Jensaarai
Sing Victory Everlasting
- Pronouns
- They/Them
And maybe the persistent duration from continual playing?
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
I'm raising the issue in the context of the domain weapon, not generally. An art in the domain weapon impacts screen share differently because it gets used all the time for "free". There's a distinction between that and a merely prominent art. It becomes a universal seasoning to every fight, to every other thing we do. But I don't think the practical manifestation of that is equal across our different options, here.
FSS works well with the basic dynamics of domain weapons as flying instruments of your will; it would zoom around as a zone of localized freezing death, with the point itself even deadlier, mirroring CtE's big conditional fight Ender. TRF is similar, easy to picture as a mobile focus for boosting allied defenses and acting as obstacle itself for enemy weapons or grand attacks and coming out mostly intact.
FVM is... different. It's hard for me to picture meaningfully carried about by the domain weapon, or using it as a concentrated vector for any of its effects. That's not how the art do; it fills the area and makes of it the arena. In a way, this is very appropriate for the Domain, but I'm a lot iffier on it fitting for a Domain Weapon, at our level. But the point is, the other two having more discrete areas of effect allow for more discretion in interactions with other arts, as well as their effects being more fitting for direct interaction via the Weapon half of the equation. FVM expands to fill the narrative space of the fight, rather than just occupy sections of it.
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Considering how we've seen high level domain-to-domain combats, the end state of a domain weapon is basically a broadcaster/focus for beaming your Domain around.
FVM isn't THAT different in nature from Cai Shenhua summoning the Metropolis Of Shenhua after all. Its just multiple orders of magnitude smaller.
And that in turn isn't really different from how Ling Qi had been using the Singing Mist Blade so far, she doesn't use it to form focused narrow attacks, she uses it to rain annoying AoE effects, which was limited by her weak Domain.
Well, she's not quite so weak anymore.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
For something that we have no idea how the implementation will work this seems like too much concern. I understand your concern but just because you are not able to envision how it will end up looking doesn't mean that Yrs can't.
Right now your whole argument to boils down to "I don't know how it will work so don't vote for it." That's just not convincing for me. This may not be what your saying, but if it isn't than I would suggest phrasing your ideas differently.
This is getting kind of annoying to explain. Any time I focus on one critique, I get hit by another one that totally ignores what I said in several previous posts. The issue isn't that I'm somehow offended by Ling Qi being strong, or that I don't understand the nature of Domains and combat between them. The latter is something I even acknowledged in literally the post you're responding to.
Cai Shenhua is a mature cultivator who has her shit well sorted out. Ling Qi is... not, and I'm, and increasingly through this chain of conversation on the issue, disillusioned with the suggestion that we can or should call it solved, without criticism, discovery, or recourse. Sever blindly and damn the consequences would be a lot more convincing if people weren't blinding themselves to the notion of consequences in the first place.
I'm going to be more forthright and definite with my position. Imbuing our Domain Weapon with FVM will perpetuate structural issues with the game's narratives, which were partially intended to be mitigated by the effort. It's not wholly counterproductive, because there's other goals to the Domain Weapon art. FVM is likely to strangle out presentation of other arts, and if it doesn't it will probably be because it has failed to bring the Domain Weapon to fore, as intended by the mechanic.
- Location
- Earth
[X] Her oldest active art, which had seen her through so many trials Forgotten Vale Melody
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
This sounds like something for Yrs to potentially work on and not something the voters should worry about when voting.
Yes and no? I mean, we pick things for narrative prioritization/flow all the time. We're a collective second set of eyes. Just this turn plan, we decided to focus on PLR instead of our myriad Darkness arts because it fit the current narrative better, and provided a smoother flow between this month and next than if our activities were the other way around. I don't think we can be absolved of a responsibility to weigh the narrative impacts of our choices, regardless of whether those choices are made up by us wholesale or among the preset options provided to us by Yrsillar.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
There are narrative weights our choices incur, such as the decision to get hit rather than reorient, that we can't be absolved from. But you said this,
Your whole argument is based around a perceived structural issue. That some arts are getting more screen time than other arts. You are placing a burden on the voters to try and force a fix to this issue you see. If other voters don't agree with you about the existence of said issue than your argument just falls flat.
