.....would be perfect if it was real.
Matel is a woman of great strength, not to mention that if she is so highly trusted within the Loijon family wouldn't she already know the geology of the area and where the safe houses and weapons cashes are by heart?
No one would carry a map like this into enemy territory either, even if they were certain of victory, she simply didn't seem like the type.
Too smart for her own plans, even setting up a second ambush having anticipated that I would try to encircle her, she clearly has read up about me and my way of commanding.
There's no way this is a real map, if anything these spots are traps designed to catch me off guard should I go to wipe them out, or worse, to trap the entirety of the Earldom's forces all at once, truly a trap within a trap.
There is no way this is real.
Her only flaw to this plan beyond death is the character she protrayed in executing it, vengful, spiteful, cold, calculating and ruthless, she would clearly never allow an enemy to get the better of her even in death.
I simply do not believe it.
"It is nothing." I replied putting the map into my coat.
Even if those area's are trapped, with proper preparation and knowing that those area's are traps we can still wipe them out.
"The camp is clear." Alias said lightly, an air of disgust coming off him.
It's clear that what happened today shook him.
Putting a hand on his shoulder I spoke slowly, "Thing's like these happen and I'm not saying it's okay or that you should feel like it's normal for them to happen, but don't falter, remember what we came out here for, to stop these sorts of things from happening to become the sword when the shield can't take it anymore."
"..." Alias' facade crumpled a little then as he frowned looking a bit sad, but he bounced back just as quick with a happy smile, "I'll think on it."
Nodding I headed to the ramparts staying the rest of the day and into the night looking over the woods and recieving constant reports of any activity.
A fly could not come within a five hundred meters of the camp without my knowledge.
During the long night I tried to rouse the energy within my body but I could not feel anything for the first several attempts.
Maybe its the emotion that triggers it?
Slowly as I thought back anger, hatred and malice filled my mind causing a terrible aura to erupt from my body, but I couldnt feel any of the previous warmth as though it had been an illusion.
What the hell is this world really?
Laminas, a presumably evil deity that Voice-chan has some sort of grudge against, evil disciples of occult deities controlling underground syndicates and rings, fairies are real and by taking their power one can conjure up powers?
What is this world!?
The more I learn, the less I know.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if a dragon attacked a city or something ridiculous like that.
Let's get the list of occult stuff I know about now.
There are fairies, cool little things and not really harmful on their own.
Fairy Master's, control the fairies and suck the life from them as a form of power for spells?
Deities, basically thrift shop god's? I think that's what a deity is? Maybe, maybe im wrong and it's just another word for a god, but either way they seem to live on a different plane than us and are super powerful.
Humans, come in all shapes and sizes, personalities and perscriptions.
Demons? This cape seems pretty occult so there must be demon wolves or at least there must have been hundreds of years ago, and there could be even now.
Other humanoid species? No clue.
Hummm, what else?
Oh yea, that's ridiculously over powered blessed people, like, Matel could control over an army that knew neither fear nor retreat, an army of a thousand! If used correctly in a war situation they could decide a battle between hundreds of thousands.
Luckily her little borther Kreyan didn't have the same blessing with all those men or else even a single thousand attacking without care for their lives would have routed my own men back then.
These blessings are so busted and yet all I got is that when Voice-chan get's stronger I get stro...nge..r....
Oh.
Ohhhhhhhhh.
That warmth, is it my blessing?
I mean Voice-chan did appear right as the fire was dying out so it must have been her blessing right? She also disappeared when it did!
I see.
So that was the blessing.
But that's not nearly as broken as Matel's blessing that can control thousands or Seramia's blessing that can lead the masses.
At the end of the day no matter how strong I am if I get hit by a rain of arrows I'll die, like seriously die.
Won't that be an awakward conversation with Voice-chan....
'Yea sorry I died because you gave me a weak blessing.'
And then boom! She will just evaportate my soul and look for something new to play with.
Feeling chills run down my spine I stopped that line of thought.
I just have to not get caught in a rain of arrows or get surrounded by veteran troups with spears.
Leaving out those situations, the only other way for me to die is poison which I can't very well defend against, and a situation were I am overwhelmed by someone else's swordsmanship or blessing or both.
Too many possible bad ends.
I need to strengthen myself as quickly as possible, as it is right now I can't even activate my blessing on my own.
Maybe that's controlled by the deity who watches over you? Could be.
Hum, maybe I should try praying?
Let's see, how does it go again?
"In the name of Veru, the one who blesses the battlefields and guides the dead, I seek an audience?" I called out ominously into the darkness.
A few moments of silence went by before anything happened.
"What is it?" Voice-chan?!
Flicking my head around I caught sight of a small girl with the pitch black eyes of a dragon and long black hair like that of a war maiden.
