Stormy Mountain Sect Chapter 14 (Patreon)

*** AUTHOR’S NOTE ***

Not so happy with this one. Had a bit of a depression slump the last few days, so I’m just putting out what I’ve done. The next chapter should be fun, and then I will probably have gotten Homecoming back from the editor! I already moved the release date to the 24th of this month!

Eventually, Homecoming will be pulled into KU. I’m thinking the first few days of May now, so I’ll be pulling it off Patreon before then. You will be getting an epub of it ahead of everyone else!

Either way, enjoy!

*** AUTHOR’S NOTE ***

It took me forty minutes to reach the building with the cultivation rooms, giving me only five to find the right room and my friends. I staggered into the lobby of the room, leaning against the door. Inside, I found the room to be fairly small, with only enough space for a desk and a few chairs. There were five doors in the walls, one to the left, two on either side of the desk, and two on the right. Behind the desk a young woman in the robes of an Outer Disciple waved me over. “Are you okay?” She asked, her voice melodious.

“Yes,” I said. “Elder Grainne wanted to try a new cultivation method with my aspect.”

“Ah,” she said, a knowing look on her face. “Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes ma’am,” I nodded. “It should be under Marc.”

She consulted a jade tablet, then nodded. “You have room ninety-four. Fourth door on the left through this doorway,” she pointed to her left at the door behind the desk. “A Nuan and an Aisling has said that you approved their presence. Did you?”

“Yes ma’am,” I said. “They are my friends, and we agreed to share the costs for the rooms. Feng will be joining us as well.”

She nodded, “Good. I will direct them to you if they arrive in the next five minutes. If not, you will miss your scheduled time.”

“Thank you,” I said, giving her a bow. I stumbled slightly, my legs still not responding exactly like they should. After recovering, I walked stiffly through the door, and saw Nuan and Aisling waiting in the hallway.

“Marc!” Nuan exclaimed, rushing over to me. She stopped before running into me, though, as she noticed my limping gait. “What happened?” She threw my arm over her shoulder and helped me walk over to where Aisling waited in front of the cultivation room.

I quickly explained what Elder Grainne had done, and how it had helped me, while she grumbled at my injury. “You know, I won’t be able to keep up with you if you keep finding these shortcuts,” Nuan grumbled.

“I’m not going to abandon you just because I got lucky,” I said.

Aisling grinned at us then laughed, “You two are so cute together.”

I grinned at Nuan’s blush, then looked at the closed door. Aisling offered, “You need to use your badge to open it, since you were the first one to reserve the room. As long as Nuan is present, we should be able to cultivate through the second bell too. Then we can all get food!”

I shook my head, chuckling at her energy, then reached into my robes to pull out my badge. With a click, the door opened. Qi flowed out of the room, noticeable to even my weak Qi senses.

“Thank you,” Feng said, rushing over. “I didn’t expect you to let me join.”

“You got an hour tomorrow, right?” Nuan asked slyly.

“Of course,” he said with a laugh. “Anything to spend another bit of time with this beautiful flower.” He bowed to Aisling with a dirt-eating grin on his face.

Aisling blushed, then smacked his shoulder with a fist. He grinned at her, his face showing a moment of vulnerability before he hid it behind his brash exterior.

I shook my head at them and stepped inside the room. It was functionally bare, a ten foot by ten foot room with a silver Enchantment covering the floor. A pile of cushions sat in one corner and a large hourglass in another. As I watched, the hourglass glowed with Qi and flipped over. “Well, there’s our timer,” I said. “Come on, don’t waste any time.”

“Of course,” Feng said, bowing to the two young ladies. Nuan shook her head while Aisling giggled. The door shut behind him as he followed them in, and the Qi density quickly increased. I grabbed cushions and spread them apart, setting up a diamond on the floor to keep us spread apart. Nuan’s arm trailed down my own while she sat down, and the look she gave me was positively sultry.

I smiled at her, glad that we were together here at the Sect, then the others plopped down on their cushions. I jogged over to mine, sat, and started to breathe with intention. Seconds later, I found my meditative center, and immediately the room lit up with Qi. Every major element was present, though I could barely feel anything other than Wood. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my poor tendons, there was no Growth Qi.

I pulled at the Qi, directing it to continue the task the Ever-Growing Grass started, pushing myself closer and closer to advancing from Tendon Refinement to Bone Refinement. Wow, I thought after a few minutes, the Grass hurt, but cultivating with it was a hundred times faster, or more. This is going to take tendays at this rate. I shook my head, barely maintaining my breathing pattern. I don’t know if I could take the pain. No, I can, I will. I will advance faster than others, and grow strong enough to protect my family. I sighed. Well, at least I only have to deal with a single blade of Ever-Growing Grass instead of an entire garden of it. For now. I wonder if it’ll help with Bone Refinement too. I hope so. Okay, focus.

The next two hours flew by. We were not interrupted at all, Nuan’s presence in the room letting the governing Enchantments know to restart the timer. Two minutes before the second hour ended, a light buzzing sound pushed itself into my consciousness. I slowly left my center, then straightened up. My back popped twice as I stood, then my stomach gurgled.

