Mana 4 Chapter 17 (Patreon)

The show started as I pulled a platter back from a group of young men on cushions. It was a little more subdued tonight, but that didn’t bother me one bit. In fact, it was nice to have a slower pace after the hectic journey I’d just come back from.

Rachel caught my attention as she danced out of the waterfall with a spin that sprayed water off of her in rings. It looked like a giant blooming flower of water. This continued until she was dry and fell to her knees in the center. A dramatic opening and then fading to the background as the others arrived on stage.

If I didn’t miss my mark, she looked somber, and it came through in her dance. Or rather, lack thereof.

As she knelt in the center motionless, out danced the rest of her troupe as they ran through the waterfall, instantly soaking themselves and highlighting their assets under their thin dresses.

They danced around in a circle around Rachel as she stayed kneeling, her head bowed. I realized it was a moment of silence for the two sisters she had lost. It was a stark difference between the wet and energetic dancers and Rachel kneeling silently in the middle.

This went on, yet it was strangely entrancing. Instead of her motionless form fading into the background like at the end of the dance, she became a stark point of contrast. Like there was an excitement in the air as all the men held their breath, waiting for her to start.

When she did, it was sudden and explosive as she jumped up, spinning and splaying out what little loose cloth there was on her body. There was a forced smile on her face as she joined the dance swaying from side to side of the stage as the rest of the girls spun about and distracted the men who had started to get up and hold their hands on the other side of the water features yet again.

I didn’t care to watch Rachel force the dance today. Taking my tray, I went back to offering some to the men who stayed seated in their booths.

These were the ones that didn’t have money to take a girl to a back room, but came with their friends, or maybe there were some that actually came for the show. They enjoyed more free food and it kept me busy.

“What’s the deal with the one in the red dress?” A customer asked as I offered the food.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” I pushed him to clarify. Her dance today had been odd, but I had a feeling that wasn’t what he was talking about.

He frowned, struggling with what he was about to say. “She never picks a guy.”

“Oh.” Not what I was expecting. “Maybe the right one hasn’t come around to get her attention, you should get up and give it a try.”

I was confident that Rachel wouldn’t pick him, but I thought it was the ‘correct’ answer in the establishment. At least it was the one that Madam Orchid would probably give.

He puffed out a few times and picked himself up to go wait by the water features. Stubborn enough to not even put his hand out for the dancers, instead staring at Rachel from the edge.

It was kind of creepy, if I was honest.

I paused, waiting to see if Rachel would do anything, but even as the rest of the girls disappeared and she wound down on the stage, she didn’t get near the edge for any of the men.

It wasn’t surprising, she never did seem interested in anything but her dance and her cultivation.

When Rachel slowed down, she locked eyes with me as she went still.

Freezing in place and waiting for people to lose attention to her. All the while, the two of us stared at each other.

Just like that, for nearly a minute, we just quietly stared before we both snapped back to our duties. She disappeared from the stage and I went back to my duties of giving out the rest of my tray before the customers left.

“Come on. We need to start cleaning.” Charles pulled me over to one booth that was completely empty and started to pull out and dust off the cushions.

Even if the others hadn’t left, us doing something like this was a signal for them to move along. It worked with me too. When you cleaned next to someone sitting idle, they’d almost always feel uncomfortable. Thea would do that on occasion to the kids.

So while we cleaned those who had stayed to chat after the show slowly departed.

But that was fine with me. Working didn’t bother me. In fact, I think some of this work was bringing back a little of the ambition I’d once had. Something about being on the bottom did that. It made you scrappy and ready to fight your way to the top.

That scrappiness was something every cultivator needed, and I had lost being at the top of the mortal world for so long.

“Excuse me.” Rachel spoke up behind us.

Charles hurriedly bowed. “Young Miss, you were fantastic tonight.”

But Rachel looked away from him for my reaction.

“Of course you did great.” I smiled and gave her what she was looking for. There was no criticism I could give that would console her of the loss of two friends.

“Thank you both. If I could take this one from the rest of you, would it be okay?” She gestured to me with a curl of her hand.

Bobbing his head, Charles agreed. “No problem. Just one second.” Then he turned to me and patted me on the back while he whispered. “Make sure you pull out.”

I sputtered in response, caught off guard by his advice. But I was fairly certain that Rachel wasn’t pulling me away for sex. “Thanks Charles.” Patting him on the back, I moved to walk with Rachel.

She lingered at my side quietly for a moment till we got out of the seating area. Then she turned and wrapped her arms around me and cried. I wasn’t exactly surprised, but it was sudden enough that I stiffened for a moment before focusing on what to do next.

Navigating a little further out of the way, I held onto her and stroked her back. “It’s okay. What’s wrong?” I had a good guess, but it was always best to get them talking to let it all out.

Through the tears, I could make out three names, though the rest was a garbled mess of tears. Beth, Claire and Tracey’s names stood out.

