Seth dodged Therus' staff and activated "Leaf on the Wind," launching himself backward. The speed at which he flew backward still caught him off guard. As did his sudden mid-air rotation when air resistance kicked in. Putting his foot down, he leaped off the ground and was twenty feet in the air.

  He launched some blunted ice shards at Therus. The minor recoil from the technique sent him another foot higher. Seth remembered thinking that he couldn't take the technique's claim of floating on the wind seriously and laughed as a gust of wind started to take him out of the training yard. Not wanting to leave the sparring area, he released the technique and started falling. Therus was rushing toward his expected landing area.

  Sensing he was no longer in the wind, he reactivated the technique to allow him to float a little longer. And failed. It was a tricky technique after all. Before he hit the ground, he launched "eighteen needle incapacitation." Eighteen hair-width needles rushed from his fingertips and toward Therus. He blocked a couple of them, but sixteen needles still pierced him. The way he kept running convinced Seth he hadn't even noticed.

  As he landed on the ground, he rolled back to his feet and activated iron arms in time to receive Therus' first crushing blow. He hadn't lost yet, but he was already panting and sweating. His chances of victory were floating further and further away. Maybe these techniques were a bad idea.

  The end came when Seth failed to block a strike from Therus, and the tip of the staff slammed into his jaw, cracking it and sending him tumbling to the ground. He healed the injury in short order, grateful he could heal. Therus reached a hand down to help Seth up, who accepted it.

  "It's been two weeks since you got those. Still can't make them work?"

  "They're tricky."

  "The one that makes you float is tricky. The needles are just useless. Why did you waste any contribution on that?"

  Seth shook his head at the question. It was a good question, especially since Seth hadn't gotten very far in his tinkering yet. Then again, he had been spending most of his time trying to learn leaf on the wind. The book had advertised the technique as complicated. Seth still wanted to strangle the author for the criminal understatement. It was like trying to solder a tiny circuit while wearing leather gloves and riding on a jackhammer. After two weeks of practice, if he executed the technique seven times, he would succeed five times. It hadn't left him much time to experiment with eighteen needles.

  "It's a new hobby," Seth said, settling on the truth.

  "A... hobby? What's so fun about shitty techniques."

  "Reminds me of a hobby I had back home. Used to go to the scrapyard and get broken machines and scavenge the parts to make interesting things."

  "Ah, I understand. Same reason I keep reading history."

  "Wait, you enjoy that?"

  "Yes. It's interesting seeing what mistakes our ancestors made, why they made them, and trying to avoid repeating them."

  "To each their own."

  "Indeed. Though if you make something useful out of those needles, let me know."

  "Why, want me to test them on you?"

  "Hah, as if you could hurt me with them."

  They continued to give each other a hard time before they parted ways. They had only sparred a few times over the last couple of weeks. Seth had been busy helping with formations and learning techniques. Therus had been busy taking odd jobs around the sect, now that Johan's people had given up on trying to contain them.

  The relative peace of the last couple of weeks made Seth's hair stand on end. Especially when he passed by sect members with broken bodies on the street. He had tried to offer healing for a very reasonable contribution point cost, but most people had looked more afraid of the healing than the broken limbs. Then again, stories of his cursed healing were spreading.

  Then again, maybe this is a good thing. I mean, what if everyone decided they wanted me to provide healing for them?

  He heard a groan coming from a side street on the left, along with deep thuds. Seth activated leaf on the wind and leaped up to get a better vantage point. He saw eight initiates kicking another three that were curled up on the ground. One kicker looked familiar. One of Johan's? He floated closer, and their conversation drifted into his ears.

  "... already gave you all—" the man on the ground who was speaking cut off as an initiate slammed a foot into his solar plexus.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "And even after everything, you still owe us. And all we ask in return is a simple favor."

  The man on the ground started laughing as he gasped through the pain. "Asking us... to die isn't... a simple favor."

  "So you believe initiate Seth can flaunt the rules?" Hearing his name drew his attention, and he focused on what they were saying. So they haven't given up after all.

  "No, but crossing him... is a death sentence anyway." The man said. His breathing had mostly returned to normal. "That strange healing—"

  "Is nothing but a rumor," the lead tormentor said, interrupting. Anger flooded through Seth. If they want to speak to me...

  "Then why don't you speak with me yourself?" Seth asked, staring down at the tormentor. A breeze started to push him off course, so he deactivated the technique and dropped to the ground. The kicking initiates stopped kicking and stared, expressions ranging from confusion, anger, and even fear. Their leader's eyes went wide as his mouth opened to speak.

  "I-I would, but you have been hiding!"

  "I have? Well, here I am now." A tight smile formed on Seth's face as he stepped closer.

  "Um, t-this seems bad," one kicker said, looking ready to flee.

