Lungs burning and muscles aching, I signal Zabu to stop and hurl Unity like a javelin, spearing a fleeing cannibal clean through the torso until the crossbars lift him off his feet. Drawing Peace as a precaution, I check the surroundings for threats and find none, though some still could be lurking about in the murky darkness or tall grass. Unless the Enemy regroups and returns for a second attack, the Imperial Forces are victorious tonight, or at least they are in the area around Sinuji, only a single sliver of the front lines. While retrieving Unity, I hear the faint sounds of battle off in the distance, where another section is still engaged with the Enemy, but only dead and dying Defiled remain as far as the eye can see.

As the adrenaline fades and exhaustion settles in, I leave Rustram, Bulat, and Ravil to handle the aftermath under Daxian’s supervision. They’re as well-rested as can be considering the circumstances. Five days of hard travel wasn’t too bad especially considering no one had to walk, but I’d like to have a full day to recuperate before heading out on patrol. Rest is a luxury the Empire can ill-afford, but I think Colonel Hongji will be willing to accommodate. Even if he isn’t, I’m happy to have a commander who’s willing to listen.

Honestly, I’m astonished at how receptive the Colonel’s been with regards to my suggestions, immediately implementing a handful in the few hours since I arrived. Lighting the fields was a given, since you can’t hit what you can’t see, but keeping our outer perimeter in darkness was all him, though I’m undecided on how useful it is. Another suggestion he jumped on was establishing independent rapid-response teams, allowing certain units to bolster the front lines as they saw fit without need for micromanagement. While Sending is handy for quick communication over a distance, it’s not without its flaws. Although I’m unsure of what the exact requirements are, I know the Sender needs to to be familiar with the recipient, since they need to pick the target out of a crowd of hundreds, or perhaps even thousands. With so many foreign soldiers under his command, most of Hongji’s orders are hand delivered through sealed writ, slowing the lines of communication down to a crawl.

I made other suggestions like scattering rubble around the fields and creating firebreaks, but those will take time to implement. Truth be told, when I made my first suggestion, I was ready to be politely ignored or worse, but Hongji was more than happy to discuss my ‘unorthodox’ ideas. Maybe it’s his age, which at fifty-five years old, is surprisingly young. Being a Martial Warrior, he’s still in the prime of life, but I figured there’d be someone... with more experience holding a position as important as the centre, or at least someone of higher rank. Since the Legate picked Hongji, I assume the Colonel either has plenty of political clout or is so outstanding no one could argue the choice. Regardless, Chen Hongji is a man I’ll want to befriend, since one can never have too many well-connected and/or talented allies.

Ha, I’m finally learning the ins and outs of politics. Luo-Luo will be so proud.

Upon returning to camp, I impose on my Death Corps Guards to prepare a hot bath so I can wash away all the blood and gore. It’s not so bad in the middle of battle, but no one likes to be covered in dried, caked blood, not even quins. Tired from lugging my heavy ass around all day and night, Zabu lays on his side as the wagon quins gather around to groom him, an adorable sight to behold. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if my dignity would survive a quin-tongue bath and I know my skin certainly won’t, so I rinse off my weapons and wait for the water to heat while listening to reports from Rustram.

Idling in Nan Ping has spoiled me, as I can no long stomach bathing in cold water. I couldn’t bear to part with the fancy stone tub, so I brought it with me to the front lines, but the way I see it, the more baths I take, the happier Ping Ping will be. The happier Ping Ping is, the more likely she is to stick around, so it’s a win-win, especially when you consider the bigger picture.

While Ping Ping and Guan Suo are idle slackers, the Protectorate are monsters on the battlefield.

Tonight was the first time they saw action under my command, but I discovered the Protectorate were made of sterner stuff after convincing them to join in on group training. Their shabby clothing and inconspicuous manner kept me from seeing the truth before my eyes, as their ranks hid more Experts and Captain-level talents than any other unit under my command, all gathered for what they consider a Holy Purpose. They lived a hard life out in the wilds of Ping Yao, keeping the Divine Turtle safe from poachers and other unsavoury sorts, but under Guan Suo’s supervision, they trained themselves into an elite unit on par with Akanai’s Khishigs. Bow and long-axe are their favoured weapons, and they handily dispatched all Defiled forces sent against them on the northernmost flank of Sinuji’s defences, with minimal injuries and no deaths.

