The camp was very well organized, making three concentric circles in their allotted space outside the city itself. The outermost was for the lowest ranked disciples, with higher rank guards patrolling, then the core disciples, with the Elders interspersed, and a core circle of essential functions like the kitchens, some sort of Alchemy Labs, and a training ground.
It was on the border between the second and third ring that Cain had been placed with his disciples, next to the kitchens, and the tour took him to the middle first.
"That is the triage area for the medics, we also make a wide variety of pills if you happen to need anything. Here are the Kitchens, though it might be wise if you eat in your tent and send the disciples out for anything that you need.
The saying that our disciples are all Man Haters isn't that far from the truth, though most of them would deny it. The training area is open to all disciples, so feel free to have yours use it if they aren't shy about their techniques. If you're fighting a duel, it is to first blood only. Sect rules prohibit other sorts of duels, as well as demanding a price for losing.
As they passed the Inscription station, where the Sect Members were making some sort of enchanted scroll that would activate an ability when used, they found Luna entranced by the process.
"Does she not know about Inscription?" The Elder escorting Cain asked.
"She does, but I make skill books, not whatever those things are. She is also a rather skilled artificer, so she might be learning new runes and patterns to add to her own techniques." Cain explained.
"So young and already learning a trade? Are you sure that won't interfere with her advancement?" The Elder asked.
"It shouldn't be an issue. It's more of a hobby and doesn't burn up too much of her time unless she finds something new and exciting. Just watch, once she decides that it's not more interesting than what she already knows she will move on to the next thing that she finds interesting." Cain joked.
He was right though. Luna shook her head in disappointment once she realized that they were just single-use enchantments and didn't even last for very long. She was pretty sure that she could do better even with her limited knowledge of Rune Crafting. With that in mind, she was heading for the forges to see what they were doing, and the Elder led Cain along behind her, curious about what the little one was up to.
She watched the disciples work for a while as the Elder in charge of the forges oversaw their training, and then sat down and pulled a large tree branch out of her inventory.
"And what might you be making?" The weaponsmith asked as Luna rounded off the stick into the rough approximation of a baseball bat.
"A display piece. They are overthinking their work. Don't try to micro-manage, but capture the overall essence of what you want the item to do." Luna explained, but the smith didn't seem to understand.
"See, like this. What would you put on this club to make it better?" Luna asked.
"Hmm, let's see, a strengthening enchantment, force amplification, possibly weight adjustment so that you could strike harder, and some elemental damage?" The smith suggested.
"Not bad, that would be a very good weapon, but very hard for a new trainee to make. The cute girl at the Library where I learned taught me this. The essence of a club is Bonk. So, now that I have this carved, all I need to do is focus my will on the runes, and carve them."
Luna carved one single word into the weapon, which turned from light pine to a darker tone of hardwood, with some sort of rosin on the handle area.
"Test it out. I think you will be happy with the true essence of a club." Luna told her proudly, as the woman stared in amusement at the simple wooden bat.
She clearly wasn't taking Luna seriously, but when she channeled energy into the bat it came to life in her hand, and she could feel the power behind the simple enchantment.
One of the disciples was misbehaving, and without much thought she tapped the girl on the head, causing a flash of blue light and the girl dropped unconscious.
"Behold, the true power of Bonk." Luna declared, making Cain and the Elder with him burst into laughter as the others in the room stared in shock at the club that could knock out an awakened disciple with a tap.
"It is a stun-type enchantment? Incredible. Tell me, girl, what do you want for this? I would love to duplicate it." The smith asked.
"You can have it, I can always make another one. But you will only gain frustration trying to duplicate it without a master. The Runes don't bend to the will of just anyone using them any which way." Luna shrugged, not concerned about the simplest of Rune Weapons she had ever created.
"Then why display it for everyone?" One of the disciples asked.
"As a lesson. You are all making things way too hard. Just put the broadest form of the enchantments on and shape the way they interact as you make the weapons. It creates a fun and new item every time."
That was exactly the opposite of what they were taught. They forged weapons to do exactly what they wanted, not something whimsical or vague. The disciples didn't seem to appreciate her wisdom, but the Elders did and seemed deep in thought about the concept.
