Their journey from the mountains to the jungle had been boring. Not like fighting the bad guys in the valley, that was awesome once Laurel woke up and everything was fine again. Just more flying over the middle of nowhere. Laurel had found another thing a few days ago they had stopped for. Something about a rock never being in shadow absorbing sunlight. Leander hadn’t paid as much attention because Laurel made Rebecca harvest that one instead of him. Now they had reached the jungle. Laurel said they were fair enough south that it was never winter here, though that didn’t make any sense. He had gone along with it anyway. After all, he could tell the air here was wet and hot. Magic probably made it that way and they would find some awful magic rock that made everything sweaty forever.

They landed the planes and camped on an open area, and somehow the weather was even worse down on the ground. Maybe because there was no wind. Bugs and animals made the whole place loud in a way he’d never heard before. He knew the bustle of city dwellers going about their day. There was no rhythm or pattern he could pick out in this place, noise on top of noise on top of noise. A hand coming down on one of his shoulders made him jump.

“Try focusing on one thing. That’s how I got over the noises the planes make.” Trip gave him a smile and urged him towards where Laurel and Kat were looking at a paper map, while Laurel’s magic version hovered above them.

“The mana is denser the farther in we go, but there won’t be anywhere to land the planes.” Laurel was tracing lines towards the center of a big green area on the map.

“Eh, we can get closer than you think. The Oudigans run regular patrols to keep the roads clear, in case they have to move people fast. If we get creative we can take it close enough to only need to hike a day or two off the roads.” Kat was pointing out the roads with an unlit cigar. Her path would have them zigzagging back and forth towards the middle of the continent.

“Let’s do it that way. I would love to get the kids some wilderness experience on a longer trip but not when there are other masters trying to get to these themselves.” Laurel nodded decisively and it was settled. “We’ll camp here for the night and then start following the first road tomorrow.”

Leander and Rebecca were practiced enough setting up camp now that it was only a bit over half an hour later that they were sitting in front of Laurel for their evening cultivation lesson.

“Now that you’ve moved into the initiate stage there are two ideas you need to keep in mind as you move forward. The first thing to consider is what you want the goal of your cultivation path to be. The second is what elements or ideas resonate most with you and your goals. This can be anything. When I was your age I wanted the freedom to go anywhere and do anything. I wanted to protect myself and my friends. That eventually translated into swordwork and large-scale offensive techniques. I chose metal and air affinities to increase my swordsmanship and allow me to fly and pull big effects together quickly. Eventually I added lightning with the intent to eventually evolve the affinities into storm and blade. Hence the sobriquet. Martin had similar ideas, but focused on flexibility and adapting to any situation. He chose water and earth, so he can never be trapped or contained.

“I’ve had friends focused on ideas in crafting and creating wonders, healing others, learning as much as possible, gardening, teaching, exploring the many worlds of the universe. There is no right or wrong answer, and if you get strong enough you will have all the time in the world to change goals later, but you need a focus to move forward. When you aspect your mana, the ideas you’ve worked into your cultivation will dictate what you can do with it, at least to start. That’s part of why we call it cultivation, you need to plant a seed and then grow it into something that you can embody.

“I want the two of you to spend an hour meditating on what you want to cultivate towards. Then work on drawing the ambient mana into your body to run faster for the rest of the time before bed.”

She left them sitting there. Leander had noticed she did that a lot to let them ‘process’ whatever she had just said. He was starting to think it was more to keep them from asking too many questions, but he didn’t mind that. It was obvious enough. He needed to pick what role he wanted to fill in the sect and then be the very best at it. Laurel was taking a stance on the other side of their clearing. She made a sword appear and began moving through a sort of slow dance-thing. Every day since they had been attacked in the valley she had worked with her sword. To avoid getting rusty, she said, though she had won that fight so he wasn’t totally clear on why she was concerned.

He let his mind drift. When he’d started showing up to cultivation classes, Laurel had told him it wasn’t about thinking too hard, but letting the right thoughts come to the front. What did he want to be? At the end of the hour Rebecca prodded him up to move onto their other drills, he still hadn’t come any closer to answering the question.

The next morning they set out angling southwest over the jungle. It was a bit less boring than flying over the ocean. At least here they found a road to follow along and sometimes the trees changed color. Around midday they passed a fork in the road, turning more south. There were people camped at a clearing around the intersection. He leaned over to wave but they were moving too fast to notice if anyone waved back. The rest of the time he spent thinking about Laurel’s lesson and what he wanted to cultivate towards. The pattern repeated for another three days before they set down along the side of a road deep in the jungle. It had been two days since they’d passed any other travelers, and Major Kat and Laurel both agreed it was as close as they could get. Tomorrow they would have to start out on foot.

Stolen story; please report.

*********

This time Laurel was in front. They were following game trails as much as possible, but when that failed someone had to hack through the dense undergrowth. That person might as well be a master cultivator with a metal affinity that kept her blades from being dulled. So she hacked away with a machete infused with mana. Even with the higher mana density of the region, most plants were still just plants. When she found some tree or vine that seemed close to becoming spiritual flora she left it alone. This would be a perfect region to send sect members to for future harvests of cultivation resources. Every few hours, or when they passed a particularly promising plant she would toss the map orb into the air to take a detailed impression. Around noon she passed something notable enough to have the others take a look.

