A helicopter whirred through the air towards the southern tip of the African continent. A light rain began as the sun set in the distance. Within the helicopter sat Mr. John Vand with a large, heavy, armored briefcase by his side.

He sat in a dimly lit cabin peering out the window as they approached Starfallen castle contemplating to himself, “Xenia’s faith in me is surprising. Should I fail or should Starfallen see my intention then her pathway to further exploration and conquest is all but eliminated less she has a backup plan. And who knows, she may. But alas, does she really have any other option than me?”

It had occurred to him that should he succeed, he would have solidified a high place in Xenia’s future empire with the potential to spread further than Earth alone. For a man who could buy anything of material he ever dreamed of, the thought of gaining something so powerful and immaterial gave him excitement which previously only being with Xenia herself had given him.

The helicopter landed in front of a castle with a relatively small footprint; however, tall spires extended upwards for as high as the eye could see. A security team escorted John out of the rain and into a long dark hallway leading to the central spire where he and the team entered into an elevator.

The captain of the security team inserted a key into the panel and then subsequently entered a passcode on a digital number pad. The doors to the elevators closed and the elevator began to fly upwards at a brisk pace. The readout above the doors jumped by the 10’s and after only a handful of seconds read “…50…60…70…80…90…”.

John gulped as the dark shaft opened up to a beautiful view on one side overlooking the cape and adjacent sea as the elevator passed floor 120. The elevator continued to jump floors at a breathtaking pace with John growing more and more anxious as he thought to himself, “I had heard the Starfallen spires are the tallest in the world, but just how tall are they?”

After what seemed like forever, the elevator stopped at floor 250. The doors opened with a ding, and the captain of the security team called out, “Your guest, Master Starfallen. Mr. John Vand of the empire formerly known as the Holy Light Empire.”

A woman looked up from a telescope and smiled, “Thank you. You may leave us.”

Although the captain had his reservations leaving Lady Starfallen alone with a stranger in the night, he obediently followed orders and rounded up his team to enter back onto the elevator.

The whir of the elevator descending quickly faded into the distance, and Lady Starfallen smiled at John, “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”

John laughed and replied, “I’m afraid I am. But let me guess…” John pointed to the telescope, “Southern tip of the continent, 250 floors in the sky. There must be nearly zero light pollution all the way up here.”

Lady Starfallen laughed with him, “Correct. I expect such a keen insight from a man as successful as you are.”

She then stepped away from the telescope and motioned towards a table, “Please, let us sit.”

“Thank you, Lady Starfallen.” John took his first meaningful steps at 250 floors in the sky with caution.

As he slowly but surely approached the table, Lady Starfallen sat, “Please, just call me Starfallen.”

John stepped in front of his seat and placed his briefcase on the table to the side with a loud thunk. He then took a seat, “I assure you nothing sinister is housed in the briefcase.”

“Yes, my security team said you insisted the contents were for my eyes only. No need to worry, I am a Master after all. I am not weak. Unless you have Xenia BloodStar herself stuffed in that suitcase, I fear nothing.”

Starfallen then leaned forward with a curious expression, “But this is an odd request you have made. Why are you here, Mr. Vand?”

“Oh, please. Just John.”

“Okay, John. Tell me. Why is the lap dog of Empress BloodStar showing up at my doorstep at this hour? Everyone knows I despise visitors. I despise politics. I despise war. I embrace solitude as much as I can. Why have you broken my solitude?”

John tilted his head with a smile, “Xenia’s lap dog? Is that what they call me now?”

“Are you not?”

John finally relaxed a bit as his charisma came flooding back to him as natural as the flow of his blood, “I am a man of opportunity. Xenia is an opportunity. I don’t take sides. Unlike you, I embrace visitors. I embrace politics. I embrace war. I embrace the company of others as opportunities as much as I can. It is who I am.”

Starfallen eyed him suspiciously as John continued, “So naturally, I come here with an opportunity. For the both of us.”

She eyed his briefcase, “And this opportunity has something to do with the contents of that briefcase I suppose?”

John smiled from ear-to-ear, “Precisely.” He slid the briefcase over to himself and said, “Why don’t we just cut to the chase, shall we?”

He scanned his thumbprint on the biometric lock before entering a combination lock. He then flipped up the latches and spun the briefcase around revealing a fist-sized mana stone to Starfallen.

