Chapter 20: The Shelled City

Sakura

I sat, cultivating chie for the first time in weeks. It was an experience Sakura was familiar with, but the Genji side of me found it deeply refreshing. I cycled chie in my chie core, or Danchen, and that gave me a mental buzz not unlike drinking too much black coffee in the morning.

Everything felt interesting and demanded my attention. My mind tried to race as spiritual and physical energy surged out of the core, and then was reabsorbed by it. I knew that once I ascended to the Immortal realm, the new chie I cultivated wouldn’t be able to escape the weight of the core. It would be reabsorbed as a matter of course, unable to escape and rattle my body and mind as it was doing now.

A reinforced, heavier core, along with a much longer life span, was the hallmark of the immortal realm. Along with, I had learned, a full first set of cleansed meridians. Which I suspected would be important to the process of reinforcing the core. But that was not a mystery I yet knew. My parents would teach me, once I reached that stage.

What I did know were the stages before, and one after where I was now.

I, like most nobles, had started at the Copper stage since I was born with a chie core. Those without a chie core had to start their journey at the Foundation stage. From there, I ascended to the Iron stage when I had learned to suffuse my body with chie, and had strengthened my bones, muscles, and even my blood with it. At that point I had formed my first basic chie lines and had ascended into iron.

Now that I was in iron, I was attempting to reach Steel. Which required, well, a lot of things. Going from Iron to Steel was considered by most cultivators the point when you would lay the foundation for choosing your path. It required spiraled chie lines, an even more greatly chie reinforced body. All of which I had. However, it required control of mana.

Something I hadn’t known, and had led to my illness.

I had known I would need to learn mana control, and forge my mana channels at some point. But I had considered it an entirely different art. Disconnected from the path of cultivation all together. There-in had been my mistake.

“Father, mother. Do you think I am ready to ascend to Steel yet?” I asked, realizing I had, probably gotten much closer to attaining my next cultivation goal.

Ren chuckled. “Darling. You are nearly there as it is. Some might consider you as already in the steel stage spiritually.”

“Your father is correct, dear.” Yu said from beside me. “All you lack at this point is reinforcing your body with mana, and an extra coating or two of chie to force the impurities out, and push you along to your next stage.”

Am I really that close? I shook myself mentally and smiled. “Thank you. I didn’t realize I was so close.”

“Just goes to show what a few days on the road with two of the best teachers and one of the best students in our realm can accomplish.” Ren looked back from where he was guiding Crash and smiled.

I went back to cultivating, as did my mother. But I found myself distracted. The terrain we had been going through had changed. It was stark and beautiful in its own way.

Before it had been rivers and dense tree forests which made up the eastern edges of our realm. Where most of our towns and villages were. But starting some time yesterday, we had left that heavily forested region and started making our ways over low hills and rambling valleys. The grass that grew here was dense, and springy. Even Crash didn’t seem to bother it. When we passed over, it simply rebounded and sprang back to its natural height.

Herds of hundreds of beasts that fed on the grass roamed the valleys between the hills. They were hairy things the size of trucks back on Earth, with long antlers that jutted up and out from their heads. They looked like a cross between a Guar bull, with their curved yet pointed horns and heavily muscled body, and the Elk I had seen wandering around outside city limits from time to time.

We had to chase them off on more than one occasion to protect the gardens we had planted. I had always thought elk were majestic things, and these creatures shared that elegance and grace.

“What are those called?” I asked no one in particular.

“Inland elk.” Ren said helpfully. “They live abundantly here for now. But when the seasons shift, they’ll move further south. Or back north, depending on the time of the year. They migrate along the Barrier Mountains all year long, following the seasons. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot one with a silver coat, or golden antlers. They are auspicious signs of good fortune and blessings from the gods.”

I put cultivation to the side for a little while and watched the muscular elk play, eat, and run across the valleys between the hills. The hills themselves were rocky, but life there still grew. Cherry blossom and maple trees grew together in crops atop them, in twisted dances of pink, red, brown, and green. While short juniper trees lived and grew along the rocky edges of the hills, creating a natural barrier to ascent, though one that was easily overcome by the massive elk.

Several times I watched as groups of elk jumped over them, only to realize there was little to no food on the other side, and promptly returned to the interconnected grass valleys. But one instance, when nearly an entire herd jumped over the short cropped trees, caught my attention. The elk were having a hard time returning to the grass, mainly because of the sheer momentum and size of the herd.

