Myrmidon's Ascension (Xianxia/cultivation)

[Kaja Rainbow]

So. Cu's setting isn't exactly like ours. In fact, it has some very significant differences. One being the nature of the void. It's often said that the void is the origin and end of all things, and there's a great deal of truth in this. The void is potential unrealized, and such potential regularly realizes itself, resulting in the creation of voidbeasts, void spirits, and celestial bodies such as planets and stars. A star is born not from stellar matter but rather from potential condensing itself into existence. Planets follow the same pattern, and while most form around stars because of the stars' orderly influence on the nearby void, there're plenty of planets that form without the help of stars. Both stars and planets are living things in a sense, and when they die, they dissolve back into the void that formed them.

Each planet has its own essence, with many planets providing the conditions for life to appear and thrive. It's also not uncommon for planets nearby stars to leech off the star's stray emissions, which relieves the drain on the planet's essence but makes it more dependent on the star. For this reason, planets near stars are known as being more welcoming to life, as they have more essence to spare. Gravity does exist, but there're planets and stars that move against it. Many planets have moons which share the same relationship with the planet as the planet does with its nearby star.

Those with a void affinity are more easily able to move through the void, resulting in domination of the interplanetary transportation industries by them. If there's a pilot, it's someone with a void affinity. The Great Heavenly Void hive, as a result of being entirely void-affiliated, has a mighty fleet for its size, something which it's leveraged often in its history.

 

[Kaja Rainbow]

The one Cu approached was the Dancer. Like all their kind, they were fragile-looking; towering over her but with a slender frame that was barely more than a stalk and a few leaf-like limbs, with flowers at the top. This one had many tiny pink flowers growing from a central bud. An unusual and likely created species, Cu'd heard, but more successful than most.

"Greetings," they said. "I am Seeks The Flow, and I believe you are... Cuddle Earth? From the Great Heavenly Void Hive, our newest ally."

"I recognize you from a dossier as well. From the Ruby Confederacy? But I remember the name being different," Cu said as she recalled the Dancers called their Ways by the name of Flow.

"My old name doesn't reflect this latest phase of my life, which started just today as I realized I had strayed from my own Flow. So I seek to right my course and find the Flow for me." Was Seeks's flower bud drooping? Sure, the Dancers were precocious in their development of their own Way, but having a Way crisis already in the first realm?

Cu's antennae twitched as she attempted to think of a way to be sympathetic without making the other feel worse. "May you right your course and follow your Flow," she finally said, adapting language she'd heard in Dancer dramas.

Seeks's 'head' bobbed. A nodding gesture learned from humans? "I thank you for your words and more importantly, the sentiment in them. I can see you're curious about our Flows. No, you don't have to say it."

Huh? Oh, Dancers often had some degree of telepathy or empathy. Cu cautiously replied, "I am curious about other species."

"Would you be interested in a discussion then? Thinking out aloud might help me straighten myself out and it is entirely possible you might learn some things."

"Why are you so willing to talk about it with a stranger and likely rival?" Cu said.

"Our Flows are no secrets. They are subtle and they are not. They flow openly and they do not. Their petals are endless. And they benefit from discussion."

Cu said, "I wouldn't mind." Getting a perspective on Ways straight from a Dancer? A great opportunity.

What followed was one of the most confusing discussions Cu had ever had, with many digressions about philosophy and other esoteric topics. Often Cu had to ask a question, only to get a still confusing answer.

What was that about Floral Wisdoms? Why were their Ways like rivers? How many blossoms did a Dancer have to make in their life, and what even was a blossom? Why was the answer to that 42? What was that about strange attractors?

But in the end, while she understood Dancers' Flows no more than she did before, she felt a little more enlightened in general.

"I can see you found that to be of some small help. As did I, though I still have much seeking to do," Seeks said.

"A little, yes. It was a very interesting if confusing discussion."

[Small but perceptible bonus to establishing a Way. Seeks the Flow is now at Acquaintance.]

---

It felt odd how little activity there were in the station. There were people coming and going, but it wasn't the dense bustle of activity like in the hive. Soon enough, Cu returned to her assigned suite. And found it already sporting more sensible decor than it started out with. Paintings employing abstract colors and light floral scents. A few scented sculptures to lighten up the environs. Those deliveries from the hive must've arrived already.

