Chương 725: Chapter 717

"Work's DONNNNEEEEEEEEEEE!" Emerging from the closed bathing area with a victorious cry, my sweet wifey skips across the garden in a vision of pure delight. Without any need for Aura or treats, her charming presence alone is enough to entice the roving quins and thieving rabbits to follow her away, trailing behind her in a convoy of adorable floofiness. Culminating her short jaunt with a hop into my open arms, Lin-Lin hugs me ever so tightly and exclaims, "Let's play, ya?!"

Her eager smile and wide-eyed anticipation are made all the more adorable when paired with Blackjack's eager dance of excitement, pitter-pattering his front paws in between Lin-Lin's hare ears while swinging his head side to side. Lifting her off the ground and twirling her about, I Cloud-Step ever so lightly and leap twice my height off the ground, before Lightening enough to almost drift back down to earth.

Even this minor effort is enough to put a strain on my Chi system and leave me light-headed with exertion, but it's totally worth it to see the look of glee on my sweet wifey's adorable face, to say nothing of sweet Blackjack's unmitigated delight.

"Sounds like a plan," I reply, my grin mirroring hers as we land lightly back on the ground, with so many adorable animals circling us in excitement. Reluctant as I am to release my hold on her slim, soft waist, I can't really carry her like this and walk around at the same time, so I turn around and offer my back for her to climb on.

Dainty thighs are nice to hold too, and I resist the urge to squeeze too much or roam anywhere untowards as I bid farewell to Taduk before heading out of the grove with Mila, Song, and the floofs in tow. Though I intended to leave Yan to meditate Insights, our quiet passing is enough to interrupt her trance without repercussion, and she greets us all with a smile.

Hopping to her feet without so much as a word, she falls in line behind us like a graceful dancer gliding through a practiced routine, her steps weightless and bouncy as if walking on air. Our little discussion has left her in high spirits as she lifts Banjo into her arms, cradling the sizable bear like a baby in her arms before lowering him to the ground to entice three rabbits to hitch a ride on his belly.

As our eyes meet, she flashes me an impish grin of smug satisfaction and smouldering passion hinting at a later reward for my help, one I look forward to with eager anticipation, but our salacious endeavours will have to wait until later as I can hardly abandon Lin-Lin after three hours of hard work. While three hours of effort each day isn't a lot, for my fun-loving, free-spirited wifey, three hours might as well be three days.

In her defence, there's a lot to pay attention to when conducting the Body Tempering baths, as it takes a lot of focus and on the fly calculation to ensure the concentration of Heavenly Energy stays at optimal levels for Body Tempering. Too much is just as bad as too little, but the requisite amount can change from minute to minute as the beneficiary of the bath acclimates to the process.

Taduk tried explaining how he senses the 'flow' of Heavenly Energy being drawn into the recipient's Core, but as far as I can tell from his descriptions, it's mostly intuition. Unlike with Demonstrating Purity, I can sense no palpable change in the ambient flow of Heavenly Energy, which is largely indistinguishable unless there's a disturbance taking place.

Instead, Taduk is able to hone in on an individual's metaphysical circulatory system using his Divine Sense, which is what I've taken to calling that ineffable awareness that comes from having a Core and years of experience with Chi and Heavenly Energy. Unless you're a hidden dragon like Lin-Lin, who can somehow also utilize her Divine Sense despite her complete and utter lack of training and hard work.

People call me the Mother's Chosen Son because of my talents, but there are times when it feels like everyone around me is more talented than I. I have bursts of greatness, but it's unreliable at best, though I have gotten better as of late. Putting aside the things I don't understand, the skills I can utilize 100% of the time put me somewhere around Peak Expert levels of strength, though I lack the comprehension required to call myself one just yet.

Which, to be fair, is none too shabby an accomplishment if I do say so myself. Stopping at the nearby district to pick up my sister and her beautiful family, we all head out to the river for an afternoon picnic, with refreshing tea and scrumptious snacks prepared for us all by Tali and Charok. Rakky, the bears, and the quins paddle about in the river, with the pups having a grand old time teasing the slower, clumsier tiger and climbing all over him in the process.

