Radiant Eclipse isn’t a bad man. He’s a man who was driven to desperation. A man with a work ethic who believes in doing the job right, regardless of your feelings towards it. Radiant Eclipse is a hard working man who believes in doing a job right, and has just been rejected. Again. He’s not going to give up, that’s not who he is, but it irks him that his plain face is valued at a greater weight than his dedication. How is his ability to blend in a detriment?

He’d managed to infiltrate the Imperial encampment at the Miller’s Crossing Gate with little issue, proving himself a valuable scout as his “instincts” lead people away from the heavily guarded, and not so heavily guarded, underground entrances. He had an “instinct” for saving members of his party when they were attacked by insects, managing to get the others out while the swarms only took one or two.

He’d been such a great asset that he’d been promoted to more overt activities, gaining more access to poisons and antidotes from his Sect. He’d even been inducted into deeper classes, earning him the right to wear the emblems on robes and have his brand hidden. With all that he’s accomplished he figured it was again time to ask for Gentle Snow’s hand again. She’d rejected him. Again. This time it wasn’t for his lack of merit. She’d gotten engaged.

Well, according to their Sect Master she’d been engaged. An arranged marriage since before she’d been born. There was a sect in the Golden Sun empire who was willing to join hands with their Death Blossom Spider Clan. A prestigious poison insect sect with a long history and strong cultivation practices they were willing to share. In fact, part of Radiant Eclipse’s mission today was to use one of the techniques from the other clan to help subsume the encampment.

Swapping the highly insufficient protective vests woven of bug bane for vests made of toxins that lure insects into going dormant for a handful of hours was easy. Knowing that this was one of many gifts from the fancy son of a cultivating clan that Gentle Snow was willing to accept on first meeting? Not so much so. The flashy bastard wouldn’t be able to walk down the street without drawing attention to himself, but it wasn’t his fault. No, it was a sign of his clan’s cultivation techniques.

What would be signs of death or disease instead became marks of power. Purples, greens, blacks, whites, unnaturally natural hues cranked up to make the fancy lord a positive eyesore. A painted corpse. His ability to handle death wood, barehanded no less, and the knowledge that he’d mastered so many toxins was impressive, no doubt. Still, Radiant Eclipse could be happy for the sect and hate the bastard who had brought them a future of prosperity, couldn’t he?

So here he is, gathering bug bane to help with dinner since he was one of the few who didn’t quickly fall for the more insidious effects, which gives him far too much time to dwell on his latest misfortune. He knows a fellow poison sect member who paid quite well for seeds and buds, taking care to collect numerous samples all the while comparing the colors to the elaborate robes and flesh of his romantic rival.

It might not have been so bad if there was any way to guarantee Gentle Snow’s safety. She was a powerful fighter, true, and a masterful insect manipulator, but just handling her fiance’s tool could spell the end for her. Not even as a euphemism. His actual cultivation tool could kill her messily. Only the gods knew what horrible fate awaited her on their wedding night. Simply holding hands might kill her. A simple kiss. And he was supposed to just sit back and be happy for her.

Of course she thought it was a great challenge and had attempted to go off and learn from this outside sect, but there were many customs that had to be observed. She wasn’t the heir of the sect. She was just a disciple, although her father was well liked as an instructor. She wasn’t a powerful poison user, being much better at insect manipulation, and even her insects couldn’t bear to be within a room with her future husband.

And her powerful, well-connected, handsome husband was no slouch. He wasn’t even just an heir. No, he was a genius in his own right. It’d be so much easier to write it off as bad luck that the love of his life had been chosen and chosen another if it didn’t mean she’d rather risk death than be his wife.

He could take his frustration out on the plants and roots he harvested, but that would just ruin supper and endanger everyone. Much better to let the others tasked with harvesting take the fall. He’d always bought rations from town as a “just in case” knowing that poor harvesting procedures could spell death and sickness for anyone who had the misfortune to consume poorly prepared bug bane.