The outer room no one knew what to do with had been transformed into, apparently, a room for hosting visitors judging from the label on the map shared by her hivemates. Cushions and low tables, cabinets for holding foodstuffs ready to serve to guests, gentle lighting. A good choice, really. Also a good choice picking Game Break to work out what to do with the room.

She also nodded approvingly at the setup of the work room. In addition to the various crafting workshops she required, it also had been turned into a storeroom for assorted necessities and foods, miscellaneous talismans not in current use, materials for crafting, really anything at least one of the five of them might need. The overall arrangement was elegantly practical, with clear routes to everything and nothing hard to reach.

The sleeping room was entirely too large, but it was comfortable enough. Still, there was a lot of empty space once one accounted for the space necessary for beds and clothing storage. And the hygiene room attached to the sleeping room was ridiculous in scale but there wasn't much that could be done about that. It would be less and less necessary as they ascended in realms anyways.

Behind her, Smile chuckled. "Over the top isn't it? Trust me, it's more for luxury than necessity. That large pool of water? All for relaxing in. Can't wait to see what I can do to the other teams' pools."

"Oh, right, I've seen things like that in some of the romantic dramas," Cu said, ignoring Smile's last sentence. It was then that she saw the map indicators for her other teammates drawing near. Exiting, she went to meet them.

As it turned out, another human, male apparently, was with them, this one outfitted in a plain red robe with no decorations. The hallmark of a basic worker, judging from the uniform information she accessed. Said human looked apologetic as he gestured at the door to their suite. "I heard you were dissatisfied with the arrangements we had made for you."

"It's fine," Cu said, "Our rooms are satisfactory now."

The worker human said "Which one of you is staying in this suite?"

"All of us," Smile said with a wicked waggle of her antennae. "We're real snugglebug pals."

"Uh," the worker said. Cu was pretty sure he just became paler.

Gam stepped in smoothly. "We are content with our rooms. While the decorations and furniture your station supplied were beautiful works of arts, our sensibilities lie more toward simplicity. Thus we have arranged things more to our tastes. But we are grateful for the hospitality supplied to us and will not forget it."

The worker human seemed to relax somewhat. "May I inquire if you have any other requirements?"

"If we have any, we will let you know," Gam replied as he popped up a display to fill out a highly positive review of the worker and submit it.

The worker's broad smile wasn't hard to interpret. "I or another will be available at all times." He turned to withdraw from sight.

"Well then," Harmony said cheerily, "That was a harmonious resolution."

---

It had became the night before orientation. Cu drew up the schedule for that. Immediately, she said, "Three hours of speeches?!"

"Our diplomats have observed that they prefer a serene pace to their affairs," Gam said with a waggle of his antennae.

"There's a serene pace and then there's this... I suppose we'll have to attend as it's marked mandatory." Resigning herself to her fate, Cu considered what to do before group cultivation and sleep.

[ ] Hang out with someone
[ ] Game Break
[ ] Harmony to All
[ ] Null Music
[ ] Smile Sphere

[ ] Break in her shiny new crafting equipment

[ ] Watch a romance

[ ] Chat with her online pals.

 

[Kaja Rainbow]

"So how are our newest ally's delegation settling in?" The Head Dean said. He was a dignified man with long mustaches extending down to his waist and similarly long black hair. His face showed not a single sign of age, but his eyes seemed ancient.

The Dormitory Head, who chose an androgynous body neither man nor woman, said, "They replaced the decor we set out in their suite, which is to be expected. Faction delegates tend to apply their own motifs to their suites. But they barely have any decor at all! And they're all staying not just in one suite, but one room! They turned one of the rooms into a workshop and storeroom!"

Immediately, the Head of Interiors, a woman with flamboyant pink hair spoke up. "But have you seen their decor? Its subtle elegance, it reminds me of the Least Rose style. That careful attention to placements of the sculptures to complement the paintings. The way the light highlights their sculptures and adds texture to said paintings! And--"

The Head Dean held up his hand. "I understand. They favor minimalist styles and lifestyles. Head of Relations, what do you believe their reception to Orientation will be?"

