Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

[occipitallobe]

Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

Firstly, if you have questions about Good Seeds and the like please read here. If that doesn't answer your question please ping me in thread, or on Discord.

If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.

If you do not have access, please ping a collaborator (Swordomatic, Alectai, Quest, TehChron, Insane-Not-Crazy, Humbaba, ReaderOfFate, Kaboomatic, no., BungieONI) letting them know what you want and they will update the spreadsheet here. To gain access, you will need a gmail account of some kind. Throwaway emails are fine (I'm using one for the spreadsheet), but to gain access it's as simple as sending me either your email via PM, via DM in Discord, or just in Discord's #spreadsheet-requests channel.

This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!

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Omake Writer Instructions:

There are four fields you need to fill out.

Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly

Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.

Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.

Turn Notes - Do you want to do something specific? Enter a Secret Realm? Help the Clan out in some way? If you have something specific you want to accomplish on this turn, put it in turn notes so I can adjust your Fate around it.

All other fields are for QM use to record character information to properly run the flow of the game.

 

[TheDuke]

I re-read the interlude and while I think you're on the right track, the details are off. The mystery prince Bhigru was conferring with spoke of 'winning him a token.' The token is special in some way, possibly in a way that is truly costly (maybe it cannot be replaced), possibly not. If it were a normal token, I don't see how it would permit him to punch down.

That said, let's examine what we know:

1) There was a need for secrecy in assassinating the Naag. The need was grave enough to merit murdering an eavesdropping girl.

2) A living memory wiper was sent along Bhigru.

3) WOG says that severing soul cultivators love watching nascent souls duke it out.

4) Bhigru punched down and killed a healthy portion of our core formation elders and was not ejected.

Taken altogether this suggests Bhigru is... uh, kind of an idiot. His was a stealth mission so important he needed to bring along anti-divination backup and he managed to royally bungle it up in every conceivable way (everyone is aware of it and his target got away even after he pulled out his ace in the hole and broke the rules) purely because he had a sadistic streak. I wouldn't be totally surprised if all this was just a gambit to get him disowned by his family by finally screwing up in a way so profound his grandfather has no choice but to kick him out. The Shadow of Heaven communicating to Manuel directly kind of suggests against it, but this mission was (if you think about it )actually not that hard and he 100% effed it up.

For instance:

1) If he had left the core formation alive he could have bargained their lives for the life of the Naag.

2) If he had Manuel on the ropes he could have bargained Manuel's life for the life of the Naag.

3) He could have simply ignored Manuel and gone around torturing people until he found the Naag. I mean there's apparently little to nothing Manuel could do to him.

The more I consider the apparent options available to him the more I boggle at his extraordinary ineptitude.

I want to see him back for a re-match too, but after his dumbass showboating my guess is they just send someone competent this time.



A++ speech though, it really set the tone, the stakes and the mood. Payoff was up to the dice which there was no helping with.

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It's probably less stupidity in the literal sense and more absurdly overwhelming arrogance. To some bigshot heir of a famous clan in the Fifth Sea we're probably about as important and dangerous as a spirit stone mine. He likely didn't even conceive of the fact that we might serve as an actual obstacle to his goal. He probably saw our open resistance as an amusing little sideshow, at least early on, and even after our Core Formation Elders showed up it was just an opportunity to relieve some pent up stress or whatever.

 

[TehChron]

From Manuel's perspective he considers it far more likely Old Cannibal will try and strongarm him into returning the territories the Devils won and threaten action otherwise. Free lands bloated with mortals, zero cost? Yes please.

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Interesting.

Stuff to ponder and consider and plan around I suppose.

 

[DangerKitty]

Snip

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Personally i feel like it flowed well from his story even if it isnt immediatly obvious. The tree burned for the younger generation. The catch is that he thought just him was that tree when, in reality, the tree was the core formation cultivators and the council.

Obv arguable if that trade is worth it, but the "seeds" have been protected.

 

[RebelYell]

I legit thought the war master would've kicked the bucket, it's a pleasant surprise he's still alive. By the by are we going all in on making money for the clan when we get better?
I'd like to try and make amend's to the Clan since they don't have the greatest of opinion's about us anymore.

