Kira eventually fell asleep while watching Micro draw various shapes and words in the ground with his stick. He described them in detail as he drew them, but Kira understood few of the words he said, despite his excitement as he described each of their functions. When morning came, he had filled the ground with his designs and was still enthusiastic to draw more.

  “What is this?!” Lena cried out in panic as she awoke from her meditative state. “Do you mean to summon something?!”

  “Oh, this isn’t magic,” Micro reassured her. “I’m just trying to work out the design for a truck. I know the metals available here aren’t the highest quality, so the design is taking some time. There’s also the lack of gas stations and power tools…”

  Lena shook her head, then waved her hand, sending a gust of aura down to the ground. The designs were all swept away in a moment, and Micro sighed. Lena felt guilty for a moment, but quickly rose to her feet and dusted off her robes.

  “Be careful what strange marks you leave behind,” Lena explained more kindly. “You have only just been acknowledged by the empire as a neutral entity. Don’t tempt fate.”

  “I should buy a notebook!” Micro said enthusiastically. “The old man always carried one around. It’s important to have somewhere to organize your thoughts.”

  “You can write?” Lena asked in surprise.

  “I think I can do most of the things the old man could do,” Micro replied. “Sometimes I feel like he’s a part of me, somewhere in my soul, even though it’s truck-shaped.”

  “Farmers can write on your world?” Lena asked again, her eyes widening further.

  “Most children learn to write pretty quickly in school,” Micro replied. “His son had some trouble at first, but he still got into a nice university. He was better with science though.”

  “University…? A farmer’s son…?” Lena shook her head in disbelief. “There are strange worlds…”

  “I hope you can make one soon!” Kira said, springing up from the ground with even more energy than before.

  “There’s the issue of roads though…” Micro mumbled. “It would be cruel to put a truck in the wild like this.”

  “I’ve heard enough of that to last a lifetime,” Blue said while hovering above Micro’s head. “Let’s get moving.”

  ~

  The ominous presence of the ruby level dungeon gradually faded behind the group as they continued on, and the plains began to give way to rolling hills. Kira continued to ask Micro about all the things a truck could do, and Micro happily explained whatever he could. Kolt remained focused on keeping up with the group. His energy was bolstered by Trill’s presence on his shoulder, but his body was still unable to make use of most of it.

  “There,” Lena suddenly announced. “The Amber Water Serpent Moon Sect’s territory currently extends about this far.”

  “I thought sects preferred big mountains,” Micro said.

  “This particular sect has a strong connection to the mundane world,” Lena said with a bitter tone. “They involve themselves in the sort of politics which they ought to ignore. They’re a petty group of—”

  “Shall we?” Micro called out as she began to ramble.

  “Excuse me—” Lena suddenly cleared her throat and covered her mouth awkwardly. “I’m sure they will be excellent hosts. Be sure to present yourselves with courtesy and respect.”

  “Courtesy and respect,” Kira repeated, then looked at Micro as if to confirm Lena’s request.

  “I think those are good qualities to have,” Micro assured her. “But being efficient and reliable is probably more important for a truck.”

  “Understood,” Kira replied with a firm nod.

  “It seems you have been blessed with a virtuous disciple, young master,” Lena said softly. Her amused smile faded as Kolt came into few. He was grumbling to himself about the steep hills as he walked, sweating and panting in an unsightly manner. “Perhaps you’ll gain another one day.”

  “By the way, how old are you?” Micro asked Kira.

  “I’ll be eleven next time the snow melts,” Kira replied. “Kolt is a year younger than me.”

  “You’re even younger than I thought…” Micro gasped. “And you’re already out in the world—”

  “Alright, time to greet the master of this land…” Lena interrupted them with a sigh.

  Micro wondered what sort of greeting she had in mind, but he was suddenly pushed back by an explosive burst of aura. Lena stood with her feet firmly on the ground, sending out an aggressive wave of energy in all directions.

  “You call that a greeting?! Watch this!” Blue scoffed as she flew down to Lena’s side. Blue rooted herself to the ground and began to emit an aura slightly stronger that Lena’s, laughing proudly as it grew.

  “Don’t worry. Cultivators do this sort of thing a lot,” Micro reassured Kolt and Kira while protecting them with a thick shield. Kira and Kolt both marvelled at the translucent walls of energy that sprung out of the ground to protect them from the sudden storm of auras.

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  “Alright,” Lena announced, withdrawing her aura. “Let’s see who we have the pleasure of greeting today.”

  “I guess it’s time for a nap,” Blue added, directing her comment to Trill, who already looked half asleep. She yawned as her own aura dissipated.

  “Right,” Trill mumbled, quickly rising into the air and making his way to Micro’s pocket.

  “Wake me up if things get fun,” Blue said to Micro. “Or if you’re about to die.”

  “Thanks, Blue,” Micro said as she also disappeared into his pocket.

  “I swear, if I get sacrificed in a summoning again—” Blue added, but she shook her head and sighed. “Oh, whatever.”

  Kira and Kolt became increasingly nervous as they continued in the direction of the sect. Seemingly in response to the announcement which Blue and Lena had made, an equally aggressive aura was growing in the distance. As the group came to the top of a small hill, a sprawling village came into view with a castle-like structure at its centre. It wasn’t as impressive a sight as Kel’s home had been on the side of a tall mountain, but Micro assumed they must have many more resources at their disposal. Micro struggled to take in the sight with only one good eye, so he relied on his energy to analyze the area, and he was surprised to find it densely populated with both cultivators and non-cultivators, though even those without a core were clearly on their way to acquiring one.

