About a week ago. Qunulle…
A man stood atop a hill overlooking Qunulle. His eyes were bloodshot and tired, and the bags under his eyes were darker than coal. It looked as if he had never slept a day in his life.
He yawned and adjusted his black hakama. His eyes caught a hole in the left side of it. 'Damn…' he said in his mind. That dress was the only connection he had left to his abandoned homeland. That thought made him grumble.
Then, he saw a man approaching from the gravel path leading north of Qunulle. The other man had his eyes closed, but his steps were confident, and he never tumbled. His smile widened, an infectious smile at that. "Dian Li! I almost didn't see you!" he shouted.
The man in a hakama sighed, "Would you stop making that joke? I get it; you can't see. It's funny. Now can we get this over with, Blindy?"
Despite Dian Li's unenthusiastic audience, Blindy—or the Blind Sword—howled in laughter. "It never gets unfunny!"
'God… He's got the worst sense of humour I've seen…' Dian Li mused. "Anyway. We're assigned north. We'll be there in a week. I'm heading for Bonavi. You're going to South Eradi."
Blind Sword nodded. "That covers northeast and northwest. But what about the middle?"
"That's Zal's job."
Blind Sword raised his eyebrow. "Doleful? He's up there already?"
Dian Li shook his head. "I know why he's left, but not why there. That place hasn't been prosperous since the Great Migration. He's just wasting his talents living in nowhere."
"He's got a sense of duty. I don't doubt his loyalty. But you've missed something, Empire Sword. Not everyone's capable of handling life as, for example, our Emperor."
"That's true…" Dian Li stretched his tired body. "Anyway, that's not any of our business. We'll go now. If we don't find anything, we'll head to Kettlesville."
There were many triggers for the uproar in the empire. Even in a partially isolated town…
Avonso woke up one day, his heart burning like a lit coal. He felt as if he could explode at any moment. 'What's happening…?'
He panicked. Immediately, he grabbed a jug of water and drank it. But the pain still didn't go away.
'If it's not physical, then could it be because of the Mana Heart…?' he thought. His eyes landed on his bookshelf. 'If there's an answer…'
Throughout the years, he had almost finished all the books about that topic. But he never felt he had expertise on these topics. And now it was clear to him. 'What am I lacking…?'
He browsed desperately through his bookshelf. Book after book, there wasn't anything mentioning that pain he felt. And just because it was so sudden, he had an odd feeling.
'It doesn't make sense,' he thought. 'Everything was fine up until now.'
He felt numbness all over. He felt the pain was gone. And then. He felt nothing…
---
Close to that time…
Zalanderi had been training in silence in the backyard of the manor. He swung his sword with precision. He hadn't lost his edge. But then…
His eyes shot open as he gripped his aching chest. His Mana Heart felt a surge of foreign energies. "What the—!"
He activated his heart and outputted more mana through his veins. His natural constitution helped him combat the actively invading force.
'This feeling! It's definitely here!' He thought as his mind raced. 'Malevolence!'
His eyes changed colour and turned bright blue as more POWER flowed through him. 'POWER—Mana and Qi. Intertwined. Keeps life possible… 'Focus.' He repeated that mantra in his head.
His eyes were the largest indicator of his mood; you'd never see his dark-brown eyes turn this colour, unless you're that thing.
Zalanderi scanned the area around himself, sensing the changes in mana. His mana heart is working overtime to keep this odd energy at bay.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw.
"Ay. There you are…"
A voice that sent chills down his spine. A voice he prayed to never hear again. A deep, unnerving voice that vibrates the earth itself. And coming from…
"Avonso…?"
Zalanderi looked at the young man with confusion. He felt and heard this thing. But…
'Something's wrong,' he noted. 'His eyes are red. 'Were his eyes ever red?'
Immediately, Zalanderi drew his sword and pointed towards Avonso. "I sensed it. I can't believe it, but you're back. Malevolence."
'Avonso' laughed. "Is that so? You can't believe it? "Well, let me make sure you remember me, old friend."
Shwoong~
The Malevolence, in Avonso's body, chuckled as it held Zalanderi by his throat. "See. I don't take vessels often. This one was easy prey. Hahaha."
"Iced Image!" Zalanderi activated one of his special skills. And instead, The Malevolence held a sculpture of ice similar to Zalanderi by its throat.