 

[Killer_Whale]

[X] Kleisthenes Sarantapechos - Your sole remaining friend and diplomat. She has lost a foot and could be carried out.

 

[BungieONI]

I legit thought the war master would've kicked the bucket, it's a pleasant surprise he's still alive. By the by are we going all in on making money for the clan when we get better?
I'd like to try and make amend's to the Clan since they don't have the greatest of opinion's about us anymore.

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We'll see how it comes out and what their opinion of Manuel actually is.

At the moment our general goals are going to be getting back to strength, which requires money, fortifications and people. Making money and teaching are both suitable actions for that. But obviously, stuff may change as opportunities or issues arise.

 

[Kornet]

[X] Kleisthenes Sarantapechos - Your sole remaining friend and diplomat. She has lost a foot and could be carried out.

 

[Mochinator]

The arguments for diplomatic Elder have been better then I hoped when I threw my vote.

Personally, i did my vote more from the RP perspective where I thought that in the split second he had, he will choose between his friend and his apprentice. And since his friend looks like she needs the help more because of the foot, friend it is!

Another less gamey perspective, is that it'll sure help to have a friend whos has you back on your council since while we might be stable, we should still have people unhappy with us

 

[Mochinator]

Three (four) posts to come this turn.

Zeroth, three early Fates for omake writers who requested them (as a rule if you've written a lot of omake, tapped out for the turn and want something to push you forward, I can do that).

One, the Saving Juniors post. The Miracle at Disaster in Victory Before the Walls of Defeat after Strike at Defense of... well, something at Waycastle Pleuron. Collective Storypost has won here, but I'll be making sure to mention everyone's name in it at least once.

Two, the final Trials post.

Three, the Good Seed update.

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I would have been one of those who would have ask for prompts if it wasn't for the fact that I put in quite a lot of thought + work into the 2nd good seed idea. So time to let the chips fall where they may!

be getting back to strength, which requires money, fortifications and people. Making money and teaching are both suitable actions for that. But obviously, stuff may change as opportunities or issues arise.

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I hope our Good Seeds did good enough that this Trial is a disaster for the 5th sea! The amount of deaths not worth the amount of Karma they get !

 

[Shard]

How heavy are Core Formations that we can't just drag them out? Oh well. I guess it's a matter of time.

[X] Staurakios Palaiologos - The stolid master of disciples. He is unwounded, but is unconscious.

 

[occipitallobe]

How heavy are Core Formations that we can't just drag them out? Oh well. I guess it's a matter of time.

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Manuel could normally just drag them all out with ease, but he's been beaten unconscious, has a magical restriction on his Qi, and is completely drained. In other circumstances he'd be able to save everyone.

 

[Garlak]

[X] Kleisthenes Sarantapechos - Your sole remaining friend and diplomat. She has lost a foot and could be carried out.

Could the Diplomacy guy also be useful for in-Clan stuff too? Or Clan-Vassal relations?

 

[BungieONI]

[X] Kleisthenes Sarantapechos - Your sole remaining friend and diplomat. She has lost a foot and could be carried out.

Could the Diplomacy guy also be useful for in-Clan stuff too? Or Clan-Vassal relations?

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Diplomacy girl, and I don't see any reason not unless she shares her sister's objections. She's probably more likely to be fielding the more important stuff of Jingshen and Blood Cannibals though.

 

[Random12345]

[X] Kleisthenes Sarantapechos - Your sole remaining friend and diplomat. She has lost a foot and could be carried out.

 

[occipitallobe]

Three Fates have been requested - omake writers wanting to get into things! As always, I'm happy to oblige requests for the sake of omake. One I've rolled but not written, need to confirm what the Good Seed is doing.

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Rina Callista -
Omake Reward - Tribulation Boost

Let us exclude for a moment the Callista girl's efforts at Pleuron, magnificent as they were. Grand Elder, Rina Callista entered the Yuan Clan Secret Realm, that mighty Array transforming the world into something else entirely.

The report she has given us is sparse enough, for we have little time. But this is what we know.

