Chapter 165: Chapter One Hundred Sixty Six

We followed Burning Fist and Sage (who was apparently his daughter,  and didn't that explain the poor reception) through the side door and  down a long well appointed hallway. The hall was lined with small wooden  tables, plants, paintings, and had a long thin carpet extending down  the center of it, a plush dark red thing that bounced comfortably under  out feet as we walked, though our feet left no marks on it.

When  we made it into the cozy office, Burning Fist dropped into the chair  across from us casually while Sage stood to one side, standing much  straighter than expected. The E ranker's brown eyes landed on Cark, and I  felt the weight of his attention even sitting next to the bounty  hunter. I wondered if letting his power out like this was some kind of  dominance display or if he just didn't know how to suppress it. I wasn't  sure how long he'd been an E ranker exactly. Still, I was getting used  to it. E rank was only about fifty points of Impact higher than we were,  so it wasn't unbearable, just noticeable.

The gang boss  snapped his fingers, and a floating tray appeared next to him, laden  with steaming cups. He lifted one, closed his eyes, took a sip, and gave  a contented sigh. Then he flicked his fingers, sending the tray  floating over to us. "Coffee? There's cream and sugar in the dishes on  the tray. Feel free to help yourselves. The beans are F ranked. Very  rich flavor. One of my few indulgences." He took another slow sip,  giving a hum of approval as his eyes drifted closed again, and Sage  rolled her eyes behind her fathers back at the obvious show.

I  of course, took a cup. I used plenty of cream and sugar, as was my  preference, but I was curious what F ranked coffee tasted like. I took a  long sip, echoing the hum of approval. Cark took a cup too, and Callie  did the same of course, given her love for all things culinary I knew  she must be salivating over this. Benny decided to pass, he'd never been  a big fan of coffee. Even with cream and sugar he didn't enjoy the  bitterness, being more of a hot chocolate drinker. Luckily, the E ranker  seemed not to care about us, so his refusal wasn't remarked on. I'd  been worried it might offend for a second.

Cark made a  polite noise as he sipped the coffee, then paused and took a second sip,  clearly enjoying the flavor. I didn't blame him. There was a depth and  complexity to the beverage I'd never really experienced before, and the  sweetness of the sugar only served to highlight the flavor. After a  moment though, he focused on Burning Fist. "Mr. Fist." I had no clue how  he said that with a straight face, but Sage burst into giggles behind  her father, who turned to glare before rolling his eyes in an unknowing  mirror of his daughter's earlier motion. Cark cleared his throat and  continued. "I'm glad to get this meeting. I wasn't aware that being a  blue flame pyrokinetic was that interesting."

Burning Fist  smiled pleasantly. "I prefer Edgar when I'm not on business. Or Burning  Fist. My name does not lend itself to formality. As for your comment,  it is quite interesting. As you know, Pyrokinetics are a rarity.  Flamecallers in general are unusual. Some develop the power through  synergy, but it tends to take several ranks to become viable, and those  who take that route are rarely a success at developing their reputation  in their early years when such things are most effective. Of the  flamecallers, there are of course several variations. Might I see your  ability for myself?"

Cark didn't see any harm in it  obviously, because he held a hand up calling the same orb of fire as  earlier. The E ranker smiled at the flame. "Excellent. When dealing with  flame callers there are several flavors. Some of us combine their fire  ability with other elements, and this can produce unusual colors. In the  context of a pure flame ability such as yours however, color is an  indication of the intensity of the flame, and a natural predilection for  blue flame is quite interesting. There are three other blue flame  pyrokinetics in my organization, and each of them has been given  priority as an asset."

The bounty hunter looked a bit  surprised. "I...didn't know it was that sought after. I've only met a  few pyros besides me, for sure, and none of them had blue flames, but I  just figured the ones I ran into were weak." I could tell he found this  situation a bit confusing. Which was fair, finding out you secretly have  a valuable ability everyone wanted was a weird sensation. I could kind  of relate. He raised an eyebrow at the other man. "Does that mean you're  a blue flame pyrokinetic?"

The small man grinned and held  up a hand, clenching his fingers into a fist that...well, it didn't  catch fire, so much as it BECAME fire. Blue fire. I was impressed that  not a single bit of heat leaked from his fist, the power tightly  controlled as I stared into a flame so bright and captivating I felt  like I was looking at a fist shaped blue dwarf star. "Of course. Blue  flame is the hottest naturally occurring fire. Many people mistakenly  believe it to be white, but that's a misnomer. Between the understanding  of how powerful it is and its shocking appearance blue flame pyros are  always worth investing in."

