I stepped into the night, the warm glow inside me from the surprised faces of Kaelen and Sarei fading as I navigated the narrow alleys of the slums. As I passed the house where I had left the unconscious marines I glanced inside. There was no sign of them so I guessed they had crawled away in shame. Hopefully their embarrassment would stop them from reporting my attack.

  Now that I had a chance to calm down, I appreciated that assaulting marines wasn't the smartest move I could have made. If not now, then at some point there would be a consequence to my impulsiveness. I smiled. And when it did, I would be ready.

  Night had arrived while we were eating so it was dark, but between the occasional lantern in a window and the light from the moon and stars overhead, I made my way through the streets without stumbling.

  The moon... I paused mid-stride, my gaze drawn to the single orb hanging in the night sky. One moon. Just one. In my world, my original world, whenever I looked up at the night sky there were the twin moons, one slow, fat and silver, one fast and tinged with blue. Here there was only one.

  And the stars... I scanned the constellations, searching for even one recognizable pattern. Nothing. These weren't the stars I had navigated by for centuries. Not the Spear of Leviathan, nor the Seven Sisters of the Deep, nor the Hunter's Net that had guided me across the Tidebound Seas for so long.

  A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the night air. If I had harbored any lingering doubt about being in an entirely new world, it vanished as I stared at that alien sky. I was truly cut adrift from everything I had known.

  I shrugged and continued walking. Different world or not, my path remained clear: cultivate, grow, prevail. The sky above me might be foreign, but the principles of power were still the same.

  As the slums transitioned into the docks, evenly spaced lanterns started to appear, as did guards outside the warehouses. They gave me looks that ranged from bored to suspicious. Without having to watch my step in the dark my stride lengthened naturally, and I now moved with a modicum of grace I was certain this body had never known before.

  Even after just a few hours of cultivating using Waves Take Down a Cliff, I could feel the difference in my muscles and joints. To be clear, this body was still only just above average for a mortal, but it was far better than it was when I first got hold of it. More importantly it would now allow me to use at least a small part of my knowledge to actually fight with a chance of winning against other mortals..

  The skirmish with the marines had accelerated the improvement, forcing this body to adapt quickly to the demands I had placed upon it. It was a start but I needed more of the same if I was going to get my body and my meridians ready for the core that I wanted to put into it.

  I approached Qin's warehouse just before the allotted time of the eighth bell, scanning the shadows out of habit. The street seemed empty, and the warehouse dark and silent. Lian clearly wasn't here yet.

  "Punctual. I like that in a man."

  Startled, I whirled toward the voice my hand going to the hilt of my dagger. Lian materialized from a shadow I would have sworn was empty a moment before. Her sudden appearance impressed me. It had been a long time since anyone had been able to sneak up on me, and I hadn't sensed her presence at all before she spoke.

  "Twitchy aren't you." Her voice was low and amused. "Still want to head to The Broken Mast?"

  "Absolutely. Let's go."

  I took my hand from my dagger and fell into step beside her as we headed toward the harbor. "Tell me more about this place."

  Lian shot me a sideways glance, her eyebrow arched. "You already know everything that matters. If you just want to drown your sorrows then stay upstairs, if you want some action then head down. It's a fight club. People fight, mugs place bets, they lose their coin, and the house wins."

  She waved a hand dismissively. "First hour is open fights for whichever drunken or desperate fools want to have a go. Then it's the fights against the Champion of the Ring for the real idiots. That's all warm-up. After that, it's the real fights with proper fighters. That's what most people come to see, and that's where their purses get lightened the most."

  "And it's legal?" I asked, genuinely curious about how things like this would operate. I certainly would have shut down anything like this in my empire.

  Lian let out a snort. "Of course not. But it's for ordinary workers, not the nobles, and Ironjaw limits it so no one with a core can fight. The Imperials don't care as long as they get their bribes and there aren't too many deaths." She shrugged. "What more is there to say? It's a spectacle. Blood and brutality to keep us peasants amused."

  I mulled this over as we navigated through increasingly rowdy streets. "Interesting. Can someone fight more than once in an evening?"

  "You can fight as many times as you like so long as you're prepared to pay the buy in. The Champion of the Ring stays in and takes on all comers for as long as there are people prepared to take a beating."

  "And the prize if I won a fight?"

  Lian stopped dead, her fingers clamping around my arm. "No, no, no, no, no. Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking."

  I remained silent.

  "You can't be serious." Her eyes narrowed as she searched my face. "Are you drunk? I've heard that's kind of your thing."

  I allowed the corner of my mouth to twitch upwards.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "You're crazy," she hissed, pulling me along again. "The fights at The Broken Mast are vicious. You'll walk in, and then you'll crawl out. People rarely die, sure, that's just bad for business, but shattered kneecaps and permanently mangled hands?" She made a dismissive gesture. "Just another night's entertainment."

  "I can handle myself."

  "Oh listen to you, big man. With the prices healers charge, there's no way people like us can afford healing. If you get hurt, you could be laid up for months." She gestured at me. "You were wheezing just doing the deliveries this morning. Those dock rats will snap you in half without even putting down their beer."

  I smiled, feeling the new strength in my limbs from my opened meridians. "I'll take that risk. Will you help me get a fight?"

  Lian stopped again, staring at me for a long moment before bursting into laughter. "Fine. Your life. What do I care? I'll help on two conditions. First, you're buying the drinks all night."

  "I would expect nothing less. And second?"

  Her expression turned serious. "You're on your own when it comes to explaining your injuries to Sarei."

