Warrior. Blacksmith. Officer. Wife. Daughter.
All titles Mila wore with honour and pride, but recently, she’d added yet another to the list, albeit one she never admitted out loud. This wasn’t to say she kept it a secret, since most anyone who knew her had either already affixed it to her in their minds or would agree that it fit her well, but that wasn’t the same as announcing it for all to hear. Nor was it a mark of shame to bear such a title, as most would don it at one point or another in their lives, and retire it far too early for her tastes. In fact, the Abbot would argue that the Empire would be better served if everyone aspired to wear this title with pride, and Mila agreed wholeheartedly, though that didn’t mean she was willing to advertise it for all to hear.
Mostly due to the fact that announcing herself as a ‘student’ implied she still had much to learn.
Which wasn’t untrue, but it detracted from all her other titles and accomplishments, which annoyed Mila to no end. It’d taken years to accept her love for learning, and years more to realize it was a core facet of her Path, one which drove her ever onwards to the Peak. To her, learning was more than a means to an end, but rather a passion and interest which she pursued as avidly as Luo-Luo’s love of the arts, Rain’s adoration of floofs, or Yan’s obsession with trashy romance stories. It wasn’t just mere curiosity driving her to study all manner of different subjects, nor was it solely in an effort to advance her career, profession, or Path. While it was wholly satisfying to apply something learned in one subject matter to another, Mila found that she enjoyed the process of learning in and of itself. All it took was for something to catch her interest and a few days later, she’d be deep down a maze-like rabbit hole of obscure facts and information, brought there by a trail of questions and queries which she never thought to ask before.
Why did iron rust, but silver and copper would only tarnish? Why did gold bend when steel would break? Why did some Spiritual Hearts meld with certain metals while rejecting others? All questions she’d asked Papa as a child, one still learning to hold her hammer right, but he had no answers for her besides, ‘Because that is the way the Mother made it’. Perhaps true, yet not the entire truth, and not an answer that would satisfy her curiosity. In the interest of progress, she learned to curb her questions and stifle her curiosity, because as Mama put it, Mila would go nowhere fast if she spent all her time chasing down answers to immaterial questions. Some answers would simply have to wait, a fact she had to accept unless she was willing to waste time and fall behind.
Which she wasn’t, as Mila was nothing if not competitive.
Meeting Rain had done much to rekindle her curiosity, because much like her, he was always asking questions to things he didn’t understand. Unfortunately, his scope of interest was much narrower than hers, or at least that’s how she felt until she’d learned of his past life’s memories. Only then did she realize that it wasn’t a lack of interest which kept him from asking questions, but rather a vastly different perspective combined with a general baseline of knowledge which far surpassed anything she could even imagine. Iron rust and copper tarnish was the result of those metals reacting with oxygen, which in and of itself was a subsection of air that humans and plants required to grow and function. The malleability of metals was determined by a multitude of factors including microstructure and atomic structure, meaning not just the grain of the metal, but the arrangement of its base building blocks, objects measured in units so small that the tip of a needle might well contain thousands upon thousands of them. While Rain couldn’t answer her burning questions regarding Spiritual Hearts, he was a treasure trove of knowledge just waiting to be mined, and she spent many long days and nights picking her beloved husband’s brain for nuggets of information.
Like why a certain sand was needed for concrete, while a different type altogether needed for mortar. Rain himself didn’t know the answer, but Mila discovered the answer after a few weeks of correspondence with Gwangjong, the brilliant stonemason and member of the Consortium turned Minister of Engineering. Concrete was mixed with coarse sand and gravel so that the wet mixture had more surface areas to bond to, creating a stronger material. Mortar on the other hand required finer sand to better absorb moisture and reduce swelling as the mortar dried, a simple answer to a question that most would not even think to ask.
Rain most certainly hadn’t, which was why it took so long to finish developing mortar even after they had concrete in place. That was one of the most frustrating aspects of his past life’s memories, how he knew just enough to touch on the surface of most mundane subjects, but not enough to go into any real depth or be of much use. Names of metals and alloys that were stronger than steel, like carbon steel, vanadium, and titanium, and no earthly idea how to find or create them. Growing the same type of crop in the same field year after year was bad because it leeched much needed nutrients out of the soil, but he couldn’t say what crops to plant in what order to replenish it, which meant it would take years, if not decades of experimentation to figure out the answer for themselves. Then there was the ‘Personal Computer’ Keystone inside his Natal Palace, which he used to automate or execute the vast majority of his Chi skills these days, yet when asked to explain how it functioned, the best he could do was utter some nonsense about harnessing lightning and calculating sums using ones and zeroes.
