With the last threat dealt with, things progressed quickly. The healers in their contingent were working hard to stabilize everyone enough that they could be brought back to the sect. Wald had fairly severe internal bleeding and lacerations, but his durability was high enough that he only needed a little help to avoid the worst of it, though it would likely take him a while to heal on his own without more help at the sect.

Once she confirmed that Folin could watch everything for a bit, Lita had rushed back and returned with the sect master in short order. They and Folin had searched the research wing together, not willing to subject the rest of them to another menace like the last, but recognizing they needed more than just the two who were there. It took only minutes for them to confirm there was no one left alive in the wing, including the ten unfortunate disciples.

A few hours later, the place had been searched top to bottom for hidden surprises or secrets, and everything that wasn’t building material had been stored in storage devices to be analyzed back home. Yartan annihilated the building, and they went home.

The next few days passed quickly, convalescence and easing back into routines. But how could they just go back to normal after something like that? The organization behind several attempts on their lives had access to methods that could boost people’s strength, and vast resources. This wasn’t some elder with a vendetta. Or maybe it was, and he just used resources from whatever group this was to go after them. They had no way of knowing except what was in the records they’d seized, and Lita wasn’t saying anything, if she even knew.

Weeks passed, progress was made, but the feeling of being stuck didn’t go away.

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Yartan waited for her to look up from the message he’d handed her. The one he’d received just the day before whose contents would rock the empire if they came to pass. When she finished, her face held a mix of emotions he couldn’t describe, and he would bet she couldn’t identify them all at the moment either.

“He’s coming, and he’s really bringing her? How sure is he that he’s right?” Lita asked.

The sect master shrugged, ‘It’s been years, and there’s no way to tell at this distance. We’ll know when they see each other. You know them better than I do, Lita. Should we tell them?”

She thought for a moment and then shook her head. “It feels cruel to know and not say anything, but they won’t fully believe it until they see it with their own eyes anyway, and if we’re wrong after getting their hopes up it would crush them. I think that would be far crueler than staying silent for now.” she said.

He nodded in agreement and then sighed, “Well then, we’d best send out the arbitration request. Ancestors, I was hoping to never have to deal with Goran again. Figures that members of his sect would be involved in this.”

“How long?” she asked.

He hummed in consideration before answering, “They’ll be here before the request even reaches Goran, so as long as it takes for him to get it and travel here. No less than one month, no more than two. I’d wager it would be closer to one, but Goran might drag his feet just to annoy me.”

She reflected for a moment before speaking, “One month, perhaps two, and then this will be over.”

His brows narrowed as he replied, “No, Lita, I fear that will be just the beginning.”

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Finally, they’d been given a deadline. They had been told that their power wasn’t necessary for what was coming, but just knowing that there would be answers then, cleared up a lot for them. They pushed as hard as they could; their power might not be necessary, but it couldn’t hurt, and besides, the time limit had spurred them on. Why would they waste the momentum?

Lita certainly wasn’t going to complain about the added urgency to their training, but she did insist on more regular breaks and rest days. Those were important enough in general, and they’d been through a lot recently. Vath lost count of the number of restaurants they’d been to, the number of times they’d watched the arena (though they’d never participated again), and the number of other attractions they’d seen throughout the city.

Shows on the side of the street, plays both tragic and comedic, music of all kinds, even a circus where each animal was a Beast bound with a cultivator. It turned out that some cultivators had special connections with Beasts, even if they were not Beastkin, and that bond could nurture both. With proper training and resources, it could curb the most aggressive impulses of the Beasts, while empowering both. It could even hasten the emerging sapience of the Beast.

Vath had never known what he was missing with all of this, so consumed by his cultivation he’d been. He still would be, he knew, but he was happy he knew there were so many great ways to decompress. He’d make time for things like this even if Lita didn’t make them. Kaser was even more ecstatic. He thrived in these environments, seeming to make friends at every venue, even if they only met each other the once.

Time passed, and progress achieved. The four had even started to close in on Wald in spars, winning nearly as often as they lost. That ended the moment he advanced to the next stage, becoming a senior inner disciple in the process. Apparently, the stages after consolidation all required insight into your path and your connection to your affinity, similar to your domain but more broadly applicable than that one ability. Wald had been at the peak of consolidation for years, but hadn't had the insight to take the next step.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The final battle against the man he’d grabbed - who’d turned out to be a sound cultivator - had pushed him over the edge, and he’d just been ruminating on his insights for the past weeks before pushing himself over. The second he had, they were unable to touch him again. The attribute boosts for the higher stages were immense.

