Cultivation, Ciel discovered, was remarkably good at making one's legs hurt.
Her first night as Mara Voss's disciple ended sometime after midnight.
Her second ended later.
By the fourth, Ciel had developed strong opinions regarding meditation mats, stone floors, and ancient cultivation arts that required one to sit without moving for several hours at a time.
None of those opinions were flattering.
"Master."
"Hm."
"My foot is dead."
Mara did not open her eyes.
"It isn't."
"I can't feel it."
"Then enjoy the silence."
Ciel glared at her.
Mara sat less than an arm's length away, perfectly still beneath the open sky.
The eighty-eight spirit stones around them emitted their pale glow.
Above, stars filled the darkness.
Around Ciel, stellar influence pressed against her skin like invisible cold rain.
And, as it had every night since she began—
her body rejected almost all of it.
She breathed according to Mara's instructions.
Slowly.
Evenly.
She tried not to chase the strange pressure.
Not to force it.
Not to tense every time something seemed to brush against her skin.
The Heavenly Dao Observation Art was not a technique one conquered through sheer aggression.
According to Mara, that was an excellent way to injure oneself.
According to Ciel, it was an excellent way to become bored.
A faint prickling touched the inside of her left forearm.
Ciel's eyes snapped open.
"Master."
Mara sighed.
"You lost it."
Ciel blinked.
"Lost what?"
"The thing you were about to ask me whether you felt."
Ciel looked at her arm.
The sensation was gone.
"...How did you know?"
"Because you've done this six times."
"I thought this one was different."
"So did you the previous five."
Ciel crossed her arms.
Then remembered she was supposed to be meditating and unfolded them again.
Mara's mouth twitched.
"Again."
Ciel closed her eyes.
She breathed.
The stars pressed down.
Her body refused them.
Again.
Again.
Again.
By day, Blue Port was becoming a different city.
Ciel had entered it starving, filthy and terrified, beneath evening shadows and unfamiliar lanterns.
For several days afterward, she had unconsciously carried that version of Blue Port with her.
Closed doors.
Strangers' eyes.
Red lanterns.
Alleys she did not understand.
Hands reaching for her.
But morning changed everything.
Voss Appraisals stood on one of the great commercial roads connecting Blue Port's western gate to the port.
Caravans that entered from the inland routes followed it toward warehouses near the sea.
Goods arriving by ship traveled in the opposite direction.
The result was a road that seemed determined never to become quiet.
By sunrise, carts already rattled over stone.
Porters shouted.
Horses complained.
Merchants argued with one another in accents Ciel had never heard.
Cultivators walked beside mortals without attracting nearly as many stares as William once had in Orione.
Some carried weapons.
Some carried baskets.
Some wore sect robes.
Some looked little different from laborers except for the faint layers of Qi that occasionally became visible around them.
The neighborhood surrounding Voss Appraisals was neither poor nor prestigious.
Nora called it "respectably affordable."
Mara called it "expensive enough already."
The closer one moved toward the harbor, the more valuable property became.
Warehouses, large shops and trading companies crowded the road.
Farther inland, rents fell and ordinary residences became more common.
Voss Appraisals sat somewhere between those two worlds.
Close enough to the port that hunters and sailors passed regularly.
Close enough to the gate that caravans brought in strange objects from the countryside.
Far enough from the noble quarter that nobody expected polished marble floors.
Ciel liked it.
She had begun recognizing the shops.
Immediately beside Voss Appraisals stood a narrow restaurant with a faded blue sign depicting a bowl and three rising lines of steam.
Three Steam Kitchen.
Every morning, the smell of broth found Ciel before she finished opening the shutters.
Across the street was a repair workshop where two brothers fixed mundane weapons, fishing tools, armor straps and anything else customers could drag inside.
Three buildings down stood a herbal medicine shop.
Not a cultivator's pill hall.
Most of its medicines were for mortals.
But its owner kept a locked cabinet containing several low-grade spiritual remedies for customers who could pay.
There was a bathhouse at the next intersection.
A used-book shop.
A carriage office.
A pawnbroker.
Two stalls selling fried fish in the afternoon.
And farther down the road—
an artifact shop.
Ciel noticed that one quickly.
It was difficult not to.
The storefront was nearly twice the width of Mara's.
Its windows were clean enough to reflect passing carriages.
Three bronze plaques hung beside the entrance.
The largest read:
IRON SCALE HALL
Beneath it, in smaller lettering:
Authorized Myriad Scales Affiliate
The third plaque contained several seals Ciel could not read.
Its displays contained swords, lamps, storage boxes, protective pendants and other objects that looked considerably more expensive than anything at Voss Appraisals.
