Molting the Mortal Coil

Sage was a coward.

He hadn’t realized it before, but at this time, running through the woods fearing for his life… all thoughts of resistance had completely left him. All he could think about was escaping. Just finding somewhere safe and calm. Living a life of luxury with no worries about any danger whatsoever. He almost felt like he’d left his body, dreaming of an easy life as more knives flashed past him.

Stumbling into a rocky area, Sage had to suddenly halt. Skidding on loose stones, he found himself at the edge. He’d somehow found the edge of a canyon, the ground dropping abruptly in front of him and dropping easily four or five hundred feet straight down. The wall looking far too treacherous and steep for any sort of easy descent. Turning back around he heard laughter. Three men dressed like ordinary commoners had surrounded him. One far out on either side and another behind him, which when combined with the cliff, to box him in quite perfectly.

“Haha, who would have thought our luck would be so perfect. Not only will the boss reward us well for catching another Lang Clan member, this kid has up and ran himself into a corner!”

Another of the men joined in with the taunting, “When that first throw was off a bit, I thought we were going to have to chase this kid for days.”

“Thanks for saving our time, Kid!” said the third fellow, not wanting to be left out in their conversation. All three seeming to be in quite the good mood now that they knew their mission was soon going to be complete. They had been forced to trail him all over town for days waiting to see if he knew any other Lang Clan members, and then waited a couple more days to see if he had any secret meetings outside of town. Finally getting permission on the third day to end this farce, the kid didn’t know anybody and was all alone.

The men to the left and right of Sage drew out long curved blades, the wicked sabers gleaming in the light as they brandished them. The one that had been behind him, who he was now facing, had a handful of small knives. Tossing and catching them like a juggler showing off. He didn’t walk any closer but instead threw another knife towards Sage which clanged off the boulder that Sage quickly ducked behind. Terror grew within the middle-aged mind inhabiting a teenager’s body. He tried to placate them, his voice shaky, “You guys don’t have to do this. I’ll just give you my money and you can pretend you never saw me, right? I don’t mean anything to you guys.”

More laughter came from the three hitmen, “You’re right, boy! You don’t mean anything to us. There’s a bounty on every Lang Clan member and our boss ordered us to collect your head! Now be a good lad and kneel down. Just close your eyes and we’ll make it nice and quick.”

The man with the knives laughed, “It’s okay, just let the kid struggle. It will be far more fun to slice him up and listen to him scream. Do you two really want to take away all my fun? Come on now, be more generous to me, your brother.”

Sage was a coward. Well, that was how he thought of himself. What else would he be? Someone that runs from the strong and hunts the weak, isn’t that a coward? He’d killed thousands of bugs, yet here was a group of thugs and all he could do was run. It was time for him to just kneel down and let them end his worthless life, that would be the easy way. Give up this life of solitude, loneliness and strife. He’d already died once hadn’t he? He didn’t even know what secret it was he stumbled onto and it got him killed. Here he was again, in a second life and he was about to be killed once more.

Is it my fate to be killed for things I didn’t even do? Why do I deserve this? What did I ever do to deserve this? Am I nothing more than an ant to be stepped upon as people walk past?

If this was just going to happen to him again and again, Sage had no idea why he’d even got a second chance. Was this just a cruel joke meant to torment him? Was it a coward’s fate to be nothing more than fodder for others? Sage had many questions rattling his mind and many feelings flooding his body. Hot and sweaty from the run from his life, the pounding of his heart in the face of near death, and now cold sweat as those men spoke to him like nothing more than livestock to be slaughtered for their benefit.

Sage remembered a saying. Everyone has things to be afraid of, to be brave is to face your fears. It was so easy to say, but who could really do it? Before him stood only death, it felt like all he could do was choose how to die. Kneel down and they’d make it quick. Keep standing and he’d be tortured. Run and leap off the cliff. His fate was sealed.

Why!? Why is this happening again! I… I can’t let it happen again!

Sage was tired of being scared. Tired of being helpless. Tired of watching himself fail. This glimmer of courage had been formed by building his own strength back in the Lang Clan and tested out for the first time in those Back Mines.

That’s right! Haven’t I already braved the darkness and battled deadly creatures? I killed them and turned them into my food. I can be brave!

Grasping this tiny glimmer of hope, Sage began to slowly kneel down. These feelings and emotions having washed over him in only the span of a few breaths. The two saber wielding men nodded their heads, “You won’t get to play around, Brother Chou. We’ll make it quick and go get lunch!”

