Lisa, it turned out, had good news. Good for Lee, that was. He didn’t think she was glad about it.

Her lack of enthusiasm couldn’t dampen his mood though, considering it was something he’d hoped for dearly.

The details of his next job had finally come, and it was in the perfect place for him.

The Union of Five were a group of nations a few thousand kilometres south of Lasvania that had allied themselves so deeply, they were almost a single nation.

They were formed by the Council of Five, though he still wasn’t sure what that was, the missive had been vague, and Lisa hadn’t seen it fit to inform him. Even asking his processor yielded similarly vague results about five mysterious and powerful entities whose names, motivations and power levels were unknown.

Their destination was the Fifth Republic, unimaginatively named after its patron, the last member of the Council of Five, who was, unsurprisingly, called the Fifth.

He was sure there were a few masters on Xenus that would love to have strong words with whoever named them.

Yet none of that truly interested him. What had him excited was one of the main things the Fifth Republic was famous for.

Fifth Havens.

Scattered round the country were pockets of rich forests that were packed with treasures. Everything from rare fruits to exotic beasts existed in the Havens. They were supposedly seeded by the Fifth herself and provided refuge to people she recognised as her children.

He would have to make plans for his journey, especially the part that involved escaping Lisa. He felt bad for planning to go against her wishes, but she’d been clear on not wanting him to stray far from the city, and he couldn’t afford to ignore an opportunity.

“So, any thoughts on how to approach this,” Lisa asked.

For now, though, he had to figure out how to carry out his official mission.

“Can we threaten them with the Lasvanian government,” he suggested. “You implied the hostage is important.”

“Unless we’re left with no other choice,” she said with a shake of her head. “If they wanted to use threats, Liam would have deployed a High Diplomat. And yes, the girl is important. Her family is pretty influential in politics, one of her relatives is in Liam’s cabinet. Plus, they have the backing of the Fifth community, which is no small thing.”

“Fifth community,” he asked, confused.

“There’s a sizable portion of people who immigrated from the Union to Lasvania a few centuries ago. The ones who came from the Fifth went into politics and spread their influence aggressively,” she explained, then grimaced. “They’re also part of why we can’t use threats. They’ve been under exile for abandoning the Fifth for a long time but there’s been ongoing talks about allowing them back in. So, the Fifth community has a vested interest in maintaining a good relationship with the Republic. And the Fifth are one of the biggest backers of Liam’s party so he has to keep them happy.”

He still found it strange when she casually talked about her ruler without his titles. This was one of those situations that were needlessly complicated by politics. He generally liked to avoid those. Which led him to his question.

“Why am I being called on,” he asked, perplexed. “I understand you’re important, but this seems much bigger than a newly Ascended Neophyte from a backwater world.”

“You’re vastly underestimating the importance of Ascendants,” she said simply. “Ten percent of all the High Cultivators in Lasvania are Ascendants. There has been a total of two thousand Ascendants in Lasvanian history. More than three quarters of that are High Cultivators. Two of the ten Lone Powers are Ascendants. And none of them was nearly as young as you. You’re a strategic asset, Lee. This whole test is just a formality. Realistically, you were guaranteed citizenship the moment you mentioned your age.”

He stared at her in surprise for a few seconds. He’d been underestimating the importance of Ascendants to Lasvania. Though it should have been obvious in hindsight.

Being considered a strategic asset wasn’t something he liked, but he was largely used to it. It was just one more reason to advance. With enough strength, he could be free to break the bonds of even Lasvania.

“I'd have expected them to keep me as close to Lasvania as possible if I was that important. Isn’t it dangerous to let me go to a foreign country? What if the Fifth decides keeping me is worth the risk.”

“It’s been a very long time since a foreign power was bold enough to try to claim what Lasvania declared as theirs,” she said with a dark chuckle. “The Fifth community is influential, but they’re not nearly influential enough to stop the High Senate’s reaction to an attempted kidnapping of the most promising Ascendant in history. It won’t even cross the minds of the Republic.

“The real reason why they’re sending us is simple, we aren’t threatening. The Republic is very paranoid. They’ll feel threatened if someone too powerful was sent, yet they’ll feel insulted if the envoys are too weak. With us, we’re weak enough to be considered harmless, yet important enough that it isn’t insulting to send us.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Oh. I see,” was all he could say. He was already tired of all the politics involved. This was why he had fiercely rejected all the titles he’d been given on Xenus. It only distracted him from his cultivation.

“This job is very important,” she emphasized. “Your probation time is going to be reduced to six months if we are successful, so we’re going to do what the Foreign Affairs has directed us to do.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly at that. She’d asked him to form a plan despite knowing it was pointless. That was exactly what his Master would do.

“When we get to the Fifth Republic, we’ll be received by the Lasvanian ambassador and the Keeper of the House of the Fifth’s Chosen, that’s the ruling house. We’ll arrive at a private terminal in the public portal hub. From there, we’ll be taken straight to the Fifth’s Home, which is the name of the monarch’s palace. When you’re in the palace, do not spread out your senses under any circumstances. It’s considered the height of rudeness there. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do,” he answered. Perhaps this world was not so different from Xenus. Many places back home also considered it rude when a cultivator spread out their senses.

