Samantha stepped out of the rift and up to the now-familiar podium, glad to finally be finished with the unusual scenario. As before, Theora sat behind a tall judgment dias to grade her quest performance. This time, though, she was alone. The mysterious newcomer was distinctly absent.
Noticing Samantha’s exploratory glances Theora spoke up, “My associate and I have finished our business here. You won’t be seeing her again anytime soon.”
The knot of tension in her gut that had appeared with the woman’s arrival loosened. By the way Theora gave her an understanding smile and nod, her relief must’ve been obvious.
Theora continued, “Before we go over my evaluations, I’d like to personally address an issue that you ran into during the scenario. Namely, your encounter with the projectionist. I’m sure you have many questions, and I believe that you deserve answers. More than that, you deserve an apology. In this instance I acknowledge that I failed as your representative, and for that I am sorry.”
Theora bowed her head and Samantha was briefly stunned into silence. She’d intended to ask about what she’d experienced, but never imagined Theora would behave like this. It was rare to see a cultivator genuinely apologize, and even rarer that they’d apologize to someone so much weaker than themselves. Perhaps the situation was even worse than Samantha had imagined.
“What do you mean that you failed as my representative?”
“To put it simply, I allowed for that projectionist to be added into the scenario without fully understanding the consequences. As a result, you nearly paid the ultimate price.”
Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with Theora’s submissive posture, Samantha found herself trying to reassure her. “You must’ve also provided the means to remedy the situation though, right? I’ve had plenty of time to think over what happened, and that’s the only thing that would make sense. I don’t know where else that bird would’ve come from.”
Theora looked up with an expression filled with remorse, “You’re very kind, but it’s only right that the one who caused the problem should be responsible for fixing it. I think you would be less compassionate if you fully understood how at risk you were.”
Samantha’s brow furrowed with concern, “Explain it to me, then.”
Theora did just that. After her explanation concluded and Samantha had the opportunity to ask relevant questions, both women were silent for a long time.
“I’m also sorry to say that the help I offered you had an effect on your reward, though I’m sure that’s the least of your concerns at the moment.”
Samantha kept her eyes downcast at the podium in front of her, still processing what she’d been told. She had come incredibly close to becoming a shade. To dying, and having her current self be wholly abandoned by the wheel of reincarnation. To make matters worse, Theora didn’t know what the consequences of having a knot in her soul cord might be. It was supposedly already unusual for someone to be able to reconnect their broken soul cord. For those that could, it was even more unlikely that they would document anything about it and reveal a potential weakness. There were just so many unknowns that it was overwhelming.
“In regards to the main objective of delivering the resources to the hidden caches, you pass. For your optional objectives of recovering resources stolen from previous deliveries, expediting a delivery to a specific cache, delivering the resources discreetly, preventing your cargo from being overly damaged during transit, and bringing the thieves to justice, you receive grades of F, A, B, B, and A, respectively. For me giving you ‘significant help’ during this scenario, your overall reward is further reduced by 90%.”
Quest Reward Evaluation Completed!
Main objective reward: +5,000
Optional objective grades*: F, A, B, B, A [A = x1.5, B = x1.4, C = x1.3, D = x1.2, F or Unpursued= x1.0]
First time completion bonus: x2.0
Representative Assistance Penalty: x0.1
Total: 4,410 points (5,000 * 1.0 * 1.5 * 1.4 * 1.4 * 1.5 * 2.0 * 0.1)
The reward didn’t even cover the original 5,000 point cost to purchase the scenario. She knew she should’ve felt cheated, or outraged, but couldn’t muster the emotion. She just felt… numb.
Still, she couldn’t argue too much with the grades she had received. The F she had seen coming since she failed to retrieve the stolen goods . After learning the location of the camp from the Peak Copper she’d captured, she completed her deliveries as quickly as she could before attempting to retrieve the stolen goods. In the process of fighting her way through the camp with Silas and Tobias, the leader of the bandits ended up retreating to where the explosive vials were kept . She hadn’t seen what happened next and didn’t know if the outcome was purposeful or accidental. All she knew was that in a blink the entire area was overtaken with fiery death.
Anything within about 50 feet of the explosion was incinerated and anyone who had survived in the camp up until that point died–including her and Silas. Despite the fact that she was a fair distance from the building in question, she was blown backwards over 100 feet by the force of the blast and killed on impact. Tobias was ‘de-summoned’--for lack of a better term–and Silas was knocked out of the sky and ended up impaled by a tree branch nearly a quarter mile away. The explosion was like nothing she’d ever seen before, and she estimated that the damage was many times greater than what she’d caused with her amateur ‘alchemy’ back in Yivesh.
The B’s she’d also expected. Though the thieves were killed before they’d gotten a chance to raid the caches, she knew that at least one of the cache locations had been discovered. She’d been reluctant to use her spectral form after her fight with the projectionist, and had overlooked a particularly stealthy bonded beast following her group. Had she been willing to scout instead of purely relying on Silas, she would’ve clearly seen the binding thread connecting the creature to their paired cultivator. A scant few of the glass vials had also been damaged below 50% durability during the period when Tobias and Silas were fleeing their first campsite.
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At least she did well in expediting her delivery to cache C and, of course, giving retribution to the thieves. Those two successes played a large role in almost breaking even, though that was poor consolation with how terribly everything else had gone. It was difficult to stay positive with the many worries weighing on her, but she did her best to focus on the silver linings. For all the troubles she experienced she’d gained some valuable things in return.
