Street Cultivation 3: Chapters 25-26 (Patreon)

I don't know if anyone here was waiting for this, but Tantor is going to publish the audiobook for Street Cultivation 2 this week! They tell me that I'll get some free codes, so I might be distributing them via various channels. Anybody here interested? Comment if you are and maybe I'll work something out, though chance will be involved.

Meanwhile, these chapters introduce some new stuff I've been waiting on for a while. Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but it's all cliffhangers for a few here.

-

Chapter 25: The Burning Snow

Their hotel appeared ordinary enough, but the rooms they were allowed to use were based on their government ranking. It struck Rick as similar to several generations past in the US, when ether tiers had been used for everything. Now they only governed a few services and applications, whereas in Siberia they ruled every interaction. Weaker people were even supposed to step aside in hallways or on the street.

He'd barely had time to set down his things and wash his face when H barged in. Rick thought he had locked the door and frowned, but H only shook his head.

"Local laws don't apply to us, but they do assume that masters have complete control over their trainees."

"How comforting."

"If you don't fail me here, I won't use it." H gestured for him to follow. "The transfer to the demon realm was arranged more quickly than I expected. Apparently you have someone requesting you on the other side. So we need to do this now."

So that was it. Rick had hoped to have at least a day to unwind in the hotel and go through all his training exercises again, maybe even do some final research. He grabbed a can of Lisa's serum and his demonic needle, then followed H out the door. As they walked down the hallway, he decided there was no point asking questions and just drank the serum so he'd be ready for the demon realm.

They entered a special elevator just past the normal one, requiring both of them to scan their badges before it would close the doors and activate the controls. This time, however, they headed up instead of down. Rick had always thought of the demon realm as being "down" but he supposed that wasn't actually correct.

"There's not a lot I can say to help." As they neared the top, H glanced over at him flatly. "Don't fail."

Though Rick wanted to snark back, he didn't have it in him. This visit to the demon realm might be more dangerous than his past two, plus more was on the line, both for the demon brothers and for himself. Even if he succeeded there, he would only be thrown against...

No. Focus.

By the time the elevator stopped, Rick was mostly calm. For the first time, he would be entering the demon realm fully prepared for the transition. That didn't prepare him to step out on top of the roof and see a hole tear itself out of the sky.

Biting shards of ice hit his skin as the wind began to swirl just above the hotel roof. He distantly saw that there was a heavily reinforced fence and several other security measures that set up the portal, but it was hard to focus on them with that entrance to the demon realm yawning above him. Only after he'd stepped forward did he realized that H had stayed back cautiously.

"Do I jump o-" Rick didn't get out the next word before he felt the portal begin to draw him upward. There was a brief moment when he could have resisted, but he instead braced himself and let the force take him. In a flash he seared through the frozen air and then plunged into something that felt even colder.

Rick rocketed out of a pool of water into a pale sky. The air felt colder than before and at first he worried that he'd freeze solid, but then he realized that he wasn't even slightly wet. For a moment he hung in the air at the top of his arc, with a view of the desolate landscape all around him. There was nothing but black tundra and a series of pale blue ponds.

His path down was slower, drifting more like he was used to in the demon realm. When he looked back, he saw only the faintest ripples from the pond behind him. When he gazed into the water, instead of his reflection, he saw a blurry glimpse of the hotel roof. So that was his passage back.

It didn't look like H was there anymore. Rick knew that probably didn't mean anything, so he just turned away to get to work. Though he instinctively tried to rub his arms against his torso for warmth, it did nothing against the supernatural chill.

He'd set up his shielding aura without thinking, but it didn't seem like a single demon was visible. Hiding? Or was this region actually abandoned? When no one arrived after several minutes, Rick bent down and leapt as high as he could.

With the strange drifting physics of the demon realm, he sailed far higher than he could have in real life. For long moments he was suspended over the landscape, his breath momentarily gone as he realized that it was as beautiful as it was harsh. Each of the pools reflected a different scene, glimmering like possibilities from so high above. The black snow reflected the light sky in shimmering waves as he moved, and in the distance he could see trees crystalline with ice.

Aside from the beauty, Rick saw several large fires that might have activity around them. One northwest, two to the south, and one to the east. When he returned to the ground, landing more softly than his jump would have suggested, he decided that there was nothing to do but head toward one.

