Thankfully I'm far enough away that the dragon's pressure is pretty weak (relatively speaking), and it's not even aimed at me. The way it clashes with that of the cultivator couple's doesn't exactly make it any better, though, just more turbulent. I know for a fact that I used a lot longer to get to that room than its now taking me to run away, even with what magical boost I can exert under the pressure, but it feels like it takes several more eternities. Perceived time is funny like that.

As suddenly as it started, the couple's pressure fades, and licking at me, the Great Serpent's does too. Relieved, I breathe out heavily and slow to a walk. Oh wow, geez. That, wow, oof. My heart! That- that pressure is something, alright. With my current body it can't have been physical, so a fear-based mental attack?

Woof.

Heh. Heh. Woof. Bark!

Ohh, did my heart get injured? My chest hurts… No, no, it's still hammering like mad, but fine. I think. Probably better that than baseline human norms, in fa- “ausgahbahjitah!”

I jump away from whatever just ambushed me, raising my defences, slower than I’d like. Why is this still so hard? Lingering effects?

“Oh. It's just you.”

I lower my guard, wearily eyeing the Great Serpent.

“YOU… ARE SUITABLE.”

“Uh what? Suitable for what?”

“TRANSGRESSIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE.”

“Oh~kay?”

“YOUR FAVOR IS NEEDED. WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?”

“What do I- are- are you negotiating my help?”

“CORRECT.”

“Why don't you just say so? ‘CAN YOU HELP ME?’ It's not that hard.”

“MOCKERY IS UNWISE.”

“Oh, but they say mockery is the highest form of flattery?”

It pauses its undulating movements at that, inspecting me.

“A CUSTOM?”

“No, it's an idiom. I don't think it really applies to this though.”

“RUDE.”

“A little bit, sometimes, yeah. But you, apparently, are incapable of talking in first person.”

It does what has to be the closest thing to an actual sigh it can physically do, then stares deeply into my very soul.

“THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THE SELF IN THIS ROLE.”

Woah, that was almost a self-reference.

“Wait, what role?”

“GUARDIAN. PROTECTOR. MASTER. TEACHER.”

“So because of your role -or roles- you don't use first person and self references?”

“CANNOT.”

“Wait, so you are incapable of doing so?”

“CORRECT.”

“What… Who- how- I have so many questions…”

It merely stares at me for a moment.

“NOT HERE. THE LEADERS WILL WAKE SOON. COME.”

As I follow it wherever we're going, I try to formulate the questions I want to ask. I should keep things fairly simple, and avoid questions that need first person answers…

After a left turn it immediately turns right, leaving me looking at a seemingly solid wall. I reach out my hand. It feels pretty solid, too.

“DO NOT TARRY.”

“Uh, I can't walk through walls.”

I reach out with my mana, and it just… stops.

“ARE YOU AFFECTED BY THE ILLUSORY FORMATION?”

“So the wall isn't real?”

That- That would explain why it's impossibly solid, actually. I can't sense anything affecting me, however. Except the ambient ki, but that didn't feel like it's actually doing anything, and I've raised my mental defences to no avail.

Actually what if I completely ignore the wall and go back around that corner, can I get my mana through the actual wall?

My puppet enter the room within with a soft pop of displaced air, right next to the bemused Serpent.

“INTERESTING. BYPASSING OBSTACLES WITHOUT TWISTING SPACE.”

“Uh, not really, my main body is still outside, and to recall it would mean dropping my gear and bag. But now that you mention it…”

I form a spatial boundary wide enough that a human could comfortably walk through, then wrench the space and-

“Aagh!”

The Serpent makes what I can only assume is laughter.

“THE TEMPLE IS WELL PROTECTED AGAINST INTRUSIONS. ENTER NOW. ”

I look at the wall, or rather where it would be. Did it dispel it, or maybe it only works from outside… nope, it's gone from there too. Then again, mental effects, and to a lesser degree, physical illusions, tend to be less effective once you see through them.

I look around. “what the fuck…” is this place?

Are those… shed skins? No wait, if those pieces connect, then- it's just one skin, but in pieces. And scales. Those gotta be useful for something, I'd like to compare them with Leda's. And that-

“Dude, you gotta clean up your hoard. Those piles look like it's all valuable, and why do you keep your shed parts around?”

“IF IT OFFENDS YOU SO, YOU ARE WELCOME TO CLEAN IT YOURSELF.”

“Is that the favor you needed?” I say snarkily, but still start levitating and sorting the stuff.

“NO. BUT IT IS APPRECIATED NONETHELESS.”

“Alright. Say, will you notice if any of this is gone?”

“ARE YOU THINKING OF STEALING FROM A DRAGON'S HOARD? HARK! YOU MAY TAKE SOME AS PAYMENT.”

“Don't mind if I do…”

It watches as I, with my main form, the assistant puppet, and a wolf serpent (now with a tinge of Great Serpent aspect) acting as above head ‘camera’, split, sort, and use some of the artifacts and materials for makeshift storage.

“So… Questions. What are you? No, wait, you already answered that, sorta. How long have you lived?”

It seems to ponder for a moment.

“THE TEMPLE WAS FORMED ELEVEN LUNAR CYCLES AGO.”

“And you were… made at the same time?”

No answer. Well, kinda expected that.

“How was it formed?” ”

“UNFETTERED ENERGIES GIVEN SHAPE AND PURPOSE.”

“By who? Or what?”

It remains quiet.

Does that mean it doesn't know? Or can't tell? Hard to tell. I continue asking questions with it answering most of them. Sadly, a lot of the answers I do get just raise more questions, and it (unsurprisingly) doesn't know much about the world outside the temple, nor does it seem particularly interested, as long as it can keep the Temple safe.

“So… What is it that you wanted from me?”

