“Sit, disciple Lu. We have a special mission we would like to request of you.”
When faced with such a statement, from such a distinguished man, what else could Lu do but obey? He stepped away from the wide double-doors, only subconsciously noticing as they closed behind him, and took a seat at the innermost edge of the circle where a single unoccupied cushion waited for him.
His eyes never turned away from White Knuckle. It was not that he feared the man – though he was obviously imposing – rather, it was a mix of gratitude both distant and personal that fuelled his reverent demeanour. The rest of my instructors that were driven away by Tai Sho, Lan and the scholars, the diplomats, everyone… They’re alive because of this person’s strength. I respected him before, as an Elder and the patriarch’s direct disciple, but now…
This man is a hero!
White Knuckle looked different from Lu’s memory of him, but only a little. His long beard and hair had been cut short at some point, making him appear even older, and his skin was minutely rougher like he has spent a lot of time in the sun recently. But the wiry muscle of his exposed arms, the solid and steady look in his eyes, those things were unchanged.
Lu performed a sitting bow, his forehead a hair’s width from touching the floorboards. Don’t stumble over your words, Lu – simple, keep it simple! “Disciple greets Elder. How might I be of service?”
Somehow, the towering powers around him made the pressure of their spirits seem like a gentle cradle rather than a crushing weight. Lu wouldn’t have expected this level of generosity from an inner or core disciple, but he supposed that any venerable Elder of the Steadfast Heart had learned to control themselves long before he was born. Even White Knuckle’s incredible strength was suppressed into a dim and flickering star for his benefit.
“Before anything else, I feel the need to repay a debt.” Then, to Lu’s barely-contained astonishment, the Elder inclined his head. “It was your dutiful recording of your experiences and keen insight into the other world which allowed so many of our disciples to survive. We understood our enemy before they understood us, and that advantage was immeasurable. It is quite possible that even I myself might have perished had you been any less diligent.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
There was a part of Lu that wanted to shy away from the praise, that pointed out that almost all his knowledge had been traded for a common expanded purse and one spirit stone. That his accomplishments were the result of happenstance, rather than any virtue of his own self. And equally, there was a part that swelled with pride. That wanted to stand up with its head held high, and proclaim to the Heavens that he was important, that he was special and unique.
Neither of those voices were useful here, so he pushed them down and inclined his own head. “Thank you, Elder. I accept your words, but reject your debt; please do not trouble yourself any more on my account.” It’s only proper, only proper. Any disciple would have done the same – why even attempt to keep secrets from the sect? What would there be to gain?
“Unfortunately, I must disagree.” The Elder clapped, once, the sound echoing off the walls like they were struck drums. “From this moment, all of the arts known to the Steadfast Heart shall be open to you. It is a meagre reward, but given the traditions which bar excessive favouritism between Elders and disciples, I hope that you can accept it.”
Lu’s tongue felt like a frog in his mouth, slippery and fat. All of them? You can’t- surely you don’t mean all of them all of them? It took every bit of his mental effort to open his mouth and say “Thank you, Elder,” a second time.
Then another clap sounded out from his left. Winding Wind, his close-cut brown hair now a match for his senior’s white, sat straighter as he folded his hands back down. “Many of my scouts also survived due to your influence.” His eyes looked past Lu as though he was empty air, but he felt pinned in place all the same. “Please, accept this small gift of spirit stones as recompense.”
A small bag, fine velvet with gold-thread drawstrings, appeared as if from nowhere. It floated into Lu’s hands, which immediately turned numb when he took a quick peek at the contents.
S-small gift, you say..? It was less than the riches he had made selling carriages, yes, but still an absurd amount for an outer disciple to possess.
Before he could even bow, another clap. Lu turned to his right to see Elder Persimmon, dressed with more care than Lu was accustomed to seeing on him. “I too feel that I owe you a debt. As the array master responsible for containing the spread of Salt’s influence, examining your cultivation gave me great insight into containing foreign energies. Please, take this sample of my work.” Another purse floated into his hands.
