Looking for suitors involved sitting around at a lot of fancy parties watching swarms of men vie for her attention. Though some might enjoy that, Melanthina found it rather boring even when things escalated to actual combat. She wasn’t actually in any rush to choose who she would marry, so she just watched and made noncommittal statements. Unless a suitor was particularly dreadful, in which case she told them in no uncertain terms that they could leave and not come back. Otherwise, she tolerated them for the sake of the clan.

The first individual to catch her eye did so by suppressing everyone in his path without a word. One component of that was the way he carried himself, with confidence. The other could probably be attributed to people not wanting to be swarmed by bugs. Not that Melanthina actually saw any, as the man from the Calamitous Swarm kept things well contained.

“A pleasure to meet you,” the man inclined his head to Melanthina. I am Grigorii, of the Calamitous Swarm. Though we remain physically distant, our previous interactions have led to us desiring closer ties.” The man spoke like she was the only person in the room. He ignored the other suitors, of course, but he also focused his attention on Melanthina, instead of addressing her father. Not that he ignored the man, but he made his intentions clear.

Obviously he was another suitor. That was the whole point of these monthly gatherings. Melanthina began judging him. To his credit, he was not immediately discounted like the vast majority. Backing? The Calamitous Swarm was a powerful darkness sect, and friendly with the Tenebach clan. Strengthening ties wouldn’t hurt. His cultivation? Late Consolidated Soul Phase, not bad for his age.

His age was the first negative factor, however. He had to be at least a decade older than Melanthina, perhaps even twice her age. In three years when she was of marriageable age it would be less significant, and another decade after that it would hardly be noticeable. For cultivators a couple decades became very little, in the extreme cases stretching to a half century. It was merely the first strike against him.

As for his cultivation technique? Melanthina did not mind insects, having even experimented with the basics of the Calamitous Swarm’s control methods. That didn’t sway her either way, though of course like the majority of her suitors he was of the darkness element. The most directly compatible and simple matchup for her, since being outside of the four core elements she was not within the cycle of dominating and supporting elements.

They talked for some time, though Melanthina couldn’t show too much preference for anyone immediately. Over the course of the evening she observed his etiquette, which was not something all sect cultivators bothered with.

“Do you know Bodana?” Melanthina asked. “She escorted us through the Soulrot Bogs on one of our journeys.”

“How could I not?” Grigorii replied. “She is well known in the sect. And of course, she was my teacher.”

“Really?” Melanthina raised an eyebrow. “I never would have guessed.” She really wouldn’t have. Because Grigorii kept his swarm hidden while Bodana… honestly, Melanthina wasn’t certain if she’d seen the woman herself the entire time, with the density of the cloud around her.

“I didn’t end up going with the same style, obviously,” Grigorii said. “But I learned much under her tutelage.” Melanthina watched the way he used his knife and fork to cut a thin strip of meat. He chewed precisely and evenly. “This is excellent. What sort of spices does it use?”

“Most of them I don’t know,” Melanthina admitted. “Just the local peppers. I’m certain we could ask the chefs. Do you cook?”

“Oh no, not myself. But I would be interested to see if we could reproduce the same flavor in our kitchens.”

“Yes of course,” Melanthina nodded. “That makes sense.” Subconsciously, he lost points for that, even if it was all entirely reasonable and expected.

-----

Strong fingers squeezed the ingot of tempered Mountain Steel, formed by the very hands of Ursel’s master. This ingot wasn’t meant for anything except to exhibit the properties of the material. Nothing she did could cause it to bend, but she knew that if it did, its flexibility would allow it to return to its current state. So far, she hadn’t been able to put a scratch on it, even smashing it with her weapon made her more worried about the stone of her club. Then again, there was nothing she could lay it on that would withstand its force, so it simply created an ingot shaped hole in the surface.

She twisted and pulled, straining her fingers and energy, but of course this would do nothing. She already knew that, but her stubbornness didn’t allow her to give up against something that couldn’t even fight back. She had another technique, of course, a new one from her third totem. Roots. If she were to give it a proper name, the totem was Roots Cracking Boulders.

These roots could squeeze into a tiny gap, generating exceptional force and tearing at the weaknesses of a material. And so far, she had gotten absolutely zero benefit from them while fighting this tempered Mountain Steel

But she was just a newly born hill, and her master was a high mountain. There was the entire gulf of the Soul Expansion Phase and the Consolidated Soul Phase between them. On the other hand, this was a soulless hunk of metal that wasn’t even being augmented by spiritual energy and not being able to overcome it with either raw force or her new ability bothered her.

Roots needed at least a tiny crack to slip into, but this ingot was pristine. It had been forged to extreme limits, and while it was technically useless now- once it had been fixed in its form, it would take more effort to turn it into usable weapons or armor- it was still a challenge. There were things she could not beat with brute force even if they just sat there and let her.

Her pride at unlocking her new totem and snapping apart the shackles binding her had already been diminished by the following results- nearly getting herself and her brother killed instead of helping her sister in any way. Melanthina was safe, but it wasn’t at all because of Ursel. And Aydan was… not showing himself around her. Nobody would quite tell her how bad it was, but his injuries weren’t just something he could recover from in a month or two.

