"You have to go to Tian Tower!"

Hector returned her infectious smile. "What's going on, Riley?"

"Tian Tower! It's a skyscraper just for Xian! I told Esther about you guys and she invited you to stop by any time. I told her I would bring you today." The young woman shifted from side to side, unable to stand still in the grip of her excitement.

"Is this the place with the cosmic chamber?"

"Yes! I'm not strong enough for that job. But Esther thinks I could work in their cafe. Can we go there now? Please, Hector?"

Darius scoffed as Riley made doe eyes. "You are obviously going to humor her. Am I required to be a part of this excursion as well?" He didn't have any heat in his voice.

Riley clasped hands as she turned on Darius. "Please?"

"This had better be good," Darius muttered.

Following the tense interactions with Conrad, Hector saw right through the gruff facade. He turned and gestured to the door so that he could hide his grin. "Let's get going, then."

Riley rambled about all the exciting things she'd seen at Tian Tower while they caught a taxi. Hector meanwhile did his best to avoid paying Darius any attention. The displays of annoyance from Darius were so common that Hector long since stopped paying them any mind. They were mere background noise by this point. The eunuch grudgingly accepted the third member of their little tribe even if he complained incessantly about her when she wasn't around.

Except that wasn't the whole story. Hector always had made it a point when managing people to spot changes in behavior. Problem employees could become star employees and it would be wrong not to recognize improvements. The hostility from Darius in the dungeon had been very real. What he displayed when it was just the three of them… it seemed a touch performative now that Hector paid closer attention.

The key moment had been when Darius abruptly interrupted to whine that he might be expected to go with them to visit this new place. That was normal Darius behavior which Hector would ordinarily ignore. Except Riley responded with some of her cute pleading. The former brothel employee was naive in a lot of ways, but she could read the intentions of men far better than Hector. And in that moment she'd eagerly begged for his attendance on their field trip.

Because she'd caught something that he had not. Darius wanted to go with them. The man didn't have the ability to express such a sentiment, so he'd complained to receive an invitation. Riley picked up on the subtext, fortunately. Hector would have responded to the complaint at a surface level, giving the man permission to stay behind if he was so upset. Which made him wonder what other dynamics were at play that he hadn't picked up on.

He knew they'd arrived at Tian Tower before the car came to a stop. The main doors to the skyscraper had the facade of wooden beams topped with a gabled awning that made it look vaguely like the bottom floor of a pagoda. It was very Asian in appearance, which Hector understood was very similar to the buildings of Zing on Tian. Amarat tended towards more Roman style architecture.

The emulation of Zing made a certain amount of sense. The emperor of Zing was at level eleven and considered the most powerful living Xian. Even those who speculated that the emperor was a hollow spear had a tone of respect in their voice when they spoke of him. How could the power-obsessed Xian not admire such an existence?

Riley led them into the empty lobby of the building and skipped towards the humble counter of a small cafe. "Hi, Esther! I'm back!"

A woman emerged from the kitchen area and shook her head to move her shoulder length bob out of her eyes. Her nose wrinkled and her eyes glittered as she made eye contact with the enthusiastic Riley. Hector found his eyes roving inappropriately almost immediately. Judging by her build, this Esther woman obviously was familiar with the gym. She was also a level six Xian.

"Hey there, Riley! Long time no see!" Esther rubbed her hands together like a cartoon villain as she shifted her attention to Hector and Darius. "And you tricked your friends into coming by for a tour like we plotted earlier."

"I didn't trick them," Riley corrected. "I just said 'please' until they agreed."

"Whatever your strategy, girl, you clearly know what you're doing. Now introduce the guys."

Riley gestured to Hector. "This is my best friend Hector. He is the Stalwart Xian. And this is Hector's other best friend Darius. He has chaos bolts."

Esther tipped an imaginary hat in greeting. "Well met, boys. My name is Esther and you have fallen into my dastardly plan to tour some of our unoccupied rooms. Before I hustle you too much, how about a free smoothie? Let's see, you're both peak five in body, so you wouldn't benefit from the enhancement shake. Do you want an energy restoration elixir?"

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"We do," Darius answered for both of them.

Esther winked at the eunuch. "You got it, Darius. We use ingredients from Tian for the cosmic energy content, of course. But we use a more scientific approach to maximize the benefits. It also lets us keep costs down by purchasing items that the people of Tian don't value highly.

"The base for our restoration elixir is rice flour." She dumped powder from a measuring cup into a blender. "Then some tea powder for the caffeine. A hot pepper for the capsaicin. A couple drops of ammonia. All three of those metabolize in the liver and release their cosmic energy as the molecules are broken down. Then some spruce tips and a tincture of birch bark. That tincture uses vegetable glycerin instead of alcohol, by the way. It's a little less energy but a lot less liver damage. Then a little bit of honey to hide some of the flavor. Then I add a few drops of artificial flavorants – it's a local product without cosmic energy, but it really helps make this go down easier."

