I STARE AT THE SCREEN ON MY HAND.

The words echo in my head, telling me that I have gained a level as a Lost Soul. It stops me from harvesting the body of the broken being. It is called… the Esh? I am not entirely certain. My refined senses are telling me there are precious parts here, but not only can I not precisely identify what valuable thing I am looking for, I am also preoccupied with something else.

Tian
Race: Ren
Class: Lost Soul Level 2
Feats:
- Void Walk
- Ray of Esh

“Ray… of Esh?” I breathe the name of my new Feat. There is an inkling of an idea sitting atop my head, drawing links between what just happened and the events that preceded it. Raising an arm, I focus on my fingertips and point at the sky.

A feeling runs through my body as I try to recall the beam fired by the Esh striking my arms. Power surges from my hand and my eyes grow wide.

“Ray of Esh.”

A bright yellow light streaks across the sky, shearing through the white clouds resting above like they are cotton. The glowing beam holds for a few moments, before vanishing and leaving behind a trail of thin smoke. The plumes dissipate as I stare at my hand in utter confusion.

I take a step back and shake my head. “I think I’m just going to deal with this later,” I mutter as my face turns blank. There have been too many new experiences for me today… if it even is day, I think, glancing up to the darkened sky.

I just want to find a way back to Jhisie— preferably, the Middle Realm. I would rather not return to the Fourth or Seventh Heavens, but I will take anything at this point.

Grabbing the body of the Esh and gathering my things, I leap up into the air and enhance my senses. I have already consumed a ginsoul pill, so I may as well use the Essences to find some sort of city. An indigo glint comes over my eyes, tainting my sight with vibrant colors. A few of them stand out more than the rest, telling me where to go.

I follow the trail of red alongside the river. People have trekked their way through here, leaving behind an odd scarlet aura as a sign of their journey. After a dozen whole cycles pass, I eventually have to part ways with the stream of water, curving towards a valley filled with trees.

As I am cutting through that grove, the colors grow brighter and brighter. They become almost physical— almost tangible. My eyes flutter as I release the Indigo Essence and normal vision returns.

Most of the bright colors fade away. The world returns to its dull shade. However, something still glows around me. Narrowing my eyes, I run a hand through the air at one of these flitting blobs of crimson. They remind me of sparklingflies, except made of blood. But it is not the red liquid my hand touches. In fact, there is nothing physical about this thing— whatever it is.

It is like a weak phantasm. Nothing more.

I simply take the presence of these floating red blobs as another aesthetic of this world. After all, everything else has been strange so far. Why question it now?

The forest eventually thins out until I can finally see structures in the distance. A city awaits me, girdled by a lofty and castellated wall. It does not look like any city I have ever seen. Buildings are haphazardly scattered, as if a child has knocked over a ceramic tea set. The houses jut out like shards of the broken cups, some of them reaching beyond the walls while others are barely visible even from this distance.

The metallic joints of the Esh clang as I drag it through the rocky ground. I approach the iron gates of the city. Its latticework is nothing too complex— not like the intricate designs I saw in the Forsaken Palace.

Despite having such defenses, I see no one standing guard at the crenellations. The gates lie open. I walk in unimpeded, without invite.

I pass by more of those floating red blobs as they hover in clumps, a few of them reaching even the size of my head. They are almost translucent under scrutiny from the light of the blue ball overhead; I pointedly ignore them and turn a street corner.

That is when I see the first group of people since coming into this world.

They look just like me, except with darker skin. Tanned, I think. As if they have been working under the sun all their life. The colors of their hair are unnatural too— a wide palette, ranging from blue to even gold.

I have never seen another Ren with hair other than black, green, red, or white. But despite these alien features, everything else about them looks the same. The figures of the men give them broad shoulders, while the women are more lithely sculpted.

Or at least, I assume those are men and women.

Walking up to this small crowd, I raise a hand and speak. “Greetings,” I say and drop the Esh to clasp my fist into a palm. I give a light bow and continue. “I apologize for the disturbance, but I would like to inquire—”

They brush past me. I blink.

“Pardon me, however this is a matter of importance—”

I spin around and reach out for a man, but he shrugs me off and glares at me. A grunt leaves his mouth before he stalks off. Those passing by this scene deliberately avoid looking my way.

A red blob sinks itself through a wall as I place a hand on my chin. “How rude,” I murmur. “To think he would not even offer me a proper response.”

