Samantha awoke to the sound of breaking branches and falling leaves. Rushing out of the tent with her weapon in-hand, she was relieved to find that the culprit was a small, felled tree rather than an attacking spirit beast. Beside the stump, looking a bit sheepishly in her direction, was Silas.
“[Wind Scythe] works well, I take it?”
He nodded. “Better than I thought!”
Samantha pulled up Silas’s profile for the first time since he’d ranked up.
Silas - Soaring Lunar Wolpertinger
Rank 6 - High
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 20 => 21
Average (24 => 26)
Agility: 47 => 51
Heroic (52 => 57)
Endurance: 40 => 43
Exceptional (44 => 48)
Resilience: 14 => 15
Low (15 => 16)
Active Abilities:
Passive Abilities:
Thump
Cooldown: 6 Seconds
Cost: 1 qi
Herb Hunter
Leap
Cooldown: 2 Seconds
Cost: 0.3 qi
Poison Connoisseur
Swift
Max duration: 10 seconds * Endurance
Cooldown: 20% of duration
Cost: 0.1 qi/ second
Prey’s Perception
Translucence
Max duration: 5 minutes * Endurance
Cooldown: 100% of duration
Cost: 0.5 qi/ minute
Toxic Bile
Antler Genesis
Max size: 0.5lbs * Resilience
Cooldown: -1oz / second
Cost: 0.5 qi/ lb
Transfer Vitality
Antler Shot
Max size: 0.25lbs * Resilience
Cooldown: -1oz / second
Cost: 0.5 qi/ lb
Silent Flight
Savage Bite
Cooldown: 12 Seconds
Cost: 2 qi
Tailwind
High Speed Dive
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Cost: 5 qi
Wind Scythe
Cooldown: 24 Seconds
Cost: 4 qi
Offered Bond Abilities:
Bond Ability Points (BP) Remaining: 1
Antler Genesis
[1 BP]
You can spend at least 1 qi point to grow an antler from any bone. Size and shape of the antler can be affected by increasing qi investment during creation. Once disconnected from the body, the antler will continue to exist for 1 minute or until consciously dismissed.
Jackalope of all Trades (Rank 6)
*Mongrel Bloodline
(0/5 Bond Ability Points Invested):
Abundant Spring (Rank 2) [2 BP] - You and your bond’s qi pool and regeneration combine into one. Your bond’s cooldowns will be significantly reduced in exchange for a small consumption of qi per ability use, and can be eliminated entirely by expending additional qi. For one minute each day your bond can call upon their Empyrean Stag heritage to increase in size, Strength, and Resilience relative to your shared maximum qi pool.
Spectral Projection (Rank 3) [3 BP] - You gain the ability to temporarily project your consciousness to any location you can clearly visualize for 1 qi per minute. You maintain a sliver of awareness in your physical body which can perform simple tasks and self-preservation actions using base instinct. You can freely choose to manifest a semi-transparent physical form. You can use a wider variety of arts while projecting. Arts used while projecting will no longer incur a qi cost penalty. Upon canceling the ability or running out of qi your consciousness will be returned to your body.
Mongrel’s Feast (Rank 2) [3 BP] - You can permanently sacrifice bond abilities in exchange for an amount of BP’s equal to their cost. Sacrificing an ability with the potential for multiple ranks will yield BP’s equal to the total cost of all ranks. Sacrificing a purchased ability will yield a full refund of invested BP and BP for any remaining rank potential. Sacrificing the unpurchased rank of an ability you already possess will yield BP for the remaining ranks and halt that ability’s potential progression. You gain the ability to feast upon beast cores without ill effect to your cultivation base. Elemental imbalances will be equalized and consumed by your bond, strengthening you both in the process.
Wind Scythe (Rank 1)
[1 BP]
Spend 10 qi to shape nearby air into a sharp blade and launch it as a projectile.
