The Cultivators Inkpot was the first story of a three story building. Its open inviting interior was laid out like an art gallery. In the back, rolls of paper and ink in so many containers all surrounded a beautiful young lady in an immaculate formal robe.

It was exactly what any man who wanted to get some note taking equipment would need. If there had been a sect recruiter here I might have signed up, once upon a time. In a world that had no concept of a pencil, the quill held a special place.

"Kang Egiya-" I said, holding my arms out.

The proprietor nearly knocked me over in her haste to give me a bear hug.

"Mind.The.Bandages."

"Hey miss, I understand that he's a hot commodity, but please save some of him for the rest of us," Lorenzo said flatly,"also he is barely able to walk so I would appreciate you not crushing him."

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry! It's just that while you were gone I have been training and-Yes let me get you a seat. I have one right here for you."

Egiya washed her already clean hands as she spoke. They lowered me into a chair. I felt like telling some kids to get off my lawn for the briefest of moments.

"Thank you. Egiya, this is my buddy Lorenzo. He worked with me back on earth."

"You knew him from before?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"He changed my life! He is the reason that I advanced to the second realm."

"Oh is that right?"

"Yes!"

Egiya related some of the events that led up to our taking on a Sect of demonic cultivators. They were nearly too much for me to handle with what had to be dozens of individuals. She had been an integral part of me understanding the culture that we were now surrounded by. She was like a daughter to me and I was grateful that I had stumbled upon her almost by accident.

The new thing for her was her growing into her power. She had reached a decision point where she was seeing if she should follow in her absent father's footsteps or chart her own path.

He was on a long assignment out of the city, shoring up defensive formations that kept roaming beasts outside of the packed cities that dotted the coast around this continent. His wife lived upstairs and had been his constant companion in the same work until she broke her cultivation trying to ascend to the fourth realm-the place I had just arrived at recently. Her and Egiya had just begun family therapy and it had proven to be an intense time for all three of us.

"Is your mother home today? I think that Lorenzo wouldn't mind a spot of tea," I said, hoping for some myself.

"Of course. Let me close up shop for a bit and we can go pick her brain."

I had never seen another patron in her store. Between visits I could see product being pushed as piles that were once full were empty the next time I dropped in. I was going to make walking past here a regular part of my morning routine until I could run around and resume training.

The itch to do something throbbed. The bandages did not help.

We walked around the back of the shop and up the stairs to the second floor landing which connected the whole row of houses. Then we ducked into a modest apartment that was furnished to the fullest extent.

"Dear daughter, ah you have brought guests! Wonderful!"

"Ellen!" Lorenzo said, limping to give her a bear hug.

We skipped the short round of introductions as Ellen had been volunteering with me and the victims. We settled in with the fierce crippled woman whose makeup and hair wouldn't have been out of place at a beauty pageant. Lorenzo of course, had the riz. Aunties were his special interest after all.

"So, Mr. Lorenzo. Our Joseph Pidge here is the talk of the aunties. Pray tell do you have any idea when he will take a wife?"

I nearly spat out my tea as Lorenzo laughed his ass off.

"Miss Kang, I swear to you that he already had one divorce. Why do you think he wants a second one?"

"Ah. Divorce?"

"It's when two people who are legally married end it. His was particularly acrimonious," Lorenzo said, giving me the look.

I shrugged, regaining my composure.

"My ex wife, she actually, well you met Maxine."

At this both mother and daughter had their laser eyes on me. I pulled my robe near the neck and smiled.

"That's what an ex wife is? I thought it was something completely different!" Egiya said.

"And what, pray tell did you think I meant?"

"I uh...."

Lorenzo couldn't contain his giggles as I slow walked her around to the point, dragging out the snark. She was joking with us of course.

"While we're on the topic, what do people do when their marriage doesn't work out?"

"Well for one they stay in it. Probably suffer in silence I guess," Egiya said, turning to offer her mother a box of tiles.

