Elder Cultivator

During his life before cultivation, Anton hadn’t been the ‘relaxation’ sort. Sure, he took time off at the end of a season when there were no crops to bring in, but he was never really idle. A habit his family never let him forget, as they had been constantly trying to get him to go easy on himself, right up until that fateful year. By now, Devon had long since given up on telling Anton to take a break of any sort, contenting himself with any moments Anton wasn’t actively involved in a war.

But among his infrequent breaks, Anton did actually take what people might call an actual ‘vacation’ occasionally. Of places he could go to relax away from the sect, the best one was obviously Paradise. The turtle hadn’t received his name on accident, after all. An abundant ecosystem with comfortable weather- except when Paradise dove to eat something.

“... You have an island turtle,” Merve said for probably the dozenth time since they had arrived.

“I told you about Paradise a long time ago,” Anton pointed out. “And he’s not mine.”

“Ceretos, though,” she said. “He’s really as powerful as a Worldbinding cultivator, and it’s all carried with him. And the sect that lives upon his back-”

“Is here at his discretion,” Erin explained. “He likes cultivators, mostly. We help out with things Paradise can’t easily manage for himself, and in turn we are allowed to share in the natural energy here.”

“And the phoenixes,” Merve said. “They were part of the Ultimate Phoenix Sect and now they… roam free?”

Erin shrugged, “Paradise likes them. And they don’t cause any trouble. They seem to like it here, though the sea isn’t exactly good for them.”

“And nobody’s tried to tame them?”

Erin crossed her arms, “We certainly won’t be using any of those collars the Ultimate Phoenix Sect had. Besides, it seems they’re just about as sapient as Paradise or the Great Queen there,” she gestured towards the head of the island.

“... It seems very difficult for two creatures of such size difference to communicate,” Merve commented. “Especially when neither speak traditionally.”

“Frankly,” Erin said, “Paradise doesn’t communicate much at all regardless. He’s pretty relaxed and uninterested in complex conversations.”

“What is she even doing?” Merve asked.

“The same thing as usual,” Anton said. “Asking for more colonies. The Great Queen recently came to realize that she is partially responsible for these new fiery friends being here, so I imagine she’s using that as leverage.”

“Not that he’d refuse anyway,” Erin pointed out. “As long as they can live peacefully.”

“They’re exceptionally good at it,” Anton said. “They’re strongly communal, both with other void ants and anyone else they consider part of them. I’d begin thinking about what you want them to do. They’ll be quite happy with whatever space they’re given, and they simply need to eat some higher energy containing foods. They won’t be much good for anything large scale you intend, but dealing with little details is their specialty.”

“Like…?” Erin asked.

“Refuse disposal, and pest control. They won’t let inappropriate insects intrude on their territory, and they can manage those that are good for your plants. Even those of lesser age and intelligence can follow along with plans they make.”

“... Are the smaller void ants babies?” Erin asked.

“By their conventions? Once they take the form of an ant instead of larvae, they are considered adults. Personally, I’d consider them much the same as beginning cultivators. A bit less intellectually developed in the traditional sense, but much better at teamwork than humans. Time rounds out those lesser aspects.”

“I don’t know if we really need them, but…” Erin shrugged. “I suppose having them wouldn’t hurt. It’s just a bit weird to have neighbors who can bite through your defenses.”

“I imagine it’s also uncomfortable to have neighbors who could accidentally stomp on you,” Anton pointed out. “They’re smart enough to know war would be terrible for them. And wise enough, unlike many human sects, to not go to war anyway. It helps that their demand for resources is on a small scale, of course.”

“How small?” Erin asked.

“A few kilograms of food per day for a small colony,” Anton said. “The largest might require a dozen, but that is for hundreds of thousands of them.”

“And that’s as big as they get?”

“In general, yes,” Anton said. “The primary colony upon the Order’s grounds has grown to millions, but they only take as much space as a single compound of disciples, and less food. There are exceptions to the norm like the Great Queen herself, but like cultivators they will seek out their own opportunities and resources. The colonies also can choose to stop expanding whenever they like, since that decision is centralized instead of made by individuals.”

“... That’s a lot of ants,” Erin said.

“I’m pretty sure humans still outnumber void ants on Ceretos,” Anton said. “They’ve been very conservative. It’s just that more of them fit into one space.” Anton thought for a few moments, “If you would like a very practical reason beyond diversity, they will be very effective against invaders from the upper realms.”

“I’d say that’s a very long time from now but, it’s not really the case, is it?”

“We have on the upper end slightly less long than I’ve been cultivating,” Anton agreed. “A hundred and twenty years. For you, it would be even less of your cultivation time.”

“It seems like my whole life, and also like so little,” Erin agreed. “This war is one of a series coming every few decades. I hope there isn’t another before the invasion.”

“I wouldn’t count on it happening randomly,” Anton said. “We have to work for that.”

In the distance Anton saw that the Great Queen had finished her business atop Paradise’s head. She was now flying towards them with her royal guard, manipulating the energy around them to move. Within atmosphere it was not particularly speedy, and it would take her some time to cover the kilometers between them.

-----

“Hey kid!” a voice disturbed Anton from his rest. “Get up!”

There were very few who would call Anton kid. Both out of respect and because he had the visage of an old man, Anton could probably count the people on one hand. If he did, perhaps most of them would be Everheart. “What is it?” Anton asked.

