NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18: Well-oiled Machine
I would’ve expected the road to feel strange again after such a long break, but it wasn’t at all. As the carriage approached the city walls, I could feel myself bubbling with excitement. It hadn’t even been long at all since I got back from the frontier, and yet, I was tingling at the thought of going back there.
It made me shake my head. Was I crazy? Last time I nearly died, and here I was, looking forward to it all again. The lilac sky hung above us, the sun still not even close to its zenith. It was early in Eden, and I was thankful for that. Meant we’d get more of the road behind us.
We paid the driver, and hopped off the carriage. With animals being respected, hardly anyone wished to risk them out past the city walls. Wasting Qi in the frontier was also stunningly stupid, therefore walking it was.
And so we marched. I was in the lucky position of having a martial class, so it was no issue for me. I knew Ann, Eric and Reya might struggle a bit more, but they had their own measures of dealing with it all. Similar to how I burned some Qi to keep marching for an entire day, they could use Mana to lighten the load, or Divinity to rid themselves of exhaustion.
I smirked at the thought that I’d absolutely crush my dad in hiking these days. He’d loved it back when I was little, but even with the dimensional suppression active, the tiny bits of Qi I had access to would make me more than superhuman.
That made me question whether the olympics would have been dominated by Reflectors. Probably would have. Not that they were still being held, given that the smog liked to spread indoors as well. Maybe Ivan’s filters would make some sports events more common again. I hoped so, dad would be eternally grateful.
Bit by bit, we walked on. Time breezed by as I spent the walk on idle thoughts. Those soon disappeared as I settled into the familiar comfort marching brought. It was meditative, and quite good for my cultivation path.
In fact, once I felt that meditative trance setting in, I began to focus on the Qi in the air around me, drawing in strings of it and turning them golden. Bit by bit, the sea in my core grew, pushing against its outside walls and prompting it to expand slightly.
My path made me visualize the inside of my core as an ocean. The Qi was the sea, and the sand as golden as the water. Drop by drop it grew, the waves swelling as I walked along the endless beach. The voyage could be taken by ship, but it helped to keep me focused if I imagined the journey as whatever I was currently doing.
Step by step, mote by mote, the waters grew, carrying with them the promise of power and freedom. It was why I’d chosen this path. I wished to be free above all, to travel and go on my own golden voyage.
My smile must’ve been visible on my face during the march, as I felt Ann squeezing my hand. It only encouraged me further, and I marched on, both on the dirt road and the endless golden shores.
Every strand of Qi made the waves drag in more sand, made the water swell. As the water level rose, the beaches grew, and the horizon expanded. That was my journey. An endless voyage, forever to be continued, because the voyage itself made the world I travelled through grow.
Every time more details were added I smiled to myself. It usually only happened when I advanced a step, but anything new would begin to spread. There was a golden sun in the distance, making the sky shine in iridescent colours. It had been created once my core was properly formed.
The second step had added the occasional rock formations, all of them golden and decked out in colourful coral. The third step had added the faint smell of salt to the air, except without any of the acridity it usually carried. I loved the smell.
Of course I loved it, though. This was my path, my journey, my voyage. As I continued down the road, this world would become more like how I wished it to be, a little paradise within a paradise. Since discovering the path, I understood why people got lost in cultivation.
Every step I advanced was another mote of Qi, was another grain of sand, was another wave upon the shore. And then, Ann squeezed my hand again, and I opened my eyes. The brown glowed with golden radiance for a moment. My core was brimming with Qi, and I was happy we hadn’t been attacked.
Above, the lilac sky had begun turning dark, and I saw Matt hammering some stakes in the ground, getting ready to set up the tents. Twin moons rose in the sky, one blue, one brown. The two would orbit each other in a strange dance across the night sky, colourful stars sparkling behind them.
I squeezed Ann’s hand back and pointed upwards. “Look,” I whispered,” found something almost as beautiful as you.”
She chuckled and lightly elbowed my side. “Charmer!” she chided me, with not a hint of displeasure in the words. “Go, help set up camp, or grab some firewood. I gotta get working on our warding enchantments.”
“We should really get some pre-made ones at some point,” I grumbled, upset that our time was coming to a close.
“Uh-huh, as soon as we have enough money to afford a whole city I’ll get on that,” she chuckled, then shoved me gently. “Go, do work, love.”
