Life Giver

Still in the Ellaris Council Building in a well decorated private room, filled with red banners made from delicately woven materials. A lady in a pretty blue dress relentlessly berated a young man with bushy brown hair.

Accompanying her furious voice was the cold glare given off by her bright blue eyes, she looked down upon the young man with the intelligent but indifferent gaze of a teacher chastising a common student.

Master Bluefire was used to being treated with respect and Casmir had always made her the focus of his attention when they were together. So when Casmir had completely ignored her just minutes ago, she had experienced the rare occurrence of disregard for her presence.

It was something she hadn't felt for a long time due to her isolated social life, only interacting with those who were truly familiar with her cold character. But also, Casmir was the last person she expected to experience such disregard from, he usually acted quite respectfully and timidly towards her.

This sudden and unexpected affront to her presence resulted in Bluefire growing angry with Casmir, but also herself for her vain narcissistic feelings.

In the end, she could only vent herself on Casmir temporarily, using the excuse of him not being respectful to her as an avenue for her negative emotions.

Casmir meanwhile could only put on an awkward smile, knowing that he was in the wrong even though his minor lapse in judgement wasn't deserving of her tirade of unforgiving remarks. Any other actions on his part would only result in a worsening of Bluefire's current feelings towards him.

Eventually Bluefire calmed down but her glare didn't let up as she called for Casmir to follow her, announcing that the Ellaris Council Hearing would be beginning soon.

With Bluefire in the lead, they walked through the minimalistic stone corridors of the building until they reached a doorway. Bluefire opened the door prompting Casmir to follow her in, as he walked in Casmir glanced around the room curiously while Bluefire locked the door behind them.

The room was small and again sparsely decorated but one of its walls contained a large black window that stretched from corner to corner of the wall. The window was tinted a deep black and one couldn't see through it, but if one could, it would definitely give a very wide vantage point of whatever rested on the other side.

Also in the room, placed in front of the large tinted window, was a waist high pedestal with a small black crystal resting atop it. While standing just in front of the pedestal was and a pair of plain but comfortable looking chairs.

Bluefire calmly sat down in one of the chairs, ignoring Casmir's obviously questioning gaze, perhaps due to her lingering frustration towards him.

Casmir felt the urge to groan seeing her childish behaviour, but he stopped himself, sitting down in the other chair before he lightly coughed and looked to towards his Master with a light smile.

'Why is she so unreasonable..' Casmir thought to himself.

"What did Redfire tell you about Qi technology?" Bluefire suddenly said, interrupted Casmir's thoughts in a firm but cold voice.

Casmir was thankful that Bluefire didn't just completely ignore him, he slowly leaned back in his chair and began explaining exactly what he had seen and what Redfire had told him during his brief time at the Dragonfly Shuttle Encampment.

Bluefire calmly listened to Casmir, not at all surprised by his description and his astonishment at the Qi technology he encountered. A small smile appeared on Bluefire's face as she listened to Casmir praise the Dragonfly Shuttle with genuine enthusiasm, however the moment Casmir mentioned the Qi Cannons and the Qi Energy Guns he had seen, she frowned.

In a calm voice Bluefire suddenly interrupted Casmir's explanation.

"Casmir... listen to me. I know that the Qi technology you saw is impressive, in the future you'll likely use many of these items but.. Qi Energy Cannons and Qi Energy Guns are a dead end for cultivators, you should avoid them like the plague unless you have no other choice."

"What?" Casmir replied in confusion "..but they're incredibly powerful are they not?"

Listening to Casmir's response, Bluefire responded with a slightly disappointed expression but one that also displayed her understanding for his inquiry.

"Qi Cannons and Qi Guns can give you immense power... but they also restrain you and cripple your future..." Bluefire said with a hint of unforgiving malice in her voice, but not aimed at Casmir.

"Do you know why the Soldiers you saw using Qi Guns, still carried traditional weapons like swords and Bows?"

Casmir shook his head at Bluefire's question

"Firstly it's because Qi Guns are expensive, they require a constant flow of ammunition but more importantly the Qi energy they use is external. This is what allows Cultivators to wield such power with only the pull of a trigger, however..."

"This means that the moment the Qi gun breaks or you run out of ammunition, they're useless and if you don't know how to fight with traditional weaponry you're immediately crippled in terms of combat ability."

Casmir's eyes lit up in understanding as he heard this, quickly calling out in understanding.

"Oh! So traditional weapons are just superior in terms of their longevity during battle.."

"No!" Bluefire interrupted him in a firm voice before continuing.

"Spears can break, swords can dull and a cultivators Qi energy is limited as well. Traditional weapons do last longer in battle, but why wouldn't you just carry a powerful Qi Gun with you anyway? Once you've depleted your ammunition you can just switch to your traditional weapon, that would drastically increase your combat potential." Bluefire explained.

She then exhaled deeply, as if weighed down by her following words.

"The problem is more sinister than that.. You see, a Qi Energy projectile that a Qi Cannon or Gun might fire needs to be branded with the users Qi energy in order to be properly activated and controlled. Without the brand, Qi Guns would just be firing inactive pellets made from valuable Qi energy crystals at their enemies..."

"However this 'Branding' process requires an exchange of Qi energy between a cultivator and the ammunition, this exchange of energies is the problem. The various forms of Qi energy resources used to create said ammunition are inherently unstable, which is what allows them to unleash the vast amounts of Qi energy inside each bullet."

"This unstable or 'impure' Qi energy, as it is commonly referred to, enters the cultivators body while a small amount of the cultivators Qi energy is branded onto the ammunition."

