LIGHTNOVELONLINE 139. Paying his dues
“Marten? Did you hear? Dragonfly reached silver rank three days ago!” Desdemona said as she happily greeted her friend. They were both sorting documents to get ready for yet another day of adventurer-wrangling, dawn having just crept over the horizon.
“Dragonfly? Is that the priestess?” Marten asked in return, trying to muster more disinterest than he really felt.
“No, silly. The one with the pink hair.”
“Oh, I must have forgotten. Still, what is that? Five weeks behind the ‘famous’ Pathbreaker?”
“Four and a half,” Desdemona corrected. “And Kite looks to have earned his title the hard way. His loss to Soul of the Perfected Step sect does seem to have brought many a challenger to him, especially since they’ve remained in the area. While some have been more challenging than most, I haven’t seen him lose since. Those four extra arms sure seem to help.”
“Four? I thought there were two.”
“They’re four now. Keep up, Marten! I don’t know why, but I’ve officiated enough of the clashes to be quite sure. And that staff of his seems to have caught up to him as well. Trust me, you don’t want to be hit by that thing.”
“I’d prefer not to be hit by anything wielded by a silver-ranker. And besides, once I get my own team, me being hit will mean that meatheads like that Pathbreaker have failed their job.”
“It’s fortunate for the rest of us that you won’t be finding yourself on any team with that attitude,” Desdemona jibed, before going back on topic. “I wonder who will be next? I bet Serene will be super gorgeous.”
“I thought you said that us non-furred humanoids weren’t your type.”
“No… I guess I did…” Desdemona said a bit abashedly, before adding. “But celestines… celestines are a special case. Apparently.”
“Well, oh mighty Pathbreaker, how does it feel now that I have caught up to you? Does it feel like you can handle my newfound power?” Dragonfly asked coyly where she stood in the room she was sharing with Kite, still admiring her new form.
“Only barely, and with great effort, ardent Dragonfly,” Kite agreed, doing quite a lot of admiring himself.
He had always found Dragonfly pretty, and much like with every other silver-ranker, her traits had been heightened. Now, said prettiness had reached a new level which met in a weird kind of contrast with the passion and strength that seemed to roll off her, joining into a contrasting appearance which she definitely made work.
“But it is a good thing that this inn caters to silver-rankers rather frequently, lest the bed might have been one of your first casualties.”
“All of this new power sure is something to get used to, that’s for sure,” she agreed while slipping into her clothes. “With this pace, maybe Will or Serene will have reached it too before you leave to give that Soul woman her dues.”
“While I am still hesitant, I will admit to being a bit excited too. There should be a lot I can learn from her.”
“Well, just don’t come back with a fancy new sect badge and new allegiance. You would be way too nice and dependable as a sect elder Kite. Would totally ruin the look for all those schemers.”
Dragonfly paused as Kite gave her a questioning look.
“What? You know how they are,” she said, but was avoiding his gaze just a little bit.
“Dragonfly, is there something on your mind?” Kite asked, once more taking the direct route.
She froze, and for a second it looked like she was debating what to say. Then she deflated, sitting down next to him on the bed and leaning her head against Kite’s side.
“No, not really. Or- well- it’s stupid.”
Kite only remained silent, which as usual led to her continuing with whatever was actually on her mind.
“It’s just… those celestines. Not only do they look the way they do, but here comes one who is apparently some kind of genius talent too. Blessed by Warrior, and all that. You know that I don’t mean to claim you as mine alone, but… Getting shown up in both looks and brawn? Now that would sting, even for me.”
Kite let her pour it all out. And when she had reached her conclusion, he laid his arm around her.
“While I do not know her well, I would hazard a guess that any would-be suitor to this Soul would be deserving of our pity. I don’t know if you saw her eyes as we fought, but when I could actually pressure her a bit… That look, along with her aura, told me a lot. I would be surprised if that woman would show an ounce of interest to anything less than Warrior himself coming to court her.”
