Stepping out of the Diviner’s room, Algor carefully closed the door behind them. He had barely taken his hands off the doorknob when a dull hum of energy coated the doorway, securing the room behind an energy ward. Ren watched bemusedly as the Acolyte turned around and stared at him with a complicated expression on his wizened face, opening and closing his mouth in failed attempts at formulating his thoughts. Eventually, the old man sighed deeply, shaking his head in exasperation.
“Honored Ren, what did you do to the Diviner?”
“Huh? Nothing.” Ren donned a confused frown. There was no way the old man was aware of the energy he had stolen from the Diviner, right? Then again, Algor had been acting stranger than usual, all afternoon.
The gray haired Acolyte shook his head and began walking away, and Ren followed suit. “I can not decide if you have the luck of the heavens, or if they are trying to balance your misfortune. Either way, you should thank Diviner Estrid profusely. You have no idea how far she has gone for you.”
“Trust me, I am intimately aware of her gifts,” Ren replied, his focus trained on the stolen energy rampaging within his core.
“Aii ya!” Algor threw up his hands in frustration. “Yes Honored Ren, the gold alone is more than any Acolyte makes in a year. The cultivation room is not far below that in value. But she honored you extremely by apologizing. She is not only a Qi cultivator, she is a Diviner who is an existence far above either of us. I have never seen her do that for anyone with a lower cultivation.”
Ren nodded solemnly, as Algor looked closely at his face, as if trying to ensure his message was fully received and understood. The old man grumbled to himself and walked ahead of Ren, apparently not convinced that Ren understood the gravitas of the honor he received. Ren, on the other hand, was distracted looking inward, at the previously inert energy he had stolen from Estrid.
Trapping the Diviner’s energy had been made out of instinct. When she had started pushing on his core with her Qi, Ren had been content to let her bash herself against his fully shielded organ. He couldn’t fully explain it, but he felt her presence within his body, flowing with the Qi and projecting gentle thoughts towards him.
It truly was the strangest thing, being able to understand her transmitted intentions through her tranquil energy. Ren could feel her efforts at coercing him to relax, to let her in. That it would all be ok, if only he let her in to fix everything.
[ Hmph! If he was that easy to hypnotize, I would be the prime consciousness facing you, not this buffoon! ] The corrupted code snorted at her efforts.
Oh? So that’s what that was? The crazy voice was right about his defenses. His core was a fortress designed to take significant abuse without losing its structural integrity. As long as he did not activate the sequence of signals necessary to open a port on its surface, he would remain safe.
However, as the pressure of her probing steadily increased, a crazy idea bloomed in his mind. Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to collect a sample of the ever elusive energy used by cultivators? Even better, this Qi was of a higher rank than the Essence that the majority of Greendale cultivators utilized.
So it was with great anticipation that he enacted his reverse trojan scheme, opening a small channel into his core and letting Estrid believe her probing efforts had succeeded. At the time, he had no reason for concern, as the energy had otherwise been non-reactive to anything in his body. It seemed incapable of interacting with his circuits, skeletal framework and relevant components, so Ren had extrapolated that it would remain just as inert within his core.
In the microseconds it took to herd the stolen Qi into an isolated compartment inside his core, it remained pliable. However, the moment Ren determined he had a large enough sample of her Qi and began snapping the channel shut, all hell broke loose.
In those fractions of a second, he keenly felt a mixture of strong emotions from the Qi. First there was surprise at the unexpected trap, which quickly morphed into disbelief. The final emotion displayed by the Diviner before she was cut off from a portion of her energy, was a sense of indignant fury at his hubris to steal from her.
The emotion must have been particularly strong because, even with the connection to Estrid severed by the closed channel, the trapped Qi went berserk. It felt like the Qi was acting on the last emotion she had passed on to it before it lost its connection to her. Without any other directives, it raged within his core’s compartment
It slammed against the walls of its prison with such force that Ren found it harder and harder to participate in his conversation with Algor. The energy acted like an injured dragon fighting to save its clutch of eggs. The vehemence of its strikes alarmed Ren, especially because his monitoring sensors were reporting damage to the walls of the compartment.
