Mana 4 Chapter 5

Up on the ninth floor, women in scantily dressed clothes moved about. The place didn’t seem to have a central attraction like the other floors. Instead, it looks far more like the sects I’d come to know with women practicing cultivation in alcoves and moving about in groups to train.

It only took one look from a woman in a pink gauzy dancers dress to know where I needed to go. “Madam Orchid is through there.”

“Thank you.” I cupped my hands and gave her a short nod.

“You’re new?” She asked before I turned away.

I figured I might as well try to make friends. “Yes, new to this building and this world.”

“Ah, you were caught on arrival.” She didn’t seem surprised.

Distaste couldn’t help but bleed into my expression. “Is that so common?”

She twisted her pink lips in thought for a moment before answering. “Truthfully, most of the inhabitants of this world look down upon those who come from the mortal world. Though, it would seem you have a solid cultivation and an immortal body. That’s a step above many here.”

“How would you rate my cultivation compared to most people?”

“You’re suitable. Here in Murdock you are well above average. But the fourth rank has vast differences between those at the beginning and those ready to move to the fifth rank. The fifth rank is where real power starts.”

I thought of the young master I had dispatched so quickly earlier. “Why is that, just my cultivation?”

She shook her head. “Yes. I can see you have only touched upon your understanding of your own cultivation. You understand it in isolation, but not as a part of the whole. To understand it, you must defy the heavens first, and win.” With that, she smiled and turned. Apparently, that cryptic advice was her parting gift.

I let what she’d said roll around in my head. Often, even in the Ferrymen, we didn’t give disciples the straight answer to something. We would let them puzzle it out themselves, so they would grow even further.

Mimicking often yielded weaker results. Being forced to feel like a young disciple again was both frustrating and exciting at the same time.

And now I was headed into a room to be scolded. That definitely made me feel like a young disciple again. But it wasn’t worth putting it off.

Following the directions I’d been given, I wandered into a nearby room.

The room was plush. The entire thing seemed to be filled with cushions and velvet. Scarlet velvet curtains gave the room a unique vibe.

Madam Orchid sat behind a wooden desk that was placed off to the side; the hard wood was a stark contrast to everything else in the room. “Hello. So, it seems you managed to cause quite a bit of trouble on your first day.”

I didn’t argue. Accidents happened, and my measure of her would be how she handled this. Groveling or arguing wouldn’t change anything.

“Nothing?”

“Your mind is already made up. What point is there?” I knew what the other side of the conversation was like from my time leading the sect. And I had no interest in wasting either of our time.

Madam Orchid’s lips, colored to match the velvet curtains, curled up into a smirk. “I kind of like you. Regardless, here is the deal.” She pulled the ledger on her table to the edge and faced it towards me.

Leaning over it, it didn’t take long to figure out the ledgers’ use. It was an accounting of my cost and value. The initial purchase price was put down, along with a fifty percent rise on that price.

Then there was one night’s work, which barely scratched the damages and was completely negated several times over under ‘damages’ below it. It was clinically fair, and disturbingly so. It was disconcerting that someone could reduce my life to a page in an accounting book.

“Understood. Any advice on what I can do to push the needle the other way?” I didn’t barter, letting her provide a solution. She must have had a few ideas tucked away in her mind.

Madam Orchid was becoming increasingly clear as a cerebral woman who followed logic instead of emotions.

“If any of my girls or a visitor of either gender takes a fancy to you, there’s a price to that. They pay me, but it’ll come off your books.”

I couldn’t help but wrinkle my face.

She smirked at my reaction. “You asked. Your other option is to work every night. There is additional work that you can find around here as well. My girls will pay off your debt for services provided, even if it isn’t on your back.”

“He could teach lessons with the sword.” A voice made me turn.

The main woman from the show on the fourth floor came into the room. Her eyes were displayed above the veil, but the rest of her expression remained hidden.

Madam Orchid looked less than amused. “Is that so?”

“Yes, he was quite skilled. He took on the young master of the Ying family.” The red dancer continued.

“I need to practice my own technique as it is. At dawn,” I added, “and would be happy to help anyone else.” I nodded to her, grateful for the idea that didn’t require me to sell my body.

“Mock battles occur on the 3rd floor. You’re free to use that space.” She tapped her ledger, clearly pointing to the line of the cost of damages. The warning was clear enough.

I bowed to both women. “Understood. I’ll take my leave.”

Behind me, Madam Orchid let out a big sigh before she started to discuss other topics with the red dancer. But as I walked away, I had a feeling of relief. A ledger I could understand and work with. I just needed to figure out a faster way to get rid of the debt.

As I made my way down to the first floor, I looked for some place private to duck into. The whole place was one big spiral of a tower in the center, with rooms branching off. Each floor had the same layout as the previous.

