Cultivating Plants

Fatima leaned on the chair and asked Aloe over her shoulder. "Do you recall what I told you about the flowing stance?"

"I have not been told much," Aloe muttered valueless filling as she gathered her thoughts, "but if I remember correctly, the flowing stance is the only that focuses on guiding vitality outward instead of inward. Am I wrong?"

"No," the princess crossed her legs, "you got it right."

There was something about Fatima's gestures that irked her. Not because they were lazy in nature, but quite the opposite. There were thoughts behind them, intent. Is she trying to… court me? Whilst her movements were graceful and salacious, Aloe couldn't feel more than a blush from them. Or maybe it is something else?

"The flowing stance," Fatima started, "is the single stance that allows one's Nurture to be manifested outward. Now," she finally sat correctly, "this means that it fundamentally works differently from every other stance as we are no longer working with the body, but vitality itself."

"Makes sense," Aloe nodded. "All other stances are multipliers of the physical attributes of the body." Which also explained why she performed poorly with speed and charm.

"Some cultivators are better than others with the flowing stance, but never to the point of excellence. It is so alienated from the other stances that it makes it by far the most difficult one to practice." The sultanzade sighed. "Mother is the only one who can use it naturally like breathing, even the older sultanzade treat it like a difficult kata."

"I understand the premise of the flowing stance, but… what does flowing entail?" The scribe carefully chose her words, lest she revealed something she shouldn't know. "I can visualize speed and strength with ease, even charm or stealth, but the word flowing hints at nothing. What does pushing one's vitality outward actually mean and do?"

"Such is the conundrum of the flowing stance," Fatima smirked. "I do not know."

Aloe's face was petrified by the sheer nerve of the woman. How in the nince-damned hells do you dare to present yourself as my tutor WHEN YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT? Aloe almost busted. She nearly did. Her wits had long been at an end, but now her patience was the one being tested.

"T-then," The scribe inquired with a wry smile, her voice trembling from the contained rage. "How are you supposed to teach me the flowing stance?"

"I am not." The princess carelessly responded.

I am going to kill her. The silence made itself omnipresent in her mind. Never before had Aloe felt this focused on a task before, and that scared her. Calm down, calm down. I have no chance against her. She's toying with you like her whole family does. What she wants is a reaction, don't give her one.

"I must reveal I am not following your point of view here," Aloe stated diplomatically.

"Cute," Fatima added with a smile, her red and plump lips showing almighty. The less the woman she tried to act attractive, the more infatuated Aloe found herself. "But I am not lying when I say cannot teach you the flowing stance. I doubt anyone can, even Mother."

"Then?" The scribe reiterated in perplexion.

"What I can teach you, though, is how to shift into the stance?"

"Is that not the same?" Aloe's confusion just kept growing.

"Of course not, silly girl," Fatima dismissed her with a wave of her hand and a chuckle. "The flowing stance is a field of its own. I am incapable of knowing what it may do or accomplish. Afar, one of the oldest sultanzade, can summon golden flames with the flowing stance, alas I am not able to do so. Instead, I can bring winds forward."

The mention of such ability reminded Aloe how the sultanzade had presented herself when they had met for the first time. Fatima Asina of the Northern Wind, she had said. Is that where her title comes from? Does that mean there are three other sultanzade who can summon wind?

"Does that mean that the flowing stance gives a singular ability to each cultivator?" Instead, Aloe asked an actual useful question.

"Not necessarily. Wait…" Fatima frowned deep in thought. "Singular or unique?"

"Both?" Aloe responded with a tilt of her head.

"The flowing stance… can be manifested in a lot of ways. But none of them are strictly unique or singular. It would be possible for a cultivator to manifest multiple skills like the golden flames or wind."

"I see." So Infusion is not a unique subset to me.

"A part of the answer is in the name of the very stance." The sultanzade explained. "Flowing makes reference to two things. One, the ability to show different capabilities in different people and making it unreliable. And two, the effect needed on one's vitality to summon it."

Aloe frowned. There was a lot of frowning involved with this stance. "So… what you are is that you do not know how I should move my vitality to activate the stance."

"Partially correct." The scribe gave time for the sultanzade to explain herself. "I cannot tell you how you need to manipulate your Nurture to shift into the flowing stance, but I can guide you with the steps required to do so."

"So more of your scenarios?"

"Nurture is a discipline of the mind and body, after all," Fatima said as a matter of fact. The princess stood up from her seat and walked toward the commoner. "Are you ready?"

The warm words made the inexperienced cultivator's heart beat faster, making her think her tutor was wielding the charm stance. Aloe simply nodded.

"Good~" Fatima placed one of her hands on the scribe's shoulders. "Now, close your eyes."

The disciple complied, though reticence was building up in her body. Something felt very wrong. Fatima grabbed Aloe's wrist and led her small hand to her muscled thighs.

"You understand that the flowing stance is more of expelling than anything else, right?" Once again, Aloe nodded to her words, her heartbeat becoming increasingly erratic. "I need you to imagine yourself pushing out your vitality into me."

"A-and how may I do that?" The commoner asked, her whole body trembling, much to the princess' delight.

"Easy~" Fatima moaned in Aloe's ear and pulled the petite scribe's hand higher. From her thighs, it climbed slowly until it hit a depression. The princess pushed the girl's hand inside of the fabric, the wetness of the flesh was apparent. Even if Aloe had her eyes closed, she felt Fatima close onto her, her ample breasts drowning her thin arm. "You need to make me cum~"

The whisper sent shivers all around Aloe's body, making her arms spasm out. A moan escaped Fatima's lips as the scribe's nails scratched something that shouldn't be scratched as she removed her hands.

