I dropped the dagger at the blacksmith's feet, the clatter echoing my disgust. "This." My voice was cold. "Is neither well-balanced nor good steel. I've come to the wrong place."

  As I turned to leave Mei Shulan halted me. "Don't get on your high horse. I showed you the best you looked like you could afford. Was I wrong?"

  I turned back and tipped the contents of Duyi's purse into my hand. "You were wrong."

  She gave me a small smile and held up her hands in submission. "In which case I owe you an apology and a deal, if you still want to buy from me that is."

  Walking over to a rack she brought out several options. These were the real deal this time. I tested each one, feeling their weight and balance. These were a clear cut above the others that she had showed me. Finally I selected a simple but well-crafted dagger with a leather-wrapped hilt and a blade a little shorter than my forearm. Nothing fancy, but deadly effective in the right hands. And my hands were definitely the right ones.

  "I'll take this."

  Shulan looked at me speculatively. "Who are you?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  Shulan's cloudy eye fixed on me while her good one traced my frame. "Look at you. Soft hands with no calluses, clothes that say you're one step up from the street. Your coordination and gut scream 'never held steel.' Yet you have coin and handle my blades like you've been weighing metal for decades."

  She crossed her arms. "Nothing about you adds up."

  I shrugged. "My background doesn't matter. Shuilin Haven is a dangerous city and I want to protect myself, nothing more complicated than that."

  "That so?"

  I sighed. "Listen. If you want to sell to me, excellent. I'll take the dagger and that apology you offered." I met her stare without flinching. "If not, plenty of other smiths in this city will gladly take my money."

  Shulan studied me for a long moment, then barked out a laugh.

  "Fair enough. Two silver. And I'll throw in a sheath and a sharpening stone as the apology."

  I paid without haggling. It was a more than fair price and we both knew it. More importantly she knew how much money I had and she wasn't trying to part me from all of it. I appreciated that.

  With the dagger secured beneath my tunic, I hurried to the food vendors. The scent of spiced meat and fried vegetables caught my nose and made my stomach growl even though I had just eaten. Knowing my cultivator's appetite would demand at least double portions I ordered meat, vegetables and noodles for five along with a pitcher of rice wine. The vendor wrapped the clay pots that the food came in with large leaves to keep it hot. I added a snack of a lightly spiced meat in flakey, buttery pastry to keep me going as I picked up my last things.

  Dinner secured I headed to a final stall to add soft bread, cheese, and fresh fruit for breakfast. Neither I, nor my siblings, were going to eat that bread and fish again if I could help it.

  With my purchases secured in a sack, I headed home. With everything that I was carrying, there was no way that Sarei could argue that I hadn't kept my promise to bring dinner for everyone.

  I strode through the streets at a brisk pace brisk with, energy coursing through my newly opened meridians. The familiar weight of the dagger against my ribs, the clean clothes, and the packed food swinging in its sack felt right. For the first time since waking in this body, I felt something like myself again, or at least a shadow of what I once was.

  A familiar chirp caught my attention. Looking up, I spotted a small sparrow perching on a branch overhead. Was it the same one that had witnessed my cultivation breakthrough? I thought it might be.

  "Ah, my silent witness." I had a small corner of my pastry snack left and I tossed it upwards. The bird snatched it out of the air with impressive precision. "Payment for your discretion, little one."

  The sparrow chirped again before pecking at its reward.

  Debt settled, hunger sated, the ki surging through my meridians demanded that I test this body. I broke into a jog that quickly became a dance as I weaved between pedestrians and market stalls in the shadows of the afternoon sun. My movements felt comfortable even though I could tell I couldn't keep going for too long. It was nothing like the clumsy scramble from this morning. Each step confirmed that cultivating ki had already begun to transform this vessel.

  I dodged around a fishmonger's cart, spun past a group of arguing sailors, and then clambered over a pile of empty crates. This body was still entirely mortal but it was improved from this morning. I couldn't stop a smile spreading across my face, and I didn't want to.

  As I entered the slums I slowed back down to a walk and caught my breath. Even as the buildings grew more dilapidated and the streets narrowed, my spirits remained buoyant. One day of work, one pouch of stolen silver, four meridians opened, not bad for my first day in this new life.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  As I turned the final corner towards home, my smile vanished as I saw what was happening.

  * * *

  Imperial marines wearing the same trident insignia as Lieutenant Ren's men moved down our street. Their synchronized movements betrayed military precision as they systematically broke into each dwelling and dragged the inhabitants into the mud.

  My blood ran hot as I watched them reach our hovel. The door, pitiful barrier that it was, exploded inward beneath a heavy boot. Two marines entered, and I caught Sarei's defiant curse, followed by the dull sound of flesh striking flesh.

  When they emerged, Sarei's there was a gash across her cheek and a crimson line trailing down her face. A wiry marine dragged her out, his tight grip marking her arm. Kaelen's eyes blazed with helpless fury as a larger marine shoved him into line with the butt of a spear butt.

