TURN 11, OMAKE 4 [
Lipita]
Lipita Delphi 4: Aspirant Induction
The second Hundred-Year Trials in the rule of Archegetes Manuel Konstantinos over the Imperial Optimatoi were over. From the Fifth Sea, the hunting dogs of the tyrant Heavens had been loosed to ravage at the Golden Devils, as those invaders and resident barbarians alike called the Clan, in a bleeding wound that had lasted millennia. They came to kill any that bore the Blood of Bronze and reap the bounty of karmic luck promised to them as Heaven's favor for their butchery. Cloaked in arrogance they came to the lands of the Golden Aegis as to a Secret Realm easily overcame and plundered, certain in their strength and the security of their quest tokens.
Yet this had been a good tribulation for all that was true of the affliction of the Hundred-Year Trials. Oh yes, legionnaires had been killed in their thousands but the Clan had previously bled the lives of hundreds of thousands as shortly as the prior Trials. The reports coming in from all over the holdings of the Imperial Optimatoi were promising. Within the great realms of the Legions, casualties were outstandingly low; ninety thousand in Essence Gathering, six hundred in Pillar Construction and a mere two in the Soul Seed stage. Considering the straits the Clan had been left in after the last set of Trials, the strength of the Optimatoi rose unflagging after their regularly scheduled scourging. There were tales of daring exploits and fateful ends filtering in across the information networks. A gathering of promising juniors had worked together to repel a newly ascended Single-Pillar Construction expert of the Fifth Sea with great injury to themselves. The renowned adopted legate, the Ninth Prince, had been reported slain. But of all these, Pleuron stood out on the lips of everyone. Pleuron where the Indomitable Thirteen had wrested their hard won Miracle from the grasp of the Fifth Sea hunters had again been the site of defiance against the dictates of the Heavens. Jin Muyi had faced an army of hunters and struck them down in successive duels even leaping across great realms to slay not one but two Soul Seed hunters. The Shining Hope, Rina Callista, had reportedly faced off against a Heavens-blessed invader and overcome her so thoroughly the grand celestial machine itself stepped in to preserve its tool.
In the aftermath of the Trials, the Imperial Optimatoi sent out the muster call for Aspirants, new blood to replenish the legions and keep the standard flying in defiance of the Heavens. The Delphi family like other storied bloodlines of the Blood of Bronze responded as tradition and honor demanded, sending their juniors to serve in triumph or death.
Lipita Delphi sat eyes closed, focusing deep within herself as she meditated in the carriage transporting her and others to the Dawn Fortress. Her carriage was not alone having joined with several others at Emporikipolis to form a caravan of youth from the scattered holdings of the Delphi Family in the core territories of the Golden Devils. Setting aside the noise and bustle of her conveyance, she delved within her energy flows, cycling qi in from her breath though her lungs into her meridians past her dantian and back out in a continuous repetitive ritual. This was a longstanding practice for her having leveraged Bloodline Talent and generous resources from her family to break through into the 1
st Heavenstage before her tenth year of life. The motions of cultivation, pushing qi through the body to purify and refine it , were innately discomforting but for Lipita her legacy as a scion of the Delphi elevated common discomfort to excruciating pain. Her nostrils flared and nails bit deep into her palms as she rode the torment of condensing the energy of heaven and earth in her body.
"Maximus, if that scorpion comes anywhere near me, I will feed it to you stinger first." Still remaining in her meditative posture, she warned the golden-haired youth leaning forwards across from her holding a wriggling arachnid by its stinger in his left hand.
"Oh come on, Lipita, I mean you no harm. I just wanted to show you this little guy. Isn't he a fine specimen?" Chuckling haltingly, Maximus waved the scopion in the air ceasing his approach.
Lipita sighed and broke off her cultivation meditation, opening her eyelids to reveal orbs of utter ebon. The lack of pupils to indicate the focus of her attention didn't help Maximus much as he squirmed under the intent Lipita fixed him with flaring her qi. "You would be better served by taking advantage of your time to improve your cultivation base rather than wasting it on foolish pranks that haven't worked. You do remember that we're heading in for induction as Aspirants into the legions. I don't think the instructors are going to be as forgiving as Mistress Helena."
"Oh come on, I got you at least a couple of times back in the manor. I remember you screaming like a harpy when you got Seven Devils Spice in your soup in the dining hall." Maximus leaned back in his seat, placing the scorpion in his lap and stroking its back.
