Feeling a stranger’s hand on her shoulder, Vivi’s first instinct was to release her aura of five thousand ether at the man’s face. She stopped herself, however. This wasn’t Zand. Her life wasn’t in danger.

  A constant tapping of rainfall hammered the metal above. The canopy spanned the width of the street with a gap before the streetside tenements. Lines of rain fell there, received by ground-level gutters that guided water down like little rivers. Foot traffic bustled past, but there was enough space to walk without bumping shoulders.

  “Is there a problem?” Vivi asked.

  “Young miss?” the man said. “Are you in need of bread?”

  Vivi batted an eye. He seemed to be a regular unarmed citizen, wearing a stylish tunic underneath an unbuttoned raincoat. A clean side-parted haircut, and sturdy boots, all nice and costly. Ranewal, Fellwater’s nearest city, was definitely a wealthy town, with even average citizens affording luxuries every now and then.

  “You’re a refugee from the underground, right?” he continued. “There’s no need to look for stalls to steal from. We’ll take care of you, if you just ask for help. Do you have parents?”

  “Wait,” Vivi said, giving him a look. “Do I really look that poor?”

  He was taken aback. “You're not?”

  “You are wearing your old raincoat, Vivi,” Lucius reminded. “I think the word to describe your appearance is ‘disheveled’.”

  Yes, and I wore this on purpose, Vivi thought. She deliberately refused Lortel’s styling and makeup today, wearing her poorer clothes for her stroll through the city. In this outfit, in her old second-hand grey raincoat that had survived through Zand and the blight, the city would treat her as if she was a beggar, and that would give her an unfiltered view of how humans here treated those below their class.

  “I am not a refugee, thank you very much,” Vivi said.

  The man let out an awkward laugh. “My apologies. I saw you eyeing the stalls. You didn’t buy anything, though.”

  “Just checking if prices have increased.”

  His lips formed a sympathetic line. “Half an ether for a loaf, eh? Used to be a quarter not a while ago. Both are too much for the refugees. I will buy you one if you need food.”

  If he had ulterior motives, Vivi couldn’t see them from his expression. She asked, “So you’re seriously offering food to refugees? With no poison?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Food comes from underground, from the very farmers that are now refugees here. Can’t treat them poorly, when they’re escaping from the surges to safety of the surface. And as always our amazing sub-sovereign is doing an… almost phenomenal job keeping everyone fed and well.”

  His smile fell as he mentioned the sub-sovereign, Helegar—the canton leader who had the brilliant idea of planting a crafted surge-hazard to be reanimated by the biggest storm to hit the surface in recent history. He crafted a wyvern that came very close to wiping out three hunting companies he’d hired to deal with it, almost killing Veronica Lifeweaver.

  After Vivi cleared the storm, pretty much saving the city, he celebrated, of course, and the event was portrayed as a grand victory. Helegar organized a feast to boast about his greatness, which would be held tomorrow.

  Nevermind the fact that the wyvern fell to an inside-carved missile shot by the second iteration slingshot launcher, and the godslayer summoned alongside the wyvern got its head crushed in by Vivi’s greatsword.

  Still, Ranewal itself had positively surprised Vivi. To her left, a pair of actual refugees walked past. It was two teens holding hands, looking like a brother and a sister. They were easily recognized from the lack of raincoats, wearing farm tunics instead. They weren’t smiling, but they didn’t look afraid either as they crossed Ranewal’s locals. Overall, the refugees that Vivi had seen appeared content staying here.

  Ranewal’s citizens didn’t shun the farmers either. Vivi had seen people give away their old raincoats and offer leftovers, with no instances of refugees being outright bullied. Vivi couldn’t believe it, but for now, it looked like Ranewal actually treated poor folk as humans. During her stroll, she even saw a refugee’s core hit zero ether. The man begged for a wisp ether so that his core wouldn’t collapse. Before Vivi could help, a kind citizen actually provided three.

  “I’m not as broke as I look,” Vivi said, and she transferred a hundred ether for the man. “Spend that for someone who needs it.”

  He was taken aback. “What? A hundred ether? Are you serious? No, I can’t take this.”

