It was a bright, sunny day at the beginning of the rest of Aretaphila's life.
For the first time in...as long as she could remember, the Myia's soul was finally,
truly at peace. Free of the anxiety of missed opportunity. Free of the desperate drive to prove to herself that she was worthy. Free of the fear of letting her family down.
A clear summer's sky filled her vision, the light of the sun reflecting off her newly forged Silver Bell Physique. And for the first time...Aretaphila simply luxuriated in the sensation that came from absolute belief, absolute confidence. The knowledge of a harsh trial overcome, that only the
worthy could accomplish.
The Territory of Kings.
It felt good.
Damn good.
When she listened, Aretaphila could hear the song of the grass swaying beneath her feet. The wind caressing her skin and hair. The birds chirping an-
The Loud Belching.
A single eye shot open - sky-blue shot through with iridescent gold - she saw as a similarly cyclopean figure floated down into the plain before her. Incredible musculature, with a massive mohawk erupting from their head. Grinning toothily, Aretaphila only had a moment before her senses were overwhelmed by the
horrific smell and it's clashing harmonic beats.
The sensation was choking!
Overwhelming!
With a cough and a sputter, Aretaphila reached for her newfound power and manifested a ghostly silver bell behind her. It swung, striking the first note within her Dantian and Body. Emanations of her Dao spilled forth, desperately attempting to change the song of that stench into something that could be survived, maybe even tolerated!
"Oh?" The
monster before her muttered, "Quite the precocious lil' Junior, arentcha?"
A new force slammed down upon Aretaphila, the notes of her Song twisted and morphed from Dao-Waves into the physical
things, transforming from the vibrational tuning of the universe into base strings and onomatopoeia!
Nascent Soul!
Aretaphila gaped at the danger she was in, even newly ascended, only for the foul assassin's even fouler stench to fly straight into her mouth, driving the Single Pillar King to her knees in a fit of gagging that nearly drove her unconscious from the asphyxiation. Clawing desperately at her throat, the Myia scion began churning the far far more potent Qi within her dantian, purifying the blood that had taken in the tainted air. The stench persisted, yet it strangely was not infused with Nascent Dao-Magic.
It just
stank horribly.
It took several minutes of gagging and wheezing, but eventually Aretaphila's body was purified of the lingering effects, and a stiff breeze had blown from the west to keep the majority of the foul odor downwind.
Eventually, she managed to stand tall enough to sketch a hasty bow at the Nascent Soul, "T-this Aretaphila Myia apologies for offending Senior!" The shorter woman managed between hastily swallowed gulps of air, "Can this Junior ask Senior Sister what she has done to offend?"
"Nothing!" The larger woman shouts back, the force of her voice causing the metal forming her face to
ripple slightly, "Lady Yao here can overlook a bit of precociousness!" Two ludicrously massive arms spread in magnanimity, "So don't get so worked up!"
Before I die? The shorter woman grouses to herself, "Then I'm guessing Senior won't mind if I have a drink before we get to business?" With waiting for an answer, Aretaphila sits down on the grass of the floating island, withdrawing her already opened bottle of brandy.
Before beginning to chug it.
The burning becomes far more tolerable, the smokiness of the wood that it had cured in penetrating her senses and driving away the awful stench. Foundation Establishment had enhanced Areta;hila's senses, and her tolerances besides. Truly, this drink was intended to be imbibed by Experts of the
Optimatoi.
Fire settles around her belly, and Aretaphila feels the warmth settle her dantian even further. Perhaps if she'd had time she could've spent it cultivating? This Three Millennium Turtlemaple Brandy really had been a priceless treasure!
Satisfied, the silver bodied cultivator placed the now empty bottle by her side. Single eye closed in contentment.
"Hey."
Once again her sense of peace was ruined, but with the the potent alcohol now suffusing her system she found it difficult to care. Languidly, she stared at the Nascent Soul who was likely getting ready to kill her.
"Not gonna share with your Senior Sister?"
