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.

 

[Shard]

Savvas Nicolidis 6 - Tools and Knives

Shrouded on the desert, the one known as Savvas stalked. Hidden from peripheral detection, too inconsequential to focus on - If you didn't look closely, just relied on passive Qi Senses, you might think he was a 1st-heavenstage desert snake. Or maybe even an unlucky mortal, to be magnanimously spared by the trial hunters. Not a threat, not someone or something you were concerned about.

The first things Savvas had learned was that 5th Sea Hunters were incredibly wasteful in their techniques, at least as how he saw it. It's like they didn't have to bother about Qi expenditures at all. This made them very dangerous to fight directly, as he learned just a month ago. Without a Formation backing you up, it would be suicidal for most cultivators. Cresent slashes that aimed to kill were used wantonly, and months ago Savvas actually spotted one of them respond to Qi depletion by just draining a Medium-Grade Qi Spirit Stone, obviously brought in from their own sea, right after a particularly brutal fight. He avoided that particular hunter.

Ridiculous. Inefficient. A squandering of precious resources.

And it showed. The Hunters couldn't actually bring all that many spirit stones with them, and their brazen expenditure of Qi was starting to tell. They used their techniques less often, rested more. Attrition was beginning to play an increasing role in their hunt, as it always did. He suspected that the majority of the Hunters largely practiced the Spirit Qi cultivation method, which was a terrible match here. You could spend a mortal lifetime cultivating, and only breach the first heavenstage.

Now that they were managing their Qi more efficiently, Savvas knew to strike. A group of Hunters were meditating with precious spirit stones on hand in a makeshift camp. Mouth to blowdart, and a bolt flew through the air blew exploding in their midst, releasing Magnus' now-ubiquitous bacterial poison in a cloud they breathed in even as it attacked every skin pore to grow and multiply itself. They responded too slowly, inexperienced still even if their cultivation was far advanced for their age.

With their Qi depleted and poisoned still, they had no chance when Savvas slipped into their midst before precisely slicing and cutting with his knife (he was of course immune to the bacteria - They had dispersed, and he had long since trained his body against this specific strain of bacterial poison that he used), going for a crippling blow before immediately following up with a killing one when they couldn't respond even if they detected it. Harder to detect attacks not meant to kill. They were disorientated already, and were obviously strangers to this form of warfare, reacting badly (this would never work on one of the clan's veteran cultivators). Good. This meant he could replicate this strategy again for the other hunters.

Savvas then looted their corpses for anything valuable they had. Which wasn't much. They had really wasted their spirit stones, and Savvas would need to spend most of the Qi remaining in them just recovering his energy for another strike against the Hunters. Then again, if they hadn't been so sloppy, Savvas wouldn't have singled them out for practice to begin with. Plus, looking into their decaying cultivation, he had learned something valuable. Namely that at least for Qi Condensation, cultivation result wasn't all that different.. between Seas anyway.

Emboldened, Savvas began striking more brazenly, as he fine-tuned criterion for whoever was at their greatest weakness. He found that following large 'spots' of Qi to be the most effective, as it meant that major techniques had been used there, and from there it was a matter of tracking down the Hunters who failed to mask their Qi, probably thinking that nobody would ever consider the possibility of attacking them. Well, they were wrong, and Savvas decisively demonstrated it repeatedly. He refined his techniques each time, and made notes on possible improvements.

Long-acting and/or selective poisons was something he'd definitely have to pester Magnus about in the future, and for now Savvas deployed his newly invented smoke and sound bombs along with the bacterial poisons, intended to override the sensation of being poisoned - Normally it was very obvious, but if you deployed a lot of distractions simultaneously, you can buy a precious few seconds where the Cultivator was unsure as to why they weren't feeling so good, and maybe even blame it on the sound attack, a temporary weakness that would soon pass - He disabused them of that notion quickly, exploiting the weaknesses in their otherwise-impeccable style that spontaneously developed them when exposed to poisons.

Soon, the Golden Terror would find himself ensnared, as the Hunters devised a plan to put him down (self-preservation instincts were a powerful thing). Savvas didn't leave any survivors from any of his attacks, so they did their best to mimic his usual targets, 5th Sea Hunters drained of Qi and trying to regain it in a secluded area. But they reacted too quickly when Savvas attacked with his now-standard trifecta of poison and confusion preceding Savvas himself to mop up the survivors, too nervous from lack of Qi, too eager to put down a dangerous upstart.

Using the Qi-Cloaking Oil in the time provided by their mistake, Savvas would have crept out if not for realizing the 5th Sea Hunters actually had him surrounded. It wasn't obvious even when looking, but if there was one group aware as bait and at least another group hidden away but not well enough, then there were undoubtedly many more he couldn't see. Darting in, he targeted one of the slower-to-react parties (or maybe they really weren't aware and had been tricked) before slicing the spine, an injury enough to paralyze a mortal but not a cultivator. Then he darted out, throwing out knives and smoke bombs wantonly to hide himself as he fled and they believed he was among them. Which he was a few seconds ago.

That still left the matter of his encirclement. Knowing the location of at least one of the outer perimeter groups, if dimly.. he knew exactly where to run to - towards them. Why such a suicidal act? Well, firstly, Savvas had detected them, so obviously they weren't all that good in their stealth techniques. Between the Qi-Cloaking Oil and their presumably poor detection skills, he could slip by the least competent of their members. The other groups, which at this point Savvas wasn't sure existed, betrayed their presence at this point, looking too hard for the missing Golden Terror after he had attacked.

Unprofessional, really. Savvas swore that no operation of his own would run into the same issues as this. it was makeshift, haphazard, and it showed. If they hadn't revealed themselves by looking, Savvas might have diverted right into them and then killed. Now they were both revealed and blind, so effectively nonthreats. With all his opponent's cards shown, all Savvas had to do was to wait for.. the incompetent stealth ambush group to decide that now was a good time to launch a arrow bombardment on the camp Savvas had planned on ambushing (?!), since obviously there was fighting to be had there. What? Weren't they concerned about friendly fire?

Savvas suspected there was a lot more friction among the 5th Sea Hunters than existed in his own clan. The 'planned' ambush might not even have existed to kill him specifically, thinking about it. They had their own politics which were totally opaque to him. Still, never interrupt your enemy when they were making a mistake. Still shrouded from anyone relying, dependent, on their Qi Senses, Savvas crept away from what he was fully confident was going to shortly become very exciting.

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Cultivation Tourism ​

These were strange times, very strange ones indeed.

Normally, the Scorpion Road is a dusty trip through the Desert, sped along by the enchantments upon the road with regular settlements lining it--partially to break up invaders who try to make use of the facilities anyway.

Nobody really spends any time there more than they have to, and the escorts are usually limited to 'Whoever we can afford to play escort, and with absolutely no time to dillydally around'

The current… Strangeness though meant that there was a whole new category of visitors though.

Cultivation Tourists

The fact of the matter is that Cultivators invariably take the opening of a new territory as an excuse to go on new adventures. That the territory is in a region that juniors typically would have no right to access but is still secure enough to not be a deathtrap?

No small number of missions popped up on the contribution board once this became clear to the higher ups, and Rina--starved as she always was of late--ended up regularly grabbing them.

Which led to the current scenario.

"As you can see" Rina explained calmly as the trio of young Cultivators drew out their treasures and surrounded their target of the day "Sandstorm Python-Horses are fine targets for regular hunts. The nests are abandoned shortly after fertilization, and the young invariably lock horns and battle until only a single one survives, quickly reaching the upper layers of Qi Condensation as they go."

The leader, a bold boy cracking his knuckles charged in, screaming something on the lines of 'Vajra Headlock!' or something before grasping the scaled horse-shaped reptile by the neck. He spat up a little blood as the spirit beast kicked against the ground and started to push back--but held steady. Pretty good!

His companions drew their own swords, and began to lay down strikes against the momentarily pinned creature. It whinnied and hissed in challenge, tail snaking up to lash back--but found its opponents no easy prey.

All in all, it was a splendid show of teamwork for juniors! Indeed, the Strength Purity Sect deserved their reputation as the strongest of all Righteous Powers.

That they were also the only ones who could genuinely be said to live up to the ideals that many spout was just icing on the cake. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if the Golden Devils could afford to buy into that little pact?

Except how many times was disaster averted solely because of the methods employed by the experts of the Clan? Would the Night Devil Fortress have held if it were not for the Bee-Slaying Poison that crippled their wings? Would Lord Constantine have been able to drag out his battle with the Boiling Soul Demon until it choked on its own lack of Essence if he did not employ the Martyr's Final Stand technique to command the strength of his fallen cohorts?

It wasn't in the cards--not now, and not until the Clan's footing could be called secure.

The sword blows sapped the vitality of the Python-Horse, and it began to wheeze, frothing at the mouth as it began its death struggle. The hulking lad grappling it began to tighten his grip--bit by bit.

Then with a great shout, he twisted his grip, and snapped the beast's neck. He stepped back, dusting his hands off, and raised his hands in victory.

Rina nodded to herself at this--she'd have to drill them on the methods needed to properly preserve the valuable materials from this particular beast.

She saw something in its eyes flicker--and put her hand to her blade.

-------------------------------------------------------​

Cao Shi was having a wonderful day! Ever since the Demon Annihilating War had begun, many of the more talented Juniors had been kept on simple, safe jobs within the core territories of the Sect--except where they could be used to make up the numbers. The front lines were a place for the experts after all!

But it was difficult, difficult, difficult to temper himself in those situations! The strength of his Clear Sky Vajra demanded his mind and heart be as clear as his fists, and to achieve that state without constant conflict to sharpen the mind? Training and swapping pointers could only go so far!

But then word came out that the Sect had claimed tribute from the desert barbarians to the southeast, and had gained access to their borderlands to serve as a reasonably safe tempering ground for the disciples who had reached the limit of the Sect's own tutelage. Naturally, he was among the first to take advantage of the opportunity!

Admittedly, he was expecting to be slumming it, moving from shantytown to shantytown in a burning wasteland, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that the barbarians at least knew how to prepare reasonable accommodations--it was rare to find a situation where one would need to camp out in the wilderness except on expedition, and the fortress cities themselves were little different from home!

The populace also appeared to be happy and healthy as well, which was often the true indicator of prosperity--after all, it was easy to create a paper castle that looked wonderful, but determining the duplicity of their masters was as simple as looking to the servants.

It was good that proper fear of the Strength Purity Sect kept these 'Golden Devils' in line! They even provided an escort to show him and the Duo Sword Princes the best hunting grounds and prime beasts! While a little on the old and severe side, she was learned enough to be of use.

He'd have to see if they could find a couple more of these! It'd be a good challenge if he tried to fight one alone, now that he had their measure!

"DOWN!"

A voice boomed behind him, and Cao Shi hesitated--then found himself lifted off his feet as a great force struck his side! He tumbled away, feeling the place of impact smarting--how? His Vajra Body should be…

His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. The twins had been knocked aside by palm strikes, he himself had been shoved--at the center was the Golden Devil woman, hands upraised and grasping too glistening tendrils, razor sharp thorns digging into her hands and arms, leaving unbleeding scratches across them. She stared at it--he almost thought dumbly, was she fatally wounded?

And yet a moment later, a cauldron shifted from behind her, dispatching a puff of flame. The tendrils shrieked!, and in the same motion, the woman pulled. The great vines shudder in the body of the Python-Horse, bursting out from the eyeballs, and a great tangle of writhing things are pulled from within.

Ah

It wasn't dumb.

Her foot pressed down, and she tore the creature from its host, hoisting it down into the lip of the cauldron. More flame erupted--and she clinically, coolly drew the blade that had been buried into the sand nearby--when?--from its post, glistening a transparent blue.

She chopped once, twice, three times, severing the vines as they attempted to flee the refining crucible.

Cai Shi was mistaken, she wasn't some kind of idiot at all, or brute. He had seen far too many cultivators on the backfoot, continually speaking of the might of their technique and how their foe was a frog in the well. The only exceptions to this being the great Chosen who had to at least grudgingly admit that the other qualified to stand against them--even if each of them was superior.

This showed none of that.

He had thought he had seen coldness in the eyes of a cultivator, the disdain in the eyes of Blood Path bandits and raiders who forever plagued the Plains. The disdain for all life that existed in the eyes of those mighty.

This was not that.

As the woman rattled the cauldron with one fist, shifting her grip on her blade to bury it into the twitching vine mass's nucleus, he saw what it truly meant to be cold.

It was not concealing burning emotions beneath a veneer of disdain. Coldness was a steel intellect, immediately calculating the precise mechanism to dismantle any obstacle obstructing you. To reduce battle to a simple equation to be balanced.

He had not paid close attention in the past, and was shocked when he felt the undulations rippling from the woman. Tightly controlled pulses of Qi, channeled through a body no weaker than his own Vajra, micro adjustments present at any given moment to maximize impact at the least expense possible.

This wasn't just some tour guide! Some failed disciple sent to mind strangers! This was a genuine Chosen!

What was she even doing here?

She withdrew her hands from the cauldron, frowning as she turned her gaze to the disciples of the Strength Purity Sect. "Apologies for the rough treatment" She tilted her head towards them. "Parasitic Mind-Eater Vines aren't known to frequent these areas, I will need to report their presence when we're through so we can do a sweep for any others." She absently flicked her hand--sap and plant matter flying off, and Cao Shi wondered how often those hands were coated in the blood of men.

"Now, shall we continue the tour?" The Devil in human skin asked, with all the ease of one going for lunch. Her mouth twisted in a semblance of a smile.

Perhaps he should have stayed home…

-----------------------------------------------------​

"Eeeeeeeew!' Rina thought to herself behind her smile. "It's sticky! It's all over my hands! How am I going to get it off!"

Maybe she should have just used her sword to begin with? But then she'd have had to take a moment to push the two swordsmen away and Mind Eaters were fast with those mindtaker spears!

"At least the mission's going to go fine!" She happily thought. "I might even get a tip for this!'

Truly, the things she did for points...

 

[Humbaba]

Annnd threadmarked.

"Only" 1600 words, are you feeling ok @Alectai?

 

[Pyro Hawk]

Obviously not, they're complaining about how the goo from the vine went all over their hands even through the screen and, eeeeew, it won't come off where's the industrial grade soap?

Loved the disparity between what's seen and what's thought at the end.

 

[BungieONI]

As the woman rattled the cauldron with one fist, shifting her grip on her blade to bury it into the twitching vine mass's nucleus, he saw what it truly meant to be cold.

It was not concealing burning emotions beneath a veneer of disdain. Coldness was a steel intellect, immediately calculating the precise mechanism to dismantle any obstacle obstructing you. To reduce battle to a simple equation to be balanced.

He had not paid close attention in the past, and was shocked when he felt the undulations rippling from the woman. Tightly controlled pulses of Qi, channeled through a body no weaker than his own Vajra, micro adjustments present at any given moment to maximize impact at the least expense possible.

Click to shrink...

Heh we're all war veterans. It's like three or four wars depending on which Good Seed you're looking at?

Unprofessional, really. Savvas swore that no operation of his own would run into the same issues as this. it was makeshift, haphazard, and it showed. If they hadn't revealed themselves by looking, Savvas might have diverted right into them and then killed. Now they were both revealed and blind, so effectively nonthreats. With all his opponent's cards shown, all Savvas had to do was to wait for.. the incompetent stealth ambush group to decide that now was a good time to launch a arrow bombardment on the camp Savvas had planned on ambushing (?!), since obviously there was fighting to be had there. What? Weren't they concerned about friendly fire?

Savvas suspected there was a lot more friction among the 5th Sea Hunters than existed in his own clan. The 'planned' ambush might not even have existed to kill him specifically, thinking about it. They had their own politics which were totally opaque to him. Still, never interrupt your enemy when they were making a mistake. Still shrouded from anyone relying, dependent, on their Qi Senses, Savvas crept away from what he was fully confident was going to shortly become very exciting.

Click to shrink...

This ending made me giggle. The pacing of this covering a significant span of time was smoothly conveyed, though that conveyance could probably have been improved with a reference to how much time is passing between at least two scenes. I don't think a time reference between all of them would be necessary.

 

[Quest]

[Yuan 3: Growth and Goodbyes]​

The next time he stood before Yixuan Shan, the pipe-fish had changed the world that he pulled Antonius into. Rather than being in the bottom of the ocean, this time he stood on top of an archipelago made not of earth and sand but from corals. Some of the islands had been shaped into walls and breakpoints that prevented easy access to the islands.

He looked around and noticed silvered fins reach out of the water every now and then as pipefishes came to the surface and then dived down below. Yixuan Shan himself had taken a more reasonable size and swam in the water in front of him.

Antonius walked over to the edge of the island and took a seat. "Greetings, great pipe-fish." He said respectfully. "I am here to start my training."

"Call me Shan," He rumbled, turning his face so that an eye was on you. "First, allow me to examine you. Then we can determine what would be the best way to train you."

Antonius nodded. "Would it be helpful if I spent the time cultivating?" He asked Shan hopefully. He hadn't actually had a chance to cultivate with the dense qi of the Yuan mountains yet and he was looking forward to the experience.

The pipe-fish tilted his head in acknowledgement. "You may do so if you wish." He replied as he continued observing him.

Antonius nodded and sat cross-legged as he had been taught. He remembered the instructions he had been given during general training and used breathing lull himself into a meditative mindset as he had been taught.

It was difficult in the desert but here… he almost gasped as the qi rushed in to fill him. He had to pause in his cultivation and check to see if the qi density in Yuan's realm was meaningfully different from the outside.

It wasn't. Was this what it felt like to cultivate in the plains? He'd felt the increased density when he'd first come here but it hadn't actually registered how much of a difference it could be in terms of cultivation. The desert where his clan had made its home had qi that was so much thinner.

He had trained to cultivate with atmospheric qi when he first began training and though it was useful in his first days as an aspirant, it quickly became impossible to make any progress until they had switched over to spirit stones. But with this, he could see himself cultivating until at least foundation establishment - it was hard to say.

He'd need to make adjustments to his cultivation strategy. His personal visualization for cultivation was always breathing. The basic idea was simple. Antonius breathed in good fresh qi from the outside, channeled it down his throat and to his lungs. From there, it flowed to his heart and through there to the rest of his body.

He imagined the bronze in his body absorbing the qi and getting, for the lack of a better word, shinier. Dirt would be released, akin to rust in iron and it would flow back to his lungs and then he'd breathe it out. In the desert air, he'd need to 'breathe in' several times before he could 'breathe out'. He needed to accumulate enough qi to dislodge the impurities in his body which made it possible to cultivate but incredibly slow and inefficient.

