When they exited the conference chamber, the banquet table was cleared and gone.

Mina lounged uncomfortably on a mahogany settee, a white length of leg swinging to and fro, trying to get comfortable on the wooden chair, one hand fidgeting with a newfangled Message device hanging from her wrist in the guise of an accessorised bangle.

Tao was listening to music, the tinnitus droning of thumping treble and bass spewing out from a set of over-large headphones.

More examples of consumer-grade magical devices? Gwen paid particular attention to these quasi-magical devices. So far in this world, she had not seen any meaningful representation of scientific knowledge, what with spell-Glyphs ensuring that such inventions were made redundant.

The lack of science also meant NoMs were bereft of the sorcerous marvels the Mages created, resigned to the margins of labour and living. In her eyes, even if the non-magical portion of society lived meaningful lives of safety in Shanghai, it was because of policy and politics rather than any individual contribution. How could they matter? Gwen mulled in silence— when a single Magi was existentially more salient than 10 million NoMs? How did this world's status quo maintain its stability when the threat of annihilation compelled the many to put their life and limb in the hands of the rare few?

Additionally, Gwen felt mystified by the power dynamic of the various forces here in Shanghai. How influential was the People's Liberation Army? How all-powerful was the Politburo? What is the place of the globalised Towers in a closed country like China? What is Shanghai's relation to its satellite Frontiers like Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia? What about its relationships with Seoul, Tokyo, or superpower blocs like the USA or the Commonwealth?

There was so much to learn that she felt dizzy.

First, she had to find a way to graduate— for someone with two Degrees and an MBA in her old world; it was amazing to Gwen that she would be missing a High School Certificate! But now that she had arrived in Shanghai— would her babulya oblige in sending her to a magical institution?

Knowledge is power in more way than one in this world, and she "must" come to understand both sorcery and society to avoid becoming swallowed up by forces more powerful than she could know.

"Yo yo yo!"

Tao interrupted her thoughts by ambling toward her. His progress was careful and measured, for the low-riding jeans impeded the freedom of movement. "So, how was the grill, gurl? Yeye roast you like a whole lamb?"

"Sure, but I am still in one piece, Peaches." Gwen wasn't sure if it was an intended inflexion of the word 'Tao' in Mandarin that changed the translation but felt that the fruit moniker suited Tao well. "From the looks of it, I am going to be in your hands for the next few days."

"So you chilling with us?"

"Yep."

"Nice, me and Sis show ya places, dawg."

Mina audibly sighed.

"Mina! Don't be rude!" Jun, who'd been watching their interaction, raised his voice. Unexpectedly, Mina shut off her device the moment Jun showed his ire.

"Yes, Uncle Jun? How can I help?" she simpered.

Jun patted the girl on the head, not unlike how Gwen would pat her cats a lifetime ago. The look he gave her was a mixture of doting affection and helpless criticism. It was far different from how Kwan had dealt with her— as property, or her father, to whom she was a bother.

"I want you and Tao to take Gwen around the city for a few days— take her everywhere, show her some of the interesting sights. Make sure she gets a feel for Shanghai's main districts, not to mention meet some of your contemporaries."

"I'll do my best, Uncle." Mina's eyes floated over to Gwen, where the passion in her eyes instantly died. "But Gwen has so much to see..."

Mina tilted her head and gave Gwen a knowing smirk.

Gwen winced. Yes— she was the country cousin who had never seen the city before, the High school dropout! In a tier 1 city, Gwen Song was a hillbilly visiting Beverly Hills.

"Mina, don't be like that," Jun humoured her cousin. "Gwen will teach you things about living in the real world that you can't even begin to imagine. She had been through a hell of a lot more than you and Tao. She was in Sydney, you know— when the city fell. Gwen's killed for Merman than you've had sushi dinners."

The news prompted Mina to turn to Gwen with an expressive "Oh" on her peachy lips.

"You fought Mermen? Out there, on the Frontier?" Mina reexamined her in a new light. "That means you have incredible stories, right?"

Gwen sensed an unwelcoming premonition as Mina's eyes formed into twin crescent half-moons of anticipation. "Yes."

What was Mina seeing inside her pretty head? Gwen wondered. Did Shanghai Barbie think Gwen rode Kangaroos into battle, unleashed Drop Bears at command, and waded knee-deep through Mermen's guts while flinging spells from both hands?

"Well, I suppose some time away from medical school would do me good." Mina materialised her slate and checked through whatever projection it showed. Gwen's eyes focused on the device, which appeared inactive. Perhaps it was an Illusion aimed directly at the user? That would solve the matter of privacy in one fell swoop. How did such a device function? "Yep, I think I can do it."

"Alright, alright, ALRIGHT!" Tao punched the air excitedly. "Gwen Cuz, I am going to show you the best time of yo life! We gonna hang with my crew; slug some Cris; flash the bling and cause havoc on Huaihai Rd, bitch!"

"Thanks, Peaches." Gwen decided to punish the outrageous young man by embracing him. "I am happy to have found family."

Tao received her embrace rigidly, a little intimidated by Gwen's overfamiliarity. It was then that Gwen remembered public displays of affection were rare in Asian cultures.

Mina snickered.

"Okay then. I'll leave you to it." Jun nodded affirmatively. "I am heading back to the base. I'll be here to pick you up Thursday morning at 0900. It's a long ride from the ferry terminal to the island. You don't want to piss off the Adjudicator of Hengsha this year. It's going to be Magister Paris from the Putong Tower."

Mina sweetly affirmed her uncle's command. Tao's expression was languished, intimating he did not possess pleasant memories of 'Hengsha' Island.

The three cousins watched Jun disappear behind the landscaped fountain just outside the front gate.

"Alright, cousin, let's get moving." Mina motioned outside with her thumb. "Let's go 'show you Shanghai'."

Gwen indicated to the inner chamber. "Shouldn't we say goodbye to the grandparents?"

"Nope, too much bother." Mina checked her watch. It was precisely 1400. "Mother's taking care of them. I want to take you somewhere interesting."

Mina disappeared.

"Yeye's such a hater!" Tao shook his head sagely, following his younger sister. "He hates the playa, AND he hates the game."

"Mina, you can drive?"

"What, you don't? You guys have cars out on the Frontier, right?"

"We usually make do with the Roos. We leash them up and ride across the Outback. The pioneers generally got about a dozen kilometres before they had to stop and fisty-cuff them," Gwen replied 'earnestly'.

"Oh?" Mina considered the vision of rat-like megafauna fighting a man in hand-to-hand combat. "Wow, Australia's a crazy place."

Mina's wheels turned out to be a gleaming cabriolet with four concentric rings for a logo. Gwen wasn't so much as impressed by the car as the fact that there was, well, "Audi" in this world. For a moment, she had to remind herself that since fashion icons like Miu Miu and Prada exist as quasi-magical item makers, why shouldn't the other brands also have parallel twins?

Mina, however, had taken Gwen's moment of contemplation to indicate that she had never seen such an expensive vehicle before. Patting Gwen on the shoulder, she told her hillbilly cousin to get in.

Tao sat behind the two girls, stretched out, legs apart, hat covering half his face.

Gwen sat demurely, her dress folded between her thighs. Mina started the engine with an invocation, after which the car pulled away from the parking compound of their grandparent's gated community.

A safe distance away, Mina floored it.

The Third Orbital Highway soon gave way to the Second, in front of which the looming superstructure of Shanghai CBD rose like a mountain as they turned into the First Orbital Ring Road.

The tallest architecture in the city was a ziggurat-like hollowed-out pyramid that took up a quarter of the skyline, perched over Shanghai obtrusively like a cubist sculpture.

"That's the PLA's Tower," Mina said helpfully, doing the duty that she'd promised Jun. "Hideous, isn't it. It's more bunker and shelter than Tower. They say that the superstructural bunker beneath it can hold almost two million people in an emergency."

"Does Shanghai have any Shielding Stations?" Gwen inquired. The air was hot and stifling from the excess mana pollution, but it wasn't the muggy heat she'd felt in Singapore.

"Nope, we've no need. Shanghai sits on the main ley-line of the Asian-Pacific, and we're surrounded by the Frontier cities, as well as protected by the PLA."

"The city has never been attacked?"

"Not by Monsters, if that's what you're asking," Mina replied. "It's fallen a couple of times to people, though, like the Japanese. These days, none of the Demi-human races dares touch us because we have two Magi sitting atop the Towers. One for the PLA, and one for the Shanghai Tower."

"A Magi!" Gwen marvelled.

"Two," Mina corrected. "Grand Marshall Sun from the Politburo, and Lord Magi Huo of the Shanghai Tower."

"So, their presence ensures the city's safety?"

Mina gave Gwen a wilting expression of growing impatience.

"Either one will ensure that the Mermen and the Mountain Demis don't dare screw with the city, that is, unless they want their settlements reduced to rubble. The Magi are here to keep each other in check. The Communist Party doesn't trust the Westerners, and the Westerners don't trust the communist party. Lord Sun acts in the interest of the Politburo, and Lord Huo represents the Mages of the Mageocracy, rather than all the people, NoMs included."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

From the sounds of it, Gwen thought to herself. She needed to seek out this "Mageocracy" Tower. Maybe they were linked to Gunther's people and could give her some leverage if push came to shove. It would come at a cost, of course, but she preferred paying the devil she knew.

Their convertible slowed as the glaring sun of the open-air turned into one of geometric shadow.

"I've heard lots about Pudong," Gwen said. "What can you tell me about it?"

"Pudong?" Mina said.

Pudong was a significant financial district for Shanghai in her old world, having the tallest buildings and the most expensive restaurants.

"It's a special economics zone partitioned from Shanghai proper, carved out by the Yellow River. Most of the foreigners from the International and French Concessions live there now, as well as representatives from the Demi-races."

"Whoa!" Gwen's voice raised an octave. Her body's previous owner had been conditioned and brainwashed to fear and loathe them. "Can… can we see them?"

"Ha! Not likely. You need special permission to enter Pudong. You also need to receive orientation training before extra-human contact is allowed. Maybe Gramps can sponsor you for a licence? Who knows?"

