“I was not expecting that,” Rieren said.

Silk turned back to Rieren and flashed a little smile as though she hadn’t just murdered someone and thrown her corpse stumbling into a hole that led straight to the Abyss.

“What were you expecting?” Silk asked.

Rieren took a deep breath. “What do you expect to do now?”

“You cannot answer your future Empress’s question with another question, Rieren.”

“I can shove my fist right down my future Empress’s throat.” She hesitated, especially at seeing Silk’s grin. “On second thought, I believe that might not be in my best interests.”

“Not for the reasons one might think.”

Rieren stared at her fellow former disciple for a moment, then turned and began to walk away. “Well, if you have nothing further that is worthwhile to add, I will take my leave. I have a realm to break through. Farewell, Silk.”

“You know, my name isn’t Silk.”

Rieren stopped to stare back at her. “What is it, then? Zhouen? Or something along the lines of Zhacien?”

She wasn’t making wild guesses. The Forborne Emperor went by the official, ceremonial name of Zhian. The naming convention was passed down in the imperial clan, each Clanmaster—who was the Emperor of the Elderlands as well—taking on a similar name. If Rieren’s recollections were correct, Zhian’s father had been called Zhoven.

As such, it would be no surprise if Silk’s real name was something along those lines. After all, if she truly intended to take the Elderlands’ throne, she would need all the advantages and signs of legitimacy she could get.

But Silk only shook her head. “I was named after my mother. By my mother, I should add. Kalvia. That is what my mother wished me to be called, a wish I intend to honour.”

Rieren blinked. Kalvia. Such a… common name. One wouldn’t be surprised to hear it in one’s neighbourhood. “You don’t want to sound… a little more regal, when you take the throne? Maybe take a leaf from your old man’s book?”

“Don’t be silly. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

Rieren stared at her. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Silk sighed, rolling her eyes. “Why would I want anything to do with a father who has no idea I even exist?”

“I meant more for political reasons.”

Instead of understanding Rieren’s reason, that just seemed to make Silk angrier. “I meant in a political way too.”

“What?”

“Don’t you see, Rieren? Do you want another weakling on the throne who will allow the imperial court to fall into the hands of those who seek to use it for their own gains? Do you want another helpless man who will let the entire Elderlands flounder and die, who doesn’t have the faintest clue on how to prevent the end of civilization?”

“I think you are being highly ungenerous of someone you don’t even know.”

Silk crossed her arms. There was a strange shift about her. Her face tightened, her posture suddenly much more closed off. She appeared as she had at their last meeting when she had gone on to accuse Rieren of abandoning the Sect. “Oh, so you’ve met him? You know him in person, do you? You can explain why all this has happened under his watch?”

Rieren couldn’t. She had her own list of things she wanted to inquire of the Forborne Emperor when she finally made her way to the capital, by force if necessary. After all, she was confused as to how he could have allowed the imperial court to become this compromised.

But the truth was that she had known him from the last timeline. He had been a fair, kind man, nothing what someone at the peak of power in the Mortal Realm was expected to be.

“I understand enough that there is more at play here than I can possibly fathom in my current circumstance,” Rieren said. “Which is why I asked for your assistance when it is time for me to enter the capital and find the answers I seek.”

Silk tutted. Some of the good humour she had displayed at the beginning of their meeting flickered back on her face. “Well, I hope I can still count on you when my time to enter the capital comes.”

“You can. So long as our goals align.”

“Then please enlighten me—what exactly are your goals?”

“I think we might share the same one.” Rieren looked squarely into Silk’s eyes. “Ending the stranglehold the gods have on the Elderlands and shattering their influence on the Mortal Realm.”

Silk’s eyes widened just a little. “And here my goal was to end the Emperor’s malign influence. But I suppose they are one and the same now. I doubt the gods would welcome me in and allow me to usurp the one they’ve hooked their claws into, especially when I have no intention of falling into the same clutches.”

Rieren hoped that was true. She couldn’t deny that the gods could be persuasive when they chose to be. When the time came, Silk would no doubt have to face her temptations head-on.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“So we are in agreement, then?” Rieren asked.

“I should think so. Do you have a timeline when you might reach Vanharron?”

“Not until I am strong enough to conquer it by myself, if needed.”

Another little widening of the eyes. The statement might have been ludicrous coming from anyone else, but Silk had already learned a good bit of the truth of Rieren’s real identity. If anyone could storm and capture the capital alone, it would be her.

“That sounds like it’s going to be a while,” Silk mused, eyes elsewhere as she thought. It seemed she understood that the little trick Rieren used to grow much stronger was temporary and could not be relied upon on the long-term. “Though, I certainly look forward to that day.”

“Then I will take my leave for now. See you in…” Rieren decided not to promise a strict time. “I hope you will find some other sycophant to creepily watch over you from a distance.”

Silk laughed. “Oh, I am certain once Lyorel and the others receive no messages from their little pawn, they will send someone else. Are going to be finishing up your cultivation?”

“Yes.” For just a moment, Rieren was tempted to ask whether she had angered her supporters by killing the Avatar they had in their pocket. But then she realized she couldn’t care less. If Silk hadn’t killed Adjudicator, Rieren certainly would have. “May fortune favour your cultivation as well.”

“Hold on a moment! Since I’m going to be cultivating as well, we could… do it together, you know.”

