59th of Season of Water, 59th year of the 32nd cycle

  Realm spirits, old ghosts, honorable ancestors, there were many names for what was left of Coldsteel. Like Magmin, such entities lacked a sense of outside time, stuck in the loops of their own thoughts and actions for an eternity until an outsider changed the routine.

  “… and so, while I did find the secret deposit I was searching for, it was guarded by an eighth realm ether scorpion. The blasted assassin struck me while I was mining the ore. While I fought it, the poison spread through my body, and even though I killed the blasted critter and raced towards the civilized lands in search of an antidote, I succumbed to the poison in the end. So here I am, a blasted ghost.”

  “Great Coldsteel,” Aura continued her talk, certain she was a better communicator than the three combat-focused rockheads. “When did this happen?”

  “It was on the twenty-third of the season of fire.”

  Aura nodded. “It is the fifty-ninth of season of water. Did you fall last year or the year before? The mighty Claw clan has waited for a while before sending out a search party. Nobody could have imagined such a fate has befallen you, oh great lord.”

  Aren’t you sucking up to him too much? Newt wondered, but the realm spirit swelling with pride proved him wrong.

  “I perished in the twenty-third year of the twenty-third cycle. I must admit, even the date seems like it was the heaven’s will to make sure I am remembered for all of eternity.”

  Twenty-third cycle?! He’s been dead for thousands of years.

  Aura did not seem fazed one bit.

  “And what can we do for you, Great Coldsteel? Your clan sent us out to search for you, but this is not the expected outcome. We were ordered to bring you back home, or to retrieve your remains for a grand funeral in the unlikely case that you have perished, but I don’t believe anyone expected—” Aura hesitated. “—this unfortunate development.”

  Why is him forming a realm more unfortunate than him just being dead?

  Coldsteel disagreed with Newt, or failed to notice the mistake, instead lamenting his fate.

  “Yes, curse that scorpion and curse my carelessness! I got so absorbed in my work, I allowed myself to get ambushed. As for what you should do, I would be grateful if you could deliver my remains, and my belongings, including the ores I have mined, to my clan.”

  No, no, wait! He’ll dissipate the realm as soon as he’s done talking.

  “Honorable Coldsteel,” Newt blurted, “I’ve always been fascinated by blacksmithing and wanted to learn the trade from a master, is there any chance you would offer instructions?”

  The cheerful ghost abruptly frowned, his brilliant, almost joyous gaze turning into a deathly glare.

  “A complete novice, someone merely fascinated with blacksmithing, dares seek instruction from me? Pray tell, what is it you want? For me to teach you how to hold a hammer? Grandmaster blacksmiths came to me begging to teach them and help them perfect their techniques, and now a complete ignoramus thinks to do the same.”

  He turned towards Aura, his lips once more smiling, but the smile failed to reach his eyes.

  “Listen, you need to find more competent henchmen. Some master at the ninth realm might get offended and blast you all to ashes with a slap. By the time he realizes he has killed innocents along with the offender, it will be too late for regrets.”

  Aura stared at Coldsteel’s mirthless eyes and gave a serious nod while Newt clenched his mouth shut. The crazy ghost might kill him before the sun does.

  “I will keep that in mind.” She shot Newt a harsh look, and he wondered whether she was feigning anger or whether she really was as furious as she seemed.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Probably the latter.

  Newt stopped paying attention to the exchange. Aura manipulated the ghost well enough, ensuring their safe passage out of its realm, while Newt considered his next steps.

  He had mostly given up on life. Even if he set off alone and rushed, he would have a moon to spare after leaving the Savage Wood. Nowhere nearly enough time to reach the sect and find the sect master. But, with the new idea, he stood a chance.

  He could run to his clan, arm himself with a subpar weapon, and charge into Magmin’s realm on the day of the solstice. He would be safe from the solar tribulation, and while the amount of spiritual energy he would gain from slaying Magmin’s heart demon would push him into the fourth realm with less than a tenth of his third realm cultivated, sacrificing some strength and future potential was better than having no future at all.

