BlueShear
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Chapter 6
🕑 Added 2024-10-07 04:39:50 +0000 UTCDing!
You have found enlightenment in the concept: [Cutting]
|Concept of Cutting| (1st Aspect)
Aspect of Razor’s Edge
+5 to resonance
Congratulations!
You have formed a Single Aspected Mantra.
Mantra: [Cutting Nail] (1st Aspected)
I cut what obstructs my path.
Grade: (Trash Quality)
Your insight has transcended its natural limits.
1 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.
Ding!
By surpassing a sufficiently high insight threshold, you have become eligible for a onetime spin of the Heavenly Pavilion’s Golden Wheel of Untold Abundance & Myriad Possibilities.
Do you wish to spin?
Yes/No
Feeling somewhat dazed by this point, he almost failed to react when the multi-spoked wheel of aged bronze—intricately chased with floral designs, bestial renditions, and archaic symbols—appeared before him as if from thin air. The sharp scent of well oiled metal hit his nostrils only moments after. It’s worn surface and almost crude levels of craftsmanship harking back to that of time immemorial. As if, in terms of sheer agelessness, the inexplicable relic that now hovered before him was equal only to that of the universe itself. Or else, so close to it that the distinction was utterly lost on him.
Feeling almost compelled to do so, he promptly selected “Yes.” And just like that, the wheel, nearly a dozen hand spans in diameter, began to spin. Slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. Soon all that he could make out was a circular blur. The ticking sound each revolution made as myriad slices were passed by quickly turning into an incessant drone. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, before the wheel, at last, began to slow. Enough for him to once more make out individual details. In time the tick, tick, tick of each successive revolution wound down to a crawl. Until, with one final tick, the spinning wheel ended on a tiny sliver of gold.
Ding!
Congratulations!
You have received an Ascendant Boon.
Ascendant Boon: |Builder Archetype: Condense| (Unique)
At the cost of increased energy expenditure, make corporeal a universal mystery for which you’ve touched upon previously.
Be Advised: Due to the ascendant nature of this boon, it is now impossible for any mantra you own to fall below the “Poor Quality.”
Ding!
Congratulations!
Your Mantra [Cutting Nail] (Trash Quality) has evolved.
[Cutting Nail] (Trash Quality) has become:
[Cutting Hand] (Poor Quality) +2 resonance.
Ding!
Congratulations!
By finding enlightenment while still within the Mortal Realm you have been awarded the title: [Budding Sage]
|Budding Sage|
+10 resonance
Ding!
Congratulations!
Your resonance pillar has ascended.
Advanced from |Abandoned Seedling| [10 of 10] to |Blinded Sapling| [7 of 20].
The path seems hopeless. Your senses fail you. Yet against all odds you stumble into the light.
Your insight has transcended its natural limits.
37 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.
Uhh… okay…?
It-! Alright, it wasn’t that he was shocked by the blooming screen or voice necessarily. Well, actually no that was a lie. He’d damn near pissed himself. Though not because of the screen itself. It was something he’d grown up with all his life, after all. The System, Entain’s Law, Heavens Mandate—it had a multitude of names and few, if any, explanations as to what it was or why it existed. All that anyone seemed to know was that it’d been around for as long as everyone could remember. It was a universal arbiter of law, cultivation and, most importantly, the economy. Through the use of The system, it was possible to do a great many otherwise impossible things.
Rather, it was its sudden, unexpected appearance that had him all out of sorts. Tack onto that this “wheel of overabundance,” something he hadn’t even heard of, and the flurry of text that’d accompanied it, and, well, it wasn’t hard to see why he might feel a tad bit rattled. And this was coming from someone who’d been deemed worthy of, not one, but two of the systems illustrious titles already. Not an easy feat by any means, seeing as The system wasn’t in the habit of just giving them away. It also wasn’t exactly transparent when it came to what it took to earn one.
The general consensus being that you needed to achieve something truly significant in order to be rewarded by the heavens accordingly. Akin to doing something extraordinary for the very first time, or else by achieving something that has been done but far earlier than you had any right to. Given how many generations have passed since this achievement system was first implemented, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that most titles earned these days are of the latter variety.
Enlightenment though…? He’d heard of it of course. That some people, mostly cultivators, were able to find higher understanding in universal truths. Those chosen few who’d attained some profound insight on who knew what for gods knew why. He’d been aware of them, sure. Though only peripherally. And never in all his fifteen years had he once thought he might someday rank among them.
I mean, how useless is that?
He wasn’t a cultivator. He wasn’t a warrior. And both very much by choice. He supposed he could use it to chop vegetables with the best of them, but apart from that…? He really couldn’t see it being all that useful to him.
