Aimless Ascension

"Senior," Xiaolin asked, "have you done this before?"

The three of them stood on a high ridge as a clear river flowed by below. The sun hovered over the head, still plenty of time remaining of the day.

"Sure," Gale said, stretching his limbs a bit. "Never with water, but I used to stuff in lava, poisonous miasma and various other dangerous stuff inside."

"Did you . . ." Xiaolin's expression grew horrified. "That's . . ."

"Horrifying?" Gale agreed. "Death is horrifying, more so when you die with your flesh burning up. But I had to do it," he elaborated. " There were no other options. I was terribly weak at that point and there were all sorts of people chasing after me, some for petty vengeance, money, or to eat me."

"Eat you?"

Gale nodded. "Cannibals. I think they are worse than zombies in a way. They aren't as inhuman as undead, but aren't completely sane either. I think it's the spirit art they practised that made them that way, not the cannibalism, though that's equally bad as well."

"Do zombies or other undead creatures exist?"

"More than you can imagine," Gale said with a sigh. "I've seen my fair share of horrifying stuff in the southern land. Honestly, you people are lucky. Anyway, enough small talk. You two wait here. I'll go load some water real quick."

And with that, Gale jumped off the cliff and somersaulted more than two hundred metres into the river. Xiaolin yelped unconsciously at the audacity, but finding Vale calm, she recovered as well.

Gale didn't bother posing like an Olympic diver, though he felt some thrills and excitement on the jump. He went deep into the river and concentrated on opening a path into his void lock. The hole had about a radius of a couple of feet, the limit of which Gale could keep up for minutes underwater.

These portal holes were way more delicate than they looked. Gale had to invest immense amounts of intent to make it work, and it was even harder under such water pressure. Any shortcoming from his end would cause the portal hole to collapse within a blink of an eye.

Gale sat cross-legged in a meditative pose with his eyes open, staring at the ever-fluctuating portal hole. Thankfully, it didn't need as much Qi as it needed his mental energy and intent.

After several minutes, Gale got out of the water, took a deep breath, and got back in. His void lock could easily hold a couple of million litres of water. He had to continue up and down a few times to completely fill the void-lock.

As for the water he would need in the field. . .Gale wasn't really sure. He reckoned a tank full of water should be enough. If it wasn't, all he got to do was come again to fill it up.

***

Xiaolin tapped her foot incessantly as she waited for Senior Gale to finish. She watched him come up multiple times and diving back again. She thought Senior Gale would be done with a flick of his fingers. After all, she had seen today, all the wealth.

But it appears there were some restrictions on using such power. Well, it was only natural. Lord Heartflame had to endure the burning of his soul every time he used his ever-glorious flame power, whereas Senior Gale's power was more low-key. It was still an amazing thing.

Senior Gale was done filling in after his fifth interval. His figure thrust up out of the water, an iridescent undulation of water behind him. He flew up, squinting his nose, his breathing rather rigid.

He flew straight towards the cliff and laid flat on the rocky ground, gasping. The thick tunic stuck to his frame, displaying his chest heaving up and down in wheezing.

"This took more effort than I imagined," he said, wincing. "I'm really straying away from the martial path."

Gale hadn't practised cycling or other spirit arts regularly for months, and they were showing effect, though much of the blame could be put on the corrosive affliction he throttled himself with.

On good days, all of this would be effortless. He really needed a workable solution out of this soon.

Some spike in power was achievable even with his current self, but it's the constant pressure that's difficult.

Gale sighed. "Let's go water the field."

Xiaolin followed as they took the shortest way home. The river wasn't really that far, a couple of li at best. Reaching Xiaolin asked if Gale needed any change of clothing, which he declined after a thought. He got to work immediately, creating a smaller hole a foot above the land so that It wouldn't be like flooding.

"Linlin," Gale told her after a while, "I have no need for you here. You can go to the house and cycle."

Xiaolin thought for a moment and nodded, thinking she could make a lot of progress just by absorbing the excessive energy flooding inside the house. She felt bad about taking advantage of Senior, but Senior Gale had given her the person and also told all those energies were useless for him, whatever that indicated.

She just turned her head when Gale called her again.

"Will you stay at the house tonight or leave for the town?"

Xiaolin's body stiffened, and she stole a glance at the tall-stature senior who was busy watering. A deep line crossed on his forehead, concentrating on keeping the fate-lock open.

"I'll be staying at Uncle Shen's house," she said.

"That seemed like a good idea," Gale said.

The Shens had invited him for dinner as well, so he could bring her there. Although the distance between them was only a couple of miles, it was still unnerving for him to let a powerless girl depart alone at night.

"Senior, when are you planning to go back to town?"

"Somewhere next week, I think," Gale answered thoughtfully. "I still have to get some supplies and attend a judicature at the enforcers' office."

"Oh." Xiaolin's shoulder slumped as she stood there. She had to depart by tomorrow or the day after.

"By the way, when you go back, don't go alone even if it's daytime," Gale said, pointing at Vale with his eyes. "Take him with you."