Hector (1) - 5110 Words
I leaned against the bark of the great oak, sluggish and conflicted.
Four years.
I wished I could hush my conscience sometimes. Tell it to quieten and let me be. Tell it I did all I could - but in my heart I knew I hadn't. Most days I had wasted, waiting as they passed, ever putting dreams of tomorrow for the year after, dancing to a choir of excuses ample as leaves on a tree. There was comfort in the familiar and when you put your life on pause, habit was all you knew. And yet habit was all it ever was, not peace.
Never peace.
Day or night, eventually my thoughts always floated back. It was stupid, I knew, to pine over someone you never even had. So very stupid.
Oh, I had
tried. Over and over again, ages ago, back when I still could. Exhausted all my chances and then some. She didn't approve. Hurt me badly, too. And that was that. Had to be. Yet the feelings never left. Day after day, year after year, I wrestled them down in helpless impotence. The resentment, too. Sometimes, I wished I were a monster. Alas, grief was just love with nowhere to go - and it was hard to find a place, if you cared so rarely yet so much.
I should have been there - I thought as I watched the pyre burn, knowing full well it would have been for naught. What could I, a mortal man, possibly have done?
A mass grave was all that remained of Xiongnu. The Devil Bees had raided the settlement, consuming everyone inside and leaving nothing behind. Nothing but empty houses and dried husks - and even those were now being washed away as the fires spread.
I found it oddly freeing. So long as there was a
how, so long as there was a way… I would have stayed trapped here, in this small town. I was too stubborn to ever leave, to ever give, and some things could never be forced. Not in clear conscience, anyway. Now, though?
Life had robbed me of the choice. She was gone and no one under this blue sky could ever change that. Not anymore. And with nothing - no one, really - tying me up here any longer, I would leave. See the world. Do what I always wanted to do but never could.
I closed my eyes and let out a deep, long sigh.
It was high time I focused on myself for once.
I stared at my own reflection in disbelief - yet no matter how long I looked, the sight never changed. I stood taller than before, features sculpted in ways they had never been, vision that had already begun to addle now sharper than ever. I could feel my arms surge with newfound strength, see my skin shining with a bronze sheen.
One year.
That was.. it? That was all it had taken me?
It was but a year ago that I had shown up to the training halls of the Hong Xuan, begging to be admitted, only to be summarily rejected and told to shoo away. I was far too old, they said. Most began as children, teenagers at most.
I did not blame them, in truth. It no doubt cost resources to raise a cultivator and the Clan was starved for those. There were millions of mortals to choose from, so why would anyone pick one such as myself? I mean, what was I thinking? Twenty? I might as well have been fifty.
The Devils took me in readily.
I wondered how different it all would have gone had I not resolved to try my best? Not shown up? Not put my foot up the door?
Oh sure, they had given me a tirade. How awful my life would be if I joined. How Heaven would curse me and seek my demise. How I would be shit out of luck. How it would take two decades of daily pain, sweat and tears to see any gains. How in a hundred years psychopaths would descend from the skies, seeking to kill me and mine as fodder to their own advancement.
I had scoffed at that spiel back then. Luck? I hardly cared to seek what I never had. Surely it could not get any worse. Decades? I had nothing else to do anyway and needed a distraction. And a century, really? That was longer than I ever expected to live.
They had Bronzed me a week later. Me and a thousand others. And so it began.
I have been told that I was advancing faster than most, but I never expected… this.
One year and I have already hit the first Heavenstage. I was a proper cultivator now, strong as an ox, my lifespan doubled in an instant. It was all too much to wrap my head around.
It was also real. I glanced at the runic carvings on my table, toys I had played with over the past few months. I always had a knack for puzzles and they made for a fun way to pass the time. Against all odds, it seemed they would soon make for something more.
But first… I had heard much about the Contribution Board and it was time to pay it a visit. I had to go buy some nice clothes first, though! My rags just wouldn't do for the occasion. I briefly winced at the cost. Good tailors were beyond expensive..
Oh right, cultivator. Money… shit, it didn't matter anymore, did it? I could just… quit my job?
