Her heart nearly stopped at the amount of progress she had made. She wasn’t expecting to go up in rank for months yet, even taking into account the newfound cultivation aids she’d been using. It seemed that the ‘purified nexus’ she had unknowingly tapped into was several times more potent than the rare nexus she had discovered at the very start of her cultivation journey. It also seemed much easier to assimilate than the naturally occurring founts, or even beast cores!

She could imagine that many cultivators would jump at the chance for this kind of power--even considering the consequences--if this knowledge was widespread. She could practically visualize the damage that just a single cultivator on a month-long killing binge could do, especially since cultivators were the first line of defense against Spirit Beast attacks. The only downside to such quick advancement would be that the individual’s stats would severely lag behind their cultivation rank.

As she understood it, raising cultivation ranks empowered the body by infusing it with qi and forcing out the impurities that a person was born with, bringing them closer to a perfect version of themselves. These impurities were what made someone ‘mortal’ and caused faster aging, made people more susceptible to illness, and limited their physical potential. So, essentially, the higher a cultivator’s rank, the higher they were able to advance their stats; however, this didn’t do them much good if they didn’t actually train to improve themselves. The exception to this rule was when moving between entire stages, such as progressing from Mortal to Copper, or Copper to Bronze. In this case, the cultivator’s body went through a more noticeable shift, vastly improving the structure of their body and dramatically raising stats.

If she used Thomas’s development as a baseline for what stat levels were possible at High Copper, she could probably train her ‘high aptitude’ stats like Agility up to 14 or 15, while the ‘low aptitude’ stats might be more limited. The problem was, Thomas had raised his Agility to such levels over the course of a year, and she didn’t even have a full month left if Jacob’s notes were accurate.

Thinking about Jacob brought her mind back to one of the notifications that she had received. She pulled it up again to review the wording and felt her brow furrow, “You have killed a cultivator of equal or greater rank in solo combat…”. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but this notification brought up an important question. Did the system not recognize Jacob’s contribution in the battle? Yes, she would have been able to best the Rat King herself given enough time, but Jacob did strike a crippling blow to the man in the final moments of the fight. Perhaps the system wasn’t as all-knowing as she feared, and it could be fooled. She would need to think more on it and maybe do some research before coming to a conclusion.

Deciding not to waste too much time pondering questions about the system she had no way to answer, she brought up her profile to look at the changes.

Name: Samantha Cray

Age: 17

Cultivation Level: High Copper

Qi pool: Vital Wellspring Cultivation Technique

18/18 (+1 qi point/hour [+2 with Sage’s Rumination])

*Excess qi regen currently allocated to Flawless Regeneration

Body Cultivation:

Heart Meridian (Endurance)

Marks:

Vortex (Dantian)

Combat Arts:

Flawless Regeneration (Variable cost)

Meridian Requirements: Heart

By cycling qi through your heart meridian and circulatory system, you can repair any physical wound your qi has access to! All regeneration will occur without scarring, incorrectly set bones, or misplaced organs, so crippling injuries are a thing of the past! Qi cost varies greatly based on severity of the damage and the speed at which you want the healing to occur.

Inspect (Base cost 1 qi)

By focusing your spiritual senses on a target, you can get basic information about it. This art will have a higher rate of success for targets at or below your cultivation level and stage. On failure, has a chance to notify the target of your attempt. Extra qi can be expended to learn more details, but the cost will always be a minimum of 1.

Swift (Base cost 1 qi/second)

For every 1 qi point spent per second, you will gain +2 agility. For each additional qi point spent per second, gain +1 agility. After the ability ends agility will return to normal levels

Passive Arts:

As One

You and your bond share vitality. If one is wounded or healed, the effect is split between the two parties. You will rise or fall as one.

Prey’s Perception

Gain increased passive awareness of your surroundings. Affects all senses

Poison Connoisseur

Inherit the toxin processing abilities of your bond. You will more easily gain resistances to any poisons you encounter

Blood Toxicity Tolerance - Rank 2

Future blood poisoning will have its effects and duration decreased by 2/3rds.

