The headquarters of the Million Sword Vault was hidden among the swirling sands of an exceptionally barren part of the Scorching Mirror Desert. The positive effects of that was that there were few wild beasts to be concerned with… but that also meant there were even fewer landmarks to navigate by. If they knew the precise location they were heading to, it still would not have been a problem with a well trained sense of direction augmented with natural energy.

Unfortunately they only had an approximate region, and even if they found the right place they might not be met with open arms. More likely drawn swords, which was why they were hoping to find Chikere first. If they got close enough they might find tracks of hers, but the winds covered up any tracks within a few hours.

Anton, Hoyt, Velvet, and Alva tried to keep up their pace in hopes of minimizing the time they had to spend in the area. If they simply wanted to cover the entire region they could have separated and covered something like a quarter, but it was more important to stay together for safety.

“There!” Velvet pointed. “Tracks.”

Anton nodded. He didn’t have any sense of whether or not they were Chikere’s in particular- an individual cultivators natural energy shifted away with the sands just as easily as footprints- but it was the best they’d found. “Heading that way… either we’ll follow after Chikere, or one of the disciples of the Million Sword Vault. The only question is whether or not the latter would be heading towards or away from their headquarters. But we might as well follow it and see if it remains in the region.”

While the entire area they were traversing could technically be considered Million Sword Vault’s territory, nobody came to intercept them. That would give up the whole secrecy thing, after all. Though as they got closer it would be a different story. More than that, the reception had a high probability of leading to violence, so they truly hoped to catch Chikere. While steering her away from an abundance of swords might be difficult, she did have a sense of loyalty to her friends and would almost certainly be glad to assist them.

The heat of midday beat down on the travelers who were pushing through it so as to not waste any time. While continuously pushing themselves would be dangerous, when they were so close to their goal it was a necessity.

The tracks they were following were scattered far and wide, but becoming more regular and substantial. That meant they were catching up, and hopefully they were after the right quarry. Though even if they found a disciple of the Million Sword Vault, they might be able to get them to lead towards where they wanted, one way or another.

Several more hours of travel finally graced Anton’s senses with something other than endless sand. A structure, barely distinguishable from its surroundings. They were in fact less than a handful of kilometers away, far closer than Anton would have liked. It was only at that point that he began to feel out cultivators… and they were a mere two and a half kilometers away before he sensed fighting within the walls of the compound.

The feeling of Chikere’s attacks was unmistakable, but he was unable to get a clear enough sense to tell more than that she was fighting with vigor against multiple opponents. Anton was tempted to launch an attack, but giving them away too soon might make it impossible to access the structure, or draw the ire of people they did not wish to face. Even making it to what they could only presume was the headquarters of the Million Sword Vault was further than they wanted to go.

“Halt! Who goes there?” A figure barely visible against the gates, half revealed and half hidden by the blinding sun reflecting off of the sand and the structure itself, held one hand on his sword, finally sensing the group. There were more guards nearby as well.

That was the point that it might have been most advantageous to attack, or a moment sooner, but Anton stayed his hand- and the others followed his lead. “We are travelers, looking for a companion of ours…” He continued forward, so as to allow Velvet and Hoyt to be at more optimal range should a battle begin. Of course, the same would be true of the sword cultivators.

“Does this person have a name?” the guard asked.

Something told Anton that subterfuge wouldn’t do them much good. Either they would fight now, or they wouldn’t. “Chikere.”

Some of the tension eased from the surrounding guards. “Oh. She didn’t say she was expecting anyone else. Wait where you are.”

The group kept their senses open for anyone coming to flank them or other signs of trouble, but it was only a few moments later before the battle around Chikere stopped… and she began to approach the front gates.

“Oh! Anton!” Chikere waved her arms as she saw them- still holding a sword in her hand with others floating around her. “How did you guys find me? Also, why?”

Though she was surrounded by a dozen members of the Million Sword Vault, they seemed more like an honor guard than menacing captors. That feeling was enhanced by the fact that more of them were more wounded than Chikere. That was to say, everyone was cut up- but Chikere a bit less than the others.

“We thought… that you might get into trouble,” Anton smiled broadly. “But of course, if we were looking for you because of that, we’d have to constantly stay together.”

“Yeah!” Chikere agreed unabashedly. “But you guys insist on spending a lot of time on boring stuff, so I went to find something to do. Do you need me for something?”

“Well, yes. The troubles with the Whispering Watchers have… escalated.” Anton observed the other sword cultivators for their reaction, which was mainly to tighten their grips on their weapons.

“Oh yeah? Screw those guys!” Chikere flicked her sword, cleaning it of blood. She sheathed it along with all of the rest of the swords around her, and the escorting disciples did the same, though they kept one hand at their waist. “I don’t know if I can contribute that much against a sect, though. Unless they were all sword cultivators,” Chikere grinned. “Sometimes I have trouble with unfamiliar enemies.”

