Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

“Instructor, do you know the deputy director? From before, I mean?” Kite asked instructor Concente where they sat outside the branch director’s office, waiting for their turn to be debriefed.

Mirabel Concente looked up from the scroll she was reading, and nodded in affirmation.

“Not too well, but I have worked beneath him a few times since I was stationed here in Hua-Xi. He’s good. Competent. I’m still surprised he wasn’t chosen for the branch director role instead.”

The whole group had perked up at the question, nodding along with the answers.

“I did detect a certain amount of familiarity in your dealings that went beyond protocol.” Will added from where he lounged on a plush couch. He had rejoined them early this morning for a joint meditation session to process yesterday’s events, as well as evaluate their performance. To their surprise, they hadn’t come out of it looking too bad.

“As you will learn in time, there is a balance in protocol both based on the individuals and situation involved. We will go through it further during our field training, and you might need to get acquainted with the thought that there might not always be time for a ‘young master’ to be added in every situation.” instructor Concente answered.

“Perish the thought!” Will exclaimed happily. “Kite has agreed to teach me the commoner’s ways, and I found it most enlightening. Especially the hugging part!”

The group barely had time to process the statement before the doors to the branch director’s office opened and Rupert waved them in. As they walked in, Dragonfly sidled up to Kite.

“I bet the story behind this is hilarious!” she whispered with a grin.

“I can assure you that Will did indeed stay true to himself.” he whispered back, giving her an overly mysterious wink.

“Ah, our youngest participants. Welcome!” branch director Jarvan greeted them. He looked surprisingly hale, as Kite suspected that he had been up the whole night dealing with the aftermath of the raid.

What followed was that the group told their recounting of the events, with the branch director showing special interest in the escaped bronze-ranker and the prisoners Kite had managed to secure.

“I must say that you performed well. Splendid, even.” director Jarvan said at the end of their recounting.

"But, director, we barely did anything." Will protested.

" I wouldn't say fighting off a greater number of enemies, even taking a pair of prisoners, isn’t nothing, young master." director Jarvan replied, holding up a hand to forestall further protest. "You also held your post throughout the night, discovered an enemy you had no right being able to even sense and then wisely not pursued said enemy as he was deemed too dangerous and that it would have forced you to leave your post."

Will, being at least moderately chastised, still couldn't help but mutter: "But those we fought weren't any challenge," causing the branch director to burst out laughing.

"Your enthusiasm is a credit to your city and country, young master Indomitable. I assure you that there will be plenty of challenge in the days to come. More than I'd like any one of you to go through, really. But such times as these calls for everything we got." he finished, tone characteristically sober.

In the silence that followed, deputy director Rupert took the chance to speak up. " Mirabel mentioned that you thought you recognized the silver-ranked undead. Would you please elaborate further? It wasn't anything I recognized, but as you know, we are not from around these parts."

Kite and Dragonfly looked to Serene who started explaining. "It was during our first mission undertaken together, deputy director. We traveled to a village called Verdant steps, to resolve a haunting. The contract turned out to be more than we anticipated, as we faced off against a bronze-ranked undead which was the guardian of some kind of effigy. We are not certain, but we think that the effigy was placed or summoned there to spread an area of death affinity. I believe the local magic Society took over the investigation."

"And the monster looked a bit like the one you fought last night. At least from what we could see from afar." Dragonfly chimed in. "Bone armor, black goo inside. But it was stuck to the effigy, not mobile like the one you fought. Not silver rank either, of course."

The two directors looked at each other thoughtfully. “I recognize the report.” director Jarvan said thoughtfully. “I will have a functionary retrieve it so we can go through it again. If there is indeed a connection, it gives us some clues. Clues that aren’t pointing in a nice direction.”

“So they might be connected?” Kite asked. “That the same person or people behind the effigy might be working with these infiltrators? Doesn’t that mean…” he trailed off as his mind made what connections it could with the little he actually knew, and speculated some more.