  Vivi smiled at him. “It’s not for you, silly. It’s for the refugees. I’m just making you do the work for me.”

  He snorted, sharing the smile. “See, this is why sharing food is such a great hobby. I keep meeting interesting people. My name is Amor, by the way.”

  “Ana,” Vivi responded quietly with the fake name she’d decided on. More loudly, she asked, “What do you do for a living?”

  “Oh, I’m just a poet and an entertainer,” Amor said. “I have a few hits. I like to keep it private from real life, though.”

  A poet earning enough to share? Vivi thought, surprised. I guess Ythar’s named cities have always been wealthy.

  “Aren’t poets pretty much useless to the hunters?” Lucius asked. “He just writes imaginary visions all day? Why is he kept around?”

  His tales might make people happy, who knows.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “And those who read his poem thingies also waste their time?”

  Vivi rolled her eyes at him. Lucius, you really need to start being nicer to people. Life isn’t all about ether and hunting.

  He blinked, as if not understanding what part of that had been rude. Thankfully, he hadn’t said anything out loud.

  “You’re a nice person,” Vivi said to Amor. “But what will you do when Ranewal runs out of resources? Will the city still treat refugees well, even if you yourself will have to cut rations, or will you start kicking them out?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “I’m wealthier than most. I’ll keep helping others as far as my money allows. But if the city literally doesn't have enough food to share?” His look became troubled. “I guess we’re just trusting the hunters to not let things go so far.”

  “I see,” Vivi said, feeling a wave of pity. She found it insane how many people trusted the hunters.

  Further down, a small commotion took her attention. The click clack of a horse’s gait, followed by the crowds dispersing. A small ethereal presence sat atop the horse. Not as strong as the monsters Vivi was accustomed to lately, but the person was still an ether hunter.

  The tall ether hunter sat sideways atop her horse. Long black hair, she wore black baggy trousers and a military shirt with pockets and embroidery. She glowed like most hunters, but her makeup was much more casual, giving less attention to appearances, which Lucius said was typical during storm season.

  Do you know who that is? Vivi asked.

  “That uniform resembles the Darkwind company,” Lucius said. “But I don’t know who that is. Maybe a third elevation hunter?”

  Darkwind? Vivi thought. Ythar’s namesense is almost as bad as yours.

  “Hey, Darkwind is actually a cool name!”

  The crowd moved out of the way as the hunter approached. Lines to food stalls slid to the side, and the busy traffic slid to the edges. All the way to the edges, that was, where the rain showered their raincoats, despite the fact that the hunter had more than ten feet of space on both sides. Trade paused and everyone lowered their heads.

  The hunter looked rather smug in her position, happily passing. If Vivi had been younger, when she still believed all the legends, she would have certainly been awed.

  But what happens if someone doesn’t bow? Vivi thought. What if I just keep living my life as normal?

  She decided to test just that. Instead of standing back and bowing like everyone else, Vivi stepped closer.

  “Ana, hey!” Amor tried to whisper, but Vivi continued.

  She approached the hunter and her horse, and she walked beside her, a few steps ahead. She made sure to leave enough space for the horse to continue uninterrupted, but she didn’t give any more room than she needed to.

  It didn’t take long for the hunters to spot her. “Oh, I’ve got admirers? Or is there a problem, young Miss?”

  “No,” Vivi said. “I’m merely in a hurry to get home.”

  “A hurry?” She eyed Vivi suspiciously. “Interesting. But you’re not quite in a ‘running through the city’ type hurry? Is this more like a ‘bothering the ether hunters’ type hurry?”

  Vivi glanced to the side and saw the hunter with an amused smile.

  “I wouldn’t recommend approaching hunters like that,” the hunter continued. “It’s tough times for humanity right now. The hunters are working overtime. If we’re in a bad mood, we might just get upset and push you out of the way.”

  “But you won’t?” Vivi asked. “You’ll let me walk here without being offended?”

  “I’ll entertain you,” the hunter said with a smirk, as if Vivi’s stunt was merely funny. “What’s your name?”

  Wow, Vivi thought. Is she actually not going to spit on us?

  Lucius sighed, sounding impatient. “Vivi, how long are we going to keep ‘testing’ the city? How long are we going to pretend like we’re unimportant? Can’t you do something cool for once?”

