Disappointment!
John’s acquaintance was a great guy, very helpful, especially after I mentioned who sent me.
But! No matter how kind and accommodating the man was, he couldn't sell what he didn’t have. His entire stock consisted of 25 damaged Spirit Beasts cores. They were the best quality yet, but they were just not enough. I got them for a good price too. Actually, I traded a few bags of dust for them, being worth about 200 Spirit Stones in bulk on the open market.
I just didn’t have time to sell it, and the man was happy to take them off my hands, saving me some trouble. He promised to keep an eye on more ruined cores for me, but at the same time, he also warned me not to hold much hope. Cores rarely broke, unless it was an especially difficult fight against the beast, and if they did, they were oftentimes broken down into the raw materials instead of being sold.
Breaking a core after a Soul was already captured was even rarer, and those useless things really didn’t live long. Into the crusher, they went!
So, yeah… He said he would get a core or two a year, so while I could buy a few, it just wasn’t worth it. The entire city barely had a few hundred, for god’s sake!
In short, I was in a bad mood. To feel better I shapeshifted into a teenager and donned a few cheap necklaces and rings, with Spirit Stones embedded in them instead of precious stones. I then went on a stroll through the part of the city between the slums and the good-looking districts. Right In the middle of the territory that various gangs controlled.
Needless to say, I was mugged. Many, many times. And by that I mean they attempted to mug me. However, instead of giving them what they wanted, I turned on the thugs and stole their lunch money instead. I loved acting meek, so that put me in a slightly better mood. Also, serves them right for being assholes.
But even then, the little bit of change I got from them wasn’t nearly enough to help me. I needed about another 20.000 Spirit Stones if I wanted to reach the Spirit Realm immediately by buying complete cores.
It was a hopeless endeavor.
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I somehow got my hands on a large map of the area, however even asking the seller about a bigger one, he simply shook his head. It was the biggest one he had, and unfortunately, it only showed the territories of by the three Clans.
Yeah, well, as it turned out, the land The City stood on was but a small fraction of what they controlled. The area around it had countless smaller villages, towns, and even smaller cities. Those were apparently under the authority of less fortunate members of the main families. They were great for business though. Everything from the region many times larger than the Myriad Beasts Sect was getting siphoned into The City. All the wealth and rare materials were flowing to the top for the three Clans to grow.
Out there, open conflicts were routinely going on but without ever escalating into a full-on war while The City itself was quite peaceful. At least on the surface. There were dark spots and shadows where the hand of the law didn’t reach, but those were small enough to be tolerated.
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Being bored and aimlessly wandering through the streets, I stumbled upon a rumor about some kind of fighting tournament. Apparently, it happened once a year. How I had missed such a thing previously, I don’t know, but I was curious enough to check it out.
I knew there were arenas across The City where people could fight, but I didn’t know they also organized tournaments. I shadowed the people I heard the news from until we came to a plaza where many were gathered. It was a paved circle of stone with a structure somewhat similar to a Colosseum in the middle. Needless to say, it was fairly large and the crowd that was gathered around it was substantial as well.
There were mostly young people… Well, young by Cultivation standards. I’m sure they were all around a century or older since most were in the Golden Core Realm. Thousands of them.
There was a line where people could go and register, the only requirement being that one had to be in the Golden Core Realm. The Layer itself was not important. As for why, I thought it was because they had different divisions depending on Cultivation, though I later found out that was not quite correct.
“Gerald?”
I turned, hearing a familiar voice. I looked and it was Gale with another man walking beside him. Those two stood out from the crowd as they were much taller, wider, and better dressed. The regal Aura around them was clear to see, despite them not leaking any energy.
“I thought that was you!” Gale smiled. “Here, let me introduce you two. This is Gerald, the one I mentioned, and this is my older brother, Blaze.”
[Uh, hello.] I cupped my fists at the guy. He returned the greeting with a nod. Not quite according to decorum, but he was so much older than me, that I didn’t really care.
“What brings you here? Looking to join the tournament?”
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[Well, maybe. I was just looking, though I wouldn’t mind joining if the rewards are any good. I am kind of tight on money.]
“Oh, is that so? Well, I wish you luck in that case. As for the rewards, they are decent. A hundred Stones for the first place, if I’m not mistaken.”
[Ah? Only a hundred?] That was disappointing. Maybe if I could just join and crush the competition it would be worth it, but otherwise…
[And what are you doing here? You can’t join, so...]
“Oh, haha! No, we are here scouting for promising candidates.”
[Candidates? For what?]
“For joining the Clan, obviously. We constantly need fresh blood, if nothing else to replace our workforce.”
[I see. But how does that work? People here are all in the Golden Core Realm. They can’t be strong enough, can they?] I said, but then suddenly thought of something as Gale’s face changed. [You help them reach the Spirit Realm and then they owe you?]
“That is correct!” Gale laughed. “That’s exactly how we get loyal people. We pick those with the best prospects and help them grow. Though I have to admit, the talents for this year are somewhat disappointing.”
