She awoke with a jolt, shooting up into a fighting stance in case she wasn’t alone. She tried to, at least. She smashed her head into some unknown wooden surface that shattered with the impact, momentarily stunning her.

*Ding* Damage to Head has activated “As One”. Minor Wounds for Samantha have been negated.

Looking around in a daze and holding her head, it appeared that, true to his word, she was unharmed and all traces that this building had been an alchemy shop were somehow gone. Green had apparently stashed her underneath a bar counter, perhaps so that others wouldn’t stumble upon her unconscious form and take advantage. She shivered at the thought of being in such a vulnerable state, but didn’t exactly feel gratitude for his ‘gentlemanly’ gesture considering the circumstances.

She checked her notifications to see if there were any strange effects from being poisoned, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary other than her sleeping poison resistance reaching Rank 0 - 16%. The low number made sense, since the lengthy time the poison had taken to affect her likely meant she only inhaled a small dosage. Not to mention the lack of any open vials nearby meant he took it with him once he was ready to depart and cut her exposure short.

The only item that hinted at the alchemist’s presence was a note with a crude map drawn on it. There was only one word written beneath the drawing: “Aiden”. She could only assume that he was showing her where Aiden was being kept, likely a base of some kind for the Pack Rats. Maybe he did feel some degree of guilt after all? Or, maybe he hoped that she would go get herself killed. It was impossible to tell the intention behind the note, but she was certain to investigate where exactly this led in either case.

She rubbed her face with both hands, not believing she was so foolish and neglected to reactivate Prey’s Perception in the moments immediately after the fight. She stupidly let her guard down because Green was mortal, and they were on the same ‘side’ for the moment. She was lucky that this slip up hadn’t been in the presence of a true enemy, and a repeat of such carelessness could cost her life next time.

Her self-reflection on her mistake was interrupted as a bright beam of light shone through the window into her eyes, causing her to squint. A small gasp escaped her as other thoughts caught up with her addled brain, “Oh no, how long have I been out?” she asked aloud.

She ran outside and checked the sun’s position. It hung high in the sky, but didn’t look like it had passed noon yet. She had only been out for a few hours at most, but if she didn’t hurry then she was going to be late to her meeting with Thomas. She could really use his advice right now on what to do.

She sent a message to Silas, “We’ve got to go! Get ready!”

Silas replied back with a sassy, “I’ve been ready this whole time! I’ve got nothing to do except be ready when I’m stuck in this boring room all day!”

Samantha rolled her eyes but met back up with Silas in their hidden attic. She changed into a clean set of clothes that she had previously purchased from the black market and then put her meager possessions into her pack. Silas easily fit on top of the bundle with room to spare, and they left the slums behind.

Samantha rushed to the cafe where she and Thomas had agreed to meet one week ago. It was located in Yivesh’s mid-ring near Thomas’s apartment, and was well known for its teas, cakes, and finger foods. She immediately spotted her cousin since he’d chosen an outdoor table to sit at, and she waved to him as she approached.

“About time!” Thomas huffed in annoyance when he noticed her walking up, “Did the manners of those people rub off on you in your time away or something? After all the slaving away I have been doing in your stead! Unbelievable.”

Samantha gave him a light punch to the arm before he could gripe at her anymore, “I have a good excuse for being a touch late, okay? I swear I came over as soon as I could.”

“Mhmm,” Thomas hummed with obvious doubt, but he pressed onwards. “Well, I am happy you made it so that I could give you some answers. Sit down, and I’ll get you some proper food. Is your little friend here as well?”

“Yeah, he’s in my bag, why?”

“If he wants to be let out, I think it’s safe for him to do so, is all.”

“Good news, then?” Samantha asked hopefully, reaching down to unhook the straps that kept the pack closed.

“Well, not exactly good, but not bad either. It’s actually a whole lot of nothing.” Thomas unhelpfully elaborated, calling over a waitress to take their order.

After both had spoken to the server they continued their original conversation, Silas taking up position on her lap and soaking up the sunlight.

“What does nothing mean?” Samantha questioned, a bit anxious.

