Chapter 57: Celebrations

Chapter 57: Celebrations

Their celebrations went well into the night. Pete ordered them round after round of food, refusing to let any of his students spend a single coin of their own money. His last job must have paid a lot better than hed let on, though Chance suspected he wouldnt have much left of the coin by the time the night was over.

He did his best not to spend too much of the older mans money, but Pete was incessant and made sure to refill Chances plate whenever it was even starting to get close to empty. It became evident that he wasnt going to give up, so Chance just surrendered and let himself relax.

It had been so long since hed been able to really just completely relax and let loose, and he savored every second of it. The memory carved itself into his mind as one of the most enjoyable nights of his life.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

As he and his team laughed the night away, a shift occurred in the stars dotting the purple sky above Gleam. A swathe of darkness flicked through the air, blotting out the brightest star for just an instant before it shot down, spiraling through one of Gleams towering buildings, and alighted on the roof of a store.

The darkness rose, twisting up in a pillar to form into a man. His long black hair fluttered behind his head, settling over his pointed shoulders as the wind around him faded. The mans head rose. Like a vial of ink had been spilled into the pool of his eyes, black washed over his pupils.

Tiny bands of golden light fluttered around him, desperately trying to cling to his body. They sizzled faintly wherever they touched his skin. The man plucked them off, irritation crossing his features.

I hate this city, Vex growled, stepping out into the streets. His scowl deepened as he stepped beneath a glowing lamp. It shattered, and by the time the glass had fallen to the ground, he was already gone.

Deep within the Old City, Yamish floated in meditation. His arms made the yin-yang symbol before his chest, and strands of golden and black light intertwined between them. The serene expression on his face faded to one of slight displeasure as he shifted, rotating so that his head pointed toward the moon once more.

He uncrossed his arms and his eyes opened, casting a brief flicker of gold through the broken alleyways before the light within them faded. Yamish uncrossed his arms and ran his tongue along his lips, wetting them.

Hanging in the air before him was a single, black strand of Karma. It was as thick as a rope, and it traveled out through a wall and into Gleams main streets. Yamish ran a finger along the strand, his eyes narrowing as tiny sparks of Karma sheared away and vanished into his palm.

Then he was gone, and the Old City trembled at his passing.

***

The tournament rewards arrived the following morning in the form of three brown paper wrapped packages. By the time Chance and the others headed downstairs, the packages had all been set out on the table.

Pete had already left, likely to try and make up some of the coin that hed spent on them the previous night. A flicker of embarrassment passed through Chance.

Stop that, Bella said, picking up the smallest of the packages.

Stop what?

Youre feeling bad about spending Petes money.

What? Howd you know?

It was kind of obvious, Yeo put in. Shes right. Pete wasnt forced to spend anything. He did it on his own, and it would be disrespectful to him to start feeling bad about it.

Bella set the small package down and picked up the largest one. She tossed it to Chance, who caught it with a grunt. Your tournament rewards.

Thanks, Chance said, surprised at the weight. He set the package down and pulled the paper off to reveal a wooden box within it. And youre probably right. Good point. Thanks guys.

No problem, Yeo replied. He tore the wrapping off his own, slightly smaller box and flipped it open. Yeo let out a whistle of appreciation. Now thats some good stuff.

Chance opened his own, and his eyes lit up. Vials covered the top layer of the box, all packed full of medicinal pills. He recognized a small number of them as healing pills and cultivation aids, but the rest were completely foreign to him. Beneath the pills was a large, bulging sack with the number five thousand printed across it in bold, golden letters.

Chance spent the rest of the day doing much of the same. When night finally fell, he retired to his room and set about meditating to make sure his cultivation didnt fall behind. The night came and went, and the following day went similarly.

Even with all the improvements hed made, there was still so much to improve and perfect that the training felt like it had no concrete end in sight. Considering he was just a Squire, and Lucy had said that cultivators could get even stronger than gods outside of Gleam, he figured that probably wasnt too far from the truth.

Wren dropped by the Whiteheart house on the third day, but he didnt stay long. After greeting Chance, who was eating breakfast at time, he found Bella and dragged her away, saying that his master had discovered the thing they were looking for.

She shot Chance a panicked look an instant before the energetic boy dragged her out the door and let it fall shut behind them. Chance glanced from his porridge to the door, then picked his spoon back up and took another bite. Wren hadnt even been there for an entire minute.

He finished his food off, then collected the box of his winnings and headed out, making for Madam Babas apothecary. A tiny bell chimed as he stepped inside, and the old woman squinted at him from behind her counter.

Here to buy more cultivation pills? I have no idea where youre putting them. With the amount youve gone through, Id expect impurities to be seeping out of your skin.

Not this time. Not yet, at least, Chance said with a sheepish grin. He set the box down on the counter in front of her. I was hoping you could identify some of the pills Ive got here. I won them as a reward, but they werent labeled.

Baba cocked an eyebrow and gestured impatiently at the box. Chance clicked it open, and she peered inside. Her wrinkled brow rose in surprise as she studied its contents.

Whered you get this?

I won a tournament.

Did you now? These are pretty high quality, boy. Worth a pretty coin.

How do you know? Chance asked, peering at the vials. They just looked like normal pills to him.

I do this for a living, among other things. Trust me, I know a good pill when I see one. It might take me a little time to go through all of these, though. Youve got quite a few variants, and I dont recognize all of them.

Thats fine. How long?

Give me three days. That should be enough to perform some tests and make sure that nothing will blow up your cultivation base on accident. What idiots didnt label pills they gave you?

The Shikari.

Baba snorted. Figures. Bunch of idiots. Ill take the pills and let you keep the coin. We both know youll spend it all here anyway.

She cackled, and Chance laughed as well. The old woman wasnt wrong. He didnt want to think about how many pills hed bought from her over the last few weeks.

Ill come back in a few days then. Do you need payment for this?

No need. Youre already paying my rent, Baba said, flashing a gap-toothed grin at him. And identifying pills is fun. Not much left that is at this point, so itll be a nice change. Now get lost, Baba needs to work.

Chance pulled all the vials out of the box and put them on the counter before Baba. He raised a hand in farewell, already more than used to the womans abrasive personality, then slipped out of the store with the box under his arm. He wasnt worried that shed take anything from him. Despite her attitude, the old woman felt honest.

Well, either that or Im an idiot. Maybe both.

He headed through the crowded streets, making for the Whiteheart house, entirely unaware of the pitch black eyes that trailed him from the shadows.