Of course it is…
Solace sighed as he stared at the string of characters on the [Skill Shard] scanner.
[Matter Creation AI8-JA], it read.
Unlike the other Powers, the Corporations cataloged their skills by key characteristics rather than assigning names.
The problem here wasn’t the practice—he was actually quite happy that he wouldn’t have to memorize pedantic names for abilities. No, it was what the serial information in front of him meant.
The “Matter Creation” was self explanatory, and the “AI” represented the element code for air while the eight indicated the Tier of complexity of the [Skill]. The JA specified the exact [Skill] grouping or family of [Skills] with similar characteristics. But what did it all mean together?
The [Skill] he got created air. Created air. It did not create water, dirt, stone, or any other matter, but air.
For a brief moment, Solace was extremely upset, his mind going through all of the [Skills] he could have gotten at Tier 8 complexity. Manipulations, self-enhancements, traps, everything that had been exhibited by the eight Tier 3 bosses. He would have been extremely happy with the fireball [Skill], [Ranged Explosion FI8-BA], or the one that let him have a second jump.
He curled his fists tightly, but then took a deep breath and let everything go, resigned.
What did I expect?
He, the origins of Solace’s suffering, despised luck based loot of any sort. If there was any room for fortune, Solace would always get the worst or adjacent outcome. It was why Solace tried his best to be meticulous. It also meant that Solace would have to always work towards tangible set rewards rather than try his luck within things like rifts.
It could have been worse.
What a worse [Skill] could have been, he did not know, but he didn’t bother thinking about that. Instead, he debated between absorbing or selling his reward and using the money to buy better gear. After taking a look at the going market rate for [Matter Creation AI8-JA], which was also listed on the lower left-hand corner screen, he ultimately decided to keep the [Skill] for himself.
The gear he could afford with the money wasn’t going to scale well in the long term, and the [Skill] would give him the ability to practice his mana manipulation in a way he couldn’t before for future [Skills]. Plus, his mind was already working up possible applications for his newly acquired [Skill] as he took it back from the machine and exited the building.
But first he would have to actually absorb the [Skill] from the [Skill Shard]. He had purchased an information packet on it this morning, and the gist of the endeavor was to secure the object onto one’s body and send a strand of personal essence into it. From there, the [Skill] within the shard would travel into his Spirit.
The packet made sure to explain that the Spirit had three regions in which the [Skill] could rest: outer, inner, and central. The closer to the cultivation cores the [Skill] was in the Spirit, the better the efficiency, efficacy, and cost. Unfortunately, the deeper regions also had less available “spaces” that the [Skill] could reside in. At Tier 2, the central area only had two while his outer Spirit could hold twenty. It was a fact that was important to know but wasn’t immediately relevant since Solace only had the one shard anyways.
He popped the shard back into his mouth and underneath his tongue, sending a strand of essence into the object. The shard seemed to gently channel his essence, circulating it before feeding it back to him, an interesting automatic process. It would take three days for the [Skill] to reach the central area of his Spirit, one for each region it had to pass into.
Outside, the sun was just past its zenith. The moment the hospital had discharged him, he had located the nearest [Skill] scanner and made his way there. Now, he decided it was time to resume his routine from before the rift challenge.
Solace made his way towards the train and rode it to Edison’s shop. When he entered the building, he noticed that the display racks of gear were disorganized and that several pieces needed to be repolished. He made his way past the main area and into the back, approaching the staff computer and signing in. What he saw made him frown.
The list of tasks left for him were the exact same as before, despite the almost three full days he had been gone. Normally, Edison would always add new ones every morning, so he was mildly confused.
Fortunately, the confusion didn’t last for very long.
“You’re back,” his employer’s voice came from behind him. Her voice was terse and serious. She was upset.
“Yes,” Solace said while turning around. “I’m sorry about having to take the unexpected and sudden break, but I’m here now. I noticed that you haven’t updated the list of jobs for me.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Take a seat,” Edison said, grabbing one of the chairs near her.
Solace complied, moving to sit on the chair closest to the desk on which the computer rested.
“Are we talking about my break or did something happen involving the shop?” He asked.
