"Hector told me you did really good in the tournament, Darius." Riley was trying hard to make the dour eunuch like her. Hector thought it was a hopeless battle, but he saw no harm in her trying. Darius really wanted to soak up the extra cosmic energy in the air of the kitchen. It was the leverage he needed to keep the man in line.

"Just fifth place in the weaponless round robin bracket. And I only fought once in the single elimination bracket." Darius eyed Hector. "Do you donate cosmic energy like this often?"

"I could probably afford to do it once a week. We might have to cut back on the dungeon runs a bit so I can spend more time cultivating."

Darius nodded. "I don't think I need more credits any time soon. I might make the push for level six soon."

Hector prodded Darius until the man described his survey results.

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 5

Body: 5

Mind: 1.8

Aura: 1.3

Domain: 0.6

Energy Reserves: 19%

"My mind statistic is higher than yours!"

Darius rolled his eye at Riley's exclamation. "My priority is body and externality. This System doesn't even mention my externality."

"Aren't you worried about Arahant?" Riley continued to pump her aura while she talked.

Darius shook his head. "My enemy is a Xian."

"Even if you plan to specialize in your externality, you are neglecting your aura. You need to be able to block strikes as well as throw them." Hector nibbled at one of the pastries Darius had offered to share. He really didn't care for sweets. The three of them sharing food as they cultivated together seemed like a tradition he should encourage, though.

"What are your statistics, Hector?"

Darius groaned. "You had to ask, Riley, didn't you?"

"Why? Is it bad?"

"I guarantee it's annoying. You realize Hector can get cosmic energy for free?"

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 5

Body: 5

Mind: 4.4

Aura: 3.2

Domain: 2.9

Energy Reserves: 28%

"I told you," Darius said.

Riley had a different take. "I thought every stat would be at five already."

"He's not that serious about advancing. Look at how he's feeding us like baby birds."

"Baby birds?"

"Mother birds regurgitate food into their mouths."

"Regurgitate? Wait. Does that mean throwing up? I never knew birds were so gross. Did you have to eat baby birds in their rocks too, Darius?"

"You mean in their eggs? It was hardly the worst thing I've ever eaten."

"Green juice is very bitter," she said.

Darius grunted. "On my world, they had digestive bitters that were about as palatable. If you can get them down, they do a wonderful job settling your stomach."

"Is drinking that oil going help me a lot?"

"Oil?"

"Cooking oil from Tian in a big amphora," Hector specified.

"You're showering her with resources," Darius said.

"All the girls thought I had a regular regular. He just kept making me eat things."

"The girls? Were you studying at a school or something?"

Riley laughed. "Not me. I was one of the girls at the Top Hat brothel."

"Brothel? Suddenly everything makes much more sense." Darius seemed uncharacteristically happy having learned that fact. "I don't want anything happening in that chamber when I'm around. And never on my bed."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Hector doesn't do that with me," Riley assured him.

"Is that so?"

"I tried really hard to have him be like a normal client. He just wanted to teach me about being a Xian. It hurt my feelings a little bit." Riley held a pouting face for a few seconds before brightening. "It's fun getting stronger, though. I punched a man in the face and broke his nose." She balled up her fist and struck out in the air.

"That is not a proper punch," Darius groaned. Riley tried again. "No. Not that either. I think you're getting worse every time you try. Watch." The eunuch demonstrated how to make a fist and how to strike with the knuckles, then stood to show her how the power would come from the legs, hips, torso, and shoulders.

Hector nodded along with the advice to cover up the fact that he was memorizing everything said. He might not have time to become an expert at hand-to-hand combat. That didn't stop him from being curious about what he could do better.

Riley stood up to practice her punching, causing Darius to wince. Her instincts for fighting were all wrong and it manifested in an awkward, stiff posture. As the lesson continued, Hector relaxed back into his seat with a smile on his face. There just might be a potential for friendship there.

Over the coming days, the three of them began to explore the neighborhood of their hostel. As much as it looked like the city endlessly repeated the same building layouts, there were subtle differences in the skyscrapers. They found interesting places to eat, productive places to cultivate, and an underground shopping plaza.

They made sure to stop by a busy intersection every day to absorb cosmic energy from the mental band. There was about one automotive collision every two hours in that spot and near constant road rage. The chaotic interactions enriched the cosmic energy at a steady rate that they were able to take advantage of due to the fact that so few Xian lived in Promise City.

They also spent a bit of time in the underground plaza's arcade. All three of them were terrible at the games there. Darius didn't have any experience with electronic technology, so he was equal parts befuddled and fascinated. Riley never had money until quite recently, so she only had a vague notion about how things worked. And Hector had never been interested in gaming on Earth. Their amateur competitions were fairly even.

"I can't believe I have to play as a Jinn," Darius whined, not for the first time. He mashed buttons to have his character fire lasers and grenades at the monsters in front of them. For someone without a sophisticated game play style, the Jinn made the most sense. Any button caused a self-aiming weapon to fire. The Arahant character for the game was loosely based on Conflagration, only instead of a whip the character threw fireballs. His special move required some complex combinations of key strokes to set up – very powerful but almost impossible for any of them to pull off before the monsters won. There was no option to play as a Xian, though there was a Titan.

