As much as Alex was discomforted by Elder Shi's intense stare, he made no move to interrogate them like they were somehow responsible, or demand that they immediately leave or force them to forsake the prizes that would be left behind. Instead, he crossed his arms behind his back, honoring them both with a beaming smile. “Well done, children. Well done indeed!” He tilted his head. “When time permits, I’d love to know how, exactly, you manage to both spot and counter nearly a dozen Shadow Pumas with such blinding efficiency that our entire class was humbled by the display. But the first question I will ask is: do you sense any other Shadow Pumas or other hostile spirit beasts in the area?”
Alex solemnly shook his head. “No I don’t, Master Shi.”
He gave Alex a sober nod and turned to Linnea. “Linnea?”
She grinned sheepishly. “Honestly, I was as blind to trouble as you all were. I have yet to develop my infravision, which clearly I’ll have to spend some level-up points purchasing next rank. But honestly, Master Shi, the only reason why I was locking onto and bringing down our targets so well is because I had fully integrated with Alex’s interface.”
Their instructor’s eyes widened. “So he truly has a full party interface you can make use of at will?”
Alex felt his cheeks flush when the ageless man turned to measure Alex with his too-discerning gaze. “Yet I sense nothing but unusually potent spiritual energy I’d expect only from my most dedicated cohorts. And still you can form parties with other Ruidians and react to threats in instantaneous coordinated fashion. How very fascinating.”
Elder Shi’s grin widened. “And what’s more, I sense absolutely no buildup of waste Qi in the time we’ve been here, mild as the miasma is in this particular rift, assuring true boons in spirit beast meat, even if the cores all too often leave much to be desired.”
Alex blinked at this, before his eyes widened with dismay. “Are you serious? That’s so unfair!”
The cultivator furrowed his brow in confusion. “I’m sorry, what’s wrong, aspirant?”
“Our kills! Our cores! They’re gone before we could even collect them!” hissed a frustrated Alex. “That’s just absurd!”
This earned an amused chuckle. Before Alex could even ask what was so funny, not that he didn’t immediately bite down on his tongue at the very thought of mouthing off to the man who was effectively the gatekeeper for delving, at least as a student, the man flashed a handful of prizes that immediately turned Alex’s ire to sweetest rapture.
“We got seven cores!” Linnea happily squealed. “And they’re not shit, either!”
“Indeed they’re not,” Elder Shi declared indulgently. “Seven high quality Bronze-tier cores that I suspect will earn you around 700 credits in total, or 350 for each of you.”
Linnea positively beamed, before near tackling Alex in an excited hug. “Aren’t you glad I came with you today, Alex? We make an awesome team!”
“You do,” Elder Shi concurred. “A fine enough team that I will see what I can do about giving you permission to partake of group delve assignments in the job hall.” His smile hardened with a hint of warning. “So long as it’s understood that this rift alone is open to you while attending as a student, Alex, at least for now. And considering how perilous today’s foray was...” He frowned, and for just a moment Alex sensed how troubled the man truly was. “I’ll make an extra point of insisting upon larger parties from now on, including at least one Ruidian if at all possible.”
His demeanor immediately brightened. “And don’t think you won’t each be getting quite the return on your spirit beast meat! In fact, if you’re willing to let me deliver the kills personally, I’ll see that you both have unlimited access to our premier dining hall and elite dormitory for the next month. A fitting reward for your heroic acts today, wouldn’t you say?”
Alex positively grinned. “That would be lovely, Elder Shi. We would be grateful to accept. Wouldn’t we, Linnea?”
But Linnea was grabbing his hand, holding it so tight. “This is absolutely wonderful, Alex! I now have independent lodgings, both room and board, without any ties to my asshole uncle and annoying clan. With unlimited access to the tastiest victuals I could hope for!” She beamed happily. “Even if most of my kind can’t stand spirit beat meat, it think it tastes absolutely divine.”
Elder Shi gave an indulgent chuckle. “No worries, Linnea. We have a Ruidian chef that makes the most wonderful fish entrees and fruit salads you could ask for. Of course we do our utmost to take care of our Ruidian guests, or those not so far in their cultivation that they lack the need to balance their diet with sustenance besides spirit beast meat.”
He then turned around with a sigh, gazing at the forest all around them, the air once more alive with the cries of wild birds, monkeys, and other beasts, the air rich with a thousand tropical blossoms, forest loam, and the lingering scent of cat musk, ruptured bowels, and blood.
The elder frowned thoughtfully for a moment, slowly shaking his head. “In all the years I’ve taught here, not once have we suffered an ambush like this, here, in the westernmost rift. Arguably the safest rift where our prey is almost… docile.”
“They were hardly docile today,” Linnea snorted. “Those fuckers were seriously out for blood.”
