Broken pieces of tile were flung up by Tsem’s feet as he slid them across the ruin’s floor. His right wing pulled up, his left pulled down. The movement aided his turn, lending greater speed to his swing even as qi burned throughout his purified meridians, granting him the strength to bring his primitive hammer to good use. The head of stone broke through bones, displacing the undead monster nearest to him.

  At Tsem’s back, Kanuk was a one man army, keeping the horde of beastlike undead from surrounding and burying them in numbers. Though he wielded his spear as usual, he didn’t seem hampered by the thrusting weapon’s limitations. His skill was such that he had other means of dealing with these foes. Each thrust went through a gap in the often-bizarre skeletal framing of their opponents, twisting just right to break them apart, using their own bones as points of leverage.

  Not all was going well. A few times Tsem had been caught by surprise by an undead leaping from a pillar, slashing at his wings. He wasn’t used to defending them, and didn’t always have a perfect sense of their positioning. So far, he’d only taken light scrapes, managing to burn qi for speed, but each time he did so, the continuous swing of his hammer lost strength and failed to deliver the devastating blows he would have preferred. Each time, their advance across the tiled floor was forced to slow, allowing the pack around them to grow thicker.

  Even with that, Kanuk’s presence made a world of difference. Before Tsem had been buried at the halfway point. Now though, they moved past that, past the three quarters mark too, nearing the cranks they hoped could be used to open a new route.

  Tsem bashed another three undead beasts with a rapid series of clumsy swings, using just enough qi to shatter their bones. After the third fell, he gave a shout. “Ready?”

  “Ready.” Kanuk confirmed, his breathing only slightly labored. He slid swiftly between Tsem and the approaching pack, spear pulled back in a moment of disengagement. “Get those cranks turned.”

  Dropping his makeshift hammer to the ground, Tsem hurried to the first crank. In a moment, he realized there was no need to even burn qi to turn the crank. It wasn’t that heavy. His arm moved as fast as the device would allow, winding the crank up. Seconds passed, and then a scraping drew his attention to the back right corner where a section of wall began slowly grinding into the ground.

  Kanuk fought on, defending Tsem while he turned the crank. If anything, the skeletal abominations were pressing harder than ever, breaking through every tile now, committed to achieving victory through sheer numbers. His friend was struggling, but there wasn’t much he could do but keep cranking and watching. Eventually, if it seemed Kanuk was truly overwhelmed, he’d jump back in and help make an escape attempt, but for now, he needed to get the exit open.

  Kanuk, though pressed, still had more tricks to play and as Tsem watched over his shoulder, he pulled one out, connecting to his leather vest with what would be an imperceptible strand of jing for most people. The jing never left Kanuk’s body, just going to the edge of his skin where his chest met the leather.

  One of the odd complications of their earlier…experiment meant that they were able to sense the others jing to a minimal extent. Kanuk had explained it was probably because some of their jing had corrupted each others during their contact. It wasn’t exactly a comforting thought, but Kanuk had been quick to explain there would be nothing left but a mild trace now. There was zero chance of them morphing into each other. Still, Tsem couldn’t help but wonder what might have been had Kanuk connected directly to the wild werebeast jing.

  What Kanuk was doing here was far more controlled than what he had done to bring Tsem back, but it was still a basic, straightforward application of jing, forging a connection to the lingering will left behind by the now dead demonic beast, a will that was enhanced by a method Tsem didn’t quite understand. Qi drew in from the world as Kanuk cycled it through the leather, along the jing connection, and into himself, carrying trace amounts of trapped jing and qi which Kanuk gripped and controlled.

  In this case, the vest being used was made from the hide of a bladebear, a regular non-ascended one. It provided a relatively weak effect compared to some of the other gear Kanuk owned, but according to him it was significantly safer to use, requiring minimal amounts of meditation afterwards to get rid of the impact the technique left in his jing.

