Chapter 17

  They stood on the edge of the Miniature rose’s deck and looked down at the sprawling city nestled in between two mountain ranges. The distance between the two mountains was roughly six kilometers and yet the buildings looked like they’d had to be squeezed in.

  One end of the city stretched into an inland sea, that Yin couldn’t see the other side of even as far up in the sky as they were. Buildings jutted up out of the water, some built from blue stone that shimmered like the water around them.

  The opposite side looked like someone had sprayed paint out over a green canvass. Homes and buildings scattered out into the plains, the distance between them stretched ever more the further they got from the main city.

  ‘’Capital of the Tawlim Kingdom, Tasaria. Named by Queen Tasaria one thousand three hundred and seventy one years prior. Current ruler, Talia Tawlim has held the throne for one year. Main exports are: water attuned treasures, earth attuned treasures, wheat, aquatic animal meat and ores.’’ Secretary reported, temporarily in her illusory guise.

  ‘’Oh my GOD I want to eat fish so bad!’’ Zeurel exclaimed.

  ‘’Lifeforms in the Tawlim Lake fall under-’’

  ‘’Thank you Secretary.’’ Yin patted her into silence. ‘’So what do we do first here? Start setting our base up?’’

  ‘’Fish!’’

  ‘’I think we should introduce ourselves to the, uh, ruler here.’’

  ‘’Fish.’’

  ‘’What do fish taste like?’’ Ti Li tugged on her sister's sleeve and was rewarded with a shrug.

  ‘’I was unaware that Talion had stepped down so soon, I believe this Old Man would like to visit. And perhaps sample some fish.’’

  Yin clapped and exclaimed. ‘’Alright! Fish it is!’’ Through the cheers that followed Yin continued. ‘’Who is staying on the ship!?’’

  …

  ‘’Ti Li, point that finger at someone else.’’ Yin demanded but the young demon was swiftly joined by the others. He sighed and accepted the democratic decision.

  —

  Later in the day Montai returned, having grown bored with the city pretty quickly. Meaning Yin, and Zeurel who had stayed behind with him, were free to go down and explore.

  ‘’Fish has been delayed for two hours, you better be grateful Yin!’’ Zeurel yelled over the whipping wind as they descended on a spare thousand mile cloud Duong had packed.

  ‘’I showed you plenty of gratitude for staying with me. What? You want more? That’s gonna be a public indecency charge. Death penalty!’’ Zeurel giggled when he stabbed a finger into her ribs. Yin was a bit puzzled by the reaction to what should have been discomfort.

  ‘’Hehe.. Um, we’re coming in pretty fast here, how do we brake?’’ Zeurel groped around the cloud that was currently the only thing keeping them from terminal velocity.

  ‘’We’re a few dozen kilos past capacity for this little piece of shit, so, y’know, brace.’’

  Zeurel stared at him incredulously, even as her life cloak came up and turned her brown and cream fur green. Yin used the Falling Star cloak and calculated a target, stepping off and touching down on a rooftop. The thousand mile cloud was finally allowed to actually lift its burden and Zeurel was safely decelerated to a non lethal speed before hitting the ground with a shriek.

  Another step and he appeared right next to her and got swiftly headbutted for it.

  The pair fled the impact site when nearby locals started reprimanding them and calling for guards to come punish their reckless behavior. Yin appreciated the architecture, much different from the living Titan’s Grove. The buildings were mainly made from stone, some with blue or white bricks and mortar, others likely grown into place by artists.

  And as he’d seen from the sky it was dense. They’d landed in a square not much wider than the little training space he’d used way back when. And the streets they crossed were even narrower, some alleyways wouldn’t even allow one person to sidle through.

  ‘’It’s just like Greece.’’ Zeurel noted smiling up at an old lady leaning out from a window hanging laundry on a string connected to a window on the opposite side. ‘’Oh, that was so long ago, even back in my last life that was a long time ago. We should go on vacations often when we’re not on a deadline like this.’’

  ‘’For sure, I want to see this whole world before we leave.’’ Yin agreed, looking at a beautiful mural stretching over a long wall, depicting what looked like an eel swimming through a coral reef.

  They wandered vaguely in the direction of the water, eventually letting a very nice scent guide them the rest of the way.

  Coming out from the claustrophobic alleys they found themselves on the very edge of the water. The paved stones they stood on ended abruptly without anything to stop pedestrians from falling straight into the lake that was only centimeters lower than the stone. They sure weren’t concerned with the waterline rising around these parts.

  Zeurel took Yin by the arm and nearly carried him as she hurried towards the sounds of frying food.

  The restaurant they found was nothing more than an open window of a residential house with some little signs around it. Inside a woman with blue tinged skin stood over a massive wok filled with pale bubbling oil. It sure didn’t look appetizing, but the scents were divine.

  The lady inside looked at them with the unfocused eyes of someone using their copper sight. She pointed at Yin right away. ‘’That pure madra ‘a yours will do.’’