“I’m not completely sure, but I’m almost positive that you didn’t end your opponent’s… 'journey', shall we say. If you had, there would at least be something going on. A gag order, meetings with Enforcers, a wanted poster… something. Of all the ladies I met with from Braxand’s lower branches, the most they had heard was that the brothers had suffered a defeat on their last hunt. They didn’t speak of it like it was something uncommon though. Honestly, after seeing the total lack of reaction on their part, I still think you should claim credit for the victory when you register. That would be a huge boost to the amount of face you have just starting out! You could really get ahead.”

“I don’t know Thomas, I’m still reluctant since the fight was against members of one of the Three Houses. What if they retaliate?”

“Retaliation from a major house in response to a small dispute between low branch members and a fresh cultivator would significantly impact their reputation. It’s beneath them to be that petty. Besides, you can’t live out in the slums in fear forever. At some point, you’re just going to need to act first and see what happens later. It might as well be now.”

Samantha opened her mouth to argue but he put his hand up to stall her. The waitress returned with their order--she had ordered a slice of cake while Thomas ordered a plate of pork stuffed buns--and when the waitress left he returned his attention to the topic at hand.

“And before you ask, yes, since there were no deaths this counts as a small dispute. Please, just trust me on this. I know it’s scary when you’re starting out and feeling vulnerable but this is the correct way to address the situation. Have you ever fully considered our face system, and how influential it is in a cultivator’s day to day life?”

“No, not really.” Samantha admitted. When she was mortal, cultivator issues were touched on in school but not discussed in depth. People normally found out more through family, or after becoming a cultivator themselves. She knew it was important, and that it was what allowed certain cultivators to take certain types of jobs, but not much else.

“I don’t want to spend all day here talking about the nuances, but the gist is that ‘face’ is a culmination of your honor, fighting capability, and general reputation. There’s no official ranking system, but everyone is keeping track in spite of that. People will note if you win dishonorably or lose with dignity, if you push yourself and challenge those of higher levels to improve or only fight those you know you can beat, how you speak about peers in private, whether you keep your word… everything. Recommendations and word of mouth will see countless doors open to you, but only if you get your name out there! That’s why it’s killing me that you’re not claiming credit for your win, Sam. You’ve already done the deed! It’s free face you’re leaving behind!”

Samantha sighed, leaning back against her chair and closing her eyes, “I don’t know Thomas. Maybe you’re right. I’ll give it some more thought.”

Thomas wasn’t taking her lukewarm response lying down, “And so what if you get challenged by those brothers again if you reveal yourself? You’re thinking too much like a mortal still. Dueling over unfavorable ‘gossip’ is going to be an expected part of your new life… so just beat them down again in a proper sanctioned match and make them lose even more face. If you beat them three on one you can certainly beat them one on one. Embarrass them to the point that their family won’t even want to get involved.”

“Alright! Alright, I get it. You’re very opinionated.” Samantha grumbled, playing with Silas’s ears as she continued thinking. Maybe it was time for her to be more bold and start taking the offensive. Thomas did make a convincing argument. It was difficult for her to focus on this line of thinking, however, as imagining Aiden in imminent danger dominated her thoughts. Since Thomas was already in an advice-giving mood...

“Hey, I want your opinion...” Samantha started.

Thomas quirked an eyebrow, leaned forward attentively, and motioned with his hand for her to continue. Samantha went on to generally describe her last week in the slums, culminating with the botched delivery and Aiden’s capture. “So I’m not sure what to do? I mean, I can’t just leave him like that.”

“Why not?” Thomas asked, genuine confusion evident in his expression.

“Because he’s just a kid Thomas! And I’m probably the only one who can get him back since there’s a cultivator involved.” she said, exasperated.

“I get you’re fond of the kid… but you’ve only known him for what? 5, 6 days? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a bad situation, but as heartless as it sounds it’s better if we don’t involve ourselves in mortal affairs like this. Don’t give me that face--look at how it’s already been working out for you! I bet he wouldn’t have even been in this situation if you weren’t involved. If you were mortal, you probably would’ve dumped that package like a hot potato at the first sign of real danger. Once they had both packages--which was all they wanted in the first place--Aiden likely would’ve been beaten up and in debt, but alive. I’m telling you, you’re going to make it worse if you go. Mortals are easier to accidentally maim or kill than you would think--especially when people are using them as hostages and hiding behind them.” he lectured.

