Bab 5: A new identity
Chapter 5
It felt as though her body were on fire. Every bone, every muscle, every tendon… it all hurt. How long had it been since she'd experienced intense pain like this? She didn't want to think about it. She couldn't move… she couldn't scream. It was like her body was paralyzed, she had no control at all. She tried to focus… tried to do her chant to take her mind away from the pain, but it was just too much. Mira couldn't understand what was happening. What had Xu Yan done to her? She hadn't felt any killing intent from it. That's why she hadn't reacted in time. The big cat hadn't shown any intention at all to do her harm.
It felt like an eternity. Severe pain has that kind of power. The power to make a moment feel like hours. Of course the worse part about it is that you're typically powerless in the face it, much like Amira was right now. There was nothing she could do but endure.
It took around three hours for her body to settle down and another half hour for her regain control of her body again. She slowly opened her eyes a looked around. She was still in the forest. Her was in a resting position but she was leaning back against something… and that something was breathing steadily.
"You even complete a contract strangely. Do you do anything normally?" Came a lazy voice inside of her head.
She slowly stood up and looked at Xu Yan in confusion. The big cat of course understood what she was confused about and stood up as well.
"I completed a contract with you. I am now you contractual beast. Because of this we can communicate mind to mind." Xu Yan yawned and then stretched. It looked as though it had just awoken from a nap.
"Telepathy?" She whispered. Mira looked at Xu Yan in displeasure. "You can complete a contract with other parties permission?" That certainly didn't sound right. How can people be forced in a contract against their will? The look of confusion on her face deepened.
Xu Fan could figure out that telepathy was just another word for mind to mind communication. It was a much more simple was of explaining what is was that they were doing. One word instead of several. Ku Fan wondered where his master had heard it from. "Humans can not force a contract on mystic beasts, but if a mystic beasts spirit power is high enough that beast can choose it's own master." Xu Yan explained patiently.
Mira listened, although she didn't like that things worked out that way she could understand the logic. Mystic beast would have no protection at all is humans could just contract them at will. It also meant that young mystic beasts couldn't forced into servitude. But why were beasts allowed to contract humans without their permission? She sighed and then frowned. She hadn't noticed it before because she'd been so focused on what Xu Fan had been saying that she hadn't noticed something very strange. She looked down to her hand, her frown deepening. She could clear feel manna flowing through her system. When she concentrated she could absorb small amounts of manna. It wasn't like it once was but at least now she had the means to replenish her power. She'd been worried about that since she first woke up. She looked to Xu Fan. Could it be because of the contract ritual? Why is that her ability to absorb mana was only restored to this little extent? Will it get better with time?
Watching with narrowed eyes Xu Fan grunted in disapproval. She'd asked him questions but the look of intense focus on her face didn't leave room for conversation at all. He felt ignored. Who would dare ignore a mystic beast of his level? Only his master. Still… there appeared to be something strange going on with her. He'd felt the fluctuations in her body. Due to their connection he was a lot more sensitive to her than before. But it wasn't spiritual pressure that he was feeling. In fact he couldn't feel at spiritual power coming from her body at all. He was thoroughly surprised at first that she could defeat him without using any power at all. But that they were connected he could see that she was in fact using power it was just power that from a origin that he wasn't familiar with. "Master, your power feels so different… why?"
Xu Fan's voices knocked Mira out of her thoughts. She focused on him once again. She hesitated for a moment before answering. How long had it been since she'd had a confidant? They had just met and the way that they met wasn't exactly… forget it. They were connected now, betrayal should be low. "I acquire and distribute power differently from everyone else. It just how I am. As time goes by you gain a natural understanding of how it works. Just be patient." She then looked up to the sky. It was dark down. Xu Fan had said that there was a village around here. She should probably seek shelter there for the time being. "Lets go Xu Fan. We seek shelter in the village you mentioned." She turned around and in the blink of an eye she was already gone.
Xu Fan hesitated for just a moment before following behind his master. It had been quite a while since he had last been in a human settlement. Truth be told he didn't like humans. They were far to selfish by nature. He truly disliked their seemingly innate greed.
He looked at Mira, this human that he had chosen as his master. It had taken him a moment to catch up with her. Her speed was incredible and he could tell that she wasn't even trying. It was just so effortless for her. Was it that mysterious power that she uses? Every instinct in him told him that he had chosen correctly in picking his master. She wouldn't let him down, and being by her side definitely meant that his days would no longer be as pointless and boring as before.
As they neared the village Mira slowed down. She unzipped her backpack and took out a cloak. It was made from a material as black as night. Just before she could put it on she felt a weight on her shoulder looking she saw a small black cat with something that resembled a lighting bolt on its forehead. She instant knew that it was Xu Fan. She said nothing and simply put on the cloak covering them both. That done she walked calmly into the village.
Because of the time of night there weren't many people on the streets. The village was charming. Although the buildings were defiantly not what one would consider 'modern' they also cant be called simple either. Brick had been used in most of the building. They had a ancient yet somewhat modern feeling to them, and they were defiantly Chinese. Although she wasn't sure that these people would identify themselves as Chinese, after all this wasn't earth… a at least not the earth that she'd been born too. She wasn't even sure what language they were speaking. Her magic simply translated everything… and with her powers limited as they were she would use magic carelessly. She'd keep everything to a minimum for now at least until she figured out how to absorb manna more normally. She never knew when she would have to you use a power powerful spell. She would need to conserve her magic for emergence's.
