Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Arrival

The sounds of a hammer hitting the anvil filled the room, and the force of the impact shook the air itself. Ryun had limited ways of improving his blacksmithing, he had no room for a skill, so the only thing that he could do was to learn on his own.

But without specialized skills or other types of powers, his mastery of it would never progress that far on its own. Though there were ways, one of which he was trying out right now. Creating items of greater rarity could be accomplished in many different ways. Class perks, skills, even some Cultivation techniques. He had none of those, but he could purchase formations that mimicked the same thing.

He smashed with his hammer, the formation beneath the metal flashed and went to work, imbuing Essence into the metal he was working on. It wasn’t anything special, but it was practice. As he raised his hammer again, he suddenly stopped, as the presence in his mind went from being far away to much closer.

He turned his head, abandoning his work and walked out of the forge and then the fort, to stand at the edge of the cliff on top of the mountain. Selia had been moving closer for the last few months, he had been unsure as to where she was heading. She might still not be going toward his sect, but… He reached out with his mind and spoke.

“Selia,” he sent simply.

“Ryun,” she sent back.

“You are close,” he added.

“I… yes, I was planning on more time to figure out what to say. But we managed to unexpectedly shorten our trip.”

“Me, Erdania, our people, what is left of them at least. I… I’d like to come for a visit, if you will allow us.”

Ryun tilted his head, he knew that things in the core were bad, but Selia’s sect was supposed to be one of the biggest. He wondered what had happened, but he could tell by the way Selia’s emotions fluctuated, that it was not a conversation to have right now.

“How many people are with you?”

“I have around a thousand, mostly warriors and crafters that wanted to follow me,” Selia told him slowly.

Ryun wondered what exactly she wanted, but he decided that speaking in person might be better. Their mind connection was private, and with the way they could feel each other’s emotions there was no chance of them hiding something. But also, they hadn’t spoken this way often over the last few years, there were things in between them that they didn’t talk about. He didn’t know what those things were, but he could tell that they were there.

“I guess that our talk about everything can wait until we meet in person. I will give you permission to pass through my territories. Your people and you are guests, and I expect you to behave in that manner,” Ryun sent to her. The sect rules about guests were fairly clear, and Ryun believed them to be sufficient at the moment.

“Of course,” Selia returned.

“Good, I’ll send people to greet you and escort you to my home,” Ryun sent. It seemed like things were starting to get more interesting again.

“They are coming here?” Anrosh asked in a tone that Ryun could recognize fairly well by now. It was her defeated and resigned to her fate. It was somewhat amusing, to him at least. He doubted that she felt the same.

“They are, I am thinking of sending one of our patrols out to meet them and escort them here,” Ryun told her.

“You want to meet High Rankers and an army of her people with one patrol?” Anrosh asked him, her eye twitching.

“I don’t think that it is an army,” Ryun answered.

“Regardless, you can’t send a small patrol to meet High Rankers! Do you want to insult them?” Anrosh leaned forward in her chair, placing both palms on the desk in front of her and rising out of the seat slightly.

“I don’t think that she would be insulted.”

Anrosh closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation. “She might not, but her people will on her behalf.”

“What would you suggest then?” Ryun asked.

“I’ll go,” Anrosh said as she stood up fully and walked around the table with a slight limp. “You said that they are bringing a thousand people? We should have at least half that, and… I’ll need to gather representatives from all the major factions in the sect. And I’ll need to borrow Lesamitrius, he was in the Tournament City and he fought in the tournament, that earned him a lot of respect which her people will value.”

Ryun didn’t really see the need. He did understand that it was part of the culture, and he had adopted some of the customs. Ending wars and conquests with just a single demonstration of power appealed to him, he didn’t need to lay waste to the entire city just to win. After the news of him being a High Ranker and his past came out no one wanted to fight bloody wars with him. Emberhorn had been the only one, an old and desperate fool that had done that.

“Fine, if that is what you think is best.”

“And we are not meeting them in Wolf’s Grove,” Anrosh told him.

Ryun blinked. “Why not? It is our home base.”

