Chapter 8 - Tessa Park Hates Sects
Tessa made Mason drive to a diner three blocks from the impound lot.
She ordered coffee.
Mason ordered the cheapest thing with protein.
The system approved.
[ACCEPTABLE.]
“Thank you for your support.”
Tessa watched him talk to empty air.
“You really are new.”
“That obvious?”
“You said thank you to your interface.”
“Is that bad?”
“Mine called me an inefficient ape for six months.”
Mason stared.
“You have one too?”
“No. Had.”
She pulled up her sleeve.
A thin black brand circled her wrist.
“The Iron Choir sect used contract interfaces for disciples. Stats, quests, technique tracking. Lots of helpful notifications. Also surveillance, behavioral punishment, and automatic debt collection.”
“That last part sounds modern.”
“I ran.”
Mason looked at her cultivation panel again.
“Why can you see mine?”
“I can’t. I can see the qi pattern around your eyes when you read it.”
“That is less comforting.”
Tessa leaned forward.
“Reclaimers are supposed to be extinct.”
“Everybody keeps saying useful things like that after I need them.”
She ignored him.
“Old cultivation families hate your path because you can establish ownership through repair instead of bloodline, contract, or conquest.”
Mason thought of the Blackstar.
“So if they abandon something—”
“You can take it.”
“If they stole it first?”
“Potentially worse for them.”
Mason smiled.
Tessa pointed a fork at him.
“That expression is how people die.”
“It’s also how people get discounts.”
She sighed.
“Mercer House controls most relic salvage in southeast Michigan. Vehicle auctions, demolition contracts, industrial cleanouts. They use normal businesses to locate objects with residual intent.”
“And Todd stores things for them.”
“Probably.”
“Logan offered to recruit me.”
Tessa nearly spit coffee.
“He what?”
“Seventy-two hours.”
“You need to leave the state.”
“My car barely likes leaving second gear.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Tessa stared at him for a long moment.
Then she said, “Show me your path.”
Mason mentally opened the panel.
[PERSONAL PATH DESIGN: 28%]
Tessa could not see it, so he read the traits aloud.
She frowned.
“You’re building around persistence.”
“System said something similar.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“Persistence?”
“A path needs an authority. Fire cultivators command heat. Sword cultivators command cutting. Body cultivators command themselves.”
“And Reclaimers?”
Tessa looked at him.
“They command what other people gave up on.”
Mason stopped joking.
That sounded bigger than junk.
The system chimed.
[INSIGHT ACCEPTED]
[PERSONAL PATH DESIGN: 41%]
Tessa’s eyes narrowed as Scrap Qi shifted around him.
“What happened?”
“I think you just helped my cultivation.”
“Great. I’m billing you.”
They left the diner.
Outside, the Rook’s driver-side window had been smashed.
Nothing was stolen.
A metal coin sat on the seat.
Tessa saw it and went still.
“Don’t touch that.”
Too late.
Mason picked it up.
A burning symbol appeared in his palm.
[MERCER HOUSE CHALLENGE MARK]
[CLAIM DISPUTE ISSUED]
[LOCATION: OLD RIVER FOUNDRY]
[TIME: MIDNIGHT TOMORROW]
[FAILURE TO APPEAR: FORFEIT ALL RECLAMATION CLAIMS WITHIN CITY LIMITS]
Mason stared.
“Can they do that?”
Tessa looked furious.
“No.”
“Good.”
“They can do much worse.”
“Less good.”
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
