Chapter 45: Guidance & Leadership

Troy prepared for her next fight. She’d begun to train harder and even scheduled multiple fights a day to distract herself.

Her best friend was still gone and though she had faith that he would return, it had already been nine days since his disappearance. She could tell that other members of BlackHole would have already begun to wonder if they should leave the group if she hadn’t stepped in, and even managed to increase the value of their company overall.

“What’s wrong you two?” Troy’s question was directed at Jasmine and Lane. The two girls had entered her training space within the dump and seemed awkward and remained silent. They were supposed to meet and share the finite details of their plans for both their public image and clothing brand but instead wore distant gazes that made Troy worry further as neither girl spoke up.

“Hey, seriously you two, what is up?” It was in that moment that both girls pulled something from behind their backs. They both held items that she hadn’t noticed before and to her surprise each of their hands was filled with an iced cake.

As Troy read the cakes, her frown grew. Each cake had the words, Happy Birthday Arson on them, and were all nearly identical, with the exclusion of the number that accompanied the phrase.

One displayed a 9, the next an 11, the following a 13, and the last a 15.

“Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?” Lane and Jasmine shared a glance at Troy’s question, before Jasmine shook her head, and gestured for Lane to speak.

“Xani found these cakes this morning with Rob, they’d all been thrown away behind the warehouse,” said Lane. Troy rolled her wrist in the girl's direction and it was Jasmine’s turn to speak up.

“Somebody made these for Arson, and with the level of quality that each cake was made at, only one person could have made them,” said Jasmine. Troy couldn’t help but scrunch up her face at what was being said to her. She was a very analytical person since she’d stepped into a leadership role, but things outside business often escaped her.

“Okay… so what is the problem with Jade baking her son a bunch of cakes,” said Troy with a laugh. She’d continued to do lunges with a large mana stone on her back, but the moment her friends next words registered, she stumbled.

“Xani thinks that Jade knows exactly where Arson is…” Troy almost twisted her ankle when she threw the rock aside and looked at Jasmine.

“What?” Power began to thrum in Troy’s veins. She froze momentarily; her thoughts in a chaotic jumble that made her heart race.

“Arson’s only 7 Troy, and at first Xani thought that maybe Jade made the cakes to celebrate how many days he’d been gone, but after she took a look at all the cakes and realized he hadn’t even been gone for eleven days, she figured out something was off,” said Jasmine.

“Not only that, she told us that the cake that says 15 is the newest cake,” added Lane. She spoke up further when Troy’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Xani believes that Arson is somewhere where time may be different, and that although he has been gone for us for a mere nine days, he may actually be the age on the newest cake,” finished Lane.

Troy stood frozen. She turned her back to them. She didn’t want to let them see her cry, but the thought of Arson being stuck, or trapped alone by himself for years filled Troy with an inescapable and absolute dread.

“Has anyone talked to Jade about this yet,” asked Troy without a single look toward her friends.

“No, we decided to let everyone in leadership know first, so that we could decide what to do together,” said Jasmine. Her voice was soft and compassionate toward Troy, who hadn’t been able to hide her crying due to her voice cracking with almost every syllable she spoke. Troy wiped her face off and turned back to Jasmine and Lane.

“Come on you two, we need to go have a conversation with a Keeper.”

… Later that same day…

The BlackHole leadership sat around the dinner table in silence. The environment was laced with tension, and all seemed aware of everyone's disrupted mental states, with the exclusion of Jade.

The woman read a book to herself and ignored the hustle and bustle of the BlackHole employees that worked throughout the room.

“Jade,” said Troy quietly.

“Yes, my dear,” responded Jade with a look away from her tome and a broad smile.

“Where is Arson?” The others at the table looked between both Troy and Jade, some scared, and others excited.

Troy had determined that if they could find out where Arson was, they would go and retrieve him at any cost. A new adventure with the potential for dungeons and new realms, excited all involved. Yet some were apprehensive to go anywhere that a powerful keeper would send their own child to be trained.

“He is in Endless,” said Jade and without another word she went back to reading.

“Was this not something we should have known? With that information alone we would have wasted far less resources looking for him, and maybe even been able to—“ started Troy but Jade spoke up.

“Go to Endless and find him. No, you all figuring out where my son is, as well as advancing your own cultivation levels and abilities is as much of a trial as my son is currently experiencing, I’d honestly be more worried about you all’s ability to keep up with him after his return,” said Jade with a confidence that shocked Troy. This was the first time that Arson’s disappearance hadn’t filled her with anger and sorrow, but instead a more familiar fear resurfaced.

Jade’s smile made Troy’s fear grow, as the only person she ever worried about getting left behind by, was Arson. Since her life had changed for the better, her most prominent fear was that her skill, abilities, and even her natural talents wouldn’t be enough to keep up. Only to now find out that Arson may be season cycles stronger than he was before he vanished.

