A week had quickly passed. Today was the first time that the rest of the inhabitants of Dustin would be able to lay their eyes upon the newly born Young Master. By now, news that Dustin city's Young Lord Sir Gerrard’s wife had given him an heir had long since spread throughout the town. Many of those in higher positions within the town had begun to prepare birthing gifts to present to Sir Gerrard and Madam Karlen in congratulations for the blessing that was their first born child. This was a glorious day for the Young Lord, and very few would pass up the opportunity to show their support of him on this day in hopes of being seen in a brighter light by the man, this was the goal of many today. This was a bond building tactic. Many foresaw that this child, being the son of Sir Gerrard, would grow up into a powerful Martial Practitioner in the future. Based on Sir Gerrard’s fast cultivation growth, it was possible that his son may even become a Martial General within their lifetimes. Now was the perfect time to try and join the same camp in hopes of also being able to rise alongside the Shuba clan in the future. This was a lifelong commitment of being under the same umbrella beneath the storm, and sharing in the sunlight together. These people were all willing to experience the good, and the bad, in hopes of future benefits. Such things are incredibly common in the world of Cultivation, where living was hard, but ones death could happen at any moment.
Dustin Manor Courtyard
To the side of Dustin Manor was a very large open courtyard, over a square mile in size. The courtyard had a training area and a large pond with a variety of fish, which was surrounded by exotic plants and herbs gathered from outside the city. The boundary of the courtyard was a very large forest, as Dustin Manor was the building closest to the edges of town, although this was mostly due to its size, it was simply to huge. There was plenty of free space within the courtyard usually, however today it was filled with gazebos, under which were hundreds of tables and chairs assorted into both a commoners area, as well as one for those of higher social standings. The tables held fruit bowls and cups of water and juices, as well as some wine. The largest table was one located closest to the manor. This table was were Sir Gerrard and Madam Karlen were seated. Any who came into the courtyard would pass by this table before finding their own seat.
Today, the couple were in their best attire. Sir Gerrard was wearing a special outfit made from the hides of many tier 3 and 4 ferocious beasts, expertly crafted into a formal looking battle armour. Although it was armour, it looked incredibly grand upon the man. His wife, Madam Karlen, was wearing an ocean blue dress and a headband made of silver. The Blue dress sparkled as if the sun were reflecting of the ocean surface, and was made from an exotic fibre not found within Dustin. This was a gift received from her husband on their wedding day, and he had never told her where he got such a piece, but she came to know that not even 4th tier ferocious beast parts could be used to craft such a piece. The silver headband was a mid-tier earth treasure, which slightly shielded the wearer from qi attacks.
Currently, guests were flocking towards the courtyard in order to get a seat as close to Sir Gerrard’s as possible. Many people, of both high and low birth, had already arrived long ago, stopping by to show their faces to the Young Lord. Many of these people were only low tiered cultivators who only hoped to speak a word or two with the strongest person in town, and hoped to at least get him to remember their faces, they came bearing many gifts that were suitable for the Young Master to use as he grew up, such as beneficial herbs and a variety of weapons suitable for a young boy to use to train. Sir Gerrard and Madam Karlen did their best to great these people in a timely manner, before moving onto the next visitor. Naturally, they would not turn away anyone's goodwill on this day.
Towards midday, a servants voice called out, “Sir Faron and Lady Yara have arrived.” Sir Faron was a peak 3rd tier hundred-step cultivator, who had almost broken the barrier to the 4th step. He was around the same age as Gerrard, and while the two were younger, had been his greatest rival in cultivation, while also being one of his closest friends. Sir Faron was a little shorter than Sir Gerrard, he stood at just under 6 feet tall, with short brown hair. He was attractive, but was just a little lacking when compared to his old rival. These days, Sir Faron was in charge of the town of Dustin’s Adventure Guild, which handled matters such as ferocious beasts that lurked outside of town, and the collecting of rarer herbs, among other things.
His wife, Lady Yara, was actually Madam Karlen’s cousin, both coming from the Helor clan, the second ranking clan within Dustin city. The two looked very similar. Both were almost 6 foot tall, had long flowing scarlet hair with blue eyes, and skin so pure and white, it looked as if it were the most beautiful snow taken human form. Both also had very full womanly figures, which while not overbearing, were very pleasantly shaped. But while Madam Karlen was a 4th tier practitioner, her cousin Yara was currently a peak 2nd step, teetering on the edge of the 3rd, as if she would enter with any given moment. However, she still had time to reach her cousins cultivation level in the future.
Sir Faron was dressed in his ceremonial attire, formal black clothing made from the silk of a 3rd tier ferocious beast known as a Floating Silkworm. This clothing was rather pricey, easily costing over 300 gold pieces, with a medium grade earth sword at his waist, mostly for decoration, he stood out far more than the average man. Beside him, Lady Yara was wearing an elegant green dress which rested beautifully along her body, drawing in the eyes of many people, this dress was slightly more extravagant a piece than her husbands’ attire. The dress was made from a 3rd tier Floating Silkworm as well, however the one which created the silk that became this clothing was on the verge of becoming a 4th tiered ferocious beast, and as such the silk was much stronger and less common. It glistened in the sunlight, standing out much more than average 3rd tier Floating silkworm silk.
