The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 533 - Being Worthy Of Friends Means Admitting Aloud You Like Having Them Around
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The Gateway still had the look of ancient ruins that many of the convergence points on the continent itself tended to have. Elua had designed the place that way more out of habit than homage - it was just a simple fact that the architecture was conducive to the containment and stabilization once sigils were placed in the way that she was trained. Redesigning things that had been refined over thousands of years served no real purpose unless she wanted distraction, in the reincarnator’s mind.
Air could be felt thrumming as the contained energy was siphoned to its purpose. The crystalline condensers pulsed and dimmed as that script was bent to its purpose. A sequence that would punch a hole between dimensional spaces and form the one way link to a far off place. And standing in the center of it all was the mint-eyed owner who would only admit to being a steward, for now.
"Rezzue wanted to come see you off, but I ordered her to rest. She can panic about the first time seeing this *after* she gives birth. So you get those three watching from afar instead. Still, she sent her regards and wishes to connect after she is back on the continent."
Speaking of Ajoreal, Kaland, and for some reason Madrigil... her voice was as casual as ever, even as reality seemed to fold toward a single point in the air behind her. Only the two youngest cultivators present had not yet seen this phenomena... yet only the two sigilists were inured to the majesty of it. A swirling boundary that Sevra eyed with wariness still, considering she had been physically *thrown* through last time.
"We’ll miss her. I hope she took my invitation seriously."
Nohre recovered enough to speak out before they could be told to quickly go through, as she had experienced last time. Though she didn’t know that the situation then was less about power constraints and more about preventing the heiress from holding on tight and preventing them from returning home, back then. Technically, that was *still* a problem for the little Ogre, but...
"Her children may yet take precedent for some years. However, don’t worry, she’ll miss having someone else to talk to about chemical safety - and probably agree to the proposal before long. Madrigil certainly doesn’t listen to either of us and neither will many others when she gets back."
Zyris stood clearly apart from the trio preparing to leave, one hand resting on the insanely controversial object in her belt pouch. Condensed through an almost sorcerous method from the ichor in the moat and shaped into a detailed replica of the vantablack creature, the miniature of a Greater Colonizer sat feeling heavier against her hip than it should, considering it was made of literal nothing.
’Calm down, it’s not a real one. You aren’t invading your home with it.’
Dense cultivation meditation resource, the Goltbred heiress had told her when handing the glass orb. Something that a Void Element wielder could sit beside in training and consume into their field more easily than other essence. Capable of lasting until the next Descent, rather than scraping traces of the dispersing miasma off of continental battlefields.
El felt how all of her sort-of-disciple’s attention was on the object and decided to address it one more time. Since she did sort of spring it on her only a couple hours ago.
"Pushing too hard will give you the metaphysical equivalent of frostbite. I know it’s tempting to rush, after seeing an expecting mother and after you watched me disassemble that organ for what I need - but don’t."
"I’ll be careful."
"You’ll be impatient and overconfident at some point along the way, and *then* you’ll be careful for the remainder. I’m intimately familiar with the pattern of those with emotionally sourced goals."
"As am I."
The older woman’s lips twitched when she spoke, but she didn’t argue. She’d spent enough time in this place to know when the heiress was speaking from experience rather than condescension. When her words were ’care’ wrapped in lecture - and when items given as gifts were done so with the full feeling of meaning behind them and not just her purported ’whim’.
Zyris er Talcres bowed forward with a grateful heart and then turned to slip through the Gateway. Followed quickly enough by her daughter-in-law, with her new giant ’hoop’ of a staff - and the scout... whose hood was down and dark hair put up in a twist by a shiny red-gold colored hair stick. Leaving the brunette to contemplate whether continuing to craft things like she had for them was the right move or not.
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The training grounds had become Sevra’s preferred location during this short visit. Not for her own practice, though she obviously did take great advantage of the essence-dense environment... as well as tried her hand at one of the combat drones she’d heard of.
"Again. And this time don’t *look* where you are planning to step."
Spinning around a quarterstaff after smacking the back of a thigh, her main reason for was that teaching kept her hands busy while her mind worked through everything else. Worked through the possibility of a hidden monster that logically should be posing a lot higher threat if it was really such a strong cultivator. And how much it reminded her of Elua er Goltbred, seemingly staying quiet and doing its own thing.
’Except she hasn’t been kidnapping people. Probably. I think. Actually, there’s no genuine guarantee that she isn’t just popping in and out of here and-’
Kaland’s footwork had improved noticeably since her arrival, but not so much that she had to do more than pay a small bit of attention. The boy was a good student that adjusted without making excuses and moved through the exercises with much less hesitation now, though his tendency to telegraph bursts forward was higher than that of the little brother.
Ajoreal watched them from the edge of area, supposedly resting but actually sketching something in a small notebook he thought nobody had noticed. Though the Illusionist had long since snuck a peek to see what he was up to... as did the Astral Walker after noticing the lingering gaze. She didn’t enjoy that he was using *almost* only her as a reference lately, but she admitted to herself he was talented and decided not to reprimand him. Yet.
"Boys."
A glimpse of Silver at the edge of her vision was caught by the former assassin, even before the boys learning her ways straightened up viscerally at the sound of the voice. Like they expected a sword to be flying at them if they were too slow. Whatever relationship they were gradually developing with their sister-in-law outside of Stronger and Weaker cultivator dynamics, it hadn’t yet eroded the instinctive wariness.
The kind that came from being around someone capable of designing and firing a working Plasma weapon one day, using some sort of Gas focused ritual that mowed down a whole acre of trees from the blastwave the next, or simply enjoying toying with their swordsmanship as she allowed Sevra to gauge their abilities herself.
So when Elua approached along the path from the mansion’s spire, her pace unhurried, they knew it was in that way it had which meant she had already decided exactly how the next hour or twelve would unfold. And their first instinct was a hell... that wouldn’t come, this time.
"You’re both dismissed for the afternoon. The flower conservatory has better light for drawing, little imitator - and I’ve left some resources on the subject you might appreciate. The underwater chambers deep past shaft seven might interest you this evening, Kal. Follow the markers. You are free to ignore my suggestions, but do go do your hobbies elsewhere."
Neither argued - or for a moment thought ignoring her advised locations was the wise course of action. Ajoreal tucked his notebook for sketching the details of people he planned to Mimic away while his elder brother was already dashing toward the cliff path to take the lift down. If he was meant to be there this evening, he guessed it would probably take him that *long* to make his way down.
’Well, he won’t be disappointed he rushed. Probably won’t like it when the new construct I left down there grabs him to hasten his journey, though, hm?’
Elua shook her head before settling onto one of the stone benches that could be summoned up from around the ring of a sparring circle. Nothing much had changed between the two women since their conversation at the highest balcony. The scout had given her time to sulk because the reincarnator had wanted to pout for her behavior.
And the artisan had decided to destroy a bunch of trees for no more essential reason than that their appearance had rubbed her the wrong way as she strolled past them. And then begin a whole new series of crafting to justify it, retroactively.
"Rezzue mentioned you’ve been working with her on her Walk theory fundamentals as well."
"She asked. Was I stepping on your plans? You did say something about remaking the sigilwork on the anklet I brought in order to teach her."
Handed over days before, the unlucky cultist killing device had been brought personally through the Realmshard to be given by hand to the person the scout felt could contain it. After having it all this time, Sevra was sure she had nothing particular to learn from it herself.
"No, that’s not what I meant. I’ve written down what I could on the subject for her already, but didn’t want her to practice the actual techniques while she is... expecting. I know that has made her *sullen*. As much as she ever gets."
"Yes. I can see why you get along with her now. She has a lot of drive in her, doesn’t she?"
Chuckling, the Goltbred agreed with a hum of affirmation. The distinction of ’noises’ that spirits made mattered to Elua. It always did, even if she preferred to ignore them as she had aged into a struggling, survivor of a cultivator as Uvraneht.
The difference between slowing and providing opportunity to those with pleasant potential and forcing outcomes on those with egregious outlooks had turned to general apathy to be involved in anything at all. Unless it affected the object of her love.
But the once little medical fairy had started to believe something that her spouse always had. That even without Qatrand showing up in her life, she may have *started* caring about others as she came of age and felt safer in her own power. Not caring anywhere near so much as she adored her precious gem that stabilized her so much, but certainly much more than she’d grown jaded over in her last life.
The proof was in the people she met and spent more time with than for their ’use’ to the blonde swordswoman. Though she constantly had to admit they *were* immensely useful pawns if they needed to be, she also had to admit the way she interacted with them was ’unnecessary’.
"You didn’t come here to discuss Rezzue’s training."
"No."
The brunette reached into the space beside her and withdrew items hidden by Illusion that had ’not’ been there a moment before. A nice, thin leather document case that was long and flat - and reinforced by so much sigilwork it could likely serve as a shield in a pinch. Certainly, it would stop the penetration of the contents of a smaller wrapped bundle. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"You saw my new sword. You’ve seen Qat’s. I also made a showing to you of the two I made for her siblings. And you were hardly jealous at all."
Unraveling the bundle to show off the new dark leather holsters that were every bit as quality in cut, grain, stitch, and shaping as anything she made with leather... the young woman pouted. Fiercely. While retrieving one of the matte black twists of metal and spinning the dangerous implement carefully around her hand.
"This upset me, my dear friend. I cannot have you thinking you do not want anything from me just because I kept making two-handed swords."
Before slinging the perfected assassin’s throwing needle up into the air with the force of a ballista, the bolt of metal as silent as if nothing at all whistled high into the Air.
