The first week went smoothly. Samantha woke up, worked out at the training center until her body felt it would collapse, then studied until her mind was tired enough to sleep. Her studies included reading the books gathered from the library, of course, but she also resumed her efforts on making her own arts. She had temporarily put this pursuit on hold while trying to accumulate points before the Delver’s supply barge arrived, but could give ample attention to it now. With her mind meridian keeping the contents of Xiao Qian’s Compendium fresh in her memory, it made it easy to pick back up where she’d left off.
Silas also got on board with regularly training. For attribute training, Silas fought any scorpis that emerged from the nest without using [Antler Shot] or a stealthy dive to kill it outright. Fighting with just his close-range abilities was good practice for him, and she encouraged him to cut out the use of abilities entirely as he got more comfortable fighting the creatures.
As for Tobias, Samantha’s new instructions significantly sped his progress clearing the city. Instead of needing to unload and pile everything together, he could simply tilt the cart and dump each load of resources into the range of the rift exit. With his high Endurance and Peak Copper rank reducing his need for food and sleep, he practically worked non-stop until every house had been thoroughly searched. Everything was turned in except for food and water that he set aside for his own use. All in all, he had gathered 8,942 points worth of resources.
His initial goal completed, Tobias took it upon himself to start making crude repairs to buildings. Sourcing materials from broken furniture or ruined sections of other buildings, he boarded up homes so creatures couldn’t easily enter or hide inside. He also offered to spar with Samantha in the training center since focusing solely on rebuilding efforts was rather dull.
While this routine saw Silas and Samantha steadily improving their fighting capabilities and attributes, it took much longer before she was able to make progress towards crafting her very first art. Despite generally grasping the concepts within the book, putting them into practice was a different beast entirely.
She’d already known that qi contained a mixture of elemental energies and that the manipulation of these energies resulted in different arts, but like most new cultivators on the first floor she hadn’t given too much thought to the specifics just yet. Starting out it was more convenient to simply rely on the near-intrinsic knowledge imparted through manuals or third-eye insights when learning or using arts. Now that she couldn’t use that crutch, she was forced to confront and overcome her ignorance.
The cultivation class she’d attended taught her that the five main elemental energies within raw qi were Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, and that different combinations and concentrations of these elements were often categorized as ‘secondary’ elements for ease of communication. For instance, qi that had a high concentration of both Water and Fire was commonly referred to as ‘Steam’ qi. This was as in-depth as the basic lessons had gotten on the topic, however. The compendium, in comparison, explained the elements to the point where it was almost tiresome. Because so much information was spread throughout the book or repeated, she ended up keeping a table of notes for ease of reference. While she could have continued to rely on her near-perfect recall of the book’s contents for her studies, it was easier for her to understand and visualize the relationships when everything was written down neatly.
Element
Characteristics
Strengthens
Weakens
Regulates
Harms
Wood
Growth, Change, Expansion, Vitality, Movement, Wind
Wood fuels Fire
Wood absorbs Water
Wood stabilizes Earth (through roots)
Wood dulls Metal (when chopped)
Fire
Prosperity, Dynamism, Intensity, Strength, Chaos, Light, Heat
Fire produces Earth (through lava/ash)
Fire consumes Wood
Fire refines Metal
Fire evaporates Water
Earth
Balance, Stability, Harmony, Persistence, Endurance, Damp
Earth produces Metal
Earth smothers Fire
Earth directs/ channels Water
Earth rots Wood
Metal
Structure, Solidification, Rigidity, Control, Force, Collection, Harvest, Dry
Metal condenses Water
Metal depletes Earth
Metal shapes Wood
Metal conducts heat away from Fire
Water
Adaptability, Nourishment, Mystery, Transformation, Dark, Cold
Water nourishes Wood
Water rusts Metal
Water dampens Fire
Water muddies/ destabilizes Earth
Though qi was most commonly used as a power source it was much more than a simple form of energy. It was intangible, yet it possessed a sort of mass and gravity that was undeniable. This was easily enough observed when a cultivator exerted killing intent which grew heavier as they advanced in cultivation. Qi also wasn’t quite ‘matter’, yet abilities such as [Antler Shot] were proof that it could be given form and solidity. Qi could also be used to influence the very nature of things, imparting different characteristics depending on what elements were most potent. [Indomitable Body], for example, was heavily reliant on Metal qi in order to toughen her skin. Though her comprehension of its true nature was still incomplete, she understood qi to be both creational and relational, mystic and material, and the essence of all things.
