To her spiritual vision, the forest below glowed ethereally with the colors of the five elements. Lush, fertile greens were the most prominent in the mix, but there were also fair amounts of cool blues, earthy browns, and hints of grays and orange. For the first time in years she was able to appreciate the sensation of basking in unadulterated ambient qi. Unlike the cultivation chamber’s artificially uniform and controlled environment, the energy around her now was positively alive with change and movement. Odd as it was, this small ‘freedom’ the qi seemed to possess caused her chest to tighten with something akin to longing, or envy. Though finally outside of the rift, she didn’t yet feel like she’d truly escaped her ‘imprisonment’. A part of her was still expecting the next scenario to begin and anticipating how she could earn the most points… was still dreading her inevitable return to that all-too familiar room.
She let out a breath and shook her head in an attempt to shake the thoughts loose. She just needed to keep busy for now.
She shifted from [Cloud Stand] to [Cloud Run] and coaxed the platforms beneath her feet to drift down through the canopy at an unhurried pace. She idly pushed aside branches and leaves that came too near to her face during the descent out of habit, though rationally she understood that the mundane foliage wouldn’t even be able to scratch her now. As the countless leaves brushed across her exposed palms, she found herself unexpectedly engaged with the sensation. Whereas before she might’ve taken note of their texture or bright colors, now she observed how her cultivation base seemed to resonate with the energy they emitted.
Sinking deeper into the forest’s embrace until she was fully submerged in Wood-dominant qi, the tension throughout her body started to ease. The qi–though not a perfect match to her own elemental distribution–felt unusually welcoming and cozy. This was something she’d never experienced while neutrally attuned. At least not that she’d noticed. She got the sense that she could cultivate here easily if she wanted to. It wouldn’t compare to her time spent in the cultivation chamber, but it would certainly be a marked improvement over cultivating ambient qi with a neutral attunement. This line of thinking gave her an idea.
She searched around the immediate area for a suitable specimen, and after several minutes found something promising. Nearly seven feet tall, and with a trunk she could easily wrap both her hands around, was a sapling that shone a touch brighter than the surrounding plant life in her spiritual vision. In other words, the perfect first ‘living’ resident of her personal domain. If her theory was correct, by making a small forest within the domain, she may actually be able to cultivate within it from time to time. It wouldn’t be much–especially at first–but she saw no harm in trying.
She willed a path to open to her domain with [Rift Walk] while visualizing the space would remain isolated and sealed behind the other side of the tear. This way, the poisonous fumes she’d funneled into it wouldn’t leak out into her surroundings. A few seconds later the 10 foot tall rip in space appeared. When it opened the fog of toxins swirling beyond the threshold obediently remained in the confines of the domain. Taking in everything at a glance, she was glad to see that nothing inside her ‘warehouse’ appeared to be damaged by the spiritual miasma. She’d had some concerns given much of it was pseudo-spiritual, but it appeared domain-formed items did indeed behave as physical objects would. This thought gave her yet another idea.
She envisioned a melon-sized jar forming in the center of the warehouse, and in a blink the ceramic-looking container appeared. She then imagined the poison gas being sucked into and closed into the jar, and her domain carried out her intent. Like water being drawn into a drain, the poison streamed into the jar and condensed into a liquid. As the lid pressed itself into place with an air-tight seal, the image of a green skull and crossbones backed by wisps of equally-green smoke manifested on the front of the jar.
Samantha smiled at the ease with which she could control the space. She’d need to transfer the toxin to an actual container if she ever wanted to transport the miasma safely outside of her domain, but for now this worked to prevent it from causing any accidental harm.
She reached out with both hands and plucked the sapling from the earth, then stepped into the domain briefly to set it down inside. Next, she grabbed a shovel she’d stored on a warehouse shelf and crossed back over the boundary. With frightening speed and efficiency she proceeded to fling soil through the opening while directing her domain to arrange it into a square plot where the tree would be planted. She needed to refresh [Rift Walk] once before she felt that she had gathered enough dirt to sustain the sapling in the short term–about a 3ft x 3ft x 3ft area once gathered in one spot–but closed it as soon as the sapling was situated in its new home and the shovel was put back in storage.