“Because it is simply too small, you want to add a thousand people here? This city is underdeveloped, we will escort them to Consequence.”

Ryun shrugged; it didn’t matter much to him. He had moved here because he could build things that he needed, because they had a source of high tiered aspect nearby. And, perhaps in some small part because he liked the quiet, because he wanted peace to focus on improving himself.

“Alright then, you can deal with all of that. I’ll just be there to meet them.”

“I know that they are your… friends? Whatever,” she waved her hand. “But I would like to ask you to try and act like a real Sect Head, at least in the initial meeting. We will have Embesh and other important people there. This might not be a big deal for you, but it is for our people. This will show them that our sect is not only strong, but well connected and… important I guess. That matters to people that are putting their trust in us, that are trying to rise in our sect.”

“I can understand that,” Ryun nodded. “Then, I guess that I’ll put on a show.”

It took almost two months for them to arrive in Consequence. Ryun stood on a balcony on the main fort of the inner part of the city. What used to be Emberhorn’s residence. He looked at the procession coming into the city in the distance, too far away for his eyes to really see anything but a mass moving forward. His senses, though, could reach that far.

“So, should we be worried?” Ryun asked.

Tali tilted her head as she looked in the direction of the procession passing through the gate. “I doubt it,” Tali added.

“Really?”

Tali kept her eyes on the gate. She wore a large cloak over her robe, with a bulky shoulder pads that gave it more room in the back. It looked weird, but she wore it to disguise what was on her back. Which was her wings that had started to grow back. She had regained some of her perks, and a few skills. The healing process seemed to be accelerating the more exposed she was to the totem, or rather the more time passed. Soon, she would be completely healed.

Then, Tali turned and glanced at him. “Eerv might’ve tried to keep my name a secret, but… I went out of my way to try and make trouble for him. People knew, but… My death happened three hundred years ago, even if someone remembers it… even when I was alive people used to name their children after me. It would take someone old, who knew me, to recognize me. I doubt that anyone down there is someone I used to know.”

“Selia and Erdania were born back then,” Ryun added.

Tali raised a finger and tapped it against her chin. “Hm… I met a lot of people, I can’t remember most of their names. I think that I did meet Selia once, if what I overheard over the years about the Spear of Sorrow is true. I think that it was during one of the parties that her sect held. I was talking with one of Zenshuen Sect heads when a small child run up. She didn’t know who I was, and she wasn’t supposed to be there. The Sect Head chastised her and sent her back to her family. I think that he called her Selia. Perhaps it even isn’t the same one.”

Ryun nodded; he wasn’t that worried if he was being honest. It wasn’t like there was any real reason for Tali to keep herself hidden anymore, or at least there wouldn’t be any reason in a short while. Her power was coming back, and he was here to protect her in the meantime.

“I doubt that anyone could even recognize me with these,” she waved at her face.

Ryun couldn’t see it that clearly, but he knew that her face was still scarred. He didn’t particularly care if someone found her out. If they were a danger to her they would die, it was as simple as that. He had given her his word that she would be safe in his sect, she was a part of it, a very important member. Though, he did wonder about the future.

“Did you give any thought about what you are going to do?” Ryun asked.

“What am I going to do?” She asked in return.

“You know what I mean, when you regain all of your power. Will you leave the sect?” Ryun turned around so that he was facing her.

She turned as well and leaned her left elbow on the guardrail. “If I am being honest, I don’t know. My sect is long gone, the people that I used to know and care for… They’ve all probably moved on.”

“You think that they’ve forgotten you?” Ryun asked.

“Maybe,” she said, letting her guard down. It was rare, but Ryun had seen it happen in his presence before, when they were all alone.

“What do you want to do?” Ryun asked.

“I… what I always wanted. To advance and reach the peak,” she answered. “It’s been so long.”

“I understand that,” Ryun told her. “I like having you in the sect. And I value your advice, even if at times I don’t follow it. I don’t want you to think that I don’t listen to it.”

She chuckled. “Who am I to say anything, the way you are doing things is obviously working for you.”

“It is what I believe a path should always be. A personal journey, not something borrowed from someone else,” Ryun told her.

