Chương 170: A really shiny stone

As Jarvan exited the portal into the rich office much, much larger than his own, he couldn't help but stop and take a deep breath. Not that he needed breathing, but it just felt like the symbolic action fit the experience of drinking in the much richer magic of Hua-Xi's heartland. While it couldn't compare to the true metropolises of the world, it was still a far cry better than the Autumn lands where he had spent the last dozen years of his life.

"Jarvan," Anasta Temren greeted from behind her desk, gold-ranked aura flaring slightly in polite greeting, matching the size of the room in opposition to her own slight build.

"Anasta. Maximilian," Jarvan replied, greeting the pair.

"Thank you for coming. While I do not mind getting out of the office, the expense of spending a day up in the Autumn lands felt unnecessary," the Heavenward branch director said, referring to the need for those of high enough rank to continuously imbibe spirit coins of their ranks when spending time in the less mana-dense parts of the world.

"And I for one do not mind. A little sight-seeing while on the job never hurts. Fantina even sent me a shopping list," Jarvan replied, taking a seat in the indicated chair in front of the huge desk.

"Then we shall not keep you for longer than necessary. As you might suspect, I asked you to come here in regards to the prisoner that the team from Task Group Gauntlet… procured for us."

"You have my full attention then," Jarvan said, leaning forward eagerly.

"And thanks for picking him up, by the way. It felt important for your people to get everything out of him. We just don't have the same quality of alchemists on retainer with our budget, you see."

"Surely the only reason," Anasta noted, an eyebrow raised.

"While the attempt lacked a lot of subtlety, I will admit that it worked. From what we have been getting out of the man, things might be a lot worse than we expected. First of all, we can confirm him to be… What you suspected. Given, he didn't know too much, but there were plenty of references to superiors and some kind of ambitious undertaking in which he was but a small part. But as you know, the truth-coaxing elixirs can only get us so much.

His statement lacked overall details, but the implications are clear enough for me to be certain that this is a matter which we will need to investigate much more thoroughly than I had previously thought."

"I'm glad to hear it," Jarvan said, not hiding his relief.

"While we have gotten some headway, there is only so much that me and Dobrazza can accomplish on our own."

"Understandable, and you have honestly impressed me by just connecting the dots from your end. It will look good on your resumé when your time as director is eventually over. How many kids are you on now again?"

"The last of the twenty-five are born and healthy," Jarvan stated with obvious pride even as a bit of exhaustion leaked through as well.

"A pair of twins there at the end made us leap across the metaphorical finish line. Well, it'll still be at least sixteen more years before they're ready to leave the nest and go off training with their new essences. But trust me, they do grow up fast."

"Well, give Fantina my well-wishes then," Anasta replied with a helpless shake of her head. Ever the careerist, Jarvan knew that there hadn't so far been time for things like family in Anasta Temren's life.

"But back to the topic at hand. You know the situation here in the capital, Jarvan. I can barely move outside this compound without fierce scrutiny. We will start to investigate more thoroughly here as well, but very, very carefully. If those we think are hiding beneath the surface are hiding in the capital, they are well hidden indeed. And while we do that, I will also discreetly start sending more resources to you, Dobrazza and any other of the directors we bring into this.

Out there, far from the capitol and its gold-rankers, things are simpler in many ways, and from experience we can already say that you have a better chance in finding proper leads or even operations to take down-""-which is sure to cause a stir on your end, giving you more to work with. Cracks in the facade and all that," Jarvan finished, catching onto her meaning.

"Indeed. Now that we have every reason to be vigilant, I believe that we have a better chance. But I urge you to choose your people wisely. While young Kite is eager, you need more experienced hands as well."

"Oh I believe that I have some lined up. In fact, some of them are even working on it as we speak," Jarvan said with a confident smile.

"Then may this venture be a fruitful one. Let us keep to either meeting here where I can guarantee our privacy or use the private channels of the society. As I said before, we will be vigilant, but please do send what warning you can if possible if you plan something."

