“Volithur was abducted from an unempowered world after a Xian invasion and taken back to be a servant. They call him a ward, but so far as I can tell, that just means they have to keep him alive for a couple of years before throwing him to the wolves. He’s not living on Tian and no one is providing him any resources to aid his cultivation efforts. If that wasn’t bad enough, the kid has next to no talent.”

  Evelyn crumpled up all of their garbage. “Why the hell did I hear your name?”

  “Maybe you’re not very good at seeing the future. Or maybe you just wanted tacos.”

  “I did want tacos. But my dream girl is very good at predicting events. Good enough that other people brag online that their dream people once spoke with her.”

  Hector felt a small stab of jealousy. “So your counterpart was famous?”

  “Hector, the Sage Levinia Grant Chauvin was the seer of the most prominent nation on Maya. Somehow I won the lottery when it comes to getting a good dream life.”

  “Maya?”

  “The Arahant home world. My point is… I can’t be that bad at this. Even if I sucked big time, I am still being guided by the memories of the GOAT. What’s coming is going to be a world ending event, so when I look for answers and hear your name, I expect that to mean something.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” Hector said.

  Evelyn pursed her lips. “Are you any good at Xian cultivation? Be honest.”

  Hector drew himself up. “It’s hard to say, but… I seem to have some talent for it.”

  “And you are given the memories of a guy who had zero talent and had to work every step of the way.”

  “Ironic, right?”

  Evelyn squinted at his face. “Or maybe it is perfect. The best guitar teacher I ever had cimed to have no talent, only passion. He always said he struggled twice as hard as everyone else to learn something, but that made him a better teacher. Because he ran into every roadblock a guitar student could ever experience and overcame them, he was able to guide his own students better. Your Volithur might be like my guitar teacher. You could learn his lessons better than he did. And he wasn’t living on Tian, so you are already being trained to cultivate in low energy environments.

  “I think this is exactly what I was looking for, Hector. The Xian are the premier warriors among the human worlds, and I am led right to one with natural talent who is studying under exactly the right master.” Evelyn cpped her hands. “Let’s find you a good cultivation spot.”

  Not long after, Hector sat at the rooftop bar once more, this time accompanied by Evelyn.

  “This is the best you could find? The cosmic energy boost is barely noticeable.”

  “It’s about five percent better than street level,” Hector expined.

  The waitress arrived and Evelyn pointed at him. “That hot stud is paying for my drinks. So get me two Negronis. What about you, sweetie?”

  “A mojito.”

  The waitress cocked a brow. “Just the one? This pce gets busy.”

  “Two mojitos for my sexy man,” Evelyn announced.

  The waitress disappeared before Hector could countermand the order. He fixed Evelyn with his most serious expression, hoping she would fear destroying their budding cooperation enough to reform her crass behavior. “Could you give the inappropriate dating gag a rest?”

  “Why?”

  “Is that an honest question?”

  Evelyn sighed. “Hector, you being uncomfortable vioting arbitrary social expectations just makes you a valid target for my games. The waitress might raise an eyebrow, which is a welcome reaction, but you are cringing in your seat. Do you have a dy love or something?”

  “Well… I am married, I guess.”

  Evelyn sat forward. “Oh, you have to crify that beautifully messy statement. You are married, you guess. So many questions. Tell, Hector!”

  “Aren’t we supposed to be brainstorming where to find better cultivating spots?”

  “I want the story you just alluded to. Come on, Hector, I’m an open book. I’ve already told you I live at home with my parents and that I am lead guitar in the worst metal band in town. No secret is too sensitive to share with my partner in the ‘save the world’ campaign.”

  Their drinks arrived and Evelyn scooted forward to sip a Negroni through a straw while holding eye contact with him. He had the distinct impression that she would not be diverted until she was satisfied. And, somehow, without ever making a conscious decision, he had come to the conclusion that he wanted to work with her.

  “Are you sure you’re not using Arahant mind tricks on me?”

  “Only Jedi mind tricks,” Evelyn quipped.

  “I’m serious, Evelyn.”

  “Ugh. You have to stop with the ‘Evelyn’ thing. Your options are Elfie, Evie, or E.”

  “Are you getting in my head or not?”

  “Of course I am. I mean, isn’t that what communication is? We use words and gestures to put our ideas in another person’s head.”

  “Arahant mind powers, yes or no?”

