Rohan and the Fang retreated, their departure left the weight of a civil war behind.
Tharos turned to the Wanderer, his eyes clinical. "We must accelerate the process. Tonight, you will undergo the Trials of Stillness."
"That’s too dangerous, Master," Kaelen protested, stepping between them. "He has no meridians to ground the flow."
The Wanderer stepped back, his hands curling into fists. "I’m done. I'm done with you, and I’m done with this poisonous fruit of a city. I’m leaving."
Tharos raised a hand, and the surrounding monks shifted, blocking every exit, ready to use force.
"Move them," the Wanderer warned. "Or I will."
"You are the only hope we have of preventing a civil war," Tharos said, his voice devoid of emotion. "If the experiment succeeded, Rohan will reconsider. A new way to bring Qi back into the world, would assert peace."
"Not my war. Not my fight," the Wanderer spat. "To be honest, you deserve it."
Kaelen stepped closer, “let's just calm down please.”
She turned to Tharos, “ let me speak to him master.”
“ You till the end of the day.” Said Tharos, gesturing for the monks to leave.
Kaelen Looked at the Wanderer, “ follow me please.”
The Wanderer followed to her room.
Kaelen walked in, grabbed something wrapped in fabric from her closet, “in the war I told you about, Tharos refused to send monks to fight, he preferred to let the guards defend the city from inside the gates.”
She handed him the fabrics, he opened it to find broken green beads, and a shuttered talisman first student was carved on it. “But Rohan disobeyed Tharos.”
“This belonged to him?” Asked the Wanderer.
She nodded, continuing. “ Rohan was born in a nearby village, couldn't let his people die.
He was like a brother to me, taught me everything I know, Tharos also considered him the son he never had, the next monk that would carry the Viridian legacy.”
She wrapped the beads in the fabric and threw it in the open closet. “But he betrayed us, he moved away from our peaceful path, and turned to the forbidden Qi, inverted his meridians and let the darkness consume his thoughts along with other monks, he convinced them that Tharos is an old delusional man, not fitting to rule Lythra.”
She sighed, “but he couldn't even save his own people nor win the war. The invaders couldn't break through our defenses, they finally gave up and left.”
She sighed, “ Tharos wants you to take the same rituals Rohan took, in a more controlled way, but without meridians…”
The Wanderer laughed, “ So he is gambling with my life and you ask me to stay?”
Kaelen jumped in front of him. “ I'll be there, if anything goes wrong I'll save you.”
“I don't belong here.” Said the Wanderer, “ I have given enough sacrifices to a city that only rejected me in return, I'm sorry Kaelen but I'm leaving.”
“You are the only thing that can prevent a war you caused!” She shouted.
The Wanderer replied, “Tharos has corrupted your mind, you also should leave this place.” and turned around to leave.
Kaelen shouted. “Then I claim my debt!”
The Wanderer turned back to her slowly, eyes wide in disbelief.
She continued. “ I saved your life, you owe me.”
“ I thought you were better than them.” Said the Wanderer, he looked at her in disappointment. “You have a week, then my debt is paid.”
That night, as he entered the ritual chamber, the air felt heavier, like breathing under water.
The monks formed a wide circle, leaving a single cold spot in the center.
Tharos gestured for the Wanderer to sit.
"The trial is to test and reinforce the mind," Tharos explained, his shadow stretching long against the candlelit walls.
"The monks will cleanse themselves by channeling their darkness into you… their sins, their rot, their most violent impulses. You must endure it all without breaking."
"Master," Kaelen whispered, "this may backfire. You saw how the Qi reacted to him."
"We need to see how darkness responds to darkness," Tharos replied coldly.
The Wanderer sat, his jaw set. "Get it over with."
He closed his eyes. Almost immediately, the air grew foul. The monks began to emit a thick, turgid Qi that carried the stench of carrion. It rushed into the Wanderer like a black tide.
He began to sweat, his body shaking as he fought the urge to scream, the urge to kill everyone in the room.
Flashes of the monks' hidden shames and murderous thoughts invaded his mind, a psychic sewage pipe draining into his soul.
"Don't fight it," Tharos commanded. "Let it pass. Contain the hate. Embrace the fact that you are just a man suffering."