“The Fifth are big on traditional etiquette, but that shouldn’t be a problem for you. The proper greetings are in the packet I’ll send to you,” she said. “The monarch will meet us the day after we arrive. She’ll delay us as a show of strength, but that kind of behaviour is expected from monarchy. When we get there, I’ll do all the talking. Your job is to stand there and look pretty."

'That was a relief', he thought.

"They’re a matriarchy, so I’ll naturally be the one addressed even if we were at the same level. It should be easy enough for you. Most of the negotiation shouldn’t concern you. Everything else you need to know is in the packet. I’ve just sent it to you. Have you seen it.”

He saw a notification blink in his vision before nodding to her. He still wasn’t quite sure why he had to go, considering he only had to ‘look pretty’ but he wasn’t going to complain. The chance to explore a Haven was too precious to waste.

“I look forward to completing the job with you,” he said, then switched topics. “Did Bornie inform you of an outing?”

“Oh, Jessica’s outing,” she replied nonchalantly. “She said she invited you. Something about helping your OCD. I think she’s making a big deal of it. Every Ascendant has OCD, it's not something that needs treatment. I certainly haven’t felt the need to treat it. It's not a disability, don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”

He nodded half-heartedly. Though he appreciated the support, he wasn’t sure he agreed with her. HIs obsession with cultivation had destroyed his relationships back on Xenus. He genuinely loved cultivation, no doubt, but he had often wished he wasn’t focused on it so single mindedly. He had always considered it a permanent thing, but Bornie had given him real hope.

He wasn’t sure what Lisa’s relationship with her friends was, but he doubted it was particularly good. Especially since Bornie had implied her obsession was also very bad.

He let it drop though.

“Will you be coming with us,” he asked hopefully. He found that he actually enjoyed her company.

“I will, unfortunately.” she said with a sigh. “I think its a waste of time but Jessica can be annoyingly persistent."

He was really interested in meeting Jessica. Anyone who could convince Lisa to do something against her wishes was to be respected.

“I think it will be a good experience for me,” he pointed out. “Any connections I make might be important someday.”

“Perhaps,” though she sounded unconvinced. “And congratulations on the success of your video. You’re now a social media celebrity.”

Judging by her tone, she didn’t care much for social media celebrities.

“Is there anything wrong with that,” he asked cautiously.

“Nothing," she shrugged.

He sensed there was something there, but he was most definitely not going to pry.

"Still, your fame serves an important purpose," she admitted. "At least people are fascinated enough by you that the outrage from anything forced on you might cause the government to take a harsher stance against anyone coercing you."

He was still dubious about that. The thought of people's outrage causing the government to take meaningful action was alien to him. Even more so given that the person they'd be antagonising was very very powerful.

He still wasn't sure how their entire system managed to function. Not that it mattered much to him. He was just happy for the freedom to cultivate quickly.

After confirming that they were done, he excused himself and went back to his room.

The first thing he did was go through the information packet. The knowledge he recieved wasn't surprising. The proper way to address the various dignitaries and information on all the important people in the palace.

He also saw the person they were supposed to rescue. She was young, from the feel of her qi, likely a year from her twentieth.

She looked different from the Lasvanians he had seen, with her darker skin and slightly savage air. He was vaguely reminded of the Director's assistant, Everyl. Though this one was far less terrifying.

Her name was Amile of House Fifthtouched. The Lasvanians obviously considered the existences of Houses and some form of nobility archaic and repressive, from the tone of the packet but they were supposedly still a big deal among the Fifth community, even though they weren't recognised by Lasvanian law and completely ignored or even mocked by the wider population.

He had to admit, their dedication to naming things with Fifth was as impressive as it was uncreative.

After he was done with all the information, he decided to do something he'd been putting off for a while.

He had been wary of trying to research Lisa. There was still the lingering fear that she would catch him and punish him for his disrespect.

Questioning Bornie had revealed that all the information the processor gave him was publicly available and couldn't be considered an invasion of privacy. She also doubted Lisa would even care and laughed at his fear of punishment.

She probably thought him weird for that. Though it likely wasn't the first time she'd thought him weird.

He mentally searched for Lisa Feltham and the processor immediately gave him results.

Results that struck a new fear in him.

He had known Lisa was important. There'd been too many obvious signs to ignore. He'd also known she was talented. One of the most talented in her generation even, but he had definitely not expected to see what his processor told him.

Lisa Feltham, who he was on first name basis with, was the daughter of Joha Feltham

The Lone Walker.

One of the only ten people in the whole of Lasvania, the most powerful nation in the entirety of the Heavens, to hit the rank of Lone Power.

The only thing he was thankful for was that she was so far above him that his existence was likely something she barely knew of at all.

So even though he was still worried, he consoled himself with the knowledge that he was protected by his weakness.