“Uuuuughh…” came a groan of annoyance, then a loud smacking sound. Ursel waved her hand which had the remains of a mosquito the size of a small sparrow stuck on it. She eventually just wiped it on a nearby bush and then coated her hands in mud. “Why won’t they stoooop?”

“Because you feel vulnerable,” their guide Bodana said. “Though clearly they’re wrong.”

No matter what sort of insect attempted to bite Ursel, whether it was capable of piercing through defensive energy or not, they were incapable of penetrating Diamond Defense- in short, her skin was too durable for them. That didn’t mean she liked having them around, though.

Everyone else had their own solutions. Bodana had her own swarm of insects, so clearly she didn’t mind more- they either became a member of hers or were consumed by it. Melanthina was attempting her techniques to control the bugs, to varying results. She was at least generally able to keep them away, though sometimes it was because they were overloaded with darkness and their bodies collapsed. There were a few moving around her unstably, without any real control except a compulsion to not be close to her.

John had also trained Diamond Defense- or rather, he had trained Diamond Defense and it was Ursel who had snuck in and stolen some of his spare materials. The Tenebach Clan was in a much better financial state than they had been when John first arrived so it wasn’t a big deal to spend that sort of money on one of the triplets, but she’d gotten in trouble for a lack of permission.

His energy- specifically the darkness element- extended beyond himself and around Matayal and beyond her to Tirto. Both should normally be able to keep bugs away with a bit of spiritual energy, but with some of the local specimens being able to sneakily pierce through such defenses, it would have required them forming an actual bubble of water or the like to keep themselves fully protected. That was fine for a while, but keeping such up all day was draining. So John was practicing the swarm influencing techniques, at least the obvious basics. He almost thought about sending the ones he caught towards Ursel, but resisted the bullying urge. Generally he just saw what he could make them do and ultimately directed them towards Bodana to have them dealt with in some manner.

The rest of the Tenebach and Brandle clan members had to deal with things on their own. Bodana did keep watch for any particularly dangerous specimens, namely those that were diseased.

The trek through the Soulrot Bogs was as unpleasant as expected, the ability for cultivators to dry themselves being one of the few comforts they had. There were long distances where they had to slog through leech infested waters, and finding dry ground to camp was a significant effort.

Unlike Bodana, none of the rest of them could control insects subconsciously, and the enchantments upon their tents were only sufficient to keep them safe but not comfortable. Effort had to be taken to those ends through the use of spiritual energy, of which the prominent ones were darkness and water. John found it better than being in the deep sea where he had to constantly replenish his own air, but certainly uncomfortable for himself and still a significant difficulty for those weaker.

That was just the constant annoyances. Snakes and other larger creatures sometimes thought it reasonable to approach them, intending to take out someone smaller and weaker. Perhaps that might have worked against a herd of animals, but human cultivators watched out for their weakest members and were able to act to defend them. Ultimately, though the Soulrot Bog was a hostile place the main danger was if one got lost within it for days or weeks and was worn down by its features. The edges, at least, were not a danger zone for groups traveling with Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators.

Bodana was a proficient guide, bringing them around troublesome areas that even John and Matayal wouldn’t have spotted before stumbling into them. Some areas they avoided not because they sensed anything, but because they didn’t. Usually, that meant a more powerful spiritual beast in the area who was demanding of its territory. Since they weren’t interested in ending up in combat engagements- especially with unknown entities- they avoided it.

To the east, John could sense the main area they were avoiding. If he had to describe it, it would be like… a static. An area of great power but no spiritual energy as far as he could tell, simply remnants. A meeting of light and dark elements, resulting in the Annihilation Strip. As its borders weren’t exact, they avoided approaching too close. It was uncertain when a wave of light might push into a portion of the Soulrot Bog.

-----

Even with their circuitous route, it only took a few days to circumvent the annihilation strip and find themselves in the Deadfields. Practically, it was a much safer place than either the Soulrot Bog or the Annihilation strip. Emotionally, it was in some ways worse. Except for small traces of light element seeping from below ground, it was actually devoid of spiritual energy. People thought the same of Astrein, but there it was simply an even mix that John found quite comfortable.

Spiritual beasts did not live in the area. At most they might run into some wild boar or slithering serpents that would force them to expend some of their energy. An annoyance, as without a proper source spiritual energy replenished very slowly. That was true even for John, as his cycle of elements merely amplified the effects of others, it didn’t wholly produce new spiritual energy from nothing. What he might replenish John had to use to fight off intruding light element. Melanthina seemed to do that with less effort than most, though John was on the better end of the Tenebach clan because of his training.

It was a week of uneventful and only existentially unpleasant days of travel before they arrived at their destination. John thought he sensed the scout at about the same time as they sensed the group, but he couldn’t be certain. Either way, they were soon moving towards each other.