It boggled the mind to see Rain utilizing something so powerful and complex without understanding the basic mechanisms behind its operation, and he couldn’t even claim ignorance due to incomplete memories of his past life. While the vast majority of details remained spotty, he knew enough to admit that he doubted he knew much of anything at all, having been some sort of administrator working out of an office that dealt with matters of payment or service issues. A call centre employee, working with a ‘phone’ that allowed him to talk in real time with people across the world with little more than the press of a button, the more Mila learned of his past life, the more she found to be amazed by. What would the Empire look like if they were capable of such feats? How might things change with but a single technology from his past life? Things were not so simple however, as she’d been working with Diyako for years to create what Rain believed would be the most transformative piece of technology he could think of, namely the steam powered engine. Creating a working prototype had been simple enough, a matter of weeks to make a tiny model of an engine that fit on a tea table and used steam to move a piston up and down. From there, she thought it merely an issue of scaling up and moving on from there, but they ran into obstacle after obstacle from the very first step.
For starters, Diyako calculated that the power outputted by their working model was pitifully inefficient, largely due to the loss of heat and steam as it travelled through the pipes, but also a lack of pressure. Then there was the issue of condensation as the spent steam would fall back down into the reservoir of boiling water, reducing the temperature and increasing the amount of fuel needed to power it. Weight was a problem too, because if they wanted to build an engine capable of outputting enough mechanical power to move its own bulk, it would weigh close to a hundred and twenty kilograms before accounting for water or fuel. After adding on the weight of the frame for the vehicle and a single passenger, it became clear that their steam engine was far too inefficient and required further refinement before moving on, which felt like a punch to the gut to Mila who’d been looking forward to riding about on a steam-powered vehicle.
It didn’t help that Rain couldn’t even show her what a working steam engine looked like in his Natal Palace, or that the ‘gasoline’ engines he could show her were nonsensical and nonfunctional. To make matters worse, Mila decided that she herself would have to learn the complex mathematics Diyako used to tackle almost every problem he approached. That in and of itself took her three years to master, in between seasonal campaigns to help retake the west and revelling in marital bliss with her largely idle yet still beloved husband. To make matters worse, by the time Mila knew enough about mathematics and engineering to be of use, Diyako had advanced the progress of their steam engine to the limits of their working knowledge, and there was nothing to be done except wait for better technological innovations or fresh ideas. The metals available were too heavy or unable to withstand the heat or pressure, and even Papa couldn’t forge the delicate parts Diyako needed to create the measuring tools needed to fabricate the necessary complex components of his theoretical steam engine, which included hundreds of tiny moving parts as two separate piping systems for high- and low-pressure steam.
This would soon become the pattern of Mila’s last decade, a perpetual cycle of study and hard work that amounted to theoretical successes while actual success sat just out of reach. Even though Rain claimed it probably took decades for steam engines to go from an idea to a working concept in his past life, Mila had thought the matter so simple and easy to accomplish she’d been all but assured of success. That being said, she discovered that mathematics was of more use than she once believed, not just a tool for calculating weights and sums, but ratios and forces and whatever else she might imagine, like music or seasonal changes. It didn’t take long for her to apply her newfangled understanding of numbers to the creation of Spiritual Weapons, as she set to codifying the various different ways to test a Spiritual Heart for compatibility with metals and materials. What was once a matter of trial and error became a precise working of measurements and numbers as she worked tirelessly alongside Papa to share their findings with other Divine Blacksmiths of the Empire, but again, the results were lacklustre. Theirs was a prideful profession, and few cared to even read their findings much less share their own, claiming that much like the Martial Path, the perspective of another blacksmith might well dilute or even taint their own understanding. Some even went so far as to accuse Mila of intentional sabotage, grumbling about how she intended to ruin an entire generation of prospective Divine Blacksmiths with her ‘ruinous’ findings.
