Wang Ben sat on the step outside the treatment hall, one hand resting over his injured ribs. He had been thinking about his mother again. Whenever he tried to remember her leaving, he saw Wang Chen held against her side, his small fist caught in her robe.
He looked up at the roofs beyond the courtyard.
What realm had she reached when she flew away? he asked the System.
[ASSESSMENT: Unaided flight indicates nascent soul class. Exact stage undetermined.]
Wang Ben had seen the royal guardian fly, but hearing the same realm named for his mother left him silent. She had been unable to advance beyond early-stage qi condensation. His father had spent years trying to find a way to help her.
Was that because of what Li Cheng sealed inside her?
[ANALYSIS: Li Cheng warned that failure of the seals would allow cultivation to rise and the dormant presence to awaken. The rapid increase in power and altered behavior are consistent with that warning. The presence in her spiritual sea remains unidentified.]
Wang Ben lowered his gaze. He remembered his mother lying on the treatment bench while his grandfather tried to mend the seals.
Then he remembered her palm coming toward his chest. The blow had turned aside and broken the wall beside him. Her fingers had trembled before they closed.
Could Mother have stopped that blow herself?
[ASSESSMENT: Possible. The change of aim is consistent with resistance, but does not establish how much awareness Li Mei retained.]
He stayed on the step for a while. He wanted to believe she had known him, even for that moment. If she had been able to turn her hand aside, perhaps she could keep Wang Chen safe too.
Wang Ben eased his hand away from his ribs. He had been unable to hold on to his brother or even stand against his mother's pressure. His father had been pinned against a wall. His grandfather was still lying inside the hall.
He wanted to bring his mother and Wang Chen home. He wanted to be able to protect the people who were left.
Can you teach me to fight better while I work on my cultivation?
[ASSESSMENT: Foundational combat instruction is available. The System can explain methods and identify errors in observed practice. Strenuous training must wait until the Host's injuries permit it.]
Wang Ben nodded to himself. He could ask where to begin while he recovered. When his ribs allowed it, he would practice what he was taught, as he had with formations.
But finding his family could not wait until he was strong enough to face a nascent soul cultivator. He wanted to know whether his father had heard anything about his mother and Wang Chen.
Wang Ben placed a hand on the step and rose carefully. He would speak to his father about that first.
...
Wang Ben found his father in his grandfather's room. Wang Feng sat beside the bed, and Chen Shuwen was helping her husband settle against the pillows. His father pulled a chair closer as Wang Ben came in.
"Father, has there been any word of Mother and Wang Chen?"
Wang Tian kept a hand on the chair while his son sat down.
"Not yet. I've asked the Alchemists' Guild to send their names and descriptions to its other branches, in case anyone has seen them."
"I sent Hongwei to ask the Formation Guild as well," Wang Tiexin said. "The clan is offering a hundred low-grade spirit stones for information that helps us find them. We will pay once we have confirmed it."
Wang Ben lowered his eyes. He had hoped there might be news. His father sat beside him, and neither spoke for a while.
Elder Hongwei arrived while they were still together. He drew up a chair and told Wang Tiexin what he and Wang Jinghe had found when they checked the clan's arrays. The main defensive array and the array protecting the inner refuge were intact. Both had been supplied with fresh stones, their small flows of qi keeping them ready without raising the barriers.
"Jinghe can use them and keep them supplied," Elder Hongwei said. "The grade-eight warning array is within his skill as well. But he cannot repair the two grade-seven arrays or make major changes to them."
Wang Ben listened as the elder described the work the younger practitioners could help with. There was a warehouse owner waiting for a warning array. Wang Jinghe could build it, but taking that job and others like it would leave him too little time for the compound.
"Turn it down," Wang Tiexin said. "Take fewer outside requests. Leave the work only you can do until you return."
Elder Hongwei leaned forward. "That will mean fewer spirit stones coming in, Patriarch. We still need to supply the arrays here."
"Reserve those stones from the clan's stores," Wang Tiexin said. "The Prince has offered compensation. Settle the amount with him before you agree to go."
