*1346.01.27*
He sat across a small café-like table, under what was probably his favourite blossoming cherry-like tree, from two people he already thought of as his parents-in-law. He could clearly see where Tillia had gotten her looks from.
Annalee Salorys might have been a distant cousin to his mother, but she still bore a strong semblance to the main Aneath line. She was relatively tall, standing just a hair shorter than he did. She had also aged very gracefully, though she looked to be only about thirty years old or so. He knew that she and Thuridan, her husband, hadn’t really started cultivating in earnest until after Tilla had taken her role as his nanny. That said, if Tillia aged as gracefully as her mother, keeping a fabulous figure after having born six children, then he’d consider himself either ridiculously blessed, or improbably lucky.
Thuridan Salorys also bore a strong semblance to the Aneath line, an even more distant cousin to his mother. He would stand a couple of inches taller than Joram if they stood. Though, he was more slender than Joram, even now.
They both had purple streaking their otherwise black hair, while their eyes were respectively a blue-green hazel and a green-gold hazel. He noticed that they were also two of the most fashionable people in the small village that had been thrown together in the past year.
Annalee had opened up two separate clothing stores that were surprisingly successful, while Thuridan’s woodworking skills had availed him well in the construction efforts and the need for furniture. As much as Joram and his minds had helped, he hadn’t really done much beyond building the two castles. Furniture was still needed, as well as smaller buildings for various shops and such that provided the refugees with a sense of stability and normalcy.
Aaaaand he was distracting himself from the very serious conversation going on.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been a coward,” Joram said, bowing his head low to the couple.
They exchanged a look, one he wasn’t willing to read into before Annalee spoke.
“It was indeed… disappointing that you haven’t sought us out yet,” she began carefully. “But we do understand that you’ve been beyond busy helping us all, let alone working on your cultivation.”
He couldn’t help but blink in surprise as he looked down at the table. Slowly, he raised his head, peeking up at the serious couple as they held each others’ hand. He opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by Thuridan’s raised hand.
“We understand,” he said, a serious expression forming on his face. “We understand all that. But we also hope that you won’t do anything foolish. We’ve heard enough people talking about how they planned to seek revenge on those who attacked us. Even if they cultivated for a century, I’m sure that it still wouldn’t be enough.
“We know that our daughter wasn’t amongst the dead that Avi found and brought here,” he said, having difficulty when speaking of the dead. “We also heard that those people took many children with them when they left, so there is a hope that Tillia is still among the living.
“While her fate is unknown to us, we still pray for her safety. Hers, and yours. We know how much you mean to her and even how much you care for her,” he said, causing a lump to form in Joram’s throat and a slight blush to colour his cheeks. “But we don’t want you to think that you need to go off and rescue her. She wouldn’t want you to rush off and get yourself killed trying to save her.
“We think that she would approve of your seeking strength first. You need to get stronger to first rescue her, then to protect her,” Thuridan said, surprising Joram greatly.
He looked over to Annalee and saw the same conviction in her bright eyes that he saw in Thuridan’s. He took a deep breath, then another as his chest felt as though tight bands were constricting it.
“Thank you,” he gave his heartfelt thanks. “I know that I’m still lacking, but I will bring her home.”
Now it was their turn to take deep breaths, their eyes going misty.
“Thank you,” Annalee said, her free hand coming up to rest over her heart. “Tillia always spoke so highly of you. Of how talented you were, of how you were able to pick up just about anything and quickly advance in it until you shocked those around you. Even though we’re now both in the second Tier, we can’t even sense what your cultivation is. We know that you’ll soon be strong enough to fulfill your promise. So, please, learn what you need to so that you can save our daughter.”
Joram’s throat closed up, not allowing him to speak, allowing Thuridan to do so instead.
“If it isn’t rude to ask, what is your current cultivation?” He asked, likely trying to build a time estimate based on what Joram would share.
“Ah,” he said, voice cracking slightly. “I just stepped into the fifth Tier.”
Both parents just stared at him, jaws going a bit slack. It took them a minute to process that, Annalee looking a bit wistful with a small smile on her face, Thuridan looking hopeful.
“Tillia always sang your praises,” Annalee said, that small smile never leaving her face.
Thuridan folded his arms across his chest and nodded a couple of times.