“Fucking, purple?” Radiant Eclipse mutters, holding deep purple blooms while envisioning pale lavender eyebrows. They were quite nice eyebrows, very thick and well-shaped, and the color wasn’t displeasing. “Why can’t I just be happy?”

“Because you’re smart enough to know this shit will kill you?”

“Commander,” Radiant Eclipse is friendly and respectful as the commander rides by on her disgusting mount, not showing how much he can’t stomach the beast of a woman. She’s nearly the size of two brutish men, and she’d still call herself a woman? “See any blooms that catch your fancy?”

“Surely, you joke,” Rin blushes while laughing boisterously. There were a few crude soldiers or “volunteers” who’d get drunk and make a move on her or half-heartedly show interest, but Stone Trowel was much more endearing. “Why? Did you have anything in mind?”

“Well, these little white ones look like cloud clusters, don’t they?” Radiant Eclipse says as he holds up a stalk of what appear to be tiny almond-blossoms. “They’ll contrast with your skin. Even if you don’t get much sun wearing that armor all the time, these will make you look rosier in comparison.”

“Say, that’s pretty helpful,” Rin says in surprise. She did get a little pale on long terms in the valley, but Stone Trowel was always thoughtful like that. “You gain such amazing insights from such simple things. Truly, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with once your term is done.”

“You flatter me,” Radiant Eclipse beams while gagging internally. He doesn’t want this ogre getting any ideas, but he’d already cultivated a friendly relationship with everyone posted in the camp. “Well, I’ll let you finish your patrol.”

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“No worries,” Rin waves him off before sitting back in her saddle having relaxed into a more comfortable position for their short conversation. “You stay safe. You got a flare?”

“Always,” Radiant Eclipse holds up a flare to demonstrate that he’s always prepared.

“The world needs more people like you,” Rin says gently, eyes softening before she nods. “See you back at base.”

“I’ll bring dinner!” Radiant Eclipse calls after her, holding up a handful of bug bane for the meal. Internally he’s cursing the ogre woman while keeping a warm smile on his face, such duplicity coming quite easy. “The world needs more people like me so that those blessed by the gods can shine more radiantly.”

After dropping off the fresh “herbs”, the rest of the day is spent tending to his kit. Under the guise of repairing his equipment he scatters dormant egg clusters no larger than a pebble across the camp at random intervals. He writes encrypted messages to his “daughter”, updates to his mission handler using a name he’d come up with for a daughter should Gentle Snow bear him one. Those dreams are gone, and having to constantly see the name of someone who will never be is no longer encouraging. He’s tempted to request that his handler change things to where his “daughter” is away on special training and he has to speak directly to his wife, but he doubts the pain would be any easier to bear.

He periodically checks the “fit” of his vest, offering to tailor the vests for others as he makes numerous trips to find one that isn’t so loose on his deceptively slight frame. Slight compared to all of the brutish physical cultivators. He’s not a small man, being very average in size for a commoner, but he’s not a commoner. If his intelligence had an outward appearance, it’d be easier for him to stand out, but then who would be able to do this mission as well as he can now?

“Ready to head back?”

Radiant Eclipse smiles up at young Klep, a ridiculous nickname for the powerful cultivator, and tries to hide his misgivings. Stars Punching Through the Void was probably capable of taking out most of the regulars in a fight, not even just a one on one bout. He’s well-trained but lacking in experience and social interactions outside of his secluded community. Radiant Eclipse had once thought that he might be able to subvert the young man to strengthen his position by misleading him about his tasks, but the boy wasn’t an idiot. He can’t feel too bad about it, although he hopes that he never has to face off against the young man.

“About that time, isn’t it?” Radiant Eclipse says, gathering his neatly packed items.

“Commander Rin is going to do a quick run through the fields for any stragglers we might have missed --,” Klep begins hesitantly before Radiant Eclipse bursts out in honest laughter.

“Get enough bodies and she can stay on this side, hmm?” Radiant Eclipse teases, young Klep blushing lightly.

“I don’t know about that,” Klep says deferentially, not wanting to speak ill about the good woman.