A man with a soft baby face and short fuzzy black hair said, "Honestly? They're going to be bored. I did some research and the average speech given by Myrmidons is less than ten minutes, many a minute or less. They don't hold much on ceremony. But they will almost certainly politely try to pay full attention. Of course, the main wildcard is their trickster."

"I didn't even know that Myrmidons could have tricksters before I saw their delegate roster," the Dormitory Head said.

The Head Dean nodded. "So provide them with refreshments and such to alleviate their boredom. Prepare for what a bored trickster might do. Security Head?"

The Security Head, a short and burly woman, grunted that particular grunt that meant "I'll be ready but I'll handle the VIP with kiddy gloves." Then because she had been chastised many times for only grunting, she said out loud, "I'll be prepared and I'll treat their trickster gently."

The Head Dean smiled warmly. "So we're set. The reports indicate they're settling in and find their accommodations quite acceptable. Now let us get on to other matters..."

 

[Kaja Rainbow]

Possibilities for how to spend her night flitted through Cu's mind. She could relax and watch some romance. She could talk to one of her teammates. She could hang out with her online friends.

Ah, who was she kidding? She was positively itching to try out her new tools. So she headed right into the workshop/storeroom and, after a little thought, pulled out the materials for the pill project she had been working on before she was interrupted by her sudden change of assignment.

It wasn't a particularly complicated idea, just a standard three-element pill to boost the cultivation of someone with dream/void/star affinities. No prizes for guessing who it was intended for. But the execution was the difficult part. One-element pills were trivial, she could practically do those in her sleep by this point.

Two-element pills were more difficult, but there were ways to manage them, either using a third element as 'glue' or setting up the pill formulae so they support and stabilize each other while still keeping their effects active. The former was easier, a 'cheat' in a sense, but the second method... was necessary to master before making three-element pills.

Three-element pills required a more complicated network of formulae, getting every element to support and stabilize every other element, and part of the difficulties was getting that into something small enough to be pill-sized. And those formulae were very necessary in crafting because they directed the energy in the necessary manners. Formations, talismans, pills, all of them used formulae to invoke Laws in just the right manner to produce the essence flow that produced the intended effect.

At sufficiently high cultivation realms and crafting skill, one could just create new Laws to encode into formulae to get powerful effects not possible otherwise. But that was still well beyond her. Not until the late third realm could she even begin to get started on that and it would just be a start. As is, she was stuck with the standard set of Laws.

She could just requisition a void/dream/star pill from her hive, it'd even be better than what she could make. But doing that wouldn't raise her skill in pill-making. So. It was time to make her first three-element pill. Or at least attempt. She'd already failed four times.

Five times now with the elements destabilizing and consuming each other, but every time she failed, she got a little bit of a better idea of how to improve her next attempt. A sixth failure. In her attempt to keep the elements stabilized, she'd waited just a little too long and the herbs she were using burnt to a cinder inside the pill cooker.

Seven failures. She'd added too much water in an attempt to prevent the herbs from getting burnt. Eight. Too little water this time. Now a semi-success, as the Laws invoked by the formulae caused the herb mixture to evaporate and condense into an actual pill with the intended effect. But the quality wasn't acceptable enough. Too many impurities.

Three more failures as she tried modifying different aspects to produce an acceptable pill. Semi-success that produced another impure pill, but less so. Four more failures and five more inadequate pills later, she finally managed to produce a pill she would actually consider taking. It wasn't the best pill, honestly compared to what she could get from the hive it was kind of garbage.

But now she had a better idea of how to further improve her process. More practice would improve her three-element pills as well as her speed and success rate at making them... but that could wait. The alarm for group cultivation just went off. She didn't bother wondering how four hours could pass so quickly, it was like that when she got into her projects.

---

The five of them gathered in a circle, taking comfortable seats. It was the smallest group cultivation session Cu'd ever been in, which felt weird. But as short as she slowly fell into sync with the others, the familiar feeling of essence circulating together, of being just one of a greater whole, it all returned.

Each of them gave off their own impressions, each individual a mixture of different elements, personalities, essence channels, souls. But together... they were the hive and the hive were them. Even as distant as she was now, Cu could feel much of the hive cultivating with her, as the stronger among them reached out to her.

