Elder Cultivator

Chapter 1006

When Anton was told to wait somewhere for something to arrive, he had a pretty good idea what it would be based on the one sending the request. That only made Anton more surprised when, after a few days of waiting to be certain he arrived on time, an arrow suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Saying it whizzed past him was slightly incorrect. Actually, when it actually appeared he felt it was quite slow. It was also not particularly near to him, but he felt it passing through the system regardless. It disintegrated not long after exiting subspace, but that implied Alva truly did not want to hit anything. That was good, because if she hit Akrys Anton would be quite displeased. Not that her attack had much power left after reaching the system anyway.

Anton grinned. Well, if it was going to be like that he was going to have to respond to his granddaughter in kind. Surely she wouldn’t leave immediately, so he should have a chance to respond. She might also be making her own follow up attack, perhaps improving her aim. As for Anton, he traced where the attack came from. Not just the star, but a bit more precise than that based on the ripples of energy it made when it arrived.

He took a few moments to prepare, as he wanted his shot to be more accurate than Alva. He also had some insights gained from that single shot that he might be able to add to his repertoire.

He slightly preferred accuracy over speed for his return arrow, releasing it towards the star Alva shot from. If he was bound to that star his attack would likely be more effective, but he still drew upon the power of Akrys’ star to make his shot properly effective.

His attack traveled nearly incomprehensibly faster than the speed of light, though some of that was due to cheating off some distance. It wasn’t to the same level as Alva’s new insights, but Anton attacked through subspace regularly enough at long distances. It still required a lot of concentration, and if there had been enemies in the system Anton would not have dared to leave himself so open.

It surprised Anton that Alva’s second shot arrived before his return. Her arrow was vaguely closer to him, but still rather off target. The speed at which it arrived, however, was something admirable. Indeed, even her third shot arrived around the time Anton’s slipped into the system Alva was shooting from, across the divide.

But as her arrow only got within a few million kilometers, Anton redirected his arrow towards her. He’d been off, but with only a single shot as reference he didn’t think it was that bad. Alva twisted, catching his arrow and snapping it- the last sensation he had from it. Not that he was surprised she could destroy it, of course. Even in straightforward combat she could have easily dealt with a single arrow now that she was in Augmentation, and Anton’s attack was significantly weakened.

Though… maybe a bit less.

The exchange of arrows lasted several days, during which Three Squeaks watched intently, having been drawn towards the display. He didn’t disturb the local star’s energy, simply watching, though Anton doubted he would have significantly thrown off Anton by calling upon the same source.

Alva managed to increase her accuracy, targeting Anton’s ‘stationary’ point. In truth, there was some relative motion of the systems, but it was constant and easy to read. While she had powerful new insights, it was still clear she wasn’t a sniper. If Anton were in the same system it would have been one thing, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if an arrow jumped from one planet to another only to end up behind him. As it was, merely traveling the distance took every ounce of power Alva had, even with her shortcuts through deep dimensions.

Meanwhile, Anton’s arrows arrived with killing power intact. It would require a weakened enemy, and the upper energy quickly dismantled Anton’s own energy, but there was still some force left upon arrival. And enough speed to eventually past Alva’s defenses and bop her on the nose. He could have probably broken through her energy defenses, but he let the arrow disperse.

Anton ceased firing, and Alva only returned one more arrow. It finally properly reached Anton, but he flicked it away when it approached.

Their attacks traveled just about as fast as messages, and Alva quickly followed up with one. “I admit defeat,” Alva said. Only simple messages could could quickly flow between even the best personal communication devices- a larger setup wouldn’t function inside a closed space like a storage bag, so they couldn’t carry one with them. Anton wished he could hear Alva’s voice and see her face… but he would record a message for her later. “You’re still stronger than me. But… I’m not too far behind. Don’t get lazy.”

Frankly, Anton didn’t care if Alva surpassed him- but he certainly wasn’t going to neglect his training. “An admirable new technique,” Anton replied. “I think I could learn more from it, even improving my own distance.” Maintaining control and seeking out targets at such a distance was one of the most difficult things he ever did.

Each message exchange took more than a few minutes. It was hardly a real time conversation.

“Astounding,” Three Squeaks commented, once he was certain Anton was done. “That is your granddaughter?”

“That’s right,” Anton said. Well, she was technically his great-granddaughter but that distinction wasn’t relevant here.

“I have much to learn still,” Three Squeaks said, nodding and stroking his chin. “I am excited. Too bad we will not be able to meet properly.”

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“Well,” Anton shrugged. “That’s not entirely true.” It was already possible for them to send people between realms- though it was only practical for void ants or others without energy at the current moment. The distance itself was not so much an issue as the way the energies changed. Without the influence of the tides of the world, it was a bit more extreme in how people might be rejected. Though not quite so hostile as Fleeting Youth might make the energy to Anton in particular. Actually making ships that could journey back and forth between realms was still far off, and they were limiting such development for safety reasons. If the enemy got their hands on anything like that before the end of the cycle, it could cause endless problems. Finding some way to attune to lower energy without the tides of the world would more or less be part of the solution, and they couldn’t risk that.

“Might she be descending during the Tides of the World?” Three Squeaks asked.

“It’s a possibility,” Anton admitted. “But there are risks for the Scarlet Alliance directly participating. Unless we can manage to completely prevent information returning to the upper realms, which would be… quite optimal, honestly.”

It was extremely unlikely for it to be perfect, but if the assaults were completely destroyed with none returning, at least in a number of systems? The actual results would be difficult to predict, but the upper realms would likely be livid. Having that anger track to the Scarlet Alliance would be problematic. And while the initial plan had been for many of them to return, the Lower Realms were strong enough to resist even the wildest predictions for the invasions- though potentially with significant losses.

Of course, the Scarlet Alliance would end up in battle with either the Trigold Cluster or Exalted Quadrant sooner or later. They were terrible neighbors, and there were some grudges that had formed already. Especially with the Exalted Quadrant, who had oddly enough been somewhat less terrible in the lower realms. Not that ‘less terrible’ was much of a recommendation.

Anton made sure to properly solidify his burgeoning insights. He doubted it was possible to reach the same level of Alva in any short time, even if he’d had direct exposure to the same thing. Tying it to an advancement had clearly increased the tier of insight into subspaces. Even so, he could learn much. Every extension in range or reduction in power slightly increased the efficacy of his technique, slowly moving it away from the realm of tricks into a proper danger to foes on his own level.

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Yuval faced off against a swordmaster, his body tense. Well, that title might depend on who he asked. To the general public, his opponent would certainly fit in that category. She didn’t really compare to Chikere or Chidi. Which made sense, because Agom was one step further along that chain, a disciple of both of them at various points.

That’s right. Yuval clenched his fists, ready to face off against a wolf with a sword. And he was going to lose.

Even though Agom lowered her level of energy, she was far more advanced and had a couple centuries of experience on him. He also found it difficult to predict her movement techniques, as her quadrupedal nature was different than the majority of Yuval’s opponents.

Obviously he’d sparred with some wolves before. It would have been crazy to not have such experience. Even some other quadrupeds from Akrys. But even so, he was mainly familiar with humanoids.

Agom was, as far as her siblings went, not terribly large. She barely came up to Yuval’s chest. At least that meant he didn’t have to worry about being cut off at the knees. It was his neck that was in danger most.

Blood trickled down his cheek at that thought. He’d barely yanked his head out of the way. Would she… really have done it? Based on what Yuval understood, Agom shared the same sort of crazed training ideal as Chikere and his older brother. She really might have cut into his neck. As long as she didn’t decapitate him- mainly because of his spinal cord- a clean cut could be stitched back together. It was still crazy though.

He made use of his legs as much as possible, trying to match her reach. He also did his best to slip inside her optimal range. Normally against a wolf that would just be bringing him closer to their claws, but for Agom it wasn’t such a big danger. The very reason she took up the sword to begin with is because of underdeveloped fangs and claws.

Yuval felt his energy being sliced as he merely brushed by the sword in the wolf’s mouth. He got in a few strikes on her side, but his flames couldn’t catch her fur alight. No big surprise there, as she had no doubt trained with Fuzz, whose flames were far stronger than Yuval.

He trusted his instincts, raising his arms to deflect an incoming slash. Just because he preferred the unarmed brawling sort of fighting style didn’t mean he had to be stupid about it. He had proper gauntlets and combat ready boots, augmenting his punches and kicks. And of course protection for his vulnerable limbs. He had a helmet of sorts too, but Agom wasn’t shy about cutting through things like that.

Yuval fought with great intensity. He felt like he was the weakest person he knew, and that might even be true. That said, he also understood it wasn’t his own fault. He was pretty much one of the youngest as well. He did have a few friends near his age… but he hadn’t really meshed that well with most people at school.

Being famous didn’t help, since Yuval didn’t like being popular and instead tried to shut himself out of many social situations. He might have had a few more friends without the extra popularity, ironically, but he wasn’t dissatisfied.

He liked cultivating. And while most of his bonds weren’t close he did know a wide variety of sparring partners. Most of the time, he lost to all of them. Yuval grinned. He was going to start winning eventually, though. He just had to get stronger. It was pretty fun… and he was getting used to taking injuries. He had once thought he shouldn’t get injured at all because they had formations that could prevent it, but he now realized that receiving his first injuries in a real battle would have been… beyond debilitating.

Agom’s sword cut along a tendon in his elbow, making one arm limp. He could have probably continued fighting, but while he could fight with such an injury… it was also better to know when he shouldn’t. “I surrender,” he said, holding up his good arm. At least people were really good at fixing this kind of stuff. With a clean cut, he might even be able to use his own energy to recover… extremely slowly. He would just need to hold things together.

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