"Okay." Gwen turned to marvel at the city and its superstructure. It seemed that the ziggurat structure wasn't as dense as it appeared. Instead, it was a honeycomb lattice of hollowed-out domes towering over the commercial districts below.

Still, to think there were OTHER RACES of beings in this city! Gwen couldn't wait until she met a walking, talking Demi-human in real life. An intelligent Mermen, perhaps, a human-sized birdman? Would there be Elves? She was a staunch Tolkien fan. It would be delightful to see the real deal in the flesh, assuming the Elves here were romanticised supermodels and not the little gremlin that tinkered toys.

Their convertible turned into a building constructed wholly of curved glass and fibrous strands of steel cabling. Mina coasted to a stop, where a handsome attendant addressed them.

"Valet, Ma'am?"

"Yes."

Mina ushered her crew out of her car. Tao appeared to have fallen asleep and had to be slapped awake.

"Peaches, move your ass off my car."

"What? Yeah. Where are we?"

"K-27," Mina replied.

"Again? We were just here this morning." Tao frowned.

"I know. I want to introduce Gwen to some of my friends."

"Yeah, well, is Frederic Lin still here?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?"

Tao glanced around cautiously as if this 'Fred' Lin would leap out and ambush him.

Gwen swung her legs out from the passenger side and stood behind the arguing pair, half a head taller than either of her cousins. There were more attendants inside, all NoMs, well dressed and courteous, who opened door after door for them. There was even a well-groomed attendant in the levitator.

The glass platform ascended as silent as a whisper, opening onto an open floor with a sea-side view of Shanghai proper. Gwen couldn't help but noticed that, unlike her old world, the river here was still bean-green and blue, not possessing any of the ochre-yellow algae-bloom that haunted Shanghai in the spring and summer months.

Ding!

They entered a cafe, though it was now near-empty as lunch had come and gone. Here and there were groups of lingering socialites, dressed in handsome jackets and cocktail dresses, engaged in quiet conversation as the afternoon sun filtered softly through the transmuted glass panes.

"Mina!" someone called out from a corner table. A group of girls and a few young men sat around a circular chaise overlooking the skyline, an assortment of drinks and desserts splayed across the table. "You're back? We didn't think you'd return!"

"Hi, girls!" Mina tittered forward, her mobility restricted by her heels.

"Oh, your brother is here too," the girl's voice seemed significantly less enthused. "Hi, Peaches."

"Sup, Vivian." Tao threw her a gang sign.

Vivian returned his greeting with a 'faux' gang sign, emphasising her middle finger. The rest of the girls burst into laughter.

"Stupid bitch," Tao muttered loudly.

"Oi, watch your mouth!" A young man pointed an accusatory finger toward Tao. "You didn't have enough from Fredrick earlier?"

Mina pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Tao… go sit down, over there. Please."

Tao muttered something more discretely and moved on.

Gwen watched "Peaches" go with mixed feelings. On the one hand, her cousin was a bit of an idiot, but on the other, that public whipping was entirely unnecessary. Whatever the case, Tao's dejection gave Gwen a general idea of Mina's friends and the dynamic of their relationships.

"So, who is this?" The young man turned his attention to Gwen; his eyes measured her from head to toe with a familiarity that she had come to know from growing up around her uncle Kwan and his friends.

"Gwen, these are my friends and their friends. From the left, Vivian, Fei, Tzusu, Amy, Gabrielle, John— and this is Dai."

"Pleased to meet you," Gwen greeted them with a pleasant smile.

"Everyone, this is Gwen, my cousin from Australia. Before you ask, yes, her eyes are natural. Yes, her hair is real. No, she did not get any transmutations done. She is au naturel. Happy?"

"Whoa ho! A free-range beauty!" Dai exclaimed, grinning widely.

"A cow from a Frontier farmhouse, you mean?" one of the girls interjected cattily.

Infectious chittering spread from the table as Mina commanded one of the girls to move over so that she could get a seat. The assumption seemed to have been that one of the young men, Dai, would likewise squeeze out a space for Gwen on the semi-circle chaise.

However, 'Dai', the very one who had snapped at Tao, made no motion to move. The young man was tall of stature, with a face that was handsome enough. There was an uncommon arrogance to his eyes and a slight hook to his overlarge nose, which gave his face an unkind countenance.

He patted his lap.

"I've got the best seat in the house for you." he grinned at Gwen expectantly.

The rest of the table giggled.

Mina looked to Gwen, frowning.

Gwen looked over at Mina, confused as to what Mina expected.

When Mina said nothing, Gwen furrowed her brows with resignation. What did she expect, though? These little twirps look fresh out of Senior High and had the attitude to match. She had to wonder if the tier 1 cities conditioned these progenies of power to act as such or if these kid-adults genuinely thought that this was a proper way to treat a stranger you'd met for the first time. What if she was somebody significant, trying to be incognito? What part of her looked cheap enough to bully?

To her audiences' surprise, Gwen turned to Tao.

"Peaches, bring me a chair."

Unexpectedly, Tao obediently retrieved for Gwen a high-backed, Victoriana dining chair.

Gwen dramatically spun on her heels before taking a seat, looking regal in her cobalt dress. She lifted her chin slightly and gave the gathering the knowing smirk of an adult looking down on unruly children.

Her poise, her squared shoulders, her ease of presence; every inch of her physique told these young men and women that she was superior to mewling children.

While her audience baulked, she felt suddenly struck by a serendipitous fancy. In her Greater Cognisance Chamber lessons, she had seen how her mana coursed through her body. Her Master had taught her how to enhance her body's particular functions by collecting mana in her conduits.

Facing Mina's foolish "Mates", Gwen allowed a sliver of the void to trickle into her mana channels, feeling the insidious hunger fill her senses. Her eyes, which had been two clarifying hazel orbs, swiftly turned dark and dangerous, her iris dilating until it took on the quality of a vortex that held her viewers captive in its reflection.

Those who met her eyes instantly felt diminished by the experience as if they'd lost something forever.

In a split-second, the atmosphere shifted, Gwen was the queen in the room, and they were her subjects. She may not profess to be the Nemean lion, but those gazing upon her countenance felt distinctly like gazelles.

Gwen said nothing, and so they said nothing.

The Void mana subtly drained from Gwen's body. She had kept every mote within, not letting a single one escape the confines of her Astral Form. A quick inspection of her condition revealed the confirmation of her present situation. A little Void-channelling was okay for her Almudj-blessed body, at least enough to wrangle lower-tier spells.

Opposite, Dai seemed lost for words. The young man rigidly sat and stared, his mouth half-open.

One of the girls, Amy, gave him a pinch on the thighs.

He mercilessly slapped her hand in annoyance.

Gwen wondered if that display was enough to get some payback for Tao— until her cousin demonstrated why Mina was so often at her wit's end.

"Ha! Sup Bitches! Cat got your tongue?" Tao taunted them. "Mah cousin is the shit; ya'll toads try'n ta get a piece of the swan! Ha!"

The carefully orchestrated atmosphere shattered like cheap crystal dashed against concrete.

Dai stood. “I am, Dai Fung, of the Nantong Clan of Fung. Your name, Miss…?"

"Song," Gwen replied. "Gwen Song."

Dai glanced at Mina before continuing.

"Miss Song, may I have the pleasure of inviting you to an exclusive affair this evening? A simple bit of blood sport among friends, to test our abilities midst fine food and finer drinks."

"The Bout is on tonight?!" Mina interjected, her voice a little peeved. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The gathering shifted their gaze toward Tao.

"I'll own that shit, man; you bitches got nothing on my crew and me!" Tao taunted them.

"You could have just told me in confidence," Mina complained cattily. "It's not as though he and I are conjoined at the hip. I thought we knew each other better than that, Dai."

"Well, here's your invitation." Dai produced an envelope and passed it over the table toward Mina. "So, Gwen, will you be gracing us with your presence?"

"What is this 'Bout' about?" Gwen asked cautiously.

"It's an informal tournament for Mages," Vivian butted in rather rudely, wrapping a suggestive arm around Dai's elbows. "You can challenge opponents, bet crystals or Magic Items, or even bet yourself."

"Bet yourself?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"For favours." Vivian eyed Gwen suggestively.

"Favours?" Gwen's expression darkened. A place where one peddled oneself, in this day and age? This "Bout" was getting seedier by the minute.

Mina coughed.

"A 'favour' from your family, which you will try to deliver if you are the debtor…" she carefully explained, meeting her eyes with a smirk. "Of course, I doubt you're in a position to offer that, so I suppose you could sell yourself if that's how Frontier Mages' roll'?"

"Right, so when's this Bout?" Gwen pivoted from the misunderstanding. The whole setup seemed enterprising if what they said was true. A gathering of spoilt princes and princesses mock-fighting for money and items? It seemed an excellent opportunity, at least on paper, for her to see what the tier 1 city's Mages can do.

"Tonight, M on the Bund, 9 PM, you game?" Dai grinned at Gwen. "I'll make sure you and Mina get the VIP treatment."

"I want Peaches to come." Gwen pointed at Tao. She wanted people she could count on, and right now, Tao was the only person here that didn't feel as though they'd sell her in a heartbeat.

"Fuck yeah! Peaches in the house!"

"..." Gwen instantly regretted her choice of cousins.

Dai looked over at Tao with the expression of having stepped in dog shit. He was just about to say something when his face suddenly turned cruel.

"Peaches, are you going to bout tonight? Or will you hide in the corner like you always do, put on Invisibility, then flick your bean?" he said suddenly.

Both Gwen and Mina grimaced. They did not need that mental image at all.

"Hey, bitch!" Tao punched the air, ducking and weaving like those American CQC Mages. "Watch me! I'll pound your ass!"

Gwen and Mina sighed; they didn't need that image either.

Dai produced a crystalline card and waved it in front of them.

"One Hundred HDMs," Dai announced to the table. "You come to the Bout; you fight one round, win or draw, it's yours— lose, you payout."

"You're on!" Tao threw out what must have been half a dozen gang signs in quick succession. "Prepare yo self!"

Dai turned back to Gwen.

"Well?"

