On her way to her destination, Zamera had delt with numerous situations. From protecting children from bandits, being interrogeted and challenged by a man who apparently knew Haoran and having to explain that she wasn't doing anything wrong.
And now the pain in her head due to the Astral plane negatively affecting her was only worsening. That would be, until the one she sought revealed himself to her.
"Lady Zamera, are you alright?" The Edge Master. She could not answer him, the pain in her head was too great. When he got no answer, the old one rushed to Zamera's side.
"This is not good. Stay still." He then started to say words of the ancients but the woman's vision blurred and she could not hear the words spoken. However the incantation worked as her pain eased.
"Thank you, old one. I owe you for this." She said, sighing in relief that the pain was gone. The Edge mast shook his head. "You need not repay me. But why are you here, Zamera? You hardly ever come to these parts of the country."
And so,as the two headed towards the Edge Master's home with Haoran in tow, Zamera started explained everything to the old one.
"The Astral plane, it has become unstable. I assume Soul Edge must have a new puppet?" The man nodded, confirming her suspisions. "I see." The woman closed her eyes, sighing. She then opened her eyes as the malfested presence of another. But this aura felt differant to her, just like the Aval agent before...
"Is there anyone else here, old one?" The Edge master again nodded, standing up leading her to a room where a young man was training.
"This is Kilik. He's training to fight the current master of Soul Edge and to keep his own darkness at bay." The young man Kilik stopped his training and bowed to the old one. Zamera noticed the two ancient atrifacts the boy had with him, Kali-Yuga and Dvapara-Yuga.
"Hmph, there is no master of Soul Edge, old one. Only a puppet of greed." She scoffed, not even taking her eyes off the young boy, who looked at Edge master then to her.
Kali-Yuga's power has become dark just as Soul Edge was. So then Dvapara-Yuga must be preventing Kilik and the artifact from falling into the hands of darkness...
"Master, who is this person?" He looked at Zamera with wariness. 'Smart boy.' She thought, crossing her arms. The Edge master waved a hand to Zamera. "Kilik, this is Lady Zamera. I have known her for many years. Be respectful..." The old one warned as Kilik stepped forward to Zamera, giving a bow. Zamera tilted her head as she circled the young one. "I take it you can see my true form, boy?" Kilik stood up straight and nodded. "If you mean the markings and the horns atop your head, yes."
When Zamera stood in front of Kilik once more, she realised his attire seemed to be from the Ling-Sheng Su temple. The woman hummed in thought. "Is there something wrong?" The boy asked. Zamera continued to stare for a bit before answering. "You are from the Ling-Sheng Su temple?" The young one nodded. "That was among the first to be engulft by the power of the Evil Seed. I assume there are no other survivors?" Kilik looked down, a pained expression. That face was all she needed for an answer.
The woman walked past Kilik, into the center of the room. The young man raised his head and looked at her with a confused face, before he realised what she intended and raised his weapon. Zamera crossed her arms, a small glint of approval in her eyes. "You are definately a smart one, despite how young you are."
With that, she uncrossed her arms and put her left leg back and summoned her blade into her hands, pointing it to Kilik. "You must fight as if you are trying to kill me, understand?" The boy nodded, and then...the battle began.
Kilik was a gifted martial artist. Perhaps he is a true successor to the Kali-Yuga. Either way, he was being trained well by the Edge master.
She could see that he could be the one to stop Soul Edge's puppet. However, the fact of his malfestation that could take over him at any moment was troubling. Also the fact that the dark blade's wielder could not be defeated without the third ancient artifact, Krita-Yuga. And Zamera knew not of where that blade was now, so she wondered how the event of all this would go about, would she have to get involved like she did before?
At the battle's end, Zamera dodged another of Kilik's attacks and went to counter, only for the young one to use the weapon like a vaulting pole and jump over Zamera.
However, when he turned to attack again, he was met with a spear inches away from his face. The woman turned to him, making the weapon disappear and relaxing her stance.
"You have certainly been well trained." Kilik lowered his weapon and bowed. "It was an honor to fight with you." She reached her right hand out and patted the top of his head, confusing the boy. "You are indeed worthy to wield Kali-Yuga, Kilik." This made the young one look at Zamera with shock before bowing his head once again.
"Thank you-" She cut him off before he could say anything else. "However, you still need to train more if you intend to defeat the puppet of Soul Edge and control the malfestation inside you. Do you understand?" Kilik nodded. With that, she gave a small smile to Kilik before turning back to the Edge master.
"Old one, I must leave now," Zamera started, only for the Edge master to stop her words. "Of course, I will keep an eye on the young man you brought with you."
Zamera thanked the Edge master and gave her goodbyes to Kilik as she left the Edge master's cave to continue her journey.
The young martial artist turned to his master as they both saw Zamera walking further away. "Master, what is she? Her power..." He trailed off.
The Edge master answered without looking at the young man, "She is the last of her kind. However, due to reasons, I cannot tell you anymore than that. But I will tell you that the only reason you can see her true form is because of your connection to the events that are occurring." Killk turned to the distant form of Zamera. "So no normal person can see the markings, her horns?" The old one shook his head and turned back to his cave.
"No, but do not ponder on such things now. You have training to complete." The young one nodded profusely and followed his master into the cavern. Kilik had a suspision though, that he would meet Zamera again.
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