No sooner had they arrived back at the scribe house than the other junior scribes surrounded Chang-li. "I didn't know you had a license to cultivate," Scribe Jun accused him.

"Were you really fighting that monster?" Tu asked.

"I could barely stand on my own feet, and I was a hundred spans away," Jun added.

"Something about you has changed," Scribe Deng commented, looking Chang-li over. "You really have progressed, haven't you?"

Inspector Dah swept in behind them. He clapped his hands, and they stood at attention. Looking them over, the inspector smiled. He was about ten years older than Chang-li, fit but with a well-fed look. He wore wooden jewelry at his wrists and around his neck, polished and elaborately carved.

"So we have a hopeful cultivator in our midst," Inspector Dah announced. "I did not realize that was the case. Inspector Ji'in failed to inform me."

Chang-li bowed low. "Forgive me, Inspector. No doubt it slipped his mind; the transition was rather hurried."

"Indeed it was," Inspector Dah said. "I'm beginning to wonder what else the inspector failed to tell me. I shall send a messenger to him asking for a corrected and updated report."

A stab of fear pierced Chang-li. Inspector Ji'in would tell Inspector Dah that Chang-li not only didn't have a license to cultivate but also had been forbidden to enter the tower entirely.

"How come he got a license and we don't?" Scribe Deng complained.

"Have you filed an application for a status upgrade?" Inspector Dah asked. "In order for a scribe to be granted a cultivator's license, he must have shown a cool head in a tower crisis situation. All of you have now qualified, just as Chang-li did. Scribe Wu, your actions in there should earn you your first endorsement. The next time you're at the Office of Cultivation, be sure to request it."

Chang-li bent low. "I shall," he said, as he worried about a dozen different things.

"It seems that Scribe Wu has attracted the attention of several of the cultivators here in the camp. Of course, we professional scribes stand ready to support the sects in any way they ask. If one of them wishes to have you serve as a sect scribe during the course of this tower cull, our office will of course approve it," Inspector Dah said. "Now, I know that expedition did not go as we planned. However, there are still reports to be filed, and I expect you to have them done here in the next few hours. Get to it."

Chang-li's mind was not on his filing. He cycled Way of Star’s Light as he worked, marveling at the feel of the lux in his channels, and he longed to be back inside the tower. He had achieved the Peak of Bodily Refinement, but he had not yet really determined what that meant. He felt stronger and healthier. He noted somewhere around lunchtime, as the other scribes began to complain of how hungry they were, that he wasn't feeling as much hunger. But his body did crave lux. His core was holding on to the lux he had far better than the last time he had exited the tower. Some still escaped, leaking away into the air as he cycled, but he no longer felt like a sieve. More like a waterskin with a single leak, letting the lux out drip by drip while holding most of it tight.

As the other scribes went to lunch, he passed on the opportunity. Instead, once the scribe office was deserted, he went to the storeroom and blatantly pillaged paper and ink. He wanted to help Joshi if he could. The barbarian had saved his life yet again when they faced the giant bird. If there was a way he could help his friend, he would do it. Besides, any investigation too closely into Joshi could bring Chang-li in front of the Inquisitor again. He wanted more than anything to avoid that.

What if he forged the paperwork that Joshi would need to prove that the Sect of Morning Mist was real? Then he'd have to find a way to slip it into the records. Perhaps he could ask Brother Stone to hire a messenger to bring the papers up and claim that the rest of Joshi's sect had been delayed. It seemed a thin hope, a ploy that would be seen through at once. But he didn't have a better solution.

Chang-li spent his lunch hour forging the documents of a sect. He put down the name of Cultivator Kang as the sect Grand Master. Though he didn't expect anyone to have ever heard of the Sect of Morning Mist, it felt right to name their last cultivator, almost like he was honoring them instead of stealing their name to try to help a friend.

The few papers he forged wouldn't be enough. He had seen some of the paperwork that the sect functionaries in attendance filed with the Cultivation Office, but not all of it. He needed to get a look in the Cultivation Office records so he’d know what to forge, and he needed to get his hands on Imperial seals. After lunch, his own reports filed, he made an excuse to Scribe Jun.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Jun eyed him. "Now I understand why you've been sneaking off and neglecting your duties so much," he said. "You've been practicing cultivation on the sly, haven't you? You could have told us."

"I was afraid you'd mock me," Chang-li said. There was enough truth in that that Jun nodded.