Gwen looked to Mina, who looked dubiously at Tao, who looked expectantly at Gwen with the pleading eyes of a pleading pup. Was he saying no, or was he answering yes? Tao seriously needed to work on his ambiguous body language.

"I'll be there," Gwen affirmed Dai's invitation.

"Wonderful!" Dai slid his arm from between Vivian's bosoms.

"Dai?" Vivian turned to Dai, alarmed by his lack of interest.

"See you all there tonight." Dai ignored her and moved for the lift, snapping his fingers at a waiter. "Put the bill on my tab."

"Yes, Sir. Mr Fung, Sir." The waiter bowed from the waist.

With Dai gone, the gathering evaporated. A few scattered conversations caught here and there, but nothing of substance or interest passed between the remaining members. The girls tried their best to ignore Gwen, while the men remained cordial and politely distant. Mina studied her "friends" but resolved to stay with Tao and Gwen.

"I am bored. Let's go, Gwen, Peaches. Let's go pick out an outfit for tonight."

"What's wrong with what I am wearing now?"

"Please," Vivian scoffed, not failing to embrace the opportunity to deliver a sarcastic jab. "You look like a waitress at a hostess bar."

"Touché." Gwen's eyes moved over Vivian's frilly, revealing smock. More than once, she had to remind herself these were just idiotic university students.

Vivian appeared so taken aback by Gwen's supreme confidence that she allowed her mana to flare. Alarmingly, Gwen spotted motes of water congealing on the glass countertop beside them.

"Vivi!" Mina snapped. "What do you think you're doing!"

The rest of the party said nothing as Vivian controlled herself. "Just you wait."

"Let's go."

Mina slipped an arm between Gwen's waist and elbow and began to drag her from the room. Tao followed closely with both hands in his pockets, looking far more pleased than when he'd first arrived.

"What the hell was that?" Mina demanded once they were in the lift.

"What was what?"

"That wacky eye shit, Gwen! You caught those bitches mid-air! Pow! Pow!"

"What he said."

"That was…" Gwen ran a few mental algorithms through her head. "Killing intent."

"Killing intent!" Tao marvelled. "Shit, are you a stone-cold killer?"

"I am indeed a cold and ruthless eater of men," Gwen affirmed with a straight face. She had thus far taken the lives of two slavers, inadvertently killed a dozen Mages, and actively murdered one woman-thing."

"Well, SHIT, that's wicked!"

"You've killed people?" Mina asked quietly.

"Yes." Gwen smiled wistfully. "It's the Frontier, after all. The Wild Down Under."

"Anything else?"

"A few hundred Mermen, a hundred-odd Magical Beasts…"

"Stone cold! Stone cold!" Tao chanted beside her, giddy with excitement.

Mina fell silent until the lift dinged. They were on the atrium floor, where a shopping mecca extended from the lobby as far as the eye could see.

"I am sorry for that stupid encounter," her cousin said suddenly. "Let me buy you something— as an apology."

Gwen wanted to say that it was alright, that it was fun, but the promise of a gift sewed her mouth shut. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? She had no idea how much things cost in tier 1 cities, now was a good time for some market research.

"Sure, I didn't mind," she added quickly. "I do need something expensive to wear."

Mina smiled, relieved that Gwen offered her a way out.

"Alright, dear cousin." Mina took her by the hand. "This place we're going? It's going to blow your mind!"


Mina was a girl's girl, the kind that thrived on retail therapy. She was sullen when they entered the first boutique store, peppy when they browsed the third, happy when the trio exited the fifth, and ecstatic when they embarked upon the avenue of the exclusive and exorbitant.

As they tried out dresses, Mina couldn't help but measure herself against Gwen. It was vanity, sure, but a Shanghai Barbie had her pride.

Her cousin stood only five-foot-four but had that winsome slenderness that made men want to hold her tight. Her cheeks had dimples on either side, her face embellished with a pair of dark, almond-shaped eyes that sparkled like gemstones against her milky complexion.

Tao sat drooling, bored out of his mind at the lounge, attended to by an NoM who giggled at his every word. Meanwhile, Gwen and Mina exchanged ideas on the virtues of accessorising.

"I can't believe I am saying this…" Mina checked herself out in the mirror, marvelling at the straight-laced, knee-length one-piece. "But your taste is good. Are there even couture in Sydney? Did you attend a fashion college or something?"

"Oh no," Gwen confessed. "I have an eye for it, I guess? I do have a few Miu outfits, but they were all imported by my mother. Cost her an arm and a leg; I'd wager."

"Well, I am wearing this to the M tonight. You should pick out something too. Remember, it's my gift."

"Sure, but not here." Gwen had seen the price tag. 7 HDM was nothing to scoff at; it was almost half a month of training or several expendable items.

"I'll be wearing this out," Mina informed the shop assistant, who assured her that the outfit was laundered and ready to go.

Mina passed over a crystalline currency card.

Gwen watched the assistant tap the card against a slate device.

Was this a wireless banking system? Did tier 1 cities have a finance sector? If so, how developed was it? If she could find out more about the comings and goings of micro and macroeconomics in this world, then many of her old skills could finally find gainful employment.

"Is that card linked to a bank?" she asked Mina once the assistant was gone.

Mina was no longer surprised by Gwen's lack of common knowledge in anything.

"The currency cards? They're a standard issue. It comes in 10, 50, and 100 HDMs. Higher cards are issued on request. You can convert them from raw HDMs, which tend to have different purities. You're not using raw crystals, are you?"

"Er..." Gwen could hear the crystals clinking in her ring.

"Get em converted at the PBC. There's one on the second level."

"PBC is…"

"People's Bank of China. They issue currency cards, or you can get a topper like mine linked to your Astral signature. Fair warning though, Currency Cards costs crystals to maintain."

Ah, Gwen did not feel confident at all about gaming a centralised currency agency.

"Alright, next!"

Mina's mood improved significantly now that she was in a new outfit. The trio wandered through a dozen more shops until Gwen saw a cobbler store that custom-enchanted footwear.

"You want shoes?" Mina tilted her head. She'd thought Gwen would have picked an expensive dress and was even ready to blow half of her allowance if her cousin from Sydney had chosen a gift without knowing the price.

"I'd like a pair of calve-length boots," Gwen said to Mina. "Ideally leather ones that won't wear and tear if I had to, say, sprint or land from a Jump spell."

"No need to buy the cheap stuff in here," Mina pointed out. "All the top brands offer in-house enchantment for a couple more crystals."

"Do you mind if I take a look?" Gwen inquired. She didn't want Mina to spend a fist full of HDM on ultra-luxury goods when everyday items would do.

They browsed the shop for a few minutes until Gwen picked out a pair of antique-looking women's boots with a soft leather binding. The fit was intimate, the heels neither too high nor low, thick or thin.

"Good eye," the shop owner, who was also the assistant, noted when Gwen tried them on. "Hide of Canadian Ice Auroch, treated and thrice matured, comfortable to wear, supple and durable."

"How much?"

The older gentleman checked Gwen out, his eyes falling at her feet.

"Four HDMS."

Gwen considered her prior market research; it was a fair price.

"I also need these enchanted for endurance and impact. Also, do you think it's possible to enchant the pair I am wearing now?"

Gwen pointed to her Mary Janes.

"Here, take them off. Let me see." The cobbler offered Gwen a set of slippers as she took off her shoes. He ran a quick diagnostic Divination over the pair of Mary Janes, then studied them with a careful eye.

"Mundane… Australian Angus? Not bad, to be honest, but hardly worth enchanting."

"It's for sentimental reasons," Gwen assured him.

The man shrugged.

"Endurance? Self Cleaning? Something more interesting?"

"Just the former two."

"Three HDMs, and I'll throw in a Minor Elemental Resistance."

Gwen looked at Mina, who affirmed that was the going rate.

"Cheaper if I get em both done?"

The cobbler smiled politely.

Gwen realises this was one of those shops that didn't barter.

"Sorry. What's the total?."

"Nine HDMs, for hopefully, a returning customer." The cobbler chuckled. "I can have them done right away. Do you have an hour or so?"

"Mina?"

"Sure, we'll wait." Mina approached the counter to pay.

"No. I'll pay." Gwen motioned her hand over the counter, and nine HDM crystals appeared.

"WHOA!" Mina grabbed her hand.

Gwen flinched when her cousin's face suddenly became contorted with surprise. Mina ran a finger over Gwen's rings. She felt a few motes of magic pass over her Storage Rin, after which her cousin looked up indignantly.

"A… a Ring of Medium Storage?! And a Ring of Evasion?!" Her face was a carnival of bewilderment. "That's…"

About 500 -700 HDMS, Gwen thought to herself. She'd worn her Opa's gift for so long she'd forgotten about how rare it was supposed to be.

"Hmmph!" Mina sulkily sat on the couch, kicking Tao's splayed legs, forcing him to wake with a start. "In that case, you can pay for the shoes yourself, little Miss Richie-Rich."

Gwen smiled at Mina innocently and recompensed the cobbler for his services. Little did Mina know that she was less than 10 HDMs and a hundred LDMs from bankruptcy, nor did she know that Gwen's glamoured Contingency Ring had a market value of over 10,000 HDMs or was near-priceless in reality. Even now, it burned her fingers. For the precious, life-saving ring was a generous loan, one she hoped to repay one day.

Besides Gwen, Mina appeared peeved to be outclassed by a country bumpkin. When the stinging passed, she enquired about Gwen's Storage Ring, asking her about specs, price, who had made it, and so on.

"Your Grandfather is a Magus Enchanter?" Mina's eyes sparkled.

The owner of the shop emerged after a few more minutes with Gwen's shoes. Gwen stowed away her Mary Janes and put on her new midcalf boots.

"How does it look?"

"Looks good enough to eat off of." Tao gave her two thumbs up.

"Thanks, Peaches," Gwen said. "What's the time now?"

"It's about 5 PM." Mina flashed a sparkling braceleted timepiece on her wrist.

"Shall we head over?"

"And be early?!" Mina made a feigned expression of shock. "Never!"

Gwen laughed.

"I want to check out some of the fights, get an idea of what the competition is like."

"You're not going to participate, are you?" Mina regarded her suspiciously. "What can a Frontier Mage do against tier 1 Mages?"