Lady Starfallen gasped with shock nearly fainting as she panted to keep her breath. She reached out and slammed the briefcase shut with force and loudly whispered, “Where did you get this?!”

“Are the origins important?” John casually asked.

“Quite! You fool! Only an extremely powerful and very talented entity or individual could create such a thing. Such a person or such a tool has more power than you could fathom. So I ask again, where did you get this mana stone?”

John remained relaxed, “Ah so you know what it is. Good. It is indeed a mana stone.”

“Don’t play games with me Mr. Vand.”

John quickly replied, “Just John, please.”

Starfallen had a look of angst on her face, “I call friends by their first names. An agent of Xenia BloodStar shows up on my doorstep with the largest mana stone in known history, and you refuse to tell me where you obtained it? This feels like a ploy by Xenia. This feels like a threat.”

John raised his hands, “Whoa whoa whoa. Let’s back up. Let’s start with where I got it.”

Starfallen nodded intently while keeping eye contact, “Let’s.”

John opened the briefcase back up and grabbed the stone in his hand, “This is an heirloom of the BloodStar Family. Xenia found it in the crypts beneath the BloodStar Castle. It lay in a crypt so ancient it bore no name. Xenia assigned it no significance. And as a man of opportunity… I decided to research it. And my research led me to you.”

Starfallen was still breathing heavily as she eyed John, “Okay John. Your research is impressive. I’ll give you that. But how do I know this isn’t a trap set for me by Xenia?”

“Well, as you say, I have garnered a reputation for being ‘Xenia’s lap dog’.” John paused before continuing, “That is bad news for me.”

John then placed the stone on the table and stood as he began to pace beside the table, “But to address your concern of a trap first, let me just say that I have grown to know Xenia quite well. She would never give up an item of such significance. Imagine, Xenia BloodStar allowing me, John Vand – a non-ki user, to walk out of her castle with something as valuable as that.”

John pointed to the ki stone, and Starfallen internally admitted to herself that he had a point.

John continued while pacing back and forth beside the table, “Now. Is this some kind of trojan horse scenario? I give you the mana stone. That gives Xenia reason to attack you.”

He shook his head, “Rubbish. Xenia needs no reason. You’re a Master. You’re Lady Starfallen. That’s reason enough for her to attack if she so wishes.”

Starfallen once again had to admit it was a decent point.

“And of course, you must be asking yourself, what’s in it for me? What is in this deal for Mr. John Vand?” John stopped and looked out the observatory window, “It’s beautiful down there.”

He then turned to face Starfallen who had since stood from the table and joined him at the observatory lookout window, and John said, “It’s a beautiful world, and I would prefer to stay alive and wealthy.”

Starfallen scoffed, “So your plan is to play both sides is it?”

John laughed, “Allow me to put it a little more gracefully as to set aside all suspicion. You powerful ki users think in terms of winning via total domination. Someone like me… well… It’s your world, and someone like me plays to survive. I offer my help to ingratiate myself to both sides when I can as often as I can. You and others have pegged me to be Xenia’s lap dog, so it’s time I start to work on the other side of the playing field. I have come with a gift, this mana stone. I have not come with a trifle tip or future promises. I have come with an item so great in importance that I hope to earn your debt for giving it to you. I hope to survive by your grace should you win this war.”

John then looked out the observatory and folded his arms as he shook his head, “And don’t worry about me being a double-agent acting against Master Families for Master Families. Trust me when I say Xenia sees me as so insignificant that she would refuse to even use me as a pawn. Someone like her needs me for my wealth as she had lost access to a lot of her own wealth early on; however, she would never entrust me with an act on her behalf. As I said, I am a non-ki user. I am an opportunist.”

Starfallen had a furrow in her brow. She knew this was too good to be true, but she also knew a mana stone that size was worth the risk. A mana stone of that size would guarantee her plan’s success.

John interrupted her thoughts, “Go ahead. Pick it up. Feel it. It’s yours.”

Starfallen gingerly picked up the mana stone and cupped it with two hands as she marveled at it.

John allowed her to marvel for a few moments before saying, “I only have the faintest ideas what you plan to do with such a stone. Hell, I only have the faintest ideas of what can be done at all with such a stone. But I gather that a stone of that size is the key to a breakthrough. It is the key to flying high above any prior expectations you may have had.

Starfallen moved her gaze from the stone to John and nodded in silence with a look of disbelief still on her face.

John unfolded his arms and walked back towards her, “So allow me to ask you the same question you asked me, “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”