Gleam - Chapter 157 (Patreon)

“Well, that was certainly something,” Rilu said. He leaned back in his chair, a wide grin on his features.

Wisps of karma curled away from where they’d gathered in front of him, the image reflected within their depths fading until nothing remained. He leaned back in his chair and brushed the hair out of his face.

“Something?” Lucy demanded from beside him. “He called tribulation lightning! At Knight Rank!”

“Not just something,” Rilu corrected. “Certainly something. Did you see the look on Yamish’s face? That was lovely.”

“I don’t know if spying on that monster is a good idea,” Lucy said with a grimace. Her lips quirked up in a smirk an instant later. “But yes, I saw. I doubt I’ll forget it anytime soon. It’s rare you see such a powerful cultivator stunned like that. Especially him.”

“He has great potential – and with it comes great danger. I do not envy his position. The universe will not treat him kindly.”

“From what it looks like, he doesn’t need it to. It’s a miracle he actually managed to survive the tribulation lightning unscathed. I remember the first time I called it.” Lucy shuddered, her eyes glazing over as they drifted into the past. She shook her head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever forget. It still hurts sometimes.”

“I suspect that it helps he was not the one to face the tribulation lightning himself,” Rilu said. “That abomination took the strike for him, and it was far greater than he. Even the universe has rules it must follow. It is bound in place by its own creation.”

“Chance is one lucky son of a bitch,” Lucy said with a laugh.

“Lucky, yes. But he did not survive unscathed.”

Lucy blinked. She turned to the young-looking cultivator beside her, brow creased in confusion. “What do you mean? He just walked out to meet with Wren’s Master. I’d say that’s unscathed. Getting your body flash-fried is about the best result you can hope for from tribulation lightning.”

“His body is not what I refer to,” Rilu said. “I speak of his Essence. Did you not feel it?”

Lucy stared at him blankly. “Feel what?”

“His Essence is changed. He attempted – though I do not know if it was conscious – to cultivate tribulation lightning itself.”

“Oh, shit. He cooked his insides?” Lucy winced, then let out a sad sigh and shook her head. “There goes my investment. I was really hoping he’d manage to bumble his way through life for long enough to back me up in the future. I suppose it was a long shot with Yamish around.”

“You misunderstand,” Rilu said. “He did not just attempt to cultivate the tribulation. He did. It entered his Core and remains there still, warped and changed in ways that even I do not understand.”

“The heck does that mean?” Lucy asked. She waved at the air impatiently. “Bring your karma-screen back up. I want to see.”

“No,” Rilu said with a chuckle. “I have limits to my involvement. Yamish tolerated my prying eye before, but he will not be pleased if I continue to jut in where I am not welcome. I am not ready to fight such an opponent. Suffice to say that Chance has found a way to harness the tribulation lightning and draw it into himself. I am unsure as to the results of this.”

“I’d say the results are probably a deep-fried Chance. Tribulation is the hammer of the universe. If Chance managed to hold onto it, that would be… what, stealing directly from the universe? That’s not possible.”

“Anything is possible,” Rilu replied. His eyes looked off into the distance as if he could see something that nobody else could – and, in all likelihood, he probably could. “I have seen beings of great power. Power beyond anything that you or I could ever comprehend, Lucy. You do not reach such heights by obeying the universe.”

“What are you saying? You think Chance–”

“Is, right now, nothing but lucky and dedicated,” Rilu interjected. “But… in the future? Luck and dedication go a far way. A very, very far way.”

***

The Old City deposited Chance, Bella, Yeo, and Wren on a street after about two hours of wandering aimlessly through it. It wasn’t a street that Chance recognized, but Wren’s eyes lit up the moment they set foot outside the cracked alleyways.

“We are near home,” Wren said. “This Old City is very convenient. Has it considered offering its services to those traveling through Gleam?”

Chance bit back a laugh. It wasn’t easy. To his tired mind, everything already felt about ten times funnier than it normally would have. “I don’t think she’d enjoy being a glorified taxi. It might result in a few overeager cultivators trying to figure out what makes her tick.”

“Ah, yes.” Wren’s features twisted in distaste and he grimaced. He took the lead at the front of the group and led them down the street. “Greed. I had forgotten. Unfortunate. You will have to ask her if she’s willing to provide passage for just me, then. Traversing Gleam can be quite time consuming under normal circumstances, and I fear I may have been spoiled.”

Chance nodded mutely. He couldn’t quite muster the energy for more words at the moment, and his eyes were too occupied with the street around them. It was the first time he could recall in Gleam – aside from the Old City – where the buildings were surprisingly devoid of color.

