Kai stood on the bow, looking down through the clouds, a smile on his face. He was wearing a pale gold breastplate crafted in the lamellar style of Bao’s leather armor. He watched Ai dash back to the helm, concern growing on her face.
“Don’t bother Ai; he’s just playing around.” Kai laughed. Bright laughter rang out, a tinkling sound coming from the clouds beneath them, first from the port side, then from the aft. Relay appeared soundlessly, hovering beside the sloop. He floated there for a moment, hovering in place.
“Naturally stable dynamic antiferromagnetism!” the ferrox announced, getting everyone’s attention. His ability to move between two points in space without traveling through the intermediary points was a bloodline trait of the starry tiger.
“Now you’re just making up words,” Bao grumbled, sitting down, a frown on her face.
“It’s how the airships work; they made the keels from spiritual loadstone,” Relay explained as he hovered in place. “And it’s delicious.”
“You can fly!” Yunfie burst out. She’d always wanted to fly. Today the wind cultivator had pulled her hair back into two braids, each tied with a blue ribbon.
“Float, technically,” the golden ferrox corrected her, “but it’s a start.”
“Permanent magnetic forces don’t work that way…” Kai scratched his head — yet another observable difference in this realm. The term realm was from Kai’s new framework. It meant this layer of reality. In Kai’s new framework, reality existed along a spectrum. He qualified each realm by the relative influence abstractions had on natural laws. In his previous life, conceptions had a negligible impact; it was a low realm. Long Yuan, in contrast, was a high realm. Kai could imagine higher realms where abstractions played an even more critical role.
A flurry of hand signs went between Bao and Song before Song sat down, staring at the tall cultivator. Bao’s lips turned down before she looked away.
“Oh,” Relay blipped to the deck, “I found something good in the cabin.” The ferrox stood, and a spasm gripped its throat. The beast let out a low, guttural retch, its body convulsing as it tried to expel something from its stomach. His eyes squeezed shut; he let out a series of coughs, each more desperate than the last.
He coughed and gagged, his eyes bulged, and he let out a high-pitched wheeze, his body shaking with the effort. For a moment, it seemed as though nothing else would happen.
But then, with one final, heaving cough, a lockbox exploded from the ferrox's mouth, growing as it fell. It landed on the deck with a thud, covered in saliva.
Kai looked at the lockbox, a solid wood box secured with brass straps and studs. It looked like a treasure chest but squared off. And it was three times the size of the ferrox. Space manipulation hypothesis confirmed. Kai had wondered how it was possible for Relay to eat more than his volume in metal and not increase in size. It must be another bloodline trait.
“You got their strong box!” Bao turned with renewed interest. “Did you find any spacial storage items?”
“What?” The golden beast looked up, his head twisting towards her. “What do they look like?”
“You know rings, sometimes pouches, or bags..,” Bao explained, “You’ve never seen a spacial storage item before?”
Kai moved before the strong box, kneeling and turning it around to face him. He flicked the viscous saliva from his hands to the deck.
“They had some rings and bags,” the ferrox scratched his head with a hind paw. “But they didn’t look like anything special.” And he didn’t want to eat any human parts for such measly amounts of metal.
With a click, the lock of the strong box opened, a spring flipping the lockstrap up. Kai retracted his microns and opened the box. The box was full of pearlescent stones. Folded papers lay on top of them. The stones glowed with spiritual energy. Kai picked up the papers and thumbed through them.
They were in a language he wasn’t familiar with. He passed them around.
“Spirit stones,” Bao dashed over and picked one from the box. “High quality, even superior.” She held the stone in her hand before pulling it to her chest. A look from Song, and she reluctantly returned it to the box.
“Spirit stones,” Kai picked one up. “A crystalline structure capable of holding spiritual energy.”
Kai slowed the world down, giving him the time to examine the stones. The energy seemed lifeless or denuded of personality. To Kai’s perception, all spiritual energy had personality. Wind energy was playful, while earth energy was stoic. The energy inside these stones was bland or perhaps neutral. It was as close to lifeless as it could be and still be spiritual energy.
