“Hope so, friend,” Akar said. “’Tis why I make this stuff. So warriors like you come home safe ’n sound. Now, if you’ll excuse me, you’ve just given me a lot of work and not much time to do it. Best get to it.”
After being chased out of Akar’s shop, Vir was about to bid Badal farewell when the gray demon stopped him.
“That money you have. What do you plan to do with it?”
“I… didn’t really have any plans.”
That was a lie. He was thinking of giving most of it to Maiya—coinage would be no good in the Ashen Realm, and assuming he made it to the Demon Realm, they’d likely use their own coinage. Silvers would be quite some extra weight to lug along on the off-chance the demons used the same currency. While he could solve that problem by exchanging the currency for a seric coin, he’d kick himself if he took it with him, only to find out it was useless. Or worse, if it was destroyed or lost in the Ash.
Instead, he was planning on using it to pay her for a service he’d hope she could render. Neither Neel nor Bumpy—currently stabled in Avi—could follow him into the Ash. He hoped Maiya could care for them in his absence.
The only coin he planned on bringing with him were Rudvik’s coppers, which were tucked safely at the bottom of his rucksack.
“I have a proposition, if you’ll hear me?” Badal asked.
“How long will this take? I really need to prepare.”
“Trust me, it’ll be worth your time,” Badal said, guiding Vir through a tunnel that led back to the Upper City.
The tunnel led to a trapdoor that opened into a guarded room. Exchanging nods with the demons posted there, they exited to an empty alley and the blinding brightness of daylight. Though the tunnels were all lit with the Order’s non-magical light, their output was incomparable to that of the sun, and Vir and Neel both took a minute before they could fully open their eyes.
Badal led Vir through the streets to a location very near the Promontory—the hill with a view of the Runean Ocean—stopping in front of a house and rummaging around for a key. With a click, the door opened, and inside Vir found an empty, though spacious abode.
“What do you think?” Badal asked, gesturing at the tall ceilings. The third floor of the house boasted a commanding view of the ocean below, and the home itself was situated upon a clean, wide cobblestone street. The neighborhood was on the nicer side of those Vir had seen in Balindam.
“It’s… nice?” Vir said. “But I already have a home in the Undercity. Besides, this place is much too large for me, and I’ll be leaving soon. What use do I have for another house?”
Badal smiled. “Oh, no. This wouldn’t be for you to live in. You see the homes on these streets? They’re all owned by demons.”
“Demons live in there?” Vir asked in surprise. “Not the Undercity?”
“Few demons live here. They merely own the places. Human families rent these homes, paying a fixed amount each month. You could leave your money here, sitting idle. Or you could invest it while you’re gone. By renting out the home, you’ll accrue income, and when you return, you’ll have a small fortune waiting for you. Especially if you’ll be gone for a while.”
“That’s… I dunno, Badal. This all sounds nice, but I don’t have the time for this. It must be a lot of work going through the formalities. Not to mention all the work involved with renting it out.”
“No need. Give Lord Reth your coin and he’ll handle everything. The Order has a program for this very thing. By increasing the wealth of its demons, the Order increases its own power. A win-win situation, yes?”
“I see.” Even ignoring the free weapons they gifted, the Order had done so much for him. They’d given him a home in the Undercity, and more importantly, had welcomed him as one of their own. They were even willing to defend him against the Mejai of Realms—the highest rank mejai below the Prime Mejai himself—as well as the powerful demon hunting him. Trusting them with money he no longer needed came easily.
“How much does a home like this go for?”
“These homes are subsidized by the Order. It’d normally cost several serics, but thanks to the government program, they sell for a single seric to demons. If you had more, I’d have suggested purchasing a business, but even with subsidies, the upfront cost is steep.”
“Do you own any?”
“Oh, yes. I have several houses and a couple of businesses,” Badal said.
Vir would never have guessed Badal was that wealthy. Neither his behavior nor his clothing betrayed a trace of it.
“Very well,” Vir said. “I’ll take two. But only on one condition. I’d like the proceeds to go to my friend Maiya. For safe keeping.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Badal replied with a nod.
Vir nodded, his thoughts already drifting away. The whole time Badal had been showing him around, Vir had been distracted, thinking of only one thing. His power, and how to improve it. If he was venturing into the Ash, he’d need every advantage he could get.
He’d been mulling over how to progress for a while, and now, finally, he had the time to pursue it.
55PRANA CHANNELING
Vir returned to his Undercity home exhausted. Though as much as he envied Neel, who promptly curled up on the floor and fell asleep, there was far too much left to even think about resting. Most important of which was growing his power.
If there was one thing he knew for certain about the Ashen Realm, it was that no matter how much strength he possessed, it would not be enough. Perhaps it was foolish to wish for more power at this eleventh hour, but he had to at least try. Because it was equally foolish to enter it without having grown far, far stronger. He knew that, and yet, he still wanted to go.
No matter how much he trained in the human realm, the gains he made here would be incomparable to the Ash.
Vir sat down on the earthen floor and crossed his legs. Deep inside the ground, the Order’s Prana Siphon had little effect, allowing him to practice unimpeded.
Clearing his mind of distractions, he focused on his prana. He’d given more thought to Parai’s channeling technique lately. While he regretted not being able to learn Blade Projection, Parai’s vitality-boosting technique might be exactly what he needed in the Ash. More than offensive power, the ability to heal one’s wounds—especially once his stock of healing medication ran out—would be critical to his survival.
After all, it didn’t matter how hard he hit if he couldn’t survive long enough to make it to the other side.
He’d learned something after observing Parai’s technique for hours on end—the prana in his body had a particular alignment, and by grouping motes of the same prana alignment together, their strength grew dramatically. It was the basis of Parai’s channeling technique and the reason why his cycling pattern worked.
The concept of prana alignment was new to Vir. Until now, he’d thought it didn’t matter how prana was channeled, and that flowing it to where it was needed most was the extent of its power. But by circulating it in specific patterns, he noticed the prana in his body had something akin to the poles on a magnet. That by aligning it incorrectly, the motes of prana repelled each other.
It was so subtle, he hadn’t sensed it before, and after seeing the results of aligning prana properly, it was now unmistakable to Prana Vision. Even so, Vir had no success at aligning his body’s prana without Parai’s technique. Controlling individual motes was impossible—there was far too much of it in his body for his brain to manage. Thus, while alignment seemed like the key to further advancement, he was forced to rely on conventional options to achieve it.
Vir’s aims for this session were two-fold. He hoped to boost the existing technique’s efficiency, and experiment with copying the pattern onto other parts of his body. While the technique had stopped the Matron’s poison, he felt he hadn’t unlocked its true potential.