Or at least that’s what Rustram’s report says. I never made it that far to see for myself, as by the time I cleaned up the Southern flank, there were no more Defiled left to kill. Cowards. Where are the Defiled who fight to the bitter end? I was just getting warmed up. Granted, I’d much rather soak in hot water and listen to reports than slog through a mire of mud and blood, but variety is the spice of life.

The reports continue coming in as I scrub myself clean, and a clear picture of our first proper battle emerges. Dastan’s unit took the most injuries, which makes sense considering they saw the most action, but even the worst off will recover without Healer intervention. We lost a few horses which stings, but better a warhorse than a Martial Warrior. Other than Dastan’s, most of my other units played a support role, firing projectiles from behind our allied meat shields, but I’m not thrilled with the results. The new repeating crossbows designed by Diyako’s team are lacking in power, and even though the Defiled will eventually go down if you fill them with enough bolts, it now becomes a question of cost versus benefit. With how ineffective the crossbows are, is it even worth carrying them around? We have about six-hundred repeating crossbows and a metric shit-tonne of bolts, which equals to a whole lot of extra wagons slowing us down.

It’s something to think about, but I’m not ready to give up the ranged advantage. At least the Monstrosity still holds up, though not many of my soldiers can handle the aptly-named triple shot arbalests. Since most were there to begin with, I put all the beefy Monstrosity wielders into Ulfsaar’s unit. According to Pran’s report, they performed well and ‘maked much death’, which is a huge leap in Pran’s literacy, if nothing else. Other than that, there isn’t much else to say. The Protectorate cleaned house, Ravil and Bulat stood around with their thumbs up their asses, and Li Song and Yellow Unit proved their worth by fighting side by side with a scion of the Xue Clan. It’s always nice to make new friends, and I’m glad to see Song reaching out, though her choice of ally is a little worrisome. On paper, the Xue Clan are allies of the Han Clan and the Han Clan are allies with the Bekhai, but in reality things aren’t so simple. Due to our personal friendship, BoShui’s father, the Han Clan Patriarch, needs to think twice about his original plan, in which BoShui plays the part of sacrificial lamb for the true heir. A cold and heartless way to treat your own son, but such is the world we live in. This has understandably strained on our inter-faction relationship, though the world at large isn’t privy to the details.

Truth be told, I’m not entirely certain how it changes anything. On the surface, the Han Clan is as supportive of the Bekhai as ever, though I think it’s more to piss off the Situ Clan than anything else. Besides, it’s not like it matters, my status makes me all but untouchable, so BoShui and Zian should be safe from their respective Patriarchs.

For the time being at least. Who knows what’ll happen if the Legate disavows me, or worse.

As the last report rolls in and Rustram heads off to bed, I lay back in my heated tub and relax beneath the night sky. I’ve already asked my guards to top off the water twice now, but I still can’t bring myself to get out, so luxuriantly comfortable I could fall asleep. Alas, there’s still work to be done, for Ping Ping waits eagerly overhead for her Spiritual Water treat, a twice-weekly requirement if I ever want to leave her sight. Even then, she’s unwilling to let me stray too far, though how she tracks my position is still a mystery. All I know is she throws a big squeaky fit if I move more than a kilometre away, a radius which rapidly shrinks the longer she goes without Spiritual Water.

I love the big girl, but she’s so needy, unlike Pong Pong. Maybe it’s because I’ve never tried to abandon him, or maybe he’s smarter than Ping Ping and knows that if all my stuff is here, I’ll eventually come back, but the tiny Turtle Divinity is more than happy to chill in my yurt with Mama Bun and Blackjack. As tempting as it was to bring him into battle, I can’t in good conscience convince myself to do so, not to mention all the extra complications that would come from revealing his presence. GangShu is still lurking about and I’d rather not fall out with him over Pong Pong. I have enough shit to deal with as is, so there’s no need to add murderous Ancestral Rat to the list.

I doubt I can keep Pong Pong a secret forever, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. Then again, I’m fairly certain the little turtle stole Blobby from me, so if he dies, I might get my droplet back... No, I like Pong Pong more than Blobby. That stupid droplet was a worthless freeloader, and Pong Pong is adorbs.

