There was a moment when Chidi realized he was being foolish. Sure, the grandmaster was probably disappointed that he was not up to her standards but… she was still his parent’s friend, right? She had come here, so she had to be able to get them out on the same ship. Not just Chidi and Aconite, but all of their squad and the other stragglers they had picked up could squeeze into anything worthy of carrying an Integration cultivator.

His thumb rubbed along the edge of his sword, feeling the sharpness of it. Yes, it was better to accept his failure, to accept he hadn’t been ready for this world. He could hardly imagine resisting any of Rakiya’s attacks- not if she was even slightly serious. Of course, Grandmaster Chikere’s attacks and counters had been beyond imagination. It seemed as if even Rakiya couldn’t touch her. Chidi pondered that thought. How could cultivators of similar cultivation levels be so far apart? It wasn’t as if Rakiya was some average cultivator. She was a disciple of the sword saint, one of the rare individuals who would ever make it to Integration.

It shouldn’t be a difference in equipment. Except for having more swords, the quality of weapons shouldn’t have a drastic gulf between the two. Chidi also understood the limits of Citadel’s Downfall. It didn’t make someone invincible. There had to be something, but he couldn’t grasp it.

Not that it mattered. He would be returning to Xankeshan, waiting for his parents while spending his time in proper training. In a century or less, he could step into Integration and make his own mark on the world.

He felt a strange wetness. Strangely, the cut on his thumb came with no pain, even if he left a notch in his nail and cut through his skin. It was a clean cut as should be expected of a quality weapon. He shouldn’t have gotten cut, though. He was supposed to be past such accidents. Maybe true mastery of the sword really wasn’t for him.

-----

Chidi dreamed of swords. Hundreds of them, just sitting out in the woods… impaled in the ground, boulders, and trees. Some were just laying on the ground, others balanced across branches. It was a strangely beautiful scene, the flow of energy almost coalescing into a formation from the display. Chidi trailed his fingers over the various swords, feeling their hilts, guards, and blades. The swords varied from long and straight swords to those that were shorter and curved. Single or double edges, various points and thicknesses and weights. Though none of them were the particularly heavy sort that were only usable by cultivators. These were all something that could be used by anyone of basic fitness… though many would not have reason to.

He focused on one in particular. It lacked much in the way of ornamentation. No sparkling gems embedded in it- whatever sparkling was supposed to be. The facets of gems were kind of interesting to feel, but the rough leather wrappings around a simple hilt appealed to Chidi more for some reason. He imagined picking it up and flipping it around, finding the balance perfect and the sharpness unparalleled.

When Chidi awoke in the morning, the memories remained strongly in his mind. All of the swords were impressive, but the one in particular remained in his thoughts. Speaking of which, he felt many more approaching. That had to be Chikere. He resolved himself to go meet her, his decision made.

“Grandmaster Chikere. Did you complete your mission?”

“Yeah, I chopped up some people.”

“... were you retaking a city?”

“What’s the point of that? I’m not going to occupy it. And neither are you, with this group.”

“That is true,” Chidi nodded slowly. “In fact, our squad can’t make much difference at all in the war, as we are. That was why I was hoping your ship could take us off planet.” Was that really the right move? Was it fair, to those who remained behind. “Or to one of the Scarlet Alliance cities, to rejoin the war.”

“My ship?”

“I understand if you feel it is beneath you to shuttle-”

“I don’t have a ship,” Chikere answered.

“... Were you dropped off?”

“Nah, I cut my way here.”

“That’s… I’m not sure what you mean by that, to be honest.”

A sword slash was coming for him. He felt it too late to react, but before he was dead. Was that an accomplishment? He somehow discerned the attack wasn’t trying to kill him, but the lethal intent behind it and the fact that it would be passing through his physical location meant it didn’t matter.

But the attack never reached him because… it was behind him? Along with Chikere and all of her swords. Yet she hadn’t gone around him.

There was a loud boom, as something collapsed. Chikere casually rested her sword on her shoulder- the shoulder that was not real, if Chidi recalled correctly. “Like that.”

He could have understood if she used some sort of movement technique to go around him. It would have probably been easier, even. He could still feel the air vibrating from the disruption, a great overflow of energy that wasn’t even connected to her actual goal. How did it work? He had no idea. It wasn’t just strength and speed, though.

“Well,” Chidi said. “Can that… transport other people?”

“Haven’t tried,” she replied. “Maybe. Either it works, or you die.”

“That seems risky.”

“True. Better to learn it yourself. But that’s not first on the list.”

“About that… I was hoping you could somehow get us to safety.”

“Oh. Is that what you meant? Why?”

“Why…?”

She stepped closer. He wasn’t sure if she had no concept of personal space, or intentionally chose to ignore it. He could feel the bristling swords around her, a lethal field of danger regardless of whether she drew them from their sheaths. “How did your week go?”

A question Chidi knew was more than casual, and not for the same reason people might normally ask. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve chosen to give up the sword. I’ll fulfill whatever obligations I have here first, but I can’t walk your path.”

“Yeah?” her voice was casual. “Strange thing for someone to say, walking around with an unsheathed blade.”

Chidi’s focus shifted lower. Indeed, he was still carrying the weapon with him, as he’d grown used to over the last week. “Well… I was trying to do the thing you said. But… I sensed in myself the fear of death. I had the feeling that even if this path made me stronger, it would also bring me closer to dying. Does that make sense?”