The princess stood there looking at her with longing eyes, making the commoner blush harder than she had ever blushed. Fatima was not pushing into her, but rather, she wanted Aloe to push into her with her sick games.

Fatima's smile trembled the next moment.

"Hahaha!" The sultanzade grabbed her exposed belly and began giggling like a madwoman. "Oh, great heavens, the look on your face!" Her chuckle didn't finish any time soon, which gave Aloe more than enough time to process the events.

"I-it…" The scribe was as much flabbergasted as she was locked in thought. "Was all a jest?"

Instead of instantly responding, Fatima's expression turned serious. Once again, she slumped back down to the petite scribe and grabbed her hand, though instead of leading it to her thighs, she now pushed it under the fabric at her chest. Right on top of her tits.

"What do you think?" They met her gazes and the sultanzade pressed the hand she was grabbing, therefore pressing it on her breast.

"U-uh…" A muted yelp came out of Aloe's mouth as she felt the princess' nipple on her digits. "I…"

Then Fatima busted laughing again.

"Oh my… I cannot believe you fell for it again." She struck the desk with enough strength in her laughing fit that the scribe would have worried about it breaking if it wasn't for the rage building up inside of her. "Oh, m-my stomach hurts. I cannot stop laughing. It is too good. Oh heavens."

If you had less vitality… A thought blossomed in the commoner's head. If you weren't a princess… If you weren't militarily trained… Alas, there were too many ifs to complete her threat, even in the solitude of her mind.

"I would prefer if you abstained from such jokes," Aloe said with a coolness unbefitting of a woman who had been red as hot iron just a few seconds ago.

"Why?" Fatima questioned as if she truly knew nothing. "If you did not enjoy them, your heartbeat would not have spiked."

Aloe didn't give the woman the privilege of a reaction.

"Alright, alright." Fatima raised her hands and rolled her eyes. "Though there is not much difference between what I was doing and learning the flowing stance." Aloe squinted her eyes and judged her. "I said much! Anyhooow… The first step to veritably do it would be for you to touch me," the scribe glared at the sultanzade again, "a handshake is enough, do not look at me like that."

The scribe decided to put a stop to her reactions as she knew she was pushing it already. As much as the woman in front of her had quite literally sexually assaulted her, she was a princess. Aloe accepted Fatima's handshake because if the woman tried anything else, it wasn't like she could resist her. If it wasn't for her 'privileged' position, Aloe didn't doubt she could have been executed hundredfold by now adding up all past offenses.

"Now, try to feel my vitality." The experienced cultivator enclosed the inexperienced one's hand.

Feeling one's vitality was simple enough to the point of triviality. That skill was the first step needed for Infusion, and after enough practice, Aloe was now capable of sensing the vitality of people at a distance, no physical contact was needed.

There was too much noise, but Aloe could tell at first glance that Fatima's vitality was greater than her by a lot. Judging by her age, it wasn't surprising to find out after more probing that her reserves were greater than Rani's.

"What now?" Aloe hastily noticed the aggressiveness of her words, even if the tone was appropriate. "Tutor?" She added at the end.

"The next step is to try to push vitality into me." The scribe frowned at Fatima's explanation. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, nothing." She dismissed the issue.

No, it can't be like that. I've talked with enough sultanzade to know that they don't have a clue about Infusion, but if they unlock the flowing stance this way… what in the hells is going on here? Infusion – at its rawest – was the injection of vitality into another living being. If every sultanzade practiced this stance at least once, then they should have discovered the other vital art by now.

Aloe did as commanded. There was incredible resistance as Fatima had over five times – at minimum – her vitality, but if something she was skilled in, it was pushing her vitality into other beings.

Maybe it's the intent. The scribe pondered. Because they are thinking of getting a stance for themselves instead of modifying their objective then there's no intent for an infusion to take place. After a push, Aloe penetrated inside Fatima's body.

The princess' eyes shot wide open at the insertion.

"I…" Fatima's words died on her lips. "You got it quite faster than I expected."

Damn. Only now Aloe noticed the weight of her error. None knew of Infusion and her competence with the vital art, so the innate competence obviously raised some brows. A task the sultanzade had previously estimated to take a few days was instead completed in only a handful of minutes.

"What should I do now?" The pupil asked with a weak tone as if she was using all her focus in performing the given task.

"You have gotten your vitality out now and it is alive," Fatima explained, "so think about manifesting it, into taking another shape that is not its default state."

"A-and what should that shape be?" Aloe continued faking strain.

"Whichever." The tutor responded. "The first thing that comes to your mind."

Aloe would have retorted that nothing came to her mind if it wasn't because before Fatima finished her sentence something clicked in her mind.

Her vitality started changing through its own volition.

No more vitality than the one she had manifested poured from her body, but the one that was already out started mutating as if her vitality were an evolved plant.

W-what's happening? Such was the surprise that she couldn't put it into words. Before she noticed it, her previous stance had dissipated, and the subconscious focus of her mind was on the external flow of her vitality.

A weakness overcame her, forcing her to close her eyes, her consciousness fleeting if for only a second.

"Hey!" Fatima grabbed her as her body plummeted forward. "Are you well?"

"I…" Aloe took a breath. "Yes, I am fine."

"What has happened? Have you succeeded with your flowing stance?"

The scribe was quick to deny the question, but her eyes caught the face of the princess. Or more concretely, her hair. Even more specifically, its length.

"Ah." It was a microscopic change, but between the feedback in her fingers and the information captured by her eyes, Aloe understood what had happened.

Somehow, she had forced Fatima to grow.