Waterstrider

Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fifthmonth, 1634 PTS

“Do you think we can trust him?” I asked, angling my head to watch Rachel’s response.

The two of us were walking through the halls of the sect, having just left the cell where the former Magister was being held. The cell was just about the only unfurnished room left in the entire sect, a stark change to how the building had looked just a few weeks prior.

Rachel considered my words, then shrugged.

“Most of them, at least. I don’t think he’s working with her. The Magister seemed very surprised when we mentioned her. They have clearly interacted before, and he seems somewhat scared of her.”

I nodded, having caught that detail to myself. Rachel’s words had clearly shocked the man. However, what I wasn’t sure of was whether he would have told the truth. After all, even if we did have a shared enemy, we were the ones who had kidnapped him, and it was unlikely that he would decide to help out his jail warden so kindly. Some of the information would certainly be true, I thought, but it was difficult for me to decide what, if any, should be discarded.

“By the way,” I said, “Do you plan on interrogating him further? I’m not sure there’s anything else in particular that I need from him.”

“I’m currently doing it,” Rachel replied smugly.

I gave her a curious look. She shrugged, glancing off into no particular direction, as she tended to do every so often. I had never quite figured out whether she was actually looking at invisible screens and information when she did this, or whether she was simply the absentminded sort.

“This is actually a prime opportunity,” she explained. For me, at least. I intend to question him further about the Epon. If he truly has abandoned them, he shouldn’t mind sharing all he knows. My people would appreciate the intel. I’m not sure any of us have captured a Magister before.”

Rachel seemed slightly excited, and I suddenly remembered that she was a representative of her entire race, rather than a mere individual like I was. Still, the Terrans could be considered my closest allies

Even if they weren’t, they were presumably so distant I could safely disregard any sort of large scale military action from them. Any large group of Shades taking action in the Pantheonic Territory would undoubtedly draw the attention of the Pantheon itself, and they would probably share the information with their allies the Sheneth-Ari. This was something they could not allow.

The best allies, I thought with a faint smile, were the ones who couldn’t threaten you. Of course, Rachel herself could, but one Shade and millions of them were two entirely different matters.

“I don’t mind you doing what you want with him, so long as it doesn’t kill him,” I said.

Rachel grinned in response.

“I imagine if he’s telling the truth, he’ll be happy to share everything he knows.”

I shrugged, not particularly caring either way. I believed I could trust her to inform me of anything important that she learned. I continued to walk, my path taking me to the training room. There were no particularly pressing matters to deal with, and my meditation room had been destroyed, so I felt the best use of my time would be to give pointers to my disciples.

We walked in silence for a few moments, before I heard a sound from Rachel, and turned to see her laughing to herself.

“You Seiyal and your nicknames,” she said, grinning.

I frowned, cocking my head. It felt like the shift had occurred without a basis, which made me think she had found out about something on the internet again.

“The story about what happened at the forward base finally hit the news,” Rachel quickly explained, chuckling again. “They’ve already given your friend Karie a title.”

This didn’t surprise me. I myself had, after all, received my own title not long after raiding a single Celan warehouse. In fact, I felt the mystery of my identity as an unorthodox practitioner was almost as large a portion of the reason as my actual strength was. Meanwhile, Karie Hadal was an orthodox practitioner who used genesis miasma. On Tseludia Station, such individuals were as common as stone. Her deeds needed to be greater to achieve the same notoriety.

The reputation of someone who nearly destroyed two entire stacks was more than enough to do the job, I thought. It seemed the world agreed.

“What are they calling her now?” I asked.

“The Demon of Twinjade.”

“Demon…” I muttered. “Is she truly a demon?”

Rachel shrugged.

“I couldn’t say, but I don’t believe so. It seems to me like she’s simply the type to disregard the consequences of her actions.”

“Fitting for an accomplished young mistress,” I mused.

Rachel nodded in agreement, the corner of her mouth quirking upwards into a smirk.

“Alas, it’s only a matter of time until she angers the protagonist and is slain for being unable to see Mount Tai,” she quipped.

I gave her an odd look, not understanding the joke. She didn’t explain, so I simply expressed another thought I had.

“I a fiend, and she a demon… it seems like the journalists here wish to demean us. Is there a rift between them and the martial artists?” I asked.

