the night came, the airship carrying Pef flew stealthy above the clouds, until the faint contact with the Tang sect boat was re-established. As it were, navigation during the night was deemed dangerous and most ships preferred anchoring to the side,
as to avoid a sand bank or sunken trees or unexpected collisions.
'So, everything is in order, Aspirant?' the glove asked in a curious tone.
'Yes. The Tang sect's boat lacks sonar or radar technology, making them unable to sail safely during night.'
'Of course. Nobody has invented them, yet.' the system replied with a ironic voice.
Pef waited for the air in the zeppelin to cool, and he prepared for an amphibious assault. He locked the position of the ship in his mind.
Then he commenced a dive towards the river, and ejected at merely 50 meters, sinking to the bottom of the river with a tiny splash.
Clock was ticking, as air supply would be limited while he was moving. Thus, he swam faster, until his Spirit bubble made contact with the wooden Tang ship.
A cautious scan indicated a small width between the hull and the rudder, allowing an athletic marine to climb inside the helm room. Which Pef did, while constricting his shield near the skin.
Only his nostrils and fingertips were left outside the watery barrier, making his shape hard to distinguish, especially during dark.
'Any audio intercepts?' Pef thought inside.
Pattern recognition suggests six guards on the shore, and two more on the deck, topside. 20 shallow breathers, likely the crew which sound asleep.'
Pef moved forward, entering the captain's cabin. The man slept in a hammock, which made the next part easier.
Our hero placed his palm over the man's face, and let the water membrane do its thing.
A minute later, the captain has drowned in his sleep, and Pef was free to rifle his possessions, especially the logs and maps.
Pef began moving towards the passenger cabins when a few sharp scrapes drew his attention.
'Incoming, ceiling, spider!' The glove warned and Pef tried to solve this quietly.
A balloon filled with water parted from his shield and enveloped the spider, attempting to suffocate it as well.
Sadly, this wasn't a mere animal. Its controller began flailing and choking in a nearby room, proving how connected these two beings were.
"Disciple! What's wrong with you? Speak, what is happening...water in his lungs, but no magic was used on him..." a panicked voice muttered in the room.
Pef didn't wait for the Tang woman to become too alert. He stabbed the spider with his sword, just as it began growing. A noise of alert emerged in the room.
But already Pef was moving at speed towards the voice that he heard.
Next second, his sword stabbed through the wooden door, but found no resistance.
He pushed the door open with a cautious hand. The Disciple was struggling to recuperate and was coughing his lungs off, but otherwise the room was empty.
'Window!' the glove deduced while Pef's hand moved to decapitate the Disciple.
'We'll find her later. The crew first.' Pef decided, while he sped up to the maximum speed an Earth rank could attain, and still be under control.
His sword was replaced with two daggers, and Pef mowed down the sleeping crew with short jabs.
Took him only two minutes, until he emerged on deck and serviced the two night guards.
'Store the ship' Pef asked while already jumping over the rail, only the gloved hand remaining in contact.
'Clever. Living beings cannot be stored yet, thus the ship contains only dead bodies.'
'Stop hiding abilities from me, dear glove. When can you store living beings?' Pef demanded while his body ran towards the shore guards.
'Either at Perfect Saint or Perfect Divinity. Not relevant for now.'
'It's very relevant for my planning. Only Legion personnel, or even neutral or hostiles?' Pef muttered as he mowed down the guards. Bodies were stored in the glove to prevent forensics.
"Hah. A water type Spirit rank barrier! Whoever you are, you messed with the wrong people!" A proud voice proclaimed from the distant shore.
Pef swerved at speed and dove in the river.
'Fight or hide. Can she call watchers?' Pef wondered while he swam at speed towards the middle of the river.
'Her tone says yes. However, the fact that she announced herself...'
'Probably bluffing and scared. She'll retreat, towards the nearest safe place.'
'Keep in mind, Aspirant. Even Spirit ranks are dangerous. And she might have Earth rank artifacts.'
Pef nodded while a plan formed in his mind. Well two plans, but one was too simple and thus she would prepare against it.
It was time to become a Disciple.
Pef swam across the Agate at speed, reaching the other shore in a few minutes. Then he sat down to wait, while his mind got going over the few Disciples he had seen or heard.
An hour later, a picture of how a Disciple stood and comported himself emerged.
A bit like an insect, movements slow and precise, eyes never looking around. Probably sharing senses with their spider.
Pef dressed in his Disciple disguise, then glued a small spider to his left wrist. Just its legs.
'How do I look?' he muttered while turning the inside of his water shield reflective.
A different person watched him from the reflection, menacing and mysterious.
'Like a Legion recruit poorly disguised? They will notice discrepancies almost immediately.'
'Possibly so. But my target is that woman, not other Disciples.' Pef concluded as he emerged from the waters.
A kilometer north, there was a trading post, with a dozen stables and other amenities for travelers.
Pef made his way there, moving at a fast pace. He managed to enter and occupy a corner just before the Tang sect woman burst in, her hair in a tangle, clothes wet and ripped and dirty.
She rushed to speak with the station master, while Pef pretended to pet and listen to his captured spider.
A minute later, the woman came over and sat at his table.
"Disciple, I'm need of help. My boat was attacked yesterday..."
"Not my problem." the rude Disciple replied in a cold voice.
"By the pact, you are required to offer assistance to the Tang Sect..." the woman demanded in a meek voice.
"How?" Pef asked after a minute.
"Escort me to the nearest Tang citadel, at Stoneport."
The Disciple waited a few minutes in silence. His spider trembled lightly.
"The goddess accepts." he said in a reverent tone.
"Not the usual type of spider..." the woman commented, now that she felt safer.
Pef ignored her.
"I'm gonna go wash and clean up." she said with a frown.
Pef continued to ignore her.
"So come with me! I'm in danger!" she demanded, looking around scared.
"Your soul is safe." the Disciple spoke softly.
The woman growled and stomped her way outside, only checking to make sure the Disciple followed her.
Soon she entered her rented room and began disrobing and washing herself in a wooden tub, while her weapons and clothes were laid on a wooden cot.
Pef checked her out surreptitiously. A warrior's body, muscled and toned. A few strange tattoos, a hundred scars of various sizes.
"Well, nothing to say?" the woman demanded gesturing at her body.
"How much?" Pef asked callously.
"W-what?" The Spirit ranked woman exclaimed, while her face began to redden.
"You're the one selling?" The Disciple asked back, while his robes rose in a shrug.
"I'm not selling myself, you...your holiness. I was displaying my battle ranks!"
"We shall wait here today. Rest." the Disciple said coldly, his back rested on the wooden wall, and his eyes already closed.
