground, not surprised. Then he blinked again.

“For fuck sake!” Ted growled, kicking him as Aiden appeared in front of him. His foot missed as Aiden blinked once more, appearing behind Ted.

Ted pressed his lips into a thin line. “That was a completely useless use of teleportation.”

Aiden opened his mouth to explain, then closed it. Ted was right. When he looked at Ted, he could see that Ted was daring him to debate the matter.

“Alright, fair enough,” he said in the end. “What I was trying to show you was a versatile use of it. Sometimes, you can find yourself facing off against an enemy that requires more speed and agility than you can handle. This helps. Like I said in the beginning, it’s a waste and something you should only do if you are desperate.”

He was so happy he had said that before doing this.

“With enough daggers and enough accuracy, you can overwhelm your opponent,” he finished. “But you’ll need levels of practice that you currently do not have.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ted said, rolling his eyes. “You’re better at it than we are. We got that. Now can we return to training?”

Aiden nodded and walked back to the center of all three of them.

“Shall we be—”

“Lord Lacheart.” Elami’s voice came from behind them, close to where Oncot was standing and watching.

Aiden’s brows furrowed. The [Healer] had not lost physical contact with Valdan since he’d begun healing him. What was happening?

“What’s wrong?” Aiden asked, filling panic rise within him. “Is he alright? Is there a problem?”

His voice sounded skittish. Would he inevitably have to sacrifice the [Crystal of Existence]?

It was a little late, but his eyes settled on Elami’s hands. Both hands had a faint green glow. There was still healing magic in his hands.

“Elami?” he said very slowly. “What is going on?”

Elami kept a placid expression. “What is going on is that I am here to bargain.”

“Elami,” Ted said, a threat in his voice.

Fjord, Zen and Oncot were already on alert.

“What,” Aiden began, already knowing the answer, “are you offering?”

“The life of your knight,” Elami answered.

“And what do you want?”

Aiden gritted his teeth. It seemed, the crystal was doomed to leave his hands regardless of what he did.

Elami’s response was a smile. “You are an easy man to read when it comes to your knight, Lord Lacheart.”