Huh.
I stood along a dozen others, fresh novices of the 1st Heavenstage one and all, even as an elderly man in lamellar armor walked among us and inspected our cultivation.
The old cultivator went at it slowly, the process clearly little more than rote and routine. Yet even so, I could feel the Qi that shrouded him, dense and oppressive. So this was an Expert, huh. I had seen one visit my old town over the years, but it had felt nothing like this...
"Eight… wait,
you..?!" - abruptly, the man's eyes snapped to me. Bore into my soul.
"..Me?" - I repeated dumbly, trying to keep calm even as frozen panic washed over me. Had I done something wrong?
"How.. no. When did you begin cultivating, boy?"
"Uh.. thirteen months and change?"
"A year!" - The man's eyes widened as he exclaimed - "That.. but.. just what kind of pill did you eat for such a rush job to work? There are barely any impurities in your meridians."
"Pill?" - I asked, surprised - "I didn't take any?"
The elder sighed - "A Beast Core then? You know you cannot rely on those in the desert."
"No, you misunderstood, I.. just cultivated. No special aids, not that I know of."
The expert looked me in the eye, disbelieving - "You expect me to believe you reached Qi Condensation at... what, nineteen times the pace? Without shortcuts?"
"Is it that rare?" -
Was it? Probably. I really had no idea, though.
"I would say impossible but.. with the amount of bullshit we have been pulling out of thin air.. say, you know what the consequences of lying on a checkup are, right?"
"I can guess." - I nodded. It seemed my circumstances were extraordinary - but at this point the cat was out of the bag anyway. I would just have to brace myself for the consequences, whatever they may be.
"Fine. Stay behind if you would, we will talk after I finish the examination."
The rest of the inspection had quickly come and gone, passing without a hiccup. Soon it was just me and the expert that remained, alone in the room.
"So.. what now?" - I asked.
"Oh.. first, we will put you through a test, see if you spoke true. It would not do to present a dud before the
Chartoularios, after all." - the man smirked under his breath, before continuing.
"And then.. well, then you will be out of my skin, off to see Destasia Duca - and let me tell you, that woman loves finding out exactly what makes people tick. In detail."
"Sounds ominous." - I supplied.
The expert gave me a side eye - "Why, but it is. She is certainly a character. I heard she gave the
Archegetes himself enough of a headache that he skipped the last Council meeting."
I shuddered, hoping that was mere gossip. Weren't things moving a little too fast? Meeting a councilor of the Golden Devils was an extremely daunting prospect by itself, she surely had to be a Core Elder in the Great Circle or very nearly so. But being put in one room with someone who gave even the legendary Manuel Konstantinos the chills…
"Relax. You will be fine." - the older cultivator patted me on the shoulder. - "She is crazy, not insane. Big difference. Of course that is only so long as you told me the truth. If you haven't…"
The man shrugged - "Well, if you haven't, I can make it painless."
I rolled my eyes, inwardly letting out a sigh. First week as a cultivator and already I got myself into deep shit. I was starting to think this whole lifespan thing was a scam. Two centuries? I would be lucky to make it a year.
"You are not from around here, are you? Or just mortal parents?" - the expert asked.
"Both. I was born in Hong Xuan. My hometown was near the border but its gone now."
"Blood Path?" - he quirked an eyebrow.
"So I was told." - I shrugged - "Can't say for sure, I was out hunting at the time.. and I certainly would not be here now otherwise."
"Believe me, I
can relate." - the man sighed - "Did you take on a clan name, by the way?" - he put up a hand defensively - "Not that you have to, you can keep your old just fine, just that most adoptees who make it change theirs, clean break from the past and all."
"I haven't gotten around to it yet." - I admitted - "I was thinking Hector or Theo. Kyros, maybe. Probably Hector. Why? What's yours?"
"You may call me Mephisto and-" - the graying man cut off mid sentence, his eyes briefly clouding, regaining clarity a moment later - "Apologies, I appear to be rather short on time."
