Legacy of the M'Zee Chapter 16 (Patreon)

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Thanks to everyone whose voted in the poll I posted! I'm going to leave it up for another day or two, but it's looking like the yanyuedao is going to win. For everyone who voted something else, especially those who wanted something more esoteric, I'll definitely work someone in that uses those weapons. The Stormy Mountain Sect is fairly eclectic in its weapon usage, after all. Also, he'll be getting a second weapon as a gift from the town itself/a friendly smith that might be something else suggested. 

This is the last chapter of Legacy I have written, where I'm up to 22 on Essence Wave 2, so next week you might only get one chapter, or you'll get two Essence Waves. Well, or I'll probably just put up chapter 2 of Stormy Mountain Sect. Gotta rework chapter 3 a bit in it, based upon the vote (just add in the weapon and where it comes from). 

I hope you're all having a great week!

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

I opened myself to the Aether around me, feeling everyone else’s gathering techniques pulling in Aether across the circle. Filling my meridians took nearly thirty minutes, each expansion draining me faster than I could pull Aether in. After that, I had to completely fill my center, which took another half-hour, my capacity ridiculous for a Circulation Gatherer. Even Princess Aleksandra, who beat my expansion during Foundation Condensation, had a smaller overall capacity due to my perfect set of meridians.

Finally, my center was full. The Aether touching the top was weird, almost like when your hand falls asleep and you poke at it. The upper portion of my center felt tingly, the presence of Aether almost reawakening long dormant tissue.

I mentally took the entirety of my center in my hand, covering every square centimeter of it, then compressed downward. My meridians swelled, ballooning in size. At full compression, the edges of my pool and crown almost touched the tiny Core in the center of my being. I paused there for a few seconds, but decided it wasn’t enough. I relaxed my hold on my center, but kept the pressure in my meridians by sheer stubbornness.

Sia’s mental presence covered mine, helping to prevent the leakage while I worked on refilling my now empty pool. By the time my center was full yet again, another Core had to be placed, Lea taking one from her pack. Everyone around me was focused on gathering as quickly and powerfully as they could, only pausing when the Core died. It’d been almost four hours at this point, and none of us were ready to stop.

My meridians were uncomfortable, not quite screaming in pain but right on the edge of a stretch that would help versus hurt. This got so much worse when I squashed my center again. My body was enveloped with agony, my blood vessels crushed as the meridians that ran along with them swelled to a grotesque caricature of what they should be.

Vaya and Jamila both sent a stream of Aether through me, worried as my skin expanded outward, but I barely choked out, “I’m fine. Advancing! Match me” before moving my point of view back into my center. Another hour passed, my willpower stretching as I held on, my teeth grinding and my body shivering in pain. I refuse to give up, I growled to myself, knowing that stopping, giving in to the agony, would condemn me to a substandard, a weak advancement.

Finally, my meridians collapsed onto themselves. Every bit of my body was flooded with Aether. My cells eagerly drank up the abundant energy suddenly flowing through them, biological processes changed and supercharged. Out of every advancement, every tempering, every step along the path of a gatherer, I think this one was the most profound.

Every bit of me was made new. As that massive wave of Aether pushed through me, tiny black spots, an oily film, secreted itself from my pores, my body’s sweat glands secreting the impurities I’d absorbed throughout my career as a gatherer, expelled yet again.

I collapsed from my lotus position, falling to the ground as every muscle in my body cried out in agony and wonder as they adapted to my new paradigm. “Breathe Aiden,” Sia commanded me, and I took a gasping breath. I smelled the berries, and a faint fragrance that I thought was coming from a flowering plant on the other side of the berry clearing. I opened my eyes, blinking from the sudden onslaught of data.

The clearing was dark, night having fallen while we gathered, but I could see almost perfectly in the glowing light of the Aether. Everything around me was slightly hazy as the Aether in the atmosphere absorbed into the ground, plants, and people. I focused on my eyes, pulling Aether away from them, and the night grew dimmer. The Aether flows were still clearer than they’d ever been, but they became translucent enough to see Vaya as she concentrated internally.

