The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Quinn?" Avril's call to the creature stumped Oscar. His eyes darted from Avril to the ash humanoid back and forth, and his mind zipped through all the memories of Quinn, the young and immature youth who was often embarrassed by Old Yule's affection and asked him to train him.

That creature, roaring with a great gaping mouth, covered in ash and filled with the power of a Greater Knight Exalt, was Quinn? Unable to fathom the reality of Avril's words, Oscar lagged behind a second too late. The creature's arms extended and enlarged, a shadow about to cover him.

Erden uplifted the arms with his widespread antlers. Avril's roots burst from the ground covering the creature she called Quinn and forcing it down. Her staff lost its light in two of its six spell sections. Forcing himself out of his stupor, Oscar rushed out with Erden, landing near Avril.

"I don't know how that creature is Quinn, but I only have two minutes left in this state. We have to find a way to defeat him." His Guise flickered like the dying light of a candle. Oscar didn't want to end up helpless, while Avril and Erden would face it by themselves.

"I have a way," Avril lifted her bloodied hand, a strange sight, to show a syringe filled with a bright red liquid. "She explains that Quinn is incomplete and needs this to regain his sanity. Expose the core in his chest, and she will stab this into him."

"Expose it?" Oscar asked.

"Old Yule left behind instructions for us to follow. Just follow my lead!" Avril rushed in.

"Old Yule?! Where is she?" Oscar grunted in surprise. He had many burning questions, but Avril and the dwindling time left him no other options. Clicking his tongue, Oscar stamped his foot, charging in with Reis and Silver Burst. Avril's plan was the only hope now. Her focused glare was enough to tell how driven she was to follow through.

Ein flowed from Oscar's hands and projected into the air, transforming into many golden rods. From a mental will, these golden rods rocketed out, speeding toward Quinn. From his previous experience, he knew these rods wouldn't work. That was fine. He only needed to obscure its vision.

Oscar ducked below the swiping ash-covered hands, his golden rods clattered to the floor, helpless against Quinn's sturdy defenses. His target, the chest, was still so far away, and Quinn didn't make it any easier for him and Avril. A shockwave of rising ash rose from Quinn's feet, carrying a scorching heat with them, and widened in reach as it spread like ripples on water.

A flash of light came from Avril. Three other sections of her scroll powered up, a burst of Ein flowed into Avril, and she summoned three waves of roots. The increased gravity around Quinn forced her roots to stay low and move slower than before, but they carried on against the encroaching ash wave.

Freed up, Oscar turned to Erden and mounted his beastly companion. Their combined Eins helped resist more gravity, not to the extent of forgoing it completely, Quinn's power surpassing his. It was enough to move around.

He pushed with every ounce of strength he had, Erden's legs cracking from the force coursing through them. Another Quartet Lance formed from his arms and Erden's antlers, the winds not even whistling from how fast the drills spun. Avril used the remaining spell sections to summon three pairs of hands and cast even more, a thrashing of dozens of hands gripping on Quinn.

Quinn roared louder and tore off the hands, only to be impeded by more. His arms formed into blades and cleaved through the rest, scattering them into scraps of lumber. He finally noticed Oscar and Erden charging at him, his eyes flaring up with a deep yellow, crackling light.

"Erden!" Oscar shouted.

Erden stomped, skidding his hooves along the floor, burning off sparks and drifting to the side. Oscar took in the momentum and leaped off Erden, Quinn's ash blade passing by the ends of his hair. Erden acted fast and expanded its antlers into an ivory entanglement, refusing to let go of Quinn's arm.

'Demon. Switch!' The second blade cut through Avril's final entanglement as Oscar switched with Demon. The sudden shift and erratic motion got him through the second blade. Erden's roar of pain from the stabbing ash transmitted to his mind, but Oscar steeled ahead, needing just a little more.

Oscar canceled his drill spell. Quinn's chest only needed to be exposed, not pierced through. As the Eirin antlers on his head began to crack, Oscar funneled everything, every bit of strength, onto his fist. He stopped his punch short, not intent on destroying Quinn's chest, and the Eirin Shattering Wave came out, quaking the air with a loud snap.

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The wild power forced Quinn's body to stagger, his feet standing and held in place thanks to Avril's roots. The ash skin of the chest shredded into flakes of dust and ash, his yellow core becoming exposed to the outside air, shivering like a person facing the cold.

Hurled back by the force of his own blow, Oscar crashed and rolled around on the floor before a wall helped to stop him. He watched Quinn stumbling as Avril closed in with the syringe. Every part of his body refused to respond to his calls to move, to help her.

