The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Shortly after the outburst, the strange being of ash named Quinn leaped forward, swelling in size as ashes flowed like the sands of a desert. On the other hand, Isha and the Elves didn't seem worried, as if waiting for something. Maia doubted that foul creations could express emotions, but Isha's calmness caught her attention. Red flames jetted under her prided wings and quickened her pace, arriving by Quinn in a flash of heat. Clasping her hands together, Maia parted them, intensifying the link of fire burning between her palms. The link erupted and emerged as a blazing wall that separated Maia and Quinn from Isha's group.

"Calm down!" Maia slapped her wing on Quinn, scattering the chaotic ashes. The rippling heatwaves of her wing's forceful blow shaved off the excess ashes, the remaining clumps merging and forming the distinct shape of a person. He was exactly as Avril described, though much more mature than the immature brat in Avril's tales. Long, mellow green hair draped down his shoulders, and a maddened red glare gleamed dangerously, hints of rage and guilt, a look she knew well. Grabbing Quinn's thin face, Maia sighed and warned, "Don't cause trouble for your allies. Didn't you learn under the same master as Avril?"

"Eh? Big Sister?" Quinn widened his eyes in shock. Maia released him as the madness and rage quelled and diminished, his eyes calm and round. He backed several steps in the air, bringing his fists up in a similar stance Avril had shown a few times while recounting her journey, truly a pair of fellow disciples. Quinn was apprehensive, no doubt, but understandable. "How do you know her?"

"What a pain…First, I had to help take care of her children; now, it's her wayward fellow disciple. Well, I suppose any is better than dealing with her husband, that bastard." Maia frowned and surged more Ein in the flame walls, wondering why Isha didn't attack. She wasn't complaining. The ample time to convince Quinn was welcome. Turning back to Quinn, she introduced herself by placing a hand over her chest and speaking firmly, keeping the Claude manners, "I am Maia Claude. Your Big Sister Avril is my good friend and savior. If you don't believe me, that's fine. But I am that woman, Isha's enemy. For now, fighting together is a sound strategy."

"Maia…Claude…." Quinn scratched his hair and groaned, "Where did I hear that name? I think Big Brother mentioned it once or twice…."

'Don't tell me that man told him about me….' Acting fast, Maia undid her flame wall and soared ahead, gunning straight for Isha. She couldn't risk Quinn remembering the 'her' that was Oscar's enemy in Ashen Grove, or else she'd have to deal with two hostile elements. The best play was to restart the fight and direct Quinn during the confusion of battle. While Quinn snapped out of his pondering and stared at her, she shouted in a phoenix's cry, "Hold back your anger and fend off those foul things. I'll drag this woman out for your revenge."

"Ah?" Quinn stammered and regarded the Elves with a dark gaze, a tide of ashes swallowing them whole. Roots emerged and entrenched in the gray soil, and trees sprouted, piercing the thick blanket of ash. Wooden hands dug out of the bark and split the trees in half from within. The Elves reemerged like insects gnawing out of their sacs. Clicking his tongue, Quinn shouted, "Alright, Big Sister's friend! I'll finish them and help you later!"

'Thank goodness he didn't remember in time.' It seemed Quinn had decided on what she had told him. Maia was relieved to have a strong ally and focused on Isha, who rubbed her knees, still smiling as if unbothered by the new alliance. Flames sprouted from her flesh, blurring the distinction between skin and fire. Half of her body, starting from portions of her legs and feet to her head, transformed into fire. Flickering above, Maia spun and brought a burning leg straight down, cleaving Isha in half. There was no response nor the feeling of crushing flesh and bone.

"An illusion!" Maia looked around and saw Quinn and the Elves had disappeared, leaving her alone in the dense forest. Ein flowed from every pore and flake of her fiery form, releasing a weaker flame that stretched to farther distances. An object rushed in her sea of weak flames, nigh invisible to the naked eye, heading for her. The fluctuations and movements of the object might as well be visible to her. The flames were her, and she was the flames. Nothing in her range escaped her notice.

