After a pause, she continues, “There is something else that we should probably discuss. It’s time for everyone to reconvene in the main room. There are a few things we can bring to the table… Are you ready to go?”

At that statement, for some reason, it reminds me of the prompts you would get in a video game. ‘Are you sure you are ready to head out? After this point, you cannot turn back…’

Nonetheless, I don’t really have any other choice. I’m as prepared as I can think of right now. I know there are things I’m missing, but I think with time and caution… I can go from here.

Plus, there are some things I have to know, like about cultivators and how we can get this started for our group.

Taking this seriously, I nod slowly and stand up. She nods back. She does pause, though.

With a sly smile, she adds, “You should probably wait for your clothes to dry first, before heading upstairs though. I really don’t mind if you’re naked, though. Really.”

Ah. Right. Clothes.

Looking down, I slowly dip back into the water. “I… I’ll meet you up there later, then.”

“If you want to dry it quicker, there are warm vents and towel wrappers near the walls. I like to dry my clothes at that spot.” After that aside, she heads back into the tunnel to the surface.

Well. That was embarrassing.

Looking down at my clothes, my stomach jumps, as I can no longer see even a hint of blood on them. Carried away by the stream.

Like it never happened…

I pause. Emptying my mind. Focusing on what needs to be done. Moving forward.

I have to keep moving. Life doesn’t wait for anyone.

After I’ve fully dried my clothes, I quickly head up to the main room.

As usual, I practice not stepping on the threads. At a glance as I enter, I can see that a large, table-like rock with chairs around it has been setup in the center of the room. I thought this was just a web table before, but from this angle, it’s clearly a carved rock. Still covered in webs, though.

Seated in two of the chairs are Lin and Ai. Because of her body’s size, Gong is obviously not in a chair, though her legs are folded in closely. They seem to be discussing something intently, which quickly stops as I enter the room.

In particular, Gong seems surprised and is staring at the floor, likely at the transparent threads.

I can only imagine the thoughts she’s having on why I seem to miss most of them. I can probably expect her to lay down a few more of them. More practice for me.

Ai turns to me, “Good afternoon James, it’s good to see you again.” She seems to be in her element, running the discussion.

“Same here. I hear it’s time to reveal what we’ve come up with thus far?”

She nods and continues, “Yeah, though the key question for this discussion will be on what we should do as a group starting from here. Each of us made it through, using unique skills, but some of those may not be as pertinent anymore, now that we have each other.”

Gesturing to her sister, who is silent, “Using my sister as an example, she is used to pickpocketing and stealing to help us survive.”

It is at this point; I notice the bags under Ai’s eyes. “It has taken quite a bit to disabuse her of the notion, that she needs to continue doing that.” While Lin seems to be frowning, she isn’t disagreeing, so they must have made some progress on that front.

I agree with Ai, though. Stealing and pickpocketing is a slippery slope and not only regarding the crime aspect. It’s too risky to do, especially in a cultivation world. From what Lin herself told me about life in this city, it isn’t uncommon to find yourself dead from messing with the wrong person. Lin just has more experience in reading people, but even that could fail, eventually. Not only that, it could bring only the wrong kind of attention on everyone.

I feel like I may be slightly hypocritical here.

Huh. Must be my imagination.

I tune back in, “… we believe that Lin’s skills are better used in that respect. Reading people is exceptionally good for negotiations. We’ll be needing protection though, to show that we can’t be pushed around. Gong mentioned she may be able to help on that side.”

Gong speaks up, “Yeah, I believe we may have a much easier time of things, thanks to James over here,” casually waves toward me. “You may remember he mentioned before we left for here, that he has the ability to tame creatures. In particular, he mentioned insects.” Seeing nods in confirmation, she continues, “Well. He was right when he said millions of insects.”

Ai and Lin take a deep breath, but seem only a little surprised. Gong doesn’t stop though. “In fact, he’s already tamed a small army of spiders I was already raising.” She gets a little more excited at this point. “And listen to this. He can grant control to specific people. Which, and I know you are already thinking of this Ai, means that we can have patrols and guards setup.”

Ai taps the table, “So, does this mean you have full control of the spider army at the moment?”

Not even hesitating, Gong responds, “Yes, though this will be one of the few things that we can allow to be in the open. As you two might know, there were demi-humans in the past that were able to control creatures similar to their spirit-beast side.

“Before James was here, I was able to get some measure of control over my spider bab… army. Since I was an information broker, but needed some measure of protection, I always hinted that I had the ability to overwhelm someone with spiders, if crossed.

“With some creative work, I was able to fool most of them into believing that. Which kept any prying eyes out of my territory.”

She takes a breath before continuing.

“With James help, I now have complete control over them. If I pass this along to my contacts, I can exert control over this area… making it a safe place to do business, whatever type of business that is.”

Lin speaks up, “Gong, you mentioned before this conversation, that the gangs of this area are territorial. So, they won’t take offense to you staking out this area?”

“Not really. This area is outside of the major roads and has been considered mine for a long time… Really, I have my friends both on the inside of one of the bigger gangs and outside of them to thank for that. This area isn’t protected by a gang or the city, per se, but is watched over by me. And I had just enough influence to claim it. Now? I have the power to back it up.”

Ai interjects, “What about the caverns underground? From what I’ve seen, many of them extend far deep underground, but also across. Farther than what I guess your ‘borders’ are.”

Rubbing her head, she responds, “Ah, I forgot you wouldn’t know, since you are human. You may have noticed on your side of the city, that no one lives in the sewers or digs underground areas, right?”

Ai and Lin look at each other and nod. They also glance at me, but I shrug.

How am I supposed to know?

They make the ‘oh right,’ face and look back.

“That’s because there are a variety of creatures who live underground, with a small number being deadly. Even in these caves, the only reason we can walk around without worrying, is because of the spider army constantly hunting. Most demi-humans don’t dig around because eventually a creature will dig up into their underground area… and sometimes that won’t turn out well for the demi-human and their family.

“Most times, either in your old section or this one, they won’t come even close to the surface. It’s a near negligible concern. However, there is always the risk, in this area, of it happening.

“That’s also why others avoid this area, since it is covered in these caverns. They believe anyone who could live underground, in the part of the city where most of the monsters live, is dangerous and shouldn’t be tested. For the one fool who openly tested that assumption, I had to make an example of them.

After that, I found out they gave me this area because it is dangerous and not worth them clearing out.”

At that statement, Ai, Lin, and I look at each other… nonverbally reaffirming to not mess with Gong.