An errant breeze kicked my scent up to my nose, and I inaudibly gagged, trying to not disturb the others. “Is there a stream or pond nearby?” I asked Sia.

“Yes, follow,” he told me, then banked into the trees from where he was hovering over my head. He’d leapt off me when I fell onto my side.

I stood quickly. Too quickly, actually, as I ended up leaping two meters into the air. A quick pulse of Aether put a platform of Air Aether below my feet, and I gently stepped down before carefully walking after Sia. I grabbed my bag on the way, holding it extended to keep it clean. Every couple of steps walking through the forest, I ended up going too far, or pushing too hard to one side, and smacking into trees or bushes I was trying to go around.

It took only a few minutes to reach the stream Sia had pointed me towards. My aura flared out of control a couple of times, and I felt more than I saw animals and Beasts fleeing from me. Once, a Beast tried to push against me with its own aura, in the same way a dog would bare its teeth or a cat would hiss when frightened. Sia did something, and the Beast scampered off. “Thanks,” I told him.

“Thank me by cleaning quickly,” Sia said. “Your smell is driving more things away than your aura. Also, get your aura back under your control, or you will disturb the others.”

I nodded before stripping to my underwear and scrubbing down as best I could. A thick bar of rough soap helped as I scraped away the newest film of grossness my advancement had produced. After getting as clean as I could, I put on another set of clothes then looked at my dirty set.

I put my hands on the ground and started to manipulate my Aether as Vaya had taught me. This time, though, I didn’t try to make a pillar or a wall, but a bowl. My Aether moved easier and quicker under my direction, and very rapidly I had a stone bowl half a meter deep and nearly a full meter wide. Water Aether made a bridge that pulled the stream’s water into the bowl, then Fire heated it up.

I shaved a bit of soap off the bar I’d been scrubbing with, then used Metal Aether to form a bar like Librarian Narwan had shown me how. He’d probably laugh at me using an Alchemy technique to approximate a washing machine’s agitator, I smiled to myself while stirring my soiled clothes roughly.

A few minutes of agitation and I pulled the clothes out. I scrubbed them some more in the stream, washing away the soap. A quick sniff had me wash them again, and then they were clean enough for a trip through the woods. “No longer gagging when I smell them, at least,” I told myself, then proceeded to dry them with bursts of Air and Fire Aether.

The bushes behind me were pushed aside and a cute voice said, “Oh!”

I looked over my shoulder hurriedly to see Jamila standing there with her eyes open wide. In the light of Sia’s wings, she looked gorgeous, at least until the smell hit me. “You advanced too!” I exclaimed, starting to turn, then stopping when she squeaked. “I’m going to put my clothes on now, and then leave you alone. Would you like Sia to watch over you, if he is agreeable?”

She nodded, then grinned, the shocked expression leaving her face. “What if I asked you to watch over me?”

I gulped and blushed, hurriedly pulling on my mostly dry clothing. “I can do that,” I said. “If it’d make you feel safer.” I turned to face her, and offered up the soap I’d been using. “This worked well at pulling the gunk off me.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking the soap and then shucking her shirt.

I turned around quickly, stepping to the side to make sure I could see the forest around us. My face was on fire. I focused inward for a second, pushing extra Aether into my Aether Sight. Just in case, I thought, glancing around. Swirls of Aether flowed through the trees, but no moving clumps to indicate Beasts nearby, except for Sia sitting in the tree above me and the tiny Fluffy.

Fluffy scampered over to my leg and then climbed up to my shoulder. “Well, hello there little guy,” I said with a grin. “May I pet your head?”

He rubbed against my cheek, which I took to be an assent, so I reached up and scratched at the top of his head. He made a purring squeak sound. I grinned at him. “Your Bond partner is pretty cool, you know that? She’s also smart, pretty, and strong, and I’m glad we’re on this journey of advancement together.”

Fluffy squeaked back at me, and I felt a sense of amusement from Sia. “Fluffy,” Sia started to say, a smirk audible in his communication, “agrees with you.”

