62nd of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

“We are fine, thank you for your concern.” Everlast’s tone and bearing had changed, and while Newt still saw hints of disdain in Puresnow’s grimace, the woman remained silent.

“I’m fine as well, what about you, Senior? Did you kill it?” Newt already knew the answer, the situation made it obvious, but they still needed confirmation.

“It was a bumpy ride, but somehow I managed to finish it off.”

Newt gaped at Dandelion, and the two disciples of the Everfrost Palace had similarly embarrassing faces.

“We defeated it together,” Dandelion continues. “Newstar distracted it, creating an opportunity for all of us, and you, noble ladies, have enraged it and pumped some poison into its body, allowing me to exploit its weakness.”

“Which weakness?” Puresnow frowned.

“I used the chance and climbed close to its head. There I struck it with everything I had, opening a crack in its carapace. The frostworm tried to get rid of me, but stabbed itself in the open wound, injecting poison into its own body, and its momentary confusion allowed me to stab its brain and fry it with my staff coated in sweltering flames.”

Newt nodded, as did the other two. Every step of Dandelion’s narrative made sense, and the way he presented it really made it seem like all he did was use the opportunity created by others. The victory he described was certainly a joint effort.

But it reeked to Newt. The story made him once again feel like a child hearing nonsensical justifications for his “brilliant success”, when in fact it was the elders sucking up to his father.

“I deserve no credit for this.” Newt’s voice was calm, as was his heart. He was doing something right, something he believed was proper and basic human decency. He was refusing to take credit for another person’s victory. “I merely acted as bait, the three of you have done all the hard work.”

Everlast was about to say something, but Dandelion spoke first. “Do you agree that your actions and you acting as bait has bought us two to three breaths’ time during which the monster was dazed? Enough to land several blows, and shatter its stinger.”

Newt was about to argue that anyone could have done the same, but Dandelion’s question was rhetorical.

“Do not sell yourself short, Newstar. You are by far the youngest amongst us, and for you, this trip is about gathering experience. But if you think you have earned no part of the treasures, we can get from this frostworm, and you do not want to use them to lessen your debt…” Dandelion left the unfinished sentence hang, forcing Newt to consider the matter.

If they could find the frostworm’s core, it would definitely put a dent in his debt. The youth was tempted, but then shook his head. His honor was worth more than a handful of spirit gems, even if they were at the fourth realm.

Dandelion saw the young man’s determination and smiled, radiating approval.

“Even if you think you are unworthy of your portion, I still believe you have earned it. What do you think, noble ladies? Has this young man earned his share?”

Everlast obviously wanted to say they did not earn their share either, but she could not say the same for someone else who risked their life to fight a giant monster a realm higher than they were. And if Newt, a novice who had landed no blows on the frostworm earned a reward, she could not say that they had not earned theirs.

Newt watched the woman struggle for a moment before she nodded. “He has earned his share.”

“Excellent,” Dandelion smiled. “In that case, we proceed as we originally agreed, splitting all our gains in four equal portions. I promise I will not steal the last hits against third realm frostworms.”

Newt stared at Dandelion, feeling uncomfortable, his own expression probably mirroring Everlast’s, since Dandelion all but said he would leave the lower realm spirit beasts to them. Puresnow, however, grimaced, her arms crossed. The woman glared at Dandelion like he owed her money instead of handing it over to her on a silver platter.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

What’s her problem?

Whatever it was, Dandelion just smiled, and for a moment, Newt thought he would blow her a kiss with that nonchalant grin.

After a tense moment, the party got to work, dismembering the frostworm for valuable body parts. Newt’s new sword finally proved its worth, not the least bit inferior to the weapons Everfrost Palace’s disciples wielded.

“You work on the carapace alone,” Everlast said. “I fear your energy might damage the core or the more sensitive tissues.”

Just as Newt was about to voice his agreement, Puresnow barked at Dandelion, who sat to the side, just observing them. “Why aren’t you working?”

Dandelion shrugged and gestured with his staff. “I lack proper tools, and the three of you are sufficient to get the job done even without my meddling. In fact, I might ruin something, and nobody wants that.”