Having delayed long enough, I close my eyes, reach for Balance, and slip into my Natal Palace. Materializing in the brightly lit bedroom, I take a moment to appreciate the elaborately carved ceiling before hopping out of bed. After setting into motion the process of creating Chi-Water, I gaze out the glass windows at all the recent additions, mildly disgruntled by the lack of cohesion. That’s the problem with a modular design like what I’ve gone with, but it works, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Besides, even though it’s not much to look at, my Natal Palace is comprised of my favourite places in the world, which makes it as close to paradise as can be.

Assuming the foot of my bed is south, then Taduk’s underground cottage sits to the east, complete with my first ever keystone, the first aid kit. I still haven’t figured out how to limit its Healing effects to serious injuries only or prioritize those over cuts and bruises, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless. I just need to be smart about it, using it only when necessary instead of leaving it on all the time, though turning it on is as easy as snapping my fingers. On the other side of the bed to the west sits my favourite cliff-side perch overlooking the village, though here it overlooks my Natal Palace instead. There sits my second Keystone, a single feather planted in the dirt. If not for its immense size, as long as I am tall and about half as wide, the feather looks like it could have fallen off of Roc’s wings, mostly brown with a shimmering, light-blue tip. When activated, the feather sways in the wind and Lightens my body, allowing me to climb trees and ease Zabu’s burdens.

As for its flaws... I can’t control the amount of Lightening it conveys, so it’s always working at maximum power, reducing about a quarter of my (naked) weight. Kind of a waste for everyday riding, since it’d drain me dry in about thirty minutes, and if used in battle it fucks with my centre of balance, but it’s something, I guess.

Moving on is my last new addition, which sits to the north of my bedroom. I styled it after Mila’s forge at the Northern Wall, the one she designed with a bedroom in the back. Only after recreating it in my Natal Palace did I realize she built the bedroom specifically for our naughty little trysts, a place which was hidden from sight and noisy enough to keep Martial Warriors from listening in. It’s a thought which warms my heart and sets fire to my loins, but sadly, Mila isn’t around to break my hand. Inside sits not one, but two Keystones, mostly because I wanted to see if it’d work, but also because I felt my Natal Palace approaching its limits. In pure volume, it’s still a long ways short of my village replica, but I’m guessing the Keystones count for more than empty real estate. Either way, Mila’s forge is the perfect place for my final two keystones, both thematically and emotionally. First up, in the bedroom is an inflated five-pointed star. Plump and yellow, it bounces about as if possessed of a mind of its own, which is why I had to get rid of the cartoonish eyes it originally came with. This Keystone occupies the bedroom because it represents Reinforcement, a skill I use constantly to interact with my beloved Mila. When active, the star flashes with light, and the more Reinforcement I need, the faster it flashes and bounces around, until at maximum power it’s moving and flashing so quickly I can’t hardly stand to look at it.

All in all, it’s my most sophisticated and well-designed keystone because I desperately need Reinforcement to survive my beloved’s affection. It’s such a relief to not have panic attacks whenever I see Mila running towards me, knowing I can catch her without hurting myself.

Then there’s my fourth and final Keystone, my most complex working yet, a two-piece hammer and anvil set. Whereas the other three Keystones are used to manage relatively straightforward functions, Amplification is a whole different beast. The way it was explained to me is that Amplification is a three part process. You begin by building up your Chi, then move it in tandem with a strike, culminating with an explosion of Chi at the time of impact. Done correctly, you can multiply the force of an attack, and when combined with Reinforcement it allows you to hit two or more times harder than normal, depending on the amount of Chi used. Done incorrectly and you wasted a bunch of Chi.

It was too much work manipulating my Chi while moving my body, and I couldn’t get the hang of it in practice, much less in combat. On a good day, I had a one in three chance of success, so I rarely used Amplification in the past. Instead, I favoured using my Chi on more reliable methods like Healing and Reinforcement, but with great risks comes great rewards. There are few things more satisfying than smashing your enemies to a bloody pulp, and this is a sensation only made possible with Amplification.

...Is it possible I’ve become too bloodthirsty?

Whatever. Survival first, ethics later.

While my Lightening and Reinforcement Keystones were crafted in a day each, I spent the better part of a week figuring out what to do with Amplification. My first thought was to use the forge and bellows, pumping air into furnace to represent the build up, then unleashing in when I strike, but after practising with it a few thousand times to no success, I took a step back and started from the beginning. What was I hoping to accomplish with an Amplification Keystone? Amplification is a matter of building up energy and releasing it at the proper time and location, a process which I hoped to simplify, but with the forge and bellows, I’d already failed. Instead, I turned my attention to the hammer and anvil, two objects which were not only already in the forge room, they were also perfect for representing the same process. Lift the hammer to build up energy, smack the anvil to release it. Higher equals more energy, louder equals bigger boom, can’t get any easier than that. What’s more, the metallic clang gave a far more visceral response than the heated bellows, and as I played the sound in my head, the pieces fell into place.

