They were both at the third level of Integration, though Nolan was well aware that Lyra had the strength and energy reserves of somebody at the fourth.

“Aren’t you going to stop your sister?” said Sean.

“You saw how everyone reacted to that ale. Don’t you want to see what all the fuss is about?”

Sean scratched at his chin, shrugged, and then turned to watch the scene unfold.

The crowd had quieted a bit, as everybody anticipated an imminent escalation. Several people cheered Lyra on, since Avril had earned the ire of everyone that was interested in the amberwood ale.

“Are you seriously going to fight over alcohol?” said Nolan, berating them. He was ignored by both girls, who were locked in an intense staredown.

Yeah, I’m not dealing with another bloodhand bullshit scenario again.

Nolan released an abundance of spiritual energy, which enveloped both of the girls and separated them by about a dozen metres. Before he could fully place them on opposite sides of the street, Lyra covered her body with projected inner essence, which allowed her to disrupt his control over the iridescent energy long enough for her to slip free of its influence. Avril, on the other hand, allowed Nolan to lower her down to the cobbled street without any resistance. The sharp-eyed girl looked curious, though this only lasted for a moment, since she took the opportunity to slip into an alleyway and avoid any further confrontations.

“What the hell, Nolan?” Lyra wheeled on him, her golden hair bouncing. “Why do you always have to butt into other people’s business?”

“Will you relax? Jesus, you’d think she stole your newborn baby.” He walked over to the old man, who had been quietly watching the development. “Hey, you have any more of that ale?”

“Unfortunately, that was the last of my stock.”

“Is there anywhere else in town that sells it?”

The old man hesitated, though redirected them to some of his competitors after receiving a small bribe.

“Amberwood ale?” said the owner of another stall that specialized in spirits and other such drinks. “I actually just sold my last barrel a few moments ago.”

The results were the same at the next stall that they visited, as per the old man’s recommendations.

“Ah, you’re a few minutes late,” said a small old lady. “Somebody just bought all of my supply.”

“Seriously?” Nolan muttered. “Would you mind telling me who bought them?”

The woman shook her head. “Too many people have started trouble with my customers in the past, so I stopped answering such questions.”

They left for the next stall, the last one that the old man had mentioned. It was no coincidence that all of the stalls had been cleared out of amberwood ale. Either people had begun to covet it once they had learned that it was available, or a single person was trying to amass a large supply.

“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom,” said Nolan as they drew up to a large plaza on the western side of town. “You guys go on ahead. I’ll meet up with you soon.”

Nolan had no idea where to relieve himself. He only had to pee, so perhaps he should just look for an alleyway in some discreet corner of town? Looking around, the streets were cleaner than the suburban ones that had filled his old neighbourhood. Interestingly enough, there were no slums or neighbourhoods with lesser-quality infrastructure. Every building within sight was so clean and well-constructed that it seemed as if the entire town had been built in recent weeks.

Man, I can’t pee here. He decided to leave town to find a bush or a tree in the countryside, which didn’t take long. After enjoying a peaceful minute by the breezy beach, he returned to Elmer and sought out his friends. On the way, he noticed a familiar figure at an out of the way stall that was operated by a miserly-looking man with short, wispy hair.

Her, huh?

The man was in the midst of happily accepting a spatial bag from Avril, who quickly ducked into the crowd and disappeared from sight. Looking closely at the man’s stall, it was filled with small casks of ale.

He almost laughed. Are you serious? Wasn’t this girl just trolling all of the people that had jeered her at the first stall?

He smiled to himself and then set off to return to his friends, who were wandering down a distant street. It would only take a matter of seconds to make his way over to them, but he hadn’t seen anybody moving at unordinary speeds, so he figured that there might be some sort of unspoken understanding that people weren’t supposed to make use of their abilities within the limits of the town.

He decided to take a shortcut down a diagonal street that connected the one that he was on with the one which his friends were walking down. There were only a few dozen people on this street, but the festive atmosphere was in full swing. A few dozen tables had been set up in this area, and everyone present was drinking from the same sorts of copper flagons. A large crowd had gathered at the opposing mouth of the street, where a man and a woman were selling drinks from a modest stall. With so many people clogging the way, Nolan decided to patronize a smaller stall where two kids were selling ale, which he was coming to realize was a common product in the region.

“Hey, you two. How much for a cup?”

“One copper card,” said the little boy. He prodded his sister—they had to be related, as they shared the same coal-coloured hair, narrow eyes, and thin noses—who quickly set about filling one of the many cups that they had stored in an old crate.

Nolan smiled. He hadn’t even agreed to buy any.

“One cup, then.” He handed the boy a silver card, and winked. Taking a sip, he was genuinely surprised when the drink wasn’t half-bad. “Did you guys make this yourself?”

“Our mama makes it,” said the boy.

“We’re selling it, because Mama’s sick.”

“Yeah, she’s got the coughs and sneezes. She was sad about missing out on the festival, so we—”

A blur of blue suddenly collided with the tiny stall, which fell apart like a house of cards. A heavy thud and some rocky cracks immediately followed, where Avril’s slumped figure sat amidst a rising cloud of dust, embedded into the wall behind them. A few cheers and a sparse round of applause drifted over from the other end of the side street, where the stoic old man that had questioned May Asten stood with his arms crossed, a look of displeasure on his wrinkled face.

Nolan looked around at the mess that the commotion had caused. Not only had the kids’ stall been destroyed, but all three of their barrels of ale had been toppled and cracked, the contents leaking out onto the smooth stones beneath his feet. The crate full of wooden cups had also been damaged, and many cups were now strewn about the place.

“Are you kidding me…?” Nolan’s temper flared. He held a kid in each hand, both of which were looking down at their destroyed setup with crestfallen frowns. The little girl had begun to cry, and the boy looked like he wasn’t far off.

He ignored Avril’s immobile body and stomped over to the old man.

“Hey, you fucking loser.” He hefted the kids up, showcasing their tear-stricken faces to the man and those around him. “You almost killed these kids!”

The man stared needles at him, while the woman that ran the other stall looked over without much concern. “They look fine to me.”

“Yeah, because I saved them. If I didn’t do anything, then this old piece of shit would have just killed two innocent kids over a barrel of beer. Am I really the only one who—”

Nolan felt a sense of déjà vu as another blur of blue filled his vision. Avril had dashed in front of the old man and stabbed him in the ribs with more speed and strength than someone with her cultivation level should have possessed. Her dagger, however, failed to move more than a centimetre into the man’s body, which was covered in a fine film of spiritual energy. As soon as this happened, five men stood up from a nearby table, all dressed in similar robes to the sandy ones that the old man wore.

Avril raised her bloodied dagger, at which point those in front of the stall began to scatter, some of them calling out for disciples of the Falling Rain Sect to come mediate the situation.

“We’ll,” said Nolan, “I can see that I’m just in your way here, so I’ll leave you two to figure things out…”

He dashed away from the scene and dropped the kids off in a nearby alleyway, giving them each fifty golden cards and a heartfelt apology. As he left the kids behind, he noticed several sapphire-robed disciples heading toward the scene that he had just fled.