Another clap; Jade Beast, an elegant lady who bred warhorses and had punished him so severely for peeking into the woman’s baths he had been bedridden for two days. Another; Great Star Ring, who had given him exactly four astronomy lessons before pronouncing him unteachable.
Braveheart, who taught martial arts, gifted him a sword of black stone with a terrifying enchantment.
Black Sesame, her robes stained so thoroughly the original colour was indistinguishable, handed him a small packet of insanely rare herbs, all processed beyond anything he could accomplish.
With each clap, each brief word of gratitude, Lu’s head sunk lower. It was not long before he was kowtowing to hide the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.
Every single Elder in the building, all sixty-seven of them, presented him a gift. Some of them were smaller than others, some of them larger, but each of them struck Lu’s heart like it was a gong. Please, I’m not- I only did it for myself! Don’t you see that? I wasn’t thinking of anyone else when I was stranded, it was all for me! I betrayed friends, I killed strangers, I violated oaths! I don’t deserve to be rewarded so much..!
When the last Elder, a very short man without any hair on his head, presented his gift of spirit stones to Lu, there was silence. White Knuckle waited a moment for Lu’s emotions to settle, before continuing with one last nod of respect.
“I believe I have some understanding of your emotions, disciple. I will say only this – while it is true a great many disciples have sacrificed more for the sect, and received less, it is not only sacrifice that is virtuous. One must also take into account the effects of one’s actions; while you are an ordinary man, your contributions have been extraordinary. That is why we have decided to bow our heads to you.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
With effort, Lu reined in his tears and raised his head. Rather than a frog, his tongue seemed more like a twelve-horned toad now… but still he opened his mouth to croak. “Thank you, Elders. I cannot comprehend this generosity.”
Although White Knuckle was sitting perfectly straight, he somehow seemed to become even more serious. “Now that our personal business is concluded, let us move on to your assignment.” The rest of Lu’s emotions were hastily swept under a rug to be dealt with later, as his own spine straightened. Right, right, the assignment. Obviously, after all this I couldn’t possibly refuse! “With the assistance of the Moving Waters Clan, Winding Wind’s disciples have located a hidden breach nearby to the north. You are to take a selection of disciples, and-”
Don’t say venture into Salt, don’t say venture into Salt – I’ll refuse! Even with this lavish assortment of gifts, I’ll refuse!
“-Use the energies leaking into our reality to train them in consumption.” Some of Lu’s thoughts must have spilled onto his face, because the Elder then raised his brow.
“…Of course, Elder! Ah, might I ask who will be accompanying me?”
“I will allow them to introduce themselves to you. Please report to core disciple Giro sometime between noon and sunset, today. He will present your new students to you, and guide you to the breach itself.”
The atmosphere shifted, and Lu understood he was being dismissed. “I’ll be sure to act promptly, Elder.”
He rose, bowed, turned, and bowed again. “Elders.” And then, with his eyes not pointing at anything in particular, he exited the building.
Somehow, his legs felt as heavy going down the mountain as they had going up.
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“You, a teacher?”
By happenstance Lu had run into Bull and Cobo on their way out of the inner sect, and the moment Bull heard that Lu had been summoned before a gathering of Elders he immediately dragged them all back to his abode. Lu was both flummoxed and glad; while he appreciated the thought – and the opportunity to set his sudden wealth of spacial pouches and bags down rather than carry them openly all the way to the foot of the mountain – he was less enthusiastic about the form his friend’s worry took.
“Do you really need to use that tone? I’m a perfectly reasonable master – tell him, Cobo.”
Cobo looked between the two of them, and opened his mouth. But rather than any actual reassurance of Lu’s competence as a wise master, the man merely made an untranslatable throat-sound and raised his arms to the side in an animated shrugging motion.
You traitor! What about all those techniques I taught you? Have you no gratitude in your heart?
Bull, as he usually did when Lu expressed outrage, guffawed loudly.
I need more emotionally open friends. These ones are too barbaric! But there was a smile beneath his sour expression; it was good to experience some playful ribbing after the extremely… extreme event he had just come from.
His arms crossed as his nose ascended into the air. “Well, if I’m so terrible a master, perhaps I’ll simply leave you to your devices. I’m sure you’ll get along just fine without me!”