Troy’s next question was a shock to all at the table, even Jade, who hid her own fears about how long Arson had been gone, perfectly.

“What must we do to keep up, I’m sure all who are here don’t want to fall any further behind Arson, nor do we want to be seen as non-vital components of his team,” asked Troy. Khalif nodded vigorously in unison with the twins. The atmosphere in the room changed quickly. Jade hadn’t said Arson was safe, or alive, but the group assumed as much after they heard what Jade said thus far.

“Is this a question for all of you, or just your fellow cultivators,” asked Jade as she set down her Tome. Everyone at the table nodded in response and Jade began to speak without hesitation or fanfare.

“We shall start with you,” said Jade with a point toward Rob. The young man smiled and bowed in appreciation.

“I’m signing you and a few others up for a local cooking competition, the increases in your skill have flagged, either because you aren’t challenging yourself enough, or because the reputation your group has gained has allowed for you to skate by untested. If you are serious, this cannot continue, additionally, you may never cook the same meal twice during these competitions,” said Jade. She almost managed to move on to the next person but Rob spoke up.

“Does that include side dishes, appetizers, sauces, everything from every potential course?” Jade nodded and Rob knew the true extent of his newest challenge would push him to unexplored peaks. He smiled and watched Jade’s pointed finger swivel toward Jasmine.

“You as a non-Cultivator surprisingly have the most difficult task, you may cooperate with Xani, but that may only make things more difficult for you as what you are limited by in options will decrease rapidly the more knowledge you gain,” started Jade. Jasmine glanced at Xani, who shrugged back in her direction before Jade continued and drew her attention once more.

“Don’t look so confused, you have also allowed for your inner genius to idle as Rob has. You are not only a fashionista. You are a clothing designer for cultivators. Yet I haven’t seen you create a single item, only use what the dump has offered, it is far beyond time that you venture into custom made Cultivator clothing, day to day wear that allows for both protection and utility as the Musou black suits offer a professional yet stealth-oriented outfit to Khalif and the rest of the bodyguards,” explained Jade. Jasmine frowned, but nodded along. She wasn’t very good at taking criticism, but due to where the advice came from, the young woman bit her tongue and kept her excuses to herself.

“Then there is you…” Jade squinted at Xani, seemingly unsure of what to say before she spoke confidently.

“You need to finish all of your half started projects, your sporadic mind has become chaotic through your use of mind splitting and now all of the projects that you introduced to fix problems, both for yourself, your friends and the dump itself have began to pile up. All of these things would truly increase the quality and value of everything your group offers, yet they are eventually all set aside and uncompleted under the threat of a new problem that may have been corrected had you finished the items originally on your list.” Xani smiled and bowed. Her response was gracious and without rebuke or rebuttal. Xani agreed, and would make efforts to complete everything she started henceforth.

Jade’s finger moved and everyone in the room felt pressure from the mere possibility of what was to come next. Their leader’s mother’s finger hung in the air like a guillotine until it fell toward Khalif.

“You and your bodyguards, alongside Troy, are going to train harder than you ever have before, for two reasons, one the gap between you all and my son, may be a gap too vast to eclipse with how long he's been gone already, and two, I’ve decided to open a beginner dungeon for you all to access nearby, this will increase all of your cultivations drastically, and allow for you to begin to arm yourselves for the battles to come.” Khalif nodded in agreement, but froze when a question struck him randomly. Seeing his confusion as it appeared on the young man’s face, Jade waited for him to gather his nerves and speak up.

“You said that we will need to arm ourselves, does that mean you will be giving us personal instruction on our skills and abilities?” Jade rolled her eyes and gave a combination scoff-snicker before she responded.

“No, you will be collecting Olympian armors and weapons from within the dungeon to wear and use, these relics and artifacts will allow you all to store far more mana and even aspects of Uni-Vare internally, and should naturally refine your abilities through the soul marks left on the items.”

“Soul marks,” asked Troy before Jade could move on.

“Soul marks are what allow the Olympian armors to move, use abilities and skills, in addition to regenerate, after a relic or artifact is used or worn for a long enough time, pieces of the wielders soul is infused into the items, which often allows lessons and so much more to be learned, taught, or transferred to the new wielder,” explained Jade simply before her finger moved toward Lane and the nervous expression she wore.

“You need to continue to grow your own brand, as it is now a brand that helps all of you and your team's efforts shine, gather musicians, talented performers, actors, anything that will allow you all to spread your messages,” said Jade. Lane looked around, and asked the obvious question, even though she felt she knew the answer; the woman before her had wisdom beyond her current understanding, so she took a chance in hopes to hear something new.

“Which is?”

