Chapters 39-40

Jun had expected mockery, all manner of derisive remarks, and poorly hidden sarcasm to pepper him as he mounted the stage.

What he hadn’t expected, was to be barred from participating entirely.

From out of nowhere a hand appeared to bar his way. Glancing up from perfectly manicured fingernails, he met the eyes of Elder Shao, a look of undisguised distaste twisting the pretty man’s features.

“That is far enough,” he snapped. “Please,” the man sighed. “Let us not waste any more of everyone’s time than is absolutely necessary? I believe we all know what the outcome of such a paltry attempt will be. Resign now and you may be partially compensated for the entry fee.”

Jun’s mind latched onto the “may,” in this theoretical reimbursement.

“You know, I’d really like to give it a go, if that’s alright with you. It’d be a bit of a letdown to come all this way and not at least try.”

The man’s eye twitched, no doubt at the very intentional lack of deference.

“If… you insist,” the man practically hissed, before begrudgingly removing his hand.

Willfully ignoring the Elder’s lingering glare, Jun cheerily leapt up onto the platform, humming a random tune to himself as he marched towards the trial stone. In reality, he wasn’t nearly as confident as he made himself out to be. Even still, that didn’t mean he was without a plan. It’d been an enlightening experience, watching the others attempt the trial over and over.

The kind of rare opportunity for study he suspected was very much the point, seeing as the trial had been set up so that he would essentially fail the written exam before he’d even arrived. In that time, he’d learned a few key lessons.

Some of which, thanks in part to the pantheistic workshop, he’d already been loosely aware of. For instance, the ways in which they manipulated their auras.

Contrary to how he’d gone about things in the past, once gathered, they appeared to steep the item of their choice with their aura, somehow reinforcing it, while simultaneously enhancing its force potential.

This was a stark departure from how he’d used his [Cutting Hand] mantra, for instance. Now he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he made to saturate as opposed to sheathe his hand in cutting aura.

How much of a difference would it’ve made?

That said, minor improvements aside, if he really wanted to guarantee he passed this trial, this in spite of the clear animosity their resident examiner had repeatedly shown towards him, it was quite obvious he’d need to go above and beyond.

Which meant merely matching, or even moderately surpassing the general standard probably wouldn’t cut it. And that was where his risky gambit came into play.

The very same he’d been preparing ever since he’d picked up on the trick of saturating one’s aura. And had only begun to truly feel confident in after seeing what Shao Luang had managed with only fifteen seconds of continuous compression.

In no time at all, Jun was standing before the massive boulder. It really was so much larger up close. Hopping out of the shallow trench that’d been scored into the platform following Shao Luang’s attack, Jun casually circled the trial stone—taking in the truly prodigious crater Elder Shao’s progeny had left, humming contemplatively to himself, and otherwise unabashedly stalling for time.

It was only when it looked like an increasingly red-faced Elder Shao might actually step in, that he figured he’d stalled for long enough. With a jolt of both nervousness and anticipation, Jun pulled his right arm free from the inner folds of his robe. Immediately, he had to fight hard to suppress his innate reaction to the uncanny sight.

The audience of proud cultivators, on the other hand, held no similar compunctions.

Audible gasps and sharp expletives rippled throughout the courtyard.

Even Elder Shao’s eyes widened at the sight. At the sight of his hand. Well, arm really. At the shimmering silver cast his skin had taken, rising all the way up to the elbow. Indeed, most of those that could properly see the change were similarly aghast. Not that he blamed them.

It was fairly bizarre.

And it was only possible because of an otherwise inconsequential boon. One which he’d received weeks ago and had very nearly forgotten.

|Builder Archetype: Condense| (Unique)

At the cost of increased energy expenditure, make corporeal a universal mystery for which you’ve touched upon previously.

He’d been clueless as to how exactly this boon was applied for the longest time.

Now though?

He thought he had a better grasp as to what it was capable of, and the possibilities of such a powerful boon, if applied correctly, were honestly staggering. His first clue had been his competition. It was difficult, if not outright impossible, to gauge the unique benefits of a thing with only one point of data. Until now, he’d been operating under the assumption that just about everyone could do the things he did.

And while the extent to which that was or was not true remained to be seen, he’d actually been given a rather explicit hint that spoke to the contrary.

Put simply, his ascendant boon had been labeled unique. It hadn’t really registered with him at the time, but being designated as unique by the system was no small thing. It often meant you were one of the few beings in existence to ever receive that specific trait. We’re talking single digit numbers here, people.

