Though John might use many words to describe different factions that trained the darkness element- and many of them were even positive- friendly wasn't one he'd had opportunity to use often. Cultivators in general weren't friendly, especially with those they had little experience with, but darkness cultivators tended to have greater caution. It was built into the element, or at least people's general biases about darkness.

Emmet had a friendly voice, and since that was the main thing John could discern about him, it affected the picture he built in his head. It was possibly a deception, but a more neutral facade would have been easier to maintain long term. Even a more subdued friendliness.

The man's footsteps were loud upon the paving stones. John imagined it was intentional. It seemed to be the case with other sect members as well- intentionally drawing attention to their location. Of course, it would work to their advantage if they suddenly wished to hide.

John doubted they could do enough to concern himself and Astrid, though. If they couldn't sense them, they could forcefully disperse the surrounding darkness- possibly in a violent enough manner to harm people hiding within it.

For the moment, John was being cautiously optimistic. The whole journey only had one assassination attempt. If they could finish with that same status, he would be quite satisfied.

Walking in darkness he couldn't see through was an interesting experience for John. The last time he hadn't been able to see at all in darkness was… in his previous life. Plus a very brief period of his current life before Ciaritzal had given him the blessing.

"I'm sure you can infer why we're called the Blind Tower," the sect head chatted as he strode along. "Along the central staircase you will find grooves numbering the floor you are on, and along various walls."

It wasn't quite braille friendly, but it was better than nothing. John wondered if they actually had any blind disciples here. Vision was quite useful, but not actually necessary for a cultivator. It would just be extremely challenging to get accepted by a sect and advance through the first Phase or two without sight. Here might be different.

"Dining is on the second floor. Guest accommodations are on the fourth," Emmet continued. "You do intend to stay, do you not?"

"At least for a few days," John agreed. He couldn't help but turn his head towards the man as he talked, but he saw nothing. His senses couldn't extend more than a few meters without great effort, though John noticed that hearing seemed to work perfectly.

"Excellent. I must say, we don't have any particular accommodations for light cultivators, but the energy here is mild so your wife will likely find it tolerable."

Astrid smiled. John could sense at least that much with her trailing along behind him, clutching his hand. John didn't think she actually needed him to guide her, but he wasn't going to call her out. It would be an advantage if necessary, and he liked holding her hand.

Their hands never even got sweaty, courtesy of his body's automatic temperature regulation.

"Additional sensory deprivation layers are underground," Emmet commented. "Starting as you step out into the halls. We find them quite useful for training. Please be aware of others- combat safety formations are available at the peak of the tower."

"We appreciate your welcome," John commented. They began going up stairs. A wide spiral staircase, circling counterclockwise. It was sufficient for two people to pass each other comfortably- the protocol seemed to place people on the righthand side. It was a little bit awkward to keep his connection to Astrid, but they could manage that for a short time. "Tell me, as we are new to this region, what do you think of the Great Eye Sect? We encountered them first."

Emmet thought for a few moments. "Jayendra is obsessed with fruit, but Lochan will lead them into the future. Of our light element neighbors, they are slightly preferred."

"How about the Drowning Deep?"

"Vaike is… unique. We do appreciate her visits."

Astrid took the next opportunity. "How about the Glorious Veil?"

"They are the strongest darkness element sect around here." That was all he said, but that indicated quite a lot on its own.

"Have you ever been to Midnight Island?" John asked.

"Ah… not officially," Emmet commented. "The Glorious Veil prefers to claim its resources for themselves, and we defer to their position."

John suspected that meant the Blind Tower snuck there occasionally to harvest resources without being caught. The Glorious Veil hadn't even directly ordered the assassination attempt on John, but they might have if they knew about their visit. Even if they didn't take everything, the resources wouldn't necessarily have replenished by their next visit. He wondered if the Blind Tower and Graveshore Society would be implicated… but tracing the route of the expeditionary fleet should be easy enough.

-----

The Blind Tower were quite open with their training locations, although unlike most they weren't based around concentrating and using spiritual energy. The density of darkness was not bad- Tenzing was quite pleased with it as well as John- but from everything John could tell the Blind Tower had a more passive style of training.

Emmet had explained it on a base level, though no doubt their actual techniques were more formalized. Ultimately, they were to experience loss of sensory information and learn what they could about darkness from said restrictions.

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John liked the idea very much. Simply being deprived of sight even if he didn't need it was an extraordinary difference from the norm. Cultivators still relied on their eyes in most circumstances, and simply moving around without it- and with diminished spiritual energy senses- was strange.

He actually chose to limit his active sensing to go along with the training. He started out simply sitting in their quarters, experiencing everything.

Though he couldn't see anything, it actually took a while for John to actively close his eyes. It shouldn't have made a difference, but not trying to see actually relieved quite a large burden on his mind he hadn't been considering.

