“We’ve got to talk about this, Elder Jessica. It seems that we’ve figured out how many times we need to send a cultivator in through the pagoda before they advance as a qi gatherer. We don’t send them in until they’re about fifth level qi gatherers and then it takes them about a week to get to the tenth level, but Blue? He is an anomaly.”’

Grace hadn’t figured out her secret yet at the very least, Jessica was certain of it. An-yong could have told her, but he didn’t.

“Ah but you see, I have been working with him.”

Graces flat affect was an attempt to get Jessica to give in.

“Is he advancing faster because he is that good, or is it you putting your finger on the scale?’

“Well…?”

Graces face flushed red.

“Well!?’

Jessica could feel the glare.

“Do you recall the spear?”

“Sa Kon? Yes. Wait, I haven’t seen Blue using it… have you been sneaking it to him somehow?”

Jessica held up her hands in surrender.

“Okay clearly we got off on the wrong foot here. Now, I dont want to break some bad news to you, but, let’s just say that uh, hypothetically…”

Graces glare could melt butter and make it apologize.

“Uh, if I was to learn a very overpowered technique on my path and then… erm.. Teach it to my newest disciple as a test case…?”

“You had this one until you said, overpowered? What does that mean? There’s only power and those that don’t have it in this world, is this one of the terms you’ve used in your old world?”

The clan elder sighed. Tea was going to be a bit of a problem today, and the aunties hadn’t even arrived with the game board before she’d been rudely ambushed by her top lieutenant.

Well, she had asked Grace to step up her game, and if this was it, well she was a bit impressed. Grace had been able to put two and two together from what she was seeing. She was probably a more dangerous hand at this than she should have been.

And Jessica loved to see it. More than scared, she was thrilled that Grace had caught on.

Now, onto the matter at hand, did it serve any purpose whatsoever for her to hold anything back from Grace, who she trusted like a sister? Scratch that, more than a sister.

“I developed a technique from what I learned of the spear. He was, shall we say, less than forthcoming with the details of how everything he does works, but suffice it to say, Blue has learned a technique with steals qi directly from his enemies and that is why he will probably be advancing to the third realm in the next month.”

Grace was tearing her hair out.

Jessica for her part, couldn’t blame her.

“He knows how to do the thing that the spear does? And you’re just now telling me that you have this technique?”

“Yes, it’s a part of my path, the one that I’ve been developing with An-Yong.”

“YOU TOLD HIM BEFORE ME?” Grace nearly whisper yelled loud enough to shake the small tea seating area outside of Jessica's war room.

Jessica knew that the thing to do right now was, above all not to tell her to calm down as that would have an equal an opposite effect as to what she was trying to do. But she did want Grace to keep it to a low roar. She decided to go with the truth.

“I didn’t know if it would be a problem! I can think of so many ways that the technique could go wrong and…”

“And none of those matter if you don’t tell us what you’re doing. Look,” Grace leaned in close enough that Jessica felt her warmth, “We understand that you’re under stress, but you can't do it all yourself. Let us share your burden.”

It was a long minute before Jessica realized that Grace’s hand was on hers. She sheepishly withdrew her hand, or she tried to, but Grace grabbed her hand firmly. Her eyes were firmly

“We’re in this together.”

“Family,” Jessica said, in her best impression of Vin Diesel.

The voice threw Grace off and she finally released Jessicas throbbing hands. A strong grip, her hands were like nice soft iron bars.

“Do you want to learn the technique? I haven’t picked a name yet?”

It was then that Jessica realized that Grace was holding back tears, and she was the one to reach her hands across now.

She didn’t find any resistance. There was only acceptance. Had Grace been treated so badly before her arrival? Had she said anything wrong?

“Did I say something wrong?”

Grace gasped.

“Absolutely not,” she replied, “This one is just so happy.”

She was, and so was Jessica.

***

The people held their fleshy protuberances together for a while until the older ones arrived with the clickity clacks. He liked the sounds of the clickity clacks, or the tiles that they called them. His life was pretty boring without something to stab or pierce.

