Chapter 4: A Road of Discovery
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Sana was very nervous, though she didn't let it show, sitting with her uncle, her father and all her clan elders at a meeting about Immortal Tonwaan who left the day before. She was given special permission to attend because of her actions. One of the elders even gave an approving nod and subtle smiles at her entrance, though the others still frowned. Despite feeling honoured she didn't understand much of what was said. Considering her age it was probably more symbolic than anything else.

"Lastly," her uncle began, "we need to discuss a fitting reward for young Sana. Immortal Tonwaan is one of the people most likely to reach the status of elder in the Cloudsea Sect. Additionally, though it is proper of one of our family to ensure our prosperity, Sana reacted in a swift and... relatively composed manner relative to her age," he finished, making her blush. That blush only intensified after remembering that it was actually her friend who made her take action. "So, I ask. What do you want as a reward?" he asked her, looking into her eyes.

Sana knew she would be asked, after all the clan rules made it clear, that any sufficiently large merit or demerit would be rewarded or punished respectfully. It wasn't the biggest merit but still worth a reward. She composed herself, already sure of her answer, "Lord Father, I would like to travel outside the city for the first time," she said after taking a deep breath, dreading an immediate dismissal.

Instead her uncle simply looked at her then closed his eyes and leaned back, letting the elders speak first. There were only three of them, with Elder Ita, the wife of the previous leader of Clan Tenki, being the most influential. She originally came from a minor branch of the clan in another city several days darknesswards but returned to the main clan during a time of weakness and stayed after marriage. Despite her advanced age she was very spry and could probably beat many of the city guard in a fight, after all, even a retired Martial King is not to be underestimated. The other two usually unified behind either her or her uncle, acting as a sort of balance.

The man of the pair began, "It would be far too risky. She is the best option to keep Clan Goran in check and we cannot risk loosing her." He spoke in a calm unhurried voice, simply stating his opinion. The woman just looked towards Elder Ita, remaining neutral.

"It would be a waste to let a sword remain unsharpened. Only through adversity can she grow to reach great heights. For her to remain in the city would be doing her a great disservice," Ita countered in an equally calm voice. All three elders turned back towards Indrus to make the final decision.

He opened his eyes and, after pausing to consider, said, " Young Sana will be allowed to go with the next caravan sunwards. However she must be accompanied by her mother, since Andus is tasked with the general defence of the city." He continued, this time looking directly at her, "Your request is accepted."

Sana almost wanted to jump up and erupt in laughter but kept her composure. "Thank you, Lord Father," she said, bowing her head, though she couldn't keep a small smile from spreading on her face.


Four days later Sana almost vibrated on the spot, standing in the middle of the gathering caravan in loose travel clothes. The caravan leader was initially sceptic about her joining but perked up after being told that she was a Martial Scholar. It turned into outright jubilation after knowing that her mother was accompanying them. After all, with a Martial King in their midst, the trip would be completely safe, as long as they stayed out of the way of any Beast Emperors.

She quickly checked her weapon again, a steel great sword fitted for her size, slung it onto her back and impatiently watched her mother discuss something with the caravan leader. Aria nodded and returned to her side. "We will stay in the middle of the caravan during most of the journey, only occasionally scouting out the more dangerous locations. We will let the dedicated rangers do most of the work, " she said in strictest tone of voice Sana had ever heard, though her mothers eyes softened after seeing her stiffening her back. Aria laid a hand on her daughters shoulder and said in a softer tone of voice, "It will be fine but you must listen to what I say and never leave my sight except when I tell you to. If you loose sight of me, immediately return to the caravan and tell the leader of what happened. It is dangerous outside the walls. Spirit beasts, bandit groups, strange weather patterns or other weird phenomena, anything can happen out there." Sana pursed her lips and nodded, trusting her mother.

The caravan started moving out the gate and she quickly followed. There were 12 carts with 2 guards per cart, 12 cart drivers and the caravan leader. Their fighting force consisted of 10 Martial Scholars, including herself, 4 Martial Knights, with the leader of the caravan making up the numbers, and her mother, who could probably fight all of them together and still win. They travelled along the fields outside the city until Sana could make out a small wooden palisade through which the road led. The "outer wall" was constantly patrolled to make sure no spirit beast or brigand could sneak into the fields and kill the working farmers.

