Water dripped one bit at a time from stalactites, some of which fell into a chill pool. Velvet found something strangely freeing about not being able to feel anything beyond the reach of her own mundane senses, even if it was also when she was most vulnerable.

With the presence of the void ore, she didn’t have to consider the wider experience of the galaxy, or a system, or even a whole planet. There was just her and her immediate surroundings, and that was all she could be expected to change at that moment.

Rather than being afraid of areas with void ore, she had come to accept it. She was also appreciative of the cooler chambers like this one, because some portions of the mines were extremely hot.

The actual operation wasn’t something she dealt with, but she understood that both temperature and airflow became problems given how deep they were- and how they couldn’t make use of energy near the ore itself. That said, they did have air purifying and cooling formations placed in strategic locations around the area. Otherwise, they would have been stuck with the issue of pumping air from the surface, which would take much larger formations or some equivalent in machinery, not that technological solutions were used often anywhere- she’d just grown used to Rutera’s contributions to the Scarlet Alliance.

She heard someone coming long before they arrived. Based on the cadence of the steps, it had to be Runa- though without feeling her energy it was strangely difficult to be certain.

“There you are, Velvet! You know, if I couldn’t find you I might have left you behind.”

Velvet chuckled. “I doubt it. You’d at least have to find out where I died to seal the area off.”

“Fair enough,” the other woman shrugged. “Still, you’d think you’d be happy that our rotation is done here. This place is one of the most difficult assignments available.”

“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Velvet pointed out. “There can’t be too many Integration cultivators of our ability.” Velvet was actually only a short distance away from Augmentation, but she didn’t want to point that out. She would actually prefer not to advance, unless she could hide it. After all, she would stand out far too much if she did. Then again, being close to that threshold could mean anything from a year to a century for such a pivotal advancement. “Besides, I kind of wanted to get out of here with one of those fancy daggers.”

“Maybe someday,” Runa said. “If you keep working with the Spirit Slicing Sect. Not many people know the smelting secrets of void ore. It’s easy enough to make it completely useless and inert, while still being brittle. Imagine carving out tonnes of ore only to get nothing for it.”

Velvet stood, and Runa began leading the way back towards the surface. There would be quite a few tunnels before they reached endless ladders alongside elevators that only cargo was allowed to ride.

It had taken this long to reach the next step in her infiltration, but this was also one of the riskiest points. Velvet had the trust of Runa and some of the others, but if people asked the wrong questions they might find out nobody actually sent her. Those questions were most likely to come up during this period of transfer.

If it came down to it, Velvet was prepared to give a partial truth- that she had formerly been working for the citadel of exalted light and defected to the Chaotic Conglomeration. And if necessary, she might pull out the most unbelievable option- the truth. That was only as a last resort, of course, because she was spying on the Chaotic Conglomeration, even if she had every intent to continue working towards their interests for the moment. Enemies of enemies and all that, though she still didn’t know if this group was reasonable enough to actually work with long term. A few individuals wasn’t a good sample of a whole multi-system faction.

She did actually want one of those daggers, though. She’d seen how Runa handled her void blade-technically a single edged knife- cutting apart intangible energies and more astonishingly their connections to distant cultivators. Velvet likely wouldn’t use it the same way, but simply having the option was… well, almost as good as having a squadron of void ants protecting her. She wondered if there was some connection between the energy absorbing insects and the ore. Though it made the most sense if it was just practical naming conventions. Void was the absence of something, and cultivators would care most about the absence of energy.

“Where are we headed again?” Velvet asked.

“To the local Spirit Slicing Sect. We’ll still be on the frontlines, I’m afraid, but at least you’ll have more room to spread your wings.”

Velvet remembered their destination, of course, but she wanted to find out more details if she could. “How much of a target is it?”

“It isn’t, not really. Instead of proper sect grounds, it’s more of a transitory camp. Except, you know, it’s been there for fifty years.”

Fifty years was still a considerable portion of Velvet’s life. “It really must be safe,” she said. “Or they would have destroyed it long ago.”

“Well, it’s isolated for a reason,” Runa shrugged. “Those Exalted assholes are really more interested in gobbling up any resources they can, and this isn’t the most lucrative planet on the border. It’s just the void ore that’s an issue for them. They want to try to make use of it themselves, or at least prevent us from exploiting it.”

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“Can’t blame them,” Velvet said. “It’s a pretty significant effect for a cultivator to lose control of their abilities, even if it can’t be used offensively.” And Velvet was aware that even a weak metal could be used offensively, if done with sufficient skill. Against the right cultivators, it might be worth taking the risk of losing a valuable weapon to potentially pierce their energy defenses. If they relied on enchanted clothing and were unable to dodge, even better. Though that was only if they were relying entirely on enchantments and didn’t have a durable cloth as a base. Velvet still had a diamondsilk undershirt, though she’d replace it in practical usage long ago.

