Chapter 15: Part of Legacy
"Heukh-!" The leader's breath was cut off as the gray-haired man emitted a dangerous aura.
Zed could vaguely see the aura, which seemed like a tangible mirage. He wondered if that was the so-called Qi of this world.
The leader desperately added, "N-no master! I am not fooling you! That brat did manage to"
"If that's true then you, even more, deserve to die by being outwitted by a child. Pay for your incompetent performance with your death."
The gray-haired man didn't let the leader answer as he slashed with his hand. Blood immediately spurted as the leader's head was decapitated.
"Now then, boy." He turned to the little boy without even glancing at the leader's body.
His eyes flashed a dangerous glint as he asked, "How do you want to die?"
Zed subconsciously gulped as this was the first time he would face a cultivator.
-
Meanwhile, Lan'er and Tang Xiurong arrived at the tomb.
Tang Xiurong led Lan'er behind the crystal, where she made unknown incantations that activated an array.
Rumble...
The room trembled as small dust and debris fell from the ceiling. The rumbling soon stopped when a long one-sided blade appeared in front of them.
Lan'er didn't know where it came from as it appeared out of thin air. It was a beautiful sword that had a golden dragon patterned on the body.
The blade was curved as it reached over 60 inches. The sharpened side of the blade had a moonlight glow and Lan'er felt a sense of intimidation and danger from it.
Lastly, its hilt had a dark violet cord wrap, tightly wrapped on the dark spruce handle.
Lan'er turned to her master. "Master this is..."
"Bloodseeker." Xia Xiurong answered with a hint of reminiscence.
She took the sword and gave it a good swing.
Slash.
A part of the wall was cleaved with a sword mark.
Lan'er stared in awe as she saw that her teacher was far from the target, and yet her attack somehow made it to the wall.
Xia Xiurong smirked before handing it to Lan'er.
Lan'er was surprised but accepted regardless.
"Think of it as part of my legacy." Tang Xiurong said.
Lan'er raised the sword and admired its beauty. The sword felt so enchanting that one might be put into a trance.
Snap!
Tang Xiurong snapped her fingers and Lan'er woke from her daze.
Immediately, Lan'er bowed and said, "I thank master."
Tang Xiurong nodded in satisfaction before murmuring, "It should start now.."
Lan'er wondered what her master was talking about, but then she felt a beat from the sword's handle.
She was shocked to feel such an unnatural thing. Soon, the pulse began to grow frequently and imitate the beat of a human's heart.
Seeing the confusion of her disciple, Tang Xiurong explained. "They beat you're feeling right now is the beat of your own heart. This sword was made with the concept of "The Sword is your Reflection"
Because of that, it was created with a particular trait with the reflection of one's heart."
'This.. this is my heart?' Lan'er further observed the sword, and soon, she heard chaotic and overlapping voices.
'Brother... where is he?'
'I'm worried about my brother.'
'I hate Aunt Mu Lin for tricking us!'
'I need to get back. Brother needs me!'
'Will I become a parent with my brother in the future? I also want to have a child with him.'
'I love brother. I would kill anyone for him.'
'Brother. Brother. Brother. Brother.'
"The voices you're hearing now are your heart's desires." Lan'er awoke to reality when she heard her master's voice.
"This is... what my heart desires?" Lan'er muttered.
Tang Xiurong nodded and continued, "You see, the key to unlocking the full power of this sword is to follow your heart."
"I see..." Lan'er faintly nodded and couldn't help but think that name didn't fit the sword.
Tang Xiurong could hear what she was thinking and spoke. "I named it "Bloodseeker" because the voices of my heart always thirsted for my enemy's blood.
You should also name it yourself according to the voices of your heart."
Lan'er acknowledged it and carefully listened to the voices of her heart.
All in all, she realized that most of her heart's desires were about her brother.
Lan'er thought, 'Should I name this sword "Big Brother"? '
Tang Xiurong heard it and couldn't help but tremble in horror when she realized that her disciple was considering naming her sword like that.
Swoosh!
However, they didn't have time to reach a conclusion as they felt a strong gust of wind come from the entrance.
It must've been a really strong force since it reached towards them.
Tang Xiurong looked towards the entrance and said. "We need to return. I'll teach you the basic movement along the way."
Lan'er nodded while bringing a long one-sided curved blade and left the tomb.
-
The two of them took quite some time before running back to the basement, and Tang Xiurong was able to teach the basic theoretical movement to Lan'er.
When they arrived, they were shocked to see what had happened to the basement.
The room had significantly been enlarged as several craters could be seen from the walls. Numerous burnt bodies were scattered across the room; they noticed in the middle were two people standing against each other.
One was her brother. He was pale and his clothes were tattered and ruined. He was holding a part of his stomach as they noticed blood oozing out of his hands.
He had a pained expression while taking deep and exhausted breaths.
His opponent was also in a similar state as her brother.
The opponent had burnt patches all over his body. His clothes had long been shredded to pieces as his muscular chest was exposed, testifying to his life as a martial artist.
One might admire him if only his body was riddled with cut wounds and burnt skin.
Half of his face also suffered burns as his face looked disfigured, and half of his hair was gone all the way to the roots.
He was glaring at her brother with eyes full of hatred.
Although the enemy was already pitifully wounded, this didn't stop Lan'er's heart from being chaotic.
'He hurt brother!'
'Kill him! Kill him!'
'He must be killed!'
'Cut his limbs!'
'Gouge out his eyes!'
