Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 445

Tales of Blood (X)

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There was no exit out of this place, Rayce ascertained.

It was just an endless swamp, darkness stretching out as far as the eye itself could not see, with mud and stench of rot as the only accompanying guests. They'd been running around for three days now, supposedly oriented northward, yet he wasn't even certain they had made it out of the place they arrived at.

Every inch of the swamp, it felt, was the same. The same trees, the same roots, the same swampy grass, the same utter lack of light. It was as though someone had made a singular segment of a swamp, and then just multiplied that one segment a thousand times over to create the full one.

Though he was growing more and more frustrated--partly with the swamp, and partly with his own incompetence--at least the kids still had their spirits up. Or, well, little Feng did; Light was as she always was, quaint and quick with an occasional jab. Such as the new one that came flying when Rayce came to a halt once more to examine where they were, "Brother Rayce, are you maybe going blind? You should really talk to Master about it."

His eyebrows danced a bit as he turned back and glanced at her, noting the hint of a self-serving smile.

"Don't be mean, Light!" at least little Feng was on his side. "You can't just point out people's flaws like that! Didn't you listen to Master?"

Hey, I'm not actually blind, though?

He didn't defend himself, however. For all intents and purposes, he may as well have been blind. Even after preparing so many Words beforehand, reaching into the depths of his knowledge, he didn't actually have a single useful Word he could use.

No, that was wrong--there were words like Light or Guidance or even something he himself had invented that he called 'Mapping', where he would scatter bits of mana across vast terrains and then form a phantasmal image of the rough shape. The issue was that the mana here in the swamp was so thin that the Words would barely light up before they were immediately snuffed out.

It wasn't a natural state of mana, either, as he felt something artificially bogging it down. Perhaps it was an array, maybe some natural anti-mana treasure within the swamp, or maybe something he hadn't even considered, but whatever it was, it made it so that he was barely better than a mortal. Even after they'd been ambushed a few times, he was saved by the pair of kids while he helplessly crawled about, trying to dodge embers of their fights.

"We'll rest here for now," they'd been walking for about four hours straight, and he was beginning to feel the ache in his calves. He knew well enough that he was the least physically adept out of them all--Shamans didn't truly value their bodies, not in their physical sense, at least, whereas most martial artists, even those who preferred to fight at range, still maintained a decent baseline of physique.

As such, the kids were completely fine and could likely walk for days uninterrupted, but he, even after working for the past few months to improve his physique slightly, could only go for a few hours at a time. In his defense, it was mostly just the rough terrain; there were very few truly dry spots, and the muddy dirt took thrice as much energy to walk through as the dry one did. Not to mention the countless roots that he nearly tripped over, or the insects he always had to be aware of.

"Anyone nearby?" he asked Light as he slowly started pitching a tent like his Master taught him. It was extremely basic, but it had a minor concealment array inscribed onto it, and it warded against the insects, which was heaven-sent for this place.

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"No," she said. "There is something interesting close by."

"You felt it too?" little Feng echoed.

"Wait, you felt it?" there was actually a trace of incredulity in her voice for a moment.

"Yes," the boy nodded. "It was... weird. I want it, kind of? I don't know how to describe it."

"What is it?" Rayce asked.

"I don't know," little Feng replied.

"I don't know what it is, either," Light added. "Just that it's not part of this place, and that it rejects it." Should they stray?

Then again, would he even know if they were straying? If the kids were saying that it was something, then it was probably worth a look. Though he wanted to meet up with Master as soon as possible, this was also a kind of trail for them all--behind Master's back, they agreed to delay meeting up slightly and to instead explore a bit first.

In truth, they'd gotten so dependent on the man that it felt unfair toward him; this was a trial, a test, to see if they could even function without him. And whatever hurdles there were, Rayce felt he needed to work his hardest to overcome them before going back.

Besides, he felt oddly at ease with little Light around. Though nobody ever said it, there was this odd feeling that, despite being the youngest of the group, she was far from the weakest.

"We can check it out," the three settled into the tent as he took out a pitcher of milk and some bread and jam. "I'm really sorry, you two. I feel completely useless."

"Because you are," Light said as he smeared some jam on top of the bread and handed it to her, which she took rapidly.

"No, he's not!" little Feng defended him. "Don't listen to her, brother Rayce. I... I would have been a lot more scared of this place if you weren't here."

"Really?"

"Hm." the boy nodded.

"... I would have been a lot more scared if you guys weren't here with me, too," he said, making one for the boy and handing it over before making one for himself.

"It's scary without Master, isn't it?" little Feng said.

"It is," Rayce said. "With him around, I wasn't scared of anything. I always thought, no matter what happened, he'd make sure we were fine. Light, you've known him the longest. Was he always like that?"

"... he's always been clumsy," she said. "And weird. And soft. And far too kind and forgiving. And he was so cowardly," though it sounded as though she was insulting him, the warm tone in her voice told Rayce otherwise. "But... yes. He was always like that. Like someone who could stop the mountain from falling."

"Woah!" the boy exclaimed. "Did he save you too? Like he saved me?"

"No," she said. "I wasn't stupid enough to get trapped like that." the boy pouted as she briefly sneered. "But... I wouldn't be here today, or alive at all, without him."

"H-huh? Doesn't, doesn't that mean that you were saved, too?"

"No."

"But you just said--"

"--you are just too stupid to understand. Eat your food."

"W-what?! I'm not too stupid! You're too stupid!"

As the two bickered, Rayce noted just how much little Feng has changed since he joined them. At first, he was a lot like Rayce was when he first joined them--quiet, distant, standing around on the edges, trying not to disturb anyone from fear of being annoying.

And yet, the boy had come fully unraveled. It wasn't who he became, it was who he always was; that little boy was simply buried under the layers of fears and terrors, just like Rayce himself was.

He wouldn't let anything happen to either of them, he swore, even if he had to die. While Master might mourn his death, losing these two... it would break his heart in ways that Rayce would rather be dead than behold.

If there was something preventing him from using mana... then he simply had to find another way to extract it. There was nothing in the laws of nature that forbade it--it was simply the matter of whether he was clever enough to figure it out.

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