In nature, ambient qi existed with all sorts of elemental concentrations. Qi near rivers was high in the Water element, while qi in the forest would be higher in Wood energies. Even spirit beasts had affinities–or innate preferences and aptitudes–for the elements. This resulted in their cores possessing qi with elemental concentrations matching their affinity, or their materials being bestowed with different properties.
Humans, by contrast, were neutrally attuned beings. If affinities could be considered a ‘preference’, attunements were a ‘requirement’, and neutrally attuned meant that a perfect balance of the five elements was essential. This was why cultivating beast cores was harmful if overdone. The unbalanced nature of qi in the core being directly absorbed into the cultivation base was disruptive to the internal harmony of elements, causing damage. This was also why cultivation advancement was slow unless in an area like a nexus where qi was especially dense. When ambient qi was significantly biased towards one element, humans unconsciously filtered and paced their cultivation to match the element with the lowest concentration–thereby balancing the qi as they absorbed it.
Understanding her own neutral attunement was crucial because all arts required at least some level of elemental imbalance to have any effect. The process in activating any art was essentially the same: pull qi from her dantian, circulate that qi in a specific pattern through the relevant meridians, then direct that circulated energy out of her meridians and to the desired area of effect. Since all of her qi was perfectly balanced by default, she needed to use the pattern’s motion to force elements to be fully or partially consumed by others.
While this sounded simple enough, it was anything but. These patterns could quickly become unfathomably complex because they governed everything about how the elements within her qi interacted with each other. A pattern had to encompass what elements were strengthened or weakened and in what order, which characteristics were enhanced or suppressed, and countless other small details that determined the final effect of the art. As if that weren’t difficult enough, the entire pattern needed to be carefully encapsulated with a layer of balanced qi. The more complex the pattern became, the harder it would be to maintain control over it. While the damage from losing control of patterns using small amounts of qi was tolerable in the same way cultivating off of beast cores was, arts that used a lot of qi could spiritually cripple her.
It was no wonder why very few attempted to make their own arts until later in their advancement.
As intimidating as the seemingly infinite possibilities were, Samantha approached the task with excitement. If she could figure this out, she could make an art for pretty much anything. That boon was worth a bit of risk. She decided to start with the easiest thing she could think of: creating a breeze. It was safe, used only a single characteristic of the Wood element, and would actually be somewhat useful in this hot climate.
Pulling one qi’s worth of energy out from her dantian, she began trying to cycle the qi through her skin meridian in a way which caused a small portion of the Water element to be consumed by Wood. The compendium described a swath of basic patterns to achieve equally basic outcomes. Of these, the movement that would cause Wood to consume Water was one of the most straightforward. All she needed to do was shift the qi flowing in her meridian diagonally up and to the right, then back down and to the left. Easy. At least it should have been. In reality, attempting to consciously shift the qi inside her felt about as achievable as forcing her blood to reverse its flow with sheer willpower.
It took several days of struggling and examining her pathways when using existing arts before she managed to even cause the qi to twitch within her meridian. It took another week before she could complete the pattern with any real consistency. She was so excited by the progress she immediately attempted to cast the ‘art’ out of her skin meridian and into her surroundings. Though Wood was only minorly strengthened, she hoped it would still have some perceivable effect.
When nothing happened–and continued to happen even with a bit more qi invested into it–she began to feel frustrated. It took multiple failed attempts before she’d realized a simple mistake made in her hasty excitement: just making one element more powerful than the others wasn’t enough. When feeding Water to Wood, she needed to add in a second pattern in order to specifically enhance the wind characteristic. Otherwise, she was just adding unbalanced ambient qi to her surroundings.
