She was stunned by the amount of progress she had made. Even taking into account the small gains she’d achieved using cultivation aids while in The Gutter, she wasn’t expecting to go up in rank for months yet. Looking back through her notifications, she had to assume that the ‘temporary neutrally attuned nexus’ was responsible for her quick advancement.
According to the message, the temporary fount would remain for a week or until she had drained it of energy. She reached out with her spiritual senses to see if it was still present, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. She must have completely absorbed the nexus.
She had never heard of a neutrally attuned nexus before. Qi came in different elemental ‘flavors’, and ambient qi contained a mix of every kind of qi in varying amounts depending on the location. Founts were the same because they were just an area of comparatively dense ambient qi. Since humans were neutrally attuned beings, they needed to convert any absorbed qi into a non-elemental state before it was usable. By her best guess, since the temporary nexus had been filled with neutrally attuned qi from the start, she progressed much farther and faster when cultivating it than normal. It also probably didn’t hurt that the nexus was made from the energy of a cultivator of higher rank than she was.
The amount of advancement she achieved in three days surpassed even her weeks spent in the Rare nexus, and she could hardly believe she hadn’t heard about this sooner. However, after a moment of reflection the reason seemed obvious. Many cultivators would jump at the chance for this kind of ‘shortcut’--even considering the bloodshed required and consequences of the hidden quest. With the damage that just a single cultivator on a month-long killing binge could do it made sense that this wouldn’t be publicly known. Maybe there was more to Yivesh’s forced ascension punishment than she had originally thought.
Wanting to see all the changes, she brought up her and Silas’s profiles.
Name: Samantha Cray
Age: 17
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 6
Low (9 => 10)
Agility: 9
High (16 => 19)
Endurance: 8
Average (13 => 15)
Resilience: 6
Low (9 => 10)
Cultivation Rank:
Mid Copper => High Copper
Pattern: Vital Wellspring (Low Copper - Rare)
Qi Pool: 18 / 18
Base: 15, Meridian(s): +3
Qi Regeneration: +2.0 / hour
Base: +0.8, Vortex Mark (Static): +0.2, Sage’s Rumination: (x2)
Cleared Meridians:
Heart: +1 Endurance, +3 Qi pool
Passive Arts:
Prey’s Perception (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: N/A
Gain increased awareness of your surroundings. Affects all senses.
As One (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: N/A
You and your bond share vitality. If one is wounded or healed, the effect is split between the two parties. You will rise or fall as one.
Poison Connoisseur (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: N/A
Inherit the toxin processing abilities of your bond. You will more easily gain resistances to any poisons you encounter.
Current Resistances:
Draff Toxicity: Rank 2 - 34% (-⅔ effectiveness and duration)
Corrosive Poison: Rank 1 - 13% (-½ effectiveness and duration)
Sleep Poison: Rank 0 - 16%
Combat Arts:
Inspect (Common)
Qi Cost: Variable
By focusing your spiritual senses on a target and expending qi, you can either retrieve basic information or gain useful insights that can be used in combat.
Swift - Rank 1 (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: 1 qi/second
For every 1 qi point spent per second, gain +1 Agility. While active, your steps gain perfect traction.
Flawless Regeneration (Rare)
Meridians Required: Heart
Qi Cost: Variable
By cycling qi through your heart meridian and circulatory system, you can regenerate flesh to heal your body to flawless condition. 1 qi invested will restore approximately 1 ounce of flesh per minute, with additional qi invested resulting in diminishing effects.
Mindsets:
Sage’s Rumination (Rare)
Qi Cost: N/A
Embodies unshakable tranquility and allows one to maintain a meditative state without entering a trance.
