Elder Cultivator

Though Anton might have been more effective if he was allowed into the Eighth Vent, he couldn’t fault them for their caution. What difference would a few weeks of delays make compared to consequences stretching far into the future? The people of Unov shouldn’t rush.

“You haven’t spoken much of what happened,” Anton said. “My current assumption is that you fled to these locations during an invasion from the upper realms. Before that time, did you know Jaya of the Twisting Spike Sect?”

Hadrianus was Anton’s nearly constant conversation partner and guard, though the man wasn’t so much guarding him as guarding against him. Or making people believe he was, since Hadrianus was fairly well aware that he couldn’t restrict Anton if the old man didn’t want it.

“I know of her,” Hadrianus agreed. “But we were not particularly acquainted. We lived on different continents, and I likely wouldn’t have any knowledge of her if she were not a Life Transformation cultivator.”

“I see,” Anton said. “I was hoping that you would say she has a good heart.”

“How often is that the case?” Hadrianus asked.

“Often enough. Sometimes people merely choose the wrong council.”

The man inside the protective barriers pondered for a few moments. “That may be the case. She may have to make difficult choices, given the limited resources available.”

“I’m taking that into consideration,” Anton nodded.

A few minutes later, Hadrianus suddenly turned, staring wide-eyed towards the larger planet below. Even if he couldn’t actually see beyond the confines of the protective structure he was in, he could tell what direction the energy event was in. With vision being the most precise sense humans were born with, they tended to unnecessarily turn their eyes towards things felt with their energy senses. “What is that?” Hadrianus demanded.

“What do you mean?” Anton asked. “That’s just me.”

-----

It took some time to reach Jaya, even though they were moving relatively quickly through the city. During that time, Anton kept his senses focused on the woman, though it didn’t seem she noticed. He’d known she was one of the stronger cultivators on Moturn since he arrived- most likely the strongest, though he couldn’t tell that without intrusive investigations into a few others. However, the only things he had learned from her interactions with others over the weak hadn’t been particularly revelatory.

She spent much of her time cultivating, not giving orders or speaking to people. She had an air of authority and confidence that could be taken as arrogance, but at least the confidence was earned. Other than that, Anton had little to judge her on.

Her subordinates didn’t particularly spark his hopes, though. When they finally corralled him into the throne room she had managed to construct- a waste of limited resources especially when there would be few social functions required- one of the guards prodded him as they stopped. “Kneel.”

“Why should I?” Anton asked.

The woman seemed unable to comprehend the question. She fumbled whatever response she had, her words turning into nothing more than mush pouring out of her mouth.

For her part, Jaya at least seemed able to answer for herself. “It is a form of respect.”

Subordination, more like. Anton never asked anyone to kneel to him. A polite bow or nod were fine. And if people chose not to acknowledge his presence, that would be fine too. Though he had to allow some sort of formal greeting structure for sect purposes, he didn’t need people to show respect in that manner.

“Respect must be earned, and I have seen nothing worthy of it just yet,” Anton replied.

Jaya was not happy… but she clearly had some self control. Her power flared, but she didn’t turn it into an actual assault, merely displaying her late Life Transformation energy. “If nothing else, you should respect my strength.”

Anton said nothing in response. He didn’t wish to lie, and any acknowledgement of her strength wouldn’t be fully sincere. Saying anything else wouldn’t do much for the diplomatic course he intended. No doubt there were methods that wouldn’t involve deceit, but he wasn’t able to read her well enough to discern anything specific. So he remained silent. R̃ä

Jaya sat haughtily upon her stone throne. The materials should have been taken from the planet they were on, as such large objects weren’t the sort of things one took when fleeing. Though people didn’t always make sensible decisions, Anton could sense a connection between the stone and the solid core beneath them.

“You know why you are here,” she finally said. “The only question is what the punishment for your crimes should be.”

“Have I committed any crimes?” Anton asked.

“Don’t pretend you can hide it. We know you murdered one of our sect members, and maimed others. Do you think we would simply forget about that?”

“I’m afraid your subordinates must have misremembered. Or they are not aware of the definition of murder.” There was a tiny chance that the word had a different definition on this planet, but the feelings he got from her didn’t indicate any such misunderstanding. “Murder is an unjust killing, and I have not slain anyone unjustly.”

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“You killed a member of the Twisting Spike Sect in cold blood.”

“When would you say that was?” Anton asked. “Was that when she first began extorting a merchant? When she was beating him on the ground? When she was attacking me? And I do believe she survived that encounter.”

“She died of her wounds.”

“Ah. So you murdered her,” Anton nodded.

“How dare you accuse the sect head of wrongdoing!”

One of the subordinates stabbed their spear at Anton… so he vaporized it without looking. Jaya showed only the slightest bit of concern. “She is dead as a consequence of your actions.”

“So you say. But somehow, I don’t believe you’re willing to cause this trouble over one simple elder. Why are you actually angry with me?” Anton paused. “Is it the mushrooms? Was someone allergic?”