He would only have one chance. Sage knew he had to surprise them, just like he’d seen heroes do in similar situations in movies. The bad guys were off their guard and ready to take his life like they were chopping vegetables. He just had to strike out unexpectedly with full force before they had a chance to resist. His heart was beating so fast he felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. Down on his knees, his head was bowed forward and showing the two the back of his neck just like they were asking for. The man to his right stopped walking, his feet shuffling slightly and Sage knew he was taking a stance and raising the saber into the air. His head was about to get taken off.

Now!

Sage rolled forward. He had already been bowing his head and leaning his body forward, he pushed off with his toes and somersaulted towards the man with the knives, Chou. At the same time, he called out his Mantis into the air beside him. That red jade carapace of hers shining in the light as a gout of flame a few feet in length blasted into the face of the man on the left. A scream ringing out as the man on the right dropped his sword. The blade cut into Sage’s back as he rolled, changing a beheading into a grievous wound. A knife slid past his face, cutting along Sage’s cheekbone as he closed the distance. The staff appearing in his hand twirling to either side of his body, in time to deflect the second throwing knife. The third sunk into his hip, just as Sage spun forward and grasped the end of the staff with both hands like a baseball bat. The tip of the staff whistled through the air, gaining momentum as it twirled a full 360 degrees before connecting against Chou’s temple. The crack of bone ringing in the air as that knife thrower fell down lifelessly to the ground.

Chou’s life did not end without a price. The man that was to his left swung his saber and a brilliant blue glow traced its passage. The Fire Weaver Mantis blocked a flurry of slashes with its forearms, only to get stabbed through its chest by the other assailant. All of the hair on his face had been burnt off, leaving him a cooked and burnt mess, but that did not stop him from striking back in rage. The mantis which had disfigured him was slain in a single blow, that Spirit Insect had many abilities and was quite tough, but it was only the size of a dog and could not stand up to these men’s qi skills. Their blades glowing with blue light, their ‘River Cutting Saber’ was not a skill some two bit bug could stand up to.

By Sage’s system he was only level 21. Rank 2, Stage 1 was barely more than a trainee in most sects. He would have the qualifications to become the most low level of disciples at this point, and it was the same rank of most fighting folks, thugs, and otherwise capable folk. Anyone doing a dangerous job were all Rank 2. Rank 1 was considered rookie trainees, Rank 2 capable combatants, and Rank 3 were the captains, leaders and strong folk. People above Rank 3 were things nearly unheard of normal towns, cities, and even counties. Big personages like that operated in at least the province level or in powerful martial sects.

Turning to face the other two men, Sage was in time to see his Mantis killed. The two men rushing towards him, one of them positively seething with anger upon that burnt face of his. Sage tried to hold them off using the Wave Breaking Paddle against the River Cutting Saber, his motions focused on twirling to the left and right like his staff was a huge paddle on a canoe. The downward sweeps of the staff aiming to catch the sabers and redirect them to either side. Breaking the waves of the sabers with that paddle like staff. Unfortunately, he was far too disadvantaged. A lower level, bleeding wounds, less experience, and he was even outnumbered. The best he could do was make it take longer.

Those River Cutting Sabers weren’t fast, but the blue glow in their wake was like the flow of the river. Sage’s staff was caught up in that trailing energy like it was the wake of a boat, rippling and knocking his staff aside. When he blocked it head on, staff perpendicular to the saber it merely rattled in his grasp, but when he attempted to merely divert the strikes he was injured. Instead of saving time and energy by deflecting instead of blocking, Sage merely felt like he was shoving his staff into a swiftly flowing river current. Getting pushed aside and having his skin sliced open by the incoming saber.

The two of them were unforgiving, and in just a breath of time, Sage was covered in wounds. It was all he could do to merely keep them from taking his life. The two had been circling around him and now he found himself with his back against the cliff again. The exchange of blows stopping as Sage’s foot half slid off the edge, loose stones tumbling down.

“It’s the end for you now, kid! You’ll pay for what you’ve done to my face!”

The two of them struck out in unison and Sage could only block one of them. The staff smashed against one sword as the other struck clean through his right arm halfway up his forearm. A scream of rage and pain came from Sage’s lips, shocked as his hand was removed. The two men followed up, one smacking the staff from his weakened left hand, the other stabbing into his stomach.

The blade pierced into something hard and instead of sticking into his body he was flung backwards, tumbling over the edge of the cliff, head over heels.