With spirit stones on the other hand, the qi rushed into his body as if it was pressurized and he had just provided a release. He needed to stop the flow periodically in order to allow him to pour the impurities out. Here, there was no need for such complicated steps. He just had to breathe and release. There was more than enough qi in the air.

He could have just settled with that, but with a portion of his attention now freed he could instead concentrate on guiding the qi to areas where it was needed more. He estimated that he had been focused on it for nearly an hour when Shan sought his attention.

He opened his eyes and turned to face the pipe-fish. "I believe that I have understood enough to propose a potential method of training." Shan said as his eyes focused on Antonius. "The Curse of Metal was designed to speed a creature's cultivation, but even so the level of talent varies between individuals."

"Where do I rank then?" Antonius asked him. He knew he was better than his peers in some respects, but no one had clearly said how much.

The pipe-fish paused before it answered. "Incredibly high," He replied, to Antonius' surprised delight. "Though I doubt you understood exactly why, I have just watched to actively optimise your cultivation art to fit your environment. How often do you cultivate using qi from the air?"

"Very rarely these days," Antonius admitted. "Mostly I focus on spirit stones because of living in the desert."

"I thought as much," Shan replied. "I had considered several methods of training for you but the one that seems the most effective will depend entirely on your talent."

Antonius closed his eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. "What do I have to do?"

"I will channel my own qi into you," Shan replied. "My Dao has a strong connection to your bloodline and it should be easily absorbed but it will still be a large amount of qi being infused into you. I'll adjust it as much as I can but you will need to manage it once it flows into your body."

Antonius considered that for a moment. "Can we try it without committing to it?" He asked. "I think that it will be easier to feel than to understand with words."

Yixuan Shan nodded and Antonius felt the water around him tense with anticipation. "I can begin whenever you are ready." He replied.

Antonius took a deep breath and settled himself. Then he looked at Shan and nodded. He felt the qi in the air concentrate and increase. For a moment he thought he couldn't breathe, but physical breaths were possible.

Tentatively, he opened himself to the qi and suddenly it was like he was inside a giant spirit stone. It tried to rush inside of him and he felt like he was drowning. It forced itself down his throat and it felt like it was trying to flood every part of his body.

Then it stopped and he realised that he had moved away from the water where Shan lay and had a hand on his throat. Though there wasn't anything physically entering his throat, he had to cough for a few moments before the image left him.

He considered the pain and the sensation that it brought. He could easily back away here. But then he remembered the coming trials and took a deep breath to centre himself. Then he moved back into position. "I think I have the feeling now." He told Shan. "Please continue."

"So be it." Shan replied. A moment later, the pressure increased again and Antonius took a tentative breath. Once more, it forced itself down his throat but this time he was ready. He imagined a pipe in his body, guiding the qi to only where it needed to go. Then he focused entirely on that image.

The pain decreased. Where before it was this sharp all-encompassing pain, now it was more akin to a scraping pain that had spread throughout his body. Whenever the sharp pain would erupt, he would stop absorbing qi and take a moment to centre himself before continuing. After that point, it was just a matter of bearing the pain.

As he began to get used to the pain and feel the flow of the qi, he began to be aware of the paths it used to flow through his body. Slowly but surely, he became aware of the points in his body where his own qi was released. What awareness he'd regained, was now focused on ensuring that the external qi didn't flow into them and harm them.

He didn't know how long he had been doing that for until Yixuan Shan called for a halt and told him to come back the next day. Antonius was too sore to argue and ended up moving to his parents who guided him back into his tent.

* * * * * * * * *​

The next day when he was more aware of himself, he realised how much he had truly managed to progress in that single day. Somehow he had managed to reach the fifth heavenstage and the increase in speed, strength and stamina… it was amazing. He could see how many considered cultivation worth it despite the struggles. Still, the progress to the sixth Heavenstage was much slower.

This time rather than just removing impurities, he needed to open his meridians. He had begun to be aware of them before when he'd begun to guide the flow of qi throughout his body but opening them was a more involved process. He had to focus on a single one at a time and slowly increase the qi flowing through it until it was large enough to be considered 'open'. As with all cultivation, it was a thoroughly unpleasant process.

Antonius had no idea how long this would have normally taken, but under Yixuan Shan's watchful eye it still progressed quickly. Still, it took him nearly a month to reach the point where the pipe-fish was willing to allow him to progress further.

It wasn't as painful as accelerated cultivation and now he was able to talk to his teacher. It gave him time to ask the questions that had been plaguing him.

* * * * * * * * *​

Every day, Yixuan Shan chose to show him a different view. Today, they floated over the Organ Meat Desert and Antonius sat on clouds as the pipe-fish swam next to him. During a break in their training, a thought occurred to Antonius as he looked down into the passing sands.

"Can you show me anything you want?" He asked, turning to Shan curiously. So far, everything he'd showed were things that he may have plausibly encountered in life.

"Anything that I have a strong image of, yes." The pipefish confirms. "I assume from your question that there is something in particular you had in mind?"

Antonius considered his question for a moment. He felt like it could be rude to point out what he'd noticed but the pipe-fish had been reasonable so far. "I was curious about Chang-e," He confessed. "You've shown me your kin several times but I've yet to see her. That feels strange."

The pipefish paused. This Antonius recognised was a sign that he was considering his words. "I would have enjoyed showing her to you," He told him. "However, I fear her beauty would be too much for one at your current level of existence."

Antonius frowned. "Your description of her was definitely a reason I wanted to see her," He admitted. "But I can't imagine how something can be too beautiful."

"Do you remember when I spoke of how she distracted the Jade Archer in that key moment in our battle?" The pipe-fish asked. Antonius nodded as he recalled it. "Even a Late Nascent Soul was distracted by her in the middle of battle as was I when I first encountered her. Her beauty was her weapon and it could cause more than distraction on a weaker mind."

Antonius' eyes widened. "Is that what happened to you?" He asked, the pipe-fish's story taking on a more sinister bent in his mind.

The cloud rumbled as his water used to and after a second, Antonius realised that he was laughing. "In a way, that is indeed what happened." Shan agreed. "However, it is difficult to complain when she has been nothing but kind to me and the only reason I can contemplate such a notion is due to the very resolve she granted me."

Antonius nodded, conceding the point but still finding himself unsure about his feelings on the issue. "How did she get so beautiful in the first place?" He asked instead. "Is it a form of an illusion?"

"Chang-e was born naturally beautiful and just as your bronze grants you strength and vitality in return for a lowered speed, the Jade Emperor granted her silver that made her more beautiful in return for increasing her fragility." The pipefish answered. "In that sense, her beauty was real. However, her dao itself was dedicated to beauty and the effects of that are more difficult to determine."

"Are effects like these common?" Antonius asked him apprehensively. He couldn't think of any way to really counter them.

Shan gave him another considering silence. "They are common enough," He finally told him. "There are arts that can defend against certain types of such effects, each with their own limitations. To a limited extent, the willpower necessary to progress to the later stages of cultivation can shield you from lesser illusions. But there is no perfect shield against it, not without shedding what makes you 'human' though that would simply open new vulnerabilities."

"Wouldn't the best defence simply be knowing oneself well enough to spot such extreme reactions?" Antonius pointed out.

"Another good defence would be to have an ally different enough that they don't fall prey to the same weaknesses," Shan pointed out in turn. "But that would bring the challenges common to interpersonal relations while your own solution requires the same level of dedication and challenges that a cultivator brings to their dao."

That would possibly require time that isn't being used for cultivation or perhaps, it would require a Dao about understanding the self? Was that even possible? He shelved that thought for later and returned to the original point of the conversation. "Could you at least describe her to me?" He asked curiously. "I would love to hear more about her."

Though the pipe-fish did not have a human face, Antonius thought that his current expression was close to a smile. "It would be my pleasure."

* * * * * * * * *​

Once Shan pronounced him ready, he returned to body purification and once more he applied himself to that difficult training that they had first started with. This time, it was much easier to deal with. To an extent, the pain had eased off even before meridian opening as his body became capable of handling higher levels of qi. However, opening his meridians gave him the most dramatic level of improvement when it came to the ability to channel more qi within him.

The rate at which he improved should have reduced as he grew in power and needed more resources, but with him needing to focus less on trying to draw Shan's qi through his meridians he could instead spend the time on improving the efficiency of the technique. The improvement was enough that he'd kept up a similar rate as before and reached the eighth heavenstage before Shan asked him to stop.

The next challenge was called Dantian Expansion. While Meridians were essentially the spiritual blood-vessels through which the qi flowed through the body, the dantian was where the qi was gathered and stored. The most important dantian was located in his belly marked by the navel that once connected him to his mother. He was curious about how that worked but Shan wasn't very knowledgeable about human reproduction.

The process itself was fairly similar to strengthening and expanding his meridians but where qi flowed through the meridians, it had to be held still in the dantian and then they had to be expanded slowly. Surprisingly, the first part of the process wasn't too difficult to grasp. I had already been doing it when I 'held my breath' while building up the external qi of the desert.

The major difficulty of the process was bearing the pain when expanding it. The feeling it gave him reminded him of the pain you felt in the lungs when you held your breath to your limits. Only much worse, because this was qi. Still, it went quickly under Shan's instructions. Like before, it also gave them a chance to talk and Antonius enjoyed asking Shan questions about his adventures.

* * * * * * * * *​

One day, Shan chose to have them train in front of the same salty lake where Antonius had originally found him. There were subtle differences like the silver-finned pipefish in the lake and the array of silver that was set up around it. Obviously, it only inspired one line of questioning.

"What can you tell me about the Jade Archer?" Antonius asked Shan curiously. "Was he one of the things the emperor kept like you or Chang-e?"

He had expected a moment of silence, but Shan replied surprisingly swiftly. "I'm not particularly aware of the man's history," The pipefish told him. "However, he was different from us. He was part of the Jade Court - people with skills or abilities that the emperor felt were indispensable to him."

"Do you know anyone else who was also part of the Jade Court?" Antonius asked him in interest. This was where another of his ancestors came from.

"Chang-e mentioned several," Yixuan Shan answered. "However, the only one that stuck in my mind was the Jade Rabbit. Like me, he was one of the king's beasts who grew both intelligent and powerful. Unlike me, the rabbit developed skills in alchemy and the emperor found his talent worth keeping around."

A thought occurred to Antonius and he smiled at Shan. "Was he and Chang-e close?" Antonius asked.

"...yes, they were." The pipefish replied after a pause. This time though, it wasn't due to him considering the answer. "He felt sorry for those like me and her. Though he would not openly defy the Emperor, he would often help us behind his back. I was never the beneficiary of his attention but he provided Chang-e occasional training in alchemy and several pills that helped her cultivate through bottlenecks that may have otherwise slowed her down."

Antonius nodded in understanding. "So did you remember him because of the help he gave her or because you were jealous?" He then asked in amusement.

"More the latter than the former," The pipe-fish admitted and Antonius realised that he was embarrassed at that. A moment later, the pipefish laughed and Antonius smiled back.

After a moment, Antonius continued more seriously. "So you showed me this place because you wanted me to ask you about the Jade Archer," He waited a moment and Shan gave a sound of agreement. "But I doubt you had this turn of conversation in mind. What did you want to talk about?"

"Once we are done with training, I intend to give you a treasure that will let you use my own techniques to a lesser extent." He explained. "I felt like it would be prudent to begin teaching you about my style of battle. How do you think I battled the Jade Archer?"

Antonius considered it for a moment. "Did you just call up a wall of water to block his arrows?" He asked curiously. The pipe-fish shook gave a sound of disagreement.

"Arrows and similar sharp weapons can easily pierce through walls of water," Shan explained. "You have to keep the water flowing and deflect them from a different angle. It was also far more efficient to adapt the flow according to his attacks rather than keep up constant walls all around me."

"Couldn't he get an attack through you if he struck a point of weakness then?" Antonius questioned back.

"This is where your sixth sense is incredibly important." The pipe-fish replied. "For a skilled user of that sense, an entire battlefield becomes visible and it allows you to gauge not only your opponent's skill and power but also the nature of their ability."

"What if you face someone who has ways of hiding from or even tricking the qi sense?" Antonius pointed out, as had become the pattern in these conversations.

"Of course, but there are ways of countering those as well." The pipefish replied. "One of the tactics I employed against the Jade Archer was to use thin waters as a method of sensing his arrows. Even if they were hidden from me, they still had to physically pass my waters and those I could sense and adjust as necessary."

Antonius nodded in acceptance. "What else do I have to keep in mind?"

"For manipulation of an element like this, you have to keep in mind both the amount of the element you can control and the speed of it's flow." The pipe-fish began and Antonius settled in to listen.

* * * * * * * * *​

Dantian Expansion took him over two months. Even under Shan's instructions this was a tedious process and it took him time to finish the whole thing. Once they did, they returned to cultivating and this time took much longer than before.

To a degree, it was because the effects of Shan's qi on me had decreased even if it was marginally but though I didn't realise it at first, the primary reason was that Yixuan Shan himself was weakening.

Once I realised that, the cultivation became a more somber experience and I found myself dreading the day when it would end. Finally, I reached the point where the bronze in my body sparkled and I had reached the end of my current method of cultivation. There were no more impurities in my body and I had reached the tenth heavenstage.

It was time for Shan to give me his final gifts.

* * * * * * * * *​

"Antonius, o inheritor of my power and precious friend." Yixuan Shan spoke and Antonius tried to hold back tears. He felt his father place a hand on his shoulders and he felt the presence of his mother beside him. They gave him some strength but even now, he could feel the pipe-fish's familiar presence beginning to fade.

"Firstly, take this Sand Spitting Marble." He had chosen the image around them to be in the coral reefs where they first began training. His kin swam in the sea and though he couldn't see her, Antonius knew Shan well enough now to know that Chang-e was hidden somewhere as well out of their view. "It is a tool my beloved created - a pearl formed around a grain of sand taken from the desert. Even now, it remembers it's home. Should you hold it in your mouth for eleven days, it will summon a sandstorm of some moderate size. Enough to escape pursuit or to hide from view of the enemy."

"Secondly, take this Fishbone Mourning Flute." This Antonius handled reverently. He knew its origin and history very well. "It is what my beloved once used to play her songs. It still carries an echo of her song of sorrow and should you play it, you will be able to employ the same power to deaden entire armies of your lessers by striking at their Dao."

"Thirdly, take the Silver Scale from my tail-fin that anchors my will." As he took it, he could feel the realm around them fade and it was only pushed back by Shan's own rapidly fading will. "It is time enough that I pass on from this world. This has contained my will for millenia and now it holds an echo of my own power. By using your own qi, you will be able to summon my waters to harm your foes and heal your allies."

Antonius bowed in gratitude and looked back up at the pipe-fish as he spoke his final words. "Finally, I wish to thank you Antonius. It was a pleasure to meet you and a greater pleasure still to have the chance to be your teacher. Thank you for making my final moments within this world worthy ones."

"I'll miss you," Antonius whispered, no grand words coming to his mind. "Thank you so much. For everything, Shan."

"I will miss you too Antonius," The pipe-fish replied, smiling lightly. "You will face much struggle in the future. Try to find your moments of happiness even in trying times, cling hard to those you love and live even in the face of death. Those are the final pieces of advice I have for you."

Antonius looked at him as he faded and replied as best as he could. "I promise you I will!" He swore. "I'll live my life to the fullest and make you proud! I'll burn so bright that even if you are dead, you will feel my heat!"

The last thing he saw as Yixuan Shan, the silver finned pipe-fish faded, was his peculiar smile of pride. Then he was gone and all that was left around him was the ancient cave and a lake that rapidly began to fill it in. He felt his father move to hold him but he didn't want to be held right now.

With his newfound strength and speed, he easily stepped past his father and bounded into the air leaving behind the cave the lake behind him. Then he just ran. A part of him reminded him to stay within clan territory but the other part felt his mother lightly keep pace with him. He knew she'd make sure he didn't get into trouble.

He didn't know how far or even where he ran. He just ran fast enough that for a moment all he could concentrate on was the speed and the exertion. After some time, he realized that he had no more energy to run anymore and he came to a stop and began to breathe hard as he recovered.

After he had a moment to catch his breath, he turned to his mother. "Is it difficult to reach the next stage?" He asked her.

"For me, it was easy." His mother replied. "I have been ready for years and I am not cursed by heaven. For you, it will be far more difficult."

Antonius considered that and nodded. "First, I'll survive the trials and then I'll reach Foundation Establishment." He promised. "Those are the next steps I need to take."

His mother nodded in agreement.

 

[Humbaba]

Wei Feng 10 - Aftermath​

======================

On the first day, he woke, and agony swallowed him.

===

On the second day, he woke to a cry of voices, begging him to drink. A vessel touched suffering lips, and razors flensed their way down his throat, dragging him back to the abyss.

===

On the third day, he endured the razors and opened aching eyelids. Twin shafts of light impaled his eyes and the darkness welcomed him again.

===

On the fifth day they press a single grain of rice down his throat and he felt as if he had consumed enough to fill the vaults of the earth.

===

On the tenth day, he first holds a cup again.

Twitching, spasming muscles smash it into shards.

===

On the 16th​ day, he manages to hold and drink from his own cup.

===

On the 20th​ day, he manged to feed himself, spilling only three quarters of his meal.

===

On the 21st​ day, he is told the truth.

"Your meridians did not regenerate with you. They are shattered beyond repair."

He drives them from the room in rage and grief.

--

Hero.

In the wake of Pleuron, Wei Feng had been hailed. Held out as an immortal, undying hero.

He didn't feel it. He felt like an invalid. Confined to a sickbed, barely able to move without his muscles spasming into uselessness.

Every move sent splinters of pain crashing through him. Cycling qi had never been pleasant. A persistent itch under the skin. Now it was worse. Trying to cycle qi felt like ten thousand needles burrowing into his body from every direction.

His meridians lay shattered. Some had been ruptured by the blades and techniques of the fifth sea cultivators even as he sent them screaming into the void, or back to their own sea. Others, he had shattered himself. Ramming raw qi through them to power techniques he wasn't truly ready for.

Days, weeks of fighting, swallowing down power from spirit stones and dumping it straight through his meridians without chance to soften or metabolise the powerful, inhuman qi.

But most had not been shattered by the techniques of his enemies, or the desperate blasts of his own power. They had been brutalised and fragmented by the raging power of the false phoenix blood droplet.

The phoenix was a sublime creature. Upon its death it would be reborn in fire, perfectly regenerated into new life. The false phoenix blood attempted to replicate this. Yet it was but a reflection of the true power of the phoenix. Its regeneration was imperfect, flame qi rampaging through his qi system even as his wounds healed.

