66 New Patch

Irade

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Irade could hear singing. The woman's voice was wonderfully sad. She had no idea what she was singing, but the language sounded familiar and soothing.

Irade looked around, and realized she was lying on a bed. Silken drapes hung from above, obscuring her view of the singing person. She could tell that the singer was on the other side. Quickly, Irade got up and pushed the covers aside.

She was met with the scene of a desert.

Irade blinked, and rubbed her eyes. Yep, sand everywhere. But the wind was cool, and nary a cloud in the blue sky to block the sun's rays.

And that someone was still singing that song.

Irade crawled over to the end of the bed, to find a veiled girl sitting at the foot of the bed. She was the one singing the terribly beautiful song.

The veiled girl seemed to notice Irade getting up, and stopped singing. She looked up, only her bright green eyes visible.

"Hello," said Irade uncertainly.

She tried to think of what else to say, but couldn't think of anything.

"This is just a dream," said the veiled girl. She couldn't see it, but Irade knew the other girl was smiling.

Irade was confused.

"I'm dreaming?" She asked. "I thought I was in danger."

"You are," the veiled girl replied. "But it was important for you to come here."

Okay.

The veiled girl didn't say anything for a while, and simply looked back out to the desert.

"Why are we here?" Irade eventually asked.

"I'm here looking for the only man who ever loved me," sighed the girl, looking down. "He was a fool. Unable to navigate his emotions, and terribly possessive."

"But he did love me," she said, looking wistfully back at the sands. "Perhaps that's why I'm looking for him."

Irade privately thought that this guy sounded like a terrible person, but she really didn't want to get into other people's relationship drama.

"You're looking for him too," said the girl. "But only because he was given something that you need."

Irade looked out to the desert.

"So I have to come here in real life?" She asked, unable to keep the distaste put of her voice.

The veiled girl laughed; a beautiful sound, like a bubbling brook.

"Only if you want to," she giggled. "If you want to find what you need."

"Why can't they just give it to me directly?" Irade grumbled.

The veiled girl seemed to smile again, her eyes sad.

"Life is simply a series of unfortunate events," she said. "Especially for us women. Our strength comes from bearing with the pain of existence."

"That's bull," said Irade immediately.

The veiled girl seemed surprised.

"It is?"

"Yes," said Irade.

"Then how do you explain the pain you're going through?" She asked. "Are you saying your pain is meaningless?"

"I'm saying that any meaning I give my pain was made by me, and me alone," Irade replied. "Existence is a pain only if you let it be."

"Then why are you in so much pain?" Asked the veiled girl. "If you can truly choose your pain, why aren't you free of it?"

Irade didn't know how to answer that.

One again, Irade could tell that the veiled girl was smiling. Normally, she would be annoyed by this, but for some reason, Irade didn't mind. She knew the girl wasn't condescending to her or anything.

"It looks like you're still searching," she said. "Like my lover...promise me you'll find me when you have an answer?"

Her question was tinged with a hint of fear, as if she was scared Irade would forget her.

"I promise," said Irade without thinking. She didn't know why, but she wanted to comfort this girl in any way she could.

The veiled girl smiled again.

"I hope you find your answer soon," she said. "I'll be waiting."

And with that, Irade woke up.

***

Irade

April 30, 4:23 pm BT – 2:23 pm UT, Behind The Waterfall At The Gorge At The Iron Gate Pass, China

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Irade woke up screaming. She couldn't breathe, and it was hard to move. Her left arm felt like it was on fire, burning as she thrashed about.

All the while, her HUD was acting up.

[ERROR: Incompatible Equip]

[ERROR: Incompatible Equip]

[ERROR: Incompatible Equip]

Irade broke through the surface of the water, screaming.

[ERR-]

Bzzt!

The pain in her arm was still there, but duller now. She lay on the bank, breathing hard, her wet hair falling over her eyes.

[...Loading...]

[...Loading...]

[...Loading...]

She looked up to see Black Wind still fighting the bear-man. Black Wind was doing a lot worse; his side bleeding once again. That said, the bear-man also wasn't doing as good as before. He had multiple new wounds over his arms, face, and legs.

Irade grit her teeth as she looked down at her left arm. To her shock, it still wasn't there. All that was left was a healed stump.

How was she supposed to fight like this?

Ding!

[Download: COMPLETE]

[New Equip Accepted!]

[Requirements: Met!]

[New Skill: Unlocked!]

Irade blinked as she finally paid some attention to the HUD.

[New Skill: Left Arm of the Djinn]

…

Wow.

Ignoring the rising rage she felt at the HUD, Irade looked at the Skill Description:

[Left Arm of the Djinn – Lv 0: Imbues left arm with a Desire.]

