“There’s no need for that,” I laughed as Safi struggled to cross her legs into the lotus position. “Just sit whichever way is more comfortable.”

“I thought this was part of the process…” she said, slightly embarrassed.

“You have traditionalists that think it is but, trust me, after a few lifetimes I realised the lotus position was just as productive as a handstand,” I said. Safi looked at me questioningly but crossed her legs the normal way, I only smiled and continued.

Her soul root was in its infancy, as was mine. The Tamer soul root could become very powerful depending on the cultivation technique used. A sub-par technique would stunt its growth meaning the peak would be far lower than it could be.

“You have a lot to choose from, we could be here a while…” I began.

“I’m good at making decisions, and I know what I want. I don’t see this being difficult,” she said with confidence. I had to admit so far she had proved that to be true.

“Alright, well. There are only a few that I am fully familiar with, I can still teach you the others but I won’t be able to help you as much with the process.”

“Let’s start with the ones you’re familiar with,” she said decidedly.

“The farmer’s last word. It’s a technique that specialises in the taming of herbivores. There is no friendship in this technique, the creature will be fully aware that it is livestock…” I could see her shaking her head vehemently. I got the message and moved to the next.

I was hoping that by telling her what she would detest, she might be able to think more clearly about what she wanted from her cultivation journey.

“Engel’s mighty game. As per the name this technique specialises in mighty creatures. Large, strong with no aptitude for subtlety in the sligh…”

“No,” she said, interrupting me. “Sorry, I don’t want to sound ungrateful. It sounds like an incredible technique, just... Not for me.”

“Relax. Like I said, there’s lots to choose from.” She nodded her head in understanding. The creatures sharing the cave with us had calmed down significantly and were quietly observing our conversation.

“Right, next on the chopping block,” I said with a laugh. She giggled and waited for me to continue. “It’s called - Cloudweavers. It focuses on, as I’m sure you can guess, creatures that soar the skies.” After sharing this one I could see her considering it. She eventually urged me to continue.

“This is the last one I have full knowledge of,” I said. she nodded in reply. “Lonely whispers,” I said. It got her attention immediately, it was why I saved this one for last. “It’s focus is on creatures that crave interaction but lack it. Basically, it’s about making friends rather than slaves or pets.”

She folded her arms. “You already knew exactly which one I’d pick from the beginning,” she said. I only shrugged.

“I had an inkling. So, which one will it be?”

“You know very well which one it will be,” she said matter of factly.

“Engel’s mighty game, then?” I said with all the seriousness I could muster. She did not find me amusing and so she continued.

“Before we start, is this ‘Lonely whispers’ technique a good match for me? I want your opinion,” she asked.

“All of the techniques I shared are perfect for you physically. From there it’s all about which technique will provide you with the most…” I tried to indicate for her to finish the sentence.

“Power?”

“Happiness…” I said disappointedly. “Isn’t that the goal?”

“Oh yes,” she said with a laugh. “That makes more sense. In that case, whilst it sounds a little too melancholy for my liking, I’ll go with Lonely whispers.”

“Lonely creatures are few and far between,” I warned

“Quality over quantity,” she rebutted.

“They might not end up being the kind of creature you want them to be.”

“I’m not one to make judgements on physical appearance,” she said. “Am I?” Considering I was currently talking to her with the physical appearance of someone she despises, I could only agree.

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“Then, I think you are ready.”

I began to expound on foundation qi, and upon realising she could not even begin learning the technique until she’d gathered enough, she became a little sombre. I managed to renew her motivation by saying it could help her challenge the biting cold.

I left her to gather qi, having noticed this the four creatures of the cave began to cultivate as well. Their method was slightly different to humans, they had no choice in what technique they cultivated as it was tied to their race. The benefit of that was that any creature could achieve the peak for their own species as opposed to humans who needed a high level technique that also complimented their soul root.

With the snowstorm still raging, I resigned myself to the floor of the cave once more. The dirty stone refusing to provide any form of comfort. I spied Safi sitting on her bag and once again, chided myself for not having thought of such a thing sooner.

I continued to imprint my qi. After imprinting my base qi, I was going to be able to cultivate a higher volume. Some practitioners would breakthrough immediately upon finishing imprinting base qi however, that stunted growth more than a bad technique would.

