Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 30

Once the big teleportation array back home was set up again in Yarris, we fired it up several times for trips back to Glacia. Many of the legions were in dire need of new supplies and had plenty of coins to spend, thanks to their victories.

We would also be sending about twenty thousand soldiers home, most of whom were either satisfied with their recent levels or too heavily wounded to get back in the fight anytime soon.

But just as Prince Herius hoped, they were replaced by fifty thousand new recruits. Truthfully, I wasn't sure how many of the new recruits came because of news of our recent victories, and how many came because the Samhain Clan had been drumming up additional support in anticipation for this moment.

Even the Dragon Lodge sent some new people. I hadn't expected volunteers from them, but members of the Dragon Lodge had their own means of communicating at a distance.

Galbatorix had once given me a wand-like thing that blinked in some variation of Morse code, and I'd seen enough of them while walking through camp to know that my soldiers were still in communication with people back home.

News of our victories had probably spread long before Prince Herius opened the portal back up. Seeing as how I wasn't leading troops into a suicide mission, more wizards must have volunteered to join up of their own volition.

I also put in a request for medical personnel and supplies, and the Dragon Lodge was actually quite responsive to that as well. About two hundred of the new recruits specialized strictly in healing magic, which was much more than normal. Between that and those who'd picked up healing-related skillbooks during our conquest, we now had a sizable medical staff.

I was mostly content with how things were, though the urge to return to Crownhill was growing stronger. The System would force me back eventually, but I felt like I had a little time still. I figured I'd probably be going back within the week, if what the System and I had come up with went to plan.

Shortly after getting our reinforcements, Prince Herius gave the orders many of us were expected. He started with a general final sweep of the outlying lands, which would culminate in a triumphant return to Mundwise.

There, he would reunite with Lady Velicia, and return her kingdom to her, war-torn as it was. I wasn't really looking forward to another conversation with Velicia, but the plan demanded it.

***

Our return to Mundwise naturally came in the form of a parade. I was surprised by how many people showed up to watch it. Lady Velicia must have had much more pull with the locals than I thought. Either that, or survivors from the towns we'd been liberating abandoned their smaller settlements for the safety of the largest city in the region.

I waved to the dirty and ragged people in the city streets. If it were me in charge of the place, I'd be handing out farmland. Feeding this many people had to be a strain on the ruined city's supplies. People with a farmstead could take care of themselves with no aid at all, and hopefully in a year they'd be selling food instead of consuming it.

"Hurrah for our heroes!" someone in the crowd clapped. A few weak voices cheered alongside him.

I saw the person clapping and nearly shook my head when I realized it was one of Lady Velicia's street thugs turned into guards. But Prince Herius preened at the praise nonetheless.

"Thank you, citizens! Thank you one and all. Know this! I'm only getting started. Your world will soon be as safe as you remember, and then we can work together on bringing an even brighter future to you all." He smiled and waved to the crowd with a princely bearing that was no doubt as carefully practiced as the rest of his mannerisms. It might even be part of a charisma skill.

I figured I could learn something from him and tried to copy some of what the prince did as I waved pleasantly at the survivors. Most looked to the ground when I tried to meet their eyes, despite the smile I wore on my face.

Prince Herius and I reached the city lord's manor while most of the army was still marching through the city streets. Lady Velicia was in front and wearing an elegant dress, looking for all the world like a housewife eager to greet her victorious husband home from battle.

"Prince Herius! You're back!" she rushed to him and jumped into his arms, wrapping herself around him as he spun and cradled her. She planted a rapid series of kisses on his forehead, cheeks, and lips in a passionate display that made her affection for the prince plain for any to see.

Some of that usual charisma Prince Herius usually held left him at that moment as he ran sheepish hands through his hair. "L-Lady Velicia! It's good to see you too. Shouldn't we... ah... go inside?"

Velicia leaned over the prince's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. It must have been something interesting because Prince Herius set Lady Velicia down, and he went straight inside with a wide smile on his face.

