The artefact beside Nika’s bed let out a shrill whistle to indicate that six hours had passed. Her eyes popped open and she deactivated it by flipping a switch before getting up. It took her exactly two minutes and twenty seconds to complete a quick wash up and get dressed, after which she consumed a breakfast that was carefully calibrated to supply her with the needed energy and protein for her morning workout.

  Just like her other meals, in the next three months, she would be having that same breakfast every day. The only thing that would change would be the portions, which would be adjusted slightly upwards to keep up with her increasing muscle mass.

  She jogged through the hallways of the Houjo mansion, limbering up her shoulders as she ran, exiting through a tunnel which led directly into the belly of the mountains behind. The trainer was already waiting in the training chamber, a massive square hall where black stone had been dug out from the mountain.

  They exchanged a nod in the way of greeting, before she moved into her forms as a warm up. A series of squat pillars roughly the size and shape of a person became her opponents as she moved through a series of strikes, first slowly and gracefully, then with the speed of a cultivator locked in battle.

  Next, she moved to a rough wall, pocked with holes, launching into another series of strikes, this time intended to practice her combination strikes. A simple one-two punch had become a dangerous weapon with her hands; the light jab measured not only distance, but swept a wave of obsidian Ki into the stone to withdraw its hardness. That hardness moved into her right fist, so that when the second punch followed, the dark basalt cracked as chips sprayed out from it, a section of the wall collapsing. She continued the same practice with feet, knees and elbows. Every day, that sweep of Ki moved a touch faster, bringing a bit more hardness with it.

  With that warm up done, it was time for the true training. This is what would bring her closer to Coral. She bent her knees and put her shoulders underneath a huge slab of boron that was supported by two short pillars, taking a moment to gather Ki from the surrounding stone and push it into the seams of her legs and back. Despite the vastly higher volume of Ki her seams could take now that she was Amber, the energy came away easily and swept smoothly through her seams thanks to her improved grasp on Ki.

  The ascension from Clay to Talc had worked wonders for her Ki control. Since it had involved a test of the heart and mind, it stood to reason that the benefits would be of that nature; a stronger grasp of the mind on Ki and a certain affinity for detecting emotions. Though it was hard to articulate the logic, it felt like it fit with completing one’s foundation before reaching Coral; moving from Talc to Amber was about confirming one’s attunement and drastically increasing one’s Ki capacity and ascending to Coral was focused on strengthening the body. Intuitively, it made sense that the heart and mind had been a missing part, though she never would have even considered the possibility before.

  Her seams felt smooth as polished marble as more and more dark Ki flowed into them. It moved in the required pattern for these exercises: a series of cascading waves of the energy that brought ever more Ki pushing against the edges of the seams that ran closest to the muscles.

  A deep breath in, flexing the muscles in her back and abdomen, before she finally stretched her legs with a grunt, lifting the huge slab up on her back. The weight was at the very limit of what she could carry. Three steps back, then another breath to ready herself, before lifting her right leg up. Another pained grunt as her body began to shake slightly, muscles fighting to maintain balance as she stood on a single leg.

  Then, she sank slowly down, bending her left leg until her knee touched the ground, before pushing that terrible weight all the back up. Her muscles screamed in protest and cold sweat sprang from her skin as she pushed and pushed until she was upright again.

  “One,” her trainer said coldly, as if it was barely worth mentioning that she’d gotten it up.

  Down she went again, an involuntary wheezing groan leaving her throat as her leg shook and muscles burned. Ki swept briefly out of the far ends of the seams in that leg, before coming back with more. She desperately needed that Ki, needed its hardness and heaviness to energize her muscles. Her leg was singing with pain as it went up once more, feeling like she was lifting the entire mountain.

  “Two. One more.”

  Two had been her limit yesterday; she would need to improve on that. Any reasonable training would involve either increasing the weight slightly, or lowering it as she performed more repetitions. But her training could not be reasonable - she wanted to reach Coral in only three months.

  The groan turned into a deep growl as she sank down to her knee once more, gritting her teeth and screaming at her muscles to move. The leg inched up, but then it fell back down. There was a mountain on her back, and it would press her down into the ground.

  “Two and a half? Is that the extent of your ambition?” the trainer chided. “It would be almost impressive, for someone with average dreams.”

  She thought of her ambition, of the desires she’d so proudly proclaimed on the Asomatous Floor. The heights she wanted to reach not only for herself, but for her clan. Her father’s approval, when she would reach Coral in record time. The growl got louder as she packed even more Ki into her seams, until even they were bulging and screaming with pain. She pushed until it felt like she hit a wall and then she pushed some more, roaring with effort, until it felt like a dam broke and bits of Ki rushed from her seams into her muscles directly.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Show me, Veronika! Demonstrate your ambition!” the trainer screamed at her.

  It was the image of Hokori’s hook-nosed face smirking at her that finally pushed her over the edge. That a brat like him could think to get away with insults. That the Houjo would cower and wait, afraid to show their mettle and be found wanting. Unacceptable.

