As assassination attempts went, it couldn’t have been better timed.

He wasn’t wearing his suit and he’d dismissed his guards less than a minute ago, as he wanted to speak to An alone.

So he was completely alone as he stepped out onto the fortress’s rooftop, and his assailant descended from above.

Soundlessly.

Honestly, if he weren’t mentally pinging her location with his implants, he’d never have guessed that she’d just landed directly behind him.

“Sorry Lin, I’ll have to call you back,” he spoke into his comm-bead.

“Wait Jack! You still need to speak to Hua-” the goat-kin started to say before he cut the feed.

Sending her a mental apology, he very deliberately refrained from turning to speak to the woman behind him.

“If your fingers brush even the hilt of that mace of yours, you’ll be dead before it leaves its holster,” he said simply.

A few moments passed.

“Huh,” Shui eventually grunted. “How’d you sense me? That ‘tool’ of yours?”

There was no missing the disdain in her voice.

“Something like that,” he admitted. “Still, I’m surprised you could be so quiet. I didn’t hear a thing.”

As he turned to regard the woman, he saw her sag. “Yeah, that fact has surprised a few other people in the past too. No one expects the big lumbering pig-kin to be sneaky.”

He nodded. “Or a deft hand at politics.”

The woman regarded him, not unlike a lion sizing up a gazelle. “Well, it can be useful to have people think you’re a dumb thug. Hell, most of the sects back home think they have me dancing in their palm.”

Jack glanced up at the grey skies overhead. “Is that how you rallied the sects together under your banner? Made them each think that you were their puppet?”

“Got it in one.” The general’s smile was all teeth. “Opposite of what you did really. Me, I’m a lion pretending to be a mouse. You’re the mouse pretending to be a lion.”

He could see that she was still thinking about trying something.

“I don’t know about that,” he muttered quietly. “Personally, I prefer to think of myself as a spider. The venomous kind. Small like a mouse, but a lot more deadly in the right circumstances.” He cocked his head. “On an unrelated topic, I’m pretty sure I promised I’d kill you if you ever raised a hand against me again.”

He watched a small bead of sweat form on the pig-kin’s brow.

“So Shui, as the spider to the lion, are you raising a hand against me?”

Seconds passed. Boring seconds in Jack’s mind.

He wasn’t here for this. He had far more important things in mind.

Eventually though, Shui shook her head, irritation writ plain across her face. “Do you have any idea how confusing you are? You are quite literally beyond my comprehension. A goddess claimed you weren’t a cultivator and you didn’t argue. But you… can do cultivator shit.”

He shrugged. “I could be a magister.”

“But you aren’t, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

The woman sighed. “You know, it’d be a lot easier for you if you lied.”

He drummed his fingers idly against his thigh. “I’m tired of lying. And I’m strong enough that I no longer need the deception.”

“I want to argue that, but I can’t.” The pig-kin sagged, though her hand remained far from her weapon. “Whatever, I suppose it makes no difference. Mortal. Magister. Something else. Whatever you are, you managed to make two goddesses back down – while doing some other shit to the third. Shit I don’t even want to think about right now because that whole… notion pisses me off.”

Yeah, there were a lot of rumours flying around about the Empire’s divine ancestors and brands. To the point where the two Imperial divinities probably wouldn’t have said what they said if they were familiar with the notion of electronic video and live feeds.

And now he was the one who had to deal with that problem. It was going to be a major pain to keep those rumours from spreading beyond the province.

Problem for later, he repeated in his mind.

“Whatever,” the Pig-kin eventually muttered. “I don’t know what you are. I don’t care at this point. This? This was just to confirm something in my mind.”

Jack didn’t know if he believed that.

Ultimately it didn’t matter. Nothing had come of it.

And he still had a use for Shui.

“Good, because you’ll be heading back to the city to stress that point to any of your more rebellious friends while I fix a few more things up here,” he said.

It was amusing, just how surprised the woman looked. “Some might argue that would be a foolish move on your part. Not that I’m thinking of it, but you’d be setting me up perfectly to launch a coup.”

“It would be a short lived second attempt,” he pointed out. “Much shorter than the first. You know, the one where I destroyed an entire sect. And an entire contingent of elite Imperial cavalry. Simultaneously. To make a point.”

The pig-kin paled a bit at that reminder.

“Rest assured, I’d be worried if I didn’t have the means to murder you from halfway across the province with an errant thought. But I do. So you’ll either serve me by telling your peers why it would be a bad idea to cross me. Or you’ll cross me and then serve as an abject lesson to your peers in why it would be a bad idea to cross me because I’m not what you thought me to be.”

Lightning crackled from his right hand as the woman scratched at an invisible scar on her neck.

“Make no mistake,” he intoned. “My ability to crush you like a bug underfoot has not changed.”

