The First Cultivator

"Who's the brat?" Hamal asked as the kin cultivators began entering the mana forest. Azura looked at Yan, who had refused to leave her side the past few days. The kid sure was weird.

"I'm not a brat!" The brat declared. "My name is Yan, and I'm the city lord's daughter."

"Yup," Azura said with a shrug. What else was there to explain? Hamal and the kin seemed to accept it easily, but Elise…

"What do you mean she's the lord's daughter!?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Azura said, not getting where the confusion was coming from.

"I mean," Elise said through gritted teeth. "Why do you have her?"

"Oh," Azura said, rubbing her cat ears, which seemed to draw Yan's focus. "She was at the base camp and seemed important, so I kept her."

"You can't keep her!" Elise nearly screamed. "She isn't a pet!"

"She's like a pet. I even taught her some tricks. Yan, roll over!" Azura said.

"I'm not falling for that a second time," Yan said, stamping her foot.

"Did you secure food?" Hamal asked, clearly not interested in the conversation. "We're nearly out."

"No," Azura said. "All the mana beasts have weird crystals growing in their bodies. There isn't much to eat."

"You wanted to eat them!" Yan gasped.

"Well, yeah," Azura said. "What else would you do with them?"

"Azura," Elise said, shaking her head. "The Crystal Glade is famous for crystallized mana. You could easily trade those in for all the food we want."

Azura paused, her eyes expanding to the size of dinner platters as visions of fish swam between them. She'd been just leaving them behind. She quickly spun to face Yan. The hope of not eating rations burned with intense desire as she looked the girl in the eyes, her hands clasping her shoulders.

"Do you think your father would exchange all the crystals we can gather for food?"

For some strange reason, Yan blushed and looked down at her feet, unable to meet her eyes.

"Uh… he will if I ask him. The crystals from the guardian alone could buy months of food for your people."

"Fish?" Azura asked, her eyes intense.

"Uh, probably," Yan said.

"Hamal," Azura said, her tone deadly serious. "I need twenty kin to start gathering all the crystals we can. Yan, I need you to write to your father to see if he's willing to do the exchange."

Hamal sighed as he began barking out orders. Yan just gave her a funny look.

"Well?" Azura asked, poking Yan on the chest. "Do I need to torture you again?"

"No!" Yan said, but didn't back down. "But I want something too!"

"Fine. What?"

"Uh, Uh, I want to… I want to…" Yan stammered, blushing harder for some reason.

"What?" Azura asked impatiently.

"I want to touch your tail!" Yan blurted.

Elise snickered. "Is everyone a pervert?" She muttered it too quietly for anyone to notice.

Instead of answering, Azura's tail wrapped around the girl, who squealed in delight as she rubbed her face against it. Humans are so weird…

***

"They want what?" Lord Yotto asked as the messenger finished reading the demands. He must have heard that incorrectly, or he was drunk. It was hard to tell.

"The kin under the leadership of Azura will trade most of the crystals from the glade for six months of food for several thousand kin. There needs to be a large portion of fish in the exchange," the messenger said.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Yotto asked, nearly throwing his ever-present wine goblet, but took a deep drink instead. No, he wasn't drunk… perhaps he should rectify that.

"No, my Lord," the messenger said, dropping off a satchel. The man flipped the covering to reveal it was full of crystallized mana. Yotto did drop the goblet this time as he rushed forward, examining the goods. The mana was so concentrated that this could only be part of the remains of the guardian.

"They gave me this to give to you as a gesture of goodwill," the messenger clarified.

It was madness. Didn't they come here for the crystallized mana? Now they wanted to give it away? The contents of this satchel alone would pay for their meager request. Yotto had the distinct feeling he was missing something. Something important. He was tempted to reach out to Dageth for more information, but he didn't want them to take advantage of his current weakness. Who were these kin? They brutally invaded the Crystal Glade and then were content to stay there for a meager two weeks. Then, they give away all the spoils. Nothing made sense. Yet none of it mattered, as long as they had Yan, he could do nothing. If the kin returned her unharmed and left after exchanging all that wealth for mere food, he would be content to let the issue go. He turned to his steward.

"Gather enough food to feed several thousand kin, and be sure to make sure there is plenty of fish in the exchange." He doubted his own words even as he said them. He didn't know how, but he was sure he was getting the worst of the exchange.