The updates to Silas’s rank, attributes, and the addition of the new active ability were expected, but she hadn’t looked at the new bond ability she’d received from him yet. It seemed straightforward enough, and she wondered if she might be able to mimic the effect on her own. [Desert Breeze] allowed her to manipulate the air around her, and [Wind Scythe] appeared to simply be a more specific execution of that same ability.
“Can you use it a few more times for me?”
“Sure!”
Trying to bring her spiritual vision to the forefront of her attention, Samantha focused on the space around Silas as he repeatedly activated [Wind Scythe]. Because spirit beasts lacked a cultivation base, and their abilities were inherent to their species, it wouldn’t do her much good to try and observe how the qi within him moved during the ability’s formation. Its effect on reality, however, was something she could work with. Once she had a decent understanding of how the ability was manipulating the air, she let Silas know he was free to return to training with it as he normally would.
From what she’d seen, [Wind Scythe] worked mostly via air pressure. By compressing the air in one area into a highly dense line–quickly enough that a near vacuum was left in front of it–the wind scythe would be sucked forward into the area of lower pressure . The blade’s initial formation only consumed a small portion of the qi investment into the art, however. The remaining energy imbued itself into the blade, and served to both maintain its shape and continue to compress air into it until the residual qi was expended.
Starting small, Samantha attempted to compress a fist-sized ball of air into a line. Though the degree to which she was manipulating the air with [Desert Breeze] was high, the volume was low enough that the action wasn’t prohibitively expensive. Unfortunately, after many failures, she came to the conclusion that the cost being manageable mattered little when the best she could achieve was a strong burst of air.
Her control over [Desert Breeze] wasn’t flawless, but she certainly considered herself to be an expert at using it after over a decade. Yet, she’d never had an occasion to make air so condensed that it was practically solid, nor to imbue a particular area with qi so that it continued to function independently of her dedicated attention. She feared she may have found the limit of what [Desert Breeze] was capable of. At least… the limits of what this version of the art was capable of.
She’d originally crafted [Desert Breeze] with two simple steps: feed the Water element within her qi to Wood to strengthen it, then emphasize Wood’s characteristic of Wind. It was one of the most basic ‘recipes’ for an art possible, specifically by Samantha’s own design. Over the years she’d made the best of the simplistic art; however, she had yet to make the art itself great. Rather than continuing to incrementally improve the art’s efficiency, she felt [Desert Breeze] was well overdue for a rework from the ground up. And, this time, she’d make it Wood-attuned.
Sitting down in the lotus position where she stood, she took some deep breaths to clear her mind and consciously enter a meditative state. She looked inwards at her dantian and the energy flowing through the various dim and bright pathways throughout her body. Then, going through the familiar motions of casting the art, she carefully observed the energy moving through her skin meridian.
As she thought… with the new elemental distribution of her qi there was wasted potential she wasn’t tapping into.
Pulling up the qi element chart in her mind’s eye to reference, she considered what she might do to build an art that had all the same flexibility as [Desert Breeze], but with the added control needed to mimic [Wind Scythe].
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
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Water dampens Fire
Water muddies/ destabilizes Earth
Because Wood was already dominant in her qi now, she no longer needed to waste Water energies purely on strengthening it enough to stand out from the other elements. Instead, she could use other elements and characteristics to amplify the impact Wood would have on the final version of the art.
She began the formation of her improved [Desert Breeze] with an elemental feeding loop. She started with the Dynamism of Fire so it could inherit some of Dynamism’s constant change and progress. To limit unexpected behaviors in the art borne from this progress, she used Dynamism to nurture Earth’s Stability. To increase her influence over the balanced changes, she fed Stability, in turn, to Metal’s Control. Then, to expand her degree of Control, she absorbed the energy into Water’s Transformation. Finally, using the characteristic-enhanced qi, she nourished Wind.
Just before casting this new version of her art out into the world, a thought occurred to her.
I’ve not only attuned my qi to Wood, but infused my body with its Movement. Could I take things one step further?
