COLD FLAME AND BLAZING FIRE
The wind outside their hideout whispered through the broken eaves like a restless spirit. The ruins of the old city lay hushed beneath the pale veil of morning mist, and faint motes of ash drifted in the still air. Inside the shelter, a small fire flickered within a ring of old stones. Diala sat cross-legged before it, her hands trembling slightly, the glow of embers mirrored in her silver-blue eyes.
Kiaria sat across from her, one hand pressed over his chest, the other resting upon his knee. His gaze was distant, as though his mind were digging through layers of forgotten thought. The faint scar across his forehead glowed softly–his spiritual sea stirring as though whispering something unseen.
He exhaled slowly. "Diala… there's something I should have remembered earlier," he murmured.
Diala blinked, startled. "What is it?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he drew a scroll from within the folds of his robe. Its parchment shimmered faintly even under the dim firelight, as though it held life of its own. Ancient inscriptions–fluid and alive–seemed to ripple across its surface.
Kiaria's eyes narrowed as he stared at it. "Before we left the valley, Elder Wolf gave me this scroll. It was also a rune letter scripture written once in that cave. Because of the hidden dangers of this technique, Elder Saint Wolf's ancestors used their last blood to separate out this rune and the scroll within it to forbid. He said it was meant for you, but I wasn't to open it until the day your meridians could sense the flow of spiritual condensation."
He lifted the scroll slightly, the weight of the Elder's words echoing in his memory. "He also told me to be careful… that this technique was forbidden to all others. No one has ever succeeded in cultivating it."
"Forbidden?" Diala whispered. "Why would he give me something like that?"
Kiaria looked into her eyes, the reflection of the flames dancing across his face. "Because you're different. You have two martial souls–two powers born enemies of each other. Only a technique that understands both chaos and balance could let you live in harmony with them."
He unrolled the scroll carefully. The ink upon it shimmered between red and pale blue, as though made of fire and frost. The faint hum of resonance spread through the air, vibrating in their bones.
"This," Kiaria said softly, "is called Cold Flame and Blazing Fire."
Diala stared at the runes, unable to read the ancient text. The markings pulsed like a heartbeat, alive and waiting. She looked at him, uncertain. "I can't read it…"
"That's natural," he said gently. "This is one those runes. The language is older than the sects themselves. It resonates only with the one it recognizes. It's not meant to be spoken–only understood."
He closed his eyes, touching his forefinger and middle finger together. Golden energy flowed between them like liquid sunlight. The letters on the scroll began to rise, swirling upward in threads of fire and frost. He guided the currents of energy into a single orb, humming with vibration and light.
"Dia," he said softly, "this is the resonance of the scroll. Once I push it into your spiritual sea, you'll see it–hear it–and if you're lucky, understand it."
Diala hesitated, breath quickening. "And if I fail?"
He smiled faintly. "Then we try again. No one succeeds in the first attempt."
He reached forward, placing the glowing orb gently upon her forehead, between her brows. The light sank into her skin with a faint hum. For a moment, nothing happened–then her entire body jolted as though struck by lightning.
Her consciousness fell into a vast expanse of light and shadow. She saw rivers of fire and lakes of ice clashing endlessly, yet neither consumed the other. Words appeared in the air, burning and freezing at once.
"Rage Fire ignites Soul from blazing heart.
Frozen hearts are piercing flames.
Ice and Fire in same origin.
Breeze walks into the endless flame.
Blazing fire emerges in the sea of constellation."
The voice reciting them was neither male nor female, old nor young. It was the tone of the heavens themselves–steady, indifferent, eternal.
When her mind returned, her body trembled violently. Sweat poured down her face. "It's… too much," she gasped. "The energy is fighting me."
Kiaria steadied her shoulders. "Don't resist it. Control it. Remember what I said–each attribute must have its own place. Let fire belong to one hand, frost to the other. Eternal fire is ignited from your heart, it can channeled through your veins."
He demonstrated, lifting both hands. Spiritual energy formed between his palms–a sphere of golden fire and blue ice swirling around each other without touching. "You must let them circle, not collide. Let the fire breathe, and let the frost temper it. When fire channeled in meridians, release your freezing heart breeze."
She nodded shakily and followed his example. Her hands trembled as spiritual energy gathered between them. For a moment, the two forces seemed to align–but then they clashed violently. A burst of frost exploded from her body, freezing the air.
