3seed

Fate's Attendant 1.21

Added 2025-09-01 18:04:58 +0000 UTC

Hong Fei shut the doors to his courtyard, then leaned his back against them, letting himself slide down into a sitting position. Auntie Ling offered a huff, to which he replied, “Yes, it’s been a long morning.”

He touched his face and winced at the sting of the cuts. They’d thankfully been shallow and stopped bleeding. Kang Lian had demonstrated a surprising deftness when treating them. Apparently, her deceased husband had often come home with similar cuts from working with stone.

Auntie Ling sat in front of Hong Fei, and he reached into the satchel to show her his card.

Hong Fei
Fate Points: 3 | 4
Realm: Body-Forged 3
Cultivation: 5
Alignment: N/A
Attributes
·         Body: 1
·         Mind: 2
·         Soul: 2
Traits
·         Sword Prodigy
·         Fate’s Attendant
Cards
·         Uncommon Badger

Hong Fei had already discussed with Auntie Ling on the way into the city the numbers he’d seen and the changes to them. Now he asked, “Am I wrong in thinking they’re related?”

Auntie Ling had been considering how to represent the information Hong Fei needed. The cherry tree in their courtyard was nearly done blossoming, but there were still enough petals on the ground for her to create a shape out of them: a spider’s web.

“Touch one part and the whole thing shakes,” Hong Fei said.

The giant badger nodded, then she removed one of the nodes connecting the web strands, as well as the attached strands themselves.

“The energy I feel from killing someone with a number is from these nodes and these strands,” Hong Fei observed.

Auntie Ling nodded, then shook her head.

Hong Fei leaned forward. “I’m somewhat right, but there’s a complication.”

With the remaining petals, Auntie Ling drew a tree’s branch connecting to several of the web’s nodes, then she wiped away a node but left the tree intact.

Hong Fei narrowed his eyes. “I don’t understand.”

The giant badger sat on her haunches. The idea had been clear in her head, but the translation through drawings hadn’t worked as intended.

“It seems like I can selectively kill people for the energy they provide,” Hong Fei said, thinking aloud. “The key is finding the appropriate sections of the web, so that I don’t hurt the people I don’t want to.”

Auntie Ling dropped her head to consider this interpretation. It wasn’t right, but might work well enough for now.

Hong Fei picked up one of the petals. “I won’t kill Little Ruyun,” he muttered. “There’s no need for it.”

Auntie Ling eyed the swordsman, then an idea came to her. She erased the web and the tree, replacing them with a drawing of a smiling girl. The representation was crude, but Hong Fei understood.

He said, “This is Little Ruyun.”

The giant badger nodded, then drew a web attached to the girl’s body. With every node she added, she diminished the girl’s smile until Little Ruyun was left frowning.

Hong Fei’s eyes widened. When he reached over to begin the process of erasing the web’s nodes, Auntie Ling matched him by returning the smile to the girl.

“The web is a thing that happens to people. Some are meant to die and others not.”

Auntie Ling sighed. Hong Fei had gotten to a useful understanding. The true answer was more complicated, of course, but this was enough for him to get started on his path. The rest would come eventually.

Hong Fei’s brow furrowed. “How does one know which is the web and which is the girl? I have my favorites among the people with numbers, but surely something so esoteric isn’t based on… on my preferences.” He stroked his beard, turning the idea around in his thoughts. “Is it the colors? What do they mean?”

Auntie Ling’s jaw nearly dropped. She came up right in his face, nose to snout, and huffed at him. She’d gone to heroic lengths to describe a set of deeply philosophical concepts, and now he wanted an explanation for something even more complicated!

Meanwhile, Hong Fei quickly caught on that he’d said something inappropriate—he wasn’t sure what, but the badger was clearly upset—so he changed topics by holding up his card. “Should I use the number 3 to enhance my body again?”

Auntie Ling dove to keep him from doing any such thing.

“And that’s a no,” Hong Fei said after extricating himself and retrieving the card that had gone flying. “What should I be doing instead?” he asked.

The giant badger delicately pointed at the section of symbols that looked like “Cards.” She had him touch it with his finger until another set of symbols appeared:

“Expend a fate point to draw a new card? Yes/No.”

Auntie Ling urged Hong Fei to touch the part that said, “Yes.”