He gestured and a moment later two disciples walked into a room, Ninth Heavenstage both, carrying between them a treasure that pulsed with waves of Qi. - "Time for you to get tested." - the elder pointed towards the device, a large, oval sphere of gravebronze cast. It looked ancient but I had no real way to tell. - "Here, touch this."
And so I did. The machine shone at the touch, letting out a screeching sound as it spun before coming to an abrupt stop, three glyphs flashing on its surface.
"Hm. That
is most peculiar." - Mephisto whistled out a sigh - "It says here you are twenty, began cultivating around three years ago and indeed, no supplements."
"Three?" - I muttered - "It has barely been one."
"That is what it says." - he stroked his beard, greener than bronze from the patina - "See, I believe you - three makes an absurd pace in and of itself, you would hardly have reason to lie… so you probably have some special constitution that warps the evaluation, if I had to guess."
I sagged out a breath of relief. - "So.. is that it?"
"For now? Just about. I will matriculate you into the Contribution Board and file a request up above. Approval may take a day or a year, no way to know. In the meantime, you are free to go."
One week later, I stood outside the walls of the inner keep of the Clan's local branch and stared at the terminal, jade slip in hand. It was time. I put my hand out to touch the glass screen, its white surface smooth and cool to the touch.
[Welcome, Aspirant.]
The current date is [300] of [Era Konstantinos].
This is a Public Terminal of the Contribution Points Board. You may exchange for items, browse recommended tasks for clan members with your skills, or record fulfilled tasks here. Please infuse a silver of your will or insert a token to access any function.
Processing… Jade Slip accepted.
Authorized by Praefectus Castrorum, Mephisto Vatatzes. Credentials confirmed.
Temporary Access granted, pending full inductment.
Name: Hector Vatatzes
Great Realm: Qi Condensation
Small Realm: 1st Heavenstage
Contribution Points: 11
[Your audience with the Master of Disciples, Destasia Deca is scheduled to begin in [10] Minutes. You have been cleared for room 1-A access. Please proceed inside at your earliest convenience.]
The entrance frame of the keep flashed radiant green, beckoning. I gulped and walked in. Tried to, rather. The massive brass door didn't budge an inch.
Oh.
It was clearly meant to keep mortals outside the gates. I strained, pushing harder, and this time it gave after a split moment of resistance and I saw the place for what it were.
A grand hall with a floor of white marble. Rows of portraits inlaid in gems and jewels hung by each side of the wall, guards in bright armor standing at every corner like statues.
Foundation. Each and every one was an expert that could lord over a mortal city and yet here they were dime a dozen, keeping the peace in an empty room.
It was vain beyond belief and that reminded me where I was.
Oh well, the quicker I get this over with, the better.
My eyes scouted the place even as my heart beat entirely too loud in my chest. There were half a dozen rooms and - oh, there it were! I half-dove for the first of them all, and I thought one of the guards shot me an amused glance as I entered. Could they hear? Did it mat-
The light. The. Light. It was blinding, so much so that I had to cover my eyes. As it faded and my sight adjusted, I stood there, summoned before the
Chartoularios Tou Kanikleiou. I understood little of how I'd arrived. Had no recollection of crossing the doorway. But that didn't matter, no.
Just a glance, and it was almost as if someone had taken me by the neck, thrust towards the floor. Before I knew it, my head emptied of all thought, and I was on my knees. Down bowed, until my head touched the ground, sweating. Just a mere glance at the woman upon the throne. I could feel nothing from her, no Qi at all, her channels still as stone, like a mortal's.
I knew she was Core Formation, with half a millennia to her name. And yet knowledge was not the same as experience. She appeared nothing like the venerable, old woman I'd envisioned. No, she looked twenty, thirty at most. I took a moment to collect myself and then-
The pressure winked out just as quickly as it appeared and I caught myself out of freefall, forearms bracing against the floor as I shot to my feet.
"Elder-" - I began.
"Pff!" - snorted Destasia Deca - "Look at you, you whelps always react the same. Elder this, elder that! You are no fun! Its a lovely little morning ain't it? Act the part."
