Emmet noticed a figure descending from above. "So, not a bird, then," he muttered. "A Guardian? An Elemental Divinant? Air type? Did it forget something? It's coming right for me."

  A man appeared above Emmet. Cautious, the man hovered just out of striking range, an unnecessary distance that spoke more of his arrogance than his wariness. He then made a grand declaration: "You! Cultist! It is an unlucky day for you to have crossed my path! Your evil shall end today!"

  He struck a ridiculous pose, idly raking his fingers through his hair as he basked in his own perceived glory, his face set in a smoldering, self-satisfied sneer.

  "Oh, and I'll be taking all your belongings," he continued, utterly serious. "Yes, yes, I know it's unfair, but that's life. Think of this as mercy, and consider yourself lucky to be ended by someone like me."

  "Go away! I'm not in the mood!" Emmet yelled back. "Wait, why can I hear him so clearly from so far away? Ah, it must be some kind of air magic." Deciding to ignore the annoyance, Emmet told his lizard steed, Chompy, to keep moving.

  The man kept talking. "I know you feel like you have nowhere to run since I have cornered you already…"

  The man continued his monologue, but Emmet was barely listening, boredly caressing Chompy's scales.

  The man noticed Emmet's inattention, and his face twisted with anger. "Why, you no-good-for-nothing cultist! Despite me showing you my grace and giving you time to at least prepare for what I'm about to do… Hmph. Fine, I'll just finish you off."

  He began huffing, his hands moving to guide the buildup of air in his chest. You deserve this, he thought, and then unleashed a cyclone blast aimed directly at Emmet.

  "Oh, he's going to attack me?" Emmet finally reacted, a dangerous edge in his voice. "Okay, since you started this, I'll make sure you regret it. You caught me in a really bad mood today, so don't you dare blame me."

  Emmet quickly summoned his obsidian totem, creating a crystalline throwing spear to intercept the incoming attack. The cyclone never reached him; Emmet's spear preempted the blast, detonating the vortex in a silent, violent shockwave. He then launched a second, higher attack, aiming not for the man, but the air above him.

  "He can fly, so he'll easily dodge," Emmet reasoned. "I'm going to make it rain with crystal so he has nowhere else to go."

  The second spear instantly broke into myriad shards, forming a rain of crystal directly above the man. He panicked. "Oh no, not good. He's not weak! What is this skill? Crystals? Oh no, definitely not good."

  Emmet looked at Chompy. "Save yourself, Chompy. Thank you for accompanying me. Just go. I won't forget you."

  Chompy immediately darted away, relieved to be freed. He looked back one last time, an almost venomous expression on his lizard face, hoping for Emmet to suffer at the hands of the man in the air. Emmet misinterpreted the look. "Don't worry about me, Chompy, just go," he said, believing the lizard was concerned.

  "He's fast," Emmet noted, watching the man evade all those crystals and shield himself using compressed air. "This guy is good. Long-range combat is fine, but I have to conserve my Rend as much as I can; I don't have enough dark crystals to produce more. I'll run and find some higher ground for melee."

  The man watched Emmet flee. He's running away? So he ran out of crystals? He was just planning to escape, huh? I thought he was strong—that got me worried for a second. This guy is indeed weak! Hahaha! Running away is useless! I'm the fastest.

  The man moved closer but cautiously maintained his distance, all while blowing a barrage of air missiles from his mouth. Emmet easily evaded the projectiles.

  "Interesting," Emmet observed. "Compressed air acting as a projectile, that's a good range attack. Not only that, he can create mini-cyclones and fly using air. This guy is a truly powerful air elementalist. He's amazing. Too bad you got on my bad side."

  The man kept firing air missiles, and Emmet kept evading, running toward his chosen terrain: a narrow canyon. "Ahh, perfect," he thought, a place where the man wouldn't be able to easily escape the confines of the cliff walls.

  Just as the man got close to the cliff edge, Emmet timed it perfectly. He smashed the wall of rock, and the mountain face broke into huge pieces, raining down on the flying man.

  "Did he just punch that mountain of rock?!" the man screamed. "What kind of a monster is he? Oh no, this is not good. Did I mess with the wrong guy? I should escape!"

  Emmet, hidden by the rockfall, began throwing massive boulders—each bigger than a human. The man's eyes panicked; his movement was in disarray, but he still managed to evade the massive stones.

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  "Oh no, he is a demon, a monster of a cult member! I've gotta go!" He tried to zoom away and leave this monstrous being behind, but Emmet was already closer. To the man's complete surprise, Emmet was preparing to lunge a mighty punch directly toward his face.

  Emmet realized the man was about to lose consciousness from sheer terror, but the punch was already committed. Instead of his face, the strike slammed into the giant boulder hovering just behind the man. The rock vaporized into a cloud of dust and grit with the single blow. Though his consciousness was already fading, the man witnessed the monstrous aftermath.

  Emmet grabbed the unconscious man and pulled him to safety. "This guy is light and feels physically weak," Emmet mused. "Hmm, just like a small bird. Despite his powerful air manipulation, he is physically frail."

  He laid the man on the ground and noticed something. "Wait, he's not from the North. This feeling... Demonic energy in his body. Is he a 'failed vessel,' too?"