Cobo’s dubious expression reversed itself into a brief flash of panic, before he schooled it into a disinterested look. “Eh. I’ll be fine.” He began examining his nails, the display so overly-casual that Lu struggled to hold in a snicker. “I’ve got lots of stuff I’ve worked out on my own – stuff I’ve never shown anyone, even. Actually, I’ve probably forgotten more techniques than you’ve ever learned.”
At that the conversation devolved into various shades of laughter.
Ah, Lu thought as an attempt to restrain himself turned to hiccups, I’m sure everything will go sour sometime soon, what with the invasion and all, but for now I can’t help but feel that things are going to work out. Maybe that’s just the high from being rich again.
“But seriously,” Bull interjected, “who are you even teaching?”
“I’ll find out later today. I would assume those disciples who were forced to dissipate their cultivation due to damaged suits.” So, inner disciples at the very least. That might be a bit awkward.
Bull grunted. “I know some of those guys. Be careful; there are at least two formerly of the core realms who are taking their mortality very poorly.”
Some of the levity disappeared. “Well… it isn’t as though they can do anything to me. If the Elders want me to teach them then they must, by definition, have a lower consumption than I do.” Right?
Another grunt, though this one was more drawn-out with uncertainty. “Maybe. But you’re able to use both – who says they aren’t doing the same thing?”
The room was silent for a moment. But then Lu shook off the ill feelings. Speculation, this is just speculation! Besides, I just came back from receiving the gratitude of functionally the entire sect; no one in their right mind is going to attack me now, it would be social – and perhaps actual – suicide. “Alright, alright, let’s put that to the side. Who wants to help me sort through all these treasures?”
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According to the administrative wing, the core disciple named Giro could be easily found within the wing itself – his work primarily consisted, according to Administrator Dan’s dead-tongued explanation, of translating the needs of the sect’s mortal patrons into the easily-understood missions that disciples took every day.
A noble and necessary effort. I’m sure he’ll be virtuous and easy to work with!
Lu strode along with a skip in his step, mainly due to the purse attached to his side. It was the first one he had received from Winding Wind, purple velvet with a golden drawstring, and it now held much more than spirit stones. Going through the pile properly had revealed even more treasures than his brief peeks had prepared him for, and though there was nothing of the same tier as Tai Sho’s one-of-a-kind escape treasure, he was now carrying enough self-defence measures to supply a small nation. Swords and other weapons, single-use attack formations, pills of all sorts – he was confident that even if some monstrosity emerged from the crack between realities, he would at least be able to hold his own.
And as the crowning jewel of his dragon’s hoard, a thin piece of wood with elaborate engravings. It was somewhat sword-shaped, more for tradition’s sake than any practical reason, and Lu really wished he had been keeping track of which treasure had come from which Elder, because he felt obligated to thank the one who had gifted it to him in particular.
He had always wanted to own a flying treasure, after all. Ahh, remain calm, Lu, calm. You’ll get to ride it soon, when you head out to the countryside. The thought did little to dampen his anticipation.
Soon Dan’s directions led him to an office nestled deep into the heart of the wing, a place that was less ostentatiously appointed than the front-facing sections, though not shabby by any means. The door was labelled ‘Scouting & Reconnaissance, Main Office,’ exactly as specified. Lu took a single fortifying breath, and knocked.
“Enter.”
The door swung open, and Lu beheld a slightly tired man with a thick head of black hair atop a rather generically handsome face. But his unassuming looks didn’t tell the whole story; as Lu’s sense brushed past the man’s own, he found it completely unyielding. This is him, I have no doubt. Core realm, and I’m sure his bland face helps with infiltration.
“Sir Giro? I’m Lu; I was told to report to you for a special assignment.”
The man’s hands tapped along his desk, which was burdened by a truly staggering pile of paper sheets. “Lu? Ah, pardon me. I assumed you would be slightly later.” With a wave of his hand, the papers shuffled themselves off to the sides. “Please, take a seat. I’ll get the map out while we wait for your students to arrive.”