Len followed Rick as they wandered through Goran, delving deeper into the city. They passed other arenas and various celebrations happening throughout the streets. None of it seemed to touch Rick, who was determined in his footsteps. Rachel realized that Rick was avoiding her questions, so she turned her gaze onto Len.

"So, Len, how did you come to work for my brother?" she asked.

Rick chuffed out a laugh.

"Well, when we first met," Len began, casting his mind back, "I think Rick was trying to get a job. He had none of the people skills necessary to do so, but he did have some of the required skills. So, I talked someone into giving him a bit of instruction, which turned into a budding friendship over the years."

"Or something like that," Rick interjected.

"Uh-huh," Rachel nodded, her expression indicating that she didn't understand a single thing either of them had said.

Rick left the sidewalk moving towards a two-story home separated from its neighbors by manicured bushes and a wrought-iron fence. "Here we are.”

“Young Master Rick?" A guard behind a gate questioned as Rick approached.

"Hey there. How are you doing?" Rick asked.

"I'm doing well, sir," the guard replied, opening the gate.

"Is Everett on the property?" Rick asked.

"As always. Wherever Matriarch Insendia is, he is," the guard responded, a note of respect and sadness in his voice.

Rick continued walking towards the house. "Is she in the drawing room?" he asked, raising his voice.

"I think so," the guard yelled back.

"Thank you. Get Everett to meet me where she is," Rick instructed, he hadn’t broken his stride. Len could feel he was barely holding himself back from running.

Len and Rachel followed him.

Rick ran his eyes over the building. Rachel's steps stuttered as Len increased his stride to whisper to Rick. "Maybe hide the glowing eyes?"

"Ah, crap, I keep forgetting," Rick blinked, the glow dimming in his eyes as he continued to study the building.

"There she is," Rick's pace quickened as he pushed open the double doors of the sprawling mansion.

He moved through the lower floors, taking steps four at a time to the second floor.

Servants and guards were startled as he weaved a path among them, reaching an ornate pair of carved doors. He raked back his hair, braced himself fixed a smile to his face and threw them open.

Inside was a small library with an old woman sitting in a chair, watching the world go by outside her window. She barely flinched as the doors were flung open.

"Hello, Grandma, how are you doing?" Rick asked as he strode over to her, a swagger in his step.

Slowly, she tilted her head, lifting it to stare at her grandson. Her voice was papery and thin as she tried to say something.

"Don't worry, Grandma, we'll have you feeling better in no time," Rick reassured her, patting her hand. He looked over at Len. "Mana gathering formation. Rachel, door."

"All right," Len agreed, setting down the crates before taking the markers from his messenger bag and laying them out.

“What are you going to do?” Rachel asked, closing the door, watching Len.

"We're going to open Grandma's mana gates, give her a jolt of the old cultivation and tempering, and that should be enough to..." Rick paused, frowning. "Poison," he said with granite certainty.

Len felt the room grow oppressive Rick’s anger bleeding through.

Len stood up from placing the last mana marker. “You sure?"

"Yeah, her body's ravaged with it. Deposits throughout her bloodstream. The buildup in the organs. It's gotten into her very bones." Rick took a deep breath, holding his grandma's hand tight.

"What do you mean, poison?" Rachel asked.

Len pulled out the second mana gathering formation and started laying it out, outside of the first.

"Do you ever find it kind of convenient how Grandma got sick after Mom died? How everything started going to shit right afterwards? How the rest of the main family turned their backs on us and on her?" Rick asked.

"I..." Rachel trailed off, lowering her head and gritting her teeth.

Frustration radiated from her.

"Well, don't worry," Rick said. "We'll get that sorted out soon enough. It actually might be a boon to us. It's ravaged her body so much and left her in a rather terrible state. Once she can cultivate, her rate of recovery should be impressive."

“Thinking she’ll get a better tempering,” Len surmised.

“Yeah.” Rick picked up his grandma's other hand, pressing his thumbs to the base of her palms. Len sensed the mana within the mana gathering formation condensing, directed by Rick.

"Here we go."

Twin cracking noises, like a plate dropped on a floor, filled the room as Rick's grandma breathed in suddenly, her back arching as she pushed against the rear of her chair.

Rick grabbed her head, pressing his thumb just above her brow. Another cracking noise rang out as the mana turned turbulent within the formation.

