Elder Cultivator-Chapter 1221

Eventually, the Starpiercer ended up back in Alliance territory. That of course included Adsila as well. Ylvali didn’t want to be responsible for accidentally delivering a spy, so she was as forthcoming as she could be about the situation. The Scarlet Alliance had plenty of people who would be able to judge Adsila’s character, and it was even possible that they had intel on her. Not terribly likely, since the planet she had been picked up on was relatively inconsequential and her cultivation didn’t particularly stand out, but still possible.

For her part, Ylvali wanted to back Adsila as much as possible. She gave her most positive assessment of Adsila’s character and the situations surrounding her request for asylum. If Adsila had been significantly weaker or arrived in different circumstances, it might not have required so much investigation. Then again, Ylvali didn’t know all of the details on the normal asylum process. The Scarlet Alliance was generally welcoming… with the understanding that they had many enemies.

After an assessment by Aconite, the wolf pulled Ylvali aside to speak to her. “My conclusion is that Adsila is quite competent,” Aconite said.

“Um, great, I suppose. But that doesn’t really resolve any of the other issues.”

Aconite just looked up at Ylvali. “I can’t see why you’d think I’d have any hand in those. I requested to get involved because she is a poisoner. She has not built a resistance to most of her poisons, but has sufficient skills to not accidentally poison herself… or anyone not intended.” Aconite sniffed. “And she smelled truthful enough. I like her.”

Ylvali supposed that of the reasons people might be biased against Adsila, it would be her connection to poisons. Generally, that made people uncomfortable. Even Ylvali might have avoided Aconite if she didn’t have particular reasons. It was strange, because there were many people who could kill her just as easily all around. People didn’t always act logically.

“That’s good, I suppose,” Ylvali said. “What do you think the next step should be?”

“I’m not certain,” Aconite said. “She’s a bit old to become my apprentice.”

“Your- do you think that would be good?”

“It would be good for her growth as a cultivator. I am a competent Augmentation cultivator, after all. I have successfully taught many some measure of my skills. And it would resolve the problem of supervision. Alternatively, you could continue to bring her with you, if she so chooses. I think those would be the best options. It would be unkind to leave her somewhere where she has no connections at all.”

“But if joined the Starpiercer, who would monitor her activities?”

“You, of course. As you have already been doing. I think you should strive to improve your skills in that area, as you are ultimately in a diplomatic position. She will not be the only one, especially if it becomes known we are open to the idea and people become aware of what we are actually like. Even an incomplete picture of the Scarlet Alliance has many temptations for people to want to join… or try to exploit.”

“And I’ll need to figure out which.”

“You’re the first line of defense,” Aconite agreed. “You will interact with many different people in different positions. Perhaps you may wish to look into protecting yourself against poisons… even if you trust Adsila. Though having her available would not be unreasonable, either.”

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Ylvali was uncertain about how things were going. She’d signed up for an opportunity to visit different systems. To trade and observe. How could a single Integration cultivator- even with a ship and crew empowered by the Unified Sector’s techniques- do so much?

It bothered her so much that she actually asked Aconite, even if she didn’t expect an answer. Sometimes, experienced cultivators came with great insights to apply to any situation.

Maybe Aconite’s response counted. “Perhaps you simply shouldn’t settle for Integration. If a greater cultivation could resolve your problems, then you should strive for it.”

As if it was that easy to become an Augmentation cultivator, as the step from Integration to Augmentation was something only a small fraction of cultivators could accomplish. But it wasn’t something she could completely ignore from someone who’d actually done it and that was apparently thinking about Domination. Though everyone in Augmentation was, even if they weren’t serious.

-----

Ty’s ship was no longer in pieces. It had a whole bunch of shiny new parts from the repairs, and it was looking great. There was the minor issue that the most important thing hadn’t been fixed yet, but he had been assured that they were working on the subspace drive. He supposed it wasn’t strange that it would have taken so many months, since they’d never made one before. It was just a bit unfortunate considering other circumstances if he was planning to leave anytime soon.

He really didn’t need to, but there were still some suspicious fellows and Ty was the most obvious thing that had changed before and after the increase in distortion beast attacks. Except, of course, that the reviewed information showed that there had been an uptick even before he approached, but fearful people couldn’t be swayed with trivial things like facts and logic.

A sword wasn’t much good either. It usually just made people more afraid. At least Nekesa said most people were on his side. Everyone else… Ty thought they should have been happy to receive free scans of foreign technology. The nerds involved with that had been ecstatic.

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It was only a small and loud group that wanted Ty gone, but he knew how a small incident could spiral into something large. If that happened, he wanted it to be on purpose.

“So about these sword guys…” Ty once again broached the subject with Nekesa.

“The Esoteric Order of the Blade.”