Lan'er's small hands trembled as she held the handle of the long blade. It was originally a one-handed sword, but because Lan'er was small and the blade was too heavy for her, she needed to use two hands.
Tang Xiurong smiled and leaned close to Lan'er.
"Do you remember my teachings?" She whispered.
Lan'er nodded.
Tang Xiurong continued, "Now this is the real challenge of the sword. Will you lose yourself in your emotions or will you control them and use them as your power?"
Lan'er's small body trembled as she desperately tried to not lose herself to the voices she heard.
As much as she wanted to stab and kill the enemy, it wouldn't matter if she did it blindly. She can only become a burden if she is lost and taken as a hostage.
"Phew..." Lan'er calmed herself, but the voices in her head did not stop.
Their attention returned to the battlefield as the burnt man maniacally laughed.
"Hehehe... Hahaha... AHAHAHAHAHA!! You're strong, boy! I admit that!"
He had a crazed expression while looking at Zed.
The latter remained silent while thinking of what he should do next.
'Again... AGAIN! My mana reserves are dried out! Damn it! I want to reinforce my mana circles but I can't! I've been too busy!
This is so frustrating! I've always been suffering from mana exhaustion ever since we entered the city! Should we just leave?' Zed was genuinely frustrated because he was a mage and completely drying your mana was similar to asking for death.
And now that he was about to suffer from mana exhaustion again, he had enough of this city, and would rather live in the wilderness again.
Sure, it was dangerous, but nothing he couldn't handle and if he reaches the next mana circle level, he could even handle that beast that gave him the scar on his back.
Right now, however, he has to figure out a way to survive this fight. From his observation, Cultivators use this "Qi" to enhance their bodies.
For those who are more capable, they can incorporate qi in their attacks, resulting in enhancing the damage they deal.
All in all, he noticed that martial artists are more flexible and volatile compared to mages that stay in one place and cast spells.
Of course, there are expert mages who can use their magic while fighting in close combat. Most Master-rank mages are capable of that.
Unfortunately, Zed never achieved that and so he only knows the basic movements. At the very least, he could handle a street fight.
The reason he could stand against his opponent right now was that he was applying what he knew and used the element of surprise.
Since the opponent had no idea how mages move, Zed was able to deal considerable damage by letting the opponent get closer to him and release a magic attack.
His opponent remained stubborn and continued trying to get to him, resulting in the injuries his opponent is suffering.
Eventually, his opponent's hard work paid off and Zed was struck in his abdomen.
That was the first time Zed had felt Qi, and he could attest that it was painful.
The attack was so strong that he felt like he was hit by a cannonball. It took everything he had him to remain standing while he held his wounded stomach.
Zed was brought back from his thoughts when his opponent began to speak.
The previously gray-haired man now had half of his face melted, but he was grinning like he had found great fortune.
His eyes showed greed as he spoke to Zed. "I want... those supreme martial arts... Hehehehe... I WILL MAKE YOU GIVE IT TO ME!"
From there, he leaped towards Zed.
But the latter couldn't move.
'Shit!' Zed closed his eyes as he prepared for the incoming pain.
"GAAH!"
Zed opened his eyes when he heard his opponent scream in pain. He saw his little sister holding a long sword that resembled katanas in his previous life.
What differed was its length, which was taller than Lan'er's height.
The sword successfully impaled the enemy as the latter looked shocked and in disbelief.
'Where did this brat come from?!' He was staring daggers at the little girl that suddenly appeared in front of him.
Unfortunately for him, his thoughts were cut off when the blade on his chest sliced him in half.
From his chest and to his head, Lan'er mercilessly sliced the man's upper body into two.
Blood splattered all over Lan'er as she retrieved the blade.
She was breathing heavily since it took all her concentration to time her attack well. She bid her time and when she saw the chance, strength surged into her body as the next thing she knew, she was in front of the enemy.
All that she had to do was stab and cut, which she did.
Lan'er snapped out of her daze and ran to her brother, who staggered and fell.
"Brother!"
She dropped her sword to the side and inspected Zed's state.
Zed only had one wound which was on his stomach. He proceeded to press on his wound when he realized he was still bleeding.
"Tsk!" Zed hissed in pain from his open wound.
'I've got to stop the bleeding somehow!' Zed thought, but his mind kept lapsing and his vision went blurry.
"Master what do we do?!"
Lan'er's panicked face was the last thing he saw before going unconscious.
-
Zed woke up to find himself facing a familiar ceiling of their bedroom. He tried to move, but the pain in his abdomen prevented him from doing so.
"Don't get up yet."
He heard a familiar voice, but the tone made it unrecognizable. He turned and saw Lan'er standing beside the bed, grinding some herbs in a pot.
She had a cold blank stare that perfectly fit her naturally sharp eyes.
Zed observed her for a while before asking. "Who are you?"
Lan'er looked at him for a few seconds and soon, an amused smile appeared on her face.
From her mannerisms to how she speaks, Zed observed them before concluding that someone else was in front of him.
Of course, he recognized the body as his sister's, but it was as if a split personality took over and she completely differed from the Lang'er he knew.
"Don't worry about it since my disciple will explain later," Lan'er stated.
Zed became confused and didn't remove his gaze from Lan'er.
"For now, rest and recover. Lest my disciple would get annoying again."
Zed was about to say something, but Lan'er's hands covered his eyes. A pang of drowsiness appeared in his head, which soon made him drift off to sleep.
Watching Zed fall asleep, Tang Xiurong who was possessing Lan'er's body, made a grim smile.
"I hope you won't scold her too much."