The woman shuddered, before taking a half-step back. “Alright boss. You won’t get any trouble from me.”

“For your sake, better hope that’s true.” He muttered. “Now get the fuck out of here.”

The Pig-kin practically sprinted away, though not before Jack’s sensors picked up a final muttered, “Empress above, why the fuck was that hot!?”

It was all he could do not to laugh, even as he shook his head.

Cultivators.

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Sighing, he mentally calmed down his microbots – who were still practically begging to tear off after the pig-kin.

Honestly, they probably weren’t wrong to want to do so. He probably should have killed her for that little display. Unfortunately, he also needed her. Ignoring Yating who was too flighty to be reliable, Shui was literally his most powerful combatant.

Sure, she’d lost to Shi, but prior to that the fight had been even. And while An had beaten Shi, that was more a matter of planning and chance than objective power.

Shi took Shui off guard.

An took Shi off guard.

None of that changed the fact that nine times out of ten Shui would mop the floor with An.

Maybe seven out of ten, he supposed as he made his way up to the tower An was supposed to be sitting on.

Entering the belltower, he realized that she was actually on the roof of the structure. A roof that was not easily accessible to him without his suit and its accompanying thrusters.

“Alright,” he muttered.

…Still, he’d scaled plenty of walls in his time, and though it took him a minute or two, it wasn’t long before he was heaving himself onto the tiled rooftop.

“You struggled with that, didn’t you?”

The words were casual, and as he looked up, he saw her sitting there. She wasn’t looking at him, her gaze was off to the horizon, her black hair catching the breeze as he ears twitched occasionally in the wind.

An.

His first ally in this world. And the one he’d been lying to the longest.

“I did,” he admitted.

She inclined her head, glancing at him. “You’d not have allowed me to see that before. You’d have used your suit, or that… beast of yours.”

He felt his microbots stir at their name, but he quieted them with a mental whisper.

“Yep.”

“Is it a beast?” she asked. “Or just another tool. Like the crawlers – and I suppose everything else.”

He pondered the question earnestly for a moment. “It’s… actually complicated. I don’t really know at this point.”

“Hmmmm.” It was clear, she wasn’t really interested in the answer. Perhaps she’d just been thinking aloud?

He allowed the silence to stretch, let the woman process her thoughts as he settled quietly in place.

When she did speak again, there was an undercurrent of genuine anger in her voice, but it was controlled.

“You lied to me.”

“Aye, I did.”

She laughed mirthlessly. “I guess I know now why we never sparred. Or meditated. Or practiced any kind of technique. Honestly, I thought you were just a really hands off teacher. One of those old sages from the legends whose lessons only made sense in hindsight.”

Jack nodded. “If I didn’t lie, if I’d told you the truth on that first day, that I wasn’t a cultivator, you’d have tried to kill me. To take my suit from me.”

To her credit, An didn’t refute his point. “I suppose I would. A mortal with some manner of mystic tool? I wouldn’t even have thought twice.” She glanced down, regarding her calloused hands. “It’s funny. That seems wrong to me now. I’ve changed a lot since then.”

She glanced up at him, eyes flashing in the dimming light. “Do you know I nearly killed Xin Hi for the audacity of asking me to help find one of his missing hunters? A mere day before we met.”

Jack struggled to remember who she was talking about, before clarity struck.

“The headman of Jiangshi?”

Xin Hi had been the original headman of Jiangshi back when it was a village. He likely still was, in some capacity or another.

Truth be told, the running of Jiangshi proper had become more An’s business than his since he’d moved to Ten Huo.

“Just so,” the tiger-kin chuckled quietly. “Back then, I was a fairly naïve young woman who’d just ventured forth from her Sect to go join the war in the North. I was in search of wealth, glory and perhaps a man. I also had certain ideas on how a cultivator was supposed to act. Correct ideas, I realize now. Yet the thought of acting that way now is… abhorrent to me.”

She regarded him again.

“I suppose I have you to thank for that. As my ‘master’.” There was some irritation there, but it was also tinged with fondness. “You changed me. For the better. Whether you intended to or not.”

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Speaking truthfully, it was definitely unintentional. I’d say you changed yourself.”

An turned her gaze back to the horizon, with a small smile. “Agree to disagree.”

A few more moments passed before she spoke again.

“I’m furious, you realize.”

Jack breathed. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t.”

“I’m also angry that I’m less angry than I should be. You deceived me. Took… certain privileges with me based on that deception.”

If he were a more foolish man, he might have argued that he hadn’t exactly been the aggressive party there. No, that was just deflecting the blame. He’d played his part.

If he’d been a better man, he’d have found some excuse to decline.

Though, honestly speaking, if he were a better man though, he’d probably also be dead. Murdered by An when they met for speaking the truth - or enslaved by any number of people that he’d met since.

“That wasn’t totally a lie. Apparently, my genes are still valuable.”

