Book 6, chapter 17

The Fist trembled, its arrays flickering chaotically as it transitioned through the event horizon. Her vision swam, and Zee swayed on her feet, feeling nauseous. Thankfully, the uncomfortable sensation didn't last long, as Taylor's healing energy suffused her body. 

"Please tell me that's the last time?" Malden asked with,a grimace. 

As if in answer, Tanras hissing voice echoed through the ship. 

"We have just arrived at the outermost edge of the endless storm. From here on out, we will proceed through normal space," Tanra said.

After that last jump, she was incredibly relieved, as they were getting quite rough even for her. From looking at the illusory display, Zee could see how this place got its name.

 Clouds of light green energy rushed around the ships, with occasional crackling arcs that looked like lightning, making its defensive arrays glimmer brightly. Navigating the endless storm was a delicate dance, with the pilots relying on sensitive arrays to warn them of oncoming surges. 

Some surges could be endured, while others were too volatile and had to be avoided at all costs. 

Even with an experienced captain, powerful ship, and crew, it took a week of stomach wrenching flight to reach an outpost of sorts. There was not much to see, aside from a sturdy fueling and resupply station built like a metallic cube. 

Zee had no idea how the blocky station survived the unpredictable energy currents, but judging by the deep scars in its metallic shell, it wasn't without danger. 

She shuddered to think of just how powerful a surge must have caused those gashes. While the war ship fueled up, Zee and most of the crew took it as an opportunity to disembark. As a fueling hub, the cube, as it was tentatively named, was a good place to gather information and buy last-minute supplies for their expedition. Zee and her team were already well stocked with supplies thanks to the emperor, but it couldn't hurt to seek out a broker and buy information.

Flying aimlessly around the storm and hoping to find the environments they were looking for was unadvised. The storm was always in flux, but there were regions that formed more stable, long-lasting environments. These were extremely energy dense areas that were perfectly suited to nurture rare natural treasures and supply sustenance to powerful monsters. And since enterprising Cultivators wanted to find both of those things, the information about them was a hot commodity. Risking one's life to scout out these areas was extremely dangerous, but as long as you had luck enough to make it back, selling the whereabouts of suitable areas to hunt could make a fortune. 

With that in mind, Zee walked down the narrow market like streets of the cube, looking for just such a merchant. With stalls lining either side of the street, and vendors hawking their wares, it was a lot like a market here. Zee wasn't sure how many people were on the cube, but from what she could see it was a bustling population of at least fifty thousand. It was only the size of a small town, but it was not your average town. The weakest cultivator she had come across was middle E grade, with most being in the D grade.

There were familiar species like blood gorgers and fewer familiar ones she had never seen before, like a flying eyeball. Wearing the insignia of the Lorocan imperial navy got them a few dirty looks from the blood gorgers they passed, but no one came to blows.

This was no-man's-land, and violence could get them all kicked out. The owners of the cube were no pushovers either, boasting at least two celestial grade cultivators. Pissing the owners off wasn't a good idea, considering they were the only resupply station in the area. And, of course, having a monopoly made the prices staggering. 

"Five hundred Ether crystals for an environmental collar? Are you insane? That's highway robbery," Bastion asked, staring down the shrewd merchant at his stall.

The merchant was unfazed. "My environmental collars are of the highest quality, reinforced to withstand the harsh environments of the endless storm. If you do not want to buy them, it's not my fault if you die. Those flimsy things you have are basically trash," the coilateen said, bobbing in the air, flapping its batlike wings.

Bastion glared at the creature. "They are of good quality, I give you that, but five hundred is a ripoff. Two fifty each, and I'll buy seven of them," Bastion countered. 

Its four eyes stalks waver angrily at the offer. 

"Are you trying to make my family starve? I won't even break even with an offer like that. Four hundred each is the lowest I can go," it replied indignantly. 

"Three hundred, and we both know you are making a tidy profit," Bastion replied.

Noting Bastion's firm posture and confident tone, the coilateen merchant agreed. Bastion paid and gathered their new, much sturdier environmental collars, immediately handing them to Yukna. 

Dern was already on Yuknas' shoulder, and they both were excitedly whispering to each other as they examined the new collars. 

"This material is much more conductive and sturdy than what we had before. I bet it can handle twice the workload," Yukna said.

Dern's excited phycic voice quickly followed. 

"Looks like it. More importantly, look at those inefficient etchings, there is so much wasted space. With high-quality material like this, I bet we can improve the collars by at least another thirty percent," Dern said. 

Yukna was grinning ear to ear, like a child who just got opened a birthday present

 "That's not all. With sturdier material, we can use beast shards to power them. It should increase the power output, and give us longer to stay out and explore," Yukna said.

Zee smiled at the excitement in their voices. 

She had missed this. 

"Keep an eye out for more things like those environmental collars," Allison said.

"You are all paying me back, right?" Bastion asked. 

