Chapter 3 - Of Monies and Pork

18 members. My gaze tracked 18 family members. But I only had eyes for the matriarch. The Immortal Blizzard Empress. My grandmother. I could feel her power from here.

As we proceed along the Road to Primordial Ascendance, the amount of Essence reaches such extreme peaks that they start to emit it around them.

Imagine a bucket. The greater your reservoir of water, the flow through a pipe into the bucket will obviously be larger and faster. But what happens when the bucket overfills? The Essence spills out and you get a shroud of sorts, an aura.

The Immortal Blizzard's power was a sea at the vortex of a raging storm. The amount of power she gave off was palpable.

"Does your disrespect know no bounds," She murmured, her voice soft and serene, unthreatening. I knew the real malice behind it.

I was undeterred. People more powerful than me had been looking down on me for far longer. She'd need to use Essence before she cowed me so easily. Words were words. They were only ever a weapon if you're speaking to spineless cowards.

I then proceeded to make the most dangerous move I had ever made in my 17 years of short life. I ignored her.

The silence turned oppressive. My mothers' annoyance shone through and my fathers' face started to show cracks of anger. Unconcerned, I stabbed a cube of pork from a nearby platter. Leisurely, I wrapped a square of flatbread around it, letting the dough soak up those delectable juices. I popped it in my mouth, slowly working it around.

My Grandmother's silky tones brought me out of my food-induced coma, "Cripple, why are you here?" There was an undercurrent there that held real anger. How ashamed she must feel, to have a crippled family member.

Unhurriedly, I speared a slab of steak from a tray in front of me. Sedately cutting a piece and working my teeth, savoring this imperial food. The meals I got were always lukewarm and slightly bland as if the chefs actively tried to not try when serving me.

My elder brother, always ready to spew some nonsense, slammed his fist into the table, "You bring shame to your family, " He hissed, "Answer our Empress and lea –"

I flicked my knife at him, sending a carrot spiraling towards his forehead. It stuck. His face went red with an unhealthy dose of embarrassment and anger. He looked to our father for permission to no doubt stuff his foot up my ass, the spineless bastard. Before father answered, I began.

My voice, resonant and firm in the closed hall, "I come for three things. " I raised 3 fingers, wiggling them. I leaned back, "The first concerns emancipation. Legally able and no real sentiment between us, I trust none will contest this issue?" Receiving no reaction, "Very well."

A series of hand commands projected up a holographic screen from my bracelet. Bringing forth the related legal documents, I quickly sent them to my grandmother, mother, and father.

"You may peruse them at your convenience. My signature is there at the bottom. " I point to an underlined section, "Sign where indicated, send it back, and I'll take care of the rest."

I cut another slice of steak and suckle the succulent juices before chewing.

"Now that we are nearly unrelated, I wish to leave with no strings attached. Therefore, debts must be settled. " I waved for a servant.

He came with a brisk pace. "Bring the bookkeeper, " I told him as he leaned down.

"Yes, Lord Rale. " He quickly departed.

A short moment later, a thoroughly overwhelmed man, entered.

"I present myself. " He bowed, his voice trembling. He's likely never had to stand before the entire royal family.

"Mister Col. How long have you been managing this family's finances?" I queried.

His face wavered. He probably thought I was going to fire him. In a slightly stronger voice, "Nearly three decades, Lord Rale. "

"Good. Good. Enlighten us, for eighteen years, three meals a day, how much does that amount to?"

His eyes look up, calculating, "Considering the salary of your cooks, the raw material, 3 meals a day over eighteen years, comes to about four-hundred and fifty goldbacks. "

"Miscellaneous visits and irregularities add maybe an extra fifty goldbacks. Five hundred goldbacks for sustenance. Very well. Let us conti – "

"Grandson, what do you think I would need with such paltry sums? Do you think to insult me? "

"Grandmother, do not misunderstand me. I do this so I am left alone, so you have no reign over me. I do not care if it is a 'paltry sum', if it is what I owe, it is what I will give." My gaze hardened, "You will have no control over me."

"My apologies, " Her tone mocking, "But, dear, you have no wealth. " she smiled, "Do not tell me you're reimbursing me with my money. "

I smirk at that, "Bookkeeper, how much money have I taken, outside of necessities?"

Consulting a screen, "Nearly, thirty-four thousand goldbacks. " He choked out. The other family members turned their gaze to me. An appalled question in their eyes.

My smile widened, "I've siphoned nearly thirty-four thousand goldbacks from you over 7 years. Do you think I was hosting parties every hour? And then buying each venue?"

Her smile faded. I continued, "I have licensing deals with multiple companies. Parts of my project have generated enormous amounts of income. So, please, don't worry, dear grandmother, I have enough money to comfortably pay you back."