"Ha..." Gwen pivoted from the topic, and Mina chose not to pursue it. "My purpose is academic, I assure you."

"If you must…"

"Let's go then!"

"Let me get my crew together!" Tao announced.

"Hell no, not those shit for brains." Mina groaned.

"Hey! The crew that shits together, eats together!" Tao pulled out his Message device and rapidly began to dial Glyphs into it.

"What the hell does that even mean?!" Mina snapped. "Mao!"

Besides the comedic duo, Gwen thought about the brick-sized Message Device in her Storage Ring. In an emergency, she could probably use it as a lethal bludgeoning weapon. Gwen would need to find a way to generate a steady income soon. There were so many things to buy, and that list would only grow in the immediate future.

Tao complained around the later afternoon that he was hungry, but Mina insisted that they eat at "M on the Bund".

“Let me buy dinner at least," Mina informed Gwen as she went to polish up her evening outfit. "The food there is surprisingly good."

Gwen emerged a few minutes later with one of the outfits she had procured in Singapore: a sky-blue, plunging button-up blouse with a high-waist skirt. It was minimalist yet sophisticated with a hint of flower-child and a dash of urban chic. Completed with her latest acquisition, the endurance-enhanced faux-antique calf-length boots, Gwen felt both cool and confident.

Mina was very impressed.

Tao leered expertly. The skirt and the boots naturally drew the eye toward the thighs.

Mina opened her mouth but said nothing. A few seconds later, she rallied the group. Then they were away.

M on the Bund was a chic, riverside cafe at first glance, furnished in a faux-Victorian setting. It had wall to wall French windows for patrons sitting in the interior and alfresco dining for those who preferred the open air. A series of cooling and heating Glyphs moderated the temperature, while conjuration magic ensured that lavender, bluebells and other perennials were in permanent bloom.

Its actual business, however, was another matter entirely.

After Mina threw the key-Glyph of her car over to a black-suited valet, a bouncer escorted them toward the kitchen, then diverted their progress through a series of underground passages until the sound of pumping music and reverberating bass seeped through the reinforced concrete.

A heavy set of ironbound double doors opened, and light and music flooded the corridor.

It was only 8 PM, but the bar was already in full swing. Within, the metropolis' wealthy darlings congregated, floundering in the vices available only to the rich. The men were mostly in their twenties, though a few fell outside of the mean. Likewise, Gwen noticed an equal distribution of Asians and Westerners here, a stark contrast to the city itself. It either meant that not many Asian youths were wealthy enough to party at a place like this or that this was a place popularly frequented by expatriates.

The women were another story altogether— mini skirts, tight dresses, heels so thin and tall that they could be lethal weapons. The women's calibre was far more rarified than the men, and Gwen recognised instantly the age-old trick of privileging attractive women so that they would decorate the place and attract the men, who were the big spenders. Some of them were like herself and Mina, who were here to experience the M and enjoy the atmosphere, but Gwen could see dozens of girls who may very well be "flowers of the night."

Gwen was glad that she had chosen an outfit so diverted from the purpose of the present scene. Theirs were shimmering and skin-hugging, hers, easygoing and comfortable. It was immediately apparent to those who beheld her that Gwen was neither here to dance nor socialise.

Mina searched for her friends but couldn't locate them in-between the swaying bodies and the flashing lumen globes. Tao, however, was immediately spotted by his friends, who began hooting for the "Big Peach".

Mina's lovely eyes made several revolutions in their sockets before she finally relented in following Tao.

Gwen, meanwhile, couldn't help but smile when they reached Tao's "mates".

They dressed in the same style— a strange concoction of hip-hop fashion from the late 90s and mid-2010s. It was especially amusing because Gwen heard from Mina that those faux-ghetto garbs were worth dozens of HDMs, while ironically made to resemble fashion from the poverty-stricken, inner-urban culture on the West Coast. To Gwen, it was apparent that these were all wealthy wannabes who paid out of their noses to look "ghetto", but that the point of subcultural trends.

"WooooaaaaH!" One of them threw a gang sign, which Tao returned with graceful ease. "Who's the new girl? She is HAWT! Pageant!"

One of the young men attempted to look "thuggish", but his carefully conditioned, flawless skin gave him a gregarious appearance instead. It was evident even to Gwen that the "B-boy" was usually meticulously groomed when not channelling his "inner gangster".

"I am GWEN SONG," Gwen shouted over the music, affirming one of the reasons she'd always hated clubs.

The "B-Boys" introduced themselves. Eric, Lu, Ming, Mack-Daddy, and Little Dog.

"What's with the last two names?" Gwen asked Tao puzzlingly.

"They're artist names," Tao said proudly. "They're illusionist-musicians, like me."

"You're a Musician?!" Gwen asked incredulously. "What do you play?"

"I beat-box!" Tao said proudly. "Peaches Emcee represent!"

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Like a bitch!" someone added.

"Yeah! In the heat!"

"Bringing all the dogs!"

"All the dogs!"

What are you, a dog whisperer? Gwen thought to herself, trying to process the unwavering support shown by Tao's friends. She couldn't tell if they were mocking him or trying to bolster his confidence. Maybe they were just fond of saying the word 'bitches' because it rolled off the tongue? Perhaps ghetto slang translated very poorly into Chinese, especially when re-interpreted into English? She was surprised her Ioun Stone of Comprehend Languages hadn't imploded yet.

Mina glared at Tao's friends, her face well-rested in her signature look of complete disapproval.

"Sorry, Miss Mina." The one called Mack-Daddy apologised. "A slip of the tongue."

Little Dog cleared a seat, and Mack-Daddy borrowed another one from their neighbours.

"Here you are, Miss Gwen. What would you like to drink? Something fizzy, sweet? On the rocks? I'll buy," Little-Dog offered.

"Peaches, go get me a Strawberry Daiquiri, get Gwen a Virgin Mary or something, as long as its virgin."

The boys beamed.

"You don't drink, Cuz?" Tao scratched his head.

"You're a fucking idiot, Peaches," Mina snapped at him. "Gwen's underage."

The B-boys suddenly appeared less confident about their prospects.

"What about you, Mina?" Gwen asked. Wasn't Mina also not yet eighteen?

"Turning eighteen in a few weeks," Mina retorted. "Besides, this is nothing for me. By the way, you idiots, stay away from Gwen. She's an important guest."

"No way!" One of Tao's boys moaned dramatically. "She's right there! She's stolen my heart already!"

"It's only six years plus probation, Eric. Your dad knows a guy, right?. Maybe it's worth it?"

The rest of the crew laughed whole-heartedly, taking mirthful jabs at Eric.

"What's so funny?"

"Eric tried to date one of Mina's juniors once, without realising she was underage, took her to a hotel then fled the scene when she fessed up," Little Dog helpfully quipped.

"Shut up!" Eric tried to silence his friends, and the gang fell about pushing and shoving, cackling madly.

It was an atmosphere distinctly different from Mina's friends, whose exterior bellied an undercurrent of competition and jealousy. Instead, these boys and their interaction reminded Gwen of the larrikins like Jacko and Tako back in regional NSW.

Mina was grinning as well, but Gwen felt that she seemed to prefer the competitive, scheming air of her clique. Some people seemed to thrive on that sort of thing.

The young men passionately asked Gwen about her life in Sydney, but the overloud music made any meaningful conversation impossible. Peaches returned with drinks, and the two girls sipped their beverages while listening to the B-Boys discuss the latest in American Hip-hop from across the sea.

"It's gotta be Buzzy, man. His rhymes are ill."

"Naw Naw, you gotta understand the context. Life in the hoods is harsh, dawg. Only true survivors like Kooholio know the streets intimate enough to be genuine. Buzzy is just a marketing man. All his Lumen-Casts are full of bitches and rides. It should be about resisting the man! You know what I mean?"

"Sure, sure, but how about that Lizzy Knight chic, the who sings the chorus? She was sick in Lil Philippe's casts, totes bonkers…"

Mina appeared to shut off the part of her brain that had to endure their conversation.

Gwen, likewise, could only take so much of Peaches' ghetto sermon on the latest American Rap-trends. She was much more interested in technological or geopolitical trends.

Despite Gwen's no-nonsense attire, she was still intermediately approached by semi-intoxicated men and at least one woman, who wanted to know if she was here to dance and would like to join them for some vertical tango on the dance floor.

Gwen politely declined, and to her surprise, no one pursued the matter. It was unexpected, considering her past experiences in Sydney, where she could somehow attract trouble even in the canteen of a Tower, one day after a city-wide crisis.

Peaches' friends ordered food, and Gwen partook in the dim-sims and other "authentic street foods of Shanghai" that M on the Bund sold in their above-ground establishment. The kitchen, it seemed, serviced both establishments concurrently.

When it was 10 PM or so, the dance floor began to clear. The music died with a sudden pop, and the revellers found places around the club to sit and stand.

A middle-aged gentleman wearing a loud vest presented himself before the gathering and introduced himself as the Master of the Bout, Magus Ji Meng Yuu.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Bout tonight. I hope you've had a lovely month since our last competition, that your purses are full, and that your lucky stars are bright and polished!"

Ji wasn't tall or handsome, but his radio presenter's voice was as deep, resonant, and smooth as butter.

"Tonight, the brightest and the best of the Shanghai's darlings will duel to rule the night! The rules remain unchanged! Challenge each other! Settle a grudge! Most importantly, BET YOUR HEART OUT!"

The crowd cheered, reciprocating the passion shown by the bombastic Magus, who answered their applause by dipping an invisible hat and bowing deeply.

"Our waitresses will be out in a moment to exchange crystals for chips! Don't forget, HDMs or go home! The M is not a charity! The Bout is a show of skill! A show of courage and tenacity! A show of ARCANE FORCE!"

A cage materialised from the dance floor, then abruptly energised before turning transparent. From Henry's past instruction, Gwen recognised it as a form of Force Cage, capable of negating most magical attacks up to tier 7. How extravagant, Gwen thought. How many crystals did it cost to invoke such an effect?