Nora noticed her staring on the second morning.
"Don't compare the windows."
Ciel looked at her.
"What?"
"They polish theirs."
"We don't?"
Nora looked around the shop.
Dust floated through a beam of sunlight.
"...We clean strategically."
Ciel smiled.
"Are they part of Myriad Scales Sect?"
"Not exactly."
"Then why does it say—"
"Affiliate."
Nora lifted one finger.
"Important word."
She leaned across the counter.
"Myriad Scales makes more artifacts than it can sell in the noble quarter."
"Apprentice work. Minor flaws. Bad finish. Pieces that don't meet a commissioner's standards. Repaired goods. Old inventory."
"So they send them here?"
"Not only here. They have subordinate families and shops all over Blue Port."
Nora nodded toward Iron Scale Hall.
"The Mercers run that one."
"Are they powerful?"
"Depends who you ask."
Ciel waited.
Nora smiled.
"If you ask them, extraordinarily."
On the sixth day after becoming Mara's disciple, Ciel finally entered Three Steam Kitchen.
She had spent those six days pretending she was not interested.
That became impossible when Nora ordered lunch from next door and ate dumplings behind the counter.
Ciel lasted fourteen minutes.
"I'll be back."
Nora did not look up.
"Where are you going?"
"Outside."
"To the building ten steps away?"
"Yes."
"Very adventurous."
Ciel ignored her.
Three Steam Kitchen was narrow and warm.
Steam clouded the front windows.
Six tables occupied most of the room.
A long counter separated the dining area from a kitchen where an older couple worked with terrifying speed.
The menu was written on wooden slats hanging from hooks.
Ciel stood beneath them and realized she knew none of the dishes.
A girl at one of the tables noticed.
"First time?"
Ciel turned.
She was perhaps seventeen.
Maybe eighteen.
Dark blond hair had been tied high behind her head, though several strands had escaped and stuck to her forehead.
Her clothes were practical rather than fashionable.
Leather boots.
Brown trousers.
A green jacket with reinforced sleeves.
A narrow knife hung at her waist.
A woven gathering basket sat beside her chair.
There was dirt on one knee.
And around her—
two faint layers of Qi.
Ciel looked slightly too long.
The girl noticed.
"Second Layer."
Ciel flushed.
"Sorry."
"You're new."
It was not a question.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Very."
The girl pointed at the menu.
"Don't order the salt-fish noodles."
"Why?"
"They're cheap for a reason."
An older man eating behind her raised his bowl.
"I like the salt-fish noodles."
The girl didn't turn around.
"You're seventy and can't taste anything."
The man considered that.
"Fair."
Ciel smiled despite herself.
The girl pointed at another menu slat.
"Beef broth noodles if you're hungry."
Another.
"Pork dumplings if Nora hasn't already eaten all of them."
Ciel blinked.
"You know Nora?"
"Everyone here knows Nora."
She pointed through the wall as though Voss Appraisals were visible.
"And Senior Voss."
Ciel approached her table.
"I'm Ciel Yi."
"Elena Ward."
Elena shifted her bowl aside.
"Senior Voss's new disciple?"
Ciel stared.
"How does everyone know that?"
"Because you disappeared into her shop after dark looking half dead, slept upstairs, started working there, and now ride away with her every evening."
Elena picked up a dumpling.
"This street is boring enough that you're news."
Ciel was unsure whether to be offended.
Elena pointed toward the empty chair opposite her.
"Sit."
Ciel did.
"What should I order?"
"How much money do you have?"
Ciel hesitated.
Elena laughed.
"Important cultivation question."
"Not much."
"Then noodles."
A few minutes later, Ciel had a bowl in front of her.
The broth was hot enough to burn her tongue.
She didn't care.
It was wonderful.
Elena watched her eat.
"You really are from somewhere small."
Ciel swallowed.
"Orione Town."
"Mining?"
"Mostly."
"Orion metal?"
"You know it?"
"I've seen it."
Elena shrugged.
"Gatherers hear about strange materials."
"You gather herbs?"
"And mushrooms."
"And beast parts."
"And anything else someone pays me to bring back."
Ciel looked at the basket.
"You're independent?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly?"
Elena dipped a dumpling.
"I'm registered with Green Trail Society."
Ciel waited.
Elena noticed.
"You've never heard of it."
"No."
"Good."
Ciel blinked.
Elena laughed.
"It's a small gathering society."
"We have maybe forty active members."
"A few seniors."
"Nothing impressive."
"But they post jobs, organize groups, rent equipment, buy what we gather, and make sure someone's supposed to come looking if we don't return."
"Why not work alone?"
"Because I enjoy being alive."
Reasonable.