Ursel ground her teeth, trying to force her spiritual energy into the stupid, flawless hunk of metal. Even if she was trained in cold smithing, she wouldn’t have been able to break apart the bonds of her master. But her new totem was powerful, and if she could find the slightest gap she could do something. In the end, she made no progress, throwing the tremendously heavy chunk of metal on the ground in frustration.

She wished she could go out and smash something, but she wasn’t allowed to fight until she showed progress outside of combat. And she knew master Renato probably knew better than she did, but she didn’t feel herself getting stronger, and if she had it couldn’t have possibly been as quick as she wanted.

-----

Floating in the depths in front of the leviathan, Tirto felt the ebb and flow of the massive creature’s energy. It permeated everything in the area, influencing not only the sea itself but also the local inhabitants. While some creatures became more aggressive, most simply grew stronger gradually while keeping their normal levels of conflict. Not that either result said much about the leviathan itself. It was asleep. Or hibernating. Or maybe very slowly dying? Tirto didn’t think it was that one, because it didn’t feel any weaker since he’d first seen it, but he couldn’t guarantee anything.

“Mother,” Tirto spoke, modifying his voice to be more comprehensible underwater. “I would like to get closer to the leviathan.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Matayal asked calmly. “We are already directly adjacent to it.”

It was true, they were positioned right in front of one of the caves. Whether it was a nostril or blowhole or pore or something else entirely, it was part of the leviathan. There wasn’t much closer they could be. Except, with the layer of rock covering the surface of the creature- even inside the ‘cave’, Tirto could imagine being closer.

“What if we go inside?” Tirto asked. “We can feel the core of the beast, perhaps.”

“Or get swallowed by it, never to make our way out,” his mother countered.

“If we go by the cycles of its breath, even if it performs particularly abnormally we can expect a long safe spell. If we replenish ourselves and wait for the next, we could spend hours inside when we have days at minimum. I would have to rest long before it became a danger.” Even if he could replenish the air in his lungs- with some difficulty- he could only spend some hours underwater, especially considering the pressures of the depths. His mother was able to shield him from some difficulty, and was the only way he was able to ascend and descend quickly.

“You know,” Matayal said. “I always thought you were the sensible one, of you three. Not the type to go running off doing something crazy.”

“It’s not crazy,” Tirto denied.

“Intentionally putting yourself inside an unfathomably powerful beast definitely is,” his mother countered. “But… I will admit to having some interest myself. We will do as you ask, but you must follow my instructions exactly. The moment I say we’re leaving, you come with me at top speed.”

“Of course,” Tirto said. “I can hardly use my improvements to assist the clan or the rest of those I care for if I perish. And you are among those I would least like to see hurt.”

-----

Each month more people came and went. Even if they understood they had no chance of catching Melanthina’s attention, it was still valuable for people to show up at the banquets. That included other young women, looking to catch the attention of those with ambition and status. It was also valuable for networking between clans and sects, both in and around the Stone Conglomerate and more distant darkness clans.

Eventually another suitor caught Melanthina’s attention. This one closer to her age, though the vast majority of her suitors would be older. At best they would have just begun cultivating if they matched her age, and cultivation talent was one of the most important factors in who she chose. Someone from a good sect wouldn’t really have any sway there if they had no cultivation talent. Sure, sometimes people married for love or whatever, but the Tenebach clan had to ensure their main line remained strong.

Power was attractive anyway. Melanthina couldn’t imagine having a husband that could not at least vaguely match her in cultivation. That would be a hindrance to her own potential growth.

“Young mistress Melanthina,” the young man said awkwardly. “I hope you will um… I came here to at least… I’m Vahagn. Of the Obsidian Tower.” The Obsidian Tower was technically inside the borders of the Wuthering Steppes, though it obviously had ties to the Darklands with the cultivators there. It was prominent enough for him to be considered.

His current lack of social skills was certainly a problem, though it was strangely charming and could be rectified with some tutoring should he be chosen. “Everyone is quite aware of why these banquets are being hosted,” Melanthina said. “Of course someone of your talent is of consideration as a suitor. Tell me, what have you accomplished?”

“Well, I’m at the twentieth rank…” Early Soul Expansion Phase was a reasonable cultivation for his age, and Melanthina was just a step away from the nineteenth herself- she would likely advance after the blessing ceremony. “I have totems from the third, fourth, and fifth layers…” It was likely he had stretched himself for that last one, but he seemed to have managed well. “And I have won several tournaments, while ranking highly in others.”

Melanthina just looked at him. He looked back. She continued to look at him. “And?”

“Um, well, I know my accomplishments aren’t that impressive yet, but I’m sure in the future…”

“Oh.” Melanthina blinked. “You were actually done? I thought you were just… well, what’s the biggest thing you’ve killed?”

“Ah! Well, there was a razorwing falcon, quite comparable to your mature shadowhawks in speed- beautiful specimens, might I add- anyway, it had a wingspan of two men. I fought alongside other disciples of similar cultivation to defeat it.”

Melanthina felt that the complement for the shadowhawks was sincere. Everything about this guy was. He was nice. Talented enough. Certainly, she could do worse. But she was kind of hoping for a story where he was snatched up into the sky and had to strangle a roc or something with his bare hands. Or something that sounded like he’d pushed himself and dealt with adversity somehow. At least he didn’t inflate his encounters. But somehow, he fell short of the standards she had set.