Ferenike 35/Cerina Senior Advice 2 - Assessment
Cerina swallowed another Spirit Stone, crushing it up like a hard candy. The lack of sleep since the
incident, plus helping Lin Shang, and sneaking through the siege to reach the Legion at Lu Fort had left her feeling cracked and sore everywhere. Her wobbling steps steadied and her shoulders straightened back to Legion standard as Qi and energy flowed back into her complaining muscles.
"Name and rank?" Asked the gate guard standing before the front gate to Lu Fort. The gate itself was at least a hundred meters high, and had a group of Legionnaires manning it on the ground. More were stationed on the wall above it.
"Legionnaire, Cerina Polya," she grumped haughtily. She listed off her Legion number and stage, First Heavenstage, to speed along his search. The lack of sleep made her dearly wish this would all just go away, everything in the world ceasing for a bit so she could just collapse face first into a bed.
Agonizingly, the man slowly flipped through a book listing those out on missions, carefully scanning one page after the other. Where she was standing the sun slanted right down from the sky and straight into her eye, even though it was closed. It damn near
itched with how long she'd been awake.
Finally, the man snorted, found her in the list and waved her through. She knew it had only been a few seconds. Efficient, quick, and little fuss. But she was too tired to care and it felt like
ages. Wincing, she tramped through the gatehouse tunnel into the mass of the fortress. The tunnel's cool dimness was a huge relief and she ran her eye over the ceiling; dotted with the markings of active Arrays that would create all sorts of traps, as well as alert the defenders to invader's locations. The walls looked like a single smooth piece, where they weren't punctuated by these defenses.
The soothing darkness gave way to the unmerciful light again too quickly, releasing her out into the outer yard of Lu Fort, painting the white stones and red roofs with sharp edged hues. Its outermost curtain wall snaked around the base of this hill, making the outer yard a large and open ring that could be fired down onto from the walls, and the inner defenses of the fort. The Fort was built into a large hill that rose for several
li above the plain surrounding it, and this hill had been carved with tiers and stairways connecting them. Each layer of fortifications and other supporting buildings was on its own tier, which grew smaller as they rose towards the peak of the hill and the bell-tower keep that speared into the sky from that peak.
People milled about the outer yard. She tensed. If she had to talk to someone before she could lay down face first into a pillow she might bite them.
On the nose! Her tired brain helpfully supplied. Rubbing her aching head she tried to put those sort of ideas out of mind. She had to report to the Fort Commander or at least
someone who could then report to them. She cleared her throat spasmodically and shook her head. That was the other thing.
The Glassblower was here.
***
Finding a quiet place to oneself while on the mission to the Mountain Bell Sect was not exactly an easy task. Too many people looking on, whispering and asking questions for Ferenike's peace of mind. It wasn't an unbearable distraction, it was even useful for practicing how to maintain focus on the battlefield but not something she wanted every time. The quiet glade outside the walls of the Lu Fort had become a familiar hideaway for Ferenike to train. The reinforcements the Golden Devil Clan had provided to this southern fortification had pushed outward the Righteous control of the surrounding area so for now there was little chance of interruption by the forces of the Noble Devil Alliance. Other fortifications had not been so lucky.
Ferenike tilted her head up into the early afternoon sunlight. The heat of the sun above was a kinder caress on her upturned face than the scorching blaze of the desert noon she was used to. She let the warmth of the sun banish the nightmares that lingered in the recesses of her mind. She was here in this moment, safe and alone, not leading a desperate charge with foreign Righteous Path cultivators at her back and an unfamiliar century at her side against the forces besieging Kenshin Fort. The sounds she heard were the idyllic woodland melodies of innocent animals and not the roar of massed cultivator combat or the debased utterances of Demonic Cultivators practicing their foul rituals to bring down the beleaguered walls of Kenshin Fort. She knelt down for a moment to touch the soft loamy earth, feeling the thick clumps of grass that carpeted the meadow floor. No more frantic running to shepherd an exhausted refugee train to the nearest safe shelter even as they were harried by laughing hunters and bled of lives by hungry wolves in the form of men.
"Even the sun rests lightly upon the plains," she wryly mused as she took in deep breaths and felt the rich spiritual energies in the air, "Eirene would have loved it here. I hope she isn't regretting choosing to go delving into the bowels of the earth rather than joining the expedition campaign.
