Autumn had finally arrived one morning, and when Siu stepped out of his cave, he could sense it as the forest no longer smelled the same. He took a deep breath a second time, exercising his technique to make sure, and indeed, there was a tiny change he could now pinpoint. Scanning the trees, the green leaves were still there, but their edges were curling just a little, and yellow was slowly beginning to appear on them.

  "No time to waste..." He shrugged, doing what he had been doing in the past month already.

  Once every week, he had been following Neya’s notes, having days where he was repeatedly heading into the forest, hunting Single-horn Lizards, which at first was even harder than he expected. They were indeed cowardly, so much so that they scattered the moment they sensed danger coming their way. They were not particularly intelligent or especially dangerous, which made them ideal practice targets and helped him hone his skills to remain invisible for as long as possible. He also learned quickly how to spot their burrows, how to approach without spooking them too early, and how to slay them cleanly without rupturing the sacks he needed.

  Despite it all... they were just not enough.

  “Master,” Arya muttered in his mind as she crouched atop a rock formation, her tail flicking irritably, watching as Siu put away another one, hauling the bag up on his shoulders, “this is the fifth one today... And it's smaller than the rest!”

  “I know,” He replied, wiping his fingers clean, shaking his head. “I also see the problem... With autumn setting in, their numbers will also dwindle, I'm afraid.”

  Each lizard yielded only a modest amount of usable material already... Even if Neya was doing her best to preserve what he needed from the carcasses, the quality was still questionable, and to make even a handful of reliable firebomb flasks, he would need dozens of them... or more. He could most likely continue gathering them up until winter, but then he will do nothing but waste time hunting lizards instead of preparing more for the hunt. Not to mention, he needed time for an inner disciple to make them... Which, in turn, actually meant that he was running out of time and that this method wasn't optimal, not in the least.

  "What will we do, Master?" Arya asked, sitting on his shoulders as they walked back into the sect's territory, bringing his haul to Neya's station.

  "No idea..." He answered honestly, and even Neya noticed the issue by now.

  "Will you go for... another type of beast?" She asked, already working on what he brought back, doing her best to harvest their sacks.

  "Most likely." He nodded, crossing his arms, "I will also have to find someone who can help refine it... I will go and post my request now, then, after these are processed, can you tally what I have?"

  "Of course!" She nodded, smiling at him, watching as he left, still deep in thought.

  Arriving at the Mission Hall at a later hour, there were not many people lingering there, which didn't mean the disciples working inside were free to do as they pleased. Administration was always a pain in the ass, and no matter how much they did, somehow another round of paperwork had popped up from nowhere.

  “Siu!” Milli smiled at him, noticing him the moment he entered, putting the stacks she was working on to the side.

  “The little fox man returns, hm?” Nilli added, doing the same as her sister, measuring him with one quick glance, "Nice, I like sweaty boys."

  "Please, even I have a limit on what I can take." He shrugged, arriving at their post, knowing if he went to any of the others, they would for sure hold a grudge.

  "We know," Milli said as she leaned forward over the counter, elbows planted down hard, letting him have a better look at her cleavage. Of course, Nilli wasn't going to let him have it any easier, because seated beside her sister, she leaned back and swung one leg lazily over the other, letting them out from between her robes, showing him ample skin while chewing on a piece of dried fruit. "We want to get you to break it."

  "Wonderful," He moaned, shaking his head, making Arya also furrow her little brows, "The issue is, I'm not stupid. I know that you would gain more from it than I, me being the virgin."

  "Oh my!" The twins exclaimed, looking at each other, giggling, "You are the first to openly admit it, ahaha! Cute."

  "Vixens." He fired back, making Arya nod, agreeing with his assessment.

  "They are worse than me, Master."

  “Busy week?” Milli asked sweetly, as if nothing had happened. "We can make you relax..."

  “We wouldn't sap you dry!” Nilli added, "We just need that tiny bit of you... the virgin part."