“Both.” Edison steepled the fingers of her hands together as she elaborated. “Basically, your injuries raised a flag on one of the AIs managing medical information. Paired with the way that I had set up your job, paying by task rather than hour, an investigation was filed on whether or not the shop was giving you a wage on which you could survive. It’s illegal for an employer to put employees in a financial situation in which they may do something desperate like risk their lives delving a rift above their Tier—which you have apparently been doing despite what I said about being safe!”
Solace winced at the unexpected outcome. “I didn’t realize that my decision would affect you.”
“Well, it did. And now I’m being forced to either let you go with severance pay or redraft your contract to meet the requirements the legal representative set.”
It was an unpleasant ultimatum, especially since it involved his immediate future.
“And which did you choose?” Solace asked.
“Neither, because the whole thing is blatant manipulation.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just—just take a look behind you. I’ve pulled up everything pertinent.”
Solace turned around. On the computer screen now sat several digital documents, uploaded and accessed by what he assumed was Edison’s own AI implant.
Going through everything, it only took a couple of minutes for him to understand. The severance pay was calculated to be only a month’s wages for the average working Tier 1 while the requirements to retain Solace involved an increase in payment scaling with his current Tier.
It basically meant that it was far, far cheaper to fire Solace than it was to keep him. For something supposedly meant to benefit him, the whole thing seemed to push for his dismissal rather than for any reasonable benefits. Doubly dubious was the clause forcing Edison to show Solace an attached document listing alternatives to his current job—all of them long term contracts to work under one of several corporations.
Manipulative indeed.
“I can see why you’re so angry,” Solace said when he was done, turning back around. “But what are you going to do if you’re not going to do what they want?”
Edison sighed. “Well, it all comes down to your decision. Do you want to continue working here?”
“Yes,” he said immediately. He had already looked at his other options and the terms offered still weren’t as favorable for a Tier 2 like him. It was better to reach a higher Tier before considering.
“Then I want to promote you from a shop assistant to a crafter’s assistant to meet the pay requirements. It’ll mean an expansion of your duties but I’ll be able to teach you more things related to crafting.”
“That sounds fine to me,” Solace said.
“It’ll also mean that you represent my shop in an official capacity whenever you’re in public. This means you can’t engage in any more reckless behaviors like carrying ungeared people or attempting a rift challenge,” she added while giving him a stern look.
Solace nodded. “Alright, I won’t anymore.”
“Then let’s go over the details right now.”
A back and forth ensued between the two as they discussed the specific new duties expected of Solace. The pay was also explicitly changed from being by task to being hourly. Once everything was ironed out, Edison had a virtual contract sent to the computer behind him and he moved a hand onto the essence detector on the monitor, digitally signing the document.
“Thank you, Edison,” he said. And he meant it. The terms were more than generous when considering that she could have fired him.
“Don’t thank me yet! You haven’t physically seen the workload I have planned for you,” she replied. Her eyes shifted to the side for a second before she continued. “I just sent a book on the fundamentals of crafting from a theoretical standpoint to your electronic mail. I expect you to read all of it and take an exam that I will have created by the end of this week. You won’t be able to come in for work until you pass the test. Have I made myself clear?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Good, then go home and study—and get some rest.”
—
The end of the week was three days away, but Solace wasn’t worried about the time crunch. With his Talent capable of allocating all of his essence into mind, he was certain he’d be able to pass the exam.
Speaking of tests…
“Where can I go to cook food on this floor?” Solace asked.
“You can go to cook food in the common kitchen to the right of the stairwell,” Xu Wei replied.
The boy was carefully enunciating his reply. It came off a bit stilted, but understandable.
“Good,” Solace said while riffling through Xu Wei’s homework, making a few corrections here and there with a pen. “Then that will be all for today, take a look at what I wrote and there will be another practical on your errors when you are ready, understand?”
“Yes!” Xu Wei replied happily as he took the sheets of paper back from Solace. “Thank you for the lessons…” He made a face and then returned to the language of the Sects. “Will you be going to the celebration tonight?”
Solace frowned. “Celebration?”
“It’s the Lunar New Year, don’t you remember?”
