His lecture proved popular enough that he had to do it two more times. Most of the other tenants couldn't make it work in the end, but a handful were able to adopt his method of cable formation. They lacked his speed with it, so he didn't think they would be able to use it in combat situations without significant practice, but that wasn't his concern.

What was his concern was that he was now training several of his neighbors on the cold forged method. He'd advised one person that they were doing it wrong, which almost sparked an argument. When he explained how the metabolic demands of enhanced tissue would tax the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems if those were not first brought up to speed, several people had overheard and decided he was the local expert on body enhancement.

The time lost from cultivating would normally have annoyed him, but Esther made up for the inconvenience by making him complimentary restoration elixirs. She was also good to Riley, who loved her new job. And like every other man in the building – and even a few women – he had a crush on Esther. All of that made it hard for him to be too bothered by the instructor role he'd been thrust into against his will.

Even if he was being taken advantage of to some extent, Hector was also benefiting from the arrangement. His aura statistic improved by point two in as many weeks from the training sessions in the basement. He also learned how to more effectively train his domain. Apparently he was too efficient with the way he formed his cables.

So when he wished to train his domain, Hector now created sloppy cables composed of single massive strands that leaked like crazy. It wasn't wasteful, though, because forcing those sloppy cables to move things about was insane exercise. Come to think of it, there was some similarity to weight training. Being good at an exercise trained for hypertrophy was different than a functional movement. Curling properly placed all of the strain on the biceps muscles, which was essentially performing an inefficient movement for the purpose of stimulating size and strength gains.

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 5

Body: 5

Mind: 4.4

Aura: 3.5

Domain: 3.1

Energy Reserves: 68%

He was quite pleased with the gains reported by the System. That wasn't the only benefit he gained from their new home. There was also the wealth of knowledge shared by his neighbors. One of those lessons was how to properly strike with his cables. They were far more devastating when the tip made contact straight on than when the body of the cable hit from the side. It seemed obvious once it was shown to him, but he'd never thought of it himself.

Another lesson taught him the proper method of flight using cosmic energy. What Hector did – what he'd learned from Volithur – was basically to unleash an explosion of energy beneath his feet. That, it turned out, was crazy inefficient. Rockets didn't go into space by setting off grenades. They used directed thrust to make sure all the force went to good use.

So Hector learned to release a stream of energy the under the soles of his feet directed upwards to thrust himself into the air. It was an exercise in control to prevent the cosmic energy from spreading in all directions. It was extra hard to do that while trying to manipulate the thrust properly for flight. He didn't let that stop him. He didn't even let the energy costs stop his training. If he didn't want to be a hollow spear, then he needed to invest into his development, whether that be his statistics or his skills.

Their new home proved good for his friends as well. Darius and Wayne developed a relationship that seemed quite toxic from the outside, with constant sarcasm and belligerent scoffing. Yet they sought each other out in social situations. Darius also found excuses to hang around Esther as often as possible. Hector wasn't sure what he thought about that. No matter what memories he'd inherited, the man was not his son. They were friends, however. And friends shouldn't compete for the attentions of the same woman. Hector justified the slight indiscretion by the fact that neither of them had ever explicitly stated that they didn't want the other interfering with their courtship. Essentially… no one had called dibs on Esther when they first met her.

The most impacted by the move was Riley. She enjoyed every aspect of working at a cafe, from mixing elixirs to cooking normal food to chatting with customers to tidying up her workspace. From Hector's perspective, it looked like she was relishing in the average existence that she'd admired in her favorite movies. Just being a normal person. That seemed an unworthy goal to Hector, but he didn't think it was his place to judge what she wanted out of life. Not everyone possessed the acumen to become a Xian lord.

About a month after they moved, Riley achieved level three. She then insisted he take her on the shopping trip he'd promised as a reward. Hector arranged a trip to the mall for them, which Darius invited himself along to. That taxed his funds a bit, so he resumed doing dungeon runs for a bit to get his finances back in order.

