The Phoenix [Cultivation, Reincarnation, Tower Climber]

The hike up the mountain is brutal. Even while circulating my oum at full force and transmuting it with heat, the cold chills me to my bones, and the wind is strong enough that at times, I have to lay flat in the snow to avoid getting blown away by powerful gusts. This final half mile is more difficult than any five mile stretch previously, but as I get closer to the source of the frigid oum, I find myself getting more energized. It's been a long time since I last searched for natural treasures like this. It brings back memories.

Despite not seeming at all enthused about the northern climate previously, Trinity appears on my shoulder and eagerly looks toward the source of the oum. I guess even she can sense that this thing will be good for her. She jumps down into the snow briefly, but sinks straight into the loose powder and disappears, so I have to dive in to retrieve her. After that, she stays on my shoulder, but she fidgets and makes soft sounds in my ear as if urging me to hurry up.

The source of the oum is a small crevice in the mountain. The wind is blocked off entirely, and the snow slopes downward until about forty feet into the crevice where the bare earth is exposed. No life exists in the crevice, save for a single, small green plant with a clump of red berries growing from it.

Trinity leaps off my shoulder as soon as she sees it, but I catch her in midair. I don't want her digging it up and eating it before I've had a chance to prepare. I will most likely have to cultivate with her for her to process it properly, and I don't know how long that will take. Plus, I want to look at it closer before I even dig it up. This feels much stronger than a simple Hundred Year Ginseng. It doesn't quite feel a millennium old, but it's close. Very close.

Despite the lack of wind and snow, with every step I get closer to the plant, the cold grows, and as I crouch down next to it, I even start shivering. Even Trinity is shivering, despite doing her best to get her mouth close enough to eat it. This is definitely not something I should let her eat without supervision.

For about a minute, I just look at it, taking in the oum it gives off and analyzing it, then I come to a conclusion. This ginseng isn't just old. It's on the cusp of becoming Thousand Year Snow Ginseng. It won't take much longer to reach it. Perhaps another year. That's unfortunate though, because the difference between a 999 year old ginseng and a 1000 year old ginseng is quite a bit, and I won't be around to collect it. I could be, but is it worth it?

I look down at Trinity, who has stopped squirming, and is just staring at the plant, drooling slightly. She's going to be my companion for… a long time. I should take this opportunity to empower her, even if it means spending a bit more time here than I originally planned. It's not like I'm in a rush. I can afford to-

"Touch that and you die."

I freeze as a woman's voice speaks from behind me. I didn't sense them coming. Even now, I can't sense her cultivation.

"I'm not touching it," I say. "And I'm going to stand up and turn around now."

"Alright."

I move slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements as I face the speaker. I already had a good guess who it was when I heard her voice, but seeing her face confirms my suspicions. She's the one who calls herself the Stray Princess. And judging by the fact that I can't sense her oum, that must mean that the Quest to hunt her was outdated. No 2 Star could hide their oum this thoroughly, meaning she has to be 3 Star. I guess that other Stray wasn't lying when he said there was an Early 3 star guarding the ginseng. He just failed to mention that that Early 3 star was an elf.

"Good," she says. "Niccolo told me you were reasonable. I'm glad to see he was right."

"I assume Niccolo is the one I met near the mammoths?"

"You assume correctly," she says, nodding. "Now, step away from the ginseng."

I take a few steps forward and the temperature gets a few degrees warmer.

"I'm just going to tell you now, you're not getting that ginseng," she says. "I've been watching over it for 50 years now. It's mine. Give up."

I glance back at the plant regretfully. It's a real shame, but I don't see any way I can get it. Even a Middle or late 2 star would be too much for my current self to defeat. A 3 star is entirely out of the question. Plus, if she has been watching for 50 years, then it kind of does belong to her.

"Alright," I say. "You wouldn't happen to know where any other Hundred Year Snow Ginseng is though, would you?"

"Let's talk somewhere else," she replies. "It's fucking cold in here."

She walks out of the crevice without another word, and then when she's sure I'm following, she starts climbing higher up the mountain. Unlike me, she doesn't move carefully at all. Her movement arts are almost as good as mine, so she walks lightly on top of the snow, and the wind seems to have no effect on her. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any other animals on this mountain, which is strange, since the flow of oum is quite strong. It must be because she lives here.

Her abode is about a mile higher in elevation and a half mile in lateral distance, meaning most of my movement is vertical. This is made harder by Trinity constantly trying to escape. I'm not sure if she's just so fixated on the ginseng that she's forgotten she can escape by entering her voidspace, or if something about me holding her is preventing her from doing so, but thankfully, I'm able to hold onto her throughout the journey.

This high up, it's almost as cold as it was in the ginseng crevice, but she leads us to what seems to be a small hole in the rock that, once inside, opens up into a large, clearly manmade cave. There's a large fire going in the middle with a hole in the roof acting as a chimney, and there's furniture made of animal products scattered all around. It's clearly a home designed for a single person, since there is no privacy, but there are a few spare beds lined up on one side.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The Stray Princess leads me to an armchair made of mammoth tusks and bear fur and gestures for me to sit down while she walks off to grab another one.

"Want something to drink?" she asks. "I've got water, tea, and some homemade mead."

"Tea is fine," I say.

"You sure you don't want to try the mead?" she asks. "The most recent batch came out really nice."

"I'm sure," I say. "I don't drink."

Not anymore.

"Suit yourself," she says, shrugging. "Hot?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll be right back."