"Now, let us continue. We're at thirty-four thousand and five-hundred goldbacks?" At the bookkeepers' nod, I moved on, "What else do we have?" I paused. "Ah! The tutors. 4 years of tutorship in 4 subjects is?" I motioned for Mr. Col to answer.

"Yes...Around one thousand goldbacks. "

"Wonderful. Thirty-five thousand five hundred goldbacks. Push it thirty-six thousand goldbacks, which should take care of negligible things I missed. Now, I'm pretty sure you will not be wanting interest so let us end the money talks." I shift my gaze over to the bookkeeper, "Mister Col, you are free to leave. " He departed quickly. I look back at my family, "Agora, will take care of the necessary documents, barring any difficulty, the money will be transferred within the hour."

I got off my seat and stepped backward, "For the final reason I've come here. Father, would you come and stand in front of me?"

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"Do not presume to command me." But with a short glance to the Empress who flicked her eyes in affirmative, he obliged. Stepping forward and meeting my gaze, "Yes?"

I let my carefully controlled expression fall away. I showed him all my anger. All my grief. I looked at him squarely as my eyes blazed with fury. He didn't even flinch. He didn't care.

I nodded.

And then I punched him in the face. My hand curled into a concrete fist. My feet widened and pushed against the ground generating leverage and force. My hips twisted, extracting every ounce of power. My arm snapped out parsing the air and the flat of my fingers, right below my knuckles, connected with his cheekbone like a bullet.

His face swung to the side. But his body barely moved. More of a reflex to minimize damage than anything else. As if I could hurt someone of his level. But, once again, I wasn't doing this to harm or insult them, no, I was doing this for me. The chains of blood had long surrounded me, but they'd begun to rust. And they were brittle.

And then they broke. That blow contained all my anger, all my grief, my sorrow, my disgust, and its flight left me light as a feather. It all poured out of me. I laughed. Light as a sparrow, free as an eagle. I laughed.

Quicker than I could track, my fathers' fist flashed out, slamming into my abdomen. It threw me into the wall. Cracks spiraled out from the force of the blow, and I still laughed.

Clutching my abdomen, I laughed and giggled. My father looked at me with disgust. My mother had risen out of her chair and looked at me with frightening anger, and I still laughed. My family looked at me like I was insane, and I laughed harder. Tears ran down my face as I roared out my laughter.

"Oh! Oh, oh-ho! Thank you! Thank you, you miserable wretches. I am free from your fucking burden. " I looked at my father, walked up to him, and patted him condescendingly on the cheek, "And, thank you! Vindication is a sweet fruit. For that, I give you my sincerest gratitude. "

His fist lashed out again, seeking my body, but my Minds kicked in. My combat tracking Mind recorded the clenching of abdominal muscles. It saw the tensing of his shoulder. The minute change of balance. The shift in the pelvic girdle. It registered it all instantaneously and matched it to the previous punch he threw at me. Then it sent a message to its Christopher. That Christopher then sent the message to my Spinal Christopher and my body shifted escaping the punch by a hairsbreadth. Then his left fist whipped out and crashed into my ribs. That one sent me skidding against the floor.

Oh boy! I laughed even harder. My Minds still had a lot to learn and interpret, but my father just confirmed that they worked. I shifted over to my back, my chest heaving as I coughed out more cackles.

"Oh, you stupid, stupid fools. Thank you! I hope I never see your fucking faces again." I gasped out in between laughs.

I leaned on my left hand and stumbled upright. Still chortling I called for a trembling servant, "Bring me my bag! And a towel!" I added as an afterthought.

Receiving my EquipmentKit, "Thank you, good man! " The servant shivered, frightened. I dismissed him.

Still giggling, I slung my bag over my shoulders and limped out of the dining room. I called out over my shoulder, "You have no authority over me! And you never fucking will you shit sticks. Show your face to me, and don't worry, I promise to do my very best to injure you as severely as I can manage! "

I threw the towel, wet with blood, over my shoulder, not sparing a glance.

They weren't worth it.

Fuck them.

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Leaving the dining hall I walked briskly to a garden door. Shouldering open the swinging door, I stepped out into the frigid temperatures. The lingering smirk I had kept faded away as the reality of my situation settled in. I was going to leave. A little pit opened up in my stomach before I firmed myself. New people, maybe a friend or two? I'd been alone for so long, I just wanted another conversation with someone who liked me as me. I was still hopeful, even after all this. I snorted.

Hiding behind a bush, I quickly stripped and changed my shirt for a blue jacket and my dress pants for a set of cargo pants. Hopping around, I switched out my dress shoes for leather hiking boots. I discarded my clothing in the nearest trash bin and quickly left, my speed bordering on running.