"FIRST UP! To whet your appetite, to loosen your pockets, to get you ladies weeeeet! I present our resident heartbreaker, the reigning champion! Magus CANTO from Indonesia!”

The lights of the duelling field rose to an impressive brightness while the rest of the room dimmed.

"Detect Magic," Gwen incanted softly, channelling a little Divination to her eyes to get a better sense of what she was seeing.

Mages— Mages everywhere. Except for the serving staff, the entire room was awash with leaking motes of elemental magic. It was like trying to look for details in a Jackson Pollock painting.

She quickly dispelled the magic from her eyes and wondered how her Master and her Seniors could use the same spell with such expertise. Did she have to block out the noise? She didn't know. It was another mystery to be solved once she could restore her training regime.

Meanwhile, a silver flash of conjuration mana summoned a near-naked Mage wearing nought but a pair of military cargos into the room. His face was handsome and chiselled, but his most impressive attribute was his rip-roaring body, sculpted and oiled so that the floodlight emphasised every inch of well-articulated muscle.

The women began to whistle and cheer, and even Gwen let loose a few catcalls in the heat of the moment as the well-toned body of Magus Canto gleamed under the harsh ring floodlight.

But why male models? Gwen asked herself jokingly. She could sense the magic radiating off Canto like concentric rings of displaced water upon a still pond. Whatever he may look like, Canto was the real deal.

"As for the CHALLENGER—" Yuu began again. "We have Magus Lamba, from the northern states of India, the Tiger of Punjabi, the Stone Breaker, a Troll Slayer!"

Another flash of Conjuration mana and the audience found themselves in the presence of a dark-skinned man dressed in a brown lungi with a blue waist-sash, his head densely wrapped with a gold-threaded turban in white.

"I hope you've read your invitations and done your homework because the Bout will soon begin. Ladies of M, go forth do your duty!"

Trapdoors around the stage opened to reveal gaggles of young women in outfits so skimpy they may as well be body paint. Like nymphets from the woods, they dispersed around the crowd, taking bets and exchanging crystals for chips as the two Mages in the ring stared each other down.

"This isn't a fight to the death, is it?" Gwen asked Mina, feeling cautiously optimistic about the setup. The club, the setting, the theatrics, it seemed far too elaborate to be an underground death ring. After all, what a waste of the resources required to train a Mage into a Magus if they were to duel to the death for something as trivial as entertainment.

"Well, you know." Mina turned toward the stage. "'No' - but it's not like it doesn't happen. With challengers, it's just ego and good fun. With these mercenary Mages, it depends."

"On what?"

"Who's betting, who's watching. What's at stake. These guys are rogues, with no country and no affiliation. They fight for money, sure, but they also fight so that somebody somewhere could be impressed enough to invite them to join their clan, or organisation, or whatever else."

"Hmm." Gwen kept her eyes on the stage.

The betting took another fifteen minutes or so while each of the Mage showed off cantrips and minor abilities that gave little to nothing away. The challenger had the advantage here, especially if they were unheard of and unknown.

"What's so special about Magus Canto?" she asked Mina.

"He's a CQC specialist, used to be Indonesian Special Forces. When the Micronesian Islands got wiped out, he got abandoned by his team. Word in the M is that he survived in a Purple Zone by himself for a year. If you're wondering, he's a body enhancement Transmuter and a Pencak Silat master."

"Pencak Silat?" Gwen asked. Was it a new school of magic? Maybe indigenous magic.

"Oh man, Silat is the SHIT, dawg!" A torrent of syllables spewed from Tao's mouth.

"Shush, it's starting!" Mina hissed.

The lights dimmed and the betting girls in black faded into the dramatic darkness. All eyes fell upon the two Mages at the centre of the Force Cage.

"NOW! For the moment you've all been waiting for, the first Bout! The showcase! The feast for the eyes! I give you the battle of the two Magus, Canto versus Magus Lamba! The rules are the same as always, first to yield! First to Shield Break!"

A Dimension Door later, Yuu appeared atop the Force Cage, striding over its surface, striking off ocherous bursts of Abjuration.

"BEGIN!"

The two Maguses moved at once.

"Stone Strike!"

"Gaseous Form!"

Magus Lamba opened up with a classic, front-loaded spell he had probably been fomenting since arriving upon the stage. A cascade of sharp stones emerged from thin air and struck Canto's whereabouts, thudding into the wall of force and crashing against the likewise reinforced floors. The range of the spell easily spanned a radius of six meters, catching Canto in the entirety of its blast.

"Cheap move!" someone shouted from the crowd. How tedious it must be if the match ended after one AOE.

Canto, however, had anticipated his opponent's pre-prepared alpha strike. The issue with front-loading spells was the inevitable mana leak that gave the discerning observer clues as to what was coming their way.

Comparatively, his Gaseous Form was near-instant at tier 3, far more practical than the powerful tier 5 Stone Strike. In front of Gwen's eyes, the CQC fighter became a cloud of fog that negated the physical damage from the downpour of razor-sharp stones.

Lamba cursed loudly and waved a hand over the space before him.

"Wall of Stone!"

It was entirely unclear what Canto had changed into as he was still in his gaseous form, but three exchanges into the battle, it was self-evident who had gained the upper hand.

"Stone Skin!" Lamba then surrounded himself with a layer of dark, obsidian-like stones, turning him into "The Thing". The Mage then cautiously examined his surroundings. After all, Canto could not exit the duelling arena without forfeiting, so he must be within the twenty-odd meters or so that the dance floor extended.

Not being able to locate his opponent did not worry Lamba. He was duel-classed as Abjurer and Evoker, defence and offence in one package. As long as he could withstand Canto's sneak attack, he could reverse their chances in a single exchange.

Between the piles of rocks and shards of stone, the audience on the reverse side of the Force Cage could rapidly see Canto powering himself up.

"Haste."
"Enhanced Ability."
"Lesser Polymorph."

"Oh—shit—! It's a-coming! The ass-whooping is a coming!" One of the boys beside Tao began to whoop jubilantly, watching Canto incant buff after buff. This Lamba may be a skilled monster hunter— but he lacked experience in duelling other Mages. If he had been more cognizant, he would continue to batter the stage. Against an Illusionist, one would rather be OOM than let one's opponent have breathing room.

Canto was ready.

"Blink!"

Within a second, Canto was right beside the Golem-like stone Mage. The Transmuter reached out and touched Lamba, feinting as though he was about to deliver a Transmutation spell to disable the Indian Magus' Stone Skin.

"Destruction Wave!"

Lamba had been waiting for Canto as well. He'd been nursing another spell, this time, a wave of rolling shale that should affect even Canto's gaseous form.

"Got you!" Lamba announced triumphantly. In the next second, Canto's illusory form disperse into nothingness. "Shit!"

A second Canto suddenly appeared from above Lamba and landed on him with both legs locked around the Mage's neck; the invisibility illusion fell away as the CQC Mage moved to attack. With a deft twist, Canto struck the stone-sheathed Mage's head with both hands, cupping his hands over Lamba's ears and creating a resounding thunderclap.

Lamba staggered back, evidently affected by the sudden blow against his brain, growing disorientated as he lost his concentration.

Then the rest of Canto's gaseous form fell away, revealing the altered body that Canto now possessed.

A Troll! Gwen audibly gasped. She'd never seen anything more hideous. Canto's arms were long and curved, his legs now extending past the torso of Lamba as the stone Mage futilely tried to throw Canto off.

"Do you yield?" Canto rasped, wrapping long thin fingers around Lamba's neck.

"You can try!" Lamba boasted. "I'll get you yet!"

"Spike Shield!" Bits of floating stones, jagged and sharp, began to spread in concentric rings around Lamba, cutting and slicing into Canto's flesh.

To Gwen's surprise, Canto healed his exterior injuries as quickly as they occurred, restored by the green, algae-like blood that flowed from his Troll-flesh.

"Have it your way." Canto fell from Lamba's body as if he'd lost his grip.

"ITS HERE!" Eric screamed, hooting and stomping in excitement.

Canto dropped about halfway before his elongated body bent into an impossible angle, and his legs wrapped around Lamba's waist. Like a whip, he brought his lower body to the fore, taking Lamba off balance as his long arms swiped the poor Mage's feet from the ground.

In a blind and confused panic, Lamba fell into confusion as he grew airborne.

Meanwhile, in one swift, uninterrupted motion, Canto spun in mid-air and threw himself in such a manner that he and Lamba made a two-seventy degree rotation in the air, ending up with himself on top and Lamba on the bottom, head first.

CRUNCH!

A split second later, Lamba smacked into the Force Cage floor head first.

The shattering strike informed the audience that whatever confidence Lamba possessed now crumbled as the Magus lost consciousness, falling limply onto the floor.

The duelling arena filled with the sound of jeers and cheers, so boisterous that Gwen had to cover her ears with both hands.

"Fuck yeah!" Eric announced triumphantly. "Always bet on Canto! I've just won two HDMs!"

Canto retrieved himself from the floor and made a flourishing bow, returning to his sculpted splendour.

So that's why he's near-naked. Gwen realised. Canto was performing an Incredible Hulk scenario. The military cargos he was wearing must be a self-fitting magic item; else, the girls would be swooning by now.

Lamba was cleared from the stage by two of the betting girls, dressed in nurses' outfits. They placed the unfortunate Mage on a stretcher and rolled his unconscious body over. Hopefully, these sirens would take Lamba to what Gwen hoped was the infirmary and not a dumpster out the back.

The Force Cage disenchanted, and Yuu drifted toward the floor serenely. He began to lay down a torrent of praise on Canto, but his voice became lost in the crowd's wild passion.

Canto went about signing signatures on shirts and sleeves, receiving tips from excited patrons who threw crystalline cards toward his feet. A few of the ring girls hastily collected the M's patrons' generosity on Canto's behalf.

"So, what do you think?" Mina asked, watching Gwen's face flush.

Gwen had to admit, watching two Magus duke it out for one's viewing pleasure was exciting, not to mention educational. She had learned quite a bit about Illusionary tactics just from the last five minutes. Just as she was about to answer, though, an overly familiar hand found its way to her shoulder.

