Despite how she looked and felt, Velvet was capable of moving at a fairly decent pace. Not fast enough for Runa, however, so her friend carried her along under one arm. It wasn’t a very dignified way to travel, but she wasn’t going to complain. Much.
Runa turned her head back where they came, slicing her knife through the empty air. Even in her current state, Velvet could pick out senses reaching out for them. “Does that work?” Velvet asked. “Cutting apart energy senses? Wouldn’t that make us just as obvious?”
“Not with the right technique,” Runa said, slicing the area ahead of them as the energy continued to flow. “People don’t actually take in everything. They’re just looking for something of note.”
Something like void ants, then, except they were also aided by their miniscule size. They could still be noticed by a lack of feedback, but you had to be ready. “You’ll have to teach it to me sometime,” Velvet said. “And give me one of those daggers.”
“Both are sect secrets,” Runa shook her head.
“I’ll teach you about Augmentation,” Velvet said, grinning.
Her friend’s steps faltered for a moment. “... Wait, really?”
“I think it’s a fair trade.” In truth, if she actually stayed around she would probably end up teaching people regardless. Even if they couldn’t reach Augmentation, any additional power the Chaotic Conglomeration had would be bad for the Exalted Quadrant. She still wasn’t certain whether or not she could trust the whole group as allies, but she really didn’t need to. There were some secrets she might not share- such as communications technology- but mostly so that the Exalted Quadrant couldn’t get their hands on it. They’d already snatched some from Chikere, but hopefully its safety measures had rendered them useless. Either way, it was difficult to produce complex technology from limited samples.
Runa was silent for the next hour. Velvet almost didn’t realize her next words were continuing an earlier thought. “I’ll talk with father about it. We’ll have to see.”
So serious. Not that Velvet’s request wasn’t serious as well, but still.
It was difficult to concentrate on detailed uses of energy while moving, but since Velvet no longer had to conceal herself she was able to begin slowly building up her energy stores. By sundown, she felt much more capable of fighting if it came down to it. And around midnight she actually managed to convince Runa to let her down to move on her own.
Velvet briefly wondered how far she could go, and how quickly. Her momentary burst of speed in that combat was something she couldn’t easily forget. They were merely idle thoughts, however, because even in the best case she’d end up a significant distance from Runa. That was assuming she didn’t draw attention with the burst of energy and then collapse just inside the searching cultivator’s sensory range.
Having not properly slept since her Augmentation, Velvet was looking forward to reaching safety. As an Augmentation cultivator she could likely continue without sleep indefinitely in optimal situations, but being already fatigued and on the move wasn’t one of those.
That said, Runa was aware of the current locations of their allied forces, and they were able to rather quickly leave the most dangerous areas. They might have already been back at the Spirit Slicing Sect’s base if they went directly, but they couldn’t be certain they wouldn’t be noticed along the way so they took a circuitous route around the north side to enter through the east.
-----
Velvet wanted to just sleep, but first she had to meet with Emrik. This time, Emrik kept Runa in the room with them. As Velvet looked at the middle aged man, he wondered what the purpose was. To make her feel more comfortable, or to have backup if she tried something? Velvet as she was this exact moment wasn’t particularly stronger than before. Not injured and with her energy still below its maximum.
“It feels like just yesterday you were here in my office,” Emrik said. “When you said we matched in strict cultivation level, I thought you were conceding my strength. But perhaps you were simply being humble.”
“You might have been stronger at the time,” Velvet pointed out.
“Unlikely. At least, not in the way that would have mattered. You never really answered that first question.”
“I don’t think it’s important,” Velvet shrugged.
“What question did you ask?” Runa asked.
Emrik shook his head. “I suppose it really doesn’t matter now. So, daughter, you have brought her here.”
“That’s right. She’s, um, from the far east.”
“So that was it. The Trigold Cluster, then?”
Velvet’s eye twitched. “Between them and the Exalted Quadrant. In the Scarlet Midfields.”
“Strange,” Emrik furrowed his brow. “Not much news passes all the way through the Exalted Quadrant, but there was something… but it involved a swordmaster on the edge of Augmentation. Or at least that’s what I heard. Ah, wait. There was that one sect. The… Harmonious Citadel? Some of them used daggers.”
“That is the best way to describe it, yes,” Velvet said. “They don’t, anymore.”
“Really?” Emrik said. “They seemed the traditional type who would never change their practices.”
“They didn’t do that,” Velvet said. “They’re dead. The Scarlet Alliance wiped them out.”
“You’re not one of them?” Emrik asked. “I heard some of their saints were Augmentation cultivators.”
“All of them,” Velvet said. “Plus a couple more.” She frowned, “Well, you can also subtract a couple, since the Citadel of Exalted Light snuck in a disciple to take over as their sect head, and they had another that was probably from them.” The connection of Citadel in their names was simply a coincidence. Velvet could think of dozens of citadels, palaces, and the like among prominent sects.
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“Then your Scarlet Alliance must have had a great many Augmentation cultivators.”
“Fewer than them,” Velvet said, not willing to give away actual information. “They just underestimated us for too long and fought stupid. Plus Everheart took a shot at them.”
“That asshole? No wonder they crumbled.”
“... You know Everheart?” Velvet asked.
“Oh yeah, he stole a planet from one of our systems one time,” Emrik said. “Who doesn’t know him?”
Velvet made a mental note doubling down on what she was already doing, which was never telling anyone she was from the same planet as him. “We just thought he was a slightly more local menace.”
