Chapter 566 - “Take me home?”

Eric closed his eyes and leaned back in his train seat, the only one heading to the academy that day.

His sister Louise was ecstatic, sobbing with happiness and relief as Hanna and Sophia embraced a private ceremony only for the initiated or perhaps for female members of their clan. Eric was more than willing to not play the arrogant Contender for once, understanding John’s fatherly look.

“Why don’t you head off, Eric? Don’t worry, Ella and Maja will be fine. But these are important days for you getting your grounding in finance, right?”

Eric smiled, dipping his head, well able to take the hint.

But not before overhearing words that made his guts clench. Not before making a final request of Sophia that perhaps revealed too much… but what choice did he have?

“Eric…”

“If, by some miracle we were able to track down that wujen or otherwise severe the bindings to om’s Dragon Gates… are there any other steps we need to take, to assure her safety?”

Sophia had pinned him with her gaze for long seconds, before ever so slightly dipping her head.

“Yes, Eric. You would need Pristine Lotus Blossom Extract. Vital for purifying and cleansing stagnant Qi. And you would need Cloud Dragon’s Breath Tincture. Aligned to your mother’s affinity, it would compel the Qi to flow through her meridians, no matter how many years… or decades of inertia had built up.” She had flashed a bitter smile, perhaps sensing what he already knew. “As bad as Hanna’s situation is right now… those sealed gates are now all that’s keeping the toxic Qi from poisoning her entire body.”

Eric paled, features filled with dismay.

“And Eric, The cost…” She shook he head. “Not even twenty million would cover it, I’m afraid.”

Eric held her gaze. “But you wouldn’t have been willing to work so hard uncovering the solution if you weren’t ready to make the investment for her sake… would you?”

Sophia’s features flashed with ire that quickly became a tired sigh. “When I first began, her condition had been far less dire.”

Eric dipped his head, suppressing his tremble, his tightly clenched fists, as best he could. “Understood. Can you tell me where I’d buy such tinctures?”

Sophia held his gaze for long moments. “You don’t. Not down here. No one save elite-tiered Jade Consortium associates would even have access to the auctions.”

Eric blinked at this. “Elite tier associates?”

She shook her head. “No need to concern yourself with impossible sums, child.” She sighed, flashing a smile meant to comfort, Eric was sure. “I will do my best to locate those tinctures myself, after my obligations here are complete. You’ve proven yourself a worthy son. It’s about time I proved myself an equally worthy sister.”

Eric froze, eyes widening with surprise. “Wait! Forgiveness, Lady Kahn.”

“Please, Eric. Sophia.” She flashed a gentle smile. “We’re family.”

Eric swallowed. “Is Hanna truly your sister?”

Her smile grew wistful. “Sister of the heart. Once, long ago…” She shook her head and sighed. “It doesn’t matter, now. We both have our own paths to walk, and I will always admire her bravery. Her choice.”

Eric held her gaze for long moments, the awful words he had overheard earlier still echoing in his head. “What happened?”

Sophia stiffened, judging Eric with her stare. “There is a price to be paid for rejecting the advances of the powerful, no matter how golden you think you path is. No matter how just and righteous you thought your cause to be.”

Eric’s fists clenched. “Wait, some asshole wujen crippled her cultivation and signed her death warrant because she wouldn’t be his pleasure toy?”

For a second, Eric was buffeted by a Silver Core’s furious killing aura.

A soft cry had echoed from the house, for all that it was all focused on Eric. Who let the killing glare wash over him like a crashing wave… sliding right past the granite of his resolve.

And then it was gone as if it had never been.

Sophia Kahn, who could so easily have passed for a cultivator who had yet to even finish cleansing her Dragon Gates, flashed Eric the bitterest of smiles, and dipped her head.

“Exactly, Eric Carpenter. That is exactly what happened.”

The blood roared in Eric’s skull, his words a guttural growl. “What was his name?”

Sophia Kahn had gazed at him for long moments. “A moment’s unguarded folly that would have shattered a lesser man… and you, dear boy, didn’t even flinch.” She gently stroked his cheek, and turned around toward the house without saying another word.

“Central Academy Station. Please watch your step.”

Eric’s eyes sprung open as the oddly melodious voice rang through the L-line as it pulled to a soundless stop, quickly pulling himself out of memory’s vice and flowing with the crowd, filled with harried-looking professionals, mothers holding infants and children, and shouting and laughing youth, including a few of his fellow students as they all flowed down the steps to the boulevard before the conjoined campus. Yet as much as Eric tried to keep his head on the game and prepare himself for the one class that really mattered, he just couldn’t forget the soft sobs and the bitter words that had haunted him for his entire walk to the station.