Lady Velicia gave him a cute wave as he departed and even blew him a kiss behind his back. When he was out of sight, her expression rapidly faded to something more stern and serious. Where before she'd been the desperate and eager lover, now she wore the same calculating look she'd shown me before.

"You ran off and found something we've been looking for," Lady Velicia said.

I was still wearing a smile from the parade earlier, but now it felt genuine.

"And who's this 'we' you're speaking of?"

Lady Velicia turned, whirling her skirt behind her as she crooked a finger and led me to the sound-proofed meeting spot we'd used the last time we spoke.

She took a seat across from me, and I had some vivid flashbacks to a meeting with HR back before the integration. They'd been concerned I was getting too closer to Sakura than was professional. I'd been sweating for a few weeks until the whole problem mysteriously went away the day after I mentioned to Sakura I might be getting fired.

Lady Velicia stared me down across steepled fingers and fixed me with a sharp gaze.

"I'm a member of an eclectic group of free thinkers," Lady Velicia replied.

"Cultivators?" I asked with interest.

"Some of us, yes. But we're so much more than that. You see, we have a different vision for the Arcadia Multiverse. One many of the old houses in control of the various nodes do not share. While they are content to keep the System running as it is, we think there are better ways to do things," Velicia explained.

I frowned, running my fingers through my hair. "Rebels, then?"

"Some might even call us heretics. But when our own System is fully operational, they will know better. But for that to happen, we need the hub you've recently acquired," Velicia explained.

"Maybe I have it, maybe I don't." I crossed my arms.

"Don't play games with me, legate. Someone discovered the abandoned facility, and it wasn't one of our people or the Black Beast Sect. It had to have been you. What's more, I know you are a skilled Master Artificer. No doubt you followed mana trails in secret until you chased down their location. You aren't as secretive about your abilities as you think you are." Velicia smirked at me.

I frowned, thinking back. Perhaps whatever spies she was working with got their hands on some of Gobgob's gear from Doomblade's Armory. These days, her stuff was in line with what I used to be capable of back when I was just a Master Artificer. Not that I was going to point out her misinterpretation.

I spread my arms wide innocently. "You've got me. I have your precious artifact. And I'm a Master Artificer. This artifact and the others I found in the facility will be quite useful in my studies. There are surprisingly few B-Grade Master Artificers, and if I want to take my job to A-Grade I'll need to be self taught. I'm sure you understand."

"Let me make my offer plainly then. Give all you have found to me and my order and I can promise you an introduction. You could join us, and with your skills, I suspect you would rise far and fast in our ranks."

I twirled my finger, doubt plain in my words. "Assuming your heretic friends agree, of course. Perhaps they'll consider my ties to the System too great, and I'll have given up a great treasure for nothing."

"For an operation such as ours, some security is necessary. If you are who you say you are, you have nothing to fear and much to gain." Velicia scowled back at me.

"I don't enjoy singing my own praises, but I think my Master Artificer skills on their own would be enough to win me an invitation to your little club if I wanted to join. Giving up my recent prize to you and yours seems like a waste of a good opportunity. Perhaps I'll sell it to you when I'm done studying it. Give me a decade or two." I smirked, satisfied as I watched Velicia's brows twitch in consternation. This conversation wasn't going the way she hoped.

"You..." She looked like she was on the verge of threatening me, and the wrong response could spell an early end to my military career here on Ladwick even if things went well. For my plan to go as I hoped, I needed her to keep a cool head.

Thankfully, my reading of her character proved right as she took a breath to calm herself before continuing.

"I take it you want something more material for your contributions?" she spoke through gritted teeth.

My reply was a wide smile.

"I'd be willing to accept a wide variety of payments. Skillbooks, attribute-increasing materials suitable for a B-Grade, perhaps even favors, though I'll want those completed before we make the handoff."

