Chương 65: Bastion

The day had already turned to early evening when a giant carp, carried through the air on floating water, was finally closing in on the city of Bastion. Kite and Peony sat on her back, the former looking with wonder at the city that could be gleaned in the distance while the latter was still thoroughly enjoying the novel mode of transportation.

Kite had thought that his serendipitous new companion would have been at least a bit hesitant to ride upon the great flying fish, but Peony had only stopped giving out small cries of joy and excitement about an hour into their traversal of the final stretch to the city. Before them, surrounded by farmlands more vast than Kite had ever seen before, stood the city of Bastion.

While it was not visible from their approach, he knew that the city was situated next to the great ocean of Hua-Xi's eastern coast, which separated the mainland from the land of the colossi by a comfortably vast stretch of water. The legendary chain of islands east of the continent was known for producing various types of gigantic monsters, and it was considered the height of foolishness to venture there if you were below gold rank.

While the city of Bastion was no legendary land, it was still the largest settlement Kite had seen so far in his life. Two sizeable mountains bordered the ocean, the city originally built in between them. Spanning the stretch between the westernmost parts of said mountains was a great defensive wall, the source of the city's name.

In the centuries since Bastion's founding, the city had eventually spilled out over the natural borders, and both the mountains themselves and the area around the great wall was teeming with buildings.

"It looks amazing!" Kite exclaimed as Glint brought them ever closer.

"Is it true that the inner districts are built like steps down towards the harbor?" he asked Peony who sat behind him.

"Yes. My family has our house and business at the Second Step, where the First Step is the harbor. Prime real estate for any mercantile interests." she answered with obvious pride while trying to keep her braid of magenta hair from flapping too wildly in the wind.

"But you should know that flying within the city is restricted to those with special permits, so Glint will need to keep a lower profile."

"How does one get such a permit then?" Kite asked, eyes still fixed on the city in the distance.

"Become someone really important. Unless you happen to be a lost scion of a noble house which you have yet to reveal, or aspire to be a director of one of the societies, I would not count on it." Kite sighed as he agreed that it did not sound very likely, but the question of his own background stirred in the back of his mind. He still felt mostly curiosity on the matter, and wondered if the heavens would see fit to reveal it in the future.

They had already passed several groups of people, carriages and other adventurers on their way in, and the traffic increased the closer they got to the city. Apparently, it was not only them who were about to return to the city before nightfall. They still had quite a bit to go when Peony started directing Kite towards a particular part of the road until they eventually arrived at the end of a line which at a glance seemed to be meant for adventurers.

It was a lot shorter than the rest, and its clientele was a lot more hodgepodge. Kite was not the only one who used a familiar as mount, as he could see a four-legged thunderbeast carrying a small group of adventurers in a howdah on its back. As their pace slowed to a crawl, Kite eventually had them set down and for Glint to return to her bottle in order to be less conspicuous. It had been more than once that he had been called out by those seeking to challenge him in such lines.

But they were either fortunate or insignificant enough to pass without any special consideration given from the people around them, and both of their Adventure Society badges were enough to provide them swift access to the city. When they passed beneath the walls and through the gates, Kite felt something akin to an unseen pressure from the walls above, his skin tingling slightly, but the sensation quickly passed as they came into Bastion proper.

The houses had many similarities to those of Gilded, tiled and slightly curving overhanging roofs and a lot of different colors and fabrics on display. But unlike Gilded, there was a lot more stone used in the construction, where most buildings used it for at least the lowest floor. Sculptures were very prominent, with depictions of mythical beasts, legendary warriors and magical phenomena being visible from almost everywhere as they adorned everything from street corners to balconies.

Kite did feel that the relatively little foliage gave the city an entirely different feel than the one where he had spent most of his adventuring life. As Kite had been told, the city was built in seven tiers like the steps of an amphitheater down toward the harbor. And for the first time in his life, he beheld the ocean. Even though he had heard about it and its vast quantities of water, seeing it was something else entirely.

