Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 288: Zach

Wind Spirit

Zach and Naha walked through the Ethereal Realm, climbing up a winding path that led into the mountains, led by a single scout of the Empire. There were no others with them to help them in their endeavor, the members of their team were busy rushing to take advantage of what the Empire was offering them. Zach didnt begrudge them that, he was doing the same. Though, the only reason why he even embarked on this trip was because he was fairly confident that Naha and he could handle it. He had an idea of what they were facing, and had prepared as much as he could.

He saw Naha glance in his direction, her expression worried. He understood why, he had been in a mood since his talk with Ryun. He knew how much anger could take out of a person, but what came after it was in a way far worse. Zach had found himself to be resigned. Apathetic, without the strength to even hate anymore. He stood next to the person that had taken so much from him and countless others, and he found that it was hard to even care. The words that they spoke to one another, the way that they talked and interacted was It pained him. But there was nothing that he could do.

What good would it be to hate now? He had already decided that he needed to look toward the future. He wanted to always move forward, never to look back again. But he needed to rememberAlways remember the past, even when it hurt. Yet remembering didnt mean that he needed or even could do anything. He could only remember the lessons he learned. He could only live and grow.

What pained Zach now was what he had inside, all these feelings that he had no way of expressing, no place to expel them to.

You can always talk to me Zach, Naha whispered interrupting his brooding, too low for their guide to hear.

Zach glanced at her. For a moment he was tempted to brush her off, to ignore her, but in the end he didnt. He couldnt do that, not to her.

I simply feel like Ive been taking everything in, holding back, Zach said. I look at Ryun and despite everything that he had done, I see someone who lives a life that is whatever he wants it to be. And what about me? I bow to what others want. I remember the past, but I cant do anything about it. Sometimes I just feel useless.

Naha didnt respond immediately. Instead, he saw her thinking about it for a bit. On my homeworld, there was a saying. The past is the best teacher, if someone is willing to remember it. She met his eyes, her expression difficult to discern. What you feel might be true for now, but it will not be so always. Our dream, a land of our own. Where people will live differently, be able to do more. Your past can help them, shape and inform their future. It is not useless.

Perhaps, Zach said, not quite convinced. He had thought about it, ever since they had been in the Empires library. A grain of an idea was forming inside of his mind. Something that he was afraid to even think about, lest it slipped his grasp like everything else had in his life. Perhaps it was a foolish idea, a dream that might never be. But it could, and that was terrifying.

The Infinite Realm was many things horrible, but for all of its flaws, it did allow people who were powerful enough to reach out and grasp what they wanted, to shape things in a way that they wanted.

Perhaps that was also why he was afraid of that idea. He had failed at many things in his life, he didnt want to fail at something as grand as what his mind whispered to him about at night. But somehow, with Naha at his side, he could imagine being strong enough to do it.

He wondered how it would look, but perhaps more importantly what it would mean for not just him and the people that came to him, but for the whole of the Infinite Realm. Because what he dreamed about at night would be a threat to everyone who wanted to keep the power for themselves.

You can do anything you set your mind to Zach, Naha whispered. I believe in you.

He turned his face away, not able to look into her eyes. She believed in him more than he did in himself. He felt her hand grab his face, then turn it around.

I need you to believe it too, Naha told him.

Zach looked into her eyes, but didnt answer.

Naha narrowed her eyes. You can believe that we can defeat a monster that had killed dozens of people, that no one knows exactly what it is, but you cant believe my words?

Her question made him grimace. Thats different, Zach argued. I know that we can defeat it, I am confident in our power.

He didnt doubt their prowess, he doubted his capability to pull off something that would No, it wasnt that. He fooled himself, of course. As he often did. It was never about anything like that. His fear came from the same place as his desire. He wanted to help people, he wanted to teach thembecause he knew that he had something of worth to give them, he had seen how the people of the Infinite Realm lived and how they thought. He was a Ranker, he was different, not better, but more driven, more experiencedmaybe not in years, but the quality and wealth of what he knew. He could give them a path forward to greatness, let them take steps that would allow them to accomplish whatever they wanted to.

But that was also his fear. He feared that if he led people again, that they would end up the same as those who had followed him before. And every time he saw Ryun, he was reminded of his failure. Of the small dark room and people throwing themselves at his dagger. Such zealotry, such hate, it scarred the soul, it marred him with filth despite it being their choice. They had done it to him, and it had taken a long time for him to understand that they were tired of life, that they chose suicide and used him as a tool, hoping that he could at least get vengeance for them. And Zach had accepted, as mad as they all had been. Because at the end, they had all been driven mad by the empty world that surrounded them.