"Pfft." The Malevolence broke the sculpture and scoffed. "You'll keep playing this game? I'm bored of your old moves. "Can't you make a new one?"
As it looked around, Zalanderi wasn't there. But that wasn't for long.
Slash.
Zalanderi landed a hit and slashed the neck of Avonso's body. 'Sorry, kid…'
Thump. Avonso's head fell on the ground. But…
"Hahaha. This is interesting indeed. I knew this was one of the downsides of taking a body," the head spoke, smirking wildly. Then, the body took the head and jumped back before Zalanderi could slash it again.
Zalanderi's sword missed by a hair's breadth. He predicted the jump. Thus, he rocked his body forward and boosted himself towards the body. 'This annoying thing…'
The Malevolence attached the head back to the body and smirked as it dodged again. "I can keep this all day, worm. You'd tire first."
"Test me!" Zalanderi shouted as he pointed his sword towards the body. He activated his first stage skill, and ice projectiles formed around him, shooting towards the Malevolence.
Hundreds of small ice projectiles were thrown like bullets, but only three hit. The Malevolence dodged it all whimsically while jumping in the air.
Then another iced image, and Zalanderi disappeared. This skill allowed him 5 seconds of invisibility at the cost of making his body colder.
The Malevolence was amused as it floated to dodge the projectiles, but in a blink, Zalanderi closed the distance and appeared behind the body. He hit the Malevolence hard towards the ground.
Instantly, Zalanderi pointed his sword towards the ground and activated his 'Molten Ground' skill. The ground below turned to lava as it swallowed the body.
Zalanderi didn't give relief to the Malevolence as he quickly cooled the accounting with his temperature control.
He landed, still on guard. 'This won't kill it. It's taken a host. I'm not a spiritual warrior. 'Damn it…,' he thought.
His worries were proven right as the Malevolence broke the ground and rose up, its face flushed with pure enjoyment. "Phew. I really thought I'd die. Hehe~"
"I'd doubt you'd think that," Zalanderi mocked. "But giving up hasn't been my strong suit."
He took guard again as he readied for another attack. "I'll hold on as long as I can."
---
Elsewhere…
A small city east of Kettlesville near the eastern shore. The city buzzed with life, and ships docked while others left. A tranquil day in the trading city of Bonavi.
Dian Li walked along the streets with his tired, sleepless body. He had been searching for a long time and didn't find anything relating to the Malevolence. 'Well… I found jack shit,' he thought.
Besides him, the mayor of this city fumbled with his suit, as if searching for something. "Damn. I must've lost my cig again."
Dian Li sighed. He wasn't having it today. "You're sure nothing is out of the ordinary?"
The fat mayor nodded with a frustrated look. "I told you a million times already. Nothing's wrong with my city! I'm following every imperial protocol to the letter."
"What about raids? Nothing? Any suspicious trades?"
"As if I'd tell. My city doesn't do crime."
He was cut off by Dian Li's hand on his throat. "Withholding information is a punishable crime. I'm not in a good mood, so spell out everything before this whole street's spilt with 'wine'.
The mayor nodded desperately. "Empire Sword, Sir! I've been truthful! Please…"
Another sigh. Dian Li let go of the mayor and wiped his hand of the sweat. "Run your mouth again." Then he chuckled. "I'd love some wine, though. What do you think? My treat."
'Fucking moody bastard,' the mayor muttered in his mind. No sane person would talk shit to the Empire Sword. So, he smiled and answered, "Sure—"
Again, he was cut off. But this time it wasn't because of a threat but rather Dian Li's wide-eyed expression. "It's here…" he muttered.
Dian Li floated high in the sky as he observed the whole city. His eyes working overtime to examine the flow of mana in the air. 'A vessel…?' he questioned.
He expanded his view. In his viewpoint, the whole world became green. 'In this city and…'
His eyes widened more. 'It's… it's goddamn everywhere…'
A sudden headache struck him. His whole body twisted and turned in the air. 'This feeling's so strong!'
It was a struggle. His tired body struggled more. He had to activate his innate skill to counteract this whole feeling.
His expression shifted to anger as he used his 'Exhaustion Bank'.
He drew his sword and cut all the 'links' above the city. 'Good. The vessels here are cut from the main body.'
He didn't waste time and flew towards the west. Presumably to the same area he thought someone else would take care of.