Chapter 634

Chapter 634

The withdrawal from Castle JiangHu had only just begun and already the situation looked dire, but Akanai was never one to back down from a challenge.

Parsing through Sent reports as she sat on the grassy plains of Central, she kept track of the Castles situation while simultaneously striving to remain calm and relaxed. Though she might be forced to move sooner if the situation deteriorated further, her part in todays battle was not set to begin for another hour or two yet. The Enemy Commander surprised her with how readily he committed his Demons and Peak Experts to battle, but unless he was willing to sacrifice his strongest elites, there was no way they could hold the entire Castles forces in place long enough for the other Defiled to catch up. She had confidence the Warriors of the Empire would hold fast before the Enemys onslaught and wholly expected matters to proceed as planned, which meant all she could do for now was sit and wait.

All in all, this gambit had the potential to end disastrously for the Empire for little to no gain, but as they saw when the Enemy almost took Castle JiangHu, the alternative was even worse. Still, Akanai disliked Nian Zus plan when she first heard it and nothing had changed since, but she hadnt known the reason for her disapproval until she arrived in the Castle and took part in the battle firsthand. The complicated bait and switch theyd planned would work fine against the Defiled, and perhaps even against the Chosen if they were led by anyone else, but in a mere handful of mental exchanges, Akanai had concluded that the Enemy Commander was too astute to run headlong into disaster. Their foe was as ruthless to his own forces as he was to his foes, a bold, decisive commander who capitalized on every weakness he scented and was either quick to adapt to changing circumstances, or so far-seeing he anticipated every possible move in advance. Akanai meant to deal the Enemy a grievous blow by stealing a march and arriving early at the Castle, but despite hiding all traces of her impending arrival and catching the Enemy off guard, her gambit accomplished next to nothing as her canny foe withdrew his elite forces without hesitation. He even covered his tracks and left no openings for Akanai to exploit on his way out, forcing the Imperials to resort to bloody, room-to-room fighting in order to retake the outer walls, and thereby eking out every advantage he could from his failed offensive.

This cunning foe was a worthy opponent, and Akanai feared herself outmatched in strategy. Luckily, the boy always planned for the worst, but while she saw no opening for the Enemy to exploit in little Rains careful arrangements, even the best laid plans could go awry. To make matters worse, the boy was now unconscious again, more prone to passing out than a fainting goat. This time was apparently due to overexerting himself by Scrying on the battlefield, though she was at a loss to explain how he could even manage such a feat with his Core shattered to pieces.

It pained her to admit it, but Akanai was no longer qualified to guide the boy along his tangled Path. He would simply have to find his own way by himself. Not the worst fate, as shed done the same, but he was so wishy-washy and indecisive, she feared he would never pick a path to follow, correct or otherwise.

Still, no good would come from dwelling on problems she couldnt fix, so to this end, she sought Balance and stroked the slumbering Kankin while praying her old friend had the strength to survive these coming trials and tribulations. The grizzled quins fur was more white than brown these days, and his collection of scars alarming to behold, a warrior born who should have long since retired for greener pastures. Alas, every time she tried to leave him to frolic with the other older quins, Kankin would soon escape and find his way back to her side, eager for a long ride through the countryside or a vigorous run through the obstacle course. Such was life, as some people and quins were not meant to sit idle. In this, Akanai and Kankin were a pair matched by the Mother Herself, so she could not bear to leave her loyal partner to idle in inactivity. That being said, Kankin had sired quins whod long since retired or passed away, and Akanai knew not what drove the senior quin on, but she gave thanks to the Heavens above for whatever it was that kept him hale, healthy, and always at her side.

Despite the Peoples longstanding history of cooperation with the roosequin packs of the mountains, they still had no definitive process to ensure a quin developed into a Spiritual Beast, nor were they aware of any way to guide a quin further along their Path. Kankin was one of the strongest, smartest, and hardiest of quins Akanai ever had the pleasure of working with, and even all the quin trainers were surprised Kankin had yet to form a Spiritual Heart at his advanced and somewhat unnatural age, but she held firm to the forlorn hope that he might one day succeed and be blessed with the longevity of a true Spiritual Beast. To help him along, she spent the last few months Healing him with Panacea every day despite his lack of injuries, and feeding him stalks of Spiritual Plants obtained from Taduks garden now that the eccentric Healer had so many he was finally willing to part with them. Despite this, Kankin still had yet to develop a Spiritual Heart, though thankfully he also showed no signs of deterioration either, aside from sleeping more often and being even more of a grouch than usual. Compounding her disappointment was the fact that the quin trainers suspected the boys fat, indolent quin Mafu might be Developing a Spiritual Heart, though they had no proof of success as yet, and only suspected as much due to the quins burgeoning appetite and only marginal increase in size.