Deputy director Rupert nodded. “We have good reason to believe that these infiltrators are connected to the fallen sect, a fact that would be very pertinent to the upcoming expedition you all will be taking part in. It might be presumptuous to assume too much, but what you’ve told us also hints at the fallen sect having some new playmates. Playmates not just providing resources but apparently initiating their own long-term schemes..”

“Church of undeath.” the branch director stated sourly. “Knowledge’s knickers, things always get messy when they’re involved.”

The mood of the room had sombered enough that the latest addition of deific profanity went by without comment.

“Wouldn’t we have seen more zombies and other necrotic aberrations if that was the case?” instructor Concente asked.

“They might be hiding them. Or waiting for the right opportunity to create them. But as you say, their absence is worrisome. This needs further investigation, as well as sweeps of other places with a death affinity.” the branch director stated, turning to Kite and his group. “And this is mostly above your heads, younglings. Trust that this matter will be looked into, and thoroughly. Obviously, this falls under the clause of secret involved with the expedition. But as you are somewhat initiated, we will make sure to send any pertinent contracts your way.”

Kite and his companions nodded, all but Will seeming relieved that they wouldn’t be otherwise in charge of the matter. Instructor Concente took the opportunity to head off further protest.

“Then we shall resume our training. This little outing has given me a lot of material to work with. Any contracts sent our way will be good field exercise, especially if you find any bronze-rank monsters few in number. The youngsters should be able to handle that, especially if I’m overseeing it.”

“I will see what I can do. Nurturing talents is within the interest of the local adventure society, after all.” director Jarvan said, nodding. “If there is nothing else, you are free to go. You can collect your pay from the usual desk.”

As the group started rising, Kite stopped as he remembered something, turning back to the branch director.

“Director Jarvan?”

“Yes, Kite?”

“You said before that you were in the market for some essences? I did pick up som-”

“You did? How many? Other stones?” Jarvan asked, rising from his seat in excitement.

“Well, about ten essences and-”

“TEN?! Oh, this is good… This is very good…” The director was almost drooling as he continued. “Do you happen to know the ritual as well?”

“Uhm, yes director. I do, but-”

“Purity’s prunes, boy! What are we waiting for! Come with me, we’ll leave right away! I’m sure tha-”

“Not so fast, branch director.” instructor Concente interrupted, forestalling what was amounting to the branch director throwing Kite over his shoulder and running for it. “Kite and the others have some quite important training to get to. And it would look a bit problematic if the branch director started dragging young adventurers away from their growth, no?”

“And besides,” deputy director Rupert chimed in, laying a big paw on Jarvan’s shoulder, “going through the debriefings and organizing sweeps of both the city and the surrounding lands will take time. And need the oversight of the branch director.” he finished, amusement clear as he put some additional emphasis on the title.

Jarvan wilted under their reasoning. “Fine…” he muttered sourly, before turning to Kite. “Adventurer Kite, might I impose on your time in the near future? How about fifthday afternoon next week?”

“That-” Kite said, glancing at instructor Concente, who nodded. “-Would be fine, director Jarvan.”

“Excellent! Meet me in the temple square!” he said happily before turning to his deputy. “We better get to work, Rupert. Nastille haven’t given me any peace lately about the essences, so best that we don’t delay further!”

“Now you are suddenly motivated…” The group could hear the deputy director grumble as they left the office.

Grand elder White of the Unbreakable chains sect entered the set of caves claimed for himself, family and followers. Glowstones were the only source of light as they were meters beneath the surface, but formations built into the surrounding stone made sure that the air was kept circulating and that they were hidden from prying eyes, at least of the level local to the region.

He walked through the common area, but did not enter the unmaking chambers as he still waited for new materials to be brought in. A thrall-servant bowed while edging away from him, but White did not even acknowledge the man. Instead, he steered his steps towards the courtyard where he found his daughter.

