Tales From the Cradle

Chapter 102

Tales From the Cradle

They'd reached it, the Brooch. 

The canyon between the various cliffs was far narrower than it was at the top; there were far fewer plateaus, too, and jutting sides that could house any manner of structures. Those structures, too, were far smaller; they were less forts than they were constable offices with some walls and secondary facilities. 

There were far more tunnel openings, too, with Yue noting just shy of two hundred within her field of vision that was quite limited. The winds this deep were also fast and cutting and yet, despite that, there was permeating fog that colored the entire place with certain haze that never seemed to lift. 

It was never silent, too; either it was the winds howling through drafts, or it was some distant beasts sounding out into the dark. The atmosphere was truly incomparable to anything above, and yet, Yue didn't necessarily feel fear. While there was some heaviness to it, the truth was that there were forts almost everywhere, spreading out warding arrays that were frequently overlapping. In fact, in more than just one or two ways, this place seemed even safer than the ones above. 

"Most of the Sect Disciples only ever come this deep," as though having read her mind, Gon quickly fired off an explanation. "To train and expand their horizons, as it were. As such, most forts here are sustained by the Sects themselves, headed by one or another external Elder. It is not so obvious on the surface as the mutually-agreed-upon laws don't necessarily permit it, but such is the reality. There are arrays abound, even inside the tunnels, and most of the experienced guides can be found on this layer. The pay is lucrative, and it is seldom dangerous."

"What about the flooding, then? Don't the Disciples go down after it?" Liang queried. 

"They do, but do so in groups of hundreds, often thousands. If you were a Demonic Beast, or even an Other, would you dare intercept them?"

"Ah, suppose not."

"Hm," Gon nodded. "For the most part of the year, however, this is where the vast majority of the Disciples reside. Well, that's not quite true--where the valued Disciples reside. Those weaker ones tend to stick to the layers between the Crown and the Brooch, and the desperate ones forsake themselves and try to reach the Sword. Unfortunately, even with an experienced guide, reaching the Sword still requires a level of luck and strength that most of them do not have. Some, on occasion, though, do succeed, but what awaits them is being the rungs and rats of the Seniors down below. Years of slaving away, if they're lucky, to have a chance to reshape their destiny." 

"This place is more complicated than I thought," Yue said, frowning faintly.

"And it is still only but a surface of it all," Gon chuckled, rubbing his beard. "Let us depart for Eon Sanctuary. We can rest there for a day or two and resupply."

"Resupply?"

"Going further down than this," Gon spoke as they walked. "There are no more shortcuts, no safe passages, no secret ways to descend without danger. Every tunnel is infested, every path is a battle, every corner a potential trap. However, if cultivators had to fight every hour of every day on their way down, nobody, not even those at Soul Ascendance Realm, would have managed to reach the Sword, let alone the Cradle. As such, Alchemists concocted powders and pills that can alleviate some of the struggle of the descent."

"Ah, sort of like Beast-Scattering Powder that is popular on the outside?" Liang asked.

"Uh, sort of like that, I suppose? But not quite."

"Not quite?"

"Hm," the old man nodded as they took a sharp turn into a nearby tunnel. A perfectly-shaped sphere of light illuminated the rough and coarse walls that slowly began to narrow as they reached toward the tunnel's exit. "Most repelling powders on the outside are made from herbs and such--for instance, Cave Wolves, naturally, cannot stand the scent of lythmia. However, lythima doesn't really bloom anywhere near their natural habitat, and even on the rare occasion that the two overlap, it is in such small doses that it only acts as an irritant more so than anything else. Lythmia Powder, though, is a massive concentration that would cause physical harm to the wolves if they were to come in close contact. It's not only made for the Cave Wolves, but Lythmia Powder doesn't really have some sort of universal role."

"Right."

"Here, it's a bit different--powders are made from the carcasses of Demonic Beasts." Gon's words shocked the duo, but they kept it to their expressions. "The stronger the Demonic Beast was, the stronger the powder. Instead of acting as a natural repellant, it's more so a cautionary one--if the Demonic Beast smells a scent of another, more powerful one on you, it will probably think twice about attacking. It's not a guarantee, though; hunger, fear, new mothers... there are a myriad of reasons why the powder may fail. However, it's as good of a shield as we have." 

