Im worried about Tess. Everyone stops what they are doing in order to look at Bord. The group of students staring at him is pretty much unchanged for the past few months. It has grown as more people reached the foundation realm, but not by much. Whats left of the original students has stayed together, taking on larger tasks and visiting their villages one by one.
Travelling and teleporting around the planet has turned out to be prohibitively expensive, so everyone has a hoverboard or other vehicles in their ring for transport between villages. The cost of moving across vast distances using Trees weird portal abilities has been rising in accordance with the increasing levels of ambient qi. A few people have managed to cross from one continent to the other, but that still takes a long ti and isnt without danger.
The latest task the group has undertaken is the installation of Tree portals on the Chaos Continent. Finding a few large boulders, stacking them together, planting a carefully cultivated graft of Tree on top of it while engraving so basic symbols seed like a very easy thing to do. None of the students had taken into account the fact that the Dungeon Cores would be sending a constant stream of powerful monsters at them. The constant need for fighting while hauling massive chunks of rock around has been more draining than they had anticipated.
This is why they all are pretty thankful for Tess, who has done nothing but fight since they arrived here two weeks ago.
Why? She is growing stronger faster than anyone else. Angeta pauses with her plant manipulation long enough to take another look at the blender of darkness, knives, and finely diced monster.
Its not good, replies Bord helplessly.
She is showing all the signs of being with egg, grumbles Ka-Gaar while slowly commanding the earth to move the boulder a bit to the left.
Everyone stares at the dragon with a stricken expression on their face. Be glad she didnt hear that you scaled dumbass. No, she isnt pregnant. Shes just frustrated. Ares stares at the ancient Flight ancestor while scolding him harshly. Never just say soone is pregnant, how can you even think of throwing that accusation around?
The group goes silent as they all process the fact that Ares just scolded an ancient dragon. So worldviews get turned around, and Keeneff sits down to make a small breakthrough, absorbing a lot of qi for half a minute. He gets up looking rather shaken, and gets back to work as the sounds of punching, slicing, roaring, and chunks of at flopping to the floor continue behind them.
The area that they are operating in is one of the more normal looking zones in the Chaos Continent. Instead of impossible seas made from fire, softly raining liquid steel or jungles made from sand, the area they are working in is rather ta. They initially thought it was a massive salt flat, but upon entering the featureless white zone, they found themselves sinking up to their ankles in semi-solid clouds.
The monsters thatd started bum-rushing them turned out to be disappointingly normal; their only discerning feature is that they are covered in fine layers of white down. Then the sa routine that they have been going through for weeks now started. The most difficult part of setting up these Tree gates turned out to be the sourcing of the boulders. Massive smooth chunks of rock are rather difficult to find in places that are influenced by the reality twisting abilities of external Dungeon Cores, after all.
They did find that the Cores influence usually halts a couple of dozen tres down into the earth, with that reach becoming deeper the closer to the actual Core. The glorious task of erecting Tree Portals turned out to be just glorified mining operations most of the ti. The Cores didnt seem to appreciate their efforts at all, and the mont they started digging, endless hordes of Dungeon mobs would descend. These hostilities always cease the mont the Tree Portal is done, the sa mont it starts sucking up qi.
And here we go! exclaims Angeta while encouraging the small Tree sapling to spread its roots all over the three stacked boulders. Tiny golden roots drink up the green power given out by Angeta as they form a tight weave. The roots move towards the ground at speed, joining on the floor as they form a closed rectangle that covers the entire construct. The entire group heaves a sigh of relief as they feel the now familiar tug at their cultivation base as all the qi around them gets sucked towards the Tree portal.
Tess drops to the floor, blood dripping from her stoic face as she looks at the retreating hordes of fluffy monsters with a frown. The other defenders all take out food and start eating, a spread of delicacies being prepared on a quickly assembled table as the group rests.
Then a lanky figure appears and starts talking, Hey, guys. Im done for now. Ill be going to the Cultivation World now. You can hear a pin drop in the silence that follows after Teach steps through the Tree Portal. Those super heavy items are actually Dao templates or sothing like that, and I need to do so testing before taking on more. This ans Ive got nothing to do here but launch more satellites, and that is all automated at this point.