Sounds seemed louder. He became more aware of his body, and things around his body. His clothing, high quality materials that were soft where they should be and durable where they needed to be. Normally, it faded into the background. If he wasn't moving, he usually only felt its weight and even that required conscious thought. Any sort of tolerable material was like that, not just his high quality clothing.

But he could feel it, even if he tuned it out most of the time.

There were also things John couldn't feel that he only noticed after a long time in cultivation. Random itches around his body- small annoyances that lasted only a few moments- were a thing of the past. His realization of that made him wonder how many decades it had been. At what point in his cultivation had that happened? It hadn't even been a conscious change. It had certainly been that way since he mastered Diamond Defense, though he asked Astrid about it and even with her limited body tempering she had also moved beyond such minor annoyances.

John could feel his body- not just with spiritual energy, but just… being. Each breath was more real, the beating pulse of his heart. True darkness had revealed to him more than it had hidden. At his point in cultivation, John wasn't going to make any huge leaps forward. Most of his realizations were retreading old grounds or completing thoughts that had been forming over decades… but it was progress.

He hadn't even gone anywhere special yet.

-----

The Blind Tower served a meal that was a show. There were trays of glowing crystalline candy that pierced through the darkness- and yet revealed nothing around them. John determined that they were actually absorbing the surrounding darkness element, which was why Astrid was less impressed with them. It just didn't hit the same for someone with her mixture of elements.

However, the rest of the meal was still a sensory feast. Various senses were activated by different dishes. There were auditory dishes. John had something rather similar to pop rocks, not just a crunch when chewing but a chorus. It also included tactile elements, but that didn't seem to be its main purpose. Instead, some rather spiky and sharp dishes kicked off that portion of the meal. John didn't think everything was good, especially with some of the slimy and sticky textures he experienced, but it was all interesting.

Smell and taste were of course included with the entirety of the meal, though there were portions with particularly strong smelling dishes as well as those targeting specific tastes. Sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory.

But they weren't done with sensations. Far from it. The Blind Tower clearly didn't restrict themselves to the five most prominent senses. The whole meal could have been taken as a test of proprioception, both to find the food and to deliver it to the mouth. Spicy foods could have been taken as a test of the sense of pain, though John was glad that was about as far as they went with that one. Different temperatures were included, including several frozen dishes and some that were so hot that Emmet recommended insulating the throat and stomach for at least a short time during and after consuming them.

None of the food was poisoned. That shouldn't have to be said, but John was still cognizant of that point at the moment. In the future, he would probably continue to keep close tabs on it. He liked being alive, and knowing there were some poisons that could slip through passive cultivation senses made it a concern. He did have to accept that he was important enough for people to want to assassinate him, even if he'd prefer a society without intrigue.

Maybe in a century or two, if he was lucky enough to still be alive then- his natural lifespan might extend that far, but he was far more likely to reach a violent end. Hopefully not by those around him, though.

-----

Astrid's hand was warm, but it was still strange not to feel it. He could tell she thought the lack of traditional tactile sensation was interesting as well. Heat was related to touch to some extent, but not suppressed by the current level they were staying on. Astrid was moving their shared grip back and forth, though they occasionally lost their connection as their fingers disentangled.

Visiting the various layers together was partially for practical purposes. John didn't want either of them to be alone, and it was still harder for Astrid to navigate on her own. The surrounding darkness element took more of her attention away as an unintended side effect of her having to protect herself. Or at least tell her spiritual energy that it didn't have to protect her.

On layers without sound, John realized how much he relied on it to determine what sort of material he was interacting with. He could only rely on how his own body deformed and the impacts with walls and floors. The layer was intentionally filled with various things. Soft cloths, hard stone walls. Hanging tapestries on those walls and marble floors. Strangely hard cloth. Chains that alternated between flexible and rigid depending on various factors.

Losing smell was the thing John would have noticed the least in normal circumstances. Without being able to see, he still barely noticed. However, he found he was a bit more cautious about what he touched. The Blind Tower didn't leave anything strange around, but it was interesting for John to find out how he reacted.

Then, at the deepest depths, they had two areas with nearly complete sensory deprivation. One was true nothingness. A small chamber that John only experienced for a few moments before he bypassed the small threshold for spiritual energy senses and found his way out. Even with Astrid waiting outside, he still felt unsafe. Perhaps if he had a longer history with the Blind Tower, he wouldn't worry about someone stabbing him while he was completely alone with his thoughts.

The other area was much the same, except the energy was distorted to allow spiritual energy senses to act unrestricted. It was quite fascinating, seeing the world without any human senses. Usually, John was at least referencing sight or something else at the same time. Without trying to sound like a narcissist, John thought he looked beautiful. A mix of different spiritual elements that was nearly perfected with Astrid's presence.

John was going to be stealing some ideas from this place for use in Astrein. It didn't even have to be darkness element training zones, just unusual places that didn't need all that much ambient spiritual energy- if the cultivator was willing to go along with it.

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