Eric kept waiting for the shoe to drop. Everything about the restaurant and its inhabitants was so beyond the scope of his understanding that he felt overwhelmed. The sect had taught him that all spirit beasts were mindless creatures, only able to imitate human intelligence in order to hunt or avoid detection. But what he saw here seriously put that into doubt.

Daisy and Dumpling were obviously smart enough, if a bit bloodthirsty. They could carry on a conversation, express their motivations, and plan for the future. Mindless beasts weren’t able to do those kinds of things. He was unsure if the sect had lied to him, or Zane’s influence had somehow altered the creatures. But it definitely made Eric reconsider certain parts of his world view.

The former cultivator was still somewhat uneasy around Pinky. Kitsunes were known to be master manipulators, but she didn’t seem interested in seducing Eric and draining him of his essence. Mostly she told him to get back to work, or to stop asking so many questions. Of all the restaurant’s monstrous inhabitants, she was certainly the most normal.

That wasn’t hard when the other two humanoids were a skin stealing ancient construct and an unkillable man from another world. He didn’t count Lily among the monsters because she was human, like him. He saw her as his last remaining connection to home, the one thing worth keeping from his old life.

Unfortunately, things between them were somewhat strained. Back when they were both members of the sect, they had been close friends. But now it was like a huge rift had opened up between them. Eric wasn’t sure if she was mad at him for coming after her, or if it was something else. Either way, she would barely speak to him.

Each day after brunch was finished the former cultivator went to the stables to train, trying to burn off his rising frustrations. Zane had promised that he would begin the process of healing Eric’s core in a few weeks. The young man had said something about a body and mind needing time to stabilize. But that was just an excuse.

Eric knew that Zane was testing him. The rogue cultivator would be stupid to return his powers without getting to know him first, if it was even possible. And despite how he acted, the young man was not nearly as foolish as he pretended to be. He was also incredibly powerful for his level, having somehow gotten access to abilities usually reserved for those favored by the gods.

Sparing against Zane was like trying to punch a shadow, or catch lightning barehanded. Fighting him without the help of any abilities was impossible, yet the young man insisted that they have at least one match per day. After Zane had thoroughly beat the snot out of his patient, he gave Eric a restorative smoothie and some words of encouragement.

After the first week was up, Eric vented his frustrations to Mayor Jeffries as he unpacked their food. They had a standing lunch appointment because the Mayor tended to forget to eat otherwise. Preparations for the upcoming winter festival were taking up more time than expected and he was getting run a bit ragged.

Jeffries opened a blue box of take-out and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Ah, lovely. What have you brought for me today?”

Eric brightened up as the conversation switched to his favorite subject. “For the side we have what Zane calls a ‘Thai salad’, it consists of thinly sliced carrots and jicama with chili flakes and ginger. The dressing is made up of rice wine vinegar sweetened with sugar.”

He pointed a thick finger to the main course. “The skewers are rock chicken glazed with honey and grilled to perfection, served in a spicy peanut sauce. I did the grilling, but Zane handled the sauces. He felt that making two batches would be wasteful.”

The Mayor took a bite, a look of intense pleasure and satisfaction washed over his face. “Oh yeah, that’s exactly what I needed. Thank you for bringing me lunch.”

“Thank you for helping me avoid getting killed,” Eric replied, “I still can’t believe the sects are leaving me alone.”

“What can I say? Sometimes even an old schemer like me gets things right every once in a while,” Jeffries replied before tearing into his meal.

Eric felt his mood grow dark. “I think the food might be a way of distracting me. I don’t know if Zane can actually heal my core.”

The Mayor stopped eating and patted his friend on the shoulder. “Well, he’s the best option, given your lack of sect backing or political power. But if he can’t make any progress, you can always leave to try something else.”

The former cultivator weighed his options. “I suppose that’s true, though actually I wanted to ask your advice on something a bit more personal.”

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“Oh?” Jeffries asked with a raised eyebrow, “And what might that be?”

A pained expression crossed Eric’s face. “Lily, the other former disciple. I think she’s mad at me for something, but won’t tell me what.”

“And were you two intimately involved, or just friends?”