"Did you teach her that?" The Elder asked Cain.
"No, a particularly harassed Librarian who was sick of chasing away an ardent suitor did. Luna just picks up on the strangest bits of everything that she hears and never forgets them. We actually learned the Runes from the same Expert Mistress." Cain explained.
"A female Rune Smith who wasn't part of your sect or lineage as your teacher? How interesting. You impress me more and more, Mister Cain." The Elder smiled back.
That was all it took to change her impression of Cain. The knowledge that the most impressive of his skills had been learned from a woman and not a man was enough to endear him to the leaders of the Lotus Blossom Sect for his open-mindedness.
They would probably change that opinion very quickly when they found out that the teacher was an Elf, made a Puppet by the Ancients, who he had given no choice but to teach him, but that was beside the point.
"Tell me, Sect Master, what other secret skills do you have?" Elder Ling asked, coming up to see how the tour was going.
"Quite a few actually. But that is part of the joy of being me. Now, Miss Luna is headed for the Kitchens, and I don't want to miss it. Could we head there next?" Cain replied.
Even from where they were standing, Cain could tell that whatever the kitchen was making was an incredibly bland stew. He could smell it, and while it wasn't unpleasant, Luna's reaction to what she would view as an abomination against meat should be pretty funny.
"Come to lend us a hand little one?" The chef asked as Luna approached from the back side of the kitchen, not the serving side.
"If you will have me. I am a big fan of food. The right food is everything when it comes to growth." Luna replied, making Cain chuckle at the inside joke about a Lamia's growth cycle.
The meal was simple, stew and buns. The buns looked fluffy and well-baked, so Luna overlooked them and approached the stew, which was currently just a pile of simmering ingredients.
"What bones are you using for the stock?" She asked the chef, confused by the lack of scent that the huge pots had.
"Oh, we don't bother with all that. It's just the evening stew." The cook shrugged off her concern and a look of horror overcame Luna's face.
"Please be joking?" She asked desperately.
"Hardship strengthens the soul." The cook replied sternly.
Luna spent a moment considering that bit of wisdom, and Elder Ling burst into laughter as she watched the look on Luna's face go from confused, to horrified, back to confused, then to a devout rejection of the information that she had just been given.
"A poisonous environment poisons the Soul itself. Everything in life needs balance. Hard work should be rewarded with good meals, so the souls of the disciples don't turn sour about their lives. That is the path that the Forbidden Cultivators take to ensure loyalty in their corrupted followers." Luna replied after a whole minute of consideration.
[That was an Oath Breaker quote wasn't it?] Cain asked the Demon that he was merged with.
[Very philosophical isn't it? It is a truth that the Obsession Demons focus on so that they don't fall down the path of Carnage that so many of the Wrath Demons do. Balance lets us keep our focus on the target of our obsession, instead of on the injustices of life.] The wise, but genocidal demon replied happily.
Turning Luna, even in human form, into a true follower of the ideals of the Obsession Demons was clearly making the Oath Breakers happy.
"There is something odd about her logic and I feel like I've heard it before somewhere. But that little girl is wise beyond her years." Elder Ling congratulated Cain.
Cain was about to reply with a generic platitude, but Luna had chased the befuddled cook out of the kitchen and was beginning to modify the stew with ingredients from her bag, namely a large bone from a Mythic Beast and a collection of spices.
"Luna, they're not used to spicy food. Keep it very mild or you will give a hundred people a stomach ache." Cain reminded her.
"Got it. Mild flavors and apologize to the cook." Luna replied, but Cain noticed that she was not so subtly positioning herself to keep the woman away from the pots.
"Sorry, my disciples are a bit lively. I hope that doesn't make you reconsider our accommodations." Cain told Elder Ling, who only shook her head in dismissal.
"It is fine. The disciples will be happy about it and they will work harder tomorrow. Life isn't all about suffering after all. I am well aware that we don't have much of a food culture within the sect, it helps maintain the ladies' figures.
Ah, the ever-present struggle against weight gain. A battle Cain himself had long since forgotten about since he could just change his form at will.
