Bonded Summoner

After the liberation of the Blizzardblade Clan, Fhesiah had worked with her army to both unseal a few more floating islands, but also meet up with more of the Alliance. Using the star shuttle, they had managed to catch up to and defeat this so-called second in command with her new allies.

The Alliance had simply overwhelmed the enemy. With the Blizzardblade Clan, the Radiant Flame Sect and the several other sparse peoples at full strength and without fear of being tainted, Fhesiah’s forces caught them in a battle that outnumbered the bloodbeast sect two to one.

Here, Ruby really helped out–as she was able to prevent the many ‘blood bags’ from exploding, giving Fhesiah a chance to save and free many of them. Unfortunately, she could not save them all.

Those that had their spiritual temple fully invaded could not be saved. The tainted blood curse would eventually seep into their minds and souls, and destroy their chosen paths. When they were cleansed, there was nothing left. The Framework might allow them to take on a new path–that of a non-cultivator, but they would need to start from scratch.

As a result, she freed even more people from the curse, and their numbers swelled to over six hundred in total. They decided against splitting up, but sent scouts to search out enemies and allies alike.

Allies that they eventually found. The group that she had been searching for was the one that actually repelled the blood beast sect–and Fhesiah was happy to learn that they were, most likely, the potential followers of Bastet.

Fhesiah was excited to hear that the Celestial Nekomata’s had been paired with nearly the perfect Framework Adventurer protectors: a race of metal golems, called the Earthforged. Having no blood, they could not be cursed by the blood beasts.

With the nekomata’s support of beams of solar or starlight burning the beast cultivators, and blades of moon shadow or moonfire cutting into them, the Earthforged defeated the blood beast sect handily, forcing them to flee.

It wasn’t without losses to the curse, but thankfully, Fhesiah was able to reach them in time with her pills. The Nekomata’s had more than one capable healer, but they were unable to keep up with the curse to fully cleanse it.

Having cleared a few more seals with their joined forces, they were now traveling once more. Weeks had passed since she defeated the second in command, and she had already had her second session with Jake.

The shuttle carried their entire army, and was actually quite efficient. It required Qi to power its movement, but it only took a few Core cultivators to bring it to its maximum speed.

A beautiful feminine voice reached Fhesiah’s ears. “I do really like your shuttle, Senior Hart. The decorations both inside and outside resemble a beautiful starry night sky.”

Fhesiah chuckled awkwardly at the giant Nekomata named Aria–a giant cat with two tails, as she remembered where she obtained the treasure. She was the leader of their clan, a large brood of the creatures that joined this Battleground.

The race of cat creatures was nearly four meters tall standing upright when they reached the 2nd Tier. The creature was like a gray Siamese cat, but it had black and white spots all over it, which looked like tattoos of moons and stars. Its large blue eyes shone with intelligence, meeting Fhesiah’s eyes when she spoke.

“It does have its charms, but I didn’t have it built. I found it in… my travels.” Fhesiah really didn’t want to go too deep into the body snatcher story at this time.

“I see. I would like to trade you for this, but its use in the great battle is something truly special. We’ll have to wait until the battle is won.”

“I’m from another Sector, I’m afraid. However, if you are looking for an opportunity, Sector 87 will soon be entering the War Trial. If you come to one of these worlds within the next three years, your people’s paths to Nascent Soul will be destined.”

Fhesiah transferred her a list of known cultivator worlds in Sector 87, including at least one that should ultimately end up owned by Hearthtribe itself. There were others owned or protected by others in Hestia’s Alliance, so she included those as well.

“Truly? I will look into these. You did tell me about the goddess Bastet, and she does seem…amenable to my people. We have joined the Framework after seeing those ascend under the New Heavens, but worshiping a goddess? Those that call themselves goddesses are known path breakers.”

Fhesiah smiled. “The Divine of the Framework are very different from cultivators. Bastet is not like that at all, and provides more…motherly guidance and aid. Like the Framework, she is like a caring sect elder in how she guides. However, the energies granted for becoming her clergy have many uses, including how I concocted the pills that defeated the curse. You needn’t worry about meeting with her, she will accept if you reject her.”

