Yesterday, Chidi had plans to creep around in the wilderness trying to find scraps of information. Today, he just had to try to survive. Up to his current point he had not considered training to be dangerous, had not feared for his life except on missions where he was supposed to experience danger. Even there, it was only his inexperience or mistakes that brought him to the edge.

He leaned back, a line of blood drawn across his throat across his skin. Any deeper and it would have nicked something critical. His sword came up to parry a thrust, deflecting it passed his ribs. For the situation being almost exactly fair, he’d never felt anything more unfair. With Grandmaster Chikere matching or even undercutting the amount of energy he was using, he couldn’t get in half a move and could only defend. Her sword was held in two hands, at least for the moment. At any point, she could switch to dual blades or her preferred fighting style. Chidi couldn’t deal with any of them.

“Enough!” he said, pulling back. “I can’t keep up with it. You’re too fast.”

“Hmm, really? I was just getting started.”

“I can’t see your blade. I can only hear it cutting through the air, and I can’t react fast enough.” Plus the force of her blows was somehow more than he could deal with, always coming in at the worst angles for him. “My energy senses just get thrown off from the fluctuations of our clash.”

“Ah, there’s your problem. Sure, sight is a useful tool… but none of your senses will keep up with proper training.”

“But my training… this is way more than my parents required. And you haven’t taught me anything.” Grandmaster Chikere… she might have been a genius, but Chidi couldn’t say she was a good teacher.

“You aren’t going to learn anything from me if you can’t push yourself a little. And you’ve definitely learned something, because I’ve seen your improvement already. Otherwise you’d be bleeding on the ground. But… I think I get what your problem is. Your senses just aren’t working for you. But you need to feel the swords.”

“I do,” Chidi said. “I can feel their sharpness, their smoothness, their weight. But I can’t do anything about it.”

“Well, that’s interesting at all, but you don’t really feel them. Like, which sword is in my right hand?”

Chidi frowned. Her power had suddenly spiked, preventing his energy senses from getting anywhere close. His enhanced touch relied on the same thing, and with the blade perfectly still he couldn’t discern anything. Maybe if he listened to the wind? But her aura was suppressing even the moments of the air around her. “I don’t know. I can’t pierce through your aura,” Chidi admitted reluctantly.

“That’s the point. You need to feel it.”

“How?”

“You just do.” With frustration evident on his face, she continued. “Perhaps it’s not natural to you. I thought it would be, as you seemed sensitive to such things. Well, in that case… training’s over.”

“What, like… for today?”

“Maybe forever. I can’t really teach that so…”

As unfair as the training had felt, suddenly having the chance withdrawn was much worse. “But- wait, please. I need to be stronger.”

“Oh, well if that’s your goal I couldn’t help you anyway.”

“What do you mean? You’re one of the strongest people I’ve heard of, one of the strongest my parents know.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know how to be strong. I just know swords.” A slight breath as she pondered. “How about this. I have some things I should have probably done first here on Yaitis. I’ll be gone a week or so. Until that time, spend time with your sword. You’re not allowed to sheathe it or put it down until I get back. Then we’ll see.”

Chidi didn’t know what any of that would do, or really how his namesake thought at all. But it was, at least, the first clear instruction he’d receive. He’d try it, with the intent to learn… whatever it seemed he was missing.

-----

At first Chidi got odd looks, but when he said it was instructions from Grandmaster Chikere everyone just sort of shrugged it off. He carried his sword around, swapping hands as was convenient. Eating and changing clothes were the hardest, or anything that normally required two hands. Without tables, he had to balance a bowl in his lap and spoon food in, which was a bit awkward.

Every way he held the sword was awkward unless he was actively training. Was that what she wanted, for him to practice forms nonstop? To spar? She hadn’t said anything about any of that.

The balance of the blade was just slightly in front of the crossguard, as was the case for many straight swords. For some reason, that made Chidi want to hold onto it there, but he resisted the instinct for a while. After all, he couldn’t just go wrapping his fingers around a sharp blade… could he?

His conscious mind might have considered that, but his subconscious didn’t let it go. The thought remained in the back of his mind until he woke up wrapped around his blade. Chidi knew that even with the enchantments on the blade, without speed it likely wouldn’t cut him with the automatic amount of energy he coated himself with. But it was still disconcerting.

As his fingers held onto the blade, he could feel the sharpness a tiny distance away. And he wondered why he was shying away. He knew how blades worked well enough. Even without his energy he should be able to hold onto it without hurting himself. As long as he didn’t squeeze directly on the sharp edge or slice his fingers by moving the blade, it should be perfectly safe.

Later that day he was carrying it around exactly like that, with his left hand. It dangled at his side more or less how it would in a sheath. It seemed quite sensible to start with his less important fingers, but ultimately he decided his familiarity with the blade wasn’t growing enough and swapped hands.

He tried every method he could think of, and wondered if there was any point. Was he really gaining anything? Even if grandmaster Chikere agreed to continue training him, could he really learn from her? He wasn’t certain, but he also knew he couldn’t afford to not try.

