Rubbing my poor, abused cheek, I stumble to my feet, the world spinning around me. If I didn’t feel like throwing up before, I do now. But I’ve years of experience in keeping my puke down, so half a goblet of day-old, warm wine shouldn’t take much of a toll. It’ll only help ease me. I chug the red wine down, my taste buds numb to the sweet fruity flavour. Much of my stress melts away as it goes down my throat. Slamming the goblet down, I groan, craving more.

The ringing in my ears has mostly dissipated, little more than a small irritating whistle inside my head. That smack is going to leave a hell of a mark, shame there’s no mirror in here where I can check if there’s a hand shaped blotch on my face. It’s probably gonna bruise if I don’t get Aia to heal it for me soon. I’ll just say I lost a bet and had to slap myself as punishment if she asks.

I spot one of my shoes upside down on the windowsill and the other tucked neatly in the far-left corner of the room. Drunk Jack is a man of many talents. Successfully collecting my shoes, I realise my socks have disappeared into thin air. They’re not under the bed, not under the bedsheets nor are they on the windowsill like my shoe.

Seriously, how the hell did my shoe get on the goddamn windowsill? And I didn’t know I was a Sorcerer; whose only ability is to make socks vanish off the face of the planet. Maybe I can make socks reappear? I snap my fingers to no avail. A shame. Being able to use Magic would make me an instant millionaire.

Guess I’m leaving without socks then. Putting my shoes on, I feel an electric current in my head. Oh boy, I best answer it, lest he smacks me across my left cheek to even things out.

Just as the pain begins to subside, a new one shoots through my body like a bolt of lightning, and a booming voice screams within my mind, the static agony increasing and decreasing in unison with every syllable.

“JACK! Where the fuck a’ve you run off t'? A’ve been lookin’ all over the damn city for yer signature.”

“Oh, morning Dra’xx, you mind turning the volume down a tad, my ears are a little sensitive at the moment.”

“It’s past noon, boy, and no, yer deserve it! Ah bet you’ve been whorin’ n’ drinkin’ all night, a’ven’t yer? Even though ah told yer not to!”

“Good afternoon, then. And no, I’ve only been drinking, thank you very much. I’ll have you know that I won’t stand for such baseless allegations.”

“Baseless? Boy, then what about that poor girl’s family who just came knockin’ on our door?”

“Fuck, already?”

It’s been five fucking minutes for Heaven’s sake. I’m finally beginning to acclimate to his loud-arse voice, so I hope he doesn’t lose his temper and start shouting again.

“Well, boy, a’ve got a base for that allegation now, a’ven’t I?”

"Oh, fuck."

Sneaky bastard.

“Anyway, tell me where yer are, I’ll bring yer back.”

“Ah, yeah, about that. See, I don’t really know where I am either, to be entirely honest. I was kinda hoping you’d know, considering you found my energy.”

I can imagine him rubbing his temples as he sighs in frustration.

“Fine, boy. Ah know yer general location. Try usin’ some energy fer me, I’ll sniff yer out with my spiritual senses from here.”

I stretch out my index finger, close my eyes and envision my soul and Dantian, which I imagine lies deep in my solar plexus, and squeeze as much energy as I can out of it without causing pain, letting it flow down my arm and up my finger, warmth filling my body.

I try to imagine a blazing fire exploding from my fingertip, and soon as I feel the slightest bit of heat on it, I open my eyes, only to see a flame smaller than a candlelight.

Aw, shucks... oh well, what did I expect, if I used anymore energy I’d be in a world of pain, so this is about right. It’s shameful, but I don’t think I can hold this for much longer, the Seal of Suppression within me too strong to resist. I let out the breath I didn’t realise I was holding, and the fire goes out. This is why I don’t consider myself a cultivator, despite having a Cultivation Base. I’m little more than an ant who’s stuck at the 1st Level of the Mortal Realm power wise.

“Did that work?”

“Sure did, boy. I sensed fire energy, did yer do yer little parlour trick again?”

“Yeah, got a problem with that?”

I sound mock offended but calling my best efforts a parlour trick is still a little painful to hear.

“No, boy, it seems yer the only one who does. I’ll be there in ah minute. Wait outside the buildin’ fer me.”

