Kim really had caught on. Kim’s next shot was almost as hard as my last one; it sent all 10 pins out of sight. None of them reached the lanes on the side, though. That was probably for the best; the employees were occasionally shooting wary looks our way.

The secret war between me and Brian escalated. He would apply a force that would spin back, countering a construct, so I would change constructs, causing the ball to veer off — at one point, into an adjacent lane. That earned a warning from an employee to be careful.

3 rounds later, I didn’t even have to mess with Brian’s lane anymore. I feinted the bowling ball, pretending to apply a construct to it, and he applied a counterforce to one that didn’t exist, sending the ball careening off on his own. At that, he turned, making an exaggerated expression.

“What the hell, man?” He asked.

“What?” I replied, feigning ignorance. He rolled his eyes, taking the next shot. He was shitfaced drunk.

Kim just continued to experiment, causing the ball to spin on elliptical curves down the track before knocking the pins. She made exaggerated gestures when she struck, raising her arms in a victory pose and turning towards us with a smile. Mozz was missing more shots every round.

In my next round, my bowling ball guttered, suddenly changing course to the side. I turned back to the table to see Kim covering her mouth, smiling. That was weird.

I never taught her how to make Qi constructs. Mozz couldn’t have done it, and Brian wasn’t even looking. He was sitting at the table, dejected. His bragging had stopped when his score fell behind Kim’s.

Well, all is fair in war. I added a construct to the bowling ball Kim was using, giving her two thumbs up as I 0/10’d the next shot.

Brian’s next shot raced down the track, knocking over all the pins with a huge amount of force. He was getting increasingly showy with his shots; I didn’t know if that was because he was drunk or angry.

Kim gasped when her next shot went wide, turning back to me with a mock frown. She 0/10’d her next shot though, giving two thumbs up.

“That was rude!” She said with a smile as she returned to the table.

“You attacked first.” I replied, drinking water. Mozz had brought a ton to the table to prevent hangovers. He was the only one that was susceptible to them at the table, though.

“Did you see the present I left you, though? Got it all on my own.”

“Yeah.” I frowned. Learning how to make a Qi construct completely on your own was… pretty advanced. Kim’s cultivation seemed rather slow, to me, but in retrospect, the only disciples I ever interacted with were the very pinnacle of our clan, which represented the pinnacle of our continent, which represented the pinnacle of… the point was, Kim was, in her own right, a prodigy. I hadn’t noticed before now. I turned to Brian. “You’re a lot of shots in. You good?”

A normal human probably would have been blacked out drunk at this point. He was well over 18 shots, having knocked one back for each pin. There were only two rounds left, anyway.

“Yeah. I’m — it’s good. Still kickin’ ass.” Brian gave a thumbs up of his own.

“Whats your potential anyway?” Kim asked, leaning back. “Did you cap in Bronze?”

“Nah.” Brian gave a nervous chuckle. “Never found out — hic — found out how high I could go. Didn’t really need the — hic — money.”

“The inside of the gates — scary.” Moz nodded solemnly.

“I wasn’t, you know — hic — scared. Or anything. I just don’t need the — hic — money. Can get a normal career.” Brian’s eyes widened, looking up at Kim, who had raised an eyebrow. “No offense. Diving is not for everyone.”

“Fear is good.” I replied. I had only taken 3 shots tonight. I nodded at my own thoughts, one arm draped over my chair, leaning back. “It keeps us awake. Safe. Makes sure you check the grass before you step into it.”

“I’m not afraid.” Brian said, sounding angry now. He hiccuped right after, which earned an awkward chuckle.

We took our turns in round 9. Brian’s first shot only took out 2 pins, sliding to the side— I hadn’t even put a construct in it. He cursed at that, pacing and reading his next shot.

It crashed into the pins, shattering it.

“Hey!” a middle-aged manager stepped out from a side room, stern and angry expression on his face. I raised an eyebrow, looking at Kim and Mozz. “Alright, that’s enough. No Awakened powers on the f… on the lanes. And really? Again, Brian? You gotta knock this shit off. Get out of here. I don’t wanna see you any time in the next six months.”

Brian started an argument with the manager.

