Radeon took in his surroundings. Readiness hung in the air, sharp and heavy, as if a grand assault were about to begin right in front of him.
He could feel the cultivators pushing themselves toward an optimal state, even with the tent's tapestry obscuring the view.
As Radeon watched the guards on patrol and how they took their routes, a medical practitioner beckoned him toward a large tent.
The woman wore a veil over her face and pointed with a simple flick of her finger. No greeting. No small talk.
Radeon didn't take offense on such petty trifles, he let himself in.
The woman the woman formed hand seals and called on the power of earth and nature.
Her palms swirled with a vibrant green hue as she channeled the energy.
Scabs formed in an instant, old cuts tightening as if weeks had passed.
Radeon held still as the healer worked. The cultivator was an indulgence to look at, all clean lines and soft strength.
A supple chest rising with each calm breath, dainty hands that knew exactly where pain hid, and lips the color of ripe cherries that invited foolish thoughts.
Radeon let the temptation pass without chasing it.
"I heard one of the leader's hurt. Where'd you put his tent?" Radeon kept it his words loose.
The woman hesitated. As a medical practitioner, she had no real reason to refuse him.
In the end she only sighed and pointed toward a ward grander than the rest.
There, Radeon tried to pull aside the curtain. A layer of qi shielded the entrance, humming against his fingers.
"The honorable one's tent is shut. I'll come back later." Radeon called out, a little too loud.
The medical attendants shushed Radeon. He kept bowing in apology as he left.
As he exited, he kept to the shadows. Radeon did not let the Todd see him. Nor any member of the crew.
For now, he played the part of a curious country bumpkin. He wandered the space with wide eyes and open wonder.
He trailed his fingertips along the heavy fabric walls as if he could not believe such finery existed.
The cloth was thick, rich, almost warm under his touch. Anyone watching would see a man dazzled by luxury.
In truth, he listened with his skin. He hunted the spots where qi pooled and twisted, small eddies that clung to seams and folds and tried to swallow the truth.
When he caught the faintest fluctuation, he let his own qi bleed down through his soles.
Thin threads sank into the ground and spread, patient as roots.
The earth answered. Imperceptible tremors crawled outward, then returned in delicate waves.
Vibrations came back to him crisp and intimate, like a record pressed to his ear.
"The Hemal Tithe Cult's main sect is on the Central Plains of Emperia, is it not? What are they doing in these backwaters?" The speaker sounded middle aged, cautious, the words chosen like steps across thin ice.
"I say they are building a weapon out there." The other voice came sharp and authoritative, the kind that expected agreement. "They move too sneaky. Too secretive."
"The higher ups might be involved. Our lives, even after reaching the Peak of Gilded Core, are still fodder and..." The middle aged man cut off mid sentence, as if he had tasted something wrong in the air.
"What was it?" the commanding voice asked, lower now, less certain.
The two voices of men suddenly went silent at once.
A claw tore through the cloth with a sound like ripping flesh, but Radeon was already gone.
The sudden violence sparked commotion at once.
A commander was present, and nothing unsettled a camp faster than danger appearing inside its own walls.
Shouts rose. Feet thudded. Fabric snapped as men reached for weapons and answers.
Radeon did not linger to watch it bloom. He had heard enough, just long enough to catch their small conspiracies.
He slipped into the noise and vanished. The shattered ships were his destination.
That was where the captain would be, stubborn as driftwood, always close to what remained of his command.
Radeon moved with purpose. He needed a few hours alone with the captain's tent, no witnesses, no interruptions, no curious eyes.
The captain stood near the ruined pilings, watching the galleon rise again plank by plank. Men hauled timber. Mallets rang. Tar stung the air.
"Captain, you staying here?" Radeon asked.
Todd did not answer with words. He only nodded, eyes fixed on the labor, gaze set somewhere beyond the ribs of the ship.
Radeon could not tell if the man was thinking of victory, regret, or the cut to his pay.
"You are Gilded Core, right? Let me rest in your tent." Radeon made it a demand, not a request.
Todd did not question him. He did not doubt. He simply fished out his token and pressed it into Radeon's hand.
Radeon hurried off and carried the small tree trunk into the cultivator's tent.
Inside was an array etched into the floor, built to assist cultivators in absorbing the energy of both heaven and earth.
He checked each brushstroke of the lines. Simple and crude, yet it did its job well.
Thinking quickly, Radeon left the small trunk inside the tent and stepped back out, feet already searching for what he needed to modify the array.
Radeon headed toward the spot where the array experts worked, busy weaving a massive formation into the camp itself.
He did not dare draw close. He only walked the outer edge of their work zone, boots crunching on gravel.
Tags and labels etched themselves into Radeon's mind. He needed materials, and his pocket had none.
This was the best place to gather what he needed.
'Array copper paint goes to the east tent. The west tent holds the elemental stones. Brushes in the north. Servants and guards moving in and out of the south.'
"Disappear," he whispered.
His form blurred and vanished from regular sight as the invisibility took hold.
Radeon went for the brushes first, the least interesting item in any warrior's eyes.
His invisible hand snatched ten at once. He tucked them into his cloak and slipped out of the tent.
He ducked behind another tent and let the invisibility drop. The world sharpened, colors in body gaining weight again.
He glanced at the three low-grade spirit stones attached to his cloak that powered its ability.
Two of them still shimmered faintly. The last was nearly opaque, its light choked to a dull obsidian.
"Around an hour. Maybe a bit more," he murmured.
Radeon went next for the ink, the kind that made an array whole.
The bucket sat in the open, the metallic smell of stung his nose.
He pulled out two lengths of cleaned pig intestine.
Their openings swallowed the paint fast as his qi pushed it along.
When both skins sagged heavy with stolen copper paint, Radeon left the bucket half-full and darted away toward the final target.
At the elemental stones, he stopped. Here, he would need more than quick hands.
A guards stood watch, his aura muffled. Even so, Radeon knew he was a gilded core.
He had no confidence, the guard wouldn't suddenly turn stupid just because he wanted to walk past him.
Radeon took cover behind a nearby tent and changed his face.
Bones shifted under his skin as he molded his features into Giovanni's.
He rubbed his hands over his cheeks until the new face felt natural, then started jogging in place to summon sweat.
Soon his breath came fast and ragged, his shirt clinging wet to his back.
He pulled out bags of spirit stones. A thousand. Enough to make even a gilded core think twice.
The guard stood firm, eyes sharp, watching for anyone who might try something clever.
In his view, a sturdy young man staggered closer, drenched in sweat, face drawn with exhaustion.
"Sir... Sir..." Radeon wheezed.
"What is it, boy. Speak your mind. What urgent business do you have with me?" the guard asked.
"Medical... Tent... Commander... Is..." Radeon forced out, cutting his words short, making his speech clumsy.
"What did he say?" the guard muttered.
Radeon raised the bulging bag of spirit stones. He lifted his brows and let naive eagerness creep into his face.
"He told me. If I gave you this. You would know immediately."
"Shush," the guard hissed. "Alright. Alright. I got it. Lower the stone."
The guard looked around to make sure no one else had noticed the fortune in Radeon's hand. Then he leaned closer and dropped his voice.
"I have a fresh set of uniform inside. Take it and stand guard for a while. The time it takes a cup of tea to cool is all I need."
"I understand, sir," Radeon said. He tried to put real excitement into Giovanni's voice.