The words ๐โ๐๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ฝ ๐โ๐ผ ๐น๐๐๐๐ป ๐๐๐โ appeared in devilish red letters over the spirit's head.
The mists thickened. Another vision flashed o view.
๐ป๐๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐! It was the Spirit, big again here. ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ค, ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐๐! ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐๐ช ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐๐ง๐๐, ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค โ๐๐๐ ๐๐โฆ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ค ๐ก๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐ช. ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ช ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ.
The Spirit snorted. ๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ ๐๐๐ง๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ค โ๐ช๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ !
To Zane's right, the present-day Spirit coughed. ๐ฝ๐๐ง๐-๐๐๐-๐-๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ.
The vision-Spirit kept going. ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ โ๐๐๐ง๐๐-๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐. ๐ผ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ค๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฅ ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ช โ๐๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐๐! ๐๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ช ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ค๐๐ช ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ'๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐.
It paused as though to let that sink in.
๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ค๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐จ. โ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ช ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ก ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ค ๐ค๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ. ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ฅ. ๐น๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐! ๐ผ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ง๐๐คโ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ช ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐ฃ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค, ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง๐๐โ
The scene abruptly ended. The present-day Spirit gave another awkward cough. ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ช ๐ ๐๐๐จ ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ฅโ๐๐ ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฃ๐.
Zane nodded.
๐๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐จ๐๐๐, ๐ฅ๐๐๐,said the Spirit gravely.โ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐๐ค, ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ก ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก ๐ฅ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐-๐ผ๐ก๐๐โฆ ๐๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐-๐จ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ค. ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐.
Zane closed his eyes.
๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ:
๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐
๐ธ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฅ?
Zane did.
And his head burst open with knowledge. With history. A flood of it blurring before his eyes. Scene after scene.
He saw a Titan who must've been hundreds of feet tall, wielding an enormous golden hammer made to fit him. A hammer wrapped in bands of Law and essence. They swirled about it like rings around a planet.
The Titan groaned and smashed, and a sea of sparks flew high. High over an anvil set in a lake of lava. And in the middle of itโcoming to lifeโa pagoda. Taking slow shapeโฆ a disc of bloody-gold light blossomed out of it. Zane felt the Pagoda inside him flare in recognition.
That was the first instance of the Shield of the Blood Moon, he realized. That halo-thing. He paid close attention.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐!
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ [โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ)]
โฆThat was easy. This learning took almost no effort at all. Maybe because it was transmitted directly.
Then he realizedโhe had only learned the very beginning of it. The scene kept going. He kept paying attention.
He saw the Titan collect the treasure gingerly, between two fingers. Kneel. Drop it at the feet of an old dwarf overseeing it all from a high ledge. A dwarf with eyebrows so bushy you couldn't see his eyes. The dwarf collected it, pleased, and bonded to it.
The next scene showed that dwarf leading a charge. A battle in the middle of a desert planet. Two armiesโone of dwarves, one of menโmages in silver cloaks, showering vast, sky-splitting spells from gnarled iron staffs.
But the old dwarf gave a cry and made a hand gesture; the red moon blossomed out of him. Instantly, half the enemy's spells got voidedโswallowed by the redness. Stomped out where they were. Like they were blotted out of existence. It looked easy.
Zane took special note of it. He felt the knowledge welling up in his mind, more and more, the more he sawโฆ
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ [โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ) -> ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ)]
Huh.
The dwarf's side charged through, and won.
The scene shifted. The dwarf was now even older, droopier, with coarse white hair that dragged on the ground. He stood atop a balcony in a grand old castle mired in sandy dunes. All around himโsurrounding himโwas an army of men. Warriors.
A clean-shaven, handsome general stepped forth, pointed, roared. His armies descended upon the castleโฆ
They won through sheer brute might. The old dwarf could block their soul attacksโbut not the points of their swords.
The general snatched up the Pagoda from the dwarf's fallen body.
The scene shifted. The general was now olderโclad in shiny knight's armor scattered with shining white runes. He stood in the middle of some grand arena, an arena thronged with cheering spectators. He thrust his sword at his enemy. An aged wizard with glimmering eyes and a scheming smile.
The wizard wore a big pointy hat colored like the night sky, dotted with little pinprick white stars. He wielded a staff with a crystal ball at the endโand when he cast his Technique, its milky surface began to swirlโฆ
The air warped. Illusions exploded through the air. Storm clouds sweeping in. Vast armies of the dead rising all over. Dark mists hazing the arena. The audience gasped, entranced. Lost.
But the general's eyes were trained firmly aheadโlike he could see right through all those illusions. His pupils shone red, like two full blood moons.
Zane paid close attention to that too.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ [๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ) - > โ๐๐ฃ๐ (๐ผ)]
The general charged right through. And carved the wizard up. In the next scene, the crowd crowned him king.
One after one, the scenes came at Zane like waters in a fast-flowing river, almost blending into each otherโฆ
And each time he came away with a little more of the Skill in his mind.
The very next scene showed the king face-down on the ground, lost in a pool of his own blood. His body was a pincushion of arrows.
All around him streamed a cadre of elves, clad in woodland greens and brownsโtheir insignias seemed familiar to Zane. It took a moment to recognize the World Tree Faction.
A woman descended, strutting forwardโshe seemed a half-elf. She was dressed in light airy silks, a beauty, fair, with eyes the dark-green of the forest. She was wearing some kind of tiara made of branches. She pursed her lips at the sight.
