《Immortal War》


 Prologue: Congealing Darkness

    Robert stretched his arms up over his head as he yawned. He missed the party earlier in the day when the Lady Deason had finally given birth to twin boys. It had been whispered that the Lady was barren, and Lord Deason was coming to the ends of his wits worrying about the line of his family. Sure he had a younger brother, but he had been gone for over a decade with no news. Robert did not even know what he looked like, and he had lived with the family his whole life.


    Robert walked along the battlements of the keep in deep silence. The moon was shrouded by heavy cloud cover, and there was not even a simple breeze to disturb the quiet of the night. It was amazing how much the keep seemed like a tomb in the dead of the night, especially after such a joyous occasion as occurred earlier in the day.


    Robert gazed out into the darkness, straining his eyes to see clearly. He had just recently been promoted to the night watch because of his advancement to the Nascent Realm, a considerable accomplishment in this area of the country, especially taking his youngish age of twenty-six into account. Some promotion, he thought. Robert was not yet accustomed to the night hours, but he was a good guard and he would do his duty. There were only a handful of other Nascent Realm guards working for the Lord and Lady Deason, with Captain Pritch having attained the Spirit Realm a couple years prior.


    Captain Pritch was a real powerhouse. With his abilities as a Spirit Realm cultivator, he could have his pick of military commission in the army, but he chose to stick with his life-long benefactor, Lord Deason. Lord Deason had told him he did not have to stay, but Captain Pritch was nothing if not loyal.


    Gah! This is boring. Robert continued along the battlements, keeping his eyes to the outside of the keep. He was not entirely sure why such a small keep so far from the border needed a night patrol, but he could begrudgingly concede the point about protecting the new infants and Lady Deason. He did not know what he would necessarily be protecting them from at this point, but he was not paid to think of these things.


    With his thoughts drawn towards the newborns, Robert''s eyes followed his mind. It seems weird that there should be a light on in the children''s room at this hour. Most likely the Lord or Lady checking up on them. Something did not feel right about this situation to Robert. Sure it was the first night with newborn children, but that light seemed off to Robert.


    He quickened his pace along the top of the wall to the tower stairs. He hurried down the stairs and made his way to the guard shack where there would be a couple of the younger guards rotating on and off patrol duty. Robert glanced around and saw that the night leader, Caerd, was not inside. Only Zac and Donald, two of the newest recruit guards, were present in the shack. These two young men were getting a taste of ordered life before they got old enough to travel inland and join the army. From how serious they took their job, Robert knew they had a bright future ahead of them. Well, at least not a dull future.


    "Where''s Caerd?" Robert asked of the youths.


    "He just stepped out to do an outer perimeter check of the wall only a few moments ago, sir. He said he was getting antsy about the weather for some reason. Weather seems fine to me." Zac stood up to address the older man.


    "It''s ok, you don''t have to stand. And don''t call me sir, either. Leave that for the management, ha. If he gets back any time soon and asks why I''m not on the battlement before I''m back, just tell him that I got antsy about the weather inside the manor." Robert tried to make light of his gut feeling to keep the young men at ease.


    "Yes, sir." Zac and Donald responded.


    Robert grunted and turned to head towards the manor. The Lord and Lady instructed the guards to maintain their presence on the grounds, battlements, and outside the walls, but to only enter the manor when either invited or with a reasonable suspicion. Robert knew that Lord Deason did not have this policy because he was arrogant. Quite the contrary, he wanted his men to be outside and not cooped up, but also not in the way of his family members either.


    Robert approached the doors of the manor and again felt that inexplicable feeling of something being off. The doors were closed, but Robert gave them a push. The right side door slowly swung open. The doors had been closed, but not latched. Weird, why would they leave the doors open to being caught in a draft? Robert shook his head at this. If I didn''t know better, I''d say an intruder set this up, but how could that be? We''ve been attentive to the entrances to the keep and manor all day and all night.


    Robert stepped into the manor and felt a chill run down his spine. It was deathly silent in the building, and the torches seemed to be giving off repressed light. Robert had never seen anything quite like it, almost as if the light was afraid to encroach on the darkness. Robert felt the first stirrings of fear in the pit of his stomach.


    Get a hold of yourself, man! You''re simply verifying that it''s the Lord or Lady checking up on their children. There''s nothing to be scared of! Robert was a sensible man, and was not prone to flights of fancy. But there was just something about the quiet and the light. He suppressed those feelings ruthlessly.


    Robert proceeded along the manor towards the central staircase. There were no servants, family members, or guests out and about. Of course not, why would there be at this hour? Robert soon arrived at the top of the stairs and looked down the hall towards the infants'' room. The twinges of fear came back full force and slammed into him like a punch in the stomach, all of the blood draining from his face and paralyzing him.


    The darkness seemed to be physically pooling on the ground, churning like a mist. It was a phenomenon that Robert had never even heard of before. Something was not right here, but Robert could not move. He was physically paralyzed. He screamed at himself in his mind to move his body and find out what was going on. This had never happened before, and he could not understand what was keeping him rooted in place.


    "Twins?! Heh heh heh. This explains so much. Why there were two threads in the streams. Heh heh heh. Kyumen, you old fool. Did you think I wouldn''t snip this thread? You have underestimated me once again. Heh heh heh." A voice came from the room of the infants. The owner of the voice occasionally gave out short, barking laughs. They sounded almost a parody to what real laughter sounded like.


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    Robert''s entire body felt like it dropped twenty degrees in temperature. Just that voice alone caused him to want to flee to the ends of the land, but he was still paralyzed in place.


    "What are you doing?" The whisper in Robert''s ear knocked him out of his paralysis when he jumped at the sudden noise. He glanced over to his left to find Captain Pritch standing there eyeing the darkness with trepidation. He did not appear to have heard the voice within the room.


    "Sir, I can''t explain, but I believe someone is in the room with the children." Robert knew not to waste any breath on anything that was not of utmost importance. Right now the only thing that mattered was that they get into that room. More importantly that Captain Pritch, a Spirit Realm powerhouse, got in the room.


    Captain Pritch did not waste any breath either. He simply nodded and dashed towards the door. As soon as he entered the congealing darkness, his progress was noticeably slowed. Robert did not think about it and followed his captain to do his duty.


    The darkness felt like tiny tendrils of ice snaking up his legs trying to hold him in place. If felt like the warmth, indeed the very life, was being drained out of him while he was moving through the darkness. Captain Pritch arrived at the door and slammed into it, bursting it open. The scene that greeted them caused Robert''s stomach to churn, and tears came unbidden to his eyes.


    A... creature stood in the middle of the room. He looked like a man, but at the same time not. The darkness was coming from this man, swirling about with him as the epicenter. He was incredibly tall, towering over both of the guards. He was cradling an infant in his left arm, and his right hand was clutching a small pair of legs. The legs traveled up to the waist, and ended with no torso. There was a bloodstain on the ground by the intruder''s feet.


    The intruder looked over at the duo and grinned an impossibly wide grin. Robert felt like he was staring at madness itself.


    "Heh heh heh. Too late! Too late! I know how important these little sacks of flesh are to you, so you can have this one. Catch! Heh heh heh." With that the man tossed the pair of legs at Pritch.


    Pritch stood there stunned for a couple of seconds, letting the legs hit him and slowly slide down to the ground. Then he erupted with Spiritual Energy and rushed towards the tall man with a mighty bellow. Robert knew that the rest of the manor would be awake now, and he knew his duty was to help Captain Pritch contain this embodiment of evil.


    As Captain Pritch condensed Spiritual Energy into his fist to conduct a Ki strike on the creature, it casually backhanded Captain Pritch with an apparent ease that defied logic. Sure there were many people who were vastly more powerful than a Spiritual Realm Powerhouse, but this caricature of a man gave off no Spiritual Energy fluctuations at all. It was almost as if he was a void in existence.


    The backhand landed on Captain Pritch and he literally exploded in a mist of blood and gore. The speed with which this great man was reduced to nothingness in front of Robert caused his mind to go completely blank. He knew that there was nothing he could do to stop this thing. He did not even know if would survive the night.


    "What''s all this commotion?! And why is it coming from my child''s room? There had better be a good explanation for this!" Lord Deason came charging down the hall from his room, half dressed in a robe in a near panic. Lady Deason was poking her head out of the room at the end of the hall.


    "My Lord, get the Lady and get out.. Erghk!" Robert tried to wave his Lord off, but the creature came bowling over him from the room. He was not struck with an attack, but the thing''s body caused electrical currents to seize his entire body and he was thrown into the churning dark mist, once again completely paralyzed and mind going blank.


    "Heh heh heh. More souls for the grinder. I shall allow myself to feast tonight. Oh how long it has been since I''ve come out of the shadows for a little fun. Heh heh heh." The monster opened its impossibly wide grinning mouth into a horrendous maw of fangs and needles as he approached Lord Deason. The man stood trembling in front of this abomination, unable to move with his gaze locked on the creature''s face. Robert had never heard of anything close to how utterly horrifying this creature and this situation was. It was no wonder Lord Deason was unable to function any longer.


    The creature bent down over Lord Deason, placing the upper half of his body mystically in its mouth. There was no room inside the creature''s head for what was obviously happening in front of Robert''s very eyes, but it was undeniable that it was happening.


    The thing suddenly, ruthlessly chomped its mouth shut, cutting Lord Deason in half. It looked up at Lady Deason, chewing its mouth, still with the impossible grin on its face. Blood dribbled down its chin as its eyes shown with ecstasy. The bottom half of what used to be Lord Deason started to crumple, but the creature grabbed it up and shoved the rest of him into its mouth as well.


    "Heh heh heh. Such tasty souls. Not very filling. All you pathetic weaklings on this plane have no substance to your souls. I remember the feasts my brothers and I used to have on the True Realm cultivators of days gone by. Now that was sumptuous! Heh heh heh." The creature''s maniacal voice started to take on a strange timbre, almost as if it was two voices slightly off from each other.


    True Realm cultivators of days gone by? Robert was thoroughly in shock at this point, and his mind latched on to the only thing that made any kind of sense to him. This statement caused Robert to grow even more confused in his near comatose state, but he did not have the chance to reconcile his thoughts on the matter as the darkness consumed his mind and everything went blank. The last thing he heard was a scream from Lady Deason and that ghastly chuckle before everything went black.


    "Heh heh heh..."


    ----- Author''s Note -----


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 Apprenticeship?

    Seifr wiped the sweat off of his brow as he took a momentary break from the bellows. The heat was oppressive inside the smithy, and working the bellows of a forge in a blacksmith as a young man did not exactly help the situation. Seifr had been "apprenticed" to the blacksmith for two months now, and he inevitably always ended up working alone. There was another apprentice old enough to work the forge, but despite his cultivation being higher, Seifr was always the last one standing. Though the youngest journeyman would occasionally help out if absolutely required.


    Seifr had been an apprentice at multiple trades in his young life, never staying long enough to move up beyond the basics of the basics. The smithy was by far the most physically taxing trade he had experienced. It is not to say that Seifr was a quitter or a layabout. He did not move from trade to trade by choice, but rather his father made the decision. Seifr did not understand the point of it until recently. After all, he was just a child until recently, focused on his apprenticeship during the work day, and cultivation and education on his so called free time.


    The genius of what Seifr''s father was teaching him was hard work. He was not learning hard work in the sense that he needed to work hard. That was a given for any apprenticeship and practically beaten into any lazy apprentices. No, he was learning the hard work the masters of the trade were putting into their individual crafts. Seifr''s father was a merchant who worked with each of these trades.


    The profession of merchant was widely looked down upon, but nobody who did business with Morcai Kyian, Seifr''s father, looked down upon him. Morcai had a reputation for providing what was needed, where it was needed, and when it was needed. He forced respect from the nobility and other tradesmen through his business acumen and his all around imposing manner. He was a man who stood head and shoulders above most men and exuded power just standing in place. His cultivation was above average for the layman at the 8th Stage of the Nascent Realm which also added to his general reputation. Power was the number one source of respect, and most tradesmen and commoners never surpassed even the Mortal Realm.


    "Hey, Cripple! Quit daydreaming over there and get back to working the bellows." Jorin, one of the other apprentices, sneered over his broom at Seifr. He was one of the apprentices that could not last as long on the more strenuous jobs, but routinely attempted to ridicule Seifr for his lack of Spiritual Energy accumulation.


    "I''m not a cripple, boy. My Spiritual Energy just has a harder time accumulating within my body." Seifr retorted as he reached up to gain a hold of the bellows again.


    "Umm, yeah, that''s the definition of being crippled. Are you knocked in the head too? And who are you calling boy?" Jorin almost did not catch the subtle insult.


    "I''m calling you boy, boy. You put so much stock into the accumulation of Spiritual Energy, but what''s the most important aspect of cultivation for us in the Common Realm? Building the body. Everyone knows that, and you''re lacking." Seifr took on an almost instructional tone to refute Jorin. They had had this exact conversation countless times, but Seifr was sure it was never going to end if his Spiritual Energy did not increase noticeably.


    "You think you''re so tough because you have a little bit more stamina than me? You better show some respect to your betters lest you want to get whacked with this here broom!" Jorin brandished the broom like it was a staff.


    "Hey! Both of you! You can continue your measuring contest on your own time. When you''re in here, it''s my time." Korrik, the master smith, at this point stepped in to keep his apprentices'' attention where it belonged: his work. "Besides, neither of you have any proper equipment needing measuring anyway." He mumbled that last part under his breath as he turned back towards his work.


    "What was that, Master?" Seifr did not quite catch what Korrik said there at the end.


    "Nothing, you''re both boys! Keep working." Korrik grumbled.


    "Yes, Master," Both boys responded and focused on their separate tasks. The rest of the afternoon dragged on with Seifr and the other apprentices working the odd jobs, maintaining cleanliness, and observing the couple of journeymen who worked for Korrik. Korrik was the master smith. He provided the smithy, the basic tools and equipment, and mentored the journeymen, but the journeymen were in large part the actual teachers of the apprentices. Korrik employed two journeymen and three apprentices at his shop, which made him a fairly respectable smith in his own right just from what that did for his reputation.


    Korrik glanced outside at the sky as it started to turn orange with the setting of the Sun. "Ok everyone wrap up what you''re doing, clean up the shop, then clean up yourselves. No dinner for any sweaty boys at my wife''s table." Korrik said the same thing every day to his apprentices after the work day. He put his own tools neatly away and made his exit to make himself presentable for his wife. There was no dinner for sweaty men at her table, either.


    The apprentices had already begun the ritual of winding down for the day, so they quickly tidied up the shop and made for the water barrels reserved for rinsing themselves off. Jorin stepped in front of Seifr and put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him in place. It was just the three apprentices, the journeymen had left earlier. One of the perks of advancing to journeyman was letting the apprentices clean up.


    "Listen here, Crip, if you don''t start showing me the proper respect, especially in front of everyone else, I''ll make your limbs match your core. Understand?" Jorin slowly tightened his grip on Seifr''s shoulder as he made his intentions known. He was slightly taller, stockier, and nearly two full years older than the other apprentice. He especially did not take kindly to being called "boy" by this younger man.


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    Seifr glanced at the hand on his shoulder and allowed a slow smile to come to his lips as he moved his gaze back up to the older apprentice. "You think you''re the first bully I''ve had to deal with? Do you guys have some sort of handbook you read? It''s always the same. Step one, establish physical dominance with a tough grip. Step two, degrade the intended subject with terrible name calling. Step three, we expect our target to be shaking in his boots by this point, but, well we don''t know what happens here, because we''re dumb and never see it coming." As he was saying his diatribe, Seifr slowly raised his arm to grab Jorin''s hand, the whole time never losing eye contact.


    Seifr was a smaller teenager than Jorin on all accounts, but once he grabbed the larger boy''s hand it was with an iron grip. Jorin tried to retract his hand, but he couldn''t budge it from the other''s grasp. Seifr slowly bent his arm around and applied pressure to his elbow joint making Jorin follow the pressure down to the ground.


    "Did you notice how easy it was for me to take control of this situation? There''s nothing you can do right now, and I have all the power. It should be clear to you now that I don''t just have a little bit more stamina than you." Seifr spoke in a conversational tone. "Now I''m going to be merciful and not hurt you, but don''t forget that I can and will if you push your luck." Seifr let go of the other boy, and as soon as he stood up and faced back around, Seifr punched him in the face with a quick, solid jab.


    Jorin grabbed his nose with both hands and glared at Seifr over the top of his fingers. "You said you were going to be merciful and not hurt me!"


    "What are you talking about? I could have permanently disabled your arm. Causing you momentary pain isn''t hurting you. I told you the truth. If you''re going to put your hands on me, you''re going to get punished. What kind of a punishment is a light warning that you wouldn''t even believe has any teeth behind it?" Seifr smirked at the other boy and moved to the water barrel. The third apprentice was just a boy at nine years old, and he stayed out of the business of the older teenagers.


    Jorin clutched his nose and glared daggers as Seifr''s back. He would have to tell his brother about this incident, then he would see who had the last laugh. But why spoil the surprise and tell him that he was going to get someone else to exact revenge for him? He kept quiet and waited for his turn at the barrel.


    Seifr actually understood that he had a significant chance of reprisal from someone else for his actions today, but he had been through this several times already with his other "apprenticeships." Taking a few hits from someone slightly more powerful was not going to cause any lasting damage, and generally he would become friendlier with the other apprentices after it was all said and done. Not always, but more often than not that was the case.


    Seifr quickly rinsed his body of sweat, grime, and soot and made his way to the outer stairs at the back of the shop that led to the apprentice quarters. Master Korrik and his family occupied the dwelling attached to the back of the smithy separated by a small courtyard on the bottom floor, and the apprentices shared a bunk room with partitions set up for privacy on the second floor. He made his way to his armoire that held his casual clothes and changed into something presentable for dinner. The youngest apprentice would take care of washing the work clothes as part of his duties each day, because he was too small to work the bellows.


    After making his appearance tidy, Seifr joined the other two in heading towards the dining room. Part of the apprenticeship agreement was providing room and board and two meals a day to the young trainees. Pamela, Korrik''s wife, was happy to cook for everyone. They were not quite wealthy enough to afford any kind of servants or staff, but she always maintained a strict cleanliness code for everyone who ate at her table, husband and children included. Their children were older now, with one gaining acceptance into the local cultivator sect, the Blue Vine Sect, and the other having a family of his own, that Pamela no longer had to cook for quite as many people as she did in the past.


    The conversation at the dinner table was cordial, as always, but with a noticeable lack of communication from Jorin. Korrik noticed the redness and minor swelling of his nose, but did not say anything as they were being civil to each other at the table. As the meal was winding down, he focused his attention on Seifr.


    "So my wife tells me we received communication from your father today. Your father has called you home, and it would appear that our arrangement is ended prematurely. It has been a pleasure working with such a hard working young man such as yourself, and I''m sure you''ll do great things with whatever you and your father have planned for your future. I know this was a little more sudden than you were expecting, but we both knew coming into the deal that it wasn''t going to be a permanent thing. We''ll provide you a meal in the morning, and then you can be on your way home." Korrik spoke over his steepled fingers.


    Seifr was taken aback by the sudden proclamation and was stunned for a moment with his hand half way to his mouth with his last bite of food. He set his utensil down, stood up and gave a short bow, "Yes sir, and ma''am. Thank you for having me and teaching me valuable lessons." With that he sat back down and popped his last bite into his mouth. The dinner ended and each of them went their separate ways.


    Seifr did not have much to pack up, as his clothes were generally always arranged in the armoire and chest at his bunk, but he was sure that he still was not going to accomplish much with his cultivation this night.

 Rules?

    Seifr sat on his bunk with his legs crossed in the lotus position. He was relaxed and controlling his breathing. As a beginning practitioner of cultivation in the first realm, the Common Realm, he did not have much of an accumulation of Spiritual Energy in his core, otherwise known as the dantian. Common and Mortal Realm cultivators were not advanced enough to have any kind of inner sight to view their dantian. Instead, they had to focus on the feeling of energy within their muscles and stomach.


    The process of accumulating Spiritual Energy was simple in theory, and almost every single living person practiced it to some extent. If one had no talent, though, it could be expected for one to never advance beyond the Mortal Realm. The practice was to inhale the Spiritual Energy with a controlled breath into the dantian region located in the stomach. From there one would use meditation to circulate the Spiritual Energy throughout the body along the meridian lines. As the Spiritual Energy passed through the meridians, it would seep into the muscles and refine them. The muscles did not have any way to store the Spiritual Energy, though, so the portion that was not expended during the refining would return to the dantian where it would be stored.


    Being disciplined in controlled breathing was important in the process of cultivation. Each circulation of Spiritual Energy along the meridians contained the entirety of the energy stored in the dantian, and it was dangerous to inhale Spiritual Energy into the dantian while the accumulated energy was traveling the meridians. The reason it was dangerous was because the energies would not be combined and compressed together, and when the energy in the meridians returned to the dantian, it would collide violently with any new Spiritual Energy that was inserted into the dantian. This action had the possibilities of rupturing the dantian, dispersing all of the accumulated energy, and making it impossible to store any more energy in the future. Ruptured dantians were nearly impossible to heal, and if the Spiritual Energy contained in a dantian was large enough, it could cause a fatal backlash.


    This illustrated the importance of having controlled breathing. One would inhale the Spiritual Energy into the dantian, combining it with the previously accumulated energies. Next, one would maintain that breath while the energies were circulated and refined the muscles. While the circulation was taking place, the cultivator would exhale the impurities and oxygen with a long, measured expulsion of the breath. This process did not take as long as would be expected. Spiritual Energy could be circulated quite quickly. Some Spiritual Energy would be burned off during the refining of the muscles, and what was not burned off, would compress together while traveling the meridians back to the dantian. As the compressed energies finally returned to the starting point, the practitioner would take the next inhalation and begin the process all over again.


    Every living creature''s dantian was the same size, and compressing the energy was the only method to accumulate more energy. It could be seen, then, how a rupturing of a very dense ball of Spiritual Energy could cause a backlash, a violent eruption of these energies.


    Seifr was not entirely sure what was going on with his accumulation of Spiritual Energy. He was not, in fact, crippled like Jorin claimed. He had accumulated energy in his dantian. The problem was that it seemed almost 90% of all new Spiritual Energy was burned off during the refining process. If one took into account the size of a typical breath, one could see that not a large portion of Spiritual Energy would be inhaled at a time. Seifr''s understanding of the process that he learned from the other young men he had known was that it was typical for about 20% of the energies to burn off. Some had more, and some had less burn off, but it was almost always around 20%.


    Maybe it has something to do with my muscle strength and stamina. Seifr thought to himself. Even though I''ve lagged behind my peers in terms of accumulation, I''ve always been far stronger than them. My stamina and flexibility are of a higher quality, too.


    The practice of cultivation was not centered solely on the accumulation of Spiritual Energy, as could be seen from the fact that the energies refined the body. If the muscles being refined could not handle the process, then the Spiritual Energy would stop compressing, disperse from the meridians, and a bottleneck would be reached until the person built up the physical body to handle the higher concentration of refining. Seifr had yet to reach such a bottleneck despite the higher burn rate of Spiritual Energy.


    My muscles aren''t bulky like I''ve seen in some of the older men trying to break through a bottleneck, but I would say I''m at least as strong as someone in the mid Mortal Realm. I''m only in the 3rd stage of the Common Realm, but I can compete on a physical level with someone of a whole Realm higher. Now if Ki strikes were involved, that would be another story.


    Ki was the short term used to refer to the Spiritual Energy compressed in the dantian, and Ki strikes referred to the ability of those in the Nascent Realm to manifest their accumulated Ki into a physical, or in some cases nonphysical, force to assist with the destructive force contained in an attack. One could also bolster the body to defend against attacks. Nascent Realm cultivators could only use the most basic and primitive forms of Ki striking. Higher realm cultivators could do more advanced actions with their internal Ki.


    Seifr continued his cultivation in silence. The other two apprentices would usually also practice at the end of the day for some time before going to sleep. Energy circulation restored muscle fatigue and generally relaxed the body, but until one reached a higher realm, it did not have an affect on the mind and thus regular sleep was still needed. It was rumored that at the highest levels, one could theoretically go forever without the need to ever sleep again. That sounds terrible. I love sleep too much to give it up forever, Seifr chuckled to himself between breaths.


    Seifr did not pay attention to the other apprentices while he was practicing his cultivation. Indeed, paying attention to anything else while cultivating was a good way to mess up the breathing and cause an accident. If he had been paying attention, though, he would have noticed that Jorin did not join him in his cultivation practice, but instead had slinked off to somewhere else after dinner and had yet to return.


    Seifr knew that he would not get much sleep even if he tried to, so he planned on cultivating longer than usual this evening. There was no rule that people had to cultivate at night, but generally people were too busy during the day to focus on anything other than their daily life. Only disciples in cultivation sects, like the local Blue Vines Sect, could focus on cultivating at any time they needed to, because that was their life.


    Seifr continued his cultivation through the night, and was pleasantly surprised when he suddenly entered the 4th stage of the Common Realm. Recognizing new stages within a realm was an instinct that all living beings capable of cultivation had. Some of the stage increases were accompanied by minor bottlenecks, similar to how the body would need to be built up to progress past certain levels of Ki compression, but that was not always an indication of a rank up. Advancement to a higher realm was a qualitative change in the internal Ki and was always marked with a bottleneck. Considering Seifr had yet to reach a bottleneck imposed by his body, he had to gauge his level based on instinct.


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    Anyone else who saw him and focused on the Spiritual Energy fluctuations produced by his body would also naturally understand his cultivation level. For beings that were considerably higher in cultivation, one would not be able to comprehend the fluctuations or necessarily even notice them, so they would either appear as unfathomable or as nothing, depending on the level of disparity.


    Seifr was in the middle of ruminating on his progression speed when he suddenly heard people approaching the apprentice quarters up the stairs outside.


    "Hey, Cripple, stop wasting your time trying to advance your cultivation. We all know it''s useless to struggle against your fate. Get out here so we don''t have to cause a ruckus when we beat some respect into you." Jorin''s voice came from the stairway outside. He was not speaking loud, as he did not want to face the consequences of waking either Pamela or Master Korrik. He was not that brave. Or stupid, Seifr smirked to himself as he got up from his bunk.


    Seifr exited the quarters and stood on the landing. He looked down at the two young men standing on the stairs. Jorin was accompanied by an older, slightly larger version of himself. It was obvious that the two were brothers. The older boy had his hair cropped short, and he wore the blue robes with the Blue Vines emblem sewed on it indicating that he was a disciple of the Blue Vines Sect. At a glance, Seifr could determine that he was close to the peak of the Mortal Realm, about to ascend to the Elementary Realm


    "This the guy?" The older boy asked, with a slight frown on his face.


    "Yeah, Jerin, he''s the cripple who doesn''t know how to show respect to his betters." Jorin jeered.


    "Seriously? You called me over to deal with a 4th Stage Common Realm brat? And obviously from the fact that he''s 4th stage it can be seen that he''s not a cripple, he just lacks any kind of talent." Jerin shook his head as he made his way down to the courtyard with Jorin in tow. They obviously expected Seifr to follow them down, and he obliged them.


    "4th stage?" Jorin was slightly taken aback. He knew that just this morning, Seifr was only at the 3rd stage. It was not much of an improvement, and definitely not inconceivable; however, Seifr had yet to improve at all the entire two months he had been a fellow apprentice for the smith.


    Seifr walked down the steps and approached the two other boys. He had a strange expression on his face as he walked up to them. "Your name is Jerin? You''re Jorin and Jerin? Hahaha, did your parents run out of letters or something?" Seifr wouldn''t let someone ridicule him without taunting back.


    Jerin''s frown deepened as he watched Seifr approach. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Ok, here are the rules. No hitting below the belt. No hitting in the face. No..." Seifr continued his approach while Jerin started to name off rules for their confrontation.


    In the middle of Jerin''s speech, Seifr did not stop or slow down, and when he arrived in front of the young man, he immediately punched him in the face. Jerin was stunned for a second like he could not believe the audacity of this younger teenager. Seifr did not let up, and after punching him in the face, he punched him again in the throat. Jerin was at the peak of the Mortal Realm. The only way Seifr was going to win this fight was to gain dominance and dictate the pace. While Jerin was still reeling from the unexpected actions, Seifr kicked him in the shin, then wrapped his leg behind the other boy''s leg, grabbed his arm, and twisted and pushed him to the ground in the same motion.


    Seifr stood over the other boy holding his wrist and stepping on his shoulder. "Rules? Ain''t no rules in fighting." And with that, he proceeded to kick Jerin in the ribs. Jorin was completely dumbfounded, standing off to the side watching this scene unfold in front of his eyes. By the time he had recovered and was going to assist his brother, Seifr looked him right in the eyes. That look froze him in place and conveyed the message that he had just made a terrible mistake.


    "Ok ok ok! I give! I give!" Jerin quickly started pleading for Seifr to let up on him. Seifr was not a monster, so he immediately stopped when the other boy pleaded for mercy.


    "Well, now that that''s decided, I think it''s time for me to get some sleep. Thanks for helping me burn off some of that nervous energy. I needed that." Seifr grinned at the two boys who just looked at him like he was a fantastical creature. Seifr chuckled and headed back to the quarters to go to sleep. He knew that the two brothers were not really being malicious, and so he did not think to make things more difficult for them.


    "You''re not even going to try to fight him now that he''s lost his momentum? C''mon, you''re almost at the Elementary stage. Don''t tell me that little brat scared you?" Jorin did not understand why Jerin was not putting up more of a fight.


    "I know that he''s only at the 4th Stage Common Realm, but he packed quite a punch. If I didn''t know better, I''d say he was at least 2nd or 3rd Stage Mortal Realm." Jerin rubbed his shoulder where it had been twisted as he stood up.


    "In that case, don''t you have some senior disciples who can teach him a lesson?" Jorin really did not want to let this go.


    "Are you out of your mind?! You want me to go to one of my seniors and tell him that I had my ass handed to me by a brat in the 4th Common Realm, and the cause of the fight was because you felt disrespected? No, I don''t think so. You just need to live with the fact that even though his accumulation is low, he''s not a weakling." Jerin shook his head and headed for the exit of the courtyard to make his way back to the sect.


    Jorin stood there with a frown on his face in deep thought. There was something to what his brother said. Power equaled respect, and he initially did not respect Seifr based on the observation that Seifr was lacking in Spiritual Energy accumulation. But could it be said that Seifr was lacking in power absolutely? If that was the case, what did it say about those he beat who had higher cultivation? Jorin would have to reevaluate his world view in light of this. He was one of the lucky ones to come to this kind of realization so early in his life. Focusing solely on Ki levels had lead to the deaths of many an arrogant cultivator.


    With the end of the confrontation with Jorin and his brother, Seifr was able to relax enough to finally fall asleep. The morrow would open up a new chapter in his life when he found out why his father had called him home early.

 Thats Just the Way it is

    Seifr slung his travel sack over his shoulder as he exited the dining room to the courtyard. Pamela and Master Korrik followed him out. Korrik extended his hand to shake Seifr''s in farewell, and Pamela stepped forward to give him a brief hug. True to their word, they had fed him before seeing him off.


    "Good luck out there, son." Korrik waved Seifr out the courtyard into the bustling street awaiting him. Master Korrik''s smithy was located in a fairly prominent commercial district with other craftsman''s homes and workshops populating the area. They were currently in the grand city of Vinson, the capital of the province of North Squire in the Dalcot Empire.


    Vinson was a large city that had many reputable craftsmen, and also was home to Seifr''s father''s business, the Kyian Trading House. It was unclear if the KTH was responsible for the quality and quantity of craftsmen, or if it was the craftsmen that were responsible for the success of the KTH. Either way, Vinson was fairly famous for the symbiotic relationship of the two. The KTH was a prominent trading company that had offices in many cities, including three other provincial capitals in the Dalcot Empire. Despite his reputation of being a respected merchant by the noble class, Morcai Kyian avoided politics, and thus avoided establishing an actual office in the imperial capital, aptly named Dalco.


    Seifr stepped out into the street, just another man in the crowd. Even at this early hour, the streets were bustling. Vinson was a very rich city, and the level of commerce at nearly all hours was a reflection of this. The Kyain manor, despite being the home of the owner of the KTH, was located in a rural district away from all of the hustle and bustle of city life. Morcai Kyian preferred a quiet life when he was at home, which meant that Seifr had to navigate the crowds and cross nearly half the city to get to his house.


    The young apprentices tasked with cajoling people out of the crowds and into the shops ignored Seifr, as he was a known entity. Many of the younger apprentices would spend the majority of the day working on good old fashioned advertising, attempting to convince strangers that their shops contained what they absolutely could not live without. Street food vendors added to the cacophony of sounds ringing throughout the district, feeding the people who were traversing the roads.


    Seifr was always astonished at how loud it was on the street even at such an early hour. The sounds of the smithy kept his attention when he was working as an apprentice, and the solid walls kept most of the noise out.


    "Wait. Wait Seifr." Seifr heard someone calling out to him over the din of the crowd. He turned around to see Jorin hurrying towards him while tying an apron on at the same time. Seifr was actually stunned to realize Jorin had called him by his name. "Seifr, actually... umm. I feel awkward doing this. We''re told that admitting mistakes and apologizing somehow makes one less of a man or something. I never fully understood that, but that''s neither here nor there. We''re also taught to respect strength and disdain weakness. Ok ok. What I''m trying to say is that I thought you were weak, but you''re not. I should have shown you respect. Whew." Jorin was pale faced and appeared to be slightly panicked. He seemed to be struggling to resolve the contradiction of appearing weak for apologizing but being honest and humble for when one was wrong. Seifr understood what was going through his mind at that moment, because that was not the first time it had happened to him. He was actually expecting something similar for a while now.


    "I appreciate that. It took some courage to swallow your pride. Think nothing of it. It''s just the way things are, and now you know better. I''m confident we can part as friends." Seifr extended his hand towards Jorin. Jorin had a look of relief come across his face and shook Seifr''s hand in parting.


    "Yeah, see you ''round." Jorin waved and returned through the crowd to the smithy. Their little scene in the middle of the street went wholly unnoticed by people around them.


    Seifr continued his journey through the trade district unmolested after the final farewell. He wandered down the street, lost in thought speculating over the reasons for the sudden call home. Maybe he didn''t want me to bulk up too much like the other smiths. Even though he''s a big guy himself, father is not a muscle head. Might give off the wrong impression. Or maybe he''s sending me on one of the caravans to one of the other cities? Or a fiancee? Hmmmm... Not sure what I think about that at the moment.


    Seifr was in deep thought pondering the vastness of the universe, namely, myself, when a commotion caught his attention on the other side of the street.


    "Hand it over, I know you have the neidan. I was tracking that beast for several days when you swooped in and stole it out from under me!" As the voice rang out, the crowd seemed to spontaneously create a space around the confrontation. Most of the bystanders just kept walking without even so much as a second glance. Some of the other teenagers stopped to watch the fun.


    "Hah, you would claim that the neidan belonged to you. But I slew the beast, and I took it. Clearly it''s mine. Now quit harassing me, and make way." The man who responded was garbed in protective leathers apparently crafted from some of the beasts that were popularly hunted. He appeared to be in his mid 20s, and he had a sword strapped to his back. His posture was one of aggression and he exuded the power of the peak of the Elementary Stage.


    "Trifling Elementary Stage. If I say it belongs to me, then who are you to claim otherwise? Don''t blame me, blame yourself for having what I want and not being strong enough to keep me from taking it." The first man was dressed in a simple outfit. He stood with his arms crossed, and did not appear to be armed. He gave off the impression of being superior to all of those around him.


    "We''ll see who''s trifling!" The accosted man reached up to his sword and drew it forth in a wide arc combining it into an attack on the other man. The other man sneered as he casually avoided the blow, and shot his hand out lightning quick. He was considerably faster than the man with the sword, and the first man stopped in place with a look of astonishment on his face. His hands went limp as he dropped his sword and collapsed to the ground, blood pooling under his body.


    The first man covertly sheathed the dagger he had used to end the other man''s life as he bent down to rifle through his pockets. He seemed to find what he was looking for and straightened up. As he stood back up, his gaze locked with Seifr''s. The man winked at Seifr, then nonchalantly turned and sauntered off. The crowd never even made a noise at this casual murder in broad daylight in the middle of the street in the commercial district.


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    Seifr shook his head as he continued on his way. That''s just the way it is. A city guard will be along shortly to cart the body off and confiscate any valuables not taken by the assailant. Open murder was not something that happened at all hours of the day, but it was common enough that most people just ignored it if they were not involved or interested somehow. It was the law of the jungle when it came to cultivators.


    Commoners in the Common or Mortal realm were usually not quick enough or powerful enough to end a fight so quickly, and the city guards were usually able to intervene on time. It was a gamble for them to try to intervene with higher realm cultivators though, because one could never know exactly how powerful the opponent was. Guards could rush in thinking they were up against an Elementary or Nascent Realm, to find out it was actually the Earth Realm, and the next thing known is that half a city block had been destroyed in retaliation. That was the opposite affect the city guard tried to achieve, so over time they had eventually evolved to a system of ignoring confrontations of cultivators.


    Seifr soon passed the demarcation line of the commercial district into the residential district. This was not an actual line, and it was not anything so obvious as a clean break between workshops and residences, but it was generally understood that the East Auction House, a subsidiary of KTH, though most people did not realize this fact, was the border between the two. The wealthier residential districts were located in the inner city, with commercial zones acting as a buffer between them and the poorer districts on the outer edges of the city. The imperial offices were naturally located in the center of the city, and also naturally, the more politically savvy and wealthy noblemen wanted to be close to the center of power. Most of the cities in the Dalcot Empire were built this way.


    Seifr''s destination was on the Southwest side past the commercial district, and even past the commoner district on the other side. Vinson was large enough that it would take several hours to make this trip by walking. During his trek across town, Seifr saw other confrontations between commoners and cultivators alike, but no more that ended with violence. Generally people could be expected to be reasonable in the end. Having hot blood coursing through your veins was a good way to a short life.


    Seifr finally saw the manor in the distance. There was no wall surrounding Vinson, though the nobles had been trying to get one approved for a long time, so the countryside would generally creep up on the city. One minute Seifr was walking the streets of the city, the next he was virtually in the wilderness. Seifr''s home was on open acreage with a short brick wall built around it, almost like a mini farm partitioned off from the neighbors.


    Seifr could see actual farmland stretching out for miles around the city reaching all the way to the forests and true wilderness off in the distance. A large city like Vinson needed to eat, and a lot of commoners were employed as farmhands. Most of the farmlands were actually owned by the peerage, but a significant portion was owned by commoners. Morcai owned the plot directly adjacent to his property. If there was a market for it, Morcai was interested in it. Seifr had spent a season reaping wheat three years ago when he had just turned 12. One of the first "apprenticeships" he had experienced, and it had almost traumatized him when he thought his father was banishing him to be a farmhand.


    The security at the manor was light. There were only a couple of token guards, though they were all at least in the Nascent Realm. Not many people had the guts to rob Morcai Kyian, and the noblemen needed his services too much to get on his bad side.


    Seifr quickly crossed the threshold of the wall to the manor. When he entered, there was a servant waiting to take his bag to his room. Seifr knew he could find his father in his office. Although KTH had an actual office where many people were employed, Morcai worked from home and had his manager oversee the office building in the center of the city. Seifr had spent a winter there learning how to do the books when he was learning more advanced reading, writing, and arithmetic.


