A Champion, an Assassin, and a Shadow (walk into a bar....)

Red skies met Lucian beyond the door to the second trial, as well as three sets of stone stairs, winding their way up three different mountains that shared the valley he stood in.

He was in a clearing of the mountain valley, the nearby trees distant enough to provide him a good view of each of the three mountains, and the stairs that wound their way upwards. One was a short and stout mountain, another quite tall and majestic. The third was so tall and sheer that it looked less like a mountain and more like a stone fang that rose high above the white clouds.

On that third mountain, he could see a figure walking the stairs slowly, too distant to make out details, but he knew they were alone.

'So the others will find themselves here too.'

No one else was within the clearing of the valley, but he could see bootprints enough to mark half a dozen others passing through.

'I'm sure Takis will see the truth of the first trial, after having failed it once before. The only question is whether or not he has already passed through here.'

Finding a seat on the dirt by a rather large stone, he decided to rest for a moment, his thoughts still floating back to that broken soul, and the World of Shadows.

That had been his reward for completing the first trial in its entirety and judging by the way the broken soul had shattered after he received the inheritance, Lucian suspected he was the last, if not the only person to receive that particular reward.

It was like a seed within his mind. A small, black point that held all the memories, knowledge, and comprehension he had been given. They were fragmented and disorderly, the memories especially, and it would take a while to finish sorting through it all, but that was fine.

There was something else there too. Something colorless and neutral, some kind of raw power. Lucian thought it might be what remained of the dead man's cultivation, broken down into the rawest state, absent the characteristics of any particular method, but he didn't dare incorporate it into himself; not until he could be sure it was safe to do so.

'If Takis has already passed through then fine, but if he hasn't… I should wait for him.'

The thought was not as resolute as he'd expected, and he knew why. If he did wait for Takis, would the man allow him the freedom he wanted to explore this place? Or would he have to prioritize Takis' opportunities?

'He deserves to know his sister is safe. After leaving her like that it's the least I can do.'

Still not wholly resolute, but more confident than it had been.

'And if he's already gone, then I lose a few days, so what? In the worst case, I've already lost years in the labyrinth anyway.'

Hair had began to grow on his face in the labyrinth. He was 17 when he entered, but had been surprisingly bare-faced for his age. Now, a shallow, unkept beard hid part of his face. That alone was proof that no small amount of time had passed, but he did not know how long that would take normally, and so could not guess a time period based on that alone.

His already long hair had grown further too. He normally liked his long hair, a somewhat peculiar taste among Demian's, but even he considered it a bit much now, reaching the lowest parts of his back.

Closing his eyes, he began the process of absorbing the seed of knowledge in his mind, and ordering the knowledge and techniques within.

It would take a while, but he had to wait here anyway. He had to, or he would truly be turning his back on the crown.

**

Back in the outside world, Tyr was living a life he couldn't agree more with. Unlike Lucian, he didn't have great desire or interest in cultivation itself. Instead, what he shared with that younger brother of his was just the love of combat. Perhaps in his case, it could be called more than love.

He felt content with the thought that he would live out his entire life fighting the greatest battles and waging the largest wars the continent had ever seen.

For the past two years, while Lucian was exploring The Maelstrom, and Tess and Delia were off doing whatever they did, he and Theo had been assisting the crown prince on the front lines.

Where Theo had become well recognized as a talented student of war, he had gained the ardor and admiration of the many armies of Demia, his reputation as the Crown Prince's Champion soaring to the skies with every battle.

Cultivation had slowed and his advancements did not come frequently anymore, but with his prided skill in combat, and his current state, he was easily the strongest 4th stage expert on the continent, capable of fighting off early 5th stage experts with his own mid-4th stage cultivation.

Life was good.

If he had one complaint, it was the feeling of danger that hung in the air of late. Demia had allied with Nalduri under incredibly favorable terms, or so the prince said, and together they pushed hard against the borders of a tumultuous Toubia Empire. But something had caused worry among the prince and his advisors for the past year, and all the man would say was that he feared rebellion.

'Why on earth would we face rebellion now? We're conquering land fast enough to recruit almost every independent expert of Demia to the nobility, and the citizens of every city we visit seem filled with national pride.'

He didn't understand much about the workings of nobility. He was a warrior at heart, not a strategist like Theo, or a prince like Aris. he had become a leader, but a leader of soldiers. In Tyr's mind, the difference was too great to be applicable.

