Chapter 71: The Echo of the Frontier – The Mist's First Blood
I. Beyond the Wall
The Herald of the Void soared through the sky like a swift and silent shadow. The runic glyphs on its hull hummed, vibrating with the intent of its master. As the ship spiraled downward, Samael stood at the bow for several seconds, scanning the horizon with the icy gaze of one who has seen far too many battles.
—"Do you know why I brought you here?" he asked, his voice echoing in the wind.
Elara, standing beside him, adjusted the gloves Violeta had gifted her after the acceptance ceremony with a steady hand. She looked toward the north, where the sun never fully reached. —"To prove if my Winter can survive outside the garden," she replied, never taking her eyes off the wasteland.
A barely visible smile crossed Samael's face. —"The tournament gave you a place. The ceremony gave you a name. But only real blood will give you the confidence to hold them," he pointed his Odachi toward a canyon covered in purple mist. "Down there lies a nest of Corrupted Bone Scorpions. They are no ordinary beasts; they have fed on Abyss Qi. It is not enough to face them… you must survive them."
Elara swallowed hard. The morning chill was nothing compared to the weight of the task. —"Must I kill them all?" she asked, squaring her shoulders.
Samael shook his head slowly. —"You must survive them. I will only watch. Down there, neither my name nor my shadow can protect you."
They descended via the energy tether blooming from the stern of the Herald of the Void. The moment Elara's feet touched the rock, the temperature plummeted twenty degrees. The Qi in the air was dense and fouled, as if every breath cost a portion of her strength.
II. The Dance in the Rift
The ground exploded without warning. A scorpion the size of a funeral carriage emerged from the rift, its claws covered in pulsing red runes. Two more followed, their multiple eyes glowing like venomous coals.
For a moment, Elara felt a sting of panic. Her mind flooded with memories of her lost childhood, of when she survived by hiding rather than fighting. Not now, she thought. Not in front of Samael. Not in front of myself.
—"Mist Art: Veil of a Thousand Steps."
Her body dissolved into mist before the lead stinger could reach her. The haze swirled in spirals, dodging a pincer, and reappeared at the flank of the largest monster. Elara channeled Qi into her palm. —"Deep Frost Touch."
She placed her hand on the joint of its leg. The ice began as a spiderweb, then expanded in a sudden explosion. She felt the monster's resistance—the heat of corruption fighting to repel her cold. But the frost was tenacious. With a spin, Elara kicked the frozen area, and the leg shattered, bone shards falling like rain.
The scorpion shrieked, an unnatural sound that reverberated through the rock. The other two lunged at her with a hunger for blood. —"Do not hesitate," Samael's voice rang in her mind, cold and cutting. "Mercy toward the monster is cruelty toward yourself."
Elara gritted her teeth and, while dodging a lateral strike, let her core spin at maximum pressure. The air around her turned white, frost coating everything. —"Domain: Winter Garden!"
From the ground, dozens of ice spears erupted, impaling the two charging scorpions. One was merely wounded, but the other was trapped on its back, its legs kicking in a vain attempt to escape the freeze. The crippled scorpion, still dangerous, tried to flee, but Elara decapitated it with a blade of frozen wind.
Silence returned to the canyon. Elara panted, the Qi flickering inside her like a campfire on the verge of going out. She felt both empty and powerful; her eyes shone with a new light. The fear was still there, but determination had taken root. From above, Samael descended in silence, arms crossed.
The System analyzed, its voice for Samael alone:
[Disciple Elara: Combat Sync: 81%. Efficient Qi usage. New sub-technique learned: Silent Mist Spear.
Flaw: Hesitation when delivering a lethal blow, but improving.]
Samael did not smile, but his gaze softened. —"Well done. Your technique is solid. But your instinct is still too human."
Elara, wiping black blood from her cheek, whispered: —"They are beasts..." —"They are enemies," Samael corrected, kneeling by the largest corpse. "And speaking of enemies… look at this."
III. The Disturbing Discovery
Using the Hand of the Usurper, Samael extracted the nucleus of the largest scorpion. Elara, expecting to see a blue or green gem, recoiled at the sight of a black orb streaked with purple veins. She felt a dark vibration within it, akin to the Abyss itself.
