Part 2 · Chapters
The Boy Who Climbed Back from the Abyss
An unexpected encounter opens a door. Climbing out is still up to you.
The Beast King before the exit towered higher than any rock face. Black mist churned in its eyes, as though another power were trapped beneath its flesh.
Xiao Jin's first mistake was believing he had become strong enough.
He formed a fire blade and charged straight at the Beast King. The blade had barely touched its breastplate when a giant claw swept in like a wall. Xiao Jin flew several paces sideways. His shoulder came out of joint again.
Ember Breathing kept him from fainting. It also kept every part of the pain perfectly clear.
Before the next blow landed, he used Ash Step to slide into a crevice. Heat Sense reached beyond his sight, catching a brief flash of warmth between opening armor plates.
“I don't have to break all its armor… I just need one spot.”
He stopped attacking head-on. When it swung a claw, he ran along the back of it. When its huge jaws snapped shut, he used the hot breath to change direction. Each dodge made the Beast King wilder, until its blows shattered the entire rock face.
The exit began to collapse.
Xiao Jin climbed falling stones while evading attacks. Ash Step flashed repeatedly in midair like a chain of brief stars. He crossed the Beast King's spine and thrust his broken staff between armor plates, but still fell half an inch short of the crystal.
Black mist surged from the crystal and forced the Beast King's body to twist. Its massive tail struck Xiao Jin, throwing him against the exit's edge with half his body hanging over the abyss.
Below him, the darkness gaped like an open mouth.
He had climbed this wall countless times. Failure, falling, beginning again. This time was no different.
Xiao Jin let go of the crumbling stone and chose to fall.
The Beast King bent to snap at him. As its jaws drew near, he compressed all his flame into the broken staff. The fire did not grow larger. It became thinner and brighter, until it formed a crimson blade only an arm's length long.
“Ember Blade.”
Ash Step burst beneath his feet.
Xiao Jin shot upward against his fall and passed between the closing fangs. His fire blade pierced the narrowest gap in the chest armor and drove cleanly through the black crystal.
Black mist screamed as it left the Beast King's body.
Before the great creature fell, Xiao Jin drew out his blade. He did not strike its heart. The Beast King lay panting on the ledge, the red in its eyes fading to a gentle gray.
Daylight poured into the abyss through the exit.
Elder Ember appeared beside the ledge. Most of his body had turned transparent.
“Are you going to disappear?” Xiao Jin asked.
“Once the Primordial Ember leaves, it will be time for this hall's fire to go out too.”
For the first time, Xiao Jin did not know what to say.
Elder Ember tapped him on the forehead. “Don't look like that. Remember: don't become a sun shining over everyone. The sun is so high that it may never see the darkest corners.”
The old man became a shower of sparks.
“Become the fire that refuses to go out, even in the darkest place.”
The last spark settled into Xiao Jin's palm and merged with his small flame.
Xiao Jin put on a worn cloak salvaged from the ruins and strapped the broken staff to his back. He turned to the Beast King, thanked it softly, then took hold of the stone lip of the exit.
Aboveground, the snowstorm had ended.
With his left hand, he heaved his battered body upward, climbing out of the Fireless Abyss inch by inch. Sunlight stung tears into his eyes. Far away, Flame City was only a dim outline.
Everyone thought he was dead.
He had come back.