Cold. Silent. Lonely. Devoid of life. That was the world Melanthina found herself in. The latter was good, in some ways, with danger being mainly associated with life. The shadow creatures counted as alive in that regard- spiritual energy with at least some form of will, even if it was difficult to discern.

Everywhere felt the same. Had she been down this tunnel before? Had she been retracing her steps? She couldn’t remember, and by the time she thought to begin marking her travel it was rather late. At least carving arrows into the stone was reasonable with the application of spiritual energy. She likely should have done that from the very beginning, but she wasn’t prepared to be separated and had simply floundered around.

Now Melanthina didn’t find her progress much better. At least she could see without fatiguing herself. The darkness was almost comfortable, except for the lack of friends.

As for enemies, they came- but rarely. Perhaps one per day. Or every time she slept, at least. Sometimes a small group of beasts that could not quite discern her strength. The main danger came when she slept. She couldn’t count how many times the slightest noise woke her up and set her on edge, while at the same time she was concerned she wouldn’t wake when it actually mattered.

Then she felt it. Spiritual energy that was not just darkness… but also light and fire. An anomaly such as that could be a danger, but she could not simply ignore the possibility of allies. She would approach cautiously to determine if they could be allies. There was something familiar…

She follow her sensation of the individuals in question, a small group. Stronger down certain tunnels and growing in clarity as she moved behind them, slowly closing the gap and bringing them into clearer focus. Melanthina began to build up a pretty clear picture as she got closer. Light and fire in one, pure light in another. Both from sects she recognized.

Which was why she had to stay hidden. One was certainly not a friend and the other was- no, they were both enemies. But they might know the way out. She crept forward, spying a man barely old enough to be called that, and a woman several years older. Both were at the peak of the Foundation Phase, the same as Melanthina. She was confident in her abilities, but taking on two people of equal strength… that was just foolish.

The woman she had not seen with her own eyes, but she recognized from a portrait. It was her duty as the future leader of the Tenebach clan to keep track of their enemies. Zoubida was somewhere at the bottom of the list of those from the Righteous Flame League that needed to be watched, but she was still on the list for the sake of her potential.

“Which way do you think we should go?” the woman said, resting her hand on the man’s shoulder while keeping the other hand on her weapon, a polearm. “Left? Right?”

“We just have to pick one,” the man said. “And hope it is the right path.”

Melanthina clutched a dagger in her hand. It was only natural, since she could wind up in combat at any moment.

“You must be more decisive, Nik,” Zoubida dropped her hand. “Left it is.”

As Melanthina snuck after them, she kept alert of her surroundings. If she was attacked by something and revealed herself, she would be in a vulnerable state near two enemies. She sensed something, off to one side. A creature of darkness, a shadow. But instead of making its way towards her to devour her matching energy, it seemed enraged at the presence of two creatures of light polluting its tunnels.

It wound its way along the ceiling, reaching down towards Nik. Melanthina clutched her dagger more tightly, a throwing dagger prepared in her other hand. Then Zoubida spun, placing both hands on her glaive. Flames and light slashed through the creature. “You should be more alert. It nearly got you.”

Nik nodded. “Sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

Melanthina bit her lip. That woman was dangerous. It wasn’t surprising that she dealt with a creature of darkness so easily while Melanthina had to tear them apart piece by piece, but it was annoying.

-----

Two others, traveling together. “I can’t seem to find your club,” Tirto shook his head.

“Me neither,” Ursel frowned. “But I think it was here.” She held up a small orb normally attached to her belt, one that created light. It was dim, both to conserve the energy within and because of the sudden prevalence of darkness element. However, it was sufficient for the two of them to see. “Look at the damage to the wall here. It’s just the right size.”

“Uncle Aydan must have found it then,” Tirto surmised. “So if we can follow behind him, we’ll be able to retrieve it.”

“But I don’t- my club isn’t as important as Melanthina. He’ll just make us go back if we find him.”

Tirto shook his head. “No. Not without anyone else nearby. He’ll have to let us come along.” Tirto looked up. “Or we can go back now. I still remember the way.”

“You can go if you want,” Ursel shook her head. “I’m not letting Melanthina be alone. Besides, I’m stronger now.”

“And without a weapon,” Tirto pointed out. “I can sense that you broke through to the Soul Expansion Phase, but you haven’t properly stabilized there. Besides, you know I won’t abandon you. Or Melanthina. But if we return to the others now, I can at least be sure one of you is safe.”

Ursel didn’t give him any sort of answer, instead looking around. “Finding Aydan will be difficult.”

“The same is true for sister, if she didn’t want to be found,” Tirto sighed. “But I do sense some familiar energy.”

“... I don’t,” Ursel admitted.

“You haven’t been spending time developing your senses studying a leviathan. I can’t say I’m the best tracker… but I can at least pick out something familiar in all this. We have to keep moving, though. If it fades any more…”

Ursel nodded. “Let’s go.”

-----

The winds threatened to rip John away from his position, but compared to the focused efforts of Kseniya, the untargeted force of swirling winds was barely able to force him to expend energy anchoring himself. The way the hunks of rocks bobbed up and down slightly in the vortexes, slowly drifting and occasionally bumping into each other, simply added another layer of complexity.