Ferenike was a cultivator who relied on Spirit Stones for advancement, like most from the Organ Meat Desert, but she retained an ability to assimilate ambient qi to refill her reserves. It was standard practice among the lessons taught in her induction as an Aspirant so long ago and she'd improved upon that instruction in time. The Century Oasis Formation had been born of study and careful refinement over decades, examining the interaction between Legionnaires and their environment. Now she wagered that while she might not match the best of the cultivators of the Plains in absorbing the qi of the world, she certainly wouldn't be among the dregs either. Among her peers from the Clan, she thought only Eirene could claim superior ability through her musical performance.
Ferenike respired qi for several minutes, clearing her mind of all thought and focusing only on the cycle of qi through her body. When finally she was satisfied with her preparations, she walked over to the length of stone thrust upright into the soft loam of the glade and picked it up. The Ghost Stoneflag was a familiar companion, an artifact won from the perilous Qiguai secret realm. Holding it lengthwise in the palms of both hands, Ferenike easily bounced the shaft up and down, the flag being far lighter than one would think. The Stoneflag looked like a fragile instrument, resembling something made out of chalk or limestone. Belying its appearance, the artifact had proven up to the task of withstanding every force Ferenike had put it up against, treasure weapon or qi technique. As had now become a familiar ritual, Ferenike spun the pole to rest the butt against the earth and pressed her forehead to the cool surface of the artifact. She channeled qi through her crown chakra into the pole and opened up her spirit. A susurrus of faded whispers tickled her ears, indecipherable murmurs that blended into insensibility.
"Once again I call upon your strength, old souls. Lend me what power lingers in you and I will carry your banner forevermore," Ferenike whispered, eyes closed. The Ghost Stoneflag was not just any length of rock but a formation flag carved from ghosts that had been imprisoned for so long they had petrified into a sort of stone, pale white with the impressions of human features along its length. With it, formations were easily set up, less easily broken, and it served as the keystone of any major formation with ease. Any formation led by Ferenike using the artifact as a focus would not break until the last drop of Qi was exhausted from all within, and would work with immaculate efficiency.
Ferenike completed her private ritual and immediately launched into a set of staff drills. She wielded the flag like a quarterstaff, striking and defending against unseen foes all across the glade. She practiced for over an hour, pushing herself to the limits. A quiet thrill suffused her as her body rocketed past the peak of performance she'd come to know for over a century now. Breaking into Foundation Establishment had allowed her to push further beyond the limits of mortality she'd loosened by becoming a cultivator. She lived in the moment of the exertion, feeling the vigor of her hale body where entropy had so recently lingered.
Building up into a frenzy of motion, she fought a desperate defense against a horde of imagined opponents, carefully managing crushing blows to avoid over-extension and whittling her attackers down. The climax was a fierce thrust forwards to impale the ghost of her mind. Breathing only a bit heavily, Ferenike grinned.
"That was a good warm up. Now on to serious business," she said into the empty air breathing out licks of flame as the air around her boiled in sudden heat. From where her hands clasped the Ghost Stoneflag, molten glass poured down the shaft of the pole. With her will, she coated the entire flag in heated silica and shaped a keen curving blade on the end of the flag. The Stoneflag radiated terrible heat, scorching the grass at her feet. Old dogs could pick up new tricks and while Ferenike might have only recently made progress in her cultivation, her years in seclusion had not been entirely quiet. All that time to herself had let her refine her use of the Boiling Legion of Glass Body, learning to produce the greatest effect with the least waste.
Keeping her only active use of the bloodline to her weapon, Ferenike went through another series of weapon drills, this time a mixture of various polearm forms. She adjusted the form of her weapon with ease, transforming the flag into a spear, trident, guandao and more. Some might say that her ambition to master every form of polearm was spreading herself too thin. Better to have mastery in one than mediocrity in many, they would advise. Uninspired and unambitious babblers should keep their folly to themselves, was her response to their suggestions. Breadth and depth of ability afforded a combatant an expansive set of options in any engagement and any who shied from the labor required deserved their fates when their lack of means to forge opportunity eventually caught up to them.
