Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 23

Once the city was secure, I started sending out scouting parties. We needed to secure the area anyway, but now I had my new quest in mind as well.

“Pay extra attention to the plains east of here. Some of our prisoners indicated the cultivators might be looking for something there. If they are, it might be key to getting them off this world for good.”

“Consider it done, legate,” Asimi saluted and departed.

I spent most of the day digging for more information about what the cultivators could want here. The city had a library, and I dug through some of their oldest records to find... not much of anything. There might very well be something there, but this planet had a very lengthy history, going back to some of the System’s early days.

Despite being on the border of System space, this planet had been integrated quite early. The House of Voast, the architect family that controlled this place, was bad enough at ruling that they had a stifling effect on the region’s growth. The System must have decided not to waste its energy expanding in a way that gave them control of any new territory.

But if this place had been inhabited for so long, surely whatever treasure the cultivators were looking for would have already been found, right? The only way they'd remain is if they were looking for something the System put here. But why would cultivators want something of the System's?

Before I could ponder that line of thought too much, the scouts started coming back. The news was mostly good.

“The towns on the other side of the city have already been abandoned. It seems like the Black Beast Sect is fleeing this area entirely,” Asimi said as the two of us went over the scout’s reports.

“And where are they gathering?” I asked curiously.

“The Eastern Plains. Considering how open it is, it’s a strange place to gather, but that’s where they’re all going.” Asimi shrugged, confused at our enemy’s course of action. But I wasn’t.

“Of course they would go there...” I ran my hand along my chin.

“Should we march to clear them out as well?” Asimi asked.

“No, that’s beyond the scope of our orders. Just keep the city secure. This is a delicate situation, and it calls for precision. I think I’m going to take a look at what’s going on over there myself.”

I had a quest pointing me to the Eastern Plains, clues from someone who wanted me dead, and now clear evidence that there was something worthwhile out there.

I left it in Cyra’s hands. She seemed to have a better handle on Morin and Abesa than I did. But that didn’t mean I was going into enemy territory without backup.

Sakura and Bridget were both needed for logistical issues. Bridget was still moving her cooking line into the mess hall in Sanctum’s mystic realm, while Sakura was managing everything else about the civilian work crews in the army. I was pretty sure they’d grown a lot since last I looked, but it wasn’t unreasonable for Sakura to hire a few survivors wanting to escape the warzone their home had become.

That left me with just one of my usual companions. With the city secure, her workload had diminished considerably.

“Hey Myrina... maybe you’re busy, but I was thinking of going on a little treasure hunt. I got this--“

“TREASURE!?” Myrina jumped on top of me, legs wrapping around my chest as she tackled me and stared into my eyes with deep intensity. “Adventure awaits! What are we still doing here? Go go go!”

I chuckled as I tried to push her off me, though to my alarm, I realized she’d made herself too heavy to do so.

“Hold on, Myrina. Before you go getting all excited, there’s one other person I want to bring along...”

***

The other member person I was bringing scouting with us was likely an unusual choice, as far as most people would be concerned.

Mimiko the cultivator was both low-leveled and a prisoner of mine. How much could I really trust her?

Not much, I was certain. But I could trust her hunger for spirit stones, of which I had many. I was also pretty sure my Mythic ranked Conversion skill had done a number on her head, and she was more loyal to me than even she thought.

This mission though would be putting those ideas to the test.

“Mimiko, how would you like to earn a few more of these pretty rocks?” I asked as I rapped on the doors of her room. When she sold out the Black Beast Sect to me and turned from prisoner to obedient information source, we’d moved her into a proper room. She’d been under house arrest ever since then but had been excellently behaved.

“Another spirit stone?” she asked hungrily. I saw the one I’d given to her before was dull and lifeless, and her cultivation had returned to its previous heights at the E-Grade in record time. Another might push her even higher than she’d been before I’d captured her. No doubt some of that was because I cleared her blocked spiritual roots, giving her what she described as heaven-grade cultivation talent.

“Are we really bringing... her?” Myrina grumbled, not bothering to lower her voice. “I thought this was going to be a fun romantic treasure hunt where we kill bad guys and loot some old grave...”

If Mimiko was insulted by Myrina’s words, it didn’t show on her face.

“This one would be honored to join the exalted seniors, the two of you, in your search for treasure.” She bowed her head low.