Which was disheartening to be sure, but Mila never expected much of it. Divine Blacksmiths were few and far between, limited more by the lack of materials than anything else. It helped that the people of Saint’s Tribulations Mountains were highly receptive of her findings, and Rain’s abundance of Spiritual Ore recovered from the Butcher Bay Stronghold was enough for dozens of Divine Blacksmiths to hone their craft and make names for themselves, craftsmen who pledged support for the Sentinels who protected their families and loved ones. As for Mila herself, she continued to refine her understanding of forging, striving to move beyond the state of knowing without knowing and understanding without comprehending to one in which she could grasp all the nuances and subtleties of melding metallurgy and Spiritual Hearts together as one.
A long and winding path of study which saw her seek out teachers in all manner of differing subjects, things that seemed only marginally related to the creation of Spiritual Weapons, but helped answer questions she never even thought to ask. Discussions with bridge builders and architects granted her a better understanding of the physical world and how various forces interacted in seemingly nonsensical ways. She spoke with mathematicians and physicists to better understand the properties of the materials she so often worked with. Discussions with pharmacists and physicians showed her how the human body reacted with medicines and poisons alike and how to modify it using compounds like the Rising Dragon Elixirs they’d won from the Society Contests all those years ago. Further correspondence with all manner of horse doctors, hound masters, sheep herders and the ilk opened her eyes to how many similar mechanisms existed in the animals living around them. They all had hearts, lungs, stomachs, livers, and kidneys, yet she never imagined that the basic principles behind those organs worked the same whether you stood on two legs or four, and studying how Rain’s animals ‘digested’ the Energy of the Heavens contained with Spiritual Plants was eye opening indeed.
Rain pushed her a step further by encouraging her to explore the differences and study fish, reptiles, and all manner of other creatures as well, which allowed her to better understand the mechanisms behind their similarities. What’s more, he pointed her towards Zhen Shi’s horrific notes, which were full of gruesome details regarding the torture of his various test subjects, yet more often than not presented her with the answers she sought or the right questions she so desperately needed to progress. Most notably of all was his success in creating Wraiths, Defiled tribesmen whose bodies were Refined in a specific manner using the remains of Spectres and Demons both. The mechanisms used in the process of Refinement was both macabre and brilliant at the same time, not simply the passive immersion in Heavenly Energy but the focused direction through which it was applied utilizing forces beyond her ken. Reading those stomach-churning notes had become something of an obsession for her, and it upset her to reflect back on all the times when she idly wondered what would have happened if he cut here, removed that, or made some other slight modification in those grisly ‘experiments’.
Easy to see why the Eternal Emperor’s divested Natal Clone had fallen so readily, brought low by his tireless pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself, and Mila had to remind herself far too often not to make the same mistake.
Granted, Zhen Shi had mostly been done in by his unbalanced obsession to overthrow the Immortal Emperor, one possibly driven by his need to become ‘complete’ once more. Had he instead waited another century or two, he might well have progressed to the Peak of his Path and stood a better chance of overcoming the Eternal Emperor. What’s more, without the significant pressure of the war placed upon him, Rain might well have never ascended to True Divinity, or any sort of Divinity at all, leaving the two sides more balanced without a third party to interfere. That was all neither here nor there however, merely idle thoughts Mila enjoyed exploring in her spare time, of which there was not much. There was always more to learn just around the corner as she met with all manner of authorities on subject matters both mundane and esoteric in nature. As far as she was concerned, she could learn as much from the Brotherhood’s Abbot as she could from the old farmer Kong Qiu, a man blessed with the mind of a philosopher and the heart of a gentleman, and the Empire had far more hidden philosophers than Abbots.
Again, all this learning took years to accomplish, and there was still so much more to learn, but aside from a handful of military victories in the Western Province, she had accomplished little to nothing of value. Meanwhile, Yan was coming into her own as a teacher and surrogate mother, always looking stern as she stood at the school gates watching the kids run in with smiles on their faces. Luo-Luo was all but running the Northern Province now, working hand in hand with Magistrate Yuzhen who focused more on the military aspects of her office while leaving economics to Mila’s brilliant sister wife. Lin-Lin had come a long way from her lackadaisical, carefree self and was now overseeing the cultivation of Spiritual Crops in bulk quantities, while simultaneously helping out as an emergency Healer for all the nearby villages should they ever have need of such services. As for Li-Li, she’d focused solely on her Martial Path at the expense of almost everything else and had progressed by leaps and bounds. Were it not for Mama’s strict standards, Li-Li’s name would have long since been added to the Emperor’s roll of Peak Experts, likely the first of their generation short of Rain, who didn’t really count due to his atypical Path and the difficulties involved in quantifying his level of skill and strength.