Group cultivation took place at different times throughout the day, with the entire hive staggered out throughout those times. But even the ones not participating were there with her, even if she could sense the hive members actively cultivating more keenly. Even the non-cultivators were there.

She pointed out an irregularity in another's essence circulation and someone else pointed out an irregularity in hers. All without words, just the knowledge spreading between them. Eventually everyone was cultivating in perfect sync, their differences just part of the complex tapestry of the hive.

A long time forever later and yet just a hour later, Cu emerged out of her trance and took stock of the advances she had made during her session. Everyone cultivated on their own at different times throughout the day, of course, but the greatest gains were during group cultivation, which happened twice a day for every Myrmidon.

And her gains were noticeable if very incremental. But that was cultivation for you. It was all incremental progress. One step at a time toward power and very rarely ascension. It was not a lonely road, far from it; she was treading the long road of cultivation with the many others of her hive.

"What're you thinking about, Cu?" Null asked.

Cu said, "I was thinking about how even far away from the hive, in the midst of aliens, we aren't alone."

Null nodded. "I know what you mean."

"Yeah, that's the way it is," Harmony said.

---

The morn of the dreaded orientation came, and with it an encrypted message from the hive.

Those aliens've done it again. One of the announcements at Orientation will be an expansion of team size to six and they told us just minutes ago. Now, as the Director of Espionage just reported, every faction is scrambling to figure out which of their selections that didn't make it are going to be the sixth member of their teams.

Their excuse was a request from one of the factions, but none of the factions seem to know what they're talking about. Best guess is it has to do with the Head Dean's son who is entering the school this year. He has a circle of five friends he's particularly close with.
As before, I'll leave it up to you to select your final member. I, however, will suggest that you pick the soldier that most fills a needed combat role for your team. Your selection will join you later today.

This message isn't particularly a secret as everyone's aware the other factions are in the same situation as them. And while they haven't managed to insert their own spies into our hives (but not for a lack of trying and really it's just a matter of time), right now seven, no, make that eight faction spies are remotely eavesdropping on my writing of this message. They know I know and they know about our spies trying to figure out what's going on and why this happened. Yes, the spy situation sounds convoluted but apparently it's just a thing that happens in this alliance.

As I said, this message isn't a secret but regardless you are to keep its contents from persons not already directly entangled in the alliance's politics. You may of course tell your team, just do it discreetly. I recommend encrypted messages, it won't prevent the spies who will be eavesdropping on you reading this message, but it will prevent amateur eavesdropping.

Welcome to alliance politics, I guess. Signed, Spark Berry, Director of the Department of Cultivation.

Cu whirled as she pondered the implications of the message, particularly the suggestion that there would be spies eavesdropping on her. But, she decided, worrying about that wouldn't be productive. She had a duty to do and that duty was to select a sixth team member. Her choices were all soldiers, so she could see why the Director told her to select the new member based on combat roles.

First, she considered what her current soldier was like. While Null wasn't a pure soldier, she was the current member with the highest combat skills. According to her files, she had excellent offense, and good durability and analysis skills, as well as decent mobility and team enhancement. In addition, she could bring beasts into battle and strongly enhance them. She could best be compared to a well-armed and armored troop transport.

Lamentation of Death had both excellent offense and durability, good foe affliction and mobility, decent healing and undead mobilization. The best analogue would be a heavy battleship with strong utility functions. Essentially, her role would be to form a solid center for any battle she partakes in.

Luxurious Purr had excellent offense and mobility, and her mobility came with stealth. She had good fortune and durability, as well as decent defense shredding and noncombat self-healing that was stronger than Lamentation's general healing. She could be best compared to a particularly armored swift strike stealth ship. Her role would be to quickly approach and delete high-priority targets before withdrawing to take on her next target.

Spiaon was weird in that they could shift their capabilities. They wouldn't perform quite as well in Lamentation of Death or Luxurious Purr's roles, but they could fill in either or any other combat role as needed. They could be best compared to.. Uh. A transforming ship? There wasn't really any voidship analogue.

She still had time to make her selection, but in the end the one she would pick would be...