Did I really need to envision lifting the hammer and striking it down? With my other Keystones, I briefly picture each one to activate or deactivate it, and then it manipulates my Chi in the background, so why can’t I do the same with Amplification? The hammer lifts and builds up Chi, moves the Chi to the proper location while descending, and explodes the Chi when hammer meets anvil, a wholly automated process from start to finish. All that’s left is to get the timing right, which is much easier than it sounds given that the hammer is an imaginary object, it technically moves at the speed of thought, so all I have to do is imagine the clang as my weapon strikes and the hammer would move to match it.

It’s a little like tapping a beat with your foot and matching it by snapping your fingers. Super easy to sync up, except in this case, the snapping is a quasi-complex Chi action. When swinging a weapon, you more or less know when you’re going to hit, unless your opponent does some tricky dodging or parrying, so now, my success rate with Amplification has shot up to nine out of ten. The funny thing is, I still can’t figure out the rock flicking thing, where Charok fires pebbles off with his fingers using Amplification. I suppose it goes to show that everyone learns things differently, so I guess the Bekhai teaching method of ‘figure it out on your own’ isn’t entirely full of shit.

We all must forge our own Martial Path, yadda yadda. I’d still like a few pointers every now and then and a lot less mystical mumbo-jumbo.

There are still a lot of Keystones I’d like to make, but thus far, I’ve yet to come up with any working ideas. A Honing Keystone would be nice, but I’m pretty good at Honing already so it’s not exactly a priority, and I’d probably need a separate Keystone for each weapon. Otherwise, I might accidentally Hone Peace while it’s still in the scabbard, which would not only be a waste of Chi, it’d also be embarrassing when it drops out of its broken sheathe and onto my foot. I could also make something for Guiding, but the process is so instinctual I’m afraid to fuck things up by thinking about it. Reverberation is an option, sending shock waves through my weapons to attack my opponent’s internal organs, but I don’t know how to Reverberate yet, so a Keystone is out of reach. I’d also like to automate Chi gathering and Chi Water creation, but I’ve had no success with either venture. I figured the first would be as easy as using my Runic ring as a Keystone, but sadly, it fell flat and I couldn’t figure out why.

My best guess? It doesn’t work because reaching Balance requires a modicum of effort and concentration. When I’m not meditating, I’m not Balanced, and without Balance, I can’t commune with the Energy of the Heavens. No Balance, no Chi or Chi Water, Keystone or not. Who knows for sure though. It’s all guesswork from here on out, though it’d be nice to get a second opinion. I suppose it’ll have to wait until I meet with Mom and Dad again, though with luck, I’ll have a big surprise in store for both.

Stepping out of my room, I peer into the void where hundreds of Spectres wail and screech, offering threats of violence and promises of power if I’ll only set them free. Pleased with my harvest, I take a deep breath and prepare for the coming unpleasantness. Opening my mouth, I regurgitate all the Chi Water I’ve bound in the past month and send it surging out to cleanse the Spectres, all while wincing at the unpleasant phantom sensation of vomiting more than my stomach can hold.

This is all Blobby’s fault. Not only is he not here to deal with this, because of his actions, I can’t imagine storing Chi Water any other way.

After turning all the Spectres into sweet Heavenly Energy, I deposit their remains into the wooden chalice and slurp up the excess Chi Water. Somehow, this is even less pleasant than puking it out, probably because now it’s like drinking second hand vomit. I’d love a better storage method like a squirt gun or something, but sadly, I can’t get it to work. Whatever, it’s a small price to pay for the energy of creation, as Taduk so aptly put it, and while a few hundred Spectres are far from enough, there are still plenty more out there to Devour. With a little luck, a lot of hard work, and drinking like a thousand litres of Spiritual Back-wash, I’ll eventually gather enough Heavenly Energy to help Mom walk again.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll have enough left over to treat myself to a little something special. Dare I say it? Can this really be happening? Is the dream alive?

Two words: Bear. Hands.

Please, Mother in Heaven, make it so...

Chapter Meme