Teemao and Majid arrived at the quarter The Hall Master prepared for his faction disciples, about 40 or so small houses with arched roofs and their own yards. This place receives only about 10 new students each year. Most talented individuals were hunted by the other factions, there were just a few special cases who went undiscovered. So only 30 houses or so were occupied. The best houses were the one evacuated by the senior graduates, they leave after them some good stuff, things like a minor a Qi gathering array or some medicinal grasses in the yard. Unfortunately, the sophomore seniors took over their houses.
Majid didn't care about any of that though, he was sheeting with anger, he felt like rampaging back then and there. Fortunately, he held on to reason at that time, let's calm down first, I can't make a hasty decision.
He sat down on a lotus position, and meditated for a while, breath after breath, his mind calmed down. Am I ready to kill now, killing the ape sure helped, but humans were still humans, he has no shadow of a doubt those evildoers deserve to die, but can he do it? If so he decided, he can't hesitate even for a split of a second or else the one who dies might be him.
No wonder all Chinese MCs turn into evil bastards, it's indeed realistic.
It was either, he changes or the world changes, changing the world was a big dream, and far fetched, does he gonna be a dreamer again. He shook his head that was retarded, which leaves him with only one option.
Ring!
[ Main Quest ]
[ Life's meaning can be measured by how much you influenced the world, good or bad was it enough to leave a mark in history. Set your goal high, how are you gonna change the world?
Reward: Free Choice (low), from earth knowledge. ]
Majid sprang on his feet, this is what I am talking about, now you're taking your damn gaming job seriously, aside from putting limits. He nodded his head, the more he thought about it the more he felt good about this Quest as if he was a different person, isn't this a free reward all he needs to do is choose a goal. And maybe just maybe if he succeeded, wouldn't that give him another chance to pick his wishes on his next reincarnation.
Bring it on, dreamer, so be it, before he was only an onlooker, he couldn't affect the whole picture. Now he is a player, though small his potential was great, and in this world at least there were some motivating elements, like cultivation and the system. It doesn't matter if he succeeds or not, if he keeps growing, maybe he can at least start a spark. Besides, how much can he keep living for cultivation, he has no family to share his happiness with, he wasn't motivated to start one in this dangerous world either. If he didn't meet a game over first, life would become dull eventually, no matter how a game was good, one grows tired of it, unless there was an unfulfilled Quest.
Ok here I got a free reward so let's take this thing seriously, but can I really change this world, he shook his head smirking. It's amusing to try though, but how am I supposed to do that exactly? He had already decided against introducing his religion, he already crossed the veil of death yet received no message, so it wasn't a fight he wanted to take unnecessary.
All he can fight for was some common sense of human rights or something, but common sense was the biggest Taboo in this word it seems. How the hell am I gonna tell them that anyone who dies is no immortal, that was like disturbing a hornet nest, any random immortal could easily take his life.
This should be done gradually and carefully, where do I start though... should he introduce one of the mainstream ideologies on Earth, socialism or... democracy. He has the impression, the first gives power to the military and raise dictatorship, the latter gives power to capitalists and raise hypocrisy, the results were far from their idealistic propaganda. He feels like both of them have their merits though and could be done right, but which one should he chouse. Though socialism countries like China are catching up, and turning the table, democracy is still dominant, especially from a freedom or human right view, it's obviously the winner. Even in my half-assed country with its half-backed democracy, civilians have it better than it ever been before. There are many factors at play, but if we talk ideologies, no doubt democracy was the answer.
Ok, I don't have enough time for this big talks, I need to have power myself first to think big, let's set the goal to get that reward first, and let's think about it properly later.
OK System, my goal to change the world, is to introduce my version of democracy, he smirked, he must put his touch after all. Besides, he only knows the headlines, heck, he never ever voted, after all you only choose between who gonna eat you the lions or the crocodiles, or as they call it the least of two evils, the herds never had the real power democracy promised.
[Congratulation, Quest Complete]
[Congratulation, you received a low free choice reward, from earth knowledge]
Ring!