Were it the boys other quin Zabu, then perhaps Akanai could understand, but Mafus gentle and playful temperament saw him earmarked as a wagon quin shortly after adolescence. The only reason he saw time as a battle-mount was due to the dearth of trained battle-quins, and the fact that Akanai had been feeling resentful after seeing sweet Mila moping because the boy gifted Zabu and Shana to little Yan. Whats more, the boy swore he wasnt feeding the quin any Spiritual Plants, so how was Mafu progressing so quickly along his Path during his second decade of life, while Kankin still languished in normalcy after almost three centuries of conflict and strife?

Sensing Akanais inner agitation, Kankin roused from his slumber and rested his heavy head in her lap. Studying her expression with aged, clouded eyes, he yawned and grumbled before nosing her midsection in supplication for a treat. Rather than Spiritual Plant cuttings, which he ate but didnt seem to care for, Akanai pulled out a fistful of dried apple slices and held them out for him, which he carefully crunched into one by one. There was a time when he would have devoured the whole bag of treats in one gulp, but she found solace in his thorough and methodical eating mannerisms, enjoying how he chewed each treat slowly and savoured every last bite. After ten or so treats, she noticed he kept glancing at her expression while he ate, and realized he hadnt asked for treats because he was hungry, but rather because he enjoyed the extra attention. Even after two centuries together, Kankin still found ways to surprise Akanai with his intelligence, and she rewarded him with a warm smile and a scratch behind the ears, to which he responded with a pleased gurgle and contented sigh.

Such a silly, simple beast. Kankin wanted nothing more than to be by her side, so how could she ever bear to ride out to battle without him?

Due to the Divine Turtles recent ascension and the boys influence on her mindset, Akanai had been paying more attention to her old partners situation, and she found matters perplexing to the extreme. All animals, young and old, large and small, clever or stupid, were capable of using Chi, but unlike Martial Warriors and commoners, there was nothing to differentiate a Chi-capable animal from their mundane counterparts. Only Spiritual Beasts differed in that they were capable of using Chi in more... obvious ways. As such, it was widely believed that Spiritual Beasts were ancient creatures whod found Balance and formed Spiritual Hearts, but it was almost impossible to gauge a wild animals lifespan out in the wild. According to the histories and every quin trainer she knew, a tamed roosequin generally lived anywhere from twenty to two hundred years of age, while wild ones could live even longer, and no one was the wiser as to why the range varied so wildly. Some quins simply aged before their time and died, whether it be from a stroke, organ failure, heart blockage, respiratory arrest, or some other natural cause, one which could happen at any time, the same as with any human. Like Martial Warriors, more powerful quins usually aged slower and lived longer compared to their common counterparts, but then there were the rare beasts like Kankin who grew old, slow, and short-sighted, but still kept trundling along after two-hundred plus years of life, and no one could explain why. In fact, the oldest quin in recorded history lived for more than five-hundred years without forming a Spiritual Heart, a number which paled in comparison to the long lifespans of verified Spiritual Beasts.

According to the histories, a Spiritual Beasts age tended to slow to an almost imperceptible crawl at the point of Spiritual Heart Development, allowing them to live for millennia afterwards, but the Spiritual Heart alone was not enough to explain their long lives. Take Mama Bun, for example, whose age was unknown, but they assumed she must be thousands of years old since she was on the cusp of forming her Spiritual Heart. However, considering the Abbot saw three creatures form a Spiritual Heart in his lifetime, there was a chance Mama Bun was much younger and simply came across good fortune instead. Who could say if every Spiritual Beast was thousands of years old, as most believed was true, or if they were simply the paragons of their species who managed to do in twenty years what others would need two thousand years to accomplish?

Then there was also the fact that Spiritual Beasts were long-lived, but not ageless, as they too could grow old and grey with time. While there were few records of such creatures dying of sickness or infirmity, this was because any friendly Spiritual Beast was seen as a guardian and ally, one which was tended to with the greatest of care, tasking Healers to monitor their health and keep them alive for the foreseeable future. For a short time, those ancient creatures of the village even enjoyed the attentions of the Medical Saint himself, though these days Taduks attention had waned as he shifted his focus from Spiritual Beasts to Spiritual Plants. As for Kankin, Akanai had personally attended to his health throughout the years, but it was difficult to say if her efforts were responsible for his longevity since others would do the same for their quins as well. It would be best if she could find evidence of a Peak Experts mount passing away despite enjoying the same dedicated care, but she had yet to find an individual willing to admit that their lapse in judgment and inattention to their mounts health was responsible for the death of their quin, assuming it was even possible.