“I’ve seen your flames, and your pills. I suppose at the very least for saving many of my brethren, I owe it to at least meet with her to thank her for your aid. I may seek an audience with her in her temple. There are those near us, yes?”

Fhesiah nodded. “You can even build a temple in your world if you like, using contribution points–of which, you’ll have many after this Battleground.”

Aria sighed, her twin tails flicking in irritation. “The truth is, things are not going well for us on our world. We prepared for some time for this opportunity, as our hunting grounds are being… restricted. Many humans move into our lands, and there are just not enough resources to go around. A few of us becoming Core cultivators will help, but in the end, I fear it is not enough. Our world has Nascent Soul cultivators, and even our bodies and cores are coveted as a valuable resource, despite our intelligence. Migration to a place we can earn our advancement seems preferable.”

Fhesiah then told Aria a bit about the upcoming War Trial, and how it would be beneficial to them. Finally, she told Aria a bit more about Hearthtribe, and their goals.

“Hmm… This mate of yours, Jake Hart, was it? I’m surprised you’d be mated to such an… idealist.”

Fhesiah chuckled at the statement. Cultivators definitely felt like someone altruistic like Jake had a few screws loose, and was ultimately a detriment to any sect or clan. Fostering weakness when resources were limited could only birth more weakness.

“I assure you, my husband has the strength to back up his ideals. As the Champion of Hestia, he must stand for all families.”

Aria’s tails flicked, and she looked over Fhesiah with serious interest. “We too value family, many raise dozens of kits. But our people are an insular, sometimes solitary people–not entirely by choice, mind you. Say, this Jake–you said he’s human, did you not? Is he still seeking…more mates? We celestial nekomata’s know humans are not much interested in our form–the feeling is mutual. However…occasionally, such trysts have happened…and I may have a niece that might be more…attractive, and interested in him. She is not overly talented to become a retainer, but could serve as a maid or a nanny? Do you think he would be interested?”

Fhesiah pondered the question for a moment. She had found Ruby and Sati, and nearly thirty flame sprites that were all female for some reason–that she knew the moment they felt Jake’s Presence, they would all be excited to be bathed in his…fire.

Once they evolved especially, Fhesiah knew they would gather around him like moths to a flame.

Of course, Jake would still need to lay claim to them, but accepting them would be as easy as curling his finger and they would be his. If he rejected them, Fhesiah could always set them up with one of their sons.

Surely, that was enough potential waifus?

No. You can never have too many.

“I do. Tell me more about this…niece of yours.”

During their discussion about the potential mate for Jake, Weiyan and Xara both walked over to where Fhesiah and Aria were speaking on the shuttle’s deck. Fhesiah had noticed the two becoming quite close over the past few weeks.

Because Fhesiah had given Xara a copy of her original Yin Yang body tempering technique. Weiyan had no idea why Xara and the girls of the Blizzardblade Clan were coming on to the members of the Radiant Flame Sect, but she thought it would be a fun little surprise.

Xara hugged Weiyan’s arm to her chest, smiling at Fhesiah with a wink. “This Sector 87’s War Trial has me interested. Would you transfer the list of worlds you recommended?”

Fhesiah transferred them as requested, and Xara seemed to ponder for a moment along with Weiyan. “Hm, this world seems quite varied. It has both cold oceans with ice Qi, and volcanos with fire Qi. The population has been lowered due to the war, and there is much opportunity. Perfect for a potential new home for the both of us, wouldn’t you say, my dear Yanyan?”

Weiyan didn’t seem used to female attention, perhaps since the Radiant Flame Sect was full of men. He had a blush on his face, and didn’t seem comfortable at all. “Ahaha, uh, maybe? I’m not so sure the Radiant Flame–”

“Ah, but didn’t you say the Patriarch is the staunch, unmoving type? That despite saving your world, he may reject those of you that joined the Framework? I think you may be better off joining us, where we can begin a new clan–or sect–together, and grow in combat as the heroes that you are.”

