Street Cultivation 3: Chapters 23-24 (Patreon)

Back to the Showdown, but this pair of chapters already gets us to the next major event. This sets off a sequence a few have been asking for, and an element I've intended to introduce ever since the first book, it just didn't make sense until now.

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Chapter 23: Completing the Spheres

Rick enjoyed the vistas of New Zealand while their helicopter flew in, then barely at all for the next several days. They might not be in a hotel this time, but the remote training facility had all the same facilities. It was like traveling the world and seeing nothing but hotel rooms. Though he wanted to get a chance to experience more of the country, he also knew that he needed to focus on training.

As soon as they arrived, H started him with a singular focus on the energy-rerouting techniques that Rick couldn't crack. He could master the basics, but there was always a more difficult version, and he still didn't know the purpose of all of it. Still, it was obvious that this was the second Lucore in the Triune Golden Spheres, so he gave it his full attention.

"Let's try this with something on the line." H spoke without preamble when he walked in one day, throwing a glass orb at him. "Hold that and attempt the same technique. You'll figure it out under fire. The burns can be motivation."

"The burns?" Rick cut off as H raised a hand and suddenly shot a burning ember at him.

He tried to block on instinct, ignoring the orb. It hit his forearm without any impact... but then he began to feel it burning into him. Rick cried out and clamped his hand down on it automatically, only for his hand to burn as well. Gritting his teeth, he drew up his defensive core and managed to smother it.

The attack must have been based purely on aura, because it left his sleeve untouched, but he could feel a burn on his arm underneath. Whatever it was, it was fairly dangerous... and there was another one coming at him.

This time Rick thrust forth the orb, desperately trying to repeat the technique he'd been struggling with. The ember hit the orb, burned for a time, then winked out. Across from him, H shook his head.

"That isn't the purpose of the exercise. Do you see now? You need to draw the foreign energy into the core of the technique. It's a whirlpool, just like I showed you. The orb is at the center and it draws everything in."

Another ember was coming at him, so Rick resisted the urge to block or dodge. Instead he focused entirely on his technique, even when the ember burned into his chest. Another came after it, and another. But as the pain spread through his chest, Rick suddenly felt something click. Most of his techniques were like flexing a new muscle, but this was like seeing the world from a new angle.

The last ember shifted in the air and came to rest in the center of the orb without touching him. Having felt it work, Rick finally understood how the technique was supposed to operate. He looked up and smiled. "I see now. It's lik-"

Another ember hit him in the face. Rick cursed and focused on the technique again. He was only able to redirect one in ten at first, but by the time he was aching too badly to continue, he was redirecting one ember in five. They continued to burn in the center of the glass orb until he let it go, when they promptly all winked out.

"Putting pressure on you seems to be the right choice." H folded his arms and scowled approvingly. "You get part of the afternoon off. Have another dose of Formula T as a reward. You may have a bit of trouble recovering anyway."

"For me, it wasn't like a whirlpool," Rick said. Between all the painful hits, he'd had enough time to think it through. "That implies using force to move the attacks, and that got me using physical force. Instead, I thought about it like the orb was a black hole. It doesn't suck in anything, it's the force of gravity that draws the aura."

"Huh. That's actually closer to how it truly works." H regarded him, then nodded as if confirming something to himself. "But I hope you've seen the weakness: it will only work against aura. This technique is completely useless against raw lucrim, a physical blow, or anything ether-enchanted."

"But most ranged attacks are based on aura. I completely get how useful it could be." Rick tossed the glass orb between his hands. "I assume this is a teaching tool, but I'll do my best to master the actual version."

"You'd better. We're behind schedule."

H directed him to sit down and showed him how to tweak the technique he'd been practicing. Then, given an infusion of lucrim from philosopher's elixir, he began gathering all the power into the second of the crystal spheres. Unfortunately, he failed to get the initial spark of the Lucore started three times before H told him to try again once he was rested.