Corrosive Poison Resistance – Rank 1

Future encounters with corrosive poisons will have their effects and duration decreased by half.

Sleep Poison Resistance - Rank 0

Sage’s Rumination

You have mastered the art of multitasking. Regardless of what your conscious mind is doing, you are able to maintain a permanent state of meditation, doubling your natural qi regeneration rate.

Attributes:

Strength: 6

Agility: 9

Endurance: 8

Resilience: 6

Spirit Bonds:

Silas (Rank 4 Lunar Jackalope – Mid)

Strength: 3

Agility: 14

Endurance: 7

Resilience: 5

Bond Ability Points: 4 remaining

Swift (Rank 2 – 2 Points) - For every 1 qi point spent per second, you will gain +2 agility. After skill ends, effects will persist for 5 seconds, losing 1/5th of total value each second until original agility level reached. Herb Hunter (1 Point) – Like the Lunar Hare, you have an uncanny ability for finding the best quality herbs around. Translucence (1 Point) – For every 1 qi point spent, you will become partially transparent for 30 seconds. Remaining motionless while translucent will make you exceedingly difficult to spot. As One [Special] (Rank 2 – Cost 2 Points) – You and Silas will shore up each other’s weaknesses by inheriting some of the other’s strengths. Flurry (1 Point) – By spending 2 qi points per second, your kick speed will be doubled and kick damage will be increased by half.

Looking over the changes, the 0.2/hour increase to qi regeneration was an unexpected but welcome addition. A new section called “Marks” had been added to her sheet, and she assumed that this was what her newest quest “Cull the Weak” was referring to. She had no clue what the Vortex mark did, but she’d check herself over as soon as she was able to remove her armor set.

The new bond ability she could pick, “Flurry”, was intriguing. Though she hadn’t had much occasion for it in her most recent fights, kicking was a potent tool in a spear wielder’s repertoire. If she encountered an enemy that used close ranged weapons and could match her speed, being able to effectively kick to push her opponent back or wound them was invaluable, both in offense and defense. If Swift and As One were not such integral parts of her fighting style now, she would have seriously considered it. As it stood, she couldn’t rationalize putting off buying those upgrades considering how many times both had already saved her life.

In the past month she had spent a good amount of time thinking about what exactly As One’s next rank would do, given it’s vague description. She had already decided to give it the benefit of the doubt though. The “Special” tag it carried--as well as the usefulness of the current rank--convinced her that the investment would pay off, even if she didn’t know in advance what exactly would happen. She chose it first.

*Ding* Silas’s greatest weakness is __________.

Samantha raised an eyebrow. She’d never seen a prompt like this before, but she went along with it. She supposed that technically strength was his lowest stat, and that was quite literally a source of weakness…

As soon as she finished forming the thought, the notification was updated.

*Ding* You have determined Silas’s greatest weakness is ‘Strength’. Silas’s aptitude for Strength has increased. Changing Silas’s body structure to accommodate higher aptitude.

*Ding* Silas has determined your greatest weakness is ‘Agility’. Your aptitude for Agility has increased. Changing body structure to accommodate higher aptitude.

*Ding* Deepening your bond with Silas has unlocked the ability to share senses.

“What the…?” Samantha began, but couldn’t finish her sentence before a terrible pain originated from the lower half of her body.

A deep, dull ache thrummed through her very bones as she fell to the ground and clutched at her legs. She felt like she was being stretched and pulled apart, and an ominous creaking sound filled her ears as her body burned in agony. She couldn’t help but scream, and a sharp yowl from Silas made her realize that she was not the only one that was suffering. She watched in both alarm and fascination as Silas visibly grew. His lean body both lengthened and became bulkier, his neck thickened, and his four legs grew a little bit taller. It wasn’t a drastic shift, but enough that she could notice the alterations in real time.

As for her own transformation, the first thing that caught her attention was that her pants, shoes, and greaves no longer fit her as well as they did moments ago. The hems of her pants were rising past their original position over her ankles, the straps of her greaves were becoming increasingly tight, and she felt her toes start to curl as they were pressed up against the confines of her shoes. She feared that either her body or gear would break under the mounting pressure, but the pain was too great to concentrate enough to doff the equipment. Her vision began to blur and darken as the horrid grating of her bones intensified further. It became too much for her mind to handle.