As we take a seat by the bank to watch the show, Tali shoos the rabbits and Ping Ping aside before plopping herself down in the dirt beside me. Hauling her hefty basket into her lap, she puffs hard to get her bangs out of her eyes while carefully uncovering the goods hidden inside.

"I made scallion pancakes Rainy," she begins, pulling a steamer out for me to take while her braids dance in the spring wind.

"Start with those first, ya?"

"Thank you sweetling." Inwardly laughing at her grave expression, I resist the urge to tease her by taking my time to appreciate the animal antics and instead dive right in. Little Tali has been hard at work perfecting her cooking skills ever since I accidentally let slip that she succeeded in cooking Spiritual Dumplings, a secret everyone else was keeping from her so as not to skew her expectations and set her up for disappointment.

If she were able to naturally figure out the process on her own, then all would be well, but if she set herself on this Path and failed to find success just like so many others before her, then it would have been tragic indeed. Luckily, I made up for my gaffe by leaning on my Brotherhood contacts and convincing one of the monks to teach Tali, as it was clear from my time at the monastery that they knew how to prepare and cook Spiritual Plants for proper consumption.

The head chef, a portly, Fire-Blessed man with cheeks so wide they sometimes cover his eyes, took an interest in the matter when he heard Tali already succeeded at cooking with Spiritual Plants once before, and has since been giving her lessons each and every day. From our brief exchanges, it's clear the head chef hopes Tali will one day lead the charge to establish the Sisterhood, the female counterpart of their organization which I so rightly criticized them for not having.

Exciting as all this might be, I really hope that's not what life has in store for Tali. Being a nun doesn't seem all that suitable for my carefree little niece, though it does have the added benefit of ensuring that none of the horrible men out there will ever lay their hands on her. Men are the worst. I should know, I'm one of the worst of the worst when it comes to being a man. Or is it I'm the best at being the worst? I dunno.

Biting into the delectable treat, I revel in the aromatic zing of the scallions mixed with the crunch of the crispy fried pancake, which is nothing like the light, fluffy, syrup lathered breakfast treats of memory. Rather than sweet, these are a savoury snack made of lightly salted, non-rising dough, and Tali has mastered the art of frying them to perfection.

"Delicious," I exclaim, shoving the rest of my piece into my mouth before holding one out to my wifey, who chomps down without hesitation. Sharing with my beloved wives is fine, but Tali will pout and glower if I share any with the animals, because it takes a fair amount of effort and exertion to cook with Spiritual Plants, not to mention the distinct lack of ingredients now that most of Taduk's efforts are focused on growing the plants needed for the Body Tempering baths.

Hugging her tight as thanks for all her hard work, I bask in the warm pride of knowing she's found her Path and the minuscule part in which I played.

"Thanks so much Tali. You make the best scallion pancakes." Beaming at the praise, sweet Tali urges me to hurry up and finish so she can bring out the next dish, which plays right into my plan to have her 'begrudgingly' allow others to help me clear my plate. It's not that I don't appreciate her hard work, but considering I've already Refined my body into a Spiritual Heart, these Spiritual dishes are wasted on me.

Mila, Yan, Lin-Lin, Song, and Tate would all benefit more from this, especially my rambunctious and too-serious little nephew who is now a full centimetre shorter than his happy-go-lucky sister. Poor little guy, he works so hard and trains all the time, but Tali still beats him in almost every measurable metric when it comes to the Martial Path. Doesn't matter though, because as long as Tate keeps it up, he'll catch up in no time flat before leaving slacker Tali behind in the dust.

Unless Tali turns out to be a second Lin-Lin of course, though I don't think that's likely. As we eat and enjoy our meal with Tali making sure I get all the good stuff, I idly wonder if I can become a Spiritual Chef too. The process is probably somewhat similar to creating Chi Tea, though Tali doesn't steep in the food she serves us.

Instead, during the cooking process, Tali infuses her Chi into the meal, delivered through her strong emotions and driven by resolute Will to transform the Heavenly Energy within the Spiritual Plants into something that anyone can absorb through eating.

