Chương 81: Chapter 2.18: The Mountains and the Firmament

"There is nothing but legend, rumor, and myth beyond the realm of Transcensor." Sirrana made a sharp, yet oddly stuttering gesture with her injured and bronze-clad arm. Brutus grinned broadly.

"What if I told you I have heard a reliable account of the existence and power of the Keeper of the Scorched Grove?" Brutus smiled like a cat facing a mouse in a locked room. Sirrana hesitated, her eyes fixed onto the smile, and the sides of Favius's mouth twitched upward. That certainly is an interesting interpretation of what Aelia said. But I can't fault him. A vicious smile spread on her face in turn. Yet there was undeniable hunger in her good eye.

"I would insist on you sharing your sources, Ovinius Kestrelo." Brutus chuckled and rubbed his chin.

"That's the thing. I cannot in good conscience do that. And if you knew, you would not appreciate me doing so anyway." Urania tilted her head to the side.

"Maybe we need to talk about this starting with the basics, Brutus." She gestured.

"Could you tell us about spiritual beasts? After all..." She glanced at Sirrana.

"We eat their meat. And I have..." She licked her lips.

"... tasted an exceedingly perfect fruit a short time ago." Brutus nodded, his hands unconsciously brushing the adamantite shard in his steel axe.

"That is a good question. Knowing what you know of cultivation, what do you suppose a spiritual beast is?" Favius considered for a brief moment. Well, it could really be anything. But given that we gain spiritual energy that aids with cultivation, Occam's razor suggests I should try the simplest hypothesis first.

"They are animals that somehow cultivate." Sirrana sniffed.

"That somehow is lifting a great weight in your statement, boy." Brutus chuckled and turned.

"That is true, Sirrana Nyctara Negero." But Favius raised two fingers and began speaking slowly.

"Am I correct in assuming that spiritual beasts do not think or act like humans?" Brutus nodded, a broad smile splitting his beard.

"Indeed, you are approaching the crux of the matter." Urania's eyes widened.

"Cultivation..." She trailed off, and Favius continued, unable to hold back a giddy glimmer of excitement. Finally I'm learning about magic. Well, learning more about magic.

"It requires insight and understanding, so an animal whose mind is much lesser than that of a human ought not to be able to cultivate." Sirrana nodded.

"And that is entirely ignoring the issue of spiritual plants. After all, there is no visible trace of ether, the essence of thought and energy, in the corpus of a plant, is there?" She looked at Brutus with a challenging glint in her good eye. Brutus conceded the point with a gesture.

"So that's it?" asked Favius.

"Spiritual beasts are merely larger, stronger, and somehow more of themselves?"

"For the most part," said Brutus. He leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"Children," he began, and Favius couldn't help but lean in. The man's voice lowered even further.

"Let me tell you of the difference between beasts and monsters." His voice was barely audible.

"The abominations that are called..." He paused, and Favius could feel his heartbeat rising. Is he using his...

"Chimeras." Brutus spoke the word with an odd glint of excitement. There was awe, yet also a predatory intent.

"Chimeras," murmured Urania.

"You mean the beasts of stories?" Brutus laughed.

"They are far from being mere beasts of stories. While it is true that spiritual beasts at the ranks of Cultor and Praecultor are exclusively greater animals like big spiders, titanic bears, wolves possessed of low cunning..." Suddenly Brutus blurred with movement. His flat hand slammed on the table. Favius took in a sharp breath, and Urania gasped. Even Sirrana flinched.

"At the rank of Alticultor..." Brutus's words almost spilled forth like water from a spring.

"... one in a thousand creatures is twisted, combined between two others. A Magnicultor might face a hundred beasts matching his power and see one such creature. As for transcendental beasts..." Brutus leaned in again, and Favius cursed himself. Fucking hell. I know it's a trap, but his storytelling...

"... I must admit I had only heard rumors in my youth. I did not believe such creatures could exist before reaching the rank of Alticultor. I only ever saw the corpse of something twisted and carved up that my companions swore had the strength of a Magnicultor. Yet at the rank of Transcensor, it is said one in ten creatures is a chimeric monstrosity." Brutus's intense eyes bored first into Favius, then Urania, and finally Sirrana.

"I have confirmed that with both my eyes and aura." He lifted the axe onto the table and brought its flat down hard on the wood and steel.

"As for creatures beyond Transcensor..." He chuckled and looked at Favius.

"When I reach for the heavens, guarded by my companions, boy, ply them with enough drinks and maybe we will tell you the tale of how we hunted the Hydra of Cevulium."

"Hydra? Like a lizard with many heads?"

"Indeed." But Sirrana's eyes were wide.

"You... you claim to have killed a hydra?"

"No," Brutus said.

"I would be lying if I said I killed a hydra." A smile spread over Sirrana's face, and Favius let out a breath. Well, so he really was just spinning a yarn. Brutus's grin broadened.