Esther ran the mixer for a bit, opened it up to add a cup of water, then mixed again. When the process ended, she filled three small paper cups and passed them over the counter. "In case you were wondering, the serving size is a lot bigger for a paying customer compared to the sample."

Hector had been mesmerized by the show and now he tipped back the beverage like it was a shot. He swallowed, considered it for a moment, and then used his finger to scrape free the bits that had stuck to the cup. "It's not bad. I don't feel a rush of energy, though."

"There is no rush. See, that's part of the problem with the way people from Tian approach resources. They look for sudden, dramatic indicators that something is working. I sell a large glass of this stuff for fifteen credits. It takes about twenty-four hours to entirely metabolize, so you won't get a sudden spike like from alcohol or sugar. What you will experience is a steady trickle over a long period of time. With minimal side effects.

"The large glass is better than a blood boiling elixir. By the way, do you know how that works? Blood boiling elixir is tea powder, citrus, and ginger. The citric acid is used in cellular energy production, so it temporarily increases the body's ability to generate bursts of mundane energy. The caffeine in the tea is mentally stimulating and also releases its cosmic energy as it metabolizes in the liver. Then the ginger has compounds that cause the body to begin burning more calories, so you get the feeling of warmth and boundless energy. It's not actually as beneficial to cultivation or enhancement as people assume. It just feels extremely dramatic so everyone assumes it must work."

Hector found himself reaching in his mind for something smart to say back to this gorgeous, musclebound creature. His brain betrayed him by suggesting he ask about her workout. That was obviously not the current topic of conversation.

"Your intellect is quite impressive," Darius said.

Riley was all smiles. "Isn't Esther amazing? She might hire me to work at her cafe if we move into the tower."

Esther laughed. "I did promise. But don't hold that against me, guys. We're building a vibrant community of Xian rogues and dreamers in this building. Tian won't welcome us and most other places treat us with suspicion. Tian Tower is a place we can consider home."

Hector's first inclination was to insist on hearing prices before even considering a tour. However, his instant crush on Esther made him want to go along with her show. Which made him frustrated with how easy he could be manipulated. "How much are you charging?"

"Prices are competitive," Esther said, which was not a straight answer.

"I'm interested in the tour," Darius announced.

Esther turned her big smile on Darius then, causing a twinge of annoyance in Hector. Now Darius decided he could behave like a decent human being? Hector pushed down his frustration. It would only be a good thing if the son of Volithur gained a real community and possibly even a love interest. He remembered that Darius once volunteered the information that he was still able to fornicate even if he could not procreate.

Esther put her hands on her hips and gave Hector the side eye. "Your two best friends want a tour, mister. I hope you're not going to crush their hopes." Oh, snap. That was definitely the flirty variety of sass.

"I suppose we can take the tour," Hector allowed.

"I love the dynamic the three of you have," Esther said as she closed the cafe and walked them towards the elevators. They rode down to the second sub-floor and the doors opened to reveal a cavernous space intersected with structural members. To one side was what appeared to be a stone crypt. Otherwise the space was dedicated to what looked like an obstacle course.

"This area is used for three purposes. First, you can put on a blindfold and move about to train your mental sense. There are obstacles of various difficulties if you really want to challenge yourself. The open space in the middle we use for aura training. Basically you pay someone stronger to squeeze you with their domain while you resist using your aura. It produces rapid growth. Then we have our cosmic chamber over there. It's not made with Tian stone, unfortunately. But we are lining the walls and floor with material from the pallets we get our resources on. It's better than nothing and on occasion we will pay individuals to boost cosmic energy levels inside."

Hector perked up. "How much does that pay?"

Esther glanced his way. "It pays quite well. But you'd be expected to empty your entire reserves. For a level five soul fully topped up… probably fifty thousand credits."

He could make more in three runs of the dungeon, so it wasn't enough to tempt him. It would take him over a month to fully recover unless he decided to use resources to speed up the process – which would defeat the whole purpose of selling cosmic energy for credits.

"Don't even think about it, Hector," Darius snapped. "I don't care how fast you recuperate your energy, it's still not worth it."

"I did the math," he responded. "Three runs of the dungeon pays better."

Esther's gaze narrowed. "Do you have some sort of cultivation secret?"

Hector waved away the question. "It's an insight. Nothing I can train others on."

"Now that is fascinating." Her smile, ever-present since the moment they encountered her, vanished. "I think you should meet the owner of the building."

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