Elder An paid for the pleasure of sending his sycophants to duel with me, one each week for the past month. I continued betting, raising the original 500 contribution point bet by 100 each time. This time, I may have made a serious error. I was afraid I was about to lose my first duel, and it was because of my own hubris.
I had gotten used to winning, comfortable with my abilities, and had fallen for Elder An’s trap when he and his latest lackey accosted me outside of Trainer Hall, without the supervision of Elder Shadow to warn me things might not be as they appeared.
I didn’t recognize the young man who’d challenged me, but that was nothing new. Except for Niake, I hadn’t recognized any of the people that Elder An had chosen to fund in his attempts at vengeance. I was not foolish enough to accept the duel without extending my perception to gauge my perspective opponent’s cultivation Realm, but once I was confident his realm and mine were comparable, I’d set my normal terms and agreed.
Unfortunately, I’d failed to notice that he had reached the first step of the perfected stage. His cultivation so far advanced in comparison to mine that he might as well be fighting a none-cultivator.
It didn’t seem to matter how I attacked, the only thing keeping me from losing the fight was [Lightning’s Rush] and my ability to dodge his attacks and stay out of range. But he used a spear as his weapon of choice, and he was at least as talented with it, as I was with my Tessen.
I had no idea who his trainer was, but unlike Niake who had been unprepared, Julius had made the connection between his meridian channels and his martial techniques. He matched my dual affinities, but where mine was water and air, his were water and ice. I could create ice, but it had taken an intensive amount of effort to forge meridian channels, to isolate Qi and combine it in a way that ice was formed.
For him, it was as easy as breathing, and he used his natural affinities to send showers of spears whenever I paused long enough to give him even the slightest chance that they may do damage. While my attacks were fluid, verging on art and dance, his were brute force. Each attack empowered with Qi that seemed limitless. He was relentless with his attacks, and a fortress of ice when it came to defense.
I had tried every method I could think of to penetrate that fortress, but the Tessen was simply not suitable for this fight. Even cycling through water, ice, and lightning, I didn’t have enough power to pierce the shield that he had established for protection. Since I couldn’t win, since I had so badly calculated his abilities, the only thing left was to cheat.
Jumping adding air and lightning Qi to [Lightning’s Rush] I sailed higher than I ever had, at least four body lengths off the ground. I began cycling, performing the motion for [Spin and Dive Into the Ocean], but when I reached the stage where I created an ice platform for purchase, something solid to kick off of using the additional momentum to increase the power of my weapon strike, I paused.
Swapping out my Tessen for my Bow, I formed an arrow of pure lightning. Julius had created a formidable shield, but he’d left an opening. Not above his head as one would think considering our relative positions, but beneath his feet. He stood on the ground that was soaked with water, water from his melting ice shield, water from some of my attacks.
The water that I had released had been ionized, used to create pseudo storms within my meridian clusters, storms that empowered the spark of electricity that I needed to change air and water into lightning. Drawing back the bolt of contained lightning I had formed, I release bolt after bolt of [Water Pierce], aiming at the areas of standing water that bridged the gap between the outer and inner areas of his ice shield.
Bolt after bolt, I continued to rain down lightning strikes, a living Goddess of Storm glorious in my fury. Occasionally I would have to use [Lightning’s Rush] and move to another ice platform as Julius counter-attacked with a rain of spears, but each time I moved, I increased my distance from the ground.
The electricity was being channeled, Julius was taking damage, but his ability to shrug off each attack was amazing. Swapping back to my Tessen, I channeled water into one, air into another, and performed the ultimate move for this stage of [Tessenjutsu]. [Dancing Wind and Rain] was an exterior manifestation of the internalized storms I needed to create to harness lightning.
My water Qi combining with Air to manifest storm clouds and release the rains. A drizzle at first, becoming a torrential downfall as I danced upon my ice platform Tessen snapping open and closed releasing alternating forces of Qi.
The storm was localized, but it was enough to drench the ground and ice shield. Small pools of water that had formed grew, and I again swapped out the Tessen for Bow and released a cascade of lightning that made the localized storm I had created take on a power that far transcended the difference in our stages.
Julius fought back releasing the biting chill of winter’s cold, changing the water I was releasing from a downpour, first into sleet, and then into a blizzard as water particles froze and became snow. Unable to stop him from controlling the storm, I was forced to change weapons again. If he wanted a blizzard, I would supply him with the water to make one.
As I allowed the storm to grow in strength, he radiated enough freezing energy that I would have been encased in ice, if I hadn’t realized his intention at the last second and used [Lightning’s Rush] and [Spin and Dive Into the Ocean] to ascend even higher.
