LIGHTNOVELONLINE House Whiterose
The weeks that followed saw Ayo fall into a relatively stable sort of routine. The next morning saw her and the boys relocate to one of the many open spaces around the city for training. Also in attendance was Elder Yasmin as well as a few other people who she was informed were members of the Inner Circle. Apparently, Core Cities worked under an odd sort of hierarchy with mortals (non-cultivators) and most Sign-ranked cultivators assigned to stay on the outskirts of the city or the Outer Circle. Sigil-ranked cultivators deemed to be talented enough were allowed into the Inner Circle while Icons and higher, including the Elders were known as the Core Circle.
Technically Ayo should have been an Outer Circle disciple, but An Solidan operated a lot more loosely, what with their small numbers and the more than two-thirds of the city rendered uninhabitable by the constructs infesting it.
“They’re very dangerous and are quite hard to kill,” Mairo had informed her shortly after he had placed her in a headlock. “We think they’re some sort of automatons left over by the Dawn Empire. Thankfully, while the city’s magic is mostly depleted, the inner gates seem to repel them so long as we keep them closed.”
Plus, Mairo and Wole had vouched for her to the Elders, promising that she would learn quickly and when combined with her status as a Starborn, it had resulted in her getting fast-tracked to higher status.
Unfortunately, it also meant personal training, not just from at least one of the Elders, but also the members of the Inner Circle. It consisted of not just her, Mairo and Wole but also Narai, a scythe-wielding maniac who seemed to take much delight in Ayo’s suffering (she and Wole got along swimmingly to Ayo’s complete lack of surprise) but also Luan, a soft-spoken giant of a young man who possessed biceps bigger than her entire head.
“I have Giant ancestry,” he had explained when he noticed her staring. “Those were one of the old races by the way. Everyone does to some extent, though not all of them show it to my degree. You as a Starborn might be the only pure breed in the world.”
He had also been quick to reassure her that no one would look twice at her pointy ears and sharp fingernails. While an elder expression other than strangely coloured hair was somewhat rare—and practically everyone had those—when it did occur, things could get wild. Ayo was told to expect to see people walking around with gemstones for eyes or body parts that randomly faded in and out of sight.
All of these was, of course, explained while Elder Yasmin demanded for thirty more push-ups and a hundred jumping jacks. Sadly, learning other arts turned out to not be as easy as Identify and they were determined to teach her the House’s signature arts first before she was allowed to do anything else.
“Aside from General and Unique arts, the ones only cultivators can learn are classified into Movement arts, Body arts and Perception arts,” Narai had lectured. “Some would also add Attack arts to that list but unless your affinity is complete shit and you lack all imagination, the Unique art you create will be better than any of the generic crap floating around out there. The main three I mentioned are the standard because while most affinities can be used to create arts that improve and strengthen movement, your entire body and your perception, rare is the one that improves all three. Each of the major Houses has spent countless time, energy and resources carefully crafting such arts for their members and unless you’re sure you can make something better, you’re better off just learning the House-made ones.
“That’s of course assuming you can even get your hands on one. One House’s Movement Art will be quite different from another as most would rather die than share ideas and I’m pretty sure stealing a House’s art is still punished with murder but who knows? I haven’t checked in a while,” she added with her shrug, then grinned down at a nervous-looking Ayo. “The others and I had to fight in a tournament to earn even one of these and we all have Unique Titles. So don’t go thinking you’re special because of that. Make sure to take this seriously.”
And Ayo did. Their House, the Whiterose’s signature Body Art was called the Verdant Blood Body and focused primarily on fast healing and regeneration as opposed to rock-hard defences.
“Not having a body as strong as steel won’t matter much if you can grow back an arm right after it’s cut,” Wole had said, his dismissive tone indicating what he thought of such arts. “Besides, if you want huge defences you could just get yourself some armour or an artefact and Forging is still what House Whiterose is best at.”
A Body Art was apparently the first one any cultivator with a lick of sense learnt and so Ayo suffered in dogged silence, alternating between tear-inducing, sweat-generating forms and cultivating essence to consolidate her gains. It was three weeks of pure, miserable work but eventually, the System saw fit to show her mercy.
[ALERT! Art Acquisition process successful! User has gained the art: Verdant Blood Body!]
