I parry the strike of Wu Cai's sword with Jian, then step to him, hitting out at his chest with a palm. He quickly recovers and catches my attack with his free hand, blocking me, and countering with a kick. I read his move and dodge, stepping out the way, then drop to the ground and sweep his leg out from under him, causing him to fall to the grass.
The attack connecting, I bring my leg in and stand, then swing down and hold Jian at his neck. Wu Cai stops his attempt to recover as he feels the blade below his chin. He lifts his head to me, my smiling face appearing in his vision, before raising a hand to push Jian away.
I withdraw and sheath Jian, then grip his arm and pull him up, helping him stand. Wu Cai brushes himself down, then bends down and picks up his dropped sword. He turns to me, a small smile on his lips, "...Well done." He nods at me, proud of my accomplishment, not upset that I defeated him. He sheaths his sword and bows to me.
I bow back, satisfaction filling my body.
On the seventh day of our journey, one week since I left the temple, I finally beat him. He may have limited himself to only swordplay and a single martial art, but I don't let that diminish my victory. Through my own skill, I toppled him.
During this time, apart from walking and sparring, I also successfully managed to teach Wu Cai 'Chi Healing'. Even with his superb control over his Chi, it still took him four days of near-constant attempts until he got it. Once he did, with both of us now able to heal ourselves and each other, he intensified my training.
The result of my efforts is noted by the progression of my skills,
[Baguazhang (Proficient) – Though you have temporarily parted ways with your master, you have not been lax in your training. After a week of almost constant combat with a martial master, you have defeated him in a spar. Your efforts have not been in vain.
You have gained experience in reading your foes in combat, predicting their moves. Now, a dedicated martial artist will find you to be a worthy opponent.]
Master Hong would be disappointed in me if I've failed to master what she's taught me by the next time we see each other, so I've been trying my best to improve my skill in this art. I want to give her a challenge and make her put the work in to beat me.
[Swordsmanship (Skilled) – A master of the sword has dedicated some of his time to teaching you how to properly wield a blade. Thanks to a combination of your innate talent, purposeful training, and great effort, your swordplay has improved significantly.
Your skill with the sword is at a stage where you no longer have to fear multiple foes, and your current dynamic vision is great enough to deflect an arrow, should you need to.]
I haven't felt a great increase in my skill with a sword, but it is starting to feel like an extension of my body when I wield it, so I must be doing something right. The way Jian sits in my hand feels normal, as if it's where it was always meant to be.
"Sarah!" A sudden shout from Wu Cai, with a level of emotion in his voice far greater than I've heard before, causes me to whip my head to him. His back is to me, and his head is tilted to the sky. Following his gaze, I see what's grabbed his attention. Viewable from our elevated clearing are distant clouds of light gray smoke, moving east.
Wu Cai quickly grabs his gear and turns to me, "Fire." He points at the smoke, "Seems close, might be a village in trouble." He doesn't wait for my response, and takes off into the trees.
Picking up my bag, I run after him. He's not moving that fast, to conserve his stamina, but it still takes me ten seconds to catch him, "What's the plan?" I ask as I run beside him, stepping over roots and dodging low branches, "If it's an attack, I don't know how much help I'll be. I've never been in a real fight before."
Wu Cai focuses on keeping a stable pace, then shakes his head at me, "It shouldn't be. At least, it won't be soldiers; bandits at most."
Bandits? So this could be anything from a couple of people armed with simple weapons, to a large, organised group, potentially full of ex-soldiers? No matter the amount, it's not something we can go into with surety.
On my own, I'm confident that I can take on maybe four armed people, especially now that we have Chi Healing; but with Wu Cai, we could take on... ten to twelve? That's without taking into account the people they might be attacking. We'll have to work around their safety, limiting fatalities and trying not to allow them to take hostages.
I don't know how much experience Wu Cai has with these types of situations, but I'll listen to him either way; he no doubt has a much better idea of what to do then me.
A few minutes later, we approach the origin of the smoke. It's a decent sized village, enough space to easily house a hundred people, with several buildings aflame. Stopping, we take cover behind some trees and observe. The heat of the fires curl around me as I take in the damage.
On the dirt a dozen meters in front of us lay the corpses of multiple adults, each torn apart, limbs and viscera scattered around them. Holding back my nausea, I share a look with Wu Cai, his face severe, then whisper, "...This isn't the work of humans." His eyes narrow as he nods, agreeing with my assessment.
