Over the course of several days, Matija became more familiar with Janae and the icy planet. The old woman was just one of many Life Transformation cultivators, though the only late stage member in her sect simply called the Third Peak Ascetics. The overall population of the planet Gnadus was small, with the ‘civilian’ population living inside the peaks in carved out tunnel cities. Everyone was a cultivator, or at least made the attempt. The natural energy in the area was not particularly high or low, but that was only the peaks.

Down below, the icy planet was colder and harsher, the shadows allowing little light and heat to reach anything. Icy mists concealed other dangers, infrequent but deadly beasts and plants that would absorb any form of natural energy held by anything they could poison or entangle. A harsh planet with little in the way of resources- most food was fungus grown in their tunnels, or a few plants resistant to the chill that were less dangerous.

There was little access to resources, even just beyond food. Metals were rare, textiles from plant or animal sources minimal, and enchantments and formations were generally restricted to those keeping communities intact, the civilians inside and the cultivators outside in the less protected, harsher environments.

From the information available to her, Matija had no reason to believe any peak was more prosperous than any other. They did compete with each other for resources, down in the valleys, but maintaining control of multiple peaks was not something that any had managed for long. None even made the attempt, simply using what they could for themselves. Yet despite the harsh environment, the current state of things was lacking the cutthroat attitude many cultivators had. If Janae was covetous of the ship, she concealed it well.

Unsure of what she could actually offer, Matija simply spoke of the other locations. Rutera and their technology, Weos and their gravity control, Ceretos and their vibrant world. She even spoke of the Sylanis Cluster, the worlds themselves being fairly abundant with resources, though they thirsted for ever more.

“Has anyone ever tried leaving this place?” Matija asked. “Seeking somewhere with greater resources.”

“That is what we do at every moment,” the old woman declared. “We pursue ascension. The upper realms have boundless energy, do they not?” By the current point the translation technology and simple practice made her words more familiar, so that Matija no longer thought of the strange archaic words, though the speech pattern was something that took more time to get used to.

“So I have heard,” Matija agreed. “Has anyone sought anything closer?”

“We have no ability to construct ships like yours,” Janae said with little emotion, just stating facts. “Not now, at least.” She breathed in deeply, the cold, sharp air that Matija could barely manage bundled up flowing into her lungs. “Here, all are on the path to ascension, though it is long and difficult. I was once as weak as the least of the civilians living inside the peak, but I found my path and will walk it to the end. This is the way to be truly strong.”

“... I do agree that hardship and adversity can promote growth,” Matija said, “But given other options, I would expect people to spring for them.”

“Perhaps some will,” Janae said. “If you are able to bring people away, some would wish so. I do not think there would be many members of the Third Peak. I know our dedication. But there will be others.” Janae’s head turned, her eyes locking onto something in the distance. “There are further visitors. Those from the First Peak.”

Matija felt some measure of distaste in the woman’s voice, subtle though it was. “Is there something wrong with them?”

“The ancient name of their location gives them arrogance that simply happens to be matched by their current relative power.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Matija said.

“Do not worry. You and the others are guests,” Janae stood, her bare feet sinking into the snow. “I will not allow harm to come to you.”

“... I need to reach the ship,” Matija realized.

“If you are going to do so, I would hurry. The majority of your crew are safe inside the peak, which is where I would recommend you go afterwards.”

Matija agreed with the plan, and the ship’s current location made it easier to follow through with both. Their ship now rested not far from one of the entrances to the peak, having been moved for more comfortable access once they were welcomed.

As Matija hurried towards the ship, she chastised herself for getting careless. She was not a warrior, but that did not mean she had a good excuse to just leave her weapons behind. Especially when she could have a storage space carried on her. The bags cultivators favored were a bit awkward for grabbing certain things out of, but not so inconvenient that she shouldn’t have been in the habit of keeping one with essentials.

Aboard the ship, she could feel several Life Transformation cultivators approaching. It seemed a bit much for a friendly visit. By the time Matija grabbed the first comms she could find and her rifle, an icy cold washed over her even inside the ship. If the ship was up and running, manned by a proper crew, perhaps its shield might resist the aura and fight back… but it was too late for that.

Matija burst out of the ship, certain that the worst was coming to pass. It wasn’t much further to the entrance, but it wasn’t an insignificant distance either. Especially not when Life Transformation cultivators were running after her.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have run. That just made people want to chase. But the shockwaves of energy coming from around Janae indicated that they might not have waited. In front of Matija, an entire embankment of snow and ice rose up, forming into a wall. When she tried to leap over it, it rose up along with her. Her foot kicked into it, and the ice grabbed onto her. A quick blast of her beam rifle melted away the material around her and threw her back, but from then on every step was a hazard as the very ground she trod upon attempted to catch her.