They had this liquid thing that they drank, and it wasn’t like drinking in qi, so it had never made sense to him why they did it. Weren’t they warriors who could instead drink the blood of their enemies?

Why else would they be warriors? Perhaps they loved the chase. He so loved the chase, the hunt. While he was unable to run on his own, he loved the excitement of being carried into a long hunt, one where he would be used at the end.

Those were the best of times. He loved it when they ended the hunt and he could stab something.

He also loved jokes, but those weren’t as fun as that.

He liked target practice, but- and it was a big but- stabbing a pile of straw was different than stabbing something with a core. Those were the most delicious ones.

The people brought the clickity clacks out and he watched. Some of the symbols he recognized and he was beginning to get some of the matches, but not all.

If he could only see a bit better, then this would be more entertaining. He could ask them to move him a bit closer to see, but they might not take him seriously.

Or, he could try to move a bit closer on his own?

Sa Kon, demon spear of the north, hunter of cores looked around, and seeing no eyes on him, hopped a few inches closer to better see the game.

***

Blue struggled against the weight of the boulder. It was useless. He wasn’t going to be able to do anything with what little qi he had left.

Once his master was done moving boulders, she let him go for the day. Not that he had a lot to do, but he did want to do something productive.

The problem was that he didn’t know what he should be doing. He could keep trying to do the useless exercise which was moving a boulder that he was just a tiny bit too weak to move, or he could try something else.

His master was an excellent runner, and when she jumped, it was the most graceful thing that he had ever seen.

But it had been a day since he visited his favorite point in the Sect.

He walked from the new outer wall area back to the gate, not moving particularly fast. As he walked, he drew in qi. He wouldn’t need much where he was going, just enough to start absorbing qi.

Once inside, he turned directly to the seven story tall monstrous pagoda that haunted his dreams and the twinge in his shoulder.

***

“Oh, now do you see that the young disciple is going to the pagoda? This one wonders if he’s going to try it on his own?”

“He’s arguing with the auntie, but she seems resigned to let him in? Does she think that he gets a special status because the Sects Elder is his master?”

“Wait, she’s waving him in? What is going on?”

***

The fourth realm felt, well it was amazing. Jung remarked about it often to An-Yong, and for his part at least the other cultivator was a receptive ear. Plus when he worked the library he was stuck there for hours and An-Yong had said that he missed the companionship they shared.

“This feels amazing. You’ve got to try it!”

Jung had told him about five times daily, and mostly he received a nod and a resigned sigh.

“You know, this Senior disciple is beginning to think that you’re not interested in this technique as much as you are interested in your books.”

An-Yong sighed as he closed his book, finally looking up to Jung.

“You have my undivided attention, Senior Brother. Tell me about the fourth realm.”

“Have I said before that it’s amazing? Because it is! Everything is just so much easier now!”

“Mmmhmmm.”

An-yong returned to his reading, as Jung punched the air trying to show off.

“Hey!”

“Oh, I’m sorry did you have something relevant to say about it? Can I note some thing down in your path manual for you?”

It was a problem that Jung didn’t know how to read, and he was ready to rectify that. Perhaps today, perhaps not.

“I have another idea,” An-Yong said, “How about I teach you some letters?”

***

“I just don’t understand why she wants to get married? It’s not like I need a wife!”

“She lost her husband almost two months ago, and she’s finally over it, and you’re questioning it?”

“Yes! She needs to mourn for longer!”

“Is that lone cultivator on the third floor? Call my son, let me have him mind the shop. I’ll never admit it to the elder, but I’m kinda glad she made me move up to the surface.”

“You’re going to watch? I’ll mind the shop.”

“Oh thank you, this young prodigy, well I think that I’ve got good odds on him making it to the top on his own within the next two weeks.”

“That's a bold claim. Good of you to put your money on it, now go, learn your fate.”

***

Sometimes making qi was less about drinking in it’s euphoria and more about it keeping you company.

The third floor was a blur, but more importantly, it was enough to fill his dantian to bursting. He was ecstatic, euphoric and he was full.

Shades couldn’t pop up fast enough for him to take them down. As soon as one appeared, he pounced.

