The Third Step: Chapter Seventy-Three

“So at the end of the day, you need money,” I said, glancing around the group while taking a sip from my cup of coffee. Unfortunately for you, I really don’t have much rent money. What little money I had was just spent on advancement resources, and I only have about two dozen Mossford Standard Silver in cash. Not sure how that converts to tael.” 

It had taken the group quite some time to be convinced that I really wasn’t going to just kill them all. The solar mage, in particular, had been frozen in terror, seemingly unable to move, talk, or even think, while the swordsman had thrown himself at my feet, and children had begun to cry as they begged for their lives. Literally, they begged me not to kill them, and the whole thing made me feel disgusted with myself. I should have just teleported away. That might have frightened them, but it wouldn’t have made things this bad. It also wouldn’t have fixed the underlying issues, and I knew that, but I didn’t like seeing them so distressed. 

In the end, it hadn’t been anything I’d said that had convinced them, it had been the fact that I’d pulled a carafe of iced coffee out of the kitchen fridge, some sandwiches, and a couple of glasses, then poured all of us some coffee, before putting the carafe back and taking out some cream. That had finally calmed them enough that I was able to ask them why they were on the streets, and I hadn’t liked what I’d found. 

Both of the kids, Nai Gu and Nai Lin, had been fosters that had been turned out onto the street. They’d lacked the money or magical talent needed to join the Silent River Sect or any of the smaller sects, finishing schools, or trade academies in the area. They had drifted from odd job to odd job, never making quite enough, and now they were months behind on rent at their cramped apartment with overdrawn lines of credit, and had been forced to abandon their home and band together. 

The dao using man, Wang Po, had lived a rough life, and he traced a lot of it back to the soul damage he’d suffered as a teen. Like I’d detected, he had used an ill-made pill in the military, who claimed that he’d simply used it wrong. Maybe he had, I didn’t know, but the military had refused to heal him, and his family hadn’t had the money for a treatment. The wound had festered and gotten worse with every passing year, until he’d been dishonorably discharged due to not even being able to operate a mana cannon anymore. I didn’t quite understand why that disqualified him from holding down a normal job, but it apparently did, and he spoke with enough earnestness that I believed him.

The solar mage, Mei Nguyen, had probably possessed the best start to life. She’d had enough combat skill to pass the Librarian Sect trials, and had been given her one spell. I thought the fact that they needed to prove combat competence to access anything higher than ungated magic was ridiculous, but the Storm King’s rules were harsh, and enforced on all his vassal nations. She had fallen on working in a gym as a trainer, until someone from a local sect had punched her hard enough to rupture a rib. That required an expensive healer visit, and the sect had claimed that she took on those risks as a trainer and refused to pay. So she’d gone to a nonmagical healer, and now she was still on the mend. While injured, she wasn’t able to work, and was forced to essentially max out her own lines of credit, meaning once she was well enough to get up and moving, she was homeless, out of a job, and in debt. 

They’d all found one another, and though robbing didn’t pay much, it got them food, and sometimes shelter. Where they were, that was sometimes enough.

“While I don’t have much money for you, I can do a few things,” I said. “I’m not sure anyone below an Occultist healer can repair decades-old spiritual damage, but creating a few elixirs to reduce the pain of your injury is possible.” 

“You don’t need to do that,” the man objected.

“I know,” I said, holding up a hand. “I choose to. The cost is low to me.” 

Truthfully, it would cost me even less than he knew. I’d have to massively dilute the concentration of the spiritbalm and other components in order to treat an injury to ungated mana, meaning that the process that would give me one usable tincture would produce literally dozens for him. I pulled out the fourth gate potion and did some quick mental math, before instructing him on how much to dilute in water for it to roughly equalize to an ungated effect. 

“Nai Gu, Nai Lin, I’m afraid there’s less I can do for you all,” I admitted. “Maybe if I were a few years older, I could offer you work at my guild, but…” 

I reached into Dusk’s realm and this time retrieved a handful of blood carnations, sunset marigolds, and dewdrop feverfew. They were some of my most populous plants in my garden, and while the marigolds and feverfew weren’t especially valuable, fourth gate blood carnations were reasonably expensive. I added in some soultoad seat for good measure, and then passed it to Nai Lin. 

“These should sell well enough at any alchemist’s shop,” I said. “I’m not sure if you have developed enough for a legacy and mana type test yet, but if you want, before the end of the tournament, I’ll track you both down and perform a test to check.” 

The twins shot one another a look, then turned and looked back at me, before nodding their heads rapidly. I reached out and pressed a finger to either of their foreheads, placing spatial anchors on the both of them.

“That should let me track you down, then.” 

Finally, my gaze settled on Mei Nguyen, the solar mage. She bowed, even though she was seated, and the shifting must have caused some pain in her still-recovering state.  