Dao things? asks Bord.
Fighting techniques that are based on qi. Static things, though. And one thing is pissing off. Teach looks down, and everyone can see that the man looks rather dishevelled. His clothes are rumpled, his facial hair is a ss, and he has a concerning look in his eyes. Thats all. I just wanted to let you all know that Im about to head over.
Im coming, says Tess as she grabs hold of Teachs clothes.
too, says Angeta while stalking towards Teach.
Sure. I wonder how the pressure will be, though. Thatll be fun. Teach keeps talking and mumbling to himself as he starts sauntering back to the Tree portal. Nearly forgot, you can enter now. It leads to Tree, but you end up on the opposite side of it. Then you can make your way to Tree, see how far you can get. Right, see you!
The entire group, minus Tess and Angeta, stares at the portal for a long ti.
Im going too, says Rodrick, looking at his axe like he just had the realization of a lifeti. He then strides into the Portal with sure steps, not even slowing down as he enters the thick wall of fog that wasnt there a couple of minutes ago. The bulky lumberjack nearly falls on his face as his footing changes from soft cloud to hard rock. He notes that the colour stays the sa, a pearly white thats nearly blinding.
Looking up, he sees two suns hanging low over the horizon. In front of him, he sees endless rows of large stone arches, their large bulk repeating over the horizon. There isnt a single speck of qi in the air, the sky is a dark blue, and he suddenly feels very, very alone. Resolutely gripping his axe, he starts walking towards the suns, one a pale blue, the other a warm orange.
He hears exclamations coming from behind him as more people enter. Now and then, he passes another active arch, the thick fog hanging in the opening a clear indication that its active. He cos across a few more people peeking through the archways, but other than the small group following him, none dare to explore yet. A seemingly endless stretch of white is in front of him now, and Rodrick keeps walking. He keeps moving through the slowly rising hills, and seeing toxic fus emanating from one direction, he veers towards the smoking mountain instead of descending into the purple swamp.
He travels across the glowing volcano, jumping over fierce rivulets of lava, and dodging suddenly exploding geysers of superheated steam. All in all, Rodrick can appreciate the difficulty in traversing the terrain, but he gets the feeling that this trial isnt ant for soone in the Foundation Realm. The entire volcano takes him a few hours to traverse, and he idly notices that he has left his entourage behind.
Except for Bord and his shadow, who are happily following the woodcutter. Bord is just wading through the lava, and Rodrick isnt sure whether the sll of cooked at cos from the constant stream of dishes he is shovelling into his mouth, or from the grilling fat boy himself. The beastkin following him, Fifteen, if he recalls correctly, doesnt seem phased by the heat at all. Instead, she seems to relish in the molten ground and constant smog in the air.
Leaving the mountain behind, Rodrick cos across a temperate forest. He used to think that these types of woods were all there is, but he has since walked through a massive variety of mundane, mana powered, and qi-twisted variations. The feeling he gets from the innocent and comfy looking collection of trees is sothing else, though.
A couple of relatively weak heat-adapted insects and monsters had tried to attack the trio, but they all got expertly taken down by axe, fist, or black fla. The first monster that jumps them the mont they step into the woods requires Rodrick to put in a large amount of effort. With the volcano beasts, he could basically command them to split into two, and they would drop dead after a small application of qi. Now, the burly beastkin has to actually swing his axe.
The trio looks at each other with aningful glances, and take up a triangular formation. Bord goes in front, none of them needing to talk, while Fifteen and Rodrick take up the two back spots. The trek through the forest is a true test of their skills, and only the fact that they are working together allows them to co out relatively unscathed.
Fifteen gingerly rubs the deep cut in her ear she received when she was a fraction of a second too late with dodging a hidden praying mantis. Bord gingerly touches the bruise on his chest, gotten from underestimating a charging beast with two horns on its forehead. Only Rodrick is relatively unscathed but looks the most pained as he caresses a deep scratch in his axe. The antlers of that rabbit-looking thing were super hard, and he had underestimated it in its death throes and overestimated the hardness of his axe.
There they are, shall we? sounds out a familiar voice as they erge from the forests edge. Angeta waves at Fifteen, her pointy choppers widely on display as she grins at the smaller beastkin.