Luckily, her winning streak continued as she found picking up the other two arts much less stressful. Flowers on the Wind merely required several bouts of exhilarating but short sprints while paying attention to the way the wind moved her body while learning Nature’s Gaze had been one terrifying week of Wole and Narai randomly popping out of the vegetation and attacking her with buckets of an absolutely vile smelling liquid. The first time it had happened she had stunk up the entire neighbourhood and Amha had been forced to intervene and ban all training around her house.
The results, however, spoke for themselves and three months later, the sun rose to find Ayo and the entirety of the young members of the Inner Circle quietly cultivating under the watchful gaze of Elder Oneshi. After much discussion, she had been given the go-ahead to attempt to create her second Unique Art, and now it was time.
Ayo inhaled deeply, her body tingling as essence flowed in from the world into her soulspace and her mind turned to the task at hand. When they’d discussed it the previous day Wole had mentioned something about having an art that had merged with the House’s Flowers on the Wind, while Mairo had sheepishly revealed he was a great dancer and that his greatest Attack art took advantage of that. Both of these ideas had excited Ayo whose own idea had also been going in that direction.
The truth was, even now, the one thing she was undeniably good at was her weaving. Everyone had been eager to help her pick up new skills and while she would no longer embarrass herself when it came to hand-to-hand combat, it seemed more than fitting to keep incorporating that affinity into her created arts.
And so, she cast her attention towards her soulspace; the once empty void now filled with churning essence. As she had been warned it was not completely empty. The small, silver moon that was her affinity was there of course, but standing directly beneath the Sign was a metallic statue of herself. This was the representation the Verdant Blood Body took in her soulspace and she was pleased by how flawless its features were and how firmly its feet planted themselves into the not-ground that was the floor of her soulspace.
From there the plan was simple. She would draw essence from her moon and then build the construct that would represent a technique. But that was for later. First, she needed a foundation.
Ayo began by gathering some of the churning essence and, with a twitch of thought, spun them into streams of light that she could weave together. Ayo focused her attention on what felt like the downwards direction and the essence obeyed, rapidly pooling in tight twists of light. Soon enough, the not-ground felt solid enough to walk on and as soon as her spiritual foot touched it, the mass shifted and morphed into a lovely, grassy field. She cupped her moon and with one motion raised it to the sky, then darkened her surroundings to a bluish, comforting evening hue. It was odd, looking at a night sky with no stars, but the entire thing felt right and that, according to Elder Oneshi, was the most important thing.
“Too many cultivators make the mistake of filling their soulspaces with only art constructs, forgetting or discarding how important housekeeping is,” he’d explained. “That miscellaneous mountain range you decided to add may not do anything, but it does make your soulspace look and feel nice and real. That last thing comes back to bite them in the ass when they gather enough essence to ascend and find themselves unable to. There’s a reason why most cultivators remain at Sign and never advance past it.”
Ayo had no intention of making that mistake, and so took the time to truly flesh out her soulspace so to speak. At present it wasn’t that big, roughly five metres in all directions, so it didn’t take long until her soulspace was covered in smooth, rainbow-hued essence curling playfully around the grass stalks. A small breeze carrying multicoloured flower petals flared to life, twisting around her and a little way off a giant metallic eye sprang into existence the moment there was space for it, then let a bright burst of light when several bright green vines began to grow around it, producing yellow fruits that giggled and whispered with every motion.
Ayo blinked curiously at the construct—had two of her arts just merged—then shrugged and moved on. The System would tell her if it was something important and she had more urgent matters to attend to.
Finally satisfied with what she had so far, Ayo reached up to her moon, which was still brimming with essence, picked out a string of it and tried to imbue it with her will. She’d spent the better part of a day going over how the art would work and following everyone’s advice to keep it simple now merely attempted to upgrade Lunar Threads. Currently, it allowed her to generate weaving material freely but she wanted to be able to control it mentally as well as give them more weight and power. It was no use attempting to hand-weave in the middle of a battle and she had quickly learned that, despite the art’s grandiose description, unless she invested far too much essence into them, even a Sign-ranked cultivator could break through the threads easily. What she would be channelling to get her desired attributes was the Concept of gravity which everyone agreed worked fine with her affinity.
