The efficiency of the madra was poor, as not all madra could be purified, and it required great concentration on Lindon’s part to control.
But it seemed to work.
Hurriedly, Lindon rushed out to the front of the cave. A script-circle blocking the entrance kept slathering beasts of every description at bay; the last time he’d looked, there were five of them, but now that number had doubled.
Lindon saw them as walking stacks of scales.
Three security constructs buzzed around him as they aimed their launchers outward. They would attack anything that broke the circle, and none of them would last any longer than Little Blue’s cloud, but they gave him peace of mind.
A ward-key at his belt made him the exception to the script as he reached out with his white arm, seizing a dreadbeast of about Truegold level and draining it.
The others pounced on him, but he pulled his hand back in an instant. He only needed a little power to test.
Hurriedly he dashed back into the cave and began cycling. The blood and life essence were already fading away, but the madra—a muddy brown mess of conflicting aspects—raged up his arm and into his channels. If it had been Lord quality, he might have already suffered damage.
“Little Blue,” he asked, “would you mind helping me for a moment?”
She glowed with delight and raced over on her cloud. A second later, she poured her soothing madra into him.
He took it, matching the blue sparks of her power to the rhythm of the modified Heart of Twin Stars. It was difficult splitting his attention so many ways, as he had to incorporate Little Blue’s madra, control his own in an unfamiliar pattern, and maintain a grip on the energy he’d drained from the dreadbeast.
It took so much of his concentration that he didn’t realize it had worked until all the power was gone.
The blood essence went to his body, the life essence to his lifeline, and a trickle of pure madra back into his core. Even his channels felt slightly healthier.
[Blech!] Dross spat. [Ew, I got some of its thoughts. It’s so…hungry. And it’s in constant pain. I don’t like pain, don’t make me feel it again.]
Lindon couldn’t contain his excitement. This was the breakthrough he’d been waiting for.
Now the Consume technique was in his reach.
When it was finished, every enemy would be nothing more than a spiritual elixir for him to consume. The dreadbeasts didn’t just look like piles of walking scales, but like walking miracle pills.
He swept Little Blue up in his hands, holding her over his head. “We did it! You were the key!”
She looked surprised, and she burbled a question.
“You! You were what we were missing!”
She cheered like a chorus of whistles, running around in circles on his hand.
Then she plopped down and said something else, and he hesitated.
“I…we need to come up with a different version before we try it again. We’ll need to know if it strains you first.”
There were a number of areas that could be improved. The cycling path was less efficient than it could be, and it took him too much concentration to channel three things at once. Dross was simulating new versions already.
More importantly, he didn’t want to work Blue too hard. All it would take was one accident, and he might crush her with the power of his spirit.
Impatiently, she patted his hand and whistled a low flute note.
“…there is one more thing we could try,” he said reluctantly. “But that’s all, okay?”
She cheeped at him to get on with it.
Closing his eyes, Lindon concentrated on the latest version of the Empty Field.
[Hollow Domain,] Dross corrected.
We’ll name it later.
They hadn’t agreed on a name for their new technique yet. Lindon wanted it to sound like it belonged with his Empty Palm, but Dross thought Hollow Domain sounded better. Lindon thought the name fit Eithan’s Path more than his own.
He set up the Highgold launcher construct they’d been using for practice, then triggered it.
And used his new technique.
Madra flooded out of him…and with Little Blue’s support, it was tinged more blue than white. The wave of madra filled the room, cleansing everything except pure madra.
The launcher shot a Striker technique of light and force, a beam that entered the zone of blue light…and fizzled out instantly like a candle dunked in water.
The field of pure madra dispersed, flowing away. It was supposed to stay in place, stable, rather than washing over the room like a wave. And it wasn’t supposed to take an entire quarter of his pure core’s contents.
It was supposed to cancel out enemy techniques. Which it had.
Little Blue gave a cheer, but she swayed and fell over on his hand. She pushed back to her feet in a moment, insisting that they keep going, but he was already placing her onto her cloud.
“Apologies, Little Blue, but I need to take notes.”
She seemed to accept that, but she kept her cloud hovering close to his head.
He wrote down his experiences and observations, as well as the problems that still needed ironing out, but all his previous frustrations were wiped away. This was a real start, and now he was close to having more weapons in his arsenal.
His Path was almost complete.
The main problem still facing him was Blue’s safety. Maybe he could imitate her madra on his own, or get her to Forge scales for him to consume in battle.
She whistled when she grew impatient with his notes, and he gave her a smile of apology. “You know I can’t put you in danger. Even if I keep you in my core, one good hit to my spirit and you could die. Apologies.”
Little Blue scowled at him, then flew her cloud up to the ceiling to sulk.
Lindon spent an entire night and most of the next day working on his new techniques and pushing through the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel.
Then the Akura cloudship arrived.
He sensed the ship approach Sky’s Edge, as Akura Fury was doing nothing to disguise his presence. Lindon flew on his Skysworn Thousand-Mile Cloud back to the wall of the Seishen encampment, killing flying dreadbeasts and tucking their bindings away as he traveled.
The ship on its dark cloud hung between the fortress and the giant, white sword embedded in the terrain. King Dakata and several Overlords flew out to meet the Akura family as they arrived.
Lindon stayed well back.
Akura Fury drifted up, over his ship, and took a deep breath.
A moment later, his voice boomed out over the entire town.
“Hey everybody! Welcome to Sky’s Edge! Let’s remember why we’re here: we need to protect the survivors, clear out the dreadbeasts, secure the mine, and evacuate the citizens before the Titan wakes up.” He ticked off every point on his fingers.
“In a few days, we’ll be joined by Abyssal Palace, so then we’ll get to fight them too! Until then, the bounty system works like we discussed. It’s set up on the ship. If you don’t know your teams, find…”
The Herald scratched the back of his head. “…Justice? No, Justice is still at home. Well, you can find somebody to tell you. Oh, and don’t hurt your allies, okay? You can fight if you really want to, but make it an official duel with rules and everything. Abandoning a mission, fighting over bounties, or permanently injuring someone is a punishment. Kill anybody on our side or betray us, and I’ll kill you.”
He didn’t sound too upset about the idea. Fury crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment. “Hmmm…I think that’s about it. Have fun!”
The tiny cloudship of the Seishen Kingdom stopped halfway as figures burst into flight around the Akura ship like bees fleeing a hive. Clouds, sacred beasts, Remnants, constructs, and techniques shot away from the large cloudship and headed to the ground, all carrying teams of sacred artists.