Micro led the way through the snowy forest as quickly as he could, sparing no effort in keeping his balance. He could feel Kel’s intense aura no matter how far ahead he ran, so he couldn’t help but feel rushed. Arbur and Kolt often asked if Micro was sure that they were headed in the right direction, but Kira assured them each time that Micro would never allow them to veer off course. Sure enough, the familiar sensation of chaos energy began to fill the air around them, and they slowed their pace.

  “They’re about five hundred metres ahead, there,” Micro whispered to Kel.

  “Five hundred what?” Kel asked. “Is that how many enemies there are? I don’t think we can—”

  “I mean, if you take about five hundred steps in that direction…” Micro explained with a deflated tone. “There are quite a few of them.”

  “Ah, I see. Thank you, Master,” Kel said with a bow. “I will take the lead from here.”

  “That’s fine,” Micro said with a thumbs up. “Lead the way.”

  Kel then lowered his stance and continued toward the source of the chaos energy as quietly as he could. Micro enjoyed the slower pace at first, but an anxious air seemed to have enveloped Arbur, Kolt, and Kira. He looked back with a smile, but they only frowned back at him.

  “I’m getting a bad feeling about this…” Kira whispered. “It’s not just the chaos energy, it’s something…”

  “Do you think Trill will come back soon?” Kolt asked. “Without his energy, I don’t think I can do much fighting…”

  “We only have to stop the summoning and talk to Vale,” Micro replied confidently. “We can trust Kel.”

  “Your will is clear, Master Micro,” Arbur replied before Kolt or Kira could voice any further concerns. “We will follow you…”

  “Thanks, guys—”

  “There, Master…!” Kel suddenly called back in a hushed voice. “It is just as you surmised. I believe I hear them chanting, or could it be singing…? This is certainly a summoning ritual, and that…”

  Kel’s voice trailed off as he identified Vale at the centre of at least a hundred hooded individuals, apparently giving orders and directing preparations for the ritual. Micro looked around with his good eye shut for a moment, but he wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

  “I don’t think there are any prophets here…” Micro whispered. “Why is Vale the one bossing everybody around?”

  “Prophets?” Kel asked. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, the prophet is the one Nora gives instructions to. They have bright red eyes and they float sometimes,” Micro explained. “With my left eye, I should be able to see one somewhere, but there aren’t any around.”

  “And what of the magicians?” Kel asked.

  “Some of them are just ordinary people, but some of them feel like they’re full of chaos energy,” Micro replied. “They feel way more dangerous than people who can’t cultivate usually do, but they don’t feel like cultivators at all...”

  “Remain hidden for now, Master Micro,” Kel whispered with a deeply troubled look. “I can no longer deny the involvement of my own family in this vile activities. I have no choice but to act as the heir to the Jade Fire Mountain Turtle Sect in this moment.”

  “Okay…” Micro nodded, but Kel had already begun walking directly into the clearing where dozens of magicians in dark blue robes were singing. Kolt and Kira stared in silent shock as Kel brazenly marched forward toward the centre of the ritual where Vale was busily collaborating with a number of magicians.

  “Vale!” Kel shouted only after being noticed by several magicians, and every hooded figure froze at the unexpected interruption. Vale seemed to doubt his ears at first, but he slowly turned to me the eyes of his second cousin, and a look of rage grew steadily on his face. “I have come here to fulfill my duty as heir to the Jade Fire Mountain Turtle Sect!”

  “You wretched, foolish, illegitimate piece of trash!” Vale called back with a spiteful tone that dripped with malice. The magicians all took a step back as Vale released an aura of frustration that made it difficult for the non-cultivators to breathe. “Is there no end to the humiliation I must suffer at your unqualified hands?!”

  “Fate has placed me in a position to preside over the affairs of our sect, at least for a time, Vale,” Kel said confidently, still walking toward his second cousin without missing a step. “And in such events where the honour of our sect is called into question, it will always be my duty to uncover the truth of the matter. Seeing you here among these pathetic creatures of some magical cult—”

  “You know nothing!” Vale spat, then removed the rusty shield from his back and coated it with energy. Kel nodded with approval as the shield glowed green with Vale’s energy. Vale then turned to address the quivering magicians standing nearest to him and scowled. “This changes nothing! Continue with preparations while I put this nuisance out of its misery!”

  “So there is hope for you, Vale…” Kel said with a warm smile, then drew his own shield and coated it with energy as Vale had done. “I must confess, I was worried you might run.”

  “I don’t need any help from these freaks to put you in your place here and now!” Vale roared, then launched himself forward with his shield wound back. “This is only a taste of what I have prepared. You will never stand in my way again, Kel!”

  “On that…” Kel said with a cold look. “We are agreed—”

  BOOM

  The collision of the two cultivators’ shields sent a violent shock through the clearing, but neither Vale nor Kel took a moment to recover from the impact before launching their next attacks. The magicians kept a safe distance from the fight as they continued their work, carving sigils in trees, placing statues atop rocks, and arranging stones near the centre of the space.