***

Azura sighed, finally getting away from Yan. The girl was way too clingy. Perhaps she was scared of all the powerful kin around? Yeah, that was probably it. For what she was going to do, some privacy was required. That was harder to find than she imagined. All around, kin were busy. Some were sorting the supplies from the city lord. Kin children ran around laughing as their bellies were finally full. Azura had managed to get them to include Yan in their games. The girl was hesitant at first, then her boring, noble demeanor broke, and she was like any other child, running around and causing chaos. She NEVER did that when she was that age. Most kin were cultivating. The dense mana of the Crystal Glade was refreshing after the thin mana they had to endure during their trip.

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Azura waved to a few kin as she headed deeper into the mana forest. She avoided the center, not wanting to disturb the others. Azura found a massive cluster of purple crystals that resembled a frozen explosion, with jagged pillars extending out in all directions. Azura smiled as she leaped onto the centermost crystal pillar, cutting the top off, leaving a small flat area for her to rest. Azura sat cross-legged as she reached out to the Dao of Blood. After weeks of practice on the road, it was easy to connect with it. The Dao eagerly responded to her call, after which the trouble began. The Dao was… stubborn. It wasn't like when she used her ki to infuse blood as a weapon. She could do almost anything with it. The downside was that it was very ki-intensive, limiting its usage. She was better off directly using her ki or physically attacking anyone. The Dao didn't exhaust her ki. It was an overall qualitative improvement. Her ki was like a grilled fish. It was good, but plain. Using blood was like trading in half her fish for a small portion of butter on the remainder. Better than nothing, but you have to settle for much less. The Dao… that was like having your entire fish soaked in butter, chives on top, with various sauces on the side for dipping. It was just the best… Perhaps she should have eaten before starting her training…

Azura dragged her thoughts away from food and faced the issue that had been plaguing her. How to use the Dao? Azura focused, drawing out her ki in a swirl and infusing her Dao with it. The purple sheen of the surrounding crystals was pushed back as the bloody hue dominated the area. She altered the ki into the shape of a blade and struggled against the Dao as it leaked out. Azura drew on the Dao again, but it refused to fill the new shape of her ki. She needed something else. The Dao didn't like just raw ki… it wanted something more orderly. Some with a structure… Azura's eyes flew open. That was it! It needed something like a spell structure. Azura looked at the crystal valley around her and knew what she had to do. She closed her eyes and recalled those early magic lessons that seemed like a lifetime ago.

A mage's spell structure was a mental construct that was not unlike a line drawing. The spell drew in the user's mana and filled those lines, creating an effect. The more layers on the spell the mage could hold in their mind, the more potent the spell. An iron skin spell was a single line drawing. The steel skin spell was a second, more complicated line drawing set on top of the first. Azura had never learned any of those. She did, however, manage to master the light spell. As spells go, it didn't get any simpler. Who would've thought that knowledge would help here? The immediate issue was that spell structures were static, unmoving things. Ki needs to flow continuously. So, she would have to modify the spell structure to something that moved. The solution was immediate. After all, this was to work in tandem with her Dao, so she imagined the structure as flowing blood. The Dao seemed eager and poured into the mental construct, which immediately fell apart. Azura blinked. It wasn't the Dao this time. She had lost the connection. The reason was obvious. She had been treating this like a spell. That was the wrong way to think about it. Ki wasn't like mana. It responded to willpower, not a mental image. She would have to get out of the mage's mindset. She had to circulate her ki in a pattern that resonated with the Dao of blood. Azura sighed. This was going to take a lot of work.

***

The two weeks flew by, and the cultivators were ready for their advancement. Their time in the Crystal Glade was nice. Azura was going to miss it. However, she wouldn't miss the grabby kid who now followed her everywhere.

"Why can't I go with you, big sis?" Yan asked pleadingly. Azura was unsure how she had transformed from a kidnapper to a big sister, but it had happened all the same.

"I told you, this next part is private."

"What's with the tubs of water and soap? Are you having a bath party? I can help wash you!"

Why was the girl blushing?

"Uh, no, that's not what's happening. Those at the leylines… they… Oh! They smell awful. Yup. My mom reeks, and I want to make sure she gets clean before we leave." Azura confidently placed her hands on her hips. For once, it worked.

