Regressor Sect Master

The battle took a day, but without a doubt, Tundra won.

The demonic serpent's body was torn apart, its foul fluids stained his shoes and robes. He had just torn through the demonic beast's head, and ripped out the demonic serpent's core. One half of it's long head and body was lying on the floor, still moving from whatever remnant energies it had. The creature flailed relentlessly even without its head, the tail slammed into his spiritual walls of spears.

The beast was done.

Or so he hoped. He ate three pills, and felt his power replenish. Demonic cultivators often had surprises.

"That didn't look like much of a challenge." Severian walked and sat on a rock next to him, he had cleaned up the rest of the weaker demonic beasts.

"It's quite a workout." Tundra flicked off some of the muck from his robes with his hands, and placed the demonic serpent's core on the ground. Beasts were always easier to deal with than other cultivators. Beasts generally had patterns, set weak points, and most importantly, they didn't use equipment.

Tundra hated fighting other cultivators, because they usually had treasures, spiritual artifacts, and all those things to look out for. Some had bloodlines, or secret inheritances that they kept until the last moment. Tundra would much rather fight a spirit beast of the ninth realm, than a cultivator of the eighth realm. In fact, he would more likely win the first exchange, than the other. Cultivators were just harder to deal with.

"Heh." Severian grinned.

"Now we wait some more." Tundra said, and still felt the rising pyre of fire. Wilber's cultivation burned everything around him, and even spirit beasts of the seventh realm would need a few moments before they could get close. With the barriers, Wilber had at least half a day's worth of protection from most threats. "Lord Blackpetals mentioned that something happened in Gomerlia? Did you hear anything?"

Severian shook his head. "Information from the royal cities are expensive."

Tundra cursed. "Damn them. We should have our own agents closer to all the royal cities. I feel blindsided by the affairs and events that occur so close to the royalty circles."

"You hated dealing with them. I'm glad you still hate them. That part of you didn't change." Severian chuckled.

In his first life, he stuck to what he was good at, and that was alchemy and fighting. The skills he needed to succeed in his objective involved diplomacy and trade. "Do you think we can get something out of the Whispering Man?"

"I'll try. But by then it's too late." Severian reached into his robe and pulled out a bun. He finished it in a single munch, and then somehow took out a small bottle of rice wine. "What do you plan to do with that?"

"Nothing much." Tundra glanced at the demonic beast's core, and felt the rotten demonic energies. Demonic energies were often corrupt stitching of various consumed beasts, and thus they are unstable.

Demonic cultivators would be first to say that it is normal, natural for the strong to consume the weak, and thus they reject the notion that what they did is demonic. They argue, quite strongly, that all things survive on the consumption of others, and thus they often do not refer to themselves as demonic cultivators, and instead more of blood cults.

There were ways of making use of demonic beast cores, but he didn't have the right equipment, nor the cultivation level needed to wrestle the demonic energies out of the core. "I plan to destroy it."

"I see."

Zuja and demonic cultivators should have been enemies. Yet, alliances of conveniences. The orthodox sects who obey the Imperial family are enemies of both.

"You know, brother." Severian said. "I wasn't expecting we'd be fighting more of such corrupt things."

"You were not?" Tundra genuinely seemed amused. It felt like fighting such things has been his entire life. It dominated the later part of his life, fighting against Zuja and all the other stuff that emerged in the later years.

It was so easy to forget than in the early years, they were mostly fighting other sects for influence and authority. They were, in other words, a force of chaos. A force of chaos that the Zuja and demons clearly found useful, so they left them alone.

It's quite hilarious how easily he played their game and followed their plans, without knowing it.

"But I do like it." Severian looked and felt the fighting in the distance. The Verdant Leaf should be under attack as well. Tundra didn't feel any strong spiritual presence, so it's likely that the defenses could deal with it.

"Would you like to go check on the rest of them?" Tundra said, as he relooked at the damaged formations. Some of them were activated to destroy the spirit beasts, but he knew enough of simpler formations that he could do so himself.