“It’s getting worse, Sophia. Every night I’m exhausted and the fevers are starting.”

“I’m sorry, Hanna.”

A tired sigh. “I used to feel so strong, after morning cultivation in my garden. Strong enough that sometimes I could forget how much I had lost! I thought I had found a backdoor… the key to beat that bastard’s curse and at least live!”

“You did, Hanna. At least for a time. For almost twenty precious years, you did just that.”

“But that’s all coming to an end now, isn’t it? The curse… the blocked Dragon Gates… the rotting Qi… I couldn’t carry any other child to term, after Louise. And now… Now, it’s only a matter of time before I suffer the most excruciating of deaths.”

“I won’t let it come to that, sister. No matter what happens, you will know nothing but peace, when the seasons change.”

The air had rung with Hanna’s unguarded sob. “How much time do I have, Sophia? Will I be well enough to care for Maja? Will I even last long enough to see Louise graduate?”

Eric had stumbled at the final awful words he had heard before finally blocking it out.

“I’ll do my best to care for her as if she were my own. To care for all three of your girls. Oaths will be kept, my heart. To the very end.”

It was a very preoccupied Eric who found himself in Professer Klein’s class a short while later, paying no mind to the stubborn sounds the door made as he slipped inside and made his way to his seat, too many pairs of eyes on him, a always.

“Did you hear that snap?”

“I bet he broke the lock again.”

“That outsider has no respect for propriety or property. He shouldn’t even be here!”

“You’re just jealous because he’s the cutest guy in class.”

Eric tuned out the voices, his eyes politely on a nonplussed Professor Klein.

He dipped his head in greeting. “No need to pause on my account, honored professor. Please continue.”

The man blinked. Stared at the door, scowled, then stared at Eric.

Eric, for his part, had already pulled out his vellum notebook and pen, making a few notes to himself about his plans for the day, turning to Rachel with the only matter he really cared about on the tip of his tongue.

“I’m quite sure that door was supposed to be locked.”

“Really?” Eric smiled. “I’m glad you made an exception for me, then.”

Klein scowled.

Eric’s grin widened.

The man paled, shook his head, and returned to the blackboard. “As we were discussing. A properly constructed business plan is absolutely paramount to the success of any entrepreneurial venture. Mr. Carpenter, could you please recite the seven golden rules of the optimal business plan?”

Eric smirked at the weight of so many gazes, both hostile, curious, and bemused, washing over him. “Not a clue, sir.”

Klein’s lips pressed in a hard line. “Then why are you even in this class?”

“To learn all I can from your erudite and insightful lessons, professor.”

The man actually snorted, before turning to Rachel.

“Lady Dominus. Can you please go over the seven golden rules in question?”

Rachel spared Eric a single pained glance before responding, belting out both common sense tips and a convoluted grid methodology that was apparently an attempt to unify poetic prose with business acumen. It made absolutely no sense to Eric, but was apparently all the rage with educated cultivators trying to gentrify business to the point they didn’t feel dirty grubbing for coin, so long as it all looked pretty. Eric quietly decided that he had absolutely no plans to put such asinine principles into play, not ever. No matter how displeased that might make certain elites who would judge the quality of his prose before granting him any sort of business loan.

The hell with that.

Save for the common sense parts, of course, which he was more than willing to jot down. Assuring that he had access to sufficient liquidity to survive at least two years of negative cash flow was definitely sound advice, after all.

He just wouldn’t be couching his requests in corny prose.

“Eric, why are you always late?”

Eric winced. “Yeah, I’m not making the best impression, am I? Unexpected things just keep popping up.”

This earned a smirk from his seatmate. “Careful, Eric. Klein’s patient, but you can only push him so far. He might have made some allowances for the hidden scion of a body cultivation sect, but don’t be surprised if next time there’s a lock that not even your muscles can snap.”

“Yeah… that’s not happening. And officially, as far as I’m concerned, it’s always open.”

Rachel’s cheeks flushed at his cheeky grin. She looked back down at her typewriter.

“Rachel?”

“You’re making it very hard to focus, Eric.”

Eric winced. “Sorry.”

She gave a sad shake of her head. “It’s not something you can control. Save by putting a bag over your head, maybe?”

“Ouch.”

She snorted, a quick eye Professor Klein’s way making it clear he was paying absolutely no attention to their corner of the class, probably deliberately, so she continued to speak in a soft whisper. “Seriously. Those pics? The are fire!”

“I hope not.”

“No, Eric, I mean it! I think you’re actually going to see a cut of the action!”