As he left the region filled with lakes, he began to see more signs of life. Several of the smallest mindless demons moved cautiously through the snow... and then he saw a larger demon chewing on a smaller one. The demons in Branton had all swarmed together, but here he realized that he was seeing predator and prey relationships.

Something began rushing toward him and he considered just how far the "prey" category might extend.

Even though he should have been untouchable here, Rick dodged on instinct, his hands going up by his head in a defensive position. Whatever it was, it was fast, sweeping just past him before tracing a quick arc back to him. Only when it finally reared up to its full height did he get a good look at it.

Though humanoid, it was skeletally thin and clad only in black rags. It grinned with a mouth filled with sharp teeth and raised a clawed hand. "Hello, human."

"I... don't suppose you're here to welcome me?" Rick kept his hands up even when the demon laughed at him.

"You're a Showdown contestant with no demonic affiliation, are you? Well, nothing that means anything. Bold of you to come here. And a bit stupid." With no more warning than that, it lunged forward, its claw wrapping around his throat.

To Rick's shock, it actually hurt, grasping hold of him instead of passing through. The demon must be monstrously powerful, and Rick panicked for a moment... but only a moment. He might not know the demon realm perfectly, but he knew it was a world of aura.

Attempting to push away the arm gripping his neck didn't work, but it didn't seem like it could crush his throat. Ignoring the mild pain, Rick focused on his aura and began to intensify it. At first it seemed to have no effect, but then he felt the Dark Blood Kettle rising within him and his aura burned brighter.

The demon winced and pulled back its hand. Rick prepared to take it down if he could, but it only chuckled.

"Well, it was worth a try. You must have more experience here than I thought."

"Did you just try to kill me?" Rick lowered his arms to a normal position, but he focused on his aura, ready to use it as a bludgeon if necessary. The demon only laughed again.

"I wouldn't have been able to kill you, not here. But I could have done enough to coerce you into an agreement in my favor."

Though still skeptical that he was being lured into letting his guard down, Rick thought the demon actually seemed sincere. "That couldn't possibly be legally valid. Even if it's legal in Siberia, it wouldn't be when I left."

"Oh, I didn't mean a formal bond. An embedded fusion." The demon folded its arms and regarded him curiously, one claw tapping along its arm. "What are you doing here, then? Don't give me that look, I'm just curious now. Maybe I can help you out as an apology."

"I'm here to meet a pair of foreign demons." Rick decided to say nothing else in case it was still a trick. Even if this demon couldn't hurt him, it could almost certainly kill Bftgage and Ythsil. To his surprise, the demon shook its head.

"Business dealings aren't this way. If they're here, they're at the bonfire to the east." With that, the demon sprinted away, rags vanishing into the darkness. Rick stared after it, thinking about possible scams, but eventually decided that going east had to be at least as good as a random direction.

As he went, he found himself pushing off the ground as hard as he could. It was easier not to think about it, but he was getting worried for the demon brothers. Comparing their home to this part of the demon realm, it was obvious that they would be in trouble. He wanted to believe they wouldn't have asked him to send them to Siberia without knowing what they were doing, but it was easy to imagine worst case scenarios.

The closer he came to the bonfire, the larger he realized it was. There was something like civilization around it, with several buildings and multiple demons moving without attacking one another. He thought a few of the buildings were several stories tall, but they looked like huddling shacks surrounding the enormous fire that burned without any visible fuel. Once he looked closer, he saw that the buildings were in an archaic style, all wooden shingles and gnarled beams.

His arrival attracted a little attention, as many of the demons around the fire were strong enough to notice him. Most didn't seem interested, however, simply going about their business or training. No other humans in sight, bonded or free. When Rick finally saw a demon wearing modern combat robes, he decided to stop.

"I was told to meet a pair of demons here?" He let his statement turn up like a question, unsure if it was rude to throw something like that at a stranger. The demon stared at him in surprise, then let out a sigh.

"Oh, you must be the one they're waiting for. Horrible little busybodies. Please get them away from us." The demon left him quickly, but not before directing him to a building around the side of the central flame.

As Rick floated around the side, he began to wonder if he was getting a run-around. He thought the skeletal demon from earlier had truly tried to harm him, so he was reasonably confident that he could defend himself against a direct threat. But in the demon realm, even this demon realm, that was really not his biggest fear.

Then he saw two melted frogs and they were one of the most beautiful sights of his life.