“How can you say that Thomas? Didn’t you become a cultivator to protect our family? Our mortal family? Don’t you remember how awful it was to suffer under a cultivator who let power go to their head, and how we wished we were cultivators too so we could defend ourselves?” Samantha implored, not understanding his apathy.

“Yes, but he’s not family Sam. And you’re not powerful enough yet to even consider protecting any mortals outside of your blood relatives. Besides, they’ll probably let him go anyway when that alchemist doesn’t show up like they want. There’s nothing to gain from killing him, but if you go messing around in their business they might kill him just to spite you.” he stated, losing his patience.

“Well, what would you have done differently?” Samantha asked, frustrated.

“Oh, other than everything?” he snipped, “I wouldn’t have hidden among a bunch of poor mortals in the slums, I wouldn’t have been a busybody making deals with strange street rats, and I wouldn’t have agreed to do menial courier work like some sort of peasant! But if I did make all of those questionable decisions and really cared for that young boy, I would’ve immediately challenged the cultivator at the shop, beat him within an inch of his life, and held him hostage to do an exchange instead of being stuck playing it safe and thinking like a mortal. Oh, and I would’ve claimed my victory against three idiots I already defeated and got free face... But that’s just me.” he concluded, looking like a smug jerk.

“You have the worst ego, you know that? You’re insufferable sometimes!” Samantha grunted out between gritted teeth.

“But am I wrong? Am I? Am I? No.” he said, self satisfaction positively oozing from every inch of him.

“I can’t believe you’ve let yourself become one of them!” Samantha accused, “You’re no better than a cultivator who treats mortals like lesser beings! I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m not going to let it happen to me too.”

“Fine.” Thomas remarked, the word coming out cold and callous, “I tried to spare you, but it seems like you’re dead set on learning this lesson first hand. If you’re going to play the fool, you should at least gear up so you don’t die as one. Come with me.”

After setting a handful of coppers on the table, they abandoned their partially consumed meals and walked back to Thomas’s home.

It didn’t take long to reach his address and step inside, but the angry silence between them made the trip feel like it took an eternity. After he retrieved a large bag from his room, he set it down in front of the bathroom door for her.

“We can get it more precisely fitted after you come back. The spear is in the training grounds, so don’t take too long getting changed.” he said succinctly, marching out as soon as he was finished speaking. The harshness hadn’t fully left his demeanor or tone, but it hadn’t left hers yet either. Hopefully, being able to focus on new equipment would help make the atmosphere more tolerable, or at least easier to ignore.

Samantha first looked at the information card stamped with qi that sat on top of the armor set. This was to inform people without the ‘Identify’ art, like herself, about the quality and characteristics of the equipment. As she held the paper between her fingers and focused, knowledge flowed into her mind and a notification appeared before her eyes.

Iron Boar Leather Armor (High Quality)

Expertly crafted by House Cray armorers, this leather armor was made from the tough skin of a Rank 3 (Low) Iron Boar Alpha. Defends especially well against blunt and slashing attacks.

Set consists of 1) Helm, 2) Lamellar Chestpiece, 3) Bracers, 4) Greaves

Samantha appreciated each piece in the mirror as she donned them, starting with the greaves.

The greaves settled comfortably over the bottom half of each leg, the straps above and below the calf buckling perfectly so that they didn’t move positions while she ran or moved. Because there was no joint in the lower leg, the greaves were made in one solid, pressed piece, tough and unyielding to the touch much like metal would have been.

It was a similar situation with the bracers. Since bracers could be used to deflect blows much like shields, special care was taken to ensure they could endure a beating. The outward facing portion of the arm guards were double layered with additional panels of leather, while the buckling straps were made small and unobtrusive to limit the vulnerability they presented in battle.

The chestpiece was well designed, sacrificing neither defensive capability nor appearance. She had wondered if the chest armor would give her torso a barrel-like appearance, but the armorers had tailored it well. The piece was form fitting, non-bulky, and looked like she might even be able to conceal it beneath a loose robe, if necessary. The lamellar structure was favored by Agility focused fighters like herself due to the increased range of motion it allowed as opposed to solid cuirasses. Granted, the range still wasn’t fantastic, but having many hard overlapping squares of leather stitched together allowed for there to be more room to twist and flex. Some softer leather straps hung down from the bottom of the chestpiece like pleats of a skirt in order to protect the upper leg from a glancing slash.

