Lorenzo and I were giddy.

We had our first off the street real honest client. A paying one, even!

It was a kid of course. Or rather a kid? A cultivator who had to ascend to a higher realm while still young had been trapped in that age. According to his accounts he was somewhere on the order of 50 or 60 years old. And he was tired of being treated like a child. Cultivation slows down growth and for those at a younger age, it makes that growth to adulthood so much longer. But of course we had a prodigy in our hands.

As the elder cultivator of the two of us, Lorenzo let me do his intake. I was going to see about doing a warm handoff to Lorenzo first because there were a lot of intricacies of Western Jewel that I needed to make sure that he understood. Lorenzo brought him up for his first session and then departed to do something that sounded like window shopping with Ellen. It was Lorenzo's new apartment after all. He had worked out some deal with Ellen that I wasn't privy to.

After some pleasantries and introduction, my new client and I got into it in the small apartment on the third floor above the cultivators' ink pot. We had a good view of the Raven statue in the square as we talked.

"So you are the sect leader of the turtle shell shockwave clan?"

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Patriarch Tori had a long down style with zero hair bands or clips putting his shoulder length hair on full display. I envied the length but I knew what it took to maintain it. Underneath that hair was a face that would not have been out of place on a child actor. It wasn't a young face on an old body either.

"This is true. Have been for over 20 years. As the patriarch, I'm responsible for all aspects of the clan to include recruiting which feels like it has been a failure. It feels like we lose a disciple for every one that I bring in."

"Recruiting, huh? Have you thought about your retention plan as well?"

"Retention? What do you mean?"

I sighed. The space that I had dedicated for this needed an interior decorator. Ellen was great but stairs were trouble at her age, and Lorenzo wasn't going to ask her. I wanted some room to pace around. I also wanted a metaphor that would work for him.

"You're spending all your time worrying about who you're bringing in, but have you thought about what you are doing to retain the ones that are already in? Like? Like look at this room here? For instance, I need to upgrade it. I want people to stick around for the long term with me. Whether your problem is a short-term solution that has a long-term, therapeutic intervention or just turns into an ongoing vent session? I want you to come here and feel welcome. That I haven't set it up yet. That way is on me, but since this is so new you probably are going to be willing to overlook that. And I'll think about how that may play out for some of your older disciples when they see the new guys getting everything they want just to get pulled in. But they're dealing with the old stuff for lack of a better term."

"What could I do for this retention?"

"Let me turn this back on you: what would make you stay in a Sect?"

"Hmmmm. More cultivation time, better opportunities. I guess more spirit stones?"

"Are spirit stones used like currency in your sect? Yes? Then I agree."

"But then I need to pay those ungrateful disciples more than I do? Do they really deserve it though?"

"Think of it as a good selling point. If your disciples have more free time and are generally more wealthy than the other sects, then word will spread," I said, folding my hands together.

"That is an interesting observation. I feel that it merits further study."

"I keep seeing people doing things and not thinking about the second order effects."

"When you say second order effects, what are you talking about?"

"Going from the fast and easy thinking to deliberately thinking about the future. Thinking about how decisions you make now can affect the long term. Like my choice to get a sofa here. That corner would be nice with a sofa."

"It would be quite nice to see the square from this height without much difficulty. So you're saying that your decision on how to arrange your office can have long term effects?"

"What if you walked in here and I was aggressive, cold, rude or standoffish? How would you take it? What if I made the environment a very welcoming one and instead treated you like someone that I want to build a rapport with? Let's talk it out."

He paused and it would have been the perfect time to stroke a beard. I saw him instead brush his hair down one side with his fingers. The poor guy couldn't even grow facial hair. Maybe in another 100 years the whippersnapper might have a chance in that regard.

"This second order thinking. Alright let's see. If they are compensated better then they will be more willing to do more of the things that will advance out Sect. Things like entering tournaments and finishing Sect missions. This could in turn raise our reputation, garnering more missions and increasing payments to the clan..."

"Which you can then funnel right back into your people," I said. I leaned back into the wicker chair, it wasn't nearly as comfortable as you might think.

"That... Is a good thing."

He didn't sound as convinced as I thought he would be. Despite looking about twelve, he pulled out a pipe. I was relieved when the old young man started smoking bubbles out of his pipe. I didn't even know that this was an option. They were probably dao bubbles or some bullshit that allowed him to concentrate his Qi.