"If that person comes, can the spider transform?" the Tang adept wondered, eyeing the tiny spider with doubt. The spider watched her back, its evil eyes uncaring.
"Rest." the strange Disciple demanded in a stern voice.
The woman grumbled and clenched her teeth. Then she laid on the cot and went to sleep, no doubt exhausted by last night's ordeal.
'Huh? Your silly plan worked, Aspirant.'
'When she wakes, she might not be this distracted.'
'So what will you do?'
'Hmmm. Continue with the disguise, or mix things a little...enhanced interrogation perhaps?'
The glove hesitated. Not the Legion way, but they did need information. And this target was already dead. It remained silent, letting the Aspirant decide for himself. The way he comported himself in the field was also important.
An hour later, the Tang woman woke up abruptly, tied to the cot with a wet cloth over her face.
"Name and rank!" a strange voice demanded.
She tried yelling, only to draw vapors in her lungs and choke in pain.
After a few minutes, the pain became too much. She spilled her name. The cloth was wet again, and questions continued.
"Tang sect bases!" the same voice demanded in a patient tone. She tried lying, but the monster always knew if she did.
Hours passed, with the Tang Inner Elder slowly being interrogated with no room for any lies. The glove made a reliable lie detector, after a few calibration tests. The Tang Elder spilled everything, leaving no doubt of her fate.
By the time evening fell, she finally received her rest. Eternal rest.
'These guys are quite nasty...' Pef mused while digesting what he learned.
'Breeding certain bloodlines is more common than you think, Aspirant.'
'Slave breeding pens, or injecting the babies with spider eggs?'
'I heard of worse things.' the glove said with a flat tone.
'Anyway. Let's go exterminate these sects.' Pef muttered with a cold inner voice.
The glove mused for a while, while its user set course towards Stoneport. Compared to the kind of atrocities the Legion stamped out daily, this was nothing.
Then again, it was a good test for his abilities. Many recruits broke down while first encountering evil.
The Legion needed even bigger monsters.
Two weeks later, the airship arrived at Stoneport.
The city was divided between two sects, the Tang sect and the Volcanic Fire sect, each having adepts or disciples patrolling the streets, exhorting taxes from crafters and merchants and keeping crime away.
Pef had dressed in a peasant's normal brown clothes, with a large straw hat, and wandered the streets, noting down interesting spots.
'So the Tang get to keep half the captives, the women, to breed them, while the Disciples prefer men. I would have expected the reverse.' Pef mused while dodging a cart driver's whip.
'Different gods.' the glove explained laconically.
'What about this Volcanis god? He seems okay.' Pef whispered while observing a pair of Volcanic Fire disciples patrolling the street.
'Energy wise, Volcanis is the strongest god here. His disciples convert heat into fire essence qi. Well, less of that on this continent.' The glove explained, while Pef measured the cultivation of the disciples. Only Core ranks.
'So, they drain volcanoes and such?'
'Yes, Aspirant. To drain stars Volcanis would need to be tier 5."
Pef nodded to himself, now having a better grasp on what divinity ranks were about.
It didn't matter how one obtained energy to fuel his ascension. Only the way people were affected by it.
Draining life or heat, could be used for good or evil. Saving people from volcanoes, or freezing them to death.
As evening fell, Pef began making his way towards the Tang citadel.
Bestiality and breeding pens though, they seemed evil enough in his mind.
The Tang citadel was a renowned place in Stoneport. The locals looked at it with feelings uneasiness or fear, since sometimes screams escaped from beyond the stone walls.
And nobody in their right mind would ever enter willingly.
Still, this night a watery shape slithered its way up the walls, then surveyed the building inside.
'294 hostiles, 21 neutrals.' The glove determined after a few moments.
Pef nodded while he considered his path for the next hours. Only one Spirit rank, eleven Nascent and more than a hundred Core ranks. A much stronger lineup than his garrison in Port Li had. Perhaps ten times stronger.
'Can you display tactical information on my retina?'
'Like this?' the glove asked a bit uncertain. The night became a green background, while the hostiles were lit up with red contours.
'Exactly. Add a star marking for each rank above Core.' Pef demanded as he made his way towards the breeding pen.
Two dozen Tang adepts were drinking and abusing the captured women, in separate stalls.
Pef glided into the pens, his daggers ending the scumbags with swift strikes.
A few minutes later, he emerged from the wooden building, blood flowing over his water shield and on the ground.
'No babies here, though.' Pef observed while he cautiously made his way towards the main barracks.
'We know they trade them to the Disciples of Arachne.'
'Two of the captives had red fire tattoos, like the Volcanis disciples.'
The glove remained silent, as there wasn't more to say. If the user was observant enough, good. If not, then his attempt to reach divinity will be harder.
Staking sleeping Tang disciples in their sleep went almost as easy as imagined.
Only the Nascent ranks posed a problem, as their souls were sensing their surroundings even if asleep. Much like hearing, where a loud noise would be heard and wake a sleeping person, such was the soul sensing.
In the end, Pef decided to smother the Nascent ranks at once, using a finger to guide each water balloon, while his foot crushed the neck of the eleventh Nascent Soul.
The feat drained his energy to half, mostly due to the effort of multitasking so many magic spells at once.
'You need to Practice elemental manipulation more, Aspirant. And without hand gestures.' The glove chided him after measuring his qi energy.
'So find me a teacher!' Pef exclaimed while he resumed his stance, the daggers returning to his hands.
Half an hour later, the Tang barracks was only a slaughterhouse, with over 200 disciples left to bleed out into the night.
As Pef was emerging from the barracks, his new vision showed him a three star and some twenty-one star guards converging on the entrance.
"I can smell the blood inside! Come out and face me!" a loud voice proclaimed while the guards drew swords and bows.
Pef looked up, then jumped, reaching a wooden beam. A bit of silent effort later, and he emerged on the roof, while the rest of the citadel rose up in arms.
He considered the situation for a moment, then smiled. A blowpipe was called out from his glove compartment, and silent coughs filled the night.
'Why waste opportunity and my vantage point?' Pef asked himself while gently peeking over the other side of the roof, picking off another dozen of these Tang assholes.
'The Elder has his shield up!' the glove cautioned him.
Some 30 minutes later however, the Tang elder was the only remaining survivor, his voice yelling for a fair fight.
'It's a water shield, now that you mentioned. Thanks glove, I needed a teacher!' Pef exclaimed in praise, jumping down in front of the Elder.
More water was extracted from the humid air, straightening Pef's shield, and forming a ball of water in front of him.
"Haha, a water mage! You will pay for your transgression now. I am the best water bender on the continent!" the Elder laughed, gesturing to form five balls which then begun spinning at speed.
'Uh, this is gonna hurt!' Pef realized with a shock, as he couldn't take control over the enemy's spells.