Rina entered the Realm, seeking treasures and advancement as juniors do. There her Cauldron apparently underwent some manner of curse, blocking it for her. Of course, the girl's luck could not be denied. It was able to forge the curse itself into energy for advancement, using the agony as a tempering experience to purify her soul. The Soul-Consuming Curse was somehow transformed into the Soul-Tempering Curse, and her advancement continued apace, gaining twenty years in the blink of an eye. She was hunted down there as the Realm closed, though, and would have been killed if not for the use and consumption of her Hundred-League Boots. A loss of a treasure is a sore thing for a junior.

It was at Pleuron... well, another report concludes this. Nonetheless, I think the entire Clan know of the Indomitable Thirteen, Unrivalled Beneath Heaven, and their slaying of a Core Formation enemy. (Yes, I know they have been called the Indomitable Fourteen, but I hardly think the bear counts). Some say this was the least of their deeds. The gains for the Callista girl entailed something we have not seen before, Grand Elder. Heaven is forced sometimes into fairness, and needs to offer rewards even to those such as us for taking on punishments. Your enemy should not have been able to slay our Elders, but she recovered the Token-Sensing Tree, a tree a mere foot in height, and able to communicate to the wielder's mind the location of all nearby enemy Tokens during the Trials. Presumably grown by the enemy as a way of keeping track of their juniors, it is now in our hands. It has bonded to the girl, and only she can use it.

Taking cuttings is not an immediate prospect, but if the Callista girl can tend to the tree and help it grow, she may very well be able to offer us new hope in Trials to come.

Cultivation - 12th Heavenstage. [3 turns from 13th]
Health - Currently healthy.

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Tasos Basilakes -
Omake Reward - Tribulation Boost

As before, excluding the Basilake boy's efforts at Pleuron. Grand Elder, Basilakes entered the Yuan Clan Secret Realm, the Man-As-Mountain Array offering so much before the Trials began.

If we named him the second-luckiest to enter the Realm this year, only one would dare claim to be first.

Firstly, he claimed a Well of Magnetism from an ancient mountain, allowing him to curve any metals, deflecting those used against him, homing his allies weapons in against his enemies. All iron and steel is weak before him now, and he fights above where he did previously. It was the Well that allowed him that absurd stand at Pleuron, holding out for seven hours as the Core-Ruining Poison was brewed.

Secondly came the Thousand Arrow Mirror, a magical mirror into which a single arrow could be placed, living in a shadowy world. The longer it spends inside the mirror, the more it duplicates itself - an arrow left in the mirror for a year and a day will split itself into a thousand, and can be split further with arrow arts. It is not impossible for such arrows to be split themselves hundreds of times with other arts, allowing the wielder to potentially shoot at tens of thousands of foes. Seven of these arrows were used at Pleuron, driving back an assault seven times.

Third was the Magnetic Pig-Iron Squealing Dagger, a poor treasure for most. However, when combined with the Well it can fight independently, offering Tasos a melee ally equivalent in strength to himself for ten or fifteen minutes in any given combat.

Last and not at all least came the Blood-Burning Herb, a herb in that magnificent array. Used only at direst need, it costs cultivation - nearly twenty years worth, but in burning it Tasos can briefly become the equal of any in Foundation Establishment, slaughtering those in the Early and Middle stage, and even those in the Late stage would need to flee him.

Aside from this outside of the Realm, little enough happened. Ordinary cultivation, avoiding wounding or maiming in the Trials.

Another of the Indomitable Thirteen. Unrivalled Under Heaven, truly.

Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage. [1 turns from 10th]
Health - Currently healthy.

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Aretaphilia Myia -
Omake Reward - Lifesaving Treasure

Grand Elder, Myia entered the Yuan Clan Secret Realm, the Man-As-Mountain Array offering something peculiar.

If we named her the second-luckiest to enter the Realm this year, not even the Basilakes boy would claim to be first.

First here she found the Fused Bells, a set of seven bells fused together by some horrific art. They do not ring, do not do anything beyond serve as a powerful shield. Whatever magic brought them together has made them invincible. While they are unwieldy, they can block any attack below Core Formation.