Alex winced at her crass interjection, but Elder Shi just chuckled agreeably.
“Indeed those fuckers were,” he said with a game nod, before catching their gaze once more. “I don’t suppose you two have any ideas or insights that might help us solve the puzzle as to why?”
Alex gently squeezed Linnea’s hand when her eyes widened in hurt surprise, sensing her sudden fear of witch-hunts and persecution. As if the elder’s innocent sounding question hid bitter jewels of peril just beneath the tranquil surface of his words.
Alex slowly shook his head before Shi’s inquiring gaze, treating it like a genuine and fair question. “I’m sorry, Elder Shi. This is my first time within this rift, so I have no prior experience to compare today to. What I can tell you is that I sometimes have a knack for sensing hostile parties… at least when those parties are spirit beasts. When I sensed trouble, Linnea and I just snapped back into party-mode from yesterday and took action.” He shrugged self-consciously. “Honestly, it’s all a bit of a blur, now. I was just trying to survive and take out as many of those creatures as I could.”
Linnea nodded. “But the good news is, I managed to level up Crimson Corkscrew from all the sweet, sweet potency released!” She winced. “But don’t tell uncle. He expects me to put everything just into developing my class. But why not take my time and make sure I have a few deadly attacks that hit far harder than they otherwise would, and that I can cast my favorite spells in the blink of an eye, so I can better survive the leveling up process in the first place? That’s the lesson Alex taught me, and I wouldn’t have been nearly as effective today if I wasn’t both faster and more perceptive than I had been just a couple days ago!”
Alex nodded. “As long as it doesn’t effect your baseline progression rate, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t invest experience into skills as well as the levels themselves. Sideways progression that serves as a force multiplier for you might be just as important as leveling up your underlying class and core elemental affinity. Perhaps even more so. Or… at least that’s how I’d do it, if my internal matrix was actually set up that way,” he quickly amended before the pair of gazes now pinning his own.
Elder Shi nodded as if he could actually appreciate a paradigm so different from his own. He then gave a smile. “Well, if neither of you have anything further to add…”
Alex and Linnea exchanged glances, both shaking their heads.
“Then I propose we call this an end to our first successful class hunt,” Elder Shi said, the three of them reaching out and touching the portal in unison. Yet even as Alex felt the darkness engulf him once more, he couldn’t shake the feeling that, at the very last moment, there were shadows in the forest clearing morphing into figures glaring their way.
A chilling thought he immediately shook away when the warm light of the afternoon sun caressed his features once more, all extraneous thoughts leaving him as he took in the magnificent caldera vista before him, a craggy rim of volcanic rock with a circumference of miles, dotted with magnificent pagodas and buildings carved right from the stone above.
A glorious, panoramic view of the city that had become his new home. And just below was a valley so lush and fecund as to serve as the breadbasket for countless hundreds of thousands of souls, no matter that the caldera itself was surrounded by countless miles of desert sands.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Elder Shi asked with a fond smile, his voice easily carrying over the roaring of the falls just below them, his brown eyes twinkling as he savored the moment, before giving Alex and Linnea the warmest of nods. “And it’s thanks in no small part to your efforts and the efforts of people like you that our city continues to prosper, for which you may rest assured you will always have our gratitude.”
“Even when spiteful idiots try to put the blame at our feet,” Linnea said with a scowl, earning a sympathetic chuckle from Shi.
“Even so,” he said. “And don’t worry about the Duo Yi clan. They’ve been water merchants for centuries, who once held the city’s fate in the palms of their hands when the only reliable water source was the secret rift that they alone knew the location of.” Elder Shi flashed a jaded smile. “So perhaps it’s not so surprising that when King Zheng, long may his name be revered, forged a treatise with your clans 220 or so years ago, promising an end to all persecution, and indeed, a perpetual warm welcome to your kind who chose to visit Liushi along with trustworthy companions and the most generous commissions for every rift you delved… our water troubles began to abate and a certain clan’s power and influence began to wane.”
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Alex’s eyes widened, genuinely surprised to hear such a candid explanation. “Thank you for sharing. That explains a lot. And I’m genuinely grateful for the heads-up. Though I have to admit, I hadn’t expected any elder to be so, well...”
“Forward? Candid?” Elder Shi flashed a jaded smile. “Where most elders find satisfaction in observing young cultivators forge themselves into men and women worthy of their mantel as they strive to find the answers to all their questions through struggle, research, and in the ofttimes bitter crucible of conflict...all paths that allow for growth and far stronger foundations than spoon-fed answers will ever provide anyone, that philosophy doesn’t necessarily hold for those who walk a different path.” He smiled at Linnea, who was herself clearly captivated by the magnificent vista before them. “A path where brevity, clear concise answers, and an almost… how did your elder once put it? Ah yes, a scientific approach to things, serves you just as well as a cultivator’s spiritual revelations.”
