“The spirit stone is vastly useful for different things. Arcanists use them to make everyday items, and then artificers use them to make weapons. They can imbue the spiritual power the animal had into the item. Or you can just use them for cycling, a great tool.”

- The Collected Thoughts of Cultivation, by Akito Miura, year 587.

Aki had barely stepped out of the front door when two people approached him. They were dressed in the typical attire of cowboys, but what gave them away were the red handkerchiefs covering the lower halves of their faces. Their hard, dark eyes stared at Aki, and he could sense the sneers behind their masks.

"You're coming with us," one of them growled.

"Oh, am I?" Aki asked incredulously.

He faced four gloved hands, reaching for him. Aki sidestepped to the left, pushing one man's hands away. With the other man, he seized a wrist, pulled him in, and twisted his arm in a grapple. The man struggled, but Aki applied more pressure, causing the man to cry out in pain.

"Be careful, my friend. One good tug, and I'll break your arm," Aki warned.

The other man attempted to advance on Aki to help his partner, but Aki kicked him in the chest.

"We know what you are," the free man informed him. "You're not just some blind homeless drunk pretending. You're a cultivator."

Aki stared at him with a cocked brow, his lips pressed thin. How did this man know Aki was a cultivator, and where had he heard that term before?

"Our boss wants to talk to you," the man being held meekly added.

"Well, I want to talk to him too," Aki replied as he released the man and pushed him to the ground.

The man landed on the ground and grunted, kicking up some dust. He lay there for a moment, groaning, before he struggled to his feet.

"He met someone. You're in trouble when you finally come out from hiding and talk to him," the man sneered.

Before Aki could respond or even move, a voice called out, "CULTIVATOR!"

Aki turned to see Calvera standing there, saber drawn, legs apart. He had forgone his hat and handkerchief worn by his henchmen. He wore a leather vest unbuttoned over his shirt, with dirty blond hair unkempt from days of riding and sweating. It was unclear when he had last attempted to clean himself.

Aki advanced toward Calvera, not bothering to unsheathe the sword from the cane scabbard on his back. "Where did someone like you learn a word like that?" Aki mused aloud.

"I met a friend of yours. He told me about how you gained your strength and your wind powers. He introduced me to someone who granted me magic," Calvera explained.

"Magic?" Aki narrowed his eyes at the man, doubting that it was as simple as a children's fairy tale about receiving magical powers. Wait. “Granted magic? What are you talking about?”

Calvera let out a dark, evil laugh, throwing his head back. When he finished, he advanced toward Aki. The metal spikes on his boots, called spurs, jingled as he walked with a peculiar, uneven swagger.

"The man you met on the night before the barbarians' raid, the one in the red cloak Axel, I believe his name was. We were lost in the desert, trying to find our way home, and he introduced me to some of his friends," Calvera explained.

Aki narrowed his eyes. "You can…"

His words were cut off as Calvera slapped him suddenly. Aki was surprised, and he staggered back a few steps, reeling from the unexpected blow. He hardly saw the man move.

"It's impolite to interrupt someone when they're speaking, and you've been nothing but rude since you arrived, causing trouble in my town. I've put up with your nonsense long enough, spouting your wicked ways." Calvera sighed and shook his head, reaching into his jeans pocket. "It doesn't matter. Thanks to this, I can finally deal with you."

He pulled out a small red gem from his pocket, which Aki instantly recognized as a spirit stone. However, this stone was unlike any Aki had seen before. Its deep red hue suggested it wasn't from the mortal realm, nor from the heavenly planes of existence. Each plane had its own characteristic color representing its element.

Kentaro's lightning was red, with a hint of blue, but this stone was a pure, vibrant red, filled with swirling, liquid-like energy. Aki extended his spirit toward the stone, only to feel an overwhelming sense of blood, corruption, and darkness that made him recoil in disgust.

"You don't realize what that is, Calvera. It won't help you," Aki warned.

Calvera continued to laugh and returned the stone to his pocket. "It has already proven quite helpful. Now it will help me get rid of you."