“Ships. Obviously.”

Anton had of course come to proper alertness as soon as he was woken, and he was never less than half alert to begin with, but his mind was racing. Instead of doing his own speculations, however, he might as well rely on the guy in front of him. “From where?”

“Sylanis,” Everheart said. “It’s a full-on invasion.”

Anton’s various communications devices were lighting up with messages. “I assume you informed others already?”

“Yeah, they’ll be ready. I’m sure they’ll want to know who and how many. The only thing I can say is Sylanis and most of them.”

“Most of them?” Anton raised an eyebrow.

“They sure as hell can’t have many more mobile Worldbinding cultivators than what they have coming here,” Everheart said. “And I can guarantee they won’t be here for a peace party.”

“I am not so naive as to believe otherwise,” Anton said. Feeling vaguely in the direction they should be coming from, Anton vaguely felt something. “Think they’ll pass by the sun?”

“Could you deal with them yourself if they did?” Everheart asked.

“... Only if they were careless,” Anton acknowledged. “How many?”

“Hundreds of ships. Maybe twenty Worldbinding cultivators. Could be more or less. I didn’t expect my formations to be overwhelmed with so much feedback.”

Anton sighed, “So they made this choice, then. I wonder if it included anyone I talked to.”

“Who can say?” Everheart shrugged, “But I would say they don’t know about the defeat of the Ivory Maw.”

“... Why would they come here, though?” Anton asked. “This is the most secure place.”

“Exactly,” Everheart said. “That’s what I would do.”

“Why?” Anton asked, feeling the string of his bow, his equipment long since readied.

“Because it’s crazy. Strike at the core of power, and when they lose everyone will capitulate.”

“Or… lose all your forces?” Anton frowned. “I think we’re adequately defended here, but if they’re that confident-”

“Just to be clear,” Everheart said. “I would only make this move knowing what I think they know. Which is that you, Devon, and Nthanda are from here. They aren’t likely aware of the total numbers we have.”

“It shouldn’t be that hard to learn, right?” Anton asked.

“At most, they captured some mid level soldiers. How many of them actually know all of the Assimilation cultivators here? It’s not secret, but it’s also not public.”

“And the numbers aren’t necessarily in our favor,” Anton admitted. “Twenty…”

“Don’t forget,” Everheart said. “We’re fighting on home ground. Even if they’re mobile, few of them will be close to the peak of their power. Besides, my formations were made to withstand little things like this.”

“Little?” Anton raised an eyebrow.

“If I couldn’t hold off a thousand Integration cultivators, I would have never secured my final tomb for so long,” Everheart said. Then he sighed, “Then I lost it to a bunch of kids and a self-betrayal. I should have expected I would stab me in the back like that. Got careless.”

“At least that gave you the opportunity to return to your… beloved homeworld?” Anton’s statement turned into a question at the end. Everheart was clearly a bit fond of this place, but that was only with relation to how much he did or did not like anything.

“Where I got to find out my pet turtle wanted to kill me and some kid developed a secret branch of cultivation.”

“Clearly not exclusive to myself, though,” Anton pointed out. “Or we won’t be worrying about that,” he gestured to the sky.

“Who’s worrying? I can just leave if things get bad.”

“But you’ll fight if they don’t, right?” Anton asked. “Think of the stuff they have to be carrying on them. Countless unsecured techniques. And if they’re not on them, then back at their sects when we retaliate.”

“You’re so confident in victory already,” Everheart said. Before Anton could object, he continued, “Good. I’ve never really… fought on the side of people before. But I assume it will be easier.”

“It is,” Anton assured him. As much as he kinda liked the old guy, he was still going to have to keep an eye on him during this whole thing. Who could know where he would find an opportunity he wanted to take? Anton had no reason to believe that a couple decades would completely overturn a lifetime of development, no matter what sort of jumbled up mess his memories were with all those projections in there. There was a bit of trust built up, but also centuries of Everheart being Ceretos’ number one hated cultivator. “We’ll have to get moving.”

First on the agenda was securing the teleporters. Though with starships they could arrive nearly anywhere on the planet in short order, that required leaving the atmosphere. Moving forces around on the continents would likely be important, and they certainly didn’t want the enemy to take them over. Since they required both ends to work, the enemy couldn’t activate them arbitrarily without also compromising communications devices, but they would also be expensive losses if destroyed.

The sects were already secure, as well as the large cities. The main issue would be tracking and predicting enemy movements. There simply weren’t enough local ships to fight the whole battle above the planet. The enemy would at least have the chance to descend to the continental barriers and the Exalted Archipelago’s equivalent, and it was likely they would break through in many places. Predicting those- or allowing failures to funnel the enemy- would be important.

Plans were already in place, but there was some flexibility. Anton intended to approach the enemy fleet to learn more, and see if they were maybe interested in a diplomatic solution. He was confident in his ability to flee, if necessary. Even with so many Worldbinding cultivators, only a few would be able to match his range. It was a shame it had to come to this, but Anton could only hope that Ceretos was the only target- or at least the main one. If forces of any similar power went to Rutera or Weos… he couldn’t imagine what would happen. Though it seemed extremely unlikely that the Sylanis Cluster could rouse multiple times the incoming fleet’s power. Anton could sense it as one mass, something easier in ‘his system’, and it was properly intimidating. Ceretos wouldn’t be without losses… they just had to make sure the Sylanis Cluster had more.