This is only possible because her faith in the Spiritual Plants and desire to help me recover is so strong it somehow allowed her to miraculously succeed at this Spiritual Cooking, with the Energy of the Heavens driven to fulfill her Intent, in the same, autonomous manner wherein regular commoners regrow their teeth. It's even more impressive when you take into account that not only has she succeeded several times since, this is also technically a form of External use of Chi.

Granted, most of the power required for the transformation process comes from the Spiritual Plants themselves, as well as the heat of the cooking fire, meaning Tali's Chi expenditure is next to nothing, but it's not nothing, which is something. Ten years old and already so far along the Dao, I could not be any prouder. According to Monk Happy and the other monks I've talked to, one benefit of eating properly cooked Spiritual Plants is that it helps with Core Formation, the same as Taduk's Body Tempering baths.

While both are currently limited by ingredients, this is something we can solve, unlike the latter's need for an experienced Healer to supervise the process. Though Pong Pong's poop can only sustain so many plants, I now know that it's possible to grow Spiritual Plants using human corpses as fertilizer, information which is considered a closely guarded secret of the Imperial Clan. I'd love to know if animal corpses would work too.

I assume not, since we're not in the habit of cremating animals, though I would love to know why. Probably has something to do with why Spiritual Beasts turn into humans too, but that's neither here nor there. Even though using corpses to grow Spiritual Plants takes longer than using Divine Beast poop and is akin to regular farming, it's probably more sustainable since I can't imagine there are too many of Pong Pong's peers lurking about who are willing to trade poop for food.

There's a process to making the good fertilizer that Ping Ping doesn't understand, as her droppings are far less effective than her tiny cousin. That being said, even if I could convince the outer provinces to stop cremating their dead, I doubt the Emperor would just sit idly by while I spread the secrets to the Imperial Clan's success. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to do something about the Emperor and the Five Supreme Families supporting him.

Their efforts to stymie development and progress of the human race is stupid and short-sighted, a means to keep the outer provinces under their boot by holding onto the secrets of power. Much as I would love to share the secrets of Spiritual Plants with anyone who will listen, doing so would put me firmly at odds with the Emperor as it would abolish their monopoly on Martial power.

Granted, the outer provinces would likely be on my side once they realize they can even the playing field against the Imperial Clan, but I'm not keen on leading the outer provinces in bloody revolution. Unfortunately, I believe conflict is inevitable given the goals I have set for myself, namely righting the balance of power in the world and helping the many stand against the few. Regardless of the cost, I am now resolved to change this world for the better, even if I have to lead a damned rebellion to do it.

Idly glancing at the Death Corps guards patrolling the perimeter, I'm reminded of yet another reason why the Emperor won't like my meddling, because I also would like to tell the world that shattering a Martial Warrior's Core will free them of all Oaths. This world is built on slavery, of both the mundane and Oath-bound variety, but the latter is far more insidious and absolute, which makes it all the more heinous a crime.

With easy access to Spiritual Food or Body Tempering baths, the practice of enslaving Martial Warriors through Oaths might well become a thing of the past, or at least offer hope to the hopeless once they learn that a cure exists. Though I want nothing more than to scream this secret from the rooftops, we've kept quiet about the connection between Core shattering and Oath breaking except to tell Grandpa Du and Kyung, because we can't risk upsetting the Imperial Clan, not while we still need their financial support.

That being said, I'm hopefully optimistic that an alternative solution might exist, one in the form of Impartation of Heavenly Energy. During my brief bout with limited omniscience, I remember noting how my Natal Souls were able to identify and mend the imperfections in the souls of my Irregulars, thereby allowing them to Form their Cores on the spot and become Martial Warriors in truth.

My Natal Souls were also able to patch the Cores of seasoned Martial Warriors allowing them to progress by leaps and bounds, which leads me to believe that I might be able to remove a slave Oath without having to shatter their Core. Why is this important? Well, the obvious benefits of creating Martial Warriors aside, one important detail to note is that Death Corps don't have Spiritual Weapons.

The ones I thought had them were simply using Domain Plating to mimic a Spiritual Weapon, which is another kettle of fish altogether, but given how the easiest way to shatter a Core is to break their Spiritual Weapon, we'd be hard pressed to free even a single Death Corps guard from their Oaths.

