Chapter 51

Will it work?

 

I take us down in a nondescript field about half an hour later. Sure, I could easily go the ~2000 mile journey within a single night. But by overshooting the battlefield by such a distance, the secret mission for "my" new sect members would have been much more suspect than it already was.

Using a bit of fire Qi like a torch,¹american version of the term, not british. a flaming, forearm size stick. not a handheld electric light I take a look at their my fox limbs.²not a grammatical error here. the limbs are both theirs and my own, remember? To see how much they changed in the past 12 ish hours. They're currently well on the way to resembling a beastkin's. But at least they are about the right size to maintain an even walking pace.

Zo Ro) 'It looks like you're already healed enough to start your journey. But first, how much more do you need before you can breakthrough at any time?'

Hu Go) "Master, I am nearing the Peak of Level 9. It should take me between fifty and seventy more Grade 1 Qi Stones to finish."

Z) 'Good.'

Three) "I'm already done Master. I can do it at anytime you need."

Z) 'Excellent. Wait for the elders' meeting, like we planned. Two?'

Two) "I've just broken into Level 9, Master. But it will take me some time to reach the Peak Stage. I estimate 700-800 Grade 1 Qi Stones, and seven to nine days."

Z) 'Then take a thousand, just to be certain. And before you three brave warriors go, I believe you won't have much need for your belongings. Empty your storage rings and any other such devices. Then take back anything you will need to make the journey back to the hidden devil sect of yours. Such as food, a few extra robes, tents, and so on. As well as anything that would likely be suspicious if you returned without it. Like your communication jades.'
'Oh, right. You'll have to send a report as soon as you can. About staying hidden from the unknown force that slaughtered the rest, or something like that. Then make your way back without being seen. By. Anyone.. At least until my limbs of yours finish changing into your own. And since it will take up to nine days for Two to be ready, aim for reaching the sect no sooner than in ten days. Make up some reasonable excuse for going slow, like being injured. Hu Go, you'll even have the wound in your shoulder to prove it, hehehee.'

G) "Heh heh heh. You're right, Master."

Z) 'Then the rest of your stuff you will gift to me. And tell me about the important items among them.'

. . Z) 'While you're busy sorting this stuff, Kara Kart; bring me to Maw vixen.'

KK) "Yes Master."

.

Vixen) 'Yes son? What's going on?'

Z) 'Maw, we can finish starting your Unique Physiques now. First of course is the pain suppression. Your nullify pain spell should have worn off about 3 days ago.'

V) 'Okay, let's get this over with.'

{NO PAIN}

Z) 'Then the rest will be carved into your body. Starting with a lesser, but permanent version.'

{REDUCE PAIN BY 93%}

{ABSORB AND REFINE FIRE ELEMENT QI
TO OBTAIN FIRE UNIQUE PHYSIQUE}

Then again with Earth, Water, Metal and Lightning.

. . I don't feel the usual buildup towards a migraine/hangover/otterwise splitting headache this time. Haven't since I used the temporary "no pain spell" on myself. But I know intellectually that the strain is still there. This is concerning, I could keep going till I simply drop dead. Or, I could. Just. Stop. Wait about a day, then continue with half of the Randos getting their slave spells reinforced. Yeah, that. Better than the alternative by leagues and pounds.³a league is an old roman measure of distance travelled, equal to three standard miles. or ~5Km

G) "We have finished sorting, Master. Are you ready to recieve our gifts?"

Z) 'Yes, good work. Let's go back, Kara Kart.'

KK) "Yes Master. But why do you keep referring to me as a vehicle?"

Z) 'Are you not?'

KK) "Well, I suppose."

G) "It was easy to sort through, because most of our important belongings were left back in our homes within the sect. So there wasn't much here to sort. First, I have my personal swordsmanship manual, titled '10,000 howling strikes'. (yoink) My Tier 3 wind element cultivation manual, Path of Breezes. (also yoink) My Tier 1 wind element sword."

Z) 'Keep that, you'll need it during your Tribulations. The Elders might try to stop them by killing you all quickly. But why do you only have a Tier 1 sword? Are better ones that hard to come by?'

G) "Sorry, I had not considered that Master. And yes, they are. At least for lesser core disciples like us three, or ordinary inner sect disciples like the rest." (the other two take a few things back) "Then what about these protective talismans?"

Z) ..'Keep three each, then give over the rest. You should only need them once in your life.'

G) "Then here are the other two. There's also a few Beast cores I gathered over the past few weeks. And travel funds. That's all"

Z) 'Keep some of the money, in case you need to buy food or spend a night in an inn. Spend the rest of your time before leaving teaching what you can about the wind element to your nephew Kujo over there, and also Kara Kart here. Now what do you have for me, Two?'

2) "Master, I have for you a Tier 2 lightning element movement manual. Four attack talismans. My spare Tier 1 spear. A few tens of kilos of Black Iron ore."

Z) 'This black iron, is it an improved version of regular iron? Or rather something that has some properties similar to iron but is colored closer to black?'

2) . . "I'm not sure."

Z) 'What can you tell me about it?'

2) "It is dark, nearly black, tens of times stronger than mortal steel, and about three times heavier. But it is difficult to smelt because it takes more than twice the heat to melt. But if you do melt it without certain precautions, it burns away into smoke."

