“So your core doesn’t have a trunk or a bed or anything?” Micro asked Kel while they relaxed on the paved area. Blue had fallen asleep while trying to gather energy, and the sect leader had entered a deep state of meditation. “Not even a box? Maybe a bag…?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Kel replied excitedly. “But after spending so much time watching the way you move through life in the dungeon, the way I perceive time in a state of meditation seems to have changed. It’s difficult to explain, but I feel like I was so dependent on stamina before. Now, I feel as though I can dedicate an eternity of effort to the task without straining myself. I cannot thank you enough for your guidance, master!”

  “I’m happy for you,” Micro replied with a steady grin. “That sounds good, I think…”

  “Are you sure you’re feeling okay after your attempt to master a Core Card of too high a level?” Kel asked as a look of concern returned to his eyes. “I’ve heard stories of people whose entire existence was obliterated in the process…”

  “Well, I did notice it was pretty heavy when I carried it into the garage,” Micro explained.

  “The garage?”

  “Oh, my core,” Micro corrected himself. “Once I was in there, I dropped it in the bed like I did with the turtle card, but the springs bottomed out and the concrete floor cracked. Everything started shaking and my eyes went all fuzzy, so I threw the card back out.”

  “You threw it out… of your core?!” Kel gasped. “Then, the explosion…”

  “Yeah, that’s when the bang happened,” Micro confirmed. “It took a while to clean up the mess in the garage, and I think I have a flat tire… But I managed to get the card out in time.”

  “Master…” Kel sighed.

  “I know… Yellow means danger,” Micro replied in apology. “I’ll try and read the signs…”

  “Your old master isn’t here to read them for you now,” Kel added sympathetically. “So I will tell you in his place… It is time for you to slow down. Can you see that it is only natural that your soul is not yet able to bear the weight of such a powerful Core Card?”

  “I’ll be more careful about signs, I promise.”

  “I appreciate your effort, master,” Kel replied, adjusting his robes and circulating his energy. “Now let’s take a look at these cards! I haven’t seen them before, but with my new skill…”

  “Huh, neat trick,” Blue commented as Kel activated his skill.

  “How interesting…” Kel’s eyes suddenly turned a shade of blue similar to Blue’s thin wings. After a moment, he nodded in satisfaction and his eyes returned to normal. “As you can see, both are jade level cards of the Dark element. This one is the Jade Dark Spirit Wave Skill, and this is the Jade Dark Spirit Taste Skill.”

  “What do they do?” Micro asked excitedly as he looked at the cards.

  “I’m afraid that is the limit of my skill, master,” Kel replied with a bow. “A higher level Appraisal Skill card would allow me further insight into things. I’m limited to identifying the names of things within the realm of my ability to comprehend. I thought the skill would be most useful when in unfamiliar lands. Telling the difference between edible and poisonous plants can be as useful as a powerful attack.”

  “So that skill helps you read signs?!” Micro gasped. “Where did you get it?”

  “I found it on a short adventure in the Jade Fire Mountain Art Dungeon,” Kel replied. “Perhaps you’ll find it there one day too, though it is impossible to promise it will reappear any time soon. Dungeons aren’t as predictable as that, you see?”

  “I’ll learn these cards first then!”

  “Master…” Kel said with a stern look.

  “After I get some rest…” Micro answered obediently. “And I’ll check on my tires.”

  “Do whatever it is you need to do in order to fully recover, master. It would be immature to neglect one’s health in the pursuit of power,” Kel explained thoughtfully. “To weaken yourself in search of strength would be self-defeating. Let us return to the sect, now. It seems Tae has also mastered the Turtle Art.”

  Kel and Micro turned back to see Tae at the summit covered in her own shining armour. She stood up and inspected her armour-clad body, then allowed it to disappear with a satisfied expression. Micro waved at her when she looked down the hill to them, and she waved back.

  “Good job, Tae!” Micro shouted happily.

  “Another master has emerged, it seems…” the sect leader added quietly as he opened his eyes. “What a day…”

  ~

  Micro, Kel, Tae, and the sect leader walked back down to the bustling sect headquarters around the time Micro was beginning to crave a second helping of honey buns. With Blue asleep in his pocket and Trill holding on to his Core Cards, it seemed as though the day might be a peaceful one.

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  “Oh dear…” the sect leader suddenly mumbled with half a smile. His eyes glowed as he peered into the distance.

  “What is it, grandfather?” Kel asked.

  “It seems the Sparrow Sect has something to say about the news I had Lana deliver…” he replied, then turned to look at Tae. “Do you concur?”

  “Yes, sect leader,” Tae replied quickly. “I see them too. Three of them will likely arrive here shortly.”

  “Should I hide you somewhere safe, master?” Kel asked with concern.

  “I think we should take this opportunity to come to an understanding with them,” the sect leader suggested, then looked at Kel with a grin. “Rather, I think this is as good a time as any for you to begin proving yourself to the alliance, unless that was nothing but a young man’s boasting…”

  “Very well,” Kel replied humbly. “We shall meet in the courtyard where Lana drew her weapon. This should end where it began.”