Wei Feng's body was a superb instrument. He had forged it for eighty years on an altar of agony. Again and again he had thrown himself naked into the boiling, searing cauldron of blood and reagents. For his dedication, he had earned his magnificent blood cauldron physique. He had spent long nights meditating beneath the coconut faeces tree making him proof against poisons that would have destroyed most.

It was not enough to resist the full power of the false blood droplet. Within his channels, fiery healing and offensive water qi met and clashed. and ravaged. Fatal injuries healed over, allowing him to keep fighting even as his qi system burned. Had the situation been less dire, had he taken fewer fatal wounds, then perhaps his system would have survived, wounded but capable of healing. But Wei Feng had fought on, taking death after death to buy time for their ultimate card to be deployed.

===

On the 30th​ day, he does something stupid.

He tries, oh so slowly, to call a droplet of water from the air. It was the first technique spell he had learned long decades ago.

He speaks the words, makes the gestures, as reverent and breathlessly nervous as he was as a teen.

He feels his power build, qi driving out from his core.

Yes

Up, up through his stomach. He can feel the obstructions, blocks where once there were none, but still the qi rises, snaking pas tan around them. Up to his shoulder, down through his arm.

Yes, yes.

Tears sting his eyes as the power reaches his palm.

Rebounds.

No.

Trapped inside his body, nowhere to go, the qi rebounds up his arm, sending muscles twitching and spasming as it slams back into his chest. His flailing arm slams into the window side wall near the bedframe, demolishing it.

Please.

The qi slams into his heart and stomach, and he vomits blood.

When the doctors come running, no one mentions his tears.

--

His meridians had shattered entirely. External use of qi was beyond him.

They told him he was lucky, in a way. He was a body cultivator first and foremost. Though he could no longer express his qi externally, the foundation he had laid: his powerful body, his strength, and his speed were still with him.

Wei Feng tried hard to cling to the thought. Though every movement was agony, his unique cultivation method had inured him to agony far greater than would be expected of any qi condensation. He even still possessed some of the powerful vitality of the false phoenix.

And yet…. He was so much less than he had once been.

===

On the 40th​ Day, Wei Feng brooded.

"The indomitable thirteen." He chuckled with joyless humour. He had grown fond of speaking to himself.

"Unrivalled under heaven. Hah." He scoffs quietly.

Four of them cripples, two more wounded enough that a full tenth or more of their lives might be given over to healing. Xiao Yi too lay crippled, an agonised statue guarding the gates of Pleuron, living only through the power of the demonic vines that pierced him and that still fed on the corpses of his fallen foes.

'Indomitable'. They had seemed far from indomitable at the end. Not one of them without wounds, covered with blood, their own and enemies missing indistinguishably. Half of them insensible or unable to move.

Yet they had stood all the same.

Thirteen souls (Fourteen Peta insists in his mind) standing against the night, daring the monsters from another world to come for them. Wei Feng stares down at his trembling hands, feeling the spiritual shards of his meridians pressing up against his physical flesh.

Well. The monsters had come.

In the final accounting, fully half the clan's qi condensation cultivators had still died. Their core formation leaders were far beyond mere decimation.

How much of a difference did we make?

===

On the 55th​ day, Wei Feng read.

The doctors had delivered a number of reports and letters. Some of them were general, some addressed to him specifically, some to the thirteen as a group.

'Immortal Phoenix…'

'Gracious Thirteen…'

'…Pleuron allowed thousands to survive…'

'Thank you, for allowing me to see my children again…'

'Wife…'

'Husband..'

'Nephews…'

'Nieces…'

He put down the letters and took a long, deep breath. His eyes burned.

It was worth it.

He let out the breath. Then he breathed in again. Holding it, tensed up he reached for a cup of water, forcing his trembling muscles to stillness he brought it to his mouth and drank.

Enough.

===

On the 56th​ Day, Wei Feng found himself again.

There were other letters, less happy ones. Other sights he had seen and would have wished to forget.

Tormented souls screaming on desert sands.

Brutalised prisoners kept alive past all hope. Begging to be allowed to die.

Dying comrades crying out for the only mercy he could grant.

Many in the clan had suffered far worse than he in these trials. Fathers, Sons, Mothers, Daughters, Grandparents, aunts, and uncles lay dead, their families grieving. Many had suffered torture at the hands of the monstrous invaders, enduring days or weeks of agony before they were rescued or killed. He had suffered a setback, but he would find a way to heal.

Would you do it again, even if you could never heal?

And even if he didn't, he could still fight. He could still protect the vulnerable against those who would destroy them simply because they held power.

"I will never forget where I came from" a young boy vows in his memory.

--

To be indomitable does not mean never falling, never losing. It means never being truly conquered. Always standing again, even when it seemed hopeless.

Wei Feng struggled to the door of his sickroom and into the light of a new day.

He only fell six times.

======================

AN: I wrote most of this over a week ago, but I wasn't satisfied with it. I also wanted to get Wei Feng's perspective of Pleuron completed first, partly to get the details straight for this omake.

As ever, comments and criticism would be very welcome.

 

[Nordlending]

Demetrius Ceres
A boss encounter at the Burnished Crags – Part 1
​

Here I am. Here I stand. Alone, and very bored. When I had volunteered to stand on the front lines, to beat down these strange animals praising brigands. I had expected to be sent into the middle of the fighting and not the Burnished Crags. There was nothing here, just sand, caves, and more sand.

I heard a short hiss and instinctively extended my arm. I caught the Blood Snake and immediately broke its neck. I gave it a quick look before tossing it into the pile with the rest of the animal corpses. The whole area was infested with critters. These reptilians goats and Blue Blood Scorpions being the most common, together with the Blood Snakes.

It was hours later, while I was in the middle of attempting to build a chair out of a scorpions remains when I sensed someone approaching. There were thirty young Golden Devil Qi cultivators. Weaklings. Children. Prospects, and something else?

The situation was quickly explained to me after a conversation with their second-in-Command. Their first-in-Command had gotten his upper body buried in the sand after screaming, "You DARE speak to ME!" into my face.

This sorry group had been hunted for the better part of a month by the enemy. Only the promise of the cave entrance behind me had kept their hopes up. Their intent was to use a formation to seal the place shut for the remaining part of the trial. Their mightiest and most experienced cultivators were supposed to keep the hunters away. The ones who stepped forward after that being said, was neither strong, nor experienced, nor remarkable in any way. I told them that and asked them to move their feeble legs into the cave. They were not happy, but I was not wrong. They complied.

With the distractions out of the way, I only needed to wait on the hunters to arrive. It would be an opportunity to train my skills and learn something new.

_______________________


"You all know the plan?" the prince asked us, his long black hair fluttering in the wind like a hero of a tale.
"We know. We move in to cripple the devils and only kill when necessary. You deal with the finishing blow and harvest all the karma. For the honor of our dynasty." Thakor answered lazily. He lifted his enormous shield and placed it in front of him. His beefy body was a stark contrast to the prince's own lean frame.
"If only these beasts could stop obstructing us. We would have already found them." Pooja stated. Her silver-blue robe, making her every move appear elegant. "I suppose it is only fitting for this barbaric desert to house such crude beasts."
"These beasts are not behaving like any creatures I have encountered before. Neither at home nor here," Thakor answered. He brushed his oiled beard with his hand. "Something has rattled them."
"You think the bronze creatures have crossed this path?" I asked in my usual raspy voice. It was a byproduct of possessing an Acid Heart. It would be one of the many things cured by reaching the first stage of Chakra Opening.
"Course they did. The light above says it is so." Pooja responded. "They are in a cave now, I think."

Behind us, 3 hooded servants followed. They had been gifted to the prince when he had reached the 10th stage of Prana gathering. Naukars, followers of the Dao of Subservience.

_______________________


We crossed the last desert dune and finally arrived at the location that Pooja had insisted we needed to be. The dark red sand and the small hills in a rustic brown color made the area dimmer than usual. Something in the air told us our prey had fled into the cave, like small rodents, and that the dirty savages were preparing something. Yet, that was only a backdrop to the scene in front of us.

A pile of corpses. Spiders, snakes, scorpions, reptiles, birds, monsters, beasts, animals. Everything was stacked into a pile. A small hill of corpses that any tanners would look at in envy, and hunters in jealousy.

On the top of the pile was a chair crafted out a blue scorpion remains. Its six legs had been turned into chair-legs that stabbed into the corpses below it. Its back and tail turned into a seat and backrest, and its claws turned into armrests. Anyone who had our dynasty seat of power would not even deign to call it a chair. Your average insignificant mortal would call it a throne. Amateurish, but not worthless.

On this chair sat a man. He was...

Out of place

He had none of the traits we had been told that the golden devils possessed, yet something was telling us that killing him would offer us karma. He had brown hair, tan skin, and armor that was a mishmash between leather and cloth.

His eyes were intense, but not in the usual way. It did not show fear or hatred. It was arrogance mixed with interest and ambition. It reminded me of when I was younger, and I had to fight one of the geniuses of my generation. Someone who did not think you were worthy enough to be called an enemy.


The man slowly raised himself out of his homemade chair. He spoke in a butchered variant of our own tongue.

"You have kept me waiting."


_______________________

Travel-music stops. Demetrius speaks his line. Boss-music starts.

All cultivators are show-offs. Some are just more obvious about it.


It was originally going to be larger than this, but time is ticking and I needed to deliver something this turn.


Omake Bonus: Tribulation Boost

 

[Quest]

[The Curse of Metal: A Report]​

Contributors: Legionnaire Emmanuel Ambrosius of the 43rd Legion, Specialist Antonius Ambrosius of the 96th Legion, Specialist Eleanora Ambrosius of the 96th Legion
Subject: Specialist Antonius Ambrosius of the 96th Legion
Access Permissions: The 96th Legion, The 43rd Legion, the Taurus bloodline, the Ambrosius bloodline.

This document is meant to summarize what is currently known about the specific mutation of the blood of bronze discovered in Specialist Antonius of the 96th Legion. The references used will be marked in the standard manner however two new documents will be enclosed within. A list of experiments conducted by us in regards to the mutation and the testimony of a Nascent Soul Silver-finned Pipefish named Yixuan Shan who left behind a fragment of his will.

The father of the subject is Emmanuel Ambrosius, son of Centurion Ambrosius of the 43rd Legion(deceased) and Centurion Ellaria Taurus of the 96th Legion(deceased). Originally, the source of the mutation was suspected to be due to the family's cultivation art - the Body Sculpting Bronze Smith which incorporates bloodline modification into its growth process. This has been disproven in light of recent information but it is possible that some effects may have still been inherited.

The mother of the subject is Eleanora Ambrosius. Originally a righteous cultivator, she joined the clan as an auxiliary and has only recently joined properly through marriage. Though her parentage is largely unknown, she has been confirmed to be directly descended from cultivators of the Jade Emperor's Court. Something similar to Antonius' mutation was reportedly seen in her ancestor - Chang-e save with silver instead of bronze. Though Eleanora does not share the bloodline, it is speculated that it may have been present recessively and was activated when it was inherited by a bearer of the blood of bronze.

The name chosen for this mutation is the Curse of Metal based upon the name used by the original ancestor. The effects of the mutation besides standard enhancements are an increased cultivation speed though the degree of increase is unknown and a reduced lifespan which is thought to be approximately halved.

Tests of the mutated bloodline have revealed no major deviation in terms of material properties, physical enhancements and speed reduction when compared to recorded norms. However, the bloodline still remains inexplicably altered. Further testing revealed a strange foreign element in the bloodline that after receiving Yixuan Shan's testimony proved consistent with the few recorded examinations available to the clan of metal qi bloodlines common to the Third Sea.

The deviation is enough that the clan's standard cultivation arts become unusable however the metal's ability to undergo rapid growth when exposed to qi and the subject's own talent allowed them to easily work around that issue. The metal's innate growth maintains a consistent absorption efficiency regardless of source and shows no major deviation.

So far, tests have been performed with atmospheric qi absorption, spirit stone qi absorption, beast cultivation and the infusion of qi resulting from a nascent soul. Atmospheric qi absorption tests were performed in the open air, within an oasis and while surrounded by sand. Spirit stone qi absorption has been done with all standard clan sources. For beast cultivation, samples of soup from Mogui city were used.

The increased cultivation from the infusion of energy from a nascent soul is not necessarily considered repeatable as the nascent soul in question had intimate knowledge of the bloodline and a specific tie to it due to their dao. Effect of the Blood Path on his bloodline was not tested and is mentioned only for completion's sake. The increased cultivation was initially speculated to only last for the stage of qi condensation but the knowledge of the Curse of Metal seems to indicate that it will last at least until the stage of Nascent Soul, though the effect beyond that point is uncertain and will likely remain unknown barring incredible circumstances.

The increase in quality of the metal in his body seems to come from not only feeding upon qi absorbed during the process of cultivation but also through a passive drain that seems to strain the body enough to approximately half the total lifespan but still have no effect on day to day activity.

This aspect of his bloodline was first detected as a mortal. At that point in time, the reduction in lifespan was far greater in degree with death appearing in the early twenties. At the current point in time, this is speculated to be due to the natural frailty of the body and also due to lack of cultivation. The qi absorbed during cultivation can be regarded as a secondary source that allows the strain on the body itself to decrease. It is speculated that this can easily be reversed should the subject stop cultivating.

It should be noted that during much of this testing, the subject demonstrated a seemingly intuitive understanding of his bloodline. Foe example, while both of his parents were aware of the possibility of cultivation being able to increase his lifespan, the opposite possibility was also considered an equally probable outcome at the time. Despite knowing this, the subject correctly deduced that cultivation was necessary and moved to remedy that while understanding the art of breathing in a mere half an hour albeit under the tutelage of a legate.

The legate's own testimony confirms that he primarily created an environment where the boy could cultivate but the speed and surety of his mastery was his own. He also intuitively understood what the outcome of certain tests may have been before the tests were done. Generally, so long as they had to do with cultivation he was accurate beyond a point where it could be called coincidence.

This kind of understanding of their own cultivation is commonly seen among superior talents and while theoretically this may be seen in any who would possess this mutation, based upon the information gained of the original curse of metal not all afflicted possessed the same degree of increase.

As such, it must be concluded that much of Antonius Ambrosius' superior talent is innately his own. This would mean that should the bloodline pass on, though it would still likely allow an increased cultivation speed, it may not be to the same extent as Antonius Ambrosius himself while by all accounts the decrease in lifespan would remain constant.

As of now, no further testing has been done however further possibilities include: investigating Eleanora's bloodline and tests on the alchemical properties of Antonius' blood. These avenues will be pursued after the completion of the trials.

 

[FixerUpper]

Paulus 3 :

Click to shrink...

A fun one, especially with the formation mechanics. No one else (I think - the closest I can think of is @Mochinator 's early contribution to the formation library) has really explored them in depth like you're doing and since Phaedo's cool thing has to do with formations, best believe I'm interested.

It can be difficult to judge when to switch to the perspective of an enemy that's about to be crushed, especially one that's highlighting how incredible the character is without it coming off as a little too self-indulgent, but I think you've got a solid execution here. If you were re-writing this for publishing I'd maybe stretch the events out just a lil' more: a scrappy underdog character usually loses a number of times before scoring a big win that cements their place as someone to watch out for, I think Paulus' development was a little on the quick side here which isn't so bad when this omake is seen all by itself, but a bit jarring when you take into account the previous two omakes. He didn't even go through the usual 'the troops don't like this stuck-up leader guy (or pathetic leader guy) until he proves himself' arc.

Then again, you could very well be planning to reverse the usual order: underlining the weaknesses of a Dao of People in later omakes to bring him back down to underdog status instead of just forever elevating him to what seems to be an 'oh, I can read people and am awesome Xianxia protagonist'-type thing. Either way, I look forward to what Paulus' future holds.

 

[Quest]

[Yuan 4: Eleanora's Story]​

After a long conversation with a Nascent Soul, Eleanora felt exhausted. Even if Yixuan Shan seemed friendly, he was an incredibly powerful being who had delivered a lot of information in a very short amount of time. At the end of it all, she and the rest of her family needed some time to process it all. Thankfully, the pipe-fish was accommodating enough to continue things after they had a chance to rest.

Unfortunately, while Antonius was able to go straight to the tent assigned to them at the camp, both she and Antonius had more work to do. First, they had to report their findings to their superiors. Emmanuel would have to report to Legate Alcaeus of the 43rd legion and would likely have to submit a written report on top of that. Luckily, her position in the 96th legion allowed her some informality.

"Hey, Ariadne." Eleanora called out as she entered their command tent. Her friend and superior was huddled over a map and what she recognised as scouting reports alongside other centurions as she entered.

"Eleanora!" Ariadne replied, looking up at her with a smile. "Please tell me you have something to distract us from all this." Everyone in the tent looked up at her hopefully and Eleanora sighed.

"What happened this time?" She asked as she walked towards the map. One of the centurions moved aside to give her some space.

"There were a few disputes between our specialists and Legate Alcaeus' legionnaires," She replied. "You know how it is." Eleanora nodded. Her legion and her husband's were both relatively militaristic so despite having completely different cultures and specialities, they worked together very well. The exception were Specialists like herself and Antonius.

"Give me a list," Eleanora offered. "I'll talk to them in the morning." The ninety-sixth's usual focus was arrays, divination and other forms of support. Specialists possessed skill-sets that didn't fit the rest of the 96th and so they were usually given free reign. When they needed to work with the 43rd who often possessed the same skills but were more organised, conflict was inevitable.

"That would be great, thanks." Ariadne said with some relief. Eleanora was respected by the specialists as a skilled specialist herself and by the 43rd through her husband. "I wish I could give you a command position and just let you handle this stuff. It comes up way too often."

Eleanora shrugged. "Maybe after the trails." She replied. Instead of saying anything more, she passed Ariadne a copy of her husband's report. It would be much faster than explaining everything that happened.

Ariadne picked it up curiously and her eyebrows rose as she began to read through everything that happened to them that day. Finally, she looked back at her. "That… actually happened?" She asked with a frown. "That's luckier than… well, I think we've had luckier in Qiguai but this is still up there."

Upon hearing her, the other centurions took a look at the report as well with similar reactions. Everyone heard of getting an inheritance from a nascent soul ancestor, but it rarely actually happened. "You can see why I felt the need to report it in," Eleanora commented. "That said, I was looking for a bit more help from you?"

