I was sitting on the rocky shore of the headland, dangling my legs over the edge and delighting in the incoming tide that was lapping at my calves, when a pulse of abyssal chi washed over . It was a common enough occurrence lately, so I ignored it, resolving to ask about it later.
But I couldn’t ignore what happened a minute afterward. Maria—who’d left not long ago to fetch so ingredients for seaside sandwiches—abruptly sent her love, then closed our connection. I’d been staring down at the waves, and my head whipped around, facing the center of Tropica where I’d last sensed her.
A spike of alarm seed to co from outside myself, but I pushed it down, choosing instead to remain calm by focusing on the sensations of my body: the fitful breeze flowing past, tickling the hair on my arms; the midday sun beaming down from up high; and the refreshing ocean below, whose lapping waves made it impossible for to be anything other than grateful.
There had to be a good reason. There always was when it ca to my wife. Maybe she was preparing a surprise for .
That outside source of alarm receded, but it flared back to life a mont later when I heard soone approaching on foot.
Oi, I thought at Claws, who was swimming around in the river mouth, openly broadcasting her emotions into my mind. Cut it out.
She chittered at . Or maybe she chittered at a fish. It was hard to tell.
“Hello, Fischer,” Ellis said, deftly striding into view across the rocks.
“G’day, mate.” I lazily pointed toward Tropica with my thumb. “Was that your doing?”
He nodded and ca to sit beside on the shore, lowering his legs into the water. “It was.”
When it beca clear he wasn’t going to apologize, a hint of anger joined the lingering alarm from earlier, but I pushed it down. “So what can I do for you, mate? What’s so secret that you can’t tell Maria, and what makes you think I won’t just tell her the second you leave?”
He smiled at my question, an unreadable glint entering his eyes as he removed his pipe and packed it with dried plant matter. Before he could light it, however, he sighed and let it fall into his lap.
“I fully expect you to tell Maria most of it, Fischer, but it is important to that this conversation happens between just us. So of it must be kept secret.” He turned to face . “I am not worried about you telling Maria, because once you understand the stakes, you would not dare. I have already told Maria this, which is why she so readily agreed to close your connection, even if only temporarily.”
Again, surprise and a touch of anger flared from Claws. Again, I pushed it aside.
My mind raced. “Okay. Point taken. Will you warn before you tell that bit, though? I don’t want soone overhearing by accident.”
“I will. You were correct, Fischer. I have been getting quests, and I was explicitly forbidden from telling you, and anyone whose power was directly needed.”
“What’s changed since this morning?” I asked. “You and the squad have kept us in the dark for months. How co you can tell us now?”
“Because I just completed a quest, and started a new one which only forbids from telling the others about so of it.”
I frowned, swirling my legs through the water. “Is that what caused the pulse of chi earlier?”
“Indeed.”
“Okay. That all makes sense, but I have a question.”
“Which is?”
I turned toward him, watching his expression closely. “Are you telling because you want to, or because the quest ordered it?”
He gave an easy shrug. “Because I want to.”
“Good. Follow-up question: Do you want to tell so that you don’t have to dig a latrine?”
Ellis scoffed. “No. I am afraid of neither physical labor, nor Claws’s pranks.”
“In that case, thank you. I appreciate you coming to right away.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“You should not be thanking , Fischer. I owe you an apology. I will not lie and say that I derived no amusent from confounding you, but if not for the explicit stipulation of the quests, I would never have kept it from you. This, I swear on my core.”
It wasn’t exactly an oath, but Ellis didn’t need to make one. I believed him.
“Apology accepted. So . . . What have you been building?”
“Oh, that is easy to answer. Tunnels.”
I gave him a flat stare.
“To the very center of the Kallis realm,” he continued.
“Co again?”
“The tunnels we carved—they go all the way to this world’s core.”
I stared down at the swirling water, imagining the network of power extending all the way into the center of this planet. “I knew they were vast, but . . . damn.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“How did you know how to do it?”
