A glittering chain spun through the air, occasionally jerking at random and changing directions with a suddenness that made it almost impossible to predict. Aella had not been pleased when she had asked me to show her what I had learned in my absence, finding my progress to be, in her words, almost insulting. She seemed to allow me a little leeway, since I did lose an arm, but it did not seem enough to fully assuage her ire.

I was not going all out in my corrective sparring match – I still was not back up to full, though I was getting there. But at my current level of integration with my Exemplar – on top of my lightning enhanced speed and perception – I was, to my surprise, not hopelessly outclassed by my peak Foundation level teacher. That is not to say that she was not still faster than me – she was – but she was only about twice as fast as me, whereas the last time I had sparred with her, I had been entirely unable to perceive her attacks, unless she deliberately slowed herself down.

Instinct howled as I let my mind wander, and I jerked to the side as a weighted blue polyhedron spun through the space my shoulder had been before snapping to the side, back and straight at me like an arrow.

Dodging once more, I felt the air displaced by its passage fling my hair back and I swiftly dove to the side; I had long since learned not to try to deflect either the chain or the weight at its end, as despite my significantly increased speed, neither my strength or toughness were at a level that could make either a reasonable choice. There was also the fact that touching the chain generally caused the weight to swing around at me. Thankfully, I had figured out that lesson when my teacher was taking it easier on me.

“Enough! At least you did not entirely let yourself go, boy. Maybe I won’t have to kill you and hide the body in shame.”

Standing straight I looked at Aella, who was stood with her hands on her hips, the chain having vanished. I did not entirely trust the statement, so I was careful as I looked at her; she did not usually stop a spar until she had given me a wallop when she was irritated with me, but despite my hesitation, it appeared that she had genuinely decided to stop for the day.

Bowing low with my fist clasped in my crystal hand, I offered a smile, but my teacher’s pink-on-pink eyes betrayed nothing, though a slight upturning of her lips let me know that she might actually be a little pleased at my progress. Outside of the chain...

“Thank you, Teacher. I did try to get in as much practice as I could. I’m almost a third of the way integrated with my Exemplar now.”

“Ha. That is almost impressive, Hunter. You are very fast, for your stage, though you always have been. You were moving like a middle Foundation stage cultivator there; is that your limit?”

“Ah, no Teacher. I can push it further, due to my channels, I think, but it burns a lot of Praxis, so I try to only use it when I can either recoup the loss quickly, or when I really need it.”

“Humph. Wise, I suppose. Though bold of you to think you did not need it against me.”

“Uh, it was only a spar, Teacher, and you did not go all-out against me, I, uh-”

“Ha! You’re still too easy, Hunter. Have more pride! You’ve done in months what take some centuries. Now, what would you say your actual limit is?”

That was certainly unexpected; Aella had always been supportive, in her own way, but that way often involved threats and vague insults. It was a little shocking to hear straight compliments, though it was not unwelcome.

“I’ve gained a couple of percent since I last checked, but I think, if I go at my maximum with both my Focus and my Path... I’d be a little faster than a Peak Foundation stage. But I can’t maintain that for very long, here.”

At this, Aella’s yellow-blonde eyebrows rose and she actually looked impressed.

“Normally I’d say it wasn’t much use if it doesn’t last... but most fights are decided quickly. Being able to take half a step into the Pinnacle will turn many a loss into victory. I’m proud of you, Hunter. I’d be prouder if you’d kept up with your chain training though. Ha!”

I risked a sheepish shrug, keeping in mind her admonition to have more pride; I knew she was maybe irritated, but she did not seem angry about my lack. At least since she discovered the other progress I had made.

I was about to ask Aella if we could perhaps do some chain training then and there, but I was interrupted by a sudden snap and a gust of wind as the tall dark form of my mentor appeared in the room with us.

“Aella, we must go. Word arrived that Ben Won Ro has been attacked again; he fought them off, but if this is the Risen Throne, it may be our chance to root them out in the Everwood.”

“Wait, Ro was attacked again? I thought they’d given up on the pill. Is he alright?”

Aella had merely nodded at the news and was already running for the door. As I finished speaking, she shouted back over one shoulder.

“Practice more! Next time we meet, I’ll be at the Pinnacle, and you’ll be going all out! Ha!”

I blinked as she vanished around a corner, just avoiding a collision with a passing risi in deep blue robes.

“Ben Won Ro is fine, as is Tang. Ro is near the point that he might Ascend; they were foolish to test him.”