"Rick? Rick!" All three of Ythsil's eyes went wide and he launched himself off the top of the house where the two brothers were sitting. Though Rick raised his arms to catch him, the demon went straight through his body. Bftgage climbed down at a more steady pace, but soon enough the brothers were hopping around his legs.

"I'm glad the two of you are alright." Rick crouched down so he wasn't towering over them, smiling more broadly than he had expected. "This place is more dangerous than I thought."

"We had a formal merchant's pass, so we weren't in danger!" Ythsil declared. But over his head, Rick saw Bftgage vomit some nervous blue mucus.

"This place was... more than we expected. Even the pass might not have been good enough. But they're not all as cruel as they might seem, and so we've made progress."

"What kind of progress?" Rick asked. "I was watching my bond for you two and I noticed that it hasn't changed, but I wasn't sure what to expect."

Ythsil tried to push Rick's legs to make him walk, which was of course ineffectual, but Rick joined the two as they half hopped, half rolled away from the bonfire. That took them further from prying ears, perhaps, though Rick wasn't eager to leave the flame. Being near it was one of the only things that reduced the freezing spirit of the place.

"We realized that we've been going about this wrong," Bftgage explained. "We've been trying to create powerful demonic bonds for fighters, because you're a fighter, and that's what we know. But we could do better with simple economic bonds. We even have connections to resources in Branton that could make them better."

"Right, right!" Ythsil encouragingly blew red spittle over his brother. "I didn't realize humans could have so much lucrim! Even with help we can probably only give bonds worth about 1000. But there are lots of humans who just want little bonds to buy things."

"The really difficult part will be getting the necessary permits. We have a stronger basis now, but doing the same thing back in Branton will be hard, because the big firms control everything."

Rick listened to the two brothers with a smile on his face, glad that they'd made progress and even more glad that he hadn't made a horrible mistake bringing them there. But as they got further and further away from the settlement, he couldn't help but wonder exactly where they were going. He wanted to ask, but the two kept talking over each other.

"And we couldn't have done it without Kat-"

"Ythsil, ssh! She wanted to introduce herself."

The exchange instantly froze Rick's good mood. "Who are you talking about?"

"A demon who helped us! And she wants to help you too!" Ythsil looked up at him with a broad grin, but Rick's skepticism immediately went into overdrive. He looked toward Bftgage, who began hopping faster as he spoke.

"We're almost there anyway. I think this will solve your problem, Rick. You can get a... a real demonic bond, not just the best we can do."

Ahead of them, Rick saw wasteland... and a pool of water. But unlike the others, which reflected the human realm, this one glowed a pale blue that was almost white. As they drew closer, he realized that the pool was frozen over, unlike all the others. The snow around them was black, so he wasn't sure why the ice was so pale, but it stood out in a way that made all his senses scream for caution.

It was true that he needed a demonic bond, and he doubted that H would be satisfied with a simple bond from the brothers. Meeting someone who they trusted was, in theory, exactly what he needed. That didn't make him less nervous about meeting a demon who by implication seemed much more worldly than the two. He trusted their basic good nature, not their infallible judgment.

The ice cracked loudly and a burst of water erupted from it, yet the liquid froze in midair, rapidly taking the form of a woman. She had white hair, unnaturally pale skin, and a predatory smile.

"Richard Hunter. I've been looking forward to meeting with you."

-

Chapter 26: Katenka

"That's an interesting way to start a conversation." Rick didn't take a step back, but he readied his aura as he analyzed the demon woman, trying to figure out if she was a succubus, or whatever the local equivalent was. Though her face was attractive, it was a slightly unnatural beauty that left him unsettled. Her robes conformed to her body, but no more than normal. Above all, the look in her eyes was far from seductive.

"Oh, but your friends have told me so much about you." She slid across the ice without taking a step, bending low and patting the two frogs on their heads. Ythsil happily vomited mucus onto her hand, which slid off without a trace, while Bftgage looked to Rick seriously.

"We would have been in trouble without her, Rick. She's been so helpful in changing the type of our bonds. Right now she's looking for a strong human. Maybe the two of you can help each other?"

"Maybe," Rick said. He hadn't intended to agree, but he didn't want to disappoint the eager looks on Bftgage and Ythsil's faces. That agreement didn't commit him to anything, so he just resolved to be completely logical when it came time to sign anything. "You have the advantage over me."