[Chain Quest]
[ Make 10 people buy into democracy ]
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
[ Reward: Mid Level Free Choice, from earth knowledge. ]
[ Progress: 0 Supporter ]
Holy shit, oh boy, oh boy, you know me better than myself, how can you give me an EQ quest man, and 10 people from the start, are you kidding me.
Majid shook his head but he knew that this quest can't be done without communication skills, after all, other than forcing your values on the others, many ideologies grew from nothing, and a great part of their success was due to eloquence. He can speak logic all day but people don't respond to logic well, especially when it challenges their belief or push them into an uncomfortable zone.
Majid stole a look at Teemoa before he went outside and got into the toilet in the yard.
"Ahem ahem, guys… O, my people, we were all mortals one day... we can't ignore our origins you know… anyway, looking down on mortals is just lying to ourselves. look down and see, we once at the start of our existence, shared the same road as our father's urine, so humble yourself, folks… "
Majid felt like a plethora of shoes showered toward him. Maybe that's a little bit deep, maybe I should find someone to do the job for me, let's focus on my training plan. He exited the toilet as it wasn't the place for contemplation he knew back at his home on earth, the smell was really...
Ok, the quest aside first he needs to set up his training direction, so he won't end up mastering nothing. On one hand, there was his bone, it was a strong weapon but he can't keep using it like a caveman. He needs to turn it into a blade, one of his unfulfilled wishes, he's yet to put his hand on one. On the other was Fiery technique, it was a strong Sky grade technique and meaningful to him. I should have asked the system to make Fiery technique into a sword technique, damn it. Most importantly was his cultivation, he didn't want to give up on the early core formation. But the risks weren't something he can take, he didn't come to another world just to end up with an explosive belt, that's ridiculous.
Explosives, fire affinity, wait wait wait, this need careful consideration, he noted it down in the system before continuing his chain of thoughts. He has one free choice to use for one of these problems, but he didn't even need to consider his options to decide. Though he can try to find a solution himself for core formation, no matter how bold he was, he can't trust his judgment when it concerns his life.
System, can you solve my early core formation problem, you should have told me of the risks before.
[The request is not possible]
What do you mean not possible, if the system was a smartphone or a pc, no, no, even so, he wouldn't dare to break it. But really, weren't you the one who told me, I can form an early core, I even spent my free choice back then.
[ The system needs more information to analyze the new variables ]
Well, let's give the library a visit early tomorrow, what about the other problems, his earth knowledge showed how superior long-ranged attacks are, which should make the bow or making a spiritual gun or something his priority. But that wasn't necessarily the case here, with defensive artifacts and speed, other than an ambush the long-range advantage loses its potency, maybe he can add it as a support latter. But no matter what, he really can't give up on the blade. The charm of dancing at the edge of the blades and metal collisions was priceless, or at least that was his Phantasia. Besides, the sword no doubt is the most balanced weapon, it's not by chance it was the dominant weapon in most civilizations.
And the bone was really good staff after all he easily take down a 3 core layers beast with it. It was the same level as the ape and fiery, remembering how easily he finished it, the contrast was absurd. So he has a lot of trust in his ancestor's bone.
After weighing his options, he made up his mind. He would work on it himself and slowly adapt Fiery technique to the blade technique Xiaode trained until he got another free choice, his experiments would give the system some date to make a better analysis. It would be advantageous to train the same technique for both the blade and his bare hand fighting, his mastery would be better over the technique overall. Fiery Technique was dual wielding, he regretted leaving the other tight bone, alas, he knew leaving the city for the time being, wasn't an option, let's take it latter.
But how can he work on that bone, he turned his mind upside down but he didn't find a solution. Bones were different than metals, and he rarely worked with metals let alone bones. How can he find something stronger than his bone, it was a headache. First, he thought to burn it layer by layer and sand it, after all this was an organic matter, but he doubted a normal fire could do the job.