He then turned to Alex as the chilly spray refreshed them all, smiling with clear approval. “And here you are, striding both worlds. And though I think you’ll find the cultivator’s path to be as much about self-discovery as any of your fellows, when it comes to explaining the political ramifications of unexpected allies and enemies to a Ruidian recently arrived, I believe plain-speak will serve you best here. At least in this arena.”
Alex put palm to fist and bowed his head. “I think I understand. Thank you, Elder Shi.” He grew thoughtful as they took the path back up to the slope to the clearing above. “Elder Shi? I know this may sound like an odd question… but can one group of cultivators ever encounter another during a rift dive?”
Linnea’s eyes twinkled as she abruptly snorted. “Are you serious, Alex? Do you have any idea how absurdly unlikely that is?”
Alex shrugged. “Honestly? No. I don’t have a clue.”
Elder Shi gave Alex a reassuring smile. “Afraid of encountering trouble on a future delve?”
Alex smirked, then nodded. Because it was a valid concern, as much as he hated to admit it. “Sure. Let’s go with that.”
“In all the time I’ve served at this academy, I’ve never heard of any occurrence where one party encounters another while delving. Certainly there are numerous instances where linked parties have broken up mid transit, but everyone learns basic protocol of taking stock of their surroundings and immediately locating the rift portal back as their first vital step of any delve. The second vital step being to return immediately if even one party member is missing. With that policy in effect, we’ve lost only a handful of people to party dissolutions since I first became an instructor myself, decades ago.”
“Sure,” Alex allowed, choosing his words carefully. “But what if, say, one party was hostile to another? And that’s why no one reports encountering another group?”
Elder Shi sighed. “One would like to think that no one would judge a cultivator’s life worth less than the cores one could collect in a single delve, but I know that some who walk this path are far more cynical than others. Nonetheless, I can comfortably say that most cultivators at this school are on good terms with one another, where they’re fighting for the sake of our home and against a build-up of waste Qi, not against each other. So there is very little reason for such an encounter to turn hostile.”
He raised an admonitory finger as they reached the end of the trail. “And even if shadowy murders were occurring, you would think at least one fortuitous encounter would have occurred in the centuries since records were formally kept, were such encounters at all common.”
“All good points. Thank you, Master Shi,” a somewhat Alex said as they crested the plateau once more, whereupon a several dozen curious students and Elder Win himself were all pinning the trio with their stares.
Linnea visibly winced, though Elder Shi paid no mind, save addressing his contemporary.
“How are the injured?”
“The healer said they will both make a full recovery,” Elder Win assured. “How are Alex and Linnea?”
“Both are doing splendid. Each of them are now up a good 350 credits, which we will finalize shortly,” he declared with a grin, immediately earning a handful of murmurs from the onlooking students, who were now whispering and pointing their way.
Alex winced at how fast his fellow aspirant’s expressions changed from reverential wonder to envy, though most were still favoring the pair of them with friendly nods.
“Wait, we nearly get killed because of their taint, and they get to profit?” Snapped none other than Tan Yi, glaring daggers their way.
“Enough of that!” Elder Win snapped, his glare alone quenching Tan Yi’s declarations, instantly killing the ugly murmurs Alex could sense from the lips of those closest to the glaring youth. “The Ruidians you’re so clearly intent on disparaging just demonstrated to you all firsthand the benefits of looking past old racial stereotypes and appreciating the abilities of those who would fight by your side. Men and women who, if treated with the dignity and respect that our codicils demand, might just save your life, when daring the rifts! If you’re too blind to acknowledge that simple truth after today’s lesson… then perhaps Silver Sands Academy isn’t for you.”
His words earned immediate fervent headshakes of denial, more than a few now daring to wonder if the whole thing had been staged for their benefit, as Elder Win’s had no doubt intended with his careful choice of words.
Alex quickly suppressed his smile, squeezing Linnea’s hand when she opened her mouth to protest the rumor now swirling about the students.
“Let it go. This lets our instructors save face. I’ll bet our injured fellows will both make a rapid recovery thanks to the best healers at the school and find a healthy sum of credits in their talismans, or at least the favor of their teachers, if they also go with the flow. And if it isn’t obvious, our very generous boon for the beast cores is also part of that unspoken agreement. This saves the school’s reputation while still assuring that these knuckleheads actually appreciate us.”
Linnea’s eyes widened. She dipped her head and winked, suddenly reminding Alex so much of his baby sisters that he had to blink back unexpected tears.