Spirit Bonds:
Lunar Jackalope (Rank 4 - Mid) [ View More ]
Silas -
Lunar Hare => Lunar Jackalope
Rank 4 - Low => Rank 4 - Mid
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 2 => 3
Abysmal (4) => Low (9)
Agility: 12 => 13 =>14
Exceptional (16 => 20)
Endurance: 5 => 6 => 7
Average (10 => 12)
Resilience: 4 => 5
Low (8 => 9) => Average (12)
Active Abilities:
Passive Abilities:
Thump
Cooldown: 30 Seconds
Herb Hunter
Leap
Cooldown: 10 Seconds
Poison Connoisseur
Swift
Cooldown: Variable
Prey’s Perception
Translucence
Cooldown: Variable
Iron Gut
Antler Genesis
Cooldown: Variable
As One
Offered Bond Abilities:
Bond Ability Points (BP) Remaining: 4
Swift (Rank 2)
[2 BP]
For every 1 qi point spent per second, gain +2 Agility. After ability ends, effects will linger for a short time before returning to original levels. While active, your steps gain perfect traction.
Herb Hunter
[1 BP]
Like the Lunar Hare, you have the uncanny ability for finding the best quality herbs around.
Translucence (Rank 1)
[1 BP]
For every 1 qi point spent, you will become partially transparent for 30 seconds. Remaining motionless while translucent will make you exceedingly difficult to spot.
As One (Special - Rank 2)
[2 BP]
You and Silas will shore up each other’s weaknesses by inheriting some of the other’s strengths.
Flurry
[1 BP]
By spending 2 qi points per second, your kick speed will be doubled and kick damage will be increased by half.
The main changes on her profile were the increased max values for her attributes due to her rank up and a 0.2 qi/hour increase to qi regeneration from her new Vortex mark. These were welcome changes, but not what interested her most.
Looking over Silas’s page, there were several notable developments. It seemed as though spirit beasts not only could increase their attributes through training like humans, but also gained points when they ranked up and when they evolved. Not to mention that the evolution had also improved his aptitudes and gave him access to a new active ability called [Antler Genesis]. She would need to ask him more about the new skill later.
Her eyes were drawn to the intriguing new bond ability she could purchase, [Flurry]. Though she hadn’t had much occasion for it in her most recent fights, kicking could be a potent tool in a spear wielder’s repertoire. If [Swift] and [As One] were not such integral parts of her fighting style, she would have seriously considered buying the new bond ability immediately. As it stood, she couldn’t rationalize putting off getting the next rank of [As One] considering how many times it had already saved her life. Though the description was vague, she decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.
With four bond ability points in her pool, she decided to spend some of them rather than hoard them. Upon buying the second rank of [As One], a notification appeared.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Silas’s greatest weakness is __________.
Samantha raised an eyebrow. She’d never seen a prompt like this before, but went along with it.
Well… Strength is Silas’s lowest attribute and quite literally a source of weakness. It also has the lowest aptitude of all his stats.
As soon as she finished forming the thoughts, a new series of messages popped up.
You have determined Silas’s greatest weakness is ‘Strength’. Silas’s aptitude for Strength has increased. Changing Silas’s body structure to accommodate higher aptitude.
Silas has determined your greatest weakness is ‘Agility’. Your aptitude for Agility has increased. Changing body structure to accommodate higher aptitude.
A deep, dull ache thrummed through her very bones as she fell to the ground and clutched at her legs. She felt like she was being stretched and pulled apart, and an ominous creaking sound filled her ears as her body burned in agony. She couldn’t help but scream, and a sharp yowl from Silas made her realize that she was not the only one that was suffering. She watched in both alarm and fascination as Silas visibly grew bulkier and taller. It wasn’t a drastic shift, but enough that she could notice the alterations in real time.
As for her own transformation, the first thing that caught her attention was that her pants, shoes, and greaves no longer fit her as well as they did moments ago. The hems of her pants were slowly rising past her ankles, the straps of her greaves were becoming increasingly tight, and she felt her toes start to curl as they were pressed up against the confines of her shoes. She feared that either her body or gear would break under the mounting pressure, but the pain was too great to concentrate enough to doff the equipment. Her vision began to blur and darken as the horrid grating of her bones intensified further.
When unconsciousness came, she welcomed it with open arms.