Dancer on the Broken River, his youngest progeny, was currently engaged in training against some of the iron-ranked thrall-servants. As she wove between them, grand elder white noted that the last strands of brown seemed to be almost gone from her hair as the ministrations of the divine lord Pain left his mark on her as well. She was probably the child most in his own likeness now, sharing his angular features and thin eyes. And now also the white, almost translucent hair.

He could also see that River was soon done with the training, and remained to watch the finale. She moved like a wisp of smoke, all but untouchable as her winding chains followed like ribbons. She dodged, ducked, weaved and countered the unarmed combatants attempting to attack her, White noting with approval that her return strikes often hit the pressure points he had been teaching her to inflict as much agony as possible.

Suddenly, the pace shifted as she spun into a pirouette on the spot which caused the winding, barbed chains trailing her to suddenly contract. Her almost dance-like movements had already spun loops around the thrall-servant, which meant that the sudden contraction of the chains left each and every one of them tangled and bleeding as she yanked them to their knees.

“Adequate, my progeny.” grand elder White spoke aloud as he stepped down into the courtyard.

The young woman hurried to bow to him, the conjured chains disappearing as the moaning thralls collapsed in heaps. “Grand elder.” she spoke, voice firm even as White’s aura had the thralls writhing in new agony when he let it spill gently over the training area.

“How old are you now, progeny? Eighteen?”

“Nineteen, grand elder.”

“And your skills seems to be coming along. I’d assume you are more than halfway to bronze-rank?”

“More than two-thirds, grand elder.”

“Good… good…” he mused, seeing her tremble slightly as the agony was mounting and pleased that she still held firm. “There have been complications due to the incompetence of some of the sect’s factions, which will adjust our time-table somewhat. You need to be tempered as well, which is why you will take five of the battle-thralls and venture out into the surrounding lands.

Your task is to track and take down as many groups of adventurers, messengers, deliveries or other small and mobile targets as you can. Prisoners are rewarded, as we always need material, but the removal of the targets is the priority.

Return in four weeks, and I will evaluate your contribution.”

“Yes, grand elder.” River answered tersely, but White could feel her excitement through her iron-rank aura.

She had made only a few excursions to the outside world since getting her essences, and none without supervision. He could feel her ambition, which pleased him. As long as she survived, she would return tempered and stronger.

His command given, grand elder White left the courtyard. Only once he was out of sight did River allow the muscle spasms to show as her nerves flared in the pain of her father’s aura. Still, she felt excitement. The superiority of her path would be proven soon.

Kite whipped his staff around, bottom impacting with the swung bone mace. A cracking sound was heard throughout the cave, as the wraith's conjured weapon was once more dissolved by his Pattern-shattering counter. Its aura remained flat and blank, but Kite liked to imagine the bronze-ranked specter starting to grow frustrated.

One week had passed since the nightly raid, and the group had spent the time training under instructor Concente as planned. After days of drills and sparring, everyone had been excited and relieved at the change of pace when a contract had been offered to them.

Apparently, the adventure society had not been idle after the revelation of the connection. While some kind of foul play had been suspected at Verdant steps, the site with the effigy had become more a subject of study rather than investigation. This had changed after the strike and the deputy-director’s battle. All scouts that could be mustered had been sent out into the surrounding land, carrying devices created to track death affinities. While they hadn't gotten the whole story, Adelaide had hinted at a disturbing number of locations discovered, and there were multiple contracts posted at the moment in regards to the different sightings.

The branch director had apparently come through in regards to the instructor's request, as they had gotten a contract for a location relatively close to Gilded where two bronze-ranked wraiths had been discovered. Under the command of the instructor, they had ventured out to a location around two days' travel Southwest of the city, and after fighting through groups of iron-ranked specters, wraiths and other spiritual undead, they had found the cave they were currently fighting in.

The sight had given a hint of deja-vu to the trio who had previously been to Verdant steps; a cave with a distinct death affinity and a grim effigy of calcified skeletal components. What differed from last time was that the effigy was bigger and seemed more developed, as even more branch-like protrusions sprung from its main mass.