A new card appeared to replace the old one. The surface looked like the night sky on a moonless night—an impenetrable dark glimmering with pinpoints of light.

New symbols appeared:

“Reveal card? Yes/No.”

Hong Fei checked with Auntie Ling, and this time she had him touch the “No.”

His card reappeared, now with a small version of the night-sky card hovering above it.

The symbols on his card had also changed. “Fate Points: 3 | 4” now appeared as “Fate Points: 2 | 5 | Milestone.”

The last section “Milestone” glowed, and the badger gazed at it intently. She had him touch it next, which caused his card to disappear again. This time, a familiar set of symbols appeared:

“The Dao of Fate follows its own path, returning all to the natural order. As its attendant, you are gifted the tools to right what has been made wrong.”

That was then followed by something new:

“You’ve reached a fork in the path. Choose one of the following:
The Power of One. For every ten points spent on attributes, gain an additional point to spend the attribute of your choice.
Three is the Direction. When selecting new cards, choose from three instead of one. The card picked must still be redeemed with Fate Points as usual.”

It was clear to Hong Fei that something important was happening. The intensity of Auntie Ling’s gaze didn’t lessen as she nodded toward the second choice.

“You’ve chosen Three is the Direction. Yes/No?”

At Auntie Ling’s prompting, he selected “Yes” and the number of night-sky cards increased to three.

“Let me guess, I touch those next, correct?”

Auntie Ling nodded seriously. Whatever annoyance she’d felt earlier was gone.

The three night-sky expanded before him. When he touched the first, the darkness dissolved, and colors emerged in its place, like paint had spilled onto the back and seeped through. A new image eventually formed of a giant spider with a mottled carapace.

There were a 2 and a 1 at the top left and right respectively, as well as the symbols “Green Hermit” at the bottom and “Poison” on the reverse.

Auntie Ling frowned at the spider and gestured for Hong Fei to continue.

The next card showed a small shield made of wood and reinforced with bronze. The numbers at the top were 0 and 2; at the bottom was “Pauper’s Present,” and on the back: “Self-Repair.”

Auntie Ling motioned for him to touch the last card.

The colors spilled, and the image of a young man took shape. His face was clean shaven and young. He wore a long, grey, wide-sleeved robe, belted with a sash in muted yellow, and a formal cap. The numbers representing him were 2 and 2, and at the bottom was: “Scholar Sun Han”. On the back, the symbols were: “Versatile, Support”

Auntie Ling jumped up, and her butt swayed as she danced in delight. Clearly, she’d found what she was looking for.

Hong Fei, eager to learn more, went to examine the card more closely. A new string of symbols appeared:

“Not enough Fate Points to redeem this card.”

Auntie Ling froze, then came to sit in front of the card, her expression serious again.

“What’s happened now?” Hong Fei asked.

The badger pointed to his money pouch, which she took from him and removed all but two of his coins. Auntie Ling then pointed at the card before setting aside four coins.

“I don’t have enough of the numbers to afford the young man’s card,” Hong Fei said. At her nod, he added, “What about the others? The spider or the shield?”

Auntie Ling mimed choosing the shield. The other options she slashed afterward, indicating that once one was picked, the others would no longer be available.

“Interesting.” Hong Fei took a long breath and admired the artistry of the three cards. They represented an even more advanced magic than he’d first assumed. He muttered, “The rules by which they operate seem so arbitrary, though. There’s surely an internal logic or a principle of the Dao that they follow.”

He gestured to the spider and the shield. “To be certain, they’re not worth selecting? I don’t know about the shield, but the spider looks like a formidable ally. It’d be difficult to explain, but perhaps I can develop a reputation for being a spirit beast tamer.”

Auntie Ling pointed at the young man’s card with unyielding determination.

“He’s that good, is he?” Hong Fei asked.

Auntie Ling resisted the urge to sigh at him. She pointed to her mouth and mimed speaking. She pointed at the man and then herself, her mouth continuing to move throughout.

Hong Fei gasped. The young man would be able to speak! Even if it was the same mysterious language from the cards, they could teach each other their respective languages. This new summoned ally would be able to explain with greater clarity what Auntie Ling could not.

Numbers. Hong Fei needed more numbers and soon!

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