  “Wonderful…!” Arbur whispered with watery eyes. “I have never seen such an honourable duel for the fate of—”

  “What the heck is Kel doing?!” Kolt blurted out, realizing only after his voice had left him that he was lucky not to have drawn the attention of the magicians. He lowered his posture and continued with a hushed voice. “Isn’t he going to stop the magicians?”

  “If we don’t stop the magicians soon, a hero could be summoned,” Kira added with a pale expression. “Master Micro, why is Kel wasting time fighting him? He’s not even using his full power!”

  “Really?” Micro replied as he focused his eye on Kel. “Oh, you’re right. He’s holding back quite a bit of his power…”

  “As an honourable cultivator should,” Arbur replied. “Kel’s core is one stage higher than Vale’s. He is limiting his strength to match that of his opponents and allowing the battle to be decided by their skills in combat.”

  “Why would he bother with that?!” Kira fumed, struggling to keep her voice low. “Now, of all times?!”

  “What greater priority could he have?” Arbur asked.

  “We were worried about the town beside the mountain getting destroyed,” Micro replied. “Kel seems more focused on playing with his cousin, and the magicians are still doing their thing.”

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  “Forgive this ignorant disciple of yours, Master Micro, but I am struggling to understand the dilemma,” Arbur said with his head bowed. “Whatever the fate of the town is, Kel’s obligations are clear.”

  “Oh, for the love of…” Kira mumbled as she stood up quickly and began walking away. “I’ll figure this out myself.”

  Before Micro could ask what Kira was planning to do, he noticed that she was walking toward a group of half a dozen hooded figures who were carving a large number of sigils into a very tall tree. Kolt and Arbur could only look in confusion as she approached the individuals, while Micro debated whether to follow her or stop her. Much to Micro’s surprise, he suddenly lost track of her.

  “Huh?” Micro scanned the area, but he no longer sensed any trace of the young girl. “Where did she—”

  Micro’s question was soon answered when Kira jumped down from a tree branch high above the busy magicians, touching down gracefully right next to them without a sound. Before a single magician had noticed her, she had already launched a kick at the neck of the tallest figure, sending him crashing to the ground like a pile of rocks.

  “You dare interfere?!” a hooded lady growled as she summoned a strange dagger made of chaos energy and swung it wildly at Kira, but her movements were slow and too easy for Kira to avoid.

  “Goodnight,” Kira replied casually as she dodged the knife and used the side of her open hand to strike the furious old lady’s neck, sending her tumbling to the ground with ease. “Pathetic.”

  The next four magicians fell to the ground even quicker as Kira made her way through their barrage of chaos-filled attacks and responding with critical blows to their necks. Not a single magician in the clearing noticed would had occurred amidst the noise of Kel’s battle with Vale.

  “Showing off, as always…” Kolt mumbled.

  “She does that often?!” Micro blurted out.

  “Lena taught us how to hung like a tiger,” Kolt replied bitterly as Micro continued to stare at Kira in disbelief. “Always take them by surprise, don’t waste time, and go for the neck.”

  “That’s…” Micro muttered, but his feeling of shock was gradually replaced by one of relief as he noted that the magicians were still alive, despite their injuries. “That’s quite efficient, and reliable!”

  “It was a dishonourable ambush…” Arbur said with a deep frown. “But if you approve of her means, then I suppose the end result is satisfactory. It was not a battle between cultivators, anyways...”

  BOOM

  the group turned their attention to see Kel recovering from a particularly fierce attack by Vale, but there was still no sign that the battle would be coming to an end any time soon. Micro led Arbur and Kolt closer to where Kira had begun to drag the fallen magicians behind the large tree and out of sight.

  “Wait, what is she doing now?” Micro asked. He watched curiously as Kira then proceeded to remove the large, blue robes from the unconscious cultivators, revealing the luxurious attire which they wore beneath. “Wow, they’re shinier than most new cars…”

  “Your typical nobles,” Kolt grumbled. “Enough money on their clothes to feed a village, or have it burned…”

  “Here,” Kira said as she tossed the robes to to Micro, Kolt, and Arbur. “Wear these, and we’ll go deal with this ourselves.”

  “Are you planning to put all of them to sleep?” Micro asked as he began to put the robe on. “Oh, this is like the first thing I ever wore…”

  “I caught these guys off guard, and I’m pretty sure there are much stronger magicians among those I counted earlier.” Kira leaned forward and pulled the hood of Micro’s robe over his face, then helped adjust the robes of Kolt and Arbur. “There’s a string here, pull it tighter so it doesn’t drag on the floor, or you’ll look ridiculous.”

  “I already look ridiculous in this,” Kolt groaned.

  “Well then go get yourself caught by the magicians for all I care, and look as stylish as you like,” Kira replied casually, then turned to Micro with a confident look. “Forgive me for not waiting for your orders, but I have a plan, if you’d like to hear it.”

  “Don’t be sorry, Kira,” Micro said with a wide smile. “That was efficient and reliable! What’s your plan?”