There were a few of the bottles left. What was one or two when she wouldn't even get to enjoy them? With an expression of will another crystalline bottle appeared in Aretaphila's hands, this one completely unopened. With a casual toss, the priceless drink found its way into the hands of 'Lady Yao', a name that was steadily becoming more familiar the more often Aretaphila heard it.
Relaxed from the heat of the brandy, she watched as the snake dwelling in the larger woman's eye socket lapped against the other bottle's contents, attempting to dive its way in before being caught between the thumb and forefinger of its host. Between the two passed a short hissing, before Lady Yao simply
quaffed it all in one go, biting into and chewing the crystal bottle after draining the brandy in its entirety.
"That's good stuff!" The woman said with another belch, this one more tolerable thanks to the effects of the shared drink on her and Aretaphila herself, "Alright Junior, as thanks for the booze I'll give you a boon!"
"Please don't kill me." The Myia replied immediately, eye turning back up to face the sky. It'd really suck to die here after accomplishing so much.
Yao began laughing uproariously, clutching her absurdly defined stomach as she bent over. Alas. Looked like mercy for a three thousand year aged drink was too ridiculous a concept to be stomached.
"Kill ya?" The Nascent Soul cultivator smirked at the younger girl, "Junior I'm not here to
kill you. Can you imagine the earful I'd have to deal with from the Old Man if I went after you?" The smirk grew, "No one's got time for
that."
Friendly nascent soul. Yao.
Complains about lectures from the "Old Ma-" "Oh by the Imperator." A heat rushed to Aretaphila's cheeks, "I'm
so sorry, Lady Yao!" The shorter girl tried to stand up, stumbling from the growing fog of inebriation as she rose, "I didn't expect someone like you to show up!"
"Yeah, you shouldn't!" Yao replied cockily, "Only reason I'm here at all is the Old Man's request, and you're lucky he did!" A...a
meatlog-shaped finger wagged at Aretaphila, "Jiao from the Jingshen showed up picking a fight, but I managed to drive her off pretty easily." She patted her belly, "Dunno what a greenhouse flower like that was thinking, ha!"
The wagging finger halted, before stabbing out at the shorter cultivator. To Aretaphila's senses the wind around her
changed, shifting from flowing currents to grasping hands which carried her into the air. But the warmth from the brandy was still coursing through her system, and as a result of that comforting heat she simply leaned back and relaxed into the sensation.
"Anyway, time to take you back to the Dawn Fortress. Old Man wants to give you a sermon about something or other."
Aretaphila nodded as she rose further into the air.
"Now, before we get started and he starts looking again let me grace you with this Lady Yao's timeless wisdom!"
"This Junior Sister is eager to receive your guidance."
"Heh! Alright, listen up." Lady Yao paused, before leaning tilting her head back to shout into the heavens, "
When the old man starts lecturing, always do the opposite of what he says! Old man's a softie, but because of that hes way too cautious about everything. Take it from me! I'm an expert at sitting through him rambling at you for hours on end!"
With the air caressing her and the brandy sinking deeply into her dantian, exhaustion from the day's trials finally made itself known.
"Means the opposite." Aretaphila replied, "Got it."
The onset of sleep was so swift she hadn't even heard Lady Yao's response.
...
"Hello again,
Tesserarius Myia." That same voice, heard only a scant twenty years ago, rang in her ears, "It's my understanding you've had something of an experience very recently."
The light of the sun reflected off her silver body, as Aretaphila crushed down the antipathy towards the Grand Elder rising in her heart.
"No trouble with the breakthrough, I hope?" Old Gold continued, voice taking on that same curious inflection that her own grandfather so effortlessly infused every one of his words with, "I'm glad to see that it isn't the case."
The taller man, even stooped, bent down further to look the Myia in her eye, "I suppose this is about the lessons from before the most recent trials?"
"...Yes." Aretaphila finally responded, the buzz of the brandy still having its effect upon her, "I apologize, Grand Elder."
"Nothing you need to apologize for," Manuel Konstantinos smiled agreeably, before beginning to pace around the Single Pillar cultivator, "In many ways, giving you all a target to hate was part of the point. Tell me," The Grand Elder paused, "You were one of the ones who supported the risk I took with the Trials before last, were you not?"