  That ‘relatively weak’ effect seemed quite potent to Tsem though. He watched as his friend’s strength and speed rose to superhuman levels, even for a cultivator. Subtle patches of thin fur popped up on his shoulders and his arms. With the sudden boost, Kanuk tore the skeletons apart, no longer bothering to use leverage and skill to break them apart now that a single swing of his haft pulped their bones into nothing.

  Tsem knew that the great clans had qi techniques that could accomplish similar feats of raw physical improvement, but each of those were very carefully guarded and drained substantial amounts of qi. Kanuk’s technique, the signature technique of a thousand skins used by the Da clan may have been unorthodox, primal, and inherently risky, but its qi use was close to a net neutral, the main cost being corruption to his jing which could be removed given time.

  Kanuk made full use of his saved qi, burning it to give himself even greater strength. The result was a veritable tornado of obliterated skeletons flying throughout the enormous hall, the horde unable to push the young man back.

  Tsem kept cranking and eventually, the wall in the corner dropped fully into the floor. The moment it did, the skeletons all clattered to the ground completely inert.

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  Kanuk grinned, his jing connection retracting, the faint patches of wispy bladebear fur vanishing, only seeming a little winded from the exertion. “First trial done.”

  Tsem nodded, leaving unspoken the questions of what might be testing them with these ruins and why. It seemed fairly clear this ruin was some sort of trial just by the way the first room was set up. As they approached the corner where the wall had been lowered, he tilted his head towards his friend. “I don’t see how anyone could pull that trial off alone though.”

  Perhaps an extremely strong cultivator could have fended off that horde while operating the crank themselves, but assuming this was a trial, that just…didn’t seem like the intention. They arrived at the corner, and Kanuk’s reaction from looking through the exit they’d opened was a little muted, echoing an immediate recognition. “Oh.”

  Where the wall had been, now there was a blue membrane—water qi if Tsem wasn’t mistaken, and quite powerful at that. Behind the membrane was a demonic beast, seemingly trapped and quite angry. It rushed at them as soon as they came into its sight, bouncing off the membrane ineffectually. On the other side of the room it sat in, a set of stairs was clearly visible.

  Tsem hesitated, looking to his senior for clarification. The beast was large, very large, with muscles that seemed to radiate strength and well…that was about all that drew his immediate attention. It just looked very, very strong and extremely large. With another look, he realized it stood on four legs with low hanging tusks and long fur drooping down it, but that was secondary to the base recognition of the power held in its muscles. The creature’s eyes held promises of agonizing deaths and those muscles were more than capable of delivering.

  “An agathella.” Kanuk clarified. “Best if we try the other cranks.”

  Tsem quickly agreed, trying to keep his feet steady beneath him and to not look too weak in Kanuk’s eyes. The pair backed off and worked the other cranks until they had four openings, each propped open to reveal a very intimidating demonic beast and set of stairs. Two of them, just like with the agathella, Kanuk immediately vetoed, leaving only the final exit.

  The final exit was identical to the room with the agathella, just holding a different demonic beast. The pair didn’t jump in right away, instead studying the beast for a moment before Kanuk pulled Tsem off to the side for a discussion.

  “It’s called a gorgollo.” The demonic beast looked like a large ape, standing perhaps twice the height of a particularly tall person. It was covered in black hair and had bulges running up its sides like veins swollen to the sizes of stomachs. “Those veinlike things hold water. Its main strategy is usually to flood the nearby forest by expanding that water with water qi. It spits the water as a torrent from its mouth, blasting prey and continuously cutting off mobility. Normally, it would then throw itself from tree to tree, finishing victims with its considerable strength.”

  Tsem nodded, nervously eying the beast’s size and lean figure. It wasn’t nearly the manifestation of physical strength the agathella had looked to be, but it still looked stronger than any demonic beast he’d fought before. “If it can flood a whole section of forest…”

  Kanuk nodded. “…we’ll be fighting in a completely submerged room.”

  Tsem looked over his weapons. He might be able to keep the beast’s mouth mostly closed with his net, but that would be expecting far too much from his throwing technique. That left only physically constraining the beast’s mouth using hands which, judging by the fangs it was baring at them from behind the membrane, seemed like a terrible idea. “We need to kil it fast.”

