Lily was able to lead Micro safely through the alleys of the Imperial City without issue. The few cultivators they passed on the way were too weak and anxious to notice the pair of fugitives through the smoke, and it wasn’t long before they had reached the wall at the outskirts of town.

  “Ouch!” Micro shouted as he suddenly fell to the ground.

  “What is it, messenger?!” Lily cried as she raced back in panic.

  “Sorry,” Micro answered quickly as he stood up again, an expression of frustration on his face. “Another pothole… I’m fine.”

  “I see, you must be tired.” Lily sighed in relief.

  “I am. Oh, and call me Micro, by the way.”

  “But you carry the will of the goddess!” Lily gasped. “I dare not use your name—”

  “Well, alright then…”

  “There’s a secret passage behind the bushes here,” Lily said, pointing ahead. “My family should still be waiting nearby.”

  Lily led Micro into some of the dense shrubbery that decorated the base of the city walls, far from any gate or its diligent guards, and they crawled through a small opening in the wall after making sure they weren’t being followed. As he made his way through the small tunnel, the sounds of the angry and panicking cultivators of the city grew quieter. Many of the voices he recognized as those which had been cheering him on not long before. But mixed in were an increasing number of shouts from cultivators who hadn’t been involved in the tournament’s unfortunate conclusion.

  “It’s hard to believe that even the cultivators who didn’t get their cores drained can’t find us…” Micro thought aloud as he looked back over his shoulder one last time. “A lot of them have really good eyes.”

  “The cultivators?” Lily replied from a few paces ahead. “Right now, your aura is indistinguishable from any mortal’s, and we’re all but invisible to them.”

  “They can’t see us?” Micro asked with an eyebrow raised.

  “That’s cultivators for you…” Lily shrugged. “All they see is power.”

  “Oh, Tohan was saying something similar,” Micro recalled. “I wasn’t sure how serious he was being. Very strange…”

  “The weaker sect disciples are petty and vindictive, but it can be convenient how self absorbed they tend to be,” Lily continued. “The more powerful ones, like the Imperial Envoy we met today…”

  “Yahari?” Micro asked. “She was nice, I think…”

  “Be careful around people as strong as her,” Lily replied with a stern voice, stopping to turn around and make sure Micro understood her warning. “They rarely get involved in lower sect affairs, but we live and die at their whim. They look at us the same way they look at any bug crawling on the ground.”

  “I thought they wanted to kill all of you magicians, but she ended up cutting Azar’s arm off instead,” Micro said with a frown. “What a confusing person.”

  “What is truly confusing is that she was here at all,” Lily explained. “For an Imperial Envoy to have come to the Beryl Kingdom, something much more serious must be happening somewhere. The Temple of Nora may be planning something that will make tonight’s summoning look like nothing.”

  “They’re planning to attack the cultivators again?” Micro asked.

  “That’s right.”

  “I want to go home…”

  “Just a little farther, messenger,” Lily said, sensing his anxiety. “You met my father back at the inn. He’ll be waiting for us nearby.”

  As Micro popped out the other side of the eastern wall after Lily, he suddenly felt a cool sense of relief wash over him. The smoky air of the city felt far behind him as the cool air of the grassy field he stood up in filled his nose. He could now clearly see the mountains to the north and south. The valley full of villages which surrounded the Imperial City seemed like a peaceful oasis compared to the burning city behind him, though the strange feelings of chaos and unstable energy in his chest prevented him from fully enjoying it. Though the rings which had been placed around his core made his soul feel somewhat more secure, they did little to remedy his fatigue.

  “You made it!” The familiar voice of Lily’s father cut through the silent night. “Praise Nora for her mercy…!”

  “I’d rather not attract her attention…” Micro whispered, but the old man didn’t hear him. Micro turned to see Lily reuniting with about a dozen family members, along with several large men in leather armour who wore long swords at their waists. They looked suspiciously at the clothes Micro wore for a moment, but didn’t seem interested in his presence.