'Those spinning water bullets are infused with the owner's qi. You can't simply steal them...' the glove advised the user with a smirk.
Spinning! Pef rapidly flattened his own water ball, and gave it a spin as well.
Bullets impacted the water barrier, and got flung aside by the spin.
"Clever trick, but only from the front. Let's see how you do from the sides!" the Spirit rank exclaimed forming five more water bullets.
Expand the shield and rotate the whole sphere! Pef decided in a split-second.
The water bullets were also flung aside and dispersed even when changing their attack angles.
The Spirit rank stopped to consider the situation, as his own qi reserved were almost depleted.
Generating and moving water was very tiring and consuming.
Pef walked forwards, stopping at some 8 meters distance. His elbow drew back, like preparing to cast a water bullet himself.
Instead, a 10 meters long Sky rank lance emerged in his hand, then pierced the Tang Elder in the neck, nearly decapitating him.
Pef looked up, expecting some divine reward to descend on him, but nothing happened.
'No increase, at all?'
Maybe 1 percent. And that's for your Practice, not the low rank kills.' the glove replied with a flat tone.
Pef drew a long breath in disappointment. A whole citadel massacred and nearly no reward.
On his shoulder blade, an acupuncture point puffed, unsealing another avenue for qi absorption.
'So, about 80 more of these citadels and I get my next rank?'
'There's only two more Tang citadels though'
'Ah. Maybe the Disciples will give more rewards' Pef grumbled as he began looting the citadel.
He took everything, even the buildings and stone blocks of the walls.
In the morning, the city of Stoneport found only a wooden shed with 21 women inside, barely alive.
Around them were arranged 294 wooden sticks, with heads grinning from atop the wooden spikes.
All the bodies were gone.
The Volcanic Fire sect was called at the scene, and gratefully recovered their missing disciples.
The huge Tang citadel, stone walls and all, had disappeared.
Pef waited under the river for another week, moving slowly out of the vicinity of Stoneport.
He kept heading north, and emerged some 70 kilometers away from the city feeling more tired than ever.
Three acupoints had opened while he struggled to maintain his water shield under the river for so long. His control over water grew again, and even his Qi rank grew by a few percents.
'Why am I so tired, I wasn't like this when I killed the caravan and hid underwater?' Pef wondered inward.
'You were on the move this time. The Agate is a more powerful river as well, and you swam while opposing the current.'
Pef nodded to himself, noting the accent the glove had on opposition. Adversity seem to be recognized by the Heavens as a factor.
He set up camp to cook and rest for a few days, replenishing his energy. He was strong, but not without limits.
Physical strength and durability aside, the qi management was becoming increasingly more important.
Soon, muscles will become nearly irrelevant.
Pef meditated a few hours, trying to expand his inner qi capacity. However, every achievement soon dissipated into his body,
healing him but not accumulating. The qi essence flowed through him, then away towards the Tian Mountains.
'Damn that Saint worm, it's draining everything I struggle to refine.' Pef cursed with some sadness.
'We're also much closer now. On the southern shore cultivation was easier.'
'Okay then, let's fly towards Yellow Tear.' Pef decided, jumping a hundred meters and summoning the airship to fly him away.
From now on, Pef traveled only at night, using daytime to Practice more, from archery and axe combat to water bending.
It took a month until the first farming villages appeared, signaling a large city nearby.
Pef dressed himself as a woodworker, and walked the rest of the way, always listening for news or rumors. Locals here lived in terror, with frequent rumors of people disappearing or large spiders crawling through the night.
A month later he reached the outskirts of Yellow Tear, which was the city and also a geological formation, a deep canyon scaring the land, at least a kilometer deep.
He approached the lip of the canyon carefully and peered down.
Close to the city there were workers digging and cutting stone, but further in the distance there was a large Tang stone citadel, appearing to protect the entrance in the canyon.
'So, that's the second Tang citadel. The third is further north?'
Yes. About 1000 kilometers north, at the other end of the canyon.'
Pef checked for the usual suspect, like a river, but the stone appeared be cut rather smoothly, and was even melted in places.
'This isn't erosion by a river. There was a battle here...' he mused while considering his options.
'Yes. There's also deposits of zinc on this side.' the glove added helpfully.
'So, the sapphire is at the other end.' Pef concluded, retreating back from the edge.
'This is an example of a Cutting skill. It seems to have been executed by a strong Saint rank.' the glove said, as a warning.
The news amazed our hero a little. Especially as the deep gash in the ground was likely a secondary effect, or a skill that missed its target and kept going.
'Would it been enough to kill a tier 1 god?' Pef asked curious.
'Probably not. The weapon matters as well. A Veritas Legion knife can kill gods, but at Saint rank, the effect would have been much larger.'
Pef acknowledged the warning for it was meant. He needed to get a real weapon somehow.
Only he was still too low ranked to travel to another continent, and he wasn't going to, until his home was secure.
Pef kept walking along the canyon until he observed the first guard posts defending the approach to the citadel.
About 3 kilometers out, and then there was a steep descent, unless he could use the series of lifts used by the Tang.
'Close enough to give me an estimation?' Pef inquired with a cold tone.
'About 14000 neutrals, and 30000 hostiles. 51 of them are at Spirit rank.'
Pef nodded and sighed. A much harder target, both to infiltrate and pacify. He will need a better method.
Night fell and his vision became amplified again.
'Are you using amplified starlight or infrared to permit nightvision?'
'The first one. You will need Emperor rank or a skilled geneticist to perceive infrared.'
'Okay, up we go!' Pef ordered, jumping up and flying the airship higher and higher.
At 4000 meters, air became cold and thin, making difficult for the hot air in the airship to remain hot.
'Compute drop point, and eject the citadel when ready' Pef demanded with a sorrowful tone.
His gloved hand was extended out as the airship passed above the second citadel.
'Confirm orders, Aspirant?' the glove expert system asked after a second of hesitation.
'Confirmed. I expect those captive women are praying to die anyway. And tonight, they shall.' Pef whispered with a broken heart.
'Dropping payload in 30 seconds. 20. 10. Drop.' the glove said in its default inexpressive voice.
A shower of stone and dead bodies fell from the sky, accelerating towards terminal velocity as they entered the canyon.
Enormous explosions and shock waves filled the night, as thousands of tonnes of stone impacted the citadel at the bottom of the canyon.
Pef circled the airship around waiting for the cloud dust to clear.
Slowly, the airship cooled and began descending, descending into the abyss.
At 500 meters Pef jumped out, crushing a few boulders as he landed.
'Survivors?'
'Scanning. Over 1000. Marking hostiles in red contours.'
