For a brief moment, the world held its breath, almost as if to mimic his own disturbance at the cost of a few simple vials of poison. Leaves stopped their constant rustling, insects and birds were nowhere to be seen, and the humid air seemed to stick to his clothes as a faint rumble shook him from his thoughts. Even the sky itself disapproved of the price tag, as clouds towered ever so slightly higher into the sky.

  However, Nyx knew a solution to his plight. He rose to his feet and whispered a quiet ‘I will be right back’, almost as if he could disturb the quiet atmosphere the world had turned toward. It seemed that those words alone had been enough; and wind returned the rustling garden back to its former busy noise as he stepped into the estate that Nox’Rictus currently occupied on Rax’Rathos’s orders.

  Inside, Nyx immediately noticed that the medical field that had been ever-present last time was now gone. Stepping over the wooden floorboards, reminiscent of bones and pale sticks, he was not skillful enough to walk quietly; his focus skill voiced its complaint at his clumsiness. However, being skilled could have been taken as an affront by someone who was representing a powerful clan in the absence of the young master.

  Nyx had resigned himself to the fact that Rictus would never accept his help, indirect or otherwise. Such was the pride of the Hestáia, the branch family of the Aurelius Vox. It was not in his nature to talk around things and shroud everything in vague statements. He appreciated the blue?skinned healer's abrasive sense of honesty, but wondered if the demon would behave differently when talking to the powerful clan.

  Entering a living room drowned in shadows, he noticed that the space had been reconfigured. No longer was he greeted by a tasteful display of luxurious furniture and comfortable chairs; instead, he was greeted by a single chair, heavy and imposing, and elevated above everything else. A throne. And on the side, in a barely noticeable corner, there stood a small writing desk of simple white Salix wood.

  Papers piled up in a thick stack and Nox’Rictus sat there, slowly scratching at a ledger with his pen, breaking the silence of the room. Next to him, a woman stood, almost towering above him in eerie silence, her presence like a drawn sword on Nyx’s throat. It felt familiar. He approached calmly, a small creature dashing out from underneath the table towards him.

  A brown cub, the size of a small cur?bear, viciously assaulted his legs with its pristine fur and seemed to beg for affection. The cub was oddly shaped; its paws resembled a mixture of cat and bear, yet its face had a predatory grace to it, almost like a mixture of a fox and a wolf. The woman raised a brow at the affection the pet was showing him. Nyx helplessly tilted his head towards Rictus with a polite “Good Morning.”

  He, however, raised a hand as if to bid him to hold on, and Nyx simply shrugged and lowered himself to oblige the cute creature. It carefully sniffed his right hand, then licked it, and turned on its belly with a cute whimper. The woman's gaze intensified, but petting the fluffy creature seemed to make him feel good about it regardless. Nyx’s focus skill activated, allowing him a clear sense of mind. The displeasure against his neck immediately lessened, and he rose to his feet comfortably, the cub in his hands, scratching its ears nonchalantly.

  Her gaze still lingered on him, mustering his calm attitude when Nox’Rictus finally acknowledged him. “Ah, Nyx’Sol. What brings you to us? Official Business?” he stated, almost dismissively. “Or private?” he suggested with a smile.

  “Oh, I am just visiting. I do want to ask you for some advice, however,” Nyx said with a calm glance towards the cub, blissfully stretched all over his arms, paws, and legs, twitching in the rhythms of his scratches. “He is very well behaved.”

  “She is,” the woman interjected slyly. “Albeit a bit overly friendly.”

  Nyx had almost frowned and lost his calm composure. He was certain that this cub seemed male to him. It was as easy to tell as it was to breathe. “He really is no bother. His hospitality shows in how he greets his guests.”

  Her eye twitched at his reply.

  “Private matter it is then,” Nox’Rictus acknowledged and turned his head towards her. “Sister Baii’Hestáia, we will continue our work on this proposal afterwards. Thank you.”