Now, for a quick swim.
Strolling in the direction of the river, Samantha ensured she was left alone by predatory or curious wildlife by projecting her killing intent towards them whenever they got too close. This was a rare occurrence, however, as most steered clear of her once they sensed her aura. She wondered if she was being too brazen about her presence, but, if she was being honest, she was keen for an excuse to test what her new Low Silver body was capable of. While the fight with the drake had been a decent starting point, she’d been acting in a more strategic and stealth-oriented capacity. She also was curious about how she fared against a more ‘standard’ foe versus an unusually powerful one.
When she reached the river’s edge without any challengers approaching, she couldn’t tell if she felt more relieved or disappointed.
Taking a good look around, she sifted through years-old memories to recall where the delver’s boat had been destroyed. Walking the shoreline and replaying the journey back in her head, she eventually began finding pieces of the wreckage which confirmed she was in the right area. Luckily, due to the time dilation in the rift, not much time had passed in reality and many of the signs of their clash were still present. This helped narrow down the search area even further.
When she reached the spot she deemed closest to the actual wreckage, she jumped into the wide, cool currents of the river with little hesitation. Somewhere in this 100 foot deep, mile-wide river was the pack she’d lost in the initial drake attack, and it was time to find it.
With the passive bonus from [Whirlwind] that reduced fluid resistance, the act of swimming became almost surreal. She couldn’t even say that it felt like she was swimming at all. The ‘heaviness’ that she was mentally expecting from the water around her was practically non-existent, and her limbs moved easily through the liquid while propelling her faster than she anticipated. Curious, she briefly activated [Whirlwind] at 1 qi/second to see what it was like to have the water assist in her movements and was blown away. Her kicks and strokes were almost effortless and she found herself flying through the water as quickly as any fish. She actually had to cancel the art in fear of accidentally smashing herself into the riverbed. She could see her surroundings well enough with her spiritual sight–especially since moss covered nearly everything–but was having a hard time gauging just how effectively she swam with [Whirlwind]. Every reactive ‘correction’ she was making to avoid one collision was just putting her on course for another.
Returning to a more controllable swimming speed, she searched the surrounding riverbed for a backpack-shaped glow. She didn’t know how far the bag would’ve drifted during her time away, but since it was enchanted she hoped it would be easier to spot.
Starting from the point where the drake had emerged from the forest, she methodically worked her way downstream. Despite her extended time in the chilly waters across multiple dives, her armor’s enchantments for temperature regulation were already proving their worth. While her hands and face felt colder because they were uncovered, the rest of her felt comfortably warm. A few times during her search she was accosted by Silt Crocodiles–sometimes multiple at once–but her arts made her a surprisingly fearsome opponent. So much so that she even caught herself off guard.
The Rank 4 beasts she encountered had high Strength and Resilience but possessed a fatal flaw. Though their bite force was impressive, they were terribly weak when trying to open their jaws. As long as she could close their mouth and maintain her grip to keep it shut, they were effectively harmless. Any advantage they might’ve had when hunting a land-based creature like herself in the water was nullified by her arts. With [Cloud Stand] anchoring her in place, she used [Whirlwind] to aid her movements and coat her hands with piercing energy. Aiming at the lesser-armored throats and eyes of the crocodiles with half-fist punches, knife hands, and finger strikes, it wasn’t long before they were scrambling to escape her. Not here for hunting and not wanting to deal with bodies or blood drawing more predators to her, she let them go. After the third batch of Silt Crocodiles fled, no more approached her. She liked to think that word had spread to leave her alone.