“Ah.”
He had recalled Gao Xieren mentioning that fact back at the hospital. But to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t convinced that it was going to.
“I heard that several people were going to bring food for everyone else,” Xu Wei added.
And then again, he was technically free for the rest of the day.
“When and where is it?” Solace asked.
“A place four or so li from here, and it started about an hour ago.”
“And you didn’t go on time yourself?”
The boy shook his head. “We had the testing right now.”
“Right…” Solace’s voice trailed off for a moment as he internally debated going. It wasn’t that far away, and an hour wasn’t too late.
He stood up. “Let’s go then.”
“Okay.”
They put everything away, made their way down, and walked to where the gathering was.
Xu Wei led the way, asking questions as usual to pass the time. “Have you ever celebrated the Lunar Festival, Solace?”
“No,” he answered truthfully.
“Really? Does Gu not have the tradition?”
The question made Solace pause. He had completely forgotten to look into where he was supposedly from.
Fortunately, it only took him a moment to find a good reply. “Xu Wei, you have to remember that I’m from an entirely different planet. Even then, people on the same one don’t share every single celebration or characteristic. Maybe other people did, but the specific place I came from on Gu didn’t.”
“Oh, I see. I never thought about that,” the boy said. “Some of the people organizing tonight were arguing about what was the ‘right’ way to celebrate, but I guess there isn’t one if most of them are from such different places.”
“Probably not,” Solace agreed.
“Do you think the high Tiered planets with immortals do anything today then? I heard that most stop celebrating their birthdays, so I can’t imagine them celebrating other annual events.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Solace said.
“Me neither.”
There was an unexpected few minutes of silence as Xu Wei trudged along thoughtfully, occasionally looking at signs and taking a turn. Then he asked another question.
“Hey Solace, when is your birthday?”
“Mine? It’s three months and a day from now,” he lied. In truth, he had no idea.
“Oh, that’s pretty neat. Mine was about three months before now.”
“I see…”
A discussion of annual celebrations was a topic he firmly didn’t want to think about. He had long since stopped counting the years because it would just be another burden on his mind.
Solace began to tune the boy out as Xu Wei continued talking, giving only half his attention and using that spare focus to think about other things.
With the Tier 3 mana stones he had received on top of his [Skill Shard], he would be able to replace his armor. On top of that, he could now buy surplus food in order to fuel extensive workouts—perhaps even get a proper gym membership. Who knew what would be offered in a more futuristic reality. He would also need to buy a new pillow at some point; the current one was making him wake up with a tired neck.
“We’re here,” Xu Wei said, interrupting his train of thought.
All of his attention turned to the external environment. “Here?”
They were approaching several warehouses, each nearly identical save for a few marks from weather and time.
“Yes, the organizers rented out a spot for the night inside one of them.”
“Do you know which?” Solace asked, shifting essence allocation to his senses to get better vision of the buildings in the dimming daylight. He began to hear music coming from within one of them.
“Nevermind.”
Taking the lead, he moved towards the music. Both the door and the larger opening for vehicles were closed, so he knocked.
A person in a rabbit mask opened the door. “Can I help you?” They asked in a heavily accented voice.
“Happy New Year!” Xu Wei called out from behind Solace.
The masked person immediately nodded. “And you as well. Please, come in. Tonight will be cold.” They moved to the side, allowing Solace and Xu Wei to enter.
Solace’s eyes adjusted to the light as he took in the interior. Solid red or white paper lanterns hung from the rafters. Circular tables were laid out on the concrete floor with seemingly no pattern. Though one celebration, it was very clearly heterogenous in style. Most people wore red and gold coloring while others blue and green. A handful wore masks of various animals like the person who had welcomed them in.
On one side, children were playing some games at haphazard setups that served as faux stalls. On the other side, a man was standing on a large wooden pallet as if it were a stage and singing a song.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
🎶 A New Year, a New World, gone is the old. 🎶
🎶 So many new opportunities. 🎶
The singer’s husky voice followed Solace as he ambled his way through the seated people and walked towards what he had come here for. A large rectangular table laden with a myriad of dishes.