Before Calvera could finish his sentence, he lunged at Aki with his saber, striking upward at an angle. The attack was so swift that Aki barely dodged in time, feeling the blade graze his face as he narrowly avoided it. Aki realized that this would be a challenging battle, with the stone empowering Calvera into some kind of pseudo-cultivator.

Aki reached out and grabbed Calvera's sword arm, using the momentum of the swing to twist the arm behind Calvera's back. This was the kind of fight Aki excelled in, a close-quarters hand-to-hand battle where he could turn his opponent's body against them.

Calvera's body tensed as Aki forced his arm into an uncomfortable position. Aki applied more pressure, causing the man to cry out in pain.

"It's funny how, despite the power that stone grants you, you're still here with me, ready to dislocate your shoulder," Aki remarked, pressing into a pressure point on Calvera's forearm. The pain forced Calvera to release his saber with a yelp.

"Dammit, you fool. I'm going to make you pay for this." Calvera gritted his teeth.

Just then, Aki and Calvera were tackled by one of Calvera's henchmen. The unexpected attack disrupted Aki's grip and sent both of them tumbling into the dirt. Aki grunted and struggled to free himself from the henchman, cursing himself for letting his guard down.

Amid the surprise attack, Aki couldn't regain a dominant position. It took a few moments, but he threw the henchman off of him. As Aki climbed to his feet, he saw Calvera standing over him with his saber pointed down.

"Don't move," Calvera warned.

Aki grunted and looked up at Calvera, channeling his mana through his body. He reached for the dagger at his belt and knocked Calvera's saber away from his face. As Calvera staggered back, Aki pushed him away with a surge of wind. Aki rolled back and jumped to his feet, drawing his straight sword from the cane scabbard on his back.

Now he stood ready, facing Calvera with both his dagger and sword in hand. His body was turned sideways, offering a smaller target. Calvera clenched his teeth and charged at Aki. He swung his saber with fury. There was no finesse in his attack, just the unbridled rage of an untrained gang member. Yet, Calvera moved faster than any ordinary mortal. Aki needed to neutralize the power of the stone in Calvera's pocket.

Aki parried Calvera's saber strike with his dagger and thrust his sword toward Calvera's side. Calvera's right side was exposed, and Aki should have been able to pierce his stomach. However, Aki sensed the surge of power coming from Calvera's pocket, which deflected his strike. Another sword, forged from red mana, appeared and blocked Aki's attack, floating in the air. Calvera recovered in no time and launched another assault on Aki. Both sabers worked in harmony, pushing Aki onto the defensive.

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Aki could deflect and parry most of the attacks with his sword and dagger, but the strength behind Calvera's blows meant that any successful strike would be devastating. Aki had to keep his mana flowing to match the inhuman speed and strength of the two blades.

By this time, onlookers, including Aki's friends and the townspeople, had gathered to watch the battle. The gang members of the Old Ginger Gang had formed a loose circle around the fighters, ready to intervene if it looked like their boss was going to lose.

When Aki found an opening, he kicked Calvera. He pumped as much mana as he could towards his foot, trying to give himself some room. It wasn't a full-fledged Blossom's Breeze technique, but it blasted enough wind to create space. This allowed Aki to gain the room he needed to move away from the encircling gang members.

Ignoring Calvera's taunts, Aki panted, trying to collect his thoughts. The stone was granting Calvera immense power, making him a formidable opponent. Aki glanced down at the townspeople below and then back at Calvera. He had to find a way to win this battle.

The only thing on his mind was getting in close, close enough so the swords wouldn’t mean much. Aki wanted to target pressure points with his needles and use the dagger. He wondered how his black obsidian needles would fare against Calvera's blood magic. If it didn’t work, fortunately, Aki could escape using his wind if needed. There was no time like the present to test this new strategy.

But before he could make another move, Calvera did something unexpected. He jumped on his saber and it flew. Aki's eyes widened in shock. Riding a sword was something he had only heard of in legends and tales. He hadn't believed it was possible. Aki gritted his teeth and employed Blossom's Steps to move towards Calvera in the air. It might be advantageous to engage Calvera in an aerial battle, where he wouldn't have two swords to contend with.