Velicia stood, lips pursed. "Fine. If you want to act like some little backwater merchant, I'll see what I can do. I have to talk with some people and see what we can offer."

She stood and left, making it clear that negotiations were over. Despite the high charisma stat she no doubt honed, Velicia had not left me with the best impression of her heretic friends. If they were anything like her, they'd be pushy, demanding, and insistent. In other words, not the sort of people I'd want to tie myself to at the best of times. And certainly not as their subordinate. I could easily see myself sent into some god-forsaken lower dimension to do manual labor if I joined up with them.

But all in all, I was pleased how the conversation went. Having it made me even more confidant with my plan. Now, there was one more conversation I needed to have.

***

The parade took a while to finish, so even after my chat with Lady Velicia, I had to wait around for a bit. Once the troops were through, the camp followers trailed into the city, cleaning up any messes the soldiers or parade attendees left behind. My Nineteenth Legion had more camp followers than any other, but I was looking for one in particular.

Outside of her sect robes, it was difficult to pick Mimiko out of the crowd. She was a descendant of the ancient architects, so her features seemed almost like an average of every humanoid race I'd ever met. An odd side effect of that was the fact that she was almost impossible to spot at a distance. The way she hunched her shoulders and had an uncanny way of rendering herself unnoticeable only added to the effect.

Despite her skill at hiding, I plucked her out of the crowd and hauled her off.

"You've gotten good at hiding. Nobody suspects you of being a cultivator?" I asked curiously.

Mimiko was startled for a moment since I'd quite literally grabbed her, dragged her into the shadow realm, and then rematerialized us inside a building. By the time she could even react to the sudden kidnapping, we were sitting down and chatting like nothing ever happened.

But like so many other things, Mimiko took it in stride.

"It is an honor to be in your presence once again, honored elder. If you had summoned me I would have happily come at your call," she bowed her head while I rummaged around in my bag of holding for something to drink.

"This wasn't some sort of power flex, if that's what you're used to B-Grades doing. I just wanted to talk to you and this was the fastest way to do it..." I waved off her concerns absentmindedly as I searched my satchel. I had wine, but tea seemed more appropriate for this time of day.

I didn't have a kettle, but I had plenty of magic and heated two cups with a wave of my hand before tossing Mimiko a tea bag, which she stared at in confusion.

"Uh..." she poked the paper wrapping a few times.

I showed her how to tear open the tea bag and we set both to steep.

"Anyway, how's the cultivation thing going?" I asked pleasantly.

Mimiko's expression brightened. "Thanks to you giving me my new heaven-grade cultivation talent and the precious treasures you gave me as a reward for my last mission, I am on the verge of a breakthrough to what System users call the C-Grade! Can you believe it? Me, as powerful as my old sect's inner disciples! They used to say I would be lucky to reach core formation before I died, and now here I am preparing to form a nascent soul!"

"That's good. Very good. Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

Mimiko's joyous expression froze a moment, and it seemed like my kind offer was being met with suspicion rather than generosity. She hid the expression well, but I figured cultivators weren't used to friendly handouts.

"There are a few things the honored elder could provide that would aid me in my breakthrough..." Mimiko replied hesitantly.

I figured rather than leave her in suspense, I needed to frame this in more a way she would understand.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not helping you out of the kindness of my heart. I have another mission for you, but your status among the cultivators would need to be a bit higher than it is now. It's high risk, but if you're willing to accept the challenge, I'm willing to ensure the reward is high to match."

"What is the mission?" Mimiko asked.

"I need you to meet with Elder Blackhand and convince him you can spy on me for him. Where I come from, this would be called being a double agent. We'll come up with a good story. Then, you will leak certain bits of information to him when I give you the instructions. In addition to the rewards I'll provide you with when I'm finished, you're welcome to extract as much as you can from Elder Blackhand as payment for the information I want you to leak."

"Dangerous. Too dangerous for someone still at core formation..." Mimiko said. I mentally translated core formation to D-Grade.

"But not for someone with a nascent soul?"

