We made our way back to Kayson’s apartment after the fight. Kayson lectured us on a couple of strategies to consider before he inevitably tried to pump me for more information about my Soul Seed. It seemed this lieutenant was not one to bend on what he wanted, even against a hostile subordinate.

“Ya didn’t even say what your Manifested Soul does, and you’re still trying to force me to show my hand?” I shot back, angry. Reclining on Kayson’s sofa and glaring at him. Why couldn’t he just drop it?

“Fine? Is that what it will take to break past this stupid wall? Alright then. My ability is called Moon Web. It’s not a very offensive-based skill. My ability lends itself more to information gathering. When I Manifest my Soul, my spiders are capable of trailing and making webs—usually, I leave a web tied from me to them—this is how they communicate information, such as traps, enemy numbers, or danger. They can tie up an enemy for a brief period of time, and weave slightly stronger webs than a real spider. But at the end of the day, they’re still webs. Their second biggest strength is that they can operate at long range—a whole half of a mile, even at my current cultivation.”

My jaw dropped. He’d essentially—to a cultivator—taken his clothes off and streaked down the street. Even went so far as to tell me his range! Immortals, how fucking crazy was this guy? And he’d laid it all out as a matter of fact. That range at just the first cultivation stage was insane. I didn’t know much about the higher stages, but I did hear a little about those who broke through the first bottleneck. He’d offered an olive branch. But… what if he’d lied?

“I have no way of knowing if what ya said was true or not.”

“Oh come off it Luca! We trust you!” Bruno patted my shoulder. “If it helps, I’ll go over mine! Burning Passion! Hahahaha! A fitting name, don’t you think? The more into a fight I get, the more strength my Soul Seed gives me! And of course, fuel for my glorious fires! Nobody can stand up against me!”

That made me a bit more guilty. His big eyes weighed on me, waiting for me to share after he’d revealed his own powers. It wasn’t as in-depth detail as Kayson shared, but I doubted Bruno had a better way to quantify it. Fine. “My Fickle Fate is a coinflip, alright? Good luck, or bad luck. That’s all there is to it. I don’t get to pick, but I can influence it just a bit. If it’s blue, things are going my way. Red, not so much. I can use it on others or myself through touch.”

Kayson searched me, trying to tell if I’d kept something hidden. Eventually, he nodded.

“Fine. Thank you for finally sharing a bit about yourself, Luca.” I glared at Eve. The girl kept her lips tight, and Kayson wasn’t pressing her for info. “That’s enough for tonight. It’s late, and I think we’d all benefit from a bit of rest. The next time we meet, we’ll have actual work to handle.” Kayson paused. “There will also be a cut, for you all.”

Thank fuck. Money was getting tight in our house, and while the free drinking and fighting were fun, I still didn’t walk away with anything.

I gathered my jacket, ready to start the long walk home. It was late, and it’d take a couple of hours to get back to my place, hell the sun might be rising when I finally reached it.

“Hey, Luca!” Bruno walked out of the apartment door after me. The deep aches of exhaustion brought about through Suzaki’s healing started to kick in. That and the hours of grilling by the lieutenant was enough to put anyone to bed. Still, I paused, arching an eyebrow at the big guy.

“Yea, what is it?” I asked, too tired to care.

“Need a ride?”

“Uh—oh, yeah, thanks man,” I hadn’t expected that. Sure, he knew where my place was. But I wasn’t about to turn down a quick trip rather than a two-hour walk at three in the morning. I didn’t want to beg for someone to take me home, so I’d accepted my fate. Why was he offering though? As far as I could tell there was nothing in it for him.

I didn’t ask why, I didn’t want to risk the ride. We hopped on his bike and flew through the city.

New Valentine was an insomniac city. Even this late—bordering on the morning—the bars ran with gusto. No Sect ordnance mandated a closing call, so if a business still had customers to serve, it kept open. Lights danced Downtown and crowds of people still flocked about. It wasn’t until six or seven in the morning that it’d gradually shift from night-time shenanigans to the more day-based lull. It almost seemed to me, that the city wasn’t alive until the sun sank.

Uptown in particular wasn’t as glamorous as Seaside or the Lantern district, but a good place for the wealthy looking to ‘slum it.’

Southside, however, was even less so. More of a housing district than a place for fun. A few dive bars and little to no clubs meant the district tended towards a rather sleepy atmosphere this late. Just roaming bands of delinquents that any sane person would avoid. That’s why as a kid, Ma gave me and Alex a strict curfew and kicked our asses when we broke it.

Now though, I was beyond saving. But I’d still kick Alex’s ass if he pulled half the shit I did.

Bruno killed the engine when we reached my place. I got off the bike, the exhaustion set in my bones now. Been a good night, but I was ready to rest my head.

“Luca.” He cut in again, forcing me to halt, halfway down the gravel walkway to my door. It’d be a couple of minutes longer, he drove my ass home, so I owed him that much. I turned and forced a neutral expression to my face, suppressing the tired annoyance I actually felt.

“What’s up, Bruno?”

“Up to anything tomorrow?”

I let that sit. Ma was getting well and pissed at me for skipping non-stop. Since I hadn’t brought cash home from my ‘job,’ seemed she wasn’t willing to let it drop. Each day she got a little bit more bent on me actually going to school. I wasn’t Alex. I knew my life wasn’t going anywhere through ‘academics.’ I was a cultivator. But, also I knew better than trying to use that excuse on her, we’d been down that argument too many times to count.

“Naw, don’t got anything, big guy. What were ya thinking?” Fuck it, why not. “Just gonna bring Alex to school, then skip outta mine.”

“Skipping school?” He turned his head. “I knew I liked you! There’s no one fun left to fight in them—well, that’s not completely true, I’ve run into some gym teachers with a nice right hook, but you only get one go before—“

“C’mon, Bruno. I’m down for whatever, as long as it aint fighting my teachers. Don’t need Ma more on my case than she already is.” I rubbed my eyes.

“We’ll convince Suzaki to come along. We’ll need him! Then we go to the Seibyu Markets in the Lantern District!”

I gave him a weird look. First off, the Lantern District was one of the fancier parts of New Valentine—all decked up with buildings traditional to the Himawari Sect’s homeland. Minka style, complete with shops using traditional rice paper sliding doors. Even the more modernistic buildings there had that old-world Japan vibe. It was also most decidedly a district I never went to. Far too rich for my blood; either catering to the Sects or tourists.

“I don’t know what ya think I look like Bruno, but I sure don’t have the kinda chips to mess around in the Seibyu Markets, and that aint a place to cause trouble.” The Sects cared if you made a scene there.

“Don’t worry about that! I’ll meet you first thing in the morning!” I sighed. Wasn’t worth arguing over, and I certainly would much rather lay my head down. I waved my acceptance, then walked off to finally sleep.