“Not really sure what these little guys are all about but they are bursting with mana. Something will probably form in the little pond within a few years. Maybe a poison attuned plant or natural treasure.”

Laurel directed the group that was following her to peek around a few leaves. Hidden behind them was a small pond and a colony of frogs in vibrant colors. Some blue, some orange or eye-searing yellow, about half had speckling or patterns. The rest of the group was less enthused by the discovery, stepping very carefully around the pond to avoid any of the frogs.

The group had been split similarly to their last adventure, given it was much more likely for someone to happen upon the planes while they were camped along a trade route. So she was accompanied by her sect members, the original cultivator student soldiers, and Maria, who had announced she would wither if she had to sit around at the camp for a week. Kat had waved them off without looking up from her book, occasionally tossing orders at the rest of the soldiers staying behind.

By mid-afternoon the grumbling from everyone behind Laurel had mostly tapered off into labored pants. She had taken it upon herself to use a variant of the technique she usually used for rain to keep bugs off of them all, but there was little she could do about the humidity. There was a swirl in the mana up ahead that Laurel was aiming for. Not the rapid flow or turbulence of a population center, but something closer to a tidal pool, self-contained but with hidden depths.

The trees thinned slightly and Laurel pushed her way into a clearing. A small hut was nestled against the treeline on the other side. But that was barely a consideration as the group filtered into the opening and looked around. The clearing was full of a hundred orchids. Vibrant pinks, blues, and yellows painted the clearing in a spray of brilliant petals. Some of the flowers were in shade, some standing proudly in the center of the clearing. Rebecca managed to grab Leander’s hand back before he picked one. Perfectly timed too, as afterward an older man emerged from the hut carrying a rifle awkwardly in two hands. He shouted something at them but Laurel couldn’t make it out. Maria shouted back in the same language and the man relaxed and approached them.

“Sorry about that, don’t get many strangers out in these parts.” He had switched to a heavily accented Meristan.

“Not at all! We didn’t expect to find anyone but we stumbled upon your area. Can I ask why you’re so far off the roads?”

“Oh sure. It’s the flowers, yeah? The rich city folk pay for ‘em, but they can’t grow from seed out on the coast, so I farm out here and bring them in a few times a year.

More chatting revealed the man’s name was Cantor and he had spent his younger years working in a city on the Oudigan coast. Even better, while he was perfectly content to spend most of his time alone, he would be happy to host them for the evening. Sitting around the cookfire, Laurel couldn’t wait any longer to ask.

“Cantor, have you noticed any changes with the plants and animals around here in the last few years.”

“Sure. The critters have been getting a bit more forward, but the flowers have been growing better than ever.”

Laurel was not getting any better at subtle introductions to magic in this new world so she dove right in. “Do you have any experience with magic? The flowers appear to be soaking in the ambient mana of the region and stabilizing your little oasis.”

Cantor’s eyes had glazed over from Laurel’s explanation. “Uh, sure I guess?”

“Would we be able to purchase one from you?”

“Ah, that I can do girlie. How about a lovely vanda, or a slipper?”

“Perfect. Leander and Rebecca here would love to take notes, and help you for the evening in whatever chores you have for them in appreciation.

The children trudged after the man while Cantor waxed poetically on the different types of orchids and their unique care. They settled on a brilliant purple flower, with white specks flecked across the petals like droplets of paint. Rebecca kept notes on all the types of orchids while Leander was listening to the directions to keep it alive. They were then sent off to cart the various pots around and pour water to Cantor’s exacting standards.

*********

After dinner Laurel called the two sect members back over for the normal evening practice. Their sectmaster was sitting in a perfect meditation pose next to her new flower. Leander had a feeling he knew what she was going to tell them.

“The spatial tattoo can’t hold anything living. Even the tiny motive spirit in a flower is enough to prevent me from storing it. So I’ll need you two to do your best to keep this little guy alive until we get back to the sect.”

Leander looked at Laurel, then turned to Rebecca, and lastly to the flower itself. They still had to go through at least one desert and one mountain range according to the map. And they had to keep this jungle flower alive through all of that. He had no choice but to agree. He had a feeling this was another thing Laurel considered “good training”, which meant there were no arguments that would get him out of it.

“Here, Leander, why don’t you hold it tonight and keep it with you while you meditate.” Laurel abruptly stood and walked off to do her sword practice, leaving Leander and Rebecca staring at the flower.

He kept staring at it while he tried to drop into meditation. Each time he got close he was distracted by thinking about how to keep the flower safe in the planes. It would need light in the jungle and shade in the desert. Maybe Laurel would let him borrow her water crystal. He glanced over at Rebecca. Her breathing was even and she didn’t seem to care about the flower at all. That wasn’t right, they needed to help it so it could grow big. Laurel mentioned it had a spirit, and she had talked about plants and animals that could think and talk. Was this thing going to be alive and join the sect? Leander would protect it the way he would protect everyone in the sect. Thoughts settled, he was able to slip into meditation. At least until Laurel came over and set them both into sprinting back and forth.