Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
The Shame Dungeon
- Location
- UK
A little Omake idea I had after reading the latest chapter and some of the comments, which I couldn't help but throw together:
Shu Lan was starting to get a bit worried. When she saw the Tournament Preparation mission still available despite the Tournament itself being only a matter of weeks away, she had thought that she come across a stroke of fortune, especially once she saw the reward. She had been eyeing a rather impressive movement technique from one of her more amicable acquaintances in the sect, and although the price was fairly steep, if she were able to complete at least the first few steps then she would have a very real chance of progressing into the inner sect, having already break through fully into the third realm (becoming only the fourth of the first years to do so!). The resources gained from this mission would be just enough to make the trade.
It was when she reached the bottom of the stair, felt the cloying despair in the air, breathed out a condensing fog and saw the many dark figures before her that she realised maybe she had made a mistake.
'Last chance'
'Failure'
'Shame'
'Hopeless'
Still, she wasn't one to turn away easily. The first few wraiths waiting at the bottom of the stairs, misty and indistinct figures of previous years failings, were easy enough to despatch, even if they surprised her a little with their ferocity. Quickly more still came, a tide of incorporeal bodies filling out the wide room, and her blades flashed with blue light as she cut them down, dispersing them into nought but shadowy mist.
'So close...'
'Impossible'
'Never stood a chance'
'Loss'
'Failed again'
'Don't look at me'
Soon she was cutting them down so fast that the despair around her grew into a literal fog. With her mastery over the Argent Mirror art she was able to mostly resist any negative effects, but the reduced visibility was still annoying. No matter, her Qi senses were more than up to the task. And so she continued, sure that soon the crowd filling the room would thin out.
'Monsters'
'Why this year'
'Freaks'
'Don't leave me Brother'
She was correct in that the crowd started to become more a trickle, but that did not help her situation. Whereas before it was a wave, a flood of weak enemies which she could despatch in a single swing, these remaining wraiths were different. They dodged her strikes and, although still unable to strike her, brought her closer to harm than any of those before. They were not truly worthy opponents of course, but they were good enough and in strong enough numbers that it was becoming a problem.
It didn't help that she was pretty sure some of the already slain wraiths were reforming out of the despair surrounding her though.
'Those eyes'
'Terrifying'
'Can't move'
'So much blood'
'So cold'
'So bright'
'Monsters'
She swallowed back a pill, irritated that she was being forced to do so. Her Qi was starting to flag, and the black mists around her were quickly becoming truly impenetrable in their thickness. Still, even with the strain forming in her muscles, she could see the end in sight.
That said, she couldn't help but wonder if she was underestimating just how difficult the tournament was going to be, if this much pain and despair was the result.
'Too fast'
'So dark'
'No escape'
'Like the sun'
'Her eyes'
'MONSTERS'
Finally, she cut down the last wraith, it's body bursting into more cloying shadow and joining the now far too thick mists around her. She allowed herself a moment of rest, catching her breath, before letting out a laugh, a smile on her face. That was one of her most challenging fights yet! It didn't help that she was so outnumbered; fighting multiple enemies is not among her skill set (a slight worry for her considering the tournament's first round, but she was confident she could manage). Then again, practise in what you were bad at wasn't exactly a bad thing. The combat experience she had gained, plus her technique, yes, she was feeling very good about the tournament.
Now all that was left was to set up the cleansing talisman to remove the taint around her and her job would be done!
'The mists'
Her smile disappeared in an instant, her previously relaxed posture straitening in an instant, blue light once again surrounding her blades, leaving her ready for combat. Around her the black mists that was all that remained of her foes churned, like she was suddenly stood in the eye of a storm. She almost thought that the wraiths were beginning to spawn again, such were the strange shapes she could see within, and beyond the suddenly audible wind and whispering memories was the gentle sound of a... flute?
'No escape'
'So dark'
'Ripping claws'
'So cold'
'Can still feel it'
'Monster'
'Hopeless'
'No escape'
'MONSTER'
'LET ME OUT'
'MONSTERMONSTERMONSTER'
Suddenly the flowing mists ceased their movement, the winds stilling, leaving only the haunting sound of the flute, now clear in what was otherwise silence, a melody of loss and despair, of bitter cold and frozen blood. Tracing the source Shu Lan peered through the dark mists, and just for an instant thought she saw a female figure, deep inside.
