Over the next week Anton’s schedule remained much the same, except his archery practice was much more effective with an actual bow. Practicing on targets let him understand how much of a difference there was between using energy and not. WIthout energy, he was just a very strong old man, equivalent to a moderately strong adult male. He would just be able to reach full draw on a good hunting bow, and seemed as if he barely tapped the potential of the bow he was borrowing from the armory. Despite all the body tempering greeting affecting his abilities, Anton was behind himself when he was young. However, the inclusion of energy was significant.

Anton also borrowed a quiver of practice arrows, and while they might stick a centimeter or so into a target they certainly couldn’t fly through one. It wasn’t just a difference with using Spirit Arrows either, though it was hard to test because he subconsciously propelled those arrows with his own energy. How could he not? Anton doubted that he could shoot through much besides a straw target, but it could still be quite lethal for a wild boar or deer. He might get a half arrow’s depth in one, which would take it down much more quickly- and that was ignoring the accuracy benefits. Hawk Eyes Archery allowed him to focus in on a single point, and Thousand Arrows contained many techniques on redirecting arrows with energy, how to do it efficiently and without sending arrows spinning wildly. It was easy to just direct the tip and have it veer off course, but gently coaxing it along the right path was less energy intensive and much more useful.

Though he didn’t see much of those sharing the complex with him, he often felt the other three cultivating late into the night. That was the sort of atmosphere that the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars promoted, and it felt like a waste to not spend all his time doing so. With such abundant natural energy… it was easy. That said, Anton felt the difficulty of later stages. He’d thought he would form the fifth star within a month in his current environment, but it was looking like it would take at least another week or two. He felt himself slowing down. If that happened, how could he ever catch up with the bandits?

One particular night, Anton felt Catarina was cultivating particularly powerfully. He almost felt himself being pulled towards her with the rest of the natural energy in the area, though it was just a slight pressure. Then there was an intense buildup of energy from her, and a few short minutes later she had condensed the fourth star inside herself. No wonder she hadn’t been worried about whether she waited a month or not to take the test. The next one was still some days away, and even with just the energy from outside the Order’s grounds she would have made it before the next test. Then she wouldn’t have needed to take a test at all. Perhaps her friend would do the same.

Anton’s ears twitched. His hearing hadn’t faded as much as his eyesight, and after tempering the organs in his head he found he probably heard better than he had at his best. The two others were conversing with each other, probably in Hayden’s courtyard. They seemed to do so often, and Anton wished he had anything in common with the others to converse about. He couldn’t hear much of their conversation, and honestly what he did overhear was an accident.

“... go over?...”

“... tempering pills…”

“Doesn’t deserve them…”

People muttering about others behind their backs was a human condition. Gossip was everywhere in Dungannon, and some people just didn’t mesh with others. Talking was fine, but Anton felt a stirring of energy from them as they spoke. Hayden’s courtyard was diagonally across from his, with Catarina’s being in between them in the clockwise direction from Anton. Anton silently listened as the two left the gate of the courtyard and walked towards hers. The gates were on the second wall of each courtyard, when going clockwise. Soon, the pair knocked on the gate. “Catarina?” Hayden’s voice carried over the walls. Anton shuffled slightly closer to the wall.

“Yes?” Catarina called back.

“May we come in?” Velvet asked.

“I’m cultivating,” Catarina answered coldly… though Anton’s few interactions with her indicated that was just how she was.

“We know,” Hayden said. “Listen… we know you got three tempering pills from your place in the test. Now that you’ve used one to break through to the fourth star, you should share the others with us.”

His words were technically polite and calm… but just in case Anton bounced on his toes slightly. He wanted to be ready to spring up the wall if he was needed. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but if nothing happened nobody would know anything except perhaps that he was being a little bit nosy.

“If you were supposed to have them, the sect would have given them to you.” Anton felt Catarina stand up from the way her energy shifted position, though she felt somewhat drained after her breakthrough. “If you want some, you can make a request at the rewards hall.”

Hayden answered again, “Your results were already so good… why did they have to give you a bigger advantage?” The gates were able to be locked from the inside, but there was little point to it except to prevent casual intrusion. It seemed Catarina hadn’t bothered as her gate swung open, and Anton chose that moment to pull himself atop the wall between his courtyard and Catarina’s.

Anton stood atop the wall, his bow in hand. “I don’t believe she gave you permission to enter her courtyard. If you attempt to forcibly enter I’m going to have to assume you possess ill intent.” Anton’s eyes scanned the situation. Catarina had her hand on the sword at her waist, a commonly used weapon among cultivators. Hayden had a sword, which Anton estimated to be lower quality, though he wasn’t qualified to guarantee that. As he focused energy on his eyes, they flicked over to the horizon uphill. Someone was there, quite a distance away. Were they watching or…?

Hayden scoffed. “Don’t interfere old man. Just sit there in your courtyard and quietly cultivate until you die of old age.”

He stepped forward, reaching for his sword… and Anton followed through on his threat. In one smooth motion he formed a Spirit Arrow on his string, pulled it back, and released. Hayden had already begun to form his energy around himself to be ready for combat… but even so Anton’s arrow pierced deep into his chest. With the short distance between them, he had little time to dodge… and despite the warning clearly hadn’t been prepared for an attack. Blood spurted out of his mouth and he fell to his knees.