  “Hello there,” Micro greeted the indifferent men with a wave. “I’m Micro.”

  “These are the escorts we were able to hire from the mercenaries’ guild thanks to you, honoured messenger,” Lily said. “They aren’t the type to get involved with strangers, so do forgive their discourtesy…”

  “They’re the finest the guild has to offer. They regularly exterminate goblins, razor crabs, and other dangerous pests in the area!” Lily’s father said excitedly.

  “Razor crabs?” Micro repeated with wide eyes.

  “Have you not seen any before?” Lily asked. “They’re little, but their claws are like knives and they move terribly fast.”

  “That’s dangerous!” Micro gasped. “I hope we don’t—”

  “We should depart at once,” a tall man interrupted Micro with a slightly reddened face. “Less chance of being followed or ambushed with the city on fire…”

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “What in the world happened over there?” another man said as ash and sparks drifted by.

  “None of our business,” the anxious escort asserted. “That’s nothing you’ll want to bring on the road.”

  “Understood,” one of the other escorts answered with a firm nod. “The cultivator coming too? That’ll cost extra.”

  “You’re welcome to join us, if it suits you,” Lily looked hopefully at Micro, but was disappointed by the look in his eye.

  “I’ll come see you one day,” Micro answered with a smile. “Will you serve honey buns at the Brake Light?”

  “I promise!” Lily answered gleefully. “I’ve never tried honey, but I’ll look into them when we arrive!”

  “I think I’ll head back to Kel’s house for now,” Micro continued, then looked down and placed his hand over his sore chest. “I need to do something about this core issue…”

  “I see…” Lily replied as her family picked up their bags and the mercenaries began to move. “Good luck, Micro.”

  ~

  As Micro watched Lily and her party venture east toward the horizon over the moonlit plains, quickly disappearing from his half-impaired sight, he took a deep breath and resolved himself to get moving.

  “I think I’m nearly empty, Blue,” he said while rubbing his stinging left eye. “I can’t cultivate at all with my core like this…”

  “What was that?” Blue asked.

  “I’m hungry…” Micro replied. “I need fuel…”

  “Do humans not eat grass?” Blue asked as she climbed onto his shoulder.

  “I don’t think so,” Micro replied. “I think that’s cows, but humans do eat cows, so—”

  “That’s disgusting!” Blue gasped. “Those big things that stink up whatever field they’re in?!”

  “That’s what beef is made of…” Micro explained, his voice becoming drier with each breath.

  “Oh, weird,” she said with a frown. “Well, heading back to that burning city doesn’t sound appetizing, so focus on walking. I’ll fix up my own core a little then find us a destination, or at least a cow.”

  “Good luck, Blue,” Micro replied as he walked.

  “I won’t need it,” Blue stated contently as she began to meditate.

  Without his energy, the plains felt much wider than before, but he could vaguely make out the shape of several small houses in the distance. None were more than a single floor tall, but could see smoke rising above several of them. After taking no more than a dozen steps, Micro was running out of breath.

  “How is the core coming along?” He asked wearily.

  “It’s just a jade core, but even I’m not that fast!” Blue laughed. “Just wait til I get myself an amber core.”

  “I thought getting an amber core might be enough to find a way home, but there are a lot of core levels too…” Micro wondered as he stumbled over a large rock. “I wonder how many colours there are.”

  “Well, there’s jade, amber, sapphire…” Blue began to count on her fingers, though her eyes were still closed. “Then you’ve got the emerald and ruby folks. They’re a real pain to deal with.”

  “Which level was Yahari?” Micro asked. “She seemed stronger than Azar… a lot stronger.”

  “She had the next level up from ruby, a cerulean core,” Blue answered. “They keep to themselves most of the time, but the empire keeps a few of them busy.”

  “Was that the highest level?” Micro asked as he went over the list, counting them out on his own fingers. “That seems like a lot.”