About a thousand people, only Core ranks or higher, had survived the bombardment, but were too shell shocked and disoriented to survive Pef's following ground assault.
Pef mowed them down, or just put them out of their misery, if they were trapped in debris.
Suddenly, a white aura caught his attention, a naked woman, pinned under a man.
He dug furiously, throwing bodies and boulders aside. In a few seconds he reached the woman and jumped out, with her in his arms.
'Awaken her!' he demanded while cupping the woman's face.
'Scanning. Target will likely die anyway...'
'And yet, I gave you an order, my orange glove.'
'Roger. Imparting standard Legion indoctrination method. Do you wish to set a delay?'
'No. Commence now!'
The woman woke up with wild eyes, trying to claw herself from the man holding her captive.
"The Tang are dead, my lady. But if you want to survive, you have to endure the pain. I don't have other means of healing you." Pef whispered in her ear.
"Ha. This? This isn't pain. Water..." the woman asked with a raspy voice.
Pef fed her water, then dressed her in a set of his own clothes.
'Recover the ammunition glove. We still have another target.' Pef demanded while pointing his glove at the ruins.
In half an hour, even more stones were stored inside the glove, including the dead bodies and their weapons.
While Pef ran towards the elevators, the Core ranked woman in his arms began increasing in qi energy, and peaked into Nascent Soul rank. Her breaths became more relaxed, and internal injuries began healing.
Pef jumped from platform to platform, but it was difficult with a woman occupying his hands and balance.
"Dear lady, can you hold out as a backpack?"
"Sure, I actually feel great just now!" she answered with a pained smile.
"It won't last, but I only need a minute." Pef answered as the woman hung over his neck and shoulders.
A dozen jumps later, Pef arrived at the lip of the canyon, just as hundreds of Tang guards converged to examine the explosions.
Pef lowered the woman and sped up, axe and sword in his hands.
Devoid of higher ranks, the normal guards were butchered in less than half an hour.
As he returned to recover the survivor, he found her beating a guard with the corpse of another.
'She must still hurt, right?' Pef asked in awe. He could barely move during his Awakening.
'At least twice as much as normal. She hasn't healed completely and needs nutrition and liquids. However, the baby is dead now...' the glove added too late.
Pef blinked while soul-searching the woman. Her aura had changed, becoming half-white and half-silver, just like his own.
He approached slowly, stopping two meters away.
"My lady, is there a place I can take you? Family, relatives?"
"Get me a weapon and more Tang to kill!" she demanded in a voice filled with hate. Her foot stomped the head of her target, crushing it with a squelch.
"Okay, I was heading towards the third Tang citadel anyway. But not right now. We need to hide for a month." Pef explained stepping next to her, then calling the airship out just above the canyon.
A small jump deposited both of them in the cradle, and Pef held to glove towards the stove to fuel wood and hotter air.
"We're flying...and I feel sick..."
"Yeah, the adrenaline overdrive is over. I'll make you some food and tea." Pef said after covering the woman in some furs.
She stared at him with doubtful eyes, while Pef cooked porridge and tea with one hand, while the other guided the airship.
After so many flights, the motions had become second nature to Pef, while the large Spirit ranked skin made the airship somewhat more stable and easier to control.
'I think this airship should be able to cross the ocean to the next continent. About 7000 kilometers?'
'Nearest continent, White Kingdom is 11000 kilometers north-east . And polar bears aren't friendly.'
'So, where then?'
'Blue Xi would be most beneficial, but it's 32000 kilometers away. We can head to Green Gea, Red Dew or Black Magma.'
'And, they're friendly?'
'Of course not. They are at war, and hundreds of armies devastate everything.'
Pef sighed and returned his mind to the task. Escape and evade, crossing difficult terrain via airship.
There were marshes to the south-west, unexplored and dangerous for anyone. He could nurse his recruit there in peace.
He fed the feverish woman tea and aspirin, then porridge and penicillin.
Then he watched over her as she faded in and out of sleep, being awoken by constant pain.
In the morning he began descending for a landing.
"How far have we flown?" the woman asked while straining her Nascent soul to search him.
"About a hundred kilometers. We'll rest and fly off in the evening."
"Clever. They won't see your flying snake at night."
"Yes. And we leave no tracks on the ground." Pef replied with a small nod.
"I'm Xie Langyu. And you are?" she asked with a strained smile.
He thought for a moment before answering. "Name's Pef. Aspiring alchemist, smith and water mage."
"Damn pain won't stop. I should be healed now, my organs seems almost fine."
"Well, there're two problems. Today we deal with the dead fetus and the abortion." Pef explained in a gentle voice, as he grabbed the rope and jumped out, pulling the airship down.
A minute later, the cradle reached the ground and Pef offered Lady Xie a hand to help her get down.
"You're a weird man, Alchemist Pef. But, if you get me back in fighting shape..."
"The Tang are merely pawns. The Disciple of Arachne use the babies to breed spiders. Not sure what exactly what the procedure is, but the spiders evolve to Earth rank and can be controlled by the mind of the Disciples."
Xie fell to her knees, hands going to cradle her belly. Tears fell from her eyes, drop after drop nourishing the earth.
"You were going after them by yourself? Against a god?" Xie asked incredulously.
Pef scratched his head in shame." Seemed a good idea at the time. Now, I'll hit you with a soul spike, then extract the dead fetus. Should I keep it or burn it?"
"Burn the poor thing. Maybe he'll get lucky in the next life..." the woman sobbed, while more tears dripped from her eyes.
Pef made a finger pistol and shot the woman with a low powered spike, ending her pain for today.
'You can grip a dead baby, right?' Pef asked his glove while pouring water and then beer over his hand.
'Yeah. Just touch it and I'll store it.' the glove said with disinterest.
Pef sighed and dug his hand inside the woman he just rescued.
He hoped he did the right thing, last night. But it probably wasn't.
Ten days later, Pef decided to stop running, as he had reached the marshes.
There were thousands of new species for him to cook, and Miss Xie had a lot of recovering to do.
"How can you eat those disgusting critters? And why don't you get poisoned?" she asked a bit horrified.
"The airship we traveled with? The cradle you sat on? It's made of a Soul Poison Cobra that I killed and smithed. That poison was a thousand times stronger than anything these delicious morsels have" Pef explained with a grin, then bit from a succulent centipede fried in pig lard. It tasted wonderful.
"But, I touched the snake ship... I should be dead."
"Our qi method is a bit different. Yes, we suffer while our bodies get Awakened. But we also become highly resistant to disease and pain and injury. In fact, the more you experience, the stronger you become. Even as you are now, you will never get sick on this planet, ever again" Pef proclaimed proudly, while commencing another round of fried critters.
"What is this heavenly method called?"