When I hit the fifth floor, I started looking around. By the time I was on the second floor, I had identified a supply room and ducked into it, taking a moment to bar the door with a broom. I knew it wouldn’t do much if a cultivator came by, but I figured it would at least stall them.

And it would give me time to get my mana beasts back in their rings. I needed to speak with them privately. Standing back, I called upon them, releasing them into the small space.

“Master.” Aurora jumped into my arms, burying herself into my chest as Mei quietly did the same. Quinn lingered back, watching with a smile.

I shushed Aurora as my hands found both of their heads and started stroking them. “I’m sorry for not letting you three out earlier. No one else seems to have mana beasts, and it seemed risky.”

Aurora’s head bobbed into my chest.

“I do think that we could have helped you in the initial encounter.” Quinn stepped to my side and leaned against me taking that physical contact she craved.

Taking my attention from the two in my arms, I leaned over and kissed her. “I’m sorry for holding you back, then. How did you three take the transition into the new world?”

“Not well, but better than you, I think. It’s hard to describe when we didn’t have physical bodies for most of it.” Quinn nuzzled my side. “We still might have not been able to defeat those two, but I guess we’ll never know now.”

“No use dwelling on what ifs.” I agreed with her. “We need to find a way out of here.”

“Yes. Kat is out there somewhere. Using her technique tonight and trying to reach out to her and the others would be best. If nothing else, it would buoy you up.” Quinn was always my best adviser. Aurora and Mei were smart, but they were often simple about their solutions.

“Master?” Aurora’s green eyes looked up from my chest. “I think we should just kill the Madame.”

“That would be the expedient solution, wouldn’t it? But something tells me it wouldn’t be that easy.” I rubbed the top of her head as she stuck her tongue out at me.

If her pavilion was one of the three powers in this town, I suspected her cultivation surpassed my own.

Mei’s tails fidgeted, and I turned my attention to her, knowing it was a sign that she wanted to speak. “Will you provide pleasure to get coin?”

Quinn smacked the back of Mei’s head. “I think the answer to that has already been obvious enough.” Still, she looked at me, wanting to understand what I was thinking.

“I need to figure out the path forward in cultivation. If it is here or elsewhere, I’m sure I can take steps to further myself and grow stronger.” It was maybe a simplistic view of the world, but it was an effective view.

“You can then go hunt Fairy Su, kill her, and then track down Hendrick. What a dirty rat, turning our sect’s elders into slaves.” Aurora growled.

I smiled. Aurora could be quite protective at times, and it was cute that she was getting so worked up over our sect. But she was also right. At some point, the next wave of elders would come from our sect, and I wasn’t about to let them get enslaved and Hendrick profit. “I think that’s not a bad idea. But I need to be careful, I’m alone and in a dangerous situation.”

“You’re not alone.” Mei argued, her face set in a fierce scowl.

Chuckling, I rubbed their backs. “No. I’m not exactly alone, but I don’t have any sort of backing here.”

My mind was solidifying into a plan. I’d live here and play by the rules, but I’d do so while working to grow in strength and understand my options when I was able to pay off my debt.

I smiled, pulling them back in for a tighter hug. Something about being with them helped clear my mind and clarify my thoughts.

“You shouldn’t disappear from their sights for long. Though, I wish we had time for more.” Quinn pulled my head down for a kiss. Aurora did so too, and then Mei did so with the aggressiveness that told me she was a little jealous. “We’ll watch and hopefully, as you learn to cultivate, we will as well. Even now, just the presence of Immortal mana feels like it is strengthening me.”

I nodded as the three of them disappeared back into my chest, and I left the storeroom, looking both ways. It wouldn’t appear as if I was missed, but outside the Pavilion the light of day was fading away quickly. That meant it was time to get some use out of that bunk room.

Finding my way back down to the men’s sleeping quarters, I was met with many men circled around on their beds, whispering. Charles popped his head up as I entered.

“Welcome back. Guys, this is Isaac. He is from the same sect as me, just a few generations younger.”

Raising my hand in greeting, I did the polite thing and joined the circle rather than going and laying at my bed. As much as I wanted the rest and to seek out the girls with Kat’s technique, I recognized the importance of being friendly with these men.

“It is as he says. I took a different journey to get here, though, so I came alone. But it would seem the result of our journeys has ended up the same.” I tugged at the cuff on my wrist.

More men than I expected nodded understandingly and grumbled their own curses. Taking stock of them, I realized many of their auras contained mana that I didn’t recognize. They weren’t immortal mana or any of the elements I knew. But I didn’t recognize any of the other faces.