"Uh.." - I stammered, trying to find something, anything, to say.
She sighed - "So, tell me.. Hector, was it? What are you here for, young man?"
"The Praefectus sen-"
She wagged her finger and the words died in my throat. - "I know, I know. Didn't read any of it, though. The spicy details only, please."
Great. - "I started cultivating a year ago, without pills or such." - she did a double take, and then her eyes sparkled with fascination - "Apparently the pace is unusual, so here I am. Oh, and whatever treasure they tested me with showed I've been at it for thrice that long."
"Hmm.." - she tapped the back of her chair with her finger - "Alvertos, whatcha think?" - she whispered to her right side, exchanging a glance with… a cat?
That was a cat, right?
"Meooow!"
"Splendid. Seems like we are in agreement, then." - the elder turned back towards me - "Catch!" - she called out, grabbing a spirit stone from the shelf and throwing it my way.
I did and stared at her, puzzled.
Did she want me to cultivate?
"Well? Cycle it, if you would. I will grab your hand, I gotta check something. It may prickle a bit."
I sat cross-legged and closed my eyes, soon settling into the familiar routine. [Breath of Bronze] was the foundational technique of the Clan, wholly focused on refining the Blood to its limits. The prescribed norm was nine daily cycles, and at Qi Condensation each full cycle meant twenty minutes of breathing exercises followed by one hour of excruciating physical exertion.
A few seconds into it, I felt her put a hand on my arm.
Then a pinprick, a coldness spreading across.
Then, the world went black.
Drip.
Drip.
Pain.
I woke to a wave of cold and wet, blinking as I took in the frigid roughness of the floor. A memory surged in a flash, and with it awareness. My mind ran sluggish as I breathed out and wiped the water off my face, looking around.
Three things stood out immediately.
One - I was not in the keep, rather some wooden shack with a leaky roof up above my face.
Two - Destasia was nowhere to be found and virgin woods extended all around.
Three - A note sat nestled in my hand.
I grimaced, sat up and got to reading.
------
From : Destasia Deca
To : Ehh, what was his name again?
Kidding. Hector, you cultivate in your sleep. Mystery solved. No idea why or how and clan policy dictates I can't just vivisect you to find out. I doubt I would even if I did. No worries though!
Things should clear up once you reach Foundation or so.. so off to the Yuan Trials with you! Yay! You can treat them as a real mission because guess what? It is one! I logged it into the Board and had you dropped off nearby. Don't worry, you will find the rewards more than worth it.
Note : I left you a Life-Saving Treasure. Treat it as a bribe! And try not to fucking die, ok?
------
I closed my eyes and frowned, exasperated.
Just what did I get myself into?
The worst part? I was barely frustrated at the blatant violation of agency. A daily dose of twelve hours of cultivation and eight hours of sleep on top of basic necessities left little in the way of social life - and I always found other people the only thing that ever bound me to a place.
It sounded fun, actually. The Man-as-Mountain contest of the Yuan was an unrivaled Secret Realm and it seemed like I had just gotten a spot. For free. Where hundreds of thousands of Golden Devils had to bid just about that many contribution points to secure one for themselves.
Still, couldn't she at least have asked?
Oh, right, the treasure. I looked around. Hmm.. nothing in the letter, nothing on the floor… ah, there it is! A pendant with six crystalline prayer beads attached, already hung over my neck. I pushed my qi inside and the treasure bound itself, conveying an idea about its function.
The beads would shatter one at a time to produce bursts of pure qi, repelling any attack that sliced too deep into my flesh - and then settling into the wound to heal it. I lacked the skill to marvel at the craftsmanship, but the effects were straightforward and potent.
What else… I rummaged through the pockets of my robe and everything remained as it were. My bow hung over my shoulder still, a quiver full of bodkin arrows lay strapped to my belt, each inscribed with basic runes for speed and potency. I had the sword, too…
"Xing, you there?" - A raspy voice and a knock on the door brought me out of my reverie. - "I know its late but you can't just sleep in, we have work to do!"
