"Apologies," he said greeting me with the bow used between equals. "I was in the middle of a tricky live birth and was forced to perform surgery to remove the foal in order to save both lives."
His explanation producing a modicum of guilt that I'd assumed he purposely insulting me. It was hard to remember that most of the Elders for Flowing Water didn't ascribe to the same motivation of Elder An and his faction. Most were hardworking men and women focused on their own path for advancement.
"Tiem mentioned that you would like to form a companion bond with a Roc. How young?" He asked.
"The Roc hasn't hatched yet," I explained removing the egg from the live spatial carrier. The device had been created to reproduce the ideal environment for growth. It allowed me to store the Roc and Eoraptor eggs, but it wouldn't stop time, each animal had continued to develop, they had just done so nestled and protected with the ideal temperature and conditions for growth.
"Not hatched?" He questioned taking the egg from me. "You plan on injecting Qi and hasten the hatching process?"
"If possible," I admitted. "I only have a vague understanding of the process, but I was hoping the bonding process could be accomplished while the chick is still in the egg."
"Not a bad idea," he agreed. "The chances of success increase dramatically the younger the animal is. There aren't many instances of people bonding with yet to be born companions. The conditions that allow for it are hard to meet.
He spent a few moments subjecting the egg to the same identification and analysis process the clerk had used. His excitement grew as the egg seemed to meet some metric he was using to determine if pre-birth bonding was possible.
"You are positive you want to make the attempt?" He asked. "I'm not sure what you've been told, but there is a one in four chance that the process will fail and the Roc will die. It might be better to wait, to allow the chick to be born naturally and spend a few months growing.
"I can assure, the chances of success as long as the Roc is younger than six months are guaranteed. Unless your body rejects the blood and Qi bond," he explained.
"I came across a Roc's nest on a recent mission and was able to claim the egg. Normally, I wouldn't take the risk," I continued. "but there is an inter-Sect tournament about to begin. There have been too many hints dropped that suggest that this tournament is going to be different than normal.
"Having a Roc as my soul companion, even one so young, will increase my chances of surviving, even doing well during that tournament.
"Do I want to risk the life of the egg?
"Of course not.
"But I have a feeling that my future might depend on success here today."
"Interesting," Iliuse said as he approached his worktable. Jade slips had been arranged in a descending sequence, from large to small. Each held in place and together by a bit of metal to create an instrument that resembled a xylophone.
I extended my perception to watch as Elder Iliuse set the egg in a cradle, lashing it in place before picking up two rubber mallets. Holding one in each hand, he began injecting Qi into the instruments creating a dissonance as he wielded each mallet for vibration and sound. Once he was happy with the frequency, he began striking the jade tokens performing a series of embellishments, order, and harmony that resulted in music.
His actions were swift and certain. AS musical notes were released, a Qi formation began to form. The sequence giving an order; the vibration giving a function. I watched as an area on the platform began to light up; the Qi flowing from the jade control instrument he was interacting with to the engraving that surrounded the cradle that held the Roc egg.
His movements, his use of harmony, music, and frequency was a method of programming, a way to adapt an already existing array or foundation, without building something new that was unique and tailored to circumstance.
The jade tokens were a Qi representation of a computer, while his mallets striking in an order that I failed to understand, where the programming language that gave the engravings that had been etched into the platform orders. It was an interesting solution that merged the technology of the real world I had been born into, and this virtual world of cultivators.
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A computer and programming system based on jade, frequency, and Qi.
When he was satisfied with the changes to enchantment he had made, the platform began to move. Two adjacent hexagonal areas were emitting a soft bluish light. The flow of Qi could be observed visually, as the energy he had injected into the formations flowed, quicksilver flashes of Qi that were most obvious where the fields intersected.
"Animals have meridians and channels the same as cultivators," Iliuse began explaining as he moved to gather two needles and test tubes. "I will draw a vial of blood from you and the Roc, as well as some of the embryotic solution. The Roc's blood will be injected in you, yours into the yolk the Roc is feeding on for growth.