Cultivators could quickly refine neutral energy. Kai drew some conclusions. Spirit stones would allow cultivation in areas with low concentrations of spiritual energy or could stand in for rare energy types when a cultivator otherwise couldn’t get access. They could draw in neutral energy and use their refined stores to transform it over time.
He looked at the stone's crystalline structure and noticed it was a stable matrix of cells where energy could circulate. He considered how the crystalline cells were more prominent at the periphery and denser at the center. He wondered if that had the natural effect of pulling the energy out over time.
He slowed himself and bent to count the stones. He’d been practicing this time dilation, slowing the world, slowing himself. It gave him so many options he didn’t have before. Ai was reviewing the letters and showing them to the others. Once done, she returned and stood in front of Kai.
“This is not a language we recognize. Could be a code, though.” Ai handed the letters back. Kai returned them to the chest before closing it. Kai counted the stones with a glance; there were about two hundred.
“These can be used as currency, right?” Kai guessed.
Ai gave him a strange look, “Spirit stones are accepted everywhere there are cultivators.”
“Is this enough to buy some new clothes?” Kai asked. Running around in a glorified loincloth and metal chest armor might be practical, but he didn’t want to stand out in a crowd. Kai looked around at the others; their mining and excavation soiled their robes and covered them with soot. “For all of us,” he added.
“Books! Don’t forget books.” Relay piped up. “We still need to visit a library.”
Ai stared at them, her mouth slightly open. She tried to say something but could only shake her head. Bao was not so reserved.
“Is this enough to buy clothes….,” Bao’s face twitched, her eye blinking. “Are superior spirit stones enough to buy clothes?” She shook her head. “Yes. Yes… they should be enough.” Bao came from a noble family with a long history in the thousand isles, but they were of middling wealth. Growing up around wealthier children gave her a distinct awareness of the value of money.
“These would be honored to negotiate for you,” Ai bowed. “We are familiar with local rates.”
“We’ll be in your care then,” Kai sighed. He bent to pick up the chest and hand it over to Ai. He’d tried to break down the barrier between him and the Lunar Temple team leader, but she was consistent in her formality.
“Do they have a library in Arcadia?” Relay hopped around, getting used to his reduced weight. He hopped up to Kai’s shoulders and settled around his neck. Arcadia was their destination, a rare neutral city where cultivators from every faction could do business.
“A public library?” Yunfie’s small voice interjected, “I don’t think so. I’m sure we can help you find some books, though!” She smiled, her bright white teeth showing through her lips.
“Lighter,” Kai remarked at Relay’s reduced weight. He’d wondered how heavy Relay would grow; having such a densely packed metal form could lead to trouble transporting or even walking around. This solved those problems.
“How are you able to shift your weight like that?” Just a moment prior, he was weightless; now, he wasn’t.
“I don’t know yet,” the golden ferrox replied. “I have some data to analyze. Wake me when we get there.” And with that, he closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.
Sleeping was Relay’s way of transferring his awareness to the soul space. Kai smiled and looked around at the others; they were already busy returning to work. Kai stepped up to the rail of the prow, one foot taking a position on either side. He slowed the world around him, giving him time to think.
“That was a waste of a magnificent ship,” Kai told Relay. “This one is a bit small for all of us.”
“Oh, are we to become sky pirates? That would be an exciting adventure.” Relay sent back, amused at the idea of taking the ship from the raiders.
Kai shook his head. No. Stealing another group's ship wasn’t what he wanted, but it was still a waste. He liked these airships. It was a shame to see one get destroyed. Kai faced forward while he watched Ai slowly take the helm and Yunfie call to the wind.
Realm. Kai considered the term. It might be confusing because cultivators already use the term to differentiate different stages of cultivation. And yet, it was precisely for that reason that Kai had picked it. Each step was demarcated by the increasing influence spiritual energy exerted over the cultivator, first by strengthening the body and the mind, but ultimately by the transformation of the soul. That was why soulforgers had such a smooth progression. They transformed their soul at the start and continued along the way.