The light of the early evening still left the dark depths quite visible even in the light rain which had started up a few hours ago instead of the snow he would have probably seen back in Gilded. In the harbor, a fleet of ships were moving around or remaining docked to the network of piers which stretched out into the waters below.

As a whole, Bastion was rather imposing as the monument to people's persistence as they had carved this marvel out from the land in one of the earliest attempts at spreading the kingdom's borders to the north.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Peony asked, smiling proudly as she took in the slack-jawed young man beside her. Kite could only nod, and Glint seemed equally impressed where she floated about while playing in the rain. Only Sage remained inscrutable where he floated beside Kite, but its lack of projected disappointment at least gave some hints of interest.

"Please, benefactor, this way. I'd better get home to my family as soon as possible." Peony continued.

"Lead the way then. And please, I told you to call me Kit- aaand she's apparently not listening." Kite finished, the last part with a flat tone as Peony had forged ahead, waving for him to keep up in the throngs of people. He did notice with some satisfaction that even though the crowds were a lot more dense here, he did not feel any of the overwhelming sensation from his first visit to Gilded when his aura senses had been new and rather raw.

He navigated the crowd to once more join up with her, and they were passing down the main thoroughfare which led from the main gate straight down to the docks. The street was split into two different kinds of lanes. At each side, there was a grand stair for pedestrians while the middle was something else entirely.

Kite had thought it was a decorative stream running down the length of the city while splitting the wide street in two, but soon found out that the water was used as a medium to carry elevating platforms which ferried wagons and those with heavier loads up and down the incline. He was also surprised to see fish living in the streams, a sleek kind of red eel dominating the rapids as it was seemingly quite adept at swimming up the streams at their leisure.

Being on foot, they took their time descending the wide stairs while Peony gave short explanations of the different steps.

"The Seventh Step is where the adventure and Magic Society headquarters are situated, as well as the barracks and buildings related to the city guard. Also, a lot of warehouses and storage. The Sixth is a lot of overland trading companies and residential areas, and the fifth and fourth are also quite the mix. Those steps in the middle are the least affluent.

The Third step houses a lot of the entertainment businesses, while the Second is where a lot of the more influential craftsmen and overseas trading companies reside. And the First is the harbor, along with most warehouses and other infrastructure relating to it." The explanation was given while they moved, Kite trying to keep up and identify the different landmarks she pointed out. One thing that was a bit out of the ordinary to him was the placement of the more affluent and luxurious buildings.

From their vantage when passing through the Fifth Step, he could see several more luxurious compounds with other signs of richer inhabitants in the houses around them. It gave the feeling of the rich creating their own small 'islands' in the city rather than being concentrated to one particular step.

"I imagine that the city lady is housed in one of the palaces on the mountains?" he asked, indicating the magnificent complexes built on each of the two mountains.

"Ah, yes. Her abode is up on the Southern Ascent, while the North Ascent houses the temple district out of respect for the gods." As his hat gave him ample protection from the weather, the trip became a rather pleasant one as Peony continued dropping small facts about the city as they walked, until they finally reached the Second Step, turning from the main thoroughfare and along one of the heavily trafficked avenues which ran the half-circular length of each step.

His guide and ward finally started slowing down, and he followed her gaze to a decently sized little compound of two buildings with a garden in between and surrounded by a small stone wall. Peony's shame was quite obvious as she stopped and stared at her home.

"Are you worried?" Kite asked, stopping beside her at the side of the street.

"Not as worried as they are, I would assume. My mother will be quite furious. My husband won't show it too much, but I know that it will have eaten away at him. I-""Them feeling a lot just means that they care. And in all honesty, I'd say that they have earned being a little angry at you. Let them get it out, and their relief at having you back will do the rest." he said, trying for an encouraging smile. Peony nodded, taking in his words before turning back to him.

"You're what? Twenty-something? Definitely younger than me by a few years. What did you do to start spouting such sage wisdom?" she asked, a bit incredulous.