I had a split second to come to a decision before the door opened and I was caught red handed in someone's house. I made the only call I could have done. Talking to people? Ha, not for me!
I scooped my belongings up from the floor and dived for the window, jumping over the frame and rustling leaves as I hit the ground and broke into a run. Frantic shouting rang out behind me but I paid it no heed. The place seemed barely large enough to count as a town.
Soon, I have gone with the wind, my escape from a few mortals with neither intention nor ability to give chase wholly successful. Now it was just me and the trees, alone with only the moon hanging high above to keep us company - and as I trudged through the woods I quickly realized I had never quite learned just how scary they could be at night. All the noise and clatter, the silhouettes you thought you saw stalk you by in pitch black darkness. The weird shapes you'd only notice a foot ahead.
Five minutes in, and I was a wreck. Still, I safely made it out of the forest a short while later. There was just one small issue. Tiny, really. I didn't at all know where to go.
I spent the better part of the night leaning against the trunk of a tree I had climbed onto, feeling really stupid and cycling what little I could as I waited for the sun to rise so that I could see more than a few meters out. At least my new glorious cultivator bod meant I did not freeze.
It was in the early morning that I stirred from my practice, startled at a sudden sound. My heart beat fast but everything seemed normal and after a while of making sure I shrugged and took a waterskin out my pouch to quench the thirst. It was high time I got moving anyway.
My hand trembled as I drank, spilling freezing liquid all over. I cursed then shuddered, but not from the cold. The air felt charged with current, like on the eve of lightning in a storm.
And then, there was a screech.
Terribly loud, it filled the air.
I instinctively cowed back, covering my ears and gluing myself to the trunk. The sound didn't stop, only grew, enough to all but drown out distant explosions and humans yelling.
I peered through the leaves, detached from my stiffened coil as if encased in ice. My eyes saw a distant blur pass by and my body felt the ground quake. Something hit the tree I was on - and hit it hard. Dark, scarlet liquid splashed onto cracked wood, sluggishly seeping down its soft texture. The all-permeating shriek was gone.
I could think. I could move. And fighting sounds ran through the air.
Fires, over the town I'd left overnight.
Memories came in a flash. Of a pyre burning. Of corpses lying out in the open, discarded by the streetside. I did not care for them, not really. But just like that
, all I could think about was her.
I should have been there.
I ran through the trees, towards the sound, wading through the tumult of voices as I passed people by. Everywhere, silhouettes ran and screamed, blurred one and all. The closer I got, the more my legs hurt, the more my bare soles screamed, the more bodies littered the streets.
And then I reached the center of it all, skulking around a corner at what I'd seen.
A giant, flying serpent the size of a building coiled around a house, squeezing and biting and ripping into a group of cultivators sheltering inside.
Foundation.
"I told you it was a terrible idea, but did you listen? No! Fuck, Xun, I swear, if we die here I'll haunt your sorry ass!" - one of them shouted, Ninth Heavenstage to my senses, but I paid no heed to his realm nor the words, all I saw was the attire. Devil Bees.
I drew my bow, readied an arrow. It was insanity itself. I breathed in.. and watched as a part of the building crumbled, as another shouted back - "There was nowhere else to lead it, jackass!"
The huge serpent recoiled and I saw a fresh gash mar its side, scarlet blood running down its white scales. It leaned back and opened its mouth, lightning crackling between its teeth.
"Shit! Its trying to boil us again! Feng, do something!"
"Easy job, eh? Fuck!"
A deep rumbling sound emerged as the image of a giant bell manifested in the beast's path a split second before the serpent screeched and breathed destruction upon them all. Its lightning struck the bell, the air vibrating with the same shrill sound I'd heard a scant few minutes ago.
A long crack ran down the surface of what I now recognized to be a treasure before I watched it shatter in its owner's hands, having successfully absorbed… no, rebound the attack. The beast shook, stunned by its own storm.
"Sky-Shatter Lance!" - I heard someone call from inside the building before I saw them burst through a wall, outstretched spear in hand, blazing with azure light. An expert, the same Realm as the creature, though with qi dimmer than its own.