You also imply that voters are ignoring the narrative of this vote. I would argue against that because there are very few nitty gritty mechanical details in this vote. My guess is that most voters are not concerned about getting the biggest meridian bonus in this situation. The voters are making a narrative choice. The choice is that they want to see FVM.
The voters can influence which arts get seen by voting for different arts to level and equip. But it's Yrs job to balance all of those arts into an enjoyable scene. I have greatly enjoyed all the combat scenes so far and am looking forward to all the social scenes where our social arts will get a chance to shine. I don't see the structural flaw that you do. Could Yrs do a better job balancing art screentime and showcasing all the cool arts we have? Perhaps. That is not a narrative though, it is a critique and suggestion for improvement. But that is something for Yrs to mull over, not something for voters to concern themselves with as they vote.
My argument isn't that some arts are getting more screentime than others. I'm not going to explain it yet again, but that's inaccurate.
I didn't mean to imply votes are ignoring the narrative of this vote, and I don't believe I did. I made that statement in response to a call that yrsillar should worry about that and not us. That's different. And I'll concern myself with whatever I want when voting, thanks.
Black Noise
Curious
- Location
- About 1AU from Sol
This is, to an extent, a fair concern, but IC it falls apart a bit since "this choice will stylistically taint a lot of my future combat, stealing narrative space from other arts" is almost entirely a meta-level issue.
There are 2 outs already present to help mitigate it, in the modification we'll be getting to shortly, and in how FVM will continue to develop and grow with Ling Qi's domain (with the next rank up scheduled for next turn basically, presumably after we've had a cave exploration mission to help identify some of the issues since we'll have both it and PLR6 up).
Moreover, I think that even the worst case interpretation of FVM taking a central role and permeating all future battles at the expense of other arts having a unique presence outside of it isn't that bad. Especially since it's bound to happen eventually anyway in a much more final way, likely in G7 when we make our first personal art.
As for this bit:
I don't know about others who voted FVM but I'm voting with the explicit acknowledgement that it'll enshrine "the lonely path of struggle gaining worth through finding something of beauty to present to those one cares for"[1]. A core I find it more interesting than what TRF brings to the table insight-wise (though with the edit pass clarification it would've been a fine basis), and find it clearer than the FSS one (which I'd also like to avoid here for a better focus on developing it with Hanyi). Though the mechanical convenience (both combat and training) of FVM here certainly doesn't hurt.
LQ might not have her shit entirely together but the decision isn't without consideration (by some voters at least), and progress demands sacrifice whether we're ready or not. Mechanical/stylistic concerns were always a problem with domain weapons, and really are more for yrs to resolve than us to overly concern with in an important vote about thematic development.
[1] Could really use a better shorthand like Cai's "pursuit of purity".
EDIT: not to imply you're voting for the wrong reasons, as far as I'm concerned even something like "I think this would look cooler" is 100% valid reasoning.
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- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
You can concern your self however you want when you are voting. But, when you express that concern in thread don't be surprised when people than say, "I don't think that's a concern."
Right now I see your agrument is either: You want to see more of our domain weapon and are concerned that FVM will over shadow it, or FVM is getting too much screen time. In either case you implied it was a voters issue here and here.
I don't think it's a voter problem.
It's also really frustrating to me to wake up. See an argument, try and participate and then be told that's not what the argument is about and the person arguing the point refusing to expound on why. If people are continually misunderstanding the argument than the argument is confusing. It's likely not your fault. People likely misunderstood the argument based on others people's misunderstanding of the argument. But you are also refusing to clarify the argument.
I understand that is very frustrating when people keep misunderstanding your argument. But people, most of the time, want to understand an argument. If people keep misunderstanding the argument than there is almost certainly a communication breakdown that needs to be addressed.
You just want Ling Qi to spit up a ball of black mist like she's a cat
Han Jian should be less lazy and make it into the Inner Sect already. Lack of cat.You just want Ling Qi to spit up a ball of black mist like she's a cat
I've been explaining it for like a dozen posts and half the reason it's as confusing as it is is because I've been addressing everyone's specific misunderstandings, which people then jump in and misunderstand separate from the broader context. I'm tired and done doing that. The vote's almost over, my arguments swayed nobody, it isn't my problem anymore.
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- Location
- The Space Between
OH that's an interesting position Abeo.
I think you're right about the knife only being the fog being a pretty weak narrative presence.
