The rat and the fat man had both invited themselves to dinner with us. It was undeniably the strangest company I have ever had for dinner. The fat old man and old Long seemed to be having some sort of silent drinking competition. The rat-man, or rather just rat, he wasn’t humanoid just large, was incredibly polite. He seemed vicious while he was fighting but he had impeccable table manners. It really wouldn't make much difference in the little shack that barely had enough open space to use in place of a table. Soon, I reminded myself. There would be actual rooms, a real kitchen!

“Do it.” The larger man’s expression was blank as he spoke.

“No.” Old Long seemed to have lost whatever contest he was in but still wouldn’t budge. The rat and I both watched the two somehow continued to argue in silence. Wang Hu simply continued to eat in confusion. Neither his parents’ home nor the smithy was finished yet despite how quickly some of the smaller homes have been completed so he had been switching between whichever seems more fun for the night.

“Did you check your payment yet?” The rat turned to ask me.

“Eh, yeah.” I scratched my head and tried to be polite.

“Just not much of a jewelry guy. I’m sure it’s worth plenty I was just assuming…” I trailed off when I noticed the incredulous look on his face. This guy had more human emotions than the old man.

“Do you- No. What do you think that ring is?” He seemed honestly curious. Of course. It was more magic shit.

“I have no Idea, but I probably can’t use it either way.” I sighed. I hadn’t really considered trying to use elemental artifacts or anything like that but at this rate it was very unlikely to work. I also sort of refused to acknowledge that those things would exist here. I was having enough trouble without thinking about magic tools.

“Hmm. Did Long not teach you anything?” He scratched his chin before holding out his hand. I mean paw.

I pulled the ring from the bag I had tied to my pants and he seemed to need to physically control himself to hold back a rebuke. I felt a sort of mellow breeze that reminded me of the ocean. The rat then placed the ring on my finger while I was distracted. I looked at it and had to take a moment before I realized that it fit me perfectly.

“What is-” Before I could finish speaking the rat had made a gesture as he passed his hand over the ring. I felt a sort of electric current. It was almost like the novelty hand buzzers but it was softer and could be felt in my bones.

"Hyunh." That was not a noise that a grown man should ever let out.

Suddenly there were three large boxes in front of me.

Long and the larger man both dropped whatever they had been doing to stare at the items that laid out on the ground

“Did you think an apprentice was only for housework, senior brother?” There seemed to be a bit of honest anger in the rat’s voice.

The old man actually seemed a bit embarrassed by that. I’m still not certain what’s happening but I think he’s trying to stick up for me.

I just decided the rat was my new best friend. Right behind Zhou. Even if he wouldn’t admit it I still considered us best friends.

"It's not like he could learn my techniques anyways, he has a broken core." He almost sounded defensive as he said it.

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"You! This was always your problem! So god damn arrogant. Do you honestly think your techniques are the even worth learning?" The rat began to tap his foot. I mean paw.

"He doesn't have a broken core. He doesn't have a core at all." The rat had an incredibly serious expression on his face. The rest of us simply stared at him in confusion.

"He can't learn techniques if he can't use the energy from his core." The large elder almost had a questioning inflection.

"Why would he need to use a core if he has energy around him." The two old men looked at the rat like he was stupid.

Wang Hu and I had begun a duel with our chopsticks for the last roasted pepper. Since when was this kid so damn fast?

The rat glanced around at the unconcerned room, then held out his cup to old Long. The old man filled it with tea. He spit out the tea immediately.

"You still make shit tea. Give me wine." I flinched even though he wasn't addressing me, the old man made way better tea than me.

He then proceeded to drink away his confusion.

________________________________________________________

It was dark. So dark. The ropes around his hands had begun to cut into his wrists. He wasn't gagged, but it was beneath and elder of his stature to scream.

Elder Zhang couldn't remember how he got here. He had left the meeting and then a scribe had come up to him while he was trying to hide in his office. The boy had such a kind smile...

A sudden noise came from the void. It was probably his captors force feeding him again. They seemed intent at least on keeping him alive for some reason.

The most exasperated sigh Zhang had ever heard suddenly came from the darkness.

He could hear a chair being dragged across the room and set in front of him. There was a noticeable thump. Whoever it was sitting down was certainly intent on making as much noise as possible.

"five times. I tried to contact you five times." The voice sounded young but incredibly tired. He could hear the rhythm of a foot tapping and the rustling of papers.

"Do we really need to follow this?" The young voiced asked into the distance. Zhang couldn't hear any form of response but they continued under their breath.

"Fine, fine." The voice sighed again.

"You're lucky. You still have an important role to play." Zhang was too tired to respond at this point. If he tried it was likely that the only thing he could do was groan. He needed to make sure his wife was okay. She was always the strong one between them but that didn't change his thoughts.

"Because of... Let's call it miscommunication, I've already lost two champions. One of them was because of your friend the general." Friend? The only general he knew was the madman Dang. He seemed more likely to kill you for looking at him wrong than to share a drink. Though honestly they had never spoken outside of meetings.

"You know you should be thanking me. How would he react if he thought you were colluding with demons." Ah yes. Thank the person that had blindfolded him and trapped him in some sort of cellar. Now they were even threatening him with charges of treason against humanity. The elder began to run several scenarios in his head where he could 'thank' them properly.

"Your lord has already agreed to our terms but that man seems insistent on going out and doing things himself." A hand landed on the elders shoulder. The voice was much closer now.

"You seem to have a talent for speaking. So we'll prevent any charges if you could 'speak' to him for us." The kind voice dissipated into the distance as it continued.

"Remember to check your instructions in the future. It would be troublesome if it was your wife in that chair, wouldn't it?" Then the door audibly closed.

It was common knowledge that he was cowardly. He was hesitant and had a tendency to overreact. By the grace of that same coin he had been able to become an elder. He was cautious, meticulous, and efficient. He was commonly known as a fool that was willing to do literally anything for the woman he loved. He wasn't a fool. There was a fine line between a fool and a genius. The people of this city had only seen the doting husband. Even now his eyes were covered by the cloth but he knew himself.

His jaw tightened and the ropes around his hand strained.

He didn't care if it was the Jade Emperor himself that tied him to this chair.

He would crush any mother-fucker that threatened his wife.