Turns out there was no tutorial. Big surprise, the System didn’t tell you the secrets of Cultivation. It made me wonder what was going on with this world. The MC in the original book had never discovered the ‘numerisation’ portion of things.
I suppose there was no reason for him to, Xianxia MCs seem perfectly capable of understanding and using the vague ‘feels’ of Qi. I, on the other hand, was spoiled by the modern need for numbers.
Even so, it seemed there was so much of the world that the MC never discovered. In fact, the entire ‘ruling’ portion of the System was something not even touched in the book. Which meant that there were more things that the MC had never discovered.
More things that I would think about in the morning. Or the evening. For a small town, this City sure had a nightlife. Best to sleep. Sorry Viona. Dinner and training will have to wait.
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Aswelth
Aswelth looked at the mob of children with abject fear. If there was one threat in the world that had been underrated, it was children. The little things were always running around trying to do something, tripping over every random pebble and falling for every ill intentioned ploy.
And now he had to put them to sleep. Something, he realized, should have happened hours ago. Children were not supposed to be awake 3 hours after midnight. But here they were.
“Uh um.” Aswelth cleared his throat loudly, “If all of you would make your way to your cots, we can end the day.” Aswelth said.
“Yes, my lord.” Viona, the ringleader of this group of brats, said. Aswelth wondered why the Archduchess hadn’t put her in charge, the real retainer Kerrin had been silent, letting Viona take charge instead.
“Yes, now go, we will wake up at 11 tomorrow.” Aswelth said.
And then the brats filed out, not following any formation. This was a strange town, maybe because of the amount of work these children had to do, they listened when they were told to do something. Weird kids.
Now it was time he went to sleep too.
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(Altura-MC)
I woke up to the sun staring at me. There was far, far, too much light in the room for my eyes. The poor things wouldn’t even open.
‘Ice, oh ice, freeze the way, let the sun not come in my eyes today’
Phew, finally the sun was gone. Time to go back to sleep.
I turned in the still uncomfortable cot, getting into a more comfortable sleeping position. I had just fallen asleep when I was woken up by Aswelth.
“It is time to wake up, your grace,” Aswleth said
“No! Go away! There is still time!” I grumbled back, still drowsy.
“It is already noon, your grace. I fear the children are awake, and it is time for you to be awake too.” Aswelth said. Shut up, stupid. Ugh. I’m awake already…might as well get up.
“So, what is so important that you must wake me up.” I asked.
“Well, your grace, I believed that you would like to have breakfast. After all, we leave for the wilderness in an hour. Teaching the brats to cultivate and all that. It was your idea.” Aswelth said disapprovingly.
“I take it you disapprove? And aren’t you supposed to be gone? “I said, getting up.
“Yes, I do disapprove, your grace, giving power like this breaks the core norms of the Kingdom. It could cause backlash from the nobles. But I will be gone soon. I promised your father that I would stay until your reign was stable, and I will.”
“ I owe him that much. Besides, there is much to kill in that wilderness of yours. The beasts may be what I need to breakthrough” Aswelth said as he walked out.
If all it took for me to get a powerful ally was him hunting a few dangerous predators, then I could live with that. Hopefully, he wouldn’t betray me.
“And in which scenario do the nobles not try to kill me? I doubt I would win any popularity contests there.” I replied, following him.
Aswelth looked at me, saying, “No, you would not. I sometimes forget how much the affinity changed you. Which is weird given that it only happened yesterday. But nevertheless, it is time for breakfast.
Though at this point it might as well be lunch,” Aswelth said as he guided me to one of the treehouses. It was a bit larger than normal, more rectangular, drawing support from two trees that stood at each of its ends.
“Brunch” I said, not being able to help it.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Aswelth looked at me strangely and replied. “Yes, brunch”
Then, as if, deciding that going down was for weaklings like me, Aswelth merely jumped onto the treehouse. Somehow not collapsing it. Sadly for him, I added that technique from yesterday. I couldn’t quite cast as immediately, but now I knew I could do it.
‘Ice, oh ice, guard my steps as I walk the air, let me cross this expanse, let mere height block me no more.’
Feeling smug, I stepped on the snowflake, only to fall when the snowflake started falling too. Oops, snowflakes weren’t immune to gravity, were they? Time to prepare for broken bones? Uh oh.
“Run, your grace.” Aswelth said. “Snowflakes might fall, but if you run, then you can take advantage of the time it takes for gravity to assert itself.”
Good idea Aswelth! Run, run, good spell work…and here. I gasped for breath, something I was doing far too often now, as I reached the treehouse. Thankfully it was a lower level than the one before, or I would have had to…do something. Find a low one?
I might have to start planning these things… Now to eat breakfast while ignoring one smug old man.
The breakfast was a type of bread, presumably made from the grain I had Aswelth buy yesterday, and some fruit juice. The bread was actually tasty, it had little pieces of fruit in it, kind of like the tutty-fruity bread.
Every bite could lead to a different piece of fruit. It was a juicy treat, for me, for Aswelth it seemed, it was less pleasant.
“This is a children’s dish. I would request permission to acquire some meat, your grace. Hunt it even.” Aswelth said, making his disgust apparent.
“Request denied. Aswelth, you are forgetting that we need to leave soon, now stop insulting our cook and eat it. It's not her fault there is only one adult here.” I replied, trying very hard to keep from giggling. I failed.
Aswelth’s face suddenly turned serious as he said, “That may be changing, your grace. The City Lord is here.”
And that killed the mood. “Tell him to wait. I’ll come down in a bit.” I replied.
“Is it truly wise to make him wait, your grace?” Aswelth asked.
“Yes, we have already offended him by existing, now it is a matter of who is afraid of whom. Making him wait tells him that we are not afraid of him.” I answered, TV shows for the win!
Aswelth thought for a second before replying, “Very well, your grace. I shall keep him company in the meantime.” Aswelth promptly left the treehouse, leaving me alone with my food and a bunch of empty dishes.
I wondered if the children had simply gotten tired of waiting for me or had decided that eating with the Archduchess was inappropriate. And I suppose I should stop calling them ‘children’, I do not know what had me calling them so but even a 17-year-old calling them that was weird. A ten-year-old? Very peculiar indeed.
What then? Army? Retainers? Or just…housemates? Yes, that Housemates. Far less objectifying than the other two. And there went the last of the bread into my mouth. The apple-like flavor that accompanied it made me wonder what type of fruits were available here. The author, like many other Xianxia authors, had not really fleshed out the types of fruits.
But that was besides the point, now it was time for me to go see what the City Lord wanted from me. I jumped off the treehouse, leaving the dirty dishes as they were, I did not know how to wash them after all.
Running down the snowflake staircase, I landed on the ground with a thump. Not my best landing, I will give you that. But it would have to do. I had not broken anything and had reached the ground in record time, so I am counting this as an achievement.
I walked towards the City Lord who was being watched (cough * held prisoner* cough) but Aswelth.
“So, City Lord, what brings you here today?” I asked.
“I am here to offer a truce, your grace, a Wilderness Zone in exchange for a three month relief from taxes for my clan while we work to…limit our expenditure.” the City Lord said.
And what exactly was this Wilderness Zone that he was talking about?
Name
Altura Selrin
Title
Archduchess (In name) (landed)
Element
Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice
Age
10 years
Seeds
Military (ungerminated), Royalty (Seedling-Mid(149.95/150)), Energy (ungerminated)
Stats
Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]
9
Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]
13
Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]
11
Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]
13
Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]
9
Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]
12
Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]
13
Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]
14
Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]
13
Retainers
Kerrin
No cultivation. Nascent Unknown Constitution