"Yeah, because usually it takes months to get acceptable basic qi and meridian control down? Unless you do something ridiculous like having a True Sage make enlightenment pills or manually guide the qi through your spirit. Five Phases is- Nearly useless if you want to advance far with it. It's actually very hard to screw up lethally, unlike other methods, which makes it good for wide distribution and seeing if any talented nobodies appear, having used it."

It also occurs to Rebecca that if she does nighttime self-study that's not going to end up falling under Time Enough For Love. or the direct-tutelage version of Anything You Can Do.

She shrugs.

"If you say it's not worth bothering with, we can skip it."

"I'm just being indecisive. Everything I'm thinking tells me the real high value option is joining a venerable sect and seeking guidance from the elders there. But that's no reason to sit and wait."

Sigh. She nods firmly.

"We should go pick up Five Phases or see if anyone will let go of something better than that Iron Skin trash the merchant tried to flog on us. Your metal alignment will not accept my fire and air themed arts."

To the first part: "Finding a venerable sect would be in Cloudsoar City; I'm understanding that right?"

She closes the Quicksilver Movement book and sets it on a table. "We're going now, then? Or tomorrow? I'm curious what the process looks like."

"Yes. And tomorrow- It's late, we could make an appearance at teahouses or taverns if we wanted to enter the social sphere here, but better to go into things with fresh eyes in my opinion. If you don't wish to sleep you can set the qi-gathering circle and work on your meridians overnight? You seem to have the general skill down, it's just a matter of practice, I think."

She will do some overnight cultivation, then, and also see if doing it by herself produces noticeably less progress, which would be a sign of Anything You Can Do kicking in. Though it's also possible that doing homework counts sufficiently under "if they're actively trying to teach you".

Wen stays up cultivating for a while too. At one point she casts Flaming Arrow of Din in the backyard near Rebecca's circle, which feels like gathering heat and then a flying spark and a sudden burst of energy, like a firecracker. It impacts the stone wall, leaving a minor soot mark. Wen conjures fire in a few other ways, seemingly comparing them, before turning in for the night.

The next morning, she has prepared tea, and there's a breakfast of spiced congee, roasted vegetables, and pork dumplings. "I think we should split up. It will stifle your path if I'm there every moment of the day. Maybe we devise some means of signaling each other for aid, and we take on separate tasks?"

(It seems a bit slower without Wen looking over her shoulder, but it's hard to tell if it's related to Anything You Can Do conditions or just because she's doing it by herself.)

Breakfast! She will partake a small amount, but looks a bit distracted.

"Sounds sensible. Shopping is low-stakes enough it'll just be a learning experience when I say something strange or get scammed." And at some point she needs to get out of the habit of following an apparent teenage girl around like a duckling. "I can probably rig something to call for aid if you don't have an idea?"

She can definitely fish up a panic button, but she can't fish up the backend server, and she hasn't personally interacted with any peer-to-peer panic buttons. Maybe she can invent them anyway. The notebook said she could summon custom power armor if she was good enough at engineering. She hasn't specifically studied panic buttons, but a simple radio tranceivers hooked up to a loud noisemaker serves the functional purpose.

"I think your magic armors, or similar, will be better for that than anything I could come up with. I'm not nearly good enough at sensing to track you flaring qi across a city, and vice versa. There's this thing called a Linking Jade that is sort of in two places at once that'd do it, something else to buy if you happen to see it maybe, but I don't have one now."

Rebecca designs in her head a round stainless steel pendant containing three long-range radio transceivers tuned to three radio frequencies, hooked to a loud buzzer and a green LED, powered by an AAA battery.

When Wen blinks, she's wearing two around her neck.

She flips one open and presses the button inside. Both let out a sharp, continuous buzz.

She tosses one to Wen.

"This should work up to about 60 li. You can take it off the chain if you prefer. Being surrounded by metal might block it. There's a light in it; if it's on it's working, if it's off we're out of range or blocked."

She tests it a couple of times.

"That's pretty clever! I wonder if security formations might block it on general principle- So don't be alarmed if it disconnects for a bit. Should we set some codes? Status check-ins, two buzzes is 'I'm fine how are you' and the like?"

"Two buzzes to check in, and echo back two buzzes if received? Hold down to indicate distress, buzz repeatedly for urgent distress. The green light gets brighter the closer we are together, so if I fly I can probably find your general location quickly in an urgent distress situation, but if I restrict myself to ground it'll take a lot longer to gauge a heading. So let's say my ETA responding to an urgent distress signal from you is two to three minutes, and for a normal distress signal, normal foot travel time plus fifteen. Do you have estimates for the reverse?"

She creates two muffling jackets for the pendents, tosses one to Wen, and pockets the other.

"For sound muffling, if you go somewhere you don't want the sound heard. You'll still feel the vibration if you keep it in a pocket close to skin."

"Hmm... Five minutes if I do giant form and hunt for you, and normal foot plus fifteen sounds about right to me too. Let's not signal distress unless it's a major issue, please. We'll have to explain ourselves for sure."

"Yes, only if—in significant unavoidable physical danger, or being forcefully detained without a way to get away oneself, or such."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, I'm doing my best to explain everything but you've got a good head on your shoulders! Just to recap, I'm going to poke around and make inquiries into spatial bags, talismans - shield and distraction or escape, any permanent artifacts or charms available, useful pills and alchemic concoctions, spiritual weapons, training for said weapons for you, and any interesting-sounding books and knowledge. And you're going to- I'm not sure. Sound about right?"

"I was thinking mostly the same—the talismans, weapons and books, at least—with worse discernment and means, but a better knowledge of my preferred styles. Even if it's redundant it's good practice, and we're not wanting for money or storage."

She'll duplicate the list, and also top up Wen on spirit stones while she's at it.

"What's a deflection I can use for where all my spirit stones come from? Or a general excuse for my combination of age, inexperience and wealth, really. Or are shopkeepers unlikely to ask questions?"

"The venerable Ka clan has sent you, a young mistress, off to temper yourself in unknown lands, but you're obviously not without means or the ability to defend yourself."

"Short and simple, and plausibly something I'm touchy about elaborating on. Sounds good. Is that something that happens a lot?"

"I've met dozens of actual young mistresses and masters for whom this is true! Usually they'll have subtle guards through. A Core Formation or Domain Establishing expert following along to make sure they don't die of their mistakes and bring news for revenge purposes if an old monster squishes 'em or pries their mind apart for clan secrets. That's the implicit threat in your story."

"Is it usually meant as a rite of passage, an investment, a remedial experience, a punishment, something in between, or different case by case?"

"First, third, and fourth, but it depends? I get the sense it's- An idiot test, to make sure they're not so pampered they don't have the character and drive to succeed on their own, sometimes. Or a punishment for doing something stupid and petty, sometimes. Or a reward, a chance for freedom out from under the gaze of elders, sometimes."

"I can see the sense in it. Where does my venerable clan come from? Another thing I want to get: a larger map, or an atlas of some sort."

"...They withstood the demons from the great demon desert."

"As in my clan is based in an—enclave—in the great demon desert? I'd ask what the great demon desert is, but at that rate we'll be here all day."