There was some actual consideration in Anton’s mind to leave that night, but he knew if he did Catarina would probably blindly follow him. Perhaps if she didn’t find him she would run off to Ofrurg alone. He’d like to think her more rational than that, but having been a human for a full century… he could say people weren’t like that. She wanted to help him, and he wanted her to live… and neither of them would be able to convince the other. Anton hated to let time pass now that he’d made up his mind, but he knew there was good he could do currently. Jasper did well with Anton’s cultivation recommendations, and though Flora did somewhat less of the heavy manual labor, she was giving it a try as well. He should at least do his best making sure that those he knew could take better care of themselves before he left… and of course there was the problem with leaving Catarina behind. He had to figure that one out still.

On much more mundane problems, Anton found trouble with his writing. It was no trouble at all to write down his observations during cultivation. What was good for the vigorous sort like himself and Timothy weren’t necessarily right for Catarina, though he did his best to share his experiences. He learned some from her and Timothy in return. Mostly little things, but every experience was important. But that wasn’t where he had trouble.

Anton didn’t think that any of the methods laid out in the Ninety-Nine Stars were wrong. Just incomplete. Of course, his notes would have holes in experience he couldn’t cover as well… but if someday someone found his writing and used it as a supplement to bring them another step further in cultivation, that would be good enough. Anton wasn’t concerned about it being the most important document ever written. Really, an old man just starting cultivating could only do so much. But there was one thing.

If others were to read it, it should have a name. ‘Anton’s Journal of Cultivation’ was… bad. It was for others to read to begin with, so was it really a journal? He’d written down a name. Path to Ninety-Nine Stars. It was the sort of thing he’d expect to find in the library, but something seemed to be missing. More than just ninety-two of the stars, of course.

Anton stood and stretched. He very much appreciated the fact that his body could do that without yelling at him to stop. It just whimpered a bit. His cultivation was going well. The change in scenery provided benefits that mere density of natural energy couldn’t make up for. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to spend a full two months away from the sect, but that had never been a hard timeline for the stay regardless. Timothy and Catarina just wanted to show their parents their progress… and now their parents were beginning cultivators as well.

-----

A sword wreathed in copious amounts of energy sliced through the air towards Anton’s head. The only thing he had to block it was his own arms… and of course the cloth armor covering them. It was quite durable, though nothing compared to the partially diamondsilk shirt on his chest.

Anton’s arms rose up to meet the sword, his energy condensing until it could be seen not just as cultivators envisioned energy but in a way the naked eye would see the yellow shine. Golden, if one were to get fancy with the name. Anton staggered back under the force of Timothy’s blow, but Timothy himself was staggered as well. Anton couldn’t expect a real opponent to just straightforwardly hit his defenses, but he had to test how much they could actually withstand. Anton looked at his forearms, one of which was dripping blood. Slightly less than that, then. Maybe it was the way he angled the energy. Though of course Timothy’s power wasn’t something he could ignore. Muscles trained by chopping down trees with his father worked together with his energy to become powerful attacks, even if he wasn’t using an axe.

“Sorry,” Timothy said. “You said to go all out.”

“I absolutely did,” Anton nodded. “I merely couldn’t withstand your attack. Which gives me more reasons to not try. The momentum of the attacker is a hard advantage to overcome.”

“... you’re dripping blood all over. Aren’t you going to…?”

“It’ll stop on its own,” Anton said. “It’s only a trickle.”

“... You’re tempering your marrow, right?”

“That’s right,” Anton grinned. “Might as well take the chance while it’s working hard.” The bleeding really wasn’t as bad as it looked. Tempering his skin would come last, and that would also enhance the upper layers of his flesh. He wouldn’t be able to take a blade without energy, but at least he’d be able to ignore pricking bushes. Energy flowed deep into his bones, supporting the marrow in its work. The cut stopped bleeding within a few minutes, but Catarina still looked a bit nervous where she stood on the side.

“... try me next.” Catarina pointed. “I mean that.” A semi visible barrier had been formed off to her side. It was a formation created by her own energy, but it would sustain itself on the natural energy of the area without her input, at least for some time. More powerful ones would require larger areas or more permanent physical fixtures, but spending money on special materials wasn’t really as good for training as seeing what she could sustain otherwise.