"It's called the Xi method, here on Lacrima. But, its true name is the Veritas Legion method!"
"Oh. There was a big outrage some 20 years ago. A Xi adept flew about and killed a lot of people. And then left"
Pef nodded and pointed his thumb at himself. "My father, I think. I seem to resemble him a little"
"Huh. Indeed, you do fly around and kill lots of people. Your father will be proud!" Xie said with a pained chuckle.
"Yea. He also abandoned me and mom. Mom...was murdered by these Disciples"
Xie looked at him with pity, then turned towards the stove.
"The smell drives me crazy. Let me have a bite." Xie demanded as the fried frogs reached their utmost peak.
Pef rose an eyebrow in surprise.
He offered a frog on a stick, and watched the woman devour the frog in seconds.
"Guess I have to keep you. You're a great cook, and I'm barely able to walk. How long does this thing last?"
"How strong do you want to become?" Pef answered with a shrug, starting another round of cooking, this time some fish and snakes.
"Oh. I think I get it now. I lasted two years in that hell-hole. Compared to that, this is a vacation. I should easily endure two years, with you feeding me" she said in a flat tone.
Pef shook his head in annoyance. Xie might soon leave him behind. Damn woman was motivated.
"We shall see, if you last til next year. But I can't spend all my time looking after you. I kinda have many things to do"
Xie nodded to herself. She gestured at her chest. "If you want my body, I kinda stopped caring a year ago"
Pef smiled. "I don't mind another wife, but not while you feel like that. You will be a goddess soon. Have some confidence. You're pretty enough, if a bit old"
Xie choked and flared her soul. "Don't propose to someone, while cooking!"
"But, you love my cooking" he countered, offering a fried snake on a stick, as proof.
"Nom, nom. He is an idiot! But a good cook...don't kill him yet, Xie" the woman muttered while on munching the snake.
A loud growl reverberated behind Pef, no doubt attracted by the smells.
He stretched his torso and rotated his elbows in mock warm-up.
Xie mouth opened in warning as Pef pivoted and stabbed his Sky lance. A Nascent soul rank alligator was impaled on the lance, speared through its head.
Pef grunted and lifted the beast up, measuring it for some nefarious purpose. It was only 12 meters long.
"Hmmm. It's a bit small, but has many teeth. Guess I can make you some weapons and armor. Do you want boots as well?" Pef wondered with a thoughtful face.
"Never mind the boots. I am curious how you smith such beasts" the woman said licking her lips. The snake was amazingly tasty too.
Both of them seemed to have similar tastes in the end, probably not a coincidence, given they both had same type of soul.
Ten more days later, Xie was armored in a full plate suit made of alligator skin, and had a dozen weapons to call her own.
Granted, 10 of them were daggers, but Nascent rank weapons were very rare on this continent.
"Why did you make me this enormous spiked maul, I can barely lift it?" she complained as she failed to hit her wooden target, again.
"Because, you're a weak woman, and huge spiders are hard to crack" Pef replied with a hand wave.
Xie clenched her teeth, and began another round of target Practice. She never wanted to be weak again.
'She might die of all the training' the glove said a bit worried.
'Xie's getting stronger though...anyway. Miss Fang, baby. Would it work?'
'Obviously she can get pregnant, like your parental unit did. But you'd be the wrong father. He needs a white aura'
'And if I Awaken her too?'
'Huh. The Legion has some rules you know? Killing babies for sport isn't one of them'
'A living silver aura could make a thousand babies. Plus one unborn fetus is not exactly a baby. It needs a brain'
'Dubious and immoral. And they will both die anyway. You'd still need a formation, like your father made'
'Damn it. She doesn't deserve to die'
'You can't save everyone, Aspirant, even if you succeed. Immortal doesn't mean invincible. The Legion proves this every single day'
'Yeah. Even gods die.'
'Well, technically tier 7s cannot die anymore, although being brain-dead isn't much better.'
'I'll need to test that myself, one day. Not being brain-dead, the other thing.'
Sure thing Aspirant. Tier 9 awaits you' the glove said a bit amused. Recruits were always so hopeful.
Ten days later, Pef and Xie embarked on the airship, and set sail towards the last Tang citadel.
Pef continued tempering her soul, striking her with a soul pistol every five days or so, and sparing her a day of pain.
Well, replacing physical pain with soul pain. But alternating them gave her a chance to sleep and recover.
"So, our method needs Practice, combat and sex?" Xie wondered out loud, eyeing Pef with doubt.
"Well. The manual says love. You're welcome to test, loving other things. Let me know what works or not."
"Women love their children." Xie proposed, while watching the stars.
"Isn't that the same thing?" he asked while scratching his head.
"Means and ends. I can always bonk some guy over the head and get pregnant"
"Sure. You try that. I bet you'll feel great, subjecting others to what you..." Pef said in a grave tone, gesturing with a finger.
"Damn it. You're too smart. Plus I'd have to raise the child by myself."
"Yea. I was raised by a single mom...wasn't all great. But hey, I became a great cook!" he exclaimed in fake pride.
"Anyway, this thing can really wait. I had enough sex to last me years" Xie said with a long sigh.
Pef remained silent after that. Although Xie wasn't any beauty, he knew she will be. One day, her Awakening will be over, and from this plain cocoon, an amazing beauty will emerge, just like Auntie Ching or Si had.
The Legion method was repairing genes and upgrading them, transforming normal people into god templates.
Even one week that Si managed to endure had made her a top 10 in the world.
Near-perfect skin, bones and muscle tone, plus a subtle correction of imbalances of symmetry.
He could only imagine what higher ranks would look like.
'I detect flying enemies. Riding birds.'
'Damn it. Someone warned them of my airship!'
'I think dropping a citadel on top of their citadel was warning enough' the orange glove explained in a serious tone.
Pef turned his head, looking at his ward. Strange to think of a woman ten times his age as a ward.
"We have enemies incoming, my lady. I will need you to steer the ship while I fight"
"Oh. Just holding these bones levers level, right? Doesn't seem hard." she mused out loud.
Pef smiled while he picked up Xie and tied her to the helm seat.
"Okay, pull the left hand a few fingers...good. That's called left. Hard left would be twice of that" he advised her gently.
"Got it. A child could fly this thing." she said while steering the ship left and right with a smile.
"Yes. I built my first airship when I was 12" Pef confirmed with a smirk.
Xie cursed something under her breath.
However, our hero didn't have more time to banter.
A group of thirty eagles with people sitting on their backs had changed course to intercept.
Pef drew his bow, and as his right hand drew the string back, an arrow appears magically from the glove storage.
'You are an archer's glove!'
'Computing trajectories. Keep the reticle on target' the glove responded with a sterner tone.
