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The Path Unending (A Cultivation Quest)

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Box turned out really well. A 20d10s7 combatant is current Jai Fa equivalent, so it doubles her combat power for the 8 rounds that it is active in. Downside is, ofc, that since you need to cycle to charge it, you can only use it once per battle, but that's a fair downside to me considering the power that it has.

[X] Dance at the Midnight Crossroads
 
KreenWarrior said:
Omake for the omake god:

Yi Tai found his face meeting the cavern floor again. It was the third time already that day, and he could not say he found the crater floor any more comfortable than the last two times. Still, he did not rest there, but staggered to his feet. He did not offer his thanks to his Lord for the instruction. The Zhuan were demanding beyond measure, but they did not demand obeisance, merely obedience. Besides, Lord Zhuan had already moved on, without acknowledging his vassal. So Yi Tai made his way to his resting spot near the edge of the crater, and watched Lord Zhuan demolish another pair of disciples. Yi Tai studied all of their movements. He knew Lord Zhuan's style more intimately than anyone, and had observed the other combatants before. But to believe there was nothing new to be learned through observation was always a mistake, and so he watched, in the hopes of learning.

"Is he aware?" The voice was feminine, but not soft in the least. He turned and saw a disciple of remarkable beauty, with short hair and a powdered face. He recognized Mei Daiyu, of course, though they had never exchanged words.

Raising an eyebrow, he spoke, "My Lord sees many things, but no one sees everything under Heaven. What do you mean?"

Her gaze drifted towards Zhuan as his elbow sent one of his sparring partners reeling. "This is humiliation for them. Is that his purpose? To intimidate and cow his followers?"

Yi Tai was quiet for a moment. He raised his head to speak, to make a statement about Zhuan Kun's dedication to his training, and the care that he exerted over all of his followers and fellow disciples. It would not have been an untruth. Lord Zhuan had expressed those sentiments to him, about the value of the instruction he provided, and how his own strength would help any who fell under his protection. They were well-spoken words.

After all, Yi Tai had written them for him.

The words died on Yi Tai's lips as Mei Daiyu's eyes pared him like a knife. He met her eyes, and gave a diffident shrug. Her lips thin. "No, he really does not see it. He leads, and others follow if they know what's good for them. Is that right?"

He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't need to. She looks at the scroll he carries. "Is that the ranking list?"

He nods, waiting for her to ask. She doesn't. Instead, she sweeps past him into the training crater. She steps aside as a disciple goes stumbling past her, and exchanges words with Zhuan Kun - he acknowledges her request for a bout.

The bout begins, and Zhuan steps forward with a kick. It's one Yi Tai has seen him use more than a hundred times - simple, overwhelmingly fast and powerful and deadly accurate.

Mei Daiyu evades it by virtue of never having been where the kick was aimed.

Zhuan eyes narrow and turns the kick into a lunge forward, using the transfer of weight to put power behind a punch to her midsection. It lands, but Mei is already turning with the blow, retaliating with a palm strike to Zhuan's chin that he barely blocks, and then she's stepping, no, dancing away from him.

The training crater is quiet now, aside from panting and the yells of the two circling combatants. Aside from Lord Zhuan's bouts against Sun Yijun, they have rarely seen a contest like this. When Mei throws Zhuan to the ground, Yi Tai finds himself holding his breath - the fact that Zhuan recovers almost instantly and sweeps Mei's leg from under her while on the ground is only little recompense.

The battle grinds on This is not the first time Yi Tai has seen this Hummingbird's Step in action - he recognizes the roots that the crafter Kong Zhi had employed in his own bout with lord Zhuan. But he has never seen it executed so well. Zhuan has both speed and power in overwhelming supply, but the painted disciple is so often afield of where Zhuan's strikes are aimed. Still, he observes that for every blow Mei has landed on Zhuan, he has landed two - and his strikes are far more brutal.

The battle ends with yet another feint, followed by a kick to Zhuan's knee. It lands, but he turns with the blow and his own leg hooks Mei's, and he follows through with a hammer blow that drives her to the ground. She looks up, but does not rise, and after a few moments, Zhuan nods, and steps away. "Yi Tai!"

Yi Tai scrambles to his feet. "My Lord."

Zhuan's expression is a mask. "You ranked Mei Daiyu between fifteen and twenty, did you not?"

Yi Tai bowed his head. "That matched what information I had gathered, my lord."

Yi Tai can see something glint there. Irritation, perhaps, but also a hint of interest. "The information was incorrect. It will have to be updated."

Yi Tai did not let his lord's displeasure touch him.. "What is her correct ranking, my lord?"

"Ninth." Zhuan Kun turned and stalked away to a small boulder, resting his muscles briefly before his next bout. Yi Tai relaxed internally, and went to make the appropriate adjustments on the scroll.

One of the other disciples went to help Mei rise, but was waved off as she rose to her feet, with the almost eerie grace of someone whose willpower was overriding their abused muscles. To Yi Tai's surprise, she approached him again. Yi Tai wondered what paints she used on her face, because the fight had barely affected them at all. An affectation, then, but not a sign of being controlled by vanity.

She went to examine the scroll, but he raised a hand. "I am only permitted to share certain information. If you wish to know, Lord Zhuan is ranked fifth."

Mei's gaze drifted from the scroll to Yi Tai. "...very well." She turned to depart, but after taking a step, looked back. "Is he aware?" She paused a moment. "That you are cycling knowledge anam."

"My Lord knows many things." He met her gaze, and did not flinch away. He was confident that there was nothing to be read there.

This time, she broke the eye contact. Yi Tai observed her as she walked away.

He turned back to the new bout in the training crater. He watched, and took in the flow of the fight, every attack, every step and every shift in weight. He took in every bit of information he could.

And he learned.
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Fun stuff! Take +2 to Athletics.
 
Cool box. It is not cost effective enough to be taken on a hunt or used for training. But when we need to succeed it is perfect to take with us.
 
Everything in this update was great. Auntie Bi is coming! We finished the Box! And the Box is a really potent nuke.

[X] Dance at the Midnight Crossroads
 
[] The Night Time Companion

I wanted to name it that as a joke but I get the impression that it might fight using the dance, so it might have unpleasant connotation with Daiyu if that is the case.

[X] Dance at the Midnight Crossroads
 
Hot damn, that is a nice charm. 160d10s7 total for 5 anam. I doubt we're going to get much more efficient for a while.

[X] Dance at the Midnight Crossroads
 
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