It took months for Volithur to hear about the outcome of his chat with the Jinn. During that time, he became a father to baby Darius. The addition to their little family changed everything. Constantly exhausted, tragically short on funds, and woefully ignorant of the art of parenting, they found themselves unbelievably, incandescently happy.

  They’d coo at Darius for hours, fascinated by his every sound and movement. They had a competition of sorts. Who could make the baby smile more? Who could inspire the biggest waves of the limbs? Who could get him to gurgle noises back as if he was trying to mimic their speech?

  The flighty creature he married became a devoted caretaker overnight. Literally. The day before the birth she spent compining and demanding Volithur fetch her things. The following day she refused to let little Darius out of her sight. She handled feedings and cleanings like they were the reason for her entire existence.

  Volithur’s days were incredibly full. After moving cargo around during normal hours, he cooked and washed clothes and doted on his loved ones. He could barely stay functional with the level of sleep deprivation he faced, but none of that mattered in the least. The family he’d been missing since the day the Lord General came to his world had been found in his wife and little boy.

  So it was almost a surprise when a gossiping coworker at the warehouse warned him to avoid members of the first household for a few weeks on account of the disastrous recent battle. When Volithur pressed for details, he learned plenty.

  “An entire Jinn fleet hit the Lord General’s army. Two war barges – Kevin and Elliott – plus three cruisers and five gunships. Only the officers escaped. Over two thousand soldiers gone in a single battle. They even lost a few of the Lord General’s retinue. The entire household is on edge.”

  Savage glee ignited in his heart at the news. He had done that. Struck back at the man who killed his parents. The man who ensured Darius would never meet his grandparents. Somewhere, he hoped Thassily tasted the sweetness of vengeance. Volithur could never tell his old friend what he’d done. Treason was best kept an absolute secret, he knew. Getting credit for his deeds would be synonymous with an early grave.

  For a time, he let himself be content with his victory. He had a baby at home to occupy his thoughts. That was on top of a demanding apprenticeship. Volithur grew ever more skilled at navigating with his transit sphere. He could reliably find dozens of distinct locations. His speed of travel improved as well. His recharge time, of course, was outstanding. No one could match him in that regard.

  Soon, his one year anniversary as Zara’s apprentice arrived and he found himself promoted to a junior porter of the Shaocheth family’s transportation enterprise. The difference in pay for an apprentice and a contracted employee was immense. He lost his free house but in turn received a sary that could afford him three such houses.

  They moved into a rger pce, paid for a maid service, and had a minor shopping spree. With a fully stocked pantry and a knowledgeable cook, they soon were eating the common dishes of the Xian nation of Amarat. Thick stews, pot pies, grilled skewers, fruit sads, and more were on the menu every day.

  Months passed and Darius grew rapidly.

  Then came an invitation from Master Corey which Volithur almost forgot was coming. The two of them went on their hunt. Essentially, they each strangled an unsuspecting elk using their domains. Despite his unease with their sughter of helpless animals, Volithur enjoyed seeing Corey once more. They dropped their bounty off with the family alchemist for processing.

  Two days ter, they returned to retrieve their rewards. Walking through the primitive boratory, the alchemist described the process for them. “The core is the essential component, of course, masters. That is extracted and then ground to fine dust. Meanwhile, I cook a portion of skin and tendon in water and let it cool to scrape off some fat and getin. A small bit of bone is ground up. A portion of liver and heart meat is desiccated. Then all of these are combined together in the psma drawn from centrifuged blood. Thus we have your elixirs!”

  The alchemist presented each of them with a wooden case filled with gss vials. “They are all beled for you. Only a single gold elixir, which contains the core dust. The silver elixirs are identical but for that one ingredient. Still potent, mind you, but not gold. The back straps of your beasts are in the pouch – they were salted and smoked.”

  Master Corey cpped the alchemist on the shoulder and profusely thanked the man for his services. He then walked with Volithur to the exit of the first household’s grounds. During that stroll, he encouraged Volithur to let young Darius have some of the silver elixir. He promised it would be extremely healthful and make common diseases less likely to strike his child.

  Before entering his home, Volithur took out the gold psma elixir to hide in his pocket and then removed the three silver psma elixirs to carry in his hands towards the back rooms. He found Khana in the nursery and the two of them drank down one elixir each. They discussed how to best feed small quantities of the final vial to Darius over the next several days.

  “Not even my mother had silver psma elixir as a baby,” Khana observed. “Volithur, our baby might reach level four before he can even talk. Can you imagine?”

