Chapter 64

Sheltered Bonds

Night had fallen by the time Leo returned to the camp. He was absentminded the entire way back, unable to rip himself away from that image he'd glimpsed.

Nothing further changed after that--the thirteen steles remained, and though they all had inscriptions on their surfaces, Leo was only able to read that one and none other. No, there was one change--whereas before he felt nothing from the well, soon after the steles appeared, the well began to exude a certain foreboding pressure. He couldn't quite understand what it was, or even remotely what it meant, and he feared sticking around and finding out. So, he just left.

He had plans to return, eventually, but for now he'd book that part of the forest in the depths of his mind and ignore it. Even if he wanted to ask Blackie, Milky and others about it, there was no way the animals could answer him. For all he knew, he'd fabricated the entire thing. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more certain he got that he did, in fact, fabricate it.

Over the past few weeks, especially, he'd gotten in his head the idea that there was something here before there was a forest--a city, a kingdom, a sect. He cherry-picked bits and pieces of knowledge that he acquired and made up fantastical stories surrounding them. Throughout, he fed his mind this nonsense, and he just so happened to bear witness to an 'image' that proved his 'theories'?

He had to ask himself, which was likelier? That he correctly interpreted a few scattered pieces of 'evidence' that had virtually no context to them, guessing that this place was once a prosperous hub of people, possibly thousands of years ago... or that his wild imagination got the better of him?

Then again... there was still the issue of the stele he could read from.

Here Layeth Avun'van, Our beloved Second King

He who sheltered Humans, and shielded them from the cruel World

He most certainly did not make it up, and it pointed toward more uncertainty than anything else. Beyond implying that there may have been something here before the forest, Leo was more focused on the fact that the steles weren't built by humans--rather, their builders sheltered and protected humans. Whether it was literal, metaphorical, or so contextually bereft that it was pointless to make any assumptions... he wasn't nearly clever enough to figure out.

After all, his definition of a 'human' might be completely different from theirs--perhaps they were all human, but, as it oft did throughout history, racism threw a wrench in the definitions.

Whichever it was, for now it wasn't important. That place wasn't likely to go anywhere, so he already had a plan in mind--he committed to memory some of the lines that he didn't recognize, and would 'stealthily' see if he could figure out which language they were written in and if there was somebody who could translate them. Until then, he wouldn't show the place to anyone, least of all the kids who'd likely have a thousand questions he couldn't even begin to answer.

The next few days passed by rather routinely. Since Leo didn't have anything to do, he'd tag along with the kids and sunbathe with animals draped all over him while the two tore out iron ore from the warehouse and logged it back over to the camp. Supposedly, his non-reliance on spatial treasures inspired them, so they refused to carry the ore in the spatial rings. He found the entire thing bordering the edge of pretentious, but as he'd have to reveal the reason he didn't use spatial items was because he didn't have any (as this supposed martial master), he simply let them be.

At night, he'd occasionally regale one or another curiosity of physics--white holes, quasars, heat death of the universe, whatever little tidbits he could recall through the fog. Both the kids and the animals seemed to eat it all up, but he had to start rejecting their requests as, otherwise, he would run out of those tidbits in a few days.

It was just about a week later that the last bit of the ore was collected. In the meantime, Leo had gone out to hunt two more times and had, altogether, managed to collect 12 hides. It seemed that one animal produced more than one hide, making him rather happy.

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"Master, can we leave in two days?" the silent dinner was interrupted as Yue raised a question with a rather quivering voice. "I, I know we said that we'd do it after longhouse was completed, but the entry to the Cradle will become much harder after Eux Festival. It would mean that most of the newcomers had joined groups, and that most of the groups would no longer be recruiting. If we went there, we'd essentially only be allowed to use forts as shelters--we wouldn't be given food or water or any information about anything. As the winter approaches, most of the forts begin rationing food and water, and even if cultivators can go a long time without them, it's still not indefinite. At least not for the weaker ones like us."

