My mind went blank for a moment before I locked my will around my Focus like a vice and pushed. Lightning erupted out of me in a wave of snapping tendrils, ripping the air apart with a high-pitched screech. Without thought, I gripped the floor beneath me with Experience and twisted to my feet and used my new position to throw myself at the torturer.

I did not even see him move – one moment I was about to smash my fist into his stupid, smirking face and the next I was laying in the splinters of my bed with a sensation of being hit by a truck radiating out of my chest.

“Now, that was rude! Of the two of us, I’m pretty sure I have the most right to be upset. Not only did you escape me twice – which really annoyed my boss and messed up our schedule for possible months – but I also do not like to share a bedroom. I suppose it is a single now, though they will have no doubt called the guard, due to the noise...” He still spoke like a he was dead inside, and happy about it, but he also sounded genuinely aggrieved to be attacked.

“You have more right to be upset? You tortured me, you asshole! Not to mention starting a fucking plague.”

“Yes, well. That’s just my job; you can’t blame a person for doing their job, can you? Just because I love it?”

“... Yes, I fucking can!”

“You really mean that, don’t you? I can hear it in your pain. Well, if you’re going to be unreasonable...” the sharp faced man, whose name I thought began with a V for some reason, tapped his lips thoughtfully and then sighed. “As much as I would really like to spend a pleasant evening torturing the location of the egg out of you – for old times' sake, if for nothing else – I really do not want to have to tangle with the Outpost Commander right now, so we’re going to need to pick this up later. Great to see you again, despite your rudeness; I’ll be seeing you again... soon.”

The man’s tone changed at the end, going dark with promise, his slight smirk shifting into an almost lascivious grin, before his expression once more slipped into the dead smile of a retail worker.

With his smirk back in place and a small wave, the torturer calmly walked to the window, opened it and slipped out into the night.

Sitting up and pushing pieces of bed off me, I groaned and rubbed at my chest, eliciting a sharp hiss of pain. It was at that moment that the door burst open and two guards stepped inside, shields ready and spears levelled in my direction.

Holding my hands up with a wince, I spoke hurriedly.

“Hey now, not me. I got smashed through the bed by the guy who just went out of the window. Sharp face, black hair, dead smile. Foundation stage. Asshole.”

The guard closest to me quickly tapped an insignia on his segmented green metal armour and spoke into the air, his weapon still pointed directly at me.

“Guard One-Nine-Eight reporting from Civilian Barracks Two – apparent altercation involving two guests and the destruction of a bed. One suspect present, reporting responsible party is at the Foundation stage.”

I saw Reff walk into the room to be calmly stopped by the other guard; my friend looked like he was ready to protest, but I caught his eye and waved him off.

“Explain what happened. If your explanation is sufficient, you will be released.” The guard that had reported in had apparently received a response I could not hear, as he did not wait any further before prompting me for my story.

“We just arrived at the Outpost and were directed here. There as only a bed in a double room so I took it and came up. I had just entered the room and was cultivating when the other occupant realised they knew me. He’s a torturer; I met him – was... tortured by him – in Everwood City. He kidnapped a member of the Skybreaker clan there, as well as the apprentice of Honoured Master Alchemist, Ben Won Ro.” I gestured at Reff, who was stood behind the guard with his arms crossed and looking like he wanted to go looking for the asshole. “He also helped start a plague at the Blacksands Citadel – this is Reff Stonebinder, the brother of Raaf Stonebinder.”

The guard was looking more and more doubtful, right up until I indicated Reff, at which point a look of shock appeared on his partially helmeted face.

“The Apex?”

“In honest confirmation, my brother is the Apex of The Mountain’s Seed. This is Hunter, Apprentice to the Apex of the Infinite Blades. We travel with my sister, and Darina, Apprentice to the Apex of the Mending Flesh.” The guards shock appeared to grow deeper with each name until he was stood slack jawed and staring between us.

“... Do you have any proof?” the man’s voice was quiet – it did not seem like he could simply take us at our words, but only idiots would risk incurring the wrath of three Apexes.

“No need, Guard One-Nine-Eight. This is indeed Reff Stonebinder, I have met him before.” The speaker’s voice was deep and growling, but still feminine. As she stepped into the room alongside Reff, I heard what I thought was Riffa’s voice from out in the hall. The woman was about seven feet tall, and had a set of roundish animalistic ears sticking out of her brown and black hair. She reminded me of Walker and his family, but much stockier and of course the ears were a different shape.

The guards who had been questioning me went from his shocked relaxation to being as stiff as a board in a moment, the bracers coving his forearms clanking slightly against the metal of his armour.

“Commander, Sir!”

“At ease, One-Nine-Eight. You may go, I will take care of this.” With a stiff salute, the two guards exited the room, while others crowded around the apparent commander, who turned to Reff and bowed.

“Reff and Riffa Stonebinder, greeting. It has been a long time since I visited the Blacksand Citadel. How is your brother?”

“With warm greetings, he is well Commander Nadja Arnell. I did not know that you had been promoted. Congratulations.”

Reff spoke up first while Riffa only bowed – my friend had said his sister was competitive, and she did seem to be, but she also seemed to defer to her big brother... at least whenever it did not involve being left out or behind.

“Duty - they would not let me remain a Diplomat once I began my Foundation.”

I climbed to my feet as they were speaking, though it took me longer than I liked. Once I was on my feet again, I pulled out a healing pill and swallowed it before holding my hand out and speaking.

“Hi, Commander. I’m Hunter – nice to meet you. Sorry about the bed.” The Commander – Nadja – looked at my proffered hand and after a moment seemed to intuit what my intent was, which was a first so far on that world. Shaking my hand firmly, though she had to lean down a little to do so, she nodded once and released me.

