The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Take off your hood." Oscar narrowed his eyes underneath his helmet as he stared at the wanderer. A space pocket hung from the wanderer's waist, far from his lifted hands that held nothing, not even an armament, presumably stored in the space pocket.

"Lift your helmet first, then I shall remove my hood." The wanderer smirked and walked around Demon, keeping a safe distance. He reached into his space pocket, prompting Demon to inch closer for potential retaliation, but the wanderer pulled out several lizards and roasted them by the flames. As he stoked the flames with a stick, the wanderer regarded Oscar, his expression concealed behind shadows unaffected by the flickering light of the flames. "Interesting."

"Interesting? What makes you say so?" Oscar returned the favor and studied the wanderer from head to toe. After heavy scrutiny, he found nothing of note. His stomach groaned, as did the wanderer's. Suddenly, Demon shoved a charred lizard into his hands, his sword still pointing at the wanderer. He took a bite of the lizard; it barely had any meat, boasting tough, leathery skin and brittle bones, and his jaw was sore from the constant chewing. But his stomach soon stopped complaining, content with the small morsels.

"Ever wonder why you and I started here?" The wanderer rotated his lizards, cooking the other sides. "It's said that Fallen Heaven is the crux of destiny, the point when all fates are intertwined, concluded, or begun. Lovers are separated or reunited. New friendships are born, but others are broken. Enemies will meet, and newer foes will be made. So why us? You and I, in this–" The wanderer dramatically gestured to their surroundings, "-wasteland. What does fate have in store for us?"

Oscar ignored the wanderer's question and ate his lizard in silence. The lizard could not satiate his hunger. Already, he missed Avril's meals, the tables full of wondrous dishes all carefully crafted by her. Fate? He cursed the so-called fate for separating them in Fallen Heaven. How great it would have been if they started here and waited out the ten years in Fallen Heaven. Surely, she could cook the lizards into something more delicious. The wanderer asked again, and Oscar threw the oily stick at the man, who deflected it with his freshly cooked lizard.

"I'm simply curious. Shall we be friends or enemies? Has Fallen Heaven, driven by fate, called us here together to work alongside each other or to fight to our deaths?" The wanderer swallowed his lizard whole and gulped it down like a glass of water. He stared intently at Oscar's legs and sighed, "Your legs won't grant you much pardon in these lands. I vote that we don't fight. Perhaps we should be friends. Maybe that is what Fallen Heaven wants of us."

"I don't want anything with you or anyone else." Annoyed, Oscar palmed the dry ground in a hand of Ein, tossed it, and choked the flames under the dust, caking the wanderer's other roasting lizards in a layer of dirt. His gaze snapped forward. The wanderer showed no reaction, not even a flinch or twitch of the mouth, simply smiling as if nothing had gone wrong. The last embers died out, and Oscar wheeled back, followed by Demon, heading away from the campsite. He refused to listen to more of the wanderer's nonsense.

"You've changed, Oscar Terr." The wanderer's words halted his wheels. Demon wreathed his sword in blue flames, telling Oscar telepathically that this man was not ordinary. Oscar rotated slowly and met the wanderer's gaze hidden beneath the hood. His robes trembled as he laughed, "Yes, I know you, Oscar Terr. Captain of the Black Aegis Order. Heir of Isaac. Hero of the Brilliant Drake Empire."

"Who are you?" Oscar asked as several thoughts raced through his mind, trying to seek the answer to the mystery of this wanderer. Was he a person from the Primal Council? One of the Divine Enforcers? A man from the New Dawn?

"Not yet. Not yet, Oscar. Like I said, fate has deemed we meet here. But you are not ready to know who I am. Not ready at all. Go along your path. Find the courage to walk again; when you do, our paths will undoubtedly cross again. When that time comes, you will know who I am." The wanderer offered no answer and leaped, dodging Oscar's platinum traps. Demon charged ahead, flames trailing behind, and slashed dozens of burning divides into the ground. But the wanderer easily sidestepped each one and retreated far into the distance. A shout came from his retreating figure. "Remember me, Oscar Terr! For I have not forgotten you!"