    Upon entering the office, Seifr was surprised to see that his father was not actually busy at work, but was instead seated at a plush chair, drinking wine, and conversing with a stranger. The stranger was likewise seated with glass of wine in hand. He was amicably chatting with Seifr''s father, and he had a profound aura about him. Clearly he was a man of note, though Seifr had never noted him before.


    "Greetings, Father; greetings, sir." Seifr entered and gave a short bow while he politely greeted the two seated men.


    "Ahh, Seifr. You''ve returned. No doubt you''re curious as to why I cut your time short with the blacksmith. This man here, Kveld, is the answer. He is a personal cultivation tutor for the nobility. To our good luck, a slot opened up. I contacted my friends in the peerage and got you a spot in his school, The Misty Realm." Morcai appeared quite pleased with himself.


    The Misty Realm was quite famous in Vinson as the quasi-sect for the nobility. There were many nobles who joined sects, but it was an unwritten rule that they would then focus on that sect and stay out of the imperial politics. It did not always happen, but usually the other nobles could apply pressure, overt and otherwise, to bring these rules to bear. If a noble family wanted the young masters or mistresses of the family to gain the use of resources and instruction others could with a sect, but also be able to influence the empire, then the children would attend a cultivation academy or private tutor. The Misty Realm was the only noble academy in Vinson, and thus was quite demanding in its entrance qualifications for non-nobles.


    Kveld frowned over his wine glass as he took Seifr in with one glance. "Your son appears to be falling behind his peers in cultivation. Don''t worry if he doesn''t have any talent. We can always beat that into him." Seifr was not sure if he liked the sound of that.

 Balance

    Morcai chuckled as he gestured with his wine glass, "Feel free to beat him if you deem it necessary, but I can assure you, he has more talent than anyone else attending your academy."


    Kveld shifted his gaze over to Morcai. "I understand he''s your son, but just from looking at him I can see that he''s clearly 15 years old and only at the 4th Stage of the Common Realm. Ninety percent of the students we accept, even the ones we have to accept, are at least at the peak of the Common Realm. How can you sit there and tell me he''s the most talented student? No offense, but I''ve observed over the years that parents can be blind to a fault in regards to their children, especially the powerful parents. The more powerful, the more blind." Kveld spoke his mind freely, because he simply did not fear any repercussions for his statements. Not only because he was several realms above Morcai in cultivation, but also because they had had professional dealings in the past and had a certain rapport established already.


    Morcai snorted and set his wine glass down on the side table next to his chair. "Do I look like one of those blathering idiots who bases his opinions on sentimentality? I can assure you I am quite serious in the estimation of his talent. Let me be clear. I did not say he was the most powerful. That is obvious. I said he was the most talented. You of all people should know the importance of balance between the body and Ki. Seifr has a considerably above average musculature." At this point, he glanced at Seifr and addressed him, "Yes, I''ve paid attention to your cultivation speed, and I''ve seen the questions in your eyes. The above normal burn rate is completely normal for you. Once your body reaches the initial threshold, the Spiritual Energy accumulation should stabilize." He glanced back over at Kveld. "Does that answer your question?"


    "It''s a start. Obviously you''re correct about the balance, but I shall withhold my personal judgment until I have seen the evidence of this and his work ethic. Work ethic, in my eyes, is absolutely part of one''s talent." Kveld turned to Seifr and addressed him directly for the first time. "I am the Headmaster of The Misty Realm Academy. From henceforth you shall address me as Master. We are very, very strict in our methods for bringing out the best in all of our students, but we are only very strict in etiquette. As you most likely know, the majority of our students are of noble blood. Proper etiquette and a clear chain of command are necessary at all times to keep many of these, and other rich children, in their proper place as disciples. I am the master, and I shall place instructors over you. They shall be addressed as Instructor until further notice. Do you understand what I have said so far?"


    "Yes, Master," Seifr quickly responded. He was slightly overwhelmed by the suddenness of how serious it became, but the rules outlined to him so far were fairly straightforward and simple.


    "As I said earlier, I am the Headmaster. I am not your personal mentor. You may have the opportunity to study directly under me in the future, but it is not guaranteed. That is a privilege that one must earn. That being said, the purpose of me personally coming here today is two-fold. One: giving face to your father, and two: giving you your first official lesson as a show of good faith to my friend. Many of the other noble children receive this treatment, so don''t let it go to your head." Kveld stood up and walked up to Seifr who had not moved since entering the office.


    Kveld walked around Seifr and inspected him like one would cattle or a piece of meat. He reached out and grabbed Seifr''s arms, shoulders, thighs, and calfs. He pushed against his chest and back.


    "Yes, I can see that your body is indeed sturdy. But you still have a long, uphill road ahead of you in terms of accumulation. As your first lesson, I shall expand on what your father and I were talking about in terms of balance. This is especially important information for you, as it seems to apply to you even more so than the average cultivator." Kveld stopped inspecting Seifr and went back to his seat.


    "I''m going to assume that you know the basics?" Kveld raised an eyebrow at Seifr. The boy nodded his head. "Good. I shall expand on your foundational understanding. The First Path, the Mortal Path, is what we call cultivators in the first 4 realms: Common, Mortal, Elementary, and Nascent. In the Mortal Path, the cultivator is just starting out on the road to power, and ultimately, if one is extremely talented and lucky, immortality. Many cultivators, especially those in the Second Path, the Cultivator Path, only focus on Spiritual Energy accumulation. This is because eventually, the accumulation of Spiritual Energy provides far more power to the cultivator than the body alone possibly could. This is not true on the Mortal Path. Indeed a balance between the two is required for one to transcend the Mortal Path and enter the Cultivator Path. If one is not in perfect harmony between the body and spirit, one could expect to never surpass the first true bottleneck from the 10th Stage Nascent Realm to the 1st Stage Spirit Realm."


    Seifr stood there and considered the words that his new Master was speaking. On a subconscious level, he had always understood these initial points, but he had never quite put them into these simple words. This was also the first time he had heard any kind of clue as to how to succeed beyond the Nascent Realm to the Spirit Realm.


    "Consider this: The Spiritual Energy that you are accumulating into your body refines your muscles. Your muscles can only handle so much refinement before they reach a point where there can be no improvement. If your muscles cannot receive any more refinement, then the new Spiritual Energy cannot be burned off and compressed in your meridians. The only solution to this is to expand your muscle base. Now if this is true, how come all of the cultivators you see on the Cultivator Path aren''t hulking monstrosities of muscle?"


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    Seifr pondered this question for a moment before he tried at a guess that seemed as if it might be the obvious answer. "If there is a requirement for balance needed for advancement, then that could mean that there is a balance in the way the methods are achieved. If that is the case, then is it that the muscles also undergo compression?"


    Kveld looked over at Morcai who had a pleased look on his face. "Yes, that is absolutely correct. The answer is that I, and every other cultivator of and around my level, are hulking monstrosities of muscles. We''ve just compressed them into a normal semblance of the human appearance. The fact that your stockiness is so pronounced means one of two things: Either your muscles are naturally compressed to a degree of almost a realm higher than your cultivation level, or your muscle structure is different than the average human. We might never know.


    "Continuing on. The Philosophy of Balance can be found in many things: Light and Darkness, Hot and Cold, Good and Evil, just to name a few. If the dichotomy of the human spirit can be described by the Philosophy of Balance in terms of Good and Evil on such a broad scale as societies as a whole waging war, all the way down to each individual person and aspect of that person making personal decisions, it can be seen how important balance is to the cultivator. With a powerful body and spirit, one must have a serene and calm mind. With an increased longevity, one must sacrifice blood and sweat. With immortality comes a disdain for life. This may sound harsh, but if you have lived for a thousand years and all of your friends and relatives have passed away, you would understand. The dichotomy of man doesn''t end here; there are many more examples. I leave that to you to find for yourself and your instructors to guide you.


    "This is your first lesson, and your first steps to Enlightenment of the Paths. It is a long road ahead of you, but tread firmly." Kveld stopped his instruction and looked to Morcai. "Thank you for the wine. I shall take my leave now. Have your son report to the academy first thing in the morning." Kveld gave a nod of the head to Morcai. It would not be proper for a man of his cultivation to bow to a Nascent Realm merchant, no matter his political or economic ties. Morcai clearly understood this and stood to shake his hand and return the gesture by personally escorting him out of the manor.


    Seifr remained in the office and waited for his father to conclude the business at hand. As he looked around the room he noticed that it had not changed at all in the past two months. As far as he could recall, the only thing that ever changed about the room was which pile of papers his father had on the desk.


    It was a typical office with comfy chairs for guests, a desk, and full bookshelves full of who knew what writings and records. The only thing that seemed out of place was the monstrously large, full body mirror set up to the side of the desk. Seifr knew his father was not a vain man, and he could never recall him adjusting his appearance or even looking in a mirror. It''s unimportant. Interesting, but unimportant.


    Morcai soon returned from seeing Kveld out. He poured himself some more wine and then sat back down in the chair and studied Seifr. The silence in the room dragged on for a few minutes, and was finally broken after Seifr started to fidget.


    "So what do you think about my decision?" Morcai asked his son.


    "Even though I''m honored at the opportunity to attend such a prestigious school, I''m not entirely sure about the underlying reasons behind such a decision. I understand that one of the pillars of gaining respect and building a reputation is personal, physical power, but we''re merchants." Seifr answered.


    "Hah, I''m so much more than a merchant," Morcai scoffed at the notion that he was a simple merchant. "One day you will see the truth of things. But do some critical thinking about what''s going to happen."


    "I''m going to enter a school for cultivation and learn from talented and knowledgeable instructors."


    "Go on," Morcai prodded.


    "I''ll be surrounded by those of noble birth and other rich individuals." Seifr put his hand to his chin and stroked it with his fingers in contemplation. "I''ll be able to make many contacts in my age group that could potentially turn out to be important allies in the future."


    "Networking is only a part of what you''re going there to learn, aside from cultivating, which is obvious. No, the real reason is for you to observe and learn about the nobles themselves. I want you to learn who they are deep down. I want you to observe their actions and analyze them and see if you could make better decisions. This will be very important for your profession one day. If you make some friends and allies, so be it, but that''s not what you are to focus on. Do you understand?"


    "Yes, sir," Seifr replied. It seemed obvious now that his father had spelled it out to him. If he was going to manage a huge entity like the Kyian Trading House, then he needed to be a ruler in a sense. He had to rule is own mini kingdom of business, and he had to do it better than even the nobles.


    "You have a lot to think about, and you''ve been on your feet all day. We''ll eat dinner shortly, and then you can retire to your room to do some cultivation and relaxation. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow." Morcai ended the conversation.


    Seifr was not particularly tired, one of the benefits of cultivating and having a sturdy musculature he supposed, but he did agree with his father on thinking about this new path he was about to tread. And considering he still had yet to reach the initial threshold to balance which his father spoke of, he could use all the extra cultivation he could get. He was excited at the prospect that he would now be able to focus on his cultivation.

 Kohl

    Seifr stood at the entrance way to The Misty Realm Academy and gazed all around. The grounds were substantial, and he did not know how he had never noticed them before. The Misty Realm Academy was located only a couple of blocks away from the Kyian Trading House headquarters, where he had been on numerous occasions.


    The academy was walled off from the rest of the city and appeared to take up an entire block. The lawns were well manicured and there were peaceful brick paths meandering through the groves and fields. Seifr could see a small garden in the corner off a ways by itself that he could feel a noticeable pulse of Spiritual Energy emanating from. Considering his low cultivation base, one could imagine how powerful the fluctuations were. Seifr did not know what was being grown, but it was most likely herbs that assisted with cultivation. He had heard of some, but he had never used any or known anyone who had.


    The main pathway from the gate lead straight to a large four-story building directly in the center of the campus. The academy took up a city block, so was square shaped, but the grounds were laid out in a circle with other buildings in a pattern in the primary directions. Seifr imagined that the corners created between the circle and the square wall were special locations like the garden he had spied upon entry.


    There were many young men and women walking about along the main path lining up in front of a table set out with several older men and women sitting behind. Seifr assumed this was the admissions table where he would identify himself and receive instruction on where he would go from here. He could also see some older teenagers already in the grounds walking along the paths, some with purpose, and others meandering, apparently lost in thought.


    Seifr walked to the back of the line and took his place. There were probably fifty or sixty others waiting along with him, but the line was moving at a relatively quick pace compared to other lines he had been subjected to. The academy grounds appeared to be a very peaceful, tranquil conclave segregated from the busy city surrounding it. Seifr noticed that, much like the smithy, he could not hear the outer city from within the grounds.


    Seifr''s peace and quiet was suddenly disturbed as someone snickered behind him. "Looky here, boys; we got ourselves a 4th Stage Commoner. What''s a piece of trash like him doing here?" The voice was loud and unapologetic, almost like it wanted to spread attention of Seifr''s situation to as many people as possible.


    Seifr turned his head and glanced at the other boy who had spoken. He was roughly the same age, with a neat aristocratic attire and hairstyle. He was the epitome of posh and arrogance. Seifr noticed that he was at the earliest stages of the Elementary Realm, so far the highest cultivation of anyone he had met close to his age. Typically teenagers around 15 were in the low to mid Mortal Realm, and some geniuses were at the peak of the Mortal Realm. Clearly this young aristocrat was actually quite skilled.


    The aristocrat was talking to a group of other young noble boys who appeared to be with him. Seifr imagined that they were the other boy''s lackeys. He had seen the type before, weak willed snivellers latching on to an alpha male to make themselves feel important. There were five other boys, all with looks of disdain and ridicule on their faces sneering at Seifr.


    Seifr decided that the best course of action to take was to ignore this magpie, so he turned back to facing the front and remained silent.


    "Hey, trash, I''m talking to you! Don''t turn your back on me or you''ll regret it. Don''t you know who I am?" The young man continued.


    Seifr sighed in his heart as he turned back around, "No, I don''t know who you are. And I don''t care." With that, he once again faced forward.


    The other boy''s face became nearly apoplectic with shock. Nobody dismissed him, and hardly anyone did not know who he was. "You don''t know who I am? Of course, how silly of me, rodents obviously don''t recognize the masters. Listen here, trash, I''m Kohl Lucidi. As in the heir to the Lucidi House, the family granted governorship of this province."


    Seifr''s eyebrows rose up in surprise. The governor''s son! Seifr had an involuntary panic attack before he calmed himself. Doesn''t matter, we''re in The Misty Realm. Master Kveld told me yesterday that there was a clear chain of command with the instructors, and that did not include bowing to the noble kids.


    Seifr turned back around and looked Kohl up and down. He really did not want to get into a fight first thing upon entering the academy, but it seemed like there was a sign that followed him around that just yelled at people, "Hit me!"


    "And?" Seifr appeared nonplussed and utterly calm, even though his heart rate had picked up. Hopefully one of the instructors or older students saw what was happening and intervened before things got out of hand.


    "And? And? And get out of here! Nobody wants some no-talent trash like you destroying the exalted reputation of this academy." Kohl gesticulated loudly, drawing even more attention from others waiting in line further ahead.


    "Oh? And you''re the arbiter of admissions to the school? I thought you said it was exalted? Since when did they employ a child in the 1st Stage Elementary Realm as an instructor? It would appear the standards have already fallen if that''s the case." Seifr shook his head at Kohl''s rampant attitude.


    "Are you talking back to me? Did you not hear me when I said who I am? Or are you just cracked in the head? Mentally challenged individuals likewise aren''t wanted. If you won''t walk out, you''ll be carried out." Kohl smirked to his so-called friends as he approached Seifr.


    Here we go again. This time he''s in the Elementary Realm, but he looks like someone who''s never been in a real fight before. I''ll stick to my usual strategy of dominating the pace. Seifr appeared calm as he waited for Kohl to get within striking range. He did not even know the rules of the academy yet, and he was already in a fight.


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    As soon as Kohl entered Seifr''s personal space, Seifr lashed out at the other boy with his trademark jab to the face. Kohl was not as unprepared and arrogant as he appeared, and he easily deflected the blow with a look of disdain on his face. He was about to open his mouth to further ridicule his opponent, but Seifr had never actually stopped moving, and his follow-up strike landed solidly in Kohl''s abdomen. Seifr was right in his assumption that Kohl had never been in a real fight before, and was just expecting to use his higher cultivation to brute force take control.


    Seifr made one miscalculation, though, and he found out what it was shortly after the satisfying gut punch. A blow struck him on the back of the head from his blind spot, and staggered him. As he was about to regain his balance, another blow came from the other direction and knocked him down. He had assumed he would just have to fend off Kohl, but with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he realized that look from Kohl to his friends earlier was actually a signal.


    "Punch me in the stomach?!" Kohl yelled out shrilly. He had never been struck in retaliation before. This was an utter humiliation. He screamed at the boy on the ground and ruthlessly kicked him in the ribs. Seifr curled up into a ball and tried to protect himself to the best of his abilities. He had been beaten in fights before, but usually when one was knocked to the ground and could not get back up, the pressure was let off. Not so with these aristocratic teenagers. They''re so used to standing on the backs of the commoners that they don''t even realize how ironic it is for them to be ganging up and kicking a man when he''s down.


    Kohl continued to kick Seifr, trying to smash his face in while the other nobles rained blows onto his body as well. Most of them were at the 1st Stage of the Mortal Realm, so they were not causing any real damage to Seifr, but the kicks from Kohl hurt. He was sure his body would be covered in bruises later.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" A man in his late twenties dressed in the robes of an instructor came rushing over from the table. He had been seated there and noticed some strange activity with the line and finally realized what was going on when he caught a glance through the crowd at the vicious faces of the young nobles.


    "This doesn''t concern you," Kohl casually replied without even looking up and brought his foot back to deliver another kick.


    The man who was obviously an instructor instantly dashed in front of Kohl and slapped him across the face, knocking him down. He glared at the other young men and pointed to a spot to the side. "Wait there and don''t move. Anyone who disobeys is expelled." He then turned his attention back to Kohl. Kohl had an astonished look on his face while he laid there propped up on his elbow with his other hand on his face where he had been slapped.


    Kohl regained his composure and leapt to his feet and screamed at the older man, "How dare you strike me! I''m of noble blood..."


    The instructor lashed out and slapped Kohl to the ground again. "Your blood means less than dog shit after you stepped through the gate into our grounds." The instructor did not seem impressed with Kohl''s declaration of being a noble.


    Kohl again stood and glared at the instructor. "I am the heir to the Lucidi House. I demand an apology! And I demand to speak to Kveld right now!"


    The instructor''s eyes widened at the outburst from the young man, and Kohl thought that he had him now. Kohl was utterly flabbergasted when the older man started laughing in his face.


    "Hahahaha! You think I don''t know exactly who you are? Your father knows that he better not dare to disrespect Master Kveld. If he wanted to see Master Kveld, he would make an appointment and then wait, much less demand to see him."


    Kohl seemed to realize that he had struck an iron wall this time, but he was too stubborn to give up just yet after being humiliated by a commoner. "Maybe I can''t demand to see Kveld...urkfg..."


    As soon as Kohl mentioned the name Kveld again, the smile on the instructor''s face vanished to be replaced with viciousness as he slammed Kohl into the ground. "Boy, even I address Master Kveld as Master. If you so much as even think about him without that honorific again, I will make your life a living nightmare. Mark my words, I will hurt you. This started off as me breaking up a fight, but now you have repeatedly disrespected me, Master Kveld, and this academy. As punishment you must face the central hall, kowtow, and bark like a dog so you never forget your place."


    Kohl was horrified at what he was hearing. Never in his life had he imagined that he would be subjected to such treatment. He wanted to get up and refuse, but the instructor placed a foot on his back and held him in place. Clearly he meant for him to do as he was told without even having the opportunity to stand up and orient himself. The instructor looked over at the other nobles, "You, too. Quick, quick!"


    All of the noble children who had been involved in the confrontation quickly scrambled to obey this instructor. The Misty Realm was not joking around when they said there was a clear chain of command.


    As Kohl kowtowed toward the central hall, he glanced at Seifr, who had long since stood back up. The rage and hate in his eyes was creating a nearly palpable feeling in the air, and Seifr could feel the desire for blood from this other young man. Great, the punishment that the instructor put on him has obviously been blamed on me. Typical. Thanks, Instructor, for making me an enemy for life.

 Celia

    Seifr stood in front of the building that would be where he would receive instruction for the time being. After the confrontation with Kohl, the instructor had immediately led Seifr to the front of the line. He was quickly sorted out and given instruction on where to go as well as a token he could use to obtain a disciple''s robe and badge. Wearing the robe was optional, but all disciples were required to have their badge on them whenever they were on the grounds. It had an energy signature imprinted on it for identification, and they could be tracked to quite an astonishing distance, further than the confines of the city.


    Seifr learned that fighting was not strictly forbidden, but it had to be done in one of the sparring grounds with either an older disciple or an instructor present. It would not be good if the academy developed a reputation of letting spars get out of hand and allowing noble children to die, whether deliberately or accidentally. When it came to fights between cultivators, death was always a real possibility. Seifr, Kohl, and the gaggle of geese in disguise as nobles who were following Kohl around were simply warned about further hostilities because they were not official students and did not know the procedures for sparring.


    Seifr observed the building in front of him. It was three stories tall and quite large. It was not as large as the central hall, but that was the largest building on campus, and for good reason. The central hall contained private quarters available to all of the instructors and staff at the academy as well as a mess hall and other amenities for them. It was tough to be allowed to be an instructor at The Misty Realm, and as such, they had a lot of perks to offer to the best. Instructors naturally were not required to live in those quarters, but there was one set aside even for the instructors who had homes in the city.


    There was a field off to the side with a small stage and some bleachers set up for observation. That would be the sparring grounds for this section of the school. Each section had their own main building and sparring grounds, as well as a dormitory available for the students assigned to that section.


    The campus was divided up by cultivation base, and the pattern was sectioned off like a compass. The main entrance was from the South, leading north to the central building located directly in the center of the campus. To the Northeast, the section Seifr was assigned to, the students who were of the Common Realm and the early stages of the Mortal Realm were instructed. Directly East was for the mid to late Mortal Realm students. Southeast contained facilities for the Early to mid Elementary Realm. The Late Elementary to mid Nascent Realm could be found in the Southwest. The West housed the Late Nascent Realm to Early Spirit Realm. The Northwest contained the grounds for the Mid to Late Spirit Realm. And finally if a student achieved the Profound Realm before graduating, they would receive instruction in the North facility. Each section contained progressively less students, reflecting society as a whole.


    The lowest rank instructor was at the peak of the Profound Realm. Most instructors were of the mid stages of the Earth Realm, and it was rumored that Master Kveld was either at the peak of the Sky Realm or at the early stages of the Heaven Realm. None of the disciples knew for sure, but it was widely known that he was one of the more powerful powerhouses in the entire province. The Blue Vines Sect''s most powerful cultivator, the Patriarch, was only at the peak of the Earth Realm. In terms of strength, The Misty Realm was considerably more powerful than The Blue Vines Sect, though the sect did have many times more members, and they did not graduate out of the sect once reaching a certain age or realm.


    Seifr finally entered the building for the Common and low-stage Mortal Realm students. As he entered the building, he saw several other students, most younger than him, and all of higher accumulation, standing in yet another line. He quickly realized it was to receive their robes and badges. Seifr had seen some of the older students walking along paths in their robes, and they were mostly of a different color. He guessed it was based on which location one was assigned to, and thus indirectly based on one''s cultivation level. For the first section, the robes were simple brown.


    As Seifr was standing in line watching the other students get their robes and badges, he finally took note of the people coordinating this endeavor. The girl currently handing one of the new cultivators a badge at the end of the table smiled at all of the new disciples and appeared to be an instant favorite of everyone here. Her smile caused dimples in her cheeks, and she had perfect white teeth. Funny, I''ve never really noticed anyone''s teeth before. As his gaze lingered he took in her long, flowing auburn hair and her brown eyes that seemed to pierce into his very soul when she accidentally locked eye contact with him briefly. He felt a jolt run through his body at her gaze. He had never experienced anything like it before.


    I thought I liked blondes! Guess I like brunettes. I didn''t see that coming. Seifr chuckled to himself. He noticed that this girl was wearing a blue robe, so she was obviously a disciple from another section. He did not yet know the colors associated with all of the other areas, but he was sure he would find out soon.


    Most of the new students attending the academy were the younger nobles who had just reached the threshold for admittance, so naturally the Northeast section where Seifr was assigned had the most new students. Despite that, the disciples who were passing out robes and badges seemed to have their stuff together and had the line moving along at a quick pace. Seifr found himself getting sized up by another disciple who quickly handed him a brown robe that looked like it would fit before gesturing the next student forward.


    Seifr slid down the table and came face to face with the young girl handing out badges. She handed one to him and smiled at him as she explained what do to, "All you have to do is grip the badge firmly, and direct your ki through your fingers into the badge. I know that you''re not able to manifest ki yet, but these badges are designed to assist with that and will naturally allow the flow of your ki to enter, making a spiritual brand on it. If you lose your badge, you''ll have to pay for a new one, in money and blood and tears, haha. Don''t lose it." She winked at him at the last statement.


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    "Thanks. I''m Seifr. I noticed that we''re about the same age, and even though my accumulation is low right now, most of the other disciples here are two or three years younger than me. With that in mind, I think it''s a good idea for me to make friends with people my own age outside of my section. What''s your name? And what''s the blue robe for?" Seifr had never had a difficult time speaking to anyone, and he put forth his charm to learn this young girl''s secrets.


    "Haha. I can agree to that. My name is Celia, and I''m at the Third Class, the one to the Southeast for the beginning Elementary Realm students. I just reached the 1st Stage Elementary Realm a couple days ago. I''ve been here for three years, ever since I was thirteen." Celia gladly divulged this information. There were multiple students helping pass out the materials for the new students, so she did not feel pressured to have Seifr move along right away.


    "Oh wow, that''s amazing. Sixteen years old and already at the Elementary Realm. So I take it the blue robe is for the Third Class?" Seifr stood there and continued his questioning.


    "You catch on quick. Here, I''ll explain it to you real fast, then I have to get back to work. First Class wears these simple brown robes. It''s easy to clean dirt and mud off of and doesn''t stain much. The Second Class wears a tan robe, because they''re expected to be able to take care of their property better. Third Class is the first class to assign the color not based on utility, and as I''ve told you, it''s blue. The Fourth Class wears a red robe, because they do more fighting in the sparring grounds and on missions outside of the city than the previous classes, and red hides blood easier. I don''t know if that''s the actual reason, but that''s what all the disciples say anyway. The Fifth Class wears violet, and I''m not sure what, if anything, that signifies. The Sixth Class wears black, and the Seventh Class wears white. You might wonder why the most advanced students wear white, and not the most basic students. Why do you think?" Celia tilted her head as she asked this question. She was very animated talking about the different functions of the school and seemed genuinely interested in helping Seifr learn it.


    Seifr scratched his head as he pondered. "If I had to guess, I would say that the most advanced students are expected to be able to maintain their clothes in a clean state at all times?"


    "That''s 75% right. The other quarter is that they''re in the Profound Realm and thus can just channel their ki to clean their clothes while wearing them. Cheaters." That last was delivered with Celia sticking her tongue out cheekily. "Ok ok ok. Time to move on. I have to get back to work."


    Seifr gave a small bow in appreciation. "Thanks, Celia, I hope I can see you again soon. You were very helpful." Seifr was not entirely sure, but he thought he saw a slight blush on Celia''s face as he delivered his parting message, and she nodded her head in reply.


    Seifr walked off with the crowd to the stairs leading to the second story. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he saw that there was yet another line. Is it never going to end? This line was moving faster than any before it, though. Seifr quickly reached the front and discovered that this line was to hand out keys to chests in the dormitories and a map and guide to the campus. I suppose assigning the chests prevents confrontations with students trying to select their own bunks in the dormitories. That makes a lot of sense, actually. There was a number "16" carved onto the key.


    Seifr thanked the disciple and wandered over to an area where more disciples had congregated. He did not know where to go from here, and the only way to find out was to ask.


    Seifr approached one of the young disciples. "Do you know where we go from here?" Seifr queried.


    "That''s it for the day. Today''s just an administrative day where we get sorted out. We''re lucky in that we got here early. Someone will be by the dormitory in the morning to wake everyone and lead us to the orientation and first classes on cultivation," the young boy amicably responded to Seifr''s question.


    Seifr looked at the boy he had spoken to, and noticed that he was about 13 years old and of the 2nd Stage of the Mortal Realm. His attire was neat, but not posh or aristocratic like some of the other students. Seifr had a high first impression of the boy because he did not seem to put on any airs, and he did not immediately look down upon Seifr''s accumulation even though he was a couple years older.


    Seifr extended his hand in greeting. "My name''s Seifr. I''m not a noble, but my family is pretty well off. My father arranged for me to attend the school through his contacts in the peerage. What about yourself?" Seifr was not ashamed to admit this, because all of the students attending The Misty Realm were no strangers to nepotism.


    The young boy clasped hands with Seifr and there was a strange gleam in his eye when he responded. "I''m Seth, and I''m also the son of a wealthy family. What''s your surname, my family runs the Heirn Caravan."


    Seifr was pleasantly surprised to find that this young Seth was also the son of a merchant family. He smiled and replied, "My surname is Kyain, and my father is Morcai Kyain. But don''t tell anyone else, I don''t feel comfortable letting just anyone know I come from a merchant family. Obviously I don''t mind telling you, haha."


    Seth stood there and looked at Seifr dumbfounded for a moment. "Wow, you''re the son of the owner of the Kyain Trading House? Our families actually do a lot of business together. But you guys are on a completely different level than we are."


    Seifr pulled out the guide he had been given and raised his eyebrows at Seth. "Well new friend, want to go explore the campus grounds?"


    "Sure thing. I think this will be the start of a long friendship," Seth replied. Seifr was happy to have made a friend without first having to get into a fist fight with him for the first time. He had had acquaintances that he had never fought and was on friendly terms with, but almost all of his friends started out holding him in contempt. He wondered what this new experience would be like and how it would shape their friendship in the future.

 Breakthrough

    Sweat dripped down Seifr''s face as he ran along the outer perimeter path. He would occasionally reach up and wipe the sweat away from his face, but he was beginning to do more harm than good because there was no longer a dry spot on his body. His clothes clung to his body, and his breathing was ragged. He had long since lost count of how many laps he had run around the entire campus.


    After that first administrative day, the students in the 1st Class were not lead to any kind of orientation. Instead, they were woken up and ordered to immediately begin running and physical calisthenics. They would exercise their bodies to exhaustion, stop to cultivate, exercise, cultivate, in an endless cycle all day, every day.


    The instructors were actually very good at recognizing the breaking points and limits of the younger students, and in between bouts of pure hatred and resentment, Seifr was impressed. The speed of improvement in the other children was astonishing, and a couple of the older new students had already moved on to the 2nd Class, which appeared to be more of the same, but with a little more classical instruction in their main building. It had been almost a month since the admission day, and Seifr was lagging further and further behind these other students, only advancing to the 5th Stage Common Realm.


    He had no time to focus on friendship or pursue any kind of relationship with anyone. Supposedly this treatment would not last the entire time they were in the 1st Class. He had heard rumors that it was a tactic used by the instructors to weed out the ones without the necessary work ethic and willpower to succeed. Despite the grueling conditions, the instructors had never pushed anyone dangerously past their limits.


    As Seifr ran along the path, his mind was entering a blank space that he had briefly experienced a couple times previously. His body would continue performing the actions, and he would be totally conscious, but at the same time all the pain and sensations would leave his body. He still had to gasp for breath, but he no longer noticed or paid attention to the burning in his lungs.


    He felt his heartbeat pulsing through his blood in his fingers and toes. His tongue, of all places, went numb. His vision reduced to just the path in front of him. The previous few times this had happened to him, he had already been at the end of his exercise regimen. This time, however, he still had a ways to go.


    "...Er..." He thought he heard something in the distance. He could not focus enough beyond the task at hand to put any thought towards it. As he placed one foot in front of the other, he started to see weird, bright streams of color in his vision. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. Was he going crazy? He could not stop to find out. One step in front of the other.


    "...Fer..." The sound was more distinct this time, more urgent. It was attempting to intrude on the peace of mind Seifr had achieved in his run. The streams of color started to coalesce into a vortex, and then rushed towards his body. He could not avoid it even if he tried. It was not just everywhere, it was everything. The very fabric of reality appeared to be inundated with this strange color.


    Seifr''s body suddenly erupted with energy. It felt as if every cell in his body had suddenly caught on fire at a thousand degrees. He screamed out in pain as it pulsed along with his heartbeat. His vision at this point was completely black, but he was still conscious. There was nothing he could in this state. He could not move, he could not breathe, he could not even grasp a coherent thought.


    "SEIFR!" A heavy slap brought Seifr''s vision back to himself. He found himself sitting in the lotus position, surrounded by what seemed to be every instructor on the campus. Master Kveld himself was the man who had slapped him to gain his attention. Seifr was panting as he looked around in bewilderment. The pain in his body was gone, but he could still feel the occasional tingle and electrical shock run through his body.


    Master Kveld eyed Seifr worriedly and checked his body for injuries. When he could find nothing out of the ordinary, he looked into Seifr''s eyes and addressed the boy, "Are you ok, lad? You gave us quite the scare there."


    Seifr had no idea what was going on, he did not even know where he was or how he had got there. His body slowly calmed down and his breathing gradually came under control. He looked back at Master Kveld. "Master, I really couldn''t tell you. I have no idea what''s going on. One minute I was running along, then the next I felt like I was on fire and started screaming. Then you slapped me and I woke up."


    Master Kveld exchanged glances with some of the other instructors before looking back at Seifr. "Son, you stopped running thirty minutes ago and just sat down and started cultivating. You weren''t supposed to be finished with your exercise yet, so the instructor tried to wake you. After you wouldn''t respond to any kind of stimulus, he came and got me. It took me a solid five minutes to wake you up."


    Seifr was completely astonished at what he was hearing. "Well, Master, I appear to be completely fine now. My body feels totally fine. In fact I feel better than ever. Wait a second!" Seifr''s eyebrows rose to the top of his forehead as he examined himself. He was stunned to discover that his cultivation accumulation had not only advanced in level, but he had actually nearly advanced an entire realm. He was currently at the 3rd Stage Mortal Realm. When he woke up that morning and started on his run, he was only at the 5th Stage Common Realm with no indications of advancement any time soon.


    Master Kveld smiled and chuckled softy when he noticed the expression on Seifr''s face. "Heh, so you finally noticed. I must admit, even though it''s only at the beginning realms, I''ve never seen nor heard of anyone breaking through so many stages at once. Your hard work has certainly paid off and come to fruition. I know that typically one advances to the 2nd class when one attains the 5th or 6th rank Mortal Realm, depending, but we''re going to go ahead and have you move on over. Take the rest of the day off, then report to the 2nd class hall tomorrow morning for some classroom instruction." Kveld patted Seifr on the shoulder and then stood up straight. He signaled to the other instructors, and they returned to their previous duties. Only Seifr''s 1st class and one of the 2nd class instructors remained behind.


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    "Seifr, you scared the hell out of me, but seeing as how everything seems to be fine, I guess congratulations are in order?" The 1st class instructor, Instructor Beil, had a strange look on his face. It looked like a mix between panic and relief. "But in the future, try not to advance in such a spectacular fashion. The normal method will do just fine, ok?" Instructor Beil maintained a lighthearted attitude about the situation, more for his own benefit than Seifr''s.


    Seifr scratched his head in embarrassment as he stood up. "Yes, Instructor, I don''t think I want to do that again."


    Instructor Beil smiled at him one last time, then departed to continue his duties overseeing the other young students. The other instructor who had remained, the 2nd class instructor, stepped forward. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and was at the 10th Stage Profound Realm. The earlier classes were instructed by the lower realm instructors with very few exceptions.


    "I am Instructor Nalai. Quite impressive to advance so much in such a short time. I am lead to believe that you were only at the 4th Stage Common Realm when you arrived here three weeks ago?" Seifr nodded his head in confirmation at the question. Instructor Nalai''s eyebrows raised slightly. "Well, as Master Kveld said, you can take the rest of the day off. Go and clean yourself up, then get your new tan robes. Actually, reverse order. Go get the robes first, but don''t put them on until you wash the sweat away. You can maintain your bunk and chest at the dormitory in the 1st class for now. It''s not absolutely necessary to get you moved over until we get an influx of more students."


    Seifr got the impression that Instructor Nalai had a sense of humor from the way she told him to get washed up. She had an amiable expression on her face. He would describe it as an almost smile: not quite a smile, but not quite not a smile. Even Seifr''s own head was spinning at the mental image he was giving himself.


    "Yes, Instructor." Seifr gave a short bow and then turned to walk off towards the East class. This was definitely a sudden event that surprised everyone.


    ~


    Kveld stood at the window in his office looking out over the campus grounds. His office was located on the top floor of the central building. It was rather spacious and took up nearly a quarter of the whole floor. To be fair, his office was attached to his quarters, also. Only the most powerful instructors had their quarters on the fourth floor, and there was one set of quarters reserved for "distinguished guests." Kveld''s quarters were fairly spartan, and his office likewise reflected that personality trait. Kveld had lived a long time, and his desire for worldly possessions was waning.


    Kveld tapped the glass of the window absentmindedly as he watched the students and instructors go about their day. His vision was drawn to a particular student, one who had certainly astonished him this day. He was lost in thought contemplating what his course of action should be in light of what had happened.


    "So are you going to tell me what that was all about? My skin was all itchy and it felt like my Spiritual Energy accumulation was being pulled away," a voice interrupted Kveld''s thoughts. Another man was in Kveld''s office. He was sitting in one of the cushy chairs with a leg thrown over one of the arms and swinging back and forth. He appeared to be in his early thirties and had an apparently irreverent attitude, which would have shocked anyone from the school if they had seen it. Not just anyone from the school, pretty much anyone from the province would find it hard to believe the audacity of such a man.


    Kveld continued to stare out the window, tapping the glass slowly. He sighed gently and spoke to the other man without looking at him, "A student caused a ki vortex." Kveld had not been entirely honest with Seifr earlier. It was true the instructor was on his way to find him, but Kveld was already almost there, alerted by the ki vortex he, but nobody else, could see.


    At the words Kveld spoke, the man threw his leg back straight and sat up in the chair in astonishment. "A student caused a ki vortex? Are you sure?" The man sounded skeptical.


    Kveld chuckled as he turned to face the unidentified man. "That''s not all. The student in question is a 15 year old boy who was at the 5th Stage Common Realm." Kveld walked over to take another seat. The other man continued to stare at the spot where Kveld had been standing, unable to process this information. "The last time I saw a ki vortex, it was a sand dragon making a breakthrough to the Heaven Realm. This phenomenon is not easily achieved. If that kid had been at the Sky Realm, this ki vortex would have been many times stronger even than from that dragon, and it would have physically manifested as gravity. It could have possibly affected the entire city."


    "Do you think anyone else noticed?" The man appeared slightly anxious.


    Kveld snorted as he replied, "You''re at the 3rd Stage Sky Realm, and you only felt an itchy feeling on your skin and a pull to your dantian. There isn''t anyone else powerful enough in the city to have felt it at the distance they would need to be to go unnoticed by me. But if anyone asks, it was something I was doing."


    The man finally refocused his attention on Kveld sitting across from him and nodded before asking, "What are you going to do?"


    Kveld tapped the armrest with his finger as he contemplated the question. "I don''t know."

