Bonded Summoner

BS7 - Chapter 4: Fhesiah - Cultists and Caves

“I like this shuttle much better than mine.”

Fhesiah smiled in remembrance of her adventure, as she looked over the balcony of Nessa’s ship. It was much more reasonable than her ridiculous flying star-covered brick she had previously. It was funny that Jake was now flying it.

The design of Nessa’s was much closer to a boat, and looked like it could also float on the water. Fhesiah had taken a few hours and added her formations, much like she had done to her other one, to make it much more stealthy when they powered them. They wouldn’t want the enemies knowing they were coming, after all.

Nessa nodded. “Yes, I am fond of it. The Mystic Expanse is truly a wondrous place.”

The Mystic Expanse was a massive place, and it was strange how far she could see. Compared to Highlands and Earth, the horizon was much further away, allowing her to see thousands miles, and this was doubly so since they were flying high in an airship.

The world was breathtaking. Fhesiah could see tons of magical geological features all at once, from mountains that despite being so far away were giant and pierced the heavens, to canyons so deep they looked as if the world was cleaved in two, hundreds of miles deep. There were even a few strange environments with powerful elemental Qi that she could see, from a roaming storm of wind and lightning that almost seemed as if it were alive by how it moved, to a massive lake that emanated a strange haze. She could tell the density of the Qi was high.

Nessa saw she was looking at the massive lake, which was nearly the size of an Ocean on Earth. “That lake is claimed by the neighboring Sects. I was thankful they gifted me some time within it.”

Thankfully, the ship was moving quickly, which made it feel even weirder how fast the massive land features passed by.

They were standing on the deck, and Nessa stood near her, with Ruby and Sati also looking over the balcony nearby. Nessa had numerous subordinates on the ship, from cultivators to Nordic warriors, though it was definitely tilted towards cultivators from this world at the moment.

Unfortunately, Nessa’s plan had the Hart Family all split up, and to Fhesiah’s consternation, the woman hadn’t even met Jake in person yet–their communications included their arrival and assault points. Bloodberri was the only one waiting back at home with the kids, along with Avalara’s lesser avatars and Yona, of course.

Well, that Fhesiah weaseled her way into Nessa’s party rather than heading with Jake or Tanda’s parties was a small victory. Nessa had seemed a little reluctant to meet, for some reason.

Fhesiah looked over at Nessa. “Truly, I’m surprised you have such a nice vessel. If you don’t mind me asking: where did you get it? You’re not a native of this world, right?”

Nessa’s snake tail was once again coiled around in a circle beneath her. The girl was shorter than Fhesiah by nearly a whole head, to her surprise. She imagined that Berri will probably treat her like a little sister, since that meant she was nearly twice as big.

From what Fhesiah could tell, Nessa still primarily walked or floated with heavenly energy now, and her tail was little more than an accessory. Her guess was that its presence was new to her because sometimes when she started walking, she nearly tripped over it, forgetting it was there.

The scaled woman seemed to notice Fhesiah’s gaze on her tail, and she blushed as she placed the tip of her tail in her hand. “It’s...very new to me. I only recently refined and enhanced my bloodline, using one of your pills you sold, actually. It’s very helpful in my lake or during battle, but I’m not used to it on foot yet. In the water...it’s so instinctual.”

Nessa continued, “As to the ship, it was... sort of a gift. I helped win a Battleground for the Mystic Expanse and Aetheris, just like you helped out in the Celestial Nexus. One of the people there had found this, and they gave it to me when they joined my guild. We can’t use it in most Framework events, but it is still valuable to have. I do thank you for those formations you added, it seems like it will help us with our current efforts all on its own.”

“How lucky, and it was no problem at all.” Fhesiah smiled, and decided to tease her a little bit. “What’s with your guild’s name, by the way? How did you come up with it?”

Nessa blushed. “It’s silly. It was...my ancestor’s idea. But it was based on taking on some of Hearthtribe’s ideals and culture, but also meeting my goals for what I had wanted to accomplish.”

Fhesiah chuckled. “Love is one of your goals? It’s not just justice, right?”

Nessa blushed and looked like she really didn’t want to answer the question, but eventually, she sighed. “I... grew up as a Nord. A warrior princess, since I’m Tyr’s daughter. We battle maidens...it’s often romanticized, finding our warrior husband, and joining him in battle and in life.” She gave a small smile, watching the landscape pass by over the balcony. “I’ve had a hard time of it, but when I was reborn into this cultivator vessel, my perception of finding love changed a little more. Perhaps, it changed even more than that when I awakened my bloodline. I certainly have someone filling my ear with nonsense about it all the time, besides.”

Fhesiah thought about what she could mean for a moment, then gasped in realization. “Your ancestor, could it be you have a bloodline ancestor? How fortunate for you.”