Gwen looked up to see Dai, his face possessing a self-aggrandising grin of supreme confidence. Dai was looking down on her, or more accurately, he was looking down at the plunging U neck of her shirt.

Should she zap the guy? Gwen fantasised, then brushed off his hand. She had plans for the young man, which meant she should stay in his good graces.

"Glad you all made it—" Dai smirked. Behind him was Vivian, but none of the others seemed to be present. "Good fight, yes? Canto is one of the best. I sponsored one of his first fights, you know..."

They waited for Dai to finish the small talk and get on with his obtrusive business.

"Now, Peaches..."

Ah, there we go. Gwen shifted her body so that Dai's hand wasn't so imposing on her wrist. It felt like such a simpleton move, a kind of insecure possessiveness that suggested he was afraid she might make a break for it.

"... didn't you say that you were going to show me a Bout tonight? You still up for it 'gangster'? Or should we square the payment, right here, right now?"

Tao's friends fell into an awkward silence.

Tao himself looked like a deer caught in the high beams of a Radiant Blast.

"Dai… Mr Wei, Peaches' was joking—" Eric tried to intervene.

"Shut your face, Eric." Dai snapped. "We're talking here!"

Eric flinched.

"You wanna fight, bitch?" Tao's demeanour seemed to change after Dai insulted Eric.

"Don't be absurd. You're no match for me. But you know what? There IS someone who wants to fight you, so I am going to make it easy," Dai replied arrogantly. "You win if you manage to beat him."

A young man with a cruel face walked out from behind Dai, whose presence had eclipsed the companion standing behind him.

"Fredrick Lin!" Tao hissed. "The fuck you doing here, fool?"

"I am here for satisfaction, Peaches," Fredrick grinned, flashing his pearly whites. Frederick had an unmemorable Asian face, which would have been handsome were his pallor not so ghoulish from excessive indulgence. "I didn't think the beating earlier today was satisfying enough, so I am here to give you a chance to make it up to me."

"Fred, don't be such a shithead," Mina interrupted them. "None of our fathers want to see you guys fight or get hurt."

"It's just a Bout, a little practice match. Who can fault that?" Fredrick flashed his eyes menacingly at Mina. "You were there this morning. Did I provoke your brother? If you want to blame someone, blame his motor-mouth."

"Screw the both of you," Mina scowled, evidently unused to both Dai and Frederick ignoring her wishes.

"Well, Peaches, you fighting or cashing out?" Dai was relentless. "Don't worry. I know your Daddy's richer than ours."

"Dai," Gwen interrupted them. She shrugged off his hand by withdrawing her own. "I am on Peaches' side."

"Gwen." Dai gave her what he must have thought as a dreamy look. He moved it a little closer to her face.

Wow. This guy has a fucking death wish. Gwen imagined Caliban giving Dai a facial.

From behind Dai, Vivian's eyes filled with venom.

Dai gave her his best smile, then turning coldly to Peaches, his lips curled.

"Well? If you refuse to honour our agreement, I can always contact Daddy and ask for the crystals myself. It's not going to be the first time, anyway."

Tao's bravado was now painted on his red face like a monkey's ass. It was apparent to all at this point that he did not have a hundred HDMs to spare. Neither did Mina, who had spent twenty on her shopping spree, nor did Gwen, who couldn't scrounge up a dozen if she tried.

"How about this?" Dai turned to Gwen, taking another liberal look down her shirt. "If you convince cousin dear here to party with us for a few days, and I'll let the matter go."

Gwen was just about to get up and lay a verbal smackdown on Dai when Tao suddenly let loose a torrent of rhyming abuse.

"Fuck you, Dai!
I'll beat you at your game, any time o the day
Beat you like a bitch, til you got nutt'n to say
Come 'ere; ya loser, I'll show ya the way
Running scared? Too late!
to get on yo knees and pray!"

"OH SHIT, SICK RHYMES, MY MAN."

"WOOT—WOOT."

"What UP!"

His friends, who'd been quiet the entire time, were now hooting and whining, transformed into a riot of jubilation and misdirected support.

Post beat, Tao's face turned as white as a bedsheet.

"I'll take that as a YES," Dai spat coldly, his face multiple shades of overlapping crimson. "Frederick, I want you to make sure he completely and utterly regrets those words."

"You got it, Dai." Frederick grinned at Tao.

"And you." Dai turned to Gwen, evidently having lost patience and gentlemanliness after Tao's taunt. "After this, we'll be seeing each other plenty."

"At what point did I agree to be a part of this?" Gwen waited until Dai was out of earshot before turning to Mina and Tao with a complaint full of exasperation.

Dai had retreated to his little corner of heaven, a VIP area where he and his friends had their private little nymphet waitress all to themselves. Wow, what a shithead, Gwen fumed— if the man was going to be a prick, at leave make good on his promise to give them VIP treatment.

"Anyway, why am I a part of the prize box? I just wanted Tao to come with us."

"Yeah, well…" Mina pinched the bridge of her nose. "You asked to bring Tao— you deal with it."

"Does Dai even know I am… sixteen?" Gwen asked Mina.

"He's rich as hell, and he's an arrogant cad. His father is the Police Commissioner, by the way. So good luck informing the cops. Also, if you know what's best for you, don't involve the Song family. I'll scrounge up what we can and try to pay the man, but if he's really after you body…"

Mina left the words unsaid, but Gwen read the frustration in her cousin's eyes. Mina meant that if this Dai fellow wanted to get rough with her, there was nothing they could do other than escalate. But what happens when that happens? Where does the buck stop?

She looked at the now shaking Tao, whose adrenaline of the moment had faded and who was only now beginning to comprehend the consequences of his actions.

Nonetheless, a hint of sadism rose in Gwen's Frontier heart.

Can't hurt the son of a commissioner?
Boy Blue-balls can't take a "NO" to the face?

No problem.
She could handle that.
There are more ways than one to skin a cat.


The event organisers made the necessary changes to the schedule immediately, distracting the impatient crowd with teams of scantily clad waitresses who dished out coupons then promoted the benefits of club membership.

Another team cleaned out leftover magical debris, after which Yuu once more made his presence known.

"Alright, alright, ladies and gentlemen! We have a real treat for you, a Bout of ego! A contest of pride! A match between friendly rivals! A clash between the illustrious Clan of Lin from the Huashan region against Wang Xing Enterprise of Shanghai!"

A staccato bass filled the club basement. Emerging from the mist and surrounded by cheering "brothers", Tao appeared from the east end.

A wave of disappointed booing resounded from the crowd, from which Gwen inferred this was not Tao's first rodeo.

"What are Peaches' talents?" Gwen asked Mina. It wasn't polite to do so before, but now Gwen wanted to be prepared for what was unmistakably a poorly matched battle.

"Illusion and Air." Mina slumped in her chaise, exhausted before the night had even begun. "Fredrick is Fire and Evocation, but his Affinity and techniques are top-notch, even by our standards."

"Does Peaches have a chance?"

"Sure, the same chance as an Ice Mage stuck in the Elemental Plane of Fire."

Unexpectedly, only a handful of people cheered Frederick as well. Gwen guessed that there was no sport in wasting breath on a one-sided beatdown.

Yuu was still trying to rile the crowd up, but not even someone of his calibre could inspire the betting pool to get any larger.

"The Challenger! Tao Wang, AKA Peaches, The King of Fruit, a practised master of the illusory arts! With a record of all losses, he may yet be the ticket for some to beat the odds and break the bank!"

The crowd booed.

"The Defender! Fu Lei LIN, AKA Frederick, a prodigy we know well, a master of Evocation, from the illustrious Clan of Lin upon the mystical Mont of Huang, with a steady record of six wins and one loss, as steady a bet for pocket change as any other!"

The room dimmed.

The Wall of Force went up.

There remained only Tao, Fredrick, and the illuminated space of the arena floor.

"BEGIN!"

"Flame Shield!"

"Mirror Image!"

Four other Taos appeared beside Gwen's cousin.
Gwen expected Fredrick to open with a barrage, but to her surprise, the Evoker quietly stood and watched as Tao continued to weave spells.

"Silent Image!"

"Major Image!"

The spells were directed at Fredrick, but the nature of "Image" spells lay in manifesting visions from the coalescing mana, visible to all and very much reliant on deception.

Tao's first "Image" was one of his friends, Little-Dog, who was rapidly throwing gang signs whilst mouthing something with a rapid flutter of his lips.

Besides Gwen, Little-Dog began to deliver a rhyming sermon of bombastic beats, as if providing an audio track for Tao's Silent Image.

Gwen's attention returned to the fight with a terrible suspicion.

The next one, the "Major Image", came with sound, appearing as Mack-Daddy carrying a boom-box, moving to the rhythm of a tune that only Tao could hear.

"Hypnotic Pattern!"

Graffiti, stage lights, and other visual and auditory effects joined the rapping trio.

"Humpty Dumpty, you bitches be rusty
I ma knock yo shit down
DAWG, you gonna go against me?
I'm a take ya downtown
like you're soft cream cheese
I ma hit you with sick beats
This MC is gonna school you…"

At least a dozen of the crowd groaned, Gwen among them.

She had to admit. It was, in fact, a catchy tune. This aspect of Illusion was a kind of Spellcraft Gwen had read about in textbooks but had never experienced due to the Frontier's emphasis on military service.

In her limited experience, she had seen Lumen-Casts of daytime drama and propaganda lumen recordings. The notion of a "Pop" producer who was a powerful Illusionist that created audio-visual spectacles was indeed a viable career for those with talent.

And though the Path of an Entertainer-Mage was not a career lauded by the respectable member of society, it was a Path that possessed immense allure for the young men and women, whose existence was haunted by the possibility of sudden, inexplicable death on the Frontier.

However, Tao's unusual competence and control didn't matter, for he was a Mage Duel, a demonstration of arcane might and spell force, not a beatbox battle in the Bronx.

That much became apparent when Fredrick had run out of patience.

"Wall of Fire!" At his behest, a flame barrier rose from the floor atop of which Tao rapped to his heart's content.

"Peaches!" Gwen called out, alarmed. Her cousin was still blithely pipping away, swaying his body this way and that, an instant before he became honey-glazed char-siu.