I had actually thought white  flame was the hottest myself, but I could see the reason for the  interest. Blue flames were elite, and anything that came with that kind  of cachet would help someone get stronger. Attention was the bread and  butter of the Ascendant world. Pyros in general tended to be very  attention grabbing, due to their explosive and visually appealing nature  in combat and their high Might stat. I wondered for the first time if  we might have made a mistake. Ruining such a good opportunity for Cark  because we wanted to spy seemed wrong. This could be a really great  place for him.

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Burning Fist raised an eyebrow. "Of course,  once my daughter mentioned you I was able to dig up a bit of  information on you. I don't watch the Unity Academy events mostly. They  tend to promote internally, but it only took a moment to find out a bit  more about you, and I even watched a few clips. I was impressed.  However, it's easy enough to notice that your friends here are the same  as your companions on the hunt, even without costumes." He finally  turned to look at us. "So why are a couple of Unity seedlings trying to  sign up for my organization exactly?" His voice wasn't exactly cold or  unpleasant, but it was first. He wanted an answer, and the revenant help  us if he didn't like what he heard.

I froze. That...fuck.  I hadn't even considered that. Now I felt like an absolute idiot. I'd  known we were on the stream, and I assumed no E ranker would bother with  entry level bullshit like that, but I hadn't connected that to when he  started talking about how rare Cark's ability was. Callie hadn't  expected it either it seemed, probably because someone this strong had  no reason to be watching baby Unity members under normal circumstances.  He caught us completely flat footed.

Granted, I wasn't  scared of him personally. His fist was terrifying, but I was protected  from E rankers until I hit F still. There were plenty of F rankers  however, who could and would crush us if needed. I didn't freak out  though. Despite knowing we were Unity I'd never used my ability where  anyone could see it during the hunt. Even if I had Zeke wouldn't have  let them put something like that in the stream. With that said, he might  know we were Unity, but he didn't know the real reason we were here.

On  the upside, the relationship between the Unity and the various gangs  wasn't really as bad as it looked. Their interactions were closer to  politics than enmity. Villains and gangsters needed heroes to stay  relevant, and vice verse. If the Unity had wanted to stamp out crime in  their territory, they had plenty of absolute monsters who could have  swept this whole galaxy clean of any reasonably powerful Ascendant. But  no one wanted that. In the same vein, Burning Fist had no real reason to  kill us, provided he didn't decide we were spies.

He was  however, an E ranker. Which meant just lying to him was probably bound  to fail. We all looked at Callie, deciding to let her take the reins  here, which got an annoyed eye roll from my girlfriend at being put in  the spot, though she was careful to aim it at us, not the insanely  powerful gang boss with a hand made of rioting blue fire. When she was  done with that she turned back to him and paused. I expected him to  push, but Burning Fist seemed content to wait for his answer. Callie was  free to think over her response.

I  grabbed her hand, squeezing it to let her know I supported whatever she  decided to do. She could have danced around the truth, maybe managed to  spin some half baked story he would believe, but in the end she just  decided to be honest. Not entirely, but enough to tell him why we were  here. "We're on a mission for the Academy. We were sent to find out more  about a new group from Velan that have recently landed in Rajak. We're  from there ourselves so we know them. They're currently trying to take  over the Cavalcade in G district, and we need to know more about why.  Since your organization is trying its best to take over that area."

She  left out any mention of wishmaster candidates or anything related to  them, but she stuck to the facts and gave him plenty of information. I  was impressed. So was he. Burning Fist turned his head to look at Sage.  "See? That was the right call. You would have made me drag that out of  you kicking and screaming. I told you Midknights daughter would make the  smart decision." Callie stiffened a bit at the mention of her dad, but  the E ranker waved a hand, letting his blue one return to normal. "Of  course I know you. But don't worry. I hate that shadowy fuck. Honestly  his precious heir being here just makes me smile. I can't wait to rub it  in his face. Assuming you still feel like joining up?"

Callie  looked...torn. In the end though she shook her head. "We're down here  for information really. Not to join a faction. Not yet. As much of an  ass as my father is, the Unity has done a lot for me. I'm not ready to  leave all my friends there behind." She squeezed my hand where it still  held hers. "Since it seems like you don't have any bad intentions, what  do we expect next? Do we just leave here empty handed?" In all honesty  that was a better end than I expected. This whole thing had been a  disaster so far.

Burning  Fist rolled his eyes. "No. You're missing the obvious point. I knew all  this when I invited you back here. I haven't learned much new  information, so clearly I have a reason to want to talk to you all." He  turned to Cark. "I'm willing to give you all full access to any sources  within the Flame Riot Militia. Or rather, I'm willing to let you take up  a position that will give you that access. A G ranker with a blue flame  pyro ability is a treasure for me. I did my homework. You're  unaffiliated kid. So here's my offer. You want some info? Sign up with  me. Join the Flame Riot Militia and your friends can learn anything they  want." Well. I hadn't been expecting that.

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