"All right, Grandma, listen to me," Rick said, holding her head so she could fixate on him. Her eyes were clearer than they had been when they entered, her body shuddering.

"Right now I've opened three of your mana gates. Mana, what you can feel rushing through your body right now, is moving according to your thoughts.” Rick shook her.

“You need to breathe. Inhale the mana, drawing it through your channels and into your chest, down into your stomach, and let it settle there in your dantian. It's that open space that you feel at the core of your being. Exhale and condense the mana, then repeat, okay?"

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She gave a faint, jerky nod as the mana started to settle down.

Len watched with his all-seeing eyes, seeing the mana pass through her channels and into her core, building there until it condensed into a white vapor core.

A ripple of power ran through her body and the surrounding area, impurities pushing out of her pores as her channels spread throughout her body further.

Rick made a grasping motion with his hand, wicking away the impurities into a condensed ball, that he set alight.

"Good, good. All right, now the second part is we need to finish the tempering of your body. What I want you to do is guide the mana to where you feel pain throughout your body, everywhere that it feels wrong," Rick said.

"It all feels wrong, boy," she said, closing her eyes. Rachel took in a shocked breath as Rick grinned.

Impurities started flowing out of her pores, Rick scraped them away and burning them as he had done before.

Her skin started to become firmer, taking on a flushed glow instead of a pallid one. Her breathing came easier as well. Instead of labored and wheezing, it was strong and deep.

She filled her lungs fully, pulling in manna as she did so. This continued for several minutes before she let out a breath, opening her eyes.

"Well, grandson, it seems you learned something in the big city after all," she said with a wry grin.

"Ah, a thing or two here and there," Rick grinned. His grandma let out a cackle, standing up and wrapping Rick in a hug. "Ah, it's good to see you, boy."

"And you too, grandma," Rick said with a thick voice.

"Grandma?" Rachel asked.

"Come here, kiddo." Grandma opened her arm, waving Rachel forward. She ran to her grandma with tears in her eyes, latching onto both her and her brother.

Well, this is awkward. Len rested his hand on the hilt of his sword as the door opened into the room.

An elderly gentleman stepped through, his eyes taking in the room, analyzing everything and everyone within a second.

Decent fighter. He was old as well, and it was the old fighters that one worried about. They’d lasted and survived.

His hair had gone white long ago, his mustache holding onto some remnant of gray coloring.

The sword on his hip was simple and heavy, his armor similar. The kind that was used by a fighter, not by some parading centerpiece.

His stiff expression faltered as his steps jerked to a stop, his eyebrows tried to dance across his face, his mouth opening and closing like a guppy.

"I always thought you were unflappable," Rick said as the trio released one another.

"Everett," Rick's grandma said with a note of affection.

"Lady Isendia," Everett said half question, half confusion, bowing to her.

"Close the damn door, will ya? The draft's getting in." She waved at the man.

"Yes, ma'am." He jumped up, closing the door behind him.

"Haven't I told you a thousand times not to call me that?" She said, walking around the room, pressing her hands to her back and cracking her spine. "God, that feels good. Damn legs all half-numb. Every day, all day, sitting in that hard-ass chair." She stopped before she reached the window, her lips pressing together in thought. "All right, first things first. Rick, what the heck did you just do to me?"

Everett turned his head to Rick. Rachel as well.

This should be entertaining Len crossed his arms, settling in for the show.

"Well, uh..." Rick stared at the ceiling, trying to find the words to put together. "So, there's mana in the world, and you can use that mana to do different things, like heal the body and increase cultivation.”

"And how did you learn about this?" His grandma asked. "A lifetime of study?"

Rick shrugged.

His grandma looked at him, really looked at him. "Something's different, isn't it? You're Rick, but you're different. Not in the way that one might be if they went off to school and found out information, but you have a weight to you, a weight of time, something that you find in old nobles and those who have seen a thing or two."

"I don't know about that." Rick laughed off his grandma's words, waving it away. "Just picked up a few things along the way," Rick said.

His grandma raised an eyebrow, clearly not accepting it. "Then there's you." She turned her gaze on Len.

