Breakfast was bland, compared to his imagination. Dahe realized that it wasn’t that interesting. It gave them fuel for their bodies, but otherwise, it was somewhat boring. Lunch, Dinner and Supper were fine, but compared to his imagination, slightly lacking. He considered starting experiments on cooking, to see if he could recreate the recipes from his world. A few problems though, he didn’t have an oven, he didn’t know if the ingredients or a reasonable facsimile existed here. And finally, he couldn’t exactly walk his way into the kitchen and tell them how to cook. It would result in him being kicked out, quite literally.

So after Breakfast, sparring, and Lunch, he went home. Having set up the new tapestry to auto-pilot by now, he dove into his mind. Here, he could eat as much as he liked. He would be as hungry as he wanted. He could be peckish, or ravenous. Of course, he could also decide he’d prefer to read and wasn’t hungry. A table and chair appeared in his library. It was made of a light wood that had simple but fashionable lines.

He’d been experimenting with his furniture recently. He’d changed his bookshelves, his lounge chair, and his floor and ceiling. Today his floor was black and white tiles. Simple yet classic. Reaching back into his memories, he found the category of sandwiches. Looking through sandwiches he found the subcategory of Reubens. Using his randomize button, a sandwich appeared before him. Wasting no time, he picked it up and delivered it between his teeth. Sinking his teeth slowly through the bread and meat, he tasted the sauce. This was a delicious sandwich. He’d give it a gold star. Gold stars let him know when past experiences were superb so he could re-experience them again when he wished.

Dahe was becoming very satisfied with his life. So what if his energy gathering would take a long time? As long as he had his mental retreat he would be happy anywhere, in a cave if need be.

More time passed as his body worked on his tapestry, and he enjoyed himself in his mental palace. He grew a bit stronger every day, and all it took was time. The sixth year anniversary passed by, but it was hard to translate into the new calendar. Longer days, but shorter years. It was confusing. Well, he could rig up an automatic conversion program in his mind, but it would take a lot of energy. And he’d rather save that energy for his mental palace. Several more months later he was finished.

He looked at his work and snickered. A rather odd tapestry of stream falling down some rocks, with a guanidae nearby. Well, time to tell someone. He didn’t want to assume that it was a major level issue that he finished a tapestry, so he dropped by the task office. After leaving a note that he had finished a new tapestry, he went to check on his strength.

Sparring had gotten somewhat easier for him, however, considering his below average gathering speed he wasn’t getting comparatively stronger. But he knew he was getting stronger so he wanted to test himself. He found Zao shi at the sparring grounds. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had thought Zao was a battle maniac, and didn’t realize until later that taking care of the beginners was his sect task.

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Sometimes you need a change, and that’s what happened to Dahe. he had not fought Zao as an actual opponent before. All of the basics started coming together, especially the spear training from Fusang. He started to feel as if the spear was a part of himself. He went all out and in the end, he lost. But it was close. Closer than he actually expected. While gasping for air, he looked at Zao, who was taking deep breaths, he decided to show him his new work. So after they cleaned up from their fight, they walked to Dahe’s house.

Zao understood that he was one of the few people who had been in Dahe’s house. He remembered when Dahe had first arrived, a rather novice young man. He had learned a bit from his martial arts school in his hometown, but Zao added to that, and refined it.

Then Dahe fell into weaving, Zao even had some himself. It was surprisingly good for a newcomer to the craft. And he got better. Zao had used his to have a set of comfortable robes made. It was a comfort to wear around the house, after spending most of the day fighting.

Dahe might not be aware of it, but he had gained a lot of respect and admiration from others in the sect. His study guides were helpful, regardless if they were his idea or not. His woven fabrics were wonderful, and he never charged much, sometimes giving them away as gifts. Even his tendency to stay by himself, gave him an air of solitude.

Even more important, it was rare to have two meetings with the Vice-Sect Leader within a few years. Most would receive admission to the sect after several years, when they had shown they had patience and goodwill. But Dahe had gotten in sooner, and then later had received praise from the Vice-Sect Leader and the Librarian, the grumpy curmudgeon.

So when he received an invitation to see Dahe’s new work, Zao said yes easily. This was new, there had been some talk about a tapestry, and that the sect had bought it for a high price. Some had even made guesses of how much. But the one who had seen it before Fusang and the Vice-Sect Leader was Re Shui. who was quite proud of this.

It apparently depicted a scene of Fusang in combat with his pupils. Having just performed a powerful move and blowing them away. When a student received Fusang’s blessing to head out into the world after having mastered the ‘basics’ Fusang would bring the student in and let them look at the tapestry. It supposedly helped them, because the few pupils who had seen the tapestry came out with a different expression.

Dahe showed Zao the way to his work room, and led the way in. Standing there was a large tapestry loom that almost reached the ceiling. On it, measuring five feet wide by three feet tall was the tapestry. It portrayed a lovely scene. A gentle river trickling over rocks to a pool below, and there next to it was . . . a guanidae?

Zao turned to Dahe in confusion, “A guanidae is an interesting choice.” Dahe shrugged, hiding his slight embarrassment. “It was there. I weave what I see.” Then an expression of confusion followed by concentration flashed across his face. ‘Do I? Do I have to? Can I just make something up and then weave it?’ theoretically it should be possible. ‘That’ll be my next project.’ “Next time I will create it from my imagination,” Dahe continued. Zao nodded.