Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai] - Chapter 34: Haunted

Chapter 34: Haunted

His trek deposited him in a small square, but not the one he’d met with Yamish in. This square only had one other entrance – across from him. It was empty, boxed in at all sides by cracked walls.

One small corner looked like it might have been a garden at one point, but now it was just a depressing patch of stale dirt.

Chance adjusted his grip on the urumi and opened his third eye, scanning his surroundings for any sign of a monster. A flicker of golden thread appeared in the pathway in front of him.

Several more followed it as a figure bound in dozens of thick karmic threads emerged from the darkness. Chance took a step back as what he could only describe as a tall, gangly ape dragged its feet into the square.

The monster’s arms were grotesquely long and drug along the ground behind it, bumping against the gravel and debris. Its fingers ended in pointed claws the size of small bananas, and the entire thing was covered in a thick layer of bristly red fur.

Its large, black eyes locked onto Chance, and it bared its teeth, revealing a mouth full of jagged fangs. A low growl slipped from between its thin, cracked lips. Chance didn’t wait for it to make the first move.

He flicked his urumi out and the segmented blade expanded, slicing through the air toward the ape. The monster hollered and bounded forward, loping across the ground on its knuckles and barely avoiding the strike. It dashed at Chance, screaming the entire time.

Essence gathered at Chance’s fingertips and a thin bolt of golden light shot out, striking the ape in the chest. One of its hands landed on a large piece of loose debris that slid out from under it, and the monster crashed to the ground in a ball of gangly limbs.

The urumi whistled through the air and raked across the ape’s back as it tried to stand. Blood sprayed across the ground as he retracted the blade, sending his will into it and cutting through one of the karmic threads in the process.

Energy rushed through Chance’s body in a deluge of ice through his veins. The ape lunged at him, lashing out with one of its deadly hands. Chance bounded back, his legs carrying him farther than he had expected. He flew several feet through the air and slammed into a building.

Instinctively, his fingers found purchase in the cracks along the wall and he swung himself like – well, a monkey. A stone crashed into the wall where he’d been, but Chance had already twisted around and launched himself toward the ape.

He hit the ground in a roll, rising to his feet and spinning the urumi around him. The blade coiled around the ape and he yanked it with all the force he could muster. That turned out to be a lot.

The segmented blades surrounding the ape tightened with a snick, carving clean through the monster as the urumi reassembled itself and a dozen chunks of carved monkey plopped down to the ground.

Chance stared at his blood-covered urumi, then looked down at the monkey’s body. He shuddered, repressing a gag. Now that the threat was gone, it was a little too close for human for his tastes. The energy flowing through his body slowly faded, returning him to his normal state.

Despite his distaste, he felt stronger. His abilities were faster and more responsive, and his luck control had affected the ape when it hadn’t worked on some large Soothounds. Once he could get his hands on some techniques and really get more into cultivation… Chance couldn’t suppress the flicker of excitement that filled him.

He flicked the blood from his weapon, then shook it off in annoyance when most of it wouldn’t come off. Chance sighed and stared at the corpse. “How do monsters even show up, anyway? Yeo said it was some big source of contention, but that means there have to be theories. And why does the Old City not like them?”

The walls rippled, and a new pathway formed. Chance blinked. He hadn’t been expecting an answer to that particular question. After a moment of hesitation, he walked down the provided pathway.

It continued farther than most of the other alleys had, which didn’t make much sense to Chance. The Old City clearly had some level of control over space and where things were. If it could show up anywhere in Gleam, then did it really matter how long an alleyway was? Perhaps it just had a pension for dramatic flair.

The alleyway came to a stop before a tall, black iron fence. Chance blinked. He hadn’t seen anything like that before in the Old City. He approached the fence and peered through the bars. Realization struck him.

It wasn’t a fence. It was the railing of a makeshift balcony. It overlooked an alleyway where a man laid on the ground, a sword several paces from his hands. Chance’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to call out to the man, but paused. Something was off.

The man was hairier than he should have been – almost like fur. It wasn’t easy to see details from where he stood, but the black hair was bristlier than any human’s. It always could have been one of the modifications that some people in Centurion had, but Chance dismissed the notion when the body twitched.

His limbs were shrinking, growing sinewy and taut. Over the next few seconds, the man’s body shrank into his clothes. They twitched around for a moment before a Soothound slipped out from beneath them, glancing in either direction before padding down the alley and disappearing around a corner.

Chance’s stomach clenched and he braced himself against the wall. He felt sick to his core. Bile bit at the back of his throat and he stepped away from the railing.

“They’re human? All the monsters? I’ve been eating humans?”

The ground beneath his feet rippled abruptly, making him stagger. Chance got the impression that the Old City did not like his previous statement.