Secondly came the Kettle-Blade, an odd treasure. A sword with a kettle fused to it, the kettle handle serving where the sword-handle should be. As one strikes with it, the Kettle steals Qi, and once full begins to boil over, empowering the user. For long fights it is of great use.

Third was the Mountain-Kicking Ostrich Eggshell, the shell of a bird long-hatched. The Eggshell is easily cracked and flaked, and can be used by flaking off pieces of shell, the grit disabling flight in the immediate area around her. Magical flight treasures and even the limited flight of Core Formation cultivators is effected.

It was here she met the spirit of an ancient bell, the gentle and lovely Mountain Song Bell, who taught her over ten years the Mountain Sky Song, a magical tune unheard by the Third Sea in millennia. It offers a simple blessing - to all below Aretaphilia's strength who hear it, they are raised up towards her. To those far below her in the first three Heavenstages, they see an increase in strength by three Heavenstages. For those in the fourth to sixth, it is but two. And those in the seventh and eight gain a single Heavenstage in strength. The Ninth and Tenth gain little to nothing, unfortunately.

The Mountain Sky Song was played for nearly a month straight at Pleuron, the girl forgoing sleep and food, losing weight and becoming gaunt as she kept her allies ever-strong. The tones echoed over the Waycastle, and even as they became ragged and tired offered hope and power to those trapped in that city thought doomed. The impossible odds were made more possible by the strengthening of the Clan there, and had the Waycastle not held so long even after the Elders left, the others of the Indomitable Thirteen could not have pulled off their audacious plan.

She begged off her loot at Pleuron, oddly enough - the Token-Sensing Tree that she was entitled to going to Rina Callista. A peculiar outcome, but who can say what transpired between these two?

The third of the Indomitable Thirteen. Unrivalled Under Heaven, it has been said, Grand Elder, and with each of them I can see why together they are named so.

Cultivation - 10th Heavenstage. [2 turns from 11th]
Health - Currently healthy.

 

[BungieONI]

Sweet holy shit, what the fuck did we get up to.

 

[UwU]

Well, everything doth not appear to be complete shite.

 

[TehChron]

Aretaphilia Myia -
Omake Reward - Tribulation Boost

Some Absolute Nonsense

Cultivation - 10th Heavenstage. [2 turns from 11th]
Health - Currently healthy.

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Aayyooooooooooooooooooooooo I'm stunned

this is beyond fucking wild

It was at Pleuron... well, another report concludes this. Nonetheless, I think the entire Clan know of the Indomitable Thirteen, Unrivalled Beneath Heaven, and their slaying of a Core Formation enemy

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Holy shit though

 

[ReaderOfFate]

Indomitable Thirteen, eh? Well, if the group is being talked about in such exalted terms, it bodes well for their Fate.

(Which includes my Good Seed, so I'm pretty excited.)

 

[occipitallobe]

Tisamenos raised one hand above his head, blocking off the falling rubble.

Acrocorinth had been besieged for a month, now.

The brown-skinned cultivators from the Fifth Sea were too strong, too fast. Even those who were in the Second Heavenstage, like him, could not face up against their peers. He didn't know why. He wanted to curse Old Gold. The man had sent them to die. No boosts, nothing good, no arrays... the usual Clan help wasn't there, and he was just sent to die.

It could have been worse, he thought.

Thrake had fallen last week, apparently. Acrocorinth still held on, but the siege was growing. The cultivators besieging Thrake had come, and there was no help to be had in Acrocorinth.

Legatus Alypius Lucaenus had told them to hold the line last week, that he'd 'lead them to survival'. He had disappeared two days ago, saying 'he needed to help the Grand Elder'.

Ridiculous excuse. He was abandoning them to their deaths, just as the Grand Elder was! Tisamenos couldn't blame them. He'd heard all the Clan sayings about 'helping the weak', and 'promoting justice'.

What justice was there in the world, really? He knew the truth, now. The weak were sacrificed for the strong, the strong did as they willed. Was the Clan any different to anyone else? Of course not, and he'd been a fool to believe it.