"My name is Katenka." The demoness rose and took a grand bow. "Humans call me a rusalka."

"I... don't know what that is."

"You could think of it as a Slavic mermaid, though less singing songs about the surface world and more pulling men to their doom." Katenka smiled, her perfect white teeth just a little too pointed. This time it looked more playful then predatory, or at least a mischievous predation. "But given that you have more experience in the demon realm than most, I would trust you to understand that we aren't actually the same as the stories told about us."

Rick didn't let his guard down, but had to nod at that. "Yeah, I've met a few demons named Lilith, for example."

Katenka laughed briefly, a sound like ice shattering. "Ah yes, they would do that in the west! But I do not intend to play such games with you, Richard Hunter. I truly believe that we could help each other, if you are willing to consider the possibility."

"I'm listening. But I've seen what demonic bonds have done to my family and friends. Taking a small one from friends is one thing, but relying on them is entirely different."

Ythsil interrupted with a gobbet of purple phlegm. "You wouldn't be like that, Rick! You know how to use a bond properly."

Seeing their enthusiasm, Rick hesitated. Before he could figure out what to say, he caught Katenka's eyes shifting between them and he realized that her irises were luminous white. She again turned to the two frogs, smiling broadly at them.

"Richard and I need to discuss some boring contractual details. Why don't you prepare a contract for him to sign? That is, I assume that you've told him about your plans to shift into purely economic bonds. You could do much better for him that way, even right now, but you need to set up the contract properly."

The brothers agreed and began to focus more on each other. Once their attention turned away, Katenka reached out and hooked Rick's shirt with one finger, then suddenly they slid out into the center of the frozen pond. It wasn't violent like the skeletal demon that had attacked him, yet her ability to move him in the demon realm was even more worrying.

Once they were alone, however, the frogs just distant specks, she went silent. Rick decided that whether or not she was on the level, he should just be direct. "I don't like demonic bonds and I've never taken a real one. You're going to have to do better than a little flirtation to convince me."

"Believe me, I intend to." Katenka turned to him and he realized that she could do an icy gaze like none other. "Let me begin with a show of good faith: everything I did for your little friends was purely voluntary, without any strings attached. If you want to turn me down, you can leave with their contract."

"That..." Rick looked toward where they stood on the shore. "Did I make a mistake, sending them here?"

"They may not be the brightest demons in the realm, but don't be condescending. You didn't send them, you helped them come here. But yes, it was probably foolish on their part. Even with their pass, they could very easily have ended up dead, since they would be little missed. Their firm might have asked for compensation, but if you're wealthy enough, that is simply the fee to murder."

Katenka was speaking with brutal directness now, which he preferred. Yet he remembered Lilith and how she had shifted her approach to match his, so he remained cautious. "Thank you for helping them, but I don't need to be convinced of your good nature. You're with one of the Siberian demonic corporations, right?"

"And you don't believe they are in the business of charity?" She raised a cool eyebrow, then smiled. "You're right. But I truly believe that an agreement would be in our mutual best interest. Not only do you need an adviser so you don't err when it comes to the demon realm, few humans compete at the highest level without demonic bonds. Those two spoke of you as invincible, but I think we both know how competitive the Showdown can be."

"Everyone tries to convince me that demonic bonds are normal, but going bankrupt and ruining your life seems pretty normal too, in my experience."

"So skeptical. What can I possibly do to overcome this prejudice?"

"Uh..." He hadn't expected such a direct question, but he realized that he actually had his answer. "I need to understand how a real partnership would be in your self-interest. You want me to overdraw and pay you a lot of lucrim, otherwise you don't make a profit. I can't work with an organization that wants me to fail."

"I won't deny that demonic firms make a great profit off many humans failing, but that doesn't mean we want you in particular to fail." Katenka raised a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "I hope that you know that a demonic bond increases a person's strength, even if they don't draw heavily on it. But I wonder if you know how?"

"Honestly, I assumed that everyone was just drawing heavily all the time."

"Perhaps for the low quality bonds you've seen. But it's more complex than that, and perhaps it would be easiest to explain with an economic bond. When you pay for something with demonic lucrim, do you think that transaction is free? It's not, but the store is the one paying for the transaction fee, not you."