Eric nodded. “Good.” He measured her carefully with his gaze. “What are your thoughts about yesterday?”

Beautiful pink eyes gazed into his own. “That I should never have let you go home, after we did that awesome photoshoot?”

Eric smirked.

Her eyes widened, cheeks flushing. “I mean… forget I said that, okay? But the pictures look good. Especially the ones with the special effects.”

“Special effects.”

She nodded, suppressing a tiny shudder. “The flaming sword is epic. But that awful tentacled monster… why in the world did we even include that?”

“Question for you.”

Rachel looked up from her rapid scribbling of ideas. “What’s up?”

“Jade Syndicate. How do I get there from here?”

Rachel blinked at this. Then she smiled, looking like she finally got it. “Oh, you want to get a leg up on everyone else and scout it out first, right? So you know what’s available and are prepared for tomorrow. It’s smart thinking, but sadly, there’s no point.”

Eric blinked at this, but held his tongue, save to ask the obvious. “There’s no point to what?”

“To going early. You need a Jade Syndicate slip to even get in the door. And since we’re not cultivation sect representatives, revered elders, or billionaires, we’re taking advantage of Westwind’s own sect status and the jade slip they secured centuries ago, even if the academy’s currently forbidden from teaching any cultivation techniques at all.”

Eric blinked at this. “Wait, we’re going there tomorrow?”

“Of course!” She smirked. “And even if a few of us do have the keys to the gate, so to speak, we’re certainly not going to reveal it any more than we would our cultivation arts, and our parents won’t hand those jade treasures to us on a whim. Not something that precious.”

“Makes sense,” Eric conceded with what some might think a relieved smile, his thoughts racing with the implications of what Rachel had just let slip.

Just how many of his fellow students were actually active cultivators? And since none of them had displayed or shown off anything… they didn’t have to declare themselves at all. No wonder he had had such a hard time reading Rachel! She had nothing to show off or prove. Hiding in plain sight was literally her best defense against anyone of significance glaring her way and demanding her most intimate secrets be revealed under the slightest pretext.

Or maybe she had been speaking in the group sense, and she didn’t practice much at all. He was actually impressed by how little he could sense from her, save that he could at least sense her potential. Either she truly was a novice, or cloaking arts were in play that he had never seen before or learned to counter. And why the hell should that surprise him, coming to cultivation central after living in a realm where cultivation was hardly recognized at all?

“So. It’s tomorrow then. And we leave as a class?”

Rachel nodded. “Exactly. And clearly someone’s pressuring Professor Klein to take the locked doors policy seriously, this semester. So please, try not to be late for once?”

Eric flashed a sheepish smile, resolving to do better next time since he wasn’t actually trying to goad his professor and really did want to learn what he could. The rest of class passed in a rather productive blur of note-taking, barely concealed scoffs at the sheer absurdity of some of the business customs of this time and place… and what felt like common sense insights that now seemed so obvious in hindsight but might have shaken the foundations of double entry bookkeeping, had the world of his birth never collapsed.

“Eric? Class is over.”

Eric stared at his friend with genuine awe in his heart. “That mind map Klein just showed us at the end, like tossing a final carrot our way. If we had thought to do that back on Earth, record keeping would have been so much easier! I mean, before digital data storage became ubiquitous everywhere.”

Rachel smirked. “Well, I’m glad centuries of financial acumen meets with your approval, Eric. And since NanDushi law demands that all financial records have one or more physical hard copy backups, as only a fool permanently stores their data on computers good for processing information that can get wiped out with the mildest Qi surge over standard specs… Every accountant and bookkeeper has those mental algorithms mastered, just like they do the highland abacus.”

Her smile turned to a curious frown. “But the way you were looking at those historical models… sorry, Eric, do you even know how to use any abacus at all?”

Eric winced, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, but with a Scholarship over 40… I’ll fake it! Ha ha. No, seriously, it’s clearly something I’d better figure out.”

“Yes, it is,” Rachel said in all seriousness, before her she grabbed his arm. “Now come on. You’re having lunch with me and my friends today. And what do you mean by 40 Scholarship?”

“More is always better?”

She snorted. “Sure it is.” She then turned to wave at a pair of girls with their dyed hair done up in ringlets, wearing matching sapphire horn rings and nose studs in contrast to their muted silk blouses and cashmere skirts.

The pair traded knowing smiles. “Hi, Rachel. Will your boyfriend be joining us today?”

Eric’s cheeks did not flush before their smug looks.

Rachel snorted. “Business partner, remember? He’s my model.” She flashed him a possessive grin. “Lin, June, Eric. Eric, Lin and June. Okay, we’re all introduced. Come on. There’s a wonderful bistro nearby that you’ll absolutely love, Eric. Let’s go eat!”

