Elder Cultivator

When Abder’s business with Draza drew to a close, the merchant held him for just a moment longer. Privacy was provided for business dealings, augmented by formations to protect against people snooping.

“You are aware that people are following you?” Draza asked. “My people noticed some watchers lingering about.”

“I’ve noticed,” Abder confirmed. “I’m hoping to figure out what their goals are without ending up in danger.”

“Can you handle them?”

Abder shrugged. “I either can or I can’t. If something happens to me, you know who to watch out for. Recently, they seem to have grown bold. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I could give to the peacekeepers just yet. Following someone around in public is rude and suggestive of ill motives, but difficult to prevent.”

“With Anton gone… things will be more dangerous.”

In full agreement, Abder nodded. “We have to show we can take care of ourselves. Otherwise, we’re just back to the collapsing civilization we had when he first appeared. Except with more mushrooms.”

The mushroom comment was just that. They had far more food options now than they used to… but for a time, that had been the largest impact everyone saw because they could grow them pretty much anywhere.

Not wanting to delay any further, Abder moved on. He didn’t wish to draw any trouble to his friends and allies, but in turn he needed to ensure their safety. It was unlikely the people following him would be surprised where he went, and attacking when he was surrounded by other cultivators was far less likely. Thus, he shouldn’t really be bringing any risk with him.

The Gathering had a longer name that the current Abder thought rang of false humility or self-condescension, so he was happy to call his people what they naturally defaulted to anyway. The Gathering of the Lowly was a name filled with regret, even if it was named with good intentions.

It was a true gathering of people, drawn from different districts into one part of the city. The buildings were built tall, like others under the protective dome. Now that they had better ways to carve out stone, they used the material they removed to build up while they went down at the same time. The Gathering didn’t stand out from its surroundings, however. At most the heights were slightly different from the other buildings in the same district, though personally Abder thought the quality was higher.

Ultimately, it was something like a sect compound without walls. That was a sign of trust and inclusion… and an ultimate concession to the fact that they could not fully control their own space. The Twisting Spike Sect had previously possessed the strongest walls, in addition to those separating the districts, but most of those had been brought down as they served little to no purpose except separating people.

Very few others in The Gathering practiced advanced body tempering like Abder. In fact, it was difficult to find more than a handful who practiced the same cultivation methods. That was in part because they were not terribly numerous- a few hundred in all- with wide access to different methods.

The natural energy in their surroundings was cultivated to grow strong, though they didn’t contain it with formations. It was a disadvantage to them in some ways, but it represented hope for the future. Others had also been open at least until the Alliance withdrew, when they began to put up barriers. They could have their own energy… but Abder thought it would lose them friends.

Their greatest source of life was in fact fungus. They didn’t need to eat all of them, but having them growing throughout the buildings with everything else that took minimal space lessened the sense of lifelessness that the dense stone otherwise possessed. That was something difficult for Moturn to get away from, as their environment was a harsh one. But they chose to wrestle with it to grow strong. Some grew discouraged and tried to make their way to New Ibbore, and Abder didn’t blame them, but he was born on Moturn and really wanted it to be the best it could be. It wasn’t short on natural energy, at least- though it was a delicate balance how much could be let in from outside the barrier.

Though Abder minimized his own practice of using energy, he could feel the various different kinds the disciples used. He made his way through them, feeling different elements. Fire and light to fight off the darkness, while others embraced it. Some walked the path of weapons, studying their implements in isolation or together in their reinforced courtyards.

Abder made sure to stop and speak to everyone he could. Many were formerly from the streets, and all who became part of The Gathering had great difficulties in their past- though that was just humanity in general. The insights he could provide into cultivation were less important than the interactions he had. Having heard the story of Vincent who was the branch head of there Order of One Hundred Stars on Ceretos, Abder didn’t think he was anywhere close to that level of connection even with far fewer disciples, but he did his best.

His goal was ultimately the library, which possessed not only a great number of tomes and scrolls but also something else- a repository of knowledge. Technology, apparently. Very few of the locals knew how it worked to any significant degree, aside from basic operation. Thus, they treated it very carefully. It had copies of pretty much every physical piece of information they possessed, plus more.

It even had the ability to search for certain topics, finding centuries of insights and guidance from cultivators experienced in many of the styles they currently practiced. It was important… but not unique. Anton even said it wasn’t that valuable- except that it would take time to replace. Even Moturn had a few, so The Gathering shouldn’t be envied for it… but Abder could see the Twisting Spike Sect might want it if they wanted to return to their monopolization of knowledge and power.

Stolen novel; please report.

But they wouldn’t be following him to know that. Even if the exact location wasn’t public, nothing would be revealed to the watchers just because Abder visited here. His reasons were fairly simple, just making some notes about his future acquisitions. He’d also find those who requested the styles so they could know that something was coming.

Then he’d take the time to watch some of the recorded guidance himself- video lessons were one of the most helpful for cultivation. Abder could watch Nthanda’s guidance or some of the others who had undergone various levels of advanced body tempering. There were various different displays, so he wouldn’t be monopolizing the repository. Sustainable food production was the most necessary, but the repositories were probably the second best thing that the Alliance had brought.

Sometimes Abder would stay the ‘night’ at The Gathering, but he had his own quarters elsewhere for when he wanted some privacy. Not that they were much more than a roof over his head- and even that wasn’t necessary. Just like there wasn’t a real night and day cycle, there wasn’t any weather to worry about. Aside from the massive storms outside the barrier, but everyone did their best to ignore those if they could.

-----

It was a week before anyone actually did anything. Abder had attempted to covertly contact those he could trust, but he didn’t learn much more about motivation before that time. Eventually, some of those following Abder revealed themselves- though they did not approach.

Instead, they effectively herded him in a particular direction. He went along with it just so he could see what would happen- and to keep up the facade that he hadn’t noticed the others in hiding. He was wary of entering any sort of formation that might hide a use of energy, but he was ultimately led to the edge of the city, his paths of retreat seemingly cut off.

“Why did you lead me here?” Abder asked. “We can speak anywhere, if privacy was what you wanted.”

He had serious doubts about that… but it was better to hope for the best. Perhaps they knew something and simply intended to warn him… though the leaking killing intent didn’t make him particularly optimistic about that.

Men and women began to step out of the shadows around him. None of them were stronger than Abder individually, but he began to think he might have gotten in over his head. Perhaps he should have been more proactive.

“Do it,” one of the men said, gesturing to another. A needle flew towards Abder. He twisted his body, but couldn’t avoid its speed. That was too bad, because he hadn’t wished to display his durability so easily. The needle struck his body without puncturing, even amplified by natural energy. “Good. It provoked no reaction.”

Abder frowned. Was something more supposed to happen? Had he missed a poison? Fortunately, the man clarified things for him a moment later.

“You are a troublesome issue,” the man said. “But it seems your guardian is truly gone. Now we can remove you from the picture. It should be fairly easy to defeat a pacifist.”

There were several things wrong with what the man said. First of all, Anton absolutely had the acuity to tell if an attack was going to hurt him- though Abder did believe Anton was truly away so that didn’t really help him. He wasn’t a pacifist, though. He didn’t have much of an opportunity to make that case, however, as he was soon swarmed by needles, throwing daggers, and even spears.

Some of the attackers had insights into puncturing that allowed them to bypass his skin. Fortunately, Abder wasn’t relying on that as his only defensive layer. He didn’t like being stabbed directly in the heart, but his internals were also quite durable.

Getting away with just a few bleeding wounds against over a dozen attackers seemed like a good start, but Abder didn’t have an opportunity to counterattack. Perhaps he could or should have thrown their own weapons back at them, but it wouldn’t have been that effective.

He immediately thought to flee, but with the streets blocked and cultivators standing on nearby rooftops, they converged on him from all directions- except the edge of the city itself. Abder made his best use of his training to entangle his opponents as they stabbed with various thin weapons, driving him back. He caught a pair of weapons in his hands, twisting the metal to the point of uselessness past their augmenting natural energy, but others struck his body.

If they didn’t do any damage, he could withstand endless attacks as he wasn’t expending anything to resist. However, he also couldn’t concentrate his defenses against particularly strong attacks. The best he could do was avoid or deflect them.

Abder shoved a few cultivators into their allies, sending them tumbling dozens of meters down the street. He could and would fight, but there were too many enemies and he was pressed up against the barrier. He needed to move away but…

It was already too late. More attacks came, but they were merely a distraction. While he was dealing with most of the attackers, several others pulled out strange crystal devices, which suddenly activated with a massive amount of natural energy.

He was surrounded by a box of energy he couldn’t break through. He struck several times, using techniques for getting the most momentum in a tight space. The energy of the box surrounding him continued to grow. Abder crossed his arms in front of him, prepared to be crushed or burned but he wasn’t prepared for what actually happened. The barrier behind him opened, and the box snapped towards him.

He wasn’t damaged, but the power did push him back… into the outside. The barrier reformed instantly- which was actually a relief, because a man sized hole could potentially destroy the whole city. Abder couldn’t believe they would be so reckless. What if something had gone wrong?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t say anything to him because he was busy dealing with... everything. Endless winds, heat, and pressure. Abder immediately fell to his knees, his wounds burning with acidity and heat.

His training had been going well, he thought. Yet here he was, about to die to his home planet. His eardrums ruptured, and he squeezed shut his eyes and pinched his nose, hudding to protect himself as much as he could. It was a shame he wasn’t as strong as Nthanda. She had actually come to a place like this to train… but he knew he wasn’t ready for what she’d done. He could barely even keep his body intact.