[ ] Lamentation of Death
[ ] Luxurious Purr
[ ] Spiaon

 

[Kaja Rainbow]

A Treatise on the Major Known Species

The oldest species is easily the Eternals. Formed from stone that awakened itself, they predate all other life. They seem to barely have any sense of territory, staking no claims and ignoring all claims by others. In short, they place themselves wherever they care to go. Whether it is the most remote barren asteroid or in the middle of a palace's garden, it matters not to them.

The Eternals are notable for the near indestructibility that gives them their name. They have been known to survive planetary bombarding and exploding stars. The most ancient Eternals are quite fearsome and when they stir, entire civilizations scramble to avoid inciting their wrath. Even somewhat younger Eternals, 'only' millions of years old, often hold a large sway in politics. For this reason, they are classified as a major species despite their lack of territory and low population.

No one knows where the Dancers come from, including the Dancers themselves. They bear the hallmarks of a created species with their optimized bodies and uniform affinity for cultivation. From the moment they sprout from seeds, the Dancers are awakened, capable of harnessing qi. They have a peculiar affinity for developing Ways, doing so in the first realm.

While they are exceptionally fragile, a species with universal cultivation and early development of Ways is not a species to be underestimated. Fortunately, they seem to be relatively peaceful, preferring not to initiate wars (but they are well known for decisively ending them), though there are warlike exceptions. Their success in spreading themselves and the power they wield qualifies them as a major race.

As a human, I cannot hold myself entirely without bias, but I have done my best to view my species with an objective lens for this overview. Some hold mistaken ideas about humans being more intelligent, more creative, more charismatic, or otherwise mentally superior. I used to be of this belief, but the more I looked for evidence to uphold it, the more I realized such evidence was lacking.

Rather, what sets humans apart is our stamina. It is well known that humans have some of the deepest qi reserves in addition to our natural physical stamina. This combined with mental flexibility comparable to other successful species and possibly a measure of luck enabled us to take our place among the major species. (For the possible luck factor, read Quinn Lehz's A Examination of the Luck Factor Among Species. While the field of luck studies is rife with assumptions and bad studies, some like Quinn stand above as being measured and possessing compelling arguments. In their case, they pose good arguments for humans and Syrans possessing above average luck.)

However, if any species can be said to be mentally superior in some fashion, the X!eng pose a passable argument for being thus, even if they seem to sacrifice a measure of self-preservation in exchange. The X!eng are a comparatively young species, yet when you examine which species have made the most innovations, a disproportionate amount of those innovations come from the X!eng.

This can be partially attributed to a natural affinity for chaos and void; they are particularly likely to try or create new things. This also contributes to their fatality rate, but their high reproduction rate ensures the survival of their species. In fact, they lay so many eggs that they are forced to take a cruel approach, abandoning all of them then scouring the wilderness and picking the most promising young to adopt. But I digress. They have been able to leverage the things they create to take a place as a major species.

The Syrans are, in essence, humanity's mirror. Their stamina is somewhat low but what they lack for stamina, they make up in overwhelming bursts of power. If anyone is most likely to put a dent on an Eternal, it is a Syran.

Their high agility must also be noted. They are among the quickest, most nimble species. Probably the primary thing holding them is their low stamina and resulting tendency to conserve their energy. They are ambush predators, not endurance predators. See also my above mention of a possible luck factor.

I would be amiss to leave out the Myrmidons. They have more than amply earned their place as a major species. The population estimates I hold most reliable all put Myrmidons easily at the top of known species; the main reason they haven't claimed more territory is their tendency toward very high population density.

Why are they so successful? An individual Myrmidon generally holds nothing particularly special to set them apart. The secret to their success is simple: they almost never act as individuals. They are exceptional at teamwork, every single one of their arts having compounding effects when combining their efforts toward an end. But even without such arts, a hive is an united entity and that cannot be underestimated.

There are, of course, numerous minor species. Some also mistakenly categorize void entities as their own species, but they vary entirely too much to be called a proper species. Regardless, the impact of void entities and creatures on others as well as the amount of territory they hold sway over must not be underestimated. If they indeed held enough consistency to be classed as a species, they would definitely rank as one of the major species.