***
Cerina felt the almost inexplicable urge to shiver in her bones as she followed the directions one somewhat harried officer had given her to the Glassblower's Meadow. She read, as a hobby, entertainment, and as a core function of her duties to the Clan: to get stronger and to refine her mind and knowledge. She had read the Great Scribe's accounts of Ferenike before and she still wasn't completely sure what to make of her.
A monstrous fighter who the tales spoke of as a friend to Jin Muyi and others of the Indomitable Thirteen. Battles with the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect and the Abyssal Devil Bee Sect. The art Cerina had seen accompanying those tales of heroism always struck her with a kind of passionate ferocity in the molten glass and burning formations. And it was that ferocity that was
cool, the illustrations in Tisamenos's books bearing a life and hue to them that she loved.
It was also that ferocity that pulled Cerina to look at the thing she found most inspiring though; the Glassblower's formation work and theories on Qi. There was a vicious cleverness there that appealed to Cerina. Expert Ferenike's words had collided with Cerina's memories of that old cultivator healer Li Hana. She'd learned that the lines she'd seen on that woman had been arrays inscribed into her wrinkling skin. This collision of theories and memory had spawned half formed ideas that still bubbled away in Cerina's mind.
"I like to think that my dancing is pretty but surely it can't be that enrapturing to steal away your sense of propriety, can it?" Ferenike called out, her back towards a portion of the forest bordering the meadow that flinched in response.
"Erk!" Cerina yelped, as she bowed immediately. "My apologies Centurion!" She said quickly, sounding slightly panicked and distracted.
"Come out then will you. I'm too old to be shouting across meadows for a conversation," Ferenike said, lifting the Stoneflag from the deep rent the axeblade head she'd formed on it had cut into the sod. She turned around to face the forest wall, quirking an eyebrow up in waiting.
Cerina shuffled out sheepishly, long and spindly seeming compared to Ferenike as she stared at her. Her eyelid twitched as she met the formidable woman's gaze. "Legionnaire Cerina Polya, reporting mission success in setting Spirit Stone caches," the younger girl said with a slightly tired looking Legion salute.
"At ease legionnaire, no need to stand on ceremony for little old me," Ferenike grinned up at the towering frame of the gangly youth, holding on to the Stoneflag now in the form of an unadorned staff planted in the earth.
"So you're a tall one eh?" She said, looking Cerina up and down, "If you're any stronger than 1st Heavenstage, I'll eat my staff so how'd you manage to finish up so quickly? Most of your lot aren't expected back for quite some time."
Cerina settled, letting her salute fall. "That is correct, Centurion. I managed it through absurd luck in hindsight, and making some… friends, perhaps, among the Righteous Path," she said before taking a breath. Cerina set off into her full report.
"During my march out from the Rendezvous Point several years ago I saved a Strength Purity Sect disciple named Lin Po, along with his heavily injured traveling companion. He and I parted on good terms, and he said he'd speak well of me to his 'older brother'. I continued on my mission. Through stealth and my senses I was able to stay ahead of pursuit and discovery and placed my caches. Near the end of my mission my path crossed with that of a Fourth Pillar Expert named Swiftblood Hawk, who had absurd speed for his stage. I hid from him, barely, and fled into a forest where I found a source of power in an ancient and enormous cyclopean head, power that fused with my own eye," she said calmly.
She gestured at her closed eye. "I can see perfectly even though it is closed, and when I open it a withering curse or power is projected. It withers everything I look at; grass, trees, animals, and cultivators as well. I estimate an eight stage reduction in power for Qi Condensation, and a two and a half stage reduction in Foundation Establishment. When I recovered enough to move, I tried to complete my mission and ran into Swiftblood Hawk again. Turned out he had been pursued by the older brother of Lin Po, an Expert named Lin Shang, since before our first near encounter. I assisted Lin Shang in fighting and killing Swiftblood Hawk, my Withering Eye able to drastically slow the enemy and reduce him to Lin Shang's level."
"A succinct recounting for what I imagine was not so simple an experience. I will of course have to corroborate your report with our 'allies'," a brief frown flitted over Ferenike's face when she mentioned the word allies but she continued without pause, "In the Strength Purity Sect when it is presented in full and proper order but I have to say that you have been very lucky in surviving a hostile Expert not once but two times."