Finally, what took you three so long? cos Tess voice.
We took the scenic route. Rodrick carefully makes sure that his teeth are not visible as he answers.
Fifteen, did you look at the top of the volcano? asks Teach.
Everyone suddenly looks at the beastkin, who start sinking into the flaming shadows under the attention. She then snarls at herself, before straightening up. Yes. Its not for , too flashy.
Forwards Through Fiery Footing isnt for you, then. Replies the still haggard-looking man.
I thought it was more like the Smouldering Unstoppable Slither. I got so inspiration, though. Thank you.
Teach grins then, and the previous crazy hermit look just falls off the man. He nods enthusiastically. I found another one thats similar, but youll have to find it yourself.
Fifteen grins back while nodding low.
What? asks Bord.
Nothing. I just wanted to know if the system I set up inside Tree will work. Database is sprinkling so of the Dao things across the more dangerous zones to reward exploration. Im glad it works. Teach then turns around and starts walking towards Tree. You are all free to follow , but I must insist that you only call Teach. Never utter my other na, okay?
Whats happening? Rodrick is still trying to process the fact the Fifteen had ti to go and visit the top of the volcano.
Teach turns around and holds out his hand. The grass under his fingers bulges and splits, a fractured looking thing erging from the earth. He thrusts it into Rodricks face, who cant tear his eyes off it. Its around a tre in diater and looks like a collection of broken glass constantly splitting and fracturing. Sohow, the thing doesnt move at all, only giving off the illusion of constantly breaking.
No, you dont cut stuff like that! Thats useless, just brutally and chanically separating things. Thats wrong, rambles Rodrick in a panic. No, no, no. That is not the way to cut down a tree, thats just wrong!
Teach puts the large item behind his back, before dropping it back it on the grass, where it sinks into the floor quickly. Right, sorry there. I was just wondering if this was similar to your way of doing things, but it seems to be too chanical.
Looking up into the apologetic face of Teach, Rodrick wonders what happened to the fellows beard. What was that?
The Dao of Dividing Dissection.
No, that was chanical Marking of Models! Rodrick retorts. The way to separate one from the other is through gently finding the best way to split sothing, after all - not that horrid and clinical thod of coldly cutting one from the other.
Teach nods in return, and Rodrick sees that they are next to Tree now.
Teach has also changed clothes, swapping his ordinary pair of pants and shirt for a simple flowing robe and wooden slippers.
Are we about ready? asks a very impatient Tess.
Yeah, thats my bad. Lets go, replies Teach.
The next thing Rodrick knows, he is surrounded by debris and rubble. The scale takes a while to sink in, but it dawns on him that they are inside the moon. It has the sa rough, broken eggshell look from the inside as from the outside.
So all those items are Daos? asks Angeta, who has been in deep thought up to this point.
Yes. Well, here we are. The connection between my cultivation base, Tree, and this planet is rather good now. The various satellite networks I want are getting in position or are getting produced.
Rodrick turns around, the lack of gravity not really impeding his ability to manoeuvre. Then his eyes start hurting sothing fierce as he sees sothing suspended between two massive half-spheres of deep black crystal. An impossibility stares him in the face, and he feels that this is sothing that should not exist. He sees glimpses of a wasteland, ruined mountains and dead rock.
And they are Daos of everything? replies Angeta. She sounds as if that thing that should not exist, that horrid crack in space isnt a bother to her.
Not really. The thing thats infuriating is that there seems to be one missing. I scanned them all, and its not here. Anyway, I think this is a one-way trip. Stepping into the Cultivation World From Tree will probably cost an enormous amount of qi. So if you want in on the Cultivation World, you got to enter through here, for now. I dont know when this thing might collapse or run out of energy, though. So be quick.
Teach moves towards the mind-lting piece of broken space then, only to be stopped by Angeta. Which one is missing? The one that rules over plants?
No, plenty of those, Teach replies while holding out a hand towards the fold in space. The one thats missing is one thats based purely on ntal might and qi. All of them have a large physical part.
Teach starts disappearing at this point as he is sucked through the mind-bending portal, a focused look of annoyance on his face. He says one more sentence before disappearing completely. The one that is missing is the Dao of Magic.
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