 Kung Fu

    "Martial Arts can be broken down into two broad categories: ki strikes and non-ki strikes. Ki strikes are more advanced, so I''ll simply say for now that it is the ability of those on the Cultivator Path to manifest the ki accumulated in their dantian. It comes in the simplest form of direct enhancement, to the complicated manipulation of the elements. The more advanced moves are referred to as Martial Techniques. You''ll learn more about this if you advance to the 5th Class before you graduate."


    Seifr was currently in the 2nd Class Hall listening to one of the instructors. As a 2nd Class student, he had a little more freedom in what his activities entailed. He had a minimum amount of physical activity he had to participate in, but he had a wider variety of options, such as lifting weighted objects and sparring, instead of just running and calisthenics. He also had the choice of which lectures to attend in the hall. The lectures given by the instructors were quite organic, and Seifr did not have to worry about missing a particular lesson. Multiple instructors gave lectures on the same subject from different viewpoints on multiple occasions to allow for the students who had trouble grasping the concepts, or for students like Seifr who had recently been promoted.


    The current lecture was being given by Seifr''s personal instructor, Instructor Nalai. In the 2nd Class, the instructors were less dictatorial in the physical exercises demanded, and more of a tool for guidance in the path to seek. Instructor Nalai was very hands off and only gave suggestions when Seifr went to her directly for advice.


    "Non-ki strikes entails all of what we refer to as Kung Fu. It is the physical act of fighting and the base of many ki strikes and techniques. A solid foundation in Kung Fu is needed for any cultivator to have any hope of success in the real world." Instructor Nalai continued with her lecture. This was the third time Seifr had actually attended a lesson on Martial Arts, and more specifically, Kung Fu. He seemed to get into frequent altercations, and so he took the laying of the foundation serious. One of the good things about the instructors'' lessons was not just the lectures, but the hands-on training as well.


    Instructor Nalai began to detail different strikes and to show how they were performed against a training dummy. Seifr and several other students were paying rapt attention to her moves, and when the lecture was complete, they would perform the strikes on their own dummies and Instructor Nalai would offer corrections and guidance. This was vastly superior to Seifr''s previous technique of trying to just punch the opponent in the face as fast as possible.


    The 2nd Class Kung Fu instruction was very basic. It focused on muscle memory by having the students perform the same simple strikes over and over again hundreds of times. The more dedicated students would perform the moves several thousand times before moving on to the more advanced lessons in the higher classes. Moves such as grappling, take-downs, and the defense against such moves were first taught in the 3rd Class, and the advanced lessons of both strikes and grappling were taught in the 4th Class.


    The students in the 2nd Class were allowed to spar to practice their striking techniques, and Seifr had done so on several different occasions; however, sparring actually counted towards the physical exercise and not instruction, so the students had to evaluate if they were performing properly or not. Non-official sparring matches were monitored by other students. The only time an instructor got involved was with an official grievance between two parties or a tournament event. Those were the two likely scenarios that had the most potential to lead to accidents and possibly death. Friendly spars to practice technique rarely involved any kind of injuries.


    It had been four weeks since the incident where Seifr had suddenly broken through several stages and entered the 3rd Stage Mortal Realm, and his cultivation accumulation had indeed stabilized after the event. Seifr still did not know exactly what happened, and so far none of the instructors had been any help to him, either. His progress had continued steadily afterwards, and he noticed that not only was his body no longer burning 90% of the Spiritual Energy during the compression but instead was a more normal 15 to 20%, depending. He also noticed that he was able to inhale more Spiritual Energy per breathe than before. His pace of advancement was now above average instead of abysmally below. As such, after four weeks he was already in the 7th Stage of the Mortal Realm. If he kept up the pace, he would only require another month or two before he entered the 3rd Class.


    With thoughts of the 3rd Class, Seifr''s mind wandered to Celia. After entering the 2nd Class, Seifr actually managed to not be dead on his feet for his free time. The 1st Class students received just as much free time as the rest of the students of the academy, but they were all so exhausted from the physical strain, that they hardly noticed it as free time and thought more of it as a simple, short reprieve from torture. With his newfound ability to enjoy his free time, he had gone for the occasional stroll along the paths in the groves and fields throughout the campus. He had run into Celia a couple of times, and he was more sure after each chance meeting about his feelings for her. He had never had any kind of romantic relationship before, so he had no idea how to read the other party, but Celia was always amiable and enthusiastic with her interactions. Sometimes she was with a group of fellow 3rd Class students, and sometimes that meant she was in a group including Kohl.


    Seifr and Kohl did not have any interactions since that first day standing in line for admissions, but they had seen each other at a distance often. Every time their eyes met, sparks flew and other students could feel a baleful aura permeate the area. If the students had been older and more experienced, they would have recognized this as the manifestation of killing intent. The instructors could feel it and knew it for what it was, but they had the situation under control and knew that in most situations, the killing intent would fade with time. In the rare instances where it did not fade, the students would eventually part ways upon graduation, and it was no longer the academies responsibility. Regardless, murder had never been committed on the campus of the school.


    All of these thoughts flashed through Seifr''s mind in quick succession and then he refocused his attention on the lecture. Instructor Nalai was wrapping the lesson up when she mentioned something new.


    "The Martial Arts Tournament is coming up soon, which is why I imagine there are more students attending this lecture than normal." Nalai chuckled to herself. "It is broken up into Kung Fu and Martial Techniques, not class or realm. A superior practitioner of Kung Fu can overcome someone of a higher cultivation in the tournament. While it''s possible, it''s still quite rare. Master Kveld understands this, and thus if someone of the lower classes prevails, he increases the reward for winning accordingly. Students in the Spirit Realm and above who can perform Martial Techniques are required to participate in the Martial Technique Tournament, but that still means you will have to contend with Nascent Realm practitioners if you make it to the finals. More information will be provided soon when the rewards are made known. As the tournament is coming close, instructors will now also be offering advice during friendly sparring matches."


    Tournament? Rewards? Seifr''s interest was piqued at the mention of a tournament with possible rewards. This academy is focused on cultivation. I can only imagine the rewards would be something from one of the ki orchards. That garden with the Spiritual Energy pulse was not the only one located on the grounds. There were several more in different places, each one listed as a "Restricted Zone." Only instructors and disciples with specific permission were allowed entry to any of the Restricted Zones.


    The herbs from the orchards were usually traded for contribution points. Contribution points were attained by completing missions from the mission board. The way it usually worked, a noble would offer a mission to the academy before it was offered to public cultivators. Missions could be anything from locating a lost pet, though it was rarely something like that from a noble, to eradicating a horde of goblins who had infested a mine belonging to the nobleman. Each mission was accompanied by monetary rewards, and if the mission was completed by a student, the school received the money and the student received contribution points. Only Mid Elementary Realm and higher students were eligible to undertake missions. Lower Realm students did not gain much from the ki herbs anyway, thus there was no point in trying to acquire them before they were necessary for assisting cultivation.


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    This was another way for the school to not only maintain friendly relations with the nobles of Vinson, but also an extra source of revenue. Many of the rewards for contribution points were crafted or grown by the instructors, and they received a portion of the money in relation to what was exchanged for contribution points. This cycle ensured that there was a constant stream of missions being completed for rewards exchanged, and everyone was better off because of the arrangement.


    "Considering we lower realm disciples don''t necessarily need the assistance of ki herbs, why would we participate?" one of the students asked.


    "That''s a good question, but who says the reward has to be ki herbs? It could be protective equipment or a weapon, which would definitely come in handy by the time you''re able to go on missions. It could even be private lessons from Master Kveld, though that would wholly be situational and never something promised. Does that answer your question?" Nalai responded jovially to the student. The student quickly nodded his head in affirmation. "Good. Now everyone break off to your personal practice dummies and begin practice."


    Seifr cleared his mind of all the thoughts vying for his attention. When it was time to seriously train, he could not afford to let his mind wander to Celia or the upcoming tournament. He briefly wondered how Seth was holding up. The younger boy had finally managed to be promoted to the 2nd Class a week ago. He shook his head. Concentrate. Seifr began methodically striking the dummy, subconsciously adjusting his strike to be perfectly executed.


    The students continued to strike the dummies over and over, with Instructor Nalai giving the occasional guidance for another hour. After the hour was up, Instructor Nalai declared that her instruction was over, but that the students could continue practicing if they wished. Seifr decided to continue practicing with the goal of having his strike come naturally, easily, and lightning quick without having to contemplate the correct movements. He was getting pretty good in his own estimation, but he was far from being a master. It would require years and actual combat to reach the true peak in even the most basic of Kung Fu technique.


    Seifr continued his practice for another two hours, and he managed to build up quite a sweat despite all of the grueling physical activity he had been subjecting his body to ever since enrolling in the academy. Seifr found that he truly enjoyed pushing his body to the limits, and even though it was extremely repetitious, he felt a sense of real pride whenever he noticed real improvement in his fighting ability. He had always had fast reactions, but now he was developing the skill and strength to go with those reactions.


    Seifr was the last student to exit the main hall, but as he left he saw that there were still several students engaged in sparring. Looks like this tournament is going to have some real competition. I''ll have to engage in more sparring if I''m to have a shot at any of the rewards. Seifr spontaneously decided to participate in the tournament, and now that he had made his decision, he would give it his all.


    Despite having already spent several hours and working up a sweat with his practice of technique, Seifr made his way over to the sparring stage to participate in a friendly match. The two students currently on the stage were entirely focused on their techniques and were letting their speed and intensity slide. Seifr personally felt that if you were going to get in the sparring ring and face off against an opponent, the speed and intensity needed to accurately match the real thing, otherwise what was the point when there was a perfectly good stationary dummy just inside the hall?


    As the two currently sparring wrapped up their match and exited off of the stage, Seifr immediately jumped up on the stage. He did not see any line forming, so he took the opportunity to get into the ring right away.


    "Who wants a real fight? We have a competition coming up soon, and those Elementary and Nascent Realm disciples are not going to be moving at a pace you''re comfortable with. Someone get up here who''s willing to go full speed!" Seifr delivered a challenge. The other students looked at each other, some of them nodding their heads in agreement, some of them not caring because they did not plan on participating in the tournament.


    Another boy shortly jumped up onto the stage. He was at the 9th Stage of the Mortal Realm and appeared to be 16, almost 17 years old. Seifr had seen him around and watched him spar a few times, but this would be the first time facing off against him personally. The other student was quite skilled in Kung Fu, and his higher level of cultivation would provide a challenge for Seifr. As Seifr increased in cultivation accumulation, he noticed that his ability to transcend the stages in the Realms reduced gradually. As a 7th level Mortal Realm cultivator, he speculated that he was equivalent to a 1st Stage Elementary Realm without having to rely on tricks or surprise.


    Seifr and the other young man grinned at each other and immediately took stances and launched into attacks without a word spoken. Seifr and the other boy were moving at an incredible speed, much faster than the two boys before them. Seifr was pleased to notice how naturally it felt to dodge, parry, and counter the other boy, even when they were both moving at a speed where their arms and legs were virtually just a blur. The other boy was just as quick in his reflexes, and neither one gained a solid blow on the other. Seifr felt the sweat begin to flow again as he concentrated on the fight. Faster. Faster. Faster. Both Seifr and the young man he squared off with continuously increased the pace.


    Soon they were at the limit and the surrounding crowd was having a hard time following exactly what was happening on the stage. The spectating crowd started cheering for their favored disciple, adding to the excitement. Neither Seifr nor the boy had the luxury to pay any attention to it. Seifr could feel the wind on his face as he narrowly avoided a jab directed at his head. He threw out a quick counter, maintaining his balance and not giving his opponent an opportunity to take advantage of him losing his center. They were both disciplined in the moves they were making.


    Seifr had a sudden inspiration when the other boy overextended just slightly enough for Seifr to grab an advantage. The boy lunged just a little too far with his punch, and Seifr turned his dodge into a spin, combining it with a kick to perform a move that he had never done before and was not taught to the 2nd Class students. The kick lashed out like a tornado with the force of the full-body rotation and slammed into the opponents head, sending him sailing clean out of the ring. Seifr stood there panting on the stage, in awe of his own control of his body in performing a new move on the spur of the moment. The other students went completely silent at this turn of events and looked to the boy who was kicked off the stage. Seifr panicked, thinking that he may have hurt the other teen, but when he looked over, the other boy had already gotten to his feet and had a wide grin on his face.


    The boy walked up to Seifr and extended his hand, "That was amazing. I had a lot of fun, and I can tell that I gained some insight into my Kung Fu up there with you. You''ll have to show me that move you did on me some time; I didn''t even see what really happened. I''m Raeq, by the way."


    Seifr grasped Raeq''s hand in newfound friendship. "Seifr. I''m not entirely sure what I did, either. It was just a sudden inspiration, and I let my body act on its own. Basically it was a spin kick to the face. Hahaha." Seifr and Raeq both laughed with mirth as they exited the stage.


    "Come the tournament, be careful I don''t repay you in kind. I look forward to our rematch then." Raeq waved goodbye as he made his way off. Seifr''s blood was still pumping with excitement, so he decided to burn off the rest of his energy with a short, fast run before cleaning up and cultivating before bed. He was really enjoying his time at the academy so far.

 Burning Determination

    Seifr sat in the bleachers with a quill and parchment in hand. He was currently drawing crude sketches of the movements that the Class 4 Early Nascent Realm disciples were making in the sparring ring. Over the last couple weeks, he had been using his free time to almost exclusively take notes of the abilities of the stronger students who could potentially be his opponents in the upcoming tournament.


    At first he had just come to jot down strengths and weaknesses of the individuals, but slowly over the first week, he had started to analyze the Kung Fu techniques they were using. Only the foundation was taught at the 2nd Class, and the 3rd Class focused more on grappling. Seifr figured that he had spent more time, already, on the fundamentals than the average student learning the more advanced techniques had, so what was the harm in doing his own personal research?


    The current student pair had actually been quite informative, with one of them even doing the proper version of the spin kick he had executed in the heat of the battle with Raeq a couple weeks ago. Since their sparring match, Seifr had to tone it down a notch because none of the other 2nd Class students would spar with him at that intensity, and Raeq said he wanted to save their next bout for the tournament. Seifr found himself spending more time with Raeq, and by extension Seth started hanging out with Raeq as well, as the weeks went on.


    Seifr did not neglect his actual duties of exercising and lectures. Instead, he incorporated his self study as if it was another lecture, just with no real guidance. He would sketch the movements and make the notes. Then on his next Kung Fu lecture, he would attempt to perform the moves on the dummy after the official time was up and the instructor had left. Some of the other students thought he was making things up as he was going on and was bound to mess up his foundation, but Seifr did not ingrain any movements into his muscle memory until he had tweaked them to a point where they felt natural, flowed easily, and just had a sense of "rightness" to them. It was only a few moves out of the plethora he had recorded, but he was still quite satisfied with it. It meant he had a hidden card up his sleeve, and he had a habit of trying to win fights with deception and speed.


    Seifr finished drawing the sketch and looked back up at the duo. As he looked up, his gaze focused on the opposite bleachers and his eyes inadvertently locked with Kohl''s, who was sitting with a group of 3rd Class disciples. Seifr felt a knot in the pit of his stomach as he saw that Celia was sitting next to him. It did not appear that they were together, but Seifr could not hide the grimace on his face as his eyes darted between the two.


    Kohl''s eyes widened in understanding, and his mouth twisted up into a sinister grin. He leaned over to Celia, who was talking animatedly to another student on the other side of her, and tapped on her shoulder. She looked at Kohl inquisitively, and he leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Kohl locked eyes with Seifr as he spoke into her ear, and she started to giggle. He pointed in Seifr''s direction, and to Seifr''s horror, she looked right at him and shrugged her shoulders. Kohl said something else, and she smiled and playfully swatted at his shoulder before turning back to her friend. Kohl smirked at Seifr across the stage.


    Seifr felt sick to his stomach and suddenly stood up. He stood there frozen for a second staring and Kohl and Celia in their group, mind blank, before he rushed off. He had an inexplicable feeling of dread rising up within him, and a sudden rage like he had never experienced before. His blood was boiling, and he started seeing red in his vision. He felt waves of Spiritual Energy and heat emanating off of his body. I need to hit something!


    Seifr stormed back to the 2nd Class Hall, immediately ran up to a training dummy, and began to attempt to pummel it into oblivion. He was throwing wild swings that were nowhere close to being foundationally sound. After he calmed his mind down a bit, he focused his attention into making proper strikes. The rage was still there, and it was fueling his strength and stamina.


    Seifr''s cultivation base suddenly dropped two whole stages, a phenomenon he had never even known was possible. He went from the 7th Stage Mortal Realm back to the 5th Stage Mortal Realm. An aura of Spiritual Energy rose up from his body and physically manifested into fire as it burned off of him, encapsulating the training dummy, a construct built to take punishment from a disciple much stronger than the students who were wailing on them, and disintegrated it into ash.


    Seifr froze on the spot with his fist extended to where the training dummy''s head should have been and stared at the pile of ash on the ground. He had not noticed when he stormed into the hall, but the room was occupied with quite a lot of other disciples being lectured by an instructor down on the far end. All noise ceased as they had stopped to look at Seifr''s fury initially, and then remained paralyzed on the spot, the instructor included, when they witnessed the obliteration of the training dummy.


    Suddenly, the doors to the hall slammed open as Master Kveld materialized out of seemingly nowhere in a stance ready to bring destruction on any threats. He looked around the hall, scanning for possible intruders into his domain, and relaxed only when he discovered the pile of ash next to Seifr. He looked up at Seifr who looked back at him. Master Kveld''s expression changed suddenly, and he practically teleported next to Seifr to catch him as the young man passed out and collapsed to the floor.


    ~


    Seifr woke up feeling incomparably comfortable. He had never felt so warm and cozy in his life. He stretched lazily as he emitted out a yawn. He opened his eyes, and then scrambled to his feet in astonishment. He had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He looked around for clues, but all he found was that he was in a very spacious room laid out on a couch. There were comfy chairs, a desk, and some book cases close by. Obviously I''m in one of the instructor''s office. He looked the other direction and discovered a floor-to-ceiling window looking out over the campus from what appeared to be the fourth floor.


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    Seifr''s memory of what had happened began to return to him. So Master Kveld appearing literally out of thin air wasn''t a dream. Seifr touched his forehead while thinking. Did I set that training dummy on fire and instantly burn it to ash? That memory definitely seemed like it was a dream, but clearly it was not.


    As Seifr was standing there contemplating the events that had transpired, Master Kveld rushed into the room like a whirlwind and arrived in front of Seifr. He handed Seifr a clear crystal with an incomparably serious look on his face. Seifr was extremely confused about what was going.


    "Channel your ki into that crystal as much as you can," Master Kveld instructed Seifr. Seifr was slightly taken aback at the abruptness, but he readily complied with the order. Master Kveld placed his two prominent fingers on Seifr''s wrist to feel his pulse while he concentrated his vision on the crystal. After approximately a minute had gone by, Master Kveld removed his fingers, and then plucked the crystal out of Seifr''s hands and put it in his pocket. He glanced at Seifr and indicated for him to take a seat in one of the comfy chairs.


    "Ok, so you''re not able to manifest your ki as fire. That crystal would have bloomed with color if you had been able to - red to be exact, fiery red. No, I suspect there is a completely different, though also unheard of, phenomenon going on here." Master Kveld paused and stared at Seifr over his steepled fingers. The two sat there for several minutes before Seifr began to fidget under the scrutiny. Seifr''s fidgeting seemed to bring Master Kveld out of his ruminations. "Do you know what actually happens to the ki that is burned off when you intake Spiritual Energy?"


    Seifr gaped for a second, not understanding this turn of the conversation. "I thought it was just the energy being expended as it refined the muscles and compressed itself."


    "That''s the short answer we tell the beginning cultivators. That''s not actually what happens. What really happens is that a significant portion of what''s burned off is simply lost through dispersion. Usually 19 out of 20% of burned off ki will simply be lost. The other 1% is impurities being burned out of the Spiritual Energy. Based on one''s natural, latent talent, the impurities that are being burned off will be more significant. I don''t know for sure, but I''m guessing that your body is working differently. Previously your father mentioned a 90% burn rate, and I''m sure he doesn''t know the truth of the matter - most people below the Sky Realm have no idea - but it would appear that you''re burning an absolutely astonishing level of impurities out of your ki. What happened in the 2nd Class Hall was that you instantly burned two full stages worth of impurities out of your dantian instantly. Literally burned them, and purified your ki. I would guess that if you evaluated your abilities right now, you would actually be stronger than you were before." Master Kveld revealed some of the more intricate secrets to the world of cultivation that left Seifr''s mind reeling with the implications.


    "So what you''re saying, Master, is that my slower cultivation speed is actually better for me, and that when I had the breakthrough several weeks ago, that was actually detrimental to my cultivation?" Seifr asked.


    "Yes and no, in a way. Your ki is more pure; it''s denser. It has more explosiveness to it. If it were a knife compared to another knife, your ki is a sharpened steel dagger, and the other cultivators of your level are dull iron. That''s not to say that they will forever have such impure ki. In order to advance from the Sky Realm to the Heaven Realm, there is actually very little difference in the amount of absolute ki in the dantian. The cultivators are actually just infinitely burning impurities and refining pure ki through a different set of meditation than what you''re currently doing. It would just appear that your body naturally refines the ki itself, and it''s considerably more pure even than a Heaven Realm cultivator. Someone at the peak of the Heaven Realm would only have 60% impurities burned away in comparison to your 90%."


    Seifr sat there in thought for a second, then looked up sharply at Master Kveld and exclaimed in shock, "If it takes more and more Spiritual Energy accumulation to advance in stages and realms, and I continue to naturally burn 90% impurities, then my cultivation speed will eventually come to a near standstill!" Seifr nearly jumped out of the seat and began to pace, but being in Master Kveld''s presence kept him in his chair.


    Master Kveld nodded his head slowly and replied, "Yes, but also think about it this way. Once you reach the Mid Earth Realm, you''ll practically catapult to the Peak of the Heaven Realm with simply needing to satisfy the bottlenecks at the initial Sky and Heaven Realms. At that time, you could possibly be unmatched across all the Heavens and Earth." Master Kveld knew that setting a long-term goal could help to curb the feelings of despair that could potentially rear up inside of Seifr. He had never met an individual quite as unique as the youth, and he was actually quite looking forward to what he would accomplish. "I''ll make this deal with you, also: if you are the winner of any tournament, I will use it as an excuse to ''reward'' you with private tutorship. Your natural talent is shocking, to say the least, but I can''t play favorites or appear to play favorites. So even though you technically are high in my esteem, you still have to work for your accolades."


    Seifr stood up and bowed to the headmaster. "Thank you, Master, for the opportunity. Your disciple won''t disappoint you." There was an even fiercer determination welling up within Seifr''s gut. I will prevail.

 Tournament: Part One

    "The tournament is broken up into four different platforms of competition. Each initial platform is comprised of its respective Class. This is the 2nd Class bracket of the first tier of the competition. The competitors have been broken up randomly and will compete one-on-one against an opponent until there are eight competitors left. This represents the first tier of disciples who will advance to the semi-final bracket. All four platforms will have eight advancing students, and all eight of these students will receive 100 contribution points. Classes two and three will then combine their eight competitors into one semi-final bracket, and the other bracket will be made up of the eight from Classes four and five. The semi-final bracket will be randomly distributed, and then the 16 competitors will have two fights each to bring the numbers down to four. The four of each semi-final bracket will receive another 150 contribution points, and then the eight remaining from the two semi-final brackets will be randomly divided together for the final bracket. The first and semi-final brackets will be conducted today, and the final bracket will be conducted tomorrow. The Grand Prize for first place overall is a Rank 1 Ki Sword. Also, there is a prize for winning first place in each Class minus the Grand Prize winner, of course. Good luck, everyone," an instructor narrated to the students.


    There were a lot more people participating in the tournament than Seifr had thought there would be. The 2nd Class alone had an initial 140 participants. From the general mood that Seifr had observed from the 2nd Class students, he had assumed there would only be half that.


    There''s no downside to entering the competition; I''m sure some of them did on the spur of the moment for the hell of it. Indeed there was a large portion of disciples laughing and joking around, not taking it seriously at all. Seifr spied Raeq off to the side getting himself psyched up. If there was one thing that Seifr had learned about Raeq, it was that he lived to fight. He loved fighting, he did not do it maliciously, he just enjoyed the sport of it. He and Seifr were not paired up in the first bracket to square off against each other.


    From Seifr''s understanding of how the brackets worked, the people who advanced to the semi-final bracket were not necessarily squared off against opponents from the opposite Class. It was truly random. It was theoretically possible for it to be split down the middle and have only members from the same Class fighting each other, and if a situation like that occurred, the instructors would not step in to change it. In the eyes of many cultivators, luck was part of one''s ability, or to be more accurate, natural talent. Talent was innate, and one can grow ability.


    Seifr walked over to the section of the stage that was sectioned off for him to have his first round. With 140 people participating, and this only being the first bracket out of three, they were not going to do this one at a time. That would take forever and be impractical. Instead, multiple fights would take place at the same time. Nobody was coming to watch individual matches at the 2nd Class stage, anyway. All of the spectators were there to take it all in as one whole experience in the beginning stages.


    Seifr had a calm and serene mind. He was not the least bit nervous as he waited for his turn to step into the ring. He watched the fighters in the section in front of him. He was not impressed.


    The rules of the match were that the two would fight for a maximum of five minutes, with a clear winner being decided by knockout or technical. The technical was decided if a contestant was knocked out of the ring three times, or knocked out of the ring more than 10 meters. If the fight lasted five minutes, impartial instructors were judging each of the rounds based on technique of Kung Fu and overall fighting ability.


    Seifr knew that this first round was going to last the full five minutes, and he was not proven wrong. Seifr was not sure if he wanted a whole bunch of people who were not going to take this seriously participating or not. It added to the festival feeling of it, and people were having fun, but this was a school focused on cultivation and fighting. Seifr had been in too many fights to approach it with a light heart.


    After the mockery of Kung Fu that took place in front of him was over, it was Seifr''s turn to get into the ring. He walked up onto the stage, and then gaped in astonishment for a second when a willowy girl came to face against him. The girl looked at Seifr and saw the absentminded look on his face and guessed at what he was thinking. She stamped her foot and pointed at Seifr before yelling at him, "Don''t look down on me! If you underestimate me, you''ll regret it."


    Seifr shook his head and got into his ready stance. The instructor acting as referee saw that the two were in position and ready and signaled for the match to begin. The girl instantly charged towards Seifr to take advantage of the other''s most likely apprehension about hitting a girl. She was utterly stunned when Seifr did not hesitate at all to strike her right in the face with a quick jab, and then to circle around her and kick her leg out and knock her down to the ground. He leaned into her neck with his knee, and she had no choice but to tap out and surrender the match.


    The willowy girl had assumed Seifr would be apprehensive about striking a girl because of the look on his face, and she was actually used to that kind of an attitude. If she had heard what was actually going through his mind when she made her appearance, she would have kicked herself for charging in like an idiot. What was actually going through Seifr''s mind was, Looks like this is the first girl I''m going to hit. Can''t think of her as a girl. She''s a cultivator, and she''s stepped into my ring.


    Seifr knew that you could not take a cultivator''s looks alone and judge his or her ability to fight. A prime example was his friend, Seth. Seth was on the small and skinny side, but he fought with a ferociousness that took his opponents completely off guard. Almost like he has some sort of... I guess I would call it "little-man syndrome." Always feeling like he has to prove himself. That might not be because he''s small necessarily. It could also have a lot to do with his background of coming from a merchant family. Seifr kept that he was also from a merchant family a secret, but young Seth had not yet learned to moderate the volume of his voice around cultivators. Naturally an enhanced physique would be accompanied by enhanced senses.


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    Seifr exited the stage and walked over to his friends, who both had strange expressions on their faces.


    "Wow, Seifr," Seth began. "You were so.... mighty, beating up on that little girl. Hahahaha." Seth couldn''t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing at his friend''s misfortune of being paired with a small, willowy girl. Especially considering Seifr''s temperament about the tournament, Seth knew immediately when he spotted what was going on that he was going to have to needle his friend about this... forever.


    "Ha. Ha. Just because some of us don''t underestimate our opponents when we really could get away with it." Seifr was nonplussed. Seifr then added under his breath, "I am mighty."


    Seth''s face started to turn red from trying to hold the laughter in, and he eventually failed and ended up bending over at the waste and holding his stomach as he laughed in his friend''s face. What are friends for, if not to laugh at your misfortune? Seifr cracked a smile on his lips as well. He could admit when something was funny even when it was embarrassing.


    The next match that Seifr was in was actually one of the students from the first match right before his. The disciple saw who he was going up against and turned to the instructor, lifted his hand up and said, "I concede." He wanted no part of what Seifr was bringing to the ring.


    Seifr did not actually mind the other teenager bowing out. He had seen him fight. There was no contest there. He exited the ring and then identified where Raeq was currently fighting in a match. Seifr was surprised to see that he was not going all out to destroy his opposition. Seifr pondered on it for a minute as he watched them circle each other on the stage. Oh I see, he wants to actually fight as much as he can and not have his opponents concede, so he''s hiding his ability. Seifr had to hand it to Raeq, he would do just about anything to fight as much as he could, even hold himself back from fighting. It was actually pretty amazing when he thought about it.


    The matches became quicker as the weaker chaff were removed from the competition. Seifr found himself back in the ring very quickly. He knew that the other disciples he would be facing off against now would be much tougher than the previous two he had encountered. He eyed his opponent warily as he got into a ready stance and waited for the signal to begin. The other boy had a weird look on his face as he looked at Seifr. Seifr knew what was coming before the boy made his move: "I concede," the other boy said to the instructor.


    Seifr was not like Raeq. He was not disappointed that he did not actually have to fight, instead he was actually somewhat happy he could conserve his strength for the semi-final bracket. Seifr walked over to check the bracket to see who his next opponent was. He only had two more matches before he was in the top eight. It looked like Raeq and Seth were going to accompany him to the next bracket as well. They had been extremely lucky to not be put in the same tree facing off against each other.


    Seifr took a moment to take in the crowd and the atmosphere. It was a very lively day, with students and parents walking about carefree. It was a day off for everyone from their responsibilities of exercise and lecturing, regardless of whether or not they were involved in the tournament. It was like a fair. There were even instructors putting on impromptu demonstrations of their control of ki for the younger children accompanying their families.


    Looking at all the happy faces everywhere, Seifr could not imagine any place he would rather be. One might think he was lonely away from his father so much, but he had gotten used to it at a young age. He had never even known his mother, and he had no siblings or even distant relatives that he knew about. All he knew was the KTH was his father''s baby, and it would one day be his, so he actually enjoyed all the work he had to go through alone to be worthy of it one day.


    Seifr did not have many people who could offer him real competition in the 2nd Class, and he made quick work of his last two bouts without much effort. He, Seth, and Raeq walked together towards the 3rd Class area where the semi-final bracket was located. Seifr turned to the other two as he said, "You know, I was expecting more from such a hyped-up event."


    Raeq smirked as he replied, "Speak for yourself. I''m having a blast so far." Raeq was sauntering along with his hands clasped behind his head next to his two friends. Seth kept poking at Seifr trying to bring up the point about Seifr smacking around a girl, but eventually gave up when Seifr consistently ignored him whenever he tried to steer the conversation that way.


    The trio approached the bracket for the semi-final that had already been set up while still conversing. "I''m just saying, I felt it was anti-climactic," Seifr continued.


    Seth got a strange look on his face when he looked at the bracket. He turned to Seifr. "Maybe you won''t think so anymore," he said as he pointed at the bracket. Seifr followed where his friend was pointing and read one of the first matches on the tree.


    "Seifr, 2nd Class verse Kohl, 3rd Class."

 Tournament: Part Two

    Seifr had obviously told his friends about the run-in he had had with Kohl upon entry into the academy. He had not told them anything about his feelings for Celia, so he also did not tell them about the latest taunting he had received from Kohl while observing the 4th Class spar. Thinking about that incident got Seifr''s blood boiling again.


    Seth looked at the grim expression on his friend''s face. He understood that now was not the time to continue poking fun at his earlier matches. He reached out and gripped Seifr''s shoulder and said, "This is what you''ve been training so hard for. Make sure that noble puke doesn''t forget his place. Put him on the ground and make him bark like the dog he is again."


    Seifr flexed his fists continuously as he imagined them striking Kohl in the face, repeatedly. That mental image almost brought a smile to his face, but he repressed that urge. He needed to maintain this rage. I have to channel my anger. I can''t lose control like last time and set anything on fire on accident. Well, maybe I can set Kohl on fire, haha.


    There was real killing intent in his eyes after he witnessed that scene of Kohl whispering intimately into Celia''s ear right across from him. At first it was just a one-sided hatred from Kohl with Seifr trying to avoid another confrontation, but now Seifr was anticipating their next fight. His gaggle of geese won''t be able to save him this time.


    Adrenaline was pumping through his veins at an unprecedented rate. He was almost giddy and near light-headed from all of the energy coursing through his body. He could not wait, and immediately made his way to the stage where the bouts would take place.


    The bleachers and the area around it were suffused with participants and spectators. Each class naturally congregated together, with some exceptions mixing with the other group. As Seifr made his way to the stage, he spotted a large group of 3rd Class cultivators to the side. Seifr immediately spotted Kohl who was already looking at him.


    When their eyes locked, Kohl smirked and then tapped someone on the shoulder next to him. It was Celia. Kohl said something to her and pointed at his face. Seifr stood there with a blank mind and an expressionless face as he watched Celia roll her eyes at Kohl. Kohl said something else, and Celia leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.


    Kohl looked back at Seifr, and in that moment he appeared to be the embodiment of evil that Seifr was born to destroy. All thoughts of friendly competition left his head. He was on a mission now, and that mission was murder. Kohl''s expression turned strange as he continued to look at Seifr, and Seifr could not place what it meant. He turned and immediately entered the arena. The message was clear: Let''s get this show on the road.


    An instructor swiftly followed Seifr into the ring. He turned to the crowd and said, "The competition still has a few minutes before we begin, but if Seifr''s opponent wants to start now, we can go ahead and get this thing moving." Kohl was already on his way over to the stage, followed by the other 3rd Class students.


    At the mention of Seifr''s name, Celia looked at him, smiled brightly and waved enthusiastically. Seifr''s expression remained grim. A confused look appeared on Celia''s face as she continued to look at Seifr. Seifr had never not smiled back at her.


    Kohl jumped onto the stage and said, "I''m fine with getting started now. The sooner we get this trash swept out of the way, the better." Kohl''s taunting had no effect on Seifr, but his friends to the side bristled with outrage. The crowd clearly saw that there was some strong enmity between the two, but they clearly did not know what it was.


    A strange quiet came over the entire area as everyone focused on this first match. If one did not know better, one would assume from the atmosphere that this was the final match of the entire tournament, not just the first match in the second bracket. The killing intent exuded by both parties in the ring was having a palpable effect on everyone here to witness it. Hearts were racing and palms were sweating.


    "Kick his ass!" Raeq yelled from the sideline. His voice shattered the strange spell that had fallen over the crowd and conversation started back up. It was still muted, as the atmosphere was still grim, but it was no longer eerily silent. A wind kicked up and blew Seifr''s hair and clothes around as he stood there waiting for the match to begin.


    It felt like an eternity from the moment they had faced off against each other, but only a scant few seconds had actually passed since Kohl had made his remarks. The instructor looked at each student and saw that they were ready and raised his hand high into the air as he exclaimed, "Begin!"


    The first time Seifr and Kohl had a confrontation, Seifr was at the 4th Stage Common Realm and Kohl was at the 1st Stage Elementary Realm. Seifr had increased his cultivation by leaps and bounds and now stood confidently at the 5th Stage Mortal Realm with the fighting ability to contend with a Mid Stage Elementary Realm cultivator. Kohl truly was a genius, and had advanced to the 7th Stage Elementary Realm. Seifr knew that he had to maintain his calm if he was going to thrash his enemy.


    Seifr and Kohl both advanced towards each other, neither one wanting to waste any time. The second bracket had a ten-minute time limit on the fights as opposed to the first bracket''s five minutes. The students qualified to advance had proven that they were not just playing around, and thus were given more time to compete.


    Seifr was confident in his Kung Fu, and threw out an exploratory jab. Kohl was much faster than he was the first time, and much more experienced in fighting it would appear, as he smoothly blocked the jab and flowed forward into a counter. Not only was Kohl much faster than he was before, he was much faster than Seifr had anticipated. Seifr narrowly dodged the counter strike by leaping back.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Kohl did not allow Seifr to gain any separation and matched Seifr''s retreat with a steady step forward. The two disciples exchanged a bout of lightning fast strike-counter-strike as Seifr continually backed up and Kohl matched him. The audience was amazed at the level of precision and speed both of these fighters were displaying. It was no longer just the atmosphere that made it seem like the final match, the skill of the competitors let the crowd easily imagine this was the finale.


    Seifr circled around the stage fending off Kohl''s advance with arms and legs alike. Seifr was nearly at his limit, and it seemed like Kohl was still increasing his pace. Seifr was frustrated that he could not seem to gain any advantage and his calm demeanor started to slip. He began to take more risks, reaching to find a chink in Kohl''s defenses.


    He planted his feet solidly and charged at Kohl in a desperate move to try and regain the initiative. Kohl smirked as he moved forward to grasp a hold of Seifr in a grapple. He had been training in grappling for the past several months, and Seifr had yet to learn any of it. Seifr had assumed that if he stayed out of his opponent''s reach, he would be fine. Kohl had manipulated him into falling for his trap.


    Kohl slammed them both into the ground while restraining Seifr. He moved his mouth next to his ear, "I''m going to hurt you now, trash. Be a good little boy and don''t tap out. Who knows what would happen to little Celia if I''m unable to vent my frustration." A chill ran through Seifr''s spine at the words whispered into his ear, and he redoubled his efforts to escape his enemy''s hold, but there was nothing that he could do to escape.


    Kohl rolled them over so that he was on top of Seifr with Seifr face down on the ground. Kohl gripped a fistful of Seifr''s hair and repeatedly slammed his head into the ground. Blood sprayed out of his nose as it was crushed and out of his mouth as he involuntarily bit his tongue. The world was swimming as he was pummeled into the ground.


    In a desperate move, Seifr swung his leg around to gain momentum to twist his body underneath Kohl and hook his leg around his opponent''s waist. He spun his body around as he flipped so his feet were now towards Kohl''s face. He lashed out with his foot and kicked Kohl square in the face. He felt a satisfying crunch as he made contact, so he decided to do it again.


    Kohl latched onto Seifr''s leg, preventing him from completing the kick, and then he lifted his leg up and performed an axe kick down onto Seifr''s ribs. Seifr felt some of his ribs fracture and the wind was knocked out of him as he coughed up some blood.


    This is not how this is supposed to happen! Seifr started to panic. He did not know how to contend with this form of fighting. The rage and feelings of helplessness started to boil over inside of him as Kohl repeatedly smashed his body. The pain added fuel to the fire as Seifr again felt that strange sensation of energy exploding inside and out of him. He shook free of Kohl''s grasp and launched himself into the air to bring his fist down onto Kohl''s head. Kohl dodged his head to the side as Seifr''s fist punched through the stage.


    Seifr''s fist was momentarily stuck, but he was wild with rage and losing his sanity. He slammed his forehead repeatedly into Kohl''s face, using any method available to him to bring pain to his nemesis before he could extract his arm. The two became a whirlwind of punches, elbow and knee strikes, and headbutts as they rolled around on the ground of the stage. All technique flew out the window as each of them tried to bring as much pain to the other as possible. Blood was spraying everywhere, and their clothes were covered in it.


