Weeks passed in a blur of training. Only two days passed before the brothers were back in their own home, but they were still present at Lita’s for training basically all day.
It took less than two weeks for both brothers to finish out core refinement, which Lita said wasn’t a record but had been close, but there wasn’t much change from it. Increased attributes, a few points of affinity, but nothing else. Although the attributes were far more than Vath had been expecting. Integration had given roughly ten points per attribute apart from exercise, and the ten layers he had formed had done the same. But that had been from directly infusing his body with essence, and then the pulses doing the same. He hadn’t expected the core refinement itself to improve his body, but it had. Every noticeable step forward in removing the imperfections in his core had released a wave of energy through his essence channels that had felt nothing short of invigorating, and those apparently added up to more gains. What made more sense to him, but was still somewhat surprising, was that for the ten more attributes he’d received in the physical category, his essence attributes had gone up by twenty. Lita and Wald had explained that every stage of cultivation would increase all six attributes unless you had unbalanced yourself severely enough to be actively harmful, but that each stage beyond integration (barring the next one for them, second tempering) would focus more on the essence category as a whole. Your body improved each stage, allowing it to hold more power, but there was only so much it could handle before moving to the next stage. The difference with essence attributes was that they did not impact the body as directly, and the core would bear more and more of the load, allowing for much greater potential ceilings, as it was far sturdier than the same stage of body. There were many treasures and manners to increase attributes, and it was not impossible to overtax even a core, but it took so much to accomplish that the only people who ever managed it were the ignorant and the desperate. No one wanted to experience a core exploding inside them, after all.
This was not to say that the physical gains of each stage didn’t make cultivators absolutely monstrous to lower stages, but the higher you climbed, the more you would rely on techniques for true power. Even those who used mostly physical means to fight used techniques to boost their physical abilities, much like both brothers were already doing, but to a higher degree.
Regardless, neither brother wanted to advance without Emara and Dornah, and Lita told them to wait until they had mastered the things she wanted them to anyway.
It took days of sparring until any of the four could juggle the control of so many things for more than a few moments without fighting like untrained children, but the results spoke for themselves. Kaser managed to move fully to orange void in just a week, and Vath did the same before the end of the second. Lita told him that Vath had still been well faster than average on that, guessing that his high affinity had helped him, but she was flabbergasted at Kaser’s speed. Vath had just shrugged. Kaser had always been good at that sort of thing.
The Quartermaster had been right about their beast signs changing all of those months ago, too. As both brothers had the red sheen in their hair replaced with orange the night after they first controlled their essence to that color fully.
By three weeks in, all four had mastered their second technique, and made great strides in their essence control, even during combat, but none were fighting at the level they had been yet. They were proficient in the use of each technique, but using them simultaneously was still challenging enough that it was the most likely thing to break their essence control, let alone their concentration on the spar.
By four weeks in, Kaser was having consistent flashes of yellow that were becoming more prominent by the day, causing Wald to grin proudly, and Lita to shake her head in exasperation. Or perhaps disbelief, it was hard to tell.
The fifth week was difficult for them. They had gotten far better over the previous weeks, but that week it was like they’d all hit a wall. Improvements were made, but slowly, and far more arduously. They plodded along, prepared to take as long as they needed, but annoyed that they had gotten stuck so early. What was more annoying was that Wald and Lita had no advice other than to keep pushing.
It turned out they were right. The whole fifth week, and half of the sixth, only incremental progress was made, but then it was like a dam had blown open. In just days, all were fighting with both techniques as if they’d always known how. Their marital skill reached new heights, Emara and Dornah finally finished their ten layers and were close to finishing their refinement, Vath progressed to yellow void fully, and Kaser even had a single green flash that he’d been unable to repeat yet, causing even Wald’s eyes to widen in clear surprise.
The seventh week was spent in part consolidating their gains and engraving the skills in their bones with practice, and in part celebrating their accomplishments, having real fun and joy in their sparring.
On the last day of the week instead of training, Wald started the day by presenting them with their new sect robes. They’d not paid attention to it, but reaching orange void or equivalent control in other affinities qualified you for senior outer disciple. They’d reached that weeks ago, but Wald and Lita had wanted to save them for a more momentous occasion. And telling them they were all ready to advance to the next stage served that purpose.
As they received their black robes with silver edging, Kaser joked that they also served as a late birthday present. Vath laughed; they’d never received a birthday present in their life, and never paid attention to it, despite knowing the days. The only time it had ever been relevant to them was when they were counting the days to join the army, but that was months past for them. Unfortunately, Vath and Kaser were the only ones to laugh. The others were all staring at them with their eyes narrowed.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“We all figured you would tell us when it came up, but you had a birthday and didn’t say anything?” Emara was the first to speak.
“Uh, yeah?” Kaser stammered, “Why would we? A few people in the village celebrated with just their families, but we never did.”
“When was yours, Vath?” Wald asked.
Vath answered in an unsure tone, “Around, two months ago? I never thought it was important so I didn’t say anything.”
