Chapter 39: Invitation and Descent
Six days passed. The mission disciples recovered. Bandages came off. Stone-training-and-bruising life resumed like the whole sect had collectively decided to pretend the last week hadn't happened.
Tharia spent the six days in routine. Morning qi circulation. Afternoon footwork with the fan. Night invisibility practice until her meridians gave up complaining and just went numb instead.
She did not think about Mira. Except sometimes. She didn't count those.
On the third night, something in her chest clicked into place — a door finding its frame — and she sat up in the dark so fast her tail lashed the blankets.
'Eh—?!'
Fourth vein. No warning. No build-up. Just… there. Like it had been waiting the whole time.
Her ears flicked once, sharp.
System:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Forth Vein: Opened.
Stage: Foundation Veins — Four Veins.
Quest Completed: Open Fourth Vein.
Quest: Open the Fifth Vein.
Chaos Essence: +3
Chaos Essence: 63 → 66
Note: Fourth vein. Finally.
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She lay back down, tail curling tight around her own leg, and was half asleep again before she could come up with a single comeback.
Her transparent illusion now was at a new record of thirty breaths. She grinned, already picturing what she could get away with at thirty breaths; sneaking past the— nak—
'Bad Tharia.'
The cave door stood wide open; she'd never closed it, not once since her first day in the sect. On the sixth morning, while she was in the spring pool, which she made on the edge of the cave, half-asleep, tail drifting lazily.
Mineral warmth curled off the water, faint sulfur-and-stone smell she'd stopped noticing weeks ago.
Tharia opened one eye, hearing footsteps stop at the entrance.
Kaela stood at the threshold, ears at full attention, staring at the far wall like it had personally offended her.
"Kyaaaa!" Tharia squeaked when her eyes landed on the rabbitkin.
"I thought—" Kaela said. "The door—"
"... Was open," Tharia said, heat flooded her ears first. 'She’s inside. She’s inside while I’m—'
"Give me a minute."
"I'll wait outside."
"... You're already inside."
Kaela did not argue this, and kept facing the wall.
Tharia rose from the water, qi warming the air around her, and pulled up her wardrobe. She scrolled past the usual three — the sprite dress, the skirt set, the hakama — and stopped on the Roulette.
'New. Something new.'
She hovered over the Roulette option and hit spin before she could talk herself out of it.
The interface spun, colors blurring past too fast to track, and landed.
System:
[WARDROBE ROULETTE — RESULT]
Illusory Raiment: Fairy Court Casual — 'Evening Petal' Variant.
Item: Layered chiffon skirt, pale gold with blush trim. Structured crop bodice, thin straps. Small ivory bolero jacket, silver embroidery at the cuffs.
Stability: High.
Special Property: Emotion-Resistant Weave. Affected only by external qi interference, or if host cuts the qi feed maintaining it. Never transparent.
Note: This one isn't going to embarrass you. Secondary Note: Unless you do it yourself.
Chaos Essence: 68 → 63.
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It settled onto her in the usual shimmer — gold threads weaving out from her core, the skirt layering into place, the little jacket sitting at her shoulders like it had always belonged there.
She looked down at herself.
'...Huh.'
Nothing was too short. Nothing was trying to flash the entire sect. It was just… pretty. Put together. The kind of outfit that didn’t require constant defense.
Her tail swished once, complaining.
'Stop that.'
It swished again, slower.
Something low in her chest stirred. The plain, uncomplicated want to be looked at when she—
She shoved it back down so hard her ears flicked twice.
"Done," she said.
Kaela turned. Looked her over once, quick and professional. "You look presentable."
High praise.
[The System also notes the tail.]
"Nobody asked you," Tharia told the empty air.
Kaela's ears twitched, caught off guard.
"Not you."
Kaela let this go without comment, which was one of the reasons Tharia liked her.
She sat, reached for the comb, and started on her purple hair. "So. Why are you here?"
"Sister Lyra needs a third for an expedition," Kaela said. "Cave mansion ruins, outside the Verdant border. The elders sanctioned it. Other sects are already moving on the site."
'Lyra?' Tharia remembered the instances she had met her. Her tail flickered once from the embarrassment of all of them.
"And?"
"She asked me to come."
"And?"
Kaela's ears held very still. "I recommended you."
Tharia's hand stopped mid-stroke.
"You recommended, me, an outer disciple." She pointed at herself.
"I recommended someone who's good at getting into places she doesn't belong."
"...Fair," Tharia admitted, and kept combing.
"We leave today," Kaela said. "She isn't known for waiting."
Tharia opened her mouth to ask something— then the air in the cave changed before she got the chance.
Heat rolled through the open door first. Then boots on stone, unhurried, leaving faint scorch where they landed, Lyra, in that scandalous one-piece of hers, looking like she'd already decided the cave belonged to her.
Her eyes went over the room once — Kaela, the pool, Tharia — and stopped.
"There you are," she said, gaze dropping, slow, taking in the new outfit. "That’s new."
Tharia’s ears flicked back. Her tail gave one sharp, involuntary twitch. 'Why is she looking at me like that? Stop looking at me like that.'
"Roulette," Tharia said, then caught herself. "I mean— got lucky."
Lyra's mouth curved. "Suits you." A pause, unhurried. "Better than the crates did."
Tharia’s ears shot flat so hard they almost touched her skull.
Kaela's head turned sharply. "What crates?"
"Ask her," Lyra said, already moving to lean against the cave wall like she'd been invited. She hadn't been. "Or don't. Some things are better left where they happened."
