Chapter 26: Shadowed Paths
My fingers brushed the glowing crystal tablet, and the 200-point quest locked into my personal mission slate with a soft chime. Subjugate the Shadow Lurkers infesting the eastern ravine.
Reward: 200 contribution points and one mid-grade pill. Danger: Moderate. Perfect. Enough points to start climbing out of the outer Academy, and the spirit pill would help strengthen my meridians after the Anchor Ritual Anki and I had been practicing every night.
The soul link between us was already tightening, each evening's resonance left a faint, invisible mark pulsing in my chest like a second heartbeat. No one would rip Anki from my grasp again.
I reached to confirm the acceptance.
Another hand slammed down on the same tablet at the exact same moment.
A sharp voice cut through the quiet of the Mission Pavilion. "This one's mine, blind boy. Back off."
I froze.
The girl standing beside me was tall, maybe seventeen, with sharp silver hair tied in a high ponytail and a sleek black blade strapped across her back.
Her uniform was spotless, outer Academy, but clearly someone who had already climbed a few informal ranks. Emily. I didn't know her name yet, but the pavilion attendant behind the counter sighed like he'd seen this dance before.
"Emily Quest is open to pairs," the attendant droned. "Both of you can register. Same mission, shared rewards if you complete it together."
Emily's aura flared with irritation. I felt her eyes rake over me, my blindfold, my plain outer-sect robes, the way I stood with Anki sheathed at my side. Contempt rolled off her in waves.
"A blind slave thinking he can handle Shadow Lurkers?" She laughed, short and mocking. "You'll be dead weight. But fine. The academy forces teamwork sometimes. Just don't slow me down."
I kept my face calm. Anki hummed softly against my hip, a quiet warning. She's strong, Liam. Mid-tier outer sect. But her arrogance is louder than her blade.
I didn't rise to the bait. "I'll pull my weight," I said evenly. "Two hundred points are worth it."
Emily sneered, looking down her nose even though I couldn't see her face. "Whatever. Register your pathetic name. We leave at dawn. Meet me at Mountstead Hall by the eastern gate. And don't be late, kitten.
If you make me wait, I'll take the full reward and leave you behind."
She spun on her heel and strode out, ponytail whipping like a blade. The other students in the pavilion whispered and snickered. I ignored them, pressed my palm to the crystal to finalize the joint registration, and felt the mission imprint on my slate. Two hundred points. One step closer to the inner spires.
That night I returned to my dome, practiced the Soul Anchor Ritual with Anki until the hidden mark burned brighter in our link, then slept lightly. Dawn came cold and gray, the steel sky of Devil Blade Academy pressing down as always.
I gathered a small pack, dried rations, a coil of rope, basic healing salves, and made my way to Mountstead Hall. The hall was a squat stone building at the edge of the outer sect, right beside the massive eastern gate that led into the Blade Wilds.
Emily was already there, leaning against a pillar, arms crossed. She didn't acknowledge me when I arrived exactly on time.
"Finally," she muttered anyway, as if I had kept her waiting. "Let's go. Try to keep up."
We set out through the gates without another word.
The journey began in total silence. The path wound through jagged hills and dark forests where the trees grew twisted, their bark etched with faint blade scars from past battles. Emily walked ahead, never glancing back, never speaking.
Her footsteps were light and confident, aura coiled tight like a spring. I followed a few paces behind, Anki at my side, using my heightened senses and the faint echo of my own aura to navigate the uneven ground.
The silence stretched for hours. She didn't ask my name, didn't comment on the mission, didn't even acknowledge my existence. It was as though I were a ghost trailing her. But it was fine by me. I used the quiet to circulate aura, strengthening the bond with Anki.
She underestimates you, Anki whispered in my mind. Good. Let her. It reduces the burden on me.
By midday the terrain grew wilder. The eastern ravine loomed ahead, a deep scar in the land filled with jagged rocks and unnatural shadows that moved even when the wind didn't blow. But before we reached the ravine proper, trouble found us first.
A low whistle cut the air. Five bandits stepped out from behind a cluster of boulders, blocking the narrow trail. They were rough-looking outer students gone rogue, tattered academy cloaks, stolen blades, and greedy eyes. Their leader, a burly man with a scar across his cheek, grinned.
"Well, well. Academy pups on a little quest. Hand over your packs and that pretty blade on your back, girl. We'll let you live… mostly."
Emily stopped. She didn't draw her sword. She didn't even shift her stance.
"Pathetic," she said coldly.
The bandits laughed and charged.
In the next breath, Emily moved.
Her silver ponytail snapped like a whip as she blurred forward. Her blade flashed out in a single, perfect arc, Severing Gale infused with something sharper, something personal.
Wind screamed.
The first two bandits were cut down before they could raise their weapons, bodies tumbling aside in sprays of blood. The third tried to swing a heavy axe; Emily spun inside his guard, elbow cracking his jaw, then drove her knee into his chest with enough force to cave in ribs.
Aura exploded around her like silver lightning. The fourth bandit turned to run, she threw her sword like a javelin. It pierced his back and pinned him to a tree. The leader, eyes wide with terror, dropped to his knees.
"Please, mercy!"
Emily walked up, retrieved her blade with a casual yank, and drove it through his throat without a word. The entire fight lasted less than ten seconds. Five bodies lay cooling on the trail. She flicked blood from her sword, sheathed it, and kept walking as if nothing had happened.
I faced the carnage, heart steady but impressed. Her strength was real, clean, efficient, merciless. Outer Academy, but already touching the edge of something greater. Anki pulsed in approval. She's no kitten.
Still, Emily said nothing to me. No explanation, no glance to check if I was all right. She simply continued down the path toward the ravine like I wasn't even there.
The silence returned, heavier now, broken only by the distant cries of spirit beasts and the crunch of our boots on stone.
The sun had dipped low by the time the ravine opened fully before us. At its mouth sat a small, battered village, wooden huts clustered together, fences reinforced with broken blades, villagers peeking out with fearful eyes.
Smoke rose from a few chimneys, and the air carried the scent of fear and unwashed bodies.
This was our destination, the settlement plagued by the Shadow Lurkers. The people here had posted the quest, offering what little they had for protection.
We stepped into the village square. Lanterns flickered to life as villagers emerged, staring at the two outer-sect disciples who had answered their call. An old man with a limp hobbled forward, bowing low.
"You… you came. The Shadow Lurkers have taken three children already. Please… help us."
Emily finally stopped and turned her head, just enough to acknowledge the villagers, still ignoring me completely. Her voice was cold and commanding when she spoke to them.
"Tell us everything. Then stay inside tonight."
I stood beside her in silence, Anki humming softly against my side. The real work would begin at nightfall, but for now we had reached the village.
The first true test of this mission, and of whatever uneasy partnership I had been forced into, had only just arrived.