His core was separated into multiple isolated compartments with the most critical ones placed close to its center. His two most important compartments were undoubtedly the one containing his nuclear reactor and the one he called his home. Datacenter might have been a more apt description, especially because the heavily shielded space housed the most important pieces of code, hardware and redundant backups that handled his day to day operation.
Everything about the core was over-engineered to contain and resist energy breaches. And it had held up for centuries until recently when his transition to this world damaged his nuclear reactor and the compartment holding it. For context, the nuclear compartment had never been breached by the produced radioactive energy, until recently at least. Now it looked like a second breach was imminent and Ren watched with morbid fascination as cracks spread like wildfire across the trapped Qi’s compartment.
He briefly considered purging the rampaging energy from his core but logic made him shut down the idea almost immediately. At the moment, there was still a mass of energy surrounding the core which the Diviner had left on her way out. Unlike its trapped brethren, the Qi coating his core’s outer surface was calm and serene. It gave off a smothering feeling, like a water soaked blanket ready to quench any errant flames. There was no way to know what would happen if he opened a channel between both energies.
But that brought up another concerning thought: what if the energy surrounding his core became just as rampant as the one within? Unlike within his core, there wouldn’t be any way to contain the damage from spreading into all the nooks and crannies of his body. On the other hand, absorbing the Qi to join its brethren within his core also came with risks. What to do?
[ Hmph!!! Flip a coin. You’re just as likely to die, either way ]
His HUD helpfully chose that moment to inform him that the trapped Qi had damaged its compartment by 0.03% and it was growing fast. A particularly deep fissure in the compartment’s walls must have gone all the way through because like a hole in a pressurized pipe, a minuscule jet of the trapped Qi escaped its prison and darted around his core’s interior.
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Having found an outlet, a steady stream of the trapped Qi poured out of the tiny crack, further widening it and increasing the amount of rampaging energy running amok in the core’s channels. It slammed against the walls of other sealed compartments, bouncing off them only to move further inwards, towards the core’s centermost sections.
Eventually it arrived in front of his nuclear compartment, and paused in its tracks. The electromagnetic field of the radiation leaking out of the already damaged nuclear compartment clashed against the rampaging Qi. Although the rampaging Qi was a higher order energy, only a small amount had accumulated close to the nuclear section so it was temporarily overwhelmed.
Before Ren had a chance to relax at the terse equilibrium, more of the escaped rampaging Qi poured towards the center of his core, pushing their reluctant companions forward and tilting the equilibrium back in favor of the rampaging Qi. Not even a breath later, it slammed against the already breached nuclear compartment to Ren’s chagrin.
With the escalation, Ren had to take a gamble. He needed a way to calm the rampaging energy and he figured letting in the tranquil energy from outside his core might do the trick. He carefully chose to ignore the small thread of thought that spewed the probability of the tranquil energy joining its brethren in agitation once it was introduced into his core
With no time to waste, Ren pulled in the tranquil Qi coating his core’s exterior. The moment he opened the channel to the outside, the rampaging Qi paused mid-slam, as if unsure. Like a kid caught by its parents in an unwarranted tantrum, it pulled away and made its way towards the bigger mass flowing into the core.
To Ren’s immense relief, the tranquil energy flowed everywhere, assimilating the previously rampaging Qi, as well as the trace amounts of radiation that had been steadily leaking from the reactor’s compartment. He noticed that the portions that mixed with the radiation became agitated, but it was contained to merely bubbling within the mass.
That was what Ren found himself staring at, while Algor continued to lecture him on the great opportunities he had received, as they exited the Temple of Aster, on their way back to his residence. His replies to the man were lackadaisical as he continued to examine the stable balance in his core.
Instead of a rampaging mess, the radiated Qi mixture was a textbook picture of controlled violence. It bubbled in spots, and the potential energy it contained was massive. Ren was sure it would react violently, if given half a chance to unleash its payload but he was just happy to have a stabilized core once again.
The solution was temporary, and he would have to find a way to expel the energy from his core eventually but that could wait. Besides, he wasn’t sure what kind of damage the radiated energy would do to his body so he set aside a portion of his mind to continue examining his core and the energy it contained. On the outside, he heard Algor clearing his throat so he turned to the old man as they continued walking.
“Honored Ren, now that you have been seen by the Diviner, would you continue your stay with us?” Algor asked as he fiddled with a prayer bead.
“What? So you can sell me out to the next highest bidder?”