Severian looked in that direction, and shrugged. "Nah. They'll be fine."

Tundra smiled, and reached into his spatial pouch. He took out two small gourds filled with rice wine. "Want some?"

"I do enjoy drinks after a fight." Severian laughed. "It helps numb this foul stench."

"I know." Tundra tossed it over.

The two sat on rocks, and drank while they were surrounded by the fallen corpses of demonic spirit beasts.

"Been a while we slaughtered spirit beasts by the hundreds." Severian said as he drank a large gulp. "If only these were something useful, instead of just mostly rotten stuff."

"That's the great thing about demon beasts." Tundra smiled. "They wear down your enemies without rewarding them with useful resources or artifacts."

"Then that's where they are wrong. I do get a kick out of it!" Severian drank.

"Not everyone is a battle addict." Tundra smiled. Severian, the elder that handled external affairs, diplomacy, and contacts with the various intelligence entities, was also the same elder that enjoyed a good battle.

"I often view it as a coping mechanism."

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"I do not want to know who you imagined them to be." Tundra smiled, and allowed himself to rest. The fires of Wilber Blackpetals breakthrough were constant, and if they were just a bit closer, the flames would burn them too.

"Oh, there are many, many different people I've met." Severian laughed. "Many less than useful and enjoyable interactions."

"Such is diplomacy." Tundra sighed. "I often let someone else handle it for the same reasons. It is an absolute, absolute pain."

"And I suppose something changed, now?" Severian poked. Maybe his elder just wanted to hear it from him again, rather than guess at his intentions. Tundra didn't mind explaining his shifting thoughts.

"I guess a bit did. The more I avoid it, the more these things become the painful monsters that haunt me in my later days. Handing it to someone else does solve problems half the time, but the other half, that's where they often get worse."

"You're amazing at spotting talent, and training talent, Tundra, but I will tell you this."

"Oh?"

"I think your delegation of missions and assignments could be better. If we were any less talented or skilled enough, we'd be in a bigger pile of problems than we already are."

"You mean I don't delegate to the right people?"

"You delegate to someone good enough to deal with the issue, but not the one that could've achieved the best outcome. Well. Outside of fighting. You're quite good at knowing our relative strengths."

Tundra actually paused and never actually considered this to be a problem. For a few moments, the two drank their own rice wine and the regressor reflected on his own decisions. In his first life, and his present one.

The problems were solved, but were they solved in the best way?

Was this a systemic flaw that appeared throughout his life?

"Really? Was I always like this?" Tundra wondered.

"Consider Agnia's deployment to Lakeshore. That was your call, but in hindsight, sending Jashen or Julia or even Yavin over would've been much better."

"I hoped to let Agnia grow."

"And she did, because she's great. But she often gives an impression that she is a little cold, aloof and calculating, and I sometimes thought that someone with a bit more gentleness like Julia would've been able to sway the two families together in a less confrontational way. Or in Yavin's case, I actually think his targeted, heavily direct approach would've routed the other family a little more thoroughly."

Tundra sat and realized that there were many instances that there could've been better decisions.

"But such things are only obvious in hindsight." Tundra answered.

"And you would be right, my good brother. I can point it out because I think about it after the fact. But if I were there, I'd probably make the same choice as you did." Severian had already finished the wine. As it turned out, the elder had his own wine too, and since he started drinking, he wasn't going to stop with just one bottle.

The regressor laughed. "Well, I suppose I should finish my bottle."

But the elder had a point.

Was there a better way of allocating work?

He had often ranked tasks by their relative difficulty, and the expected opponents they would face. In his mind, it's a matter of intuition. He approached each assignment by thinking how he would've done it, and who, in his mind, would've been able to make those same decisions he did.

That meant his thoughts were about how his people try to make the decisions he made. His decisions were generally right, so, as a result, the talented folks that he had under him would often get a good result.

But there are many ways to cook, and many ways to brew tea. Is the one he is most familiar and skilled with the best way?