Dragonfly giggled in response. “I’ve seen him in the temple squares. It’s hard to imagine him all groomed, flowers in hand and a song of professed love on his lips. I’m sorry, Lord Warrior, for said blasphemy.”
“I’m sure that Jarvan is already in way more trouble than any minor slights we could deliver,” Kite said, chuckling. Then he looked at Dragonfly, properly meeting her gaze. “And as for your worries, I hope to alleviate them when I say that the level of battle-madness I saw in Soul would not be what I hoped for in a lover. I do like a bit of personal safety, after all.”
“Hey, I’m plenty battle-mad,” Dragonfly protested, but did not shy away as Kite held her closer.
“And just the right amount, too, my ardent Dragonfly.”
“Hey, Dessie. It’s… The celestine priestess, you know the one with the Pathbreaker? She’s advanced to silver. I… thought you’d like to know,” Marten said, hating how awkward he sounded. Still, he felt a bit better as he saw Desdemona perk up at her desk.
“Really? I gotta see that. Thanks, Marten!” The leonid woman hurried from her desk to exit the small office that the pair shared. She brushed past Marten, but eventually stopping at the door to look at him.
“So….”
“So?”
“On a scale from one to ten? What can I look forward to beholding?”
Marten was silent for a while, before finally sighing, resigned. “A nine.”
“That’s generous, coming from you.”
“Well, I guess that you’re right in that celestines are… well… celestines. Even I cannot deny that there is just something about them.”
“See, I knew that you’d-”
“I am a man of exquisite tastes, after all. When I have my own team, I’ll make sure that only celestines join it.”
“Aaaand there you went and ruined it,” Desdemona sighed, closing the door behind her.
“How do you feel, little singer?”
“Closer, my lady. To everything.”
Serene was seated in a private chamber within Convergence’s temple of Song. It helped to shield her from the world, and partly to shield the world from her. While closing in on silver rank, it had become harder and harder to wrestle with her fourfold aura, as the gradually more powerful spiritual presence wanted to spill out into the world around Serene like a glorious wave.
Now, she was well underway to get it under her firm control once more, and Serene had to marvel at its potential. The things she should be able to accomplish with said aura in the future felt marvelous indeed.
“And you are coming closer every day to stepping out into a wider setting, little singer. It will not be long until the world itself will be your stage, from where you may spread your gifts to everyone.”
“I am sorry, my Lady, but to me, six months still feel quite long. And while I remain ever grateful for the opportunity, I still want to cherish the moments we have left now. After all, it might be a while before I return. But I thank you for accepting Gold within your clergy’s service. He means the world to me.”
“The two of you sing in the most beautiful harmony, little singer. You did well in noticing his song, however faint it once was. And as you see more of the world, having a steady companion is always good for the spirit. Parts of a choir may change, but as long as it retains its steady core, its harmony will remain.”
Serene thought to her friends and companions, imagining the different futures which might await them. And hopefully many reunions during the long lives of silver-rankers and beyond.
“Let us hope that will remain true for those I leave behind as well.”
Since ascending to silver rank, Kite had gotten a new appreciation for many things as his senses grew sharper as well as able to better filter and differentiate between all the impressions of the world. Be it the special, hitherto unnoticed scent of the morning dew in the grass starting to evaporate in the morning sun or being able to almost completely ignore the fishy smell from the city districts near the river which flowed through Convergence, this was one of the phenomena which led to ranking up feeling like stepping into a new iteration of reality.
This also let Kite fully appreciate how fast he was currently traveling as he sat atop Glint’s back, the landscape around him providing surprising detail that would previously have been a blur. While the carp had not unlocked any new magical abilities immediately upon silver rank, needing more of the scales of her ancestor, the abilities she already possessed had all been improved drastically. Kite thought that the trip out to the Perfected Step sect’s compound in the fields south of Convergence would take the better part of the day, so he had set out early. At the pace Glint was zooming just above the treetops, he would be surprised if he wasn’t there before noon.