She looked pensive for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes, you might be right about that.”

“So, will you stay?”

“I… I do like this sect, and… you’ve helped me more than anyone else ever had, more than most ever would. I do owe you for that.”

“I don’t want you to stay because of some debt, you’ve more than paid it in my mind. If you stay, I will make you a Sect Leader. I know that it is a step down from what you used to be, but I don’t run the sect in the way that most other Sect Heads do. Anrosh will always be my right hand and run everything in the Twilight Melody. But I am sure that we could find a territory or two for you to do whatever you wanted. As long as you followed my rules that is.”

She turned her eyes to the city; the procession was getting closer to the inner walls. “I’ll be honest, before… I used to be a part of a group that tried to make the world be the way we wanted it to be. Now… I don’t think that I ever want to be responsible for so much and so many. Perhaps just being a Sect Leader wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Well, the offer is there if you want it,” Ryun said as the procession reached the gate and Embesh met greeted them. “So, what is our decision, you coming in with me or not?”

“I think… yes. Let’s see if anyone remembers me,” Tali said.

Ryun sat in what had been Emberhorn’s throne room. Well, the Sect Heads receiving room, though, Emberhorn had built his city and buildings in the style of some Kingdoms in the East of the Settled Territories. They had redecorated, and by they, he of course meant other people. Anrosh oversaw everything, but the end result was perhaps even more pretentious than what it used to be when Emberhorn lived here.

The room was long with pillars on each side. Banners with the colors of the Twilight Melody Sect hung on the insides of them, violet and black in color, or at least that is what they told him. On the side walls were murals, for which they paid… more than Ryun would’ve if he was being honest, but he had given Anrosh reign to do whatever she wanted.

Consequence was the biggest city in their sect, and while Ryun didn’t spend a lot of his time here, it was still a place that Anrosh insisted they used for when meeting with foreign dignitaries. It was meant to impress and instill a certain feeling into people. Awe, respect, even fear.

The murals on the walls were depictions of the important moments in the sect’s history. Ryun was… almost surprised that there was so much that had happened that they could make several pieces.

The first image on the right was of Ryun, alone in the woods surrounded by wolves. It was the day he arrived in the Infinite Realm, a… exaggerated depiction. In it, he was fighting the entire pack, when in reality he had killed only one of Ereclaw’s pack.

The second mural was again Ryun, fighting against Fier and his warriors, hundreds against him alone, with Anrosh and young Kri behind him. He didn’t feel comfortable with most of the depictions, but… in the end he understood that such things were important.

The others depicted other important moments. Ryun’s fight against the Black Viper Sect in Ven’oran, the fight against the monster swarm, Eerv’s fight against Emberhorn. Ryun in the tournament. It was all exaggerated, a fantasy version of the events. But it served a purpose at least, though Ryun couldn’t enjoy it fully with his eyes.

The warriors stood guard on the sides, wearing violet and black, with light armor that the sect had started to produce from monster hide and spears in their hands. Most of the warriors were taught the spear, though the sect didn’t have strict rules on what Paths and fighting styles the warriors had to follow, not like what some other sects did. The Twilight Melody Sect did have three main Paths, as was customary form many sects. The first was one of Eerv’s old paths, the Path of the Spearman, since the spear was what most learned. The second was Ryun’s path, the Path of the Final End. And the last was the Path of the Unbreakable Wall. The current recommendation was for people to pick one of Ryun’s improved paths and take the spear focused path as their secondary.

Many of the new generation were all following those paths.

The warriors in the room, for the most part didn’t. A few had the Path of the Spearman, but most were the old guard from Eerv’s days. Which meant that they followed the Path of the Venomous Strike. All were high Monarch Realm, with two of them being Heavenly.

Ryun was sitting on a throne at the end of the room, a few steps above the floor, with Tali at his side. The old throne was a large chair made out of stone and precious stones. Ryun had it replaced for a more modest, Roman style throne. It had no back, but it did have two arm rests on the sides. Behind Ryun was the biggest piece of art. It was a formation style art, something that Ryun hadn’t seen before.

