There were, broadly speaking, three things he could do to increase his combat abilities – and therefore increase his ability to search for Bull, if that became necessary.
The first was to cultivate. He was already doing that, as quickly as he could manage- that is, as quickly as he could safely manage. He was at the base of the third realm, just a bit below his original cultivation before he had dispersed it.
The second was to practise his martial arts. That one was on the back burner for now; proper martial arts took years to learn. He would of course refresh what he had already learned, but the reality of the situation was that he simply didn’t have enough time to become more proficient than he already was. I already have a slight edge over the locals anyway – ah, the Junk Dog locals, that is. For the other clans, if they’re anything like Horrible Swamp it would be foolish to engage hand-to-hand in the first place. He imagined getting into a fistfight with Bo, and… No, even at third realm, with proper body reinforcement, that would end badly for him.
That left one last route to power: learning additional spells. He had invented and reworked several spells while on his journey – but now that he was back, doing time-consuming and dangerous spell construction was unnecessary. He had access to all the spells he could think to look for.
Well, not all of them – higher realm illusions are quite restricted, given their potential for abuse – but learning the second-through-fourth realm versions of a few basic combat arts will be the work of an afternoon. It felt somewhat surreal; he had worked for days to scrape together each new spell in the other world, and just learning new ones from the archives felt… Almost like cheating.
He shook the feeling off. Don’t be silly, Lu. The sect is your greatest ally, you shouldn’t hesitate to use its services – the services exist to be used, that’s their function!
Solidifying my cultivation, picking up spells to fill the holes in my skillset, and refreshing my martial muscle memory. Those are what I’ll work on.
He should also look into buying some premade attack and defense formations. And some combat pills. Maybe some treasures? Enchantments definitely still work on the other side, so…
And of course he should also buff up his personal knowledge of formations and enchanting, and alchemy, and maybe look into the medical arts in case he ever needed to do another surgery-
He forcefully halted his thoughts. Too much, that’s too much! I have a handful of months; cultivation, spellcraft and… And then after that, I’ll pick up some odds and ends! Assuming there’s time, and not before I finish the important things!
…Ugh, and I still have the steam engines to build. He would need a bounty of spirit stones to buy the really good supplies; this time, he wouldn’t be caught with just his robes and an unusable purse.
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The archives had a sedate, scholarly air to them. Lu sometimes came here for the ambiance alone, feeling at home amongst the tall shelves, reading whatever caught his fancy that day.
But today wasn’t a day for fancies or ambiance; today he was all business. His eyes snapped towards the combat arts section the moment it came into view; this portion of the room was slightly less familiar to him, but he had still been here before. He went past the first few shelves, which contained compilations of foundational arts he already knew, directly to the more advanced shelves.
The archive’s structure was quite redundant; multiple copies of every spell existed, scattered across different sections. The advanced shelves would have many spells he already knew, but unlike the beginner section the scrolls would teach every realm of the spell, rather than just the first.
He scanned over the assorted scrolls, his familiarity with spells in general just enough to match names to effects. Gavel of the Just; too reliant on physical strength. No. Fireball; figured it out on my own. Might come back for the fourth realm version. Casting above his realm would devastate his reserves, but better to have it and not need it than the inverse. Windstorm? He didn’t have much in the way of area attacks. Yes. He plucked the scroll from the shelf, holding it under his arm. In short order he had a stack of the things, a store of knowledge that he just might have been willing to kill for in the other world. He spread them out on a free table, eyeing the bounty.
Windstorm, Winter’s Kiss, Piercing Cry… Simple elemental attacks, which would make a theoretically complete array of options when combined with the others he had puzzled out manually. Good mix of wide and precise, long- and short-ranged. Even while being extremely selective, over a dozen had still caught his eye. Maybe I should put some back? I’ll need utility arts as well, and this is quite a lot.
…No, no, there’s no telling what might happen. Any of these arts might save my life – in fact, learning new spells is arguably more important that cultivating, at least in the short term. I’ll learn all of them!
He sat down, unrolling the scroll for River Scythe. First realm is eight forms; I’ve learned this one but never cast it. It took only a glance to reconstruct the sequence in his mind. Second realm, I need to combine the first form with another. A fire-related form? But wouldn’t that- ah, I see, I see, the following forms modify it like this… And then…
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
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Perhaps I should take another movement art..? Lan’s hand hovered over the scroll for Rolling Crocodile. No, I already have two. That one seemed unreasonably niche anyway; how often had the creator been ambushed on a riverbank, that he had felt the need to create a spell for that specific situation? His hand dropped to his side. I’m being too timid, anyway. Planning for failure. I should really be focussing on the illusion arts I’ll be using to communicate…
When he had joined the administrative wing, he had imagined he would spend his days peacefully sorting paperwork and smoothing over logistical problems. Perhaps find some posting in a mortal city somewhere. He would have never anticipated being called on for a situation like this, where he would need to relay the sect’s will to an otherworldly warlord. His mind kept sticking to the worse scenarios it could conjure up; stranded in the endless mud fields, being captured and tied up in a boiling pot of water…
Ridiculous. Even if things go poorly, I’ll be swiftly evacuated along with the other noncombatants. I should be practicing the arts I’ll need, not… He looked down at the various escape arts he was carrying. …This. But he couldn’t quite bring himself to set the scrolls back. He sighed, and made his way towards a table. I’ll just learn the first realm versions, then-
Distracted by his own thoughts, he barely reacted when something bumped into him. The scrolls were jarred from his loose grip, clattering softly to the floor as he looked up. “Oh, apologies. How clumsy of-“ Standing across from him was an outer disciple he recognised. The man’s black hair was brushed back with one hand as he stared down at his own dropped scrolls, a sour look on his face. His eyes rose and met Lan’s. “-Me. Disciple Lu.”