Sensing his elation and wonder, the familiar bent her head to give him a smug look. The earlier Glint would have been unable to do so, as her enlarged form had changed as well. Back at iron rank, it had been a simple transformation of size, with Glint looking very much like the fish Kite had met in the streams of the Autumn lands but expanded to beyond the size of a heidel. At bronze, her features had elongated slightly, becoming just that much more serpentine but mostly still looking like a carp.
Now, at silver, the draconic ancestry which the old scroll had hinted at was more apparent than ever before. Glint’s enlarged state was longer, with a distinct supple neck and tail. Her head was definitely that of a serpent, but so far there were no hints of legs or arms, and there were still plenty of shimmering, billowing fins trailing her length like pink, transparent silk around the pearlescent shimmer of her body. One could definitely liken her to some kind of sea serpent, but not without also adding that it had to be the prettiest sea serpent in all the lands.
“Well, little beauty, let no one doubt your swiftness,” Kite said, trusting that the familiar’s improved senses would allow her to hear him above the roaring winds.
In response, he got a sense of excitement as well as the distinct wish to go higher.
“I know that you can truly fly now, Glint. It was hard to miss your most enthusiastic demonstration,” Kite responded, chuckling at the memory. “Still, I do not wish to draw the attention of anything too high in the skies. Down here, we can be sure that a silver-ranked monster or two is the worst thing that can ambush us. Up there, the faster we travel, the more attention we’ll draw. I’d prefer not to risk ending up as a snack until we know more.”
While Glint gave a disappointed shake of her long body, accompanied with the mental equivalent of “I’d like to see them try”, she shifted her focus back to maintaining her current speed and swerving out of the way of some bronze-ranked flying worms which tried to intercept them before getting a proper feel of their auras.
It was indeed well before noon when the sect compound became visible in the distance, and Kite had to admit that it was the largest and most affluent he had seen so far. Many complexes of wooden buildings were connected by roads and walls, forming a network of bustling activity. Kite even saw what looked like some kind of semi-permanent traders outpost near the northernmost gate which he was approaching. Green and black banners were prominent everywhere, proudly displaying the sect colors.
As Kite drew closer, Glint started to slow down in a spray of water which turned to fine mist in the summer sun. And Kite felt a few auras lock onto him and start moving in his general direction. Not long after, just before the last stretch to the northern gates of the compound, a group of sect disciples coalesced in front of Kite in a rough line. Some flew in on the wind, others ran while others teleported or came riding in on familiars. A dozen bronze rankers, led by a single silver. While Kite met only stern gazes, at least there was no overt hostile motions.
“Yet,” Kite thought to himself as Glint came to a halt, her glittering majesty somewhat easing the sternness in some of the faces, replaced by ill-hidden awe or admiration. The silver-ranker, an elven woman with braided auburn hair, did step forward seemingly unfazed by the spectacle, and spoke.
“Identify yourself, silver. With what intentions do you close in unannounced to the lands of the Perfected Step sect?”
In response, Kite bowed politely from where he sat among Glint. “My name is Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune, also known as the Pathbreaker. I come at the behest of inner disciple Soul, to pay the debt I owe in sparring and tempering as requested. May I know how to address you, fellow silver?”
In response, one of the bronze-rankers stepped forward. “You are in the presence of Keen Heart of Valor, elder of the Perfected Step sect and guardian of the compound.”
“Then I greet the honored elder. Inner disciple Soul should be expecting me, as it was she that chose this time of my arrival,” Kite said.
Elder Keen’s eyes thinned at his words before her face became neutral once more.
“I have not been informed of your arrival. But I have heard of you, outcast,” she said, almost spitting out the title. “No uninvited silver-ranker may simply step into the Perfected Step sect. Come, we shall escort you to the council of elders where you will once more get to state your reasons.
Kite hesitated a bit, brow furrowing. Apparently, this did not agree with the elder, who scowled at him. “That is the demand of the sect, outcast. If you do not like it, feel free to turn back this instant. Your hesitation does not speak well of your intentions, even though one should never take the words of an outcast at face value.”
