I sit down and focus. I lift the medallion up into the air and bunch up the chain to prevent it from snagging. Closing my eyes, I lift the thing through the small door window, slipping it through the bars. Extending my qi threads further, I swing the medallion forwards like spider man, making new string attach to the ceiling ahead and breaking the ones behind. A carefully calculated swing launches it through the correct cell door and I bring it to a stop above the sleeping figure inside.
Huddled up in a corner of the cell is a bald girl with blue eyebrows. She spasms a bit in her sleep. Stuffing her into the necklace from tens of metres away is harder than I thought. My Tree senses me struggling and decides to help by pulling the girl in and laying her next to the other sleeping forms. Initiative is a great sign of blossoming consciousness, so I send some proud and warm feelings to Tree.
Swinging the necklace back into my cell I cast the same disruption and sleeping spell on the baldy before exiting the cell. Bending the bars back into place is easy as pie and I make my way to and over the city walls.
Now what type of character shall I play? I really like hamming up a role, truly getting into it and acting out a personality. Shall I go with the wise old man template? Maybe harsh drill instructor. Otherworldly saint seems like a good fit for this situation. I look at the sleeping bunny in my arms and decide to just improvise when the time comes. In the meantime, I have some building and preparing to do.
Chapter nineteen
Drill
Tess feels shitty. She feels really, seriously shitty. Her body aches in a weird way and her stomach is doing acrobatic flips. She opens her eyes and feels even worse.
“Where am I?”
Softly mumbling to herself she takes in her surroundings. She feels soft grass under her and sees a peaceful looking pond with thriving plant life and a massive tree. A massive glowing tree. This scene is further complemented by a spattering of suns across the sky.
‘At least the sky’s still blue. Wait, sky? I was in the dungeon right? Then there was that glowing white being. It must have been an angel of some kind, so cute. Am I in heaven? I must be, right?’
While Tess is delving deeper into her own thoughts she starts to look further around herself. Behind her are some wooden huts. A stone building made up of smooth rocks, and mortar stands to the side. Smaller trees surround the field she is in. Just as she sees vague shapes laying on the grass around her she hears someone speaking.
“Wajoooow, what is going on here!”
A weirdly enthusiastic voice sounds from her left side. Snapping her head around she starts to notice other people waking up. Five other figures are sprawled around her, each of them showing signs of waking.
“LISTEN UP YOU FILTHY MAGGOTS!”
A voice booms through the entire clearing, jolting the group from their half slumber. Tess blearily looks where to voice is coming from, slowly turning her pounding head. She is not having a good morning.
“YOU HAVE ALL BEEN SELECTED BY THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS ME. REJOICE FOR I SHALL TEACH YOU THE BEAUTY OF GROWING STRONG THROUGH SUFFERING cough cough. Was that too much? Maybe I’m overdoing it.”
An imposing air wafts from the figure walking towards the group of bedraggled kidnappees. The figure’s simple form of dress only seems to add to the pressure the group suddenly feels. If you ignore the last few words he said, that is.
“I HAVE GRACIOUSLY INVITED YOU MAGGOTS IN MY VERY OWN DOMICILE BECAUSE I SAW SOME SPARK OF HOPE IN YOU SAD SACKS OF SHIT. I WILL - COUGH COUGH “
As this weird shouting guy devolves into a coughing fit Tess is only further confused.
‘We are dirty larvae? Why am I a bag filled with poop? Is he trying to insult us or something? His pronunciation is pretty bad, he needs to lilt his S’es more and his tonal inflexion is horrible.’
Tess immediately concludes that he is a foreigner, not knowing how right and wrong at the same time her conclusion is.
Six people are looking at the figure with growing uncertainty in their eyes. A certain world hopper has not taken cultural differences into account it seems, insults heavily rely on the culture they are spoken in, after all. The group of displaced people have woken up fully now. Although they are feeling apprehensive about this shouting madman, the entire scene he has been trying to paint is being ruthlessly smashed by the bunny he is carrying and gently petting.