“We need every Essence Collection cultivator we can get,” Anton commented. “That includes you.” Anton looked around at the others. “So… how have things been here? I expected… more people to be dead.”

“Why?” Chikere asked.

“That’s… the norm for you when interacting with other sword cultivators.” Anton didn’t think he should have to point it out, but he did anyway.

“Oh. But I only do that when they’re awful or try to kill me. These guys are great!”

The one who had been guarding at the gate- some sort of senior disciple by his higher cultivation- took a chance to speak. “We would not harm the disciple of Swordmaster Rahayu without reason. Nor do we wish harm upon any who share our passions. But those who are unworthy of swords… they will find much trouble with us.”

“Ah. I see. Truth be told, there is not much information about your sect available to outsiders.” The rumors about them weren’t good… but if he compared them to what was likely circulating about Chikere, it actually made perfect sense. They were at least similar in spirit.

“Do we need to go now?” Chikere asked. “Because I just got here yesterday.”

“Leaving sooner would be better,” Anton said. “But having found you, were are not in such a rush. We can stay as long as our stores of water hold.”

“That’s not a problem,” said the senior disciple. “We have sufficient stores here, and will gladly share freely with friends of aspiring swordmaster Chikere.”

-----

As it turned out, their ‘stores’ were an entire underground reservoir, which actually led to learning some other things about the compound. Though there was a structure on the surface, most of it had been built down into the sands and even dug into the rock below. For the most part they were given free reign to go wherever they pleased, with the notable exception of the disciples' personal quarters and the areas reserved for elders.

Of note was that the ‘vault’ was not forbidden to them. Vast hallways led to a myriad of rooms filled with swords of all sorts… though at one end were the stores of things that were not swords, with a buffer area of things that might be considered swords. Daggers, for example, found themselves in the no-man’s land.

Though they were allowed to wander as they pleased through the area, they were watched by the senses of one of the sect’s elders. Just because everything was available for inspection did not mean they were allowed to walk off with it. That applied to everyone, and the scrutiny on them was no harsher than on the disciples of the Million Sword Vault itself.

Despite their vast stores, the Million Sword Vault was not hoarding its resources. Everything was on display, and everything had a method to acquire it. Much of that was similar to how the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars did things, with a system of contribution points being used to purchase them. But there were also other methods.

It appeared that they had interrupted Chikere while she was attempting one of those things. It was a trial that straightforwardly required her to face twenty early Essence Collection disciples three at a time and defeat them. After they were welcomed back in, Chikere and the others smoothly returned to that attempt, which resulted in Chikere’s victory. Her talent for swords, at least, was nearly unrivaled.

“Yes! I got a new number two!” Chikere grinned as she held up her new sword. It was still a considerable amount short of her best sword, but swords such as that weren’t so simple to obtain. Of course, from the number of times attacks had gotten within millimeters of the scars on her neck, it wasn’t as if her battle was exactly trivial. She just always rode the edge of victory and defeat.

Though he wasn’t particularly interested in swords, Anton still found himself browsing through the vault. It was there that he came across a supreme oddity. It resided in the no-man’s land of things that might or might not be swords, and Anton honestly couldn’t tell what he thought it was. But something told him it was a bow.

He stepped closer, looking at the piece that was clearly two swords sticking opposite directions out of a single hilt. A double-bladed sword, generally considered too impractical for use compared to simply having two individual weapons. Even for cultivators it rarely came into use. But this one was one step odder, as the blades were flat- of equal width, about two fingers wide its whole length. Even the ends were flat, unable to be used to stab. The holes in them didn’t seem to be for weight distribution, but to go along with the string that sat nearby.

Anton was tempted to pick it up and test it, but he could barely wrap his head around it. From the way it looked the blades would have to bend widthwise to function as a bow… which couldn’t be the most optimal, could it?

“Archery contest,” said a voice next to him. Anton turned to see the elder in charge of the area, who he hadn’t noticed because his energy pervaded everything around to begin with. Was he challenging Anton or…? “That’s how you can get that. You just need to hit a target at… let’s see, with your cultivation… five thousand meters.”

Anton blinked. Was that all? Seemed simple enough. Though he didn’t know if he would even want to use it.

“Oh yes. You must make use of that bow- and not cut off any of your fingers in the process.”

That was… a very ominous condition. Anton didn’t even need a new bow, really. He just turned to walk away… but found himself coming back a few moments later. “How many tries do I get?”

“Each attempt is a single shot from a position we designate to a target you must find,” the elder said simply. “Should you find yourself with any fingers or portions thereof sliced off, our medics are very capable of stitching you back together, good as new.”

That would explain why their sparring was so… intense. Though Anton really didn’t want to have to find out if it really was good as new. As he considered picking up the string though, he realized how sharp it was. As if it was also meant to cut people. Were there even arrows that could withstand the pressure of that string? That wasn’t normally a factor, but this particular thing that might be a bow seemed to have many unusual features.