If this is the culture of this world, I do not like it. It only makes me want to leave it even sooner. Now, if only someone will listen to my questions so I at least know where to start. I continue down the messy streets of the city, trying to gain the attention of passersby to no avail.

In fact, once they notice what I am doing, they immediately grunt, turn, and flee in the other direction. Some of them hide in side streets and dark alleys, as if I did not see them go down those paths.

My patience begins to dwindle as more time goes on. I am just about to snap when I spot a boy, no older than fourteen, scurry up behind me and frantically tug at my robes. He is dressed in ragged clothing, and I almost think he is trying to rob me at first. I frown, just about to repudiate him for the rude act, when I realize he is speaking.

“....i! A...sh...ing!”

Finally, I understand. I understand that we are speaking different languages. That I have not been ignored, but people have been saying things which I cannot comprehend. It is a throat language— the odd groaning noises they have been giving me were not just them being dismissive.

I try to gesture at myself and mouth a few words, telling him that I do not speak his language. However, before he can make sense of what I am trying to convey, footfalls echo down the street.

Heavy, metal footsteps begin making their way towards us. I stare suspiciously in the direction of the noise. The boy’s mouth drops and he backs up in fear.

More Esh? I think as I begin cycling Qi in preparation of a fight. The mechanical sounds certainly makes me think of the battle I had just fought. I have to make this quick, otherwise I will waste more energy than—

My thoughts are cut off as something else comes to mind. Another way to fight that does not waste my Qi. A group of metallic beings rounds the intersection as a wild smirk spreads across my face.

They do not appear to be made of the same material as the Esh. They are far smaller too, and their movements are much stiffer. Each of them face me with a single flashing eye, forcing a panicked squeak from the boy.

I reassuringly place a hand on his shoulder and then interspace myself between him and these metallic beings. I point at them, recalling the feeling from earlier. My lips move and I thrust my hand forward.

“Ray of Esh!”

Nothing happens.

“...what?” I wave my hand around, trying to get the Feat to work. No beam of light shoots out. The boy stares at me with a puzzled look on his face, until the metallic beings raise their arms. “Alright, I guess I have no choice but to—”

Caught off guard, I am yanked to the side and pulled into an alley. I glance over at the boy as he yells something and I follow him. The body of the Esh drags behind me, before getting caught between the narrow walls.

“Wait!” I call out, but it is too late. I accidentally rip off its head, detaching its colorful wires as electricity sparks off and onto the stone ground. I click my tongue, wanting to turn back and grab my prize. However, the metallic beings appear at the entrance of the alleyway and launch glowing bolts our way.

We make a sharp turn, and the hail of energy digs through a wall. Dust and debris is scattered into the air as the side of the building collapses. These metallic beings do not have the same firepower as the Esh, however dealing with that would probably speed up my need for a ginsoul pill in the future.

Sighing, I decide to simply follow where the boy is leading me. He seems like he knows what he is doing. Furthermore, even if he does not, he is the only person who was willing to try and talk to me.

So, I follow him. The metallic beings give chase, but we zip down side streets like we are rats running through a kitchen. Corner after corner we go. More of them appear ahead of us, spawning into existence from who knows where.

They fill the backstreets like water pouring down the cracks of a courtyard during a heavy storm. I know we will soon be caught— they have already cut us off a dozen times over. Fear rises on the boy’s face, showing my prediction to be true.

We run for an alleyway, only for a pair of the metallic beings to cut us off. The boy takes a step back and swallows a nervous gulp. “X…” he says, and I know he has given up.

I let out a groan and dash forward. A single horizontal kick severs both of the metallic beings in half. A blue aura dissipates as I offer the boy a hand.

“Come on.”

He fixes his brown eyes on me as they bulge from their sockets. His exhaustion seems to have been temporarily forgotten, the sweat dripping from his dirty blond hair the only proof he is tired. I curl my fingers impatiently, snapping him from his stupor.

The boy grabs my hand and hurries past the broken parts of metal sprinkled across the ground. We only see our pursuers twice more. For very brief instances. The boy pulls me into a disguised door and we enter a stairway.

Footfalls fade into the distance as we make our way each step, towards some kind of a basement. “T…! W...z….” He speaks words I still do not understand between each gasping breath, but the relief evident on his face tells me enough. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, he grows excited and begins bouncing on his toes.

I return a small smile back to the boy as he reaches for a pair of orange wooden doors. Sound leaks from the other side. He says something, before he beams brightly at me before throwing the double doors open. And I find myself standing in a crowded hall.