"You're like him. You're young, on the outside at least. But you hold yourself as someone that's seen combat before, someone that's seen how things can go wrong in a moment's notice. You have a bearing about you, a weight to you. You're also restrained, holding back. It reminds me of a dog trying to pick up an egg in their mouth, holding back all of the strength in their jaws, tightly controlling even the minute movements of their body."

She lowered her gaze to her hand, opening it, and then closing it. She pressed up onto her toes, and then rocked back to her heels.

"You've both done this." It was a statement, not a question. As she looked at the two of them, "You've done a lot of this. My body is stronger than it's ever been before, even in my prime. Not just this mana, but physical strength."

She squinted at them both, he could see he trying to gauge the difference between them.

“You said she was a sharp one,” Len said.

Rick sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

She moved over to a table, grabbing the leg and picking it up in one arm.

Everett had made a half-step forward as if to protect her from the weight she'd picked up while Rachel covered her mouth in surprise.

"My lady?" Everret asked in a strained voice, that seemed to ask ‘can you not do that for my health and sanity’ with the added resignation of one that knew it was going to happen again no matter what he said. Yup, Definitely Rick’s Grandma.

"Oh, sorry Everett," Grandma said, lowering the table back down to the floor. "Just a little test of mine." She gave him a smile, and then looked back to Rick and Len. "Could you two give us a minute, Rachel, Everett? I think I have a few things to discuss with these two."

Everett's hand tightened over his sword before releasing it and nodding. "Yes ma'am. I'll just be outside."

Rachel looked between all of them silently before following Everett outside. She paused at her grandma, grabbing her arm and kissing her on the cheek before giving her a hug.

"Go now, sweet girl. We'll talk soon. And I just have to see you fighting in the arena tomorrow."

Rachel smiled wide and hurried after Everett with a skip in her step, closing the door behind her.

"So, Rick, are you going to introduce us?" Grandma asked, gesturing to Len.

"Grandma, this is Len. Len, this is Grandma. Len... How do I explain this? Len's my best friend for the last a hundred and fifteen years or so?" Rick trailed off.

"That sounds about right." Len nodded. He looped his thumbs into his sword belt. I guess this is happening. First person they’d opened the gates of, or taught cultivation and how to temper their bodies.

"One hundred and fifteen years," Grandma repeated. "Well, I guess you have some story to tell then." She moved to the bar cart and pulled the stopper off of a snifter. She smelled it, grimaced and then shrugged. “Not the best but it’ll work. Better than the swill that Rickson made from foodscraps out the back of a supply wagon.” She held up the snifter to Rick and Len. “Drink?”

“Fuck yes,” Rick said.

Len nodded in agreement.

“So, a hundred and fifteen years?” She asked, giving them all healthy pours, pausing and then topping them up some more.

She waved them to a set of chairs and picked up the glasses.

Rick took off his pack and his armor, Len followed suit, then took a seat on the couch, accepting a drink.

She slugged some more back and sat in another chair.

“So well, guess we should start off with there is mana in the world, a new power that people can use. Don’t know if its been here a long time or a short time. Though it will reach a density soon that will precipitate the apocalypse.”

“And what happens with this apocalypse?”

“Mountains crumble and rise, storms that will change the landscape completely ravage the world. Dungeons appear, beasts get stronger and attack towns and cities. Nations will fall and city states will become the basis of power.”

Len sipped on his glass. Rick’s Grandma looked at him then back to Rick. “Right, not alarming at all.”

Rick shrugged.

“What happens with the family?”

“Infighting weakens everything to the point its mostly fallen apart. Most of our fighting forces are deployed to earn more money for the main family and so they can’t be used to support one side or the other. Beast wave tears through Goran. Isendia is a name cursed by those who know it. Some of the forces band together and create guilds.” Rick said.

“Your sister?”

“She was married off by my father. I fought to reach her, but she had been killed in a beast wave defending the people of her household. Sent her useless fop of a husband to ask her for forgiveness.” Rick’s will contracted the mana in the room, releasing it slowly.

“Everett?”

“When you passed away he was a little lost. He was Rachel, died with a sword in his hand fighting right next to her.”

“When?”

“A year or two?” Rick grimaced. “When you live long enough the dates kind of become fuzzy.”

His grandma let out a note of agreement.

“So I died in the next year?”

“About that, though without the poison in your veins, we’ve changed that.”

“Tell me about the family, everything.” She leaned forward in her chair, taking in everything.