While her sisters were having their fun; Vibrant found the highest place possible to lick her wounds from the fight against the 2nd Mother. This, of course, translated to sitting cross legged while overlooking the settlement below her. Being unable to feel comfortable unless she was above everyone else.

Like an unsettling itch that constantly irritated the stem of her brain - unable to be ignored yet also impossible to scratch without conforming.

Conforming was something she also didn’t like yet she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Hence why she was grumpy nearly all the time. At the very least she did genuinely enjoy being high up as it felt so freeing to experience the cold wind and lighter atmosphere.

When she closed her eyes it almost felt like she was flying through the air even if she’d need to eventually reopen her eyes once again. Doing that allowed her to see the chaos of the world below. Although those mortals were hardy (constantly moving on with their lives) signs of damage were obvious to her.

This all made her ponder on why the heavens would allow such disaster to occur across the realms when it was meant to be the manifestation of justice. Was justice this corruptible? Slowly she found her eyes turning away from the bedlam below in favour of taking in the beauty of the sky.

Something was just so peaceful since she was so high up that no birds (other than the occasional servant of Cheshire) could even be seen. Seeing those that could fly she felt something missing… Within that she wondered why the sky was so beautiful yet so far away from those mortals.

Was it beautiful because they couldn’t reach up towards it? No. She knew for a fact that plenty of entities weaker than her were able to join those birds up in that wonderful sky. It was not something untouchable however it appeared only mere luck separated those who would & could not be blessed by its grace.

How was that just?

Although she was luckier than some, it was obvious that there are some things that even she can’t do no matter how hard she works. For example, as proven by the fight earlier, she was unable to simply tank attacks with her raw body like Violent. She was also unable to wield illusions with nearly as much skill as that little Mother.

In contrast she could handle a blade with far more grace than either of them; she also had the advantage of quickly picking up that “sword qi” as well as already working on integrating it into herself. Just another sword technique for her gallery. Though she also couldn’t help observing the cultivation techniques.

A technique that became the answer to all her previous questions - a way for even the weakest human to dream of the sky above.

Such a thing… It made her wonder how hard she could push herself; how much higher could she go if she could claim a technique like that of her own. She was under no illusions that she was no genius like Cheshire who created such a monstrous thing as an entire system of seemingly endless growth.

Yet she wanted to see…

She wanted to feel…

To touch…

The sky above.

Her desire for blades was obvious nevertheless that was not the peak of her desires like the heights that she hoped to reach some day.

Though the question was how exactly was she supposed to go about reaching those heights - once again she was nowhere near as wise as Cheshire. She couldn’t even claim to be as smart as that arrogant goddess who she fought. But there was definitely one thing she understood better than anyone.

“I suppose, once again, for me… Everything revolves around the edge of a weapon; like how the carp cannot escape from the river no matter how high it jumps.”

A slight smile formed on her face as she drew a sword to angle that edge to catch the light from the cloudless celestial body above. Once again she tapped into that new energy that she was shown from that ever so annoying primordial deity. Letting it flow into her as she then began to circle it around her body.

The first few attempts left a lot to be desired; even making her cough up blood as her squishy organs ended up getting in the way. It was an obvious result since oni didn’t have qi. As a royal she of course knew the origins of the oni lay beyond the existence of time or space so naturally weren’t a part of the same system as every other entity.

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This also meant they weren’t suited to playing by the same rules so attempting to imitate it was nothing short of a foolish attempt to kill oneself. She only survived due to her advantages as a Shuten allowing her to be even sturdier than a regular oni or kijin. Still it was a hopeless endeavour whose advantage was questionable at best.

Yet, if she was anything, she was an arrogant & stubborn girl with a single mindedness that could baffle even a dragon.

“NNRGH you think a little pain is enough to hamper me - like digging out a new tributary for the water to flow to the farms - if i do not have pathways for the qi i merely need to make my own!”

True to her words she did something nothing short of insane, just as insane as trying to harvest qi for herself in the first place, as she began to use that sharpened qi on herself. When previously she just tried to store the energy she had other plans now. Forcibly carving paths into her very being.

Her teeth gritted together as the experience was not one that even she could recommend (making it so she missed a cute squeak of surprise from behind a rock) but she continued on. Branching out in the most efficient fashion she could imagine. Shaping her body to be perfectly attuned to the nature of swords.

It was far from a quick process. Taking hours of dedication that the little guest couldn’t stand so decided to sneak away while the future sword saint was distracted. The little fuzz ball needed to be quite stealthy since any odd mortal bird could likely pick it up and have it for lunch.

That didn’t stop it from risking its life - even travelling to a height which should have killed it with naught but the determination to help his owner like a good pet. Obviously its little legs didn’t allow for it to quickly make its way down; however its owner was very smart. Perceiving this when giving it its duty.

Gussied up in a reflective cloak that came into full effect when it flung its little body off from the cliff side then stretched out its little limbs. The air then got caught up in the flaps under its ickle arms. That cloak ensnared the wind to turn its inhibited descent into a peaceful controlled glide.

There wasn’t so much as a nervous shiver since the little guy had complete trust in its owner and the cloak they had created.

Letting them freely fly through the air as the tiny spy headed towards the temporary city that had been settled by those under the crazy cat. Their cute little eyes darted around as it seemed to be trying to see where it planned to land. Clearly it had been given clear instructions even if it was struggling to fulfil them.

One could hardly blame the little guy, however, as it was undoubtedly hard to recognise somewhere from above when you usually saw it from below (human) eye level. As such the poor little thing had no choice except to continuously look around in hopes of recognising a noticeably landmark.

Not easy when your eyes were as little as his own.

Eventually it did get to see something it recognised… Its owner walked towards the meeting point where she no doubt expected him. A bright light formed in its eyes as it couldn’t help happily having its snoot tremble in excitement with its whiskers joyously bouncing about to express that.

With its master already in sight it glided down to land atop her white hair, seemingly depraved of a lot of nutrients resulting in it being like straw, as a gaunt hand reached up to pet its fuzzy little head. Its owner's hand was so cold that the little fella couldn’t help worrying. Yet it knew expressing that would be insulting.

Their master was stronger than them and smarter than her sisters so adding pointless worries onto that was naught short of insulting to all she was doing to get stronger.

If it could help then she wouldn’t be sick.

“What goodies have you got?”

“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”

“Cultivation… Nn… Maybe we can see about improving your power… After all, power is all that matters in this world…”

Even though it couldn’t see the gleam in those violet eyes; the little hamster couldn’t help shudder.

“Still need name…”

As such the little sickly oni slunk back into the darkened halls without any attention from potential friend or foe alike.