"Oh…" Yan said. "Do you have to leave so soon?" Was the girl sad? Azura awkwardly tousled the girl's hair, making it a spectacular mess. Yan glared at her before roughly combing her fingers through it.

"You'll get to see your father and friends again. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"I don't have any friends," Yan said quietly. Azura gave the girl a soft head thwack.

"Hey!"

"Of course, you have friends. I'm your big sis, right?"

Yan paused, then seemed to brighten visibly. "Right!"

"So come on, your father's waiting," Azura said. Yan seized her hand as Azura led them out of the Crystal Glade. All the other kin were busy packing the food they had received, along with other supplies they had traded for. They way overpaid for everything, but since all they were doing was selling what they took back to the city, Azura didn't mind. If it meant the Lord wouldn't harass them when they left, it was a small price to pay.

Outside the Glade were nearly a hundred mages. In front was an imposing figure, armored with a vast number of artifacts. Immediately, Yan stiffened as her posture straightened, her head held high, and each step was carefully measured as she left Azura's side and walked steadily toward her father. The girl was gone, and the young Lady of Tram was back. Politics, Azura was coming to discover she hated it. She was so glad that she didn't have to bother with such things… yet.

"Father," Yan said, her voice clear despite the distance as she joined her father. Azura had reinforced her hearing with ki in case they decided to attack.

"Yan," the lord said as he swooped her up in a hug. From Yan's confused expression, this wasn't a common occurrence. She hesitated only for a moment before returning the affection.

"Daddy…" Yan whispered.

The lord put her at arm's length after a long moment, looking her up and down. "Did they harm you? If they did, I don't care how…"

"They didn't," Yan said. "Please, just let them leave."

The lord hesitated for a moment, but Yan must have used her puppy eyes on him, for he gave only after a few seconds.

"Alright," the lord said, standing straight, his voice amplified to reach her.

"You've kept your word and even done us a service by killing the guardian. So, I'll let you leave and won't pursue. Never come here again." Yan stiffened her eyes wide at the announcement, but Azura expected as much.

"Sure. We'll leave by nightfall," Azura said, then turned to march back into the mana forest. It was time for the others to advance, then off to Kinator, their new home, and the vermin currently occupying it.

***

The advancement went off flawlessly thanks to the abundant mana. All the cultivators managed to advance. Then it was time for the purge. Azura wanted to stay and mock her mother, but the smell was genuinely horrific, and she had crucial leader-like tasks to attend to. Like slightly adjusting each supply crate on the wagons and looking inspiring to the rest of the cultivators who just happened to be away from the smell. Complete coincidence.

After their vigorous cleansing, the new cultivators excitedly discussed which attunement they would take. Azura joined them as the kin started to march. They wanted to put some distance between them and the Crystal Glade before night.

"So what attunement are you going for?" Azura asked as she joined her mother who was walking in a daze.

"What?"

"I asked what attunement you are going to try to get."

"Oh, I was thinking of some healing type. I'm not much of a fighter," Coralline said. Azura let out a relieved breath. She had been worried about her mother fighting, but with this attunement, she should be safe.

"Good idea," Azura said. The pair continued for several minutes, silently enjoying each other's company.

"You know," Coralline began. "I never thought that I would have any power. I still recall the moment when those assassins attacked, and you healed me with your ki. Back then, I never would have imagined that I too would have that kind of power… but here I am. It feels weird." Azura didn't say anything as black rage surged at the memory of assassins hurting her mother.

"Oh, stop that," Coralline said, giving Azura a head thwack. The force was more than she expected, and Azura stumbled, not ready for it. "Oh! Sorry."

"It's fine. You need to work on your control. You're a lot stronger now," Azura said, rubbing her head. She placed an arm around her mother.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, my little pig-kin."

The pair marched together as the sun sank below the horizon.

***

Yan watched until the kin were out of sight. She was gone. The ache in her chest was more profound than she would have expected. Her first friend, how strange it felt.

"My lady, it's time for supper," One of her maids said. "Your father has ordered a feast in celebration of your return. Then it's off to bed. You must be exhausted after such an ordeal."

"I'll be there in a minute," Yan said. The maid left, and Yan gave one last look into the distance where Azura disappeared.

"One day you will be mine," Yan whispered. "I swear it on my name, Yan of house Dere."