Fullger’s was packed. Gladys could be seen working behind the counter, shouting things to the waitresses and presumably her nephew, but there was so much noise that Kayden had little chance to hear what was being said.

Kayden scanned the faces of the crowded room until she found the person she was looking for, Darris. The older, swashbuckler looking man sat slouched over a mug of ale at a corner of the room. She made her way over to him, squeezing between tables. She grabbed an empty chair on her way and set it down beside Darris.

He looked in surprise as she squeezed in next to him. “Ah!” He held his mug up to her, his eyes glossed over from intoxication. “You're still alive! Have a drink on me! Waitress!”

An overwhelmed looking and rosy cheeked waitress made her way over to them. She gave Kayden a look. This time Kayden had come prepared and was wearing the jacket Darris’s sister gave her and the red scarf. She looked like any other Cliffsider.

“What do you want Darris? Gladys said not to serve you anymore until you clear up your tab.”

Darris gave Kayden a pleading look and she sighed. “I’ll buy the next round. Two of whatever he has in there.” She pointed at his mostly empty mug.

“A girl like you shouldn’t be drinking this piss water,” Darris interjected, seeming suspiciously sober. “We’ll have two Glory reds.”

The waitress glanced at her and she nodded. “I’ll have to ask you to pay upfront. Darris has somewhat of a reputation around these parts.”

“How much?”

“Fifty scripts.”

Kayden suppressed a wince. She may be rich now, but she still remembered what it was like to scrape by with what she had, and fifty scripts seemed excessive for two glasses of wine. This was obviously a ruse for Darris to get his hands on some fancy wine, but she needed his help so she would humor him. She extracted the scripts from her pocket, being careful not to show how much she had, and handed them over.

The waitress took them and stuffed them into her apron then swayed through the crowd to get their drinks.

While they waited, Kayden turned to Darris. “I want to hire you again, and it sounds to me like you need the work.”

Darris chugged down the rest of his cheap ale then slammed it on the table before turning to her and giving her a deep searching look. “What kinda trouble are you in now?”

“I need your help finding another gang.”

Darris looked around, but there was so much noise in the place that there was little chance of anyone overhearing them. “You and your gang business. Why don’t you get your father to help you? He is probably much more connected to that side of the city than I am. You did find him didn’t you?”

“I found him, but he can’t help me with this.” She didn’t elaborate.

“And who said that I can?”

“You did last time.”

The waitress returned with their wine and set it down on the table. Before she left she turned to Kayden. “You know, you’re not the first girl I’ve seen with this old man. I would advise you to get as far away from him as possible before he gets you into trouble.”

“Who you calling old!” Darris shouted, his drunken facade back in place.

Kayden turned bright red. “We’re not--”

But the waitress only smirked knowingly, turned, and lost herself in the crowd.

Kayden let her explanation die on her tongue. Instead, she took a sip of the wine. She had never had wine before. Her father preferred that she stay away from alcohol of any form. The taste was sweet and bright. She didn’t know how much it took to get drunk so she decided to drink it very sparingly so as not to risk anything.

Darris took a long swig and smacked his lips afterwards. “Now that’s the stuff!”

“I--”

“I’m sorry girl, but I can’t help you,” Darris interrupted her, staring deep into the dark, red wine. “I’m not going to get involved in any of that business, especially with things being in the state they are right now.”

“What do you mean?” She knew that Cliffside had become somewhat hectic over the past few weeks with riots because of the police presence, but to her knowledge all of that had pretty much died down.

“Now that the riots are over, the police have agreed to withdraw from Cliffside, but they left behind a task force called adoc. Have you heard about it?”

Kayden shook her head.

“Well these guys mean business. They leave us common folk alone, but anyone associated with the gangs is free reign. They’ll make arrests even if there is a whisper of your involvement in gang activity. Nope. Not getting involved.”

“What if I paid you double what I paid you last time?”