“You know of them? Very few on this world even have records...”

“I do, and yes, Bloodline Ancestors require that they had reached the third or fourth Tier, leaving fragments of their Nascent Soul behind in the River of Samsara. Sadly, I was unable to connect with one of mine this time around. Perhaps the world I’m from was truly not a part of the Framework...”

“That’s too bad, Nana is very helpful. I’d have been completely lost without her. So, I do seek to find love, but my Divine Trait has really made it a challenge.”

Fhesiah frowned. “How would it–”

Someone nearby started pointed and shouting that they were nearly there, and Fhesiah couldn’t help but take a look at the city in the distance. It was massive, and with many Asian style pagodas and other buildings. They now activated the formations, enshrouding the ship in a special haze and making it difficult to spot or track.

Their bearing had them heading off to the side, where a large mountain also held pagodas and shrines.

Fhesiah said, “Ah. Looks like we’re nearly there. How are we going to find these cultists? Are we going to have to interrogate some people or investigate, or something like this?”

Nessa shook her head. “We shouldn’t need to interrogate anyone. If they don’t just fight us the moment we appear because they know about or are a part of the cultists, I should be able to see them with my Divine Trait. I can see and feel the truth of things.”

Fhesiah arched her brow. “The truth of things?”

Nessa hesitated, “I can see...what is like a person’s true essence, it overlays their actual visage. A person lacking virtue is often marred with imperfections, and someone truly evil will often take the looks of a demon. That’s not all, as I can see the truth, even beyond illusions. Thanks to this, if someone’s tainted, their visage will be obviously shrouded in something disgusting and vile–even more so than the demonic look that evil people show.”

Fhesiah was interested. Did she look like some kind of succubus then, as Jake and Ophelia would always call her? “What do I look like? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Nessa smiled. “I’m so glad to have met you in person. You’re not much different from that living flame you brought, Sati, right? Except, she looks like a child, and you...” She blushed. “You look much like your... beautiful appearance, and not like a demon. Though, you also have some... fox tails and ears? I guess Xara did say something about that... but, you’re hiding your height, and there’s also a flame in your–”

Fhesiah shushed her. “Shhh, that’s a bit of a secret, please do keep that to yourself if you can? We wouldn’t want our enemies to learn how high we’ve reached. You may see that with the others in the family if you meet them, as well.”

Nessa frowned, before her eyes widened. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but Fhesiah continued, “But that was sweet of you. And yes, you might get to see those fox tails and ears later. What about this one?” Fhesiah pointed at Ruby with her fan, who was inspecting her claws, and even swiping them in the air, bored.

Nessa looked a little squeamish, her face scrunching. “Almost like a child, bathed in blood? A savage. Pure, but violent. I do wonder what the odd...chrysalis covering her means because that is present in her essence, too.”

Fhesiah was interested in that, as she too wasn’t sure what would happen with the chrysalis that covered most of Ruby’s body was completed. It wasn’t a part of the many texts the vampire lord she killed had, and she wondered if she caused something strange to happen by altering the heretical urns, or if this was just some kind of...badgerdillo thing? She sighed. “I’ve been trying to make her more worldly, but it’s like herding a cat to get her interested in anything but...killing and eating. I’ve spent a bunch of time with her, but she’s around the kids more, or still spends most of her time fighting with the brutes in the arena. She’ll never make a good waifu this way.”

“Waifu? What is that?”

Fhesiah ignored her question, taking a look back to the city coming in view. It was truly epic in size, at over a hundred miles wide with numerous towering buildings. During the integration, it would likely be a place that many, perhaps thousands, of Rifts would target. “At least Sati is heading in the right direction, training with the smart mages in Hearthtribe, and that is definitely rubbing off on her. I think both just need more life experience. Perhaps you can bring them with you?”

“Bring them? With me?”

Fhesiah shrugged. “Sure. Clan Hart isn’t to directly take part in Conquest for a few more years directly, you can see this as we are on vacation and raising our children. I was going to send the two with some of the beastkin, but maybe you can make use of them? Your plan was to unite more of these cultivator clans, right? It’d be nice if they could learn more about the multiverse in person for a while, traveling and seeing things rather than reading or being told stories.”

Nessa’s eyebrows were raised as she continued to appraise the two, and she gave a small smile. “Their auras do seem quite strong, and they are extremely unique–that they’re on my side might win over some clan’s support. After I am done with this, I do plan on traveling some and meeting with more cultivator clans, and seeing more cities. I also have plans for Aetheris, one of the other worlds involved in the Battlegrounds I fought in. Once Initiation begins, we’ll probably be taking part in some Rifts and Monster Dens for quite some time, before another Raid.”

Fhesiah looked back to the mountain as they got closer. “So we’re sure this should be some kind of stronghold of theirs? What can you tell me about this place?”

