Eight months later Arbor strode out of his small hut. He took a look around and noticed a lot of changes in Nuova Sper. There was now a town center with different stalls selling goods. Multiple batches of children under the age of two were scurrying around together near the market. Screams and shouts echoes all over the market.
Through small cracks between the buildings Arbor could make out a makeshift fence being built from trimmed logs. In the distance Arbor could hear faint sounds of weapons clashing, kids cheering, and angry shouts.
On a dirt lot, Keiran and Mesal are fighting barehanded. The crowd surrounding the two fighting included those under the tutelage of Arbor. By now everyone has stepped into the Qi Gathering realm. Arbor noticed that the only absent one is Celestia.
Arbor silently appeared on the outside of the fight ring. He attentively examined both Keirans and Mesals attacks and reactions. Mesal’s moves were sluggish but carried a heavy weight to them. He stood at six and a half feet tall with a thicker build. Most of his time was spent defending while delivering a blow when he could.
Keiran stood at just under six feet tall and with a small build. His attacks seem planned and coordinated, but on an extremely basic level. It could be that has been more meticulous with his training or that compared to Mesal he is more refined.
As the fight finished, Keiran supported himself on the ground with one hand on his right ribs. Mesal had won the spar. Mesal reached down and picked Keiran up. Asher, a medium built boy, brought over a couple glasses of water.
Arbor stood in silence while he watched the mingling of the children in front of him. Contemplating. Suddenly, he spoke, “It would appear to me that some of us are lacking in the agility area. Thus, I am going to create a new training area. Everyone keep your balance.” With a wave of his hand hundreds of wooden poles raised from under the young cultivators feet. Each pole was just one inch in diameter.
Some of the kids fell immediately, while others swayed back and forth. Few of them remained standing. Keiran, Evelina, and Thaddeus are the only ones who balanced atop the stilts. As he saunters around, Arbor helped the unfortunate back up. Keiran was the first of the students to take a step. A few moments later, Evelina then Thaddeus eventually started to move. Of the three, only Keiran was able to help people back up given his age and strength compared to the other two.
Minutes later everyone was back up on the poles. Arbor went on to explain the plan. They had two weeks to get their balance comfortably on them before the fighting began. Arbor then mentioned that he will be dishing out the punishments for the losers. He also stated that he will do the punishments along with them. This part of the plan was to hopefully inspire the work ethic of all those who need it.
Two years seemed to skip by in the blink of the eye. Arbor is battling against Elara, Alaric, and Maia. He was dancing around the poles as if it were the flat ground. Their goal? To simply touch the two bells on his waist.
So far no team was able to get within 7 inches. This was achieved by the team of Celestia, Mesal, and Keiran. Arbor promised the team that was able touch the bells first he would reward them with a prize.
Eventually the bout was over with the Maia trio failing the task. Arbor eventually spoke.
“Today we have a special event. You get to witness your first ceremony on the path of cultivation. Celestia has finally made it to the threshold. In order to present the fruits of our labor, top her majesty we will be performing the dantain ritual in front of everyone. If you all will follow me.”
Every resident was gathered around Arbor and Celestia. Arbor drew out the runes on the ground that he had learned from his elders. While Arbor had never done this before he knew that it would work because of the intensity that was used to instill it into him.
Celestia sat in the middle of a runic circle in a lotus position. Eyes of anticipation, worry, and excitement looked at her.
“When you feel the surge of essence enter your body, direct it all towards your dantian. It will feel a little unstable but that is the wall breaking down. Don’t worry, I'll be watching the entire time.” With that Arbor bent over and touched the small formation. It glowed with a pure blue hue.
Sweat formed on Celestia’s forehead first. As the essence entered her body she forced it to her dantain just as Arbor instructed her. Cracks started to appear. Slowly they grew and grew until it eventually broke down. A flash occurred as a phantom appeared above Celestia’s head.
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What appeared before everyone was a half fish half human figuring. Only Arbor recognized it, a mermaid. He could tell how low of a level it was due to its dull gleam. It was almost non-existent. Arbor studied Celestia as she sat there finishing the process. No one except Arbor knew what she was going through these moments. Inside of her dantain, the mermaid figure sat there. Celestia’s consciousness melded with it.
She got a hint of what her abilities were going to be. Arbor noticed that a small set of scales appeared over her skin briefly. A pair of gills appeared on both sides of her neck. Celestia gasped for air. Arbor watched as she struggled. He picked up his foot just before the gills disappeared.