Dra’xx abruptly cuts off our spiritual connection, his presence all but disappearing. It’s weirdly lonely, not having someone to scream down my ear, but he’ll be back again to do that soon enough. He never uses energy to Amplify his voice, so just imagining how loud that’d be makes my ears ache.

The door's already open from when that woman ran out. I’m glad she didn’t slam it, or the Innkeepers would be pissed and probably pin the blame on me. And then demand gold from me as reparations for causing a disturbance…

I walk out and shut the door behind me, noticing it has the Havaan symbol for woman on it. So that’s why it was so disgustingly pink, it was meant for a woman’s use, a noblewoman in particular. But even they’d feel all that pink is a bit much, right? Maybe add a bit of purple here and there, just to spice things up a little.

There’s a long hallway made from Reinforced hard-oak wood, the best in Peya Vaan, with carpets of dark red and gold. The oil lamps that lit the hall are Energized as far as I can tell. They could probably burn for a good couple days straight until they need refilling. No wonder this place is so damn expensive, it’s ran by cultivators, for cultivators.

Walking down it, I notice most of the rooms aren’t occupied as they’re being cleaned and tidied. That’s only expected, not many bigwigs come to Peya Vaan, unless their favourite dancer or showman is making their round.

This is probably Imperial owned, and not at all profitable, but mandatory. The high-nobles wouldn’t deign to sleep in something privately owned by a lower-nobility. Turns out I snagged a room on the second floor, the cheapest floor to be on. Looks like drunk Jack at least somewhat knew what he was doing.

Nobles and their posturing, as if being on a higher floor than someone else means you're better than them. I’d bet most of the rooms on the top floor are occupied by snobby bastards who place their honour and face higher than their coin. Ridiculous.

I reach the first floor, and the receptionist seems like he recognises me, rather, recognises the red mark on my face. He greets me with an amiable smile through his thick, greying beard and nostalgic eyes.

“Was that your woman who just ran out in tears?”

He says, already knowing the answer.

“Eh, something like that.”

“Best sort that out quickly, a man of status such as yourself wouldn’t like to lose face over a small lover’s spat. No need to pay us off, rumours of this will not spread, we swear it on this establishment’s good name.”

“Thank you, Senior, good day.”

The man doesn’t know who I am anyway, so even if he did spread rumours it wouldn’t affect me, but he must pretend to at least know my status, lest he offends me and makes me lose face. I don’t like this face bullshit, but I’m thankful it isn’t that prominent in the Southern Empire, but it still has a noticeable presence.

I clasp my hands in salute to the man and bow, which he does back to me in turn. A stone-faced woman opens the double-doors for me, because opening doors is far too difficult for my noble self, right? The doors are painted with murals of the Divine Phoenix, one door showing its rebirth and the other showing the Phoenix gifting us Divine Fire, which flows through Imperial blood to this day. Never cared for the Phoenix, but I admit it’s kind of cool that a peanut-brained Phoenix managed to cultivate to the God Realm and gift the Empire's founder the Nirvanic Fire of Rebirth.

The doors shut behind me with a bang after I walk out, catching the attention of a couple of merchants and their carriage drivers, but they quickly lose interest and go back to pissing about with abacuses or doing whatever merchants do. Many a white sack likely packed with rice sit stacked upon each other neatly in the carriages, seeing as that’s a lot of what most people eat from day to day in this city.

I walk down the giant stone steps chiselled with art of the Divine Phoenix. I don't think they thought this through, I'm stepping on the Divine Phoenix, their God, and no one seems to care. Whatever.

The building creates a massive shadow over the packed streets. It’s several stories high, towering over the surrounding shops and bakeries and what have you. I don’t recognise this area one bit, but it seems to be one hell of a popular place to set up shop and do business, a trade centre just down the street. A path made of concrete tells of the area’s importance and wealth. And the fact that it smells like pastries and fruits instead of shit, too, unlike most of the city.