“When the Matriarch told us why Tillia had to go into seclusion, we finally understood why she’d recently been so… distracted when speaking about you,” he finished, obviously searching for the right word at the end, but not seeming happy with it.
“Oh, just be honest, dear. She was downright twitterpated at times,” she said with a glowing, and mischievous, smile. “She’d shared with us that she’d have odd… visions of people. Sometimes the person she saw was only a bit older than they were currently, while others were much older. And I’m fairly certain that she saw you when you were… more mature,” she finished, taking in his ridiculous growth and height for his age.
Joram blushed at that. He knew that he now looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, even though he had only turned 8 last month. Which, really, still made him look much younger than he felt. Sure, his body was “young”, but did that matter much when it had matured, and his mental age was much higher? Ah, philosophy.
He then realized that he was looking at the table again, likely due to his embarrassment. Yes, his mental age was older, but he’d never been good with compliments. Take that and add in his annoying teenage hormones, and it was enough to make him want to flee.
“So,” Thuridan said, clearing his throat before he continued. “What we’re trying to say is: please take care of our daughter.”
Then he and Annalee stood up and bowed to him from the waist, causing more blood to rush up into his cheeks in embarrassment. Not only were they his seniors, but they were also Tillia’s parents. Parents who obviously not only approved of him, but also planned to leave their daughter in his “care”.
Translating what they said and applying the cultural aspects of what they’d just said…. Was Tillia now his “second” wife?
* * * * *
Avi was, once again laughing so hard that she had tears streaming down her face as she was doubled over.
What Joram had just shared with her was too good. Not only was he still engaged with Xixi, but the way Mo Yu had worded her oath to him had made it sound like she’d made a wedding vow. Now, Tillia’s parents had expressly left her future care to Joram, effectively marrying her off to him.
Sure, there hadn’t been any ceremonies yet, but she could see them coming in the future. The only question was if Joram would accept polygamy or not. Since it was more or less taboo back on Earth, she wasn’t sure if he would. But considering the practice was the norm here, she wasn’t sure if he’d capitulate.
Or would “assimilate” be a better word for accepting the world’s norms? She wondered as she sat up again, looking at a very uncomfortable-looking Joram.
“That’s not funny,” he pouted at her.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that your vitality has increased greatly,” she said with a wink, causing his entire face to turn scarlet, some colour even spreading down his neck.
“So,” he said, changing the subject. “I’m ready to go now,” he said, then began striding over to the completed runabout.
Avi nodded, then called out to him. “One quick farewell party, and you’re off.”
That made him pause, then turn to look at her.
“If the Soyokaze,” he said, motioning to the runabout, obviously naming it just then, “is as fast as you say, then I’ll be back tonight. No need for a party or anything.”
Avi sighed, knowing that he’d say something like that. “Then we’ll just have to change it to an acceptance party for when you pass all the entrance exams,” she said with a smirk.
Joram really looked like he wanted to argue with that, but also seemed to know that he’d lose said argument.
“Let the Trio know that I’m leaving in half an hour,” he said, turning back around.
Avi watched him disappear into the Soyokaze then appear in the cockpit, looking around at everything before opening the instruction manual.
She smiled as she recalled an Earth stereotype that men never read the instruction manual. Well, Joram was indeed a unique individual.
Avi: Hey, Asura? Could you gather the Trio and bring them here? Joram’s ready to head out in the next half hour.
Asura: Yeah, no worries. They’re all done with their shopping and are just chilling in the food court.
Avi nodded at that. The foods that Joram had introduced to the Clan and Brightside had very quickly been integrated into their culinary repertoire. Heck, many of the foods were so quick and easy to make that they’d easily been accepted as valid “fast food” here, the stuff that streetside restaurants and food carts sold to passersby.
Avi brought up another display on her desk, checking on the status of the cloning tanks.
Kinkade had come to her asking about a body that his psicrystal could use, which had got her thinking that maybe Asura would also like one. A short conversation after that saw two new bodies being grown in the tanks. They were human though, as she didn’t want to risk losing a High Elan body anywhere. That said, they still looked exactly like Kinkade’s and Asura’s holographic bodies.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
She supposed those bodies wouldn’t be considered “mundane”, as she’d still given them a resilience equivalent to a Tier 1 body cultivator.
