by Sarah Lin
"I'd like that, but would it work? I'm never sure where we're headed nex-"
"Use the gosh darn website, Rick! They post all this stuff way in advance."
"Yeah, you're right. But I'm pretty sure we'll only visit the US rarely, and we likely won't be anywhere near you. I wouldn't mind you coming to watch a Showdown sometime, but it's really not as exciting as you'd think. A few intense events, sure, but most of the time we're training."
"But that leaves us more time to do nothing, which is the point." Melissa slid forward and fiddled with something off the edge of the camera. "Actually, I had something else in mind. After the European tour, we get a month off as a break. Most of the other YLAA people are going to... go to their summer lake houses, or dress up horses all fancy, or whatever they do. It's like they didn't even think that someone might not have a home to go back to."
Rick winced, but he wasn't surprised. "Yeah, shit like that happens. So, from what you said, you're thinking of trying to come wherever I am?"
"Yeah. I mean, if it's possible. I figured that I'd already be in Europe, so there's a good chance it'd be cheaper to fly to wherever you are."
"I'd have to talk to H about whether you could come here. He wouldn't like it, but I might be able to convince him. Or..." Rick had been checking the website while they spoke and seeing how the exact months lined up. "I'll be in Southeast Asia and the Showdown that month won't be so important. What if we flew to see Uncle Frank?"
Melissa perked up and clapped her hands. "That's a great idea! Uh, he is still over there, right? We'll need to get him somehow and ask, but surely we can make it work somehow."
"I don't know if I can get permission, and you should check to see if the flights are too much. But yeah, let's try."
They said a few other farewells, but the call ended on that happy note. Even though it was an idea that had come up on the spur of the moment, Rick found himself fixating on it surprisingly quickly. It had been years since they'd seen Uncle Frank in person. Unless his perpetually busy work made it entirely impossible, it would be fun to visit him and see what he did.
As they prepared to leave China, Rick's training had progressed further, but became no more comprehensible. All the Formula T he drank went into strengthening his defensive sphere, leaving the empty ones conspicuously empty. He thought that he could feel the imbalance in his lucrima soul every time he used the Triune Golden Spheres.
H was gone more often with other business, but implied that they would begin the next step of training when they reached New Zealand. With that in mind, Rick focused more on his original cores. They might not be exploding in strength like the Spheres, but he still relied on them in every fight.
With his mind fully focused on the next step of their trip, he was actually surprised to receive a call from Lisa. He'd nearly forgotten about sending her the sample of Formula T. Come to think of it, he was surprised that she hadn't sent him a message about receiving it. Had Qing Shan simply stolen it after all?
When Lisa appeared on his screen, however, she was smiling. "Hello, Rick."
"Hey." He was suddenly self-conscious of the fact that he was filthy with sweat and was glad that she couldn't smell him through the camera. "Nice to hear from you."
"I got your gift. It was nice... uh, actually a little too nice. It made things awkward for a bit with Nathan until I explained about it being for my work."
"Nathan?" He immediately felt like an idiot for asking, since obviously it was her boyfriend. Lisa also looked awkward and tried to brush it aside.
"Boyfriend, but never mind that. Uh... I don't know why I even mentioned that. It's not a problem, really."
"Actually, I'm not sure what's going on. I thought you might find the Formula T interesting, but you're talking about it like it was a way better gift than I thought."
Lisa gave him a strange look, then bent down off camera. When she rose back up, she was holding a case about the size of a shoe box. It couldn't have been further from a shoe box otherwise, a ceramic case covered in Chinese calligraphy. Rick blinked in confusion.
"Uh... I didn't send you that much. I guess they threw in something else as a bonus."
"Well, I'm not complaining." Lisa opened the case and he saw that the interior had several trays of plush velvet. There were many notches, some filled with pills, but he presumed that the others had once been filled as well. "If you were really dealing with immortals, this was probably a trivial castoff to them, like a party favor or something. But the chance to work directly with so many rare materials has been amazing."
She went on to talk about them in detail and Rick found himself smiling at her passion for the subject. For a while he'd been worried that things had gone wrong, but it seemed sending it to her had been the right idea. Except for the central issue, which he managed to bring up once she finished.
"You did get the Formula T, right?"
"Yes, that was included." Lisa's smile faded and she raised the familiar vial, still mostly full. "I'm not your mother and I don't want to lecture you, but... be careful with this, Rick. I couldn't find any direct information, either online or in any of the databases I have paid access to. But from basic testing, the concentration of lucrim in this is quite high."
"I know. They have me taking a lot of precautions, but I can easily imagine how bad this would be for a power addict."
"Can you tell me how exactly you take it? Melissa also mentioned something about a special formulation that healed you, and that threw me for a loop, so I'd like to understand better."
The fact that the two of them had conversations about him was news to Rick, but he pushed it aside and explained about the schedule of taking it every eight hours. Lisa's expression darkened, though she didn't say anything, so he added every other detail he could. When he finally finished, she stared down at the vial for a time before speaking quietly.
