Chương 103: Curiosity of the Axe Warrior

Gorran fought the incoming attackers with an effortless power that he had plenty of. His double axe sang through the air in wide, devastating arcs that scattered bandits and rogue warriors like leaves in a storm. He let us rest a bit every time the attackers retreated. This was a much-needed relief, as we all would have perished without him. His broad back became a living shield while we tended wounds and caught precious breaths under the dense canopy of the eastern woodland. The trees here stood taller.

Their trunks were wrapped in thick vines that dripped with morning dew. The ground was softer with layers of fallen leaves that muffled our footsteps. Yet the air still carried the faint metallic tang of distant bloodshed, a constant reminder that the Proving Grounds never truly released its grip. With his help, we made it to the village outside the maddening state of the Proving Grounds, a modest cluster of wooden homes nestled in a shallow valley. Smoke curled lazily from stone chimneys.

The scent of cooking rice and something sharp and fermented hung in the cool air. Upon our arrival, we realized we could not give Gorran the sought-after Art that everyone was hunting for. The reason was simple: while he was busy fighting, the others and I spoke with one another. We knew that the item they sought, the pearls and its connection to Wujiren-Dao, would only bring him death. He might be mighty, but I did not think he could destroy a Guardian or a Sky Emperor if it returned to the Rift Cave.

Still, telling him would sign our death warrant and court death itself. That was why we shared the knowledge only among ourselves, keeping him completely in the dark. Weirdly though, Gorran did not return to the Grounds. He stood with us. He wanted something from me, but he would wait to take it until after a full recovery. The village of seven souls welcomed us warily at first. All of them were battle-hardened themselves, though most were farmers now.

They grew rice and specialized in a dish of stinky tofu with a hot chili sauce. The food was incredibly filling, but my tongue burned fiercely because I was not accustomed to such intense spice. Sweat beaded on my forehead with the very first bite. The others fared better, chuckling at my discomfort while spooning more onto their plates.

"Eat slowly, Erumes," Xihua teased gently around a mouthful, her pixie-cut hair still matted with trail dust.

"It warms the soul after everything we have been through." I managed a weak smile thanks to the burning tongue. The heat on my tongue matched the fire in my heart. Grief still lingered, but the simple act of sharing a meal with the living brought a fragile comfort. We recovered after two days of full rest. The villagers offered soft beds of straw and herbal poultices that soothed our deepest aches for just twelve gold. What a bargain, I thought, and the cost was paid by Gorran.

I spent long hours staring at the thatched roof above me. Memories of the Rift Cave and the losses replayed endlessly. Mo's roar. Lianfeng's final cry. The thirty who fell among the tea trees. The bandits on the road. The madman whispering that the Grounds never let anyone leave. Sleep came in pieces. On the second night, I heard Gorran outside, sharpening his double axe in the dark with slow, intense, and patiently rhythmic movements.

It felt as if he were waiting for my body to finish healing just so he could collect whatever he thought I owed him. I kept the satchel close under the straw. The pearls stayed secret. The weight of the pearls in my satchel felt both precious and cursed. Zhuofing, our leader, finally regained his full strength. Color returned to his face. His powerful frame straightened once more. He thanked Gorran personally, clasping the big man's forearm with genuine respect.

"You have given us back our lives. We will not forget this debt." Gorran simply grunted. Then his eyes locked onto me.

"Now. I demand you fight me in the open, Erumes." I asked him if he was in his right mind. My voice was laced with disbelief and lingering exhaustion, as if he had called me out for a battle when I had expected something entirely different. Then, in a serious tone, I addressed his call to battle.

"I saw your prowess. I know how strong you are. There is no way I can provide you with any entertainment in that department. Unfortunately, my Animo is too low," I added, looking disappointed in myself. He took a finger to his own temple. Tapped lightly in a drilling motion, as if searching for something hidden.