Well, if anyone wanted to cause trouble for them, they still had their psionics to fall back on. Which, really, was still quite the ace up the sleeve. Especially since anyone as powerful as them were taken very seriously because someone at their level of Mental Strength was usually a very well-respected crafter of one kind or another.
Also, those who cultivated mana generally sucked at resisting the effects of psionics/Mental Strength. So, there was that.
Soon enough, Asura walked into the hangar-like workshop with the Trio following closely behind.
Avi noticed that each of them had ditched their “prison” attire and were now sporting new duds.
Bai Lian was wearing what looked like a cross between a karate gi and a kimono. It was quite the look that allowed for full freedom of movement while also accentuating her now athletic build. She supposed that not giving the young woman anything to read while chilling in prison had pushed her to find other ways to pass the months of solitude.
Ren Wentian, though, was dressed very similarly to what he’d been in when he’d died: a more-or-less traditional kung-fu like shirt, pants, and slippers combo.
While Bai Lian had gone for a somewhat practical, while fashionable, look, Mo Yu had just gone all-out fashionable. With her long midnight black hair held up with a jade hair comb, her slender neck was left in full view by the wide neck of her kimono/robe. While a traditional kimono had wider sleeves and needed to be tied at the waist, and thus kind of hung down to hide the rest of the person, this was much more fitted. The neck of the outfit was wide, leaving much of her clavicles exposed, though it only had a shallow dip, covering most of her chest. The sleeves were much better fitted, almost like a long-sleeved shirt, though it loosened a bit after the elbow.
The torso was rather well fitted, forming well to her. As the fabric left her waist, it continued to fit her form and only widened again after the hips, splitting at the thighs, leaving a front and back “flap” that went down to her ankles. Avi spotted what looked like this world’s equivalent to short bicycle shorts underneath, giving her an odd sense of relief at the thought of an errant gust of wind not being able to lay everything bare for the young woman.
As flattering as the outfit was on Mo Yu, Avi was glad that she wasn’t some sort of exhibitionist. She was fairly sure that that sort of outfit would get lots of looks, even with the added skin-tight shorts. Heck, probably because of the skin-tight shorts.
She watched as the Trio bowed to her before lining up by the Soyokaze at Asura’s direction. So, she got up and joined them, not wanting to miss anything interesting.
Avi couldn’t help but smirk at their intensely interested gazes as they beheld the shuttle. She could feel their curiosity through the Network practically bubbling over before Joram stepped out and began speaking to them.
“Good to see you all,” he said, looking them each in the eye. “I hear that you’ve all gathered what you need for the journey, so let’s get going,” he said, then motioned for them to enter the Soyokaze.
Avi, along with the Trio, was a bit disappointed with the lack of a speech, or even an explanation. Or, really, anything else.
“Is this your, ah, flying artifact?” Ren Wentian asked, not quite sure how to describe what he was looking at.
“Yeah, I named it the Soyokaze. It’ll get us to the Grand Waeryn Academy,” he said, again motioning for everyone to get in.
The Trio exchanged a look before Bai Lian took the lead and stepped inside, followed by Mo Yu then Wentian. Avi stepped in after Joram and closed the door/hatch.
Which made Joram give her an odd look.
“I’ll help them settle since you said that you wanted to get going right away,” Avi said, then went about showing the Trio where they could sit, how to buckle into the seats that could be unfolded from the walls, then showed them the bunks.
To say that everyone was impressed would have been an understatement. They varied between gawking and shock at the various amenities and facilities until she finally had them take their seats for takeoff.
“All right, I’ll help you shift the Soyokaze back to the prime, then I’ll be off,” she told Joram with a smile.
Again, he just gave her an odd look before nodding and turning back to the controls.
Instead of just [Planeshift]ing everyone out of the Realm then retrieving the Soyokaze afterwards meant that Avi now needed to [Planeshift] everyone out at the same time, along with the Soyokaze. A bit of a pain in the ass, but not beyond her.
After a handful of seconds of concentration, they all found themselves looking out at the valley where Joram’s clan once stood.
She saw Joram nod to himself before activating the propulsion systems, causing a slight shudder to go through the ship.
Avi heard the Trio quietly murmur to each other as she slipped into the co-pilot’s chair beside Joram. She ignored the Trio as they crowded in behind them to stare out of the fore viewport, the windshield.