“I got no problem with the Ruidians,” declared one broad-shouldered youth with a strong chin and clear brown eyes, bowing his head Alex and Linnea’s way. “Once I break through to Bronze, they’re welcome to delve with me any time.”
“As if you’re breaking through to Bronze any time soon,” teased the girl by his side, her flawless skin and elegant features hinting at beauty her plain cultivator’s robe and tightly tied hair bun otherwise hid. Her words earned a blush from the youth, even as she claimed his hand. “But thanks to our Ruidian friends, at least we can strive for it.”
Their other classmates shared similar sentiments, and Alex found it the oddest thing, to be looked at with warmth, even admiration as they all sat in the lotus position under the afternoon sun and began to purge their waste Qi with various cleansing techniques, Alex himself happily relying on nothing more than a draconic bloodline and the sun to meditate more than cultivate, all of his absorbed Dark Qi having been greedily claimed by bones that he was somehow certain were just as strong now as they had been during his final incarnation. Yet despite his attempts to distract himself with the sun’s golden caress or using his exquisite sense of smell this incarnation to pinpoint each classmate’s distinct scent, unique mixtures of musk, sweat, waste Qi and cultivation potential, Alex couldn’t help but feel a terrible weight with nearly twenty young souls gazing at him if he was some sort of hero, and only a couple glaring at him with envy, spite, or hatred in their heart.
It felt like an absolute inverse of the natural order of things, and Alex feared the abrupt realignment to the status quo he expected would come at any moment. So he did his best to focus on focusing on the scents permeating the clearing while enjoying the hot sun against his skin and the spiritual energy flowing through his meridians while his stomach roiled in dreadful anticipation of the disaster he feared would be all the greater for such extended kindness.
Yet much to his surprise, the day ended with the same warmth as just after the delve, the young couple who had first declared their respects going so far as to actually invite Linnea and Alex to explore the city with them and maybe get a bite to eat afterwards, even referring to them as a couple.
Of course, the way Linnea held Alex hand and immediately said “Yes, we’d love to!” didn’t change that impression, especially when she then invited the young couple, whose names turned out to be Quing and Lilly, to instead join them for dinner.
“In fact, you should all join us for a celebratory survival meal!” Linnea called out with cheerful enthusiasm just as the group broke up for the day. “It’s the custom among my people for everyone who dares a rift together to celebrate together afterwards! So, you should all come to the academy dining hall with us and eat your fill of our fresh-caught kills by our side!”
She turned to a bemused Elder Shi as the entire class turned around to gaze at Linnea with surprise and gratitude written on all their faces. And though they didn’t cheer with excitement like a high school class might have, Alex sensed it was a very close thing.
“Is that alright, Elder Shi? Can I gift the class with some of my meal credits?”
Elder Shi exchanged a smile and with Win. “We’ll do you one better. This evening alone you may all eat and drink your fill of mead and spirit beast meat without limit at our academy dining haul and not lose a single credit!”
This did earn a cheer, Alex noted with a certain amount of bemusement, though he too was grinning as wide as any of them.
And the night was just as sweet as he could have hoped for, sharing drinks, listening to the life stories of his fellow aspirants, and savoring the tastiest fare he had in what felt like a lifetime, spiced as it was with potent spiritual essences and the promise of friendships he would never have expected.
And even if the night had ended with Linnea curling up in his arms and confusing the heck out of him after a single drunken kiss… still not good for his Dantian… he would count the day an absolute win.
Even if he was nagged by the troubling thought that he was forgetting something crucial, that an unexpected pitfall was somehow waiting for him, as it always was. And because he couldn’t relax without brooding over every negative event that occurred over what had been a triumph of a day, he couldn’t help thinking over Tan Yi’s final disparaging comments while stuffing his face with spirit beast meat from the pumas Alex had slain while still glaring daggers his way.
“That Ruidian abomination sure as hell didn’t save my life, and that ambush wasn’t staged by any fool here. The elders outright failed us!”
Alex sighed and shook his head. The boy really was an idiot. To both be so certain that the ambush hadn’t been staged, yet utterly unwilling to believe that he was in any real peril or that he owed anyone a lick of gratitude at all just showed what a deluded little monster the boy truly was.
Unless he had somehow known…
Linnea moaned softly, snuggling up against him once more. And though he was fully clothed, Alex could no longer deny the flash of guilt he felt. He had done his best to give the girl as sweet an evening as she deserved, after helping him to save their classmates’ lives.
But now it was time for him to slip back into separate quarters, and finally get a full night’s sleep. So after tucking in the beautiful, talented, and eccentric girl he absolutely wasn’t falling for, he secured separate quarters from a deferential servant, whispered a nighttime prayer to the memories of the women he had loved a lifetime ago, and promptly fell asleep.