Her skin turned pale, her breath faltering. "K-Kiaria… I can't…"
"Focus, Dia!" Kiaria shouted, kneeling beside her. "You're controlling the impossible–don't lose your will to it! Draw it inward, not outward. Calm your mind!"
But it was too late. The frost deepened, spreading across the ground, and her body stiffened, her veins freezing beneath her skin. Then, without warning, fire erupted from within her. Flames exploded outward, consuming the frost in a violent wave.
Kiaria shielded his face from the sudden heat. "Dia!"
The two energies warred inside her body–ice suffocating her veins, fire burning her marrow. Her scream shattered the silence of the ruins.
Kiaria clenched his fists helplessly. Think! There has to be a way!
Then, the realization struck him. He remembered Elder Wolf's words: If she loses control, let her martial souls bear the burden.
"Dia, summon your martial souls!" he shouted. "Let them absorb the attributes–don't fight them!"
Her eyes shot open, glowing red and blue. The air trembled. Behind her, two immense souls took form–a phoenix wreathed in holy flame, and another cloaked in demonic frost.
The two divine birds spread their wings and screamed in unison, shaking the heavens. Streams of energy–half fire, half ice–spiraled into their forms. The storm of conflicting power began to calm.
Kiaria stepped back, shielding his eyes. "They're… mutating," he whispered.
Above the phoenixes, twin halos formed–rings of silver and gold that pulsed like living fire. Then, in a surge of light, both martial souls merged briefly into one shape before separating again–stronger, sharper, reborn.
The energies dissipated. Diala's body fell limp, floating gently to the ground as the phoenixes faded behind her. Her palms still glowed faintly with intricate markings–one red, one blue–spiraling like seals of fire and frost.
Kiaria rushed forward, catching her as she collapsed. "Dia! Speak to me!"
She stirred weakly, raising her trembling hands. "Look… my palms…"
Kiaria's eyes widened. "These are… external seals," he murmured. "Proof of a mutation within the martial souls. But I don't know their purpose yet."
He sat beside her, both relieved and worried. The girl had survived what should have killed her. And yet, she was smiling faintly through exhaustion. "Kiaria," she whispered, "did I… succeed?"
He looked at her for a long moment, then smiled softly. "You didn't just succeed. You changed what was impossible."
They sat in silence for a while. The wind carried away the remnants of frost and ash. Diala's breathing steadied, her aura faint but stronger than before. The twin energies within her were quiet now–no longer warring, merely watching.
Kiaria leaned back, exhaling slowly. "Elder Wolf once said this technique could destroy the unworthy. But you're proof that balance can be born even in conflict."
He thought of the Elder's weathered book–the one filled with lifetimes of wisdom. "Maybe that book has answers," he said softly. "Maybe he left something in it for this very moment."
Diala pinched Kiaria's ear weakly. "Did you forgot, Elder already warned you from opening it. And for now, I'm just… tired."
Kiaria nodded. "Rest, then. We'll move once sun reach above our heads. We've been here too long–the miasma's spreading again."
The faint blue light from her palms pulsed once more, like the heartbeat of sleeping fire. The ruins around them were still, save for the wind that carried the scent of ash and frost through the night.
Outside their hideout, the horizon glowed faintly–the color between fire and ice, as though the heavens themselves had learned balance.
And as the first rays of dawn reached them, Kiaria whispered into the quiet:
"Cold Flame and Blazing Fire… you've lived up to your name."
What would be the origin of these rune letters. Each single letter holds unfathomable techniques and understanding that no one can comprehend fully. Was that person a God? There is one hundred and eleven letters. If including the forbidden Cold Flame and Blazing fire, it would be one hundred and twelve rune carvings. Around twenty of these runes are enough to make a person enlightened, also become a God.
Six paths of Immortality! Which path would be mine? Celestial meridian helped in gathering tenfold of spiritual energy. Will my destiny to be a Celestial God.
Kiaria couldn't rest at all. He unknowingly consumed excess spiritual energy. Ancient scriptures were not that easy one to train. Two techniques in a single day, a greedy choice.
Consequence didn't wait for long, Kiaria's guard down, inhaled miasma.
Wandering souls entered in sea of consciousness. Screaming of souls caused bleeding in ears.
Spit blood. Luckily, Blood Moon has the upperhand. Red blood mist inside his sea of consciousness suffocated wandering souls.
Fear spread in the souls, shivered.
Screams stopped.
Wandering spirits eroded in the blood mist, replenished his spiritual energy.
The path for them won't be smooth anymore. The real struggle has already staring like a prey from away.