Ciel thought about the merit systems Nora had mentioned.
"Do you earn merit?"
Elena nodded.
"Contribution points."
"Same thing."
"Guard a herb patch for three days, points."
"Join a group hunt, points."
"Bring back something the Society requested, points."
"Help train juniors, points."
"What do you buy?"
"Techniques."
"Medicines."
"Equipment access."
"Information."
"Better mission priority."
Elena grimaced.
"And eventually, if I save enough, a better cultivation manual."
Ciel looked interested.
"What's wrong with yours?"
"Nothing."
"That's the problem."
Ciel didn't understand.
Elena leaned closer.
"It's perfectly average."
That made Ciel laugh.
"I know someone else with that problem."
They began eating together often after that.
Not every day.
Elena disappeared regularly for gathering missions and short hunts.
But whenever she returned through the western commercial road, she stopped at Three Steam Kitchen.
Sometimes she arrived covered in mud.
Once she smelled so strongly of seawater that Nora refused to let her inside Voss Appraisals until she dried.
Another time she brought Ciel a handful of blue berries and warned her not to eat them.
"Then why did you bring them?"
"They're pretty."
"They're poisonous."
"Very."
Ciel stared.
Elena grinned.
"You're learning."
More importantly, Elena knew things.
Not great secrets.
Useful things.
Which small sect was recruiting.
Which hunter group had lost two members near the southern cliffs.
Which merchant paid badly.
Which teahouse watered down spirit tea.
Which guard captain was fair.
Which one had an unpleasant son.
Which families mattered locally.
Who pretended to matter.
Ciel started realizing that knowledge did not only live in books.
Sometimes it sat across from you eating dumplings.
Her cultivation progressed less quickly than her social life.
By the tenth night, Ciel had learned to distinguish several kinds of failure.
There was the sensation she imagined.
The sensation she actually felt but could not hold.
The sensation Mara said was merely numbness.
And, increasingly—
something else.
A tiny intrusion.
A cold point that did not immediately slide away.
The first time it happened, Ciel gasped.
It vanished.
Mara opened one eye.
"You scared it."
Ciel glared.
"Qi doesn't get scared."
"Apparently yours does."
The next night it happened again.
A tiny thread seemed to press through the skin near her wrist.
For less than a breath—
it was inside.
Ciel felt it.
Not heat.
Not cold.
Something with no mortal equivalent.
A presence where there had previously been absence.
Her excitement destroyed her concentration.
It escaped.
But now she knew.
It was possible.
That changed everything.
Hours of sitting no longer felt empty.
Every failure became:
Not yet.
Instead of:
Nothing.
Three days later, Elena found her studying a handbill during lunch.
It advertised a gathering at a teahouse near the harbor.
RETURN OF SENIOR CORVIN VALE
Nine Years Beyond the Eastern Reaches
Experiences, Dangers, Trade Routes and Cultivation Insights
Seven Reeds Teahouse — Fifthday Evening
Ciel read it twice.
"Is he important?"
Elena shrugged.
"Important enough that people listen."
"Foundation Establishment?"
"High Qi Condensation when he left."
"Nobody knows what he is now."
"He came back last month."
"From nine years away?"
"That's what makes it interesting."
Elena stole one of Ciel's dumplings.
"Come with me."
"Master expects me at the tower."
"The talk starts before sunset."
"I work."
"Ask Nora."
"Nora will say no."
"Then ask Senior Voss."
"Master will ask why I want to listen to strangers."
Elena tilted her head.
"Tell her because spending every day with only Senior Voss would make anyone strange."
Ciel looked horrified.
"You tell her."
"I'm not suicidal."
Elena took another dumpling.
"Oh. There's also a spirit tea tasting next week."
Ciel became suspicious.
"Free?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly?"
"A merchant brought a limited batch from Cloudstep Province."
"They give you one small cup."
"Then spend the next hour convincing you your life is incomplete unless you buy the leaves."
"Are you buying any?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then why go?"
Elena stared at her as though the answer were obvious.
"Free spirit tea."
Ciel nodded slowly.
That was compelling.
"And there's a Dao discussion at White Crane Hill next month."
"What do people do there?"
"Argue."
"About Dao?"
"Usually."
"Usually?"
"Sometimes the argument becomes about whose grandfather was stronger."
Ciel laughed.
For a few moments, Blue Port felt enormous in an entirely different way.
Not frightening.
Full.
There were places to go.
People to meet.
Things happening even when she was not there.
She liked that feeling.
The first time Ciel met Gavin Mercer, he interrupted her lunch.
Elena saw him first.
Her expression changed so slightly that Ciel almost missed it.
Not fear.
Annoyance.
