Chapter 30: A sword in the sky

Iris Xin couldn't help but feel anxious, unbecoming for someone her age. This was the first real date the pair would have as an official unit. It wasn't a small thing for the sage, who had spent time to prepare a gift. She dithered about wondering if its to much before one of the maids told her to stop as to not ruin their hard work in dressing the girl.

"Are you sure this isn't too much, I mean I know I'm the one that made it but…" There was a general sense of over the top worry from the sage.

"It's a wonderful gift, even more so since you made it yourself. Nothing made from the heart could be to much."

Every maid and servant within earshot was frothing. What did they have to do to get a sweetheart that made them gifts?

"Well, It did nearly kill me when I broke the ten million year threshold. Glass-stained obsidian mixed with fifty thousand year burnished silica, I need doom whale oil ten thousand just to start…Those were needed to melt the Sky blessed tungsten."

"Painite ore hundred-thousand-years, Kraken pearl and core fifty thousand. The fur parts were all hundred-thousand-year beast furs. Night wing living crystal, heartstrings of the mythical cray bear…I needed all seven essences fires to refine the materials, and even when I did put it together, the whole thing explode with law, I don't know if my workshop will ever be openable again…"

Frothing to deeply depressed as how much wealth and effort went into the gloves became apparent. Who didn't want a rich thought full sugar mom who loved and cherished you?

"My lady will…be…happy, very, very happy." Something about the voice and face, Iris felt she wasn't sincere.

"If all of you insist…" Idly without care, the marital warrior waited patiently, if there was one thing her long life taught her, you always give girls as much time as they need to get ready.

Valentine Lockheed was a high-class low maintenance woman, what was a few hours to a cultivator that would live for almost ever. Gasps were heard from the sounding folks, causing the sage to turn in that direction. Noble heir walked into the entry hall, Iris did something a bit unusual, she began to chant the cultivation mantras and Dao scripts she knew.

Sparkling with a radiance not seen anywhere else, Noble Lockheed had a beautiful silk satin gown, half the base was a delicate lavender lace. Blue and amethyst gems were centered in embroidered flowers that ran the length of skirts. Her bodice was tight against her chest, slightly ruffed along the cleavage with a single taffeta strap over one shoulder. A flower bow was attached to the strap, draping over her front, with her hair pulled into a coif and dangling on the bare side with curled tips.

"Truth is the way of all, law is the way of earth. Heavens are the peak that one strives. All souls return to emptiness; all must find great paths to enlightenment. For Siddhartha guided us freely, Valentine is the world, he who broke the cycle of life and death. Dao is justice…

It was unnoticed the sage slipped the nobles name in verses.

Noble Lockheed was also in a similar state. Her lover never wore dresses, always wearing cloths from the martial realm.

Iris had forgone any martial trappings for her sweetheart today save a sash that complemented her dress worn as a scarf. A darker violet did more for her darker completion and exotic nature. Her dress was similar, a half lace bell with embroidery up the sides. He bodice had more draping and fabric. Though unintentional, the dresses looked like a set. Similar flower embroidery and gemstone, irises for Iris, roses for Valentine.

The maids and butlers in the area, looked at the two both blushing and not meeting eyes while chanting some mysterious spell and felt some sort of concern. Lockheed was a great employment opportunity, but nothing that inspired devotion. However, the social breaking romance that had sprouted, the dashing noble warrior and martial master, former maid who thawed the quiet lady of the house. It was an open secret that the maid had taken over her position in ordered to protect her honor and position as a noble.

One also can't forget that she had fought three battalions of royal guards for the noble's sake. Several maids had caught on to their little romantic interludes at meals, and their make out sessions in the hallways.

Matching dresses? The first partner they took to their first ball? In short, they were a walking fairy tale to the duchy.

Not that they seemed to be aware of this fact, so the ones closest walked them forward like mannequins put them hand in hand, and slowly pushed them out the door to the carriage. Something about stepping outside seemed to break the spell and they both smiled shyly at each other before the sage took out her claymore.

