11. Service
“Father, father, I found a bug that poops silk,” Atla whispered as I began to speak. I frowned, having been derailed from my line of thought.
“That’s fascinating Atla, but I’m about to tell the boring men what to do now, so if you could—”
“Oh, I want to watch that,” the world-child said, and abruptly he manifested back in the courtyard. I covered my face and apologized to the gathered retainers as I quickly helped Atla dress his Eidolon with the clothes that a servant had recovered from where they had gotten stuck to the tree.
Once that was done, I stood and turned to the gathered men and women.
“I apologize. My son is still learning how to manifest himself,” I said to the gathering. “But as I was about to say, I am very proud of all of you. You have made significant strides towards unifying this world under one banner, and in doing so without the shedding of blood. I do not think that I need to tell you how very rare of an occurrence that is. But even when a roadblock could more easily be overcome by force, I encourage you to continue to take the difficult and higher road of peaceful negotiation. Even when the result is a rejection of your efforts, we are playing a very long game here. I am planning the future of Atla in the terms of centuries, so what does it matter if certain clans or other forces hold out against the alliance for a few decades? Let them have their pride and come to the table on their own terms. The dozens of sects and hundreds of clans that we have rallied so far make it clear that the future is in our hands.”
To my surprise, the assembled men and women cheered. I smiled, as did Atla, and we waited for the cheers to die down.
“That said, I believe that it is time to offer some additional incentives. I am announcing the construction of a waygate system to traverse all territories which are allied with the Many Peaks,” I said. “Some of you are already familiar with my spacial magics, as Tonilla and some others have taken some of you to the mountains I have put inside boxes. Compared to that, a waygate system is both very simple and very complex, and I will require the help of your logistics teams in getting it into place. But once it is built, we shall connect the greatest cities of the world together.”
“Instead of taking years for a mortal to travel from Mer’cah to the lands of the eastern or western continents, it will take them a single step. I have already prepared the waygate between the ruins of the Six Mountain Sect and Mer’cah, so those who are responsible for such things may investigate the materials that I’ll require in detail and begin planning the constructions and locations of the sites to build the gates.”
This announcement was met with stupefied expressions, followed by even louder cheers. But I still wasn’t finished, and I motioned for them to be silent.
“Finally, I am announcing a world tournament. Like the tournament of Mer’cah several years ago, it will be open to all challengers regardless of their allegiances. We will divide it by realms, with a section for the foundation, bronze, silver, and golden path. The grand prize shall be a dao impartment from myself for the winner of each tier of the tournament.”
Instead of cheers, this announcement was met with stunned silence, until Atla began giggling. Then the others all cheered as well.
“I leave the details of these matters to your capable hands,” I said. “Di Ram, when you have finished with delegating my instructions properly, I will meet you with the Peach Blossoms in your study.”
“Yes, Little Bug,” Di Ram said, and I bowed humbly to the servants of the alliance. As I walked away, Atla decided that he wanted to be carried, and so I closed the door behind me by bumping it with my hip while my arms carried the weight of a world.
~~~~~~~
Di Ram cursed as his former student and current master exited the courtyard and, moments later, his retainers burst into questions, expecting him to have the answers already figured out how to make both the great public works announcement work as well as this massive tournament.
“I shall take control of the tournament,” his wife said from where she stood next to him, taking his hand in a moment of quiet support which he was profoundly grateful for. “After having run the tournament where Little Bug first emerged onto the lips of the masses, I have some experience in these matters. While this sounds like a step beyond that, I will endeavor to make Po Guah’s vision a reality.”
Di Ram exhaled, as a burden shared was a burden halved. He nodded his agreement.
She cleared her voice and announced “The planning committee for the tournament will meet one week from today. For those of you who are interested in serving on this committee, applications will open tomorrow and remain open until the night before the committee’s first meeting, where the selection of the board shall be made. As the appointed chairperson, I will be in charge of the selection process, and endeavor to be fair and judicial throughout the process.”
Di Ram suppressed a chuckle as he realized why she had just taken the project on to herself. He would be best served by turning a blind eye to her ‘fair and judicial’ proceedings, as the amount of political corruption involved in the matter was likely to make him blow his top. She had a better sense for how to step up to that line without crossing it than he did.
“Pi Phon,” he said, and the young man snapped to attention. He had been distracted ever since he had received the personal coaching of the Xian visitor on how to step foot onto the golden path. “Are you at a stage where you may continue to serve, or do you wish to withdraw from the committee of public works at this time to focus on advancing to the next step.”
Pi Phon frowned, and for a moment he had a far off expression. Then he nodded. “I will serve. Tomorrow. I need to go into seclusion now tonight,” he said, withdrawing from the meeting.
Di Ram sighed, because he’d been hoping to unload most of the work onto Pi Phon’s shoulders. But they were cultivators, and he knew that Pi Phon was at a critical point in his advancement, which is why he had asked rather than simply name him his number two.
“In the meantime, let us visit the waygate that Lord Little Bug has constructed to see what our requirements are for fulfilling the expectations our leader has put upon us,” he said, and the meeting broke up.