Eric was almost surprised by his own nod. Yet he could all to easily imagine Hanna rather insistently telling him to spend at least some time relaxing, enjoying himself, or at least trying to fit in. Besides, his Strength was now over 4000 and he had only eaten one meal since his latest ascension. He was bloody well starving, and he would be better able to handle all the dilemmas now on his metaphoric plate with a full belly, he was sure.

Lin gave Eric a careful once-over before her lips curved in an approving smile. “Exotic and easy on the eyes. I think he’ll make a good addition.”

June nodded, before her gaze tightened at a nasally voice rapidly approaching.

“June, there you are! I’ve got the business plan all sorted, and I think Father will—” He blinked, took in Eric and scowled, straightening bronze rimmed glasses. “Is Rachel’s friend joining us for lunch then?”

“Yes, Chevrain. He is.”

He frowned, then shrugged as if he could care less. “Alright, then. I’m starved. Let’s go.”

Eric soon found himself being led along what was definitely a campusy part of the city, filled with grassy fields, tree lined boulevards, and cozy looking stores and restaurants on the bottom floor of what were otherwise soaring buildings of chrome, steel, and exotic alloys. But the lower floors were whitewashed and decorated with terracotta tiles and bamboo. Eric recognized in passing a number of teens and young adults he had seen on campus, and spotted completely unfamiliar faces as well. People that were clearly from neighboring campuses as Rachel and her friends soon made their way for what was a popular little bistro serving sushi, ramen soup, and hearty fish stew that Eric absolutely devoured without regret or apology, though his lips did curl in a smirk at the looks that Chevrain and a few other preppy students they had met up with were given him.

“What, you haven’t eaten for the last two days or something?” Quipped a fashionably dressed youth named Phil, looking up from the business plan he was going over with Lin with his arm wrapped about her shoulders. He radiated the spiritual pressure of a young cultivator who had managed to cleanse at least a couple of his Dragon Gates already. He was either really gifted, or really bad at hiding it. A smirking Eric wasn’t quite sure, though he could tell right off that Lu, the other boy that had joined them, and Chevrain were both completely mortal, with no 4-D Dragon Gates at all.

“Pretty much, Phil,” Eric conceded with a smile. “Pretty much. Waiter! Another order, please.”

A young waitress darted through the crowd, her bob cut framing her cheeks and complimenting her dimpled smile. “What would young master care to order?”

Eric gazed down at his empty plates. “More of everything would be fine.” He gazed up at Rachel’s friends, all looking his way with disbelieving stares. “You guys want anything? Food or drink, my treat.”

Stares became eager requests for both sushi and beer, the aloof boys in the group warming up to him a bit more after that, their ribbing now more good-natured then pointed, and Eric was at least savvy enough to ignore Lin and June’s occasional teasing. Lin was clearly spoken for, and Eric didn’t want to get in the middle of Chevrain’s doomed obsession with June who was so clearly tolerating him for his scholarly skills alone. So he pointedly ignored both June’s flirty smile and Chevrain’s occasional hooded glares.

Surprisingly, he found himself actually enjoying chilling with his peers, smiling at their snarky commentary regarding Klein, their fellow classmates, and all the daily absurdities that made their home what it was. By the time Eric considered himself replete, his dining companions were each three beer and Saki boilers in, and Eric realized he had spent over two hours just chilling, when his foster mother was in dire peril.

His mellow mood instantly soured, though he kept his features serene as everyone parted in pairs save for Rachel, presently holding his hand.

“I had fun, Eric.”

“I did too.”

“Good.” She bit her lip, pinning him with those jewel-like irises of hers. “Take me home?”

Eric winked while handing the waitress a fat silver coin and waving off the change. “Happy to. Just point me in the direction of the train station, once we get there.”

She pouted. “Why do you have to leave so early?”

“Because my mom would be pissed if I vanished without even letting her know that I’m running late.”

Rachel blinked. “Oh. That’s right. You’re still at home. I mean, not in a family compound or clan-owned condo. You live right with your birth… err adoptive parents.”

Eric nodded. “Foster parents, but yes.”

She sighed, squeezing his hand. “Just how old are you, Eric?”

Eric shrugged. “Honestly, I feel about the same age as you.”

She smirked. “Good. Nineteen is perfect for you and me both.” Then she furrowed her brow. “But how old does your ID say you are?”

“Sixteen.”

“Okay, that’s bullshit. I mean, sure, your face has that boyish charm. But your physique?”

