Ma grounded me. That’s right, for the first time in several years, Ma actually risked grounding me, she wasn’t strict, normally, but I’d pissed her off past the tipping point.

She was not pleased to receive a call from Ridna High describing another high-school complaining about me. They’d threatened to expel me for ‘representing their school in a poor light,’ and being a ‘public menace’. When I tried to explain to Ma that school didn’t matter anyway, and I should drop out, she almost backhanded me. After that, I was stuck in the house until the weekend, and she made me attend classes.

Considering how stupid it’d been to burst into a school and stir up trouble, I got off lightly. Even understanding that still didn’t make me happy about it. Being cooped up in the house or being forced to attend that Immortals-awful school was torture. And my own brother conspired against me—agreeing to rat me out if left.

The only reason she didn’t go in harder was that she felt scared of losing me. I hated that we’d gotten here, but there wasn’t an easy solution.

My troubles didn’t end there. Following the incident in the markets, Kayson called and informed me that our beating of a young master spurred the Getsu Sect into action. They were digging into the Brass Kings, and the Captain was unhappy. Bruno took the majority of the flak, but I wasn’t spared from some of it.

Guess Yang Pengfi wasn’t full of hot air after all, and really did have a grandfather high in their sect.

Kayson told us to lay low. Which put me out of the jobs that would have made me spirit chips, and might have got me out of Ma’s punishment. So, I was fucked. For a bit, anyway. Until the weekend. Oh, and if I fucked up again like that, the Captain would toss me out of her Division. Real nice.

The only one not giving me trouble was Bruno. The guy felt bad about the fallout, and even though I was initially pissed, I couldn’t stay mad. He made a special effort to swing by every night Ma left for work. Brought us a stack of DVDs to binge while we were punished. Alex didn’t snitch on my friend, since he enjoyed Bruno’s company as much as I did.

We messed around and made some small bets. Even made ten chips off him, which was the most I’d gotten in a couple of weeks now. I stashed it, knowing I might get the chance to turn it into more later.

Even with my frequent visits from my friend, the week dragged. Each day school numbed my mind. At night I caught up with the newest action movies, featuring actual Cultivator Stars. Given power correlated to fame, it made sense for some of the powerful to cash in and join the movie screen. I didn’t quite get the appeal, but hey, I liked bikes. If I were super powerful, I’d probably fill a garage with them under my mansion—even the rich had hobbies I supposed.

At some point, you could afford eccentricities. There was even an Immortal who did films—not so much for the pay—but they were infamous for demanding roles that caught their eyes. An awful actor. But you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone admitting that publicly. Funny what a dead critic does.

There was one thing I looked forward to. Even taking the movie binge into account—I’d gotten a single exception to leave the house. Romeo talked Ma into letting him pick me up. She always got nervous around him and seemed reluctant to offend. A bit of pressure and she’d conceded to his ask. I didn’t get what was going on in her head, but I looked forward to Romeo’s training. I’d become increasingly aware that I needed to improve and change. Especially if I wanted to deal with Tristan on my own terms.

“Where we going?” I asked.

“Do not concern yourself, passerotto,” Romeo said, before flipping on the traditional Impero Italiano station he loved. That at least, eased the tension a bit.

I didn’t press my luck and ask why we were leaving the city again. Even if I suspected he’d heard about the Lantern District or my school. Self-snitching caught people more times than you’d think. Even if he was bringing me to the swamp to kick my face in again, I wouldn’t admit to anything I didn’t have to.

We went down a back road and then he killed the car. Without needing direction, I tossed open a door and then felt a pesky mosquito take my blood. Dirt, mud, ancient trees, not much else aside from the murky water of the swamp. Too much like the last time, I had bad blood with this swamp. I sighed, not eager for another hard lesson. Romeo tossed his jacket on top of his car.

“Tell me passerotto. You understand what it is you lack by now, yes?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, a living feedbag for the pesky insects. “I aint strong enough. Working on it, trust me. It’s not like I’m twiddling my thumbs, or standing around looking at walls.”