I think a good question should be one of form. Are we happy with our Domain Weapon's Form? Once we choose an Art, what techs are most important from it? How does our Domain Weapon's Form synergize with these techs?
If we pick FVM I think we need to have the Fog/Mist, it's basically the core of the art imo. The knife though, needs to be doing actions in the fight and I think that Dissonance is both a good name for the knife as well as a good tech to focus on. Here are three options that aren't the original Dissonance tech, but I think keep the action economy breaking aspect as well as the "relatively untouchable non-summon attacker" aspect:
1. Dissonance causes non-damaging contact construct techniques (like Lunatic Whirl) to deal damage. The revelers of PLR are so happy, it's Dissonant that they all have knives in hand as they laugh and dance and slash. Would be jarring, and muddy/warp the design space. I give this idea a C or B-
2. Dissonance improves the hit/pen/damage of damaging Song/Shadow/Dex techniques. The members of the Beast King's army are armed with cruel daggers. The talons of the King are blackened and sharp. Music notes are screaming daggers from the end of our flute. The Call of the End brings a dagger to the heart. Now this, I think this could be *really* cool if it allowed Hanyi and Six to wield Dissonance to enhance their own hit/pen/damage. An AoE buff of sorts that relies on Heart to make our Dissonance appear everywhere it needs to be. Might fade to background after first few uses. decent B idea.
3. Dissonance causes one construct (at a time) in the song to behave out of line with the rest. Armed with Dissonance, this construct attacks our main target with Domain Weapon strength instead of Dissonance Tech strength. Dissonance can appear with any construct within it's fog. It makes attacks in narrative openings, up to the rate of Dissonance Tech if the targeted cultivator cannot disrupt the construct in any way or knock our knife away from themselves.
This is an A+ idea. Immediately makes sense with the theme of Dissonance, has discrete presence, has room to grow in utility over time, shifts in aesthetic based on Song we're playing, and it's in line with the Grinning Monsters of the original FVM. I mean, it's stealing the words and actors of another song and using them to your own violent ends.
anyone else got ideas? I'd love to read emD <3
I think you're right about the knife only being the fog being a pretty weak narrative presence.
I think a good question should be one of form. Are we happy with our Domain Weapon's Form? Once we choose an Art, what techs are most important from it? How does our Domain Weapon's Form synergize with these techs?
If we pick FVM I think we need to have the Fog/Mist, it's basically the core of the art imo. The knife though, needs to be doing actions in the fight and I think that Dissonance is both a good name for the knife as well as a good tech to focus on. Here are three options that aren't the original Dissonance tech, but I think keep the action economy breaking aspect as well as the "relatively untouchable non-summon attacker" aspect:
1. Dissonance causes non-damaging contact construct techniques (like Lunatic Whirl) to deal damage. The revelers of PLR are so happy, it's Dissonant that they all have knives in hand as they laugh and dance and slash. Would be jarring, and muddy/warp the design space. I give this idea a C or B-
2. Dissonance improves the hit/pen/damage of damaging Song/Shadow/Dex techniques. The members of the Beast King's army are armed with cruel daggers. The talons of the King are blackened and sharp. Music notes are screaming daggers from the end of our flute. The Call of the End brings a dagger to the heart. Now this, I think this could be *really* cool if it allowed Hanyi and Six to wield Dissonance to enhance their own hit/pen/damage. An AoE buff of sorts that relies on Heart to make our Dissonance appear everywhere it needs to be. Might fade to background after first few uses. decent B idea.
3. Dissonance causes one construct (at a time) in the song to behave out of line with the rest. Armed with Dissonance, this construct attacks our main target with Domain Weapon strength instead of Dissonance Tech strength. Dissonance can appear with any construct within it's fog. It makes attacks in narrative openings, up to the rate of Dissonance Tech if the targeted cultivator cannot disrupt the construct in any way or knock our knife away from themselves.
This is an A+ idea. Immediately makes sense with the theme of Dissonance, has discrete presence, has room to grow in utility over time, shifts in aesthetic based on Song we're playing, and it's in line with the Grinning Monsters of the original FVM. I mean, it's stealing the words and actors of another song and using them to your own violent ends.
anyone else got ideas? I'd love to read em
D <3- Location
- US
[X] Her mentor Zeqing's most potent gift, the Frozen Soul Serenade
Root issue is...I really don't get the existence of any issue of concern being raised. And apparently neither do many others.
