Finding out that Ket transferred to her cavernous mountain hours ago does not lift her mood at all. Instead, when she finds out that Ket was in the city as she sat upon the mountain high above, looking out over the valley, her anger only grows. She is not sure what to think when she pays for some more information. Ket apparently arrived near the crystal, only to spend hours with the mayor. Instead of looking her up, Ket started fondling the old man as they sweated and banged together, joining their energies.
“KET, I WILL ALSO KILL YOU! HOW DARE YOU FALL FOR THAT OL-” At this point, Database informs Tess, for free, that they sweated and banged in front of the forge. The joining of energies was done because of near-toxic mana buildup, and the need to make an external cultivation base for the old coot. Tess calms down slightly, the scare of her first boyfriend suddenly turning gay for a geriatric dwarf leaving her shaking.
Looking around, she sees that the entire town is now still. Not a single person is fighting anymore. Instead, every single eyeball in the city is fixated at the terrifying cloud of absolute blackness that is encircling the central trading building. Tess breathes in, retracting her billowing cultivation base back into herself. She takes note of the fact that the difference between the current stillness and the chaos not even seconds earlier adds another small strand of power to her cultivation.
“Hai, everyone! My name is Tess. How are you?” Stilling her shaking hands, Tess decides to go for the friendly route. Instead of the confused yet interested reaction she had expected, every single person in the city falls down on their face. A thundering shouting fills the air as every single voice suddenly shouts in unison.
“HAIL SAGE TESS!”
“No need for that, ple-”
“HAIL SAGE TESS!”
“No, no. Please stop-”
“HAIL SAGE TESS!”
“Right. You all are ju-”
“HAIL SAGE TESS!”
“Oh, FUCK OFF!” The silence following her outburst allows her to land on the streets below. Breathing in deeply, she glares at everyone who even looks like they will start making a noise. Only then does she realize that the qi here flows oddly. She didn’t notice earlier, because of the proximity of the qi-sucking crystal hanging above the town, but all the power in the air seems to flow in one direction. Looking behind her, she immediately senses the buildup of power inside the biggest building of the town.
Pointing at the central structure, she starts walking to it. “I’ll be in that building. Stop shouting stupid shit like that.”
A few of the more ornately dressed people stand up slowly, hiding bruised ribs and bleeding cuts. “Get out of my way. Why are you all twitching and fumbling like that, are you spastic?”
Blood nearly spews forth from the house heads’ mouths. Tess wonders why they all look like she just slapped them in the face, but decides to ignore them by briskly walking towards the gathering qi.
“Nay, Sage Ke-Tess. It is merely our desire to know if we can be of assi-”
“Stop wasting my time. I don’t need anything from you. And stop twitching like that, it’s annoying.” Ignoring the stiffly dressed wriggling fops, Tess strides past them. Stepping into the most prominent entrance, she is briefly puzzled as the slowly growing feeling of power is off to the side, not in the back or upper parts of the building, where usually the biggest rooms would be. The man nearly called her ‘Sage Ket’ back there, so they obviously must have put some importance on the metal-headed idiot.
Instead of finding lavish rooms and decorated chambers, she finds spaces that are little more than repurposed storage areas. She quickly finds Ket’s handiwork, as the spartan room she ends up at is covered in formations. Qi pulses subtly through the geometric lines of inlaid metal, something only someone with a ridiculous amount of control over the materials could have possibly made. Instead of painting or inlaying stuff, these spells are woven through solid metal. The amount of mind-numbing work that must have gone into lacing the thick stone with metal filigree of such detail is mind-boggling to Tess. Just the thing that she can expect from a one-track idiot like Ket, though.
The only piece of decoration inside the few rooms is an ornate throne. Tess feels a headache coming on as she puts some puzzle pieces together. The different classes fighting each other, the weird way in which those important seeming people wriggled, the overpowered strength of everyone that wasn’t dressed in silks… “Ket, please don’t follow in Teach’s footsteps anymore. Please don’t…”
Tess sits there for a long while, slowly calming down and processing all that has happened. Her point total is absolutely annihilated by that teleportation, and she isn’t even where she wanted to be. On the one hand, she feels like she has only herself to blame. She could have done one last check of the dwarf city before leaving for this place. Instead, the moment she had built even a slight sliver of her foundation, she ordered Database to take her to Ket’s city. Ket also could have first explored the city, and the entire mountain, before starting to fondle the town’s mayor. But, Tess knows that isn’t a fair accusation.
On the other hand, why the flipping, flying, everliving fuck didn’t Database warn her of this? She had locked in the destination, sure, but it could have warned her, right? Her sullen musings are interrupted by a soft and feminine cough. A very annoying and irritating cough, Tess thinks. Opening her eyes, she sees a sluttily dressed bimbo with her tits half exposed staring at her. “What?”
“So… who are you?”
“What’s it to you?”
“I am Shadi, first servant of Sage Ket and the most powerful cultivator in this town. What is your business here?”
For some reason, Tess only despises this uppity wench more and more with each word rolling out of her filthy mouth. “That is none of your business.”
The two of them stare at each other for a while. Then Tess notices the other people. A group of roughly dressed workers is pushing and shoving for position with a group of gaudily dressed people that obviously never worked a day in their life. “What?”
No-one dares say a single word. Instead of becoming annoyed at this, Tess’ interest is piqued. The reactions she sees at her brusque question are varied and interesting.
“So, you are here for Sage Ket, right? And he left you behind?”
Her eyes narrowing at this accusation, Tess stares at the annoyingly full-chested woman.
“He also left me behind, you see.”