That wasn’t to say they were ugly. Beautiful stone walls rose high into the air, covered with carvings and figures made with such detail that it seemed they were attempting to burst free of their gray confines.

Even the doors were carved and inlaid with intricate designs. Each must have taken weeks to make at the absolute minimum. It was opulent, but there were no flickering signs beckoning passersby to enter the buildings. All the storefronts they passed were plain, with glass windows that did nothing but show the well-kept but equally gray store interiors.

A number of other people walked alongside them on the road. There weren’t enough of them to make it crowded, but there were certainly enough for the section of the city to be clearly occupied.

Their clothes also seemed to be slightly nicer than what Chance had seen others in Gleam wearing. The difference was subtle, but the more he looked, the more he noticed. Beautiful velvet inlaid with faint designs that he could only pick up when he squinted. Jackets that rippled in the wind glistened with fine metal threads worked into their cloth and shoes shined with buckles studded with beautiful gemstone.

The more Chance took notice of, the more he couldn’t help but feel like he didn’t belong. It wasn’t just the fact that the area around them was rich. Of that, there was no denying. It was that wealth on Centurion came with power.

And if everyone around us is walking around with that much wealth just hanging from their clothes, doesn’t it mean they’re probably all relatively high rank cultivators? How powerful do you have to be to live in this area?

“This isn’t where we went when we visited your master before,” Bella said with a furrowed brow, lowering her voice so nobody passing by them would pick up on it.

“He is not in that home right now,” Wren replied, turning down a side street. “That was his study home, away from the distractions of life. At the moment, he should be in our normal residence.”

“Just how strong is he?” Chance asked cautiously.

Wren glanced at Chance over his shoulder, then flashed him a grin and shrugged. “I have no idea. He hasn’t told me and I haven’t figured it out.”

“You know, somehow I’m not surprised,” Yeo said. “Everyone whose rank we don’t know is probably like… ridiculously strong and just pretending to hide it. Nobody is actually fooled. Like, if you walk around with lightning bolts flashing behind your eyes and just go ‘oh, don’t ask me my rank. I’m just a lowly Rank 5’ or some shit like that, we all know that you’re probably a Rank 8.”

“Probably,” Wren agreed with a chuckle. “You can feel free to let him know.”

Yeo hurriedly cleared his throat. “I’ll probably pass on that. I like my head affixed to my shoulders. A death is only badass if you put up a good fight beforehand. I’m not trying to get squashed like a bug.”

I recall Wren’s teacher being really damn strong. He nearly crushed me just with a look when we were sparring at the tournament – and he hadn’t even been trying to catch me in his gaze.

For that matter, what rank is Wren? He was a Squire when we were at the tournament, but he’s easily holding his own with us. That means he’s at least a Knight now, but the move he got in trouble for using felt way beyond most of the attacks that we do even now.

“Are you currently Knight Ranked?” Chance asked. “It felt like you were using Core Essence back when we were at the Rank 2 tournament, but I can’t imagine that would have been allowed.”

“I’m Rank 3, just like you,” Wren confirmed. “I advanced somewhat recently, but the ability I used against the wishes of my Master was at the very border of the ranks. That’s why I wasn’t meant to use it. It was somewhat unfair for most opponents. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much against our opponent today.”

“Did more than most would have,” Bella said with a shake of her head. “I think we were just completely outmatched. Yeo was the only one that was really doing lasting damage before Chance tried to blow himself and that… thing up.”

“Well, don’t count on it too often.” Yeo’s hand brushed across his belt to where the sword hilt rested, his face growing pensive. “It’s not something I want to rely on too much. It’s nowhere near as cool as metal.”

If Yeo doesn’t think that thing is cool, why in the world does he keep it around? I swear half of his decisions are entirely based off cool-factor. Considering the feeling that weapon gave me, I’m not so sure it’s safe.

Then again, it’s probably the only reason we lived long enough for me to find a way to deal with that monster. I’m not Yeo’s dad, so I can’t tell him what to do. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how it pans out.

Wren came to a stop and Chance was so lost in his thoughts that he almost bumped into him. He managed to come to a stop at the last second. They were standing in the shadow of a large marble house surrounded by a glistening white fence. The gate leading up to it hung askew.

“We’re here,” Wren said.

“Whoa,” Yeo muttered. “Big place.”

“It’s even bigger on the inside,” Wren said, pushing the gate open the rest of the way and stepping onto the path. “Come on. My Master is waiting.”

“How do you know?” Bella asked.

“The gate was open.”

With that ominous statement, the four of them headed down the pathway to meet with Wren’s Master.