Chương 300: Simply amazing

"You keep impressing me, Little Sun Sprite. It feels like you just started out on your path yesterday, and now you are past the halfway mark to silver rank," Kite said as he bowed towards his wife's disciple. Sprite, in turn, failed to hide a blush even though she was clearly working hard on keeping her composure. At nineteen years old and well into bronze rank, the former wisp of an elf girl had grown in more ways than in sheer stature.

Dressed in combat robes of vibrant and warm colors, Sprite even looked quite regal as the light of her conjured sun caused her dark blue hair to shimmer.

"Thank you, Senior Brother. I am working hard, and would probably be even closer to silver if Teacher did not insist on a more careful pace. Which she is most wise to counsel, of course," Sprite added hurriedly as she noticed a certain gleam in Dragonfly's eyes from where Kite's wife sat and watched the two spar with staves only.

"She is indeed," Dragonfly noted with a sage tone, rising and joining them.

"You started out younger than many, dear student, and it is important to let you mature along with your powers."

"I know, Teacher," Sprite sighed, apparently having heard that sentiment often enough over the years.

"Still, I thank you for the pointers again, Senior Brother. I do need to practice the staff work for when Pom isn't quick enough to outrun the monsters.

""Or your suitors," Dragonfly quipped, causing Sprite to blush again.

"Oh?" Kite couldn't help but ask, seeing the reaction.

"Is your disciple perhaps rather popular, dear wife?"

"She is indeed," Dragonfly answered knowingly while ignoring the pleading look in Sprite's eyes.

"Now, dear student, what had they started calling you again?"

"Teacher, it is not a true name, just some nonsense."

"Still though, help your poor old teacher with her worsening memory."

"Teacher, you're a silver-ranker. You don't forget things…" Sprite started, but trailed off as she realized the futility of the attempt. Sighing, she caved.

"Golden Sun Fairy." The name was delivered through teeth gritted in embarrassment, and Kite was the first to eventually come to her rescue.

"Honestly, that is not too bad of a name, Sprite. Rather poetic, like the beautiful fairy sisters from the tales."

"But it's just because of how I look and one of my powers," Sprite protested, clearly frustrated.

"Well, if it gives you perspective, I once heard of a female sect warrior who was constantly called Twin Divine Peaks," Kite said meaningfully, causing Sprite to fall silent with her mouth open in a silent 'o' as she pondered the implications.

"You know… Perhaps Golden Sun Fairy bears thinking about some more," Sprite noted, her tone now a lot less pained as she backpedaled.

"I shall take it into consideration during my meditations, and give the two of you some more alone time during Senior Brother's stay." Bowing to each of them, Sprite then took her leave while Kite and Dragonfly sat down next to one another on a stone bench with a view over the now empty practice yard of their home compound that was surrounded on all sides by Dove's ever expanding gardens that had started the transition into its autumnal shroud.

"I know you have two more weeks, but gods, your month of leave sure flies by swiftly," Dragonfly remarked with a sigh even as she made herself comfortable against her husband's side.

"Well, given that the first three days tend to pass especially quickly - given that it's just the two of us - I am not surprised."

"And are you complaining, dear husband?"

"Not in the slightest, my ardent Dragonfly." They sat in silence for a while longer, holding hands while Kite could feel Dragonfly's aura idly brush up against his, the spiritual prod as subconscious as her making small circular motions with one thumb at the back of his hand. But it did seem to remind her of something, as she soon sat up and looked at him.

"You know, I've completely forgotten to ask… Or perhaps I've avoided it a bit, as I didn't want to pressure you…"

"Eight."

"What?" Dragonfly asked, head jerking upwards slightly in surprise.

"Wait, eight? Do you mean…"

"I do indeed," Kite confirmed with a smile.

"Eight of my powers have reached gold rank, spread across all of my essences."

"Oh thank the heavens. I'm so happy for you!" Dragonfly cried as she hugged him close, seemingly more relieved to see much of the tension having bled away from her husband than anything else.

"Me too, dear. Heavens, me too," Kite breathed.

"I shall not take anything for granted, of course, but there is just this… flow, for lack of better words. Had I not had so many wonderful people waiting for me back here, I would have almost lamented this month of leave."

"Well, I believe that my dear, wonderful, talented and insightful husband will have no trouble picking up where he left off," Dragonfly replied assuredly, squeezing him closer.

"I… Hope so… But… Dear?"

"Yes?"

"You are squeezing me awfully tight right now.

