Unintended Cultivator

The interior of the blacksmith’s shop was hot. That was, no doubt, an effect of the forge that took up most of the space, even if it was hidden from view. Sen idly looked at the weapons and shields that shared space on the walls with the more mundane tools of farming, but idle interest was all that it was. While he suspected that most of those tools of violence were well-made, they were ultimately meant for mortal hands. Having recently tested and broken a jian meant for core cultivators, Sen knew that he needed something crafted for him specifically. So, he had gone to the only smith he knew that might be able to do the job on short notice. He had asked Master Feng.

“I thought you might be about there,” said Master Feng. “That’ll keep being a problem for you from here on in.”

Sen had suspected as much but it had still been a little disappointing to hear it confirmed. He'd been in the habit of replacing his weapons with ones he’d taken off dead enemies. The problem with that, of course, was that there were far fewer nascent soul cultivators around. While he imagined that he’d eventually come into conflict with some of them, he wasn’t going to find them lining up to be an easy source of resources for him. The only consolation there was that when he did kill one, he’d probably walk away with a lot of resources. After all, if someone managed to kill him, they’d pick up a fortune in unused alchemy resources, money, and elixirs.

“I’d worried about that,” Sen admitted.

“There just aren’t that many people who can forge weapons for people with your kind of strength. Then there’s the matter of the materials themselves. They’re rare and expensive,” said Master Feng before giving Sen a considering look. “Although, you’re probably better equipped than most to acquire them.”

“Why is that?”

“You aren’t afraid of the deep wilds. You’d be surprised how many nascent soul cultivators never manage to shake that particular fear.”

“Why? I mean, sure, there are powerful spirit beasts out there, but there aren’t many that could threaten a nascent soul cultivator.”

“You’d be surprised. The thing you have to remember is that not everyone is quite as good at fighting as you are. Normal alchemists at your level of development would only have a fifty-fifty chance of coming back from places that wouldn’t even give you pause, and that’s if they went as part of an expedition.”

“Save that nonsense for people who haven’t heard the real stories about what you’ve done. I know how skilled you are.”

“I don’t feel that skilled. And since you do know the real stories, you know how often I survived through luck.”

Master Feng snorted at that.

“The thing about luck is that you have to survive long enough to take advantage of it. Anyone might get that lucky once. If you get that lucky over and over again, it’s because you have enough skill to last long enough for it to show up.”

Sen wasn’t sure he entirely believed that but thought Master Feng was probably in a better position than he was to make a claim on that subject. On that subject, he was willing to trust Master Feng’s long experience over his own shaky intuitions. The discussion hadn’t just been for Sen’s edification. He had to delay his intended departure to go out and gather some rare materials for Master Feng to use. He’d been a little annoyed when the elder cultivator freely admitted he had all of those materials on hand but said that it was good for Sen to go through the process all the same. His reasoning?

“If you went to anyone else, they’d make you do the same thing.”

Sen had to check that annoyance when he discovered that Master Feng had started forging the new blade very nearly the moment Sen set out to gather materials. It turned out that the nascent soul cultivator knew he was going to be working for a few days and didn’t want Sen hovering for that entire time. He’d also commandeered the local blacksmith’s forge. Sen had thought it was going to be a problem at first. After all, the smith was a busy man. That fear had lasted right up until Sen had entered the shop on his return to find the counter abandoned. He’d gone back to the forge and found the smith, along with his apprentices, just standing there and watching Master Feng work. Sen had approached the smith.

“I hope this isn’t too much of an inconvenience,” Sen said to the big man.

The smith had turned an incredulous eye on Sen.

“You must be joking. I’ve learned more about smithing in the last two days than I did in the last two decades. Do you have any idea how hard it is to learn new things once you leave your apprenticeship?”

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“Well, not really,” admitted Sen.

“Very damned hard. Smiths don’t want to share their secrets with anyone but their most prized apprentices. So, you have to figure it all out by yourself and that kind of learning gets expensive. Fast. This,” said the smith with a gesture at Master Feng, “is like a gift from the heavens. I’ll be twice the smith I was after this. These boys,” he gestured at his apprentices, “will be true master smiths.”

The big man’s eyes were almost glowing with happiness. Sen supposed the man was imagining all the wonders he was going to make in the future. When it was clear that Master Feng was still working on the blade, Sen had gone home and let Ai occupy him for the rest of the day. It was a rare treat for both of them, and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with her before he left. Finding the front of the shop empty yet again, Sen didn’t waste any time in going out to the forge area. He found Master Feng watching over the smith and his apprentices, offering a word of guidance here, and correcting a hammering technique there. Sen hung back, knowing that the elder cultivator was aware of his presence. If Master Feng didn’t acknowledge him immediately, it meant that he intended to finish what he was doing.