That movement, that retreat to keep my distance was a mistake as I crossed the boundary, the demarcation that had been set to confine our battle, and earned me my first loss. Elder Shadow entered the training arena and suppressed the storm and blizzard we had created.
“Julius has won,” he announced, “Jai will transfer eleven hundred contribution points by day’s end.
“We thank you for the gift of your time, and the lesson in honor that you have shared here today. I am sure Jai is as impressed as I am with Elder An’s forbearance, his dedication to fairness and integrity.
“But I believe this will be the last lesson I will allow my student to participate in. When Sect members are willing to forego the tenants that built this Sect, there is no point in engaging in meaningless or reckless activities.”
I watched as Elder An turned purple in apoplexy. His fury at Elder Shadow’s words only growing. I waited for him to refute the charges that had been levied against him and Julius. To allow to stand a charge of having no honor would spread, until even the Merchants and townspeople in the surrounding area became aware of the words that had been spoken here today.
“Jay,” Elder Shadow said ignoring the spluttering incoherent murmurings of Elder An and those who had heard his words to address me. “Our lessons will resume using private training rooms. You have done well here today, despite what your loss or wounds might reflect.”
Until he mentioned them, I had been able to ignore the gash in the arm and leg, the spear point that had opened a wound in my side and shoulder. But now. The pain came crashing down, my endorphins, the fear, and immediacy of combat replaced with the aftermath.
“Transfer the contribution points you owe Elder An and then make an appearance at Healer Hall. I will discuss with Elder Kailee when it would be best to resume training.”
I was meant to be humiliated, a broken parody, a warning to the Sect at large that it was folly to cross Elder An. I refused to accept that characterization. Despite the pain. Despite the blood still running from wounds that had yet to be bound. I walked to Mission Hall with my head high.
My teeth clenched tightly to keep from biting my tongue or lips, I made my way steadily. One foot in front of the other. A bloody warrior returning from combat, not a beaten and broken novice that had been taught a lesson from a Sect Elder. Broken, yes. Beaten, yes. But radiating a spirit of defiance and determination even now.
I had managed to manifest my ultimate move. A move that shouldn’t have been within my reach until I reached the perfected state of Body Refinement realm. I had nothing to be ashamed of.
The next six weeks were exhausting, aside from healing, Elder Tye decided it was time for me to focus on Alchemy. It took me almost the entire time before I learned the skills for Dharmic control and could sustain a steady stream of Qi to control the fire and temperature on the pill cauldron I had been assigned. It took me less than an hour to succeed with my first pill after that.
The body amassing pills I formed were low-quality, full of impurities, and nothing anyone with even one contribution point would bother with, but they were my first success, and for the residents of Flowing Water town they would pay in core for even something of this quality.
I was surprised at how aware Elder Tye was of events within the Alchemical Hall. He and Tarrah entered my workroom withing moments of my success. Without touching the pills I’d created he was able to evaluate and grade my efforts.
“Not the worse first pill a beginning alchemist has ever created, is it Tarrah?” The Elder asked a bit of jibe in his question suggesting that Tarrah had not done as well for her first effort.
“Six weeks of concentrated focus to gain control of your Dharmic spell and channel your inner Qi is a bit faster than normal, most people required eight to ten weeks. You still have a long way to go. This pill meets the metrics that the Alchemical Society has created for professional advancement.
“Congratulations, you are promoted to Novice Rank Alchemist, and I will be formally registering you as an Outer Sect disciple for Alchemy Hall.
“I will be augmenting your self-study with practical lessons. Each Monday, you will assist me as I create the pills members have ordered. I will also begin assigning you a quota, body amassing pills for the first month. The quantity doesn’t matter yet, but by the end of the month, I want to see pills that are at least of average quality with less than fifteen percent impurities.
“Those can be sold to members and will contribution points will go towards repaying the herbs you are using. Tarrah should have informed you that this is just a first step and things will become much harder from this point on,” Elder Tye said.
“I will inform staff to stop loaning equipment and to clear out this room. You need to purchase an apprentice set of tools and a cauldron. Something you can call your own, and that you can safely maintain here in your workspace. Talk to Elder Shadow about accepting some of the herb collecting Missions and easier hunting quests to earn contribution points and ingredients if you need them. Although from my discussions with Elder Shadow, contribution points shouldn’t be a concern for a while.
“Your path as an alchemist begins now.”
Lectures and training proceeded normally from then on. Once I had broken through from beginner to novice alchemist, Elder Tye was much more informative and began sharing tricks and tips that he had gleaned over the years. Elder Shadow, on the other hand, became more obsessed with training.