  Yin sensed he had the opportunity to fleece the woman. ‘’Well, well, well, don’t you know this young master's pure madra is a highly valued commodity? You’d best be ready to fork over all your best for it!’’ The chef had a stony face, weathered by a life in the sun and close to the heat of cooking fires. Yin stood no chance, she was simply too powerful. ‘’Alright, just kidding.. haha..’’

  ‘’I want three eel skewers, one fried filet of Stonewinder and two cuts of mare eater. Aaand.. two cups of beer to drink.’’ Zeurel watched the woman inside start working on the order, then to Yin. ‘’What are you ordering?’’

  Having sort of thought she was ordering for the two of them, Yin hid his indecision by starting to forge a scale. ‘’Guess I’ll have a Big Three platter and a beer.’’ He grimaced a bit as the forging started to strain his already tired channels. He’d probably need to take the night off from training.

  They’d certainly done enough of it on the way.

  When they received their food, and Zeurel managed to balance all of her order on the thousand mile cloud, they went to find a spot to eat in. Yin looked out at the sapphire domes of what looked like sunken buildings. One of them had a nicely flat roof, if a bit slanted.

  It was easy enough for Yin to make it out, with a Falling Star step. Harder for Zeurel who had to balance over all her orders on the cloud as she floated it over.

  No words were exchanged as they sat and admired the view. While stuffing food down their throat in Zeurels case. Yin tested his and found three different types of fried oceanic life, white, pink and deep red meat. They were all nothing like any fish or crustacean he’d ever eaten on earth. The texture and flavor were more reminiscent of beef and yet they had an undertone that reminded of shrimp.

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  Soon Yin was doing the same thing as Zeurel and simply shoveling down his meal.

  When the food ran out they sat, enjoying the sun, the view and each other's company.

  A shadow passed out in the water, and Yin looked up but Montai was nowhere to be seen in the sky. ‘’Zeruel, something’s in the water.’’ He stood, followed slower by Zeurel who let out a burp and rubbed her stomach.

  ‘’Yeah, I think we both know there’s stuff in the water.. Oh, that’s big. Should we go back in?’’ She looked over her shoulder and then back to the growing shape in the water.

  Yin stared at the thing, able to make out a long serpentine body. He was reminded of the mural they’d passed. ‘’Take the cloud, I wanna see something first.’’

  Yin relaxed his gaze into copper sight as Zeurel drifted back to land. The world became saturated with color, blue from the water, green from the life in it. Wind, light and fire were strong in the area, force and earth from behind him.

  In the water he saw the dense water madra in the creature's soul, but there was more he couldn’t make out.

  Suddenly it shifted and accelerated towards him. Yin wasted no time and turned to take two steps, taking him back to stand next to Zeurel on the thin strip of land at the edge. But the thing in the water wasn’t deterred. In a burst of madra he could feel from so far away it did something similar to Yin’s godspeed cloak and closed the distance in less than a second.

  Yin switched to pure madra and had a fist ready, already forging an attack. But he stopped as the dragon rose out of the water, switching from its water core to a path that felt like storm madra. It had a pair of almost humanoid arms that slammed into the wall and ground around them. Catlike eyes bored into Yin with shock.

  ‘’There’s no way!’’ It exclaimed in a voice so deep the water vibrated under its floating body. ‘’You’ve split your soul. How did you do it? Who taught you how to do that?’’

  Yin did his best to seem unfazed by the finger length fangs and truegold madra that bore the dragon's body in the air. ‘’Read a story about a guy once.’’ He said, feeling sweat drip down his temple.

  Stone cracked and the dragon leaned in further. ‘’Huh? Wait, what was that? English? I never learned that, say it in the common language little man.’’

  ‘’I said I read it in a story about a guy once.’’ Yin put a hand on the dragons nose and pushed him back a bit, thankfully the big creature complied and gave them some breathing room. ‘’My name’s Yin by the way, and this is Zeurel.’’

  The dragon looked at her for the first time and quickly retreated out of arms range. ‘’Whoa! Dangerous. Life path people are waaay dangerous.’’ It paused awkwardly, starting to do odd serpentine motions and bobbing in the air on its storm madra. ‘’So uh, my name in my last life was Yuri, but as long as I’ve been here I’ve gone by, uuh, Kaido. Don’t laugh!’’

  Yin did not stop laughing.

  ‘’STOP!’’ A wall of wind filled with rain and hints of lightning hit both of them hard into the wall. ‘’Oh! Shit, sorry I can’t control myself that well when I get worked up. So don’t laugh at me alright!?’’

  ‘’Yeah, Yin, it’s rude to laugh at people for their name.’’ Zeurel reprimanded, slicking her wet hair back, inadvertently revealing Cherie who Yin hadn’t seen for a long time. The little spirit clung to one of Zeurels horns, seemingly dormant.

  ‘’Right, sorry, sorry. But hey, that’s cool, I love One Piece too.’’ Seeing a dragon splutter and twist on itself was surely a unique experience. ‘’So you still haven’t said her name yet? Content to live here?’’