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Flicking her finger, Maia snapped the flames and gave life to a burning phoenix, a fragment of herself. A loud yelp cried out as her mini-phoenix flew and exploded in contact with the invisible threat. That voice was Quinn's. Maia dashed and grabbed at nothing but empty air. A heavy blow landed on her in response, flakes of ashes grinding on her flames. Somehow, the illusion kept them separated yet made their attacks real on each other. Quinn's sharp attack sliced half of her stomach, spilling fire, not blood.

"Fascinating. A phoenix is a unique beast, even amongst the Mythical types. They suffer no injuries or lament the loss of limbs since they are made entirely of flames. To think a rebirth in phoenix ashes could evolve a human to such capabilities. It's amazing! Ah, but the poor phoenix that should have been born from the ashes you've taken, a life that never was. How lamentable!" Sobs echoed across, but Maia knew that it was all false.

"And that boy…he mentioned my dear friend, Yule. She cared so much for her dead grandchild, so I gave her the possibility of bringing him back. To think she'd betray me after all I'd done for her. My dear, sweet Yule, it's such a shame. To fill her creation with hate rather than the love I show my Elves." Isha rambled on.

Her attacks, however, never ceased. Maia sensed several incoming and dodged the great stakes of wood. Large clumps of pollen reacted to the touch of her flames and exploded, shaving flakes of embers off her skin, which recovered. Often, she'd encounter Quinn's attack and had to endure as a blade of ash split her body again, her wounds igniting into flames. Constantly recovering her flames sapped her Ein and stamina, the one weakness of phoenixes. Maia searched, heightening her scarlet eyes with the boon of beasts, yet found no trace of Isha.

"In the end, my departed friend did succeed in our dream. Don't worry, Yule! I will take care of your dear Quinn. He holds the key to so many answers." Isha sounded tired, accompanied by her weeping.

"Nice show. However, an actor knows another the best, no?" Maia sighed and retied her white hair. If this went on any longer, she'd be the first one to give in to exhaustion.

"Don't insult a grieving old woman. I pray for the soul of my friend, who left behind only her legacy. She should have lived!" Isha sounded angered, but the faint undulations of laughter laden underneath gave it away.

"I'm a bad person, but I have to admit you're far worse. At least admit to your reasons rather than hide behind a false empathy. That helps no one." Maia exhaled a breath of fire that writhed and coiled around her neck like a scarf. One end of the flames evened to a fine point and whipped around, covered in white scales. The other end gaped its maw open and hissed out its forked tongue, glaring around with red eyes as molten drool dripped, and the ground hissed and smoked where they fell. It raised its head and nudged against her cheek. "Well, it no longer matters. What use is the reasoning of a dead person?"

…….

Oscar halted and felt his blood run cold. Below his feet was the edge of a deep pit, the same he had seen long ago when he dove into the Pools of Ascension. Its walls were smooth and led straight down, ending in a shroud of deep darkness, the bottom unseen and unknown. He had descended it before, but even his memory failed to measure how deep it went. A low groan of metallic rumble shook the pit, the ground he stood on, and the ceiling. Cracks formed on the walls of the pit, spreading not wildly in a frenzy but in fine lines and patterns. Sections of the walls were shifted by the cracks and extended out step by step, stairs by stairs.

Before long, a long spiraling stairway showed itself, providing a pathway of descent. It was all too familiar, just like last time.

'Ah, my friend. Your presence permeates the air. You hateful bucket!' Ignyres shouted.

"AT LAST…YOU ARE HERE…COME. COME AND…KNOW THE TRUTH." Metures's cold voice that cut like a blade in the air resounded, weaker than the last time he heard it ten years ago at the start of Fallen Heaven. Evidently, the Ancient of Metal was certainly suffering a slow death…good. Oscar felt no empathy for Metures's pain.

"The first time, you kept so many secrets from me, not even those related to Talos, but my own life. Now, I want to know everything." Oscar stepped down the stairs, one foot at a time, leaning on Erden beside him, delving deeper into the pit, toward the throne of the Ancient of Metal.

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