Was Calvera controlling the second sword, or did the spirit stone imbue it with sentience? Aki couldn't dwell on it at the moment. When he reached Calvera, their swords clashed again, creating sparks and clangs as they exchanged blows. This time, Aki pushed Calvera onto the defensive, striking with both sword and dagger. Calvera couldn't block both simultaneously while he was atop the floating saber.

They continued their rapid exchange of blows, with Calvera matching Aki's every move. Calvera's attack speed was relentless, and Aki retreated. He focused on deflecting, parrying, and keeping up with the inhuman onslaught.

By now, Aki's friends had joined the crowd of onlookers. Jin and Mei stood in front of Endra, prepared to shield her in case any attacks went astray. The town's doctor watched the battle with crossed arms.

As Aki's mana reserves dwindled, he realized he needed to end the fight. His limbs felt heavy, and the pressure of the relentless assault weighed him down. Aki's breath came in labored gasps.

Finding an opportunity, Aki sent a mana-powered kick into Calvera's chest, creating a gust of wind, albeit not a full Blossom's Breeze. This created the space he needed to break away from the encircling gang members. Panting, he assessed the situation, wondering how to defeat Calvera and the blood-red sword.

With the wind swirling around him, Aki concentrated on his mana, his mind racing to formulate a plan. The only thing he could think about was getting close to Calvera, exploiting pressure points, and using his needles to disable his foe. He also needed to test his black obsidian needles against the blood magic.

But Calvera made the next move. Aki watched in astonishment as Calvera rode the floating blood sword, his unnatural abilities defying reality. Aki's eyes narrowed, and he summoned his wind.

Aki let himself fall towards the ground after an exchange where Calvera cut through some of Aki’s robes. It left a long red cut against his upper arm, blood running down into his robes. As he fell through the air, he dropped the dagger and reached into his sleeve. He pulled one of the black acupuncture needles, the chunks of salt glittering lightly against the sunlight. With Calvera above him, he threw the needle up towards the red mana sword.

Using the wind not only to keep his aim true but adding some force to the throw, it landed. For good measure, he threw two more in quick succession, again using the wind to keep the needles aimed towards their mark. The three needles landed just as Aki could conjure enough wind to slow his fall so he didn’t splat into the desert floor in the middle of the town. He still landed hard, having to bend and fall on his knees in the dirt so he didn’t break his legs. He looked up and squinted.

The beggar saw the needles land and dig into his intended target. Its mana dissolved back into the essence around where the needles hit it. The blood-red aura dissolved and floated back towards Calvera’s pocket and into the spirit stone. Calvera shouted as his floating ride dissolved underneath him. The man dropped through the air, well above the roofs of the inn and tavern, before the sword dissolved. He was trying to float over to the roof of the tavern so he didn’t splat into the ground.

Calvera didn’t make it. His arms swung around as he swan-dived towards the ground. Aki could have used the wind to cushion the fall. Mercy should have been in the way. Calvera had terrorized the town long enough. Now he tried to take over like some kind of pseudo-dictator?

Aki watched with hard, merciless eyes when Calvera landed in the dirt with a loud crunch. His bones and body breaking upon landing from such a high height. A mortal like Calvera never stood a chance. Blood and guts spurted out and landed around his body.

Aki stayed kneeling where he landed, wheezing. Endra and Liam ran out to the street toward him. Endra took his head in her arms and brought it to her gut to hold him, trying to offer comfort after the losing battle he somehow won. Liam stood there, unsure what to do other than put a hand on Aki’s shoulder. Aki, huffed and patted the small of her back and climbed to his feet.

Jin and the Doctor went into the shop to see what aid they’d be able to find to help Aki. He needed little, though, and he doubted the doctor would have anything. If anyone had anything that would help him, Mei would. Somewhere in one of her rings would be a mana regeneration pill, something to help him gather mana quickly to refill the stores he emptied during the fight.