Sen watched the work with curiosity. He’d seen smithing a few times but rarely had the chance to simply stand back and watch the process for more than a few minutes. There was something almost hypnotic about it. His enhanced senses were able to distinguish the way the smiths varied the force of their hammering just by the distinct sounds the impacts made. He marveled at how they knew when the metal had cooled a bit too much and reheated it, only to draw the red, glowing metal back out and continue their work as though they’d never stopped. He was simply stunned at the men working the bellows to bring up the temperature to a precise spot and keep it there.

The most impressive thing, to Sen’s mind, was the sheer endurance necessary for the work. While his own body cultivation would likely make that element almost trivial, he knew full well that it wasn’t trivial for mortals. Watching them keep going for hours on end like machines made of flesh was a testament to their strength and focus. When Master Feng finally called a stop to the work, though, the smith and his apprentices all looked like they were ready to drop in place and sleep for hours. Sweat poured off of them, and the youngest apprentice actually swayed on his feet until another apprentice put a steadying hand on the boy’s arm. Master Feng examined the end results of their work with an approving word or gentle suggestions for improvement. Those were met with bright smiles or attentive nods from everyone, including the smith himself. It was only then that Master Feng finally turned his attention to Sen.

“I’m glad to see that your time out in the world hasn’t entirely burned away your patience.”

Sen smiled and said, “I know better than to interrupt something like this.”

“I suppose it’s time to reward that patience of yours.”

Master Feng walked over to a sturdy bench with unusually thick legs supporting it. Sen frowned momentarily at the bench until he realized that the smith dealt in metal products, and metal is heavy. Anything less sturdy would likely collapse beneath the weight of metal ingots. Focusing on Master Feng again, he watched as the elder cultivator reached out and drew a thick cloth away. Resting beneath that cloth was not one but two new jian. Sen had never seen the point of highly decorative swords. They were tools. Anything that didn’t contribute directly to their function was simply wasted effort in Sen’s opinion. It was an opinion he shared with his master. For all of that, though, the blades gave him pause.

There was nothing decorative about the hilts. The blades themselves were another matter. Sen leaned in to examine them. They were both several inches longer than what he usually preferred, as well as heavier. What had drawn his attention, though, was that the metal didn’t look like any sword he’d ever seen before. The metal had a decidedly blue cast, rather than the polished steel color he’d come to expect. There was also a subtle pattern in the metal that reminded Sen of wood grains he’d seen.

“Why are they blue?” asked Sen.

“Oh, that wasn’t intentional, although I do rather like it,” said Master Feng. “I’m pretty sure it’s because of the lightning irises I used. You do seem to favor that as an attack, so these blades will channel it a little better. It also goes well with those blue robes you always wear.”

Sen picked up one of the swords. It was definitely heavier than he’d expected. Heavier than any mortal would find easy to use. He doubted it would slow him down at all, but it did make him feel a little better about using the weapon against the heavier dao sabers that some cultivators preferred. He cycled for lightning and let a bit of the qi slip into the blade. Master Feng had downplayed exactly how much better the blades would channel lightning. It was effortless. Sen noticed the smith and his apprentices watching in awe as lightning crackled around the blade. Sen withdrew the qi from the blade. He looked around and decided that there wasn’t enough room in the forge to swing the sword without damaging something.

He noticed a door that would lead out of the back of the forge and looked out. There was a small open area. Taking the exit, he went outside and worked through a few basic forms. He was happy to discover that he actually preferred the additional length and weight of the blade. Recently, the jian he’d been using had felt fragile in his hands. This blade felt solid and reliable. He glanced over to where Master Feng was watching with a studied neutrality on his face.

“I love it,” said Sen. “It’s perfect.”

Master Feng let a small smile creep onto his face.

“I thought you might feel that way,” the elder cultivator said. “It’s nice to see I haven’t lost my touch completely.”

Sen looked down at the sword in his hand.

“No. You most certainly have not.”

“The real test will be when you use it in combat, though.”

Sen nodded. That was always the real test.

“I’ll be sure to report back to you how it holds up. Is that why there’s two of them?”

Master Feng shrugged and said, “Can you ever really have too many swords?”