Wang Feng turned toward Elder Hongwei. "Have Jinghe come to me if he finds damage he cannot repair. He is not to attempt it himself. We will stop relying on the affected array and seek someone qualified."
"Serious damage could be beyond me too," Elder Hongwei said.
Wang Tiexin rested his head against the pillows. "Then if we cannot find help, we will have to manage without it."
Wang Ben looked at his grandfather's hands lying on the blanket. He still found himself expecting his grandfather to offer to take over.
Wang Ben glanced at Elder Hongwei.
"I would like to go with Elder Hongwei," Wang Ben said.
His father shifted to face him. "Your mother and brother are gone. It is hard to think of you leaving too."
"I want to ask for the same chance Elder Hongwei has," Wang Ben said. "If we find Mother and Wang Chen, I want to be strong enough to help bring them home."
"I would have duties of my own, Ben," Elder Hongwei said. "I could not always stay beside you."
Wang Ben had hoped to keep working with him. He looked down at his hands, considering what it would mean to be left among strangers. Then he raised his head.
"I still want to go," Wang Ben said. He turned toward his father. "Will you let me know if you hear anything about Mother or Wang Chen?"
His father reached across and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"I will send word if we hear anything."
Wang Ben waited while his father looked toward the bed.
"You have a rare talent for formations, Ben," Wang Tiexin said. "Ask the Prince. Then bring his answer to us. We will decide when we know what he offers."
Wang Tian let his hand fall from his son's shoulder. "I will go with you."
...
Wang Ben followed Elder Hongwei into the Prince's pavilion, his father beside him. They took seats across the table from Huo Zhanlong.
"We have worked out which duties I can leave to others, Your Highness," Elder Hongwei said. "I would be willing to spend a year at the fortress, if the terms are acceptable to the clan."
Huo Zhanlong nodded. "A year from your arrival at Azure Dragon Fortress. Your work will be inside the walls, as we discussed. If you wish to stay longer, we can speak of it then."
The Prince rested a hand on the table. "You will receive four hundred low-grade spirit stones each month for your cultivation. For the clan, twelve hundred over the year. Three hundred before you leave, and the same amount after your third, sixth and ninth months there."
Elder Hongwei sat quietly for a moment, then bowed his head.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I would be glad to serve."
Wang Ben had waited through the discussion, trying to decide how to begin. As the Prince reached for his brush, Ben spoke.
"Your Highness, I would like to go too. I've been helping Elder Hongwei and my grandfather with formations."
Huo Zhanlong left the brush on the table. "What have you been helping with?"
"I've helped the Patriarch and Elder Hongwei build arrays of several grades," Wang Ben said.
"He has a real talent for formations, Your Highness," Elder Hongwei said. "The Patriarch has high hopes for him. I would welcome his help."
Huo Zhanlong nodded. "If your father and grandfather agree, you may accompany Elder Hongwei. I will have Commander Lu find another formation master for you to assist when Elder Hongwei is busy. Try it for a month. After that, you and the commander must both agree if you are to stay at the fortress longer."
Wang Ben had been sitting with his hands clasped beneath the table. He loosened them and glanced at his father.
"If he comes home after that month, how would he travel?" Wang Tian asked.
"A journey home will be arranged," Huo Zhanlong said. "He may have to wait until it can be done."
Huo Zhanlong glanced at Wang Ben.
"He will have food, lodging and materials for his work. We will also provide cultivation resources suited for a qi condensation cultivator, enough for steady progress. His work can also earn merit points, which he can exchange for additional resources or the cultivation techniques and formation manuals available at the fortress."
Wang Ben leaned forward. "Thank you, Your Highness. I would like to try."
His father put a hand on his arm before turning back to the Prince. "His ribs are still healing. I want to be sure he won't be sent on patrol or given duties that could worsen the injury."
"I will make that clear to Commander Lu," Huo Zhanlong said, drawing a sheet of paper toward him.
Wang Ben sat back while the Prince wrote. His father withdrew his hand and waited beside him.