“You guys wanna…?” Mozz asked, standing up.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Kim replied, leading the way out of the alley. With my hands in my pockets, I followed behind, and we stopped and paused outside.

Mozz pulled out a cigarette — he had a little tin case, not a pack, and it only had a few in it. It was disturbingly out of character. He saw me staring and smiled.

“Used to be my dads.” Was all he said, staring out at the oncoming cars. He rubbed his arms against himself. Kim laughed.

“Sorry! Not at you! Just… did you see how angry he got? Prick.” Mozz chuckled too. “How’d you fuck with his ball like that in the last round?” Kim asked.

“Oh, I stopped fucking with him like 4 rounds ago. He has been shooting his own shots into the gutter, trying to counter me.” I smiled. Kim laughed again.

“Thanks for the invite.” Mozz said, tapping into his phone to order a cab. “That was fun. We should do this more often. Never get to hang out with Rain, either.” Mozz said, looking over at me.

“Yeah. It was pretty fun, I guess.” I leaned back against the wall. “Thanks for hanging out?” I ventured.

“For sure! Let’s do this again! What are you guys doing next weekend?” Mozz asked, still excited as ever, despite being far more intoxicated than either of us.

“We should try out a Bronze gate.” I replied. I was as eager as ever to advance.

“Sure, sure. But what about Sunday?” Kim asked.

“I—“ I was about to reply that I had plans, but what were they really? Staying in cultivating? That was only scratching away at my advancement. And I had all week — I wasn’t working, or anything. Maybe I could be available. “Maybe.”

“Aw shit, that was fast.” A car stopped alongside the road. Mozz checked his phone against the car, then walked away. “Okay guys, see you later.”

“You taking the bus home?” Kim asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“No, I live close enough to — oh my god, I forgot!” Kim said. “Come with me! I have a gift for you! And I forgot it!” Kim slapped her own face, all of her gestures exaggerated.

“Alright.” I shrugged. “You live close enough to walk?”

“Yesss!” Kim said, taking off without another word. She was power walking— and not in a straight line. It was alright, though. We weren’t sharing the sidewalks with many people.

Kim led me away from the business filled area, down several back streets and alleys, humming a tune the whole way. Where we found people, they hurried to move out of our way — the speed we were walking at probably gave us away as Awakened.

We reached her beat up apartment minutes later, and she unlocked the door, leading the way in. Paying no mind to the mess of half stitched together armor and weapons that littered one half of the room, she practically skipped up to the table, grabbing what looked like a pistol case.

“Here it is. I think it’s your weapon of choice.” Kim said, turning to me. She held the box close to her chest. “Its just a token of thanks — for showing me your magic kung fu.” I might have been imagining it, but she seemed a little more flushed than from just the alcohol.

“Its not magic kung fu — “I said, but she interrupted me by pressing the case into my hands. I rolled my eyes, but popped it open. My eyes widened. Eerily enough, Qi dimly radiated off the weapon. Or maybe Mana. Carved from bone, honed to a razor point, it was a beautiful blade. I pulled it from the case, admiring the edge. I wasn’t foolish enough to cut myself on some random object, though. Especially carved from an unknown creature. I inspected every inch — it was free from scratches and cracks and dents. “An impressive weapon… thanks.”

I looked up. Kim had already walked out of the room. She was filling a cup with water.

“So… Saturday?” I asked.

Kim flipped on the TV, falling onto the couch. She yawned.

“Saturday.” She said with a stretch.

“Sounds good.” I replied, locking the case. I tried to think of how to say thanks for today — for inviting me out. How long had it been since I hung out with someone without ulterior motives? I looked up when I found my words, just in time to hear Kim snore.

I blinked rapidly. Who would fall asleep with a stranger in their house? What the hell? I sighed, looking around. She left the cup of water she poured herself in the kitchen — I brought it over, setting it at the end table beside her couch, then stepping back. I frowned.

I pulled a folded blanket from the top of the couch, half unfurling it and tossing it at her. That didn’t wake her up either. It was probably 60 in here, the heat permanently off. Then I scribbled a note and left it under the glass, clicking disapprovingly as I left. I triple tested the door, making sure I couldn’t push it open. Then I headed home for the night.