“Honored Expert, there is no need for you to assist me.” 

I waved my hand. Mei Nguyen had been using the term ‘expert’ for me ever since she’d found out I was a fourth gate mage, but I couldn’t see why. I was no expert at anything. But it was a cultural thing, so I didn’t argue, and instead passed her a vial containing a faintly glowing green liquid: an older regeneration elixir, from when I’d been second gate. 

“You are lucky that your ribs were set back in place by a mundane doctor, as I would have needed to call someone else in order to do the healing,” I said. “But since they’re in the right place, this regeneration elixir will do well to bring you back to full health. I can’t offer you much more than a few plants for your debts, but I hope that maybe you will be able to get off the street.” 

As I passed over some plants, actual tears filled the eyes of both Wang Po and Mei Nguyen, though for different reasons. Wang Po had added a drop of the elixir to his drink, and was feeling the relief rushing through him for the first time in years, while Mei Nguyen drank the too-potent elixir and felt the healing sting that was both painful and pleasant.

“As soon as I’m strong enough, I can form a guild of my own,” I told the group. “If I can, I’ll see about returning. Mei Nguyen, you said you were a gym trainer. I could use one of those. If you were in the military, Wang Po, then perhaps you could teach some of the swordsmanship. Maybe you two could become members, Nai Gu, Nai Lyn.” 

The group stared at me, confusion written clear on all of their faces. Nai Gu and Lyn might just be confused why I’d recruit seemingly random people, and ones whose skill at ungated mana manipulation hadn’t been impressive enough to get them into a sect, but Wang Po and Mei Nguyen’s confusion was more obvious. 

“I might have beaten you, but I’m also much faster than you, much stronger, and have a better reaction time. Take my magic and physical might away, and I’m not entirely sure I’m better than either of you in a straight melee fight. Certainly not in a four on one. I’m not a master of the sword, nor a master of unarmed combat. I only have a few years experience fighting, and I’ve never trained anyone else.” 

“I suppose that makes sense,” Mei Nguyen agreed. I beamed at the group, then clapped my hands, spinning up some spatial anchors and using Reposition Anchor to place them inside each of the glasses. 

“Well, I’ve got a blood mage and sword mage that I need to track down. Enjoy the rest of your coffee. The glasses will vanish in half an hour or so.” 

At that, I climbed to my feet, stretched, and Foxstepped onto the wall, then onto the roof of a building, and back into the crowd. That had been a pleasant little distraction, but I really did need to– A hand seized me, moving with a speed and strength that I couldn’t break, as the presence of a water-based Arcanist bloomed behind me, grabbing me by my arm and lifting me into the air. 

“You’re slippery,” he said. “I was waiting for you to come out the normal way, but you had to teleport.” 

I kicked him in between the legs, and the man let out a sound, but not as much of one as I would have expected. 

“Yeah, that’s fair,” he said. “I’m going to let you down now. Please, don’t run away – I want to talk.” 

I was set down, and I turned to see a man in his late twenties or early thirties, with silver eyes and black hair that seemed to be drifting loosely, like he was submerged in water. His hands were covered in silvery scales, but not like a dragon, more like a fish. He gave me an apologetic smile and nodded. 

“You’re the fox competitor, in the Expert bracket. You used some sort of aura attack to hit everyone in the arena at once.” 

“No, I’m Mala–” 

“No, you really are. I can tell. It’s not obvious, you’ve got a mask, a tail, and your mana feels different, but you move the same way, and you use the same human spatial magic. Not sure how you’re hiding your power so thoroughly, but it’s not my business to pry into other competitor’s secrets.” 

“Who are you?” I asked, frowning somewhat doubtfully. That got a good laugh out of him, and he shrugged. 

“My name is Chen Liyu, a competitor in the Elder bracket of the tournament,” Chen Liyu said, then smiled. “I honestly wasn’t seeking you out until I felt the fight go down on the edge of my senses. I came over, and imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw what you did.”

Something about the name sounded vaguely familiar, and I thought I might have heard of him once or twice. 

“Pleasant surprise?” I asked, and Chen Liyu nodded seriously. As he did, water seemed to fill the air around us to my mana senses, perhaps some sort of obscurement technique. 

“Pleasant. I mean that. And I would like to make the world more pleasant.” 

He extended a hand and pressed onto my own. I felt as a folded sheet of paper moved out of his storage ring, and I pulled it into Dusk’s realm on instinct. He was clearly hiding this, so I would play along. As soon as it slipped into Dusk’s realm, the sphere of non-real water vanished. 

“Good to meet a fellow competitor, even if in a different bracket. Best of luck finding your sword mage,” he said, before smiling and walking away, waving lazily. “If I see you in the training rooms, we should spar some time.”