Walking near the lead, Allison glanced back at him. "Sure, as long as you don't try to say you paid more than you did," Allison said. 

"I would never do that," Bastion said, with a foe hurt look.

Malden gave him a disbelieving stare. "Says the guy who tried charging me double when I wanted to buy some boots," Malden grumbled. 

"Do you know how hard it is to get a pair of boots that won't get shredded by your toe claws? I say double the price was generous," Bastion replied defensively.

"It was an outrageous price for a pair of boots, and you know it," Malden grumbled, his large ears flicking in annoyance.

Zee laughed. "Malden, at least you are not the only one who has fallen for Bastion's schemes. I swear he must have fleeced a good quarter of the crew out of some crystals," Zee said.

Bastion glanced over at her with a hurt expression. "My love, how could you say that? Fleeced is such a nasty word. Those were above-the-board deals, I got those crystals fair and square," Bastion replied. He may have had a hurt expression, but his sly grin said it all. 

Everyone laughed at the good-natured ribbing as they explored the cube. It may have been an outpost drifting on the currents of the endless storm, but even so, there wasn't much to see. After all, all the good stuff was doubtlessly being sold in private auctions. Moving at a good pace, it only took them thirty minutes to cross the entire thing. 

 After some asking around, they finally found what they were looking for. 

A blood gorger looked up from a bowl of wormlike things and glared at them with all six of its bug-like eyes. The moment she saw it, she knew they were likely to get a frosty reception. 

"What do you want?" It asked, its mandible clacking together as it slurped up a mouthful of those disgusting worms.

"We are looking for information," Zee said. She was thankful for the bangle on her wrist to translate the garbled and grating language. 

The blood gorgers hairy forelegs rubbed together, and it eyed them.

"What are a bunch of Lorocan scum doing here? How did you get past the Theranus fortress?" it asked. 

She smiled. "The blood gorgers do not occupy Theranus anymore. The Lorocan navy retook the Theranus star system back a month ago, returning it to its rightful owners," Zee replied. 

"That is very good to know. I hadn't heard of such troubling news," the blood gorger replied, chittering excitedly at the news. 

She smiled. "Since you are the first I have told, that information must be valuable, no?" Zee asked.

The bug nodded slowly. "What do you wish to know?" it asked.

Zee slid an information crystal across the counter. 

"I need to know the coordinates of static areas in the storm that resemble these concepts. The closer the better," Zee said. 

The blood gorger took the crystal, half of its bug eyes watching her, while the other half eyed the crystal thoughtfully. 

After nearly a minute of staring off into space it replied.

"Judging by your request, and the flavor of your auras, you are searching for rare natural treasures to help you form your shards," it surmised. Without waiting for a response, it continued. "I may be able to sell you information about people who have gotten lucky and found several treasures with these attunements. Why go through the effort and risk your lives when you can just buy them?" It asked, a greedy gleam in its buggy eyes.

Zee grimaced. "Our pockets are not deep enough to afford the prices for such things. Can you give us the information I requested or not?" Zee asked.

Its mandible cracked thoughtfully as it eyed their expensive combat gear. 

"The information you shared is not enough to purchase what you requested. Ten thousand Ether crystals and I can give you five of the seven coordinates you are looking for," it offered.

"Ten thousand is too much considering you don't know where all seven are," Zee replied evenly. 

Its frontal legs rubbed together, creating a grating sound that gave her the chills. 

"My offer stands. I think it is quite reasonable considering you are an enemy," the blood gorger merchant replied.

In all honesty it was a better deal than she expected, but still she needed to haggle or it might try charging more. "Give me the coordinates for those five locations and tell me where to find a spatial anomaly and you have a deal," Zee replied. 

The blood gorger's antenna twitched.

"What do you intend to do with a spatial anomaly? Even if you are a spatial cultivator, for someone of your lowly rank, there is nothing inside those but death," it warned.

"That is my business," Zee replied curtly. 

"Your funeral," it said, shrugging its Antena, pulling out a box filled with information crystals. 

After some rummaging through the box, it handed her six crystals. Zee did a perfunctory examination of each, then paid the staggering price of ten thousand Ether crystals. 

The greedy bug was practically salivating as it made the pouch of Ether crystals vanish into a band on one of its fore claws. 

"Hey, bug, where can i find storm wardens?" Zee asked.

It waved a dismissive claw. "Finding one of those is fairly common. If you wander through the storm for long enough, they will find you. If you see one, you should probably flee for your life, they travel in packs and have been known to take down entire squads of D-grade cultivators," It said.

"Thank you, have a good day," Zee said, gesturing to the others to follow as she strolled away. 

Zee was a bit troubled by its warning, but also relieved. Gathering three storm warden cores was part of the deal she made with Oknarog. And now that she had the location of a spatial anomaly, all she had to do now was go collect them. The nexus of a spatial anomaly, and three storm warden cores for some of Oknarogs scales.