Tisamenos had served on the walls with distinction, he had thought. He was recovering now, exhausted. There were less of them than there had been a week ago, and when he had been allowed off the walls... he thought it was unlikely they would hold another day. Two, if they were lucky. There weren't enough of them now, and there were too many enemies. They couldn't even use the best arrays - apparently they had to turn those capable of blocking Foundation Establishment and Core Formation off, as absurd as that sounded. In past Trials the Clan had more strongholds than this, not needing to use their proper cities to fight, but the money hadn't been there.

The Grand Elder had made a decision, he thought spitefully. Not as if the old man would suffer for it. He'd keep living for thousands of years, and Tisamenos would pay the price.

He moved to another alleyway, trying to recover his Qi somewhere without rubble falling, somewhere he was able to meditate. Acrocorinth was doomed to fall, but maybe he could survive. Flee, maybe, unseen. He wasn't sure how - there was a Spirit Stone mine near the city. Perhaps hide there? He didn't know, and even these plans... Tisamenos winced. When he had read the book that had set him on the path of cultivation he hadn't thought he'd just be a coward at the end, but there he was.

Why should he be brave so other people could sacrifice him?

The lights in the street flickered, the power running them drawn away as Qi went to power the defensive arrays.

They flickered again, and went out.

Tisamenos whimpered.

In the distance, he heard the screams of dying cultivators.

No.

No.

It wouldn't be him.

It wouldn't.

He turned and fled, and ran down the street. Get out of the city, get into the spirit mine. Surely that would save him.

Before him stood three cultivators, brown-skinned and dark-eyed. Shorter than him, and with finely-braided hair. Were he less terrified, he would have thought of them as beautiful women. As he was... they were just monsters. Creatures of terror.

One spoke, her voice full of charm.

"Why, it looks like you're running away, little Devil. Chandhi Randhawa will put you in your place, don't worry about tha- HURK!"

From the sky plummeted a cauldron, smashing two of them into pieces and leaving the girl who was speaking on the ground, ribs poking out of her skin, legs bent in peculiar directions.

She looked over in disbelief, and shattered a token she was holding, disappearing in a flash of light.

From the cauldron emerged a Clan woman. Tisamenos would have said she was beautiful, but if she had been a monster made of warts and vomit he would have called her beautiful in that moment. His life was saved! He didn't even notice her looks, or her armour. He was alive, and that was enough.

She spoke, curtly.

"South gate, move."

Then she was gone, cauldron rocketing off into the sky.

Tisamenos nodded and began running.

He made it a few hundred metres, and a man emerged from a side street, moving almost too fast for Tisamenos to see. Whereas the others had cultivation too deep for him to probe, this man was oppressive. He felt like lying down and dying. The man eyed him.

"Not even prey worth my time. I suppose I'll hold you here until my little brother can have you, demon. Stay."

Tisamenos gulped.

With a roar, a bear barreled out of a different side road, a girl atop his back.

With a mighty paw, the man was thrown aside, a token shattering, Tisamenos saved once more.

He ran and ran, legs pounding, blood pounding in his ears, all things around him ignored. Perhaps he should have died.

As he reached the gate, though, he saw a woman. All brass and glass and misery, like something out of a nightmare.

He had heard of her, though. Seen her portrait on the Board. He had read Stand at Guo Wo, and it had been the reason he'd cultivated in the first place!

"Golden Scorpion...", he breathed out.

Barely a moment spent for him, Ferenike barked.

"Form up. Form up!"

Behind her were hundreds of Qi Condensation cultivators, forming up, preparing Eagles to fly them away. He didn't know how they'd find the Qi, how they'd escape, where they'd run to. Still, for the first time in weeks, Tisamenos felt like there was someone else in charge. He wasn't going to die right away! Oh, he might die tomorrow or next week, but death was merely a few steps behind, no longer breathing down his neck!

He grinned, feeling a tear trickle down his eye.

He wanted to live.

He might just be able to.

Pleuron is rolled up and ready to go, time to see what Saving Juniors yields. I just needed a viewpoint character, and a despairing one from Acrocorinth will be perfect for what is to come.

