A soft splash sounded, and I froze, hoping that it had gone unnoticed. None of the people I could see even glanced in my direction, so after waiting for a bit, I continued carefully pulling myself from the water. It was dark here, and I’d chosen a spot where the street lighting didn’t reach to the banks of the river. With the darkness qi around me, it seemed to be enough.

Once I stepped out of the river, I resisted the temptation to shake the water off, and instead started walking. I was in a spot between the city proper and a collection of buildings in the ring of settlements outside it, where the lighting was low and spaced far apart, and not many people walked the streets. I made my way deeper into the city.

Even with the resilience my cultivation brought, the river’s water was icy, and I felt the cold. But I barely noticed it. I’d just spent at least half an hour at the bottom of the river, breathing water and staying still under a shield of qi. There hadn’t been much to do but think, and stew in my thoughts. Anger warmed me, gave me the energy to stride down the road as if I belonged here.

I was angry at Hajake and Jian, at the Zarian. But, at the moment, mostly at myself. I thought I’d learned my lesson. I had to unclench my fists. I thought I was past making stupid, reckless decisions in war. And now here I go, joining the attack, letting myself be manipulated by the likes of Jian.

Two of the people walking on the street from the opposite direction were wearing Zarian military uniforms. I averted my gaze, like others, but resisted the temptation to increase my pace or tense up. Instead, I concentrated on keeping my breathing even, and trust in my disguise. I didn’t feel better until they were a hundred meters behind me, though.

Once I get back, I promised myself, I won’t set foot within a few kilometers of any battlefield. I’ll get the most qualified generals to handle our strategy, and I’ll content myself with being present and looking pretty.

I shook my head and forced myself to focus on my surroundings. A few of the people on the street were giving me looks, and obviously tried to keep their distance. Probably because I was wearing only pants and a dirty shirt, and my hair was wet. I was using a bit of fire qi to dry myself as I walked, something similar to what I could sense others doing in the cool temperature, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to change things so I didn’t stand out.

I’d changed my look again, careful to keep it distinct from my real appearance and previous disguise. My hair was brown now, shorter than before, and my skin a touch darker. I’d set my eyes a little wider apart, turned them brown, given my face thinner lips and a softer chin, and changed the skin at my fingertips and the set of my ears again. I’d also lengthened my legs just a bit, to change both my height and gait. It was manageable, but I could tell that screwing with it any more was a bad idea, messing up the way I was used to moving.

Keeping my gaze down, I reached into my pocket and took out a polished river stone. It was the most symmetrical one I’d found. I hardened my fingernails, drew on a bit of qi, then started to etch lines into it. It was slow going, since I didn’t want to use a lot of qi. But that was alright. I might have lost my storage ring, but I still had all of my knowledge. I even took care to keep the formation I was etching into the stone imperfect, to add a few smudges. Not enough to hinder its operation, but anyone who saw it shouldn’t recognize my work. Or infer that the maker had had access to the best resources and books to teach them.

Luckily, my somewhat bedraggled state didn’t seem that out of place. As I made my way deeper into this part of the city, I encountered more people with torn, dirty or just worn clothes. It helped that the lighting got worse, as the streetlights were either spaced further apart or intermittently missing. The city loomed above us, towers of wood with many additions, bulges and bridges poking from them and obscuring more of it. Some of them looked old, sturdy, but many had a ramshackle feel, as if they’d quickly been nailed together. The air carried more traces of filth, unwashed bodies, maybe even disease.

This couldn’t have been a nice part of the city before, but I doubted the Zarian occupation had improved matters.

I stuck to the edges of this quarter, following the sounds of the city until I reached a small market square, or at least a place where several people had set up stalls not far from a collection of stores. I glanced around, noting possibilities, then decided on a small store at the edge, which looked clean and tidy enough. I couldn’t read the letters over the door, but the display showed enchanted items.

A small bell tolled when I came in, and the storekeeper looked up. His face was a little haggard, his beard scraggly, but he’d kept his clothes in order. He asked something in the local language.

“Sorry, I didn’t understand,” I responded in Zarian. “I’m looking to sell a talisman.”

He frowned, looking at me with barely hidden skepticism. “Let us see it.”

“It’s a defensive enchantment,” I explained as I put the stone on the counter. “Feel free to feed it some qi and test it.”

The storekeeper did as I said, putting some qi into the enchantment before taking a knife from beneath the countertop and stabbing at the area around it. The knife bounced off.