The man struck the beast, his spear penetrating all the way and emerging from the other side before exploding and blowing out a giant hole in the serpent's chest. He laughed - "Told you it would be eas-"
He did not get to finish as the creature's maw engulfed him whole. The expert struggled, briefly, between its teeth, holding them in place with his bare hands as they slowly, oh so slowly, closed.
He would not hold. - "Help me! Its already dead!" - he shouted atop his lungs, face blanched in fear.
His two companions just stood there, exchanging a look, greed shining in their eyes.
The serpent chomped down, hard, and swerved its head. Left, right. Chunks of the expert fell to the ground before the creature let out a choking sound, following suit and crushing a nearby building as it hit the street, twitched, and died.
"Knew the prick would bite the dust, eventually." - Feng shook his head as the two Devil Bees stood side by side on the rooftop of a ruined house. - "Too arrogant for his own good. I will eat the Coatl, you can devour him."
"Pftui!" - Xun spat - "As if. You know he ain't worth shit in comparison, especially in pieces."
Feng looked at him sadly - "You really want to do this?"
Xun sighed - "We are Blood Path, are we not?"
"We had a good run, didn't we?"
"Aye, we did. I will leave your corpse intact."
"Ha, I'll do you one better, I'll bury yours."
"...On three?"
"Sure."
I just watched as they counted, feeling surreal.
So this was how cultivators lived and died?
Amazingly enough - they did both only move on three.
I looked as the two exchanged blow after blow, technique after technique, biding my time from behind the wall and gripping my bow tightly. There would only be one moment to strike, if that. I could run away still, but I owed myself this.
Finally…
"Gah!" - Xun gasped, his right arm falling to the ground, severed along his saber as the man dropped to his knees and propped himself up on the other, defiantly staring Feng up in the eye.
His compatriot wasn't taking any chances. He threw his two chakrams, qi strings guiding them into a decapitating blow. A head flew. A man stumbled forward, his body broken, his meridians all but empty…
Now!
I shoot out an arrow, pouring almost all my Qi into it. It wasn't much. It was terribly wasteful and barely made it any greater. It was First Heavenstage, against the Ninth.
It pierced Feng straight through his chest.
His head had whirled towards me even as the arrow flew and he had staggered as it hit, only to stumble into a run. I stared, tense, exhausted and wide eyed as the man sprinted towards me, silently greeting my maker.
And then he fell, headfirst into the soil, even as something sharp passed me by from behind, nicking my shoulder. The chakram hit the ground with a thud. I had not even seen him throw it.
I collapsed onto my back, heaving breaths long and hard and holding back the nausea. I had just killed someone. I had hunted many wild animals down in the past and today's prey may have been little better than one, a devourer that ate people for snacks. Still - they were a human being - and somehow that mattered to me, even though I never thought it would.
I had done it. I had saved the town. Some buildings still burned and corpses littered the streets here and there, but the people by and large would survive - a fate far kinder than being eaten alive. And yet, somehow, it all rang hollow. It was not, I supposed, the town I wanted to save.
I sighed, taking a moment to collect myself before approaching the corpse of the Coatl.
At first, it was sheer practicality that guided my hand - an intact carcass of a Foundation-tier Beast, especially one as huge as the serpent, was worth a fortune and the Yuan were vassals of the Clan in all but name so claiming it as spoils of war should not be a problem.
But then.. it was something more. Something
other. I felt my blood churn and my steps falter as I saw a baby serpent lie by its parent's side, heaving little breaths as it bled to its death.
Everything else came in a haze.
I remembered the creature's cute little eyes staring up at me, shining with alien intellect, pleading.
I remembered feeding it what little Qi I had - and when that had proven insufficient, my Blood.
I remembered the feeling as our link formed, a hole in my chest I never knew I had, suddenly filled.
I did not remember passing out by the streetside.
Spirits knew how long I slept, but it was the seventh dawn now that I stared at Little Jin and the sky overhead, nursing my wounds. The roof was leaking, droplets of rain falling down my face.
Somehow, everything felt right in the world.
