By day 15, he was satisfied enough with his progress in quick sheath. -Time to go out.- He murmured.
“Catherine, you can take the day off after breakfast.” he spoke to her as he was eating.
“Take care young master.”
“Thank you.” He finished his food and headed out. As he reached the city gates, he started seeing a semblance of prosperity akin to major city centers. The road was hundred meters wide but even then one could see a sea of people going about their way. The sides of the road were packed with stores serving any and all possible needs of low level cultivators. It is to be expected since most of the people venturing out of city gates for income were low level cultivators.
He went inside a big pill store named Lingyun pill store. He needed some basic pills to increase his survival rate outside the city. He first bought ten low level hemostatic supplies and some food pellets which only cost 15 silver. He needed to decide what other pills he should buy.
“Do you have any suggestions for me on what I should buy before going out of the city?” Castiel asked a salesperson. This store must have seen tens of thousands of people before him venturing out of the city in search of luck. The experience of a sales person here is absolutely more valuable than his intellect.
“You have already bought basic supplies. Next, mana-replenishing pills are the top most priority. You will be a sitting duck for your enemies without mana after a long fight. The rate at which you replenish your mana will depend on your mana control, in other words how fast you can circulate mana inside your body. Lower mana control will lead to some mana leaking out before being absorbed by you. One mana-replenishing pill is enough for a pinnacle qi-gathering cultivator to fully replenish his mana if he doesn’t leak out any of it.” The salesperson made his pitch professionally.
“How much for one?”
“50 primary mana stones for one. No bargaining. We sell the cheapest pills in #47.”
“What about the quality? Is it also the highest?” Castiel asked back in defense and a little hidden embarrassment. He didn’t have enough money to buy even one mana-replenishing pill.
“....” The salesperson just stared at him with no reply.
“Anything else you suggest?” He quick changed the subject before it gets anymore embarrassing.
“You could buy life saving things like one-time use talismans, shielding amulets, etc. But we don’t sell it. Only thing I could think of is a level 1 potential release pill. It can be used by cultivators below the golden core to release all the potential in the body to drastically increase combat power for a few minutes. After its effect vanishes, you will become weaker than a mortal for the next few weeks. Without channel healing pills, it might even cripple your mana channel network.” The salesperson pitched another idea.
But Castiel immediately vetoed it. He cannot in any circumstance play with his mana channels. He already has low talent to begin with. Also he has an alternative to potential release for mortal danger. He can use one explosive quick draw which will empty all the mana in his right arm and render it completely unusable for the next few days without any other repercussions. He remembered Leo’s words that day and focussed on making quick draw his end-all be-all skill.
“Do you have anything to alleviate muscle fatigue?” He tried his luck.
“Yes. Flesh-healing pills. They are quite popular among low level cultivators since most of the skills at this stage are more dependent on body than mana. These pills can also heal cramps, minor tendon or ligament tears. They cost 2 primary mana stones per pill.” The salesperson replied dejectedly. He was starting to think he would not be able to make any successful transactions with the kid before him.
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-Everything is so expensive. If I want to expedite my sword practice, I will need hundreds of flesh-healing pills. Mana-cultivation till pinnacle qi-gathering will also cost probably five hundred mana stones.- He thought.
“Ok, give me five flesh-healing pills.”
.
Next, he bought a mask with the five remaining mana stones. The mask was very rudimentary, only capable of withstanding ten average qi-gathering attacks. He only wanted to hide his identity while fighting, just enough for his venture today. He felt he had made ample preparations and headed for the city gates.
The city gates were gigantic. The top of the walls attached to the city gates were occupied by a neatly arranged army of cultivators. The walls were at least fifty meters high. Even though there were probably no nascent souls in the army, the collective aura they were emanating was enough to deter average nascent soul cultivators.
There were two small doors inside the gigantic gates that were open. One for entry, other for exit. Each door was guarded by two powerful looking cultivators. They were covered head to toe in armor, each holding an enormous ax. The door was only wide enough for a carriage to pass through.
Castiel saw people queue at the door obediently. Everyone scanned their identity card on some device that the guards were holding. He didn’t know what those devices were for. He also lined up. About five minutes later, it was his turn.
“Insert your identity card here.” The guard said to Castiel. He did so obediently. He didn’t think now was a good time to disobey. The device was cuboid in shape, it had a slot on one side to insert the I-card. The front of it a large screen, similar to the screen he had seen on talent testing chairs. He saw a copy of his I-card appear on the screen after he inserted it into the device.
“Sir, if you don’t mind, what is this device used for?” Castiel asked politely to the guard.
“This is developed by a researcher from city #1 who works in SUE. It is used to record information locally about an individual. The Atlantis government has deployed this on all major city gates. If you don’t return in one week, we will send a cultivator to search for you.” The guard didn’t want to swat away a polite handsome kid, so he replied. Even though Castiel couldn’t see the guard’s face, he heard pride in the guard’s tone.
“What if I don’t return at all? For example, if I somehow make it to another city or town through the wilderness?” He asked in confusion. He didn’t think this tech was feasible now but he could think of a few uses for it in some other areas.
“This technology will be rolled out to the whole of the empire in probably five years. We will eventually know of your whereabouts.” The guard replied.
“Thank you. So this procedure, is it mandatory?” Castiel was worried that his recorded information here would somehow reach the ears of the Zechariah family. He had already scanned his card here but he didn’t want to do so again if it was possible to avoid it.
“No. But do you really not want to scan it? The empire’s laws don’t apply outside the cities. So you have to be wary of other cultivators in addition to beasts.” The guard replied in concern. By now, the people behind Castiel were getting antsy and rowdy.
“Anyway, word of advice. Don’t go beyond ten kilometers away from city lines into the jungle. That will be a death sentence for you.” The guard shooed him away and gave one last piece of advice.
“Tch tch. Another kid down on his luck, going to risk his life outside.” As Castiel was crossing the door, he heard the other guard say to the first guard. He was unfazed though. He had an enormous task ahead of him, to save his sister.
The only saving grace about this situation was that his sister’s heart rate was a consistent 40 beats per minute indicating she was in a comatose state and maybe not in any pain. For the first few days after his sister’s kidnapping, the thought of his sister going through the same pain as he did under the organization was eating away at his soul.
Outside the gates, he saw a dirt road as wide as the city gates going into the jungle. The road narrowed as it disappeared into the horizon. He saw a few people and carriages on the road. He beelined towards the right into the trees and started running blindly.
After a few minutes, when he was sure he was in no one’s sight, he found a random boulder to hide behind. He changed his normal robes into all black martial clothes. He wrapped his hair in black bandana and put on the all black mask he just bought. He also turned his travel bag inside out so that it was black on the outside compared to a combination of blue and white just a while ago. The last thing about him he changed is the contact lenses. Today he changed to a green contact lens.
Cultivators with flora affinity are generally weaker than others in the earlier stages. He was hoping, any potential enemy underestimates before fighting.
Now he had nothing on him that could connect him to his previous self inside the city gates. He was ready to begin his adventure.