----------------------------------------
She awoke to a cool, wet cloth being placed over her forehead. For an instant, she believed she was back home, being cared for by her mother after taking ill. That illusion was shattered when she heard a person who was distinctly not her mom call to her.
“Hey… I really need you to wake up now, Samantha. I don’t know how I’m going to carry you out of here otherwise.” the voice said, a bit of hopelessness in his tone. When she didn’t answer he mumbled to himself, “Maybe if I get some rope and come back?”
She recognized the voice as none other than Jacob, who must’ve come back to check on her as his notes promised. She sat up and he squealed, holding a hand over his heart. He took several deep breaths to calm himself and then coughed into his hand a few times, clearly embarrassed by the outburst.
“I didn’t expect that to actually work...” he laughed nervously. Not knowing that she could easily hear him with her enhanced perception, he muttered under his breath, “...It sure didn’t the first ten times I tried it.”
Samantha looked around and noticed that they were at the entrance to the waterways, next to the ladder they originally climbed down to get here. Her armor was in a pile nearby, and her spear was leaning against the wall nearest to it. Silas was taking deep rhythmic breaths beside her, looking like he was sleeping.
Seeing her attention, Jacob added, “I couldn’t move you with the armor on, and it was pretty filthy anyway. Your robes are in even worse shape, but I didn’t feel comfortable removing those for you. I do have a spare set, if you’d like to change? I’ll turn my back, or I can move around a corner.”
He certainly wasn’t lying about her robes being gross. The once light-tan fabric was now stained with blood and sweat, and the sticky material clung to her skin uncomfortably. She took the robes gratefully and Jacob turned his back so she could change.
She moved to take off her shoes first and was stunned to see the front was completely blown out. Her toes were exposed, peeking out an inch beyond where the original sole of the shoe ended. She recalled the notification she had seen before passing out and wondered what other ‘body structure’ changes had been made. Her legs had certainly gotten longer. The hems of her pants now sat about two inches higher than they previously did. There was also a sort of natural bounciness that she felt in each step that was difficult to describe. It was like her sense of balance and control came easier to her than ever before.
She pulled up her and Silas’s attributes to check for more changes.
Name: Samantha Cray
Age: 17
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 6
Low (10)
Agility: 9 => 11
High(19) => Exceptional (24)
Endurance: 8
Average (15)
Resilience: 6
Low (10)
Silas - Lunar Jackalope
Rank 4 - Mid
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 3 => 4
Low (9) => Average (12)
Agility: 14
Exceptional (20)
Endurance: 7
Average (12)
Resilience: 5
Average (12)
She nodded appreciatively at the new gains and closed the windows with a thought. She hadn’t known it was possible for humans to change the aptitudes they were born with, but she certainly wouldn’t complain about it.
As she stepped out of her old robes and wiped off what grime she could, she couldn’t help but notice her new Vortex. The tattoo-like mark was approximately an inch in diameter, and sat on the skin around her navel in a ring. It glowed with the faint blue light of qi, and the pattern was incredibly complex. Unbroken strings of foreign writings and characters appeared woven together into braids, twisting together into mirroring shapes and spirals like an ancient mandala. The strings of script even appeared to be moving, albeit slowly. She closed her eyes and focused on the mark, trying to get a feel for if it did anything, and did notice that it had a sort of gravity to it. It seemed to be pulling in a small amount of qi from her surroundings and pushing it towards her center, and she was unable to find a way to increase, decrease, or stop this process.
Unable to learn more about the mark for now, she finished changing into the new clothes and re-donned her armor. She intended to part ways with the man, but Jacob convinced her to go back with him to All the Fixin’s so that she could get a new pair of shoes and clean up a bit. She could see the wisdom in not walking through town covered in old blood and with her feet poking out from the front of her boots, and reluctantly agreed.
After returning to his shop and spending several minutes with wet rags and a water pail, her face, hands, and equipment were mostly presentable. Jacob then offered her a pair of cloth shoes similar to the ones Aiden had acquisitioned for her. She held the shoes for a moment and felt her chest tighten. She couldn’t believe he was really gone, just like that.