Even after they’d all passed into the consolidation realm themselves, it was an insurmountable gap. It also turned out that consolidation was the first stage you didn’t have to break into. The second you finished with Spirit Reinforcement, you were in consolidation, though it didn’t come with any attribute boosts until you progressed in it. The name of the stage was fitting for two reasons. One, it was the stage you had to consolidate your foundations to progress into what Wald called the “Ladder to Heaven”, the stages that required such insights to reach. And two, it was accomplished by literally consolidating your internal essence into a liquid state. You formed a solid state prior, that’s what a core was, after all, but the rest stayed relatively gaseous until this point. You wouldn’t finish consolidation until all essence in your body was liquid, both in and outside your core, but each bit made you just a little stronger. It added up to quite a lot of power by the end of the stage - even more than Spirit Reinforcement had given.

They didn’t have much time to work on that, though, before the day came. Their guests had arrived.

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Vath, Kaser, Emara, Dornah, and Wald sat to the side of a large table. They’d been told in no uncertain terms not to speak unless they were asked a question. This arbitration was very much about them, but the laws of the empire were clear. Elders settled these matters, sect masters settled them when elders couldn’t, and the Emperor or his representatives only stepped in when sect masters were unable. Since the issue regarded an elder directly, the sect masters would be involved from the beginning.

Which was why Lita and Yartan were standing at the entrance instead of seated at the table, awaiting company. Thankfully, they weren’t waiting long, and Vath got his first look at the man he was sure had facilitated so much trouble. Mucklan’s father looked exactly like an older version of him. Same features, same condescending sneer. The man behind him, presumably his sect master by the robes, was not much better. He kept himself to a displeased frown and a narrowed gaze, but it was as if he thought that being more refined about his arrogance and rudeness made them less of a problem.

Their guards were left out in the courtyard with Yartan’s, and the door was closed to the room as they all took their seats. No greetings were exchanged.

“So,” the other sect master, who Vath had learned was named Goran, began, “I understand you want to accuse Elder Lucklan of something that happened to these young disciples?”

Yartan frowned in clear annoyance before responding, “We already know who participated directly in the harm that came to these disciples, and they have been dealt with. The reason your presence was… requested… is to determine whether Elder Lucklan had any knowledge or hand in facilitating these events.”

Lucklan’s eyes flashed in anger, and his mouth opened to reply before Goran laid a hand on his arm. “That’s quite a statement, Yartan. I assume you have some evidence for this? Otherwise, accusing an elder of such things, even by implication, could have consequences.” Goran said.

“Well, to start with, his son was directly involved in one of the attacks on these disciples, and the men who performed the first were from the same organization he was working alongside.” Yartan responded.

Goran just snorted, “I hope you have more than that. We have nothing but their word to go on as to what transpired that day, unless you plan to truth test them right here. Even should you do so, all they know is that the boy was regrettably involved with some unsavory people, immediately after he had formed an enmity with one of the disciples in question. If he did such a thing, that is a crime, but he has already received his punishment, and you have provided nothing so far that links the elder to the boy’s supposed plot.”

Yartan nodded, seemingly in acquiescence, before he slowly produced two things from his storage ring, a crystal on a stand, and a stack of paperwork. “You’re quite right, Goran.” he said, “Just that wouldn’t be enough. Which is why we pulled the thread further. We traced those men back to a base of some kind, and raided it. They knew we were coming somehow, but we prevailed against some truly strange experiments in the building. The archives had select records missing from them, as if they knew they had to protect some information but didn’t have time to remove it all. It seems, in their haste, they missed a hidden cache we found under the floorboards. One that details not only Elder Lucklan’s financial support of this endeavor, but also his direct involvement in the experiments, and orders he gave members of this organization. That’s a crime on its own, and it’s a very easy leap to assume he knew of the missions his son used the members for, as well. Lita?”

She placed her hand on the crystal and dictated, “My name is Elder Lita. I was present when those records were recovered. They were delivered to Sect Master Yartan immediately, and they have not been altered since to the best of my knowledge. I read them at the time, and Elder Lucklan was indeed detailed to have paid for and participated in those experiments and the organization who performed them.”

The crystal glowed green through the whole process, and Yartan then took his turn, “I received these records moments after they were discovered in my sight, and they have been in my possession since, in my storage ring nearly the entire time. They have not been altered.”

Green continued to shine, and he gestured to the elder across the table. “Your turn, Lucklan. Would you like to confess?” he said with a hard smile.

Goran’s face turned ugly. “You did not disclose this evidence in the arbitration request, and that truth telling only proves you think they’re real, not that they are. Ambushing an elder like this, with such inchoate evidence. The Emperor will not stand for this!” he said as he rose.

Yartan just smiled and looked to the door, which now had a towering man standing in it.

“What is it that I will not stand for, Sect Master Goran?”