Samantha’s Low Silver insight had taught her how to turn simple arts like [Desert Breeze] into attuned ones, but there was another piece of knowledge hidden tantalizingly in the mix. An instinct, more than any concrete information.
She recalled the way Silas called forth his ability. The way his wings unfolded and outstretched just before they swept forward. How the wind kicked up by the singular flap of his wings was turned into a cutting crescent.
In one fluid motion Samantha stood and horizontally sliced her spear through the air. Like spirit and body had become one, the art latched onto the whistling slash of her weapon and whipped forward in a deadly arc… at least that’s what she thought happened.
She opened her eyes and frowned at the lack of visible damage on the tree in front of her. It wasn’t a large one–just a sapling perhaps as thick as her arm–but she’d expected at least some sign that her art had actually done something.
And then the top half of the sapling started to tip. A paper-thin cut had sliced clean through its trunk.
She had originally received a System message when she formed the utility art, but she didn’t know if ‘modifying’ it like this would trigger the same effect. Wanting to see if her improvement was reflected in her profile, she double checked the arts section in her status page.
Seeing what was there, she smiled widely as she named the new 'variation' she'd created: [Slicing Wind].
Desert Breeze (Uncommon => Rare)
Qi Cost: Variable (Efficiency - Exceptional => Average)
Meridian Requirements: Skin
Attunement: Wood
Manipulate the air around you. Qi cost is dependent on air volume affected and the degree of manipulation.
Variation: [Slicing Wind] - Spend 15 qi points to form a fast moving blade of compressed air.
----------------------------------------
Feast upon [Wind Scythe]? Y/N
She mentally selected ‘Y’.
You have consumed the potential of:
[Wind Scythe] Rank 1 - 1 BP
[Wind Scythe] Rank 2 - 2 BP
[Wind Scythe] Rank 3 - 3 BP
You have gained 6 Bond Ability Points.
After using [Mongrel’s Feast] on [Wind Scythe], Samantha now had 7 Bond Ability Points to spend. With that, she now had enough to purchase the next upgrades from [Jackalope of All Trades].
Jackalope of all Trades (Rank 6)
*Mongrel Bloodline
(0/5 Bond Ability Points Invested):
Abundant Spring (Rank 2) [2 BP] - You and your bond’s qi pool and regeneration combine into one. Your bond’s cooldowns will be significantly reduced in exchange for a small consumption of qi per ability use, and can be eliminated entirely by expending additional qi. For one minute each day your bond can call upon their Empyrean Stag heritage to increase in size, Strength, and Resilience relative to your shared maximum qi pool.
Spectral Projection (Rank 3) [3 BP] - You gain the ability to temporarily project your consciousness to any location you can clearly visualize for 1 qi per minute. You maintain a sliver of awareness in your physical body which can perform simple tasks and self-preservation actions using base instinct. You can freely choose to manifest a semi-transparent physical form. You can use a wider variety of arts while projecting. Arts used while projecting will no longer incur a qi cost penalty. Upon canceling the ability or running out of qi your consciousness will be returned to your body.
Mongrel’s Feast (Rank 2) [3 BP] - You can permanently sacrifice bond abilities in exchange for an amount of BP’s equal to their cost. Sacrificing an ability with the potential for multiple ranks will yield BP’s equal to the total cost of all ranks. Sacrificing a purchased ability will yield a full refund of invested BP and BP for any remaining rank potential. Sacrificing the unpurchased rank of an ability you already possess will yield BP for the remaining ranks and halt that ability’s potential progression. You gain the ability to feast upon beast cores without ill effect to your cultivation base. Elemental imbalances will be equalized and consumed by your bond, strengthening you both in the process.
As Rank 3 of [Abundant Spring] was the only 2 BP option she could put towards her 5 BP spending limit, she purchased that first.
Bond abilities selected! Changes have been made to your status page.
As for the last 3 BP’s she could spend… she’d put a lot of consideration into whether she should purchase an upgrade to [Spectral Projection] or [Mongrel’s Feast] during her isolation. And, the longer she extended her stay in the cultivation chamber, the clearer the answer became to her.
