Never before had Sven felt so privileged to be elderly as when he at last submerged his frail naked frame into the hot water of the city’s bathhouse and felt his worries disappear in an instant.
He felt privileged as the bathhouse charged its clientèle for entry. Unless it turned out, you were an elderly person, and in that case, you were ushered in and guided to the best bath in the house.
Furthermore, the young lad that had guided Sven to the large pool had shown him a considerable amount of deference all the way, to such an extent it made Sven feel a bit awkward.
Having come from nothing as a kid to being treated like some kind of revered elder or lord was… odd, and he didn’t know if he could ever get used to it.
Regardless, Sven was grateful as he could almost feel the stench of blood and sweat wash right off him as he tended to his body with the hot water of the bath.
After he felt as though he was clean, he let himself relax and take in the atmosphere as he read his latest system prompt.
—
Quest Completed!
Quest Name: Narses Or Nothing!
Rank: [Profound]
Objectives:
-[Find the Oasis City of Narses (1/1)
Reward:
-[(Silver) Greater Body Refining Elixir] - Consume to strengthen your body’s physical integrity.
Claim item?
-YES / NO
—
Sven didn’t have much space in his pockets with what he had claimed already, so Sven decided he would wait to claim the item until he at least had some kind of place to store it.
Thus, with the prompt read, his eyes began to wander.
There were at least two hundred people around him, and naturally, they were all men as this was a gender-segregated bathhouse. But, some were younger, while others, like him, were old.
Sven did notice that a lot of the younger men were chatting with the older men, though he quickly ascertained from overhearing a few conversations that they were sons talking to their fathers.
And, from what little of the conversations he picked up, Sven approximated that a trip to the bathhouse must be this city’s equivalent of a dad taking his son out on a camping trip or out hunting.
In other words, it was time set apart for some good ol' father-son bonding.
Thus, as a childless old man whose pale skin tone gave away the fact he wasn’t from this area, Sven was soon feeling rather out of place and isolated which disrupted his relaxation.
So, he quickly scrubbed himself off one last time, before he rose out of the bath, and walked to the area where the young man had told him his clothes would be kept.
He was thus pleasantly surprised when he found his clothes not only exactly where the young man had said, but also having been expertly cleaned and laid beside the items he’d had on him.
Sven marvelled at his tidy overalls and clean white work shirt, before redressing.
Once he was fully clothed again in his still little bit battered, but now clean, clothes, he walked out of the bathhouse after thanking the young man and squinted as he was hit by the sun’s light.
Many curious eyes glanced his way as he stepped onto the city’s sandstone streets, but none went further than looking and gossiping as they all went about their day.
Sven once more took in the sights of the buildings all around him as he pondered what to do next after having a good bath, he hadn’t come up with anything to do in this new world.
Plus, with his sudden access to magic, there was a whole new realm of professions and hobbies for him to try out and explore.
That thought made him remember the words of the guard at the city gate and he grimaced as he recalled the ‘you don’t to find out what’ll happen if you push it’ look the man had given him.
As a result of that, and also desperately needing to acquire money, Sven decided that finding one of these professional guilds to join should be his next move.
But, not knowing the city at all, he had no idea where to even start looking. So, putting on the full confused old person charm, he hailed down a man walking in front of him and asked him about it.
The man gave him a warm-ish smile back as he replied, “Oh? The guilds? They’re all by the oasis. If you’re looking for a job, elder, I am afraid I don’t think there’ll be many guilds that’ll employ you.”
Sven brushed off the man’s comment with an, “I see”, before thanking the man and heading off in the direction of the vast body of water.
The air began to cool ever so slightly with each step that he took until it was almost a reasonable temperature as he exited an alleyway onto a large stone circular promenade that ringed the lake.
Thousands of other people walked on either side of him chatting and laughing with one another as they enjoyed the cooler temperature, and some even dared to climb into the water for a swim.
Sven didn’t see any lifeguards anywhere but he guessed that was only to be expected and so his focus shifted to reading all of the signs that hung from the fronts of various tall stone buildings.
This area of the city seemed to be much wealthier than the other portions he’d been in as he was able to spot a few wooden features on each building, whereas it had been all sandstone and some sort of dull brown-ish, yellow-ish, building material so far.
However, as he glanced at each new sign, he began to notice a marked difference between a few of the most opulent buildings in the city that he’d seen so far.
