The years since her great opportunity carried on--and Rina found herself in a strange and unusual position.
That of being a
winner of all things.
It started a little bit slowly--the surge of success as her bottom-of-the-third Heavenstage cultivation rocketed up to the peak--a relatively minor gain in absolute terms but enough to be
noticeable in the practice exercises. She continued to try and take best advantage of the opportunity, scoring a few victories from time to time thanks to the surprise, but all in all it just served to be getting her back on track.
That was what she thought in those early weeks, but her evolution was far from complete.
A few weeks of training later, and she broke through to the Fourth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation--officially now being back to par with what was expected of a disciple of her age. She was moved from the 'Elementary' grade to the 'Intermediate' grade, deemed fit for simple missions beyond the Fortress' walls, contributing in truth to the Clan's fortunes instead of merely being a child who consumed material but provided nothing back in turn. Her first voyage beyond the walled settlements of the Clan was... Stark.
It was one thing to know you resided in a barren desert, made habitable by unending labor and far more wealth than any more ruthless group would spend on such comforts. It was another thing to
live it. Jagged rock and sand wherever the eye could see! Getting in everywhere you could think of and
constantly scratching and itching! Even the powers of Cultivation couldn't render one entirely free from the confines of the environment! Her ancestor's fashion sense seemed a
great deal more sensible in light of all of this--she was sure the mountain had problems of its own after all but something that
didn't quite fit so loosely would be a godsend right around now!
This, apparently, was a standard hazing tactic of rookies who were spending time outside of the Clan's estates for the first time--which is why nobody had any little ointments or something to deal with the rashes and welts that came along and
why was this even a thing? A shared experience that brings people together?
...
She supposed that made sense, everyone always did commiserate about the
bloody damn desert when it was time for meals. Which then got springboarded to all kinds of other chatter about the day to day lives--veterans complaining about how the desert constantly puked up bandits who somehow thought that murder and mayhem was a better life than living well in the villages and towns of the desert, that and invaders from abroad who saw the rich lands of the Clan and thought they were free to take their share. By
murder.
This was the mission of the day, a reprisal to a group of bandits that rose up--disbelieving that the Golden Devils would ever strike down at them while occupied with the affairs of the Blood Cannibals and the apparently recent clashes exercised between the two Great Powers of the desert. Reminding them that the Golden Devils did not
require their best to put their boot in on some scrubs who found a couple lesser spirit stones and thought that made them experts.
"Usually, these kinds of things go perfectly fine" Julius would say at the table--a veteran of the Ninth Heavenstage who was getting on in years--not expected to make the breakthrough to the Pillar Construction--No, wait, the external term was
Foundation Establishment--stage. Good enough to provide knowledge to the new in regional police actions and to lead mass mobilizations, but no more than that.
"But every once in a while you run into some lunatic who picked up a minor legacy from the Raging Fury Sect and manages to bootstrap himself up to the top of Essence Gathering. The old barbarians were lousy about spreading that around, and the Heavens'll never pass up an opportunity to let an untreated pinprick turn into a terrible infection. Thus, we're here to make our displeasure known in a way they can't simply ignore. Callista? You'll be the backup."
Rina would freely admit to straightening up, barely keeping herself from spilling the soup that was the clan's travel meal.
"I'm sorry, me?" She would ask, confused at why a barely-past-aspirant child was expected to cover for someone at the peak of the first Realm in a pinch. He nodded at her protest.
"Yes, you, we've got orders to see how you do in a real world encounter, so we'll be counting on you if they're stronger than expected"
She didn't understand
why this was apparently what was going on. But
apparently that's what it was! She got some funny looks from the other newbies at the table, some even sympathetic! She was certain that there was probably some good reason for this and it was going to be all taken care of, she just needed to do her very best!
Naturally, this meant that everything did--in fact--get spicier than she thought it would be.
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It started out as expected--the Golden Devils and their fighters marching up on the bandit stronghold--a cave dug into one of the larger rock spikes dotting the desert--and bellowed out a challenge to the barbarian thugs. It was answered with a stream of insults Rina was
far too shy to recount later, and a storm of arrows firing out and raining down on the advancing formation. Shields went up as the phalanx rallied its strength--and the arrows were either shed or buried into the bronze plates. Simple enough, straightforward and as expected.
But then came the
cackling.
"Wonderful." Julius shook his head and stepped forward. "Right! Out with it then bandit! Let's get this over with, we've wasted enough time with you scum to begin with."
"Jejejejeejeje" You don't even know how to
describe the noise that came out of the cave mouth--a hunched, crooked looking figure stepping out, skin blotched with poisons and looking strangely bloated despite his apparent ill form. "Fools! Did you think you were here to face a group of rabbits? You have fallen for our great scheme!" He giggled and gestured forward, two--somewhat less unhealthy looking--figures stepping out. "They have served their purpose, delivering us a great banquet! Soon, all the world will know the name of the Yellow Dune Sect! Take solace in knowing that you will be the first to feed us!"