“Your first note mentioned that you’ve already buried Aiden. May I know where, so I can pay my respects? I didn’t know him for long, but he was a good kid. I’m sorry that things turned out how they did.”
Jacob seemed to age 10 years at the mention of his son. His shoulders drooped and his eyes began to water, but he nodded and wordlessly led her out behind his shop to a small, enclosed yard. In contrast to the generally dirty and trash filled slums, Jacob obviously took care of this place. There were patches of flowers, some ferns, and even a section of neatly trimmed, green grass. In the center of the grass was a small mound of freshly upturned dirt, with a single wooden plank sticking up from the ground serving as a headstone.
It simply read: “Aiden. Beloved son.”
Samantha knelt at the grave and bowed her head. She spent a few minutes in contemplative silence, reflecting on the days they spent together making deliveries. She remembered the way he laughed, and how he approached life with a carefree joy that was difficult to replicate. She felt herself growing angry at recalling how his future had been stolen by greedy, cruel men, and moved away from the grave so as not to taint the sanctity of the site with her malice. Silas sent her feelings of comfort as he nuzzled up against her leg, but though she appreciated the sentiment it didn’t soothe her much.
Moving beside a teary-eyed Jacob, she bowed low at the waist to the grieving father. He gasped, raising both hands up as he looked around for anyone nearby, “Master cultivator, I beg you! Raise your head. One of your standing shouldn’t bow to one such as me.”
Samantha kept her head down and shook her head, “I owe you an apology, Jacob. More than one, actually. I recognize that I stayed your hand against the Rat King so I could question him, then lost my temper and killed him myself. I not only failed to protect and save your son, but I stole your vengeance as well. I understand if you find my actions unforgivable, but I just want you to know how sorry I am for everything.”
Jacob lowered his hands and became quiet for several long moments, “Your apologies will not bring my boy back from the dead...”
She remained bowed, saying nothing.
“...but I also know you are not the one to blame for this.” he said gently, “You did more for us than most cultivators would have, and I bear you no ill will for killing my son’s murderer in my stead. It’s enough that he is dead. Please, raise your head, honored cultivator.”
She stood straight and lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.
Jacob took a deep breath and wiped away his tears. When he looked back at her, there was a sort of resolve that had overshadowed the grief on his face, “I overheard some of what he said to you. I was so angry that I went looking for Ol’ Whisper myself. Lucky for him, he was long gone by the time I got to his home.”
He clenched his hands so tightly that his knuckles became white, “I want to know who is responsible for this. I want to ask them face to face what it was all for. To tell them that their plots were not worth my son’s life. I may not have money or power, but I have a voice loud enough to scream out their shame.”
Jacob then lowered himself into a full kowtow and pressed his forehead into the dirt at her feet, “I know I cannot do it alone. Please... I have no wealth, but I will give you anything you want! Even a life of servitude. I will not know peace until I know the truth.”
She didn’t know how to respond.
She wanted to help him–even felt obligated to help, to a degree–but didn’t want to make promises that she couldn’t keep. The fact was her time on this floor was likely limited, and there was no guarantee that she would be able to find the information he needed.
“Jacob… I’m afraid that I might be forced to ascend. Even if he was a vile criminal, I still killed my fellow cultivator.”
He looked up at her with fire in his eyes, “No one here will say anything! Another will quickly take his place and his loss won’t be mourned.”
She shook her head. She was more concerned about the hidden quest than anything, but decided to keep that close to the chest for now, “All the same, it’s possible that my crime will be discovered. I’ll help you for as long as I can, but I’m not sure I’ll have much better luck finding Whisper than you did. I don’t have the connections that other cultivators do yet, but I promise to let you know if I find anything.”
He rose from the ground and dusted himself off, “That’s all I can ask.”
After a few more minutes of chatting and saying goodbye, Samantha left The Gutter behind her. Tired in mind, body, and spirit, she headed to the one place she’d been missing most. Home. She had waited long enough.