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” he told the pair of them. He reached and ruffled Liam’s hair and just nodded to Endra before he bent over to pick up the dagger he had dropped. He put it back in its sheath on the small of his own back and walked towards Calvera’s mess of a body. It was being blocked, though, his goons standing around the body. They had their own pseudo-doctor who might try to help the body, even though he was well beyond any help. A couple of them scurried off to the doctor’s shop to harass him to help the gang leader. Mei put a quick stop to that, however, with a pulse of her water power and a naginata appearing in her hands out of nowhere. They ran off after that.

A few of the Old Ginger Gang members tried to stop Aki from getting closer, but he glared and even growled at whoever tried to move in his way. After watching the air battle, they didn’t put up much of a fight, they instead cowered and moved away from the beggar. Aki went and kneeled beside the man’s body, all broken open, appendages all at odd angles, bones that didn’t shatter poking through his skin.

He dug through the pockets of the man until he found the blood-red spirit stone. It fit in the palm of his hand, and even touching it made him queasy with the blood spirit that invaded his own. Aki grunted and pocketed the stone near his own spirit stones. He’d have to get a jade box or something to put the stone in to keep the effects from him. He cycled his mana protectively, letting it swirl and revolve around his core so it couldn’t puncture and corrupt him.

Before moving back to Endra and Liam, Aki scanned the ground and found his needles, the smooth black ones sticking out like a sore thumb against the desert terrain. Walking and picking them up on his way, he went back to the pair, wrapped an arm around Endra’s shoulders, and let her help him over to the Doctor’s shop.

“You’re injured,” Endra told him dejectedly.

“It’s fine, just a flesh wound,” he looked down at his arm. The cut was still flowing freely, and his mana was too low to do much healing for him. He grunted a bit and shook his head before smiling sheepishly at Endra.

She scoffed and shook her head. They walked past Mei, who was advancing toward the gang members who were circled around their leader's corpse. She was yelling at them to get out of town, that they weren’t welcome anymore there. “Maybe you’ll get spared slavery again while you’re running through the desert! Maybe those barbarians will just cut you down!” she called as she ran after them, her naginata at the ready. A couple of them carried the body of Calvera. She attempted to chase them, letting them run out of town.

Aki and Endra headed inside and put Aki into a chair. As soon as they sat him, the doctor was bandaging the deep cut on his arm. “It’ll be fine. I just need something to help me regenerate my mana, and I need to cultivate,” Aki told him.

“Well, unfortunately, I have nothing like that. I don’t get that kind of stuff from the Empire since we don’t have cultivators here,” the doctor told him. Aki nodded his head and looked up toward Jin, who was just standing there with his hands resting on his round stomach and smiled. “No worries, my friend,” Jin told him. “My wife has stores of healing pills in one of her rings.” He nodded. “We find many cultivators in our travels who just need a bit of a pick me up in our travels,” Jin continued.

When Mei returned from chasing off the gang, she walked into the shop and gave Aki one pill he needed. She didn’t tell him the name, but it was a dull brown color and smelled like anise and cinnamon. She told him to wait to take it until he was somewhere by himself and was ready to cultivate. He nodded his thanks and pocketed the pill.

Mei and Jin told him they’d stick around and help make sure the town would be alright before they went home with their cart. Endra and Liam helped him back to the Inn and to the room he had stayed in before all the commotion had started. They left him alone, and he pulled his wind stones out of his pockets and set them about the room. The blood spirit stone he threw onto the bed and wrapped it with blankets to dampen the aura it put off.

Once everything was settled, he sat in the middle of the stones he had laid out. He took the pill and gagged a little since he hadn’t thought to get any water to help him swallow it. It still went down, and Aki felt it move down his throat. He tried to swallow some of his own saliva to help the pill go down.

He could close his eyes and concentrate on his breathing. The wind kicked up around him in the room, creating a small vortex of a light wind. It wasn’t strong enough to damage anything, just a gentle breeze where there shouldn’t have been any, and Aki cycled. The soft glowing blue-white mana ran through his channels and into his core, where it swirled and reinforced itself.