"Bitch! You missed!" Tao's voice taunted his opponent from another part of the arena. "Magic Missile!"

The flames passed through Tao's body harmlessly, turning the Illusion semi-transparent. A volley of arcane force, invisible to the naked eye, assaulted Frederick where he stood.

"Shield!"

An orange barrier intercepted Tao's attacks without apparent effort.

The young man was well trained, Gwen acknowledged. Shielding was the common weakness of an Evoker Elementalist, but Frederick had poured thousands of hours into fortifying his fundamentals.

"You're such an idiot, Peaches," Fredrick riposted with an insult and a spell. "Fireball!"

A mote of flame shot from his finger and struck the barrier behind Tao. In a split-second, the orange legume of fire blossomed into a semicircle dome, conflagrating half of the Force Cage.

One of Tao's rapper-illusions immediately burst into motes of untethered mana, dispelled by the disruptive invasion of heat and fire.

"Fear!" a voice cried out from somewhere in the cage. A shimmering silhouette indicated where Tao had been hidden, which was thankfully not in the corner now filled with fiery destruction.

Invisibility! Colour me impressed. Gwen whistled. Tao wasn't so useless after all. If only her cousin had another mode of offence or had better damage output, then he might have taken the match. Unfortunately, it looked as though Tao possessed very little in the way of direct damage.

Presently, an abjuring halo glowed around Fredrick's head, indicating that Tao's illusory assault had failed to connect with Fredrick's consciousness.

"Bloody hell," Mina growled, stabbing the ice in her drink with frustration. "As if someone from the fucking Lins of all people wouldn't have a Mind Shield charm. What a waste."

"Is having a Mind Shield a common thing?" Gwen inquired, wondering if she could get one as well. It was a Phantasmal Killer spell that had brained her during the Blackheath incident.

"Common enough," Mina replied. "Most of us military-gen kids had to undergo training as well."

Tao's terrible decision in using a psychic assault proved to be his undoing. Fredrick casually flicked another mote of fire his way, and the blossom caught Tao before his invisible form could escape the vicinity.

"Ouch! Ouch! ARRRRRGH!"

Tao rolled onto the floor, trying to put out a localised blaze that had caught his hat and set fire to his collared tee-shirt.

Gwen's eyes grew wide, her mind rioted. She wanted to scream at her cousin, WHERE IS YOUR SHIELD?

"Where is his shield?!" Gwen asked Mina incredulously.

"He SUCKS at Abjuration, and he's lazy as fuck when it comes to training," Mina laboriously stated as if she'd had to explain the same thing a hundred times over. "Wait for it."

Sure enough, a Shield of air sprang into being half a second too late.

"Oh... Peaches," Gwen's eyes grew watery with sympathy.

Fredrick appeared too embarrassed even to attack the wretched, writhing form of Tao. It was supposed to be first to shield break, but how did that apply to a Mage with developmentally delayed Shields? If he had not suppressed the flames' heat, Tao could be making a trip to the local military ER.

Peaches' assailant turned to look at Dai Fung, who likewise had an expression that suggested he'd swallowed a fly or two by accident. Dai motioned quickly to Magus Yuu, the Adjudicator.

"VICTORY, to Young Master Lin of Huangshan!" Yuu announced quickly, ushering the white-clad team of skimpy nurses onto the stage. "Applause!"

Scattered applause filled the arena.

Compared to the first match, the second was blisteringly lacklustre. Instead of a feeling of excitement, the two-minute spectacle filled the patrons with a cringe-worthy sense of self-loathing, as though they'd just watched an angry widower beat his crying kid.

"I haven't lost yet!" Tao screamed as he was placed on a stretcher and taken to Mina, who promptly restored him with a Cure Moderate. His shirt and hat, however, was toast.

"It wasn't Shield-break yet," Tao protested groggily.

The "Winners" approached with smug expressions. Gwen needed no Divination to anticipate their subsequent encounter. She closed her eyes, counted to three, then opened them. Dai teleported beside her, standing above Tao with a gloating expression.

"Good match! You were almost going to win, but alas," he comforted them with sardonic sympathy. "Now, you looking to pay for Crystals or currency?"

"Dai, don't," Mina snapped at the young man. "You know we can pay. Give me a day or two."

It was unfortunate that even scrounging up all the crystals Tao's crew possessed, they were still missing thirty or so HDMs. Tao's friends might be affluent, but their families were strict. Likewise, Mina wasn't of any help because she was equally guilty of spending money like flowing water.

Dai mused, looking at Gwen with the suggestive grin of a two-bit crook. "Well then, cousin, shall we?"

Gwen sighed, rolling her eyes. After surviving Faceless, Elizabeth and Walken, their present foe's ploy felt like the jabbering of mewling children fighting over a favourite toy.

"Dai! You're starting to piss me off," Mina hissed at him, but Dai blissfully ignored her.

"And where are we going exactly?" Gwen questioned Dai, who seemed in love with the sound of his voice.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Join me in the VIP, of course." Dai inclined his head, his eyes already eyeing her hungrily. "Give a man a bit of face, share a few drinks. All very innocent and fun."

"I am coming with you!" Despite his exhaustion, Tao's camaraderie, though headstrong and foolish, pleased Gwen greatly.

"You are not welcome." Dai shot Tao a grimace of disgust. "Go home, cherry-boy."

Tao's companions helped her cousin to his feet, but it was evident to Gwen they dared not speak up against the son of a Police Commissioner.

"Am I also unwelcome, then?" Mina replied between clenched teeth. Her eyes flashed dangerously, growing hard enough to entomb Dai on the spot. "Should I tell Uncle Fung about what you're trying to do? Maybe he can be a better judge!"

"What's with the angry flirting?" Gwen whispered to Tao, pulling his face closer to her own. As a woman of experience, Mina's and Dai's mutually indignant gaze brought to mind two individuals who unmistakably shared an intimate and sordid history.

"He's her Ex," Tao provided an unenterprising piece of the puzzle.

Gwen felt the components slotting into place like a final Tetris block. So Dai's interest wasn't just about Tao. It wasn't just about her, either. Gwen had suspected that Dai wasn't so stupid as to lose his cool over something as base as a chance to grope her buttocks. There was an element of revenge best-served-cold involved, and Dai was using her as leverage to dig deep into Mina's prideful flesh.

With the puzzle solved, now same the time for action. Abruptly, Gwen stood from her chair, forcing Dai to rest on his back foot.

Dai was a tall bloke, but with her well-heeled boots, they were the same height. Their eyes met, she smiled at him, then began to walk toward the VIP section, directly opposite their current position.

"Gwen, wait!" Mina stomped her food. "Tao! You IDIOT!"

Dai's grin split from ear to ear.

"Your cousin is a far more obedient girl than you," he teased Mina behind her. "But Mina— you can tag along if you like."

"You're such an er-bi..." Mina swore with a word Gwen's translation stone could not discern.

"Ha ha ha!" Dai turned to follow her. Gwen counted the steps, listening for Dai's leather-soled shoes until he was right behind her, then just as they reached the duelling floor, she stopped.

"What's wrong, Gwen—"

Dai's quizzical inquiry was interrupted when Gwen threw a hand casually into the air, the same invocation as her Flashbang.

BUNG!

Briefly, night turned into day. A discordant explosion of sound and light, charged with hair-raising static, lit up the club's interior.

The music ceased, as did the conversation.

Every eye in the room sought out the source of the disturbance.

They found it in a foreign girl standing centre stage upon the duelling field. A cascade of silvery Conjuration mana fell about her like blue-white fireflies.

"FREDERICK LIN!" Gwen shouted toward a bewildered young man in the VIP section of the club, surrounded by a plethora of eager girls who'd been lapping at his retelling of the duel.

Gwen raised a hand in the air before retrieving from her fingers an enchanted ring.

"I challenge you to a Bout! I will offer this Master Crafted Ring of Evasion, made by a Magister of the Tower, as ante!"

Gwen spun around the dance floor, allowing the others to behold her striking face and mana-enriched eyes.

The silken silence continued to reign.

"Of course, I could offer myself— but first, you'll have to win this ring..." Gwen smirked, teasing the crowd.

The club burst into wolf-whistles, cat-calls and jubilant shrieks of untempered delight.

Dai stared, no less confused than Frederick.

"A CHALLENGER HAS SPOKEN!" Magus Yuu leapt at the opportunity, entirely beside himself with excitement. Anyone observing his face would read him like a book. Here in the House of M, nubile challengers were precisely the sort of thing that got the young folk's blood boiling and the bets rolling.

Dai attempted to intervene, but the Magus blew past him. There are favours, but nothing will stop the House of M from making crystals.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! I know you can't wait! I know I can't wait! But rules are rules! A challenge cannot be rescinded— of course, give us a moment while our challenger is registered and her betting prize verified!"

He turned to Frederick.

"Mr Lin, do you accept?"

Frederick looked to Dai for advice. Gwen watched their opponent nod with confidence and felt happy with sadism.

"I accept."

"A BRAVE and RECKLESS choice!" Magus Yuu announced to the world. "Youth lives but once! Win or lose. We applaud your bravery!"

"What makes you think I would lose?" Frederick taunted the announcer, eyeing Gwen as though seeing her for the first time. "Perhaps when this is all over, she and I will be spending some quality time by the VIP."

A round of boos addressed Frederick. There was a natural advantage enjoyed by those in possession of comeliness that was difficult to supersede by those who didn't win the genetic lottery.

A female attendant took Gwen's ring and had it inspected by a resident artificer. It wasn't uncommon for people to want to bet magical items when the heat of the moment fried their brains.

Meanwhile, a second attendant took a print of Gwen's Multi-Pass, which served as an ID recognised by the Shanghai Tower. As for why an Australian student was in Shanghai illicitly, that wasn't the M's business, whose only concern was unadulterated entertainment and the ceaseless generation of crystals and currency for its owners.

It took only a minute for a slip of paper to make it back to Magus Yuu.

"FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY HDM CRYSTALS!" he screamed into the voice modulating incantation. "A TREMENDOUS confidence!"

He spun to face Frederick Lin with a toothy grin.