A young man entered Three Steam Kitchen wearing a dark blue robe trimmed with metallic thread.
He looked perhaps nineteen.
Handsome enough.
Well groomed.
Three thin layers of Qi surrounded him when he stopped actively suppressing them.
Behind him walked two other young men dressed in similar colors, though their robes lacked the metallic trim.
The restaurant owner immediately straightened.
"Young Master Mercer."
Gavin gave him a casual nod.
His attention had already moved to Elena.
"Elena."
She continued eating.
"Gavin."
"You returned."
"Apparently."
"I heard Green Trail sent people toward Redbank Woods."
"They did."
"Were you hurt?"
"No."
"Good."
His smile suggested he considered this conversation charming.
Elena's expression suggested otherwise.
Then Gavin noticed Ciel.
"And you are?"
"Ciel."
He waited.
Ciel realized he expected more.
"Ciel Yi."
Nothing.
His eyes moved briefly to her clothes.
Then toward the direction of Voss Appraisals.
Recognition arrived.
"Ah."
Ciel already disliked the sound of it.
"Senior Voss's new girl."
"Disciple."
"Disciple?"
He smiled.
"She finally found someone desperate enough?"
Elena sighed.
"Gavin."
"What?"
"I'm congratulating her."
He pulled out the remaining chair without invitation.
One of his companions remained standing.
The other glanced at Elena, then at Ciel.
Gavin sat.
"So you're from that second-hand place."
Ciel's chopsticks stopped.
"It's an antique and artifact shop."
"Of course."
His smile widened.
"Antique sounds better."
Elena put down her bowl.
"Gavin."
He ignored her.
"My family owns Iron Scale Hall."
Ciel looked through the restaurant window.
The polished storefront was visible across the road.
"I've seen it."
"We sell proper artifacts."
"Newly forged."
"Certified."
"Not old blankets stitched together with leftovers."
Ciel felt something unpleasant tighten in her chest.
She had heard that tone before.
Not the exact words.
The tone.
Lara Kim's imported tailor.
Whispers outside her parents' shop.
Poor clothes.
Poor customers.
Cheap things.
Things for people who could not afford better.
Gavin continued.
"Though I suppose there's a market for everything."
Elena's eyes moved toward Ciel.
She recognized danger faster than Gavin did.
Ciel set down her chopsticks.
"Nora told me Iron Scale gets Myriad Scales products."
Gavin looked pleased.
"Naturally."
"Apprentice work."
His smile weakened.
"Excuse me?"
"And pieces that don't pass Noble District standards."
Elena's lips pressed together.
One of Gavin's companions suddenly became very interested in the table.
Ciel continued.
"Damaged finish."
"Old inventory."
"Repairs."
"Things Myriad Scales doesn't want under its own name."
Silence.
Gavin's face changed.
Ciel tilted her head.
"So isn't your shop second-hand too?"
Elena made a choking sound.
She grabbed her tea.
Gavin stared at Ciel.
"Our merchandise comes from Myriad Scales Sect."
"Yes."
Ciel nodded.
"The things they didn't want."
One of his companions coughed into his sleeve.
That was a mistake.
Gavin turned sharply.
The young man immediately stopped.
Elena looked down.
Her shoulders were shaking.
Gavin stood.
"You don't know who you're speaking to."
Ciel looked up at him.
"You told me."
His expression darkened.
"Gavin Mercer."
"Yes."
"Young Master of Iron Scale Hall."
"You said your family owns it."
Ciel looked genuinely confused.
"Is Young Master a job?"
Elena lost the battle.
She laughed.
Loudly.
Every head in the restaurant turned.
Gavin's face went red.
He looked at Elena.
Then Ciel.
"You'll learn."
He turned.
His companions hurried after him.
The door slammed.
Silence remained for two breaths.
Then the elderly man who liked salt-fish noodles snorted into his bowl.
Elena bent forward over the table.
"Oh, Heaven."
Ciel frowned.
"What?"
"You really are new."
"He insulted Master."
"I know."
"And the shop."
"I know."
"So?"
Elena looked toward the closed door.
"You just insulted Gavin Mercer in front of half the street."
"I answered him."
"Ciel."
"What?"
Elena lowered her voice.
"His family owns three artifact shops."
"Two warehouses."
"They have contracts with Myriad Scales affiliates."
"They employ cultivators."
"They know merchants."
"They know guards."
Ciel became more serious.
"Are they powerful?"
"In this district?"
Elena nodded.
"Enough."
"In Blue Port?"
Elena made a face.
"Not nearly as much as they think."
Ciel looked confused.
"Then why does everyone call him Young Master?"
"Because someone doesn't need to be a dragon to make your life miserable."