As she navigated the familiar streets it occurred to her that Thomas was probably worried sick about her. She made a quick detour to see her cousin and assure him that she was okay. She nervously rapped on the door, but no one answered. She knocked louder and with more persistence until, to her great surprise, an unfamiliar woman greeted her.
The mortal woman was petite, perhaps only 5 feet tall. Her hair was tied up in a loose, messy bun, and a flowery robe hung loosely around her small frame. Despite the light smudging of her makeup, it was obvious that she was quite beautiful. Her expression quickly turned ugly when she saw that the person knocking on Thomas’s door at this time of night was another woman, but when she saw that Samantha was decked out in high quality equipment she became more subdued.
“And, who might you be?” the mortal asked, a tinge of irritation in her question, “Thomas is quite busy tonight.”
“Ewwww....” Samantha said, the gut reaction coming out before she could stop herself.
The woman bristled, “I beg your pardon? I’ll have you know that--”
“Amelia, who’s at the door?” Thomas called out from somewhere at the back of the house.
Before Amelia could reply, Samantha cut in, “Thomas! It’s me! I just wanted you to know that I’m fine, and I’m going to visit my parents. I can see you’re preoccupied, so I’ll come by again later.”
“Wait! Sam? Just give me 5--no--10 minutes!” Thomas pleaded.
“Ew!” Samantha repeated, “I’m not waiting around so you can finish your business. I’ll just talk to you later, bye!”
She jogged away and tried to put some distance between herself and the awkward situation as Silas plodded along behind her.
She followed the wide paved roads for about 20 minutes until she reached the Southern Business District. Here, mid-tier shops and trades of every kind flourished. It was nearing late evening now, but the streets were packed and the people showed no sign of slowing down. The walkways were brightly lit by qi lanterns suspended by strings, the store signage glowed with fluorescent paints, and customers filtered in and out of every open doorway. Smells of freshly baked bread, roasting meat exquisitely seasoned, and sweetly crafted candies assaulted her senses in the best possible way, and she resisted the urge to drool.
Interestingly, as soon as she neared the edge of the crowd, people began to automatically make way for her and Silas. High Copper was nothing to sneeze at, and her current lack of stealthing meant that her aura could easily be felt by those around her. She felt a small surge of pride as she watched not only mortals, but even the lower ranked coppers moving out of her path. Silas strutted through the open space as confidently as a king, and she felt some relief that she didn’t need to worry about him accidentally being stepped on.
Unlike in the slums where it was nigh impossible to find any Enforcers, she could easily find two within earshot patrolling. Some were even permanently posted outside certain shops to dissuade any thoughts of theft. Also, while wearing any sort of armor or carrying a weapon made her stand out in The Gutter, she was just one armed person among many in this area. This was one of the busiest times for shops, as patrons sought to make one last trip to one last store before everything closed down for the night.
In the distance she could see a group of mortals making way for a male cultivator in opulent robes. He rode atop a Verdant Stallion, a spirit beast that excelled at traveling long distances quickly. Its impeccably maintained green fur was practically shining under the light of the lanterns, and as it shook its head the vines that made up its mane flowed in mesmerizing waves. It snorted at one mortal who didn’t get out of the way fast enough, and a powerful gust of air blew the woman back a few steps.
She sensed the man was High Copper, like her. Not in the mood to play the game of ‘which cultivator was going to lose face by moving out of the way of the other’, she decided to duck into a nearby shop before they crossed paths. With [Prey’s Perception] she could see him smirk at her as she turned her back to him and did her best to ignore him. It seemed there would always be someone looking down on her, in spite of her impressive gains.
It was at this point that a slightly winded Thomas came running up to her, “You have some explaining to do! You run off to some stupid fight and don’t come back for three days? Then you drop in like nothing happened and leave aga--” he cut himself off as he scrutinized her. His eyes narrowed as he looked her up and down, “Wait. Wait. Wait. Did you…? Are you…? Tell me your cultivation rank right now. Also, did you get taller or something?” he circled her as he waited for her answer. Placing a flattened hand on top of her head and moving it over to the bottom of his chin, he mumbled, “You definitely got taller…”.
