The attendant paused halfway down the hall, giving us another respectful bow. “Enjoy your visit. You can place any drink or food order with the assigned attendants monitoring the festivities. Please pay no mind to the security; they’re here to ensure an enjoyable and relaxing experience. Enjoy your date and have a nice afternoon.”

I didn’t bother to thank her because that'd be a giveaway. I sank deeper into my role. Instead, I walked towards the alluring chorus of cheering and betting.

The room was hexagonal, with polished wooden stands wrapped around each side that gradually lowered to the flat bottom. A chain-link fence marked the boundaries of the fighting pit at the lowest level. A few cubbyholes topped each side to allow for private booths, bars, and spots to place a bet with a bookie. I’d pictured a cramped space where everyone stood around to bet like rich degenerates over blood sports. But, somehow, this luxurious arrangement contrasted against the two people beating the fuck out of each other in the ring seemed more barbaric.

The jovial attitude of the crowd was disgusting. A man took knuckles to the face and spat out a tooth, and they cheered. They weren’t cultivators—far too slow and not using any sort of Soul Ability.

This place could pack in around two hundred before it got too crowded, and tonight it seemed to be nearing that. And more than a few had their fair share of wealth—based on the attendants waiting on them hand and foot. Eve glanced around, still refusing to meet my eyes.

Whatever, I guess I’d shocked her with how well I pulled it off so far—surprised myself too. The charged atmosphere of this place only drew more out of me. I looked around like a hungry wolf. Our guy was somewhere here; now it was time to hunt him down.

There. A man tucked away in one of the booths. The way his eyes lingered on me a little too long. I stalked forward, sure that I smelled my prey.

“New here? How can I help you?” he asked, clicking his tongue as he looked at Eve and me. This guy had a private table. He was drinking nothing but water and had eyes that said he'd seen plenty of trouble. Something about him stood out and seemed right to me. My Soul Seed practically pulled at me, telling me that the fate that I wanted started here.

“Heard places like this have more than just fights. I need a bit of a boost for an upcoming showing.” I explained, standing straight.

“Oh, is that so? I can’t say I know what you mean by that. What sort of ‘showing’?”

“I’ll be joining the Himawari Sect. It’s just…” I trailed off, letting my face color with a bit of uncertainty. Then masked it with false bravado. What was strange was that I felt it. Like I wanted nothing more, deserved nothing more than to join that shitty sect. “I just need a bit of an edge to guarantee my placement. My father works for Schäfer, and he demands that this go flawlessly.”

He rubbed his jaw, hiding the smile. But something was missing; there was too much hesitation in him. I needed to tip the scales.

I yanked out my leather pouch, giving it a quick toss and catching it. The spirit chips clinked inside. It was almost painful to casually withdraw this much money and show it off in a place like this. But I was untouchable, so why should I worry? I had everything in the world. “Have you got any friends that might have a solution?”

His eyes lingered on the pouch. The energy in the air coiled and writhed. My Soul Seed twisted inside as its roots grew and spread. This could go in any direction. Would he buy the bluff or decide I wasn’t worth the trouble? My fate rested at a crossroads, and that pure excitement drove me into a heady feeling. I tried to maintain a casual attitude, acting as if him turning me down wasn’t a big deal, but I also left that little bit of desperation in my expression. I was the rich kid without the right connections and felt worried enough to go to these lengths.

He gave a slow nod. “I might know a guy. He moves pills like what you want. I can set up a meeting. How does later this week sound?”

“Tonight.” I let my voice waver and then firmed it. A second later, I set my shoulders and glared at him.

He rolled his eyes, then gestured towards the seats near the fighting pit. “Fine, but it’ll cost extra. If he makes it. No promises. You and your girl sit back and watch a couple of fights. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Make it quick.”

He sneered, but I didn’t give him anything. Once more, I grabbed Eve by the waist and guided her away. Her face went red. If we weren’t here, I’d have bet she'd be cursing my ear out. We sat down, and she stared at me.

I crossed my arms, still playing the part. Scowling, tapping my foot like I had better places to be.

