Elder Cultivator

Chapter 933

Though Agom had resolved the cause of one of her mothers objections, she was still not supposed to be hanging around the Akrys ascension area. But nothing could stop her, except for the security restrictions and the guards and threats of retaliation from her mother.

But nothing could stop her from waiting outside at a distance and yelling at them. Hey! Do you know the sword-guy?!

Most of them ignored her, even though she definitely pronounced everything right. Rude.

She didnt have any luck with the hippos she saw. There was one fish that was in some sort of tank so maybe they didnt hear her. Another time there was some sort of other fish that just swam through the air. It seemed to have forgotten that people werent supposed to see where your organs were, because it was clearly visible through its scales.

At least that one answered her though hearing it speak was very uncomfortable. A deep rippling voice that made her feel like shed just jumped in a lake washed over here. No.

Well at least that was a concise answer.

Agom kept returning any time she got a hint there would be another- it wasnt like they were there every day- or every year, even. It was already pretty amazing that they had a stream of cultivators from different backgrounds reaching Ascension. There were more cultivators from the human worlds but there were a lot of those and they had longer traditions.

The next one to pass by was some sort of fang-pig, though they seemed to not know that fangs were supposed to point down or up so that you could bite people with them. It was just silly to have them go to the sides if you actually had good fangs. Still, there was something about that one

Hey! You! Do you know the sword guy?

Agom locked eyes with the pig. And then she found herself compelled to draw her sword. They met in the middle, Agoms jaw trembling as she took the impact. Her sword was bound against the side-facing fang of the pig. She wanted to complement her opponents resourcefulness, but her mouth was rather occupied.

I know all the sword guys, Half Oink replied. Then she shifted her stance, and the pair danced around each other with their blades. Half Oinks own two blades were locked to either side of her mouth, while the wolf had a single constructed blade that was similarly situated, though swapping its direction seemed to be difficult.

Agom didnt really absorb the words of her fellow sword cultivator until afterwards. She was too busy feeling the battle as she exchanged for the first time with someone close to her. Though the pigs natural weapons seemed to be properly sized, even if they were weirdly positioned.

Cuts began appearing across their hides as their swords clashed, the energy passing beyond simply the edge of their blades. The dance of combat had them passing through and around a nearby plaza. Then

Halt! a voice growled. Agom recognized the voice, but the easy it was speaking was still less familiar. There are to be no battles in this district, young lady. Agom turned to look at her mother. Both of you need to settle down right now, Spikes continued in the language of Akrys.

An unconscious connection between the two sword cultivators made them glare at their oppressor. The lights in their eyes promised the sharpness of the blade. And then the ground rose up around them, especially their necks and heads.

Sword cultivators. Ugh, Spikes said, finishing bundling the two in chunks of stone and rolling them away to somewhere they could work off their excess energy.

-----

So about the sword guy, Agom continued after both of them lay bleeding on the ground. You know him?

I told you, Half Oink said, rolling in the dirt to seal her cuts. I know all of the sword guys.

I want to know about Agom twisted, grabbing her communications device. Fortunately, it wasnt damaged in their battle. This one! she said, bringing up the picture.

That's Deep Purr, Half Oink replied.

Yeah! Him! Agom nodded enthusiastically. I havent been able to find him at all!

Oh, hes not coming, Half Oink shook her head.

What? Agom jumped to her feet. Why not?

Assimilation, Half Oink said simply, picking herself up as well. He has feelings of responsibility to his people.

But hes the first sword guy! Agom complained. And youre telling me I cant meet him ever?

Maybe when the tides of the world change? Half Oink tilted her head.

Thats so loooong! Agom complained. I cant wait centuries!

Sorry, Half Oink shook her head. I didnt make the laws of the world.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Yeah well we should cut them apart! Agom nodded. Yeah! Ill get Chikere to teach me how to cut apart space! I just have to be able to make my way back.

Half Oink shook her head. That will be very difficult. Youre not from anywhere in the lower realms, are you?

Well, no

Youd only have a chance of making it back properly if you were from Akrys itself, Half Oink said. Otherwise you wont be able to adapt to the natural energy and youll be really weak.

Isnt lower energy easier to handle than upper energy? Im sure Ill get it.

Having just ascended I can assure you its not like that.

Oh, yeah. Youre pretty strong, huh? You havent even fully adapted here.

Well, my weapons are meant to be this way, Half Oink said. It looks a lot harder for you. So you know Chikere? Master Ty learned from here. Do you think she would meet me?

Shell totally meet anyone who uses a sword! Once shes not busy. Currently shes training with Chidi somewhere.

-----

Feeling the sword vibrate in his hand, Chidi felt the proper weight of a weapon for the first time in forever. He had been relying on his energy to support him forever. Of course, so did every other cultivator- with a few extreme exceptions.

The path of cultivation was usually the path of energy cultivation, after all. It was difficult to get around that, and in fact Chidi supposed it was actually impossible. Even body temperers still used energy to temper their body, and few of them were successful enough to matter. There was one notable exception in the lower realms, from what he had heard, but she still used energy to some extent.

Chidi was also no exception. In fact, even in his current state where he was drained of energy he was still manipulating it. Just not to assault his opponent. Part of that was because he didnt have an opening to attack, but it also wasnt the goal of his training.

His body itched, and he couldnt help but hope that his training assistants were alright. He couldnt exactly prevent himself from accidentally crushing them. Hed developed a good system to detect void ants, but that required having energy senses which did nothing when he was empty. The only thing he could sense now were things that radiated energy- like the swordmaster in front of him.

I dont think youre going to kill anyone like that, Chikere said, condensing her blood into a few larger weapons and taking advantage of the momentum to continually drive him back. If it takes you this long to do it in a fight, youll just be dead.

Chidi didnt answer. Obviously he knew that, but even talking was too much concentration. He followed the flow of her attacks. In some ways, this was the hardest training he could undergo, and in other ways it was the easiest. Chikeres movements had a certain perfection to them, moving exactly as she intended. Therefore if he could predict her movements, he could counter them.

But that was only if he could predict them, because not everything she did seemed like the correct move. And exactly as intended wasnt always as straightforward as it seemed. It wasnt just feints, but moves that would legitimately be bad- if she only had a single weapon to attack and defend with.

In a real battle, Chidi would be dead a thousand times. Indeed, that would be true against most opponents without his energy. At least, any of those he had his eyes on. Obviously he didnt need to train to defeat those he could already defeat. Without his energy, Chidi would find that his best opponents were only sword cultivators though he would bet on some chance of victory against others. Assuming he didnt instantly die from their aura, but those were the easiest thing for him to manipulate with his formation markings.

Ridding himself of his own energy was only a temporary thing to help his training. He wanted no distractions concerning the outside flow, and he could carve out temporary formation markings in ways beyond lingering strands of energy. Manipulating his enemy to do it for him was much more difficult.

In truth, hed only really accomplished it one single time. Chidi had technically killed stronger opponents than Rakiya, but hed never fought a better battle. He wasnt disappointed in his progress, but he simply didnt like the straightforward path. Not when he had seen and experienced that once.

Weakening the flow of his opponents energy was simple. He could cut off a few percent here or there. In the right circumstances he could limit their energy output by half or more. And against a domination cultivator, that would do nothing. He had experienced Zaurs battle with Augmentation cultivators. Was he ten times stronger than them? A hundred?

What if Chidi ran into someone even stronger? He might be able to reduce an enemys flow of energy to a tenth on a regular basis, if only for a moment. Maybe he should be happy with that goal. He could declare it good enough.

But internally, he knew that it wouldnt be good enough. He knew he could do better. It simply required him to negate the flow of all energy. Then, for an instant, it would be a true match of skill. Long enough for someone to die. Chidi had the confidence to say that it would be his opponent.

There was the question of what happened if they had armor he couldnt cut through. Ultimately, his answer was simple- he would cut it anyway. Though a sword made to maximize capabilities without enchantments would be optimal. No armor was perfect, and most materials required some amount of energy to retain their strength beyond normal physical limits. They could be surprisingly fragile where neither upper nor lower energy was involved.

For the barest instant, Chidi caught the flow. His sword cut forward, completing the beautiful weave that was a negation formation. Chikeres blades of blood lost their form, returning to mere liquid- even if they carried on with their momentum and struck him, they would be mere liquid constrained to mortal speeds. His sword pierced towards her throat and stopped.

That wasnt the expected result. Her dodging it? Certainly. Deflecting had been on the table. Slicing into her was a very remote possibility, but she was not afraid of taking wounds. When the flow of energy returned an instant later, Chidi could finally make out what it was.

She held his blade between two fingers of her left hand. With the momentum of his motion and the leverage involved, she had to have had a perfect read on his trajectory. Chidi knew that. And he knew that she knew that. If she had caught his blade with her right hand, he could have made excuses. Though her replacement arm relied partially on energy fusion, it was still functional as pure technology.

Chidi withdrew his blade. I thought I had it.

I think you did, Chikere replied. It was just that this was the version where you died.

He nodded. He would be just as vulnerable to his enemies as they were to him. I think were done for now, he said, sheathing his weapon. I need to digest some insights. He looked down at his body. Thank you for the assistance. He could only feel not-them, but the void ants became more clear as his bodys natural flow of energy began to return. Theyd come out here to a desolate planet to help him train, so he had to appreciate their efforts.

He clenched his fist. Next time, he would be better. Faster. Everything needed to happen in an instant from beginning to end. This was the path he had set himself on, and he would see it to its end- even if that end was his death.

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