“I believe that you misunderstand me, elder,” Kite said, maintaining his equanimity. “I was more confused by your words, as there seems to have been a misunderstanding. Because I believe that the one waiting for me has come to greet me personally.” As he finished, he nodded towards the wall to the sect compound. All of the bronze-rankers turned to look, with only the elder keeping her gaze locked on Kite. Whispers of ‘Soul’ and ‘inner disciple’ spread along the line, as they had seen what he had; a figure with amethyst hair leaping onto the top of the closest wall, obviously looking their way.
A moment later, she flickered, becoming a blur through the air before landing between Kite and the sect defenders with a surprisingly soft motion, barely rustling the tall grass beneath her feet.
“Pathbreaker! Good of you to come. We have not a moment to lose. I already have several scenarios which I would like to start with-”, Soul began, a bit of the spark in her eyes seeming to re-ignite. But she paused and looked back to elder Keen. “Elder,” she said, nodding once before turning back to Kite. “Trust me that I will work you harder than you have ever been strained. Losing a clash should come with some demerits, no? Come along, I will show you the way.”
Soul then turned to walk back, but stopped as the elder did not move out of her way.
“Elder Keen, I will take it from here. The Pathbreaker is my guest, here on my behalf.”
“Inner disciple, allowing a silver-ranker into the compound requires me to receive the notice from one of the other elders or to be personally informed beforehand.”
“Well, as elder Glass seems to have failed to give you that information which I specifically told him, consider this me informing you.”
“You are not an elder, inner disciple Soul.”
“That is true. And if things are starting to be this tedious all of a sudden, maybe that should change, if only to let me receive my visitors at my leisure. If I remember correctly, the allotted time to challenge you for your seat is coming up in a month, no? While I think I would hate being an elder, your position is at least the one with the most time for combat training.”
The elven woman’s eyes thinned once again, but she remained silent as she gave Soul a calculating look. Then, she spoke aloud, addressing all of those gathered. “I will consider this as being informed then, and will note the breach in protocol. Inner disciple, this visitor will be your responsibility, his actions reflecting on you in all matters. Perimeter guard, back to your stations. There is nothing for us to handle here this day.”
Without further words, elder Keen turned into a blur of motion as she sped away, the bronze-rankers following her example, even though some lingered for just a while longer to gaze up at Glint.
“Come on, Pathbreaker. We lost some precious sparring time while getting that nuisance sorted out,” Soul said before even the last of the bronze-rankers had departed. Then, without further preamble, she turned and set off towards the sect compound. Kite was glad that he had Glint, since he would otherwise have been unable to catch up to the celestine.
“Are you sure that was wise?” he asked Soul once they had passed through the gates of the sect and were making their way along the winding roads and boulevards which separated the different districts. “From experience, sect elders tend to be proud and slow to forget.”
“I do not fear them nor their petty politicking. The sect has too much to gain from me at the moment, even more since I reached silver rank. Which also happened to coincide with no one in this sect being able to actually force me to do pretty much anything anymore. Unless some former sect leader comes back at gold rank all of a sudden, that is.”
“Would you really have done it, then? Take the elder’s position?”
“Pathbreaker, I don’t make false promises. Had she or the other elders continued to try and pester or hamper me, I would have done what was needed for that to stop, be it leaving the sect or becoming an elder myself. But now they didn’t continue the foolishness, which is much better for both parties. I get to continue progressing with their support and they get to use my strength for certain sect matters.”
“I… see…” Kite said, taken aback by Soul’s rather cavalier attitude. Not that he didn’t find a certain bit of satisfaction in how she had resolved the little incident, but there was still something about it which rubbed Kite the wrong way.
It turned out that Soul’s residence was a large house close to the central hub of the sect, one that Kite would have assumed belonged to one of the sect elders. With his aura, he noticed a pair of normal-rankers inside, probably servants, but they didn’t seem to care much when Soul didn’t even spare them a glance, the older man and woman just continually going about their business in silence.
“A room has been prepared for you upstairs. Drop your things and meet me behind the house,” Soul called to Kite while walking through the common area of the ground floor to exit onto a backyard clearly modeled as a training area. It did not take long for Kite to join her, his eyes taking in the different types of training equipment and multiple kinds of artifacts whose purpose he had a hard time figuring out without closer inspection.