With that in mind, it couldn’t possibly be the case that every single applicant here also owned the exact same ascendant boon. And yet everything he’d seen thus far more or less mirrored the extent of his own abilities, at least where the concept of crushing was concerned.

Which could only mean there had to be more. Which ultimately got him to thinking on the crystalline nature of his aura blades. Well, that and the nature of leaves. Simply put, his aura blades weren’t just particularly dense conceptual manifestations. They were real blades with real weight and heft to them.

When they shattered, the pieces didn’t simply dissolve into etherial energy, they became flying shards of deadly crystal. They were the liquid vapor stuff of his aura, condensed into a form so compact, that they took on an actual physical presence. In that same way, the leaves inside his dantien started out as wind, were then condensed into a higher energetic state, after which they were able to hold far more potential energy, per unit, than his spirit winds could handle alone.

It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together from there.

The result, after a fair bit of trial and error, had been this—an arm that shone the color of chrome.

Not waiting for someone to come to their senses and try something hasty, Jun raised an open palm, and, gently, placed it against the scarred surface of the trial stone. With the absurd amount of aura he’d managed to pack into his arm over the last forty-five minutes, it distinctly felt as if he had a bomb strapped to his arm.

A particularly volatile explosive that threatened to go off at any second.

Wanted to go off, by all rights.

Was constantly trying to go off, for no other reason than ‘it was the patron concept’s nature.’ And the only thing making sure it did not do that very thing—and in so doing take with it him, all of the young hopefuls, hell, the whole damned sect and a good chunk of the countryside besides—being the tight chains of his iron clad will.

All that was to say there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he was going to be bumping it up against anything he didn’t explicitly want dead more than he cared to beat this trial. Instead, he simply created a small mental funnel, and released all of that pent up energy in a singular direction.

The area in front of him, quite literally disintegrated.

There was a blinding flash followed by an all-consuming roar of apocalyptic proportions. Both of which lasted for what felt like an eternity. When at last, after his ears had finally stopped their ringing, and Jun dared to rapidly blink his eyes open, he was immediately greeted by… well, nothing.

Or no, to be more exact, he was immediately presented with the stark absence of any trial stone, any semblance of the stage it’d once sat upon, or, for that matter, any of the surrounding compound unfortunate enough to have found itself within a forty-five-degree radius of him.

Utter devastation, in other words. All that was left to commemorate the once grand and storied courtyard, a prodigious trench carved into the earth and littered with bits of rubble and scraps of debris.

Slowly, Jun turned. Facing a sea of white-faced spectators. Somewhat guiltily, he locked eyes with Elder Shao. The beautiful man, normally so aloof and outwardly superior, flinched.

“So!” he tried. “Does this mean I made it into the sect?”

Frustratingly, Jun never actually received a definitive answer.

***

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed a |1 Star| ranked trial.

OBJECTIVE CLEARS

Main Objective: Show moderate proficiency with the Basic Mantra [Iron Fist].

Incomplete.

Secret Objective: Improve upon, then show moderate proficiency with the Basic Mantra [Iron Fist].

Complete.

Hidden Objective: Defeat Shao Luang of the Iron Fist Sect in open combat.

Incomplete.

Hidden Objective: Defeat Elder Shao of the Iron Fist Sect in open combat.

Incomplete.

Secret Objective: Defeat more than half of the Iron Fist Sect’s Grand Elders in a single attack.

Complete.

TITLES OBTAINED

Ding!

A temporary title has been awarded due to your performance within the trial world.

|Mammoth Slayer| (Limited)

Earned by defeating multiple opponents that were effectively two cultivation realms above you.

+ 1 celestial dew to body, mind, and spirit.

You are now less likely to be affected by things like aura suppression.

Ding!

A temporary title has been awarded due to your performance within the trial world.

|Giant Slayer| (Limited)

Earned by defeating multiple opponents that were effectively three cultivation realms above you.

+5 celestial dew to body, mind, and spirit.

You are now much less likely to be affected by things like aura suppression.

Ding!

A temporary title has been awarded due to your performance within the trial world.

|Titan Slayer| (Limited)

Earned by defeating multiple opponents that were effectively four or more cultivation realms above you.

+10 celestial dew to body, mind, and spirit.

You are now far less likely to be affected by things like aura suppression. (Note: These effects are only applicable whilst within a simulated trial.)