So why was it that Spiritual Beasts lives could be prolonged through Healing, but not human ones? The same question could be asked regarding demi-humans, and had been many times before. It was a mystery for the ages, one Akanai rarely paid any mind to, but now she was curious as to the answer. The commonly accepted answer was that a Spiritual Heart somehow allowed Spiritual Beasts to live indefinitely, so now, for the first time in her long life, she put her mind towards solving the mystery of how an animal would go about forming a Spiritual Heart and perhaps even uncover how one might become a Divine Beast. A most frustrating dilemma, one she had no idea where to start. It was all the boys fault for planting the seeds of curiosity in her thoughts, and now she could not let it go.

There had to be more to it than daily Healing sessions keeping Kankin alive, else there would be far more long-lived roosequins without Spiritual Hearts. The bond between rider and mount was a close one, and she could not imagine many of her comrades would have done nothing while their loyal, furry partners grew old and infirm. This brought Akanai back to the idea of Spiritual Hearts and their part in the longevity of beasts, leading her to believe Kankin must be close to forming his own Spiritual Heart, perhaps even a mere half-step away. Alas, there was no help forthcoming from the Spiritual Beasts of the People, not even from the fearsome Kharuul, who was supposedly Kankins great grand-sire, or so shed been told. Akanai still remembered the burning disappointment shed felt leaving the quin stables with young Kankin in tow, annoyed the hulking quin Patriarch refused to accept her upon his back. At least her pride was spared as the lazy quin went on to refuse everyone until eighty or ninety years ago, when he finally deigned to lower his head and take young Naaran around the mountainside, binding their fates together on that fateful spring day. Why Kharuul picked a six-year-old child as his rider was still a mystery, but there were many theories abound including how Naaran was distantly related to one of the quins past riders, or how the childs scent might have reminded the ancient beast of some distant memory.

In truth, Akanai believed she pieced the true story together. The Spiritual Quin was bored lazing around at home, followed the quins out for the festival celebration, stole Naarans candied fruits, and figured the noisy child would stop wailing if he took him on a ride. Whether it was Fate or mere happenstance which drew them together, it mattered little, for this led to a life-long partnership between Kharuul and Naaran. While he was an intelligent and formidable beast, Kharuul was still a roosequin with a penchant for sweets and a fondness for humans, so it was ridiculous to think his actions could help Akanai understand his Path. Still, the Spiritual Roosequin seemed happier for it, also out here on the fields of Central and eager to do battle with the Enemy, though Naaran himself would be happier staying behind to guard the boy. Oh how wonderful it would be if Kankin could become such a guardian beast, perhaps one who could then be paired with Mila and Rains first child, because regardless of the outcome here in Central, the next generation of the People would need all the strength they could muster to survive the coming trials and tribulations.

Today, the People were seen as heroes and saviours largely thanks to the pup and the boys efforts, but Akanai knew from experience that nobles and commoners alike were quick to forget favours and violate justice.The People could single-handedly win the war against the Enemy and banish the Father Himself into the void for all eternity, but all their contributions would be for naught in a matter of decades. How long after the war would it take for an impoverished noble to remember that the people had Spiritual Beasts and natural wealth aplenty hidden in the Saints Tribulations Mountains? It wouldnt take much justification to convince like-minded fellows to attack either, for it was well known that treasuring a jade becomes a crime when lacking strength and security.

This was the battle-plan Nian Zu, Shuai Jiao, and little Rain had laid out, and thus far, things were going as expected, but it was far too early to declare victory just yet. As her Sentinels came upon their quarry, she found the Enemy lined up in wait and immediately called for the halt. Stopping just out of bow range, she Scryed upon the garo forces in an effort to quell her troubled misgivings, but despite seeing nothing out of the sort, she still had her reservations. Were she facing Imperial soldiers, she wouldve given the order to loose arrows without thinking twice, but she was up against Defiled. Even if they styled themselves the Chosen of Heaven, they were still blood-crazed Defiled, so to see them lying in wait with such strict discipline set off all sorts of alarm bells in Akanais head.

Withdraw, she ordered, and a barrage of Sendings arrived to question her decision even as she passed along her reservations to other forces in the field. It didnt matter that she had nothing but instinct to go on, because not only was she the commander of this contingent, she was also the second highest ranking Officer in the field. Du Min Gyu was the only person who outranked her, and hed long since turned over command to her, which meant she had no one to answer to, not even little Rain. There was something afoot here, and she would be a fool not to trust her instincts, an action which was almost immediately proven correct.

For as soon as her forces turned to ride away, a horde of Demons revealed themselves and came barrelling towards her lines with a chorus of bloodcurdling howls.

To their credit, the Imperial soldiers under her command didnt panic and continued their withdrawal while the various Demon Slayers rode out to hold the Enemy back, but Akanai had other ideas. All forces, full retreat. Demon Slayers, form the rear guard. She only had eight-thousand cavalry under her direct command, and less than a dozen official Demon Slayers. Add in the unofficial Demon slayers like Tenjin and Tursinai, as well as the promising Warriors like Alsantset, Huushal, and Mila, and that number jumped closer to fifty, but even then, these were poor odds with dozens of varied Demons bearing down on them.

