005: Meteor

Divyat listened to his brother with rapt attention as he explained areas of the [Heart-Seeker] technique he didn't understand. While his comprehension was something legendary in and out of itself, there was always progress when two like minded people worked on a problem together. Collectively they had worked on all of his techniques in tandem, as it stands, his meridians were a little bit stressed, practicing the other techniques should be left for perhaps tomorrow or even better the end of the week so that his body would become acclimated to it's new found power.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you Divyat, the bow is not an extended battle weapon, if you're using it then let it be that you only have to utilize it once. That's the fundamental of the [Heart-Seeker] technique. It's goal is to pierce through any and all defense, hitting the heart every time you decide to make a move. You know the basics of the bow, especially the techniques we've both been trying to perfect. You have to keep a steady core and draw power from your center, it's the same principle, you just have to have a little mastery of Qi in addition to that. Any more questions?" Nivgyat asked as he smiled.

"Not really, you're basically just repeating what I already know. So far what I really want to know is if it's possible to apply the [Heart-Seeker] technique to another weapon. Like say the sword that I'd eventually have to pick up, or at least even a small dagger." Nivgyat put his hand under his chin to ponder the question before answering.

"Honestly I'm not so sure bro, when you think about it, [Heart-Seeker] is a technique that requires power, and to get that sort of power a build up is required. Which means to get maximum damage, you would probably have to pull your bow for close to 5 to 10 seconds. Perfect mastery and refinery of your Qi would probably let you use the technique a lot faster, but that would come after years of understanding. Now we should…"

*Boom! * *Whoosh!* *Crash!*

It all happened so suddenly, Divyat did not see it coming, but Nivgyat being at the peak of the foundation establishment realm was a lot more sensitive to the movements of Qi. There was a loud crash and following it a shockwave of powerful wind and Qi, it surged outwards through the forest at the base of the Ghadovara mountains, crumbling trees and sending the debris flying forwards the smash and crash into the brothers tree house. Nivgyat moved, pushing Divyat down as the wood, stone, dust and Qi ravaged their surroundings, peppering the brothers as chaos reigned supreme.

There was another loud explosion, but this one was a little bit farther away, but even at that the shockwaves from the second explosion still reached them, of course it was a lot more subdued than the first. Nivgyat got up, dragging a confused Divyat up, who at the moment was bleeding from his head. He felt a little woozy, but whatever dizziness he felt was quickly washed away when he notice the massive piece of wood that was stabbed clean through his brother's waist. But beyond that was the slowly rushing rivulets of life giving blood escaping from within his body.

"Nivgy-"

"Don't worry about it Divy, I'm a peak foundation establishment realm cultivator, something like this won't kill me, Though it does hurt like a bitch, and in light of that ,what the fuck is going on?" Nivgyat asked with a grunt as Divyat moved quickly to support his brother, turning to face the big hole that had now been torn in the wall of their tree house.

Both brothers were immediately transfixed in shock from what they were seeing, high above the sect that now had plums of smoke rising into the atmosphere, hundreds of airships bearing the sigil of the Imperial Rizal Sect bombarded the sect with beams and volleys of qi blasts and qi bombs. Even from here they could hear the screams, smell the smoke embraced with the smell of burnt flesh. It was horrific, and the sight alone was enough to create a shroud of horror on the brothers, and this was not considering the host of cultivators currently floating in the air, a variety of elementals attacks and techniques at play as the practitioners from the sect tried their best to put up a good defense and a counter attack.

"Mom?.... And Zhao Min? Nivgyat we have to go get them, we-"

Before Divyat could take any more steps forward he felt his brother's grip on his shoulder, his eyes were transfixed to the sky, and Divyat followed his gaze up, only to take two steps back in shock at what he was seeing. A massive meteor, blazing in all of it's glory was falling down at a rapid pace, the imperial fleet retreated, moving at a speed that was almost akin to light. Seeing that speed pretty much explained how they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started attacking so quickly, it was unbelievable.

Nivgyat didn't say anything else as he wrapped his arm around his brother's waist. He quickly picked up the small satchel that they had stashed Divyat's choice of techniques in earlier, hung it over his brothers neck, picked up a bow hanging on the main body of the tree that was carved from home along with a quiver filled with arrows before jumping out of the tree house. He landed hard on a tree that had been uprooted and was now laying at the base of their own treehouse. He grunted in pain as the landing jostled the wood that was stuck in his body, he took one look in the direction of the sect, paused then swiftly turned around and ran in the other direction, much to the shock of Divyat who he held tightly without even shaking.

"Nivgyat what are you doing! Mom's back there! And father! Not to mention Zhao Min, what are you doing? We can't run, stop! Stop!" but all of his pleas fell on deaf ears. As his brother picked up speed, even with his new found power, there was nothing he could do to stop Nivgyat, all of his struggles were akin to a child in the grip of an adult.

"Please-"

"Shut up Divy!" his brother's sharp voice shut him up as the elder sibling stopped moving before placing his brother in front of him.

"They're gone! They're all dead damnit! Look at the bloody sky! We'll both be dead too if we stay here! There's nothing to go back to, it's gone, all of it! Now shut the fuck up and run!" this time the only reply Divyat could give was a small hiccup as he followed behind his brother, running past green woods to snow capped hills, the giant conflagration of stone and fire drawing ever close to the earth, coming to bring an end to everything and everyone they both knew and loved, and as Divyat ran… both brothers never looked back.