“I… you might be right. But coming back with nearly forty Core cultivators and vast wealth… I may be able to convince him…”

“Either way, I think this is an excellent opportunity for the Radiant Flame Sect and the Blizzardblade Clan to start a beautiful partnership. Did you know? We have many elders, and many young within our clan. Our two clans will not covet the same resources, and should work in harmony, two halves to make one whole, don’t you think?”

“I will… think on it. We still have much time here–”

Xara nodded with a serpentine grin. “Yes, we do have a bit of time left together, and much to gain. Let us make the most of it.”

Fhesiah couldn’t help but chuckle at how Xara was bowling over Weiyan. Combined with the other young masters suffering from her flames before, it appeared he had caught quite the few advantages as a result.

Their armies continued their path of gaining allies over the next several weeks, destroying two more armies of unorthodox cultivators and rescuing more. However, they realized it was time to ascend.

The ladder scores showed three nearing Fhesiah’s lead on her collections, though one was from the Alliance. The turbulent energies higher in the sky were thinning, enabling them to reach for the higher islands. These were far more valuable and with higher rewards, so they needed to ensure they were continuing their ascent while they thwarted the enemy.

After all, if they fell too far behind in the ascent, the main treasure would be captured by the enemy–the floating castle. Whichever team got that would undoubtedly be called the victor. It didn’t appear the other team could rush straight to the end, but they still needed to keep pace.

They were still not sure what kind of event might begin when they reached it, so they continued working upward. Dozens of islands floated above, and so they took a near spiraling upward path as they took on more portals and their seals. Because of the thickness of the energies, it took a significant amount of time for even their fast shuttle to rise, and they had difficulty scouting a reasonable distance.

With Fhesiah’s technique unraveling the seals, despite the difficulty having increased, they pushed through rapidly. The nekomatas were excellent at looting, some of them even competing with Fhesiah in skill for sniffing out treasure.

Many of them could become the shadows or light for brief moments, confounding many traps or arrays in rooms. Aria said their people were more in tune with the pulls of fate through their celestial nature, and were often luckier than most others.

The Radiant Flame sect and the Blizzardblade Clan worked well together, the icy reptilians much better at sensory and helping them to move forward rapidly.

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Dozens managed to form their cores with Fhesiah’s help, their army swelling in capability. There were even chambers meant for progressing their levels, and not just forming the cores which allowed several to catch up.

It took months, and Fhesiah was happy to have her intermissions with Jake to keep her… good spirits.

Eventually, they ran into the other Alliance team. It appeared to be a wide gamut of Norse, Roman, and Greek adventurers that were quite well-rounded with clergy and even mage types. The cultivators seemed to be wind and martial focused humans, which Fhesiah imagined would get along well with the warrior culture Adventurers.

Being almost exclusively members of the Framework, she and the other leaders landed on the plateau a distance away from the fighting, and dismounted. Fhesiah was happy to see that the other Alliance folks had scouts positioned, and their arrival was not a surprise.

A dwarven warrior wearing a heavy set of armor and an axe on his back, along with an older-looking winged man, a cultivator, walked over to meet them. It was the dwarven warrior that spoke first.

“Greetings! It’s about time we met, Senior Hart! You’ve given us someone to compete with aside from those bloody cultists! You’ll have to forgive the other elders for not coming out to meet you, the battle is ongoing.”

Fhesiah smiled, it appeared the man knew a bit from the Ladder. She had kept her lead on them, but it was still a close thing. “It’s no problem at all, it’s good to meet you before the enemy. You must be Thane Grimm?”

“That’s right, Lass–and this is Inda, of the Greatwind Sect. Things are about to wrap–”

The final seal opened, revealing the portal, and something significant shifted, and a Nexus Node appeared not far away from where they were standing.