Either the point isn't actually explained at all or its a very individual concern
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A Future Trial
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
A Future Trial
Teng Bo crouched over steep cliff. Almost two months of chafing servitude under the older students had gotten him this location. An Elder's trial lay below him. He looked to his side and sighed. Wan Yijun shivered in the cold. His forced roommate was looking pitiful as ever. But Yijun had the requirements, if only just, to help him open the door and hopeful once he gained access to the resources an elder would provide he could leave Yijun in the dirt. One more night together was all he needed to endure.
"Let's start." Bo said.
"Are you sure this is wise?" The coward said. "My spirit has only just reached yellow. Perhaps waiting would be prudent."
"Once we get the resources of this trial we can finally stop being pushed around. Trust me. We should do this now so we get the most benefit. Have I led you wrong yet?" Bo said.
"If you are sure, then I am ready."
"That's what I like to hear!"
Just as the moon rose above the horizon Teng Bo and Wan Yijun began their final journey together.
The climb down was brutal. Handholds were plentiful but shaped like jagged knives. Teng Bo had to plan each inch with excruciating care to avoid his hands and feet from being filleted like fish. The slacker had an easier time with his hands and feet covered in pale stone that allowed him to just ignore the dangers of the climb. Yijun even had the gull to see and reach the safety of a cleft in the rocks before him. Soon enough, after following the path the cleft opened up into, he joined Yijun in staring at an enormous temple gate barred before them. Formations covered the gate. Two giant palm prints took up the center of the gate.
"Ready friend?" Bo asked.
"Ready."
As soon as both of their hands touched the gate the giant palms glowed and the doors grinded open as dust exploded out over them. Coughing through the sudden grit they both stepped into the hall as it slowly brightened around them. When they finally cleared their eyes the sight took their breath away.
Dozens of bronze bells hung down from a carven rafter. Braided ropes of silver, thicker than Yijun's arm, swayed under the bells. Engravings all around the hall told a story. Great lines of men and women battled in stunning detail a variety of horrific insectoid monsters. Teng Bo wished he could stay and enjoy the artwork, but he knew they had to keep moving. No elder rewarded the lazy. Something that Yijun ignored. That sloth didn't even appreciate the art around them, instead focusing on a bell.
"See anything interesting Yi?"
Yijun gave him a disapproving glance. "You know I don't like that nickname. But, yes I do see something interesting. The reliefs on this bell almost match many of the common symbols of an old heretical practice called ikko. Yet the ikko would never have put their symbols on such beautiful bells. They despised what they called the 'extravagance of rulers' which these bells would certainly qualify for."
Bo looked at Yijun. "Why do you know so much about an outlawed practice?"
Yijun looked surprised and then sheepish. "Ah… I suppose it wouldn't be taught everywhere. Well, umm… The truth is that my town lies very close to where the honorable Cai cornered and crushed a large group of revolting ikkos. Every child in my town are taught their symbols since the ikko have nasty habit of trying to use the area as a place to reform. The quicker they are spotted and the guards told the better. Religion is also a personal interest of mine."
"I didn't know that. Already this trial is helping us learn more about each other!" Than Bo took a closer look at the bell in question. "Are you sure that these are symbols of the ikko? To me this relief is taken from 'The battle of Liang valley'. Expect… the original piece showed a fight against cloud barbarians. This just shows them fighting some weird fishy things."
Yijun looked confused, but suddenly he pointed at the bell a row down. "What do you see on that bell?"
"It's the 'Sword reforged', but their reforging an ax instead of a sword." Bo replied.
"I see symbols of the Pure Land sect and the Noble Truths sect mixed. Those two have… strong disagreements about certain issues."
Bo reached out and rang the bell in front of him. Yijun looked at him in askance and Bo just shrugged. "We have no instructions Yijun. Ringing this bell may give us an idea of what we need to do."
Just as he finished a voice of gravel echoed through the hall. "Walk the path of purity." A door groaned open and where there was once smooth walls a path revealed itself. Then stone abominations strode out. They looked like stone figures had been melted like wax. Some had too long arms. Others uneven legs. As one they wailed and rushed towards the bells as even more poured out from the path. Bo froze. But, Yijun sprinted forwards.