"I have an Animo spirit-reading ability. I see… albeit not strong… but the reason you, or any of you, were mostly kept alive was my curiosity. To see an anomaly in human attributes. A two-attribute user." He pointed directly at my chest, where my heart lay.

"I see the fire." Then his gaze moved upward, locking onto my head.

"And something shrouded in your mind. I want to face you in battle and find out what this means as you are truly unique in that sense." Zhuofing stepped in immediately. His voice was firm and protective.

"How about me? I am the strongest here." He pushed forward. Animo rose around him like a gathering storm. Gorran pushed him aside with casual ease. Zhuofing staggered back a step despite his power.

"I see your Animo is quite high. But it is nowhere near enough." Gorran's tone remained calm. Almost bored. This man was the real deal. He even offered, "I won't Vestuto against you. Fighting only in base." I reluctantly agreed. I knew I had no way out of this. I did not want this man to get mad and hunt us all down just because he wanted a duel where he could see everything.

"So be it." We moved to a clear patch of ground outside the village where soft grass stood underfoot. We were surrounded by quiet spectators who wanted to make sure nothing strange happened. The seven villagers watched from a respectful distance, their battle-hardened eyes curious but cautious. Xhife and Xihua stood close, worry clear on their faces.

"Be careful," Xhife whispered.

"I feel like he is on another level from what he has shown us." He set his weapon far and wide, let out a huge roar, and yelled, "Let's go!" In that exact instant, I activated Cor Flamma first. I tried to fight with my known moves, thinking that since he had not seen them yet, maybe I could land a good hit. Now that I was fully in this battle, my heart pumped with pulsating fire. On my first run-up toward my open, standing opponent, I used my ever-slowly improving Elsa di Fuoco.

Flames roared along the blade's edge as I charged, unleashing its strong Fire Aura burst right into him. But he tanked it with his bare body, accepting the full force of the blow. He maintained a completely neutral stance as he flexed his muscles; the aura tore through him, continuing onward to slice and shatter several distant burning trees. Next, I slashed in wide arcs, following up with quick thrusts aimed at his open flanks. He blocked them easily with his double axe whenever it mattered.

The impact rang out like a heavy bell striking a stone wall. He made a yawning motion afterward, as if my performance simply was not good enough, or nothing impressive had been shown to him yet.

"Is that all a two-attribute Suren can offer?" he asked. His voice carried mild disappointment. Pissed off at him, I let my reckless side take over and charged with a side slash of my Elsa di Fuoco. I fully expected him to block it with ease, but in that exact split second, I maneuvered behind him to slash at his back. From that point on, I fought with pure desperation. But all of it was futile. His axe moved like an extension of his own will, parrying every single strike behind his back with minimal effort.

Sweat poured down my face. My breathing grew ragged as I faced a punishing counter-response on every single arc. When he finally attacked, his swing caught me squarely in the stomach. The pain was so intense that I wanted to curl up on the ground, but I forced myself to stand through the heavy agony. In that exact moment, something clicked within me. As he stood close with that same disappointed face, I launched a last-ditch attack, and Ignis Ardente showed itself once more. The fiery aura exploded from my body.

On impact against Gorran's left thigh, the boosted cut delivered massive damage, forcing him to lose his footing. I had actually broken through his defense and scratched his skin. It made him feel like a pinch at first. He looked a little pleased. A small smile tugged at his mouth.

"Ehm, Better. But now show me the real reason I wanted to fight you." I looked at him and knew once again that I was too weak, but the timing was perfect to let my Soul Vestuto loose. As I overloaded my brain, hot veins bulged along my neck and surged into my skull while I roared, "Vestuto!" My Soul Shadow Armor manifested. The transformation was dramatic and unsettling, beginning with a cold, creeping sensation that spread outward from my chest.

My skin paled even further as charcoal-grey, shadowy armor erupted across my body. It formed sleek, jagged plates with a cold silver sheen that caught the light like polished obsidian. Exhaust pipes formed on my back, and my helmet took over, completely hiding my face as pure instinct took control. The armor was solid, but from the exhaust pipes, it constantly shifted and writhed like living, heated smoke. Thin silver veins pulsed across the surface like cracks in reality.