Eyes narrowing, Lipita hissed in building fury, "That was you?! I spent the next two days feeling like my mouth had been set aflame! This will not be forgotten. I am going to make you pay for that, you little spawn…"
"Knock it off you too, we're almost there." A sleepy drawl interrupted coming from a figure slumped to Lipita's side leaning into the corner of the carriage, face shadowed by a tilted down hat. "You wouldn't want to miss the approach with your arguing, would you?"
Glaring one last time at Maximus, Lipita turned and looked out from the window towards their destination. The Indomitable Peaks had loomed on the horizon throughout their journey from Emporikipolis growing steadily larger as they had approached until now they filled the majority of the view. At this distance, Lipita could sense odd distortions in the qi flows around the mountain terrain, blank areas that probably had to do with the ranges noted qi draining properties. For all the grandeur of the Peaks, they were overshadowed in Lipita's focus by the twin towers overlooking a massive edifice of bronze.
"Towers Epitiritis and Ypopsifios…," She whispered. The two sentinels over the entrance to the Dawn Fortress shone to Lipita's spiritual senses, Epitiritis the brighter but Ypopsifios no less imposing. The faintest tickle of the mighty Intent welded into the formations of the Glass Javelin Array hosted in the towers carried over the distance, fierce heat and unerring death transfixing her.
Closer they came and the sensation of the twin towers fled from Lipita's mind drowned out by an oppressive aura of restrained aggression and overwhelming power. The taste of copper filled her mouth and looking around Lipita noticed that she wasn't alone, Maximus gagging in his seat. "Centurion Cestus, what is that presence? I feel like I'm about to drown in a tide of blood." Lipita asked their escort on this ride, who had been seemingly just woken up in the middle of the argument between her and Maximus.
Nonchalantly sitting up and stretching his body with a chorus of pops and crackles, Cestus pushed his hat back onto his head, unmoved by the aura gripping the two youths. "That's the Bronzewall," he replied. "The Wall-Spirit of the artifact has drunk deep of the Blood of the Bronze and is one of the greatest remaining handiworks of our craftsmen. Practice your calm breathing exercises, you'll get used to it soon enough."
Lipita heeded his advice, shifting her breathing from its normal pattern to one of the many recuperative techniques the Delphi employed. Her Memory Palace roused from the background of her mind, rapidly referencing information from the family archives and her training. "No wonder that old fool Chemos thought he could somehow host a Nascent Soul Will in an array with its locus as the Bronzewall. That thing could probably eat Nascent Souls." She mumbled under her breath as she got her senses under control.
The caravan stopped a short while before the Bronzewall as the legionnaires manning the entrance checked its provenance and issued Wall-Crossing Tokens to those few in need, escorts all. Moving forward, Lipita shivered as they crossed the threshold feeling a great unblinking gaze probe her body and spirit thoroughly, the Blood of Bronze in her resonating with the query, leaving a lingering conviction that had that imperious watcher not found what it was looking for, she would have been utterly unmade in the face of its power.
After the utterly terrifying experience of the crossing of the Bronzewall, the thick qi of the Tall Wheat Fields within the confines of the Indomitable Peaks was a rousing slap to the spirit. Having to smooth out her energy flows to account for the increase left Lipita no time to ponder the terrifying encounter and soon the caravan was making good time on the enchanted roads of the Fields. With her qi under control, Lipita cast her senses wide appreciating the verdant growth that characterized the Tall Wheat Fields. It brought to mind the expedition to the Pill-Forging Forest that she and other scions of the Delphi had been taken on to gain hand on experience in exploratory Herb Gathering. Certainly much different from the sandy expanse of the Blighted Lands where she had grown up.
Thinking of home brought a familiar ache to her chest, homesickness kneading her guts. To distract herself, she focused her attention on the enchanted pathways that linked every village and led to the Dawn Fortress. The stone appeared to have been imbued with a unifying intent and inscribed with a distributed formation powered by abundant spiritual energies in the land. The pathways could operate at reduced efficiency even if wholly separated from the network so long as a section of about a quarter of a li was preserved. It was entirely superlative work that made Lipita marvel at the depth of comprehension and resources required to produce such a result. This and the great constructs of the Javelin Glass Array and Bronzewall was what she aimed for. A lasting legacy for the Clan and her family that defied the ages and sheltered the bloodline, yes, she would walk her thorny path no matter the cost to achieve that goal.
