"Why are you acting like this? Whatever you think you know, you are wrong, I assure you."

"You can't go after the Lord General," Hector said, finally able to force words out.

Panic. Darius looked about to ensure no one was near enough to overhear, then stepped closer with a dark expression. The way he moved in that moment was like a panther stalking prey. "What do you know, Hector? How do you know it?"

A war raged within Hector. Despite the generic words he'd given to Darius, he did indeed have a clearly defined goal on Tian. That was escaping Tian before something terrible happened to him at the hands of the Lord Platinum. Yet he had to reconcile that goal with new data. The son of Volithur lived. For the moment. The man was caught in the same trap as Hector and didn't know it.

"Darius, we need to escape this tournament."

The tall eunuch bared his teeth. "That's not what I asked."

"Do you know what the Lord Platinum does?"

"I don't even know who that is. And I'm not curious."

"That's the person whose estate this is. That's the person who turned your father into a platinum plasma elixir. The same person who invited a bunch of foreign Xian over to fatten them up with cheap resources for a tournament."

Darius glared down at Hector. "How do you know of the betrayer?"

"The betrayer?"

"Harridan," Darius spat.

"That wasn't his name."

Darius punched the wall hard enough that brick crumbled. "You're no rogue Xian, are you, Hector? You're a liar with the memories of a treacherous beast." An expression of horror rose to his face. "Do you have his insight?"

"I have everything." Even the strength of his body, transmitted through an elixir.

"I will have nothing to do with you from this moment on."

"Did you hear what I said? Platinum plasma elixir is made from humans. We're at the place they make it. Fighting in a tournament that I can't see an economic reason for existing."

"I don't trust anything you say."

"Do you think you could leave here if you wanted to?"

Darius visibly restrained himself from arguing further and left the room. Hector sat there and stewed. There was too much happening all at once. The tournament was only a day away. He still had yet to find even the hint of an escape opportunity. There hadn't been time for him to fully unpack the situation with Jasmine yet.

The next person to happen upon him was Walt, the man most famous among their cohort for his extreme aversion to speaking. Hector ignored the man. He didn't know why he bothered to try thinking through his problems when his mind only ran in circles. There were answers to be had if he wanted them, but he wasn't willing to take the requisite actions.

Did he want Jasmine? Yes. Could he handle being part of a harem? Definitely not. He didn't give of himself so casually. Starting a relationship would be inviting disaster. Hector couldn't hardly understand why he'd fixated on her so suddenly. She wasn't the kind of girl he was drawn to normally. Was he really so starved for affection?

Suddenly Walt sat next to him. Hector froze. The last thing he needed was for a man to make a romantic move on him. That would make this day officially too much for him. His fears weren't realized, however, as Walt began to speak.

"You, me, agree? Honor in fight?"

The reason for the man's reticence suddenly became obvious. The thick accent, halting speech, and poor grammar marked him as a non native speaker. The true worlds of the multiverse all had a major power that spoke a language mutually intelligible with English. Those nations were prominent imperialists and meddled anywhere they could reach, including other universes. Yet they were not the only ones. There were other nations speaking other languages.

"I agree to fight with honor." He spoke slowly and clearly.

The gratitude on Walt's face warmed Hector's heart.

"Good man. I thank." Walt bowed awkwardly and left Hector to his thoughts.

Which now turned in a whole new direction. He'd changed upon reaching Tian. Let himself be warped by the twin pressures of fear and greed. He wasn't a damned gladiator. Nor a reality television star. If he gave up his moral standards at the first sign of adversity, then he couldn't even claim to be a good man. Maybe one world out there thought of him as a hero. Or not. Hardly anyone back home knew he'd brought the Coalition forces that fought the invasion.

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Having a dignified human moment, giving respect and receiving gratitude, reminded him of his quest to cultivate virtue. He'd given himself a pass to stop worrying about humility and charity because helping Riley checked the boxes for his good deeds. That method of virtue cultivation had been seriously flawed, he saw now.

He couldn't just believe himself into being a good person. He couldn't get there through meditating on virtuous concepts. He couldn't pat himself on the back for doing a set amount of acts in a period of time. He needed to live the virtues he wished to cultivate.

Living those virtues didn't mean handing out credits to homeless people. He needed to be putting his beliefs into practice when he made the decisions that mattered. Right now, with everything going on, he needed to get out of his own head and act in line with his moral stance. If he wasn't able to live up to his standards when his life was on the line, then he wasn't the man he thought he was. And unless he became that man, he didn't deserve to become a lord. There were more than enough selfish assholes in charge without adding another.