Joram just used the controls to gain altitude before slowly maneuvering the Soyokaze to face east while Avi busied herself playing with the limited sensors she’d managed to create and install. They seemed to be functioning well given that she was able to see the various data collected scrolling down the displays.
She took notes as the Soyokaze gained velocity, making sure that her omni-tool was connected to the main computer. Some of the readings from the sensors were a bit… janky, to say the least. But at least most of what came through was clear enough to know what was going on around them, and especially in front of them.
* * * * *
He was currently working on his poker face. Joram really didn’t want to lose face, as it were, should the Trio manage to see that he was having a nerdgasm.
Having not only the opportunity, but the ability, to pilot a runabout was the dream of uncounted masses back on Earth. How many people had pictured themselves piloting a ship like this? Or even just riding on one?
He was going to have to make sure that Avi came through with constructing the various ships she’d claimed to have ready for this little trip. Being able to pilot the Falcon or a Defiant-class ship was another dream of his, and more millions of fans on Earth.
Yes, she’d really need to increase the number of production facilities she had up and going, but he very much suspected, practically knew, that she was doing that anyway. Especially since she’d let slip the comment about an orbital station and all.
As he flew them east, Joram wondered if there were other planets in their star system, particularly if there were any asteroid belts available. Because, if there were, it would make gathering resources for Avi’s projects that much easier for them.
He was still bringing up their velocity, Mach 42 at the moment, when something caught his eye.
Out at about eleven o’clock was a series of dots on the horizon that quickly grew in size. At first, he through that they were a flock of beasts or something, but soon realized that they were definitely not.
What he beheld was another popular trope when someone found themselves on another world, be it in a sci-fi setting or a magical one. Those were flying mountains.
Yes, mountains. Each mass of stone was covered in flora, giving them varying colour until the snow-line where each turned white. It was quite the sight, as those mountains weren’t just hovering a bit above the ground, but were instead dozens of kilometres above the planet.
Nor were there just a few.
“Avi, can you get a reading on how many of them are there?” He asked, not needing to specify what he meant as everyone was currently taking in the amazing sight.
“I’ll get it tagged for future study,” she said, typing away on her holographic keyboard, her eyes also taking in the sight.
“You haven’t seen something like this before?” Bai Lian asked curiously from behind him.
He shook his head as he answered. “No, haven’t had an opportunity to really travel,” he said dryly.
“Ah,” Bai Lian said, sounding embarrassed at her oversight. “Well, it is said that before the Great Cataclysm these flying mountain chains didn’t exist. Most agree that they formed from one of the moons that fell to Dovaynia during that time. If I recall correctly, that particular moon’s affinity was for the Law of Gravity,” she said, managing to sound like a professor giving a lecture. Which also managed to bring a grin to his face.
“I’ve read that there used to be dozens of moons orbiting Dovaynia,” he said, maneuvering them around the outer edge of the chain, not wanting to test Avi’s atmospheric shields quite yet. “But I haven’t gotten to read up much on history,” he explained.
Had the Library contained all that information? Yup. He just hadn’t gotten around to reading through the thousands of history books as he’d mainly focused on the various crafting books that contained techniques, instructions, and recipes along with the various ones on magic. A handful of years- even with how fast he could churn through books- was still nowhere near enough time to have read through everything that the Library had contained, never mind what was in the Heavenly Archive.
“That makes sense,” he heard Wentian say. “There are many classes that take years to go through the various topics in history.”
“There’s just so much to learn,” Bai Lian seemed to agree with Wentian’s statement. “Ah, to be able to take your time going through it all would be fantastic,” she said wistfully, catching Joram’s attention.
“Asura mentioned that you were a bit of a bookworm,” he said, keeping an eye on a few flying beasts he spotted further into the chain. They must have been massive given how small they looked even from a few dozen kilometres away.
There was a slight pause before Bai Lian answered, sounding a bit embarrassed. “Yes, well, I really enjoyed learning about history…” she said, then paused slightly before continuing. “… and reading in general. I enjoy poetry as well as a good adventure story, especially ones based on true stories.”
Joram could very much understand that; being considered a bibliophile himself. As much as he didn’t want to get too close to the Trio, to keep them at an emotional distance for what they’d participated in, he found that he was liking Bai Lian more and more as he learned more about her.