"The defensive core came easily to you," H said, "but this is your weakness. You're too used to beatings with your fists. Normally we'd focus on this technique until you'd built up a basic core, but there's not enough time for that. We'll have to begin developing the third technique as well."

"That's the sensory one?"

"Correct. And it's likely to be difficult for you, because this isn't exactly a common technique. Put aside everything you know about sensing lucrim in modern portfolios. Instead, let your aura grow still and use it to feel the movements of lucrim in others, not yourself."

Rick closed his eyes and attempted to do so. Some of the exercises H had been forcing him to do were clearly preparation for this, and now that he understood their purpose, they came easier. It felt like he had his eyes closed for an hour, but eventually he began to feel his aura thrumming in response to his environment. Disappointingly weak, but after trying several times, he had to give up.

When he opened his eyes, he saw H staring at him. A moment later the other man returned to glowering. "That was too fast. Has someone been teaching you on the side?"

"No, it's because I've done this before." Rick raised his hands across from each other and let aura flow through them, as he had so many times before while working for the Global Lucrim Authority. "They had us search out lucrim anomalies this way. I figured the technique would never be useful for anything else, but I guess it isn't so archaic after all."

"Guess not." H had completely recovered from his surprise and tossed the third crystal sphere to him. "Try to get this Lucore started, if you can. You already understand the basics, it's just that you want the Lucore to react to the environment, not you. We'll worry about connecting it to your senses later."

That was a bit trickier than it sounded. Rick's first workable attempt failed, but he managed to get it on the second. He lifted the sphere with his aura and put the others along with it. One brightly glowing sphere, one with a seed of a Lucore, and one still empty. It was progress.

As he attempted to focus on his own work that evening, Rick found that he had a surprising difficulty: recovering from the embers. They hadn't been intense enough to deal serious damage to him, yet the ache persisted for hours. Worse, his defensive core and even the Dark Blood Kettle were struggling to adapt to them. Whatever the attack was, it seemed it was too well-constructed for him to easily build defenses against it.

For the first week of the Showdown, Rick essentially didn't go outside, just focusing on establishing his new Lucores. He eventually managed to start the ranged defense core and he layered more lucrim onto the sensory core. But when it came time for him to participate in an event, H forbade him from using the Triune Golden Spheres at all, saying they were still too fragile.

So Rick went up against the best in the world with nothing but his base cores. He barely lasted a minute, yet he was proud of his defenses. Reports of the uniqueness of New Zealand's techniques proved mostly true, yet he didn't fall apart at the first blows. If he'd had his full capabilities, he was sure that he would have done better.

Having played his role, he examined the Triune Golden Spheres carefully and then settled in to work.

[Triune Golden Spheres: 27,950

- Defensive Sphere: 20,250

- Absorption Sphere: 1200

- Sensory Sphere: 6500]

That afternoon when H entered, he thrust something forward irritably. "Did you receive a care package? I thought you didn't have family aside from your sister."

"Oh, that must be from Lisa." Rick hopped up, far faster than he would have wanted to admit. The package was indeed from Branton, though it was labeled with a business address. When he took off the outer wrapping, he discovered a simple box that contained multiple cans of serum and a few smaller boxes.

"Other supplements?" H regarded the aluminum cans as if the element of aluminum had murdered his family. "Is all the lucrim we're pouring into you not enough? You do realize how close you're cutting it to becoming a power addict, right?"

"This is just serum, not elixir." Rick opened up a can and took a sip - it was everything he remembered and more. The mint flavor was just a bit sweeter and he felt the refreshment tingling through him almost immediately. Smiling, Rick handed another can to H. "Try it. If you can honestly tell me that in your professional opinion, this will ruin me, I'll reconsider."

H took the can with an expression of distaste, and seemed even less pleased to crack open the top. When he took a sip, his face was completely neutral for several long seconds. His grunt of approval came with extreme displeasure.

"So it's fine?" Rick asked. H set the can down, grumbling under his breath.

"It's ably crafted serum. Warriors shouldn't need serum. Nothing but a low cost alternative for those who can't afford philosopher's elixir. But if you're going to drink it, you could do worse than this."