Suddenly his eyes opened wide, he smacked his head, damn, how can I forget that. He just created a problem for himself, material strength property wasn't just one simple thing, while diamond is one of the hardest material, it can easily be shattered with a hammer. On the other hand, iron was strong, but it could be easily ground by diamond or even rocks. He might find a material harder than his bone.
Majid went to his yard and even toured the quarter collecting different type of rough rocks, he found many ones were able to grind it, but the dust was extremely fine, it would take an eternity to sand it into shape. He hit the bone on the ground and cursed, the bone crushed the wood and stuck on the floor, "holy shit... damn it, nothing is going my way."
His eyes were wandering in frustration until they stopped on his bag when they widened. That's it, crystals are one of the hardest material structures, and I have some. He hurried to his bag and took a core from inside, it was crystal clear the size of a peach, the only layer 3 beast core in his disposition. He took a deep breath, this was the moment of truth. He scraped the bone and tine shavings fill off, like a flake of ice fell on his body in hot summer, cooling his heart. It would take some time, but there was a huge difference between a thin shaving and a fine particle. But he remembered he has spirit stones, he took some from his drawer and compared them to the Beast Core, their edges were sharper, and indeed the result was better. Without delay he started working on his piece, he already has the model on his mind he made many samples from wood back on earth.
Teemao with a complex feeling looked at him, if I knew the bone was this strong, I would have taken one as well. He regretted his decision since he saw how easily the beasts fell victim to it, and especially the day before, he easily broke the sword of core expert, that was an eye-opener. But this guy really, he likes to explain things why didn't he say anything back then. Teemao knew he can't blame him but he couldn't help grumble seeing the latter happy silly face. He shook his head before he sat cross-legged to cultivate.
The moon moved from side to side, leaving behind a pitch-black night. unaware of the passage of time, Majid was working happily under candlelight, humming and playing with his head. The rays of the sun finally infiltrated the dark sky, before the sun made its rise, majestically above all being.
Majid stood from his place and raised about a creamy white blade above his head, about half meter long sword curving elegantly with a sharp blade, all it needed was a handle to make it about 60 cm. He swung it down, then up, left and right for a while in a trance. Unfortunately, there wasn't any long human bone, but with its strength, it was more than enough. When he gets the other thigh bone, it would be complete, short swords were the best for dual-wielding. The only thing he was unsatisfied with was the color, he liked it either dark metal or matte black, but that can wait.
"Wooha, what a beautiful blade," Teemao came out of nowhere, making him jerk from his place.
"Congratulations Mao Ji, this is an excellent sword, I never saw something like it," seeing the blade, his regret grew even more, but he has only himself to blame.
"Right, right, haha," Majid was pleased to hear that like he was the creator of the katana design, "Wait until I make the handle, only then this beauty is complete." But it was usable even now, with his strong grip, so the handle could wait until the eyes on him cool down. But wait this beauty needs a name, doesn't it. It wasn't easy to find a name, he wanted neither a simple name nor an overly flashy one, after churning his mind for a while he settled for a practical name, Ancestror Claw, ancestor for he shamelessly took the deceased as his ancestor, and claw as he planned to use a dual-wielding swords as fiery claws.
And now was the time for gathering some knowledge about this world.
-----------------------------------
A youth made his way through the Devine Hammer Hall until he stopped at a double sliding paper door at the end of the hallway, intricate calligraphy and drawing decorated the door.
"Disciples great the Hall Master," the youth bowed behind the door.
"Come in," a solemn voice came from inside.
The youth opened the door and closed respectfully before took a few steps and stopped before Fanli and bowed again.
"Master Fanli, that animal left the city for a while, but he brought with him Master Guoro disciple Han Bai, so we couldn't make a move on him," the youth kept his head down waiting.
"You did well..." Fanli nodded his head, "where did he go?" he calmed himself down by now, but he wasn't done yet with that animal.
"He went to a rundown inn, and brought a boy with him, most likely his friend or family."
"His family hah, interesting, interesting," his eyes glowed with a sinister smile, "you did well, go and keep watching him for now."