Pursuing The Summit - Chapter 13 Amber

Even before she reached the ruins, she could already see the campus change, almost as if the beautifully crafted campus immediately ended two hundred feet before the giant walls that enclosed the ruins. The beautiful bricks lining the road splintered and cracked, with greater damages as it drew closer and soon disappeared altogether. The walls that enclosed the ruins were rugged, made of layers of dirt and mud stacked together, looking too brittle to any prevent anything for entering or exiting. Perhaps the only menacing aspect was the runes engraved into the walls. The runes that she was familiar with, at least for arrays, always shined brightly, but these runes were dark.

They couldn’t be malfunctioning, could it? It was way too close for the school to not have taken any precautions. No, these were perhaps something much more formidable, ancient than anything she knew, so she kept silent, watching Louis who was giving Amelia a find rundown before they started.

An old man sat at a clay table beside the gates, reading a book, when the Second Generation arrived. Laura handed a sheet with everyone entering the ruins and started talking with the man, but Louis began to talk with Amber, so she could not hear what she was saying.

“Amber.” Louis said, grabbing both of her hands with his own. “During the day, you will be training on the entrance of the ruins with Nancy.” He sighed then looked into her eyes. “Look, I realize this is rather sudden, especially when I have said I won’t leave you, but your technique requires the sun, so it would be most effective if you stay out here during the day, with the sky overhead and the sun seeable.”

Amber shook her head. “I don’t want to. You promised.”

“You would cultivate faster out here.” Louis said, trying to keep a straight face, but was failing.

“Together or I won’t cultivate.” Amber said, looking into his eyes with tears in her own.

Louis sighed again. “How about training with Amelia and Priscilla?”

Amber frowned. “Why not train with me?” Amber asked.

“I am doing a different training regime than you, so it would just be me and Laura.” Louis said.

“Not Raphael?” Amber asked.

“No, she’s training with her lover Vamid.” Louis said.

“Fine.” Amber said. Then she whispered under her breath, “Don’t cheat on me.”

“Sorry, I missed that.” Louis said, leaning closer. “What did you say?”

“I said good luck.” Amber said. “If you don’t get stronger, I will be angry with you.”

Louis chuckled. “Thank you, Amber,” Louis said, hugging her. Then he reached into his pocket and grabbed a small stone with an array she was unfamiliar with. “Hopefully this won’t be needed, but if you find the air unbreathable, just activate the array. It will use the qi within the air to sustain itself, so it won’t tax you.” Then he went to talk with Nancy.

A few minutes later, the old man pushed open the gates. A heavy, musty air flowed out of the door. It tasted like sand. Amber spat whatever was in her mouth, but it did little to help her, since the next breath of air landed her into the same situation. Louis grabbed the stone within her hands and activated the array while shaking his head. The runes shined white and, within two meters of her, the air became clearer.

Amber only puffed her cheeks and continued to spit, for although the array helped a bit, it did little to remove the sand within her mouth. She looked at Louis who had moved up into the front of the group, where Laura stood, talking with him. Then the two ran away quickly, with many of the other members. Soon, it was just Amelia, Prsicilla, Nancy and Amber left.

“Why is it just the four of us that are staying here?” Amelia asked.

“Because Amber doesn’t even know how to breathe here.” Priscilla said, her hand rummaging through Amelia’s hair, while looking at Amber. “The array Louis gave you is a crux, but if you keep using it, you won’t get very far.” She grabbed the sand within the air, crushing it and held out her hand. A small black crystal the size of a few pebbles appeared in her hand. “This is what is called qi crystals, pure qi, without any element, though they do not last long and quickly break apart. However, it is an indispensible treasure. Instead of getting it caught within your throat and hacking it out, just breathe it in normally. Your body will know how to process it, if your mind gets over the initial rejection.” Priscillia then threw the crystal into her mouth and swallowed it, showing her tongue afterwards. “See? No biggie.”

Amber deactivated the array and breathed normally, stopping her immediately impulse to throw up. Instead, every time she felt so, she inhaled and exhaled quickly. The dirt entered her lungs and her lungs gradually felt like they were filled up, but she still had no trouble breathing. After her lungs felt like they were half full, the dirt began to melt, flooding her lungs. She wanted to hack once more, but Nancy simply covered her mouth.

“You’re so close. Don’t give up now.” Nancy said, looking into her eyes.

Soon all the liquid within her lungs was drained and her qi never felt fuller. Once she started breathing again, her lungs were a little less than before when the dirt melted again. The third time, the dirt barely filled a tenth of her lungs before it melted. The fourth time, the dirt melted immediately. She had no trouble breathing.

“See?” Nancy said, smiling. “It just takes a bit of time to get used to.”

Priscilla started clapping. “Alright, now that you are up to speed, let’s go to the other side of the ruins, where there aren’t any prying eyes.”

The four of them sat in a circle, holding hands.

“So, why are the two of you coming on this trip?” Nancy asked.

“I want to be with Louis.” Amber said.