"What do you need, Eleanora?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"I was hoping to borrow a good diviner," Eleanora answered. "There was something in the pipefish's story that I felt I needed to investigate further. Do you have anyone free?"

Ariadne considered that for a moment. "Normally, divining a nascent soul would be beyond anyone but great-grandmother. That said, if you are doing what I think you are then I think I might have someone available." She replied. Then she frowned and looked back at her. "You'll be good for it, Eleanora?"

Eleanora nodded. With all that they had been spending for Antonius, she might not have been but with their recent luck, it should be fine. "Who do you have in mind?"

Ariadne glanced at the rest of the tent. "I'll show you," She replied. "This is a good excuse to take a break. You guys will be fine?" She addressed the centurions who nodded in acceptance. In theory, as their heir Ariadne was the ranking centurion but in practise they had all been working for much longer.

* * * * * * * *​

Ariadne led her to another much larger tent with several legionnaires of various skill-level working on a large array. The array was a divination array that Eleanora didn't quite understand. Though she wasn't an array-engineer, she had still picked up a good understanding of the subject. The golden devil's divination style wasn't something she'd focused on as much. She couldn't use it and the clan had a particularly eccentric approach.

She could recognise the source at least. Folding a thousand cranes to beseech the heaven for luck was a common story among righteous cultivators and the array in front of her was clearly based upon that. For golden devils however, it was unlikely to work given how cursed they were.

Though their approach didn't seem like they were trying to earn heaven's favor. The opposite more likely given the paper they used was burnished with bronze and runed in the clan's native tongue. Both were things more likely to draw heaven's disfavor.

In fact, heavenly forces already caused the cranes to shudder and burn in the carefully decorated array that had been set up in front of her. However, they seemed to be held in place by wires and as soon as one crane was lost another was added in its place.

"You spotted the base array correctly," Ariadne explained upon asking. "Thousand Crane Folding is a bit like submitting a requisition form. Heaven looks at you and decides whether to grant you any good luck. And yeah, for us it would never work. All it does is get heaven's attention."

"Then what is the point of the array then?" She asked, as she looked at the strange sight of their juniors running around remaking and readjusting cranes that were moved or damaged by heaven's judgement. "Are you trying to annoy heaven?"

"Well, the basic idea is simple." She replied. "Heaven only has so much attention it can spare on us but it has to spare some of that attention on judging our request even if the answer would be a no. The Heavenly Disruption Array works by drawing so much of Heaven's attention in a single place so that other people performing riskier activities are shielded from it's disfavor."

Eleanora raised an eyebrow. That was the major difference between their philosophy and others. Most people didn't really try to work around heaven's processes. "Would that work for tribulations?" She asked curiously.

Ariadne shook her head. "This only works on relatively minor things," She told her. "Heaven has priorities and all we are really doing is manipulating them in our favor. Anything that involves a lot of heaven's power or even power in general easily bypasses this array."

"So it doesn't work then," Eleanora finished, feeling slightly disappointed. She doubted she'd find a way of getting around her son's curse just lying around in the clan. "What are it's limits exactly?"

Ariadne shrugged. "Like I said, it's a matter of power. Shielding the Archigetes is never going to work but one of the legates might be able to hide a game of chance without any major stakes. It is mostly useful for the Qi Condensation realm where it can even shield most of their actions. We used it here because even a small bit of luck makes a lot of difference in a place like Yuan."

Eleanora glanced over the rush of diviners and wondered if this had any affect on their own find. It might as well have had. "If this is so important, can you really spare someone for my request? It looks like you have your hands full here."

"We have someone who we can spare," She answered before raising her voice. "Corvina Taurus! I have some work for you." A black-haired girl with bronze eyes in the middle of folding a crane looked up from her work.

After acknowledging the call, the girl finished up and made her way towards them. Eleanora tried to recall what she knew of her. "Natural diviner and ninth heavenstage at seventy," She whispered, frowning."Shouldn't she be preparing for her breakthrough?"

"She should be, but she isn't completely ready." Ariadne whispered back. "Working with you will be better than working here or meditating. The girl needs to get some outside experience."

Eleanora just nodded. "Centurion Ariadne and Specialist Eleanora," The girl said, walking up to them and bowing her head. "How can I help?"

Eleanora glanced at Ariadne who just motioned for her to take over. She nodded and turned to Corvina. "I need your help tracking down an artifact," She began. "I believe it can be found in the mountains nearby."

The girl frowned and nodded. "Do you have any leads to where this artifact might be?"

"It's a jade arrow fired by my ancestor," Eleanora explained. "I don't know where it landed but I know how it looks and the general direction that it was fired in."

"How long ago was this?" Corvina asked her with a frown. "Divination can be a little tricky in the Yuan mountains."

"I'm not completely sure," She admitted. "At least a few millennia."

Corvina nodded. "I suppose I can use your blood as a focus to narrow down the location and make up for time if it was your ancestor's weapon," She replied. "Would you have anything else I can use?"

Eleanora nodded. This part of divination she was well acquainted with having gathered focuses for diviners in the field before. "I have three total," She replied, pulling out vials of the same number. "The first contains my blood and should give you a link to the shooter as well as one of his targets. The second is qi-infused water that belongs to the second of the targets. They are a water manipulator who deflected the arrow. The third is a jade sample from my own version of the arrow that should give you a good match. Would you need anything else?"

The girl looked at each of the vials and shook her head. "That should be more than enough," She replied, excitedly. Then she stopped herself and forcibly calmed herself before looking back at Eleanora. "I do need to tell you that if the arrow isn't there anymore or somehow hidden, there is still a chance that we won't find it."

Eleanora nodded. "That's fine." She said. "Could you also divine it's history should we find it? I'd like to confirm if our sources are accurate."

"I can't tell you how much I can do until I find it," She replied. "These things are incredibly finicky but I'll be willing to try?"

"That should be acceptable," She agreed. "How long would you need to prepare?"

"We were already prepared for similar requests," Corvina answered with a smile. "Please give me five minutes to collect my things."

Eleanora nodded and watched her go. Then she glanced at Ariadne. "Do you want to join us?" She asked her curiously. She would be useful to have around but also had a lot of work back at the command tent.

Ariadne considered her question and nodded. "I need to stretch my feet anyway." She replied with a grin. "I'm sure they won't miss me for too long."

* * * * * * * *​

Corvina reappeared with a set of dowsing rods which Eleanora looked at with interest. Rather than question her on her choice, she instead led them down to Yixuan Shan's pool and from there they went in the direction she was certain the arrow had flown towards.

The girl quickly became focused on her divination and when it was clear that she wouldn't overhear them, Eleanora walked in step with Ariadne and began to talk to her about more private doubts.

Still, to be safe she first asked about something else. "Do those dowsing rods actually work here?" She asked quietly. "I know that you use them a lot in the desert to find water and spirit stones but aren't they easily confused by strong sources of qi? That isn't uncommon in the Yuan mountains."

"It's not what I would have expected," Ariadne agreed thoughtfully, as they trailed behind the girl just slightly. Eleanora kept an eye on the girl's aura for any sense that she was eavesdropping. "She probably picked it because it was familiar to her and assumed she could use the strong sympathetic connections you handed her to keep out any outside interference."

Eleanora nodded. "She does seem talented." She added shortly after, glancing at Corvina who had begun to look at the stars in the darkening skies.

"I think she was nine or ten when she had the vision?" Ariadne replied, smiling. "Caught us all by surprise when she proclaimed us forsaken by heaven and the usual doom and gloom at such a young age."

Eleanora raised an eyebrow. "Does that happen often?" She inquired curiously. It seemed to fit the theme of the clan's divination so far.

"It usually marks the point when our style really clicks for someone," She confirmed. "Corvina hadn't even started cultivating and only been exposed to the style during our clan aptitude testing."

"No wonder she's already preparing for her breakthrough," Eleanora remarked. "It sounds like she's had a strong vision of what to pursue."

"Vision?" Ariadne interjected with a grin. Eleanora rolled her eyes. They both knew what she had meant. Then Araidne's grin disappeared as she became more serious. "Doesn't look like she's listening. So what did you want to talk about, Eleanora?"

"We just got a really good turn of luck," Eleanora replied. "Combined with his natural talent, I'm sure it changes things. How do you think the old lady would react?" The reason Antonius was in the 96th was because Matriarch Wilhelmina was willing to recruit him directly because of his blood relation to the Taurus and his obvious talent.

"It does change things," Ariadne agreed. "Do you know the history between your father-in-law Ambrosius and my great-grandmother?"

Eleanora nodded. "A little bit. My father-in-law married her grand-daughter but refused to take the Taurus name or join the 96th legion since he'd hoped to start his own legion and bloodline." She replied. Regaining a lost branch of the family was likely a strong reason the Matriarch was willing to sponsor him. At the time, it seemed better than letting Antonius go through general allotment and risk him being assigned to a legion where neither her or her husband could reach.

"Given Antonius' talent, he could gain the capability to do as your grandfather could soon enough." Ariadne replied. "Great-grandmother is likely to push for giving him stronger ties to the clan. She'll hold off till after the trials but I don't think I'd be able to convince her to wait more than that."

Eleanora sighed and massaged her forehead for a moment. Another issue to think about. "I was really hoping we had more time." She told her. "As it is, it seems like we'll go from one problem to another."

"You could just go along with it," Ariadne answered. "All of the people he'd be paired with are good people so it's hardly that bad."

"That's not the point, Ariadne." Eleanora replied. "You know that. "We're deciding a lot for him already. This one at least, I'd rather he be able to decide on his own."

"That… may be arranged," Ariadne said, looking away from her with a light smirk.

"What do you mean, Ariadne?" She turned to her in confusion.

"Well, what I'd do here is introduce him to people in my family he might get along with," Ariadne explained. "If they do get along, we can talk to them about taking it further."

Eleanora frowned. "Who do you have in mind?" She asked her.
"What do you think about Corvina?" Ariadne asked, nonchalantly. Eleanora looked at her and then at the girl walking in front of them.

"Antonius is barely in his fourth decade," Eleanora complained. "The girl is in her seventh. How would that even work?"

"Emmanuel is in his ninth and that certainly hasn't stopped you," Ariadne pointed out unhelpfully.

"Ous was hardly planned," She argued back. "Until we had Antonius, we weren't even officially together."

"Only because you disliked having any official connection to the clan," She said, rolling her eyes. "Everyone knew that you two were going to end up together. Didn't you notice all of those Taurus bachelors I surrounded you with suddenly disappearing?"

Eleanora blinked. "Wait, did you actually set me up with Emmanuel?" She asked with a frown. Now that she thought back, she did recall something of the sort. She wasn't sure what to think about that.

"You were talented and had an art that seemed compatible with our own. That was the whole reason why great-grandmother allowed you to study our family arts in the first place." Ariadne said with an amused expression. "Admittedly, I didn't expect you to get along with Emmanuel so well but you two are great together."

Eleanora sighed. "I'm still slightly uncomfortable with introducing him to people like that," She finally replied. "But I can't really object if that's all you're doing?"

"Hey, if he marries into the family it'd be good for both of us." Ariadne replied, grinning. "And I do think that the plan has a high degree of success so far."

"If it's just that, it's fine." Eleanora said, giving her friend a side-eye as they walked. "Still, that's more of a longshot. Do you have any other ideas we can use to delay things?"

"Well, if you finally ascended to Foundation Establishment it would definitely improve your bargaining position." Ariadne pointed out. "You are ready. You would have been ready even if you were clan by blood, but you don't even have to deal with heaven's curse."

Eleanora sighed and didn't meet her eyes. "I've had similar thoughts the past few days," She admitted. "I'm hoping a chance to study my ancestor's arrow would allow me to improve my chances."

Ariadne nodded. "Are you planning on doing it here?"

"It's high enough that the tribulation will be weaker," Eleanora explained. "Even a slight increase in my chances would be useful."

"True but it'll also increase the chances that you'd get killed by something attracted by your tribulation," Ariadne pointed out. "I'll serve as your Protector."

"Thank you," Eleanora told her seriously. "I know that I'm asking for a lot and I really appreciate it."

"That's what friends are for," Ariadne said, waving it off. "Besides, I'm itching for a fight. Haven't really had the chance to stretch since I've started handling more administrative duties."

Eleanora nodded and glanced over at Corvina. "I think she's stopped. Do you think she's found it?" The girl had put her dowsing rods away and was picking at a particular patch of the ground. Eleanora extended her senses through the earth. "Got it. I can feel the Jade underground."

Ariadne nodded and extended a hand. Eleanora could sense her strings of bronze unravel from around her and begin to extend invisibly through the air. "I think I should be able to extract it quickly," She replied. "Let's continue this discussion later?"

Eleanora nodded and put it out of her mind. With the arrow confirmed, she needed to start thinking about the now rather than the future.

* * * * * * * *​

After digging up her ancestor's arrow and confirming Yixuan Shan's words, Eleanor felt ready to attempt her tribulation.

However, Ariadne pointed out that it would be much more dangerous in the dark and convinced her to wait till the morning. That was the reason why Eleanora was back in her tent with her son and her husband while resting for the morning.

"This feels different from your arrow, mom." Antonius told her as he examined their ancestor's weapon. "I don't know what, but something about it feels off."'

"I don't feel it myself," Emmanuel added. "But there are many reasons why that might be. It was the trump card of a late nascent soul after all, even if it's completely drained of its power at this point."

"No, I feel it too." Eleanora confirmed. "It's more like a difference in intent. It's hard to explain."

"I guess it's just a bloodline thing," Antonius replied with a grin. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, dad."

Emmanuel grinned back. "So you don't want to learn about the blood of bronze later then?" He teased back. "Here I was thinking I'll let you help me with my research."

Eleanora smiled at their banter. She'd never been able to teach him her arts since it required training from a young age. At least one good thing came from her exploring her bloodline. "I need to talk to you guys about something," She said, interrupting them. "I think I'm going to take my tribulation."

To her regret, that caused the mood inside the tent to change completely as both father and son turned to look at her. Emmanuel just looked at her in worry but Antonius just looked confused. She sighed. "Eleanora," Emmanuel replied. "Is everything alright?"

She considered what to say. "Mostly, it is." She replied, looking at both of them. "I just think that I'm finally ready and it'll be an added advantage in the coming trials. I'll be able to take better-paying missions in preparation and power is always useful in this kind of situation."

Antonius frowned as he looked at her. "If you are sure about this," He told her carefully. "I think you should go for it. But I don't want you to rush this for me, mom."

Eleanora looked him in the eye and nodded. "I'm ready," She told him truthfully. "I was… honestly unsure for the past few years, but now I'm confident in my chances."

He nodded in understanding. "Please be careful, mom." He said, still clearly worried. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

"Eleanora," Emmanuel said, looking at her. "Do you need us to do anything?"

Antonius nodded in agreement to that statement. "Anything you need, mom."

"Thank you," She told them and then she pulled them into a hug with a smile. "But I'll be fine. I'll be doing it in the morning."

After a second of allowing the hug, Antonius ducked from under her hands and looked back at her. "I want to watch," He told her firmly.

She sighed. She should have expected that. "You are just in the first heavenstage right now, Antonius. It'll be dangerous for you to be there."

"Wouldn't it be dangerous for you there too?" He asked her with a frown. "The Yuan mountains are dangerous."

"I'm sure your mother has everything planned out," Emmanuel replied. "There are advantages to taking your tribulation here."

"I need to be high on a mountain," Eleanora explained. "The further we are from heaven, the stronger the tribulation gets. It'll be easier here and the qi in the air is necessary for my personal style of tribulation. The quiet peaks are perfect for this and I don't know when we'll get another chance."

"What about all the dangerous beasts and enemy cultivators?" Antonius replied. "I thought they could all sense your tribulation and come for you."

"Your Aunt Ariadne has already agreed to protect me," Eleanora confirmed. Antonius frowned and reluctantly nodded. He knew how strong Ariadne was.

"Next time I get to see it though," Antonius grumbled and Eleanora had to exchange a look with Emmanuel before nodding. She wondered if he was talking about her hitting Core or Emmanuel hitting Foundation. Either way, the confidence was heartening.

"Well, Antonius ended up asking all of my questions." Emmanuel added with a smile. "I suppose all I can say is that I'll trust that I'll see you again tomorrow. Go do what you need to do. I'll handle taking Antonius to the pipe-fish for his training."

She smiled in thanks and turned to Antonius. "What about you? You are doing something momentous too tomorrow." Eleanora pointed out. "Are you ready?"

Antonius nodded. "I think so." He replied. Then he frowned and shook his head. "I know so. You can focus on your own tribulation without worrying about me, mom."

She smiled at him. "If you say so," She said before looking at the two of them. "We all have a busy day tomorrow and it's late. Shall we get some rest?"

Antonius nodded. "Good night, mom." He replied with a smile. "You too, dad."

Emmanuel nodded and began to reply. As they began to settle in, Eleanora's mind turned to the next morning. She needed to do this perfectly, she decided. She couldn't do anything less.

* * * * * * * *​

Her tribulation took place at dawn, at a time when the sun was still rising. They'd managed to find a hill far from camp but still within their patrolled territory. She could feel Ariadne set up her bronze threads to ensure that should anyone attack, she would have the advantage.

Now, all she had to do was invite tribulation from the heavens but… was she ready? Her thoughts turned to her own preparations. Her Jade Bow was conjured in front of her, ready to shoot. Her own Jade Arrow was also prepared and kept alongside the Jade Arrow of her original ancestor.

For a moment she compared the two. Even Antonius had noticed the differences between her arrow and her ancestor's. Though they had joked, she wondered if it was a difference that she truly recognised from her bloodline. Though she hadn't thought about it in so long, her bloodline had meant a lot to her once.

Once upon a time, her clan had been everything to her as it had been for her mother before her. They had fled from their clan holdings after some disaster she couldn't even remember had caused them to flee. Though her mother had never mentioned what they had run from, she had taught her everything she could about their clan and it's skills.

Once her mother had passed on, the clan's teachings had been everything to her. It was what she had clinged to after her mother had passed on and she was left to fend for herself in the Organ Meat Desert and trying to keep to them was the only reason she had joined the Golden Devils in the first place, despite them being demonic in nature.

For a moment, Eleanora wondered what her mother would say to that decision. Would she approve of who she was now? It took her a moment to realise that she had no idea. The perfect mother in her mind would understand her perfectly and tell her that she did the right thing but how close was that to the reality?

It was only after becoming a mother herself that she began to have these thoughts. Eleanora had left so much behind after having Antonius. With Emmanuel, she could tell herself that it wasn't serious. She loved the man, she could admit it now but if it was only him could she perhaps have walked away from him? Once she was powerful enough, would she have returned to the plains in search of her own legacy?