“Yeah, but at least he died. Wait…” Emrik frowned. Then sighed, “He’s not dead, is he?”
“Unfortunately not,” Velvet said. She could hold the opinion that the galaxy would be better off if he was dead and be glad that he was alive to cause trouble for their enemies.
“I assume he’s running things from that ‘tomb’ planet of his, then?”
“Not for well over a century,” Velvet shook her head. Rather than saying that they wrested control of it which would sound rather unbelievable, she obfuscated. “He moved on to a whole system that’s a few times as deadly. He named it after himself, obviously.”
Emrik took a deep breath. “At least all of the Exalted Quadrant is between him and us. Maybe I’ll be lucky and die of old age before he comes back here. But we’ve gotten far off track.”
“Right,” Runa said. “Um, the point is, father, that she’s willing to fight with us for a while. Because of our mutual enemy.”
“Everheart?” he asked.
“The Exalted Quadrant,” Velvet clarified.
“Oh. Your alliance must be a bigger deal than I thought.”
“We’ve stayed minimal on direct confrontation. Except for Chikere.”
“That would be the swordmaster?”
“She’s no good at not getting in trouble. Speaking of swordmasters… with the Limitless Edge here, information will likely find its way back to the Exalted Quadrant about my breakthrough. It might draw more trouble here.”
“If the Exalted Quadrant was willing to field more Augmentation cultivators, they would have a century ago. Most likely, they’ll redistribute their forces. Preferably, we’ll make some headway before then.”
Velvet nodded. “I’m willing to assist. Obviously I don’t intend to fight experienced Augmentation cultivators head on if they arrive, however.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, regardless of experience. Your talents seem to lie elsewhere.”
“Oh!” Runa spoke up. “Velvet mentioned… guiding me towards Augmentation, in exchange for some of our techniques. And a void blade.”
“We’ll have to talk about that later,” Emrik said. “For now, we should let her rest.” He looked at Velvet, “You look like you need it.”
Velvet nodded. “I didn’t break through under optimal circumstances.”
As she took her leave, she expected the two of them to have a secret chat about whether they could trust her- in general and specifically with their techniques. She didn’t think that could result in a negative enough result that they would try to kill her, not at this point- but if they did, she was fairly confident in her ability to flee. Not that she thought it likely, since Runa trusted her, but she had to keep such ideas in mind.
She would sleep with one eye open, though that wasn’t any different from usual. She only ever slept deeply within the safety of the One Hundred Stars, either upon Xankeshan or previously Ceretos.
-----
Five days of alternating between sleep and meditation to restore her wounds, Velvet didn’t find any more value in remaining in isolation. Her injuries were fortunately the sort that were easily recovered from, though she would still need some time before she was completely finished patching up her body. Her energy stores, however, were higher than they had ever been before. That was obvious, since she had stepped into a new stage, but she was still pleasantly surprised. She also expected to grow rapidly for a short time as she stabilized her transition to Augmentation.
She walked around the Spirit Slicing Sect much as before. She had already kept her cultivation understated, and she continued to do so. While people had some idea about there potentially being an Augmentation cultivator, she didn’t need the regular sect members to connect it to her. That would make it harder for them to spill information if they were captured and interrogated. Plus, she didn’t want the attention.
“Velvet!” Runa said, having noticed her once she stepped out of her room. “Are you feeling better?”
“Indeed. I think there’s little more I can do lazing around. So I planned to get involved in something. What’s the current situation?”
“We’re planning an attack on the forest,” Runa said as they walked. “I guess we never got your latest report on things there, but… they kind of gave up their secrecy.”
“Indeed,” Velvet said. “Forest of Death cultivators along with the Limitless Edge. I can give you a decent count of their numbers and strength from when I was there, however. They also had an adequate defensive formation. And because of their trees, they will know you’re coming.”
“They will,” Runa agreed. “But they’ll be lacking critical information.”
“They know about me,” Velvet pointed out.
“Not that. They won’t know how many of us are on our way.”
“I don’t see how you’ll accomplish that,” Velvet admitted.
Runa grinned as she pulled out her knife, giving it a twirl. “We know they’re connected to the trees. So we just… slice that connection.”
“Hmm. How long will that last?”
“Long enough. It’s not so easy to reform ‘permanent’ connections. And if they try, I’m sure they’ll exhaust themselves faster than we tire. Of course, we’ll be involving other local sects as well. They’re quite mad about these people camping basically next door.”
“Are you certain they haven’t moved on?”
“They fled back to the forest, after people started moving against them,” Runa said. “You know, when they were trying to chase after you. They were all spread out, so they really couldn’t do much but run. And some of our people were watching the far side for reinforcements or the like. Maybe they’ll get some, which is why we’re intending to move out soon.”
“Five days seems rather slow,” Velvet admitted.
“Not to coordinate multiple sects. And the Exalted Quadrant is usually even slower to act.”
“Hmm.” Velvet was aware of that, to some extent. Perhaps there was some actual advantage to being from a new alliance. On the scale of cultivators, of course. The Scarlet Alliance was decently strong for having existed in its current form for less than two centuries. Ut the Exalted Quadrant was an ancient monolith that loomed over everything, making them seem impossible to overcome. But she could at least help the Chaotic Conglomeration chip at their base.
And in the short term, checking how her combat capabilities had changed would be useful. She didn’t expect to make perfect use of her new abilities right away, but that was why there would be a whole army with her as just one part. At least, she hoped nobody would be relying on the word Augmentation too much.