Page 90 of The Wind Dancer
A huge shadow moved on my left.
I stopped, pressing myself against the wall, and held my breath. The sound was getting closer and closer, and I really didn’t like what I heard. It sounded like someone sharpening their claws on a rock. I gripped the handle of my dagger tighter, but strangely enough, my heartbeat was steady. The fear was gone. The Sanctuary had changed me much more than I thought. Encountering the creatures of Distortion no longer made me afraid; instead, I felt the thrill of a hunt. For some reason, I was absolutely certain that the way I was now, I could have killed those creatures I encountered the night when this whole mess started.
I listened, feeling my even heartbeats. But no one came. The unsettling sounds stopped, too. Was the creature scared? Or maybe it had a patrol route? I didn’t have the time to stop and worry about it for long; I had to keep moving.
Although I needed to reach the highest point of the city, the path I had to take kept leading deeper down, and there was something almost amusing in that. I slid through the shadows, moved down slime-covered steps, and across rusty metal walkways that buckled under my weight. A distant rumble built in the air. It wasn’t a sound so much as it was a feeling. It felt as if the sewer itself had begun to breathe — a labored, painful, gasping kind of breathing. It was rhythmic. I could feel it through my body; the pulse pounded in my temples.
Another side passage opened to the right. The air there was filled with the scent of burnt things, a mixture of herbs, ashes, and blood. Mei Lin said that thaumaturges used such mixtures to summon Distortion. Somewhere in there, they were burning incense, spilling guts on the floor, nailing them into shapes with black bronze nails, drawing summoning circles, and trying to call forth ... something that shouldn’t answer.The Sanctuary’s words surfaced in my mind:The purpose of a dragonblood’s existence is to protect reality from the Distortion.I couldn’t help but grin. It was funny how my personal goals aligned with what the dragonblood were created for.
Things got worse the deeper in I went. I ran into twisted glyphs on the walls. They were drawn very recently. The blood didn’t even have time to congeal or dry. They pulsed in a frantic rhythm, as if they weren’t painted, but grotesque ulcerous growths on the walls. The Distortion felt me coming, and I could feel my ears buzzing, my legs getting heavier, and I was now covered in sweat. But I pressed on, clutching the handle of my dagger.
I took a few more steps, and my intuition suddenly screamed: Danger! Without thinking, I rushed forward. The walls closed behind me with a loud crash, cutting off my escape route, and the Broken Seal Cult members slowly emerged from the tunnel ahead, followed by their creatures.
They looked repulsive. Their robes hung like tattered funeral shrouds, covered with dark symbols that reeked of filth. Each of them had been distorted. It was subtle at first glance, but if you looked closely, you could see their flesh flow like molten wax. Unnaturally swollen muscles, twisted bodies and limbs, it all told me of their distorted nature.
The creatures that followed them were different from the ones I had seen before. But I felt that they had something in common. The essence of Distortion oozed out of them, like pus from an infected wound, that same dark billowing smoke that didn’t belong to this world. I looked at the flicker of bones, the exposed nerves, and the glowing voids where their eyes should have been.
There was a flash.
The world exploded. My face burned, and I heard that voice in my head again, the one that had called me Tian Fengbao.
“Listen carefully, descendant. The mnemonic package has been activated to increase your chances of survival. I’m assessing the situation.”
I fell to one knee, not from pain, but from the weight of knowledge. It struck me, melting everything inside like lava. It made me look at the situation in a completely different way.
“The entities in front of you are lower circle demons. They are more like spiritual parasites who have gained pseudo-flesh than real demons. But in your current state, they can be dangerous for you to take on, especially in large numbers. They are called into reality by an entity of Distortion called the Mother of Change. You shouldn’t learn her true name, or she might put her mark on you. You’re not strong enough to burn it out of your soul yet. These creatures feed off the remnants of the will of those who called them. Each of them has a Distorted essence inside of them. You can absorb it, but be careful when you do, because you’ll need a purification ritual. Otherwise, the marks on your spiritual essence will be irreversible.”
I took a deep breath. The air burned my lungs. Absorption...
I don’t know how, but I knew. If you killed the opponent, the life force embodied in the essence could become yours. But you won’t be able to hold more than your maximum.
“Your task is to destroy the creatures and cleanse reality from the Distortion. Judging by the current state of things,a first circle ritual for the Mother of Change is being held somewhere nearby. Stopping the ritual is the priority. If you’re successful, new mnemonic packages will be unlocked.”
My chest felt tight. The mnemonic package burned away like rice paper over a flame. Now it was up to me, and I was ready.
The cultists were standing still, preparing for a coordinated attack. The creatures didn’t wait at all. One jumped forward with a hiss. Its claws were like blades, it had a long snake-like neck, and an ugly, flat head with faceted eyes on one half of its face.
Everything happened so naturally, as if I had done it thousands of times. I lunged forward while activating Basic Enhancement, and my dagger practically found the creature’s throat on its own.
The creature’s head separated from its body with a wet crunch. Black blood hissed as it spilled onto the stone. And with it came the essence.
It hung in the air like a spider web woven from poisonous green light. It knew I was looking at it, and suddenly it contracted, forming a mirror. For a moment, I saw myself in it... but that version of me had scales on his face, and his eyes burned with the same green fire.
“Absorb and use it. But remember, you aren’t him.”
I drew this filth into me. It tasted like molten metal. And it felt like glass was cutting me from the inside out. But more importantly, my essence meter was full again. Behind my cloth mask, my lips spread into a wide grin. These fools were trapped here with me!
“Die, scum,” I practically hissed, and I felt a mad desire to kill in me.
The cultists screeched and immediately rushed to the attack.
I rushed forward. The essence flowed through my veins, imbuing me with the power of the wind. A storm raged in my chest, and the wind whispered — purify the Distorted ones.
I followed the wind’s whispers and slammed into the fastest cultist.
There was a loud crunch. The distorted bones snapped like twigs under my knee. A step to the side. Then a sharp twist. My dagger sliced through the cultist’s neck, sliding right between the vertebrae, and the distorted blood hit my face, burning like acid. But I wasn’t me anymore.
I was the wind. The fierce gust of a hurricane. I was Tian Fengbao, the Heavenly Storm purifying the world.
