Mage And Wolf
Chapter 151

Chapter 151: Chapter 151

Demonstration accomplished, we pack up to head back to the cathedral. Karl is explaining the basics of golem making to Mica while Elder Song intensely studies the 50 caliber rifle. Their world has nothing like it, and the ability to wipe out Category 3 monsters in large numbers is a topic he simply can’t ignore.

"So, anyone could use this? As long as the rifle was loaded with enchanted ammunition it would work the same?" he mutters as he studies the loading action.

"Thinking of mounting them to the outer courtyard wall in the turrets?" I ask.

"They’re good mounted on vehicles too. It’s a shame we got the Toyota stuck when we arrived in this world. The three of us in the truck could probably take this entire country. " Karl laughs.

"Please don’t. They’re having enough problems keeping things together without over powered Demon Cultivators destroying cities for fun." Mica shudders at the thought.

"How fast is this truck you speak of?" Elder Song asks, momentarily diverted from his study.

"It will cover a hundred kilometers an hour comfortably if the road is reasonably smooth." I shrug.

"And you can fight at that speed?"

"If someone like her is working the gun it’s not a problem. You just need to be strong and fast enough to hold the aim." Karl clarifies.

"I told you, do that to someone else’s world!" Mica says exasperated and the men put on their best innocent faces.

"It’s all theoretical. We’re not planning to actually do it." Karl reassures the stressed out High Priestess.

"Like with the polymorphism pills. It’s just a mental exercise." I add.

"Cursed polymorphism pills?" Elder Song laughs "Those things are forbidden for a reason, they basically change a person’s species. Even I have a hard time reversing them."

"Noted. No pranking disciples with the cursed pills."

"Elder Ming might want one though. Don’t tell her I said so, but she’s secretly vain about her appearance and would like to look young and pretty again."

"You’re right, don’t tell her. She would hurt us both for calling her vain." I laugh, thinking of her likely reaction. Elder Ming is usually very laid back but doesn’t take flak from anyone.

Looking through the portal, it opens directly into the Shadowed Blade Sect Outer Compound, next to the meditation pond. There are new tables set up, and a pair of familiar faces waiting. I step through with a big grin, eager to meet with Elders Ming and Po.

"Long time no see! Sorry I didn’t come visit, but I got a bit sidetracked on a backwards sort of world." I greet the two Elders.

"It’s good to have you back Young Miss. Will you be around for this year’s disciple competition? I know we stabilized the time in this Realm with yours, so how long you’re here is now a consideration." Elder Ming asks.

"There’s no way she’ll finish her martial arts training by the time the tournament starts. Certainly she will be around, right?" Elder Po is giving me a meaningful glare.

"Of course Elders. I even brought a friend to entertain Elder Song. An Arcane mage named Karl, who is as much a fan of magical research as the Dark Librarian himself." With that the two walk through, accompanied by a maid golem, with Elder Song still carrying a huge rifle over his shoulder as he inspects the enchantment on a round of ammunition.

"Can you arrange for a few alchemy, inscription and combat instructors to head through the portal?" Elder Song asks. "They could use the help, and we get first claim to any promising recruits. They don’t even know about potential raising pills or techniques. If the can’t raise to Condensation unaided they just abandon them to the secular world, so I’m sure there are gems."

The two look like they fully expected Elder Song to drop work on them, but they give me a warning before they go. "Make something for dinner, we’ve got to build a schedule tonight."

Looks like I’m still designated chef.

Inspecting the outer disciples mess hall on my way to get ingredients for dinner, the food is a little better than when I left. But it seems they’re still not big believers in spice. It’s all so bland. I am beginning to understand why Elder Song hides his mystic cooking. They’re resistant to change, and they’d expect him to cook for huge numbers of people every day, or teach full time courses.

I’ll take a page from his play book, and only do it for the small circle of Elders. After all, why should I suffer mediocre food for however long we’re here?

By the time I’ve got ingredients, the Elders have ten Inner Sect disciples gathered for the training mission to the cathedral. They’re all prepared for a long journey, even though there’s a portal stabilized, so they must be staying to teach and not just scout talent.

Karl has written them up letters of recommendation, in the name of the Dragon Church, to carry with them if they want to travel and find recruits or more orphans for the training. The building is set up for well over a hundred, so they have plenty of space left for potential disciples. If I could, I would have had Lelou send a red Priestess to them to help, but we don’t currently have a solid link to Arcana.

"Dinner is served everyone. Get it while it’s hot." I call, bringing the Elders back to Song’s dining room after sending the disciples away on their long term mission. A year of training away from the Sect is nothing to these long lived cultivators, but it still seems like a lot to me. Every year they will have the choice to cycle out for new teachers, or stay and try to raise more promising recruits, with a reward for every one they find, as is customary for the Sect’s teachers.

"So, Elder Po, what technique will we be learning next? Karl here has a variation of the learning spell that can transfer knowledge from you to me, not just from the Spell Caster, so I can learn the basics right away, skipping theory for the practice part."

Elder Song is poking Karl in the side, encouraging him to hand over a copy of the spell circle. He holds out for a bit before handing over a copy to Elder Po, and retiring to another room with Elder Song to talk spell theory again. Or should I say more, as they never really stopped.

"We inducted Karl as an outer disciple while you were cooking." Elder Ming informs me. "Thanks for that by the way, Song is so stubborn, getting a proper meal out of him once a year is a struggle."

I laugh, already knowing that’s how it is with him. "No problem, just don’t tell the others or I’ll never get off kitchen duty. And that would seriously impact my training."

Elder Po seems to have the spell deciphered, as well as what I need to know. He presses a finger to my head and memories begin to filter in, not in the huge information dump of Elder Song, but in an Organized manner. Maybe that’s just how their respective minds work?

There’s no less of it though. Elder Po has sent me roughly three thousand years of martial arts training related memories. He knows nearly a hundred styles in depth, but the information he wants me to focus on comes at the end, I can feel his emphasis on the need for exact understanding. It’s a style blending technique, Not so much an art of its own, but an art that lets you use two styles together to make one seamless new style.

"And that last is what we will be working on tonight. It is the basis for everything we will be doing afterwards. Song used a remote viewing ability when you broke through, and believes you got a gift from your Goddess? Something to do with energy control? If so, that would be a huge help to you using some of these mystic cultivator’s techniques."

"It was a way to manifest dragons of Energy to fight alongside me. Ones with a divine blessing, so much stronger than would be expected of an energy technique used by a physical cultivator." I explain.

This sends him into deep thought. "What we will do tonight, and for the next few weeks, is focus on mixing the Divine Dragon style, which also uses energy constructs to assist most of their attacks, with the Blooming Lotus style you’ve already intensively trained, that suits the flowing style of the Divine Dragon energy attacks.

Divine Dragon is a superb match for my new ability. It attaches energy to the fists, either surrounding them or flowing out from them and surrounding the user, to be sent on ranged attacks or block incoming damage.

Within a few minutes of practice with the newly learned technique, I can manage to direct my Dragons to my will with a thought, in sync with the fighting style. Both reinforcing my attacks and lashing out to attack at range.

Next up is the hard part. Mastering a whole new style and then blending it with the Blooming Lotus style to create something new and greater. Elder Po can do this in seconds, I’ll likely need months.