First, she now knew more about projecting and spiritual combat than before. She was likely one of the most knowledgeable projectionists on the second floor now and could use that to her advantage. Second, unexpectedly dying during her attempt to recover the stolen goods had assuaged her fears about what would happen if she perished while her soul cord was knotted. She’d been concerned that her soul would somehow detach itself again, but as far as she could tell the experience was the same. Third–and arguably the most impactful takeaway–she had the opportunity to spend her Mid-Bronze Insight while she was in her inner library waiting for her Rebirth Core to revive her.
As tempting as it was to look for a potent attack art–something she was still lacking until she invested in [Mongrel’s Regurgitation]--she already had a wide array of abilities she hadn’t fully mastered yet. With the ability to create her own arts now, this was also something she could eventually remedy on her own. What she really needed was knowledge.
She was open to anything that could give her an edge, but was most focused on finding something related to projections, soul cords, what the next stage of spiritual transfiguration was after gaining a qi saturated body, or art creation. Given that she could project in her past life, and her knowledge of the qi saturated body also came from a past life, there was a good chance the information she wanted was hidden within her somewhere. However, most of her inquiries into these topics were unsuccessful. She held out hope that this information would be accessible when she used a higher tier of insight, but was satisfied with what she eventually found. Though not incredibly advanced, she invested in knowledge on how to create and fine-tune arts.
Unlike the memory of being an artillerist on the high seas, receiving this insight was as disjointed as it was exhilarating. It was like jumping from one breakthrough to another, experiencing revelations in quick succession while gaining new understandings of both her own cultivation base and the nature of qi. In an instant it was like she’d gained years of practiced study and experience, though she could tell there was still much she didn’t comprehend. Using this new understanding she easily pinpointed where she had been going wrong with improving her [Desert Breeze] art further. She also could more easily envision the art’s potential as well as other arts she could make. This inspired ideas on how to overcome the Ancient Cliff Drake’s poisonous breath, among other things.
Realizing she’d gotten lost in thought, she closed the notification and turned her attention back to Theora… only to find her representative had disappeared while she’d been distracted. She let out a long sigh, “Figures.”
Calling forth Tobias’s construct for company–and to give him some ‘active’ time outside of the heat of battle–Samantha started planning what her next scenario would be. Scrolling through the rift shop, she also looked to see if any resources from the most recent scenario had become available for purchase. She had one particular resource in mind that might also help with her looming cliff drake problem…
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Now that Karrenne was no longer interfering with the scenarios, Samantha progressed through the challenges she was presented with relatively smoothly. Her ascendant didn’t always receive high marks for the quests–especially as the difficulty increased alongside the depleting rift qi reserves–but she did so often enough to accumulate a massive amount of points. Apart from spending a small sum here and there for supplies, Samantha appeared to be saving most everything else for some large expenditure. Secretly, Theora was excited to see how she’d choose to spend the points when presented with the final scenario… but had been very careful not to even hint at it. With what she’d done to Karrenne, she knew any further ‘helpful nudges’ in the right direction could result in severe disciplinary action.
Though she’d put up a strong front when dealing with the irritating woman, she was not looking forward to the inevitable confrontation she’d be having in front of the director and the board. Although Theora’s physical body had already begun to stand from her chair and move towards the director’s office, due to the high time dilation in this place it would still feel like years from this fragment’s perspective before she’d reach her destination. Even so, she wished she could put it off for longer.
Time was a funny thing. It became even more amusing the older she got, and whenever the World Spires were involved. During Theora’s youth she would’ve thought a year felt like an eternity. Now? The years passed almost like heartbeats. Come and gone with her hardly realizing their passage. In a way, she’d lived more time in the spires across her fragments than she had in her ‘actual’ life. She wondered if Samantha would feel this inexplicable tension as well when she emerged from this trial. To return to unaged comrades when she herself has grown so rapidly. To return to friends or loved ones and discover that you’ve changed while they’ve remained the same…
Theora refocused on Samantha as she saw the ascendant preparing to finish the latest quest. The last five years she’d spent watching over her had been brief, but she’d found herself growing even fonder of her during that time. It was a bittersweet sort of satisfaction as she teleported to the judgment dias and seated herself for the last time this rift. Against all odds, Samantha had made it to the end. Well… nearly. With the qi reserves all but emptied there was one final scenario to overcome. If she could manage it, then…
Samantha stumbled out of the rift, coughing and covered in soot. Her bonded beast snorted in irritation as it shook its wings, surrounding Samantha’s head in a fresh cloud of dust.
“Silas!” the girl complained, waving her hand and easily blowing the dirt away with a gust of wind.
Theora smiled at the pair’s antics, and was gladdened to see Samantha had made yet another jump in developing her arts. The execution remained crude, but it was still suitably impressive for a Mid Bronze. It was better control than Theora had at her age, certainly.
With a flex of her will and a thin thread of qi, Theora accessed the system data from the scenario as Samantha went through her standard greetings. Though she’d witnessed most of it in the observation room, she always wanted to double check for moments she might’ve missed or actions she overlooked before making a final evaluation. Seeing nothing that stood out, she withdrew her attention from the report and returned to the task at hand.
“Another ‘creative’ use of your resources? I’m beginning to see a pattern.” Theora teased.
Samantha brushed some of the dust off of her face with a shrug and a chuckle, “It’s not my fault so many things are flammable–though, I’m not complaining. It’s made my job a lot easier on more than one occasion.”
Theora laughed, “Fair enough. Well, let’s talk about how this latest gambit has paid off…”