Waving half of a spear vaguely in Everhearts direction produced no results. Vari supposed she could stab him herself, but what was the point? Her opinion of Luminous Heartpiercer had swung about wildly after it first controlled her actions followed by her learning why it might do so. The remnants of people shed never had in her life, actual family. The Harmonious Citadel had tried to replace her family with its structure, but after truly experiencing the world she knew it hadnt even co close. Alva and the others, on the other hand. They were as close as she would get, unless she made a family of her own.
Heh. Hahaha. Bwahaha! Everhearts chuckling turned into full on maniacal laughter. Right, there was that asshole. Excellent. Weve killed a saint without even having to get to any of the backup plans! This is great.
I thought it would feel better.
Really? The exhilaration of annihilating an enemy and the power pouring into you arent enough?
Vari looked down at herself. It was true that a sizable quantity of energy was being drawn into her dantian, improving her cultivation. But while she should have felt sothing at that, she could only really acknowledge it on a technical level. Yeah, this is good. I suppose.
Man, Everheart said. Youre awful at relishing your revenge. At this rate you wont even be motivated to get the other seven.
Or six, Vari said offhandedly. But its not like I have a personal grudge against the rest. Ive caused more than enough damage to make up for what was done to .
Listen, uh Everheart mumbled to himself, What motivates people? Aha! He placed a hand on her shoulder, Vari, dont forget about all of the others hard by the Harmonious Citadel, including their own people. Those who, like yourself, were forced into the subordinate Holy Harmony Technique.
Wow, youre uh really bad with people, huh? Vari raised an eyebrow. Then she reached up to grab his hand.
Everheart pulled away. Anyway, Everheart said. If you want your share of this crap youd better take it. Im taking Damjans head impaled on his own spear to display sowhere, but you can kind of have your pick of anything.
Aside from so gloves the spear saint had, Vari didnt find much of interest. She did take with her the broken halves of Luminous Heartpiercer, though. She didnt have any intent to use it as a spear, even if the enchantnts along its spine could be reforged to return it to full power. But as a mory, it was of so value. Whether or not it was actually the legendary spear of the spear saint, which was still in question due to Everhearts lack of reliability.
Then she left without even a proper goodbye. As a planet, Yesin wasnt the least pleasant one Vari had ever visited, but it was the least likable due to the planet itself and not the individuals upon it. It hurt to breathe, whether or not she was technically protected from the toxins.
-----
Upon her return to Xankeshan, Vari received confirmation that a second saint had fallen. Two out of eight in basically a single mont. The bow saints demise was fairly public, but people would miss the spear saint soon enough. Rumors of two saints dying had been prepared to spread imdiately, to make the Harmonious Citadels ultimate suppression of the knowledge that much more difficult.
So of those in deep like Vari had been would likely disbelieve it, but the fact of the matter was that the Harmonious Citadel was down two Augntation cultivators. That put them a major step closer to losing an all out war with the alliance against them, and the loss might attract so neutral factions previously afraid of them to fight against the Harmonious Citadel.
After so thought, Vari did still find herself motivated to continue the fight. Even if her personal reasons were basically satisfied, her friends were in the conflict to the end. And she did want to help out those who were unable to make a choice about being part of the Citadel. She was a step closer to Augntation, as well. If she was involved with the deaths of a couple more saints- and didnt die herself- she thought she could reach it. Or, the more sensible way was training for another century or so. There was no guarantee she could actually reach Augntation, but she was surrounded by people working towards that goal.
The two halves of Luminous Heartpiercer she brought to the best smith she was aware of, Grandmaster Smith Sadiq. He was a busy fellow, even being sowhat selective in his work. And apparently quite expensive, in so cases. On the other hand, bringing him interesting materials could help. All this Vari knew from Chikere, except the thing about expenses. Vari presud Chikere had been charged, but she also collected a large amount of wealth from people she fought and didnt use it for anything except swords.
There was no long line or anything stopping Vari from just walking up to the man- just a few people standing around hoping to learn sothing from watching him. In general, peoples requests were quickly accepted or rejected. Being straightforward was apparently the right thing.
What can you do with this? Vari said, holding the two halves of Luminous Heartpiercer in front of the man as he hamred on a sword.
He didnt look up, but she felt his senses sweep over her and the broken weapon. I can fix up the shaft, apply new enchantnts. But I cant say it would be as good as before. Or, I could scrap it for you.
Scrap it? Vari frowned.
Scrap it, lt it down, maybe turn it into sothing else. The material is good. Could provide a basis for sothing. Sadiqs senses lingered on Vari, and her equipnt. So bladed gauntlets, perhaps.
Why blades?
Because Im good at blades, and the materials should take a profoundly sharp edge even before enchantnts. I dont think it would restrict your style, either.