""Hmm? Oh? That's just to give you a thorough reminder of what you've got waiting for you here at home. Best not forget it even in the face of all that power, yes? Because waiting for you for eleven months is about my limit. Your wife has needs, you know."

It was only through sheer force of will that Dancer on the Broken River managed to hold in a gasp of relief once she felt her chains bite deep enough, causing an audible crack to echo throughout the cavern as the armored neck of the final monster snapped, although said echo was somewhat muffled by the pile of corpses that belonged to the rest of its pack. That River's own gasp might have sounded almost like a sob if it had left her lips would be something that she would deny even with her dying breath.

"Huh. You made it. I was honestly a bit doubtful there for a while," a deep and gravelly voice suddenly commented, but River had spent enough time with its owner to neither jerk in surprise nor look up. Chuckling, the man in question instead sat down against the cavern wall so that River could see him even in her prone position, leather armor creaking slightly as he settled in.

"When Anasta cashed in this favor, I must say I did not have that much hope. I mean, a Hua-Xian on a quest for vengeance, and a priestess of Pain no less… Not much hope at all, but it definitely piqued my interest. And feeling that little ball of razors you call an aura…

Well, you sure are an interesting one," Eks Moses noted while languidly chewing on that thin reed of his; the very same reed he had had the first time River met him, making her frustratingly curious of whatever it could be made of to survive such treatment by a gold-ranker.

A human like River, Eks was a bull of a man with powerful features that - together with his dark gray leather armor strapped with more knives than River had previously thought possible to keep on a person - felt very much at odds with his bafflingly casual demeanor. In that way, he was a very opposite of River's own father, but there was one thing that the two definitely had in common.

"Well, take an hour to recuperate, then we'll find the next pack. I have already picked up on their location of course, but I don't think you will have much of a problem now that you managed to walk into one of their ambushes and know what to look for. With an aura such as yours, it's a good thing that I know many good spots here that might actually challenge you. Because you did want power, right?" His words were accompanied by a nudge of his aura that touched River's own with a distinct lack of gentleness.

Eks Moses had power, that was for sure, and he felt merciless in using it to prod River to grasp for her own, although in a decidedly different way than what she had expected. His spirit was rough and powerful, just like the man himself, but that aura nudge just now had been more like a little too forceful slap on the back than the icy pain that River had grown up experiencing.

She still waited for the hammer to fall here too, but so far there had been none, and they had spent over two weeks down in these particular tunnels alone, and even more in other wayward places.

"That is… right," River managed to reply, although it came out more like a snarl as she sought to keep the pain of her wounded body at bay.

"And if you were so surprised, why have you not said that until now? For six months, you have trailed me."

"Merely trailed you, huh?" Eks chuckled while tossing over a recovery potion.

"Well, you haven't exactly been the most talkative type, and I was honestly surprised. Thought you might have died by now, and that it was best not to get too attached. But as I've said, you are an interesting one."

"Why then? Why take on the Branch Director's request? You did mention my God. Most of you adventurers tend to shy away before even asking yourself what Pain really means." Perhaps it was unwise to risk upsetting the much more powerful man, but given the thresher River had just been put through, her discipline was frayed enough.

"Fierce one too, but that was no surprise I suppose," Eks Moses smiled in return, reed between his teeth wriggling as he spoke.

"Honestly, Pain sounds like a right bitch, at least that's what I have gathered from all of her followers I have met. Mostly creepy types. Oh, but Pain appears like a man to you, no? Weird. But as for why I would still take you on? Well, little priestess, There is one thing you apparently didn't consider. Who ever said I was an adventurer?" With those words, Eks Moses rose from his seat and shot River a wink before he walked off and vanished from River's senses way before the darkness should have obscured him.

"Rest up and find that next pack. You do have hard work ahead of you if you want to get the most out of the time Anasta has paid me for."

"Where is she? We demand to see the Blessed of Warrior!" Impeccable Silver Edge did nothing to conceal his sigh of exasperation, which only further agitated the four inner disciples of the Eternal Embers Sect that crowded the entrance to the arena in what he assumed was an attempt to intimidate him.

"If I knew, I would be happy to direct you towards her. But the Blessed of Warrior has left on a journey of tempering and has been gone for quite some time. I suggest that you settle down to wait or - even better - leave this place and return another time." The loud man in the front seemed to be readying himself for another round of yelling when he was silenced by a hand on his shoulder as a celestine woman stepped forth.