I started to say something snarky back at him, when I saw a bundle of Wood Aether bounding through the trees toward us. I pulled my fist back and started on the Forceful Punch Technique, keeping my eyes away from looking directly at it. On its last leap through the bushes, I turned rapidly, punching out, only to exclaim in surprise and stop my technique by pushing my hand down and yanking the Aether back.

The backlash of the failed technique stunned me for a second, letting Lampart bear me to the ground. She licked my face, and I felt approval from her. Fluffy squeaked in annoyance, causing Lampart’s head to examine the little Beast. She huffed, then licked him, picking the sugar glider up off the ground with her tongue.

“There you are,” Vaya said. “Lampart told me you ran off smelling awful.” She stepped out from where Lampart had jumped on me. “Oh, hi Jamila.” I started to turn, then stopped myself.

“Did you advance as well?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said with a giant grin, then grimaced. “I need to clean off, and there so happens to be a stream right here, along with a galant young man standing guard.”

“He is very cute too!” Jamila called out. “Can you help me get my back?”

“Of course I can,” Vaya said, smiling at me, “As long as you wash mine as well”. She walked past me, and I heard her shirt hit the ground.

I’m on watch, gotta keep them safe, I said multiple times to myself. Don’t turn around and get distracted from watching the forest around us. I was immediately reminded that Lampart, Sia, and Fluffy were around when Lampart leapt over the stream to the other side, snuffling at the ground for something. Fluffy leapt off my shoulder, his arms spread wide to glide over to the girls, where I heard Vaya exclaiming how cute he is.

I tried not to pay attention to what they were saying, or the sounds they made as they bathed. This was especially true when they started to talk about me. “It looks like he got slightly taller,” Jamila said. “I will have to see if my head fits on his shoulder anymore.”

“He will squat slightly to make it,” Vaya laughed. “I think he has gotten even more handsome.”

“When I first got to the stream,” Jamila said, “he was still drying his clothes out.”

“No, really?” Vaya asked.

“Yes. He has a really nice butt,” Jamila said.

“You know I can hear you?” I called back to them.

“Of course,” Vaya said. “Why do you think we are talking this loud? We want you to hear us.”

“You’re making it really hard to stick with my convictions,” I said.

“I know we have spoken before on what they are,” Jamila said. “But you have never told me why you hold those beliefs. Can you tell us?”

I scooted closer, still keeping my eyes away. “On my world, there are many different religions. The person in charge of the group home I lived in believed very strongly in one of them. I never really did, but I still lived according to her beliefs because I respected her opinion so much. One of the major beliefs she spoke at length about was not consummating a relationship before marriage.”

I paused for a few seconds, collecting my thoughts, “Sex makes a connection between people that is immense, even in a one night stand, where you get together and never see each other again. At least, that’s my belief.”

“So you do not want to forge that connection with us until our relationship becomes more permanent?” Vaya asked.

I grimaced. “I wouldn’t say I don’t want to,” I laughed. “But I like, love, you both and respect you enough not to want to,” I stopped. “Not to take something precious is how it was termed to me.”

“So, if we were to become truly betrothed, you might consider it?” Vaya asked.

“We’ll talk,” I said.

“Can you tell me about her?” Jamila asked.

“Of course,” I responded, then spent the next twenty minutes telling stories from my teenage years, as (name) tried to corral a house with a bunch of rowdy children and adolescents. While talking, I collected the girls' clothes and scrubbed them down like I had mine, which had Jamila asking how I’d done that. I explained, still looking away, and then was made to promise to teach her after she got dressed.

Finally, they were done cleaning off, and I had dried their clothing out. I laid both sets out neatly on a couple of rocks, then stepped away so they could dry off and get dressed. “You know,” Vaya said. “I could get used to this. Taking a brisk bath with a beautiful girl while a handsome guy watched out for us and cleaned our clothing.”

“He does spoil us,” Jamila said. “I like it.”

“We are ready,” Vaya said once they were clothed.

“Good, because Jon and Bridget want to use this spot,” Sia told me. “I already directed Ming and Lea to go north of us, while Xiao went south.”

