Chapter 3

I cursed non-stop in the back of my mind as I huffed down the forest trail like a madman.

Why did shit like this always happen to me?

I bit my lip, pumping my hands into fists that I wanted to bury into Sumatra's face. I made a vow that if I ever did make it back alive, I'd do just that. The satisfaction of pummeling that greedy, gray bastard would be well worth the reciprocation it would no doubt bring. I glanced over my shoulder at my so-called cultivator.

The giant oaf of a woman hadn't said a word since we departed. She lumbered along with slow, deliberate steps, which, due to her height I suppose, matched my own hurried pace quite easily. And that was fine with me. Standing still for too long was a surefire way to attract the kind of attention I just didn't want today.

As for where I was headed, that was something I hoped to keep a mystery for as long as possible. Before we had left, the woman didn't give very specific instruction as to what she was looking for out here in the wild, but what she did say, caused me to tense and Mu Lin to grow pale with fright.

"Take me to wherever the strongest monsters lie," was all she'd said.

That had sealed the deal for me. This woman was either delusional or suicidal and I wanted nothing to do with her. Thus, I made a concerted effort do the exact opposite of what she'd said. The barrier was marked by the low stone wall ringing the city, but from years of taking cultivators into the Bloodmoon zone, I knew there was a residual effect that spread slightly beyond it. It was a thin sliver of perhaps only a quarter mile or so wide, a space where the monsters wouldn't dare approach during the day. At night that was a different story, especially on a full moon where the demons would sometimes attack the barrier en masse.

This meant I was now spending my time trying to wind a long yet imperceptible loop within that thin space. If this woman was truly delusional then hopefully she wouldn't even notice and I could waste the day away and chalk the lack of monsters up to simply bad luck.

The terrain we were currently traversing through was helpful in that regard. What used to be the suburbs was now transformed into a juvenile forest, with young spruce and oak trees vaulting through the rooftops of decades-old duplexes and apartment blocks. The semi-uniformity of it all gave the forest an indecipherable sameness that hopefully I could keep backtracking through unnoticed.

But that wasn't my only task.

Most of the monsters in this area were not the truly mutated kind, like those found deeper in the wilderness. They were usually C rank and lower and more like giant animals, which was perhaps another side-effect of the barrier's influence. Still, giant beasts were no joke. Once I'd come across a giant stag the size of an elephant. It took a group of five Foundation-level cultivators to bring it down and none of them walked away unscathed. Against something like that, Bodybuilder Barbie and I wouldn't stand a chance.

So while I navigated, I also actively tracked and scouted ahead.

What I lacked in Qi detection, I more than made up for in wilderness survival skills. It was mostly just survival instinct at first, but now after nearly five years of doing this crap, I had developed a sixth sense as what to look for when it came to seeking out prey and ensuring you didn't become the same.

Traces of stool, hoof prints, even a broken twig were all telltale signs I could use to decipher exactly what type of creature had passed, its direction, and how long ago. But where I'd be normally using those skills to follow a beast, I was now using them to do the exact opposite.

After a few hours of doing this a loud thunk! suddenly came from behind me.

"This is far enough."

I turned to see the woman had planted her massive sword into the ground.

I stiffened and feared that she might have figured out my ploy, but I was actually more impressed that she had finally decided to say something after all this time. "What do you mean?"

"You heard me. You can leave now. Go back to the city. I told you I need no guide."

I didn't know what to say for a few seconds. Should I really just leave her here? Not like I could stop her from doing so anyway if she so chose. Non-cultivator or not, the woman was still three times my size. But crazy as she was, I couldn't just leave her here to die.

"Look, lady. I really can't let you stay out here. You need to come back with me. It's not safe."

"Do I look defenseless to you?"

I really didn't want to answer that question, because the truth might give her the wrong idea. "It doesn't matter what I think you look like. My friend could detect your Qi concentration, or more accurately, your absence of it. We both know you're not a cultivator. And trust me when I tell you that you will not survive out here as a mortal." And then I added, to hopefully convince her further, "We both won't."

"What you say may be true. I may not survive," she said with a subtle smile. "We shall see. So long, young man."

I sighed, frustrated. "Lady, please. That pal of yours Sumatra might not give a damn if you get killed out here, but I really can't have that on my conscience. So please come back with me, okay? Please…"

Her eyes softened as her smile grew warm. "You have a kind heart, don't you? Tell me, young man, do you believe in destiny?"

"What?"

The woman stared up at the sky. "I knew my path would lead me here, to the furthest reaches of the domain, but never would I have imagined, that it would lead me also, to the embers of an unkindled Flame."

What? Was that a freaking poem? "What are you even talking about?" I really didn't have time for this. "Look, lady, we really just need to—"

"I sensed your anger from before the time we left and it's only grown since then. A deep seething rage building up inside of you. Tell me…if you had the strength to match that rage. What would you do with it?"

