Emberglass City, home to nearly a hundred thousand, and the true capital of the sage world, so said Mei that is. Its architecture was the same as the capital's, but of much higher quality. The roads weren't just clean, they were shining; the buildings were polished and gilded. Despite seeming so standard, the guards gave off a strong aura of spirit and lethality, equipped with armor and weapons that were hard to look at.

  Feeling a hand turn his head from the patrolling guards, he turned to see Mei shaking her head.

  "Do not look at the guardsmen, they do not take kindly to gawkers."

  Snapping forward, he did his best to stop himself from turning back to them as they passed by. Once they were gone, he let himself breathe as they started walking through the crowds with their zhorzes.

  "What do we do now?"

  "We leave our mounts here, the attendants will retrieve them once we are gone."

  "So I have to give Old Bastard back?"

  She looked confused.

  "Why would you not? They are owned by the city, and we were only given them for the journey."

  "Oh."

  Walking back to the sad-looking zhorze, he patted his side as he slid off his pack.

  "Sorry, old boy, I have to go now."

  He gave a whinny as the three began to leave, distraught that Jack was leaving. As they walked away, he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, a respectful look on Sarhou's face.

  "If it's any consolation, zhorzes are rare and expensive, he likely lives better than some rich merchants. He'll be fine, don't worry."

  "...Thanks."

  Continuing down the street, passing immaculate shops and displays, Jack couldn't help but feel an odd sense of discomfort as they traveled further in. After some walking, they came to the doorstep of a large gate in front of an even larger building. It was built of wood and stone, both of the highest quality; in some areas, he could even feel spirit leaking through the polished black tiles and red wood panels.

  "This place is amazing!"

  Mei took out her fan.

  "It'll do."

  Stepping inside, he was given a smooth wooden stick, their language written on it with the number 87.

  "Your room number, which is... right across from ours, it seems."

  "Hell yeah!"

  Sarhou's excitement drew looks to their group, some of which he recognized from Houdan's gang. Noticing the growing attention from their surroundings, Mei pulled the two boys up two flights of stairs, placing each of them in front of a door with their respective numbers.

  "I advise that you two rest for the day. We will be gathering some necessities tomorrow."

  Wordlessly, Jack waved back to the two as each of them entered their rooms. Stepping through the door, his room was more modest than he'd expected, but it was still finely stocked with silks and top-notch furniture.

  Lying on the bed, it felt almost too soft compared to what he'd gotten used to, like he was about to fall through the floor and back into a cell. Sitting up, he placed his pack on a bedside table and fished out a few books that Master Shin snuck into his pack. It was an introductory guide to alchemy and pill making. It was an interesting read, but some of the concepts went over his head with how wordy they got, still, the gardening portions were easy enough for him. Drifting to sleep, he thought of horses and plants.

  Waking up to a knock on the door, he opened it to find Mei and Sarhou standing there.

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  "Get changed, we leave for the market in five minutes."

  Throwing together a simple outfit, he felt woefully underdressed compared to Sarhou's plain but rich pants and shirt, and Mei's extravagant flower dress. Together, they walked through the city some more as they passed through a gatehouse to the market. Full of red and green streamers and banners, it was more cloth and paper than stone and glass storefronts. The first store they entered was a small one, a single room with foul and bitter-smelling cubbies stacking up to the roof. Picking one out, a deep purple flower with four long, sharp petals, he somewhat recognized it from his readings.

  "This is...Black Lake Tongue?"

  The old lady shopkeeper looked up from whatever deal she was making with Mei.

  "Indeed, young man, interested in gathering herbs for your master's?"

  "He's not our ser-"

  "He is interested; he's been promised a reward if he finishes learning the basics."

  "Is that so? Perhaps I'll help the young man."

  Pulling out a small box and offering it, Jack took the box with him as they left the store.

  "What a nice old lady."

  "You should ditch the box."

  He quickly looked at her.

  "Do not give me that look. The lady gave you a spoiled product."