Even so, Ayo felt the pressure when the art started to take shape. It appeared as a vast, formless blob of silver essence, hovering just above the ground before thin tendrils emerged from the moon, connected to the blob and began to spin, swallowing up more and more essence as it began to weave itself into existence, forming first into a basic shape then quickly adding more upgrades to the entire thing.
Then, the construction finished with a resounding burst of light and sound and her soulspace shuddered and shook at the strain before settling with an audible groan. Ayo let out a breath in relief and felt her physical body wipe several beads of sweat from her brow. Her soulspace had tolerated the creation of the art. Barely.
Ayo wasn’t particularly surprised to find that it had taken the form of a loom; although it was far grander and more intricate than anything she’d ever used. A thousand threads of silver light trailed from the sky down to it and as she approached, the construct stirred to life, the whittle gently rocking back and forth over a twisting pattern.
It would be quite some time before she would be able to make another but she found it really hard to care at that moment and it was with unconstrained glee that she brought up her status screen and went over her accomplishments.
[ALERT! Synergy detected! Arts: Identify and Nature’s Gaze has successfully merged into the new art: Eye of the World]
[ALERT! Art: Lunar Threads has been successfully upgraded to Lunar Fabric!]
[You have been awarded 500 essence for this feat!]
[Art: Eye of the World
[Essence Cost: None, Variable
[Class: Passive, Active
[Description: A merged art. In its passive phase provides a 30% boost to all senses and a 200% boost to reaction time. Upon the channelling of essence to the art (active phase), a chosen sense organ is increased by up to an additional 200% depending on the amount of essence invested. Will also provide the user some basic information about a person or object. May not work under certain conditions.]
[Art: Lunar Fabric
[Essence Cost: Variable
[Class: Active
[Description: A merged art. Upgraded. Unique. Infused with the affinity Concept of (Gravity) this art allows the user to generate and control bigger and stronger webs of moonlight that can be used for a variety of purposes. The strength, length and width of the webs can be further increased depending on the amount of essence used to create them, as well as the user's rank and mastery of the art. Individual threads can still be created.]
[Name: Funmilayo Egbuche
[Race: Spiderkin
[Age: 21
[Rank: Sign
[Affinity: Moon
[Title(s): Master Weaver, Elder Reborn
[Essence: 581/2,000
[Ascension Well: 3,644/10,000
[Arts:
- Essence Cultivation
- Eye of the World
- Flowers on the Wind
- Lunar Fabric
- Verdant Blood Body]
Ayo smiled, letting out a small, self-satisfied sigh and raised her head to the sound of clapping and cheering all around.
“I don’t need to ask to know that you succeeded,” said Elder Oneshi beaming. “Well done.”
Mairo and Wole and the other two echoed the sentiment, congratulating her as well and Ayo felt a bubbling thrill climb into her throat and stay there when Wole cast his arm around her shoulders and didn’t let go. As things went she was quite pleased with her progress so far.
Mostly.
Though everyone agreed that Ayo had an impressive aptitude for learning, the same could not be said for her cultivation speed. It remained stuck at just a little over thirteen essence per hour and at times Ayo could swear it regressed, just a bit for a couple of seconds. There had never been enough time to bring it up, what with the torture she was being put through in the name of training and now seemed like the perfect opportunity. So, frowning slightly, she turned to Elder Oneshi's grinning face.
"Yeah, but I'm not entirely happy with everything," she began with a sigh, trying not to put a damper on the mood. "It's my cultivation. It hasn't improved at all and at the rate I'm going, it'll take me a year and some change to even think of advancing to Sigil. Is there something wrong with me? Because I'm sure I've been following the cultivation exercises you gave me correctly."
Now Ayo wasn't entirely sure what answer she had expected. Maybe something along the lines of dismissal of her concerns or advice to give it more time and such. She even braced herself to be informed that it was a defect of some sort that would never be corrected.
What she didn't expect was for everyone to go suddenly still. Not even a bucket of water tossed onto an open flame could have gotten so quick a reaction.
Elder Oneshi's smile vanished, like fog under the sun and he exchanged heavy looks with Wole and Mairo and the rest of the Inner Circle before turning back to Ayo. He sighed heavily, his expression sad as he shook his head slowly. “There’s nothing wrong with you at all, my dear," he said in a gentle voice, gesturing for her to sit down. "It isn't your fault. The problem is from us and the city itself. I'm afraid it'll be a long story if you want me to explain why that is."