Rieren halted, then turned and stared at the other woman.

“I only say it because we have… guests,” Silk said. No, not Silk. Kalvia.

Rieren frowned, then looked over to where she was indicated. There was nothing to see at first. But then she blinked. Essence. Distant channelling dots were moving closer, and in some cases, had already moved closer, likely in order to observe what was going on.

Truth be told, if Rieren had been in their position, she would have been curious about gigantic laser trees and a mountain-sized waterspout too.

“Are you afraid of strangers now that you have no secret guardian to keep you safe?” Rieren asked.

“It’s just a matter of the proper precaution,” Kalvia said. “For all any of us knows, one of them out there might just be here to kill me.”

“Nobody knows you, Si—Kalvia. And you killed the only one who might have had an inkling of killing.”

“I thought you were chivalrous!”

“Yes. You thought I was.”

“I can tell you secrets about the imperial court.”

“I think I know my fair share of them already, actually.”

Kalvia stared at her with a pleading expression. It was a shocking contrast to the aloof imperiousness she pretended to hold onto at the Sect, or with others in general, as she had done with the Avatar. Rieren was almost taken in by it.

“I can also grant you access to another Enlightenment Locale,” she said. The way her voice shifted proved she knew that she had finally struck gold. “The one you need.”

“I can make my own way there.”

“Yes, but do you want to go to so much trouble for it when an easier way is available?”

Rieren groaned. Kalvia wasn’t wrong. The third and closest Enlightenment Locale from her current one was atop the peak of two mountains. Unfortunately, the mountains were the ones straddling either side of Falstrom, where each of the Shatterlands’ two Archnoble clans resided. That meant getting to the peak would require going through them.

A part of Rieren’s successful partnership with Mercion was supposed to have opened up the path through the Ordorian clan’s mountain. She wasn’t certain where it lay now, after the Avatar’s actions.

Mercion had hinted that he was willing to continue their mutually beneficial relationship. But now that it was open that Rieren was an enemy of the imperial court, now that mollifying the imperial court and repairing the Shatterlands’ relation with them required not impairing the Avatars’ tasks, Rieren would be foolish to expect overt assistance.

Which meant she might just need whatever help Kalvia could provide.

“Your hesitation sounds like agreement,” Kalvia said with a knowing look.

Rieren sighed. “Yes, I will join you and assist where I can. However, I will not brook any interference in my cultivation.”

“You dare make demands of your future Empress?”

“Interferences include annoying me.”

Kalvia cracked a lopsided smile. Then she turned away to head back the way she had come. “Come on then. I’m sure you have absolutely nothing that you might want to go back and retrieve where you came from, so follow me.”

She walked off without looking back, the mist parting before like an honour guard. It was strange how despite all they had just gone through, not a single lock of her hair was out of place, nor was even a single spot on her dress marred in any way. The perfection was unnatural.

Rieren shook her head and followed her former fellow Lionshard disciple. She tried to catch sight of the curious ones arriving to see what was going on. They were smart enough to stay far away, however. If Rieren intended to find out more about them, she would need to use Batcat.

For now, though, her cultivation beckoned. First Late-Enlightened, and then beyond.

Before the Dreadflood arrived.

Batcat had flown off somewhere in the midst of the chaos. As Rieren walked in Kalvia’s trail, the cat reappeared. It returned with a quick flap of its wings before landing on the liquid and padding along with Kalvia.

She looked down, gasped faintly, then stopped to pet the cat’s fuzzy head. “See, even your cat monster wants to be a part of my entourage. Isn’t that right, you little fuzz bun?”

Rieren tried not to gag at the moniker. “Where have you been, kitten?”

Kalvia looked up sharply. “Why, right ahead of you.”

“Not you.”

Batcat meowed an answer Rieren didn’t understand. It looked it like it was jerking its head around the general vicinity. Maybe that indicated it been floating high overhead out of their immediate line of sight.

Rieren decided not to think too much of it. Right now, she needed to settle down and focus on her cultivation.

Kalvia’s little area did indeed turn out to be more… habitable than Rieren’s was. There was a small camp set out. This included a fire, a small tent filled such supplies like a cooking pot, clothes, and even a pillow, an assortment of weapons outside the tent, and an opened book resting on top of the tent itself.

“Did you come here to cultivate or did you come here to picnic?” Rieren asked.

Kalvia raised an eyebrow. “Who says we can’t be comfortable while we’re growing more powerful?”

“I would rather focus on growing stronger than reading a book.”

“Yes, and that’s why you’re you and I’m me.”

“What in the world is that even supposed to mean?”

“See, this world of ours wants to operate with strict rules for everyone. You need to understand that those rules don’t apply to everybody all the time. When I am Empress, I will tear down every silly tradition I can get my hands on.”

Rieren blinked at her. “You do that.” She jerked a thumb to the side. “Meanwhile, I will cultivate over yonder. Try not to make a racket.”

“But I’m not done with my speech.”

“Well, I am. Farewell, for now.”

Rieren put the other woman behind her and found herself some momentary seclusion. She couldn’t sense any of the distant dots channelling Essence moving in their direction. Maybe their curiosity had been satisfied and Kalvia no longer had to worry about anything.

Whatever the case, it was time for Rieren to reclaim her cultivation and get through the cursed Enlightened realm.