When Huo Zhanlong finished, he passed the letter to Elder Hongwei. The elder read it, then handed it to Wang Tian. His father read through it, pausing at the mention of Ben's ribs before returning it.
The Prince called in his chief retainer and gave him the letter to send to Commander Lu, along with instructions to arrange the journey through the camp.
"Your Highness, there is something else," Wang Ben said before the retainer could leave. "My father and grandfather have asked the guilds to seek word of my mother and Wang Chen. May we ask for Your Highness's help as well?"
Huo Zhanlong looked at Wang Tian. "Have you heard anything?"
"Nothing yet, Your Highness," Wang Tian said.
The Prince turned to his retainer. "Take their names and descriptions from Wang Tian. Pass them to our men who are traveling, and have any word of them brought to him."
Wang Ben bowed his head with his father. "Thank you, Your Highness."
"Elder Hongwei, let me know what the Patriarch says about the terms," Huo Zhanlong said.
Elder Hongwei rose. "I will, Your Highness."
The retainer waited beside the table to speak with Wang Tian. Wang Ben stayed with his father while he gave the names and described his wife and youngest son.
...
Several weeks later, Wang Ben sat beside his grandfather's bed while Elder Hongwei read Commander Lu's reply aloud. His father had just finished examining him. Chen Shuwen poured her husband a cup of tea and set it on the bedside table, then sat down on the other side of the bed to listen.
They had told his grandparents about the audience as soon as they returned from the Prince's pavilion. Since then, Ben had been waiting for word that he could go. The letter confirmed that places were ready for him and Elder Hongwei, with the support the Prince had promised. Another formation master would have work for Ben when Elder Hongwei was busy. Commander Lu had also acknowledged the trial month. Ben would be kept off patrols and duties that could aggravate his injury while he recovered.
Elder Hongwei handed the letter to Wang Tiexin and set a small pouch on the bedside table.
"The Prince's retainer brought this with the reply," he said. "The first three hundred low-grade spirit stones for the clan."
Wang Tiexin looked up from the letter. "The clan accepts the terms, Hongwei."
The elder bowed his head. "Jinghe has begun checking the arrays with the younger practitioners. He has the stones he needs. We refused the warehouse job and have been taking fewer requests. The remaining work that needs me can wait until I return."
Wang Tiexin passed the letter to his wife.
That morning, Ben had climbed into one of the carts and sat down while his father watched. They were the same carts that had carried the others west. The Prince's men had arranged places for him and Elder Hongwei and supplied provisions, but his father had wanted to examine him again before giving an answer.
Wang Tian drew his chair around to face him. "Leave the heavy lifting to the others. If your ribs begin hurting, tell Elder Hongwei."
"I will, Father," Wang Ben said.
"You can go with Elder Hongwei, Ben," his father said. "If you decide not to stay after the month, come home."
Wang Ben let out a breath. He looked toward the bed.
"You have my permission too," Wang Tiexin said. "Go with Hongwei and learn what you can."
"Thank you, Grandfather." Ben turned back as his father placed three small jade bottles on the table beside the pouch.
"These are from my own stock," Wang Tian said. "Take them with you."
He passed Ben the bottles one by one, naming the pills inside. There were two grade-eight Flesh Mending Pills, two grade-nine Qi Recovery Pills and one grade-nine Basic Antidote Pill. Ben held the sealed bottles carefully while his father spoke.
"The Qi Recovery Pills take time to work," Wang Tian said. "And the antidote is only for common low-grade poisons. If you need it, seek help as well."
Wang Ben nodded and tucked the bottles inside his robe, then looked back at his father.
"Thank you, Father."
Wang Tian rested a hand on his shoulder. For a while Ben stayed still beneath it. There had been no word of his mother or Wang Chen, and he did not know how long it would be before he sat here with his father again.
Chen Shuwen folded the letter and laid it on the table.
"Write when you arrive, Ben," she said.
"I will, Grandmother." Wang Ben looked across at her. "As soon as I can."