Looking directly into Cerina's single eye with a fierceness that seemed fit to pierce the closed eyelid, Ferenike queried her junior. "Your actions in assisting an allied Expert are to be commended but why did you ignore all standard doctrine and involve yourself in an engagement far outside the remit of a lowly Qi Condensation junior? Do you have a deathwish or are you some desperate battle seeker?"
Cerina gulped, clearly trying to build up her resolve as she thought quickly. "This enemy Expert was in my mission's area and would--," she began, then faltered before she struggled forward. "A combination of circumstances placing him in the way of my retreat, and the situation presenting an opportunity. I took it, and Lin Shang gave his blessing and some assistance in my reaching this fort without further difficulties in return," she said quietly, wincing. "I know it was against doctrine, but it was not out of a wish to seek battle," she finished.
"Do you know what separates boldness from foolhardiness, junior?" Ferenike asked Cerina, "It is the razor's edge of victory and defeat. Succeed and you will be lauded as daring and courageous. Fail and shame shall be heaped upon your head in the eyes of others for your arrogance and recklessness. Always know that you must straddle that treacherous border carefully if you would risk yourself."
Turning her back to Cerina, Ferenike moved to the center of the meadow to an area little disturbed by her previous practice. Facing back towards Cerina, she tapped the butt of her staff impatiently against the ground, "Now is as good a time to test just how accurate your estimation of your strength is. I'll spare you the humiliation of challenging you to defeat me in single combat."
"This will be a simple assessment. You have fifteen minutes to render me mission incapable. I'll keep my attacks roughly at the level of the great circle of your great realm so deplete my strength enough and you should have no problem. Run out the clock while I attack you from over here or make me leave my position," Ferenike dug a small circle around herself, the blunt end of the Stoneflag cutting a furrow through earth and grass roots easily, "You have access to all the meadow and the near forest. Stray too far and I will have to engage your attention forcefully. Are you ready?"
"Yes, Centurion!" Cerina said as she backed up. She had literally no chance in a direct contest of strength. Psyching herself up and taking two quick breaths she spread her hands, one gripping her own staff, and opened her Eye.
Cobalt blue light erupted from Cerina as her Eye snapped open eagerly. It leapt across the battlefield, wholly focused on Ferenike and trying to invade her body and soul with weakness. Cerina retreated towards the forest edge for cover.
Ferenike met the attack head-on, letting the haunting blue light strike her body. The radiance of it was odd even in the bright light of the afternoon, looking more like the ghostly memory of light to her eyes. The touch of it though was an all too real chill. She stilled her face into a face of indifference even as she grimaced inwardly and fought off a frigid hollowness that would have had her shuddering otherwise. Powerful. This was a strong technique to affect her so much across great realms even if its bite was defeated by the strength of her cultivation base. Nonetheless she had promised this most curious junior a handicap and she would honor her word. Ferenike throttled her qi to a fraction of her full capacity, about equal to what she'd had at the 9th Heavenstage, while suppressing the bulk of her reserves within her dantian. With the relative fumes left to her, she pulled a thread of spiritual energy together, concentrating it in her mouth and then spat a blob of molten matter in a sizzling arc towards the lanky figure blasting a gimlet gaze at her. Let's see what she decided on. Stay in the open with unrestrained line of sight and Ferenike could pelt her with scorching glass with ease. Retreat behind the cover of the trees and she lost an avenue of attack while Ferenike prepared a surprise to counter any thoughts of hiding out the whole fifteen minutes.
Cerina raced into the trees, ducking behind one of the trees as the blob of glass flew for her torso. Her strange free moving neck joint let her look backwards as she ran, keeping her gaze fixed on Ferenike as she dodged around the tree, which started withering too. The blob splattered on the tree and set a chunk of it ablaze. Cerina dug into her robes to pull out a piece of gear from her mortal life; leather for a sling-staff. Sliding the anchor band over her staff she pulled the ties tight with her teeth and started hunting for head sized rocks as she wove between the trees and rocks on the very edge of the forest. Slowly her Eye ate at the qi and body of Ferenike several meters away, unmitigated by this small distance.