Never again.
Whether it be by the confines of a cultivation chamber or the bounds of a nexus, she never wanted to feel trapped again. She wanted–no, needed–the freedom to advance without being required to seek out or stay in one particular area. [Mongrel’s Feast] promised her that freedom so long as she had spirit pearls in her possession. Silas would even grow stronger as a result as well! That was more than enough of a justification, in her mind.
Though an upgrade to [Spectral Projection] would improve the ability in several minor ways–such as maintaining consciousness in her body while projecting, a stronger manifested form, and ability to use a wider variety of arts–its main draw for her had always been the possibility of keeping in contact with her family. But, as of yesterday, she’d finally made peace with letting them go. And, if the pattern held, she’d likely be given another opportunity to purchase the ability if she really wanted to. It was more a matter of ‘when’ she’d get it. She might even be able to buy it right away if she sacrificed [Antler’s Genesis]!
Bond abilities selected! Changes have been made to your status page.
She pulled up the bond ability’s section on her profile, excited to see what Rank 7 of [Jackalope of All Trades] offered.
That was when she discovered that the pattern did not, in fact, hold.
Offered Bond Abilities:
Bond Ability Points (BP) Remaining: 2
Antler Genesis
[1 BP]
You can spend at least 1 qi point to grow an antler from any bone. Size and shape of the antler can be affected by increasing qi investment during creation. Once disconnected from the body, the antler will continue to exist for 1 minute or until consciously dismissed.
Jackalope of all Trades (Rank 7)
*Mongrel Bloodline
You have not yet met the requirements to purchase this ability.
----------------------------------------
Just a bit shouldn’t hurt anything, right?
Samantha and Silas both stared at the Rank 10 - Mid spirit pearl in her hand–Samantha with apprehension, and Silas with hunger. She’d been experimenting with absorbing different Ranked pearls as the group traveled the final distance to Gateway. It felt no different to her than absorbing concentrated qi from a nexus, so she’d been quickly whittling down the stash of pearls she’d bought for advancement (as well as some she hadn’t). The lowest ranked pearls didn’t give her too much progress towards Mid Silver, but around Rank 6 or 7 there was a noticeable jump in how much she advanced. It was comparable to perhaps the Moderate or High qi density settings in the cultivation chamber.
She still intended to wait and see if there was anything on the third floor valuable enough to trade the pearl for; but taking a small portion of the core’s energy wouldn’t detract much from its overall value. The knowledge she’d gain from the experiment was worth the minor potential depreciation.
“How long are we gonna look at it for?” Silas whined.
“Right! Sorry. Here I go…”
Samantha softly brushed her spirit over the pearl to tap into its energy. Then, as she drew a sliver of power out from the glowing sphere, both her and Silas yelped in surprise. The concentration was even greater than the strongest setting of the cultivation chamber was, and the strain that absorbing it put on her dantian was more than a little intimidating.
“Ouch. Not as tasty as I hoped,” he commented.
“At least now we know?”
“Know what?”
“That if we do end up using this for our own advancement, we should pace ourselves.”
“I would’ve been happier if it was tastier.”
Samantha shrugged as she opened her spatial storage and swapped the orb for a Rank 4 - Low spirit pearl she could ‘snack’ on. Silas watched the space where the storage vanished longingly for a few seconds, but looked away once he noticed her attention on him. Seeing this, she chuckled.
“Here.” She tossed the core she’d just pulled out of storage to Silas and fetched a different one for herself. She could feel his delight as he caught the glowing sphere in his mouth and began absorbing it.
“Thanks!”
He’d been gracious so far about her newest capability to consume pearls without restriction. As disappointed as he was about not getting most of Samantha’s ‘extra’ beast cores from hunts, he understood that having her take more of them for herself helped both of them now. She still gave Silas his fair share of spirit pearls, of course. Even if only he would benefit from the gains from consuming them, she wasn’t so cruel as to demand that she get all of them instead.