Lastly, the helm was lovely in its simplicity. The face was mostly open, but two flaps hung down past the cheeks to protect the side of the face. There was just enough leather curved around the back of the helm to protect the back of her head and the top of her neck. A small gap between the hanging side flaps and the neck coverage allowed her ears to be uncovered, meaning that her hearing would be unimpaired when she fought.

After everything was put on, she had to say she looked quite dashing. The dark grey color of the leather made her feel powerful, and she didn’t fear standing out overly much if she needed to rely on some form of stealth. She looked like a real warrior--a deadly one--and the sight brought her no small amount of pride. However, she didn’t have much time to bask in the feeling.

With her armor sorted out, it was time to take a look at her new weapon.

Thomas greeted her with a short grunt as soon as she exited the house, waving her over to the weapon rack nearby.

“Looks good Sam. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve become a proper cultivator.” he awkwardly joked, clearly trying to bring back the feeling of lighthearted banter that they normally had.

Deciding to accept the unspoken truce, she replied, “More than you’ll ever be!” and gave him a wink.

“Well, here it is!” Thomas declared, tossing a cloth-sheathed spear her way.

The qiang was a bit on the shorter side, the entire thing coming out to about 7 feet in length. The wood was a light brown color, and a quick flex test proved that it wouldn’t break easily when bent. Carefully unwrapping the spearhead, there was an identification card that was tucked into one of the layers. She picked it up and gained new information about the spear.

Iron Boar Tusk Spear (Qi Forged - High Quality)

Expertly crafted by House Cray smiths, this qiang was forged from the tusks of a Rank 3 (Low) Iron Boar Alpha. Refining the metals from multiple tusks has resulted in an extremely sturdy blade. Wood sourced from an Elder Hickory tree has improved the durability and qi transfer efficiency of the shaft significantly. Can withstand heavy qi flow without risk of detonation.

She couldn’t help but smile as the last of the wrappings fell away. The black leaf-shaped blade, about a foot long, positively gleamed in the daylight. The collar that attached it to the wooden shaft was slightly shorter at around 8 inches, and a traditional red tassel was affixed beneath it.

She stood, giving the spear a brief spin and marveling at the exquisite balance. It was sometimes difficult to get used to new spears because the spearhead weight and length of the pole could make it unwieldy, and all materials had a different feel to them. It didn’t take long to discover that a metal end cap had been added to the base of the spear to assist in balance. Though not a second blade, the cap was sharpened to a point, so she’d be able to stab backwards with it if someone got behind her in an emergency. A fine addition, in her book.

“Wow. This is…” Samantha started, looking up at Thomas.

He didn’t have any quips for once, simply smiling, nodding, and appreciating the fine workmanship alongside her.

From there she and Thomas spent about half an hour going through spear forms and practicing basic strikes against training dummies so she could fully acclimate to the weapon, but she declined further training. Time was of the essence, since there was no guarantee that the Pack Rats would wait until sundown as they promised.

When Samantha left it was still early afternoon, leaving her plenty of breathing room until the deadline. Taking only the gear she wore and her new weapon, her first stop was ‘All The Fixin’s’. In her haste to make it to the meeting with Thomas and then prepare for the fight she expected, she didn’t even have time to go speak with Aiden’s father and inform him of what had happened on the delivery. After that situation was remedied, she’d deal with the Pack Rats.

Bolstered by Thomas’s assurances that she was likely not being actively hunted by the Braxands, she decided to shed most of the caution that she had been carrying this last week. Transporting Silas openly in one arm as she ran, she made her way to the slum market that she had so recently become familiar with. She still stealthed so as not to startle any of the mortals she passed, but it was clear even without the presence of her aura that she was superhuman in her speed.

The mortals that happened to see her rapidly approaching scrambled to clear the paths in front of her, kowtowing as she passed. No one, not even the children who she expected to be the most forthright about their curiosity, dared look directly at her.