Silence hangs thick in the air as the group studies one another. Tess takes another look around and sees a blonde haired, blonde eyed fatty, a short girl spacing out with blue fuzz for hair and a faintly familiar lanky guy with dark circles under his eyes to her left. To her right are two more people, and as she looks over the red-haired guy he studies her back. The last person should be a slave of some kind, Tess thinks, her body is covered with a sheen of brown-hued fur. The vague feline slant to her face gives it away that she is from the far east’s warring states.
The bunny guy stares at the first person to his left and continues shouting.
“YOU WILL NOW TELL ME YOUR NAME, AGE, RACE, SKILLS, AND WHATEVER ELSE IS INTERESTING ABOUT YOU.”
Staring at the fur-covered girl, nothing happens. The hairy girl’s eye seems to be twitching up a storm. Her mouth is slowly revealing sharp fangs. Suppressed rage seems to be boiling just under the skin of the statuesque figure.
“Human, you better explain where I…”
“YOU WILL ONLY SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO, AND THEN ONLY ANSWER QUESTIONS, YOU HAVE NOT EARNED ANYTHING ELSE YOU STINKING HAIRBALL.”
“I am indeed a hair…”
“Lola, please spar with this lovely lady.”
The sudden change of subject seems to have caught the tall beastwoman off guard. Tess concludes that the feline’s instincts must have kicked in. The moment the rabbit in the guy’s hands looks at the so-called hairball, she crouches in a defensive position.
“Let me introduce your senior. BOW TO YOUR SENIOR.”
An invisible force bends Tess’s head and torso in a ninety-degree angle. A quick glance sideways tells her that she is not the only one being forced to kneel on the grass.
“The moment you can beat this cute little rabbit you gain the right to be her equal. At the moment she is so far above you shits. You’re not even worthy to clean up her poop.”
Then Tess realises that the white fluff ball is the angel that saved her. And now she needs to fight with the last thing she saw before making peace with death? Just as she was at peace with her lot in life she wakes up in this insane place. The force releases her and she rights herself just in time to see the bunny flying at the feline. Horrible wails sound from the fighting duo as the beast woman explodes in rage. Tess is about to step forward to prevent the angelic fluff ball from being hurt when the bunny kicks the ever-living shit out of the beastwoman. Instead of the one-sided beat-down Tess was expecting her eyes nearly pop out as she sees a white streak juggling the feline, keeping her in the air by head-butting her.
“YOU READY TO LISTEN AND ANSWER MY QUESTIONS, LITTLE KITTY?”
A shiver runs down Tess’s spine as she sees the diabolical grin on the enigmatic fellow’s face.
⁂
That could have gone better. I would love to be all buddy-buddy and pretend to be their best friend but that would backfire quickly. That can all come later. Now I need to make sure that they understand that privilege and comfort comes with strength. I will need to beat any form of resistance out of them, break them down to ground level, pump them chock full of information and then let them rebuild themselves using all I will show them.
My plan is not to teach them, but help them teach themselves. I will not utter a word about finding their Dao or specific techniques, I will simply present them with a lot of information and let them figure out the rest themselves. My method of qi control works wonders for me but tell any other cultivator to mentally shout at their qi and they’ll drag you off to an insane asylum. Teaching them my methods would only hinder their growth.
When I left the dungeon city I went
north-west. I found another mountain range with a sprawling forest around it just over the horizon. In said forest, I collected a lot more rocks, plants, trees, dirt and water, growing my little Tree universe substantially.
Building some simple wooden huts with uncomfortable furniture was done in a flash. My own house took a little longer, I do have a minimum comfort standard you know. I shaved the softest animal I could find and made a bed and comfy chair out of it. A wool covered T-Rex knockoff was the softest animal I could find, and now there are a few pissed off, naked dinosaurs stomping through the forest. The walls of my house are made of river rocks with compressed earth as mortar. My new unwilling disciples will have to earn or make better dwelling places.