As the Fathers foul minions closed in on her forces, a single spear shot out from the rearguard and embedded itself in the foremost Demon. Her chest brimming with pride, Akanai spared a quick glance towards her beautiful daughter and committed her feral grin to memory. Yet another first for young Mila, because that Demon died beneath her spear thanks to some unseen working of Chi, and the weapon was already returning to her hand. In this showy manner, Mila earned her first confirmed Demon kill at twenty years of age. The girl was progressing almost as quickly as Rain now, her strength growing by leaps and bounds ever since her fortuitous encounter in Taduks bamboo grove, a miraculous place of natural Balance. If only that eccentric fool could be convinced to study his bamboo grove alongside his Spiritual Plant garden, for if he could build dozens more of such gardens for Warriors to meditate within, the People might be able to churn out Experts and Peak Experts at an unprecedented rate.

Then there was no more time to spare for idle thought as the Demons were upon them, and Akanai set her ax-lance to bloody work. Long sweeps of her polearm kept her foes off her back, her movements no longer adhering to the Forms, but adapting them into something new, unique, and utterly suited for her physique. She was no Oriole, Mantis, Wolf, or any other such creature, but a demi-human Warrior unlike any other, and as such, her movements could not wholly be replicated by anyone else. Others could model their actions after her of course, and superficially, they might look the same, but these movements were best suited for her and her alone. Even if the differences were minute, no one else had the exact same physique as she, and thus, what was most efficient for her would not be the most efficient action for another. That was all there was to it, the goal always the same, with Martial Warriors seeking the Path which suited themselves best, and now, Akanai believed she was close to discovering hers.

It was all thanks to her recent epiphany, one she stumbled upon not even an hour past, of the beauty and benefits of mortality. All her life, she had pursued the Martial Path, but in doing so, she had disregarded a core facet of her very being. Like it or not, she was a demi-human, or a half-beast as the rest of the world considered her. As much as she tried to ignore it, the world was right, because half-beast was a better term for the sort of human she was, one with a longer lifespan and different perspective from shorter-lived humans. She was neither wholly human nor beast, and while most saw her kind as a dead end Path, one unable to ever achieve Divinity, Akanai believed this was merely a matter of odds. There were far more humans than half-beasts, and even the most prolific Ancestral Beasts couldnt have more than one or two thousand children alive at any given time, compared to the millions of humans born each year.

So it was not that half-beasts were unable to achieve Divinity, just that none had done so yet.

Why? Well, this was only a recent theory based on her own experiences, but Akanai believed it was due to the duality of her nature. She was a human yes, but one who possessed the latent instincts of her Ancestral Beast heritage. A caribou, Old Sumila had called her, and Akanai had hated the name so much that she filed down her antlers until they were hidden by her hair. This mindset was what was holding her back, her burning desire to be more human than beast, but the Mother had seen fit to bestow Akanai with gifts from both, and thus far, she had all but scorned half of her very self.

What gains these new changes might bring had yet to be uncovered, but at least she now recognized where her instincts hailed from. Her Domain billowing out as she traded blows with her Demonic foe, Akanai gave into the thrill of the chase, leading her foes about on the grassy plains of Central and keeping ahead of them all the while. This was in her blood, the deadly game between predator and prey, and while the stag and caribou were often run down and killed, the wolves were wise to be wary of their hooves and horns. A quick turn on her pursuing foes saw almost a dozen Demons killed and twice that number wounded, where little Mila earned her second kill of the day, while Alsantset, Tursinai, and Tenjin all scored their first, and again, Akanais chest surged with pride. This was what the People had become, what the Sentinels had become, all thanks to Old Sumila who cared enough to raise a house full of orphans and give them the love they all so desperately needed.

That would be Akanais legacy, one created in honour of the woman who raised her, and even if she were to die here today, it would be enough.

Not that she expected to of course, since this single clash was meant to give the Enemy pause. Their mission complete, her forces retreated without hesitation, opening the distance between their two forces. Whats more, she just received word of a second and third contingent of Sentinels and Imperial lancers coming to support her, but the Enemy commander was already pulling his forces back. Much blood would be shed today as she matched wits with her formidable foe, but with allies like Hongji, Naaran, Ghurda, Sarnai, and Du Min Gyu to support her, Akanai was confident of carrying her forces to victory.

After that? Well, there were still two other Defiled armies out in the field with an entire Western Province to draw fresh Enemy troops from, so her work was not yet finished, but for now, she was content to take things one step at a time.

For such was life, trials and tribulations without end, and Akanai would not have it any other way.

Chapter Meme

Chapter Meme 2

Chapter Meme 3

Chapter Meme 4