When all the information finished being exchanged between the Brandle and Tenebach clans, they were able to determine the size of the moves that had been made against them. Fortunately for them, those moves had failed. While the clans lost some lives if they were to compare either quality or quantity of lives lost they had come out ahead. None of the main targets had been killed… and most importantly John, Matayal, and the triplets were safe.

It was a shame that Evren Kartal had survived, mostly because of his personal power. Nobody wanted a Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator with a grudge against them, but the clan itself was in a much worse situation. Matayal’s attack hadn’t wiped out the clan- it would have taken a larger devotion of warriors and provided greater risk. Just because some people on the border of the Blustering Peaks let them pass by didn’t mean everyone present would agree with such excessive actions. However, the damage done was fairly reasonable as retaliation and it would be hard for anyone to find a good excuse… and put together a sizable enough force to make a difference without risking other threats coming for them.

-----

The ‘club’ met up again in the fairly near future. He looked over the group. Two fire, one earth, and himself. “Hmm…” he pursed his lips.

“Something wrong?” Renato asked.

“I was just thinking our elemental balance isn’t all that great.”

“It’s not bad,” Renato countered. “Fire overcomes Earth, and Yustina is able to overcome fire’s weakness to the water element. And then there’s you,” he shrugged.

“I was just thinking we could have one of every element and dress in colored skin tight suits or something,” John said.

Steve snorted, and the other two exchanged looks.

“Something from your world, I presume?” Yustina asked.

“Basically, yeah,” John nodded. “But it would be nice to have more people.”

“We already cover things fairly well,” Renato pointed out, “And if we’re simply considering the elements we have access to with our allies, we cover… most everything.”

“Except light,” John said. “Well, there are some steps being taken towards that end but no tested loyalty.”

“Then we’d have a wide-ranging alliance covering every element,” Renato said, “Though not all alliances are mutual at the moment. The Milanovics and the Mulyani clan, mainly.”

Steve and Yustina looked at each other, with Steve speaking up. “I don’t think it would be a problem, considering everything else…”

“I”m not saying you lack the influence, but official alliances are politically useful. Though having too many alliances might make people nervous.”

“I’m most concerned about the Society of Midnight,” John admitted. “They might not be able to try another attack of this scale for a long time… or they might immediately make another big move to try to finish things. We don’t really have a way to retaliate directly, though the damage we caused to them so far… is pretty significant.”

“Didn’t you rip out two more pieces of your guardian beast?” Steve asked. “There can’t be that many left.”

“Technically Aydan managed to get one of them,” John commented, his eyes drifting vaguely in the direction of his injured uncle. He would survive his wounds, and he’d managed to avoid a drop in cultivation… but it would be a difficult recovery. “But yes, there should only be a few left. One should be with the sect head, one with the third who tried to assassinate me… and maybe a small handful more, though the greater number the weaker they’ll individually be. Our alliance might be able to stand up to the Society of Midnight directly, but the Darklands aren’t friendly to visitors.”

Steve nodded.

“I doubt they’d let any sizable force move freely,” Yustina agreed. “Any luck finding a faction to sponsor us against the Society of Midnight? They have to have pretty impressive sect grounds that someone would covet.”

“Not yet,” John admitted, “But perhaps that should be an area of focus.”

“So, after we deal with them… or any other threats,” Renato looked around, “How do we reach Ascending Soul Phase?”

“Hah!” John laughed. “Good one. We’re literally the first generation of Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators in our respective groups. That’s a bit… ambitious, don’t you think.”

“Why?” Renato asked. “We’re not just normal people. Yustina, you reached this level before, right?”

She nodded, “Yes, I was a Great Lake cultivator in Aglor.”

“What were your chances of advancing?”

“Admittedly? Slim. But I was not in the lead of the pack. The resources I gathered were modest by the standards of the region. Though I should say… besides a few impressive natural locations here, we’re a bit lacking. My prior experience has helped smooth my path greatly up to this point, but I’m not certain about the future.”

Steve shrugged, “We all made it this far, right? We’re not old or anything. Shouldn’t be that hard, right? Maybe it takes twenty-thirty years or something. That’s uh… not long, right? For cultivators?”

“Not successful ones,” Renato admitted. “As we are now we could live well into our hundreds. One would expect lifespan to increase by at least a year or two for each rank, though ultimately very few cultivators die of age.”

“... Right,” John nodded. “I’ve been pretty lucky against older cultivators so far, but all it takes is one bad fight for any of us…”

“I’m not particularly interested in finding out if we reincarnate again,” Renato said. “With memories intact, I mean. It’s highly probable it would happen the… normal way. And it’s unclear if the two of you were drawn here because of your potential for cultivation or if it were random chance. There could be many more transmigrators who simply… don’t make anything of themselves and go unnoticed.”

“I wish we could just advertise,” John said, “But that would attract the wrong kind of attention, while risking us looking like people trying to do creepy experiments.”

“And there’s no guarantee others would be friendly,” Steve admitted. “Let’s just focus on what we can control.”

“... how unexpected,” Yustina said. “Usually you just act without thinking.”

“A man can change,” Steve said. “Besides, by ‘we’ I mostly meant ‘you guys’.”

-----

Normally there would have been a somewhat larger gap with the triplets staying at the Brandle clan before John made his way over. But normal schedules only worked when things were normal, which John honestly wasn’t sure was ever the case in this world. Either way, he wanted to spend more time with his children and wife… so he was going to. The Tenebach clan would be fine without him for some time, and while it was useful to have him present for many negotiations, sometimes not having him around would be better. Powerful youths were intimidating. Though John technically had somewhere around fifty years of memories, even that could be considered youthful by cultivator standards, at his current cultivation.