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“Cousin Karlen, you look beautiful today. I hope you have rested well after giving birth. Oh, why don't I see my little nephew anywhere, quickly bring him out and let us take a look!” upon walking over to her seat next to that of her cousins, Yara had noticed that her child was not currently with her.
“Oh Yaya, you look stunning today. That dress really draws in one’s eyes.” Karlen remarked to her cousin, drawing attention to the fact she was being gazed at a fair bit from the nearby men, though they had all tried to keep it polite, as they were not trying to be rude. She had, however, referred to her by her childhood nickname ‘Yaya’ to which Yara couldn’t help but shyly take her seat in response. “The little lad is sleeping right now, and I have Sara watching him. Once everyone arrives, we will bring him out. At that time we will finally decide upon a name for the lad. Calling him lad or little one for so long already, aah, what a weird custom this Shuba clan has.”
In the Shuba clan, children weren't immediately given a name. It was custom to allow one who wished to unite with the clan to offer up a name. This was done to build a strong bond between the Name giver and the clan, and was as strong as a bond through marriage. It could even be said that the name giver, in exchange for offering the name, and therefore tying their fate to the Shuba clan, was also swearing to be the guardian of the one they named. Therefore the name giver must be capably strong, and willing to lay their life down for the child if need be. In fact, Sir Gerrard was named by Sir Faron’s father, Elder Darren, who was currently a guild leader within the capitol city. This practise was the reason the clan held a Naming Ceremony such as the one today, the process being adopted by the other townsfolk over the last few hundreds of years.
Sir Faron took a seat at the table with Sir Gerrard, before signalling his servant to bring over a couple of wooden boxes he had arranged for today. “Gerrard my friend, congratulations. Here's hoping that the young lad grows up to follow his fathers’ footsteps. It is simply a shame that my own father has summoned me to the capitol to try and take over the adventure guild there, otherwise I would jump at the chance to name the boy. Here, instead I have bought along a few simple trinkets for the lad. Hopefully they are of some use.”
“Aah, Faron, Thank you. It is wonderful to hear you may soon be in charge of the adventure guild in the capitol. That would mean you would be in charge of all adventuring within Northern Shore. Simply Amazing. I still remember that unreliable little boy who feared a simple early 2nd tier ferocious beast from back then.” Sir Gerrard teased his best friend, bringing up an old tale from their adventuring days.
“Really now, must you go there, you know, I'm not that much weaker than you now. Haha, one day I may even reach peak hundred step, or even the Martial general realm. Then it will be I protecting you.” To make up his slight loss of face, Sir Faron boasted a little, drawing in laughs of the other guests. Martial General was simply too high a goal for these people to ever hope of reaching.
After the couple got comfortable, the servants’ voice rang out once again. “Master Blacksmith Leon has arrived. Mister Jordan of the Alchemy guild has arrived.” These were two men at the peak of their respective trades within the town. Many a cultivator wished to acquire items personally made by these two men, as they would increase ones survival rate while out adventuring, which many did to try and earn money and cultivation resources. Funnily, these two were brothers. Both chose a different trade when young, and had even studied at the capitol in order to hone their skills before returning to their hometown in order to help it grow.
“Sir Gerrard, Madam Karlen. Us little brothers have each bought along a few items for the Young Master today. Please accept them.” The one to speak was the blacksmith Leon. The man stood half a foot taller than Gerrard, and had a much larger build. Shockingly, he and his brother were both 3rd tier practitioners. This was due to the need for body and soul strength needed to create higher tiered items within their respective crafts. Today, Leon had bought over a personally made ceremonial dagger, as well as some smaller sized armour, which the lad could use to practise in as he grew. Meanwhile his brother Jordan had personally made some mid-grade recovery pellets, and even a top mid-grade soul pellet. This pellet was in high demand, as practitioners found it very difficult to train their soul strength, so many who saw this pellet being given sucked in their breaths in envy. It was only envy however, everyone naturally knew that this was done to curry favour with Sir Gerrard. Everyone here had also done the same thing today.
“Thank you Master Brothers, these are generous gifts. To make them within a week, and for them to be such an amazing level, it seems both your skills have improved lately. “Sir Gerrard was all smiles. These things were worth quite a lot of money, evidently these brothers had gone all out over the past week. Maybe they were even planning on becoming the lads’ protector, hoping to forge a stronger bond with himself. After all, in the future he too would move to the capitol, and try to make a name for himself and the clan. But this 6 for at least a decade or more.
“Aah, a small matter. Indeed we brothers have gained a bit more skill lately, and naturally we must spoil the little lad a bit while we can.” After speaking the two took a seat further down the main table.
It was just passed midday now. Sir Gerrard got the servants of Dustin Manor to begin setting up tables with lunch on for everyone. He had went all out for this day, and had bought a few 2nd tiered ferocious beasts known as Tremor Boars especially for everyone to enjoy. These boars were as large as a horse, and weighed up to 5 tonnes. Their name came from the fact that while charging, the ground would quake as if an earthquake had struck. Tremor boars had huge amounts of delicious, fatty meat on them, and eating the meat was even beneficial to cultivation of the body. These, along with a variety of fruits and vegetables, were served to all guests, regardless of position within the town, making everyone pleasantly surprised.
As lunch was being served, the servant overseeing the arrival of guests called out once again. “Elder Quentin of the Northshore Sect has arrived!” This time, all eyes were drawn to the entrance of the courtyard.