Chương 89: In it Together

Leo, Tom, and Vivian arrived at the Matt's family lakehouse in the Catskills the day after finals ended. The property sat on a wooded hillside overlooking a private cove of the Ashokan Reservoir. Cedar shingles weathered to silver gray. A wraparound deck built from reclaimed dock planks. The kind of place that looked modest until you noticed the spirit-enhanced climate systems humming quietly beneath the floorboards, keeping the interior cool against the surprisingly warm May afternoon.

Leo sat in the boat, watching Tom and Matt splash around in the water like children. Tom had Matt in a headlock, both of them laughing as they wrestled toward the floating platform anchored thirty feet from shore. Even Vivian was having fun, she stood on a paddleboard near the cove's edge, enjoying a rare time of relaxation. On Leo's lap sat a thick book. The cover featured a cartoon cultivator scratching his head while staring at a formation diagram. The title read: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Formations.

Professor Vogt had assigned him three hundred pages of formation homework. Due before the Grand Formation Summit. When Leo had begged Vivian for help, she'd informed him that Professor Vogt had already warned her to let him struggle on his own.

"She said you need to build the foundations yourself," Vivian had told him.

"No shortcuts."

"Can I at least pay you to summarize it?"

"No."

"What if I bought you another Birkin?"

"No." Then she'd handed him the Idiot's Guide. When Leo complained that even the simplified version was too hard, Vivian had produced a second book from her bag. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Following Instructions. Leo hadn't opened either one. He stared at the water. Tom executed a sloppy backflip off the floating platform. Matt applauded sarcastically. Vivian adjusted her stance on the paddleboard and glided toward the far shore, where lily pads clustered in the shallows.

The sun hung fat and golden over the Catskills. Usually it wasn't this nice in May. It was the kind of day that existed specifically to make homework feel like a crime against his Dao Heart. Leo looked at the book. Looked at the water. I'm only young once, he thought. He pulled off his shirt, tossed it over the formation diagrams, and dove in. The water was cool and clean. Leo surfaced near the platform and swam over to Tom and Matt.

"Finally," Tom said.

"We were starting to think you'd actually study."

"Don't be ridiculous."

That evening, the four of them sat around the firepit behind the lakehouse, roasting marshmallows. White pines surrounded the clearing, their branches dark against the fading sky. Tom spoke first.

"So." He turned his marshmallow slowly, watching it brown.

"I know we still have a year of high school. But do you guys know what you want to do after graduation?" Matt shrugged. His marshmallow had caught fire. He blew it out and examined the charred result with apparent satisfaction.

"Dad wants me to take over the business." He took a bite of the blackened marshmallow, chewed, swallowed.

"But?" Tom prompted.

"But I don't know if I want to." Matt stared into the fire.

"I think I have a talent for combat mechanics. Working on equipment in the field."

"Your mom would have a heart attack," Tom said.

"She can say whatever she wants." Matt shrugged.

"She doesn't want me going back into the Catacombs. Says one tour was enough for any lifetime."

"What do you think?" Matt was quiet for a long moment. The fire popped, sending sparks spiraling into the darkening sky.

"I think I'll figure it out," he said finally.

"Not like I have to decide tonight." Tom nodded and turned to Vivian.

"What about you?" Vivian had assembled a perfect s'more: golden-brown marshmallow, precise chocolate placement, graham crackers split perfectly. She bit into it delicately before answering.

"I've been working toward Scorpion certification." Tom's eyebrows rose.

"Only active military are allowed near that thing."

"I know."

"You'd have to enlist. Full tour. Minimum three years in the Catacombs."

"I know." Vivian took another bite of her s'more.

"It's better to have the option than not. Who knows what changes will happen in the future."

"But why?" Tom pressed.

"You already have your draft exemptions. You could do anything. Research. Formations. Teaching. Why volunteer for combat duty?" Vivian didn't answer immediately. She finished her s'more, wiped her fingers on a napkin, and reached for another marshmallow.