A small group of the elk grew frustrated by the chaos around the juniper trees, and ascended up the hill further. When they were under the juniper and cherry blossom trees something angry and hungry yowled.

A blur of light brown fur with red splotches lept at one of the elk, and bore it to the ground. The herd panicked and began trampling back down towards where the traffic jam was just starting to get cleared.

Half a dozen more brown and red furry forms darted out of the crops of trees and jumped on panicked elk. Their deaths were quick, as jaws and claws as sharp as razor blades bit at throats and legs, and spread blood across the rocks and tree roots.

I finally got a good view of what these creatures were. They looked like lions, with their yellow brown fur, and ruddy red splotches across their bodies. But they had long teeth that jutted out of their mouths, and their claws were massive. These would put an Earth lion to shame, I thought as I watched one pick up its kill and drag it back to the crops of trees with little problem.

“And those, my little Sakura, are why your name strikes fear in the hearts of many.” Ren said, getting my attention. “They are Cherry Blossom Lions. They’re lesser cousins of the northern Winter Tigers. Long separated by distance, time, and breeding. But they still carry much of the ferocity of those Great Beasts, trading their true power for the safety of numbers. Still, they are dangerous creatures.”

One of the largest lions from the group charged directly at the now panicked herd as its smaller brothers joined it. It’s hoping to scatter them, and make the hunt easier for its kin, I thought as I watched. Just before the lion’s charge impacted the herd, one of the elk stepped forward in challenge.

This one was different. Its antlers were a ruddy red rather than the standard black, and its fur was a solid gray rather than the matching brown of its fellows. The red antlered elk lowered its head and charged the lion with a speed that rivaled Ren’s. Its antlers acted like a missile and pierced the neck of the giant lion a moment before its claws or razor teeth could end the elk’s own life.

The elk shook and stomped, and in a matter of moments the lion’s spine cracked in an audible snapping that sent shivers across my skin. “That elk is different.”

“What does it look like?” Ren asked, unable to see the chaos from where he sat. But I was sure he knew what was going on. Some otherworldly sense, or perhaps just a good guess with his hearing allowed him to know.

“Red antlers, ash gray fur, where the others have black antlers and brown fur.”

“Are you certain?” Ren’s voice was solemn now, as if the elk that was now staring down the rest of the lion pack held some kind of otherworldly significance.

“Yes.”

“That is a Blood Elk. They’re aggressive and meanspirited, and just as rare as the others I mentioned before. They are also a sign from the gods.”

“Of what?” I asked after a few moments of silence between us.

“Betrayal and blood, dear Sakura.” The words hung in the air, heavy with their meaning. It was like a weight had physically fallen on my shoulders before he spoke again. “The last one I saw appeared the year the elves decided to no longer uphold the treaty, and began raiding along our south-eastern border. That was a bloody year. As was the year after that, when Raif launched our reprisals. Many died, and it was rarely a clean death.”

I decided I no longer wanted to watch the elk herds and did my best to refocus on cultivation.

***

“Behold Gamera City.” Ren said and pointed towards a set of mountains in the distance that had only just become visible. These were large mountains, with two snow capped peaks that topped them. But the range was a small one, with many small valleys that I was sure we’d find between them. They were dwarfed by the sky high mountains in the distance, who were so high even snow didn’t cling to their highest barren peaks.

“What do you mean? I don’t see a city, or a tortuous like Crash.”

Ren and Yu gave each other pained expressions.

“It’s alright daughter. The healer told us you might have some problems with your memory given how high your fever got.” Yu pulled me closer and outlined the relatively small mountain range with a simple piece of mana manipulation. “The tortoise is cultivating at the moment. His physical body is deep underground. While his avatar has been watching over the city while your father was away.”

“Avatar?”

Ren beamed back at us. “Yes! Isn’t it amazing? He’s on the verge of ascending to peak prince, and picked up the ability some time ago. Though he has not used it often. It should only be another hundred years or so before he reaches King, I am sure of it.”

“I still don’t understand. Where is the city?” Sakura’s memories about the city were of a particular type. When the tortious was up and moving. The city constantly swaying, or stopping for a short time to accomplish some goal. She had never seen it like this before.

“She is young Ren. She was only a baby last time Gamera stopped to cultivate like this.” Yu explained. “The city is largely underground at the moment. You see, his shell is shaped like this.” Yu produced a handful of clay, expressing her mana and turning it into the substance. A moment later she had shaped it to look like a domed tortoise’s shell, but with twin peaks on either end that looked somewhat like horns.

