The giant paw it held cut clean off; it evaporated as if it never existed, shredding even the atoms apart. Akari's blade crashed down towards its head, the energy protecting it from a flaming temperature double that of the room, with Kaida, Amaris, and the rest able to feel it.
Shirou and Wilehm backed off to not be caught in the crossfire. Ren's attack flew into the beast, scratching its body. It was expected, since he was at the same level as her, but with less preparation.
As soon as the attacks struck the beast, the temple shook; its core shattered, though not in an explosion. Its soul split apart from Akari's slash. A clean cut, right through it, which was why it didn't release an overflow of qi.
Kaida's breath hitched; she'd used too much Qi, about ninety percent of her reserves were gone, and Kaida had to wait for a while for it to replenish, possibly a day or two. Her physical energy was drained. Though she felt a little pride. Her attack had worked on its first try from the moment it was conceived.
"I think we should just go back..." Kaida took a breath after speaking. Slow and steady to calm herself, though she expended energy.
"I'll handle the corpse. The corruption needs to be studied." Akari spoke with her, looking back and seeing Kaida take a breath. Akari took note of the extent of the damage the attack caused.
Kaida forced her legs to move. Each step felt heavier. The beast had been a grizzly once—scarred, old. She lifted her head only when the staircase came into view, unbidden. Which Kaida found weird. "If this place is alive, why reward us for killing its defender? Unless it wants us inside"
Kaida was already exhausted, so she didn't spend much time thinking about it. Kaida looked to the side, seeing Akari lift up the body with Shirou and walk up with it.
"You need any help?" She spoke to Akari and Shirou. Her voice was drowsy, ready to sleep.
"I think it's best you just go back and get some rest," Shirou spoke blankly with a smirk on his face, while Ren and Wilhelm were noting down what Kaida did.
"...She isn't normal, no one should be able to harm an Astral Formation person with that little preparation... But I couldn't even see her attack." Ren thought to himself, his expression blank, as he stared at Kaida.Ren's fingers twitched as if itching for a pen. Intel like this couldn't be wasted.
Kaida moved up the stairs after Amaris, who was looking back worried. Kaida's arms looked sore. "I hope she's fine... I should get her some medicine once we get back to the sect, and some food, she hasn't eaten enough!" Amaris felt energetic now while keeping her concern.
Shirou put his hand on Kaida's shoulder, with her flinching, her hand moving to attack, only to stop herself. She'd rarely let somebody touch her body without her complete trust, but she was fine with Shirou. At least, right now, since he didn't appear to be from the underworld.
As soon as they got out, Kaida felt a slow increase in Qi. Considering it was a natural area, mostly empty but still with people, she'd gain Qi quickly, but not at triple the speed of others, due to her not being alone.
She looked up, noticing the night approach, as a single crow-shaped creature, at least what it looked like, flew over them in the sky, its wings dripping night as if it were making it, yet for Kaida, its gaze was too knowing, as if it judged all actions that came next.
Kaida was still drained; her arms were sore, and her bones felt numb... She couldn't remember much else after this point. Running at full speed, barely keeping up with the rest, and Amaris staying behind to catch up with her. Her muscles ached and stretched, as if they could tear at any moment.
All there was a blur. Kaida went into her home as the hours passed, and they got back. She saw Cinder, worried, with Vael flying over, grabbing onto Kaida's hair to hold her up, lying down on the bed.
...Amaris walked up, inside, staring at Kaida, considering there wasn't a barrier, and even then, she gave no hostile intent. She'd look and put her hand on Kaida's head to see what was going on. Seeing her head heating up somewhat, she knew it was probably overexertion.
"…Kaida, you shouldn't have run—" Amaris stopped herself. Kaida couldn't hear her, but saying it out loud made her chest feel lighter. She hated how helpless she felt, watching Kaida push past her limits again and again. If only Kaida would let someone share the weight, even just a little.
Instead, Amaris pulled a candle from her pouch and lit it, the wax melting with a faint herbal scent. She didn't know if Kaida would notice, but maybe the warmth, the smell, would ease her sleep. "At least I can give you that much," she whispered. Turning away and leaving the room, though still looking back.
For a few hours, no one entered. The candle burned, now at the halfway mark. Not because they didn't want to, but because they found it inappropriate at the moment.
Except for Cinder, she didn't understand those norms, so she stayed inside, sitting down right next to Kaida in the bed. Her nose caught the scent of the candle, yet also Kaida's own hair, which smelled like burnt charcoal.
"Her body was intact, her mind sharp, but her energy reserves were burned through. She was drained but not broken. I guess adjusting to this world is harder than she thought. I suppose that's the downside of being overly cautious... I'll... Keep that in check." Cinder softly laughed to herself; it wasn't amusing that Kaida overexerted herself, but rather that Kaida overlooked its downsides.