Endurance, strength, and agility were now combined with [Lightning’s Rush] and [Spin and Dive Into the Ocean] as a new methodology for a movement skill, one that allowed me to make use of vertical space. The days never got easier. Whenever I reached a plateau of comfort, Elder Shadow would increase the intensity of my training.
Now not only did I have to cycle Qi and empower my muscles as I traversed his training course, but I also had to combine internal Qi with external Qi to master the techniques I’d chosen, finding a way to use my meridian clusters to work in tandem with my techniques. Elemental touched Qi that wasn’t meant to be combined with those techniques.
The [Water Pierce] art was the easiest for me to adapt, mainly because I was familiar with the bow, and I reached the first stage of enlightenment quickly. The other techniques took more effort. Each night after cultivating, I would spend time in meditation grasping for enlightenment.
It was not enough to just know the forms and practice them, you had to develop an innate understanding that allowed you not only to know how a movement was made but why. The week following that last challenge, I had my first unexpected breakthrough, progressing from the beginning stage to the advanced. Body Refining was divided into three stages, beginning, advanced, and perfected.
Those stages were further divided into low-middle-high-perfected. The first time I had been successful in circulating my Qi using [Transcend the Heavenly Footpath] I had reached the low tier of the beginning stage, that last duel when I’d moved from ice platform to ice platform I had progressed to the beginning of the perfected state. It took me over nine months to reach the highest tier, and for Elder Shadow to consider my understanding barely acceptable.
I thought that needing nine months to perfect the technique remarkable slow until I compared notes with other Sect members and discovered that most members were still in the beginning stages of understanding. It explained why for most, ten years of dedicated cultivation was required before an attempt was even possible to ascend to the Qi Gathering Realm.
Elder Shadow detected my improvement in Body Refining with a glance, the next day. I was getting ready to begin the morning’s obstacle course when he stopped me. “Don’t bother,” he said motioning for me to follow him as he strode out of the training room, we had reserved for most of my training.
“Now that you have reached the middle stage, these exercises are going to be ineffective. To get better you are going to need to challenge yourself in combat. I will discuss options with Elder Tye but spend the morning browsing the Mission Board.
“The challenges that we have been ignoring and refusing will work, but I think it time you spread your wings. Find a one-star hunting mission and a herb gathering mission. I will want to vet whatever missions you select. I don’t want to see you decided on something beneath your skills, but I also don’t want your first Mission to be beyond your ability.
“I will join you and Elder Tye in Alchemy Hall this afternoon and we will discuss the Missions you are interested in,” he said leaving me before I had a chance to ask any questions.
This wouldn’t be my first time accepting and completing a Mission request outside of the Sect. Once I could create novice ranked body refinement pills, Elder Tye had issued weekly quests requiring me to fill a quota. The task was more boring and tedious than anything, at least until I learned additional novice formula.
He did begin to demand better quality, refusing any pill that wasn’t of uncommon rank and had less than five percent impurities. The pills I was crafting were used by Sect novices and medicinal pills that were high in impurities were not only hard to absorb but had a chance of tainting instead of refining the body.
I was allowed to keep a week’s supply of any pill I crafted for personal use, instead of receiving contribution points for any of my pills that sold. It was an amazing boon to cultivation, but it did little to supply me with additional funds.
If I hadn’t been awarded so many points in the beginning, and won so much from betting, I would have had to find hunting missions long before this. Elder Shadow and Tye were generous with their time, but both were very strict when it came to awarding contribution points.
My identity jade token was fully functional now and had been since Elder Tye accepted me as an outer-member disciple of Alchemical Hall. His acknowledgment had increased my access. I could have walked to Mission Hall to browse through potential hunting jobs, but with the token’s functionality unlocked, I spent the morning in my garden, searching for something interesting, profitable, and wouldn’t see me dead.
I found a pest Mission, level two beasts that were raiding a nearby farm’s poultry. It seemed easy enough to handle, and I thought using my new alchemical skills to bait traps with narcotics or poisons if I was able to identify and find where they had built their den.
The farmer reported a sole Velociraptor as the culprit, but I thought he might be mistaken. Velociraptors were pack animals and hunted in groups. Since the farmer had reported only sighting a solitary intruder, I thought it more likely that an Oviraptorosaur was involved. Although they closely resembled Velociraptors, these dinosaurs were more bird-like, and one of the peculiarities of the species was to steal eggs from existing nests and replace them with one of their own. They left the rearing and hatching of their young for others.
