Elder Cultivator

In the past, Yuval had been too weak to get involved in the battles of the Scarlet Alliance to any meaningful degree. He’d wanted to participate so badly, but he’d had only small opportunities. Centuries had passed, and while there had been various skirmishes after that point he’d barely even been able to participate when the great powers had swarmed the Scarlet Midfields. noveldrama

Now… he was still short of Augmentation. By some measures, that was late. If he were being compared to his parents or brother, he was a couple centuries behind. That meant he’d spend nearly twice as long in Integration as they did. It was disheartening.

And yet if he had been anyone else, it wouldn’t be that strange. Just the fact that he might reach Augmentation was already good. No, he would.

That was what he told himself. He simply needed more experience. More real experience. Wandering around and training with various different people certainly built up a strong foundation. Fighting beasts on frontier worlds proved he had some strength. But none of it mattered. And that was important, to Yuval if not to anyone else.

In some ways, his life would have been easier if his family wasn’t so supportive. Or if he’d had truly mediocre talent. He could have found some sort of craft to practice and lived a mediocre life.

Except that wasn’t the way of the Alliance. Whatever a cultivator did should be done to the fullest. It was true that people sometimes had to fall back onto a secondary possibility due to various circumstances, but it was inappropriate to think poorly of people who did, or those who carried out different duties. All were important. Chidi just hadn’t found anything that suited him better than the traditional role of a warrior.

Even then, he hadn’t really had any accomplishments. He wanted to help people. To help the Alliance. And finally, his chance had come. The Alliance was making a move against the Fearsome Menagerie. While Zazil had certainly caused them some trouble, damage that occurred during the war hardly served as reparations. Instead, her efforts were required to pull away Yann. And she’d even damaged his anchor… slightly.

Not that Domination had anything to do with Yuval. Not for at least another full cycle. If the Scarlet Alliance still existed at that point. It was a very real possibility… on the other hand, the alternative option was that they surpassed the great powers. That was in part what the current counterattack was about.

Too many times had the Scarlet Alliance had to let a war end when their foes retreated, barely stretching more than a system or two beyond their established borders except for specific missions. Even if they killed more enemies than they lost, even if the resources from the wrecked enemy ships and the weapons and armor of their foes made them come out ‘ahead’, it still wasn’t enough.

Or at least, appearing to be disconnected. For the moment, the Scarlet Alliance was keeping up that fiction as they sent the majority of their ships along normal routes. Yuval had taken one of those vessels, and now they were moving east and north from the territory of the Guardians.

So far, they hadn’t encountered anyone willing to try to stop their fleets. Part of that was because the border systems that had been actively letting through cultivators from the Tilki clan had already been softened up by Zazil. They were also moving in large enough companies that any individual system didn’t want to mess with them… and if they could peacefully let them pass through it was less of a pain for them.

So much for the solidarity of the Trigold Cluster. Then again, they were an even looser connection of stars than the Exalted Quadrant. Ultimately, it was a judgment of how much they would suffer against the Alliance versus how much they would suffer from their neighbors. With the Fearsome Menagerie having just retreated it seemed to be providing greater weight to the Scarlet Alliance.

“Nervous?”

Yuval didn’t have many friends- at least not who were planning to go to the frontlines. Indeed, unless they were trained to coordinate it wasn’t always better to fight alongside friends. The voice wasn’t exactly from a friend though.

He turned to Alva. She was his aunt, or by some distinctions his second cousin once removed or something like that. Considering she was the same age as his mother within a handful of years, however, aunt fit more comfortably. “Should I be nervous? I’m more concerned you won’t let me fight properly.”

“It’s a poor tactic if I don’t provide covering fire,” Alva commented. “Nobody fights alone. Just try not to get yourself too deep into things seeking a challenge. However, you shouldn’t expect to strike down an Augmentation cultivator in single combat.”

“I wasn’t planning to fight them at all.”

Alva crossed her arms for a few moments. Then she glanced over at her other companions- Fuzz and Spikes. They barely fit in most parts of the ship, but it was still preferential from sitting in hangar bays for months of travel.

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Yuval spoke the language of the wolves, obviously. It was actually drifting closer to Akrysian nowadays. Fuzz opened his toothy jaw as he growled in an encouraging manner. “You should. Not alone, but if you are planning to make a name for yourself you will regret not taking the attempt.”

“Yes,” Spikes supported him. “It is a risk, of course. But you cannot reach higher levels of cultivation without some risk. Picking the right foe is important. Not someone weak, but someone you can fight with your full strength against to push yourself.”

Alva nodded slowly. “I’m not saying you should throw yourself into battle with people above your cultivation rank. Even if the legacy of our family has numerous examples, it doesn’t require it. But this might,” she stepped forward and poked his chest. “Or maybe you’d prefer to stand against a legion. That’s not a bad option either, if you lean in that direction.”

Yuval clutched his hand over his chest. Yes, his heart wouldn’t let him hold back. Even if he might die, the same result would come soon enough if he didn’t take the chance. Not because Yuval would suddenly grow old and wrinkled- he had plenty of lifespan left as an Integration cultivator. However, health wasn’t always sufficient to be alive. He had spent many long hours considering how he wanted to grow. “Something like the latter, perhaps.”

It wasn’t quite right, but learning about various fire cultivators had once led him to the lower realms. There, he’d learned from Anishka. Obviously he couldn’t do much with the ice element but the fire principles passed down through Fire and Ice Palace had one figure that stood out. Anishka had never met him, but her father Anish was famous for flames that wouldn’t harm allies. Yuval found that to be a worthy direction of advancement… and it even helped overcome one of the weaknesses of many fire cultivators.

Wide area attacks that caught up one’s own allies didn’t tend to result in still having a lot of allies, long term.

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While they certainly got close to the Fearsome Menagerie’s territory without being challenged, they hadn’t expected to get the whole way. Their intel was right, catching some of the Menagerie’s allies along their best route.

The Heartcursing Hail was a sect that could be considered as archers, though their bows were merely a medium to carry cursed energy. The definition of a curse could vary, but the main components were simple- detrimental effects caused by strong malice and negative emotions. Usually, they tended to linger, sometimes even growing in power upon the death of the cultivators.

They could have just pushed past the system, but then the next group or the one after would have to deal with them. Similarly, they had to stop in some part of the Heartcursing Hail’s territory to replenish energy and supplies. Especially since they would thereafter be assaulting the main body of the Fearsome Menagerie.

When they chose a planetary target Yuval eagerly sprang into action. It was appropriate, as he was a frontline fighter. Furthermore, he would be covered by Alva.

Yuval thought they’d made poor choices. They didn’t have orbital platforms or a planetary barrier. Their fleets even pushed the Alliance towards the planets.

He dropped through the atmosphere with many others who didn’t fight well from inside ships. Several hails of arrows launched towards him as he approached the ground. However, Yuval took advantage of the effects of reentry to establish a barrier of fire around himself… and those nearby. He converted the fire from natural friction and heat into a form he could use, willing it not to harm allies. That included himself, obviously.

Arrows burned away, along with the curse-bearing energy they held. A few stronger arrows never reached them as Alva contributed to the assault. She wasn’t a long range sniper… but at her level that just meant things were vaguely kept to planetary range instead of interstellar.

The assault force landed just outside a courtyard. Yuval could have angled himself to hit inside, but they did have ground level formations. He knew enough to want to avoid tangling with them from the inside. He pushed forward, driving into enemy lines. He was a ball of fire, his fists concentrating more powerful flames that melted stone and charred bone.

His flames purified the dark curses carried by the arrows, his power overwhelming them. Yuval nodded. He’d made the correct choice. Even if his individual foes were weak, as a whole the great number of enemies were strong. He continued to lead the charge with those beside him, driving into the enemy lines. When enemies drew too close, the Heartcursing Hail swapped to longspears, while the back ranks continued to shoot their bows.

Yuval enjoyed shattering their formations, piercing towards more vulnerable foes. He made certain that those around him were protected, but some couldn’t keep up. Technically, they weren’t his responsibility. He was leading a few squads- less than a hundred cultivators in total. However, even if he wasn’t required to protect them, he wanted to. He admired his father’s ability to control the battlefield, to cover many people with his power.

Running back to pick up stragglers in neighboring groups wasn’t optimal, however. He would only expose his own people to further attacks. Instead, Yuval pushed deeper- but not too deep. By the time the locals made a move to surround them, they were already curving around to rush back out, carving a curved path through enemy cultivators.

Yuval pushed towards the more exposed groups, those who had been slower to begin with, faced greater opposition, or those whose neighbors fell. He was glad for his purifying flames, because he saw the agony on the faces of those who took a hit. Those who died might be better off, especially if the curses lingered.

Except… they weren’t limitless. Anything that energy could do could similarly be countered by energy. It might take knowledge and practice, but the Alliance had all sorts. Yuval watched a ‘medic’ who focused in on the worst cases. She was a woman quite a bit older than him, showing actual age while similarly within Integration.

She raised a rifle, shooting forth a small device that latched onto the skin of its target. Sometimes, she even punched through the defensive energy of those who weren’t prepared. Through those devices, Yuval felt her energy reach in to dispel the curse energy, purifying blackened veins and restoring the auras of those she targeted. It was impossible for her to reach everyone… but she did what she could.

And that made her a target. Yuval felt another hail of arrows incoming, targeting her in particular. After all, without her quite a number of decently strong cultivators would have fallen.

She didn’t look like she had any way to solve that problem… so Yuval figured it was up to him. And his squads, of course. “Push through!” he yelled. It wasn’t going to be easy to reach her in time, but not trying wasn’t something Yuval could accept.