“Be careful,” Blue instructed, peeking out from behind Micro’s head to inspect the corpse. “Make sure he’s properly dead.”

  “Oh…” Micro turned back to the armoured man with a sad expression. “I wonder if he was also summoned somewhere…”

  Blue was distracted by Micro’s remark for a moment, but soon remembered her immediate worry.

  “You don’t understand, boy…” Blue spoke quietly and tiptoed a little closer to the man. “You never know when the dead might come back to bite you out here.”

  “People don’t die permanently here?” He raised an eyebrow in doubt. “That’s definitely not how it works back home.”

  “Of course people die!” she said a little louder than she meant to. “But a cultivator’s corpse is a rare treat for wandering spirits. He could already be an undead…”

  She hopped down from Micro’s shoulder, picked up a small twig, and poked the corpse’s arm with it, gently at first, then a little rougher. After a few pokes, the armour shifted, making an ugly grinding sound that made the two cringe.

  “Ah… He’s properly dead,” Blue said with a sigh of relief. “With my energy gone, it’s hard to sense these things for certain.”

  “So that’s why you didn’t see that dragon coming.” Micro clapped his hands at the realization. “Energy sounds like a lot to deal with.”

  “Hey, be a little more grateful for the energy your core is made of, boy.” She stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms. “Whose energy did you think was used to summon you. You’re basically made of my energy!”

  “That’s true…” Micro nodded. “Thanks.”

  “Whatever.” Blue turned around and jumped atop the corpse. “Hmm, let’s see what we have here. Oh, look at that, that’s interesting. Oh and these…!”

  Micro watched as she rummaged through the belongings of the deceased cultivator. At one point, her pillaging dislodged his skull, which rolled away into some tall grass. His chest plate was the next thing to fall off with a rusty thud, after which Blue started throwing items through his rib cage to Micro.

  “Check this out.” The little treasure hunter gleamed. “He had some gold on him, and some of his Core Cards are still intact! Look! A ring!”

  She threw four cards into Micro’s lap.

  “Hold these for me, I can’t carry anything right now,” she ordered. “Well, this is fun.”

  “I don’t know if you should be taking—” Micro argued meekly, but Blue’s excited laughter drowned out his concerns.

  “This guy was loaded!” she said, throwing more gold out of his pocket. “Smells pretty bad though.”

  “Those are… Core Cards?” Micro said, inspecting the pile of things Blue had thrown before him.

  “They’re all water type, and he had two sapphire cards!

  “Sapphire?” Micro repeated. “Does he have jewellery?”

  “That’s the third stage a cultivator aims for. He had a Tiger Art card and a Moon Art card. Chances are he’s from that Tiger Moon Sect out west, but I haven’t heard anything about them in a long time,” Blue explained as she continued to rummage through the bones and belongings. “Last time I checked, they were just a third rate jade level sect. They’ve come a long way.”

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  “You know a lot,” Micro replied, impressed by her knowledge. “Do you have friends there?”

  “I have no friends,” Blue spat. “I don’t even have enemies anymore. Well…”

  “But you know a lot about the tiger people,” Micro added.

  “Of course I know what happens in my own—” Blue began to explain with a harsh tone, but she rolled her eyes. “I’m just smarter than you. Don’t forget it.”

  “I won’t.” Micro nodded.

  “Haha! It’s just like old times!” Blue said as she found more shining objects. “Just like old times…”

  “That’s great…” Micro mumbled. Blue’s enthusiasm for Core Cards was apparent to Micro, though he still had trouble understanding their significance.

  “He also had two amber cards here.” She pointed enthusiastically at the emblems. “There’s a Sleepless Trait card, and a Spirit Vision Skill card. I wonder what he was going to do with so many…”

  “You know a lot about this sort of thing too, Blue.” Micro listened happily, though it was hard for him to follow. “Do you not want these cards?”

  “Well, I do,” she admitted. “But I can’t carry them right now, so I’ll let you hold onto them.”

  “Do you have a large collection?” Micro asked. “The old man collected old tools.”

  “Why would I need Core Cards?” Blue frowned. “I can do all sorts of stuff without cheating.”

  “Core Cards are cheating?”

  “Cultivators can’t do anything without them!” Blue laughed. “So pathetic, but the cards are so shiny…!”

  “I see,” Micro replied. “That’s nice.”

  “I wonder how many I’ve stolen…” Blue pondered for a moment. “Who knows where I may have left them though. Oh well.”

  “Okay.” Micro added the four cards to the other two amber level cards in his hand, and looked behind him, only for his face to suddenly reveal a look of disappointment.

  “What’s wrong? What’s back there?” Blue asked the sad looking boy. “Smell something?”

  “I don’t have a bed to put these in…” He hung his head in shame, letting the cards fall into his lap.

  “Oh, well, this guy had pockets,” Blue said, pointing to the corpse behind her. She laughed as she dove into one, then crawled out and patted the dust off her wings.

  “I don’t think this tarp has any pockets either,” Micro said, inspecting the ominous robe he still wore. It was damp and torn, and the cold air soaked through it with each small breeze.

  “Wait right there,” Blue ordered the boy. “Let’s see…”

  Blue then went about violently dismantling the skeleton of the deceased cultivator. She threw the bones into a pile to her left, then dragged the corpse’s weathered clothing over to Micro.

  “Here, the armour is gross, but the shirt and pants are fine…. Good material…” She patted the messily stacked clothes with her hand, sending a small plume of dust into the air. “And they have pockets!”

  Micro looked affectionately at Blue as he took in the gift of a dead man’s clothes, but couldn’t hide a look of concern.

  “What?” She questioned him with narrowed eyes. “You too good for used clothing?”

  “I’ve never worn clothing before,” he answered. “Are you sure this is fine?”

  “You must be from somewhere warm. Look, your legs go there, arms go here,” Blue explained, pointing at the various garments. “Tie this around the robe part, and this is…”

  Micro tried to follow along with her explanation, then stood up to put the clothes on, with some difficulty. Blue laughed when he put the shirt on his legs, and again when he put his pants on upside down. After the ordeal had concluded, he was finally dressed, though he’d never seen a human in such attire.

  “I’ve never seen clothes with so much metal on them,” He commented to the pixie. “Or rust…”

  “It’s armour,” Blue replied. “Are humans not as weak where you’re from?”

  “I’m not sure…” Micro wondered.

  “Well, do you like them?” Blue asked as her laughter subsided.

  “They’re fine, I think,” He said while sliding the cards into his new breast pocket. “I’ve just never been this rusty before…”

  Blue laughed and rejoined him by the campfire. After making a few remarks about the quality of the wood which Micro had collected for the fire, she fell asleep in a small pile of leaves, leaving Micro alone with his thoughts. Leaning against a tree, he stared into the fire as memories and strange feelings swirled around his head. His eyes began to close, though he didn’t mean for them to do so.

  Micro had seen the old man fall asleep in the past, several times in his own bed while camping with his son. He longed to revisit those days when the old man was younger.

  Fortunately, such dreams filled the rest of his night.