“Well, it’s not like there are many other ways for me to see this,” Chance said. “You just showed me a man that turned into a Soothound. How else am I supposed to read into this? Can’t you just draw something? You can control the shape of things, so surely you could make a mural in a wall.”

A few seconds passed. Then the wall beside Chance rippled, lines forming in the cracked brick. In seconds, an incredibly graphic and detailed drawing of two Soothounds going at it formed on the wall. Then they started moving. Chance held his hand up.

“Okay, right. Got it. Don’t need to see you animate that. They produce normally too, but I’m not going to lie, that just seems even worse. You’re telling me that humans turn into monsters and then–”

The mural changed once more, this time forming into two different Soothounds. One looked pretty similar to a normal dog, though it still had all its monster-like features. The other was gaunt and starved, with hungry eyes. It looked sick. A line formed on the wall between the two drawings, clearly separating them.

“The human ones are the sickly looking ones?” Chance guessed.

A big ‘x’ appeared on the wall.

“They’re the normal looking ones?” Chance asked, relieved when the x changed to a circle. At least he hadn’t been eating humans. “But… why? Wouldn’t naturally occurring monsters be stronger?”

The wall rippled, forming into a new mural that depicted the thin, ragged Soothounds sitting with their legs crossed in what Chance presumed to be meditation. They steadily grew in size until they were massive and looked far more deadly than any Soothound he had ever seen. The wall then rippled, forming changing to the human form of the Soothound. Instead of growing stronger, they grew twisted, their limbs jutting out at odd angles. By the end, it looked similar to the creature that Chance had killed before Yamish found him.

“The monsters made from humans are… wrong, I guess? They’re somehow twisted, which is why you’re trying to get rid of them?”

A circle appeared on the wall. Chance wasn’t sure if he was happy to be communicating so well with the Old City or concerned at how intelligent it was.

“If you don’t mind me asking… have I fought any human monsters? Other than the one that I killed before meeting Yamish?”

The circle remained. Chance swallowed.

“Have I eaten any of them?”

The circle changed to an ‘x’. Chance let out a relieved sigh.

“It was the imp, wasn’t it? It’s the only monster that had a weapon.”

The circle returned. Chance pressed his lips together, the sickness in his stomach still twisting it into knots.

“Why? What’s the point of making me fight them? I mean, you’ve been having me kill the ‘normal’ monsters too, haven’t you? I don’t know what you are, but aren’t you on the monsters’ side?”

The mural changed, forming into a disturbingly accurate image of Chance. It depicted him growing more and more muscular until he practically looked like a bodybuilder.

“You’re using the normal monsters to get me strong enough to fight the human ones?”

A circle. Chance couldn’t help but notice that the Old City hadn’t answered his other questions.

“Could you at least tell me why humans are turning into monsters?”

The wall changed once more, this time forming into dozens of threads hanging off a nondescript person.

“Karma? They’re doing something that ends up turning them into a monster?”

The wall didn’t respond. Chance took that as an approval. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to push the feelings of disgust away. Anyone who turned into a monster was probably suffering. The best thing he could do for them was put them out of their misery.

“I think I understand. I… might be done hunting for today, though. I’ll be back. I agree with you on one thing. I need to get stronger. If there’s a way to save the people turning into monsters, I want to find it.”

The mural turned to a circle, then faded away. Rock melted back, forming into an alleyway that led into the square that he’d killed the ape monster in. The pieces of the monster’s body still laid on the ground. Chance’s face crumpled.

“Seriously?”

There was no response. Suppressing a groan, Chance walked up to the monster and took a small piece, throwing it into his mouth and gritting his teeth as he swallowed. A shudder racked his body and his Gate grew hot as Essence churned around it.

Another alleyway formed in the walls – the same one Chance had been standing in before he’d entered the Old City.

“Thank you,” Chance said, gagging and wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “I’ll be back soon.”

He stepped out of the Old City and the rock rippled behind him, sealing shut. Chance dry heaved, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. Unlike his tastebuds, his Gate felt pleased. When the heat slowly settled down, he could feel that the Essence within it had grown – and not by an insignificant amount.

Chance spat onto the ground, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. A man walking by the alley glanced at him.

“Had too much to drink,” Chance said, straightening up and giving the man an awkward grin.

The passerby shook his head and strode off without a response. Chance let the smile fall from his face and sighed, walking out into the main street. The sun was starting to set in the sky. He’d been in the Old City for longer than he’d thought.

Perhaps it has some control over the passage of time as well? Travelling all that distance must have some sort of drawback.

Chance shook his head. He reached Main Plaza Road and followed it back to Shikari Lane, the knowledge he’d gained haunting him the entire way.