But ever since Antonius had been born, all of it had been pushed to the side. She didn't really know who she was anymore and there had been a strange discord in her mind. It was easy to put aside at the time because Antonius was only mortal and what did spending a few decades with him matter when she was looking forward to immortality?

But then his mutation - the Curse of Metal happened. So quickly, her life was turned upside down. Then he became a cultivator and then came the trials - so much and so quickly. She'd been putting him first ever since because he might die and she never, ever wanted that.

She wondered if that was what her mother felt, when she took her away from her clan's lands. She wondered what her mother thought about and what she had left behind. Was the feelings that were so familiar to her now, the same feelings that her own mother felt? Her mother's words echoed in her mind, the ones that had guided her for so long.

Some arrows are more precious than others, but every arrow has it's worth.

Yes, that was what had been bothering her. It was what Antonius had realised as well though he lacked her knowledge and training to understand it. That was the proverb that lay at the heart of her clan's philosophy yet the arrow of her ancestor held none of that. Though powerful, it was the arrow of an assassin filled with the intent to kill their enemy.

This wasn't her art. This wasn't what was passed down to her. Her art was a crafter's art that understood the materials they used to build their arrows and who knew that every arrow had their own worth. Her art was a commander's art that could sense every being in the battlefield to help and hinder them as necessary, not one that tracked a single enemy.

Not for the first time, she wished she remembered her mother's stories more clearly. Something had happened. Something had changed. Yes, the Jade Archer was the Jade Emperor's assassin but the Jade Archer was also the man who slew the Jade Emperor. Why did he turn upon his master?

Eleanora held the Jade Archer's arrow and frowned as her senses flowed through it. Their jade was a part of them and this jade had been a part of a Late Nascent Soul, yet this was discarded and so very brittle after that many years. She could perhaps forge it into a weapon in time but now? It was useless to her.

It called to a part of her that was weak and alone who lived with two cultivators who might kill her in her sleep just to survive. That part of her coveted that strength… but she wasn't that person anymore. She put the arrow aside. Instead, she focused on the person she was now.

Still, she wanted to power. Not to survive but to protect. Still, she sought her legacy. Not to fill the loss of her mother but to protect her son. After all, wasn't Antonius' curse born of her own bloodline? What information could she glean if she was strong enough to visit her clan's lands and look into any information it may have had?

She needed to get stronger. She had languished long enough. She needed to build her foundation and gain the strength of a core. Only then could she risk the danger that journey would bring. She took a deep breath and extended her senses.

All around her, there were webs of bronze all under control of her closest friend as she defended her. The air shivered in anticipation as she drew the qi around her and put it under her control. In the distant sky, something rumbled and she felt the attention of something so much more than her.

For a moment, nothing happened as she picked up her own Jade Arrow and turned it towards the heavens. She felt the attention sharpen and lightning crashed down upon her for the affront of turning her weapons towards them. She wondered if she could truly bear that kind of power with her body? She wasn't as strong as her husband was.

But she didn't need to. Lightning always struck at the highest point and the first thing it faced was the Jade of her Arrow. Jade the Immortal Slayer that hungered for the qi of others. Jade that was a part of her and held a portion of her will.

For a second, her arrow threatened to shatter as the lightning attempted to break free but then she clamped it down and bound it within her bow and arrow. She felt the lightning struggle and stutter and try to break free but all it could do was struggle uselessly against her will as slowly but surely died.

Soon, the lightning was no more and Eleanora released her control. The qi that had come with the lightning flowed into her like warmth and she found her body transformed. Her senses exploded and the qi within her body surged. A new feeling of control filled her.

For a moment she admired the flow of qi around her. She could feel Ariadne's attention but she ignored it for a moment, just to admire the strength in her body. Then she opened her eyes and turned to her friend.

"I could have managed that a lot earlier, couldn't I have?" Eleanora said, turning to her friend sheepishly.

Ariadne just rolled her eyes. "I told you so."

 

[wrecksalot]

Ulysses Nemo 5- Small Talk
I was once again tending to my fellow legionnaires. The initial flood of injuries from the trials had been mostly dealt with, at least those that my meagre abilities could help, yet there was still a steady trickle of new patients coming in. The patient I was working on at the moment had a broken arm, exacerbated by his variation of the blood of bronze, which focused much of its durability enhancing properties on the skin, which was apparently not uncommon, since I had treated no fewer than three patients with similar bloodlines and injuries in the past week. This was quite troublesome, because judging by the feeling of the wound, there were definitely bone splinters embedded in the patient's muscles, and his skin was too tough for the scalpels I had available.

Fortunately, there was usually at least one sword cultivator recuperating here, and those seniors were typically itching to sink their blade into something, so it was fairly simple to convince one to make an incision. The patient already had several scars on his forearms, some of them rather fresh, but the scar tissue was no match for the sword cultivators blade, and soon enough I had an incision I could work with. Ordinarily I would simply remove the offending bone fragments from the patient, as this was fastest and minimized recovery time, but the patient's bones seemed more fragile than usual, so I worried that removing more bone mass would be detrimental to his long term health. It would be more painful, and the procedure was complicated a bit by what appeared to be several hairline fractures. The subject was also squirming to a degree I was unaccustomed to, and at one point physically grabbed my forceps and spoke.
"Don't you usually take those out? Why are you poking around in there this time?" The patient queried angrily.

"Ah, under normal circumstances I would, however your bones appear to have much lower than average mass, and I fear removing the bone fragments might compromise the structural integrity of your arm. I am sorry that this is more painful than you expected brother, I am really trying to finish with all due haste." I recited.

"I have a name ,Ulysses!" the unruly patient exclaimed.

"I… had presumed as such?" I said, wondering how this was relevant to his interruption of my work.

"What I mean is that I would like you to refer to me by name, honestly Ulysses, sometimes it feels like you never notice your patients at all" the brash patient retorted.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I must assure you that I take notice of all of my patients' ailments, and I haven't heard any complaints about my work previously. If you would rather I extract the bone fragments than try to set them I can do that, but your arm would be fragile for at least a decade." I explained patiently.

"I'm sure you know what you're doing with those tweezers of yours, but I meant that you never interact with us, you just ask the bare minimum of questions to diagnose us and then go about your business silently. It's creepy. " the concerned patient said

Was it really creepy? My social skills were admittedly somewhat lacking, having spent most of my adolescence practicing with a pill furnace. I learned quickly that when there was a problem in front of you, it was best to just start working on a solution, after all, the vast majority of pill ingredients couldn't even talk back to you if they wanted to. Surely if my fellow clan members were injured they would want to get it over with as quickly as possible and without any fuss, but if it was instead making me come off as rude then I would have to rectify this immediately.

"Very well then, the weather is certainly… dry today isn't it?" I ventured

"I guess this is a bit better than silence, but you do realize that we live in the desert right?" the patient replied with a small laugh, releasing my forceps and freeing me to return to my work.

"Yes, that makes it remarkably simple to guess what the weather is like even though I've been on standby cultivating in this infirmary for a month." I retorted.

"Yeah, well I certainly appreciate you being ready to step in whenever I get banged up, Ulysses." the smiling patient said.

"Yes, it was certainly fortunate that someone was here today to tend to your arm promptly, and although I haven't shown it in the past, I am truly grateful to all of my patients for helping me hone my medical skills." I said,

"Not just today, all the other times too, without you, there's no way I would've made such rapid progress in my Crushing Sound Palm art." the enthused patient replied.

Ah, that would explain why I had seen so many cases of patients with this strange constitution, it was actually the same patient coming in a truly concerning amount of times in one month.

"The Crushing Sound Palm? Is that a kind of Demonic Tune? Please forgive my ignorance ,brother, but I have never heard of this technique." I queried, hoping that I was doing okay at small talk while reassembling his forearm like one would a broken vase.

"No, it isn't a Demonic Tune, Rather than affecting the soul it relies on the vibrational nature of sound to pierce any defense! I picked it up from the Technique Palace and I think I'm really close to figuring out a way to enhance its destructive power. Also, there's really no need to be so formal Ulysses, you can just call me by name." The patient replied expectantly.

"Wait, if your art works based on emitting vibrations through the air, then wouldn't it be extremely hard to avoid hitting yourself with it too? And you said it excels at piercing defenses, such as your extremely tough skin, and you claim to have come in with a broken arm many times this month, have you been deliberately breaking your arms just to use a cool technique?" I inquired, rather flabbergasted that my patient had done such a thing to himself over and over, though it had been an enlightening exercise in improvising methods to break through his skin.

"I see you trying to change the subject, and I also see that you still haven't said my name. Is it because you don't know it?" the patient asked, rapidly trying to change the subject of their own accord.

"Of course I know it-" I said, stretching out the latter part of the sentence while I scrambled to look for the patient file.

Showing a truly remarkable amount of pep in his step for someone whose arm was currently doing a decent impression of a jigsaw puzzle, the patient lashed out with his free arm, snatching the patient file before I could read it.

"Oh, did you need this? I thought you took great pride in understanding all your patients' ailments, so what could sucha wise medic as you want with this now?" the patient said, with a large smirk on his face.

"Ah, of course, but there's no harm in double checking now, is there? So if you could just hand that back I can continue the surgery." I pleaded.

"Sure thing, what do you want to know?" the patient said, once again donning a smirk while holding the file between us so that I couldn't read it.

"If I admit that I do not know your name will you stop making the treatment more difficult?" I queried, reaching my wit's end with his tomfoolery.

"Yes. my name is Iason Zanides, and you should best remember it, and shame on you, being so disrespectful to a senior." he said, now assuming an aura of wisdom which he clearly did not possess.

"Senior? If that is the case then I must apologize, but I am certain that we're both still in the 1st heavenstage, have you perhaps done a meritorious service to the clan recently that would qualify you for such an honorific?" I asked, cautious in case what I remembered from the file and my diagnostic abilities were false. I took great pride in remembering my seniors so as not to cause offense, and I was unused to talking

"Well nah, but I could totally kick your ass if we had a fight, so therefore I'm your senior." Iason said, as if that settled anything.

"But fighting between clan members is strongly discouraged, combat ability is only one part of being a good cultivator, after all you came to me to tend your wounds, so why would something like combat strength determine who is senior? And I am confident that you have never seen me fight outside a formation."mostly because I had only done so once outside of practice but thats besides the point "So why do you believe that you are my better in that respect."

I was genuinely curious, due to his apparently frequent visits here.

"I heard that you never even visited the Technique Palace, I have one technique, you have zero, therefore I could total kick your ass." Iason replied, clearly goading me now.

"So you posit that you are the better fighter because you can break your arm on command?" I queried.

"It doesn't just break my arm, I broke apart a rock with it last time I used it, and besides, I got it from the Technique Palace which our elders have generously allowed us to use. Are you calling these techniques passed down by our elders worse than worthless?" Iason said, knowing that this would end the argument. He must know me better than I'd realized.

"No, of course I am grateful for this gift from my elders, and I would never question the value of their gift which cost us so much. I am sorry for speaking to the contrary. We're near the end of the surgery now, and I hope that I haven't caused you too much offense...senior."

After all he'd put me through over the course of a relatively routine operation the honorific tasted like ash in my mouth.

"Oh, you are fine , junior Ulysses." he said, appearing to take immense satisfaction from the title. "But if you appreciate it so much, then why have you not gone there yet? As much as our legion is short-staffed on medics,and I appreciate you putting in so much work here, we do have enough mortal nurses here to stabilize any cultivator worth the name until you return. There's really no reason to feel obligated to stay here round the clock."

When he puts it that way, I cannot possibly justify refusing without insulting either the clan elders or my mortal colleagues, damn it.
"I… You are right Senior Iason, I think I shall go there just as soon as I close up the surgical wound."

From when I'd treated him previously, I knew that attempting to stitch it shut would be a fruitless endeavor, so I used some simple alchemical adhesive we tended to keep around to close it instead.

As I headed to the Technique Palace, blinking at the sunlight and rejoicing from the sensation of the searing desert air, I began to see Iason's actions in a new light. It felt good to be out of the infirmary again. The beige vistas are seemingly more beautiful than ever before. Perhaps his outburst had simply been his way of convincing me to take a break? But if that were the case, then why be so aggressive right away? I pondered this for a while before a realization struck me, perhaps he had on one of our previous encounters and I had simply brushed off his less direct attempts? That does sound like something I would do to patients talking to me when I was ready to treat the next person waiting.

I had expressed my displeasure in my lack of combat ability in the past, so visiting the Technique Palace wouldn't even be a waste of time.

I entered the palace, and uncountable jade slips glimmered in the air as though I had somehow entered the night sky itself. I lost track of time browsing them, but most of them seemed rather one note. Breathing fire or shooting metal at people would be great in a fight, but how often did I really expect to find myself in one of those? I discounted the weapon arts immediately, as I lacked the skill and the interest in getting good enough at a particular weapon to use them confidently, after all, my first real fight resulted in me being disarmed before I could really take a swing with it.
Shield arts seemed a bit more promising, as I had recently added a pill compartment to the back of my shield to allow me quick access to medicinal pills in combat, so it at least had some use in my day to day, but most of the shield arts were similar to the earlier arts I'd seen, making my shield more durable, or making me more steadfast or zapping anyone who dared to strike my shield with lightning. One shield art did seem promising, something to give me fantastic control over where my shield would go in the air, even being able to cause it to spring to hand from the ground if I'd been disarmed. I mentally labelled that a maybe, watching as the constellations of jade slips reoriented themselves in response to my categorization. I wandered about for a few hours more, and I was about to go back for the shield art when I saw it.

The imprint called it the Pillar Raising Art, and the first form the jade slip showed me was a man raising a pillar underneath his feet to reach something on a high shelf. Finally, a technique maker who understood me. The technique had an extremely generous definition of pillar, allowing me to designate the base as any shape I want and allowing me to change the size of the tip until it was small enough to qualify as sharp. The speed wasn't great and in terms of destructive power it was severely lacking, but I could designate any relatively flat surface as the base of a pillar, so I could make a wall by raising one pillar, and then another pillar jutting off of it. This technique was also useful for pushing distant objects closer, and I could also lower pillars, restoring the area to normal after my constructs had served their purpose. This could also be used on already flat ground to make a hole in the ground. It is almost like this art was made for me , whose pill furnace was currently stuck many feet underground. I could raise pillars under my feet to give me a little boost to get around quicker.

I checked out the jade slip and studied it intently until I had a firm grasp on the art. It wasn't that impressive, but it got the job done, and that was enough for me.

A.N. this is just giving Ulysses something to do in combat besides flail around uselessly or happen to be carrying around failed pills, and since our average disciple also has access to this place, I can justify Ulysses having something fun without having to worry about needing Impact to accomplish it.

P.S. coming up with dialogue between two characters that I'm writing is literal hell. This thing fought me for 5 days. I thought it would be easy, since I've RPed a bit in the past, but my brain begs to differ.

 

[Alectai]

So, I found myself in a position where I was going "Man, I want to keep producing content but I'm completely tapped out on ideas for Rina right now"

Then I asked permission, and found out that lunatics who are producing multiple thousand word omake per turn and still hunger for more can, in fact, pick up a second Good Seed if they think they're hard enough.

And I figure "MY TIME HAS COME"

Please, enjoy.

Aliki Floros

Spoiler: Reference Image

Aliki Floros is a Monster.

This is objectively, biologically correct--spat out in the aftermath of the Trials in the deserts of the borderlands, lost and halfway feral--she was discovered by a crippled, wounded Legionnaire who couldn't make it to safety, and adopted in the aftermath as the eldest of three children. It was perhaps not the wisest choice in the eyes of the orthodoxy, but something about the ragged girl tugged on the heartstrings.

Even in her youth though, Aliki Floros was never normal. She bore black hair of great weight, resisting all attempts to style or cut it. Her canines were large and extended, and her smiles held the promise of a predator sizing up her prey. Her eyes were a brilliant scarlet--her very namesake--and shone slightly in dim light.

And yet she was also a sleepy girl, affectionate with those who gained her trust--a hard worker who wasn't very bright but compensated with a certain inherent insight.

Yet her nature was not something that could be hidden. She could not eat normal food--only fresh meat would satisfy her hunger--and that only for a short time. Her senses were sharp, and she had a nose that could sniff out all manner of strange things in time. She was brought in to Doctor Hermod's practice--a Foundation Establishment Cultivator of the Clan who retired to the secular world to live out his final days--for analysis, and possible treatment.

What he found caused him to nearly discard a life of medical study.

The girl bore a constitution never seen before in the Clan's records. Blood in the form of a clear, viscous fluid, pumped in and out from one of seven mysterious organs, aligned with her Chakra points. Her troublesome hair was nothing less than an extension of some unknown plant matter.

And it hungered.

She was simultaneously a great opportunity, and a great risk--these were body modifications seen usually only on the most extreme Blood Path adherents--upon a mortal child not even of majority yet.

He took her in as an apprentice--both to watch her, and to further study her strange constitution. He found the child an apt pupil--compassionate without being foolish, diligent without being excessive. Though her understanding of the medical field was rooted in a simple 'It's better for people to live than not, right?' philosophy instead of something higher-minded, her sharp senses led her to diagnosing many tricky problems--and the extra money brought in helped cover the cost of feeding her.

But only to a point.

As she matured, the meat of mortal creatures no longer did much to push back against her hunger. Magic Beast meat was effective--but far beyond what could be justified paying her. She needed greater backing if she were to survive--and only the Golden Devils had the funding to support such an appetite. Doctor Hermod sent her along with the recruitment caravan, carrying letters of recommendation and copies of his research into what he had dubbed the 'Clear Yin Constitution'

It was sufficient that the Clan was willing to adopt her into their numbers, accepting her as an Aspirant who sought to master the medical field.

But as many would say--the innate nature of a person can never be changed, a fate set in stone by the Heavens.

Whether she can overturn this or not? Is anyone's guess.