(Note: by completing a sufficiently high ranked trial, it is possible to transform a temporary title into one that is functional outside of a simulated space.)

RENOWN BONUSES

With one exception, the mark you left on this trial world was minimal. You have formed no alliances, though you have made an enemy in the Iron Fist Sect, now the Fallen Iron Fist Sect. Given the state in which you left them it is unlikely such enmity will bear much fruit. Their enemies, however, may look upon you favorably.

You are no more or less likely to find yourself in an advantageous position at the start of later trials.

Acclaim Bonus: NOT APPLICABLE

Notoriety Bonus: Fallen Iron Fist Sect

GREATER ALIGNMENTS

You have yet to commune with either heaven or hell. Your soul remains pure and untainted.

Heavenly Alignments: NOT APPLICABLE

Demonic Alignments: NOT APPLICABLE

Complete Further Trials to Discover your Star Ranking.

(Note: the more difficult the trial, the higher your overall ranking will be.)

Trials Completed: [1 of 100]

Overall Performance Rating: A+

  ————————————————————

By the time Jun blinked away the barrage of system messages, he was already being greeted with another round of chimes. Thankfully, these, at least, he knew what to do with.

Ding!

You have found enlightenment in the concept: [Crushing]

|Concept of Crushing| (1st Aspect)

Aspect of Kinetic Release

+5 to resonance.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have formed a Single Aspected Mantra.

Mantra: [Iron Fist] (1st Aspected)

My will shatters bones.

Grade: (Poor Quality)

Ding!

Congratulations!

Your Mantra [Iron Fist] (Poor Quality) has evolved.

[Iron Fist] (Poor Quality) has become:

[Titan’s Fist] (Excellent Quality) +30 resonance.

Ding!

Congratulations!

Your resonance pillar has ascended.

Advanced from |Aged Stone| [30 of 30] to |Traveled Copper| [7 of 50].

As your horizons broaden, so too does your understanding of the path. You exchange hands quite frequently, and now, with time comes lived experience. You begin to make out shapes in the dark spots between the stars.

Your insight has transcended its natural limits.

18 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.

Your insight has transcended its natural limits.

112 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.

Your insight has transcended its natural limits.

112 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.

Wow. Okay then.

After everything that’d happened, Jun couldn’t help but feel pleased with the amount of progress he’d made. Don’t get him wrong, he was still pretty miffed about the whole “temporary title” thing. Of course he wasn’t entirely sure what “celestial dew” actually was—some sort of condensed version of celestial essence perhaps—but nevertheless, he’d take what he could get.

And what he’d ultimately gotten wasn’t anything to sneeze at. Of course, that then begged the question of, what in the hells had all that been? For that matter, how had it even come to be? Questions he was sure to revisit many many times in the days to come. In the end though, he was just glad there had been tangible results period, otherwise he might’ve chalked it all up to some oddly lucid fever dream.

Immediately following his completion of the trial, he had been summarily booted from the pantheistic workshop servers. It hadn’t bothered him overly much, aside from the general disorientation. After finding himself back in his little oasis beneath the world, all it’d taken was a thought to pop back into the workshop and then out again.

It would seem that he now had full run of the place. Something for which he was eternally grateful. It was an amazing resource, no matter how inexplicable, and he had the feeling he’d only just begun to scratch the surface of its trial system.

The hidden objectives he’d failed to clear were indication enough of that. Apparently, what it took to “clear a trial” wasn’t so clear cut as he’d believed it to be. Not only that, but, if he was reading into things correctly, the things he did there would have a cumulative impact on later trials, for good or for ill.

Refocusing on his surroundings, he found Ivory was still fast asleep. He couldn’t know for sure, but going purely based off of his own stomach, he didn’t think all that much time had passed. Even though it’d felt like hours, maybe even days had passed inside, out here, it might only have been minutes.

Glancing down at the other two fruits of enlightenment, he felt the flutter of anticipation and apprehension both. He’d barely noticed it at the time, so immersed was he in the whole convoluted process, but he now recognized that what he’d done had been taxing in the extreme.

To the point that the thought of jumping straight back into another session was daunting, even if the power another high quality mantra promised was tempting.

A rustling sound dragged his attention away from the fruits, giving him an excuse to put them off for at least a few more minutes. Shoving them into his dimensional bag and feeling a wave of primal relief in their absence, he looked up to find Ivory was finally stirring. Rising unsteadily to a sitting position, she let out her body’s equivalent of a yawn. Tentacles stretched to half again their usual size, before—rubbing at sleepy eyes—she blinked up at him owlishly.

