Against all reason, somehow Lily managed to integrate with Zane and his restaurant full of misfits without much fuss. He was happy to see things running so smoothly, and the former sect member turned out to be a veritable treasure trove of information.

“Wait, cultivators in the lowlands don't absorb essence from their environment?” Zane asked, making sure he had heard correctly.

“No, only the most senior disciples are educated in such things.” Lily frowned as she remembered her own botched attempts. “It is an incredibly advanced technique.”

Zane's mind was racing with the implications of what he had just learned. It took him about a week to refine ten points of essence. The chef could cultivate passively while doing other things, so he was always topping up his essence.

He couldn't imagine being totally dependent on sacred herbs and cores. That sounded insanely wasteful. It was like burning money to warm your house.

The chef made absolutely sure he was understanding this correctly. “You're telling me that most people in your sect rely solely on consumables to advance their cultivation?”

“Yes?” Lily said weakly, “Don't you?”

Zane shook his head. “No. I pretty much only pull from the environment around me.”

“Can you show me?” The former sect member asked eagerly.

“Yeah, sure. Just let me make some room.” Zane had been waffling back and forth on what to upgrade next, but he was pretty sure he knew which way he wanted to go.

He accessed the Mesh, accepted his level up, and spent ten essence points on improving his Chef Tools. Whole cookbooks worth of information flooded his mind as the upgraded ability came online.

Zane shook his head to clear it. “Ok, let's begin.”

***

Captain Cerdo was feeling pretty good about himself. No more core fiends had shown up to rampage through the city, and the young lady that had been attacked seemed no worse for wear. That had made his boss happy.

As the weeks counted down to the winter festival he felt a sense of dread mixed with excitement. Cerdo wasn't looking forward to the destruction of the city, but he would be happy when his task was finally over.

Hero’s Step was an otherwise insignificant link in a great chain. People overlooked it, laughed at it, but not Cerdo. He understood exactly why the city was important.

A long time ago, Captain Cerdo had been a disciple of the illustrious Jade Labyrinth sect. After their destruction, he had wandered aimlessly in search of purpose. Cerdo had eventually given up and joined the city guard, deciding to forget what had happened and start over. Then, one winter day as he looked out over the vast warehouses of Hero’s Step, a plan had formed.

The Captain was too weak to get revenge against those who had wronged him. They were much higher level than he would ever be. But he could still find other ways to hurt them.

They had killed his fellow disciples, burned the writings of his elders, and then tried to cover it up afterwards. They had ganged up on the less powerful sects and pillaged them for resources, killing all who dared resist.

Now, decades later, he was finally in a position to do something about it. Cerdo’s scowl curled into a smile. He imagined the torrent of destruction that was about to be unleashed on the unsuspecting lowland sects. And it would all start here, in a little city nobody cared about.

The Captain looked out over the warehouses. Soon, they would be full to bursting with cultivation resources waiting to be transported to the lowlands. Cerdo wished that he could start early, but his plan required perfect timing. He had to wait for the festival.

Winters here could be brutally cold, and hungry spirit beasts roamed far in search of prey. Nobody besides cultivators stayed if they could avoid it. Even the merchants fled, their wagons filled with riches harvested from the mountains.

He had often watched the lines of departing caravans with envy. The idea of spending winter in warmer climates had much appeal, but his duties always seemed to keep him trapped in the city.

This year though, he would be happy to stay in the mountains. Cerdo would sit back and watch as his revenge finally came to fruition. He had already laid the groundwork and set certain contingencies in place. Should he die or be captured, his plan would continue on without him. Albeit, in a diminished capacity.

He laughed and raised his glass as he looked out over the city. “Here's to the end of lowland cultivation.”

***

The weather was getting colder and the days were already growing shorter. But they were months away from true winter. Pinky was looking forward to seeing the snow.

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“Trust a fox to love winter,” grumbled Zane in mock annoyance as they foraged for ingredients, “Remind me again why you entered us in a cooking competition.”

The kitsune kissed him on the neck affectionately. “The winner gets a contract to cater the banquet at the Winter Festival. It's a lot of money and will be good for our reputation. Besides, I like winning.”

The rogue cultivator kissed her back and pointed up the mountain. “Can you see the next town yet?”

Pinky shook her head. Zane could see the city clinging to the side of the mountain, but all she saw was fog. The kitsune figured that with how hard they had been working she would be able to see it soon. With each level Pinky earned, the fog retreated higher up the mountain.

It amazed her to think that just a few months ago she had barely been able to make it to Hero’s Step. Now she was planning on traveling even higher. The kitsune would be one step closer to seeing her family again.