“Charles is good people. If he vouches for you, then welcome. Sorry to hear you tangled with the young master tonight.” A burly man whose aura was a complete mystery to me spoke. Unlike his physical frame, his aura was hidden deep.

“Yes, well, he tipped my tray, and I’m still recovering from the pain of this immortal mana flooding my meridians.” I tried to explain.

“If they are being grubby, you should just put the tray down lower. Just wait till you have the drink tray. The number of times that gets spilled on some pissy cultivator is almost daily. Happens on one of the floors.”

I was curious about the floors. “Can I ask what the purpose of this sect is? Why the floors?”

“Higher the floor, the more expensive it is. Each of the shows is an attempt to express an aspect of cultivation. The girls here all have some level of mastery.” Charles cut in. “And the disciples here all have third or fourth rank cultivation. Madam Orchid has the strength on a par with someone in the peak of the fifth or maybe even sixth ring.”

“Oh, do you have a stable of beasts within you like Charles here?” Another asked, sounding eager.

“Yes, it is how everyone in our world cultivates. Is it different here?”

They all started to talk about their cultivation methods. Some were reliant on items or potions to proceed. Others had very particular conditions that they cultivated, like different times of the day or month. It seemed that cultivation here was a far broader pursuit. Which meant not everybody was measured based on rings. “So, what do we call the stages of cultivation here?”

One of the men grunted to get my attention. “The original cultivators here all became royalty. Keep that in mind for the names. You are an Immortal Lord by your aura. That’s on par with most of the mortals that step into this world.”

Charles butt in to explain it better. “Here it is also considered the 4th stage of cultivation, most use that rather than the pretentious names. After that, it is followed by the 5th rank, Immortal Monarch, and the 6th rank Immortal Emperor, then well after that is celestial, but…”

“No one really talks about them.” Another cut in. “I hear you made a domain?”

I frowned. The way he asked about it sounded more like a request for proof. I figured these men were allies for the time being, and they might even be able to help me solidify it further. “Let me try. I failed before.”

Jonny had worked to try to teach me about domains, and I’d followed his lead, working to form a dual element domain of life and void. It had failed every time.

I’d finally figured out that if I mixed in the element of metal as a buffer between the two, it would stabilize my domain. So my domain contianed three different elements.

As I focused on creating the domain, the sphere of control surrounded me, though far smaller than it would have been back in the mortal world. And I only seemed to have enough control to extend it a few feet in each direction.

Once again, it was flawed. My domain, while containing all three elements, was… watered down for a lack of a better description.

But the others in the room didn’t know that; they just saw the domain and gasped. “You haven’t gone through your tribulation yet, have you?” Charles asked, confused.

“I don’t think so?”

“Heavenly Tribulation is the step in the 4th stage of cultivation before you can advance to the Immortal Monarch and the 5th stage.” Someone supplied. “Over half of the cultivators do not survive.”

There was a mood that blanketed the gathering, and I suddenly understood. These people had come here searching for the next step in their cultivations, only to let fear stop them from actually taking the steps needed.

They were cowards.

“This has been very helpful, and it was great meeting all of you. But it’s also been a heck of a day. I’m going to get some shuteye.” I dismissed the domain and headed to my bed. They murmured behind me, but I didn’t pay them any mind.

I rested my head as I cycled Kat’s technique, hoping that it would work here in the immortal world when everything else seemed to fail. I drifted off to sleep, and the darkness grew until I opened my eyes in my soul palace.

The white bricks surrounding me were made of the same bone material as my family's sword, which was sheathed in the gap between two bricks by my throne.

Stepping off the throne and through the familiar halls to the quiet clicking of my steps, I left my soul palace with apprehension in my chest. When we had done this together, all our soul palaces had shared a space.

It had been magical, in a way. While I had been connected to Kat via chain once, to have our soul palaces next to each other like city lots had been comforting in a way I couldn’t properly give words to. The front gate creaked open and I let out a breath.

In front of me were each of my love's soul palaces, stretched out like shops on a street. My own soul palace was at the end of the block, bordered by Michelle’s on the right and Thea’s on the left.

Even Aurora, Quinn, and Mei’s soul palaces were there. The difference was three of theirs floated in the sky above mine, their palaces oddly linked together.

I sent a pulse of mana out, and it rippled out from me, hitting each of their soul palaces. It wasn’t enough to do any harm, but I was hoping it was enough to get their attention and know I was here trying to reach them.

The pulse ended, and I tried to relax. All I could do was wait and hope they came.

AN: Editing this after the comments earlier today and I was like 'ah yes, Aurora knows what we all want.'

Also here next chapter we get to see the girls again. This provides some nice relieve from the adventure and the ability to keep all of the girls involved. We'll see more of them at times throughout this book.