She was tall, or at least she thought the figure was, but with the way her lower dress seemed to fade into the surrounding darkness it could simply be that she floated a foot or two of the ground. Her hair was not especially long, nor especially short, however in strong contrast to the blackness around her there seemed to be an ever so slight sparkle in her hair. Finally, to her mouth was pressed a small flute. Anything else which she hoped to tell was obscured by the misty shadows.
As soon as the figure appeared, so too did she vanish. A moment later the mists around her seemed to tense, and she suddenly had a very bad feeling.
'Monster'
Shu Lan barely had time to scream as the mists descended on her with freezing claws and darkened fangs.
---
Ling Qi pondered on her latest project as she walked towards her destination. To create a new art of her own, that was her latest goal, given to her through advice from the Elders.
As a cultivator increased in strength they would find themselves in increasing difficulty when trying to find new arts with which to train, this was commonly known, and although she was not yet quite near that point, she had been advised to begin preparation for when she did. Which meant inventing her own arts.
They were not expected to be practical of course; it was still far too early for her to produce anything which could match what she already had. But by ensuring that she at least had the basics down now, it would ensure that when she did reach the point when it was required she could make a smooth transition, as opposed to stalling and spending valuable time learning how to progress.
She was having trouble however. Her domain had made good progress since her entry into the third realm, and she knew that she wanted to try her hand at composing a music based art, but she had stalled at one of the middle stages. She had several different music based arts to draw inspiration from, but actually combining different aspects together was difficult.
Shaking her head, Ling Qi found herself coming to her destination, the tournament basement (or the Shame Dungeon as she had begun calling it in her head since first visiting).
Indeed, she was surprised when she found the mission on the inner sect mission board. She had taken the job during her last few months in the outer sect, but supposedly the mission was giving the new first years some trouble, with many fleeing, unable to defeat the wraiths that had formed below since her own purge. It was the latest incident, with a promising member of the outer sect having been seriously injured, only just surviving, that it was decided the job would instead be given to the inner sect.
She had actually gone to visit the younger sect sister in question, a pleasant seeming girl named Shu Lan, intending to inquire as to what exactly had happened. Strangely, the moment she had entered the room the recovering girl was staying in, the girl immediately started screaming like a toddlers first time meeting Meizhen, babbling nonsensically.
Weird.
Ah well, not like it would really be a treat to her, not unless a real monster had taken residence in the basement. Of course, if that were the case then it would be unlikely there would have been any previous survivors.
It was with this thought that she suddenly heard a quiet tune exiting the doorway down into the room, a slow one, evoking thoughts of loss and winter, almost like a combination of...
Ling Qi paused, before looking down at her holstered flute.
"Hmmm."
Shu Lan was starting to get a bit worried. When she saw the Tournament Preparation mission still available despite the Tournament itself being only a matter of weeks away, she had thought that she come across a stroke of fortune, especially once she saw the reward. She had been eyeing a rather impressive movement technique from one of her more amicable acquaintances in the sect, and although the price was fairly steep, if she were able to complete at least the first few steps then she would have a very real chance of progressing into the inner sect, having already break through fully into the third realm (becoming only the fourth of the first years to do so!). The resources gained from this mission would be just enough to make the trade.
It was when she reached the bottom of the stair, felt the cloying despair in the air, breathed out a condensing fog and saw the many dark figures before her that she realised maybe she had made a mistake.
'Last chance'
'Failure'
'Shame'
'Hopeless'
Still, she wasn't one to turn away easily. The first few wraiths waiting at the bottom of the stairs, misty and indistinct figures of previous years failings, were easy enough to despatch, even if they surprised her a little with their ferocity. Quickly more still came, a tide of incorporeal bodies filling out the wide room, and her blades flashed with blue light as she cut them down, dispersing them into nought but shadowy mist.
'So close...'
'Impossible'
'Never stood a chance'
'Loss'
'Failed again'
'Don't look at me'
Soon she was cutting them down so fast that the despair around her grew into a literal fog. With her mastery over the Argent Mirror art she was able to mostly resist any negative effects, but the reduced visibility was still annoying. No matter, her Qi senses were more than up to the task. And so she continued, sure that soon the crowd filling the room would thin out.