“Oh, I haven’t had this in forever!” Xu Wei exclaimed, rushing forward to grab a plate and taking some of what looked to be some sort of rice product covered in powder.
Solace followed after the boy and filled his own dish. Once done, he grabbed some utensils and moved to an empty table to eat.
“Wait, is that all you got?” Xu Wei asked as he pulled up a chair beside Solace.
While the boy’s plate was laden with a variety of things, Solace’s was just a stack of spring rolls.
“Yes, it was the closest dish,” Solace said. “And I’m going to get more later anyways.”
“Ah.”
The two began to eat, listening to the music.
“What do you want to do when you’re done?” Xu Wei asked.
Solace arched a brow. “Do?”
“Yes, Gao Xieren has several events planned after this. Calligraphy contest, a dragon dance — ah, it’ll be a puppet and not a full sized costume, a singing competition, a few more I can’t remember.”
Solace shrugged. “Are there prizes?”
“Some money, pots and pans, bags of rice.”
“Useful things.” Solace approved. Perhaps he actually would join in on some of the festivities afterall.
A round of applause marked the end of the singer’s performance. And, almost immediately, the deeper sounds of tang drums began to emanate from the opposite side.
“The dragon dance!” Xu Wei said. He stood up and rushed towards that side to see the spectacle, leaving behind a half-eaten meal.
Solace shrugged and stayed where he was, content to watch from his seat. Through the people gathering to see it up close, he could make out the dog sized creature made of paper. He couldn’t see who was controlling it or with what, but the thing was blinking its eyelids and its movements made it look like there were tiny people genuinely moving the dragon in dance. He made a mental note to ask about that later.
Eventually, he grew bored of the performance and stood up, plate in hand. He made his way back to the food but stopped half-way there, taking a detour to a stall with a tub by it. Once he was closer, he could see that it was full of water and goldfish.
“What is this?” he asked the woman in the booth.
“Never tried it?” The woman replied. Her voice was slightly muffled through a scarlet scarf covering half of her face. “Buy a net, scoop as many fish as you can in a bowl with it. Normally you get to keep the fish but instead the top three people who get the most fish with one net receive a prize at the end of the night.”
Solace took a look at the prizes indicated, they were the same as what Xu Wei had listed before. “How much for a net?”
“Three credits,” she replied.
He considered it. “I’ll try once.”
The woman indicated a tiny machine with an essence detector, and Solace pressed his thumb on it to pay. Then, he was given a net the size of a large magnifying glass. He set down his plate, picked up one of the tiny bowls stacked on the stall’s countertop, and moved towards the tub.
That was when he noted that the net was made of paper.
Ah, I see.
He had initially assumed that there was some sort of timer, but it was a game of dexterity rather than just speed.
“On second thought, I’ll get one more,” Solace said.
Another transaction, another net. He used the first to get a feel for the game, using his Talent to emphasize mind, senses, and dexterity.
He only got six fish into the bowl before the first net tore, but he was fine with that. On the second attempt, his motions and cultivation were fine-tuned.
“38!” The woman said once she was done counting all the fish in the bowl. “Not bad.”
“Who has the highest?” Solace asked.
“Find out at the end of the night,” came the reply. “Ah, what’s your name?”
“Solace.”
That earned him a strange look, but Solace shrugged it off as he left the booth with his plate.
I might need to adopt a last name, just so I don’t stand out as much. Though “Solace” isn’t a common name for people from the Sects anyways, and I’ve already told quite a few people.
He briefly toyed with the idea as he made his way back to the food table. The dragon dance had ended by this point, so he had to squeeze past dozens of people moving back to their seats.
Once he reached the table, he began to grab more food. Some stir-fry, rice cakes, the last of the dumplings, a cut of fish. It took a moment for him to properly scoop it out.
“This one wants that,” a man behind him said.
“Give me a second, let me get my portion first,” Solace replied.
“Not the fish, the dumplings on your plate.”
That made Solace pause. “Are you serious?”
He took a step to the side as he turned around. Now in front of him stood a person a head taller than Solace, with short black hair, gray eyes, and several piercings on his ears. He looked to be in his early twenties. The only reason Solace bothered to remember any details was because, somehow, the man was Tier 3.