"..." Leo remained silent for a moment, holding back a laugh. Yue's current expression reminded him of how he felt when he was fourteen and asked his parents if he could go to his first concert with friends. Anticipation, nervousness, a bit of guilt, but, most of all, a deep yearning that gave fire to his lacking courage. Unlike his parents, however, who told him he couldn't go because he flunked math just a week prior, Leo wasn't about to do the same. "Of course. It will be a bit lonely, but I have a lot of friends to keep me company. Besides, being cooped up in one place, especially one so far away from your peers, must be doing a number to your psyche. So, go out, have fun, challenge the world, but, most importantly, stay safe and come back healthy and stronger."

The twos' faces lit up like fireflies as they dug into their stew even more ferociously. Though they still bantered, and got on each other's nerves, his two Disciples had developed a rather enviable bond. While Liang taught Yue how to take care of her body, she taught him the most common scams of the world and how to avoid them. While he taught her that it was sometimes okay to let loose and not think too much about something, she, in return, taught him that oftentimes, the solution wasn't in the fists.

It was a budding friendship still, yes, but Leo saw glimpses of what it was likely to become in the future--the inseparable bond that would chain them together for life. The kind of friendship that he always yearned for, but never quite captured. It was difficult, after all; from early on, both his parents warned him that people would approach him just for his money and that they wouldn't care for him--and he'd seen it, hundreds of times. At some point, it simply became easier to assume everyone was after his money, and use said money to garner 'friends'. It was never real, however--just a facsimile of something he dreamed of often.

"I'll prepare a lot of food and juice for you two," Leo said. "And here," he took out the remaining Basic Qi Pills (save for one that he left for himself).

"Thank you, Master," the two said. "Ah, here, Master," Yue handed over the tiny seed of Wisp of Wood Qi. "Thank you so much! It has helped me grasp just enough of the true nature of Wood Qi that I am now able to incorporate it slightly into my defense."

"Ah, right!" Liang exclaimed. "May... may I keep the Seed for tonight, Master?" he added. "I am planning on breaking through, and I feel it will be helpful to me..."

"Of course," Leo caught a glimpse of envy in Yue's gaze, but it quickly disappeared, replaced instead with happiness. "It will be your duty to protect your Senior Sister outside."

"Don't worry, Master!!" the young man exclaimed, thumping his chest. "I won't let anything happen to Sister Yue! I'll use these godly muscles that you helped form and protect her--"

"--just shut up," Yue interrupted, physically putting a hand over his lips and lowering her head while sighing. "Master, will you really be fine without us helping with building the longhouse? I know you said that the hardest part was gathering materials, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder how you'll build it all by yourself." I won't, that's how... Leo thought for a moment but merely smiled outwardly.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "By the time you two come back, this place will be completely different. Those seeds you've planted might also sprout. Ah, while you're on the outside, keep an eye out for the standard furniture that we can use to decorate the longhouse. Nothing too fancy or expensive, however. Just things you'll put in your rooms."

"Yes, Master!"

Though they said they'd be back in a couple of months at most, life was always uncertain, especially if the Cradle of the First Men was as they described--a volatile battlefield that can change overnight. The fact that they would have the Void Scroll calmed his heart ever so slightly--he made them promise that, if they were ever in true danger to their lives, they'd rip the scroll in a heartbeat.

Just to be safe, he, once again, handed the feather over to Yue--she accepted it with even graver gravitas than before. She did tell him that she used the feather to kill someone much stronger than her, but as Leo hadn't really encountered any real danger himself while staying in the forest, he still felt it was best that she held on to it.

He wondered, for a moment, precisely where Anuvar was--he hadn't seen the hawk since the day he healed it and was granted the feather. Perhaps it was out there, conquering the skies once more, and it would return if it ever got wounded again. Maybe then, he could ask for a couple of more feathers... though, probably not.