27. Tournament
Tonilla sat in the council as they discussed the acquisition of “Toh Foram Siel,” loosely translated as the dreaming peach, the secret technique of these northern cultivators. After the coalition had thoroughly examined the final notes approved by Po Guah, the representative of the grand master who set up the far reaching formation which had gained their attention in the first place, the practice had been deemed safe for all levels of cultivation, and the first wave of disciples from each sect were beginning to adopt the practice.
She was uncertain how she felt about it replacing the more traditional models of opening one’s meridians, but she had to admit that it was a more thorough and holistic approach. And the old methods still had their place. This was a relatively advanced technique, and she thought that it might be easier for a disciple to have mastered one of the traditional methods before moving on to Toh Foram Siel.
She had, herself, tried the method to see how it felt, and she was a little surprised at how comfortable it was to cultivate. It was several steps beneath where she was at in her own cultivation, but compared to her own old methods it was like slipping into a comfortable set of robes she’d never worn before. Unfamiliar, yet custom tailored just for her.
She sighed. If the technique worked as promised, allowing their students to advance half so quickly as the student of Po Guah, one ‘Yara,’ reportedly had, then they were in the boy’s debt, and the debt of his master, and not the other way around. She didn’t like that.
The others stroking their beards and their robes and discussing the futures of their sect with this acquisition. But Tonilla was waiting for the other shoe to drop. When the hidden master who commanded the elements so thoroughly to appear and demand the true price for the technique.
But she knew she was probably just being overly suspicious. It was a character flaw, but one that helped her in her position.
Her hackles were up when Po Guah himself asked for an audience. The boy, obviously the child of a grand master of peerless ability who had been carefully crafted into a weapon of unmatched potential, was introduced. He bowed to the assembled elders of the coalition in the northern tradition, then sat back on his heels. He spoke in the northern tongue, which Philliam, the elder from the Silver Monkey Sect, translated into pidgin after a moment.
Tonilla was annoyed to be relying on the Silver Monkey Sect for translations, but she didn’t have anyone in her camp who spoke the northern tongue.
“Po Guah greets the venerable elders of the south. Po Guah’s master is grateful for the observation of the agreement between us and wishes that you find good use of the Toh Foram Siel. He was in the process of spreading it through the north when Po Guah made his journey to the south, and wishes it to spread to the four corners of the world.”
Tonilla raised her eyebrows. “This isn’t an exclusive gift, then? Soon everyone will have access to this technique?” she asked, and waited for the translation.
Po Guah laughed and spoke. “No, it is not exclusive. It is Po Guah’s heritage and he wishes for it to spread far and wide, so that even commoners may practice it. Po Guah hopes that we are not upset at this revelation, but he assures us that our trade would still be advantageous to us as it puts us into a position to exploit the technique before it becomes well known, allowing us to present ourselves as masters and teachers once it begins to spread.”
Tonilla considered the boy’s translated words and realized that he spoke wisely. It was just a beginner’s technique after all, so spreading it widely would do nothing more than create a common base from which others would adapt their traditional techniques to layer upon. One of the present issues that sects faced in integrating was the incompatibility of their foundational techniques, but so far nobody had reported being unable to use Toh Foram Siel, or that doing so had been detrimental to them when they tried.
“Our view of the deal to ignore the storm phenomena would have changed if we had known that we were—”
“Never mind him, he’s an idiot,” Tonilla said, cutting off one of the other elders. “We understand the value in being an early adopter, Po Guah. Thank you for your gift. I must ask, however, if there is any chance that we could gain further insights from your master? We are very curious as to how he established the storm atop the mountain, and how he negotiated the truce with the Tunrida, and many other details. We know nothing about him, and yet his power is undeniable.”
Po Guah scratched his nose, then spoke, his words translated after a moment.
“The one who made the storm came from the far north. He was part of the Six Mountain Sect for a time, but has moved on beyond their teachings and uses the wisdom of many lives and many places. Po Guah will not sell the secrets of the storm array to us because he does not know us well enough to ensure that it would not be abused, but proposes another trade.”
