caerulex
patreon
[Severed Divinity] 74. Disciple
🕑 Added 2024-05-11 23:55:37 +0000 UTCLearning that he qualified as a B-rank cultivator only made Isen want to work harder. There were so many places he lagged behind, and there wasnât enough time in the day to address them all.
After finishing with Jorin and Meridia, he cycled in the cultivation cave. One of his main shortfalls was the strength of his meridians, which he largely attributed to the number of rings in his hollow core. From what he understood, having D-rank meridian strength with less than ten rings was anomalous, in a good way. But it was still his weakest area.
Unfortunately, Isen didnât know how he could speed his cultivation further. He was already progressing quickly.
Part of him knew that speeding through the second tier wasnât the best way to build a foundation for the third. Ros wouldnât approve.
In an ideal world, Isen would travel and fight monsters in his own weight class, gaining experiences and insights. But this wasnât an ideal world, and the circumstances were harrowing. If Welco learned what Isen intended, he knew thereâd be no mercy. And regardless... the tier four collision was coming any day.
When that happened, there would be no time for Isen to slowly get stronger. Heâd need every bit of strength he had, or heâd die, just as surely as the Aranite assassins.
If even tier threes die, what chance do I have? What chance do any of us have?
So he cycled. This time, in a cave with denser energy. Not so much that he crippled himself, but harsh enough to be uncomfortable.
He couldnât stay in the denser energy environment for as long, but that was intentional. He simply didnât have time to cycle for more than two hours. He left the cultivation cave and immediately set off for the archery range. The range was fuller than usual, but to his dismay, Julra was absent.
Maybe heâs watching the wall, Isen thought.
Isen hadnât noticed people on the wall during the day, but he didnât think himself infallible. Odds were that many cultivators were probably resting and biding their strength in anticipation of potential conflict. The rest were training, like those on the range.
Isen focused on decoupling his breathing from his cycling, channeling shadow-aspected arrows and shooting with a fully enhanced body. Empowering himself to the utmost made his shots miss, seemingly undoing all his progress with Julra.
Isen knew it was goodânecessary. He needed to shoot with more power; accuracy could be fixed. He just needed practice.
After an hour of relentless shooting, he was somewhat happy with his accuracy. Without fully strengthening his body, heâd always found it hard to hit the furthest target. Now, he could hit the target every time, though only in the loosest sense. Random chance seemed to dictate where the arrow would fall within three feet of the bullseye.
Still, Isen would take it.
When he was about to leave his archery alcove, he nearly jumped in surprise. A figure shaped from shadow jutted out from the corner, its eyeless face smiling.
âWelco,â Isen breathed.
The shadow puppet laughed. âThereâs no hiding from your eyes, is there?â
Isen stayed silent.
âCome to my mansion,â Welcoâs puppet said. âNow.â
Isen nodded, and the puppet disappeared as though it had never been there. Isen shuddered and grabbed the bow, making haste.
To his annoyance, even in the daylight Isen could hardly see where the buildingâs door was. Welcoâs magic was too strong, masking everything. Still, Isen was pretty sure he remembered where heâd entered before.
He approached the supposed door and knocked. Thankfully, he remembered right. The door swung inward. Welco held it open with one hand, the other gripping a thin, sleek rod. The mageâs red eyes stared down at him.
âWaiting for something?â
Isen started. âNo.â
Welco grunted and took a step to the left. Isen entered.
âYou arenât a mage,â Welco began, shutting the door and leading Isen to the heatless flame, âbut that doesnât mean thereâs nothing I can teach you. The mageâs path merges with the cultivatorâs at the fifth tier. They are two sides of the same coin.â
Welco sat down on a cushion placed by the fire. He beckoned Isen to sit on one placed opposite.
âI will be candid, Isenâyou are well-suited for the shadow aspect, and your path aligns well with my own. You also have a relatively high chance of reaching the third tierâIâd guess at least thirty percent, which is impressive. If the other clans knew I stumbled onto a talent like you, theyâd spit blood.â He laughed, the expression not reaching his eyes.
âI want to take you on as a direct disciple. I recognize you already have a master, but if your master left you to venture into a forbidden zone, there is a good chance they may never return. I am not your master, but were I in their position, I would not begrudge you finding another with my fate so uncertain.â
Isen was torn. Not because of Rosâhe knew the beast wouldnât care if Isen found a tier three to teach him, and Ros wasnât even officially his masterâbut because of everything else. Because he wasnât planning to stay. Because of Lumina Eldrassin, and everything else Welco didnât know.
A sudden thought struck him.
What if Welco did know? What if Isen told him the truth? What if Isen negotiated something else with Lumina to get the cosmovault, so he could still gain Luminaâs favor as a reward, while giving Welco something else?
Lumina obviously hadnât considered such a path. It was evident she didnât think highly of Welco the Haunt... Or at least, she hadnât. Maybe his actions last night had changed her opinion somewhat.