However, if I can figure out a way to break Oaths while keeping Cores and Spiritual Weapons intact, then I could free hundreds, if not thousands of slaves in a day, all at the cost of my Natal Souls, a resource I have a theoretically infinite supply of so long as Spectres and Demons exist.

The Imperial Clan holds power through the superiority of their Martial Warriors, but numerically, they're outnumbered by the outer provinces the same way we're outnumbered by the Defiled, so the balance of power will undoubtedly change in my favour if I can figure out this whole Impartation business. The biggest issue is I am sorely lacking for time.

Whether it be Spiritual Cooking, Body Tempering, Oath Breaking, or Impartation inspired Core Formation, it all requires time and training to take effect, but my enemies will not sit around and wait until I am ready. Now that my personal strength and the destructive power of Runic Cannons have been revealed, I cannot imagine a world in which Zhen Shi and the Azure Emperor will sit idly by and allow me to grow unchecked, and I fear a reckoning is soon to come.

There's nothing to say about Zhen Shi, but if the Emperor comes bearing unreasonable demands, then I will stand fast against him, because I will not be chained by any Oath, not ever again. Difficult to fight a war on two fronts, but here's hoping the Emperor waits until after the Defiled threat is taken care of before acting on his avarice, though it's difficult to predict a man who had has taken no direct action against me just yet.

That being said, if we were ever to come into conflict, possessing the means to free the Death Corps guards from their Oaths en masse would be a great way to pull the rug out from under the Imperial Clan, assuming the Death Corps aren't also brainwashed and utterly loyal to the Emperor, even without their Oaths.

A poor assumption to make considering even the people of the outer provinces treat the Emperor like a god given flesh, a figure they've never seen, heard, or really know anything about besides the fact that he exists. Then again, even if the Death Corps remain loyal to the Emperor after the fact, I still intend to break their Oaths, because slavery is an abominable practice that I cannot stomach.

This is every bit a driving part of my Dao as my desire to do awesome things, my hope for a better future in which slavery no longer exists, because I do not want others to suffer what I have suffered, and what so many still suffer to this day. By hook or by crook, I intend to change the world for the better. I have found my resolve, and I hope that my convictions do not cost me everything I hold dear, but that is a matter for another day.

Thus, the only thing I can do in the short term is improve my personal strength, which seems silly at first. No man is an island, so no matter how much strength I personally attain, I will require support to retake the West and stand firm against the Imperial Clan. Or so I thought until Dad told me about what happened after I passed out in the Azure Sea.

More than a dozen Divinities showed up just for little old me, not because I'm strong enough to threaten them personally, but because the power I exhibited with Blobby's assistance might well tip the scales of balance firmly in my favour, so long as we're restricted to strictly mortal combatants.

Essentially, I'm in a weird spot where I've exhibited more power and control over Heavenly Energy than any mortal should rightly possess, while falling short of being able to call myself a Peak Expert, much less a Divinity. While this doesn't necessarily mean I'm unmatched in single combat, my potential for widespread damage is too high to be overlooked, to the point where I can single-handedly defeat an entire army on my own, without the unsettling side effect of indiscriminately killing everyone present.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Assuming I ever figure out how to use my power on demand instead of being forced to wait for a bout of Insight inspired by a near-death experience. That being said, there's little I can do until I recover from my current debilitation, so I spend the rest of the day in the happy company of my loved ones.

Much as I would love to spend every day frolicking in rivers and riding across the plains, I drag myself out of Mila's arms early the next morning to join Song and Yan on the training field. A bevy of familiar faces are there to greet me, the first and foremost of which is Mister Rustram's, who has finally shaved his stupid pencil thin moustache and no longer looks like comic-book villain.

"Ready?" I ask, once all the small talk is out of the way and we make our way onto the sparring grounds.

"I won't be using Chi, so try not to poke too many holes in me please."

"Ready," he replies, with a grin that makes him look so much younger than his twenty-something odd years.

"But no promises."

"Then begin." As soon as the words leave my lips, my second-in-command darts forward with a probing thrust, one I readily bat aside with ease, even limited as I am without Chi to Reinforce or Deflect. Having kept his weight on his back foot, Rustram easily recovers and thrusts again, and again, and again, his light-weight rapier moving faster than my eyes can follow.

