“You smell terrible.” Anna swept in to the warehouse-turned-warehome and wrinkled her nose. The afternoon sun swept over her back, painting the floor orange and red.

Poppy sat in lotus. Black ichor puddled on the ground around her where it had dripped from her pores; impurity pushed from skin slicked with sweat. But I could see the changes in her already beneath the grime that stained her skin.

Smoother and stronger where qi had reinforced her skin against impacts and blades. Not by a lot; but stronger than a mortal. The process had been painless because of her superhuman physique; it was wrong to think of the people who leveled the same as the mortals of Bloodstone.

She sat more rigidly from the reinforcement of her bones. Her muscles rested easier on her. And her breathing came slow and steady, as if she had spent years practicing the exercises. Her head moved with a palpable intent, always visible in the way cultivators carried themselves.

Poppy smiled, eyes alight with fervor. Even her teeth were stained. The process of opening the meridians and purging every impurity from the body spared no element.

“Anna! Let’s spar!”

“No!” Anna was plugging her nose. “Go shower! And clean the floor too!”

Poppy sighed, then stood and stretched.

Anna squinted at her as she crossed the room and pulled open a wooden box.

“We’ll head to the bath and Sai can buy himself some new clothes. You bring money with you, Sai?” Poppy asked.

“I did.” I said, then before Poppy replied, continued, “But I spent it all. And lost my bag in the dungeon.”

Poppy shook her head.

“So many Trailblazers learn they can level faster by killing other Trailblazers, and in pursuit of easy power, turn on their fellow men. But they screw themselves. No one will team up with them. Word spreads quick. And they normally get stuck before the first tier, since no one is going to help them out with an explaination.”

Poppy threw me a bag of coins.

“New clothes. Shower. Then spar.” Poppy said.

Spearpoint had a private bathhouse with a paid entry, it turned out. Every room inside of it was private and filled with heated water. I replaced my robes, buying spare sets.

Next time I walked between worlds, I would bring food and clothes.

The bathhouse pushed a handful of copper coins as change to me in exchange for the silver coin I presented. Then the attendent lead me to a private room. It emulated a hot spring, but none of it was real.

“I’ll take your sword. No weapons in the rooms.” The attendant said. They laughed nervously.

“The sword stays with me.” I replied with a strained smile.

The attendant laughed and didn’t press the issue. I sunk into scaldingly hot water, staring up and out through the tiny hole that pointed into the sky of a foreign world. The Savage Expanse was becoming more familiar to me. I wondered how different Spearpoint would be on my next travel.

I closed my eyes and replenished my qi. I would need it. Because right after this, I was going back to sparring. I clung to the scabbard of my sword, pressing it against my chest. It was my only anchor in this world.

Poppy opening her meridians would empower her beyond a mortal. But it would take months before they were reinforced enough for her to form a dantian. It would take time I didn’t have.

So I couldn’t help her move any farther. Not until I next returned to the savage expanse.

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Anna leaned back in a chair against the wall of her warehouse. Eros left earlier to hunt for fresh meat for dinner. The Shade’s she buried in Poppy and Sai’s shadow’s moved closer. She looked up before the door swung open.

Poppy strode in first, raising her arms and yawning. Sai followed after.

Anna had conflicted feelings about him. His knowledge was a path to power, yes, but he was dangerous. Not just for being a practioner of a unknown old magic.

His progress was fast. Too fast.

“It’s normal to feel tired after opening your meridians. You should rest.” Sai said. His eyes had that same subtle condescension. His face was always flat. Perfectly controlled. The picture of a perfect noble.

The same kind of nobles who had ignored her begging for coins as an orphan in the streets of their cities. The kind who had no want for feeding the poor if it didn’t benefit him.

Anna felt a tiny spark of anger at it.

“I’m up next.” She said, arms folded.

“For opening your meridians?” Sai said. He looked surprised.

She liked to prod any emotion onto his face she could.

“For sparring.” Anna said. Sai hesitated. He didn’t flinch back or make a face. He just returned to that pool of tranquility, holding back all of his emotions. “You have a limited timeframe, don’t you?”