That sounded like something Nora would say.
Elena leaned closer.
"Don't panic."
"His father isn't going to declare war because someone embarrassed his son over noodles."
"But next time..."
She paused.
"...maybe don't ask if Young Master is a job."
Ciel thought about it.
"It was a reasonable question."
Elena started laughing again.
Nora heard about it before Ciel returned.
Of course she did.
Ciel walked into Voss Appraisals.
Nora was standing behind the counter.
Arms crossed.
"Is Young Master a job?"
Ciel stopped.
"How—"
"The restaurant is ten steps away."
Ciel sighed.
"Am I in trouble?"
"Probably not."
"Probably?"
Nora considered.
"The Mercers are irritating."
"They're not suicidal."
"Senior Voss has Guard customers, hunter customers, old cultivator customers, and enough people who owe her favors that openly bullying the shop would be inconvenient."
Ciel relaxed slightly.
"But?"
"But don't deliberately poke people with money and fragile pride."
Ciel lowered her head.
"He insulted the shop."
Nora's expression softened.
"Yes."
"He called everything second-hand trash."
"I know."
Ciel looked around.
The old blankets.
Statues.
Broken jewelry.
Boxes of strange materials.
Objects waiting for Mara to determine what they might become.
For a moment she saw her parents' store instead.
The dresses nobody wealthy wanted.
Clothes associated with people who could not afford Lara Kim's imported fashion.
"It reminded me of home."
Nora did not ask.
Perhaps Ciel's expression explained enough.
She only said:
"Useful things don't become useless because rich people laugh at them."
Ciel looked at her.
Nora returned to the ledger.
"And for the record..."
She waited.
Ciel waited.
Nora smiled.
"That was funny."
Mara's reaction was less sympathetic.
"You did what?"
Ciel sat opposite her in the carriage that evening.
"He insulted you."
"I have survived worse."
"And the shop."
"The shop also survived."
"He—"
Mara raised one hand.
"Was he wrong?"
Ciel stopped.
"What?"
"Are my artifacts less sophisticated than Myriad Scales artifacts?"
"...Usually."
"Do I use old materials?"
"Yes."
"Do I repair things?"
"Yes."
"Do I buy objects other people don't want?"
"Yes."
"Then what exactly offended you?"
Ciel opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Mara watched her.
"The implication."
Ciel finally said.
Mara nodded.
"Better."
She looked out the carriage window.
"People often disguise social judgment as technical judgment."
"Those are not the same."
Ciel thought about that.
Mara continued.
"My blankets are crude."
"My communication tablets are simple."
"My incense statues would embarrass a proper refiner."
Ciel frowned.
"You're not helping."
"I'm not finished."
Mara looked at her.
"They also work."
"And people buy them."
"Do you know why?"
"Because they're cheaper."
"Partly."
"Because they're useful."
Ciel said.
"Exactly."
Mara leaned back.
"Let Myriad Scales build treasures for nobles."
"I sell to people who still feel winter."
That silenced Ciel.
After a moment she asked:
"Should I apologize?"
Mara thought.
"No."
Ciel blinked.
"But you just said—"
"I said don't be stupid."
"I didn't say crawl."
A thin smile appeared.
"If Young Master Mercer wants an apology, he may purchase a consultation."
"One spirit stone?"
"Two."
"Why two?"
"Annoyance fee."
Ciel smiled.
Her breakthrough came on an ordinary night.
That was the part Ciel would remember later.
There was no eclipse.
No thunder.
No celestial beast.
No voice from Heaven.
She woke.
Worked.
Misfiled an antique bracelet.
Nora made her correct three pages of inventory because of it.
She ate noodles with Elena.
A customer argued for twenty minutes over the price of an old clock.
Mara returned late from a consultation.
They rode to the residence.
They ate.
They climbed the tower.
Normal.
Ciel sat inside the eighty-eight-star array.
Mara activated it.
The spirit stones glowed.
The sky stretched above them.
Ciel closed her eyes.
Cold pressure descended.
She breathed.
By then, she knew it intimately.
Where the energy gathered.
Where her skin resisted most strongly.
Where faint openings had begun appearing.
She no longer became excited by every tiny intrusion.
She no longer chased them.
Mara had repeated the same instruction until Ciel hated hearing it.
Let the technique teach the body.
So Ciel did.
Breath.
Pressure.
Resistance.
A tiny point near her shoulder opened.
Something entered.
Ciel did nothing.
Another near her wrist.
Another near her neck.
A dozen threads.
Thin.
Fragile.
Most disappeared almost immediately.
A few remained.
Her body tightened instinctively.
Ciel relaxed it.
More entered.