The pattern to enhance the wind element was a single, circular loop. Focusing just on familiarizing herself with this new movement, it took her another week before she could perform it consistently. Then came the true challenge of combining the two patterns into a greater whole. The compendium mentioned that the way that patterns were melded was an important factor in determining art effect and efficiency. It also said that this was something she’d have to figure out on her own. There were many ways to achieve the same general art effects, and thus no overarching guidelines that could be given other than to experiment with small amounts of qi first before working up to more dangerous amounts.
Although making a high-quality version of this wind art was a future goal of hers, all she really cared about at present was making it functional. For that, the diagonal movement followed directly by the small loop was sufficient. Fine tuning it could come later.
She excitedly combined the pattern, cycled 1 qi point’s worth of energy through her skin meridian, then cast the ‘art’...
Again, another failure.
Trying not to get too discouraged, she increased the qi investment and tried again. Given her lack of experience, it was likely this art would be prohibitively expensive due to the inefficiencies. She slowly continued increasing the qi investment each cast until she finally felt something happen. The surface of her skin cooled ever so slightly as her robes weakly fluttered outwards away from her. It wasn’t enough to give her sleeves an inflated appearance or cause the fabric to shift in any dramatic way, but air was most definitely being circulated around her.
Congratulations! You’ve created a new utility art!
Name*: Choose name now
Meridian Requirements: Skin
Cost: 10 qi/second (Efficiency: Abysmal)
You emit a feeble gust of wind outwards.
*Note: Arts you’ve created can be renamed at any time
Despite the art’s absurd cost and mild effect, she felt incredible pride at what she had achieved. It had taken nearly a month of reading, reflection, and practice to get this far, but it was worth it. This was only the first step, and she could hardly wait to start experimenting on how to make it even better. Since the art could be renamed whenever she wanted, she didn’t stress too much about what to call it in the short term. Once she mentally selected a suitable name the notification automatically updated.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Congratulations! You’ve created a new utility art!
Desert Breeze (Common)
Meridian Requirements: Skin
Cost: 10 qi/second (Efficiency: Abysmal)
You emit a feeble gust of wind outwards.
----------------------------------------
It was another two months before the routine they’d fallen into was disrupted. A group of 30 scorpis soldiers emerged from the hive like some sort of final wave of enemies. Unfortunately for the Rank 4 beasts, though their mass appearance was certainly surprising, it was nothing that her group hadn’t faced before. The scorpis did not employ any new fighting strategies either, so it was only a matter of time before she, Silas, and Tobias cut them all down once more. Samantha was even a little excited to have a fresh batch of soldier venom that she and Silas could train with.
After the soldiers were dealt with, she checked in on the queen and her guards to see if there were any other surprises they had in store for her group. She looked through all of the different paths and caverns in the hive for anything of note, but the only thing that stood out to her was that there was no longer a mound of eggs behind the queen. Only her and her four queensguard remained. They still didn’t seem to have any interest in leaving the nest despite their latest attack having failed.
The days following the soldier wave, no scorpis workers emerged from the hive at all. Not knowing when more would appear, she instructed Silas to spend time doing extended flights in the meantime to increase his attributes. She increased the frequency with which she checked in on the queen–even spending a full day in the hive once–because she feared that she was missing some sign of impending danger. It didn’t seem believable that the threat of ever-replenishing enemies was simply… over. She felt certain that the scorpis had some devious scheme in place. However, as the days turned into weeks with no more eggs laid and no unexpected traps sprung, her vigilance faded along with the frequency of her check-ins. She even began to feel a little disappointed that Silas was no longer getting regular ‘sparring partners’ to work with, though Tobias was more than happy to pick up the slack in working with him.
As the weeks turned to one month, then two, then three, Samantha stopped checking in on the scorpis herself at all. She only relied on the information in her quest progress to occasionally confirm that no new scorpis were being born. When another two months passed without incident, she stopped even doing that much. The five scorpis that remained were pushed to the back of her mind, essentially forgotten until she felt she was prepared to end the quest.
----------------------------------------
Another six months passed without incident, and Samantha, Silas, and Tobias had all made strides in strengthening themselves. Samantha had studied all the books in the library that she wanted to and had increased her attributes through physical training and sparring. Her spear-fighting had also become more refined because Tobias gave her pointers on techniques and form. Though his specialty in polearms wasn’t fully applicable to her spear style, his decades of fighting experience gave him a keen eye. He even helped her through some of the new martial arts forms she had come across during her studies by learning and practicing them alongside her.