“Just friends,” the former cultivator replied, “Neither of us were interested in the other, but letting people assume we were together kept unwanted attention away.”

“Are you sure she feels the same way?” the Mayor pressed, “People aren’t always upfront about their romantic intentions. Sometimes they are too afraid of rejection to be completely honest.”

Eric laughed. “I’m completely sure that she has zero interest in me as anything more than a friend.” He hesitated before saying the next part, but figured that since he wasn’t a sect disciple anymore, there was no point in keeping the secret. “Actually, I’m not interested in her either. She’s not exactly my type.”

“Well then,” Jeffries said with an impish grin as he raised his cup, “Here’s to hoping that you find someone more to your liking.”

The former cultivator raised his own cup to return the gesture. “I’ll drink to that.”

***

By the end of the second week, Eric was beginning to get frustrated again. After each of their sparring sessions Zane would inspect him, then hand over the healing juice. Finally, he snapped.

“What’s the point of all this?” the former cultivator asked, “Surely you aren’t learning much from kicking the crap out of me.”

Zane paused at the outburst. “Actually, that’s not true. Even with your core damaged, you’re still a formidable fighter. And the fact that your Monk class allows you to fight without weapons means you are the best person around to teach me hand to hand combat. I don’t have a combat class, so I have to learn everything the hard way.”

Eric wiped away the blood and sweat covering his forehead. “But what’s the point if it doesn’t help me?”

The rogue cultivator considered his next words carefully. “Tell me, have you ever looked at your own cores?”

“No,” Eric admitted, “Why?”

“Well, if you did you would find that your essence core is linked to your lower core by a thin thread. That thread regulates the flow of energy from your essence core and allows your lower core to fuel your abilities.” Zane drew an imaginary line in the air with a fingertip before continuing. “Your thread is still intact, it’s only the essence core that is damaged. So if I can repair that, then everything else will start working again.”

The big man frowned. “But can you actually do it?”

“Yes,” replied Zane, “I’ve actually already started the process. And this training is important, but I can’t tell you why until it’s finished.”

Eric sighed. “You’re asking me to trust you. I’m sure you can see why that might be hard for me.”

“I get it,” the rogue cultivator admitted, “But I can tell you that we are making progress towards fixing your core. It’s just a delicate process.”

“So you are going to continue to kick the crap out of me and I have to just believe that it’s helping?” Eric asked.

“Exactly!” Zane replied, “Isn’t medicine fun?”

***

The truth was that Zane had discovered a way to repair Eric’s core. His Death Siphon ability had fractured the crystalline sphere, but not destroyed it entirely. Unfortunately, Eric’s body had resisted the rogue cultivator’s earlier attempts to patch it up with spiritual duct tape.

Zane figured it was like organ rejection. Since the strands of thread were not native to the former cultivator’s body, it tried to destroy them. However, weakening Eric’s body through combat and exertion seemed to slow the process down. Zane didn’t explain what was going on because he was worried that Eric would subconsciously fight the healing process. Nobody wanted someone else mucking about with their core, even if they were trying to help.

He was definitely making progress. Essence still leaked out of Eric’s core, but the cracks were starting to heal. Each time they fought, Zane would wrap Eric's core, then give him some essence rich juice to drink.

At first the essence had escaped almost instantly. But as the days went on, it departed much more slowly. Zane's working theory was that essence was crystalizing on his spiritual duct tape, sealing the gaps a little at a time. Eventually it would reach a point where Eric didn't need his help at all.

Of course, had the spiritual duct tape failed to work, there was another thing Zane could have tried. He had a theory that a cracked core could temporarily be repaired using impurities as glue. The toxins that the pills purged were sticky and thick. Someone who was desperate enough could probably use the impurities like roofing tar to seal any small gaps in their core.

Thankfully, it hadn't come to that. Eric seemed to be improving, even if progress was fairly slow. If Zane wanted to speed things up, he would need to find a way to either put more essence into Eric, or to keep it from escaping his damaged core. Ideally, both.

That would require a concentrated source of essence and a way to contain it. Zane's eyes went to his spirit bong, a plan forming in his mind.

This was going to be so much fun!