After Thea and her two subordinates had finally left in peace, the courtyard livened up again. Micro was able to recover more quickly since learning how to absorb the energy around him, and Tae had enough strength to lend a shoulder to Kel, whose wounds had only just stopped bleeding.

“Good job, young master!” The voice of the cook called Toa suddenly rang out from across the courtyard.

“You almost had them!”

Micro looked around as a number of other sect disciples began to shout their praises at Kel, some bowing and other clapping.

“Wait, how come they didn’t help?” Micro suddenly asked in confusion.

“Hmm?” An elder Micro hadn’t met before appeared beside him.

“Interrupt a duel between the heirs of two sects? To what end?”

“But Kel was hurt!” Micro argued.

“Aren’t you a cultivator?” The elder asked with an eyebrow raised.

“The only people who don’t fight their own battles in this sect are the dead.”

“Oh…” Micro replied with wide eyes.

“That… That makes sense…”

“What are you doing, master?” Kel turned back from the celebrating crowd with a weary smile.

“Let’s get some food!”

~

Tired and bloodied, the three were once again seated on the veranda in front of a steaming platter of Toa’s cooking. The sun was getting low on the horizon, casting an orange light over the vast landscape.

“So people fight their own battles…” Micro mumbled with a mouthful of mountain fried beef.

“That is our way.” Kel replied simply while picking away at a light salad.

“Was it not so where you were born?”

“People who go around causing accidents don’t last long on the road.” Micro replied bitterly.

“Careless kids with no regard for the rules of the road… It’s lucky they never hit the old man!”

“From what you’ve told me of your old master, I doubt they’d have survived the consequences.” Kel replied with sparkling eyes, ever eager to hear more of Micro’s world.

“So it was the custom for the strong to dispense justice?”

“Those the police did catch often wound up in a ditch anyway…” Micro sighed.

“A fierce but just society…” Kel answered respectfully.

“But you speak of the youth as an elder would. I was under the impression you were of the same generation as I.”

“I can’t count how many generations have come and gone since I rolled off the line.” Micro replied as he scooped another handful of beef into his mouth. “I wouldn’t say I’m old, but I’ve outlived most of my kind by now.”

“You measure your lifespan in generations…?” Kel’s voice trailed off in awe as Toa approached the table with a large tray in his hands.

“What did I say, young master?!” He scolded Kel.

“A sparrow just flipped our favourite turtle on its back! Eat some meat!”

“You really should, Kel.” Micro added.

“Even Tae is.”

Kel and the cook turned to see Tae sneaking a piece of beef into her salad from the bowl at the centre of the table. She blushed as she quickly popped it into her mouth and looked away. The cook let out a mighty laugh that shook the table, then turned to Micro once more.

“So you’re not of this world after all!” He blurted out, leaving Kel with an awkward look.

“That’s right.” Micro replied as he ate.

“And they don’t use chopsticks there?” He asked.

“A fork, perhaps?”

“I’ve seen them, but I’ve never used them.” Micro explained calmly.

“I’m sure the ladies had something to say about that!” The cook laughed.

“Women?” Micro thought for a moment.

“The old man’s wife liked me.”

“Oh, really?” The cook raised an eyebrow.

“Was there no woman a little closer to your heart?”

“Close to my heart?” Micro repeated.

“I suppose there is a girl like that.”

“Oh!” The cook shouted with a wide smile as Tae and Kel’s eyes darted to the boy in curiosity.

“What’s she like?! Is she pretty? I’ll bet she’s a beautiful girl!”

“Hmm…” Micro thought for a moment and put his hands down as he replied.

“Yes, she’s pretty.”

“I knew it!” The cook celebrated.

“What’s she like? Where did you meet? How does she dress?!”

“She’s really kind.” Micro smiled.

“We met in a cave, and she doesn’t wear much.”

“Oof!” The cook brought his hand to his mouth as he choked on his reply.

“Such a woman… I’d like to meet her one day…!”

“No problem.” Micro smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled the sleep Blue up by her wings to show the cook. She snored peacefully as he placed her gently in his hand.

The cook’s face went pale, and Kel buried his head in his hands, but Tae had difficulty stifling her laughter.

“Close to his heart…!” She chuckled as she reached for another slice of mountain fried beef.