"Yes." She bit out in response.
Manuel hummed, "That sensation of betrayal you feel. That is what many felt a hundred years ago, before the Cannibal War came, after which we put that trials behind us in favor of focusing on the future. A future which has just come, wouldn't you agree?"
"...Yes." Aretaphila finally replied, the warmth coursing through her body loosening her more rigid self control.
"Then you should understand,
Tesserarius." His sky blue eyes met her own, the unfathomable darkness concealed within the very irises at their core grasping endlessly. The perfect reflection of the inverting fog which she had walked through on her way to her breakthrough. An abominable, cursed strength. But one which carried the weight of the Clan on its back.
But in the depths of that darkness, just like before, Aretaphila found that she
did understand even through the haze filling her mind. The world
was cruel, and it was necessary to temper themselves through risk in order to carry on past it. The struggle was neverending, and there were ultimately cruel and unnecessary losses. Yet the Clan
had to carry the burden of that cruelty - the callousness of that reality - because the only other choice was oblivion.
And that was the
Truth .
"Good, good!" The Old Man rubbed his hands together in grandfatherly cheer, "Now then, congratulations are in order on your breakthrough young Myia, for you are the
second Single Pillar King in Clan history! That you managed to persevere and reach this point after so much toil and trials is worth being proud of, considering my own-"
As if on cue, the fog of Brandy she'd drunk overcame Aretaphila's senses once again. But within that pleasant and fuzzy haze the words of Lady Yao rung true.
"Of course, as I explained during that lecture
Tesserarius, as a Single Pillar cultivator you should know that you may be targeted by Nascent Souls again. In which case, the best thing for you to avoid such attention and survive to your full potential you
must not stand out whenever possible."
He always says the opposite of what he means.
"Understood, Grand Elder." Aretaphila nodded confidently. His message came through loud and clear.
"Excellent," Manuel Konstantinos replied with a heavy sigh, "Considering your families reputation over the centuries, I'd be concerned if you
had proven to be as...Prone to drawing attention to yourself as your forebears."
"I'll be sure to make you proud, Grand Elder."
"Good, good." Old Gold placed his hands behind his back, "Now then, as congratulations for your accomplishment, I hereby promote you to the rank of
Eximo Centurion."
Even with her senses dulled by the heady warmth of her drink, Aretaphila still managed to properly salute, "Thank you, Grand Elder."
"No need to thank me," He chuckled good naturedly, "Your abilities are simply too broadly useful to limit you to a specific unit quite yet. Maybe once you've proven yourself a bit you'll be assigned to a
Legatus capable of putting your talents to their best use. In the meantime; may I ask where you intend to go for your first assignment?"
The Myia scion blinked, "Do you need to ask?"
Old Gold's countenance sharpened into a frown, the look of a disappointed grandfather admonishing a stupid child, "It'd be a terribly frivolous use of my power when I can simply
ask to satisfy my curiosity."
Meaning he already
had and was now just planning to test her for being a liar! But the joke was on the Old Man, Aretaphila hadn't been thinking at all!
"The Great Battlefield," She blurted out, "I wanted to join the columns there and see the Plains for the first time." And her family's great legacy as well.
"An auspicious choice," The Grand Elder replied, giving Aretaphila a knowing glance, "Still, I suppose the Siege should suit your abilities. The columns will be marching out within the next few weeks. I suggest you get everything prepared for your departure." A gnarled hand casually waved her away, "Dismissed."
Sketching another salute, Aretaphila turned and departed the chamber she had been deposited into. Her Song even now sketching out a path through the building she had no memory of entering.
"
Centurion…" A voice whispered at her from the Shadows, "Remember:
Don't draw attention to yourself."
She nodded, the
Archegetes' true intention understood fully.
"As you command, Grand Elder."
A.N.: So yes, Aretaphila probably won't even remember this series of conversations in the morning. But if she does, and anyone asks, she's going to say she did so entirely deliberately and played that off smooth-like. First omake for Turn 12, gonna go for another LST there.