That resolved a lot of decisions he'd been struggling with. That didn't make enacting his solutions any less stressful. In fact, now that he'd come to some conclusions, the reality of what he had to do was a bit overwhelming. Well, the only way out of this mess was forward.

Decision number one: he would not leave without Darius. Not even if the perfect opportunity arrived before him with a bow on top. He'd inherited the memories of Volithur, the insight of Volithur, and the elixir made from the flesh of Volithur. The Lord General declared Hector the man's heir in truth. That meant that the responsibilities of Volithur fell to him as well. He would take the burden of caring for Volithur's son on as the heir and spiritual brother of Volithur.

Decision number two: he would treat his fellow opponents honorably. Walt and Sam he had agreements with that he would hold to. The rest of them he would not harm unnecessarily. Not even if they showed disrespect towards him.

Decision number three: he would accept that escape might not be possible. Especially given his decision to take Darius with him. If he died on Tian, that would be terrible. But he had already done the greatest act of his life. He'd contributed to the rescue of Earth. That legacy would live on. He'd gone searching the wider multiverse for more. That path led here. It might not be where he wanted to end, but it was where he was. And it was where Darius was. He would regret nothing. His efforts to escape would be fierce, but he would not allow himself to operate from cowardice.

Decision number four: he had no idea what he saw in the crude, rude, promiscuous woman. He undeniably felt something, though, so he had to treat her right. Most critically, her life was in danger and she knew nothing about it.

Each of those decisions brought a certain amount of anxiety with them. All told, it was more angst added than relieved. Darius now hated him and would be extremely difficult to persuade of anything. Being the honorable warrior was a great sentiment, but when his fellow combatants weren't holding themselves to the same standard, it would be a severe disadvantage. Not just because he couldn't use deadly force, but also because others would be emboldened in the knowledge that he was holding back. Accepting that escape might not be possible freed him to take more drastic action. That was a bit terrifying because he didn't get to play it safe anymore. And moving forward with the Jasmine situation was all sorts of worrying.

Better to die a good man than live a bad one. Which was good, because Hector didn't think his odds of escaping captivity to be all that high. They were watched constantly by vastly more powerful cultivators when they weren't within the suppression field. Even if that weren't the case, Hector didn't have enough energy to do anything at the moment.

He got to his feet and walked purposefully to Jasmine's bunk. "Can we speak in private?"

Jasmine sat up, put her feet to the floor, and bumped into him as she stood. "This had better be good, Hector."

In the short time he'd been away, someone else had claimed the reservoir room. He checked the washroom and found several of the stalls in use. So they went to the latrine. Hector felt no cosmic energy signatures in there, so it was safe to hold a candid conversation.

"First, I want to apologize for how I've been treating you."

She folded her arms. "That's a good start."

"I have some information about what is happening with this tournament. Are you familiar with the Lord Platinum?"

Jasmine uncrossed her arms. "I'm not familiar with lords, Hector."

"Are you familiar with elixirs?"

"I got one when I agreed to the tournament."

"Do you know how they're made?"

"What are you going on about, Hector?"

"Silver plasma elixirs are made from the blood with bits of fat and bone and organs mixed in. It must be made from a mammal because the pattern of cosmic energy is similar to what is in human bodies. A gold plasma elixir is the same as a silver but with one addition: the core formed upon death is harvested. That's ground up and added to the vial to supercharge it."

Jasmine's frustration had ebbed a bit and she seemed curious. "How do you know so much about elixirs from Tian?"

"Before we get to that, let me explain what a platinum plasma elixir is. It's made by the same method as a gold one but they use something much closer to the composition of those who will be consuming it." He almost uttered the infamous line from Soylent Green, but restrained himself. This was serious. "Humans are used for it, Jasmine."

She shook her head. "So? If someone gives me an elixir, Hector, I'm going to take it."

"No one is giving you a platinum plasma elixir, Jasmine. We're at the place where they make them. This is the estate of the Lord Platinum. We're under the effects of her suppression field."

Her lips compressed to a severe line. "Are you trying to convince me to throw my matches? That's low of you, Hector. I thought… never mind." She spun on her heel and marched away before he could stop her.

Watching Jasmine go, he couldn't help but wonder how the conversation had gone so wrong. He'd led her to the truth instead of starting with 'we need to escape'. Well, he had time to convince her of his words. It would be a while before he could manage a transit sphere.

Before he could travel, though, he needed energy. Hector claimed a stall and seized chaos. Suspicious or not, he would carry energy in his reserves.

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