When unconsciousness came, she welcomed it with open arms.

She awoke to a cool, wet cloth being placed over her forehead. For an instant, she believed she was back home, being cared for by her mother after taking ill. That illusion was shattered when she heard a person who was distinctly not her mom call to her.

“Hey… I really need you to wake up now, Samantha. I don’t know how I’m going to carry you out of here otherwise.” the voice said, a bit of hopelessness in his tone. When she didn’t answer he mumbled to himself, “Maybe if I get some rope and come back?”

Samantha recognized the voice as none other than Jacob, who must’ve come back to check on her as his notes promised.

She quickly sat up and he squealed, holding a hand over his heart. He took several deep breaths to calm himself, then coughed into his hand a few times, clearly embarrassed by the outburst.

“I didn’t expect that to actually work...” he laughed nervously. Not knowing that she could easily hear him with her enhanced perception, he muttered under his breath, “...It sure didn’t the first ten times I tried it.”

Samantha looked around and noticed that they were at the entrance to the waterways, next to the ladder they originally climbed down to get here. Her armor was in a pile nearby, and her spear was leaning against the wall nearest to it. Silas was taking deep rhythmic breaths beside her, looking like he was sleeping.

Seeing her attention, Jacob added, “I couldn’t move you with the armor on, and it was pretty filthy anyway. Your robes are in even worse shape, but I didn’t feel comfortable removing those for you. I do have a spare set, if you’d like to change? I’ll turn my back, or I can move around a corner.”

He certainly wasn’t lying about her robes being gross. The once light-tan fabric was now stained red and gray, the moist and sticky material clinging to her skin uncomfortably. She took the robes gratefully and Jacob turned his back so she could change.

She moved to take off her shoes first and was stunned to see the front was completely blown out. Her toes were exposed, peeking out an inch beyond where the original sole of the shoe ended. She recalled the notification she had seen before passing out and wondered what other “body structure” changes had been made. Her legs had certainly gotten longer, the hems of her pants now sitting about two inches higher than they should have. There was also a sort of natural bounciness that she felt in each step, her sense of balance and control coming easier to her than ever before. Curious, she pulled up her stat page once more to check over her attributes.

Her Agility had jumped from 9 to 11, and Silas’s Strength had increased from 3 to 4! Was this truly the result of just having an increased aptitude for the stat? Did this mean that these stats could be raised even easier and to higher levels than before? Only time would tell, but she was excited to test the theory. She wanted to try out the new ability to share senses as well, but would wait until Silas woke up before experimenting.

After she finished changing into the fresh clothes, she gathered her armor, spear, and Silas with Jacob and traveled back to his shop in the market square. This time of year the days were getting shorter, and the setting sun meant that full dark would fall in less than an hour. Once they arrived, Jacob offered to clean her equipment so that she could wear it home. She accepted, and decided it would be prudent to clean herself up as well. She took a long bath in a basin upstairs to remove the layers of dirt and grime that had accumulated on her body during the fight and her subsequent breakthrough while she waited for Jacob to finish his work.

Her new Vortex mark was impossible to miss. The tattoo-like mark was approximately an inch in diameter, and sat on the skin around her navel in a ring. It glowed with the faint blue light of qi, and the pattern was incredibly complex. Unbroken strings of foreign writings and characters appeared woven together into braids, twisting together into mirroring shapes and spirals like an ancient mandala. The strings of script even appeared to be moving, albeit slowly. She closed her eyes and focused on the mark, trying to get a feel for if it did anything, and did notice that it had a sort of gravity to it. To her spiritual sense, it felt like… well… a vortex. It seemed to be pulling in a small amount of qi from her surroundings and pushing it towards her center, and she was unable to find a way to increase, decrease, or stop this process. Based on the addition of this mark to her profile and the unexpected increase to qi regeneration, she could only guess that this mark was responsible.

