"Not really. S'just my battle-axe. It's a very high quality battle-axe, though." Pat pat. "Landon made it for me - well, it was a collaboration. He got shop credit for it. His affinity is making personalized artifacts bonded to someone specific." 

It looks it. "Impressive. Does it do anything aside from being a very effective axe?"

"It gives me more stamina while I'm holding it, I don't get tired as fast. And it helps with dexterity, some, it's easier to hit whatever I'm aiming for. Also it works a lot better than you'd expect for, like, shop work - whenever we find any really big boards of wood or something, I'll chop them up so we can actually carry them to Cassie's shop setup in her room." 

... More stamina? Better coordination? Well, now he knows what he wants for Christmas.

"Very impressive. I understand why you were so interested in the Thousand-Mile Stride."

Larisa smirks, still absently stroking the handle of her axe as though it's some sort of odd pet. "You know, I still think you're one crazy bastard, but you're offering a size of favor that you could easily trade for Landon making some artifice of your choice for you." 

"The thought had crossed my mind," he murmurs drily. "Though if I do drain the enclave mana sink too low I suspect the seniors may have words with me."

(Or, in other words, "we are now in price-negotiation territory.")

"Sacramento can probably reimburse you for mana you use helping us. Mana...is one thing that we're not especially short on, right now." Thanks to Vanya. Which means that if anything happens to him it would cost them a lot, and so - in Larisa's mind - this justifies spending mana to keep him alive. And Cai Xian is still a freshman, with a freshman-sized mana capacity, so it wouldn't be that absurd an amount even if he's casting spells all night.  

"Landon?" she checks. 

"Hmm? Oh. Yes, we can cover his mana expenditure. For one night and then reassess, at least." 

Cai Xian nods. This sounds reasonable. Mana expended in the fight, plus his guandao if he does it - how many days?

Well, that's something that can be negotiated after the first night, once they see he can actually contribute.

"That sounds very reasonable, then." He'll lift a glass quietly collected from the cafeteria line (after doing a quick not-a-mal check). "To the friendship between Sacramento and Taipei."

"Indeed." 

It's too bad that crazy kid is probably going to die before New Years and maybe even before Field Day. Larisa likes him. 

He's not reckless, Landon thinks on reflection. It's - clearly a risk he thought through, and a gamble he decided to make, hoping to collect the reward. Which...means he has more information about Sacramento than you would expect a random freshman to have. Landon tries to remember if he's ever spoken to any of the current Taipei upperclassmen. Nothing jumps clearly to mind, though of course Sacramento's position in last year's...incident...would have been hard for anyone with eyes and ears to miss. 

This is REALLY WEIRD!!! How did this end up happening. 

(It ended up happening, from Cai Xian's point of view, because he wasn't going to beat out all the other candidates for power in Taipei if he took no risks, and out of all the visibly insanely brave things to do that would give him a reputation as a great hero who others could come to for support and advice, a paladin of the Scholomance whose graduation alliance would attract invokers and artificers and alchemists of genius, this was the only one he actually expected he'd survive. He'll take Sacramento's pay because if he didn't look like he was getting something out of it he'd look like an idiot, but Cai Xian is not paid in mana or in weapons. Cai Xian is paid in glory.)

(Operation Complete Lunacy, Stage One: Success.)