"I told you, she's a professional." Rick eagerly began finishing off the can, but he regarded H between sips. "So what are we doing for today's lesson?"

"You might be barely adequate when it comes to the core techniques, but you need to start using them together. So today, we use this." H held up a strip of cloth that Rick recognized as a blindfold. "And if you make a single childish joke, I'll just leave."

Rick held his tongue and put on the blindfold. He knew what was coming next, but that actually made him more anxious. All he could do was stand in the center of the room and do his best to defend against the embers flying at him from all directions. For several minutes, that meant fumbling blindly while the blazing pieces of aura burned into him.

In theory, he could use his sensory Lucore to sense the incoming attacks, then absorb them with his ranged Lucore. In practice, it was nothing like that. Being able to sense large scale lucrim anomalies was nothing like being able to pinpoint the direction and angle of an attack in a single second. Even when he felt it approach, he was usually wrong about the direction. And even if everything else miraculously went well, it was difficult to use the final Lucore with so much else on his mind.

He saw why H had started him with juggling. That didn't stop him from still being thrown into the fire.

When he was too burned to keep training, Rick tugged off the blindfold and dropped into a seated position. "So is this technique useless unless I see an attack coming?" he asked. "Because there are plenty of people out there faster than me, and some techniques can literally travel at the speed of light."

"When you fully master the technique, it will absorb everything that gets near you." H shook his head slowly. "The Midas Foundation would still be more idiot-friendly, but I knew you would need something that worked automatically. But you're not there yet."

"Wait a minute. If the final version will absorb everything that gets close, why am I training so hard on using it directionally?"

H scoffed. "You think this is some mythical technique that will just magically absorb any attack whatsoever? Of course not. It's made of lucrim and aura, so it can be broken by lucrim or aura. When you run into someone truly strong, you'll want to have mastered every component of the technique."

"I figured as much." Rick rubbed his shoulder where one ember had burned particularly deep. "But that actually had me wondering. We're investing a lot of time and lucrim into something that's essentially just another defense. I assume that it's better specialized to deal with ranged attacks, or there'd be no point. But what if we just poured everything into defense? How much could I endure?"

"It wouldn't be the worst strategy in the world. You've seen that defense counts for a lot. But it wouldn't be the best, either. Do you think that you're going to have more lucrim invested than every opponent you'll ever face in your life?"

"Obviously not. So what's the advantage?"

"The advantage is the failure state. This specialized Lucore won't absorb everything, but some of what it can't absorb, it could redirect away from you. And if it's overloaded, the sphere will collapse without harming you. Much, anyway. If your over-sized defensive core fails, those attacks are taking a toll on your body."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Rick lifted the ranged sphere and floated it around his palm. "If you're giving out secrets that you've been withholding for no reason-"

"The reason is not wanting to overload your thuggish mind."

"Then why not explain what I actually do with all this energy the Lucore absorbs? I've already tried absorbing it into myself and that doesn't work at all. Can it be thrown back at my opponent?"

"That is... actually a weakness of the Triune Golden Spheres." H hesitated, which was so uncharacteristic for him that Rick narrowed his eyes. "There are techniques that can absorb and return attacks, yes. But they tend to require extreme focus, so they couldn't be built into a compound technique like this. Aura attacks you absorb are converted to pure force, then released when the sphere starts to fail."

"What, creating a shockwave all around me?" Rick wasn't sure, but he thought he was getting a lot better at the fundamental construction of Lucores. He was glad to see H nod without throwing in any insults.

"Correct. It's a desperation move, but it would only appear when you're desperate. And most importantly, it works automatically. So once your mind is capable of handling the full Triune Golden Spheres at once..."

"...I have multiple layers of defenses all working subconsciously," Rick finished. "That makes sense. It's a brilliant choice, really. What was so much better about the Midas Foundation?"

"Bah. You snubbed it, so why do you care? Get up, there's more training to be done."