“You’re looking better,” Jun commented.

And indeed, she was. Although it was clear at a glance she was still far from peak condition, her complexion had lost its concerning grayish hue, and her eyes appeared far more focused than they had been in a long while.

“Mmm. I must say I do feel much better as well,” she stretched, then looked around in evident confusion. “I-! What-? Where are we? Jun, what happened? Does this mean we won? And…” she blinked at him several times. “Huh? You’re different! Whenever did you find the time to change, of all things? And whatever possessed you not to wake me when you did?!”

Jun felt a knot of tension in his chest ease with the rapid-fire questioning. If she had the energy for questions already, the ordeal couldn’t have scarred her too badly. It was what he liked to tell himself at least.

“In order of seniority: we’re still underground. I outran our pursuers. We didn’t win, but we didn’t really lose either. Uhh, while you were asleep? And because you looked like death. I think that was everything… Oh! And check out this place, huh? Pretty sweet right? I, uh, also bought you some clothes. You know, the kind that aren’t covered in rat goo?” he hesitated.

“Feel free to say no, by the way!” the words spilling out in a rush. “I’m pretty flush with coin right now so you can pick literally anything else. Well- not literally, its a fairly linear selection, but you know what I mean. Money is not an issue,” he cut himself off there before his mouth could well and truly get away from him.

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt very awkward indicating the clearly identical robe. Why hadn’t he gotten it in a different color at least? He hadn’t really given it much thought at the time but having them prance around in matching outfits was more than a little embarrassing now that he really thought of it.

“I managed to find one in your size,” he added, as if that would explain away everything.

“Hmm…” she looked at him curiously.  “Alright…”

But when she reached for the robes, Jun immediately slid them away. She looked up at him, her head cocked to the side in confusion.

“It’s probably best if you bathed first,” he explained. “No point in ruining them, and it’s not as if you’ll have to go very far,” he gestured behind her as if to emphasize his point.

Glancing to where he’d indicated, Jun got to watch as she fully took in the absurd majesty of their little hideaway. He was gratified to hear the small gasp escape her, even if all he’d done was stumble across the place by accident.

He was about ready to get up and leave the room to allow for some privacy, when she, surprisingly, demonstrated her blatant disregard for any and all rules of propriety. Mistress Maisell would’ve thrown a fit. He, on the other hand, merely settled on averting his eyes—he didn’t entirely know why—suddenly very interested in the flowing cuffs of his robe.

Unaware of his misgivings, or else wholly unconcerned, she quickly shrugged out of her tattered, blood stained kimono and leapt into the pool with a “whoop!” of pure joy—eliciting a tiny splash, and an even tinier ripple.

At first, he wisely decided to sit back and leave her to it, but when she didn’t reemerge, after what he deemed to be several seconds too many, Jun edged his way towards the crystalline pool, concern writ large on his features.

He peered down cautiously, ready to dive in at a moment's notice, only to find that Ivory was, apparently, having the time of her life.

Much like the aquatic beast he’d first taken her for, Ivory moved through the water like she’d been born to it—with as much, if not more adroitness than she ever showed in the air.

Upon seeing this, his worry soon abated, only to rise steadily as the minutes ticked by, and, in the midst of all of her somersaults and corkscrew maneuvers, she never once came back up for air. Only once he caught sight of, then remembered the gills which showed prominently to either side of her neck did he finally allow himself to relax.

Eventually she did re-emerge—in an explosion of foam and water droplets—and then it was another ten to fifteen frustrating minutes spent trying and failing to recall just how he’d gotten the stupid robes around himself in the first place. Only this time the process was made doubly impossible by the fact that the task was in miniature.

“There,” Jun sighed, tugging the last inane fold into place. “That’ll have to do. What do you think?”

Ivory looked down at herself, tugged at her loose sleeves, then twirled around as if testing her range of motion in the brand-new ensemble. He’d had to customize the garments a bit to accommodate her wingspan, and by customize he of course meant that he’d hacked two great rents into the back, just large enough to let the membranous appendages slip free.

“Hmm. It will serve, I suppose. So, does this mean we’re finished here? How long before we can set out again? We really should make haste, you know. If we’re to have any hope of retrieving our things, there can be no time to lose.”

