Darahem City still had not changed.
It still hung veiled beneath its storm-scrawled stone walls, still filled with that mix of danger and existence, Vaen remembered. The streets churned with hard-faced mercenaries, sharp-eyed merchants, and hooded cultivators with too many secrets. Spires from old temples pierced the sky along with fortress barracks and merchant manors, all painted by the same blistering desert sun.
Vaen and Yu Rael strolled together through the front gate, their steps all but silent on the dusty stone road. They did not speak. There was no necessity.
Months of unknown journey lay behind them, so that the din of life here struck them as booming far too booming.
Standing at the city crossroads, Rael threw back her cloak, shot him a lazy grin, and gestured with a thumb in the direction of the east quadrant. "I'll go check on the morons. You go check on your moron."
Vaen nodded fractionally. "Catch you up at the camp."
Rael clicked her tongue and vanished in the crowd.
Vaen made his way toward the southern sector, through the quieter alleys where cultivators kept to themselves and eyes didn't linger. Soon enough, he arrived at the small courtyard that had once felt so quiet and now almost… warm.
The gate creaked open.
"Tarun?" Vaen called softly.
From inside, a familiar voice answered, "Young master! You're back?!"
A person exploded out of the inner room like a projectile. Tarun, a full head taller than he'd been before, robes loose on a hard frame. His Qi burst wildly around him. Raw, but intense.
Vaen raised an eyebrow, sensing the energy. "Foundation Establishment… stage five?"
Tarun grinned, tracing his hand along his neck. "I kept up with the training, as you told me to. The breathing technique you had me practice helped enormously. And I worked part time at Miss Rael's mercenary camp."
Vaen walked out into the courtyard and settled onto the stone bench under the olive tree. "You trained, and you endured."
Tarun paused, then sat opposite him. "There were. There were some mercenary fights. I had to defend the location a few times. It was not too bad. Just enough to realize I was still weak."
Vaen did not smile, but his eyes did hold approval.
"That's Good."
He drew them out of his storage ring and produced a pale jade scroll, which was wrapped in red silk. "Here, this is a more polished version of the cultivation manual. Improved channeling, richer meridian focus. Practice with this, and you won't waste so much Qi."
Tarun accepted it reverently, staring with a look of willingness. "Young master, this. this must be...."
"Respectively expensive?" Vaen shrugged. "So what?"
And he tossed a pouch onto the table. It landed with a solid thud.
Tarun opened it and went pale. "These are. Origin Qi stones? There are at least...."
"One thousand," Vaen replied casually. "I had it set aside for use in emergencies. Now you're an emergency."
Tarun's fingers trembled. "I... I don't know what to say."
"Say nothing. Just grow." Vaen stood up. "You're coming with me now. There's a place in Rael's camp for a person such as yourself."
Tarun blinked. "You mean a job?"
"Yeah. Earn your keep. Don't sit around getting stronger all by yourself. Learn. Bleed if you have to."
Tarun nodded his head. "Understood."
With that, they set off toward the western part of the city, where Yu Rael's camp lay...a sprawl of tents and barracks, watchtowers and sparring fields, a home for outlaws, warriors, and those too stubborn to die.
Tarun looked nervous the entire way. "They'll accept me?"
Vaen gave a rare smirk. "If they don't, we'll burn the whole thing down."