As I watch the poor furry getting curb stomped by a little critter, a smile can’t help but spread on my face. How will this world’s natives handle a higher level of energy? Can I upgrade the entire world and raise its level without any apocalypse type scenarios? The main reason I’m doing all this is because its lonely at the top. If I ever want to leave this place I will not make the same mistake again, I will have people with me to watch my back and cover for me when things go south.
I should really stop this fight now; the wide-eyed gazes of the other people tell me they get the message. Maybe I need to switch to good cop now? “Lola, that enough, I think she gets the message.”
The poor girl smacks into the ground, landing face down and ass up. A stumpy tail has come loose from her clothing, it’s pretty tattered and seems to have been cut off without allowing to heal properly, leaving a ragged piece of scar tissue.
“Are you willing to answer my questions now?” I try to smile but for some reason, they all shrink back. I stopped shouting, okay? Shouldn’t this allow them to relax instead of tensing up further? The feline in front of me has her ears laid back and a green glow flickers in her eyes. She must be pissed, very good.
“Angeta, two decades, incomprehensible warbling, I am the best tracker here, plants love me, and humans make me angry.”
The incomprehensible warbling must be her race; I can’t make heads or tails of it. My local language library is updating as I speak but it’s really unlikely that a day of listening to people speak covers the entire language. The rest of her answer was fairly predictable though. She should manifest some form of plant connection when she starts cultivating.
“See Angeta, that wasn’t so bad, right? Now focus and remember this feeling.”
I pat her head with a burst of qi, spreading it evenly through her body. She gasps and stands on her toes, eyes wide with shock. Just before I release my control over the inserted qi I feel her dantian acting up, so I set the core formation in progress as I take a step back. Another standard case of the stomach core. May the toilet gods have mercy on you in the coming days.
I give a mental bow of apology as the fuzz-covered woman falls into a stupor. The qi in her body is now ownerless and will start to revert to wild qi in time. Injecting this amount of qi in a person will force a core to form, so the ownership will shift to the controller of said core.
As I guide the now trembling cat woman to the ground and into a sitting position I glance over the rest of my forced disciples. They are all staring at me but one. The black haired girl has her eyes fixed on Lola who is licking herself beside me.
I fix a grin on my face as I slowly walk over to the next person.
“SO YOU SOULLESS GINGER BASTARD, YOU GOING TO BE A PROBLEM TOO YOU PALE SHITSTAIN?”
Aah, this is cathartic somehow. Screaming my head of is truly calming for the soul.
“Oooh, no honey, I will do what - ever - you - want me to do.”
The guy gives me a slow wink. A shiver runs up my spine as I observe a predatory glint of a concerning nature in the fellow’s eye. Come back, my peaceful soul!
Chapter twenty
Beat
Idon’t even listen to anything the red-haired guy has to say, I just throw Lola in his face and face the next person in line. It’s no wonder I had to spring him from prison if the scaled bastard behaves like that all the time.
Ignoring the coquettish cries filled with anguish coming from behind me, I now stand in front of the black haired dungeon girl.
“Hello again, want to share something else besides the fact that you’re a suicidal dungeon diver?”
A blush spreads itself over the girl’s cheeks as she darts her eyes around, looking everywhere but me. Half the time her gaze lingers on Lola. I narrow my eyes towards the girl. I don’t care if she has developed a bunny complex, she is mine and this girl won’t get to pet her.
“YES SIR, I am called Tess, I think I’m eighteen, human, I like sneaking about and… well, you saved me so, shadows seem to like me.”
I simply nod and move on. Beating up a wounded person is a bit too much. The rest has started to relax, so I need to ramp up the tension a bit. I stand in front of the tall dark eyes fellow and begin.
“LOOK ME IN THE EYES YOU LANKY PIECE OF FUCK. STOP STARING AT THE GROUND, IS IT MORE IMPORTANT THAN ME? LOOK AT ME YOU DEPRESSING PATHETIC GOTH REJECT!”
I breathe out a bit of qi while mentally shouting ‘MURDER’ at it. My version of killing intent. Releasing true killing intent can be done in two ways. One can either murder a lot or have a deep and true desire of murdering your target. I can’t do either at the moment, so shouting at my qi to ‘KILL EVERYTHING’ and covering my target with it will have to do for now.