Darris spluttered on the gulp of wine he just took, but quickly recovered and turned a level gaze on her. His eyes were still swimming with intoxication, but there was a sharpness there regardless.

“Must be important to you.”

“More than you know.”

Darris squinted at her. “I heard there was some trouble at the arena when we split ways. Does this have anything to do with that?”

Kayden nodded. “A rival gang attacked called Mistech. That is who I need to find.”

“Mistech. They are the reason the police have been so involved in Cliffside. From what I heard, the Lower Caverns were practically a warzone with the fighting going on between the police and Mistech. The police came out as the victors and the gang no longer exists.”

“It does,” she said certainly. “If only partially. They couldn’t have captured everyone involved. I need you to help me find those that survived and went into hiding.”

“Why? Nikiphero has gone into hiding. Why would they want to risk exposing themselves by getting involved in something that has already been taken care of?” He caught the look in Kayden’s eyes. “Ah, so this is a personal venture then. You have something against Mistech.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want from them. Are you in or are you out?”

Darris thought for a moment. “For triple.”

“Deal.”

They clinked glasses to seal the deal. Kayden only took a sip but Darris downed the rest of his.

“It will be the same deal as the last time,” Darris said. “I will lead you to them if there is any rementant that remains. Beyond that point, I have no further obligation toward you. I am a guide not a guard or anything else.”

“Agreed.”

“Were you planning on leaving without at least telling me you were still alive.” A familiar busty tavern keeper came up behind them. She must have caught sight of Kayden conversing with Darris.

“Hi, Gladys. You don’t need to worry about me bringing any more trouble to your tavern. The police aren’t after me anymore” Kadyen said hurriedly, thinking Gladys had come over here to kick her out for what she had done the last time she was here.

Gladys waved her off. “That’s not why I came over. You didn’t cause anything that I couldn’t handle. I’m glad to see you haven’t gotten yourself thrown off a cliff yet. What are you doing back here with that old ruffian?”

“I need him to guide me again.”

She eyed Darris. “So you’ll be able to pay off your tab. That’s good to hear.”

Darris mumbled something along the lines of women always being after his money.

“What was that?” Gladys said with a hand on her hip.

“Nothing,” squeaked Darris.

“That’s what I thought.” She turned her attention back to Kayden. “I’m not going to ask any more about your business. I just came over to reassure myself that you were okay. I couldn’t help but hold myself somewhat responsible for sending you off to that pit of vipers.”

“It was my choice. Don’t worry about me.”

“Still, I hope you found what you were looking for without getting bitten too much.”

Kayden wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry at that statement. She had certainly not come out the other side of her first foray into Cliffside untouched. And now she was planning on delving in there again. This time though, she was not as naive, and she was far more prepared.

She held her hand out under the table and smoke began to colaless but she released it before the dagger could fully form. It was a habit she had formed over the past few days. Whenever she got anxious or nervous, she would reach out for her dagger to reassure herself it was there.

Gladys’s eyes softened as she saw something of what Kayden had gone through. “Ah, so they got to you, did they? Well, whatever happens, I want you to know you have friends at Fullger’s should you ever need anything.”

“Thank you, Gladys.” Kayden felt tears well up in the back of her eyes at this small friendly gesture, but she kept her expression carefully controlled.

Gladys gave her one last long look. “Well, I best be getting back to work. Good to see you Kayden.”

“You too Gladys.”

Gladys shuffled off and Kayden couldn’t help but muse that the farewell had a certain finality to it. There was no telling what the future held, but Kayden felt like this was the last time she would see the matronly tavern keeper.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Even though she had only known the woman for a short while, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat remorseful. They might not know each other well, but Gladys was one of the few people that had actually helped Kayden when she needed it. True, Kayden had paid her for the service, but Gladys could have easily taken advantage of her, but she hadn’t.

Kayden shook off her melancholic emotions and turned back to the matter at hand. Namely, getting this old drunkard to lead her to Mistech so Kayden could find her father’s killer.

“So what’s the plan then.”

