Nadia walked through the open elevator doors and into her floor. The water stilled as she passed, the woman using her power to passively work the water. It had been a habit since she gained the floor, a simple way to work on her control. James trained ahead of her on one of the raised platforms. With barely any effort, she jumped from her position onto the training floor.

“There is no longer a ban on purchases in the market floor,” she said to James.

James nodded as he moved through a series of moving and shrinking rings, the newest addition to his training. The lines of energy from the Metastate swirled around him, splitting off solid walls to become two or more lines. His studies in dynamics were starting to bear fruit.

“How pissed were they when you revealed the Electrum Oxen?” James asked as he landed.

“I believe greed was the prevalent emotion,” Nadia admitted. “Their eyes were practically credit banks.”

James’s handheld dinged. He furrowed his brow as he looked at it. “Master, why do I now have tens of thousands of credits?”

“That is your cut from the sale of the Terra Tiger,” Nadia said. “And I negotiated our terms using only three of the Oxen. Two are going to Fu and Seok, but I believe you should have the last one to do as you wish.”

James stumbled. “What?”

“You must learn more of the world,” Nadia said. “You may either work the oxen into cybernetics, a weapon, or more. Or, if you wish, you may sell it for more credits. Either way you will have to interact with more of Cyber Crane Megacity.”

“This is an entire animal, though,” James said. “Are you sure you want me to have all of it? Isn’t it crazy expensive?”

“Disciple, if I wished, I could purchase all six of the oxen as well as the tiger without making a dent in my funds. There is no need to worry about me. Instead, use this to cement yourself as part of the city. Collect favors, gain allies, and invest in mortals who show promise. You will need to do so once you start interacting with the rest of the Sect. It is almost time for the games to begin.”

James wondered where the time had gone. He guessed between training, studying, and spending time with Tsukiko the days passed by faster than he’d expected.

“Wait, that means the elders are going to examine my mind soon,” James said.

“I convinced them to wait until after the games,” Nadia said. “So that you could focus and bring more honor to the sect.”

James snorted. “Why bother? They aren’t sponsoring me.”

“Remember, sponsors are anonymous. The only information the populace will get is your sect and your master. They would not wish to lose free publicity,” Nadia answered.

“Wow, master, that was astoundingly political,” James said with his signature sarcasm.

Nadia smirked back. “I have not sat idle while you trained, disciple. In fact, maneuvering through the sect’s power structure has taught me much in the ways of diplomacy. For instance, it is wise to have leverage over the other before talking back to them. As you do not, I fear you must now learn that lesson the hard way.”

James narrowed his eyes. “You never cared about this before. What’s going on?”

“Etiquette, disciple,” Nadia said. “It is time for you to learn it. Luckily, it has come to my attention that there is an excellent way to teach you.”

“And that is?” James asked hesitantly.

“Why, your paramour of course,” Nadia answered easily. “Every time you act out in your lessons, I will be sure to let her know.”

“That’s not fair, master!” James complained.

“It is for your own good, disciple,” Nadia said. “I do not mind how you act, but the other sects will take offense to your attitude. Do not worry, the lessons are simple for a disciple. In fact, there is mostly only one rule you have to follow.”

“And that is?” James asked.

“Speak only when spoken to,” Nadia said. “If you learn nothing else, then learn that.”

James groaned. “Fine, but before that I need your help.”

“With what, disciple?” Nadia asked.

James retold the tale of Peregrine’s visit while he swept the floors.

“I’m worried about him,” James said. “If Osman discovers he and I are similar then he might use the teen in an experiment.”

Nadia frowned. “While Osman is greedy and tends to overreach, even he wouldn’t stoop as low as to experiment on his own disciple. If such an act were discovered, none would stand for it.”

James shook his head. His master’s faith in the institution she grew up in seemed to rear its head at the worst of times. “We should expect the worst, though, right?”

Nadia shook her head. “If we did that, disciple, we would be checking our shadows at every step. Trust is needed.”

“He’s a snake, though,” James argued. “How are we supposed to trust that?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I do not trust Osman,” Nadia answered. “I trust that our sect would not allow someone morally corrupt into it. I trust the other elders to curb the worst of each other’s ambitions. I trust the sect master to steer the sect in a righteous direction.”

She looked at James. “Despite my misgivings on their views disciple, Osman and others in the sect still support those in need in their own ways. The sect leader heavily invests in infrastructure, and Osman crafts cheap medicines for the lower class to buy. Try not to view him as a monolith of evil.”

“Hard to not think it when your first encounter is him about to dissect you,” James muttered.

Nadia’s face tightened. “A gross misstep that saw him punished.”

“People like that don’t learn, master,” James said. “He went out of his way to purchase that gymnasium to spite us. He’s not someone who would learn a lesson.”

Nadia sighed. “Perhaps. Osman has always pushed for more than others. Still, it would not be wise to spy on him. If he discovers it was we who sent infiltrators the current situation would only worsen.”

“Master, stop being reasonable,” James said with a sigh. “Alright, fine. I still don’t trust him.”

“Trust me then, disciple,” Nadia said. “I have stayed with the sect longer than you and know how it operates. Can you do that, trust my judgment?”

James sighed. “I guess.”

Nadia placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you disciple. Now, let us discuss your etiquette lessons.”

James made a face.