"Bo! Find a bell with no errors! I will stop these from ringing any bells!"
Bo shuddered. He didn't trust Yijun to fight off an unlit candle. He would have to be quick. He dashed past the different bells careful to avoid hitting any cords and potentially ringing the wrong one. 'No. No. No. No. Yes.' Just before he reached the silver cord a second bell rang out. He glanced over his shoulder and through the forest of silver cords he could see Yijun having pinned a stone figure to the ground but had snagged a silver cord in his stone talons from the effort. Bo sneered. Just as he thought. Yijun made everything harder. Luckily he had already found the bell.
As the third bell rang a path opened on the farside of the carven just as more stone abominations started to pour out from the second path. The third path glowed a soft white and Bo sprinted towards it. Bells rang from his sprint through the cords and more stone constructs began to pour out of the walls and he was forced to slide under the grasping club like arms of a construct to make it to safety and as he expected the stone construct could only batter uselessly on a shimmering wall that blocked it's every blow. As he looked back into the cavern he waited to see how Yijun would fail. He doubted the elder would let Yijun die, but if the elder did no one would likely care. Yijun was Yijun after all.
To his surprise Yijun had already started carving a path of destruction through the constructs. Bells rung as wreckage from the stone constructs flew clear across the hall while Yijun bullied his way through the hordes using the stone constructs around him as makeshift clubs. It only took Yijun a few minutes to bull rush through and reach the white path. Bo had to step aside as Yijun couldn't stop his momentum in time and skidded down the path leaving the stone constructs behind.
"Great job Yi!"
Yijun smiled back. "That was fun, but let's wait awhile before we do something like that again."
Bo laughed. "Agreed agreed!"
The two walked forward until they reached a room of white. A stone pestadel with two handprints was the only thing in the room. Bo approached the stone and then the gravelly voice spoke again.
"You are on the white team. Victory is assured. How many will you save?"
"Ready Yijun?" Bo said as he placed his hand onto the pestadel.
Yijun smiled and placed his hand next to Bo's.
"Walk the path of compassion."
With that the room disappeared.
As they started to plummet a scream ripped out of Bo's throat. The room that had just disappeared around them seemed to have somehow been hanging one hundred meters in the air. That was not the most terrifying thing though. The titans above them were the most terrifying. The fall had started at those titans knees and they stretched far far above him. The sound of the titans hammering blows rippled the very air. Beneath Bo shifted a carpet of white and black constructs that quickly grew bigger as he fell. Looking over his shoulder he saw Yijun angle himself towards the backlines of the fight where a small village seemed to be built. Bo grinned. An elder would never reward cowardice. He looked below him. Where was the bitterest fighting? There!
A sudden gust of wind eased his fall just before he was worried about making a safe landing. Then he entered the fray. With a rivers surging strength he slammed black constructs into the moving walls of the titans feet. Needles of water pierced foes just in time to save a white ally. The tide incarnate smashed row after row of black constructs back. At one point as he took a breather atop a larger construct he saw a black titan get knocked down and crush the village. He grinned. Hopefully that was the end of Yijun. Finally the black horde began to pull back. Bo tried to control his breathing but his smile was making that hard. He had saved at least thirty white constructs while in the thick of the fighting. He couldn't imagine Yijun doing better than that. Then, colors shifted and blurred and he was in a different room.
Yijun stood next to him battered. Bruises were beginning to blotch and an eye had already sealed shut from swelling. But, Bo couldn't think about that. An elder stood before him.
Six black tails with white tips swayed calmly behind the imposing figure while hands held a brutal saber pointed downward. Almost unkempt shoulder length black hair nearly covered piercing green eyes. An aura of restrained fierceness permeated the room as Bo quickly bowed. He nearly snickered as Yijun barely managed to not topple over following the gesture. The elder before them yawned.
"Greetings honored elder Su Ling." Bo said before the elder interrupted him.
"Both of you stand the fuck up. I don't like people bowing."
Bo quickly straightened. He was a little shocked to be honest. He had never expected an elder to speak so crudely .
The elder sighed. "Alright here the rewards. Bo, argent mirror. Maybe that will help you see."
A jade tablet dropped from the ceiling and Bo quickly caught it.
"For you Yijun. You will get a month of tutoring with me. You will also get a week of tutoring with Ling Mei. She will help straighten out your cultivation."
