Molting the Mortal Coil

Chapter 36: Lake of Souls

His heartbeat was racing. He circulated his Qi Method, the Verdant Firebrand, and focused on his spiritual sense, trying to find the location of the danger. Drawing forth a weapon from the Storage Ring, a heavy black rope appeared in his hands. One end of the rope had a large copper ring while the other side was attached to a shining silver knife with a bright red tassel. The rope was made of the silk from a Fire Silk Spider weaved together with metal threads which gave it strength and also allowed it to withstand immense amounts of heat. Sage preferred the longer range he got while using a rope dart and hed become very familiar using ropes, whips, and chains from his training as a Tamer.

A flicker of color flashed at the corner of Sages vision and he quickly hopped back away from it and threw the dart of his rope dart, which was about the size of a knife, towards the threat. Focusing his spiritual sense upon that glimmer of danger he could barely sense it. His eyes finally locking onto an ethereal presence. A soul that looked to be in the shape of a snake was darting towards him with its fangs bared. The dart and red tassel passing right through it like it wasnt there and sending a shock up Sages spine. He quickly channeled the Qi of the Verdant Firebrand and an orange flame ignited upon his hand, traveling rapidly along the length of the rope in his hand. The black rope suddenly looking like charcoal as the flames climbed along its length. The dart had passed directly along the snakes body and it was currently flying towards him, looking like it was climbing along the rope and putting it perfectly in position to taste the flames.

When the orange flames licked up to where the rope intersected with the ghostly snake, a loud hiss rang out and the snake halted in place. The flames pierced down the snakes body like a skewer and the soul stuff that the snake was made of seemed to sizzle off of it. Dissolving slowly into the air. The flames didnt seem to do much damage to the snake soul but the snake seemed trapped along the line as the dart flew out to full extension.

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The rope suddenly pulled taut and Sage reflexively pulled back the dart, the flames on the silver knife were much larger than on the rope and that thick fireball smashed into the snakes tail. Knocking the ghost to the side as Sage pulled back the dart and whirled it in large vertical circles. A slow wheel of fire whirring around him defensively as he eyed the snake. That ghostly serpent did not have any defined features which meant he could only read the actions of its vague outline. The snake slithered backwards through the air, escaping the range of Sages spinning rope dart. The swinging ball of flame circled around his back and shoulders, looping around his elbows and then getting tossed forward like a rocket. The suddenly darting flame catching the snake before it could retreat further to smash the flames against its face.

Flames are yang in nature and could be used to purify, the opposite of Ghosts and Spirits that are yin in nature. It was in this manner that the flame could damage the snake like ghost and Sage was very happy hed switched to the Verdant Firebrand long ago. Over the last two decades, Sage had purchased and practiced at least a half-dozen different Qi Cultivation Arts. He was hoping to find something that would resonate with his body and improve his talent but he never found anything of the sort. The best hed found so far was the Verdant Firebrand. After learning that his own Qi was innately wood attuned, Sage had picked the Verdant Firebrand as it was a wood based Qi Cultivation Art that manipulated fire. Fire was extremely useful for Alchemists, Blacksmiths and a few other professions so Sage was pleased to find an art that focused on using the Wood element to feed flames. It did not have anywhere near the power or control over flames that Fire Innate cultivators could command, but Verdant Firebrand was instead focused on using the overflowing vitality and growth of the Wood Qi to create flame in massive volume and with lasting endurance.

Most Flame arts were explosive in power or created terrifying levels of heat that could melt anything. Others would focus upon the variation and unpredictable nature of fire, creating hypnotic flame creatures or complex shapes and transformations. The downside to most fire arts was a lack of endurance. Fire is fierce and consumes all, and quickly drains a cultivators qi in order to be sustained. Verdant Firebrand used Wood Qi as a fuel and it was akin to a fireplace stocked with wood. The comparatively gentle flames would burn all day and night but their other qualities were lacking. It was like the difference between a campfire and a flame thrower.

Sage dashed forward, chasing after the spiritual snake and shooting the rope dart towards it again and again. Only a couple of those strikes actually connected but each time the snake was slowed down further and moved more erratically. Trying its best to avoid that flaming knife on the end of a burning string, the Snake finally reached a small hole in a pile of dirt at the edge of the Lake of Souls. Darting into the hole, the ghostly snake disappeared from view and Sage sent his spiritual sense after it. He had to neutralize this threat so it wouldnt come after him again later. Where are you, ghost?

A flicker of motion caught his eye and Sage darted towards it, only managing to see the tip of a tail disappear into another hole. He was about to race after it, but froze suddenly in place. Inside the first hole, his spiritual sense had felt something unusual. There was a blank spot. It was like a small area the size of a golf ball that his spiritual sense couldnt feel. Normally he wouldnt have noticed such a thing, but he had been searching intently for the ghost snake and paying close attention. It was like a hole in the floor under a rug you would never notice it unless you stepped on it. That was a real tail I saw sneaking away, it might not even be related to the Snake Ghost.

Storing his rope dart and pulling out a Spade shaped Magic Tool, Sage jammed it into the hole that the ghost had darted into. Keeping alert of his surroundings, especially the hole he was digging into, Sage started to excavate the hole. Burrowing into the ground to try and catch that troublesome spirit and investigate the weird anomaly hed noticed with his spirit sense. He tossed the dirt to the side which formed a small mound and after a few minutes he finally reached the anomaly. At the same time he noticed a pair of eyes were fixed on him from twenty yards away. A snake that seemed to have the same coloring as the tail hed seen earlier was eyeing him from the top of a small hill.

The snakes scales were jet black, so dark that they looked like they absorbed all light. At the same time it seemed to be giving off a pale blue light, glowing in the gaps between its scales with a gentle neon mist. The faintly glowing mist made its silhouette indistinct and made it hard to distinguish between it and some spirits hed heard of. Its eyes seemed directly out of a horror movie, solid black pools of ink with no white sclera, colored iris or pupil. Rimming the eyes, like a terrifying eyeliner was a line of vibrantly glowing violet.

Sage glanced down towards the hole and lifted his Spade, preparing to sink it into the soil again. As he did, the Snake started to coil up, preparing for a strike. Pausing his motion, Sage examined the snake again and sent a thread of his consciousness into the Storage Ring to check his identification manuals. Freezing in place, he held the snake in a stare down as he quickly researched it.

Aha! Found it!

Swallowing audibly as he read the information in the book, Sage slowly lowered his Spade and carefully gathered his Qi. Suddenly leaping backwards, he put the Spade away and drew out his rope dart again. Rapidly spinning it around himself as his flames climbed along the rope again. Surrounding himself in a slow moving wheel of flame, Sage eyed the snake warily and tried to ignore the sweat dripping from his brow and trickling down his cheeks.