“Can you wait for answers until I get back home? I don’t want to explain everything twice.” she offered.
Begrudgingly, he nodded, and they made their way over to her parent’s shop, ‘Cray’s Creations’. Like many store branch owners, her family ran the shop services from the bottom floor while living on the 2nd floor. The arrangement was incredibly convenient, though as a child she hated being woken up before dawn to help prepare for opening. The only saving grace of those early days was that she always got the first pick of the freshest baked goods each morning. She smiled to herself at the fond memories as she opened the door and stepped into the familiar space.
It was busy tonight. Many people browsed as her father worked the front desk and her mother was likely off somewhere giving product information to an interested shopper. If her dad’s emphatic hand motions were any indication, he was in the middle of a rather intense session of haggling and close to making a sale.
Aldon Cray was a middle aged man of average height and lean build. His short, dark brown hair was peppered with white and gray just above his ears, and his hazel eyes shone with the thrill of the deal. Today he wore a forest green tang suit with a fox being depicted in brown embroidery running down the right shoulder. This imagery combined with the natural colors of the clothing played up the fact that the shop dealt entirely with natural spirit beast materials–just one of the many small strategies her parents employed to make sales.
He looked up briefly to the doorway as a musical chime announced her entrance, and his eyes looked about ready to pop out of his head as she removed her helmet and smiled at him. The customer made his next price proposal for what she could now see was a bone dagger. He offered two silver for the piece, and Samantha knew from experience that such a price would bring in a profit margin of mere coppers. It wasn’t nearly enough to be worth the effort required to make the weapon, and she fully expected that on a good day her father could get up to three or four silver for it.
“Deal!” her father shouted a bit too quickly, scooping the money off the counter and handing the bewildered patron the sheathed weapon. Clearly even the customer expected that price to be too low, but he had no time to question his good fortune as Aldon practically shoved the man out of the shop.
“Everyone out!” he demanded, “My daughter has come home from her cultivation quest! We’re closing early! Out! Out I say!”
Hearing this, her mother shot out from behind a wide standing shelf towards the back of the shop and homed in on her location. Her mouth dropped open with shock upon seeing her daughter for the first time in months, but she quickly recovered. She eagerly took up Aldon’s call and ushered people out of the store as quickly as she could.
Martha Cray was 40 years young, and wasn’t afraid to let people know it. Samantha mostly took after her mother, inheriting her deep brown eyes, regal features, and black hair. Years of smiling caused small wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and mouth to form, but she always joked that she counted the markings as a badge of honor for living a happy life. Her outgoing personality and friendly disposition were her weapons of choice for convincing customers to buy. After all, very few people suspected such tactics from the short, unimposing woman. Today she wore a set of robes that matched Aldon’s--even down to the fox embroidery--but this one ran down her left shoulder instead of the right.
As the last of the shoppers shuffled out, congratulating her parents on her successful return, Samantha’s father closed the door as her mother simultaneously flipped the ‘Open’ sign to show ‘Closed’. The effortless, smooth coordination they displayed never failed to impress her, and was evidence of years of being a team.
As if to emphasize her observation, both parents turned to face her in sync, but didn’t speak immediately. They seemed unable to find the appropriate words to speak after their time apart. Feeling inspired by her childhood memories of this place, Samantha dropped her spear and rushed forward. She wrapped one arm around each parent’s waist and used her inhuman Strength to lift them, twirling them once in a circle like they had often done to her when she was small. Caught off guard by the motion, both parents broke out into laughter, shattering the unspoken distance that had separated them seconds ago.
As Samantha set them down, it was their turn to embrace her. As they all held each other, laughing and weeping with joy in equal measures, Samantha felt for a brief moment that all was right with the world. In her parents arms, she was safe.