Elder Tye asked me to gather as many herbs as I could, any novice level herbs were always in demand, but he asked that I gather as many resources for body-refining pills as possible, and to be on the lookout for any rare herbs. There were only a couple of months left before a year had passed for my induction class, and all Sect members would be tested and evaluated.
This year’s ranking would make use of an inter-Sect tournament to determine advancement. Each Sect Member would be ranked based on their fighting skills, along with their job proficiencies. Competition existed at these tournaments that would test both my Alchemical creation skills and my martial arts.
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The Sect members that ranked in the top five would be automatically accepted as inner-sect members. The next twenty would be allowed to remain for a second year. But anyone that didn’t rank high enough to be counted one of the top twenty-five would be asked to leave the sect unless they had managed to find an Elder that would accept them as a core disciple.
That might have seemed draconian, but our intake group only had twenty-eight members. Only three people would be asked to leave the Sect, and those three were most likely members that had focused the entire year of their professional skills.
Elder Tye had already accepted me as one of his students, and I didn’t have to compete for a place with the Sect. Still, he and Elder Shadow both expected me to compete, and do well. Elder Tye demanded I make the top five in pill creation. Elder Shadow didn’t mention expectations, but I knew he would be disappointed if I didn’t manage to rank in the top five for martial arts.
I wanted to win, mostly for selfish reasons. The winner received a large prize of contributions points, a low-level spirit item, and was considered a core Sect disciple and would no longer need to bear expenses for tuition. I would still need to undertake Missions to earn contribution points, but my living expenses, housing, and food would be provided as a full member of the Sect. The tuition I was currently enjoying was only good for the first year.
Additionally, Braun and his faction may re-consider their treatment of me if my skills had progressed quickly enough that I could take first place. They would open themselves to more than censure if they attacked a core Sect member outside the dueling arena, they would have their cultivation ruined and be exiled from the Sect. There would be nothing his family or Elder An could do to protect him in that event.
Most members looked for partners when completing missions. I’d considered asking Tarrah. I had learned my lesson with Niake’s betrayal, it made no sense to befriend, depend, or help a person who may only turn around to stab you in the back. Tarrah remained the only person I grudgingly considered a friend even after all this time.
It was lonely at times, so lonely that I considered leaving. Loneliness I countered with increased determination and focus when cultivating. But whenever any serious thought about becoming an itinerant cultivator cropped up, I realized the futility that leaving the Sect meant.
If I was forced to flee, I would be leaving behind my family. My parents were firmly established in the town. People who owned their clinic that earned a healthy income and provided a real benefit to the town. And my siblings that would be torn from the only home and friends they had ever known.
If I left the Sect, I would have to explain my reasons and encourage them to uproot their lives and establish themselves somewhere else. It simply wouldn’t be safe for them to remain in an area where Braun and his family could extend their influence.
Instead, I was hoping I would be strong enough during the competition, to rank highly enough to de-claw him and his father, at least for the foreseeable future. If I won, the Sect would continue to extend protection to my parents.
Elder Shadow and Elder Tye finally approved the missions I had decided on. But it was Tarrah that gave me advice on what to bring. She suggested I claim a life-pouch, a spatial storage device that could store beast eggs, juveniles under a certain age, and herbs.
Taming Hall refused my request for a mount but did supply the life-pouch. I had noticed as I prepared to head out, that more often than not something would happen to delay me. Any request I made was refused unless backed by Elder Tye or Elder Shadow. I could have gone to them and asked for help getting a mount, but the truth was that with [Lightning’s Rush] a mount was not needed. Further, I had a real spatial artifact, I didn’t have to be concerned about space and weight.
The first level of [Lightning’s Rush] could be spammed continuously, my running speed sustainable as I ran giving me bursts of increased speed after each cycle. The agility training Elder Shadow had subjected me to made it possible for me to run at insane speeds compared to when I’d first started training, and to use the Qi circulating within my body to keep muscles free of lactic acid build-up.
I had also learned to create Qi absorption, vitality, and healing pills that should see me safely through this task. The pills were all level one, but they were some of the best of the lots I’d crafted. Their impurities were less than one percent and they had reached the perfected realm.
My last stop before heading out was to touch in with Elder Cix to get an updated map of the area where I was headed and to find any information he had on the location of the farm. Farming in a world where dinosaurs, dragons, and griffins existed was a study in patience and endurance. Farmers had evolved crop rotations and techniques over the years that withstood the ravages of beast-tides, but not without the occasional destruction of farm and field.
The empire we lived in readily dispensed defense arrays, but those were usually expensive constructs. Farmers that took advantage of terrain and location were much more successful and able to maintain homesteads that could be passed down generation to generation, but they often were isolated and prone to ignore the maintenance costs and repairs required to maintain the defensive arrays.