Despite it being a cheap, knockoff killing intent I notice every being stiffening and jerking upright. Even Lola drops the redhead and looks at me while the Tree rustles its leaves a bit.
The poor sod becomes even paler and tries to imitate a ruler, he is standing so straight.
“N-N-No sir, I-”
“WHAT ARE YOU WHISPERING FOR, SPEAK UP, MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON WHATEVER POOR SONS OF BITCHES PRODUCED A FAILURE LIKE YOU!”
Shouting at a shadow of my past is just so fulfilling. I need him to toughen up and get a grip because I suspect that this will be the only mind cultivator in the bunch. He visibly swallows and berates himself. I give him a few seconds and he tries again.
“N-No sir, I’m Ket, seventeen, human…”
The moment the word “human” comes from his mouth, a slight smirk plays across his lips while he glances over to the beast girl.
“And I-”
I don’t let him finish as I punch him in the gut with a qi filled strike. Letting him double over and flop to the ground I walk over to the blue girl.
“Rule number one, race is irrelevant.”
I take a breath.
“AND YOU FUZZBALL, TELL ME WHY I SHOULD HAVE BOTHERED GETTING YOU OUT OF THAT CELL.”
The girl flinches and seems to come back from her own little world. A timid voice worms itself into my ears.
“Clouds are nice, they call me Selis and I have been around for sixteen rainfalls, so…”
She blinks at me while I blink at her. She didn’t really end her sentence, just sort of trailed off and lost focus. Honestly, I’m at a loss for what to say. She is also staring past me, her gaze barely missing my face. I push away the image of a helpless duckling that’s floating up in my mind, give her a qi-loaded pat on the head and walk to my last victim.
“AND HERE WE HAVE THE FAT GUY.”
“Where is master Fellis? Do you know who-HURK”
The moment I hear his whiny voice I signal Lola.
“You can be a bit rougher with him; he has a tough body.”
The bunny is already juggling the blob of lard above her head, but at my word she gives a little squeak and fatty goes flying over the treetops.
Whether I like it or not, these misfits are the only suitable candidates I found in the city. Kids too young don’t have the maturity to practice and study long periods of time, but more importantly, they’re annoying. People that are around and above thirty often have trouble accepting new fundamental truths and the adaptability of their bodies has gone down, making qi integration a mu
ch more painful process. And the other people that did fit all had nice lives or close family. I sigh again.
⁂
After the guy, who still hasn’t introduced himself, shouted at everyone present, he had them sit in a circle. Tess wondered a bit at the differing treatment everyone received, but it was just one of the many, many, many questions spinning through her head. She decided to observe for now and ask questions later.
Right now, she is sitting on the grass, forming a semicircle with the others in front of the weird guy. His way of speaking seems to get better with each sentence he utters. His intonation is already markedly better than the first sentence he said. The weird insults are still flowing strong, however.
“This is qi.”
His voice shakes Tess from her contemplation. A small ball of white forms above his palm. Tess is shocked but tries hard to hide it. Silent casting of magic, not a single sign of emotion on his face. Who is this grand-magus-level being? This inhuman level of emotional control is something a higher ranked grand mage would have trouble with.
“It is a step up from mana, you can see it as a higher form of energy. Now there are three places where one can form their qi control centre, namely…”
The explanations keep blowing Tess’s mind. The monologue describing starting a cultivation base explains the feeling she has in her stomach as if she is about to shit out a moon. Further descriptions of breathing in mana in order to make more qi cause her eyes to sparkle. Explanations about what the core location signifies cause the sparkle to expand into a blaze. A feeling of joy overflows her when she realises that she can have the best of both worlds, permanent body improvement and casting spells. She can combine the strength of mana powered beastkin and the human mages’ spells! She starts the shake the moment various basics about ways to construct their own techniques are explained. Not able to hold on anymore, she raises her hand.
The DAO of Magic Page 16