I decide to wait for Dra’xx off to the side of the Imperial Inn, where a few passer-by’s and rich looking merchants give me a couple strange looks, both because my ragged clothing and seemingly obvious injury. Maybe it’s swelling or bruising, but I'm sure it’s not been long enough for that to begin yet. I’m adamant in my refusal to acknowledge it, my back straight, chin up and shoulders relaxed under their disapproving stares. I let out a noisy and obnoxious yawn without covering my mouth, to add insult to, well, insult. Tiny little things like this make them feel as if they’ve lost face, which is hilarious to watch. But I still pretend to be unaware of my slight and their existence.

A few minutes later and Dra’xx arrives on his armoured black horse, Belarva, his bald head reflecting sunlight into my eyes, which sends a painful stab through my head, making me look away. I swear he does it on purpose.

He’s in his usual outside wear, Reinforced steel armour, which makes it seem like he’s about to go to battle. He says he does it to ward off any potential assassins in case they come for me, but that hasn’t happened yet, so I think I’m good on that front.

Anyone who’d want to murder me would have the means to do so, and last night was a perfect opportunity wasted. Dra’xx looks down at me from his horse, who also looks down at me. That thing is massive, slighter taller than me and buffer too. She also has a higher cultivation than me, which is… demoralizing to say the least.

“Boy, the hell happened to yer?”

“Oh, uh, nothing too big. Just lost a bet and had to slap myself, no big deal.”

“That’s the worst excuse a’ve ever heard, boy. Only Aia’d believe that bullshit. Ah no yer better than that, even if yer were drunk, ain’t no chance yer’d take a bet yer a’ve a chance at losin’ in. S’pose it was a woman, ay, boy? Ah can smell the stench of wine n’ sex from up here. One hell of a slap on her, that one.”

“You’re right about that, let me tell you.”

I try climbing onto Belarva, but Dra’xx pushes me back down.

“Yer remember what ah said, boy? About whorin’?”

Oh shit, is my karma not balanced yet? How much more do I have to take?

“W-well, technically, there was no whoring involved this time around. Just a good old, uh,” I think back on what the old receptionist said to me. “Lover’s spat?”

Dra’xx cackles in response, uncaring about the attention he’s bringing to himself.

“Boy, yer think ah care? How much’d yer spend this time, ay?”

Of course, he asked the question I least wanted to answer. I move my hand to the pocket my coin purse is in, defensive of it.

“Couple, uh, couple gold coins.”

“Think ah’d believe that? Yer standin' outside an Imperial Inn! Again, I ain’t Aia, boy. Yer gonna be runnin’ back t’ the Manor.”

“Oh, come on, that’s a bit much isn’t—”

An incredible snapping pierces my skull and blows me a couple steps back due to the impressive shockwave. Ah yes, the ‘snap’: Dra’xx’s personal favourite. Thinks he’s all cool just because he can break the sound barrier with a single snap of his fingers without using energy. Well, everyone else seems to think so, considering their all looking at him in half reverence, half fear.

“Alright, you make a convincing argument. I concede.”

My hearing's going to go one of these days. Although he does it near enough every week, it’s never less terrifying than the first time. I comb my dark, brown greasy hair with my fingers, putting it back into place after it got blown back. Whispers and chatters fill the street, and hushed laughter from some of the rice merchants I snubbed.

Dra’xx twists his head around and stares each of them in the eyes, releasing his spiritual pressure and scaring the life out them. They freeze in place even after he starts to leave on the horse. Everyone takes that as their cue to go back to whatever business they were focusing on, although much stiffer and forced than before.

Rushing to catch up to him, my head splitting with every step, I ask.

“There’s something I’ve noticed, you really hate merchants, don’t you?”

Pleased to see I’m embarrassing myself in public, he strokes his, admittedly fantastic, grey beard and smiles.

“Aye, ah might’ve somethin’ of a grudge, and fer good reason. Find me a merchant or tradesmen who cares about somethin’ more than turnin’ a profit, n’ ah’ll give yer every damn coin in my purse.”

“Bad experience?”

