Braided Sky
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PftA Book 4 - Chapter 17 - Skirting the Rules
🕑 Added 2024-11-19 17:38:10 +0000 UTC“Well, that’s good news!” Mom exclaimed when I told everyone the news about the inquiry at the end of the evening.
As the one in charge of keeping hunters safe, I’d called a halt to the official ‘culling’ when the sun set. I could have easily continued since I didn’t need light to perform my role, but very few hunters were interested in going for three days straight.
“I agree,” Dad said. “War is never a good choice when it can be avoided.”
I nodded but said nothing as the conversation shifted to the hunt.
To nobody’s surprise, my grandparents had passed on the opportunity to gain some experience killing rift beasts, as had Gabby’s parents. Even knowing that increasing tiers might extend their lives wasn’t enough to motivate them to join the hunt.
Then again, they knew I was capable of providing rejuvenation treatments. Their opinions were likely colored by that fact, even if there was no guarantee I’d perform the treatment for them again.
I probably would, but I didn’t want it to become something expected of me, especially when the people in question weren’t doing what they could to progress and extend their own lives.
“I still think the rules should allow me to participate in the culling,” Bell pouted as she massaged Justin’s shoulders.
She hadn’t been happy to learn that her tier and new residency status made her incapable of directly participating in the hunt.
Since self-defense was a valid exception, Bell had tried to argue that she could tag along and only ‘defend’ herself. But given the circumstances, Master Kairos had strongly advised against it.
“You’re just mad that I’m going to finally catch up to you,” Justin said with a playful nudge.
“No, I’m looking forward to you catching up,” Bell replied. “Now that Amie is old enough to babysit, we can start delving together. You won’t need to play guardian for young disciples anymore.”
Justin looked like he had mixed feelings about the topic. “I don’t mind helping the sect out. They’ve been really good to us.”
“Then maybe we can work as a team and play guardian together?”
I smiled as the two of them discussed their options while Bell continued to rub Justin’s shoulders.
Justin’s rate of progress had been pretty slow, but that was to be expected for someone who was primarily serving as a guardian. Unless he stepped in, he didn’t get much experience.
“Were you still planning to travel once the culling is over?” Grandma Katherine asked.
Space was at a bit of a premium since their apartment was too small for the number of people staying there. Even with the kids hanging out in one of the pods, it was still a bit cramped. Consequently, I was sitting on a hardened bit of Space mana above one of the end tables.
“I’d like to,” I said as I extended a small bit of mana to make a backrest and leaned back. “We can still go to Hawaii if that’s something you’re interested in.”
The comment made Bell perk up. “Hawaii? I love Hawaii!”
“I did a little research while you were busy and learned that a couple of the islands are now private property,” Grandma Katherine said. “It’s also technically merfolk territory, though humans and a couple of aliens still live on the islands. Tourism is an even bigger deal now, so it might be hard to find accommodations.”
I hadn’t paid much attention to what happened back on Earth during the first timeline, so learning the merfolk were in charge of Hawaii was a bit of a surprise.
Then again, it made sense for the aquatic race to have a territory on land where they could trade with land-dwellers.
“Oh, I want to see mermaids!” Bell exclaimed. “I’ve never seen one in person!”
“Well, that sounds like something to do once this whole culling business is over,” Mom said before sighing heavily. “I still can’t believe it got this bad.”
“Neither can we,” Grandpa Paul replied. “The old Mayor really screwed us over. Selfish politicians with too much power…” he added with a grumble.
“Well, at least it’s getting better now,” Grandma Katherine said as she patted her husband’s arm.
= = =
The next two days of hunting went much like the first. Nobody died, and everyone who was injured was immediately healed.
While a few scattered rift beasts remained, all of the actual dens had been wiped out. As far as I was concerned, the effort was a resounding success.
Thankfully, the powers-that-be didn’t bother me during the three-day culling. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before someone ‘important’ reached out, I convinced my family to head out as soon as the event was finished.
I was tempted to leave Gabby’s family behind, but I knew doing so would cause problems for the others. It wouldn’t cause problems for me since I really didn’t care about their opinions very much, but I was trying not to let my feelings of detachment impact my actions.
“Oh, wow!” Bell exclaimed at the same time that Justin and Dad let out twin whistles.
“Emie, are you sure about this?” Grandma Katherine asked nervously as she stared at the oversized beach-side villa I’d rented for a week. “This looks too expensive.”
I shook my head and pushed through the gates. “With this many of us, the villa was barely more than reserving several smaller places or individual rooms. Besides, the accommodations are a lot better here since it’s part of the nearby resort.”
The villa was quite large, but not quite as large as Master Kairos’s mansion on Aegeas. Still, it was plenty large enough to suit our needs.
The rental also included a family meal service and a local guide for days when we wanted to explore. While the meal service wasn’t strictly necessary, part of what made a vacation worthwhile was the opportunity to try new foods.
Nobody complained when I selected the largest master suite. I half-expected Aunt Mindy to say something about it since I wasn’t deferring to my parents or grandparents, but she didn’t.
It probably helped that I’d paid for everything. It took a special sense of entitlement for someone to insist they deserved something better than the person who was paying the bill.
“What are we doing first?” Amie asked excitedly once everyone got themselves situated. The twins had already started changing into swimsuits, barely getting their door closed before bare bottoms were exposed. “Can we go to the beach? Oh! Or a luau! I’ve always wanted to see belly dancers!”
“I think there are a few places we can go for something like that, but we should probably get reservations,” I answered. “We can go to the beach anytime you want. I think the resort has surfing lessons, too, if anyone is interested.”
Surfing was another thing I’d always wanted to try but never got around to. Now that I was in my sixties (but still looking and feeling like I was in my twenties), I figured now was as good a time as any to mark that item off my bucket list.