As for Mila? After learning enough about the physical world, she turned her attention to the metaphysical, which meant long and frustrating conversations with her beloved husband. Largely because he wasn’t sure about how much to share, and thus, in her opinion, tended to err on the side of caution far more often than necessary. Which meant that despite being the foremost authority of the metaphysical forces, Rain wasn’t of much help at all, not when he was being a stubborn, mule-headed, pain in her backside who refused to elaborate. “We all must walk our own Path beloved,” he’d say, stealing away her anger and resolve by taking her hand, cupping her cheek, or flashing his stupidly handsome smile. “If I give you the answers today, you will suffer more for it tomorrow.”
The fact that he was right made his refusal to succumb to her charms and wiles all the more aggravating, though in truth, she enjoyed the illicit attempts to cajole secrets out of him. All for naught however, until she finally broke down and confessed her true reason for pressing him so after three months of failing to grasp even the most rudimentary of Taduk’s Runes and understand how they worked. “Eight years,” she’d said, her head resting against his chest and eyes unable to meet his. “That’s how long I’ve been at this. Eight long and fruitless years, with nothing to show for it, and now I’ve hit a wall with Runic Inscriptions. Mama keeps hinting at me to refocus on the Martial Path, but if it’s like you say and all Paths lead to Divinity, then how did I go so wrong when choosing mine?”
“It’s all a matter of perspective.” The sensation of his hand stroking her cheek was still fresh in her mind, as if they’d had this conversation yesterday rather than two years past, and she marvelled at how gently, yet firmly he’d forced her to meet his amber eyes, so full of warmth and confidence. “You look upon the past eight years and see only your lack of achievement. I look at those same years and see a brilliant woman laying an unshakable foundation for the vast and arduous Path she embarked upon.”
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“Are you saying my eyes are bigger than my mouth? That I’ve overreached and should reassess my goals?”
It’d taken all of Mila’s self restraint not to gnaw on her husband’s cheek in a fit of pique, and Rain knew it. Grinning like a fool, he shook his head and said, “No. I’m saying you’ve prepared well for the trials and tribulations ahead. It might help to look back on what you’ve learned and consider how you can apply that knowledge to your current difficulties. Considering the breadth and depth of your perspective, I’m sure you’ll find something that will help you understand Runes.”
The next day, it was as if a fog had lifted from Mila’s mind as she studied Taduk’s Runes with fresh eyes and watched the pieces all fall into place. There was a method to his madness, which included but was not restricted to humming and dancing as he inscribed nonsensical doodles into metal using an ink so expensive its value was measured by the drop, because its prime ingredient was the blood of a Divinity. Not just any blood however, but blood infused with the Divinity’s essence, or what they’d taken to calling Spiritual Blood. The reason for which was simple enough. Much like the steam engine required airtight piping made of materials capable of withstanding certain levels of heat and pressure, a Runic Inscription required ink capable of containing and directing the Energy of the Heavens surging through it.
So simple an explanation, yet one she failed to see these last three months because, as Rain would put it, she was too close to the problem. It was her first attempt at crafting Paragon all over again, when she failed to account for the force of an extending spear moving at close to the speed of sound. From here, it was a simple matter of studying how the various ‘parts’ of the Runic ‘machine’ came together to carry out their intended function, an esoteric problem broken down into its most fundamental components in a way she understood. Conceptually at least, because while Diyako’s theoretical steam engine contained hundreds of moving parts, a single Runic Inscription possessed countless integral elements contributing to its function, elements that she suspected were unique to the Craftsman’s personal Insights and perspective.