Mimiko smiled and nodded.

***

Helping Mimiko took me most of the rest of the day. We went into my wizard's tower, where I opened up my treasury to her and let her pick out a few dozen things that would help with her breakthrough.

She ignored most of what I thought might be valuable and went straight for things like monster cores. Most of what she grabbed were cultivator things I had no names or use for. I'd killed a lot of cultivators and taken a lot of storage rings, and all of them had been hoarders.

Opening up any elder's ring made my treasure vault look like an antique shop as the floor was filled with ground beast horn dust, monster feathers, and a dozen other pointless trophies that seemed largely useless except for the unique mana signature they held, which I suspect was what she wanted.

An hour later, she sat cross-legged in a room surrounded by an array of artifacts and a crude mana barrier generated by a series of small, flag-like items that she called a formation diagram. I stood inside the diagram and monitored her ascension to the nascent soul realm.

Actually seeing a cultivator breakthrough was a new and interesting experience. As I understood it, first a cultivator purified their body by running mana through it and reinforcing it. That was the equivalent of F-Grade. Then they created a reservoir of energy at E-Grade, followed by condensing that reservoir into a solid golden sphere of power like a monster core at D-Grade.

Mimiko was now breaking that sphere of power open now to ascend to C-Grade, where she'd reform her power into a infant-shaped reflection of herself. Until she described the process, it hadn't made much sense to me, but now that she was doing it, I realized she was forming a sort of energy body made of mana.

While I wasn't familiar with cultivator mysticism, I had a good idea of how they were put together by taking quite a few of them apart. That meant I was able to lend Mimiko a much greater hand in the process than she had expected.

That proved very useful when Mimiko took in a little too much power from a B-Grade monster core. She drank from it greedily, swelling her golden core beyond its limits until it looked like it was about to pop like a balloon.

"I... it's failing! I've rushed things too much. We must halt the process or my entire foundation will crumple!"

"Calm down. I've got you. Deep breaths." I replied as I patched up the leak like slapping a leaky pipe with some magical putty.

"W-wait, how did you do that?" she asked, startled as I grabbed the core of her power and twisted it back into shape.

Mimiko met with several other stumbling blocks that nearly ruined her cultivation, but each time I corrected the issues. I blamed the cultivation manual she was following. The author really had no business making things as cryptic and mystical-sounding as they had. Good writing is clear thinking written down. Maximizing the number of flowery adjectives you can pack into a description of mana 'blossoming into a supreme flower of effervescent golden luminosity' does no one any good.

"Oh heavens above, I'm going to break through! Keep going, that's the perfect spot" Mimiko moaned.

"Just a little further..." I grunted as I adjusted my grip on her hip.

"Oh heavens! Oh heavens!" Mimiko panted, sweat pouring off her brow. She collapsed backward as the strain of her breakthrough became too much, but I was already practically on top of her. I tore her robes open for easy access to her abdomen and started manually completing the breakthrough on her behalf.

I held that position for a while and continued to work. Mimiko came to her senses about a minute later, and after going through the breakthrough and examining a preserved Black Beast Sect elder's core I still had in my possession, we finally completed the process. By then, both of us were covered in sweat, and Mimiko had thrown off most of her robes to give me greater access to her core.

Tired but satisfied, I climbed my feet. I held a hand to help Mimiko up, but she didn't have the energy to stand.

"Whew, I'm glad we finished that before Sakura visited her office again. Congratulations on reaching C-Grade, Mimiko!"

Mimiko flashed me a weak smile. It froze a moment later when there was a knocking at the door.

"Carter, I'm back!"

<Note>
So yes, cultivation in this setting follows xianxia rules, rather than xuanhuan rules. I figure that's just easier for people.

But Carter won't really be learning the System beyond surface level stuff, since he has scientific understanding of the soul and the kindling that renders most of the xianxia daoism stuff moot. In that respect, he views cultivation the same way the creators of the System did.