“Ren told me,” An said, tapping her ear, where he now realized an earpiece sat.

“Of course she did,” he murmured.

It was strange to think of the two of them sharing info. They’d been hardbitten rivals for a long time. Though he supposed that was now water under the bridge in the face of the Huang and Lin alliance.

“Though for me to cash in on that value,” An continued. “You’d need to cease whatever prophylactic measures you have in place.”

He winced. “Figured that out, did you?”

“We’ve been together often enough that it’s noteworthy that none of us have gotten with child.”

He nodded. He could do that. Unlike certain other protections, he knew a few tricks to get around the DRM on his genes from his time as part of a gang that had no issue with bio-robbery.

Though they’d called themselves freedom fighters resisting corporate oppression. At the time, Jack hadn’t seen that much of a difference.

Now… he couldn’t help but think he might have seen things differently.

“I’d have thought you’d have some countermeasures of your own,” he murmured. “A war’s hardly the time for raising a kid.”

An stared at him for a few moments before looking away.

“Not a cultivator,” she muttered under her breath, before speaking to him. “It’s neverthe wrong time to secure one’s lineage.”

Well, if that was how she felt then that was that.

Though it begged the question…

“Would that be a factor for us going forward?”

Was she… going to stay?

“It might,” she muttered. “One day.”

Jack’s heart, which had been in the process of soaring, stalled.

“I don’t hate you,” she continued. “I’m angry and I’m hurt, but your reasons are not beyond understanding. At least to the me of today.”

Jack nodded slowly, trying to be adult about this. “So… what now?”

An gripped her glaive. “Now, I’m going on a journey.”

“A journey?” Of all the things he’d expected her to say, that hadn’t been one of them.

She nodded decisively. “The war here is over. The Empire is in retreat and the Instinctive Horde will not easily enter our lands again. Going forward, the ruling of this province will be more a battle of politics and logistics than steel and armies.”

She glanced at her weapon. “And that is not my battlefield. Not in truth. So, I’m… leaving, to see more of the world. I need to learn. To grow. I can’t just be the same wide eyed girl that you so easily tricked.”

Jack resisted the urge to point out that he’d fooled people much more worldly than her. Because he knew that wasn’t what this was about.

An’s whole worldview had been shaken by the truth of his origins.

She wanted to reform it. On her own terms.

And that meant getting away from him.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere for her to do that on this continent that wasn’t suicide.

So, she was leaving.

“I’ll be accompanying our prisoner across the ocean. To Elwin’s homeland. The elf described something called a manticore to me. I would very much like to slay one.”

He wanted to tell her no. To beg her to stay. To tell her he’d be… lost without her.

“I wish you luck.”

…Was what left his mouth instead.

The pang in his heart was almost worth the momentary look of naked incomprehension he received in return.

“You’re not going to stop me?”

He shrugged. “You say you need this. I’ve no right to stand in your way.”

Well, technically he could. She was an officer in the army of Ten Huo and he was technically her commander - but he was willing to ignore that.

“Besides, if you love something, let it go. If it loves you back, it will return to you in time.”

Absently, he realized it was the first time he’d ever said he loved her. And he did, he realized. She was quiet. Intent. Adaptable. Smart. Had a dry sense of humor. Honorable. Kind. Ferocious both in bed and in a fight.

She was pretty much his ideal woman.

…Which definitely made it even worse that he’d been lying to her. He didn’t regret doing so. Only the necessity of it.

“Is that a saying from that world of yours?”

Surprised, he nodded. “Aye.”

She laughed. “I thought so. It wasn’t something a cultivator would ever say. The essence of cultivation is inherently about seizing your future at any cost. It’s an inherently selfish discipline.”

He scoffed. He was hardly some paragon of charity. He was a greedy warlord who’d conquered this province through blood, fire and deception.

Why did no one seem to get that!?

Her hand slid over to grip his. “I don’t hate it. I’ve met a few male cultivators since we arrived in this province. Few impressed me.”

She cocked her head as she gazed into his eyes. “I find it strange that I never saw how different you were before. Really, you didn’t even try to hide it.”

He did. He definitely did.

The two stayed like that for a time, just enjoying each other’s company. Likely for the last time for a very long time.

It was only when the sun began to set that Jack spoke again.

“Do what you need to do An. I’ll still be here waiting for you when you return.”

He felt it a second later. A small peck on his cheek. Barely even a kiss really.

But his nerves burned with the phantom sensation of it, even as he looked over to see that An was gone.

She’ll probably make her way back to Ten Huo tonight, he thought.

She wasn’t the sort to hang around once she decided on something.

He remained there for another few minutes, as the sun set.

Then he stood up and slapped his cheeks.

“Alright, that’s enough moping.”

He turned, his gaze running over the many lights of Fortress Town Five.

“I’ve got an Empire to run.”