Ah. I was right.

I shushed her and stroked her back. “They wouldn’t want you crying.”

She made a big sniff and pulled herself at least halfway together. “I look like a mess, don’t I?”

“That you care about them so much is beautiful.” I smiled back. “They were very brave.” I have nine wives worth of training in the right answer for when a woman cries. You find a way to call them beautiful and mean it.

“I… I just feel so guilty. Why didn’t Tracey tell me they were going?” Rachel banged her head softly against my chest.

Because she was using the trip to murder me. But I wasn’t going to do that out loud. “It wouldn’t have mattered. Four or five people, we were completely overrun by mana beasts.” For all that the situation out in the foothills angered me. Rachel had done nothing wrong, and she didn’t deserve to feel guilt.

That should land squarely on the currently unaware Tracey.

“Would you like to join me tonight?” Rachel looked up through her eyelashes at me.

I won’t lie. Even though she’d been crying in my arms just a moment ago, between the soft heat of her chest, the vulnerability in her eyes and the temptation of her lips, I could very well see myself falling into her and helping distract both of us from our predicaments.

But that would be taking advantage of her in a way I didn’t want.

So instead, I kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. But that is not what you really need.”

Her body went stiff with shock. Maybe she hadn’t even expected the possibility of me saying no. “You won’t?”

“No.” There was a firmness in my voice that warned of her asking again.

She didn’t know what to do with that. Her brows pinched in confusion and maybe a new feeling.

I knew at that point no man had ever said no to her before. But it was a question of how many men she had asked. I would guess that number to be quite small or even none based on how uninterested she was in the men at each show.

“I see.” Her voice trailed off, and she gave me a searching look, trying to understand why.

But it was simple. I wasn’t interested in sleeping with any woman who saw me as a servant. For now, our situations weren’t compatible.

Though a part of me mourned the fact that I would very likely be able to extract what I needed to break through to the 5th ring with her help.

“Would you like to cry more?” I asked, opening my arms for her to step away.

She shook her head. “No. I want to fight. This weakness, I want to work it out.”

That brought a smile to my face. At least Rachel was far tougher than the other three. If she wanted to temper herself, I would gladly help forge her into a stronger cultivator.

“Deal. I’ll happily give you as much sword training as you want. However, I’d like to discuss a potentially unique form of payment.”

Rachel frowned in confusion at that, and I had to puzzle through her reaction.

Ah, she would normally think I meant sex. But I just declined an offer.

“I’m interested in what is needed to break into the 5th rank, how to undergo this tribulation. I’m also interested in being able to leave the pavilion. Temporarily.” Realizing that I needed to clarify.

Her eyes went wide, and she nodded quickly. “Yes. I’d have to rent you as a guard for you to leave, but I would agree to do that so long as you promise to come back of your own accord. As for the 5th rank, I already know how to do it with the Flower Petals technique. I can explain that, but you’d need to find a way for your own cultivation.”

I stroked my chin in thought. “Fair. But how many sessions would you like for these?”

Rachel shook her head, sending her hair splaying out to the side. “No. I want you to apprentice me in your arts of combat. The way Tracey described it, you are an expert among experts.”

“To become your teacher? Isn’t that quite confusing, given that I’m a servant of your sect? You could just order me to train you.” If anything, I was amused, but I wanted to understand what she wanted.

“No! That would be disrespectful to your skill, and I doubt that you’d really teach me as much as you could. In the ring, I would treat you as my master and we would be equals outside of it unless necessary. Please accept me, I don’t want to be weak anymore.” Rachel stepped back and fell to her knees, prostrating herself to me.

There was really no need for her to do that. But the sincerity in which she submitted affected me. “Get up. Yes, I’ll train you.”

“Thank you, Teacher.” She bowed once, knocking her head against the floor, and stood up. “I’ll be the best student you ever had.”

I stood up a little straighter, being her teacher and master in the moment. “We’ll see about that. I had thousands of indirect disciples, but never a direct one. If you can even be the best of them, I’d be surprised.”

That was true. Besides my kids, I never directly coached someone through cultivation. Only giving broad sermons and lessons in the sect.

“Yes Teacher. I can only show you my resolve.” She stood straight and nodded with such intensity that I thought maybe I could mold a decent fighter out of her. But it would be time to put her words to the test.

“Then there’s no time like the present. Let’s go practice down on the 3rd floor.” Time to use the enthusiasm she had right now.

Rachel nodded and turned, marching down a floor where the show had long ended and another group of servants were still cleaning up. There was a moment of hesitation as she walked past them and into the circle. But that passed, and she held her chin high as she turned. “What first teacher?”

“We’ll move through a new set of forms.” I grabbed two heavier of the practice swords around the ring.

“What? No sparring?” She said, disappointed.

Sighing, I tossed her the sword. “Do you think you are ready to spar? Alright, suppress your cultivation. We will just focus on sword work.”

