When the morning finally came, the bodies of our attackers were gone. Still not knowing exactly what was possible with cultivation, I had a moment of panic as I imagined them coming back to life and setting up another ambush, but I quickly calmed down when I realised Instinctive Precognition would have warned me. The others dismissed the disappearance, attributing it to scavengers and despite that I thought it equally creepy that people had been eaten near us as we slept, I let it go.
As per our reluctant agreement, our direction of travel changed slightly when we set out. The day before we seemed to be heading south west, judging by the sun, but this time when we followed Darina, we followed dead west, a straight line from the dawn.
There was a little more go in the movement of my companions – on the trip so far, they had mostly kept to a pace I could maintain, but I had already begun to lag behind after the first few minutes. While my friends had seemed fairly blasé about the attack the night before, I could see that it had affected them more than they had let on; they glanced around more and were obviously subconsciously running faster. The people we had beat had been reasonably easy, but both Reff and I had met at least one member of the Risen Throne we knew we could not beat under normal circumstance, and that was completely leaving aside the assassin that had managed to sneak into the Citadel. Like the guy from Ro’s shop, and last night, they clearly had people who could become invisible, and regardless of how strong Darina and the others might be, I could imagine that a dagger to the skull would end most people if they did not see it coming.
For these reasons, I did not ask them to slow their pace and by midmorning they were barely visible in front of me. I Focused, though only barely and managed to quicken my pace, even as reluctant as I was to keep spending my Praxis. The expenditure did however allow me to close the gap slightly, but I did not know exactly how much I was using, and if I had enough to go all day. Accepting that I might need to delay my advancement if I was going to keep up, I pressed a little harder on my Focus and really concentrated on my running. So far, I had been happy to keep up a pace that felt comfortable – my body was in great shape, because I had designed it that way, and cultivation seemed to preclude any loss of conditioning. But that day I tried to push myself harder, physically and I was again able to close the distance a little.
It was midday when I had something of a breakthrough – when I was in the desert, it had seemed perfectly normal to be kicking up sand behind me, though the amount was more than back in Earth. Now that we were back on the plains however, running on grass still wet with morning dew, I noticed that I seemed to be wasting a lot of energy as my foot was slipping back, only providing some of the force to drive me forward. I tried a lot of things to mitigate the loss, but it seemed like my body was outputting too much power so some of it was being wasted. I thought back on Walker vanishing, and on the paces my friends were setting; I knew there had to be a way to overcome the limitation, and it could not just be down to jamming their feet into the ground. I recalled the lesson I had been given about defending myself from energy-based Foci and abilities, and despite my already extravagant – I thought – use of Praxis, I pushed out with Experience from my foot, reaching through my boot and trying to grip the earth beneath me.
The sudden acceleration was something of a shock as I was suddenly able to transfer all of my output into forward motion. Grinning with elation at having figured it out on my own, I tried to cultivate as I ran, and while it was a little difficult to do, I was just about able to pull it off, though I felt my control slipping if I tried to refine at the same time. I did not give up, however, as I felt that improved control could only make me a better cultivator. It did bother me for a few minutes that none of my friends had bothered to tell me this trick, but it was probably something they did without thinking, something they would have learned as children. I could not imagine explaining how to walk to an adult back on Earth, so I let it go.
When I caught my friends, I got a look of mild shock from Darina, and a level nod from the pair of risi siblings. It was much more tiring than the running I had been doing – it was no longer merely physical, but mental and spiritual as well, and while they luckily did not begin to pull away from me again, by the time the sun was setting, I was more than ready to stop.
Not yet bothering with the flask, and not ready for practice, I lay on my back in the cool grass covered in sweat and luxuriated in the languid feel of having truly pushed my body for perhaps the first time. Looking into my golden sea, I noted that it had not dropped notably from my use, it had in fact even filled further. The tiny sliver of additional Praxis that I had observed at its bottom was gone however. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I sat up and stretched and began the long process of refining Experience into Praxis.
