Ling Qi stood at attention in line with the rest of her 'classmates' in the scouting division as they waited for their respective tutors to return from conferring with the other officers for this exercise. On the plateau below where they stood, the disciples of the other divisions milled and formed up. This exercise was a whole operation, a full scale patrol passing through forts at the edge of the Sect's control.
She was able to look over them, even standing straight and looking ahead. All it took to see around her was humming under her breath and allowing Sixiang to carry the melody on the wind. There were many familiar faces down there. Cai Renxiang was there, standing at perfect attention, immaculate in every way as always. While Ling Qi could see the furtive looks shot Cai Renxiang's way, she was unsurprised. The Duchess would obviously not exempt her daughter from military exercises.
Less welcome, she saw Ji Rong off to one side, golden coils looped around his neck like a scarf. His spirit was smaller than she had expected, and barely second realm at that. It surprised her that the taciturn boy would bother with something so much weaker than him, rare or no. It made her wonder at the veracity of the rumor Xiulan had passed along. She supposed that it didn't matter though. Shen Hu slouched sleepily in the line to his right, and the older boys eyes flicked in her direction as her awareness passed over him.
There was Xiulan, standing proudly with her arms crossed under her chest among the archers and other ranged combatants, in another new gown, a yellow piece that left her shoulders scandalously bare. Though she was too far away to sense her, Ling Qi knew that Li Suyin was back among the auxiliaries and medics as well. So was Yan Renshu for that matter, she had felt the boy's slimy qi passing her by earlier in the morning.
More amusing, was Kang Zihao's presence, right out front in the forming vanguard, his sour expression told her everything she needed to know about what he thought of being here. Even as she watched a nervous twitch went up his spine as someone walked behind him. It seemed that last year had done its damage to the boys nerves.
However, before Ling Qi could ponder the others further, she felt the pressure of powerful and familiar qi approaching. A moment later, their commanding officer and mentors landed lightly in front of them, descending from the command tents above. Guan Zhi was the first, rising smoothly from her landing crouch to glance across the assembled line, seeking imperfections in their attention. She looked much the same as she had on the first day of training, with a countenance as stone faced as that of her older relative. Liao Zhu and the other mentors landed a moment later with barely a thump or a rustle of cloth.
"Our orders have been finalized," the athletic girl began, folding her arms behind her back in a familiar lecturing pose. "You have all been judged at least adequate in drills and training, some more than others…"
Ling Qi restrained the urge to squirm as the young woman's gaze fell on her. She had been so close to reaching her evacuation point with her mock unit in the last drill. She had left the pass behind them filled with mist, phantoms, ash and Zhengui, stymying their pursuers… or so she thought. It would be hard to forget the sight of Guan Zhi silhouetted against the evening sun, Zhengui's bulk lifted over her head in the instant before her not so little brother had been hurled at her like a screaming meteor and collapsed the passage they were going to use to escape.
"I chipped my fangs," Zhen sulked in her head.
"Cheating lady," Gui grumped.
"I think you might be rubbing off on me, I like her," Sixiang chuckled.
It was only later, that she had found that the exercise was meant to test their reactions in a seemingly futile situation… She took some pride in that she had been the only one to make their instructor escalate at all. Still, she couldn't say whether the near invisible upward quirk of Guan Zhi's lips in the moment where their eyes met was just imagination or not.
"This operation is more than just watching for barbarian hunters straying into our territory," Guan Zhi continued as if the second long exchange had not happened. "Patrols such as these are a regular requirement at the edge of civilized lands. It is a cultivators duty to track, monitor and if necessary deal with the spirits of the land in territory they control. As the scouting division, in addition to checking for barbarian sign, it will be your duty to update maps of spirit territory as well as altered terrain within your assigned area, and pass that information back to the main group so that it may be dealt with as necessary."
In the lull of silence that followed her words, Liao Zhu spoke up. "Of course it is also the duty of our division to smooth out troubles before the main force arrives when are able. Whether a problem is one that you can deal with, or one which requires the main force is a matter of personal judgement. However, there are dangers to the latitude which our division is given."
Guan Zhi nodded sharply. "You will be expected to have completed your surveys and reports at the assigned times in the patrol schedule. Wasting time seeking glory with challenges that are beyond you will be a black mark on your record. This is not a trial hunt seeking treasures. You are here to better the land and the sect, not to seek personal power. Your mentors will be watching, but they will not interfere in your choices. Now go, and familiarize yourselves with your assignments."
Ling Qi clapped her firsts together and bowed her head in time with the others, then it was time to split up. As she joined Liao Zhu and began moving toward the tents where she would pick up her subordinates for the task, she glanced at her mentor. "How much help are you actually allowed to give?" She asked quietly.