“Personally, I would say it’s just because you showed up out of nowhere to commit robbery, and she risked hundreds of civilian lives.”

I shrugged off her comment with a glare. Rachel chuckled at my response.

“Isn’t it normal for mortals to see it that way? Even though your actions were seen positively due to the friction between the races, you still acted in a rough, bloodthirsty manner, and so you were titled after a powerful beast. Meanwhile, Karie Hadal acted in a way that would terrify the mortals, so of course they gave her a title to reflect that.”

Rachel paused, resting her index finger on her chin as she considered.

“Though I do suspect some of her internal enemies might have intervened to add the demon part. The Hadal Clan should be in too much control of the media to allow that one to slip through.”

“That would explain it,” I nodded.

I didn’t actually mind being ‘the Riverfiend.’ The beast my sect had revered as the Guardian of the Downpour had been a fiend as well. To me, and to most, this was no insult.

“I wonder when I’ll get a title,” said Rachel suddenly.

“If we get further involved in the war, it’s probably only a matter of time,” I replied.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she disclosed, as if it were some great secret. I simply continued to walk. Titles assisted with influence, but were nowhere near our main priorities. If she acquired one it would boost the sect’s prestige, however, so I was also slightly expectant.

“We can have you make a move personally, though you’ll need to be careful not to let hints of your true nature leak.”

Rachel nodded, her understanding of the threat even greater than my own. Her gaze went unfocused, and she bit her lip.

“Sometimes,” she said with a sigh, “I wish I could develop myself like you martial artists can. Why couldn’t humanity have been created with a progression system?”

I gave her an odd look. She seemed to be in a strange mood today.

“That is simply the way of things, is it not? Besides, your technology more than makes up for the gap. In your situation, my people would have long died out.”

Rachel sighed again, and gave me a pitying look. With a grim expression, she reached out with one intangible hand, appearing to set it on my shoulder, though I could feel nothing.

“You need to learn how to let someone complain, Cyrus. At this rate, you’ll never be able to get a wife.”

I gave her a blank look, ignoring the mockery. I had no need for such things. Still, her words brought something to my mind.

Unlike myself, Rachel was not able to steadily improve past her limits. Due to the fact that she was an artificial life form, it was in theory easier to develop improvements to her design, so long as one had the blueprints. However, even if we were to acquire the designs needed to improve Rachel’s capabilities, I doubted the system even had the facilities we would need to implement them. After all, her true body was located within the spirit world. What sort of equipment would be needed to do fine machine work in that place? Perhaps only the Terrans and the Osine had such technology. At the very least, I found it doubtful that the Staiven and Celans did.

It was, I realized, actually quite similar to the problems faced by martial artists in their bottlenecks. One needed a method or technique, and the resources to properly implement them. Without the backing of a faction, it could be extremely difficult to improve oneself.

“I’m still not sure why you’re complaining,” I said. “You’re an immortal being with great power who still has the capacity to improve yourself in the future. I’m not sure what else you could hope for.”

“Other than a body?” she asked.

I sighed, regretting having said anything. That part, I did understand. I would likely refuse to undergo a transformation into the sort of being that a Terran was, if the opportunity was offered to me. Most of what I enjoyed about life was tied to physicality in some way.

“I suppose.”

Luckily for me, not long after I had spoken, we finally arrived at the training hall which my disciples used, and I glanced over to Rachel before stepping in.

“Inform me if anything important happens.”

She simply smiled, and as I entered, followed behind me as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It seemed she was bored, I thought. Perhaps she did not find interrogation to be all that engaging. Regardless, so long as she didn’t continue that conversation, I didn’t mind her presence.

The Demon of Twinjade: [Karie Hadal, foremost daughter of the famous Hadal Matriarch, Sirena Hadal, has greatly grown in notoriety in the past day, due to the revelation that she has been responsible for the partial collapse of two stacks. Charged with domestic terrorism by the Justice Office, she has been protected by the Hadal Clan. Many journalists have claimed that she may be demonic in nature, and she has received the title Demon of Twinjade due to her heritage and the fact that she is known for her expert ambidextrous swordplay. There have been numerous calls from the public for this criminal to be brought to justice. However, there is also a vocal minority who support her, claiming that her actions were merely ‘defending Canvasian territory from Celan invaders.’]