“Oh, sure. Completely.”

“You understand my fear of death.”

“Not a bit.”

“Great. Wait, you’re… not afraid of death?”

“What would I be afraid of death for?”

A good question. “I guess with you strength, there’s no way you’d get killed.”

“You think so?” she asked. “Tell me, do you know why I’m here?”

“... to help with the war? And maybe to look for me on the side.”

“I am here to look for you, and to draw out the sword saint. When he shows up, I’m going to fight him and one of us is probably going to die. It could be me,” she said clearly. “But I don’t care.”

“Why not?”

“Because not doing what I want is worse. Listen, kid. I don’t really understand you being afraid of death, but I know it’s normal. And I’ve had another apprentice that was afraid of death too.”

“... Just one?”

“Everyone else died or quit before they were actually an apprentice.”

“I’m not sure if you’re doing a good job of encouraging me to try.”

“If you want encouragement, talk to a friend or your parents,” Chikere said bluntly. “Do you want to learn from me or not?”

“Can I…?” he asked. “I’m missing… that thing you needed.”

“Why did you come out here?”

“To talk to you.”

“You knew I was here?”

“Well I… felt your swords.”

The silence just sat between them for a few seconds before Grandmaster Chikere broke it. “So I guess you can learn it. I don’t really remember a time when I didn’t feel it, but your parents… they’re good at what they do, but they just use swords. They don’t need them.”

“... They would likely find it difficult to fight without.”

“Nah, they could pick up literally any other weapon, and it would be the same to them with a bit of practice. And maybe these saints or some of their disciples got that thing for non-swords. But it’s different.” Chidi could feel her gaze on him, not hidden but intentional. “So, I’m going to ask. Do you want to learn from me?”

“I do,” Chidi answered without anything letting him do otherwise.

“Great. Oh, and you liked… this one.” Out of her bag the grand master tossed a blade. A strangely familiar one.

“... This was real?”

“Obviously. I can understand waking up in the middle of the night to the call of swords, but not believing in them in the morning…” she shook her head. “You need to be better than that, little me.”

Chidi just laughed. “Am I really like you though? You achieved greatness on your own, but here I’ve had all sorts of help just to get this far.”

“Hmmn? It’s not like I learned from nothing. I had lots of help. Sure, tons of those people wanted to kill me… but that just made my progress faster. And you’re named after me, so you’re a little me regardless of anything else. Now then…” blades drew from the sheaths around her. “Time for morning training.”

-----

The Sergeant had a very important mission, given to her by the Great Queen herself. It was not for the Sergeant to question orders, nor could she allow herself to fail. Or worse, be captured. Thus, she used utmost caution infiltrating the ship, hanging off the edge of a sleeve as one of the proper passengers boarded.

It was good for the Sergeant that she was one of the smaller members of her kind, unlike the Royal Guard. It would put her out of notice, though a keen cultivator might still spot her. Thus, it was important to take concealment in the folds of clothing. Their energy would not find anything where she was, but that was not an issue unless the enemy was specially trained.

In theory, nobody from Ekict should have such training. They were aware of the void ants, of course, but they should not have cause to train specific techniques to root them out.

The Sergeant’s mission was twofold. First, she was to determine the suitability of Ekict for habitability. It could easily be assumed that anywhere humans lived would fit void ants as well, but that was not always the case. Second, it was an infiltration mission to determine more about their potential allies.

Similar missions had been performed on Rutera and Weos before they proved themselves. Even the most trusted allies were kept unaware of such operations. If the Sergeant was compromised, it was best to accept death in a manner that seemed to make her a normal ant. As long as she did not resist energy to any significant extent, few people would be able to notice or bother with an autopsy.

A tertiary objective was to keep an eye on an allied princess. A descendant of Anton, and of an influential sect head in Ofrurg. This was in fact the very same individual she was posted upon.

“Oh, an ant.”

At the sudden voice, the Sergeant froze. Then she let herself drop, falling to the floor on her back. She remained still, unmoving.

“Normal ants don’t play dead, you know,” the voice said. “Not that I wouldn’t have noticed one crawling on me.”

A finger descended for the Sergeant. At least she could keep things in doubt by allowing herself to be squished. Someone else would have to take on her mission.

The Sergeant was prodded very gently. “Hey are you sick? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me how. Just do the antenna thing, I mostly understand it.” Another prod. “I know you’re a void ant because you didn’t get squished from a little energy.”

The Sergeant pondered if she could possibly break her own limbs. No, that might not kill her. Perhaps throw herself into a fire. Or something electrical, but those were harder to get inside than it seemed.

She was flipped over. “Seriously I know you can hear and see me. You can’t even close your eyes.” Anishka’s fingers wriggled in a crude approximation of the void ant sign language. “You can’t hear?” The Sergeant twitched. “Aha! I saw that!”

What a situation to be caught in. She couldn’t pretend to be dumb, nor could she take out the one who spotted her because she was a person of note. The Sergeant’s first true mission was an abject failure from the beginning, and she couldn’t even bring an end to it. She moved her antennae and forelimbs. “... Can you not tell anyone?”

“Sure thing, little guy. Or lady, more likely. Everyone wants to go on an adventure sometimes.”

This was still a failure. But the Sergeant might be able to accomplish some of the objectives nonetheless.