The sensation spread.
Not through one place.
Across her skin.
Hundreds of points that had spent sixteen years closed began responding.
The Heavenly Dao Observation Art guided them.
The array pulled from above.
Ciel breathed.
For sixteen years, Heaven-and-Earth Qi had surrounded her.
Every road.
Every room.
Every breath.
It had touched her body and passed around it.
She had lived inside an ocean she could not drink.
Tonight—
something changed.
One thread entered.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Then so many she could no longer distinguish them individually.
Ciel's body resisted.
The technique pressed.
Not violently.
Patiently.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The pressure on her skin shifted.
Ciel felt it.
At first she thought she had lost concentration.
Then she understood.
The direction had changed.
Until now, Heaven had pressed inward while her body pushed outward.
Now—
for the first time—
her body pulled.
Ciel gasped.
Qi entered.
Not because the array forced it.
Because something inside her finally wanted it.
Her skin tingled.
Cold threads sank through flesh.
The sensation reached deeper.
Her breathing quickened.
Mara's voice came quietly.
"Don't chase it."
Ciel steadied herself.
The Qi gathered.
Scattered.
Gathered again.
The technique gave it direction.
Very little.
An amount Mara would probably consider pathetic.
To Ciel, it felt enormous.
Something new existed inside her.
Something that had not been there yesterday.
The Qi condensed.
A faint pressure spread from within.
Ciel felt suddenly—
full.
Not physically.
Something else.
Like discovering a room inside her body she had never known existed.
Then the energy moved.
Her flesh responded.
Muscles.
Blood.
Breath.
Everything seemed sharper.
Lighter.
Alive in a way she had no words for.
Around her skin, mist appeared.
Almost invisible.
One translucent layer.
Mara opened her eyes.
For several breaths she said nothing.
Then:
"One."
Ciel's eyes opened.
The world looked the same.
Stars.
Tower.
Mara.
Spirit stones.
She looked down at herself.
Faint mist hugged her arms.
Her hands began trembling.
"One?"
Mara smiled.
"Qi Condensation."
Ciel stared.
"First Layer."
Something burst inside her chest.
Not Qi.
Joy.
"I did it."
Mara nodded.
Ciel looked at her hands again.
"I did it."
"Yes."
"Master."
"I know."
"I did it!"
Ciel pushed herself to her feet.
That was a mistake.
Her legs moved.
Qi moved with them.
Ciel had spent sixteen years knowing exactly how much strength was required to stand.
Her body no longer agreed.
Her knees straightened.
Qi rushed instinctively through thighs, calves and hips.
The stone floor dropped away.
"WH—"
Ciel launched upward.
Not high.
High enough.
Her feet left the ground completely.
Her arms flailed.
She came down half a step behind where she had started.
One heel struck the edge of the meditation mat.
Ciel stumbled backward.
There was no roof behind her.
Only railing.
And beyond it—
four stories of night air.
"MASTER!"
A hand seized the back of her robe.
Ciel's body stopped with terrifying abruptness.
Half her weight leaned beyond the edge.
Her eyes looked down.
Stone courtyard.
Far below.
Very far below.
Her new cultivation suddenly felt considerably less impressive.
Mara held her with one hand.
Silence.
Ciel swallowed.
"...Master?"
"Yes?"
"Please don't let go."
Mara considered it with unnecessary seriousness.
"I was thinking about it."
"MASTER."
Mara pulled her back.
Ciel collapsed onto the stone floor.
Her heart hammered.
Mara looked down at her.
"Perhaps..."
She folded her hands behind her back.
"...we begin with standing."
Ciel breathed.
"I didn't mean to jump."
"Obviously."
"What happened?"
"Your body changed."
"I know."
"Your habits didn't."
Ciel looked at her legs.
Mara crouched beside her.
"At First Layer, you barely understand your Qi."
"Your body understands slightly more."
"When muscles contract, Qi will often follow instinctively."
"You stand."
"Qi helps you stand."
"You run."
"Qi helps you run."
"You strike."
"Qi reinforces the movement."
Ciel's eyes widened.
"So I'm stronger."
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Not enough to survive falling from the tower."
Ciel looked toward the edge.
"...Good to know."
Mara stood.
"Move slowly."
Ciel carefully placed one hand on the floor.
Pushed herself upward.
Too much force.
Her arm straightened faster than expected and nearly threw her sideways.
Mara caught her shoulder.
"Slowly."
"I am!"
"No."
Ciel tried again.
This time she rose like a ninety-year-old woman.
Mara watched.
"You look ridiculous."
"I'm trying not to die."
"Reasonable."
Ciel finally stood.
She smiled.
Then Mara's smile disappeared.