Kai wondered about his spiritual energy. At his regular perception rate, it appeared golden with a prismatic tint, but he could pick out thousands of different energy colors beneath it when he supersaturated his mind. He suspected either his energy comprised multiple energy types or could take the form of numerous energy types. Perhaps the concept at the root of my energy is balance or harmony instead of symmetry.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Kai considered some experiments that he might try to figure out. He was concerned. His spiritual energy came from the Nova Ahja cluster. But how would that affect his soul? As he progressed from this realm to the next, what influence would balance or harmony have on his soul? Would he become more and more neutral, like the bland energy of the spirit stones? That didn’t seem right, but what did balance or harmony mean?
He allowed himself to pursue all these thoughts as they moved slowly closer to their destination.
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Cool air blew through Kai’s finger-length hair. He looked down on the ocean of Arcadia. The city of Arcadia, from which the Island was named, was the largest neutral city in the northern islands. They said it dominated an island but didn’t say how vast or grand the geography was.
“We’re here,” Kai sent Relay. The ferrox opened his mouth in a yawn and lifted his head to look around.
They approached the island from above. Kai saw snowcapped mountains ringing the island's periphery and opening into a central sea. All of the lands between the mountain and the sea was Arcadia, a port city unlike any he’d seen before. The town had grown so large that it ascended the nearest mountains and sprawled into the valleys.
It was fall. The blue-grey mountains were painted in orange, red, and purple. An early snow had colored the highest peaks white, but the sun was still intense, and rivers of melted snow ran down the mountains through the cities in rivulets and channels. Kai thought the way the city diverted water was artistic. Stone aquifers diverted water to feed tranquil ponds or to meander through scenic parks before taking the runoff away to the sea.
Kai watched as a siege of herons flew over the tranquil waters of the sea. They were white with grey feathers along their beak and eyes. Large enough to ferry a man, Kai concluded, but too proud to do so.
The air sloop neared the water and slowed, before dipping into the sea, becoming a seafaring vessel. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t necessary to build a traditional port; airships could dock at multiple levels - but the rulers of Arcadia, a dynasty of thousands of years, preferred the conventional port view and had never permitted the construction of an airport.
Kai stretched down and let his fingers slice through the sea spray. Fish darted beside the hull, long silvery shapes that darted in and out playfully. He wanted to go swimming but restrained himself. The water was cold and clear for a Li, allowing Kai to pick out schools of fish.
He sat down and turned to look at the crew. In the days since they left the ruined island, he hadn’t contributed much. Ai insisted on letting them handle the first raiding party, and Relay had dealt with the second himself. Next time, it’s my turn.
Still, he felt like a freeloader. I’m becoming the cliche young master. As he was thinking, Bao approached him, tightly gripping a package.
“I’m here at the request of Song,” Bao began, a cold sweat on her forehead. “She has taken a vow of silence in service to her way, so I am here on her behalf. These are her words precisely, so please don’t assign them to me.”
Kai frowned and nodded for her to continue.
“It would be prudent for you to hide your wealth publicly; if it pleases you, we have cleaned and modified one of Yunfie’s robes. This is only until we can find garments more suitable for your station.” Bao held out the package containing the robe; she turned her face, not looking at Kai.
Kai nodded, taking the package. Strange. Did she expect me to resist the suggestion or something else?
“By wealth, she means all the gold armor and jewelry,” Bao confirmed.
Kai assumed as much. He had made all his microns from the celesium ore; it was sturdy, strong, and conducted spiritual energy exceptionally well. He had a necklace containing his mechanical micron assembler and the transceivers. A bracelet made from microns, chest armor, and a belt and shendyt, the last reinforced with celesium threads.
He undid the package and pulled out the robe. It was a woman’s blue robe. Kai slipped it on and tied it around him.
“What about me?” Relay asked. “I can’t very well hide my wealth.” He preened with his metallic coat.