"There was in fact more than one when we marched into their lair. But enough of that." Urania sniffed. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Enough of that? Stop teasing us if you're not going to tell the story. Tell us of the other chimeras you've met." Brutus shrugged.

"What is there to say? I have seen and killed harpies, sirens, a manticore, and others." He looked first at Urania, then smiled at Favius.

"But I can see by your eyes that you will not accept my tales, Favius. So let us wait a few years, and we shall go hunting in earnest." He grinned viciously.

"Perhaps that would satisfy the young aristocrat." Favius sighed exasperatedly. Well, today is just full of interesting tidbits that I cannot pursue. And also... He scratched his chin. The question of why animals and plants can cultivate and how it leads to something like a hydra. He sniffed. That suggests that their model of cultivation is fundamentally wrong. Or their model of spiritual beasts and plants is wrong. Favius hummed before refocusing his attention on Brutus.

"But Brutus," he said, his voice rich with mock offense, "you did not actually answer my question. What is the limit? How far can one go?" Sirrana looked first at Favius, then Urania.

"Think, boy. What does any cultivator aspire to? What is the ideal in whose pursuit they try to challenge the heavens?"

"The Gods," said Urania instantly before Favius could even come up with a good answer.

"Exactly," said Sirrana, knocking her knuckles onto the wood.

"The gods. And therein, my dear young aristocrats, lies the answer."

"A cultivator is climbing a mountain, reaching for the firmament. But no mountain can reach the celestials above us. They move freely and independently, while the mountain is ever stuck, ever static, ever separated from them." Brutus nodded.

"They are separated by an unbreachable chasm." Favius hummed, rubbing his forehead. It's so frustrating how their magic is bound up in their theology. Never mind that maybe their theology could be as real as their magic. He let out a long breath when Urania spoke up again.

"No." Favius looked first at Urania, then at Brutus and Sirrana.

"We need to consider that that attitude is the problem." Brutus chuckled while Sirrana furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Our attitude is a problem?" she repeated. Urania's eyes found Favius's, and he sensed the question. With a smile, he nodded.

"If you believe that humanity is bound to the ground, to Gaai, by its fate, limited to what we achieved in the past, then that idea is a chain." She swallowed and glanced at Brutus, who nodded in turn. Favius felt a warm swelling of pride in his chest. She has really become a champion of those ideas. Well, back on Earth, she would likely have been considered extremely gifted.

"If you believe in innovation and the potential of progress, that very belief is a self-fulfilling prophecy." Sirrana tilted her head to the side, and Favius took the opportunity.

"My sister speaks the truth. Have you not seen the soap we delivered? Have you not heard of the new beehives in your time at this estate? Changes are coming which would be impossible in a world that was purely dictated by fate." Sirrana contemplated in silence, and all of them picked up snacks. After a while, Urania sighed, gnawing on a dried fig.

"This tastes so much worse after..." She interrupted herself and swallowed hard, but Brutus laughed.

"Do not worry, she knows."

"Oh yes. The fig tree you found in the forest. The Senator told me about it." Favius raised an eyebrow.

"He did? I thought he would keep it secret." Sirrana chuckled.

"He put on a fine show in the city, hiring woodcutters, even setting up contracts for the wood in preparation of purchasing the land. He was rather proud of that little plot. He explained it to me while we traveled to this estate. Even showed me that worthless piece of shrubbery." Urania sniffed.

"I still don't get how such a piece of land so close to the Eron River was not being farmed. Wouldn't the peasants have an easy time procuring supplies?" Brutus shook his head.

"That particular forest sits on a sandy outcropping. The soil that fig trees prefer is rather poor, so there was little interest in the land for a long time."

"So?" Favius murmured.

"He bought an entire forest for one spiritual plant. Couldn't he have just transplanted it to the estate? Consul Valeria Orestara Marinus had some of them in her garden." Brutus sniffed.

"Even with a Cultor Agrarium and Vitaii Magi, the degradation of spiritual foods applies to plants as well. The plant is always strongest, always has the highest potential in the spot where it grew naturally. Transplanting it would cripple it. And remember what I said." Brutus smacked his lips.

"It has potential."

"Speaking of potential," began Sirrana. She reached into a pouch under the desk and unrolled a vellum scroll.

"I have been instructed to relay a message from the Matriarch." Favius studied the fancy seal of green wax. He reached out, running his fingers over the intricate carving of an oak tree. Well, Grandma certainly knows how to make an impressive letter. He smirked, noting the gilded edges of the vellum.

"The two of you, in the unlikely case that you could achieve more cultivation breakthroughs before reaching your first majority, before being tested for your potential as Magi, are not to pursue any insights of cultivation without her permission." Brutus snorted. Urania raised her eyebrows. Favius tilted his head.