Tine, the empire we resided in, was mountainous. The land claimed by the empire was massive, easily the size of North and South America combined, and it was one of the smaller empires. There were a few that claimed as much land as all the continents of Earth combined, as such there existed unclaimed lands that accounted for ten times all the lands claimed.
Tine region was bisected by a mountain range, residents made use of the valleys that these mountainous regions created, areas that were protected from weather and beast. Farming in hard to reach areas that were camouflaged from flying beasts was the most common method. This was mostly accomplished by refusing to clear cut the towering trees that blanketed the area. Plants were grown and rotated at the base of these trees, irrigation, and sunlight funneled as needed past heavy foliage for the crops that germinated.
Paths and roads were cut into mountainsides allowing farms egress to market in the larger towns and cities, so getting where I needed to be wasn’t an insurmountable challenge. Even running instead of using a mount, I would arrive within a few days.
I did spend some contribution points to enhance the enchantments on my Tessen and Bow, both with durability. The bow with an enchantment of true aim, the fan with a small spirit stone inscribed with a pattern for dexterity.
I had been working towards forming the seed of enlightenment, a Dao that would increase my understanding and could be applied to both my fighting arts and my pill creation. I had hoped to gain a layman's understanding for the Dao of Sharpness, but I only felt gentle stirrings, brief glimpses, those ah-ha moments that had not yet coalesced into the beginnings of understanding.
I was too focused on sharpness as the edge of a weapon. Although that certainly would be contained within the Dao, to understand a blade has a sharp edge was not the same as gaining enlightenment behind the [Dao of Sharpness].
I had eventually concluded that enlightenment and understanding of the Dao was the real goal of every cultivator. Power and higher realms only gave each more time to comprehend the true meaning behind those concepts a person chose to focus on.
Some believed that by working to understand a multitude of Dao that the tenants behind the one-true Dao could be revealed. Other’s felt that a deeper understanding of a few would lead to real enlightenment. And a very few that practiced only one type of Dao, firmly believing that any Dao diligently studied and understood would open one to Universal enlightenment.
I decided to bring the hunter’s pack I had purchased so many months ago. The multiple pockets would allow me to easily store any herbs I might find while keeping them organized. It seemed more efficient than just tossing everything into my spatial ring.
I considered stopping and speaking to my parents before heading out but decided against it. I was worried my father would demand to go with me, and I wasn’t certain he was strong enough to deal with whatever I may find. He certainly wasn’t fast enough or had enough endurance to keep up.
It was unsettling to recognize that in less than a year, I had surpassed the abilities of both parents and that my cultivation, even at only the middle tier of Body Refinement was the best in our family. It was possible that my grandparents, parents may have branches that had produced more talented cultivators, but for some reason, a reason that had never been explained to me, we had been cut off from the main family branch.
It took me over a week to arrive at the farm that had complained. I developed a cycle of running during the trip, four hours as fast as I could followed by an hour of resting or exploring the area. I continued this practice at night unless the sky was overcast and there was not enough light to see.
Most of the way I run using the trees as my road. Branches extended between deciduous species of tree. Most of the trees great branching Oaks and Redwoods. The increased Oxygen and gravity for the planet made all species of tree grow to mammoth proportions with bases that eclipsed even the largest tree found on Earth. They needed that stability to support their increased weight and the higher gravity a planet the size of Shijie generated.
My Qi perception was advanced enough that I was able to find a few pockets of herbs that would come in useful, the most interesting a type of fairy fern that I managed to gather root and all. The plant was delicate, and I thought it might make an interesting gift for my father. The road was not paved, it was more trail, ruts with soil compacted from a multitude of animals traveling these same paths over a multitude of years.
The trees sent roots and feelers deep, locking the firmament in place, shielding the land from what little erosion might occur in a forest of this size. Branches between trees were interconnected, a means of egress that allowed highways and byways to be traveled by elves with ease. It did make ambush spots hard to detect for anyone using this method of travel, those without Qi perception, unable to detect fluctuations in their surroundings, were better off traveling along the ground.
That method was slower, but the possibility of ambush and surprise attacks were minimized. The dense foliage of the treetops kept most of the ground cover to a minimum. There weren’t any shrubs or brush for bandits to hide in. And except for a few pockets of deadfall was amazingly clear.
The ground route did have a greater chance for beast and dinosaur encounters for travelers to contend with, but if they stuck to well-established paths that were heavily traveled people were relatively safe. The animals had learned to avoid areas of heavy foot-traffic, areas, where people formed protective details armed with weapons or Dharmic arrays that made, could do enough damage to stop a charging Tyrannosaurus Rex in its tracks.