When she made it to Jacob’s shop and stepped inside, her appearance garnered a lot of attention. Despite not outright revealing her cultivator’s aura, it couldn’t be helped that her high quality armaments made her stand out like a sore thumb in this environment. Most did their best to covertly glance her way and observe her out of general interest, but she could also clearly see patrons whose gaze was filled with avarice. She ignored both parties, making a beeline directly for the man she was here to see.

Jacob, who was actually in the middle of a sale as she walked up to the counter, did not immediately register the sudden change in atmosphere at her entrance. Discarding everything she had been taught as a child about respecting the ‘sacredness of the deal’, she interrupted the haggling that both men were obviously deeply engrossed in.

“Jacob. I need to speak with you about Aiden. It’s urgent.” She stated firmly, her tone brooking no room for argument.

His business disrupted, Samantha could tell that he fought back a brief surge of irritation at her meddling. However, when he fully took in the sight of her and processed her words, his concern as a father overrode his materialism as a merchant. Within a minute the entire shop was emptied and the front door locked.

“Well, what trouble has that boy gotten himself into now?” he asked lightly, doing his best to appear laid-back, “Don’t leave me in suspense now. I lost out on a deal to hear you out, stranger.”

Realizing that he probably didn’t recognize her because they had only met briefly and she was in completely unfamiliar attire, Samantha set Silas down, removed her helmet, and re-introduced herself. “We’re not quite strangers. I don’t know if you remember me. Aiden called me ‘Cheese’ and I was helping him around the gutter with deliveries the past few days. We went on a route again this morning?”

His eyes widened in sudden recognition, “You? I knew you weren’t from around here, but that gear--”

Before either of them could get distracted with side conversation, Samantha cut him off, “I know this is probably surprising, but let me get the important info out of the way first. Long story short, the delivery this morning went wrong. We were ambushed by Pack Rats and split up so each of us would only need to deal with half the group. Unfortunately, there was a cultivator that went after Aiden. Apparently, Aiden couldn’t outrun him, and was taken back to their home base. They said the alchemist, Green, had until sundown to hand over the package or Aiden would be killed. The alchemist fled, but left me this map… I think it’s the base’s location but I’m not sure. Do you know?”

As she finished speaking, she pulled the note out from her chest piece and set it down on the counter.

Jacob looked at her numbly for a moment, disbelieving, “You can’t possibly be serious.”

“I’m sorry Jacob, but I have no reason to lie to you about this. I’m not asking for some ransom or reward from you. I just need to know if this is the right place to go to find Aiden.” Samantha confessed, awaiting his response.

He seemed stuck in a daze at her words for a minute before he spoke, “No… no, no. My boy?”. Then, like a switch had been abruptly flipped, anger flared in his eyes and he slammed both fists down on the wood surface. “NO! I told him! I told him not to take that job! The pay was much too high for a delivery, but the stubborn boy never listens.” he bellowed, his clenched fists turning white with the strength of his grip, “He thinks that being faster than the average lad makes him invincible. But this...” Jacob’s voice broke on the last word, his breath becoming uneven as he tried to regain his composure. “I should have been… gods... if I could’ve just made ends meet on my own without his help…” he whispered, his head hanging low for a moment as his words trailed off.

The pitter-patter of water droplets falling was the only sound to break the silence between them.

As if his arm was suddenly made of lead, Jacob slowly scooped up the map with a trembling hand. Looking down, he turned away from Samantha while furiously wiping at his eyes.

His voice trembled when he was ready to answer her question, but his tone was more even than it was before, “Yes. This seems right. Everyone knows the Pack Rats are based in the waterways somewhere, and there is an entrance near this spot that you can usually find a group guarding... But, what are you going to do with this information? I can’t imagine you’re planning on barging in there by yourself.”

Samantha let a little bit of her aura leak out, enough so that Jacob would notice it without being overly discomforted by the pressure, “That’s exactly what I plan to do! And I have Silas, so I won’t be totally alone.”

As she ended her sentence, she tilted her head towards the fluffy hare who was inconspicuously eating a weed growing up from between the floorboards. Once he noticed their attention, he waggled his ears and tail at them, then resumed eating. “He’s uh… he’s actually pretty good in a fight, despite his looks.” Samantha concluded, feeling a bit embarrassed as his cute display lightly undercut the competence she was trying to project.

