Ikrei P.O.V.
Finally, freed from debt for a while. I sat on the corner street of the Inverted Titty Bar. Stringing my ketar, watching the people. Looking for inspiration. The orgon lights felt welcoming tonight.
“The cleansing from that old man is something else.”
The rebound from an evil deed never came. I was me, I was glad I was me. With a clearer mind I kept playing.
“Hey man, what you doing playing outside, there’s a bar with better music inside. You drunk?”
“Play me, Wet, wet, wet blondie!”
“Can you play a song about peace kid? The war is awful.”
“Have a coin, that was good.”
Hau Yǐngr has left me alone ever since we returned, not that I was complaining.
Playing, drinking some half-filled bottle with the passersby and talking about life; the calm days went by until the sacred day came again.
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I had neatly organized my purchase requirements for my next hunts, it was time to make deals at the starfeast after communion.
“Say Kletay, you good with artifacts, right?”
I wanted to ask Krigsain but he wasn’t around.
“Yes, got something on your mind brother?” That pleasant smile appeared again.
I handed her a piece of paper, the ones you buy on the street corners of the capital. A cheaper version of the parchments or the papyrus.
“Give a second, let me think about it for a bit.” She began studying my request.
“You going to eat the munkin, Ikrei?”
“Nah, have at it scribe, don’t choke.” Everyone laughed.
“You taking notes, Iru?” I asked.
He was writing more than eating, strange for him when it comes to good food.
“Got to get some books for Krigs, I’ll take them to his room later.”
“Important enough that you forsake eating during the feast? Wow.” That’s all I could say.
“He is being a little strange lately, excessively kind sometimes, outright rude others.” Ciel commented.
“Maybe he is suffering from menopause? It is possible according to the records, unlikely but possible.” Puri added.
His attempt at jokes always have to do with that.
‘That wife of his cannot come soon enough.’
Ciel almost spilled her wine. Iru laughed. Kletay killed the mood with her next statement while still reading the paper.
“Can’t be, he is still hitting it right, you can be certain.”
‘There it is. That’s why he likes her, it is not just about the double whammy surprise. A straight shooter. There is a pun in there, right?’
“Cough. Cough.” Came from Iru.
“The sacred day is not for such trivialities.” Ciel interjected with red cheeks.
“Dual cultivation improves his core and mine; we will fight for the cause. It is training, you know. Give it a try.” Kletay was still looking at the paper, not a care in the world.
More blushing from goldilocks, more coughing from book man. More eating from Puri, I just settled on drinking.
“You know him far longer than I do. But I don’t remember Krigsain asking for books or info around here, do you?” Puri made an astute observation.
Suddenly, I felt the urge to help big guy. The energy, the cleansing from the old man.
‘Why is this reacting? What’s going on?’
“3000 Ucra Ikrei. That’s my price. I am being nice here.” Kletay said finally beginning to eat again.
“Will it work exactly as stated? Really?” I couldn’t believe anyone other than Krigsain could match my weird requirements.
“It’s just illusion magic, master level but just that, it will be fine. I treated you little horsy. It’s doable.” Kletay was throwing one of her weird compliments that never quite stick.
My turn to be embarrassed.
“Coop master is a pony.” Ciel opined.
Everyone laughed.
‘Yes, all of them, the bastards. Not giving you the porcelain cat I bought for you Ciel, not yet!’
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I feel the desperate need to share some of my acquired new knowledge with the nicker master. Very strange phenomenon, strange indeed. I went over to his room for a talk.
Krigsain’s room was slightly bigger than mine. Enough space for a couple of extra tables. There were several rings, around twenty and a couple of glyph cubes on them. A third table with its corresponding chair was where he was sitting.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I was sitting on the bed.
“It seems you are the one troubled now. Your mask is slipping.”
“Doubt you can help, my man.”
“Future left hand, present friend. Do try.”
“Oh. So what’s gotten into you?” His eyes turned red for a moment.
“Use your eyes, big guy.” I told him.
“I can see that. Blessing of Zur?” He was intrigued.
Suddenly and without explanation words came to my mind. I felt the compulsion to express them.
“It is a fool’s errand to share all that one knows and show all of one’s heart. But if one that knows your deepest darkest thoughts remains by your side without anything in return. Then, praise the Lord, you have found a friend, a friend for life.”
“Who did it? Tell me everything.” The Will covering manifested.
After a lengthy retelling, I finished with a sentence.
“Don’t know, that guy said he knew the Patriarch though.”
“Interesting. That power will dissipate, Zur does not dwell in unbelievers for long.”
“I figured out as much, Iru’s a good history teacher too.”
Krigsain started jumbling his glyphic cube. He was thinking deeply. After an hour.
“Say left hand, if you can get what you want but you lose part of yourself in the process, is that acceptable?”
After another forty breaths or so.
“Depends on what is being lost and what’s being gained, right?” I wanted confirmation.
“Right, you don’t like the fact you are being told what to do?”
“Or course not, this whole game is exhausting and ultimately soul eating.”
“Guess we are in the same boat now, my man.” Krigsain’s eyes lost a bit of color.
He seemed sad, very sad.
“At least it can wait until my second core is fully formed again. Three weeks’ tops.”
“What do you mean?” I was very curious but felt this stuff was the private kind.
“I’ll smash Sarkan’s head against the wall one day. That’s all.”
“Not going to ask support department.”
I felt like he was trying to make peace with whatever was happening to him. I could sense it; it was happening to me too. So I offered.
“So, you want to drink, Krigs?” My instinctive reaction, lately.
“Yeah, my man. You picked up the hobby?”
I nodded.
