Chapter 598

Chapter 598

Eight towers stood tall in a ring. It was ironic, because the Harmonious Citadel traditionally had seven styles. Bow, sword, spear, axe, dagger, morningstar, and shield covered a wide range of cultivation but just weapons. When one among their ranks gained great power of light, they couldnt help but support him. Apparently theyd finished the mans fancy, extra big tower. It made the whole place seem lopsided.

Everheart wondered if it would look better after he took down the Spear Saints tower. It wasnt directly across, so probably not but that was the Harmonious Citadels issue to deal with.

A lot of expense had gone into building the structures, both for defenses and energy gathering formations for training. And of course there were the luxuries. Everheart understood why people would want such things he just didnt get how they could focus on them so much as to miss out on other important features.

But he wouldnt mind having heated baths filled by fountains. He wondered if he could steal it. The tower, of course.

Admiring the work? a nearby spear disciple asked. The invincible Spear Saint is one of the strongest pillars of the Harmonious Citadel.

Invincible? Yeah right. Even now hes at best half as strong as the previous one.

Previous?

Oh yeah, there have been loads of saints. You think they never die, with how many enemies are made here? Everheart grinned. The last one was an amazing woman, and her sister nearly as strong. It took five of the other saints to take em out, and only because I- I heard they were missing a critical ally at that moment. That guy later came to seek revenge and destroyed the usurpers spear.

The disciples shook his head, Now I know youre making things up. The holy spear has been in the hands of the Spear Saint for millennia, its design unchanged and unbreaking. I have felt it myself, and it is far too powerful to be easily replaced.

Yeah, the spear that was destroyed was also not so easily replaced, Everheart nodded.

He decided that it would be too much work to steal the whole tower. He had better things to do than set up a complicated exercise like that, which would also require getting everyone out of the tower. So hed just plan how he wanted it to fall. Towards one of the adjacent towers, or to the still-covered statues, breaking through their vandalism shield? Choices, choices. Now that he thought about it, there was someone he should probably get in on this.

-----

The planet Ukast was a frozen wasteland with nothing to offer. Everything frozen there could be more easily peeled from a gas giant without having to freeze anyones butts off. But Vari was there anyway, following a stupid mysterious message.

If you would like to learn more about your mother, come to Ukast. Alone.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

It was a stupid message because planets werent good meeting locations. It didnt say anything even as useful as the north pole or even vague like the equator. Just Ukast. And she was stupid for listening to the message at all, and even more for coming alone.

She didnt even know where the message had come from or what time frame she was supposed to be here. Shed shown up as soon as possible, and it was only after a day on planet that she really thought about anything.

Her more reasonable minds thought that it was a trap- if a clumsy one- was justified when an arrow flew towards her through the swirling snow, cutting a trail with its shockwave. She raised her arm, solidifying a barrier like a shield and deflecting the arrow. Powerful. But she couldnt trace the attack to its source. There was no immediate follow-up, either.

The dagger came at the back of her neck, and she knew shed been found out. Why did she even make friends if she didnt bring them? Her hand just barely managed to slap the wrist away as she spun, automatically performing one of the counters in Citadels Downfall.

The snows made it possible to track her opponents, and somehow her energy senses couldnt find anything but snow and ice.

A spear attempted to pierce her guts, and Vari kicked upwards, spawning a trail of fire as she did so. They were mainly suited to resist fire, but shed learned to activate some of the element as they were suited and she had a few sources to learn from.

Even as she began to melt away the snow around her, a sword tried to chop her in half at the waist. Her gauntleted hands slapped down on either side of the blade in a counter inspired by but not actually part of Citadels Downfall. Surprisingly, instead of attempting to wrest their weapon free that opponent simply let go.

That was around the time Vari realized there was but one enemy, well versed in every style of the Harmonious Citadel.

The world around her began to unravel beneath the power of an axe, but it was a simple vertical chop. She could dance around it and throw out a counter, punching towards an unseen midsection. Her fist met the metal of a shield and she was thrown backwards.

The spiked morningstar came for her as she was still on her back, and she kicked it upward and away. She managed to spin to her feet and tried to predict which weapon would come next, drawing upon all her knowledge of Citadels Downfall. Her hand thrust out, seeking something to grab onto. She clasped around something while at the same time a hand closed around her own wrist.

Cross-body punches connected between them, and Vari felt her bones shatter. Her opponent wasnt just a little bit stronger than her. They was so much more. Probably toying with her the whole time. And then pulling out a grapple and punch? The Harmonious Citadel spurned those simply because they did not fit the image they had cultivated.

The wolf flipped over backwards, and Chidi navigated how he charged by feeling the sharp claws digging into the loose dirt, as well as the intent of energy flowing through the body.

Ten minutes later, Chidi was lying on his back once more, groaning. Alright, arlight, you win. Im already tired anyway. Not that it would have made any difference. So you train by sparring with your siblings? An affirming growl, but Chidi detected there was something more. I heard that real combat is the best for growth. Do you actually fight things? Chidi knew the former location of the Gardens still had many beasts, and it wasnt that far- though there was a wall keeping beasts away from civilized areas.

Another growl. Affirmative again.

I think Im beginning to understand you, Chidi said. Is it weird for me to use words? Should I growl back instead? Chidi attempted to replicate some of the sounds.

He hadnt known that the wolves could laugh, but the sound that followed was definitely that, and came with a lot of fur rubbing against dirt as his pal rolled around. So maybe he didnt sound quite right. But that was fine.

-----

So, Catarina said, What material would be best for this ascender catching net?

Im not sure, Engineer Uzun admitted. Wed have to try dozens of combinations to narrow down the desired properties

Yeah, thats no good. You get three material attempts, tops. This is already an expensive project, and we cant afford to dismantle and replace it. Catarina shook her head. What about power sources?

Well, it would be optimal to have this orbit around the sun. Youd never have to worry about power. The only problem is it would be kinda exposed. And I suppose the gravity might interfere with the transfer.

Lets set that aside for the scenario where weve expanded enough to build a second one, Catarina said. Weve got an area with high volcanic activity, but since we took over it hasnt been consistent.

That might do it, Uzun nodded, Or we could attempt a nuclear generator.

Dont those explode?

Only if you do it wrong. Youve never had any of your energy generation or storage blow up?

Alright, Catarina nodded. Fair.

And the radiation is easily shielded from by lead, which is basically free.

Yeah, we could bring an entire lead asteroid over if we ran out.

To increase efficiency, I would suggest using high conductivity elements like silver. The whole formation is losing at least ten percent of its energy to waste. It might not sound like much, but you could extend the effective duration another month without needing to add energy storage. Its easy to mine from asteroids as well. Weve got scanners if you dont want to send people to manually take a look.

Catarina nodded, That sounds good, but the increased flow would actually throw off other components. Wed have to account for that. But I appreciate your knowledge of mundane materials.

Once we get computers operating, Uzun added, We can monitor and regulate the flow. It wouldnt require a cultivator to handle it, and it might even be more efficient than manual operation.

Im not sure about that, Catarina said.

Well okay, you might be an exception. But I can guarantee it would be better than the vast majority of trained individuals if properly programmed.

And that will take?

Decades, probably, Uzun sighed. If were lucky.

So not long at all then. Im glad we brought you in, Catarina grinned.