"So, you can actually show up!" I half yelled excitedly, "Can you tell me how my blessing works and what exactly that warm feeling was?"
She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "That little bit of warmth you felt? How could that possibly be the blessing of one as powerful as myself? Are you insulting me?"
"Does that mean you don't want to tell me?" I replied evenly, don't get excited with this person, remember how they are.
"Tch, you are my champion so you can call upon me whenever, but don't do it over stupid things like this again I was enjoying seeing you struggle," She replied arrogantly, "As for your little problem, no it was not my blessing, and that Seramia got it wrong before, it doesn't strengthen 'you' as in your body, but it strengthens your bodies affinity with the mortal form of Qi, making it easier for you to access and train your own qi, it's what the commoners call the 'affinity with fairies', in reality, it's just that you have more refined qi in your body and so you can see the fairies who are creatures born of natures qi."
Qi? Isn't that what that old man would always say was the height of martial arts? But there's no way I'm at the height of martial arts! No way in hell!
"So, during that moment earlier I tapped into my body's qi and it increased my strength?" I replied curiously.
She rolled her eyes again, "Obviously so, though if not for my blessing helping the qi in your body flow with such ease you would have likely died, and before you ask, all you have to do to control your qi is practice, try calling out to it in your mind, focus on your core and draw it out, ahh and before I forget so you don't call me again, the way to train it is just by having it to do rotations through your body, it will naturally get stronger and more abundant."
"Unlock your own qi through desperate battle, train it and your own body by calling it out to move through and refine both body and soul at the same time, it is a living thing both one with you and separate from you, as you grow this will make sense." Voice-chan said with a heavy sigh, "Now don't call me again, this is basically cheating after all."
"Thank you for your help." I called out as she left getting a cold 'hmph!' back before everything returned to silence.
I see.
Qi, is it?
According to the Old man and Voice-chan it is something you need to train and call out to.
Let's see, the old man would always say that Qi is something that is to be trained in battle focused on the blade it will sharpen with every swing, but Voice-chan says that it must be trained by moving it through the body?
I see, I see.
What if I do both?
Will it be sharpened and also build my body?
Let's try it!
No harm no foul!
Immediately I took some space on the ground drawing my sabers and standing still.
Qi is a natural thing inside oneself, so it must be there inside me.
Call out to it? To my core?
My heart then.
Focusing on my heart not even the sounds of the winds flowing through the tree's could enter my ears, only the heavy beating of my heart.
Slowly I could follow the beating of my heart getting the rhythm down, as I did so I could soon feel a sort of pressure envelope my whole body as though my whole body were beating like my heart.
Now what?
Let's try and focus all of the feelings into my heart.
Slowly starting from the tips of my fingers and toes I began trying to quiet down the beating in my body focusing solely on my heart once again, it feels like ants are crawling all over my body not that the feeling is gone.
Oh? What's this?
In my mind the beating changed rythem, a small change but to me who had been focusing closely it was nothing short of an earthquake, completely impossible to miss.
Once more the rythem changed, and another time.
Each time the rythem changed my heart beat would go up and up and up, and it would become harder and harder to focus solely on my heart, but it would not stop.
Soon it felt like my heart bad become a jet engine with how hard and fast it would beating.
"Argh!" I muffled my pained shout as I dropped to one knee coughing up a large glob of blood.
It doesn't hurt.
That warmth is filling my body again, but this time it's not a fire in my belly that quickly goes out but a calm flame in my heart, a warmth flowing through my body with ever heart beat, the feeling of ants disappearing as though it was all an illusion to begin with.
So this is my Qi?
A calm flame inside my heart.
My eyesight feels extremely sharp, I can even see the faintest movement inside the tents we set up, I can hear the faintest sounds of crickets in the woods and things my men are talking about in hushed tones.
I can hear the sounds of men training in secret.
I hear it all, and I can see it all.
My senses are much sharper now and with every beat of my heart it strengthens further until it reached a plateau.
But it is not the end yet.
Willing the flame to move I blinked, an incredibly intense qi light shooting out looking like a weak flash light lay behind each of my eyes.
Focusing on the qi I lead it slowly through my body making a full round including just barely extending it to my sabers, making a full rotation of both man and weapon.
God i'm tired with just that.
"But I won't stop." I wiped the blood from my mouth and continued.
Qi is the power of life force, and it will only get stronger and more tenacious the more it is trained, born at the moment one enters the world and unlocked at the moment one is about to leave it, this is a power that holds great power, and slacking is not an option.
Throughout the night I managed four more full rotations, the Qi in my body and heart fully exhausted and no longer willing to move at my orders.
'The qi is both one with and seperate from you.' Voice-chans words echo'd in my head.
It's a living thing, and nothing alive want's to die, it doesn't want to be abused, it will work hard to get stronger but won't just become extremely weak or even to the point it could die just because I want it to.