Most of what Idalia needed was easy to get, if not commonly available in the city for whatever reason. Some herbs spoiled quickly and had little value, so nobody would bother to collect them and couldn’t keep a store of them. The lungs and spleen of a certain rare elk was technically more difficult to obtain, but Devon also had the help of Marvelous Rabbit Mountain’s Elder Paula. She was able to sense the creature from a great distance, and went bounding off after it at a speed Devon could not keep up with, despite being in Life Transformation himself. Though what else was he to expect for a sect that focused on their legs so much?

It didn’t take long to collect all but one piece of what they needed- though of course the final ingredient was the most important one. Water from the Azure Springs, fifteen hundred kilometers away through several regions, one of which was desert. But that was fine- it was just a long trip, though at the speeds Life Transformation cultivators perhaps not even that long. The problem was that the waters lost a significant portion of their potency after a day. Optimally they would have taken Anton to the springs, but transporting him through monster infested wilderness didn’t seem like the best move at the moment.

The time for trip there was hard to measure given that they did not take a direct route, but it was clear they would have to hurry on the way back. But first they needed to get some of the water. That seemed to be a fairly simple task, but obviously it wasn’t just humans that liked water with high levels of easily digestible natural energy. Beasts did too, and often very strange ones. The particular beasts that controlled the springs changed frequently, so they couldn’t be certain what they would face until they arrived.

Devon was surprised there wasn’t anything visible in the area, until he could sense the water. “Looks like there’s some sort of snakes in there,” he said. “Or maybe eels? But they certainly feel more like snakes. So we just… kill them and take what we need? Or maybe distract them?”

Elder Paula frowned, “I’m not sure I would like to fight them in the water, and more importantly it could be tainted by blood. Yet if we don’t draw all of them out, it’s risky to collect anything with the fragile vessels.”

Devon nodded. They had some containers that would help keep the potency of the waters for somewhat longer, but they weren’t much stronger than glass. Either of them might be able to protect the containers from a sudden attack by the snakes, but if they broke any, they had that many fewer. This wasn’t a situation where they needed just a few drops, every bit they could bring back was better. “What are there, thirty of those things?” Devon said. “We should lure them out and fight them. Or if they don’t lure, I’ll just yank them out,” chains began to form around him, and though they would usually have spikes in this case he restrained himself to avoid blood in the water.

“If they come up on land, I’ll squash them if I can… or boot them far away. Let’s get ready,” Paula said.

Technically they weren’t in a rush at this exact moment, since the potency of the spring wouldn’t fade until they gathered the liquid, but there was also no reason to delay. Anton’s condition wasn’t good, so moving along quickly was best regardless.

Devon stopped after forming a dozen long chains. He could have more, but that would require them to be shorter or he would have reduced control over them. He just wanted to be able to snatch a few snakes out of the wide spring, and either they completely retreated and gave them an opportunity to snatch the water and go, or he could grab a few.

It was perhaps ironic that his chains moved through the water like a snake with the intention to grab snakes, but the chains spread out towards the snakes. Some bit at the unexpected intruders, some pulled away, and others were a bit slow for either and found themselves suddenly yanked to the shore as a chain tightened around them.

Everything made sense until the first couple was up on shore. Paula crushed the spine of one under her heel while it was still restrained, but the other twisted to bite at Devon… at which point its head split apart into five separate stalks. Devon leapt back in surprise, but he had the presence of mind to extend solidify the links of his chain holding that snake in place, preventing it from reaching him. Each of the five heads seemed to have fangs, and Devon really didn’t want to have to figure out how bad the venom would be. He tightened his chain around the middle of the creature- though it was almost as wide as his torso- finally overcoming its natural energy defenses and crushing it.

The good news was that the rest of the snakes easily left the springs after that- the bad news was that they seemed intent on killing the two. That turned the battle into a frantic melee where Devon was keeping track of anywhere between ten and a hundred sets of fangs at any point, using his chains to fend off or entangle as many snakes as he could at once.

Paula used her leaping abilities to get out of reach to more optimal positions, while also crushing whatever she landed on under her heels. When snakes sprang at her, she would often kick beneath them and send them flying hundreds of meters away if she couldn’t find a killing blow, allowing some breathing room for the pair.

Eventually the last of the snakes was killed or chased away, leaving them with the task of transporting as much of the spring water as they could store with them. That should be the easy part… probably.

-----

Given the limited options for who might be from the Order of One Hundred Stars that he didn’t already know about, it wasn’t terribly surprising to find Bohdana Matousek. They had attempted to send Matousek with options for communicating, but they hadn’t worked. Until this moment, Hoyt wasn’t sure if Matousek had died or what.

“Good to see you made it, Hoyt.” Matousek paused for a second, “Your grandfather would be proud of your accomplishments.”

“Thank you,” Hoyt said. “But I have some questions. Like why you are here among the Dark Ring?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Matousek asked.