“Right,” Ty nodded. “When I first arrived you mentioned them as the only real threat. So why do they still… exist? Unless that sentiment isn’t shared by other factions.”

Nekesa took some time to think over her response. “There have been attempts to wipe them out. However, they were always prepared and made their escape- fighting through the weakest flank to disappear from our senses.”

“You know what that sounds like, right?” Ty asked. “These weak sections… were they always the same sect?”

“Not at all. They also suffered… significant casualties.”

“So someone else is the traitors, then,” Ty nodded. When Nekesa gave him a look, he just shrugged. “What? It’s pretty clear how that would work. You’re always able to find them and launch an attack, and they get away not by pure might. There’s at least someone important, even if it’s not a whole sect or planet or whatever. I must ask, though. Officially, does anyone not want them gone?”

“The official stance is that they should be wiped out,” Nekesa agreed.

“Great. Where did you say they were located? I’m gonna go for a short flight around the system, and I don’t want to accidentally bump into them.”

-----

When Ty landed on his reserved landing platform, Uzochi came to find him. “Would it be possible for us to get some recordings of your ship in flight?” he asked. “Combat maneuvers especially.”

“I’m surprised you don’t already have a bunch,” Ty commented.

“Actual combat is a bit… disruptive,” Uzochi explained. He had been the first to build a rapport with Ty, so he was assigned for most of the interaction that anyone tech related needed. “It likely will not help speed up the work on the drive. But it would be appreciated for our sake.”

“Sure. I don’t mind.”

-----

A week or so later, Ty was having tea with Nekesa. He wasn’t a huge tea drinker, but the local teas weren’t bad. Also, they had snacks. Maybe that was the important part. “You look confused,” Ty commented.

Nekesa raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t go that far. I simply thought… you had different intentions.”

“I’m not sure what you thought I was going to do,” Ty commented. “I assume you’ve been around the system quite a bit. Fantastic rings around that gas giant, by the way. Is it a natural phenomenon or influenced by some sort of natural energy?”

“I believe the intersecting rings are a natural phenomenon. At least, as much as anything can be where energy is available as an influence.”

“I’m thinking about going back soon,” Ty said. “Just for fun.”

-----

With his ship repaired, Ty was able to change his tactics on how he dealt with distortion beasts. That was good, because his sword was on the verge of failure. He really needed a replacement. Repairs would be good, but only if someone could rework the structure of his sword on a molecular level. It would essentially be a new sword, if it was properly repaired. It would need new enchantments too.

Even if kinetic projectiles weren’t their main form of attack, the Origin Cycle had the ability to reproduce his ammunition. Thus, he was relying mainly on his ship. Launched projectiles, the wings of his ship- which had been repairable enough but might need some further work- and sometimes handheld blade launchers were what Ty was working with. He paid for the ammunition and repairs with work. Every ship he saved was not only the price of construction but the effort of raising the people aboard to be combat capable.

Distortion beasts hadn’t stopped coming. They did know where they were coming from, though. As Ty had speculated, there was a nest. Information was quite sparse, but there was definitely a location not far outside the system’s barrier. Either the nest couldn’t drift through, or it was a coincidence. Ty thought it was probably the latter because they weren’t great at blocking subspace movement, but he’d been wrong before. Maybe it was something about scale, though in that case he’d expect individual distortion beasts to be enough. Either way, the barrier had kept them from getting harassed by the upper realms so it was serving its primary purpose well enough.

-----

After developing a regular habit of flying around the system, Ty decided it was time to go shopping. He didn’t technically know if the Esoteric Order of the Blade was full of villains or just… fanatics. Either could be a problem, but Ty could judge them properly only after actually interacting with them. He was going to go either way, because they had swords and he needed a sword.

He didn’t tell anyone he was going. Even if they probably wouldn’t run from just one guy, he wanted to experience their genuine reactions.

Ty had put an approximate location of their lair in his systems a while ago. It would be exact if the different computer systems were compatible, but they weren’t yet. Either way, he just needed to get close and he should be able to find them. He was looking for a series of asteroids tethered together, so while it was small in comparison to a planet it was still fairly sizable. And he should be able to sense energy and swords. If nothing else, he would be his ship’s scanners could pick something up. Even if they had technology to hide their signals… that only worked for the things they expected to be hiding from.

It was kind of a slow trip. Ty had gotten used to it, but normally subspace drives were used even for in-system travel to some extent. Anything far enough from local planets to not worry about their gravity screwing things up. It was the difference between hours and minutes for some of the further trips, and that was with barely dipping into subspace at all. He missed that speed. Cutting his way into subspace just wasn’t the same. He could do it, but not easily with a broken sword. And it kind of discounted his ship, which had been with him for most of his career.

Ty was actually surprised his ship beeped before he sensed any swords. Did they have blade concealment formations? Maybe they were worried about people like him. Whether they should be would have to be determined in the near future.