“I’ll just do a quick check of the supplies and head over on the next circle,” Radiant Eclipse reassures the powerful young man. “It’ll give me a better chance to check on the new guys. I’ve seen them around camp, true, but it’ll be easier to learn more about them if we go through the transference circle together.”

“See you when you get there,” Klep says, quickly sprinting off to catch the first group so that he can prep the new guys who come through. They’ve actually gotten a surprising number of “volunteers” in the last week.

Radiant Eclipse heads to the transfer circle to join the new “volunteers”. When he gets there he learns that they’ve got a mistimed supply run that needs to go, the circle being rearranged. He knows that the supplies are being supplemented by various other sects trying to bring about the fall of the gate or weaken the Imperial forces stationed around the empire’s borders, he’s even been doing his part with his own missions, the vests, eggs, and manual harvests are just a few of the things he’s been in charge of bringing in.

"Stand on that with the others and you all will be sent over in one group."

“Klep?”

Confused, Radiant Eclipse turns to the familiar voice to see Klep, a respectful and distant young man, friendly as he is, physically guiding some painted drunkard towards the circle. When the young cultivator doesn’t acknowledge him he feels a brief resurgence of his earlier frustration with Golden Snow’s situation. When Klep continues to chat earnestly with the newcomer, some half-naked, iridescent dusted, hungover lord, who shows no respect to the powerful cultivator, Radiant Eclipse realizes he might have a target for his frustration.

The young lord doesn’t bother acknowledging Klep’s prowess, the young man seemingly not upset, but Radiant Eclipse wonders if this stranger is the reason Klep stayed behind. The newcomer uses no honorifics, his language that of a master to a servant or an owner to a pet, and he doesn’t seem the slightest bit upset to be standing around in less than adequate clothing. Surely punishing him would be returning face to his honored companions...?

“Will try,” the stranger says blithely. “I’m not making any promises.”

The sheer disrespect! A cursory glance at the lord reveals him to be a merchant’s son. Surely money doesn’t buy this much respect unless it can be backed up with fist or blade?

“Kiss ass.”

A subtle jab, all things taken into consideration, and Radiant Eclipse is proud of himself. With one phrase he’s established his position as an ally to those stationed at the Gate, managed to call the lord out for his overly familiar attitude, and he’s let the brightly colored youth no that he won’t tolerate such poor behaviour. Surely this stranger can’t truly believe he’d earn merit so easily by being so disrespectful? Conscripted soldiers may be crude, but such familiarity is earned.

When the stranger whips around, lip curled as if he smells something foul after taking in Radiant Eclipse’s appearance, he knows that he’s going to do everything in his power to hurt him while not betraying his true allegiance. The look of disgust the bastard showed, not at his words or tone, but at his appearance cannot be left unanswered.

So focused is Radiant Eclipse on how satisfying and relieving it’ll be to release some of his frustrations in the form of this stranger’s painful death that he forgets that they’re waiting for a transfer. When the shift happens he’s taken completely unawares, core destabilizing enough that he loses his stomach contents with the rest of the new recruits. When he looks up and sees the haughty lord unphased and still upright he nearly pukes up blood. He knows that he has to calm himself before he’s injured any further.

“We’ve got sprayers!”

The humiliation! To succumb after so many months of earning a reputation as a thoughtful and meticulous worker, a brilliant planner, a skilled hand, and now he’s on hands and knees covered in his own sick? The shiny bastard will pay. More so as the light from the flames above dance across his dusted form, creating a dazzling, and nauseating, display. The bastard isn’t going to get away with this. It’ll be a small solace for his inability to assist Gentle Snow, although, technically, he’d still be helping destabilise the encampment.

The bug bane, the eggs, the bug lures. The flares. So many ways for him to torture and disfigure the lord, to change his appearance so that anyone who gazed upon him made the same disgusted face he’d made when gazing upon Radiant Eclipse. Oh, he could surely use this bastard in his plans. They did need an incubator for some of the cultivated swarms, and who would notice a bit of dust on the flashy bastard?

"Um... Where do I find False Fire Bloom Blossom Flower things?"

Gods, what a suicidal imbecile!