“I’m ready for dinner, how about you three?” I asked.

“Dinner sounds good,” Nuan said, linking her arm in mine as she steered me to the door. Feng tried to get Aisling to do the same, but she just smacked his shoulder while giggling again. She did walk right next to him, though, so progress. We hurried to the dining hall, and then got into line.

“I wonder what they have over there,” I said, pointing at a shorter line that led to what looked surprisingly like a short order cook.

“That is the point buy line,” a slightly older teen behind us said. “There you can get Qi infused meals using Beast meat. Eating it helps you advance, if you can afford the ten to thirty points per meal it costs.”

“Maybe we should,” I started, gesturing at the line, “while we have the points anyway.”

“What stage are you?” The helpful guy asked.

“Uh, Tendon Refinement,” I said.

“Don’t bother until you reach Qi Condensation,” he said. “You won’t be able to properly process the excess Qi until then.”

“Oh, thank you,” Nuan said.

“Yes, thanks,” I added, “That is good to know and you saved me a bunch of points on the meals.”

He laughed, then gave me a nod before turning back to his companions.

Dinner passed quickly, the others laughing as I told them about Herbology. Nuan and Feng both went to the Introduction to Alchemy course at sixth bell. Another Outer Sect inductee hadn’t paid enough attention to the Elder instructing the course and mixed two ingredients at the wrong time. The mixture was extremely explosive, but there was only enough of it to cause the rest of the ingredients to splatter over the Elder as he hurried over to correct him.

The Elder was livid, as his robes were died a bright blue, as was his skin, and Nuan went into a fit of laughter describing the rant he gave the kid. I chuckled with her, stuffing myself with the pork and rice meal that was free.

After dinner, I didn’t have anything scheduled, which was good as I was dragging. Cultivation wasn’t relaxing. It was a struggle, requiring mental and physical effort while pushing the boundaries of what my body, mind, and soul were capable of. Spending two hours cultivating after the absolute horrendous experience of the Ever-Growing Grass, even as I knew a strand was delivered to my domicile by Elder Grainne, or rather an Outer Sect member acting as her delivery person, left me exhausted.

Nuan let me lean on her on the way back to my room. A new pot sat next to the plant I was growing for Elder Li Mei with a little sprig of Ever-Growing Grass in it. The tip of the grass was a dark red, and I felt a connection with it. “I need to cultivate here for a minute,” I told Nuan.

“You need to sleep,” she told me.

“I know. I promise, ten minutes only. The (plant) needs to be tended. A bit of water and some Growth Qi as I cultivate next to it. I don’t want to let down Elder Li Mei,” I explained.

“Fine,” Nuan said, then helped me to sit. “I’ll stay with you.”

I smiled at her, happy to be cared for, then took a deep breath in and started to cultivate. I could sense both the Ever-Growing Grass and the (plant) reaching out to me. I guided Qi to drop onto both of them, their pots resting against my shins, while also bringing into my body yet more. Both plants took the Wood and Growth Qi I dragged in from our surroundings and then they gave off yet more Growth Qi along with a small amount of Life Qi. I felt a resonance with the Life Qi, but I could not grab ahold of it.

Someday I’ll have a cultivation technique to utilize all sorts of Qi, I thought. Just need to earn yet more points. I’ve got to visit the library sometime soon, to see how much the cheaper techniques cost. That would probably be the best thing to do with my initial glut of points. Physical training tomorrow, along with my first day on my job. Hopefully it’ll be similar to the Herbology class, though it’ll probably be much harder. It wouldn’t be worth more than the others otherwise.

I shook off my thoughts, and got back to cultivating. Seven minutes later I hit a good stopping point, having just finished refining a full tendon in my left knee, balancing out the right knee that I had completed at the cultivation room. “Ready?” Nuan asked.

I nodded and stood. She handed me a jug of water. “Thank you,” I said, then turned to the plants. I put my finger into the dirt of each, then dribbled water onto the Ever-Growing Grass. The (plant) didn’t need any yet, though I would check again in the morning. The Ever-Growing Grass gave off a feeling of needing something more, though. I licked the dirt that had stuck on my finger, but didn’t detect any obvious imbalances in the soil’s minerals.

The red at the top glinted to me, and I sighed. Of course, the stupid plant wants my blood now, I grumbled, then reached over to the stalk. A quick flick of my finger let it cut me, and I dripped three drops of blood onto the base of the stalk. A quick splash of water let it soak in. On a whim, I did the same to the (plant), and a dim sense of gratitude surprised me. Since when can it send me feelings? Why is a plant feeling anything anyway?

“Why?” Nuan asked.

“The Ever-Growing Grass got a taste of me and apparently wanted more,” I said with a shrug. “Blood can be good for plants in small quantities so I gave Elder Li Mei’s (plant) some as well. It should enhance our connection, I hope.”

“Okay,” Nuan said then gently took the water jug from me and helped me into my room. She then guided me through getting undressed and ready for bed as my tired mind decided to shut down. She did discover that I have a really ticklish spot at the bottom of my ribs, and we both collapsed onto my bed laughing after she tickled me. My last memory before sleep took me was the brush of her lips on my forehead.