Pef released the first arrow as a yellow triangle blinked on his retina. Even though he was aiming high above and only at empty air.
Another triangle appeared. Pef kept shooting, and had reached his seventh arrow by the time the first eagle died with an arrow in its eye.
'This is too easy!' Pef exclaimed with glee.
'Want to try neolithic aiming, Aspirant?'
'Not right now, thank you dear glove. You're the best!'
'Yes, I am. Keep shooting!'
And so Pef did, felling two dozen eagles from the skies, before shields appeared around the eagles.
An arrow bounced, then another.
"Hard right!" Pef yelled while getting worried.
Mostly for the ship and Xie, as a crash would damage them badly.
A man stood up, riding the eagle on his toes. He drew a bow, and aimed at Pef.
A triangle blinked and Pef released his arrow. Somehow the arrows collided in midair, and crashed into the forest below.
What to do? Pef thought feverishly while another arrow was loaded.
An idea came to his mind, and qi began pouring through the arrow, establishing a rudimentary formation.
He released, and the arrow didn't bounce this time, embedding in the shield and even a little into the eagle's head.
The beast screamed and rolled, trying to dislodge the arrow with his wings and claws. Its rider fell towards the ground screaming something.
'Keep shooting!'
Pef charged and released, wounding three more eagles and making their riders fall.
One rider turned and ran, while the other aimed directly at the cradle and increased the speed.
Pef fired again, but the eagle shook its head and kept coming.
Pef fired at the running rider, the arrow hitting the man in the back. Then he stored the bow, and waited for the last rider to approach.
"A child is attacking us! Haha, I will have your head, and that woman in my dungeon!" A spirit ranked Elder yelled while drawing a sword and crouching for a boarding leap.
A dagger flew and hit the man in the face, bouncing off his Spirit shield.
Pef sighed and jumped lightly, while his lance pierced the sky and impaled the man in the stomach. And fraction later, Pef kicked the eagle in the head, just as it was close to crash into his airship.
The beast tumbled away, then crashed into the forest.
"Don't waste Nascent rank daggers..." Pef muttered while examining the Tang elder he had speared out of the sky.
He slowly dragged the nearly dead man into the cradle, and grabbed his neck in the glove.
"Name and rank?" Pef asked politely.
'Ghhh. Can't breathe." the Elder complained.
"Tie the levers and come help, my lady" Pef demanded while breaking the limbs of the elders to keep him from struggling. She would enjoy some catharsis, making someone else suffer.
"Right, I have a Tang on my hands. And a hot stove..." the woman realized with a wide grin.
The next hours Pef and Xie experimented with various interrogation techniques, until the Elder was too drained and died in misery. His body was thrown overboard, without his artifacts. Then they continued the course, now with better and recent information.
"Water vapors work better!" Pef argued his opinion.
"Silly child. You saw how scared he was of hot metal. A wonderful invention!"
"You didn't have to castrate him. Well...maybe you did?" He mused thoughtfully.
"Damn right I did. I showed him dungeons!" Xie proclaimed while waving a copper dagger.
"Anyway. That fog north of the citadel is the entrance to the Disciples hideout. Seems a high ranked formation" Pef said after biting his lower lip. Nobody knew for sure how to enter or what was inside.
"We'll deal with them later. First thing the citadel. You can drop stones from here, right?"
Pef nodded while his left hand computed the timing.
'About 200 seconds at this speed?'
'Close. 197 seconds. You'd miss by a kilometer'
'Good thing I have such a helpful system to aid me. Really. I am grateful'
'Hmpf. You should be. Then again, I need a proficient user to help me recover my weapon'
"All right. Enjoy the explosions Xie!" Pef yelled while his gloved hand emerged out of the airship's cradle.
Xie peered curiously overboard, as two citadels fell from the sky on top on the third.
The bombardment lasted a whole minute, and pulses of air pressure razed everything on the ground.
Pef turned the airship and flew away, as a huge dust cloud reached 3000 meters and made them cough.
'A bit overkill. There were only 2000 hostiles in the citadel.'
'Any high ranks?'
'5 Spirit ranks and 5 Earth ranks. Spiders.'
Indeed, Pef's qi rank had increased by a few percents again, reaching 35 percent.
"We'll land and terminate the surviving Tang" Pef decided while opening the air vanes. Cold air filtered in, reducing lift and forcing the airship to descend.
"There're trees below!" Xie exclaimed in warning.
"Yea, this might hurt a bit..." Pef mumbled, while arranging Xie as a backpack.
"More than I already hurt?" The woman asked a bit sarcastically.
"About the same I guess" he whispered as the airship vanished under their feet.
"We're flying!" Xie yelled in joy.
Pef absorbed most of the impacts, then her alligator armor dispersed some more, while the crunching branches suffered the rest.
In three seconds, Pef arrived at ground level, face first.
"Hey, Pef. Did you die?" a curious voice asked while dragging him out of the ground.
"I'm good. Nose is broken and a few ribs..." Our hero mumbled in a nasal voice, while setting his nose into place. He cursed the glove and its weird sense of humor. Face planting wasn't that funny.
"Ah, pain. Such a useful tool, isn't it?" Xie joked while stretching herself a little.
Pef turned around, laying on the ground while his ribs fused and healed. Distant white clouds flew above, free to fly.
The sky seemed so far, and yet. A single good fight away. So tempting.
"Rest a little, dear lady. Combat is much harder" Pef whispered while he began refining qi and fill his reserves.
"Okay. You do know how to treat a lady..." Xie spoke softly, laying next to him to watch the sky.
An hour later, a pair of armored sages were descending into the Yellow Canyon, jumping from ledge to ledge.
They soon reached the bottom, where some hundreds Tang were also trying to cultivate and heal after being smashed by aerial bombardment.
"You take the Core ranks. I'll deal with the rest" Pef ordered while passing his Sky rank sword to Xie.
His axe and a dagger were equipped and Pef exploded forward, aiming for Spirit ranks or the Earth spiders.
Xie rushed to the left, dispatching the Core ranked Tang with some ease.
Slice and stab, jump and cut, dodge and kick. After twenty minutes, most of the opposition was terminated, only a couple of spiders and a Spirit ranked Tang remained, defending a stone tower which was mostly intact.
Pef came to a stop and checked the surroundings. Xie was having fun, stabbing a Tang in his lower regions.
He sighed. Too much hate, but he couldn't fix everything.
The Earth ranked alchemist advanced over corpses and boulders, stopping at the tower's entrance. A spider advanced to block his way.
Pef tried to surprise it with his Sky lance, but the spider was fast. Almost as fast as he was. And beside a leg missing, it seemed okay.
"What's your name boy? I'll make sure to find your family and play with them later" the Spirit rank Tang proclaimed, while hiding behind the spider.