Ayo nodded numbly, not quite sure what was going on. She had known, almost immediately, on her arrival that all was not right with An Solidan. The city was too static, its people too few but she had accepted the boys' stance on the matter and asked no further questions, even when her brain demanded answers and spun up scenarios of her being sacrificed to some fell deity.
The thought of finally discovering some answers made her uneasy, yet she had a sense of faith in Elder Oneshi that allowed her to give him an affirmative nod.
"House Whiterose was not always the depressing sight you see before you now," he began softly. "Once we were mighty. The mortals under our command and protection numbered in the millions, our cultivators were legion and four of the world's thirteen Legends came from us.” He paused for a moment. “And we had dragons. Great soul beasts that amplified an innate power and allowed us unmatched control of our isle. An Layan, the biggest Core City on the islands belonged to us and our name was known and feared throughout the archipelago."
Ayo nodded slowly, her mind processing the information she'd been given. She had suspected something along that vein but hearing it confirmed still sent shivers down her spine. Not of fear but awe. She couldn't even imagine what it must have been like, living at the height of House Whiterose's power.
"What happened? Why did everything change?" she asked softly, her eyes fixed on Elder Oneshi's face.
"We were betrayed," came the simple answer. "By a then minor vassal, House Redwood. Their Matriarch, the Red Queen, the Usurper managed the ascension to Legend and started the War for the Throne, a bitter five-year-long fight that eventually spread to the rest of the archipelago as the other houses were dragged in as well and chose sides. Millions of mortals were lost in the first few weeks and our cultivators were not far behind." He let out a sigh. "If it was just that we would have won. We had eight Legends to their five and even when factoring in House Redwood's bizarre nature, blood and flesh affinities, we were stronger in terms of both power and numbers.
“But then the Usurper revealed an art she had kept hidden until then. A dark, cursed power that completely shut down the System for everyone in House Whiterose and rendered all of our cultivators powerless. No one had ever seen anything like it and soon the whole city was under her control. We had no way to counter it and our Legends and all their cultivation were rendered useless against it. The War for the Throne was over before we knew it, leaving us at the mercy of the enemy." Elder Oneshi shook his head slowly, his expression sad. "We lost so many that night and what few that survived fled here, to the one place they would never follow."
"Why?"
"The First Isle is an essence void. Until recently, whatever catastrophe wiped out the Ancients left this place drained, its Tower nonfunctional and its Core City dead and frozen. Outside of what little could be gained from killing and eating soul beasts, essence didn't last long here. It did not change when we came licking our wounds and eventually, when we too were drained, it was far easier to just let it happen and... forget. And so we slept. For a long time."
"How long?"
"Who can say," said Wole. "We only woke up five months ago when a strong essence pulse swept through the world and awakened the island for a moment." He looked at Ayo's staring face. "The pulse that woke the island Tower and brought us you. We haven't had contact with the outside world for obvious reasons and unless something changes we would like to keep it that way."
Ayo sat there in stunned silence, her mind trying to process the magnitude of what she had just learned. House Whiterose, once a mighty force to be reckoned with, had been reduced to a small group of survivors on a forgotten island. She felt a pang of sadness and anger for what they had lost, but also a spark of determination to help them in any way she could.
"So, what now?" she asked, breaking the silence. "What can we do to change things?"
"Easier said than done," Elder Oneshi replied with a sigh. "The Usurper still holds the archipelago under her control and her power is absolute. We cannot challenge her directly, not in our current state. We don't even have the strength to clear the rest of the city of the monsters infecting it. Our only hope is to try and rebuild, to regain our power and numbers and wait for an opportunity to present itself."
"But there must be something I can do to help?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
The elder smiled gently at her. "You already have Ayo. Whatever the source of the pulse, your arrival here woke us up. All these months spent training you, teaching you... it’s like the old times again. And as for your cultivation speed... well, this place is no longer a desert. The pulse must have gotten the island running enough to maintain at least a little bit of essence, much better than it was before. For now, the other Elders and I are in agreement that that will have to be enough. The Usurper's Curse hasn't entirely left us; our status screens are still a little buggy in areas but we can cultivate. We just need time."
Ayo nodded, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on her shoulders. She knew that it wouldn't be an easy road ahead, but she was determined to help House Whiterose in any way she could.
