Mage And Wolf
Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Chapter 136

Cultivating in the velour beanbag chair is just too good. Other than a mid day break for breakfast, we spend the entire day together on the chair, feeding off each other’s cultivation.

The morning after, we decide maybe we should go see what’s happening, as the rumbling from the cathedral is basically finished.

The back half of the cathedral is almost buried in loose rock, and the main floor is hard to see anywhere from the outside, due to a giant rock slide at some point in the past. The spell simply pushed foreign material outside, letting it pile near the walls and giving the impression the building is still in ruins, but with a solid looking roof.

"Inside looks good We’ve got a main lobby, pews and a podium in the next room" Karl notes as we head inside.

Much of the furniture is still ruined, possibly irreparable by the remaining spells. The totem stands behind the altar, a few small monster cores remaining, so we add a couple of grade 3 stones a side, making the totem pulse in what feels like happiness.

Like the spell, we start from the basement. It’s mostly empty, whatever remained down here was either pushed out or incorporated into other objects.

The altar, pews, confessionals and a few rooms with chairs and couches are furnished on the main floor, not bad, all things considered. A thousand years exposed to the elements can’t have left much to work with.

The top floor was apparently the orphanage, it’s decorated for children, with rooms full of cribs, small beds, toys and clothes, all immaculate. In fact, this floor is in the best shape of anything, not even the altar is this pristine.

"So, about that not being a fertility totem. Can I change my estimate?" Karl says softly, looking around the top floor. Yeah, that totem totally favored the orphanage over everything.

Now that we’ve got a proper base to return to, the tunnel being repaired between our sleeping spot in the old dormitory and the cathedral itself, we should go see if anything changed in the surroundings.

"Karl, lets go find that giant village, see what they’re up to" I suggest and he grins.

"A little bit of a workout to keep from getting cramped legs cultivating all day? Works for me"

We’ve only been a few minutes outside the barrier of the cathedral, which I note looks transparent from this side, like a reminder that not everyone can see it, when we’re hailed by a pair of cultivators in blue and Grey.

"Isn’t that the Sacred Thunder uniform?" Karl asks

"It is, but I don’t know why they’re looking for us of all people, we didn’t do anything."

"Oh thank goodness we found you. I’ve been looking for you around this mountain for an entire day" Jun calls out to us. "I even called in an Elder to see if you’d been injured somewhere."

"That’s very touching, but why were you looking for us in the first place?" I ask, skipping the pleasantries. The Elder with him is in the Core Formation realm, only a little more powerful than I am.

"We’ve got a mission for you. Paid of course. There’s a light sect gone rogue, helping the nobles in the Civil War that has just begun. They’re looking to take over a portion of the continent as their own empire."

"And the Sacred Thunder doesn’t want that to happen, but can’t openly go to war with another light sect?" Karl guesses and the Sacred Thunder Elder nods.

"It is the decision of the Sects allied with us to have cultivators remain neutral in this conflict." the aging man says.

"We can offer a holy relic for your service" Jun says, knowing our nature as clergy. "An Arcane staff, blessed by the Silver Dragon Priests."

Going by the look on his face, Karl would gladly kill these two and take it if they weren’t offering it, he wants it that badly. Not that they’ll notice, Karl has his hood up against the cool mountain air.

"Deal. How do we find you for payment, or will you be paying in advance?" I ask.

"This time, we pay in advance. It’s best you aren’t seen around Sect members immediately after this mission, to avoid suspicion." The Elder says, handing over the staff and a map.

"You can read maps, right? Disciple Jun said you could read"

"Yes, Elder. Reading is a mandatory skill in our world, taught to children from the time they can speak clearly." Karl informs him.

"Must be a good world to live in. Nobody wants to change the status quo here, so we have to teach every disciple from the very basics" Jun sighs. He must have been one of those tasked with the teaching at some point.

"Alright, we will be off, we can reach the sect tonight. If they learn their lesson easily we will be done tomorrow"

The two Sacred Thunder Sect members are dubious, but don’t ask any more questions, and quickly disappear into the distance.

"What’s the plan" I ask looking at Karl.

"Tell them politely and shoot anyone who disagrees?" He suggests.

"No seriously"

"If they’ve got a shield around the sect, blow it up then trash the sect Master’s house"

Yeah, I like that one.

"They’ve got to know they’ve offended someone, even if it’s a nearby sect. So a show of force should do it" I agree "How are the Golems targeting skills?"

"Mediocre, but they can hit stationary or slow moving targets" he shrugs.

"How about ten of them with machine guns shoot the crap out of the sect after you blow up the shield? I’ll sneak in, assassinate a couple randoms and we can call it a day, see what they do?"

Karl is giddy like a kid that just found out about Halloween. He’s making a collection of guns and golem scrolls as we run towards the sect. Golden Fields Sect. What are they a farming sect? If they are, then a show of force should be extra informative.

We find their Sect without issues, they’re not even trying to hide it, just out in the open in a bunch of wheat fields. We decide to burn daylight talking to the town folk nearby. The sect isn’t well liked, known to tax the farmers after the nobles have already taken the greatest cut.

They’re a martial sect and claim that their might is so strong that none dares defy them in the whole continent. At least that’s the words of their disciple demanding free goods from a local shop.

A disciple I decide should make tonight’s short list, just for being a douchebag.

We camp out in the woods a few miles from the sect walls, observing. They’ve got a barrier around the outer court, and no acolytes living outside the Sect itself, so we’re safe to bomb it into the next century. Karl’s remote viewing found 3 Elders at base with Core Formation level cultivation, and about a quarter of the rooms empty.

We’re guessing that’s all they thought they’d need to deal with the peasant uprising. They’re likely right, but Karl says he’s got a plan to fix that later.

Night has fully fallen and most of the sect is in bed. Karl sends the Golems out in a semi circle to take their positions. One tall building can be seen clearly over the walls, we’re assuming it’s important, though nobody is in the top half. The Golems plan to shred it with gunfire once the shield is down.

I’m still laughing at the sight of adorable bunny maid Golems with heavy machine guns when Karl starts building energy over the sect. Nobody seems to be waking up, but he’s doing his best to keep it from creating light like it usually does during formation.

The explosion goes off with a giant mushroom cloud. Half the buildings in the sect lose their roofs, all the lights are blown out and panic ensues. That’s when the guns start.

Nobody dares to flee and become a target, so they’re all huddled in their rooms and in corners of the street when I pass by, Shadow Melded. I didn’t think this through, we should have done the assassinating first, then the bombing, then the shooting.

Oh well, I’m here now. Oh there’s a guy on the verge of Core Formation. A little claw strike from the back, right into the dantian and remove when the veins collapse. Man, I am getting good at that.

I find an Elder alone, staring at the building being reduced to rubble. A quick slice of his throat and he’s done. Another Elder is hoarding cookies in her room. Totally stealing them, but leaving the Elder. Third Elder hasn’t even woken up, that is impressive, and a peaceful way to go. Last up is disciple douchebag.

I find him in his dorm room, pants still wet in fear, and put him out of my misery. Good deed for the day, done. Time to go before the shield goes back up.

"You get it done?" Karl asks when I return

"Yeah, call everyone back when they’re out of ammo, the shield should be back up soon"

The last few rounds from each of the Golems hits the refreshed shield and they all come running back, Karl sorting the gear before dismissing them.

"Where to now? Wait in the distance to see if they’ll call off their mission and stay home?" he deliberates.

"One more bomb first. So they know we aren’t sorry."

Oh yeah, that did the trick. I can hear the crying from here. Now, to find somewhere comfortable where we can still get news.