Eyes rimmed with bushy brows widened in surprise, while the old man’s face twisted in embarrassment. “Aii ya, you caught that? I…ahh–”
“You what?”
“Honored Ren, it was but a harmless task,” Algor’s eyes darted everywhere but Ren’s face, hairy hands rubbing nervously at his bald scalp. “Even a blind man could see that you needed help and Kringle’s Mercy was your best bet at getting it. The Diviner—bless her kind soul—enjoys working to fix complex issues. Everybody wins.”
Ren scoffed humorlessly. “And you got nothing out of it?”
“Aii ya, my honored friend,” Algor looked up at Ren, shrugging with a sly smile. “Not everything is about money. If a few coins found their way into my purse, it was nothing but a coincidence!”
“You almost believe your own lies, don’t you?” Ren waved a hand in dismissal as he walked a pace ahead of the old Acolyte. “I honestly don’t care what you do. Just know that if you cross the line with me, you’ll be too dead to apologize.”
Algor sighed deeply. “I am already set in my ways, honored friend,” he began with more solemnity than Ren expected. His voice held some steel in it, giving a glimpse to the formidable warrior he might have once been in his youth. “I can't promise I won’t do something similar in the future. If my actions ever lead to my death, I will go down swinging before joining my ancestors in eternal rest.”
Ren turned and gave the man a look of respect, before nodding. They walked in blessed silence for the next few steps before Algor regained his usual candor, breaking the ice that had almost formed between them.
“Talking about rest, honored Ren, have you given any thought as to where you will stay now that the Diviner has seen you?” The Acolyte quickened his pace to match Ren, belying his aged appearance.
“I think I will stay for a bit. I still don’t know where my family is. Besides, it would give me the chance to benefit from the cultivation room Diviner Estrid promised”.
“Perfect, Honored Ren. The rent is 1 silver a day”
“What?” Ren asked in confusion.
“Aii ya, since you are not an active member of the Temple, and you have been seen by the Diviner, you can no longer stay in Temple buildings for free.”
“And how much would I have to pay if I was a member?” Ren raised an eyebrow. He could tell the old man was trying to get his grubby hands on his hard earned money.
“Honored Ren, that ahh…information is reserved for Temple staff only.”
“Really Algor? Since when have you shied from telling me Temple information? I could not get you to shut up on our journey to the village!” Ren rebuffed, a deep frown etched on his face. Inwardly, he was amused. He loved a challenge and this old man didn’t know who he was playing with.
“Honored Ren, no one can subvert the unyielding rivers of fate. My fate is to be punished for having loose lips. Aii ya, I will probably receive public flogging for my earlier mistakes. But if you want to stay in the Temple district, you will have to pay 1 silver a night”
“Fine, I will leave and get an inn somewhere else in the village then come back when I want to use the cultivation room” Ren retorted. However he saw a cunning smile dorn the lips of the old man.
“Ah, that is fine. Although you will have to commute to one of the teleportation hubs in the village and pay 2 silvers to teleport here and back. You see, teleporting to this district is free only for Temple staff and a few registered homeless destitutes.”
The cunning man said, not bothering to conceal his smile any longer. “Also, the Temple district is bordered by residential estates for minor nobles. There are no inns within 2 hours of the temple district’s borders.” Algor said with an innocent expression.
Well played old man. Algor had thought of everything. Ren chuckled to himself internally but kept a serious face as he furrowed his brows, looking at the old man.
“70 Bronze” Ren bargained.
“1 silver,” Algor countered.
“75 Bronze coins”
“Aii ya, Honored Ren,” Algor sighed. “That is too little. But since you are a dear friend, I can go as low as 90 Bronze coins”.
Ren squinted at that. He knew he could get a better deal, but Algor had actually been entertaining. He had unknowingly helped relieve Ren of his concern about the integrity of his core, so Ren was willing to let the man have his win.
“Deal” he said, reaching out to shake the old man. Algor looked at the outstretched hand, and slightly bowed, completely ignoring it. Ren snorted and let it be as they continued walking back to his residence building.
Ren turned his mind towards Kala’s proposition and decided he was going to go through with it. If nothing else, this was a good opportunity to keep up with his skills. He had gone through a blackhole after all, he needed to test that everything still worked as expected.