Misbegotten Memories

Prince Siegfried was the first person to greet him. Not the welcome he'd hoped for.

"Hector! I need more resources!"

"Nice to see you, too, Siegfried."

"You made guarantees when you took my inheritance from me."

Hector had to remind himself to practice respect towards the prince. "I will continue to make good on my promises, Siegfried. I'm going to remind you that before you came here you were in hiding and working like a normal commoner. Now you're rich and you're drinking down all of those elixirs Eva brewed for you over the years."

"You say you are a man of your word. Prove that claim to my satisfaction."

Hector looked towards the cafe, hoping to spot Riley. Instead, he noticed Wayne seemed to be quite annoyed working the counter. He excused himself from the conversation with Siegfried. "Hey Wayne, is Riley not working today?"

The man waved at Hector. "She doesn't work for the cafe anymore."

"What? Is there a problem?"

Wayne sighed. "Darius put ideas into her head. She's a dungeon delver now."

"How the hell does that happen?"

"Hector, you were gone for three months. The girl wasn't interested in working a customer service role after being a servant on Tian. She's also quite a bit stronger than when she first came to Tian Tower. I guess she decided there was a way to make better money. You weren't around to talk sense into your friends and now she's in the dungeon once a week."

It appeared that time did not stand still in his friends' lives while he was gone. He really thought Darius would know better than to throw Riley into this type of lifestyle, though. Especially given how upset he had been that Hector got her into the situation on Tian. There would definitely need to be a stern discussion about this matter.

"Do you know if today is a dungeon day?"

Wayne shook his head. "I don't think so. Is Esther on her way back now? I wasn't expecting you to be away for a few days longer."

"Esther hasn't reached the end of her enlistment yet."

"And you have? Or is this an off-the-books visit?"

"I have a unique arrangement with the Reconquest that lets me come and go."

Wayne's eyes widened. "You're kidding? No?"

"Not joking. I can't share the specifics, but I'm helping a Sage do specialized work."

"Congratulations, then. I'm sure it pays well."

Hector shrugged, not wanting to reveal he wasn't taking any pay. That would beg the question of where he got all his money from, and he promised the System secrecy. He stepped into the elevator and made the gesture to bring up his statistics.

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 6

Body: 5.7

Mind: 6

Aura: 4.2

Domain: 4.7

Energy Reserves: 49%

Things were still on track. He would soon be at the peak of his body enhancement. His domain would soon reach level five as well. It took him three months to go from three point six to four point seven. Given the factorial increase with each level, progressing through the fives would take roughly five times longer than what he had just done. That would be about a year and a half to the peak of his current soul level.

Hector didn't think he could be that patient. Level seven was calling his name. He made a tentative plan right there in the elevator. First he would raise his body enhancement. After that he would hit five in his domain. Then advance.

He left the elevator and looked about the empty common area of his housing floor. After a moment, he knocked on the doors to the rooms for Darius and Riley. Silence. Hector shrugged. It wasn't reasonable to expect his friends to remain around the building in case he returned early.

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Besides, there was plenty he missed about Union Central that he could take advantage of. First, he got a shower using actual hot water. Then he went to a nearby restaurant. Afterwards, he took about a quarter of the level seven pinnacle organ pill out of storage and consumed it. A nasty pill was hardly a good dessert, but he welcomed its level seven potency.

Then he settled in to sip tea in the common area while he drew chaos through his externality.

Darius was the first to arrive. The man startled when he noticed Hector. "You are back!"

"Good seeing you again, Darius."

His friend drew himself up. "We have a serious problem with Riley."

Hector raised a brow. "You mean you don't approve of her in the dungeon either?"

"No. That was my idea. She wanted to make a chaos bolt, so we practiced in there and made some credits." Darius began to scowl. "She is romantically involved with that self-important fool of a prince you brought here."

He held up a hand. "Hold on. You just broke my brain with all of that. Let's start with the easy part. Riley is forming her externality into a chaos bolt? When did she decide on that?"

"I don't know when she decided. She asked and I helped her. Now we are delving for credits once a week. With two of us it is like being given free money. But the important thing is that she is accepting the advances of Siegfried. You must help me put a stop to it."