'Monsters'
'Why this year'
'Freaks'
'Don't leave me Brother'
She was correct in that the crowd started to become more a trickle, but that did not help her situation. Whereas before it was a wave, a flood of weak enemies which she could despatch in a single swing, these remaining wraiths were different. They dodged her strikes and, although still unable to strike her, brought her closer to harm than any of those before. They were not truly worthy opponents of course, but they were good enough and in strong enough numbers that it was becoming a problem.
It didn't help that she was pretty sure some of the already slain wraiths were reforming out of the despair surrounding her though.
'Those eyes'
'Terrifying'
'Can't move'
'So much blood'
'So cold'
'So bright'
'Monsters'
She swallowed back a pill, irritated that she was being forced to do so. Her Qi was starting to flag, and the black mists around her were quickly becoming truly impenetrable in their thickness. Still, even with the strain forming in her muscles, she could see the end in sight.
That said, she couldn't help but wonder if she was underestimating just how difficult the tournament was going to be, if this much pain and despair was the result.
'Too fast'
'So dark'
'No escape'
'Like the sun'
'Her eyes'
'MONSTERS'
Finally, she cut down the last wraith, it's body bursting into more cloying shadow and joining the now far too thick mists around her. She allowed herself a moment of rest, catching her breath, before letting out a laugh, a smile on her face. That was one of her most challenging fights yet! It didn't help that she was so outnumbered; fighting multiple enemies is not among her skill set (a slight worry for her considering the tournament's first round, but she was confident she could manage). Then again, practise in what you were bad at wasn't exactly a bad thing. The combat experience she had gained, plus her technique, yes, she was feeling very good about the tournament.
Now all that was left was to set up the cleansing talisman to remove the taint around her and her job would be done!
'The mists'
Her smile disappeared in an instant, her previously relaxed posture straitening in an instant, blue light once again surrounding her blades, leaving her ready for combat. Around her the black mists that was all that remained of her foes churned, like she was suddenly stood in the eye of a storm. She almost thought that the wraiths were beginning to spawn again, such were the strange shapes she could see within, and beyond the suddenly audible wind and whispering memories was the gentle sound of a... flute?
'No escape'
'So dark'
'Ripping claws'
'So cold'
'Can still feel it'
'Monster'
'Hopeless'
'No escape'
'MONSTER'
'LET ME OUT'
'MONSTERMONSTERMONSTER'
Suddenly the flowing mists ceased their movement, the winds stilling, leaving only the haunting sound of the flute, now clear in what was otherwise silence, a melody of loss and despair, of bitter cold and frozen blood. Tracing the source Shu Lan peered through the dark mists, and just for an instant thought she saw a female figure, deep inside.
She was tall, or at least she thought the figure was, but with the way her lower dress seemed to fade into the surrounding darkness it could simply be that she floated a foot or two of the ground. Her hair was not especially long, nor especially short, however in strong contrast to the blackness around her there seemed to be an ever so slight sparkle in her hair. Finally, to her mouth was pressed a small flute. Anything else which she hoped to tell was obscured by the misty shadows.
As soon as the figure appeared, so too did she vanish. A moment later the mists around her seemed to tense, and she suddenly had a very bad feeling.
'Monster'
Shu Lan barely had time to scream as the mists descended on her with freezing claws and darkened fangs.
---
Ling Qi pondered on her latest project as she walked towards her destination. To create a new art of her own, that was her latest goal, given to her through advice from the Elders.
As a cultivator increased in strength they would find themselves in increasing difficulty when trying to find new arts with which to train, this was commonly known, and although she was not yet quite near that point, she had been advised to begin preparation for when she did. Which meant inventing her own arts.
They were not expected to be practical of course; it was still far too early for her to produce anything which could match what she already had. But by ensuring that she at least had the basics down now, it would ensure that when she did reach the point when it was required she could make a smooth transition, as opposed to stalling and spending valuable time learning how to progress.
She was having trouble however. Her domain had made good progress since her entry into the third realm, and she knew that she wanted to try her hand at composing a music based art, but she had stalled at one of the middle stages. She had several different music based arts to draw inspiration from, but actually combining different aspects together was difficult.
Shaking her head, Ling Qi found herself coming to her destination, the tournament basement (or the Shame Dungeon as she had begun calling it in her head since first visiting).
