Elder Cultivator-Chapter 1252

Bear Hug began using their energy to poke holes in the ground. Things needed to go deep into the soil so that no animals would eat the scraps. “I can feel energy better than I can feel physical things,” Bear Hug explained. “I’m just as blind as you, but I also don’t have ears, a nose, or a human sense of touch.”

“I would have thought something like the latter, at least.”

“Hugs are good because our energy goes around each other. But I can feel some things physically. Not much, though.”

They bonded a little over missing some ‘normal’ senses, but they both had things to do. Bear Hug began evenly distributing the unintentional planetary contributions. It probably wouldn’t make up for all the damage they caused. They took a lot of stuff, and caused damage to more things without even gathering the materials properly. Then again, there was quite a lot of energy in them to return to Second Gift, so it might even out.

It was going to take a lot of work to make sure it all eventually settled into natural energy, though. Bear Hug was ready for that.

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Merely one or two groups were foolish enough to attack after hearing that the Swirling Swarm was defeated. Or perhaps they were simply enough out of the loop that they didn’t hear of Domination cultivators acting. They were easily defeated, leaving the last decade and some years rather empty.

Prospero was responsible for slowing the movement of Second Gift on the far end. He was the one with both the power and the expertise in affecting momentum, after all.

His power wrapped around the planet, accelerating it like one of his Falling Stars- merely against the direction it was already going. He didn’t have the normal benefits- actual gravity aiding him- but he did have quite a long period of time to accomplish the task. It was a gradual slowing that occurred over the course of a month, quite similar to how it was accelerated on the other end. Just with less water.

When it arrived in orbit, Ratna was there waiting. She hadn’t been able to participate in defensive actions since before the Swirling Swarm’s attack. Prospero understood there was some powerful Trigold Cluster clan involved. The Tilki clan, wasn’t it? They were remote enough that the Scarlet Alliance hadn’t yet had any significant interactions with them- positive or negative- but that was what made Prospero most concerned. They were going out of their natural territories to cause trouble, just like the Swirling Swarm.

Ratna did engage in a grand speech, giving everyone heartfelt thanks for their efforts. She told them that rewards would be prepared for all, and that they should rest.

Prospero was absolutely going to. Though, he suspected that at least one individual wouldn’t. Or perhaps it would be a multividual. Bear Hug was quite set on maintaining the value of Second Gift as a planet of natural energy, despite the difficulty.

Ultimately, however, they had succeeded- no matter what happened from then on. Second Gift would be a great source of ongoing value if it could be maintained as it was, but nobody had expected that. At this point, however, Prospero imagined Bear Hug would be successful, somehow.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Most of the others were already linking up with ships prepared to return them to where they needed to go- whether the main core of the Scarlet Alliance or elsewhere in the Veiled Brilliance territory. Then there were those responsible for the shell. Launching the unnecessary parts into space was relatively easy, as such things went. The stone pillars raised by Spikes would be returned to the mass of the planet, but most of the water forming the icy shell was extra, not using the planet’s native oceans. Adding it would greatly unbalance everything.

Either way, it was clear Bear Hug intended to stay. Perhaps there would be even more of them- as other bodies no longer needed to absorb sunlight. Some of those had already moved on, as Bear Hug focused on other roles. Either way, given some ideas they had, it was convenient. They intended to make use of Bear Hug- in a manner they were certain their ally would approve of.

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Bear Hug in the lower realms was far more relaxed now. And not just because they had to be to balance out with the upper realms. While Second Gift still needed some maintenance, the worst case scenario was that the remaining life would slowly become imbued with ascension energy. That would make them less valuable, but that was likely to occur over generations.

Anton had come to find Bear Hug, and mentioned a really interesting idea.

“So you just want me to go to places with a lot of people and… occasionally get messages from someone there and tell someone else in a different place I am?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Anton said. “Though there are other requests, too.”

“Okay. But why? Don’t you have communication thingies?”

“They take longer for the signals to reach,” Anton explained. “Which is why we have the other request. Some people want to study you.”

“Study me for what, and how?”

“They want to figure out how you are connected to your other parts,” Anton explained.

Bear Hug nodded. “Oh, that’s easy. It’s because they’re me, you know.”

Anton stroked his chin. “How should I explain this… most people wouldn’t be the same person if they were in multiple places. Only one part would survive. Or, they would be connected by a strand of energy. But you don’t have anything around you,” Anton gestured. “At least, not in conventional space.”

“There’s no thing,” Bear Hug said. “I’m just in multiple places. It works because I am. Hmm, I guess that’s not really helpful, is it?”

“Not so much,” Anton admitted. “That’s why they want to study you. Maybe two or three bodies. I have been assured that they will be very careful.”

“... Can studying hurt people?”

“If people are careless… or heartless,” Anton said. “But they will be limited to observing as much as possible, not interacting. Mostly, you can expect them to ask you to do things.”

“Difficult things?”

“Probably not things that are difficult for you. But if you don’t like anything, you can explain why.”

“Words are hard, though,” Bear Hug said.

“Anyone studying you will take lessons on how to speak the energy language,” Anton said. “It’s only appropriate. It’s not terribly hard to learn, and it can be used by more than just you and others from Klar.

“In that case, I don’t mind at all,” Bear Hug agreed. “It will help you, right?”

“It will help me, and all of us,” Anton said.

“Wow, really? Just to hear messages faster?”

“Of course,” Anton said. “The limits on the exchange rate of information are a significant hindrance. What if it took me one minute to say anything? This conversation would have taken half a day already, because we would have to wait even if the response was immediate.”

“Oh. I never thought about having a conversation from really far away. I’m always talking to people next to me.”

“And that’s the norm. I can personally extend my energy a significant distance, but that is still limited in various ways.”

“Like only being in one place at a time!”

“That’s right,” Anton agreed.

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If Ratna thought that the Tilki clan would give up their pestering once she was no longer distracted, she was wrong. It was both an insult and an annoyance. Technically, they owed her no loyalty- but they did owe her respect. It appeared they had none.

So now, she was trying to determine whether they deserved any in return. Because so far, she had spared the lives of all of their important clan members. Not for free, but she could have slain a number of young masters and mistresses.

They were particularly vindictive about the deaths of certain members. Ratna had a longstanding opinion that it might simply be used as an excuse. Otherwise, they should probably stop being idiots and sending useless, unqualified, arrogant brats to do their bidding. She knew they had some old monsters, and talented branch members that nobody cared about. They should also know how to pick their battles.

But maybe she was overestimating their intelligence.

Regardless of that, she had a decent grasp on their power. Many Augmentation elders, and at least one Domination individual. Possibly two, depending on which rumors you believed. Three was probably a bluff, but that didn’t provide Ratna much comfort. She was most effective in single combat. Preferably single combat where her enemy didn’t know they were in combat, but still quite effective otherwise.

As part of the Alliance, she knew that other Domination cultivators would come to her aid if she called for it. Prospero Vandale had just spent several decades doing so, in fact. And Zazil… who was alive, apparently. Which bumped the success and failure rates of the Alliance one step more in the unbelievable direction.

It was nice they would come to her aid. Useless if she didn’t call soon enough and was killed, and rather suboptimal if she got her people killed instead. So she had to continue to take measured actions for the moment.

Even if she wanted to kill some of the brats. Continuously surprising them with which border system she was protecting, trying to predict their movements… it was exhausting. Good training though, so she couldn’t entirely complain. She couldn’t help but think they had some greater motivation, however. Nothing said they couldn't just attack her, if they really wanted to. She had broken her ties to the Trigold Cluster, after all, even if she did so gently.

She could only hope they grew bored. Because if things went on, one of their important disciples might accidentally die. It might even be a real accident, given enough battles.