"I will, of course, do my best. But you know how these things go Anasta; sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot and the lead is fresh."

"And yet I keep hoping, only to have a team from the task group crash into the country and uproot a hidden cabal with only a few hours of forewarning. Do you know how much work it took to cover that up? The number of restricted essence-users they took out?"

"Kite did give me some idea. But would you rather they hadn't shown up, and left that foul congregation out there to grow even further?" Anasta waved to Jarvan with a shake of her head, conceding the point.

"You know I don't. It's just…" she sighed, leaning her head back against the backrest of her chair.

"Things are tense here. Every move just keeps adding to it, especially the unexpected ones. But that is hardly your fault, nor Kite's and the task group's. I'm just venting my frustrations, I suppose." Sitting up straighter, she graced Jarvan with a tired smile, a bit of the indomitable feel to her aura softening.

"I believe there isn't much more we can do here today, and that you had some shopping to do. It was good to see you, Jarvan. Each time I vow that the next time will come sooner, and yet find that the years just run by."

"Good thing that we have a chance at very long lives, then. Hopefully, me and Fantina will join you at gold in the future," Jarvan said, standing up and nodding to each of the directors as he turned to leave. Fantina's shopping list was indeed quite lengthy, and it would be a nice little break before he portaled back to Gilded and began planning things in earnest. Because Jarvan was sure that where there were two priests of Discord to be found, there would certainly be more.

As he entered the office of Ilmaril Thenston, Kite noted that it was apparently not only the elf who would be present for the final results of his evaluation by Task Group Gauntlet. Sir Darnos was there as well, the draconian looking his usual smug self, and Ryker stood to the side with his usual stiff attention.

"Kite, please come in," Ilmaril greeted, gesturing to the lone chair in front of his desk. Kite had barely gotten himself seated before the gold-ranker produced a document which he slid across the table. It was finely crafted paper covered in enchanted seals of different kinds, with an empty line for signing at the bottom. And at the top of the document, the header read 'Task Group Gauntlet - Outer membership'. Seeing the comprehension dawning in Kite's eyes, Ilmaril continued.

"I'm not one for dragging these things out. We have deemed that you have the potential and mentality needed to be part of the task group, should you wish for it. Your power set is specialized enough that I do not doubt that you will be called upon for plenty of contracts during the years to come where we have need of your specific talents, and you are also quick to adapt to the capabilities of the people around you. We have categorized you as a defender and a suppressor, even though such titles are only secondary.

When forming the teams for contracts, we tend to go a lot more in-depth to call upon what we think is needed." As the supervisor finished speaking, even his strict professional demeanor cracked with the slightest hint of a smile as Kite's growing pride and elation started bleeding into his aura more and more with every sentence. While Kite had suspected, or at least hoped, that he was passing their lengthy evaluation, actually having it confirmed was a huge relief.

During his six months spent with the task group, training and going out on contracts, he felt that he had grown a lot, even though said growth had mostly been in other ways than sheer combat capability or his essence powers advancing. No, it was more from seeing so many new places, encountering different cultures and their darker sides, as well as the surprising plethora of criminals and other such unsavory elements they had contended with.

That was not to say that his martial capabilities hadn't grown as well, where his time spend with Ryker and master Zarth-an had let him further condense how he used the addition to his path that was his mantle, as well as lay the foundation for a more comprehensive style of fighting that was tailored for him. And from what he knew of being on the task group's roster, the training would keep on coming.

"-as you know, you have the right to schedule hours with the different trainers on our list, where we have continued to supply suggestions.

And while you have the right to abstain from contracts offered to you, doing so too frequently will risk your membership going up for revision by our overseers," Ilmaril continued to explain as Kite put down his signature on the contract with a special pencil that would imprint his aura into the ink before also touching his society badge to a small metal seal at the contract's bottom to link them.

"Well, I for one am proud of the turnout of this little clutch of new members. There are a number of you who might even be up for inner membership if you continue to prove yourself," Sir Darnos added with a wink after everything was dealt with.