I repeated what he said. “So everyone advanced!” I exclaimed. “That’s awesome, and will make it much more likely we’ll do well. I hope.”

“Come on,” Jamila said. “I want to make some Milistaos.”

We rushed back, passing Jon and Bridget on the way. Jon reached up and gave me a high five. I shook my head at him, then sniffed my hand. “Gross, dude,” I said, before scrubbing it off on a tree.

“Next time do not take so long, hun?” he responded.

“Blame the girls, not me,” I laughed. “I was clean almost an hour ago.”

“Sure you were,” he gave me a wink.

I glared at him, until Bridget yanked on his other hand. Vaya grabbed mine and said, “I am hungry. Come on.”

We walked back to our little clearing, all of us still stumbling every once in a while as we misjudged a step or pushed off a tree too hard. Vaya and I more than Jamila. “Don’t worry,” I told her when she commented on it. “You’ll probably be around the same level once you find a similar hidden location like we did. We’ll all head with you to find it, and then help you process the results. Or at least talk you through what we can.”

“Okay. Is that why your body seemed different than before?” She asked.

“Huh?” I asked back.

“When I scanned you, your body had a number of changes to it. Denser neurons, enlarged meridians, and a stronger skin,” she explained.

“No idea, but probably,” I shrugged. “I mostly noticed it as a very large benefit to gathering speed.”

We got back to the camp, and Jamila took out a small pot, two mixing bowls, and the food she was going to cook. After a few minutes, where she rebuffed all efforts to help out, she had made a thick dough. She poured a small jar of oil into the pot and set it boiling. “Aiden, keep the flame going please?” She asked.

I nodded and gently channeled Aether into the little stove, quickly heating the pot up. I looked over to see her rolling the dough into balls and then dipping them in powdered sugar before dropping them in. She waited for a few minutes, then scooped them out with a ladle. She dipped the still hot fried dough balls back into the sugar then set them to the side to cool.

I reached over to grab one and she smacked my hand. “Wait for everyone,” she pouted.

“But they look so good!” I whined, giving her a puppy pouting face.

“No. Eat some jerky if you need to eat, like Vaya is,” Jamila commanded imperiously, then grinned. “You will like them, but I only packed enough for this one celebration. There is some extra, because I had hoped to find Princess Aleksandra and her team too, but I want to save the leftovers for them.”

“Okay,” I smiled at her.

“What?” She asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“I was just thinking you’re amazing,” I said. “Kind and thoughtful.”

“Hush, you,” she blushed. With a happy grin, she turned back to the dough and continued to make her treat for everyone. Ten minutes of cooking later, Xiao stumbled in. He’d attempted to jump and scare us, but misjudged his strength and ended up face planting near Vaya.

“Congrats on advancing,” I told him. “You’re not the only one to crash into something afterwards.”

“This change is much larger than I expected,” he said, then spit out a small amount of dirt. “Eww gross.”

I shook my head at him. Jamila chimed in, “Once everyone is back, everyone can have one of these Milistaos.”

“Those smell good,” Xiao said, walking over.

“Shoo,” she told him. “Go get a piece of bread or something.”

“But,” Xiao tried to complain, only to shrink back from her glare.

Over the next hour, the other four filtered in with damp hair and grins. After Jamila had finished cooking, I’d dug through my bag to find the one bag of wine I’d brought for the same reason, to celebrate our advancement.

Ming, Jon, and Xiao all produced a bag as well. “Let’s save one,” I said, putting mine back. “In case we find Aleks, Milenna, Lilianna, and Hanna.”

Enough cups for everyone were found, wine poured, and fried dough passed out to all of us, including the Bonds. “To advancing, to friendship, and to saving our world,” I said, holding my cup up. They all looked at me funny. “Now you raise your glasses and say, ‘here, here’.”

“Here, here?” Vaya said questioningly.

“Good enough, let’s drink,” I laughed, then downed the cup. It shot into my gut like a lead weight. I looked over at Jon. “Really?”

“What? I figured if we were celebrating, we should really celebrate,” he said. “At least the Bonds won’t get drunk.”

“Enjoy your celebration,” Sia said. “We will keep watch.”