"So you make money off every purchase?" Rick had honestly never heard of that before, but he assumed that she wouldn't lie to his face about something so easily checked. "How does that relate to combat?"

"The power I'd grant you is inherently draining, but not necessarily to you. With every contact with an enemy, you steal away a small percentage of their lucrim, or at least their energy. Some of that goes to me, some of it goes to you, but there's a net profit for both of us."

"Paid by everyone else, then."

"That's right. So you see, demonic firms really make profits in two ways. The lowest classes of bonds are purely exploitative, but those who can't be exploited receive a more prestigious type of bond." Katenka gave him another one of those creepy smiles. "We want to offer you the latter. We don't anticipate you'll ever overdraw the bond, but we'll both still make a profit regardless."

What she said made sense, and it was cynical enough for him to believe it. Of course, that meant he would be draining everyone around him, even if only a little. But apparently this was happening all the time, probably even when other people fought against him, so this was only evening the playing field.

"Not many humans in Siberia have quite your attitude," Katenka went on quietly, "but I've seen it before. They've only encountered the worst of demonic bonds and so they fear them all. People who have only seen them working well are on the other side and can't understand the reluctance. But if you're moving up in the world, this is something you should eventually accept."

"And I should accept it via your contract, is that it?"

Katenka swept her arms to the side in a grandiose bow. "That is exactly what I am proposing. My firm is willing to offer you a moderately-sized bond on normal terms, but I would strongly suggest something better. I don't know if you've seen it, but in Siberia they're quite fond of fusion. What I propose is less drastic than that, but there would be a link between us. I would be able to provide you with information and occasional other services."

If she had been intending to be flirtatious, that would have been the moment for it, but Rick saw nothing but seriousness in her expression. In fact, she seemed more serious than he expected. Though she hid it well, he thought that this mattered to her in some way. Perhaps she simply needed his bond to make her numbers for that quarter or something else so cynical, but he thought there was something deeper to it.

"Mm, you're a hard one to crack. What if I actually showed you the contract?" Katenka waved a hand and a pale scroll emerged from the lake below them. "I assure you, this is legally binding. Please read it over and make your decision."

"Thanks, I will." Rick found that he could touch the scroll, unlike most objects in the demon realm, so he opened it enough to read. After a while he pushed into the air to drift on his back, a trick he'd learned back in Branton. It was more relaxing than constantly shifting near the edges of the ground he couldn't quite touch.

Though not as straightforward as the contract with Bftgage and Ythsil, Rick was surprised to find that the contract wasn't terribly long. After all the negotiations, he could see through the basic legalese, and the important parts were written in plain language. It was a large bond, and despite everything, he was tempted by the immediate increase in power. Even more so, now that he understood how it could work to his advantage.

Several things bugged him about it, though. The part about other services rendered was extremely vague. Several clauses about the consequences of overdrawing the bond seemed odd, actually more in his favor than he'd expected. Above all, the contract implied that she would actually be fused to him in some spiritual way, even in the human realm.

"I'll admit the numbers seem good," Rick said eventually, "but I don't like some of these parts I don't understand."

"Which parts?" Katenka asked. She had stopped paying attention to him, instead bending down and running her fingers over the ice. They left lines of frost, slowing forming some broader pattern in front of them.

"This business about deferring overdrawing consequences. It seems like it's actually too much to my advantage, giving me so much time to pay without any cons-"

"Oh, that part is a little gift to you. I understand that fighters sometimes need to use everything, and it's within my authority to give you a bit of an allowance. Nothing out of the ordinary." She moved her fingers more rapidly, strangely anxious, yet it didn't seem like she was trying to deceive him.

"What's this about you going along with me? You won't be in my head, will you? Or looking over my shoulder?"

"Don't worry, Rick, that will be entirely under your control. If you don't want me to see anything, I'll be blind. On the other hand, I'll be directly on call to offer power or advice at a moment's notice. It really is a good deal... for both of us. Please, look at it carefully."

There was something slightly off about the way she was speaking, prompting Rick to look away from the contract. Her face was calm, yet the way she floated near her ice drawings was slightly stiff. Then he looked down at what she was drawing and he froze as well.

The lines of frost said "Please".

For just a moment she met his gaze and he saw something desperate there. The next moment she tapped her foot against the ice and a rush of cold wind blew away all of her work. Rick briefly closed his eyes against it, and when he looked again, she was the absolute picture of control, an untouchable ice demon.