"I had quite wise parents, and my uncle likes to style himself the paragon of that particular virtue." he said with theatrical sagacity as he appreciated that he could elicit something other than polite deference. Even though such rites still had their place, Kite hoped that their cooperation would be one of less formality and more joviality as he was in a new city with few contacts.

"Of all the strangers that could have saved me, I did apparently stumble upon the most wise of benefactors. Truly, one in a century." she jibed, before seeming to realize how she was phrasing things.

"But please, I do really mean-""I know, Peony, I know. Come on, let us go and not keep your family waiting any longer."

"Would you like some more tea?" Patient Sun, Peony's husband, asked Kite where they sat together in a comfortable seating area clearly used for receiving guests.

"I am sure that my mother in law will soon have gotten most of it out of her system." The man was human as well, with dark hair and eyes of a shade of brown so light that it bordered on gold. Like the rest of Peony's family, he wore comfortable silk robes, albeit cinched tighter around the torso and arms as opposed to the more loose sleeves favored by others. He had the slightly more magical aura of one who had absorbed at least one essence but not enough to complete the set and rank up.

And he seemed to have truly mastered the art of the pleasant smile, being every inch the pleasant host as he proffered the teapot along with his question.

"Thank you, master Sun. Both the tea and your home are very lovely." Kite said, receiving a refill as he once more looked around the home. It was the home of the moderately wealthy, clearly showing its age and how lovingly maintained it must be. Much of the decor had that slightly antique look, and Kite suspected that there were many small family heirlooms spread out among the paraphernalia. Their arrival to Peony's home had indeed gone along with her expectations.

After a tight embrace from her husband, a house servant had quickly informed her parents who had arrived shortly afterwards. They had thanked Kite profusely before leaving him with Sun, going off to let Peony 'get cleaned up and have some words'. From the agitated normal-ranked aura Kite could feel, they were indeed starting to calm down.

"If I may ask, adventurer Kite, what brings you to these parts? The introduction was rather abrupt. You found my wife while on the road?" Sun asked as he sat down himself, taking a cup of tea.

"I have traveled here from Gilded for work and training." Kite began, summarizing the basics of his reasons for traveling as a way to make small talk, while leaving out his contract with the Adventure Society.

"From what you tell, we must truly give our thanks to Fortune and Traveler, as your meeting with Peony seems most auspicious. Truly, the heavens smiled upon us this day in a time where such grace is in short supply." Sun said after finishing his story, keeping his pleasant facade throughout, although Kite couldn't help but glean some of the man's emotions throughout; his worry which had still not quite abated, his gratitude but also a fair dose of suspicion.

In regards to the latter, Kite was not entirely surprised. It was as if the man was just waiting to see what this most fortunate encounter would cost them. Just as he was about to try and assure Sun, they were interrupted as Kite could sense Peony and her parents returning. Her parents entered first; a pair of middle-aged normal rankers dressed in similarly fine clothes as Sun, her mother sharing Peony's magenta hair although a bit more faded with age.

Their daughter followed in their wake, looking thoroughly chastised but also quite relieved. While she wielded magical powers and had broken through human limitations, the parent-daughter relationship seemed to remain the same. And Kite supposed that it would be the same for him even should he one day pass his aunties in rank. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Kite flown in on Winds of Fortune." Peony's mother began, bowing deep along with her husband.

"Our words cannot convey our gratitude for your assistance, as well as our apologies for lack of decorum upon your arrival as our worry overshadowed our sense. I am Daybreak Lily, and this is my husband, Rock giving Shade. We welcome you in our home, and would seek to repay you for the assistance you have provided our family, so as to assure that our karma be severed." They both followed the more simple naming conventions of commoners, and had continued the tradition in naming their daughter.

Hua-Xi's naming conventions were a complex affair, where one was free to give their child any name one wished, but that overstepping and giving too grandiose a name to one born under simple circumstance might have their surroundings believe that you lacked humility and sense. Most kept rather short names with down to earth metaphors, while the nobility and those of means often favored more spectacular or grandiose concepts.