Indeed, she was surprised when she found the mission on the inner sect mission board. She had taken the job during her last few months in the outer sect, but supposedly the mission was giving the new first years some trouble, with many fleeing, unable to defeat the wraiths that had formed below since her own purge. It was the latest incident, with a promising member of the outer sect having been seriously injured, only just surviving, that it was decided the job would instead be given to the inner sect.
She had actually gone to visit the younger sect sister in question, a pleasant seeming girl named Shu Lan, intending to inquire as to what exactly had happened. Strangely, the moment she had entered the room the recovering girl was staying in, the girl immediately started screaming like a toddlers first time meeting Meizhen, babbling nonsensically.
Weird.
Ah well, not like it would really be a treat to her, not unless a real monster had taken residence in the basement. Of course, if that were the case then it would be unlikely there would have been any previous survivors.
It was with this thought that she suddenly heard a quiet tune exiting the doorway down into the room, a slow one, evoking thoughts of loss and winter, almost like a combination of...
Ling Qi paused, before looking down at her holstered flute.
"Hmmm."
I think you misunderstood what that minor meant. It wasn't going with Meizhen to the site, it was simply letting her know that it was there because Ling Qi believes that she can't access it and thus she tells Meizhen about it in the hope that she can use it. It disappeared because Ling Qi is now at the third realm and thinks that simply giving up and just telling Meizhen instead if trying to get it herself is unacceptable.
Also, what desire? You repeatedly states that Ling Qi is uncomfortable with being subservient to people despite it being her state of being the entire quest. Tbe last time a choice like that came it was the Sun Liling throwdown and not only Ling Qi got wrecked she also thought about how useless her pride is despite choosing to run away.
Like, even in this update itself Ling Qi thinks that talking is the way for success so the whole argument about it being against Ling Qi desires is bunk.
Why do you think that Ling Qi will automatically fail at beung supplicant? Ling Qi herself thinks that the dragon is stronger than her, that's why she prefers to diplomance it in the first place.
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This is not normal Xianxia, and even in noral Xianxia 'Young Masters' are usually pretty good, they just think they're slightly better than they are and that the protagonist isn't as good as them. Frankly, they would usually be right if not for protagonist plot power.
'Slacking' does not mean weak, it means weaker than they might be. Han Jian was 'slacking' in that he came in at peak red rather than mid yellow. That does not mean Ling Qi could take him when she'd only got her first art.
Arrogance is actually worse and a good indication that the dominant approach will blow up in our face. He isn't likely to simply roll over to us, so we may well be taking the speech test at a penalty. If it comes to a fight arrogance can easily turn into overkilling us with techniques rather than underestimating us.
And if it comes to a fight we are crippled by our inability to injure him, never mind that our dice pools are notably anemic against peers and superiors. I'd feel a lot more confident if we could have PLR's passives.
The idea we could beat a monster, all of whom have better synergised builds, better resources, stronger spirit partners and significantly more time to train green arts and are more straight combat focused is silly. We're closer, we may be there by the tournament, but we're still in the blind luck or stall and run phase. And that's when we can actually try and injure them.
Whereas the supplicant approach plays into his arrogance. The speech check should be easier as we're playing into his worldview. EDIT: Even Ling Qi thinks in the update this might be the best approac, just being more aware of her words and actions.
Why on earth you think we're going to tell him we nicked his stuff I have no idea. Even in the dominant approach that's more likely to cause a fight than make him think we're stronger. Ability to sneak does not correlate one to one with combat strength even in this world.
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Based on the mentioned dragon psychology, pretty sure you need that to bind any dragon at all unless they consider YOU the child/minion...
The problem is that you have to act convincingly subservient, not letting a single hint of what you really think about the dragon show, for EVERY SINGLE MINUTE you spend in the the grove.
Not only you, but Zhengui as well.
Failure to achieve this means that the dragon thinks it is a challenge and a fight will ensue anyways.
I do not like the odds of Ling Qi pulling that long con off. Better to get the fight out of the way ASAP, if we lose we might even switch to subservience with less difficulty since the mighty already been taught us our place.
Ling Qi already thinks that the dragon is stronger than her, that is why she herself noted that her preferred method of resolution would be acting subservient. Thinking that after the dragon beats the snot out of Ling Qi she will act subservient rather than feel resentful is not only unrealistic (remember how Ling Qi broke down after successfully escaping from Sun Liling), it also relies on the hidden assumption that yrsillar would let the voters double dip and take the two options one after another if Ling Qi fails.
