The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Old Yule relaxed her wrinkled hands and patted Avril's shoulders. She tugged her up to stand on her feet. Old Yule sighed, her wrinkles deepening, and said. "Sorry for the illusion. I thought about the various ways to reach deep into your mind, but this was the most direct method. Forgive me if I have hurt you."

"Why? Why did you do this?" Avril asked meekly. How foolish that she didn't realize it was all an illusion. If Old Yule wanted her dead, it would have already happened. Staring at the old grandma, she yearned to know the truth.

"You…remind me of myself. A past that haunts you, and no matter how you try to forget or move past it, it is buried in your mind, clinging like a tick." Old Yule tapped her head and smiled, flashing her missing teeth. "Don't rush in and believe you're alright now. Step by step until you no longer need to force yourself."

Old Yule took her by the hand and led her to a table. On the table were several vials, documents, and tools. Avril knew from an instant that it was an alchemist's table. Unsure of Old Yule's motivation, Avril tried to keep her guard, but Old Yule looked tired and harmless.

"Avril. Listen to me." Old Yule mixed some liquids into a beaker, smoke rising from its surface. Her back seemed so small and weary, the look of a traveler tired from a long journey. Avril listened closely as Old Yule said, "If the time ever comes when you have to face your past, face what haunts you. How will you respond? Probably not so well. But that's fine. That's alright. Resolve isn't something that happens instantly. It's like refinement. No matter how many times it shatters, you pick up the pieces and forge it anew until one day it becomes unbreakable."

"When will I know I can do it?" Avril asked. Old Yule had shown her how fragile her resolve was and that she wasn't prepared to overcome.

"It's hard to know. Some are born with a mind of metal and sheer determination, like Oscar, but even he falters, as you have seen. The answer to your problem is something only you can grasp." Old Yule set down the beaker.

"Oscar!" Avril raised her voice. Old Yule had yet to reveal Oscar's location to her. "Where is he? Can I go now?"

"Hold on. You must listen." Old Yule grasped her arm. She closed her eyes and exhaled before opening them again with a frail look. "Oscar is fighting a creature. I controlled the tunnelways so the people who took the right tunnel don't encounter much, the Marshal Exalt will clean up the strongest failed experiments, and the butcher will clear the rest."

"Grief and a false promise. Hah. I lost my child at a young age. Every day, I woke up hearing his cries. Every night, I dreamed of his death. I was also a great alchemist at the time, so I searched for ways to find a way to bring him back." Old Yule shook her head. "I couldn't let go, and I carried his corpse around with me like a ghost. Eventually, I encountered the New Dawn."

"They offered you a way to bring back the dead?"

"They wanted me to join their experiments as a researcher, and in exchange, they would provide me resources to perform my attempts to bring back my son." Old Yule cut her finger and dripped blood into the solution. "I admit, I did horrible things. I performed all manners of cruelty against my test subjects. All in the name of the leader and my son."

"Did you think your son would have liked that? He would have been horrified!" Avril interrupted.

"You're right. But as you know, we don't behave normally in our grief, in the chains of our painful past. I believed so strongly that if I could bring him back, I would be able to make things right. The New Dawn took advantage of that. They do so for many of their own, taking in the crazed, the lunatic, the isolated. All in a promise of a better humanity." Old Yule poured the solution into a small cauldron and manipulated the flames. Avril lost herself in her admiration. Old Yule's control and delicate movements roused her alchemist's spirit.

After bringing the flames to a low heat, Old Yule said, "Then, I succeeded, or rather I thought I succeeded. I created Quinn."

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"Huh?!" Avril staggered back, her eyes widening and fingers trembling. That happy and rowdy teenager she grew close with turned out to be Old Yule's experiment. She found it hard to believe.

"This facility never once succeeded in creating an elementified human. All the experiments tried infusing humans with fire, earth, or metal to induce a transformation or evolution." Old Yule slumped to her knees and rested her head on the table, almost looking like she was crying. "I used my son's body as the catalyst and sought to bring him back."

"So, Quinn is your son. You really brought someone back?" The room fell silent. Avril waited for Old Yule to respond. Did this old grandma truly achieve the impossible?

