Everyone was staring at me. Hardly a surprise considering my clothes. After all I wasn't wearing the traditional robe of a cultivator, yet I was in the lodge with the mayor.
No I had chosen a far more modern attire. I had some specifically created high heeled boots with about five centimetres heel, in black of course.
I had contemplated on showing some really scandalous stuff, but in the end I had to choose between creating a dress or pants with a shirt.
I went with a pair of tight, black pants, a simple dark blue shirt and a light brown coat.
A dress would have probably been more culturally acceptable, especially because it looked a little like a robe. As it was I felt great, finally some real clothes!
While everyone in the emporium looked at me I took a moment to look at each of them. There was the mayor of course, tall and powerfully built like all long time cultivators.
Then there were a few of the cultivators from the meeting - the fat merchant, who was giving me the evil eye still, and a woman. I remembered she called herself Lady Chela.
She was the only one of the meeting to come to get her robe adjusted too, which was a plus in my book.
I didn't know any of the others, but seeing as the woman was in the second realm, the others probably were second or third realm cultivators too.
There were six of them. An old man, wearing a long beard, with a bear stitched on his robe. He was the only one not staring at me, having only glanced my way when I entered, before dismissing me.
Then there was a pair of cultivators, man and woman, with a golden tree on their robes, probably representatives of the Secret Grove Sect or however they were called.
A single, middle aged woman took part too, her robe simple and completely unadorned. If not for the wolf on her robe. She glared at everyone, but me especially.
The last two unknowns did not wear any decorations to identify them with, but were eyeing my attire with interest.
Guests of the mayor probably. Well, we had not been introduced, and none of them invaded my aura so far. At least I couldn't perceive anything. As long as that stayed that way we didn't need to talk to each other.
A small movement of my head later, and I could see a small part of the seating for the townsfolk and other unimportant mortals and cultivators who didn't participate.
Well. Fuck it. I turned my back to everyone behind me, to take a look at the whole of the arena, I had only seen it from the outside so far after all.
So far the arena floor was filled with fine sand. All two hundred to one hundred metres of it. That floor alone was crazy expensive, all that sand had to come from somewhere after all, and it sure as hell didn't come from the beach.
The arena was packed from floor to bottom, with the cheapest, stand, right down only a few metres of the ground being filled with the most people.
They were all standing, so these places could hold a lot more people than the more expensive seats did. Well, simple space constraints did that.
"Welcome, welcome." The mayor yelled.
He stood up a few moments ago, and clapped loudly, silencing thousands of people at once. Quite impressive.
"Before I start I'd like to welcome our guests from the powerful Secret Grove Sect, the Bear Clan, the Wolf Clan, and two exalted core experts that wish to remain unnamed." He announced.
The people in the arena exploded in sound, especially at the mention of the third realm people. Or experts as the official name seemed to be. Welp, the people surely were looking forwards to this. Unlike me. With all those cultivators in the third realm I had to be careful about what I did.
Luckily I held back and didn't fill my clothes with liquid qi like I thought about, though they held enough qi only a very little push was required to reach that state. Well, a small push for me, from the conversations I had with cultivators over the years they seemed to have quite some problems with it.
My thoughts kinda drifted off as the mayor continued his speech, with boring stuff like how the tournament was going to go, the low level rewards for participating. He really need to learn how to talk to a crowd, though it appeared his lame ass speech did get this crowd rolling. Good for him.
“So, what’s up with these clothes?” A low voice asked.
I turned to see Lady Chela next to me, looking at my clothes from up close.
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“What do you mean what’s up?” I asked back. “I wanted to wear something more interesting than a robe, they are boring. There are so many interesting clothes you can make, why bother with something so simple?”
“Because they are tradition?” She said.
“Yes, but sometimes you have to break tradition. I know for a fact my clothes are less restricting than a robe, which means even you maniacs should think about dressing differently.” I answered.
The woman pouted a bit, before answering.
“That's not very nice, saying it like that. Not everyone can be gifted at making stuff.”
“Of course you can.” I contradicted. “It just takes a few years of hard work and dedication.”
“And you hit the crux of the matter, why go through all that bothersome stuff if you can just go and hit someone.” She said.
I looked at her, judging if she was joking or not. Apparently not.
“You know fight takes just as much time to master, don't you? Even more in the case of a cultivator, which means you’re learning a craft still, only said craft poses a risk on your life in addition to your wallet.” I returned.
Lady Chela chuckled.