“THE STATE OF THE WORLD AND HUMAN CUSTOMS IS NOT AMONG THE KNOWLEDGE THE TEMPLE HOLDS. RECTIFY THIS.”

“What, you want books on psychology, norms, geopolitics and whatnot?”

“YOUR ROLE WILL BE ADVISOR.”

“But why me? Why not one or more of the students and disciples?”

“YOU ARE IRREVERENT. THE OTHERS MUST HAVE THEIR SYMBOL, THEIR BEACON. YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT NEED. NOT ARE YOU FIT FOR JOINING THEIR RANKS.”

“So… You don't want to break their high and mighty image of you, and I'm already rude and say what I want to say, so it doesn't matter?”

It takes a moment, before not actually answering the question;

“TO UNDO A MISTAKE ONE MUST UNDERSTAND THE MISTAKE.”

Uh-huh, that's pretty reasonable, but I already know that.

And…?

Is it not- it’s not gonna elaborate, is it?

“I am aware, but what is it that you want me to do?”

“YOU SAW THE MISTAKE. DO YOU KNOW WHY IT WAS A MISTAKE?”

“What mistake?”

“THE LEADERS HAVE BEEN OFFENDED.”

“Oh, that.”

Hmm, what should I even say? I mean, the issue isn't the technique itself, but the fact that they were not told of the side effect. Just that shouldn't have made them utterly flip out, though?

“Hey, I think I know what made them angry, but it shouldn't have made them fly into a rage, I think. Can you shed some light on that?”

“THEY HAVE CULTIVATED BOTH BODY AND MIND. EMOTIONS ARE HONED; PURER AND CLEARER. WITH THEIR SPIRITUAL LINK, THEY ECHO EACH OTHER.”

“So stronger emotions and a feedback loooOouh-waitaminute! Spiritual link?”

“THEIR SPIRITS ARE LINKED.”

“Yeah, I figured, but what does it mean?”

“THEIR SPIRITS RESONATE, ALLOWING THEM TO SENSE THE OTHER. WHILE CLOSE, THEIR EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS ALIGN. THEIR CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE ALSO MAKES USE OF THE LINK.”

“…what's its range?”

“IT IS STRONGEST WHILE THEY ARE IN CONTACT, AND DIMINISHES WITH DISTANCE.”

“Yes, but how far?”

“IRRELEVANT. THE LINK WILL MAKE IT UNPLEASANT TO SEPARATE.”

“Geez. I guess now is a good time to explain what made them mad.”

And so I explain to the great and mighty dragon that they proooobably got angry because you have to tell people about this kinda shit. And then I spend a while trying to explain why it's important to know about things which affect you, especially your mind. Valuing freedom of thought and all that. In the end I essentially get it to agree to take my word for it. I think.

Then I return to asking it some more general questions about spiritual stuff (which it apparently can sense) and got it to agree to some experiments later.

After we exit the Serpents room, it leads us towards the couple, and soon enough my enhanced hearing picks up their voices.

“Let me talk first.” I say, then yell wordlessly to get their attention.

“You miss flipped way out there, what was that about?”

“The technique it gave us messes with our heads!”

“I've had a chat with big D here-”

Thea suddenly tightens her lips and Kristian snorts.

“Uh, let's pretend I didn't just call it that. Anyway, all cultivation techniques affect your mind to some degree, as do more mundane practices, if significantly less. And the larger part of the effects on your mind, the technique you, uh, discovered also has. That said, you prooobably want to hear about all these effects, so I'll be on my way while big, uhm, S here tells you at least some of the shit it really should've told you earlier. See ya.”

They both look a bit dumbfounded, but manage to croak out a ‘bye’ as I leave. Now that I’ve dropped them a bombshell or three, I’m just gonna leave. Not my problem from here on out, and I guess I will hear the results from either of the two parties. As for what to do now… I guess I'll go meet Tåke if she's around, and if not- actually, I probably really should get working on my backlog of minor work related stuff.

I do some quick google-fu and makes the decision, then try to get a feeling for my two companions. Leda is blocking me or something again, but Tåke is helping take care of the wolfkin pups, so I hang out with her since she won’t see me for a while. I leave her a tablet with a mind-imprint to give to Leda if she comes by, and if not… Well, she seems to have found something she wants to do without me, so she might not notice I’m gone.

I take a quick trip home, hop on my computer and find a suitable ticket. Just to make sure I do some more google-fu followed by a couple calls (I’d never have thought I’d get contacts like that) and fly over to england to spend the night.

About seventeen hours after I wake up, it’s morning in japan. Thanks to the calls yesterday (technically two days ago in this timezone) I will hopefully get permission for taking customers by tomorrow, as the tourist visa I got upon entry shouldn’t be used for ‘business’.

That means I have a day of sightseeing and stuff, so naturally the first thing I do is to look for suitable landmarks to film a vlog by. So I make my way out of the city and after thirty minutes of flying land near the very snowy peak of Mt. Fuji, or ‘Fuji-san’ as the locals seem to call it.

Having looked up how to earlier, I pay my respects at the half-buried torii (the shrine itself being covered in snow). No harm done, and it only seems proper, as I’m way off season. Especially with deities being very much real now.

Then I levitate away from the shrine, pull out my camera and shapeshift, then lift off and get some nice footage as I do a lazy circle around the caldera. I’ll need a place to record the commentary, too, as it’s a bit too windy up here. And then I need to find a place to edit the video, but all I need for that is a desk/table and relative quiet.

So I head back, stopping in a forested mountain area, not far from a lake to record audio and some more visuals (including Mt. Fuji in the distance), before continuing to Tokyo to find a quiet cafe to work in. I should find one of those places with lots of cherry trees, the ones I’ve seen so far are pretty and all, but something properly maintained for viewing oughta be even better.