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'Hmmm. That man is quite strange. Not even I could sense the heat from his body nor the warmth of his blood. It's odd. Very odd. When he came close, I noticed his flames in flux, in a repeated cycle of igniting and waning, mixed and corrupted, choking itself. Was he truly a living creature?' Ignyres added on.

Oscar stopped Demon from following. Following the wanderer was not the most pressing matter, and he felt something off about him, cautious that something far worse lurked if he chased. But the knowledge of a worrisome foe who clearly knew him was not comforting. He needed to find Avril now. He focused on the dark tower and headed on his way. It was late as darkness shrouded his path, illuminated by Demon's burning sword, but he could not rest or sleep, shaken by today's events.

"Who was he?" Oscar recalled the last words of the wanderer. The man knew him. But everyone who knew him was either dead or already known, and he could not remember anyone with that deep voice. The man's voice stuck in his ears, worming to his brain, settling deep in his mind. "Who was he?" Oscar pondered the identity as he carried on.

The next morning, after a long trek across the wasteland, Oscar spotted several figures huddling nearby. They immediately sprang up, armaments gripped tightly, not giving him a chance to speak as they charged and assailed him in a hail of spells, already melding their Animas. It didn't take long for Demon to kill them. Nothing could stand in the way of the blue primordial flames wielded by the coldest bastard in all of existence. He left behind a trail of blue flames and smote every assailant into ashes, ignoring some pleas and begs.

One survived, bound in a platinum cage, huddling and hugging his knees like a child. Oscar tapped on the bars of the cage, and the prisoner winced, looking up with tears streaming down his cheeks. Oscar asked, "Who are you? Where are you from?"

"I-I-I am Lores Pyr, great one. I am from Revandre in Shattirma." Lores stammered, bowing, practically kissing the dirt.

"Shattirma…you're from Shattirma?" Oscar was surprised. But it made sense. Fallen Heaven transported all Marshal Exalts, including the ones from Shattirma.

"Y-yes. I'm just a lowly one." Lores said, gripping the platinum bars. Without Oscar having to press him, Lores poured out an abundance of information and confessed to some terrifying truths. The Argent Lords of Shattirma started an invasion the moment Fallen Heaven opened, assaulting the border defenses between Shattirma and Vallen. More concerning was the existence of another Grade Nine Exalt in Fallen Heaven. It was bad enough to know Gilbert and Lelith had entered Fallen Heaven, but now, a new Grade Nine was here.

Oscar sighed and undid the platinum prison. Lores thanked him, banging his head several times until his hair became covered in dust. A blur swept past his neck, Demon's white sword driven into the ground, and blue flames spread from the wound as the head separated from the body. The last traces of Lores were burned into ashes, flowing with the breeze and scattering among the wastelands. Oscar gritted his teeth and grasped Demon's wrist, cracks spreading on the Ein figure.

"I did what I had to do. The one from last night, I can understand. But not this coward. He could have brought more danger to us." Demon brushed off his grip and retrieved several space pockets. A cursory glance revealed all of them were empty. Demon placed the ash-covered armaments into one and tossed them to Oscar.

"Bastard…." Oscar muttered lowly under his breath. A streak of lightning burst from the sky, striking far in the distance, beyond the horizon. Clouds of dust rushed at him, glinting with pieces of glass, presumably formed from the lightning strike. Oscar placed down a barrier of fire and pressed on. Any sign of life may indicate Avril's presence. Rushing past the scattering of lonely, withered trees, he came upon a smoldering crater, several, in fact, crackling with lightning. Another blast of thunder echoed from afar, the traces of the battle leading away from his current location.

'It's not Avril….' Oscar saw a few puddles of water. They were out of place for this desolate land. Avril's Ein was nowhere to be found; there were just several foreign specks he cared little for. As he wheeled away from the clash of lightning and water, he felt something heading his way. It landed with a loud thud and bounced around, splattering blood freely. Oscar watched as it dragged along the ground, a dismembered body.

"Oh! Geez! How lucky am I to meet you here." A blonde woman whistled on her merry march. Her violet eyes glimmered with interest and delight as her lips curled into a bright smile. Sirsi washed the blood off her gauntlets and blew him a kiss. "My, it seems fate wants us to be together. So, what shall we name the child?"

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