It was really odd to think of myself as being that old, and that didn’t even include the time travel shenanigans or time dilation.
After a bit of discussion, everyone agreed to spend the day at the beach. The rest of the group was fine heading to the tourist-laden beaches nearby, but I really didn’t want to be around that many strangers.
Additionally, I didn’t feel comfortable with the attention that my undisguised self would inevitably bring.
Eventually, I’d get used to it. But I wasn’t quite there yet.
Sure, I could disguise myself, but doing so had its own set of problems when hanging out around extended family.
Understanding my discomfort, Mom volunteered to accompany me to a deserted beach (that was not listed as being private property) on one of the smaller islands nearby. It was secluded, which allowed me to comfortably hang out without disguising myself.
The turquoise water was amazingly clear and provided an amazing view of the corals below.
At least, it did with my enhanced vision. I doubted Mom could see them well from where we stood.
The water got really deep a good distance offshore, but I wasn’t overly worried about that. However, I was a little curious about why there didn’t seem to be any merfolk in the area.
Once we set up our little area and settled down on some beach chairs I’d brought along, I removed two large, slush-filled glasses from my storage ring and offered one to my mom.
“Margarita?”
“I thought you didn’t drink,” she said with a raised brow as she accepted the glass.
“I don’t.” I lifted my mocktail. Unlike the yellow-green of Mom’s margarita, the semi-frozen beverage in my glass was red. “It’s basically a strawberry slush with flavored sugar around the rim.”
“Do you have one of those with alcohol?”
“Maybe,” I replied with a playful grin.
Unlike me, Mom loved the taste of alcohol, especially when it was mixed into a fruity concoction. Knowing that most of my family was similar, I’d brought a huge variety of options, all pre-made and ready to drink.
It would have been far cheaper to learn how to mix drinks on my own, but since it wasn’t something I particularly cared for, I didn’t see it as worth the effort of learning.
Mom and I spent a lazy hour lounging on the beach and absorbing the sun’s now-harmless radiation before finally entering the water. Even with the heat of the sun radiating from our skin, the water still felt warm.
“Thanks for coming here with me,” I said once my shoulders were submerged. “I know you’d probably rather be with the others at the resort.”
“Nah, I like this just fine,” Mom replied. “It’s nice having the whole beach just to ourselves.”
“Do you want to free dive and check out the reef?” I asked, motioning with my head toward the calcified ridge nearby.
Mom’s eyes brightened with excitement. Scuba diving was something she’d enjoyed during my childhood, and it was obvious she hadn’t lost the desire to experience the undersea world.
Without bothering to voice her answer, Mom dove in the direction I’d signaled. I quickly followed.
While I had underwater breathing devices in my storage ring, I didn’t think I needed one to enjoy the scenery. I was easily able to hold my breath for half an hour or more at this point. Mom might need one to help extend her dives, but I decided to wait to offer one until we surfaced.
We swam slowly, taking our time as we observed the underwater ecosystem while not touching anything.
With the addition of mana, I could tell many of the corals were far hardier than they had been before, but I still didn’t want to risk accidentally damaging one of the amazing underwater creatures.
From far in the distance, well beyond where the ocean floor dropped, I sensed a large mass heading in our direction.
I quickly swam to Mom and tapped her arm before motioning for her to return to the surface.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something’s coming,” I replied before focusing more closely on the ocean around us.
Whatever was swimming this way was coming fast. I wasn’t sure how to respond.
I knew that whatever it was likely posed no real threat to me. Even if it somehow reached Tier Four and I wasn’t protected with several defensive items, the creature would be too weak to cause any real damage if it were to attack.
Some might claim that was hubris, but I didn’t think so. Even some kind of leviathan wouldn’t pose much risk. The gap between tiers was simply too large.
It was why I was so wary about the Tier Ten Assassin that might be coming my way.
However, even if I was safe, that didn’t mean my mom was.
Should I take the opportunity to take out a major local predator in ‘self-defense,’ or should I retreat and leave the creature alone?
Part of me wanted to fight and kill the creature. It had been too long since I had a real fight – not that this would qualify. Even so, I felt the call of violence singing in my blood. It would be so easy to remove the threat, to destroy the creature that was rushing eagerly to its death.
There was no hiding the fact that the dungeon had changed me. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t deny such an obvious fact.
Thankfully, the call to violence didn’t extend to people. Even dealing with would-be assassins in the dungeon hadn’t pushed me far enough to relish in the death of others. It was why I was so against another sect war.
Killing people felt wrong.
The same did not apply to beasts. However, I could easily imagine how a conversation about my actions might go should someone take offense.
“You killed the Tier Three/Four creature in self-defense?”
“Yep. It was attacking me.”
“Were you ever in any danger?”
“No, not really.”
“So, how is that self-defense?”
“Well, my mom was in danger.”
“Couldn’t you just teleport her to the beach?”
“Sure. But there’s no rule that says I HAVE to run away, is there?”
“…”
Yeah. That was really my best argument. I could easily get away and protect my mom, but nothing was forcing me to. I didn’t think the people in charge would appreciate such a flimsy excuse.
Unless they would…
Bah, it wasn’t like it really mattered. I could easily just ask forgiveness if someone was bothered by my actions. I doubted anyone was going to give me a hard time about taking out a dangerous predator.
I teleported Mom to the beach and waited for the creature to attack. There was always a chance the creature was intelligent and willing to communicate, though I wasn’t going to bet on it. Creatures like that were far rarer than myths implied.
When a dark, shadowy mouth full of sharp teeth attempted to snap around me, I didn’t hesitate. A single Compressed Space Bolt down the creature’s throat was all it took to end the threat.
The exchange barely elevated my pulse.
Comments
Mike
I like it! Hooray for beach and margaritas snd monster!