Bereft of Enlightenment, I can only rely on my judgment and intuition to pick apart his pattern of attacks, which makes for good training since it forces me to think ahead. High, low, centre, high, Rustram constantly changes his angle of attack as he advances upon me to the beat of his chiming blade, a devastating rush which many an opponent has succumbed to. Were I only wielding Peace, I would soon suffer defeat at the hands of his rapid-fire offensive, but I have Tranquility to make up for my lacking speed.

Try as I might, I'm unable to find the timing to catch the rapier between my shield's protruding twin blades, though I doubt that even matters. Rustram's rapier is flexible enough to simply slide out of any catch, unless I exert enough strength to literally bend the Spiritual Steel, which I cannot do without Reinforcement. Though we are both limiting our use of Chi in this match, some things are too ingrained into habit and instinct to easily overcome, and the use of Reinforcement and Amplification is one of them.

Though his jabs are light and quick, if any one of his attacks were to cleanly connect, he could easily Reinforce and Amplify to turn this probing strike into a deadly thrust. Even without the Chi skills, a simple repositioning of his feet could do the same, a quick forward step and push to drive the point home. As if reading my thoughts, Rustram does exactly that, adding in a quick side-step that sends his rapier slamming home against Tranquility at an awkward angle to pin my shield against my chest.

Going with the flow, I retreat before his offensive and try to bring my shield back up to defend, but he's one step ahead of me as he drags his blade down and out, forcing me to extend my numbed left arm as he whips his rapier about in a flourish and lines it up for a second thrust. Pivoting hard on my right foot, I step back and parry his attack with what looks like relative ease, but inside, I'm sweating at how close he came to skewering me.

There's no time to relax however, as Rustram presses his advantage, keeping to my exposed left while brandishing his rapier about in a dazzling and deadly series of slashes. Our weapons clash in a symphony of steel, reminding me of how lacklustre my sword skills truly are. When Geom-Chi and Fung traded blows, their weapons barely touched as they repeatedly avoided head on clashes to limit the effects of Amplification and Resonance, but against Rustram, I have no choice but to meet his attacks head on.

The worst part is, thanks to Mom's insane training regimen, Rustram is barely even breathing hard after several minutes of sustained attacks. I can't remember the last time I saw him stop to take a breath, yet there is not a trace of sweat on his brow as he continues his unending offensive. Then he kicks things up a notch and starts mixing tiny brandishes into his pattern of attacks, aborted thrusts that serve as both feint and distraction that conceal where his next attack is aimed at.

It's such a minor thing, just like drawing a tiny half-circle with the tip of his sword, but it adds a whole new layer to his offensive that I have to account for. Worst of all, he has yet to fall into a predictable pattern and has a tendency to attack sub-optimally to catch me off guard, happy to aim for my foot or hip rather than a more prominent, promising target that might well end the fight.

Of course, those tempting targets were baited traps I devised for him to step into, so it's a good thing he avoided them, but still frustrating to say the least.

"Go with the flow," I remind myself, trying to recapture that feeling of using Zian's whirling ring of defence or riding the coursing currents of my Natal Sea, but falling woefully short without Insight to help me along.

"Be water." Empty your mind. Focus on nothing and find everything. Be aware of nothing but awareness itself. Be formless, shapeless like water, a thought that sparks a distant memory of something from my past life. Put water in a cup, it becomes the cup. Put water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. Put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Be water. Be adaptable. Be flexible. Despite the growing tension of my current situation, my body relaxes as I find Balance not in my mind and soul, but in the moment.

This is more than just Spiritual Balance, but a balance in our exchange, an ebb and flow to our movements if you will. This is not Insight, but observation and understanding, a comprehension that has nothing to do with the Heavens and everything to do with my training, knowledge, and experience. There's a rhythm to Rustram's attacks, and though he has yet to fall into a predictable pattern, all I need to do is disrupt his rhythm.

