An informative fight

"What if the remaining gold coins cannot add up to one hundred, how do we use this percentage then?"

Amanda looked over to the merchant whose appearance seemed to indicate some good living-- at least when it came to the food line. The keen eyes, and questions like this last one, however, proved he did not earn his nobility by name. She reached into her sleeves and placed a silver and a copper coin on the table.

"Change the gold to silvers, silvers into coppers. No one at this table would kill you for any extra coppers left when you share it out."

She replied.

The group at the table had all been standing for this little lesson. They had surrounded the young woman and listened intently as she taught. If not for her condition they might have moved closer, but something that even priest and healers could not cure held them at bay. Only Fatty Tian kept glancing and staring at her face when she talked.

"Knowing this is all good, but how does it affect us in this negotiation?"

Young Master Wu looked at Chu and asked. Amanda placed a stack of twenty gold coins in front of her, twenty in the middle, and the last sixty coins closest to the representatives. After the previous little math lesson, everyone understood what her actions meant.

"Heaven's Receiver must certainly be joking. How are we going to split this among ourselves? Not to mention, why do you also get such a large amount?"

Master Mage Disparte asked while looking up at Amanda. Unlike the other representatives, the Churches Union had two representatives seated at the table. None of the others, raised a fuss since the Tower long had a habit to send a representative whenever they found something of interest.

"You seem to have all gotten this venture wrong. If we wanted, then all would agree that Clan Bridgeroak reaps the most benefits, because they deal with farming and blacksmithing. Similarly, an invention like this would end up useless in the hands of House Yang, since they are salt traders and possess no previous foundation in this field."

Chu gazed at all the faces around while speaking. To avoid choosing sides, he decided on the less profitable route. This provided him the chance of still earning gold, but prevented the others from taking action against his budding company. He looked to Amanda who stood up at his side. Even her loose cloak and dress, could not hide the curves of her body.

"The six families gathered here, will negotiate and form your own little company. That company will handle the building and running of the Windmills. My brother will have our people train and educate the millers, and also the carpenters."

"Yes, but even if we do all that, our profits in this thing is small. When all the building is done, so to will our gains. The only winner in this deal is you."

Grandmaster Yang pointed out with a scowl. He was an Artisan but he came from a merchant family. House Yang had hoped to gain some inspiration to help them break out from the monotony of the salt trade.

"Grandmaster Yang seems to misunderstand our intentions. The company that the six of you are forming is not only to build windmills across the Empire, but to run all of them. You will invest your money into this new company, this will then determine your profits according to the sixty percent share."

Amanda looked around as she talked, causing the men to glance away from the unbearable beauty. Fatty Tian locked her gaze waiting for her to continue.

"The profits in this venture will come from milling. I am sure old merchants like you can recognize the implications."

Imagine being the sole owner and provider of flour in the Empire. The windmills operated for free in the wind and provided a product that beat the best in the current market. According to the girl, any type of seeds could be ground into fine powder, so making backlog a thing of the past.

Holding on to this type of power could lead to untold riches; and that was not including them venturing out into the other Kingdoms. One word described the expected hold and power over a budding and expanding civilization.

Monopoly

Merchant Windit pulled out a small abacus from his flowing sleeve, his fingers rapidly knocking around the small beads. No one here knew more about trade prices than him.

The chubby man froze for a minute, clacked the beads some more before his face frowned. His scrunched up bushy eyebrows then sprang upwards as his eyes popped. Merchant Windit staggered, then whispered Good Heavens before slumping to the ground in a stupor.

***

Akey used a burst of power to swipe his sword to the side. The horizontal slash whistled through the air, a product of speed generated by raw strength.

The strike cut only air, the power wasted as the opponent had long gone.

Breathing roughly Akey swiveled his head, searching for the expected attack, while posturing into a defensive stance. His eyes soon locked onto the inquisitive gazes from the pair standing at the foot of the mound. The girl gripped a pair of daggers in her hands, one stained with blood. The boy held a sword, tilting a questioning face, towards Akey.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The burly man asked, while stepping towards the children. Each slow step represented a Sersen descending before the mere ants of the world. Akey grew confident as his bloodlust and battle experience detected none of the previous danger that overwhelmed him earlier.

"I don't know what poison you fed us, but you will die here."

The man flexed his large frame, rippling the well-toned muscles. The experience garnered in the world convinced Akey these kids had poisoned them since leaving the farm. Together with the fatigue and thirst in the forest, this had then led him to hallucinate.

The powerful legs pumped forward as the sword blasted a horizontal slash, filled and delivered with the power of a Sersen. The strike blew away the recipient, even more than expected, launching and propelling the boy into a tree.

The teen crashed backward into the trunk, slumping down while holding his sword in a shaken but defensive stance. He stared at Akey with wide opened, unblinking eyes, the face rotating from amazement to disbelief. Akey frowned--the smiling face presently coughing blood did not conform to that of a person on the throes of death.

"It seems like I need to teach you ignorant brats why a Sersen is feared in the Empire."

Akey said as he glanced at the girl crouching in a defensive stance about ten feet away. A Sersen thrived on a reputation built from a cycle of bloodshed, mystery, and fear.

First, their special skills and power turned them into the crane among chickens, allowing them to gain prestige on the battlefield. Under the network of the Church, the rumors about their near invincibility spread to all corners of the Empire. Even a little frontier village had people who gossiped, thus creating a shroud of mystery and fear.