Her nose wrinkled.
Ciel noticed.
"What?"
Mara stepped back.
"What?"
"Bath."
Ciel blinked.
"I bathed this morning."
"Congratulations."
"Then why—"
"Bath."
Ciel looked down.
Dark gray moisture had begun appearing along her arms.
Not dirt exactly.
An oily film.
Sweat.
Something thicker.
Her robe clung unpleasantly to her back.
Ciel touched her forearm.
Her fingers came away greasy.
"What is that?"
"Impurities."
Ciel stared.
"From where?"
"You."
"I didn't have that inside me."
Mara gave her a look.
"You would be amazed."
Ciel sniffed.
Regretted it immediately.
Her face twisted.
"Oh, Heaven."
Mara had already begun dragging her meditation mat farther away.
"Yes."
She said.
"Heaven entered."
"Apparently several other things decided to leave."
Ciel looked horrified.
"Do all cultivators smell like this?"
"At some point."
"This is terrible."
"It gets better."
"Really?"
"Your sense of smell eventually improves."
Ciel stared at her.
"That's worse."
Mara pointed toward the stairs.
"Go."
"But we just started!"
"I am not cultivating beside you."
"Master!"
"Bath."
Ciel began walking toward the stairs.
Too quickly.
Her first step propelled her farther than expected.
She collided shoulder-first with the doorframe.
THUD.
Ciel froze.
Mara closed her eyes.
"...Bath."
The bathwater turned gray.
Ciel refused to think about it.
She scrubbed twice.
Then a third time because she remained suspicious.
Her skin felt strangely smooth afterward.
Not transformed.
Not glowing.
Just—
cleaner.
Lighter.
Everything felt slightly different.
Her breathing.
Her balance.
The distance between objects.
How much pressure she used to close her fingers.
She reached for the wooden latch on the bathroom door.
Paused.
Very carefully—
very gently—
she turned it.
Nothing broke.
Ciel smiled.
Progress.
She opened the door.
The latch came off in her hand.
Ciel stared at it.
"...Oh."
From somewhere down the hall:
"I heard that."
Ciel closed her eyes.
"Sorry, Master."
"You're paying for it."
"With what?"
"An excellent question."
She should have gone to sleep.
She couldn't.
Ciel lay in bed for perhaps twelve minutes.
Then she raised one hand.
Faint Qi responded instinctively.
She could feel it now.
Not clearly.
It was like trying to sense water moving inside a sealed tube.
She knew it was there.
She knew movement changed it.
But directing it consciously was another matter.
She sat up.
Moved her fingers.
Qi shifted toward them.
She stopped.
It dispersed.
Ciel smiled.
Ten minutes later she was knocking on Mara's door.
No answer.
She knocked again.
"Master."
Silence.
"Master."
The door opened.
Mara stood there in a night robe.
"No."
Ciel blinked.
"I haven't asked anything."
"You have First Layer and the expression of someone about to destroy furniture."
"I want to learn control."
"Tomorrow."
"I can't sleep."
"That sounds personal."
"Master."
Mara stared at her.
Ciel stared back.
Mara sighed.
"Tower."
They did not activate the full stellar array.
Mara lit one ordinary lamp.
Then placed a wooden cup between them.
Ciel looked disappointed.
"A cup?"
"A wooden cup."
"Why?"
"Because I enjoy owning porcelain."
Mara sat.
"Hands on your knees."
Ciel obeyed.
"Don't move."
"Now feel your Qi."
Ciel closed her eyes.
It took several moments.
There.
A faint reservoir.
Tiny.
But real.
"I'm feeling it."
"Good."
"Move some toward your right hand."
Ciel concentrated.
Her hand twitched.
Qi rushed toward the forearm.
"Stop."
"I moved it."
"You moved your muscles."
Ciel opened one eye.
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"No."
"Your body is pulling Qi automatically when you prepare to move."
"I want you to move Qi without moving your body."
Ciel frowned.
"How?"
"Practice."
"That's not instruction."
"It is the foundation of most instruction."
Ciel closed her eyes again.
She tried imagining the Qi flowing.
Nothing.
She imagined her arm moving.
The Qi immediately shifted.
Mara tapped her forehead.
"You're preparing the muscle."
"How can you tell?"
"The Qi moved before your finger did."
Ciel sighed.
Again.
Nothing.
Again.
Too much.
Again.
The Qi flowed toward her shoulder.
Wrong direction.
Again.
It vanished into the general warmth of her body.
Mara watched silently.
Ciel lost track of time.
Eventually something changed.
A tiny portion separated.
Not much.
A strand.
She did not move.
She held the intention carefully.
Down the shoulder.