Spatial items made transportation of freight and goods incidental. There was no need for heavy haulers, wagons, or caravans. It was much easier to store goods in spatial artifacts. The only exception was adult livestock. Some haulers existed that allowed farmers to transport living animals to processing plants where they would be butchered.
Even here, most farmers processed the animals themselves and transported meat and parts. The only people who requested live animals were those that needed to harvest animal parts, were freshness was a concern, blood, and organs that required some of the vitality of life to still be present. The Qi would begin breaking down and dispensing as soon as the life-force left a beast, by processing animals only as and where needed, the Qi was more concentrated and powerful.
The map that Elder Cix had shared with me was flawless, it even contained those small animal trails that hunters had noted with annotations that explained the most common beasts sighted. The valley the farm was located in required a bit of agility to enter. Pinions with ropes that needed to be climbed, even negotiating a zip-line at one point to cross a canyon that was deeper than it was wide.
I did enjoy that method of traveling, it reminded me too much of flying, and it increased my excitement knowing that at some stage, with my air and water affinities I would be able to fly in truth, not just the enhanced jumping I was currently capable of. I may not even need an artifact to assist in flight if I managed to gain enough precision and control of my elements.
The valley walls afforded me a birds-eye view of the farms below. The main homesteads had all been located centrally, with each farm spread out in the cardinal directions from that central location. The air currents and water vapor for the valley seemed normal, localized with no strong odors, smoke, or currents being released to breach the natural mountain walls.
It looked peaceful enough from my vantage point. Although I thought it strange, even idiotic to have built their community in the center of the depression instead of taking advantage of the mountains and building into the granite.
There was nothing to suggest that there was a beast raiding livestock, mainly because there didn’t seem to be much livestock. Certainly, none of the Protoceratops that Niake’s family boasted of breeding. What few animals I noticed were more over-grown turkeys than anything. Ostrich size, they were penned near a natural stream that flowed down from one of the larger mountains.
It still came as a surprise to me how much larger animals in this world were. My lessons with Beast Tamer hall and the gigantic piles of shit we were required to clear daily and add to the compost pile hadn’t managed to inure me to the sheer size of animals, birds, and reptiles.
The trail that I had used to approach the small farming community was not the main thoroughfare. A glance at the map Elder Cix had supplied showed that there was a much larger and well-traveled road that led to a town in the opposite direction of Flowing Water.
Cleave, the other town was about equidistant to the farm that Flowing Water was, and the passage appeared to be easier to navigate. A river fed by that mountain stream I noticed earlier meandered and if the farmers purchased boats, travel to quickly visit, sell, and restock in Cleave would be safer and faster.
It made me wonder why Flowing Water had accepted a Mission for this area instead of Cleave. If the farmers were doing a substantial amount of trading and selling to that city, they should have been able to hire a hunter or trapper, perhaps post a Guild Mission if no one was willing to travel this far.
Something seemed off about the entire thing. I’d thought it strange from the beginning when they reported identifying a single Velociraptor as the animal raiding their farms. The easy river passage between this farm and Cleave only increased my sense of danger.
These people should have applied to Cleave for help. I suppose it’s possible they did and were refused or ignored, but I was worried that something was going on here that would change the ranking for this mission from the easy hunting mission it was purported to be, to something that was going to require negotiation and finesse.
Deciding on discretion, I equipped my Tie Shan, lodging it in the belt of my Hanfu for easy access, and knocked an arrow before picking my way down the embankment. I extended my Qi field as far as I could, making a mental note that any patches of herbs with anything other than basic vitality had long since been harvested.
That made sense, the path I was using was used often enough that travelers would have noticed anything growing that would be useful. I would have better luck finding usable herbs when I began tracking the beast that was responsible for the raids on the farm. The surrounding escarpments sheer enough to need skill and bravery to ascend.
I’d never lived on a farm so was unfamiliar with routine and daily chores, but as I approached the homes that had been clustered together, nothing seemed out of place. I was able to identify people working in fields, most nearby. I thought that may be because of the beast raids, no one willing to adventure far from safety. Children were running and playing as well as a few women tending small gardens of vegetables grown for the families' use.
The mission required me to report to Matriarch Helena. She was the person who had contacted the Sect and asked for help. Elves weren’t particularly patriarchal or matriarchal, they tended to follow the most talented. They practiced meritocracy if anything. Perhaps because Cultivators had taught us that the strong and talented would rise and that the trappings of wealth and influence could only help so much.