"That's about correct. At least the local one oh three mothers of unruly daughters union gripes about constantly."

Lorenzo looked at the box of tiles, studying the markings. His lips pursed, I guessed that he hadn't learned to local script. Despite learning the language, that is. It seemed like everyone who crossed over got something, but I wasn't sure what it was.

"There's a union specially for mothers of unruly children?" Lorenzo said, pulling out a tile to inspect it.

"My mother is joking. She always jokes about-"

"We meet every week. I never joke about the one oh three."

I could tell by her deadpan that she was either serious or just didn't have comedic timing. I was suddenly so glad that improv comedy had never become a thing here.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Sonofa- mother, you said that you were joking!"

"Only for your sake. Please."

Lorenzo and I were all of a sudden very interested in the back of the mahjong tiles we were holding. Like you couldn't break our stares if you brought in a corgi with a tutu.

"So...this mothers union, do they have any openings?" Lorenzo asked, innocently over the southern wind.

"Don't make me pull out the imperial Mahjong tiles, young man. I promise scorched earth."

"Thanks but I think we need to keep going," Lorenzo said,"but I will bring dominoes to play with you next time we drop by."

"Don't be a stranger."

She waved tiles at him. He in turn, tried to peek at them and see if he could clean any actionable intelligence. I think that she might have done that on purpose.

"Miss Kang, I will be stopping in. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to try to feel normal and perhaps next time, I can cook?" Lorenzo said.

He lingered there at the threshold of indecision far longer than he needed but it was none of my business. I knew in my heart that he needed a lot more support than I could give and I just felt relieved that this had gone over a lot better than I expected.

"You can consider it a deal."

I was overall pleased with the turn of events as all three of them could use a friend. As well, I probably could use some time with a friend.

It had been non stop training and survival for the longest time. I don't know if the real treasure was the friends I made along the way, but now I was two people short of a enough people to play my favorite social deduction game.

We said our goodbyes and then went on our way. Lorenzo and I meandered back to the compound that he was staying at while the powers that be sorted out their investigation. It just so happened that the Moon clan had been instrumental in the demise of the demonic sect, so when offered the honor to heal the victims, their patriarch jumped at the chance. It was a political play that they hadn't expected to have to make.

Now the demonic cultivator checklist included looking to see if far too much food for the people on ground had been delivered. Not that they had been fed adequately. Lorenzo didn't remember a time that he was here without shackles. He nearly blacked out when I asked about food. Walking two neighborhoods east, the density dropped slightly until nearly every fourth parcel of land was a clan compound.

Above us the three meter tall walls all had one theme: opulence. If the Mandarin hadn't set out a common theme, I could see the families carving epic scenery into their outer walls. I know that the inner walls were a marble museum to those that had gone before.

Above us a familiar cat prowled the top of the wall. Spotting us it pounced, or more accurately it landed and then took a spot on my shoulders.

Min purred. The bonded moon spirit was the my closest companion and I replied upon her for a lot. She too had recently ranked up, moving up to the third realm.

"Hey Min," I said, giving her a good pat.

"Companion Joseph. Frenemy Lorenzo. Good to see you both."

"That had to take forever to get used to. Also, Frenemy?" He said.

He looked at me, and I shrugged. She knew earth terms. So sue me.

"We have a bond so I can feel her presence. So it took only one scare. She has her little titles for everyone. When she told me that Maxine was her bestie I nearly threw her out."

"You humans are so about it. What with your getting married and splitting up and forming partnerships. It's a lot to keep track of,"Min said.

"Speaking of keeping track, Lorenzo, who else... heard that it was me?"

Lorenzo held onto my shoulder.

"All of them, brother."

What an asshole.

"Min can you change his title from Frenemy to enemy of the state?" I said.

"That is possible, companion Joseph."

Lorenzo couldn't stop giggling.