  Opening the box, it was indeed an old piece of fruit, but not quite rotten as Mei implied. Jack didn't know if he felt hurt or not, considering it was essentially free, but part of him still felt miffed.

  "What eve is it?"

  She poked and turned it over.

  "Hmm, I would say it's a toun apple, good for alcohol and perfumes, but not much else."

  "Shucks, well, at least we didn't have to pay for it."

  "We?"

  "Fine, you."

  She gave a slight smile as she walked further ahead. Going through several more shops and several crowds of staring eyes, they eventually made it to the final stop of their shopping, a beast shop. Cages, full and empty, haphazardly lined the walls, small creatures that didn't exist on Earth, and big ones you might see in zoos. The air was heavy with the smell of fur and animals, his companions were having a hard time keeping a straight face, but all Jack smelled was life, caged though it was.

  "Phew, how can you stand this odor, brother?"

  He just shrugged; it wasn't that bad in his opinion.

  "So, what do we need here? I doubt we'll be allowed pets once we go up."

  Mei crossed her arms and shook her head.

  "We are allowed pets, so long as we take responsibility for them and they are not illegal. But that is not why I have taken us here; what I need is a demon core aligned to my innate talent."

  "Ah, if you don't mind, what is your talent?"

  She contemplated the question, but ultimately decided to answer.

  "Seeing as you're attached to us for the time being, my talent lies in poison."

  "Neat."

  He made finger guns at her.

  Sarhou thought that was the funniest shit ever. Mei did not.

  Her face went a little red as her arms trembled with indignation.

  "Why you-! Do you know who my family is?!"

  "No"

  She continued anyway.

  "-We are the only family who consistently produce poison talents, it's why we were valued and feared for so long! It's more than 'neat', it is divine!"

  "Super neat?"

  She sputtered in place, deciding they weren't worth it as she stomped deeper into the maze of cages and boxes. Sarhou fell to the floor with laughter, causing some of the animals to start crying out in annoyance. But through his hysterical laughter, Sarhou was able to spit out some words.

  "Brother -Laugh- when it comes time for the wedding -silent laughter- you shall be an honored guest!"

  "Neat."

  Que another round of laughter.

  After a few minutes to calm down, they both got up to walk around the shop. Walking into a less pungent room, Jack found Mei perusing a selection of crystal balls on pedestals.

  "Find anything interesting?"

  She frowned at his presence, but didn't hold it for long.

  "Nothing of note, some might be useful for Sarhou, but the rest lack any real quality, but what would you expect from such a store?"

  "Doesn't seem that bad."

  "We will need to teach your perspective soon. To the common, such a store is full of wondrous treasures and unthinkable power, but to us, Sarhou and I, such a place barely qualifies."

  "Why come then, if only to complain about it?"

  "Luck, a blind frog can get lucky sometimes, and even if places like this don't have precisely what I need, they may have something else worth buying as a gift for a subordinate or as study material. Likely, some members of the Outer Sect use this shop to buy whatever odd end demon beast materials they may need. Speaking of which, take this."

  She held out a ball, about the size of a large grape.

  "It's from a metal demon. I noticed you were using an aid while we were traveling, so I thought of getting you one."

  That was... really nice actually. He wasn't sure how it would compare to the one he got from Shin, but the thought meant more at the moment.

  "Thank you, truly."

  She gave a small smile before turning away to hand the storekeeper the payment. Walking back to their rooms, he looked at it as he lay in bed. Most of him was still terrified at what the future holds for him, a day of niceties couldn't change that, but those two were beginning to represent a ray of hope to him, not that they weren't at least somewhat before. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind of depressive thoughts and sat cross-legged in his bed, holding the little ball as he practiced.

  But as his spirit passed through the ball, he could taste the metallic energy leaving the ball. Focusing on his own energy, he could feel it stripping the ball of every single bit of energy, adding to his own. Internally, he could feel a small bump to his total reserves and hear the crack of the demon core. Putting two and two together wasn't that hard; what was hard was going to sleep with this new ability.