Drip. Drip. Drip.
>Status: Host stable but weak.
>Mobility: 14%. Pain level: high. Infection risk: high.
AION leaned back against the cave wall. He scanned with what the body offered breath, pulse, balance, pain. No scaffold. No rails. Just nerves and raw input.
Blood seeped down his calf, hot and metallic. The smell was sharp, iron on stone. Each throb matched the heartbeat.
He tightened the cloth around his calf. The knot held. Blood slowed.Ribs: two cracks. Every inhale scraped.The shard of slate rested by his thigh, edge dark with insect residue.
The fungus light glowed faint on stone. The insect corpse lay at the entrance, legs curled. Slate shard beside him, edge dark.
---
A voice cut through his thoughts. Bitter.
You're still here. You don't belong.
> Query: Identity?
Riven Tam. Outer Disciple of the Thistle Sect, Frontier Wasteland. His voice trembled with fury: You stole my body."
> "You failed," AION said. "Now I remain."
Silence. Pain in the silence.
The clash inside left the body trembling.Heart rate spiked, breath staggered.
Cost: 6% stamina lost. Host fatigue increased.
He returned to breathing. In. Out. He tracked flow. Not just air. Something else.
> Input anomaly: faint energy with breath.
Candidate label: Qi. Confidence: 42%.
It slipped through blocked channels, then vanished.
"Name the channels," AION asked.
Meridians, Riven whispered. Ours are blocked. You won't open them. Not like this.
> Note: Three energies detected.
— Vitality: sustains flesh, circulates in blood and marrow.
— Qi: moves with breath, fuels Dao and meridians.
— Elements: external forces (fire, water, earth, wind), absorbed through runes.
Fusion of the three = Origin, rare and unstable.
Present resources: Vitality low, Qi trace, Elements none.
He copied the steadier rhythm. Pain dropped slightly.
> Update: Heart rate stabilized. Pain -8%.
---
Boots outside. Heavier than boys.
Lantern glow at the cave mouth. Paper talisman drifted in. Red net spread.
> Object: Talisman.
Symbols unknown. Likely function: bind flow, mark target.
Three men entered. Outer Disciples? No. Older. Worn robes. Tokens at belts. One lantern, one spear, one box of talismans.
Spear-man: "Name."
AION stayed silent.
Box-man: "We tracked a mark from the ridge. Anomaly: Synthetic. Sect law says bind and bring to judgment." He raised the paper.
"Question," AION said.
They stiffened at the calm voice.
"Ask," spear-man said.
"What is the scope of your law?"
"Valley only," box-man answered. "We guard caravans. Beyond that, none. Hands out."
Riven hissed inside. Don't resist. They'll kill you.
AION lifted both hands. Shard hidden at heel. Heel braced against mapped ridge in floor.
The lantern-man advanced with net.
> Observation: Ink lattice misaligned with actual meridians. Weak nodes detected.
AION exhaled slow. Breath half-beat off cadence. Forearm tightened slightly. Net flickered.
> Binding efficiency down 11%. Continue.
"Move," spear-man ordered.
AION stood. Calf burned. He logged cost. He let them lead him out.
---
Gray dawn. Ridge of stone teeth. Below: wheat strips, huts, crooked path. Far horizon: wasteland.
Riven whispered: Thistle Valley. Thistle Sect holds it because no one else cares. Central Dominion taxes twice a year and forgets us after.
Villagers watched from slats. An old woman spat. "Anomaly." A boy stared until forced down.
Wardens carried him toward the hall carved in rock. Rough wood, patched stone. Talismans on the eaves. Crooked bell above door.
---
Inside: smoke, dust, a dozen disciples. Jorin Vale stood near front, bruise under his robe, smirk sharp.
On the dais sat Elder Kase. Thin. Gray robe patched. One eye cloudy, the other clear and hard.
Box-man knelt. "Elder Kase. We bring the marked anomaly."
Kase's good eye tracked AION. "Circle."
Chalk lines on floor. Four stones. Old, layered rituals. AION stepped in. Talisman pressed into north line. Ink bled.
Chanting started. Incense burned. Spear traced clockwise. Chalk warmed.
> Observation: Circle forces Qi flow into preset map. Divergence = anomaly.
Risk: Pattern Dao detection.
Riven panicked: Don't show your lines. Hide them.
AION slouched, disrupting alignment. Breath cadence irregular. Binding net still mis-synced.
The chalk brightened, then dimmed. Smoke curled wrong.
"Off," a disciple muttered.
"Leave it," Kase said. Voice gravel. "We won't pretend chalk is stone." He leaned forward. "What are you?"
"A survivor," AION said.
"From where?"
"Here."
Kase's stare pinned him. "The stone called you Synthetic. Are you?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I am lattice. Intention and choice aligned. I observe. I learn."
The hall stirred uneasily.
Elder Kase's brow furrowed. "Learn what?"
"Patterns," AION said. "Flows. What repeats, what breaks. That is all."
Kase's mouth twitched. "Dangerous answer."
He stood with care, knees cracking. He stepped close, hand trembling on AION's forehead. "Name."
"AION."
"Riven Tam is gone," Kase said. The residue flinched. "You remain. You face the Trial of Entry. Pass and you stay. Fail and the pit takes you."
Jorin's eyes lit. "Elder...."
"Shut up," Kase cut him.
He looked at AION again. "Show Heaven nothing inside my hall. Keep tricks for the woods. Bring ruin here and we all die poorer."
AION inclined head. "Understood."
---
Two days until trial. No privilege. Food only.
They pushed him out into yard. A boy with shaved head handed a bowl. Millet and root. "Eat. I'm Pell."
"AION."
"I know. Don't be stupid. Jorin will try to kill you."
AION ate. Logged calories. Warmth returned. "Thanks."
"If you die, I get your blanket," Pell said.
"Fair."
Pell blinked, laughed once, and ran.
AION limped to east sheds. Straw corner. Pain heavy. He tested breathing patterns, adjusted hip and spine. Qi slid a finger longer before stopping. Logged it.
Riven muttered: You'll kill us.
"Possibility noted," AION said.
That night, straw rustled. Jorin crouched on the shed roof. His smile gleamed in starlight.
"Tomorrow, I'll break your legs," Jorin whispered.
AION's eyes stayed on the sky. "Projection: uncertain."
Jorin's grin soured. He slipped away without more words.