The day after leaving the palace, I found myself once again following Walker though the busy streets of the city, the interesting smells and sights still pulling my attention back and forth as I desperately tried to take it all in. Deep breaths brought me the scents of flowers and spices, and even more distracting now that I was aware of it, the smell of the beautiful women about me. As a human, I had never worried overmuch over people’s smells, as long as it was not offensive, but my new body seemed to be very appreciative. When I first arrived in the city, it had all just blended together into a surprisingly pleasant whole, but since I had caught Sidona’s scent – since I had figured out what it was – my nose had been picking women out all around me. It was strange, and sort of wonderful, but also a little creepy. I was walking around smelling women. I had mentioned it briefly to Walker to make sure I was not going to be offending anybody by... sniffing... but it turned out there were a few peoples that had sensitive noses, including his own.

Despite the relative strangeness, it was proving to be quite a boon for my cultivation; it turns out having your sense of smell turned up to 11 provides fertile ground for Experience. So too did my constantly fluctuating emotions, though I did sort of wish I could skip the angst and the flashes of aggression. I had decided to get out of my earthy shell and be more like my chosen element, but I would prefer to only be like lightning in situations that would not get me punched into a bloody mist...

As distracted as I was trying to Experience everything around me, the trip passed quickly. Before I knew it, Walker and I were once again stood outside of Ben Won Ro’s huge house/shop, the burnished gold and red of the wood standing out amid the sea of green on all sides.

Entering without preamble, I was a little shocked to see Tang standing behind the counter once more, complete with what looked like fresh deep blue and black robe.

“Tang! I’m so glad you’re okay! I’m surprised to see you back at work so soon though!” Tang looked up as I called out, a wide smile on his face.

“Hunter! It’s good to see you, as well. I’m told you are responsible for rescuing me from the group that took us. Thank you.”

Walker and I moved towards the counter on the far side of the room, stepping carefully around the huge glass cases and shelves displaying the shop’s wares.

“Only half, really. Sidona pulled us both out of there.” I came to a stop, leaning on the polished wood of the counter and grinned.

“I had heard Lady Sky Breaker Sidona was involved, though it is hard to believe a group would go so far as to risk that clan’s wrath.” He shook his head, brow bunched.

“Well, if my torturer was anything to go by, they’re a bunch nuts. Absolutely bat shit.”

“Bat... shit?” The idiom seemed lost on Tang, leaving him looking at me in confusion.

“Doesn’t matter. They were crazy, is what I mean.”

“Agreed. I am told my injuries were severe, though the medicine provided by the palace was top notch, though below Master’s standards. Or so he tells me. I take it you are here to see him? He mentioned you would be visiting, and a prepared a gift as thanks for your help.”

“Tang, there’s no need. There was no way I could have left you there.”

“I insist. Many would have left me, certainly if they possessed the same limitations in their cultivation as yourself.”

“Hey, not so limited anymore, I completed my Focus! You’re looking at a very early Core stage cultivator. I think.” I looked a Walker, who nodded.

“Indeed. You now meet the minimum criteria to not be considered a cripple by the wider world...”

“Walker, stop! All the compliments are embarrassing me...” My tone was flat, but I knew Walker was just prodding me, and I could tell he was smiling – on the inside – at my reply. I turned back to Tang who had placed a wooden box on the counter and pushed it towards me as I turned back to him.

“Here, take it, please.”

“Tang, you really didn’t have to do this...” I was not, however, going to turn down a heartfelt gift. I stopped leaning on the counter and stood straight, reaching for the wooden box before opening the lid. Inside was another example of this world’s overly large pills. It looked like a moonstone sphere, just small enough that I might not choke to death on it.

“This is Elemental Divinity Alignment Pill. When used by those with an elemental Focus, it will both increase the strength of that element and their resistance to it. For best effect, it should be consumed while at the Path stage, however it will still be effective before then.”

“Tang, that sounds incredible. I could really use the resistance – my Focus can be sort of debilitating. Thank you so much.”

Tang bowed deeply before speaking again.

“My life is worth much more, Hunter. This is the least I could do.”

“Why is it called the Divinity Alignment Pill?”

“That is because-” At that moment, the door behind the counter opened, and the master alchemist walked in wearing what looked like a lab coat in crisp white silk.

“Walker, Hunter! I’m glad you’re here! We must discover the secret of the death prevention serum as soon as possible! I could make a for-save many lives! Come, come!” I thanked Tang again as followed my dark mentor behind the counter and through the door. I slipped the box containing the pill into my pocket, alongside the bag of hydration pills, as well as the coin pouches and rings I had taken from the guards back at the kidnapper’s house. The people at the palace had taken the pendants, saying something about identifying the group, and honestly, I was glad. My pocket was bulging as it was, with the box in there. I would have to see if I could buy a bag or something – as well as some new clothes – soon.

