The next week flowed fast. With the new recruits - and the majority of the White Lotuses chose to become just that - filling the apartment block, things got busy. A pair of first floor rooms had their walls broken down, a couple of the new recruits able to confirm that it was safe to do so not long after. With the regular taxes and payment for the Clan building the worry about paying for the loans decreased significantly, though Arthur had to mollify Casey when she learnt about his further entanglement. He assumed she was just angry that she hadn't gotten a chance to make the loan and bother him further.
Rick and the team, not at all surprisingly, ended up with their own adventure. Thankfully, it was one that happened entirely without him, Arthur only learning about the incidents days later, having completely forgotten about the meetup while pursuing his cultivation exploration. It made him feel a little guilty, but everyone had survived and they'd only left three corpses behind.
Of course, that was going to cause it's own problems, but the small gang involved - well, technically a corporation that hired a gang - was holding off on causing further trouble.
For now.
In fact, with everything calming down for the moment; Arthur was able to keep focused on building up his techniques. He soon learnt why Refined Energy and Tower Energy required different containers. It had to do the with the attractive and structural properties of the two, with Refined Energy actually willing to be shaped - sort of like dragon candy that could be mixed while warmed but hardened after a bit. Tower Energy was the equivalent of slapping together a bunch of mud together and lobbing it at someone. You had to compress it really hard and hope really strongly that it would hold together.
Still, once he worked that out and figured out how to use Imbue Weapon - which was only marginally familiar to him thanks to Focused Strike and the expulsion of energy to his aura - it had been a short step from there to actually creating the techniques. He now had two, which were both recognised on his sheet.
Arthur had to admit, he'd spent more time on the modified Energy Darts, figuring having the ranged equivalent to use was more important than a close-range debuff. He still needed to learn the basics first though, which was why he even had the Imbued Strike; especially when he practised utilizing it on Li Sun.
She had been a real revelation. And tragedy.
"Her younger sister. They came up together, or were supposed to. She never made it," Noor explained one evening when he cornered her to ask. "It's been years, but Li Sung keeps expecting her to show up. Said they promised they would join up, in the Tower. And when she came across this floor..."
"She never pushed further because she hoped she'd turn up here and not the floors below." He got it. No one would stay on the fifth floor longer than they needed and the sixth was a death trap to hang around in. And the previous floors could have done solo. Though, he did wonder how long Li Sun had waited on the fifth.
"Don't ask her. She's... well, once a year; she gets drunk. Isn't much use that month."
He nodded, understanding. Someone else might have dug more, but it was clear Noor was done talking about it and Arthur... Arthur had no desire to delve into others pasts. It was enough, for now, that she functioned.
Still, as much as he wanted to spend time on his cultivating and studying his techniques; there were some things even he couldn't put off. The opening and purchase of his new space bing one of them, including the handing over of the big bag of monster cores. He had managed to get the majority of his management team to come along to that, both to act as muscle in case of a potential fight and then, when he led them to the updated and rebuilt building, to explain things.
"So, here it is."
He looked around the massive open space that was the former warehouse. It had been modified a bit since then, private rooms added down one side where the massive bay doors had been, additional lightning and windows on the top. No fans, of course, which would make the room sweltering and something he’d have to look into at some point, but at least they had mage lights up there.
“So what is?” Mel asked, looking around. “You wanted a warehouse? To sell what? What business do you want us to do?”
“No business. Or, well, no warehousing at least.” He looked to Eric and Leia, seeing if they had gotten it yet. They still looked blank and he sighed. “I don’t want to compete with the others about businesses, we’re meant to be more than another thieving merchant. Remember what the Durians are?”
“A spiky fruit.”
“Us?”
“Our Clan.”
Shaking his head, Arthur tried again. “What did want, with the durians?”
“To save the White Lotuses,” Mel said.
“To save everyone,” Uswah said, moments later. “You wanted it to be a Clan for everyone.”
“Exactly!” He grinned, waving a hand around. “And why do so many people not progress out of here?” He didn’t look at Li Sun who had joined them, for her choices were different. For everyone else though… “So we help them.”
“You want to open up a training hall,” Leia said. “A place like tsifu has.” She looked around the warehouse again with new eyes, as though she was seeing it anew. “That’s why you wanted so much space.”
“Exactly!” Arthur snapped his fingers. “You and Eric can start the basics, the physical fitness, the technique training. The how to fight that so many people don’t actually know.” He snorted. “If we did it right, we might even be able to do something tsifu never managed.” At their puzzled looks, he grinned. “Bring in real monsters.”
“No way lah.” Eric crossed his arms. “We already got no time.”
“Just to start, until we find other trainers,” Arthur cajoled him. “I can help too, of course.” He looked about, some of the others looking excited, a few hesitant or unsure. Li Sun had a strange look on her face, as she looked around.
“I can teach MMA,” Yao Jing offered, grinning and subtly flexing.
Arthur nodded then looked at Mel, noting how his second was quiet. “We need space to train, right? Cultivation techniques, skills, all of that. And the seventh floor is the resting floor anyway, before we have to test. And it isn’t messing with any of the other groups businesses either, so they can’t take anything from us.” He hesitated, then added. “Heck, we could even train some of them, for a price.”
"And make them more dangerous?" Mel said.
"Save some lives. And if we get all of them training here, we should make ourselves and the Durians safer." He added, after a moment. "If we get some cultivation techniques that we can write out, we can even teach some of those."
"Undercut the Tower?" An eyebrow rose. It happened, of course, some individuals willing to train others. But it wasn't usual for entire schools to set-up in the Tower, mostly because people moved on. However, Mel looked over at Li Sun who had been silent. "Maybe...."
"You want me, don't you." Li Sun asked, softly.
"To train others, yeah. Even if it's stupid Tower techniques. But who knows, maybe you'll find some proper students too," Arthur offered.
"If..." A hesitation, then she added. "If my sister arrives, I will leave with her. You know that, right?"
"Of course," Arthur said. He made sure to keep his voice firm and without hesitation as he continued. "But she'll need to train too, if she comes up. And she's welcome to become a Durian too."
Li Sun looked around again, then nodded slowly and then again, more firmly.
“Arthur.” Mel’s voice cut-in, making him look at her. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it, shaking her head. He assumed she was going to complain about his secretiveness, but at least for now, she’d hold her complaints.
Fair enough, but sometimes, it seemed she forgot that he really was the boss. And it wasn’t a bad idea, not at all.
No matter what she thought.