“Well then, inner disciple-”
“Just Soul will do, Pathbreaker.”
“Then feel free to call me Kite.”
“Pathbreaker will do. We are here to fight, and that is your warrior’s name, no?”
“I… suppose it is,” Kite said, thoughtfully.
“Then, Pathbreaker, I have lots of things I want to try out, so we better get questions out of the way at once. Most of you people seem to have no end of them. Warrior does not look down on the thoughtful, but his blade won’t wait for those too slow to act either. So go ahead and get any off your chest.”
“Speaking of Lord Warrior, are you part of his clergy? They say that you are blessed by him, after all,” Kite asked, the question brought to the surface as she mentioned the popular deity.
“No to the first. But back when I had just absorbed a single essence, the resolute essence, he appeared to me as I made a vow in regards to my path, and he blessed my efforts.”
“That sounds like quite the story.”
“Too long to tell now. Maybe later. Still, I venerate him as every warrior should. He is the measure who we are all compared to and found wanting, after all. Next question.”
“I… see. Then about your path. You called it the Perfected Self. Anything I should know, if I am to help you practice it?”
“I would rather show you, and will as soon as these questions are done and over with. Let’s just say that it is the sole focus of my life, and my dedication to both myself and Warrior,” she answered. Kite could see some slight annoyance at the continued delay, but also the faintest hint of that spark which he had seen as they had fought in their clash. And as Soul seemed to answer his questions as curt as possible, Kite let the next question die on his lips.
Instead, he walked out into the practice yard, facing Soul and assuming a ready stance.
“Then I suppose that the best way to get to know you would be for you to show me more of this path of yours. Because I do not think you truly let loose in our clash before, even if you came close.”
Soul looked at Kite, still clad in his more plain, placeholder armor, clearly skeptical. “I could, but I had hoped that you would actually have gotten some better gear by now. Your path seems reliant on it, too reliant if you ask me, and it wouldn’t be a proper tempering if you couldn’t step up. Don’t get me wrong, what you showed in the clash was better than I expected-”
Her words were interrupted as Kite’s staff fell into his hands. While the metal seemed unchanged, it exuded a different level of power than before. And a third ring, one of silver, hung from its circular head.
Soul scrutinized it for a while, before she nodded in approval. “A step in the right direction. That staff was pretty annoying. But I hope you’ll have some more if we’ll-”
Kite’s tattoos started glowing, and not long after, a pair of spectral arms manifested behind him. And then another, all four additional limbs joining into Kite’s combat stance.
Soul stared blankly at Kite for a short moment, and then it happened; that gleam in her eyes was kindled and grew along with her slowly surging aura.
“Oh, Pathbreaker, that will do. That will do nicely.”
Then she was upon him, and the week of Kite paying his dues began in earnest.
“Dessie, anything wrong?” Marten asked his colleague where she stood sorting papers with a forlorn look, the contracts hall just having emptied as the administration was closing up for the day.
“Huh? Oh, hi Marten,” the leonid said, shaking out of her ponderings. “It’s just that I haven’t seen Kite, you know, the-”
“- Pathbreaker, yes. I am quite familiar by now. Didn’t think they would stick around for that long, honestly. What about him?”
“Well, I haven’t seen him for a few days now. His team, yes, but he seems to be missing. I just hope nothing has happened.”
“Dessie, he’s a silver-ranker. Unless a gold randomly drops out of the sky on him, he’s more likely to return than not.”
“I know, I know. But still, it just feels like part of their little group is missing when they return.”
“Didn’t that elf, the spearman, hit silver yesterday? I thought that would cheer you up.”
“Oh, it did, it did… It’s just- eh, never mind. You wouldn’t understand. Sorry for bothering you, Marten.”
The human stopped for a while to look at the leonid as she was once more distracted by her thoughts, papers forgotten in her clawed hands.
