70 Chapter 69: Arrival

Hours passed, and the group had to take short breaks because of the constant battles draining their stamina. Bie was fine, however, and would enter his Inner World during the brief respites, choosing to ponder and explore what he could do with the Remnants instead of Gazing.

The reason was because of the whispers that he had blocked off, which had been giving him a strong urge to interact with the floating orbs that were both from Remnants and the Ephemeral component he had received. He knew no spells, so using the component was still out of his reach, but the Remnants flickered and glowed whenever he walked by, as if waiting for something.

Lastly, he moved his spirit body to a large heap of ornate objects that he had received from the demihumans in Renthia. There were crowns, scepters, bracelets, goblets, earrings, even paintings, and so much more. They sat in that pile, unbothered, though he noticed that some of the floating orbs would linger around it, bathing the beautiful mound in dim glows that emulated both dawn and dusk.

As Bie grabbed a beaded bracelet, the blackened spheres reflecting a dark glint that casted over the marble gold string that bound it together, white particles of dust spread from his hand. The Remnants of Uris and Ulun floated over, seemingly interested, and so he handed it over to them. The orbs danced in the air, bobbing and flowing as a thin stream of light was emitted from the orb belonging to Ulun, and the necklace began to float along with them.

Bie was rather surprised, though he trusted that the orbs would not take something that would be harmful to them. He hadn't felt anything 'off' about the bracelet, but he thought to himself and realized there would be a great many things he wouldn't have any knowledge of. Although the Cassius Eyes could see through illusions and even see things that would normally be imperceptible, it wouldn't be all that helpful if he knew nothing of what he was seeing.

He surmised that he would have to experiment and test out his thoughts repeatedly in order for him to be sure of what things actually did. As this happened, his Inner World rumbled, and mighty tremors shook the yellow tiled floors. It seemed as if the area had expanded, and there was a new section off to the south in a previously empty place.

It was lined with terrace fences, and strong pillaring columns uplifted it as even more ancient looking flooring expanded below it. It was relatively wide, about twenty-two meters in width, and a small empty circle was scrawled onto the ground. He wandered over and the circle was lit aglow, thick particles rising to the empty sky in a leisured manner. The heap disappeared from where it laid and reappeared inside the circle, to Bie's amazement.

Nothing more could be done with this, however, and he felt a strong feeling that he was missing something. He shrugged his shoulders and once again arrived at the nexus of the world, noticing the creature that seemed to shimmer behind the imprint of Ekulech.

The creature started shaking, the tail behind it wagging as it ran up to Bie. It then began rubbing its head along Bie's calf, the slightly effeminate slated face shaking the grey mane of hair behind it. It seemed to glow at the same frequency as the hand axe floating around it, and Bie realized something.

It was Ekulech! He reached out a hand and placed it on its head, before proceeding to pet its hair. He noted that it felt smooth and silky, the lustrous hairs resembling fine threads woven with great care. He grinned to himself, giving Ekulech a nickname in his head.

'Silkie, after the beautiful hair you have. That, and your handle feels like its wrapped in silk now, at least midway through shattering. Thank you.' As if it could hear his thoughts, the creature became overjoyed, evident by the rapid glowing of both of its bodies. The hand axe glowed even brighter as Bie opened his eyes, and he clutched it in hand as he rose from where he sat.

"Are you guys ready?" He asked, stretching his body and getting the still black blood in his veins to flow in a lazy stream. He turned at the waist to look back at the resting Lulac and Wanxi, both on the side of the wall as they came to reconcile their hostility slightly. Gyuho already leaned against the wall, seemingly fit to start walking once again. He was munching on a piece of deep red jerky, his own fangs gleaming under the misty red light of the ceiling.

Wanxi nodded, and Lulac gave him a thumbs up. They began embarking down the passage once again, passing small streams and several tall metallic rocks arcing towards the ceiling. Many things here were red, and there was a heavy miasma about the place, almost as if something was lying in wait. There were also many Crystal Balls along the way, and the group quickly dispatched them to the best of their abilities.

"Hey, Bie? Why do your weapons keep breaking?" Lulac asked, noticing the broken shards that littered behind his feet in a dangerous trail. What's more, the bodies of the Crystal Balls were gouged, slashed, pierced, sure, but there were large shards embedded into their frames or even full halves of a weapon just sticking out of their cadaver.

"Dunno, they've just been doing that ever since I first held one." He replied in a mirthful voice, the feeling of fighting bringing him joy deep in his soul. It was important information to tell them anyways, as it would probably affect some strategy they came with down the line. His blue violet lips wore a radiant smile, and Wanxi had her eyes fixed to his face, not bothering to ask the question she held when she noticed Ekulech.

"Maybe it's a kind of physique?" Gyuho spoke up, breaking his usual silence as he pitched in. To tell the truth, he was quite interested in the strength Bie displayed, hoping to be able to gain such power and thew in his own ways. He felt as if he could one day exchange pointers with him, so he paid quite a bit of attention to his motions.

He noted that while they were powerful and quick, there was no technique to his movements. Instead, it was a mix of ferocity and innovation, coming up with quick shifting maneuvers and powerful sudden strikes with quite a bit of weight to them. Still, although impressive to him, it would probably come off as amateurish to someone who had toiled in the art of battle for years...

"Your attacks aren't of any technique I know of. What are they?" Lulac asked, engaging further in the conversation since Bie seemed quite amicable as of now. Bie's yellow topaz orbs slid over as he tilted his head towards him sideways, the irises sliding over to the very end of his eye.

"I haven't been able to learn any kind of technique. Trust me, I've tried, but it just won't work the way I want, haha." He giggled, remembering the time he spent in Renthia on his own as he studied several books he acquired, trying out the contents within. He understood them all conceptually, yet for some reason he simply couldn't achieve them physically. It was reminiscent of his time with Amitha.

"...Maybe it's a kind of physique?" Gyuho muttered to himself, oulling his hands into his pockets as he strode forward with the rest of the Pinions of Ire, who had begun moving once again. They would repeat this process of progress and rest until the day had changed, and even a bit afterwards.

Soon, they arrived before a small floating fissure that seemed to leak whirling lines of light that curled in a sphere. Bie walked up to the Path, willing the opening before him to open even further as a white healing sign appeared in his hand, floating directly in front of his palm. The three behind him did so as well, though it was unneeded as only one of them had to.

The lines spread out and emitted an encompassing glow, and the world before the four faded into nothingness.