  "I am not in the Blood Resonance stage." He stated, looking at the two with slanted eyes, "Would you even gain anything?"

  "A good memory, at least!" They giggled, their eyes flashing, "But... if you can hold onto it until that stage... You must do it with us..."

  "How the hell did you two end up like this?" Siu asked honestly, because even if he was used to the two's antics now, their openness was... hard to handle.

  "Don't worry," They winked at him, "we choose our partners carefully."

  "They don't smell bad," Arya sniffed at them, “They aren't sick or something, Master... Maybe you should get some experience, so Neya will be happier later.”

  "Drop it." Siu shot back at her in his mind, "It's not about having fun, even if I would enjoy it. The fact that they want something from me this badly shows that they have some kind of technique for it, and I don't know what it does. I am not going to risk my cultivation or my health just because they have the body to please me. They may be cute, but even roses have thorns."

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Ah!” Nilli clapped once, noting Siu's silence, knowing he was talking with his little fox, not that she had a problem with it, “We know, we know, you are guarding your precious first time to the appropriate moment! Romantic... So? What will it be? I mean, the reason you are visiting us!” She giggled as the twins kept watching him, their seductive smiles never leaving their faces.

  "I need to contact an inner disciple, who can help me create fire bombs... I provide the ingredients, of course."

  "Oh?" The two glanced at each other, then Nilli sniffed the air around him, "Single-horns?"

  "Huh?" Siu blinked, honestly surprised, exchanging a quick back-and-forth with Arya. “You can tell?”

  “Please,” Milli waved a hand. “Their fat has a very particular stink; we are experienced enough to recognize it. So? You’ve got… How many of them yet?”

  “Fourteen,” Siu answered, "Still being processed."

  "Egh," The twins exchanged another look as they both winced. "Oof,” Nilli turned back to him, while Milli tilted his head.

  “That’s…” they shrugged in the end, “…not great.”

  "Still..." Siu frowned, hoping that the numbers would be at least... something. “They’re clean, mostly intact, and should be preserved properly. It should be enough...”

  “Oh, we’re not saying it isn't,” Milli added quickly, "Just that…” Nilli continued, “…inner disciples won’t touch that.”

  "Huh?" Siu felt his stomach tighten at that. “Why not?”

  “Quality,” Milli said bluntly. “And opportunity... I don't think you will find anyone who would take up on that request if we send it up to them.”

  “Let’s be clear,” Nilli added, hopping down from her stool and leaning on the counter, mimicking her sister in posture, “Inner disciples don’t take commissions because they’re kind or need our CC. They get that from the sect and from each other; our meager income is nothing to them. They do it because it benefits them in the opportunity to train without spending a dime on ingredients.”

  “They skim a lot off from the components we provide,” Milli said cheerfully, giggling, “Everyone does, to be honest, and it just makes sense.”

  "And it's not enough to profit them, huh...?" Siu muttered, understanding the issue.

  “Precisely,” Milli continued, “if they’re going to process materials for you, be it alchemy, forging, refinement, whatever else, they expect enough surplus to pocket some for themselves and for their own use.”

  “Think of it as part of their payment,” Nilli added, “They ask for CC, yes, but that also changes depending on the ingredients you offer.”

  “And Single-horn Lizards,” Milli finished for her sister, “are beginner stock, no, they are worse. It's less than common, it's nothing an inner disciple needs or wants, maybe if they have just started out with alchemy or something.”

  "I see..." Siu leaned his weight against the counter, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “So even if I gather enough...”

  “They won’t bother,” Milli nodded, “Unless you bring volume, but even then, it's a... Eh... Maybe if someone is bored or something...”

  “And you don’t want to haul a hundred lizard glands to anywhere,” Nilli explained with a shiver, “Ew.”

  "So I need better leverage."

  “Well,” Milli said slowly, glancing at her sister, “you need more than just leverage.”

  “You need a sponsor, if you don't want to be overcharged,” Nilli added bluntly.

