What was supposed to happen was a transformative resonance. Lindon's personal revelation would connect him to his own spirit, and the soulfire would carry that resonance to the outside world. For reasons he still didn't understand, that would draw on the aura to fuel his soulfire and burn away his old body and spirit, leaving him reborn as an Underlord.
The more soulfire he had inside him, the easier it was to trigger the resonance. Many potential Underlords, Eithan had told them, found their true revelation but failed to realize it because they hadn't gathered enough soulfire.
And the strength of the aura around them played a factor too. It was easier to connect to the unity of aura the thicker the vital aura was, and it made the actual advancement process faster and safer. Since the aura around here was a hundred times stronger than in the Blackflame Empire, it was a hundred times easier to cycle and to feel the unity of aura.
In fact, there had been many breakthroughs in the Blackflame Empire camp. Hundreds—maybe thousands—of Highgolds had broken through to Truegold, and Lindon had heard half a dozen stories of advancements to Underlord. None of them young enough for the competition.
But more importantly to Lindon, none of them were him.
He shot to his feet, stomping through the ashes left from his natural treasures. “This is ridiculous. I know why I started practicing the sacred arts. This is why.” He and Yerin had even tried different phrases for the same thing:
To protect those closest to me.
To protect those who can’t protect themselves.
To protect friends and family.
None of it worked. For either of them. Yerin had run down a few very different paths:
So I can do what I want.
To get revenge.
Because I enjoy it.
To get stronger.
…and she had sensed nothing. Still, for a change, she seemed perfectly content to take her time. It was Lindon who paced and shouted in frustration at the end of every day’s attempt.
[Maybe it’s because my voice isn’t soothing enough,] Dross suggested. [Do you think I should try for a motherly voice?]
Mercy hopped down from a nearby tree, where she had been watching over them. “I found it very soothing!”
With all the shadow aura around, Mercy had broken through to Highgold two weeks before. They had celebrated with her, but Lindon didn’t understand why she wasn’t Truegold yet. For that matter, he still didn’t understand why she had rejected the Heaven’s Drop. She gave up most of the natural treasures she gathered to Lindon and Yerin to fuel their soulfire, guarded them while they practiced sensing the unity of aura, and asked for nothing for herself.
It was starting to get on Lindon’s nerves.
Something tapped Lindon on the shoulder, and he turned to see nothing there. Wind aura.
Yerin sat ten feet away, still with her legs crossed. She wouldn’t be able to infuse her techniques with soulfire until she advanced, but she could still manipulate aura. A little. She was much better at it than Lindon was, perhaps because of her years of practicing a Ruler technique.
“I had a thought to try again,” Yerin said. “You aiming to give it another go?”
“Not right now.” At the moment, he thought he was just as likely to set fire to everything around him as to sense anything. “Do you need Dross?”
“I don’t suspect I do.”
Lindon nodded and strode off. He needed a break. At least when you were cycling aura, there was no chance of failure. Trying to trigger his advancement felt like rolling the dice day after day and getting nothing but losses.
He walked into the forest to catch his breath.
He knew it was Orthos leaving that had gotten him so worked up. He was short with Mercy and Yerin, he quit his cycling early, and he wanted nothing more than a good fight to clear his head.
Even Eithan was gone—either working for the Arelius family or for the Emperor. As an Underlord, he got called away every once in a while to serve the Empire in the fight against the Seishen Kingdom. The fight that Lindon still hadn’t seen.
He walked further into the shadows before Dross said, [Hang on. Do you hear that?]
Lindon stopped moving and strained his ears, but the Night Wheel Valley was always full of rustling.
[It’s your armor!] Dross said. [The communications construct. I’ll boost it, no problem.]
There was a moment of silence.
[Never mind, that makes it quieter. I’ll translate. Um, this is an emergency message for any Skysworn, ah, they’re under attack, there are some muffled screams, a few pleas for help, and then a lot of sobbing. Not much to go on, really.]
Which direction? Lindon asked silently.
[Must be nearby. Not much makes it through shadow aura this thick. Off that way, I’d guess,] Dross said, mentally indicating a direction. Away from their camp.
We’re going to check it out. Can you let the others know?
[I can, but they don’t have any way of contacting us back if the range on the Skysworn communications is that low.]
Lindon started sneaking through the underbrush, so Dross continued, […and I guess I will do that then.]
Creeping through the shadowed forest was like crawling through a nightmare, all shifting darkness and phantom sounds, but Lindon kept his senses focused on the battle ahead. Bursts of light lit up the forest, and the aura was in disarray.
After only a few minutes, he came to the top of a hill, peeking out of the trees down on a camp below. A wagon was overturned, flames licking up its wooden sides. There were no horses to be seen. The wagon displayed a red blossom: the symbol of the Redflower family.
Half a dozen people with matching Goldsigns stood huddled nearby, the crimson flower on their chests bright. They crouched at the foot of some trees as armored Skysworn fought for them.
And died for them.
A six-man squad had been dispatched here; two Truegolds and four students, one Highgold and three Lowgold. Four of them were still alive.
A Truegold in green armor faced their enemies with a sword in each of her hands and bright yellow spikes sweeping forward from her shoulders.
Lindon remembered her: he had hurled her onto a pile of other Truegolds only a few months before.
He didn’t recognize the rest of her squad, though he may have met them before. A young Highgold man stood next to her, holding a Forged sword of pale light in both hands. His eyes glowed as well, and Lindon couldn't tell if that was a Goldsign or an Enforcer technique.
Before them, a corpse in Skysworn armor lay covered in blood. And another body, split almost in half, wearing the pin of a Skysworn apprentice. One of the Lowgolds.
The four Skysworn, including the two surviving Lowgolds, stood facing their opponent: one lone Underlord.