The castle above them lit up ominously, and the remaining floating islands above them were covered in beams of red and blue light, and they received a notification.

[Celestial Nexus has entered the penultimate stage. Adventurers can Tier up for Enhanced Merit Trial Reward at this time, and it is recommended for final Conflict.]

[Rules for Final Conflict: Alliance must seek to release the 3 remaining Blue Seals, while Tartarus must remove the 3 Red Seals for entry. The first to remove the third seal will receive advantages over the other team. Battle between factions is highly discouraged from this point on until the final stage.]

Fhesiah sighed. “I was hoping by meeting up, we could take them on before we reached the top. I guess it was mostly intended that the phase where we met at the base of the mountain was where we would come into conflict much.”

Grimm said, “I’m a little relieved, I’d rather have more time to advance our forces. You see that second one on the ladder? Argenthrax? It’s a mithril dragon. It is nearly impervious to everything, and it’s in the second Tier. It… took out the other allied force we met early on with ease, and forced us to flee. Combined with the bloodbeast sect, no offense to you Senior Hart, but I don’t like our chances.”

The winged man added, “The Bloodbeast Sect was very effective and difficult to deal with. They brought in less men in total than us, but they converted many people into living resources for their army. Their leader is some form of vampire, and his power over blood is absurd. He doesn’t just control tainted blood like his allies–he controls all blood.”

Fhesiah hummed. “Hmm, that does sound formidable. What about their numbers? We hold nearly a thousand in our shuttle. I did devise an antidote for the blood curse too.”

The dwarven man looked over at the shuttle with a bit of doubt. “Nearly a thousand are in… that? Not bad! Some kind of special treasure?”

Inda gasped. “And an antidote, truly? We have a few tainted–we would greatly appreciate your assistance.”

After Thane Grimm and Inda finished their introductions, they decided to join forces within her shuttle. She could fit all the people inside, and it was faster than what they had available, aside from the Great Wind Sect’s scouts.

The number of cultivators at the peak of the first Tier was actually getting quite sparse among the Alliance. They had already found many opportunities for their ascensions, and she had pushed many of them to success.

After three more opportunities like the ones they had already seen, she might be one of the only ones left that could actually use the ascension to rise to the second Tier. It was true that anyone could use the Ascension to improve their core, though she was unsure how it worked precisely.

Thankfully, this meant that Ruby and Sati could likely benefit from a chamber in one of the upcoming sealed portals. It had already been months of fighting and growth, and in truth, the two were nearly ready thanks to her guidance and the Framework’s.

As they flew higher in the sky toward the first island, despite removing the seals, the heavenly energy grew thicker and more turbulent. The Adventurers needed the cultivator’s protection to even travel outside the shuttle, and it became slow to progress with the turbulence.

They spent nearly an entire month reaching the first seal, and they were happy to know that it was reached before their enemy removed theirs.

The platform was crowded, the immense number of Alliance members gathered about. The monster spawns were reminiscent of the Dungeon Raid, where enemies were uniquely difficult. Creatures of varying elements spawned, and the diverse Alliance Adventurers shined in taking them on.

When Fhesiah started removing the seals on one of the pillars, she was shocked. Within her spiritual temple, the seals she removed appeared in the sky above.

After a time of collecting dozens of them, she realized–it was forming a sphere. A guide for her core’s energy when she formed it, a sort of magical scaffolding. This was only possible thanks to the Framework’s connection and overlay into her very soul, she realized.

Not all of their new allies had joined the Framework. Among the Great Wind Sect, less than half had been convinced by her, the Radiant Flame Sect, and the Blizzardblade Clan. Some were still waiting to see the results of some of the final ascensions, and she realized that this new scaffolding might spark additional desire for them to join.

Thankfully, she could still induct people to join, despite no longer being at the Node.

Because of the benefit, she did her best to get Sati and Ruby in on the seal removal action. Surprisingly, they were quite good at unraveling the seals–they simply targeted those that felt like their own path. These unraveled for them quickly, the two using their instincts to burn away or devour the seals–in between fighting the spawned monsters.