He touched one of his rings in the room, it shone bright blue and receded. He threw another one into my hand.
“What’s this?”
“Guidelines and tips for what lies ahead when you see your woman again. Read them carefully, they will dissolve once you read them.”
“Thank you, big guy.”
“I’ll teach you otherworldly music later my left hand.”
“Really, I could use it right now!”
“Nope, you overcome your trials, I overcome mine, we do this together.” The typical playboy smile turned sinister for an instant.
‘Chills!’
The Will powered covering dissipated.
And like this, with the sudden appearance of Iru coming with his pile of books, a trio of troublemakers drank deep into the night from the contents of the available rings. Singing old folk songs, strange lyrics and rowdy bar’s tune all mixed in. A drunk trio and a weird sound.
“♪Yo ho! Yo ho! Bless the one eye bitch!
There’s a woman to my right
Yo ho! Yo ho! No one will know
We are all friends for life
More than yo’eye can see
Raise a glass for me
Yo ho! Yo ho! Bless the one eye bitch!
Money for nothing, tits for free
Money for nothing, tits for free♪”
“Freslia, pretend you never saw this!” A drunk Krigsain shouted inside the room.
We kept singing and toasting. And then a knock. Kletay was here.
With one glance, we knew we had to leave. Iru healed himself and carried me. I was fairly intoxicated, happily buzzed. We walked off together.
“Is Krigsain going to be alright?” I asked Iru.
“He’ll figure out something. He always does. And if he doesn’t he’s got us, right?”
The gang was starting to imitate my mannerisms a little more, strange feeling.
“Guess you are right.”
A fist bump later, Kletay’s personal artifact inspection began in full force.
“Nn-, Nn-, AHH!”
‘We didn’t get to clean up in there.’
And this would be known as the broken cup incident. I didn’t see Krigsain for a while after that night.
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Day of Shimer, first day of the week. First week of the tenth month. Underground studio of the Inverted Titty. Midnight.
“What do you think boss?” I was nervous.
Everything, absolutely everything was riding on this.
Hau Yǐngr was silent, too silent for a while. Then using the cufflinks, they were the intercoms of the bar now. For all elemental cloth employees.
“Tell Sochu to stop serving and come here. We are recording, immediately.”
“Brett, I’ll make sure your last mission pay won’t be deducted. You get the full amount.”
‘20000! Caching!’
“What’s the deal boss?”
“I want all distribution rights to this song now and in the future. You will get the standard industry split. We take 60% you take 30%, the difference is the kingdom’s. You will hold all author rights and no one will use this song without permission. What do you say?”
Weighing my options of course I accepted. Yun Hee’s pillow talk came back.
“You either rise like a phoenix or burn like a tree. Will you burn?”
She even smiled when she said that.
‘Urgh. Still true, death propels you or it crushes you.’
“From now on, you can call me, publicist and manager Yǐngr. Let’s get along, Brett!”
A very courteous smile later, we shook hands.
“Until the crew gets down here, play it again. Take it from the top!”
We recorded my first demo. Official recording would occur upon my return.
The next days I did two things, I went purchasing everything I needed for the hunts. I notified cultivator Li of my arrival at the villa.
Yun Hee stated in a reply:
“Lord has to come next week on the day of Malgresh, second day of the week. Preparations for a feast or a burial.”
Malgresh is the sacred day of her kind, the name gives it away. Seven days from her communication. Ominous and deathly.
‘Got to be a joke, right?’
I returned to Malaktaraf for intense training with sister Kuyun, taskmaster and Ciel. An absolute nightmare.
I played my song hundreds of times. It was now sister Kuyun approved. When we were done I played it in front of the guys, muscle mass absent. They had a little banner.
🐼 Go Ikrei go! 🐼
Kletay handed me the artifact. And Ciel got her cat. Iru left for special training. Puri still made lame ass sex related jokes.
Finally, on the next day of Ioƛl, sixth day of the week, the pearl from the pavilion vibrated and shone with light. Notification of portal coordinates.
‘Time to test my private access rift.’
“It is time to go see about a girl. A horny but very angry garden of thorny roses.”
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Yun Hee P.O.V.
Some time ago during the last month.
I was in my room practicing and reading the arts that the Madame had given to me. There were three with a little surprise from the Heavenly Demon himself.
The Phoenix Feather – Succubus Art
Yùjinxiang, Dreamweaver – Music Art
Fùchóu zhi rèn – Vengeful Blade
The first is an art of my mother, the second is from the Madame’s personal collection, the third is the Heavenly Demon’s pic for my metal affinity. And the fourth is the Dragon Dantians, it isn’t a technique as it is more of an infusion. A special, very special gift.
I held the little glittering flask in my hand. It came with instructions and a special parchment.
“Incredible, the blood of the Heavenly Demon. He wants me to be a cultivator in his sect.”
The arts, the flask and the parchments disappeared into another hidden ring. My personal inventory, so to speak. I hid the little case away. The only art remaining was the Collyrium Tulip, Yùjinxiang, the Dreamweaver.
“No man can resist this if used properly, not a weakling like my little lord. He might be powerful in the future but not now.”
‘First I’ll teach you the difference between our music and then I’ll put you under foot. I still have backups but it sounds fun using music arts on this numbnuts.’
“This is your doing! You made me bleed and scratch the floor. You bastard, how weak you have to be to continue to overuse me?!”
I am going to show that I can write a better song than him. That will show him how gracious I am, I don’t demand that which I cannot do.
“I wanted to play nice, I am a malgrunian consort royalty, you horse pecker, you!”
“HA, HA, HA, HA!” I fell in love with my own laughter.