“Boy, yer don’t know the half of it. When yer down at the Fortress and yer get letters sayin’ supply shipments ain’t comin’ fer another good few days, claimin’ they got robbed by bandits or summit, even though everyone n’ their mother knows that’s bullshit, n’ when the supplies do come, yer ain’t even got half of what yer paid fer, which they say was a ‘miscalculation’ on their part. All fer the sake of savin’ on costs, or a veiled insult towards whatever noble ordered em’. It’s like they’re not aware we were fightin’ fer our lives there. The one’s from Vaya Vaan are the one’s yer need t’ watch out fer, robbin’ bastards, the lot of em’.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Very illegal boy, but that hasn’t been happenin’ too often no more ever since the previous Emperor cracked down on em’ ages ago. Hung 10s of em’ upside down n’ flayed em’ alive for all to see, some of them killed without any real evidence of wrongdoing, showed just how serious we’d be takin’ shit like that from now on.”

Brutal, that old bastard didn’t play around. Now I really don’t regret never meeting him before he died. Too scary.

We’re going uphill from hereon, the Manor at one of the highest points in the city. The whole place was built on a mountain range, and the higher you go, the more fancy the place gets. At the peak of it is the city lords’ Manor, who oversee the entire city. There’s a certain balcony in the Rei Ui’s Manor where you can see everything, from the distant slums to the Tower of the Phoenix, a thirty story tall obelisk built by a bored Heaven Realm cultivator for no reason in the centre of the city 300 years ago.

Boasting the largest entertainment district in the Empire, there’s a constant amount noise coming from the city, day or night, which makes me appreciative that I live on the mountain where much of it doesn’t affect me. But that gratitude is cancelled out by the pain of walking up and down the damn thing. Running up it is another story.

Less and less people fill the streets of the upward slope, and the one’s who do stare with unbridled disdain, dressed in their red and white robes. Some have the Divine Phoenix embroidered into the backs of their gowns, and depictions of its rebirth sewed into their sashes. They must be more important than those without, which are most of them.

No one would dare walk into the Rei Ui’s territory dressed in such destitute wear but seeing how I’m jogging aside he who they call the ‘Mad Dog’, not one of them speaks up about it. With my weak spiritual senses, I can tell the one’s with the Phoenix stitched into every article are Cultivators, but even they seem to fear little old Dra’xx. He says he’s in the Mortal Realm, but I don’t believe it. They’re also in the Mortal Realm, but they seem to be warned against going near him by their most basic of instincts, moving aside for both him and me out of respect and terror. The bastard’s smiling, enjoying the attention, and I am too. It’s hilarious watching these arrogant disciples of the Rei Ui shrink back at the sight of Dra’xx. In this regard, I idolise him. I want that too, damnit!

It’s annoying having to go through Rei Ui territory every time I want to go in and out of the Manor, but it’s necessary if we want to be secure and out the public eye. Most people don’t know there’s a Cal Mira Manor and those who do think it a Branch Manor of the Rei Ui, which isn’t all that inaccurate.

We’ve been going straight up the hill for a while now and I’m starting to get tired, but the real challenge hasn’t begun yet. Dra’xx takes a sharp turn right down off the beaten path, where the ground transitions from hard concrete to wet, thick mud. Stopping to look up the sloped forest area, I lament on my life choices. Walking up and down the slope is easy, I do it near enough daily, but running up it while hungover? Hell. It’ll be hell. I’m not wearing socks, and my feet are already wet, my tattered leather shoes covered with small tears. I’m going to have blisters all over my feet by the end of this. Imagining myself tripping up on one of the many tree roots sticking out the dirt while Dra’xx laughs bring tears to my eyes.

“What yer stallin’ fer, boy,” Dra’xx shouts, looking back from his horse who’s already a long way up the hill. “Get runnin’!”

He snaps his fingers again, this time not in my face so it’s less impactful. But it still manages to blow the trees back, and a small but thick branch flying into my nose.

“Ow, alright, fucking hell!”

Rubbing my poor nose, I get back to jogging, watching my step along the way. Dra’xx doesn’t seem to be satisfied as he snaps his fingers again. Expecting it, I shield my face from the oncoming projectiles, so I don’t end up with a broken nose on top of a possibly broken cheekbone. This time, a sizeable rock flies into my stomach, causing me to hunch over.

“Faster, boy! As fast as yer can, make it a good workout!”

I retch and vomit up all the wine I drank last night and today, with almost no food to be seen in there. Did I not eat last night? Despite the burning in the back of my throat and the acidic taste in my mouth, I’m starving. I spit what’s left of the vomit in my mouth onto the ground.