I want him to sit with it for a while. He was now hopefully thinking through the first order effect of things and comparing it to the second order effect. I could see that this was something that he had never had to do before. It was like this world didn't have logic, puzzles or anything else. A world without logic puzzles and social deduction games was very sad. And I was here to mitigate that.

Several times he sat up, straightening and physically letting go of clenched fists. His unease with the situation of demonstrating his humanity towards his disciples had to have been rushing through his mind.

I thought about how I treated the people on the crew. Putting Moon Fei on workmans comp was a no brainer. At least it was for me. It was the right thing to do. You take care of your people.

Setting it up as a program would be counter intuitive for the Patriarch, but maybe that was a bug in the system. Something that patriarchs and matriarchs needed to set up. Just because somebody wasn't able to kill a ten meter tall spirit beast with one hand tied behind their back didn't mean that they had no value to a Sect. Everyone needed some mundane tasks to be completed. I'm not talking about bullshit jobs here. I'm talking about the important things that keep a group running together. Someone has to plant the crops and prepare the food.

Master Tori had to have been going through something when I explained how I developed my workman's comp as a perk of working for me. He saw the value shortly thereafter.

"If I make it easier for them to ascend, that feels like it would be cheating."

"Is it? You came to me in part because you have a bottleneck in your own cultivation. There's something in your way, keeping you where you are and you think that I can just make you advance,"I patted Min's head, "I can't make you do anything. I can shine a light on a part of you that I think you need to address and we can go over your goals and how you're making progress towards them. I'm here to support you in your advancement."

"Thanks. I am just now realizing how much of my identity is tied up in the Sect and how it's run day to day."

"You're a senior elder. You should have your junior disciples running the show, not only to make things easier for you but also to give them leadership experience. You shouldn't be doing everything yourself."

I could imagine him getting back to his Sect compound and putting up a series of motivational posters after all of this.

"Let me ask you something else though. All of this-these little changes- what if they don't work?"

"Oh, but what if they do?" I said.

---

The question about what to do first once my back was up par had arrived at a stalemate. There was an official tie between going out there to gather more spiritual materials or training with Min. If we went outside then there was quite a possibility that we could get something. However, on the other hand we could find nothing.

That would be a waste of our time when we could train in the moon clans courtyards. We had been using their facilities a lot since Moon Lee was greasing the wheels. As one of the more senior women in the clan, she opened doors for us.

So when I got the clean bill of health and I felt like I was ready for it, I decided that I would take myself out for a little jog on my day off. This would be the first time I ran all out since the fight. I wasn't anticipating that it would be difficult, but a week away from it could lead to me being a bit rusty.

Of course Min ran alongside me. We made a good pace as we ran out south of western jewel. Our goal was to hit the barrier wall around the city that kept out the beasts. I knew it was fast when I started to have to dodge around people who didn't even know I was there. Up ahead I could see the barrier going up. It extended up to about one hundred meters into the air. I had fully expected the thick force field projection to make a dome over the entirety of western jewel. That it didn't mean that every so often I would see a flying cultivator cross over.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Behind us, Egiya ran at her pace trying to keep up. She knew the route and would catch up with us when she could. Our formations expert wanted to train and we would not deny her the opportunity.

At the base of the barrier every so often you could see a totem. These marked the barrier formation that every so often had to get looked at. Egiyas father worked on exact kind of formations that made life possible out here. I started to think about how impossible it had to have been, living where a spiritual beast could very easily kill you. Indiscriminately. The fact that humanity was able to ride the bubble of that here was a testament to the power of cultivation. The cultivators took care of the weak, receiving accolades and kudos for a job well done.

Min paused in front of the formation barrier. It looked like she was going to scratch it. I gave her a gentle head pat for being such a good girl. She deserved it for all the hard work she put in. But also she was full of snark and I liked that kind of thing. It was part of the appeal of Maxine way back when we were initially dating.

"What do you think about it?" I asked the blue and white cat.

"Someone spent a lot of time on this. An inordinate amount of time. An all together ridiculous amount of time to make sure that this is that just right. I guess."

"Formation Cultivators doing their best for the good of society, right?"