"As I do this, you need to reach out across the bridge that will be formed. You need to connect each of your meridian channels, you Dantian, and lastly your Spirit Ocean.
"What rank is your Spirit root?" he asked suddenly.
"Platinum, with dual elemental affinities to water and air," I answered.
"How complete is the control of your affinities?" He wondered.
"I can manipulate them well enough that I have gained proficiency with ice, fog, and lightning, too," I informed him.
"Rocs are not the most powerful animal companion you could bind, but they do have sixty contact points, similar to your spirit root to the network you have learned to control. You will need to forge a connection, form pair bonds between your network and the newly forming system the Roc will be born with.
"Joining your meridian channels and nodes with the Roc will be the most difficult part and will determine if this works or not. Your Qi will solve issues of blood compatibility easily, you don't need to worry about rejection or blood type, but for the Qi to work your signature will need to harmonize with the fragile system that has yet to be stabilized by the animal.
"Your spirit root is both boon and bane. You have gained a powerful boon, you can bind with the most powerful animals, but the intricacy of your spirit root comes with a cost, the binding process will be harder, you will have to spend more time gaining control and forging pair-bonds.
"You will have to forge connections, establish 78 bridges bringing the entirety of your spirit root into harmony. The Roc, only having sixty points of contact, means that you will have to create and weave meridian channels together, building clusters and nodes to connect before making connections.
"There have been attempts to use more than one meridian channels as a bridge, attempting multiple connections between cultivator and companion when this type of imbalance occurs. It has always failed.
"You will need to manage and track your progress, eighteen of your connections must be made using two clustered channels. If you haven't begun refining your martial techniques using clustered meridians to empower the elemental energies you can wield, it would be better for you to wait before making this attempt.
"The process shouldn't be painful, the difficulty isn't based on your ability to endure, but your ability to keep track of the process. And you will need to be aware of how the Roc is responding. Not only do you need to forge pair-bonds, but you need to use Qi to stabilize and preserve the health of the chick.
"If you are unable to synchronize and harmonize your Qi with the Rocs, your body will react, it will treat the animal's Qi an attack, a virus and instigate methodology to fight off the foreign invader.
"If that happens, there is nothing to be done for you or the Roc. You will have shared blood. You will be immune from binding with any Rocs in the future, and the Roc will have to be destroyed or set free because it can never process another cultivator's blood," Iliuse finished his explanation.
Beast Hall had explained this to the Outer Sect members in drips and drabs, small snippets of information that was parceled out as I performed the tasks assigned to me each day. But Iliuse's warnings were more succinct, his information explaining some of the lingering questions I'd had about why immunities might occur more detailed.
My Platinum spirit root was both boom and bust, but the opportunities and advantages it afforded me made the binding, no matter how difficult, it was an asset that I couldn't pass up. I might find a more powerful animal companion in the future, but the Roc resonated with something within me. It satisfied my desire to bind with a companion that was capable of flight, fighting, and scouting.
"I understand, Honored Senior. Elder Shadow has instructed me and allowed me to gain some insight and proficiency with grouping meridian channels. I believe that I have advanced far enough from the gift of his teachings to create enough dual forged channels to bond successfully," I said making my decision known.
I would bind with this Roc because if I failed, I would have to kill it. Its parents would not accept it back, even if I took the time to make the trip back to the valley to return it, and it was too young to survive on its own. And if I released it to the wild as a freshly hatched chick, there was no path forward for survival. It would be cruel to even make the attempt.
"If you would step into one side of the formation, I will release the partition separating the Roc egg from the other hexagon," he guided me, not attempting to change my mind, once I had made my decision known.
I wasn't certain if this was a sign of respect, that he felt I knew my circumstances well enough to make an informed and appropriate decision. Or if he simply didn't care. Either way, the path forward was clear. My decision made, and the life of the Roc in the balance.