Silas had the largest improvement out of all of them. In addition to attribute gains, he also became significantly more adept at fighting–especially in close combat and against human opponents. This made sense when considering his age. He was only one year old when they had first bonded, and she never had a good chance to work with him on fighting techniques. At most, she’d discussed basic battle strategies with him and trusted that his instincts would be sufficient for the rest. Now, after about a year in this rift with much of it spent practicing against her or Tobias, nearly half his life had been dedicated to becoming a more cunning combatant.
Tobias’s gains had been unexpected due to his categorization as a quest resource, but Samantha welcomed them. It was only a couple attribute points, but Tobias was thrilled with the progress. Though he appeared to be in his mid-thirties, he was actually in his 60’s. He hadn’t increased his attributes in years because he was near his maximum values for his rank, so to have multiple attributes go up was a cause for celebration.
As for [Desert Breeze], Samantha hadn’t made quite as much improvement as she would’ve liked. She managed to make the art more efficient, have a more prominent effect, and even added in the barest hint of Metal’s characteristic of Control to allow her to somewhat affect the wind’s direction around her. Though leaps and bounds ahead of where it had started, the art still wasn’t ‘useful’ for more than keeping herself cool. She still had many ideas for how she could improve it, but didn’t yet have the skill to implement the changes. She’d actually had better luck modifying her existing arts due to her intrinsic understanding of them.
She’d ended up discarding most of the changes she made because they didn’t improve the art’s usability. For example, she’d found a way to make [Telekinesis] cost qi/lb/second instead of qi/lb for ten seconds, but it ended up being more expensive than the original was. The only alteration she’d actually determined was useful was one she’d made to [Cloud Step] that she colloquially dubbed [Cloud Stand]. When standing in place, instead of costing 2 qi/second due to one platform being formed beneath each foot, she only formed one platform beneath both feet for 1 qi/second. She didn’t see a lot of use-cases for it yet, but at least she could either step or stand in place for the same cost now depending on which variation of the pattern she employed.
She was still working on [Cloud Walk] which would let the singular platform slowly move beneath her instead of needing to be refreshed for each step, but it was too difficult for her at the moment. Like with [Desert Breeze], she needed more practice before she could go further or she’d risk injuring herself. [Cloud Step] primarily used Wood’s characteristic of wind, Earth’s characteristic of stability, and Metal’s structure and solidification to function. This was a complex pattern in and of itself, but at least with [Cloud Stand] she’d just needed to tweak the portion of the pattern that was already influencing Metal’s structure. Only minor changes were required to make a larger, singular platform that was centered beneath two feet instead of one. With [Cloud Walk], she’d need to add Wood’s movement into the mix. Adding an entirely new characteristic was several degrees of difficulty higher than just adjusting an existing one.
Throughout this time, Samantha and Silas kept their pantry stocked with food by searching the other homes for supplies. Tobias had cleared out all the resources, but left everything ‘real’ where he’d found it. Fortunately, almost every building had at least some dried foodstuffs like jerky, rice, or flour inside of them which were easy enough to cook. Some homes even had their own versions of enchanted larders which held some fresh items and also provided more spirit pearls with which to continue empowering the main larder in the mansion. She’d tried her hand at gardening at the farmstead with Tobias’s help and with the instruction of one of the books from the library, but neither of them were very good at keeping the crops alive. They’d managed a small, continuous supply of harvests by using seeds found in the farmer’s barn, but many plants either failed to germinate or quickly wilted under the unrelenting sun. Still, it was enough to stretch the pre-existing foodstuffs found in the town.
Their supplies were running low by this point, but Samantha believed that she and Silas could survive here for another few months if they rationed well. Coming to terms with the imminent end of the quest was something she was still working on. Though she’d made great strides, she feared once more that it wouldn’t be enough for whatever came after. Wanting to reassure herself, she pulled up the changes in her and Silas’s profiles to reflect on how far they’d both come.