  "What do you mean, there are eight—"

  His speech transformed into groans of pain as ice shards ripped through the kicking initiates. None of the shards hit anything lethal. Three bolted.

  Seth already re-activated leaf on the wind and leaped up as the leader rushed in with a charge. He activated qi sight. Weak. None of their bodies were close to filled with qi. How could any of them...? He crushed that line of thinking, as he had fought people who should have beaten him because of their cultivation advantage. Instead, they had received a nasty surprise. Seth refused to allow arrogance to lead to complacency.

  From his vantage point, he loosed eighteen needle incapacitation. The initiates below seemed frightened, but they blocked the attack and held their ground. Seth sighed. He had hoped the new attack would shake them.

  Seth allowed himself to fall back to the ground, and the remaining initiates charged, the leader well ahead of the rest. If it was a coordinated attack, it may have been troublesome for Seth. As it was, though...

  When the leader reached Seth, he dodged to the side, slamming a kick into the man's side. Then, he fired a hail of ice shards at thigh height, trying to stop the charge. The charging men cried out in pain as the shards sliced through their legs. Three hit the ground, and the other two slowed down, losing some of their enthusiasm.

  The man he had kicked into the wall shook his head, shouted a defiant battle cry, and charged at Seth. With a blank expression, Seth fired ice shards at the man's legs, stopping the charge. Blood spurted from an artery. Shit. Seth rushed over to the man's side and began healing.

  As he was healing, a force wrenched control of his magic and twisted it. A wave of panic and confusion made him hesitate.

  [You do wrong. This!]

  He stole control of the magic back from the tumor, but the damage had already been done. How the fuck did it do that? In the man's leg was now a small tumor, leeching off his cultivation. Seth knew it was there because of the connection that healing formed between two people. But would this man even notice? No, he had to...

  Do I really need to stop this?

  Seth's head emptied at his own question. He tried to heal it, but it was already too late. The healing magic was being eaten by the tumor.

  [See! This right!]

  "No. It isn't"

  He felt palpable confusion from Mal. It's confusion confused him for a moment. Thinking abut things from Mal's point of view, though... would it think that tumors like it are normal? Of course it would. Wait, why am I arguing with this thing? Seth yanked extra qi from Mal, and he felt it weaken.

  [No!]

  "Do not do that again unless I ask you to."

  [Why?]

  "Because it makes me angry, and when I get angry..." Seth said, stealing a bit more qi from Mal.

  [Stop. Please.]

  "Don't do it again."

  [Ok...] The voice in his head sounded confused and forlorn. He felt the corners of his mouth tug downward, and his stomach sank.

  "Wha—what did you do to me?" The man on the ground asked.

  "Almost killed you. Then healed you."

  "But my cultivation—"

  "Not my problem," Seth said. He turned and left before anyone else arrived. If he's purged next, it'll be my fault. He shook his head, trying to shake the thought loose. Realistically, he has almost zero chance of surviving the initiation, anyway. Why should I care?

  "Initiate Seth," a familiar voice said from behind. Seth turned and saw Bacchus.

  "Elder brother, how may I assist you?" Seth said, bowing until he could no longer see Bacchus. I was hoping to get your attention.

  "I was asked to give you a warning. You are walking a very dangerous line with the sect rules."

  "Understood, elder brother. Is there anything else?"

  "No..." said Bacchus, trailing off. After a moment of awkward silence, Bacchus sighed and asked, "Why are you behaving so recklessly?"

  "Is there anywhere we can speak away from listening ears?"

  Bacchus looked around, a nervous expression clouding his features.

  "Follow me," he said, turning around and walking down the street he came from.

  They walked for five minutes before they stopped in front of a small, plain building. Bacchus put his hand on the door, and after a few seconds it slid open, letting them inside.

  Inside was a sparsely furnished room. A cushion, a small table with paper and writing utensils, and candles. Those, and one of the most complicated arrays that Seth had ever seen. The sigils and lines covered the walls, ceiling, and floor. He was pretty sure the purpose of the array was to keep prying ears and eyes away.

  "Speak, initiate."

  "I'm behaving recklessly because I can. The sect doesn't dare come down too hard, for fear of breaking the karmic seal. While I still have some leeway, I'm taking advantage."

  Bacchus' eyes twitched. Then, he shook his head and chuckled.

  "I can see why you didn't want that overheard, initiate."

  "Actually, elder brother, that wasn't the only reason I wanted to be away from prying ears."

  "Oh?" Bacchus' eyebrows arched as he considered Seth, who was happy to let the pause linger in the air for a few seconds.

  "Yes, the next part is where things get really dangerous."

  "What do you mean, initiate?" Bacchus' tone became flat and cold as he glared at Seth.

  "Elder brother, why did you let an initiate escape? Are you trying to make the karmic seal fail?"

  Bacchus said nothing and made no movement, but his glare turned from cold to murderous.