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Chapter 31: "Reward Protocol."
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Shae stumbled out of the Silver Tortoise the next morning feeling like she had drunk a dozen beers the night before. The first rays of morning threatened a migraine. She had been forced out when an attendant came to get her, saying her time in the room was up.
The night had been a blur, the qi gathering pill was like a rush of various drugs. She put the intensity on par with those dozen beers she didn't get to drink, except with more variety. The aftereffects did match, unfortunately.
The hangover didn't kick in until she stepped out of the special formations, then gradually grew as she left the building. Maybe it was leaving meditation that did it, she thought. I'll have to ask if this is usual.
"Miss! Miss Heavenly Shae?"
She thought it was Don Flatao for a heartbeat, but the voice was too firm. "Uugh?" She shielded her eyes from the sun and nodded.
"The sergeant's been looking for you all morning, c'mon, the squad's got something for you!" The private dragged her away.
"Ugh, wait, how far? Need to get my stuff first." She grumbled.
"Just in the square, come. Monks were asked to keep an eye out for you, too!"
"Ugh, why didn't they...?" she trailed off as she stumbled to keep up with him pulling her along.
"Wow, you look a right mess." The corporal said, too loudly. While stepping in on her other side.
"Mhmm... stupid qi pill. Stupid sword Bai gave me it."
"Qi gathering? Aye, they can be right nasty the first time, or the first few times, I hear. Something about not using all their power, or... overusing it? Don't remember."
"Hm, helpful. Corp- hey, I never got your names?"
"Hah, not surprised, we don't give them out much. We're just the sixth-less-two seeker squad to most."
She rubbed her head trying to convert six-less-two from Imperial standard's base-twelve to base-ten. "Oh... can you write this all down, I'm gonna forget when I pass out in five."
"Five what?"
"Yea."
An awkward pause later they reached the main square with the full squad of new recruits squared up in formation.
"There she is!" The Staff Sergeant called out.
Shae's painfully sensitive hearing caught quite a few relieved sighs. "Mhm." She managed and waved weakly.
"Corporal?"
"Qi gathering pill withdrawal, I think she just got off it, Sir."
"Hmgh." He grunted. "Give her some of the wake-up tea."
"Sir?"
"Just a little. She's small."
The corporal shrugged and a waterskin appeared in his hand. "Small sip of this Miss Shae, should help."
She heard should help and took a big sip instead.
It took a few slow, anxious breaths from everyone in the audience for the effects to hit her. She suddenly inhaled deeply, her eyes opening wide.
"Wow!" She wobbled on her feet. "I'm going to need a whole case of whatever that is."
"Gonna have to join up for that."
"Huh. How long to get into the... alchemy division?"
"The group that makes that? Four years."
"Ugh, not worth it. I'll just find someone to sell me some crack at the sect."
"Ugh, Miss Shae, please don't do any cultivator drugs, those are exceedingly bad for everyone." The grunt that had escorted her spoke up awkwardly.
"Noted, Private. So I heard your squad made up a little thank-you card for me?" She saw one of the monks across the square spot her, so she waved and he waved back, then ran off like he had something important to do.
"Bit more than a little." The Sergeant said. "It would be right shameful for us to not give you a proper thanks after two enlightenments. Just one is enough for something special most of the time."
Shae saw the corporal weighing the waterskin with an uncertain look. She checked her pulse and found it racing. "Sorry to interject, but how bad is the crash?"
"Heh, drink lots of water and get some food in you and you won't feel much worse than you already looked."
She grimaced. "Any other side effects?"
"Only if you keep drinking it."
Shae saw another monk come rushing, oh it's Yungfan! The woman stopped when she saw that the girl was busy.
'Where were you?' Shae heard a silent message that sounded a little bit like Yungfan.
The corporal perked up like he had heard it too. Turned directly towards the monk and waved her over, which she took as the signal to finish rushing over. "We haven't started yet, make it quick, please."
"We were waiting at your inn?"
"I never left the Tortoise."
She looked back down the road. "Why not? Surely your own bed would be better than the floor?"
"You know why! I was cultivating." Shae looked confused.
"All- all night!?" Yungfan nearly shouted, then shifted it to a whisper.
The girl nodded.
"So you must be..." The monk puffed-up her cheeks and rounded her arms about her torso.
"Full?" Shae shrugged.
Yungfan's eyes got wider somehow. "Were you doing it wrong?" She leaned closer.
Shae pushed her back. "Could you go get my things, I'm supposed to be at the edge of town... like an hour ago." She squinted over at the sun peeking over the rooftops.
