Emmet noticed Jasper, who was sitting, the dim, cool air of the cave hideout barely shifting around him, munching on a snack, and enjoying himself as if watching a performance. Jasper had been there for a while, observing him, and Emmet hadn't noticed until now.

  "Oh, Jasper, how long have you been there?" Emmet asked.

  Jasper replied, "Long enough to see all those moves you made, you monster. You’ve gotten even stronger. How am I supposed to challenge you to another duel when not only your Totem power but your martial, physical power has grown so much?"

  Emmet sighed. "Well, so you noticed. To tell you the truth, I can no longer use my totems freely. It uses up too much Demonic Energy, and I don’t have enough to spare. I'm essentially running on fumes." He touched his chest, feeling the hollow, cold absence of stored power where his core usually pulsed with abundance.

  "What do you mean?" Jasper asked, confused. "You can’t regenerate it on your own?" Jasper paused, thinking. I never thought about it before, but I've been able to use my Bone Skills freely without worrying about Demonic Energy ever since Emmet fixed my core. Is that what I was feeling—a subtle energy fueling my skills?

  Emmet asked, "You mean you didn't know you were using Demonic Energy?"

  "I suppose I knew I was using something of the sort, especially when we were using the demonic crystal we took from the cult," Jasper admitted.

  "Don't you ever use those again!" Emmet warned. "The unrefined energy from the cult's crystal is like trying to fuel a finely-tuned clock with gravel. It grinds against your core, causing micro-fractures. Before I fixed you, your body was slowly tearing itself apart just to use those bone skills." He continued, "It's dangerous. Not really since you're immune to corruption, but your core can't refine it properly. Your core needs a much more refined energy. That's why, when I fixed your core, it started running smoothly—thanks to the refined Demonic Energy I used. And this version of my demon crystal... I should rename it. The Dark Crystal. Just Dark Crystal."

  "Well, since you made it, let's just call it that," Jasper agreed.

  Emmet continued, "I'll need more of that crystal, if you have any, so I can refine it. It turns out I can't use any of my major skills without it. For now, I have to rely solely on my martial arts and speed."

  Jasper's eyes lit up. "Oh, so you mean I can defeat you now since you can't use those totems?" He immediately shook his head. "Nah, I doubt I could still beat you after seeing those moves you made. More importantly, we don’t have any more of those crystals. I used the last one on you. I haven't been hunting for any since the cult has been silent lately."

  After a moment of silence, Emmet continued, "Well, I think they must have already achieved their goal and decided to lay low, or maybe..." He trailed off, thinking about the being that took Eanne. No, it must not be related to that. They were terrified of it.

  Emmet thought, I should hunt for the cult and gather Demonic Crystal or Demonic Energy from an altar or one of their blood pacts.

  "Jasper, I think I need to go back home for now." He paused, his expression turning serious. "Oh, before I go, I must do a thorough check on your core and see what changes have occurred."

  Jasper agreed, and both sat on the ground, falling into a meditative pose. Emmet placed his hand on Jasper's back.

  "You have to keep doing this breathing," Emmet instructed, his voice low. "Continue until you master the control of the demonic energy flowing into your core. Until you grasp it and can view it like you're viewing it with your own eyes—no, like you are in it. Just keep doing it."

  Jasper closed his eyes. "Well, I think I must have already experienced that."

  "Great then," Emmet said. "Just keep exploring it."

  As Emmet monitored the energy flowing through Jasper, he realized something unsettling. Wait a minute... that energy. It came from me, and it’s like it’s linked to me. Like it feeds... continuously. Does it mean I am still its source? What the? He quickly analyzed the sensation. It means I am a living power source of his demon energy.

  He instantly decided on a new name. I should also call it something else. I will call it "Rend." He had to rend himself away from his intended fate as a vessel. He rends the power from the demons, making it his own. It's a word of defiance and strength. That’s it: Rend.

  Well, this Rend, that means it connects me to Jasper. He noted the flow was not a forceful drain; it seemed to know its limit and was controlled by Jasper's newly repaired core. "You’re all good now, Jasper. Continue to practice this until you can access it freely... and that dark demonic energy coming from me... I call it Rend."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Jasper opened his eyes, a thoughtful look on his face. "Rend, huh? I like it. So the energy I get from you is Rend. Got it."

  Emmet stood up, dusting off his pants. "Speaking of going home," he said, bringing the conversation back to his original statement. "I think it’s time for me to go now. I need to leave."

  "Home? Where?" Jasper asked.

  "To the Northern Veil. I'm ending my pilgrimage and will send a report to the Northern Council. Also, I miss my mother. I promise I will come back. I just need to settle some things there before I hunt the cult."

  "So you are joining us for good?" Jasper asked hopefully.

  "Well, I said I’m going to hunt the cult to harvest Demonic Energy to produce Rend," Emmet reiterated.

  "Then you're teaming up with us?"

  "That's not a bad idea. Maybe I will, but I have to go back home first," Emmet said.

  "Then in that case, I'm coming with you," Jasper declared.

  "No, definitely not," Emmet countered immediately.