  “Can we eat before I get stabbed with another stick?” Micro asked as he rubbed the part of his chest where he could still vividly recall his last encounter with the Sparrow Sect.

  “Of course, master. An arrow through the heart is not how I wish for you to begin this process,” Kel replied. “We should fortify ourselves for the day ahead. This way.”

  “I’ll leave this to you, Kel. I must also follow up on the amber level dungeon you found,” the sect lead mumbled as he turned to leave.

  “Thank you, grandfather.” Kel bowed as his grandfather walked slowly away.

  Micro, Kel, and Tae continued on through the courtyard and followed a path that led a short way around the mountain to a quieter area. Kel introduced several of the elders of the sect on the way, and explained the functions of some of the smaller structures they passed. Many were meant for various forms of food preparation, but there were also baths, study halls, small libraries, and many places meant to facilitate meditation for younger disciples.

  They sat down together at a table on a veranda that overlooked the vast landscape below. Micro looked around at the little villages scattered around the mountain, only partially interconnected by winding dirt trails. Kel thought he noticed Micro shaking his head in sadness as he looked out over his territory, but he was distracted when an old man appeared by the table, balancing a large platter above his head.

  “There we go!” the man grunted as he swung the dish down to the table.

  “Wow,” Micro said as the wind created by the large platter swept his hair back.

  He was a large man, lacking the muscular build shared by most of his colleagues, and he wore his grey hair and beard long and untidy. However, Micro thought he looked remarkably friendly, and wondered if the shield on his back was big enough to be of any use to him, other than perhaps as a dinner plate.

  “For the young master and his friends,” the jovial man said with an exaggerated bow.

  “Thank you!” Micro shouted as he located a large dish full of meat at the centre

  “I have missed your cooking, Master Toa,” Kel said with a wide smile. “The ascetic life of a traveller is not to be underestimated. Dried meat cannot compare to your skills.”

  “So you’re the little one running around causing mayhem!” The big man’s laughter boomed as he took note of Micro. “Is Kel taking proper care of you?”

  “He’s teaching me to read signs,” Micro replied happily with a mouthful of fried meat. “Thanks for the fuel!”

  “This is Toa, a mentor to us all!” Kel introduced the man warmly. “But he will insist that you call him the cook.”

  “Thanks, the cook!” Micro said gladly.

  “No, just ‘cook’ will do,” Kel corrected him.

  “Thanks, just cook!” Micro repeated as the old man continued to laugh.

  “No, Micro…” Kel frowned.

  “Pfft!” Blue’s muffled laughter could be heard from his pocket. “Seriously…”

  Kel realized Micro’s intent, and his face reddened as Toa the cook laughed louder and louder. Even Tae was unable to fully stifle a grin as she hid her face behind the bowl of soup she was drinking. Several others on the veranda looked over at the noisy table, curious about what had brought such a reaction from the old cook. Micro continued to eat as much and as fast as he could.

  “Both your appetite and humour are beyond your years, little one!” the cook praised Micro through a noisy laugh that seemed to disturb some of the other cultivators sitting nearby. “What a pleasure to meet you!”

  “Cultivating burns a lot of fuel,” Micro replied as he looked around the table for more meat, but a disappointed look surfaced on his face when he found none. “Oh no—”

  “I’ll fetch you another bowl of mountain fried beef right away,” the cook assured Micro, patting him on the back so hard that even the tables next to theirs shook. “You have good taste! Kel here could do with a bit more meat in his belly…!”

  Kel flinched as Toa abruptly pinched his stomach with a frown.

  “All skin and bones, just like your grandfather…” the cook said with a disgruntled sigh. “I’ll never understand why cultivators of a sect with ‘Mountain’ in its name are all such bean sprouts… Have you ever seen a skinny turtle?”

  “It’s you who is strange, cook…” Kel grumbled as he massaged his sore stomach. “Few cultivators manage to stay that fat after achieving such spiritual strength. It is a testament to your constitution…”

  “You’d all be amber core cultivators by now if you ate as much of my mountain fried beef as our new young master over there,” the cook argued, still laughing brightly.

  “Is it really made of mountains?” Micro asked with an amused look. “I haven’t tasted any rocks like this recently…”

  “In a sense, it truly is!” the cook replied heartily. “The meat is cooked right on the finest rocks the mountain has to offer. Every bite is full of the rich life force of this sacred place, and every bite honours this ancient hill. The cattle were raised on the plains just beyond that village, sustained by streams that flow down from this mountain. Even the grass they eat is grown in soil fertilized by the rich energy and minerals that are carried down the mountain by those streams. You’ll find no meat like it in the empire or beyond, I tell you! It’s as fine as—”

  “More, please!”

  “Right away!” the cook roared as he ran back to the kitchen with heavy footsteps and a big smile.

  “It sure takes a lot to keep you going, Master Micro,” Kel said happily while enjoying a colourful salad.

  “That’s one thing that hasn’t changed since before I came to this world,” Micro replied. “But fuel efficiency isn’t everything.”

  The cook quickly returned with an even larger helping of his signature dish, insisting that Kel and Tae also partake of it, but it was Micro who finished most of it in the end.