It was visible even to his eyes, though he knew that it looked different for him. Behind the throne, taking up the entire wall was a hole, a vortex of nothingness. The formation worked off of Void Crystals, and it pulled in surrounding air Essence and consumed it. To everyone else it looked like… well, like a black hole, streaked with violet sparks and mists with the core of black. To Ryun it was a maelstrom of Void Essence.

Either way, it was… impressive and intimidating. Ryun had seen the effects on many foreign visitors that had come to talk with him over the years. Seeing the looks on their faces when they saw it was… priceless. For that alone, he was glad that he had let Anrosh do whatever she wanted.

It was thematic, and he did like it. They called him the Undying Void, sitting on a throne with a background of a swirling nothingness was fitting.

“Remember what I told you,” Tali said.

“Of course,” Ryun added.

The great door at the other end of the room opened, and his visitors entered. Ryun had followed their progress through the palace with his sense, but now, seeing them with his own eyes was… different. Selia was now fully present in his mind, but he tried to ignore her, just as she was trying to ignore him, or rather their connection. He saw her eyes first meet his then move over to what was behind him. There was a slight hitch in her step, that was more pronounced in those behind her, or at least most of them. Erdania didn’t even pause, her steps sure and firm, the others all paused for a moment.

Anrosh was leading them, Lesiamitirus at her side.

Behind them came Selia and Erdania, followed by six people. Two of them, Ryun had known who they were as soon as they entered his range—Reki and Eari. He had heard people in the city comment on Eari’s presence, heard some call him young master. They had bowed to him in respect, and some even wondered what his return meant, though the former Black Viper Population wasn’t that large in the sect now.

Ryun disregarded the guards behind them, though all four were Immortal. He looked only at the two women in that were walking toward him. It had been a long time since he had seen them, and the last time… they didn’t have a chance to really talk.

Erdania was the same as he remembered her, walking tall and sure. Though he did detect… a stiffness to her gait. Selia hid hers better, but with the connection they shared she couldn’t hide anything from him. Nor could he hide anything from her. Her expression changed and she grimaced, as she obviously felt his emotions and knew exactly the same thing he did.

They reached the base of the steps and Anrosh stepped forward.

“Sect Head,” she greeted him, with all of the ceremony that these kind of meetings required. That meant that she bowed her head and then stepped to the side, gesturing at the visitors. “I bring you High Rankers, Selia Ha Jhan, and Erdania Xi Jhan, who have come to our sect in friendship.”

She didn’t call them Sect Heads, or even Sect Leaders. That told him a lot about what had happened to them.

Both of them inclined their heads at him respectfully, a bow of an equal. Technically that could be taken as an insult, Ryun was a Sect Head and they were not. But their High Ranker title did carry some weight and he was one too, that did make them equal in one way. He didn’t really care about that stuff. He returned their bow exactly the same and then smiled at them.

“Welcome to Twilight Melody Sect,” Ryun said in a loud voice. “Your visit is unexpected, but welcome.”

It was what Tali had told him to say. He wished that he could just ignore ceremony and speak with them in private, but… The Twilight Melody Sect had gotten too large for that now. He couldn’t fail his people by breaking with all of their traditions, he had changed enough things already.

“We greet you, Sect Head,” Selia said. “And we thank you for your hospitality.”

“Of course,” Ryun returned. “We are friends, after all. My home, is your home.”

“Thank you, Sect Head,” Selia said. “My people are… tired, I’d like your permission for them to stay in your city, for a while at least.”

“They may,” Ryun agreed. “Now, since they are so tired, I’ll have my people find room for them to rest. You may help them settle, but afterward, I would like it if you would be available for a… private conversation.”

“As you will, Sect Head,” Selia said and they bowed again.

The formalities out of the way, they turned and were escorted out. Ryun sighed, he wished the times when he could just speak openly about everything were still here. But, even he had learned over the years. Appearances mattered. Being friendly with them was one thing, being overly familiar or disrespectful—at least what people in the sects considered to be disrespectful—was another, and word would spread fast.

At least he wouldn’t need to wait long for their chat, and then he would finally learn the real reasons as to why they had come.