PtM 18 - Chapter 30: The Importance of Deities

Two chapters again this week! This one is short, but the next one is long.

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Two weeks later, Cha Ming was sitting in a cave at the center of the Dragon Metal Realm, pondering the wonders of the Dao origin located inside the core at its center. The core belonged to Serrendil, who was currently merging with the core to catalyze her ascension to sainthood. But that did not stop him from reflecting on how he might use the origins for his own inner world.

The core of the Dragon Metal Realm was a fascinating place. It expanded as Serrendil breathed in and narrowed as she breathed out. But thanks to the tiny metal gears that made up the realm, the walls did not shatter, and neither did the natural tunnels that criss-crossed its body.

While Cha Ming would have liked nothing more than to copy this phenomenon or paint a rendition of it, he wasn’t able to fully focus on it, as he was currently under attack.

“Do let your imagination get the better of you,” said the Clockwork Ancestor as she struck his inner world with a sonic attack.

“You’re the one who said I needed to multitask,” countered Cha Ming. He knew full well that it was his lack of discipline that had resulted in too many thoughts away from the defense of his inner world.

The Clockwork Ancestor’s will burned uncontrollably in his inner world like an oil fire. It refused to go out no matter how much he fought against it. In fact, he had the distinct impression that his efforts were making matters worse.

This continued for some time before Cha Ming finally gave in. The Clockwork Ancestor retreated from his inner world and allowed him to recuperate. “You lack discipline and stability,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “Your lack of will is no excuse for your terrible performance.”

“I don’t have will,” said Cha Ming. “My demiplanes do, but I can barely control it.”

“That is incorrect,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “You have will. It exists, but it is weak. Moreover, I have not prohibited you from using these other wills. Again!”

Her golden will wormed its way into Cha Ming’s inner world, rousing the ire of the three demiplanes within it. The Flower of Memory, the Flamewing Ancestor, and the Claw Vice Behemoth sleeping within his inner world reacted to her invasion on instinct. Cha Ming tried his best to guide them, but in the end, the Clockwork Ancestor’s diminutive will was too nimble, and evaded Cha Ming’s clumsy counterattack.

“Master, must you cause such a ruckus?” Luther said lazily.

Cha Ming glared at the cat perched on a tree within his inner world. Coral and Disaster were fighting beneath the tree, as they’d gotten into a disagreement over who should hunt the birds Cha Ming had painted to distract them.

“Shut up, Luther,” said Cha Ming. “I’m training. Which, I noticed, you never do.”

Luther yawned. “What point is there in training? I’m a natural expert, and only lack energy to advance.”

“And what about you, Ninesky?” The sprite was lazing about beside Luther. “Are you also going to criticize me?”

“Training is boring,” said Ninesky. “When are we going to go fight things? Now, where did you hide that wine? Ah-ha!” She yanked a small bowl from beneath Luther’s pillow.

“That’s my wine! Give it back!” shouted Luther. He chased the sprite around the Clear Sky World to no avail, and eventually returned to his origin position without the wine.

How did he even get a wine bowl up there? Cha Ming thought. And wait… did he brew his own wine? I don’t remember making any recently. “Training might be boring, but it’s better than dying. And since Ninesky won’t train for the life of her, it falls to you, Luther, to make the best of this situation.”

“I’m already helping,” said Luther. “It’s thanks to me that the laws of all three worlds can coexist.”

Cha Ming sent his awareness into his three demiplanes and saw that the three planar wills were hard at work doing his job. “No wonder they’re so sluggish. You didn’t just skip out on your duties, you’re actively handicapping me!”

Luther shot him a peeved expression. “It’s called working smarter, not harder, Master.”

“Are you going to just let me burn away your energy reserves?” the Clockwork Ancestor called out. “If you have the time to talk with your stupid cat, you have the time to fight.”

Cha Ming clenched his teeth and focused on the spry ancestor. “Let’s see if you can escape this.”

He drew upon the wills of his three demiplanes and shaped them into a net. The net descended on the Clockwork Ancestor, but she pierced through one of its many weaknesses. Unfortunately for her, she soon discovered that it wasn’t one net, but three. She collided with these backup copies and lost a tiny portion of will in the process.

“Don’t get complacent when you corner a mouse,” Luther suddenly said.

