Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

The first thing Elder Marik did after exchanging opening blows was cut a hole right through the Hargrave Clan's council chamber and into the adjacent corridor.

"I can't both protect you and keep this fogey busy," called out Elder Marik. "You're on your own. Failing everything else, use the talisman Elder Adrian gave you before we left.

A flick of the sword cultivator's sleeve was all it took to send Sorin flying through the opening and tumbling into a group of shocked cultivators that had been waiting outside the council chambers to witness a one-sided bout. They got Sorin in their midst instead, along with a spray of needles laced with Night Lily's Chains and Gorgon's Mourning. Only the three Flesh-Sanctification cultivators in the group were able to resist, but due to their status as mages and their correspondingly low constitutions, they were unable to stop Sorin as he blitzed down the corridor using Adder Rush.

Obsidian pillars resonated with the black-iron thorn patterns on the wall in what appeared to be an automatic response to intruders. To Sorin's surprise, however, the thorns didn't seem to be able to lock onto him, and the pillars only gave off slight animosity. My mother is from the Hargrave Clan, Sorin realized. As a result, the Hargrave Clan's bloodline-based defenses can't do anything to me.

The enemy was quick to catch onto this fact and mobilized another half-dozen early Flesh-Sanctification cultivators. Waves of poison magic blasted Sorin, and though he managed to deflect a few spells with targeted poison needles and defend by using Nemesis's glove form, a few spells landed and carved chunks out of armor and his flesh.

Normally, this was where intruders would collapse to the ground in agonizing pain; but Sorin. Instead, these poisons were the perfect tonic, and his wounds began to rapidly heal. Conversely, the enemy mages weren't very resistant to Sorin's ten poisons and quickly fell to Night Lily's Chains and Gorgon's Mourning, leaving only the gate guards to prevent Sorin from leaving.

Though the Hargrave Clan was mostly a clan of mages, like the Kepler Clan, they'd branched out to mask their weaknesses. When three powerful warriors charged out to intercept him, Sorin knew his luck was out. I should be close enough to the perimeter, thought Sorin. Now I just need to hope Elder Adrian doesn't want to kill me.

Sorin dodged a battle-axe that carved a deep gouge in the manor's marble floor, ducked to avoid a second axe, and charged past a third as a metal-coated rat intercepted his axe using nothing more than his body.

Lorimer's attack was well-timed. Not only did he deflect what would have been a lethal blow, buying time for Sorin to counter with a spray of needles, he also managed to get himself punted towards the exit, reducing the burden for what Sorin was about to do next.

Not wanting to waste a valuable short-distance teleportation talisman, Sorin first tried using his Wraith Hare Boots to cross the final curtain of guards. Spatial forces assaulted his body as the spatial lock in place around the manor blocked his efforts and struck him with serious backlash.

I've got to wonder if Elder Adrian is just prescient or the ultimate opportunist, thought Sorin. At this rate, I'll be owing him many favors instead of one.

Resigned and unable to find another way out, Sorin crushed the metal disc in his hand. Spatial waves burst out with him as the point of origin and pierced through the frozen spatial membrane, allowing him to carve a channel a short distance away.

Normally, the range limit was three-hundred feet, which would barely put him past the final wave of guards, but Sorin had a loophole: Lorimer. The rat, knowing Sorin's intentions, had used the axe's momentum to scamper a thousand feet away. By using their bond, Sorin was able to push the talisman past its original limits and teleport straight to Lorimer's side.

Mere seconds after the teleportation was completed, Elder Adrian appeared in the street. "You broke my talisman, which means you must be in danger," said the elder. "As per our previous arrangement, you now owe me a favor."

Sorin tossed the man an information jade. "I want you to take me to these spatial coordinates incognito and whisk me out when I'm done. I'll owe you another favor for your silence."

Elder Adrian fiddled with the jade for a while before nodding. "Very well. Just know that the weight of the favor will depend on the consequences of your actions. I'll be watching whatever you do in order to protect my investment."