As I turn back to the village, a roar sounds from deeper in, followed by some quickly silenced screams of fear and pain. I tap Wu Cai on the shoulder and point to the side. He nods to me, understanding my meaning, then starts to move.
Together, we work our way around the village, surveying it and trying to find the cause of the chaos. As we reach the back, the far off end from where we arrived, I see something that makes my blood run cold.
Laying down on a pile of the dead are three giant, grey, quadrupedal creatures, their forms made of tendrils and strips of flat flesh, mimicking the appearance of muscle. Their heads contain multiple eyes and are adorned with large, forward facing horns, while their mouths, filled with multiple sets of fangs, tear into the flesh of the humans they've killed.
Adrenaline fills my veins as I identify the beings behind this massacre.
Deviants.
Slowly, I turn to Wu Cai, whose eyes are wide, and shake my head at him. I place a hand on his shoulder and carefully move us back, further into the forest. Once at a distance where I feel safe from their senses, I whisper to him, "There's nothing we can do here." I look at him with a serious expression, "I know what those creatures are, and I know what they can do. Those... beasts, are species killers, purposefully designed to wipe out apex predators."
Wu Cai listens to me intently with anger on his face, "Should they strike one of us, we will almost certainly die. Our best bet is to retreat, and pretend we never saw them." I suggest, half trying to be practical, and half terrified. "Soon enough, their hunters will come along and kill them, so we don't have to worry about them spreading further."
He grimaces at my words, but nods his head with hesitation, then asks, "...You know what they are, then?"
I open my mouth to explain, when a thump sounds close behind me, from the direction of the village. My heart jumping, I stand with a spin, expecting the worst, Wu Cai reacting not much later than me.
Instead, what I find fills my heart with hope.
A blonde woman with a circlet on her head stands before us, half a foot shorter then me, dressed in white armour with golden accents. She stares at us with piercing eyes, as Wu Cai goes to draw his sword. I snap my hand out and place it on his pommel, giving him a meaningful look, before I bow to the woman, "Lady Thena."
A curious look come over face, before she starts to speak, "You know of me?" She asks, in perfect mandarin. Her voice carries a calm, soothing tone to it, that instantly settles some of my nerves. I straighten up and reply to her, my tone respectful,
"I do, Lady Thena. My people know of your species and of your purpose. Once I saw what attacked the village," I gesture behind her, "I knew some of you would be along shortly to eradicate them." Thena nods calmly at my words, her face stoic.
Gods, she's gorgeous. It's a bit weird seeing the face of an actor from my world on the body of an immortal warrior from this world, but I know I'll have to get used to it. It's going to happen a lot more often, I suspect.
I have a descent level of respect for the Eternals, even though I believe they could've intervened in other threats. I know they would have if they weren't beholden to a Celestial, though, so I don't hold I against them; even Ikaris and Ajak.
My musings are broken by the sound of running, making us all look to the source. Out of the forest sprints a muscular asian man, moving extraordinary quick, roughly the same height as me. He wears the same type of armor as Thena, only dark gold with green accents, engraved with overlapping circles.
He come to a stop by Thena, and gives her a disapproving look, "You shouldn't have gone ahead, what if you were ambushed?" He admonishes her, though his voice is warm, before he seems to notice us, "Oh! Humans? Are you okay?" He asks us, looking between us.
Thena answers for us, "From what I've gathered, they discovered the Deviants responsible for attacking the village and retreated into the forest. This one," She points at me, but I interrupt and tell her my name, causing her to nod, "seems to know who we are, and was waiting for us to arrive."
The man, Gilgamesh, if I remember correctly, seems surprised, but accepts it easily enough. From what I remember of him from the movie, he seems like a caring man, who places the safety of others before him own. He smiles at us, before asking, "So you've seen the Deviants? What can you tell us about them? Numbers? Any obvious traits?" He fires off a few questions, gathering information before the battle ahead.
I tell him what we saw, with Wu Cai chiming in to share his own observations, as they listen and prepare. Once they've gathered what they can about the enemy, they start to set off, before I stop them, "Excuse me." They turn to me, "I know I won't be able to help in the combat, but I, we, can heal." I start to channel my Chi, my hand emitting its green glow, "I don't know if it will work on your... biology, but you should know anyway." I offer them.