  "An inner disciple..." Siu muttered, and suddenly a name popped into his head, "Haaah..."

  "Pretty much." The twins nodded, seeing where his thoughts were going, "No way to avoid that, Siu. Why do you think the inner disciple who is responsible for connecting the outers to their group loves their job? He gets others to owe them, and if they join their ranks later? They will still owe them. Senior Dui has been holding onto his position for three years straight, and he is one of the few who managed to do it for the longest. He may not be the strongest, but he does have people who owe him so..."

  "Do you two also owe him something?" He asked all of a sudden, making them grin.

  "Jealous?" They teased him, "No, we don't. We have another... connection." Milli explained with a cheerful giggle.

  "I see. So... No way around it, eh?" Siu asked, moaning again, rubbing his face.

  "If you don't want to be indebted to Dui," Milli spoke up, seeing his expression getting contorted, "We can still post your request, see if someone bites or not. But I see little to no chance for that to happen."

  "Would you, please?" He asked, shaking his head, "I'd like to avoid owing him... I know the type he is and... Haaah. I don't need that in my life."

  "Who would you want to owe more? Him, or us?" Nilli asked suddenly, making Siu furrow his brows, watching the two, realizing what they were meaning before.

  "You have something for me?" He asked, his voice getting a tinge quieter.

  "Maybe." They giggled, exchanging rapid glances, "But it comes at a price... and you know what it is."

  "..."

  "Master, I think we should run."

  "I agree, Arya." He answered, holding back his head from nodding, before the twins would think he just agreed to their offer. "First, please, post my notice, and send it up to the inner disciples. If nothing happens for a week... I may consider your offer."

  "Done!" They answered at the same time, smiling from ear to ear, "Don't worry... We don't bite... and our terms are better than whatever Dui would give you."

  "I doubt that," Siu muttered, signing the necessary forms, before finally leaving the Mission Hall.

  ...

  ....

  .....

  "You are early, Senior Veyra," A polite voice said as he greeted the young girl, making her smile back at him, matching his tone.

  "The sun is already up, so it isn't that early. Plus... I told you that calling me Seloryn will do," she explained, after entering the mission hall of the inner disciples, which looked like a scaled-up version of what the outer disciples had. "You are making me look older than I am!" she moaned playfully, stopping at his table.

  "You were here before me, Senior, so that's a given." He continued, making her giggle, shaking her head, letting her auburn ponytail swing behind her.

  "Sharp as ever... You always have a comeback."

  "I try," the man nodded, smiling, "What will it be today, Senior? Another challenge?"

  "No," She answered, tilting her head, leaning on the counter, "I think I had enough fights, I need a change. I have been lazy with improving my secondary skills, so I thought about doing some brewing sessions to take my mind off my cultivation."

  "Good timing," the clerk nodded, pulling out tablets that were yet to be sorted, "I just received a bunch of the outers' submissions. Have a look!"

  "Oh? Still unsorted? You are spoiling me, Ruben." She giggled, flicking through them with her eyes.

  "First-come, first-served, Senior. Your effort is what allows you to get ahead of the others."

  "Stop the asskissing," She rolled her eyes, but kept smiling, "I like you, but don't go too far with it."

  "Understood, Senior." He nodded, his smile just as immaculate as before, letting her sift through the requests. She almost passed by all of them, but then a name suddenly caught her eye, forcing her to reread it, her gaze lingering on it just for another second. "This. I will take this."

  "S-senior?" Ruben flinched, finally getting thrown out from his sweet and collected demeanor, "I wasn't even going to post that one..."

  "Oh, don't worry, the ingredients are horrible, I will make him change that out. But... connect me with this disciple."

  "I see," Ruben nodded at once, pocketing the commission, glancing at Seloryn, marking everything down without further questions. "Siu..." He muttered to himself after Seloryn left, memorizing the name, because by now, he was sure... she wasn't interested in the request, but the one who posted it.

  Which meant there was an outer disciple to keep his eye on from now on.