Dawn had just risen over the skies of Iluthath, blanketed by snow. The air was crisp, and the light was vibrant, showcasing its beauty and grace. And yet, despite its color, all I saw was death.
I had lost feeling in my fingers years ago to frostbite. Same with my ears, which were constantly on the verge of falling off. But I held my tongue.
I hated being weak. Hated being useless, but Master was not one to care about my emotions. He was grimly cold. And yet the number of emotions Master reveals seemed like a contradiction. He smiles. He laughs. And he is quite playful, but he never cries, much less shows any form of sadness. Perhaps Melancholy, but sometimes it's hard to see him as a person.
I stared at his back, which didn't seem heavy or lonely like those at the top tend to be. An outline of scarlet blood laws surrounded his pale flesh, scarred by frost cutting deep into his skin.
"Do you know Blood Laws?" Kuro muttered so low that Master could not hear.
"A little, but I'm not proficient," I replied dryly, still frustrated at my loss to her.
I had sparred with Kuro for years, but this was the first time I had ever lost like this. It was the first time I ever felt death so close. For years we had trained together and learned from one another's side, but losing so easily was humiliating for me. And the sadness she showed me, the humility she held towards me since that event, made my gut burn more than this cold.
I hated it. The pitiful look. That feeling of…
"Adrian, "Master called, pointing north of our location. "Do you sense that?"
Taken back for a moment, I pushed out my senses and frowned at the few bandits stationed within the trees, hidden beneath layers of snow, standing with weapons drawn.
"Mid Gods. Empyreans. Five of them." I responded.
"You take the lead and take care of them," Master said without glancing back.
Nodding, I glanced at Kuro with her arms wrapped around my waist on horseback. " Flank them. I'll act as bait."
"I'll take out the archers first," Kuro whispered, vanishing in a dark mist. She dashed through the snow like a ghost, leaving no prints over the ice.
I kicked at the horse's side, sending it into a frenzy as it raced ahead, passing Master in a blinding speed; as an arrow tore through the air, fueled with the divinity of a god of a higher heaven, space contracted and bent like rays of light in intense heat.
Frightful for longer than I would have liked, the shadows swallowed me, taking me into another realm. I Shadowed Stepped directly in the middle of the four mid-god bandits on horseback.
"Eh?"
Catching the bandits off guard, I drew an obsidian spear from out of the darkness and pierced forth with all I had, stabbing my spear through the trunk of the tree, piercing through something both hard and soft.
A grunt echoed like a cry as three ethereal light flashes flared to life. My eyes swayed to the left and right as I scanned the area with such ease I felt the world still. I willed for the world through my eyes to freeze. Will for all things to freeze.
And as if my wish had come true, the fallen snow stilled alongside the three bandits wielding three scimitars.
"Almighty Flash," I whispered as I moved.
Tenebrae and Master had taught me this. By mixing shadow step and a few other movement techniques, Master created a technique that pushes the soul to such a level that my perception would perceive the world as frozen. But Shadow Step is instantaneous, so my movements were as fast as my thoughts ignoring the dilation of time.
I moved like a ghost, leaving layers of afterimages trailing my body. I hopped off my horse and had Pride dance in a single arc cutting through the heads of all three bandits before I resumed the flow of time.
Watching with coldness as the snow resumed its flow across the pale skies blinding with the Light of Mithra, the heads of the three bandits slipped from their shoulders, only to turn into a mist of red. An intense heat generated by my speed flared to life, melting the snow and turning the trees to fire.
I stared with widening eyes: This was the first time I had ever used Almighty Flash.
Swallowed whole by an intense heat I longed for, my blood bubbled, and my bones cried. When suddenly, the sound of something cracking entered my ear.
"Adrian!" Kuro shouted, with hits of blood on her collar. "Jump!"
Startled by Kuro's outburst, I didn't even have time to react as a strange force suddenly reached up from below, taking hold of me as the ground beneath my feet caved in, pulling me into the darkness below.
"I got you," Master responded as he appeared from the shadows of the darkness with cold eyes, wielding a weapon that made my bones cower in fear. Similar to my spear of Pride, his seemed like it had been carved from the evilest of demons. It was an exquisite forged weapon that carried an unmatched elegance, but the fear seizing my soul was crippling.
He grabbed me by the neck and pivoted off the darkness, cutting at the strange force that had seized control of me.
Regaining control of my faculties with the help of Master, my eyes widened as a marvelous city appeared within my line of sight. A city exposed by only a pillar light reflected over my eyes as I stood frozen. Taken by the elegance.
"What strange architecture," Master muttered as we landed within the pillar of light.
"Adrian, my Lord, are you Ok?" Kuro shouted from above, looking down at the large opening.
"Get the horses!" Master replied, focusing his attention on the city before us. "There is something here… I think we should leave," he added with a hint of uncertainty.
"What pulled me down?" I asked him, sensing the darkness suddenly tremble as hundreds of thousands of red eyes suddenly opened. They surrounded us, sending a dark chill dancing along my spine.
"What fresh hell have I walked into again?" Master muttered.