It was hours later when I finally stood to begin practising; My soul sea was almost empty and I was ecstatic to see that I had once again increased the level of Praxis within my centre. The others had completed their own practices, having left me to my own devices, so I stood off in the dark on my own as I moved through the sword forms my mentor had taught me, grinding through the movements and noting my own flaws as I worked to refill my soul sea, internalising the lessons, as wholly as possible.
Next, I reluctantly began to practice the chain, though I was grateful that my friends could not see me, as I was in the dark. I was still only at the basic stages of learning the complicated weapon, but even so I sometimes got ahead of myself and ended up desperately dodging the weighted end as it flew in an unintended direction. I could see the ways in which it would be helpful to me, given my Focus, and did not let the failures deter me. I may never be a master of either of my chosen weapons, but I would certainly try. That fact that Aella would probably knock me out cold if I returned without improving had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Having completed my practice and topped up my centre as much as possible, I slapped myself with a cleansing pill and sat down with my friends – and Darina.
*
***
*
I ended up taking the last watch that night, though thankfully we did not suffer a second ambush. I used the time to cultivate and refine some Praxis, knowing that I would be spending more today.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
I had been sitting cross-legged for about an hour when I heard them stirring in the pre-dawn. Popping a water pill into my mouth, I stood and stretched.
“Good morning, guys. No ambushes to report during my watch!”
“In confusion, we would have awoken if there had been an ambush, I am sure, Hunter.”
“You’re right, Reff. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I grinned up at my friend and I heard a snort of laughter from Darina, which I found even more surprising than the attack the day before. I had not heard the apprentice laugh at all in the time I had known her. She seemed to realise, however and looked up and around quickly. Seeing my glance, she scowled. I did not let it bother me, she seemed pretty insecure, and while it was pretty dickish to take that out on me, I could at least understand where she was coming from.
“Will we reach the Outpost today?” I directed the question at both Riffa and Darina, though it was Riffa who answered; Darina was still scowling at the sky.
“With careful consideration, if we can maintain the pace we set yesterday, we should reach the Outpost before nightfall. Right, Darina?”
“Yes.” I waited for several seconds for her to elaborate, but she seemed to be done.
“I’ve been meaning to ask – they're called Outposts, but what of? Walker just said ‘inhabitants of the plains’, but I haven’t seen any buildings at all, other than the one Outpost by the Everwood.”
Darina looked like she was about to make some pointed comments about me, but was headed of by Reff who interjected quickly, for him.
“In rapid explanation, they are outposts of the Legion. They have cities, but they are mainly further south.”
“The plains must stretch pretty far. Everything seems so big,” I glanced at the apprentice and quickly changed what I was going to say so that it did not include mentioning another world. “Outside of my secluded home. Right then, anyway! Let’s get going! I’ll do my best not to slow you guys down too much, I seem to have got the hang of... running.”
I heard the apprentice mutter something about children as she pulled a flask from thin air and began to drink deeply. I had demonstrated the water pills for each of them, and they had all been suitably impressed, stating they would definitely seek Ro out the next time they were in the vicinity to make a purchase – the thankfully small pills took up far less room than simply carrying lots of water, and lasted the whole day.
The sun was just cresting the horizon as I finished speaking and we once more set off running, though I did remember to make note of the exact amount of Praxis in my core, so I could compare later.
*
***
*
I managed to keep up the pace I had set the day before, and while I knew that we were still not going as fast as my traveling companions could go, I was still proud to be slowing them less, which is something I never thought that I’d be proud of.
Riffa’s prediction about our arrival proved accurate, and by the time the sun was approaching the horizon, the walls of the Outpost were clearly visible. The militaristic village looked identical to the other that I had seen, right down to the huge hill it was attached to.
We approached the gates just as the red-gold light of the sunset was casting the walls ahead of us in silhouette. The guards noted our approach, I could see people atop the walls flexing their bows. I made sure to slow down before I got too close, walking the rest of the distance.