From how the three others made way for her, it was easy to see that she must be the one among them with the most powerful master and thus the most favor from the sect leadership, and for a moment Silver felt like he was back with his own sect as she stepped close and spoke in a soft voice with a kind of smile he knew all too well.

"I hope to apologize for my fellow disciple here. It is just that we have traveled far as word has reached us of the incredible opportunity for tempering that the Blessed of Warrior provides. To be honest, I had trouble believing it myself at first, but the claims just kept being verified enough that we decided to strike out and seek to partake.

I can understand that the blessed one being away is quite a good excuse for keeping most of the rabble here in the north away from her, as sparring with them would be like gifting rich dyes to the blind; wasted. But we are of the Eternal Embers Sect, rich in heritage and with foundations as deep as this kingdom. Surely there are ways for people like us to get access?" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It was all delivered with such confidence that this was in some ploy from Silver to keep people out or perhaps even demand some kind of personal payment, and the realization made Silver feel how his time in the sect felt so very distant to him now. This, and the fact that none of them seemed to recognize him, who had once been one of the favored disciples of the Thunderous Soul Sect. But perhaps it was understandable, given that Silver now wore the robes and medallion of Warrior's clergy.

Still, no matter her confidence, he still had only one answer to give.

"The Blessed of Warrior is not here," he replied with calm assurance, even though he knew what the results would be.

"Ah, I see. It would seem that you northern weaklings have yet to learn proper respect then. Why else would you lie to our faces?" The woman answered, eyes having hardened the movement Silver did not confirm her assumptions.

"I will let you know that the Eternal Embers Sect has seized multiple important territories in the last few years. Our star is on the rise now that we can finally show our true might. So I ask you again to show us to the Blessed of Warrior, as I know that she is here."

Silver sighed as he readied himself to challenge the woman then and there, thinking that he would omit to mention his previous allegiances and status until after the duel to further show her the folly of her arrogance, but he did not have the time before another voice interrupted.

"I am here." The four disciples from the Eternal Embers Sect whirled to see a woman standing behind them, clad in wide-brimmed had and a guild cloak that hid most of her form even though the enchanted garment seemed to have endured enough punishment and road dust that it had become thoroughly tattered. Silver didn't even need to see what was visible of the woman's face to know her though, as that perfect sense of balance even in her relaxed stance gave her away more than anything else.

"Blessed of Warrior. Let me be the first to greet you upon your return," he said while bowing respectfully towards Soul, who gave him a nod of acknowledgement. The sect disciples seemed to forget all about Silver too, turning as one as the woman stepped forth once more.

"We greet the Blessed of Warrior!" she called out, the hardness completely gone from her tone as she too bowed.

"The four of us have traveled far to seek the tempering that you offer, each and every one of us the best among the Eternal Embers Sect. Let us exchange pointers and learn from one another so that we may all climb towards the heavens!" She looked as if she expected at least a bit of acknowledgment from Soul, who only looked the four of them over briefly with her amethyst eyes before she gave a small shrug.

"I suppose it will be a good time to practice some of my new styles against people. All four of you at once should suffice. It will not be true tempering for me, but sometimes it is a matter of working on the details.

""Wha- I mean, are you sure, Blessed One?" the woman asked, trying and failing to keep her tone entirely polite.

"We are the best the Eternal Ember has to offer among our disciples, and while we have heard that you possess great skill, four against one is–" She fell silent, however, as Soul let a bit of her warrior's aura leak through, even the light pressure of her indomitable gold-ranked spirit causing the four to freeze up.

"If you would like to fetch another eight or ten of your fellow disciples and make it a proper fight, I am willing to wait," Soul said, and as usual her tone did not contain even the hint of gloating, merely speaking as if it was fact.

"Otherwise we should get on with it. It should make for a good pastime while my sparring construct recharges."

"-and as such, I have constructed the image of my path over the years," Kite said as his explanation came to a close.

"A road might be a touch more literal than some, but similar imagery is very common. Building upon it, finding mantras to go along with it and reflecting on how it merges with my technique; all of that has helped."

"And you've been at this for… what? Twelve years soon? Since you got your essences?" Amica asked from where she sat meditating next to Kite in the space they had cleared for themselves among the rubble as an underground complex had collapsed upon them. Again.

"Fifteen, actually. In a month or so," Kite replied, smiling at his companion's slight relief.

"Coming as far as you've done in that time is still really impressive, Kite. Not record-breaking from what I've heard, but gods… Maybe there's a good point to you starting reflecting upon yourself and your path early. It still stings that you've raced ahead of me. Or rather, all three of us, even though I think neither Léon or Ceasar would admit it."