"Fine," said Sorin. The Elder was unfathomable to Sorin, but it was impossible for him to achieve what he had to without exposing the truth to someone. Better him than Elder Marik. That old swordsman is too by-the-book to understand what needs to be done.

"The destination has been anchored," said Elder Adrian. "Bridging locations." A gray portal appeared before Sorin. "This is a three-way portal. Once through, it will immediately reroute to the Ancestral Manor."

"Understood," said Sorin. He picked up Lorimer and took a deep breath before stepping through the portal. His destination? The residence of Eric Woodrow Diggory, President of the Pandoran Medical Association.

***

President Digory was an outlier in the medical community: a prodigy physician who'd clawed his way up without the support of a cultivation clan. Having been born in a family of non-cultivators, the president preferred the company of mortals and even had a mortal wife. As a result, only two out of his five children were able to cultivate. It was something he was proud of, and he let no one speak to the contrary.

From their two encounters to date, Sorin knew that President Digory's animosity towards the Kepler Clan was very real. His animosity towards Sorin was as well. It was different, however, than the bloodthirsty animosity he felt from assassins, or the venomous animosity harbored by Elder Simon.

Simply put, President Digory didn't like Sorin because he represented the institutionalized discrimination encountered by all unaffiliated cultivators.

According to Lawrence and Gareth's research, the man was anti-elitist. He didn't just want the Kepler Clan knocked off its pedestal; he also wanted the Pollen Clan and all other medical clans gone. Only by eliminating these power structures would the medical community flourish and humanity usher in a new era. He knew this wouldn't happen in his lifetime, but he was committed to at least bridging the gap between what he called the 99% and the 1% and ensuring better upward mobility for aspiring unaffiliated physicians.

As most of the residents of President Digory's home were mortals, Sorin was able to enter mostly undetected. He managed to make his way all the way to the entrance of the president's study before the might of a Flesh-Sanctification cultivator came bearing down on him.

Sorin drew upon his Tarnished God Light to resist the man's aura and was easily able to repel the controlled amount of life mana sent his way.

"Poison?" said President Digory as he walked into the room. "Sorin Abberjay Kepler. What in Hope's name are you doing here, violating the sanctity of my home?"

"Aren't you going to ask me in for tea?" asked Sorin.

President Digory glared at Sorin. "You broke into my house. Get out. Now!"

"But it's dark out, and well-past dinner time," said Sorin. "Elder Marik is busy with Chief Elder Tyrone Hargrave, which means there's no one around except me and you. Oh, and Elder Adrian, who's probably monitoring the situation."

Calling the guard had disadvantages—the biggest one being alarming and possibly provoking Sorin in the middle of a residence full of his mortal relatives. President Digory therefore reluctantly guided Sorin into his study, though no seat or refreshments were offered.

"What do you want, Sorin?" said President Digory. "If it's about the trial, I have no idea why you're here. Your position is obviously quite good, and Physician Mierau has already informed me that he'll be dropping all charges against you."

"I came here because I've been thinking about the bigger picture lately," Sorin explained. "You're a powerful individual and are likely aware of everything that's transpiring in Delphi. This is all a play—a play with consequences. An outlet for the Madness and Violence that bubbles up from beneath this city."

"I don't see how that's relevant to your case," said President Digory.

"It is, and it isn't," said Sorin. "You see, the Medical Association has consistently had it out for the Kepler Clan. It's been the same way ever since Delphi was founded, something I find curious given the characteristics of the forces involved. Madness, after all, is indiscriminate. Yet it's also been the guiding force behind a concerted attack on Delphi's leading clans for over four centuries."

"Just get to the point," snapped the president. "I don't care one whit about this play you speak of, or the woes of the one percent."

"But you care about what's best for the city—what's best for humanity," said Sorin. "Meanwhile, the forces corrupting this city want the opposite. If we look at this from the opposite direction, then, the city must want the Kepler Clan dead because it's to the detriment of humanity.

"At first, I assumed like you: that the Kepler Clan was pretty replaceable. Other clans cultivate poison arts. Should the ban on poison-based medicine be lifted, other clans would fill the gap.