"I figure Leo will always need someone to watch his back." Leo looked over. Their eyes met across the fire. The flames painted shifting shadows across Vivian's face. Her glasses reflected the orange light.

"You don't have to do that for me," Leo said quietly. Vivian broke eye contact. She focused on her marshmallow, rotating it with mechanical precision.

"I haven't thought that far in life yet." Her voice wavered a little.

"I ended up getting all my draft exemptions I wanted way too early. I was so focused on my immediate goals that I never stopped to ask what I actually wanted." The fire crackled. Nobody spoke.

"I don't really know how to live for myself," Vivian continued.

"But honestly, I don't mind. Finding something worth living for is close enough." Tom leaned forward.

"Then just do whatever feels right." His easy smile softened the words.

"And clearly, based on how Leo's been living his life, he needs someone to look out for him." Everyone laughed. Even Vivian cracked a small smile.

"Hey," Leo protested.

"I'm doing much more peaceful things now. I'm going to be learning about formations. There's some kind of big competition coming up." He looked at Vivian.

"Do you know about it? The Grand Formation Summit?" Vivian's smile faded. She became very interested in her marshmallow.

"What about you, Tom?" she asked.

"What are your plans?" If Tom noticed the redirect, he didn't comment on it. He pulled his marshmallow from the fire, judged it acceptable, and began constructing a s'more.

"Yale, probably." He pressed the graham crackers together.

"I've made too many friends there this last season. At this point I'd feel guilty going anywhere else."

"Think you have a shot at student president?" Matt asked.

"Maybe." Tom grinned.

"Definitely some kind of leadership role. Networking is a skill, right? If any of you ever need something, come to me. I'll know a guy. Or I'll know a guy who knows a guy. Either way, we'll figure it out."

"I'll hold you to that," Matt said.

"Please do." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Tom bit into his s'more. After having a bite he turned to Leo.

"What about you? After the formations competition?" Leo leaned back in his chair. Above the treeline, the first stars were becoming visible, pinpricks of light scattered across the deepening blue.

"I'll probably get drafted by the NFL," he said.

"Three years minimum. That's assuming nothing crazy happens between now and then."

"And after?" Vivian asked.

"After." Leo was quiet for a moment. The fire had burned low, embers glowing beneath the remaining logs.

"I don't really know. The only thing I'm sure of is that I want to follow the journey to immortality. As far as it goes." He tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. The stars were multiplying now, the Milky Way emerging as a pale smear across the darkness. One by one, the others followed his gaze.

"I heard the Great Ascension is a one-way trip into the stars," Leo said softly.

"I really wonder what's up there." The fire crackled. Wind rustled through the pines.

"What do you know about the upper realms?" Matt asked Vivian.

"Not much." She said, "Most of what Earth knows about the Great Ascension realm comes from captured Catacombs texts, and those are heavily censored."

"I've heard there's a problem with the Deity Transformation realm," Leo said.

"Something about faith power. Cultivators at that level need mortal worship to break through to Void Refining." Vivian nodded slowly.

"That's the prevailing theory. The Catacombs Eternals rule over their cults because they need the spiritual devotion of lower cultivators."

"But that doesn't make sense." Leo frowned at the stars.

"How can we all journey to immortality together if we need to worship Deity Transformation cultivators for them to advance? That's not cultivation. That's just tyranny with extra steps." Nobody answered. The question hung in the air like smoke.

"It doesn't sound very fair," Leo continued.

"Somewhere along the way, we humans must have lost sight of the Heavenly Dao. We've turned the path to immortality into a pyramid scheme."

"That's why Universal Cultivation matters," Vivian said quietly.

"On Earth, anyone with spiritual roots can cultivate. We don't need to bow to Domain Lords or beg for scraps of opportunity. If we'd been born in the Catacombs, none of us would have made it past Qi Refining."

"Unless we got lucky," Matt said.

