〈Pophet, The Gentle Faith That Echoes〉

[Mana: 0 / 0]

[Skills: 5]

Skill: Breath of the Heavenly Pug

The breath has changed. It no longer draws only air, but intent.

Each inhale gathers the world just a little closer; Each exhale lets it go without resistance.

Where stillness once meant hiding, It now means knowing— The weight of a heartbeat, The hush before a flame is snuffed, The space between one thought and the next.

He does not chase enlightenment. He breathes, and the world remembers to breathe with him.

The pug sleeps, And somewhere nearby, Leaves turn toward the light.

Stage: Soul Formation

Skill: Thousand Fats Body Compression

A secret technique born from the ancient and mostly-forgotten ██████████████, this minor art was developed by low-ranking disciples who needed to evade both danger and responsibility with equal grace. By tightening the meridians and weaving Qi, the user may compress their physical vessel into a deceptively diminutive form.

Practitioners of this technique once used it to sneak past gatekeepers, hide beneath floorboards, or nap inside sacred urns to avoid morning drills. While compressed, power output is reduced.

Legends say true masters could vanish into a teacup. You, however, are pug-shaped and still squishy.

Skill: Intent of the Beast

A martial resonance born not from the blade's cold precision, but from a beast's authority over space itself. In its early stages, the intent clawed and tore, seeking dominance through rending force. Now, it shapes.

To wield this intent is not merely to cut, but to command. It defines idea before motion begins.

This intent does not manifest visibly, but the world remembers where it has been.

Skill: Empty Stomach Devours Poison

The demonic beast's stomach is not just a vessel for food. Where others falter at toxins and venom, it consumes them.

What enters as poison in its body is ground into marrow-deep nourishment. What burns the veins of lesser creatures only serves to fatten its core.

Let the world's filth come. The pug will eat it all.

Skill: Invincible Golden Pugoda

Through constant tempering, the beast's physical vessel has reached a state of perfect stability. Qi circulates throughout the flesh and bones in a closed loop, reinforcing every layer of muscle, skin, and fur.

At this stage, external force cannot easily displace the body.

Momentum-based strikes lose their power on contact; energy disperses across the beast's frame. Blades and claws that might have pierced before now glance off or are absorbed by the dense, qi-fortified fur and tissue.

This technique does not harden the surface like stone, nor does it create visible armor.

*****

I awoke to darkness and the taste of dust.

For a disorienting moment, I didn't know where I was or what had happened. My ears rang in the silence that followed the storm.

The last thing I remembered was a surge of power in my body. Now, everything was black and eerily still except for the drip, drip of rainwater seeping through the wreckage.

With a grunt, I pushed myself up. Debris shifted and tumbled off my back as I rose unsteadily to my paws. Fragments of wood and shattered roof tiles clattered away. A slab of cracked stone that had pinned my hind legs slid off as I gave a solid heave.

I stood there for a second, astonished.

Even through the lingering haze of smoke and dust, I felt different now. Soul Formation was what my skill window said.

I shook myself, coughing out a puff of grey dust. Small rocks and splinters shook off my fur. In the faint light filtering from the overcast night sky above, I could see the extent of the destruction. What had been our room, and indeed the entire lodging, was now an uneven mound of rubble and debris.

"Sali?" I called out, voice rasping.

Only the rain answered, pattering on the ruins. I tried again, louder: "Rinvara! Mira!" My throat tightened when no response came. The silence was suffocating.

Had they made it out before… before this?

My heart hammered at the thought that I might have caused them harm.

I needed to find them. Now.

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I scrambled up another heap of rubble, crushing wet, splintered boards beneath me. My eyes had adjusted enough to make out vague shapes in the darkness.

As I crested the mound that had been our walls, I caught a familiar scent that made the fur along my neck rise.

A cool mixture of salt and fresh rain, with a hint of something floral. It was out of place amid the dust and burnt wood.

My lips pulled back instinctively in a low growl.

"You…" I snarled softly into the darkness.

A figure stepped lightly over the wreckage, emerging from the veil of rain. The woman's silhouette resolved in the gloom, and I saw that it was indeed her: Aephelia.

She looked entirely at odds with the scene of destruction around us. The last time I'd seen this woman, she was vanishing with a skull and leaving me with a threat not to spill her secrets. Now she wore a knee-length one-piece dress in a soft shade of blue, the kind one might wear to a casual dinner or a date night.

And she was barefoot, of all things, picking her way through the rubble with an annoyed twist to her lips.

Aephelia's usually neat hair was damp and slightly disheveled, as if she'd left in a hurry.

Raindrops ran down her arms and face. Even so, she moved with an uncanny grace, stepping between jagged stones and charred wood as though out for an evening stroll.

Her eyes found me in the dark, narrowing. "Of all the nights, you had to pick this one," Aephelia sighed. There was a sharp edge beneath her light tone. "Do you have any idea how inconvenient that was? I was on a date, Pophet. A rare night off." She lifted the skirt of her dress slightly, showing a tear in the fabric. "And look! Ruined. I had to come here because someone decided to call down a possible city-wide catastrophe."

Despite the casual wording, I could sense the tension in her posture. She was irritated, yes, but her eyes were also sweeping over me, observing me.

I answered her complaint with a rumbling growl, the sound rising from deep in my chest. A large part of me remembered how she'd tricked me in the dungeon. My trust for Aephelia was thinner than a thread.