Thena smiles at me, "There is no need, Sarah, thank you, we will be fi-" She stops, her eyes wide as she tracks something above us. I start to turn to look, when I feel a sudden push on my chest, sending me flying back. I crash down on my back between two trees as the ground shakes from a mighty impact. Rolling over onto my hands and feet, I look back to where I was, only to see a winged Deviant with four legs, slightly larger than the previous three, pinning Thena to the ground with a clawed foot.
Knowing there isn't much I can do, I search for Wu Cai, finding him already on his feet, taking cover behind a large tree. I stand and rush over to him, where I see the glow of his Chi running under his arm. I join him in cover, ignoring the sounds of battle, and worriedly ask him, "Wu Cai, are you injured?" He nods slightly, his eyes sharp and cautious.
"...Landed awkwardly, twisted my arm." He peeks round the tree to observe the battle. I join him, seeing Thena and Gilgamesh jointly fight the Deviant. The Deviant has lost the leg it used on Thena, but is still able to nimbly dodge the duos attacks, using its wings to its advantage. Gilgamesh takes the front, keeping the attention of the Deviant, as Thena circles around it, a glowing, golden spear in hand, swiping at its side and legs.
Gilgamesh grabs a horn with a golden arm as the Deviant goes in for a bite, holding it in place as Thena lands a deep slice to its side, making it roar. It manages to shake off Gilgamesh and begins to take flight, intending to retreat, but Thena jumps at it, her spear now two short swords, and pierces them into its side. Using them as handles, she flips herself onto its back, where she transforms her weapons into a broadsword, and stabs down through its chest.
The Deviant shrieks in pain and flies up, where is starts to roll. I watch as Thena tries to hang on, but the force of the roll throws her off, sending her shooting towards the ground. Gilgamesh starts to run to her, but is too late, and barely misses her. Thena hits the ground with a thud, her form bouncing off the dirt slightly, where she lets out a groan.
I know a fall like that won't be enough to kill an Eternal, but seeing something like that in person really drives home the danger they put themselves in. Wu Cai pulls us back and looks at me, eyes expressing his slight shock, as Gilgamesh supports Thena, helping her stand. I pat him on the shoulder, then peek back out, watching Thena as she looks up and searches for the Deviant, but finds nothing, it having successfully retreating while they were distracted.
I call out them, "Is it gone?" They hear me and start to walk towards Wu Cai and I, eyes scanning the area for any further attacks. When they reach us, they join us behind the tree. I look down at Thena and search her for injuries, finding nothing but a few cuts and bruises.
Thena answers, her voice as calm as always, "For now. Once it's healed, it will either flee to another location, or return to resume its attacks. We will stay in the area for a few days to make sure." She looks us over, making sure we are okay, "I'm sorry I had to throw you, but there wasn't enough time to explain." She apologises.
Wu Cai responds to her, "...It's understandable, you prioritised our lives." He bows to her slightly, "I suffered a slight injury upon landing, but I've already healed it." Gilgamesh gets a curious look on his face at that, and asks, "You have? That's pretty amazing for a human. Can I see?" Wu Cai looks at him for a moment, then rolls up his sleeve, showing Gilgamesh his muscular forearm.
"I twisted my arm, but as you can see," He rotates it, showing off its unimpeded movement, "It's as good as new." Thena joins her partner, gazing at the now uninjured arm. Wu Cai rolls back down his sleeve and shift their attention to me, "I only know how to heal thank to Sarah here. She taught me how to do it on our journey south."
Thena stares at me, her gaze inquiring, before speaking to me, a slightly humorous tone in her voice, "...Well, aren't you full of surprises. You can heal, and you know of us and the Deviants." She looks at Gilgamesh, a quick, silent conversation taking place. He eventually nods at her, seemingly in agreement with her about something, before he turns to me.
"You are a Chi user, are you not?" I nod at him. From what was shown of the history of the Eternals in their movie, I know they have encountered other powered beings, and are somewhat acquainted with them. Gilgamesh himself has been in contact with Odin, and participated in Asgard's war with the Frost Giants, getting slightly friendly with the Allfather.
I wish I could share with them my fake origins, but if they relay my information back to Ajak or Ikaris, they might capture me to find out the result of the Emergence. As I am now, I stand no chance against Ajak, not to mention Ikaris, the strongest Eternal on Earth.
I give Wu Cai a look, hoping he understands. He gives me a slight nod back, indicating he does, even if he doesn't understand my worry. Shifting my sight back to the two, I start to make up a new tale.
With all the stories I've been telling recently, I hope Loki doesn't think I'm coming for his job.