Bo stared in disbelief at the elder. What was happening?
"My cultivation needs to be straightened?" Yijun asked.
"Yes. Why the fuck did you think it was a good idea to get to peak silver before reaching yellow soul? Don't answer. I don't want to know. The Ling clan is famous for being able to plan out cultivation. It's like they have a fucking abacus in their head helping plan shit out. Anyway, she'll help you form a plan for the direction you want to go."
"Elder why?" Bo blurted out. "Why does he," Bo pointed a wavering finger at Yijun, "get tutoring with you when I did everything better?"
Elder Su Ling responded quickly like a whip. "You saved thirty people Bo. Yijun saved four hundred when he defended the village alone from everything that slipped past white's line. Then he managed to get everyone into a shelter before the titan fell because he was able to read the battle. That is why."
Yijun carefully kowtowed on the ground. "Honored Elder, I am unworthy to ask anything, but please consider my request. Teng Bo has been with me since the very first night. I beg the Elder to consider imparting some wisdom to him. Even should that time be taken from me."
For the first time Elder Su Ling's face changed. Boredom gave way to sadness. "No. Wan Yijun your time starts now. Follow me."
The single soul left in the room gave a pitiful and wretched scream.
A.N
Omake for the Omake throne @yrsillar
This omake explores the idea of what an Elder Su Ling would value and thus test in her trials. Su Ling so far seems to really hate hypocrisy. I couldn't figure out a way to test for that so the bell test tries to represent purity of thought and action. Su Ling also seems to value compassion which the army trial tested. I hope you enjoyed my Omake. I had a lot of fun writing it.
Teng Bo crouched over steep cliff. Almost two months of chafing servitude under the older students had gotten him this location. An Elder's trial lay below him. He looked to his side and sighed. Wan Yijun shivered in the cold. His forced roommate was looking pitiful as ever. But Yijun had the requirements, if only just, to help him open the door and hopeful once he gained access to the resources an elder would provide he could leave Yijun in the dirt. One more night together was all he needed to endure.
"Let's start." Bo said.
"Are you sure this is wise?" The coward said. "My spirit has only just reached yellow. Perhaps waiting would be prudent."
"Once we get the resources of this trial we can finally stop being pushed around. Trust me. We should do this now so we get the most benefit. Have I led you wrong yet?" Bo said.
"If you are sure, then I am ready."
"That's what I like to hear!"
Just as the moon rose above the horizon Teng Bo and Wan Yijun began their final journey together.
The climb down was brutal. Handholds were plentiful but shaped like jagged knives. Teng Bo had to plan each inch with excruciating care to avoid his hands and feet from being filleted like fish. The slacker had an easier time with his hands and feet covered in pale stone that allowed him to just ignore the dangers of the climb. Yijun even had the gull to see and reach the safety of a cleft in the rocks before him. Soon enough, after following the path the cleft opened up into, he joined Yijun in staring at an enormous temple gate barred before them. Formations covered the gate. Two giant palm prints took up the center of the gate.
"Ready friend?" Bo asked.
"Ready."
As soon as both of their hands touched the gate the giant palms glowed and the doors grinded open as dust exploded out over them. Coughing through the sudden grit they both stepped into the hall as it slowly brightened around them. When they finally cleared their eyes the sight took their breath away.
Dozens of bronze bells hung down from a carven rafter. Braided ropes of silver, thicker than Yijun's arm, swayed under the bells. Engravings all around the hall told a story. Great lines of men and women battled in stunning detail a variety of horrific insectoid monsters. Teng Bo wished he could stay and enjoy the artwork, but he knew they had to keep moving. No elder rewarded the lazy. Something that Yijun ignored. That sloth didn't even appreciate the art around them, instead focusing on a bell.
"See anything interesting Yi?"
Yijun gave him a disapproving glance. "You know I don't like that nickname. But, yes I do see something interesting. The reliefs on this bell almost match many of the common symbols of an old heretical practice called ikko. Yet the ikko would never have put their symbols on such beautiful bells. They despised what they called the 'extravagance of rulers' which these bells would certainly qualify for."
Bo looked at Yijun. "Why do you know so much about an outlawed practice?"