Seeing that her skin was getting wrinkled from her extended time in the water, she got out of the tub and dried herself off. Feeling refreshed and clean for the first time in ages, she put on some fresh clothes and went downstairs to check on Jacob’s progress with her armor. He had done a fantastic job cleaning the pieces and repairing the small nicks and cuts in the leather. It looked serviceable again, though it no longer had that ‘new’ look to it. Samantha didn’t mind, simply appreciating the kindness that Jacob was showing her.

Seeing her, Jacob insisted that she stay for dinner. She tried to refuse, saying that he’d already done enough, but he was adamant. He even went so far as to mention he was already feeding Silas, so she should get to eat too.

Sure enough, she noticed Silas happily munching away at some common apples, carrots, and other fruits and vegetables nearby, and she relented. After consuming a hearty stew of meat and potatoes, Jacob helped her don her armor and provided her with a new pair of shoes. The shoes were similar to the ones Aiden had acquisitioned for her, standard cloth shoes affixed with scales from the Shark Fish for extra grip. Remembering the vibrant life of the young boy cut much too short, the atmosphere became somber.

Deciding to not drag out the uncomfortable silence, she cut to the chase, “Your first note mentioned that you’ve already buried Aiden. May I know where, so I can pay my respects? I didn’t know him long, but he was a good kid. I’m sorry that things turned out how they did.”

Jacob seemed to age 10 years at the mention of his son. His shoulders drooped and his eyes began to water, but he nodded and wordlessly led her out behind his shop to a small, enclosed yard. In contrast to the generally dirty and trash filled slums, Jacob obviously took care of this place. There were patches of flowers, some ferns, and even a section of neatly trimmed, green grass. In the center of the grass was a small mound of freshly upturned dirt, with a single wooden plank sticking up from the ground serving as a headstone.

It simply read: “Aiden. Beloved son.”

For once, Silas did not attempt to nibble on any of the nearby foliage, perhaps sensing the sadness that she and Jacob both felt.

Samantha knelt at the grave and bowed her head. She spent a few minutes in contemplative silence, reflecting on the days they spent together making deliveries. She remembered the way he laughed, and how he approached life with a carefree joy that was difficult to replicate. She felt herself growing angry at recalling how his future had been stolen by greedy, cruel men, and moved away from the grave so as not to taint the sanctity of the site with her malice.

As she was leaving, Jacob stopped her. He looked down at the ground, and clenched his hands so tightly that his knuckles became white, “I… I overheard some of what the cultivator said to you. After the battle, I was so angry that I went looking for Ol’ Whisper myself. Lucky for him, he was long gone by the time I got to his place. His house was empty.” He paused, then lifted his gaze to meet Samantha’s eyes, “I want to know who is responsible for this. I want to ask them face to face what it was all for. To tell them that their plots were not worth my son’s life. I may not have money or power, but I have a voice loud enough to scream out their shame and bring their reputation to ruin.”

Jacob then lowered himself into a full kowtow. He knelt on the ground and pressed his forehead into the dirt at her feet. “I know I cannot do it alone. Please, master cultivator. I need your help. I will give you anything you want, even a life of servitude if you agree! I will not know peace until I know the truth.”

Samantha stared long and hard at the bereaved man. She wanted to help him, but also didn’t want to make promises that she couldn’t keep. The fact was, she had maybe 24-25 days left on this floor if she decided to ascend. This would barely be enough time as it was to train her stats as much as she could, and there was no guarantee that she would be able to find the information he needed in that time frame.

“I’ll help you for as long as I can, but I’m not sure I’ll have much better luck finding Whisper than you did. I don’t have the connections that other cultivators do yet, but I will see what I can find for you.” she answered honestly.

“That’s all I can ask. Thank you.” Jacob responded. He rose from the ground and dusted himself off, then saw her off as she left his shop.

Deciding that Jacob’s request wouldn’t go anywhere if she waited one day, she went to the one place she’d been dying to visit ever since she unlocked her cultivation. Home. She had waited long enough.

Her heart soared at the thought of seeing her parents again, but Samantha knew that the reunion would be bittersweet. A person never knew how much time they had with their loved ones, and despite her life expectancy being drastically extended through cultivation, separation would still come before she was ready.