“I want to be with Louis too. And he said this place would be fun.” Amelia said, raising her hands.

Nancy shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. At least, I hope not.” She said, frowning and looking into the eyes of the two of them for a minute before continuing. “Otherwise, you won’t get very far with such convictions.” Before she could say any more, Priscilla covered her mouth.

“What Nancy meant to say, is what you aim to achieve for yourselves while you are here.” Priscilla said. “For example, I am here to increase my swords skills and improve my cultivation realm. I have almost reached the fourth realm and, by the end of the month, I hope that I will. Otherwise, I will be staying longer until I do reach here.” Priscilla placed the claymore, in its sheath, across her lap. “Let me tell you a story, so get comfortable. It’s going to be a long one.” She took grabbed four cups and filled each with water. She chugged her own before she started speaking again.

“You see, in the past, I was a girl from a noble family, one much bigger than my current one. I was weak and naive, not understanding the luxury of peace and love I had in those days. I simply thought I would marry a beautiful man when I grew up and it would be happily ever after, at least according to the stories I read.” Her hands started shaking. “However, that little dream shattered when I was ten. My parents were killed by a group of bandits and I was saved by my sword master, who was visiting at our house at the time. The only one who cared for me was my sword. My sword master, the only person left that I trusted, became a stern, hostile man after my parent’s death, almost like a different person. As much as I hated this new person, he was all I have left, so I followed him, I learned from him. He would teach the sword during the day. At first it was monotonous practice, then we went on adventures so I got practical experience. During the night, teach various subjects – money, communication and how to care for and handle myself. At night, more often than not, he would attack me and, if I failed to stop him, my training would go longer, until I collapse. I hated those days. I hardly got proper rest, I had not even recovered over my parents’ death. It was only six years later when I finally got time to mourn. This time, I had to mourn over his death as well. I just turned sixteen when an old injury that flared up killed my swords master. At that time, even the terrible meals he cooked were preferable to his absence. I found a letter, his will, in his desk, in his office where he would teach me everything besides swordsmanship in. It was then, I realized why he did everything that he did. He knew he wouldn’t live very long, so he taught me everything he could to prepare me. My noble house was already on the brink of collapse before my parents died, so all the money he had was the money he got from selling my house. It barely paid for our food and drink over the years. Most of the books that lined his bookshelves were my parents, for he had never been the academic type. Yet he tried his damn best to help me. He told me to live a happy life after that. Smile, if I could.”

Priscilla refilled her cup and chugged it once more. “Well, I couldn’t. I became an adventurer after that. Through those six years,my swordsmanship had improved to new heights. In terms of skill, I had surpassed his and, in terms of knowledge, I gained much more than I ever thought was possible. I lived for ten years as an adventurer, improving my skills, strength and knowledge until I finally found my enemy: a rival noble family that had climbed up a bit within the ranks, but I was at the prime of my life and strong enough at least to assassinate them. So I spent a year planning and eventually I won, I killed them all, but the cost was big. I was mortally injured, but when I died, I ended up here, as a baby. I spent most of my time treasuring my family here as well as learning the sword and improving my skills once more. This time, I won’t be caught unaware.”

Nancy leaned over Priscilla’s shoulder for a moment before looking up. “Well, that was kind of dark, but the summary is she wants to protect her family and live happily. What you two said earlier about being with Louis is sweet, but, if that’s your goal, then you have already achieved it, so just go back home and relax. However, if that’s not all your goal is, then you will need to be more specific and precise your goal, so you can at least mentally prepare yourself for the price you will need to pay to achieve it.”

Amelia rose her hand and started talking. “What do you mean in the past and that you died?”

Priscilla looked at Nancy, who looked back at Priscilla, and the two were silent before sighing together.

“Everyone in this club, besides the two of you, are reincarnators. It basically means that we all have all died and been reborn, at least once. We have kept our memories of our past lives as well. In other words, this is our second lives, our second chance.” Nancy said. “You two are honorary members because you don’t have as much information to contribute.”

“Even Louis?” Amber asked.

“Yep. Including him. I don’t know much about his history though, but he must have been an alchemist in his past life. He’s extremely dedicated and skilled, even if the alchemy of this world is new to him.” Nancy said. She flickered Amber’s forehead. “Does it make you like Louis less?”

“Are reincarnators demons?” Amber asked.

“Demons? Like monsters?” Nancy asked.

“No, no. Demons like the tribal race in the Great Forest.” Priscilla said. “They are basically sentient beasts.”

“Oh. We are not demons.” Nancy said. “Just your normal humans, I mean elves. We are just normal elves with some more memories attached to us, nothing more, nothing less.”

“If you two think Louis does not love you because he is a reincarnator, you would be wrong. When Nancy said you are honorary members, it only means you do not pay for your membership. Louis does. He has given up some rather important information and spent the past two weeks crafting pills to pay off the two of us to teach you. He still has to compensate your actual membership fees later.” Priscilla said. “So take some time over the next couple of days to think over why you are training. We will begin it within a couple minutes, so get ready.”