Of course, things weren't perfect.

Darius flicked Hector on the ear. "She is talking to Mick again."

"Riley is supposed to talk to customers," he pointed out without stopping his cultivation. They sat in the lobby where they had a full view of the cafe.

"I don't trust him."

Hector sighed. "You do remember what Riley used to do for a living, don't you?"

"She foolishly believes all Xian share a bond."

"Darius, you shouldn't buy too much into her innocent act. I guarantee you that Riley understands what men are after better than both of us combined." Hector briefly eyed Darius before returning his focus to cultivating chaos. Lately everything he did seemed to burn through cosmic energy. All the improvements he was making were more than worth the cost. It just meant he had to put in the work to restore his reserves.

"If Mick misbehaves, I will punish him."

"If he does something illegal, the System will punish him," Hector corrected.

"No, I will punish him." Darius held his hand up to display his palm in the gesture he typically used to aim his chaos bolts. Hector pointedly did not react to the subtle indicator that his friend was plotting murder. Hopefully the System wouldn't pick up what was being discussed. Hector wasn't sure how pervasive the dystopian surveillance of the System went, but he assumed the worst.

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Seeking a distraction, Hector nodded towards where Wayne was talking to Esther at a table. "Do you think that's a date?"

Darius scoffed. "Of course not. She obviously humors him."

"I don't know," Hector taunted, "she looks interested in what he's saying."

Which caused Darius to stand abruptly. Hector immediately regretted his words as his friend stomped over to join the private conversation. "What are you two talking about?"

Wayne glanced at Darius. "Elixir ingredients. Don't you think we should import baking soda from Tian? Sodium bicarbonate breaks down in stomach acid, so it would be a great source of cosmic energy. Useless for body enhancement but someone at the peak like you needs the energy anyway."

After an awkward moment, Darius spoke loud to Hector. "It's a Jinn conversation."

Wayne eagerly waved Hector forward. "You're an educated man, are you not? Baking soda for energy, right?"

Hector reluctantly moved to join them. "I'm not sure I can speak authoritatively on the intersection of chemistry and cultivation."

"I don't expect you to be an expert. Just convince this woman that we should give it a try. The proof is in the eating, as they say. Literally in this case. We special order a shipment and see if it lives up to our expectations. It's science."

Esther rolled her eyes when she caught Hector's attention. "Wayne is one of the shareholders of my humble cafe. He brings the nutrition science, I bring the marketing, and Matthias brings the transit sphere."

"It's a business meeting," Darius said while looking entirely too smug.

Hector pretended to be engrossed in the other discussion instead. "So you're going to be putting baking soda into smoothies now?"

Esther folded her arms. "I don't think the Xian know what baking soda is."

"Even if they don't have a tradition of using chemical leavening agents, it's a naturally occurring mineral," Wayne shot back. "Natron. We can describe its appearance to our contacts."

"We deal with merchants, not miners," Esther countered. "They aren't going to go hunting for mineral deposits unless we promise them a massive return on investment. Our business plan calls for us to innovate ways to use cheap ingredients. Funding a mine won't be cheap. Or do you think you can convince the Xian to investigate the potential of baking soda?"

Wayne hesitated. "Maybe if we claim to want to bake a local quick bread recipe."

"They would try to sell us yeast instead. You'd need to persuade them with science. And you're the one who always tells me that we can't go down that path."

Wayne sunk back onto his chair as if his bones had all turned to rubber. "Damn savages."

Hector laughed at hearing the slur used by one of their own kind. Then again, they were all dreamers and rogues, none of them born on Tian. "Are they really so opposed to science because of the rivalry with the Jinn? There is no war going on at the moment."

The befuddled expression from Wayne made Hector wonder if he'd just said something monumentally stupid. "You think the lords forbid science and technology because of the Jinn?"

Hector shrugged. "That's what I was always told. In my dreams, I mean."