Exiting through a supply entrance, I made my way out of the palace grounds and into a winding-down marketplace. I breathed a sigh of relief. This was familiar. I had been using the same exit and coming to the same square ever since I had begun my project. Most of my resources I got from the many, many stores that fought for space in this capital. However, some of my resources required...felonious pursuits.

Last year, when I had the base code done, I wanted to get started on the hardware portion. The mechanism behind it is just code. But, I had to fit that code into little blocks that, while they were thin as a whisker, still had some length and breadth. Writing that code onto such a minute apparatus required a TensionRift. I needed to parse pheEssence, which were basically pure brainwave frequencies. And to cut a brainwave I needed a TensionRift to divide it.

TensionRifts are notorious for their ability to cut anything. Unfortunately, humans are also made up of matter –energy. The resistance between a human body and a TensionRift would be negligible. It would be a swing through the air, for all it connects. It can even cut through low-level Ascenders. Needless to say, it is a strictly regulated tool. I needed one, and the license to receive one lies at the end of 10 years of select schooling. I wasn't going through that shit.

I met Taine around that time. Around my age, he was the son of an extremely well-connected criminal empire. He wanted to make a name for himself, and so he needed capital.

He wanted money and I needed some of the more inaccessible materials. We struck an accord. I'd hand him money, and he'd hand me extremely dangerous materials. But, I'd become complacent around him. That void in me ached for a companion and subconsciously as our relationship remained cordial, I had thought we had built something resembling friendship. I let my guard down and he found out who I was.

Ever since he realized who I was, we started trading in reasonable favors. Money is good and all, but when you realize the person you're selling to has enough money to buy your whole operation without a flinch, it takes the zeal out of being a criminal. Extortion is a hoot, apparently. He had already amassed enough money to secure a high position in his father's enterprise, but he got greedy and wanted to break away. What better way to do that than have a friend in sky-high places?

Either way, it led to a far better relationship. If a more hostile one. Trading in favors was a palpitating balance between being firm and being extremely cautious. If you ask for too much, that exceeds the appropriate bounds, you run the risk of just being paid in cash and your relationship abandoned. However, if you ask for too little, you could end up being jilted, ending up with an uneven relationship that is destined to fall flat.

Wandering through the city, I made random turns and random stops. The clean smell of laundry wafted high from steaming buildings. The heady smell of produce floated around the city from the markets. Heavy machinery operated within warehouses.

I've always loved this city. The SkyLamps cast a happy glow on the city. The laughter of gaggles of children remains undiminished and unblemished. Acquirer Guilds always have some auction going on.

I lolled around the city till the sunset. Finally, when dusk fell I ceased my random strolling and sharply adjusted my course. My walk remained smooth and unhurried, belied by my sharp gaze. I tracked the streets and blocks as they passed.

Andreson...Rell...431st...Redni...Ah! Dark alley.

Turning down a dark alley, I quickly sidestepped some crates packed to the side, before stopping in front of a pitch-black door. A heavily-muscled sentry stood before it.

He grunted when he saw me step out of the shadows that basked a better portion of the alley. Shifting his cudgel to his left hand, he jerked the door open.

The torrid-spicy smell of booze and smoke wafted out. Quickly stepping out of the night freeze and into the nauseating warmth of the club, I rapidly set my sights on a far door in the corner. It was insane how much Essence I needed to speed up my processing just to weave through the rowdy crowd. I did not want to be touched by one of these shit sticks.

They were jumping on each other, trying to kick their heads, arms were moving about like eels of their own will and they were running about like headless monkeys. Yes, it required Essence to maneuver. Sending an amount to my cerebellum, my movements became smooth and coordinated enough to slip through the crowd.

Emerging from the throng, I came face to face with another muscle buff. His name was Ted, I think. Big softie, his strength...not so much. He smiled when he saw me. I nodded back and he knocked on the door. Someone from the inside opened it.

Moving inside, I came across a parallel scene. Except, it was highly wealthy criminals that were getting drunk. Less of the dancing, more of the booze and tobacco. And watercolor. That was the current rampaging drug.

My eyes searched the room for Taine. Usually, with his girlfriend Red, I looked for her characteristic vibrant red hair.

Bingo.

Sliding between the tables I made my way over to the corner. A booth was set up there. Red and Taine were both eating some seafood from the same plate. Red was curled up against Taine's chest and his arm was slung over her.

Slipping into the bench across from them, I patiently waited till they addressed me. Red was the daughter of another prominent crime lord.

Drumming my fingers on the table, I waited till they finished their conversation.