"While the odds are small that all of you will find yourselves working together at the same time in the future, I am sure that you will see each and every one of them again. Still, you and Steiner-girl seemed to mesh well power-wise, so I wouldn't be too surprised if you'll both be called upon when retrieval of hostile persons of interest is on the table." After receiving a nod of approval from Ryker, Kite eventually rose to his feet once the formalities were completed, bowing deeply to each and every one.

"Once more I find myself thanking all of you, both for the show of faith in me and the assistance you provided. Should you ever find means to contact the mysterious benefactor behind the contract to my homeland, I hope that you will convey that it was a resounding success that might lead to even more such corruption being ripped out in the future. By root and stem."

"I am sure that the… benefactor… in question would be most pleased to hear it," Ilmaril said, only a whisper of stiffness coloring his voice as Sir Darnos all but glowed with smug satisfaction.

"That being said, you are dismissed for now, but expect that we will call upon you again soon. As your time with us has surely shown, there is no shortage of work for Gauntlet in our current times." As Kite closed the doors behind him, he found that Amica was waiting for him out in the corridor, floating idly. She had been called in before him, and Kite already knew that she too had passed, but was a bit touched at her waiting to check up on him.

"So, from your aura I gather that things went well, fellow outer member," she said with a grin as the pair started moving through the corridors of the administration building where Ilmaril had his office.

"It did indeed," Kite said, a smile still glued to his face.

"And while I do look forward to being called upon for contracts, I first and foremost want to go home properly. It was odd to visit my homeland and not see any of the people that make it just that; home. Well, we did see director Jarvan, of course," he added, just imagining the mock hurt outrage of the man if he knew that he hadn't been included.

"And then… Well, now you know what we're dealing with back home and why I found the training and experience of Gauntlet so important."

"Yeah, that was quite something. Going up not against just one cell, but maybe a whole network… You sure have your work cut out for you," Amica agreed where she floated beside him.

"What about you then, Amica? What hurdle next awaits on your path towards the heavens?" His question had the other woman turn pensive, even fidgeting slightly with a lock of strawberry blonde hair as she answered.

"Well… I'm actually going to go home. I haven't been there very often since I got taken by those Pain cultists. Not that my family reacted badly or anything. It was just…" She sighted, and seemingly steeled herself.

"My mind healer said that I probably avoid it because of what happened. That even their worry and willingness to help brings up memories which I subconsciously push away. And I probably need to face that a bit more."

"Would you mind if I asked you, then? About your family?"

"Oh, them? I never told you?" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"No. We did get close to it the first time we met, but you brushed the topic aside for another time. And later… Well…" Kite said, both still feeling a bit awkward at the reminder of when Amica had acted a bit… differently around him.

"No time like the present then," she said, forging on instead of dwelling in the awkwardness.

"My mom and dad are well off, but not spectacular. My dad is actually the head auctioneer at the local house in the city state where I grew up, and hence a rather important person in that admittedly small circle. And my mom is an engineer on the civil side of things, designing and planning magical infrastructure and housing. Both are core-using bronze-rankers, and earn enough so that both me and my sister knew that essences were on the table when we grew older."

"And you obviously chose adventuring, while your sister…?"

"She's a crafter. A tailor, to be specific, catering to the richer side of things. When I left, puffy sleeves and visually enchanted materials were apparently all the rage. I will probably get a thorough update on the lay of the fashion land when I get back," Amica said wistfully, even though her mood turned a bit somber afterwards.

"After my incident, they were all so caring and doting. And while that was nice, I always felt that it held an expectation of me to choose another career for myself. Adventuring is dangerous, after all. But after speaking to the priestess… I'm not sure how much of that was just in my head. At least a bit of it. Probably."

"Well, here's to a happy reunion then," Kite said, raising his hand in a mock toast.

"And for what it's worth, I'm impressed with the way you've dealt with things. From what I gather, dealing with one's own mind is rarely simple."

"Trust me, it isn't. But I'll have to admit; it has been worth it so far. No matter how smug me saying so will make that priestess look," she said with some feigned exasperation.

