“One way to find out.” Kest typed something on her HUD. “The planetary rankings and profiles should give us his Spirit type at the very least.”
The Emperor’s profile wasn’t hard to find. It was sitting at the top of the Shinotochi-Ryu rankings page.
Name: Nishigoto Takeshi
Race: Varanusko
Height: 6'9"
Weight: 413 lbs
Age: 423.1 Ryuan years (Current Location), 343.2 Universal years
Blood Type: O
Spirit Type: Relentless Justice
Spirit Reserve: 1,218,923,746
Planetary Ranking: #1 of 9,292,987
“Hey, his blood type’s the same as yours,” Kest said.
I shot her a side-eye. “How do you know my blood type?”
Black lace faded in on her cheeks, but she pretended not to care.
“I checked your profile once,” she said, shrugging. “I wanted to see if we would make a good match.”
I grinned. “Well, do we? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Yes. My AB-type rationality makes up for your O’s unreasonable pursuit of idealism and starry-eyed tendencies. I’m perfect for you.”
I was going to make a dumb joke, but movement on my HUD screen distracted me.
The number in the Emperor’s Spirit reserve had rolled up. Not by one or two, but by more than a hundred and fifty.
“Holy cow. Are you seeing this?” I leaned over to make sure it was doing the same thing on Kest’s screen.
“Once you’ve got that much in your Sea, you’re constantly drawing more,” she said. “Cultivating is instinct at that level. Sort of like having billions of credits in your USL account. They’re always accruing interest, so even when you’re not doing anything, you’re making money.”
“Remind me never to mess with the Emperor.”
The lace in Kest’s eyes thinned out. “Don’t even joke about that.”
“I’m not. He’d kill me.”
“We’re nothing to them,” she said. “The comparison between us and a Ketsu isn’t even bugs to Sushi, it’s amoebas to supernovas. Less—nothingness to supernovas.”
“Message received. Ketsus are way above my weight class. Not even within punching distance.”
“Shut up, Hake!” The black lace in her eyes darkened. She was really serious about this. “That isn’t funny!”
I put my hands up to show I was done.
But Kest didn’t relax. “You don’t get it. I have a silencer, so any bugs they have planted around here shouldn’t be transmitting our conversation, but that doesn’t matter at his level. His Ki-senses will be so developed that he can probably hear us from the castle without even trying.” She grabbed both of my hands and squeezed them. “Please, please listen to me. Even implying that you might consider yourself worthy, at this level, of facing a Ketsu is suicide. They don’t forgive insults like that. They put a stop to them immediately—and legally, they’re allowed to.”
“Hang on.” I was pretty sure I’d misunderstood that last bit. “You’re saying it’s legal for a Ketsu to kill somebody lower level?”
“In defamation cases. The CPA recognizes it as an attack on their honor, with the same consequences as assault, so they’re allowed to defend themselves against it. They’re not technically supposed to set out with the intention to kill, but if it happens in the course of the beating, that’s just accepted as part of the risk the lower level understood when they insulted the Ketsu.”
“This universe is insane.”
“Not if you think it through,” she said. “A known Ketsu who allowed someone low-level to equate themselves would call the strength of the whole Ketsu level into question. Pretty soon every other Ketsu in the galaxy would come after them to destroy them for bringing down the reputation of all Ketsus. Not only that, but everybody within high-Ten verging on Ketsu advancement would want to use the insulted party to make a name for themselves. When you reach that rank, you can’t take insults lightly and hope to survive.”
“Like how every up-and-coming gunslinger in the old West wanted a piece of the famous ones,” I said.
“What?”
“Nothing. Earth stuff.” I waved away the tangent. “Anyway, if it’s a criminal offense, why not call in the CPA to arrest the guy who insulted them?”
“Let a bunch of cultivators below your level defend your honor?”
“Okay, I get why that wouldn’t work any better than letting the insult go.” I shook my head. “Surviving at Ketsu sounds like as much work as getting there in the first place.”
“But you get overwhelming power and respect.” Kest shrugged. “It’s a system of trade-offs.”
Footsteps thumped on the pagoda’s front porch. Both our heads snapped around as we checked to make sure there wasn’t an angry Komodo Emperor coming for us.
It was just Warcry and Rali. The ginger said something I couldn’t make out, and the big Selken laughed and held up his walking stick, flourishing a hand at it like he was showing off a fabulous game show prize.
I lowered my voice and asked Kest, “Do you think Rali was almost there? To Ketsu?”
She craned her neck to look over her shoulder at her twin.
“He wouldn’t have told any of us if he was, and he wouldn’t have acted any different.” Determination etched itself in her features. “He won’t, because he’s going to cultivate again. He’s going to make it to Ketsu. I’ll find a way to make it happen.”
First Date
WARCRY AND RALI ROUNDED the sunken living room and stepped out into the pool courtyard with us.
“Told you, didn’t I, big man? They’re still out here goggling at each other like starstruck space whales. It’s enough to make a bloke sick.”
Rali shrugged. “If my twin’s happy, then I’m happy.”
He sounded like he was joking around, but he looked my way when he said it, almost like it was a warning.
“Well, I’m not happy,” Kest said, standing up. “I’m hungry. We have a few hours before Naph can pick us up, and I want to get supper from somewhere in the city. And no offense to either of you guys—” She looked from Rali to Warcry. “—but I’d like to go with just Hake.”
That surprised everything else out of my head. She meant like a legit date.
“You had all this time while we were gone, Stumpy. Ain’t you stole enough of the grav’s Spirit?”
“That’s