John had missed the triplets- it was impossible to deny that- but they had the amazing quality to make people have enough of them with only a short exposure. Truthfully they were a bit better behaved then when he had last seen them, but that just made him suspicious.

And while there was an unbreakable bond of love with his children, its relative recency compared to Matayal meant the feelings weren’t deep in the same way. And his children hadn’t been fighting, making him worried for their safety.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” John said, holding both of Matayal’s hands in his own.

“You thought I’d get in over my head?”

“Either of us could, quite easily. Especially because we know we’re strong. Besides, I recall you mentioning something about investigating that sea god?”

“A cultivator must continually seek avenues to improve. Besides, I thought it might be beneficial for the Brandles to have a guardian beast.”

John’s eyes widened, “That’s… a pretty ambitious plan. It’s not some sort of spirit creature like Ciaritzal either, is it?”

“It does not seem to be, but light and darkness have already been more ephemeral. And many guardian beasts are little more than powerful animals.”

“That’s why good ones are so rare,” John nodded. Powerful sects and clans needed something to give them an advantage. The Brandle clan had little more than their own cultivators and alliances, which was expected of a newer clan. More established clans like the Tenebachs could have guardian beasts or access to special resources. The Milanovics claimed a prime position at the base of Zolvolj and had other resources throughout the Green Sands- now including a Greensteel mine. The Order of the Amber Heart had control of the Crystal Caverns, and though they shared those resources they still gained influence and a larger cut from their efforts. “Do you really think it could be possible?”

“If it is, we’d have to move. I don’t think such a leviathan would fit conveniently near Pualani. Unless we replaced the whole central island, which I imagine might cause a few people to be upset.”

“An eventual ambition, then,” John nodded. “I doubt you need me to tell you to be safe, but please do be. I wouldn’t want to lose you.”

“I certainly don’t plan to be finished so young,” Matayal grinned. “But maybe we can go together next time.”

“Risking the heads of two clans together? I’m up for it.” And if she was planning to go back… then it was ‘safe’ by some measure cultivators used. The same ones that climbed volcanoes while they were erupting for training, of course.

-----

Elements mingled together. Water was a dominant presence, tinged with minor traces of others. Then there was the darkness, and the elements more strongly laced with it. Everything combined into a stormy island with a great black tree upon it. The darkness intermingled with water and earth, mutually supporting each other- but the more abundant water provided greater support for the air which in turn helped the earth prosper.

John couldn’t say he had made much progress with his totem growth since achieving the Consolidated Soul Phase, but then again he was only two ranks in. It was reasonable that they would still be simple fourth tier totems. He would only find himself concerned if he were approaching the Ascending Soul Phase and they weren’t close to the fifth tier. He could likely deal with an imbalance, but it would take more effort to correct it in the long run instead of having balance when he advanced.

He had been spending time in the fifth layer of the sea of spiritual totems mostly to get himself used to the pressure, only vaguely searching for a fire element totem. The records of the Tenebach clan didn’t really have any indications of what he might find at that layer, except a few references to elusive and powerful darkness totems that may or may not exist.

For the moment though his energy continued to intermingle with Matayal, while there was a vague sense of the two of them relaxing in something akin to a tropical paradise with occasional gloom. That wasn’t far from what the outside conditions were like, but it was nice for there to be just two of them spending some time alone, not talking but sharing feelings nonetheless.

Then there was a disturbance. Something external, but concerning. The two of them noticed at nearly the same time, and carefully withdrew from each other. John minutely opened one of his eyes, peeking over into a corner, his eyes piercing the depths of shadow.

“Melanthina. Come here.”

His voice was firm, but calm. This was a situation where anger might be justified, but expressing it would be unhelpful.

Their daughter stiffened at being called out, her head turning to see if she could find some way to escape… but of course that was impossible since she’d already been noticed. So she carefully stepped out and put on her best innocent face. “Um, I was just-”

“Sneaking past the guards into our private room?” John said. John pat the bench between himself and Matayal, “Come sit down.”

Melanthina slunk over, uncomfortably sitting between them. Matayal remained silent, letting John continue to handle the situation. Melanthina preferred him, after all, so receiving correction from him would also be more effective.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“Listen, Melanthina,” John gently put a hand gently on her shoulder. “Disrupting people in cultivation is dangerous. You know that already. It’s even more dangerous when it’s two people together. And though I’m sure you wouldn’t hurt us, the distraction is still a problem. And your presence throws off the elemental balance.” He sighed. There wasn’t much else he could say. “If we had mistaken you for an enemy, it could also have been dangerous for you.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I was just curious.”

“Next time, ask,” John said. “Now, how did you sneak past the guards?”

“Uh, well…”

John scanned his senses around the room, noticing displaced floorboards. They only provided space for a small figure to move through, but it was still a problem. There was also the question of whether she’d moved completely undetected, because that could be something others could potentially exploit if so. An adult wouldn’t be able to enter and exit nondestructively, but breaking a few floorboards would be easy for an assassination.

“Now let’s get you out of here,” John said. “Just remember, this is dangerous to interrupt.” Melanthina nodded, and he led her out of the room. John exchanged a look with the guards, but they weren’t directly in trouble for this incident. They weren’t even darkness cultivators, so they’d have more trouble detecting her… but it was still good to talk about possible improvements.

“Honestly,” Matayal said, “I’m glad she didn’t show up later. She’s a bit young to be exposed to that.”

“Hah. If only that were the extent of our worries with her,” John grinned.