At least he hadn’t seemed to mind my speech. I’d been a little nervous, but I had to talk to people. At least I didn’t have a typical Imperial accent in Zarian, from what I could tell. Being multilingual, sort of, I didn’t have the problem with some sibilant sounds that Common native speakers tended to have. I’d try my best to control my pronunciation, but it shouldn’t immediately arouse suspicion even if I forgot that.

The shopkeeper put the knife away and the stone into a compartment. He haggled with me over the price for a minute, before he finally put a few silver looking coins across the table. I pocketed them and turned to leave, unsure if I’d been ripped off. If I had, at least it shouldn’t be too badly, and I had enough money for essentials now.

What I really wanted was a new storage ring, but there was no way I could get my hands on one without risk. They were tightly controlled at the best of times, and expensive.

There was a clothing store two doors over, with what looked like simple, budget or maybe secondhand clothes. I ducked inside and rifled through them, before parting with two of my new coins for a pair of shoes and an outer robe made of durable fabric with a simple cut. The shopkeeper didn’t talk much and I was happy to get out. I put my purchases on quickly, then made my way away from the market.

There wasn’t much else I needed. I could go without food for a while, and any water I needed I could conjure up myself. It would be better not to show myself being a light and darkness cultivator, anyway, and water and fire might be a good cover. Not common, but not too rare, and practical given the situation.

I saw a few more Zarian patrols and tried my best to stay out of their way. Seeing their uniforms reminded me of the airship journey, and I clenched my fists, tried to rein in another bout of anger. I’d left the other prisoners behind without even looking back, and while I didn’t regret that, I disliked feeling like I’d been forced to do it. I knew there wasn’t much of a chance of recovering them, too.

Deeper into the poorer parts of the city, I saw more people openly angry at the patrols. They jeered, turned away or just scowled at the soldiers, who were walking in bigger groups. That meant I’d hopefully chosen well in going here. These parts of the city were extensive, a warren of wooden, clay and hide buildings with little fundamental structure. People had decorated them with graffiti, set up a few flowers here and there and gathered under the open air in some spots, but the area still felt drab, dreary, even a little depressing.

Before, I’d sometimes seen signs I could read, in Zarian. Not surprising. This city had long been in their sphere of influence, even if the area had been nominally a neutral country. But here, there was only native writing, or sometimes just pictures. Few other people walked the streets alone, and I noticed little signs, accents of color or patterns on the clothing, that might be marking different gangs. The streets still seemed fuller than before, and in some spots people huddled together. Some looked confused, aimless, like they weren’t used to wearing torn clothing, to not having a proper home to go back to.

None of them would welcome me, not when I only spoke Zarian. It still seemed like a good place to get lost.

I wasn’t particularly surprised when I turned a corner into an alley only to find a few young guys blocking the way, wielding a butcher knife, a club and a rusty spear. Behind me, two more stepped out of a side door, cutting off my retreat to the broader street.

“Are you trying to rob me?” I asked, cocking my head. I started circulating qi, pulling on some of the heat sources close by.

“Foreigner like you don’t belong here,” one of them answered with a noticeable accent. “We give you notice to go home. Collect toll for the bother.”

I let a flame spark from my fingertips. “I’d think twice if I were you. You really want to take me on?”

A few of them shifted, clearly uncomfortable at the show. The leader only snorted and advanced a step.

I released some of the veil I had on my qi presence, enough to give them a peek of the fire I was currently forcing through my channels. “I’m in the third stage of cultivation.” I shrugged and lobbed a bit of fire at one of them, letting it fizzle out in front of his shoes. “You’re in the second at most. Bad odds, yes?”

More of them stepped back now. The leader, or spokesman, growled and advanced another step.

I sighed a little, then skipped forward. An elbow knocked his head back, a palm strike made him fold over like I cut his strings. I flicked my fingers again, setting fire to the shoes of two who hadn’t moved to retreat.

The leader yelled, then cut off abruptly. I grabbed him under an arm and dragged him upright.

“Sorry!” he yelled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to.”

“That’s alright.” I let go of him and stepped back, then smiled at the others who’d hung around, most a few meters back and close to cover. “Nothing against a little spar. But I do hope you won’t annoy me by making me fight another time. Now scram.”

The leader and most of the others bowed, without much grace, then turned and ran.

I shook my head. This world. Really. But I started walking again, keeping my steps even and my back straight to project confidence. I had no doubt this fight had been watched, as I might be now.

But it had given me a much needed prod. I needed a place to lay low for a while, hide from the Zarian, and think of a plan. The best way wasn’t the path of least resistance, though. Not when I wanted a chance to get some information or help, maybe even establish my ‘cover identity’ a little.