Seeing that she was so deeply asleep, Micro remorsefully placed her back in his pocket and returned to his feast. The cook opened his mouth several times with the intent of continuing the conversation, but he eventually left them while mumbling something to himself. After finishing their meal and enjoying the sunset for a little while, it was Kel who spoke next.

“I’ll admit I was worried for a moment, master.” He said to Micro as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the stars as they emerged in the darkening sky.

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“But for your lack of experience in battle, you are a talented warrior.”

“I don’t want to be a warrior.” Micro answered while rubbing his full stomach.

“I just want to go home.”

“I thought you may feel that way, given your nature.” Kel replied.

“But if cultivation is the path you choose to attain that lofty goal, then you will see many battles.”

“I heard you ask why nobody helped us fight the Sparrow Sect disciples today.” Tae added.

“To great beings of another world, our ways may seem petty and strange, but our ways are as ancient as they are unchanging.”

“Your ways?” Micro tilted his head as he asked.

“Since the era of cultivation began in this world, master…” Kel explained.

“Goals have only been fulfilled in battle, whether you are fighting for your life in a dungeon or at war. Whether you seek peace or power over this realm. Every path a cultivator walks has obstacles to overcome.”

“Speed bumps…?” Micro asked with a frown.

“No going around those, I guess…”

“And it might not seem fair, but the origin of your soul and the nature of your vessel invite…” Tae explained sympathetically.

“Your existence invites war.”

“War?” Micro repeated in shock.

“Don’t think that three young women are the last people who will ever take issue with one whose body was constructed by our most hated enemies.” Kel added with a sad expression.

“The magicians have only multiplied since the empire set out to destroy them.”

“Empire?” Micro repeated, quickly losing track of the conversation.

“You’re in the Beryl Kingdom now, master.” Kel answered.

“This territory belongs to our sect, of course, which is itself part of the local alliance.”

“Here, look at this plate, master.” Tae leaned forward and pointed to a plate with several leftover peas rolling around on it. She removed all but five of them, and continued.

“This is a map of the alliance territories. This pea in the middle is the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect. To the North is the Sparrow Sect, our closest neighbour.”

“Your neighbours are violent.” Micro remarked with a stiff expression.

“Of course they are.” Kel laughed.

“And so are we. Please, continue Tae.”

“Yes, young master.” Tae went on.

“To the South you’ll find the Earth River Sect, to the East is the Air Moon Sect, and to the West is the Dark Thunder Sect.”

“I hope I don’t have to fight all of them…” Micro sighed.

“What are you talking about, master?” Kel asked in surprise.

“You’ll be fighting them all in two days at the tournament.”

“I have to fight them all?” Micro asked with wide eyes.

“Not all at once, of course.” Kel laughed.

“But Thea was right to suggest you participate.”

“But that’s…” Micro stuttered sadly.

“Why…?”

“The Sparrow Sect isn’t unique in its hatred of magicians and their kind, Micro.” Kel said slowly.

“Any cultivator you come across is more than likely to try and kill you without a word. They won’t stop to ask how a cultivator’s core came to reside in your body while aiming to remove your head from it.”

Micro could only gulp in reply, and he turned to Tae as if to ask for a less sobering piece of news.

“Forgive me, master.” She bowed her head, sorry to disappoint his pleading eyes.

“The protection of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect extends only as far as its borders. Beyond these hills, you must fight to prove yourself to the world.”

“I have to show them my shiny armour?” Micro asked, his voice shaking.

“You must show them the path you walk.” Kel replied sternly.

“If you run, they will hunt you down. If you fight half heartedly, they will kill you in the name of the war between cultivators and magicians. But if you fight them with everything you have, they will know you are one of them.”

“I have to fight them, to make friends with them…?” Micro stuttered, his face pale.

“You’ve witnessed firsthand, master, that those who fight together, dine together.” Kel laughed as he patted his somewhat bloated stomach.

“In any case, rest well tonight. Tomorrow will be a very long day.”

“What’s happening tomorrow?” Micro asked, unsure how his future could seem any more troubled.

“What else would we be doing but cultivating?” Kel replied.