“I do.” He said. Then, he bowed slightly, folding one hand over another. “I would appreciate your instruction.”

Poppy yawned again.

“I’m going to go take a nap.”

The wooden stairs creaked as Poppy stepped over them. They led up into a set of offices renovated into bedrooms. Anna crossed the room to the little training array they had afforded inside their apartment, letting it buzz to life around her.

Sai hung his bag from a shelf before stepping over. Then he bowed again. Anna felt that spark of anger flare hotter. He was only pretending to be respectful.

“Ready?” Anna asked. Sai nodded.

She shot forward.

In the last few exchanges, she had opened with feints, girded attacks not meant to inflict damage but to train reflexes and approach.

This time, she slammed an open palm towards Sai’s face.

She knew it was too fast for him to block it; too fast for him to dodge it. She pushed herself forward with [Shadow Strike,] an agility oriented skill that allowed her to kick off her own shadow; one she had taken from the dungeon that Sai entered the world from.

Sai blocked.

But that one was just his skill, the Counter he had learned earlier. Almost every good fighter had some kind of Counter. And every one shared the same weakness; a cooldown.

Anna’s next strike came from the other side, a kick faster than Sai could block. Without another skill, the best he could do was use [Vascaran Steel] to absorb the attack —

Sai blocked it again, pushing her backward and off balance. She caught herself with one of her own Shade’s, spinning herself around and throwing the Shade forward in a reflexive attack, but Sai struck the Shade too.

Anna stared, temporarily dumbfounded.

Only earlier in the day, Feng Sai had been light work for her — far too slow to contest her. In the first tier, the qualitative leap in the value of her stats meant that Feng Sai could never approach her. But now, in the afternoon, he seemed stronger than he had been. He still had that perfectly controlled fighting style of smooth movements. She blinked, observing him as he pushed back first the Shade she had thrown toward him, then the second she had embedded in his shadow.

Anna stared as Feng Sai successfully contested two of her Shades, trying to analyze how strong he was.

He wasn’t in the first tier, she knew that. But he was stronger and faster than anyone at level 30 had been, stronger and faster than he should be. Her third shade slipped silently from Poppy’s shadow, swimming across the ceiling above them before dropping down to Feng Sai and successfully landing the first hit on him.

Sai grunted, knocked back in a fight against the three pitch black copies of Anna. They landed dozens of consecutive hits on him beforre he pushed one of them back. Anna flinched as one of her Shades took enough damage to sink back into shadow; not broken, but damaged, and then Feng Sai could fight even with the other two.

This morning he had been so far beneath her level. He still wasn’t at the first tier; if she fought with her three shadows, she could overwhelm him. But no one should get this much stronger this fast.

Anna recalled her Shades. Feng Sai dropped to a knee, panting heavily on the matted surface.

“Thank you… for the instruction.” He gasped out.

“You’re so much faster than this morning.” Anna commented.

“Poppy instructed me on using my attributes with intent. I tried my best to combine them with using my cultivation. I believe I have improved.” Sai unclasped his hands and stood.

“You shouldn’t improve that fast.” Anna said.

Sai looked surprised again.

“Is it dangerous for my foundation?” He asked. “Should I slow down?”

“No! That’s not the point.” Anna said. “You are the wrong person for this. You talk about how much you care about your people. But what about all of the others, Sai?

“You talk about gaining all this power to fight for your poor orphans. But what about the ones in the other cities? In your father’s cities? In your brothers?”

Feng Sai searched her face. His was still implacable, his eyes unwavering in his stare.

“Do you honestly think I can save everyone?” Sai asked.

“I think that you shouldn’t give up without trying.” Anna said.

“You’re an idealist. Is that why you support Poppy? Because she wants to change the entire world?

“Yes.” Anna said. “Poppy will change the entire world.”

Sai stared for a moment more. And then, to Anna’s complete surprised, bowed again, much more deeply, hands folded.

“Thank you for the instruction. You have given me much to reflect on.”