Yijun looked surprised and then sheepish. "Ah… I suppose it wouldn't be taught everywhere. Well, umm… The truth is that my town lies very close to where the honorable Cai cornered and crushed a large group of revolting ikkos. Every child in my town are taught their symbols since the ikko have nasty habit of trying to use the area as a place to reform. The quicker they are spotted and the guards told the better. Religion is also a personal interest of mine."
"I didn't know that. Already this trial is helping us learn more about each other!" Than Bo took a closer look at the bell in question. "Are you sure that these are symbols of the ikko? To me this relief is taken from 'The battle of Liang valley'. Expect… the original piece showed a fight against cloud barbarians. This just shows them fighting some weird fishy things."
Yijun looked confused, but suddenly he pointed at the bell a row down. "What do you see on that bell?"
"It's the 'Sword reforged', but their reforging an ax instead of a sword." Bo replied.
"I see symbols of the Pure Land sect and the Noble Truths sect mixed. Those two have… strong disagreements about certain issues."
Bo reached out and rang the bell in front of him. Yijun looked at him in askance and Bo just shrugged. "We have no instructions Yijun. Ringing this bell may give us an idea of what we need to do."
Just as he finished a voice of gravel echoed through the hall. "Walk the path of purity." A door groaned open and where there was once smooth walls a path revealed itself. Then stone abominations strode out. They looked like stone figures had been melted like wax. Some had too long arms. Others uneven legs. As one they wailed and rushed towards the bells as even more poured out from the path. Bo froze. But, Yijun sprinted forwards.
"Bo! Find a bell with no errors! I will stop these from ringing any bells!"
Bo shuddered. He didn't trust Yijun to fight off an unlit candle. He would have to be quick. He dashed past the different bells careful to avoid hitting any cords and potentially ringing the wrong one. 'No. No. No. No. Yes.' Just before he reached the silver cord a second bell rang out. He glanced over his shoulder and through the forest of silver cords he could see Yijun having pinned a stone figure to the ground but had snagged a silver cord in his stone talons from the effort. Bo sneered. Just as he thought. Yijun made everything harder. Luckily he had already found the bell.
As the third bell rang a path opened on the farside of the carven just as more stone abominations started to pour out from the second path. The third path glowed a soft white and Bo sprinted towards it. Bells rang from his sprint through the cords and more stone constructs began to pour out of the walls and he was forced to slide under the grasping club like arms of a construct to make it to safety and as he expected the stone construct could only batter uselessly on a shimmering wall that blocked it's every blow. As he looked back into the cavern he waited to see how Yijun would fail. He doubted the elder would let Yijun die, but if the elder did no one would likely care. Yijun was Yijun after all.
To his surprise Yijun had already started carving a path of destruction through the constructs. Bells rung as wreckage from the stone constructs flew clear across the hall while Yijun bullied his way through the hordes using the stone constructs around him as makeshift clubs. It only took Yijun a few minutes to bull rush through and reach the white path. Bo had to step aside as Yijun couldn't stop his momentum in time and skidded down the path leaving the stone constructs behind.
"Great job Yi!"
Yijun smiled back. "That was fun, but let's wait awhile before we do something like that again."
Bo laughed. "Agreed agreed!"
The two walked forward until they reached a room of white. A stone pestadel with two handprints was the only thing in the room. Bo approached the stone and then the gravelly voice spoke again.
"You are on the white team. Victory is assured. How many will you save?"
"Ready Yijun?" Bo said as he placed his hand onto the pestadel.
Yijun smiled and placed his hand next to Bo's.
"Walk the path of compassion."
With that the room disappeared.
As they started to plummet a scream ripped out of Bo's throat. The room that had just disappeared around them seemed to have somehow been hanging one hundred meters in the air. That was not the most terrifying thing though. The titans above them were the most terrifying. The fall had started at those titans knees and they stretched far far above him. The sound of the titans hammering blows rippled the very air. Beneath Bo shifted a carpet of white and black constructs that quickly grew bigger as he fell. Looking over his shoulder he saw Yijun angle himself towards the backlines of the fight where a small village seemed to be built. Bo grinned. An elder would never reward cowardice. He looked below him. Where was the bitterest fighting? There!