“What the hell was that, dumbass?” she whispered, voice laced with horror.

“What?” I kept a sour face.

“How the hell did you do that?“

“Dunno. It’s more natural than I thought it’d be. Aint sure why, but for a few minutes there, it felt like I really was some prick going to one of those schools.”

She frowned. I thought she’d say something about me taking too many liberties, but instead, she turned her attention to the fights. I returned to the guise, not letting the persona slip away any more than I had to. I felt scared it’d vanish if I let it go.

Two cultivators replaced the mortals when their fight ended. One of them looked like a scrappy fighter; he had a lean build with Soul Ability to harden his fist into steel. The other seemed to be able to manipulate the spilled blood, which came into play in the latter half of the fight—shooting pellets from smeared blood. I rarely got to see cultivators go at it from this distance outside of movies. That made it a shame I had to feign disinterest. Why would I care about fighters of this caliber when I aimed to get into the Himawari Sect?

A man sat on my right side and let out a sly cough to draw my attention to him. I glanced in his direction, and that was all the invitation he needed to lean in. The guy had a crooked nose, a smile that lacked teeth, and openly wore his Crimson Eagle jacket. My heart rate quickened. Did I fuck up and out myself? Was this the security coming to deal with me?

“Heard ya were looking for pills.” Ah. Oh shit, this guy was from Southside too. I had to be careful.

“I’m looking for a proper alchemical concoction. A mid-tier Heaven Ascends Earth pill.” I gave the line Kayson supplied me. No real clue what it even meant. I began digging for my pouch of chips. “Took ya—you long enough to get here,” I added, flaring my nose with impatience. Fuck. His accent was drawing out mine. This wasn't good.

Eve stood up and excused herself. Bumping into the guy as she passed. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she said.

“Watch yourself. Don’t wanna offend my new friend.” I warned her, giving a stern look. That managed to piss her off, which was fine. It helped me rein in the act a bit more. She bit down her retort, settling for a pissed snort before rushing off—the stolen phone in her hand slipping to her purse. Good. Everything was going according to plan.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” He waved it off, completely oblivious. I needed to keep this going for long enough for her to scan the phone and return it.

I didn’t know shit about higher pills, including that one my Uncle gave me. My money went towards my family, gambling, or on a long-shot bike one day. But that didn’t matter since the point wasn’t actually to buy drugs. With that in mind, I took out the leather pouch and opened it—revealing the beauty of spirit chips inside. The guy nodded.

“Ah, ya got a good amount, ya aint skimping at least,” the guy smirked.

“How many pills can ya—you get for me?” I asked, fighting hard not to slip into that Southside dialect. Damn hard when his accent was as thick as mine. He frowned.

“As many as ya need, if ya got the chips.”

“Right, I’ll take as much as this buys,” I began to dig out all of the chips in my pouch—his hand shot out to grab my wrist and stop me.

“Are ya insane?! Fucking blue bloods! Chill, alright? We aint gonna do this in public. Follow along and act cool. I’ll get ya your shit.” He sighed, releasing my wrist.

I didn’t like going to a second location. Eve already had this dude’s phone, so what did it matter if I got the pills? She wouldn’t know where I went. And the longer I stayed around the guy, the more likely it’d be he noticed the phone was gone. He saw me hesitate. I needed an excuse, but I couldn’t think of a good reason why I’d bow out of this deal. “If you pull anything, my family will hunt you down.” I threw the threat out, channeling that Sect member Bruno smacked the shit out of. The Crimson Eagle rolled his eyes.

“Yea, yea. Don’t spit threats ya aint gonna keep. This is a quick deal. No need to get bent outta shape.” His shoulders sagged. He was a guy far too used to dealing with my type, but he led me out of the fighting pit. I felt relieved not to detect any more of that suspicion.

We took a side path from the hall leading to the fighting pit and ended up in an office. He gestured to one side of the wooden table in the barren room. The nightclub must have had a solid partnership for them to provide a private space for the Crimson Eagles. Unless you provided a lot for a business, they liked to keep themselves separate from the street gangs.

I sat across from him at the desk, throwing my pouch onto the table. “How much does this get me?”