He clutched cold steel that would soon be warm in his grip, unconsciously fiddling around with the weapon even as he thought about what needed to be done to continue surviving on Yaitis.

-----

Anishka was done learning about technology. She didn’t know everything yet, of course. Some might say she had barely started. But she was drawn to other things, for the moment. She would go back, she knew that. Unless she suddenly lost her desire to know everything, there was always going to be more time spent on… everything. But her focus shifted few months, a year at most.

She’d had a brief stint with the law, learning some of the standards for interplanetary law. Every planet and country and city and sect had their own laws they enforced in various ways, but a basic structure had been laid down with each member of the Trifold Alliance agreeing to the laws. Though laws had the potential to be infinitely complex and impossible to parse, great effort had been taken to form not only the words, but the meaning behind them. And unlike some things, the true meaning could not be mistaken. Just like a manual for a cultivation technique, the intent was imbued into the codices themselves. Anishka still heard of ways people tried to skirt around or abuse the intent of laws, but it was more difficult. Not that they needed to, because the laws weren’t as burdensome as some.

But Anishka was done with that stint as well. She was back to farming. Her grandfather with some number of greats was very interested in that, and while he wasn’t around at the moment she wanted to have more to discuss with him next time he returned. The various ways plants could synergize or be bred to serve a purpose were fascinating. There were an unfathomable number of plants, and some that had previously been deemed of no use to humans were now very important.

And other places had even more interesting things. Relations with the Sylanis Cluster were still strained, but Anishka was planning a trip to Ekict. It was a big commitment given the time investment for moving between the systems, but Anishka’s instincts pushed her to continuously broaden her horizons. And she was in the fortunate position where she could do these things.

“You need to be careful, dear,” her mother cautioned her. “Even if Ekict is friendly, there might be individuals who would want to cause you harm.”

“I get it,” Anishka said. “But you said when I broke through to Essence Collection I would be strong enough to take care of myself.”

“I know what I agreed to,” Annelie said. “I just wish you were older.”

“I’m an adult,” Anishka countered.

“Barely. Twenty is one thing, but as a cultivator you will be young until your first century at least.”

“... I hear some people don’t cultivate on Ekict.”

“Yes, well… not everyone has the same opportunities we have here.”

“I could teach them.”

“Is that so? Perhaps we’ll have another Anton on our hands soon enough,” Annelie said. “But I would caution you to start small. Don’t rush.”

“It’s fine,” Aniska assured her. “I just don’t know where else I’d have the opportunity to teach someone who knows nothing about cultivation. Or at least, close enough.”

“You could have children,” Annelie pointed out. “There’s a lot of teaching involved with that.”

“Really, mom?”

“I’m not saying it has to be now. Or ever, if you don’t want. I’ll have plenty of grandchildren running about without it. But it can teach you a lot, once you’re ready.”

“Someday,” Anishka said. “But definitely not anytime soon.”

-----

Something was bothering Anton, tickling the back of his mind. He was unsure why. News had been good, for the most part. It was unfortunate that Ekict had remnants of the Twin Soul Sect- he should have spent more time in their system. But they were capable of handling it, he was certain. As for his current location, Tenoun’a and Shrenn were entering a new stage of prosperity.

Or as Anton might have called it, basic subsistence. They were just beginning to recover, finally breaking out of the rut they’d found themselves in for centuries. What bothered Anton was that everyone seemed happy. He wanted that, of course. The two planets were working together, and blending. Eventually they might be one people again, one system. Maybe they’d even come to agree on a name someday.

But Anton knew that as a cultivator he shouldn’t ignore his vague feelings. So he kept an eye out for trouble. He didn’t need to solve it himself- though depending on the problem he absolutely could. A few people being ostracized. Someone who was having trouble cultivating. Those he could deal with.

If he found a significantly uneven distribution of the new food sources, which doubled as measured to improve the energy of the planets, he would have to speak to some authorities. But he knew all of them. And pretty much everyone knew him.

Anton knew he could leave soon. But he didn’t have to. This was a place that could still use him, unlike Ceretos. What would he do there, except teach people about archery or reiterate the same points on farming or basic cultivation to people who already had access to such things?

He even had permission to bind the local star. Strangely enough, as eager as he had been to do so before… now that things were relatively peaceful he almost didn’t want to. He was afraid of what he might need the strength for.

But he also knew that if the time came and he didn’t have that bond, an improvement in his cultivation, then he would regret it. So he found a good lull in activity to fly out into space.

A giant blue star was there to greet him. By some measures, it could be said to be dying- though even by the standards of a cultivator it would be a very long time yet before it was actually a concern. Years measured in the millions. Anton had yet to even see a thousand. He was a little bit short of a third of that. A thousand times a thousand… and more. No, it was not truly close to the end of its life.

Great warmth and power filled Anton as he reached out for it. The massive size stretched the area of influence it had, and Anton felt confident he could deal with any and every problem Shrenn and Tenoun’a would encounter that could be solved with martial force.

He also hoped that he would be called upon for nothing of the sort. He did not mind being a guiding force, but he did not want to be a weapon.