The two men did not speak as Chen-Thai emptied out the last of the soup into his bowl and ate it. What little could have been said would not just have been unnecessary, but outright detrimental to both parties. For Chen-Thai, information was a commodity he needed to spend carefully as when he ran out David would have no further use in their arrangement. For David there was no use in words. He needed techniques and power, neither of which could be gained from idle chit chat.
When Chen-Thai finished and packed his belongings into a burlap sack, he curled his index finger and David approached. Placing a gnarled hand on David’s shoulder, an explosion of red mist obscured all sight. The two men reappeared at a massive metal gate amidst stone walls that extended up far past his line of sight. Two huge slabs of black metal began slowly to fold inward when Master Chen placed his hands on them and began to push. David was not amused by this show of strength, but did not comment.
David entered first and the gates began to swing back to their original position as soon as Chen-Thai followed. With the sensation of a hurricane-force wind to his back, David assessed the compound. It stretched past the horizon, but there was no ceiling so it was illuminated by the sun’s midday light. Given its size, such a thing must have been unconstructable, but having seen one such dome it was unclear why magic could not solve this impossibility. There was the issue of heat and air to consider, so perhaps the significant cost of upkeep would not be worth the effort? This explanation made sense to him in combination with the fact this place was a concentrated force of arms. Walls were only necessary to defend against martial assailants. Any magical force would need to be repelled with magic, and it would likely not be terribly difficult to simply erect a magical barrier if the necessary forces were to be present. Presumably a dome would be better for overall defense (and especially against surprise attacks), but with a higher up-front cost and ongoing maintenance required to maintain supplies, whereas a barrier would be better if attacks were infrequent and defenses could be mustered in advance. Either logic did not explain why the walls were so high, but he supposed this line of thought did not need to be explored any further until the time to conquer this place arrived.
The two men entered into a large courtyard whose base was an intricate series of carved beige stones swept and cleaned, replaced and chiseled constantly in a swarm of trainees that blotted out its larger details in masses of live bodies. David did not care to see the larger picture anyway— it was likely a portrayal of some grand and irrelevant moment in the sect’s history— and merely followed the path Chen-Thai took deeper into the compound. They passed many buildings erected in what seemed to be an asian style, but out of western materials— primarily stone and marble, most painted except where left bare for emphasis or poverty. Wooden shanties lined the sides of each building, whose alleys were easily some thirty or forty feet wide. Many were multiple stories high and had clearly been present for some time, showing the signs of wear and degradation in many places, most especially the fabric banners that hung from the shops amidst these slums present in near plain sight. They were offset from the street so as to not be visible at a glance, but the presence of such poverty to any who wished to see it was unusual to David’s past experiences.
After twenty or thirty minutes of brisk walking, the new and old man each arrived at a fifteen-story japanese-style building erected out of black and white marble. The building itself was black, but the overhangs of each story’s roof were white, except for the very top one which was gold, though it was unclear at a distance if it was paint or the genuine article.
They entered a large lobby some one-hundred feet across with a ten-foot fountain billowing water in the center and twenty-foot spruce trees that brushed against the smooth ceiling on either side. To the center, standing directly in front of them with fifteen guards dressed in fine multicolored silken robes to either side, a twenty or so year old man stood, hands postured to their sides as though he were a superhero. He looked first to Chen-Thai, then violently tilted his head towards David and glared as if to ask “who’s this cretin?”
None of the guards nor the young man moved as David and Chen-Thai approached. When they were within conversing distance, Chen-Thai spoke first.
“Ah, young master Zhang, how nice it always is to—”
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“Cut the pleasantries, I don’t care for them,” Zhang interrupted.
“Tell me who this is, and fast.”
“Ah, it’s—” Chen-Thai began, but Zhang cut him off once more.
“The mysterious artifact of great power you so proudly boasted you would find?”
“He doesn’t seem to be as great as you had hoped.”
David had not spoken, nor had he intended to, but Chen-Thai noticed his face had sharpened as though he was about to make a death-threat.
“Please, David, think nothing ill of this. The young master is just…”
“Just what? Do you think you can insult me to my face?” Zhang interrupted again.
There was a blood-vessel on David’s forehead that looked like it was about to explode.
“I don’t mean to be rude, young master, but surely you understand the meaning of your own words.”
“Of course I do. You’re the one who failed to bring anything of value for display to the elders. It’s not my head on the line here.”
The blood vessel had shrunk slightly and it seemed as though David no longer cared about this distraction, but then Master Zhang continued to speak.
“It’s yours, for bringing back someone— something— so useless and devoid of power and purpose. Can it even fight a single archon? Is it even capable of surviving against my weakest footsoldier? I sense no power from him.”
David no longer cared for formality or restraint and this was taking too long.
“If you insult me again I’ll kill you where you stand,” he said flatly.
“Did you just make a threat on my life? Guards, seize him.”
David glared, daring them to move so much as move. A few of the men behind the young master looked to each other in hesitation. Those within his line of sight did not, but only one man actively attempted to follow Zhang’s orders. A somewhat tall man to David’s left began to step forward. When the guard was just within reach of David he spoke,
“If you touch me I’ll take your hand. If you take one more step I’ll take your life.”
Zhang made a face of outrage,
“Surely you won’t allow these empty threats? What did I hire you for?”
“I’m sorry young master, it’s just if he’s accompanying Master Chen…”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses, do it or there will be hell to pay.”
He reached out and barely grazed the fabric of David’s robe with the tip of his pinky, but did not step any farther forward. David, in turn, smiled just slightly while tilting his head back and to the left. His hand disappeared at the wrist. He reflexively recoiled but it was too late, the hand and all its fingers were gone. At first he backed away, then turned to Zhang and spoke, raising his unbleeding stump to eye-level.
“I don’t mean to offend the young master, but perhaps—”
Zhang, of course, did not allow him to finish speaking. There was a flash of white light and the man fell to his knees, then face, dead.
“What do I hire any of you for? Leave. Now.”
They did not hesitate. As the men left Zhang continued speaking.
“I demand an explanation for this.”
Chen-Thai was happy to provide one if it meant David wouldn’t say another word.
“He’s quite powerful you see, but allow me to spare you the details until we convene.”
“No, you will give me an explanation and you will do it now.”
Now David was angry.
“If you waste one more minute of my time I’m going to cut you in half and throw you in the fountain. Don’t test my patience, for I have none. Get out of here, now.”
“If you threaten me again, my family will kill you and hunt down the rest of your kin for the next ten-thousand generations!” the young master threatened.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here for the rest of eternity, or at least what little of it you people have left,” David replied in the same perfectly-even tone.
There was a slight pause before his next words.
“Now leave.”
Chen-Thai looked concerned, yet there was a hint of amusement in his face. The young master, meanwhile, wore an expression of absolute outrage and indignation, but ultimately slinked away deeper into the building, perhaps in preparation for the convening of some council that was to come.