The Wanderer tried, but his own internal demons began to surge. The void within him devoured the Qi, refining the filth into a surge of energy even darker than what was being sent.
Suddenly, his perception fractured. Even with his eyes closed, he could "see." He felt the flicker of every candle flame, the pulse of every heartbeat in the room, and also… a disturbance. Above.
From the darkness of the ceiling, a shadow detached itself. An assassin plummeted, black blade aimed directly at Tharos’s heart.
The Wanderer snapped out of his trance. With speed, he felt the world froze for a moment, he lunged, intercepting the assassin mid-air.
He grabbed a lit candle from a nearby stand and shoved the boiling, hot wax directly into the assassin's eyes.
The man shrieked, reaching blindly for his weapon.
The Wanderer caught the assassin’s arm and drove it against his own knee, the bone snapping with a sickening crack.
In one fluid, brutal motion, he snatched the fallen blade and drove it into the soft space between the man's chin and throat.
He drove the steel in again and again, his expression didn't change as if it was not the first time.
The monks broke their circle, staring in horror at the carnage, as the smell of air after the storm filled their lungs, his mana resonance still echoing.
Tharos’s gaze locked onto the dark wet smear spreading across the white marble.
"You have desecrated our sacred hall," Tharos whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of shock and holy indignation. "Blood has not touched these stones for centuries. Your taint... it spreads without limit."
The Wanderer stood over the corpse, the dead man’s blood still dripping from his knuckles. "I saved your damned life…"
"You could have disarmed him!" Tharos cut him off. The Elder stepped forward, pointing a shaking finger at the gore. "You could have pinned him down! But you used the filth of magic. You chose to spill blood!"
The Wanderer let out a short laugh. "Rohan sends a shadow to cut your throat, and you blame the man who caught the blade? I expected better, even from the man nearly destroyed Lythra.'"
"Don’t disrespect our Elder with those foul rumors!" Kaelen shouted, her voice echoing off the high ceilings. She looked at the Wanderer, her eyes filled with vibrating hate.
"He is your Elder," the Wanderer said, turning his cold gaze toward her. "Not mine."
Tharos barked, “ the only reason your head is still attached to your shoulders is that you saved my life.” He sighed, “ I'll decide your fate tomorrow, enough blood for the day.”
They all began to leave.
The Wanderer, thinking of the void within him, asked Kaelen, “ what happened to Rohan after taking the trials?”
Kaelen came closer in anger. “ He established the Fang.”
The Wanderer furrowed, then thought for a moment. “I thought he joined them, and climbed the ranks.”
Kaelen continued. “No, he made them, but Rohan couldn't take over the city completely, so he came to an agreement with Tharos to fight over territories in sacred duels, Tharos agreed to avoid a civil war, and you gave him the chance.”
The heavy doors groaned shut, as Kaelen left.
The Wanderer stood alone in the center of the hall, the silence pressing in on him. As the blood painted his foot print on the cold floor.
The Wanderer spent the night staring at the ceiling till he fell asleep.
The visions haunted his dreams, the same machine, the same mechanical voice.
It has been repeated in the past days against his resistance, but the day was too long for him to keep the nightmares away.
He jolted up sweating, breathing heavily.
Began to think where is this place? Is this actually me? Who am I then?
He stood up pushing the vision away, and left the room.
Outside, Tharos ,Kaelen and other monks were already there.
Tharos turned to the Wanderer’s foot steps, “your judgment will not be death, but I will not harbor another monster within my walls.”
He paused bitterly. “You got your wish Wanderer, you are no longer part of our temple, you have a day to sort your belongings.”
Kaelen came in haste, “ Master, but the war.”
Tharos barked, “ I'd rather die than get aid from another murderer.” Turned around to leave, then paused for a second, looking at the Wanderer over his shoulder. “May our paths never cross again.”
Silence fell for a moment as the Wanderer stared at Tharos and the monks leaving.
After their departure, Kaelen rushed to the Wanderer, holding his hand not caring about his deadly touch. “Please, don't listen to him. Stay and help us stop this war.”
The Wanderer pulled his hand from her grip. “I don't owe you anything.” and left for his room without looking at her.