“That there is no other option, either you buy, BlackHole, or you’re an idiot.” The room was once again filled with silence as Jade’s message resonated differently to all there. Troy, dropped every bit of apprehension she held against an increase in the scale of the performances. Her every idea would be polished, then used. She looked around at the others as they too made internal decisions.

Khalif wanted to stay beside Arson, no matter what the young lord decided. In addition to the honor he wanted to bring to his ancestry, he would include his leader, and build a better future through his own growth and grace.

Xani, had settled on an easy life, but after hearing how far from the top Jade felt the group was, she wondered if she had the ability to stay as comfortable as she now was without the help of those around her. She knew in her heart that though she was a genius, the likelihood of her accomplishing, an easy life, would be impossible without her friends. Nor would it be a life she felt had value.

No, I have to grow so that nothing can touch my people ever again, thought Xani to herself, her mind filled with explosive memories. She still took the attack from Ash and the Augustines personally, but instead of being controlled by her feelings about how she failed, she dug deep into her mental reserves, and chose to use what she felt as fuel.

“Seems your words lit a fire underneath all of our pots,” said Rob as a joke. Although in that moment his own internal monologue was that of a semi professional chef’s desires. He had wanted a challenge, but been afraid to ask his teacher for more. The woman’s time was valuable and with the stress of Arson’s disappearance, he felt he should wait. He was glad to find out his teacher, felt otherwise.

“Hey Xani, would it be possible to make the pockets of the clothes I design to have spacial inventories, I don’t know how the rune stuff works but small spaces the size of a locker should be possible right?” Xani looked around after being caught off guard by Jasmine’s question. She nodded at first, but then noticed that Jasmine wore a far away gaze and wasn’t truly looking at her.

“Yeah Jazz, no big deal,” said Xani. Only then did Jasmine return from wherever her mind had been sent, and she managed a smile in Xani’s direction.

“As for you,” said Jade once more. The finger she’d pushed toward every other person there, had finally landed on Troy.

“Me? But I thought I was training in the dungeon with Khalif and the bodyguards,” stuttered Troy. The fear she felt at the stare that accompanied Jade’s pointed finger was overwhelmingly apparent as she stuttered.

“You are my son’s best friend, are you not? With that comes a level of scrutiny that the others don’t have to be held to, but you...” began Jade. The weight of her words fell on the room and the others gathered wondered if they should leave the room.

A best friend had many roles in modern society. As cultivators, age didn’t mean the same thing to those in the far distant past, as being thirty or more season cycles older than a potential partner, meant nothing when cultivators lived for hundreds and thousands of season cycles.

So, the term, best friend, grew from what it once meant, unrivaled companion, to encompass many more things. Jade’s, best friend, had been Anastasia, who was seen as Jade’s wife, even before they joined their family names in eternal union.

The awkwardness of what was being stated grew, as Troy couldn’t help but blush underneath the stares of her own best friend’s mother, alongside everyone else she knew and loved. She’d never stated aloud her intention to wait for Arson to become a true cultivator as all those who reached 21 season cycles did, but she hadn’t even stated to Arson that she felt them to be best friends. They spent all their time together anyway, so to wait until Arson also reached his true maturity for a date seemed simple to Troy.

“Yes, Arson is my best friend,” answered Troy, and her entire friend group gasped. Troy felt warmth run the length of her body as she stated the words aloud. Though she knew it, she’d never truly admitted how she felt and the very acknowledgment of the bond between her and Arson set her soul ablaze.

Troy had also feared that Arson may not feel the same, but in that very moment a link was made and she could feel something new. A connection that would now grow eternally.

A connection that filled her with the sensation of her love was matched, and being returned to her equally, which only made her smile broaden and her blush deepen.

She had to ignore the notification that flashed in her vision that indicated a change to her primary stat line . A notification that Arson also received in the midst of combat, and couldn’t ignore due to his Overlay’s penalties.

“Then as I stated, you are equals at this table, yes,” said Jade while she nodded and looked at all of the groups members, before her gaze again fell back to Troy.

“But at any table that my son shares, any who claim to hold his future above all else, will answer to me, thusly, our training begins after dinner, I am taking over your personal training time.”

…Endless: Within the Runic Skyscraper: Trial 4001…

Arson froze in combat for the first time since he’d done so his first night in the dump of Maelstrom. The notification he read made his guts swim with nervous excitement. So while Micro and the rest of the pocket apartment members rebuilt a wall being assaulted by Drakes with the ability to shoot explosive plasma balls, Arson reread the Change to his Overlay.

“Name: Sovereign Arson Omni. Level: 0.1. Class: Unchosen. Race: Variant Creator. Bloodline: Heir of Omnipotence. Profession: Unchosen/Variant Builder. *Bloodline: Ikarus Godling, Marital Status: Coveted.”