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Overall High Concept: Biological Monstrosity given a good upbringing and nurturing to establish a love of medicine and a firm grasp of right and wrong. This doesn't change the fact she was engineered to be an apex predator by a fossilized yandere who wanted Senpai to notice her ever so much. Impact enhancements will bounce between medical breakthroughs and further atavistic evolution of her horrific constitution, and its perfect affinity to the Blood Path.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Current Status as of Turn 9: 96 Years Old, Initial Pillar of Foundation Establishment
Additional Impact: 14 + 9 (Tenth Heavenstage Breakthrough) = 23
Life-Saving Treasures: 1x Mother's Will Charge
Special Treasures: 'Mister Spoon': A fragment of Demonic Soup Chef's spoon, a morphic weapon that consumes blood and flesh of any living being it makes contact with. Aliki often uses it as the handle for her favorite scalpel, the weapon she's most familiar with.
Tribulation Enhancements: None
Starting Perk: Clear Yin Constitution: The masterpiece of an ancient Cultivator, who sought to reincarnate through it. The Clear Yin Constitution is a heaven defying symboitic fusion of human and spirit, creating a cycle that foils the eyes of Heaven. Practicing the Blood Path with the Clear Yin Constitution does not lock out other methods of Cultivation. This is backstopped by seven special organs, each linked to a single potent Divine Ability when enough power and the right catalysts can stir them to wakefulness
Cultivation Goal: Foundation Establishment Progression
Plot Coupons: None

Spoiler: The Tree of Death

The Sanguine Reaping Angel's masterpiece, a symbiotic lifeform bound with a clone of herself--originally intended as a vessel for her reincarnation, the degradation of her lingering Will prevented a successful transference, and she let the host walk free to see what came of it. This is the true nature of the Clear Yin Constitution, and in the Seven Immortal Apertures embedded throughout Aliki's body can be found Seven Divine Abilities. Transcendent feeding methods beyond that of the ordinary Blood Path.

The Soul Rending Claws
--The First Divine Ability, the hands are surrounded by sanguine tendrils, fingers extending each into a razor sharp blade of finely wrought Celestial Bronze. On contact with any living being, it siphons their Blood Essence and absorbs it, fueling rapid regeneration in Aliki while vastly enhancing the damage done compared to an ordinary claw technique. Foes slain by this are reduced to ashen skeletons, smoking on the ground below

The Black Weave
--The Second Divine Ability, the hair extends out to great lengths, piercing and infusing targets. Used discreetly, these threads can slowly drain the vitality from Aliki's foes and add it to her own, using strands too thin to be seen by most--used more aggressively, can bind foes within them and crush them to bits. Aliki has also experimented in using the Weave supportively, to transfuse her own transcendent Ichor into allies as a safe method of bolstering their strength in a pitched battle, recouping her losses at the expense of her foes.

The Ruby Carapace
--The Third Divine Ability, chitinous plates emerge from beneath Aliki's skin, forming a seamless armor of scarlet and bronze, concealing her features from the world at large. A powerful defensive option, and one of the few Divine Abilities that does not have immediate feeding applications--being a necessary compromise to ensure the survivability of the Sanguine Reaping Angel's progeny.

Spoiler: Dao

The Red Queen: It's not enough to consume, to ensure that one does not go hungry, one must take great pains to save as many lives as you take, so that there will always be something to keep your heart and body satisfied. A Dao balanced between Consumption and Preservation, most Blood Path adherents would claim it to be missing the point--but hunger remains Aliki's great fear, and she has adapted the orthodoxy to fit her own talents and constitution.
Pillars: Hunger

Turn Six Fate: The Tri-Tailed Scorpion: A novice Cultivator, with a strange physique and concerning habits--it would not be strange for her to fall to obscurity, her talents poorly utilized--but a salvage expedition into one of the greater battlegrounds of the previous Trials saw her catching a strange scent on the winds, tangy with a hint of sharpness to it. She followed her nose, and discovered the remains of a Tri-Tailed Scorpion slain as an afterthought in the Trials. It just seemed like such a waste to leave it lying around, but early attempts to eat it resulted in delicious food but also making very little headway. So she did what came naturally and extended countless stabbing tendrils from her arm, greedily infiltrating the beast's remains and licking it clean, to the point where even the bones were cracked for marrow. Satisfied for the first time in her life, Aliki took a nap in a nice, sunny place, then returned home with the stinger, earning enough Points in its redemption to have a piece of it designed into a convenient set of Scorpion-Poison Needles, good for self-defense and for questionable medical practices!

Turn Seven Fate: Journey into Qiguai: As is the habit of many experts of the Clan who rise to power quickly and greedily, Aliki was tempted to set foot into the infamous Secret Realm, to test her skills and her knowledge against its dangers and learn what she could. It turned out to be something of a mixed bag, securing a strange wooden fragment that could turn to any form she desired, hungering and devouring her foes with aplomb. She made use of this hunting in the floating sky-seas of the Secret Realm's bordermarches, devouring many a fish in her quest, her power swelling to the point where the first of the Divine Abilities of her Clear Yin Constitution manifested itself. Her luck turned against her in the end however, as she first lost an arm to the gullet of a rather fast and clever fish, and while limping her way to safety, was ambushed by a forgettable Young Master who turned a terrible Life Saving Treasure on her, scattering her to the four winds... Or so the world thought.

Turn Eight Fate: Jin Fulong's Caravan: Saved by the activation of a contingency spell implanted into Aliki's soul from birth, she was revived within the confines of the secret laboratory in the heart of the Blood Mask, and given a lecture on her nature and potential from the ghost residing within as her body healed. With the power she had gained in the depths of the Qiguai Secret Realm, she joined an escort caravan commanded by Jin Fulong, and fought three powerful Cultivators of the Battle Blood Cannibals, suppressing them and preventing them from running rampant against the weaker experts present. While she had little time to spend furthering her skills as a healer, she grew more familiar with her new tools and Divine Ability in this endeavour, and the mission was ultimately a success.

Turn Nine Fate: Parakoimomenos' Merchants: Taking some relative downtime while she began preparing for her Tribulation, Aliki signed on with the spy mission to Jingshen Lands--posing as an itinerant cultivator from the newly claimed lands, she gained a reputation as a beautiful and intimidating Immortal Doctor going by the name Cinnabar, practicing her craft to save those who were injured by some of the many new and interesting ailments spat out from the former lands of the Blood Cannibals... And several other issues that were more annoying than anything else but that her arts made her well suited to curing at limited cost. She earned a stool that aided patients in recovery--and managed to capture several valuable bits of intel to inform the greater strategies of the Clan!

Completed Omake:
Prologue: The Sleeping Princess (5,813 Words, Detailed Backstory and Initiation -- Turn Six Bonus is a Life Saving Treasure)
A Young Monster's Daily Life (3,090 Words, Aspirant Initiation and remedial education -- Turn Six Supplemental)
Delicious Scorpion You Must Eat It (2,535 Words, The Tri-Tailed Scorpion -- Turn Seven Bonus is a Life Saving Treasure)
Into The Abyss (1,524 Words, Entering Qiguai -- Turn Seven Supplemental)
And Into the Fire (1,727 Words, Still in Qiguai --Turn Seven Supplemental)
Qiguai is a Silly Place (2,384 Words, End of Qiguai -- Turn Seven Supplemental)
An Education on Murder (1,323 Words, Mom Has Words -- Turn Eight Bonus is Healing)
A Pleasant Ride with the Caravan (2,138 Words, Defending Jin Fulong's Caravan -- Turn Eight Supplemental)
Subtractive Medicine (3,134 Words, Parakoimomenos's Merchants entry -- Turn Nine Bonus is a Life Saving Treasure)
The Red Queen (2,666 Words, Tribulation into Foundation Establishment -- Turn Ten Bonus is a Tribulation Boost)
In the Thick of It (1,313 Words, The Hundred Year Trials -- Turn Ten Supplemental
Potentially Ominous Long-Term Plans (1,953 Words -- Turn Eleven Bonus is a Life Saving Treasure)
The Doctor Will See You Now! (2,026 Words -- Turn Eleven Supplemental)
Trauma Care (2,140 Words -- Turn Eleven Supplemental)
To Feed the Hungry (1,724 Words -- Turn Twelve Bonus is a Life Saving Treasure)
Out of the Frying Pan (1,142 Words - Turn Twelve Supplemental)
A Day in the Limelight (1,046 Words - Turn Thirteen Bonus is a Life Saving Treasure)
Ruminations on the Future (1,124 Words - Turn Fourteen Bonus is a Cultivation Boost)

 

[Alectai]

Aliki Floros
Prologue: The Sleeping Princess​

On that day, I was witness to the sublime.

One sword, tearing through the heavens, slaying the land and refining it to elixir.

I was only a child in those times, but the sight of that blade carving the Northern Region from the continent intoxicated me. Such grandeur! Such glory! To turn the good fortune of creation to fuel one's own cultivation!

Ahh, to touch even the hem of the great Chef's robes would be the culmination of my existence. To cleave the world and consume it in order to live forever, alone and supreme among the heavens.

It must be done. It had to be done. I shattered my Core and began my Cultivation from scratch--incorporating the great insight of the Master's deed into my Dao. Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation--I reached for the pinnacle in each and tore into Nascent Soul, unmatched and unrivaled. The cattle bowed before me, dubbing me as the Sanguine Reaping Angel. It was a good name, and I permitted them to use it.

My fiefdom was empire, torn from the wreckage of invaders and the warring strife of the great powers of my home. All lived to fuel my ascension, and none below Spirit Severing were my match. I rose, I grew, my power waxed greatly, and I broke into Spirit Severing in a glorious crimson dawn.

The other experts of that rank were my sustenance--their sects fell before my glory, my unmatched cultivation base allowed me to dominate the region. I supplemented the populace of my empire and the blood of my foes with the congealed blood of the land itself--a gift from the Great Master. My severings continued, piece by piece.

It is here that a great obstacle presented itself before me. My lifespan was beginning to reach its limit, and attempts to augment it further fell flat. It became clear that I would need to compromise on joining the Master's crusade, settling with a merely ordinary cultivation unfit to even serve as his handmaiden, or gamble on finding a lucky chance in this dying land that could push me forward.

Neither was appropriate for me. The Master was invincible, and his journey would last beyond time. Just the same, I had already plundered much of the treasure and vitality remaining in this decaying husk.

I would need to make my own luck.

I took my favorite mask, and imbued within it my entire store of treasures. I cast off my aging body and cultivation base, rendering it down into pure power--and possessed it as an animating intellect.

My purpose was simple, I would rely on the undying nature of a soul and the tools I had accumulated to develop a suitable vessel to embody myself within. One with the flush of youth, in perfect concordance with my Dao. I would engineer it to be capable of plundering from all powers in creation, to supplement my hunger with greater power yet. For why should I be content with merely drinking from filthy mortals and cultivators when I should be able to sup on the stars themselves?

I cast my mask into the churning wastes of the land's guts with the first exertion of power, and turned my gaze inward to begin my Great Work.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Heavens are not intelligent. They are not wise. They react to those who reach above their station with Tribulation, but always permit a chance to foil them.

This principle must remain true, the Heavens do not close every door--always, there is a way.

Early prototypes at gestating my new vessel have served to eliminate the most likely avenues of approach though. I have attempted to create bodies using the internal structure of magic beasts and found the subsequent forms too prone to malignant mutations and cancers to be valuable. I have attempted to splice in demonic nature to grant an illusionary aspect--but the heavens were not fooled.

I attempted to develop hybrids of body and spirit--few were viable when decanted, nothing more than puking, screaming, unsightly masses of protoplasm. My Will saw to their annihilation and reclamation, as I returned to my contemplation.

Perhaps the trigger was in the nature of the techniques I had learned? That the Heavens simply identified those on the Master's path as villains, and caused derived Daos to become singularly reliant on blood. While not an innate problem in itself, building up to my original level of strength would require a tremendous population and a compliant populace. My new body would not immediately recover my cultivation base, and thus I would have need to pose as a new disciple of one of the Sects that would assuredly exist in the aftermath of this business.

Such an approach would also guarantee cultivators to devour to hasten things along, and return to a semblance of my old glory in time.

Thus, it was necessary to ensure I could pretend to follow their methods.

I spent much time doing auguries, simulating and inferring a myriad of techniques. I began to decant simple mortal clones, and had them all attempt to master these. Many died as hidden flaws in their techniques consumed them. A small handful adapted well and consumed in turn.

None were capable of drawing in other forms of Qi in the aftermath. So I liquidated and reclaimed them.

It was not a matter of technique then, but a fundamental trigger brought on by the consumption and integration of blood by a Cultivator…

Was the effect universal, however?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Curiously, the effect did not appear to be universal. Attempts to draw power from the blood of consuming beasts were successful. It was inefficient compared to simply processing the core of course--most of a Beast's power is focused in that organ after all.

But the fundamentals work.

Logically, this is sensible--integrating the bloodline of powerful beasts to claim their power has never been a banned process by the Heavens. Nor have beasts ever been punished for consuming humans.

This appears to be the avenue that I may be able to exploit to create my new vessel. If I can create a vessel that is recognized as neither human nor beast in the eyes of the Heavens, it should become possible to evade its curse against The Master's Dao.

In the meantime, I will need to acquire additional resources. Recycling of failed experiments has stretched things out effectively, but supplies are beginning to reach their limit. It is impossible for my discarnate soul to abandon its current vessel until it is time to transmigrate to the perfect one--but it should be simplicity in itself to attract suitable agents to study my earlier experiments. An adjustment to their parameters to tithe a portion of their gains to me should ensure reliable resupply.

I drew upon my Remnant Will, and sent a force of power into the mountain range. Once, twice, three times. Power rained down on the landscape--and a great passageway to the plains where the remaining dregs frequent is formed.

All that remains is to wait.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

No doubt they believed a treasure was to be found in this place--there was of course. Many accepted my teachings and put them to proper use, stimulating activity in the Master's Path. Some have even decided to take up a home in this place and prey upon those who explore the desertified wastes.

Useful enough, the blood and qi that was tithed to me served to replenish depleted supplies, allowing me to resume experimentation. A direction had been determined, but the specific manifestation of that direction remained to be seen. Naturally, I would not see my new vessel to be a displeasing one, which demanded a humanoid body type. I would also not surrender the human capability to cultivate by shackling my work to a limit similar to beasts.

I rolled out several attempts, toying with the parameters to determine a pleasing design, while attempting to assess compatibility with my hypothesized exploit. Simple human/beast hybrids invariably failed--undesired instincts limited growth and mental capacity on the one side--and lifespan too unstable or reliant on constant corrections to be viable.

I began then to branch into more esoteric routes. An attempt at a puppet body seemed promising for a time, but had limited ability to utilize Blood Qi. Using an Earth Dragon's bones as a foundation showed great power, but tore itself apart during puberty as its bones refused to expand with the rest of its body and it split to pieces.

The less said about the corpse body, the better.

What did not help matters was the bandit clan who had taken up camp in the area surrounding my mask. Usually an asset, but invariably one would reach Nascent Soul, find some treasure, and attempt to break in and bind me. Futile of course, exhortations of my Will saw the offenders slain and their remains repurposed into my experiments--but they were inevitably a distraction.

Although… Perhaps some use could be made of their recaltriance.

My original body's Aperture was employed to create the space that my projects were conducted within, but I was slowly collecting additional Apertures through my occasional annihilations… If I could integrate them into a suitable design…

Ahhh…

Of course! I have been too focused on employing reliable, easy to recycle materials! Of course I have been reaching failure after failure!

Instead, I should be encouraging assault! I can employ my Will to slaughter the elders on the attack, and assemble sufficient Apertures to house the necessary components to complete my grand design!

I have sufficient resources now, I will adjust my offerings to be granted to any who seek to learn instead of merely the valuable. I will grant them all of the power they desire, all of the knowledge they need.

Then I will slaughter those who come to stop me.

In the meantime, I can begin work on the vessel, with what I already possess.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Progress, at long last!

The new vessel is human in structure, interweaved with a symbiotic organism of vast scope and complexity. There is little distinction between the human and the bonded creature, neither would survive without the other.

The creature is mindless, brainless, derived from an interesting little weed I discovered while kowtowing to the Master's Blade in old times, hungry for blood, and greedily devours any that it finds and uses it to grow in size and power. That it has been woven together with the vessel ensures that some of that power is passed along through a layer of abstraction that defeats the prohibition on the Master's Dao!

Originally, this was an impractical idea--the sheer size required to get any real degree of effect from this thing guaranteed that a displeasing form would be required. Employing a set of seven Immortal Apertures along the vessel's Chakras however provides a great deal of space for the symbiote's growth. Better still, the residual echoes of the Daos of the previous owners will resonate, producing seven powerful Divine Abilities as each Aperture reaches saturation!

It is perfect! The culmination of my great work! All that remains is to conduct the final auguries and simulations to determine final viability, and it will be ready for me to transfer my discarnate soul inside.

My attention shifts then to the outside--a great formation of strangers surrounding my Mask. Two Nascent Souls at the lead. Did they truly think inviting new experts would be enough to do what the others hadn't?

Meaningless.

I reach for my Will to strike them down.

It slips from my fingers, clumsily crashing against one of their numbers. He leans back, cursing and clutching his wound--the blow they had landed in turn tearing a scar through my Mask.

What had just…

What year is it?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

How ironic.

In my obsession to complete my great work, countless ages had passed without my attention. Masters had changed hands, come and gone, and my discarnate soul had steadily begun to decay.

First my awareness of the world beyond the Mask's immediate sight. Then my awareness of the passage of time. All simple things, easily missed in the face of my great work.

Then more critical aspects began to fail--my recycling formations, the spell reinforcements on my mask. Now my ability to interface with the Will I had invested into the Mask.

No longer would it act on my command, it would forevermore simply act as I have used it in the countless years of my project.

Now? Even my experiment memories are beginning to fade, suggesting my discarnate soul has entered terminal decay. It would collapse the moment I extract myself from this Mask.

To have come this close, and to know I would never be able to kowtow to the Great Master and follow him through his great journey? If I had a cultivation base, it would be collapsing in the face of this revelation.

But I have not gone this far to meekly accept failure.

The final adjustments on the ves--no, it would not be right to call it that anymore.

The final adjustments on my child are underway. Correcting the remaining faults in their body. I will find a suitable moment, and release them into the world.

I will have to content myself with simply creating the ultimate weapon, instead of being one..

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aliki's eyes slowly opened, the morning sun shining into her eyes. She made a quiet moan of frustration at the sight, grabbing her pillow and shoving it over her head.

This was better.

Back to bed~~~

"Wakey wakey!" Papa's voice cried out, the sound of a banging pot filling the apartment. "Breakfast time! Up and at'em!"

but she was so sleepy

Aliki tried to shove her head further under her pillows, but the door burst open, and two children burst in. "Big Sis! Big Sis!" They drawled in the way only toddlers can. "Breaky time!"

That wasn't fair at all, was it? She couldn't just say no when they got up on her bed like that and started jumping on it and screaming.

"okaaaaay" She whispered, only to be ignored by the jumping children. They both kneeled down and started shaking her then. "Okaaaaay!" She shouted this time, and rolled out of bed.