I’ve never seen anyone from the Sects higher Tier than me before.
Solace had been delving eight times a week, and, as far as he knew, everyone admitted into the Corporations from the Sects had been Tier 1 or 0, meaning that Solace should have been one of the higher Tiered ones. To see a person be Tier 3 indicated insanely good luck, some foolhardy delving practices, or a Talent that affected cultivation.
“Quite serious,” the stranger said. “Give them.”
Solace had a brief internal debate, reading the man’s body language. Another bully, he quickly determined. One he could actually deal with this time. “No.”
“You dare deny your better?”
“Who would that be?” Solace retorted.
The man scowled and shot a hand forward to take the plate. Solace swatted it with his own to knock the attempt aside.
But when he tried to do so, the man caught his forearm in a vise-like grip.
“Give it,” he growled, beginning to squeeze with the strength of a Tier 3 to try to hurt Solace.
Immediately, Solace began to alter his essence towards strength and durability. He stepped closer for more leverage and began to pry out his grasped arm despite the difference in Tiers. “No.”
The man’s eyes widened at Solace’s actions. “What, how—” His eyes widened even further for some reason, and then he suddenly let go as if bitten by a snake. “This one apologizes.”
Solace stared in confusion as the man clasped one fist in his other hand and bowed.
He’s giving up that easily?
He supposed word about his rift challenge attempt had spread, but hadn’t expected people to react like this. At least it would help deescalate the immediate conflict. He briefly contemplated what to do with the man in front of him, and then shrugged.
“Don’t do this again,” Solace warned, grabbing his plate and walking away. He turned his back but kept his spiritual perception wide just in case.
Quite a few people had been silently watching the events unfold, but quickly turned away when Solace tried to meet their eyes.
What just happened?
Solace eventually reached the table he had sat at before. Xu Wei was already there, having resumed his own meal.
“You’re back,” the boy greeted him before he noticed Solace’s face. “What happened?”
“Nothing much, someone just wanted to fight over some dumplings.”
“Against you? They’d lose!”
“Apparently that’s what he realized too…”
Solace sat down and began to eat, going over what had transpired in his head. It would have been more concerning, if it wasn’t for the fact that people from the Sects got into altercations all the time over petty things, especially during celebrations. It was just another reason why he was glad to have chosen the Corporations over the Sects.
These dumplings are cold, and definitely weren’t worth fighting over.
“And now, for the singing competition!” Someone with a microphone said. “We invite everyone to participate!”
“Are you going to do that Solace?” Xu Wei asked.
“Is it worthwhile?” Solace said in between a bite of food. He didn’t really enjoy singing.
“Don’t forget, the winner gets a week of Liang Su’s cooking,” the announcer said. “He’s the one who prepared a majority of tonight’s dishes.”
Solace stood up. “Nevermind.”
—
It was now four days since the Lunar Festival, and Solace had done a lot of work for Edison over that time after handily passing her crafter’s exam.
At the moment, he was currently running an errand for her. A client had paid extra for personal delivery and, with Edison away on some contracted project, it was up to Solace to get the job done as an official representative of the shop.
He held the case with the specially made scabbard inside, the one that she had used to initially educate him on crafting, in his arms as he made his way across the city to the indicated address.
It was a bright and sunny day, the light shining down to illuminate what would otherwise be a rather gloomy place. The architecture of the Corporations tended to be more about cost-efficiency than aesthetics, he had come to learn. And while Solace was utilitarian, he wouldn’t disagree with the sentiment that some areas just felt soulless.
He stopped in front of one such place, a slew of complexes on the completely opposite side of the city that he had needed to use the train to reach. Unlike the ones in which he or the people from the Sects lived in, these ones were older and much, much taller; probably some 150 floors each which caused the streets below to be blanketed in dark shadows despite it being only midday.
It looked quite precarious, Solace noted. Everything looked worn and sun bleached, the higher stories swaying a bit in the wind as tall buildings were wont to do. Though with how the Corporations had laws that tried to preserve lives, at least in letter if not spirit, he doubted that the buildings were at any imminent risk of actually falling apart.