Into the upper arm.
It trembled.
Nearly dispersed.
Ciel steadied her breathing.
Elbow.
Forearm.
It felt impossibly slow.
Her fingers wanted to tense.
She refused.
The strand continued.
Palm.
Ciel's breath caught.
"Don't celebrate."
Mara warned.
Ciel continued.
Toward the index finger.
The thread reached the fingertip.
And stayed.
Ciel opened her eyes.
Her hand had not moved.
"I did it."
Mara nodded.
Ciel stared at the finger.
There was nothing visible.
No light.
No aura.
No miraculous silver eye.
But she could feel it.
A single thin strand of Qi.
Exactly where she had told it to go.
"Can you see it?"
Mara nodded.
"Barely."
Ciel smiled.
"Can I put it outside?"
"You can waste it outside."
"I want to try."
"Of course you do."
Ciel concentrated.
The strand moved toward the very surface of her fingertip.
Then beyond.
For less than a heartbeat, Ciel felt something exist outside her body.
Free.
Disconnected.
Then—
gone.
Her smile disappeared.
"It vanished."
"Qi Condensation."
Mara tapped Ciel's arm.
"Inside, your body helps contain it."
She pointed toward the empty air.
"Outside, you lack the control and structure to keep it from dispersing."
"Will that change?"
"Yes."
"When?"
Mara smiled.
"Later."
Ciel narrowed her eyes.
"Foundation Establishment?"
"Partly."
"Golden Core?"
Mara's smile widened.
"Much later."
Ciel looked at her hand again.
A little disappointed.
Then she remembered.
Hours earlier she had possessed no Qi at all.
Now she had moved it.
Deliberately.
She closed her eyes.
Gathered another tiny strand.
Shoulder.
Arm.
Palm.
Finger.
It was still difficult.
But easier.
Ciel opened her eyes.
"Again."
Mara sighed.
"I knew you were going to say that."
The next morning, Three Steam Kitchen was already crowded when Ciel entered.
Elena sat at their usual table.
She raised one hand.
Then stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
Ciel grinned.
Elena looked around Ciel's body.
A faint layer of condensed Qi hugged her skin.
For once, Elena had nothing to say.
Ciel sat opposite her.
"Well?"
Elena leaned forward.
"First Layer?"
Ciel's grin widened.
"First Layer."
Elena slapped both hands on the table.
"You did it!"
Several customers looked over.
Ciel did not care.
"I did it."
"How long?"
"Last night."
"Does it feel different?"
"Yes."
"How much stronger?"
"I nearly fell off a tower."
Elena blinked.
"What?"
"Long story."
Elena stared.
Then started laughing.
Ciel reached for the teapot.
"Also I broke a door latch."
"Already?"
"And almost a cup."
"Senior Voss must be thrilled."
"She says I'm paying for everything."
"With what?"
"Apparently that's an excellent question."
Elena grinned.
Then suddenly placed her hands together and bowed dramatically from her chair.
"This humble mortal greets Immortal Ciel."
Ciel stared.
"You're Second Layer."
Elena continued solemnly.
"Senior Ciel has eyes like lightning and strength capable of destroying door hardware."
"Stop."
"Please remember this lowly one when you ascend."
"Elena."
"Perhaps grant me the secret of surviving meditation."
Ciel kicked her under the table.
Elena yelped.
Ciel froze.
"I barely kicked you."
Elena rubbed her shin.
"Your barely changed."
Ciel immediately looked guilty.
Then Elena laughed.
"Relax."
She kicked Ciel back.
Ciel felt Qi instinctively reinforce her leg.
The impact barely hurt.
Both girls stopped.
Ciel slowly looked down.
Elena smiled.
"Different, isn't it?"
Ciel nodded.
Very.
Outside the restaurant windows, the commercial road was already alive.
Carriages rolled toward the port.
Hunters returned from the coast.
A group of disciples in green robes walked toward the western gate.
Across the street, Iron Scale Hall opened its polished doors.
Farther down the road, a merchant hung a banner advertising imported spirit tea.
Someone nearby was shouting about a returning Senior's public lecture.
Blue Port continued moving.
The city had not changed because Ciel Yi had reached First Layer.
No bells rang.
No great sect noticed.
No heavenly phenomenon announced her name.
To Blue Port, one more Qi Condensation cultivator had appeared among thousands.
But Ciel looked at her own hand beneath the table.
She gathered her concentration.
Found that tiny internal reservoir.
Separated one thread.
Slowly—
carefully—
she guided it to the tip of her finger.
Her body no longer ignored Heaven.
And for the first time in her life, Heaven answered when she moved.
Ciel smiled.
First Layer.
It was only the beginning.