Through the unusually thick door, was a lab. It was not a modern lab – or at least not modern by my standards – but it was definitely a lab. Benches ran around the edges of the room, as well as crisscrossing the floor. Cabinets stood under and above each and various metal, stone and glassware covered the counters, and in the centre of the room sat a huge cauldron forged from sort of cream coloured metal. The cauldron was inscribed all over, thousands of lines of mysterious text and symbols covered every inch. I surreptitiously looked around for the three witches, but luckily, I had caught them on their day off.

Beside the cauldron, stood a simple wooden chair. Gesturing at the chair, Ro spoke again.

“Come, come! No time like the present. Sit, sit!”

Nodding and sweating a little in anticipation, I sat down in the chair.

“Honoured Master Alchemist – there will be no lasting harm to Hunter?” Walker phrased it like a question, but his tone said it was clearly a command.

“Ah... of course, Honoured Apex, of course...” Ro, clearly not used to that particular tone being used on him, nevertheless nodded quickly.

The alchemist reached into a pocket on his coat and pulled out a tiny vial filled with a pale blue, opaque liquid.

“Here we go – drink this, Hunter and then concentrate on the... conversation.”

“Bottoms up, then.” I reached out and took the vial from Ro, unstopping it and knocking back the fluid inside before I could think too much about it.

*

***

*

“Well, that sucked.” I still at in the wooden chair, and I was still sweating, only more so. My voice was ragged and my muscles ached from the tension.

“Boiling a living phoenix egg... dangerous and unethical. Not to mention the difficulty in acquiring one!”

“Indeed. If the potion originates here in Everwood City, this could bring an Elder phoenix down upon the city.” Whereas Ro’s voice fluctuated between mild disgust and greedy excitement, Walker’s was grave.

“Is a phoenix that bad? Sidona said they ate one for her Path.” Shaking my sweart soaked hair out of my face, I looked up at the two of them.

“It is possible that Sidona absorbed an Elder phoenix, with the assistance of her clan, however, it is much more likely that she absorbed a younger specimen. A fight between a major clan and an Elder would have spread rumours far and wide.”

“Maybe I could substitute a... no, not without knowing the other ingredients. Walker, the Alchemists Association is going to place a bounty on this group – both in repayment for their temerity in attacking a member, and to release this... egg, if possible. The reward would be substantial... would you be interested?”

“I will intervene, should it prove necessary, but I believe I know somebody who will be interested in the pursuit.”

*

***

*

“You lived then?” The lilting, singsong voice of Aella called out as Walker and I entered the sand circle of the Steel Splinter. Running over to us, she stopped short of jump-hugging Walker this time, her solid-pink eyes flicking between us.

“Hey, Teacher. Yeah, I had to survive – I wouldn’t dare waste your time.” I grinned at her and she rolled those strange eyes at me, before turning back to Walker.

“Perhaps you’d like to examine my students?”

“Of course, Aella. I have an opportunity to discuss with you, however. A bounty offer from the Alchemists Association. It has not been publicly posted, yet, and the reward is supposedly... great.” Aella’s eyes lit with green and the smile on her face stretched wider, showing perfectly straight, white teeth.

“Well, we can discuss the details while you take them all in! Hunter, go practice with your friend.” A waved gesture drew my attention to a group of 10 or so students, a group which included Fou Shei, and his infuriatingly attractive sister.

Grumbling under my breath, I walked over to the group, leaving the two deep in conversation, sparing only a fraction of their attention for the students scattered about the arena.

“The cripple has returned! Look, sister – this vagabond dares show his face before us once more.” Fou Shei, the little shit wore a sneer on his face, and his sister turned to look at me, a stream of water twinning around her hands.

“It looks like he really is just an idiot – a being with such a lack of talent should just go ahead and die, don’t you think, brother?”

“Perhaps we can be of service, sister?”

“Look, guys, I get you have this whole, creepy sibling, over entitled dipshit thing you’re doing, but you have to know you sound like prats, right? I mean, who talks like that? Did you take lessons, or does jackassory just run in your blood?”

The two of them looked shocked at my words, and there were a couple of giggles from some of the younger members of the group, though they were soon silenced as the brother and sister shot them glares.

“Look, Foul Shit, Aella said we should practice. So, shall we do this?” I had decided, at my pint-sized nemesis’ words that if I was going to be like lightning, this was the time to start.

“You would dare...?” His face dark red with rage and his body shaking, the little shit took a threatening step towards me.