Another difference was that this effigy had not one but two guardians, both very similar to the one Kite, Dragonfly and Serene had faced the last time. They had both emerged from the effigy, conjuring armor and weapons of bone, ready to dispatch the adventurers who threatened their grim monument.

However, there was also a stark difference in the adventurers facing them. Besides the addition of Will to the group, all of them had a lot more experience, both individually and as a group. And they all had their full set of essences.

That was why Kite was currently rather readily engaging one of the pair of monsters alone, keeping it in check with a more defensive approach. His greatsword was already planted in the ground, providing its boon to the three fighting in close quarters, as Kite was keeping the strong but rather slow monster at bay, dissolving its armor and draining its mana. This time, a well-timed barrier was actually enough to block even its unarmed strikes, even if it left the barrier at its limit.

On the other side of the effigy, Will and Dragonfly fought a more hectic battle. Each of the wraith's strikes was a much bigger threat to the pair, forcing them to be constantly on edge as they took turns laying into the monster with their potent attacks. Will ascended above a sweeping attack, carried aloft on wings of conjured Spears. While not close to true flight, the ability still held him hovering in the air for a few moments, allowing him to dodge the attack before unleashing retribution as the wings detonated in a directed burst of glowing lances which tore into the monster.

Meanwhile, Dragonfly used the additional reach available to her through accurate throws of her fiery axe to attack while she danced away from an attempted grab by the monster's other hand. As the grasping bone gauntlet passed just in front of her, she changed direction and sprung towards her enemy in a boosted leap. The previous axe vanished as a new one appeared in her hands, promptly slammed into an armored shoulder followed by a small fiery detonation.

For all their destructive power, it was obvious that the duo would still need to work for a while to bring down the monster, as the difference in ranks blunted their strikes while each retaliation was a potent threat. The ramping resonating force damage, provided by the boon from Serene, would speed up the process as it helped them shear through the armor, but fighting a foe of higher rank was almost always slow going. But this time, the group had a tool to speed up the process. A tool named Kite.

As Kite was exchanging blows and deflections with the wraith he was engaging, he could feel a kind of resonance between them. In the beginning, it had felt off, the monster resonating on a more powerful frequency than him. But as they fought, the power awakened in Kite at the end of his trial in the Jade-sky gate steadily brought his foe to his level. Gradually, each of his strikes did a little more damage and each of the specter's attacks did a little less as the effect of rank disparity was eroded down.

The process was not without pain or risk, and he was hit by glancing blows several times, but his increased proficiency with both barrier and weapon allowed him to hold on enough for Serene’s healing to keep him in relatively good health.

Deflecting yet another punch with a barrier and continuing his attack uninterrupted, Kite finally felt something equalize, instinctively knowing that his evolved ability had reached its limits. While it was still a bronze-rank creature with the attributes to match, the wraith now lacked that additional advantage.

“It is done! Time to switch!” he shouted over Dragonfly’s battle cries and Will’s triumphant exclamations. The elven spearman launched a parting shot in the shape of a piercing echo of his spear which shot outwards while he himself was carried backwards, immediately taking off toward Kite as he landed. Dragonfly was left facing the monster alone for a short while, her steadily increasing speed and strength leaving her the best suited for such a task after Kite. As Will reached him, engaging the now weakened enemy, Kite activated his belt to rush to the other side of the effigy and make a charging attack with the wicked lance his looting ability had produced for him after the last battles with these very foes. As he started to move, a gust of wind from Serene sent Dragonfly shooting towards the other foe as she and Kite performed a surprisingly smooth exchange, their days of training already paying dividends.

When his lance, surrounded by the spatial tears of Void-Sunders-Firmament, pierced through the skeletal armor Kite activated its bone-warping abilities, causing the armor to warp into a bundle of sharp spikes and protrusions, damaging the ectoplasmic body beneath. He switched to his staff almost immediately afterwards, blocking a huge fist with surprising efficiency.