Puresnow harrumphed, but Everlast gently laid a hand on her upper arm, and the woman kept the obvious ire from reaching her tongue. Instead, she went back to work, pointedly ignoring Dandelion. Everlast smiled apologetically, and they resumed dismembering the giant worm.

The only remaining poison sack was three quarters full of the potent frigid toxin, and while Newt removed the thick, chitinous plates glazed in ice, the women kept digging deeper into the massive body.

A quarter of an hour later, Everlast gasped. By some miracle, the fourth realm spirit beast’s core was undamaged. She gently parted the surrounding flesh and pulled it out of the body.

Newt wondered how much that core would fetch them when they sold it on the market, when Dandelion spoke.

“Is your Everfrost Palace interested in purchasing this core?”

“Yes,” Everlast said with a rare smile. “We can offer a hundred fourth realm spirit gems to each of you for the core, flesh, and poison. We do not need the plates, but some blacksmith is bound to be interested in them.”

Dandelion stared at her, slightly shaken, while Newt’s jaw hit the floor, just that one frostworm was enough to pay a good chunk of his debt. And his share alone was probably worth more than most of his clan’s possessions.

“The price is more than fair,” Everlast said, averting her gaze from Dandelion’s grin, preferring to observe Newt’s comical reaction instead.

“I would not doubt you for a moment,” Dandelion said, further embarrassing the woman.

“I am serious,” she said.

“As am I. I do not doubt your sect would reward us for these resources, but how do you plan to transport them?”

“Master gave me her spatial pouch. We can easily fit twenty worms like this one.”

“I dearly hope we do not encounter any more of these until we find a deposit of ice jade marrow. And remember, we will not delve too deeply. If a fifth realm frostworm appears our lives are forfeit. We stand no chance of escaping with two realms’ difference.”

Newt’s skin crawled, suddenly becoming aware that their excursion was no child’s play or training, but a lethal situation. Everlast nodded solemnly, as did Puresnow.

“Do you want me to scout ahead while you wrap things up here?” Dandelion offered, and after a brief conversation Everlast assented.

Newt watched Dandelion leave, catching a flicker of water-aligned spiritual energy.

He’s got air, fire, earth, and water-aligned spiritual energy. How did he do that? How does he switch between them?

Newt wanted to doubt his third eye, but Dandelion himself told him not to doubt his senses.

I’ll ask him in private later.

Newt went back to work and twenty minutes later watched Everlast hold a mug-sized leather pouch in front of the pile of frostworm plates.

“Store,” she said, and Newt saw with his third eye how she sent a trickle of spiritual energy into the artifact.

The air twisted, and the armor plates nearly as hard as steel warped and smeared, compressed and sucked up by the sack. The sight was fascinating. Identical scene repeated with the piles of flesh the two disciples had chosen amongst the mountains of frostworm meat.

Newt wished to ask what was the criteria for selection, other than a slightly higher concentration of spiritual energy, but kept his mouth shut. The two women were still strangers, and he felt uncomfortable talking to them.

Newt simply observed, as even the core, which was nowhere nearly as large as the other items, twisted and bent, flying into the bag while still shrinking, until it reached the size of a grain of sand.

Then came an awkward silence. Minutes trickled by with no sign of Dandelion.

Finally, more discomforted by standing near the women in silence than speaking, Newt cleared his throat.

“How does that bag work?”

“You mean the spatial pouch?” Everlast asked, and Newt nodded. “It’s simple, really. You focus on the object you wish to store, feed it a bit of spiritual energy, and it stores the item you selected. You can’t store plants and living beings, and you have to stand still while you do it. Otherwise, it’s as simple as that.”

Everlast offered Newt an insincere friendly smile, more awkward than anything else, and Newt mumbled a thanks.

The answer she provided was not what he wished to know. He could see what she was doing, what interested him was how the bag did the twisting and shrinking.

“Get ready everyone!” Dandelion shouted, sprinting towards them, his feet hardly touching the ground. “I have brought a little friend!”