Matija only saw a woman- significantly younger than Janae, but also not young- following after her. The woman was in no hurry, casually waving her arms to cause Matija boundless trouble. The entrance to below had been clearly blocked off for her- she wasn’t certain she could have reached it even if she had gone straight there, unless she had known to sprint with her full power. Now, she was taking the only path available to her.

“Do not run. We just wish to speak to you.” The voice sent chills down her neck entirely unrelated to the actual cold of the surroundings.

“If that were true you wouldn’t have attacked at all!” Matija said, suddenly finding herself running out of places to go. The woman seemed to have some limit to her range, but Matija wasn’t gaining any practical distance. And ahead of her was very little and then nothing. The edge of a sharp cliff descending from the Third Peak.

“I’m not going to kill you,” the woman said. “That would be quite simple, you know? I just need information you have. About that metal ship, among other things.”

Matija turned around to face the woman. Besides being younger than Janae, and their robes being of similar styles, Matija noticed many differences. The woman wore shoes, gloves, and covered her head in wrappings. All were of higher quality, a quality that Janae likely could have had if she did not choose to match the rest of the sect. “I would have gladly given you such information if you had simply asked. But I am already certain you can not be trusted with it.” Walls were slowly growing up about her- not that it mattered, as she already had nowhere to escape. They were purely for show.

“You will tell me what I want to know regardless,” the woman declared.

“Do people usually listen to you?” Matija asked.

“Of course. I have the strength to command respect.”

Matija jumped backwards, making sure she was well clear of the cliff face. She didn’t want to be caught, so she also propelled herself downwards out of sight. Perhaps the woman would choose to follow her, but Matija wasn’t going to make it easy.

She was dunked in an icy ocean- though Matija was quite sure she was actually still among gasses and not liquids. The fog was simply so thick it felt liquid, hanging unnaturally in the air with shards of ice among it. Matija’s natural energy surrounded her as she fell. She was already aware the gravity of the planet was slightly above average- though with the sharp prominence of the peaks it was less atop them, so she accelerated more slowly at first. The change was barely noticeable, as she was more focused on finding a happy medium between slowing her acceleration and not being cut by razor sharp shards of ice crashing into her at great speed.

Her natural energy quickly depleted by a quarter, but she felt the end of her descent coming, preparing herself for the sudden stop at the end. Her arms spread out, a parachute of natural energy slowing her descent. She hoped she hadn’t misjudged the timing.

The impact nearly knocked her out- which meant that she’d been too late. Her body was stronger than a normal person’s. But she was conscious and alive, and she didn’t feel the energy above chasing after her.

The first thing Matija did was pull out her communication device, which she found through a combination of the extreme cold and the fall was barely functional, the natural energy flowing through it sluggishly even as Matija forced it awake and prepared her message for the half technological device. Another thing she should always have on her- like her phone, despite it not doing much of anything away from Rutera.

A message was out, and Matija wondered if she had made the wrong choice. The air above had been freezing enough that she could barely stand it. Here, it was cold, dark, and filled with a thick fog that diluted her vision and senses even further. She needed to find some sort of cave or… something. And also watch out for local animal and plant life, all of which had the ability to resist the extreme temperatures.

-----

When Matija had communicated about Gnadus, the information had also eventually reached Anton. His ship was already planning their next destination, but with an actual confirmed contact new places could wait. Anton was excited to meet new people. Further information that came along during the journey was positive, though the planet itself sounded like a terrible place to live.

It was only the most recent message, sent directly to Anton, that concerned him in any way. It was little more than a garbled message, characters Anton had forgotten that Rutera’s technology could even display gracing his screen. Such errors were uncommon, and Anton’s device even informed him that the integrity of the transmission was suspect. But he looked at it anyway, finding nothing of use within it. Any words he could pick out might be random, so he tried not to make any assumptions.

He sent back a response, knowing it would take more than few hours to arrive even as the ship he was on approached the system. He just asked if the transmission was on purpose, and noted that he was nearby. He got no response.

Finding Matija’s ship when they approached was easy. It was the only piece of technology on the whole planet, and there were only a few dozen places with any population to begin with, all tightly packed into their settlements.

Yet as they drew closer, Anton found no signs of Matija- or the old woman Janae. Instead, there were only cultivators gathered around the ship, engaging with it curiously. None were recognizably part of Matija’s crew nor reasonably from Rutera at all.

Anton didn’t like to overreact, so he didn’t even shoot a hole through the hands of anyone. Not even a tiny one that would heal. Though he was absolutely thinking about it as they circled around the area, considering a place to set down. Anton noticed several Life Transformation figures approaching. “Keep the ship active and mobile,” Anton said as he made his way towards an exit hatch, designed purposefully for people like him who were better not restricted inside a ship. “Don’t engage until I do. If I do.”

The gunners had a clear opinion of the likelihood of that event, the weapons thrumming with power ready to burst out at any moment, and Anton couldn’t argue with that in the slightest.