There was a moment of shock in her eyes before I felt her cultivation bury deep within, and she caught the sword and fell into a basic stance.

This part of training was never easy with the kids. They always resented me a little.

“Are we g—” She dipped her sword to ask a question as she slacked in her stance.

Using only my physical strength, I closed the distance between us in a flash, my blunted sword lashing out at her midsection before I slid it across her stomach and a flurry of blows hit her. Each would have been lethal.

“1, 2, 3…” I counted each death blow as I kicked her onto her back.

She still hadn’t managed to block a single one, instead, panicking and moving her sword in uncoordinated attempts to block.

“…12, 13…” Transitioning to stabs and then pulled hits with my hands. “…25, 26. You died twenty-six times in the last ten seconds. Please tell me what you learned.”

Rachel groaned in response. “Not to talk back to the teacher?”

“Really? You think I did this to instill that lesson? Maybe you are a waste of time.” I threw my sword down, scoffing, and started to walk away.

She was on her feet, her cultivation active again, and she blew past me to fall on her knees. “I’m sorry. Please teach me. That showed me more than anything you have so much to teach me.”

“What did you learn?” I asked again.

Rachel hesitated and I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she tried to find the lesson. “I rely too much on my cultivation? No, I couldn’t win in the first place. Wait, wait. I got it, never let your guard down.”

I rewarded her with a smile. “All of those are valuable lessons. Internalize them and pick up your sword again. I don’t do anything out of cruelty. But there are times when points must be made.”

Internally, I was thinking of the Ying family. I’d make a point out of them, Tracey, and maybe even the auction house. Stupid idiots sold me like a head of cattle.

“Alright, let’s start. Follow my lead.” I got into a stance forward and to the side of her so she could get a good view of my profile for reference and started the form.

But as soon as I started, my thoughts flickered back to a moment before. The auction house. No… could it really be that simple?

They were the perfect target. Now that I understood more about Murdock, the men there were unlikely to be at the 4th ring besides the two auctioneers and maybe a few of the leaders in the guard. The rest would be third rank.

Among their coffers would be plenty of money for me to buy myself out and to lay a foundation for the girls.

I swung the sword through the forms, thinking about it. Maybe the Ying family or others might come after me, but I could return all the items they were holding for sale. I just needed the money. The best way to do it would be to establish a conflict and then execute the auction house staff quickly as some form of retribution.

Yes. A plan was starting to form in my mind. But first, I’d need to get Rachel to take me outside the sect. I’d also need to get Kat on board and hopefully Lumi.

Lumi would be a huge boon if I could get her to fight. That was something for later. For now, I had Rachel to train up.

I realized some of Rachel’s mana was leaking out, as she naturally compensated for her lack of physical strength. Smacking her thigh with the flat of my blade, I reminded her. “Don’t use your cultivation. Use just your body strength, it will help with building muscle memory.”

“Yes, teacher.” Rachel chopped through the air, continuing without her cultivation.

Sweat quickly beaded on her forehead and her clothes stuck to her curves as she followed my form for the next half an hour.

“That’s enough for today.” I declared and end to our practice. She was getting too exhausted to create a firm foundation.

“But I can keep going.” Rachel protested.

I shook my head. “No, you are getting sloppy. You can only push yourself so much before it becomes counterproductive. Promise me here and now that you won’t continue to practice.”

The reluctance was obvious in her expression, but eventually she sighed. “I won’t. Passing out sounds far more appealing.”

“Like I said, if you keep practicing you are going to get sloppy and then you are going to ingrain those sloppy movements into your form.” I looked her in the eyes. “Do not practice until next time.”

“Yes, Teacher.” She bowed her head.

“Good. Then rest up and tomorrow morning we’ll do some light practice out here. By the way, what happened to Tracey?” I asked. She hadn’t been part of the show tonight.

Rachel looked away. “She’s troubled. The Madam has given her medication, and she’s sleeping. What I don’t understand is why isn’t she more shaken up about it?”

I blinked. Was there a flaw in Kat’s alteration of her memories? No emotions to go with them. Just as if she’d watched a play, Tracey knew what happened. But here people could see something was off.

There was only a slight concern that it might lead to something more. Otherwise, she might just be that cold. “She wasn’t too shaken up when we were out there. It surprised me too, that their deaths didn’t bother her.” I lied.

“Maybe she just hasn’t even accepted it yet.” Rachel mused. “Either way. She’s sleeping and hopefully will feel better soon. Thank you again for saving at least one of them.”

“No problem.” Though I’d really like to kill her later.

After that, I washed up and headed down to the bunk room, ignoring the gathering of the other servants who were murmuring about the day's gossip.

I had things to do and a raiju mana beast to track down.

AN: It's 2am, baby no sleep. Zombie Sentar wants brains... or I just sitting in the rocking chair, editing with one arm. Slow going, but nothing is stopping me!