A few breaths later Celestia stood up and the crowd cheered. Celestia ran to her parents and hugged them. Their daughter had become the first of the new generation of cultivators. A feast started soon after with everyone joining in on the party. The week prior Arbor ventured out and hunted down a few beasts with Eos and Zypher.
Sometime later through the party Eos who was playing with the kids on side suddenly stood up and looked towards the front of the camp. Eos made a gruffled squawk. Arbor was the only one that was able to feel a certain emotion mixed in from their connection. Arbor stood up from one the four seats from the head of the table.
“Well, well. How wonderful it is we find you during such an occasion. I really appreciate the grand gesture you are putting on for us.”
Within seconds Eos was standing in front of three dark dressed figures. Hoods covered their eyes. The figure on the left stands at ten feet tall with arm the length of its body and had a lazily walk. The one in the middle stood at three feet tall. The short one strode with a gliding movement. The third figure on the right had an unyielding walk with its hands behind its back. It was around five feet tall with a sleeveless robe that showed a metallic heather skin.
Arbor noticed a small theta symbol in all black with a blood red outline. In addition, he noticed the fluctuations in the array that covered the settlement. Keiran, Celestia, and Mesal stood up immediately. Arbor responded with a stern, “Sit.”
“Everyone get back. The rest of you protect them.” Arbor walked at a leisure pace.
“I imagine you know who I am. I also understand why you are here.” Arbor calmly spoke.
“Therefore, let's get this over with.” Arbor and Eos both dashed at the three.
Eos took the liberty of attacking the astute figure himself. Eos kept himself at a paws distance as he and the figure danced around. Eos was able to match it in speed while having the dominance in strength. Underneath the hood was a smooth heather head with no ears, mouth, or nose. It has three eyes in a vertical stack.
With each attack a small light glowed on the skin of the sexless figure. Up to this point, Eos was the only one making the attacks. The figure stood without movement for a few seconds before it took a step, then another, its left leg kicked out. From it came a purple light that extended out like a whip. When it made contact with Eos it sent him crashing into and through a smaller hut.
A length of green thorny vines darted out and grabbed a bundle of spider legs. The vines grew up its body and strangled the upper torso of the creature that had four arms. The entirety of its body is ebony with hints of smokey gray. This small creature suddenly jerked and was slingshot towards the lankly figure running towards Arbor.
The smaller creature slammed against the body of the quadrupedal and bounced off. Once again the giant beast prepared to attack. Four separate mouths unfolded on its body. Two were towards its head while the other two were more on its upper chest.
Arbor sprinted towards the beast. He timed it perfectly and slid underneath the creature. He embedded his staff into the ground while the other end turned sharp and pierced the stomach. Once inside of its body branches grew off the main pole and shredded its insides. Eos came jumping from the side and bit its head off.
The heathered skin figure was chasing after Eos but made a quick change to Arbor who seemed to disappear as a cloud of leaves shrouded his body. The enemy stopped its attack and began to look around with its head. From above Arbor came crashing down with his hands clasped together on top of the faceless head. Simultaneously a bright flicker appeared as the creature smashed into the ground.
Vines shot out of the ground and tied the creature up. At this point Arbor stood still with his staff on the center back of the heather creature while watching Eos battling the spiderling.
Nets of webs hung off Eos who struggled getting close to the spider creature. Suddenly it turned around and scurried away. Of course Eos gave chase. While Eos lacks in agility due to his size, he has the advantage in linear speed against the eight legged animal.
Eos’s eagle eyes were able to track every change of direction before him. The spider-like creature jumped from branch to branch in the forest. It shot webs in an attempt to slow its predator down. Within a few minutes the wingless griffin returned with half the body in his mouth. Eos happily strutted towards Arbor and spat out the head in his mouth.
Confusion surfaced on Arbor's face. “How did you manage such a clean cut,” Arbor questioned as he examined the head that was cleanly cut at the back of the neck.
Eos gave a few spins before looking towards the entrance of the camp. He knocked his head at an angle upwards before snapping it down. An almost invisible attack sliced the air for close to ten feet before disappearing. Eos turned just as fast and started to do a happy dance. He turned around again and let out another two wind blinds. When he turned back to look at Arbor he suddenly fainted.
Many of the kids ran over screaming for Eos. Arbor had to assure them that he was fine and fainted from exhaustion. He simply over used his essence and will wake up in a few hours.