Name: Samantha Cray
Age: 18
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 15 => 19
Average (23)
Agility: 26 => 34
Extraordinary (41)
Endurance: 21 => 26
High (32)
Resilience: 16 => 18
Average (24)
Passive Arts:
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 3 - 22% (-¾ effectiveness and duration)
Corrosive Poison: Rank 2 - 59% (-⅔ effectiveness and duration)
Sleep Poison: Rank 2 - 9% (-⅔ effectiveness and duration)
Paralyzation Poison: Rank 2 - 9% (-⅔ effectiveness and duration)
Hemotoxin: Rank 1 - 35% (-½ effectiveness and duration)
Spiritual Poison Resistance: Rank 1 - 2% (-½ effectiveness and duration)
Neurotoxin: Rank 4 - 41% (-⅘ effectiveness and duration)
Combat Arts:
Cloud Step (Rare)
Qi Cost: 1 qi/ platform
Meridian Requirements: Left Foot, Right Foot
Spend 1 qi point to create a solid surface of condensed qi directly beneath a chosen foot. This platform will remain a steady and usable platform until one second has passed or the user chooses to move their foot to another place.
Variation: [Cloud Stand] - Spend 1 qi point/second to create a solid surface of condensed qi beneath you while you stand. This platform will remain steady and usable until the user moves both feet outside the bounds of the platform.
Utility Arts:
Desert Breeze
Qi Cost: 5 qi/second (Efficiency - Low)
Meridian Requirements: Skin
You emit a gentle gust of wind in all directions. It is controllable within 1 foot of you.
Spirit Bonds:
Lunar Wolpertinger (Rank 5 - Low) [ View More ]
Silas - Lunar Wolpertinger
Rank 5 - Low
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 9 => 13
Average (16)
Agility: 20 => 23
Exceptional (28)
Endurance: 13 => 14
Average (16)
Resilience: 10 => 11
Average (16)
Her eyes lingered for a moment on her age which had increased after being in the rift for around 7 months. She had been born towards the end of the Sun Season on the first floor, and wondered how the changing weather might be affecting her family’s journey. Depending on how quickly time was flowing in this rift compared to outside, it was possible they hadn’t reached their destination yet and were enjoying the more mild temperatures of the Growth Season. Starting to feel herself becoming sad at remembering her family again, she forced herself to move on to the next section that had changed.
She’d managed to raise all of her attributes up to around 80% of their estimated maximum values, which was something worth celebrating. There were many times when she found the repeated exercises to be mind-numbingly boring, especially as the attribute gains slowed the higher she raised them, but her consistency was rewarded. She’d also acknowledged the difficulties in increasing her neurotoxin resistance all the way up to Rank 4. The scorpis Silas killed during the beginning gave them both a steady supply of training materials, but progress was slow until the final wave of soldiers appeared and they had the deadlier toxin to work with. Having [Desert Breeze] and [Cloud Stand] appearing in the arts section was oddly encouraging as well. Something about her custom and altered arts being officially recognized by the System made her feel like she was doing things right.
Silas had also brought his attributes up to around 80% of his maximum values during this time. She had been worried that he would fall back into his lazy ways when the scorpis threat tapered off, but he had made her proud. In an effort to be a reliable partner to her and to be well-prepared for facing the drake, he had been diligent in raising every attribute as much as he could with minimal complaints.
She closed the profiles and began walking towards the training center to begin her day, contemplating what fighting styles she should practice during her spars. Her musings were interrupted by a new notification.
Quest landmark achieved!
You have successfully starved the Scorpis Queen. No new scorpis will be added into the quest scenario.
A deep sense of dread rose up in her gut.
Entering spectral form, Samantha rushed into the scorpis hive and navigated to the queen’s chambers. Unlike before, no queensguard stood vigil. All that remained in the dark room were small scraps of chitin, stains of ichor on the floor, and a deflated-looking scorpis queen. Her mind meridian raced for an explanation, quickly putting together a story that caused her dread to morph into panic. What if in this highly-realistic quest scenario where the survivors could be affected by resources, the enemies also needed sustenance. With the queen’s workers and soldiers slain and unable to bring back food, she eventually became unable to produce more eggs. As leaving their monarch’s side would put her at risk of attack, the queensguard did the only thing they could to prolong her life. They allowed themselves to be cannibalized, one by one.