As always, Riley spammed the grenade button for her character. Her unsophisticated strategy worked in her favor more often than not. Hector still hadn't figured out how to best use the Titan. It had significantly more hit points than the Jinn and Arahant, which was why he chose it. It also lacked ranged attacks entirely. Fortunately, monsters received back a portion of the damage they dealt to his character. Other than balancing the traits of the characters better, Hector didn't understand why that would make any sense.

"We're going to die to the floor boss again," Darius cursed as the tunnel their characters were in opened up onto a larger cavern. Everyone's hit points were critically low, so they would be dying unless there was a med kit available. Nope – just an Arahant potion. Since Hector's companions were playing as Jinn, that wouldn't work for them. And his Titan only healed by eating rocks. Hector thought that was a mechanic invented solely for the game, but he actually didn't know enough about Titans to be certain. Maybe they did eat rocks.

The floor boss was a giant spider that shot sound waves from its mouth that took the form of an energy beam. Darius, Riley, and Hector died rapidly in that order. "I think I'm going to try the Arahant next time," Darius muttered. "Another game?"

"I've had enough for now," Hector said. "I want to check out the massage place."

His companions each made a face at his announcement. Darius didn't like people touching him unless it was in the context of a fight. And while Riley had no hangups about physical contact, she was a scrawny thing and found massages painful. Hector still had a large balance and wanted another of the Alfar massages that had once been so magically relaxing when he lived in the capsule hotel.

"I can play some more while we wait, Darius," Riley said.

"We can't clear the level before this one with just two players," the eunuch replied.

"It's still fun even if we don't win."

"No. We should be cultivating instead. Both of us need to work on our next breakthrough."

When Hector left, they were debating where they wanted to park themselves for the next few hours. Riley preferred the square where musicians busked for tips while Darius insisted that they would be more productive riding loops on the public transit system that serviced their neighborhood.

Hector was able to get a walk-up appointment for a massage but quickly realized that his increased body enhancement made it almost impossible for a masseuse of normal human strength to manipulate his muscles. The most intense deep tissue work felt no different than light pressure. Instead of being relaxing, Hector found the massage boring. Not wishing to be rude, he let the session he'd paid for continue until the end of its allotted time and then gave a generous tip.

Back out in the plaza, he saw a holistic apothecary. It advertised 'popular remedies' and 'integrative methods' with neon signs. Hector was disappointed enough with the massage that he decided to do some window shopping. If it was as ridiculous as homeopathic medicine back home, he'd get a good laugh knowing that humans everywhere were gullible for snake oil cures.

The shopkeeper grinned at his entrance. "A Xian customer! What ails you, friend?"

Hector almost turned around right then. Even if he hadn't suspected up front that the place was a scam, the fact that this man was instantly and unabashedly kissing the ass of a Xian was evidence of that claim. "I have no ailments, just curiosity."

"Very understandable! What we do here is very new! We combine Jinn pharmaceuticals and Arahant potions and Alfar tonics into potent compounds. Many of our customers report amazing results! If you brought a Xian elixir, I would be happy to combine it into a custom compound for you."

The store was small, in appearance a cross between a subway convenience store and a jewelry retailer. Hector glanced about, noticing the way the products were organized by ailment. One section bore a sign indicating the items inside were dedicated to battling insomnia. He drifted closer.

"Having trouble sleeping, my friend?"

"As I advance, I need less of it," Hector said.

"A great gift of your Xian constitution. Yet I bet there are times you wish you could curl up in bed to drift away in comfort." The salesman tapped on the display case. "There are several options in here. The 'night flight' will give you vivid dreams. 'Cozy nights' is a basic sleep aid. And 'midnight oblivion' will ensure you stay asleep the entire night."

Hector smiled to take the sting from his question. "And do they actually work?"

"The System of our world combines three traditions, three energies. Jinn and Arahant and Alfar each have one aspect of the universe. Combine them together and something greater emerges. Why not purchase one of these as an experiment? If it doesn't work, then at least you know."

"Right…. How much does it cost?" None of the compounds had any prices.

"The price is only fifty credits per dose for 'midnight oblivion'."

Hector grunted.

"Or," continued the salesman, "just twenty for a dose for 'cozy nights'. That one is an antihistamine combined with a relaxation potion and some life-enhanced chamomile."

He doubted it would work. But Hector remembered that pleasant sleep from the capsule hotel. He'd mixed Jinn and Arahant treatments back then. Maybe there was something to this trend after all. "Fine."

The salesman unlocked the display case and paused. "Do you want a five pack or ten pack?"

Hector snorted. The price had been quoted as twenty credits a dose. Then, after he decided to buy, he learned that he had to pay for five doses at minimum. The guy knew how to sell. "Just the five." He transferred the credits, accepted the box, and returned to the hostel.

In the lobby, he stopped by a computer to check his messages. Conrad had responded to him. The Jinn cyborg special operator gave a time and place to meet up for a dungeon delve. Hector shot back his confirmation and rode up to his floor.

Riley and Darius weren't back yet, so Hector started to cultivate chaos while he pulled out the cozy nights compound. It was in a plastic bottle with its lid doubling as a measuring cup. Hector poured until he reached the line and threw back the liquid. It tasted… inoffensive was the word that came to mind. Hector packed away the rest of the compound in his locker and sat down in the kitchen area to cultivate while looking out the windows.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.