Julius rolled his eyes. "You say all this, but we keep
hearing the same story again and again. It hasn't panned out yet, and it won't happen anytime soon." He drew his blade and set his eyes on the leader. "Hoplite Formation! Soldiers! Take on the one to our left! Callista! The one on the right is yours! Don't let him interfere!"
Rina stood up straight and squeaked. "Yessir!" She stepped forward behind him, feeling the tide of Essence as the remaining soldiers of the Clan gathered their might together--not enough to jump realms, but it should be enough to handle the common bandits and the disciple.
Her job was to... She squinted, focusing her senses on him, and paling slightly. He noticed this, and gave a cruel smirk, licking his lips.
He was
Sixth Heavenstage.
Wasn't this a bit too much?!?
She wasn't given a chance to complain though, as he sprung to battle with a laugh. She
felt more than saw Julius leap into battle, matched by the Cultivation of his foe. The remaining enemy disciple looked to be Seventh Heavenstage--but he would probably be dealt with by the formation.
Her shield went up--her training compensating for her surprise--and it bent backwards as a claw rang against it like a gong. She skidded back, retreating ten paces as she lowered the weapon--only seeing the disciple
screaming down on her anyway!
Her main hand reached for her belt, drawing the truncheon slung there, and in the same motion, she lashed out to catch the enemy at his side. He snorted dismissively, and rolled off to the side. His hands had by now been coated in congealed blood, forming a series of wicked claws.
"Arrogant, to think a little girl could face a master of the Blood Path!" He coldly laughed. "I'll take great pleasure devouring you when the Master has destroyed your forces." He lunged forward again, met with Rina's shield, this time properly angled to deflect the force. "A child of the fourth Heavenstage! Facing Me?!? I have slain hundreds in single combat! My battle experience dwarfs any you could gain in your little houses!"
Rina's lips pursed--she didn't really... Like this guy's talk.
More importantly, wasn't he kind of weak? Oh sure, she wasn't expecting him to be particularly exceptional--but for someone two Heavenstages beyond her, it shouldn't really be this easy to ward him off?
She even felt like she could strike back a little bit...
And she did so--her shield bashing into his face. He screamed as he fell back, blood pouring from his nose. "What!?!" He spat. Stunned and baffled--only to be struck in the ribs with Rina's Truncheon. "Such power... Were you hiding your Cultivation?!?" He spits blood, eyes reddened as his rage builds.
Rina doesn't see it though, because she's busy twisting her shield around, and slamming the rim into his teeth. Several broke and he goes falling back, clutching at his face. "Ahhgh!" He whines, the only thing he can think of being the
pain of having much of his face reduced to jelly.
He stops though when Rina changed weapons again, clubbing him in the side of the head and caving his skull in. He looked blankly for a moment, staring.
Then fell to the ground.
"NOOOOOOO!" Came the screeching voice of the master. "My disciple! What have you done to him?!?" Rina spins around, bringing her shield up--but doesn't need to, as Julius took keen advantage of the opportunity to bury his blade under the man's armpit, wriggling into his organs and gouging most of them out. He looks, cluelessly, in no way comprehending what had unfolded.
Then he slumps over himself.
By this point, the outcome wasn't in any real doubt. Julius took over the execution of the remaining disciple--the Hoplite Formation made quick work of the remaining bandits--and the site was plundered for all valuables stolen and information on the legacies retrieved.
"Good thing we caught this early." Julius mentioned, reading the books. "It's always a pain in the neck suppressing a Blood Path power that's had some time to spin up. We caught it though before the first generation could break through or gather many disciples." He nodded, satisfied, and tucked the books away to be archived upon return. He then turned to Rina, who was looking at him suspiciously. "You have questions?"
"That disciple was the Sixth Heavenstage" Rina asked. "He shouldn't have been that weak--was there some flaw in their method?"
"None that aren't inherent to the Blood Path." Julius shrugged. "No, you beat him legitimately--the higher ups have wanted to test how much of an advantage your constitution's evolution gave you. Estimate was that it was two stages--seems like it's closer to three though."
"That doesn't seem to make much sense?" Rina frowned. "I never noticed anything like that in training..."
"You think they send people at your level for sparring practice?" Julius shook his head. "Everyone who volunteers for that is expected to restrain their cultivation to match their opponent, and wind it up as needed to keep you on the losing side. You've been fighting them
without the handicap everyone else gets. Or haven't you thought it to be strange that your record hasn't changed even being moved up to the intermediate levels?"
Rina considered that for a time. "... No, I didn't" She slumps. "I've just been focusing too much on being the best I can be, instead of focusing on everyone else... That does make me feel a little embarrassed."
Julius laughed, and patted her on the head (Why does everyone keep
doing that!) "You're a good girl Callista, just keep doing your own thing, and everything'll work out just fine for you."
Well, that was how it should be. So... Good?
She supposed this meant though that she could take more ambitious missions in the future...