They approached the gates and were quickly led through, out, into the wilds. Outside she could see a sea of green, occasionally topped by a small hill with the road snaking through them. As they made their track through the plains she couldn't help but excitedly look around, to the amusement of the guards who sometimes glanced at her with a smirk.

After half a day's worth of travel they approached a line of trees in the distance and, a short time later, entered the forest itself. Sana, having somewhat calmed down during the walk, began to be excited again. She had only heard of Forests before, where trees obstructed the sight in the same way as buildings in the city.

"For the first few days we shouldn't have much of a problem since most neutral spirit beasts know to stay away from the road but if we run into aggressive ones we will need to kill them all, since they will never flee, " her mother said walking next to her, her spear in her hand rested against her shoulder. It's tip was coloured a crimson-silver and it's shaft made out of a pitch black wood. The butt had an onyx metal cap almost indistinguishable from the wood. Her eyes were glowing with an inner light as she looked around.

After seeing her mother, Sana concentrated, sharpened her qi a little bit and infused it into her ears. Her hearing immediately sharpened and she could make out the fluttering of birds taking of, the pitter-patter of small animals being disturbed by their passing and many new different sounds she never heard. It started to overwhelm her but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to get used to her new senses.

Before the trip her parents showed her what made a Martial Scholar special. Because of the ability to infuse their qi directly into body parts they could make those parts "stronger", which translated to stronger senses by infusing qi into the ears, eyes, nose , tongue and skin. It also allowed for sudden explosive busts of power by infusing large amounts of qi into muscles and tendons. Additionally she could coat her body in a thin film of qi to act as armour which made it almost impossible for Martial Artists or normal mortals to cut her.

After getting used to her increased hearing she infused qi into her eyes and into her nose. Immediately, the sun peaking through the leaves became a lot brighter but strangely less blinding. The shadows cleared up and she could see deep into the forest. At the same time she could smell a mixture of grass, rotten leaves and tree sap which made her wrinkle her nose. She continued acclimating to her new senses while they walked through the forest.

A few hours later they stopped and, a little ways into the forest, created a half circle out of their carts facing the road. They set up a fire with a pot after securing and feeding the horses. After looking at her mother with a curious look her mother explained, "You may not feel exhausted, but the horses and their drivers definitely need sleep. Also I would rather not fight after not sleeping for a day." Sana gave a noise of agreement but still wished they continued onwards.

After a particularly bland meal they retired to their tents they put up beforehand. The 8 Martial Scholars were put on guard duty through the night in 4 teams of 2. Even inside the tent she shared with her mother Sana could make out the glow of the sun. Having only slept in the darkness before, sleep kept eluding her, instead she fantasized about what she my find out here. Slowly, without realizing, she nodded of dreaming about finding the ruins of an old temple and driving of a hoard of spirit beasts.

She sprung up, being awoken by her mother. They reheated the food from yesterday making it somehow even more bland, packed the stuff back up and continued down the road. After another day and night of travelling, while walking along the road she suddenly heard a faint howling at the edge of her hearing.

Startled, she closed her eyes and concentrated, hearing another howl. This time multiple voices intertwined. She looked up to see the rest of the guards looking alerted, her mother and the caravan leader looking north and then exchanging looks. Her mother nodded with pursed lips and the caravan leader spoke, "Attention, we have incoming wolf spirit beasts from the north. Gather the carts and unbind the horses. You four," he commanded, pointing at 4 of the guards, "protect the flanks. Lady Aria and Lady Sana will take the rear. The rest gather with me to the front. Now!"

"Why don't we just face the spirit beasts?" Sana asked while following her mother to guard the southside of the encirclement. She unslung her sword and held it at the ready and, following her mothers example, started looking around for threats.