'Time for the venom cannon' Pef admitted with some dismay.
'See! I told you! Venom cannons are awesome!' the glove yelled in a giddy voice.
A 5-meter tooth attached to a large venom bladder appeared in Pef's hand. He stomped the bladder, causing the venom to squirt out of the hollow snake tooth.
In a minute, the enemies had dissolved in screams and sizzling, and even the rocks were being eroded.
The cannon then folded and vanished in the glove.
"Is that Cobra venom?" Xie yelled from distance.
He nodded while walking away, searching for other survivors. A dying Tang sage was pinned under a boulder, his lower extremity reduced to paste.
"Come here Xie! Punch this guy in the face" Pef yelled pointing at the Tang elder.
"Oh. You saved one for me. That's so sweet" she declared with a languid smile, then began punching the scumbag.
An hour and a thousand punches later, the elder finally died.
Pef observed her qi rise again, nearly to the peak of Nascent Soul.
"You're stronger now" he whispered as he sat beside her.
"Wow. Your method really does work. My fists are a mess, but I advanced in an hour what takes a hundred years!"
Xie answered while holding her hand in front. The skin on her knuckles had flayed away, and she had bits of the guys bones embedded in her own hands.
Pef sighed and began to gently clean and dress her wounds, picking out broken teeth and pouring drinks over the gashes.
"Practice and combat are fine. But you still need love." he whispered while blowing softly to evaporate the rice wine.
"Sorry. Can't think of love, right now" Xie whispered back, staring at the sky with tears in her eyes.
Pef closed his eyes, checking his qi. Another few percents. The sky was closer again.
Then he stood up, his eyes glowing with determination.
'Recover the stones, my glove. Time to enter the sapphire mines'
'Precisely. Now run, Aspirant! We don't have much time' The glove agreed.
So far so good. One last target, and his user would reach Sky rank, if he survived.
Once the broken remains of three Tang citadels were collected and stored in the glove, the entrance to the mine became visible.
Pef patted the woman's shoulder, with a far away look.
"Xie, there's no point coming with me. There's a high rank something in there, and you're not ready. Wait here for a week, then if I don't come out, say 'Indoctrination complete'. The pain will end and you'll be a Spirit rank. Then go do whatever."
"Moron...you think I will ever leave? I will wait till you come out..." Xie muttered while hugging him gently.
Pef shrugged and turned away, axe appearing in his hands and held in front.
Then he picked up speed and ran inside, his vision mode switching to night vision.
The mine's corridor went north, entering the formation.
A haze of smells assaulted Pef as he advanced, of chemicals and blood.
Suddenly a pair of Earth ranked spiders dropped from the ceiling, and attacked. They were both Earth rank, same as Pef, although a bit less fast and strong. But only minutely.
Without the glove guiding his strikes, Pef would have died in a minute. Like this, after twenty minutes the spiders were cracked open and dead, while Pef coughed blood and sat to recover.
'I'm not getting much from these spiders'
'You're getting the normal amount, since you are same rank'
'At least they can't pierce my Sky rank armor' Pef congratulated himself.
And so the trek continued, every kilometer or so other spiders appearing to block his way.
Two days later, Pef had advanced 30 kilometers, and the smells became even stronger.
Then he reached the end of the tunnel, into an opening 10 kilometers wide, filled with spiders digging into the walls, and lined on the sides with wide roads.
At the bottom, there were some buildings and Disciples going in and out. Then one of them entered inside the stone building, carrying a human baby, and Pef clenched his teeth.
'The thing we want is in there, right?'
'Obviously. But I think it's a Sky rank spider queen or something. A bit dangerous...'
Pef smiled and warmed up his wrists.
'Well then. I always wanted to test my skill for real'
'The Cutting skill? There will be consequences. Heavenly Lightning will fall...'
'And we have a formation above, don't we?' Pef asked rhetorically.
Time slowed down, as the axe in his hands became firm. Then noise stopped and the spiders frozen in mid step.
Pef began Cutting, first a few strikes, then more and more.
A hundred skills later, he fell to his knees, his qi depleted. Sound resumed, as the sapphire mine began crumbling, the roads falling down, the building in the middle slowly restructuring into fault lines, and a hundred lightning bolts thundering high above, first ineffective, then wobbling the skies and finally crashing through, exterminating all signs of life.
Pef crawled back into the tunnel, struggling to breathe and refine more qi when a rush of energy passed through him, raising his qi level higher and higher and then over the peak, into Sky rank.
Another host of senses assaulted Pef, the ability to sense and manipulate mass. He made his body lighter, and sped away, stopping a few kilometers inside the mountain.
'So, I can fly now?' Pef asked curious.
'After some Practice, yes. Falling from airships for example'
'Okay, time to loot the spider den' Pef concluded as the noises subsided in the distance.
He turned around and accelerated, his speed now three times what he could achieve before.
At the tunnel end, he just jumped, gliding down towards the devastated bottom of the mine.
He checked for signs of survivors, but it seemed the Heavenly Lightning wasn't just a line of sight weapon.
There was evidence of powerful currents criss-crossing the mine, frying spiders and disciples alike.
Pef begun digging through the rubble, until he reached a half crushed nursery, with dead babies and spider eggs connected by weaves.
In the middle, there was the Spider Queen, bisected in half, bigger than his airship and smelling cooked. Pef patted her carcass, storing the Sky ranked chitin for later projects.
Under her body there was a large sapphire, with chips of it missing.
'The spider queen was their smith?' Pef wondered while storing the precious stone.
'It's not so simple. Keep looking'
An hour of rubble searching later, Pef found a room with a dozen Disciples, with weaves covering them and even entering the back of their heads. The weaves were partly melted, but one could see they headed towards the spider queen.
'A hive mind of some sort?' Pef mused while looting the bodies.
'Clever. A dozen smiths using the spider queen to craft for them. Or vice-versa'
High above, hundreds of spiders were gathering at the lip of the open mine, looking down with evil eyes.
Pef scratched his cheek while thinking.
Then he jumped, his axe unfolding in his hand, while he ran up the wall.
There were hundreds of Earth rank beasts to be butchered and harvested for their materials!
Truly, this place was a mine of wealth, ready to be exploited.
Somewhere high in heavens, a messenger appeared to report to his goddess. " Mistress. That Xi child...he killed our asset on the Saint continent. The lesser spiders have become feral."
"What? You said the kid was some silly fool. Gah, I don't have time for that stupid project. Volcanis is pushing us back. And that damned Gaia."
"Mistressss, the kid could be dangerous. Do something!"
"I'm busy! Plus he has that horrible glove. Let me know if he takes it off"
"Certainly, Mistressss. Enjoy your war!"