The saturation of spiritual energies in the air built as they headed for the heart of the Clan, the Dawn Fortress. As they approached their final destination, Lipita appreciated the massive citadel for the bold statement of defiance it was. Great walls of granite sheathed in a coat of reflective bronze were built high along its perimeter. On the walls were varied massive war machines, ballistae and catapults in evidence, and atop the walls dotted many towers, each of them containing the Burning Glass Javelins for the Clan's Array among other lethal surprises for foolhardy attackers. Beyond the perimeter would be the most verdant lands many in the Clan would ever see, and towns, villages, and cities within the outer walls in their own right.
Through the open gates to the fortress, their caravan rolled coming to a stop on a vast promenade that could comfortably house every single active duty cultivator of the Golden Devils in their many hundreds of thousands. This was the Mustering Ground - gathering place of the Legions when called to war. Every road in the Dawn Fortress led to this one, central location and it was here that the great Orientation would begin.
Hopping out of the carriage, Cestus waved his charges out. "Here you go, delivered nice and safe. Now, hurry along and join the other aspirants gathering. It was nice and all, but I've got places to be and money burning in my pocket. Remember what the elders said, ehh… have fun, don't get yourselves killed and make a good name for the family."
The various carriages in the caravan disgorged their contents, aspirants moving in to join others from other caravans doing likewise, heading towards a great mass of juniors facing off ranks of legionnaires standing at attention ahead of all newcomers. Lipita was nearly overwhelmed by the large morass of qi signatures around her, newly initiated cultivators lacking disciplined control of their auras and somehow being more of a nuisance than the veritable legion of experience cultivators standing at parade rest. She distracted herself by scanning the crowd and identifying varied affiliations from sigils and markings. There were a great many noteworthy families represented in the year's induction, Callista, Angelus and Ceres among others. There was also surprising variations in the bloodline presentation among the crowd from what her senses were telling her. She blinked in confusion at an odd sight. Was that a pigman among the aspirants?
Soon enough the crowd settled and events were ready to progress as a horn blew. The legionnaires standing at attention parted with synchronized precision and a man was revealed in the space between them. A man, clad in a coat of black and silver bent at the waist with his hands clasped behind his back, almost as though he was peering down at you all stood there. He bore the green patina of a Golden Devil well advanced in age but was not wizened as one would expect from his posture. As he took his first step from within the parted legion, Lipita felt the lie of her observation.
Darkness overshadowed the world, stealing away breath and hope and being. An ancient devil withered in its umbral chill loomed over her, dragging her down into endless depths bereft of sense and will. Piercing intent peeled back her self revealing every hidden secret, uncovering each flaw. She was a prisoner in an oubliette of nothing, screaming into soundless night.
Lipita was frozen in that endless moment as the presence settled over the Mustering Ground like a leaden weight. The thing in the form of a man arrested her attention utterly. "Well met, Aspirants of the Clan," He spoke calmly, grasping absolute control of the spiritual essence in the Grounds to carry his voice clearly to everyone, sending her body down to its very marrow ringing in sympathy. "Each and every one of you has been recognized as a figure of potential--be it through blood lineage, superior scores in your early examination, or other distinctions of merit. It is a start, and a fine one--but know that merely beginning a journey is not yet cause for celebration."
"In the coming years, you will be taught in the rudiments of our Clan's arts. You will study spear and shield, you will drill in formation, you will learn of the lore expected of a cultivator of our Golden Devil Clan. All the while, you will be tested to determine your own unique aptitudes, your talents, and most importantly of all, your breaking points." Lipita was vaguely aware that people around her were moving at this point, a fact incomprehensible to her. Couldn't they see what was before them? To move was to draw attention and attention was bad, very very bad.
"You all seem concerned about that last part, hmm?" He paused before continuing, the brief moment of silence to Lipita like a deep gasp of air by a drowning woman, "What we exercise is not merely the appearance of Defiance--our very blood and culture is rejected by the Will of Heaven--a weakness of character may be something that could be forgiven a Barbarian in the favor of the Celestial Machine, but we are held to a higher standard. To know one's weaknesses is to identify where the Will of Heaven will strike--and a blow predicted is one more readily parried. Rest assured, we will find yours, and you will know them before your training is considered complete."