Which got him wondering about the other two as they began to leave the mountain chain behind, still picking up speed. Was Wentian just your average body cultivator who loved to eat? Was Mo Yu a “cool beauty”, or a tsundere? Which, if true, would raise many questions in his mind about her… or his ego.
The point was that he, intellectually, knew that everyone was their own person. A collection of the experiences they’d gone through that shaped them. Each person had their own wants and desires; experiencing emotions as just about everyone else did. What were their goals and dreams? Did Bai Lian cultivate just for the extended lifespan just so that she could read more books? Did Wentian cultivate body refinement because of an experience in his past? Was Mo Yu’s true personality hiding behind her pretty face?
Sure, he could just rifle through their memories and find out. They were originally his enemies after all. But would he have actually done so? He knew that Avi could also rummage through peoples’ memories given that she could use any Power that he could, but from what she’d shared, she hadn’t.
Which begged the question: why?
Joram sighed as he levelled them out at Mach 65, which should get them to the Academy in a few hours. He was sure to monitor the integrity of their atmospheric shields as well as how well the inertial dampeners were holding up.
Heh, that’d be embarrassing. The inertial dampeners failing would result in some chunky salsa, he thought with a wry grin. It was a good thing that he was still in the habit of creating an [Astral Seed] every day, even with how the power seemed to function here.
He wondered if he’d ever get the Soyokaze into the range of impulse speed. Sure, it’d only be a tiny fraction of that speed if he was in atmosphere. But if he had the time, he’d love to take it off planet and have some fun.
Getting back to the conversation, Joram reviewed what had been said and smiled. Of the Trio, Bai Lian was definitely the bookworm while Mo Yu came in second. Surprisingly, Wentian wasn’t far behind Mo Yu, though he tended to focus on cookbooks and various encyclopedias on flora and fauna from around the world.
Joram continued to smile as he realized that Wentian likely read those encyclopedias for culinary research. Which, to be fair, was completely valid.
Mo Yu also liked all the same reading materials that the other two liked, making her somewhat of an all-rounder when it came to her interests. But what really amused him was when Bai Lian managed to pull out of her that she also liked the occasional romance story. That was also when he noticed Avi paying a bit more attention, which also amused him greatly.
“But really,” Mo Yu was saying, trying to defend herself as Wentian teased her a bit. “There are many stories centred on the developing relationship between two people that do not focus on the carnal side of relations; the pureness of the interactions, how they get to know one another even as misunderstandings occur and are surmounted and clarified, then understood, are the true romance stories. All others that focus on the carnal side of things are just smut,” she finished, crossing her arms in front of herself defensively.
Joram noticed the corner of Avi’s eye twitch slightly, reminding him of what he’d seen in her Mindspace. What also interested him was Bai Lian’s almost imperceptible nod to what Mo Yu had said. Wentian just shrugged, obviously not interested in those genres.
“Ah, so you’re a romantic then,” Avi said casually/not-so-casually, managing to pierce Mo Yu through the heart.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she muttered, turning away from Avi as she blushed slightly.
Joram was then shown that Wentian did indeed have a measure of tact when he changed the subject.
“So, any idea what classes you’ll take, Joram?”
“Something focussed on Mental Strength, probably,” he replied with a shrug, noticing that the normal mountain chain that they’d started in was coming to an end, which meant that they were getting to about the halfway point. “My cultivation is a bit… odd, so I don’t think they’ll really be able to help me much with it.”
“I did notice that your cultivation is… a bit unusual,” Bai Lian said with a mix of confusion and concern, which surprised him a bit.
“Yeah, I can barely feel any Qi from you at all even though you say you’re at the Heaven Realm already,” Wentian piped in bluntly.
He noticed Mo Yu nodding to that.
“What you feel is probably from the body refining technique I use,” he said with another shrug. “Doesn’t really matter though, as I’ll mostly be focussed on crafting while there.”
Which got their attention.
“If I may ask, which crafting trade do you practice?” Mo Yu asked, intensely curious.
“Ah, I dabble with arrays, artifact refining, smithing, and alchemy,” he said, not really caring if they knew. Namely because they’d find out anyways.
Which, somewhat predictably, surprised and or shocked the Trio.