Soon as I see my chance, I seize it without hesitation, taking advantage of the split second during which he feints a thrust to turn the tables against him. Swift as a coursing river, I advance on Rustram with the force of a great typhoon, flowing past his oppressive offensive and yielding to his attacks without giving way.

The first thrust slides past me, the follow-through slash misses overhead, and then I am inside his range and our roles are reversed, with me on the offensive while he backpedals away to try and rally a defence, but in these extreme close quarters, I can hardly miss. The rim of my shield clips him in the ribs and I tap his knee with the flat of my blade, just hard enough to show I could've taken his leg off if I cared to.

Were this a real fight, I would follow through with a flurry of attacks, something along the lines of Bear's Standing Fury or Snake Swallows the Horse, but I can hardly afford to lose my second-in-command, even for the few hours it would take for him to Heal. Stepping back with a smile, I clasp my fist in earnest respect for my friend who has come so far, and his brilliant smile shows there are no hard feelings from our match, only heartfelt admiration.

"Damn me," he exclaims, returning my salute with one of his own.

"Thought I had you there, but didn't expect you to turn on me like that."

"You almost did." Grinning hard enough to strain my cheeks, I clap him on the shoulder and marvel at how far he's come in so short a time.

"Your offensive was near flawless, and if I hadn't seen that opening then and there, you might well have won. The little flourish you do every time you feint is clever and distracting, but you only ever use it as a feint. Mix in a little flourish on some of your real thrusts and you'll really throw your opponents for a loop." Eyes wide with surprise, Rustram steps back and delivers a rotating thrust at empty air, trying it out for himself.

It's as simple as rotating his wrist as he drives his blade home, which will affect his aim, but that only matters against opponents in Runic armour. So long as the tip is pointed towards centre mass, he can hardly miss his target, as the little circles he 'draws' in the air are barely more than a centimetre in diameter, maybe twice that once you account for the flexibility of his rapier.

I'm proud of his accomplishments, this second-in-command of mine, now a Domain-capable Expert of the Empire who stands upon the threshold of the Martial Peak. Though he is still a ways away from calling himself a Peak Expert, he's ready to begin tackling this penultimate hurdle of the Martial Path at an age when most of his peers are still shoring up their foundations. Much of this has to do with Mom's gruelling training methods, but to say I had no part in his progress would be a lie.

When I helped him Develop his Domain, I catapulted him forward along the Martial Path, but since then, he's made great strides all by himself. Unlike me, he's able to grasp his Insights and make use of them freely, and now, he is indisputably the strongest Warrior of my retinue under Peak Expert. Once he's got the hang of his new rotating thrust and I've recovered enough to not have to work at looking calm and collected, we go for a second round during which the mindset of water comes more easily to me.

I don't have to block, parry, or Deflect every attack, as I can just allow some to flow past me uninterrupted, but the instinct to avoid danger is sometimes too strong to overcome. This becomes even more apparent as I switch partners with Yan to spar with Song, as her attacks are every bit as fast as Rustram's, yet contain far more power behind them.

Though lacking a Domain, Song is a more formidable opponent than Rustram when it comes to these Chi-less spars due to her superior speed and strength, and she is far less adept at limiting herself than my second-in-command. Even overlooking how she sometimes utilizes Chi skills without really meaning to, her true strength comes as something of a surprise until I realize she was previously always holding back against me whenever we sparred.

Not because she was going easy on me, but because her Oaths would never have allowed her to go full-throttle, but now she is no longer handicapped when we fight and I am struggling to keep up. My new mindset of becoming water helps me scrape by and emerge victorious by the narrowest of margins, one a bee's dick would have trouble slipping in between, but a victory nonetheless. Sharing my thoughts on her fighting style earns me a stoic, stony-faced nod, but also a warm and gracious Aura of gratitude and respect.

Her love for me is not romantic in nature, but rather built upon a foundation of trust and respect, so while it was what woke me from my latest coma, I'm desperately fighting to keep my expectations in check. Song is my friend and Martial Aunt, a woman I should love and cherish like a sister, nothing more, nothing less. I mean c'mon man.

Keeping two wives satisfied is already exhausting enough, and soon you'll have Lin-Lin too, and while she might not be the most physically active woman around, my sweet wifey is not one to exercise restraint when it comes to things she enjoys.