"Is that so?" he replied, but his thoughts were racing. If I remember my reading in the library correctly, cultivation is deeply personal. Dictating the path of someone else's cultivation, it can be done to your subordinates, but even then it's considered to be a severe imposition. And if you are being forced and you report it to a temple... Favius sniffed. Assuming something like the acquisition of an insight can be forced in the first place. Sirrana raised two fingers.

"Before the three of you attempt to lynch me," she said in a dry voice, "would you mind if I finished relaying the message?" Brutus nodded while scratching his beard.

"Yes, yes, we can arrange for the postponement of the lynching. Go on."

"She suggests that in the case of the two of you pursuing further cultivation, I guide you towards two specific kinds of insights." Urania's expression instantly turned excited, and she leaned forward.

"What kind of insights?" Sirrana smiled while Favius rolled his head. Being too excited won't do me any good. She's clearly revealing the information strategically. We should also be playing for time.

"The first would be an insight of learning. Enhanced memorization, quicker comprehension. Something in that vein is nearly universally useful for those seeking the peaks of power," Sirrana continued. Brutus nodded.

"Indeed. Children, while your Grandmother's methods are certainly..." He glanced at the document and spat out the final word.

"... impolite, even I have cultivated an insight in that direction. I possess one that is commonly referred to as..." A grin spread over his face.

"... an insight of insight."

"That's such a dumb name," murmured Urania, and the tension broke. Favius's back shook with laughter. Oh God. For all the sacredness of cultivation, then such an important insight that makes you better at cultivation gets that kind of name.

"So, why can't we just try for that one?" Sirrana nearly choked, and Brutus gave Favius a pained smile.

"It is exceedingly rare and requires possessing at least a dozen other insights. After all, what else could help you gain the required understanding?" Favius tilted his head. It would be a great insight to get. Maybe if Brutus tells me about his insights? But no, if that was possible people would probably be doing it. He looked over at Sirrana.

"That might be agreeable. But you mentioned that she suggested two kinds of insight."

"Indeed. The other one is one I possess, and I would guide you with your training as shifters. This is, after all, the purpose for which I was sent here. An insight of bestial blood. One that is known to make it easier to connect with the spirit in your blood." Favius hummed in consideration before nodding.

"That sounds pretty neat." Brutus made a sharp gesture.

"I do think this lesson has gone on long enough. Let us retire. I am certain that your Father has a few more questions and was merely too polite to intrude on this lesson." Favius chuckled, but Sirrana held up her hand.

"No. Before we leave, I want your word." She looked at Favius. Her single eye stared intently at Favius and Urania.

"That you will heed the Matriarch's orders. That she will have a say in your future cultivation." Urania took in another sharp breath, but Favius stopped her with a look. Well, Marcus was so fond of saying that I have a talent with political answers. I could act outraged... He studied Sirrana's scar and considered the lesson. But what she told me was useful. If she's only half as competent and knowledgeable as Cassian is with the other subjects, I need to make her an ally.

Favius gave Sirrana a sweet smile and inclined his head.

"I swear that I will consult my Grandmother about my future path of cultivation before committing to any new insight." Sirrana narrowed her eyes.

"Consult?" she asked. Favius fought to keep his expression serious. Goddammit. Of course she picked up on that. After all, it's the nature of a consultant to have an opinion, but no vote. He briefly glanced over Sirrana's shoulder at Brutus, who tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

"The boy acceded to your demands, Nyctara Negero. Do not push this tasteless affair further than it needs to go." She let out a long breath and clenched her injured fist. Not spasmodically, like usual. Slow. Deliberately.

"Very well. You have my thanks, Favius." She looked over at Urania. A smile spread over his younger sister's face, and a sinking feeling settled in Favius's stomach, but it was too late.

"Tutor, you may consider me to have said that it would be wise to consult my Grandmother about the future of my cultivation." Sirrana's good eyebrow climbed up her forehead while her scar twitched. Brutus chuckled and shook his head while Favius groaned. The Magnicultor was the first to speak.

"Urania, there is such a thing as a political statement. And then there is such a thing as a deliberate provocation. They are separated by a fine line at times. Yet..." He smiled.

"You may consider that line to have been crossed." She sighed and lowered her gaze. Favius let pneuma flow through his body and mind, refreshing his thoughts after the long lesson. He fixed a steely gaze on Sirrana.

"I assume everything is settled now?" She sighed.

"Yes. I shall tell the Matriarch how... cooperative you were."

"See," commented Brutus, while gesturing at Urania, "that is another political statement." The young girl rolled her eyes. They left, and the evening continued with the predictable requests for information and corrections. The next day passed in a blur of basic lessons, training, and more questions from Marcus and Serran. And then the three days were over. Favius finished his training, bathed, and, accompanied by his closest allies, he walked into his Father's lion's den yet again.