“Their reputation is not particularly stellar,” Hoyt pointed out. “I heard some things from Catarina and Timothy before ascending…”

“That worked out?” Matousek asked, “Good. And you were able to communicate. Unfortunately none of mine worked even when I was away from the Dark Ring.”

“You were able to leave?” Hoyt asked.

“Of course. I’m not a captive, though I could understand why you would be hesitant. They are quite secretive about their location.”

“It’s just a rock in the middle of nothing,” Hoyt said, “I don’t see what’s so special about it.”

Matousek grinned, “It’s not just a rock in the middle of nothing. It’s many rocks. Spread all throughout asteroid belts in the systems controlled by their greatest enemy, the Harmonious Citadel. What do you know about them?”

“Not much. They have some strict rules for those who join them, but are generally seen positively.”

“And they work very hard at that,” Matousek pointed out. “Admittedly, an organization of that size is bound to occasionally do some good by wiping out bandits and problematic sects, but that’s not for the sake of helping anyone but securing their own position. They control a few dozen systems around here, and are extending their reach into more all the time. As practices go, they’re just a cult… in the sense of the word that they’re a religious organization, though I would say that the negative connotations are also correct.”

“So, what, they worship their sect leader as a god?”

“They’re ever so slightly more humble than that, though they do deem their highest ranking members at saints,” Matousek said. “Perhaps they would claim to be gods, but they don’t have a Domination cultivator. When it is known there is a higher ranking of power, it’s rather difficult to claim you are actually the most supreme… though they do a good job of lording over others as they are.”

“That certainly sounds bad,” Hoyt admitted, “But who told you this? The Dark Ring.”

“Of course,” Matousek said, “But I have also seen it for myself. Slipping on or off a world is not the most difficult thing… though I’ve certainly spent more time around smugglers than I would have thought. And while the Harmonious Citadel can’t exactly be blamed for acting the same way as other cultivators- gathering all the power into their own hands- I’ve come to be quite against the methods they do it by. Did you know some of their worlds house billions of individuals? Yet those who can cultivate are much fewer. People can’t even leave to seek their fortunes elsewhere, though that’s not necessarily their fault. Interplanetary and intersystem travel are not that easy. Though also… easier than I would have expected. For cultivators like us, it’s not much more difficult than an average person getting passage across a great sea.”

“Why can’t people cultivate? Oh right, no natural energy,” Hoyt immediately answered himself. “Or… not much?”

“Not as much, certainly. Ascension energy is better and higher quality… but also more risky. Beginning the journey is difficult, and the path is much more variable here than on our world.”

“Alright,” Hoyt said. “So the Harmonious Citadel is not that great. But what about the Dark Ring? Are they good?”

“They at least intend to allow people freedom. I think it would be good for you to join along with them. They’re not a sect so much as a collective. But if you don’t wish to, I can vouch for you, and we can drop you off somewhere safe. Or safeish.” Matousek shrugged, “At your cultivation level, you’ll have the eyes of the powerful on you, but you also have decent strength to protect yourself from them. I heard about your fight.”

“You didn’t watch?”

“I was at another location,” Matousek said. “It was en-route, since they contacted me to tell me someone of my sect had… arrived.”

“About that… why was I out here? Isn’t it natural to arrive on the surface of a world after ascension?”

“That’s true, but just like some sects focus the pull to their own cultivators and worlds, the Dark Ring has taken steps to bring people away from the Harmonious Citadel’s planets. Usually that means shunting them to neighboring systems, but sometimes they end up out here, and they bring them in.”

“Seems risky,” Hoyt said. “Though I don’t know if the Harmonious Citadel has any connection to the ‘lower realms’?”

“Not the same way as we saw on Ceretos. That’s more of a rarity, even for large groups like the Trigold Cluster and the Exalted Quadrant. Since individual worlds are so rarely available for interaction, long term relationships rarely happen. Though with communication methods…”

“Speaking of which,” Hoyt said. “I don’t think any of mine have been working. I’m not exactly sure how long it’s been but I should have been able to reach Catarina and Timothy at least.”

“Ah, that’s a feature of this place and others like it. It requires special methods to send anything in and out, and without sufficient power it doesn’t work. Plus the inconspicuous locations truly out in the middle of nothing and you have a secret that actually lasts.”

“And they kill the wrong people who find out.”

“That’s true as well,” Matousek answered, “But you’ll find that there aren’t really that many people ascending even from the various lower realms, and fewer that end up here. Most are just happy to be taken into the fold of something larger.”

“And you?” Hoyt asked.

“I think it’s worthwhile. They might not be able to back us up in the way we wish, but I haven’t found their practices objectionable. We can’t exactly rely on just those of us from the Order- or Ceretos.”

“Not yet, perhaps,” Hoyt admitted. “Though there are a surprising number of us.”

“Good. Take some time to think about joining up, and let me know when you’ve decided. Either way I’d like you to get me in contact with some of the others after that, so I’ll be taking you out of the system.”

“Anything else?” Hoyt asked.

“Try to get in more sparring. Fighting with just ascension energy is a big change to get used to. Two decades and I’m still not fully confident.”