She wasn't sure exactly what she would use them for, but she had already bargained half of them away to the emperor. That bargain was the only reason she had been able to evolve her inner world, and find stability. 

If she didn't uphold her end of the bargain, the emperor would doubtless make her life hell. Her train of thought was interrupted as Bastion nudged her. "Look who's showed up," Bastion said.

Zee blinked, noticing that a group still dressed in their Lorocan imperial navy uniforms were headed towards them. Mercy, on the imperial heirs, headed the group, with several of her cousins and their lackeys in tow. 

Mercy was surprisingly tall, with extremely short black hair, and built like a brawler. She had a large imposing frame, rivaling Brick in terms of sheer muscle mass. Noone would ever call Mercy pretty, though some might even refer to her as handsome. 

Zee and her team passed the much larger woman going the opposite way. Mercy hardly spared her a glance, clearly not even acknowledging Zee, and her much less imposing frame as a threat. 

Zee didn't mind the indifferent response. In fact, from what she could tell, Mercy was much more straightforward than Tavza. If that woman was going to make a move against her, it would be head on, in a straight up fight. 

That scheming assassin Tavza was different. He was the kind who would stab her in her sleep, or blackmail her to get what he wanted.

That didn't mean she could underestimate Mercy. There had to be more to that giant of a woman than just muscle, otherwise, the emperor wouldn't have selected her as one of the five heirs. Zees' thoughts raced as they wandered back across the small bustling city inside the cube.

In the upcoming years, all the heirs would be searching for keys to the eternal throne. Success or failure would determine who would be the next ruler of the lorocan empire. Zee still wasn't sure why the emperor was going through with this whole charade? He had already essentially named her the heir to the throne. If he was so insistent on Zee taking it, would he give the others a chance to steal it out from under her?

It made no sense unless the emperor had other motives for this expedition. For those old goats, finding keys to the eternal throne was important, but Zee already had two keys. The living book which was given to her by Tarnival, and Kur Zuls Tower. 

Zee had no idea how those two things were related, nor how they related to the eternal throne, but that was because no one told her anything. 

What was Tarnival thinking, giving her a key that would embroil her in this conflict? Equally as important why was a little kid's soul trapped in that book. 

Trying to unravel it all gave her a migraine, so she pushed it from her mind. They were in the endless storm now, and she had work to do. From here on out, they would be venturing out with drop ships, exploring the rapidly changing storms in search of riches. It was going to be extremely dangerous out there, but the thought of adventure had her heart racing. 

With all the supplies and information in hand, they re-boarded The Fist and found their assigned drop ship. From now on, the cube would be their rendezvous point in the storm, with The Fist remaining in the station until they were ready to leave. A disgruntled mechanic patted the hull of their drop ship fondly.

"Take good care of my ship. As long as you do not fly like idiots, it should bring you back in one piece. It has navigation arrays to help you find your way back here, so don't break it," he said.

"And what if the navigation arrays malfunction?" Allison asked.

"We may come to look for you. As long as the distress beacon isn't destroyed, we should be able to find you," the mechanic replied.

"Thank you," Allison said.

"Don't thank me. Just bring my damned ship back in one piece," He glared at Yukna. "And you, do not tamper with the ship's inner arrays,"

Yukna gave the mechanic an innocent smile. "I wouldn't dare tamper with your ship, Juno," Yukna replied, unconvincingly. 

If it was up to him, Zee doubted Juno would have let them take the drop ship, but thankfully it wasn't. They boarded, and the rear hatch sealed shut. Yukna excitedly strode towards the cockpit, taking a seat in the pilot's chair.

"Have you ever flown one of these?" Taylor asked nervously.

"Sure, plenty of times," Yukna said. 

"When did you have time to do that?" Taylor asked. 

"Well, this is the first time actually flying one for real. All my practice is from using simulation arrays," Yukna said.

"What!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Buckle in, this could be a bumpy ride," Yukna grinned. 

They all found a seat, with Taylor frantically strapping himself in, his completion far paler than before.

 "Please don't let me die in a ship crash," Taylor muttered under his breath.

Despite her words, the ship smoothly slid out of the docking bay and out into the fairly calm winds around the cube. It rattled in the wind, but not too bad.

Turns out Yukna was a much more proficient pilot than she initially led on. 

No wonder Allison had looked so calm. She must have already known. The cube-like space station, with the docked Fist and several other much smaller ships loomed behind them like dark shadows in a storm. As the ship moved forward, those shadows slowly disappeared from sight. Zee let out a nervous breath as they reached the dense barrier keeping most of the storm at bay around the cube. 

 Once they left the cube's protective barrier, they would be on their own. If they ran into any trouble, it could take days or weeks for someone to come find them. 

Even so, her friends looked calm, and focused, ready to meet the challenge.