She walks outside, presumably to grab the tea, giving me a chance to take a more thorough look at my surroundings. The walls are unnaturally smooth, which makes me wonder how she carved this place out. Or if she did it herself at all instead of just finding the place. Regardless of who built it though, it's extremely obvious why this location was chosen.

In nature, the flow of oum is generally somewhat random, like the wind. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes slow, sometimes persistent, other times fleeting, sometimes almost absent, and other times unceasing. Right here, in this very spot, it is more intense than I have ever felt it before. It's at least twice as dense as anywhere else on the Floor, and it swirls all around like a whirlpool with the centerpoint right on the opposite side of the cave. There is no furniture there, save for a blanket and a well-worn cushion. It's probably one of, if not the best cultivation spot on the Floor. It's intense enough that Trinity seems to have even forgotten about the ginseng as she basks in the flow.

The furniture, despite its relatively primitive construction materials, is all well-made, sturdy, and very comfortable. At least, this chair is, and the other chairs and tables and beds around seem to have been made by the same craftsman.

There's a shelf in one of the corners filled with books, with more stacks of books all over the ground, and while none of them are damaged, they all look quite worn. A few of them are strewn about randomly on beds and chairs and tables, with one lying open facedown on a nightstand right next to the only bed that seems to be regularly used.

I let myself relax a bit, and Trinity does the same, laying down in my lap, though I can tell that she's ready to move at a moment's notice if I loosen my grip too much. I keep one hand firmly on her belly and stroke her head as we wait for the elf to get back. Five minutes pass like this, and the only sounds from outside are the wind. The Stray Princess has not returned.

That's odd. Did she really store her tea that far away? Or did she have to set up a special environment for her mead creation? Or maybe…

I send out a thin thread of oum from my body toward the exit of the cave. It's very difficult to control oum outside of my body still, since I'm only 1 star, but after about thirty seconds, I manage to extend it to the entrance and start feeling around. Sure enough, the elf is waiting just outside, not moving a muscle and barely even breathing. I guess she's trying to see what I'd do if left alone. She's not as naive and trusting as she first seemed.

She doesn't seem to notice my thread, so I draw it back, and wait another five minutes. She still doesn't enter. I definitely shouldn't search the room. I could call her back and let her know I'm there… or I could keep going and see how long she stands there. Maybe take advantage of the oum here a bit.

I stand up, and though I can't sense her without my oum thread, I already know she's tensing up and waiting for me to do something that she can catch me red-handed in. Instead, I just walk to the other side of the cave and sit down and start cultivating with Trinity. I get a full twenty minutes in before she finally re-enters the cave carrying two cups in one hand, and a small wooden bucket full of ice in the other.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Cultivating," I reply, standing up. "You hadn't come back, so I figured I'd make the most of my time."

"...You knew I was waiting outside, didn't you?"

"I did."

"I thought I sensed you doing something, but I wasn't sure… Niccolo was right. You are strange. Come and sit down. Let's talk for a bit."

I oblige and return to my seat, where she hands me a cup of water that definitely wasn't steaming a few seconds ago. There's a teabag inside too, which looks oddly similar to the teabags back on Earth.

"I'd give it a few minutes to steep," says the elf.

I nod and set it on a table to my right as she sips on a cup of what I assume is her mead. Even from here, I can smell the alcohol, which means it's definitely a bit stronger than ordinary mead.

"So, what's your name?" she says after a few seconds.

"My nickname is the Phoenix." She snorts a bit of mead out of her nose. "But my name is Bella."

"You-" she coughs. "What? Are you crazy?"

"No. What's your name?"

"You named yourself after one of the most famous Ascendants?"

"I didn't know the name was taken at the time, and I like it, so I'm sticking with it."

Hearing myself say it out loud, that actually sounds really foolish. Oh well.

She coughs lightly a few more times and stares at me in bewilderment.

"Well, I already knew you were bold," she says. "I guess it doesn't really matter to me. My nickname, as you may already be aware, is the Stray Princess. However, my real name is Aurora Shin."

"Shin, like the Shin family?" I ask.

"The very same."

"Hmmm," I say. "I got attacked by some of your family's people on the way here."

"You did?"

"They tried to force me to sign a contract."

"What did you do to them?"

"I killed them."

I reach over for my tea and take a sip while I wait for her to respond. I hope I judged her correctly. Bragging about killing someone's family members to them would be a really dumb way for this life to end.

"Good," she finally says. "Sounds like you caught the attention of one of my… less savory relatives. I promise, we're not all like that."

"I certainly hope so. You seem pleasant. It would be a shame if I had to kill you too."

She looks a bit dumbfounded, so I crack a small smile, and she bursts out into laughter as she realizes I'm joking. Mostly. I'm mostly joking.

"Well, I doubt my family likes me much at the moment either," she says. "I expect I might get some of the same treatment when I started Climbing again."

"How long have you been living as a Stray?" I ask.

"Almost a century. By the way, do you know if Nadia is still teaching down in the city?"

"She is. Is she the one who-?"

"Probably not. But it's possible. She prefers to be more direct, usually, but I wouldn't put it past her if she got desperate. I was just asking because she was my personal tutor for a bit. I was curious."

"I see," I say, nodding and taking another sip. "Then do you know who it might have been? I'd like to avoid them in the future, if possible."

"I have a few guesses," she says, downing the rest of her cup. "It will be a bit of a long story though to explain everything."

"I've got time."