The Tale Never Ends

When I got to Qin Le, I saw a fox, with a coat of fur as white as snow, baring its fangs at her. She was on the ground near the fire, lying on her back as if someone had kicked her down, seething at the fox herself.

What happened here, I almost asked. But Qin Le was grimacing with pain. I helped her up and was relieved to know that she was fine after asking her. Then I turned my attention to the proud and uppity white fox, “What is this? What do you want with us?” But instead of replying to me, the fox lunged at me with its claws showing!

I felt my blood churned. The sight of the fox attacking me removed whatever scruples left in me and I thrust my hand, still in the form of the Seal of the Sword, at the fox, signaling that I would attack without hesitation if she were to take just one more step. But she was hardly perturbed by my wordless threat and pressed on towards me!

With no other way, I thrust my sword at the fox while uttering the Words of Command. The Shiyan Blade left my clasp and spun in the air before it charged at the head of the fox with a sharp whistle!

But just before the tip of the Shiyan Blade could bite into the fox, something unexpected happen! The clangor of steel against steel rang in the air! An icicle, forged in the shape of a sword, had materialized out of thin air and clashed against the Shiyan Blade! Of all times?! I cursed. But there was hardly time to think; I willed my wolves to envelop the white fox in a pincer formation and I repeated my spell again to regain control of my deflected sword for another charge!

The Shiyan Blade wheeled around to renew its attack but before it could, the ice sword shot at it, hampering its attempts! They clashed again, their edges gnashing against each other and the Shiyan Blade was once again deflected away, spinning dangerously in the air before it came down, stabbing deep into the trunk of a tree. The ice sword crumbled into a pile of splintered ice; it was nevertheless hardly a match for a legendary weapon with godly might. I chuckled at the success and swung my arms, motioning my wolves to attack, pleased and triumphant. Let’s see what other tricks you’re hiding this time!

The wolves pounced on their quarry like a group of sharks on the scent of blood. But just before they could bear down on the fox, another ice sword conjured in mid-air and lanced through all six of my wolves with just a few simple strokes! The wolves collapsed and disappeared, the wounds they sustained taking a sudden and arduous toll on my mana and I staggered as a sudden nauseating sensation hammered my brain. I felt so dizzy and I would have fallen, if not for Qin Le helping me to remain steady. “How are you, Shiyan?!” She screamed, worried and concerned. I waved gently, indicating I was all right while upending my Spirit Gourd to for a quick pill to restore myself. My mana slowly grew as soon as I swallowed the pill and I made the Seal of the Sword again, channeling my inner energies for another attack.

The Shiyan Blade responded to my summons with a dull but conspicuous hum that reverberated through the air. It broke itself free from the tree and streaked through the air with the speed of a bullet at the white fox. Then I noticed the unmistakable look of smugness on the fox and it reacted; the ice sword hanging over its head drew a circle of frost in the air and more icicle-swords appeared! One of them struck forcefully at the Shiyan Blade, sheering it aside before it shattered at the completion of its task while the rest of its siblings darted towards Qin Le and me like a stampede of bees!

In the midst of panic, my arms wrapped around a fear-stupefied Qin Le while I pivoted on my heels to shield her from the icicle-swords with my back. Then I felt three stabbing chills penetrating me. There was not yet any pain. My wounds must have immediately numbed when the icicle-swords drove through me, I later realized. Then I felt the sinews and muscles of my back tensed at the presence of foreign objects then I felt my gut churned as if something was struggling to belch out of my mouth before I felt something warm flowing into my lungs. With an agonizing Arrgghh, a gush of bubbly slobber of blood and saliva escaped me. Then came the unmistakable sting of pain and chill-numbing soreness. I began to have difficulty breathing; my lungs must have been punctured and everything was growing dark around me.

Am I to die here? Did Father not cast an enchantment over me to protect me when my need was most dire? Yet how…

A multitude of thoughts and memories flashed before me at that very instant as if I had been hurled through a kaleidoscope of my most vivid recollections. Am I really going to die a miserable and destitute man in this desolate forest?

The overwhelming sense of helplessness and misery flooded me like a tide. But there was no fear of death. In fact, I rather blamed myself for my carelessness. Nevertheless, the white fox possessed magic stronger than me. And its ability to conjure swords out of thin air alone attested to that.