"Then, just the other day, it hit me: the main way the Kepler Clan contributes to humanity isn't through its medical arts but through the treatments it monopolizes. Specifically, the Meridian Opening, Bone-Unsealing, and Gate-Opening tinctures and their applications."

President Digory pursed his lips. "All you great clans are alike in that regard. You keep what's best for yourselves and let the common people die and starve. If your Kepler Clan would just publish half of its library and share half of its methods, humanity would be much better off.

"I'll admit that your Kepler Clan isn't bad when it comes to low-cost hospitals and treating the common people, but that's only because there are people like me keeping you in check. Four hundred years ago, your clan lorded it over humanity due to its monopoly on medicine. It's only thanks to the efforts of people like me that things have taken a turn for the better."

"Yet by targeting what makes the Kepler Clan strong has greatly harmed humanity," said Sorin. "Poison manufacturing and poison-based medicine is a great boon to humanity."

"Poison cultivators enjoyed a disproportionately high position while perfectly good life-mana attribute physicians were considered low-tier," said President Digory, refuting Sorin. "The only way to break the Kepler Clan's stranglehold over the profession was to break this convention."

"Well, it's gone too far," said Sorin. "Banning poison users from medicine has devastated the medical community and brought medical science back two hundred years."

"The benefits far outweigh the costs—"

"Your words only hold true if given certain assumptions," said Sorin, cutting him off. "And we don't have time to get into the meat and bones of it."

He tossed a bag of holding to President Digory. "Here. An anonymous donation to the Pandoran Medical Association."

"I will not be accepting bribes, Mr. Kepler," President Digory said stiffly.

"Relax," said Sorin, turning around to leave. "This donation has no strings attached."

President Digory frowned, and ultimately, his curiosity got the better of him. His eyes widened when he looked inside the bag. "This is… this is…"

"Change," said Sorin with a grin. "A bit of chaos to stir things up, not just here in Delphi but in all of Pandora, including Olympia."

"But the consequences—"

"Will be mine to handle," said Sorin. "As long as you take care to properly distribute and disseminate the contents of the bag, there's nothing anyone will be able to do to reverse it. Unless you're frightened? Afraid you'll lose your position as President?"

President Digory snorted loudly. "For the good of humanity, I'll give up my life if required."

"Don't regret those words," said Sorin. "Because realistically, it's a price you might just need to pay."

"And why not you?" President Digory inquired.

Sorin sighed. "Because I still have things I need to do. Someone needs to take advantage of the chaos and prevent the old order from reasserting itself."

President Digory nodded. "Very well. I accept this responsibility and all it entails. As for the result of your trial…"

"It's as I said," said Sorin. "This gift has no strings attached. Just follow your heart when it comes to trial, and everything else will work itself out."

Minutes later, Sorin was back at the Kepler Clan, walking side by side with Elder Adrian. The elder was inscrutable as ever and looked quite pleased at the transaction they'd just conducted. "If you just did what I think you did, this transaction of ours will prove most profitable."

"Aren't you concerned about any repercussion?" asked Sorin. "Any damage the clan might suffer as a result of my actions?"

"I don't believe you'd willingly harm the clan," replied Elder Adrian. "After all, it was individuals and their machinations that harmed you, not your ancestors and the family as a whole. Moreover, your parents are buried here. I don't think you'd want them stirring in their graves."

Sorin let out a complicated sigh. "Many thanks for your cooperation on this venture."

"I facilitated your venture," corrected Elder Adrian. "No cooperation was involved. Don't try to drag me into your antics—I wasn't born yesterday." He then picked up a communication device and read through its messages. "Elder Marik is on his way back and is looking for you. I just told him I whisked you away to safety when I sensed fluctuations in the Hargrave Clan's Ancestral Manor."

"Excellent," said Sorin, looking through the teleportation chamber's stone ceiling towards the tightening web in the sky. "Please tell him to pick up my adventuring party on the way back. The corruption in the city has reached its zenith, and all of Delphi is about to descend into chaos."