Z) 'Anything else? Maybe about the ore instead?'

2) "The ore has a special property that it glows blue for a few breaths before the first light of dawn."

Z) 'What you described to me sounds exactly like element #74, Tungsten, in every detail.'⁴I learned the "glow at dawn" bit from watching Dr. Stone

2) "I've never heard of anything by such terms. Do you still want it Master?"

Z) 'Sure, Tungsten is very useful for anything you need to be ultra-durable above all else, while being harder and more heat resistant than most. And the alloy Tungsten Carbide is even better. Though I don't have the skill or knowledge necessary to produce it. And unlike Light Steel, it's still Qi free. So just imagine how much better a Qi-infused black iron weapon would be!'

Z) 'Though for armor, you'd want Titanium Carbide instead. Not sure if you know about that one in this world. You already have Light Steel from regular steel being strongly infused with Qi, so maybe you'd call it Silver Iron? Or Light Silver? Anyway, please continue.'

2) "Last is the bulk of my money. 15 Grade 2 Qi Stones."

3) "Then I have for you a magma element infused ginseng. A half kilo of white fire stone. This is a Grade 3 material. I'm not too sure of its use, because I don't deal with smiths that often. But the market price for this amount is double that of .. Two's Black Iron ore. A fire element fist manual, Burning Strikes-"

Z) 'I'll want you to teach that to me as well as the tigress with the fire Unique Physique.'

3) "Thank you for this opportunity, Master. To continue, I also collected 8 fire type Beast cores and another 5 stone type. I also have 40 Grade 2 Qi Stones and one Grade 3. That is all"

Z) 'That is plenty. Thank you all very much.'

G+2+3+KK) ""You're welcome, Master!""

KK) "Jynx!"

G) "What does that mean?"

KK) "It's a children's game from Master's previous lifetime. Whenever two or more people say the same thing at the same time, if anyone says jynx after, the others can't talk until someone says their name. Otherwise they get hit on the arm."⁵Yes, there's another version where they owe you a coke, but there's no bottling company on this cultivation world. So where're they supposed to get you one from?

*pow*

2) "I notice you already said my name."

Z) 'Yes, yes, play is fun and fun is good. But we're in a hurry. Two, focus on continuing with your cultivating. You should already have enough Qi Stones to finish. Three and Go, teach your techniques for now. Kara Kart, let me off here, so you can listen to his lesson without disturbing mine. And tell all the rest they can listen in on either. With the Physique training, many of us will gain the ability to use any of them well.'
'And one more thing, none of us are to hide our tracks while here.'

. . .

The next morning we take a break from our lectures. Miti makes a good breakfast for me, also for Puri. I remember she never got any of the nutrition paste. But it's not a concern for now.

Actually no, it is. It doesn't keep you from being able to eat, but it does keep you full of good nutrition until it runs out. So if she has a week's worth, then eats normally for the next month, then she'll still have a week's worth to keep her fed if for any reason she can't eat.

So I shouldn't have splurged on the new temporary slaves.

I quickly belt out a single batch just for her..

Puri) "What's this.. Bruver?"

Z) 'A bit of stuff to keep your tummy happy. I made it to practice my pill refining.'

*SPARKLE EYES* P) "You're.. a pill.. refiner? No wonder.. you have.. lots friens."

Z) *sigh* 'More than I know what to do with. And also not enough.'

Then it's nappy time.

. .

In the mid afternoon, we try out the fire fist technique. Well, T3 has already been trying it for a while, I just started to catch up on her efforts.

The three of them should probably figure out names for themselves sometime soon.

Also we don't have fists. So we are actually practicing our new pyro paw technique.

My first target is a simple tree. I strike without, just to see if there's a difference when using it. The outer bark gets torn off easily, with small ~1/4 inch (6mm) deep gouges in the green wood beneath. Now with the pyro paw technique, I aim at a new spot. This time the bark is smashed to bits, some of which are smoking. And the gouges reach over 3/4 inch deep (now 20mm) All four of them charred black.

I try the same without/with on a small boulder. The first strike leaves faint parallel scrape marks, like gently running a fingernail across dried plaster. Then the fire strike left marks closer to firmly running a carpenter's nail along wet clay. But also during the strike itself, a few sparks flew off. Just like a flint striker.

Along with Uncle's third girlfriend, the Fire Tiger, I kept this practice going all afternoon. With Three giving us pointers as we go.

And I quickly reach her level of proficiency, surpassing her easily soon after.

. .

The evening starts with another meal from Miti.

Then fills up with more lectures.

Z) 'I've put this off as long as I guess I need to. And also as long as I dare to. Before you Guys head off on your mission, I have one last thing I want to try. You said that you have a lot more wealth in the sect because you couldn't bring it with you. And because of your mission's importance, you won't be able to bring it to me, or even send it. But what if you didn't have to? Place your rings down next to mine.'

I draw a 3 foot wide circle in the dirt. Placing my second largest storage ring in the exact center. Then draw an equilateral triangle touching it on the corners. And 3 more, each pointing one of the cardinal directions. Then I scrawl an experimental magic script around its edge, filling it with blood and intoning:

{CONNECT THESE FOUR STORAGE RINGS TO SHARE THE SAME INNER SPACE}

Why.. is the ground.. moving.. so fast?

KK) "MASTER!!"

. . .