When they finally made it outside, Velvet was surprised to find a carriage waiting for them. Not because she didn’t expect some form of transportation, but because she hadn’t sensed it.

“Covert transport,” Runa commented. “Uses the void metal that isn’t high enough quality for weaponry. Conceals the horses, too. People have to make visual confirmation, which they usually aren’t thinking about.”

“My scouting trainer would chastise them for the failure,” Velvet said. “Every sense must be used to its fullest.”

“Sounds like someone I’d like to meet. Practical.”

“It was a long time ago,” Velvet said. “Unfortunately, you won’t be able to meet him.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Runa shook her head.

Anton wasn’t dead, of course. He was just restricted to the lower realms. Unless he’d died in the last couple years, of course, but Velvet wouldn’t believe it if she heard it. “What’s with the tinted windows?” she asked.

“Well, the Spirit Slicing Sect location is secret. Can’t reveal it to any outsiders, even our allies.”

“So I’ll be cut off from the outside,” Velvet said. “You’d better not let us get ambushed.”

“Well, perhaps you should keep your ears open,” Runa grinned.

She would. In fact, Velvet would do her very best to figure out clues from what she could glean, just to spite them. And also because she would be concerned about them trying to kill her. It seemed like a reasonable way to keep a location she had to go to a secret… but it was also a good way to isolate her and take care of her if they suspected her of being a spy. Would the traces of void metal prevent her use of energy? No, it was just reaching through it that her energy was blocked.

And so, she was locked inside a box with Runa. At least sunlight filtered through the windows. Maybe because they couldn’t avoid having light inside for the sake of the riders, and she suspected formations wouldn’t work well being carved next to the void metal she knew was hiding under the surface.

Sunlight… she could use that as a reference for what direction they traveled based on the angle. And it would give her something to do, because the inside was basically devoid of upper energy.

“Can’t even cultivate in here,” Velvet sighed.

Runa shrugged, “That’s just how it is. Comfy, though, isn’t it?”

Velvet nodded. She had to give it that. At least at the moment she found the seats quite pleasant, though that might change after ten or twenty hours of sitting. It didn’t leave much space for them to move around much. “Are we the only ones?”

“This trip,” Runa said. “We’re not transferring everyone at once. We need experienced people at all times.”

Of course. That made plenty of sense. Not that there were a lot of other Integration cultivators to go around. Everyone else would probably get worse treatment. Maybe they would be stuffed with the luggage at the back.

“So what’s the next step?” Velvet asked.

It was a reasonable question, but Runa just shrugged. “Don’t know. That’s what we’ll find out. They did request you specifically come along instead of being transferred back north, however.”

“Oh yeah?” Velvet raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“Probably because I kept telling them about all those monsters you killed. And of course your arrival, how you took out that old woman from the Flowing Fog sect.”

Everything in Runa’s words spoke of sincerity. Yet Velvet couldn’t help but be wary of the Chaotic Conglomeration. That was the name they’d chosen for themselves, after all. But Velvet simply didn’t know that much about them, and hearing tales about them as the western barbarians obviously wasn’t going to be an accurate depiction. And while she hadn’t seen any of them sitting on a pile of skulls… it honestly wasn’t out of the question for a lot of cultivators.

Velvet had killed enough people to do that, but she wasn’t the morbid sort to collect bodies. That was the actual crux of the issue, of course. Violence was part of the lives of cultivators, but knowing this group took care of their miners was a practical matter. They wouldn’t last long if they hurt their own people. And they couldn’t practically make use of any slaves in the void ore mines- because slaves would either be just as strong as cultivators or simply less functional. Thus, she didn’t know if they were the type to keep slaves.

Her biggest problem, of course, was her interactions with Runa. The other cultivator was friendly, but Velvet couldn’t chat with her about her background because she had to keep details vague. She didn’t know many places within the region, just enough about one planet to vaguely pretend to be from it… as long as she didn’t get into details. And asking things she should know about her supposed faction would be a dead giveaway. Thus, she had to take her time and build trust, while taking in the information around her to build up a wider context of the world and how this group functioned. If it was even truly a single entity.

The hooves of the horses plodded along. An even sound that indicated they were still on packed dirt roads. As for smells… some number of plants, but nothing distinct enough to use as a landmark later. And of course, she didn’t even know how long they were going to be riding in this carriage with her energy senses cut off. She could keep herself functional for a long time- her energy still functioned inside of herself, at least- but she would still prefer to get out and sleep or relieve herself if the option was available. But for the moment, it was best to just go along with things and try to be ready for everything.