Nyx’Sol was almost glad that the girl had left so suddenly. After pulling the now slightly crumpled letter from underneath himself, his face felt like it could have melted the entire snowpit and then some. Sighing deeply, he finished his tea and started to eat all of the paka cookies that she had left him.

  The flavor reminded him of home as he inspected the white card the girl had handed him. Her demeanor had been quite shaken, and she had recommended that he check it out.

  At first glance, the card was just simple, albeit pristine white, paper. Only when his eyes lingered on it did it reveal its secrets. Black letters started to appear and form a short message.

  It was not the first time that Nyx had read about information brokers who distributed their services openly for everyone to see. The concept had been picked up in other worlds and quickly became rather popular in recent centuries. Most often, these information brokers still operated independently from more public information, and some took bribes to ignore certain details.

  If a sect allowed information brokers, as they did in this case, to operate in their name, then they would be beholden to the sect's rules and demands. Complaints about the factuality of their claims would likely find an open ear.

  Eager to know, he paid ten points and read through the most recent information. Each section was labeled with a heading that indicated the information's relevance, as well as a timer showing how long ago the information was published.

  Nyx blinked at the information. They already knew all about Azrx’Ibahros' departure, apparently quite aware that he would break through just hours later. When he pondered the meaning of SSMG, the writing shifted and expanded the abbreviation to Spear Saint Mountain Group. Curious, he tried it with other words, and ‘latest generation’ expanded to ‘the initiates to the Verdant Reflection Sect who have been in the Skin Tempering Garden for more than one month but no more than two months are classified as ‘the latest generation’.

  The new arrivals seemed to refer to anyone who had not yet spent one month here. When Sol focused on [read more], the article expanded.

  Nyx had not been mentioned by name, but his conversation with Azrx’Ibahros had indicated that the Spear Saint Mountain Group had intended to recruit him rather than target him directly by other means. While he had not tried his luck and pushed them from their favorite cultivation spots, that was mostly due to the fact that they could not monopolize the library and seemed to have less interest in both the snowpit and the cold lake.

  Maybe he would have to tease them some more to elicit a stronger response? He had advanced quite steadily in the last few days, and he was starting to miss fighting again. How well would his new un’gholor scales hold up in battle? Would they reduce some impact, or would they be a liability?

  Nyx continued reading the next article, which made him curious. Was information such as this given to any reader, or was he being targeted by this specific information simply because he had browsed through the ledgers for hours?

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  Financial information was always valuable, and his apprehension about spending his rapidly declining sect points on news was quickly thrown out of his mind. He knew what Calamot herbs were and was familiar with elemental stones and their prices through his library research, where he had tried to find out the masked girl's name. This would come in handy once he could sign up for some alchemy lessons or gather some himself.

  For now, he could not use that information, so he skipped the rest of the article and focused on the most recent update.

  Nyx’s mind raced. Had they targeted Rax’Rathos? They were brave to do so. He focused on the ‘soft rule breaking’ part of the article and quickly got an explanation. Soft Rule Breaking referred to fights outside of the housing ‘arguments’ that were allowed and encouraged in the Skin Tempering Garden. Any fight that took place outside was technically forbidden, albeit enforced slowly.

  The sect allowed fights to come to their natural conclusion, meaning initiates were only punished once their opponent had either yielded, surrendered, or fled. Furthermore, they only punished those who had actively taken part in the fight.

  Frowning, he stuffed the last cookie in his mouth and rose to his feet. Seven people. Rax’Rathos had evaded seven people for half an hour? Yes, that did sound like him. But not fighting back? That was odd. The masked girl had been right—it was definitely worth knowing. And if the Spear Saint Mountain Group thought it was a good idea to intimidate others by fighting them when they were outnumbered, he would show them that it was not.

  He stored the tea set and blanket in his storage ring, noting that he was slowly running out of space, and then stared at the letter in his hand. The light red and crumpled envelope would have to wait. He would read it once he had broken through. Or maybe tonight. If he was restless enough, he would likely succumb to temptation. For now, he added it to his storage.

  On his way toward the central cultivation hub, he began to incorporate the new information into his thinking. If he was attacked near the library entrance or the cold lake, he would try to get to safety that way. If it happened closer to the housing units, then they were the safer option. Or were they? It would certainly buy him an hour of safety, and beyond that, it would at least avoid being outnumbered. However, the group could still send more people one by one, and if they sent their strongest members, what would stop them from evicting him only to employ soft rule breaking afterward?

  The Skin Tempering Garden was not a safe place. Violence could find you anywhere if you made enemies. Instead of depressing him, the thought actually made Sol giddy with anticipation. New ideas formed in his mind. It wouldn’t hurt to take note of all the dirt holes in the area as well. He would be able to ‘reset’ an attack there, leading to their punishment—if it worked that way. Was it even possible to ‘argue’ for those spots? There was certainly not enough space inside to do so. Maybe they did not count as safety spots either?

  A light breeze carried the smell of smoke toward Nyx and threw him from his thoughts. Up ahead, near the cave system that housed the more precious cultivation spots and the library entrance, he saw two wooden trunks forming an ‘X’ cross. On one of the upper edges, he spotted the origin of the smell. A piece of cultivation robe had been nailed to it with a spear. The color and symbol were no longer visible, heavily charred by a still slowly burning fire. Members of the Spear Saint Mountain Group flanked the location, preventing anyone from getting too close to the cross.

  Apparently, this was the location they had used for their statement.

  Nyx quietly approached two girls who were staring at the cross with deep frowns on their faces. Their faces looked identical—same light green skin, same dark eyes, and the same curly black hair that fell in waves toward their shoulders. He would have assumed they were twins, but both their height and stature differed slightly.

  He stepped next to them and gauged their mood. “My, my, what has happened here?”

  The girl next to him deepened her frown. “You new arrivals sure are in a good mood. You think they won’t target you next?”

  “They tied him up and—” her sister began to explain before she was cut off.

  “Ghivain, he obviously knows what happened.” She snapped at her before focusing on Sol. “What do you want from us?” But before he could answer, she already continued. “No, you know what? Keep it to yourself. I’m not interested in politics. If you belong to that group, kindly shove a needle in your—”

  She proceeded to hurl more insults his way, growing increasingly graphic with each word. Nyx, lost for words, simply stood there and took it until she stormed off.

  Her sister cringed at her expense. “I apologize on her behalf. She’s quite cross today… Her boyfriend broke up with her yesterday. It’s nothing personal.”

  Nyx nodded. “I see. Whom do I owe a grudge for these insults, then?” he asked with an amused grin.

  The girl smiled. “Well, I haven’t said anything if my sister asks. Since he left, we both got cut off from our favorite cultivation spot, so I don’t mind you holding a grudge against him.” She waited for a nod from Sol before she continued. “He’s called Azrx’Ibahros.”