“Ready for the last jump?” she asked no one in particular while she stood up.
Rather than receiving a verbal response, Harold, Mercer, and Sandy lined up beside her.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
----------------------------------------
The Rift snapped shut with a blast of sound and wind, kicking up a cloud of sand where it once stood. She’d put the exit near Gateway without being worried about her arrival being noticed–and indeed saw several people startle at her appearance. With Lord Braxand dead, there wasn’t anyone else in the town who could put up much of a fight against her. She began exerting her killing intent forward towards the onlookers, then proceeded to watch all of them run back towards the center of the town.
Not that they’re organized enough to get a potential challenger to me with any speed.
With their leader gone, Gateway had devolved into chaos. The handoff instructions Lord Braxand had given to his people to complete while he was away during the duel with Samantha did not cover any long term plans. Once the short term goals he’d listed were achieved, the petty power struggles began between his family members, the raiders they ‘integrated’, and the newcomers they took in… and everything started falling apart. She might’ve been more cautious if they had all been acting as a unified group, but they were little better than squabbling factions at this point.
Oh? Quicker than I thought. And some familiar faces, too.
Eileen Braxand rushed towards her with a small group of cultivators following behind her. In that group were the three brothers who had started this all when they tried to steal Silas away.
Saves me the trouble of looking for them.
“Should we be concerned? That’s a lot of cultivators,” Harold questioned.
She shook her head. “I can handle it myself if you want to go ahead to the obelisk. It’s over there.” Samantha gestured to where the very top of the structure was visible over the sands.
“And miss the show? I’ll stay.”
However, contrary to both of their expectations, the entire group wasn’t rushing over to fight. Once within speaking distance, every last one of them kowtowed in the hot sands towards her.
“We have been expecting your arrival, Master Silver. Our humblest greetings,” Eileen stated loudly so everyone could hear her. Though her words were even and calm, her qi told a different story. It quivered with terror under the force of her Silver aura. Some of the weaker cultivators–including the brothers–began to faint from the spiritual pressure, so she retracted her killing intent. She’d made her point already, anyway.
No one in this group was higher than Mid Bronze. Eileen was Low Bronze, and the three brothers were all the exact same ranks as when she’d first met them. Low Coppers. And, now they all knew exactly where they stood in comparison to her.
“Interesting welcoming party you’ve gotten together for me,” Samantha said coolly. “Stand.”
The group shakily rose from the sands. The conscious ones pulled up the ones who’d fainted and held them upright if they hadn’t regained their footing.
They’re all weak. They wouldn’t even pose a challenge.
Eileen and the brothers froze as she met their gaze. Their expressions all twisted uncomfortably under her undivided attention, but the impression she got was the same for all of them. To them, they were looking into the face of death itself.
The strongest rule, and the weakest submit or die. That’s how it’s always been. It’s how the Braxands treated me before. But…
Movement from the group caught her eye, but it was only Eileen trembling in place. None dared offer her comfort, because Samantha hadn’t yet given her permission for them to do so.
Now that I’m in that same position… is it really right to behave the same way? Do I want to be the same as the Braxands? I’ve already removed the mastermind… must I go further?
She doubted they would be able to revive Lord Braxands vision with the same level of efficiency and success as he could’ve done, if at all. She wasn’t concerned about any of them following her up the floors due to how wide the gap in power already was between them. And, seeing them in person like this… pitiful is the only word that came to mind.
No… I don’t think I do. Not this time.
“You should take this as a lesson,” she spoke into the long silence. “If you don’t want to respect others simply for decency’s sake, you should at least do it in case they grow stronger than you. Like I have.”
The brothers’ faces, in particular, grew colorless and pale at her words.
“We will! We have!” Eileen quickly agreed. Her trembling intensified. “Thank you for your wisdom, Master Silver.”
“Thank you, Master Silver,” the group echoed.