The children were the first to notice me, and began shouting greetings, their welcome alerting the rest of my arrival. There was no subterfuge involved in the children's happiness, visitors were an infrequent event and that I had arrived meant something new and different. What was worrisome was that no guard or lookout had been posted. It shouldn’t have been left to the children to notice someone approaching the farmstead.
In the city, I would have known what was expected, but out here, traditions and expectations may differ. I decided that it might be prudent to wait for an invitation to proceed, so stopped and waited patiently for the women who were working in their gardens to whisper amongst themselves before sending one of the elder children running into one of the larger homes.
I was hoping the child was sent to fetch Matriarch Helena, but I thought the task a waste of time. There is no way any elf could have missed the reaction my arrival had caused within the community. The delight and screams of happiness the children exhibited probably carried to those people working in the fields.
Matriarch Helena was young was the first thing I noticed when she approached. I doubt she was older than my mother. Perhaps she was pushing two hundred at the outside, but I thought it more likely that she had barely broken a hundred and fifty. That someone so young was the head of this community said as much about her abilities as it did the lack of abilities for everyone else.
Elves no matter what profession they practiced, or their ability to cultivate maintained their youth and vitality until the last century of their life. She had none of the weather-worn features that might be expected of those performing duties under the harmful rays of the sun. Our ability to heal quickly meant that wrinkles, age spots, chapped lips, and wind or sunburned features were impossible.
The Matriarch exuded the health and vitality one would expect of a young woman. But her swollen abdomen spoke of something more. Her pregnancy obvious, the health and vitality she exuded proved the efficacy of the fetus, the health of the child radiated as a subtle aura from the mother.
She was about halfway through the pregnancy, not yet so fecund that it was hard for her to walk, sit, and stand, but far enough along that her breasts had enlarged, her back was reminding her that her center of gravity was compromised, and her feet would occasionally swell up.
Morning sickness was not something that afflicted our people. Things like menstrual cramps, pimples, or body hair simply didn’t exist. But the effects of pregnancy could not be completely negated. There was a toll that was placed on the body, a toll that healed without blemish once the child was born. Stretch marks faded within a ten-day after delivery.
Her attention to propriety was outdated, something easier to maintain in an isolated community. She stopped exactly ten paces away, close enough to be welcoming, far enough away to act in the event of an attack. Since I was visiting her homestead, it was my duty to begin discussions and introduce myself first.
“This lowly Sect member greets the honorable elder, I am Jai Myche. I have the honor of serving Sect Elder Alchemist Tye as one of his direct disciples. I have been informed of your request for aid and have been entrusted by the Sect to answer that request,” I said bowing junior to senior.
“I am seeking Matriarch Helena, the person who contacted Flowing Water Sect and requested assistance.”
“This humble person is Matriarch Helena,” she replied bowing senior to junior as she introduced herself.
“You reported raids on animals? Reports of Velociraptor?” I asked, making sure the details the Sect had poster were aligned with what she had reported.
“The raids began a little more than a fortnight ago and occur every other day,” Matriarch Helena agreed. “We raise a small flock of Pterosaurs, not for market. We raise them for their eggs as well as their meat to feed the community. The small number of beast cores we gather supplement our funds and allow us to purchase supplies for the community. Spices, salts, the occasional array.
“We have the means to replace those taken. For now. But if this continues, the homesteads here will need to make some hard choices. We will either need to sell a larger share of our crops to purchase new animals. Crops we normally store for winter use. Or try to find another means to supplement and replace the loss of protein the raids have forced upon us.”
“I notice that you have a river passage and a vessel. Why not report the problem to Cleave? They are closer and could have responded faster than Flowing Water Sect.”
“Cleave has disavowed our farm, excluded our homestead from their area of influence. A dispute between a wealthy young master and one of those who refused to trade his daughter to assuage the young master’s appetites,” Helena explained.
“How soon after this incident did the raids on livestock begin?” I wondered.
Matriarch Helena glanced at those listening guiltily, it seemed she had made the connection between the raids and the decision by Cleave but had not made an issue of it. She appeared to think it likely that Cleave was either directly responsible and had hired bandits to do the raiding, or they had transported and released a Velociraptor near enough that the flock of Pterosaur was targeted.
It would explain much about what confused me in the reports.
“The raids happen early morning, before sunrise” Matriarch Helena informed me, ignoring my question.
“Come, I’ll show you where the attacks are occurring,” she said as she began walking toward the coops, I’d seen placed near the stream that supplied water to the community. “The pattern is fairly consistent. Every other day, it doesn’t matter how we set a watch or what kind of defensive array we employ, our pens are attacked.