“Not that they were any good in previous years, but what we have seen today is really not worth mentioning. At least not at this location.” Blaze added, appearing aloof and unbothered by the world.
“That’s true, unfortunately. I wish there were more people like you, actually.” Gale added, looking at me, and sighed. “If we could get a few dozen guys like you, that could really boost our productivity, hehe. So, you plan on joining or what?”
[As I said, I’m not sure. How does this even work? Wouldn’t those with the highest Cultivation wipe the floor with the competition, or are there different divisions?]
Gale shook his head. “Nope. Everyone fights everyone. As for strength disparity, you don’t have to worry about that. The candidates don’t fight personally. They each get a puppet they control and use that to display their skills. It's like having a second body, and everyone is locked to having the power of a Golden Core Seventh Layer. That way it’s fair and the personal abilities can shine.”
[Oh, is that so?]
All of a sudden I lost interest in participating in the tournament. I wonder why? Could it be because I would lose my greatest advantage? Or could it be because I would have to fight with less than 1% of my power? I wonder…
[Hmm, on the second thought, I don’t think this is for me. I like fighting, but this… This is like watching kids fight.]
“Haha, it really is, isn’t it?” Gale grinned. “I can completely understand. Apart from one or two interesting prospects every year, it’s a snooze fest. And judging by the candidates here, this year is going to be even worse.”
“We should just leave. We wasted enough time already. Unless a special candidate joins in the last hour, none of the participants here are worth our time.” Blaze added.
“True.” Gale stretched and yawned. It was getting late afternoon. “It’s so boring, and we’ve been here since the morning… Should we go to that auction? It’s about to start soon, right?” He asked his older brother. They didn’t even bother watching the competition.
“...Sure we might as well show our faces there.”
I was just about to leave when Gale asked an interesting question. “Hey, Gerald?”
[Hmm?]
“Would you like to join us?”
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The auction was held in the inner part of The City, in the territory wholly controlled by the three Clans. Some extra people were living there, but they were all rich and with direct connections to the three families. It was not a place just anyone could enter.
And yet, somehow I found myself in a VIP booth at that auction. Granted, Gale and Blaze were there just to keep up appearances, but just the experience of being there was worth its weight in… Well, I would say gold, but the soft yellow metal was almost worthless to Cultivators, so maybe Spirit Stones?
Anyway, I got to experience what the true luxury of a Cultivator was. We were served delicious snacks made from Spirit Beast meat and got to taste Spirit Wines centuries old. The private booth itself was more like a private restaurant with a window and a view of the auction below.
In fact, the auction itself was more of an afterthought as we chatted up there. Sure, there were various treasures being sold, rare pills reaching thousands of Spirit Stones, and even live cubs of an exotic Spirit Beast. Those were status symbols and their prices reached astronomical heights.
And while all that was going on, Gale and I were chatting and telling jokes to each other. Blaze chose to remain distant and occasionally sipped on his drink.
As we were discussing their unfortunate circumstances of being unable to find a good candidate to join their ranks, I jokingly said they might as well hire me since I was looking to make some money.
Gale quieted down and I thought I might have offended him somehow, but then his eyes enlarged as if he just achieved enlightenment.
“That’s a great idea!” He exclaimed, turning to his brother. “Blaze, what do you think about it? He’s unaffiliated and really strong! It would be perfect!”
But Blaze frowned. “Don’t... Don’t bring me into this. You know the rules, we have to pick from the tournament, that’s why it's there in the first place. We can’t just bring some random guy…”
However, Gale wasn’t listening. Instead, he seemed to be waiting for my opinion.
Even though I said it in jest, I wasn’t against it either. But I did need more information if I was going to decide.
[Let’s say I agree and somehow join… What would that entail? What would be my job?]
“Oh, yeah… Let’s see…” Gale rubbed his chin and began listing all the viable options. “You could be a guard, that would probably be the easiest one. Then it’s the mercenary, fighting for our cause. A more specialized version would be a bounty hunter, finding, stalking, and sometimes killing the target…”
“Gale…” Blaze groaned, clearly not on board with it all. Yet his brother continued, unbothered.
“A cook is not a bad thing either, though I guess that wouldn’t be your thing. Same with a butcher, carpenter, or day laborer… Oh, but you could be a fighter in the Underdark. Those guys always need reinforcements down there.”
“Gale! Stop it already!” Blaze suddenly shouted and slammed his cup of wine on the table. “More than half of those things would never be handed over to an outsider. Not to mention this entire thing is against the rules! He is not joining, it’s not going to happen.”
“Not even as a mercenary?” Gale frowned.
“No… Well, okay, maybe that one. But that’s just because we always need fresh blood. Anything else, forget it.”
I didn’t exactly want to interrupt their discussion, but since it was about me, I wanted to at least have some say in it. Even if there was a slim chance I could join, if there was a way to Cultivate faster, I would take it. Also…
[Guys, wait, what was that about fighting in the Underdark?]