And suddenly, the barrage of system messages felt a lot less like some unexpected boon, and a lot more like being given a hollowed out box for a birthday present—colorful wrappings and little red bow very much included.
With a sigh, Jun shook his head. It was no use getting worked up about it. It wasn’t as if there was anything he could really do. And besides, did it even matter in the end? It wasn’t as if he’d actually use the thing. He hadn’t gained anything, but he hadn’t lost anything either. So, in a way, nothing had changed, right?
“That really shouldn’t have worked, you know. Although I suppose I can’t say I’m very surprised. I’m more surprised that you’re surprised, honestly. I’d have thought the shock of it would’ve well worn off by now,” came the melodic tones of a rather posh sounding female voice.
Jun only recoiled in shock until he locked eyes with the creature. Then? Well, then he started screaming.
Once, when he’d been really young, his parents had taken him on a trip to visit some of their extended family. Family that just so happened to reside smack dab in the center of the kingdom’s capital. This had been back when his father was still in the picture, and so their position within the family had been a great deal more substantive at the time. In-between grand events, fine dinners, and evenings spent playing games with his cousins, his mother had taken the time out of her day to introduce him to the 2nd Street Market. A name that doesn’t really do justice to the feelings of awe stepping into that bustling, overcrowded, and fantastical marketplace had awakened in him way back when.
After a while spent taking in the sights, sampling the foods, and generally letting the flow of traffic guide them, his mother had stopped by a relatively small book shop, and proceeded to chat up the owner for quite some time. In the meantime, he’d taken the opportunity to page through some of the books laid out on display. And, of the several dozen he had to have looked over, one in particular now came to mind. It’d been an illustrated compendium on underwater sea creatures. And looking up at the thing now floating before him, he was reminded of a very specific illustration.
A thing of many sucker laden tentacles, with an elongated bald pate, and eyes like hollow voids. Only, in the case of this creature, those haunting oval voids were more like large, expressive pearls. Shining pearls which matched its pale, alabaster skin—with the whole of the creature he’d seen in the book sitting easily atop a stumpy, humanoid frame. Two bat like wings also sprouted out from its back, though it apparently didn’t need them, as it seemed content to simply hover in place. The creature couldn’t have been more than a foot or so tall. And honestly? That was being rather generous.
“What?! What is it?! Where is it?!” the creature whipped its head back and forth. “Above? Is it coming from above?”
The creature moved.
“Or-? No, from the forest? It’s coming from the trees?”
She moved.
”Wait, now it’s underground? How-? The sky again?! Oh bother! Really now, where is this beast you’re getting yourself so worked up about?! And would you please stop with all that screaming? Show some dignity for goodness sakes! After all, it can’t possibly be everywhere at once, now can it? That’d be utterly ridiculous unless… unless…? Oh…”
The creature froze stock still.
“Oh no. It… it’s right behind me isn’t it…?”
In a blur, the creature zipped behind his back—already bunching in close before he even had a chance to respond. Even through his tunic and coat he could feel the small warmth of the creature. It’s warmth, slight trembling, not to mention every jerky movement, as it tried to keep the whole of their surroundings in sight at all times.
It occurred to him in that moment that he was, perhaps, being more than a little bit rude. The click of his teeth as they snapped together sounded impossibly loud to his ears. There was a tense moment of silence.
“I don’t see anything,” the beast whispered. “Is it…? Is it gone do you think? You know, whatever it was?”
Jun, of course, said nothing. It was all that he could do to keep from falling to pieces right there on the spot.
When she finally, hesitantly, roused herself—because on closer inspection, a glance was all it took to confirm that it was, indeed, a “her”—she still surveyed their surroundings with apparent distrust. After peering at him sidelong, and noticing he was no longer hysteric however, she adopted his shift in demeanor almost immediately. She was quick to pick up from where she’d left off.
“Oh! And what was with that wheel?! I’ve never even seen something like that before! Okay, well, I’ve heard rumors, of course, but nothing I put much stock in. And- anyway where was I? Oh, yes! Enlightenment! Boo! You do know how it’s supposed to be really quite hard to achieve, right?” she said, detaching herself from his shoulder to hover in front of him once more.
“Not that you would know anything about that, of course. Goodness! Look at me! It’s as if I’ve forgotten whom I’m talking to. Countless individual parts needed just to take a single step on the path. Isn’t that what they say? Like trying to bake a million layer cake. Only, no, you just do things! Wave your hand about, and then poof. There it is! A cake! So unbelievably unfair.”
Again, Jun could say nothing. Only stare up in dumb fascination. The creature, for its part, didn’t seem particularly bothered by his silence.