  “Not many of them have cores, but there are thousands of people with more energy than most of the non-cultivators I’ve seen,” Micro commented as he looked around. “Seems like a nice enough place.”

  “The outer disciples of some sects are required to cultivate a jade core independently before being acknowledged by the inner sect,” Lena explained. “The weak are pruned from the outer branches.”

  “Well, I can’t argue with the necessity of pruning branches,” Micro said, frowning as he considered Lena’s words. “But that doesn’t quite seem applicable…”

  Smoke was rising from dozens of chimneys. The huts were humble in their construction, but they were uniform in size and organized in their placement. Though no distinct roads connected the buildings of the wide village, there was business happening everywhere Micro looked. Farmers sold their produce, blacksmiths hammered metals, and bakers filled their air with appetizing odors. The smell of a bakery distracted him long enough that he tripped over a bump on the path he was walking on, nearly falling.

  “It’s nothing like the other villages I’ve seen…” Micro added. “Aside from the roads. The roads are still—”

  “This particular sect places a premium on the currency of the kingdom,” Lena explained coldly. “They have made themselves a valuable ally to the royal family in recent decades. Some may call it a distasteful hobby, but they call it a way of life.”

  “What sort of business do they do?” Micro asked. “I thought cultivators hated working.”

  “They facilitate the transport of many rare materials from the western hills to the eastern plains. No mundane merchant or royal knight what dare to set foot in the forests and mountains where we cultivate in this era,” Lena explained. “They are so deeply immersed in matter of the mundane one wonders if they will soon drown in their dishonour. And the gold they hoard—”

  “Gold is useful,” Micro commented. “It’s heavier than paper money, but I can’t dislike a metal currency!”

  “Its accumulation in a single place does liven the populace, for a time,” Lena conceded. “The mundane are no different from any being in their right to live happily in the way they please. If only they’d do it elsewhere…”

  “I should earn some more gold,” Micro thought aloud. “I don’t have much left, but I shouldn’t rely so much on charity.”

  “Oh?” Lena said with an eyebrow raised. “How commendable, though materialism is typically among the less desirable traits for a sect leader to exemplify.”

  “The old man often relied on the kindness of others, but he never rested when there was work to be done,” Micro said with sombre tone. “I think I feel the frustration he felt when he broke his leg one winter and had to watch his neighbours tend to his property for a month. They did it happily, but the feeling he had the first time he drove me the following spring is hard to forget. He still doesn’t feel like he’s fully repaid them, though they insist he never had to…”

  “It’s pleasing to hear of such an honourable master,” Lena replied. “You would do well to emulate such a man, though gold is rarely of use in the pursuit of immortality.”

  “I don’t want to live forever on a world with no roads,” Micro said with a solemn tone which caught Lena off guard. “Roads aren’t cheap.”

  “Ah—” She stuttered. “I see.”

  “Roads are very important,” Kira added with a bright smile. “Aren’t they, master?”

  “That’s right,” Micro replied happily, patting Kira’s head softly. Kolt made a complicated expression, but only nodded in support of Micro’s assertion.

  Suddenly, a man with yellow robes and a small black cap that held all of his hair above his head appeared before them. His face was clean shaven, but his expression was difficult to read. Lena seemed unsurprised, but the way he suddenly appeared with a gust of wind startled Micro and the children.

  “Honourable Member of the Imperial Guard…” the man greeted them. “You are most welcome here.”

  “Yes, I know,” Lena replied curtly.

  “And your…” The man turned to look at the three people behind Lena. Micro looked back, and took note of the recognizable aura of an amber core around the man. “Attendants?”

  “Who are you to address the leader of the Truck Sect as an attendant?” Lena replied with her eyes narrowed. “Are manners no long practiced in this sect?”

  “Ah?” The man’s confusion was washed away by a cold sensation travelling down his spine, and he bowed deeply, gesturing for them to follow him. “Allow me to show you the extent of our hospitality! For the outerwear of a sect leader and his disciples to be so extremely affected by the elements, you must have been training under exceptionally strenuous circumstances. Our humble sect will strive to provide the comfort you have earned…”

  “He talks a lot,” Kolt mumbled, drawing a subtle but sharp glare from the man.

  “My name is Guran, a humble servant of this sect,” the man declared with his head still bowed. “And I am at your service…”

  “Nice to meet you, Guran, a humble servant of the sect,” Micro said.

  “My given in name is simply Guran, but if it pleases you to—”

  “Sorry, simply Guran,” Micro interrupted him.

  “No, it’s just…” Guran stared blankly up at Micro, who was unable to stifle his laughter any longer, and Guran’s own face became red.

  “Thank you, Guran,” Micro chuckled. “I’m Micro. Please, lead the way.”

  “Of course, Master Micro.” Guran smiled, though the muscles in his face were far from relaxed. “At your service…”

  “Let’s not waste any more time…” Lena sighed toward Micro. “I’m not yet immortal, so I’d appreciate if this didn’t take an eternity.”

  “Sorry, Lena,” Micro said with a smile. “I forget how old you are sometimes.”

  “I thought your joke was well timed,” Kira said quietly as they began to follow Guran through the busy streets. “But jokes can get you into more trouble than they can get you out of. My uncle always said that.”

  “Some trouble is worth getting in to,” Kolt added, but Kira shushed him with a quick jab to the shoulder.

  “Trouble?” Micro spent a few moments quietly considering the words of the children before turning to reply with a thumbs up. “I have a feeling we’ll be getting into trouble either way, so just focus on having fun.”