Quinn recovered one of his arms and turned it into a spiky mace. Oscar widened his eyes, his body still unresponsive as the mace swung against Avril. A bright glow came from the last section of her staff, infusing her body with one final burst of Ein. Her body disappeared like smoke, arching and stretching over the mace, and her hand stretched behind, stabbing the core through the recovering chest.

The creature of ash let out a shrill scream, the ashes around its body falling and slipping away like sand. From within, a young adult fell on his back, freed from the prison of ash. It was Quinn.

"It's over, Quinn. Don't cause trouble anymore." Avril said, her voice weak and tired. Her legs tore open with fresh wounds, not from Quinn but from overexertion. The last burst of speed had to have pushed past her limits.

"Avril. Are you alright?" Oscar groaned. His fingers couldn't even twitch at his command. Exhaustion and tiredness drowned his body.

"Just fine…." Avril lifted herself to her feet, stumbling forward. Thankfully, Erden, the least wounded, helped her walk forward. Erden's body was covered with wounds, slashes, and a deep gash in the chest. The two bloodied figures rested next to Oscar.

Next to him, Avril breathed heavily, grunting and struggling to find a position to rest comfortably. Her hand clutched her chest. Through a mouthful of blood, she said, "Reis hurts."

"Naturally. Why do you think I was so against you learning it?" Oscar coughed through his laughter. He peeked at Erden on his other side. "Thank you, Erden. You suffered to let me through."

"We are bound for life. Also, you've been taking the brunt of it for so long that I needed to step up and do something. Now, let's rest." Erden fell with a thud, kicking some ash onto Oscar's face. He coughed and spat out the remains.

"So, how did you know it was Quinn?" Oscar tried to turn to Avril.

"It's a long story. She feels sad thinking about it." Despite her misgivings, Avril retold everything that happened to her from when she entered the room to Old Yule's death. Through her words, she shed some tears.

"So, Old Yule was a member of New Dawn….Quinn is her first success but not truly her son that died." Oscar closed his eyes and sighed. "Old Yule's tale is quite tragic, but I can't say her actions were in the right. Though, who knows what such a loss does to people."

"She was strange. She put me in that illusion of suffering and hugged me sincerely and warmly. I don't know what to feel about her. I only wanted to help Quinn." Avril scooched over, her words passing right through his ears. "So, do you want me to tell you everything?"

"That was the most surprising part. A slave of a Primaere faction….I wonder why they didn't just give you freedom and train you as a disciple." Oscar shuddered despite the immobility of his body. He felt nothing but fear toward a powerful faction, even more so after hearing how Avril was their slave.

"The mistress I served had the best of pedigree and background. If she didn't want me to join formerly, no one would speak against her." Avril shuddered as well, her shoulders quivering against Oscar's. Her voice grew meeker as her breaths became rushed again.

"Then, don't worry about it. If you don't want to say it now, it's ok. Didn't I say it before? Take it step by step. It's your favorite advice." Oscar smiled and yawned. "I'm alright with how it is now. When you feel ready, go ahead. I'm all ears."

Avril became silent. Unable to turn to see her, Oscar closed his eyes and felt the sweet embrace of dreams wrap around him. Finally, he could sleep after a long day, after a long war.

…….

Later, a blood-drenched Adam paced into the room, saw the thick ashes piled around the floor, and held his nose from the strong stench of rotten eggs. A cursory glance was enough to see a great battle had occurred. Collapsed pillars, markings adorning the walls, and splatters of blood muddying the ash were pleasant to see.

"Must have been a tough fight. I wonder who fought, little brother or little sister?" The young teen lying on the floor, breathing softly, was not Oscar. Adam wondered if this boy was a survivor. At least he was human, Adam sighed. On the way here, he fought dozens of strange, twisted experiments based on humans, monsters of flame, earth, and metal.

Putting aside the matter of the unknown boy, Adam gauged the room and smiled, not minding the ash and dust clinging to his shoes and fine pants. Sitting against the wall were his valued little brother and sister, the two looking so peaceful as Avril relaxed on Oscar's shoulder and Oscar on Avril's head.

"Heh, the two of you are often so sporadic and moody, but this is a rare treat." Standing right before them with a wide smile, not from the rush of battle but the warmth and pride this view gave him, Adam fixed his bowtie and leaned his back next to them. The two of them had done well and deserved this long rest. Adam chewed on a piece of jerky and watched the entrance, intent on killing anything or anyone who would disturb this peaceful scene.

"Well done. Hopefully, there will be no more snags." Adam dusted off his bowtie. Now all he needed to wait for was Tort or his master.

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