“Well, obviously...” I backed up and dropped into the stance Aella had shown me, cycling the little Praxis I had accumulated through my energy channels, grinning at the sensation of power and pure joy rushing through me. Experience had been a heady feeling, and truth be told I was still not used to it. But Praxis was like nothing I had ever imagined, and it thundered through me like a storm. But made of lasers and orgasms.

Shei came at me like a Taekwondo cat, all screeching rage and feet, with the sand of the arena flaring up behind him as he kicked off.

When last the two of us faught, Fou Shei had slowly ramped up his speed before overwhelming me, but this time there was none of that – he came out of the gate at full speed, the air whistling in the wake of his legs. But I was ready.

Now that the two of us were – mostly – on the same plane, in terms of cultivation, I was no longer scrambling to anticipate my opponent’s movements, I could see them coming. His feet lashed out at me one after the other, a constant rotation of his body providing torque and enough power to break bone with ease. I stepped out of the way of, or deflected every blow, my cultivation, ‘natural’ speed and Danger Sense providing an advantage he was simply unable to overcome.

For perhaps a minute – an eternity in a normal fight - the two of us stepped about the sand at a speed I would have considered impossible only a few days before, and I loved every second of it. Until then – aside from the few exultant minutes I had spent under the effects of the Spiritual Weights – all of my encounters with other cultivators had universally resulted in me being summarily defeated, but at that moment, there was only joy and satisfaction.

Staying in the moment, feeling enough to cultivate Experience was difficult in the middle of a fight, but I managed it, mostly. I could feel that golden warmth spinning into my centre, though there was no corresponding surge of Praxis – until I completed my Core, it would take conscious effort to refine it, I knew.

I could see frustration on Fou Shei’s face as the fight drew out, and finally I spotted a safe opening – the boy had moved in a touch too close and had to raise up almost to tiptoe in order to reach high enough to threaten me. I stepped in closer still, my right hand meeting the rising leg and pushing it up, until my opponent left the ground. Reaching up before he could use my body as a source of leverage, I grabbed his foot with my other hand, stepping away and twisting my body around, swinging his body like a club up and around before bringing him down, my arms pulling in from full extension as I dropped my stance, smashing him bodily into the sand.

For a moment, everything was still, other than a shocked gasp I guessed came from Shei’s sister, and I thought I might have killed him – I once heard being thrown at the ground compared to being punched by the planet and I hoped I hadn’t gone overboard. Thankfully, the moment only stretched for so long before he climbed to his feet, wiping blood from his chin with a growl.

“You DARE?!” His voice was pitched high with rage, and it would have been funny if the sand had not begun to rise up around him, spinning slowly about his rigid body faster and faster as I watched. My idiot body did not seem to care, however.

“Ugh, yeah? I thought we already covered thi-” I did not have time to finish – once again faster than I could easily follow, the young scion of the Unceasing Squall clan flew at me, the wind moaning, almost like low thunder as I dodged the first kick, a cut opening on my cheek as a blade made of air cut me, extending from the bottom of his foot. I again thanked Xiournal for Danger Sense as I went back on the defensive, the youngster in front of me a spinning hurricane of flashing kicks.

It took me a moment to figure out what was going on, my attention taken by the constant approach of death, but eventually I guessed that he was using air pressure to accelerate his blows – moving the air ahead of him out of the way and placing it behind the kicks. He was kicking me like an airplane flew and I had to admit that physics made the best kung fu.

I staggered back, barely avoiding one razor sharp foot as blood dropped down my neck, and I knew it was do or die time.

I waited as long as I dared for a fresh opening, knowing I would have to finish it in a single blow if I wanted to avoid death at the hands of the single most hateful child I had ever met.

Finally, it came – the brat was flipping around, both feet of the floor as he completed a series of rapid-fire kicks, all the power provided by the air pressure as the wind literally carried him.

Stepping in again, knowing I would be unable to avoid another attack from his distance, I twisted my body, turned me heel and put my entire weight into a punch that I drove into the little shit’s right kidney, just as his left foot touched down. At that same moment, I focused my will though my Focus, forcing my Praxis to surge along my channels as the energy transformed into flowing lightning and for a split second a nimbus of crawling electricity surrounded me, driving me even faster than my miniature foe, and as my fist connected, it blasted out of me.

Fou Shei shot away from me like he had been hit by a truck, a filament of blue-white light connecting us until all at once, I lost control and went stiff and fell to the warm sand. Cutting off the power, I lay twitching on the sand, my eyes locked on the smoking form in that was pushing itself up on one arm.

For a second, I thought I was done for, but then they dropped down unconscious – hopefully. I started to sit up with difficulty, aftershocks still rippling through me, when I heard a voice behind.

“You would dare bully my little brother?”

Dragging in an unsteady breath, I turned myself with some difficulty to look at the annoying sister I still did not know the name of.

“Fucking really?!”