“These are the snow-capped mountains.” Yu pointed to the two spikes on his shell. “The other hills and mountains are all ridges or bumps along his shell. They’re covered in rock and earth because Kame in general have a natural affinity for Earth mana and as they grow incorporate different kinds of rock and stone into their shell. Gamera found a pocket of mana infused, ore rich earth and is attempting to incorporate it into his shell at the moment. So he buried himself, and most of the city, along with him. Look there.” Yu pointed towards one of the two snow-capped peaks. There was a small fort built there, and people were visibly teaming around it, harvesting goods, melting snow, leaving and reentering the caverns under the mountain.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“That all makes sense. But I have another question. Why is a Kame named Gamera? He’s a tortuous named turtle. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

“He likes to bite.” Ren’s voice was filled with amusement.

“What does that mean?”

“Turtles are ornery things. They bite, fight, and bully things they don’t like. Tortoises typically will just walk away. Gamera and Crash being exceptions, of course. They’re peaceful creatures by nature. Gamera? He acts like a turtle. So, he was named turtle. Your great, great grandfather used to laugh about that all the time.”

Yu sighed. “It’s the stupidest joke in the world.”

“It’s a great joke!” Ren protested. “I happen to agree with my honored ancestors. It fits his personality perfectly. Even at his age, he picks fights far too often to be a normal Kame. You remember that Phoenix that wandered down here a few years ago. He chased it all the way out of our realm. Not quickly mind you, but he kept at it. Bit off a few of the damn things feathers even. I have them in the treasury. That is turtle behavior. Eh, you’ll see for yourself Sakura, when you meet his avatar. The guy’s a stubborn old Kame if ever I met one.”

***

We passed several groups of Gamera riders, each of the creatures either carrying warriors for protection, or work crews who had spread out looking for useful materials to plunder from the landscape. They were usually supported by trains of peasant workers riding smaller creatures, from horses to large van sized beatles who were docile and easily trained.

We stumbled on one group who were fighting off a group of lions who were harassing them. Ren made quick work of the lions, killing a few of the larger ones and scattering the over sized pack of predators.

Eventually we came to what I considered the foothills of the small mountain range. People were working diligently all around, setting up excavation sites, securing defensive emplacements, and more.

“Wait. If Gamera was cultivating like this before we left, then why are they starting the work on these things just now?” I asked as we passed a group of cultivators using earth mana to dig deep trenches to divert runoff from the mountain peaks.

Ren replied, his voice annoyed. “That is an excellent question, my daughter. One we will find the answer too, together. Very shortly.”

It didn’t take long for us to find a place to dock Crash. In the center, between the peaks, was a large open valley. Hundreds of caretakers watched, fed, and cared for spirit animals of all kinds. Though the massive Kame were by far the largest, while the Gamera were the most numerous of the larger beasts.

We left him in the care of several dozen men and women in vanilla colored robes. They eagerly went to work tending to him while we made our exit. “There are so many. I thought spirit beasts were rare. I don’t remember seeing them often when the city was moving.”

“I suppose you might get that impression, Sakura,” Yu said. “But usually large spirit beasts like Gamera stay in their bonded cultivators vault at the heart of their Danchen.” I didn’t ask, only quirked an eyebrow as we ascended a set of steep stairs carved into the mountain that lead up to the entrance into the underground city scape.

“The spirit vault is something that you form once you ascend to the Immortal realm.” Ren took up the explanation. “Usually you only have enough room inside your vault for a few natural treasures, or mana sources. But as you gain more cores through your ascension in the immortal realm and into the noble realms, you gain the ability to bond with spirits and spirit beasts.”

“Though, I have heard of those in the mortal realm accomplishing such bondings. They just have to wait until they have access to a spirit vault for there to be a melding.”

Ren smiled back at his wife as he took the stairs backwards. “I stand correct.”

By the time we reached the top of the stairs a few hours later, I was nearly out of breath. My parents were both fine, though they showed concern when I started wheezing and needed to sit down when we finally got to the top.

“Are you alright Sakura?” Yu’s voice was a mix of concern and anxiety. “Are you still ill? Oh Ren, perhaps we asked too much of her too early. We should have just carried her up.”

