Carrying a seven-foot elf was not the most graceful thing I'd ever done. He'd adamantly refused to allow me to use the princess carry method making it more difficult because I didn't trust him enough to allow him to ride piggyback. Eventually, we compromised on using a fireman's carry. I was still uncomfortable leaving one of his arms free, but I bound his hands in a cloth tightly as a precaution.

I used some of the stronger vines I scavenged from the forest floor as well as some clothing we'd ripped into strips and re-braided for strength to also immobilize the arm that I wasn't holding. The harness we improvised resembled something you might wear when bungee jumping. It may have been uncomfortable for him, but once I had him loaded up and secured, I found I was able to maintain a consistent running speed.

I'd offered to place him in the stasis bag that the Sect had supplied for members to transport beasts. If it was safe enough to house and hold eggs and juvenile beasts, it should certainly be safe enough for one injured cultivator. I wasn't surprised when he'd refused. I would have too. Just because, logically it should work, that didn't mean it would. For all we knew, there was a spatial limitation related to intelligence. For Braun, I mused facetiously, that wouldn't be a limitation.

Nero spent the rest of the trip back to the Sect cultivating, continuing to heal the wound where his leg had been amputated. I could feel the Qi cycling and noticed that he was focusing a large amount of the energy he was absorbing to the site of amputation directly, bypassing his Dantian.

I didn't have enough medical knowledge to know if he was actually beginning to regrow his lost limb or if he was flooding the tissue with energy to maintain vitality and health. My perception was powerful enough that I could follow the flow of Qi that he was absorbing, tracing the way he was cycling it.

That information was as good as knowing what his cultivation method was. He either completely underestimated my talents or considered me so lacking in intelligence that I wouldn't be able to research and find out exactly what method he was using. Either way, it was the height of hubris to expose himself so fully.

We were relatively close to the hidden entrance that Elder Dalis had created, but I didn't even think about using it. It had never been my plan to allow Nero to discover that path. I had intended to get close, to use the recording feature of the array that was placed near the entrance, and then wait for help or escape. I'd had no plan to actually use the path.

Gaining access to the Sect's main path meant a trip through town and up the side of the mountain, only possible after a short circuitous jog through the forest to get back on the main thoroughfare. Nero would have begun cursing at the indignity he was forced to endure as soon as the first person started pointing at us if he hadn't passed out.

I understood how embarrassment he would be, his condition requiring him to be rescued, but I didn't empathize with him enough to hire a carriage. It would take more time, and with [Lighting's Rush] active I could outrun any conveyance that might be allowed in town.

Nero had sent off a missive with a quick explanation of his condition and misfortune while I had been crafting a harness to hold him in place, so there were medical personal as well as Elder An waiting near the gates of the Sect when we arrived.

Thankfully, Elder An's concern for his son outweighed any anger or grudge he was holding against me, at least for the moment, and as he approached, he ignored me completely to focus on Nero's wounds. It wouldn't last, this cessation of hostilities, but it would hold for now.

But Braun would remind him, as soon as he returned and gave his slanted version of their ambush, spinning it so that it came across that I had attacked him and his friends, painting me as the bad guy and the aggressor, I was sure his enmity would return in full.

"Quickly," Elder An directed the healers, ordering them to cut the bindings and harnesses I had improvised freeing his son, his worry evident, "get him unstrapped and into Healing Hall!"

"Careful," I cautioned as they rushed forward, "his leg is missing and he's channeling Qi to the wound. He was focused on healing before he passed out."

Nero had been quick to criticize and complain about the indignity of being carried, but his complaints, in fact, any sort of communication had stopped a while ago. I could still feel his Qi circulating in the pattern he'd established; the wound of his leg being continually flushed with fresh energy.

He had stopped responding to my questions, and while I wasn't sure if the technique, he was employing, required his conscious direction requiring all of his focus, I eventually realized that he had succumbed to the shock his body was under.

"What happened exactly?" Elder Tinlie asked. He was head of Healer Hall. A dedicated and talented surgeon. His Qi perception was so refined that he was able to diagnose issues without the aid of supplementary arrays or enchanted items.

"A Troodon attack," I explained as his weight was finally lifted from my back. "He ran head-first into a hunting pack, crashing into a few. Enough that he didn't have enough momentum to escape. I wasn't there when the fight broke out so I'm not sure how he lost the leg, but the animals were first-tier beasts and still able to ignore however much honing he has accomplished."

"If there were so many beasts, that he was unable to withstand their attack," Elder An said the accusation evident in his voice, "how did you rescue him?"

"I was in the trees, where they couldn't reach me. And I took advantage of the wounds he managed to inflict," I answered.

"It took multiple [Water Pierce] attacks for some of the more powerful and least damaged of the pack. But Nero had been casting his water blades with his spear in a combination of shield and attack. It worked to keep them at bay and to inflict enough damage that my arrows became more effective.

"I always targeted open wounds. It was the only way I could do enough damage considering their numbers, my arrows are powerful enough to get past the natural armor of leather and scale of the pack, but I'm not sure I could have defeated the entire pack before he bled out if he hadn't continued to battle," I said finishing my explanation.

I had been following the men carrying Nero, answering the Elder's questions along the way, because I knew that he was worried, almost panicked at the thought of losing the son his family had placed all their hopes on. Nero was the Sects most powerful disciple accepted during the year of his awakening. His death would have been a massive blow to the power and influence that Elder An and his family hoarded.

It may have been petty of me to think that he was worried more about influence than his son's life, I knew that some of his fear was an honest worry about Nero. But I couldn't help but wonder if he would have been as worried if it had been Braun, I was returning to him, injured and missing a leg.

"Excuse me, honored Elder," I said now that I was certain the Healer had things well in hand, "Elder Shadow will be waiting for my report.

"I hope Nero recovers well."

Left unsaid was the thought, the hint, that no matter how well and fast he recovers it wouldn't be in time for the upcoming tournament. I made sure to bow the exact degree propriety demanded an outer Sect member owed an Elder of his station and position. I refused to allow something so inconsequential to be used as a means to punish me.

For all my caution, Elder An had chosen to ignore me, concentrating on Nero. I took the opportunity to engage [Lightning's Rush] and head for Alchemy Hall and Elder Tye. I had never met Elder Shadow anywhere, but Training Hall and Alchemy Hall so I thought it best I allow Elder Tye to contact him and set up a meeting.