Kite fell somewhere in between, his longer full name having the more complex poetry but none of the words reaching too far above his station. And as was the norm outside the nobility, neither of the pair had changed their names after marriage.

"Well met, mistress and master of this house." Kite said, rising to bow in turn.

"I assure you that your daughter has paid me back in full for what assistance I could provide. It would be my honor for you to call me Kite, and if I could infringe upon your hospitality for just a little while longer, as me and your daughter have a business arrangement we would like to propose."

"Daughter, is this true?" Peony's mother asked as she turned to her daughter.

"Yes, mother. Me meeting my benefactor here has been auspicious in more ways than one. He might even be the means of our salvation." Peony said, a bit of her excitement breaking through the chastised look from before.

"Then we will gladly host you, Kite. There will be plenty of food and drink, so that we may break bread and talk business. We hope that you will not mind calling us by our given names as well." Daybreak Lily said with another bow, lighter this time.

It did not take long for the two servants of the house to bring food from a nearby restaurant, and Kite took the opportunity to enjoy seeing the family together as the formality was gradually being eroded down as he slightly retracted his aura to allow them some more space. While he was nowhere near Serene's ability to pass almost unnoticed, he had practiced enough with her to get at least some degree of control over his perceived presence.

They talked and laughed as Peony regaled them with a somewhat edited tale of her plight, downplaying the danger to her life a bit while playing up Kite's role. While he appreciated the praise, Kite also felt a bit of concern as Peony's husband seemed to become a bit more quiet and reserved when she mentioned Kite's prowess. As they all had gotten something to eat, Peony once more seemed to focus on his presence as it was time to talk business.

"-and as he showed me his ability, I just knew. I just knew that he had the potential to be our savior in other matters as well." she finished, having told her family about Kite's own ability.

"Does my daughter speak true? Is this wonder possible?" her father asked, looking at Kite with a mix of disbelief and hope.

"She does indeed, although I too have to fight monsters for it to start paying dividends. Fortunately, that is ever the lot of an adventurer." Kite answered.

"And you would agree to such a business arrangement? Why? Did she not tell you of the Stoics?" Peony's husband, Sun, asked. From his rather clipped tone, it was quite obvious that his suspicion had not been assuaged.

"Husband, you disrespect our benefactor." Peony chided him.

"Kite has done nothing to deserve such suspicion. I told him about the Stoics and everything." Inwardly, Kite winced as her coming to his defense probably did little to placate her spouse.

"And you seem to have put the cart before the heidel, wife. You do not know this man, yet you would tie our fates to his?"

"He saved me, Sun, even as I brought my troubles to him, and has given no indication of having any foul intent."

"Peony, you have clearly painted him as radiant as the sun already, so I would not expect you to be able to see any such shades, blinded as you might be."

"Husband! How-" Peony began, voice rising slightly, but fell silent along with the rest of the table as Kite flared his aura slightly in an attempt to break into the conversation.

"I do think that my presence here is causing a bit too much contention in a time where you should be allowed to celebrate Peony's return." he said, rising and bowing to each of them.

"As it is late, I believe I must be off to seek my lodging. If you would, Peony, please convey the rest of the potential business arrangement that we discussed. But perhaps after having allowed the remnants of fretting and worry to settle. Should you wish to discuss things further, please inquire with the Adventure Society and I will contact you again. Masters and mistress, thank you for the meal and company."

Kite finished, before backing out of the room, bowing one last time towards the gathered family before exiting, nodding to a confused servant who he met at the door. Once out, he took a moment to center himself and try and rid himself of his anxiousness, as it was rather an uncomfortable experience to be the object of strife. He could still sense the auras inside, but tried not to pry further.

As he walked off towards the main thoroughfare and the stairway, he did try to nurture the hope that things would work out, as he truthfully thought that this opportunity was a great one for him. Someone who would gladly use his spares as material while guiding and refining would be a godsend, especially as she would be able to provide him with a share of coins to make up for the lost revenue of selling what his ability produced.

"Complications? Reasons?" Sage had floated up next to him, apparently trying to decipher what the exchange had been about.