At this point Bluefire glanced at Casmir waiting for him to realise the problem.

Sure enough, Casmir had furrowed his brows in thought the moment he heard the word 'impure', a dangerous possibility forming in his mind.

"I'm guessing that these impurities can build up.. and I can't imagine they're very good for a cultivator.." He slowly said, looking at Bluefire for confirmation.

"Exactly." She responded.

"Using a Qi energy Gun or Cannon literally poisons a cultivator, the impurities can be removed over time but any excessive build up of them will cripple a cultivator if not directly kill them. The cultivators you saw at the Dragonfly are specially trained to handle such impurities safely but even they can't wield these weapons for long."

At this point Bluefire paused for a moment, a reminiscent look appearing in her eyes before she continued in a voice filled with sadness and pity.

"In the past when Qi energy Cannons were first created, it was a massive advancement in military technology and new wars popped up across the continents... The Leaders knew of the problems with impurities, and the treatments for impurities back then were much less advanced.. but still, tens of thousands of cultivators died from forcefully using these cursed weapons."

"So, do you understand why these weapons are a dead end for cultivators now?" She finally asked.

Casmir quickly nodded, noting the obvious aversion Bluefire held to these weapons, curiously it was one that he had not seen in Instructor Redfire before as he had described them to him.

"I understand, but if they're so dangerous.. why does the military still use them?" Casmir asked curiously.

However all that greeted Casmir's curiosity was a derisive laugh, although Bluefire's derision didn't seem to be entirely aimed at Casmir.

"Hah, it's like sea water. Anyone with common sense would never drink sea water, but place a glass of sea water in front of a man dying of thirst and he'll drink it without a second thought."

"It's desperation, the allure of these powerful weapons is too much for some. in the Heldan Republic only train soldiers can ever go near these weapons because we don't really need to them to maintain order or resist our enemies. We mostly have them as a form of deterrent."

"But in other nations? More chaotic nations..? They're used all the time for a variety of misguided purposes."

Casmir frowned hearing Bluefire's words but he knew she wasn't lying to him, he was just about to ask her why she knew so much about them when she spoke once more.

"You can trust me on this issue Casmir..." She said, turning to look at him "I'm sure you saw the impressive scale and the firepower of the Dragonfly right?"

Casmir nodded in response.

"I spent ten years helping to build that beauty of a Warship, I was in charge of designing its weapon systems so I'm fully aware of how dangerous its weapons are.. to both enemies and allies." Bluefire said calmly, a mixture of pride and self-loathing in her voice.

Casmir's ears perked up when he heard this, a spark of admiration appearing in his eyes as he looked at Bluefire, remembering her status as a Master Qi Refiner.

Immediately he started asking Bluefire questions about the Dragonfly's firepower and how long it would take for him to be able to make weapons like them in the future.

At first, Bluefire slightly enjoyed the attention and praise Casmir was giving her, but eventually his questions began to annoy her. Casmir's naive enthusiasm prevented her from explaining anything of importance to him, his focus revolved around the power of these weapons rather than what was important to a refiner. Things such as the intricacies in the designs and the materials used to Refine them.

'Hmph, only interested in making more powerful weapons... Typical..' Bluefire thought to herself.

Eventually she had enough, calling out to Casmir "Enough Casmir! If you have more questions I'll gladly be able to answer them during our lessons."

Unfortunately Casmir's enthusiasm didn't die down, his mouth opening and closing as he barely stopped himself from asking any further questions.

Bluefire rolled her eyes seeing this, before she tried to draw Casmir's attention away from such things.

"I didn't finish explaining Qi technology to you before we went off track." She explained.

"For now, all you need to know is that most modern Qi technologies are classified, only members of the Republic's government are allowed access to them, especially any technologies that would give the Republic a military edge over other nations."

"This is another reason you must focus on your cultivation, only by showing your value as a cultivator can you gain access to the most advanced pieces of technology, especially those concerning medical advances given the current situation with the Lifeless Plague."

"However... there are many Qi technologies that are publicly accessible, most of them being older advances such as shuttles, higher grade Qi ch.i.p.s and so forth. These are older less advanced Qi technologies, with a few exceptions that you've likely already seen.. one such exception being the Ellaris Communications Tower."

"The advances in communications technologies that helped design such Communications Towers, which exist in most towns and cities, are too hard to keep a secret and their usefulness to society is simply too great to ignore. So, most nations have release this technology for public use however the specific advancement are tightly guarded secrets."

Listening to Bluefire's explanation gave Casmir a new perspective on some of the more common items he uses in his daily life. He simply hadn't given much thought to the various Qi technologies he had seen before, but after seeing the Dragonfly he was truly humbled by its potential.

In hindsight Casmir considered himself quite lucky to be born at a time with such advanced technologies that expanded the scope of civilisation and eased his life.

As Casmir was deep in thought, suddenly a high pitched, piercing, bell sound rang out inside the room, drawing Bluefire and Casmir's attention.

The sound originated from the small black crystal resting atop the pedestal just in front of them, by the time Casmir had pinpointed the origin of the sound, a feminine voice resounded from it.

"The Council Hearing in regards to the, Grade 6 Giant Shadow Wolf, Ellaris Wilderness Guard Camp 13 and an Unnamed third party will begin in 15 minutes. Please prepare to be called upon at this time, your identity will be kept confidential however you are required to confirm your identity through this crystal."

Casmir quickly digested this information for a moment before he looked over at Bluefire for an explanation.