Which meant there was nothing for it but to become a Runic Craftsman herself. Until now, her interest had largely been academic due to the exorbitant expense required to train a novice, but if her husband couldn’t afford it, then no one could. To her great surprise, Rain’s encouraging words turned almost prophetic as she picked up the knack of Runic Inscription as easily as turning her hand thanks to her sturdy foundation. Within the year, she was churning out Runic items faster than any Craftsman in history, and she still had so much room for improvement. Mathematics, engineering, pharmacy, medical studies, material sciences, all this and more played a role in her unprecedented progress as she applied her knowledge and experience as a Divine Blacksmith to help pioneer a new method of Runic Crafting that was so simplistic, almost any Peak Expert with enough patience and a steady hand could master it.
At least that was the theory, provided said Peak Expert was willing to put some effort into understanding a handful of subjects to help them along. The largest issue Runic Craftsmen faced aside from the structure of the Rune itself was figuring out how to inscribe it on different materials of different sizes, but Mila discovered that math was once again the answer to all her woes. It was merely a matter of determining said material’s capacity, resistance, and tolerance for Heavenly Energy coursing through it, along with a few other variables that weren’t strictly necessary unless the Rune met certain criteria, and even then, it was easier to change the Rune to adapt to the material than anything else. Theoretically, if she knew all those variables, then she could use them to uncover a formula to calculate the shape a Rune needed to take in order to generate a specific outcome, though that was more speculation than fact. Still, she found it laughably easy to devise a half-dozen different Runes that only required minor modifications to apply to different materials, the first six characters of the Runic Language she hoped to one day develop into a fully functional system.
She accomplished this largely on her own, as Taduk had no head for numbers, and when she showed Rain her work, he was just as excited as she’d been. “This,” he began, after having spent hours pouring over her notes with a focused enthusiasm he’d been so lacking of late, “Is revolutionary. This is the beginnings of a defined system with which almost anyone can harness the raw Energy of the Heavens utilizing Runes. You don’t have all the answers yet, and I doubt we’ll uncover them all even if we devote the next three centuries to this and nothing else, but the potential is there.” Which Rain proved to them both by forging a Rune using only Chi and Domain, one based on the principles she’d laid out for him to read. It didn’t do much besides create a bright light that faded away after a second, and was remarkable only because it was a light created by Rain using a method Mila devised that relied on her Blessing of Sun. While it didn’t seem like much, this marked the first step on a new Path never before seen in the history of the Empire, one that could very well supplant the harnessed power of lightning so instrumental in Rain’s memories of his past life.
Unfortunately, they both agreed it was best to keep it a secret for now, as the potential for destruction and disruption were staggering to behold. What’s more, it was always good to keep a dagger hidden in the dark, especially since Rain hardly seemed to train these days and was more than happy to rest on his laurels. Granted, as the sole True Human Divinity of the Empire, he had more than earned the right to relax, but Mila was not capable of idling her days away like him. While she continued studying and expanding upon her Runic Language, she revisited old subjects in an effort to apply what she’d learned and perhaps broaden her horizons, which brought her to where she was today.
The calculations had all been made, the numbers checked, rechecked, and verified a dozen times over. Her materials sat upon the table before her, all painstakingly gathered and inspected to make certain every variable and possibility had been accounted for. The steel was the highest quality available, a carbon-steel alloy that was stronger and harder than anything she’d ever worked with, yet familiar enough that she should have no issue forging it into the weapon she envisioned in mind. Steel wasn’t the best material to meld with her chosen Spiritual Heart, a thorny vine which had hardened at both ends, yet remained pliable in the middle, but considering the difficulties ahead, she felt it was better to work with a familiar, albeit sub-par material than an unfamiliar but more suitable ingredient like bone or wood.
From there, the rest all fell into place. The binding agent was a standard one for incorporating metal and plant fibre, while a bowl of ink sat ready and waiting to be infused into her creation. To top it all off, the shape of her design had been drawn from three different perspectives, cast in iron, modelled in clay, and even carved into wood and painted various different colours to help her better navigate through the complex creation process. All necessary because today, she intended to accomplish something no one had ever attempted before, not as far as she could tell, and if successful, would offer the Sentinels and Rain’s trusted allies an advantage over their enemies they could openly display, unlike her marginal success with her Runic Language.