Hot smoke vented from every joint and seam, mixing with unstable black-red flames that flickered unpredictably with every single step. My eyes glowed with an orange light, losing their normal warmth and becoming fiercely hot. The air around me grew noticeably warmer. Even so, the flames within my armor burned much hotter and far more unstable than my normal Fire Vestuto.

The armor looked heavy, but it was actually lighter and more flexible than others would expect a Vestuto to be, allowing for incredible speed and powerful attacks. However, it drained my mind and sanity much faster if I lost focus. Thanks to all my intense training, I could stay awake and prevent myself from being forcefully shut down into an unconscious state. The best part of this test was that even though the instinct tried to take over, it felt like it wanted me to fight alongside it as one.

This time, I was the one in control. I could feel the instinct whispering to me, showing me exactly where to strike next. And I did just that, striking his left kneecap with a fast, powerful, swinging arc of my sword-axe. The blade delivered a deep cut, catching him completely off guard. Gorran finally broke into a full smile. My Animo shot up to a very high level for me, but he still beat me while using only his base form. His double-edged axe swung in perfect arcs.

Even though I was faster and stronger now, each time I tried to block, his counters crashed directly into my attacks, rendering my speed gains too small to change the overall outcome. No matter how desperately I tried, it felt impossible to predict his rhythm. His overwhelming power jarred my hands with every strike, leaving them aching and numb. In the end, he trapped my weapon between the twin edges of his axe and wrenched it cleanly out of my hands.

"Just a little nudge, and your head would roll right off," he said jokingly. Then, he pulled his weapon back and returned mine to me.

"I got my fill... for today. I will soon come again to find you for a proper rematch. In about the time after you have fully ripened. I will enjoy the true battle to the death." He mumbled the last bit after he turned and went back toward the Proving Grounds with a smile on him. We felt relief as we finally ended this ordeal. Preparations began slowly to return. We found out we were at the most eastern southern edge of Zhongguodao. It would take some time to return to the base of operations.

But at least we could all smile with our broken minds. And take refuge in that alone. Conversations flowed more freely in the following hours. Zhuofing sat with me by a small fire that night. The village was quiet around us. Only the soft crackle of flames and distant night insects broke the peace.

"You did well against him," he said. His voice was low and proud.

"And that since the Rift Cave even when weakened or outmatched. You always stood. That is more than most could claim... even me." I stared into the fire. Emotions swirling. Grief of my own failures but pride in its survival. But underneath it all was a lingering fear of what Gorran had seen inside me.

"It felt like he could read my inner soul," I murmured. The realization immediately made me think of my Master, and a wave of longing hit me. I miss him, I thought, a bitter smile almost reaching my lips as I imagined how harshly he would have beaten my ass for making so many basic failures today. At least a fragile comfort came from the fire and our shifting shadows. I did not even fully understand this power myself yet. But if Gorran ever came back for another battle, I wanted to make him truly bleed.

I needed to be ready for that day. Xihua joined us later, the smoke from her pipe curling gently upward.

"Well, if it's not our noble warrior relaxing by the campfire," she said softly, taking a slow puff.

"I must say, you have really improved with your Soul Attribute trouble, heh."

"Mo. The others. Their strength is in how we keep going with a newly given chance to live in hope. That is enough for today." Xhife clapped my shoulder. His baby face was serious for once.

"Next time we face something like that. We face it together i felt so excited seeing you fight such a monstrosity i need to get so much stronger." I nodded to him. The weight in my chest lightened just a fraction. The Rift Cave had to remain hidden, its secrets ours alone. The journey home would be long and full of new dangers. Yet, for the first time since the Rift, I felt something close to peace. A fragile smile touched my lips as I looked at my surviving comrades.

Seeing them now, less broken and less scarred, was what truly counted where it mattered most. We were alive to greet the next dawn, still breathing for another day.