  Evelyn took another big suck through the straw, emptying her first drink before Hector had taken his first sip. “Nope. I can’t use influence yet. I went all in on the realm thing.”

  “I don’t know anything about realms.”

  “Do Xian use the cube analogy for souls? Of course they do. It’s the only thing that makes any sense. So it’s like this. You have four wall apertures – mind, body, aura, and domain. Mind and body are self-expnatory, aura is the point between your body and the external world, and domain is the volume of space outside of that.

  “Then you have the floor, which floats on the primordial chaos. That is your externality aperture. Because the concept of space doesn’t exist in chaos, your externality is an extension of yourself that isn’t limited by distance. Sage Levinia had a summoned tiger, by the way. The ceiling of the soul is the realm aperture. It opens onto a region detached from external reality in every way. Most varieties of human don’t make much use of their realm, but it is the key to power for an Arahant. Mine is bound to my insight into possibility to create a scrying realm. I look into it and experience things that could be in the future. I’m not sure what Xian do with a realm.”

  Hector tapped the table. “So a realm doesn’t influence reality in any way.”

  “Oh, no, I did not say that. It’s detached from reality.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “First tell me the wife story.” Evelyn leaned forward to begin draining her second drink.

  “Things went bad in the marriage, we separated, she started seeing other people, then recently she moved back in. We’re not together but we never technically divorced.” Hector fixed her with a hard gaze. “What’s the deal with realms, now?”

  Evelyn sat up to remove the straw from her mouth. Her pale cheeks had begun to redden under the influence of alcohol and she gesticuted wildly as she spoke. “Resonance, my friend. At least that’s how Arahants use them. My mirror uses resonance to reflect futures. Other Arahants use resonance to influence reality. Take Sword Sages as an example. There have been a lot of them throughout history because it is a very effective setup. You get an insight into something like cutting or piercing. Basically a physical action reted to proper usage of a sword. Then you build a realm around that insight. Then you make your externality into a sword that you can summon at will. Then you summon your motherfucking sword, swing it like an absolute bad-ass, harness your realm, and cut a god damned mountain in half from twenty miles away.” Evelyn almost knocked over her drink as she swung her hand in a chopping motion.

  “So if I’m understanding you correctly, a realm doesn’t let you push energy directly from your soul into reality, but it can influence reality through resonance.”

  Evelyn reached out to poke Hector in the nose. “So this wife thing. You getting back together?”

  “No.”

  “So you’re actually single.”

  “Does it matter? I thought we were saving the world.”

  “It’s the ‘save the world’ campaign, Hector. You and me, we’re saving it.” She took another big slurp to finish her second drink and then took one of the untouched mojitos in front of him. “Oh, this tastes good. Minty!”

  “Right. We’re saving the world, so what does it matter if I’m single or not?”

  “Trying to figure out my options,” she slurred. “I am super stressed out about this shit. I keep seeing the world end and the only lead I’ve got on fixing things is some hot older dude who can’t decide if he’s single.”

  Hector took the drink from her hand and put it down with a few gulps, then pulled the other one to himself before she could take it. “Here’s the deal, Evelyn. I don’t know what was in those drinks you had, but you are very clearly inebriated. I’m going to drive you to your home and we can talk business at a ter date.”

  “Dude, no, don’t be me like that. We’re going to brainstorm and figure this out. I heard your name, Hector Thoreaux. Drone Lady never did more than kill a couple monsters one at a time. Boxing Idiot kills ten monsters like a boss and then dies. Everyone I ever saw was useless. But I never saw you fail. So maybe you don’t. Maybe you’re the key to everything.

  “I am not the kind of person you give responsibility to, Hector. My day job makes barely enough for me to put gas in my car. The only thing my band is good for is hanging out with my girls. I just fuck up everything I do. Call it a bad attitude or whatever. I’m not the girl for the job of saving the world. I had to inherit the memories of Sage Levinia Grant Chauvin. I just wanted to win big pying craps at the casino.”

  Hector pounded his second drink and motioned for the waitress. She actually came by quick. “Ready for more already?”

  “Could I get the bill?”

  Evelyn dramatically threw her hands in the air. “Can’t take me anywhere nice.”

  The waitress didn’t take long after that. Hector got Evelyn onto the elevator down to ground level and into his car. At which point, she promptly passed out.