Over the coming weeks, Rick managed to slowly utilize the full technique. By now, juggling with the resistance spheres was easy, which made it effortless to rotate the Triune Golden Spheres within him. He was still mentally focusing on each one and switching as they were necessary, but he thought he was getting closer. Sometimes when an attack came at him from behind, he absorbed it without thinking, without even being aware that he'd noticed it.

Still, doing it in training was different from doing it in reality. H enrolled him in several less competitive events and even had him help with the qualifying rounds for new contestants. Rick earned no seals and didn't even win any victories, but that was never the point. His only goal was to use the Triune Golden Spheres in actual combat, and through painful mistakes, he was growing used to it.

Yet even though Rick met a huge number of competitors during all the events, he barely remembered any of them. Most of them would fail, and even those who were inducted into the Showdown would probably participate in different events. Anyone local to New Zealand he wouldn't have a chance to see again for years, so it felt pointless to get to know them.

Unfortunately, that was true of most people he met. Traveling the world while having only temporary acquaintances struck Rick as sad, and he often found himself falling back on familiar relationships. Melissa was busy, but their texts gave him life. He enjoyed talking to Lisa, though she seemed even more formal and guarded than before. If she needed that distance, he wouldn't argue.

Given a few extra hours, Rick reached out a little further. He got in touch with Uncle Frank, which was a fun conversation, and arranged for a future visit. Not all the details were certain, but it seemed that everyone could be in Vietnam at the same time. Beyond that, he made contact with Adsila and Wemilat again, only to find out that they'd been following his exploits. Finally he sent a couple emails to Damian, though he didn't get any response.

The trip to Siberia was getting closer, so Rick began to pack his things. It didn't take long, as he'd barely moved out of his suitcase. But while sorting through the new training items and finding a place for Lisa's box of serum, his bike chip fell out. Rick ran his fingers over the dark chip, realizing how long it had been since he'd gone biking. Even though he went everywhere by taxi or private vehicle now, he missed it.

As they ran out of training time, Rick looked at the Triune Golden Spheres one more time and was surprised by how much progress he'd made.

[Triune Golden Spheres: 53,750

- Defensive Sphere: 25,000

- Absorption Sphere: 11,250

- Sensory Sphere: 17,500]

Just over 25,000 lucrim gained... that was a huge advancement, almost like getting a Birthright Core. Yet in a strange way, despite all the pain and suffering he'd gone through for them, they didn't feel his. The crystal spheres floated in his lucrima soul, yes, but they didn't feel part of him like his true Lucores. Maybe that would change as he grew used to the technique, but it left him with an odd dissatisfaction that no amount of success could shake.

On their very last day, H invited him outside the training complex and they sparred atop a gorgeous mountain range. It wasn't a very intense sparring match and H didn't use his embers, so it was actually relaxing. Rick enjoyed himself, letting his expanded senses slide over the mountains all around him as they fought.

It did become more intense in the end, a fierce hand to hand bout atop a rocky outcropping. Rick was surprised to find that he was actually winning, and he wasn't sure that H was holding back. Of course, if the other man was fighting seriously he would have stayed at a distance and used embers, but still. His strength matching up to his mentor's weakness was no small thing. For the first time in his life, Rick actually felt strong.

When they finished, he sat down on the edge and looked out over the rolling landscape. H stood nearby, characteristically silent, and Rick eventually decided he had to ask.

"Why end like this? You haven't been much for relaxation before."

"You could use the break." H didn't criticize like usual, instead staring over the horizon with a strange expression. "Because tomorrow we go to Siberia."

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Chapter 24: Entering Siberia

After following the Showdown through four different countries, Rick thought that he knew how everything went. For all the differences in culture and climate, the modern world had flattened the process of traveling. They always flew into a major city, their Showdown cards allowing them to skip customs, and went straight to a training facility.

Not so in Siberia.

Rick had ignored their flight path to focus on training the Triune Golden Spheres when warnings suddenly blared from the cockpit. He leapt to his feet automatically, but saw H shake his head. A voice announced some sort of warning in what Rick assumed was Russian, then their helicopter changed direction and began heading down.

