Outside

"Halia!"

[Hmm???~ Is that the stone cold, composed Kai I hear, sounding so concerned?]

A voice echoed in Kai's mind as he picked up the two items, and his hands shook.

"Halia, where are you?! Stop messing around!"

[I'm dead. I'm just a spooky ghost now, and I've chosen to haunt you~~]

Kai ignored Halia's words and started running around the dark room, shoving aside the random boxes he found as he searched for her. Dust flew through the air, dirtying his pristine white robes.

[Oi, relax. I was kidding, but I'm really not hiding from you. I'm in the necklace.]

Kai finally stopped running around in a panic and held the necklace up to his eye. Within it, he could see another of the runes from back at the temple. Unlike the ones on the sword that looked a bit rough, this one appeared refined and perfect, in even better quality than the ones on the pillars.

[Hmph, don't tell me you thought a mere bird could take me down.]

"Should I expect anything else from you? I've seen you eat dirt trying to run from bees before."

[Rude. You're already back to your normal cold self already. That's probably good, since I don't think we're at the sect anymore… also, your cultivation is gone.]

After Halia spoke, Kai suddenly became conscious of how weak he felt. It was almost like ten years before, before he ever started cultivating-

[Precisely. Now, do you remember the level system I made, the one you refused to use?]

"It was dumb and took away from the profundity of cultivation."

[You mean it actually made sense. It'll probably be a long time before I figure out how to make a new body for myself, so I'll be your manager until then. Fufufu, this is going to be fun…]

"You're this necklace now, right? I'll throw you in a random stream somewhere."

[You'd never. Besides, look! I'll grant you permission to use my sword, at least for a while.]

"As if I need your permission to take this."

Just as Kai hefted the blade that now felt a bit heavy, a scream echoed from somewhere outside the building.

[Aha! It's my time to shine! Quest: Investigate the scream. Rewards: ???]

Kai slowly looked up, his gaze focusing on a wooden door on the opposite side of the room. The space wasn't large, but he could just barely make out the shape of the door through the darkness and the clouds of dust kicked up by his frantic search for Halia.

He raised his foot to walk forward, then hesitated.

My cultivation is gone… Whatever is out there could be dangerous.

Kai's hesitation didn't last more than a second, and his expression hardened as he strode forward.

"Halia, do you know anything about where we are?"

[Nope. You were unconscious for a few hours after the tokens activated, but I wasn't able to see anything until you woke up. Heh, even now, I'm just borrowing your senses.]

Kai just responded with a grunt as he reached the door. Just like the rest of the room, it was coated in a thick layer of dust. Clearly, no one had been in or out of the room in years.

Instead of immediately rushing outside, he lightly brushed his hand over the body of the door, trying not to knock any more dirt onto his robes. Once the surface was clear, he pressed his ear against the grainy wooden surface. Faintly, he could hear what sounded to be the grunts of a beast, from somewhere outside, as well as what he presumed to be something trying to escape from said beast.

The noises were getting progressively further away, and Kai pulled his head back.

"Beasts. If they're anything like the ones around our sect, this could be trouble. It was nearly impossible for ordinary humans to even escape from them…"

Kai looked down at his own hands, but the somber expression on his face was distracted as he eyes wandered back to the ruby sword still clutched in his right hand.

Then again, those ordinary humans didn't have years of fighting experience and an awesome sword. If I, the future leader of the Crescent Moon Sect, back down from some simple beast, how will I be able to stand before my disciples in the future?

[What if it's something like the phoenix?]

A shiver ran down Kai's spine as the massive flaming bird's final dive resurfaced in his mind, and his hand fell away from the door's handle.

[Hey, don't back down. Make that guy your target.]

"The phoenix? It wiped out the whole sect. It would've killed all of us in the next second."

[And? Tell me, who do you think is more monstrous, that thing, or our fellow disciples?]

Kai grit his teeth, and Halia continued speaking.

[If you gave those three a few more years to grow, I have a feeling it would've been the bird fleeing for its life. Even if you don't have their talents, beating the phoenix… is probably still too small of a goal.]

"Too small?"

Halia let out a small chuckle that almost sounded self-deprecating.

[Your talent was good, but it still seemed mediocre compared to the other core disciples. My physique wasn't suited to growing stronger, so I spent most of my time researching their techniques and developing new abilities for them… but somehow, you always stayed in the top spot. Now that I'll be helping you, it'll be even more one-sided]

Kai stayed silent and a dark look shadowed his eyes as Halia spoke.

[Also, if it was some empire-destroying monster like that, there'd definitely be way more noise. It's probably something weak that even you can handle right now.]

Kai let out a sigh as Halia's voice switched from serious back to her usual joking tone, then glanced around the dark room one more time. His eyes paused for a moment on one of the symbols inscribed on the door's surface, then looked down at the ruby sword, noticing that the symbol on the door matched the sword's.

Kai pulled on the door's handle, setting off another cloud of dust as he heaved the old wooden relic of a door open. Sunlight illuminated the thick air around him, and Kai didn't even need to squint his eyes as he peered through the dust.