As she navigated the familiar streets, it occurred to her that Thomas was probably worried sick about her. She made a quick detour to see her cousin and assure him that she was okay. She nervously rapped on the door, but no one answered. She knocked louder and with more persistence until, to her great surprise, an unfamiliar woman greeted her.

The mortal woman was petite, perhaps only 5 feet tall. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, and a flowery robe hung loosely around her small frame. Despite the light smudging of her makeup, it was obvious that she was quite beautiful. Her expression quickly turned ugly when she saw that the person knocking on Thomas’s door at this time of night was another woman, but when she saw that Samantha was decked out in high quality equipment she became more subdued.

“And, who might you be?” the mortal asked, a tinge of irritation in her question, “Thomas is quite busy tonight.”

“Ewwww....” Samantha said, the gut reaction coming out before she could stop herself.

The woman positively bristled, insulted by Samantha’s response to her words. “I beg your pardon? I’ll have you know that--”

“Amelia, who’s at the door?” Thomas called out from somewhere at the back of the house.

Before Amelia could reply, Samantha cut in, “Thomas! It’s me! I just wanted you to know that I’m fine, and I’m going to visit my parents. I can see you’re preoccupied, so I’ll come by again later.”

“Wait! Sam? Just give me 5--no--10 minutes!” Thomas pleaded.

“Ew!” Samantha repeated, “No thanks! I’m not waiting around so you can finish your business. I’ll talk to you later, bye!”

Samantha jogged away, trying to put some distance between herself and the awkward situation as Silas plodded along behind her.

She followed the wide paved roads for about 20 minutes until she reached the Southern Business District. Here, Mid-Tier shops and trades of every kind flourished. The walkways were brightly lit by qi lanterns suspended by strings, the signage glowed with fluorescent paints, and some of the higher end stores even had their signs scripted with an illusory qi art so it appeared the words moved and shifted. In a nearby window she could see blacksmiths hammering away at a newly forged piece, an auditory art scripted into the walls muting the sound so their blows would not disturb other businesses. Smells of freshly baked bread, roasting meat exquisitely seasoned, and sweetly crafted candies assaulted her senses in the best possible way, and she resisted the urge to drool.

It was nearing late evening now, but the streets were packed and the people showed no sign of slowing down. Interestingly, as soon as she neared the edge of the crowd, people began to automatically make way for her and Silas. High Copper was nothing to sneeze at, and though she wasn’t releasing her killing intent, the lack of stealthing meant that her aura could easily be felt by those around her. She felt a small surge of pride as she watched not only the mortals, but even the lower ranked coppers getting out of her path. Silas strutted through the open space as confidently as a king, and she felt some relief that she didn’t need to worry about him accidentally being stepped on.

Unlike in the slums where it was impossible to find any Enforcers, she could easily find two within earshot patrolling. Some were even permanently posted outside certain shops to dissuade any thoughts of theft. Also, while wearing any sort of armor or carrying a weapon made her stand out in the Gutter, she was just one armed person among many in this area. This was one of the busiest times for shops, as patrons sought to make one last trip to one last store in the hour or so remaining before everything closed down for the night.

In the distance she could see a group of mortals making way for a male cultivator in an opulent robe riding a Verdant Stallion, a spirit beast that excelled at traveling long distances quickly. It’s impeccably maintained green fur was dazzling under the light of the lanterns, and as it shook its head the vines that made up its mane flowed in mesmerizing waves. It snorted at one mortal who didn’t get out of the way fast enough, and a powerful gust of air blew the woman back a few steps, her clothes violently whipping around until the wind subsided.

He happened to be coming right towards her, and as he neared she sensed the man was High Copper, like her. Not in the mood to play the game of “which cultivator was going to lose face by moving out of the way of the other”, she decided to duck into a nearby shop. With Prey’s Perception she could see him smirk at her as she turned her back to him, and she felt her good humor sour. It seemed there would always be someone looking down on her, in spite of her impressive gains.