"But best of luck to you too, Kite. And who knows; when I'm done at home I might find a reason to travel to exotic eastern lands. Maybe even end up in your part of the world." Sensing the statement for the tentative question that it was, Kite smiled and gave an honest answer.

"Should you, hypothetically, happen to find yourself in Hua-Xi, my family have a compound south of the city called Bastion. You will always be welcome there, Amica. Speaking of, I wonder how far the construction has progressed?" he mused, the conversation trailing off to lighter topics from there. Amica's portal home was scheduled a few hours before his, so Kite saw her off, bowing in a classical Hua-Xi show of respect as she went through the aperture, floating backwards as she waved to him.

Then, she was gone, off to her homeland. Even so, Kite had a feeling that their paths would cross again. If not by chance through contracts for Gauntlet, then at least by intent and visit. In the hours that followed, he also exchanged a somber nod of acknowledgement with Gray Sky as he too left. While Kite had never really gotten along with the runic, they didn't exactly dislike one another either, making it easy settling for mutual respect.

Emilio was a bit more heartfelt in his still odd mix of haughtiness and friendliness, promising to give Kite the best wine-tour of his life should he come visit. And with Sztyka, there were not many words exchanged either, but with a distinctly different tone. In both the few words spoken and through her aura and intent, Kite knew he would have an ally in her should his needs harmonize with the leonid's way of serving her goddess.

And when his own portal out finally came, Vihaan Shapravati was the one stepping out of the shimmering opaque disc that was his portal, the very same gold-ranker that had brought Kite to the tryouts for the task group in the first place.

"I see that we meet again," the shorter man said, idly twirling his dark mustache.

"Please step through when you are ready. While I have an hour booked for the delay between portals, having some time to relax in between is always nice, no?" he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Of course, master Vihaan," Kite said, making sure that Glint rested comfortably in her bottle and felt Sage's usual, indistinct emotes from within his aura. Through his expanded field of view, he tried to commit Port Singhni to memory just a bit more; from its stone mainland avenues to its floating half, surrounded by palm trees and lit by lanterns of every color when darkness overtook it.

That also made him notice three people watching his departure, having just exited onto the second floor balcony of a nearby building. Christine waved happily while Mtanga just showed his usual pearly white grin. And Ryker, true to form, just gave Kite a stern nod. Turning just before he exited, Kite couldn't help himself; the tattoos of his mantle lighting up as not one but three sets of hands were cupped in his typical, deep Hua-Xi bow of respect.

As he passed into the dimensional gate, he thought that he could almost hear the eyeroll of his teacher from across the yard. Auspicious Winter Raven toddled along the stone path, frost crunching under her little boots as she was unhurriedly doing what little girls just over two years old were bound to do; most anything that caught her fancy.

As she had already finished cracking the newly formed ice on every puddle she had come across and only being stopped doing the same to the decorative pond by a completely unnecessary intervention by mama Crow, Raven had instead gone off in search of other things to amuse herself with. This little traipse finally led her to where she had left that nice rock the other day beneath one of the big trees near the big outer wall.

It was a very nice rock, its shape nice and oval with its color being a pleasant shade of pink. Raven had just picked it up when something unexpected happened; the big door in the big wall opened. It was a slow process, and Raven just stood there and gave the process a nice, long look. The big door in the big wall didn't open that often, and she was often being carried through it as it did, so it was a novel new perspective.

But then things got complicated, because a person stood on the other side; a big one with dark hair and a blue cloak covering some kind of shiny clothes beneath. And while he smiled towards her, Raven stood frozen, torn between the impulses to give the man a proper lookover and to hide behind mama Dove's skirts. As no skirts were available, and feeling at least a bit sure of herself on her home turf, Raven chose the former. And besides, there was something familiar with this big person.

Something- Then it hit her, like an invisible blanket of familiarity. Raven couldn't identify it, but it was a definite sense that this big one was nice. That she knew him and that he liked her. And the feeling made Raven remember.