~

Kel and Tae bid Micro goodnight after the sun had set, and Kel informed him that the guest room he destroyed would be ready to use again by the time he was ready to sleep. Micro had planned to join them wherever they were going, but Kel had explained that the sect matters he needed to attend to would more than likely run late into the night, so Micro was left to enjoy the night sky on the mountainside cafeteria’s veranda alone.

“Oh, were you still hungry?” The cook asked when he noticed Micro still seated, now the only one there.

“Good evening, cook.” Micro greeted him with a somber smile.

“I’m not hungry… Thanks…”

“What about your little passenger…” He mumbled, pointing his finger at Micro’s pocket as if he were afraid something might jump out and bite it even from several paces away.

“Good question.” Micro raised his eyebrows as he replied, then picked Blue out of his pocket once again. This time, she yawned as he placed her on his hand.

“What’s going on? Ow…” She groaned as she rubbed her head.

“Feels like you were busy while I was napping. Oh, what’s this boulder-like guy over here?”

The cook leaned back intuitively as she turned her eyes toward him with a rude frown.

“He was wondering if you were hungry.” Micro answered happily.

“I’m a pixie, nuts for brains.” She said as she rolled her eyes.

“Pixies just absorb whatever energy the world around has to spare.” She stretched out her wings as she spoke lazily.

“Though now that I have a core, it’s a lot easier to recharge. I may be full before you die of old age at this rate!”

“Pixies don’t eat!?” The cook gasped with a look of horror.

“How can that be…?”

“What’s his problem?” Blue asked Micro with a thumb pointed over her shoulder at the cook.

“No wonder you’re such spiteful little monsters…” The cook continued to gasp.

“To be robbed of life’s greatest joy… The shame… The sorrow…”

Blue was about to get angry at the cook’s remark, but her rage lost its momentum when she saw the tears flowing down his cheeks into his bushy beard.

“I’m so sorry…” The cook sniffled.

“I had no idea… All these years…”

“Stop making weird friends, boy.” Blue whispered to Micro awkwardly.

“He’s the cook!” Micro replied.

“His mountain fried beef is amazing!”

“I’m sure it is…” Blue rolled her eyes.

“Why don’t you try some?” Micro asked.

“Huh?” She snapped back.

“Excuse me, cook!” Micro called out to the lamenting cook by the table.

“Sorry?” He sniffed and wiped his eyes.

“Can you get one more plate of mountain fried beef after all?” Micro asked.

“Of course!” The cook replied quickly as if the request had instantly remedied his sorrows.

Before Blue was sure what was going on, the cook had already run back to the table, followed by a gust of wind that smelled of smoke and spices, carrying a large bowl of his signature dish. She jumped down onto the table as Micro instantly reached out to grab a piece for himself, much to the cook’s satisfaction.

“Go ahead, Blue. It’ll keep you warm, too!” Micro said with a mouthful as he broke off a tiny piece and handed it to her.

“Here.”

“Like I said, pixies don’t eat.” Blue declared held her hands up in refusal.

“Have you tried it before?” Micro mumbled as he took another bite.

“Why would I?” She shrugged.

“Why?!” The cook gasped with his characteristically dramatic tone.

“Each bit is full of the energy a cultivator needs!”

“Like I said, I’m a pi-” She suddenly paused.

“Oh wait, I’m a cultivator too now. Ew, that feels so wrong to say out loud.”

“That’s right, so take a bite!” Micro insisted.

“Oh well.” Blue sighed, and took the tiny piece from Micro’s hand.

The cook held his breath as he watched her pop the tiny morsel into her mouth and slowly chew it. He didn’t blink until the moment she swallowed it. Even Micro had stopped eating as the tension at the table rose. They waited in silence until her face, illuminated more by her natural glow than by the moonlight, seemed to turn a deep shade of purple. She cleared her throat awkwardly and her eyes wandered around the table for a moment before she slowly began to walk over to the steaming bowl at the centre of the table.

“It’s not bad…” She mumbled as she reached for another piece and brought it behind the bowl to eat in private.

“I’ll fetch us some drinks!” The cook roared as he went about preparing another bowl and a pot of tea before joining them at the table to celebrate Blue’s first taste of food.

Before the night was through, the kitchen’s stock of beef had started to run dangerously low.