"I think I should do some more tests on this. The risk... well, we've already talked about that. I really truly don't want to lecture."
"I'm glad you're taking the time, Lisa." Rick made sure to smile until she looked up enough to meet his gaze. "And if you have any warnings for me, I'll listen to them, honest. I've blundered into too many problems to think my foresight is all that great."
That got a slight smile from her. "Do you really still want some of my serum? With everything you're taking, and the way I never got an address..."
"No! I mean, no, I actually want it. Things were just crazy for a while and it looked like I might get kicked out of the Showdown. But I'm going to New Zealand next, actually in a few days. I don't know exactly where we'll be staying, but I know the city, so I'll get you an address."
"There was a risk of being kicked out?"
Apparently Melissa hadn't told her everything. Rick explained some of his recent troubles, but felt awkward talking so much about himself. He turned the conversation back to her business, deciding it might be safer to keep things professional.
As Lisa spoke, however, he found himself surprised by the parallels. She was also interested in developing a perpetual soul, though in her case it was more so that she could refine materials and create ether without it being a drain on her. Rick was no expert, but it seemed like she had good ideas. Maybe she wasn't crafting world class supplements yet, but hopefully the chance to work with everything he had sent her would help.
When the call ended, Rick was left smiling and sad. He closed the laptop and dropped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was easier not to think about that. Tomorrow, he'd be off to yet another new country to begin all over again.
Chapter 23: Completing the Spheres
Rick enjoyed the vistas of New Zealand while their helicopter flew in, then barely at all for the next several days. They might not be in a hotel this time, but the remote training facility had all the same facilities. It was like traveling the world and seeing nothing but hotel rooms. Though he wanted to get a chance to experience more of the country, he also knew that he needed to f
ocus on training.
As soon as they arrived, H started him with a singular focus on the energy-rerouting techniques that Rick couldn't crack. He could master the basics, but there was always a more difficult version, and he still didn't know the purpose of all of it. Still, it was obvious that this was the second Lucore in the Triune Golden Spheres, so he gave it his full attention.
"Let's try this with something on the line." H spoke without preamble when he walked in one day, throwing a glass orb at him. "Hold that and attempt the same technique. You'll figure it out under fire. The burns can be motivation."
"The burns?" Rick cut off as H raised a hand and suddenly shot a burning ember at him.
He tried to block on instinct, ignoring the orb. It hit his forearm without any impact... but then he began to feel it burning into him. Rick cried out and clamped his hand down on it automatically, only for his hand to burn as well. Gritting his teeth, he drew up his defensive core and managed to smother it.
The attack must have been based purely on aura, because it left his sleeve untouched, but he could feel a burn on his arm underneath. Whatever it was, it was fairly dangerous... and there was another one coming at him.
This time Rick thrust forth the orb, desperately trying to repeat the technique he'd been struggling with. The ember hit the orb, burned for a time, then winked out. Across from him, H shook his head.
"That isn't the purpose of the exercise. Do you see now? You need to draw the foreign energy into the core of the technique. It's a whirlpool, just like I showed you. The orb is at the center and it draws everything in."
Another ember was coming at him, so Rick resisted the urge to block or dodge. Instead he focused entirely on his technique, even when the ember burned into his chest. Another came after it, and another. But as the pain spread through his chest, Rick suddenly felt something click. Most of his techniques were like flexing a new muscle, but this was like seeing the world from a new angle.
The last ember shifted in the air and came to rest in the center of the orb without touching him. Having felt it work, Rick finally understood how the technique was supposed to operate. He looked up and smiled. "I see now. It's lik-"
Another ember hit him in the face. Rick cursed and focused on the technique again. He was only able to redirect one in ten at first, but by the time he was aching too badly to continue, he was redirecting one ember in five. They continued to burn in the center of the glass orb until he let it go, when they promptly all winked out.
"Putting pressure on you seems to be the right choice." H folded his arms and scowled approvingly. "You get part of the afternoon off. Have another dose of Formula T as a reward. You may have a bit of trouble recovering anyway."
"For me, it wasn't like a whirlpool," Rick said. Between all the painful hits, he'd had enough time to think it through. "That implies using force to move the attacks, and that got me using physical force. Instead, I thought about it like the orb was a black hole. It doesn't suck in anything, it's the force of gravity that draws the aura."
"Huh. That's actually closer to how it truly works." H regarded him, then nodded as if confirming something to himself. "But I hope you've seen the weakness: it will only work against aura. This technique is completely useless against raw lucrim, a physical blow, or anything ether-enchanted."
"But most ranged attacks are based on aura. I completely get how useful it could be." Rick tossed the glass orb between his hands. "I assume this is a teaching tool, but I'll do my best to master the actual version."
"You'd better. We're behind schedule."
H directed him to sit down and showed him how to tweak the technique he'd been practicing. Then, given an infusion of lucrim from philosopher's elixir, he began gathering all the power into the second of the crystal spheres. Unfortunately, he failed to get the initial spark of the Lucore started three times before H told him to try again once he was rested.