A sudden gust of wind eased his fall just before he was worried about making a safe landing. Then he entered the fray. With a rivers surging strength he slammed black constructs into the moving walls of the titans feet. Needles of water pierced foes just in time to save a white ally. The tide incarnate smashed row after row of black constructs back. At one point as he took a breather atop a larger construct he saw a black titan get knocked down and crush the village. He grinned. Hopefully that was the end of Yijun. Finally the black horde began to pull back. Bo tried to control his breathing but his smile was making that hard. He had saved at least thirty white constructs while in the thick of the fighting. He couldn't imagine Yijun doing better than that. Then, colors shifted and blurred and he was in a different room.
Yijun stood next to him battered. Bruises were beginning to blotch and an eye had already sealed shut from swelling. But, Bo couldn't think about that. An elder stood before him.
Six black tails with white tips swayed calmly behind the imposing figure while hands held a brutal saber pointed downward. Almost unkempt shoulder length black hair nearly covered piercing green eyes. An aura of restrained fierceness permeated the room as Bo quickly bowed. He nearly snickered as Yijun barely managed to not topple over following the gesture. The elder before them yawned.
"Greetings honored elder Su Ling." Bo said before the elder interrupted him.
"Both of you stand the fuck up. I don't like people bowing."
Bo quickly straightened. He was a little shocked to be honest. He had never expected an elder to speak so crudely .
The elder sighed. "Alright here the rewards. Bo, argent mirror. Maybe that will help you see."
A jade tablet dropped from the ceiling and Bo quickly caught it.
"For you Yijun. You will get a month of tutoring with me. You will also get a week of tutoring with Ling Mei. She will help straighten out your cultivation."
Bo stared in disbelief at the elder. What was happening?
"My cultivation needs to be straightened?" Yijun asked.
"Yes. Why the fuck did you think it was a good idea to get to peak silver before reaching yellow soul? Don't answer. I don't want to know. The Ling clan is famous for being able to plan out cultivation. It's like they have a fucking abacus in their head helping plan shit out. Anyway, she'll help you form a plan for the direction you want to go."
"Elder why?" Bo blurted out. "Why does he," Bo pointed a wavering finger at Yijun, "get tutoring with you when I did everything better?"
Elder Su Ling responded quickly like a whip. "You saved thirty people Bo. Yijun saved four hundred when he defended the village alone from everything that slipped past white's line. Then he managed to get everyone into a shelter before the titan fell because he was able to read the battle. That is why."
Yijun carefully kowtowed on the ground. "Honored Elder, I am unworthy to ask anything, but please consider my request. Teng Bo has been with me since the very first night. I beg the Elder to consider imparting some wisdom to him. Even should that time be taken from me."
For the first time Elder Su Ling's face changed. Boredom gave way to sadness. "No. Wan Yijun your time starts now. Follow me."
The single soul left in the room gave a pitiful and wretched scream.
A.N
Omake for the Omake throne @yrsillar
This omake explores the idea of what an Elder Su Ling would value and thus test in her trials. Su Ling so far seems to really hate hypocrisy. I couldn't figure out a way to test for that so the bell test tries to represent purity of thought and action. Su Ling also seems to value compassion which the army trial tested. I hope you enjoyed my Omake. I had a lot of fun writing it.
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That's a very bad position to take. When I originally raised the idea that FVM is unsuited towards integrating into the Singing Mist Blade (here) and was quietly ignored I didn't try to get the last word in by going "when your mistake fucks us I'm going to be here laughing" which is what your post really is.
Further I think my own line of argument-- which for the record was pointing out that if integrating a technique into a domain weapon did ease Ling Qi's action economy by allowing the weapon to use techniques, then it logically followed that the risk was in the weapon being disabled and removing that technique from play for the battle, which for FVM is a massive weakness, since it's only persistent while maintained, and the weapon's D rank health sees it easy to remove from the field-- is a natural counterpoint; if you're right in that FVM does occupy too much narrative in Ling Qi's fights, than integrating it into the blade is the single best way to remedy that, since by integrating FVM into the blade Ling Qi can no longer contest active Domain weapons on the field without loosing one of her defensive layers, therefore I would expect more fights against Peer opponents to result in Ling Qi loosing FVM (assuming I'm correct about the risks of integration of arts) and thus the percentage of time it gets to go down compared to integrating any other art.
- Location
- The Space Between
huh. See that's an interesting point.
maybe that's an argument for the "persistence" or ablative dispel tech, something that gives our domain weapon a bit of longevity even when it loses contests.