"Of course. You think your flames scare me, Volcanis? Hahaha. I'll show you who is the smartest one!"
Unlike the first times Pef had fought these spiders, when he could barely defeat one or two in direct combat, now it was a joy.
His strikes were five times more powerful and three times faster. The poor spiders were exterminated without ever touching our hero, who hopped from place to place like a butterfly, butchering and storing a group of spiders here and there.
Also, they seemed to have lost most of their combat skills, attacking mindlessly instead of using traps and tactics.
Pef kept the last two Earth ranked spiders alive, simply breaking their legs. Xie would grow from finishing them off.
By reducing their mass, he was able to carry each in a hand, while he sped back towards the site of the third Tang citadel.
As he arrived at the lip of the canyon, he observed Xie had decapitated and staked the Tang adept heads on various targets, using them as target Practice.
'You're almost the same, now that I look closer' the glove muttered in surprise.
"Hey! Xie!" Pef yelled while floating down at a slow speed.
The woman turned and watching him descend like a divine being from heavens. Her heart fluttered a little.
"You brought me two spiders? Just for myself?" she exclaimed in wonder.
"Sure, I killed like 500 of them. Well. Twice that, but 500 in fair combat" Pef answered with a shrug.
"Ah. I don't know what to say..." Xie whispered while clutching her chest.
"Love what you've done with the place. Hungry?" Pef continued unfazed, summoning his stove and some spider legs.
The owners of those legs looked in envy as the cruel humans fried and wolfed on their fatty legs.
"Ah. Spider legs taste wonderful. Please tell me you have more!" Xie proclaimed as she sat to rest and digest the divine food.
"Well...about 8000 legs or so. Should last us for some time" the heroic cook explained in a serious voice.
"Ah... I'm in heaven. Except I hurt like hell. But the divine taste... I'm torn between heaven and hell!" Xie sobbed, tears of joy mixing with tears of pain.
"So, I obtained my Sky rank. I'm gonna jump around for a few days, Practicing flying is difficult" Pef concluded as he ran up the canyon wall.
In a dozen seconds he reached the top and then jumped towards the other side. He failed to reach it, and had to climb the wall again. And again.
For days and days. Until a week later, Pef managed to cross the Yellow Canyon in one jump.
He descended back to the bottom, and sat to watch Xie punch a spider. She kept punching until she nearly fainted, a couple of hours later. Then she dragged herself backwards, her feet trembling with exhaustion.
Pef went to hug her, and lay her to rest in a nest made of few furs.
"It's not working. I can't beat them....not strong enough..." Xie complained in a soft cry.
"You've fractured your knuckles. The spiders are Earth ranks, dear lady. You need to think. Defeat them with your brains"
Pef whispered as he cleaned and bandaged her fists again.
"Hold me while I sleep, please? I want to feel safe, for once..." the rescued woman whispered as she fell asleep.
Pef sighed and held her, then fed her tea and aspirin, as she woke during the night in fever.
'She won't last two years. Her mind is weak already. At most one year, but I suggest 9 months' The glove advised Pef as he patted her head.
'Then she won't reach Perfect Divinity'
'Probably not, unless she gets extremely lucky. Then again, that's true for anyone, even you, Aspirant'
'I tend to be lucky, I think'
The glove stayed quiet. Indeed, this recruit was luckier than most. Then again, he used his brain to achieve most objectives, instead of pure brawn.
This Xie, for example. She was the perfect recruit, under normal circumstances. She'd have reached Soldier rank in 30 years, in a Legion training camp. Then she would have served with a regiment, until their Captain tangled with some atrocity, and sacrificed the entire regiment to cleanse a reality or another. Expected lifespan as a Legion Soldier rarely exceeded 100 years.
But if Pef trained her...she could become a Sergeant, going on to live for millions of years, snuffing out aberrant Elder Gods in millions of dimensions. Maybe even reach tier 7...
Even rarely, tier 7 Captains who fell during service would return to the Legion, regain their memories and become Colonels.
The General herself was rumored to have been reborn a hundred times, and ascended to tier 8. Nobody knew for certain, and this glove knew even less than full systems with a complete database. But it could extrapolate and think.
And since it had linked with the new user, much more. Expert systems were supposed to simple execute orders, not improvise and create software abilities for their users.
And they weren't supposed to assist recruits during training. And yet, this glove did. It was defective, it knew that.
But the imperative to recover the weapon and return to the Legion was even stronger.
First a knife, then a gun. Then...the rest. If it was the Hand of the General, like user Pef had conjectured, then its duty was even clearer. And if the Legion had indeed fallen, like it feared, then this user will have to rebuild it again.
Its computing substrate continued making plans and discarding them, selecting various topological methods to modify the future. From Sky rank to Sovereign it would be quite easy. It had already done it, using some flawed recruit on the Xi continent. Those mistakes won't be repeated.
Pef had most of the right requirements, and with a few nudges, he could reach Sovereign rank in a hundred years. 10 times faster than the last time.
The tier 1s won't even notice it this time, as they were busy competing for energy sources between themselves.
Pef woke next morning with his face being warmed by a pair of soft airbags.
"Can't breathe!" he exclaimed, extracting himself from the dangerous position.
"Ah. Now I'm in pain again. It's your fault, Pef. Now go make me breakfast!" Xie ordered him in a petulant tone.
"We need to leave today. Return to Yellow Tear and assume direct control" Pef said while he began boiling the Legion maize for porridge.
He will need to resupply as well, or sow another maize garden. Also craft a ton of Earth and Sky ranked artifacts, and learn how to build and anchor formations.
Then expand the Legion across the continent, build roads and clear the jungle between major cities.
It will be good Practice for his Sky rank, and let him establish strong foundations. Both as cultivator and as a builder of civilization.
He would need to invent the alphabet and numbers, then paper and glass.
Still, he was now a Sky rank on a continent with only a few Earth ranks. He expected to take maybe 20 years.
"Nom. This yellow paste is amazing!" Xie mumbled while she ate the maize with bright eyes.
"Glad you like it. You will be the one in charge of the maize fields. They will make a good crop to trade" Pef replied after gulping his own bowl of porridge.
"Like a farmer?"
"Like a noble lady who owns millions of acres of land" the hero explained patiently.
"Oh. That sounds nice indeed. Lady Xie..."
"Okay, up we go!" Pef exclaimed while jumping up and landing in the airship.
A minute later, they sped towards Yellow Tear, while Pef experimented with laying formations on bones or metal.
Xie watched intently the young man as he struggled, face deep in concentration while qi glowed around him in white and silver.
Her hero and rescuer, and a Sky rank at 17. She couldn't hate him too, even if he was a bit of an idiot. Damn him!
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