Isen wouldnât make such an important decision now, but it did allay his concerns somewhat. He didnât have to be a traitor. Welco and Lumina didnât need to be enemies.
âWhat do you offer your direct disciples?â
Welco smiled. âAs the name implies, direct investment in your progression. Whenever you get stuck or have a setback, Iâll help you. If thereâs something you need, Iâll provide it. Need, not want. I donât spoil my disciplesâit produces poor outcomes.â He took a breath. âIn short, I am highly motivated to produce a tier three, and I will do whatever I can to guarantee that outcome.â
âWhat if I want to leave the clan and explore the world to gain practical experience?â
Welcoâs smile was unwavering. âThatâs an expectationâI donât expect you to advance to the third tier cooped up in the clan.â
Isen cocked his head. âCan you still help me if I leave?â
âI can, to an extent. Itâs one of the benefits of choosing me for a master. Youâve already seen my shadow puppets outside of Eldrassin. After a certain distance, I lose control over them, but I can still communicate with you if you sustain one of my puppets as a golem. You wonât be able to talk with me constantly, the energy expense will be too high, but once every day or so should be possible.â
Isen didnât even know what a golem was, but he decided to trust Welcoâs assurance.
âWhy not give this offer to someone born into the clan, whoâs already loyal to you, like Jorin or Kelsina?â
Welcoâs smile faded. âYouâre the only cultivator Iâve ever given this offer to. Speaking frankly, the clanâs cultivation foundation is limited. Partially purchased, partially shaped by me, but as a mage, what I created isnât perfect. If they had a perfect path to follow, I believe my A-ranks could reach the third tier. They simply donât.â He steepled his fingers, his red eyes glinting in the green firelight.
âYet here you are, someone who could reach tier three without anyone in the world to guide them. I know you have a master. In some ways, theyâve treated you very well. I shudder at the cost of materials they spent on your first tier foundation. But theyâve also followed a remarkably hands-off approach to your instruction. No techniques! No cultivation art! It is truly, truly... intriguing.â Welcoâs gaze was almost hungry.
âWhy do you need a tier three so badly?â Isen asked. âWhat about your mages?â
âEvery power wants more tier threes. As for my other direct disciples...â He sighed. âTwo of them might reach tier three. Eventually.â
â... Eventually.â
Welco tipped his head. âIâd prefer not to wait a hundred or more years for another tier three to join my clanâs ranks.â
Isenâs brow furrowed. âBut... I just reached tier two. How quickly do you think Iâll advance?â Ros had told him the average time to reach the peak of the hollow ring stage was fifty years. And that was for people who actually reached it, and didnât get stuck at a bottleneck. Even if Isen was quick, it would take him probably ten or twenty years.
But that was just to reach the peak of the second tier. Isen could spend decades more shoring up his foundation before finally making the leap to tier three.
It wasnât something to rush, since if he failed to advance, the path forward might forever close.
Welco shrugged. âTwenty years. Fifty years. Maybe more, maybe less. Iâd be more than happy even if you advanced one hundred years from nowâitâs unlikely my mages will actually advance so soon. If reaching the second investiture were that easy, weâd have many more tier threes.â
Second... investiture? Was that the mage equivalent of the core consolidation stage?
âAnd if I do reach tier three, what then?â
Welcoâs smile returned. âYouâll no longer be my disciple, and weâll help each other reach tier four. In addition, Iâll ask you to protect and represent the clan.â
âThat sounds... simple.â
Welco swished his rod. âAdvancement is often considered a lonely road that must be walked by oneself. In reality, those who travel the farthest often have the most support behind them, both resources and allies. Forming a clan is ultimately a selfish endeavor, even if it benefits those under my banner.â
âWill I be stuck in the clan once I advance?â
Welco burst into laughter. âGods, no. Youâre a cultivator. My job is to manage the clan. Yours is to explore, and ideally...â His eyes shined with almost palpable greed. âFind treasure and resources!â
âSo... if I bring you so-called treasure...â
Welco rolled his eyes. âYouâll be compensated. Itâll already be boon enough to have direct access. Otherwise, Iâd have to procure similar materials at auction.â He shuddered.
âThis is assuming we survive the coming month,â Isen said.
âI fully intend to surviveâdonât forget my little deal with Allezin. Iâll keep you alive if itâs the last thing I do. Er, second to last, after saving myself.â
Isenâs lips twitched, a laugh threatening to spill out. âI am leaning toward accepting your offer, but I need to think it over. Itâs complicated because of my other master.â
Welco adjusted his posture, sitting up straight. âLet me give you a taste of how... helpful I can be, if you decide to become my disciple. What is something you want to learn, that others havenât yet taught you?â
There was, in fact, one thing that potentially only Welco could teach him, at least in Clan Femera. Something that continued to enthrall him whenever he saw non-monster tier threes fight.
âAura,â Isen stated, his fingers curling with anticipation. âKilling intent.â