  "I won't slow you down! Besides, you said you can't use your skills without your Dark Crystals. So I can be your bodyguard."

  "I appreciate the gesture, but I need to head there as fast as I can. And, not to belittle you or anything, but you can't catch up with my speed. And if you use your Warrior Divinity to do that, we might catch some unwanted attention."

  "But I... okay, you have a point," Jasper conceded. His shoulders slumped slightly.

  "I already made a promise to help you and the others, didn't I? I already fixed you," Emmet said. "So I will come back for... Lenka? Wait, I haven't seen her. Are you sure she's around here in this hideout?"

  Jasper smiled slightly. "Well, about that, Lenka doesn't like to socialize with people, except maybe me. And right now, I'm sure she is probably watching everything you are doing since you first stepped in here."

  "Then I promise to come back for you, Lenka, if you're listening now," Emmet announced to the air.

  "She said she understands," Jasper reported. A flicker of shadow seemed to briefly deepen in the corner of Emmet's eye, accompanied by a faint, vanishing chill.

  "How did you know what she said?" Emmet asked, looking around.

  "Well, she uses the shadow to communicate."

  "A Shadow Divinant? An Eclipseborne?"

  "Yeah, something like that," Jasper confirmed.

  "Okay, well, I have to go now," Emmet said, turning. "Um, can you guide me? I don’t even know where I am right now. I found a map, but I don’t know where 'here' is."

  Jasper immediately assisted Emmet, marking the map with village names and key locations. He even prepared a new set of clothing for Emmet, including a dark cloak—the same type he used when traveling away from the hideout. Emmet was amazed at how much Jasper knew about the continent.

  "We aren't far from the Northern Veil," Jasper explained. "It'll take about a month of travel if you take this route on a carriage."

  "I'm not going to use a carriage," Emmet said.

  "You're going to walk?" Jasper asked.

  "I’ll jump and run my way there. I want to test my endurance, speed, and see if my strength is practical for threading this way. I'm confident I can get there five times, no, even ten times faster than riding a carriage."

  "Well, if you're confident, then okay," Jasper shrugged. "I know all too well that you can do it after seeing those weird martial arts moves you made."

  "I call it 'Flow Cycle,'" Emmet said, his voice low and perfectly calm, contrasting with the fluid violence of the move. The name sounded like a whisper of rushing water. As he executed the graceful, flowing circular movement with both arms, encircling Jasper, he raised one leg, imitating a crane, before delivering a small, sharp kick. The kick wasn't just movement—it was a sudden pop of displaced air, sharp enough to ruffle Jasper's hair. "Yah!"

  Jasper prepared a bag with food and some gold and presented it to Emmet. "Here, don't forget this."

  "Oh, how touching," Emmet said, taking it.

  "Oh, please. After what you did for me, this isn't even enough to compensate," Jasper replied.

  "Sure, sure," Emmet agreed easily.

  Emmet thought, Ahh, I no longer have a storage space. His hand instinctively reached toward his chest where the space used to be. The absence was more than just inconvenient; it was a physical reminder of Eanne's loss. He remembered that Eanne had called it a Special Sealed Space. The memory of Eanne pinched his heart, and he tried to shrug it off, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, forcing the grief into a cold, hard knot in his gut, hardening his resolve like steel. He had already strengthened his resolve to find her when he was strong enough.

  At the edge of the canyon, where the wind whipped a steady, cold howl, pulling at Emmet’s cloak like an eager hand, Emmet stood ready to make a huge leap to start his travel. The drop beneath him was a jagged, shadow-filled mile of rock.

  Emmet began his warm-up, performing a series of weird, fluid stretches that seemed impossible for a human skeleton. He twisted his torso 180 degrees, then lowered his body into a crouch, his back perfectly straight, before slowly unfolding like a predatory cat.

  "Off I go," he said to Jasper. "See you later." He tapped his brow in a quick goodbye gesture and was off.

  Jasper watched him go, a faint smile on his face. He clenched his fist, looking at it with a rush of happy thought. Thank you, Emmet. I hope you get there safe. I know you'll come back. He unclenched his fist. I can't wait for you to fix Lenka too. Lenka, please hold on for a while.

  Jasper suddenly looked off into the shadows as if speaking to someone invisible. "Yeah, he is an odd one too, just like the rest of us." Jasper flinched, as if he'd just been elbowed, and quickly corrected himself. "Alright, alright! Not odd. Unique. She doesn't like being called odd," he muttered under his breath.

  Emmet didn't run; he simply pushed off the ground. The force of his leap cracked the stone beneath his boot. He shot across the chasm, not like a runner, but like a blurred projectile, vanishing into the distance before the sound of the cracking rock faded.

  The ground blurred into streaks of brown and green beneath his feet. The air rushing past him was a constant, deafening roar, yet inside his controlled 'Flow Cycle' breathing, his mind was calm. This is not exhausting, he thought, this is just... moving. He focused on the familiar constellations of the Northern sky, guiding his lonely path home. Mother, how long has it been? It’s been so many years. I hope you can still recognize me; I'm much taller now... I have so much to report to the North. And Ember, I hope you were protecting Mother and our territory. I'm coming home.