"It's the most we can ask from them. You know I have no idea when Mister Kang will return from his trip? He has been gone for months on a mission."

"Yeah I never wanted to pry. I don't think it's any of my business."

"Until he returns and realizes that his daughter has ascended to the second realm and only has a few bottlenecks to the third," Min said, "It's unusual for someone that has been held back for so long to make a breakthrough, but it seems to be your forte. Before long you are going to get the wrong kind of attention. As in the kind you can't just appease to make you disappear."

"I know. I thought that stopping the recruitment from these local Sects would end the attention but now it looks like I am going to be back in the limelight. Unless our constabulary friend keeps our situation to himself. I feel like he could do it with the right application of pressure."

Egiya pushed her pace from about half a mile behind us as Min and I exchanged barbs. The pleasant sight of rocks and a cloudy patch of dust and debris were in her wake. She was getting better. I wouldn't tag her as a Frontline fighter for all of her gifts, but she would be a speedster if she put her mind to it.

"She's doing well. Despite her mother trying to edge into her affairs, she has- I'm looking for the word- separated herself. She's her own woman."

"The worry was that she would just be her mother's doormat for the rest of her life? I still don't understand why you would put a perfectly good mat in front of a door. You off workers are a piece of work. How would you train grappling in front of someone's door?"

"Well, first off, it's not that type of grappling, second off-"

The barrier hummed.

Or at least I think it did. It felt like something had happened along the edge of it.

I knew a technique to open the barrier. It was meant for third realm and higher cultivators to be able to leave and return on their own. Once you were out in the wild, if you took down a spirit beast, you could either bring it back in an expensive storage ring, or use a contracting company to fly a specialized air barge in to extract the parts of the beast and fly them back. This generous work was done for an easy six to ten percent of the total proceeds as they turned the materials over to another specialized company to sell it.

The web of interconnectedness here had really surprised me. Every time I thought I had a very good understanding of things here, I would learn something like the air barge was only a small piece of a strange economy.

I could see one now skimming towards what had to be another satisfied customer. All told I had seen three barges moving in and out of the city today, though I didn't know if that was high or low. For a city of millions, I expected a few more, but there were only so many Cultivators.

"Min, three barges today plus this one. Do you think that's a lot or a little?"

"Hard to say, Companion Joseph. I could investigate how many companies do the spirit beast pickups and how large each fleet is. They have to park them somewhere, of course."

"That should be easy enough. Then there's the frequency as a metric separate from the fleet count. That should be pretty good for comparison."

A wheezing woman ahead stopped to adjust her hair. I waved emphatically. I swear she gave me the finger or some rude gesture. She had started walking, as if conserving energy.

Besides the lush farming land and hundreds of trees we were alone. There was a bug enough area for a mock spar right where we were. The trees tended to not grow too close to the barrier.

I fell into a familiar empty stance, moving through steps that I had done countless times on earth. An open palm here, a block there, as I moved through a basic form to limber up. I was already warm from running, just checking the internals. By the time she arrived, I was ready to go.

"Sparring again?" She asked, taking a knee on the ground.

"Light sparring. If you can't spar while you're out of breath, then who even are you?"

"Who even am I?" She said, standing up. I could feel her qi cycling.

Her sleek black hair was slicked back into a ponytail, her own admission that she might see action. She hadn't brought her longbow with her, instead drawing back on a pretend drawstring as she charged a shot.

She shot a bolt of formed qi at me as I took a glancing blow to my ribs. She was getting good at the technique. Had she been using a real bow I might have been bruised or worse. Of course this was training for both of us so I darted left, trying to keep her off of me.

I had selected an area that was relatively flat and without any sort of cover much toy dismay.

"I'm a winner."

She hit my crossed arms as I surged Qi to stop her assault. The power behind her shot pushed me back two feet, leaving skid marks in the grass.

Instead of waiting for another attack, I pushed nearly half of my stored Qi into my legs and lower body to increase my speed. I used that to dodge another shot and close the distance.

"Hi winner, I'm dad!"

Egiya jumped as I said that, and I could see another Qi arrow forming in her arms. I saw the possible directions that she could shoot it and ran to be on her other side. Since I was roughly four times as fast as she was, it felt like she was in slow motion. By the time she was ready to land I had taken up a spot right behind her.

