Slow, careful breathing as he teased the energy through his body. He watched as it floated before him, a morass of Yin energy contained and separated but different from the usual that existed within him. Like an extra cold spot, or a slight ache that he held in hand. Yet, it stayed still, breaking down a little as time went by but not otherwise interacting with him or his body or, more importantly, the Yang energy within him.
Three days. It had taken him three days to get this far and not a damn notification from the Tower other this one.
Internal Energy Manipulation (58%)
Not that he was complaining about getting a new skill or acknowledgement of the work he had done. Did make him wonder why it had taken so long to show up, but he theorised it probably had something to do with how most climbers had some form of control and ability. No need to make a skill known until it started becoming a technique, and that required - like all good techniques - a system and process.
Something he hadn't realised was a necessity till two days in, when he had to start keeping notes outside of his head of the variations of energy he kept manipulating. How he pulled energy, at what speeds, adjusting again and again as energy drained away or dispersed or transformed too fast.
All till he got here, and this bundle of Yin energy.
Now, the question was what to do about it. The obvious answer - make a Refined Energy Dart.
He really wanted to do that, though there were two problems. Firstly, the energy he had created was Tower energy, not Refined Energy. That meant that he would have to learn hwo to do this again with the Refined Energy, pushing his progress even further back. It might be simple, but somehow, instinctively, Arthur knew it wasn't going to be.
Now,, he could, potentially break the Refined Energy Dart technique down, or even just buy the Energy Dart technique and then learn that before modifying it. Again, it would take a ton of time; and give him another technique that he barely used. Especially since Energy Dart's were significantly less powerful.
The other problem with all that was, well, he was out of time.
***
"Sorry, I'm late." Arthur waved to the group as he trundled down the stairs, nodding to Mel and Uswah and then eyeing the half-dozen women who had gathered in the lobby. He didn't recognised a single one of them, but they all had that air he'd come to realise belonged to the true survivors. The kind who weren't going to be content just existing, day-to-day on this floor.
Murmured agreements. He stuck his hand out, shaking hands and doing his best to gladhand the group, plastering on as friendly a face as he could as they made the introductions.
"Why were you late?" An older woman, Li Sun, angry and glaring at him asked. She was the oldest and by the fact that she hadn't bothered to rise or take his hand, he assumed she was either their leader or just a natural contrarian.
"Training," Arthur said, completely truthfully. "I was working on a cultivation technique."
"Tower bought?"
He shook his head. "Something I am working on derived from an enchantment actually." He tapped the kris by his side.
To his surprise, it actually made the woman soften a little. "So you're one of those?"
"Uhhh, not sure what those you're talking about."
"An experimenter. Someone making their own techniques."
Arthur nodded. "It's not that hard...."
Li Sun leaned forward then, nodding in agreement. "Yes! Exactly. It's like they want you to try making things. The pain isn't that bad even, it's just a little bit. Like, all of these, they just spend their cores and contribution points buying techniques all the time rather than putting ins some real effort! Why, in my time..."
"You were not able to afford the techniques because you could only spend it on building yourself because it cost too much, so you had to learn how to do it yourself. We know already lah," another woman, Noor who was not much younger than their leader laughed ruefully. "We're not here to recreate your past."
"You...." Li Sun sighed. "Fine. But what's there to talk? It's a Clan. That means we might actually get ahead."
The others looked unhappy at Li Sun's forthright admission, Noor poking her in the side. "What if he gives us a bad deal?"
"What deal?" Arthur said. "There's no deal, you join, you become a member, you get access and contribute. No differences between you all and everyone else." That made the group look a little unhappy, but he pointed to Mel. "On the other hand, you all are trusted already, which means almost all our floor leaders come from you guys. Which means you all dictate the treatment you get and can make sure it's fair."
"You said almost?" Noor asked.
"I did. Not all of your people have agreed, or were trustworthy," Arthur said. "I value individuals, those that come in and work for it. Not whatever seniority you all had before. Think of it as a new start." He shrugged. "If you manage to keep the same level of authority and trust, even without a formal designation; all the better."
Some few looked angry, a few considering at his words. Li Sun didn't seem annoyed or angry at all, instead, almost cunning. He could almost see the future, just by looking at the way they glanced at one another, at her and the body language. He'd have to check, but he would have bet that woman was going to try to weasel out of anything official; even if she was their leader now.
All the more reason to get her, if he could. Guilt was a useful tool, weaponised incompetene another. Again, something to check with Mel, that he was reading things right but he didn't think he wasn't. After multiple floors and the politics within, he was beginning to get a feel for these things.
Didn't mean there were other complications he was bound to run into.
It wasn't that easy, of course, and eventually food and drinks had to be brought out. They had questions, queries about the Clan, about what the Sigil and Aspect did. The Aspect of Guardianship was the most quietly important, its minor bonuses to everything from healing to shielding and precision techniques as well as the increased cultivation speed when Clan members were nearby was powerful, if passive bonuses.
The Sigil of the Flame Phoenix on the other hand was perhaps the biggest direct benefit. An Accelerated Healing Technique, available to the entire clan that boosted low-level healing could offer significant improvements in survivability. Nevermind the increase in recovery times and the long-term potential of regeneration.
Though, Arthur knew he was a long way from that. In a more advancted Tower, he might even consider picking up a healing technique scroll to aid him; right now the Beginner Tower's limited resources meant that there wasn't anything significantly better.
"Fire Phoenix...? Aren't they all fire?" A puzzled speaker, mousy with a pair of glasses on her nose, one leg broken off and held together by what looked like treesap and cloth.
"Flame Phoenix," Arthur corrected gently. He'd forgotten her name already, which would be annoying but he'd long ago learnt not to bother him. He'd work it out, later. "And no, I don't know if there's a difference."
Still, answring questions of all this did make him consider that he hadn't done anything about the Sigil. If they could have one linked skill because he had studied it, perhaps he should look into flame based techniques himself. Of course, being Yin bodied, that might be... well, interesting. What little exploration he'd done about using a flame aura or even many Yang-oriented techniques had shown that he was going to struggle with it.
One of the reasons Jan was the one with a flame aura and not him. Nevermind other considerations.
He'd tack it on to his long list of things to do. Speaking of...
Standing around in one of the breaks, he held a hand up as others looked to ask more questions. "Look, Mel and Jan and Uswah can answer most of your questions, so you don't need for me for that. In fact, all you need me to do is add you to the Clan, or add someone as the floor boss and they can do that. Now, I'm not choosing anyone yet, so unless anyone wants to join immediately..."
He let his voice trail off, expecting no one to agree and was thus surprised when Li Sun nodded to him.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Huh." Arthur shrugged, then added. "Do you swear to abide by the rules of the Clan, to protect it and its people like your own, to promote the well-being of the Clan and its people?"
"Yeah." Again, no hesitation from the older woman.
Prodding the Tower in that way he had learnt to do so, pushing his mental request to it and watching a moment later when the offering appeared befoe her. She barely even read it, acknowledging the agreement and adding to his numbers a moment later. Within seconds, he had a flood of new applicants, the dam broken; much to the annoyance of the more cautious.
Finally, the Benevolent Durians were started on the seventh floor.