—"Is that...?" she asked, her voice trembling. Samael nodded. —"Abyss Qi… and even worse, look at the rune on the shell."
Elara crouched and saw a mark etched by fire: an Eye surrounded by Purple Lightning. The System vibrated violently in Samael's mind:
[Alert! Trace detected of the Sect of the Purple Light.]
[Analysis: They have been experimenting on local beasts, injecting them with chaos to create a siege army.]
[Mission Activated: "Cut the Infection." Find the source of the corruption on the frontier.]
Samael stood up, his face hardening. —"Someone is breeding monsters in our backyard. Are you ready for a real hunt, disciple?"
Elara felt the fear return, but she transformed it into ice. —"If they threaten the clan, I will freeze them down to their very souls."
IV. The Trail of Corruption
As they descended further into the canyon, Samael taught Elara how to detect traces of corruption: cracks in the rock where Qi did not flow, puddles of black water where small scorpion larvae swam with violet eyes. —"They do not just seek to control beasts," Samael explained, "they seek to pervert the land itself. Look: where the mist is purple, the corruption is deepest."
Elara learned quickly. Using the technique "Glimmering Mist Eye," she perceived an anomalous energy flow leading to a secondary rift, hidden from plain sight. —"This way," she whispered, pointing. "I feel… something like a song, but broken."
They entered the rift and soon found themselves in a subterranean chamber. Hundreds of scorpion eggs, already stained with purple Qi, vibrated to the rhythm of a dark melody that only they—sensitive to the void and frost—could perceive.
—"What do we do?" Elara asked, her eyes wide with horror. Samael gripped the hilt of the Odachi of the Ravenous Eclipse. —"There is no redemption for what is already corrupted. We must purge it. But if you can, freeze all the Qi before it destroys the eggs; that way, you will learn to control your power at scale."
Elara, her resolve tempered in battle, invoked "Eternal Winter." A wave of frost and mist covered the eggs, freezing the chaos Qi before it could explode. Samael, using the void, absorbed the residual energy and sealed the rift with a dimensional barrier.
V. Meanwhile… in the Citadel
In the Morningstar Citadel, life moved forward. The training plaza was a hive of energy. Kael and Cedric watched the battlefield with hawk-like eyes. —"That boy, Joren (Silent Wind)... he has potential," Cedric commented, watching the youth topple three opponents with invisible gusts of wind. Kael, always demanding, grunted: —"He lacks aggression, but Eris can teach him how to burn."
In the tower, Seraphina rocked Celeste and felt a tremor in the family Qi. The little girl suddenly stopped laughing and looked toward the north, as if seeing beyond mountains and skies. —"Daddy…" Celeste whispered, and an invisible wave of Qi shattered a vase on the mantle. Seraphina pulled her close, murmuring words of calm. —"Easy, little one. He will return. But the peace is about to end."
VI. Epilogue: The Breach
After hours of tracking, Samael and Elara reached the end of the canyon. There, hidden behind an optical illusion that Samael dissipated with a void wave, they found an unstable teleportation portal. From the other side, the air vibrated with human voices, the clatter of armor, and active runes.
Through the veil, they saw an outpost of the Sect of the Purple Light: hooded figures controlling a small army of beasts and machines, feeding the corruption directly from purple artifacts.
—"They are preparing a silent invasion," Samael muttered. "If they break through, we won't just lose territory. Abyss Qi could infect the entire frontier."
Elara materialized ice daggers in each hand. —"What do we do, Master?" Samael unsheathed the Odachi of the Ravenous Eclipse, the black blade devouring the meager light of the tunnel. —"We show them why the Morningstars are the masters of the darkness. Attack first, Elara. Do it for the clan. I will cover your shadow."
Elara pushed her mind to the limit, channeling the lesson she had learned: fear was now only an echo. With a silent cry, she leapt into the portal, unleashing Winter and Mist upon the invaders. Samael followed, expanding the void and space, closing the rift behind them to ensure no enemy escaped.
The echo of the frontier would ring for days. Winter had arrived, and the Mist's first blood was only the beginning.