Then two came upat the same time and he had to make a choice.

Blue bull rushed the nearest one, then turned on a dime and punched through the other, pulling it’s qi into his dantian. His body arced with cold aura mixing with his qi.

The floor clear, he turned his eyes to the stairwell.

The qi was good company as he ran, taking the steps three at a time. He landed on the fourth floor and looked around for a challenger.

Five shades appeared at the same time, encircling him.

“Good.”

He picked a direction and jumped into a flying kick, connecting with the shade. The two of them hit the opposite wall, and he was sad to see that wasn’t enough for him to take the shade down.

“Don’t go easy… on me!” He said, punching through the pinned shadow.

Four shades rushed him, as he pulled his favorite move, outrunning them. Oh and tripping a few shades.

It wouldn’t work on some of the higher floors, but since they decided to bunch up - and when had that ever worked for them-he was able to sweep three in one go. The fourth saw it coming and jumped out of the way.

Blue vented qi as he met the shade’s punch, catching the black fist in his hand.

“Got you, sucka!”

He kneed the shade in the chest, hard as he pulled in the direction that the shade no longer wanted to go in.

His knee broke the shade up cleanly into two halves. Well, his knee and his pull.

The other three decided that now was a very good time to not be prone on the floor as they all stood up, trying to circle him again.

He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction, running to keep them in an even line, one that was pointedly not about to envelop him. The shades tried to keep up, but for all it’s wonderful features, the pagoda didn’t have all that much space.

That played particularly well with his newly acquired skill set. No space to maneuver met cramped corners and he liked it that way.

The shades rushed in and Blue sighed at the utterly predictable move. He would have to hold out for a stronger tactical shade on a higher level, like the dragon he was just about certain that he could take down himself.

That is if he could make it past these shades that seemed to be gaining speed and not holding back all of a sudden.

Blue met a first, trading blows with one shade as another missed his torso barely. He didn’t see the punch coming to his face, but the stars he saw looked good against the qi his body was trying to shunt into his movement.

“Oh, you want some of this, huh?” He tipped his hand over, forming a knife hand as he faced all three at once.

Three shade kicks converged on his location.

It was too damn bad that he wasn’t there, and the shades all stopped for a second, their snap kicks hitting only the air.

Blue was already sweeping their legs before they were able to orient themselves to reality.

Blue picked the shade on his right, and mounted it, pummeling the shade while the other two flipped up. His fists punched through shade as he found what he was looking for.

That little drip of qi replenished him and the aura around him crackled.

If the shades had eyes, and most shades don’t, they would have widened them at the sight. But since they were made to not fear, the illumination of the qi that was trying to find a meridian to circle through did nothing for them.

Nothing except to put their exact silhouettes into stark contrast. Which would have blinded a regular opponent, Blue knew. He mind want to work on a snow blindness technique on his own. That or a blind fighting ability.

He charged, and the shades both took a step back, pivoting on their front feet to deliver a punishing roundhouse kick, one to his face and one to his stomach.

Flying, he hit into the pagoda walls with a sickening crunch.

Blue realized that he hadn’t seen any new shades form, and there was a probable reason for that. In his pain, he gasped, trying to catch his breath. Had they broken a rib? He quickie ran qi along his dantian, trying to find it, but no he was just crushed against the wall unceremoniously.

He stood up as the two shades looked towards him. Perhaps they had some honor after all.

Blue narrowed his eyes and then he stretched out the qi that he couldn’t use, pushing it like his limited spiritual vision to try and find the weak points of the shades.

There was a reason that more weren’t forming. These two were stopping it, and stealing all of the new qi that would have caused them to come into being.

“Clever shade.”

A large exhale out and he centered himself.

“Hey shade!” He yelled at the man sized creature, ”How do you eat a yak?”

One shade rolled out of his range while the other engaged him. He vented qi, moving faster and then matched three punches in a row to the shade.

His fourth connected, and he found the core he wanted.

“One bite at a time!”

The normal trickle of qi from the shades was in the case a tall glass of juice.

And Blue swallowed it whole.