"Perhaps it does help… At least for those who survive the rest that my kingdom and its culture urge them towards," Kite sighed.

"But I do believe that it does help once you start reaching for gold. At least I want to. It would feel even worse to believe that it was all for naught."

"Well, how many of your powers have reached gold now?"

"Fourteen."

"I believe that you have your answer right there," Amica sighed.

"A path, huh? Perhaps I should start practicing at least a little."

"Honestly, Amica, from what you've told me, it sounds like that mind healer of yours from way back really helped you make sense of yourself then. Perhaps that would be a way more suited to you? I too am a talker when it comes to helping me reflect, but I can only imagine that things are different for many people. It wouldn't surprise me if Soul could reach gold without speaking a word to anyone," Kite finished, smiling a bit at remembering his friend, even though their relationship was a bit odd in that regard.

He hoped that she was doing well.

"What? My mind healer? I mean, I'm a lot better now, so I don't think…" Amica began, before she started looking thoughtful as she leaned back in the comfortable chair of their joint emergency kit for being buried beneath too much rubble while their enchanted drill kept digging them out. Kite let her finish the thought in peace, taking a sip of a strong tea he had picked up in Hornus, each sip feeling like dragonfire in his throat. But in a good way.

"You know… You just might be right," Amica eventually said.

"I've felt stuck for a little while now, even though it doesn't feel like my essences should be that difficult. Force sure wasn't, but as for the rest… Thanks, Kite. That was a good idea."

"Any time, Amica," Kite smiled, lifting his cup in a silent toast.

"Also, if you reached gold rank with even the slightest nudge of help from me, Little Crow might just declare himself owing me a life debt once he beheld you. And having an assassin of his caliber on your side sure would not hurt."

"Well, he is a very good boy after all," Amica smiled wistfully, a gleam of longing in her eyes.

"A very good one indeed. You know, I might just tag along to Hua-Xi on our next leave."

"As I said. A life debt indeed. I can already feel his gratitude."

"Are you certain, Mother? Father? Really? Because we can house you. Easily. It's–""Peace, my son," Grain and Scythe's father interrupted, holding up his hand to forestall his oldest son's further protests.

"We have talked about this, believe us. You can probably feel it in our auras now, no?" Grain did fall silent but kept looking pleadingly at his parents, enough for Scythe to feel that it was time to come to his brother's rescue.

"Please understand where we are coming from. You both had us give the essences we saved up for to our younger cousins. That's all well and good, and we can respect you wanting to focus on the younglings when we invest in the family. But with all the troubles lately, things aren't as safe here in Sunvalley anymore. Not with how the sects are acting out against each other. We're silver-rankers now, and have the chance to help you."

"Bah, the sects haven't got any interest in us," their father replied.

"They are all caught up in these territorial disputes of theirs."

"Believe me, father, in that they do not need to have any interest in you for you to get hurt," Grain interjected, catching on to Scythe's line of thought.

"Do you know what could happen if a few of their silvers started fighting near the town? Or worse, inside it? I know that you have housed some of them occasionally, and believe me that you are just one brawl, one wrong look away from disaster."

"Still, this inn is ours. We have a responsibility to take care of it, like my father did and his father before him." Grain could see the stubborn set of his father's jaw, one that he had started to see more and more in himself as of late, and braced himself for a prolonged verbal battle to come when help came again from another direction. One that, to Grain, was the most wonderful one in all the lands.

"If… if I may add a suggestion of my own…" Snowfall Fawn said, speaking timidly even though she was leagues beyond most of those present in personal power. She did not need to flex any of that though, as her words were enough to shift the balance in the conversation.

"Of course, dear Fawn. Of course!" Grain and Scythe's mother exclaimed, walking over and taking the younger woman's hands in hers.

"Don't let the menfolk and their huffing discourage you. Please, speak up. What is on your mind?" To say that Fawn's mother-in-law liked her was perhaps the biggest understatement beneath the heavens. Ever since Grain had introduced her to his family - a simple matter in recent years thanks to his portal power - his mother had been treating the elf with the same adoration as one might have a prized and precious kitten, with a protective streak to match.

Such was her joy at her son's match that Grain sometimes had wondered if he even mattered anymore. Gods, just imagining how things might be if they were ever to have children together…

"Well, it is true that these lands have become very dangerous, but I also understand why you are reluctant to leave this inn. It is perhaps as much a part of your family as every person here," Fawn said, Grain and Scythe's family members nodding along.