 

[CircleTheSkies]

she recovered the Token-Sensing Tree, a tree a mere foot in height, and able to communicate to the wielder's mind the location of all nearby enemy Tokens during the Trials. Presumably grown by the enemy as a way of keeping track of their juniors, it is now in our hands. It has bonded to the girl, and only she can use it.

Taking cuttings is not an immediate prospect, but if the Callista girl can tend to the tree and help it grow, she may very well be able to offer us new hope in Trials to come.

Click to shrink...

!!!

This is major, seriously major - assuming she can refine the treasure to lead to general sensing capabilities. Although even if she can't, if she's still around in future trials she can use it to herself track and slay those on her realm (thus lessening the pressure on her realm-peers).

Also, she's alive and healthy, with a improvement in cultivation - albeit with the loss of a Life-Saving Treasure. And the group ganked a Core (well, forced him to token out, I'm guessing). That's a good start...

It was the Well that allowed him that absurd stand at Pleuron, holding out for seven hours as the Core-Ruining Poison was brewed.

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... I take that back. "Core-Ruining Poison" kind of implies something a bit grander than forcing a token. Oh well done indeed! And his treasures should serve him well. Alive and healthy as well.

It was here she met the spirit of an ancient bell, the gentle and lovely Mountain Song Bell, who taught her over ten years the Mountain Sky Song, a magical tune unheard by the Third Sea in millennia. It offers a simple blessing - to all below Aretaphilia's strength who hear it, they are raised up towards her. To those far below her in the first three Heavenstages, they see an increase in strength by three Heavenstages. For those in the fourth to sixth, it is but two. And those in the seventh and eight gain a single Heavenstage in strength. The Ninth and Tenth gain little to nothing, unfortunately.

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It's so beautiful ;_;

And potentially works so well in conjunction with massed formations. And... alive and healthy. I'm feeling pretty cheery at the pattern - 3 for 3...

 

[Garlak]

It was at Pleuron... well, another report concludes this. Nonetheless, I think the entire Clan know of the Indomitable Thirteen, Unrivalled Beneath Heaven, and their slaying of a Core Formation enemy.(Yes, I know they have been called the Indomitable Fourteen, but I hardly think the bear counts). Some say this was the least of their deeds The gains for the Callista girl entailed something we have not seen before, Grand Elder.

Click to shrink...

It looks like either the sentence cuts off here, or it is just missing a period.

Heaven is forced sometimes into fairness, and needs to offer rewards even to those such as us for taking on punishments. Your enemy should not have been able to slay our Elders, but she recovered the Token-Sensing Tree, a tree a mere foot in height, and able to communicate to the wielder's mind the location of all nearby enemy Tokens during the Trials. Presumably grown by the enemy as a way of keeping track of their juniors, it is now in our hands. It has bonded to the girl, and only she can use it.

Click to shrink...

... Wasn't there some kind of Good Seed themed around trees and stuff? Demetrius Ceres? I wonder if he can do anything with that. Or maybe get inspiration from it.

Is this the sort of thing that the Clan would take interest in and do stuff with, or this is still just at the level of "cool fluff and story for Good Seeds and omakes"?

 

[ReaderOfFate]

So, the first Saving Juniors interlude has Rina, Peta and Wajo, and Ferenike, looks like.

I'm excited to read about the work of the Indomitable Thirteen in the following interludes, tbh. Even though Manuel and the Core Formations may be doing bad, at least a ton of Qi Condensation will be saved.

 

[Mr. Prokosch]

It's the Indomitable Fourteen you specist!

 

[Garrison]

Token-Sensing Tree, a tree a mere foot in height, and able to communicate to the wielder's mind the location of all nearby enemy Tokens during the Trials. Presumably grown by the enemy as a way of keeping track of their juniors, it is now in our hands. It has bonded to the girl, and only she can use it.

Taking cuttings is not an immediate prospect, but if the Callista girl can tend to the tree and help it grow, she may very well be

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Well thats convenient. A portion of my omake are literally just about believably setting up a little sub-clan of demon botanists that could probably help with this!

Fuck it. Who needs sleep? Back to writing!