As I leisurely surfed the rolling dunes of red and white I began to realise I did not feel so lonely, maybe it was the fact that Safi was mere metres from me but the white waves did not feel as terrifying as before.

After a few hours I decided it was best for me to keep watch. A cave full of meditating cultivators would be easy prey for any creature entering with an empty stomach. After hours of waiting, the snowstorm finally stopped.

The sky cleared almost instantly leaving me thinking I’d hallucinated the storm. The felled trees and waist deep snow were enough to convince me otherwise. I decided we would wait a little longer, at least until the snow was shallow enough to wade through.

Then, after another few hours Safi stood up. “I did it! I have my base!”

I laughed at her, her face immediately fell from a wide smile and glittering eyes to a deep frown and creased eyebrows. “Let’s have a look then?” I asked.

“Well, now I’m not so sure that I do…” she said.

“I can tell you for certain that you don’t,” I didn’t want her to get her hopes up.

“But… I feel like I can’t gather anymore,” she said helplessly. I spent a few minutes teaching her what a bottleneck was. She was rather embarrassed by the end but it was time to leave the cave anyway.

We squeezed our way out, the creatures sniffed at Safi but ultimately seemed quite unconcerned that she was leaving. I held back a laugh as she exited the cave with a downtrodden look about her.

“I thought we had something…” she said.

“They didn’t deserve you anyway,” I replied.

We trudged through the snow, slowly. As we rounded the mountain I felt a peculiar qi invade my body. I moved my qi to block its invasion and rushed to Safi to do the same. I wanted to respect her aversion to physical contact with me but she was ill equipped to deal with an attack of this sort and exceptionally vulnerable to it.

“Will you trust me?” I asked, hurriedly.

She was taken aback by my sudden intensity but nodded her head. That was all I needed, I used an illusion technique that did not require physical contact then grasped her hand. I immediately worked to fight the invading qi from her body as well.

A few minutes later and the qi showed no sign of stopping its attack. It had become predictable now, almost as if it was moving in a preset pattern rather than trying to break my defences.

I had hoped whoever it was coming from would give up but I had begun to suspect this was something entirely different. After a couple more minutes I became sure of the attacking qi’s lack of will.

As far as I knew, naturally occurring qi storages would not attack passersby narrowing it down to something man made. So, I looked for statues, shrines or arrays.

I set up Safi with enough defense to protect her then allowed her to regain consciousness. I did not have to actively defend against an attack with a predetermined pattern which meant I could focus my efforts on searching for a source.

As she shook herself awake, Safi turned to watch me as I shuffled around, searching with my qi. “What happened?” she asked.

“Malicious qi invaded. I had to block it for you but, I had to touch your hand to do it. I’m sorry.”

She looked at her hand, it must have been slightly warmer than the other due to my qi being pushed through it.

“Are we safe now?” she asked.

“Not entirely. I’m trying to find the source but the attack is predictable so it shouldn’t be a direct threat. If that changed I might need to touch your hand again.”

“Okay,” she said.

She followed me as I meandered through the trees and foliage. Eventually, a clearing presented itself. “What a lovely house.” said Safi. Unperturbed despite the ominous cabin in the woods. “I wonder who lives there?” she asked.

I looked up, I could see the faint light associated with an array formation. It’s intentions still evaded me but it was likely just a weak hiding array to disguise this cabin. I surmised a lonely cabin in the woods that someone did not want people or creatures to find would be, generally, bad news.

“Don’t think for a second I’m not knocking on that door,” said Safi.

“Please don’t,” I said. Unfortunately she was already trudging towards the cabin. Her arms swinging exaggeratedly with each step to help her plough through the snow.

She knocked on the door. “Hello? Is there anyone home?” she asked.

I summoned my ring of light behind me, preparing for the worst. No one answered. I was about to interrupt her invasion but she had already slid the door open. She looked inside and gasped a little.

“She’s sleeping…” she said. I poked my head round the corner and found what she was talking about. There was a woman sleeping in an unkempt bed, she had the most chaotic sleeping posture I’d ever seen.

“Talk about defenseless,” I said.