I sense many exhausting and exhilarating nights ahead with our wedding just over the horizon, the date set once this round of Body Tempering baths are done and we head back to the Central Citadel for the festivities, so I should probably stop being greedy and focus on the women in my life who were gracious enough to marry a schmuck like me.

Yan, Chey, Dastan, Lang Yi, Wang Bao, Ulfsaar, Neera, Sai Chou, Ravil, Siyar, Jorani, and other familiar faces come out to spar with me, and though I am able to defeat each and every one of them, victory does not come easily. The Warriors of my retinue benefited much from my brief bout with limited omniscience as my Natal Souls focused on the people I knew and cared about first, over strangers I'd never met.

Bulat especially, who has shed all his excess flab after months of gruelling training to transform into a burly, heavy-set Warrior whose nimble movements and deceptive cunning augment his prodigious strength well, a combination which makes for a difficult foe. Yan aside, these men and women form the backbone of my retinue, the most trusted Warriors under my command and people who I am proud to fight beside, so it's high time they received the recognition they deserve.

At the end of our sparring, I gather the entire retinue to bear witness to a round of past-due promotions, and there are plenty of cheers and merriment to accompany the announcement. Sai Chou, Lang Yi, Chey, Wang Bao, and Ulfsaar each receive a promotion to thousand-man commander, equivalent to a Senior Captain without the obligations of military service. Ravil, Siyar, Neera, Lang Er, and many others are also promoted to hundred-man commanders, or Captain equivalents.

Though not as adept in battlefield command as I would like, I promote Jorani to the equivalent of a Major and my second-in-command, while keeping Bulat and Silva at his side to help him with the transition. As for Mister Rustram, Mom will throw a fit if I keep her Disciple in obscurity beneath me, so I promote him to a Major in the Imperial Defence forces under the Sentinels and present him with command of the Stormguard as his own personal retinue.

Once the celebrations are over and done with, I accompany my former second-in-command out of the Citadel to inspect his new retinue, who have thus far sat fallow and waiting as they trained under Akanai's guidance. As we arrive at their training camp, the Stormguard file out to greet us, standing at full attention in neat and tidy formation without the need for any officers to browbeat them into line.

Though they've only been Martial Warriors for less than a full year, I have never seen more disciplined soldiers outside the Death Corps guards. Unlike the black-armoured Oath-bound Warriors however, the Stormguard are filled will eager faces and reverent gazes as far as the eye can see, these three-thousand some odd Warriors having somehow come to the conclusion that I was responsible for their unasked for and unexpectedly successful Core Formation.

I mean, they're not wrong, but they have no proof, yet still they choose to idolize me like a hero out of legend. Can't say I enjoy it as it's incredibly unnerving, especially since now I have an obligation to live up to their unrealistic expectations, but those are the pitfalls to command. After greeting the Stormguard and introducing their new commander, I rest on my laurels and watch Mister Rustram take command.

Though I offered him the pick of his officers from my retinue, he only brought Pran, Saluk, Viyan, and Birca with him, as he intends on promoting the majority of his officers from within the ranks of the Stormguards themselves. A fact he makes known before he begins his inspection, which raises their morale to staggering heights.

A few months ago, these men and women were mere Irregulars, commoners who were looked down on by every Imperial Soldier in existence, and now, not only were they Martial Warriors in truth, but they also had the opportunity to become Officers themselves. A Junior Officer, but even a mere Lieutenant would have commanded great respect in any of their hometowns, so the chance to become a Captain or even Senior Captain was almost unthinkable, so they give it their all in the ensuing demonstrations.

As they all break into groups and pair off to show off their Martial skills, I note that individually, there's nothing too remarkable about the Stormguards' Martial strength, which is to be expected from Warriors who only recently embarked upon the Martial Path. What's more, these Warriors were much older than average when they Formed their Core and thus lack the lifetime of training most Martial Warriors possess.

While Akanai has helped them build the beginnings of a sturdy foundation, it's evident that these Stormguards are sorely lacking when it comes to experience, as their duels are largely disappointing to watch. Maybe I'm expecting too much from them, but in my defence, I spent a lot of Natal Souls to make this happen and was hoping for an army of super-talented Martial Warriors.