Cha Ming ignored him and tightened his net around the portion of will he’d chipped off. He was about to capture it when it developed a will of its own and flew back to the Clockwork Ancestor, who’d already escaped the net.

Cha Ming was not one to give up easily. He summoned a cauldron of stars around the will fragment. Heartforge Spirit Flames filled the space and began to wear it down. “Got you,” he said. At this rate, it would only take ten seconds to completely refine it.

“When you pick on the runt of the pack, make sure its parents aren’t there to back it up,” Luther’s annoying voice said.

What does that even mean? Cha Ming thought. Only then did he realize that the Clockwork Ancestor’s main will fragment had appeared outside the cauldron. It struck the cauldron, and to Cha Ming’s horror, the artifact began to show signs of fracture.

He tried to mend the hole, but it was too late—the will fragment escaped through the tiny crack and merged with the Clockwork Ancestor’s spirit. He realized then that he had another problem: his spiritual sea was defenseless, and the Clockwork Ancestor was heading straight for it.

“And now it’s game over,” Luther said with a yawn. “Predictable as always, Master.” He lapped up a few mouthfuls of wine and sighed.

“I give up,” said Cha Ming.

“So early?” asked the Clockwork Ancestor. “Isn’t the game still afoot?”

Cha Ming frowned and realized that yes, he was giving up too early. If it wasn’t for someone distracting him, he would have pulled back the net and put up a decent struggle.

“Wait a minute,” Cha Ming said. He realized something in this exchange. “Luther, you traitor.”

“Just let me finish my— Argh!” He yelped as Cha Ming exercised his authority and yanked him off his perch.

“It looks like you’ve finally been made,” said Ninesky with an evil grin.

“You little traitor,” Cha Ming said to Luther. “You’ve been working against me this entire time.”

“I would never dare harm my master,” said Luther innocently.

“It’s not harming me if it’s just a spar,” Cha Ming said. “And here I was wondering where you got that wine. She gave it to you, didn’t she? Answer me truthfully.”

Luther was a highly uncooperative elemental, but when given a direct command, he couldn’t disobey Cha Ming’s orders. “You are right, Master. It was she who gave it to me and asked me to sabotage your efforts.”

“Why?” Cha Ming asked.

Luther looked surprised. “Isn’t it obvious? She wanted to win.”

But Cha Ming didn’t think it was so simple. The Clockwork Ancestor was trying to train him, after all. There was certainly some meaning behind her actions. Could it be that she’s not skilled enough to fight me on her own? The more he thought about it, the less it made sense.

“Luther, report to me in which ways you interfered with my actions,” Cha Ming commanded.

Luther grimaced. “The first way I interfered was this morning. I instructed your demiplanes to devote twenty percent more will to law integration.”

“And they didn’t find that unusual?” Cha Ming asked.

“Why would they?” Luther replied. “I give them orders every day. I live here.”

“And the second way?” Cha Ming asked.

“The second way I interfered was by distracting you with unnecessary thoughts,” said Luther. “It’s a small trick, but it works.”

“And the third?” Cha Ming asked. Luther hesitated this time. “Don’t make me revoke your wine privileges.”

“This… Don’t get angry,” Luther said. He doubled over and began coughing violently. If Cha Ming didn’t know any better, he’d swear Luther was coughing up a hair ball.

To his surprise, it was a hair ball. A hair ball composed entirely of golden thread. “It’s an artifact,” Luther confirmed. “I’ve been using it to disrupt your will.”

“Seriously?” Cha Ming was offended. “She’s got aeons of experience, and she’s playing tricks?”

Luther shrugged. “You’re a terrible player, so I can see why she’d get bored and pull this kind of thing.”

Cha Ming ground his teeth. “She’s going too far. Does she think I don’t dare use Erasure to teach her a lesson?” He began to formulate a new plan that centered around True Destruction. She wouldn’t risk annihilation to win this little game, would she? “Clockwork Ancestor, I’m ready.”

A golden will pierced his inner world, but this time, Cha Ming was ready. He would crush her with the power of destruction for wasting so much of this time.

“Master, I believe you’re overreacting,” Luther said before he could enact his plan. “I made a mistake. Let me atone for it.”

