Waterstrider

Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Gen Tang felt that the atmosphere of this neighborhood had shifted recently. It was difficult for him to put his finger on the exact nature of this shift. Perhaps, in a sense, the mood felt as if it were uplifted far from the usual? Rather than the previous depressive pallor of the slums, the mood in the area almost seemed far more hopeful.

If he had to put his finger on it, he would probably say that the change might have originated with the Redwater Gang, the local gang whose territory these few stacks consisted of. Previously, they had terrorized the inhabitants with strong-arming, racketeering, and usury. Now, it was as if they were an entirely different group.

All of a sudden, debtors found they were being given far more leniency. Poorly maintained fronts began actually functioning, adding new resources to the community. Even the amount of drugs that Gen saw being used around the streets had gone down. He almost felt as if he had walked into the wrong neighborhood.

He, like most inhabitants of the district, tried as best they could to keep themselves out of the business of the martial world. There were few beneficial outcomes of involving themselves in it. For this reason, he had no idea what the cause of the shift had been.

Whatever it was, he knew that he and the other mortal inhabitants of the stack appreciated it. He just hoped that it would last.

Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Kein always found himself rushing around madly, like an undisciplined child in a buffet. It felt like all he did these days was walk around the building yelling at subordinates. He simply held far too many responsibilities, and they all needed doing. He ordered a disciple to be more careful when placing a wall tile. He had another go ask Ran to meet with him about the construction budget later in the afternoon, and yet another to stop spouting vulgarities inside of the sect. At times, he had to question why the Riverfiend would choose a lowly group like them as the foundation for a sect.

The day after the sect had been formed, all of the former gang members had been standing around awkwardly in their former headquarters, unsure of what to do but too scared of reprisal by their new leader to run. Hidoro had been powerful, but he was at least orthodox. They understood his nature, and he was able to be content and complacent with his status.

While the Riverfiend had yet to do anything particularly awful, as an unorthodox practitioner they knew there was no limit to what he would do if he felt it was necessary. He was still in the core formation stage, and they did not know how long he had left to progress. The closer he grew to the end of his life, the more terrifying he would become. Kein was honestly surprised that he had yet to kill any of the former gang members aside from Hidoro. Even Hidoro had occasionally killed some for insolence or out of boredom.

While they had waited for his return, Kein and the others had been surprised when, rather than returning alone, he had come with a sei woman and a Staiven man. It quickly became apparent why the man was there- their new sect leader had immediately introduced him to Ran and told them to figure out sect finances and get their money flow fixed. The woman was a different matter.

She had been introduced as Rachel, with no surname. She had to have once been a street orphan, Kein figured. It would explain the first name and lack of family name. According to the Riverfiend, she was to be their new vice sect leader.

The moment he saw her, Kein felt that there was something off about her. Her presence was faint, almost distorted somehow. Kein would have almost thought her body was an illusion, but he could sense hints of her soul, which meant that she had to be really there. Despite that, he had never seen her physically interact with anything. While he had not mentioned this to anyone, Kein secretly worried that she too was an unorthodox practitioner, one who used the extant miasma in dangerous ways. Perhaps the curse she had acquired from her techniques was that she would slowly turn into a spirit and lose her body. If so, she was close to the end. Kein found her even more unfathomable and terrifying than even the Riverfiend.

The two of them had immediately assigned Kein work, telling him that he needed to fix up the building into ‘proper shape.’ He was to use the ‘disciples’ as laborers however much he needed to. A week later, Kein still had yet to make the decrepit offices into a proper sect.

They had focused on using affordable materials that looked traditional, nothing that could be compared to the majesty of the Hadal Clan’s headquarters. Still, Kein figured that even though the Hadal Clan was the only true martial organization on the station, comparing themselves to a powerhouse such as the Hadal Clan would be nothing other than hubris. Even if they managed to fully establish themselves, they would be a weak, fledgling force for quite some time.

If he was being honest, Kein would have to admit that he liked what his new sect leader was trying to build. There was just something meaningful about working towards the development of a true martial force, rather than some lowly gang in a neighborhood that was practically a slum. He also liked the ethical business practices that Riverfiend had forced them to use, shifting their focus to a group that uplifted the community rather than drain it of as much money as possible. In that, he was a far better leader than Hidoro had ever been. The only issue was the impulsivity and madness that the sect leader was displaying.

Sect Leader Yu had shown up once or twice a day in the intervening time, always shadowed by Rachel. Sometimes he would have weird fits of shivering, would clench and unclench his fists, or his eyes would go bloodshot randomly. There was something off about the flow of his miasma channels, too. His words were always calm and well-ordered, but given his physical condition, that made Kein worry all the more. Sometimes his mood would shift randomly, or he would suddenly walk off from a conversation midway through.

Kein worried that the man would soon finally fall to madness. He doubted he would ever lose that fear, even if the man did soon manage to reach the spirit refinement level.

Immortality was the only cure for an unorthodox practitioner, and it was simply too difficult to achieve.

He supposed that he would simply have to hope the sect leader would succeed. He was catching glimpses of reclaiming the powerful and upright life that he had always sought after as a child. The reason he had always worked so hard at his martial arts. Like many others, it was because he had wanted to be a heroic martial artist like the protagonist of the stories and show he had been exposed to a child.

In his teens, Kein had been refused entry into the Hadal Clan’s subordinate forces, and even had he managed to enter, he would always have been second to even the least talented Hadal scion. Instead he was forced to work at a poor martial academy, and had eventually been forced by poverty to find work with a gang. It was difficult for a martial artist to find work at mortal businesses, as both the proprietors and clients often feared them far too much.

The Redwater Sect promised something more. As a sect, it would recruit all sorts, reliant on their talents rather than their heritage. Sect Leader Yu had even mentioned that he was soon looking to start recruiting new disciples to train up. Given his role as the master of the Redwater Sect’s Alabaster Palace, Kein would be able to have a strong influence on who to accept as a new disciple. He would ensure a place for many children like he had once been.

Kein cast his mind aside from the matter with a sigh, returning to his work. At the moment, there was no time to ponder the past. There was still much work to do before they opened their doors again, and he knew they would have to be ready for the pressure the Hadal Clan would undoubtedly impose upon them after learning of their existence.

Perhaps the sect leader would handle it, or perhaps they would crumple. All Kein could do was put his utmost effort into ensuring its success. He would make certain that this time, his efforts would mean something. Never again would he return to what he had been.

Manifest Miasma: [The nature of manifest miasma is the nature of existence itself. It is the formation of matter, energy, and the framework of reality itself. It is growth and it is decay, it is explosion and implosion, it is the truth. However, it is not infinity. That which is manifest is ephemeral, for it still remains within the boundary of the universe it exists within. That which is given must also be taken away, but manifest is not this dissolution. Fundamentally, the manifest is a tumor grown within the framework of reality. In theory, there must be a price, but one that can be pushed to others.]