"From what I gathered, there were some complicated feelings involved here, but it would be rude to delve further. Peony's husband did seem quite opposed to the idea, but it felt like it was probably my presence he objected the most to. Maybe he was just jealous or overprotective?" Kite mused aloud as they walked back through the city. Bastion's streets were well lit from generously sized glow stones spaced out along the streets on small stone pedestals.

Sage seemed to take in his explanations, before it gave one of its by now trademark responses.

"Disappointing."

"In that, I do agree. But I have hope that things will work out soon enough." Patient Sun was sitting in the bed he shared with his wife, leaning against the wall while engrossed in one of the latest reports and orders placed with their family. One did not need an aura sense to see that he was pointedly continuing to be very focused on said report even as Peony entered dressed in a soft, silk nightgown.

Deciding to not beat around the metaphorical bush, she sat down on the bedside next to him and gave her husband a long look. Sun did continue to put up a brave struggle, as he always tended to do when they had an argument. But this time, Peony did not have the patience for a drawn out conflict. Instead she reached out, cheating a bit with her bronze rank strength and speed to swiftly and efficiently yank the scroll out of his hand.

Before he could protest further, she climbed up onto the bed and straddled him, looking him straight in the eyes while keeping her aura under control so as to not employ too much cheating.

"Husband, what is really the matter here?" she asked him, her tone having lost its edge from the more proper quarrel after Kite had taken his leave. He was about to give a curt response when she forestalled him.

"Love, I have never known you to be an unreasonable man. Sometimes stubborn and often a bit theatrical, but never to this extent."

"Maybe I am the only one here actually concerned about your safety?"

"Sun, you were impolite. To a stranger who, while I haven't known him for more than a few hours, at least has done nothing wrong to me or us. You have never been impolite even once when one of the Stoics have come inquiring about their so-called offer, and they are the actual source of our troubles." Peony pointed out, not letting him divert the conversation again.

"Please love, for the decade we have had together, please tell me what is really wrong here." He looked at her for a long time, and close to about a full minute passed in silence as they just stared at one another.

"This… does remind me of the time a decade ago, when we got together. You did this that time as well." he finally said as he broke the silence, his tone a bit softer and quite wistful.

"One thing still remains the same with you, Patient Sun; if I want to know your true feelings, it does seem like physically pinning you down is my only recourse." she said, unable to keep from smiling slightly as well. And as she spoke, something clicked in her mind.

"Sun, is that what it is about? About us? Are you… are you jealous?" From the way he swallowed hard and suddenly had trouble meeting her eyes, Peony knew that she had caught at least part of the matter.

"But love, why? Have I ever given you reason to doubt my love for you?" Sun took some time to answer here as well, but Peony could see that he was being worn down as his own, mostly reasonable mind, continued the work even when she had fallen silent.

"It's- it's silly to say out loud."

"Trust me love, at this rate it's even more silly not to." Sun took a deep breath.

"The way you looked when you returned, love. You were so happy, so full of life and excitement. In a way you have not been for a long time now, not since these troubles started. In a way I remember from all of our times together, from when we began courting. From when we got married. It's… I used to be the one who made you look like that. To act like that.

"Sun, I-""Please, love, let me finish. You know that I have tried to be there for you throughout this ordeal, to cheer you up, to help you. To make that vibrance return to you. Instead, you disappear for almost two days and come home with some young, handsome adventurer who is suddenly your hero as he saved your life and, heavens behold, he is even the salvation to our family's problems. Suddenly, he made you look like that. I could not do it anymore, and suddenly someone else could.

And that made me feel so useless. I am too weak to help in the way of powers, and-" he sighed, "-maybe too weak to support you at all." Peony looked at her husband after he fell silent, still too ashamed to meet her gaze. She leaned in and rested her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry, love. For leaving like that and making you worry. And for leaving you to try and smile for the both of us. These times have been hard on all of us, not just me. Although I might be a bit swept up in it at times and forget. Will you please forgive your lowly wife for her vacuous mind?" she said, the last sentence delivered with a certain theatrical formality.