Darris had begun to work on her glass of wine while she had been distracted speaking with Gladys. She didn’t mind. She hadn’t planned on drinking it anymore.

“First things first, let’s see the payment.”

Kayden carefully pulled out the pile of bills she had withdrawn to fund her expedition so that nobody in the tavern would catch sight of it. She had learned her lesson the last time what happened when you flashed that kind of cash around where anyone could see. She counted out half of the payment and handed it over.

“Half now, half after we are done.”

She was somewhat nervous that this would offend him but Darris only grinned. “It seems you have at least learned some things since last we met. That is good. It means you aren’t as stupid as I thought you were.”

Kayden had nothing to say to that. She had been extremely stupid and reckless the first time she came Cliffside. There was nothing she could do to change that. She could only correct her behavior going forward, and that meant not letting herself be so easy to take advantage of.

“I have some friends in the Lower Caverns who might be able to help us. We will start there. It’s already getting late so we’ll begin in the morning. Meet me in front of Fullger’s at eight. I assume you can find yourself a place to stay without my help this time.”

Kayden nodded. The docks were filled with plenty of inns where she could book a room for the night. She wished Fullger’s was an inn rather than just a tavern. That would simplify things. She didn’t trust anywhere else, but she would just make due with what she had. As long as she didn’t expose her significant wealth, there was no reason for anyone to make any trouble for her.

She left Darris to nurse what little remained of the wine and headed out the door.

As she suspected it was a simple job finding an inn to stay. It was called the Duke’s Manor and was marketed to the wealthy visiting merchants. It certainly wasn’t up to the same scale as what might be found Uptown, but it was clean and trustworthy looking enough.

Along with the room, Kayden was given a meal of stew and bread with cheese. She ate that at a solitary table before retiring. It was still early in the evening when she did, but she preferred being alone in her room to sitting in the tavern.

When in her room, she opened up her gate magic book and set about going through the motions of the exercises. While she did that she opened up her aura sense and delved into her own aura, sessing out every little detail. She felt the way that her aura reacted to her movements and the channel of energy that flowed through her in response.

There were many theories as to what exactly the aura’s function was. The leading one was that there were three classifications of the elements: physical, magical, and spiritual. The magical was what bridged the gap between the physical and spiritual which otherwise would have no way of interacting. Aura’s were a consequence of these magical energies interacting with the physical and spiritual worlds.

At its core, gate magic was all about enhancing the physical connection to one’s aura. That is why meditation and aura sense were such key components to unlocking a gate. To open a gate, one had to understand the fundamental ways in which energy flowed through the body.

But no matter how many hours Kayden spent going through these exercises, she felt that there was something that she was missing. The book felt incomplete and she wondered if she was just wasting her time doing all of this.

She was trying to learn a piece of foreign magic from a book, the author of which wasn’t even a practitioner himself. It seemed like a hopeless endeavor, but still she couldn’t help but feel a strange attraction to it. She felt like she was led to this magic for a reason. For the time being at least she would stick to what she could learn from it. Maybe in the future she could use some of her vast wealth to find a teacher.

As she went through the motions of her exercises, she summoned the dagger. She found that the movements for the Speed Gate were very compatible with the addition of a dagger. Speed was all about sudden and unexpected flashes of movement that could get past a defense before it was raised, but for all of that, it lacked power. With a dagger in her hand, there was no need for a powerful strike, just a sure one.

Kayden had been practicing religiously with the dagger since the days after it had been returned to her. She whirled and striked, picturing the man who killed her father. Her movements were still awkward and unsure but she felt that she had made significant strides in such a short amount of time. And she had developed a few tricks that should help her if she found herself in a sticky situation.

When she imbued her aura into her arms, she was able to move even more quickly. She studied the currents of her aura as she did so. She had discovered some new things from what she had observed of Rem’s fighting. Unlike her father’s style of imbuing his aura directly into his flesh, Rem had created an exoskeleton type of configuration. Kayden’s father’s technique was actually fairly similar just on a smaller scale. Instead of her aura taking the place of her muscles completely, her aura was mixing with her muscles, bolstering them.