"Anyway, now that we're here, did you want to join my gang? We offer workman's comp if you get assaulted in the line of duty. As well as a shift differential among other things."

"You guys are too much. I think I'm going to need a minute," he said wheezing audibly.

"Cousin Moon Lee had called for a meeting of the crew tomorrow night. Perhaps then we can speak of his application to join the enterprise."

"You have to got to have a better name for your gang than 'the enterprise'. Unless you have a Star Trek theme going on," Lorenzo choked out.

"Well let's see. We have Moon Lee, our subterfuge expert, she's good in a pinch and she has a ton of experience. Then we have Kang Egiya who you have met. Incidentally she's only quiet when her mother is around. Then there's Moon Fei, our fixer, the guy who is on convalescent leave. He isn't a cultivator but we don't hold that against him. There's Moon Xiru, who is the face of the crew, I guess. He also isn't a cultivator, but that's never held him back. Finally we have Jin Xueyie, the actor whose parents got the Mandarin to show up. She's a firecracker though."

"Maxine isn't a part of this... Little enterprise?" He held up an arm to accept Min. The tiny cat made her way over like she owned the place.

"I guess you might say that we did a team up once that didn't go terribly. We went through a lot on the other side so I fully expect that she's not interested in any of what we have to offer. If she hadn't helped I would have washed my hands of her a while back."

"Ah. The old alimony and child support payments don't follow you to another world gambit. Well, we can see how that works out for you then," Lorenzo said.

"So do you want to see what it's all about?"

Lorenzo nodded.

"If you're involved, then you know I'm in. I trust you. After what you did back there, I think it's the least that I could do."

"Thanks."

"While you two humans are talking here, did you want to see if he has the spark?" Min said.

The white cat dropped down in between us from his arms.

"It can't hurt. It's a simple test. Do you-"

"Hell yes brother. Take me to the test."

"Excellent."

---

An hour later we were sitting eating dinner at the Moon clan dining hall. There was a lot of walking about and a fair bit of gawking until we arrived back to my current guest house.

"So you got evicted from the safe house you had before, and now you need a new one?" He said.

"Yeah we haven't had a meeting since I woke up. We were all on the same page about getting the Red Fang back but now I don't know where we go from here. I mean we can start taking other jobs but-" I began to say.

"Don't tell me. You want to run things like a democracy," he said.

"Not exactly. Maybe a sociocracy? The one where everyone has to be on board for a thing but if one person has a strong objection to like a rule then we debate or drop it. Everyone needs to be on board."

They had all bought into it. It was a hell of a lot better than what most Sects did. Min assumed her normal position on my shoulders. The bowl was on it's way to where we were. I have her a head pat.

"Is this a way to delegate out the hard decisions? Just trying to avoid them?"

"Noo-why would you say that?" I said. "I mean it isn't just a mutual aid organization, we do have a social purpose."

"The finding and eradication of demonic cultivators?" He said.

I nodded.

Moon Lee arrived with a special bowl. I had to help Lorenzo up, but he stood strong once he got there. I swear that I was feeling better, but those damn bandages were more and more feeling like they were just hiding my washboard abs so I could reveal them in some epic final battle.

"Ma'am. I stand ready for whatever test you have for me," he said.

Moon Lee had blue and white formal cultivators robes. Her blue sash had a golden trim. Her hair was immaculate, in the half down jedi way that was growing on me. My own curly locks were getting to the length that I was going to need to get serious about it soon.

"Cultivator Joseph Pidge," she said, "a pleasure to see you out and about."

I stopped short of a bear hug on the woman that I owed everything to. Instead, she got a hearty squeeze of her hand. We had gone through a lot together and she was one of the people that I would credit with my success the most. She also got the most out of me with all of her bets that she had made either for or against me. Oh she hadn't mentioned those until I woke up because she felt guilty about it and was giving me a ten percent cut of the proceeds.

It was a lot.

"Put both hands in the bowl and empty your mind. Let the water do what it will," she said.