Another quest notification all but confirmed her fears.
Rift Quest: Extermination [COMPLETED]
Hostiles Remaining: 0/150
Resource Points Gathered: 9,142 (Initial: 8,942, Deferred: 200
Survivors Rescued: 8/9
Collateral Damage: Minimal (Mild + Crude repairs made)
Completion Time: 12 months, 5 days, 6 hours
Congratulations, you’ve completed the rift quest! All participants will be automatically transported in 5 minutes.
Automatically transported!? Where? Outside the rift? But I’m not ready yet!
She snapped back into her body and sprinted back towards the mansion, “Silas! Meet me back at the mansion now!”
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Silas questioned, her own feelings of alarm causing him to stress as well.
“The remaining scorpis died! The quest is over. It says we’ll be automatically transported, but doesn’t say where! I want to be holding on to you just in case.” she explained frantically, trying unsuccessfully to calm her thoughts.
It can’t be putting us directly outside the rift because I haven’t received completion rewards yet. Unless it also sets your rewards down outside with you? Argh! Why can’t this notification be more descriptive?
Samantha rushed up into the room she’d been using the past year and changed from mundane clothes into her armored robes, then slipped the enchanted buckler onto her left forearm. That done, she stuffed her meager belongings into her pack haphazardly and slung the straps over her shoulders. She grabbed her spear from where it was leaned against the wall and headed downstairs.
On her way out she briefly reconsidered the hidden armory items and if she should try to take any of them with her, but came to the same conclusion as before. If she was unceremoniously tossed back into the outside world, she didn’t want to risk fighting the drake while being weighed down by things she wouldn’t even use. She’d also have to drag the equipment around until she found an appropriate place to sell them, and didn’t know if she would still be on friendly terms with the delver’s outpost after so many of their members were killed by the rift guardian.
Silas arrived at the mansion just as she was headed out the door.
“Have you seen Tobias?” she asked as he landed along her shoulders. The quest had counted the resource points for him and his equipment as deferred, but she didn’t know what that meant.
“He was walking towards the barracks when you called me.”
“Great! Thanks.”
She arrived at the barracks in short order and saw Tobias waiting outside for her. He gave her a wide smile and a wave, “Why are you looking so upset? It’s a wonderful day today!”
“The scorpis are gone. The rift quest is ending!” she blurted out, only realizing her misstep too late. This entire time she’d avoided revealing the nature of this place to Tobias in fear of how he’d react, but her scrambled thoughts caused it to slip out at the very end. “I mean–what I mean is–” she stumbled over her words looking for some explanation but he held up a hand to stop her.
“I know already. It’s alright.” he said gently. Samantha realized that his skin was looking much paler than it usually did. That brought her attention to how all of his color was fading before her eyes. “Now that it’s over, I can see everything clearly.” He looked down at his hand as he spoke, turning it over curiously. “I enjoyed our time together more than I thought I would! I think you have a bright future ahead of you.”
“I don’t understand. Can you tell me what’s going to happen to us all now? What can I expect next?”
Tobias’s fingertips started dissolving into light and she was confronted with the fact that this was likely the last time she’d ever interact with him. Over the last year he’d been a sort of mentor to her. He’d supported her in improving herself, sweated and bled with her, and had many meals and conversations with her. She had been planning a proper sendoff when she eventually felt ready to end the quest, but she wouldn’t get that chance anymore. She wished she had more time to properly thank him and say goodbye.
Changing tact, she bowed low at the waist to him, “Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t have done as well without your help, and I really enjoyed our time together too. I hope we can meet again… somehow.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t cry, now. You’ll make me sad too. And raise your head! You’re of higher rank than me, so you should really act like it.” Samantha stood straight and wiped at her watering eyes, and he gave her an approving nod. “Like I said, today is a wonderful day. You should celebrate! I’ll put in a good word for you, so try not to worry too much.”
“Put in a good–?”
Tobias was gone before she could finish the question. Then, in a bright flash of light, she and Silas were gone too.