Three hours later, while the volunteers of the public works committee were investigating the simple gate which opened to a destination hundreds of miles away, Pi Phon took his first steps onto the Golden Path.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
He had chosen a life of servitude, and in doing so he had elevated himself.
~~~~~~
Hien Ro joined the other disciples with Little Bug in Di Ram’s study. Young Atla was crawling over Little Bug, who had the patience of a parent who had a hyperactive child who simply needed to get the energy out.
Hien Ro had a thought. “Atla, would you like to play with my daughters?” he asked.
“I already know everything about them,” Atla said.
“But why don’t you play with them? I know that you’re a world, and that this body you show us is an Eidolon, although I don’t really understand what that means. But you might enjoy playing as human children do, and I—”
“Yes! Father I’m going to go play with Hien Ro’s girls,” Atla said. And rather than run the distance like a human child would, Atla’s eidolon vanished.
Leaving clothes that drooped to the ground without their occupant.
Little Bug spent just a second to cover his face in frustration before he split off an Dao avatar, which picked up the clothes and ran to prevent a scandal. The real Little Bug exchanged a look with Hien Ro, who simply grinned back at him.
“Kids, right?” he said, and Little Bug chuckled.
“I appreciate the effort to distract him. I love him, and I’m proud of his manifestation of an Eidolon, but it’s also very challenging. Rewarding, but challenging,” Little Bug said.
“I feel the same way about the girls,” Hien Ro said.
Hien Yara stepped forward. “I should probably go and calm the girls down as well. I’d send an avatar, but, well, you know. Can’t yet.”
“Yeah, it’ll be best if it’s you. They might have questions,” Hien Ro agreed.
“I’ll take notes for you,” Ro promised, and he kissed his wife quickly before she dashed out the door after Little Bug’s avatar.
“Parental emergencies aside,” Little Bug said, setting five artifacts on the desk in front of him. “We need to discuss the visit from the representatives of the emerald court and how we will respond.”
“Of course,” Ro said. “We’ve only got mixed reports from the people who were visited, but at least the representatives were mostly peaceful. Even Mioji respected the terms of our spar, although he was very disappointed that we didn’t push things further than we did.”
“Thank you for managing him,” Little bug said. Ro shrugged, as did the other disciples.
“It was fun to flex our power again,” Thaseus admitted.
“Being challenged by a powerful opponent from beyond the stars is an excellent story to share,” Lukal Lukal agreed.
“Which brings us to how we are going to handle the court of Prince Ostoin, whom Mioji represents,” Little Bug said. He placed a finger on the necklace, a silver and golden chain with a gemstone that looked like a ruby but was more. He closed his eyes, opened them, and they were pure white, as they always were when their master looked at the strands of fate.
“I could send an avatar, but that is the middle ground. It has no worse options than sending a representative, but no greater benefits either,” he pronounced. “But sending a warrior of great strength would earn me greater respect among their faction of the court. I believe I will wait until the conclusion of the tournament and see if anyone distinguishes themselves.”
He placed a finger on the fan, then nodded. “Lady Tonilla will represent me to the court of Duke Valan,” he pronounced. “This too will wait until the conclusion of the tournament. The fact that she is my step mother and a powerful politician on my world in her own right will earn her significant credit when she arrives, and she will be able to navigate the waters of that court better than anyone else in my service.”
He moved on to the diamond. “Prince Yema presents a number of options. He will plant the peach that I gave him, which marks him as one of the wiser leaders who sent representatives. I believe I shall send him not one, but three representatives, if they would agree to make the journey.”
He turned and looked at Farun, Arjun and Lahri with a meaningful expression. They exchanged looks, then nodded.
“If that is what you would have of us,” Lahri said, “then we’ll leave whenever you wish.”
“This is not an order. This path is not without danger,” Little Bug stated.
“The better question isn’t what the danger of the journey will be, it is what the rewards shall be,” Farun said. “If this road is open to us then I say we take it.”
“And with my vote we are unanimous,” Arjun said. “When do we leave? Do we wait for the tournament to conclude?”
“You can. Or you can leave at your convenience. The court of Prince Yema will see it as a compliment that I am sending three representatives instead of only one, as well as the promptness of my reply, but while it is a compliment to be the first, the others will not see it as an insult that I take my time in selecting my other delegates,” Little Bug explained.
“Give us two weeks to prepare,” Lahri said. “Then we shall go and see what advantages we can find in Prince Yema’s court.”
Little Bug nodded, and he placed a finger upon the dagger. “I shall send an avatar to the court of Duke Doe, once Atla has adjusted to his new Eidolon and requires slightly less of my attention.”
He moved on to the ring. “Which leaves Count Beailor. While I see that he is weaker than the other options, I also see a possibility of a strong alliance. Shishi brought him one of my peaches, and he will see the wisdom in planting it. With his unwavering support, I see the possibilities of certain futures flickering in the distance that shine brighter than many others.”
Little Bug turned to Hien Ro, and his eyes changed from white to their normal color. “Hien Ro. My friend and companion. Will you perform this task for me? Will you journey to the court of Count Beailor and secure an alliance in my name?”
Hien Ro blushed at the sudden formality of the request. He scratched the back of his head nervously. “Can I bring my family?”
Little Bug grinned and nodded. “Even better!”