Elder Cultivator

There had been some hope that Anton might be able to find useful information about the Trigold Cluster along his journey, but it hadn’t been the priority. Now that he’d been roped into a long stop within Aretis, he figured he might as well seek out such information.

It took Janer some time to determine if and how he was going to respond. In the end, it didn’t seem to be entirely up to him. He didn’t make any sort of formal request, but he did receive a response. Proof that some important decision makers were watching from elsewhere. Anton considered trying to track them down, but it ultimately didn’t matter until they did something stupid like try to kill him.

If they made such a mistake, he would make sure to hunt down those at the top. Otherwise, he didn’t care if they were trying to manage things from a distance. As long as they were good at their jobs, it didn’t matter if their martial prowess was lower and indeed was a good reason not to show themselves in front of random cultivators. And if they were just cowards, then Anton had a greater advantage.

“What do you wish to know?” Janer finally asked.

Anton thought for a moment. “Normally, I would ask if you had something like a counter to their martial style… but they don’t really have one. I suppose if you have any insight on whether there are actual tactics behind what they do or if they’re really just swarming people that would be appreciated. Then any understanding of how they still have Domination cultivators. Since we keep killing them and all. Even if you have nothing conclusive, a different perspective would be valuable.”

Janer nodded. He seemed to know most of the information as he began to share, but as he spoke Anton heard a few additional tidbits come through his comms device. “They do have one main tactic, which is the homogenization of their energy. That makes it nearly impossible to detect their stronger cultivators until they are actively causing damage. We don’t know the full details, but it seems that their higher ranking cultivators guide them in such practices.” He paused for a moment, “The key point being that most of their lower ranking members don’t know what they’re doing.”

Anton nodded. “None of our captives revealed much useful information. We did recently capture a stronger individual, but we haven’t been able to get solid answers of any kind.” Anton was fully convinced they shared a mutual enemy, so he volunteered a bit more. “Have you ever observed one of them decreasing in cultivation?”

“Observed? No. Theorized? Yes. What was it?”

“A captured Domination cultivator devolved to Augmentation,” Anton explained.

Bear Hug interrupted. “If you become our friends we have so much information! Many many uh… too much to fit in someone’s head. But you can put the information in a computer’s head.”

Technically, they didn’t have to become ‘friends’ for that. The Alliance would likely exchange information on the basis of any form of loose cooperation and non-aggression. But if they were going to go that far, they might as well go further. Anton was happy to let Bear Hug advocate for more, especially with someone around to assess their genuine nature.

It was clear that Janer didn’t quite know how to react. “We will discuss such topics… later.”

“Okay,” Bear Hug agreed. “Do you know how to make those guys stay dead?”

Janer smiled, “If only it were that easy. As far as we understand, if they die they should indeed stay dead. However, they will rapidly create another Domination cultivator.”

Anton stroked his chin, “Do you happen to have any information on their anchor?” Janer tilted his head. “An object of significant importance to Domination cultivators. They channel energy through it… is the simplest way to describe it. Though the definition of object is broad enough to include things like palaces and nebulae, from what we have seen.”

“Unfortunately, most of our information is confined to what we can observe from within our territory, so this is new information. I suppose that explains how killing them allows for them to transfer the power to someone new.”

“Not really,” Anton said. “Normally killing a Domination cultivator results in the destruction of their anchor.”

“Ah. I see. In that case, they appear to be an exception but I suppose you already knew that. As for the transfer of power, it seems to be a semi-conscious decision. It seems they can intuit when one has died and move on. Otherwise… observed failures seem to weaken them.”

Anton nodded. “We noticed something along those lines recently.”

“Good. We recommended trying to achieve early victories against them in battle, even at a cost. A simple wound can significantly shake the trust in them. Alternatively, if sufficient numbers of Swirling Swarm cultivators die under their watch the same connection might be weakened. Not always, however. If the Domination cultivator is highly successful killing their foes, it seems they… don’t care?” Janer shrugged. “It’s ultimately a balance of observation. Killing their members isn’t enough on its own, they have to be convinced that they’re losing. And then they will.”

Anton supposed morale was always important, but in certain cases it could affect cultivator’s combat prowess more than others. The Swirling Swarm might take that to an extreme. “How does that affect those below Domination?”

“From what we understand, others can fluctuate in power nearly as rapidly… once they reach a certain level of recognition where Devotion comes into play, at least.”

“I’m sure our people will be glad to hear your observations,” Anton said. “If we’re going to continue to talk, I might suggest we move somewhere more comfortable.”

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“Like next to a lake!” Bear Hug suggested. “Wherever it’s daytime.”

Janer turned to Anton. “I suppose you’ll be requesting your restraints removed as well.”

Anton shrugged. “I would certainly prefer it. At the very least, I would like to know what would make you comfortable enough with my presence to manage that. I can only state that I have no ill intentions towards you and your people in so many ways.”

“Your request has been noted,” Janer said. “We must ask that you formally swear that you mean no harm to Aretis and its people. Along with your companion.”

Anton nodded. “I have no special techniques to make such an oath more binding than anything else, but I will happily do so.”

“We would appreciate it.”