[Skill Duration: 10 mins]

[Cost: Pain]

[Cooldown: 24 hrs]

[Desires Available: Wrath – Lv 0: Max Power]

Wow that seemed pretty cool. Pity she didn't have a left arm to use it with.

She glanced back up at the fight, just in time to see Black Wind's wound open up again. He howled as the bear-man came in for the kill.

"NO!"

Her panic instantly morphed into fury as she activated ['Dash'], immediately getting in the way of the bear-man's attack. She watched as the claw reached out towards her face. Instinctively, she activated [Left Arm of the Djinn].

Something hot and electric rushed down her left shoulder, giving her phantom feelings of her left arm. She instinctively raised her arm.

Her solid, not at all ripped off, red symbol marked left arm.

SLASH!

Irade grit her teeth as the claw slashed into her hand and...stopped. Both she and the bear-man blinked in surprise.

Sure enough, his claw had pierced the skin of her hand, but it hand stopped there. Not one to waste an opportunity, Irade kicked the man straight in the crotch.

Her blow landed right on target, with a satisfying "crunch." The bear-man went cross-eyed, and his entire body stiffened.

At that same moment, Black Wind attacked, rushing out from behind Irade. Somehow, the bear-man managed to dodge Black Wind's fangs.

"I...will not…fall..." the bear-man moaned, struggling to stay on his feet.

"Just die!" Irade yelled back, moving to attack once more.

This time, the bear-man didn't even attempt to counter-attack. He was too busy focusing on recovering. Irade took full advantage, landing blows anywhere she could. After a few hits, the bear-man started to dodge more seriously. Irade was surprised; she felt it too.

Her strength had gone way up.

Was this the power of [Left Arm of the Djinn – Wrath]?

Didn't matter. She just needed to beat this guy.

With a roar, she redoubled her efforts, attacking as fast and hard as she could. After a few more hits, the bear-man was getting visibly annoyed. Not to mention, he seemed to be recovering at an alarmingly fast rate.

As he dodged another kick, the bear-man lifted his leg, ready to stomp down. Irade could not let him do that earth-shaker move again. Not in an enclosed area like this.

"AROOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Howling, Black Wind entered the fight, sinking his fangs into the bear-man's thigh. The bear man roared in pain, slashing at Black Wind, but Irade was too fast. She blocked the attack with her arm, then used her other arm to punch him straight in the solar plexus.

He was sent flying back through the waterfall.

Irade looked at her new left arm. It seemed to be vibrating with power, the mystical marks around it glowing red. The more she focused on it, the more it seemed to…

No. Now was not the time. But as she put her arm down, she noticed the bear-man's knife, lying on the floor.

She picked it up, and used ['Dash'] to get to the other side of the waterfall.

Black Wind and the bear-man were struggling; the wolf was using the bear-man's size the same way Irade had at the beginning of her fight. Every now and then, he would step on the water, running on it for a few seconds, before jumping back onto the bear-man to attack him.

But the bear-man was getting used to Black Wind's attacks. He managed to grab Black Wind's tail.

Before he could do anything, Irade had already slashed the bear-man's knees. The bear-man blinked, and dropped Black Wind in surprise. As the wolf bounded away, the bear-man looked down.

Suddenly, his body collapsed. His calves had been cut off from the knees, so cleanly that they held their integrity for a few seconds, before the running water knocked the bear-man over.

Irade knew better than to waste this opportunity for some sort of line. She immediately used ['Dash'] to get over to the bear-man, and sliced his neck.

The bear man's face went white, his mouth opening and closing, his eyes wide. A bubble of blood burst from his mouth, and his head rolled off his neck, into the water.

SPLASH!

His body followed, crashing into the water before quickly sinking to the bottom, along with the head and calves. Irade quickly made her way to shore, and watched as blood rose from the remains, tainting the crystal clear water with red.

Irade looked over to the other side of the waterfall. Black Wind stood there, also watching the dead body of the bear-man slowly bleed out. He looked up, and they met eyes.

Slowly, the wolf stepped forward. He walked forward over the running water, past the waterfall, until he was in front of Irade. He did not look away from her once.

Then he started licking Irade's new arm.

Oh no.

Irade looked at her arm, and she could feel it buzzing. She had been vaguely aware of it this entire time, but the adrenaline had blocked most of it.

But now that the fight was over, she could feel her mind unblocking it.

The [Cost].

Pain.

Electric fire exploded in Irade's left arm. She may have screamed, but she couldn't tell. All she knew was that the world was hell, and that her body was the fault. There was no end to it in sight, just never-ending wave after wave of torture pulsing from her left arm, right until everything went black.