Oh splitting the difference was she? Close enough to let her ocular attack be barely interrupted by the tree trunks but deep enough to use those same trees as charitable enough cover. Not bad thinking for a junior but she had not yet plumbed the fullness of the devious behavior a senior could deliver.
Calling out to the fast moving cyclopean form even as she kept up harassing fire, Ferenike dug the Stoneflag into the ground. "I promised to keep my use of techniques limited to the level of a peak Qi Condensation cultivator but I didn't promise to keep my spiritual sense so restrained or to avoid attacks that merely required the mental fortitude of an Expert. First lesson, junior, always question what is left unsaid."
There. The qi signature she'd been tracking all this time slowed for a moment and she pulsed a blast of qi through the network of fine threads she had been slowly spreading down the wonderfully receptive channel of the Stoneflag and into the earth of the meadow. Where the bright flare of her junior's spirit shone to her senses, the ground erupted in a furious burst of sound and heat.
Under Cerina's feet the ground erupted into flame and she cursed as she frantically tried to dodge and leap away from the burst of power. She was caught in most of it as she used her staff to vault out of the area of effect, clothes singeing and hair catching alight as she felt herself start to sweat and burn. She rolled, tumbling and scrabbled for the patch of suitable rocks she had seen behind a tree up ahead. Getting to her feet in the patch she started scooping them up and with a
whir sent them flying with her staff at Ferenike from behind her cover, peeking out to keep her Eye locked on her senior. Her mind ran over what Ferenike had said in a minor panic, cursing herself out to keep going in the face of this terrifying opposition. Hopefully her Eye was starting to have an effect as it built up on the Centurion. It was certainly beginning to weaken this tree.
Ferenike lazily batted the whizzing rocks out of the air with her free hand, keeping the other on the Stoneflag. Good nerves there, keeping up attacking even under an unexpected assault. She let the junior enjoy just a little respite out of respect for that by refraining from using the underground blasts unless the girl started getting too comfortable in one place. She had to restrain herself from scratching at the itch that was building in her chest. It felt like something was gnawing at her body and spirit, dragging her essence away into a hungry pit. That gaze of Cerina's was truly formidable. Its effects appeared to compound on themselves, slowly to be sure but if she left herself exposed with no attempt at mitigation long enough she would actually find herself reduced to the level of her opponent. She wasn't anywhere near that state now but the qi she had apportioned for this exercise was being depleted badly.
Musing on her options, she stared into the forest with a crooked smile as she noted that her opponent's evasions had taken her near the unofficial border of their arena. It was best to clarify that boundary now. From her core she drew upon a deep draught of qi, burning it all in one massive effort that scorched the roots of grasses and trees as it raced through the earth in accordance with her will. In accordance with the intent she'd bound to her energies, an arc of the forest covering the entire curve of the quadrant Cerina was currently in, exploded into flame. That should keep the lass on her toes and her eyes on the prize.
Heat and flame erupted around Cerina and she screamed in instinctive terror.
FUCK! was her only coherent thought as instinct enacted her plan and she lashed out with her staff at the withering and now burning tree before her. With a series of sharp cracks half of the tree's base shattered and coupled with her feet smashing into it as she ran up the trunk, clothes and hair having ignited entirely, it began to tilt.
Burning and with a terrified laugh mixing with her scream, Cerina and the tree fell towards Ferenike. It was not tall enough to reach the Expert, but it would cross most of the distance and give her cover. That was the plan anyway. It slammed down in a burst of sparks and smoke and branches, and Cerina shot out of it and charged across the remaining distance, propelled by her unusual gambit far faster than she had anticipated. Her staff swung out towards Ferenike, the rest of her body right behind it as she smashed across the border of the circle.
Faster than expected, and bold despite her earlier warning. Ferenike would have loved to punish that impetuosity but her self imposed limits held her up. Her qi available for use was practically guttered, only embers left. She was tempted to let Cerina have this bout because she had pulled off a fiercely spirited defense and evasion. As the thought crossed her mind, she remembered her first Hundred Year Trials where she had been swept up in the tragedy and glory of the Indomitable Thirteen. No, her grip tightened on the Stoneflag. Softness now meant killing this junior later with misplaced kindness. She wouldn't break the rules she had set for herself and use her greater physical strength fully. However sometimes it was not about how much power to use but where to direct it for maximum effect. All this flashed in Ferenike's mind in the seconds of Cerina's charge and she flew into action.