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Tonilla leaned forward, interest shining in her eyes. The fact that Po Guah’s master intended to spread the technique anyway had allayed much of her suspicion of the previous transaction, and she was eager to seek further advantage. “What sort of trade?”
Po Guah spoke, and once more his words were translated.
“Po Guah and his companions need experiential opportunities. Many battles in a short amount of time, but they do not wish to create enmity or to challenge those who wish to live peacefully. If this were another realm, Po Guah said, then they would enter a tournament. But as there is no tournament on Atla of the scope which they wish to enter, they propose the foundation of one.”
“Oh?” Tonilla cocked her head to the side. “A tournament for our juniors? I wouldn’t say that I’m opposed to the idea. I’ve long thought that the relative peace between our sects has allowed our juniors to grow soft and fat.”
The others in the room snickered, knowing that she was the most competitive among them, though she preferred to strike in silence and behind the scenes tactics. While it was uncommon for it to lead to death, inter-sect violence remained very prevalent throughout the southern peninsula.
Po Guah listened as her words were translated and smiled. “The same mind that created the Toh Foram Siel is willing to place instruction in an advanced technique to the winner of the tournament as one of the grand prizes. If each sect is willing to put forward their own collateral for the prize, then we may attract wide participation. Po Guah is hoping to draw thousands to this event, both watchers and participants, and to have a tournament which lasts for weeks. He has a grand vision of how it will be and is eager to discuss it with wise minds who would understand him.”
Tonilla leaned back, then took a sip of her wine. She considered the prospect.
“Does Po Guah know any of the advanced techniques which might be offered as the grand prize?” she inquired.
The boy’s response needed no translation, as it was a firm affirmation.
“Then let him demonstrate it to measure his master’s commitment to this endeavor. If I deem it worthy, then the Raging River Sect pledges to back this tournament in an equal measure.”
The words were translated, and the boy smiled. He nodded, got to his feet, and stepped outside. The elders followed him to the nearby clearing, where the boy closed his eyes.
And for the first time in ages, Tonilla witnessed something which shocked her.
~~~~~~
I displayed three techniques before I ran out of Qi, and assured my audience that there were many more on the table for the winner of the tourney to choose from, tailored to their own attunement and nature. That the techniques in question didn’t exist in a concrete form yet, and wouldn’t until a winner was crowned and I got to know them, was a fact that I did not raise. The longer they believed that I had a distant benefactor the better.
Once the interest for the tournament was confirmed from all parties, we began discussing specifics.
The location was settled as the city that Brother Ro and I had passed through on our journey south, the one where we had picked up Yara and Adan. While there wasn’t presently a suitable venue for a tournament of the scale which I wished to host, several sects were willing to put forth their earth cultivator’s abilities to build a coliseum as their contribution towards the tournament.
After that was the discussion of money, which Tonilla effectively solved by promising to bankroll the entire project with the funds of her sect in exchange for a share of the admission tickets and the enrollment fees. The remaining sects grumbled at her preempting them on the matter, but I had the sense that their grumbling was largely due to the fact that they couldn’t have afforded such a tactic in the first place.
As the craters from my demonstration cooled down and stopped smoking, the topic turned to the format of the tournament itself. The others suggested a simple elimination set up, with a clear champion. I scratched my head at that and suggested an alternative.
The others considered my suggestion for a while, talking rapid-fire in their common language, before finally returning to after a long discussion.
“We must discuss this with our own sects, but your idea has merit. As you are providing the grand prize, then we must take your wishes into account, and besides which the people will love to witness a long and protracted fight between many cultivators. As time passes and the front-runners become more obvious, it should draw much attention.”
I simply shrugged. Even if they went with a more traditional format, I’d be content just to fight a few bouts.
Having said my piece, I excused myself and returned to the base of my mountain.
The coalition broke up several days later, sending me a final message of the preliminary date for the tournament and the agreement to all of my terms.