  “Thank you, Master,” Kira said with a polite bow. “I’ve been thinking about how these summonings work. All these markings which they place in such specific places remind me of the machines you often describe, Master Micro. You told me once that if one part of a machine is broken, the machine might still function, but its performance would be greatly affected.”

  “That’s right,” Micro replied. “You can drive yourself to the mechanic even if you’re not firing on all three cylinders, or however many your engine has. But if your timing belt wore out, that could do some serious damage if you didn’t fix—”

  “Thank you, Master Micro,” Kira interjected, then picked up a rock and began to scratch the bark away from the tree on which the magicians had been carving their sigils. “To that end, I suggest that we discreetly cause whatever damage we can to this array. If we can do so before the magicians notice us, then we might be able to stop the summoning from occurring without the need for violence.”

  “I didn’t realize you knew how these worked,” Micro said with a bright smile.

  “Lena and I spent many evenings discussing the summoning events she has witnessed, including the one described,” Kira replied. “We think it is safe to assume that the outcome of this ritual is highly dependent on the specific markings which the magicians prepare. We also think that the material they are drawn or carved on affects the efficacy of the spell.”

  “It’s like there are two Master Lenas now…” Kolt muttered with a look of horror. “Somebody… save me…”

  “In any case, if you wish to avoid a violent confrontation, then I believe this is the most efficient and reliable solution, Master Micro,” Kira concluded.

  “Good idea,” Micro said in agreement. But he frowned once more as he looked into the clearing. “I wonder what they were going to sacrifice. It’s hard to concentrate with all the chaos energy floating around here, but I don’t sense any pixies or anything...”

  “And I doubt that people who dress like this are the type to sacrifice themselves for anything at all,” Kolt added as he lightly kicked one of the unconscious magicians in the leg. “Do you think the mountain itself is where they’re planning to get the energy?”

  “That—” Kira gasped. “That’s actually an excellent observation! Good job, brother.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Kolt smirked, unable to pretend he was displeased by the remark. “You didn’t get all of our mother’s brains…”

  “I dislike this plan,” Arbur said with a sigh, but he looked at Micro with conviction in his eyes. “But if it is the will of my sect, then it is my will to carry out. Please, direct us.”

  “Alright then,” Micro said with a nod. “Let’s split up and make a mess wherever we can. Oh, these guys will be fine, right?”

  “They’ll wake up with a headache and cold feet…” Kira replied stoically. “Master Lena taught us the effects of this attack many times…”

  “Oh dear.” Despite Micro’s vast energy stores protecting him from the cold of winter, he felt a distinct chill as he met Kira’s emotionless gaze. “Well, keep yourself safe, first and foremost…”

  “Of course, Master Micro,” Kira said with a bow. “You boys might draw attention if you speak to anyone, so be discreet. Do only the damage you can do without being noticed, and with any luck, this ceremony should be very uneventful.”

  Micro nodded, and his three comrades quickly set out on their quest. As Kel’s fight with Vale continued without any sign of slowing, Micro took a deep breath and remembered what was at stake. If another being like Cerena were to be summoned, his friends in Margo town might only be the first to suffer the consequences. Micro started walking toward a less populated area of the woods where several of the statues Ember had been commissioned to make were laid out in a circle.

  “They really are well made…” Micro thought aloud as he quietly crouched down and began to collect them. He opened a small window into his Storage Skill in the sleeve of his left hand, and slowly moved each statue into storage, one by one. “Oh, that feels…”

  Before he had finished collecting the final statue near the tree, a wave of nausea overcame him. The vision in his good eye blurred and he stumbled backward, coming to rest against a large rock. After trying to meditate and failing, he realized that the statues he had placed in his storage were radiating enough chaos energy to destabilize his energy. Even the healing factor of the Immortal Trait was barely keeping up with the damage it was doing to him, and he rushed to expel the items from his storage at once.

  “Oh?” However, as he looked down at the pile of statues which had been poisoning him only moments ago, he realized that they no longer had any trace of chaos energy on them at all. They were still physically the same, but they had been stripped of all the chaos energy they had been accumulating. “Where did it go?”

  WOOF

  “Oh, thanks!” Micro entered a meditative state in response to the sound of a barking dog echoing in his thoughts, and he was unsurprised to see the ghostly creature in his core wagging its tail while licking chaos energy off the garage floor. “So all the chaos energy made its way to my core… Thanks for helping clean that up. You’re a good dog!”

  Micro scratched the dog’s head for a moment before running out of the garage feeling refreshed. The dog barked happily from inside the glowing structure as the door closed, and Micro waved to it as he slipped back into a conscious state.

  “Hey, who are you?” A young boy’s suspicious gaze filled Micro’s vision as he opened his eyes. He was dressed in a blue robe, like any other magician, and one of his eyes was bright red. “I don’t recognize you at all. What are you doing here—”

  “Oh, I’m just…” Micro tried to reply, but a change in the boy’s expression caused him to lean back in confusion.

  “Ah, sorry about that,” the boy said with wry smile. He pointed to his red eye and then gestured to Micro’s. He continued to speak softly while holding out his hand. “I didn’t realize you were like me.”