  "Well, since you attacked me with the intent to kill, I won't forgive you even if you're unconscious," Emmet said. "It is my right to claim your life, which means I own you now. If you're like one of us, then I'm sure you have a broken core. I've been wanting to do this to Jasper, but he seems like a good guy. But you… well, I guess it's my lucky day since I can experiment."

  Emmet took one of his dark crystals and started a ritual. He scanned the man's divinity and finally located the defected core.

  "So you really are one of the failed vessels," he concluded. "I should stop calling us that. I'll name our kind the 'Unwoven.' Something that has been disentangled or separated from a complex structure. That sounds perfect. Okay, you Unwoven, you're lucky you met me. I'm going to fix your broken core, but since you're also an enemy, I'm going to do something extra."

  "His body is weak, but his corrupted divine ability is quite powerful," Emmet thought. "It seems he was holding back, either because it's damaging him or he lacks full control. Like a fine diamond, I can polish you to perfection."

  Emmet then noticed a strange power emanating from the man's cuff bracelet. The accessory looked precious and carried a scent of divinity. He took it off and destroyed it.

  "A tracking device. Not good. I must move away from this place. Someone put this on him."

  The man slowly opened his eyes and saw Emmet. He was sitting on a higher part of the canyon in a cave, drinking a cup of tea and relaxing as he watched the view.

  Emmet noticed him waking up. "Ah, so you're awake," he said. "Before you get any wrong ideas… first, a warning: don't do anything stupid. You're under my control now. If you do anything unnecessary, your body will break due to a Rend outburst. You are now my slave, or my test subject. You can also call it apprenticeship, or perhaps a master-disciple relationship. You can call me Master. My name is Emmet, your Master."

  "I prepared food, but I'm a meat lover, so you can't be picky. Now speak, who are you, and why did you attack me? Also, if you lie, you die."

  The man weighed his options, his mind racing. This guy is brutally strong. Escaping is not an option. I need to get on his good side, beg if I must, then escape. Wait, I feel good. Why does my body feel great?

  "So you noticed now?" Emmet said, anticipating his thought. "That is my gift to you. I fixed your corrupted elemental divine core. You're welcome. Also, I dominated you, so like I said, you are my slave, or my disciple, whatever you prefer."

  The man felt it. Emmet wasn't lying. I feel so powerful. Maybe I can beat him… Wait, he said 'dominated.' He felt his body crack as if an overwhelming gravity were pulling him to the ground.

  "That is what I mean by dominating you," Emmet stated. "Do something stupid, your body will be destroyed, and I can easily do that. Now, answer my first question, or do you still need more motivation?"

  The man, feeling the agonizing pain, gasped: "I get it! I get it! Stop it, please! I beg you!"

  Emmet stopped the pain.

  "My name is Cliff," he said, finally introducing himself. "I thought you were a member of the dark cult… Are you?"

  "No, I'm not," Emmet replied.

  Cliff sighed with relief. "I thought you had some demon crystals, so I purposely attacked you to take them, since I felt demonic energy in you. Are you someone like me? A failed vessel?"

  "Well, I call us Unwoven now, so that's what you are going to call our type."

  "Unwoven…" Cliff repeated. "Thank you for curing me. I felt good. How did you do it? More importantly… who are you?"

  The pain immediately flared up in his body again.

  "I was the one asking questions around here," Emmet corrected him. "Careful now. Keep talking, but don't ask. Continue telling me about yourself."

  "Arrrgh!" Cliff screamed in pain. "Alright, alright! What do you want to know? I will answer it! Please stop!"

  "First, you call me Master. Master Emmet. Don't you forget that. Now, how long have you been following me?"

  Cliff answered: "I just happened to fly around near the border of the Northveil and saw you. I watched from afar and saw everything, which made me think you were a corrupting being or a member of the cult, so I observed and followed you."

  "I see. That's understandable." Emmet then became serious. "You had a cuff bracelet on your left arm, but I destroyed it. It was a tracking device. Who put that on you?"

  Cliff replied: "The cuff bracelet? I stole it from the Luminaries. Wait a minute… so that's why I got it so easily. It was a trap. I've noticed some of the Inquisitors are actively hunting cultists and corrupted beings, and I was branded as one. I've fought with them and gotten away many times."

  "Inquisitors?" Emmet asked.

  "Oh, you don't know about them? They are the most elite executioners under the command of Elarith's High Council," Cliff explained. "Some of their members may be direct disciples of the Sword King himself. Even one as strong as you should never fight them."

  Cliff collected his wits and knelt in front of Emmet. "Please, Master, forgive me. I didn't know better. Please let me go. I promise I won't be a problem and will owe you a favor. I can give you treasures, and I will give you dark crystals if I find one. Please, let me go."

  "No, and no," Emmet stated firmly. "First, I fixed you, so you owe me that. Second, you are now my disciple, so you are stuck with me. Third, you are being followed, and if these Inquisitors are trailing you, they can easily track you. I can let you go, but you'll just die out there."

  He actually cared for me? Cliff felt a jolt of confusion.

  "We Unwoven are currently in the same boat," Emmet continued. "If what you said is true, then they may target me, too. It's better that I know about them early, thanks to you. We Unwoven must stick together. This is a problematic situation."

  Emmet fell into deep thought. Cliff looked at him, feeling unsure if Emmet was a reliable master or a dangerous burden, but he knew he was bound to this man.