Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Sixthmonth, 1634 PTS
A light drizzle pattered against my body, slowly soaking into my robes as I settled into a posture of meditation. I shifted, distinctly aware of a lacking weight upon my side. My sheath was empty, my blade currently under the custody of Nahalken’s scientists. Rachel claimed to be keeping a close eye on it, but I had still sent Jihan and his squad to guard it. In truth, I was slightly wary of them as well. That sword was the true inheritance of the Downpour Sect, and I was not sure what I would do if it were lost. Jihan’s oath was likely trustworthy, but I was not idealistic enough to believe there wasn’t a price that could move him.
In this world, everyone and everything had a price.
I shifted my position once more, attempting to clear my mind. After several long weeks, my meditation room had finally been repaired, and I could finally return to its use, which I hoped might have a great effect on the results of my meditations. This time, I hoped I might be able to finally achieve a lasting effect.
I had been consistently practicing the One with the Sea Method, but had yet to perfect it. There was a reason, I supposed, that most spirit refiners eventually stalled and ceased to progress after a certain point. A refinement method only became more and more dangerous as it progressed, and if the risk passed one’s capability, many lost their will. This was not an issue for me, but for those with a far greater life span, I could understand how it might be a real temptation.
Breathing out, I immersed my mind into the flows of the world, letting the ashatic energies seep through and past my soul, attempting to replicate it. My soul was the ocean, and the waves crested and fell, washing clean and purifying the landscape. The waters traced a formless pattern, and I held onto their edges, holding back the force of the tide. I touched the Brink.
My consciousness began to fade as traces of my soul began to drift, and I immediately stopped my practice, breathing heavily as I took stock of my near-death experience.
Despite the error, this had finally been a proper success. I could feel something different in my soul, a more ethereal, formless attribute to it. I imagined that it might be just slightly harder to sense for others. At best, this had been the slightest, most incremental of successes, but progression was a slow matter. It would take hundreds, perhaps thousands such sessions before I had completed the process. This was just the beginning.
“End storm,” I said, rising to my feet as the rain stuttered and stopped, leaving my sodden form standing in the middle of the room. But I was no longer alone, as the moment the rain disappeared, I found that Rachel was standing across from me.
“What happened?” I asked. “Did Juen finally contact us?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Not yet. I’m actually surprised,” she said. “I would have given it just a week.”
“It should be a matter of time. Cowards like him lack the confidence to deal with this sort of thing alone.”
She shrugged.
“I hope so. Having two options is certainly better than putting it all on one boat.”
In truth, I fully intended to kill Juen Hadal. His actions crossed a line, and he had sided with the Sunlit Hall. There was no place for people like that. I hated them. While I wasn’t driven by that hatred, I could still feel it swirl inside me. Some things were impossible to truly forget. Unfortunately, that part of myself had traveled elsewhere.
But while I would certainly kill him, before I did so it would be possible to put him to use. If he came to us requesting our assistance with his condition, we could agree. If we had leverage on both him and Karie, we could become a guiding hand towards the Hadal Clan’s future.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Oh, by the way,” she continued, “the reason I grabbed your attention is because Heutel wishes to see you.”
I frowned.
“I thought she was supposed to defer to you, so I could focus on other things.”
Rachel shrugged, an exasperated look on her face.
“She’s insistent on following the proper chain of command, apparently. It’s not anything that would be particularly important to you, but it would make my life easier if you would pay her a quick visit.”
I sighed, annoyed. For a species with as much corruption as the Staiven did, they could be annoyingly bureaucratic at times.
“Fine. Where is she?” I asked.
The person who Nahalken had delegated to the position of the Linen Palace Leader was Heutel, a Staiven woman with a round, soft-looking face, her skin less flaky than most others of her people who I had seen. She was bald, which was slightly unusual for a Staiven, though apparently it was a result of her diet, somehow. I supposed it must be something similar to those among my own people back on Canvas who had refused to consume animal products. I got the feeling that he had chosen her for the role in part for her appearance, which would surely come across to most Seiyal as a calm, motherly role. A perfect fit for a healing organization.
According to Rachel, Heutel had previously been the deputy head of the Venin Group’s division which dealt with Seiyal biology and pharmaceuticals. It was hard to say whether this position was a promotion or a demotion for her, but upon our first meeting, I had approved of Nahalken’s choice. She seemed diligent enough that I felt she could be trusted to handle the role, and her mastery of seiyin was more than sufficient. I had entrusted the rest of the oversight of Rachel and Kein, aware that this was their skillset, rather than mine.
To construct the new Linen Palace, the Venin Group had purchased the office that was our direct neighbor, which was slowly being remodelled into a proper research hospital. As I arrived at its entrance, Heutel was waiting for me, wearing a garment quite similar to the brown lab coats I had seen the researchers in the retirement facility wearing.
I ignored the part of myself that saw that as ominous.
“Ah, Sect Leader Yu. It gladdens me to sense your presence,” she said, smiling widely upon sensing my approach.
“Is there an issue?” I asked, finally arriving before her. She remained standing before the entrance, making no effort to lead me anywhere.
Heutel nodded sharply, and I noticed that as she did so, her skin barely shifted, as if the round, curvaceous body beneath was surprisingly firm.
“I would like to perform an anatomical inspection of the sect’s members, so we can have a baseline understanding in case we need to treat them later,” she replied
I frowned for a moment, narrowing my gaze as I attempted to decide whether this was a failed attempt at tricking me into allowing medical experimentation. Her warm look did not shift at all as I did so, and after a moment I decided that I was probably just being paranoid.
“That’s fine. Rachel, speak with Kein and make a schedule for everyone to pass by the Linen Palace and get tested at some point in the next few days.” I returned my gaze to Heutel. “Is that all? Next time, just bring a matter like this to Rachel or Kein. They both have sufficient authority.”
“This is all for now,” she nodded. “And I apologize for bothering you. I will speak with others in the future.”
Something seemed off about the way she said it, but I had trouble following Staiven body language in general, so I assumed I must have been seeing things. I decided to ask Rachel later, just to be sure.
Having said her piece, the Staiven woman quickly turned on her heels and walked smoothly back into the sect’s newest palace, leaving me standing awkwardly in the hallway.
“She’s quite odd, isn’t she?” asked Rachel, appearing beside me once again.
“Something seemed off about her,” I replied, turning back myself to head into the depths of the main sect.
“She acts quite shifty, doesn’t she?” Rachel laughed. “She can be annoyingly proper, too. Still, I performed a background search and have been watching her, and have noticed no issues so far. I think she just comes across that way.”
“I see,” I replied. “Just be careful to make sure those files don’t get leaked, even to the corporate database.”
Rachel chuckled.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Dietary Restrictions: [As the vast majority of all food is lab grown or synthesized, it is rare to find someone with a moral issue about a certain food. Indeed, even the concept of a ‘vegetarian’ has nearly died out among most residents, though the concept had previously existed among all carnivorous or omnivorous sapient races. However, despite modern comprehension of biology, there are still disputes about the ideal diet for a given race, nutritionally speaking, particularly because this may vary according to the individual. The Staiven are exceptional in this regard, as colonial organisms, because the various component organisms of their bodies each have different needs, and are affected differently by exposure to different nutrients. In extreme cases, a Staiven’s diet might even cause clear and visible changes to their body.]