"But I do not believe that you have truly understood what the three of us can accomplish these days, nor the powers so readily flung about by our peers in the sects." Grain could not help but huff at the last statement, but was silenced by a withering stare from his mother as Fawn continued.

"With the magic and resources available to us, I do not think it impossible that we could manage to move the inn, down to the last, pot, plank and nail. Move it to somewhere safer. We have a senior brother of ours in the guild– oh, right. You have already met Senior Brother Kite. The one who gave Grain and Scythe the offer to join the guild and their essences.

He's in possession of a stretch of land south of Bastion and northeast of Convergence, and if I remember correctly, they have had plenty of villages forming in the recent years as settlers have kept arriving. Senior Brother's family lives there, silver rankers like us, so it is pretty safe. They even have their own surge shelter. And I am sure that they would love for an inn inside their domain. There might already be one, but we could still check with his family. I mean, if you want to, that is…"

As Grain saw the light in his mother's eyes steadily growing, he realized that perhaps he should have let his love take the lead all along. Because from the feel in her aura, he could deduce that his mother was already quite convinced. And from what he felt from his father… Well, it was clear that the older man already knew the results of this discussion as well.

"We will have to consider this carefully," Grain's father said in an obvious attempt to buy some time.

"But we will of course be happy if you would ask your senior brother and his family if this is at all possible," their mother added.

"Because I think that dear Fawn's idea here is a wonderful one. Simply amazing!"

"You can't do this! You do not have the right!"

"I assure you, Sect Leader, that I am entirely within my rights," Anasta Temren replied, unable to keep the chill from her voice.

"Your sect has flagrantly ignored many of the core rules for membership in the Adventure Society for quite some time now, enough that I brought the matter before the Continental Council. Their message was clear; that each of your members unwilling to undertake punitive contracts to prove your intention to change your ways will have their memberships suspended indefinitely, along with the access to the trade hall and other resources that the Adventure Society provides."

With that, Anasta Temren turned and started walking away across the courtyard of the Adventure Society campus in Heavenward. Silence followed, but as expected, Sect Leader Echo of Unassailable Secrets - head of the Heavenly Shadow Sect - was not content to just let this lie.

"Foreigner bitch!" the gold ranked elf woman called, her aura crashing into Anasta's, who turned to regard the sect leader over her shoulder.

"You do not have the power here anymore! Those times have ended! I challenge you! I challenge you to–""Declined," Anasta replied calmly even as her spirit started pushing back that of the other woman.

"What? You coward! Face–""I am not here as a warrior, Sect Leader. I am here as a branch director of the Adventure Society. I care not for your pride, nor that of your sect. I care to bring some semblance of order to the powers of the world - these lands included - and make sure that they come to some good for the ordinary people depending on them for their survival. A purpose in which you and yours have been failing for quite some time.

Should you wish to once more partake of what the Adventure Society has to offer, you know where to find us and what you must do." Then, with a snip of her fingers, Anasta teleported away, having further preparations to make.

"You know, Walker, you probably became my favorite guildmaster when you sent me this letter," Dragonfly said as she sat down in Walker's office.

"When calling for me and saying that you had a message regarding Kite, it would have been quite easy for me to assume something bad had happened. Yet you foresaw that and added that nice little note that said that the news was good, a little detail that might have slipped the mind of most. So thank you. And you should thank yourself too, as it did spare you from some fiery wrath had I learned that I had been worrying for nothing."

"Then I shall have to praise my own foresight," Walker agreed, glad that he couldn't sweat anymore at his rank.

"I can only imagine how I would feel if someone had done the same. But, onto the message. It truly is a good one." He handed Dragonfly a previously sealed letter - now opened - and his pleased grin only grew once he saw her reaction.

"Heavens. Sweet blessed heavens," Dragonfly breathed.

"This is wonderful news. I shall have to tell his aunties, but I suppose that also means that it is time for another meeting?"

"Indeed," Walker agreed, looking a bit more sober.

"We will have to call the others - Branch Director Temren too - and check the state of our preparations. But hopefully we can soon start taking the next steps to realize our plans." The two of them fell into speaking more of preparations, the letter forgotten at the table between them, its last few lines reading as follows.

"As for the matter of my own climb towards the heavens, I am now drawing close to the next step. Only one last power remains now. May Fortune keep smiling on me as I push towards the end." Kite