“Brother Lan. He crouched, beginning to gather up an armful of scrolls, and Lan hurriedly joined him. “I apologise as well. It seems our minds were both elsewhere.”
Lan chuckled weakly. “Yes, yes. I’m sure you have ample reason to be just as nervous as I am.” He had been surprised when the man had volunteered for the talks – or the ‘big sit’ as the aliens preferred to call it – but after a moment’s thought it started to fit together. Lu would be well-acclimated to the native’s thought processes, and already knew the requisite communication arts.
“Quite.” He still seemed miffed, but after a moment his sense of propriety seemed to win out. “What brings you to the archives today, Sir Lan?”
They deposited the scrambled scrolls on the nearby table, and started sorting through them. “Ah, I’ve been- well,” he cleared his throat, “I’ve been brushing up on escape arts. Seemed prudent.” He passed some of the scrolls in his pile to Lu, who was doing the same. “I see you have mostly attack arts here. Ah, very advanced! Will you be joining me in the inner sect soon?”
He grimaced. “Not before the excursion, no. There simply isn’t enough time.” Lan nodded, and after a few moment’s fumbling they had separated their piles properly. “Well, it was good to speak with you, despite the circumstances. I wish you well in your studies, senior brother.”
He stood, and Lan hesitated. Those are some very advanced spells; I only know two out of the whole pile, and they took me months to cast reliably. And even more, he invented his own spells! He couldn’t imagine doing that with anything above first realm. “Pardon, but…” He held out a hand, and Lu stopped. “I happen to know some of those spells. Perhaps I could assist you, in exchange for some help with my own spells?”
The look Lu sent his way was suspicious. “…Perhaps. Which ones do you know?”
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Lu knew of the inner disciple named Lan, mostly through Gu Gian’s complaining – apparently the man attempted to court her with some regularity, which she found insufferable. I feel for you, elder brother. I too once sought to melt that heart of ice.
But despite starting with a somewhat negative disposition, Lu quickly found himself relating to the soft-spoken administrator. He wouldn’t say they were friends, or even that they would become friends, but they definitely worked well together.
“Heavens, I didn’t think it was possible to memorise forms that quickly. What’s your secret?” It didn’t hurt that the man was quick to stroke his ego. Not that I’m susceptible to flattery! It’s simply- it’s simply nice to have my hard-won skills recognised, that’s all.
“If there’s a shortcut, I don’t know it. I’ve always had an affinity towards spellcraft, I think.”
Lan shook his head, minutely. “Well, I suppose I must take you at your word.” He placed the scroll down, a strange look on his face. “I thought my own repertoire was impressive, but… Honestly, I’m shocked. I’m not certain if I helped you even a little.”
Lu preened. Internally! Only internally; a gentleman doesn’t show pride too overtly, after all. “Nonsense, elder brother. Your assistance was quite helpful; it would have taken me twice as long to learn those spells without your insight.”
The inner disciple muttered something under his breath, too low for Lu to make out. But he followed it with a more audible statement. “I can see why Gu Gian favours you.”
“Oh?” His eyes widened. “Does she… Speak of me?” Sir Lan, are you telling me that…?
To Lu’s disappointment, the man shook his head. “Not as such. But I’ve been- ah, I’ve been tasked with keeping track of the various goings-ons involving the Sixth Reality, and her work- that is, your work, is related to that.” Lu nodded. I suppose that’s a reasonable explanation. He was the one to inform us of the parley; keeping things to as few individuals as possible makes sense, and I doubt he was brought in just to give a speech.
But elder brother, there’s no need for you to lie! I can tell, as a fellow warrior on the battlefield called love… That you were keeping track of Gu Gian’s contacts for personal reasons!
“I see.” He nodded sagely. I would do exactly the same, were I in you place, so you can’t fool me! “Ah, Sir Lan must be quite knowledgeable about the upcoming mission then, yes?”
“Yes.” But rather than any sort of pride, the man said the work with a tone of despair. “I have no idea why they’re piling so much onto me; I need to keep track of all the participants, organise the equipment for the trip, draft the treaties that will be presented…” He rubbed at his eyes. “And of course, I’ll be present for the meeting itself. Hence, all this,” he gestured to the scrolls.
Oh my, this is actually quite a lot to put on one inner disciple. Is the sect lacking qualified personnel? His mind caught on one particular subject Lan had mentioned. “You’re in charge of the equipment?”
He nodded. “Both ensuring it’s manufactured to specification, and keeping it safe and secured.” He groaned. “It's a full time job. I swear, some core disciples just stuff everything they see in a storage bag without any thought. It’s despicable!”
Lu’s mind turned. I might be able to kill two birds with one stone. “Brother, if I might be so bold… Would you perhaps like to exchange favours? I’ve come into a lot of money recently – surely enough to help your logistical work – and yet I find myself in need of… Let’s say, networking.”
Lan’s expression sharpened. “Oh? What do you need?”
Got him. Money solves all problems! “In brief, I need training. And to be introduced to combat-capable disciples I can trust. And I’ll be exposing abilities that I learned in the other world, so…”
“So they need to be in the know.” He smiled. “I believe we can help each other.”