Solace briefly checked the addresses, and made a sharp turn to the left to enter the building he needed to. The doors were locked, so he was forced to press the intercom and dial for the 108th floor.
“Hello?” A female voice replied.
“Delivery,” Solace said.
“I don’t remember… Oh—”
The intercom shut off and the doors unlocked, allowing Solace to enter. Within, the reception area was empty, and he made his way to the singular elevator in silence. He briefly considered taking the stairs nearby but ultimately decided to not walk up 108 floors.
When he pressed one of the buttons, the numbers on a small panel above the elevator entrance ticked down from somewhere in the seventies before stopping at 1. The lift opened with a ding.
Inside, rather than have 150 odd buttons, the elevator instead had Solace type in the room number on a panel and press confirm. Then, with a mildly concerning lurch, it lifted him upwards.
Thankfully, there was no elevator music. Instead, the thing only occasionally announced the floor, which allowed him to wait in relatively peaceful silence.
It also meant that he could hear people murmuring outside as the elevator began to slow. The voices cut out as it stopped moving.
“70th floor,” the elevator voice said.
When it opened, Solace saw three men on the other side, all of them in worn out casual wear. They were Tier 3.
“Mind if we squeeze in?” One of them asked.
Solace quickly took in their appearance, noting how their eyes were looking between him and the rather expensive Tier 9 item in his hands with naked greed.
Without a word, Solace pressed the close button.
Of course, one of them forced a foot through the doorway to stop the elevator. “Now, let’s not be too—ow!”
The monologue was cut short as Solace stomped on the foot in an effort to make the offending limb retract. Unfortunately, the elevator still reopened, allowing all three to rush Solace.
The first one attempted to grapple him, but he knocked his arms aside, smashed the heavy, high Tier case onto his head, and used the man’s body as a shield to block his compatriots from getting at Solace, who began rapidly altering his cultivation.
“Move!” One of them shouted. It was the one with curly hair.
The human shield merely groaned. Getting hit in the head tended to do that.
Solace tried his best to maneuver around the other two’s outreaching limbs to leave the elevator, but the machine was already closing its doors.
Internally, he cursed as he hit the man in front of him once more in the head to keep him dazed, and then began the annoying task of keeping the men at bay while waiting for them to reach floor 117.
“80th floor.”
“Henry, you idiot,” curly hair snarled. “Use your Talent!”
“Right!”
Suddenly, the man in front of Solace and between the others was no longer the dazed one, but the tallest man. A fist came flying in, and at this close of a range it was almost impossible to avoid, even with increased allocation in flexibility.
Almost.
Solace twisted to the side, making the fist only deal a glancing blow if it connected, which it didn’t. Because the moment it got near him, a burst of high density air appeared between him and his attacker, forcing the fist to go wide as the pressurized air expanded and pushed it away.
He took that moment to whack “Henry” with the case as well.
“Agh!”
He whacked Henry again, this time at an angle to the jaw which caused him to slump.
“90th floor.”
The create air [Skill] had finally reached his central spirit roughly a day ago, and he had already tested its properties using Edison’s lab. And while he was still incapable of doing the more complicated uses in combat, he was more than able to generate air of higher density and from any point on his body.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to deal with the three people attacking him. While Tier 3, they were clearly unused to close combat and perhaps any combat, since it was completely possible to reach Tier 3 cultivating only passive essence on a Tier 5 planet over the course of a few years.
The first attacker was now back up and clearly fuming from the stream of curses coming out of his mouth. It didn’t really matter to Solace, because now he had Henry’s body as a shield.
“100th floor.”
“This is going nowhere,” curly hair said. “I’m doing the thiiiiing—”
Before curly hair could do the thing, Solace planted his hands on the wall behind him, jumped, and drop kicked Henry into his allies behind.
As they crashed to the ground, the door dinged, opening onto the 108th floor. Solace rushed out.
“Oh no you—”
Curly hair was cut short as the elevator closed and began descending due to someone having called the machine from a lower floor.
Well, I guess I’m taking the stairs when I get down.
