Night of the Broken Gliph

After glancing at the gliphs on Chor Shing Chit’s arm, Chui Yim turned to Bak Wun. “Help me wipe his chest clean. Remember, it must be spotless,” he said as he brought a basin of water over and started washing his right hand. Due to the injury on his left arm, he moved so slowly that it made Bak Wun anxious. 

“Are you done? Are you confident you can do this?” 

“Shut up.” Chui Yim looked at Bak Wun from the corner of his eyes. “I need to focus.” 

Bak Wun flushed red in anger on hearing Chui Yim, but it wasn’t the time for him to do anything other than listen. “This kid…” He gritted his teeth. “Get ready for a heavy beating after everything is done…” 

Chui Yim put his bag down from his back and put his hands inside to search for an item. After some time, he took out a rock about the size of his palm. The stone had a dark, cool shade of red. It was almost impossible to visualise. 

“What’s that?” Bak Wun couldn’t hold the curiosity in anymore. But there was no answer from Chui Yim, who held onto the rock near the fire. 

Buzz…

The flames on the bonfire turned visibly smaller immediately. The bonfire was almost put out. A cold draft blew through the entire cave. 

“Fire! I need more fire!” 

Knowing that time was precious, Bak Wun listened closely to Chui Yim’s orders. When he reappeared, he had tons of dried wood in his hands and immediately fuelled the dwindling fire. 

The dark red rock became increasingly red, but the cave got colder too. Bak Wun had to sustain the fire continuously. Due to the constant temperature change, Chor Shing Chit, who had been unconscious, slowly woke up. 

Seeing Chor Shing Chit open his eyes, Chui Yim immediately told him what he needed. “Mr Chor, your heart chamber is going out of control; the only thing we can do now is to risk it and let me tattoo a gliph for you. Mr Chor, are you willing to entrust me with your life and gamble?”

“Do it, kid.” Bearing the pain, Chor Shing Chit forced a smile at Chui Yim. With that, he fainted again without warning. 

Without hesitation, a ray of red light was seen on the hand holding the rock. It was the energliph congealing on Chui Yim’s fingertips when using Flowing Flame Finger. 

“Principal, hold this rock above the fire for me.” As soon as Chui Yim said this, he released his grip. 

A strong wind blew, and Bak Wun immediately appeared next to Chui Yim. “Boy…” But before he could chide Chui Yim, Chui Yim yelled at him, 

“Shut up! You’re so noisy!” 

The red light was still on Chui Yim’s index finger. He dug some powder from the rock and started to tattoo Chor Shing Chit. Bak Wun’s eyes were on stalks when he saw this, but he tried his best to control himself. 

What on earth is he doing? 

Tattooing a gliph with… a rock?! 

There were two gliph factions in this world, the Bestial and Plantae factions. 

The Plantae faction was more common in the South as plants were the more common ingredients for gliph tattooing, while the bestial faction was mainstream in the North, where they mostly used beasts for both carving and tattooing purposes. These were the only two factions on this continent; beasts and plants were currently the only ingredients used for gliphs. 

Nobody in this world had ever used a mineral as an ingredient. 

Does Chui Yim know what he’s doing? 

Chui Yim ignored Bak Wun and started tattooing on Chor Shing Chit. As soon as he started, there was no turning back. He couldn’t stop, just like when he carved gliphs on weapons. There was no time for rest as the gliph on the chamber would take shape and form once he stopped. 

Unfinished or imperfect gliphs would cause a backlash and kill the glipher immediately. 

Chui Yim worked so quickly that Bak Wun thought he was doing it randomly. His hand danced on Chor Shing Chit skin, only to dip some powder from the rock Bak Wun was holding now and then before continuing. At lightning speed, Chui Yim was done with two-thirds of the gliph after ten minutes. This already floored Bak Wun. He could see a half-completed dragon’s head, scales and deer-like antlers on the left side of Chor Shing Chit’s chest. 

That’s the Spiral Dragon Head gliph! How does the kid know that gliph!?

Yes, Chui Yim didn’t know the Spiral Dragon Head gliph. But he had seen the gliph before. To be exact, he saw the complete set. It was one of the many gliphs his mysterious father Chui Tin gave him. 

It might now be separated into six different parts, but it shouldn’t differ too much from its original form. Thus, Chui Yim deduced the section of the heart gliph in his head after seeing how the gliph was tattooed on Chor Shing Chit arms. 

Time was limited, and Chui Yim didn’t have enough time to prepare before he started. He was now left with one-third of the gliph, but he could feel his heart clench. 

Not now! 

Very soon, the sharp pain took over Chui Yim and disrupted his focus. 

My heart hurts! My heart deficiency has been triggered!  

Chui Yim’s skin flushed red immediately, but his hand still moved steadily, not trembling even slightly. Bak Wun was a bag full of nerves as he had heard about Chui Yim’s heart condition from Chor Shing Chit, but it wasn’t a big deal to him in the past as gliphists don’t need physical energy to tattoo gliphs, and it shouldn’t affect him much. 

But this wasn’t the case for Chui Yim now as he wasn’t a real gliphist yet; he couldn’t turn energliph into gliphs directly. He still needed to focus and use his body to tattoo the gliph. 

Chui Yim bit his lips until he bled. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, allowing him to remain focused. The speed of his fingers increased distinctly, yet his body was turning redder. 

He had hit the fifteen-minute mark!

“Argh!” Chui Yim gritted his teeth, letting out a low growl. Veins popped out of his head. 

He moved his injured left hand forcefully to hold onto his right forearm tightly. The crack of his bones was clearly heard, and Chui Yim was trembling, but the forearm set rigidly in place by his other hand was still steady. It didn’t shake. 

Chui Yim’s body started to burn even hotter than the fire next to him. Steam emanated from his body. But he was tattooing a gliph onto Chor Shing Chit now, and he didn’t have time to care about that.

Seventeen minutes! Chui Yim’s finger reached Chor Shing Chit’s right shoulder. 

“Wake up!” 

Chui Yim released his finger and yelled; his right finger touched two spots on Chor Shing Chit’s chest rapidly. 

Pzzt! 

Adding the finishing touch! 

It was as if the Spiral Dragon Head on Chor Shing Chit’s chest had opened its ruthless eyes. Chor Shing Chit’s eyes shot open too, letting out a loud growl. 

Grrrrr