    The crowd had long since returned to that eerie silence as they watched mutual hatred come alive in front of their eyes on the stage. Nobody was cheering. They were not witnessing a competition in a tournament anymore, but a fight to the death. The instructors prepared to intervene if things devolved any further.


    The energy welling up within Seifr reached a critical point and began to boil off of his skin in waves of heat. Kohl had no idea what was going on, but the sudden increase in temperature was painful. He bent his legs up underneath him and launched Seifr away from him across the stage. Seifr bellowed in rage as he landed and a portion of the stage that he came into contact with started to char and smoke.


    Kohl watched this scene in front of him with some trepidation and fear. The crowd gasped when waves of Spiritual Energy gushed off of Seifr''s skin and his cultivation base again plummeted from the 5th Mortal Realm to the 3rd Mortal Realm. Despite the fluctuations emanating from Seifr decreasing to a lower realm, a sense of crisis appeared in Kohl as he felt inexplicably that Seifr had actually just powered up.


    The two contestants had returned to their feet and were glaring at each other. Kohl was not sure exactly what was going on anymore, but his seething hatred for this commoner welled back up and ruthlessly stamped out any momentary fear he had felt. The two charged at each other again and returned to exchanging blows at an alarming pace. It was almost a mutual agreement that they would forgo dodging, and they each just pummeled the other''s body over and over.


    Despite his power up from purifying the ki within his body, Seifr simply did not have enough of it as he felt his strength bleeding out of him. Kohl realized that Seifr was weakening in front of him relative to himself, and he redouble his efforts.


    A fist slammed into Seifr''s fractured ribs and he stumbled back. Kohl instantly latched onto this opening and again grasped the other disciple. This time, however, he did not go down with him to a grappling position. He lifted Seifr up over his head as he yelled at the top of his lungs, and body slammed him head first into the stage.


    Everything went black as Seifr lost consciousness.

 Chasing a New Goal

    Seifr woke up with a start suddenly. He sat up and looked around to find he was in a make-shift bed in a tent. There were a couple of other students getting healed of injuries in other beds, and from how Seifr felt, he could determine that he had already been healed. He pressed his fingers against his ribs to find they were in perfect condition. Seth was sitting on a stool next to him.


    "Yeah, they''ve already patched you up," Seth remarked upon watching Seifr''s actions. "Listen, I know you must be disappointed in losing, but you really gave it to him good. He also didn''t have time to get healed completely before his next match, but he did still win, the bastard."


    "I''m not as disappointed as you might think. I''ve already gotten over the loss. Now I just need to focus on getting tougher so I can beat him next time. This is twice I''ve come out on bottom against him. There won''t be a third time." Determination was the only thing Seth could see in his friend''s eyes.


    Seth patted his shoulder as he stood up. "I''m going to get back out there. I already got eliminated, also, but Raeq is about to have his second bout in this bracket. He''s probably going to get first place for 2nd Class and will probably do fairly well if he advances to the finals."


    Seifr nodded to his friend as he made his exit. He was fine now, but he felt like staying in the bed for a minute to analyze what he could have done better in his fight. He had lost his bearing when he got frustrated and impatient. Patience is the key. If one has patience, they can wait indefinitely for the right opportunity and not make a mistake trying to force one. That''s not to say I shouldn''t try to engineer opportunities, I just have to be smarter about it. He recognized that he had fallen for a trap. Kohl was more devious in combat than he had assumed. It''s not so hard to believe that he''s been schooled in tactics. He is the governor''s son, after all.


    Seifr was lost in thought and did not notice the person take a seat on the stool next to him right away. He glanced over at the movement and came face to face with Celia. His heart started beating wildly, even more so than when he was fighting Kohl. Seifr had not talked to her since he saw her with Kohl at the 4th Class sparring match.


    "How are you?" Celia reached out a hand and placed it on Seifr''s arm, genuine concern in her face and voice. "I didn''t realize you were the person Kohl was going to fight in the first match. That was intense."


    Seifr chuckled slightly as he replied, "Yeah, well we kind of want to kill each other. And that''s not much of an exaggeration."


    "I''m sure it''s not that bad," Celia said. Seifr snorted at this. "So you''re saying that if you could get away with it, you would kill him?" Celia asked seriously.


    That gave Seifr pause. He gave it some serious consideration before responding, "I don''t think so. But on that stage, I wanted his blood. I got some, too. Here... And here.... Oh, and some here, too," Seifr pointed out spots of dried blood on his clothes and then laughed at the look of distaste on Celia''s face. "I''m joking. I don''t know if that''s his blood or mine. Haha."


    "Well at least you''re sense of humor seems to be back. I was worried you had lost it from the look on your face before the match when I waved to you," Celia playfully pushed at Seifr''s arm. "What was that look about? Did I upset you?"


    Seifr squirmed a little in his position on the bed. He really did not know how to answer that without revealing too much. He did not want to hide how he felt necessarily, but this did not seem like a good time to mention it. "Nah, I wouldn''t say that. Just in the zone for the match, I guess," Seifr answered. "Speaking of my absolute, everlasting hatred for Kohl, you guys aren''t friends are you?"


    Celia laughed softly before answering, "He''s the governor''s son. I don''t think he has any friends. But to answer your question, I have to be friendly towards him. My father is one of the deputy directors for his father in the Vinson government office. I''ve known him, well more of him, for most of my life. He''s usually not so bad."


    Seifr snorted again, "I''m sure he''s on his best behavior in front of other nobles, especially the adults. Have you ever seen him interact with commoners?" Seifr looked at Celia, and she shook her head in reply. "I get it, though. He''s in your social circle, and he''s above you in the peerage. But did you have to kiss him?" Seifr winced at himself. He had not meant to say that last part out loud.


    Celia scoffed and playfully swatted Seifr''s shoulder again, "You voyeur. So you saw that did you? That didn''t mean anything. He asked me to give him a peck on the cheek for good luck. I thought he was being stupid and told him no, but he insisted and said I was the only pretty girl around who could do it. I simply amused him. If I had known his opponent was you, I wouldn''t have wished him luck." Celia stuck her tongue out when she insulted Seifr in her typical cheeky manner, so Seifr knew she was only playing when she accused him of spying on her.


    "Then what about around a week ago when you were sitting next to him at the 4th Class sparring ring? I was sitting across the way from you guys. He pointed at me, you looked right at me, and then shrugged your shoulders. What was that about?" Since Seifr had worked up his courage on this topic, he was bound to get to the bottom of it.


    "What? He pointed at something randomly when asking me a question about something I didn''t know the answer to. I just casually looked in the direction he was pointing, but I didn''t even see you. If I had, you know I would have waved. And considering I didn''t know you guys hated each other, I probably would have tried to get you to come sit with us," Celia cleared up the suspicions that Seifr had. The knot in his stomach from that day, that he had come to ignore, finally disappeared and a sense of relief flooded through him.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Seifr decided to go for broke, and with a grin on his face said, "Well in that case, what are you going to do to make me feel better about losing the tournament?"


    Celia tilted her head to the side and rested her face in her hand, "Oh, is poor wittle Seifr sad he didn''t get a sword to pway wif?" She said in a little child''s voice. Seifr grimaced a bit at the teasing, but then nodded his head enthusiastically. "Well in that case, how about I take you shopping for one tomorrow. It''s a day off anyway, and now that you''re out of the tournament, why go watch?"


    Seifr couldn''t believe his luck and shouted out, "Absolutely! <cough> I mean, that sounds nice. What time do you want to go?"


    Celia giggled at his antics, "First thing in the morning. The commercial districts around here open up early." With that Celia got up to make her way out of the infirmary tent. She glanced back towards Seifr over her shoulder as she walked away and said, "I''ll meet you at the gate an hour after sunrise. How does that sound?"


    Seifr gave a thumbs up and said, "It''s a date!"


    Celia paused for a brief second as she was making her exit, and Seifr was sure he could see her skin turn red on her neck. She did not turn back around this time, but gave a wave as she said, "Sure." Then she was gone.


    Seifr was shocked at his brazenness just now. He had no idea what had come over him to say such a thing, but now that it had worked out, he was glad he did. He put his hands on the back of his head as he leaned back onto the pillow, crossed his legs, and began whistling a merry tune. That was how his friends Raeq and Seth found him moments later.


    Raeq eyed him suspiciously as he walked up, "You are entirely too happy for someone who just got knocked out of a tournament he literally bled for. You do realize that the way to advance is to not get slammed on the head repeatedly until you pass out, right?"


    Seifr slapped at his friend playfully, "Ha! While you''re busy on the stage wrestling with sweaty men tomorrow, I''m going to be on a date. With a lady." Seifr stuck his tongue out at his friend.


    Seth piped up at this point, "Now don''t forget that it''s a date, not a match. You can''t slap this one around like the last girl you let get close to you. Hahaha." Seifr kicked out at his other friend. He was afraid Seth was never going to let him live that down.


    Raeq snickered and said, "Like you''re one to talk. The reason you''re not advancing to the next round is because you got beat by a girl."


    Seth placed his hand on his chest and said in mock outrage, "That is because I am a gentleman. The only one among barbarians it would seem. Barbarians."


    "Yeah, gentleman," Raeq snorted. "You should have seen it, Seifr. It was love at first sight. He was proclaiming his undying love for all the world to see, saying there was no way he could ever hit the woman of his dreams. She was beat red, and I thought his strategy was to embarrass her to death until he got down on one knee and proposed marriage. That''s when she gave him a tornado kick that sent him flying clear 15 meters out of the ring."


    Seifr couldn''t help but burst out laughing at this story as he looked at Seth. Seth turned his nose up and turned his head to the side, the utter image of indignation. "That girl will be mine one day. If you had seen her, Seifr, even you would have.... Well, ok, no, you would have tried to kick her in the face. But my point is, it was worth it. She told me her name." He waggled his eyebrows at Seifr like he had accomplished something.


    Raeq bent over and slapped his knee while letting out a loud laugh, "No, she didn''t! The instructor announced it! Hahahaha." Seth turned to leave and Raeq grabbed him in a one-armed bear hug. "You know I''m just playing with you. But the both of you, go ahead and chase skirts. I got no time for that. It''s the spring time of youth, and I plan on winning!"


    Seifr cocked an eyebrow at Raeq as he responded, "I think.... that''s wrong... I''m pretty sure you''re supposed to use the "spring time of youth" to act wild, but that includes girls."


    "Not for this guy," Raeq exclaimed while pointing at himself with his thumb. "The only girls I''m interested in are the ones who want to wrestle!"


    Seth elbowed Raeq in the ribs, "Those are the girls I''m interested in, too. Heh." Raeq slapped Seth upside the head, and Seth chuckled.


    Raeq looked back at Seifr, "How long are you planning on laying in that bed here in the infirmary? You''re not hurt. Let''s go!" With that Raeq and Seth turned to go. Seifr sprang out of the bed like nothing had ever happened to him, despite the evidence of still having a considerable amount of blood on his clothes. I wonder if I could get an instructor to use their ki to wash this blood off? I mean it did happen in a school sanctioned event.


    The trio made their way back towards the dormitory in the 2nd Class section of the campus. Seifr and Seth had finally moved there things over a couple of days ago. Seifr was in high spirits as the day came to a close. Even though he had been beaten in the tournament, he was incomparably happy at the good fortune that had come his way. He might even have to thank Kohl. If not for him, he might not have ever been in a situation to clear things up with Celia.


    Seifr ended his night with high expectations for the next day, even higher than his anticipation for the tournament.

 Time for a Change

    Celia came bounding up to Seifr with youthful exuberance, practically skipping. "Did you wait long?" Celia asked as she approached.


    "Only a couple of minutes," Seifr replied. He had actually waited for close to an hour, but that was because he was incredibly early, and not because Celia was late. Seifr had woken up extra early and could hardly contain himself in the dormitory. He had so much energy that he felt he could run a hundred laps around the campus and not be tired at all.


    Celia smiled brightly up at Seifr. She only came up to about his chest level, but Seifr had never really noticed just how short she really was. Her smile appeared to light up the surroundings brighter than the sun, and Seifr had to look away lest he go blind.


    "Well, come on then," Cealia hooked her arm into Seifr''s and started to drag him off to the East.


    There were many different commercial districts within the city, because there were several hundred thousand people living in Vinson, so it was no surprise that there would be many thousands of craftsmen competing for business.


    Seifr did not know the high-end districts very well. While he was wealthy, he had always been too busy training in one form or another to actually spend any time shopping for anything, and the masters that he had always been apprenticed to were the ones skilled enough to have some renown, but not skilled enough to cater to the rich. His father had allowed him a monthly stipend ever since he started his apprenticeships, but aside from the occasional fancy meal, Seifr had managed to save almost all of it.


    He felt the jingle of his coins in his pocket as they walked along the streets, arm in arm. Seifr had six gold coins, stamped with the face of the current Emperor. Six gold coins might not seem like a lot, but it was a veritable fortune compared to what most commoners could scrounge up at any given time.


    The currency system was based on 10''s: One gold coin was equal to ten silver coins; one silver coin was equal to 10 copper coins; and one copper coin was equal to 10 iron coins. The typical wage of a farmhand was five copper coins a week, and for the frugal commoner, that was enough to live on and save about a third as well. There was a higher denomination than gold, and that was platinum, and if one was paying attention, it''s obvious that it was worth 10 gold coins. Pretty much only nobles ever carried around any platinum coins.


    Cultivators had their own special form of currency, too. Namely, the Spirit Stones. Spirit Stones had a wide variety of uses, the most common of which was direct assistance in accumulating Spiritual Energy and crafting Spirit Items. Cultivators in the Spirit Realm and higher could directly absorb the Spiritual Energy stored in the Spirit Stones by concentrating their own ki into the stones. This would cause the Spiritual Energy to release from the stone, and the cultivator could then inhale it directly like a mist. Spiritual Energy inhaled in this manner was many times more concentrated than was found in the atmosphere.


    There were many different ways of acquiring Spirit Stones. One of the most common ways was to hunt wild beasts that had increased cultivation and remove the neidans from them. The neidans were physical manifestations of ki much like the dantian in a human. Cultivators in the Spirit Realm could focus their ki much like they would with a Spirit Stone into a neidan to tame the wild energy contained within. The neidan would shatter into smaller pieces, and much of the wild Spiritual Energy would be released and lost, but what was contained and purified would become Spirit Stones. Spirit Stones could also be found in the wild alongside other natural resources as the Spiritual Energy in an area slowly saturated the earth over time. Spirit Stones were found more often around other precious materials. Nobody had yet determined why this phenomenon existed, but it was widely accepted as fact.


    Higher realm cultivators were able to purify more of the neidan as they became more powerful, thus most hunters would sell neidans to more powerful clans or sects for them to purify the neidan at a discount rate depending on the level of cultivator doing the purifying. The hunter would receive more Spirit Stones than they could produce themselves, and the clan or sect would keep the difference in the discount rate. A much more powerful clan or sect could employ more full-time higher level cultivators in this exchange rate and maintain a steady level of wealth, thus leading to more cultivators becoming more powerful.


    A sect with a powerful Heaven Realm cultivator would have many cultivators in the Earth and Sky realm who could dedicate a portion of their time towards purifying neidans, whereas one with only an Earth Realm patriarch, like the Blue Vines Sect in Vinson, could only employ some in the Profound and Spirit Realm. The Misty Realm had a couple instructors in the Late Earth Realm who provided purifying services to students in the 6th and 7th Class, and there were several in the Mid Earth Realm for the 4th and 5th Class. Not only could The Misty Realm provide a higher purifying rate than the Blue Vines, but the discount rate was reduced as well.


    Many would think that cultivators would disdain to accumulate material wealth in the form of Imperial currency, but cultivators had to live in the world among mortals as well. There was an exchange rate set up for Spirit Stones to currency that was maintained officially by the government, and anyone could exchange them one for the other at the current rate in any government exchequer office. The current rate was one Spirit Stone for one silver coin, and depending on the saturation in the market, it could be raised or lowered at any time. New Spirit Stones were constantly being created out of neidans and mined alongside other natural resources in the wild, but they were also being consumed to assist in accumulation and crafting at a steady rate as well. It had been a fairly stable market for some time now.


    Seifr and Celia made there way to a commercial district that definitely catered to the wealthy. Each workshop and storefront was meticulously kept, with fresh paint and manicured trees and flowers abounding the street. It was the most expensive looking place Seifr had ever seen. Celia did not hesitate to drag Seifr directly into the first store that was selling Spirit Items.


    "Welcome," a voice rang out from behind a counter near the door. A friendly looking man was standing behind the counter with a smile on his face as he greeted the two as they entered the shop. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"


    The store was very neatly kept. All of the merchandise on display was either hanging on the wall behind a counter that went all the way around the store, or in glass cases on the floor or the counter itself. There was a large variety of goods on display, from swords, axes, knives, and other tools for destruction to mannequins with cloth and leather protective gear. Seifr even spied a full suit of armor made out of steel. That suit actually looks very practical. The joints are finely made and from the look appears to be freely moving. The weight of such a suit would be negligible to a cultivator of sufficient level.


    One could often see cultivators walking the streets in various forms of dress. Many walked the streets in normal street wear, but there were also many who were on their way from or to the wilderness dressed in anything from beast leathers to full plate suits like what was on display here.


    "My friend and I have decided it is time to invest in a Spirit Weapon. Do you have any recommendations?" Celia skipped over to the man behind the counter and smiled sweetly to him.


    "Certainly. What exactly are you looking for? We have all kinds here, including weapons with attributes. Do you have any kind of affiliation with a specific attribute?"


    This was the first time Seifr had heard anything about attributes. Celia saw the perplexed look on Seifr''s face and giggled at him. "You don''t know what attributes are? It''s really quite simple, every cultivator is drawn to a certain type of ki manifestation like fire or ice. Usually one would not know what attribute they were affiliated with until they reached the Spirit Stage, but there are other methods of finding out. I''m assuming you''ve never done it before, but there are certain crystals one can infuse their ki into, and depending on the color and vibrancy, one can determine their attribute affiliation." After the brief instruction, Celia turned to the man behind the counter again and said, "I''m affiliated with the Wind Attribute."


    Seifr thought back to the crystal Master Kveld had had him infuse his ki into. The crystal had not changed at all. There was not even the faintest hint of color. Maybe it was a different kind of crystal? Seifr shook his head. There was no way to know for sure without asking someone.


    "You''re in luck. I have just the perfect thing for you," the shopkeeper told Celia as he walked around the counter to a display case. He reached in and pulled out a green spear. It was rather slender, but taller than even Seifr by a few inches. It was quite sturdy looking despite its width, and it had a tassel with several bright feathers attached to it. The spearhead appeared to look like stone, but even if it was, this was a Spirit Weapon and could not be judged by its look alone.


    Celia clapped her hands in delight and gave a short jump as she ran over to take hold of the spear. Seifr could sense a faint vibration in the vicinity as her hands came into contact with the weapon. A look of surprise came on the merchant''s face and he exclaimed, "Resonance! You have a very high affiliation with the Wind Attribute. This spear was made for you." He beamed at Celia. "There''s a small sparring ground designed for testing weapons for certain potential buyers. With a resonance like that, I''ll allow you back there and give it a few swings."


    "Really?! That sounds wonderful. Thanks." Celia bounded after the man as he turned to open a door that Seifr had previously not noticed. They went into a room that was about the same size as the store proper, but this room contained many training dummies. Celia wasted no time jumping right into the center of a group of them.


    Celia expertly spun the spear one-handed and then executed a straight thrust, driving the spear directly through one of the dummies. She then swiftly extracted the spear and swept it across several more dummies, knocking them down. Seifr could almost see the vibrations in the air as she brandished the weapon about, and could feel the wind kicked up against his face. After that maneuver, she leaned directly backwards, almost coming parallel to the ground, and slapped two more dummies in the head with the spear before straightening up again.


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    Seifr was secretly shocked. In only one breath''s time, Celia had demolished six training dummies. Her fighting prowess was much higher than he had anticipated. Got to remember to never get in a fight with her. Especially if she has a spear.... Or a stick, even. The merchant was likewise flabbergasted at this short display of might.


    Celia bounded over to the two men gaping at her, smiling sweetly as she told the shopkeeper, "I''ll take it! How much is it?"


    The man quickly came out of his daze at the mention of a possible sale. He looked Celia right in the eyes and said sincerely, "Usually I would name a price that would bring in lots of profit, not expecting to actually get the first asking price. Sometimes I get lucky and someone either really, really wants the item and just pays, or they don''t understand how business is truly conducted. But this time I''m going to start with my rock-bottom price, because I would regret selling this weapon to someone else, because it clearly already belongs to you. With all that said, I can sell it to you for 13 gold coins."


    Seifr''s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He knew this place was for wealthy shoppers, but the six gold coins he had qualified him as being considered wealthy. This shopkeeper said his rock-bottom price was more than double his entire wealth. He sighed and was about to turn to leave in disappointment.


    "Deal!" Celia called out. She reached into her pocket and retrieved a handful of gold. She quickly counted it out and returned a significant portion back into her pocket as she handed 13 coins to the man. He beamed at her as he pocketed the money. Celia turned to Seifr and raised an eyebrow at him as she said, "Haha, we actually came out here for you, but I ended up shopping for myself first! Sorry, sorry. Let''s go find you something."


    Seifr hesitated for a second before resigning himself to just looking. Can''t hurt to just look. Maybe I can find something I can save up for. Celia seemed to sense Seifr''s internal struggle and leaned close to him to whisper, "I can spot you if you don''t have enough. I told you I was bringing you shopping to make you feel better about the tournament. How could I bring you out and tell you ''look but don''t touch?''" A mischievous glint was in Celia''s eyes as she said that. Seifr suddenly became acutely aware of the heat radiating off of her body as she stood extremely close to him. His heart was beating so hard he could hear the pounding in his head.


    Celia laughed delightfully as she scampered ahead like a small child. Seifr shook his head as he followed her out. He turned to the merchant and asked, "I''ve infused my ki into one of those crystals before, I think, but there was no change in color or anything even after a full minute. Do you know anything about that?"


    The man was momentarily surprised, and then he smiled and responded, "That''s actually quite simple. It means that your affiliated attribute is a higher tier. We only have Tier One weapons here. There are a total of three tiers. Every once in a while, if one is extremely lucky, one could find a Tier Two weapon at an auction. I don''t think there is a single Tier 3 weapon or item in existence. At least I''ve never heard of any, and I don''t know of anyone else who could claim to have heard of any either. If one existed, everyone would know about it; it would be so shocking."


    Seifr stroked his chin in contemplation for a moment as he thought about the implications. The older man seemed to sense what he was thinking and said, "Not all Spirit Weapons have an attribute, and even if you use a weapon with an attribute you''re not affiliated with, as you become more powerful you can still utilize that attribute. It just won''t be as powerful as someone with a natural propensity for using that attribute."


    Seifr nodded his head as he perused the items in the shop. He asked to see several that caught his attention, but nothing gave him a good feeling. After a while, he turned to Celia, "I don''t think there''s anything here for me. At least not right now." He turned to the shopkeeper. "Thanks for your assistance and patience today."


    The salesman laughed heartily as he waved off Seifr''s obvious concern about wasting his time. "Its fine, its fine. You two can come back anytime you want." The man said that the two of them could come back anytime, but what seifr heard him say was, "You can bring her back anytime you want."


    The two of them made their exit from the shop and continued on their way. They spent a large portion of the day walking to different stores looking for a suitable weapon for Seifr. Celia strutted around with her spear propped up on her shoulder, and she would run around "oohing" and "aahing" at different things, especially when they walked by a lady''s clothing store. Seifr was sure they were going to be in there until sundown, and Celia ended up not even buying anything!


    The duo were making their way back to the campus after a fruitless day of searching. They had gotten a brief bite to eat earlier, but they had decided to head back for dinner on campus. Celia was trying to keep Seifr''s spirits up as they walked along. They no longer just walked on the main thoroughfare, but traversed across the alleys as well. With the two of them dressed in their Misty Realm robes and this being a rich neighborhood, neither of them were concerned about being accosted.


    "Hey, young man," a voice called out from the side of one such alley as they were walking by. Seifr turned to see a man who appeared to be in his early thirties sitting in front of a cloth set out with several different weapons lain across it. "Yes, you. I see you walking with the lovely lady. She''s armed to the teeth with that magnificent spear, but where''s your weapon? Come have a look at what I have to offer." The man appeared to be quite at ease with himself.


    Seifr quickly glanced over the weapons on the ground. Not one of them looked like they could be put on display at any of the previous stores, but several of them were obvious tools of warfare built for utility. He was about to politely decline the invitation when a sword in a plain, black scabbard caught his attention. It was about 70 centimeters in length, had a slight curve to the blade, and had zero embellishment. It was completely plain. Once it entered his vision, Seifr was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. As he approached it, the man''s eyes flashed briefly.


    Seifr picked it up and drew the sword out of its scabbard. It looked like a very plain, ordinary sword, but Seifr could not take his eyes off of it. "How much?" he asked without even looking at the man. Celia frowned slightly, but did not speak up. Even though this man seemed to be a charlatan, what with his attitude and location of doing business, she could still feel the faint traces of ki coming off of this weapon. It was obviously not fake, if not eye catching to her at all.


    The man chuckled as he extended his hand, "I''ll sell it for six gold coins." The man smiled at Seifr as the youth did not even hesitate to spend his entire savings on this sword. "Try infusing your ki into it through the handle," the man suggested as he immediately rolled up the blanket and disappeared down the alley. The speed that he disappeared seemingly without a trace astonished the two.


    Seifr looked down at the sword in his hand as he circulated his ki and infused it into the weapon. Immediately a sense of vertigo washed over him. His surroundings wavered like a ripple in a pond. They bounced back and forth appearing to stretch away and compress towards him simultaneously. His stomach started to churn, his head pounded, and blood started to seep out of his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. He tried desperately to retract his ki, but the sword acted like a suction force and continued to pull it out of him. Seifr was powerless to stop it.


    Seifr could barely focus on his surroundings as he struggled to maintain his sanity, but he barely noticed another strange phenomenon. Celia, who was standing next to him, appeared to be moving at varying speeds. One second she was at a near standstill, then the next she was hopping up and down at a ridiculously fast speed and waving her hands in front of Seifr''s face, a look of terror in her eyes. It appeared that she was moving a hundred times faster than was conceivably possible. Then the next she was moving at a normal speed before everything returned to a standstill again.


    He witnessed a group of poorly dressed teenagers rush down the alley in an almost comical manner. One of them bumped into Celia and knocked her down in slow motion, and then suddenly the group of teenagers was gone and Celia was brandishing her spear in the direction they disappeared down. Shortly after a troop of guards rushed down the alley and Celia pointed where they went before returning her attention to Seifr. This entire event simultaneously seemed to take an eternity and happened instantaneously.


    The changes in speed continued to cycle around at the same time the distortions in his vision were occurring. The pounding of his heart and in his head reached a crescendo, and then the sword stopped sucking up his ki all of a sudden. Seifr collapsed to his knees and vomited up bile and blood. He wiped his face clean and was surprised at the amount of blood that came away on his hand.


    "Seifr! Are you all right?! You just stood there staring at that sword for like ten minutes. I didn''t think much about it until you started bleeding everywhere." Celia put her hand on Seifr''s forehead briefly to check if he had a fever before helping him up.


    "I have no idea what just happened, but it was the most bizarre experience of my life. I couldn''t even begin to describe it to you. But I feel fine now," Seifr was telling the truth. After he spit up the bile, he instantly felt completely normal again. He got himself cleaned up to the best of his ability with the help of Celia, and then the pair made there way back to the academy.


    Seifr was still pleased with his purchase of the sword, but now he eyed it with a bit of trepidation and fear. He was apprehensive about trying to infuse his ki again. That earlier experience was definitely not something he wanted to repeat. He would have to be extremely careful in experimenting with his newfound sword in the future.

 The Pointy End Goes Where?

    "And then he was like, ''pow,'' and ''wham.'' And I was like, ''oh, no,'' and then ''yes, yes, yes!'' Then the other guy was like, ''blurgh, cough cough,'' and the fight was over." Seth was animatedly explaining the final match of the tournament from the day before. He was throwing shadow punches and moving his body back and forth as he narrated the fight.


    Seifr looked at him with an expressionless face and said deadpan, "Your story is so rich and detailed, it''s amazing. Have you ever considered quitting cultivation school and learning to be a story teller? You could enthrall.... dozens over your lifetime." At this point, he could hold it in no longer and cracked a smile. It had become fairly routine for them to poke fun at each other, and sometimes Seth made it almost too easy.


    "Ha. Ha. Point is, it was amazing. Though my favorite is still the fight where Kohl got his ass handed to him. So refreshing," Seth spoke in a carefree manner. He did not care if other nobles heard a simple merchant''s son bad mouthing the governor''s son. Most of the nobles were too intimidated to approach Kohl, and many did not like him anyway. Politics. One thing those of common blood have here that the nobles don''t, solidarity.


    The commoners and nobles actually got along just fine for the most part, especially in the school; however, there were clear demarcations in the groups of nobles. The noble children affiliated themselves with other houses who shared the same political views, and shunned others who did not. It made for a fairly interesting dynamic.


    "So where''s Raeq? I haven''t seen him since I got back," Seifr asked.


    "Oh yeah, can''t believe I almost forgot. That beast got promoted early to 3rd Class as one of his rewards for getting first in 2nd Class rankings. He and the other first rankers are also getting a one-hour personal tutelage from Master Kveld, and not a lecture. The instructor said that Master Kveld is going to assist them in balancing their ki and give pointers on their Kung Fu. If I had known that, I would have punched that one girl right in the face - much like how you handle the fairer sex." Seth stuck his tongue out as he brought up his trump card again. "I mean, you did show up back to the dormitory yesterday after your supposed date covered in blood."


    Seifr rolled his eyse before saying, "I told you already, something weird happened with that Ki Sword. I''m still not sure what it was." Seifr had the Ki Sword strapped to his back. It could not fit in his personal chest, and he did not have anywhere to store it safely, so he opted to just carry it around. A lot of other students carried weapons around on them, so it was not out of the ordinary.


    Seifr and Seth parted ways to begin their training. Running with a weight on his back was definitely a new experience for Seifr, as he felt the scabbard bouncing around and affecting his center of gravity. This is annoying, how does anyone do this? Seifr was growing frustrated at his inability to keep his sword still on his back. There was nothing to do about, though, but grit his teeth and keep moving. He was sure he would get the hang of it eventually.


    Midway through the day, still struggling with his sword strapped to his back, Seifr was approached by Instructor Nalai. She walked up to him and addressed him, "Seifr, I''ve been watching you make a damn fool out of yourself all day with that sword on your back, and I can''t take it anymore. Come with me." Even though the words she spoke were harsh, the look on her face was gentle. Seifr knew she was going to help him, so he was immediately grateful for the interruption.


    Instructor Nalai led him to the third floor of the 2nd Class Hall. He had actually never come up here before, and now that he was stepping onto the third floor for the first time, he realized he had never even noticed. There were more training dummies set up on this floor, but there were considerably less of them and they were spaced out much further apart. He instantly realized this was for training with weapons. One did not want to place training dummies too close together when dealing with weapons lest someone lose control and accidentally stab someone else training.


    "For one thing, if you''re going to wear a sword or blade on your back, make sure you have the straps tightened to a degree that it won''t bounce around all over the place. Come on, Seifr, that''s pretty common sense." Seifr winced at her disapproving tone.


    "Yes, Instructor. But in my defense, I just got this sword yesterday, and I haven''t yet gotten a harness that fits me. This one was borrowed from an older student," Seifr explained.


    "That brings me to my next point. This is a katana; a curved sword. It''s worn on the waist. If you had a straight blade, I would recommend wearing it on your back. Removing and returning the katana to a scabbard on your back is much more complicated than it would be for a longsword. Here, let me show you how it''s worn." Instructor Nalai had Seifr remove his harness and hand her the sword. She demonstrated how to thread the scabbard into a belt, and then she showed how to use the sash on the robes to prop the katana at an angle so it did not constantly bang against his leg.


    "Ok, now that you''re wearing the sword properly, what you''re going to do next... is take it off and put it on again," Instructor Nalai unceremoniously ordered Seifr. Seifr gaped at the female instructor for a second before doing as he was told. Upon trying to get the sword set through the belt and propped up on the sash, Seifr realized instructor Nalai was right in making him do it again, because he could not figure out how to get it set right again. He sheepishly glanced at Instructor Nalai, and she chuckled at him before assisting him again.


    Seifr spent the next 45 minutes doing nothing but adjusting the scabbard over and over. Instructor Nalai even made him wear a blindfold of all things at one point. After she deemed him competent enough to dress himself, she showed him how to carry himself when he walked, ran, and maneuvered to create as little drag from the sword as possible. Seifr remarked at how adept she was at these movements after an hour of walking, dashing, jumping and running while maintaining the proper bearing, and she gave a small chuckle before replying, "My cultivation has always lagged behind those in the same age group as myself, so I always had to work harder on technique. One of the reasons I was accepted as an instructor here is that I''m a recognized Blademaster. The only reason I''m not famous is my relatively low cultivation base. And that''s not me bragging, it''s the simple truth." Seifr was amazed when he heard this.


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    "And you''re going to teach me?" Seifr was very excited about this prospect.


    "Yes, and no. As your personal instructor in the 2nd Class, I''m here to give you guidance in seeking the correct path. This is in a very general sense, as I have many other students who also need my guidance; however, that being said, I can give you simple instruction once a week like today. I''ll spend more time with you today so I don''t have to in the future. I''ll show you all the proper forms and have you go through them in a very basic way, then I''ll have you focus on them in order. As you advance in proficiency, I''ll instruct you in the higher forms. The very first form is the draw, and you will practice the draw at least ten thousand times before I''ll be satisfied enough to give you proper instruction on the next form."


    Instructor Nalai was not joking. She showed him all of the forms and basic strikes, had him go through them slowly and made simple corrections until, in her estimation, he was no longer abysmal at them, and then she instructed him to draw the sword from the scabbard, assume the proper stance, and then return the sword to the scabbard... over... and over.... and over. "If you haven''t performed this move at least ten thousand times by this time next week, don''t bother showing up for your next instruction," Instructor Nalai informed Seifr.


    Seifr was dumbfounded by this seemingly impossible task. Well, if I think about it, it takes about four seconds to perform the draw and sheathe the sword, and as I get more proficient, that time will pare down even further. That''s 15 draws every minute. That means I can do about 900 draws an hour if I''m focused. Yeah, 10 hours over the course of a week is completely doable. I''ll do an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening every day, that will be close to 14,000 draws and sheathes. Seifr set his determination, and he continued practicing the draw as Instructor Nalai made her leave to attend to her other duties.


    That week flew by, with Seifr adhering to his strict regimen of exercise, lectures, and now sword practice. He spent the majority of his time training, but he would occasionally get to spend time with either Seth horsing around, or with Celia wandering around the city. It felt like their relationship was deepening, but he was not sure. He had never even held her hand and was not sure how to broach the subject.


    He also eventually started experimenting with infusing ki into his sword again. The crazy event from the first time he did it did not repeat itself, and he actually failed to notice any kind of change in the sword at all when he did this. He always made sure he was in seclusion when he performed these experiments. He started doing everything with the sword in hand: exercising, attending lectures, during his free time, eating, cultivating, and even sleeping. His sword was never put aside.


    Seifr learned that the school held a tournament event once every three months, and that the latter two tournaments of the year would be with weapons. Seifr stopped focusing on his Kung Fu in favor of his swordplay as he was confident in the foundation he had built so far. He would occasionally practice a little so as not to get rusty, but for the most part it was all sword play from now on. Seifr decided to skip the next tournament so he would be better when he fought in the third tournament with his sword.


    Time continued on and four months passed in the blink of an eye. Seifr managed some small mastery of the various sword forms and strikes, and he managed to build his cultivation back up to the 7th Mortal Realm. He had had a noticeable increase in cultivation speed ever since he had started cultivating with the sword being balanced on his legs. I don''t know what my attribute is, or if this sword even has an attribute. Maybe it''s a placebo effect and just having the sword unconsciously makes me more efficient at cultivation. I really don''t care, all I know is that it''s good. This increase in cultivation speed was not accompanied by a drop in battle prowess like the previous increase after the ki vortex, so he knew that he was still purifying his ki at an amazing rate.


    There were only two months left before the next tournament, and Seifr was growing more and more confident that he would be able to beat Kohl this time.


    ~


    "I''ve been feeling these weird fluctuations that I''m having a hard time pinning down recently. Do you know anything about that?" Master Kveld was at his usual spot standing in front of the window in his office, idly tapping on the glass. The irreverent middle-aged man that was in his office during the ki vortex incident was again sitting in one of the chairs with his leg draped over the arm and swinging back and forth.


    At Kveld''s words, the man froze momentarily before sheepishly saying, "I may have given that young student something..." He trailed off and stared at the ground.


    Master Kveld stopped tapping on the glass and turned to face the man before prodding, "Out with it, Loryn."


    Loryn refused to meet Kveld''s eyes as he said, "...Caelaevus."


    Kveld''s eyebrows rose to the top of his head in astonishment. "You what?! You gave him Caelaevus? I thought that was one of your prized possessions? And what could have possibly gone through your mind..." Master Kveld slowly came to a stop in his diatribe as he realized something. "Wait, was he able to activate its attribute?" Loryn nodded his head. "Well, what was it? You''ve had that sword for over 200 years and you never made heads or tails of it."


    Loryn finally met Kveld''s eyes and furrowed his brow as he answered, "That''s the strangest part. He clearly activated it, and there was definitely an effect on him, but I couldn''t sense anything. He just stood there and stared at it, dead to the world around him, for about 10 minutes before he collapsed to the floor. I have my suspicions what it could mean, but I don''t want to voice them just yet. Though you can be sure that that is the source of those fluctuations you can''t identify. Let''s wait and see what happens before making any decisions"


    "Hmmm... Yes, you''re right. Let''s wait and see, first. No harm in that." Master Kveld faced the window again and returned to tapping it idly.

 All Good Things

    "Well, I suppose you''re skilled enough in the basics to not embarrass me in public," Instructor Nalai gave a resounding endorsement of Seifr''s abilities with the sword. Compared to the things she said at the start of his instruction, that was a true statement. Seifr had been working hard at polishing his skills with the sword in preparation for the tournament coming up in six weeks, and unlike last time with him stumbling through learning advanced techniques, he had one of the best blademasters in the province instructing him.


    "Thank you, Instructor. Your disciple will not disappoint you in the tournament," Seifr replied. That sounded very familiar, just now. Where do I recall it from... Oh, well. Seifr gave a short bow to Instructor Nalai before heading to the first floor of the 2nd Class Hall. He and Seth had plans to go grab dinner at a new fancy restaurant. Seifr had managed to save up almost a gold again, and he had checked ahead of time to make sure the prices were not exorbitant.


    Seifr met up with Seth on the first floor and the two headed towards the campus gate. Seth eyed Seifr''s sword at his waist, "Are you ever going to put that thing away? You''re a good fighter, but your blood runs gold, my friend. Those of us of the more civilized persuasion do not need to always resort to our baser instincts to resolve conflict or make deals."


    Siefr snorted at this comment. "Isn''t one of the main selling points of the Heirn Caravan its professional mercenaries? And doesn''t your father train them personally?" Seifr looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye.