Cha Ming hesitated but ultimately put away his brush. “This had better not be more sabotage,” he said. “Otherwise, I really will revoke your wine privileges.”

Luther’s expression turned unprecedently grave. “I understand. Kittens, come with Uncle Luther. We have work to do.” Coral and Disaster meowed before jumping into his body. The three of them fused to form Carnage. Then the three moons in Cha Ming’s inner world began to spin, filling the air with a thick and staticky aura.

Thousands of tiny tendrils of bloodstorm energy shot out. They thrust into the three demiplanes and pulled out a tiny clump of will apiece.

That’s right, Cha Ming realized. He’s a puppeteer. And not just that, he has his own will to rely on thanks to the three moons.

Luther was much better at handling will than Cha Ming. He formed these strands of will into a fly swatter, complete with tiny holes that let spiritual energy flow through, and prepared to strike the Clockwork Ancestor.

He did not immediately do so, however. Instead, he waited as she buzzed about, striking here and there at Cha Ming’s inner world.

“Giving up is hardly a strategy, Clear Sky,” the Clockwork Ancestor called out. “Either do something, or I’m leaving.”

“Don’t worry about me,” replied Cha Ming. “It’s a new strategy. Honest.”

“If you say so,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. She shot toward the lake of Dao energy at the center of his inner world. His stores began to dwindle at a rapid pace.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Cha Ming asked Luther.

“Patience is a virtue,” said Luther. “She already knows what I’m planning and is ready to evade at a moment’s notice. It’s therefore necessary that I cut off her escape routes.”

“And how will you do that?” Cha Ming asked.

“Simple,” Luther said. “Bait.”

As he said this, a golden piece of will broke off from the Clockwork Ancestor.

“How dare you bribe a portion of my will!” the Clockwork Ancestor roared.

Cha Ming’s eyes widened. “When did that happen?”

“I was bored and decided to create a few weaknesses in her will clone,” Luther said. “Watch as she chases.”

As he predicted, the Clockwork Ancestor’s golden will darted after the fragment of will, evading a variety of will traps that Luther had already laid out.

“These traps naturally wouldn’t be able to catch her,” he continued. She’ll start gaining on the will fragment. Our opportunity will come when she goes to consume it. And that will happen right about… now!”

The fly swatter of concentrated will descended on a horrified Clockwork Ancestor. She had no time to react.

“Luther, don’t destroy her!” Cha Ming yelled.

A depression appeared on the fly swatter, completely encapsulating the Clockwork Ancestor along with the will fragment that had broken off. It formed a bubble prison around the duo, one that was seamless and impossible to escape from.

Cha Ming appeared before the will fragment and scratched his chin. “How interesting. We caught an annoying fly.”

“Don’t push your luck,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “If it wasn’t for your tricks, you’d never have managed it.”

That much was true, but Cha Ming shrugged. “I’m all right with that.”

And to his surprise, the Clockwork Ancestor smiled. “Good. Very good,” she said. “Delegation is very important when it comes to will battles, and so are tricks.”

“You meant for this to happen,” Cha Ming said. “You set me up with Luther so that he would be forced to try to impress me.”

“He’s a lazy cat, and is obviously unwilling to divulge his true abilities,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “Since you possess a tactician to control the Planar Will in your inner world, why wouldn’t you use it? In this way, you can conserve your own limited will to accomplish other tasks.

“As for the tricks… they teach another important lesson. An inner universe’s will is far from a unified whole. It can be picked apart, bribed, and manipulated. Remember that, should the worst come to pass.”

“Again?” Cha Ming asked.

The Clockwork Ancestor shook her head. “With Luther in command, there’s nothing I can do to threaten your inner world. Your time would be better used stabilizing your condition.”

Cha Ming waited for her to leave his inner world before turning to Ninesky. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

“So what if I did?” asked Ninesky. “I can’t hold your hand every step of the way. There’d be no fun in that whatsoever.”

“Fine,” Cha Ming said. “But if it’s a matter of life and death, warn me.”

“Obviously,” said Ninesky. “Now, are you going to do it, or shall I?”

“I’ll do it,” said Cha Ming. “Carnage? Come here.” The three-headed and nine-tailed cat appeared in front of Cha Ming. “I see that you’ve been hiding things from me. What else aren’t you telling me?”