Aliki stared up at the ceiling of her home, a lock of her black hair blocking one of her eyes and she stared up at the shining light up above. It was apparently a privilege of being an "Honorably Discharged Legionnaire'' or something. There was the big fight a couple years ago or something against the 'Invaders', and he got hurt during it.

They apparently take care of those who get hurt in their service.

She pulled herself up as her brother and sister rushed out of the room to go screaming downstairs at Papa, giving her a moment to look herself in the mirror.

She couldn't say she was cute really, even considering her youthful eight year old vitality. Long black hair, going down to her ankles and as shaggy as a donkey, bangs often getting in her way--even if you disregard the whole trip hazard thing.

She'd cut it a bit shorter if she could, but it had a tendency to just grow back, and it was too heavy to do much fancy with.

Her red eyes shone eerily in the mirror, calling attention to the dark circles beneath them. Her features were sunken--apparently a symptom of 'Chronic malnutrition' or something if Doctor Hermod was any authority on the matter--and he totally was.

She pulled back her lips into a smile, frowning as her sharpened canines glint in the morning light. She supposed they were useful enough given her diet…

But it did tend to make her smiles look like she was going to jump and bite someone.

At least she didn't have to work very hard to keep them clean, she didn't want to have to risk cutting herself given how sharp those chompers could be. She closed her eyes, then steadied herself.

As much as she liked it, she couldn't spend all day in bed after all.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aliki stepped down the stairway, stifling a yawn as she saw the kitchen. Papa was settled down already, his wooden leg already strapped on while he reviewed the record sheets for his business. Lil' bro and sis were already jabbering at him.

Aliki just sort of slinked in, a little sheepish at how long it took her to get there. Papa looked up and smiled as he usually does. "There's my big girl!" He laughed, and set his books down. "Sleep well?"

"Okay I guess…" Aliki sat down at her spot. "Still a bit tired though…"

"Can't just spend all day in bed, much as we might like it!" Papa laughed, and leaned back to catch Mama's gaze. "After all, you don't want to miss a day of your apprenticeship!"

"I guess" Aliki mumbled, as Mama put down breakfast for today, was that… Some kind of steak thing?

She looked at it suspiciously, then looked up, then took a bite and chomped once or twice. It was…

Well, it had a good texture at least, good flavor… She swallowed deeply, and waited for the moment to come where she'd have to toss it back up.

She waited, and then she blinked, and realized that this was a good thing!

"Could stomach that, huh?" Mama patted her on the head as Aliki ravenously started at it. "Figured you'd like to try a change of pace from the usual sausages and ham, and your father managed to get a good deal on some magic beast meat.

"Ish gud!" Aliki mumbled between bites--this actually was really yummy!

it wasn't long before she had finished the plate--and sat back, sighing. "That was greaaat" Aliki smiled, drooling a little, slumping back on her seat. "Wish I could eat like that every day."

Her eyes closed and she started to sore, drifting back to sleep. The two parents looked to each other, a little concerned as the younger siblings started to pick at their own breakfast cakes.

Normal food, you know, not…

"You know how it is" the father whispered. "She can't eat normal food, and regular animal meat barely takes the edge off."

"We can't afford this every day." The mother whispered back. "And you're in no condition to go out hunting either. I know you're attached to her but it really would be the best for all of us if you brought her to the boarding house--the Clan can afford her upbringing if it comes to it."

"The last thing she needs is to be shoved off into a group of strangers and taught how to fight and kill." The father waved it off. "You know where I found her, you know what the doctor told us."

"I know that! But we can't do it at the expense of our own flesh and blood" The mother whispered back.

"That's why we cut the deal with the Doctor. He gets to keep an eye on her, and gets another set of hands to get the work done--and we get the extra money." The father explained. "He's reputable, he's a good man, and he'll have a fine recommendation into the healers when she grows up. It'll be fine, I know it." He takes her hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

Aliki is oblivious, too busy enjoying the sensation of a food coma.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Doctor Hermod was an old, crotchety man--but he knew his craft. A mustered out expert at Foundation Establishment, he had offered no less than four hundred years of his lifespan to the Clan, and was content to endure on his pension in his twilight years. His long beard was dotted with sparks of tarnish, despite his best efforts to keep it clear.

Right now, he was pondering the curiosities of the universe, in the form of the ragamuffin that Roan dragged in during the aftermath of the last go of the Trials. A savage wildling in the middle of the desert, half starved and snapping at everything that she saw.

Naturally, he brought her to the most trusted professional in the Waycastle to do an assessment

He was torn as to whether he regretted taking that offer at the moment--the diagnosis and assessment made no fucking sense. Oh, on the surface, it was just some weird shit with hair that liked staying at a hazardous length, unusual eye color, and an inability to keep down most common forms of food, with the notable exception of meat products and water.

But then he tried poking inside, and what he found was very nearly enough to kill the child on the spot. Her circulatory system was filled to the brim with some kind of viscous, heavy fluid in the place of normal human blood--filled to the brim with all manner of terrifying phage organisms. She had seven fleshy things aligned across where a normal human's chakras were--he'd almost call them tumors if it wasn't for the fact that any attempt to probe them with divine sense ended up with discovering nothing less than a tremendous chasm between the border of the thing and anything inside, carrying an impression of tremendous size.

He'd seen something similar once or twice in the past--though on a much smaller scale, during his stint on the southeast border.

The girl was a man-eater. And a horrific one to boot, the sort of body modification he'd only seen during autoposies of Blood Cannibal suicide soldiers.

By all rights, he should be having her killed before she grows up, before that nature has a chance to flare up.

And yet…

"Like… This?" Aliki Squeaked out, raising the diagram she'd been working on so far. The proper procedure for curing a concussion. He glanced over, and gave an approving grunt. Watching the girl light up at the recognition was…

Well, it was not Illegal to be a man-eater.

He did suspect some old ghost doing some kind of infiltration gambit at first… But it didn't fit the evidence--such a creature would prevent him from noticing anything wrong at all, and would understand their own nature well enough that they wouldn't regularly have to fall into recuperative naps, or often wind up half starved when suitable food is in short supply.

He would admit though that her favorite place being his operating room because it smelled 'Sweet' put a chill up his spine.

"It damn well shouldn't smell sweet" Doctor Hermod lectured, the girl cringing before his accidental release of his power. "This place is a battleground, where I pit my blades and wit against Death Itself and send it screaming back into the distance."

She blinked at that, and her eyes lit up. "So that means you fight monsters here?"

Hermod hesitated at that, sifted the idea over. It… Wasn't entirely incorrect. "The oldest and most terrible one of all, the reaper that calls on each of us. The role of a healer is to stand against Death. I'm proud to say that I've beaten it back more often than I've lost." He rubbed his moustache, now fully into showing off. "Few in this province can boast of being my equal, and none can boast being better!"

Her eyes--terrible shining red as they were--glittered at that. "Can I be a Healer too then?" He stopped at that. "Papa and Mama are always working really hard, and they're always talking about things dying." She frowns a little. "If I can help beat up Death too, I can help them if he comes in!" She puffs her chest out the way only a child that had come to some deep insight could. "It's the least I can do, isn't it?"

He'd seen pettier reasons to want to be a healer than a belief that Death was an evil monster, and healers were mighty champions who went and 'Beat it up'.

So when she asked if he could teach her--he agreed. It would let her keep an eye on her for one thing to make sure that she remained a cute kid who had a strange constitution instead of the monster she could become.

And he'd admit, the credulity of literal children was refreshing at times. As was the literal minded way they went about life.

He could think of worse ways to spend his retirement.

The case today though was one of the first where he had her in the room as an assistant--having introduced her to the elementary tools of the surgeon. He didn't strictly need the help--his cultivation base was well beyond what any mere mortal could meaningfully assist with.

But the point here was to give her something to do--and admittedly, having a pint-sized assistant was enough to help keep the patients at ease.

It was a simple enough operation, he would have delegated it to one of the other surgeons in town if the mortal wasn't willing to pay through the nose for the purpose of having the best healer do the work. Complaints about a cramped leg that wasn't coming uncramped.

Preliminary auguries and investigations suggested a tangled up tendon, knocked loose by overexertion and twisted around the muscle. It would need to be operated on--a quick incision, untangling and suturing of the tendon, and a brief check for further damage.

He had half an eye on Aliki as he made the first incision. The first drops of blood fell out--and he saw her freeze on the spot, pupils dilating at the experience.

But she didn't make a move.

Good! It wasn't hard to override her instincts! It meant she likely wasn't a public danger. He'd find it disappointing if he had to execute the girl this early in her tutelage. He leaned into the opening, and identified the torn section. A flash or two of his hands to finish the operation, and he stepped back to begin to suture.

"ummm." Aliki whispered. Hermod glanced back--he didn't appreciate the interruption. "Something smells a little… Funny?"

"Blood has a distinct smell to it" Hermod dismissed it and began to turn to return to his work. "I will explain matters later.'

"No, no…" She shook her head, still holding his tool tray in her hands. "It's… There's a whole lot of sweetness in, but there's something that smells…" She sniffed once or twice. "... Spicy? Is that the word? The kind of thing that the magic beast meat has."

Hermod froze at that, glancing back to the concerned looking child, then back to his patient.

Then he unhooded his Cultivation Base and extended his Divine Sense into the wound.

And cursed.

Clever! He'd seen this before! A Travelling Scythe Bug! A magical beast that parasitizes travelers, entering through the lower leg and climbing steadily to the heart, where they parasitize the victim's blood flow and drain nutrients. A quiet, insidious killer for all that it is no match for a proper healer--they were clever enough to leave minor injuries on the way to their destination to make it look like they were the cause of any lethargy!

He snorted, and sent his Divine Sense to the heart--encircling the screaming bug within it and crushing the life out of it. A moment's suction on the previous wound pulled the remains out of it.

He turned to Aliki then, and smiled a rictus grin. She seemed to sparkle at the attention.

"Good nose on you girl." He complimented. "Good, good, good!" He sutured the patient back up, and sealed the remaining wound with a brush of his hand.

This? This was unexpected.

He had taken an apprentice to keep an eye on them. Finding a genuine talent here? That was special.

So what if she was a monster?

Nobody ever said a monster couldn't be a splendid healer!

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Years passed, and the life of Aliki maintained their rhythm. Mornings being dragged out of bed eventually to enjoy what breakfast was available Days spent aiding in the clinic, and evenings returning home to have dinner and hearing all kinds of stories.

To call Aliki a great beauty in the making would be a… Disservice to the term. Her black hair was a tangled mess that continued to grow to match her height, her limbs gawky and clumsy. Her face might have been nice, but her awkward smiles, sharpened teeth, and predatory glow in her scarlet eyes invariably turned people off.

But she was earnest, she was honest, and she was a hard worker--and besides, weren't the rulers of this fine city bronze skinned aliens? How strange is just one more mysterious constitution in the cultivation world?

However, the piper couldn't be paid off forever--while common citizens could be content to be brought in by local Sects, the Clan invariably made note of unusual physiques--doubly so ones that they had no record on. These are assets--or mysteries--that were to be the purview of the Golden Devil Clan.

More importantly, the simple fact of the matter was that the family couldn't afford to keep feeding Aliki , occasional servings of magic beast meat were satisfying enough while she was small, but as she approached her full growth, it became less and less effective--and even the stipend being offered by the good Doctor was no longer enough to keep up with her requirements.

So the Doctor wrote up a letter, a recommendation, and a profile--while a wagon was directed to collect her.

So it was with tearful eyes that Aliki began her voyage to the Dawn Fortress, with a sack full of jerky and a clean set of doctor's implements, freshly forged for her use!

She was going to do this! She'd be a fine doctor, get good training, and come home after she finished her tour of duty!

Nothing was going to go wrong with this!

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Centurion Korvas looked up at the kid in the seat, then back down at the dossier that was packed in with her things--stamped by a former peer of his in the medical corps.

It was--to put it bluntly--a shitshow in the making, and he cursed his unlucky stars that he was the one who had to make the final call. Normally these kinds of weird 'Go/No Go" decisions were made by the higher ups…

But with how bad the Trials went, there were no higher ups who were any more reliable than he was.

He clicked his tongue, and flipped over to the attached physical.

Aliki possesses an unknown variant constitution of unknown--but presumed high--capabilities. Chief manifestations are a set of seven organs of unknown provenance, implanted along the seven primary chakra points of the human body. Each of these organs are tightly interwoven with her bloodstream, in one case serving as a replacement for a heart. Blood is highly viscous and clear, suggesting an absence of iron within. Direct effect of mysterious organs unknown, but presumed to be stimulated if Qi is processed.

Lesser phenomena are a vine colony serving as a replacement for hair. Samples taken denature quickly when removed from the greater mass, but appear to be a supplementary circulatory system rooted within the unknown organ in the head. Additionally, her senses are generally sharper on average than standard mortal baseline, though not to the level of qualifying as a significant asset.

Diet is exclusively carnivorous, attempts to consume plant based matter inevitably results in severe nausea and vomiting. Limited ability to consume liquids other than water, they do not provoke an adverse reaction but otherwise do not significantly contribute to hydration except in how much water is part of the mix.

Placid personality and highly social impulses would make her approachable, though facial features tend to provoke caution in other humans. Notably, has shown considerable talent in the medical field, and has been a diligent and apt student in the field--her enhanced senses prove a boon when conducting diagnosis.

Further understanding of her cultivation attributes dependent on a breakthrough. Notably, it has been observed that she can currently metabolize Qi even without an activated dantian, picking up on trace amounts available in city air and lingering on magic beast meat. It is suspected that these traces are employed to maintain the exotic nature of her physiology, and extended deprivation leaves her increasingly lethargic.

For obvious reasons, no Blood Path affinity was tested for. Nonetheless, the extreme body modification involved in her physiology and sensitivity to the presence of blood suggest aptitude in this field to be extremely high. Fortunately, socialization has led her to associate the 'Sweetness' with people being in danger not crisis, and she has shown no inclination to go finding more of it.

Take extreme caution during Initiation, if the choice is made to recruit her into the Clan.

He set the Dossier down, and saw the dozing girl leaning back on her chair, a line of drool going down one lip.

…

They did always need more healers. Half of the Clan's advantage in warfare came from the Blood of Bronze's vitality, every cohort that boasted an attached healer could extend their combat effectiveness beyond reason.

He reached for the stamp pad, and struck down the APPROVED seal on her dossier, then snapped his fingers--the girl waking up with a start.

"Wakey Wakey girl" Korvas drawled, reaching into the desk and withdrawing a needle and vial. "You have been selected among a number of your peers to be adopted into the Golden Devil Clan." The girl seems to sparkle at that--but she freezes when he releases the seal on the vial. Was this that sensitivity the Doctor was talking about?

"In recognition for your aptitude, you will be granted a single drop of the Blood of Bronze" He continued, carefully measuring out the desired amount in the needle, then flicking it once or twice in the air. "This will grant you access to the public facilities of the Clan, and a salary to support your Cultivation. Further resources can be acquired through access to the Contribution Board."

He trails off at that, seeing the girl watching the needle with a stare sharp enough to make even him feel it. Might be time to lighten the mood a notch. "Of course, you'll want to pay attention during the introductory courses--lineup for the manual board tends to be hours long at the best of times."

He underhandedly tossed a stuffed animal at her face. The girl shrieked as it flew towards her, only to get yanked back on a string of Korvas' Divine Sense.

Hah, gets 'em every time.

While she was screaming, he employed the speed of his cultivation base to shift behind her, brush aside the mass that was her hair, and inject the droplet into her spine.

"Easy enough!" He pulled the needle out, and patted the wound--sealing immediately in an exertion of power. "Welcome to the clan Aliki ."

She just sat there, not moving. He frowned, snapping his fingers once or twice--it worked before.

Did she fall asleep?

He circled around to the front. "Everything alr...ight?"

It was fortunate that initiations were handled by experts of Foundation Establishment, because he needed to draw on every last drop of experience he had to keep a straight face seeing that. Pupils dilated to the maximum, heavy breathing--blood drawn to the extremities.

What in the hell?

She Melts into the chair. "What was that?" Her voice wobbled strangely. "It was all warm and wiggly and shiny!"

He remembered the warning in the dossier. "Extreme care should be taken in initiation".

But… She wasn't jumping up at him, just… Looking like she'd had a gigantic plate of sweets after fasting for a week.

Lovely, she was apparently some Blood Path natural.

He'd need to add 'To be watched closely' to her profile. Could never tell when those would fly off the handle in the middle of training. Better to find that out in training then before they were expected to actually protect someone and decide to use them as drinks instead.

 

[Pyro Hawk]

Well, I suppose we did need an adorable murder moeblob in the Clan's Good Seeds somewhere.

 

[occipitallobe]

Huh.

The old man had yanked her out of cultivation, frustratingly! She had been on the verge of a proper insight, she could taste it.

Oh well.

Destasia had never been one to dwell overmuch on the past, and when the Grand Elder requested you to join the Council, you obeyed. Even if you didn't really want to. She had obeyed, though, and left her lovely little research Legion to take up the position of Master of Disciples.

It had been a rather peculiar day. Even she, a Legate, rarely saw the old Konstantinos. He was secluded most of the time, shrouded in mystery. Oh, she had met him. Once when he was teaching a lecture when she had been a new Aspirant, and once when she had failed to contain a Blood Path experiment in rather spectacular fashion and he'd promised to kill her if she 'got too far out of line again'. She hadn't, of course, and it was such a shame about those mortals, but they had been on the verge of a proper breakthrough! She had been able to feel it that time, which was a step above tasting. A new detection array would've gone a long way to assisting them against the Cannibals in the south, and she had definitely wanted to see how it worked.

Destasia looked over in the mirror. She had always considered herself beautiful, if only because to be in the process of change meant one was ever-moving towards beauty. Probabilistically. Sometimes you looked very ugly or did very ugly things, but that was life. Long golden locks, shining bronze skin, with a patina of green on her arms and legs. She knew most chose to either remove the patina or to leave it entirely, but it was enjoyable to trace patterns and the like into it. Why, one of her best runes had been carved into the patina of her little fingernail! Pity about the finger, of course, but it had allowed her to shut down the second Blood Path experiment before it got loose and ate another village.

Her eyes were a verdant green, and people had called them mesmerizing. As well they should, given she'd fused a layer of Mesmerizing Glass to them a century ago. Pity about the eyesight, but she'd managed to replicate the sense eventually by filling the underneath of the eye with Nightscream Moth Venom, which had given her back the eyesight and let her poison people who met her eyes at will.