"You also mentioned pills?" Yue asked as they showed their identifications at the entrance. The pair of guards seemed to mumble something among themselves as they passed, but as Yue was too invested in Gon's story, she didn't pay much attention to it. If it was something alarming, she felt Liang would have picked up on it instead. 

"The pills work in the reverse of the powder," Gon said. "You toss 'em, make them explode, and they scatter out an attractive scent, often a mix of herbs and weak but delicious animals and Demonic Beasts. It causes the entire set of tunnels nearby to go berserk and for almost every Demonic Beast to converge toward the location. The pill has multitude of uses--distraction, baiting, training, and so on. In combination with the powder, and some other pills--mostly poison pills meant to inflict ailments on the Demonic Beasts--it is the safest way to go about descending."

"They can't be cheap, I imagine," Liang said.

"Ordinary ones are, and they are, for the most part, good enough that you'll get around eight to ten hours of peace a day. But yes, the powerful ones are expensive. The best of the best can go as high as a Sky-Tier Weapon does."

"Wow!" the two exclaimed as Gon led them to a nearby inn--it was one of the six facilities that existed beyond the main keep, and the largest one to boot. There was a decent stream of cultivators going in and out, and most wore Disciple robes of various Sects of the Lower Ashlands. Yue even spotted a couple of younger kids, no older than twelve, who were accompanied by an Elder, all three of whom belonged to the Heavenly Jade Pavilion Sect, the strongest Sect of the Lower Ashlands. 

"What about the Others?" Liang asked.

"... there are no shortcuts, I'm afraid," Gon said with a faint sigh. "The best we have is a weekly-updated map that is free to observe for everyone that details where they attacked the last seven days. It can be indicative of their movements, but as they burrow their homesteads deep into the cliff, it is extremely difficult to avoid them, and twice as difficult to find them. The good news is that purely homicidal attacks are rather rare--most times, they'll simply ask for a 'passing fee', a gentleman's way of robbing you, and let you go."

"That's why everyone leaving the fort is carrying bags of food," Liang said, prompting Yue to look around and finally realize it herself. She felt her cheeks flush red in shame as she completely failed to notice it, too engrossed in the conversation. Liang, on the other hand, paid attention to both. More and more, her goofy Junior Brother seemed far cleverer and better-prepared than her. No, she realized--he was. He was a Sect Disciple for over ten years, having gone out on dozens of missions. There was no way she'd be more prepared for something like this over him, someone who barely ever left her Clan before running away. 

"Yes. Very, very, very few things grow in the tunnels and the caves, and even fewer of those are edible. Most of the Demonic Beasts, too, have developed various poisons and venoms that make them, at best, dangerous to eat and at worst deadly. As such, the Others are left with very few ways to feed themselves--catching mortal animals, of which there are fewer and fewer with every passing year, feast on the weed and moss that has about as much nutritional value as bricks and stones, grow Wood Ear Mushrooms and endanger the entire settlement as the Demonic Beasts are quite sensitive to its light, rob the increasingly rich cultivators that pass by, or just... die." 

Yue felt a trace of sympathy in the aged voice, though didn't comment on it. It wasn't her place, after all; whatever transpired in the Cradle over the countless years, only a fraction of it ever made it out. And even that only through second or third account stories, all embellished beyond count. To her, the Others were no different from Demonic Beasts, both in the context of the Cradle and outside of it. They were one of the few enemies that both the martial artists as well as mortals had in common. 

Actual humans, even if they were criminals, colluding with the mutated beasts that wish to call themselves humans, too, put them all on the lowest rungs of the living, just about where the Demonic Beasts resided. However, Yue had never actually met an Other--she'd seen bandits aplenty, and fought them a few times as well, but never the Other. She only ever saw the sketches of their appearances, but as for how accurate those were, she had no means of knowing. Unless, of course, they encountered some in the tunnel. Ah, perish the thought...

"You two rest in the inn," Gon said as they settled inside the rather small room. "I will go visit some shops and buy the supplies. This time of year... I'm afraid there won't be any Angelic Powder, which is what we call the highest-quality one."

"It's fine, just grab whichever," Liang said. 