"Only if you forgive your bumbling husband, as he often tends to lose his way with words." he answered, completing their own little inside joke which they had kept going for the eight years since they had been married.

"And I do stand by my statement that my husband is most theatrical at times. But I suppose that his cute behind can forgive even such shortcomings." she said, kissing him gently.

"I do not want to make you uncomfortable, love, but I would still ask you to at least think about the business proposal."

"I know…" he sighed as she leaned against his chest and he gently stroked her hair.

"And you are right, love."

"As always." she muttered against him.

"Oh I would not go that far, unless you have suddenly shed the core usage and become a full time fighter." he said, laughing as Peony looked up at him, sticking out her tongue.

"But yes, we should invite him over again and have me apologize and discuss things properly."

"Thank you, husband. For being you."

"Even if I'm theatrical and stubborn at times?"

"Absolutely."

"Nona, we better head back toward the city soon. Wasn't your student-to-be supposed to arrive any day now?" Rachel asked her cousin, springing the question upon her even as the bludgeoned monster carcasses were still laying dissolving in pools of acid. She knew it had to be sudden, lest her surly cousin would just continue procrastinating.

"Ugh, I wish I hadn't taken that contract." Phiona Geller complained even as she let her conjured staff disappear.

"It's probably just another of their young masters whom we'll have to put up with."

"Second thoughts are kind of pointless now, Nona. The money sure won't hurt. But if you'd rather reach out to the family-""No." Phiona snapped, before letting her voice soften slightly.

"No, Rachel. You are right. We're gonna need the money if we are to have some silver-ranked gear that won't make us die of shame in the parts of the world which actually matters."

"We could still contact the family again. I'm sure that your mother will-""Rachel, I said no. Like all the other times you've asked me. But it's not like I'm forcing you to be here, so feel free to leave." Rachel did not take the rebuke to heart, instead walking up to her cousin and giving her a hug.

"I'm sorry. I know you had a reason for leaving, and I'll stick by you. Best cousin in the world, remember." she said with a wink while pointing to herself. Rachel counted it as a small victory when her surly cousin did smile a little.

"Thank you, cousin. You are indeed the best. And you are right, we better get back. But if that so-called student thinks that he can slack off or that he will be able to give me pointers, he will get to see just how well we Gellers are trained. And how far I can shove a staff up his-" While the lodgings for adventurers up at the society campus were nothing fancy, Kite still got a decently good night of sleep in the common dormitory.

In the morning, he walked around the complex to get a feel for it, and recognized most of the different kinds of buildings even though the layout was a bit different and it was slightly bigger than the one in Gilded. Deciding it was time, he found one of the desks in the jobs hall and turned in the paperwork which Jarvan had sent him as part of him joining the investigation here in the city.

"Ah, I see." the functionary stated, giving Kite a once over.

"From what I read here, we will have to reach out to others deployed in the city. Due to the level of secrecy stipulated here, I will have to ask you to return this evening, where a contact will be waiting to get you up to speed." The woman seemed to know few details, and Kite was content with getting some time to explore the city as well as try to locate his teacher to be. The morning was bright but overcast, and the chill in the air didn't quite reach freezing.

Bastion's streets were already crowded, with a myriad of people going about their different errands. He didn't need to go far before he saw a restaurant serving steamed buns of all kinds which was already open. It called to him, or more likely his stomach, and Kite decided that it was high time for breakfast.

"Would you like one too?" he asked Glint as he passed through the doors into the eatery, the place quite bustling even at the early hour. The little carp sent him clear feelings of excitement in return, taking her time to choose from the many different kinds available. Just before he turned around, a basket of steaming buns under one arm, Kite froze as his expanded vision revealed that one of the patrons had looked up at him, fixing his gaze on Kite in wide-eyed disbelief.

The young man had a decently strong iron-ranked aura, and black hair with some red streaks mixed in. And it was a man Kite recognized.

"It's you!" two voices called in unison.