"So you are still going. Right, good, yes I'll do that." She turned to leave, then paused. Looked back at Shae, then at the corporal's waterskin. "What did you-?" She stepped forwards quickly and got a sniff from the open waterskin. "You didn't!" She accused.
The corporal glanced sideways at the staff sergeant.
"She's a child!" Yungfan rounded on the man.
"She had qi pill withdrawal, and it was just a sip."
"A big sip." The corporal muttered. Earning a stern glare from his Staff Sergeant. Then he took a sip out of it too, capped it, and made it disappear back into his storage item.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
She grunted angrily. "Right, I'll add extra water and fresh food to the list." Yungfan began stalking off.
"Oooh, see if you can get some of that Flower Nectar juice."
Yungfan paused and turned like she was going to tell Shae off, but instead said, "Hmm, yes that is a good idea, the sugar will help." Then she turned away.
"Right, straight into it then. Squad sound off." The staff sergeant barked.
What followed was a few minutes of loud and formal military precision, ending with the group shouting: "In our thankfulness, we honor thee, Heavenly Shae. Please accept this gift."
What the Staff Sergeant presented was a black hilted sword in a charcoal scabbard. From the shape she guessed it was a Jian. Clean and well made with just a few brass embellishments that might have been gold. It could pass for a dress uniform weapon, except its hilt and a good portion of the scabbard were wrapped with a fine silver wire, making it look like a spider had wove a nest all over it.
At her curious inspection, the Staff Sergeant explained. "Since you're young, you probably don't know this old tradition. It's not used much anymore, what with sword cultivators all over the place. This is called a peace-wrapped blade. It signifies the holder is not interested in violence, and that you have, in the past, resolved conflict with words alone. Which we figured you did with the bandits."
Shae gave a hesitant nod.
"There's some ambiguity about whether qi and such counts as without violence." The corporal filled in.
Shae took a moment to appreciate the craft involved with the wrapping and construction. "It's lovely. Really, it is." She ran her hands over the hilt, feeling the texture of the grip interrupted by the wire wrapping. She was even fairly sure she could still get a grip on the weapon to use it as a club, or to block with.
"Peace-wrapped means different things to different people. Most use cloth as a temporary wrap, just to pacify the weapon, or imply the idea, cultivators are rarely pacified. Here, the metal wire means it's intentionally permanent. Which means there's a lot more meaning to carrying this around, responsibility too. While the tradition is old, stories stay young, and those in and around the service will know what it means."
"Which is?" She asked and looked up at him.
"It's not really about the bandit. For us, it means you did something great. That we can trust you like one of our own. It's about the closest I can get to deputizing a civilian, in terms of trust, at least."
Shae smiled widely and tried not to cry. "I love it, and I will wear it with pride."
He smiled back and said, "Thank you, Heavenly Shae." followed by the whole squad, Corporal included, yelling it into the square for all to hear.
The several people that were around had become a larger audience and they all applauded. Some immediately recognized the performance was over and walked away to finish their own morning duties.
"I think I'll have to have a proper thankful cry about this tomorrow when I'm not wired on energy drink. Uh, how do I wear it? Properly?"
"Ah, of course." The staff sergeant said and brought out a belt for her. On your hip would be the correct way, as to be prepared for battle. But for you, you may also wear it on your back like a larger weapon, since you have no need to use it."
"Great!" Shae said as she let him adjust the belt.
Yungfan returned about this time. "Ah! A pacified blade. Very good gift, Sergeant. Looks well made too. Who's blade was it?"
"Oh! Good question! None of you had to give yours up, I hope?" Shae followed.
The Sergeant smirked. "Not one of ours, no. You might not recognize it in the new sheath. It was that cultivator's Jian. The one we picked up out of town."
"Oh." Shae said flatly, unsure how to feel.
"Cultivator? Having another cultivator's sword means she fought and defeated them, but she didn't have it before." Yungfan looked to the Sergeant for explanation.
"It's peace bound." Was all he said.
The monk squinted at it and leaned closer. "So, you didn't defeat them directly? When did- oh, this is a very nice blade. It is good that you cannot draw it, it might get you into more fights that it will get you out of."
"The idiot would have won if he had just played fair. A lesson for all of you not to underestimate people." Shae snapped, then lectured.
"You might have to tell me about it, but now you need to drink this." She shoved a waterskin in front of the girl.
She drank. "Mmm, tasty!"
"With your leave, Staff Sergeant." The monk asked.
"I might come with, to hear this story, you still haven't explained how you did it. Corporal, standard formal wear training."
"Yes, sir." He saluted.
Shae mimicked the salute towards the group of recruits and privates. They all saluted back in unison. "Oh, neat!" She whispered.