Tess has known enough braincores in her time to know when they are doing their crawling thing. The near imperceptible power radiating from their heads when they do their time dilation stuff is easy to notice once you know what to look for. “Spill it.”
“We shouldn’t fight. We should band together.”
“I think I see what you are trying to do here, you bimbo. Well, tough luck.” Tess smiles sweetly at the half-bowing woman. “I’m joining you.”
“That is too bad, I will destro-”
Tess feels the air gain a sharp edge as Shadi starts churning even more power through her cranium. Tess waits as she discards all her previous plans, this sudden reversal is obviously not a possibility she had planned for. Tess tries very hard not to smirk.
One of the family heads starts moving forward, but rough, uncultured hands keep him back. Before he can start shouting at the peasant to release him, he is stopped by another rough hand over his mouth. Soft yet frantic whispering comes from the unwashed portion of the group. “Don’t interfere. Let the women fight it out. This isn’t worth your life.”
“I’m with the peasant on this one. Come, there are more useful ways to lose your life than to jump between two women fighting over a man.”
“Sage Ket, may you rest in peace. I will never forget what you have done for us, but you will not survive.”
The group of people that had been fighting each other tooth and nail only an hour ago retreat in silence, fleeing from the sparks that flash between the two most powerful woman in the entire city.
⁂
“Nothing, I just felt chills all of a sudden,” replies Ket. Deciding to ignore the unquantifiable feeling of dread that suddenly overcame him, the full braincore cultivator continues sanding the Tree-wood shaft.
Afterword
Thank you for reading the fourth book in the Dao of Magic series. Teach’s adventures will continue in the fifth book, out soon!
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About
Andries (WeirdWhirl) Louws is an avid reader of fantasy, science fiction and pretty much everything interesting since a young age. He is still thankful to the nice ladies at the local library that let him check out all those violent action thrillers, epic fantasy books and encyclopaedias without enforcing age requirements. He also studied multimedia design and computer science while devouring as many novels, audiobooks, and video games as he could get his hands on. He then started writing his own stories after reading one too many badly translated Chinese novels and hasn’t stopped since.
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The Dao of Magic:
The Dao of Magic: Book I
The Dao of Magic: Book II
The Dao of Magic: Book III
The Dao of Magic: Book IV
Skeleton in Space:
Skeleton in Space: Histaff
Skeleton in Space: GalaxSec
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Appendix
Angeta: A young female beastkin with an affinity for all things green. Does NOT have anger issues. One of Teach’s students.
Ascent: The boat built by Drew and his students.
Bord: A large kid with a love of food. Might be able to manipulate gravity, but don’t ask him, he wouldn’t know what those words mean. A heartcore cultivator. One of Teach’s students.
Braincore: A method of cultivation where the nexus of power is placed inside the brainstem. This allows for extreme mental skills such as complex qi formations and mental time dilation.
Cultivation: The practice of taking the energies between Heaven and Earth into oneself, empowering the cultivating individual.
Cultivation World: The first world Drew transmigrated to, a traditional Xanxia universe filled with ruthless sects, ancient legacies, and mysterious powers.
Delver: Brave souls that dare (or are forced) to enter the dungeons.
Drew Liam: Originally a normal man from modern Earth, he transmigrated into a ruthless cultivation world. After a thousand years of escapades and adventures, his ascension was denied as he was slapped into a lower realm.
Gutcore: A method of cultivation where the nexus of power is placed inside the stomach. This allows for a mix of physical and magical reinforcement and combat.
Heartcore: A method of cultivation where the nexus of power is placed inside the heart. This allows for extreme physical prowess and toughness, yet underwhelming magical capacities otherwise.
Ket: Ex baggage carrier, this thin and dark young man has an affinity for metal. Possibly autistic, but his braincore allows him to calculate the optimal social path. One of Teach’s students.
King: The human king of the Shi-Eit kingdom. His name is unknown. Curses a lot.
Lola: A little rabbit heartcore cultivator. Drew’s pet. One of the most powerful beings on the planet.
Magic World: The current world, a medieval low fantasy world filled with dragons, magic, pirates, beast-people, and dungeons.
Mana: The power present in the Magic World, this multifaceted power is divided into multiple elements, each containing a dark and light counterpart.
Mana mutant: An animal that suffered from an extreme dark and light mana imbalance. This caused a mutation in the animal’s bodily composition and possibly an increase in strength.
Peak Dungeon: A massive triangular pillar of dark stone, this piece of impossible geometry holds a dungeon filled with beasts, monsters, and danger. Tends to reward the daring delver with tools and furniture.
Qi: A mystical higher power. This energy is a supernatural high energetic state that’s susceptible to influence from consciousness.
Re-Haan: A female dragon, over two millennia old. The current Guardian of the human Shi-Eit kingdom, she used to spent nearly all of her time napping the years away.
Rhea: Teach’s nickname for Re-Haan.
Selis: A rather cute girl with blue hair and a love of water. Is known to have a mean streak when crossed. One of Teach’s students.
Teach: See Drew Liam.
Tess: A black-haired girl with an affinity for sneaking and shadows. One of Teach’s students.
Tower Dungeon: A massive pillar of light stone, this piece of impossible architecture hold a dungeon filled with beasts, monsters, and danger. Tends to reward the daring delvers with weapons and armour.
Tree: A slightly larger tree. It was otherwise completely unremarkable until Drew forcefully elevated its consciousness using qi.
Vox: A redheaded young man of questionable sexual orientation. Like his sister, he has a high affinity for light influences energies. One of Teach’s students.
The Dao of Magic: Book IV Page 31