Her legs swung back and forth at the edge of the bed, her white dress reaching past her legs, with a light red-orange hue at the bottom. Her hair was the same, flowing like thin strands of silk.
Cinder coated herself inMana, her body dissolving into the same unseen framework she had once existed in. It wasn't invisibility in the usual sense—light and sound still touched her—but reality itself seemed to look past her. Even those at Astral Formation would only notice if they knew what to look for. Kaida, drained as she was, didn't sense it at all.
As soon as Cinder was about to move, she noticed the air change, and then she heard a noise. The candle burned to the last fourth of wax left as Akari appeared inside the room. Her body still, unflinching, not a single micromovement. Walking up to Kaida, her blades still in their sheath, Akari stood unchanging in expression. But with that, she spoke finally, even when Kaida couldn't hear. She wouldn't care.
"...That attack seems risky. From what I saw, it could've torn your arm apart. Idiot," her voice detached though her last word with a hint of hesitation.
"At least you'll be annoyed at Amaris and not me for supposedly spreading that you have this ability." Akari snorted, finding it amusing. Though she was still a bit worried, even if not showing it. Her hand moving to grab Kaida's- Only to stop. Yet, before she could, Kaida's hand twitched, reacting to Akari's words even when she was unconscious.
Her hand twitched, not wanting to move the blanket. Turning away, she began to leave. Though she wouldn't go without leaving a gift. "...I shouldn't have encouraged her. That one was on me." She looked away, leaving a single box at the entrance of her room and shifting from the air and disappearing.
...The Sun had set, and thus it rose once more, a single revolution around its star. Kaida dragged herself off and saw the candle. She knew it wouldn't be Wenxu, as he'd find it weird, so she took a second and just chuckled. It was from Amaris. She found it endearing, and the smell was intense, but she didn't mind.
Walking out, she didn't notice the box and fell forward, just barely grabbing onto the door frame to keep herself up. She shook her head, exhausted. But all of her Qi was back, considering she was completely alone for most of the time.
"...It should've taken a full day or two... Why is all of it...?" Kaida felt confused. She was going to ask Cinder why later, but now she'd need some food.
She moved the box to the side for later, going to the fridge and opening it as her face blasted with the cold air made her wake up quickly. She blinked and promptly closed it. "...I should've expected that."
Her voice was partially raspy, though also exhausted. She opened the fridge again, taking out something, though she never stocked up on food. It took a second for her to realize this; her Qi finally flowed back around her body, sharpening her senses. She realized this wasn't something she got. Turning over as she slammed the fridge.
Seeing it was a plate, though kind of cold, she moved Qi to heat it up quickly, thawing off the small pieces of ice, and the white, circular shape, Squishy and soft though wider, some overstuffed, and some done in a rush.
Kaida walked out, stretching after having woken up. It felt natural to do so, but it also felt weird; she looked to the side. Seeing no one, Akari appeared in a split second.
"...Is there something you need?" Kaida looked confused, not expecting her to appear like this.
"You look sore. But you slept normally, is something wrong?" Akari's eyes squinted looking at Kaida. Suspicious of something.
"...I mean, yeah, I slept for longer than I normally do. How much time has passed?"
"...Well, it depends on how time moves in the world you're from," Akari spoke bluntly.
"A single rotation, about twenty-four hours pass is a day to me."
"...So you're time period is a lot quicker than ours," Akari spoke, her hand moving to her head, rubbing her hair. "I might need to ask Shirou how to do that..."
Kaida now knew that the world ran on a different time system; her head turned to the side, and she noticed Cinder sitting down on the roof, her legs moving back and forth like a child.
Cinder looked over, and her eyes lit in surprise as she jumped off, walking over to Kaida. "What do you need, Ma'am?" To which Kaida replied, "I don't need anything? I was just looking."
"Ah-" Cinder turned, looking embarrassed that she was even worried.
"Though, how much difference in time is there from my world to this one?" Finally, crossing her mind, she turned to Akari, realizing she even knew she was from another world.
"Wait, Akari, how do you even know I'm from another world-?" Kaida spoke, surprised at Akari already knowing. Running through her own memories, she remembered her conversation with-
"Amaris is how she's told me where you're from. But anyways, go on."
Cinder finally got time to speak, pouting somewhat. "It's fourteen days for you. So about an entire nighttime is seven days in here."
Kaida turned to Cinder, looking down, seeing her speak as her eye twitched in some annoyance. "You could've said that right when I was here... You know that, right?" She turned back to Akari, realizing how much shorter Akari was now. "...So Akari's almost six feet, which is way above average if a day is this long."
"No wonder I'm sore then. I only sleep for a day out of those seven." Kaida stretched more and used Qi to fix up her body, rewriting smaller parts of her body to adjust better to the planet.
"Well, I need to get going; there's a lot of stuff I need to do."
....[Time begins moving faster]