"The Greater Siberian Domain has excellent border security," H explained. "It's just a bit blunt about everything. They need to approve our entry and give us government-issued identification. Just cooperate and it will all be over quickly."

Imagining cavity searches, Rick did his best not to get too concerned as they landed. When they stepped out of the helicopter, it appeared to be in a desolate snowfield with nothing but a small airport nearby. Several soldiers awaited them, wearing military uniforms with white camouflage and more fur than normal. The leader stepped forward and examined them skeptically.

"Showdown, yes? That way." His accent was thick, but the finger stabbing toward one of the buildings was clear enough. As they walked, surrounded by a military escort, Rick shifted closer to H.

"Surely they can't do this for everyone."

"Obviously not, though the normal borders are tight as well." One of the soldiers glowered at them, but talking must be allowed, because H glared right back at her, then continued. "But anyone who is rated as over a certain threat level is treated differently. As Showdown participants, we're automatically on that list. I took this route to get us through faster."

As they walked the biting cold began to get through even Rick's defensive cores, but fortunately they were escorted directly into the building. He hadn't realized how loud the wind had been until it was suddenly gone, the silence within the building surreal.

Within, he saw a gate that reminded him of an airport terminal with a severe-looking man awaiting them on the other side of ether-reinforced glass. Or maybe that was a friendly expression for Siberia. H led them forward and nudged Rick to get out his card. After examining their identification, however, the man only grunted and held out a hand.

"Lucrim portfolios?"

Rick started to get out his phone, only to have the man shake his head severely. Meanwhile, H had revealed a circular metal plate that was accepted by a scanner. When Rick looked toward H for explanation, he just nodded back to the official.

"Siberia does not acknowledge the measurements or rankings of outside nations," the official said flatly. He regarded Rick with pale eyes, then pointed toward a different line. "You must be evaluated and granted an official measurement."

That seemed harmless enough to cooperate with, so Rick nodded and followed his instructions. Another soldier standing on guard opened a gate for him, allowing him to step into another room. There was a large metal panel on the floor with several metal arms arcing around it, reminding him of some sort of standing dental chair.

A technician spoke to him in Russian, but the gesture was clear enough. Rick went to stand in the center where he saw two symbols for feet. Immediately the mechanical arms began to move around him, some revealing ends that looked uncomfortably stabby, but none got close to him. He could feel some technique poking at his lucrima soul, based on aura but not quite an attack. His instinct was still to try to absorb it, but he doubted that would be well-received.

"Good. Now brace self. Defensive cores." The instructions came a moment before a tall metal bar began emitting blinding red light. Rick instinctively raised both his defenses as he felt the light burn into him. This one could well have been an attack for most, though it wasn't enough to scathe him. He could only hope they had modulated its strength based on their first measurements.

Then it seemed he was done. Rick was ushered through a different door back into the main line, where he was glad to see H for once. There he filled out a bit of paperwork, thankfully in English, and was then handed a metal circle similar to the one he had seen before. It had his name and an ID number printed directly into the metal, but he was more interested in the symbols at the center.

It was clearly the Siberian equivalent of the American ether tier system. Rick had vaguely known that the same ratings agencies didn't operate for the whole world, but it hadn't been relevant until that point. This system was rather blunt:

[Strength: 79,000

Rank: Junior Fighter

Affiliation: Showdown Guest - Third Class]

Though the new system immediately interested him, Rick decided that it would just be a distraction. It didn't matter how they measured his strength, only what he could do. The "Third Class" designation made him wonder about the others, but it was all useless without anything to compare.

Fortunately, the whole process wasn't drawn out and they were soon escorted out of the other side of the building, then back to their helicopter. H was already finished and waiting, saying a few words to the soldiers before gesturing for him to follow. No one came after them as they walked the final distance to the helicopter, though Rick couldn't stop himself from looking back.

"They'll just let us go now?"