During his training, he had time and again realized the power of the weapon, in both offense and defense. In the case of the latter, a lot of the physical force behind the blow was absorbed by the weapon, allowing him to block and deflect attacks that before would have torn through his guard. It still sent a jolt of aching pain through his arms and shoulders, but that didn’t hinder him from whipping the other end of the staff upward into a countering strike, unleashing both of his mainstay special attacks, Disrupting strike and Chakra implosion, as well as the additional resonating force damage from the absorbed momentum of the blocked strike. It was a bit gratifying to send the heavy arm reeling back from his strike, and he once more fell into the rhythm of a more defensive style, keeping the monster disrupted and busy.

On the other side, both Dragonfly and Will demonstrated their destructive tendencies to the fullest against the weakened undead who was no longer protected by the higher rank. While the former fought with her usual, flaming ferocity, Will was showing off his more graceful and mystical way of fighting as a torrent of spear attacks was shredding the specter. After a powerful thrust left a fist-sized hole straight through the monster, he leapt upward. A conjured spear appeared horizontally in the air, allowing him to step off it to carry him even higher before launching at his foe. Just after the launched spear came its master, a held spear glowing with a flickering white-gold light.

Apparently not being able to hold it in anymore, Will's shout reverberated throughout the cavern.

“Heavenly Shaft; Darkness Penetrator!”

The exclamation almost made Dragonfly lose focus, barely dodging a descending bone mace as she held an almost irresistible snort at bay.

Despite the unwitting innuendo, the glow of the descending spear in Will’s hands expanded into a huge replica of the spearhead, forged from that very light, which tore through the wraith’s interposed hand and into its body, followed by a detonation as the golden projection expanded outwards.

Their bronze-rank foe was tough, but was left grievously damaged as its left half was torn to shreds without as much of the tyranny of rank hindering Will’s attack. It fought on with unfeeling implacability, but another half-minute of fighting left it dissolved in the wake of Dragonfly’s exploding finisher.

Meanwhile, the other seemed to consider changing tactics against Kite’s steady defense, and through his magical perception he could see it gathering energy for its bone-warping acidic breath attack. He started to back off, but also realized that he might have better options for defense than retreat this time around.

“Serene, please pull me out if this doesn’t work.” he shouted, waiting until he saw the buildup of mana reach a peak before chanting a spell of his own.

“Dissolve the patterns of power”

Just as the creature started spewing the foul stream, a ripple pulsed out from Kite to meet it. Kite was elated as he saw the stream disappear where it met the dispelling wave, only to have his triumph turned on him as the fast moving wave quickly passed through the creature. While it had spent some of the stream on the spell, a lot was still left to be spewed toward him. Fortunately, Serene was indeed ready to come to his aid, and his renewed retreat was aided by a gust of wind to fling him back. Kite winced as insult was added to injury when his dispelling wave passed through the effigy and dissolved a few of Will’s conjured spears mid-flight on the other side.

“My apologies!” he shouted as he landed, advancing once again at the creature on a swaying path through the patchy field of bone spikes protruding from where the breath attack had splashed over the floor.

As he advanced, his throwing star darted out again and again to strike the foe as the other was finished off on the far side of the pillar of bones. However, just as Kite had begun considering deploying his more potent attacks, it was Serene who dealt the decisive blow to the second wraith.

“May thine heart’s song be dissolved in the dirge of despair!”

What followed was one of the few offensive means in Serene’s arsenal, awakened from the stone received after facing a similar danger beneath Verdant steps. Her song rose to a damning crescendo, dissonant yet appropriate tones weaving into the melody which was now channeled like a stream against the remaining monster. As he was approaching, Kite could see it start to dissolve under the sonic onslaught, the very magic which made up its form being torn asunder all over its body.

He soon stopped approaching all together, as the process sped up each moment, eventually leaving nothing left but a few wailing notes as the wraith was no more.