But wait, that was telekinesis magic that the fox was using earlier to control its swords! The very same I have been using! But there should only be two persons in the world who know this magic: Father and I! From where did this beast learn this magic?!

With great difficulty, I managed one final look at the snowy white animal. It was looking at me, its eyes as large as saucers as it regarded me curiously. A conceited grin spread across its face and looking at it made my blood boil! But I immediately remembered how I roared whenever I felt angry or uncontrollably restless and the effects that followed and I decided that it was another of this “do or die” situation. I might as well, I wondered, Seeing as this could be my last!

With an arm to steady myself, I drew a deep breath and puffed out my chest, only to have three fountains of blood sprouting from the wounds of the icicle-swords still jutting out of my back and the pain nearly made me faint! But that did little to douse out my resolve; with what was left of my strength, I emitted a roar with all the strength I could muster!

“AARRRGGHHH!”

The power of my roar was well beyond what I had ever expected. The three icicle-sword still planted in me shattered instantly and everyone – all the foxes surrounding us, the white fox, and Qin Le who was behind me – were all so petrified and taken aback by the rumbling tremor of my voice like frightened tortoises! The Shiyan Blade however released a blinding glow so powerful to resonate with my spiking emotions. It flew back to me and pierced deep into the ground just in front of me with a loud crunch; proud and stern like a staunch sentinel!

But immediately after the thunderous roar, I felt a knot twisting in my chest and I released a harrowing Arrgghh and I spat another mouthful of blood! The Shiyan Blade stood, tall and upright, just a couple of paces away from me and some of the blood I disgorged spattered on the long iron blade of the sword, dribbling down and drenching the two runes that said “Shiyan” in red.

The runes were slick with blood, but not for long! Like a sponge, the words looked as if they were absorbing any of my blood that trickled near. Then the iron blade began to shine, emitting a glow so intense and blinding before it dislodged itself from the ground and hovered just inches high, trembling and vibrating with power!

As if an invisible hand was lifting me, a groggy me felt myself clambering to my feet. I had little control of myself then as if my body was moving on its own then I felt my fingers grasping tightly on the hilt of the Shiyan Blade, feeling a rush of warmth that rippled from the sword and swept through me. The wounds on my chest were beginning to feel aggravatingly itchy. I lowered my gaze and saw soft wisps of fumes escaping from my punctured wounds which were healing at a visible rate! The wounds were replaced by a fresh layer of skin as if I was not even injured and the fiery glow radiating from me diminished and swallowed by me. I took in a long breath of chilly cold air, feeling my senses acutely heightened suddenly! It was like something had enhanced me, a tingling sensation that had me feeling a power that I have never felt before!

Every layer of me, from my insides up to my skin, trembled at the power trying to explode out of me like a monster and it took some time before I was able to calm myself.

I exhaled heavily, seeing my breath steaming before me like a white veil as I fixated the white fox which had nearly claimed my life with a cold stare. The vaporous steam dissipated and I raised my sword, pointing its glinting tip at my enemy!

But the white fox looked neither nervous or afraid. Instead, it looked absolutely pleased with itself. Then it did something that I least expected it to: it began to speak in human tongue, smirking conceitedly, “Heh heh heh! Out of the blue a manna from Heaven! The sword and you are one!” It got up, standing on its hind legs and growing in size and shedding her fur and morphed into a woman! The woman flicked her wrist and another ice sword materialized in her hand.

Nevertheless, the fox demoness’ human form was not yet complete. She still had claws for toes and a bushy tail hung at her rear while the fox’s ears budding at the top of her head made her looked all the more worst with the smug grin hanging on her face. Eager to wipe that grin off her face, I released my Shiyan Blade with its tip pointed at her. The Blade whistled precariously like a flying razor at its target and the demoness matched me move by move, releasing her ice sword with a hand of hers forming the Seal of the Sword to steer its movement as the two swords met!

The two swords clashed and the ice sword, like its former counterparts, was crushed by the Shiyan Blade’s might. The Blade was once again deflected off-course just when the ice sword was reduced into splinters of ice, but it did not careen away! The Shiyan Blade, at that very moment when it was struck, felt as if it was one of my limbs; just before it pirouetted away, I was able to regain control of it in barely the fraction of a second!

The Shiyan Blade spun in the air and returned to me. I grasped the sword and lunged forward, hacking it forward at the beastly woman in front of me!