Key to the Void: A self-made isekai

The trio silently stalked around the buildings at the edge of the transformed city. Their mission was simple. Find one of those red-robed gnomes who was isolated from the rest, maneuver them around, and then hit them into the tree that Asaren had summoned so it can restrain them and drain their earth mana.

Come to think of it, this might be related to why the gnomes had stopped attacking the tree. They all know Asaren is up there, and she is their primary target. However, if Asa had started going on the offensive by trying to capture them with vines every time they approached and she’d shown off exactly what would happen to them once captured, that would certainly make them back right off.

‘Come to think of it, isn’t this really bad?’ Levin had just come to this realization. The original plan was for Asa to jump around all over the city as a distraction specifically so they didn’t come after him and Rolwen. Meanwhile, Tia was assigned as a guard for them as well as a roaming assassin to any strays who might think to go after them instead of Asa. However, it’s more than clear now that Asa has attracted too much attention and now the game has completely changed.

With all this heat on her, Asa has had to make herself far too hard of a target. This means that it shouldn’t be long at all now before the gnomes decide to change their tactics. If he had to place himself in their shoes, the next thing they’ll probably do is take hostages. Just like they had done in order to lure him and Rolwen out of the boat. As for what hostages they can take… there are 4 very appetizing targets right here in this city. Himself, Rolwen, Eirlathion, and Miss Kiiria.

The only reason he didn’t consider Tia to be on that list would be because she was quite likely the only target that’s harder than Asa right now. They’re more likely to die if they ever had the bright idea to try using her as a hostage.

Bottom line, with Asa no longer serving as an effective distraction, the three of them are now serving the same role for Eirlathion and Kiiria as she was previously serving for them. Would it even be possible though for them to do the same things Asa was doing?

His mind wanted to complain about how Asa had suddenly changed up the plan like this on them, but a deep subconscious part of him already understood. There was no discussion, but there was some unspoken sense between them that this had to end soon. If this enemy was not dealt with quickly, they would start wising up and taking unpredictable actions. At that point, they would become far more challenging to deal with. They had to take out as many of the enemy gnomes as possible right now while Asa was providing them with a method.

They were completely following Tia’s lead at this point. She seemed sure of where she was going. Levin recalled, she had a superior spirit sense to Asa. From what he could gather, the fey had spirit sense and humans who had been trained as mages had magic sense. Asa’s ‘key to the void’ meditation also seemed to impart some kind of spirit sense that was able to match the fey senses. However, at this point, he would not be at all surprised if he were to be told Tia somehow had both.

Levin was not very good yet at the fire phase of the 5 elements. He could only just barely sense spirit. Rolwen was better at it than him at this point. He focused on it once again. He imagined a fire inside him that consumed the spirit energy of others as it’s fuel source, and then began feeling the area outside of himself in an attempt to get a sense for where the largest sources were coming from. Meanwhile, he also tried to interpret the intentions and emotions of any of the energies he was absorbing into his inner fire.

He felt… a frustration? This was new. It was coming through so clearly, not like the unclear and confusing emotions he sensed while trying this before at the Hidan camp. Levin’s eyes opened in shock at just how clearly he was able to feel these things at this point. Did his meditation somehow grow stronger?

After getting over this surprise, he started focusing again. He could feel six clear and very strong spirit sources in the area around them. They also seemed to be seeking one another out, each moving toward one another.

He realized it then, Tia was leading them on a path that would intersect with the direction one of these spirit sources was moving. He was unsure how exactly Tia had interpreted what direction this guy would be walking, but somehow she had interpreted it. He wasn’t sure how he would interpret someone’s intended path as she was apparently doing, but somehow, he was just able to tell that she was already directing them on such a course once someone else had already done the work for him.

Is this why Rolwen was able to just go along with Tia’s lead with no issue like this? He just seemed so naturally able to follow the lead like he already knew exactly what was going on. Is it because he was sensing the same thing?

This was quite the revelation. Up until now, he had never been able to get anywhere near this clear a read from his spirit sense.

He recalled something Asa had said about why Rolwen was able to progress so much better than he was at this meditation. It was a meditation meant for combat. Rolwen, who had actual field experience as a soldier, was therefore able to adapt to it a lot better. The meditation was tied to the martial art, and the martial art was one meant for actual use on the field for real life-or-death combat.

Could this be another property of the key to the void meditation? Is the fact he’s on a real battlefield now the reason why he’s able to use the fire meditation so much more effectively now? As far as he could figure, this was almost at what Asa would have called a passing level already. In fact, it seemed way past just passing.

Would this mean it might be possible for him to use the wind meditation now as well? No, that’s probably a bad idea. He’s had no real training with that one. It should be enough for now that he’s just able to use the fire meditation to completion. Maybe his earth and water will be better as well, possibly even to a level he could contribute to combat here. He can start training with wind once this is all done and they get back home.

There is one other thing he could try though.

He reached down to his wooden bracelet. His living wood weapon. He recalled earlier when they were being chased by the mages, how he was able to produce spikes from it in order to stop their pursuers.

He focused on it as he felt it beneath his fingers, willing it to transform into the shape he wanted.

He envisioned something Asa had shown them several times. It was her minimum task, something they had to do before she would be willing to take them on any of the Hidan training missions. Something Rolwen had managed to do, but he’d never quite been able to pull off.

He recalled the dagger she had transformed her living weapon into on multiple occasions. One which was stronger than steel due to the hyper-dense wood it was made from, and had a blade so impossibly sharp that it could even cut through rock.

He imprinted this vision onto the living weapon, recalling how it would simply move along her arm like a liquid as it went from her wrist to her hand. In accordance with this vision, he felt the wooden band simply melt off his wrist as easily as water flowing over his skin. It flowed into his hand, and a handle filled his palm just as he closed his fingers around it. In a motion as smooth and natural as though he had simply moved a part of his own body, the bracelet had transformed into a wooden dagger which he was now holding in his closed hand.

He didn’t even have to test it to know it would be every bit as sharp as Asa’s blade. At this moment, he could simply slice through the walls of one of these houses as they passed by.

He caught a glance from Rolwen as they were walking along. His eyes flicked to Levin’s hand and then back up.

Levin sent a mental command, and the wood dissolved back into a semi-liquid state and climbed his arm, transforming back into a wooden bracelet. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. Just testing his equipment is all. But, it was probably good to show he wasn’t doing anything crazy.

When he looked back up, Rolwen had a giant stupid-looking grin on his face. Was he congratulating him? Levin felt embarrassed all over again for this one, but he couldn’t help having a little smile of his own this time.

Rolwen gave him a satisfied nod, and then suddenly his face was sharp and serious again as his eyes shifted back to the path ahead of them.

The message was clear. They were close to the target now. Once they attacked the first one, the rest of them would know they were there.

The real fight was about to start.