Was the glimpse of something else he'd seen below just a ploy? Part of Rick insisted that he should try to find out if she was in trouble, while another part told him that he was being an absolute idiot. There seemed to be no way to resolve that conflict, so he focused on the contract, which was written in unambiguous black and white.

The facts were simple: he needed a demonic bond and the terms on this one were good. Rick hoped he wasn't making a mistake, but he didn't think he'd be finding a better option.

"Alright." Rick took a deep breath and rolled up the scroll. "What needs to happen? Can I sign the contract here?"

"No, you'll need to sign one in the human realm." Did he imagine a flicker of relief on Katenka's face? "But since this is partially a fusion, we can conduct the first part of it here. In fact, we must. Let's return to your friends."

With a rush of wind, the two of them returned to the side of the lake. The brothers turned toward Rick, eagerly presenting him with a scroll of their own. It was green and vaguely sticky instead of made of pristine frozen parchment, but Rick was more willing to take it.

"Look at this!" Bftgage said, coughing up mucus proudly. "Our combat demonic bond could only provide you with 800 lucrim. But this one is worth 2000 lucrim, and it will keep generating more! Plus, we can probably make it bigger if we get more economic contracts."

"I'll make this official as soon as I get back to the real world," Rick said, smiling down at the frogs. But his smile didn't last long and he turned to Katenka. "What do we need to do for yours?"

"Normally, this would be difficult." She floated to hover slightly higher over the pond with a bit of a smirk. "But you've led a strange life so far. The first thing you need is a demon mass in your portfolio, but you still have some left. The second thing you need is above average control of aura in our realm... but you have that too. That leaves only the third requirement, which is a bit more of a ceremony."

Rick swallowed, but he'd made his decision. "Fine. Let's seal the deal here."

"Then I need you to plunge your hand through the ice. I should warn you that it will hurt, but you should know pain from your training. It will take only a short time, with no permanent cost to you, and then it will be done."

He stepped out toward her, onto the ice. When she nodded down at the place where he was standing, Rick knelt lower and stared at it. The ice looked rather thick and the glow seemed to be coming from beneath it. His suspicion was that the pool was in some way related to Katenka's power, so it made sense that he needed to do something with it.

"Go on, Rick, you can do it!" Ythsil cheered him on, but the others were silent. Rick started to make a movement, then aborted it and looked at Katenka's reaction. He didn't see any triumph or disappointment, only an increase in tension. It smoothed away a moment later.

There was nothing else to do. Rick reared back and then plunged his arm through the ice.

It froze him to the bone, drawing a grunt of pain, but it wasn't as bad as he'd expected. The next moment he felt something surge into his arm, like ice water in his veins, yet somehow it wasn't painful. Light began to flow from the pond into him and he pulled his hand back on instinct, but the link was already formed and the light flowed through the air into his hand.

He'd expected a demonic tattoo, but instead his right hand was covered in what looked like frost. It didn't feel cold at all, or different to the touch, yet...

Nearby, he saw Katenka watching him. The first expression he saw was relief, then she smiled, absolutely polite once again. "That will be my embodied presence," she explained, "at least once you return to the human realm. It shouldn't inhibit you otherwise."

"My actual hand, though?" Rick tried to brush off the frost, but couldn't feel anything other than his own skin. "That's creepy for a whole bunch of reasons. I don't want you just... sitting in my right hand."

"Would this be more to your taste?" Katenka closed her eyes and the frost crept up his arm, leaving his hand entirely. It settled in a ring around his bicep, but with icy tendrils reaching down toward his forearm. That looked better to him, plus it was something he could hide even with his sleeves rolled up. Certainly better than having his hands permanently changed.

"Yes, that will do." Rick started to straighten up, only to have Bftgage and Ythsil run onto the ice to try to push against him.

"Do you have to go?" Ythsil asked. "I know this was the important part, but I don't want you to leave..."

"Don't worry about us," Bftgage said. "It will take a while to arrange, but we'll be able to pay our way back to Branton. In a few weeks the contract should be ready for you in the human realm."

Rick swept his hand over both of their heads with a fond smile. "Actually, I think I can do better than that. If I could summon you to Siberia, why can't we summon you back to Branton free of charge?"

"That is a good idea, but I don't know if anyone would believe it..."