"I understand," she said. "I'll do my best to continue cultivating and helping out with whatever needs to be done here."
The elders smiled at her, and Mairo placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you, Ayo," he said. "Your presence has already given us hope for the future. We will do everything in our power to help you cultivate to your full potential, that I can promise you."
Ayo nodded and made her way out of the grounds. As she walked through the deserted streets of An Solidan, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. She wondered what the outside world was like and what had happened to the other houses that had fought with them. She wondered if there was a way to break the Usurper's Curse and restore full functionality of the System to House Whiterose.
And most of all, she wondered what her role was in all of this. Sure, right now she was still weak and experienced, but perhaps, this was the reason why she had been chosen.
Perhaps, for once in her life, she had been given the opportunity to make a real change.
***
Tolu Tobarin was not having a good day. Not only had she woken up that morning with a headache that refused to go away and somehow misplaced her official Redwood uniform, but she’d also somehow managed to lose the key to her cabin on the ship, nearly blown up the steering wheel and subsequently been late to join the delegation to welcome the Inner Elders and disciples that would be going with them on this mission. Her only saving grace had been that one of the Elders in question was Lady Saada who had merely laughed off her excuses and let her join in the preparations for the outer folk that would arrive later that day. The Ris alone knew what she would have done if it had been Lady Omonigho or worse the Queen herself who had been witness to her failings… Well, Tolu didn’t think it was possible to die of shame but she was sure she would have managed it.
Was it any wonder that she had never been invited to the Inner Circle despite having joined the house a little over twenty years ago?
Still feeling sorry for herself, Tolu trudged over to her spot in the formation as they marched along. They had just arrived on the First Isle, and the Elders wanted everyone to get into position for fast action. The island's curse was already taking hold, causing Tolu's rate of essence replenishment to drop drastically with each passing hour and she had to fight to repress a shudder. How could any cultivator willingly live here?
And yet, that was precisely why they had come. The essence drain had been much worse than it was now, and the Core Elders wanted them to look into the pulse of energy that had washed over the archipelago and lingered still on this island.
And of course, root out the House hiding here.
Everyone knew that House Whiterose had fled to these lands three hundred years ago when they'd lost the War for the Throne. Most assumed them to be extinct, though a few argued that some could have survived, albeit weakened considerably. Questions arose about whether they even still had the ability to cultivate or access the System at all. Tolu had read all about it: the Red Queen's wrath had been... thorough.
As they walked further into the island, Tolu couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. This close to the sea, trees were sparse and the ground was barren, with only patches of grass and shrubs growing in the few areas where essence was still present. The air was heavy with the scent of decay and the occasional rustling of leaves made her jump.
Luckily, this wasn't their true destination. That was An Solidan, the island's sole Core City and specifically, the spot just before it that their scouts had marked as safe to set up a base. While they expected little to no resistance from the city, it was still better to be safe than sorry; an opinion the rest of her House shared. It would be a thing of shame if a cultivator of their calibre got killed by whatever level of savagery House Whiterose had devolved into in their time here.
That said, as they drew close, Tolu found herself taken aback by the expansive sight before her. Even in the distance, the gargantuan iron tree and the city resting on its massive branches commanded respect and a hush fell over the group as they all caught sight of it. As broken as it was, An Solidan, as agreed by all researchers, was still the oldest of the Core Cities and even lacking the shield walls and great moat of An Rajik and An Tirim respectively, it still inspired awe.
The Elders, however, were less impressed. Upon their signal, the formation halted and orders flew left and right as Tolu and the others scurried to obey and set up the outpost. Lady Saada stepped down from her carriage, her delicate form and blood-red hair gleaming in the evening light and beamed at the sweating forms of the mortals labouring under several heavy loads. The cages were still covered, thank the Ris, but Tolu and many others kept their distance. Lady Saada's prized creations weren't exactly known for their discernment of friend or foe.
Tolu couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity as she looked at the city. No doubt House Whiterose had suffered greatly in the years since their exile, and even if they were still capable of cultivating, it was clear that they stood little chance against the Redwoods. There were over a thousand Signs here and Lady Saada had even brought along three of her Sigil disciples, two of them accomplished Outer Elders in their own right. Each of them was capable of great destruction, but despite it all, Tolu hoped fervently that some mercy would be shown to the poor souls.
It was all she could do.