“It seems suspicious that’d they do it; when they took me and Tang, they waited for the two of you to be far away. Could it be some sort of trap?”

“If it is a trap, they will not like what they catch. But I suspect something has driven them to it.”

“But what? Returning the egg? That was more than a month ago, and they seem may more able to move about, with that hole-thing they use. They should have known almost immediately.”

“I do not know. Perhaps they were unaware that the Grand Harvest Body Refining Pill was not to become available to the wider Association, and upon realising that this was an opportunity missed, rather than delayed, they sought to gain access once more.”

“The water pill – the pill Ro invented that hydrates you. It’s awesome, and it’s for sale here now, not just at his shop. Maybe they heard it was his creation, and since it arrived, and not the... other pill, they realised it wasn’t going to?”

“It is possible. I wonder at their motives; their actions seem almost random, but our information is limited. It is impossible to know where else they might be acting. I will capture them alive, this time. And they will answer my questions.”

Walker’s voice was cold enough to send a chill running down my spine; it was rare that I heard this side of him, the big notable occasions being the day I met him, and the day we had invaded the Risen Throne’s compound.

“I’m ready.”

Aella walked back into the room with us, her pastel-yellow short kimono switched out for more rugged looking clothing.

“It will take a minimum of a week for Jorl to transport you to the prison, and your... mission encompasses almost a year. I do not know when we will next meet, Hunter. You have grown a lot in the months since we met, I look forward to seeing where you stand on your return. Perhaps you could refrain from visiting any more worlds, until then? The delay in my coming to retrieve you could be substantially longer, next time.”

“I’ve never once planned on ending up on another world. It’s an accident every time, but you can believe me, I won’t be playing with locks, or jumping through any more holes in reality. Unless... the world depends on it, I guess.”

Walker gave me a wry look - somehow – from behind his blindfold. I grinned back, but it faded when I recalled Xiournal’s warning. But I would cross that bridge when I came to it, if it really came down to me or the world, I would probably choose the world. Being alive does not do much good if you do not have anywhere to exist...

“Get better and do not lose any more limbs. It was a good excuse – once - but if it happens again, I will begin to think it is on purpose.”

“It was nice seeing you again as well, Teacher. Good luck, back in Everwood City – I'm going to try to come and visit after I get this mission over with.”

With a nod, Aella turned to Walker before they both nodded to me and turned to leave. I returned the nod, feeling a little conflicted to be seeing my friends leave again. My new life was almost infinitely interesting – when not staring at identical walls for a month. It was exciting, and challenging and beautiful. But I had spent most of my time rushing from place to place, and in that moment, I wanted a chance to settle in to one place for a while; I was already well ahead of where I was expected to be in my cultivation, by normal standards. There was no rush. Other than my timers. When I had been offered the choice of going back and dropping down a plane, or serving the Ascended dragon-lady indefinitely, it had seemed like an easy decision, and I did not regret it. I did regret the ‘indefinite’ clause though. I knew if I ever wanted to really relax, I would either need to complete all of my tasks – which seemed unlikely, given she had apparently been saving them up for a while – or renegotiate my contract. Or Ascend.

Of course, it was not the first time that this had occurred to me, and I had no more of a notion as to how I could go about renegotiating more than I did the other times, but maybe I was being silly, maybe the manipulative quest-giver would be open to it.

As Walker and Aella disappeared around the corner, I glanced around to confirm that nobody was present and spoke softly, confident that I would be heard by the right person.

“Hey, uh, Xiournal? Any chance we could talk? I’d really like to talk about my contract, and the whole, ‘other worlds’ thing.”

I waited for several moments, looking up at the ceiling, but I received no response, not even the presence of the smoky tablet that usually showed up when I spoke her name. With a sigh, I went looking for my other friends, hands in my pockets as I thought about the possibilities.

Xiournal had said she was not allowed to give me any specific information, so maybe that was why I was not getting a response; maybe she was not just ignoring me. I would keep trying, and again after I - hopefully – completed my current job. And if all else failed, I would just find a way to visit another world... with a plan for getting back. Forcing the issue with my pseudo-divine patron might not be the wisest course of action, but I was about done with being passive. It was how I had been in my past life, and it had sucked. But I had sworn to myself many times on my new world, that I would move forward, seize the day and hesitate.... less. After all, as the saying goes, grow or die. That was true on Earth, and even more so on my adopted home, where growth was a more literal proposition. So, if had to risk death to gain a little space, then I would risk it.