“Alright, first rule, if you’re going to come with us, you have to speak normally. You have a name, and we have names too. Use them. Also, you haven’t heard about the mission yet. I need ears on the inside of the Black Beast Sect. You’re going to be joining back up with your old crew and feeding me information. Got it?”

Mimiko had no problems becoming a spy for me if it meant getting her hands on another spirit stone. She even asked for help concealing her new capabilities. Apparently, an average disciple suddenly gaining heaven-grade cultivation talent would be a subject of much scrutiny.

I made the necessary arrangements, and soon our party was assembled and leaving the city. Thanks to a dozen other scouting parties leaving at once, our departure went unnoticed. Only the upper echelons of my legion would even know I was gone. If this little excursion went according to plan, I’d be back before Legates Abesa and Morin even noticed.

***

Myrina and Mimiko were light enough that I could carry them both through the shadow realm. Carrying them slowed me down a little, but it turned what would have been days of hiking through the wilderness into an hour-long flight.

Once I spotted clear evidence of cultivator presence, Myrina and I went into hiding. I returned a set of black disciple robes to Mimiko, and she dressed and went to join up with the enemy and figure out what was going on. Normally, I would have thought the fact that she was the sole survivor from her unit would raise some alarms and maybe deserve an interrogation, but Mimiko was calm.

“The Black Beast Sect is very loosely organized. There are always disciples coming and going. I can slip back among them without even checking in with anyone. In a warzone like this, a low-level disciple like me can simply pretend they were here the whole time,” Mimiko explained.

Once Mimiko was out of sight, Myrina crossed her arms. “I don’t like her. She’s ruining our romantic treasure hunt.”

I stroked Myrina’s hair to soothe her. “It’s not that you don’t like her. It’s that you don’t trust her.”

“That too.”

“Well, good news for you. I don’t trust her either. Which is why instead of waiting here for her to bring information back, we’re following her.” I tossed Myrina another set of black disciple robes, then put on a similar set for myself.

“Also, lower those robes a little. I need to do something really quick....”

Myrina’s expression turned mischievous as she lowered her pants and coyly revealed her sexy ass to me. “Carter... we’re supposed to celebrate after we’ve found the treasure! But if you insist...”

I spun her around with a laugh. “Other side.”

I reached into my satchel and pulled out a preserved cultivator core taken off a high C-Grade. Then I stuck it to Myrina’s abdomen with a bit of glue. After I removed the seals keeping the cultivator energy in place, Myrina gave off the aura of a wounded C-Grade cultivator.

“This is going to really test your examine resistance. I brought a few items from the markets of Mucaria that will help. Just remember to pretend you’re a cultivator. And if we’re discovered, remember to escape, don’t fight, run to me. I don’t know how powerful this Elder Blackhand is.”

“Okay, but what if we’re surrounded on all sides and we have to fight? Can we fight in character? Ooh, what if they try to rob us? Can I be an arrogant young mistress like they talk about in plays?” Myrina asked excitedly.

I chuckled. “If we get surrounded by people trying to rob us, ask me. If I give the okay, then you can fight them however you want.”

“Yay! Treasure hunting in disguise. This is awesome!” Myrina struggled to hold in her giddy excitement.

Truthfully, infiltrating the Black Beast Sect wasn’t something I’d risk if it wasn’t for the fact that I was pretty sure I was stronger than just about anybody in that camp. This was a worthy test of Mimiko’s loyalty and a mission to find a little extra information on the side. And if we completed the quest the System gave me in the process, that was all the better.

Once Myrina was properly disguised, I did the same for myself. Our dead cores would run out of energy in a few hours, but that would be more than enough time to follow Mimiko and figure out what we needed to know.

The disguise artifacts I’d brought with out supplies looked like a wig and fake glasses to the casual observer. To an aethersmith like me... they were still a wig and fake glasses. Hopefully, the enchantments on them would do the heavy lifting. My examine resistance was already pretty high, and it had been good enough to fool the low-leveled people on Eowyn’s world. Myrina was a bit lower leveled than me, but as long as we stayed away from any B-Grades, it would be fine. Hopefully.

By the time we were ready, Mimiko was already wandering through what passed for the Black Beast Sect camp. They’d put together a collection of ramshackle tents and wooden structures that looked like they’d been thrown together at the last minute. I was unimpressed by their design. The construction crew I’d accidentally brought with me to Ladwick could do better in a day of work.

Granted, these tents were only for the low-level cultivators. The higher level ones had made or claimed caves on a mountainside far across the plains. Apparently, cultivators preferred carving caves for themselves over building anything.