“Whatever is raiding our flock can circumvent patrols, traps, and slip past defensive foundations. There has only been one person who reported a sighting, he was adamant that what he saw was a Velociraptor.”
“Velociraptors hunt in packs, if only a single beast was sighted, that would mean some unknown variable has forced a change in hunting patterns. If this is a Velociraptor, I will need to discover why,” I said. “That the animal can ignore or compromise a defensive array can only mean that someone is letting it in.”
We had reached the grounds established to raise the flock. Helena pointed out the array, clearly demonstrating that it was powered and working. Most of the tracks that might have given a hint and helped me identify what was raiding this small farm were obliterated by the tramping of farmers. What I did find interesting was that no sign of Velociraptor tracks anywhere.
Not the smallest scratch, no sign of tracks left in the bare ground from talons dragging the carcass of the slain Pterosaur. There were plenty of footprints. I was able to conclusively identify ten unique sets that belonged to different people and another half dozen that were too obscured to include or exclude them as belonging to those I’d identified.
“How many people farm or would have been in the area after the raid?” I asked.
“The homestead has sixty-one working adults and twenty-nine children, twenty of whom are old enough to have wandered over to examine the area,” I was informed.
“So, if whatever is attacking follows the same pattern, the next raid should be in the morning?” I asked, a plan forming. The area was useless, any evidence that might have been left had been compromised. I was either going to have to hope I could identify and stop the raid where the farmers could not, or make sure any clues left behind after the theft was not disturbed. I needed tracks and clues if I hoped to follow the culprit back to its home base.
“You mentioned a young master and his interest in a young girl as the reason the relationship with Cleave has soured. I’d like to speak to that family next,” I said. This world’s forensic abilities and police procedures were non-existent. Mainly because of how large the planet was and the inability to supply dedicated people that would serve these pocket communities with a police presence, the people were scattered too widely in these small communities. But also, because Sect and Clan had assumed the responsibilities to police and safeguard communities.
Towns and cities did field guards that served to maintain law and order and would arrest criminals, but even in these places if the person wasn’t apprehended as they committed the crime, they were free of worry. No one would investigate and solve crimes, no one to attempt to understand patterns and similarities between crimes or track fenced goods.
It was one reason banditry was so widespread. There was no way to identify or prove a person was involved once escape was successful. Cultivators could tell truth from lies, but very few of them would waste their time dealing with something so trivial.
Of course, the reverse could be just as problematic. Rob or murder the wrong family, clan, or Sect, and the retaliation could be swift, deadly, and wipe out large swaths of people to make sure the guilty person was included when retribution was delivered.
The justice system was more Judge Dredd than individual rights. Might and strength decided guilt or innocence. Braun would have gotten away with his theft scheme if he had targeted a less connected merchant. But Cyntyne’s Shop had too many ties to Flowing Water Sect.
I was shocked once I’d been introduced to the girl who had piqued the interest of the young master. She hadn’t reached the age of maturity yet, and to pursue her before she turned eighteen was anathema so ingrained within the Elven culture that there should have been no way that Cleave conspired to support that young master, no matter who his family might be. Her mother explained that the young girl had just turned sixteen, and even if the family were willing to consider the match, the girl was simply too young to accept.
Engaging in sexual intercourse before reaching full maturity could have disastrous consequences for development. There had been recorded instances where spirit roots had flared becoming active during the act and burned out the meridian pathways for both parties.
“How did the young master meet your daughter?” I asked the girl’s mother.
“Sophie was visiting my husband’s Clan house,” she replied. “We like to let her spend a few months after the harvest season staying with the main branch of the family. My husband’s family has very few daughters, so she tends to get spoiled and coddled when she visits. Sons are plentiful, but Sophie is the only girl-child of this generation.
“We have known that she will be a much sought-after bride for many families, those hoping to gain an alliance with the main branch. One of the reasons we built our life and farm in this remote area is to shield her from as much of that as possible.”
“Why hasn’t your husband’s family sent people to aid with this problem? Even if the young master has enough influence in Cleave to interrupt missions from being posted, the family should have the wealth and manpower to supply their own agents,” I suggested.
“They have. Each time those sent to help have been attacked by bandits. After the third party was killed to a man, no more people would risk the attempt. Not for any amount of money,” she lamented.
None of this information had been detailed in the mission parameters I’d accepted. If they had, I doubt the rating would have been so low. It was still possible that an animal, even a Velociraptor was involved in the raids, but I didn’t think so.
And if the person was strong enough to kill three groups of people that had been forewarned of the dangers, that suggested a Cultivator was involved. And probably one that was of a higher realm than I.