Bao shrugged, “It’s common for cultivators to own spirit beasts. Only the strong or wealthy can do so with rare or powerful beasts; you will undoubtedly draw some attention.” Bao looked down and paused before continuing. “Speaking in public may draw too much attention, though. I don’t suggest you shouldn’t. I only mean to make you aware of it.”
“Fine,” Relay closed his mouth with a snap. “At least we can still talk.” he transmitted.
“Could you also remove the cultivation platform from the mast? That will attract unwanted attention.” Bao asked, biting her lip as she waited for a response.
Kai nodded and jumped up to the platform. From here, he and Relay could see the marina stretching into the sea and the city of Arcadia rising behind it. He sent the command to his microns to disassemble the platform. Millions of microns began deconstructing it out from under him.
“I get the feeling from your requests that carrying around all this will cause us problems,” Kai said. “But leaving it aboard doesn’t seem smart, so what should we do?”
“A couple of reputable banks have branches in every major city.” Ai said, “That’ll be our first stop. Until we can scope out the markets and find some trustworthy buyers.”
Banks. That could be good, especially if it’s secure.
The microns finished disassembling the platform from under Kai, leaving him standing on the mast. A new vambrace was being constructed by the microns on his right arm.
Kai hopped down to the cabin roof, pulling the robe around him. He’d have to find something sturdier if he wanted it to last.
Ai piloted the ship through the marina, following signs Kai couldn’t discern, but in short order, they had docked, mooring the sloop to a small sea slip on three sides. An official approached. Kai watched as Ai and the official went through the marina rules and policies before he asked if she wanted to declare any valuables. When she declined, he frowned and looked over at the vessel.
After a brief exchange, the portmaster provided her with what looked like a red slip before placing similar slips on each mooring line.
Seeing him off, she bowed before turning to the rest of the crew.
“We’re all set,” she pushed the red slip into her pouch. “Ready?”
Yunfie nodded, as did Song. Bao pushed her way out of the cabin; a large backpack was strapped on her back over her sword. In either hand, she gripped the straps of large boxes. These were the ores Kai knew, and he knew how heavy they were.
“Ready!” she reported.
“Let me help,” Kai said, jumping to the deck to lend a hand.
Song’s eyes went wide; she stepped in front of Kai and waived her hands before him, crossing them back and forth. When Kai didn’t stop right away, her eyes grew larger.
“Forgive this one,” Ai spoke quickly, bowing. “She only means to say that you should not lower yourself to carry things for those beneath you.”
“Beneath me?” Kai couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Because my cultivation is higher? Can’t I help people with lower cultivation?
“It really doesn’t seem strange to you, does it?” Bao questioned, then shook her head.
“Look. If you are seen carrying things for us, others will assume that you are beneath us and we are the stronger cultivators. By examining us, they will know the strength of our party. That’s what they will think anyway. But if we do all the work, others will examine you to determine our strength; in this way, it makes it safer for us.” That wasn’t exactly true since young nobles often traveled with entourages that were stronger than them, but Bao and the others had agreed not to let Kai lower himself in public if they could prevent it.
“While we are together,” Ai continued, “you can protect us best by allowing us to serve. This is one of those local customs you asked us to warn you of.”
Kai opened his mouth to retort but had nothing to say. Instead, he stepped back and looked at the others. He concluded the group would probably resist any attempts of his to help. How frustrating. I am becoming a young master.
“This one thanks you for your kind attention,” he bowed. Song’s eyes went wide again.
“This one would caution you to never bow to those of lower cultivation,” Ai said, bowing lower.
Ridiculous. Ai explained, and Kai endured another lesson, the end of which he agreed not to be deferential to them in public. He reserved the right to do so privately. Once he correctly understood his role, he strode out in front, Relay around his neck, even though he didn’t know where he was going.
Arcadia awaits!
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A man with weather skin, covered in dark cloth and hidden by the peer pylons, watched as the latest arrivals disembarked. These children put down two raiding parties?
That could only mean one thing. They were from a significant power. Secret Experts. He turned away and hobbled into the shadows. With every painful step, his face grew grim.