"Or sold ourselves to a Cult."

"Same thing." Leo lowered his gaze from the stars to the fire. The embers pulsed with fading heat.

"That's what I want to figure out," he said.

"The real path. There has to be a way forward that doesn't require stepping on everyone behind you."

"A worthy pursuit," Vivian said softly. Tom agreed.

"Maybe we should all join you. Form an exploration team. Search the Catacombs for an answer together." Leo shook his head.

"No. We need to approach it from different angles. Live our lives. Follow our own paths. Then compare what we learn." He looked around the circle at his friends. Tom nodded.

"Sounds good to me. I'll help you with it""Same," Matt said. Vivian adjusted her glasses.

"Agreed." The fire had died to embers. The stars blazed overhead. The four friends made promises that night under the white pines. It seemed simple at the time but would grow to define their path to immortality.

The next morning, Leo asked Vivian to go on a walk with him. They followed a trail that wound through the white pines behind the lakehouse, morning light filtering through the canopy in pale shafts. Leo explained everything. The Azure Profound Continent. The respawn mechanic. The cross-world progression. Arthur, Mike, Kevin, and Shen Tianyi. When he finished, Vivian was quiet for a long moment.

"Did you tell Tom or Matt about this?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I only have one spot." Leo stepped over a root that crossed the path.

"I decided to give it to you." Vivian stopped walking. She turned to face him, her expression unreadable behind her glasses.

"Tom would probably be a better fit," she said.

"He'd make friends there. Build connections. Help you more than I can." She adjusted her glasses.

"I'm just one person."

"I thought about it." Leo met her eyes.

"But I've already trusted you with my life twice. Fort Cambridge. The Scorpion mission. Both times you came through."

"Matt and Tom were part of that too."

"Don't kid yourself, Vivian. You're special." Leo started walking again.

"Plus, we have access to the Singular Formation. You can study it if you have time." Vivian's footsteps stopped behind him. Leo turned. She stood frozen on the trail, her eyes wide.

"The Singular Formation?"

"We gave it to someone else for safekeeping. But yeah, we can go over to take a look anytime." Vivian's composure cracked. Her eyes lit up, eager and hungry.

"I'll do it," she said.

"I'd be happy to." That night, Leo introduced Vivian to the rest of the group via video call. Four faces filled the screen. Arthur leaned back in what looked like a Florida sunroom, his weathered features skeptical. Mike sat in a home office, family photos visible on the shelf behind him. Kevin hunched forward in his Queens apartment, he had hid away his Anime posters and cleaned up his room.

"So this is the new recruit," Arthur said.

"Kid, you sure about this? She looks like she's twelve."

"I'm seventeen," Vivian said flatly.

"Same thing." Kevin waved away the comment.

"The formation decryption is taking longer than expected. It will take another week before I can start engraving. But we can get her started on language training."

"What's your divine sense at?" Mike asked.

"Four hundred." Vivian replied. A low whistle from Arthur.

"Not bad." They worked out her role quickly. With a Si of 400, Vivian would follow Leo's path. Train via the divine sense press. Stay in Qi Refining until she maxed out at 9999.

"Based on Leo's speed, that's probably six years," Kevin calculated.

"You'll be behind him for a while. But it's still decades faster than the normal method." Vivian nodded, already taking notes.

"I'll send you the Common dictionary tonight," Kevin said.

"Plus the learning resources we put together. Unlike these two idiots, you actually seem like someone who can learn new things."

"Hey," Arthur said.

"You still need a twelve year old to surf the internet for you," Kevin shot back.

"Nice to meet you guys." Vivian interrupted, not wanting to get in between their fight.

"I'm going to go find some dinner." Vivian signed off first. The call continued without her. Kevin's face quickly changed, his expression shifting from professional to accusatory.

"Leo."

"What?"

"You scumbag." Leo blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You're cheating on Kim Yuna."

"What? No. Vivian's just a friend."