"I can answer questions regarding procedures, and share information regarding the previous state of the assigned area," he said, clearly smirking behind his toothy mask. "Alas, I may not use my superior abilities to aid your survey efforts, nor share my wisdom in the best path forward."
"Good to know," Ling Qi replied, breathing out as she leafed through the maps and documents he had handed her, scanning words and lines of ink, committing them to memory so that she wouldn't have to consult them later. Moons above, it was just sinking in that she was going to be responsible for other people here.
"I will interfere if a fatality seems likely," Laio Zhu said, with much less of his usual bombast. "However this will reflect very poorly on your assessment, unless the circumstance is truly unusual."
"What even counts as unusual anymore?" Ling Qi laughed, feeling a bit better from his assurance anyway.
He tapped a finger against the teeth of his mask thoughtfully. "Hmm… a sudden attack by tribal war party? A rampaging fourth grade beast, hungry for the rare flesh of a xuan wu? Perhaps an ogre king descending from the high peaks to seeking to charm a faerie bride with his superlative musculature?"
"...That's not funny," Ling Qi said blandly, giving her mentor a flat look.
"Zhengui is not edible," her little brother grumbled.
"I dunno, you were pretty snack-like still last year," Hanyi teased. Ling Qi was pretty sure she wasn't serious.
"Ah but you asked junior sister," he said airily. "But rest well, your Senior Brother shall ward off such threats with his peerless charm and skill. So keep your mind upon more grounded threats."
Ling Qi huffed, turning her eyes back to the map for a moment, eyeing the area marked in red. She sent the whole stack to her ring then as they passed the outer ring of tents. She needed to pick up her subordinates. There were three people who had been assigned to her, and as they stood at attention in front of her, Ling Qi felt more awkward than she had in a long time. She had read swiftly through their dossiers on the way over, but it had not quite prepared her for the reality of the situation.
"Ma'am," their voices echoed out simultaneously, three backs straightening and three gazes snapping forward as she approached. The first of them, Mo Lian was the youngest, twenty five years old and mid second realm in both forms of cultivation, he was almost as tall as her, with dark hair and eyes, as well as small, well cared for beard and mustache. According to the dossier, he was a cultivator of water and earth arts, who specialized in personal concealment and short range sensory arts.
Chun Yan, the second was also in the mid second realm, but she was nearly fifty years old, though she looked younger than Ling Qi's mother. With her short hair pulled back and severe features, Ling Qi might have thought the woman a rather feminine man if her senses were less sharp. She specialized in wind arts, and dabbled with heavenly ones, her skills lay in her mobility and offensive arts
Chang He, was the oldest, as well as the strongest, being nearly seventy years old, he was at the peak of the second realm, and despite his age, Ling Qi thought there might be decent odds that he could make the next step at some point, going by the feel of his aura. Unlike the younger Mo Lian, he was clean shaven, with a dark complexion similar to hers. Grey hair marked his temples and speckled the hair pulled back into a soldier's topknot, and his weathered face showed his age more than one would expect for a cultivator in their first century. His specialties were in earth and wood arts, with a lean toward defensive and social arts.
They were all dressed in the same argent sect uniforms, armor of boiled leather over padded cloth, with shimmering gray cloaks over their shoulders, that seemed to blur and blend with the background at the edges. The cloaks, along with their boots, enhanced for sturdiness, comfort and silence, made up the allocation of non armament talismans for normal soldiers of their division. In addition to their personal specialization, they all had a solid grounding in arts and skills useful for scouting and wilderness survival.
Ling Qi tried to keep her thoughts on such materially important matters, instead of how weird it felt to be commanding three people, the youngest of which was a decade her elder, and the oldest of which could easily be her grandfather. The same had probably been true for the Cai troops but… those were Cai Renxiang's troops, not hers. She supposed these people were ultimately the Sect's though. It would be better if she continued to see this as a training exercise.
"...Be at ease," She said with only slight hesitation. She could feel Liao Zhu smirking at her back, and hear Sixiang snickering in her head. She ignored them as best she could. It was time to decide on how to split up the first days workload, they had quite a lot of ground to cover, but at the same time, the area she had been assigned was noted to be fairly dangerous as border regions went, with a heavy spirit presence.
To that end, Ling Qi decided….
[] To split everyone up for preliminary scouting, they could get a rough overview on the first day and then she could make individual assignments later. This would be the fastest method, but was more risky as well.
[] To travel as a group for the initial scouting. This would slow them down, but allow her to get a better feel for her team and a more comprehensive feel for the region before taking care of individual issues.
[] To have her subordinates scout as a group while she split off to surveil the more notably dangerous regions on her own. Somewhat risky due to potential ecology changes, but balances speed and comprehensiveness.
Alrighty ladies and gents, this little adventure is probably going to be a bit longer and more involved than some of the others we've had. Choose well! Some choices may have non-obvious effects.