And he still dreamed about that. He saw their faces accusing him of breaking his promise. A weight that he would carry for the rest of his life, because what did vengeance matter to those dead and gone? It would change nothing. It was why he had pushed it aside, tried to forget if not forgive.

And so he was afraid. Afraid of failing again and losing everything again. He wouldnt survive it again.

Naha still held his eyes, and so he sighed. Right, I still need to work on that.

She narrowed her eyes, but then just gave him a single nod and release his chin.

Zach turned his head and saw that their guide was standing awkwardly to the side, shuffling his feet.

Right, Zach said. We should continue.

* * *

It took them a few hours more to reach the general area of where the spirit was supposed to be.

This is as far as I go, their guide said. Ill wait at the base of the mountain. You have two days.

Not that they needed him to return, but Zach appreciated the sentiment. They continued on without him. They were lucky that this area was near the Empires Capital, it made the Ethereal more stable, which made the time difference barely anything.

Zach activated his [Aspect True Sight] as they walked, looking around for any signs of irregularities. It allowed him to see weak spots in the planes around him related to the Aspects in his arsenal, and they were looking for something connected to the Wind. Zach had a suspicion about why people werent able to locate the spirits lair, and his ability should help him confirm it.

He scanned their surroundings, looking for anything irregular. There were weak spots everywhere, nothing like what he was looking for. He had learned to distinguish between them by now. Some areas obviously could lead to other realms, but had either been open a long time ago or not at all. A spot that he was looking for was something very different. There wasnt a lot of area to look through, it was a single path up the mountain.

Zach paused as he saw something in the mountain side, he approached and inspected it closely.

You see something? Naha asked.

I do, Zach answered.

It is just a wall to me, she added.

Zach had assumed as much. He placed his hand on it and felt what she was seeing, a solid wall. What he could see though, told him that this was not just a weak spot, but an entrance to another realm. Only, there was something that he couldnt quite identify. It looked as if something was obscuring the weak spot, the entrance to the other realm. Or perhaps even blocking it.

I think that this might be a doorway of some kind, Zach said. It wasnt anything like portals that he had seen before, though it did resemble them. There was something about it that made his head tingle.

We should leave, Naha said. It might be someplace else.

Zach blinked, then turned and met her eyes. She was looking up at the path leading away from them. Im sure that this is it, he told her. She narrowed her eyes, but didnt say anything.

Zach took a step back, it was clear that something was covering the weak spot. He wasnt sure that he could open it like this. So, he formed his Wind Blade and focused on an ability. He slashed downward, using [Aspect Shutdown] focusing on the wind aspect. He felt his ability strike, the cover bent, resisted for a moment and then burst. A sound of tearing, as if a string was broken.

Naha twitched at the sound, Zach just tilted his head as he watched the portal open on its own. He hadnt expected that. The wall changed, an arched doorway appearing in it. He was right, it was something that he hadnt seen before, and it had been hidden.

I can see it now, Naha said.

There were stairs just through it, with light coming down from above.

Get ready, Zach said and both of them started pulling out potions. He had no doubt that whatever spirit resided inside had been alerted by what he had done. The first potion was a 20% resistance one, giving them protection against wind based powers. The second, a stamina regeneration one, third an overall stat boosting one. They downed eight potions each, their stats and every other attribute boosted a lot higher than normal. He pulled out his new rapier and spoke. Lets go.

With that, they both stepped inside and into another realm.

They were on the stairs leading up, surrounded by brown rock. They were obviously not in the Ethereal Realm anymore, but they were also not in a realm that was tied to only one Essence. This was a realm that was a combination of many. Above them an orange sun shone down on them, but he couldnt see what was on top at the end of the stairs.

He turned to Naha. As we planned.

She nodded, then stepped into the shadows, disappearing from his sight as he activated his True Link and gained an awareness of her position. There was no reason to wait, so he activated Last Sovereign of Terra. He didnt pull out his spirits though. He was still unsure how they worked exactly, but he knew that they were made out of Ethereal Essence. This realm was separate, but he didnt want to risk anything. During the last battle one of his spirits had gotten injured, or damaged in some way. When Zach pulled him out again, he had looked as if his image was haggard. One of his attackers powers had to have been able to deal damage to a spirit. And even though this realm might not be in the Ethereal Realm, it was still linked to it. And all damage in the Ethereal damaged spirits and souls. He wasnt going to risk them.