“That’s right. This is a powerful family, a Clan that has their castle on the mountain. I got a little lucky with tracking down a few of those that ran, and also some of those that they might have kidnapped. Most of them came here, while others were sent to the location Jake and Tanda’s parties are hitting. Our first few attempts to gather information had failed. Previously, the ringleaders have always managed to escape, or otherwise hide how they were infecting these people. When we capture any of the cultists to interrogate, they actually expire, the taint consuming them.”

Nessa continued, “Now that I’ve tracked them down to where they’re gathering, I’ve wanted to assault it, but much of my guild is busy. I’d rather not call them all back, and the enemy seems to be quite dangerous. It was my hope that by hitting a few locations at once, you could learn enough to try to find a method to detect and defeat them, or just score a major blow against them.”

Fhesiah nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind, and make sure I keep them from running away. Though, maybe you should just come with me, and we’ll get to the bottom of this right now.”

Nessa’s eyes were wide. “What? Us two? Alone?”

“Four of us. This calls for infiltration. Sati, Ruby–Get in.” Fhesiah withdrew her lamp and the blood cauldron, to which the two leaped or flew inside without hesitation, entering the spaces designed for them.

“What the...how?” Nessa stared at the two items her friends went into. “Your treasures...truly unfathomable.”

“It helps that this isn’t a Framework challenge. Order everyone else to be ready for the fighting to start. To rain attacks down on our enemies and help us if we need it.”

“Um...okay. You’ll take care of the enemies? I suppose you can call Bastet if things get difficult.”

The stronger cultists blocked with their own barriers and beams of darkness, but the power of her core and dao was not easy for them to handle.

The little pixies helped spread the flames with glee, and the auditorium was being cleared rapidly. The frozen lake spread underneath, and it seemed Nessa could nearly teleport almost anywhere her lake touched, her body leaping out and slashing someone, then entering it and appearing somewhere else.

Serpents made of ice also rose from the water, and were attacking some of the more powerful cultists, before they could bring their attacks to bear. Fhesiah was actually rather impressed with her capability because she knew with Jake’s buffs she’d be even stronger.

The powerful cultists in the back recovered from Fhesiah’s attacks, and the eye altar’s malevolent energy had been building up to a devastating attack.

Nessa sent to her mind, [That attack is terrifying. Can you stop it? If not, I think we might be in some real trouble.]

“You have a flaming ice hearth, right? Send me a bunch of your flames, and I should be able to take care of it even without my Goddess.”

[Um...Okay.]

“Sati! Your flames of Yang.”

A serpent made of fiery frost flames rose from the icy lake, and breathed flames toward Fhesiah, and Sati blasted a powerful red flame, its heat immense. With that, Fhesiah took a breath.

Drawing in the frost flames and Sati’s flames with her Alchemical Plunder, she mixed the golden flames of her family as she compressed them all together. Infusing it with all three of the daos of her path, she transformed and merged the flames together, creating her golden flame.

Fhesiah smirked as she realized this was a wonderful proof that Nessa and Sati would be wonderful additions to her family.

Through the hole in her chest, she released her dense ball of flames, the golden flames containing both red and blue hot and cold fires mixed within.

It struck the eye statue and exploded, the red and blue flames washing over the enemies on the stage. Some of the chained people got blasted away from the turbulent winds, but it seemed she didn’t overly harm them, thankfully.

Her alchemical attack was now even more powerful than the flames that destroyed the vampire she faced, so they had actually overwhelmed much of the malevolent energy that had been building.

Fire and ice covered much of the stage, and several of the strongest cultists were already defeated. The altar took a fair amount of damage, to the point Fhesiah was pretty impressed with her own work. The malevolence had noticeably decreased, the energy expended to protect itself against her attack.

Mirrors rose from the water near the stage, and it seemed the lake water was traveling up and over the stage toward the altar. Nessa looked over at Fhesiah, her expression conflicted. “That...was pretty amazing.”

The four of them charged the stage, Fhesiah using her Bloodline Transformation to become a dragoness once more, and then using her Draconic Might. Her body increased in size, and her scales trailed all the way up her legs and arms. Filling her claws with her hearth flames, she dashed toward the final enemy.

The powerful cultist had recovered from the frost flames, and now was drawing up much of the remaining energy from the altar. The taint was excessive, but Fhesiah hadn’t actually used much of her resources in that previous attack–much of it came from Sati and Nessa.

The two flames swirled around her claws, as she crashed into the malevolent aura with her dragon claws. Ruby’s claws of blood also clashed with the malevolent tentacles, and dozens of beams of flames were fired by Fhesiah’s fire pixies, wearing it down from all over.

Sati fired what was a lot like Jake’s scorching ray, digging into the enemy’s aura. Then, numerous serpents made of frost rose from the lake, fangs and blades of ice flashing and cutting into it from all sides.

