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The following days are monotonous. On the road, using fasting pills to save on time, and a short rest at night - you still need to sleep, but around one hour less than a non-cultivator kid your age.
Passing the fields close to Stable Harbor, villages get sparse and sparser while the ambient spiritual energy dwindles and dwindles.
Once every couple days, a place stands out amidst hamlet of poor farmers and hunters.
Lotus Grove Town, with what you feel is a normal amount of spiritual energy - aligned to what you now recognizes as Lotus element energy.
Soul-Blade Camp, with tents bearing the sigil of the Military.
You're currently in an affordable and cheap inn of Jade Thunder Village. Perfect time to discuss organization.
>Does she want to hang back or act as a subordinate while we distract them through more overt displays of intimidation or actions?
"<span class="mu-b">That's exactly the plan. You are the gifted-but-arrogant Young Master of the Stable Lotus branch. I am your non-cultivator maid.</span>
- They won't see your realm?
- <span class="mu-b">Can you? This will let me mingle with their domestics while the Village Elder will try to dupe you by playing on your young age. </span>
- Dupe? No chance they are good-faith?
- <span class="mu-b">Thinner than slim. They would have sent a message excusing for the bad harvest, and maybe sent one of their most promising kids in last recruitment test as a goodwill gesture.
They didn't. That mean they're taking us for fools. This is an affront. And three village at the same time? There's something underlying. The most important thing is to find what. But that's my job. You're the distraction.</span>
- I guess it's not your first mission so?
- <span class="mu-b">First time with such a stake. This is more of a Master's responsibility. But new kids to train (a pretext) and transplanhumance incoming (true reason, this is a guaranteed monetary windfall).</span>
- So what are we doing exactly?
- <span class="mu-b">You parade around, let them all see you. Ideally, you need to display a flashy art. Do you have any technique I would find impressive? Something like that would rock their certitudes and make them reconsiderate.
You might be invited to a hunt or something - where they will try to set up something humiliating but not dangerous per se, this can be a good opportunity to let your flashy move out.
Don't directly antagonize or kill anyone : there are only two of us : we won't win an open fight against them. And killing a patriarch leads to disorders, so even if it's tactically sound as a way to intimidate the ruffians, I hope we won't have to do this.</span>
- What if I'm in trouble? How can I signal you?
- <span class="mu-b">Flare your Hawk spirit. Unrelated subject : your Horse Spirit let us make incredibly good time. We should be there in a bit more than 3 days.[/b:lit]"</span>