Ah, it appeared that the tension could indeed get worse. There was an… excitement in the man's voice that was missing before. Lipita waited in fearful anticipation as the man continued, "I am Grand Elder Konstantinos." For a brief infinitesimal moment all existence seemed to pause and take note of that declaration, a veil of darkness overlaying the world. "You are a fortunate batch of seedlings indeed, the Clan is currently in a state of prosperity. As such, much more resources will be made available in the coming years.
Of course, they will not be free. You will need to purchase them with Contribution Points. These may be acquired through completing tasks of note for the Clan--a number of assistant positions are presently available for scribes and runners, while housekeeping is and remains a reliable source of modest income for those willing to get their hands dirty.
With that said, there is much to do, and I will not take any further time from you all. This is a critical period in your future growth, where you set the foundation for everything you will do in the future. Work hard, cultivate well, and perhaps one day, you may be able to address me as a peer."
And with that, he flew away.
Lipita felt her lungs inflate desperately as long denied air rushed in when that overpowering presence retreated into the sky. She quickly looked down at herself to make sure she hadn't made a mess of herself. Staring back up at the clouds, she caught no hint of what she had just sensed even though she knew that the source of the irrepressible aura had to be close by. So that was the Archegetes, the Grand Elder of the Clan. No wonder Nascent Souls were considered demigods. She pinched her wrist as she steeled her conviction, swearing to herself. "That is the power I need to make change so I'm going to seize it no matter what stands in my way."
In her distracted state, she didn't notice that the crowd of aspirants was dispersing until Maximus grasped her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright? I know that that… was certainly something." He asked, a look of concern uncharacteristically on his face.
Apparently she wasn't in her usual state either, because she found Maximus' presence comforting. "Yeah, that was certainly something. I hope all our time as aspirants wouldn't be nearly so interesting." She replied.
Maximus chuckled, a bit of his usual joviality returning, "Imperator be damned, if that's what's considered normal, I'll be dead before in boots of fright before long." Paying attention to the loud calls of centurions calling out names, he said, "That's y name, I've got to go. Let's try and meet up with all the family after evaluation, eh? See ya."
Listening for her name, Lipita followed Maximus' example and joined a group led by a centurion headed for a pavilion set up on the sides of the Mustering Grounds.
At the pavilion, the centurion was all business, moving briskly into evaluation, "Alright, let's make this quick. We're going to go through your current specialties and do a quick test of your receptiveness before placing you on an appropriate track. Leontinus Ducas, you're first."
The young man called came forward, looking like a typical member of the Optimatoi, gold hair and round blue eyes.
Holding a ledger, the centurion asked, "Combat training?"
"Uh, yes. I trained with the city guard. But, uhm, no practical experience yet... sir." Leontinus replied, trailing off.
The centurion nodded, "Relax kid. Literacy?"
"I can read and write the Clan's language. And I can sorta speak the barbarians' language? Oh!"
"We'll fix that. Now, put your hand on the pedestal. It'll sting a little but please bear with it."
Doing as he was told Leontinus twitched a little as the blood was drawn from him and placed on an array focus in the form of a pedestal. Lipita looked on inquisitively as glyphs engraved into the pedestal glowed in activation. Blood testing arrays were a rather basic formation in principle working upon principles of sympathy and affinity but complex arrangements like the Blood Detection Arrays securing the borders of the core territories were masterpieces in action. This one was quite large covering the floor of the pavilion which was itself not a small structure.
Calmly watching the Centurion eventually nodded and said, "Not bad. Your Blood of Bronze is a bit above average so you should manifest it at Heavenstage two. Your receptiveness is a bit weaker but it's not a big deal." Writing the details down in his ledger he continued, "Alright then I'll put you down for the standard infantry legionnaire track, is that alright?"
Leontinus smiled, "Yes sir!"
The next up was a bit more interesting. The array took several moments to react to the aspirant's blood before lighting up. This was noteworthy because from what she could tell the array was in perfect functioning order so something was different about the aspirant. Examining him via spiritual sense was equally interesting because his aura was muddled and meager compared to what Lipita would have expected. There was too little to speculate on as delving into her Memory's Palace proved given the wide number of possibilities for the situation. The aspirant, Victor Wulf, was pulled aside by the centurion in charge who went on to communicate with an elder by transmission talisman and taken away.
The centurion quickly returned by himself and resumed testing. Soon enough, it was Lipita's turn. "Lipita Delphi, you're up."