__

Etiquette lessons were exactly as boring as James imagined. All it contained were rules. How to speak to one above your station, how to speak to one below your station, how far you needed to bow when showing respect. The only thing that—barely—held his interest were the many ways you could insult someone without words.

For example, if James bowed to everyone but one person, it would be taken as him refusing to show respect to that single person. However, that was only if the one insulted was of equal or higher station. Well, according to bystanders anyway. James was sure anyone would feel insulted if they were the only one who wasn’t shown a respectful bow.

However, since the lessons were all mostly memorization, and James’s status as a disciple made him the lowest on the proverbial totem pole, he didn’t have much trouble at all remembering the rules. It was still one of the most boring lessons of his life, however.

To reinvigorate himself, James went through more training. After solid hours of nonstop exercise, James eventually found his stomach rumbling. He debated ordering food from the market floor, or just reheating one of the many precooked meals in Nadia’s domicile, but eventually decided to see if Tsukiko wanted to go somewhere nice for a change.

“What do you have in mind?” she asked over the handheld.

“I have enough credits to splurge on some real meat, for once,” James said.

“You’re kidding,” she replied.

“I am not,” James said. “Your lover is now loaded. Prepare for stacks of diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.”

“I swear to god if you buy me anything that expensive—“ Tsukiko started.

James laughed. “Alright, alright. Nothing expensive. Small trinkets, at least?”

“I wouldn’t say no to more origami pets,” Tsukiko said after a moment.

“You sure?” James asked, remembering the paper crows and their pointed beaks. “I could get you a real pet.”

“No way,” Tsukiko answered. “I am not dealing with animal droppings. It’s paper or nothing.”

“Alright,” James said. “Paper animals and no real meat, understood.”

“Hey now, I never said that,” Tsukiko said. “Pick me up, I’ll be waiting.”

James met her outside the Archimedes building in one of Nadia’s vehicles.

“So, master recommended an excellent place,” James said. “She even let us use her private room.”

“Oh? Already buying favors from the elite?” Tsukiko joked. She wore a silk dress of midnight black. Her hair was up in a neat bun and two obsidian earrings rested on her ears. James smiled when he saw the amber necklace on her neck.

For his part, James wore something Nadia had picked out for him, a suit that matched Tsukiko’s dress. Somehow his master had gotten cufflinks that matched with Tsukiko’s necklace, and James couldn’t help but wonder how rich his master actually was to procure him a matching suit in moments.

“I don’t think I’m that rich,” James said. He opened the door on her side before jogging over to his. The vehicle lifted, taking the two of them to their destination.

This time, they traveled up the elevator, past the floor housing Blue Mountain Sect.

“Are we going all the way to the top?” Tsukiko asked.

“Two floors below it,” James answered. “Not quite the top, but close. Nadia says the restaurant has a window that shows the outside.”

“Impressive,” Tsukiko said. “You’re moving up in the world.”

“Quite literally,” James joked.

They continued making small talk until they reached the floor. They parked the vehicle in front of the restaurant, a place so expensive it only had a symbol for a name. As they landed, a Valet approached and offered to park their vehicle instead of the autopark feature.

“Some appreciate the human touch, esteemed guests,” the valet said when James asked.

James shrugged and agreed, paying the man when he noticed the blinking scanner on his wrist. He offered his arm to Tsukiko as he walked in, letting the host know of his reservation in the private room.

“This way, esteemed guests,” the host said.

James and Tsukiko walked along, picking up snippets of conversation. Some was about the Electrum Oxen on the market, others about various new cores that were showing up.

“There has to be a new forger crafting them,” James heard. “Probably trying to attract the attention of a family.”

The talk of cores made James think of his own. Now that he had money and materials, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to start planning.

He pushed the thought aside for later, right now he had a date with Tsukiko.

Of course, the small talk around him kept grabbing his attention as they walked. He couldn’t help but be a little proud of Tsukiko for coming up with the plan, and a part of him wanted to shout it to the world. He knew she would hate that, though.

“…New backmarkets app appeared.”

James looked over as he heard the words. He caught a glimpse of two women, one showing her handheld to the other. There was a symbol on it, a pattern that James could just make out if he squinted. It looked like any generic meditation app, but had a few differences that James couldn’t make out.

He felt a pinch. He turned to find tsukiko glaring at him.

James realized the problem, defending himself as he walked into the private room. “It’s not what it looks like. They were talking about the backmarkets.”

“Sure they were,” Tsukiko said.

“No, they were,” James said. “Look I can prove it.”

He pulled his handheld out and scrolled through the apps, stopping and downloading any that looked similar to the one he saw. He found it as the waiter came around for their order. Tsukiko, still a touch angry, ordered more courses of meat than either would know what to do with.

“Look, I found it,” James said after the waiter left.

The app opened to reveal a list of ‘instructors’ who were offering their ‘services’. When selected, the app revealed what each service actually entailed.

“See, this one is selling a set of cultivation aids,” James said. “Pure, apparently.”

“So why did you want this app?” Tsukiko asked.

“Master gave me the Electrum Oxen parts,” James said. “I bet the money I make from selling it could get me a core.”

“Sounds like you’re rushing into things,” she said.

James shook his head. “No, master said cores are expensive and rare. There’s no guarantee she can get me one when I’m ready for it. I’m just trying to plan ahead.”

“And if this core is worth more than the oxen?” Tsukiko asked.

“I’ll think of something,” James said. “For now I’m just glad I found this thing.”