“I was a classer,” Eric gently reminded. “System-enhanced. Think of it like forced body cultivation evolution, but no rigorous training or cultivation background needed. Just slaughter as many orcs and feral rats and monstrous beasties as you can before they do the same to you.”

Rachel paled. “Oh, shit. Sorry, I…” She swallowed. “I didn’t mean to make light of what you went through.”

Eric laughed. “Don’t sweat it. Sure, there were some bad days. But honestly, it was kind of awesome, being able to level up and get as strong as any cultivator. Well, at least an early-stage one. You know? And now I have a fresh start in a beautiful world surrounded by fascinating people and I plan on enjoying life to the fullest.”

She patted his very relaxed belly. “And eating your fill.”

“And eating my fill. Of course.”

She sighed, shaking her head with a rueful smile. “Why couldn’t you be just a couple of years older, Eric?”

Eric laughed. “Come on, let me take you home.” She smiled and nodded, though her gaze was now just a tiny bit more sisterly than it had been before. All in all, he found it the perfect solution. He already felt guilty about charming and maybe flirting with her a bit too much, as it stood. And even if it could blossom into something rather wonderful… he was so shockingly overpowered that a single moment of anything less than exquisitely perfect control, with him needing to clamp tight his own desires too such a painful degree. Because any sudden movements could prove outright lethal. So far better he never interact with her or any other mortal in that way at all.

He held back a sigh. Even Admiral Reiza, with a carefully balanced set of physical attributes in the hundreds, had been as much an exercise in self control and distraction as truly surrendering to his passions.

Bottom line was, if his future girlfriend wasn’t a powerful body cultivator or the equivalent, he might be in for a very lonely time indeed.

“Okay, we’re here,” Rachel said brightly before a luxuriously appointed manor in the heart of the city where land was astronomically valuable. Yet Eric couldn’t help but note that her extended family compound consisted of multiple pagodas and villas with a lush half-acre garden at its heart. The classy wrought iron gate was reinforced by multiple powerful protective wards, and there were a pair of rapidly approaching uniformed guards that looked as strong as any stomper that Eric had encountered so far. And both of them were now glaring his way.

The closest dipped his head in a bow. “Lady Dominus. Your father is expecting you.”

Eric smirked. “I think that’s my cue to leave. See you at school tomorrow, Rachel.”

Before she could do more than give him a confused wave, Eric was already off, turning around a corner and then a back alley when a grand neighborhood boulevard became a narrow service entrance. Then he was suddenly racing straight up at damn near Mach 6 before instantly shifting his perspective so up was up once more, referring to his own slowly growing internal map before darting over the city, howling for the sudden rush of joy and freedom he now felt, embracing Battletime to the fullest.

After hours of embracing a student’s hopes and dreams, he was now the master of his own destiny once more, gazing down at a city full of giant sky scrapers filled with corporate offices he’d never actually have to intern for, ever.

Why intern for a job, when he could obliterate the building housing the entire high-stress, work-is-life company in seconds?

Not that he ever would.

But the sheer fucking rush of knowing that he could!

The absolute certainty that no red-faced boss screaming about project deadlines would ever be looking his way with anything save salty tears and fear filled him with a fierce hot glee as glossy city buildings transitioned into shoreline clubs, amusement parks, and pier-front warehouses before all was replaced with the glorious sapphire blue of the ocean.

He took a deep breath of howling winds that didn’t trouble him at all, thanks to Speed Racer, savoring the scents of iodine and salt and the cry of seagulls and birds that had no earthly equivalent. Then he spent a moment just savoring the magnificent view as he looked for landmarks, instantly seeing the most striking one of all. As far away as the distant plateau was from the shore lay the Black Sea where the Spiritual Energy pressure allowing earthly waters’ ascendancy was trumped by oceans alien and strange and utterly unearthly. Mercurial liquid that wasn’t truly water at all. Rather, it was a homogeneous blending of methane, ammonia, H20, and multiple other compounds compressed in a latticework of fierce energies and potencies that had no equivalent on Earth. Alien liquids holding life that was strange, bizarre, and perilous.

Yet it was some moments scanning the abrupt demarcation between welcoming mortal waters, even if the waves were wild and frothy and perilous for smaller vessels this far out… and the Black Sea.

There. In the distance.

He grinned in fierce satisfaction, having trusted his internal map and 46 Scholarship, but it wasn’t truly a Dominion Interface map, and the deep water rig had taken damage. But there it was in the distance, fully intact. Even if it did wear the scars of having nearly been pummeled to oblivion by a giant sea kraken. A beast whose massive core Eric kept in his ES Space, even now.