Chương 250: Ready yourself

"Auntie? You wanted to speak to me before our departure?" Kite asked as he entered Auntie Crow's workshop. The space was a far cry from the one which she had used for years back in Starberry Peak, with just over four times the space and a dedicated, reinforced testing area for the formation plates that were the bread and butter of her business.

"I did, dear," Crow replied as she turned from her current project while strands of hair started cleaning up and putting tools and materials back in their place.

"While this technically is not a secret from the rest of the family, as the owner of this plot of land and the astral space I wanted you to hear it first and decide what to do with this information."

"Oh? Have you received the final measurements of the mana density?" Kite asked, curious as he sat down next to his auntie who had produced a stack of papers covered in graphs that he could only somewhat understand.

"These are the values from the past two months," Crow explained, pointing to a few of the diagrams.

"I've read up quite a bit on the topic and tried to get a feel for the normal fluctuations in the magical density to see if the dryad's observation could best be explained through that. But…" she said, pointing to another graph which her neat notes indicated was a projection.

"Two months of measurements is a paltry foundation for any true predictions, but there is indeed a distinct rise in the magical density of the space that any natural fluctuations fail to account for. And should it continue along the lines of Bartleby's Density Theorem, the most consistent model which I could find in the library of Bastion's Magic Society, the future might be… interesting."

"Auntie…" Kite breathed once he managed to comprehend the graph.

"Is this… We'll have gold-ranked manifestations in there?"

"The coming year will serve to confirm it, but early estimates point toward it," Crow agreed.

"Right now, the mana in there is a bit sparser than here on the outside, but within three years it should have surpassed that with some margin. Probably enough to sustain a gold-ranker without detriment. Actual manifestations are probably at least five to seven years further into the future, but still… Kite, this is quite the development.

I'm not sure if the tree is the cause of this or if there are other explanations, but what others thought was a pretty useless astral space might turn out to be a treasure trove once gold-ranked quintessence and the like start manifesting in there. A dangerous trove too, given the monsters, but still."

"We, Auntie," Kite said, still a bit baffled but earnest as he leaned out to pat her hand.

"We're a family in this, and you know it. But this is something we need to take into account when planning for the future, as well as pray to Fortune that I or someone else close to me has reached gold in the coming ten years. Otherwise we might have to seal the space until we can make sure that no calamities come walking out of that aperture."

"My thoughts exactly, little Kite. We did raise a wise young man willing to plan for the future," Crow noted with a fond smile.

"And fortunately I also have a knowledgeable Auntie who managed to pick out something this important in Verdant Evergreen's off-handed comment," Kite retorted.

"Now we have time to plan and prepare. I will need to ask the dryad what this will mean for her continued stay there. And for the tree."

"From what my senses pick up though, little Kite, your portal courier just arrived," Crow noted, rising along with Kite as they both went to exit the workshop.

"With your leave, Dove and I will speak to the dryad while you are away. Best to focus on how you are going to coax a farewell hug from a dour little Raven, now that you're already leaving again." Taking a moment to reach out with his aura, Kite did indeed feel the equivalent of a sad and grumbling little thundercloud hiding in her favorite spot beneath a few bushes in the garden.

"Ah, I believe that you are correct, Auntie. I will do my best to extend a peace offering and make reparations before I convene with the others and Mistress Riz."

"Such a good big brother," Crow said, giving Kite a hug.

"And have a nice trip, dear! I hope that you find Serene and Gold in good health and thriving. Please send them our regards."

"Honored High Priest," branch director Anasta Temren greeted as soon as she appeared after teleporting into the man's office inside the temple in Heavenward.

"How can the Adventure Society assist you and Lady Knowledge today?" Venerable Owl, the gold-ranked leonid who was the highest ranking member of Knowledge's clergy in Hua-Xi, was already seated next to a low table, a pot of tea steaming in its center. As his kind tended to be, the high priest was a towering figure with fur mottled between gold and brown.

Gold rank only served to heighten this, and in the priest's case this held especially true in regards to his mane that had grown into a magnificent flowing statement of leonid pride beyond anything Anasta had seen on anyone else.

"Or is this meeting perhaps not only on your behalf?" Anasta continued, noting that there were not two but three cups set up around the table. She wasn't too surprised though, as while the church of Knowledge could not always act directly in many matters, they were excellent at finding reasons to connect other suitable parties and facilitating very fruitful meetings and exchanges of ideas.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind that I've invited a good friend today too," Venerable Owl replied, smiling knowingly.

"They were about to contact you themselves anyway, so I thought that I could save us all some time and you, Director, some scrutiny."

"How thoughtful," Anasta replied, only half-sarcastic. Because so far, her goals and those of the church of Knowledge seemed to have been quite aligned. And in this kingdom, during these times, she would not scrutinize an ally like that too closely.

"I will assume you know when they are about to arrive too?"

"Of course. In about fifteen seconds. This is the usual time we meet for tea every week, after all." As things tended to be with Knowledge's clergy, the high priest's estimate was on the mark, and there was a pulse of aura from outside at what Anasta estimated to be exactly the fifteen second mark.

Venerable Owl answered it with a pulse of his own, admitting a silver-ranker into the room; a tall and lithe human woman whose slightly darker skin and chestnut hair hinted at an origin in the southern parts of the kingdom. And while they hadn't interacted much, Anasta did know the priestess, if only by name.

"Honored High Priestess," she greeted, bowing slightly in her seat.

"You and most holy Unity are a sight for sore eyes these days."

"Oh? Branch Director Temren? What a fortunate coincidence," said High Priestess Embrace of the Winds, before the obvious truth of the matter struck her as she turned to Venerable Owl, bowing.

"Or rather, thank you High Priest for your assistance. Unity bless the connections you and your Goddess help facilitate."

"Of course, High Priestess, of course," the high priest of Knowledge replied, his return bow a lot shallower due to his higher rank even though they were both the respective leaders of their local branches of faith.

"We had our customary rendezvous today, and I thought that we might expedite things if we let the branch director join us. She is under a lot of scrutiny these days, and I thought it simpler for her to come here rather than one of your people bringing a message to her."

"That's quite convenient indeed. Thank you, my friend," the high priestess of Unity said as she turned to Anasta.

"If you'll excuse me, Director, I'll go straight to the heart of the matter."

"Please, High Priestess. Go ahead."

"Thank you. You see, I recently received word from my superiors in the Cathedral of Bonds that they had some funds they wanted to direct to my small local branch. I am apparently to house several new acolytes in an attempt to expand Unity's presence here in the capital, with resources to make some slight extensions to the temple. This is honestly quite surprising, as you probably know that blessed Unity's influence here in Hua-Xi is quite… sparse…"

While the priestess didn't say it out loud, Anasta quickly caught on to her meaning as the woman glanced towards Venerable Owl. Most of the major churches had a gold-ranked high priest or priestess overseeing their business in the kingdom, and in most cases around the world, Unity would be one of them. But this was not the case in Hua-Xi, made clear by the rank disparity between the two high clergy.

"This does sound like a boon for you. May your endeavors be continually blessed," Anasta replied.

"But I still find myself curious as to how I am part of this."

"My apologies, Director, it seems like I didn't manage to go straight to the point at all…," the high priestess said a bit flustered before she managed to gather herself.

"You see, only part of the funds were supposed to go to said expansions. A sizeable amount was actually to be directed to you personally to, I quote; 'sponsor special contracts to unaffiliated adventurers that further the values and purview of Unity'. While I have no idea as to what those would be, I wanted to meet to deliver these to you," she said, sliding a sealed scroll over to Anasta while glancing at the priest of Knowledge.

"As to how they knew of said contracts though… I would dare hazard a guess." While Anasta's eyebrows rose as she took in the content of the scrolls and the sums therein to be transferred, Venerable Owl only chuckled.

"I for one tend not to make too many guesses," the leonid said with a pleased smile bordering on the mischievous.

"Knowledge is something for one to find on their own through work and diligence, after all. But my Lady has ever been prone to, at times, nudge people in the right direction."

"Thank you, Mistress Riz," Kite said once the world had come back into focus and the slight daze of the portal had faded.

"Once again you have seen us safely to our destination."

"Why thank you, honored patron," the colorfully dressed elf replied as her dour stone portal disappeared behind them.

"As I couldn't bring you all the way to your destination this time, it pleases me immensely to hear that you remain satisfied."

"Not even one as well-traveled as you could be expected to have a wayward monastery memorized. That you could even bring us to the closest city state is impressive enough."

"Well, they do make a special kind of fermented milk in these parts that has a kind of kick not found elsewhere," Riz replied, ostensibly not glancing at the brewery which had been their destination. Or dairy farm? Or some kind of combination of the two? From Riz's description, Kite honestly wasn't sure, but the silver-ranked, centipede-like bovines that grazed along the nearby hills indicated that he wasn't too far off.

"Best of luck in finding your own way from here. Although given the clues, I don't think you'll have any trouble. I'll be back in two weeks to pick you up." With those words, the portal courier went to enter the nearby establishment - a squat series of buildings built into the hillside to resist the wind and snow that were apparently quite severe during the winter months - calling a greeting phrase in the local language as soon as she kicked open the door only to be greeted by equally happy greetings from within.

This left Kite, Glint, Dragonfly, Sprite, Will and Laevyeth standing at the picturesque hillside and taking in the impressive vistas that were all around them. The city state of Skybas was a remote one, located in the southern parts of an impressive mountain chain far west of Hua-Xi. Said mountains currently towered around the group, the cliffs and heights thoroughly dwarfed by the sheer size of these edifices.

Most of the slopes and the mountains themselves were still green with hardy plants at this time of the year when summer was transitioning to autumn, but the faraway peaks were constantly covered in snow and ice no matter the time of year.

From what Kite had researched though, Skybas was quite flourishing even given the distance to the jungles and coast to the south as the magical density was enough to make sure of a steady stream of silver-ranked manifestations and a similar grade of natural magical resources while gold-ranked ones practically only occurred during monster surges or as precursor signs to the recurring disaster.

The city itself was built mostly from stone, but as some of the buildings towered quite high Kite suspected that magical arrays helped keep the elements away as opposed to the squat little brewery on the slopes outside. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. And as for the clues to Serene's whereabouts that Riz had mentioned, Kite did indeed agree that they would have no trouble finding their way.

"Heavens…" Laevyeth said, having adopted the phrase from her new home.

"This song… Never have I felt such peace." Echoing softly among the mountains, a smooth and pleasant hymn could be heard; voices in perfect union even though the echoes had been carried far.

"That is our Serene for you," Dragonfly agreed, Sprite at her side seeming almost transfixed at the harmonies.

"Although this is probably not only her doing. Didn't the church say she and Gold were currently living in some kind of monastery?"

"They were indeed. It is called the Skysinger Priory, and the name seems quite fitting," Kite confirmed, enjoying the song that seemed to echo among the mountain before finally being swallowed up by the skies above.

"It is apparently located further up the mountains in a secluded valley brimming with some kind of special stone, so we will not be visiting the city straight away unless we need to find housing there. The church would send word of our arrival, but I do not know if the priory accepts guests."

"This young mistress shall take us there quickly then," Glint stated from where she stood beside Kite.

"The city beneath will simply have to make do with basking in the sight of my passing. This music is most pleasing however, so the flight should be even more enjoyable than usual." And given what Glint was currently wearing, Kite could only hide a smile, as their passage would no doubt be noticed by anyone with eyes.

The familiar's draconian form was currently swathed in flowing robes that seemed to be wrought from liquid jewels, complete with a shawl draped across her lower arms while the rest of it was freely floating to form a kind of halo behind Glint's back. If one looked closer though, the 'fabric' would be revealed to not be cloth at all but small crystals no bigger than a grain of sand which Glint could manipulate to take any shape or color she desired.

And as Glint changed into her long, serpentine form the garment grew with her, each tiny crystal growing to the size of a coin to allow similar fashion control as Glint had it float around her long sinuous body in a spiral pattern. This latest addition to the familiar's wardrobe was no mere trinket either, but the commissioned boon she had asked of Gleam as a reward for their work inside the gate.

WWJS: [Item] All-Encompassing Raiment of Eternal Celestial Splendor Silver rank - (Growth) Legendary Soulbound [Effect] Changes shape and color according to the wearer's will. [Effect] For an ongoing cost of moderate mana, the raiment can harden to form a protective shell. An enemy striking the raiment in this state will be inflicted with the [Flash blindness] affliction [Flash blindness] (affliction, light): The afflicted is blinded for a brief duration, losing access to visual input for the duration.

Creatures with multiple or sensitive eyes are especially susceptible to this effect, while creatures lacking eyes or possessing other countermeasures will be unaffected. [Effect] For a variable mana cost, the wearer can send fragments of the raiment into any mass of water they are currently controlling, increasing the size and scope of the effect. Cost increases with the cost of the base power affected. [Effect] Increases the potency of any karmic affinity powers and effects used by the wearer.

Kite really shouldn't have been surprised that Glint had chosen something related to clothing, but not even he could have expected the sheer level of eye-catching bedazzlement that the familiar was capable of with her new garb. Glint's wish had - according to the familiar herself - been mostly focused around the aesthetic potential of the raiment and that she wanted it to remain available to her for the rest of her life.

As a diamond-ranked crafter, Gleam had been able to deliver, producing this wonderful creation that would be able to follow Glint to the very top even though the construct had sent a note with the delivery specifying that it was mostly the rather simple base request that allowed her to pull out such potential from the material while adding some other effects she thought would serve Glint well in the long run.

In some cases, like the requests of Soul and Kite himself, it would simply not be feasible with the materials Gleam had on hand. But in their current situation, this gift for Glint meant that the party did indeed travel in style, with the familiar extending her raiment to envelop the magical ship she pulled behind her as well. The end result was something akin to a shining comet glittering like diamonds that made its way across the sky towards the mountains beyond the city.

Given that a few auras swept over them, ranging from curious to wary, Kite dared to assume that the attempt to make a worthy entrance had been successful. Given Glint's speed, the rest of the trip to the priory proved a short one as the familiar followed a mountain valley for what would be a two hour trip on foot for a normal-ranker. The echoing songs remained soft and gentle, but grew steadily stronger over the few minutes of travel before their destination finally came into view.

The Skysinger Priory was a beautiful set of buildings whose exteriors were designed in odd curves that reminded Kite of a concert hall or auditorium, with pleasant gardens surrounding it. And as Kite had learned beforehand, the whole inner part of the valley as well as the priory itself was made of a pale stone with a distinct marbling of sky blue.

Aptly named Songstress' marble, it was apparently an excellent material to work with when constructing enchantments or arrays interacting with sound and resonance, visible even from afar as the blue marbling glowed and flickered in time with the cadence of the music.

This made the emotional impact of the song even more keenly felt the closer they got, but it was when an aura fell upon them that Kite, Dragonfly and Will all broke out into wide grins at the familiar spiritual touch; silver rank but carrying a depth and nuance way beyond what would normally be possible.

"She's here! Serene's really here, Kite!" Dragonfly squealed in delight as she grabbed Kite's arm while jumping up and down at the front railing of the magical ship.

"And from the feel of it, she has gone on to eclipse us all in regards to her aura. Heavens, it's all around us, even though I just manage to detect it," Will said, holding Laevyeth's hand as he turned to the outworlder.

"What about you, my Lady?"

"I might have felt it in my true form, but as thou sayest, my Lord, this is something else," the outworlder agreed.

"And these songs… Should I ever wish for peace, I shall request to be placed in these halls to simply bask in the serenity and never wish for anything else."

"This is a place of resonance, after all. You would be a suitable guardian, my Lady, even though my heart sings all the louder at the thought of you being by my side."

"As does mine own, my Lord." Seeing the pair once again lose themselves in whatever bond they had, Kite could only smile and pull Dragonfly a bit closer.

"Wait," she murmured, softly enough for only Kite to hear.

"We're the ones getting married yet they feel like they somehow got us beat. And with quite the margin too."

"Some comparisons are just unfair, my ardent Dragonfly. Best to simply focus on our own and leave the heavens to judge the rest," Kite replied, equally amused. Glint had started slowing their approach somewhat, which meant that the people who they had come seeking also had the time to emerge from the priory and come to meet them. And as they felt the auras of the approaching ones, another detail clicked for Kite and Dragonfly at the same time.

"Wha-" Kite began, surprised. But also overshadowed by the jubilant shout of his intended.

"No way!" Dragonfly called out, laughing loudly as she leapt from the deck with enough force to send the ship swaying from side to side as she shot ahead. This meant that once Glint touched down at the edge of the priory grounds, Dragonfly had already wrapped Serene and Gold in a huge hug while simultaneously taking great care to not crush the baby carried in the songstress' arms.

There had been plenty of normal-rankers and children in the priory, but only when one of the tiny, raw little auras had accompanied the pair out to greet them had they managed to connect the pieces.

"Heavens, is it good to see you both!" Kite called as he approached after making sure to help Sprite join him through a floating pane of force from Leyline Warding that he carefully controlled with the help of his latest racial gift evolution.

"Or rather, all three of you. My most heartfelt congratulations!"

"Kite! Song's blessings upon you," Serene greeted in turn, words forming out of thin air around Kite as she smiled towards him. The celestine managed to disentangle herself from Dragonfly's embrace through a masterful diversion where she simply handed the shorter woman the baby in her arms, leaving Dragonfly standing in awe of the tiny little life so that Serene could walk to meet Kite, Sprite, Will and Laevyeth.

Being a silver-ranker, Serene Breeze had not outwardly changed much with the exception that her jade-green hair was now kept long enough to reach the small of her back. But there was a distinct change in her spirit as Kite let his aura mingle with the priestess', as important a familiar greeting for an essence-user as the hug that followed soon after. There was a kind of calm to Serene now, one that hadn't been discernible was lacking before seeing the contrast to the present.

Like many celestines, Serene was very conventionally beautiful, but there was a slight softness to her fine features now which only served to heighten that beauty to a hitherto unseen degree.

"Life with your church seems to have been kind to you. Both of you," Kite remarked after his friend had greeted Will and introduced herself to Sprite and Laevyeth, noting the connection between Will and the outworlder with particular interest.

"We have truly been blessed," Serene agreed, looking back to where Gold was proudly towering over Dragonfly as she kept cooing and lavishing praise over the baby. Worth Transcending Gold also looked much the same as before with his wide, tall form and completely shaven head. But as he, like Serene, was currently dressed in the sky-blue robes of Song's clergy, his towering presence felt less imposing than before when Kite had mostly seen him wearing his reinforced, conjured armor of metal and bone.

The gentle giant did seem very content too, the pride of a new father flowing through his aura like the waters of a fountain. Then Serene continued, projecting her voice to address each of the new arrivals:"Please, everyone. Let us retreat to the priory. The house of Song welcomes you, and I believe that we have much catching up to do, as well as new acquaintances to make."

"Walker."

"Soul."

"What brings you to my arena?" the amethyst-haired celestine asked, not ceasing her shadow sparring as she flowed from stance to stance according to some kind of rhythm which was lost on Walker as he conjured a small tree to lean against.

"News and a request."

"More new members who want to join our practices? They may come, but I won't let them distract me from-""No, no," Walker interrupted, trying and failing to hide a smile at the mere token resistance which the martial artist put up these days in regards to taking on more students.

"This is actually in regards to you yourself."

"Well? What?" Soul asked, straight to the point as was her way.

"News first. It wasn't long ago since I returned from the capital and our summons from the King."

"I noticed."

"And do you know what came of those summons?"

"No, but I assume that you will soon tell me."

"Well, you're not wrong there. To summarize, the King - surprisingly enough - approved of what the guild has been up to as we have shown the strength to stake our claim here in the north even despite the opposition of the local sects."

"Unsurprising. The King is known as a warrior first. Good to see that holds true."

"Given how well you performed inside the gate, as well as Soaring Soul herself showing an interest, he even went a bit further than mere appreciation too. The guild has now been offered the opportunity to send a single member to represent us in the Grand Proving, something normally only offered to the sects and each city of enough prominence." This did cause Soul to cease her practice, actually turning to face Walker with a spark of interest in her eyes.

"And you mean to appoint me?" she asked, the deduction an easy one.

"If you're willing, which we honestly already took for granted," Walker confirmed.

"And why not the Pathbreaker?"

"Partially because Kite will have other matters to attend to in the capital during the Proving, but also because he too thought that you would be a more worthy representative. Kite does think very highly of you, being the only person of his rank that I've seen being able to regularly defeat him in a duel in recent years. He thought that it would help your path along too, as it seems you cannot get enough from the challengers who come here.

Facing the kingdom's first and foremost warriors should be able to alleviate that somewhat. So, will you do it?" Soul was silent for a moment, leaving Walker wondering if the celestine would perhaps turn the offer down out of some sense of inferiority to Kite, but as a grin - an actual grin - broke out on her face a moment later, those worries proved in vain.

"You were correct, Walker. The answer was always a foregone conclusion," Soul said, lowering into a fighting stance.

"I will need tempering. Preparation. Sparring partners. Now." That was when Walker also noted that he was probably the only other silver-ranker present in a good radius of the guild hall at that moment, eyes widening slightly as Soul finished.

"Ready yourself."

"Oh shi-"