Jun was immediately taken aback.

“Really? After the day you’ve just had… I would’ve thought hopping straight back into the thick of things would be the furthest thing from your mind.”

“I…!” she hesitated, suddenly looking very guilty. “Well… I never got to finish my book, now did I?” she finished, rather defensively.

“Even now, the venerable Li Minghua is the only thing standing between certain demise, and the fragile lives of her hopelessly incompetent charge- that is to say, charges. I mean really… it should be fairly self explanatory! Honestly, how in the yearning abyss is she supposed to protect him- that is to say, them if they simply refuse to heed her instruction? Especially now that they’re so much weaker than she is. They could get badly hurt, or injured, or worse…!” she shuddered, glancing up at him, and then quickly away again.

 “So you can understand why it would be imperative we get underway immediately! Post-haste, you understand. Post-haste!”

“Uhh… no, I still can’t really say that I do. ”

Ivory growled in frustration. The way her “mouth hands” lashed in irritation, he had to admit, it was kind of cute.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Jun, but we’re trapped in a cave of all things. Do you know what caves have in great abundance? Damp. That’s what! Damp, Jun! Do you realize the kind of field day damp will have with our poor, defenseless, unattended books? Mildew, Jun! Mildew! I mean, this is serious! If we’re not quick, someone is sure to get hurt!”

Jun paused, considering. Were they…? Were they still talking about books? They were. Weren’t they?

“Is that what this is about? Look, I can buy more books, that was never really the issue. They’re super cheap, and there is literally an unlimited supply. I was planning on getting more of them once we were properly situated anyway.”

“But you can’t buy back your silly old scroll though, can you?” she retorted with an unnecessary degree of smug satisfaction. “And you’ll need it if you’re going to compete in that fancy tournament of yours. Tell me I’m wrong! The plan. Just think about the plan, Jun. And your mother! We can’t forget about her! All very important,” she gave a quick nod. “Why wait? We should go. Like now. As soon as possible.”

“I… suppose you have a point. Though, if worst comes to worst, losing the scroll? It wouldn’t really be the end of the world. Not anymore.”

A look of wide-eyed panic flit across her features.

“A-and you’re sure about that?”

“Fairly.”

In truth, he’d already written off the retrieval of his scroll and all their other valuables as a lost cause. They’d wandered too far off the trail, if a trail there ever was in the first place, for retrieval to be even possible at this point, let alone likely. Still, she seemed somewhat hung up on the idea and so he felt compelled to assuage her concerns.

“I didn’t want to jinx it, but… I stumbled onto something incredible while you were sleeping! I’m not completely sure yet, but I think it holds the key to… well, everything!”

Ivory’s face instantly soured at this revelation, a look of frustration writ large there. It was so out of place, so oddly suspicious—like she had an agenda, and all he was doing was setting up roadblocks to its success—that it decided him on where this conversation was going to go. Had to go, if they were to continue to journey together, no matter how little he actually wanted to have the discussion.

“However, before any of that,” he made a point of setting his dimensional bag aside. “Ivory. I think it’s about time you came clean with me.”

“Huh?!” she flinched, suddenly very keen on looking anywhere but at him. “Again? But I just got out. You were there, remember? Now you’re saying you want me to go back in? But-! Well, I suppose I don’t mind if you don’t mind—if you wanted to join me, I mean—but like I said, we really don’t have the time to frivolously waste on such things…!”

“What? No-! Answers! I mean answers! Come clean with-” he paused. “You know what? Never mind that. The point I’m trying to make is that I know you’ve been hiding things from me.”

“What?!” she looked offended. “No! How could you think that!? I wouldn’t-! I would never…!”

“Ivory…”

“I… I have no idea what it is you’re talking about. R-really, now. Stop speaking nonsense Jun. You’re embarrassing yourself,” she said, her face the very picture of innocence.

“Oh really?”

Jun gave her his best no nonsense stare, the kind used to intimidate powerful people in their own homes and establish clear dominance in a room full of strangers—that he was borrowing the technique from Lady Maisell was not a fact he let slip through their bond.

For her part, while she made a valiant effort, it wasn’t long before she wilted under the pressure. Her head drooped sullenly, but not before she gave a meek nod of acknowledgement. A pang of guilt stabbed through him at the sight, but he ignored it. Now was not the time.

“Good. Now, why don’t we start with the first thing, and then move on from there?” he said with far more conviction than he actually felt.