He might try to pull his phone out at any moment, and that would land me in deep shit. My best bet was to get this deal over quickly and get out. Eve and me could take his phone and dip. He poured my chips out and started counting. Was his greed enough to let him overlook the flaws in my disguise?

“Tell ya what. I’ll cut ya a deal. Two heavens ascends for all ya got; if ya need more, ya come back and buy more.” He paused, giving me a wide grin. I stared at the gap in his teeth.

“Okay, you have a deal.” This time I didn’t stumble over the you. But it still came out a bit unnatural. He frowned again.

“Right, right. See me when ya need more, then we’ll be square. I can fix ya up til you get into that sect of yours, long as ya got the chips.” He took out a key, unlocking a drawer in the desk. “Which sect are ya gunning for, again?”

“The Himawari Sect.”

“And when’s that trial gonna be? Gotta know how long to expect ya as a customer.”

Oh. Fuck. I couldn’t remember the date Kayson gave me. “Uh—November 3rd.”

His hand shot up from the drawer; a modified revolver clutched in his hand. “Who do ya think ya are fucking with?” he asked, cocking back the hammer. It was a mortal weapon, far more popular to the north among the Clans. But illegal as hell here. A cold drop of sweat ran down my brow as I stared down the barrel. At a higher stage of cultivation, the weapon would fail to break my skin. But My Soul Seed wasn’t enough. That thing would kill me, and I doubted he’d miss with this close of a range.

I shifted in my chair. The Crimson Eagle spat on the ground next to him. “Don’t ya think about moving. Gonna call my boys, then we got some questions for ya.” He stood up—the point of that gun never moving from me. His hand dug into his pocket, and a confused expression ran across his face.

All hell broke loose.

The door slammed open, throwing the motherfucker with a gun off-kilter. Sensing the one chance I had before eating a bullet, I jumped up from the chair. Romeo’s training flashed through me in an instant; I had to be flexible and adapt—I shoved the desk forward in a rush of momentum and slammed it into the guy.

The gun went off, and the bullet ricocheted around the room. Instead of causing a powerful ringing burst of noise with gunfire, the room was a dull quiet. Only a whimper came from the revolver.

I tapped my arm, calling upon Fickle Fate. Thrill ran through me as the risk only ramped up further. The wood of the desk splintered as the bullet slammed into it. At any second, another bullet might leave that gun and hit me instead. There couldn’t be any higher stakes, nothing that gave this same sense of rush. My fingers sparked blue as my skin went numb.

I vaulted over the flipped table, my hand darting out and catching his wrist right as another bullet discharged. It ricocheted once, twice, only dim taps of noise. The bullet slammed into his knee—Fickle Fate’s luck had been spent. I took advantage of his distraction; my hand snapped forward, smooth like water, as I buried a fist into his throat.

His grip on the gun weakened, and I slammed it free. The man was far too concerned with trying to breathe. But I didn’t leave him time to recover, taking a step back and snapping a kick into his head. He hit the ground with a muted thump. He didn’t move any further.

I collected myself as noise returned to the room. Eve was at the door, arms crossed.

“So you blew it?” She asked.

“Yeah, well fuck. What did ya expect? Y’know, I think, all things considered, I did pretty fucking well. Look how far we got.” I wiped the sweat from my forehead. If she hadn’t burst in when she did and given me that chance, I’d either be dead or a prisoner of the Crimson Eagles. Now I didn’t know what to do with this bastard.

“You owe me fifty chips. And never drag me around like that again. If you do, I’ll slap sense into you, shit for brains.”

“I’ll pay up when I get the chance. Sorry about all that. Don’t know how to put it, but—that wasn’t exactly me. I was just…” I threw my hands up. “Playing the role. Wearing the mask?” I didn’t want to admit how unsettling the experience was in retrospect.

She shook her head. “Whatever. Let’s get out of here before he wakes up, or anyone comes to investigate.” I lingered to look at the unconscious man who would’ve shot me. My heart was still hammering away. Then I left with her. It was unnerving how right Kayson guessed about what I’d be capable of.