She clicked her tongue when I growled, and waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, don't you growl at me. If I hadn't shown up, you'd be in a far worse situation right now, believe me." Rainwater ran down the side of her face, and she wiped it away with an exasperated flick. "Your companions are safe."

I went still, cutting off the growl. The tightness in my chest loosened just a bit. "They're safe?" I echoed, my voice gravelly. I took a cautious step closer over the broken masonry. "You have them? Where are they?"

Aephelia rolled her eyes as if this were all a minor inconvenience. "The one they call Rava and her attendant are fine. They should be back at Sunmire's embassy by now, under the delegation's care." She paused, meeting my gaze. "Your elven handler, on the other hand… she's with us. For now."

My relief cracked, giving way to a flash of anger.

A low snarl escaped me before I could stop it. I crouched slightly, muscles bunching. If they'd hurt Sali—

Aephelia lifted a slim eyebrow at my reaction. "Calm down," she said, not sounding particularly sympathetic. "Your little adventurer is unharmed. Unconscious, but unharmed. We had to get her out of the way before she did something foolish." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, you should be thanking me. That girl was still by your side when the building came down. If Vee hadn't pulled her out, she'd be under those rocks right now."

The snarl died in my throat, replaced by a mix of gratitude and frustration. I wasn't sure how to feel. "Thank you," I said stiffly, "for helping her. Now give her back."

Aephelia's lips curved into a thin, patient smile, the kind a parent might give a tantruming child. "We will, in due time. But right now, Pophet, we need you to come with—"

"Fascinating!" A new voice cut through Aephelia's words, echoing off the rubble. It was a male voice, warm with wonder, as if Christmas had come early for whoever it belonged to.

I jerked my head toward the source, startled.

I hadn't sensed anyone else approaching. Yet there, a few paces behind Aephelia, stood a man I had never seen before. He appeared in his middle years, with streaks of gray in his short brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. A pair of round spectacles perched on his nose, now speckled with mist from the rain. He wore a long, oilskin coat over what looked like a scholar's tunic and breeches.

In his hand was a faintly glowing crystal shard, which he waved slowly through the air as if taking a reading.

How had I missed him entirely?

My senses were keen, yet this man had been practically invisible before he announced his arrival.

Aephelia turned to the man with an irritated look. "Ex," she addressed him, "what do you mean, 'fascinating'? Did you learn something?" It sounded like she was biting back a sharper reprimand; clearly, she wasn't thrilled about the interruption or his evident excitement.

The man she'd called Ex didn't seem to register Aephelia's vexation. He stepped forward, carefully navigating around a puddle, his eyes shining with intellectual fervor behind those glasses. "Can't you see?" Ex gestured with the glowing crystal in my direction. "This energy all around us… it's not mana." He sounded positively delighted by that fact. "The residual signature, the discharge of the lightning, even the atmospheric aftereffects, none of it matches any mana-based phenomenon I know of! It's something entirely different!" His crystal flashed once, and he peered at it, mumbling something.

I tensed, uncertain how to react. Ex, whoever he was, didn't seem immediately threatening. If anything, he was acting like a scholar presented with an intriguing lab specimen, which, judging by the way he kept eyeing me and the current area, might be exactly how he saw this situation.

Still, Aephelia's presence ensured I couldn't let my guard down.

Aephelia crossed her arms and tapped her foot on a fallen plank, impatience writ clear on her face. "Is he—" she jerked her chin toward me, "—the cause of it? And is he going to be a bigger problem than we thought?"

At that, Ex finally tore his gaze from the crystal and focused on me properly. For a moment, he studied me, head tilted to the side. I felt an uncomfortable prickle as his eyes roamed, as if he could see more than just my outward form.

I squared my stance and stared right back, letting a soft growl remind him I didn't appreciate being examined like a bug under glass.

"Dangerous…?" Ex murmured, echoing Aephelia's unspoken question. "Potentially. The readings are off the charts. But honestly, I can't say for certain yet. I'll need Appraisal's input to get a full assessment of our friend here."

Aephelia exhaled slowly, clearly attempting to rein in her frustration.

The rain continued to fall around us, water dripping from my snout and soaking my fawn-colored fur between my ears.

"Alright," Aephelia said, her voice level but edged with resolve. "We'll consult Appraisal. But first…" She turned back to me, and I saw a decision solidify in her eyes. "Pophet, I'm going to need you to come with us. Now."

There it was, a quiet command, no longer masked by humor or annoyance.

Two other figures appeared at the periphery of my vision, blurry shapes atop the surrounding rubble. Reinforcements, no doubt, from her secretive organization.

They were keeping a respectful distance for the moment,

I bared my teeth, planting my feet. A cold certainty settled in my gut.

"No." The single word came out in a deep, guttural growl.

I wasn't going anywhere on their orders.

But the moment I defied them, the rain... stopped.

Each singular droplet froze midair, as if suspended like a bead of crystal on invisible strings.

The droplets nearest Aephelia trembled and shifted, then began to condense into bigger droplets, orbiting lazily around her in slow, concentric rings.

I didn't understand what she was capable of.

Behind her, Ex raised his hands up as if he didn't want anything to do with this. And then, without a sound, his body blurred and dissolved into the rain, fading completely from view.

Aephelia's eyes found mine. "You're coming with us."

The droplets surrounding us moved again, tiny mirrors catching the faintest glint of light.

Aephelia lowered her head slightly. "Don't mistake patience for weakness, Pophet."

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