The advantage to her father’s way of doing things was that she could act much more intuitively, but in return it put a lot more strain on her body. Interestingly enough this seeming disadvantage actually improved Kayden’s ability to train her body. The reason being was that by utilizing her aura she could exert her body beyond what she would normally be capable of. It could be dangerous to do so, because she could easily permanently injure herself, but she was being careful not to do it overly much. She just wanted to increase her abilities as quickly as possible.

She was therefore trying to spread the influence of her aura over the rest of her body, so she could train other muscles this way. It was no simple feat to perform. Kayden had been trained for years by her father to be able to infuse her arms with her aura. It would probably require years more to be able to do anything else.

Aura’s were finicky things. It was like trying to change the course of a river. Aura’s had their natural function, to train them to do anything else required lots of work. That is why tech was invented. Tech was a way to utilize one's aura without the necessity of training it to do so. That is why Kayden could summon her shadow dagger out of thin air, or why a person could use a wand or any other type of focus. Some people thought it was pointless to even train your aura when it was so much easier just to buy tech that could perform it so much more conveniently.

But that was only if you wanted to perform something for which there was tech available, and the type of tech that would turn Kayden into a more deadly force was illegal and heavily regulated. Besides, even if she could get her hands on some of the stuff, it would be impractical in regular situations. For instance, Mistech used tech augmented limbs. She would not only have to find the gear, but also a surgeon to install it, then it would also be something irreversibly done to her body which she would have to hide if she ever wanted to return Uptown. Even though it was more difficult, it was much more practical to simply learn how to utilize her aura in the way she desired rather than to rely on tech.

She attempted to expand her aura throughout her body. It was like trying to fill a cup past its limit. Even as she poured her aura throughout her body, it leaked out, not taking hold and forming to her body as it did with her arms. There was a disconnect to what she was trying to do and the ability of her aura to comply. The only thing that would solve the issue was a great deal more time and practice.

She sighed and stopped for the time being. Several hours had already passed and she was exhausted both physically and mentally. She laid down in bed and prepared herself for the day that awaited tomorrow. She was finally going to hunt down her father’s killer

*****

The next day she found Darris waiting for her outside of Fullger’s which she found surprising. Considering how much he drank, she expected him to come stumbling down the road a half hour late, but he looked spry and ready for the day. She soon learned why when he pulled out a flask and took a swig.

“Do you never stop drinking?” she asked.

“There are few real pleasures in life. And this is one of them. Forgive me if I indulge it a little bit.”

Kayden didn’t say that he was beyond indulging a little. She didn’t care as long as he fulfilled his part of the bargain.

“What’s the plan?”

“We’ll head down to the Lower Caverns and reach out to my contacts there. If they don’t have any information about Mistech, then they might be able to at least point us in the direction of someone who does. At the very least we can uncover some of their old hideouts, and see if they left anything behind that would give us a hint as to where they ran off to.”

With this plan in mind they headed to the lift stations which would carry them to the Lower Caverns. As they walked Kayden decided to get as much information as she could about where they were going.

“What can you tell me about the Lower Caverns?”

“The Lower Caverns is where all of the mining operations are located. They go extremely deep into the earth so there isn’t much chance for the pollution to escape. It’s a harsh existence but the work pays well so people are willing to sacrifice their health. Crime is extremely rampant through the area, even more so than Ivossin Cavern or the docks. There aren't many options for a lot of the folks down there so they do what they can to survive. Mistech was the most major of the gangs down there, but there are dozens of smaller gangs. These gangs deal heavily in illegal tech for body augmentation. Lots of the miners get injured during the job and they have no other choice than to turn to the gangs for help so that they can keep working. Some of the caverns also reach down to the forest floor and there is a large market for dangerous and exotic creatures from the Gelgine Wilderness.”