Members of the Mulyani clan moved freely through the chambers, riding the currents of air. John could replicate those effects to some extent, but he wanted to conserve his air element for when it was necessary. Though replenishing it was also rather easy in their current location.

A bolt of lightning crackled between two ‘islands’. It came right for John and Matayal, but he used just a bit of air element to guide its trail around the two of them. For a water element cultivator, Matayal was quite proficient in protecting herself from such things- but it was still easier for John to deal with such things when they were at a relatively peaceful moment.

Nothing lived in this chamber, so far as they could tell. They had fought their way through a number of creatures nearby- presumably they would feed on the power in the area as much as they needed, then return to somewhere less volatile for their proper dwelling places.

At the core of the chamber was a great ball of lightning, ever crackling. Harta was currently approaching, intent on absorbing it. Or at least what he could. The rest would be stored for later.

“We have some guests…” Matayal commented, though everyone present could sense the group coming. They were doing nothing to hide themselves.

A curious combination of air and earth- nothing was technically wrong with that particular pairing, but it was odd. One fed into the other, instead of the balance of two allied elements. Difficult to make work… but clearly it did for these individuals. Otherwise they would not have three Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators among them.

The youngest among them similarly seemed to be the strongest. Nearly the same age as John and Matayal, she was a single rank ahead- but that placed her in the late Consolidated Soul Phase. Not an insurmountable gap, but one that should be considered.

“We already have claim to this chamber,” John stated. “It would be best for you to move on.”

“Is that so?” the woman said. “But it seems you have not yet tamed the spirit lightning. So it is still up for grabs.”

Nothing further needed to be said to know they would battle. The side they entered from was closer to the core. Harta and the Mulyani clan were around it, but alone they would not stand against the enemies.

John and Matayal moved forward together, leaping between the floating boulders. Behind followed the members of their clans. The leader of the unknown group made a beeline towards the spirit lightning, while the other two- another woman and an older man- moved to intercept John and Matayal.

They cut through the wind, flying with it and yet carrying the weight of stone with them to ignore the air currents as they pleased. They seemed quite familiar with the sort of terrain around them, launching towards the married pair.

From their outstretched spears came twin lightning bolts. As the power was controlled, creating a simple path wouldn’t divert it. Instead, John supported Matayal’s formation of a water barrier infused with solid ice, forcing the attack around them. Their efforts seemed successful, but as the pair continued towards them with weapons outstretched, they found their steps heavy. Though they had avoided damage from the attack, something had seeped into them- and the ground below them. Their feet were pulled to the stone, slowing their avoidance.

John felt a trickle of blood down his cheek, his deflection not quite sufficient. Once more he wished he had a fire totem, as he had no elemental advantage over these cultivators. Earth beat air- but they were earth cultivators as well, and thus would be familiar with the most easily exploited flaws. Or they would perish quickly, but John didn’t think that was likely.

Sliding his feet along the ground, John determined that while the pull was strong it didn’t lock them in place- it simply made it more difficult to raise their feet, strange chains of lightning holding them back. Something they could learn to deal with, no doubt, but it would be better if they didn’t have to. So John wrapped a small coat of darkness around the lingering energy. Spiritual Energy Absorption could just as easily eat away at active techniques as energy defenses, after all.

Since he could easily replenish his air element in this place, he pushed a gust of wind towards the two. It was only minimally effective, but it delayed their avoidance of a bolt of lightning between two of the floating islands. They would not be defeated by a single strike, but Matayal did cover them in a wave, soaking them.

The leader charged through most of the Mulyani clan, encountering only Harta and another pair. Together their strength was just enough to hold on as they flew about the spirit lightning exchanging blows. Harta had already been absorbing some of the power, and he began to channel some of it through himself, blasts of lightning that the woman redirected with her spear- but not freely.

The two others continued their assault on John and Matayal. They were reasonably coordinated… but no more than could be expected of any two sectmates of similar status. Despite Matayal’s elemental disadvantage she held her own, resisting the lightning and winds. She knew her weaknesses and had trained to overcome them. John provided what little assistance she needed, small bits of earth energy to ground the attacks. Meanwhile, he suffused the area with darkness, slowly dulling the enemy’s perception while he observed them.

Though they were quite capable of flying around between the islands, they were also quite content to battle with their feet solidly upon them. When John and Matayal remained in place, they would fight straightforwardly, more or less. They had the mobility of air and the strength and durability of earth. They were quite proficient, but John could see stylistic differences that he could exploit.

Slowly, he gathered earth element. When next lightning struck, he drew upon that power to enhance the sudden and momentary growth of vines, wrapping around their legs and holding them down. Matayal was quick to exploit the situation, stabbing at the woman with her spear while sweeping water at the legs of the older man, freezing him in position. John added onto that by liquifying the stone beneath the man, the vines pulling him up to his knees before their transitory existence faded.

He forced the stone to solidify once more. It would only take an earth element cultivator a second or two to break out, but in battle that could be a critical moment. Especially as the particular location he was in was rapidly approaching another ‘island’, about to collide.