"Bwothew." It was a word she and her mamas had practiced a lot lately, while looking at a picture. A picture of this big one, Raven's mind had belatedly realized, the connections snapping together with an almost audible click in her mind. And as it turned out that it was brother who had come back, the proper rituals had to be honored. As such, Raven plodded forward, looked somberly up at her big brother, and held up her arms.

His smile didn't waver the slightest, instead only growing as he scooped her up as if she weighed nothing at all, and Raven felt that she had chosen the correct approach as the hug he gave was most satisfactory. Then came the next thing that Raven knew was a sure way to impress big ones; when in doubt, show them something. In this case, she held up her rock for big brother to marvel at. He played his part well too, seeming most impressed with her find, before he seemed to think of something.

"Oh? You like pretty rocks, little Raven? Want to borrow one of brother´s?" he asked as he started carrying her back along the path towards the house where they lived. As Raven did indeed like pretty rocks, she nodded. It turned out that big brother knew his stuff when it came to pretty rocks, as he reached into one of his many bags hidden beneath his coat and retrieved a really shiny one.

It was big and round, shining with pearlescent colors dominated by golden flecks, and Raven had to grasp it in both hands to properly hold it and look into its depths, hypnotized. The new rock was distracting enough that she even missed her own rock falling from her hand and the lines of big brother's face lighting up briefly as another, shiny arm appeared to catch it. Only when she heard mama Dove's voice did Raven realize that they had reached the house where she lived.

"Kite! Welcome back, my dear little chick!"

"Kite, don't you think that it might be a bit too much to give a two year old an awakening stone?" Auntie Dove asked with a mix of concern and amusement as she looked at Raven rolling the shimmering stone back and forth across the floor of their living room while she, Kite and Crow all sat gathered around the low table.

"Dear, you know that the stones are perfectly safe," Crow gently interjected.

"And besides, there is probably a reason for it too. Give it a proper look." Dove did as her wife asked, and after a few seconds of pondering the spark of recognition was clear in both her eyes and aura.

"Oh? You mean that is the same as…?"

"It is. An awakening stone of fortune," Kite confirmed, smiling at the little girl enjoying her very much real treasure.

"I saw it up for trade in Port Singhni, and while it might be presumptuous of me to assume that she will want to share at least a little bit of her path with her older brother, it felt like a good omen."

"I for one feel that it is a most thoughtful gesture, dear," Crow said with a satisfied smile visible over the edge of her teacup.

"It will be rather nostalgic actually, seeing such a stone decorating her room for the decade and a half to come. But speaking of other matters, I'm still surprised that you have already returned. I had thought that it might be at least another week of travel, assuming that you lasted the whole six months. Sensing your aura at the gate while keeping a spiritual eye on Raven was a most pleasant development."

"It would have, I was rather eager to get home as fast as I could. Gods how I have missed you all," Kite said, basking in the feeling of comfort that being surrounded by family could give him. The house may be new, but that changed little.

"And Fortune did smile upon me in that a certain branch director of the capital was very keen on getting me out of there discreetly and as quickly as possible. There has been a bit of development in regards to our suspicions which we spoke of back in Gilded, and director Temren seemed most pleased to not have anything stir the metaphorical pot of the capital at the moment. So she kindly sponsored a discreet portal to Convergence, and here I am."

A more serious pallor fell over the room at his mention of the developments regarding Discord and their clergy, but Dove soon dispelled it by scooching around the table and wrapping Kite in another one of her warm hugs.

"We might as well wait to bring up such dour subjects until Dragonfly returns, as she'll surely want to know as well," she said while burrowing Kite in her long waterfall of brown locks.

"For now, let's just bask in the fact that our little Kite has returned home again. You have to tell us everything! And we have to show you around the compound! The first stage of construction has been done for two months now!" Raven chose that moment to come and plop down in Kite's lap, and as he cuddled the toddler Kite pondered where to begin. He had seen so much during these last three months, after all. But as was most often the case, the beginning was ever the appropriate choice.