But that was not his business to feel concern for. He was to lead the next assault together with Theo, while the Crown Prince took a step back. He knew he was being groomed as an officer, perhaps a general. But that wasn't something he cared for either way.

With a deep breath, he felt the anticipation of the armies and the scent of war. He lived and breathed it every day, a pillar of glory for his allies, and a figure of dread for his foes.

Eight-foot tall with six arms and three heads, he advanced, an entity of war with armies marching in his wake.

The Hashra Primogen.

**

Withdrawing her knife from the throat of a Heaven Toppling sect elder, Tess moved with calm and unhurried steps towards the man's study, his invisible soul wailing as it followed her unwillingly.

Within the study, she collected everything she could find, especially those few documents on the item she'd been sent to steal, Alger's Devotion. It was a heinous thing, an explosive gemstone capable of harming experts and usable by anyone.

It was this item that had all those in the know tense with anticipation and dread of what was to come. This item, and the division that grew among the highest figures of the kingdom.

She'd never been allowed to return to Toubia, to the Restful Haven Inn she had been operating from, and the subordinates she had taken over. Instead, she had been assigned a new group of subordinates here in Demia, as well as a supervisor that ensured all was going according to plan.

The complete freedom she'd enjoyed two years ago never fully returned, and that only left a deeper hunger for it in her heart. She was advancing well though, having reached the higher ends of the 4th stage, she felt a constant connection to the planes, and had already begun deciding her path.

The spirit palm was an incredibly versatile tool that allowed for almost any specialization. After the 3rd stage, it could be used in melee or at a range, and at the higher ends of the 4th stage, it could be used to channel any of the planes into its techniques.

It was a tool for feeling the planes and choosing one's path, it did not lock you into any of them.

Yet for her, it was decided what path she would walk as far back as the valley of mist, when she'd entered the Ghostly Pavilion.

The captive spirit of the Heaven Toppling sect elder wailed in a voice only she could hear. In exchange for a promise, she'd received the legacy of a particularly powerful ghost in the Pavilion all those years ago. And now, with her connections to death and the soul, she had a path to walk.

'There's not much here' She thought, riffling through the documents she'd found.

Turning to the captive spirit, she probed its mind for surface thoughts; anything deeper would require more time than she could spare at the moment.

"The quill?" She said with an exaggeratedly cheerful smile. "Why thank you."

The spirit's eyes went wide as it's face distorted in lament, but she ignored it, taking the quill from the study's desk and snapping it in half.

It was a spatial link, and with its destruction, a small chest appeared from nowhere, thumping onto the wooden desk.

"I take it this is what I'm after? I'll have to ask you later how to open it okay?"

Depositing the item into a plain bracelet on her wrist — her knight's badge being hidden — she turned and faded with a blur, disappearing from the study and taking the captive spirit with her.

**

Under red skies, Lucian digested what he could of the fragmented information regarding the world of shadows. The techniques were more or less perfect, obviously having been extracted with great care from the dead man, but the memories, comprehension, and auxiliary knowledge were so scattered and fragmented, that at least half of it was useless, and the other half would be good for little more than reference and inspiration.

At least it was not an exclusively Daoist art. It had no connection to the planes but was instead a unique method developed for the use of all. There was no Daoist or Augmenter method within either, proving it nothing more than an auxiliary path.

According to what he'd learned, the World of Shadows could be considered a reflection of the real world, shadows, and darkness serving as doors between them.

The techniques in this legacy allowed interaction between the worlds and seemed capable of a great many things if only the user was capable of them. Much like his Sanguine Control technique, it was simple, but incredibly versatile if practiced well.

For now, he practiced transitioning between the worlds. Picturing the real world as a flat mirror in his mind, himself sitting atop it, he imagined the world flipping over, the mirror swallowing him into its reflection, into the World of Shadows.

And when he was done, he could see nothing, but feel everything. A world of black and grey, doors and windows to reality under every tree and behind every rock. He could feel things watching him in this world. Just as the valley with red skies housed creatures in the woods and birds in the sky, the World of Shadows here also housed life.

Though nothing so mundane lived in the dark.

Visualizing the flipping of the mirror again, he found himself back in the colorful valley beneath a red sky, three mountains of varying heights looming around him.

With this, he always had a way to hide from others. To sense his presence when he walked the shadows would be no easy feat.

'That's one day.' He thought. 'I'll wait four more days for you Takis, and then I must move on. Four more days.'

Whether he wanted his liege and friend to show up on time or wanted to go on by himself, even he was not certain.