“What are you two lovebirds up to?” Called out Lily from her customary place on Daisy’s back.

The former sect disciple had a quiver of arrows and a war bow ready for action as she scanned the mountain for signs of danger. Zane wasn't allowed to take watch duty because he was too easily distracted, and Pinky wasn't great with ranged weapons. Though, the kitsune had a few nasty spells at her disposal, should the fighting come closer.

“Booyah!” Groucho’s mechanical voice called out across the mountain, “I think I finally found it!”

Zane looked at Pinky, “A silver coin says he hasn't.”

She shook her head. “Nope, I've learned my lesson.”

A few minutes later the sound of swearing told them that Groucho had not, in fact, found it.

“Keep trying, buddy!” Zane called out, “You'll find it eventually!”

Ever since they dug him up, Groucho had been trying to find his creator’s workshop. The construct planned to loot the place out of spite for what had happened to him. Apparently, time had not dulled the edge of his resentment.

The creator had thrown Groucho away like garbage. Not only that, they had trapped him in a metal box for millennia. The construct figured he was allowed to take some small revenge. After all, he was designed to act human, and sometimes humans were petty.

Lily looked up as something in the distance caught her attention. There was a powerful cultivator coming down the mountain with a group of traders. She watched the wagons as they descended, a churning in her gut said that danger was approaching.

“Hey, guys! I think we might want to move along sooner rather than later.” Lily called out as she spotted a familiar man wearing the black robes of her old sect.

Zane appeared next to her. “Why? What's going on?”

She pointed at the gigantic man in black. “I'm pretty sure that's General Badi, Lord Grasa's second in command.”

“If he’s a general, what's he doing all the way out here?” Pinky asked as she came over to join them. “Shouldn't he be down in the lowlands?”

Lily shook her head. “I don't know. I heard he was taking a break between wars to cultivate. But I assumed he would do it back at the sect.”

“Huh. I guess even senior sect members hire themselves out,” Zane said as he scratched his head, “Good to know.”

The former disciple bit her lip. Lily knew Badi, and he knew her. She would have to stay out of sight for the duration of his visit. There was no way of knowing how he would react to finding out she had left the sect. He might even kill her on the spot.

Zane noticed the tension in Lily’s body. “Do you want to stay with us at the restaurant? Until he's gone, I mean.”

Pinky nodded. “Yeah, we can clean out the storage room Groucho has been using. He doesn't actually need to sleep.”

“The fuck I don't!” called out the robot in question as he rejoined the group, “I need my beauty rest.”

Zane cocked an eyebrow at the construct. “You just don't want her to take your room because you're afraid we'll catch you jerking off again.”

“Those were ancient assembly manuals,” Groucho lied.

“Ooh, vintage porn!” Pinky high fived her partner. They shared a look like particularly smug parents who had finally managed to get one over on their teenage son.

Lily was more surprised by the fact a construct could pleasure themselves, much less felt the desire to lie about it. “I just think it's wild that Groucho can…” she made a hand motion to get her point across.

“Of course he touches himself,” Zane said with a laugh, “What do you think he did while he was stuck in that box for all those years, play sudoku?”

***

General Eric Badi rejoined the caravan and sat down next to the driver. The brass and steel construct pulling their cart plodded along mindlessly. It had been built in the shape of a horse, because those who made it had wanted something that would be familiar to the peasants who used it. Thousands of years later it was still walking the same roads, traveling up and down the mountain in a dull loop of mindless servitude.

The mechanical horse was one of the many wonders that people seemed to take for granted. Eric thought it was a shame he had needed to cut his expedition short. The creatures higher up gave great experience and were bursting with essence.

On the bright side, he was looking forward to finally indulging his vices when they reached the city. “Tell me, have any new eateries worth knowing opened up in the last few months?”

The driver shook his head. “I wouldn't know, my lord. I never stay for long and they don't pay me enough to spend it on fancy foods.”

Eric was disappointed, and not just from the lack of recommendations. The driver was of a high enough level to resist the fog all the way up to Widow’s Fall where they had picked him up. If the man were a cultivator and able to sense essence, he would have been stronger than most senior disciples. Instead, he was a lowly driver, complaining about his pay.

As much as the General loved this mountain, it never ceased to amaze him how some things about it made so little sense. Some businesses on the mountain used magic to keep the fog out, rather than pay for higher level employees. But those enchantments were expensive and couldn't be moved.

He shook his head at the sheer waste of it. The man was at least level twenty and he couldn't afford a decent meal. That didn't sit right with Eric.

“Assuming that I was paying for both of us, where would you go in Hero's Step for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?” he asked.

The wiry driver seemed to think about it. “Well, there is this one place, but they only serve brunch…”