They were going to fight in the dresses? Where was that thing hiding?

It was a hotly debated topic on how the two of them made things appear and disappear. Some said magic, others felt it was a slight of hand. One servant said something crass about where they were hiding things and found himself unemployed. None understood advance concepts such as space, time compression, zone compression, dimensionality and so forth. Who would guess it was the rings they always wore?

"Master Xin, your not planning…" Whatever the head butler had wanted to say was drowned out as each lady took a step on the blade and became airborne. Waving to the small crowd, the two swiftly climbed out of sight. There was a collective moment of incredulity as the assembled people felt that something wasn't right about what just happened. Chalking it up to fairy tales the servants slowly returned to work, gossiping as they went.

Heavenward, the two slowly flew their way too the ball. They had time to arrive, as they were traveling slowly at the equivalent flight speed of walking earthbound.

"You're going the wrong direction." The noble breaking the silence for the first time.

"Ah, which way?" Wordless pointing in a direction and a road to follow the two fell into their usual comfortable silence.

"You beat out the immortals…you look…dazzling." It was a weak attempt from the sage to compliment her in a fashion more befitting the love of her life.

"You are sumptuous as well, dawn pales by comparison to your radiance." Responding in kind, Valentine had a leg up as nobles often complemented each other in obtuse metaphors. Blushing, Iris couldn't help but wonder what she had meant by sumptuous. Gathering a bit of nerve, Iris removed her gift from storage, and handed it to her.

Despite hovering at a thousand feet or so traveling at dozens of miles per hour, there was no howling wind or chilled air. Courtesy of a hint of qi from the sage, there was zero difference from a walk on a nice evening. Her package had been warped with some help from the stepmother in terms of style and had tasteful ribbons and a gentle bow. The two stood side by side along the blade length, so it wasn't hard to pass the taller women in front her gift.

"Thank you." Her soft tone spoke far more than her words as the noble also removed something for her girl. It was oddly wrapped, as the object itself was uneven, but somehow Iris knew exactly what it was.

"This can't be what I think it is can it?" It was something unlike any other item in the entire martial realm.

Valentine had managed to go to the one place Iris never made it to.

Gently opening the package, the small lumpy object appeared. Wood twisted around a center; water slowly lapped around the roots like a beach front. A single spark caught fire in a metallic cage. Four elements, in natural balance destroyed every advantage one could make, as it was a true solid neutral. There was no way to break the harmony that was achieved as it was a single complete natural truth, found In one secret realm that opened once every hundred years.

"Who told you that I never got one?" Cardinal Harmony Quintessence was the name of the item, it wasn't a supper rare item, its just one had to have not formed a nascent soul and one can enter only once. Iris missed her first entry as she was four at the time. When she went to go the second time, she had first absorbed her third essence fire, the Daffodil Starlight Sun Fall Flame. Unfortunately, while she hadn't formed a nascent soul, the realm recognized her vast volume of energy as if she was one.

"Sect leader told me the story. Bound to the heart and soul of the one who finds it, if a person never touches it and keep it contained it can be traded. That's frowned upon since most upper-level cultivators see it as a mark of status. When I heard you never go one and got turned away at the gate, I thought I could get it for you."

By the time it opened a third chance Iris had already crossed the threshold pushing to the deity transformation realm.

"Are you sure you can only enter once…." As the literal top of the cultivation world, few things were beyond the reach of the martial sage. This item was special…every student and disciple she taught had got one, all her friends did…Even her mortal foes had them. They laughed about it behind her back…Iris was sure of such.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a gift for a deity level cultivator as a mere golden orb?" There was a hint of iciness in her voice, but when the sage gently picked it up like it was made of precious's glass Valentine thawed completely.

"Ill put it in my transcendent domain." If one could become one of the ten great masters of the martial world, one had to accomplish the creation of a transcendent domain. It was a preparatory step to create a divine token, which one needed to ascend to immortality. To put such an item there, was to say that the completely useless item was more important than her own path within the Dao.