    "True, true. But if I become successful enough at business and maintain a respectable cultivation, when I take over one day I can just hire someone to do that for me. My dad''s blood was not always gold. He started off as a mercenary. I don''t have that handicap." Seth was full of confidence as he made these statements.


    "I''m a little surprised at you. You fight with such ferocity and seriousness whenever you spar or compete, yet here you are disdaining the very nature of cultivators," Seifr said.


    "This is easy to understand. I am expected to excel at the academy, so I put forth the effort necessary to be one of the best, if not today, then at least one day. As for the competitions, come on, man, those have rewards. Everything I do is based on compensation. Are you sure your surname is Kyian?" Seth poked Seifr in the ribs as he needled him a little bit.


    "Maybe you haven''t found the right inspiration, yet."


    "Maybe you''ll let me borrow that pointy stick at your waist one of these days soon so I can see what the fuss is about," Seth said with a grin.


    Seifr stroked his chin in contemplation as they walked along. Finally he replied, "Maybe I will, at that." The two continued on in companionable silence. They were almost at the gate when Celia came bounding up to Seifr. She waved enthusiastically before she skipped forward and gave him a quick, brief hug.


    "Heya, stranger. I haven''t seen you in a couple of days. What''re you up to?" Celia asked.


    "Oh, not much. Just Seth and I about to grab something to eat off campus for a change. What about yourself?" Seifr enquired.


    "Me too! Well, I''m not going with Seth, obviously, but a friend invited me to go get dinner tonight. I''m on my way to clean up and change right now. Can''t go out all sweaty and gross like a boy, now can I?" Celia stuck her tongue out as she waved and skipped away.


    Seth looked at Seifr askance before saying, "Is that the girl you''ve been spending all your free time with?" Seifr nodded at this question. "I hate to break it to you, man, but don''t you know she''s engaged?"


    Seifr looked over at Seth sharply and swatted at his shoulder. "Hey, cut it out. Don''t tease me like that, this is the first time you''ve even seen her. How could you know?" Seifr thought Seth was pulling a prank on him, but Seth''s expression never changed.


    "This is the first time I''ve seen her with you, but almost everyone knows who she is. I mean come on, her dad''s a deputy director for the governor, a fairly well-known nobleman. You think the higher ranked peerage don''t arrange marriages for their children? Trust me, it''s public knowledge that she has an arranged fiance. Just nobody knows who it is, because it has yet to be announced officially."


    Seifr felt a stab of panic in his heart at these words. What he says makes sense. And I''ve never made known exactly how I felt about her, either. But she''s given me clear signs of interest, and she''s never mentioned anything either. I don''t know, I don''t know. Seifr cursed inwardly as he scolded himself for being a coward.


    Seth eyed his friend as his facial expressions flickered about between emotions. "We could spy on her. She just said she was about to go get dinner with a ''friend,''" Seth ventured.


    Seifr pointed at his friend as he responded, "No. I will not do that. That seems a violation of her privacy. Let''s just go get something to eat, and after I''ve calmed down and thought things through, then I''ll go find her and verify that she is not actually engaged."


    Seth shrugged his shoulders in acquiescence. The duo continued their journey out the gate and across town. They started talking about different things again, and Seifr slowly began to relax. They soon found themselves at the new restaurant and were greeted by a young lady in her early twenties. Despite being several years older than the both of them, she was a commoner only in the 1st Mortal Realm. Most people couldn''t focus on cultivation, especially the ones who had to work harder to make ends meet. They just did not have the free time or energy to spare. It was quite telling that some of the weakest members of society used to be seven stages above what Seifr had accomplished when he had initially enrolled in the academy. Knowing that it was obvious why others would treat him with disdain and assume he was weak.


    The pair were quickly seated by the hostess on a balcony on the second floor overlooking the street below. When Seifr had previously been to the restaurant to check the prices, he had made a reservation for the less crowded outside table. The restaurant was not only new, but apparently employed some good chefs, because it was certainly crowded. Seifr was quietly happy that he had had the foresight to make a good reservation.


    The two quickly looked over the menu. Restaurants were able to keep their food stock in supply by purchasing an icebox from ice-attributed cultivators or clans. Obviously the more common restaurants could not afford such a luxury, but for the higher end ones that could, it paid for itself in considerably less spoiled food. Cultivators were quite ingenious with overcoming obstacles using their ki manifestation.


    Seth continued to look at the menu as he said, "This duck recipe looks promising. I think I''ll get the duck." He kept reading the menu to see if there was something else that caught his attention.


    "I thought we were men! You want to eat duck? We need to eat beef - Real meat for real men!" Seifr pounded the table for emphasis. Seth looked his friend in the eye, and then they both burst out laughing. "But seriously, I''m going to get the beef."


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    They placed their orders and continued to chat amiably, the concerns about Celia from early all but forgotten. When their meals arrived, they dug right in and both were definitely happy with what they ordered. Seifr and Seth both took turns trying to steal food off of the other''s plate when they thought they could get away with it, and they continued to joke around and laugh. They were not being obnoxious about their behavior, so the others at the restaurant did not really pay them any mind.


    As the meal was coming to a close, Seifr glanced down the street from his vantage point and saw Celia step out of another restaurant down the way. Having forgotten about the discussion from earlier, Seifr was about to lean over the railing and call out to her to get her attention. Just as he was raising his arm and sucking in a breath in preparation to yell, her "friend" stepped out of the restaurant behind her.


    Kohl.


    The blood drained from his face as Seifr watched Celia turn around to face Kohl and then wrap her arm within his much like she did with Seifr when they were together. Seth saw the look on his friend''s face and leaned over the railing to get a look at what caused such a drastic reaction. He cursed under his breath when he discovered what it was.


    "Are you kidding me?! That bastard is the one she''s out with? I can''t believe... Woah!" Seth had turned his head to address Seifr, and when he saw his friend he could not help put call out in alarm. Where Seifr''s hand had gripped the railing, the iron of the railing was crumbling into dust, and it had spread out a little from where he had a hold of it. Where the destruction ended, it appeared as if the iron was ancient. The wooden chair Seifr was sitting on was noticeably turning gray, and then it collapsed under him, breaking him out of the trance he had been in. "Are you ok, buddy?" Seth asked with a hint of fear in his voice.


    Seifr looked up at Seth blankly for a second before responding, "Yeah, just surprised is all. There''s gotta be another explanation for this. Maybe they started off in a group?" Even Seifr knew this excuse sounded weak.


    "I don''t know, Seifr. I don''t want to see you in pain, but if you think about it... It makes complete sense that they would have an arranged marriage from their parents. I''m almost 90% sure she''s already engaged, and this just makes sense."


    Seifr hung his head in dejection and almost started to hyperventilate. He focused on remaining as calm as possible, and he started circulating his internal ki to give his mind something to focus on. He was astonished to find that he had nearly expended all of his ki in his dantian. Ki was like a sponge. When it was not in use, it was saturated in Spiritual Energy. When a cultivator used ki, the Spiritual Energy would become exhausted and need to be circulated through the meridians several times to regain the energy for it to be usable again. Cultivators did not lose any of the ki that was expended, it just became temporarily inert.


    "I feel light-headed. I don''t know what I did, but I''m exhausted. Let''s pay for our meal and get out of here. I need to think," Seifr said as he stood up. The pair of friends signaled a waiter and paid for their meal before heading out. On the long walk back to campus, Seifr was completely silent and lost in thought. Seth tried to engage his friend a couple of times, but he eventually gave up when he noticed he was not getting through.


    At the gate to the campus, Seth pulled Seifr to the side by his sleeve, breaking him out of his reverie. "Listen. You''re not going to be in any shape to train with that sharp stick for at least several days. Why don''t I go ahead and take this opportunity to borrow the sword like we talked about earlier, and you can focus on pure physical exercise to clear your head. Okay?"


    Seifr pondered for a minute. He thinks I might hurt myself. I''ll go ahead and humor him. I could use a break to focus on other things. "Sure," Seifr agreed as he removed the sash and belt binding the scabbard in place. He handed the sword over to his friend who clutched it carefully. "Thanks for being here for me, I''ll come get the sword back from you in a couple days. I''m beat, so I''m going to go ahead and go to bed." Seifr was truly grateful to his friend.


    "Sure thing, Seifr. It''s not too late, so I''m going to run on home to my parent''s house and store the sword there for the night." With that explanation, Seth turned around and walked off away from the campus.


    Seifr slowly entered the campus along the main pathway. His mind was moving a million miles a minute, but it was only capable of replaying that scene of Celia grabbing a hold of Kohl''s arm over and over. He nearly walked straight into someone as he made his way towards the 2nd Class dormitory. He looked up to apologize and realized it was Celia he had almost ran into.


    "Hey... You alright? You don''t look so good," Celia inquired. Her voice and expression were genuinely concerned. Seifr was not capable of human speech at the moment and just stared at Celia. "Hey, come on. We already went through this once before, don''t get lost..."


    "I saw you with Kohl," Seifr interrupted her. Celia was taken aback slightly at the sudden announcement.


    Celia furrowed her brow as she responded, "Yeah, well I would have told you that was who I was going to see if..."


    "Is he your fiance?" Seifr interrupted her again.


    "What? Why would you ask me that? I don''t..."


    "Is he your fiance?" Seifr was insistent.


    "Seifr! Get a hold of yourself. I..."


    Seifr slammed his hands together in a loud clap. "It''s a simple yes or no question, Celia! If you''ve been lying to me already, why can''t you simply lie about this and say, ''no?!''"


    Celia stuttered for a moment before she could get her thoughts in order. She finally looked Seifr in the eye and answered, "Yes, we have an arranged marriage."


    It felt like a thousand needles stabbed into Seifr''s heart, tearing his soul apart. Tears came unbidden to his eyes as he asked in a thick voice, "Why? Why didn''t you tell me?"


    Celia crossed her arms. She looked away from the tears forming in Seifr''s eyes as she replied, "I found out you two hated each other, and I didn''t want to lose a friend."


    Seifr guffawed before asking, "So I''m just a friend to you? I''m telling you now, I was really falling in love with you. But now, to find out this...this..." Seifr trailed off, unable to complete the thought.


    Celia recoiled slightly before turning to look at Seifr once more. "Love? Seifr... you''re a commoner. We''re not the same, you and I. It''s ok for us to have friends of common blood, but even if I wasn''t already engaged, you and I could never have worked. We were never going to be anything more than friends."


    Seifr was taken aback by this revelation. "I didn''t think you cared about such things. You''ve never shown any kind of hint at disdain towards us of lower birth. Why should marriage be any different than other relationships with commoners?"


    "Why?" Celia seemed legitimately puzzled at this question. "Quite frankly, you''re beneath me. I''m sorry, but it''s the hard truth. And you''ll do well to realize it now." With that Celia turned and strode off. Gone was her exuberance and the skip in her step. Seifr watched her walk off and saw her shoulders moving up and down, almost as if she was chuckling to herself.


    Seifr turned to go to the dormitory, his world crumbling around him.

 Update: Glossary of Terms

    Important Characters:


    Seifr - Protagonist of the story. Currently 15 years old and at the 5th Mortal Realm


    Kveld - The Headmaster of The Misty Realm Academy. Above Sky Realm, has not been revealed exactly how powerful he is


    Kohl - Antagonistic noble at The Misty Realm Academy. Son of the Governor of Vinson


    Seth - Friend of Seifr''s, also the son of a merchant family


    Celia - Seifr has a crush on this girl


    Morcai - Father of Seifr. Head of the Kyian Trading House (KTH)


    Locations/Entities:


    Dalcot Empire -  The country the story is currently taking place ins


    North Squire Province - The Imperial Province the story is currently taking place in


    Vinson - City where the story is currently taking place. The Capital of the North Squire Province


    Kyian Trading House - A Merchant conglomerate that has a wide array of business dealings. Also operates Auction Houses in cities where they have an office


    The Misty Realm - A famous academy for young practitioners of cultivation who do not want to be tied down to a sect located in Vinson


    The Blue Vines Sect - The only sect located in Vinson. Most powerful member is the patriarch, and he''s only in the Late Earth Realm


    Cultivation Realms:


    Spiritual Energy - Energy that inundates the atmosphere, the earth, and all living creatures. Sentient beings can naturally intake Spiritual Energy into their dantian to refine and enhance their bodies, non-sentient beings do in instinctively into a neidan


    Ki - Spiritual Energy that has been inhaled by one, circulated through the meridian lines, and compressed into the dantian (or neidan)


    Meridian Lines - A circuitous conduit inside the body for the circulation of Spiritual Energy/Ki. Circulating Spiritual Energy along the meridians will cause it to refine the muscles (and later the bones and viscera) while simultaneously compressing the energy to fit in the dantian


    Dantian - Region on the upper stomach where Spiritual Energy is compressed and stored


    Neidan - A physical manifestation of ki that non-sentient beings have inside their bodies. The Spiritual Energy contained within is extremely wild and must be purified by a cultivator before it is of some use


    Stages -  There are 10 stages in each Realm. Stages 1-3 represent the Lower Stage. Stages 4-6 represent the Mid Stage. Stages 7-9 represent the Late Stage. The 10th stage is the Peak Stage


    Attributes - There are 3 Tiers of attributes. Only the 1st Tier is "common knowledge," and only very powerful cultivators know what the higher Tiers are, so only the 1st Tier is included in the list so far. All attributes of the same Tier are equal in power to each other but have different forms and functions:


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>Fire</li>


    <li>Wind</li>


    <li>Earth</li>


    <li>Water</li>


    <li>Wood</li>


    <li>Metal</li>


    <li>Lightning


    </li></ol>


    The Common Path:


    Common Realm - Every living being begins in this realm. Spiritual Energy circulation refines the muscles. Average lifespan of 70 years for humans


    Mortal Realm - Characterized by slightly denser Spiritual Energy accumulation in the dantian. Not a significant difference compared to Common Realm. Average lifespan of 100 years for humans


    Elementary Realm - One can inherently sense (faintly) Spiritual Energy in the atmosphere for the first time. Spiritual Energy circulation refines the muscles and bones. Average lifespan of 120 years for humans


    Nascent Realm - One''s senses can now interpret the Spiritual Energy that is sensed as a visual (faintly) so that one can "see" Spiritual Energy. One can concentrate ki into areas of the body for short bursts for a quick boost in power, but cannot manifest the ki. Spiritual Energy circulation refines the muscles, bones, and viscera. Average lifespan of 150 years for humans


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The Cultivator Path:


    Spirit Realm - The first "true" step in the path of cultivation. One is recognized as a true cultivator if they attain this realm. Most mortals never breakthrough the bottleneck past the Nascent Realm. Ki can be manifested into what''s known as "ki strikes" and "martial techniques." The body''s aging process begins to slow. Average lifespan of 200 years for humans


    Profound Realm - Simpler manifestations of ki become less costly, and more complicated uses of ki become instinctively easier, causing a qualitative and quantitative jump in ki usage. Average lifespan of 300 years for humans


    Earth Realm - Average lifespan of 500 years for humans


    Sky Realm - Simple ki strikes and the most primitive martial techniques no longer consume a noticeable amount of ki, and have a diminishing affect on other cultivators of the Sky Realm. The body stops aging completely. Average lifespan of 750 years for humans.


    Heaven Realm - Average lifespan of 1,000 years for humans


    The Immortal Path:


    True Realm - Cultivators of this realm have broken the shackles of mortality and have become immortal; they will no longer die of old age


    Items:


    Imperial Currency - The Empire has a currency using precious metals based on a denomination of 10''s:


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>Platinum Coin = 10 Gold Coins</li>


    <li>Gold Coin = 10 Silver Coins</li>


    <li>Silver Coin = 10 Copper Coins</li>


    <li>Copper Coin = 10 Iron Coins</li>


    <li>Iron Coins are the lowest base of currency


    </li></ol>


    Spirit Stones - Can be found in the wild alongside rare/precious minerals. They are formed naturally when the Spiritual Energy in the atmosphere has saturated the earth for a long time. They can also be created out of a Spirit Realm cultivator or higher infusing their ki into a neidan, which depending on their level of cultivation, will shatter the neidan into Spirit Stones with a majority of the Spiritual Energy being lost. Higher realm cultivators lose less Spiritual Energy. A Spirit Realm cultivator and above can also directly infuse their ki into the Spirit Stones, causing them to emit the Spiritual Energy contained within which can then be inhaled like a gas to directly improve cultivation. Spirit Stones are also used in the crafting of Ki Items


    Currency Exchange -  Currently the official exchange rate set by the Empire is 1 Spirit Stone for 1 Silver Coin


    Ki Weapons/Armor/Items - Much like cultivators, these items have been quenched with Spiritual Energy to make them more formidable. They may or may not contain an attribute. So far only Rank 1 Ki Items have been introduced


    ----- Author''s Note -----


    I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I''m always open to feedback and critiques. I''ve gotten the posts close to caught up to my website as of the time of posting this. I have 15 chapters linked here, and 17 currently published on my wordpress website.


    Note: This Glossary is not comprehensive. I will update the glossary periodically as the story advances. I can either publish an "expanded" Glossary in the future, where I just add the relevant information to the total and post the whole thing again, or I can just post what is updated about it when there is enough material to do so. We''ll see when it happens.


    As always, you can find more published chapters on my website, which will be linked below. If I haven''t posted anything to this forum in a couple of days (unlikely to happen in the near future), you can find a more comprehensive selection over there. I''m currently writing around 2 or 3 chapters every day with an average word count of 2150 (though I have had two chapters close to 4k so far).


    Thanks for reading!


    https://wexiay.wordpress.com/

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    Seifr struggled to maintain his training over the next few days. He would often find himself gradually slowing down and coming to a stop while lost in thought. He would stand in place and stare off into the distance until he realized with a start what he was doing. This happened on numerous occasions, and there did not seem to be any solution to his doldrums.


    Seth was a true friend during this time. He spent as much time as possible with Seifr, trying to keep his mind off of what was depressing him so much, even at the expense of his own cultivation. Seth kept an eye out for Kohl and Celia to make sure that Siefr did not catch a glimpse of either of them.


    "Come on, man, let''s just go. It''s been a couple of days since you''ve relaxed at all. You can''t get your mind off of things because of the environment. Everything around here reminds you of what you need to forget. Notice how I''m not even mentioning what you need to forget, because you don''t need reminders. Come on," Seth prodded Seifr to go with him out into the city.


    He''s right. I''ve been trying to just power through this and keep my mind off of it through training, but everywhere I go, I had either been there with Celia or had a run-in with Kohl. The only place that''s safe is the 2nd Class Hall and dormitory, and I can''t stay cooped up in either of those places all day. For one thing, I''d get thrown out of the academy. Seifr thought about the proposition, and finally nodded his head in agreement.


    Seth pumped his fist as he exclaimed, "All right! Let''s go right now!" With that, Seth turned to lead Seifr out of the hall. Seth had found Seifr just staring at a training dummy when he had come in looking for him.


    The duo made their way off campus and headed out towards a restaurant. They were only teenagers, so it was not like Seth could lead Seifr to a tavern to drown his sorrows in alcohol. Alcohol had diminishing effects on cultivators, anyway, and the stuff that could really get a cultivator drunk was on the expensive side. Despite the harsh lifestyle and constant threat of death, there were not many alcoholic cultivators.


    Seth dragged Seifr all around to different places in the city. He maintained a jovial attitude, constantly trying to poke fun at Seifr and get him to crack a smile. Despite not making much headway, Seth did not give up in his mission, and Seifr slowly began to relax.


    "There he is! I''ve been looking all over for you, buddy," a familiar voice called out from behind as the friends walked down the street. Seifr stopped in his tracks and flexed his fists at his side.


    Seth rolled his eyes as he cursed, "Son of a bitch! You just couldn''t leave well enough alone, could you?" Seth turned and pointed at the man who had called out.


    Seifr turned around and saw Kohl walking towards him with a group of other nobles. He noticed that the hangers-on were walking directly behind Kohl, and he also spied Celia walking with a couple of other girls in the group. Seifr started walking slowly towards the other group of teenagers, and Celia had a frown on her face as she watched the two youths approach each other.


    "Seifr, come on. Let''s get out of here," Seth tried to convince Seifr to just ignore the other boy and continue on. He grabbed a hold of his sleeve and tried to pull him along. Seifr resisted the pull of his friend and continued to walk towards Kohl.


    Kohl smirked as he said, "No, let him stay. It looks like he has something he wants to say." Kohl swaggered forward, confident in his position of power surrounded by his allies. "I have a question for him, too. How would you like to be the best man at my wedding?" There was nothing but disdain and ridicule in Kohl''s eyes.


    As he neared his nemesis, Seifr suddenly launched himself forward with no words spoken nor any expression on his face to give his intentions away. He feinted a strike to the face, knowing that Kohl would anticipate his signature opening move, and then slammed a kick straight into his crotch. Kohl''s eyes bulged out, and he involuntarily bent over at the waist from the pain. Seifr took advantage of this by grabbing his hair and slamming his knee into his face three times in quick succession. He grabbed him by the arms and threw him to the side of the street as Kohl''s boot-lickers charged forward to attack Seifr.


    Kohl was a very talented young cultivator who not only accumulated Spiritual Energy quickly, but was also naturally talented in Kung Fu. The other noble kids who followed him around were not. They were not coordinated in any of their strikes, and they appeared more like five people trying to fight Seifr one-on-one instead of a team. Seifr had never fought a crowd like this before, besides the first time these same boys knocked him down and rained blows on his body. Seifr would not call that much of a fight. This time he maintained his footing, and he kept his foes in front of him not allowing any of them to flank him for a surprise attack.


    Despite the rage and adrenaline pumping in his veins, Seifr managed to maintain a calm state of mind. He focused on the techniques of fighting he had learned, and he noticed that the sword forms he had learned also translated into fighting bare-handed. He immersed himself in the fight, constantly flowing and moving in a circle. He started to gradually notice opportunities to exploit where he could block one opponent from advancing by using another combatant as an obstacle. Seifr allowed himself to move on instinct and training.


    It was not a completely one-sided fight. Seifr suffered blows from his opposition, but they were controlled blows that he directed to non-vital areas. He could sense that one day, if he perfected these techniques, even these controlled blows would disappear. He was not there, yet - not even close.But the skill that he was displaying completely astonished the other students in the crowd. Seth and Celia were standing next to each other, watching in disbelief as Seifr pretty much had his way with five other disciples at once.


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    Before he knew it, Seifr had knocked a coupled of the other students completely unconscious with blows to the head. They were dragged out of the way by the spectators so they would not get trampled on as the fight continued. As the pressure lessened from decreased opponents, the noble kids became more hesitant in their assault. Seifr latched onto this weakness with a vengeance and exploited their trepidation ruthlessly. This increased ferocity further intimidated the other young men, and the couple who were still in the fight eventually turned and ran away.


    Elation ran through his body as Seifr realized he had won. He turned and saw that Kohl was on his hands and knees trying to shake the fog out of his mind to stand up. Seifr ran over and kicked him in the side of the head again. Kohl collapsed back to the ground with a groan, and Seifr started to continuously slam his foot into Kohl''s ribs. He had lost all reason and was screaming at the top of his lungs as he vented his revenge on this other man who had caused him so much pain when he felt a gentle grip pull him back away from him.


    "That''s enough, Seifr. Anymore and you might kill him. While I wouldn''t care either way, we''re out in public in broad daylight. No way the governor would let you get away with murdering his son," Seth tried to talk some sense into Seifr.


    Seifr stood there panting for a moment. He knew his friend was right, and he did feel a lot better. His feelings of elation soon disappeared as he saw Celia kneel down, cradle Kohl''s body, and start checking his wounds. He knew that there was nothing he could do to truly get what he wanted, but for now his rage had been sated.


    "At least I''ve shown them that they can''t just treat me however they want with no repercussions," Seifr said, more to himself than the others around. "I''ve won this time."


    "What did you say?" Celia asked as she looked up at Seifr. Her eyes were moist with unfallen tears.


    "I said, ''I''ve won,''" Seifr repeated, louder this time.


    Celia shook her head and replied, "You don''t get it. You''re not supposed to win. You''re just a commoner." Kohl had regained his feet with her help by this point, and the two of them turned and left. Kohl gave one last, scathing look at Seifr. This look promised continued retribution.


    Seifr stood there and stared at the larger group of students as they made their way off. A lot of the other students, despite being in a group associated with Kohl, gave glances towards Seifr with respect in their eyes. It was safe to say that none of them could have pulled off a fight like that.


    Seifr''s momentary jubilation at besting his most hated enemy for the first time was short lived as the girl he had fallen for chose Kohl. Seifr was determined to harden his heart over this ordeal, but he knew it would take time. He glanced over at Seth who was still standing there in silence.


    "Come on, let''s go back to campus. I feel a little more like myself now." Seth gave his a friend a skeptical look, but shrugged and then accompanied him in the walk back to the academy. The journey was made in silence, neither boy needing to say anything. Seth sensed that his friend''s emotions, while still in the gutter, were getting some semblance of control. The brief fight had been good for him, and not just because of the emotional state Seifr was in. No, Seth had witnessed true genius from Seifr for the first time in how he had adapted to fighting multiple people at once.


    "I think I''m going to go home for a bit and practice with the sword. I want to get a few good sessions in before I give it back to you in a couple days," Seth suddenly announced as they neared the gate to the campus.


    "That sounds like a good idea. Hurry it up, though, will you. I want my sword back," Seifr responded with a small smile. Seth grinned at his friend when he saw his lips twitch upwards towards the first smile in several days. He could tell that given some time, everything would be ok.


    ~


    Morcai sat behind his desk facing the side and staring at the out-of-place mirror as he listened to the man speak. "...My son has arranged a rendezvous, and he did it in a manner where the other party came to him in front of witnesses." This sentence brought him out of the trance he had been in and a smile crept onto his face.


    "That is excellent news. Excellent. I''ll have one of my people ready for the meeting. When is it?" Morcai finally looked at the man sitting on the other side of his desk. The office was kept in shadow with only one lamp lit near the doorway. Morcai found peace in the darkness, and he did not need to see what his guest looked like. They had had many dealings for years, and he knew everything he needed to know about his associate.


    "They''re to meet in an alley a couple blocks away in three days'' time," the other man replied.


    Morcai frowned slightly at these words before saying, "Three days is awfully short notice. Hmmm... Doesn''t matter. I''ll have someone there to assist in this endeavor. That is all," Morcai dismissed the other man with a wave of his hand. The guest in his office stood and gave a short bow before exiting the room.


    Morcai turned back to the mirror and stared into its depths, lost in contemplation. If anyone had been there to look in the reflection, he or she would have seen that it was slightly hazy in the dark, and Morcai''s face contained a sinister grin that could not be seen on his person.

 Falling Down

    Seifr redoubled his efforts in his physical training. He was still melancholy about the whole situation, but he was more confident in his ability to stand up for himself. He was finally able to concentrate again without being reduced to an endless loop of misery. Before his confrontation with Kohl and his coterie, Seifr had held out on some foolish hope that there was still a chance with Celia, but after listening to her words after the fight, that illusion had finally been broken.


    Seth had shown up with the sword earlier and was busy whacking away at the training dummies on the third floor of the hall. He had a different instructor for guidance, and he also made it clear that he had absolutely no intention of becoming anything more than familiar with using a sword, so he was not subjected to the same exacting standards as Seifr was with Instructor Nalai. As such, he was having a lot of fun as he practically got away with fooling around with a deadly weapon.


    Seifr was itching to get back to his swordsmanship. He had taken a break from it like was suggested, had run himself ragged, and he had used his fists to break things. Now he wanted to get back to training. He had become addicted to improving himself. He knew that his father had certain expectations of him, but he had nearly fiver years at the academy to learn what he needed to learn. If he increased his cultivation and fighting capabilities sooner, he would be able to focus more attention on other things later on with his less structured time. Once one entered the Spirit Realm, no longer was it required to push the body to the limit constantly to gain improvements. By this point, the body had nearly reached its maximum potential without the aid of ki, and Spiritual Energy accumulation no longer suffered from a bottleneck imposed by the muscles.


    Seifr made the decision to go reclaim his sword to get back to serious training and cultivation again. He found that focusing on the one thing he had found he enjoyed the most was the best way to keep his mind off of other things. He made his way to the third floor where he knew he would find Seth slashing and stabbing at inanimate objects. As he reached the third floor, he looked around for his friend. He did not see him anywhere, so he approached one of the instructors to ask if he knew where Seth had gone.


    "Instructor, have you seen my friend Seth anywhere?" Seifr inquired.


    "You just missed him. He left not too long ago to go meet up with a friend at the Stone Garden. I think he said her name was Sephia, or something?" the Instructor answered.


    "Celia?" Seifr ventured.


    "Yes, that was the name he gave. He said they had something important to discuss and it could not wait, so off he went. You might be able to catch him if you hurry." The Instructor turned back to the pupil he was mentoring.


    Why would Seth be meeting Celia? And why would they meet off campus? The Stone Garden was a small courtyard set off between some of the buildings in the nearby commercial district. It was a popular place for people to meet when going on an excursion out into the city. It got its name from the large stones that were set up as benches and pathways. Supposedly they were naturally formed there and had not been moved there, and the city had grown around it. Seifr did not know if that was true or not, but it made for an interesting story. And finally, why would he not tell me about it?


    Seifr trusted Seth more than anyone else, but he was definitely curious as to why his friend would do such a thing. He understood that his friend most likely did not want him dwelling on Celia anymore, but Seifr was sure Seth would have mentioned this kind of thing. None of that matters, but I still need to get my sword back. I''ll go ahead and head over to the garden, but I''ll wait for him to do whatever it is he''s going there to do.


    Seifr made his way to the commercial district and towards the Stone Garden. The courtyard was off in a secluded spot down between two prominent stores, and Seifr decided to wait at the corner of one of the stores on the main thoroughfare. He leaned back against the wall and watched the crowd walking around going about their business around him. He started to fidget as he waited at the entrance to the courtyard as he felt a peculiar feeling welling up inside him. It was a sense of dread and deadly crisis that he had never felt before. He had no idea where it was coming from, but it was causing his heart to pound and his adrenaline to pump through his veins.


    He could not take it any longer and decided to just go into the garden and dispel this strange feeling. As he walked down the path he spotted Seth standing in the garden facing away from him. He was cradling the sword in its scabbard resting across both his arms in front of his chest. The other person was concealed by Seth''s body, but he knew instinctively who it was. Seifr briefly thought that it was a kind of strange way to be holding the katana, but his mind quickly shifted to other things. That sense of crises was becoming stronger and stronger. He began to look around frantically, expecting the sky to be falling with how on edge he was.


    The sky did fall. To be more precise, a shadow fell. It landed between Seth and Celia, and then it straightened up to reveal a middle-aged man with a wicked cast to his face. Seifr knew that this was the deadly crises that his body had somehow had a premonition to, but anyone who could land steadily from a fall of that height was not someone to be taken lightly. Seth and Celia both cried out in shock involuntarily as this man seemed to literally materialize in front of them. Seifr began to run towards his friend and was about to shout his name.


    "Do you think it''s wise for the deputy director''s daughter to be walking around without an escort? Hahaha. He''s got a lot of enemies. Case in point, me." The man whipped his hand around and grasped the hilt of Seifr''s katana in Seth''s arms. He backhanded Seth across the face and sent him flying away just as Seifr released the yell to warn his friend, but the sword remained in the man''s grasp. Celia tried to turn and run, but the man lashed out with his foot and kicked her in the upper abdomen. Her eyes went wide and she stumbled back a bit, unable to move. "Hahaha. I''ve just crushed your dantian. All of your cultivation, gone like that." He casually brandished the sword as he smirked at Celia. "And now, your life gone too, just like that."


    It happened in slow motion. There was nothing Seifr could do, but at the last moment, his eyes locked with Celia''s. The man stabbed Celia straight through the heart. He cackled wildly and left the sword impaled in her chest as he leapt onto the roof of the adjacent building and disappeared like that. Seifr ran as hard as he could to Celia, who had collapsed on the ground, writhing in agony. Her hands were holding the blade of the sword as blood gushed out between her fingers and seeped out of her mouth. Her legs were moving like she wanted to walk. She was making short, gurgling grunts of pain as she watched Seifr appear.


    "No, no, no, no, no..." Seifr bent down next to Celia, unsure of what to do. His hands hovered over her body, next to the sword. He had no idea what to do. Celia placed a blood covered hand on Seifr''s face and directed his gaze to her eyes. There was a hint of sadness, a hint of regret, and a hint of...joy in Celia''s eyes. The shining brightness of the vitality of life slowly dimmed in her eyes as she held Seifr''s vision locked onto her. As the light went out of her eyes, her hand slowly fell from Seifr''s face, giving one final, gentle caress.


    "NO!" Seifr wailed at the top of his lungs as hot tears poured out of his eyes to patter on Celia''s body before him. He placed his hands on her dantian and tried to cycle his ki into her, but there was nothing there to accept the ki. Her dantian had indeed been destroyed, and now her body was nothing more than a corpse, devoid of all Spiritual Energy and life. He pulled his sword out of her chest and wrapped her body in his arms, heedless of the blood that was getting all over him, as he rocked back and forth in sorrow.


    That man''s face had burned into his memory, and he would never forget it. He wanted to chase the man down right now and cut him into a thousand pieces, but his body refused to move from his hold on Celia. He just continued to cry as he held her, unable to do anything else.


    "What''s going on down here?" Seifr looked up at the voice that issued a challenge. Somewhere in the back of his mind he made note that Seth was no longer laying on the ground unconscious in the garden. The voice that had asked the question belonged to a City Watchman. As the Watchman drew closer and saw blood pooling on the ground and Celia''s lifeless body, his eyes widened and he pulled out a signal flare to alert more Watchmen as well as his captain.


    The Watchman drew the sabre at his side and advanced on Seifr without even asking any questions. Seifr watched the man approach with trepidation, not understanding what was happening until the man lashed out with his weapon in an attempt to cut Seifr''s head off. Seifr quickly rolled away as he deflected the blow aimed at his neck.


    "What are you doing?!" Seifr screamed at the Watchman. He could not believe this supposed law man would not even ask any questions, but would just immediately assume Seifr was the killer. With the circumstances, that did not make any sense to Seifr at all. I''m clearly distraught, why would he assume I''m the killer? Seifr had no time for further contemplation as the man once again advanced with intent to kill clearly in his eyes.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The Watchman he was facing off against was at the Peak of the Elementary Realm, the strongest cultivator he had ever faced. Seifr offered silent thanks to Instructor Nalai for her demanding instruction in the sword forms, as he found out he was actually a better swordsman than the older Watchman trying to kill him. They moved back and forth exchanging blows, Seifr on the defensive, not wanting to exacerbate the situation by being aggressive and trying to hurt the opponent, and the Watchman constantly aiming for killing strikes.


    More Watchmen began to come down the pathway from the main thoroughfare with the captain in charge of this section in the lead. Seifr sighed in relief as he dodged backwards. "Finally. Captain, I''m not..." Seifr felt a burning sensation in his waist as the Watchman he had been fighting with rushed forward and slashed him with the sabre. Luckily it was not a deep cut, but Seifr still looked up at the man in astonishment as pain suddenly slammed into him. He had never felt anything so painful before. He had always had daydreams of heroically bearing all sorts of wounds and soldiering on to save the damsel in distress, but the reality of the pain from even such a shallow wound let him realize how foolish those daydreams really were.


    The Watchman smirked as he stepped back and said to his captain without turning, "Sir, that''s Lord Barnart''s daughter, Celia. I witnessed the two of them quarreling, and in a rage, this young man murdered the lord''s daughter right in front of my eyes."


    Seifr stared at this man in astonishment and knew that there was no way he was going to convince anyone of his innocence. He did not know why this man wanted to place the blame at his feet. Maybe it was easier to claim credit for stopping the murderer of someone so prominent if they blamed someone weak instead launching any kind of investigation. Seifr looked at the faces of the captain and the other Watchmen coming into the garden. He found nothing but murder in their eyes.


    Seifr turned and dashed away without hesitation towards the other exit of the garden. He heard the captain ordering his men to chase after him. Seifr had subconsciously grabbed his scabbard laying on the ground earlier when he had held Celia, and he just noticed he was holding it. He sheathed the sword into the scabbard and held it in the manner instructed to him to allow for the least interference in his balance and speed. The Watchmen thought they would quickly catch this youth who was only in the Late Mortal Realm, but they were surprised to find that he was actually slightly faster than they who were at the Peak Elementary Realm were.


    Can''t go back to the campus. They won''t protect me from the City Watchmen. That leaves the only option as escaping home. Seifr had been home on numerous occasions during some of his breaks and had long since identified the quickest route to his house cutting through the back alleys. Seifr used the crowd to help obstruct the path of the Watchmen who were chasing after him. More Watchmen joined the chase as he made his away across the city, but his superior speed and knowing where he was going eventually allowed him to lose the current group that was following him.


    I still need to be careful. My description will be passed around shortly as a wanted murderer of a prominent nobleman''s daughter. Seifr momentarily choked up at the reminder of Celia''s death. The only hope I have is to use my father''s connections to get these damn Watchmen off my back. Seifr continued his mad dash across the city, trying to keep as low of a profile as he could. It was obvious the Watchmen did not know who he was, as he did not run into any more on his journey home.


    He eventually made it to the Kyian manor. He meticulously set his scabbard properly on his belt and sash before he dashed across the yard and through the entrance way. He did not pause and directly entered his father''s office. As he entered, he saw his father standing in front of that strange mirror, just staring at it. The noise of Seifr entering the room startled Morcai, and he quickly turned to see who it was who had disturbed him. A small smile came across his lips as he spotted his son and said, "Ahh, what a surprise! What brings you home all of a sudden in the middle of the week? Did you get some time off that I didn''t know about?"


    The scene in front of Seifr was very puzzling. Something was off, but he couldn''t place his finger on what it was exactly. The blood drained from his face as he realized what it was and he pointed towards the mirror and said in a terrified voice, "What, what what..." He could not get out what he was saying. Morcai''s face fell as he immediately knew what had happened. He looked back at the mirror with a look of frustration and the reflection shrugged its shoulders at him as an impossibly wide grin split its face. Seifr''s mind was spinning at this scene in front of him.


    "Really? Now I''m going to have to wipe his mind, and that might cause permanent damage and hamper our efforts," Morcai said with annoyance.


    A deep, gravelly voice seemingly filled with hatred that cause Seifr''s skin to crawl came from the mirror, "No matter. His soul should be stronger from when we exterminated his twin brother. He should be able to handle such an intrusion into his mind."


    Seifr was rooted in place. His mind was in tatters as everything was falling apart around him. The one place he thought he could find sanctuary turned out to be the den of a monster. Wait, twin brother?! This thought quickly flashed through Seifr''s mind, but was quickly dispelled as his father advanced towards him.


    "Who are you? What are you?" Seifr managed to stammer out as he backed up from the advancing man. A physical manifestation of darkness started to congeal with Morcai as the epicenter. The impossibly wide grin from the reflection transferred itself to his father''s face.


    "I am Morticai Theodos, the perfect symbiotic organism with the Barathrumian Prince of Darkness. But don''t worry about the little details, you won''t be remembering them." Morcai advanced steadily towards Seifr as the darkness emanating from Morcai''s body began to fill the room.


    Seifr''s mind felt as if it was going to collapse at the pressure bearing down on it from the quick succession of revelations and from the sudden increased intensity of the aura from this creature he had thought was his father. In a panic, Seifr performed the only move he could think of - he performed the draw. Ridicule flashed through Morcai''s eyes as he raised a single, solitary finger to stop the sword''s advance. Seifr''s strike halted in place without so much as a quiver as the sword came into contact with the finger. With no other options and no other ideas, Seifr poured all of his ki into the sword, hoping against hope that it would have some sort of effect - any effect.