Tharia's tail curled tight around her own ankle before she could stop it. 'Don’t bring that up. Don’t you dare bring that up again—'
Her face was burning, and she could feel it. Lyra didn’t say anything else. She just let the silence sit there, gold eyes resting on Tharia one beat longer than comfortable. Then looked away, like she'd made her point.
Tharia forced her tail to unwind. It took two tries.
"You're a beastkin," she said instead. "Half the ones I've met sleep in trees."
"I prefer a bed," Tharia said, recovering.
"Good. I hate boring company."
"We should focus," Kaela said.
"We are." Lyra rolled one shoulder. "Cave mansion. Old ruins, formations still half-live, other sects sniffing around it already. If it goes wrong, people notice."
"And if it goes right?"
Lyra's grin sharpened. "People notice that too."
[You didn't flinch.]
'What was that supposed to mean.'
[No comment.]
'That's not an answer.'
[...]
She glared at nothing in particular. Lyra, watching this, raised an eyebrow but didn't ask.
They left shortly after, mostly because Lyra's qi was making the spirit crystals in the walls flicker, and partly because Lyra clearly considered "sitting around" a personal insult.
The morning outside was clean and cold. Disciples sparred below on the training terraces, some limping, none stopping. Lyra walked ahead, fiery red tail swaying with restless heat.
"Yans City first," she said. "Nearest array."
"I came through Yans when I joined," Tharia said.
"Then you remember it."
"I remember not enjoying it."
"Nobody enjoys it." Lyra glanced back. "You kept your breakfast down, though. I remember that part."
Tharia’s ears went back, her tail gave one sharp flick. 'How does she even know that?'
"You weren't there."
"She told me." Lyra's grin swung toward Kaela — selling her out without a shred of guilt. Kaela shot her a look and said nothing.
The path narrowed at a cliff edge, forcing them single file.
Tharia's heels clicked on stone. One heel skidded on loose gravel. She caught the rock face with one hand, hauled herself upright before anyone turned around, and kept walking like it hadn't happened.
The new skirt moved with her — no fighting, no betrayal, nothing to defend.
'This one's not going to embarrass me.'
[The System has heard that before.]
"You have not," she muttered.
By midday the trees thinned and Yans City came into view — stone towers against the cliff, banners snapping, the smell of cooked food and beast hide drifting on the wind. Merchants shouted. A caravan argued over payment near the gate.
"Welcome back to civilization," Lyra said.
"Duskwind is civilized."
"Duskwind is a mountain full of people who stab each other for practice."
"That's—" Tharia stopped.
A woman near a fruit stall clocked Lyra's outfit and went rigid, basket clutched to her chest like it might protect her. Two cultivators in sect white slowed as they passed, one leaning to murmur something to the other without looking away.
Tharia's ears flattened. 'Right.. Different rules out here.'
Lyra didn't slow down. "Ignore them," she said, like she'd said it a hundred times. "They'll stare either way. Might as well give them something worth staring at."
"Easy for you to say."
"It is easy for me to say. I've been doing it for six years."
"That's extremely accurate and I resent it."
Lyra's tail swayed, pleased with herself.
Kaela led them through the crowd without a word, which was her natural state. The teleportation plaza opened ahead, stone platform, formation pillars, runes glowing low and patient.
"I didn't vomit the first time," Tharia said, cheeks puffing.
"I know. I told you I heard." Lyra's mouth curved. "You don't have to keep proving it."
"I'm not proving anything."
"You brought it up unprompted. That's proving something."
"Enough," Kaela said, already stepping onto the array. "Both of you."
Lyra rolled her shoulders and followed. Tharia took her place between them — a fire cultivator radiating heat on one side, a rabbit-eared radiating disapproval on the other.
The formation overseer raised a hand. "Destination?"
"Verdant Frontier Outpost 520," Kaela said.
The runes brightened. Pressure built, tightening from the chest outward.
'Not going to vomit. Not going to vomit.'
[The System is not making promises.]
"THAT IS NOT HELPFUL, YOU ABSOLUTE—"
Her tail lashed once, hard, as the formation caught. Kaela and Lyra both gave her a sideways look. Then the world snapped, and there was no one left to see it.
System Status:
Host: Tharia | Age: 18
Status: Healthy. (In Transit. Recovering Dignity.)
[TECHNIQUE ANALYSIS]
Illusion Proficiency: 49.25%
Chaos Stability: Fragile (Holding).
Stage: Foundation Veins: Fourth Vein Opened.
Achievement: {Style Over Substance: Passed evaluation wearing absolutely nothing. Technically.} - {Fought in Public Naked and Won Anyway (Advanced): Illusion failed. Dignity failed. Victory did not. Again} - {Naked Field Researcher: Turned a failure into very thorough, extremely hands-on field research. Technically.}
Traits: 'The Reluctant Royal' (Passive). ‘Willing Exposure’ (Passive)
Passive Techniques: 'Shame-Guard' (Passive)
Module: 'Path of the Unseen'
Art: Transparent Illusion (Rank: F), Hold: 30 breaths (record) | Phantom Guise (Rank F)
Active Techniques: Illusory Raiment (Rank: C), Shimmer (Rank: F).
Weapon Affinity: Illusory Fan (Cracked).
Chaos Essence: 66.
Wardrobe: Evening Petal (Worn) Lucky Charm Hakama (Shelf.) Winter Sprite Dress (Shelf.) Mesh Set (Shelf.)
Status: Duskwind Sect - Outer Disciple.
Active Quests: Open the Fifth Vein.
SHOP.
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