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After many more dives, and long after her nose and fingers went numb with cold, she finally caught sight of her prize. Swimming down and checking it for holes, she was pleased to see that it was still in pretty good shape. Nethershot was even still holstered and tied to it, though she didn’t know if it had suffered any water damage. Looking around to check if anything had fallen out of her bag and settled nearby, she caught a glimpse of something else that interested her. Picking it out of a tangle of long weeds, she discovered that it was another caster. One that a delver must’ve been carrying.
If this also ended up here, then there’s a good chance…
A shift in the current caused the rope-like plant tendrils to sway, and new, promising glimmers revealed themselves to her spiritual sight.
She smiled.
…Looks like I’ll need to make multiple trips.
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Samantha tossed the last of the salvage into her personal domain shortly before the rift closed. Her search of the riverbed not only resulted in the retrieval of her own gear, but gear from others who had been on the expedition. A lot of it needed to be discarded due to water damage–such as rusted weapons, or medicinal pills that had become mush–but there were enough intact items to be worth the extra time swimming. This had also been a good opportunity to let some river water flow into her domain to help with growing the sapling later, as well as to transfer some disposable shine-sticks into her personal storage.
Needing to scrounge through the haphazardly piled items in her domain for the shine-sticks was evidence that her storage situation was rapidly becoming more and more chaotic, but she’d wait to deal with it until after she’d confirmed the drake was handled. On that note, she still needed to replenish her and Tobias’s qi before re-entering the den. As certain as she was that the drake was dead–or at least incapacitated–it was better to be in top shape before checking back in. She had considered using her spectral form, but didn’t want to risk a repeat of what happened last time she’d tried to spy on the beast. A spiritual injury was the last thing she needed right now.
She followed her binding thread to locate Silas and found him lounging in a tree branch above a pile of plundered Winged Snapper carcasses. Each had a noticeable chunk missing from their underbellies, where Silas had retrieved the spirit pearls from. He was practically purring with contentment.
“Back to the den already?” he asked.
“Not yet. I need a few more hours to prepare. Mind keeping watch?”
Silas tilted his head in confusion. “What about your personal domain?”
Samantha grimaced. The truth was that she didn’t want to use her domain. Not like that. Not yet. However, it was selfish to insist not to when it was the safer option. “I–I wanted to spend some more time… outside,” she admitted reluctantly. “But, you’re right. It makes more sense to shelter there.”
Silas shifted his position so he could better look at her. His contentment was disrupted and something else began to take its place, but he reigned his feelings in before she could pinpoint what it was. Even the qi she could see with her spiritual vision became veiled and murky, giving her little to interpret. “Nevermind. I’ll stand guard for you.”
She frowned. She rarely begrudged Silas emotional privacy when he desired it, but she disliked being shut out in situations like this. She was left unsure if she should be grateful for his consideration, or upset by being treated as fragile.
“I’m fine,” she lied. “You don’t have to–”
“I said I would. So, I will. It doesn’t need to be complicated,” he cut her off. His words were brusque, but his tone was soft. She was about to argue, but Silas re-opened their emotional connection and she understood his motivations at once. “Please...take all the time you want.”
“...Alright.”
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She stood and stretched once her pool refilled. Since neither it nor Tobias’s reserves were empty, she’d finished in a handful of hours.
“You can relax for longer if you’d like. I don’t mind,” Silas commented.
She struggled with how best to respond. It turned out his desire to watch over her was borne from lingering guilt from ‘abandoning’ her in the cultivation chamber. Guilt that was exacerbated by her own reluctance to re-enter a rift-like space. She’d tried speaking with him once more about how she didn’t blame him, but her heart spoke louder than her words and it refused to gloss over ugly truths. Rationality and logic couldn’t fully combat the un-reasonability of emotion, much to her chagrin.
In that place where the only other being who could really empathize with her was Silas, where the only one who could shoulder the mental load with her was Silas… she had felt abandoned by him at times. Her resentment–as misplaced and misguided as she knew it was–was infuriatingly resilient. She’d tried desperately to erase it. She’d even had some success at shrinking it down and tucking it away where it could be ignored or forgotten… but it wasn’t gone. Not really. And she loathed herself for it. Loathing intensified by the fact that Silas didn’t seem to resent her at all. In this hideous, shameful mire of emotion, he’d abandoned her again.