Hector massaged his temple, wondering why he had been in such a hurry to return to his friends in the first place. "I don't think we can break Riley up with every man she shows interest in."

"He thinks he is better than the rest of us, Hector. That man hid as a commoner for years and still thinks that he is my superior. Can you imagine? He is a hollow spear propped up by elixirs. We cannot let him steal Riley away from us."

Having recently been on a mission where everyone but two people died, Hector had trouble sympathizing with the 'situation'. He took a moment to compose himself. He owed Darius respect. Why was the guy freaking out about this? Did he really worry that their group would fall apart if Riley dated the wrong guy? Or did he maybe….

Hector shook his head. "What have you said to her about Siegfried?"

"I've told her how terrible he is."

"Who do you think would be acceptable for her to date?"

"Someone who isn't Siegfried."

"Not Siegfried and not Mick."

Darius nodded. "Exactly. Not those two."

"Well, what about Wayne?"

The eunuch froze. "He is too old for her. Hector, just get her to break up with him."

"I think the best way to do that is to give her a better option. Do you know anyone who might want to become romantically involved with Riley?"

"You are being ridiculous, Hector. Why did you even bother coming back from Aes?"

Hector scratched his neck. "Here's where it gets uncomfortable. I'm actually still working for the Reconquest. I just negotiated a deal where I can come back here during my off time."

"Why?" Darius shook his head in disgust. "To help in the war?"

"Yes, Darius. I want to participate in something meaningful. Also – I've been wanting to tell someone this for a long time – the Stronghold is the perfect cultivation spot for me. There is chaos in the environment I can pull directly through my mind and domain. I'm growing faster than ever."

Darius folded his arms. "Good. You should receive something for helping the Aes people."

"So what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, Hector. I never do anything of note other than cultivate and run the dungeon."

"Are there any good movies out?"

The eunuch shrugged. "I stopped watching those. They became predictable."

"Are we going to do anything for my first night back?"

Darius shrugged. "I cannot waste time if I wish to face the Lord General one day."

"Fickle fates, Darius. Are you still planning to throw your life away?"

"What else is there for me, Hector?" Darius scowled at the floor. "You say I am like Harridan, unable to move beyond how I have been wronged. I cannot deny such comparisons. I will gladly spend my life to achieve vengeance."

Hector crossed his arms. "Have you ever heard the saying that 'living well is the best revenge'?"

"Trite words of philosophical cowardice."

"And what would your life be like today if Volithur followed them?"

"I have no time for silly hypotheticals."

"It's not silly, Darius. Volithur could have fled Tian with you and your mother instead of playing at vengeance. He was an experienced porter, so you wouldn't even have wanted for resources. Your family could be intact and happy but for the sake of vengeance."

"Yet that is not how events transpired. The rest of us aren't like you, Hector. We can't delude ourselves into thinking we can fix everything. You drive me insane with your deliberate ignorance. Of the two of us, I'm the one who lives in reality. This is how things are. The debt created by past vendettas must always come due."

"There's another saying from my world. 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.'"

Darius snorted. "I have no children for him to maim."

"I'm not talking about people literally losing eyes."

"I understood the metaphor," Darius snapped. "Just give up on reforming me already."

"No."

The eunuch muttered angrily under his breath for a bit, then stormed into his bedroom. He emerged soon after with a bottle of wine that he slammed down onto the table between them. "The nefarious shopkeeper sells to me again. Tian Tower makes up a large portion of the Xian population in Promise City and no one was buying from him after we revealed his misdeeds."

Hector drank directly from the bottle and set it back down. "I didn't think he would forgive."

"Maybe not you. His master was your sponsor. But money makes the world go around."

"And you want to give him yours?"

"I want resources. The offerings of the cafe have declined without you here."

"You know, Darius, you should consider coming to Aes."

"Why would I ever want to do that?"

"Because my very good friend is the Sage of Purification. The two of us figured out we can work together to turn miasma into cosmic energy."

Darius choked on his wine and barely managed to keep it down. "You cheating bastard."