Today, she intended to forge not just a Spiritual Weapon, but one incorporating a Rune into its creation which would enable its wielder to emanate the power of the Sun without a Blessing of their own. Though common sense suggested she start small, Mila couldn’t help but aim for the stars as she put together her plans to craft a spear capable of delivering a beam of concentrated sunlight at their foes. Forget spring-loaded projectiles, as this was a weapon fit for a Martial Warrior, one she hoped to bestow upon young Tate before he left for his first campaign in the Western Province.
No, she couldn’t think so far ahead, not just yet. After a full night’s sleep, she’d come into her forge room to make certain all her tools and materials were laid out in perfect order at her workstation. They weren’t of course, so she spent the better part of an hour arranging and rearranging things to her liking before settling down to meditate and still her mind. Seeing her take a seat on the floor, Guai Guai pounced over before raising his arms high overhead, eager to play after a morning spent flitting about to and fro, and Mila could not bring herself to deny the sweet red panda. It was for the best, because then she could tire him out and hand him off to someone else before starting work at the forge, and perhaps even squeeze in a quick lunch just in case she became lost in the throes of Inspiration as soon as she started. The delay turned out to be a blessing in disguise as some twenty minutes later, Buddy poked his head in for a rare visit, since she spent little time at the forge these days.
“Hello Buddy,” Mila cooed, patting the hounds head as he placed his basket to one side and sat with a tiny huff, his shoulders sagging like he carried the weight of the Heavens upon them. “What’s all this? Spiritual Berries and Yam Leaves? Who’d you steal these from? Well, I won’t take it all away, but you have to share at least a little with Guai Guai.” Thinking nothing of it, she grabbed a yam leaf to hand over to the red panda, but Buddy did something inconceivable. His head shot up, his neck stretched out, and he closed his jaws around her wrist. Not hard, and without any real strength to it, more of a careful and deliberate action made with tucked tail, drooping ears, and wide-eyed woe as he let out a soft and piteous whimper.
Her first instinct was to scowl and glower until Buddy let go, but he looked so miserable and downtrodden she didn’t have it in her to be angry. “I’m sorry,” she said, leaning over to kiss him on the head, and to her delight, he let go and gave her forearm a few licks in apology. “Here, you can have it back.” Handing over her ill-gotten gains, she grinned as she watched Buddy place it back into his basket with his customary lack of coordination. Divine Beast or not, if the fate of the world were ever to depend upon Buddy’s physical abilities, then they were all doomed. For all his wonderous abilities, Buddy still couldn’t catch a ball before it stopped bouncing or run an obstacle course without crashing. The dog was as ungainly a creature as she’d ever seen, and just smart enough to do the stupidest things, so she was eager to see what he was up to today. “So you can’t spare anything for Guai Guai?” she asked, holding the squirming red panda out for Buddy to see. The little glutton was fully focused on the basket of berries and yam leaves, as well as what appeared to be a small bowl of fruit jelly tucked inside too, but Mila didn’t want to risk having Buddy snap at Guai Guai. Despite being over ten years old, Guai Guai was still as silly and childish as ever, always clinging to Mila and playing with her tail instead of spending his days in the garden with most of the other animals. To be fair, she preferred it this way, as she couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from him for long, not after keeping such close company this past decade.
Proving he was still the same sweet dog as always, Buddy heaved another sigh before begrudgingly offering Guai Guai the same yam leaf he’d just retrieved. The little red glutton greedily devoured the treat without so much as a thank you, but Buddy gave him a few licks to show there were no hard feelings at all. Putting Guai Guai aside, Mila showered the sweet hound with love and attention he so deserved. “You’ve had a hard day, haven’t you?” She asked, grinning like a fool as he clambered into her lap for a hug and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Oh, poor sweet Buddy.”
In reply, the hound grumbled and growled as she stroked his neck and patted her flanks, emitting an Aura of general pique and discontent. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt from him before, as even after the harrowing battle with the Eternal Emperor, Buddy had been cheery and upbeat, so full of love and affection it was difficult to believe a mere beast capable of such depth of emotion. What he shared today was more along the lines of what she expected from Rain when he was in one of his dour moods, though those were few and far between these days. Her heart breaking for the poor beast, she snuggled him close and kissed his forehead while wracking her brain for ways to cheer him up. Food was usually the answer, but it seemed like others had tried and failed already, else he would not have a basket full of treats to carry about. Besides, who was silly enough to try and feed him yam leaves? Perhaps that was the very reason for his lack of appetite, so Mila decided to try another tact. “You want to play fetch?” she asked, and to her delight, Buddy’s ears perked up as soon as he heard the word.
