It was. Technically. But Jai Long had seen plenty of sacred artists adjust fine to skipping Jade entirely. If Lindon or Eithan Arelius had insisted she stay a Jade, he wouldn’t have argued, but he would characterize their attitude as similar to his own.
While she was right about stability being important, the difference was so minuscule at Jade as to be negligible.
But everyone had to travel their own Path, and it wasn’t as though he’d taken her in as a disciple. So he gave her a nod and went to pick up a ‘heavier’ training spear.
This one wasn’t physically much heavier at all, but it was scripted to be similar to a parasite ring. It became harder to move madra through it, which allowed him to refine his madra, exercise his channels, and practice his weapon Enforcer techniques at once.
Kelsa settled into a chair nearby and watched him as she drank from a bottle of water. She didn’t rest her perception on him directly, which would have distracted him, but she did observe him closely. Determined to take only one step at a time she may have been, but she never passed up an opportunity to learn.
This training didn’t take much concentration, and she knew it, so after a few minutes of watching him she picked up their earlier conversation.
“So you think I should advance to Gold, then?”
“I wouldn’t delay too long.” He swung his spear vertically, leaving a trail of light that hissed like a snake before quickly dissipating. When it did, he swung again.
“I’m…not sure how I feel about taking someone else’s Remnant into my spirit,” she admitted. “Even if there are plenty to choose from.”
Sacred Valley had been littered with Remnants after the Dreadgod’s rampage, many of which were from the Path of the White Fox. They would be little help in advancing to Gold, though, since they could only be Jade at best.
“There are other compatible Paths,” Jai Long said, focusing on his spear. “It’s difficult to integrate their techniques into yours, but it can be done.” She would have an easier time at Lowgold than he had, no matter what she did.
At least her Remnant wouldn’t be trying to eat her from the inside out.
“Your brother didn’t take a Remnant at all,” he pointed out.
“No, but he had Orthos. I suppose there is Elder Whisper…but if he hasn’t chosen a contractor by now, I can’t see why he’d want me.”
From what little Jai Long had heard of Elder Whisper, he doubted anyone should want to contract with him. The fox couldn’t be trusted.
“No point worrying about it,” Jai Long said. This time, he slashed through the ghost of a snake he’d Forged out of his own madra. “If you run into any problems, you can get your brother to solve them.”
Kelsa took another drink of water. “You don’t like him.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
In fact, if Jai Long had to choose whether he felt positively or negatively toward Lindon, he would give Lindon a passing grade. Lindon had gone out of his way to help Jai Long and his sister more than once.
But he had killed Jai Long’s closest friend, even if the circumstances were understandable. And…
In the quiet of his own heart, Jai Long could admit that he was jealous.
Lindon had started out so far behind, and had overtaken Jai Long so quickly. What could Jai Long himself have done with Lindon’s opportunities?
Jai Chen would be safe for life, that would be certain. And he himself could pursue…the sacred arts, he supposed. He wasn’t actually sure what he would do if he attained unrivaled power. His training had always been driven by necessity and the existence of enemies greater than he was.
If he was in Lindon’s position, he couldn’t even imagine what he’d do.
He had been quiet for too long, and had given Kelsa time to read his body language. Not his face, because that was still wrapped in bandages.
“You keep calling him my brother,” she pointed out. “You call me by name.”
“If he was here, I’d use his name.”
“Not his title?”
His strike stopped in the middle. That was an accurate, if painful, point. Even if you set aside Lindon’s status as a Sage, he was still an Overlord. Jai Long should be respectful.
He resumed his training, this time letting soulfire leak into his techniques. A small colorless spark infused one of the snakes that he produced. He couldn’t infuse his techniques with soulfire while they were inside him—his body and spirit still couldn’t handle it—but he could refine techniques with soulfire as he used them.
It was clumsy compared to what a real Underlord could do, like trying to paint while holding the brush with his toes, but at least there wasn’t much any other Truegold could do to him.
He decided to turn the conversation back on Kelsa, at least to regain momentum. “It’s hard for me to reconcile the Lowgold I knew with the Sage and Overlord he is now. It must be even more difficult for you.”
“It’s frightening,” she said simply. “Not just what he can do, but that he only stumbled on the truth by chance. What if he hadn’t made it? What if no one had ever left? We would never have known what the real sacred arts were like, and when the Dreadgod came…”
Jai Long was more than aware. If no one had come to warn the people of Sacred Valley, they would have all died.
“We would still have saved you,” he said, though he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t even certain it was true.
As soon as he said it, he’d known she wouldn’t let the statement go unchallenged. She liked things to be as objective as possible.
“Would you have had the chance to come west? Would we have met if not for Orthos sensing you?”
No to both, he was certain, but he kept quiet.
Her lips quirked up into a smile. “That was still nice to hear.”
Jai Long wished he hadn’t said anything.
“So what about now that we have met?” Kelsa asked. “What are you going to do now? Are you going to head out into the Blackflame Empire?”
The Empire was probably the worst place for him to blend in, especially the west. And they were heading to Serpent’s Grave. A city he had once helped Jai Daishou to attack.
“Jai Chen likes it here.” She was taking her role as one of the founding members of the Twin Star sect seriously. Too seriously.
“I was asking about you.”
“I can think about the rest after I reach Underlord, now that I have an actual chance.” He had long given up on Underlord…or so he thought before Lindon and Yerin showed up, having casually brushed past the barrier where he had remained stuck for years.
Now, if he didn’t at least break into the Lord realm, he wouldn’t be able to hold his head up.
“What if it doesn’t fix…” Kelsa gestured to his face.
Jai Long had, of course, told her why his head was wrapped up all the time. It was the first question he had to answer if he ever wanted to work with anyone.
Most people understood. Many sacred artists had strange Goldsigns or disfiguring scars. Kelsa had wanted to see immediately, but he had refused. The advancement to Underlord should fix him, or at least get it under his control. That was another source of motivation; Lindon looked like he had aged five years in the best way, and Yerin had lost all her scars. That gave Jai Long hope for himself.
But no one knew what exact changes the soulfire transformation would cause. It could make things worse, and he had been honest about that with Kelsa.
“If Underlord doesn’t work, then I will continue as I always have. And I’ll hope that Overlord heals me.”
Overlord was a legend, and one that he would never have dreamed of reaching before these last few weeks.
Kelsa was staring into his mask so intently that he had to re-focus on his spear. “Just advancement, huh. Seems boring.”