The staff sergeant returned the salute and the three walked away. He whispered to Shae. "Their salute was for me, not you. You're still a civvie." He winked.
"Heh, well the new recruits sure seem well trained already, they did the salute all at the same time."
"They worked pretty hard, even the newbies wanted to impress you."
"Aww!" She put a hand over her face as she blushed.
Yungfan squeezed her shoulder. "Keep drinking and eating or that junk is going to hit you pretty hard."
"Mhm!" She drank more of the Flower Nectar the monk had brought her. The juice today was a bit different, and she supposed they probably didn't have a solid supply chain to get the same juice all the time. "Do I want to know what that stuff really was?"
"Pssh, it's not that bad." The veteran officer said.
"Just don't drink anything people call wake-up juice or quick-morning tea. It's always some alchemist's concoction that will leave you worse off for more hours than it helps you get past."
"Miss Shae, sometimes you need to be awake, alert enough to respond to anything, even if you regret it later."
"Hmm, yea, I get it. I'd rather just have some coffee or high caffeine tea."
"Coffee? Only heard of that once or twice in stories. And what's caffeine?" He asked.
"It's the stimulant part of tea and coffee. Much more in coffee, but lots of teas have it too. Well, technically it's... Eh nevermind, doesn't matter. If you are really tired and drink some normal tea and get less tired, that's caffeine."
"Hmm, I think I have heard of some monks trying to breed tea for its wakefulness properties. Don't think they succeeded though." Yungfan mused.
Shae shrugged. "It doesn't replace sleep anyways. Just pushes it back a bit. Supposed to be good for focus and concentration. Though, we are talking about a mortal chemical produced by a plant. It's not going to do anything crazy special "
"As much as I'm enjoying the, uh, botany lesson, Miss Shae. Did you want to explain what you did to that poor bandit?"
"It's a bandit now? And why would you call him poor, like he deserves pity?"
"Because of what she did to him, Wise Kaiun. You're right, though. He deserved what he got."
"Hmm..." Shae hummed. "Not sure I'm supposed to talk about it. I did mention this when we talked in the square that first day. I said he had a shard of something?"
"Huh." The staff sergeant tilted his head in thought. "It's about that? Yea, not a public subject, at least."
"Care to let me in?"
"You weren't listening at the time?"
"Not that part, I think Wise Kwan was, but he didn't retell the whole thing to us."
The staff sergeant reached over and put a hand on the monk's shoulder. She tilted her head like she was listening, then her eyebrows went wide.
"You disaster of a girl! How could you even know that?" She grabbed Shae from behind and lifted her into a hug she vainly struggled against. 'Dao, really?- Is that why you.- Are hard to sense?'
"Nope, that's something else. Who knows, though. Even Elder Ghon wasn't sure."
"Hmm, well rumor is he's been on that mountain for a while, might not be caught up on current... err, sensitive topics."
Yungfan put Shae back down. "So, your assailant demonstrates some power and you...?"
"Uhhh, so he jumped up in the air to assert dominance, and I spun him and pushed him back down. Metaphorically. Then I threatened him with some power of my own, normal power, which was mostly a bluff. But because he was just so very convinced he should win, he had a bit of a mental breakdown, or backlash, or whatever the cultivation equivalent of that is."
"Qi deviation?"
"Hmm, almost, but not fully. He wasn't in that kind of trouble when we found him. Though, that is what I told the squad. Easier that way."
"What state was he in?"
The sergeant shrugged. "He hadn't broken. But he did surrender immediately. Based on what you described, his power -his dao- might have turned against him." He swapped to silent messaging for those two words.
"What?" Shae asked. "What does that mean?"
He wobbled a hand around. "Varies, think of it like grabbing the wrong part of the sword. You could still use it,-"
"-but not safely." Yungfan finished.
"Hmm. Well, anyway. If you think what I did to him was bad, don't go talk to Elder Ghon. You'll have your own qi deviation, or whatever."
"That doesn't make me less curious." Yungfan pouted. "And should you really take credit for that?"
Shae flinched out a grimace.
"Heh, how are you going to keep up this streak of ridiculous encounters once you get to the sect?"
"Keep up? Why would I want to do that? I'm going to relax, and take lots of baths, and sleep in!"
"Heh, I don't think basic initiates get that kind of freedom right away."
"Oh? And who says I'm basic?" She glared wryly.
"Ah, that is true, you are far too adorable. They will have to make you the class mascot!"
"Mascot! Classes!? Ugh, don't tell me I'm going to have to put up with teenage school drama!"
Both adults remained silent.
"Ahhhh! Nooo!" Shae ran ahead in a mock panic, with her hands clutching her head.
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