It was at this point that a slightly winded Thomas came running up to her, “You have some explaining to do! You run off to some stupid fight and don’t come back for three days? Then you drop in like nothing happened and leave aga--” Thomas cut off his own train of thought as he scrutinized her, his eyes narrowing as he looked her up and down, “Wait. Wait. Wait. Did you? Are you? Tell me your cultivation rank right now. Also, did you get taller or something?” he circled her as he waited for her answer, placing a flattened hand on top of her head and moving it over to the bottom of his chin repeatedly. “You definitely got taller…” he said thoughtfully, then looked at her with an arched eyebrow, as if saying ‘answer the questions already’.

“Can you wait until I get back home? I don’t want to explain everything twice.” she offered.

Begrudgingly, he nodded, and they made their way over to the family shop, “Cray’s Creations”. Like many store branch owners, her family ran the shop services from the bottom floor while living on the 2nd floor. The arrangement was incredibly convenient, though as a child she hated being woken up before dawn to help prepare for opening. The only saving grace of those early days was that she always got the first pick of the freshest baked goods each morning. She smiled to herself at the fond memories as she opened the door and stepped into the familiar space.

It was busy tonight, many people browsing as her father worked the front desk and her mother was likely off somewhere giving product information to an interested shopper. If her dad’s emphatic hand motions were any indication, he was in the middle of a rather intense session of haggling and close to making a sale. Aldon Cray was a middle aged man of average height and lean build. His short, dark brown hair was peppered with white and gray just above his ears, and his hazel eyes shone with the thrill of the deal. Today he wore a forest green tang suit with a fox being depicted in brown embroidery running down the right shoulder. This imagery combined with the natural colors of the clothing played up the fact that the shop dealt entirely with natural spirit beast materials, just one of the many small strategies her family employed to make sales.

He looked up briefly to the doorway as a musical chime announced her entrance, and his eyes looked about ready to pop out of his head as she removed her helmet and smiled at him.

The customer made his next price proposal for what she could now see was a bone dagger. He offered 2 silver for the piece, and Samantha knew from experience that such a price would bring in a profit margin of mere coppers. It wasn’t nearly enough to be worth the effort required to make the weapon, and she fully expected that on a good day her father could get up to 3 or 4 silver for it.

“Deal!” her father shouted a bit too quickly, scooping the money off the counter and handing the bewildered patron the sheathed weapon. Clearly even the customer expected that price to be too low, but he had no time to question his good fortune as Aldon practically shoved the man out of the shop.

“Everyone out!” he demanded, “My daughter has come home from her cultivation quest! We’re closing early! Out! Out I say!”

Hearing this, her mother shot out from behind a wide standing shelf towards the back of the shop and homed in on her location. Her mouth dropped open with shock upon seeing her daughter for the first time in 3 months, but she quickly recovered. She eagerly took up Aldon’s call and ushered people out of the store as quickly as she could.

Martha Cray was 40 years young, and wasn’t afraid to let people know it. Samantha mostly took after her mother, inheriting her deep brown eyes, regal features, and black hair. Years of smiling caused small wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and mouth to form, but she always joked that she counted the markings as a badge of honor for living a happy life. Her outgoing personality and friendly disposition were her weapons of choice for convincing customers to buy. Afterall, very few people suspected such tactics from the short, unimposing woman. Today she wore a set of robes that matched Aldon’s--even down to the fox embroidery--but this one ran down her left shoulder instead of the right.

As the last of the shoppers shuffled out, congratulating her parents on her successful return, Samantha’s father closed the door as her mother flipped the “Open” sign to show “Closed”. The effortless, smooth coordination they displayed never failed to impress her, and was evidence of years of being a team.

As if to emphasize her observation, both parents turned to face her in sync, both unable to find the appropriate words to speak after their time apart. Feeling inspired by her childhood memories of this place, Samantha dropped her spear and rushed forward. She wrapped one arm around each parent’s waist and used her inhuman strength to lift them, twirling them once in a circle like they had often done to her when she was small. Caught off guard by the motion, both parents broke out into laughter, shattering the unspoken distance that had been between them seconds ago.

As Samantha set them down, it was their turn to embrace her. As they all held each other, laughing and weeping with joy in equal measures, Samantha felt for a brief moment that all was right with the world. In her parents arms, she was safe.