Timothy readied his sword. He was only using it in one hand, but being able to attack unrestrained still had great power. “Step back.” Obviously in combat situations Catarina would want to stand behind a barrier- or have something she intended to protect behind it- but there was no need to risk that in training. If Anton was able to form Golden Armor away from his body, he might have done that. However, it wasn’t within his current capabilities.

Anton approved of the angle of the swing into the barrier. Timothy’s sword struck a resounding blow on an edge… but the power merely wasn’t enough. His sword rebounded and the barrier held. It wasn’t undamaged, but his attack hadn’t broken though in any significant manner. Timothy looked to Catarina, who nodded. “Keep going.”

Timothy continued to swing at the barrier. Catarina directed some of her own energy to keep it standing, which half negated the point of it being a barrier formation and not her own defensive energy… but it looked like they were having fun competing. Eventually the barrier gave out- but that was inevitable. The power levels were similar enough, so a proper offense would always win against defense without retaliation. But they were just testing the limits.

Catarina smiled, “Good! I was able to keep it up for a while, but you still managed to break through.” She turned to Anton, “Now you try.” Catarina began setting up the barrier before Anton could protest.

“I’m afraid I don’t have quite the sort of power required to break through. My arrows don’t exactly have a lot of weight.” It was why people didn’t shoot arrows at walls in a siege. It simply wasn’t what they were intended for. Anton didn’t see it as a weakness in archery, since an immobile opponent simply defending while you were far away… it wasn’t hard to just wait until they showed an opening.

Catarina frowned. “You can’t do it? That’s too bad. I heard you were a good archer.”

“What, are you trying to ignite my competitive spirit so I’ll make a fool of myself?” Anton grinned, “Because I absolutely will. Finish setting that up. Then everyone back away, because the arrows might deflect a bit.”

Flora and Jasper watched from a further distance. Neither she nor Jasper were ready to compete in such a way with the others. They did have some spare time to train cultivation, though, because the others provided so much help with the farm. Catarina even set up some permanent- if weak- formations to keep foxes and the like away from the hens.

“Alright, it’s ready. I’m sure you can do it,” Catarina said.

Anton took a good look at the barrier… mostly to make sure it wasn’t any weaker than before. He didn’t want pity taken on him. It seemed Catarina knew her grandma’s grandpa well enough, because it was possibly even a bit stronger. Not that it mattered, if he couldn’t break it regardless. Anton took a few shots, shooting only Spirit Arrows because the energy would only deflect a few meters before he could have it dissipate. A real arrow might be dangerous to onlookers, and honestly just had trade offs in terms of power. Maybe if he had any with special materials it might be different, but he mostly had standard iron heads.

The way the arrows deflected off of the barrier without even making it tremble let Anton confirm his thoughts. He just didn’t have the power to match Timothy… though did he have to? The young man struck the barrier with great force many times before it shattered. But if he wanted something practical, shattering it wasn’t necessary.

Anton relaxed, then reset his stance. He wanted to get the most power possible. He readied his arms, then pulled as he formed a Spirit Arrow, muscles in his back straining more than his arms, though his whole upper body was involved. He wouldn’t have the luxury to prepare himself normally, but he could add a bit of extra power. As he did so, he condensed the Spirit Arrow until it was even thinner. Elder Kseniya’s arrows were extremely thin as well. They didn’t need to chop off an arm. They just needed to… pierce.

At that thought, Anton released the arrow. It was a moment of concentration similar to when he’d had the contest with Elder Evan, just to borrow the bow he now held. It wasn’t a state he could force, and sometimes it just happened. The arrow flew forward, and he felt like he was moving with it. Forward into the barrier. He jerked, and the arrow almost shattered… and then it pierced through. It almost felt blasphemous to dissolve the arrow a dozen meters on, but Anton wasn’t sure how far it would keep flying if he let it. The hole in the barrier, half the area of a normal arrowhead, closed up almost instantly. However, Anton smiled. That was a result he could absolutely accept. Now if only enemies would stand still and let him take his time shooting them, he would be confident in defeating almost anything or anyone.