"They don't like to waste time in Siberia." H made a gesture to lower the ramp, then glanced down at him while they waited. "And they don't need to. Not having your identification badge is a major crime here, even for visitors. The badge itself has a unique ether signature built into it connected to your profile. So everyone will know who you are. And obviously the government can track you."

Rick frowned. "No privacy?"

"They don't really consider that a major value here."

"In that case... I want to see your ID."

"Why should I let you?" H turned away from him and walked up the ramp, which instantly began to retract, forcing Rick to scramble to enter.

Once he was inside, however, he decided that he wouldn't be put off so easily. If the badges allowed anyone to access information, then H's badge wouldn't be private either. Rick tried to extend both his normal senses and his enhanced ones out toward the older man, but got nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet with his new observation Lucore, he sensed a faint thread tying him to his own badge. There must be another one connecting H... yes, there it was. They appeared artificial, an element of technology as opposed to anything more spiritual. If that was the case, perhaps he needed to use his own badge...

Getting it back out of his pocket, Rick pursued the connection, then focused toward H. It worked surprisingly quickly and letters of aura appeared on the back side of his badge:

[Strength: 127,000

Rank: Foreign Trainer

Affiliation: Showdown Guest - Second Class]

No name, though he assumed the government could get that information. Perhaps that was considered less important than a person's strength out here. Though Rick was intrigued by the difference in their rated strength, which wasn't as high as he expected, he reminded himself that it didn't really matter.

"You figured it out?" H glanced over at him and then shook his head. "You've gained basic competence. That's obnoxious."

"I expected the difference to be bigger," Rick said. "I've kind of been assuming you were an immortal too, or at least close to one."

"None of that is any of your business." H sat down and folded his arms, glaring him into a seat across from him. "Now, 79,000 is not a terrible score, but it needs to be higher. This is where a demonic bond would have been extremely useful."

"They count that as part of the number?"

"Everything is part of the number, even equipment. What matters here is efficacy."

Rick nodded acceptance, but H clearly wasn't done.

"As I said, I'm not going to force a bond on you. And I've been patient because you've avoided embarrassing yourself too badly. But here, a few tricks won't cut it. You'd better not have been lying about having some plan to get a better bond, or you're not getting entered into any events."

"I'll do what I can." Rick had been avoiding thinking about the subject, or focusing solely on Bftgage and Ythsil. But though he trusted the two demons, he didn't expect them to ever present him with some amazing combat bond. Hopefully they could at least lead him to something that would appease H.

"Entry into the demon realm isn't too difficult here, due to the number of fusions, but it's highly restricted. I'll set something up for you as soon as possible."

"Thanks." Trying to distract himself from all the other thoughts, Rick tried to refocus. "I assume we'll be in a training center as always, but we'll still see Siberian culture. Anything I need to know?"

"Don't start any fights. If you think the limits on killing are lax in the US, you haven't seen anything." H jabbed a finger at the badge still held in his hands. "Some would argue there's no rule of law here, just rule of affiliations. Fortunately, the Showdown is internationally respected. It won't earn you respect, but it will earn you a bit of protection."

"That's... better than it could be. It seems like this would be a terrible place to start a Showdown career."

"Only idiots send their trainees here first. Some don't let them come to Siberia until a full year of events, but your first few months have been adequate. You shouldn't die, anyway."

Rick took a deep breath, his attempt at a distraction having utterly failed. "Is getting a demonic bond here a mistake, then? Are they going to just take my soul by force?"

"No, the Siberian demon corps are international agencies. Cutthroat, but that's par for the course. Read the fine print and you'll live." H regarded him sternly. "Does that mean you're going to actually go through with this, instead of being a racist coward again?"

The only response Rick had was to shake his head. It seemed like he didn't have a choice, yet he was banking heavily on Bftgage and Ythsil finding a good path for him. Without any contact with them, he was actually nervous. Could they survive in an environment like this one? If he had sent them to their deaths...

As Rick stewed in his thoughts, the helicopter took them deep into Siberia.