"Mr Lin, do you wish to proceed?"

All eyes turned to Frederick, whose face instantly paled.
It was clear the young man lacked the funds, but how could he say no, now of all times?

He looked to Dai desperately.

Dai approached the duelling floor and produced six crystal currency cards.

Frederick's face restored some of its previous confidence. However, he also grew contemplative, likely wondering who Gwen's Master might be and whether it was wise to give the man the piss by trying to bully his Apprentice.

If Gwen could hear Frederick's thoughts, she would have laughed.
It wasn't because of pride, family, nor honour that she was challenging him. Gwen knew well that he was duelling the poor bastard because she expected to fleece five hundred quid from his unresisting body.

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Yuu's voice was almost going hoarse. "It is ON! My friends, clear the space! Challengers! Present yourselves!"

The interior lights flared, the exterior perimeter dimmed.

Gwen stood demurely on one side, a gentle, mirthful smile lightly touching her petal-pink lips.

Frederick stood opposite, still bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

The Magus requested a final confirmation.

Gwen nodded silently.

Frederick said nothing as well, but for an entirely different reason. Even from afar, Gwen could feel the motes of fire radiating off him. The Evoker was trying to front-load something big, likely a Fire Ball. She needed to finish this fast and clean. The less she showed, the more crystals she was likely to generate with her next con.

"ALLLLLLLRIGHT! On my signal…" Yuu Dimension Doored from the floor and onto the roof, landing with a flourish atop the rectangular Force Cage.

"BEGIN!"

"Fire Ba-"

"Flashbang!"

A crystalline shard materialised for a fraction of a second in front of Frederick's face before manifesting as a localised thunderclap.

Frederick hadn't even finished his spell before his world turned white with noise and illumination. The malformed chant in his mind became white noise as both the Flashbang and his mana fed back into his body.

Gwen, who knew mana burn better than anyone, could see the poor bastard's face blanch and therefore knew that the young man was entirely at her mercy, at least for another few seconds.

"Dimension Door!"

Leaping into her short-range teleport, Gwen barrelled into Frederick with her shoulder, appearing just centimetres beside Frederick's stunned body before crashing into his chest. A burst of electricity exploded where her Mana Shield impacted his instantly-erected Shield, after which Fredrick flew backwards.

Frederick desperately tried to fire off a spell that would give him even a second of breathing room.

"Lightning Whip!"

Gwen lashed the air in front of her twice; twin tendrils of lightning lacerated Fredrick's Shield with such force as to send him kneeling against the wall of the Force Cage, furthermore engendering forth a shower of orange-yellow sparks where her electricity impacted the invisible barrier.

"Blade!"

"Blast!"

"Whip!"

Caught by the momentum of her spell flurry, Gwen forwent even the first segment of her chants, simply using her Transmutation Sigil to keep the channel open, allowing the electrical energy to pour freely forth.

Her spells were weaker without her Evocation sigils empowering the damage. However, to the untrained eye, it seemed as though she was ceaselessly churning out an endless torrent of sorcery that was alternatively blades, tendrils, blasts of lightning, and other misshaped detonations of electricity.

Fredrick must have fainted at some point during the exchange, for Gwen noticed her discharges were singing his clothes and hair.

Quickly, she ceased her attack. She is here to win money, not cause a homicide. The fight felt good. She felt good.
And with 500 HDMs in her pockets, she would feel even better.

With comparative slowness, Frederick's smoking body slid off the conjured pane of force and comically knelt toward her, head over heels.

"WHAT?"

"HOW?"

"WHY?"

A hundred mouths opened and closed, trying to find words that could adequately describe what they had just witnessed.

A few keen observers wondered if her display was a part of some show, some illusion mayhaps, set up by the Magus Yuu to liven up the atmosphere after Tao's dismal duel.

It was as good as an explanation as any other.

After all, a girl, a junior by the looks of it, one that looked more like an idol than a combat Mage, just trounced the son of the Lin family, renowned for their Evocation Mages, with nothing but Quasi-Elementalist cantrips and a single Dimension Door?

How was it that she incanted her spells so fast?
How could it be that her low-level incantations had so much power? How many schools did she use just then? Most importantly, why had no one ever heard of her? No Master worth their salt would forget a junior of this calibre after even seeing her in action once.

Was she a secret disciple, finally let loose into the world? Who was her Magister Master? That was the most critical question of all. No one wanted to step on the toes of a Magister without carefully considering the consequences.

"Peaches…" Eric said softly. "I am in love."

"Peaches…" Little-Dog likewise intoned. "I am in love too."

"Peaches…" Mack-Daddy said after a moment of deliberation. "I am so scared I am at full mast."

"... same." Little Dog confessed. "I am sorry, Peaches."

As for Mina, she could wonder what other secrets Gwen was hiding from them.

"THE WINNER! Miss SONG!" Yuu's voice rang like clarion across the space of the club.

"Woohoo!" Tao screeched, completely beside himself, wild with joy. "Gwen!"

A second voice joined in.

Then another.

And another.

Then the entire club was hooting and stomping.

"Lightning Sorceress!"

"Goddess!"

"Gwen!"

The skimpy nurses made their rounds. Thankfully, the boy was fine. Gwen could see Frederick returned to consciousness after only a minute, but his body sustained so much Elemental damage that he had become completely numb and paralysed.

Magus Yuu approached Gwen with the prize of the Bout.

He had her Ring of Evasion on a small, red cushion, which he returned to her, and the currency cards in the other, which he presented to her.

Before the watching crowd, Gwen turned to where Dai and his friends sat in the VIP section, still overcome with disbelief.

"Mr Fung!" she walked towards him, her boots clicking on the illuminated floor, her dancer's figure followed by hundreds of pairs of eyes until she reached their booth.

She produced one of the cards— one with a 100 HDM denomination.

"Here's the money Peaches owes you," She said sweetly, her eyes full of sincerity. "Thanks for being a good sport."

Before Dai could respond, Gwen spun on her heels and strode back toward the centre of the dance floor.

Just as the young man sat, Gwen stopped as she had before, performing the exact come-hither twirl and filling Dai with a horrific premonition.

"Mr Fung! Another round?" Gwen held up her ring and the four hundred or so HDMs she had in both hands. "900 HDMS, winner takes all."

Magus Yuu was beside himself with joy. "Miss Song, you're our lucky star, our Goddess of currency! Also, you might not be familiar with this, but as you are the instigator of the Bout, the M offers you a 10% cut on all of the club's winnings. Though the exact amount cannot be tallied as of yet, I can assure you that your portion of the last match should total about 300 HDMs."

Gwen turned to Dai.

"Apologies!" she bowed. "1200 HDMS, winner takes all!"

Dai's face altered between fifty shades of red. He opened his mouth to speak, perhaps to refute her challenge, but again was interrupted.

"Bet!" Tao began chanting, joined by his friends.
"Bet!"
"Bet!"
"Bet!"

The whole club joined in.

"BET! BET! BET! BET!"

The son of the Police Commissioner grew contemplative.
Dai' looked over at Mina, who was also staring at Gwen with undisguised disbelief.

"Well, Mister Fung?" Gwen teased the man with an innocent smile of expectation.

After what seemed like an eternity, the heir of the Fung Clan nodded. "Okay, but not me. My family won't allow it. Instead..."

"Lok," he said quietly into the darkness, where a skinny man in a grey suit stood silently with the appearance of a stone sentinel. "Can you take care of this?"

"As you wish. Shall I spare the girl?"

Her opponent nodded affirmatively to his guard. "Do what you must. We have to avenge this insult."

Lok emerged from the darkness and into the light of the duelling floor.

"Master Dai answers your challenge. I will be his representative," he said to the crowd emotionlessly with the same intonation of one calling out a takeout order.

A silent Message bloomed next to Gwen's ears, invisible to all.

"That's Lok Khun. He's a Burmese national but served under the PLA's foreign operatives teams. Dai always liked to boast that his bodyguard was very skilled when it comes to his duties."

"What are his abilities?" Gwen said audibly. She didn't care that Lok heard. After all, she was the challenger; she possessed the onus of accepting or refusing their representative.

"Enchantment & Abjuration, Earth element, though Dai said that he trained in Mind Magic. I've never seen him in action, so I can't help you there."

"Thanks, that's enough. I'll take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Mina paused, seemingly reaching a decision. "Don't push yourself too hard. If it comes to it, Tao and I have your back."

Gwen returned her gaze to Lok, who awaited her reply patiently.

"Don't do it!" someone called out from the crowd.

"Yeah! He's a Magus! The fight's a travesty! Unfair!"

"Go and fight yourself! Dai!"

Gwen's following words silenced the crowd at once.

"Alright, I accept."

Yuu was there before the crowd even reacted.

Magus Yuu erupted. "THERE YOU HAVE IT! Ladies and Gentlemen! Austere Mages! Annnnnnnother groundbreaking match! The spectacle of a Student in Training against a Seasoned Magus! Can experience beat talent? Or does Talent trump all! EGO is what the Bout is all about!"

"She's a student?" someone from the crowd demanded.

"The Challenger! Miss Gwen Song! From the Frontier of Australia! A Quasi-Elementalist! A teenage prodigy!"

"The defender! Magus Lok Khun, employed under the House of Fung! A renounced master of the Abjuration Arts!"

"Lightning versus Earth! A decisive advantage for the Magus Khun! Can Miss Song overcome the fundamental mismatch?! Make your bets! Who will the Goddess of Victory Embrace! Who will emerge as the penultimate victor of this night?!"

The Force Cage resumed its protective enclosure.

Lok Khun gazed upon Gwen with his dead fishes' eyes. There appeared a little bit of Edgar in the depth of the man's calm pupils to Gwen's mind, suggesting someone who used to bringing pain to others.

She glanced at the 1200 HDMs' worth of crystals and prizes on display. Dai didn't have enough on him to pay outright, which meant that he would owe her if she won the match. If she were to keep his shame private and their exchange in intimacy, it would further imply that he owed her a debt of gratitude. After all, Crystals were merely numbers— social capital was priceless.

She took a deep breath.

Around them, the jibbering crowd hedged their bets.

One cat down. This other one looked like a biter.