  They snacked on the elk jerky that evening and whatever remained was gone before Volithur returned home from work the next day. He didn’t compin because he had downed the gold psma elixir in secret upon waking.

  His body was a fair distance away from the peak of level six still, but he felt confident he would reach there eventually. For the moment… he found himself with a new goal. He craved the respect that came from reaching level seven. Anyone on Tian who made an actual effort could eventually manage Volithur’s current achievement. Level seven, though, marked someone as special. True elites were at level eight. Should Volithur get there, he would have matched Master Aramar, who together with his son had been the bane of Volithur’s existence back in the fifth household.

  So Volithur took to cultivating chaos during family time. It was a small thing, something he did in the background of their quiet moments. He didn’t feel that it took him too far away from the shared emotional closeness. It was an investment in all of their futures.

  To assist his efforts, Volithur spent some of his funds buying high grade meat for his personal consumption. The average beast of Tian was only level four. Their flesh contained cosmic energy at rates that were considered exorbitant on an unempowered world but hardly noticeable to someone at Volithur’s level. Some beasts, however, gained the ability to cultivate. Their meat could be quite a bit more potent. The elixirs made from such creatures were legendarily powerful, but he could not afford such extravagance. Because the funds for his work were held exclusively in Volithur’s name, he left Khana in the dark about his specialty purchases. She would expect an equal share of any resources he purchased and, though he loved her, Volithur knew she wouldn’t put in any efforts outside of chewing and swallowing the expensive meal.

  Even with all of that extra work and expense, it took eight months for Volithur to break through to level seven. Because forming his transit sphere was so expensive, he finally had to request a leave of absence and bought many bottles of uncut spirits to aid him on his way. The breakthrough brought immediate benefits to him. Every increase in level resulted in a doubling of power, both in soul reserve capacity and in the ability of his soul apertures to do work. For him at least, it also meant that the rate he could convert chaos into cosmic energy also doubled.

  All of that meant that he could make more trips in his transit sphere every day. More trips transted into the recognition of Master Zara. His promotion to a senior porter brought a very welcome pay bump. He almost let Khana talk him into moving to an even rger house, but in the end he realized that the best use of their funds was to improve themselves. Having been thrifty with the resources up to that point, Volithur eased his conscience by buying elixirs to push his wife to the peak of level four in body enhancement. Shortly after that, she found the motivation to fill her soul and break into level five.

  At one point, Volithur encountered Master Dorian during a delivery. The other man appeared horrified to see him. No doubt they both noted the same fact: they were on the same level now. That small victory lit a fire under Volithur. He began stockpiling funds so that he could afford a rge purchase of uncut spirits and some time off to make use of them.

  The taste of the impure liquor never improved, but Volithur’s enhanced body didn’t sicken from the experience any longer. He even developed a certain fondness for the substance because he associated it with advancement.

  It took two years for Volithur to fill his level seven soul past the halfway point by his normal means. Then his purchasing spree began. He filled the garden shed with cy jugs. Then he paid ahead an entire year on the house he rented. Finally, Volithur ensured there was sufficient funds for several months.

  He requested a leave of absence. Master Zara, whom he hardly saw after the end of his apprenticeship, visited him in person to discuss the details. She made it clear that he had inconvenienced operations and was being foolish by rushing his advancements without first improving his apertures, but ultimately granted her permission. The two of them had an awkward retionship. They were employee and employer, but in the background was the knowledge that one day Volithur would be a lord. The family wanted Volithur to think fondly of them when that day came.

  Then began the push. Volithur drank himself almost into a stupor on a daily basis, forcing down the painful beverage while he drew as much chaos into his soul as possible. Day after day, he svishly performed the tasks he’d set before himself. He actually began to worry that his liver might be insufficiently enhanced to handle the damage.

  Months passed like that. And soon he found his soul at the peak of what it could hold. He’d exhausted the reserves of his shed to fill the reserves of his soul. Then he’d stolen small bottles of uncut spirits from the warehouse to continue his efforts. Finally, the moment arrived.

  He forced in more energy than his soul could hold. The bance shattered. The walls of his soul gobbled up everything held within, thickening and empower themselves. He emerged from the experience a changed man. Not because the experience had meant something to him. Far from it. He had gotten drunk every day for months like an addict.

  The change came from without. A level eight soul meant something to the Xian. He received instant deferment from almost everyone he met. The exalted treatment made it easier for him to understand how the stuffy Master Aramar became the way he was. Even the nobles Volithur encountered treated him with respect. Even the people he met of greater level than himself would note his presence in subtle ways.

  He was an entity now. He mattered.

  And he was only getting started.