"Well, let us just say that my journey took a turn even before leaving the country. I'm not sure if you have been to the capital lately, but as it turned out, dueling is still held in high regard…" Soul, seeker of perfection and blessed of Warrior stopped mid-strike. The other silver-ranker she was fighting, and whose name she had already forgotten, seemed even more startled by the sudden halt in the fluid, shifting offense she had been using to run both literal and figurative laps around the proud swordswoman.

Expecting a trap, the older woman leapt back and assumed a ready-stance with a focus on defense. Soul's mind idly planned a few ways to capitalize on the 'feint', but was more busy in coming to grips with the realization that had at last broken through the metaphorical lid she had been putting on it for a few months now.

"I'm… bored." Inwardly, Soul started cursing, words of denial trying to counterattack. She was not. She would never be. Seeking perfection and martial mastery through clashes with other warriors was her thing. Her path. It couldn't be boring, yet it now was. The thrill of the past gradually watered out, the feeling of mastering a new style and merging it into her own not as glorious. More… hollow.

As if every hour spent no longer gave the same progress, something beyond the normal slower pace as one came closer to mastery. Meanwhile, the swordswoman started an offensive as she realized that Soul's focus had truly been broken, but if Soul had to be honest she had mostly been testing things out in their bout so far. While this little clash was important to the Eden family and whoever had called them out to send champions to duel in their stead over some petty dispute, it was just… nothing special to Soul.

Not anymore. That was why Soul changed up the cadence of the fight all in one swift motion, using her superior speed and strength to stomp down on the foot of the woman and get inside her guard before the swing was completed.

A fist glowing with transcendent damage hit the woman in her lower jaw and a loud crack shook the dueling arena as the combination of the blow together with Soul essentially locking her foe in place for a crucial moment led to a violently snapped neck, where the woman's twisting momentum in her strike only served to make things worse.

While a broken neck wouldn't kill a silver-ranker, it made it rather hard for most of them to move around for a bit as their highly magical bodies fought to find other ways to assume control. But a few seconds was enough for Soul to down the now floundering swordswoman, breezing through a few discharged magical bolts and end the fight with a glowing fist stopping just a hair's breadth above her foe's rolling eye.

"Victory to Soul and the Eden family!" the officiator called, and most of the members of Boundary's prominent families either clapped or simply returned to their conversations in the stands around them, the matter settled. The more ordinary townspeople gathered to watch were usually more impressed, but the sudden and brutal end to the fight instead left them murmuring at the anticlimactic finale. Soul cared for little of this as she swiftly left the arena, as had always been her way.

Even the master or the Edens had eventually learned that trying to come and praise or congratulate her was a study in futility. And with Soul's recent revelation, she would have to disappoint him even further. Quickly arriving at her part of the compound, Soul began to stow her things. All of her things. As she owned little, it wasn't a lengthy process.

She was about to turn and leave right then and there to tell the Eden patriarch of her decision, when she glimpsed the steaming, hot spring bath in the corner of her eye.

"Curses of all the fallen gods upon you, Dragonfly," Soul thought a moment later as she slid down into the warm waters, only stopping just before its surface reached her eyes. The cheery, flame-touched woman would be so smug, so inconceivably smug when learning that Soul had continued to indulge in the warm baths Dragonfly had all but dragged her into during her stay there. But that was not the worst of all.

No, the true source of Soul's frustrations was that not only was she bored, but also that Dragonfly had been right about the source of said boredom.

"South of Bastion wasn't it?" she grumbled to herself, words lost as bubbles in the steaming water.

"I'll show you, Dragonfly. And you too, Pathbreaker. For messing with my purpose like this." Bastion was rather far away though, and Soul would have to travel far to get there. But that mattered little. Soul would persevere through any trip, as was her creed. There was perfection to be found in enduring, after all, be it sleet and snow or the passage of time. But first…

"I… might as well stay in the hot spring a bit longer. Just a bit. In the end, I need to give my all in everything I do, don't I?"