  Right, I guess I’ve strolled through almost the whole city.

  She’d seen how the city was. Surprisingly pleasant, with very few exceptions. Now, maybe it was time to see how the city reacted when they learned who Vivi really was.

  She placed her grey raincoat straight to spatial storage, the cloth disappearing from her body, revealing a casual shirt underneath. She then summoned her actual raincoat—Senith’s black and purple one, pushing ether through the moonweaver’s silk to make it glow.

  “I’m Vivian Runeblessed,” she said. “Sorry for tricking you.”

  The ether hunter and her horse paused on the spot, as if she’d seen a ghost. Her eyes opened wide, staring down at Vivi.

  “Oh…” the hunter eventually said. “Oh wow. You’re the one who just saved the city?”

  “Yeah, I did something like that.”

  The hunter’s smirk came back. “Bless me, thank the gods I didn’t start running my mouth, then, eh? Are we friends? I better not be in trouble. I’m Alda Darkwind. Nice to meet you.”

  She lowered her hand for a handshake, which Vivi accepted, though she was more than just surprised. A hunter that wasn’t utterly monstrous? How rare was that? She found herself smiling.

  “She could be putting on a show,” Lucius said. “It’s common for hunters to just stroll around cities and do good deeds just to keep the hunters’ reputation up.”

  She looks cool, though, Vivi thought. Alda’s outfit, her black trousers and her confident nonchalance, were very much heroic. It reminded Vivi of Coshi. Maybe she can be a friend as well.

  “Do I have room to hop on?” Vivi asked. “I’m heading in the same direction.”

  “Sure, feel free to,” Alda said, a little bemused. “I’m on my way to the palace.”

  “Yep, that’s perfect.” Vivi climbed on the horse behind her, sitting astride. There was no saddle, making the seat a bit uncomfortable, but Vivi was more than happy for the opportunity to get to know a hunter who didn’t immediately frown at ruffians in grey raincoats.

  Just as they were ready to keep moving, however, a new commotion came from below, where Alda had just come, prompting the crowd to once again split into two, making space for those more important than them.

  “Move!” an impatient young noblewoman called from a high seat on her palanquin. She had bodyguards on both sides, taking almost the whole street to herself. Blonde hair, with a rose tying her hair in a bun, she wore an exquisite red dress with makeup.

  A young boy had just bought redfruits from a stall and hurried to move out of the way, when one of them fell from his basket, rolling toward the middle of the street. He panicked, running to grab it, when he slipped, and his entire basket of redfruits scattering on the street.

  The woman’s palanquin was forced to stop while the boy scrambled to pick up all his fallen fruits. The bodyguards stayed silent, giving him a death stare.

  The woman tapped her finger, until impatience got the best of her. She yelled, “You careless shags! People are in a hurry over here! Can’t you show one bit of respect—”

  “Miss,” Vivi said loudly and concisely, walking up to the boy and flaring her ethereal presence. She picked up the final redfruit and placed it in the boy’s basket. Quickly, the boy hurried out of the way.

  Vivi glared at the noblewoman, who leaned back as far as her seat allowed. Her bodyguards glared back. “He’s just trying to feed himself.”

  She didn’t stay to argue, however, and stepped out of the way. The noblewoman frowned at her, probably debating whether she should order Vivi to get whipped, or if she should just ignore it.

  “Let’s go,” she said to the carriers, continuing up. The crowd watched her go, everyone silently waiting for her to get out of earshot.

  “Ugh,” Alda said when Vivi returned. “That was Aolinn Ranewal. Helegar’s fourth and youngest daughter. A repulsive one, isn’t she?”

  “She’s your superior, right?” Vivi asked. “Do you really serve people like that?”

  “Yeah, Aolinn is Ythar’s blood relative,” Alda said with a sigh. “A very distant one, and she doesn’t hold much political power, but being the sub-sovereign’s daughter still makes her untouchable.”

  Vivi frowned up, where she could still see the back of the palanquin.

  “Say, Alda,” Vivi asked. “If someone were to kidnap a few of these blood relatives, would you defend them like you’re supposed to?”

  Or would you join me for a celebration?