The two of us kept to ourselves and did our best to pretend we knew what we were doing. So far, out disguises were holding.

Originally, I’d intended to take the glasses while Myrina took the wig, but she’d wanted the glasses. That had actually proven a fortunate decision, as most of the male cultivators sported long flowing locks and delicate features that made them indistinguishable from their female peers. My own build was far from as muscular as it could be, as I’d hardly ever put any points into strength, but from the looks of things I was still one of the most masculine people in the camp.

The two of us received slightly more attention than I wanted, probably because we appeared to be wounded to their cultivator senses. That was because of the damaged cores we were using. Hopefully a few extra eyes was all the attention we'd draw.

“Mimiko’s over there...” I whispered to Myrina, who clung tight by my side.

Mimiko was currently chatting with a few other disciples of similar power to herself. It was quite a distance, but with our stats we could bend our ears to listen. Myrina could hear just fine, but I was having a little trouble.

It wasn’t until I thought about using magic to enhance my hearing like my old Dragoneyed Mage spell could do for my sight that I was able to listen in as well. My Signature Skill must have expanded the functionality of Dragoneyed Mage to all of a dragon’s senses.

“You mean to say the elder didn’t even tell you what we’re doing here? Did you spit in his tea or something? Are you a disciple completely without any favor?” asked one of Mimiko’s peers. A few others shared a laugh at her expense, but Mimiko bore the insults with patience.

“If you could enlighten me so this lowly one does not make a fool of herself, I’d be most grateful...” Mimiko asked, head bowed.

"All right then, since you’re begging appropriately, I shall enlighten you.”

The other cultivators filled in the blanks for Mimiko, telling her about how they had been searching the surrounding landscape using a variety of cultivator tools for any sort of magical anomaly. Apparently Elder Blackhand had narrowed down the location of what he was looking for to somewhere in this vicinity, but wasn’t sure what it was yet.

That narrowed down things a bit for me. If the thing they were looking for was magical in nature rather than physical, an aethersmith and a wizard like me might be particularly well-suited to finding it. In fact, I was probably the best-suited individual to finding a magical anomaly on this entire planet unless the cultivators were hiding someone at A-Grade.

That must have been why Elder Blackhand wanted me dead or captured. He was afraid I was going to find what I was looking for before him. He’d made a big mistake with his assassination attempt though, because if he’d just kept his hands to himself, I might not even realized he was looking for something until he already had it. Thanks to him, I’d caught the scent of treasure as well.

I listened to Mimiko chat with the others, exchanging speculation on what it could be. Some of their ideas were along the same lines I was thinking. Others were way off.

My primary worry had been that Mimiko would run off to report us to Elder Blackhand and plan an ambush for Myrina and me. Thankfully, those fears had proven unfounded. I was about to walk off and chat people up like Mimiko was doing for some additional information when our disguises proved an issue in a way I hadn’t expected.

“Well, well... what do we have here? Seems like the mighty have fallen from grace...”

I turned to find a D-Grade approaching us, accompanied by two dozen friends.

“Do I know you?” I asked.

The lead disciple was an effeminate man with long black hair and a malicious smile. He twirled long, delicate fingers in the air, and short, hand-length daggers floated around him with every gesture. The weapons were suspended as though by telekinisis, but as he rested his elbow on one to lean back, I got the impression he could use those flying daggers as nimbly as his own limbs.

“Not exactly. Us lowly lesser disciples were probably below your notice before, seniors...” he let out a mocking laugh, and a few others joined him. “...But that was then. This is now. Anyone with eyes can tell both of you are heavily wounded. You’re probably not far from death. Me and my companions here know the only healer in the area who can help you, but an introduction to them is going to cost you.”

“Cost us what?” Myrina asked innocently, though I could already see the beginnings of a smile spreading across her face. Meanwhile, I suppressed a sigh.

“Oh... everything you’re carrying. Hand over your storage rings, bags, and whatever else you’ve got. Maybe your robes too.”

Myrina let out a fake gasp. “Don’t tell me... are you robbing us?”

The effeminate man with the flying swords rolled his eyes before turning to me. “Yes, we’re robbing you. Hand over your stuff. Honestly, your woman is a little slow.”

“Can I?” Myrina turned to me. Her lips were pouting, but her eyes were still smiling.

I sighed. “Fine. You can kill them.”