“M-May we show you to the obelisk. That is why you came here… right?” Eileen asked hopefully. Her calm facade was starting to show cracks, now. “We’ve finished digging it out shortly before your arrival.”
“I can make my own way to the obelisk. I came here–” she gestured generally to the group and Gateway, “--to give you all a warning: Don’t think you’ll be safe from me simply because I’m on an upper floor. I have ways to check in, and you don’t want to make me regret sparing you.” She paused for a moment to let her words sink in. “It is in your best interest to do better–be better–than you were before.”
To emphasize her words, Silas activated his newest ability from [Abundant Spring]. His fur and muscles seemed to balloon outwards in every direction near-instantly until he had grown to reach around the height of her hip. His proportions remained roughly the same as before, but he was now comparable in size to a large dog. He growled loudly at the group and drew his lips back to reveal his glistening incisors.
The entire group dropped into a kowtow again. They moved so fast it was like they were purposefully bashing their heads into the ground.
“Thank you for your wisdom, Master Silver!”
----------------------------------------
Like the first time she’d ascended, after touching a jade book her name was recorded onto the open page. Then, she was pulled into her dantian. Unlike the first time, Theora was nowhere to be seen. No one was, actually.
“Congratulations on reaching an obelisk, ascendant Samantha Cray!” a man’s voice greeted her.
She looked around the expansive library in confusion. She was still the only one here.
“Now, before I send you on your way, there are a couple of items I’ve been instructed to cover,” the stranger’s voice continued.
“Sorry, who are you? I was expecting to see my representative Theora,” Samantha cut in.
“Ah, apologies. One moment.”
A door appeared in front of her, and Samantha opened it. An incredibly tall man–nearly seven feet tall by the looks of it–stooped down to step through the space. Similarly to Theora, his features were almost otherworldly in their beauty. However, some of them looked distinctly… inhuman. His limbs, for example, appeared longer than they should’ve been, and his ears bore a closer resemblance to the fins of a fish.
“You may call me Killian,” he said politely. “Do not worry. I assure you, I am fully capable of guiding you through your ascension!”
‘Killian’ proceeded to give her a somewhat generic speech about being impressed with her accomplishments and speed of advancement. He told her that her achievements hadn’t gone unnoticed, and that several of them were eagerly watching her progress through the World Spire.
Between spiels about the direness of the war, and their need for competent soldiers such as herself, Samantha tried to ask the increasing amount of questions cropping up in her mind. Killian, however, expertly ignored all of them.
“Good luck!”
Before she’d had a chance to so much as protest the brusque nature of their conversation, the representative kicked her back out into the obelisk. Touching the jade book to try and speak with him again did nothing but cool the palm of her hand.
For Harold, meeting his representative for the second time went much better, judging by his reaction.
“Ha! Showed him! ‘Better luck in your next life?’ As if. I didn’t need luck.” Harold looked her way and gave her a warm smile. “I’m ready to keep proving them wrong. What about you?”
With their arrival recorded in the book, a previously hidden passage opened up. This obelisk was arranged slightly differently than the one in Yivesh had been, but if experience could be trusted, that pathway would lead her to the third floor.
"Yeah, let's go."
----------------------------------------
Samantha awoke to the sensation of sand on her back. She was laying down in it, though she didn’t remember doing so. The crashing wind around her sounded odd, and for a split second she worried that she’d been dropped randomly back in the Shattered Lands somewhere. But, when the scent hit her, she knew that couldn’t be the case. There was only one place where she’d ever smelled something like this–and it was in a third eye insight.
Ocean.
Samantha jolted up and saw her other companions scattered on the beach nearby. They were all still asleep or unconscious. Before her, as vast and inescapable as the desert had seemed when she arrived on the second floor, was the sea. Seemingly endless blue was only broken up by the occasional white-capped wave in the distance or breaking on the shore. And, looking around her… it was everywhere. To the sides of her. Behind her! Samantha had never seen so much water in one place in this life... and now she found herself stranded on an island in the middle of it all.