Chapter 12 - Gravity

Karlo followed the red string of Qi deeper into the village. He walked down the main street, and strangely, the path began to veer to the left – to the tundra side.

Karlo could only assume that either Jovie Tops had gone from the desert side to the tundra, or that, like with Mrs. Dandy’s shop, the entrance to the bathhouse was ever-changing. Whatever the case may be, he had the package tied to his back and was mentally prepared for whatever may come.

Down an alleyway leading to a dead end, there was a ladder on the back wall. It was only a few meters or so tall, but the string of Qi kept going directly up, higher and higher until Karlo could no longer see it. He could sense there was something unusual going on in front of him, but he just didn’t know what.

‘Whatever. I’ll just climb the ladder and see what happens.’

The instant he grabbed it, Karlo felt and saw his surroundings change, but before anything could happen, he let go and everything returned to normal.

‘What was that?’

Although frightened, he didn’t sense any danger, so cautiously, he touched the ladder again.

The area around him changed again. The wood and plaster buildings had become white marble. The ladder was no longer made of black iron, but of sparkling gold, and instead of only going up to the height of the building it was attached to, it kept climbing high into the sky.

A different player may not be able to tell which was real and which was fake - the marble and gold or the wood and iron - but Karlo could tell at a glance. This fancy place was nothing more than an illusion.

The only thing real about it was that the ladder kept going into the sky.

He decided to go up. This was where the string of Qi led, after all. And so he began his climb.

Karlo had known it might be difficult, but he hadn’t fully comprehended how high he had to go. When he reached high enough that he could see the entire village, he looked down only to find that it was covered with a thick fog, making it impossible to perceive its shape. It was unusual because he hadn’t passed through any fog on the way up.

Even when he reached the lowest hanging clouds, Karlo still felt that he was far from reaching the top. He decided he’d take a short break.

He put his legs through one of the rungs and sat down. He decided to check his panel.

[Karlo Berrio

Cultivation: F

Qi: 12/12

Life: 60yrs

Affiliations: Yellow, Blue

Talents: Truth Seeker

Techniques: True Basic Qi Gathering (5/per hour); Qi Sense (Lv. 2); Qi Infusion (Lv. 3)]

Karlo honestly sure if it was good. He knew that a lot of people probably had already advanced their cultivation, but he doubted they had techniques as high leveled as his.

Thinking about everything that had happened, Karlo found it amazing. He was literally sitting in the clouds right now!

‘Some might miss Earth, and truly, there are some great things back home. But this,’ he looked around, ‘This view, and this feeling is something I could never have back then... I need to become stronger, I need to work harder. I want to see everything this world has to offer! And to do that, I have to be great.’

Once again affirming his goals, his motivation was through the roof, or rather, the sky! He kept climbing with renewed vigor.

After a while, Karlo saw an unusually small cloud begin to get near the ladder above him. He looked at it carefully; something about it struck him as odd.

He watched as it started moving downward until it stopped directly in front of him. It started reforming and something like a face made of clouds appeared.

“Hello outsider,” it said in a childish voice.

Karlo had expected it, but when it actually talked, he was shocked. But, trying his best not to be surprised, he replied, “Um, hello... cloud?”

“Where are you going?”

“I guess to the top of this ladder.”

“What ladder?”

“Huh? You can’t see it? Wait, so you just thought I was floating here?

“Yes and yes. That’s why I’m talking to you. I’ve never seen a human floating in the sky. Some of the older clouds have though. So, what’s at the top of the ladder?”

The sense Karlo was getting, was that this was something like a child among the clouds, he didn’t mind talking to it a bit, “Well, I’m hoping there’s a certain person I’m looking for up there. Look, if you touch the ladder, you might be able to see it.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The cloud moved closer, “Oh wow, you’re right. I’ve been here my whole life and I’ve never seen this ladder.”

“How long is your ‘whole life’?”

“I’m only 50.”

“‘Only’? You’re older than me!”

“Well, that’s very young for a cloud. They say that the great ancestor is over 10,000 years old!”

“10,000, wow. What was your name again?”

“They call me Clouderian!” it said proudly. “And what’s your name?”

“Berrio, Karlo Berrio.”

“Berrio? What a funny name,” it laughed.

“Just call me Karlo, okay?!”

“Okay, Karlo.”

“Well Clouderian, it’s been fun talking to you, but I gotta get going.”

“Okay, bye Karlo!” it yelled and quickly scurried off.

What had just happened was beyond Karlo’s comprehension. So he simply decided to not think about it. He continued climbing.

After hours of seeing the same white clouds and blue sky, Karlo finally caught sight of something different. Floating in the sky, attached to the ladder, was a building. It was still a bit far, but with his enhanced eyesight from cultivation, he could see what it looked like. It was a building that he was familiar with.

‘It’s the same bathhouse from before! Maybe this is the true entrance.’

He hurriedly climbed and reached the building. He at last arrived at the entrance, with the same large sign he had seen before that read, ‘Bathhouse’.

He walked in and found that the woman at reception was the same one he had seen before. He didn’t want to attract much attention, so he was prepared to simply ask where he could find Mr. Tops. Before he could even speak though, she spoke first.

“Mr. Tops has been expecting you. Please follow me.” She came out from behind the reception and began walking down a corridor.