Instead, I got what I should have expected, which is a bunch of peasants with little more than a year of training, and thus can barely manage to hold their weapons without embarrassing themselves. In light of my disappointment, I stand far enough away from the proceedings so as not to give my thoughts away with Aura, at least not to anyone involved. To be fair, they've come a long way in so short a time, just not long enough to become the elite fighting force I'd hoped they'd be.

Then again, they're still stronger than you'd expect from a group of novice Warriors, able to at least hold their own against a Defiled tribesman or three, though they're solely outmatched by Chosen in heavy Runic Armour, yet another thing I need to study and look into.

Reminded of how valuable my time is, I begin making plans to head back to the Citadel and check if I've received word from OuYang Yuhuan regarding the Defiled Runic Armour I sent her, but then the sparring comes to an end with pitifully few stand-out talents to pick from. However, rather than announce his chosen Officers, Rustram instead has the Stormguard fall back into formation, only to arrange them into different groups of about a hundred men each.

Intrigued by this new development, I stick around to watch the first clash between squads and see how they measure up against Imperial Soldiers, though this time I am careful to temper my expectations appropriately. Only to have them all blown away. While their individual strength is nothing to write home about, seeing the first two squads fall into formation sends chills down my spine.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with almost no room in between, the Stormguard lower their blunted spears and ready to meet their opponents in combat. Rather than charge headlong at one another, they advance in coordinated fashion, moving neither quickly nor slowly as they march forward in lockstep. Though eager to prove themselves, not a single Warrior sets foot out of formation until they are within range, at which point both sides deliver a wave of synchronized thrusts with a single, unified shout.

While their strict discipline falls apart in the heat of battle, both squads manage to maintain formation and even begin wrapping around one another in an effort to bring more spears to bear, utilizing tried and true tactics developed by none other than Liu Xuande himself. It seems like such a basic thing, to fight in formation as part of a unit, but it's surprisingly rare to find soldiers capable of doing so without falling apart.

Ishin Ken-Shibu's retinue is one such example, but he only has a hundred or so exemplary Warriors while the rest are just there to fill in the gaps. The Southern Warriors tend to do well when fighting in groups, but their tactics begin and end with the line formation, which is great for defending a static position, but of limited use out on the open field.

The reason it's so difficult to train soldiers like this is because Martial Warriors are literally the one percent, the elites of humanity who stand above the rest. As such, pride and ego will inevitably develop, which run counter to what is necessary when fighting in formation. Why join a retinue where you'll be treated like some faceless grunt when you can lord over peasants as a City Watchman or Noble Guard?

Why give up all your freedom to join the army when you can instead travel the world as a caravan guard or mercenary Warrior? There are far more glorious alternatives to joining the army, so few Martial Warriors would ever care to enlist if soldiers were subjected to the harsh and rigorous training required to fight in tight formation, but the Stormguard are still lacking those ingrained egos.

Partially because they're recently elevated peasants, but also because Akanai has kept them largely isolated from the public and limited their exposure to the adoring masses. Resulting in this disciplined fighting force before me, ones who are novices in the ways of battle, but well-trained in the ways of war.

These Stormguard will set the standard for soldiers moving forward, because with the inclusion of Irregulars and the introduction of the Runic Cannon, gone are the days of the massed melee in which every Warrior fought only for themselves and maybe the people directly beside them. Even the greatest Peak Expert of all time can't overextend on their own anymore, because they'd be targeted by every cannon and crossbow in range the moment the lines of fire are clear.

While the Stormguard could benefit from a smattering of Demon Slayers and Peak Experts scattered about their ranks, they will prove to be a formidable fighting force under Rustram's command. With a million soldiers like this, I could break entire armies of berserk Defiled tribesmen with minimal casualties, granting me a force to match the Emperor's Death Corps Guards, but alas, the Stormguard only number three-thousand strong.

Still, it's better than nothing, which is fast becoming my rallying cry in this War against the Enemy, but for now, I still cling to hope. Falling Rain, eternal optimist, that's the new me. Ha. Chapter Meme