Emara drew herself up and proclaimed, “Well, that ends today. For future reference, out in the wider world outside your village, most celebrate it, and friends are as important as family. The four of us are going out. You’re both getting gifts, we’re going to a restaurant, and then we’re gonna pick an attraction in the city to visit. Today is about the two of you. Tomorrow at the latest you need to find out the dates for those you care about and prepare to do or buy things for them when the time comes. It need not be expensive, but it should indicate that you care about them. And, for the record, Kaser, I have always had a special connection with my birthday. If you forget it…”
Kaser took a step back with his hands up, “I won’t, I promise.”
“What about training, though?” Vath dared to venture.
Emara whipped to look at Lita with defiance in her eyes, and Lita simply nodded. “You will survive the loss of one day, and we’ve been neglecting recuperation anyway. This will be good for you. But Emara, you’d best leave room in their stomachs. Cause there will be dinner waiting when you get back, and if they have no room for it, I’ll be upset.” Lita announced. Emara just nodded back sharply.
The day blurred after that, but in the most pleasant way possible. The brothers were dragged to shop after shop until both of their friends found something they decided was just right as a gift. Dornah settled on weapons. They were both essentially pugilists, so he ordered a set of metal encased leather gauntlets with infusions. Vath’s would have spikes on the knuckles, with infusions for strength, durability, self-cleaning, and limited self-repair; and Kaser’s would have claws, with the same infusions except the strength being swapped out for one that increased the sharpness of the claws. The brothers protested that it was far too much money for Dornah to spend on them, to which he’d told them to shut up and consider it making up for all of the birthday presents they’d missed out on. Upon further prying, they’d found out that Dornah actually had quite a bit of money. His grandfather was wealthy, and the sect amenities were free for disciples, so he still had most of what he’d been sent here with.
Emara had found a gorgeous necklace for Kaser, with a thin silver chain, and a black stone with white spots embedded that made it look like the night sky captured in smooth rock. It had the basic infusions to protect the item and return it to its current state, but much more importantly, the precious stone was infused with a decently strong shielding technique that could be activated for very little essence draw. It would only last a few minutes, and could be overcome with raw force, but not by a little. She hemmed and hawed on what to get Vath, but eventually stared at him for a moment, seeming to think, and then beelined for a specific item in the shop they were in. She handed him a plain looking stone that he would have mistaken for an ordinary rock if it weren’t for the infusions on it. She informed him it was a tracking stone, and once imprinted with someone’s essence, would unerringly pull in their direction when essence was provided to it as long as they were within a five mile radius, unless they were shielded from such techniques.
Vath heartily approved of both her choices, and immediately made Kaser imprint on the stone and tested it. Which is when they found out that it didn’t work. At first they thought it was broken, but upon further testing they found out something incredible. The brothers couldn’t be tracked by it. It worked exactly as intended on both Emara and Dornah, but neither brother elicited the slightest reaction from it even when standing directly next to it. They’d have to ask Wald and Lita later, but in the meantime, Emara convinced the shop owner to trade it for another item after demonstrating it didn’t work on the intended recipient, much to the man’s confusion.
Vath instead ended up with a bracer that worked similarly to Kaser’s necklace, with the difference being that it sacrificed some of the shield’s strength to be able to use it on others from a distance. This was a good alternative in Vath’s mind. He could use it on himself if needed, and still have an extra way to protect his brother. He could even use it to help his other two companions if circumstances demanded.
They ate lunch at the nicest restaurant the brothers had ever been to. The cost of the meal boggled their minds, but they had to admit, the food was amazing, and you couldn’t put a price on relaxing with friends around a meal.
Afterwards, they wandered the civilian quarter until they all decided to head to the arena. It was showcasing a mixture of sect members and outsiders sparring and performing various tricks with techniques, and it was far more fun than the brother’s expected. Sure, they learned things by watching, but there was also something about being in a cheering and chanting crowd as people beyond their skill accomplished things they hungered to be able to. It didn’t take long for the four to be cheering with the rest of them, yelling for their current favorite to do their best.
Hours passed like this until they decided to head back to Lita’s for dinner. On the way back, they even ran into a few disciples they had known in their classes. Only a few had advanced to outer disciple like they had, showing them to be ahead of the pack a bit, but most congratulated them when they saw their robes.
The dinner at Lita’s had less expensive food, but it seemed even more delicious, though they couldn’t tell if that was because the cooks knew their tastes by now, or if it was simple bias. Either way, it was a special time they’d never experienced before. The gifts were nice, both boys receiving sturdy, steel-toed infused boots from Wald, and their first storage items from Lita. The rings were only able to hold a small amount, but the cost for such things must have been monstrous, and Lita just waved it away. The thing the brothers would remember most about the night, though, was the atmosphere.
They’d enjoyed themselves all day, but that dinner, prepared by people who saw them every day, with the night sky shining down on them, with all of their favorite people surrounding them. Laughing, joking, eyes shining with love and pride. It was a feeling they had never had before. They weren’t sure they could replicate it, but desperately wanted to. They extended it as far as they could, but eventually, it had to end.
Farewells were said, the brothers stumbled home, and just before entering their rooms, Vath paused.
“Happy birthday, little brother.” he said with a yawn at the end.
“Happy birthday, Vath.” Kaser replied.
And then they slept, exhausted, but fulfilled like never before.