I made my way deeper into the city, just letting my feet take me where they would. I didn’t know if my special ability would help me here. Probably not. But since I didn’t have anything better, why not just rely on my intuition?

I tried to quiet my thoughts, just breathe and rely on my feelings, or instincts. I still took in everything, letting my mind process things behind the scenes. There might have even been a flicker of activity from my connection to Rijoko, if I wasn’t imagining things.

After a few minutes, I stopped. I had a feeling about the place in front of me. It looked like one of the towers had collapsed partly, leaving half of it behind. A dilapidated half, with some of the wooden boards rotting away, a few places patched over without much skill. But the patchwork was recent. There was a bit of free space around the structure, with what might have been burned out firepits in a few spots. A few too many people lingered here, visible on actual or improvised balconies, a few hanging around the entrance. Their clothes were just as haggard, and their expressions lacked that spark of happiness or satisfaction you often didn’t notice until it was gone. I’d bet most of them were refugees.

When I approached the door, they made as if to bar my path, then stopped. I nodded at them, but walked on, still letting some of my aura through, still dragging fire qi through my channels. The door creaked when I opened it.

The inside was divided by a few improvised barriers, but lit well enough. People looked up when I came, many of them standing to their feet. A few dozen in all, more of the same.

“Hello,” I smiled. “Forgive me for speaking in Zarian, but I’m afraid my grasp of the local language is very poor. It looks like you have room for another cultivator here.” I paused and let my eyes sweep across the crowd. I didn’t want to come off as a petitioner, couldn’t show weakness, but I didn’t want to bully them, either. A balancing act. “If any of you need something, you can approach me.”

They exchanged glances, but no one seemed in a hurry to speak up. I smiled again, then sat on an overturned crate close to the entrance. I continued drawing in qi, not bothering to hide it. Most of them were in the first stage, but that might be because there were a number of children.

A young woman stepped forward and leaned against the wall, looking at me. I returned her gaze, taking her in. Darker skinned than most, short hair, but blue eyes. She was pretty, if not quite my type. Perhaps ‘striking’ would be a better word, pretty in a hard way. Despite her dirty clothing and the lines on her face, she stood tall, as if she simply couldn’t do anything else. To my other senses, she felt significant in a way I hadn’t had much experience with. It wasn’t easy to pin down what it meant.

We didn’t have to wait long. I could hear and sense people arriving, and stoop up, opening the door before they could bash it in.

The gang facing me looked much like the other one, if perhaps a bit more intimidating. Mostly men with a few women, all of them younger and in the first or second stage, some with actual weapons.

“You’re intruding in our territory,” the leader grunted, eying me warily. He felt like the late part of the second stage.

I raised an eyebrow. “Your territory, really? That’s a shame. You live here, do you?”

The leader raised his weapon, a wooden club studded with nails. “This area is ours, these people are ours. Leave.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. The people might be happier to have me, don’t they?”

One of the other thugs spoke up. “Why? What you do for them?”

“I could give them clean water, for one thing.” I glanced at the people, noting the reaction at those words. “And not prey on them while they’re down.”

A few of the thugs advanced, clearly not impressed by my answer, my challenge. I released some of my qi, letting flames dance on my fingertips.

It wasn’t a long fight. The hardest part for me was holding back, not using my full speed and strength. I dodged the leader’s strike effortlessly, pushing him back into two others, and punched the man behind him. Then I stepped back and lashed out with a tongue of flame at the thugs advancing after them.

A tingle in my qi senses warned me, and I sidestepped, then caught the dart one of the second stagers had thrown at me. The tip was poisoned, it looked like. I returned it to sender with an express delivery.

At this point, most of them seemed to scramble some brain cells and collectively decided to leave. I sent a few sparks after them to send them on their way, burned a few of the other attacks they’d sent my way with their meager qi, then stepped closer to the leader.

The girl preempted me. The leader was just standing up when she grabbed him, making his jacket smolder, headbutted him, then threw him out of the door, saying something in his language. I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like she had an accent.

When she turned and saw me looking at her, she narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. “How about that water?”

I nodded, letting go of the fire and reaching for water qi to draw in. It needed most of my focus, but I still noted the way she looked at me. It made me a bit uneasy. Had she seen through my veil?

Well, if she had, it didn’t seem like she’d tell. She had to know there was a good chance I’d seen through hers, as well. She was also pretending to be a stage lower than she was, but she was in the third while I was in the fourth, and her veil couldn’t hope to hold up to me.

I turned away and looked for a container to conjure water into. It didn’t matter, in the end, so long as none of them challenged me.