“Hunter - I overheard that you are Apprenticed to the Apex of Infinite Blades?”

“... Unfortunately...” I heard the mutter from Darina, and while I had been about to deny it, it did seem to be technically true and I knew it would annoy her. I was trying to be better, but I was not a saint.

“That’s right. It’s only recent, but he has been teaching me. The one muttering over there is Darina.” I did not include that she was an Apprentice herself and she glared at the lack. She had not really been responding to my, ‘be nice’ strategy, but maybe sprinkling in some friendly ribbing would help. She had grown up mostly without friends – maybe I should try treating her like one?

“Greeting, Commander. I am Darina Ever Flowing, Apprentice of the Apex of the Mending Flesh.” She bowed low while I sat down on the other, less destroyed bed. It did not seem to have been slept in and it seemed comfy enough, provided I was allowed to stay.

“So many esteemed visitors... The report said there was a fight with a Foundation stage cultivator?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” I quickly explained again, leaving aside the specifics of our missions and the presence of the egg in my ring.

“I see. I am sorry you were attacked within the Outpost – the bed will be paid for by the Legions and recompence will be taken from the culprit once he is found. If you will excuse me, I will need to file my report and then go looking for the fugitive. A description will be distributed and a notification will be sent to Everwood city and the Blacksand Citadel, should he be captured.”

With a final nod to each of us, the Commander turned sharply on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving me with my friends and the shattered remains of the other bed.

“With appropriate caution, the beast cultivator from Everwood City was here? Did they predict this outcome?” My friend closed the door slowly as he spoke as he swept his gaze along the hall outside.

“I don’t think so, he seemed surprised. I think he had something else going on, though it’s hard to tell with that guy.”

“This is the man that tortured you? When you burned your energy circulation system in?” Darina’s voice was not mocking as she spoke, which was a pleasant surprise. She even seemed to have a touch of sympathy, though that could have easily been wishful thinking.

“Yeah. He’s a nice enough guy, if you discount the torture and stuff. Can’t wait until I’m strong enough to stomp him though.”

“With thoughtful concern, should we change our plans and go back to running? Will this person not notify his fellows of our changed approach? Or simply attack us himself, if he is at the Foundation stage?”

“Riffa, you raise some valid points, but I don’t think we should change. It would just take us longer and provide them more time to plan something. I don’t know how a Foundation stage cultivator stacks up against a Plainsrunner, in terms of speed, but we should have a better chance of outrunning him with one, right?”

“If he is only a Middle or Lower Foundation cultivator, a Plainsrunner should be faster than he is, at least, if he is not Focused on speed?”

Darina looked back and forth between Reff and I, looking for an answer.

“He has this kind of... green energy cat armour. And I think the wounds he inflicts rot – I'm sure they said something about that at the palace...”

“With clarification, he is fast, though it does not seem to be the totality of his Focus. He appears to have gone for general physical increase, and as Hunter says, his wounds have necrotic effects.”

I blinked and quickly pulled my shirt away from my chest to check for any blackening, but found only a fading handprint in the centre of my sternum. With a sigh, I looked up to find my friends looking at me in confusion.

“Sorry, he hit me. Just making sure I wasn’t slowly rotting as I sat here... I’m not.”

“...Anyway, from the sound of it we should still be able to make it to the Sha Forest ahead of him.”

“Wait, if the Shadow-Faced-Laughing-Guy is involved, maybe he can portal him there?”

There was a moment of silence before I realised that I had not told either Riffa or Reff about the strange laughing man I had met and I took a minute or two to explained.

“Impossible. My Master has explained this to me – it takes a great deal of energy to construct a tunnel between worlds. She said it can take weeks to fully recover – to do two in quick succession is an impossibility. You are mistaken.”

“With unquestionable certainty, two portals were opened in rapid succession. One, which took the man in grey and Hunter to another world, and another through which the torturer was pulled.”

Darina still looked like she was not ready to believe us, so I shrugged and said the only thing I thought she would listen to.

“Walker believed me. That’s why they’re doing the whole Apex: The Gathering thing. It should be impossible, but they did it.”

“... If an Apex says you speak truth, then you speak truth. Fine. How likely is it that this... Shadow Faced Man... will be at the beck and call of your torturer?”

“I’m not sure where they both sit in the hierarchy, but I think Shadow-Faced-Guy is above him, given the way they both acted. So probably not?”

“Then our plans do not change.”

“With confirmation, I agree.”

“In agreement.”

“Awesome. Now... uh, I was going to cultivate? Maybe see you in the morning?”

The three of them quickly filed out of my room and I lay back on the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. I did not know whether I would be able to sleep that night, but I took some comfort in the fact that he really had not seemed eager to fight the Commander. Thinking about it, a fight between two Foundation level cultivators and hundreds at a lower stage was probably more than the man could handle.

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and sank down into my energy centre, gazing at my soul sea. It was still mostly full, my cultivation over the course of the day more than keeping the level steady. But it was not my Experience I was concerned with; it was my Praxis. Moving my attention to the bottom of my golden sea, I noted that as expected, there was no Praxis awaiting me. I had intended to establish a baseline of use verses time taken to refine, but my encounter with V may have delayed that particular plan. I had only Focused for a second, if that, but it had been fairly intense.

Unwilling to abandon the attempt completely, and knowing I would need to refine either way, I began to cultivate, the laborious process of converting one to other starting deep within me.

I cannot say with any accuracy how long I spent refining that night, only that I did not cease until I once more found a sliver of Praxis within me, and with a grin I gazed on it as it grew. I felt my grin turning vicious as I watched it creep larger, and if anybody had been in the room with me, they would have heard me laugh dark and softly, as I once more promised myself that I would grow strong and that payback would be a bitch.