"I'm sure they justify the policy with that," Wayne said.

"Right. So what is the real reason, then?" He wasn't sure quite where this was going, whether it would be a conspiracy theory rant or a reasoned position, but his curiosity had been engaged.

Wayne grew solemn. "The lords don't want society to ever change. They are on top and they want it to stay that way. Think about what might happen if level four peasants learned how to make guns that fired bullets made from Tian metal. Those might take out a level five body the same way mundane bullets take out normal humans. What if they carved bullets out of the bones of a level nine cultivator's corpse? What damage might those do? The lords' ultimate mastery of their world could fall apart if their underlings could be picked off with locally manufactured technological gadgets. They might even have to fear death if Tian uranium was used in a nuclear weapon."

The logic was not obviously flawed to Hector, but he did spot a glaring factual mistake. "A lord would have nothing to fear from a nuclear weapon, no matter if its materials contained cosmic energy. The Lord General survived a blast from a Jinn bomb powered by antimatter and legal energy."

"I've never heard of such an event," Wayne countered.

"Oh, yeah, that happened," Esther said. "According to Matthias, they used the crater the blast created to house the dungeon. The Lord General survived just fine. What was Volithur at the time, Hector?"

"Level eight. Though he didn't emerge unscathed. He was horribly burned and it took weeks for his skin and eyes to recover." Hector shivered as he recalled the Lord General crushing the wrists and ankles of Volithur with cables of force until the limbs were amputated. He didn't think he would ever feel quite so comfortable in the dungeon again. Which, he reflected, was a bit messed up. Why would he ever be less than paranoid in the pitch black dungeon, surrounded by monsters?

Wayne shrugged. "Well, maybe I overestimate weaponry a little. But think of the pharmaceuticals! We're barely scratching the surface of what can be done at this cafe. If all the accumulated knowledge of the Jinn were leveraged in the service of elixir manufacture, they might be able to raise someone to level ten with a fraction of the effort."

Hector frowned. "That doesn't sound like something lords would oppose. They need resources, too. They turn human beings into platinum plasma elixirs."

The laugh from Wayne sounded especially bitter. "You sheltered soul. The type of person who has what it takes to become a Xian lord is the type to pull the ladder up after themselves. They don't want new lords popping up all over the place. They hate sharing power more than necessary."

When Hector glanced at Esther, she shrugged. "My dreams weren't of a Xian, so I'm out of my depth in these discussions. All I need to know about Lords is that I should avoid them. Otherwise, I just sweet talk the merchants that supply our cafe."

Hector blinked rapidly. "You didn't dream a Xian?" He struggled to process that for a moment. People weren't required to use their dream knowledge, of course. But the deep knowledge people received made it insane to go another path. That would be like Hector receiving his insight into chaotic emergence and deciding he would really rather be an Arahant. Sure, it was possible to take that path, but it was also throwing away a monumental advantage.

"Don't look at me like that! I had good reasons for my decision." Esther managed to look quite pretty in her indignation.

"What were those reasons?"

She sighed and flashed a smile at him and then at Darius. "I didn't want to become a Strigoi."

"That's a good reason to me," Wayne pronounced.

Darius seemed less convinced. "What's a Strigoi?"

"It's like a vampire," Hector said. Everyone looked at him like he'd just made up a word, so he rushed to explain. "Evil creatures that drink blood?"

Esther's brows climbed her forehead. "Why would they drink blood?"

His cheeks grew warm. He'd assumed that fact from the way people on Earth referred to the Strigoi as basically vampires. "They don't?"

"No. They eat the same types of food as anyone else. The reason they are a deviation from the standard Alfar build is that they specialize in the life energy of humans." She shook her head as if expressing her disapproval of her dream counterpart. "They drain people to empower themselves and their thralls. They play with humans like they're things. It's disgusting."

Darius shrugged. "I was almost turned into an elixir for Lords, so I don't think choosing to become a Xian was any better."

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