The elves rushed around her, bowing and scraping. Zane noticed flaming ruins in the background, still lingering with motes of green essence. They'd wrecked this place. Plants blossomed around their feet as they ran, seeding a new biome. Around this woman's feet in particular.
Something about her seemed familiarโฆ Zane watched as she lifted a dainty hand and healed a gash on her forearm. There was a mending white lightโand it came away perfect. That was exactly like Reina's Skill.
The elves around her were much more powerful than she was, he just realized. He could see it in their auras. They were so dense with essence and high-tier Law it spread out from them in little hazes, their little islands of power which they imposed on reality. Just by being there.
He didn't know what to call that, but this woman didn't have thatโshe was at least a stage below them. And they were bowing to her.
One of the elves retrieved a pagoda from the King's corpse. He knelt and presented it to her.
"Mistress Maker!" called the elf, bowing his head. She blinked at the thing, curious, and took it.
Zane blinked. Then frowned more. That was Reina's Title after all. He kept mulling it over as he saw her wielding the Pagoda, leading her elf-army against a nest of dragons, a coven of witches. Blocking fields of illusions, and sound-wave attacks, and paralyzing lightning bolts thrown by some massive storm deityโฆ
He was thinking about how the men had called that general king. And how the elves were calling this woman. It looked the same. It was almost like 'Mistress Maker' was more than a titleโlike it was some kind of position.
Before he could think on it more, the scene changed againโand this time it was the Mistress lying, eyes closed, splayed out, unmoving. A spear through her belly. Her elf-guard were all shattered, broken, strewn aboutโburning.
Blue and red-clad warriors fell all over them. And Zane knew those insignias too. That was the Azure Flame Faction. A burly bald warrior strode forward, fists clenched, blazing red and blackโjust oozing gobs of magma. Some higher fusion. He ripped the spear out of her, then grabbed the treasure floating over her corpse.
"At last," he crowed. "The Pagoda!"
This scene Zane found most disturbing. That woman reminded him too much of Reina.
He got the gist of it, though. Lots of fighting and killingโand examples of wielding the Blood Shield. Over and over. He saw a behemoth of a steel golem wrestling down the bold flame warrior, seizing the Pagoda from his mashed-up corpse. He saw a ninja in a cloak of living shadow with sickle knives whirling, blanketing the golem in so many corrosive hissing slashes it looked like a tornado. Rusting it, melting it, bringing it to its knees slash by slashโฆ he saw an ice mage gunning down the ninja. With what looked like flintlock pistols, shootingโฆ snowballs?
The Pagoda kept changing hands. Over and overโit didn't take long beforeโ
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ [โ๐๐ฃ๐ (๐ผ) -> ๐ผ๐ก๐๐ (๐ผ)]
It did come pretty easy. Zane barely needed to pay attention to the Skill this time. He was more interested in whatever was going on in the background, honestly. It seemed a semi-complete history of the Pagoda's ownership, a montage flashing on and on. Not a lot of it made much sense without context but there were some nuggets in there.
More and more examples went by. He waited patiently for it to finish. He saw empires rise and fall. A kingdom of steel and gears swallowing up a kingdom of dragon-riders. A little boy from a fishing village rising to become the hero of the landโsoaking up the Ghost King's soul-strikes with Blood Moon blossoms. On and on. It just kept on going.
He had already hit something of a hard wall with this kind of transmission-vision learning, though. It was like the Spirit said. He had the theory, was what it was. But it could only take you so far. Now he needed practice.
He wondered when this thing would end. He already had the Skillโhe just wanted to try it out now. He guessed he had to sit through the rest. At least it was going faster now. Every ten minutes or so an interesting storyline would pop up, and he'd see a few important old powerful guys. But then they would fade to history like all the rest.
Maybe half an hour later, it finally ended. Zane was rather bored by then. And eager to get started.
***
๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ช ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐? said the Spirit.
"No," said Zane.
โฆ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ? The Spirit seemed dubious. ๐ธ๐ฃ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐?
"Yes."
๐๐ ๐ฆ'๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ผ๐ก๐๐. ๐ธ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ช.
"Yes."
By now it seemed to be slowly getting used to him. It stared just a bit this time.
๐ผ๐ฃ๐ฃ. โ๐๐๐๐ฅ it said. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐, ๐ฅ๐๐๐.
"Let's do it," rumbled Zane.
๐'๐๐ ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ. ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ.
"Okay."
It was much less pompous than with the young Emperor. No spiel about 'push your spirit to the limits' or whatever, which Zane was thankful for. It just fired the Trial up.
The mists swirled. The air began to trembleโand a ghost flickered to life. The head of a dragon, smoke trickling down its thick lips.
It was also much smaller than Zane remembered from that one vision. It materialized at about chest-height with him. Zane looked down on it. It looked up at him. It almost seemed a bit surprised to see him up there.
๐ฝ๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐!ย instructed the Spirit.
The dragon took a second to get its bearings. But when it did, a smoke-storm gushed out of it.
Zane turned up his Shield.
He felt a tug on the Pagoda in his soulโand it trembled a little. Responding. Bloody-red bloomed out of itโbloomed out of him. Expanding and expanding, blowing up to fit his Soul, until it was a shining crescent moon covering him whollyโฆBlanketing the dragon in a bloodred light.
The dragon almost seemed embarrassed to fire on him. When it did, it looked a little like spit flying off a windshield. It vanished.
The dragon blinked at him. He blinked at the dragon.
They both blinked at the Spirit.
โฆ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ค said the Spirit faintly. ๐๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ค๐ค๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐.