Chapter 24: Just a Bit Further
POV: Guardian Angel
"No." I said sagely, practically sitting on the ten-year-old Tian as he struggled to rise from his bed. For all intents and purposes, that is exactly what I was doing; putting pressure on him so he couldn't get up and go make a mistake. He was already getting kicked out of the clan for his increasingly aggressive behavior, there was no need to add getting crippled to the mix.
Well, I say getting kicked out, but it's more like going on a ten year journey to train in order to beat the current Young Lord of the Cavan clan, who just so happened to make a joke of a bet with him after pushing for his exile due to Tian's "inferior genes." The bet was that if, in ten years, Tian could actually beat the Young Lord then he would take back everything he said and allow Tian back into the clan. It was, again, a joke. Not something he planned to uphold. Tian took it seriously.
Not even Tian's parents objected to the exile, instead turning a blind eye towards Tian.
And now, Tian was attempting to rise from his bed, on his last night in the clan, and go to try and beat the crap out of the Young Lord while he slept. I naturally had to stop him, which was only aggravating Tian further, because he was slowly beginning to figure out that it wasn't his own fear or thoughts that were holding him down, it was something else entirely. I figured that if I had to hold him down many more times he'd catch on about there being something following him. He just wouldn't know what, because cultivators could be surprisingly ignorant about spirits. Which was ironically funny.
Finally, after hours of struggling, Tian gave up and I just shook my head with a wry smile as he finally drifted off to sleep. Such an ornery little brat. Unfortunately for him, the next day Tian was kicked out of the clan compound with nothing but the clothes on his back, a backpack with a few necessities, and some money his parents had given him. With a not-so-mild curse Tian turned his back on the closing gates of his clan and the apathetic looks of the gate guards.
Then he, a ten year old boy, set out on a journey to get stronger, far stronger...though he did not know how. I sighed and shook my head, grasping at strings of karma and thought, weaving a tapestry of them for the boy to follow. Next to me Tian's other guardian angel did the same, sporting the same wry expression that I did. Just by hovering over Tian we were altering things, changing them, affecting it with our positive energy, our karma. Even if we hover in the Spirit Realm, which runs parallel to and through all Realms, as we watch Tian we still effect things to a degree. If we actively reach out and manipulate things, it gets even more apparent.
But seeing as how fate is a fickle thing, we must still be careful.
POV CHANGE: Tian
I grumbled as I walked, kicking at dirt, rocks, anything that happened to cross my path. It had already been two months since my exile from the clan...oh, sorry, I wasn't exiled I was merely being sent out to temper myself. I'm not a cultivator, I don't need to temper myself. Who do they think they're fooling? I know why they're kicking me out. And my parents...
I held back the tears that threatened to fall, cursing my treacherous eyes. How could they just abandon me like that? No -I refuse to think about it. So I grit my teeth and continued to walk, holding down my feelings of doubts and fear. Where was I supposed to go now? What was I supposed to do? I had to fight the Young Lord in ten years, but how would I get strong enough to? I was only ten, this is...
Shaking my head vigorously I forced those thoughts away, my steps slowly becoming stomps as I walked down the road. Where was I even going? To Manu Ti? The rumored city of cultivators that flew in the sky? It'd take dozens of years to get there on foot, or so my one-time-friend Kagami said, and there were probably all kinds of mystic beasts that would eat me before I got there. Grinding my teeth, I thought about that. I didn't even have a weapon to defend myself with besides a small dagger. I stopped walking and stared at the dirt road beneath my feet, attempting to get my emotions under control again. A feeling of unwillingness crawled its way up from my gut and into my chest, forcing more tears to well up in the corner of my eyes. But I am a man, and men don't cry, so I didn't.
Decidedly ignoring the wet drops that fell onto the dirt road I turned my attention to the surrounding forest and the tall mountains in the distance. In a fit of childish anger and hope, as I would later come to call it, I stomped off the road in the direction of the mountains, entering the deep, dark forest and heading into its depths. Maybe if I reached the top of one of those mountains I'd be struck by celestial lightning, and then be able to control lightning! Or I'd find some treasure of an ancient cultivator along the way, or even find Dei, and have him teach me all about cultivation! My eyes glazed over a bit at the thought of every cultivator's hero; Dei, the first Immortal. He who challenged the Sun Devourer, and fought amongst the gods even as a mortal. Or Immortal, depending on who tells the story.
Kagami told me that Dei was a fairy-tale, or that he died a long time ago because no one's seen him since forever, but I didn't agree. He's out there. I just know it. And I'll find him, and become the best cultivator there ever was!
My plan was flawless.
Or so I thought, until about three days in when I realized there was no longer anyone to steal food from, the mystic beasts within the forest all apparently had a blood feud with me, and that I was utterly lost within the dense foliage. Which brings me to my current situation, one caused by me trying to rectify two of those problems.
"Go away you stupid monkey!" I shouted, shooing away the four-armed monkey by throwing bark and broken off branches at it, protecting my backpack that was now stuffed full of a yellow fruit with the other hand. The monkey just stared at me uncomprehendingly, not even bothering to dodge. Grumbling to myself I turned away from the monkey again, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and climbing further up the tree, being sure to keep an eye on that monkey. It was up to no good. I was sure of it.
After ten more minutes of climbing I broke through the tops of the trees and stared at the view. It was...stunning. The mountains were close, closer than I expected, and loomed so high they seemed to scrape the sky....It was wonderful...and I didn't even notice when I slipped into a trance staring at the mountains, something akin to enlightenment flooding into me.
POV CHANGE: Statera Luotian
The tea I was drinking sprayed out of my mouth in surprise, startling Keilan as he poured over my creature diagrams. That idiot. That bloody idiot. The hell is Tian thinking, gaining enlightenment on a mountain of all damn things. Not even a special, spiritual mountain! Not even one that would lead him toward the Holy Mountain! Just a normal mountain!
"Focus, idiot." I grumbled, reaching out one hand and flicking my finger. The Four Realms reacted to my intent, a great wind sweeping forth and knocking Tian off of his tree, abruptly ending his enlightenment. He could do much better than gaining enlightenment on a simple mountain, no matter how profound mortal philosophers make them. That's not to drag on mountains, the Holy Mountain is indeed a worthy target of such enlightenment, but still...really? A mountain? I could believe a volcano, but a 'mountain' doesn't suit Tian's personality.
"Mother?" Keilan asked hesitantly.
"Ah, don't worry about it. Just dealing with a fool. What do you think so far?" I asked, moving to stand next to him as he examined the nine-headed lion design. It was a very basic design, still a work in progress, and I bet that it would change sooner than later.
"Hmm. Well, I don't see too many problems. The Birds will probably be fine, there aren't many bird-like beings in the first place, same with the sea creatures. I'd like a hand in creating the Leviathans, considering the biggest will undoubtedly end up in the oceans of the Karmic Realm, and Reika will probably want to take a look at the birds. As for everything else...they could probably use some work." Keilan told me, and I nodded.
"Hmm. That pretty much confirms my suspicions. If I put any of the other divine creatures in the Four Realms, at its current size, they'd cause far too many waves. It'd unbalance the ecosystem, probably resulting in a few cities being destroyed, and currently the mortals are still recovering from the War. It'd do more harm than good." I muttered, scratching my chin and glaring at the few designs I had for land-based creatures. That was, or course, a relative term, as if they get powerful enough then ecosystems won't affect them.
"The Sky Wolf is good to go now, though. Maybe have Elvira and Reika come check it out, but I think the design is well done." Keilan mentioned, pointing at another one of my designs. The golden ball of light fluttered for a moment as I peered into it, quadruple checking my work. It was purposefully unbalanced in design, representing both the sky and land and a few other things that contradicted each other, and was the perfect representation of irony in my books. I am the Deity of Balance, and yet for there to be balance, some things must be unbalanced. Hilarious.
"Is that so? I'll think about putting it out there, then. Maybe I should start with one that's at the basic level first, rather than going Kei with it." I mused.
"That's probably smart." Keilan acknowledged, nodding to me. The last thing the Four Realms needed was another being with power rivalling the Big Five, it's already oversaturated with deities as-is. The Four Realms needs to grow more before any more powerhouses can be born, or the ones already here can grow to the level of power they should be at. If it doesn't, the Four Realms will experience a sudden, and violent backlash that will catapult it in the opposite direction -as a sort of survival instinct. Too many deities and the whole place will rupture.
"I just wonder-" Then I paused and looked away from him, staring into space. "Excuse me for a moment." I said, turning and waving one hand. A rift in space opened and I stepped inside, looking at Morgan with a small, sad smile. "How's it going?" I asked. The wolf-creature looked at me and narrowed its eyes.
"Hmph. I didn't think you'd come so quickly, even ditching one of The Others." Morgan hissed. "I finished what you asked." It said.
"Took you long enough. How many years has it been since I asked you to create a being? A few centuries?" I mused, watching with interest as a blob of...something appeared before me. I instinctively crinkled my nose at the foul creature. "How long did it take you to make that?"
"Ten minutes. I got bored." Morgan grumbled, but hey, it was at least an improvement. I'd been getting to Morgan, I just know it. Losing the war was probably a heavier blow to the being, having slowly been convincing itself that perhaps it was not the best way, and that my way had merits. Having a physical body helped with that, I'm sure.
"That's hardly an acceptable response." I snorted, reaching forwards and snatching the blob of...yuck. A bit of divine power surged into it, causing it to wiggle a bit and take on a more coherent shape. Now it looked like a drop of some...liquid. Is this a slime? It's definitely a slime. "This is a bit better, but would still need more tweaking." I added.
"What, not going to accept one of my creations?" Morgan sneered. I shook my head.
"Nope! Not until you take this seriously! It's for your own good as much as anything else." I chirped, tucking the slime under one arm and promptly stepping out of Morgan's prison. "Call me next time you need something." I added as an afterthought, shaking my head. Keilan gave me an odd look as I re-emerged into my own palace.
"Any trouble?" He asked, eyes drifting towards the slime. I shook my head, tossing the slime to Keilan and shrugging my shoulders. "This definitely needs work. It'd go extinct in seconds. Is this the Ene -I mean, Morgan's handiwork?" Keilan asked, holding the slime away from himself.
"Mostly. I altered it a bit. You should've seen the first version, it was just a blob of nastiness." I said with a sigh, shaking my head. Keilan nodded, crinkling his nose in the same way I did and gently setting the slime down on the ground, where it just...sat there, doing nothing. It barely had a conscious mind, let alone a sentient one. Absently I reached out and flicked my finger once more, stopping Tian from gaining another lesser enlightenment. Technically, one could absolutely have many enlightenments, but the first was the most important. It was supposed to be the thing closest to one's soul. In this case, my teardrop was actually working against Dei, giving him far too many chances to gain 'enlightenment,' even on the tiniest of things.
One must first see that which is large and unfathomable, and then begin to realize the strength of simplicity.
"So, what else do you have for me?" I asked, clapping my hands together and grinning at Keilan. My child just shook his head at me and sighed, accepting my not-so-subtle dismissal of the previous topic before looking back at the designs for divine and various other types of beings and diving once more into the topic. I just grinned and nodded along, happy to be focusing on something like this for once. Something much more pleasing and gratifying. Creating.
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