"The defensive core came easily to you," H said, "but this is your weakness. You're too used to beatings with your fists. Normally we'd focus on this technique until you'd built up a basic core, but there's not enough time for that. We'll have to begin developing the third technique as well."
"That's the sensory one?"
"Correct. And it's likely to be difficult for you, because this isn't exactly a common technique. Put aside everything you know about sensing lucrim in modern portfolios. Instead, let your aura grow still and use it to feel the movements of lucrim in others, not yourself."
Rick closed his eyes and attempted to do so. Some of the exercises H had been forcing him to do were clearly preparation for this, and now that he understood their purpose, they came easier. It felt like he had his eyes closed for an hour, but eventually he began to feel his aura thrumming in response to his environment. Disappointingly weak, but after trying several times, he had to give up.
When he opened his eyes, he saw H staring at him. A moment later the other man returned to glowering. "That was too fast. Has someone been teaching you on the side?"
"No, it's because I've done this before." Rick raised his hands across from each other and let aura flow through them, as he had so many times before while working for the Global Lucrim Authority. "They had us search out lucrim anomalies this way. I figured the technique would never be useful for anything else, but I guess it isn't so archaic after all."
"Guess not." H had completely recovered from his surprise and tossed the third crystal sphere to him. "Try to get this Lucore started, if you can. You already understand the basics, it's just that you want the Lucore to react to the environment, not you. We'll worry about connecting it to your senses later."
That was a bit trickier than it sounded. Rick's first workable attempt failed, but he managed to get it on the second. He lifted the sphere with his aura and put the others along with it. One brightly glowing sphere, one with a seed of a Lucore, and one still empty. It was progress.
As he attempted to focus on his own work that evening, Rick found that he had a surprising difficulty: recovering from the embers. They hadn't been intense enough to deal serious damage to him, yet the ache persisted for hours. Worse, his defensive core and even the Dark Blood Kettle were struggling to adapt to them. Whatever the attack was, it seemed it was too well-constructed for him to easily build defenses against it.
For the first week of the Showdown, Rick essentially didn't go outside, just focusing on establishing his new Lucores. He eventually managed to start the ranged defense core and he layered more lucrim onto the sensory core. But when it came time for him to participate in an event, H forbade him from using the Triune Golden Spheres at all, saying they were still too fragile.
So Rick went up against the best in the world with nothing but his base cores. He barely lasted a minute, yet he was proud of his defenses. Reports of the uniqueness of New Zealand's techniques proved mostly true, yet he didn't fall apart at the first blows. If he'd had his full capabilities, he was sure that he would have done better.
Having played his role, he examined the Triune Golden Spheres carefully and then settled in to work.
[Triune Golden Spheres: 27,950
- Defensive Sphere: 20,250
- Absorption Sphere: 1200
- Sensory Sphere: 6500]
That afternoon when H entered, he thrust something forward irritably. "Did you receive a care package? I thought you didn't have family aside from your sister."
"Oh, that must be from Lisa." Rick hopped up, far faster than he would have wanted to admit. The package was indeed from Branton, though it was labeled with a business address. When he took off the outer wrapping, he discovered a simple box that contained multiple cans of serum and a few smaller boxes.
"Other supplements?" H regarded the aluminum cans as if the element of aluminum had murdered his family. "Is all the lucrim we're pouring into you not enough? You do realize how close you're cutting it to becoming a power addict, right?"
"This is just serum, not elixir." Rick opened up a can and took
a sip - it was everything he remembered and more. The mint flavor was just a bit sweeter and he felt the refreshment tingling through him almost immediately. Smiling, Rick handed another can to H. "Try it. If you can honestly tell me that in your professional opinion, this will ruin me, I'll reconsider."
H took the can with an expression of distaste, and seemed even less pleased to crack open the top. When he took a sip, his face was completely neutral for several long seconds. His grunt of approval came with extreme displeasure.
"So it's fine?" Rick asked. H set the can down, grumbling under his breath.
"It's ably crafted serum. Warriors shouldn't need serum. Nothing but a low cost alternative for those who can't afford philosopher's elixir. But if you're going to drink it, you could do worse than this."
"I told you, she's a professional." Rick eagerly began finishing off the can, but he regarded H between sips. "So what are we doing for today's lesson?"
"You might be barely adequate when it comes to the core techniques, but you need to start using them together. So today, we use this." H held up a strip of cloth that Rick recognized as a blindfold. "And if you make a single childish joke, I'll just leave."
Rick held his tongue and put on the blindfold. He knew what was coming next, but that actually made him more anxious. All he could do was stand in the center of the room and do his best to defend against the embers flying at him from all directions. For several minutes, that meant fumbling blindly while the blazing pieces of aura burned into him.
In theory, he could use his sensory Lucore to sense the incoming attacks, then absorb them with his ranged Lucore. In practice, it was nothing like that. Being able to sense large scale lucrim anomalies was nothing like being able to pinpoint the direction and angle of an attack in a single second. Even when he felt it approach, he was usually wrong about the direction. And even if everything else miraculously went well, it was difficult to use the final Lucore with so much else on his mind.