“No, I’d rather not linger. I just want to put all of this behind us.” What ‘this’ referred to Samantha wasn’t entirely sure, but it was the truth. A truth that didn’t force either of them to confront her own ugliness. With some luck, maybe they could both forget about it again quickly.
Silas leapt down from his perch and landed across her shoulders. He leaned affectionately into her neck and settled into a comfortable position. “Let’s go then.”
She summoned Tobias and activated [Rift Walk], aiming for the space beyond the den’s blocked entrance.
“The explosives didn’t finish it off?” Tobias inquired, picking up on the situation quickly.
“That’s what we’re about to find out,” Samantha answered. The rift snapped open and they were greeted by a wall of fallen stone. “We just need to find a way inside first, apparently.”
Deciding to take the opportunity to experiment, Samantha attempted to open a second rift while the first was still active. Additionally, rather than manifesting it in the standard orientation, she tried to make the portals parallel to the ground. Aiming one exit for the area below the piled boulders, and the second exit about 20 feet in the air and 100 feet away from herself, she poured more qi into the art to make a new tear in space. Apart from a mild strain on her mind, it worked exactly as she’d hoped.
The large rocks began dropping through the floor portal and falling through the sky portal nearby. There was a bit of a commotion as the heavy stones collided with the ground, each other, and occasionally broke apart, but Samantha wasn’t worried about the noise. When the last of the rocks in the rift’s vicinity fell through, she closed the floor rift, opened her personal storage to fetch a shine-stick, then tossed it through the first portal she’d opened. The drake nowhere in her physical or spiritual sight for the moment, she stepped back into the den with Tobias close behind.
A few more ‘floor’ portals later to clear the collapsed rocks, Samantha found exactly what she’d been looking for. Crushed beneath a mountain of stone–almost comically flat, in some areas–was the ancient cliff drake. Only its front legs and head were visible at the moment, but that was enough to determine she wouldn’t be able to harvest much from its remains. Beneath the layer of dust its scales were scorched, cracked, and smashed. She could probably get its core, and maybe its teeth or claws, but not much else. She’d dig out the rest of it to be sure and work with what she had.
Readying to open another portal just above the drake’s body–so as not to further damage it–she was startled when the partially dented head moved. She would’ve discounted it as her imagination if Tobias hadn’t whistled in appreciation.
“Tough beast. Almost a shame to kill it.”
The drake shifted its unfocused gaze in her direction and all she could see within it was enmity. She wasn’t sure if spite alone had kept it alive thus far, but it wasn’t long for this world.
She couldn’t say what possessed her to do it–perhaps astonishment, or curiosity–but before she’d realized it, she’d activated [Liaison] and added the drake to her communication web.
“Come to gloat, interloper? How unbefitting. How predictable.” The drake’s ‘voice’ was but a tired whisper. A disconcerting rumble that rattled the thread. It did not want to be connected with her, but it was too weak to break the art, now.
“No.”
“Then, why? Begone. You’ve stolen my perfection. You’ve desolated my home. You’ve torn victory from my grasp. You will pilfer my flesh and bones. I have only my pride left!” The words became filled with more passion and rage until they roared into her mind. The drake seemed to forget its condition for a few moments, only for exhaustion to smother it once more. “I will die before my pride does.”
“Stolen your perfection? Is that why you set all of this up?” She mentally gestured to the den’s entrance.
“Why should I satisfy your curiosity, human? Suffer in ignorance.”
“Is that really all you have to say?”
“Ah, yes. I forgot. May agonizing deaths await you all.”
She fetched her shortened spear from her personal storage and expanded it. “I understand. In that case, I wish you the same.”
“So you did come to gloat. I knew–”
Samantha put 10 points into [Whirlwind] and slammed her spearhead down through the drake’s malice-filled eye. It shuddered once. Then the [Liaison] connection dissolved.