He was at least as tall and broad as Lindon himself, but he wore plates of Forged gray madra over his entire body that made him look even bulkier. His helmet was a rounded fortress that shaded his eyes, and the plates of madra on his body interlocked so tightly that Lindon couldn't see a gap. He held a silver blade in one hand, which crackled with blue lightning. In his other, he held a rock-steady shield carved in the likeness of a lion's snarling face.
Both his weapons were covered in blood.
“Call him here,” the Underlord commanded.
“We can't,” the Truegold woman said tightly. “The shadow aura is too thick. No one can hear us.”
She was lying. Good for her. No reason to give anything away.
Dross, Lindon asked silently, keep an eye on the Underlord. I want a combat solution as soon as you can.
[Not a problem! As soon as he uses a technique, I'll keep a record of it. As soon as he does that.]
“Then I'll give you another chance,” the Underlord said, lowering his sword and shield. “Surrender to me. In my name, I will allow you to live, as long as you cooperate.”
The Truegold Skysworn closed her eyes. The Highgold shifted, looking nervous, and the two Lowgolds behind them simply clutched their weapons and stood over the Redflower family.
Lindon wanted to act here, but this was an Underlord. He would have better chances if he went back and gathered the others, and they all fought together. Or better yet, if they could put a call in for backup.
But he raised his eyes, looking over the sea of black trees. This was not the only place where light flashed in the darkness of the Night Wheel Valley. Lights streaked into the sky all around, and—distantly—he could sense power flaring all around him.
[This is not likely to be an isolated event,] Dross reported. [This looks like the Seishen Kingdom pushing against the Empire. Probably. There’s a good chance.]
If this was part of a coordinated attack on the Blackflame Empire, then he couldn't expect reinforcements.
He remembered another village he’d visited as a Skysworn trainee; a village that burned because he didn't defend them in time.
Yerin would fight here, Lindon said to Dross.
[Good, then let's call her here. While we watch her fight, I can compile a combat solution. I like that plan. In fact, watching this Underlord kill all these other people will give us some great information.]
The Skysworn shouted, pushing her swords forward, and a cluster of a dozen deadly yellow-white lights flashed toward her enemy.
The enemy Underlord raised his shield, which projected a half-dome of solid gray madra in front of him. Her Striker technique detonated harmlessly on the shield, the lights cracking like eggs thrown against a boulder.
Still a dozen paces away, the Underlord swept his sword at her. Madra poured from the weapon, Forging in an instant into an extended blade that slashed into her side.
There was a flash of light as she protected herself with madra, but the weapon cracked her armor, sending blood spraying into the air as her body was hurled to the side.
Lindon activated his void key and reached inside.
Stepping forward, the Underlord swept his enlarged sword around, bringing it down onto the Highgold boy.
The Burning Cloak sprung up in the air around Lindon, and his kick exploded against the ground.
He came to a halt in front of the Highgold, holding up a massive axe in both hands. Lindon's blade caught the Underlord's as it descended.
The Forged gray sword met Harmony’s blade and stopped.
The axe’s broad, curved head shimmered with a red light that felt like blood, and its shaft was one long bone. To his spiritual sense, the axe felt hungry. His right arm agreed.
[I was wondering when you were going to use that,] Dross said.
The enemy's blow rang through Lindon's entire body, almost driving him to his knees, but he held.
The Underlord pulled his blade back, the extra length dissolving into gray essence and blowing away on the wind. He even lowered his shield.
“Take your Truegold and run,” Lindon said to the Highgold beside him. The boy leaped to obey, running to scoop up his leader. Lindon couldn't tell if she was alive or dead, and he couldn't spare the attention to scan her.
His every sense was fixed on the Seishen Underlord.
“If she had told me she'd called you, I would have let her leave,” the man said. His helmet dissolved, revealing a rugged, handsome face with piercing eyes and a stately bearing. “I am the Seishen Kingdom's first prince, Seishen Kiro.”
Lindon's stomach dropped. A prince. Not only would he have been given the finest tutors and materials since childhood, he also would never go anywhere alone. He would surely have soldiers or bodyguards on the way.
“You should be Wei Shi Lindon.”
That gave Lindon a far greater blow. “Apologies; I didn't realize I had done enough to attract the attention of royalty.”
Kiro glanced skyward, and Lindon saw a silver-and-purple owl circling overhead. “I have heard of your deeds indeed, Wei Shi Lindon. In the name of justice, and with an honored witness, I have come to punish you.”
Lindon now felt like a mouse who had stepped into a tiger's mouth. An enemy Underlord had come looking for him.
[Oh no, he's here for justice,] Dross said. [You're doomed.]
Lindon tightened his hands around the axe. He could hear the Skysworn scrambling with the Redflowers behind him; if he ran for help, they would be in the Underlord's way. And what should he have done? Stayed silent and watched the Highgold get split in half?
What will the Akura family think of a Truegold who fights an Underlord?
[If you acquit yourself well, you will be almost guaranteed a spot in the Uncrowned King tournament. Assuming you also make it to Underlord by the deadline, of course. But the question you should really be asking is 'What will the Akura family think of a Truegold who recklessly challenges an Underlord and is murdered?']
Is that your honest estimation of my ability? If Dross could predict this fight well enough to visualize it ahead of time, and he saw Lindon losing, then Lindon would have no choice but to run.
Dross sighed. [...I don't have an accurate reckoning of the enemy. There is a chance you could win, and I don’t know how small of one. Probably very small.]
Lindon squared his shoulders, holding the axe before him in both hands, and cycled Blackflame. His eyes burned.
“Ready yourself, your highness,” Lindon said. And with a flare of the Burning Cloak, he launched himself at the enemy.