"You're a dumbass, don't put it there, its just a small token! I take it back your supper easy to get gifts for, but don't hurt yourself for me. I love that your so happy with your gift I'm so ecstatic that you love it so much and I love you more than I can bare so don't be stupid!"

Valentine swallowed the above lines, screaming them solely silently in her head. Trying to hide her growing grin and blush down, noble Lockheed gently undid the wrapping n her own gift. Inside delicate tissue paper was soft night black rubescent gloves. Iris had known she preferred finger prod and point attacks, with several hard-hitting core strikes. Therefore, her gloves were made without fingertips. Stitching ran down on a spiral along to the knuckles where thin plates of a metal make Valentine had never heard nor seen of before. They were perfectly contoured to fit; the strange ore shimmering if dipped in oil, as it ran along the palm and wrist.

A pair of small poms fell from dark rose leather to a soft furry ball on the wrist. On the underside, was stamped a rainbow with 7 lines threw the arc, a symbol that it was the craftsman Iris Xin who made them.

The hide had to be dragon or sky griffin or maybe even deep-sea walrus, but that didn't match…

"This is an immortal artifact; I can't even tell how many years it would be…"

"Ten." Sage softly answered experience the same reverence that she had shown to her gift.

"You made a ten-year immortal artifact?" Iris had put her best foot forward to use her best skills to make a one of a kind set of combat gloves.

Valentine was stunned, crossing that threshold was like crossing the night sky. To go from mortal tool to an immortal artifact would have taken million years to get a ten-year equivalent.

"Ten million." The sage corrected.

"I…" There was nothing she could say. If one were to draw a comparison it would take the martial earth close to a hundred million years to refine, in the noble realm, it would have to come from stuff that retained its state since their world formed.

"No wonder I can't tell what material this is." She did the only thing she could think of, she put them on. Had anyone discovered that such an item existed, the entire martial realm would fight for these.

"This is…Their beautiful, I can't even..." Struck truly speechless by, the noble was even quieter than she usually was. Delicately running finger pads over the stitching, Valentine felt the liquid softness, yet incredible unyielding hardness and rigidity, with a hint of cat like flexibility.

Nobles of Lockheed's caliber remembered boons and favors, yet the noble also knew that she wouldn't be able to repay the favor shown for an item like this in several immortal lifetimes. Iris had always been surrounded by women and men who vied for her favor. A combination of luck, general disinterest and the amount of time cultivation prevented her from ever considering a relationship.

"I was so worried you wouldn't like them." It wasn't fair the noble felt, the difference in status and value were to much. How nervous she had been, couldn't compare to some one who had a few hundred years. It wasn't much but the noble felt there was something she could do to show just how much she valued the thought.

Turning on her toes she faced her sage. High heels adorned with gems were less than ideal for standing on a sword but the girls didn't mind.

"If you wear those maybe I should equip my weapons too- "For a martial expert, the grand Rainbow Sage was taken down by her junior sister Valentine way too much. Hight advantage notwithstanding, the noble still managed to wrap an arm around Iris and lean her gently back with her other hand. There was a moment where the sage considered turning this about, but she wondered why she should stop a beautiful woman from kissing her.

It started soft, noble just gently pressing her lips to Iris's. Affection poured into the martial warrior, and she relived the ache her arms felt by wrapping up the noble's waist. There was an overflowing amount of love and desire, and it took moments before tongues twined and the two pressed as hard as they could against each other.

Right off the sword they were flying on. Since neither of them considered a fall from a few thousand feet, they couldn't be bothered to stop. If anything, the soft whipping wind and feeling of falling heightened the springy velvety softness of the other's lips. There wasn't much that falling could do to stop the pair of lovers.

The collision into a roof and subsequent stone was enough to jostled them, the owner who screeched and panicked at the sudden appearance of fancy nobles falling through the sky. It took a moment for the two to come out of their daze and afterglow.

After a few laughs and some compensation given, the two had a ball to rush to.