"Just a friend," Kevin repeated. His voice pitched higher.

"Just a friend. That's what they all say!"

"I'm not even dating Kim Yuna. She's also just a friend." Kevin's face contorted.

"Just a friend? Kim Yuna is just a friend? The Samsung heiress is just a friend?"

"Yes?"

"Kid." Arthur's voice cut through Kevin's spiral.

"I've been married multiple times. Trust me. There's no such thing as 'just a friend.'" A long pause. Leo tried to pretend he didn't understand what they were accusing him of.

"My wife doesn't allow me to have female friends," Mike said quietly. Everyone looked at him.

"Whipped," Arthur said. Mike's video feed cut to black.

About a week later, Leo sat outside Vivian's VR pod, a cup of Tier 3 Spirit Calming Tea steeping on the table beside him. He remembered his first time. The cold steel of the sword against his temple. Mike's divine sense descending like a hammer. The absolute certainty of death followed by the screaming return to consciousness. Now someone else would understand. The pod's indicator light glowed steady blue. Vivian had logged in five minutes ago.

Leo checked the time, checked the temperature of the tea, and made sure the ground besides the pod was clean. He waited. The light stayed blue. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. Leo paced the room. He sat back down. He understood. The first time was the hardest. You knew what was coming. You had to choose to let it happen. Finally, the pod hissed open. Vivian tumbled out, her body convulsing, her hands clawing at her skull. A raw, strangled sound tore from her throat.

She collapsed onto the floor, curling into a fetal position, tears streaming down her face. Leo knelt beside her and pressed the tea into her trembling hands.

"Drink," he said. She drank. The convulsions slowed. The screaming faded to whimpers, then to ragged breathing. Leo watched. Part of him felt sympathy. Another part, the part that had endured this torture over a thousand times, felt something like relief. Someone else finally understood. Someone else shared what he'd been through.

"How," Vivian gasped. Her voice was hoarse.

"How did you do this for so long?"

"It was worse when I was a mortal." Leo sat back on his heels.

"Every three hours. I didn't even get a chance to sleep. My mom would wake me up for the next session and..."

"Stop." Vivian held up a shaking hand.

"I don't need to hear how bad it was back in the day." Leo looked at her. She was still shivering, her face pale and blotchy, strands of hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. He felt bad.

"Hey," he said.

"We have something good in there. We call it Luo Mingxia's Heart. It will improve your water spiritual root by forty percent and save you two hours of cultivation time a day." Vivian looked up. Her eyes brightened, a flicker of competitive spark. Then she winced, pressing her palm against her temple. She took another sip of tea.

"Does it happen to involve dying?" she asked. Leo hesitated.

"Yes. A lot of the stuff we do typically involves dying." He paused.

"But usually recovering from dying hurts a lot less than this." Vivian let out a long breath.

"Just give me some space." Leo stood.

"I'll be in the other pod if you need me." Vivian didn't respond. She lay on the floor, clutching the empty teacup, staring at nothing. Leo logged in. The Azure Profound Continent materialized around him. Arthur, Mike, Kevin, and Shen Tianyi stood in a loose circle near the Divine Sense Press.

"Your friend's a wimp," Arthur said.

"Took her forever just staring at the press. Couldn't even bring herself to start it. Mike had to do it for her."

"Can you blame her?" Leo asked.

"You are the strange ones!" Shen Tianyi snapped. His black robes flared as he rounded on Arthur.

"You did not even allow her to decide for herself. You had Mike kill her because you were too impatient!" Mike winced and made a gesture of apology to Leo. Tianyi's voice rose.

"It was refreshing to meet someone who properly valued her life. A healthy fear of death is natural. You people are otherworldly demons wearing human skin." Arthur snorted.

"It's only a game. Why do you have to be mad?" Shen Tianyi's expression darkened.

"This world is not a game to me." He turned and left, his gaze distant.

"I hope this desperado is more reasonable than the others."