Carnage looked around for Ninesky and saw that she was long gone. “Master, have mercy.” He then proceeded to give an honest overview of his capabilities.

***

When Serrendil opened her eyes three days later, a ripple shot through the entire Dragon Metal Demiplane.

“It seems Sister Serrendil has succeeded,” said Iridescent Smile warmly. “Congratulations on securing the Dragon Metal Realm.”

“Looks like I can finally breathe easy,” said Old Stumpy. “When are we heading back? I hate this place.”

“Quiet,” Muneeba snapped. “Can’t you see she’s thinking about something?”

She wasn’t the only one who had noticed. The Clockwork Ancestor and Silver Fish had stopped what they were doing to look at Serrendil, whose calm expression had turned to a deep frown.

“Apologies, everyone,” she said. “It appears we can’t go home quite yet.”

“What’s so hard about pulling in a fused realm?” asked Old Stumpy. “I haven’t reached the saint realm, but I already know how to do it.”

“I bet she would if she could,” said Silver Fish. “You failed at fully fusing the pocket realm, didn’t you?”

Serrendil nodded. “There is a small section of the pocket realm that I still cannot claim. And unfortunately for you and Clear Sky, that section is at the very back of the pocket realm, where a remnant of the Bridge of Stars is located.”

“So you’re saying you can’t help us until this problem is resolved,” Cha Ming said.

“No, you’ve done more than enough,” Serrendil said. “My problems aren’t completely solved, but I’m sure I can defend against the queens should they come again. I’ll escort you to the bridge and try to see you through it safely. But I can make no guarantees.”

“Is there a problem we should be aware of?” asked Silver Fish.

“It’ll be easier to show you all,” Serrendil said. Their surroundings shimmered, and a second later, they found themselves adjacent to the Dragon Metal Realm’s planar membrane. The fragment of the Starry Road was there as promised, albeit with one small problem.

“What in the seven hells is that?” Silver Fish exclaimed.

“I realize this might sound condescending, but I believe it is a ship,” the Clockwork Ancestor said.

“I know it’s a ship,” Silver Fish snapped. “But what is it doing here?”

The remnant section of Starry Road was extremely wide, much wider than any Cha Ming had ever seen to date. An army could walk across this wide road, but unfortunately, doing so here would be problematic. A ship had crashed onto the road, and its wreckage was completely obstructing the entrance to the Dragon Metal Realm.

“This is unfortunate,” Cha Ming said. “If I remember correctly, it’s impossible to access this segment outside a designated node.”

“That’s right,” Serrendil said. “What’s worse, the Starry Roads were weaved through an incomparably stable spatial dimension, and even your demon companion would find it difficult to infiltrate it.”

“That ship gives me the creeps,” Silver Fish said. “There’s no way it’s a normal ship.”

“It is undoubtedly where those gold mites came from,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “I advise against boarding that wreck.”

“Let’s find another way,” Cha Ming said to Silver Fish.

“There is no other way,” said Silver Fish. “We’ll have to risk it.”

“My strength increased substantially from merging with the Dragon Metal Realm,” Serrendil said. “I believe we stand a good chance in breaking through.”

“You can’t do that!” Iridescent Smile suddenly exclaimed. “Apologies, but you’ve reached a strength that we can finally rely on. Moreover, you’re in possession of the Dragon Metal Realm.”

Serrendil shook her head. “Here, catch.” She threw a storage treasure at Iridescent Smile. “You three will only be a liability going forward. Take these dragon metals back to the mountains. They should be enough for our clansmen to live a thousand years without going hungry.”

“Please reconsider,” Iridescent Smile pleaded. “Our people needyou.”

Serrendil refused. “Our debt to Clear Sky and Silver Fish is a great one. The only way to resolve this karma is to see them through safely.”

The three tried once again to convince her, but she forced them away with the power of the Dragon Metal Realm.

“Enough! I’ve made my decision.”

“And a good decision it is,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “I would expect no less from a descendant of mine.” She glared at the three guilty-looking demons.

Iridescent Smile sighed. “Our strength is truly unable to assist you any longer. Since that is the case, we will retreat to the Dragon Vein Mountains and pray for your success.”

“Go,” Serrendil said. “And don’t return here unless I send word.”

They waited till the three demons had left the realm before approaching the massive wreck.