They walked to streets at a comfortable pace without being bothered. Up ahead she had noticed what appeared to be a. "We'll head there for now." She said telepathically to Xu Yun. The lazy cat opened his eyes briefly grunted his acknowledgement and then promptly closed his eyes again.
Mira said nothing further and simply kept making her way there. She was actually quite tired and wanted to get some good rest, however things rarely ended up the way she wanted them too. As she neared the inn she felt the surge of a very familiar feeling. She felt like crying. She was truly tired, and she couldn't collect manna like normal so she couldn't help but feel more tired than usual. Still she knew this was important and she couldn't ignore it. Instead of going inside the inn she went into the alley way beside it. The was no sound coming from within yet she knew there were people there. "So there is magic here… No… not exactly."
Xu Yun looked at her with curious eyes. His master was using another strange word. He watch as she reached out her hand. It appeared to disappear behind an invisible wall. When she pulled it back out she was surprised to find that she was holding a small dark orb. "Master…?" Xu Yan looked to her for an answer. Before she could speak six people seemingly appeared. Five men and a one battered woman on the ground. His eyes narrowed. How could he have not sensed them. Was it due to that strange thing in his masters hand.
"Well well well. Shitty people exisit everywhere is seems." Mira's words had a bone deep chill to them. She moved her hood and looked to the whimpering woman on the ground. The man that had been on her stood up. The woman let out a sob and quickly tried covered herself with her hands.
The people in from of them were startled for more than one reason. The first being that someone had come through the barrier created by the sacred item that had been given to them. How was that even possible. Just how power was this item… they knew very well. And yet this woman had just walked in as though it were no great feat all, and also… they hadn't heard of the great general's house's third young miss having a twin. As they looked at the woman there could be no doubt. The two were thorough identical.
The man that had been on top of the Third miss looked back at her. She was still there sniveling on the ground. Her face swollen and bruised from all his 'attention.' But he also noticed that she looked as surprised as they did. How could she not be aware of her own twin. But no, not twin. Although they looked exactly the same the woman in the cloak was obviously older by a few years. A hidden elder young miss perhaps? This confused him even more. He looked at the woman again. She was as undeniably beautiful as her sister. Except there were dark circles under her eyes and a bone deep wariness that couldn't be denied. He sneered at her. He couldn't feel any spiritual power coming from her. She was obviously just as worthless as her eyes. The sacred item must of not been able to detect this kind of trash. He'd just have fun with her too since she'd decided to present herself. "Come to have fun…" Before he could even finish the sentence he was coughing up blood. He tried to move his hand to wipe away the blood from his mouth but found he couldn't move anything except for his head. Looking around he discovered that he and the others were pinned to the wall. Everyone else had been knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the slam. He'd managed to stay awake only because he was a lot stronger than the other. But he just couldn't understand what had happened. She clearly hadn't unleashed any spiritual force… and how were they just being suspended against the wall like this. He couldn't understand it all. He looked at horror the woman that looked like the third young miss. She was already kneeling beside her.
"Don't worry, be calm. They can't hurt you anymore. I will punish them for you." Mira smiled kindly at her. She knew that her magic would seem strange here. The girl had been though enough. She didn't want to frighten her further. "Be calm I'm going to check your injuries." She slowly and carefully placed a hand on her and scanned her body for injuries. She inwardly sighed. There wasn't outer and inner damage there was also poison. A terribly poison. It was rotting her from the inside out. How cruel could this person be. She applied some healing magic and lessoned the pain considerably. The girls face eased and he breathing steadied, but she was still dying. Mira couldn't save her, she simply didn't have enough magic. She felt awful, but there wasn't anything she could do.
"Who are you? Are you… my sister?" The question was reasonable. After all they were identical. Except… this girl looked older by some years… an older sister perhaps? Su Qin Yu looked at the person kneeling in front of her. They looked so much alike and yet she gave off such a strange feeling.
"No, we aren't related in that way. I know you have questions but we… don't have much time and there's an important decision I need you to make before it's too late. My name is Mira, I am not your twin. I'm you from another world. I know that it's confusion so it's best to just take words at face value. There's no time for the details. You've been wrong, and I am new here. I don't understand your world… So I have a proposition for you. Grant me your memories and avenge you. I'll also take care of those you care about… if there are any such people. Listen carefully so you understand. Taking your memories will you… although you will certainly still die even if I don't take them." She sighed at that last part. This girls impending death could so easily be avoided if only she could use her magic properly. "I can't heal you, the damage is too great. I'm sorry."
"Will it hurt..?" She asked in a small voice. When the pain lessoned she'd mistakenly thought perhaps she'd be saved, but then when she thought back to everything they'd done to her she found that it would only be a matter of time before she took her own life. How could she continue living like this… this tainted thing that she was. Now she just wanted to dies peacefully if possible.
"No, it won't hurt at all."
"Alright, please seek vengeance for me, and protect my loved ones if you can. It would be best if they never knew that these things happened to me. Live my life well in the place of me."
Mira was silent for a long moment as she listened to the words of the dying girl in front of her. How tragic was this. How unnecessary was this? Inflicting this kind of pain and humiliation on such a young girl. "Rest and leave everything to me." She said as she began to absorb the girls memories.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone