Chương 287: Glimpses of a surge III

"So, the knave finally decided to show himself," Igniting Thunder, leader of the Eternal Embers Sect, stated as his counterpart in the Thousand Echoes Sect floated out through the defensive barrier around their main sect compound. Cloud-Transcending Heart looked unbothered and serene, as the frustrating runic often did, but the gold-ranked auras of the pair had already begun clashing fiercely. You come here throwing such insults, Sect Leader," Sect Leader Heart replied even through the clash of spirit.

"And during a surge, no less."

"As if you should be one to speak of the surge! Was it not your students who attacked and seized our saffron jade mines just a mere few days ago?!" Igniting Thunder shouted in angry reply, the cloud of roiling fire and crackling lightning around him churning along with his words.

"I cannot keep track of everything the students of my sect do," Sect Leader Heart replied with exaggerated nonchalance.

"I trust them to use their judgment and bring glory to the sect. They probably saw an opportunity, and took it. Who am I to blame them?" His words and actions had the intended effect, or perhaps even more so, as the anger roiling off Igniting Thunder intensifying in a surge of aura and magic both. With a roar, the cloud around him spread and reshaped itself into a huge monstrous form that swung at the runic man with eight sets of claws trailing fulminating destruction.

Sect Leader Heart barely managed to slip into the space between the heartbeats through his time confluence, the force and speed of the incoming strike intense enough that even accelerated time almost failed to help.

"Such aggression," the runic replied, seeming genuinely surprised by that degree of reaction as he appeared again in the air further away from the sect compound while looking down at the rent and scorched robes of his left leg and scratched armor beneath.

"And outside of the bounds of a clash, no less. Very well, Sect Leader. Not what I expected, but…" he said, the air around him starting to shimmer as maelstroms of distorted time appeared, threatening to tear apart anything that drew close.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to further drive home that the Eternal Ember will ever be gazing up at the Thousand Echoes as we leave you in the dust on our ways to the heavens."

"Another?" Anasta asked tiredly as Maximillian entered her office, even though her body and demeanor otherwise did not mirror the exhaustion. Gold-rankers often found it hard to get truly tired after all, but Anasta had started to develop her own theory that frustration and exasperation went straight to the soul.

"Indeed. The leaders of the Eternal Embers Sect and the Thousand Echoes Sect started brawling three days ago. Brawling, not clashing, mind you. They apparently kept at it for six hours outside the sect compound, demolishing a concerning amount of territory in the meanwhile. But most importantly, we had another pair of gold-rankers delaying in taking on their assigned contracts to handle the gold manifestations.

Given how many times we've had incidents like this, the aftermath of this surge will be the worst of our tenure, Anasta," Maximillian stated somberly, looking out the windows at the barrier of the defensive arrays that were now in place over the capital city while a nearby pack of gold-ranked monsters were taken care of. While the battle was far away, only the grand detonations of certain essence powers giving them away, nobody with an aura sense in the city would ever be unaware.

And neither were the pair of directors unaware of the damage to the surrounding infrastructure this would lead to. Not their responsibility, but they would still feel it keenly when working through the aftermath of the monster surge.

"I see… This means we'll really have no choice but to further crack down on them once the surge ends. Perhaps even before," Anasta sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Don't we have any better news?"

"Nothing new from the north, which is something at least."

"Oh? No more attempts for Obsidian Crow to intercept?"

"None during the last week, but that might mean that Discord's people are simply focusing elsewhere."

"Such as making sure other quarrels escalate. Of course. It's not like we didn't see it. It's just frustrating how reactive we're forced to be at the moment," Anasta sighed, some of her old accent starting to slip into her speech.

"Well, it seems I will need to prepare some statements and threats of further sanctions, all while simultaneously managing the rest of the damn surge. Just wonderful. At least we can hope that the north remains calm. Or, well, as calm as anywhere can be during this skething calamity." Kite was tired. In a way, the sensation was almost nostalgic as his silver rank meant that exhaustion rarely lasted for long.

It was a distinct reminder that he - power aside - was still mortal, just one with very privileged circumstances. And that he, much like the others alongside him atop the wall of the surge shelter, had to constantly make a choice to fight through those feelings and carry on." Ward!"

Another set of barriers - Kite had lost count of how many he had conjured during the last three hours - appeared outside the defensive arrays of the small fortress built into one of the cliffs that remained common throughout the north of Hua-Xi, even if they were a lot more spread out and sparse this far south compared to the Autumn Lands.

The discs of Heaven-and-Void Warding cracked almost immediately beneath the huge, shimmering feathers that had happened to be launched their way, but absorbed enough of the destructive potential of the attack to let the defensive arrays more easily take care of the rest. Said feathers had been a mere stray shot from the most intense conflict of the area, currently in the end stages in the skies not far from the shelters, where the dark webs of Obsidian Crow kept ensnaring and cutting into the Aether Chimera above.

For the first time during the surge, a gold-ranked manifestation had appeared close to the surge shelter where Kite and Dragonfly were stationed, leading to a frenzied retreat back to behind the walls and arrays for everyone present until they knew more. It was only through Fortune's providence that the manifestation had only contained a single gold-ranked being as well as Obsidian Crow being able to meet the creature in the sky before it could tear into the fortress for real.

But given that the Aether Chimera had instead been accompanied by a vast number of silver- and bronze-ranked lesser variations of its hodgepodge breed, this still left the defenders fighting a furious battle for survival. Never had Kite seen what looked like an actual sea of churning monster bodies like this, the frenzied monsters heedlessly pressing in towards the defenses without regard for their own safety.

The huge variation among them, chimeras of different types one and all, only further added to the disorienting view as the warped monsters spat flames from the mouths of snakes or clawed with the claws of squirrels and sloths all while a host of other heads and limbs similarly tried to deliver violence.

"Good one there," Dragonfly called over the din, having just leapt back up the wall once she saw the incoming stray attacks from the battle in the skies. Kite's wife was glowing, both from numerous wounds as well as from within, and while she didn't seem nearly as tired as Kite felt, he still caught a hint of wear and tear in her expression as well.

Even so, Dragonfly always took a moment to make sure to throw a wink Sprite's way, where her student and the two guild members assigned to her for the surge helped man another part of the wall.

"I have all the mana I could ever want, yet it still feels like it will run out before they do," Kite replied, gesturing briefly to the trio of vortices above him that greedily kept drinking in the mana of every monster in a huge area. Each only contributed with a trickle, but given their numbers… As if to punctuate his statement, Kite briefly conjured Starfall - his volatile hammer - and sent a detonation projected out into the mass of beasts without particular care where among the horde it landed.

Peony would have to look the weapon over soon, he thought, as he was worried that even its self-repair enchantments seemed to be flagging from such repeated detonations over an extended period of time.

"Just keep your focus on those feathers, dear, and rest if you need it. There are plenty of us who can take care of these monsters, given time, but only one of you who is able to ease the pressure on the arrays."

"I- Ward! I shall do my utmost, dear. We shall indeed weather this together. All of us," Kite said, making sure to speak the last part louder so that the gathered bronze- and iron-rankers along the wall heard him as well.

"Hold the line!"

"You heard Senior Brother! We can do this!"

"For the guild!" The scattered chorus of cheers that came in response sounded as exhausted as Kite felt, but there was a resolute edge there that Kite felt resonate with him as they all kept leaning against one another both in deed, as they helped each other clear out as many monsters as possible on a rotating schedule, as well in spirit through their overlapping auras that added up to a mighty whole.

Even the group of sect warriors in the mix didn't seem to have the energy to keep their aloof attitudes anymore, joining in both the cheer and effort.

But the resonance Kite felt was also something greater, but given that another set of glowing feathers were sent out from the struggling Aether Manticore in what he hoped was its death throes while gouts of roiling flames and hissing lighting trailed the ever elusive shadows in the sky, Kite had no choice but to leave further reflections for later as he conjured a fresh set of barriers that he set into motion with careful surges of his mana.

Dragonfly had been right in that it was indeed the most difference his path could make here.

"I hate the surges," Dove muttered as her wife met her in the doorway leading to the outside defensive layer of the surge shelter in their own little piece of the north, stopping for a quick embrace before it was Crow's turn to help man the outer defenses.

"I believe that most of us do, love, but I assume that the comment means that you have a particular aspect in mind this time?" Crow replied.

"Just… Forcing me to fight so close to the places I've cultivated. You know what my confluence will do to the place. Just imagine the time and effort we'll need to make to restore this place," Dove muttered sourly.

"And most of the children are so afraid, which is extra understandable for the orphans given how many lost their parents in monster attacks. I do appreciate your idea to let those who wanted to watch from within the outer layer. It seems to have helped them calm down somewhat."

"Some of us need to hide and feel safe when we are afraid, while others need to see and understand to feel any semblance of control," Crow confirmed.

"It felt right to at least offer them the opportunity, given how well the defenses have held so far. But we're still far enough north that two silvers like us present should be more than enough, especially with such a well-made shelter. I can only imagine things being more intense for Kite and the others down south. But rest now, love. It's time to show those of our charges still watching how much paths can differ from one another. Give them something more to aspire towards."

"-but Sect Leader, surely this cannot be allowed to stand?! Those bastards-""Elder Root, were you perhaps not present at the grand gathering when I informed you of what stance the sect would take if incidents like these occured?" Frost Among Morning Dew asked coldly after silencing the woman with a surge of her aura.

"I thought that as a silver, such a thing would not slip from your memory."

"Of course, Sect Leader, but what about the honor of the sect? It demands-""Nothing more than I deem fit at the moment," Dew interrupted once more, the spiritual lashing even more thorough as she kept up the pressure.

"You know full well that I deem the threat of Discord to be a serious one, especially during a time such as the surge. Our students on guard managed to repel the probing attack upon the Tri-depth lake, and we shall send some reserves there as reinforcements. What we shall not do is participate in the escalations that the would-be puppet masters intend for us, something that will not only shame us but doom us in the long term. That will be all." Enjoying this book?

Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. A curt gesture of her pristine white fan ended the meeting, the elders of the sect dispersing to continue with their duties. Dew could sense that many of them did not agree with her decision, probably thinking she had gone paranoid to the extreme to hold back the response against such a slight.

She could understand them in part, as acting too much due to unseen potential foes behind the scenes did not always seem the most confident move, but Dew had also noted that the skeptics were mostly those who weren't in the capital during the Proving. They hadn't seen or felt the shift in the atmosphere of the city which seemed to keep leaking out into the wider kingdom ever since. Also…

"Make sure to assign an extra pair of eyes on the goings on of Elder Root," Dew commanded one of her grand elders after having waved the man over.

"It might just be the ignorance of the indignant, but we need to make sure that certain ideas won't keep spreading to the students."

"Of course, Sect Leader," came the response, the man leaving to issue a few more orders than before. This left Dew free to pore over the new report of manifestations, flagging a few of them for her personal attention, and with a high priority too. Having a sect this close to the heartlands meant that there were the occasional gold-ranked manifestation even outside of the surge, usually something she might need to compete for with nearby rivals. But now with the surge?

Dew felt satisfied that Kite and his ilk might have to work a little bit harder to catch up to her, leadership duties or not. Thinking of her erstwhile student, now only a few years away from gold himself if he kept up the pace, gave her both a sense of satisfaction and concern; the former for her hand in his early days and the latter for everything he was up against.

While there were never any guarantees, she felt that he had a good chance at managing the insights required to reach gold rank relatively smoothly, even if one - or potentially two - of his essences might be more troublesome than the others. As for his companions… They were more of a mixed bunch. But there was no rushing these things, even though the surge would surely help. It was a calamity for the world, but for the essence-users who survived? For them it was most surely also a stepping stone.

As the swirling rainbow light of the manifestation finished coalescing, Kite took an appreciative glance at the curved scimitar that seemed to have caught a great deal of the clouds above inside its blade before he quickly snatched it out of the air and deposited it in a spatial bag.

"Another? Peony will drown in materials after this is done. Gods, a looting power sounds so nice," Dragonfly sighed from where she sat meditating next to Sprite, only half an eye cracked open to note the results of Something From Nothing.

"Then just imagine those who can loot the monsters themselves, turning each slain into coins and other things directly," Kite replied with a shake of his head, before quickly adding: "Not that I complain in any way, but rather thank Fortune every day for the blessing that is my own. As for Peony, yes I believe she will be pleased. And so shall the guild, given how much of her best non-commissioned work ends up in its merit exchange. A blade of clouds of some kind…"

"... is sure to be something awesome?" Dragonfly finished questioningly, seeing how Kite had fallen silent while seemingly considering something.

"What's the matter?"

"I just pondered if something might be worth the effort or if it would merely be throwing pearls to pigs… But as you said, Peony will get her due. I'll be right back." Leaving Glint behind with the others, the familiar happily taking a nap in her smaller carp form upon a small bed of shimmering treasures, Kite then made his way outside the surge fortress that had been their assigned home base for the surge and towards a nearby hill.

While there had been a few actual waves of monsters like when the gold-ranked chimera had manifested a few days back, most of the time they were instead ranging all across the area to snuff out smaller manifestations before they could gather properly.

That was why the closest area was currently quite calm and empty, with the exceptions of a pair of silver-rankers who sat beneath a tree atop a nearby hill; one aura steady and still while the other felt raw and slightly shuddering, like a butterfly just having broken out of its cocoon.

"Pathbreaker? Have we received a new assignment? If so, can it wait for an hour longer? My disciple here still needs some more time to center himself," Pewter Heart, an elder of the Dusk River Sect asked, voice wary but not hostile. Their sect was one located northeast of Orchard, with territories overlapping the assigned zones between that city and Convergence to the north.

It was distant enough for the guild not to have too many run-ins with its members but close enough for Kite and his fellows to have paid them a visit during their little tour of the north in the months leading up to the surge. Overall, his standing with them wasn't as laden with tension as with those closer to Convergence, which was part of why Kite had decided that an extra peace offering might be a chance at a worthwhile investment.

"Not yet, Elder. I came to offer my congratulations to your disciple," Kite said, nodding to the freshly ascended silver-ranker.

"As well as to present to him a gift." As he said the latter, he brought out the blade seemingly filled with clouds that Something From Nothing had produced not long before, offering it to the disciple who had stirred from his meditation at the conversation.

"Since your path seems to involve both skill with the blade as well as the cloud essence, I thought that this might be of use," he continued.

"Especially since it is not always that one has had the time to prepare additional equipment for ranking up now that the surge came and hurried things along." Kite had tried hard to phrase himself as clearly as possible, but knew that if the elder or the disciple chose to, it would be easy to take offense at a number of things in his gesture and statements.

Indeed, Pewter Heart seemed to eye him with more suspicion while the disciple found it hard to tear his eyes from the weapon, indicating that Kite had been on the mark in at least one of his guesses.

"Forgive my surprise, Pathbreaker, but it seems a bit odd that you merely had such a thing lying around, much less one you would so readily give as a gift," the elder said, a bit tense.

"I did in fact not possess the blade for long, Elder. It was made from one of my powers, probably as a result from all of those cloud cockatrice we hunted down yesterday. As for me gifting it… A new warrior of Hua-Xi reaching silver should be reason enough in and of itself, but we will also be fighting alongside one another for some time yet.

It would not do for any of those protecting my juniors to not be adequately armed when Fortune so readily blessed us with the opportunity," Kite explained, once more feeling himself walking the tightrope of praise and pragmatism. The many parties and gatherings before the Proving where he had represented the guild had taught him just how hard it was to give a gift to someone not quite an enemy but definitely also not a friend yet.

The addition of Kite's own interest, even played up as they were, might be enough to let the elder feel that he had gleaned Kite's true motives, but also enough to take offense. There was a moment of silence where Pewter Heart kept regarding Kite before he eventually nodded.

"Well, Disciple, it would seem that fortune has smiled upon you too today then," the older silver-ranker stated, nodding towards the blade in Kite's hands.

"If you are ready to accept the debt of karma, then I would suggest that you take the gift and give proper thanks." This was all the younger man needed to rise from his meditative position and walk over to Kite with an obviously restrained, measured pace before bowing deeply while accepting the scimitar.

"I, Tide of Plenty, accept this gift and recognize the imbalance of karma that now rests between us, Pathbreaker," the man intoned, eyes already drinking in the weapon.

"And I, Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune, known as the Pathbreaker as well as The Sentinel of the Gates, acknowledge this pledge. However, I would ask that you pay it back to the members of my guild whenever you might meet rather than to me personally, and I trust in your honor to see it through somewhere upon the long climb towards the heavens." Both disciple and master nodded in acknowledgement of Kite's words, the young man seeming relieved at having a more general way to repay the favor sometime in the future.

"With that out of the way, I am sure that you have plenty to consolidate after your ascension, so I shall not bother you further. With that path of yours, I'm sure I'll be seeing you walk among the clouds before the day has passed," Kite finished, returning to the fortress and the plenty of monster surge still remaining.

"You did a good thing today, young adopted cousin," Obsidian Crow noted, towering over where Kite sat resting against one of the trees that remained nearby.

"Honored Senior. I would stand and bow but…" Kite remarked wryly while gesturing at where his previously missing leg was in the process of being reattached by the potent enchanted bandages currently wrapped around it.

"I can bear the slight this time," the gold-ranker chuckled, crouching.

"It's not every day that a silver will need to try and hold off a true gold-ranked monster by himself."

"Glint did help, but still… It was indeed quite rough."

"As I would imagine. Little Crow told me about what you faced inside the gate, and now it sounds like you have gotten a glimpse of the difference between those artificial abominations and the real deal. Still, your intervention did mean that I could get back from my last assignment in time so that this beast couldn't start pummeling the fortress. For that, I commend you, as I hope that the others have."

"Well, Dragonfly probably won't. I wonder if she will buy the story that we just happened upon it on our way back, no matter that it's the actual truth. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that it happened upon us?"

"Indeed, my bond. It was quite fast and persistent. Leading it back to the fortress would have been doing them no favors," Glint agreed from Kite's side where the familiar hovered protectively.

"At least it was one where your odd path gave you a better chance than most. Although you'll find it more common among gold-ranked monsters than ever before. More sophisticated magical abilities are just the start of it," Obsidian Crow noted before he sat himself down in the grass opposite Kite, ignoring the destroyed landscape around them that was the remnant of his arrival and ensuing clash.

"While we wait for you to recover somewhat, I might as well take the time to ask you a question. Or perhaps ask for a report is a better description… Ardent will no doubt want to learn of your progress, and I am more likely to sooner get communications into the capital after the surge than you.

Anything you'd be willing to share will no doubt calm that stubborn one's heart a bit, because I don't think he's fooling anyone when he claims to feel nothing beyond the concern a teacher might have for his sporadic student." Kite couldn't help but chuckle at the gold-ranker's words, and didn't need too long to consider. Obsidian Crow had been a peripheral figure in his life, but had been part of it for quite some time now and had only helped Kite's cause, be it personally or in the fight against Discord.

Sharing his path and progress with him was a small matter, all things considered.

"It… Is quite tough, honestly. Or at least parts of it," he began, finding that talking helped distract him from the feeling of his leg being knit back together.

"Teac- Ardent initiated me into the insights of gold rank, and I have indeed experienced them. When it comes to my barrier and resolute essences, I would even dare say that it feels like things are coming naturally; as if what I do and how I… am? Like it simply meshes well, only deepening my understanding. But then there are void and negation…" Kite trailed off, his meaning clear.

"Concepts that might feel a bit harder to see oneself embody," Obsidian Crow filled in, his nod only visible through his red mask moving against the darkness of his armor and hood.

"Indeed," Kite sighed.

"It doesn't help that I feel that, in a way, I have limited time until… You know. As if I might fail everything in my kingdom by being unable to properly make an impact if I remain silver."

"Really? I would say that you have already nudged things a lot more than most silvers so far, little adopted cousin. But those words won't alleviate your worries," Obsidian Crow replied, pausing for a while to think and seeming to weigh his words.

"While I'm no Ardent Horizon Seeker, I have two pieces of advice that I believe would be helpful to you rather than detrimental, should you wish to hear them."

"Please, Senior," Kite answered without hesitation, to which the gold-ranker chuckled.

"I would advise you to dampen your enthusiasm, young one. Counsel in regards to gold rank will ever remain frustratingly vague, and for a reason. Anything else might simply cement your mind and view in ways that might leave you stuck for the rest of your life. But the first would be thus; there are more ways to resonate with the essences than to embody them. Find those ways, be they part of your past or future.

As for the second; when you seek new perspectives, I've found that those are best found through experiencing the unknown and - more often than not - the uncomfortable. When this surge ends, take that into account going forward."

As he finished, Obsidian Crow looked at Kite in a way that seemed to expect some kind of protest, but when he saw the younger man seeming to have been completely lost in thoughts at his words as well as sensing the pondering ripples of reflection in his aura, the previous chuckle grew to an actual laugh that - in most other situations - might have seemed quite ill-boding coming from the ominous dark figure.

"You truly are your father's son, Kite, of that there is no doubt." This comment snapped Kite out of his thoughts, and his look had Obsidian Crow shrug.

"Oh don't give me that look. Nobody will hear us here unless there happens to be a diamond-ranker spying on us, and there's not much we could do about that. Also, it's honestly starting to become pretty impressive how long the two of you have held onto this little act of yours. You do know that it is acceptable to want to have some kind of relationship with your birth father while still also appreciating and loving the rest of your family that raised you, right?"

"I…" Kite said after a few moments of stunned silence at the most blunt jab.

"I'm… starting to understand why Ardent always refers to you as meddlesome. No offense meant, honored Senior."

"Heh, I have no doubt that he does. For what it's worth, accepting that part of myself - my curiosity and my complete inability to refrain from getting my threads tangled up in everything and everyone - was actually an important part of my own insights to break into gold," the Tengu clansman said with another chuckle as he rose, and Kite felt shadowy threads pull him to his feet as well to stand somewhat carefully on his still injured but now at least serviceable leg.

"Now as you seem to have recovered enough for us to head back without leaving any limbs in our wake, I believe it's time for me to take you back for some proper healing. And for you to give what I said - everything I said - some proper consideration."