“This is not what I’m talking about and you know it. There are many types of strength. Family, honor, and commitment to your duties. I don’t question the loyalty you have to your famiglia, but I do wonder if you feel that honor in your blood. That you thrive to rise to your commitments. Those things, they make a man, Luca. Your father and I were raised on these lessons. It hurts when I look at you and see their lack.”

I shot Romeo a look. I hated when they compared me to a man long buried. Him, Ma, even Alex. Why the fuck were they so damned focused on a guy not even here anymore?

I walked a bit further down the muddy road, taking a look at the dark water and gnarled roots that soaked in it. There was a flash of light, as the moon’s rays reflect off something’s eyes. Then a splash of water as the massive creature disappeared. Spirit beasts were free outside of New Valentine. Their souls weren’t shaped by dao concepts, instead, their unrefined strength grew and fed directly to their bodies. Terrifying creatures, even though they lacked the versatility of our Soul Seeds.

As a kid, I’d heard a story about a spirit beast that ascended to Immortality. A walking natural disaster that tore across the coasts, and wrecked cities. They never did manage to put it down—simply lulled to rest by the Immortal of Serenity.

“What’s your point, are ya trying to make me feel bad? I aint him. I aint you. I’m not as strong, and I only got a Soul Seed that’s half-reliable when I need it. So what? I work with the hand I got. I think I do fine enough. Don’t get kicked around too often. Your values—I don’t see much how they play into that at all.”

“It is not my wish to make you feel bad. I wish you to see, yes? You still believe the root of your strength to be gambling, no?” I didn’t respond, and he sighed.

Romeo slid a hand into his pocket, withdrawing a jade token. The same jade token from the Segreto Casino I’d tried to cheat. My shoulders stiffened. That little hunk of jade was worth a thousand chips. More than enough to cover rent for a month, enough to stock the fridge too. Romeo flipped it, catching it in his palm, then closing the hand.

“If your anima is to gamble, then why bother with a casino? You could place any bet and have it work."

“Well, there’s a certain justice. Those places cheat you worse than a sect lawyer. Besides, it aint just the gambling, but the way they feel. All the betting going on, all the different ways things can go. Thinking about it gets my Soul Seed worked up.” It was true, getting near them made my heart rush. My eyes remained on the closed palm, holding a thousand spirit chips in that slim bit of jade.

“I see, passerotto. It is the chance, not the gambling then. But why would your Soul Seed manage to get those dice to roll the same thrice in a row?”

“Listen—it’s a coin flip. Sometimes it’s just like that, each time is a different chance—“ Romeo fiddled with the jade token, painfully obvious he didn’t find much worth listening to my words. That glimmer of jade wrecked my train of thoughts anyway.

“We make a bet, yes?”

I wet my lips. The token stopped moving.

“Stakes?” I asked.

“If you prove your anima is only about gambling, this token is yours. But you must do so in five minutes.”

“If I can’t?”

“Then you find your own way home. Or I pick you up by tomorrow morning.” He gestured to the surrounding swamp, buzzing with insects. An occasional croak from a frog. It reeked of rotting wood and dead plants. “Passerotto, you may refuse this bet. I can drive you home, right now. We shall resume regular training next Tuesday. But I see the hunger in you, you cannot let this pass.”

Silence. He didn’t push me for an answer, and I let the time tick by as I considered how I might prove that my Soul Seed worked off of gambling. Was this a trick? There was a smirk on his face. He still played with the jade token, flipping it with casual ease for something worth so damn much. If I made the bet, then used Fickle Fate—maybe a couple of times, it’d show it had a mind of its own. But did that prove my point?

One thing was sure. I didn’t wanna let this chance go, not with that many chips on the line.

“Deal.”

“Show me then, yes?” Romeo tucked the token away, the politely gestured for more to proceed.

I cleared my throat. “Watch. When I use it, there’s no reasoning as to why it does what it does.” I slapped my hand to my chest, sparking Fickle Fate as the energy ran through the Soul Seed. A flash of blue. “Ya see?”

“I don’t see how that relates to gambling. If it were about gambling, then you should have won our bet because it turned out well for you? But here we are. The bet continues. Besides, how can you be certain it didn’t go that way because you wished it to?” Romeo smiled.