She abandoned the Stoneflag and let loose a blast of flame, bright but not too hot. As expected, whatever means Cerina had to see past the physical obstacle of her eyelid did not work past qi rich flames. In the brief moment of cover, Ferenike sidestepped Cerina's blow, balancing awkwardly and bracing herself on flash cooled glass. Seizing the distracted junior she spun her around using the momentum of her strike and flipped her onto her back. As Cerina caught her breath from the sudden impact, Ferenike placed her straightened palm against her throat, glass glittering on the edge.
"Time," Ferenike said simply.
Cerina coughed, her Eye still burning in Ferenike's gaze before Cerina squeezed it shut hurriedly and then relaxed with a great sigh. "Ow," she said, wincing. "I think I can still stand though, Centurion," she explained, meeting Ferenike's eyes with her own closed one.
"While I like your energy, let's call it a draw. You lasted the time I asked though you died afterwards of exsanguination from a severed throat. A pyrrhic victory I hope you never actually enact," Ferenike said, rising up to her feet and extending an arm down to the junior at her feet.
Cerina took it with a smile, patting out the lingering flames still on her clothes as she hauled herself up. "Thank you for the assessment, Centurion," she wobbled on her feet slightly, then held her side. "Ugh, is there anything more you need of me or may I go find the nearest barrack to finally catch up on some sleep?" She asked hopefully.
"Before I let you go, I'd like to give you a bit of advice," Ferenike said, "You have an incredible opportunity with your Withering Eye to plan out your entire combat approach early enough in your advancement while your foundations are flexible and from the ground up. Most people who have this opportunity are from established bloodlines or influences who know how to optimize for such a potent advantage. You don't have that exactly but the Legions and the Clan make up enough backing to suffice if you prove yourself worth the investment."
"Right now your greatest strength is the compounding effect of your Withering Eye. That means that you want to pick up means to buy time for your entropic attack to work to the fullest. Whether that is restraining talismans, warding arrays, paralysis poisons or crippling artifacts, anything that leaves an opponent vulnerable to your withering extends your advantage. The second most important thing is to find a way to run away. Every cultivator has fights they can't win so a means of providing a reliable escape is considered an ultimate technique by many for that reason," Ferenike advised, "Anything else, you can spend contribution points on specialized tutoring but these are what I will leave you with. Now, go on, you look ready to fall over any moment now and I'm not lugging you around for any reason."
Cerina nodded, wobbling some more. "Thank you Senior. I… yeah, a Legion to call my own has been on my mind and I'm working on a style that should help with running away. Thank you for all of your advice. I'll do my best to find the rest," she said with a bow. Carefully, she stood and with a smile back towards the Centurion slowly made her way towards the meadow's border before seemingly being struck by a thought. "Should I go tell someone in the fortress to put out that fire?" She asked as she pointed loosely in the direction of the rapidly growing inferno to one side.
"I'll handle it," Ferenike waved her off, "First rule of using fire or any qi technique really, know how to put down what you raise up. It's a principle that you either learn fast or not at all because you're taking an impromptu trip to visit your ancestors."
Watching the receding back of the young woman, Ferenike sighed. There was potential there, quite a bit of it from her mission outcome and this assessment. She'd see that the report to senior command reflected that opinion and earned the lass the reward she deserved. However good seeds were not promised ease or guaranteed success. Early promise did not assure actualised potential.
Oh well at least she could give her recommendation that they didn't have a cuckoo. Strange blessings from mysterious corpses were almost never the auspicious alignments of fate that the bards would have you believe. Cultivators were a mean greedy lot even beyond the grave and on the liminal border between life and death. Charity was not a common virtue among the sorry lot of her peers who defied the structures of the heavens and fate itself. So many naive juniors and even seniors had been lured by the bright promise of unearned chance fortune only to be dragged into a grave, their greed couldn't get them out of. Turning to the flames in the distance, she slung the Ghost Stoneflag on her shoulder and went to clean up her mess.
[Word Count: 5380]
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@Insane-Not-Crazy and I. Thanks for the collab Insane!