"But what if it wasn't me? I have friends in Branton. Friends who might actually be interested in a small economic bond, now that I think about it. They could request your presence, then you could talk about contracts. Even if nothing worked out, you'd get back to Branton more easily."

The brothers agreed to this idea with great enthusiasm and vomiting. Though Rick didn't have many relationships left in Branton, he thought that Adsila and Wemilat would actually be interested. Demonic bonds with such low interest rates and simple terms were rare, so surely they could be useful to the Peakless Wildlife Refuge. He'd write them an email explaining the situation and hopefully it would work out well for everyone.

Though Bftgage and Ythsil wanted to talk longer, Rick was suddenly tired of the demon realm. It was partially exhaustion from maintaining his aura, partially the cold piercing through him, and partially just being sick of the bleak landscape. He wanted to go to his hotel and sleep.

So they said their farewells, then Rick drifted back toward the pool he'd entered. He went alone - he'd expected Katenka to follow him, but she was acting strangely distant. His skepticism returned, but he told himself that nothing was permanent until he signed a contract in the human realm. If she'd infected him somehow, he could get H to help eradicate it.

Jumping into the pool proved surprisingly easy and he broke back out standing on the roof of the hotel. H had gone back inside, of course, so Rick went back into the elevator and headed down. Just standing there, listening to the generic music, was deeply surreal after his experience in the demon realm.

As he reached his floor, Rick realized that he was being an idiot and overlooking the obvious. He quickly rolled up his sleeve and confirmed it: the lines of frost were around his arm for real. They didn't look quite so luminous in the human realm, just like pale blue ink. Still, at least it wasn't a hideous tattoo, and it wouldn't be distracting.

Rick still had his sleeve rolled up when he headed down the hall, but he ran into H before getting to his room. The older man examined him carefully, then let out an unreadable grunt. "That bond... how exactly did you land it?"

"I used the demonic connections I'd been building." Seeing his mentor surprised left Rick a little cocky, so he smirked. "Networking."

"Well, it's... adequate. Better than you could have gotten just going to a conventional firm. I bet when it's formally signed and evaluated, it will be counted as worth 20,000 lucrim or more. Looks like it's a partial fusion, too. Not as exceptional as a real fusion, but it might help a bit. Make your defensive core stronger against ice, maybe."

Hearing the number actually stunned Rick more than the surreal experience in the demon realm. There had been a time when his entire lucrim generation rate had been less than 20,000. Even the largest demonic bonds that Henry had taken, ones with horrible consequences, had only been worth 12,000 lucrim. It wasn't a Birthright Core, but it was still an insane amount of power for him to earn in a single decision.

"You're going to need to learn to use it, though." H shook his head and began fishing for a cigarette. "The fact that you've avoided demonic bonds before now puts you at a disadvantage. Too much risk of overdrawing, or of ignoring it and getting no real benefit. We'll need to train w-"

"I'm sure we do, but not right now." Rick surprised himself by interrupting, and H seemed taken aback, but he pushed forward. "Getting this contract was exhausting. To train productively, I need a good long sleep."

"Huh." H stared at him, then grunted his approval and turned away. Soon, Rick was alone in the hallway again.

Now that he was back, he really was increasingly tired. He opened and then relocked his door, eagerly imagining what was to come. Some of Lisa's serum would come first, then he'd take a long hot shower. After that, simple exercises to keep his mind in order, then a solid night of sleep. When he woke in the morning, he could feel more confident he'd made the right decisions.

"Oh, this is going to be fun..." The voice made him flinch violently, only recognizing it as Katenka the next moment. She hovered just beside him, her body ghostly but clearly making eye contact.

Rick groaned. "I didn't expect you to... manifest like this. You said I controlled that, right? Well, right now I want you to go away so I can sleep."

"Ah, but you see, it's a bit more of a negotiation than I implied earlier." Katenka gave him a warm smile and reached out... and he actually felt her fingers trail over his chest, strangely cool. "You knew that you were getting more out of this contract than a little lucrim, right? It's time to seal the deal."

"No, I don't want-" He was interrupted when her hand pressed more firmly against his chest. She couldn't actually move him, but he instinctively retreated from her touch, his legs bumping back against the bed.

"Be honest with yourself, Rick. We need a little privacy right now, don't we?" She gave him a lascivious smile, but when her eyes met his, they were colder than ice. "I insist."