Waterstrider

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

Over the course of the past few weeks, the Redwater Sect had gone from an unassuming and dilapidated office building to an ornate headquarters befitting its name. The exterior had a traditional look, draped in arches and lanterns. Above the main entry arch was a finely crafted signboard that was supposedly made of real wood. As I walked under it, lines of the sect’s disciples quickly formed to bow respectfully, giving greetings to their sect leader.

I had received a similar response as I walked through the neighborhood towards the headquarters. I had been surprised by just how many of the mortal Seiyal and Tovus living around this part of Canvas Town had recognized me so easily. I knew that my name was well known, but it seemed my appearance had become recognizable as well. Though, I suspected it was mostly the unique red robes that I was wearing. Based on what the random passersby told me, it seemed that everyone in the area had a friend, relative, or neighbor who had joined the sect. It felt odd to realize that our organization was rapidly becoming the backbone of a small community. Just as all great sects were.

The interior of the sect was just as refined, and the bustle of disciples going about their daily labor continued. As I walked past them, each and every one greeted me respectfully. I made my way to the conference room, whose chairs and table had finally been replaced by comfortable seats and a long table made of composite wood, created in a factory. Resins had been dripped into cracks in the wood, and so veins of different colors coursed their way within the surface. There were six colors, each of them corresponding to one of the types of miasma.

Inside the room sat Rachel, Jihan, and Orion, with Eli nowhere to be seen. I assumed he was at some inn somewhere speaking to one of his informants. The man was surprisingly adept at his job, it seemed. Rachel had told me that he had uncovered the location of the retirement facility in just a couple days.

As I entered, Rachel greeted me without even bothering to look up, while Jihan and Orion stood and bowed in a solemn manner.

“Greetings, Sect Leader.”

“Fancy for you to join us, Cyrus. We were discussing the roles we would be giving to these two and all of the new members.”

I gave Rachel a look, and chose to ignore the fact that she had been speaking with me during a significant portion of my excursion to Otan. I sat down in my seat at the ending of the table. They had made it the most opulent, though I had made certain it would not be so garish as a throne. It simply made little sense to put that much effort into something that would only be seen by the highest ranking members of the sect.

“What roles do they want?” I asked, as I rested my elbows on the table.

“I heard that you need someone to keep up training standards for the soldiers, right?” asked Orion.

I nodded.

“You believe you would make a good Iron Palace Leader?”

He smiled, leaning back in his seat.

“I know the old drill routines from my previous organization. Don’t know too much about all of these genesis techniques, but I figure most of your rank and file have such poor ones it won’t matter.”

I sighed, secretly agreeing with him. I needed to train up some disciples in my own techniques soon, so that we could begin acquiring more high level combatants, in time. The infusion of new blood from the facility, as almost fifty new martial artists, many of whom were from out of system, would help, particularly the addition of Jihan and Orion, but the issue remained. After all, technique exclusivity was not limited to Tseludia.

In theory, I was fine with Orion taking up the role, at least on a trial basis. He was fairly strong, and he had an edge to him that I felt might be good at intimidating people into following his instructions. Rachel could keep an eye on him to ensure he was kept in line. I glanced at her, and she shrugged.

“Works for me. It would be good to take up some more of Cinto’s workload while she recovers. I got the impression she took some psychological damage there, aside from just the physical injuries.”

“She’ll be fine,” I replied.

Rachel was unable to leave it quite at that.

“...We’ll see,” she said.

‘Alright, then. Orion, you’ll be the head of the Iron Palace on a trial basis. If you do well, we’ll make it permanent.”

He bowed his head in appreciation, though I could tell he was excited. As a lifetime gangster, I knew that he knew well the benefits that such a high position in a sect could provide. If he abused his privileges, we would need to punish him. A sect’s reputation could be ruined if it could not rein in its members.

I turned my head to Jihan, who was silently listening to the conversation. Unlike Orion, Jihan was not considering his future path, as he intended to leave the station with his men after our pact was complete. They numbered only four, but each was a sanguine practitioner of either the meridian establishment or core formation stage. It was one of the strongest forces under my command at the moment, particularly since they trained in techniques that were at or near the peak level.

“For an official role in the sect, I’ll just name you the Third Elder. You’ll be in command of your men, and serve as my left hand when needed. When the promised date passes, you and your men will be free to leave.”

“As you will, Sect Leader.”

I could tell that Orion felt slightly jealous of the role, as an Elder was ranked higher than a mere Palace Leader. However, he made no move to speak, as he knew that a spirit refiner deserved such higher attention. If he succeeded at making his way through the bottleneck, and proved trustworthy, I would consider making him an Elder as well. I suspected it was only a matter of time before he had the opportunity, as Rachel had informed me that the man had managed to scavenge a pair of manifest treasures from some odd form of Staiven weapon. Perhaps we would have a fourth Elder in just a number of years.

Now that that matter was complete, I turned back to Rachel to find out something else I wished to know.

“How are the others doing?”

I didn’t need to specify, she knew who I was referring to. Rachel’s expression went slightly downcast for a moment.

“Ran will be healed and ready pretty soon, her techniques kept the injuries to a manageable amount. Cinto will also be fine, but her arm was unrecoverable. We won’t be able to afford to clone a new one for her at the moment, either, due to our budget. I suggest we just get her a prosthetic for the moment, and upgrade it later on once our debt is repaid.”

I nodded at that. Cloned body parts for Seiyal were expensive, as in Tseludia, only the Staiven had the facilities for such technology, and they mostly catered to themselves.

“What about Kein?”

Rachel winced.

“Kein… Kein still has yet to wake up. The damage he took from the manifest energy projector… it caused sanguine energy to run rampant through his body.” She quickly glanced at Jihan, before returning her gaze to me. “Jihan was able to manage without issue due to his path, but I suspect that even if Kein does survive, he will likely remain crippled and sickly for the rest of his life.”

I frowned. Kein was a hard worker, and he struck me as a caring man, to the point where I was very curious why he had even been a gangster in the first place.

“I see. Make sure the hospital is well paid. I will not have him die like this, even if he does end up crippled.”

Rachel agreed.

“I feel the same way. I’ll look into the data and see if there’s anything I can do personally to assist. He’s a good man, and his skills are extremely useful to us.”

After a short moment of silence, I looked back over to Rachel.

“What should I expect from the trial?” I asked.

“It should be pretty simple. We just have to hold to our alibi and claim that we are being framed. With how much we’ll be spending, they should rule in our favor rather quickly.”

I let out a sigh.

“Good. I-”

“Oh,” she said, interrupting me. “It seems that it’s time.”

“Time for what?” asked Orion, confused.

Just a few moments later, there was a knock on the hatch, and the hatch to the room opened with a wave of Rachel’s arm. A young disciple quickly ran around the corner. She stood before me, and quickly bowed. She was tall for her age, somewhere in her mid-teens, and if I had to guess, I would have placed her as having Bountian heritage, based on her dark skin tone and the cast of her face. I vaguely remembered having seen her during the entrance examination. She had fought her viciously. I distinctly remembered her biting her opponent at one point. She paused abruptly before me, quickly bowing. She was clearly unused to the motion.

“Sect… Sect Leader…”

The disciple gave me an awkward look, worried about being punished for the interruption.

“Is there an issue?” I asked.

“Yes, Sect Leader,” she said, regaining self control. “There is a Staiven waiting for you outside. He’s wearing a uniform and claims to be from the Justice Office.” Her eyes flicked over to Rachel, and then back towards myself. “He wishes for both you and the Vice-Leader to go with him.”

“So that’s what it was,” I said. “Good work,” I told the girl. “Tell him that I will be there shortly.”

She nodded, and then scurried off to follow the order. I stood and began fixing my robe, before taking a glance at Rachel.

“You already made the deal, right?” I asked.

It had barely been an hour since I had spoken with Queen Heissix, but I knew that she had been in discussions in advance. It was how we knew just how much we would need to request. She nodded in response.

“In that case,” I said. “I doubt there will be any issues. Orion, get to work. Jihan, keep an eye out.”

The taller man stood and bowed, and watched me as I walked over towards the sect’s front entrance. This would undoubtedly be a great trial for us, but one that would bring great benefit to the sect, if all went well. After all, publicity was power for a sect. In most cases, a sect’s business was built entirely on its reputation.

Martial Sects: [Existing on Canvas for as long as historians can track, martial sects have served as forces that train up some of the most powerful of martial artists, due to their long histories and extensive catalogues of techniques for their disciples. Sects can be found on every inhabited continent, and even throughout the universe, wherever a sufficient population of Seiyal can be found. Unlike a clan, sects are often largely meritocratic, giving advantages based on talent and skill, rather than merely for being descendants of a certain bloodline. Despite this, nepotism still exists within sects, as it does in nearly all humanoid societies. Sects are often the hearts of their communities, providing jobs, security, and glory to those who are connected to them. Aside from selling protection via lending disciples to their clients, which were historically travelling merchant groups for protection from bandits, many sects also buy up and own nearby businesses, acquiring the finances they need to continue running. Sects are thus highly competitive, as merchants always respect the more well known and perceived to be powerful sects over those who are less known. Such disputes are why sects so rarely spring up near one another. It is said to be inevitable that two forces located within the same city will inevitably come into conflict.]