  “I’ve met a few silver and gold level cultivators, but they’re super weird,” Blue said with a tone of general displeasure. “I met this one guy with a pearl core. Oh, he was a real piece of work. He’s the one who—Well, Pearl is the highest I’ve seen. I’ll aim for that, for now. I wonder if that old geezer is still kicking around somewhere. I bet he’d soil himself if he met a pixie with a pearl core.”

  “Let me know…” Micro panted. “How it goes…”

  She began to chuckle as her meditative state waned, but Micro was too tired to continue the conversation while walking. As the chaos energy holding his core together slowly evaporated, he felt weaker and weaker, so he dedicated the remainder of his power to walking in the direction of the village. He distracted himself from the growing pain in his legs with pleasant memories of the tournament, hoping his new friends would find their way home safely.

  He hoped Kel and Tae would be able to recover quickly, and he thought about the next time they might eat mountain fried beef together. He could almost smell the freshly baked honey buns which filled him with warmth and comfort with every bite. He wished he could bring his driver to the sect to taste them one day. But the next thing he tasted was dirt.

  “Gah…!” He spat out a mouth full of dirt, having tripped over a rock hidden in the knee-high grass.

  “Oof!” Blue grunted as she landed beside him in the grass. “What gives?!”

  She stood up, having recovered a small amount of energy, and glared at Micro, but he wasn’t as quick as usual to stand up this time. He stared at the ground on his hands and knees as tears began to fall from his eyes.

  “Hey!” she shouted, though her anger was diffused slightly by his unsightly emotional state. “You hurt your toe on that rock?”

  “This world is crazy…” Micro sniffled. “I’m tired…”

  “Well dying here won’t make you feel any better,” Blue said, patting him on the head. “This world is more fun to live in than die in, so get up.”

  “It’s such a beautiful place,” Micro whimpered. “But everyone is always fighting…”

  “Yeah…” Blue shrugged. “It takes a while to get used to humans. There’s more of them every day though, so get over it.”

  “Humans?” Micro repeated as he leaned back to sit upright, looking at the tall grass in front of him. “I didn’t think they could be like this…”

  “For what it’s worth, nobody likes humans,” Blue added. “What were you again? A farm tool?”

  “Yeah,” Micro replied, wiping his face with his sleeve. “Basically…”

  “I see.” Blue looked back at him with a deeper expression than he’d seen on her before. “Such a thing—”

  “What is it, Blue?” Micro asked as she stared up at him. “Am I damaged somewhere?”

  “Well, it’s just…” she began, but she quickly shook her head and turned around again. “It’s nothing. I’m hungrier than I thought.”

  “Me too,” Micro said with a nod.

  “Then stop thinking so much,” Blue scoffed. “You’re a farm tool, so act like one.”

  “Okay…” Micro answered, but his voice was small and his mind was fuzzy. He held out his hand, and Blue climbed quickly up to his shoulder as he brought himself to his feet. He took a deep breath and looked forward. The small weight on his shoulder took some of the weight from his mind, though his hunger made the rest of him feel heavier by the moment. However, a smell suddenly caught his attention which seemed to lift him out of his gloom with a single breath.

  “Huh?” Blue blurted out as she noticed the abrupt change in the air around him. “What’s got into you?”

  “Don’t you smell that?” Micro asked with a smile forming on his face.

  “I smell…” Blue closed her eyes and sniffed the air several times. “Smoke?”

  “Not just smoke!” Micro said excitedly.

  “You still have some dirt up your nose?” she asked with an eyebrow raised.

  “That smell!” Micro said as he took a deeper breath through his nose and smiled widely. He immediately started walking in the direction of the smell, holding his nose high in the air as if trying to catch every trace of it.

  “I don’t know what you—” Blue tried to speak, but she had to hold onto his shoulder with both hands as his pace quickened, worried she’d fall off.

  “You don’t know that smell?” Micro shouted happily, though his voice was strained and dry. “That’s the smell of a mechanic!”