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73. The Bad Place
🕑 Added 2024-02-06 16:00:03 +0000 UTCLoup wound through the forest, taking a circuitous path along deer tracks and rocky passes. Even using Fflyn’s foot technique and his own light body technique, Oz struggled to keep up as Loup bounded along unfriendly terrain, using all four limbs to leap from rock, to stump, to patch of grass. Aisling kept up more handily with her strength and stamina from her training as a martial mage, but still struggled with the rough footing compared to Loup’s practiced motions.
Crouched atop a rock outcropping ahead of them, Loup looked back and met Oz’s eyes. She scoffed. “Soft city people.”
Damn wolf-child. I’m trying my best, Oz grumbled in his head.
Soft? She’s calling me soft? If you weren’t so damn clumsy about using my body—! Fflyn raged.
Oz sighed. If I gave you full control, could you keep up? Without me using the light body technique?
Fflyn fell silent.
Yeah. That’s what I thought. She’s half-fey, Fflyn. She probably already has a first- or second-stage cultivation level. Maybe higher, depending on her parentage. There’s demons who are born at third stage or higher, like the jotunn. I have to imagine she’s holding back right now, so Aisling and I can keep up.
At least she won’t get any stronger.
What?
Fflyn looked at Oz. Both fey and demons have a harder time reaching the next stage in their cultivation than humans do. They have longer lives by default, but in return, have more difficulty cultivating. Half-fey have a human’s lifespan, but a fey’s slow cultivation speed. On top of that, they’re often rejected by both humans and fey alike—and of course, the same is true for half-demons. Of all beings in this wide world, half-breeds are the least likely to reach Ascension of all races.
That’s… Oz pressed his lips together. How unfortunate. Not only unlikely to succeed at cultivation, but also cast out by both sides…
Fflyn cleared his throat, a little embarrassed at Oz’s sadness. It’s not impossible. With the right guidance and techniques, even half-fey can cultivate successfully, and once they pass to the next stage of cultivation, they get boosted lifespans, the same as all cultivators. It’s just that the first barrier is that much higher for half-fey.
Oh, good. Oz perked up.
Do you care that much about this wild child, anyways? We’ve known her for ten seconds.
I can’t help but feel bad for her. She’s had a rough life., and there’s no clear way out. Don’t you sympathize with her?
Fflyn paused. I guess. But, you know, I got sold to the Black Blades. It’s not like life is easy. That’s simply her lot, like this is mine.
Oz sighed. That might be true, but even so. I still want to help. I don’t want to simply say ‘life is hard’ and let the people before my eyes suffer. I’m not naive enough to think that I can save the whole world, but the people who have helped me, I…
If you have the power to help, why not help? Is that what you’re thinking? Fflyn asked.
Basically.
Fflyn went silent. At last, he said, You’re a good person, Oz.
You and Linnea both. You say it like it’s a dirty word.
We’ve… well, I can’t speak for Linnea, but we’ve probably both seen a lot of good people die. Get taken advantage of, then die.
Oz snorted. Fair enough. I don’t plan on dying, though.
They never do.
Up ahead, Loup drew to a halt atop a ridge of stone. She pointed. “There.”
Oz’s eyes widened. He ran up alongside Loup, alighting on the stone a moment after Aisling did. The secret to this entire region—could it be? The undead army…
Oz stared. His brows furrowed. He used a sight technique to clear his vision, but nothing changed. Glancing around, he scanned his qi over the field.
At last, he took a deep breath and glanced at Loup. “This… is an empty field.”
Aisling looked at her as well. “There’s nothing here.”
“There is. Can’t you see it?” Loup asked. She gestured at the field. “It’s right there!”
Oz turned and met Aisling’s eyes. Aisling threw her hands up and shook her head.
I don’t see anything, either, Fflyn offered.
Frustrated, Loup wrinkled her nose. “You humans. Blind! All of you!” She galloped down into the field, then dug into the dirt with her bare hands, throwing up clumps behind her like a dog.
Oz hesitated, then shrugged at Aisling. “Let’s go see what’s down there, I guess.” Wit that, he jumped off the ridge, bouncing down the fallen rocks on the side of the hill to the ground below.
Aisling nodded and followed after him.
In the center of the field, Loup kept digging, A pit opened up under her. Thick loam flew on either side, the rich, wet dirt piled uselessly to the side. Deeper and deeper she dug, until her upper body vanished into the hole.
“Uh, Loup? Are you sure about this?” Oz asked.
An indiscernible shout came out from the hole. More dirt flew up.
“That looks like a yes to me,” Aisling deadpanned.
Oz snorted. “I guess we sit back and believe. I didn’t sense anything, though, did you?”
Aisling shook her head. “But then, that might be why no one in the Mage’s Quarter has noticed this yet.”
“But why would Loup be able to sense it? Because she’s half fey?” Oz wondered aloud.
“Fey are more sensitive to certain types of barriers than humans. Have you ever heard of glamours?” Aisling asked.
“Uh, yes, actually,” Oz said, nodding. It’s the term for fey illusions in my world’s myths, and seems to pretty much describe the same thing over here.
“Then, as you know, it’s a fey-specific class of illusion magic. Glamours are almost impenetrable by human or demon mages, but other fey can easily see through them. Back when all three races were openly at war, the fey developed glamours as the ultimate defense and offense. There isn’t a traditionally trained fey alive today who isn’t a master of glamour. Master Sachairi likes to say that fighting fey is like fighting the wind: you can’t see them, you can’t touch them, and by the time you’ve realized they’re there, they’ve already blown through you. It’s the fey race’s ultimate trump card.”
She nodded at Loup. “The one weakness of glamour is other fey. Other fey can easily see through glamours, even fey with much lower cultivation levels.”
“Oh,” Oz said. He nodded. Makes sense.
My eye… I wonder. If Madame Sachairi wanted to give me an advantage, did she give me a fey eye? The ability to see through glamours would be incredible in fighting fey, if even Sachairi struggles with them.
He squinted at the ground. But if that’s the case, why can’t I see through it?
Loup backed out of the hole in the ground and looked at them. “Stupid humans. Noseblind. Look!”
Oz’s eyes widened. He nodded, slowly. Ohhh. Loup was smelling through the glamor, not seeing through it. My eye might still be a fey eye!
Wait. Does that make sense? Smelling through an illusion…?
He paused, then shrugged. Who says it doesn’t? Illusions can create false images, but they can also create false sounds or scents! Why not be able to smell through one?
Aisling squinted. She frowned. “What is that?”
Oz leaned in, then drew back. “Wait, yeah. What?”
Comments
linkhyrule5
> Fflyn looked at Oz. .... how? :p
Oval Office
I wish I could read the whole book at once.