  She nodded and disappeared without a trace, the cub following her example shortly thereafter, its entire presence erased in an instant, gone from his hands.

  “They are not really here? Mere projections?” Nyx guessed.

  Rictus shook his head. “More than just a trick of the light, but never mind that. I assume you came to talk about last night's situation?”

  “Last night?” Nyx decided to feign ignorance, since Nox’Rictus was already engaging him quite formally. He had to drag him from official matters as much as possible if he wanted to have an honest conversation. “No, I wanted to ask you for a favour and some advice.”

  “What would this favour be?” he raised his feather thoughtfully, still very much in his official capacity.

  So Nyx continued to ignore that annoying tendency. “I wanted to ask for your advice on an idea I have had after I left yesterday,” he said, taking a seat in front and resting his hands and head on the table, eyeing the paperwork curiously. “But never mind that, you seem to be occupied. Lots of work?” he poked the edge of the heavy book the purple demon had been writing in.

  Rictus’s eye twitched at the disregard for formality, and he closed his ledger and sighed in exasperation. “Sol, why do you always insist on derailing official talks? You are well aware that you come to me in a time of inconvenience and that I cannot treat you as a friend simply because you find that more convenient.” He folded his hands on the desk in front of him and leaned forward. “Is there any official business that you have to conduct?”

  Nyx slouched back into his chair and rested his foot on top of his knee. “I came to ask you a question about ethics. Since you are much more well versed in these matters, and I have not yet had time to consult the book you have loaned me, I figured I would ask. But I doubt this would be considered official business?”

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  Nox’Rictus nodded. “I suppose so.” His stance relaxed somewhat. “I would be curious to see what you thought about the Hestáia way of structuring things, since it seems to address a lot of the complaints you had yesterday. Now, what is your question?”

  Nyx shrugged. “I have seen how the Spear Saint Mountain Group uses its power to tightly control the available resources, and then sell them and force out those who do not pay. Their members have higher chances of advancing than those who do not belong to them. It is not based on merit. Would a monetary system that redistributes wealth not be better? I know there are cultivators who have money and want comfort, and those who could use money to fuel their growth. It would benefit the sect, and would that not be a more ethical system instead of their tyranny?”

  “No. The use of currency is neither morally good nor morally bad. It is just a tool that helps you regulate what you want to enforce. Do you think a sword is inherently good or bad? A sword can be wielded to protect your family, slay monsters or hammer in a nail. It can also be used to kill and harm. But in the end it is just a tool, so how can it be good?”

  This was something Nyx had never thought about before. After thinking about it, he was not quite sure he fully understood that way of thinking. It really did not answer his question. “What I am trying to ask… Can the ruling power not just use Sect Points and sell the better homes to the initiates who have the means to buy them? Then they can give these points to those who do not have points, and they can lend out books and ask others to teach them, so there would be more people advancing through Skin Tempering. It would be good for the sect.”

  “Yes, of course you can,” Rictus immediately said. “But that is not a question about what gives you the ethical right to rule. They argue for a rule of the most powerful. You just describe what they then should do—how they should behave. If you were to be more powerful than all of them, you could create this system just as you see fit. Would you want to do this?”

  Nyx considered it for a moment. “No. I would not want to do it. I do not have any experience with such things; what good would it do to replace someone who does not want to rule the Skin Tempering Garden for the good of all with someone inexperienced who does not know how to?” He frowned. “I just want there to be something that helps everyone equally. It would be better for the sect. Maybe all initiates should decide together what is best.”

  Opposite him, Nox’Rictus reopened the ledger and started to draw ink with his feather. “I suppose you should think some more about the question itself, then. There are many factors to consider. Most cultivators do not care about money. They crave recognition, honor, achievements, and status. And there will always be those who crave to destroy whichever system is trying to contain them.” He scratched through a line of numbers and scribbled a sentence before pointing the feather towards Sol. “I could argue that you are one of these cultivators as well. You like to challenge those who want to demand control over you. Would you not enjoy it the most if there was a tournament where you could challenge them head?on and replace their influence on you with another, chosen by yourself?”