    Seifr stood there panting for a moment with everything in the room stock still. Morcai no longer advanced towards him and appeared to be frozen in place. Seifr could feel his ki almost uncontrollably being sucked away into the Ki Sword like that first time he had held it, but this time the effect was not as wild. Seifr quickly retracted the sword and noticed that there was no change in his surroundings or Morcai. He struck at the creature again, hoping that he could destroy it, but the sword simply bounced off of it. He ran over to the mirror and attempted to thrust his sword into it and destroy the mirror, but the sword again was repelled without so much as a scratch.


    Seifr decided that the only course of action that he had was to flee, and so in frustration, he left the office how it was and ran back into the city. He had no idea where to go or what to do, but he would have to figure something out if he was to survive the bleak future.


    If he had stopped to pay closer attention, he would have noticed that his surroundings were not actually at a standstill, but were in fact moving at an incredibly slow pace. Several powerful cultivators sensed the movement of Seifr as he rushed through the city, but they all assumed it was a peak powerhouse in the later stages of the Heaven Realm. Even Master Kveld took note of it in his office at the school as a Watchman Commander questioned him about Seifr.


    ~


    "Damnation! That brat got a hold of a Bending Artifact! How is that possible!" After Seifr made his escape, time quickly restored to normal and Morcai knew what had happened. Even though he was extremely powerful, when a Bending Artifact was used, it restricted even him. He closed his eyes and sensed the threads around him. "Ahhh, I see. Kyumen! You bastard, you got me again. Is there no end to your scheming. You kept the thread of this artifact out of my vision by sending it down the stream the normal way, and you employed a Fate Sealer to nudge it towards the boy. Your schemes cannot escape my notice forever, though, and I will defeat you. You''re already dead, but you''re still meddling in my affairs!" The creature known as Morcai raged in his office in the manor that he was residing in.


    He sat down at his desk and looked into the mirror. Nobody else could see anything out of the ordinary except for a faint hazy reflection, but to Morcai''s eyes, he was not looking at a reflection of himself. Instead he was looking at the Barathruman he was in a symbiotic relationship with. Conversing with his "other half" had a calming effect on Morcai.


    He addressed the being in the mirror, "We''ll get him back. Our time of isolation is nearly at an end. Just a little more patience."

 Interlude

    Seth woke up on his bed at his home. He recognized the room he had grown up in. The last thing he remembered was getting knocked down by that wicked looking cultivator who had appeared out of nowhere when he had been meeting with Celia. She had approached him when Seifr was fighting the group of noble youths and said she needed to give him something some time. She had just given him a sealed envelope when everything went crazy. He patted his robes to find that he still had the envelope on his person.


    The movement caught the attention of someone sitting next to him. His father leaned forward and smiled as he said, "Ahh, you''re awake finally. Do you remember what happened?" His father, Tobias Heirn, was in the Mid Spirit Realm. Because his father was an average cultivator, it had taken him some time to achieve his current cultivation and as such, he had gray peppered throughout his hair and beard.


    "Some guy I didn''t recognized fell from above and attacked us. What happened to our contact? Wasn''t there supposed to be someone there to meet us? And I thought I heard Seifr before I blacked out." Seth furrowed his brow in contemplation.


    "The contact was about to approach you when that man jumped in. We don''t know who he was, yet, but we''ll find out. About Seifr... some things... happened..." Seth''s father trailed off as he looked away.


    "Some things happened? Wait, what happened to Celia. Did that guy show up to kidnap her or something? Did Seifr go chasing after him? What?" Seth thought up the most likely scenario he could conceive of, and his mind started jumping to conclusions.


    "No, that man didn''t show up to kidnap Celia. She''s dead, son. He murdered her," Tobias informed his son. The blood drained from Seth''s face, and his eyes widened at this revelation. "Also, apparently Seifr had followed you and what you heard was him trying to warn you. The man who killed Celia escaped, and Seifr was found with her body, covered in her blood, by the City Watchmen. The contact had seen them coming, and he made the decision to remove you from the scene and bring you home. Seifr has been blamed for Celia''s murder, and his information is being spread throughout the city. His current whereabouts are unknown, but we do know he didn''t return home."


    Seth was taken aback at this as he asked, "That doesn''t make any sense. Why would they just automatically assume Seifr was the murderer?"


    Tobias sighed as he replied, "There are many factors at play here. The most prominent one being that the Watchmen would much rather target someone young and weak, so they can score a win for an important nobleman, than to go into an investigation and potentially come up empty-handed. The first Watchman on the scene made the snap decision to claim to have been an eyewitness to the murder, blaming Seifr and attacking him. His captain probably understood that his subordinate was trying to become a ''hero,'' but he made the decision to go with it. You don''t become an officer of the Watchmen without understanding a little politics. But don''t worry, Seifr got away, and this works to our advantage."


    Seth was momentarily happy at learning that Seifr had escaped, but then he became confused by the last sentence his father had said. "Wait, you sound like we''re going to let Seifr take the blame for the murder and not tell the Watchmen and the nobles what happened. The real killer is just going to walk away clean!"


    Tobias shook his head at his son''s outburst. He responded to his son, "While your integrity is admirable, it''s naive at best. Like I said, the Watchmen and the nobles would much rather prefer a simple case where they only have to track down a weak, inexperienced youth. Lord Barnart is consumed with grief and anger, too, and he won''t be able to see reason any time soon. Besides, who are they going to believe: The first Watchman on scene claiming to be an eyewitness, or a young boy, who by all accounts, was not even there? No, there''s no clearing Seifr''s name of this. Not any time soon, at least. If he can avoid capture for a while, we might be able to work some backroom deals to shed some light on the truth and expose the lie, but for now we need to bend this to our advantage."


    "What could possibly be advantageous about this situation? There''s certainly nothing good for Seifr!"


    A light shown in Tobias'' eyes as he answered with fervor, "Think of the big picture! Think of The Cause. We can use this event to drive a wedge between Seifr and the established rulers of our society. Normally I wouldn''t care to recruit someone so young, but from everything that I''ve heard you say about him, I imagine if he''s groomed meticulously, he could one day be a great leader in our movement."


    Seth rolled his eyes at his father. "I''m sure he''ll be super excited to hear his tragedy is going to work out for us. And how do you plan on recruiting him? He''s on the run from the Watchmen. And why didn''t he just go home?"


    Tobias looked at his son out of the corner of his eye and chuckled. "Don''t underestimate your father. I have my ways. For now we''ll just have to wait until he surfaces in some of the circles I have contacts in. After he''s been recruited, the two of you can meet again. As for now, you still have training to do at the academy. If you want to help your friend, I suggest you get serious about learning to fight for yourself instead of for me."


    Seth''s father patted him on the shoulder before getting up and exiting the room. Seth remained laying in bed thinking about the ramifications of all that had happened.


    ~


    "Well this is just about the biggest disaster I''ve seen in a long time," Loryn exclaimed as he entered Kveld''s office from a side door. He had been waiting in a side room for the Watch Commander to leave before making his appearance. "How are you going to get away with not helping them find the boy? They know about the badges we make them carry around. Did he think far enough ahead to discard the badge already?"


    Kveld was seated behind his desk as Loryn had walked in. As Loryn took his customary seat with leg propped up, Kveld stood, and with hands clasped behind his back, walked over to his customary spot in front of the window gazing out at the campus grounds. After a brief silence, Kveld finally responded, "I''m not sure what he has done, but do you remember when I couldn''t pinpoint the strange fluctuations caused by Caelaevus? Whatever was causing that masking of the effect is also causing the badge in his possession to have a fuzzy reading. I allowed that Watch Commander to access the Rune Map, but only you or I would be strong enough to get any kind of reading at all from his badge for some reason. That reading is also very strange. Instead of a single dot pinpointing the location, it''s a large, faint circle encompassing a wide swath of the city. I only know that he''s currently in the Northeast quadrant."


    This was a very puzzling occurrence. The Rune Map had never had any kind of misreadings before. Maybe it''s Caelaevus itself masking his signature? It had never had that effect with Loryn in the past, but it might be different if he truly did activate its attribute. Kveld unclasped his hands from behind his back and started tapping on the glass while he thought about the situation.


    "Well that''s good, at least. We know from his personality and his relationship that he''s obviously not the culprit. But given the state of politics and the corruption in the Watchmen, it''s no surprise they want to pin the blame on a teenager. Typical." Loryn did not have much respect for men who twisted the truth to suit their own needs. "So what''s the course of action from here? Let things die down first, of course. But then what? And what if he''s caught?"


    "If he''s caught, there''s no helping him," Kveld replied. "As for the course of action, I believe I have already come up with the best-case scenario. After things have died down, you''ll be able to search the areas where the readings are coming from. I won''t be able to help you. I''m too much of a prominent figure these days, and people would track my movements and actions. Once you find the boy, I suggest revealing who you are and taking him as your personal disciple. Then the two of you could flee the region with ease, and you could groom him to become one of us. Our influence has been waning for lack of suitable candidates, and I can''t think of anyone more appropriate than he is."


    Loryn nodded along with what his old friend was saying. "I like that idea. He''s showing some real promise to be a real powerhouse one day, and if we can enlist him to our side, that might tip the balance in our favor."


    Things had grown complicated in Vinson. Noble factions were maneuvering to wrest more power from the Governor''s Office. Powerful cultivators were arriving in the city, being recruited by the different factions to help lend some credence, and there was that one cultivator who had moved across the city at a speed that was shocking even to Kveld. The city was becoming a powder-keg, and the right spark could send the whole thing into chaos. That outcome needs to be avoided if at all possible. There''s too much at stake for riots or, if things become really bad, war. Kveld continued to tap at the glass as he contemplated the current situation in Vinson.


    ~


    "Enter," a loud, commanding voice came from within the room. Kohl pushed the door open and entered his father''s study. The governor, Lord Traymen Lucidi, sat behind his desk reading reports as Kohl walked up to him. As he came to a halt in front of his desk, his father tossed the reports onto his desk and studied Kohl over his steepled fingers.


    "You wanted to see me, Father?" Kohl asked. He remained standing in front of his father. Even though he was his heir, he did not presume to take a seat without permission in front of the Imperial Governor until invited to do so.


    Traymen gestured for Kohl to take a seat, and after he had done so, asked his son, "What do you know of this boy, Seifr? I am led to believe he is a fellow student at The Misty Realm."


    Kohl was surprised at this direction of questioning, and it showed on his face as he replied, "He''s a commoner. What else is there to know? I mean, he is fairly talented at Kung Fu, but his cultivation is lacking. He''s not easily intimidated, but he keeps sniffing around Celia like a dog. If he hadn''t caused me such humiliation upon entering the academy, I wouldn''t even know who he is. Why ask me about some base-born nobody?"


    Kohl''s father continued to study him over his fingers before finally responding, "According to those lackwits over at the Watch, he murdered Celia." This news came like a punch to the stomach for Kohl, but he did not have time to think about all of the ramifications and consequences yet as his father continued. "Lord Barnart wants blood. He would rather see a thousand innocents dead than to let one criminal get away. This is a terrible way to rule, as can be evidenced by all of the jockeying currently taking place in the local noble council. That Barnart has always instituted harsh measures, and it''s been a real chore to keep him reined in and stopping a revolt from occurring. If I had been allowed to, I would have fired him from his position a long time ago. The arranged marriage with Celia was one of the tools I was using to get him under control. If I didn''t know better, I would say he''s with one of the other factions, but he''s just a political idiot and a potential tyrant.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Sorry, got off on a tangent. Anyway, Celia''s dead, so your engagement is currently on hiatus. Lord Barnart has another, younger daughter, but it''s not appropriate to make any future arrangements at the moment. I don''t believe for a second that this Seifr was the culprit, but to appease Barnart and maybe gain some semblance of control over him despite the nullification of the engagement, you are to spend some time leading some of our personal troops to find this boy. He has disappeared, and I don''t trust those incompetent buffoons over at the City Watch to find him again. Bring him in alive if at all possible, but if it''s too much trouble, don''t hesitate to simply kill him. That is all."


    Kohl stood from the chair he had taken. Because of politics and the association of a prominent nobleman, an innocent boy had a Provincial Capture or Kill Order placed on his head. Kohl, like his father, did not trust the City Watchmen in their assertion that Seifr was the culprit, but he also did not care. This was actually good news for him, because now he could employ troops from the Provincial Army to exterminate this bug once and for all. The matter with Celia being murdered was a little surprising, but they had just recently really begun to get to know each other, so although he was initially surprised, he got over it fairly quickly.


    Kohl chuckled to himself as he made the trek back to the academy. Heh, don''t blame us. Blame yourself for not being strong enough to stop whoever killed Celia and falling into Lord Barnart''s sight. Kohl certainly knew how to look on the bright side of things.


    ~


    Robert shifted his gaze around the crowd, always watching as many angles as he could as he rode his horse into the city. This particular job had taken him and Caerd half-way across the empire. Vinson, the capital of North Squire Province. More like the capital of Nowhere. Vinson was not a small or backward city, but compared to some of the other provinces, North Squire was definitely on the rural side, comprised mostly of farmland. It was located on the Eastern edge of the Empire. Further East from the province was the Ever Burning Desert. The desert was not literally burning, and it was crossable, but it used to have the stigma of being an uncrossable wasteland of death and the name had stuck.


    Robert kept his eyes open for any possible sightings of the target he was after. He did not expect to actually find who he was searching for right after entering the city, but he would feel awfully stupid if he walked right past the man because he had not been focused enough. Like that target a couple of months ago. If I had just kept my eyes open, we wouldn''t have had to chase shadows for 2 weeks and instead would have spent five minutes in that hellhole.


    A man in the distance turned his head at an unnatural angle as he stared as Robert rode past. Shadows seemed to float off of his body as a grin slowly spread across his face. The grin kept getting wider and wider until it was impossibly splitting the face nearly in half. Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it. It''ll go away soon. Just ignore it. Robert''s heart started pounding, and he could feel his palms grow sweaty as he held the reins.


    Ever since he had woken up to that nightmare scene at the Deason Manor, he would see things, horrible things, either off in the distance or out of the corner of his eye. The only thing he remembered from that night was deciding to go check on a light in the manor while walking atop the wall. Everything after making that decision was a blank, but from the scene that greeted him when he regained consciousness, he was not sure if he wanted to remember. There was so much blood. It was everywhere. Robert slapped himself in the face. Not hard, but enough to make him think about something else. If he allowed himself to dwell on these things, he would descend into madness.


    His Watch Sergeant, Joseph Caerd, had found him wandering the streets in a daze. It had taken a month of care and coaxing to get Robert to start talking again. Nearly a full year had passed before Robert gained some control over the nightmares, but the waking nightmares... He was not sure if he would ever stop seeing things.


    Robert and Caerd rode up to a tavern. After dismounting they tied their steeds to the posts available and made their way inside. Caerd made his way to a table in a corner, so they would have a vantage of the entire room, while Robert approached the bar.


    He pulled out a wanted poster, showed it to the barkeeper, and asked, "Have you seen this man? He''s a member of The Lifted Wings, a group labeled by the Imperial Justice Office as a radical anarchist group. He''s wanted for murdering several noblemen, women, and even some children."


    Robert was a bounty hunter. He had always wanted to use his tracking skills, and with guilt gnawing at him, he and Caerd had decided to partner up and hunt down dangerous, violent criminals. Robert was suffering from guilt for failing his duty to protect the Lord and his subjects of Deason. Guilt for allowing so many people to die. Guilt for surviving when the others had not.


    The barkeeper looked over the poster before shaking his head, "No, can''t say that I have, but feel free to ask around. Nobody''ll mind."


    Robert thanked the man and headed over to the table Caerd had appropriated for them. A mug of beer was already waiting for him as he sat down. "No luck with the bartender, but he said we could ask around his patrons."


    Caerd nodded his head at this and downed his beer before standing up and saying, "Well, no time to waste. Guess I''ll get started." With that he started mingling with the crowd, showing them the wanted poster, and asking questions. If Seifr or Seth had been present, they would have recognized the wicked cast to the portrait''s face as the man who had murdered Celia.


    ~


    Shayla ran through the alleyway, a light drizzle making the cobblestone dangerously slick. She had already had a few close calls, almost crashing into the wall or falling. Even a decent cultivation base could not protect one''s footing unless they had an incredibly profound cultivation. Shayla was fairly talented - only 17 and already at the Late Elementary Realm. Just a few more weeks and I can reach the peak. If I can survive that long. Shayla was not running down a slick alleyway for fun. She was trying to escape from the City Watchmen.


    She had lost sight of them using twists and turns and backtracking to confuse them, but she could still hear them shouting to each other, coordinating their pursuit. Shayla found a door that was slightly ajar in what looked like the back entrance to a warehouse. She made a snap decision and quickly ducked inside, bringing the door closed behind her and latching it. The warehouse was very dark with only a little light from the overcast sky making it through the windows. It would be completely dark soon, as sunset was approaching.


    Shayla made her way deeper into the warehouse and hunkered down to wait out the Watchmen. They would eventually assume she had run further off when encountering the locked doors. All she had to do was wait. She hated the waiting. It was the most boring part of her profession.


    She awoke with a start, realizing that she had actually fallen asleep. Real amateur move there, Shay. At least judging from the dark, it should have been long enough to be safe to make it back to the house. She stood up and was about to make her way to the exit when a sound caught her attention. It sounded like a soft groan and a body shifting in the shadows. There''s someone else in here! I''m lucky they didn''t stumble across me. She turned to tip-toe her way out of the warehouse.


    As she reached the door, something pulled at her, causing her to stop and turn. She could not tell what it was, but she had this inextricable feeling that she needed to go find the person hiding in the shadows. All of her instincts were screaming at her to get out of there, and she was frozen in indecision. The next thing she knew, she was walking back towards where she had heard the noise.


    Slowly, she approached the area she sensed the presence in. She concentrated on circulating her ki and focusing some in her eyes, a trick she had picked up from another who shared her profession, and the room lit up in front of her a bit. As she increased her cultivation, this handy skill made the room appear brighter. She focused her gaze on the form of a youth huddled in the corner by some crates. He was dressed in a simple robe and had a sword strapped to his side. He''s younger than me and carrying a sword. She could sense that he was only at the Late Mortal Realm. This had several different implications, but she just shrugged her shoulders as there was no way to know for sure.


    Upon closer examination, she discovered that he was absolutely covered in blood. Was he poisoned? There was evidence of blood having seeped out of all of his orifices on his head, a typical occurrence with powerful poisons, and he appeared to be unconscious, not just sleeping. She did not understand her own decision, but she found herself lifting this youth and carrying him with her as she made her way back to the house. You never know, this kind of person might come in handy.

 Part Two: Bad Sun Rising - Thief in the Night

    Seifr stood alongside the building keeping watch down the alleyway for anyone deciding to walk towards them. So far nobody had so much as glanced down the alleyway. There were not many people walking down backstreets in the middle of the night. Shayla was hunched over by his side working a pair of lock-picks trying to open the door.


    This was the third "mission" he had been on with Shayla, and they had all gone smoothly so far. To be fair, though, they had been assigned easy targets to help him get used to the work. The task Seifr found himself on this night was a step up. This particular target employed private security. Their surveillance had shown mostly Peak Mortal Realm and Early Elementary Realm cultivators being employed, but they had heard rumors that the captain of the security team was in the Mid Nascent Realm.


    Seifr had suffered some fairly serious internal injuries from the backlash he received from channeling his ki into the sword. He had used up the entirety of his ki to escape from the nightmare he had found himself in. Close to the end, blood had started seeping out of his nose, eyes, and ears, and his mental state had degraded into delirium. It was while in that state that he managed to crawl into a warehouse with the instinctual need to hide.


    The effects of the backlash were considerably more severe than the first time he had channeled ki into the sword, and he was incapacitated for a week. When he had finally awoken, he found himself in a bunk room with several other teenagers and Shayla standing over him. He was bedridden for another three days after waking, and when he was finally able to move again, he found that the bunk room was a dug-out basement concealed with a trap door in an innocuous house in a middle-class residential neighborhood. He was confused about the setup until he realized the group of teenagers were a band of thieves.


    Shayla finally managed to pick the lock, and the door swung open silently. Shayla used a little trick to suppress the vibrations caused by the hinges creaking to muffle them to nearly silent by infusing her ki directly into the door and suppressing the vibrations directly. Seifr had found that there were a lot of little useful ways to manipulate ki without having to be able to manifest it. He had learned the night-vision trick not long ago, but was still an amateur at the rest of the skills. He had spent the past eight months training and had managed to advance his cultivation to the 2nd Elementary Stage - a fairly significant breakthrough for him as it caused a qualitative leap up in his fighting prowess.


    They crept into the backroom of the target. Their current heist was targeted on a small jewelry store in a semi-rich commercial district. This particular area did not employ nearly the level of rich stores that Seifr had once visited while shopping for a Ki Weapon. The band of thieves focused their activities on the wealthy or semi-wealthy luxury stores that catered to the rich. They never took enough to cause a store owner to go out of business from the loss, and they stayed away from the middle-class or poor districts. Even though they were thieves, they had a little bit of honor and would not put someone out on the streets. Sometimes, though, they would rob a noble mansion directly if they thought they could get away with it, and they took everything they could get their hands on.


    Shayla used hand signals to direct Seifr down a hallway and into another room that should have been locked but, happily, was not. They made their way around a counter to a locked case, and she had him attempt to pick the lock. He would rate himself as above average for the amount of time he had spent, but he was definitely not in league with Shayla. He spent several minutes before finally sliding all of the tumblers into place, unlocking the padlock. Shayla used the vibration trick, as she knew that Seifr had yet to master it to a sufficient level to use on the job. As she lifted the lid to the case, a red security light hanging on the wall above the door lit up with a red glow.


    Security lights were things that various cultivators could craft through ki manifestation, and this one appeared to be linked to the case where it would automatically come on if the case was opened. It was a fairly sophisticated setup, and one the pair had not anticipated. Shayla wasted no time stuffing a sack full of gems and jewelry before motioning for Seifr to lead the way out.


    Seifr almost ran head first into one of the security detail as he exited the room. Seifr did not hesitate and landed a palm blow directly on the man''s chest, sending him flying down the hall. The guard had only been at the Peak Mortal Realm, and with Seifr''s increased purity and being in the Elementary Realm, the man was like a child compared to Seifr''s fighting prowess. Shayla''s eyebrows climbed up her head in surprise. This was the first time she had seen Seifr strike anyone, and she was not expecting that level of disparity. It was common knowledge that the stages close to each other in the Common Path did not have that much significant difference in power level. The way Seifr man-handled the opponent was almost as if he was an entire realm higher in cultivation and not just two stages.


    All attempts at stealth were aborted as the duo made a mad dash back to the exit. Several more security personnel came rushing down the hall from both ends, placing the two thieves in a pincer attack. Shayla turned and engaged a man at the Peak Elementary Realm. The guard had not paid attention to her cultivation base, and was thoroughly shocked after she struck him with the power of the 1st Stage Nascent Realm. The disparity was much less pronounced than when Seifr had launched his opponent clear across the hall earlier. Shayla was not trained in the fundamentals of Kung Fu, and thus was actually at a slight disadvantage against the older man. He smiled at the frustration written on her face, but it soon vanished into astonishment and a little fear as Seifr maneuvered around into position replacing Shayla as the combatant. The man looked over the two''s shoulders and saw that Seifr had already incapacitated three other guards, one of which who was also at the Peak Elementary Realm like he was.


    The security guard grit his teeth as he yelled out, "You can''t get away! Make things easier on yourselves. Drop the stolen goods and turn yourselves in."


    Seifr smirked at the man as he attempted to wage a defensive battle, obviously trying to stall for time. But he was on the inside direction of the hall, and Shayla had the sack with the merchandise. Seifr waved his partner away as he said, "Go on ahead. I''ll cover our tracks and meet up with you at home later. Trust me." He gave her a sincere smile, that was only diminished because of the mask that he was wearing to obscure his identity.


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    Shayla hesitated at first, but then firmed her resolve when he told her to trust him. She had spent eight months around him and knew that he was not full of stupid bravado, and witnessing his fighting abilities in action for the first time also helped her make up her mind. She turned and dashed off, escaping from the building into the dark of night. Seifr knew that she would zig-zag through the city, find a spot to change her clothes, and then casually walk among any crowds out at this time back to the house.


    Seifr turned back towards the man and continued his assault on the guard. The man gave ground continuously, finding it very difficult to keep up with Seifr''s relentless attack. The difference in cultivation should have had the opposite result with the older man quickly dominating this youth. The guard never even had the opportunity to get over his astonishment and try to adapt to his opposition''s fighting style before Seifr struck a blow to the side of his head, sending his body into the wall of the hallway, and then he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.


    Seifr casually looked around for more opposition. The store owner only employs a small night-shift security team, and I''ve already fought off five people. Surely there aren''t any more. Though now that I think of it, I never did see anyone in the Mid Nascent Realm. He turned and made his way back to the exit. Before stepping across the threshold of the door to the alley behind the store, he felt a premonition of danger. It was very similar to the one he had felt while waiting outside the Stone Garden nearly a year ago, but it was much less pronounced. Seifr trusted his instincts and so he dashed to the side and crouched down while spinning to face the direction he had come from. As soon as he had dashed out of the way, a throwing dagger sailed through the space he had been and impaled itself into the wall.


    Seifr stood back up and observed the man who had thrown the dagger. The man approaching Seifr appeared to be in his late twenties, and he had a cultivation of the 6th Nascent Realm. Seifr adopted a very serious expression as he drew his sword out of the scabbard. Over the past eight months he had continued to experiment with infusing ki into the sword. While it was extremely dangerous and painful to infuse all of his ki into the sword, he had found that tiny, controlled bursts would allow him to temporarily move marginally faster than everything else, and it happened in a way that his perception remained the same so he could still maintain complete control of his actions. The more ki he infused, the faster the marginal change in perception and speed he experienced.


    He had still not mastered the ability to properly gauge the correct amount of ki to use and when to use it when in actual combat, so he was nervous about facing this opponent. If he did not want to be bedridden for another week or so, it was going to be dangerous trying to focus on properly fighting and controlling his ki infusion. Sink or swim. This is the only way to learn - by doing. At seeing the sword form stance and the steady, determined step Seifr took towards the guard, the older man''s face lit up with surprise. He had been expecting an untrained youth who he would easily be able to manage.


    Seifr continued taking steady, measured steps to close the gap between them, and after a brief moment of surprise, the man drew his longsword from his back and charged towards Seifr on the attack. This other man was also trained in sword forms, but they were apparently a different set than what Seifr had trained in. Instructor Nalai had never actually told him what the forms she had imparted on him were called. The two men flowed between the forms in a kind of deadly dance. If Shayla had remained behind to witness this scene, she would have been utterly flabbergasted. The fluid movements of the two men''s bodies and the flashing of the swords as they collided with each other in strike-parry-counter over and over as each sought a chink in the other''s defense could have been described as art.


    It quickly became apparent to Seifr that while he was the better skilled swordsman, his body was not able to keep up with the speed and power of the Mid Nascent Realm practitioner he was fighting. The other man noticed too, and he smiled as he became more confident as he increased the pressure on Seifr.


    It''s now or never. I need to seize the next opportunity to attempt to outmaneuver this man. Seifr never lost his calm even as he started to get steadily pushed back. The other swordsman managed to slip just barely past Seifr''s defenses and nicked him on the shoulder. The guard paused in momentary surprise, and Seifr grabbed this moment to infuse a small bit of ki into his sword. To Seifr''s perception, the man''s pause lasted far longer than it should have, and he took the opportunity to circle his katana around the other man''s hilt and use leverage to throw the man''s arm wide and send his weapon flying in a classic disarm, and then he lashed out with his foot and kicked him in the chest. It seemed to take a couple of seconds to Seifr, but to the security guard, it happened literally in an instant.


    This was the first time Seifr had struck anyone when under the effects of the sword, and it seemed like instead of kicking him fairly strongly in the chest, it was more of a powerful blast from a sledgehammer. Several of the man''s ribs directly fractured and he spewed blood out of his mouth as he was sent hurtling down the hall. Seifr returned the sword to his scabbard and then also snatched up the longsword and the throwing dagger that was embedded in the wall. As he made his way towards the exit again, he heard his opponent cough violently before saying, "Give up. You can''t get away. You can''t win."


    Seifr frowned as he turned his head back without stopping and replied, "I''ve already won. I beat all your subordinates, and now, I''ve even bested the captain."


    The older man on the floor chuckled before responding, "I''m not the captain. I''m only the vice-captain. My subordinates earlier were not stalling for time. I''ve been stalling for time."


    Seifr''s eyes widened in realization, and he broke out into an all-out sprint towards the exit. Just as he was about to make his escape into the night, a powerful aura came crashing down exerting tremendous pressure on him.


    Mid Spirit Realm!

 Running Man

    Seifr charged through the door without hesitation as the aura bored down on him. He careened out into the alley, slamming into the wall and using it to change the trajectory of his momentum. As he shot towards the main road, he felt a sudden wind pressure at his back and felt more than heard an explosion that sent him tumbling forward. He regained his balance and stole a quick look behind him. In the wall where he had just been was a large slash mark that looked like someone cut it with a tremendous sword force. Is that the power of the Mid Spirit Realm?


    Seifr sensed a presence about to follow him through the door from the jewelry store, and he whipped his arm forward and threw the dagger that he had acquired and abandoned the sword stolen from the Mid Nascent guard before once more rushing for the main street. He did not watch the outcome of his surprise attack, because he knew that at most it would only slow the enemy down momentarily.


    Seifr shot out into the thin crowd on the cobbled road. One could always find people traversing the streets of Vinson at all hours of the day and night, but the crowds were small and scattered in the waning hours of the night as compared to the thick masses during the day. He did not pay attention to the direction he chose to run as he knew he would not be heading to the safe house any time soon. His only priority was escaping from this danger. He was reluctant to use the Ki Sword''s full abilities as he rather liked being conscious, but if it came to pain and living or death, he would choose life.


    Seifr ran down the road, avoiding the pedestrians, and ran towards another alley. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure emerge from the alley he had just come from. It was too brief of a glance to capture any specifics about what the man looked like, but before Seifr disappeared from line of sight, he saw the man make a chopping gesture where he whipped his right hand from his left shoulder, up over his head, and then down to his waist in a quick, fluid movement. A visible wind-force emanated from this gesture and shot towards Seifr at incredible speed.


    A commoner was walking in the road between Seifr and the Spirit Realm cultivator in pursuit. Seifr witnessed the wind-force slice through the bystander''s shoulder and sever his arm completely with blood spraying into the air. The body of the common man did not even slow the wind-blade heading towards Seifr, and after a brief delayed reaction, the man, as well as several other bystanders, started yelling and screaming. People started running for cover as the commoner collapsed to the ground in agony, his blood quickly pooling around him.


    Seifr ducked into the alley right before the wind-force slammed into the corner of the building, sending stone fragments and dust everywhere with a loud explosive force. That man has no regard for the lives of those bystanders! He cut that man down with no remorse. Sweat started to drip from Seifr''s forehead as he realized just how dangerous his situation really was.


    Seifr ran for his life sticking to the narrow alleys and away from crowded main streets as much as he could. Even though he was not the one doing it, he still felt responsible for putting others in danger when his pursuer lashed out at him. The man chasing him was clearly a wind-attributed cultivator, and Seifr did not want to get close enough to find out what kind of ki manifestation he could use in close proximity.


    The pressure on Seifr continued to build as his pursuer gradually gained ground on him. Every time they were within line of sight of each other, the older man would send a ki attack towards Seifr, and they were becoming increasingly harder to dodge as the distance reduced. Seifr started to panic as he could not gain any ground, but instead constantly lost ground. Mid Spirit Realm is just too much faster than I am. Think, gotta think! Seifr tried to come up with some sort of plan as he ran through the city as fast as he could, but so far nothing was coming to mind.


    Seifr ran out of an alley onto a wider than usual thoroughfare, and a pit formed in his stomach as he realized the next alley that could offer him cover was too far away. He felt a deadly sense of crisis as he made his way across the street, and acting on instinct, he leapt into the air, turned his body, and whipped his sword out in a strike attempting to parry the wind-blade bearing down on him. When his sword came into contact with the ki manifestation, he felt a powerful force slam into him and send him hurtling through the air and into the side of a building. The attempted parry had allowed Seifr to actually borrow the force of the attack to send himself further down the street, and he actually gained a little ground from his opponent. His arm ached fiercely, and he was slightly disoriented for a brief second as he regained his footing and continued towards the alley.


    Seifr was beginning to pant from the physical exertion. His heart was pounding and adrenaline was coursing through his body at an unprecedented rate, but exhaustion would eventually set in, and his chances of escape would become nonexistent instead of just extremely unlikely. These thoughts briefly flashed through his mind as he made his way down yet another alley. He had lost count of how many twists and turns he had made, and he had absolutely no idea where he currently was in the city anymore.


    Seifr came out into another wide avenue and nearly smashed directly into two men walking with horses in tow. They appeared to be middle-aged, and one man had a full beard. He quickly dodged around them on his way and immediately felt guilty, because he knew the man chasing him would not hesitate to send an attack straight through them to get to him. Sure enough after he had made it a ways down the street, he felt the wind attack rushing for him once more. He did not have time to avoid the strike this time, and so he did not hesitate to send a burst of ki into his sword.


    Immediately all of his surroundings slowed down significantly. Seifr was curios if parrying the wind ki would have the same effect as last time and blast him down the street if he performed that move in this state. He whipped around and slashed the wind-blade. With time slowed down all around him, he could more clearly see the ki manifestation. It looked like a compressed line of air slowly moving towards him. Upon closer look, he could see that it was actually comprised of millions upon millions of tiny, vibrating wind-blades combined together to make up the single wave of wind.


    When Seifr''s sword made contact with the ki manifestation, he again felt the tremendous power, but it was much more muted, and it only caused him to slide back several meters. Seifr noticed that across the street where he had just come from, his enemy had indeed sent his attack through the two men walking beside their horses, but it had not struck either men. Instead one of the horses had been cut nearly in half. Instead of gawking at the scene, Seifr used the little bit of time left from the effect to once more gain some ground on his pursuer.


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    As time returned to normal around him, he heard a shout of outrage coming from behind. Clearly the man who had just lost his horse was not happy. Seifr did not have time to spare to worry about the fortunes of anyone else, and he was about to make his way into the next alley when an incredible weakness and dull throbbing pain assaulted him out of nowhere.


    Dammit! A backlash from using the Ki Sword when I''ve already exerted too much energy. I''m still not powerful enough to use it safely in these kinds of conditions. Seifr momentarily despaired as the pain and weakness brought him to his knees. He struggled through it and managed to climb back to his feet and take a stumbling step towards the alley, fully expecting another wind-blade to come sailing towards him at any moment now.


    When the expected attack did not come, Seifr spared a glanced towards where he had just come from. He saw one of the men with the horses confront the man who had chased him across the city.


    "Hey, you killed my horse! Do you know how expensive a horse is? And not just that, I''ve had that horse for a couple of years now. He was more companion than steed! You owe me an explanation!" The man''s fury could not be contained as he exploded at the man who had killed his horse. The guard captain that had been running after Seifr snorted and waved his arm towards the man yelling at him. Another ki manifestation wind appeared, but this one was not a deadly blade like the ones he threw at Seifr, but appeared more like a gust that would scoop up this other man and send him flying away.


    The bearded man threw out a punch and the ki wind immediately collapsed under this assault. He charged towards the man who had attacked him. He''s also in the Spirit Realm! Hope exploded in Seifr as he witnessed this man interfere in the chase. I can use this to make my escape! Seifr still felt guilty about getting the other men involved, but he had no time to worry about it right now.


    Seifr turned and made his way down the alley. Sounds of fighting followed him as he made his escape. The occasional loud boom would rock the area, but they gradually grew dim as Seifr put more and more distance between himself and the fight that had erupted. He traveled far enough away that he could no longer hear any signs of the fighting, and then he ducked into an unoccupied building and quickly changed his clothes. He did not put on another set of clothes. Carrying around an entire other set of clothes would be too bulky. Instead the clothes that he wore on this excursion were designed to be flipped inside out to change the appearance. He also removed the mask that had been covering the top half of his face and stored it inside his robes.


    Seifr remained in the building he had temporarily occupied for the rest of the evening. Once the sun rose and the crowds became thicker out in the streets again, he made his exit. He blended with the flow of the crowds as he identified where he was in the city. I''m on the complete opposite side away from the house. Seifr was in no hurry anymore, and allowed the current of the crowds to direct him in the direction he needed to go. His body was aching and tired, but he maintained an appearance of someone just out for a casual stroll.


    Why did I ever agree to join these people? Seifr thought. This question had been circulating in his mind over and over all night. Even though he was questioning his decision now, he knew that there had been little choice at the time when he made it. The Head of the House had made a compelling argument, and Seifr had nowhere else to go and no money besides a few silvers left in his pocket. I''m just tired and stressed from nearly having my body cut in half on multiple occasion. Not every job goes down like that. If it did, there wouldn''t be any thieves to join, because they''d all already be dead. Seifr comforted himself with the knowledge that it could be worse, and that it would not always be so dangerous.


    Traveling with the crowds instead of moving with purpose across the city took a considerably longer amount of time. It was late afternoon when Seifr finally dragged his exhausted body into the safe house. As Seifr descended to the bunk room where he could finally rest, a figure crashed into him and hugged him fiercely.


    "Seifr, you''re safe! I was so worried after you didn''t show up for the longest time, and then this morning I heard reports of a Spirit Realm powerhouse chasing down a kid and indiscriminately attacking across half the city. How did you get away?" Shayla released her hold on Seifr as she backed away and quickly inspected him for injuries.


    "He managed to piss off someone else who was also in the Spirit Realm. While they were busy working out their differences, I made my escape. I was nervous and paranoid all day, so I let the crowd carry me here instead of just coming here directly," Seifr explained.


    Shayla smiled before saying, "Well, we managed to get our hands on more than I initially thought. The Head wanted to speak to the both of us once you got back, but I''ll let him know that you need to get some rest first. We''ll go talk to him first thing in the morning, ok?"


    Seifr nodded gratefully as Shayla allowed him to head towards his bunk. She moved off further into the hideout. There were more tunnels and other rooms dug out in a complicated maze that connected many other safe houses in the city. Seifr only knew where this particular house was, and he had not explored the depths of the hideout, yet. He was not yet trusted enough to be given free reign to wander around wherever he wanted, though he did have access to training grounds and such.


    Seifr laid down on his bunk and quickly fell asleep. His life had taken a strange twist recently. He found that he was actually enjoying the dangerous situations he often found himself in, as long as they were not hopeless. The rush he experienced after knowing he had cheated death was like nothing he had felt before when he was training under strict supervision at The Misty Realm.

 Gilded

    Seifr gasped for breath as he ran down the alleyway. It seemed to go on forever in the distance, a gloomy cast to the dusky sky inhibiting the light. Something was chasing him. He did not know what it was, but he knew with certainty that if it caught him he would die. A low chuckle sounded from behind him as he made his mad dash down the narrow street, and Seifr had to use all of his willpower to not look over his shoulder to see what made the sound.


    Up ahead a side alley finally came into view, and Seifr redoubled his efforts to reach it. As he approached, he saw a figure sprawled out on the ground in a puddle. Something seemed off about this scene, and as he got closer, Seifr realized what he was looking at.