"What?"

"You heard me. If you had the strength to become a cultivator. To put into action the rage burning in your heart, what would you do?"

"I don't underst—"

"Humor an old woman…please. Tell me what is it that ignites your [Frenzied Flame]."

I licked my lips wondering if this was some kind of trick or mind game by the strange way she said it, but she sounded completely sincere too. More than that I could feel a sudden burning in my chest, like a memory bringing on a heated resentment and anger. My mind began to churn.

What would I do if I had the strength of a cultivator?

My first thought was of Sumatra and punching him in the face without fear of retaliation or reprisal. Then I thought of Hein and doing the same. That sparked an even greater resentment as I thought about how much he'd ruined Yu Li's life and got away with it scot-free. The hypocrisy and injustice of it all. The entire cultivator society and their arrogant sense of superiority and privilege. The society they imposed upon us in the name of saving us, forcing us to rely upon them by destroying our world.

"I'd burn it all down," I said. "I'd rip every damn pagoda right out of the sky. I'd free my people and crush the cultivators for what they've done to us."

"I see," she said. "And what have they done? Tell me what it is that drives your fury? Tell me your [Sorrow and Pain]."

My mind began playing backwards, reliving the torment and humiliation of my short adult life. I went back further to my teens, facing the ridicule and abuse of privileged young masters eager to remind me of my place. My earlier years as a young child, terrified and alone, filled with the constant fear and confusion of being thrust into a world I just didn't understand. And finally, to that night twelve years ago, where an eight-year-old me had my life torn apart.

That last glimpse of my parents and sister flashed through my mind again. I relived every second, my young psyche shattered by the terror and grief of knowing how horribly my family soon would die.

Mommy… Daddy… Jessie.

I had tears in my eyes now, the deep pain pulling me back through time. I looked up at the woman. "What is this?"

She merely nodded. "Thou art indeed an unkindled Flame, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain."

She said it like a poem again and something seemed to open up inside of me.

"I will make you an offer that can change your destiny, unkindled one, if you so choose. I can reveal to you a path to strength, but you must be willing to sacrifice everything for it. Even your life."

"What?"

She then turned from me and withdrew her sword from the ground. "I plan to remain here until the Bloodmoon rises and will face the Demons that come for me. I do not know if I will survive. I do not care. I will fight them regardless. For this is my path. My Dao. If you wish to follow the same, then come with me, and bear witness to what you may become…if you survive. Else, leave now and be in peace."

I wiped my tears, trying to understand what she'd just said. "Wait, you came out here just to see if you could survive or not? You don't even know if you can? And you want me to hang around with you to find out?"

The woman smiled. "You still have doubts. I understand. My strength is not something I can reveal without recourse, but just know that Qi is not the only path to power."

"What do you mean?"

"Cultivation can take many forms, but few travel the path that is difficult and narrow. Qi may be the widest and swiftest route to progression, but it is not the only."

I huffed out a caustic laugh. "Yeah, well…wouldn't matter to me anyway. I can't cultivate Qi."

"Neither can I…"

She then reached into a pouch at her side and produced a metal ball that fit within her palm. "Take this…"

She tossed the ball to me and when I caught it, I realized it was much larger and heavier than I first thought, being closer to a shotput in both weight and size. I winced, barely cradling it as I absorbed the throw. I looked at it more closely in my palms. It was completely smooth and made of a highly polished metal like chrome or steel, but it seemed to weigh even more than steel would.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It contains instructions that will guide you on this path. Follow them and you will gain strength and power… even immortality… the same as the cultivators you so despise."

Was this for real?

"How do I open it?"

"You don't. But if you wish for it to reveal itself to you, then follow me. When the Bloodmoon rises, we both shall see if we survive or not. If this is not something you can do, then return to the city now."

I looked hard at the giant woman, trying to decipher if she was a sage or merely insane.

"Think not long on this, unkindled one. There is neither shame nor glory in either choice. Let your destiny be your guide."

She then hefted the massive sword onto her shoulder and began heading deeper into the forest.

A rush of conflicting emotions filled me as I stared down at the metal orb. Could this thing really teach me a different path to cultivation? Or was this woman still just a delusional and/or suicidal freak? Mu Lin said she sensed nothing from her, and I trusted Mu Lin. But I couldn't deny the strange sense of conviction and memories I'd just experienced either. Still, was I really willing to risk my life on just that? She clearly didn't seem to care much about her own.

I hesitated a moment, before finally shaking my head.

No, this couldn't be real. And I couldn't trust my life to a stranger from off world who I'd just met either. Hell, I didn't even know her name!

"Spend a night outside the barrier?" I huffed out a scoff. "I must be as crazy as she is to even think about it!"

I took one last look at the giant crazy woman, wished for her a painless death and then tossed the orb aside as I turned and walked away.