The damage of that particular spell was based in part on how long it was channeled, but even more on how much disharmonious resonance that had been accrued by the enemy. Each sonic attack or instance of resonating force damage added to the disharmony, meaning that the boon Serene provided her allies with not only improved their damage over time but also her own, leaving the group with yet another ramping threat and a finisher from an unexpected angle. Still, the discordant notes of the spell always caused chills to run down Kite’s spine, as if the soul hiding deep within him shuddered slightly in fear.

“So, this is one of the famed effigies that the reports were talking about.” instructor Concente said as she walked up to them. She had remained watching over them during the whole fight, ready to step in if needed.

“Yeah. But this is way bigger than the last one.” Dragonfly answered from where she was recovering by absorbing some remnant flames from the surroundings. “Is it… growing? Over time?” she asked, looking up at the grim monolith with trepidation.

“The magic society researchers seem to think so, yes. Almost like foul trees of misfortune, planted to grow beneath your very homes.” their instructor answered. “We better get to destroying this thing.”

Destroying any effigy found was also a part of the contract, although this had apparently not gone over too well with some scholars in the local branch of the magic society. Branch director Jarvan did not care much, the situation with the upcoming expedition taking precedence over any academic gains, even if said gains could provide long-term benefits.

After a few minutes of demolition, mostly performed by Dragonfly as her increased strength and speed still remained, the group could confirm that this effigy seemed to have been constructed around a death essence as well.

“At least this should imply that the numbers should be within reason, right?” Kite wondered aloud as they stood looking at the deathly cube.

“Depends on their sources, but yes. Even the church of undeath, if they are indeed present, shouldn’t be able to send limitless numbers of death essences to this remote corned of the world.” instructor Concente confirmed. “Still, best take it back. The rewards for these should still stand. If there is nothing else, we will leave and make camp. We can evaluate your performance once we rest, but I can already say that it was mostly adequate for your level of training.”

As the group made camp that evening among the trees close to one of the sheer mountain cliffs, they had sat down to receive their instructor’s evaluation.

“First of all, you have overall performed adequately in regards to roles and positioning. Forming engagements and leaving Serene to support as needed should remain your go-to strategy. It was also a good call to make use of Kite in a more defensive role to enable weakening both creatures. We will continue more in-depth practice regarding more fluid tactical positioning with less verbal communication needed. Few battles will let you plan out ahead like this one, and few opponents will remain as stationary.

As to your individual use of powers, I believe that you, Kite, are aware of the mistake you made?”

“Yes, instructor.” he responded, not hiding his embarrassment. “I failed in both execution and judgment. I picked a defensive option that was not up to the task. It even hampered Will in his fight.”

During their walk toward the campsite, the mistake had replayed itself in his mind as his introspective nature became a double-edged sword; both allowing him to reflect on his mistakes as well as imagine one spectacular scenario after the next in which his mistake would have led to disaster.

“You have a few abilities which require precise judgment, Kite, lest they hamper yourself or your enemies. I would recommend that you set a rule for yourself; to not do or try something untested in a combat situation you know will be challenging. It fails or misfires more often than not.” instructor Concente said somberly, before continuing. “Even accounting for that, you have the making of a good adventurer, especially against complex enemies. Learn from this, and grow stronger by it. Or as you like to say in these parts; let it temper your path.” she finished with a smirk.

After this she went through them each in turn, giving some minor pointers before moving on to meditation. While he still had some recrimination flowing around his mind, Kite allowed himself to be drawn along into the shared meditation session, as the summer night surrounded the camp in darkness and gently rustling leaves.

He soon realized that something else contributed to the jumbled feelings inside, something which had grown inside him, now ready to burst like the bud opening into bloom.

The camp was bathed in a gray light flickering with streams of bronze, as Kite recognized the stream of power which welled up from inside him.

WWWJS:

Congratulations!

Your ability [Spirit Vortex] has reached Bronze 0.

[Spirit Vortex] has received additional effects.

Spirit Vortex

Special ability (Mana drain). Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Bronze 0

Effect - Iron: Create a small vortex hovering above your right shoulder, draining the mana of nearby hostile creatures. Gain a boost to mana regeneration depending on the number of creatures affected. The pace of both mana drain and the boost to mana regeneration is based on your [Recovery] attribute.