Solace took a moment to catch his breath and take stock of his situation. He was unharmed, thanks to his new [Skill]. Sure, if it had been a better [Skill], he might have been able to outright win the fight, but it was good enough. And it would only get better once he got used to it.
Before he could do anything else, there was a vibration in his pocket. Solace quickly pulled out the tiny business phone Edison had lent him.
“Three people went for me, Tier 3, not very good at fighting. I guess you were right,” he said.
“We both were.”
“Sure.”
Ever since he had been promoted four days ago, Solace had felt like he was being watched whenever he was outside. It had been only a feeling, so he hadn’t acted on it beyond informing Edison.
Then, when they had received a request to deliver the scabbard, which had been sitting completed in the shop for weeks, to a seedier part of the city on the day Edison just happened to be away, they had discussed the potential for some sort of foul play.
“Do I even bother completing the delivery?” Solace asked.
“You can’t. I was just told about a change in addresses because there was an ‘accidental mixup’ of locations.”
“I see, so…”
“Just come back to the shop safely, I’ll handle everything on my end since someone’s clearly trying to mess with my business.”
“Would capturing the people help? They went down with the elevator but I can—”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. Whatever corporation sent them probably made sure they were expendable. From what I can see, this was an attempt taken because the circumstances were convenient enough to try and knock a perceived competitor. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the real commissioner of the scabbard was unaware of this whole situation; there are tons of ways to mess with the intermediaries between buyers and sellers.”
“So, back to the shop then.”
“Yeah, I’ll handle the rest when I get back. Just be safe about returning. Feel free to use the prop sword included within the scabbard. That’s easily replaceable.”
“Alright.”
He hung up, putting the phone away as he opened up the case to take out the scabbard. It was a beautiful, polished thing with the inlays buffed to a near golden shine in the floor’s lighting. Solace used the leather cord attached to the scabbard to tie the item to his waist. He briefly drew the prop sword, a piece of Tier 5 lacquered wood, from the scabbard in order to feel its balance, and then put it back. It would be spiritually straining to use, but it was better than nothing.
He made his way to the stairwell. But before he entered, the elevator dinged to signal its return. The thugs had come for a second round.
Solace kept his hand on the sword handle, ready to draw it in a way that would take advantage of the scabbard’s enchanted properties to deal a devastating strike. But he stopped himself short when the elevator actually opened.
Within were the three men, sprawled on the floor, unconscious and bleeding. A new person stood above them, blood dripping from his fists. Solace recognized him.
It was the Tier 3 from the Lunar New Year Celebration.
Did he seriously follow me here to get some kind of revenge? How petty do you have to be?
And dangerous, Solace noted. The man was clearly a fighter. As he stepped forward, Solace grasped the handle of the sword, intending to strike—
“This one greets Senior Brother,” the man said, bowing once more while clasping hand to fist.
Solace paused at the archaic appellation. “What?”
“This one apologizes for his earlier behavior. It was not obvious who you were until this one saw your mark.”
“Mark?”
The man used his left hand to point at his right palm. Solace quickly realized what he was talking about.
The feather mark burned onto Solace’s right hand. For some reason, the man thought it meant something, the same way that the healer had at the very beginning of his time in this reality.
He straightened up and relaxed his posture, showing signs of confidence externally. Internally, Solace sent half of his essence to mind as he tried to figure out what was happening by context. The healer… had said something about such a mark relating to origins. Xu Wei had said that Solace was from…
“Gu.” Solace said, phrasing his uncertainty as a statement instead.
It seemed to be the correct response, as the man nodded and lifted a bloody hand to pull down the collar of his own shirt. Beneath the fabric was an image of a snake eating its own tail etched into his flesh. “This one’s name is Tarnish.”
A non-traditional Sects name like his, Solace noted, and a mark on the body. A few more things began to make sense, but one thing still stuck out. “Why are you here?”
“For the same reason as you, Senior Brother. To grow strong off of the easy prey which are fat from their—”
“No, not why you defected,” Solace said. “Why are you here, in this building, approaching me now?”
“Because there will be, as the merchants say,” Tarnish replied, straightening up to look Solace in the eyes, “an opportunity too good to pass up.”