At the realization that she was a cultivator, Jacob’s face went through a litany of expressions that she couldn’t quite describe. Eventually, he settled on something resembling determination.

“Fine… but I’m going with you. And don’t try to talk me out of it--he’s my son, and I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t at least try to take part in his rescue. Maybe after we get him back he’ll finally listen to his old man, for once.” he adamantly declared, looking her in the eye as if to challenge his resolve.

She could tell at a glance that there would be no dissuading him, so she acquiesced to his request, “Do you need to prepare anything? Or shall we go now?”

“I think I have an old straight sword in the back, and maybe a shield. I’ll be back shortly.” he said, running to a back room and returning within a few minutes. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Samantha looked over the man, unsure whether to laugh or cry. His ‘straight’ sword was tucked into his belt without a scabbard and had a clear bend in the center. The leather buckler he carried was in decent condition, but wasn’t the most protective option. It would be good for a handful of direct blows, and then would cease to be useful.

“May I see the sword for a moment?” she requested, and Jacob dutifully handed it over.

Taking a closer look, even the edge of the blade was dull. It would be more of a bludgeon than anything else, she expected. She sighed, then used her 6 points of Strength to bend the semi-straight sword back into a straight sword. When she was finished, she handed it back to the wide eyed man, who placed it back into his belt without comment.

Because Jacob was already familiar with the area marked on the map, he was able to lead the trio quickly and efficiently to their destination. Samantha sent Silas ahead of them to scout as they drew nearer to the drainage entrance, taking full advantage of his 30 minutes of pseudo-invisibility to be as informed as they could.

“Bleh! I think I found it. There are many people standing around a stinky pit. Some of them are off to the side, and get yelled at whenever they come closer to the other group. They smell really bad… like… like…” Silas paused his train of thought before sending an impression of scents, as if words alone wouldn’t do it justice. The mental concept she received reminded her of rotting flesh, skunk spray, and excrement. The impression was so strong she could practically taste the scent through their link, and she gagged.

“Enough! I get it! It’s bad.” Samantha urgently replied, waving off a concerned look from Jacob.

Though the ‘image’ sent through their bond wasn’t precise or exact, the unadulterated vileness she sensed reminded her of a stink bomb the alchemist had thrown at the thieves. If she was correct in her guess, it seemed like the unfortunate members were being forced to air out away from everyone else.

“Is there anyone else nearby?” Samantha asked, starting to form a few tentative plans depending on his response.

“No, just the ones around the stink hole.” Silas confirmed.

“How many?”

“More than us, less than a drove.” he replied.

“I don’t know how many that is. Can you give me an actual number?” Samantha requested, a bit confused by his response.

“...What’s a number?”

“Wait. I never taught you how to count?!” she questioned, resisting the urge to slap herself in the head.

“What is count?”

“Oh gods…” she muttered aloud.

“What? Is there a problem?” Jacob urged, “What’s wrong?”

Samantha palmed her face, dragging it down slowly. “I taught my spirit bond all sorts of things. I gave him a wider vocabulary, went over grammar rules, touched on some rules of human courtesy even, but I never even thought to teach him something basic like counting.” she groaned.

Jacob seemed surprised by her complaint, “You talk like he can speak with you as an equal.”

“It’s not like he can actually understand what I say. It’s sort of like thinking to yourself, but with more feelings and images thrown in. It’s hard to describe. In any case, there seems to be some sort of group guarding the entrance like you predicted, but I have no idea about their numbers. We’ll need to get closer to see for ourselves.”

“I see. Well, perhaps I misjudged your bond. If he truly does understand all you taught him, it reminds me of the legends of Silvus, the great beast who could take human form. We might just get my son back after all.” Jacob said, sniffling once before shaking his head and clearing his throat. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s go.” he ordered, his voice rough.

Samantha led the way across a series of roofs, being careful in finding paths that could handle Jacob's weight and helping him across when needed.