Effect - Bronze: Create an additional vortex, increasing the range and area of the ability. Spirit Vortex can now choose to focus its effect on a single target for greatly increased effect.

Kite basked a bit in the heady feeling of power flickering inside him as he explored the evolved ability and found it to his liking. This would shore up the abilitiy’s relative weakness against a single opponent or small numbers of enemies. Some additional uses floated at the edge of his conscious mind, but his mind was too weary to fully grasp them.

Something did grasp him though, as his meditation was abruptly broken by one of Dragonfly’s signature leaping hugs.

“Congratulations, Kite! I’m so jealous! I feel that my perception power is sooooo close but not quite there.” she exclaimed before the rest of the gathered group started bombarding him with questions.

Will seemed especially pleased with what he heard. “This is great, my friend! Every truly strong path needs to hold its own, especially in a duel. The clash of paths is the highest form of tempering, after all!”

“And that is exactly the reason why you locals have such a poor life-expectancy…” instructor Concente muttered. “Still, it does sound useful, both when alone and in groups. I expect a summary of your tactical applications later. I may be focusing on strategizing and positioning with you, but that doesn’t mean we can’t polish up some details.”

As he managed to catch a jubilant Glint, who had decided to join in the festive mood by flying in tight circles around his head, Kite thought to voice a question to their teacher.

“Instructor, is that true? You have seen more of the world. Are we really going about things the wrong way here?”

She looked at him for a long moment, sighing. “That, Kite, is very hard to give a definite answer to. But according to most of us… Yes.

According to adventure society scholars, Hua-Xi has a significantly higher casualty rate than many other countries, especially since your mana density isn’t that high in the first place. Whilst there is no denying that those of you who survive to the higher ranks are still very powerful individuals, there is still the fact that your country has, as far as we know, produced only a single diamond ranker these last few hundred years.

As you know, monsters grow not only in strength but also complexity the higher their rank is. And whilst a gold-rank essence user is very powerful, there are plenty of monsters in the same rank which are even more powerful. To go at things alone for too long means a much higher risk of death, even for those exalted few who reach that rank.”

Her statements left the younger adventurers in a thoughtful mood. “Then… why?” Dragonfly thought aloud. “I for one want to get stronger, but I don’t need to be alone to be plenty powerful.”

Instructor Concente shrugged at that. “If there are any definite factors which form people within a culture, my goddess hasn’t seen fit to inform me.” she started, before falling silent for a little while. After a few moments, she smiled while shaking her head. “She did indeed confirm that it is something we have to figure out for ourselves. So I recommend that you all give it some thought, both now and as you grow in age and power.” she finished before rising from where she sat next to the heating lamp in the center of the camp.

That night, as he fell asleep, Kite dreamt of people. Of aunties and an uncle. Of young masters and sect disciples. And of himself, surrounded by friends, a friendly curious symbol and one sparkling little carp.

Kite felt the aura of the branch director lock in on him where he sat under the huge tree in the middle of the worship square, almost shuddering as it felt not entirely unlike how he imagined a poor grazing animal felt when spotted by a beast of prey.

“Kite! Lust’s lascivious lashes, it is excellent to see you here, and on time too!” the blonde man exclaimed as he was walking over, the air clearly stirring around him and whipping at the robes and hair of bystanders as he used at least a part of his silver rank speed to close the distance.

“We came back from the contract today in fact, director Jarvan, so Fortune did indeed bless me.” Kite said with a polite bow.

“Please lad, no talk of work now. My wife will have my hide if we start talking business when I’m officially off duty.” Jarvan said with a wry smile.

“If I may ask, director, where do you live? Is it nearby?” Kite asked, curious.

“Oh we are quite near, young man.” the director smiled, before turning slightly and gesturing toward a nearby building complex. Kite turned to see that he was gesturing toward the temple of Fertility. “Come now, let’s not tarry. It is time for you to meet the family!”