"Hm," Yue saw a glint of condescension in Gon's eyes as the old man merely nodded before leaving. 

She turned toward her Junior Brother and saw him sighing, glancing back at her with a faint, fading smile. 

"What?" he asked.

"You seem... on edge." she said.

"He's a sympathizer," Liang said. 

"A what?"

"A sympathizer," he explained. "Someone who likely believes that, at least in part, the Others are no different from us." 

"Is that wrong?" 

"Uhm, not so much wrong as it's dangerous," he said. "Have you ever met an Other?" 

"No. You?"

"Once. Shortly after I joined the Sect, we had a class where one was trotted out in chains and binds in front of us. He, she, it, whatever it was... it was tiny, no larger than a child. And it seemed calm, unassuming, almost indifferent to its own plight. After relaxing a bit, we, being the kids that we were, started playing with it--poking, prodding, pinching... but it showed no reaction." Yue listened carefully as Liang's voice dropped. "At some point, rather than fun... it just seemed kind of sad. However, the Elder in charge didn't reprimand us, merely staying on the side. Then, Jao tripped, skidding his knee and drawing some blood. As soon as it caught sight of the blood... it went berserk." 

Liang took a moment's break as Yue felt her heart quicken, image forming inside her mind. 

"Its tiny frame bulged to nearly twice its size within a second, ripping through the chains and the binds as though they weren't even there. The calm, indifferent expression was distorted beyond anything I'd seen, and at that moment, I was certain I was going to die. That was when the Elder stepped in and restrained it. Do you know how Others came about to be, Yue?" 

"..." once again, he used her name. She flinched slightly but shook her head still. 

"The most common way is through corruption--someone desperate, or otherwise emotionally charged, dabbling with Demonic Essence. The Essence, then, dislodges a part of who they are and replaces it with something else entirely. The truth is that the Other I saw as a kid is a rather rare mutation--most do not look that different from ordinary people. Perhaps an unnatural limb, an extra eye, or even just something inside that you cannot see with the naked eye. However, all of them, without exception, suffer the same affliction: Blood Rage. As soon as blood is drawn, the Demonic Essence within them awakens and completely transforms them into demented beasts. And once they're in that state, they can never go back. For all intents and purposes, they become humanoid Demonic Beasts, except even more aggressive.

"That's why I was often warned by the Elders and Seniors back in the Sect, that if I ever come here... I should stay away from the sympathizers. Chances are, someone close to them was Changed at some point in time, but never awakened fully. They will see the world loudly dub them monsters, while the Other hasn't done anything wrong." 

"--is there a way to reverse it?" Yue asked.

"A few," Liang nodded. "But they are so inordinately expensive and seen as a complete waste of resources that only a few attempts have ever been made. For the most part, they are either killed, imprisoned, or banished." 

"Then, we should be careful," Yue said, not knowing whether she'd be any different from Gon if someone close to her underwent that 'change'. 

"Hm, we should," Liang mumbled before choosing a corner and sitting down to meditate. 

There was so much, Yue realized, that she didn't know--though she was always aware on some level that her knowledge of the world of cultivation was fairly limited due to her upbringing, ever since joining Master and befriending Liang, she'd become rather cognizant of the fact that she knew practically nothing. Beyond just the shallow knowledge of famous Sects, Factions, and some minor things about cultivation itself, she was wholly blind. 

The Cradle, its layers, Disciples, the flooding, and now the Others and the Demonic Beasts... was every corner of the world infested with stories, interesting and otherwise, that she was never privy to? Was the same true of her home, the Forest? Likely yes, she knew.

She relaxed in her Master's shade, forgetting that the Nameless Forest wasn't a home to anyone, least of all a stupid, young girl like her. And yet, she lived there, embraced by the Spirits. If she told it to anyone in the world, nobody would believe her. It was such a moronic statement that they'd think she went into Qi Reflux and was dying. 

Sighing, she retreated into the corner as well, sitting down and closing her eyes. Whatever shall come, may. She still had the feather and the scroll with her, always one finger away from activating either. In time, she would learn, she promised herself--learn not just of this place and its many secrets, but everywhere. The Forest, her own clan, Liang's Sect, and all other Sects of the Lower Ashlands. She would learn it all, and then lord her knowledge over her stupid Junior Brother.