As they neared Silas’s location, she considered the different ways that she could approach the situation. She could try and bluff her way in, using her status as a cultivator to get a meeting with whoever was in charge to try and bargain for Aiden. She could try and lie, saying that she had the herbs they wanted but wanted to see Aiden first before giving them over. She could try and find an alternate path inside, using the connected waterways to try and sneak in without going through the front entrance. However, none of these quite felt right to her. She wasn’t familiar enough with this group to know how they’d react to her bluff or catching her in a lie. She also wasn’t sure that trying to get in through the spillways was even possible. The twisting maze of passages and dead ends was easy to get lost in, and if they had been based here for some time they undoubtedly had some form of protection set up.

Only one idea stood out to her as remotely feasible, but she was incredibly reluctant to act on it. It went against all teachings and instincts she had developed over her years as a mortal, but she couldn’t think of any other way to do it given her time limitations.

Before long their goal was in sight and she took everything in. The waterway entrance was in the center of a wide, open area, and was sunken slightly into the ground so that rainwater would drain into the opening. It was obvious that a lot of time and manpower had been put into clearing the space around it, making it virtually impossible for anyone approaching to hide themselves. A circular metal grate covered the drainage hole, looking to be just large enough to squeeze two people through if they jumped down together. A group of 8 loitered around the pit on makeshift furniture consisting of old wooden crates and buckets.

Three of the group were conspicuously on their own, off to the side. She recognized them as the cultivator, the rope woman, and the crossbowman from earlier. They looked to still be in bad shape, judging from how they hunched or limped whenever they moved. Sores were still clearly visible on their exposed skin, and it gave her comfort to know that they wouldn’t be fighting anywhere near full strength. The other five Pack Rats were wearing the familiar uniform of cloaks and masks that she’d come to associate with Black Market Security, but she couldn’t make out any other details about their appearance from this distance.

“So?” Jacob asked apprehensively.

“I can take them.” Samantha said with absolute confidence, “Be sure to stay a safe distance away, in case things go badly.”

He grunted his acknowledgement and they hopped down from their roof perch.

It was easy to see when the gang members had spotted them, since all 8 leapt into action and prepared themselves for battle. The sickened cultivator made his way to the front, exerting his aura in challenge. Jacob staggered back from the pressure, and Samantha gave him a signal to move back further.

With each step towards her opponent, she repeated a mantra to solidify her resolve, “Think like a cultivator. Think like a cultivator…”

With each step closer she could feel him increase the weight of his killing intent, but it didn’t affect her much. They were of the same rank, afterall, and he wasn’t trying to attack her with his aura as if she were his equal. She stopped 15 feet away from the man, who reeked like fish left to decay under the heat of the sun.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” he demanded, cutting to the chase. She spotted the faintest hint of worry in his eyes at her lack of reaction to his display of spiritual pressure.

Samantha took a deep breath, then released the full weight of her own killing intent. With Prey’s Perception she could see his mortal compatriots stagger the same way that Jacob had, and they began retreating from her. Some even ran down into the drainage tunnel, abandoning the area altogether. Only the rope woman, the crossbowman, and one of the standard guards remained nearby, apparently made of sterner stuff.

“You’ve stolen a mortal boy under my protection, and I’ve come to get him back. If you bring Aiden out now, we can settle this without violence.” She explained, offering a way out to the gang members.

“I don’t even know who the hell you are.” the cultivator snarled, unsheathing a saber from his back. “What’s your connection to the courier?”

“My name is Samantha Cray,” she stated boldly, but with no sign of recognition from the man she continued, “or as you may know me, Lunara from the Black Market fighting tournaments.” There was a spark of familiarity at that name, but still nothing definitive. Begrudgingly, she added, “Also known as ‘Cheese’, Aiden’s courier assistant.”

“Oh!” he said, the horrible moniker finally connecting the dots in his mind, “You were his partner on the delivery earlier today. I thought it was strange how those mortals failed to catch you, but it makes sense if you’re a cultivator. I don’t know how you’ve gotten involved, but you’re in over your head, girl. Out of respect to an equal, I’ll give you one chance to turn back and I’ll forget you were ever here.”

Think like a cultivator… Think like a cultivator…

“You’ve insulted my honor by implying we’re equals. I formally challenge you to a duel.”