  That red-hot anger gave her the final bit of willpower needed to push even more Ki into the muscles in her leg, entire body shaking like a leaf as she finally moved up again until she was upright, letting her right leg come down. She stood there, panting, letting the anger recede for a moment as she recovered.

  “Excellent! Well done, my Lady. Now, let’s do the right leg before moving on to the torso.”

  ***

  Two hours and only a mild recovery pill later, Nika strode into one of the offices in the mansion. Though her legs were still humming with pain, she forced a pleasant smile onto her face as she entered.

  Three moderately dark-skinned clan members - two men and a woman - were standing and immediately turned to bow. “Lady Houjo, it’s an honor to meet with you.”

  She inclined her head and gestured for them to sit as she sat herself down at the other end of the table, savoring the sweet relief of finally allowing her legs a brief rest.

  “I have asked you to come here to review our recruitment tactics,” she said, meeting their eyes one by one. “It has come to my attention that our numbers have been flagging of late. Let me start by asking openly: what do you believe is causing this?”

  The three of them hesitated, exchanging glances, until the man in the middle spoke up. “It is… hard to say for certain, Lady Houjo. We have confirmed that the total number of newcomers to this Floor of Mists has not decreased, nor have birthrates on this floor declined. It appears that other clans and sects are simply attracting more recruits than we are. As for the reason, we believe it has to do with… certain benefits.”

  “Benefits,” she repeated with a frown. “You are referring to pills?”

  The three of them nodded in unison. “In particular, the latest kind. They are a recent development, known by some as Boundary Shattering Pills, though commoners also refer to them as Overdrives. While other pills target the muscles, these seem to have some effect on the mind, allowing one to overcome one’s limitations.”

  Nika’s lips thinned. There would likely be side effects to those, which is why the Houjo clan would not offer them. Not without extensive research.

  “Other Great Clans are offering these to entice new recruits?”

  “Some. Ashikaga and Kassai have been confirmed. Taira and Hashira do not seem to be offering it, while the others are not yet confirmed one way or the other.”

  “Then a few Great Clans have begun taking in an inordinate numbers of recruits,” she said with a deepening frown. “Yet only two that we are sure of?”

  “Ashikaga and Kassai are taking some more, but not enough to explain this shift. It would appear that more recruits have been flowing into sects. Some that are loosely affiliated to Great Clans, but most whose affiliation is unclear.”

  Nika nodded. It would be deeply concerning if other Great Clans were aggressively gathering recruits. For smaller sects to want to use these pills as an opportunity for growth made sense, and if these recruits were spread out over smaller sects, there might not be any real threat. Still, they would need to make their quota.

  “How are we adjusting? How do we differentiate ourselves from the others, in the absence of pills?”

  They looked at each other in confusion. “We’re not sure what you mean, Lady Houjo?”

  “I have observed criers on the streets, people waving signs, recruiting teams bringing fresh members to testify about the benefits of joining the clan.”

  They shared a chuckle, before the man in the middle explained with a smile. “We are one of the Great Clans, my Lady, one of the oldest and proudest. One that is, as you certainly know, never loud or flashy. A shield is not ostentatious, it is predictable.”

  The man looked proud as he recited that core tenet of the clan’s values and so did the others, eyes lighting up as they nodded along. Normally, she would share in their pride, but now, as she looked at those pleased smiles, a different picture was starting to form in her head. In a modest dose, pride could be a virtue, but when taken too far, it could lead to hubris and arrogance.

  “Are you saying we have made no changes to our recruitment tactics of late?”

  He shook his head. “We’ve never really employed tactics, my Lady. Never needed them. A proud and strong Great Clan need not resort to waving signs like one of the smaller sects. People should be flocking to our doorstep, so that we may pick and choose the best of the lot.”

  Instead of anger, she found a bit of sadness coming over her as she looked out the window. It was only a small square in the thick walls, too small for even a small adult to crawl though, but she remembered playing around those same exact inlets as a child. Everything had felt so large then. The clan had felt like the most powerful and wonderful thing in the world, perfectly invincible and without a single flaw.

  It felt so different now, even compared to just a month ago. Clearly, it wasn’t the clan that had changed. She’d never had grounds to question the clan and the decisions of its leadership before. But now she was forced to ask again: could it be true that her beloved clan was in decline? And worse: when faced with that decline, would it refuse to adapt? When pressed, would it refuse to act?

  “What do they say about us?” she asked quietly.

  “Beg your pardon, my Lady?”

  “The recruits. People on the streets. Other clans. How do they see us?”

  They exchanged glances again, looking a touch uncomfortable this time.

  “I… I cannot say, my Lady.”

  Nika let out a sigh, but then she straightened her back as she turned back to them. It wasn’t their fault. She had been just like them, incapable of seeing the clan as anything else but this flawless and never changing entity. If she was going to change their ways, if she was going to improve the clan, she would have to show them how.

  “Never mind. We are about to do things quite a bit differently. I want you to prepare the following…”