“Fiiiine,” I said, trotting off a bit. Sometimes I wished Ann was less obsessed with her work and a little more easygoing, but we both knew it was what kept me grounded. Keeping my light grumbles to a minimum, I drove some more stakes into the floor with Matt, then cut a few branches off a tree for firewood.
Emilia was on drying duty today, which she achieved by essentially forcing her Qi through the pores of the wood. It was taxing work, mentally exhausting, and an excellent way to train up your manipulation. Everyone hated it.
Once it was done, Marie and I began cooking, as Liam came back into camp. “A few monsters off to the west. Might pass us overnight. Large crystallid to the north, we’ll want to avoid that one,” he reported, and Marie gave a nod.
“Night watch it is. Who’s up for first shift? We got some monsters nearby, no risks taken!” she asked loudly to the group, and Eric raised his hand.
The twins had kind of been awkwardly at the side, unsure what to do or where they fit in. We also didn’t quite know too much about their survival skills, most missions with them had been short, single day excursions into the frontier. Given that our city, Galys, was quite far out, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. Only higher ranking people would generally go to even further settlements.
“I’d be willing to take first watch,” he announced with a smile. “Reya and I both are more than willing to pull our weight. Please tell us if there is anything we can help with,” he added, even bowing slightly.
Matt quickly grimaced at that. “Sorry,” he butted in, “but we’ve got a no prostration rule. You’re still mostly new with us. Don’t sweat it so much. First outing means you get to take it a bit easy. Just watch what we do, get used to the flow and next time, jump in. Also, ask if you’re curious.”
With that, he didn’t even wait for an answer, simply disregarding the two members as he went about finishing up the tents, draping lightly enchanted furs and leathers over the stakes to form small shelters.
I watched Eric and his lips curled into a smile at what Matt said. He gave a thankful nod that he kept long enough to be just on the border of a bow, then fished some things out of a bag, and approached the fire. “Brought some spices,” he told me, handing over the small metal containers.
Glass was unpopular while travelling, since it was expensive and fractured easily. Almost anything was carried in metal containers. Same with the potions the guild had restocked, all of them came in metal containers.
Another half hour or so passed until food was prepared. Eric’s contribution had been put to use quite nicely, though Marie did cast a quick poison detection spell on them. Could never be too sure, even if they had been nothing but helpful up until now. They’d fit in soon enough.
I genuinely enjoyed having dinner together on the road. We’d made stew with some jerky and vegetables we had with us. Liam and Ann went out to gather a few roots and mushrooms they found, which we tossed in as well. Plenty of salt made it fairly palatable. The company made it nice.
We shared stories, as we usually did. Some were of our jobs before Eden. Eric had been a teacher, apparently, and Reya had worked as a news anchor. The kind that made the program available for deaf people, by adding sign language. Both of them were content with it, but they felt they could make a bigger difference here in Eden.
Matt, once again, talked about how his family was a long line of martial artists, and how they very heavily preached the idea of continuing tradition. He never wanted to, now here he was. Doing real martial arts, Qi and magic and all. Sometimes, he wondered what his father would think, but he never told him.
Liam used to be a chef. He made sushi, mostly, having learned how to handle knives at a very young age. The talent apparently translated well. A few restaurants back on the other side clung to the idea of real fish for quite a long time, but they also eventually caved when it got too scarce.
Emilia’d been a dancer. Lots of expectations riding on her, apparently she’d even appeared on TV a few times. A few of the shows were still available online, but none of us watched them. She didn’t really want us to, and we respected that.
Marie talked about her past as a ranger. She was still one, but back on the other side it was less archery and more calling in forest fires. One of the few national parks we still had. Apparently it was a lot of sitting in a tower and watching, some scolding stupid teens, and a bit of wildlife preservation, mainly taking plant samples.
Finally, my turn came around. I’d just finished my masters before I got my invite to Eden. Not quite the minimum study time, given that it took seven years, but I made it through quick enough. It was dietetics, I wanted to move into being a dietary advisor for people trying to put together a healthy meal in the hellscape of our world. Maybe publish a book or two on synthetic meat.
Yet, here I was instead, leaning my head against the side of a spear, golden and silvery wisps of Qi trailing throughout my body. I smiled. I wouldn’t trade this for my old life, not a chance.