“I mean, I have to have been stuck at the first aspect bottleneck for years now and here you are, probably- oh I don’t even want to know! Fourth aspect? Fifth?! No- no please don’t tell me!”
She paused briefly.
“Okay, maybe just a little. Just the smallest peek. I just know I’m going to regret this, I… Oh… oh my,” the little creature, her gaze having drifted upward, spun slowly around, her eyes on the sky. “You know, it really is so much brighter than I remembered. And… oddly small as well. Sort of… cramped? Does that make sense? I forget, was it always like this?”
Suddenly sounding rather small, she folded in on herself, briefly looking lost, before that boisterous personality reasserted itself.
“But no, what am I thinking? That can’t be right. It’s definitely gotten brighter. And smaller, certainly. Hmph! Yes, I think I would remember if it were otherwise. So, where were we anyway? Oh yes. Bother… your aspect tier. Alright! Let’s get this over with. Of course, you of all people would-!”
She spun back around to face him and froze. Then… she merely hovered there, unmoving, for several long seconds. She flinched back suddenly—her eyes going wide. Silent now, she leaned forward, a scowl furrowing her tiny brow.
“Huh… w-weak…? My goodness, your spirit body it’s-?! Heavens. What happened?! Are you okay? Was it spirit poisoning!?” she gasped.
“Or some sort of illness? You’re not ill, are you?” she shied away not so subtly. “Or… oh! Was it some spiritual coma!? I’ve heard that can happen from time to time. That must be it. It’s the only thing that makes even a modicum of sense,” her body relaxed, apparently content with this dire assessment.
“It definitely would explain a few things,” she nodded to herself sagely; plump arms crossed. “Although…? Not why you should lose everything in the exchange. I didn’t even think such a thing was possible. Unless…! Hmm…”
Again, that deeply furrowed brow, and again she muttered more nonsensical explanations.
And it was then that Jun realized something terrifying. When he recognized some of the gears that kept his mind in top shape must’ve been jarred loose somehow, and recently at that. Because, and he dreaded to think what this said about him, he was actually starting to think the little expression rather cute. Something about that last observation shook him free from his uncomprehending stupor.
“I…! N-no. What?! I didn’t wake up from a coma! I’m not sick, either, by the way. And I’ll have you know I walked here- w-well, sort of.”
He’d actually been dragged, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Anyway, what are you going on about? I haven’t lost anything. Where are you even getting this from?”
“Hmm? Oh, I merely used my perceptual talent. Very simple, really, when you get down to it. Oh, but that’s right!” she raised a hand to her mouth—tentacles… mouth tentacles?—in mock surprise.
“It’s rather new so you probably wouldn’t know about it, would you? I can see all sorts of things with it. It’s really rather impressive. Alas, it does tend to tax me greatly if I use it for too long. Already I’ve touched upon my limit, and I’m beginning to see double. If I use it again there’ll be four of you, and then I won’t know where to look. Oh, and I’m talking to the one on the left. Is that right?”
Jun stared nonplussed into the creature’s large, opalescent eyes. She stared slightly to the right of him, earnest and unblinking.
“I…? Umm. Okay, let’s just say we put a pin in that for now. First, just, where in the world did you come from?”
The words had barely left his mouth before he fully recognized their stupidity. This was a spirit beast, clearly. He was in a forest home to spirit beasts. He might’ve asked her what color blue the sky was, or the time of day at night and been less redundant.
“Umm, I don’t know… I mean-! I don’t remember! Mostly it was just… just too dark to see, you understand.”
A burrow then?
The image of a hole in the ground flashed through his mind, crawling with hundreds, if not thousands of creatures just like this one—the snapping, tearing, rending sounds of mass feeding loud in the impenetrable darkness.
“No no no, it wasn’t anything like that! Horrible, suffocating places. Simply dreadful. No, it was just me and the dark for a long, long time. And then… well…” she paused, looking at him sidelong before continuing. “Well…Then there was a change I guess, and now, I suppose, I’m here.”
“I see.”
He eyed the creature carefully, his scrutiny lasting for only a few short seconds. When she didn’t attempt to gouge his eyes out or latch onto his throat, he shrugged. Strange day. Still, if she wasn’t going to kill him, he wasn’t going to sit around here all morning.
“Well, best of luck to you then.”
“Oh! Umm… and to you too?” she looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Ignoring the icy grip of fear settling in his gut, Jun averted his gaze, and got boldly to his feet. At least he thought it was bold. In need of something to keep his mind off the still closely hovering creature, he attempted to slap away the grass and dirt which clung to his clothes. After this distraction ultimately proved futile, however—he was practically covered head to toe in the stuff and most of it wasn’t going anywhere—he turned and made his way over to the crumpled forms of his stepbrothers instead.