“Conversations with you are always a great distraction. Your view on the world is still fresh, and largely untainted by our culture. How you managed that I do not know, but it’s always refreshing. We should meet up sometime, just to talk.” She added.
I grinned, she was surprisingly self aware for a cultivator, which made talking with her easier than it did to just about any other cultivator.
“Sure. Now let's watch this, perhaps you can even learn something.” I said.
Noting the mayor. had just paused in his speech, I stood up, and joined him.
“And now for the grand prize. The prize I know you all have been waiting for.” He droned. “This amazing robem made by a young expert home in our town, Triss. Not even twenty years old, she is someone all of you know, the sole supplier of cultivator made robes this side of the forest. And this is her best work yet!” He yelled.
He presented my robe, simple, dark green and black. Suddenly the seams all over it moved to the side, and it started glowing, reflecting and breaking the sunlight hitting the robe. An appreciative murmur passed through the crowd, and all cultivators present on the emporium.
I could only shake my head. Cultivators, no this whole world didn't appreciate the more subtle things. I could probably increase the gravity for everyone in the room when I entered, and they wouldn't even think of it as deliberate.
Well, I still had tons of experiments to do. I only tried pulling and pushing on gravity so far after all. It would be great if I could do more. Like perhaps bend a line? Depending on the difficulty of that flying could be far closer than I thought. Though it wouldn't be flying. It would be falling sidewards.
Anyways. The mayor finished praising my work, so I returned to my seat, watching as a bunch of cultivators went on the stage. Fifty. So we’d start with a free for all? Perhaps I’d see something interesting.
“So what do I need to pay for such a robe?” A voice sounded out next to me.
I looked at it, and saw the Wolf Clan lady standing there.
“That depends.” I said.
Watching the fighters get into position.
“Entirely on what you want. The glowing part is easy, I still have lots of the stuff. The qi I used for it is another matter entirely. And material is a matter of personal preference for most. I just used what most of my customers wanted for this one.” I answered.
“So you don't do any work without commission?” She asked.
“Nope. Why would I? My workload is nearly as much as my cultivation can sustain already, and why would I make stuff I can sell for less when it doesn't change my workload.” I answered half honestly.
“I see. On another note, you are young, why are you up here and not down there, fighting for prizes offered freely?” She asked.
“Why would I? I can't fight, and I can get most of the stuff I could win as payment.” I answered.
The old woman shook her head, muttering something about young idiots to herself, before leaving me alone again. Just in time to see the fight start. About half of the cultivators in the arena rushed right in, while the others stayed back, some in small groups, others with their back to the wall. Well, those in the middle had problems.
As I watched I saw one cultivator in a plain, grey robe. Unlike all others he was neither rushing, nor was he retreating to the arena’s edge.
“This is going to be good.” One of the unknown cultivator’s said, just as the man reached the middle of the arena.
“I am TIR-GO! Bow your head and surrender or suffer my righteous wrath!” He yelled at his opponents.
What an idiot. None of the cultivators in the arena seemed all that eager to bow their head at him too, and all those hasty cultivators stopped their fighting, only to rush at Tirgo.
I watched curiously as the sand below his feet started moving, slowing being attracted towards him.
Before any of the cultivators had a chance to arrive near him the man was surrounded by a shroud of sand, and dashed towards one of his opponents, leaving a trail of sand in his wake.
“I said. BOW! YOUR! HEAD!” He yelled, supporting each yell with a fist to his opponents body, clad in a rolling cloud of sand. The last hit dropped his opponent to the ground, and he turned his head towards a new victim, the old one out cold.
Soon after all twenty one cultivators in the arena’s middle were moaning on the ground, having received a brutal beating by this Tirgo.
The culprit himself was looking quite happy with himself and the world, standing in the middle of the arena, daring anyone to challenge him. No one did, how boring. He needed a lesson in humility.
Seeing that the center was occupied had the remaining twenty eight cultivators at the edge start fighting each other, at first hesitantly, but upon not seeing Tirgo move more confident.
A flash of fire here, a searing of light there, a little ice over there. Lots of elements joined the fray, with more being probably used and just missed by me. Still, all those fights were a little more even, so long as the numbers stayed the way they were.
The two big groups at the edge quickly caught some single cultivators, and eliminated them, ending the first round after only twenty cultivators remained.
“I see we have some worthy contenders here.” The mayor yelled. “What did I see there? The rare qi intent of sand being used so freely? Truely a young genius is among us!”
After a short pause for a few cheers the mayor spoke up again.
“But was this his limit? Or will he soar even higher? I know I am looking forwards to seeing more of him.”