Velvet hadn’t entered the courtyard and stepped away, her hands up. “I just thought we would ask. I didn’t think he would…”

The cultivator watching from uphill moved with such speed that Anton barely had time to react. He’d only looked away for a few seconds, but when he felt their energy approaching his eyes flicked back. He only had a moment to see a blurry figure before an old woman was standing on the wall next to him, and before he could react his bow was removed from his hand and his arms were twisted behind his back.

“What’s happening here?” the woman next to him once again updated Anton’s impression of how strong cultivators might be. Her skin was wrinkled and he was certain she was actually older than himself. She had certainly surpassed Spirit Building and must have been in Constellation Formation. Thirty stars, at least. It was hard to tell because the power was so overwhelming.

Anton answered first. “This young man was planning to rob Catarina’s rewards for her place in the entry test. When his plans became clear, I warned him not to enter but he did anyway.” Somehow without him noticing, Anton’s arms had become shackled. He tumbled forward off the wall as the elder let go of him, but he managed to twist to land on his feet. As he did so, he shattered an ankle. He’d attempted to summon energy to reinforce himself, but he hadn’t been able to.

The elder was already next to Hayden, who had blood pouring out of his chest. Spirit Arrows didn’t leave anything behind to block the wounds. Anton felt her do something, presumably to stop the bleeding. “Everyone’s coming with me to explain.”

Anton attempted to get to his feet to comply with her request, but he felt himself suddenly moving. The unknown elder in front of him had wrapped all of those present in energy and was moving once more with blinding speed. It was only a few minutes later that Anton found himself in a cell.

-----

Vincent hummed to himself as he approached the Order’s front gate. He’d finally figured out why he couldn’t track down those bandits, and with the improved information he’d managed to hire a formation expert to locate one of their camps. It was expensive, but he’d managed to take out some of their lower ranking members. Their leader and the formation expert weren’t present, but he was in a good mood. Finally he’d made progress. He was planning to collect someone from the Order to save on expenses, and then he would return to tracking them down.

“Elder Vincent!” One of the guards at the gates bowed as he approached. “It is good to see you again.”

“Jacob!” Vincent waved, “Glad to see you have been cultivating well.”

“Thank you, Elder. I have a message for you from Elder Daniela Selby.” Jacob handed over a sealed note.

Vincent read the message. It wasn’t long, but it immediately put him out of his good mood. One of his recruits had been involved in an internal incident, and he was needed to provide context to determine if the disciple would be a danger. The fact that he was being asked for indicated it wasn’t a clear case, but it was disappointing for his students to get involved in conflict. Then again, it was also inevitable with how many he recruited.

Elder Daniela had been around longer than Vincent himself, though Vincent was catching up to her in cultivation. His relative youth was an advantage there. Before even dropping by his own chambers he went to see her.

“Elder Daniela,” Vincent inclined his head.

“Elder Vincent… you know there’s no need to be so formal.” The old woman sighed, “A few weeks back, there was an incident with a student recruited by you. I don’t expect you to remember each and every one, but with less than a month of him being in the sect we didn’t have time to judge his character. He nearly killed another disciple- a now-former disciple who was in the wrong, but who would have certainly died if I weren’t nearby. This particular disciple might have lapsed from your memory by now. An old one that came in at fourth star.”

“I can’t promise I know each and every one in detail, but I’ll try to remember. What’s his name?”

“Anton Krantz.”

Vincent blinked. “Sorry, I don’t… Anton Krantz, you said?”

“That’s right, do you not remember him?”

Vincent frowned and muttered to himself, “Was there a second one? That could have been decades ago…” he shook his head. “I certainly remember someone by that name, but I doubt it’s him. Perhaps we should go see him.”

Elder Daniela nodded, “Good. He’s been cultivating furiously even in confinement… and he was apparently a good worker. If he’s likely to be trouble again in the future we might as well expel him quickly, otherwise… he’s served sufficient time.”

“What exactly happened?”

“One of the new disciples tried to rob another of their resources. He shot him in the heart with a Spirit Arrow. If he hadn’t been so straightforwardly deadly in his approach he likely wouldn’t be imprisoned still.”

The cells of the Order were blissfully unused for the most part. There were two disciples in opposite cells who had clearly had too much to drink the night before, but as they walked towards the somewhat more secure rear cells Vincent only sensed one source of energy. Someone new, though he didn’t always stay around potential recruits long enough to get a feel for their particular energy patterns. This one felt fairly decent, almost as if… he were forming the fifth star. Vincent and Daniela just exchanged looks as they approached, stopping outside the cell. Vincent stood there watching silently as he felt the fifth star completely form inside Anton.

“So…” Elder Daniela said as Anton’s energy settled down. “Do you recognize him?”

“What?” Vincent turned towards her. “Oh… yes. How could I not? I saw him less than six months ago.”

Elder Daniela smiled, “And you said your memory was decent. Shouldn’t he have been someone you visited regularly, if you just saw him then?”

“Technically… yes. But the thing is… six months ago was when I gave him the manual.” Vincent folded his arms. “He hadn’t touched cultivation before then.”

“An amusing joke,” Elder Daniela laughed mirthlessly. “But how’s his temperament? Can we expect more trouble from him?”

“From him?” Vincent raised an eyebrow. “Not if nobody’s acting like bandits. He was quite a stable family man once.” Vincent paused, “But I was dead serious about what I said. How the hell is he fifth star now?”