His opponent was probably twenty years his junior and also carried a cloud over his head. The Ghost-Blade wore gray robes and a veil over his face, and his Goldsign was a hovering spirit of death madra.
He swept a blade of death at the Cloud Hammer, who responded with a force technique and another explosion. They were hundreds of yards away, but the wind ruffled Jai Long’s hair.
And that fight was one of a hundred. Underlords fought, firing techniques of incredible scope with Overlords above and between them. Here and there, even Archlords.
As terrifying as that fact was, it wasn’t as bone-chilling as the reality that the real powers of each side hadn’t even moved. The occasional technique that a Herald or Sage sent out shone like sunrise and blotted out spiritual perception all over the battlefield.
Those weren’t even attacks. They were warnings.
The battle was being fought on the ground, and Jai Long wasn’t certain anything they did would even matter.
He led his squad back to the camp, which was close enough that thunder from distant techniques constantly rolled over everything. He was used to it by now.
After a bath and a meal, he returned to his nightly ritual. He had distinguished himself in combat, earning natural treasures for his own personal use. If he advanced to Underlord, not only would his conditions get better, but he might be able to move Jai Chen and Kelsa to a safer position. Or at least one more suitable for Lowgolds.
As he reached out to the circle of natural treasures around him, he focused on his desire to protect them. It was old and familiar, at least where Jai Chen was concerned, and he was sure that this thread would lead to his Underlord revelation.
Lindon had spoken to Jai Long about advancing to Underlord many times, and often repeated the same phrase: Follow your fear. Failing his sister was one of the oldest fears Jai Long could remember.
He had been one of the talents of his clan from a young age, and when he let down the expectations of his elders, he had been terrified that Jai Chen would be implicated with him. Now, he felt that same fear. Would he let her down? Would his lack of ability lead to her death?
The soulfire in his spirit didn’t shiver.
That was to be expected. The aura was thick enough, but after so many failed attempts, he had stopped using the most powerful natural treasures he could. This was hardly the richest environment possible for an Underlord advancement, but surely he would still feel it when the moment came.
He strained to sense any change, pushing his spiritual sense as hard as he had since advancing to Jade. The very day he’d advanced and developed his spiritual perception, he had pushed himself to prove his talent. To show the Jai elders that he was worthy of their attention and respect. He had been so afraid to let them down.
The aura around him shivered, and triggered his soulfire.
His advancement to Underlord had begun.
Jai Long was so stunned that he almost forgot to guide the soulfire through his body. That was it? An idle thought? What was the revelation?
But he didn’t have time to think about it unless he was willing to let the soulfire rush through his body unguided. When he shifted his attention to the colorless flame reforging his flesh and spirit together, he discovered a problem.
The soulfire was far too slow.
Panic gripped his heart, and he immediately regretted not preparing all the treasures he could. At this rate, he couldn’t know how long it would take him to advance. Days? Weeks?
He had just been trying to sense the resonance of the aura; he hadn’t truly intended to advance. After hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tries, who would have thought he would succeed now?
The soulfire wasn’t painful, but his spirit would be unbalanced until the advancement completed. His madra would be almost unusable.
And his squad had to fight in the morning.
If he had known, he would have waited for more powerful natural treasures.
He controlled the soulfire to focus on his core. Maybe if it finished his spirit first, he could get himself in fighting shape as fast as possible.
A messenger found him within two hours, bringing congratulations from an Underlord and instructions to remain out of the battlefield until the end of his advancement.
His squad, meanwhile, would be returning to battle in the morning. Without him.
Jai Long couldn’t go find Jai Chen or Kelsa. Every second he spent doing anything except cycling would extend the time his advancement took to complete.
The next morning, his squad left without him.
His baptism in soulfire had barely begun.
“This is what you get for leaving us in there for so long,” Orthos grumbled. “I ate all your plants.”
Little Blue whistled her own indignation. She sat on Orthos’ back and crossed her arms, looking away from Lindon.
“I ate the pots too.”
“My sincere apologies,” Lindon said, “but it’s very dangerous. I was concerned that you might have been trapped inside.”
Little Blue’s huff wavered. She glanced down to Orthos.
“We were still worried,” Orthos grunted.
Blue nodded.
“I am sorry, but I’m glad you weren’t around for our fight with Reigan Shen.”
Orthos and Little Blue glared at him together.
“We were concerned about you,” Orthos said. “You could have informed us.”
Lindon dipped his head and apologized. They should have been able to sense that he was still alive, even from within a separate space, but he should have kept them aware.
Yerin strolled back to meet them and sat on her heels next to Orthos. “Yeah, we fought a Monarch. Got whipped like the slowest mule, but we didn’t die. So there’s a shiny spot.”
They were all sitting around for a while, waiting for another trapped room to die down. While flames of all colors raged in the next room, they sat in the hallway. Eithan paced back and forth, Mercy cycled, and Ziel loudly snored as he slept.
Lindon filled in Orthos and Little Blue about what had happened since they were locked inside the Dawn Sky Palace. They were a rapt audience, eyes glowing as they listened.
When he finished, Orthos thoughtfully chewed on something for a long moment. “That’s not a bad excuse,” he allowed.
Little Blue clambered up Lindon’s shoulder, chiming about how glad she was that everyone had made it out alive.
The chimes woke Ziel, who rolled over to squint in the spirit’s direction. “Glad you’re happy,” he muttered.
“Almost ready!” Eithan called from the brink of the next room, and everyone began to busy themselves.
Lindon still hadn’t closed the entrance to his void key, so the Dawn Sky Palace hung open.
Mercy brightened and ran over as she saw Orthos and Little Blue, but Lindon addressed them first. “If you stay out here with us, I’m afraid I might not be able to open the key again. You might get hurt. Are you willing to risk it?”
Orthos and Blue traded uncertain glances.
Little Blue gave a whistle, but it wavered unsteadily.
“If you get too weak from the hunger aura, I’ll have to send you back,” Lindon said, as he let the void key vanish. He didn’t add that the same remained true for the rest of them.
Soulfire now burned merrily in all of them; Ziel, Mercy, and Yerin had used up the last of the natural treasures Lindon had brought along. At least the ones that he could successfully balance out to create soulfire.