  They huddled for a few more minutes, coming up with a plan that once again threatened Tsem’s steadiness. He held himself firm though, the experience of the countless hunts and fights he’d been in lending hm confidence, or at least courage. He stretched out his wings and moved large amounts of qi into his new wing meridian. It was about to be put to the test.

  Kanuk led the charge through the membrane, immediately being forced to take a river of water to the face. He pushed through, meeting the gorgollo’s thick limbs which rushed his way, locking them down. The impact of their meeting sent the already knee-high water in the area splashing outwards.

  Tsem was hit by some of the spray as he followed in, leaping into the air with a flap of his wings. He wasn’t capable of real flight yet, but the strength in his legs was enough to launch him into the air. He burned qi in his wing meridian and his wings came alight with strength, giving him extra lift and allowing him to nearly halt any descent. The movement let him avoid the water’s grip and move far faster than the gorgollo was expecting. He whirled his net above his head, looking for the right throw.

  Kanuk was holding firm despite already being submerged up to the hip, being blasted with water, and holding down an opponent that was much larger than him and that should have been much stronger too. He grappled with it, his shoulders covered in thin patches of bladebear fur, the infusion lending him enormous strength, enough to contend with the beast. His arms, coated in dense scales courtesy of a pair of gold pinfish gloves, prevented the beast’s grip from shattering his bones. Finally, his shoes, made from boartubko leather, helped him position himself, the infusion causing small bones to break free from his skin, firing wind qi into the air and water around him, giving him desperately needed stability in the moving, rising water.

  Tsem winced at the sight. Using three infusions at once, including one that altered his bones, was not something Kanuk had volunteered to do lightly. They’d have to stop if they made it through this fight and allow time for Kanuk to set his body and his jing back to rights.

  All that meant to Tsem was extra pressure. His throw had to be on target. The gorgollo was slightly too big for his net to fully surround the beast, fortunately, that wasn’t what he needed to do here. He just needed to tangle the beast’s arms, to free Kanuk from holding the beast down. With a breath, he reached the apex of his jump and made his throw.

  By the time the net landed, Kanuk’s head was barely above water, sucking in breath. It didn’t keep the throw from finding its mark. Expecting the throw himself, Kanuk was able to maneuver himself away at the last second using the wind mana shooting through his bones. As he did, he twisted the beast’s arms together with a massive effort, allowing the net to wrap around them and seal them together.

  The advantage they’d identified with fighting this beast here, in this relatively small room, was that its own mobility was as limited as theirs was in this confined space, lacking as it did, any of the trees the beast normally could have swung freely through. With its arm’s constrained, it couldn’t keep up with attacks coming from spears both above and below.

  The gorgollo focused on blocking Kanuk’s strikes as they’d expected, knocking his spear thrust, already hampered by the rising water, to the side. That let Tsem release the burn in his wing meridan to plunge downward, burning a surge of qi for strength, putting his weight behind the plunging attack. His spear powered deep into the beast’s shoulder, leaving a vicious, though not fatal wound.

  The demonic beast whirled around, its fangs bared, its torrent of water temporarily cut off, its intention was to tear Tsem to pieces. If it had landed its bite, he probably would have died there, but Tsem had wings. He could move in the air.

  Kanuk didn’t let the distraction go to waste, flinging himself upwards and delivering a thrust that pierced the beast’s chest, its heart, leaving it to crumble into the deep pool it had just created.

  Tsem fell with it, his psuedo-flight not nearly good enough to allow him to stay airborne after changing directions. He fell into the water, sinking like a stone. It was so high at this point that he actually had to swim for a moment to breach the surface again and pull himself onto the stairwell.

  Kanuk was already there and pulling himself into a meditative pose. Tsem could feel him purging his jing, a slightly sickening feeling after what he’d been through not long before. For his part, Tsem welcomed the respite. They still had two floors to go, and his qi was already low. He’d take this time to replenish himself. He wanted to be ready when the moment came for them to move up.