“Throw up later, boy. Run!”

He threatens to snap his fingers again, only a single movement between me and abusive rocks, sticks and leaves.

“Alright, Calm down!”

Before he tries to kill me with nature again, I sprint off after Dra’xx, who’s ages away by now. Even if he snapped, I think I’d be fine, but knowing my luck, it’s possible I’ll get whacked again, so I don’t chance it.

Five minutes after and I’m already panting like a dog, beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I was already sweaty, but now I’m drenched. A nice warm bath is all I want right now. Dra’xx is still ahead of me, and unmounted Belarva, citing her ‘too slow’. At least you get a horse, old bastard. Tugging her along up the hill by the lead in his hand, he’s already close to the finish line. Whereas I’m down here, covered in dirt and scrapes from the times I fell over, luckily out of Dra’xx’s sight. Not paying attention, I get scratched across the face by a sharp branch. My skins tough, so it doesn’t break, but it still hurts like a bitch.

“Hurry it up, boy! Yer faster than this!”

“You’re forgetting… I’m hungover… you senile… bastard.”

I retort, gasping for air in between words. It’s hard to shout when you can barely speak.

“Yer never told me, there wasn’t nothin’ t’ forget.”

“There’s a thing… called… inference… damnit!”

“Hmph. No matter, this is punishment remember? It’s s’pose t’ be demandin’. With that said, hurry t’ up!”

“Aye… Captain.”

“Ah ain’t been a Captain in 300 years, boy. If yer gonna play army, call me Colonel General.”

“That’s… too much… of… a mouthful.”

“Tis, isn’t it? That’s why no one calls me that anymore.”

He used to be one of the three Colonel Generals that commanded the Fortress, a massive wall 50 feet up at its lowest point. He alone commanded more than a million soldiers of the Imperial Army, which might be why he’s so evil when it comes to punishments and sanctions.

My lungs are burning and my breathing is wheezy. My legs are shaking and almost unable to support me for much longer, which is why I’m so elated when I take that oh so satisfying last step onto the grassy flat land where the Manor sits. Dra’xx is waiting for me at the pretentious gate with Belarva so I stumble over to them.

“C’mere, boy. Ah’ll detoxify yeh.”

“Could’ve… done that… a bit… sooner.”

“Wouldn’t a’ve been a punishment if t’ were easy. If yer weren’t hungover, yer would’ve ran up t’ hill without a sweat, n’ that ain’t funny t’ watch.”

Dra’xx pats me on the shoulder, a blue light flowing from his palm into my body, cleansing it of any impurities that plague me. My headache disappears and my stomach stops churning every two seconds, but my muscles remain as sore as ever. My mind is clear and refreshed despite my beaten body. Detoxification doesn’t Heal, only purifies, and I don’t think Dra’xx ever learned how to Heal. And now I really need a piss.

“Do you think… you can heal this, as well.”

I point to my cheek, which he smirks at.

“No. Sorry, I don’t boy, can’t heal anyone other than myself, never learned. Go t’ Aia, girl’s a genius when t’ comes to that shit.”

Knew it. Well, whatever.

“Where is she?”

“Dunno. Said she was takin’ a bath. Must be finished by now, though,” he paused and sniffs the air around me. “Speakin’ o’ baths, yer need one, go get yerself cleaned up, n’ be in the courtyard by the evenin’ fer trainin’. Ah got somethin’ special planned.”

Uh oh. That can’t be anything but bad news. I want no part in it, but I don’t have a choice. I don’t feel like taking a nap anymore, so I’m going to take a bath then read for a while. I found something cool about the ‘Adherents’ of the far east, believers in the teachings of the Immortal Prophet and the True Gods. Never knew the Manor Archive had foreign books in it, so I’m quite interested. It’ll help keep my mind off the Rei Ui too. I’m in no mood to think about how I’m going to deal with that when it comes.

Dra’xx walks to the side of the Manor, where the stables for our horses are, but is stopped on the way by one of our servants, Mari’x. She hands him a tied scroll and then goes back into the large entranceway of the Manor to do whatever servants do. I can’t tell who or where it’s from, but as he sees who the sender is, his lips curl up in a wide smile. Weird, it’s not sadistic for once.