That seed reasonable enough to her. She just needed to see if she could afford sothing like that. Looking in her storage bag there was a significant quantity of things she didnt rember. Weird. However, it also still had everything she had expected to be in there, so she wouldnt concern herself with it too much.
-----
Foundation was first. That wasnt an option. Skin had been next. Following that had been muscle, tendons, then bones. Chidis next step was marrow, then the organs in his head and torso. His ridians were the very last on the list before the second full tempering that completed the Hundred Stars Body Tempering training.
He couldnt claim it was the best thod, but the order made sense to him. Outer to inner, performing each step as he could feel it. Muscle and tendons were weird and stringy. Bones were hard- obviously- but the marrow inside was squishy. Each organ felt different, as they all had different things to do and different physicality.
ridians were the oddest of all. They were only sort of there, concurrent with the veins and arteries that carried his blood but more taphysical. They felt soft, but not fragile. Like the air itself, only able to be redirected but never really destroyed. At least, not by anyone vaguely around Chidis level. As he stepped into Spirit Building, he had a better sense of how such a thing might be accomplished, but it was still just a pipe dream.
Sowhat around two years were spent in Body Tempering, not the fastest by any ans but he was instructed to cultivate carefully. His father helped him push his limits without causing permanent harm as he involved himself with various practical jobs to grow strong.
Plowing a field was both dry and wet. Soft from the dirt and hard from rocks that were dug up. As for the taste well, he could say he preferred not to taste it. Dirt still tasted like dirt. The sound was crunchy, and the sll could only be described in reference to the ground itself. Earthy, but more when he was working the ground.
Planting seeds was comfortable, feeling them all snuggled up against the surrounding dirt. It was both shelter and food. As a plant, at least, that was a pleasant idea. As a human, he would not particularly want to live in bread, potatoes, soup, or anything of the like. Candy was an even worse idea, because it was sticky. And constant sweetness would beco cloying.
He carried old-style crates, splintery and rough constructs of wood. He worked with a tailor on his manual dexterity, feeling the softness of the cloth and the sharpness of the needle. The sll of leather at a cobbler. All of the old style professions had their own sensations.
anwhile, the fancy new technology Engineer Uzun was implenting fit into a smaller range of sensation. At least, on the production side of things. The end products were as diverse as anything else.
Machines were smooth tal and oil. Sotis a heat, but that was exactly what the oil was supposed to prevent. His parents had been concerned about Chidi getting close to so of the machines, but he knew where not to be. He could feel their great crushing weight, the sharpness of rolling cutters. The pinching interconnection of gears. They fit together like great organisms with more clearly understandable internals.
Chidi didnt have to actually touch sothing sharp to know to avoid it. He got the feeling that most people didnt really get what sharp was from a distance. Apparently seeing could tell that, but he didnt know- and since other people got hurt more than Chidi did, perhaps seeing wasnt all it was cracked up to be. Though apparently it was helpful for longer ranges. On the other hand, his parents could sense him from a great distance around corners, so sight hardly mattered unless he was outside on a roof. Maybe getting into space battles.
On that topic, Chidi was very excited to go with his lupine friends to experience battle for the first ti. Real battle. Not wrestling with the wolves or sparring, but real battle in The Gardens. Sure, he would be watched over- but that didnt make it not real.
-----
Chidis best wolf friend still had no na. She was just his friend- and he was very careful not to sohow make that her na. Many of her siblings had nas. From the sa litter there was Fang, Big Paws, Ember, and Brick. The first two were nad after physical qualities, while the latter two shared so of their parents cultivation traits.
Likewise, Chidi had learned from his parents how to fight with a sword, which also went along with his nasake. She was supposed to have returned after going to the lower realms, but she was apparently still there. Maybe forever, unless she could figure out how to ascend again. Lots of people didnt seem to think that was actually possible, and Chidi would never really understand because he was born in the upper realms.
What are we looking for, buddy? Chidi growled. It was apparently Fuzz that formalized an actual language for the wolves, and it had been impossible for Chidi to speak before body tempering. Now, he just used so energy to replicate the vocal chords, lungs, and head shape of a wolf until he had all the components to make the right sounds. He wasnt crazy enough to try actually transforming his body.
Boar, his hunting partner replied. There are too many here, rooting too much and destroying the growth.
Boar. Chidi sniffed. He knew the sll, both as food and as sothing in the wild. Auntie Alva had brought him along on a hunt, but he hadnt participated before now.
He wasnt the first to pick up the scent- as it turned out, being able to put your nose to the ground was a huge advantage there. He could get down on all fours, but his body wasnt made for that. And while he could make up so of the difference with his use of energy, the wolves also knew how to use energy to augnt their senses.
This way, his companion said. One appropriately sized for us to hunt. Father will deal with the larger ones.
How exciting. Chidi made sure he kept his hand on his sword, and his ears open for sounds of movent. Though he would probably sll the boar first. Their scent was not sothing to take lightly.
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