“What are ya on about? I used it. It sparked blue. I didn’t pick which. If ya use that same kinda round-about logic this whole time, then there was never even a way to win!” I stamped my foot, coming a bit closer.

“Then I challenge you to punch me,” Romeo opened his arms, shaking his head like I’d missed a point. If he wanted to play stupid games, he could win stupid prizes. I didn’t wait, darting forward and rearing back to smash his smug face in. With Fickle Fate backing me, I was sure to hit and win a ridiculous amount of chips.

Romeo launched backward, landing on the top of the car in a single bound. An effortless motion that spoke of a cultivator at a higher stage. I blinked, stunned. My fist hit nothing but air. A fluke. I scrambled after, clambering to the hood in a desperate bid to close the distance.

His jacket slid out from under me, throwing me off balance and giving him a chance to flee. Only by pure luck, I slipped and threw my arms out in just the right position to balance me and keep me from falling over and smashing my head into the car.

His foot smashed into the side of my head and threw me from the car. My back caked in mud and a groan escaped my lips. When I lifted my head, I saw Romeo patting an oversized green-furred wolf. “Ah, passerotto. I suppose you haven’t seen my anima yet. Here it is.” He ruffled the head of his Soul, its bushy tail giving a lazy wave. Tilting its head at me.

I picked myself up, cold seeped into my body from my now wet clothes. My shoulders sagged, how did he manage that? I’d had Fickle Fate going my way, and I was on him. The numbness in my skin was gone—telling me that I’d spent my luck.

“Tell me, passerotto. What about that was a gamble?”

My jaw worked. “Ya cheated.”

“I did? How so? Isn’t that blue flash an indication you’re the one cheating a bet? It is why those dice kept coming up the same exact way every time, no?” He shook his head after he’d made his point. That whole scuffle just left me with a bruised face and cold. I felt small. He was starting to piss me off. “Tell me, how did you fail to punch me, yet still take a kick to your face, if you were cheating a bet?”

“Because it—because—“ I didn’t have the words, so I just snarled at him. He was right, and I fucking hated it, since I didn’t know how he was right. I slammed my hand on my chest to call my Soul Seed. A burst of red flashed from the hit, and I paused in place. Blood left my face.

Neither I, nor Romeo, nor his big green wolf moved.

Time ticked by, and slowly the numb skin regained feeling. I felt that charge of energy still lingering from my Soul Seed fading to nothing.

“If your anima is gambling, then that ‘flash’ meant you lost the bet. But tell me, why is it nothing bad happened? The bet still hasn’t ended. Strange. In fact, the only reason you will be losing is because you chose to.”

I blinked, unable to tell what the fuck he was driving at. It ran out of energy before anything happened. Since nothing happened, the bad luck had nowhere to go. I pointed a finger at him. “You’re trying to confuse me, so you win.”

“Ah, my dear passerotto. One cannot blind a blind man. You’ve confused yourself, and refuse to see. Think. Think about your Soul Seed, and that ability it gives you. The reason it failed to win you the bet? It is because you were forced to react to my Soul pulling the jacket from under you. Tell me, why did it prioritize you regaining footing rather than me falling on your fist?”

“It—It… I don’t understand.”

“Try to,” Romeo said and checked his watch “Ah. The five minutes is up. You’ve lost.” He stood up, patting the green wolf—only for it to vanish into his hand as he ran it through its fur. “Farewell, passerotto.” With me still confused, he got in the car and flicked the headlights on. That finally broke me from my stupor.

“Wait! Hold up! I know ya were messing around about leaving me here! Can’t seriously mean to abandon me in this hellhole all night? Who knows what spirit beasts or bugs are crawling around!” I rushed towards the car.

There was no answer, the car reversed far too quickly to catch up. A tight turn, then I was watching its rear lights recede into the dark as he peeled out of the swamp. Leaving me alone with no light except the moon.

I could count on my hand the number of times I’d left New Valentine, and none of those had been to camp in a goddamn swamp. I found the nearest tree and kicked it. Which turned out to be a mistake, since I stubbed my toe. This was going to be a long night.