Fhesiah spent some time watching the glyphs add up within her spiritual temple, and pondering as she ransacked the treasures within the portals. Some of the treasures she found were what she would consider middle-Tier, extreme rarity items.

The amount of wealth she obtained was shocking, to the point where just promising a few of them to her new allies was able to win them over to Sector 87.

She was happy at her successful recruitment, and there were several good pieces of news. They cleared their portal before their enemy did, and she found an excellent treasure for her yin flames and core formation that she had been missing, the Moonfire Emberstone.

Lastly, she found a Source Energy Treasure–but not just a simple one. She had one that might have been good for the claw, but she knew it was something much more generic. Making her claws sharper or stronger was not really what she was looking for. On the other hand, Ruby might enjoy it.

This special treasure included two stages, one of enlightenment, and one where it supplied the Source Energy to fuel it and make it one with her path, and make it her dao, merging the heavenly truths with her being.

Most likely, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would find this treasure extremely valuable, whether for themselves or one of their offspring.

It could not teach her something she didn’t already know, but it would bring her memories and her soul to the forefront, and help her find an epiphany on how she could move forward. During this travel, she spent time perusing the two body stealer’s information crystals from their heritage, along with all the loot they had from pilfering from cultivators over the years. She was looking for any clue or piece of information that might help her.

The reason Fhesiah was pondering this entire time, was because she was now at her limit. She needed to make a choice to form her Core, and she thought finding this treasure was once again the heavens guiding her.

Riding on their shuttle with the other sect’s flying treasures in tow, Fhesiah was happy to have the owner’s quarters, a well-protected area. The inside of the shuttle resembled a barracks, having many large rooms. Meant for cultivators, there were no beds, just large areas for placing cultivation mats and privacy curtains.

The Adventurers had to make do, but she had found plenty of odd furniture in her travels to line her shuttle with amenities.

Entering her private quarters, she set up her formations for maintaining the Qi levels in the room, and enabled her privacy arrays. While Fhesiah didn’t think any of the cultivators were hostile and most were now members of the Framework, it didn’t hurt to be safe.

Sitting on her cultivation mat with dozens of Qi crystals in front of her, she retrieved the incense stick from the ornate box. Echoes of the truths of the universe emanated from it, waves of invisible energy drifting from it and into the cosmos. It held a special weight on the world, and gazing at it was not all that dissimilar from the sensations she felt when a Divine was near them.

But it was different, the truths of the universe being laid bare for her to see. Igniting the incense stick, a golden smoke drifted into the air and she set it on the box’s holder. Breathing in the golden smoke, she felt a warmth fill her body. During this time, she did her best to hold on to her desire, to somehow integrate the dragon’s claw into her path.

In just a few breaths, a surge of emotions rushed through her as memories came to the surface. On how she refused to give up her old life as a cultivator defying the heavens, denying aiding Jake and Ophelia with the alchemy of the Framework, at least at first. Instead, she had chosen to cling to those cultivator ideals, taking on the dragon claw.

She defeated Ophelia in their duel, but the seed of doubt was planted. Fhesaih then lost the bargain she made with herself, her pride bringing danger to her family when she fought the dark elf champion. From then on, she swore not to let her pride get in the way.

She took to alchemy wholeheartedly, and then sought the strength to protect her family. When she reached Foundation Establishment holding on to both bloodlines and defying all odds, it was proven to her that this was the true Heaven’s Path.

Rescuing the beastkin, and now rescuing the Blizzardblade Clan and others, she was shown how valuable alchemy was. Alchemy had shown more than once that her flames were not just for destruction. Whether her yin or yang flames, each could create and destroy, rebirth and transform materials–with alchemy.

But what about the claw? The essence of a claw could certainly protect. While she hoped to shift her understanding of the claw to this, she somehow knew this was fundamentally not enough. It didn’t integrate the two flames in any way, and could not form a more intrinsic whole. She was sure that she could combine either flame with the claw individually, but this was not what she wanted.