He gave another easy shrug. “Many have attempted sothing similar. There are multiple records of such events within the history books in my library. I simply recreated their workings, but with the cultivators we had on hand: abyssal cultivators to expand and fill the network; Alchemists, whose concoctions stabilized the tunnels; and a lava elental, without whom, our efforts would have co to naught.”
That outside source of shock returned, seemingly stunned by the revelation of the first sister’s active involvent.
“Damn. Damn.” I chewed the inside of my lip as I considered it all. “That’s where the first sister has been? I felt a hint of her chi when Geraldine busted down the door, but I’d assud she was just lending power.”
“Oh, absolutely not. She was integral to the operation. So that’s the how. As for why we did it . . . I can only tell you once you’ve guaranteed our privacy.”
I nodded and created a bubble of chi. It was so thick that even if Claws snuck up and dealt it a full-powered hit, she wouldn’t be able to breach all its layers.
“Okay, mate. Nobody else can hear us now. Why did you do it?”
“Because, Fischer.” He thumbed the end of his pipe. “I believe that soone did succeed in suffusing the entire world with chi. Even in the records I possess, it is not explicitly stated, but the connections are obvious.” He glanced over at , his eyes severe. “After all, I believe that’s how the divine gods began their reign.”
The implications of his words crashed down on like a tidal wave. It took at least half a minute for my mind to calm enough that I could speak. “How sure are you?”
“It’s still only a theory, but all evidence seems to support it. In the early stages of the expansion, we found vast pools of divine essence underground. I partially lied earlier; the abyssal cultivators were not just expanding the network—they had to simultaneously combat the remaining divine chi. The first sister helped them in that regard, separating it from the magma it had beco more-or-less fused with.”
“No wonder you were all so fatigued . . .”
“It was certainly trying.” He raised his arm out before him, his hand trembling like a leaf in the wind. “I do not believe I will fully recover for at least another fortnight.”
I rubbed my chin in thought. There were so many questions I wanted to ask. I could sit here and grill him for hours and still not have all the answers, but that wasn’t the kind of day I wanted to have. I wanted the one I’d already planned, which involved dangling my feet in the water, making seaside sandwiches with my beautiful wife, and watching the tide co in.
I looked at Ellis, deciding to cut to the chase. “You still haven’t answered why, mate. What was the goal?”
He allowed himself a small smile. “You already know, Fischer.”
“I think I do, yeah, but I need you to say it.”
“Very well. The goal was to spread your influence. Initially, I hoped to tunnel as far down as possible, then redirect it back up in a giant cone, spreading your Domain. But now that we have successfully infiltrated the world’s core, our goal is to spread your Domain across the entire planet, perhaps even into the heavens. That is as much as I can tell you for now.”
I nodded along, dismissing the bubble of chi.
Ellis gave a tired grin, the end of his pipe held between his teeth. “It feels good to get that off my chest.” He clicked his fingers together, sohow creating a fla in the center of his bowl, lighting the brown plant matter within. “So, what do you think of my tale, Fischer?” He exhaled a thin cloud of smoke. “Pretty salacious little story, if I do not say so mysel—bleglrlebeblgblegler!”
The torrent of seawater blasted him directly in the face, filling his mouth and making water explode from his nostrils.
“You dare keep secrets?” demanded Claws, her head bobbing above the waves. “From ?”
Ellis coughed and sputtered then shot to his feet, beard wet, clothes drenched, expression promising vengeance. He forced himself to take slow, deep breaths.
“Corporal Claws, I understand your frustration, but I hardly think I am a deserving outlet for your—”
He ducked the torrent of salty water, expecting it this ti.
“Corporal! Claws! I must insist that you— Where are you going? Claws? Claws! You get back here! I am not done talking about this!”
Only one of Claws’s forepaws reerged from the ocean, giving Ellis a single-digit salute before sinking back beneath the waves.
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