Instead, he walked, activating his Phantom Avatar, as well as his {Charged Focus} technique. On a hunch he also activated Essence Sense. The last plane he had visited was this one, so he hoped to get some insight into it. His sense filled with noise, too much for him to fully understand. So he turned it off as he reached the top of the stairs and saw what waited above.

The top was a mid-sized plateau, six trees were rising from the ground at the edges of what appeared to be the summit of a mountain. Their leaves were a metallic gray and wind gently swayed them, producing a sound similar to wind chimes. Orange clouds surrounded them, but it was the center of the plateau that drew Zachs eyes the most.

It was what he could only describe as a small shrine. A mesh of styles that Zach was unfamiliar with. On the top of it was a strange statue made out of gray and orange metal, hunched over with wings covering it and obscuring most of its features. The rooftop beneath it was curved and had long, thin rods hanging from it all the way to the just above the ground, like some long and strange chimes. They swayed too, producing a lower sound that added to everything else, creating a kind of symphony that was alien to Zachs ears but also somehow pleasant.

The tingling in his head was stronger now, but nothing was wrong that he could tell. Regardless, it all made him be on edge. He looked around, looking for the spirit, but saw no sign of it. He took a step forward, ready to trigger any of his powers at a moments notice.

The wind picked up, the metallic leaves rustled, and a new sound filled the air, creating a soft song. Zach looked around, his weapons raised. There was no sign of the spirit, but then his awareness of Naha changed. He turned around, saw her step out of the shadow beneath one of the trees. Her hands were down, by her sides, her head looking forward as she took short steps, walking toward the shrine.

Zach stopped and frowned, that wasnt their plan. He opened his mouth to speak, but a clinking sound drew his attention back to the shrine. The statue on the rooftop moved, its wings spreading as it straightened its back, allowing him to see it fully for the first time as it revealed itself to be the spirit.

It looked like vaguely like a karura, except that it was made out of narrow metal plates. Its head was birdlike, with a beak-like protrusion, there were tiny holes in its chest, in a grill-like arrangement. And probably most importantly, both of its arms ended in long blades.

Suddenly, the plates rolled across its entire body, Essence of wind spilled out of the grills, as if they were exhausts, surrounding the spirit. Zach removed his filter for a moment, and tried to use his ring on it.

Ikraas Keeper of the Shrine (Tier 15)

His ring didnt work, he couldnt see anything more about it. Two orange lights glared out of the holes in its head, and then a sound left it, sounding as if someone was playing a string instrument. Zach bent his knees, ready to move and attack.

The sound intensified, and then suddenly it stopped, alongside everything else. The wind froze, the sound winked out and the spirit turned its head to look at Naha who was still walking toward the shrine, slowly.

Naha move! Zach yelled, and then everything exploded again.

The wind roared, a song thundered in Zachs ears, and the spirit moved. It beat its wings, flying straight for Naha, its blades pointed at her chest.

Zach, blinked in front of her, activated Lord of Grace and Woe, and blocked the spirits blades. The impact sent his knees buckling, but he managed to hold himself up. The ground beneath him cracked, as the spirits strength pushed him down. It was powerful, a lot more physically powerful than he had expected it to be.

Its wings beat and it flew backward, gaining some distance. The song heightened again, the wind billowed in Zachs ears, filling his head with the sounds coming from the spirit and the trees and chimes, but Zach ignored it. Zach took a step to the side, and turned his head slightly, enough that he could see Naha and keep an eye on the spirit floating above the shrine.

Naha what he stopped as he saw that her eyes were glazed over.

Then it clicked. The sound, the music that the spirit produced, it was doing something to her. She had a skill that protected her from mental attacks, and she had worked on improving her mind defenses, but it was obviously not enough.

Zach had a skill as well, but his greatest protection was his Enlightened perk, which gave him a high resistance to mind effects. Somehow he could resist, while she couldnt. Before the spirit acted, Zach moved. He kicked Naha in the stomach, sending her flying back to hit the ground next to one of the trees, and hopefully safety. Then, he turned his eyes to the spirit.

It released a shrieking song resembling a dozen strings being twisted. The tingling in his head intensified, but he shrugged off the effects again. The spirit dove, the wind following in its wake. Zach raised his blades to meet it.