Grinning as the hound spun in excited circles, Mila watched him a moment longer before retreating to the attached bedroom. It didn’t take long to find a ball they could play with, as Guai Guai also loved to play fetch too, but when she emerged, she found Buddy standing with his paws braced against her workstation and mouth reaching for the Spiritual Heart. Caught in the act, the thieving dog froze in place and looked at her, while she stood firm and looked at him. Time came to a standstill as she considered her options. If she charged in, he’d panic and bolt, with even odds on whether he took the prize as he left, so she cocked her head and said, “Buddy. Down.” Sweet darling that he was, he flinched at her tone and shifted his paws, only to remain standing as he let out a mournful grumble. “Don’t,” she said, making sure to keep firm eye contact at all times. “That’s not a toy. Leave it.” It took many months to source a Spiritual Heart suitable for her needs, and the thorny vine was most ideal, a sturdy yet flexible vegetative material which could store the energy of the Sun. What use did a dog have for it anyways? If Buddy wanted to play tug of war, they had plenty of tough ropes and old blankets.
Even in the throes of anxiety and apprehension, Mila knew it the moment Buddy made his decision. Those big brown eyes of his were so soft and full of worry while locked in her gaze, only to break free as he blinked and cast aside all his worldly concerns so as to satisfy his current desire. His jaws snapped up the Spiritual Heart and he sprinted away before she could open her mouth to protest, not forgetting to collect his basket before leaping out the window and soaring off into the clouds without so much as a second glance.
Leaving Mila standing there in shock and frustration over having been played like a fiddle by a deceitful and duplicitous dog.
The sounds of Guai Guai’s working away at the crispy yam leaf stem brought her back to reality, and she took a moment to bask in his adorable expression, his eyes half closed and lips smacking with relish as he took another bite. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” she grumbled, heaving a long sigh before closing her eyes in an effort to rein in her temper. One that fell far short of the mark as her mounting anger and embarrassment threatened to bubble over into a boil, and when she felt she couldn’t contain it any longer, she took a deep breath, then a second, before Sending a scathing command. “Come. Here. Now.”
There was no reply, only a sense of surprise and urgency as he hurried to obey, but it still took him a full minute to appear. He arrived breathless and out of sorts, his shirt wrinkled and loose pants hanging low beneath his butt. “Hello beloved,” he began, pulling his waistband up and smoothing his tousled hair before coming in for a hug. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Find your furry idiot of a dog son,” she growled, and Rain dared to flinch before her fury, stopping short of embracing her as he stood with arms held wide. “Find him and bring him here, now.”
Rather than leap to obey, Rain slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Oh no. What’d he steal?”
“A Spiritual Heart!” Her anxiety and frustration bubbled over as she took a half-hearted swing at her husband’s arm, and he had the gall to wince. The man was a True Divinity with a wholly Refined Physique capable of turning aside swords and spears without the use of a Domain. A full powered punch from her couldn’t hurt him, much less the tiny little love tap she’d delivered. “It was the perfect material in more than one way, and I was going to use it to make something incredible, but then that stupid dog tricked me and stole it away.”
“He tricked you?”
Though quickly suppressed, the hint of amusement in his demeanour filled Mila with rage. “That’s beside the point! Why are you still standing here? Go find him now!”
“Afraid I can’t.” Slowly moving closer towards her, Rain slipped his arms around her waist and drew her in for a hug, with all the care and consideration one might approach a rabid wolf. “Buddy’s been hiding since early this morning, when he stole a basket of berries from Tali.”
Well, at least part of the mystery was solved. “I know he stole a fruit jelly from Luo-Luo,” Mila grumbled, burying her face in her husband’s shoulder as he slowly eased her back into the forge room and closed the door behind him. “Who did he steal the yam leaves from? Yan?”