Like what do you think acting subservient to the dragon even mean? Framing the issue as Ling Qi prostrating herself before the dragon and calling him master is frankly ridiculous.
(Also, Zhengui had no problems deferring to spirits that are stronger and older than him such as Cui)
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Uhh, he bugs Cui pretty regularly
He also idolizes Cui and appends lady to her name. It's pretty clear he respects her, even if he does act like a child (because he is one).
Losing against a fellow disciple is not the same as losing against a giant dragon, even less if it is you who chose the battle knowing that odds weren't good
Quoting Gu Tai:
"You… have a certain pride though, which shows through regardless, and to a dragon, that will be a challenge."
"You must either behave with utter subservience, or be completely domineering. Anything else will confuse and irritate him, inciting a challenge to determine your relative positions,"
According to this, any hint of pride from Ling Qi, during any interaction, will trigger afight to etablish the pecking order. It is not about being polite, it is not about being deferential, it is about a 100% perfect pretense of worshipping the ground he steps on.
What did YOU think that utter subservience meant?
As I explained, deference is not enough. He too must keep the pretense of subservience no matter what. Do you think he could keep that up while the dragon makes us polish his scales for hours and demeans us for doing a bad job, instead of intervening in our defense? And if we don't bring him out, he cannot train which is the main benefit of this site.
[X] Approach in Strength
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Approach in Strength
It's hubristic, and I don't think we'll have any chance at the site if we fail, but it's got a much better chance of letting us share the site and if we lose we might sand down some of Ling Qi's excess pride, so I think it's worth leaning into her nature here.
It's hubristic, and I don't think we'll have any chance at the site if we fail, but it's got a much better chance of letting us share the site and if we lose we might sand down some of Ling Qi's excess pride, so I think it's worth leaning into her nature here.
Dude, Ling entire problem was with being beaten and shown how weak she is. Claiming that it isn't a problem because it's a dragon instead of a human is entirely off base because they are both cultivators at the end. Like, even the argument that the dragon starts from a position of immeasurable strength compared to Ling Qi falls flat because she did the exact same song and dance versus Liling (remember that the etymology for her and her peers is 'monsters').
Are you also assuming that when Ling comes to fight him she will go 'you must be courting death' and 'defeating you will be easy as turning over my hand' because that is what full arrogance entails? Or do you think that perhaps Gu Tai had been possibly been speaking in hyperboles to drive in the messave that Ling Qi can only choose one way to interact with the dragon and can't switch horses mid river?
C'mon dude, 'polishing his scales for hours'? This is a really silly fearmongering. Or do you assume that if Ling Qi would beat him she will force him to be her mount to assert dominance?
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Anyway, given this is apparently not going to be incredibly humiliating for Ling Qi, I guess supplication is better. Beside probably being the only choice that let us have the site (unless we get really lucky after losing or some such) working up our deception is not awful, and Ling Qi might have to work with people who want to be in control soon, so her getting used to this more could help here.
[X] Approach in Supplication
A bit weirded out that after the significant warning from Gu Tai it will be merely grating, though.
[X] Approach in Supplication
A bit weirded out that after the significant warning from Gu Tai it will be merely grating, though.
That's what I had been assuming, yes.
My point is that losing a challenge that you chose to make to a more advanced spirit in what is basically a spar because neither is allowed to harm the other, is different than having to run from an ambush by a peer that holds actual malice against you and promises long term harm because you are not strong enough to fight her.
Else Ling Qi should be suffering from depression every time she interacts with the Elders, with Xin, with Zeqing, etc, all of whom are massively more powerful than her.
I think that he meant that a young dragon is a creature of extremes and cannot abide any nuance or subtlety. However Ling Qi choses to be domineering will be up to yrs.
Do you think that perhaps I had been possibly been speaking in hyperboles to drive in the message that the dragon is likely to cause situations where Ling Qi enforced subservience will be grating to her and Zhengui?
All hyperbole aside, yrs, my main concern is about the mechanics of the situation. If after the initial negotiation the situation is settled, I would be willing to gamble it, but if every time that we use the site Ling Qi has to pass a couple of composure and manipulation checks, some of them are certain to eventually fail, and I'd rather get the fight over and done with right away.