I lightly tapped her on the back. That was about the time that I decided to stop pushing all of my Qi into speed. Now that I was within striking distance, she continued her attack with hand to hand strikes. She kept a clean even footing as she jabbed several times with her front fists trying to connect.

Each time she sent a feint out, I treated it like the real thing. She was trying to goad me into moving with her as she circled me. I was content to stay in place as she had to expend more and more energy to walk around me, trying to find a weak point.

I slapped one of her jabs with an Open Palm. I attempted to pull her into grappling range, but she removed her hand too fast for me before scoring a hit in my temple. I stepped back avoiding a combination strike from her other arm.

I don't follow the school of thought that you should pull your punches. If you're training to do something, you should at least understand how it feels. In this case she could hurt me only if I let her. I also didn't go full all out against her. If I used either of my trump cards, this would have been over really fast. But that wasn't the point. I was giving her some of what the moon clan trainers had given me. It was more than just peace of mind.

As an advancing cultivator her ability to defend herself could only help.

She got me with a savage roundhouse kick in the stomach.

The breakfast that had sat unbothered in my stomach for the nine mile run, suddenly had something to say. I was influent in stomach but it sounded like I was about to meet my breakfast again.

I push that feeling down, breathing through my mouth. The aura was dense here, and it trickled into my core. It wasn't enough to replace everything I'd used but with time I would recover.

Just not my breakfast. I projectile vomited everything that I carefully packed in earlier. She dodged because of course she did. I wasn't going to give her the pleasure of acknowledging that this wasn't an attack.

"Are you unwell?"

I held up a hand to stall any further talk. I dry heaved a little bit coming up with nothing. It was comforting to know that she was able to get that kick in despite our difference in ability.

"I think that's enough for now. I don't want to pay for my hubris with any more eggs and toast. You did good, kid."

"Good because that kick took all I had. I'm going to need to cycle for a little bit to regain anything."

I laid down.

"Take as long as you need," I said, closing my eyes to think about all the times I hadn't felt icky. Those were some good times.

"Did I mention that I played netball with Maxine?"

I lifted my chin and grunted.

"You played netball with the enemy? First off, this is a betrayal of the highest magnitude. Second off, did you beat her? Also what did you use for a ball?"

"Allow me to answer those out of orders, yes I beat her after losing several rounds, we used a yak skin ball and of course I played with her. She has helped me to understand your unique position greatly."

Min sat on my chest and purred.

"Were you a part of this you little..." I gave the spirit a head scratch,"Frenemy lover you."

"This spirit beast can neither confirm nor deny any allegations or misdoings that her companion did not specify in their soul contract," Min said, accepting the head pats graciously.

"Oh! The dreaded double betrayal. How will I ever return from this," I said in the dad robot voice,"Oh no!"

Min purred. Egiya giggled in between heaving breaths.

After a short rest, she was ready to go and she began to inspect the formations on the nearest stone. She took notes and then wrote down a pattern. She then showed me the pattern so I could try to analyze it. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. She was showing me a two dimensional representation of a slice of a three dimensional grid so I was only getting part of the picture.

"This looks lovely. Strange and ephemeral, and all sorts of artistic, but I can't make heads or tails of it," I said, turning the latest sheet over.

"Understood, but you have this understanding of the human condition that I seem to lack, so we can fill in each other's gaps in knowledge easily. What even is therapy, right?"

"Did you want a textbook answer or-"

"No, I do not want a textbook answer. Textbook answers got me repairing these formations," said said holding up one like it had cursed her family and her honor.

"Right. Well at least the formations can't yell at you to bring home grandchildren."

"Is that what parents on earth do? Demand you reproduce so that they can what, ignore the next generation as well?"

I might have hit a nerve.

"I-uh-what. Hey I'm sorry if this got a little too personal. Let me be the first one to say that you have worth whether you have children or not. Especially if you make an informed choice about what works for you as a person. But to answer your question, yes. There are a lot of narcissistic parents that have kids as a kind of a trophy or something to show off to their friends. I don't endorse that. My daughters achievements are their own and though I'm there to back them up I'm not there to show them off."

"Are you here to back me up in the same way?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't you show off your talent with reading and formations and catch up on what you're supposed to be doing," she said waving a stack of formations notes.

"I think I might just do that."