“Don’t be silly Yu. Sakura is fine.” Ren sat down next to me and patted me on the back. I felt a shiver of chie rush through me, like a gentle breeze, and my breath started coming easier. “She’s just getting some of the rust off those joints of hers, that’s all. She needs physical exercise or she’ll never get back to where she needs to be. She’s at peak iron, after all. She needs her body to be in perfect shape for her first attempt at ascension.”

“I suppose. But does she need to make the attempt so soon? She has only just started her journey through magical theory. I’m sure if she waited a little longer—”

Ren raised a placating hand. “My dear. Our daughter is perfectly fine. And you two will have plenty of opportunities to walk the path together. As will her and I. But she is growing up, and to stymie that growth to satisfy our own desires to walk every step of that path with her, would be wrong.” He took her hand and placed it against his cheek. “And you are a splendid mother. That is never something you would want to do.”

I was still catching my breath, but my heart and lounges didn’t feel like they were on fire. “Don’t, talk, as if I’m not, here.” I got the words out one at a time. “It’s rude.”

My mother blushed, but Ren smirked. “Your daughter seems to think we are being rude Yu. What do you think?”

“Speaking of someone present as if they were not, is rude, dear.”

“Yes, but she’s our daughter. She’s supposed to be seen, not heard.”

The Genji side of me withdrew. That was what she had always been. A wallflower, a mote of dust, a spec trying to do what specs did and went unnoticed and unmolested. Eeking as good a life as she could on the edges of society, and staying out of people’s way. She had gotten quite good at all of that.

Sakura had other inclinations.

I glared balefully at both of them. I would have probably said something biting, but speaking was still difficult.

Ren laughed, stood, and tousled my hair. Yu laughed lightly and reached down to help me to my feet. I appreciated the gesture. My knees were pretty shaky and falling back down the mountain would have been as unwise as it was detrimental to my health.

My parents teasing aside, we made our way past a series of guards, and into the fortress complex that protected the way down into the city. “Normally, this is the palace where your mother and I do most of our work. It’s too high up to be comfortable for most people.”

“I like it cold.” Yu smiled at a pair of guards who saluted as we passed. “But I am glad we also have the family palace. It’s our little retreat from the world.”

Sakura, I, had fond memories of the familial palace. It was a secluded complex designed only for members of the Gamera family who stayed in Gamera. It was beautiful, filled with trees with red, pink, and purple leaves that changed color with the seasons. My fondest memories were watching as the fish in the central pond swim through the small irrigation rivulets that carried water to the different plants in the gardens.

“I agree,” I said, as we began descending some far less steep stairs. “I like the family palace.”

“Good,” Ren’s voice echoed oddly off the narrow stone passageway. “Because you and your brother will have the run of it, once we get Gamera going again. I can feel he’s almost finished, and your mother and I have a lot of work to catch up on. The court cases alone will take days, if not weeks. Then we have the family court, our meetings with the various sects, oh and there’s some kind of plague going around the Gamera lately. We need to meet with the healers about that. Something about scale rot.”

“Don’t forget darling. We still have the Choosing in a week’s time.” Yu’s voice was equally odd in the tight stone confines.

“True! Well, at least we’ll see everyone there, and at the family court. That should be nice I think. Perhaps we’ll have dinner. Though we’re not inviting those pompous ambassadors,” we came to a flat area just in front of a large set of double doors. The courtyard in front of the doors was wide and open, and dozens of functionaries and clerks worked diligently along either wall, waiting for their turn to enter. “Don’t want them ruining another perfectly good meal. Now, let’s see if my dear spirit bonded companion has done his job or not.”

Ren opened the double doors with a flick of his wrist, revealing a massive stone chamber beyond. The vaulted ceiling was lit by fire basins near the roof illuminating statues of gods and great spirits from our region. Below that were tarices where nobility sat and watched the proceedings in the throne room. Families and sects from all over the duchy were present filling the tarices to capacity.

My father strode in, while Yu stayed back with me by the door. When I tried to walk in, she stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Wait dear. You have not technically been introduced to court yet. So you have to be invited. Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you.” Yu smiled down at me, and some of my nerves went away.

“Gamera!” Ren raised his voice to fill the stone chamber. “I have returned.” Ren walked right up to the steps that led up to the stone throne. Sitting atop that throne was a, well, describing him as a ‘tortious person might be considered rude. But that was exactly what I was looking at.

He had a long neck that extended between his hard shelled body and a head with eyes that looked somewhat too large. His face was covered in creases and skin folds, giving him the air of looking old and slow. His body was covered in white robes, but a small shell was prominent and framed his neck and back as he sat on the throne. He was, for all intents and purposes, a tortoise person.