  Kaido froze in the air, and then dropped into the water with a great splash that soaked them both again. ‘’W-what the hell? You can’t just say that, dude, what if-’’ It’s voice dropped to a whisper that anyone in the surrounding block could probably hear. ‘’What if she notices us.’’

  ‘’She knows us, we’re acquainted. I asked her to adopt me.’’

  ‘’I’ve been living in her city since I was like, eight.’’ Zeurel supplied.

  ‘’You guys are dangerous. I don’t think I should be talking to you anymore.’’

  ‘’Why?’’ Yin and Zeurel asked at the same time.

  ‘’The monarchs are, like, the biggest gangsters on this planet.’’ Kaido slank up onto the strip of land with most of their body. ‘’Even The Tree is way too powerful. Like, think about it, what is she having you do right now? You’re here to do her bidding right?’’

  Yin and Zeurel looked at eachother, then back to Kaido. ‘’She told us to do whatever we want for the next two years. Then we’re gonna meet all the other outsiders like us who are under the other monarchs.’’

  ‘’Yeah, this is sort of a training vacation thing we’re doing. We want to make it all the way to the end you know? So, we’re gonna travel around a bit and try to find materials and stuff to make ourselves stronger.’’ Zeurel added on.

  ‘’There’s.. There's more of us?’’ Kaido looked very fragile for a tiger faced serpent big enough to bite a horse in half.

  ‘’You’re number five. We have us two, and our friends Duong and Montai. And yeah it sounds like the other monarch have a few of their own.’’ Zeurel seemed lost in thought as she said it, missing the dragons deflating demeanor.

  ‘’I get it,’’ Yin started, leaning back against the broken wall behind him. ‘’I waited until I was basically stuck before I said her name, and honestly, I really regret I didn’t do it when I was a baby.’’

  ‘’How do you know those are your own thoughts?’’ Kaido countered, laying flat on the ground. ‘’Those guys are basically gods, even to sages and heralds they’re so much stronger that no one else can compete. Messing with your head is the least they could do.’’

  ‘’She wouldn’t do that!’’ Zeurel paused after her offended outburst. ‘’I mean, she’s probably the only one of them that could do that, but I’m sure she wouldn’t. Even the Lion had to bargain with people in the books.’’

  ‘’I think Worst Mom could get up to some weird stuff in peoples minds, but in her case it might be more, uuh. Torture. Torture until you give up and she just massages you into the shape she wants.’’

  ‘’Why’d you have to say massage in that sentence?’’ Zeurel looked put out.

  ‘’You didn’t answer my question.’’ Kaido muttered, and flopped a bit as some citizen stepped over their body and floated out on the water with an odd little construct boat.

  Yin thought about it for a moment. ‘’I know she hasn’t done that because there aren’t any gaps or inconsistencies in my memory. I’m gonna have Secretary check when she’s stronger.’’ Yin kicked a pebble from the broken wall at Kaido. ‘’You’ve put a brand new fear in me, asshole.’’

  ‘’You have a secretary?’’

  ‘’I have a dream spirit. That we surgically implanted in a remnant. She wanted us to do it.’’ Yin took a deep breath and started over. ‘’Okay so like a year and a half ago we all got to go see if any spirits would like to become our companions. I got a dream spirit that liked doing math and stuff so I had her do little stuff for me. That’s why I called her Secretary and it’s just stuck.’’

  ‘’Alright you don’t have to-’’

  ‘’And then a few weeks ago!’’ Yin glared at the rude dragon. ‘’Secretary went ahead on something I’d been talking about and giving her a body, like- Y’know, like in the book. And it just turned out like that.’’

  Kaido slipped off into the water. ‘’Alright, okay, got it. Still sounds weird but you do you.’’ Yin briefly considered taking his chances and fighting the dragon. ‘’Are you guys going to stay here long?’’

  ‘’Mm hmm, we’re gonna make a base up on one of the mountains.’’ Zeurel happily told the dragon.

  ‘’Oh shit, really?’’

  ‘’Yeah!’’

  ‘’That’s awesome.’’

  ‘’Secretary is designing it. It might take us a week or two to put together. You should come up and visit, meet the others.’’ Yin suggested, to a lukewarm reception.

  Kaido curled in the water. ‘’I’ll think about it.’’ The dragon put a clawed hand on the ground and pulled closer. ‘’Fair warning if you haven’t already heard, but the new queen is kind of a bad person. Really bitchy and demanding. She’s been on my tail for years about being her stupid guard dog or whatever.’’

  Seemingly done with them the dragon kept mumbling about how bad the queen was as it sank under the water.

  Yin waited for the shadow to fade completely before turning to Zeurel. ‘’I didn’t like that.’’

  ‘’Yeah, going from aggressive to meek like that was weird.’’

  ‘’I don’t like snakes much.’’

  ‘’That was your problem?’’

  ‘’Also the whole getting up in my face at lightning speed and that outburst but yeah, fuck snakes.’’

  Zeurel pushed him into the water.