He'd seen it before, young scribes mocking those of their fellows who had ambitions too large for them. Scribe Dai, who had perished in the tower that first terrible trip inside, had wanted to cultivate. He had spoken openly of his hopes to transfer to a sect as a scribe and be taught some techniques and patterns that might enable him to reach as far as the Peak of Mental Refinement. The others had mocked him. While most of them boasted their intention to reach Bodily Refinement sooner or later, they all knew that for a scribe it was a fool's hope. Ordinary folk were permitted to cycle whatever lux they could happen to glean. But they were not taught real patterns, and as Chang-li now knew, the cycling techniques commonly available to peasant folk were designed to keep them crippled. He very much doubted whether any of his fellow scribes would even make it to their first core condensing without a better cycling technique.

"Tell you what," he told Jun impulsively. "Tonight at bedtime, I will teach you and anyone who wishes the cycling technique I have learned. It's much more efficient than the Way of the Faithful. If you use it every time you are inside the tower for the rest of this cull, I think perhaps you will see a benefit."

"And where did you learn a cultivator's technique?" Jun asked, his eyes narrowing.

Chang-li smiled. "In a book, of course."

He left it at that and went off to the Office of Cultivation. The office was in a bit of an uproar. Li Jiya was there, along with her disciple who had been badly wounded. She was speaking angrily with the Master of Cultivation.

"For his healing technique to work, Disciple Jien needs to re-enter the tower. He doesn't have enough lux to cycle properly. If you make him wait for weeks, his leg will heal improperly," she argued.

The Cultivation Master raised a hand. "Young Master Li, there is nothing I can do. The Inquisitor himself has said that no one who has not reached the Peak of Bodily Refinement may enter. Even you Young Masters must be supervised by your sect's Grand Master. It's not up to me. Perhaps this check will be swift, and the Inquisitor will reopen the tower within a few days."

Li Jiya's shoulders slumped. "It is a thin reed to lean upon," she grumbled. Her eyes fell on Chang-li, and she brightened up. "Scribe Wu, how good to see you here. Have you brought your license for endorsement?"

"Yes, I have," Chang-li said, though he really wished she wouldn't draw attention to him. He brought out his forged license, now a bit wrinkled and dirty. Master Bao frowned at him as he unlocked the box where the endorsement seals were kept.

Chang-li's eyes were drawn to the key which the Cultivation Master hung around his neck. He wasn't familiar enough with the Cultivation Office's practices to know if that was the only key. Perhaps if he took the head clerk out for a beer and asked leading questions, he could learn more. Not that he should need to get at the endorsement seals. What was he even thinking here? Yes, he might need to forge a few documents to help Joshi, but that was all! There would be no stealing endorsements!

Master Bao affixed an endorsement to Chang-li's license, still scrutinizing him. Chang-li decided he wouldn't push his luck. He bowed low. "Thank you," he told the official and stepped out of the office.

Li Jiya followed him out into the bright sunshine. The camp was returning to normal after the excitement of the previous days. Servants and workers went about their ordinary tasks, carrying water jugs dangling from long wooden poles or pushing barrows full of boxes and bags.

"Scribe Wu.”

Chang-li turned and bowed to Li Jiya. "Young Master Li, how may I serve?"

"You've reached the Peak of Bodily Refinement, haven't you?"

Chang-li bowed again. "Thank you for noticing this one's humble achievement." And he really wished she would stop noticing him.

"It is not so humble to reach Bodily Refinement without the aid of a sect. Do you truly wish to become an Inquisitor, as you said before?" Li Jiya asked.

Chang-li hesitated. "I fear I have gotten a taste of cultivation, and I don't want to stop," he confessed.

Li Jiya's eyebrows rose. She smiled and then clapped her hands. "I understand that feeling. You have done well, considering how little you have been given. The Moon Whispers sect has always prized those who strive for what is out of reach. I think my great-grandfather would like to speak with you. Tonight, there is a gathering for the cultivators and the nobles up in the Court of Gems. I wish you to attend as our sect's guest."

Chang-li's eyes widened. "Young Master Li, it is a great honor, but scribes are not permitted to attend Gem Court affairs.”

"Cultivators are permitted to bring who they will, including possible sect functionaries," Li Jiya said.

The offer she was implying staggered Chang-li. She held up a hand. "If you truly wish to cultivate, I can get you an interview with my grandfather. No more than that. He is the one who makes decisions for our sect. But at the very least, we are always eager to find more talented functionaries. You should come."

Chang-li bowed low. "Thank you, Young Master Li. I am honored. I shall be there."

He went away, worrying about Joshi and the cultivator party and his own future. He had to attend, no question about that, but it would put him at more risk of attracting attention. And his best robes had been destroyed in the tower fighting the birds. He’d need to find something appropriate to wear, and quickly. Maybe Jun would help him, if he could find something to offer the other scribe. Then again, even asking might make Jun even more jealous.

Brother Stone would have connections. He already owed the Oaken Band Brotherhood debts. He might as well add another, and let Lady Min take it out of his hide later.