“About time you got back. What, did you get tired of neglecting your parental duties and instead decided to neglect your rulership instead?” Gamera stood, and began walking down the steps towards my father, who simply folded his arms and waited for his companion at the bottom. “Or did you forget about me entirely, and only in a sudden surge of remembrance did you rush back to see what had become of your precious friend and confidant? Hmmm?”

Gamera stood nose to nose with my father now, well, shell to nose. The tortious man’s neck extended nearly another arm’s length above my father allowing the withered-looking man to glare disapprovingly down at Ren even standing next to him.

When he stood on two legs and descended the stairs to meet my father, he used a thin staff to help him navigate the steps.

“Nothing of the sort my friend. I thought to give you time to finish your cultivation, while we corrected our errors.” The threat of violence between the two seemed almost palpable, until Ren opened his arms wide, gripped the tortious man’s shell in a hug, and pulled him in tight. “It is good to be home, my friend.”

Gamera’s expression went from that of a stern, disapproving grandfather, and softened as he accepted the hug. “Yes, young one. It is good to have you home too.”

Ren let him go and looked up at Gamera with a smirk on his face. “So, how has your first stint as a human ruler gone?”

The tortoise man looked uncomfortable for a moment, someone caught having not done what was expected of him. “I uh, I have learned much about your kind and their needs. While —”

“He ignored us!” someone shouted. “Forgot about us is more like!” yelled another disgruntled noble from high in the rafters. “He only opened the court when you crossed back into the duchy!” a third, even angrier voice yelled.

“Is that true Gamera?” Ren asked, and the old looking tortoise man spluttered for a moment.

“While I never! Yes, it is true. But I didn’t forget about them. I just . . . remembered about them later than I intended. Also, I am ready to move on as it is. This vein of ore has grown stale.”

How ore could grow stale I had no idea, but then again I didn’t have the tastes of a giant, mountain sized tortoise either.

Ren looked up into the faces of angry nobles, family members, and sect leaders alike. “I take it you all are not here to welcome me home then? But have been waiting for an audience of one kind or another?”

The crowd erupted as people began shouting their reasons for being there. They ranged from petty border disputes over rocks, to plague in the upper reaches of the mountain ranges. Sightings of monsters, elveish incursions, and other threats mixed in with the rest of the yelling mess of noise.

Ren sighed, and I felt Yu at my side stiffen. “We will fix this.” Yu said as she stepped forward into the throne room. She dragged me with her, though I wasn’t sure if she meant to or not. “We will fix this!” Yu’s voice grew to drown out the shouting and angry yelling. “But we need calm. Please. Bring forward the counts first, we will work with them to see order is brought back to the realm.”

Ren nodded, then leaned in and whispered something to Gamera’s avatar. The giant tortoise man went from placidly annoyed to visibly frustrated in a heartbeat. “No.” He said it loud enough for everyone there to hear. Then my father repeated whatever it was he had said, and the old tortious relented. “Fine. But if I lose this avatar to childish shenanigans it’s on your head. Took me nearly six months to form this thing. You will help me make a new one should the worst come to pass.”

Gamera’s eyes fell on me, and I felt his aura wash over my own. It was less a deep dive, and more a cursory glance. But the sheer weight behind it made me wince. If I had put my entire will and weight behind resisting that glance, it wouldn’t have meant a thing. A child pushing against the inescapable advance of a glancer.

But the giant tortoise was careful not to overwhelm me even so. His presence came, and went without issue. Though the wrinkles around his eyes deepened slightly as he squinted at me, as if disappointed in what he found.

“No.” Was all the tortious man said. My father whispered something else. “No. She’s too small, what lesson can a mountain teach a mouse?”

Ren shook his head and despite his face being turned away from me I could tell he was annoyed. I heard the distinct words “Do it, or I’ll . . .” whispered loud enough for me to hear, but the threat never reached me.

“Fine. But only until the choosing. Then we have other things to do.”

Gamera and Yu passed each other as the tortious man walked towards me, and Yu joined Ren as they ascended up to their twin thrones. He stopped beside me and whispered in a voice only I could hear. “Come little mouse. You and your brother, the puppy, have much to learn.”

As he guided me out of the throne room, and the giant double doors boomed as they shut behind us, all I could think of was; Why does he get to be a puppy, and I am the mouse?