    Celia.


    She was face-up with her eyes unblinking. A hole in her abdomen had blood gushing out and oozing down to form the puddle. A puddle of her blood. Her head slowly turned towards Seifr as he neared, but her eyes were glazed over and unfocused.


    "Why didn''t you save me?" Celia''s voice whispered in his ear, as if she was right next to him.


    Seifr stared in shock as he started to slow down. Another chuckle came from behind him, and he felt hot breath on the back of his neck. With gut-wrenching agony, he pulled his eyes away from Celia and continued down the alley.


    "Don''t leave me!" Celia''s voice once more wailed in his ear. Tears came unbidden to his eyes and streamed down his cheeks.


    Seifr attempted to increase his speed, but he felt like he was wading through water all of a sudden. He looked down and saw that he was running nearly knee deep in a river of blood. He let out an involuntary shout and quickly looked back up to see where he was going. He suddenly crashed into a man with a missing arm. Blood was fountaining out of the wound where his shoulder was supposed to attach to his arm. Seifr lost his balance and only got a quick glimpse at the slightly familiar looking man before he lost his footing and collapsed in a heap into the blood.


    Seifr quickly resurfaced and gasped for more breath, the coppery taste of blood filling his mouth as he accidentally swallowed some. He tried to get his footing under him, but he couldn''t find the ground with his feet, and he simply splashed about in the blood. He looked around and was horrified to see that the alley was completely gone, and he was in the middle of an endless ocean of blood. Corpses floated all around, some looking like they had just died, and some decomposed into nothing but skeletons.


    Off in the distance, a towering shape could be seen. It was humongous, the size of a mountain. Eyes suddenly opened on the shape and focused their attention on Seifr. A monstrously big grin filled with rows of sharp fangs opened wide as a voice boomed out causing waves to ripple in the blood.


    "THERE IS NO ESCAPE!"


    Seifr screamed at the top of his lungs as a sense of vertigo consumed him as he was suddenly falling. He slammed into solid ground, but something was still restricting him, and he thrashed about in a panic to escape whatever was holding him down. Seifr let out another scream as hands suddenly grabbed a hold of him.


    "Shhh. Shhh. It''s alright. It was just a dream," Shayla''s voice came to him. He focused on the voice and slowly calmed down as his senses came back to him. His pulse was still beating wildly as he looked around to find that he had thrown himself from his bunk and his blanket had wrapped around him, restricting his movement. There were only a couple of other people in the bunk room at the time, but all eyes were focused on him.


    He looked up to see Shayla placing her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to soothe him. He opened his mouth to apologize, and a low chuckle sounded behind him and faded away. The hair on the back of his neck and arms stood on end as his entire body broke out in goosebumps. He sat there for a moment with his mouth open like a slack-jawed idiot, but nothing else happened.


    Seifr snapped his mouth shut and then looked Shayla in the eye. "Thank you," Seifr said as he untangled himself from the blanket.


    "It''s fine. Everyone has nightmares every now and then. I was actually just on my way to wake you when you suddenly flung yourself out of the bed and started thrashing about. I guess that''s one way to get out of bed in the morning," Shayla gave a small snort at her own attempt at a joke to lighten the mood.


    "Well I''m certainly awake, now. Haha. Right, so what were you coming to get me for?" Seifr was only wearing his pants from the day before, and he stood unabashedly to retrieve a fresh set of clothes from his footlocker.


    A faint trace of red crept into Shayla''s complexion as she watched Seifr move. She hurriedly opened her mouth to respond, "We''re supposed to go see the Head this morning, remember? Go wash up real quick and then meet me upstairs." She quickly dashed away to the ladder leading back up into the house.


    Seifr grabbed his clothes and made his way to the washroom where several places were set aside with wash basins for the teens to wash their faces and such. He quickly used a rag in the water to rub the night sweat off of his body and clean his face. He used a fresh basin to rinse his mouth out, and as he spit the water back out, a little bit of blood had mixed in with the water. Seifr stood there and stared into the washbasin for a long moment. He finally shook his head to regain his senses. Must have bit my tongue. Yeah, that''s what happened.


    Seifr finally made his way up into the house proper and spied Shayla standing by the door leading to a living room. The living room was set up like a large waiting room with a couple of desks. An office was behind the two desks, and that was their destination.


    A young man in his early twenties sat behind one of the desks leafing through some paperwork. He looked up as the two approached and his gaze instantly centered on Shayla. He smirked at her before looking at Seifr. Seifr could feel a sense of hostility behind his gaze, though his expression gave nothing away.


    "Well it''s about time. I guess we''ll just wait for you whenever you feel like gracing us with your presence," the young man said in a snide tone.


    Shayla rolled her eyes as she trudged past the man. "Shut up, Quillin. Who do you think you are? You''re just a paper pusher who couldn''t hack it on the streets. You have no authority."


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    A look of fury quickly crossed his face as Shayla refuted Quillin. He snorted in contempt as he said, "What I have is the Head''s ear. I could easily tell him you''re becoming too arrogant to continue working here, and you''ll be drummed out in no time. I would hardly have to say anything about this other... person." A look of ridicule was in his eyes as he glanced at Seifr.


    Seifr had been warned about Quillin''s supercilious attitude, and he didn''t spare him a second glance. The other man''s cultivation was technically higher than his, but he had complete confidence in his ability to suppress Quillin if he got too wordy.


    "You act like you actually mean something around here, but what you really are is superfluous. The Head has two ears, and a brain. You go ahead and tell him whatever you want. You don''t scare us," Shayla retorted.


    Quillin sat in indignation as his eyes narrowed and followed Shayla as she and Seifr entered the office. He turned back to his work like nothing had happened. He would never really say anything to the Head against Shayla. After all she was his.


    Seifr came to stand in front of a large, expensive looking desk with an older man flipping through some sort of pamphlet. As he and Shayla came to a stop, the man behind the desk tossed the pamphlet aside and looked at the two teenagers over his steepled fingers.


    "Well, first I have to say, nice job. Very impressive. Shayla already told me about the job and about the chase afterwards. That''s not important, though. What''s important is that you got away clean, and you kind of hit it big this time. Sometimes we come across... how should I say... special goods. The jewels and jewelry you two snatched a couple nights ago fall into this category. Special goods have to be handled by a specific type of fence, not one of the usual ones."


    Seifr glanced at Shayla in confusion for a brief second, and Shayla was likewise confused. Where''s this going? We don''t hardly ever interact with fences as it is, Seifr thought to himself. The older man got up from behind the desk and walked around to the front. He re-seated himself on top of the desk''s edge.


    "I''m sure you''re wondering why I''m explaining anything to you. Haha. Let''s just say that I was impressed enough to give you a small opportunity to some education. You''ll have to figure it out for yourself, and if you''re smart enough to do so, we''ll talk further afterward. But for now, you two are going to handle the transaction with this fence yourselves. I know that this is a little risky, considering you''re the thieves who stole it directly, but it''s no more risky than if you didn''t have us to back you to begin with."


    The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a gilded ring. There was a design of a dagger on the ring, and Shayla''s eyes went wide when she saw it. The man noticed her reaction and narrowed his eyes as he handed it to her. "Do you know what this is?" He asked.


    Shayla grasped the ring in her hand and gulped slightly. "It''s a Space Ring, isn''t it?!" Shayla ventured nervously.


    The man suddenly laughed and clapped his hands. "Exactly right! Exactly right. This is just a small space ring, and it can only store a modest amount of items. It''s nothing fancy, and it''s used exclusively to transact with this particular fence. Take it to him, I have a map for you here, also, and he''ll inspect the contents and pay you the appropriate sum. No need to haggle. Like I said, special goods." The Head winked as he handed over a parchment with a crude map drawn on it detailing where to go. He casually dismissed them and resumed his perusal of the pamphlet he had previously discarded.


    Seifr and Shayla exited the house and started walking towards the center of the city. Shayla handed Seifr the map, and he was shocked to discover that the location was actually in the center of the city close to some of the government buildings. Very strange place for a fence. Though I guess one of the best places to hide something is on the mantelpiece. Seifr chuckled to himself at the brazenness of this fence.


    Shayla didn''t pay any attention to Seifr, the map, or where they were going as all of her attention was on inspecting the ring. She sighed as she finally put it away in her pocket, though her hand stayed in the pocket with it. "I wonder when I''ll be able to get such a thing? Too bad you have to be at least in the Spirit Realm to be able to access the interior of one of these."


    Seifr glanced over at Shayla and then suddenly extended his hand out. "Can I see it?" He asked.


    Shayla gave a wry chuckle as she fished the ring back out and handed it over to Seifr. As soon as the ring touched his skin, a strange sense of vertigo came over him, and he was suddenly aware of a small room. That was the only way he could think to describe it. He couldn''t quite see it with his eyes, but he could tell exactly what was there.


    All of the jewels they had stolen the other night were there, and also a piece of paper. He concentrated on the paper and instinctively made a grasping motion. Suddenly, the paper was in his hand. Shayla gave a quick intake of breath as she realized what had happened.


    "You can access it?! How? You''re cultivation is even lower than mine!" Shayla stamped her foot in irritation.


    Seifr glanced at her briefly, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He lifted the paper up to read it and was surprised at what it said:


    Seifr and Shayla. Impressive display for age and cultivation. Potential Recruits.


    That was all that was on the paper. He handed it to Shayla to read. She looked back at him after seeing was was written, and then lifted her hands up and shrugged. "Might as well see where this goes," she replied with apparent indifference.


    Seifr shrugged also as he returned the paper to the ring in its original location. Shayla stared at him for a second with a small pout before saying, "It''s just not fair."


    Seifr laughed at her antics as they made their way deeper into the city, his mood having improved immensely.

 Lost and Found

    Seifr walked with his head high and back straight. He had found on previous encounters that the quickest way to draw attention from the City Watch was to walk around like he was trying to avoid notice, and that the easiest way to avoid notice was to walk around like he had nothing to hide. It was actually more conspicuous to attempt to avoid notice in the midst of the crowd, anyway, rather than blending in with the masses.


    Seifr noted Shayla''s appearance and actions out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that she was fairly similar to Celia in her mannerisms, though she was slightly more reserved. Probably why I''m so comfortable around her. Seifr had not made any friends at the house other than Shayla, though he was friendly to everyone he interacted with. He was still a little wary around strangers.


    The pair made their way deeper into the city towards their destination. As they rounded a corner, Seifr spotted several people walking in a group wearing the uniform of the Misty Realm Academy. His heart lurched for a second, and his pulse increased. He maintained his composure through willpower and continued walking normally, fighting his instincts to hunch his shoulders and hide his face.


    I have nothing to worry about. They won''t recognize me since I''ve altered my appearance, Seifr encourage himself. After settling himself in with the thieves, Seifr had dyed his hair and given himself a scar on his face by using a dagger and not healing it with Spiritual Energy. Any wounds healed without the use of Spiritual Energy would form permanent scars. Some of the more battle crazy cultivators would deliberately only use Ki to heal otherwise fatal wounds, and they wore their scars as a badge of honor. Seifr thought it was more a badge of honor to the person who struck the blow instead.


    Sure enough none of the students even turned their attention in the direction of Seifr, and he let out a small sigh as the duo passed the group. Shayla noticed the sigh, but did not say anything. She knew he was obviously running from some sort of situation, but she had never pried into anything he was not willing to venture on his own. Another reason Seifr had grown to trust Shayla a bit.


    I didn''t notice Seth with that group. I wonder how he''s doing, and I hope he''s safe. Seifr had been worried about his friend for some time. The last he had seen of him, Seth had disappeared after being struck unconscious by the villain who murdered Celia.


    Seifr and Shayla finally made their way onto the last street to the fence, and they spotted the building in question. It was a short, squat building that was quite small. It appeared somewhat out of place in this neighborhood, but it was well maintained.


    The two entered the building and glanced around. Inside there was only the one counter with a person standing behind it, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers on the counter top. There was no merchandise anywhere, and one solitary door behind the man at the counter. It was completely empty.


    What.... Seifr was completely confused about the setup, and he hesitated briefly, thinking this might be the wrong place. He gritted his teeth and proceeded towards the counter. As they approached, the other man perked up and smiled at them.


    "What can I do for you?" He asked the pair.


    Shayla pulled the ring out of her pocket and placed it on the counter. The man''s expression lit up when he spied the ring and said, "Ahh, say no more. I''ll have this checked out, and I''ll be right out." He snatched the ring, and he rushed through the door behind him before Shayla could even open her mouth.


    Seifr and Shayla shared a look and chuckled. "I guess we''re in the right place after all," Shayla said. Apparently Seifr was not the only one with some misgivings.


    The man quickly returned with the ring and a money pouch. He placed both items on the counter and smiled at the pair before saying, "Always nice doing business with you. Come back any time." After that he returned to his absent-minded finger drumming, obviously indicating the interaction was over.


    Shayla hesitantly retrieved the items, a look of shock quickly coming over her face as she felt the weight of the money pouch. She and Seifr quickly made their exit and headed back towards the house. Shayla opened the money pouch and peered inside. Seifr continued on his way for a moment before realizing that Shayla had stopped walking. He looked back at her and saw her frozen, staring at the coin purse.


    Shayla finally looked up and grinned at Seifr. "Ten platinum coins!" Shayla whispered fiercely. "I would have guessed maybe two or three platinum coins at best. You have to take into account that the fence also has to make a profit, and so we wouldn''t get retail value. I would say the retail of that merchandise was six or seven plats."


    Seifr''s eyebrows attempted to climb to his hairline. Their previous excursions had resulted in profits of silver, and he already thought that was pretty good. Considering the partnership the thieves had with the Head, the thieves kept 60% and the Head took 40%. The Head also usually handled all of the fencing and any misdirection needed to protect the thieves while also providing the hideout, so a 60/40 split was very reasonable to Seifr. Even though they were thieves, they were always honest with their interactions and numbers with the Head and his group of administrators, even Quillin.


    Shayla handed Seifr three platinum coins out of the pouch and pocketed three herself. She grinned at him and asked, "What''cha want to do with yours?"


    Seifr glanced around and spied a high-end cafe near the fence''s building. He nodded his head towards the cafe as he turned towards it and said, "I feel like acting frivolous like a rich kid." He grinned at Shayla as he lead the way towards the cafe. Shayla rolled her eyes, but followed him to his destination.


    ~


    William walked next to his employer with a downcast expression. He had been in an irritable mood for the past couple of days, ever since he had allowed that kid to escape his grasp. If it had not been for that other Spirit Realm cultivator, the young thief would not have had a chance to escape.


    "Stop sulking, already. I told you it''s fine. We got a note saying the goods have been recovered," Marvin said. Marvin was the gem dealer who had hired William. He was a fair boss and usually showed proper respect for a true cultivator, but he had been trying to get William to snap out of his funk.


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    William actually respected Marvin as a person, and that was saying something considering he usually only had eyes for other cultivators. Marvin was a shrewd businessman and had all the right connections. He was also not arrogant like some of his other colleagues in the industry with ties to the nobility.


    William sighed as he responded, "I know. That doesn''t make me feel better, though. I''m not upset at you losing the gems; I''m upset at me losing the boy."


    Marvin glanced over at William and replied, "That makes me feel so much better about employing you as security." William quickly looked at Marvin, but relaxed when he saw the grin on the other man''s face.


    William chuckled and said, "You know what I mean. And granted that brat did have some real skill in trouncing Hamon with the sword and his speed relative to his cultivation. I still have my pride as a cultivator."


    Marvin patted William on the shoulder as they continued on their way in a conciliatory fashion. Marvin knew that William was actually an outstanding investment, and not just because he was top-class security. What most of his colleagues thought as the most important thing for business, ties to the nobility, was actually only one face of it. Marvin used his relationship with William to establish ties to so-called Loose Cultivators, the true cultivators who had no affiliation with a sect or other influence.


    There were two sides to every coin, and most people thought the faces of the cultivator realm were the nobility and the sects. Marvin knew the truth of the matter, though, and that was that one side of the coin had both the nobility and sects, and the other side had the Loose Cultivators. There were far, far more Loose Cultivators than members of sects or the nobility, but they were disorganized and unaffiliated with anyone, including each other, but there was wealth to be made from such a large market. William was considered fairly respectable in the Spirit Realm in Vinson. It was very unlikely that Marvin could make any notable ties to higher realms at his current stage of influence.


    "There''s our destination," Marvin exclaimed as he pointed to a low, squat building on the outskirts of the governmental district in the center of the city. William noted the building, and out of habit scanned the areas around the location. He spotted a bustling cafe across the street and some buildings down from the small building. He did a fast double-take after glancing through the clientele and focused his attention on two teenagers sitting and laughing on the balcony.


    "Son of a... There''s the little bastard right there!" William shouted and took a step towards the cafe.


    "Stop, stop, stop!" Marvin quickly shouted to restrain William. William looked back at him in confusion. "Don''t you know the rules?! Any other place acquiring our merchandise back, and they would be fair game. But this isn''t just any place. There are rules involved. If it''s here, once they''ve made the transaction, they''re free to go. We can''t retaliate for past grievances, only new ones," Marvin quietly explained.


    "What? What are you talking about?" William was still confused.


    "Just trust me on this, and I''ll explain later. In private. But don''t go over there, and don''t cause a scene," Marvin pleaded as he grasped William''s sleeve and towed him into the building.


    William was seething as they entered the building, and he noticed that it was very out of the ordinary, but he paid it no attention as he wanted to rush across the street and pummel that little brat. Marvin noted his companion''s attitude, but knew he could trust him to restrain himself.


    Marvin walked up to the counter and placed the script he had received notifying him of his merchandise being acquired on the counter. The man behind the counter, who had been drumming his fingers, smiled when he saw the script and said, "Ahh, welcome to the Lost and Found! I believe I have your things right here. One moment."


    The man quickly dashed into the room behind him before Marvin could even utter a sound, and was quickly back with a sack that he placed on the counter. Marvin opened the sack and quickly noted his merchandise which had been previously stolen, and he beamed with joy as he thanked the young man behind the counter.


    "Try not to misplace your stuff, again. Though you''re always welcome here if you do," the young man winked at him as he continued his finger drumming.


    William sputtered as he and Marvin turned to leave, "Lost and Found? Misplaced?"


    Marvin gave him a look to tell him not to say anything else, and William closed his mouth and shook his head as they exited the weird building.


    ~


    Seifr and Shayla had been having a good time on the balcony for several hours when he finally spotted a pair of men enter the low, squat building. Shayla noticed them, too.


    "Was that...?" Shayla started.


    "Yep," Seifr acknowledged.


    "So this whole time, you were actually scouting the place?" Shayla asked.


    "Yep," Seifr nodded.


    Seifr had had a suspicion of the entire setup, and he had decided to wait and see if anything unusual would happen. He did not recognize both of the men, but he did recognize the man who had tried to kill him several times as he chased him through the city after they had broken into the jewelry shop. He assumed the other man was the owner of the shop.


    Shortly after the two men had entered the building, they quickly came back out, but this time the other man was carrying a sack. The cultivator turned his head directly towards the cafe and met Seifr''s eyes. Seifr gave a sharp intake of breath and his eyes went wide.


    "Crap! He knew we were here," Seifr exclaimed as he prepared to make his escape, but the cultivator just narrowed his eyes and stared at him as he turned to leave. Seifr sat there in confusion for a moment, and then he looked over to see Shayla in the same pose.


    "Well then... I guess that settles that," Shayla said as she shook herself. She turned back to Seifr and said, "I don''t get it. Did we just sell his stuff back to him? What kind of a fence is that?"


    Seifr paused for a moment before responding, "A government one."

 Setting Resolve

    Seifr and Shayla decided to simply return to the house after the realization about the fence instead of spending their new-found money. Seifr was not sure how he felt about supposed government sanctioned thievery, and he had a lot to ponder about it. Regardless, he still owed the Head for his benevolence and shelter, and if he could come to sufficiently understand the situation and find merit in it, he would consider staying longer.


    He had no plan currently and was just reacting to situations he found himself in and making the best of it. Seifr had a strong sense of honor, and although he was committing theft, he would not easily abandon an obligation - especially since he had lost his faith in the "justice" of the city government.


    As Seifr was walking along pondering these things, he came to a sudden realization. How did that cultivator recognize me? I was wearing a mask. Seifr was pretty sure he had not given himself away the other night.


    "Hey, how do you think that guy recognized us?" Seifr turned to Shayla and asked.


    Shayla appeared baffled for a second before suddenly realizing the answer and responding, "He probably recognized your aura and body. Powerful cultivators can distinguish weaker auras much easier. If you were closer in cultivation level with him than you are, it would not have been so obvious to him."


    "So that''s it," Seifr was suddenly enlightened. He had heard at the academy about something like that, but the instructor had not gone in depth into it saving that for a more advanced level class.


    The pair of teenagers made their way back through the city at once both jubilant at their new wealth and pensive at the revelation. Seifr had grown accustomed to having money to spend over the years, if not quite as much as he had on him now, so he was not overly excited. Shayla, on the other hand, was practically dancing in the street. She had obviously been impoverished for most of her life.


    "Seriously, though. What are you planning to do with your cut?" Shayla inquired again.


    "Nothing right now. I''m going to save it up and use it on something important. Later." Seifr knew revenge was burning brightest in his heart at this moment, but he had no way to realize such a goal considering the power disparity. He knew that the only solution was likely to either buy some ridiculously powerful items at an auction or hire a powerful mercenary. Both of which would cost more than three platinum coins, and both of which would require considerable luck.


    Suddenly, a loud crash from further down the road sounded out, startling everyone and causing them to look for the source of the noise. Up ahead a large, burly man with scars crisscrossing his chest in an open vest was casually holding up another young man off the ground with one arm, a small stall collapsed on the ground next to them. The young man was obviously a commoner with no significant cultivation to speak of, and despite his struggles, he could not free himself from the larger man''s grasp.


    "What did you say to me, peasant?!" The large man roared at the younger man.


    Beside them was a middle-aged man wringing his hands in worry, and he opened his mouth to say, "Sir, sir, it was nothing. He didn''t mean anything by it. He''s just a young boy who doesn''t know the way. Please..."


    The large man used his other arm to backhand the middle-aged man across the face, sending him sprawling unconscious with one hit. He returned his gaze to the young man, who appeared to be no older than Seifr. The boy stopped struggling as his body began to shake uncontrollably, and a wet spot formed at his crotch and made a line down his leg.


    The big man saw this and smirked, "Hahahaha. Look at that! He pissed himself. What a waste. You insulted the wrong person, boy, and now you''re going to die." The older cultivator seemed genuinely pleased with himself at humiliating this younger boy.


    Seifr saw this scene playing out as the two made their way down the street, and visions of the innocent commoners getting maimed and killed with blood everywhere from his chase across the city crossed his mind. I can''t sit by and do nothing when the innocent get trampled underfoot, otherwise I''m consenting to that kind of behavior. Seifr quickly reached a decision to help, and he suddenly dashed forward away from Shayla who gave a startled cry.


    Seifr had not taken the time to analyze the other party''s cultivation base, and he realized his error only as he was hurtling through the air to deliver a kick to the man''s midsection. He remained calm, though, as he realized the man was only at the Peak Stage of the Elementary Realm; someone he could easily content with.


    The man noticed Seifr''s approach and sneered in derision. His sneer quickly turned into a look of astonishment and pain as Seifr''s kick landed and sent the man tumbling down, losing his grasp on the commoner. Seifr quickly ushered the boy away as the other man regained his feet and glared maliciously at Seifr.


    "Boy, don''t think a lucky, surprise kick means you can stand up to me. I''m going to grind your bones into dust for interfering with my leisure," the scarred man exclaimed as he stalked towards Seifr.


    Seifr''s face contorted in disgust as he realized what this man was saying. He didn''t even have a real grievance! He deliberately wanted to bully someone for no reason, just for fun.


    Seifr shook his head and said, "If you''re as good at fighting as you are at running your mouth, I might think twice about confronting you. But you''re only a coward. Too scared to stir up trouble with someone who could put up a fight."


    The older cultivator was thoroughly enraged, and he ceased stalking towards Seifr in favor of a mad charge. Seifr smirked at how easily the bigger man was goaded into his rhythm. The big man drew his fist back to deliver a powerful punch, and Seifr decided to meet it head on. He usually resorted to maneuvering and technique to fight, but this time he decided to directly beat this miscreant down with a full show of might.


    Seifr channeled his ki into his arm and executed a proper punch that had been ingrained into his muscle memory towards his opponent''s fist. All of the onlookers shook their heads and muttered to themselves that this young man was acting too recklessly and arrogant. He was obviously almost an entire Realm below the bigger man.


    "Young kids today don''t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth."


    "He''s simply looking to get thrashed. His sneak attack has inflated his ego."


    "Haha, this will be fun to watch."


    Many in the crowd exclaimed their expectations for the confrontation. Shayla secretly sighed and somewhat agreed with the onlookers. She had noticed Seifr''s unusual strength the other day in the jewelry shop, but this was an entirely different situation. She prepared to rush forward to save her friend.


    Seifr''s fist made contact with the burly man''s fist, and the big man let out a mighty roar as they collided. Neither side moved an inch, and they appeared to be locked together at their fists for a moment. Then, despite everyone''s expectations, the big man''s knees buckled and he grasped his right arm with his left, letting out another agonized scream. His first roar had not been to intimidate, apparently, but had been from the excruciating pain from all of his arm bones being pulverized.


    "What?! What just happened?"


    "I don''t believe it! What trick did that kid use?"


    "The kid won with brute strength?!"


    The crowd was shocked at this turn of events, and Shayla stood there in a daze. Seifr stood over the other man and looked down on him in contempt.


    "Get out of here. If I see you bullying anyone again, I won''t be so kind next time," Seifr said.


    The big man nodded his head as he crawled up onto his knees. He looked up at Seifr with pain, fear, and confusion on his face. "Why are you sparing me? I was obviously intending to kill you."


    Seifr''s face remained stony as he replied, "I''m not a piece of trash. I don''t kill the weak."


    Seifr turned around and made his way back towards Shayla. The big man''s face suddenly turned vicious as he drew a dagger from his waist and launched himself at Seifr''s back. The crowd hissed with gasps, and Seifr noted Shayla''s eyes go wide and shift their gaze behind him. He had been watching her eyes to see her reaction, and when they darted past him, he knew the big man had not given up.


    In a flash too fast for anyone in the crowd to see, Seifr spun in a circle, and a bright light arced through the air. Seifr came to rest with his sword extended above his right shoulder, and the man''s left arm from the elbow down went flying in the same direction with a spray of blood. Seifr had moved so fast, that no blood had even stained his sword. Seifr slowly sheathed his sword as the other cultivator fell back onto the ground with yet another howl.


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    "I told you, already. I don''t kill the weak. Permanently crippling you and hindering your ability to fight and cause mischief is a much better punishment for you than death." Seifr spat at the man''s feet and turned back to Shayla once again.


    Clapping suddenly erupted from the crowd. It was not deafening or thunderous, but many in the crowd approved of his actions.


    "Right, right. The young master is merciful and ruthless at the same time. This is definitely the best solution."


    "Yeah, that guy has been coming around here for a couple of weeks to stir up trouble, now. Good riddance!"


    Seifr secretly sighed and shook his head. The will of the people was a strange thing. At first when they thought they were going to get a good show of Seifr making a fool out of himself, they jeered and derided him. Then, when he flounced their expectations, they were pleasantly surprised, and when he cut off the other man''s arm, they cheered for him.


    "C''mon, let''s get out of here. No need to entangle ourselves with any City Watchmen," Seifr said as he re-approached Shayla. Shayla gave him a curious look as she resumed walking with him.


    "So what was that all about? Why did you go help those two? They''re just commoners," Shayla asked.


    Seifr shook his head again. If this kept up, he would strain his neck. "That''s exactly it. They''re just commoners. They''re not cultivators. I understand the so-called Law of the Jungle, but they didn''t sign up for that. The other night, that Mid Spirit Stage Cultivator maimed and possibly killed several bystanders while chasing me. I''m somewhat responsible for that. Why should they have to suffer for something that I''ve done and for the negligence of a more powerful cultivator? Especially direct bullying. You heard what he said. He deliberately sought out people weaker than him for fun. He was a disgusting individual, and he deserved what he got. We''re thieves, not murderers. If I can do something to stop a murder but don''t, then I''ve tacitly agreed with it. And I don''t agree with it."


    Shayla was somewhat taken aback by the vehemence in Seifr''s tone as he explained his actions to Shayla. She had never even really considered the matter before, but upon examining the justification of Seifr''s actions, she agreed that there was some merit to his stance. She would have to think further on it, though, especially considering their current occupation.


    "Ok," Shayla replied, saying no more on the subject. The two continued their journey in amiable silence. It wasn''t awkward silence, just the absence of conversation as the two pondered their own, private thoughts.


    The two finally made their way back to the safe house, and they immediately made their way towards the Head''s office. Quillin was no longer at his desk, and instead a young woman sat at the opposite desk. She looked up and smiled when she saw Seifr and Shayla enter the room.


    "The Head said to send you right in when you got back," the young woman said.


    Seifr nodded his head and entered the office. Shayla walked up to the Head, who had been reading through some reports and held out her hand with the gilded ring in it towards him. "We already took our 60% cut. We were paid ten plats, and four are still in the ring."


    The Head took the proffered ring and pulled the four plats out. Then, contrary to expectations, he placed two in Shayla''s outstretched hand and offered the other two to Seifr. "That particular fence pays us our cut separately. The ten plats was your 60% cut," he said with a smile.


    Shayla gave an exclamation of surprise and threw her hands into the air in triumph. Seifr reached out and retrieved his two platinum coins woodenly. They had been shocked before, now they were utterly speechless.


    The Head smiled at their disparate reactions and then said, "So?"


    Seifr pocketed the money and then replied, "It was the government. I just don''t understand why."


    The Head''s smile grew wider as he heard Seifr''s answer. He replaced the space ring in his desk, and then motioned for Seifr and Shayla to close the door and take seats. After they had done so, he explained, "This is a branch of the Thieves Guild. The Official Thieves Guild. I''m actually an Imperial Agent, and in some cases - very rare cases - my authority actually exceeds the governor''s." He gave a wry smile at the thought of himself, a thief, having more authority than the governor of a province.


    "We train young cultivators with promise by sending them on ever increasingly risky ''missions'' to ''steal'' valuables and evaluate their performance. I was once an orphan living in one of these shelters a long time ago myself, though it took me much longer to figure things out than you, haha.


    "We don''t want the potential recruits to actually harm anyone with ties to the nobility or the government, so we use our special fence to handle those goods. In regards to the other merchants who get robbed, the profits the houses take are spent on public works, charity, and reimbursing many merchants through governmental insurance. Not all of the merchants choose to purchase insurance, but for the most part, it works out ok by restricting the amount of theft we approve of to any one merchant.


    "We understand that these actions cannot be offset completely, but by controlling most theft and using this system, we restrain the potential damage that could be caused, and it''s far cheaper than setting up some sort of actual camp to train people in these types of skills. It also keeps you out of the eyes of foreign spies looking for our so-called training camps.


    "Yes, you heard that right. The Thieves Guild does not operate locally. Only the trainees. And for the most part, it''s safe for the trainees, unlike what you went through a couple nights ago. That was an aberration, and very much impressed me. We send the actual members to other nations to steal from their wealthy, and we don''t restrict the damage they can cause. We encourage it. We also supply the Empire with the majority of its spies. That''s not to say we train a lot of spies from these houses. There''s much more to spy work than skulking through the night, and one has to have the prerequisite skills to operate with high society." The Head gave Seifr a shrewd look as he mentioned this last part. Seifr''s heart jumped in his chest as he realized the Head probably knew his background.


    "There are other rules, of course. You know the rules regarding the thieves, but what you don''t know is the rules regarding the targets. The ones who get their stuff back from the government fence know the rules. The most important of which is once you trade the merchandise to the fence and get paid, you''ve ''gotten away.'' They cannot retaliate against you for past thefts, only if you steal from them again. All bets are off then, because we don''t allow you or anyone else affiliated with us to hit them a second time in the next six months.


    "However, your situation is a little different. That Mid Spirit Stage Cultivator employed at the jewelry shop is a man named William, and word on the street is that he''s very prideful. He won''t come after you as long as he works for the jewelry shop, because he has enough honor to obey orders, but if he ever leaves that employ, he is not tied with the nobility, and he may seek you out over the perceived insult of ''losing'' to you. We''ll try to shield you as much as we can, but think of this as another evaluation.


    "Now that you know what''s going on, you can choose to stay and remain a candidate for recruitment, and believe me, your chances are looking good so far, or you can choose to sever ties. We are not vindictive, and we know that what we do is not evil or exactly shady to the right people, so you won''t be hunted down. Though I would advise you against spreading the knowledge, as that could lead to enemy spies, and that will definitely get you a wanted poster.


    "If you stay, we will no longer select the targets for you, but will provide a list of targets that you can select yourself based on your own judgment. This also means that the information given will be more rudimentary, and you''ll have to provide your own intelligence - another evaluation - but at the same time also important training.


    "And one last thing to consider before making your decision when you leave. No restriction on theft when operating in foreign lands, and the cut is 90/10. Think about it." The Head finally came to a close on his long explanation, motioning to Seifr and Shayla that they should go. They both had a lot to think about.

 Drama AND Action!

    Seifr and Shayla looked over the available targets that the Head had provided. Seifr had spent the past couple days in meditation, seeking the answers within himself to whether or not he should continue on as a candidate for the Thieves Guild or if he should go it alone.


    He had several contradictions to resolve within himself, not least of which was choosing to work for a government that apparently did not care about its own citizens. He resolved that particular contradiction by deciding that he had only seen the local city government in action, and had had little to no interaction with any Imperial agencies other than the Head, and he had a favorable impression of the Head.


    He also ruminated over the decision to be a professional thief and possible spy. He was much more relaxed about his thievery within the city of Vinson with the knowledge that most of what he would acquire in the future was actually just a test, and the stolen goods would be returned in good order; however, he was still ambivalent towards stealing from foreign merchants, even though they were foreigners. He currently had no particular loyalty towards the Imperial government, and he certainly had zero antagonism towards any other nation or its people. He decided to let that issue rest for the moment, and to re-evaluate it at a future date.


    Another issue that was close to his heart was seeking revenge for Celia. He could quickly amass the money needed to recruit powerful mercenaries, but at the same time, he would now have a more defined deadline with the potential to be sent out of the country to officially join a Thieves Guild branch far away. He decided that the opportunity to amass the necessary funds quickly outweighed the potential to be sent away. From what he could grasp of what the Head implied, his evaluation was really just starting.


    The final aspect holding him back was his personal relationships. What would he do about Seth? What had Raeq been up to? Did they think he murdered Celia, or did they believe in him enough to recognize the lie? He could see an angle where he could potentially recruit Master Kveld into assisting him with his revenge. Master Kveld had close ties to many of the nobility, so he most likely knew of the arrangement with the Thieves Guild. He would have to convince him that he was not a murderer, though. Maybe.


    In the end, Seifr had decided to remain for now, all of the benefits outweighing the potential downfalls that he could see. Shayla had taken exactly ten seconds to decide to stay, having made the decision before they had even left the Head''s office. She had actually taken the time Seifr spent meditating to scope out a couple of the targets on the list, laying the groundwork for the needed intelligence.


    Seifr pointed at one of the targets on the list, a noble''s mansion with a wall isolating it from the surrounding city. "I like this one," he said.


    Shayla stared at him with wide eyes before exclaiming, "Of course you do! You just had to pick the only target that I could gather exactly squat on when investigating." She threw her hands up in annoyance and shook her head.


    "It''s the right choice for us. All of the other targets could only evaluate our skills that we''ve already shown proficiency in. This is the only one that we could display a new skill: improvisation in an unknown situation and acting. I already have a plan. Well, more an idea than a plan, haha." Seifr responded.


    Shayla huffed and then looked at him through her hair hanging over her face. She blew the hair out in front of her and said, "Let''s hear it."


    Seifr chuckled as he said, "I knew you''d see things my way."


    "Now wait a moment. I never..." Shayla began.


    Seifr continued like she had never started talking, "We pose as a servant and a guard. One of us will sneak in, and intercept a servant, and steal their clothes, and lock them up somewhere. Then that person will act as a servant while scouting around for valuables during the day, posing as ''new'' help. Then that night, the other one of us will do the same thing with a guard, and use the two identities to gain access to the interior and help ourselves to some valuables. How does that sound?"


    Shayla tilted her head in thought for a second before replying, "It''s not entirely bad, but your premise of stealing a servant''s clothes and passing as a new employee would never work; however, that being said, we could use the ties the Head has to arrange for one of us to enter a temp agency, incapacitate one or more of the servants to force them to use said agency, and manipulate it so they send one or both of us. We can get a guard''s uniform later."


    Seifr nodded his head as he listened to Shayla and smiled. "That sounds perfect. Let''s make it happen."


    Seifr grabbed the list, and the two of them went to see the Head to explain their target and plan of attack. The Head was a little wary of the plan, but he understood what they were trying to accomplish. He quickly assented to their request and sent the young woman in the waiting room to contact one of his contacts to arrange for the temp agency position. He would not make the arrangements himself, he would use a third party to set up the appointment with the other third party to remain as anonymous as possible.


    While those steps to the plan were being carried out, Seifr and Shayla made their way to the manor to watch for any servants leaving on errands. Shayla had come up with a concoction from somewhere that would cause someone to become violently sick for a couple of days before passing like nothing had happened if it was directly inhaled. She refused to divulge the secret of its origin to Seifr, saying a lady had her secrets. Whatever that means, Seifr chuckled to himself. Shayla glared at him as he softy chuckled, seemingly aware of his thoughts.


    They spent the better part of the day waiting to no avail, when a couple of servants came out of the manor''s interior, laughing and joking with each other obviously on break from their duties. Seifr and Shayla noted their direction and used back alleys to rush ahead of them. They came out onto the main street and walked towards the group they were targeting.


    Shayla had the substance, a powder, in her hand as they made their way to intercept the servants. When they got close enough, Shayla brought her hands half way up to her face, scrunched her nose for a brief second, and then gave a loud, fake sneeze, blowing the powder into the other people''s faces. Seifr and Shayla rotated their ki to restrict the airflow into their lungs as the powder went everywhere. Looks of disgust came across the servants'' faces, but it quickly passed as they were all at the Late Mortal Realm and not matches against either Seifr or Shayla alone, much less together. They quickly stepped aside and continued on their way, some giving looks over their shoulders with anger and indignation written on their faces.


    Shayla straightened up and smiled at Seifr, "That was easier than I expected. Now we wait. My favorite part of these jobs."


    Seifr laughed. He had to agree, waiting was definitely one of the worst parts of some of these jobs. At least in this particular instance, there was no danger involved yet.


    The duo returned to the safe house to wait for the order to proceed in disguise to the manor. Shayla spent the time practicing her martial techniques. She always needed to burn some energy before a mission, or she could not calm down properly. She would eventually burn enough energy to be able to relax sufficiently.


    Seifr spent the time in meditation, circulating his ki. When not involved in missions, he was always diligent to practice his kung fu and cultivation. Normally they would not get into another mission so quickly, but they had decided to step up their pace this time to see if they could handle it.


    Around a day and half later, the Head finally notified them that it was time to execute the mission. "Remember, you''re safe once you turn the goods in. Before that they don''t necessarily know you''re a candidate, and so they may employ lethal force. So be careful. This is a new type of heist that neither of you has participated in. Even if you don''t succeed in obtaining any material goods, you will still obtain valuable experience."