“Hold strangers! What business brings you to Desert Border Outpost Two-Two-Six?
The words were almost the exact same that had been spoken to us as we had approached the previous Outpost, and was delivered in the same rigid clipped almost-chant. Holding back a grin, I gave the same response Walker had, knowing I was the only person finding it funny, but knowing that was enough.
“We are seeking to procure transport to the Sha Forest.”
“How long do you intent to stay within the Outpost?”
“Only as long as it takes to locate transport-”
“We will need to stay the night, and set out tomorrow.”
Darina interrupted me with a glare, and I realised she was right – it was sunset, there was no way we were going to be setting out tonight. Holding my hands up in apology, I let her speak.
“Can you direct us to an inn for the night?”
“You may obtain lodging at civilian barracks two or three.” Turning, the guard accepted a number of passes before handing them out to us. “These are your entry permits. They are valid until midday tomorrow. If for some reason you are required to stay longer, you will need to speak to a member of the guard so that we may assess your requirements and provide new permits, should it be necessary.”
We all nodded, accepting our passes as Darina asked for directions to the ‘civilian barracks’. Entering the Outpost, I had a definite sense of déjà vu; the short tunnel seemed to be as exactingly similar to Outpost 18 as the rest, and I marvelled at the level of coordination and training that would be needed for such an accomplishment.
Finding the barracks was not difficult – the village was laid out like a grid, with clear signage at every intersection and within a piece of an hour we were pushing through the doors of Civilian Barracks Two. I did not know what to expect from the name – I was picturing something along the lines of a hostel back from Earth, just a series of bunkbeds, but what greeted us was pretty literally what I pictured whenever I thought of the common room of an inn. I blinked for a moment and then shrugged – if they wanted to call it a barracks, I was not going to argue.
Behind the bar was a woman with a square jaw and dark grey eyes; those eyes locked on us as we approached, even as she cleaned a metal mug.
“Uh, hi! We’re looking for four rooms, I think?” I looked at my companions and got nods in return.
“We have a single and a double free. One of you will need to bunk up with another guest.” The woman’s voice was flat, and left little room for argument
“I’ll take the single.” Darina laid claim to the single room before I had chance to ask any of them what they would like to do. I would have agreed with the choice, but it was still annoying that she had jumped on it without discussion.
Reff and Riffa ended up taking the double, which left me sharing a room with a stranger. I wasn’t very thrilled at the prospect, but it was still better than my reaction would have been back on Earth, which would have been to leave.
Paying the innkeeper, I sighed at the state of my cash reserves, hoping I could find somebody to exchange my core with before we left in the morning.
We sat together and shared a drink of disgustingly strong ale before we each retired for the evening. I did not get chance to ask if there was anywhere to practice, and did not think the guards would take kindly to me swinging around weapons in public, so I reluctantly decided to forgo practice for the night and instead concentrate on cultivation and refinement. I had taken note of how much Praxis I had in my centre that morning, and I was eager to test how much work was involved in replacing it. If I could establish a baseline, it would give me an idea of how long it might take to complete my core, now that I was having an impact on it.
Making my way upstairs with my mind still on cultivation, I inserted the key the innkeeper had given me and opened the door. Inside, the room was spartan – very minimalistic. On one side of the room what looked like a man sat in a high-backed chair, his face buried in a book.
He did not look up, and not wanting to disturb him I closed the door and sat on my bed, eyes closed as I turned my attention to my centre.
As expected, the sliver of Praxis was missing, so I began to the process of refining Experience, eagerly awaiting the reformation of that dense little slip of energy.
“Oh! If it isn’t my former guest. I was not expecting you to be here! This is going to be fun!”
The words jarred me out of my concentration, and the voice caused shivers to run down my spine.
Looking up, my roommate was no longer reading, and his face was clearly visible. I swallowed hard as I felt my heart begin to pound hard in my chest, realising that I was bunking up for the evening with my former torturer.