  My fingers tightened around the hilt of my dagger.

  This would not stand.

  I melted into the shadows between two buildings, my back pressed against rough wooden planks. The dagger remained in my grip, but I forced myself to think before acting.

  The two marines strutted from doorway to doorway, each kick and shout dripping with impunity. It was just the two of them for now but more had passed earlier, and the casual arrogance of these two suggested they were confident reinforcements were nearby.

  I traced the pathways of ki through my newly awakened meridians, feeling them pulse with power. Not enough, not against these odds.

  Stashing my purchases somewhere safe I would find them later I circled around, moving through narrow gaps between hovels, staying low and quiet. Behind a stack of empty fish barrels near my home I found a vantage point where I could watch things unfold.

  The basic pattern became clear. Hurry up and wait. The military was the same wherever you were. The two marines worked their way down the street, secured each home, forced the occupants outside, and then just stood around clearly waiting for something or someone.

  What they were waiting for became clear when new figures rounded the corner and the two marines snapped to attention. There were six of them in the new group with two clearly in charge. One was older, his bored, weathered face set in stern lines. Beside him walked a woman, her posture rigid and her uniform immaculate despite the squalor surrounding her. These two were unmistakably officers, and I would guess that the older one had rank. Four more marines flanked them, hands resting on their weapons.

  They stopped before each group of terrified residents. The woman consulted a parchment, asked questions, then pulled out a somewhat familiar looking piece of black obsidian. Her Soul Mirror was about a quarter the size of mine and had only one silver vein in it. She held it up and performed what I would guess was a scan to check the details of their spiritual development, or lack thereof. I would be interested to know how she did it, as I hadn't figured out the trick to scanning others using mine. An irritation that I would want to remedy in due course.

  The pair worked their way down the street until they reached Sarei and Kaelen. My new siblings stood straight-backed despite their fear, Sarei's chin lifted defiantly as blood still trickled from her cheek.

  "Shen Sarei and Shen Kaelen?" The female officer's voice carried clearly to my hiding spot.

  Sarei nodded.

  "I am Lieutenant Lin Qiara. Please confirm your identities."

  "Yes, yes. That's us," Kaelen growled.

  As she had done on the other residents, Lieutenant Lin performed her scan, and while I couldn't see what was shown on the Soul Mirror I could see that it just flashed blue. This looked like it was a more basic version of the Soul Mirror that I had, which made sense as the one that I had came from a Vanguard while the two officers were certainly still in the Awakening Realm. The fact that it couldn't do as much as mine though gave me the start of an idea.

  Lieutenant Lin glanced at the Soul Mirror then turned to her commanding officer. "They're clear, Captain Xie. No cores."

  The captain nodded as Lieutenant Lin made a mark on her parchment.

  "There should be a Shen Taros at this address as well," Lieutenant Lin said, looking up from her document. "Where is he?"

  "Still at work," Sarei answered, her voice steadier than I expected.

  Captain Xie sighed, impatience etched in the lines around his mouth. "When this Taros returns, he is to report to the marine barracks immediately. Don't make us come back for him."

  "Can I ask why?" Sarei's question came politely.

  "No." Captain Xie's response was flat and final.

  Without another word, the officers moved on to the next dwelling, their marines following in perfect formation.

  I remained motionless behind the barrels, as Captain Xie and Lieutenant Lin continued down the street. My fingers rested on the hilt of the dagger. My initial fury had turned to determination. The two marines who had assaulted my siblings lingered near our home, waiting for the officers and their entourage to finish their sweep.

  My pride stung at the memory of the cut on Sarei's face and of Kaelen being shoved like common refuse. For centuries, I had been a protector, a ruler who ensured the safety of his people. Now my people numbered only two, but the principle remained unchanged.

  I tracked the officers' progress. Ten more steps and they would turn the corner, leaving a brief window when these marines would be alone before they followed. Wisdom would be to disappear, report to the barracks as ordered, bend my neck to survive another day.

  But I was done being pushed around.

  I assessed my options. My newly opened meridians hummed with power. Against disciplined imperial marines, it would help, but not enough. This body, soft from poverty and drink, lacked the hardened reflexes of my former self.

  This was reckless. Suicidal, even.

  Yet I couldn't ignore it. Not if I was going to be true to myself.

  I slipped from behind the barrels, keeping to the shadows between buildings. The timing would need to be perfect. Strike after the officers disappeared from view but before these two caught up with them.

  The officers and their escort rounded the corner. The marines relaxed then stretched and turned to follow, their backs to me.

  Years of combat experience flooded my mind. I might lack my former power, but enough knowledge remained and a plan crystalized

  I let out a long slow breath. This was foolish. This was necessary.

  This body's siblings were all I had in this world. No one hurt them without there being consequences.

  are available on Patreon.