Where was she? Yes, training. Ah, this was going to be fun. Of course, the old man had laid down several 'nonnegotiable rules', but as long as she taught the Formations, basic discipline and the like, she could do what she wanted! Within reason, but... well. This was going to give her some grand ideas to follow!

Given Destasia is new to her job, she is going to suffer a penalty in one aspect (any time-based penalties will clear at the start of the next Trials, and will not apply during the Trials), as opposed to a generic stat penalty. Excitingly, the thread gets to choose! Actions and Focuses can be used to mitigate these penalties in future, but such things are limited.

[ ] She shakes the Dao-Hearts of the Aspirants - Destasia's experiments and peculiar ways shake the faith of the Aspirants. This doesn't matter in most combats, but in desperate straits the collapse of the Dao-Heart means the collapse of the Formation. Military disasters will be significantly worse until Year 200. Of course, if there are no disasters, this penalty will have zero effect...

[ ] The Discipline of the Aspirants - Her flighty nature means she fails to discipline the Aspirants to the old high standards. This will be reflected as a general malus in their combat ability as their co-ordination is impacted. All military rolls will be suffer a minor penalty until Year 200.

[ ] Weeding out the Aspirants - Destasia's peculiar thoughts on proper Aspirants means she constantly changes the standards until she loses interest in doing so, weeding out far too many Aspirants early on. Lose 10 years worth of cultivator recruiment - so half a turn worth of growth for Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation over the next 80 years. This is roughly 20,000 Qi Condensation cultivators, 200 Foundation Establishment experts, and 2 Core Formation experts worth of growth.

------------------------

Xie Xinya shook for a moment. The meeting had... not gone as expected. She had thought she would go in there offering praises and begging forgiveness for past crimes, exalting the mysterious Grand Elder's judgement for choosing her as Mystikos. What had happened instead was that he had sat down in front of her, and spoken.

"Lady Xie Xinya. I know you like to assist your family, and I have concerns about this."

She smiled winsomely.

"Of course, who doesn't? But you can rest assured that as a new-"

His palm came down on the table, and where another blow might have exerted force, this one removed it, draining force from the room itself and leaving her unable to move, unable to speak.

He shook his head.

"I know your nature, Lady Xie. You are the sort who prizes son over uncle, uncle over distant family, distant family over clan, and clan over the world. The last I have no objection to. Yet your task requires you to not prioritize your family so strongly."

He breathed out, and she was able to speak again.

"Grand Elder, I am of course intending to-"

This time the palm didn't move, but the inexorable stillness was there again.

He sighed.

"You use your position as Legate to funnel resources to your family, your Legion kept afloat only by your talent at administration and personal willingness to risk yourself. Another, more dedicated cultivator would have raised a better Legion. However. I am not without willingness to allow the proclivities of my Council. Here."

He sat down a spiritual jade, and she could move again.

She touched it, and a figure burnt itself into her mind in ten different ways, and then a hundred. An exact knowledge of a particular amount of wealth per year, remunerated in Legion Contribution Points, Spirit Stones, various other cultivation resources, and the like.

"Let me be frank. You may skim so much off the top of your position. I do not object to some mild nepotism, and if we formalise it here it is no longer corruption. In my direct service your family may become rich and powerful, your children may have more resources than you could have given them as a mere Legate. However. If you take a single Spirit Stone more than you are allowed, take a single step over the line I have drawn, I will kill your entire Xie family. I won't torture them or do unspeakable things to their souls - I wouldn't carry out such a threat nor do I care to make empty ones. Once I am done killing them... I will cripple you, and hang you from the gates of the Dawn Fortress, armless and legless. I will remove your eyes, ears, lips, and leave only your tongue. You will hang there for a decade until I permit you to die, specifically as an object lesson against corruption."

She took in a breath, and let one out. Threats of death were not so uncommon to shatter her Dao-Heart entirely, and the old man was just stating facts.

"What if I accidentally go over the line, Grand Elder?"

He smiled, a thin thing that didn't reach his eyes.

"I suggest you be very careful not to."

Given Xinya is new to her job and currently establishing intelligence networks, she is going to suffer a penalty in two (2) aspects as listed below, as opposed to a generic stat penalty. Excitingly, the thread gets to choose! These penalties to intelligence will last for 80 years, terminating at the beginning of the Trials. Penalties will be manifested as major maluses to all intrigue rolls against the power in question for the next two turns. Actions and Focuses can be used to mitigate these in future, but such things are limited.

[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in the Plains. Understanding the Devil Bees, Cannibals, and Jingshen Clan is effort enough.

[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Devil Bees - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in Devil Bee territory. Understanding the Great Battlefield, Cannibals, and Jingshen Clan is effort enough.

[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Cannibal Sect - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in the Cannibal Sect. Understanding the Devil Bees, Great Battlefield, and Jingshen Clan is effort enough.

[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Jingshen Clan - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in Jingshen Clan. Understanding the Devil Bees, Cannibals, and Great Battlefield is effort enough.

[ ] She is blinded to Blood Path rebels and spies - Xinya can look outwards, but at what cost? Spying on one's neighbours means lowering one's ability to keep out rebels and spies at home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Casia Zimisce had been an obvious pick for the position, that much she knew. Manuel Konstantinos - and wasn't that a peculiar thing, to meet the Grand Elder with promises to meet regularly - had come to her. He had looked... old. Not strong and indomitable, not some invincible Nascent Soul. Just old and tired, and trying what he could to patch together a failing Clan. Asking her to administrative had been a small surprise, she had thought she might be made Mystikos. But she understood why - the old man wanted someone who would kill.

She didn't blame him, but still... she wished the world didn't have to be that way.

She flicked over a report. Yes, the dancing girl. At Pleuron. If she managed to make her way into Foundation Establishment, which Casia thought she would... well, enough for that later. She understood the desire for peace, Casia knew. There were not so many of them following that Dao. She might be raised as a worthy successor for her Legion, though much remained to be seen.

She smiled, and turned again to her work. The job of administering the Clan was incredibly hard, and she certainly did not have the ability to solve all the problems put in front of her.

She looked down at the pile of paperwork. A few choices sat in front of her. Perhaps she should simply implement quick-fixes, using her staff and her own skills to work the Contribution Board to an immediate high level of efficiency rather than trying to re-establish the interlocking systems that made it function so well. Of course, that meant a longer period of time with lowered income. She could try and re-establish the old efficient system immediately, but getting all the Legions back into using the Boards properly with their dearth of elders would be tough, and would see them facing a major loss in income in the short term.

Lastly, she could just rebuild the system to work for Foundation Establishment Legates. It'd be less efficient overall and would take a major overhaul to return to the old state, but the losses in the short term would be absolutely minor at best.

Given Casia is new to her job and currently working hard to make the Legion Contributions Board function, she is going to suffer a penalty in one (1) aspect as listed below, as opposed to a generic stat penalty.

[ ] Borrowing against tomorrow - Casia is using short-term fixes to try and get the Clan's income up to speed quickly. The Clan will suffer -3 Wealth per turn for the next 4 turns, as these fixes means it takes her longer to re-establish a functioning system.

[ ] Paying the debt today - Casia invests wealth and the like to get the Contributions Board working properly again, even if this means short-term fixes cannot immediately take hold. The Clan will lose -6 Wealth next turn, and -2 Wealth the turn after that.

[ ] Interest forever! Casia simply lets some inefficiencies slide in the interest of expediency, seeking to gain what immediate efficiencies she can and reaching a local maximum rather than returning to theoretical optimal operating parameters. The Clan will suffer -1 Wealth per turn indefinitely. This will cost 10 Wealth to clear in future.

 

[occipitallobe]

I'm going to bed, but when I wake up I'll open voting. Plan votes, as always!

Feel free to propose and discuss plans, as always.

 

[TimEd]

Will again abstain from voting here, since I dislike the choice and arrangements of the Councilors.

 

[LordEdric]

[ ] The Discipline of the Aspirants
This is the only one we can afford right now

[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
We can be blind to this because it's too far to be a major issue right now, just not sure on the second, I want to say devil bees


[ ] Borrowing against tomorrow - Casia is using short-term fixes to try and get the Clan's income up to speed quickly. The Clan will suffer -3 Wealth per turn for the next 4 turns, as these fixes means it takes her longer to re-establish a functioning system.

[ ] Paying the debt today - Casia invests wealth and the like to get the Contributions Board working properly again, even if this means short-term fixes cannot immediately take hold. The Clan will lose -6 Wealth next turn, and -2 Wealth the turn after that.

[ ] Interest forever! Casia simply lets some inefficiencies slide in the interest of expediency, seeking to gain what immediate efficiencies she can and reaching a local maximum rather than returning to theoretical optimal operating parameters. The Clan will suffer -1 Wealth per turn indefinitely. This will cost 10 Wealth to clear in future.

So for the second choice @occipitallobe I want to know how long the -2 is for, if 3 or more years, then first 2 choices are the same in my option and we can choice interest forever and pay off everything next turn is we should have enough, it should be total -11 wealth over -12

 

[Bakkasama]

[ ] The Discipline of the Aspirants
This is the only one we can afford right now

[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
We can be blind to this because it's too far to be a major issue right now, just not sure on the second, I want to say devil bees


[ ] Borrowing against tomorrow - Casia is using short-term fixes to try and get the Clan's income up to speed quickly. The Clan will suffer -3 Wealth per turn for the next 4 turns, as these fixes means it takes her longer to re-establish a functioning system.

[ ] Paying the debt today - Casia invests wealth and the like to get the Contributions Board working properly again, even if this means short-term fixes cannot immediately take hold. The Clan will lose -6 Wealth next turn, and -2 Wealth the turn after that.

[ ] Interest forever! Casia simply lets some inefficiencies slide in the interest of expediency, seeking to gain what immediate efficiencies she can and reaching a local maximum rather than returning to theoretical optimal operating parameters. The Clan will suffer -1 Wealth per turn indefinitely. This will cost 10 Wealth to clear in future.

So for the second choice @occipitallobe I want to know how long the -2 is for, if 3 or more years, then first 2 choices are the same in my option and we can choice interest forever and pay off everything next turn is we should have enough, it should be total -11 wealth over -12

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It says -6 next turn and -2 the turn after that, so it sounds like the -2 is for a single turn, for a total of -8 wealth.

 

[Humbaba]

Honestly, I feel pretty annoyed that this is the result of getting actually manning the council promptly. Particularly the intrigue track feels almost like it would have been better to wait.

As a second note @occipitallobe the current clan status is badly out of date, and I can't find our cultivator growth rate/income, which makes planning difficult.

Anyway.

[ ] She shakes the Dao-Hearts of the Aspirants - Destasia's experiments and peculiar ways shake the faith of the Aspirants. This doesn't matter in most combats, but in desperate straits the collapse of the Dao-Heart means the collapse of the Formation. Military disasters will be significantly worse until Year 200. Of course, if there are no disasters, this penalty will have zero effect...

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Yuck. On the one hand, fate can no longer screw us at will. If we roll at least decently, this is the best option. On the other hand it is one of the biggest death spiral triggers we could see in a bad scenario. Leaning no.

[ ] The Discipline of the Aspirants -

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Her flighty nature means she fails to discipline the Aspirants to the old high standards. This will be reflected as a general malus in their combat ability as their co-ordination is impacted. All military rolls will be suffer a minor penalty until Year 200.

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Absolutely not. The cannibals (at least) are coming.

[ ] Weeding out the Aspirants - Destasia's peculiar thoughts on proper Aspirants means she constantly changes the standards until she loses interest in doing so, weeding out far too many Aspirants early on. Lose 10 years worth of cultivator recruitment - so half a turn worth of growth for Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation over the next 80 years. This is roughly 20,000 Qi Condensation cultivators, 200 Foundation Establishment experts, and 2 Core Formation experts worth of growth.

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This is pretty darn bad, but might still be the best option. Honestly I only really care about the core formations. We need core formations badly to recover.

Intrigue. This sucks, badly. Ultra badly. This is one of the worst areas to be facing such major penalties. We need to focus on this ASAP to mitigate our weaknesses here.

[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in the Plains. Understanding the Devil Bees, Cannibals, and Jingshen Clan is effort enough.

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This is far away, but we are currently reliant on the Strength Purity sect helping to prop us up. Greatest dangers: The war getting suddenly worse and our allies being weakened (since they're pragmatic about us) or the Jingshen getting their influence in there. Losing this is painful, but we might be able to live with it.

[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Devil Bees - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in Devil Bee territory. Understanding the Great Battlefield, Cannibals, and Jingshen Clan is effort enough.

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The dice roll option. If everything goes super well they're in civil war for the next century and we're fine. Everything goes poorly, we have Hua war 2.0.

[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Cannibal Sect - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in the Cannibal Sect. Understanding the Devil Bees, Great Battlefield, and Jingshen Clan is effort enough.

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We know they're coming in a couple of turns. No intrigue meant they have tactical suprise and can pull off trickery. On the other hand, we know they're coming an have fortified so might be able to hold out anyway.

[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Jingshen Clan - Xinya doesn't have the spare assets to maintain a proper network in Jingshen Clan. Understanding the Devil Bees, Cannibals, and Great Battlefield is effort enough.

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Yeah, no. Not an option.

[ ] She is blinded to Blood Path rebels and spies - Xinya can look outwards, but at what cost? Spying on one's neighbours means lowering one's ability to keep out rebels and spies at home.

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Again, probably not an option. Our clan is explicitly weak to betrayal and we're reliant on hired core formations for a decent period of time. One of them going traitor is a death sentence.

On income, we currently generate 5 wealth per turn (10 last turn - 5 for core formations) before the Strength purity deal, which I can't find a value for. A large portion of our costs is the hiring of core formations. 3 wealth lost per turn in [] borrowing leaves us with precious little generated to use each turn.

I am therefore inclined to [] Paying the debt today and using savings in order to get us back on an footing so we can start growing again. We don't have long before the cannibal truce expires, and we need to get back on an even footing. Especially since I'd expect us to need to pour funding into intrigue efforts.

[ ] Borrowing against tomorrow - Casia is using short-term fixes to try and get the Clan's income up to speed quickly. The Clan will suffer -3 Wealth per turn for the next 4 turns, as these fixes means it takes her longer to re-establish a functioning system.

[ ] Paying the debt today - Casia invests wealth and the like to get the Contributions Board working properly again, even if this means short-term fixes cannot immediately take hold. The Clan will lose -6 Wealth next turn, and -2 Wealth the turn after that.

[ ] Interest forever! Casia simply lets some inefficiencies slide in the interest of expediency, seeking to gain what immediate efficiencies she can and reaching a local maximum rather than returning to theoretical optimal operating parameters. The Clan will suffer -1 Wealth per turn indefinitely. This will cost 10 Wealth to clear in future.

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Plans:

[] Plan: Betting on good rolls
-[ ] She shakes the Dao-Hearts of the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Devil Bees
-[] Paying the debt today.

Hopes for good rolls - no military disasters and the Devil bees remaining occupied.

[] Plan military dangers are worse than slow recovery
- [ ] Weeding out the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Devil Bees
-[] Paying the debt today.

Betting on good rolls but without the danger of a military disaster death spiraling us, but slows our recovery on core formations, which is a problem.

[] Plan: Our defences against cannibals are sufficient
-[ ] She shakes the Dao-Hearts of the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Cannibal sect
-[] Paying the debt today.

Relies on our already strong defences against the blood cannibals to mean we can afford to ignore their intrigue and focus elsewhere. Also hopes that our fortreses can avoid the possibility of a military disaster.

[] Plan: Adequate cannibal defences, slow training edition.
- [ ] Weeding out the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Cannibal sect
-[] Paying the debt today.

As above but less training exchanged against insurance in case of military disaster.

 

[BungieONI]

Given that we're going to want to fortify against the Cannibals next turn in order to be ready for war come turn 8, I think administrative wise we have to take Borrowing Against Tomorrow.

Not sure what to do with Xie as of yet, beyond agreeing that the Great Battlefield isn't exactly relevant right now. It is relevant in the near future but the next two turns, probably not.

Destasia is a bit tricky. We could suffer a minor malus to recruitment, or a loss on raw numbers. And against the cannibals I'm not sure which I'd like to go for. Honestly a minor malus is probably better since we can pad that out with numbers a bit and those numbers can carry over for the trials.

[] Plan: Betting on good rolls
-[ ] She shakes the Dao-Hearts of the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Devil Bees
-[] Paying the debt today.

Hopes for good rolls - no military disasters and the Devil bees remaining occupied.

[] Plan military dangers are worse than slow recovery
- [ ] Weeding out the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Devil Bees
-[] Paying the debt today.

Betting on good rolls but without the danger of a military disaster death spiraling us, but slows our recovery on core formations, which is a problem.

[] Plan: Our defences against cannibals are sufficient
-[ ] She shakes the Dao-Hearts of the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Cannibal sect
-[] Paying the debt today.

Relies on our already strong defences against the blood cannibals to mean we can afford to ignore their intrigue and focus elsewhere. Also hopes that our fortreses can avoid the possibility of a military disaster.

[] Plan: Adequate cannibal defences, slow training edition.
- [ ] Weeding out the Aspirants
-[ ] She is blinded to the War in the Plains
-[ ] She is blinded to the moves of the Cannibal sect
-[] Paying the debt today.

As above but less training exchanged against insurance in case of military disaster.

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Got to say I think Paying Today is a really bad idea, because we need bulk amounts of cash in order to use the Fortify action on the Burnished Crags and Uncast Molds, i.e use our natural and effective clan tactic against the Cannibals. If we shell out -6 next turn I expect we won't have the cash to do Fortify on turn 7 which means we're open on turn 8 and our military prep is worth a lot less. (It's not worthless to be clear, its just not playing to our strengths)

E: We haven't fortified in the Cannibal direction, the action hasn't been taken there.

 

[Nordlending]

Honestly, I feel pretty annoyed that this is the result of getting actually manning the council promptly. Particularly the intrigue track feels almost like it would have been better to wait.

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I almost agree, but having no one would still be worse.

 

[BungieONI]

As far as I understand it, we don't have strong defenses against the Cannibals, because we haven't taken the Fortify action in the Uncast Molds or Burnished Crags. I went back and checked and all we've done so far is increase colonization there and used Fortify in the direction of the Devil Bees.

 

[Rakuhn]

This would normally be anathema to me, but I'm honestly tempted by the Interest Forever! option. We need every scrap of wealth we can get to rebuild for the next trials.

We'd be looking at a total cost of 14 or 15 compared to the medium interest option's 12, but will allow us 8 more wealth to spend on emergencies now.