  “Tournaments would be great,” Nyx said with excitement. “We would see each other's strengths and fighting styles. At the moment we hardly ever know anyone’s abilities—unless you directly fight them. It would be a lot better if you could earn yourself a home that you do not have to constantly defend every day, even if you need to do well at the tournament to keep it.”

  “The sect would probably argue that those constant fights are what elevates our current system above a tournament?based one,” Rictus argued, slowly picking up the pace of his ledger entries. “This Skin Tempering Garden is just a way to test us. They want to see what we do when we have loosely defined rules and observe our interactions to pick out the disciples whom they want to teach. At least that is what I think.”

  Nyx frowned. Rictus was right; the rules were determined by cultivators far more powerful than anyone here, and the rules served their own purpose. They would not have designed it in this manner if it had not served them in some way. Still… it irked him.

  Rictus had noticed Sol’s apparent frustration and once more pointed his feather towards him. “But it is simple, you know? If you want something to change, tear it down. And keep doing that until someone does what you like. In a system that does not belong to you, do what you want. That probably suits you best.” He paused and put down his feather. “Now, what was the favour you wanted to ask me?”

  “Can you lend me some money? I want to buy some poison,” Nyx asked with a bright smile.

  “Poison? Whatever for?” Rictus eyed him with a raised eyebrow.

  Nyx was quite confident that he would be denied the loan if he told him what he intended to use it for. “Hunting squirrels.”

  “Hunting… squirrels?” The purple demon put two fingers on the bridge of his nose and sighed in exhaustion. “The Aurelius Vox does not view… hunting squirrels as a worthwhile investment. I will, however, lend you something as a personal favour.” He reached inside his pocket and brought forth a simple black token that portrayed the number ‘300’. As he handed it to Nyx, he continued, “I expect it back with 300. The token charges interest.”

  “How much interest?” Nyx’Sol asked with a concerned look. “A lot?”

  “Best not take too long paying it back then,” Rictus said with a smooth expression. “Have fun… hunting squirrels.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

  “Oh, and Sol. I believe that it will rain today. If it does, keep some of your poison for it. I know of one… squirrel that is quite… well, you will see.”

  Nyx nodded in appreciation and left the estate.

  Sister Baii’Hestáia appeared next to Nox’Rictus when his visitor had exited the estate. Of course, she had been present the entire time, unbeknownst to the two younger cultivators. Her bonded beast was still pouting next to her. She immediately made her displeasure known.

  “I thought you had said that there were none of interest among this year's initiates? Yet this boy clearly shows the mark of a heavenly beast, and there is a certain feeling about him…” She paced behind her scribbling junior brother. “It is quite unsettling to see someone so young show such mastery over Skin Tempering cultivation. We tend to refine our circulation over the years, yet his own is already so well developed. I would have called you a liar if you had claimed him to be this young.”

  Rictus sighed. “Sister Baii, I have said there is hardly anyone. Not that there is no one. And how would I be conscious of his Qi circulation or bond contract? I cannot sense them as you do.” He scratched out another line and closed the ledger before handing it to her. “Now, I appreciate you telling me this, but I already have my own plans for today's unfolding events. Such is the duty of an Hestáia.”

  She gently received the book and made her pet hover next to her. “And how did he know Augustus-Rex is a boy?” She asked, curiously scratching the little raskall behind his ears. “It is almost impossible to tell their gender without a bond.”

  Rictus raised an eyebrow. “I could not possibly guess. Please stop asking me what I have no way of knowing.” Then he coughed politely and tapped the ledger with his knuckles. “And Sister Baii, please do train your own accounting skills; you cannot go and bully your juniors into doing your reports forever.”