  I winced at the thought but nodded. "Deal."

  * * *

  It didn't take us much longer to arrive at The Broken Mast. It sprawled before us, the eponymous mast standing sentinel by the door. The mast was, as advertised, broken. The whole place was ramshackle. Honestly, it looked like it might collapse under a strong gust of wind. Laughter and light spilled from its open doors, carrying the unmistakable aroma of stale beer and unwashed bodies. My kind of perfume.

  I followed Lian inside and was immediately hit by a wall of noise and heat. The tavern was packed with dockworkers, sailors, and various other denizens of Shuilin Haven's less respectable quarters. To my surprise, several heads turned our way as we entered, and greetings rang out.

  "Lian! Where've you been hiding?"

  "Hey, beautiful! Come share a drink!"

  "Lian! Who's your new man?"

  She acknowledged the greetings with casual waves and smiles, clearly at home in this environment. I raised an eyebrow at her popularity.

  "You're well-known."

  She gave me a grin and a wink. "I get around."

  I pulled a couple of copper petals from my pocket and caught the barkeep's attention. "Two rice wines."

  While Lian chatted with someone she knew, I sipped my wine and surveyed the room. My eyes immediately locked onto the staircase in the corner that led downward. Two burly men sat at a table beside it, their expressions bored but watchful. As I watched, a man approached them, slid five copper petals across the table, and descended the stairs without a word.

  Lian had finished her conversation and returned. She followed my gaze and laughed softly. "You're clearly itching to get beaten up. Let's get these down us and head down."

  I looked around to make sure that no one was watching too closely, then reached into my pocket and pulled out Jin Duyi's coin purse. I took Lian's hand under the table, and before she could react, pressed the purse into her palm.

  "A deal's a deal." I kept my voice low enough so that only she could hear. "So buy yourself whatever you want to drink from this, but bet the rest of it on me in my third fight. Only the third one. Got it?"

  I felt her finger curl around the purse and saw her eyes widen as she felt the weight. She pulled her hands into her lap and peeked inside the purse before looking up.

  "Fangs as well as petals? Where did you get all this?" The volume of her voice matched my own and I was pleased to see that she didn't react beyond her widened eyes. I had judged her character aright.

  "Had some money saved up," I replied.

  Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Sure you did. Are you positive? That's a lot to bet on someone who's never fought at the Mast before."

  I gave her a grin and a wink of my own. "Absolutely."

  She shrugged and slipped the purse into an inner pocket. "It's your money. The third fight. Just hope that you left Sarei enough for your funeral."

  "Oh, and you should probably look after this for me." I handed her my dagger. "I wouldn't want to be accused of cheating."

  She took it and pulled it half out of its sheath to squint at the blacksmith's mark. She raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Mei Shulan? I would ask how you afforded this, but I'm not even going to bother. You keep your secrets, I'll ferret them out soon enough."

  I drained my rice wine, enjoying the sweet, sharp taste as it washed down my throat. Lian finished hers as well, then set the wooden cup down with a decisive thunk.

  "Ready to get your face rearranged?" she asked cheerfully.

  "More than ready," I replied, standing up and rolling my shoulders.

  We approached the staircase where the two guards sat. As we drew near, one of them lazily extended his leg across the entrance, blocking our path. Both men gave me a slow once-over, their eyes lingering on my shabby outfit. I still hadn't changed into my new clothes and I was regretting it yet again.

  "Who might you be?" the one with the extended leg asked.

  Before I could respond, Lian stepped forward. "He's with me. New fighter looking to make a name for himself."

  The guards exchanged glances, then both looked back at me with identical smirks. The seated one snorted and withdrew his leg.

  "Five coppers each," he said, holding out a meaty palm.

  Lian took some coins from Duyi's purse and dropped them his hand. He jerked his head toward the stairs. "Try not to bleed too much on the floor. It's a pain to clean."

  As we descended, the noise rose to meet us. The basement opened up before us, far larger than I had expected given the tavern above. Hundreds of patrons crowded around a central fighting ring, their shouts and laughter creating a deafening cacophony that bounced off the low ceiling.

  I paused at the bottom of the stairs, taking it all in. Most of the crowd looked like dockworkers and sailors, but I spotted a few young, well-dressed individuals who could only be nobles seeking entertainment beyond what their usual social circles provided. Around the perimeter, several hard-eyed men and women stood watching the crowd rather than the fights. I knew their sort. They were hired muscle to finish trouble before it started.

  My gaze settled on the bookmakers working from tables along the edges of the room, each with their own watchful guards, all of them overseen by a woman in a black robe. Perfect. It had been centuries since I had been in a place like this. In fact, not since my early days before I rose to prominence. For me fights meant formal tournaments or actual battles, not underground brawls in dingy basements.

  "Stop gawking," Lian said, nudging me. "If you want a fight it's this way."

  She led me through the press of bodies toward a private booth at the far side of the room. Inside sat a man that was easily the largest that I had seen in this world. His fist was wrapped around a half finished bottle of dark wine and he looked around as if he owned the place. Which, on reflection, he probably did. But it wasn't his formidable size that caught my attention.

  It was his jaw.

  Where flesh should have been, a construct of blackened metal extended from ear to ear. It was fastened to his face with smooth rivets that disappeared into his skin. In all my years, I had never seen anything quite like it.

  The man turned as we approached, his metal jaw catching the light from a nearby lantern. His eyes, startlingly alive in contrast to the dead metal below, locked onto me, and his expression soured into a scowl.