“Then… Why don’t you join me for dinner and tell me more about it? If you’re so fascinated with them, maybe you’re seeing something which I’m not. And I’d- I’d like to understand you- I mean, a functionary has to constantly train how we judge people and-.” The words turned into a blur as Marten scrambled to clarify, even reaching out and gathering the papers for Desdemona as he started to order them into neat stacks.
The leonid woman stopped to look at Marten blankly, before her features softened a bit. “Thanks, Marten. That… I think that would be nice.”
“To our latest silver-ranker! May he penetrate any and all evil-doers in the upcoming years of his glorious rise!” Dragonfly cheered as she raised her cup in salute to Will.
“Subverting the noble word penetration to your base humor has to be the cruelest of punishments to proper vocabulary. It feels like almost whatever I say, you find a way to turn it into a joke about coupling,” Will shot back, even though the freshly ranked-up elf looked mighty pleased with himself in his seat at the restaurant. “It should say something about my company that I cannot even talk about a fine, glossy shaft without-,” he said, trailing off as Dragonfly dissolved into snorting laughter.
“Even so,” Serene chimed in over Dragonfly’s barely contained giggles, “the congratulations-part is a sentiment we share. The iron-rankers who joined up before the expedition against the fallen sect feel very, very distant at the moment.”
“Ah, we were so young,” Will said, reminiscing.
“Wasn’t that only just shy of three years ago?” Dragonfly asked, having suppressed her giggles of the moment. “We aren’t that old yet. And anyway, we still have one more to join our lofty circles,” she finished, looking at Gold who remained stoically silent as always. “You’ll have to do a lot of heavy lifting now, big man.”
Gold only nodded in acknowledgment at the jibe, taking a delicate sip of the tiny cup in his hands.
“Then what do you hope that silver will bring? It’s a long rank after all, assuming we can even get through it at all,” Dragonfly continued. “At least it’s nice to know that we’ll all be together, bringing the fight to a certain task. That this is merely the beginning of our…” She trailed off after noticing a look flicker across the faces of both Will and Serene, one which they quickly tried to hide. But not in time.
“Wait…” she said, scrutinizing them. “What… What was that just now? That look?”
“I… “ Will began.
“We should probably wait until Kite is back before…” Serene said, her words manifesting at the same time as the elf.
Dragonfly looked at them both in stunned silence for a while, the gears of her mind whirring. And a silver-ranked mind worked a lot more swiftly and efficiently.
“You… You’re leaving?” she finally asked, sitting down heavily in her seat. “Both of you?”
“Where Serene goes, I follow,” Gold added, unhelpfully
“I… can’t believe this… When? Why? What about… you know? The thing we talked about at the temple?”
Serene and Will exchanged a look, their respective decisions apparently being news to each other as well.
“After you, priestess,” Will eventually said, and Serene looked at Dragonfly, her expression complicated.
“I… have been offered the position of high priestess within the clergy of my Goddess. One that would have me touring the world, spreading her song of hope and unity to anyone who would listen. It… has been on my mind for a while, and it feels like the opportunity truly is calling to me. And that I can’t just let it go unanswered. As for the… investigation, I stand by my decision. I will help in what way I can, as I will return. Not just once, but every so often. But this… Dragonfly, I’m sorry, but this is something I need to do. To serve my goddess. And myself.”
Serene was clearly pained as she spoke, the words having lost that usual perfect chiming harmony, as they were bound to do when she was distressed.
“As for me, it was actually a demand from my father,” Will said, taking over. “That, should I want to join the glorious purpose of which we were informed of in the temple of Knowledge, I needed to both reach silver rank and then truly find my path as an adventurer. And to my father, this cannot be done just within the confines of Hua-Xi. He feels that I need to broaden my horizons significantly. Meet new people, fight alongside many others; all to really find my place.
It will be temporary, and I will return to join you again. But as things stand… It will be a while.”
Dragonfly kept looking helplessly between the two of them in the silence that followed. Eventually she sighed deeply, more out of habit than any actual need.
“Heavens… Now that is a pair of proclamations that will need a few more drinks to swallow.”