If a common person faced a Sersen in a fight, the fear alone placed them at a disadvantage, turning them into a ready fish waiting on a chopping block. The resultant victory further increased the reputation of these gifted and lucky men under Heaven. It was no wonder most Sersens strutted around with pride within the Empire while nobles and commoners alike, fawned over them.

A cough sounded as Ming turned his head and spat out a glob of blood.

"Damnit, that tree nearly broke my back. How the heck can Chu call this method fighting hard with soft. I actually got cut by the rebound from my own blade."

Ming complained, waving his hand to Lucy so as to indicate for her to continue. The leather guard on his left forearm bore a deep cut from absorbing the blow of the sword. With one hand holding the sword, and the other blocking the blade with his arm protector, he moved with the flow of the strike, allowing it to push him away to minimize the force.

This first trade with a Sersen from the Empire, showed him the disparity and the difference between heaven and earth.

Akey glanced at the boy before turning his head towards the crouching girl. His muscles pumped, scattering the soil and stones around his boots as he loomed over Lucy. The towering frame dwarfed the girl as both hands gripped the sword over his head for a vertical attack meant to cleave his opponent in two.

He watched as the yellow eyes and body disappeared, his sword missing the target and exploding the earth. Akey stumbled before recovering his balance. His head turned with a stiff action to face the girl. The brain inside, struggling to believe what he witnessed.

"Impossible!"

He shouted.

Never in the history of the Empire, had anyone wasted a lifestone on a weak woman, much less a little girl. Worse yet, he felt the power of his Sersen blood begin to dissipate as if it wanted to retreat into his own talisman tattoo in fear.

This feeling had only happened back in the Military, when he had once met the wizened old commander during an inspection. His mind suddenly recalled the past, a few years ago, when he and his young master rode hard from the Capital towards this region, chasing a legendary rumor.

"No... It cannot, I refuse to believe it!"

Akey's eyes opened wide as he roared in denial. His arm bulged as the sword left his hand, whistling through the air.

Lucy used both of her tiny arms to deflect the incoming flying sword. With a clank, the sword flew past her, embedding itself halfway into a tree.

Before Akey could unsheathe a dagger for the follow-up strike, the girl flickered inside his defenses. He looked on as she punctured his stomach with one dagger, and then dropped down and stabbed behind both knees using the pair, before he could scream. The efficiency and skill of her actions filled him with dread, as he tumbled to the ground.

"You... you're a Sersen from using the wolf demon lifestone. How?"

Lucy didn't answer, her daggers seeking a path towards silencing the man forever. Ever since the fight with the bandits, Mr Thomas had repeatedly counseled steeling her heart. One bad experience told her never to leave a dangerous enemy alive.

"Wait!"

A soft gentle voice came from within the forest.

From between the trees, a little girl walked out. The girl looked familiar, but seeing the outline of the leather armor hidden beneath the rags, established her identity. A large wolf trotted out behind her, like a pet dog on a walk.

"Knock him out."

The words had only left the girl's mouth when Akey received an undercut that nearly raised him of the ground. Stars and blackness soon followed. As if to ensure the man did not pretend, Ming followed up with a strike of his own.

"Damn my hands still hurt, not to mention my chest. I'm spitting blood and really want to take a healing potion, but I keep seeing that demon like face of Chu."

Ming said.

Lucy rubbed her hands, as a teen she had enough power to barely defect a Sersen attack. At the moment she could rely on her speed to overwhelm the opponent, but after witnessing a Sersen in action, she had high expectations of what she could accomplish when older.

"I want his arm-- the one with the tattoo..."

"Are you crazy? Do you want Chu to strangle me together with you? Nobody is taking me down with them, I already have to undergo harsh training every day."

Ming coughed. His insides still roiled in turmoil from receiving the last attack. Crying because of the consequences, he guzzled down a healing potion.

"Do you know how Elder lost his arm?"

Dyna questioned.

"Sure, he said he lost it during a battle in the north with some Demon beast."

Ming replied, while smearing the powder on his wound.

"No, he lied. He made up that story for Amanda, and then passed the same lie on to us."

Dyna walked up to the unconscious man.

"There are two ways the Military uses to make a hound stronger. The first is to have it feed on human brains to maybe spark some intelligence, while the other is to feed it a tattoo taken from a living Sersen to increase its ability."

Lucy frowned, Chu had read the manual, and mentioned the first, but not this second method.

"It's not in the manual. I overheard Elder and Mrs Thomas whispering the morning after Jill and the others had the meeting."

Dyna continued

"Elder did not only get chased out of Frost City by his enemies... They also took his arm."

The three of them stood beneath the forest canopy in silence.

The wolf raised its head in a sudden motion, sniffing while twitching its ears.

"Ming, defend!"

Lucy zoomed off into the forest, leaving Ming speechless. In half a breath he crouched behind a tree root, sword drawn in defense. Dyna hid nearby, scanning the forest behind him, both of them oblivious to the stirring Akey.

Within a few breaths, they heard the clang of iron, then silence.

A crack, like a breaking of an egg, happened as Lucy appeared from between the trees, dragging something in her hand. She threw it on the ground before them, tossing a short sword with the other.

A small creature resembling a human, in having hands and feet lay on the ground. Black blood stained the fatal wound on its neck, dripping down the pimpled filled green skin. Dressed in a crude beast skin armor, it had a small iron dagger on its waist while carrying a short bow and a quiver.

Ming looked at the Goblin on the ground, then turned to the limp Akey nearby. The dead man still gripped the dagger hanging loose in his hand. He never had the chance to use it, as the wolf cracked his skull like an egg.

Facing Lucy, Ming threw his hands up in frustration.

"So what the heck do we do now?"