Yes, a solution to this isn't very obvious, but he should spend more time and discuss mission and task allocations with more varied input. In fact, maybe his experience was a drawback. 10,000 years of assigning missions in a particular way may have only entrenched those relatively successful habits.

Good enough is not good enough anymore.

Not for his goal of threading this needle through these dangerous politics and weaving the various sects together into a coalition against the cult.

***

As Wilber Blackpetals predicted, he only needed six days to complete his eighth realm breakthrough. The energy contained within the great object was fully drained, and it would be a while before it could be used again.

Now, Tundra felt like he was staring at a powerful flame. The man was strong, just about as strong as Nord Truehaven, though a few minor realms lower. Wilber had not yet stabilized his cultivation, but Tundra could already feel him making quick improvements.

With each breath, the man's spiritual energies gained certainty and control.

"Congratulations." Tundra answered and the man smiled. Severian had to step back, the raw power of someone newly ascended was a little too much for him to feel up close.

"I owe you a debt, Lord Fox."

"Good. I will claim it someday." Tundra smiled. "Now, what is it that happened to your sect?"

"My Sect Master is sick. Poisoned by the corrupt within my own sect, and my master alchemist is in a prison in Gomerlia, accused of damaging the Prince's property. I've managed to obtain the cure for my sect master, but it'll be a while before he regains his full strength."

"Yet they've waited to strike?"

"My sect master is no fool, and the other grand elders, Elder Sharran and Elder Fleck, knew they would be attempting something. Our enemies have known for a while that I have been waiting for a breakthrough, and they wanted my absence. They've been preparing their cards for a while, and they've assumed that I would need 2 to 3 months to break through. So, I must return quickly and surprise them once they launch their attack."

"I would have offered you a few days to pace yourself, but I understand. Would you need assistance?" Tundra asked.

"Not at all. It is not appropriate for outsiders to meddle in my sect's internal affairs. As it is, this is already going to be controversial. I would find it difficult to defend my position if you're a part of the force dealing with the traitors." Wilber Blackpetals answered. "I must go, but I promise you I will make good on the assistance you have given us."

Tundra nodded, and noticed the man's gratitude. He wished him well, and tried to warn him about the demons and the Zuja. "Good luck, Lord Blackpetals. I believe that they have other cards in their sleeves. Some of foreign origins."

"I guessed as much, I've long suspected where that courage came from. But we all have hidden cards to play. It's time to see who prepared enough." Wilber nodded solemnly, and activated a powerful flying sword. He hopped on, and waved. "Goodbye!"

"And just like that, he left." Severian looked in the distance, as Wilber disappeared into the clouds.

"He will return, my friend. At least, I think he is a worthwhile ally."

Tundra didn't know why, but the real thing he hoped for was friendship with the Blackpetals family. More than an alliance. Both Zuri and Wilber were talented, capable individuals, and more importantly, he liked them enough that he wished to be friends with them.

Severian looked back at the growing town. Verdant Leaf and the Verdant Snow successfully fended off the demon beasts. Peace returned to the town, and Tundra prepared for their own future activities. "I hope it is worth the attention we will surely attract."

Tundra knew that by standing up for others, this would surely attract both potential friends, and more enemies.

But he remembered his first bloodshed filled life, where he raised so many of his disciples into warmongers and warriors. Powerful, talented, but bloodthirsty brutes.

As time went on, his recruitment habits veered towards selecting those with an incredible penchant for tremendous violence.

It was an unfortunate feedback loop.

Sects that were famed for violence often attracted the candidates that were skilled in violence. This only made it harder for sects to change and remove their foul reputations.

"It's a good thing we don't have that bad of a reputation." Tundra said in relief that he was sent by 10,000 years, and not 8,000 or later when his reputation as a bloodthirsty warmonger was entrenched. It would be much, much harder to work with that. "Once you make an impression, everything gets colored by that impression."

Severian laughed. "I still cannot believe the reputation we have in that other life."

Tundra smiled at his friend. "Brother, in life, I learned that many things thought impossible are possible."