Thanks to her allies weakening the tainted aura, Fhesiah’s claws pierced through and crashed into the horrifying eye altar with draconic strength. Her blow shattered the eye statue, and this caused the man to roar in pain, as if he himself was struck. When the statue was destroyed, she felt the Framework wrapped around something, and then sent a portion of it to both her and Nessa. It seemed they had recovered some faith or divine energy.

The aura within the man lessened as a result of the statue being destroyed, and Fhesiah had a wry expression as the inevitable happened.

Ruby snuck up behind the cultist, and bit the man’s neck as four terrifying claws of blood pierced all the way through his body as he screamed. Blood was drained from the man as she feasted with glee, sucking all the blood out of his body.

Nessa was midair with her two blades about to slash into him, but she had frozen, paling from the display.

Thankfully, all the enemies present appeared to be defeated, and the pixies were now flittering about, sucking up the flames which were now covering much of the building and preventing it from burning down.

Fhesiah scolded the blood badgerdillo. “Damn it, Ruby. Gross, we talked about this? Just kill it and stuff it in your sack for later. We got you that special one for this purpose, after all. It’s not becoming of a lady.”

She wasn’t really surprised when the taint entered Ruby’s blood, and she had some difficulty fighting it off as her heart beat and the Qi within her pulsed. She was eventually successful, but it was clear that she couldn’t just consume unlimited amounts of the blood–she would become tainted too.

Fhesiah realized that seeing this interaction was helpful. “Maybe it was good you didn’t stuff the corpse in your sack. But we really need to get you that blood flame, Ruby.” Fhesiah noted, to which Ruby just chirped sadly.

“Blood flame?” Nessa frowned.

“Yes. It was in the texts I found from The Bloodbeast Sect, but the requirements seem quite difficult to find in this Sector. It’s more a third Tier material than a second Tier one, but I think she needs it to form her own hearth. She has no affinity for any of the goddesses we’re partnered with, or that would have been an option.”

“A hearth? Why does this matter?”

“It’s the power of our family, for one. All of Clan Hart has one. But most hearths have purification properties, and it should help her with issues such as this. The number of enemies that have poisonous or acidic blood are numerous, besides.”

Nessa blushed. “That...explains something. What did it say is needed to make this? I might be able to help.”

“There are numerous creatures of blood and flames, but to refine their essences into something else that will spark a blood flame of your own in a cultivator is challenging to obtain. Here’s a jade slip with many of the options they were aware of, I haven’t been able to obtain any of them.”

Nessa perused the jade slip. “Nana–er, my ancestor says she might be able to find a few of these and refine them for her in my...cauldron. There’s a few alternates that should work.”

“Oh! If you could do that for us, we would definitely be in your debt.”

“It’s the least I can do for your aid. I take it this...Sati is like a living hearth, isn’t she?” Nessa looked over to the floating fire girl, and she nodded.

The lead cultist dead, Fhesiah grabbed his hand and found he actually had a high-end storage device. For cultivators at this Tier, they were actually a high-class item, only the dragon and the vampire having such a high-class device in that entire Battleground.

It was a ring on his hand, and she was not surprised when she scanned it with her Divine Sense and found that it was trapped.

“Wait! Nana says–”

“I know. It’s trapped. I’ll take care of it.”

She covered it with her hearth flames and unraveled the formation that created this effect. Her consuming kitsune flames quickly overwhelmed the object’s defenses. Scanning the contents with her Divine Sense once more, she perused a few of the information crystals contained within.

“Hm, so it’s kind of like the Bloodbeast Sect, but not really.”

Nessa frowned. “What is it?”

“It seems they taint their blood with this ritual, the eye generating the taint through both sacrifice, worship, and pain. They then can wound people and infect them, and they are drawn to worship the statues to transfer the power that built up inside them. A cycle.”

She turned to Ruby. “So Ruby here should be able to detect them too. Isn’t that right, Ruby?”

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Ruby nodded, and flexed her claws. Sati floated over, bowing to Fhesiah. “I believe I can too, Mistress.”

Nessa frowned at her. “You can? None of my allies were able to.”

Sati said, “I believe...it’s related to my purity. My flame can sense when such malevolence is near.” She lifted her finger, and a few fire pixies began floating around it. “These can too.”

Fhesiah smiled as she perused a few more information crystals. “Based on this information, the places that Jake and Tanda’s party are hitting are actually their only other major altars, but there are numerous smaller ones placed throughout the cities. But there are hundreds of field agents that will need to be hunted down.”

She grinned. “For that, I think Zorina and Mysticus might be able to help you out, and save you a lot of time and trouble. With all this information I have, they might be able to, together, help you narrow down where some of these guys are. Let’s free the captives, and clean things up. Now that we destroyed the altar, the cultist’s power should be less.”