Lipita briskly moved forward to present herself, saluting as she stood at rest. "Here, sir."
Taking a look at her eyes, the centurion cocked an eyebrow. "Delphi, eh, with the activated bloodline? You guys always have interesting results in the Reception Determining Ritual. Let's see what turns up this time shall we? I don't really think I need to ask, but how's your literacy and what skills do you have?"
Lipita responded confidently, "I'm fully literate in written and spoken Clan tongue and Turtle native linguistics. I can parse the two most commonly encountered Fifth Sea languages. I've completed third order mathematics, natural sciences and history. I'm an accredited basic Herb Gatherer, Artificer, Array Inscriber and Alchemist with available references from my masters who supervised my initiations. I also have access to the Delphi Legacy Arts at initiate level."
As Lipita had rattled off her qualifications, the centurion's eyebrows had been steadily lifting until she finished when he shook his head with a faint smile. "What can I say, you Delphi never disappoint. Combat training?"
Shaking her head, Lipita slumped down a bit from her previous high, "Not really. I'm not really competent in close combat and I prefer to throw talismans and potions at aggressors to make them go away."
The centurion marked down her comments and nodded, "Typical bookworm type though you do have some bite with consumables. Alright let's get on to the fireworks. Approach and place your hand on the testing array."
Every step of the path that had led Lipita to this moment told her that there was no fear that she would show poorly in receptivity and bloodline concentration. The problem in fact was on the other end of the spectrum and if past experience held true it promised to be… exciting to be her in the next few moments. Taking a moment to sink deeper into a meditative trance, she placed her right palm on the primary rune of the array, barely feeling a twinge as the array drew blood.
The array discharged in a blazing torrent of lightning, the stored qi in the spirit stones powering the formation emptied in moments as her body, internal alignments and constitution shaped by the legacy of her blood, drinks it deep channeling it throughout her whole being. Her practiced will grapples the rampaging qi and wrests it into submission, cycling furiously to prevent backlash from running riot through her meridians. It is agonizing, but it is always agonizing, so she doesn't falter as she feels sense impressions transferred to the crystallized spiritual energy throughout its interactions with other qi sources, traces so faint only another as gifted as her could notice at such low advancement. She rides the dragon, chasing it to completion and after a few eternally short moments she's done. Buzzing with barely contained energy and feeling her hair stand on end, she burps and discharges excess energy as a bright scatter of rainbow colored sparks as the array releases her.
"Aspirant, I didn't ask you to actually give me fireworks!" The centurion swore before looking at the output from the array. "Well tickle me and call me Sun Wukong, you've got the highest levels of receptiveness and Bronze Concentration I've ever seen. We'll have to refer this upwards, Elder Destacia has her eye out for strong expressions of the Blood this induction. Step aside and we'll continue once I replace the spirit stones."
About to turn to go, Lipita asked a question that'd being bugging her throughout the evaluation. "What's your name sir?"
"It's Centurion Alegro." Centurion Alegro waved Lipita off as he worked on getting the array back into working order.
Joining the crowd of evaluated aspirants, Lipita was followed by a trail of whispers as the youth around her marveled at her spectacular display.
Soon enough everyone has been tested, none with quite as eye-catching results as Lipita, and Centurion Alegro handed them over to Instructor Contantinus Vatatzes who begun going over the structure of their basic training. They were well into an hour of instruction going over the break down of the group into multiple Contubernium, capable of taking independent action as part of a larger Centuria after basic training when the instructor stopped interrupted by an aspirant joining in later. Lipita remembered him as the youth taken aside by Centurion Alegro. Apparently the instructor was not impressed by his reasons for lateness and assigned him one month of latrine duty.
She was subsequently taken off guard when Instructor Constantinus pointed at her and shouts, "You! Get Aspirant Victor caught up on the past hour!"
Aspirant Victor was evidently slow on the uptake because he stands there for several moments looking between her and the instructor.
"Well? Get a move on!"
"Sir yes sir!" Approaching her, Victor stared at her eyes. Groaning under her breath where the instructor can't hear her, Lipita hoped that her fellow aspirant wasn't as dull and inexperienced as he was giving every impression of being. She couldn't believe it but she was already missing Maximus' idiocy.
AN: (4417 words)
@Alectai @no. @ReaderOfFate Please threadmark. This is part One of a collab with
@Redikai