‘This doesn’t bode well. But now that I’m here, I have no other option.’ He followed behind her.

This corridor was especially lavish, with red carpet and paintings along the walls. Finally, they arrived in front of a pair of huge wooden doors, engraved with extreme detail.

“You can leave your belongings here,” the woman said.

Karlo noticed she was much colder than she had been the first time they met.

“Ah, this thing on my back is a delivery for Mr. Tops.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I see. Prepare yourself then.” She turned and knocked on the door.

A low voice was heard from behind it, “Come in.”

She pushed the doors open and introduced, “Karlo Berrio is here to see you, my Lord.”

Jovie Tops, the man he had seen in the bath that day, was sitting behind a large desk, writing something with an elegant posture.

“Ah yes. Gwen, show Mr. Berrio where he can sit.”

The woman, who was evidently called Gwen, showed him to a velvet sofa with silk cushions before leaving.

Honestly, Karlo didn’t feel like sitting. He’d rather hand over the package and leave if at all possible. Still, even though he hated the guy, Karlo didn’t want to make an enemy of him yet. That is if he wasn’t one already.

So sitting down, he looked around the room. It was even more grand than the corridor had been. There was a glass chandelier and glass windows from the floor to the ceiling all along one side. This was quite shocking as Karlo hadn’t seen glass since he came to this world.

Before he could think about what this meant, he was interrupted by Jovie Tops.

“So, Mr. Karlo Berrio, awfully kind of you to visit. Come sit over here.”

Karlo got up and sat on the chair in front of the desk. “Well, I did say I’d come back,” he laughed nervously.

“Indeed you did. I’m told you have something for me.”

“Yes.” Karlo hurriedly handed him the cylindrical package.

At the same time, a notification appeared in front of him:

[F Grade Mission Complete: The Traveler’s Dilemma

Mission Objective: Deliver the traveler’s package to Mr. Tops in Green Village (1/1)

Reward: 5 Copper Coins

Claim Reward?]

Karlo internally accepted the reward, and he felt the coins appear in his pocket, along with another notification:

[F Grade Mission Completed!

Progress towards unlocking F+ Grade Cultivation: (3/3)]

[F+ Grade Cultivation Unlocked!

Commence Upgrade Now?]

‘No.’

Holding the package, Mr. Tops asked a question, “Do you know what this is?”

“Not a clue.”

“I’ll show you.”

He pulled off the cloth to reveal a steel-like cylinder, engraved with white symbols down the side.

“This is a device that has very... interesting capabilities. It draws in ambient Qi just like a cultivator, then it can use that Qi for any purpose I desire. See, I hadn’t forgotten you while that woman was making her escape, but because of certain rules, I was unable to do anything to you. Thanks to this device, that is no longer the case.

“Imagine my surprise at hearing that not only was the device on its way, but the person delivering it was the person destined to be its first victim! I guess it could only be fate.”

Karlo’s expression was growing more grim by the second, but that fact was completely ignored by Jovie.

“Let me give you an example of its abilities,” he touched the symbols on the device in a specific order and pointed the end of the cylinder at the windows. A burst of flame suddenly shot out, melting a hole through the glass.

“Of course, using something like this on you would still put me at risk. So I had to think long and hard about what kind of parameters the panel would allow. See, there is still one way I can harm you, through the challenge system.

“Unfortunately, I’m much too powerful to be allowed to give you a challenge, but the same isn’t true of my subordinate. In fact, she isn’t even a cultivator.”

Hearing that Jovie Tops couldn't harm him directly, Karlo thought that this was his only chance to escape, but as he was about to get up, he was tied to the chair and his mouth was covered.

“Oh, that silly Gwen,” Jovie began acting exaggeratedly. “I’ve told her multiple times to get rid of that chair. Gwen!”

The woman instantly entered, “You called my Lord?”

“Please help Mr. Berrio out of here.”

Gwen smiled, “Of course.”

“I’ll be having a bath if you need me.”

Once Jovie had left the room, the woman grabbed the device and pushed the symbols in a different order than what Jovie had chosen. After which, she pointed the end at the ground beneath Karlo.

‘Balance Karlo,’ he thought to himself. ‘You wanted to become stronger, so you threw yourself into a situation you were guaranteed not to survive. This is not the way. What you need is balance. Push yourself, without pushing beyond what is possible. If you have another life, next time, remember these rules.’

Although he knew there was nothing he could do to stop what was about to happen, he wasn’t fearful like he had been when he faced the Polar Bear. Even he was surprised by his reaction.

[Challenge Appears!]

As expected, he got a notification.

[Challenge: Brains Beat Brawn

Objective: Escape from Gwen (0/1)

Time Limit: 10 minutes (00:9:58)

Reward: Technique: Displacement (Lv +1); Cultivation Grade E (Unlock +1)]

Before he had time to examine the notification in detail, the device activated. Suddenly, the ground beneath him disappeared and, while still tied to the chair, he fell through the floor.

Gwen, still standing in the same spot, shook her head. “I wonder what he was thinking, coming here. Even if he had taken the punishment, at least he wouldn't be dead.

“Whatever, I can never understand these outsiders. And for that matter, cultivators don’t make sense either. A cultivating outsider must be an especially odd being."