“Elder Rimantas,” Bodana inclined her head. John hadn’t seen the older man at the tournament, but he’d known the man’s name. It was part of his job as clan head to memorize such things, especially when related to groups they were going to train with. John inclined his head the appropriate amount as well. As the introducing party, the Calamitous Swarm’s representative was about as important as an unfamiliar clan head like himself.

“Honored Bodana,” Elder Rimantas responded, “And the Tenebach and Brandle clan heads,” he bowed deeply. “We have been anticipating your presence.”

After finishing the appropriate social interactions, the man led them towards a sealed door in front of a cave. When he opened it, John wanted to swear for several reasons. Traditional light stabbing into his eyes and the response of his darkness energy were the largest of those reasons, but he held himself back. He had to keep some form of dignity, though squinting was fully justified. Even Rimantas did so, as the inside of the tunnels was brighter than outside.

John was reminded of the Crystal Caverns the Order of the Amber Heart had claim over, except instead of earth element crystals these were very clearly light element. Some were hexagonal, others triangular like example prisms designed to make rainbows. They came in many other shapes and sizes as well. Each produced its own light, some purer whites or yellows like the sun and others any color of the rainbow. Light bounced off the smoothed surfaces and filtered through other crystals, amplifying the effects. Though great care had been taken not to disturb the growth of the crystals, most of the rest of the tunnels was carved flat and polished.

It was nearly as bad as being in Cuah’arn’s lair, light bouncing everywhere. It was rather pretty, when he could see, but constantly uncomfortable. The density of crystals waxed and waned as they moved through the tunnels, but never did they come to a place where it was even approaching dark. There were even occasionally floating motes of light, unconstrained by any crystals- spirit light, formed naturally in the caverns.

The Tenebach clan had the most difficulty in the area, though the Brandle Clan members were clearly not fully comfortable. John watched Melanthina in particular strode forward with determination. Instead of fighting against the light directly, she managed to redirect it, something John himself found more difficult than she made it look. Though it was clear she couldn’t exactly be casual about it either.

John did his best to listen as Elder Rimantas spoke about the area, but he already knew the basic history and he was doing his best to fight off a headache. All of his elements were naturally infused with some amount of darkness, so he had to be careful with how he shielded himself.

“The northern end of the Prism Underfields actually used to be the most powerful,” Elder Rimantas explained. “Then there was a great war, tearing open the ground of the area and exposing it to the darkness. Now, the area known as the annihilation strip is uninhabitable by anyone. Attempts have been made to reclaim those caverns, sealing them from the surface above, but it is simply too dangerous for any to succeed.” Elder Rimantas shrugged, “There have been few serious attempts in the decades of my life. Despite the potential power there, the other crystal nexuses are sufficient. And having a natural barrier from invasions is quite convenient. Ironically, it has resulted in better relations with the Darklands. That is to say… not openly hostile all the time.” The old man smiled with some sincerity. “I understand that the Tenebach clan once lived in the southern Darklands?”

“That’s right,” John nodded. “Though that was more than a few generations ago. Most of our history before our move has been lost.”

“Unfortunate,” Elder Rimantas said, “But understandable. We heard about your conflict with the Society of Midnight, of course. It is interesting that you managed to combine forces of every element, including the Golden Tomb Guardians representing the light. Your allies are as diverse as your own cultivation.”

“More, technically,” John said.

“For now,” the elder agreed. “A difficult path you’ve set out upon. Both in cultivation and politics.”

Personally, John hadn’t found it difficult to get along with people from other elements. Now that ‘the club’ had members from every element- except cultivators who were currently practicing water- he was quite certain that they were compatible. He had likely gotten lucky with the particular transmigrated and reincarnated individuals- he could have stumbled across some of ill temper. But he also had conflicts with people from every element- and because of proximity, people were actually more likely to clash with those of their own. “It is work, but mutual assistance is quite beneficial, especially with the diversity of resources to be sought out.”

There wasn’t much more to say on that subject in particular, not at the moment. Perhaps in the future the Combining Luster Sect might find it beneficial to keep up a relationship with the rest of them, though they were rather distant to have frequent interactions.

They journey to the sect itself took sometime, though they were not terribly distant. Even so, they had to follow winding corridors with uncomfortable amounts of light. When they finally got to a larger cavern, John found it had been fully carved out into a rectangular prism, except for spires of crystal and the rock they were growing out of. It was a particularly large cavern, sizable enough to comfortable house several hundred people at least. Vaguely akin to the size of the Tenebach clan with all its members.

John was quite relieved when they were taken to their chambers, where the sect once again used the same trick as others for providing quarters- funneling away the light element for their own uses would make it comfortable for others to some extent. The Tenebach clan also had such chambers for visitors from the Golden Tomb Guardians, the Milanovic clan, or the Mulyani clan, and others of the three light allied elements.

“We will let you get settled in,” Elder Rimantas explained, “Tomorrow, we will discuss more about what training and competitions we will have. I’ve heard some specific requests,” his eyes briefly flickered over Melanthina. Interesting. Perhaps that Nik also wanted a rematch with her… John would have to keep both eyes on that situation.