“Mushrooms?” Jaya reacted to the word more strongly than she attempted to let on. “Why do you think I would concern myself with such trivialities?”

Anton frowned. “If no one was hurt by them… why would you be upset? Do you not want people to have plentiful food?” Her look told him everything. “Ah. You simply can’t be allowed to continue to exist.”

“Guards! Kill him!”

It was at that moment that Anton displayed his power. He didn’t do more than that, simply releasing the ties that his some portion of his cultivation from casual inspection, but the results were significant. The whole city would feel it. Hadrianus felt it clearly, and he was up on a moon quite some distance away.

“I was hoping to keep a core of the local structure around,” Anton lamented. “I would have preferred not to have to organize everything.”

All of those who made a motion to attack Anton died, consumed in flame. Those who didn’t, either because of sensible caution, fear, or some other reason, were left alone. Jaya nearly teleported behind him, stabbing towards his spine. She was pretty fast… for a Life Transformation cultivator.

He left her body intact not because she deserved it, but so that people could confirm her death. She didn’t die immediately. Instead, he let her strike hit him uselessly before kicking his foot upward, knocking her towards the vaulted ceiling. While she was hurtling upwards, he pulled his bow out of his storage bag and drew a single proper arrow. The arrow pierced through her heart, then shattered the ceiling, causing the entire ‘throne room’ to collapse. He dissolved his arrow before it punched through the barrier far above.

“People of Moturn,” Anton said, projecting his voice to the whole habitat city. “The Twisting Spike Sect shall oppress you no longer. Jaya is dead. Any who wish to violently protest… you will be able to find me. The same is true for any who believe themselves capable of government. Oh, and if you intend to cause trouble in chaotic times… be aware that I am watching and will not be merciful.” He paused for a moment. “Oh, yes. I am Anton. I’m not from this system, but I am from the Lower Realms and I intended to help. But Jaya was unhappy that people might have full bellies.”

-----

Nobody was foolish enough to directly confront Anton. Even if they presumed he was faking his power somehow, it was indisputable that he was the strongest. What people did attempt was scrabbling for power. Where Anton had left some privacy previously, he was now watching the whole city. He had to take responsibility for removing the power structures.

People didn’t immediately heed his warnings, and some wanted to take advantage of the general fear. Others were looking for revenge on the Twisting Spike Sect, and Anton had to clarify some things.

“You’re still not allowed to enact violence upon the Twisting Spike Sect. If you have grievances, I will hear them and resolve the matter. But there will be no attacking people in the streets.”

Those who attacked Twisting Spike members were given the greatest leeway, though they still got knocked around by Anton’s arrows. Others might have been going after legitimate grudges, but he couldn’t know everything.

He didn’t hide any of his energy, however, so people soon became aware that he could target hundreds of positions at once. Anton didn’t even have to hit his limit… though he did slow his progress on their star to retain his focus. Once people were exposed to enough events, they started to understand, and only a small portion actually sought out trouble.

-----

Draza was in charge of logistics. And to avoid any appearance of bias, the man wasn’t being paid. His successful escape to another district should be applauded, but Anton had snatched him up because he needed someone basically competent to help with food and water distribution. That was the most important thing, followed more distantly by medicine. Medicine was of course important, but not very useful for those that had already died.

Resources were lacking. Water was a bigger problem than Anton had thought… and fortunately something he could solve with power. It was certainly complicated to draw water out of the swirling whirlwinds of a gas giant, but the necessary chemical elements were available. And once he got enough, water was renewable- though there was some work to be done on filtration.

Work to be done on everything, really. Unfortunately, Anton didn’t carry plants for every occasion with him. How could he, when he could barely begin to fit the seeds from a single planet’s varieties in a storage bag? But when introduced to a problem, Anton could at least try to coordinate people to find a solution.

People were going to be sick of eating mushrooms. But until they had more soil and a way to entice plants to grow, that was what they got to live with.

Abder really didn’t want to be known, so Anton’s communications with him were private. No doubt he was thinking about a future where he had to rely on himself, and Anton quite preferred the kid to not try to take advantage of his master’s position.

Running a city was complicated. Especially when it had problems. Maybe people on Unov had more experience with such things. He could ask them for advice, even if they weren’t willing to travel. Oh right, and now that Anton had fully displayed his abilities, he could just bring people places. Not that he intended to be a transport service for those looking to go on vacation to an icy moon or anything. He’d move people just when it was necessary or useful.

Unov was run so much better Anton almost wanted to give them control of Moturn directly, but aside from the logistical issues it wouldn’t be much better than him being in charge. They were more than half a century disconnected from a shared home, with different sects and factions having split based on proximity and alliance among other things. That was still better than a stranger running things, but Anton was hoping to get things into a stable pattern… sooner rather than later. If only so he could focus on their star for a few decades.