"No. Quinn is a creature born from a mix of earth and my son's body, but it is not the soul. Quinn is his own self. So I call him my grandson." Old Yule chuckled. "When I saw him as a baby, crying in my arms, something in me broke and finally made me see everything I had done. Carrying this new life in my arms reminded me of all I had taken. The terrible things I had inflicted on others. There is no redemption for me, but Quinn deserves his own life. So, I hid him away and raised him at the outskirts, saying I was surveying the elemental properties."

Avril listened in silence. She tried to find the words to say, but nothing came up. Nothing in all of her horrible experiences and past helped her relate to Old Yule, only the pain of loss.

"I brought Quinn back here because he needs a finishing touch. Something to truly make him independent. I need your help to do so." Old Yule grabbed a knife and placed it in Avril's hands, clutching tightly. "The New Dawn won't know what happened here. I kept the reports and messages from going out. Once you've finished your work here, leave."

"What are you saying?"

"Quinn has lost control. He is currently fighting Oscar. Rather than kill him, I want you to save him." Old Yule pointed the knife toward her chest. "You're an alchemist as well. Take out my heart and toss it in the cauldron, follow the instructions on the papers, and take the door to your right. You will see Oscar and Quinn. With your luck, you should get there in time."

"But I–"

"No time!" Old Yule dragged Avril's hand, plunging the blade into her chest. "If you don't do this, either Quinn dies, or Oscar dies. With this, both will live."

"What about you?!" Avril screamed. "Don't force me to do this. Please. There must be some other way."

"No. It is what I deserve. I replaced my nightmares of my son dying with the memories of what I did to my test subjects." Old Yule tightened her grip. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face grew paler. "I am just as vile as the ones who put you in chains. Let me make it right just this once. Let me give Quinn a chance to live."

"AHHH!" Avril clenched the knife so strongly that her gloves tore at the seams. Closing her eyes, she cut deeper and sliced down, hearing Old Yule's pained gasps and wheezes. Her hand reached in and pulled out a pulsing heart. She glanced at Old Yule and cried.

"D-don't cry for a monster like me. T-the past had to catch up with me someday. The g-gods are cruel and just for forcing me to make this choice, using my dead son as the determiner. I w-worry for you….Avril. The past will always be there, and the day will come when you must face it….I pray you will overcome…." Old Yule fell to the floor, an empty blood hole bleeding profusely from her chest.

Avril wiped her tears, gave Old Yule a final grateful look, and went on to the cauldron. She had to finish this now and get to Oscar before it was too late. Tossing the heart into the cauldron, she read through the notes and followed the instructions.

…….

'Quartet Lance'

'Thirty Percent Eirin Omnireus'

Oscar and Erden were locked in battle against the creature. Oscar, covered in wounds, rode atop Erden and combined their strengths into a singular blow. The force of his Eirin and sharp golden drills shook the room. The creature's arm broke apart, pulverized into dust.

Not giving up this chance, Oscar urged Erden onward. This battle had taken too long, and he only had three minutes left on his Guise. He needed to end it quickly or suffer the consequences. The creature roared, and to Oscar's shock, the arm regrew, ashes building and collecting from the base of the injury.

'Are you kidding me?' Oscar lifted his buckler before the hammer-transformed arm struck him. The hammer reminded him of Orden's deadly blows, except this came from a Greater Knight Exalt. Oscar couldn't hold on and was flung across the room, landing on the wall.

"Oscar!" Erden shouted. The creature landed a blow on Erden as well and sent his friend right next to him. Oscar broke free from the wall, pieces of rubble falling from his head. He had nothing else to use except the all-out Omnireus with everything his Guise contained.

"Well, might as well go for broke." Oscar increased the output of his Eirin, crushing the rubble near him from the extreme pressure. Then, out of nowhere, a burst of Ein flooded his body. It was a refreshing wave that healed his injuries and brought him renewed power.

He knew what it was, but more importantly, he knew who it was from. Oscar stared at a new doorway that appeared out of nowhere. Surprised and relieved, Oscar started to laugh, his hands pointing at the newcomer.

"Avril. Where were you all along? I can't take on this thing alone." Oscar relaxed his shoulder. He still had two minutes left on the Guise.

Avril smiled and held a syringe in her hand. "I am here now. Sorry, it took a while. I had a strange experience." She turned to the creature and looked saddened, saying, "Hello, Quinn."

"Quinn?" Oscar didn't understand.

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