"Unfortunately, just because aggressive spirit beasts won't stop until they're dead doesn't mean they're completely feral," her mother started," It would be a lot easier if they completely lost their minds but unfortunately most are surprisingly intelligent. Especially the wolf type beasts. They almost exclusively hunt in groups and start their attack by surrounding the target taking out the most vulnerable, for example the elderly, the sick or children. Only the monkey type of spirit beast from the warmer and wetter regions to the east is more intelligent. And those hunt mostly alone," Aria finished, grasping her spear tighter.

"But, doesn't that mean..." Sana was interrupted by a form blurring towards her which, after focusing on it, turned out to be 4 wolf-like beasts. They had dark green scaly skin with thick bristles instead of fur which blended into the forest almost perfectly. Without reinforcing her eyes she would have never even noticed them. Along their spine snaked a line of spikes and their fangs were completely visible with no lip to cover them. The tip of their largest spike being level with her eyes.

"Incoming!" her mother shouted and stood her ground as they continued rushing towards them. As they got closer she could make out dozens of small and large scars along their bodies. Some of them even missing small chunks of flesh. She angled her sword in front of her and prepared for battle. Her heart started beating faster and faster. The world faded around her until only the wolves and her existed.

Two of the wolves turned towards her and sprinted in her direction only for a spearhead to strike one in the shoulder. It stumbled, howling in pain and turned towards the attacker instead. The remaining wolf, ignoring the fate of his comrade, tensed his hindlegs and jumped, it's sharp claws ready to rip into her body. Instead she sidestepped, swung her sword at an angle and cut the beast deep along it's side, the flesh surprisingly hard to cut through despite her strength. The wolf-like beast was knocked aside and fell on it's side, rolling over once but immediately springing to it's feet. It started circling her while growling in it's deep voice.

Sana swung her sword in front of the beast, missing it's snout just barely. Seeing an opening it sprung forward with it's jaws wide open, trying to rip her apart. Having successfully baited the beast she quickly took a half step back, held the sword to her side, tip pointed directly towards it and, with another half step forwards, thrust her blade into the roof of it's mouth, through it's skull and out the back of it's head. She quickly withdrew her blade and looked around to find her next opponent, her heart racing. She was just in time to see her mother crush the skull of the last of the wolfs surrounding her with the butt of her spear. Two other corpses surrounded her, their heads pieced straight through their eyes.

Her mother looked around for a while longer but relaxed after hearing the caravan leader shout for them to gather. Suddenly her legs started shaking, barely able to gather any strength, so she quickly leaned on her sword to not collapse. Her mother approached her with a small smile on her face. "The crash after your first fight is always the worst. You'll eventually get used to it, though it'll never really go away, " she said helping her stand straight and return to the gathering caravan.

After seeing her mother and her return the caravan leader sighed in relief but seemed surprised at her appearance. "Well, let me congratulate you on your first successful kill Lady Sana," he said with a smile, bowing his head. The other guards and drivers quickly congratulated her as well, resulting in a blushing face and a big smile stretched across her face.

After making sure everyone was accounted for he ordered some guards to gather the corpses. Meanwhile they made camp a little further up the road and after the guards returned, strung the wolfs up to bleed them out. While the rest of the caravan prepared for curing the meat and gathering the pelts, Sana sat at the unlit firepit trying to strength back into her limbs. Her mother helped setting up tents despite the insistence of the others that it weren't necessary.

Sana played the fight back over and over again in her head. Her friend told her about people panicking or fearing for their life in fights to the death but she didn't feel any of that. As she rubbed her cheeks she noticed that blood had landed on her face during the fight, which is probably how the caravan leader knew that she killed one of the beasts. As she looked down at her clothes she suddenly noticed a salty, metallic taste on her tongue, blood. She checked with her tongue of she bit herself somewhere but couldn't find anything. She was confused until she realized she must have opened her mouth during the fight and gotten some blood in her mouth. With that detail she suddenly realized what she felt, elation. She was grinning from cheek to cheek the entire fight. She was fighting with her life on the line, where every misstep could mean her death, and she had never felt happier.

She didn't know how to feel about that.

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