    Shayla grinned nervously, and Seifr simply nodded his head, remaining calm. The Head handed them two servant''s uniforms from the manor and identification from the temp agency, and they quickly changed. After they were headed towards the manor, Shayla elbowed Seifr lightly in the ribs and said, "Why are you so calm? Were you a servant or something?"


    This was the first time Shayla had inquired about Seifr''s past so openly, but he realized it wasn''t actual prying, but simply trying to keep herself calm with banter. "I''ve never acted as a servant before, but I have interacted with them and know the basics enough to get by," Seifr responded. "If anyone asks, we''ll just say that you''re new to the agency, and I''m helping you a little bit to get used to what needs to be done. Each noble will have his servants act in a different manner anyway, so as long as you''re not too conspicuous, we should be fine."


    "Right, right. I''ll let you do the talking, and I''ll just keep my head low and eyes peeled," Shayla said.


    The pair made their way through the city and arrived at the manor in question. As they approached the entrance, Seifr drew out their identification and handed it to the guard stationed there. "We''re form the temp agency to replace a couple of sick servants or something," Seifr introduced.


    The guard eyed the two up and down, making note of their unusually high cultivation for temporary servants, and said, "Wait here." He took the identification with him into the guard shack. Seifr stood there unflustered, but Shayla kept shifting her weight form foot to foot.


    "Do you think he knows?" Shayla whispered.


    Seifr furrowed his brow as he glanced at Shayla. "Relax," he instructed. This was the first time he had seen Shayla so nervous. She was usually very confident when on mission, but then again, she was usually trying not to interact with anyone. Shayla stopped fidgeting and focused on breathing in and out slowly to calm herself.


    The guard quickly came back out of the small guardhouse with their identification. He eyed Shayla suspiciously as she stood there breathing in and out deeply. "Her first day," Seifr explained. The guard gave a noncommittal grunt as he handed the identification back to them and waved them inside.


    "See the front door over there? Don''t use it. There''s a side entrance to the right that leads straight to the kitchens. Enter the kitchens, stay to the right, and in the corner at the end is an office for the head maid. She''ll have your work for you."


    Seifr gave a slight bow in thanks and motioned for Shayla to follow him inside. Step two of the plan accomplished: gain access to the interior of the manor.


    The pair followed the directions of the guard and made their way through the servant''s entrance and the kitchen to the head maid''s office.


    The head maid was a plump woman with a cultivation in the Mid Mortal Realm and an austere expression on her face. She glanced the two over before explaining anything. "Considering your cultivation, I''m not really sure I should be giving you orders," she started towards Shayla. "But considering you''re wearing the uniform, your cultivation doesn''t mean anything here. I''m strict but not heartless. Do as I say when I say, and we''ll get along just fine. Don''t do as I say when I say, and you''ll be leaving posthaste. Understand?" She looked at the two in an authoritative manner. Seifr was secretly impressed, and quickly nodded along with Shayla.


    "Good. Girl, you''re going to be in charge of cleaning the youngin''s rooms. Boy, you''re a bit luckier. You get to stand in front of the master''s office and just be available. Do not go in unless expressly ordered to by the master, no one else. Most of the time one will end up just standing there like a post for several hours. You are not allowed to sit down. Your meals will be brought to you, and you will eat them quickly standing there. The upside is that you get to eat leftovers from the actual meal served to the family at the end of the day. It''s worth it, trust me. Now be about it," the head maid dismissed them.


    Seifr gave a slight bow, and Shayla gave a shallow curtsy before departing. As they turned to leave, the head maid said, "None of that now. I''m in charge, true, but we''re more colleagues. All you need to show me is deference and respect. No bowing or scraping for me." Seifr finally saw a small smile cross the woman''s face. Perfect, we made a good impression so far.


    Seifr was slightly worried about being separated from Shayla so quickly, but he knew if she were alone, she would be much better off than if she were interacting with the other staff. Seifr had actually performed similar functions when working at the home office of the Kyian Trading House several years ago, so he was no stranger to standing around waiting.


    Seifr positioned himself in front of the office he was directed to and proceeded to wait. This was probably the absolute, most boring position possible, and he was sure he had been given this duty because he had remained calm, and the head maid wanted to evaluate his level of patience. If he were an actual temp servant, he would be happy, because that meant he could potentially worm his way into a permanent position at this manor. Too bad for the head maid that he was really a rogue in disguise.


    The day slowly passed by with excruciating lack of excitement. Several times an hour, people would come and go from the office. Even the lord of the manor left a couple of times. Not once did anyone even lay eyes on him even though he was standing right out in the open. Several of the guests had extremely profound auras that Seifr could not accurately identify, and they made him want to break out in a sweat, but he stoically maintained his composure. The meals he were given were basically dry rations and a cup of water. He found himself actually looking forward to the promised meal at the end of the day.


    The end of the day did finally make an appearance, blessedly. The head maid personally came to relieve Seifr from his post. He had been standing in the near dark with no activity whatsoever for over an hour. The lord of the manor had left quite some time ago, but since nobody had told Seifr when he could leave, he remained in place.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Well, you do follow orders, don''t you? Haha, I forgot to mention that at sundown the master doesn''t ever return to his office. I was wondering why I didn''t see you for dinner and finally realized the reason. Actually, I''m sorry about that. It was my mistake," she gave a warm laugh and smiled at Seifr as he also chuckled.


    "No big deal. It was my job, after all," Seifr replied as he stretched his legs and back out.


    "Well, c''mon then. Let''s get you fed proper," the plump woman said. Seifr was more than happy to follow her to the kitchen. He noted the lack of other servants and guards as they traversed the halls. This might be easier than expected. Seifr was suddenly a bit more confident in his plan.


    The head maid sat him down at a small wooden table and placed a fairly substantial plate of food in front of him. There was plenty of beef and several side dishes he had never tried. He was so hungry he was sure that no matter what was placed in front of him, it would be delicious. It was.


    The maid chuckled as she saw Seifr wolf down the food. "Six in the morning sharp, be standing at the office. Usually we rotate the staff member assigned as aide, but we''re short more than two servants at the moment, so sorry to tell you that you''re still it."


    Seifr nodded his head and gave a grunt of acknowledgement as his mouth was full. The head maid gave one final chuckle before retiring to her quarters. Seifr had already been told where the servant''s quarters were earlier when getting directions to the office. After the meal, he stretched once more, and then made his way to the bunk room set aside for the servants.


    In the hall he spotted Shayla standing with a shy expression on her face with a young guard talking to her. When she saw Seifr enter the hall, she immediately put her finger on the young man''s mouth and drug him into a side room. By the time Seifr made his way to the side room, Shayla was already poking her head out and waving for Seifr to come in.


    "Finally! I had to pretend to be interested but too shy to go through with anything for so long while maintaining his interest. That was the most acting I''ve ever had to do. You sure didn''t make it easy on me. Quick, now, get changed into his clothes. He told me all about the patrol schedules and paths of the guards. He also mentioned a safe in the office. That''s where we''re headed. I''ll lead the way to avoid other patrols while you pretend to be on patrol yourself. None of the guards come down here, so nobody will find him unconscious until morning," Shayla said in a rush.


    Seifr could tell that she had a lot of pent up nervousness and was trying to get it out. With their goal being so close at hand, now was not the time to lose one''s calm. Seifr simply nodded his head as he threw the young man''s studded leather armor on over his servant''s uniform. He topped it off with the open-face helmet and signalled that he was ready to go. He didn''t have his usual katana, so he had to go with the longsword the young man had. The weight and balance was a little different, but he hopefully would not have to use it.


    The two of them waited around in the small side room for a couple of hours before Shayla quickly led him through halls back to his previous post outside the office. Now that she was in her skullduggery element, she was much calmer and composed. The office was not locked, and the duo quietly made their way inside. The office was on the second floor and had a large window off to one side overlooking the courtyard below. Seifr went over to the desk to rifle through it and see if there was anything of interest while Shayla pulled out her lock picks from who knows where and got to work on the safe.


    Seifr found a couple of pieces of decorations with gold and gems on it and a small money pouch with some gold coins in it. He pocketed the pouch and stuffed the decorations into a sack he pulled out from inside his tunic. He turned towards Shayla when he heard a sharp intake of breath from her.


    "Motherload!" she whispered fiercely. She was peering into a sack she had pulled out of the safe. She had already snatched several gold and silver bars, each valuing at 100 coins respectively. "There has to be over a thousand spirit stones in this sack!" She exclaimed.


    Seifr was thoroughly surprised. He was fairly sure from seeing him earlier that this particular lord was not in the Spirit Realm, and thus could not utilize spirit stones. Probably payment for some of those powerhouses that I saw earlier. That was the only explanation he could come up with.


    The pair tidied up their findings and made their way back to the office door. They planned to simply walk back out the servant''s door quietly. No need for an elaborate escape plan.


    That idea was quickly shattered as they opened the door to see a man standing there and both sides of the hall full of guards. The man smiled at them as they opened the door. He had a cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Realm, a hard confrontation for either of them, especially considering he looked like he knew how to use the sword at his waist.


    "Haha, well now, what do we have here? A couple of rats came scampering out of the dark all of a sudden. Go ahead and..."


    Seifr didn''t wait for the man to continue, he slammed the door in his face and threw a bookshelf to the side in front of the door. Shayla was starting to panic a little while she tried to think of an exit strategy.


    "Haha, no need for that now," the man''s voice came through the door. "Open the door and come out. Let''s talk about this. I recognized you from the description William gave a couple of us the other night. I know what you are. I promise not to kill you... If you come out."


    Seifr ignored the man''s words and quickly grabbed the chair behind the main desk and threw it through the large window. A large crash resounded throughout the manor. "No need for stealth, now. Quick, jump," Seifr exclaimed to Shayla. She saw that Seifr was in control of himself and quickly calmed back down. She and Seifr ran over to the window and jumped out. As cultivators a fall from this height was nothing to be scared of.


    As they were making their jump, the man''s voice came through the door once more, "Boy, don''t get cocky! You''re fair game right now!" He quickly motioned to the guards in the hall to rush outside.


    Seifr and Shayla made their landing well ahead of the group of guards, but there was still the guard shack at the entrance to the manor. Shayla started in that direction, but Seifr quickly grabbed her wrist and said, "Not that way. We''ll get on top of the wall and jump to some adjacent roofs and make our escape that way."


    One of the major flaws in the design of the manor and its wall was that they had allowed neighboring buildings within jumping distance of cultivators of a modest realm. Normally someone of Seifr''s cultivation would not be able to make the jump, but he was confident he would be able to.


    Shayla simply nodded and followed Seifr to one of the interior set of stairs leading up to the wall. The wall was nothing fancy, and had a set of stairs out in the open on all four sides. As the pair made it to the top of the stairs, the man in charge of the security noticed their plan and ordered the other guards to chase on foot through the entrance while he charged over after Seifr and Shayla, planning on following them directly.


    Shayla made the jump first, and right before making the jump himself, Seifr turned and gave a sarcastic salute to the man rushing towards him. He then made the jump next to Shayla and began rushing across the rooftops. Shayla turned towards the direction of the safe house, but Seifr called out to her, "Not that way. The fence is closer."


    Shayla glanced at him quickly and said, "Are you sure? It''s the middle of the night. They''re probably closed, now"


    "It''s worth a shot," Seifr replied. Shayla nodded her head, choosing to trust Seifr''s decision to gamble. He was usually clear-headed and not one to take stupid risks. He took risks for sure, just not stupid ones.


    They continued their dash across the roof tops, quickly outdistancing the guards chasing them on the ground, but the apparent captain of the guard was closing in on them. The duo made several jumps in their escape, and bad luck finally caught up with them. One of the tiles under Seifr''s feet gave out as he made his landing, and he tumbled to the ground with it. Shayla hesitated and looked down at him on the ground.


    Seifr quickly regained his feet and yelled up to Shayla, "Go! I''ll run through the streets." Shayla quickly disappeared from sight, but as Seifr turned to run down the alley, the older guard landed spryly on the ground next to him, and Seifr found a sword arcing towards his head.


    Seifr performed a quick roll and drew the longsword at his waist and squared off against his opponent. The man smiled at him and laughed, "Haha, you''re mine now, boy."


    With that the man lunged an overhead attack at Seifr. The man was quick, very quick. Seifr fended him off, a little awkward with the unfamiliar sword. Despite the lunge attack, the man maintained his footing and balance expertly and perform a horizontal slash at Seifr''s midsection. Seifr quickly dodged back and parried the attack. His heart was racing as he realized the other man was quite skilled.


    "No fancy techniques. Just plain swordsmanship. I''m not trying to kill you, but if you do die..." The man shrugged his shoulders and launched into another assault. Seifr had to use all of his ability to fend off the attacks from the other man. He was quickly put into a disadvantage that he realized he hardly had much hope of getting out of.


    Their swords darted and arced through the air, causing light to glint off of them as they whirled around each other in a deadly dance. Seifr was always half a step behind, and he was getting further and further behind. The guard appeared to be fighting leisurely, though he certainly wasn''t so much more skilled that he could toy with the younger thief. He was patiently encroaching on the younger man''s defense, waiting for an opportunity to strike.


    The older man was secretly surprised at the level of skill the young man was displaying, despite his somewhat clumsy wielding of the longsword. He imagined that he was a swordsman of a different style of blade, and that he had received quite a thorough training of his foundation. Seifr managed to fend off several close calls despite being out of rhythm.


    The opportunity the man had been waiting for finally arrived as Seifr misjudged a feint, and a searing pain along with a slight tugging sensation came over his midsection. He lost his footing and fell in a heap on the ground, clutching at his stomach. He pulled his hand away, wet with copious amounts of blood. If he had not been wearing the armor, maybe he would have been a little faster, but that strike also would have definitely spilled his guts out.


    Seifr groaned in agony as he grasped at the ground with his free hand, adrenaline and pain making him writhe on the ground. The man slowly approached and grinned down at Seifr.


    "Haha, well..." Seifr closed his left fist and flung the dirt, gravel, and dust in his hand at the man''s face. The man had become a little overconfident and did not see this desperate move coming, and the dirt quickly entered his eyes and temporarily blinded him.


    "Arghh, you little..." The man roared out. Seifr paid no attention to him as he focused his ki into the sword. He had a sudden epiphany and decided to try the vibration technique for opening doors silently, but in reverse. He struck out at the other man''s sword, causing ringing vibrations to inundate the sword and work their way into the guard''s hand and arm. His grip quickly loosened and he dropped the sword.


    Seifr saw an opportunity and quickly performed a scissor kick to knock the other man down. Seifr leapt to his feet, and wielding his sword again, stabbed the captain in the right thigh, leaving the sword in his leg. "Now let''s see you chase after me," Seifr said.


    Seifr had already lost quite a bit of blood, but he focused all of his cultivation on restraining the wound in his stomach as he continued on his way towards the fence. He was actually not too far, but every step was agony. As he made his way down the streets, other people keeping a safe distance from him lest he accidentally bring destruction their way, he heard the guardsman bellow behind him.


    "You little bastard! This isn''t over!" Seifr looked behind him and saw that the man had pulled the sword out and regained his sight. He was quickly limping towards Seifr with murderous intent in his eyes.


    Seifr finally managed to spot the fence after making a final turn in the streets, and he was delighted to see that his gamble had paid off as he saw Shayla standing in the lit doorway. She quickly spotted him and rushed over to help him to the fence.


    As he was entering the building, the man chasing him turned the corner and yelled one final time, "You''re not getting away!"


    Seifr entered the building, turned his head back to the man, and said, "I just did."


    Seifr hobbled over to the counter with Shayla''s help and saw the same young man behind the counter, staring off at nothing and drumming his fingers on the counter top. Seifr placed his acquisitions on the counter and said, "Are you...?"


    The young man seemed to understand what Seifr was going to ask him, and shook his head and replied before he could finish the question, "Twin brother." He then snatched the merchandise up and dashed into the back room.


    Seifr looked over at Shayla inquisitively. She smiled and said, "I know."


    The man quickly came back out of the room with a money pouch. He placed it on the counter and said, "Congratulations, you got away!"


    "Fantastic," Seifr said. Then he proceeded to collapse into unconsciousness.

 Training

    Seifr walked down the main street leading to the center of Vinson. It was a bright day. The clouds were scarce, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the birds were singing. Everything was peaceful. Seifr sauntered along, whistling a tune. He had nowhere to be, and nothing to do; no responsibilities.


    Seifr started to feel a little anxious as he continued on his way. Everything was so peaceful and quiet, he could not place where the feelings of anxiousness were coming from. Had he forgotten something he was supposed to do? What was the last thing he remembered doing? He could not recall. He shook his head and kept walking along the street.


    Wait a minute... Seifr slowly came to a stop and turned in a full circle. In every direction he could see, the city was completely empty. Not a soul traversed the streets nor occupied any of the buildings or stalls. The city was never empty, no matter what time of day it was, and it was apparently noon.


    Seifr began to jog down the main street, searching down alleyways and other thoroughfares for signs of human activity. His heart began to race, and he started to panic as he picked up speed into a full run. Nothing. There were no people anywhere.


    Seifr started to despair, but after looking down another large road, he finally saw a group of people some ways in the distance. They appeared perfectly normal going about their business. Seifr let out a sigh as he thought he just happened to be in a very strange coincidence.


    As he slowed to a walk and made his way towards the crowd, he saw a figure burst forth from one of the side alleys and rush through the people. The figure rushed across the street towards another side alley, and large wind blades came chasing after him, slicing through many people in the crowd. Screams erupted and blood burst. The scene was horrifying, yet slightly familiar. One man had his entire left arm severed at the shoulder.


    Seifr came to a stop, aghast at what he just witnessed. The source of wind blades shortly followed the man he had attacked, nobody giving a care in the world to any of the commoners caught in the cross fire.


    Seifr turned around to make his way in the other direction, and he saw off in the distance a group of cultivators locked in combat. Ki techniques were being flung about wildly, causing mayhem to several people attempting to flee the scene. Storefronts and houses were damaged severely. Seifr could hear children crying and people begging for mercy. The cultivators paid no heed to anything around them as they continued to slaughter one another and everyone nearby.


    Seifr was even more horrified at the death and destruction caused by this battle. He turned once again in another direction. Off in the distance, he once again saw a scene of carnage. This time it was not commoners being caught in the cross fire. It was much worse. Several cultivators laughed and joked as they deliberately hunted down and ruthlessly murdered all of the weak mortals in the streets. Seifr saw one man pick up a child, a child, and twist his head off. He then threw the child''s head at another cultivator, spraying blood and gore along with it, all the while laughing uproariously. The other cultivator caught it and threw it again, creating a game of catch with several others.


    Seifr collapsed to his knees with his hands on his head. What is this?! This is a nightmare a thousand times worse than the last one. Seifr despaired, because he realized that this was how the real world actually worked. Maybe not all at once, but he had seen several similar scenes, and he had even participated in similar chases.


    Seifr looked up as he heard a noise. All around him, commoners with blood and gore, missing limbs, and horrible wounds were surrounding him. They slowly converged on him, and he saw several familiar faces, people he had seen caught in the mix when he was escaping the jewelry shop. For instance the man with the missing left arm and gaping wound. He was the same man he had run into in his nightmare, knocking him down into the river of blood.


    "No! No, no, no," Seifr chanted. He began to panic as the people swarmed him and suffocated him. There was no escape.


    "NO!" Seifr screamed at the top of his lungs as he shot upright in his bunk. There was nobody else present this time, and he lowered his face into his hands as silent sobs wracked him. Guilt gnawed at him, not just from his past participation, but from the knowledge that it was likely to happen again and again in the future.


    Seifr slowly calmed down and regained his composure. He cleaned up and got dressed. It was almost morning, and he began to meditate on the issue. He cleared his mind and focused on the problems that were plaguing him. He felt guilt, but he realized that he was not ultimately responsible, and the only thing he could do was to step in to prevent what he could and avoid high profile chases.


    After contemplating the issue of guilt, he slowly turned it into determination to prevent cruel and unnecessary bloodshed where he could. I''m not responsible for other people''s actions, and I can only control my own. That means that I have no reason to be guilty over other cultivators directly or indirectly harming others, but I do have a responsibility to avoid causing mayhem from the consequences of my own actions. I also have a responsibility to step in and stop murders of commoners where I am able.


    Seifr examined his own actions from the past several days. He approved of himself stepping in to stop the blatant murder of the young man from the burly cultivator. He was neutral on his escape from the manor, as there were no bystanders involved, but there easily could have been. He was definitely upset over the mayhem caused by his escape from William. All of these stem from one issue. In the positive instance, I was strong enough to win over my opponent. In the neutral instance, I was strong enough to fend off my opponent temporarily, sort of. And in the negative instance, I was too weak. Everything comes from personal power. I need to be stronger to be able to act on my principles, otherwise it''s all just wishful thinking.


    After Seifr set his resolve to work on his personal strength, he got up and sought out Shayla. He found her in the martial arts training ground and signalled for her to come over.


    "I see you''re up and about, and it was only a couple of hours this time. Luckily you didn''t have any internal injuries, unless you count the severe blood loss internal. I mean, you are supposed to keep the blood inside you," Shayla quipped as she walked over.


    Seifr gave a brief smile and then said, "I plan on taking a break from any missions for a while and focus on cultivation. I don''t know how long it''ll be. If it gets to be too long, I''ll agree to go on an easy target with you, but for now, I''m too weak."


    Shayla nodded her head and responded, "I think I''ll do some cultivation, too. I''ve been at the Peak Elementary Realm for almost a year now, and I''ve been too busy to focus on attempting to break through to the Nascent Realm."


    Seifr was surprised at how easily Shayla accepted his decision considering her enthusiasm for joining the Thieves Guild, but he also realized she had other goals as well. "Ok, well let''s go see the Head and let him know. Oh right, how much did we get for the last job? I haven''t even looked yet."


    Shayla had secured the money pouch from the fence for Seifr after he lost consciousness, and she quickly handed it over, "I didn''t look inside yours, but I got 18 platinum coins from everything I turned in. Since we did the job together if you got less, we''ll split it even."


    Seifr did not try to refuse the gesture, as he was perfectly willing to split the earnings. He did do half the work. He opened the sack and peered inside before saying, "No need. Looks like they also gave me 18 plats. I guess they knew we worked together and overcompensated me to make us equal."


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    After checking the funds, the pair made their way upstairs to the Head''s office. Quillin was sitting at the desk, and he ignored the pair, but Shayla could feel his greasy gaze out of the corner of his eye on her. It made her shiver.


    They walked into the office and closed the door. The Head saw this and motioned for them to take a seat. "What''s on your mind?" He asked.


    "I think it would be best if I - we - took a break for a while to focus on our training and cultivation. We just performed two high-profile robberies with blatant chases across the city, and in both instances we weren''t strong enough to fend the guards completely off. We were just lucky," Seifr went right into the meat of the situation.


    The Head nodded his head as he listened to Seifr. He then said, "This is the right course of action. Also, we''re not just evaluating your performance to successfully steal and get away to the fence. We''re also evaluating your disposition. Introspection and recognizing deficiencies is important. If you had done the same thing in a foreign nation, there would have been no halt to the pursuit, and you both would have likely died.


    "You did a good job infiltrating the manor, and a good job getting to the valuables. You were unlucky that the captain recognized you from William''s description. Considering he was at the Peak of the Nascent Realm, it''s understandable that you wouldn''t know of his connection with William, who''s Mid Spirit Realm, but at the same time, you went in blind.


    "I''m impressed by your actions and decisions. You''re still young and have several years before we''re required to make a decision. We usually force potential candidates out if they reach the age of around 24 or so, and they haven''t produced the results we''re looking for."


    The Head opened a drawer, pulled out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, and then handed it to Seifr. He also handed another one to Shayla. "These are requisitions for some spirit herbs to assist with cultivation. I should have told you sooner, but since I''ve let you in on the secret of our backing, you can now travel anywhere in the underground bunker and access all of our resources. You have to work for contribution points to purchase herbs, items, and weapons and armor. This requisition doesn''t come out of your points. You get one point per gold coin worth of compensation, so you two should have a lot of points stored up to get some stuff from downstairs." The Head smiled at them as he indicated that they were dismissed.


    Seifr and Shayla made their exit and returned to the basement. Seifr looked at Shayla and said, "We''ll part ways for now. If you need anything, though, don''t hesitate to seek me out. We''ll meet up once in a while to decide when we''re ready to go on another mission."


    Shayla nodded her head and replied, "Sounds good. Next time we meet up, I''ll be in the Nascent Realm. Count on it." Shayla had a look of determination in her eyes as she walked off to begin her training.


    Seifr went to the store room and used the requisition script and some points to trade for several spirit herbs. He did not feel the need to waste any points on any weapons or disposable items. He acquired several different kinds of herbs. Some were to be consumed, and then they would assist the internal meridians in circulating ki. Some were to be crushed into powder and then applied to the skin to open up the pores and assist with absorbing more spiritual energy from the atmosphere. Some simply were to be placed next to the body while cultivating to attract more spiritual energy to the local area.


    After acquiring the spirit herbs, Seifr left the safe house and visited a commercial district to purchase some rations. He planned on leaving the city to go train physically in the nearby wilderness. The Dalcot Empire was fairly tame, and there was not much wilderness in the interior of the nation other than some mountain ranges and forests. There were not many wild spirit beasts in those areas, but North Squire Province was different. It was on the Eastern edge of the empire, and thus there was more wilderness and more wild spirit beasts. The local wilderness was not dangerous for anyone above the Mid Mortal Realm, though, and Seifr only needed the space and privacy to perform his training.


    After purchasing the rations and some other supplies, Seifr made his way to the Northern forest. There was a small mountain range on the far side of the forest, which itself was not very big. Not many people were in this area, as the spirit beast hunters focused on the larger forest to the South and West. Seifr made his way to the mountain range and built a crude lean-to shelter.


    He wasted no time getting started in his training. The first thing he did was run to the peak of the short mountain, noting several boulders along the way. After breaking into a sweat and expending some energy, Seifr practiced his swordsmanship with his katana. He did not rest between movements and only stopped once his ki and energy were restored a bit, and then he once again ran down the mountain.


    Once he reached the bottom of the mountain, he did not pause, but turned back around to race back up to the mountain top again. This time he grabbed one of the smaller boulders and carried it over his head as he made his way back up. Once attaining the summit yet again, Seifr was much more exhausted than before. He quickly retrieved the three different types of herbs and began to circulate Spiritual Energy with their assistance.


    After some time of absorbing the Spiritual Energy and the effects of the herbs extinguished, he began his next phase. He performed his kung fu training using the small boulder as a training dummy. He did not have to worry about injuring himself while striking the boulder, as his level of cultivation had created extremely solid and dense muscles and bones. After depleting his energy once again, he returned to practicing his swordsmanship and started the cycle over again.


    He performed this set of training over and over, only stopping to rest at meal times and to sleep at night. When he destroyed a boulder with his repeated kung fu strikes, he would simply grab another slightly larger boulder the next time he was ascending the mountain.


    Seifr immersed himself in his training and slowly felt his body getting more powerful and his cultivation base expanding and solidifying. He silently kept track of the days going by, but he paid the passage of time no mind. Several months passed by in this manner, and on the day Seifr ran out of rations - his signal to return to the city - Seifr opened his eyes with delight from his ki circulation.


    "8th Stage of the Elementary Realm. I can feel the power thrumming through my body. I couldn''t win in a fight against William or other Mid Spirit Realm practitioners right now, but I definitely would not be at a disadvantage like before. I could definitely escape without causing so much collateral damage."


    Seifr was pleased with his quick results. He could tell that it was not like the last time with the Ki Vortex where he absorbed a large amount of impure Spiritual Energy. These herbs are astounding. They''re better than the ones from The Misty Realm Academy. They''re probably subsidized from the Imperial Government.


    Seifr stood and slowly stretched his body. It was time to return to the city for a short while. He would meet up with Shayla, and he would also need to come up with some different training exercises. The ones he had performed over and over were beginning to become boring.


    Seifr descended the mountain, dismantled the lean-to, and made the trek back to the safe house.

 Striving Onward

    Seifr walked through the streets of Vinson with confidence. Every little increase in cultivation added to an unconscious state of mind of being able to handle more and more. It was a gradual effect, and Seifr would never claim that he was not confident before, but, over time, his bearing and presence expanded ever upward. Such a phenomenon was a double-edged sword, however, and had led to many cultivators thinking themselves infallible. Many had met their doom under such circumstances.


    Seifr did not worry too much about overestimating himself. He recognized the dangers, and actively strove to not be arrogant. His natural disposition was one of mutual respect: if you respect me, I''ll respect you; if you don''t respect me, then we have a problem. That was not to say that he did not encounter situations he could not handle. He knew that those situations simply were not caused by his attitude.


    Not only was he walking a little taller because of an increase in self confidence, but he was genuinely happy with his progress. The feeling of ki circulating through his meridians and the power he felt coursing through his muscles had an indescribable feeling. It was almost addictive.


    Seifr sauntered into the safe house in search of Shayla. He had already re-stocked his supplies for the return trip to the wilderness for continued training, but he felt like relaxing and recuperating a bit. He would take this time to make good on his promise to meet with Shayla to see where they stood on returning to performing missions.


    He found Shayla at the store room purchasing some manuals. Seifr had seen other teenagers with such items, and the books generally outlined ki techniques that could be utilized in the Elementary Realm such as the technique for suppressing vibrations or enhancing night vision. The one Shayla was receiving appeared a little different than the ones he had seen previously.


    "So I take it you were successful in breaking through the Nascent Realm?" Seifr spoke out as he sensed the increased depth of Shayla''s aura.


    Shayla spun around and grinned when she spotted Seifr approaching her and said, "Yup! I''ve actually reached the 3rd Nascent Realm. I was originally intending to get some simple ki techniques as soon as I broke through, but the effect of those herbs made me realize I could push on further in one go. I decided to forgo more herbs in favor of some instruction on simple ki manifestation."


    Seifr nodded at Shayla''s words. He agreed with this decision. Only once a cultivator reached Spirit Realm would one be able to actually manifest ki, but Nascent Realm cultivators could do very simple, crude versions of the same thing - for instance the wind blade that William used. If a Nascent Realm practitioner wanted to utilize such a move, he or she could imitate it but at a much greater cost of ki. One would not be able to condense such a sharp blade, nor could one send out such a massive amount as William had, but one would be able to send out a forceful blast of air short distances.


    "So what did you decide on?" Seifr inquired. He actually did not even know what Shayla''s attribute was. I don''t even know my own attribute, Seifr mused.


    Shayla held up the manual for him to inspect, and he noted that on the cover it said, "Windstep."


    "This particular manual contains the information for cultivating the actual Spirit Realm skill of Windstep, but it also contains information on how one could imitate it. Having the actual skill is much more useful in quickly grasping the concept than if it only contained the imitation. Once I reach Spirit Realm, this skill will allow me to manifest wind ki under my feet to allow me to launch myself higher in the air, muffle my footsteps, slide along the ground with reduced friction, slow my falling speed, and at mastery, even allow me a few extra steps while airborne! The imitation basically will allow me to muffle my steps and reduce friction. Still valuable." Shayla was obviously very enthusiastic about her choice of skill.


    Seifr laughed good-naturedly as he replied, "Always striving to improve your ability to sneak about. Not willing to have to impersonate being a servant?" Seifr joked.


    Shayla elbowed him in the ribs lightly as she said, "Ha ha." She spirited away the small book into her tunic as she eyed Seifr up and down. "I see that I''m not the only one who had a significant breakthrough. Even though you''re still in the same realm, your speed of advancement is much faster than mine. You''re actually above average in cultivation for your age now. How about that?"


    Seifr rubbed his ribs and frowned in consternation. "You''re a powerful cultivator now. Show a little restraint and try not to break my ribs."


    Shayla rolled her eyes at his antics and swatted at him playfully. Seifr threw his hands up and yelled, "Have mercy!" They looked each other in the eye, and then they both burst out laughing.


    "C''mon. Let''s go celebrate," Shayla said as she grabbed a hold of Seifr''s hand and dragged him to the ladder leading upstairs.


    "Hold on. Since I''m already here, might as well pick up a few things first," Seifr retracted his hand and turned to the store room. He used the last of his points to get some more spirit herbs. He only had enough points for two more sets of the three different types, and if he wanted more assistance in the future, he would need to go on some more missions.


    The two finally made their departure and meandered about through the city looking for a place to eat and celebrate. Shayla appeared a bit more playful than the last time he had seen her, constantly poking and swatting at him as they walked through the city streets. Seifr put up a valiant defense, but he basically let Shayla do what she wanted.


    They finally settled on a fairly upscale restaurant in the outskirts of the rich neighborhoods. As they were seated and reading through the menu, Seifr was reminded of the restaurant excursion he had had with Seth almost a year ago. He had a faint smile on his face as he reminisced about the time he had spent with his good friend, but a trace of grief quickly flashed across his face as his thoughts inevitably lead to Celia and the rendezvous between the two he had come across.


    Shayla noticed the change in expression, and she reached out to grab Seifr''s wrist to get his attention to ask his opinion about the menu. Seifr returned to himself and leaned over to make his suggestion to Shayla. He made his decision and leaned back in his chair, pulling away from Shayla and watching the crowd.


    Shayla looked at him askance and finally said, "You''re very strange, you know that. Most guys would try to prolong contact with a beautiful girl."


    Seifr frowned at her in confusion and then said, "Who ever said you were beautiful?"


    Shayla gasped in mock indignation and anger. She slapped at Seifr several times, actually letting a little sting enter her strikes, and Seifr burst out laughing as he tried to fend her off. "Fine, fine. You''re... not bad," Seifr said through his laughs.


    Shayla huffed and said, "Fine, I''ll just leave then!" She made to get up, but Seifr grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her chair.


    "Sorry. I couldn''t resist. You are very pretty," he said sincerely.


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    Shayla closed her eyes and turned her nose up at the compliment. "I guess I forgive you."


    The two returned to their normal banter after that. The meal was excellent, if a little on the pricey side, but they had money to spend. It was still the middle of the afternoon when they finished up and left the restaurant, and the duo decided to go ahead and return to the safe house.


    "So. Missions. I still want a little more time to process this technique I just picked up. If you insist on going on one, I might be able to be convinced... for the right price," Shayla said as they walked.


    "Nah, I''m good for now. I just used up the last of my points, but I still have two sets of herbs to use. I want to see if I can''t reach the Nascent Realm in the next few months. My progress has picked up remarkably, and I want to take advantage of it while I can. If I don''t reach Nascent Realm in the next hundred days, I''ll call it quits and we can go back to missions. That should be enough time for you to read through that manual at least once, right?" Seifr did not forget to tease Shayla a bit.


    A look of shock and hurt came across Shayla''s face before she replied, "You know I can''t read! You jerk."


    Seifr''s expression fell and he felt a chill go down his back. "Wha...? Wait, wait.. Ugh..." Seifr sputtered. He was completely taken aback and did not seem to know how to respond. He took in a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and said with deep sincerity, "I am so sorry. I didn''t know."


    Shayla burst out laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face! Ha! Serves you right! Who doesn''t know how to read at our age? Don''t be an idiot," Shayla said, pleased that she had gotten one over on Seifr.


    Seifr scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Right. Well, I guess we''ll part ways again. I already have everything I need, and I got all the ''rest and relaxation'' I think I could handle around you for now," Seifr stuck his tongue out at Shayla as he said that last bit. "I think I''ll go ahead and go back out."


    Shayla waved as the two separated and called out, "Ok! See you in a few months. Don''t be surprised when you can''t catch up to me."


    Seifr chuckled to himself as he made his way back out of the city. His last training session was mostly spent running, carrying boulders, striking the boulders until they broke, and swordsmanship. This time he planned on going to the other end of the same mountain range a little further away from the city where he had seen a fairly large cliff.


    The trek through the forest was uneventful. Any spirit beasts that sensed Seifr''s aura would quickly retreat from the area or hide, but most of the wildlife in this forest were simple, normal beasts. Once Seifr reached his destination, he once again set up a crude lean-to and camp. He then walked to the cliff face and studied it for a while, noting the best likely approach to scaling it.


    When he had made his deductions, Seifr began to climb the cliff. Whenever he ran into an area that did not have sufficient handholds to continue, he simply manipulated his ki into his hands and carved some out. Using this method, Seifr spent a couple of hours forging a path to the top of the cliff. He did not worry about falling or slipping, because with his cultivation, he could simply slam his hands and feet into the cliff face directly if need be.


    At the top of the cliff, Seifr surveyed the land below him. Wow. It''s a bit higher up than I thought. The view was amazing. To the South he could see the edge of the city of Vinson sprawling out into the distance. The farmland surrounding the city, the city itself, and the forest all made a deep contrast that was beautiful to look at. Off to the East, he could see where the forests ended, and an endless plain with the occasional rolling hills began.


    He had spent his entire life in the city. He had apprenticed on a farm for a little while several years ago, but that was still pretty much within the city for all intents and purposes. There was more farmland further from the city along the main highways leading deeper into the empire, but he had never ventured forth that way. Seifr was beginning to get a much deeper appreciation for the wilderness as he gazed at its beauty.


    Seifr stopped his sight-seeing and returned to the bottom of the cliff. He sat down in the lotus position to meditate over his plan before enacting it. He knew the basics of what he wanted to do this time, but he needed to think of all of the ways he could accomplish it. He spent about an hour making up his mind before he got up and went searching for some boulders.


    He did not choose large boulders to carry over his head this time, but instead several smaller boulders he placed in a sack. Once the sack was full, he tied it to himself at the waist with a rope and ascended the cliff. Having the extra weight dangling from him as he made the climb was much more difficult than he had expected. Instead of just adding on substantial weight, it swayed in the wind below him, affecting his balance and causing him to have to constantly shift his muscles to compensate.


    He finally reached the top, sweating and panting for breath. He quickly sat down and began to circulate his ki and absorb Spiritual Energy. He did not use any of the herbs right away. He would save those for when he was truly exhausted.


    During his meditation on his training regime, Seifr had decided on doing isometrics. He removed most of the large stones from the sack, and then he assumed the horse stance. After stabilizing himself, he balanced a large stone on each thigh, one on his head, and finally tied one to each wrist before extending his arms out to the sides. He occasionally moved his arms from his sides to his front and back again.


    Seifr held the pose for as long as he could, feeling his muscles burning with the effort to maintain the position and his balance. As he felt his muscles begin to give way with exhaustion, he swiftly broke the stance and set the stones aside. He picked up the remaining stones he had left in the sack, slung it over his back, and entered a front-leaning-rest position with the added weight boring down on his arms and chest muscles. He slowly bent his arms all the way to ninety degrees before slowly straightening them back out performing excruciatingly slow push-ups.


    Seifr maintained the exercise until he felt his muscles giving way, and then he once again shifted positions. In this final position, he laid on his back with his arms out to his sides and stones tied to his ankles. He slowly, slowly raised his feet from barely off the ground to as high as he could lift them and then back down to the ground again utilizing his abdominal muscles to perform the movements.


    After he had completed the third exercise, once more doing so until near muscle failure, Seifr regained the lotus position and circulated his ki. This was his new regimen. He had decided to focus more on building his muscles directly instead of exhausting himself through endurance training. He would occasionally descend the cliff in search of slightly larger stones, and he also sometimes went for runs along the top of the mountain.


    Seifr spent his days sweating and straining, but with all of the physical exertions, his mind was tranquil. He was content.