Chapter 438: Chapter 438 - Myself: In Motion, Plans: In Emotion
The travel back from the Gateway was a walk for an exiled noble, who could not ’fly’ over the forest of stone spires like the reincarnated ancient so often did. Elua herself currently moved just ahead of Madrigil... but while she spent more time in the air than on the ground, it was not with the same useful dance of Gaseous essence as usual.
But it was with a vigor that seemed to contradict the somber mood their errand should have created. Seeing someone off who would not return if things went well did not seem to require such... acrobatics.
She launched herself *physically* from one calciferous formation to another, her hands finding purchase on thin ledges before she swung up into a perfect handstand on top of a fairly flat surface. The motion then flowed seamlessly into her arms turning to springs, shooting into a launching vault that carried her to the next outcropping.
Though she was not entirely relying on physical energy. Her silver dress’s skirt still had the essence running through the micro-sigilry embedded in its weave, just for a ritual that kept all its billowing from ever catching on sharp objects or hindering her movements.
’She also did flips and cartwheels back along the roadway...’
"That looks exhausting."
Madrigil’s observation finally came with a bit of a detached tone. He was interested in whatever she may be up to as an academic phenomenon, but ultimately they were his true thoughts as a scholar. He was happy with his steady walk that did nothing to paint him as an ’obvious’ cultivator. Or that would require him to eat more of this Exclave’s bounty than was necessary to operate his mind.
The brunette dropped onto the stone in a roll that somehow led to her bouncing up in a backflip to stick her landing. Now, with those feet having found solid ground for more than a second - for the first time in several minutes - she began to close her eyes and perform another deep spiritual assessment of herself. Until he got closer.
"Well, I’d rather be exhausted. The ability to accurately move in three dimensions becomes even more important in the Upper Realms, when gravity becomes less relevant."
Her mint eyes had not been all too dull (or all too lively) since she came back from her attempts to tame her Physique. At the very least, when they became only a little more of either nowadays it was less obvious, because of how they sat mostly somewhere in between at rest. Like half of the reincarnator was constantly looking at things just a bit distant from whatever was going on.
"This is true even at Breacher. When people can effectively levitate with essence, and position their bodies to kick off any surface at any angle... then thinking of body movement in traditional patterns becomes quite obsolete. I’m sure you can appreciate that?"
"I have seen no one ever do any of those things until I’ve been here. Also, have you not claimed to be more interested in academics and craftmanship?"
"Hobbies are hobbies. You do them because you like them. Survival is survival... you do it because otherwise there will not be any more hobbies - or further study. That’s why, tiring or not, it is no excuse not to train to at least make it through such an encounter only a little scathed."
The man seemed to take her readied answers with a thoughtful nod, but it only lead to another point he’d started to wonder about. Something of a polite social inquiry that came as much from making simple conversation as genuine worry. If there were any actual concern... it would be that he had grown comfortable with this current living arrangement.
"Speaking of - are you not concerned about leaving such a young, untested cultivator as your current husband to handle the realmshard? It does seem like quite a responsibility for someone at their level. To keep it hidden... if they even recovered it at all."
Fingers on small hands gradually relaxed after flicking outwards in a little, tiny hormonal expression of violence. Elua had not been much pleased at the phrasing ’current’, even if it was objectively true. She didn’t care so much about the fact he had never actually caught on to the pronouns or unique combined-term she had freely used with Sevra when they talked.
’It is not like he has been around us much to have picked up on the truth. Even stuck with us in the same dimensional radius. I once thought I was anti-social, but he is certainly...’
"Logic would state that in all these months, we would have had more visitors if the artifact had not been secured. Qat is smarter and stronger than most people realize. Far stronger than the cultivation ranking categorizations would suggest for someone their age."
The confidence in her voice was absolute, but her hands moved restlessly at her sides. Those same fingers that had thought to claw at him moments ago were tapping against her metallic threaded dress in a sort of rhythm that suggested great inner tension.
For while she truly believed every word she said, plans and beliefs could only be built up on so much knowledge. So much foresight, developed from it. And any new piece of information introduced to a system had a risk of destabilizing every single one of her helpful plots.
’It’s hard to accept. Not that everything I’ve set in motion may be of no use, but that it may be unnecessary. My fortress is resilient and capable enough to find a way past anything, even without me waiting to hold her hand through it.’
She resumed her movement back toward the growing mansion foundation project with an arcing hop into the air. This time all of it held sharp, surgical motions that spoke more of controlled aggression than flowing practice. Moving on from nimble agility into martial precision.
The first series of kicks at the apex of her jump would have shattered stone if meeting a solid surface... for every perfectly planned Stomp activation that was aligned with the training Illusion of flying enemies. Specifically, they were copies of the strange reptile-bird that she’d never actually fought before. But for Madrigil, they were delivered into empty air at targets only she could see.
He didn’t press to talk further, because other than making it clear *again* that he hoped no such extra cultivator interlopers from their continent or any other... ever bothered coming into this hideaway - he didn’t actually have much to say.
Unfortunately for him, Elua had grown a little used to not having to keep quiet. Even if it was because she was talking to something of a friend in the scout. Though she had not fully quit talking aloud to seemingly inanimate objects either, even if she didn’t look nearly as burnt out as when the woman had found her that one day.
’Maybe I should give him some kind of official designation or role. That way I can excuse it. Confiding. Part of the problem of not truly *getting along* is that I can’t really classify him, though...’
"If I’m being truthful, and if you were not paying attention to how much I drilled into the courier I just sent off... I am very much terrified something will have gone wrong."
The admission came out flat not because of monotone... just from being matter-of-fact. For her next words gained an edge to it that was not at all ’sweet’. Though if anyone had ever met Yatrel er Goltbred during her first Descent, they may have claimed it sounded a bit like her. Youthful voiced, but grim.
"I gave Sevra specific orders. If anything too serious happens to Qat - anything at all - she’s to recruit my disciples as two bodies for the trapped realmshard immediately, if there is time. They are then ordered to return to the Exclave with my beloved through any means necessary."
Trying to burn off some of the rage her imagination brought, she packed lots of air into shapes around her to drain her ability to focus on such ’what if’ scenarios. But it didn’t mean it would change her response. She knew just how upset she would be if some things took turns she knew they ’could’.
"And the moment I’ve made sure she is safe here and no longer in danger? Well, this place is more than survivable at this point. So... we would trade responsibilities for a little while. As I... went back to the continent."
Futilely, the ancient cultivator kept increasing the workload of her energy systems. But she was much too efficient for that to work appropriately... and she wasn’t about to anesthetize herself in front of the exiled noble. Even for a second. She didn’t trust him *that* much.
Meanwhile, the man himself watched as her illusions spread out, changing the whole landscape into vaguely familiar areas he had traveled recently on the continent. Changing herself, taking on a familiar guise for anyone who ever passed by a playhouse or a street performance of a certain infamous historical figure. Though while she kept a lot of their outfit embellishments, she also refined some of the reality back into it.
"And probably, I would do a lot of things. To people that this new me has turned a blind eye toward. A me that has heard things, but has chosen not to listen to my gut over because as long as the person I loved was safe and growing, I would permit everything."
Every sphere, stream, and panel of Gas from the heiress had turned noxious green for the ’Acid Tongued Villainess’. Truly, the part that terrified her sometimes was that her knowledge could easily allow her to replicate even this - on a small scale.
She would never be able to instantly *generate* Acid, yet she could more than easily enough perform the chemistry. Keep the substances sealed in floating airtight containers, to add yet another Mimicry to her repertoire.
Yet, it was the last thing she actually wanted to do. Not because she hated her old self - if anything she knew she was too attached to it - but because she wanted to love her new one. More than anything, wanted Qatrand to be able to without a hint of reserve.
"But... as long as they are harmed... if the person that is supposed to protect and cherish me lose any part of that? I would also permit everything from myself against those responsible. Even acting in ways that the old me eventually learned not to blink or lose sleep about."
’You’d think punching, slicing, or so many other violences would be just as brutal. Corroding parts of enemies in battle or after battle to hide evidence... I do not think it is a horror any should wield unless there is no other option. And in this life, I have lots of options.’
El was grateful that she retained the memories of that time. Because sometimes you had to actually know the dullness and pains that formed from too much of something to finally understand that you should avoid it. If the choice was possible.