The information about the gangs wasn’t that surprising, but she had no idea that people actually went down into the Gelgine Wilderness to capture creatures. She remembered that little girl she saw with the huge dog-like creature on the docks her first day Cliffside. Could that have come from the Wilderness? If so it would have had to be an extremely deadly creature. But that information wasn’t really important right now.

“If there are a lot of other gangs then don’t you suppose that the remnant of Mistech would have merged with another gang?”

“That’s a possibility for sure. But Mistech wasn’t really known for being the most diplomatic of the gangs. Mistech was an insurgent group of dissatisfied miners. They hated Uptown and anyone who associated with them, and to them that meant if you weren’t helping them then you were helping the enemy. This philosophy made them quite hard to get along with. If a gang did take them in, it would have had to have been a weaker one that was desperate for man power no matter where it came from. That is definitely something we can look into if nothing else turns up. Why exactly are you hunting down Mistech? They certainly aren’t a threat to Nikiphero anymore.”

Kayden gave him a glance, not sure how much to reveal.

He saw and shrugged. “You're the boss. It’s up to you how much you want to tell me, but any little bit of information you give me may go a long way in helping you.”

“I’m looking for a specific member of Mistech. I don’t know what he looks like, but he uses some type of device called a firearm from Swarth.”

“A firearm? Guns you mean? I’ve come across them before. Hmm, that is very helpful, they certainly aren’t common around here where magical items are in so much more abundance. It should be easy to locate anyone wielding something like that. Do you know what kind of gun it was?”

“No, I didn’t even know what it was until recently. I’ve never heard of guns before. I thought it was some type of tech.”

“It’s tech that doesn’t use magic. Instead, it uses highly explosive ingredients that propel a lead ball at deadly force.”

Kayden found this concept strange but it had piqued her curiosity. “Why would someone make something like that? Wouldn’t it just be easier to use a wand?”

“That logic might follow in Mitros, but Swarth is a lot different. Magic is outlawed there.”

Kayden recalled learning something about that in her world politics class back at Ernestine Academy. “The Great Purges,” she said and Darris nodded.

As far as she could remember, Swarth had been the home of the world's most powerful mages, but after years of destruction at the hands of these individuals, a group known as the Children of Peace had taken power. Their method for obtaining peace was to kill anyone who disagreed with them or could contest their power. That meant getting rid of anyone with magic.

Darris nodded. “To battle against the mages they developed weapons that a common man could use to kill mages.”

“I thought Swarth was completely closed off from the rest of the world? How did any of these weapons get out?”

That was what they had mostly talked about in her world politics class, the fact that Swarth wanted nothing to do with the rest of the world. No trade, no communication, nothing.

“That may have been true, but they have recently opened up their borders in a limited capacity. As a result it was inevitable that some of their inventions would leak out. It isn’t surprising that some of them would have found their way here. This is the hub of all the world's trade.”

“So the man I’m looking for could be from Swarth.”

Darris snorted. “I doubt it. Some of their inventions may have left Swarth, but none of their people have. They are an extremely closed off and secretive people. But it is strange to believe that a gun has reached Cliffside, especially in the hands of people like Mistech. It could be that they are developing their own, and that is a very disturbing thought.”

“How do you know so much about things like this? I didn’t really expect you to know anything about it, and yet you have given me a thorough answer.”

Darris shrugged. “I’ve lived my whole life on the docks and sailing to distant lands. You pick things up.”

“Do you know if there is any way to battle against a gun.”

“Yeah, run the other way before they can shoot at you. If that’s not possible there might be a way to raise a shield with magic, but that is beyond my knowledge.”

This was deeply concerning for Kayden. How was she supposed to bring someone down that was wielding a weapon like that? She would have to surprise him. Kill him before he could kill her. Isn’t that what she had learned from the Gate of Speed. Get to your enemy before they can raise their defenses. She would kill the man before he had time to react.

She turned her aura sense inward and felt for the presence of the dagger, but she didn’t summon it, not yet.