Turning Point

Near noon, Mick bought the remaining supplies on the list, while Tim went to the Armory to maintain its rows of gleaming weapons.

Xilian swung his hammer, tapping away at a component.

"Does it run now?"

Xilian turned. Ava had finished her morning's work and was standing outside the workshop.

The girl gazed at Xilian, her eyes bright with curiosity and longing.

"More or less."

Xilian proudly tapped the motorcycle's casing and twisted the throttle. The engine rumbled, the wheel spun rapidly, and dust billowed across the floor.

"Cough, cough!"

Dust blew into Xilian's face, setting him coughing.

He released the throttle, wiped his face with a damp towel, and ran a hand over the rusted body.

"The frame still needs work. I'm afraid it'll fall apart halfway across the Wilderness. Then I'd really be finished."

The thought of that night he had spent in the Wilderness still made Xilian shudder.

"I'm going to make it a new shell. Look at this—it's rusted through. The suspension needs work too, and a cool paint job would be nice."

As Xilian's plans took shape, his excitement gradually gave way to dejection.

"But that still isn't enough to cross the Wilderness. I'll need camping gear, a large reserve of Soul Marrow..."

His voice faded. He put the tool back on the rack and sighed wearily.

"It's still so hard."

After a pause, Xilian repeated himself.

"Leaving White Cliff Town is still so hard."

Even if the motorcycle could travel safely through the Wilderness, and even if Xilian had enough Soul Marrow and supplies, there was still one thing he could not avoid.

The Grey Fog.

The Grey Fog, filled with the power of Chaos and carrying countless Demons within it.

For an ordinary person, traveling alone through the Wilderness was simply too dangerous.

That was why Xilian had realized long ago that, to control his own fate in this mad world, he would have to become a Transcendent.

"It's okay, Xilian. I believe you can do it."

Ava patted Xilian's back and smiled encouragingly.

"Remember when you first started fixing this thing? Everyone said you couldn't do it... but you did."

"Thanks."

Xilian gave a bitter smile.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're amazing," Ava said earnestly. "I've known you could do it since the day we met."

Xilian gathered his tools and asked without thinking,

"Why?"

"Because you're different from everyone else," Ava said. "Completely different from the people in White Cliff Town."

Xilian looked at her in confusion, and Ava told him how she saw him.

"This is an awful world. People are born just trying to survive. A full stomach and a good night's sleep are enough to satisfy them. But not you. You're always looking beyond the walls, wondering what lies at the far end of the Wilderness."

Ava brushed Xilian's black hair back, combing through it with her slender fingers. "I still remember the look in your eyes when you found this motorcycle buried in the sand."

"You ignored everyone who told you to give up. You spent half a month hauling it back to town, piece by piece, and then you started learning how to repair it...

"You're full of life, Xilian. People like you succeed at whatever they set out to do."

Xilian blushed. "I'm not really that great."

"That just means you have plenty of room to get even better." Ava grinned.

"Come on, cheer up. I have something else to tell you."

She squeezed Xilian's shoulders, intending to loosen his muscles, but found she lacked the strength.

Though still young, Xilian had trained for years. His physique was already far beyond that of an ordinary person.

"What is it?"

"My father has invited you and your teacher to dinner tonight."

Ava added, "I don't think it's just dinner. He probably wants to discuss something with you both."

"All right. I'll be there on time."

"Mhm. See you tonight."

Ava ruffled Xilian's hair, then disappeared into the afternoon sunlight with a smile.

Xilian kept looking in the direction she had gone. Then a rough voice came from behind him.

"What, still thinking about Ava?"

Tim had appeared without Xilian noticing. Leaning against the doorway, he clicked his tongue. "Ava couldn't have made it more obvious, and yet you..."

"No, that's not what I'm thinking about."

Xilian shook his head, cutting off Tim's speculation. "I'm wondering why her father invited our teacher and me, instead of our teacher and all three of us."

Xilian's question stopped Tim short. The three brothers had always done things together. If only Xilian had been invited this time, something was up.

"It might have to do with the night I spent alone in the Wilderness," Xilian said.

"You mean..."

Tim met Xilian's eyes, and his expression grew grave.

"You think it's that?" Tim could hardly believe it. "Our teacher hasn't mentioned it in almost ten years."

"Who knows?"

Xilian thought it through calmly. "White Cliff Town has been cut off from the outside world for over twenty years. Our stores of most supplies are holding up, but our Soul Marrow is running out."

"Our teacher has been giving blood to be refined into Soul Marrow to meet the town's needs. But he's only one man."

Without holding back, Xilian voiced the worst possibility.

"You could say the survival of White Cliff Town rests entirely on him. But he's human too. He can be hurt. He'll grow old. And he'll die."

Xilian's words cut straight to the crisis threatening White Cliff Town's survival.

"White Cliff Town needs another Transcendent... another Torchbearer."

Tim walked over to Xilian, his face stern. "You think our teacher plans to make you a Torchbearer?"

"Probably. I came back alive from the Wilderness, after all."

Xilian thought of his supposed resistance to Chaos, then of the conflicted look in Nuen's eyes when he had woken up that day. Perhaps Nuen had already made up his mind then.

"No... you can't. It's too dangerous." Tim's voice turned sharp. "I'll talk to our teacher. He can't do this."

"It's okay, Tim."

Xilian was about to reassure him when he saw that Tim's eyes had reddened.

"No, you don't understand, Xilian. You didn't see what happened!"

Tim seemed to realize he had lost control. He backed away slowly and sat down on a chair by the wall.

He took several deep breaths before speaking quietly.

"You know about it, don't you?"

"Only the broad strokes." Xilian knew what Tim meant. "It was a tragedy. Everyone agreed not to speak of it again."

"Yes. It happened over ten years ago. You hadn't been taken in yet, and Mick hadn't become our teacher's student."

Tim began to recount the past. "There were three Soflova Brothers back then too, just like now. But I was the youngest."

"Our teacher recognized the danger facing White Cliff Town early on. He tried to make us Transcendents..."

Tim fell silent for a long time. Only after steeling himself did he continue.

"The ritual failed. One of my older brothers turned into a Demon, and the power of Chaos poured out of him. Our teacher cut off his head in time, but the surging Chaos still caused terrible contamination."

Tim had to draw a deep breath after every sentence. This was the nightmare of his childhood, and it still haunted him.

"My other older brother was contaminated while protecting me. He struggled in agony for more than ten minutes before our teacher put him to rest too. Many townspeople died as well... including Mick's parents."

It was White Cliff Town's nightmare. The townspeople almost never spoke of it, trying to forget, but none of them could.

Nuen had never kept his Transcendent power to himself out of an unwillingness to share it.

He had tried. No one else had been able to bear it.

"If no one makes the sacrifice, White Cliff Town will disappear into the darkness before long."

Tim's story had not frightened Xilian. His expression was remarkably calm.

"Besides, people have to take responsibility for their choices. I don't think either of them regretted it, even when our teacher struck off their heads."

Tim said nothing more. He knew his brother's nature.

Xilian was a contradiction. He was cheerful and carefree, yet at times frighteningly stubborn.

As though something fearsome lay hidden inside him.

He had spent half a month going back and forth between White Cliff Town and the Wilderness just to haul home a heap of rusted scrap metal.

Tim and Mick had mocked Xilian's stubbornness. But as the motorcycle took shape, neither of them could laugh anymore. All they felt was respect for his formidable determination.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine, Tim."

Xilian offered the reassurance while gazing into the distance.

"I want to see the world out there. So I have to become a Transcendent."