“Yea, though technically he didn’t steal from either of them.” Probably because he knew they were soft marks, and Mila wouldn’t so willing hand over a Spiritual Heart. Crafty little mutt. Adding the barest hint of shrug, Rain shifted and lifted her up into a princess carry while making a circuit around the room. At least he didn’t go so far as to rock her back and forth, but she did so love to be carried, even if she was still pouting over the loss of her Spiritual Heart. “Was so insistent on getting yam leaves, he wouldn’t even accept fish from Yan. Weird right? Seems Buddy’s prepping for a feast, or waiting to gorge himself on Spiritual Plants, though I have no idea why he stole your Spiritual Heart. Was it from an animal?”
“No, it was a vine.” An animal organ she could at least understand, since they’d long since learned that carnivorous animals could grow stronger by feasting on the flesh of Spiritual Beasts. “Not even close to resembling something Buddy might want to eat.”
“Would probably enjoy playing tug of war with it though.”
Rain’s attempt to inject humour into the situation wasn’t helping, and she warned him against trying again by biting his neck. Not too hard, just enough to leave faint teeth marks without breaking his skin, and he chuckled and nuzzled her in reply. For long seconds, neither of them said anything, until Rain said, “A Spiritual Weapon built around an embedded Rune. Interesting concept.”
It still annoyed her how easily some concepts came to him, so she simply grunted in acknowledgement. After a few seconds of more silence, she huffed and grumbled, “You best get my Spiritual Heart back then. It’ll take weeks to run the calculations on a different Spiritual Heart, assuming I can even find one that fits my needs. The vine was perfect, embodying both hard and soft while remaining a green plant that absorbs sunlight for nutrients.”
“Don’t worry my love,” Rain said, taking a seat and sliding her into his lap so that she could see his smile. Truth be told, she loved how effortlessly he carried her about, which allowed her to go fully slack in his embrace and pout her worries away. “Buddy probably won’t eat it, and if he does, he’s liable to throw it up anyways. A bit of a wash and it’ll be good as new. I hope.” Before Mila could retort, Rain nodded towards the forge and asked, “How were you planning to regulate the flow?”
“What?”
Tilting his head in muted surprised, Rain repeated himself. “The flow. You know. Of Heavenly Energy through the Rune. I see you’ve got the structure in place, and all the directions fixed, but how is Heavenly Energy supposed to flow through the Rune while the user’s Chi is also flowing through the whole weapon at the same time? One with the Weapon, inviolable soul, impermeable Core and all that seems like it’d get in the way. I mean, I could probably settle those issues manually, but I dunno about anyone else.”
Rather than anger, Mila sank deeper into her beloved’s arms and heaved a long and tired groan as all her motivation drained away. Once again, she’d overlooked the obvious and almost stumbled into disaster, so she no longer had it in her to care about Buddy’s theft. Perhaps it was for the best. If he ate and threw the vine up, it was still less of a waste than forging it into a Spiritual Runic Weapon no one besides Rain could use. “I messed up,” she admitted, hating how much she loved the feeling of Rain stroking her back as he cradled her close, and she wiggled on his lap to make her intentions known, wondering how he hadn’t figured it out for himself just yet. “Was so excited to see if I could make it that I overlooked something obvious and apparent.”
“Well, the base concept still works,” Rain said. “And now you have a new problem to chew on, my beloved scholar. Won’t take you long to figure out, of this I’m sure.” That’s how he was, an endless font of confidence and optimism whenever Mila was concerned, and she loved this part of him most of all. He was always so hard on himself, but she would have never gotten this far without his support. Nuzzling in close, she pursed her lips as he nattered on, wholly ignorant of her mood. “We’ll probably have to add a new profession to your growing list though of career paths. Runic Divine Blacksmith? Fitting, but a bit boring. What do you think?”
“Don’t want to think.” Craning her neck to kiss him hard, Mila held it until she was almost breathless and drew away panting. Idiot man. She didn’t want to talk, she wanted to be consoled, but of course while he was always eager and ready to go, the one time she wanted to initiate, he missed all the signs and forced her to behave like one of Luo-Luo’s wanton Imperial Servants, who were always angling to catch Rain’s attention.
Thankfully, he was content with his lot these days, and even better, her kiss got the message across. Their second kiss put a smile on her face as he carried her off into the bedroom, one she had built for this very purpose.
Which besides marrying Falling Rain, might well have been the best decision Mila had ever made.