  “I thank you for your service.” The ghost’s voice drew Newt’s attention. “While I am certain my clan is offering a premium to whoever finds my remains, you may take a single nugget of evolvium from my spatial pouch to compensate for your pain.”

  Pain?

  “Pain? What do you mean, Great Coldsteel?” Aura’s straight back bent, her shoulders shrinking.

  The ghost’s hand hung by his side in a relaxed stance at one moment, then at the next the hand gripped Aura’s forehead, seemingly without going through the movements between.

  Aura screamed and collapsed, a seven-pointed star branded on her forehead. The ghost appeared before Emeraldstreak next. She tried to resist him, but the ghost ignored her defense and grabbed her forehead.

  The stoic disciple collapsed, screaming, and the ghost moved on to Greenbow, dispatching her in a second before facing Newt.

  “This brand should be a mark of honor for someone who admires my work. Bear it with pride.” Newt sensed the danger and dodged, but the hand gripped him as if he had not moved at all.

  Spiritual energy sizzled through the flesh of his forehead, burning and tearing. The moment lasted an hour before the ghost released him and Newt fell to his knees, shuddering with agony unlike anything he had felt before.

  “There is no way to remove the brand, my clansman will know you have found me the moment they lay their eyes on you. Don’t try to lie to them, I have burned the information about our meeting into the brands, all they need to do is examine one of you, and they will know the entire story.”

  Newt gazed up through a veil of tears. The ghost appeared a lot more sinister than it did a minute ago, even scarier than it was when it threatened Newt.

  “I have also left the explanation on why I am giving you the evolvium, it should be more than enough to cover the suffering of four low realm mercenaries.”

  The ghost’s cruel eyes slashed at the four as they struggled to stand up.

  “Thank you for your kindness, Great Coldsteel.” Aura’s voice shook, much like the rest of her, and the Great Coldsteel nodded.

  “My remains and everything I had on me when I passed away is at the center of the secret realm. I will collapse it now, and I expect you will deliver everything to my clan. Don’t be fooled, it’s impossible to escape with those seals, and should you attempt it, my clansmen will hunt you down and kill you. Better take the riches freely offered.”

  Without a sound, the stony desert disappeared. Rain struck Newt’s burning forehead like a splash from a bucket, but the cool water failed to help with the vicious burning.

  “What did that bastard do?” Emeraldstreak hissed.

  “I’m guessing it’s the same technique for burning information into spirit jades,” Aura slumped back down to her butt, her arms stretched behind her. Otherwise, she would have collapsed straight into the puddle.

  “Look at this!” Greenbow pointed at a skeleton.

  The bones appeared mundane, but the glaive laying beside it burned with more spiritual energy than anything Newt had ever seen.

  Visually, the spear looked like an amateur’s botched attempt. A short-sword’s blade made of emerald or green glass tied to a thick wooden shaft, the glaive seemed as fragile as its head, but it thrummed with enough spiritual energy to destroy the world.

  Newt naturally knew his third eye was deceiving him. The spear was probably an eighth realm artifact, it could not pierce the sect master’s skin, let alone destroy the world, but it was Newt’s first time seeing such concentration of power, and it was terrifying and awe-inspiring.

  “His robes have decayed.” Greenbow’s words made Newt tear his gaze away from the fearsome weapon.

  The skeleton had several metal ornaments, which burned with spiritual energy, but all of it was subdued compared to the glaive. Just as Greenbow had said, there were traces of clothes rotten to nothingness, but a leather pouch lay on the ground beside Coldsteel’s remains where the belt had rotten away.

  Newt moved for the storage device, but it was already in Greenbow’s hands.

  “A bunch of rocks, a pickax, nothing of interest.” She looked up towards the rest of the team. “We should submit this to the sect, tell them about Coldsteel’s request, and let the elders handle the rest. Agreed?”

  Newt and the others nodded, and Greenbow stored the bones into the pouch before looking at Newt.

  “Glaive is your weapon of choice, right?”

  Newt bit his lip. “I think we need to part ways…”