“Then I shall. I swear I mean Aretis and its people no harm, and have no intention to seek any retribution for any inconveniences I have suffered.” Anton took his words seriously regardless of the level of formality, so it didn’t really matter to him. He was interested to determine if they had some sort of device that might further bind him, but he didn’t feel anything. Perhaps it would only matter if he was deceptive.

“I swear I want to be friends. Also those other things,” Bear Hug said. “... Remind me what they were?” Anton repeated them for him, and Bear Hug followed his words. The sincerity of Bear Hug was not shown so much in their verbalizations, but how they used energy sign, speaking from their true self.

“Very good. Felicitas?”

She nodded, leaving the room to obtain Anton’s key. Anton was able to breathe easier once his shackles were removed. Even if they didn’t quite limit him as much as they might, it was uncomfortable for Anton to know he wouldn’t be able to protect his friend properly. His own life was something of a concern, but Bear Hug didn’t deserve any trouble.

“We can leave directly,” Janer said. “Please ready yourselves.”

“One moment,” Anton said, holding up a hand. He extended his energy through the cell walls into the guard’s area… and projected his voice. “Don’t try to force it. Focus on doing something practical with your cultivation and let your advancement come naturally.”

The guard he spoke to nearly fell over. “Um… what?”

“You’ll kill yourself if you keep on your path. So do consider a different approach.” Anton nodded to Janer. “Alright, I’m ready.”

It would potentially embarrass the man to be called out specifically… but that should hopefully shock him into actually paying attention. Well, Anton could monitor him secretly until they left… whenever that might be.

When they were teleported out, the same guards actually ended up at the next location with them. Along with more. Janer inclined his head, “Sorry about this, but we must maintain some caution.”

Anton nodded. He really didn’t mind. Whatever strange features their guns had, the guards couldn’t threaten him because they’d have to be able to point the weapon at him. But it would make them feel better to have more people around now that he was back to what they perceived as his full power.

He wasn’t going to mention starbinding just yet. He did kind of want to ask about Reneden. Anton felt there was some connection there. However, he wasn’t sure how they would react to a developing mechanical intelligence. He’d want to know the people of Aretis a bit before that.

They’d been brought to a lake. They were on the same low population planet- Anton didn’t know if that was out of caution or because they couldn’t teleport between planets. Either way, Anton appreciated setting foot on the surface of the planet Ecuma for the first time. “I like how you reserve so much space for nature,” Anton said. “It is a good feature. However, you may wish to augment the growth of the surface more actively.”

“Why?” Felicitas asked.

“Oh, it’s part of the basics of building natural energy within a system,” Anton explained. “It’s an investment in the planet. Of course, that requires enough control to make certain no troublemakers cut apart and consume the augmented flora. Enhancing herbs for cultivation will pay back more with each planting, but a sustained ecosystem has greater long term impacts.”

Bear Hug jumped into the lake. “We’re friends now,” they declared. “You can tell because Anton is teaching you things.”

Janer appeared to be observing more than intending to participate at the moment. Perhaps he was waiting for more questions to come in.

“Umm…” the guard Anton had spoken to worked up the courage to speak. “Sect Head Anton…”

“You can just say Anton. It’s so much easier to say. What’s your name?”

“Marty, sir Anton. May I ask about what you said earlier?” Anton nodded. “My cultivation… how did you know?”

“Your energy is unbalanced. I’ve seen it hundreds of times from people who are in a hurry. They end up running into trouble and hurting themselves. I don’t know much about firearm cultivation myself, but I could give you pointers on long distance sensing if you were interested.”

Marty frowned. “What sort of… practical things can I do with a gun?”

“Depends on what kind it is. But intense energy can be used for breaking things down as well as building them up.”

“Anton, look! Fishies!” Bear Hug was currently being swarmed.

Felicitas frowned. Now that things had relaxed, she was giving away more signs of her thoughts. “Is that a problem?”

Anton shrugged. “Bear Hug can manage themselves. You might get some larger fish for a while.”

He was waiting for her to ask. He was just about to say something when she finally did. “Your cultivation… I didn’t know it was possible to surpass Life Transformation. Without Ascension, I mean.”

“It is. Curious?”

“It would be stranger to not wish to know.”

Okay, so she didn’t quite ask. But that wasn’t going to stop Anton. “You’re going to want to pick a concept, an area, or something that fits you. The full details are a bit much for a casual conversation, but you’ll probably want to spend a decade or two in contemplation anyway. Since you haven’t prepared beforehand. Whatever it is, make sure it makes sense to you.”

“... Just like that?” she asked.noveldrama

“Hah! No. It’s not that easy. If you do it wrong you can fry yourself inside out… survival isn’t guaranteed.”

“I understand,” she nodded seriously.

Anton just smiled lightly. Survival wasn’t guaranteed… but success was more common than not with proper teaching, support, and preparation. Anton hoped they got there at some point, but for the moment he was being carefully observed ‘unrestrained’ as Aretis tried to figure out what to do with him. He didn’t mind taking a break for a while, but he thought they might need some time to ponder.

Maybe when he came back through they’d know what to do, but he had to finish setting up the groundwork now. Or let Bear Hug do it.