The room was now nearly full of golden smoke now, despite having been breathing it in this entire time. The air was thick with it, and it now began to swirl in a circle around her. It was then that a memory returned to her, of a discussion from her past life as a cultivator.

A memory of discussing the knowledge of Internal Alchemy. An alchemist that used their body as their pill furnace and cauldron. A poison master could use their very bloodline to concoct antidotes and poisons alike within their body itself, creating medicine and pills.

Many Nascent Soul alchemists could achieve the same with their spirit flames, taking the usage of their body as a pill furnace concept to a whole new level.

But how could she, a dragon–

Bits and pieces of memories of her time with both the formation and alchemy master came to the fore unbidden, combined with tidbits of those she read from their so-called inheritances. As if piecing together a puzzle, she created a theory, that felt like it just might work thanks to the mystical smoke guiding her judgement.

Her body, her claw–could become a pill furnace, a formidable vessel for her to transform and create materials. Her dragon’s claw had become a part of her path out of pride and foolishness, but she kept it in hopes it could be her family’s strength. Alchemy came along, and she both discovered and ignited a passion for finding understanding and wisdom, but also creation.

Fhesiah knew she was a greedy girl. She wanted all the pleasure and happiness, and all the power. What was wrong with that, if that very same greed fueled the flames of purpose, and both protected and empowered her and her family?

The smoke surged into her body, the truth of the Dragon Claw of Alchemy becoming one with her path. Her body, both inside and out, changed as it harmonized with the heavens, turning her claw and body to become more like a pill furnace and cauldron.

Of course, this had a cost. Her claw would never be as sharp or as devastatingly strong if she had gone another way. At most, she had improved its durability or sturdiness, while keeping it as an effective killing tool that her family would still be able to use. Her claw was now on a hybrid path, mixing claw and alchemy in equal measure.

She could now make pills on the fly without a pill furnace at all, crumpling the materials in her hand and mixing them with her flame, or doing the same within her lungs.

At the end of the epiphany, she did realize something.

This likely had only brought her a tiny bit closer. As a test, she combined her two flames into her draconic claw. She infused all three of her daos into the flames and her claw, and the ignition created that bronze flame.

The powerful scales of her claws and her strength clamped down on it, enabling her to hold on to it for a bit longer, to compress down the resulting flames further.

Her grin spread wide when it appeared to succeed, but the explosion from before still occurred–shredding her fist painfully as the flame burst forth in a wave in front of her. The room’s protective formations barely held on as the multicolored streams of fire crashed into it, despite her using just a small amount of energy.

The grin didn’t go away despite the pain because she could feel it–she was closer now. Not only was her claw not shredded nearly as much as it was before, but she had controlled it for a brief moment before she lost it.

As it stood now, merging the powers of yin and yang flames into a more indomitable flame containing everything would not be held by this alone. She was now closer, but it appeared she would need additional efforts to find success–if it was even truly possible.

She did her best to will to meet Jake in her spiritual temple. It was a little early, but she needed his help, and now.

Jake eventually popped up into her spiritual temple, finding her waiting for him–fully clothed. Of course, she didn’t make it seem that she was distressed, but normally she’d have been on top of him by now.

He raised his brow. “Not that I mind it, but this is a bit surprising. What’s going on?”

Fhesiah smiled. “I need you. Once again, I’d like you to paint me with your love.”

Jake chuckled as he smiled fondly at the repeat of her joke. “You’d like me to enchant your hearth again?” He rubbed his chin in thought, as he looked at the many demonic runes throughout her temple, many of which had shifted as a result of her new understanding and absorbance of the truths. “Huh, something feels a bit different.”

She beamed. “You can feel it? I do need your help with that, but I also need your help with my draconic claws, and my lungs.”

“Why those in particular?”

“I have found a path for me. Once again, I will transform. When I’m done, this dragon and vampire are not even going to be able to understand what hit them.”