Sometimes, an old man just had to be a little bit selfish. He knew what he needed to do, but he just couldn’t face it yet. So when he was invited by Timothy and Catarina to come to their village of Carran, he gladly accepted. Hoyt was invited as well, but he had other plans to attend to.

Anton had little to do to prepare. He stocked up on necessary supplies such as arrows and some emergency rations just in case. He exchanged some contribution points for money- he was almost surprised at how much he could have, but he had fought more beasts than he would hunt in a year so it was actually quite reasonable. It was slightly disconcerting to think his bow might cost as much as a barn… but then again, it was comparing a barn made out of mundane wood to something of special materials, even if it was much smaller.

A horse might travel further in a day than a man on foot, though their true speed advantage was in short bursts. Cultivators, however, could sustain a speed faster than a horse while walking. Of course, there were special breeds and magical beasts who were even faster… but those were quite a bit more expensive. The official recommendation for members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was to walk, if speed was not required.. Anton hadn’t known about it, but it made sense. Walking served the dual purpose of training the body of the cultivator and allowing the citizens of Graotan to see them. While they didn’t necessarily show the symbol of the Order, people could still recognize them. For their current group, it was only an academic choice regardless. Nobody wanted to spend their entire stock of contribution points on a creature only marginally faster than their current speed, something they would soon outclass.

“I’m going to show everyone how strong I am when I get back,” Timothy declared, hands behind his head as he walked confidently. “How about you, Catarina?”

“Mmn. Just want to see family.”

“I thought so. You’re not really the type to show off…” Timothy nodded to himself, “Still, we can be proud. We both joined the Order, and we’ve grown even stronger in the last few months.”

“Yes,” Catarina replied, “But we are still weak.”

“I don’t know if that’s fair to say. We’re not weak… everything else is just too strong. Besides, we’re at least strong enough to protect Carran.”

Anton’s face grew stern, “Don’t rest on your laurels so easily. Magical beasts might not live in the area, but not all cultivators are upright and honest, and they won’t care how long you’ve cultivated… or if you have at all.” The tone of his voice was cold, and soured the discussion for the rest of the day. Not that Catarina would have contributed much anyway.

-----

When there was no conversation the next morning, Anton offered an apology. “I did not mean to be so harsh with my words yesterday. The two of you have done quite well with your devotion to cultivation. I’m sure you friends and family will be proud of you.” He paused, “But I don’t know if it can ever be truly said that you are ‘strong enough.’” He’d thought he was strong. Old as he was, it was hard for anyone to say he wasn’t strong, or at least tough. But he hadn’t even been present to do anything- and if he had, he knew he would have had no effect.

Catarina looked over at him, “Where are you from?”

“Dungannon,” Anton replied. “Near Alcombey.”

“Oh,” Timothy said. “That’s almost in Ofrurg.”

Anton hadn’t thought of it that way, but it was indeed closer to Ofrurg than any of the major parts of Graotan, despite the official borders. He hadn’t thought well of it before, but had little interaction with anyone from the area, even when he visited Alcombey. Now that he knew more, it was one of the places in the world he’d least like to visit… and he was absolutely going to go there in the future. The near future.

“Do you… want to talk about what happened?” Catarina asked.

“...No.” Anton breathed out heavily. “Not yet.” It wasn’t just that they were young. Maybe they would understand… but speaking about it was hard. Even with Vincent, who already knew everything. If only Vincent could just go into Ofrurg and just tear it apart… but of course Graotan wasn’t the only place with cultivators.

The tone of the conversation eventually lightened up, talking about the things they’d done at home, how the upcoming winter might affect things, and the like. Anton did his best not to bring things down. Not just for the two younger folk, but because dwelling on what he couldn’t do at this very moment would just hurt him more.

Having not been away from the Order’s lands in the four and a half months he’d been here, Anton wasn’t sure how cultivating would go in areas of lower density natural energy. He wondered if his continued speed was just boosted by the greater availability of energy. Now that he was away from the area, he could confirm it had an effect- but his increased learning was also important. He had tempered his meridians before he even took a step on the Order’s lands, and though he continued to develop them as he could, their overall quality was similar enough. Yet he could gather and more smoothly manipulate energy. Storing more was just a given, since the stars in the Dantian were able to do so, but just having the experience cultivating made Anton certain he could do it again faster. Of course, if his cultivation actually reset to the beginning his body would probably just give out. Not that it was a possibility. Certainly not more likely or easy than being killed by something.

-----

Anton didn’t really expect trouble in the midst of Graotan where the population was high and other disciples of the Order traveled and patrolled. Even so, he was relieved when the journey actually went smoothly. Carran was just a few days away- at their current walking speed- still quite near the Order on the whole scale of things… but nothing was ever perfectly safe. He just couldn’t help but think about what might go wrong. Wild beasts from the forests and bandits were of course the strongest in his mind.

“There it is,” Timothy declared. They’d been walking past farms for quite some time, and that hadn’t actually changed. “I’d recognize that roofline anywhere.”

“Pretty sure they changed it,” Catarina countered. “That one is new.”

Anton looked ahead at the town. People were moving about doing everyday business. Someone in particular caught his eye. “Catarina. Does your mother look like you?”

“Yes. Quite. So I am told.”

“It appears she is at the market, then.” Anton found the more he used Hawk Eyes to see, the better his eyes became even when he wasn’t focusing his energy. They still weren’t the best they’d been, but when he focused… picking out faces on the horizon wasn’t too difficult. Especially somewhat familiar ones. As he approached closer, the difference in faces was obvious… but not too much. Just a couple small decades of age.

Catarina waved as her mother spotted her. “Mom!” That one energetic word was perhaps the most enthusiastic Anton had ever seen Catarina. “I’m back to visit.”

“So I see. Though you only sent a letter when you got into the Order… and Timothy didn’t even remember to inform his father,” she looked at him, placing her hand on her hips… but her smile belied the posture. “Welcome back you two. I’m Flora Riley. A pleasure to meet you. And you are?”

“Anton Krantz,” he inclined his head, watching her face for signs of recognition. He had an idea… but perhaps it was wrong. “I’m another disciple of the Order. We share a complex where we live, and I fought together along with these two.”

“Fought?” Catarina’s mother paled slightly and turned to her.

Catarina nodded. “You know cultivators often have to fight. We protected a village.”

“Well I-” she stopped whatever she was going to say. “I’m glad you are alright.” She inclined her head to Anton, “Thank you for taking care of them. Do you have a place to stay?”

Catarina spoke up before Anton could, “I was hoping he could stay in the spare room. He’s guiding Timothy with cultivation, so if he only had to go next door instead of walking out of town, it would be more convenient.” Catarina was slightly more verbose with her mother, though she still didn’t seem talkative. Maybe she simply needed to explain everything… or she just wasn’t that comfortable around Anton yet.

“Of course he can stay. Any of your friends are welcome.” Flora’s eyes sparkled slightly and she looked at Timothy, “And I’m sure some people will be glad you didn’t bring home a young man.” Timothy swallowed slightly, but didn’t say anything.

The three of them helped Flora carry her shopping back with her- though any one of them could carry far more than she wanted to purchase. Timothy made sure to stop by his home next door when they passed. Anton just enjoyed interacting with a city where nothing was going wrong. Nobody needed saving from a flood or bandits or wild beasts. And he would do his utmost to make sure it stayed that way- as well as every village in Graotan.