Those buildings that harboured guilds that were ordinary sounding, like the miner, seamster, shoe maker guilds, etc, were all relatively modest in comparison to the buildings with magic-based guilds.
The building that Sven currently eyed outshining the rest with its opulence. The sign hanging over its door was made out of a rich dark wood and the text on it read: “Alchemist’s Guild”.
The only exception to this general rule was the second-best building that Sven saw which housed the city’s merchant guild, which made sense as merchants dealt in both areas, magical and not.
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Yet, the building that Sven ended up walking inside was probably the least opulent of the guild buildings for it belonged to the likely all non-magical builders guild.
Why had he chosen this particular guild?
Well for the simple reason that it was his safest option, and, hopefully, his magical strength would help him get a job even despite his advanced age.
That job could then pay for an inn for a bit as he got himself acquainted with this new world more.
Then, once he had got a good grip on things, he could explore going into one of the more magical fields of work, but that would still likely take a considerable investment of time and money to do. Which was more of a reason as to why getting a basic job first mattered.
Yet, the moment he walked into the building, and the 6 foot 3 inch muscle man that stood at the reception desk shot him a ‘what in the hell are you doing’ glare, he briefly doubted his reasoning.
The iron-clad necessity of getting this job, however, then rebuffed that doubt from his head as he continued his walk up to the mahogany reception desk to confront the man behind it.
“Get out of here old coot, there’s no way you’d survive on one of our sites.” The gruff giant said in a dismissive tone as he tried to wave Sven away.
Sven raised an eyebrow at the younger man and asked, “Oh really? I’m pretty strong and if it is an issue of endurance you’re concerned with, I think you’ll find I’m more than durable.”
“Ahuh, ahuh. Sure you are.” The man replied with a scoff.
Knowing he’d likely get nowhere with just words alone considering his appearance, Sven decided to allow actions to speak louder than his words.
So, trusting in his body’s newfound strength, he placed his elbow onto the table and proffered, “If you are so sure of my weakness, then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind a small contest.”
The tall man looked at him with an amused expression for a moment before letting out a laugh, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a beggar challenge me to an arm wrestle before!”
Sven shot the man a confused look as he replied, “I am no beggar.”
The man only shrugged in response, “Well I know you’re a foreigner, and, in this city, that usually means either you’re a beggar looking for scraps or a wealthy cultivator asshole.”
The man then gestured at Sven, “And, judging by the fact that you’re looking for a job in this here guild, and your aura hasn’t crushed me to death, I can confidently ascertain you’re probably the former.”
Sven didn’t know how he was supposed to respond to that but he guessed he couldn’t argue the logic, so instead he deflected with, “Either way, do you accept the contest or not?”
“Of course fucking not.” The man replied with a laugh. “I don’t want to break your arm, old man.”
“So you’d rather I rot on the streets penniless than potentially suffer a broken arm in the unlikely scenario that I lose?” Sven inquired, finding the man’s moral compass rather confused.
The tall figure’s eyebrows furrowed at his moral probing before sighing and saying, “Alright. I’ll do you one better than just a silly arm wrestling bout. Let's wager on this contest of strength.”
“Ok,” Sven replied, not seeing where the man was going with this.
“If you win, I give you a job. If I win, you leave the city and go find a nice farm out in the middle of nowhere in the land beyond the black mountains and live out the rest of your days there. Alright?”
Sven smiled and then nodded his head, which finally made the other man bend down and place his elbow on the opposite side of the desk.
A moment later they clasped hands, and immediately Sven’s opponent looked surprised by Sven’s grip strength.
But, it was too late for the man to regret his earlier confidence, as Sven pushed his mana into his arm and it felt as easy as pushing over a paper tower to slam the other man’s hand into the table.
“Ah, fuck!” The man shouted as he withdrew his hand which was now red from the impact, “You’re fucking strong, old man! You should’ve warned me!”
Sven smiled a knowing smile as he retorted, “I think you’ll find the first thing that I did was warn of my strength. You were just too arrogant to listen if I remember correctly?”
Instead of getting angry at being chastised, the other man laughed as he nodded his head, “Yeah, yeah, I guess you’re right. Fuck. Well, anyway, I guess I lost the wager. So, good job, you’re hired.”
----------------------------------------
Winona felt as though heaven and earth were weighing down upon her shoulder as a man whose glare could kill a weak cultivator like her in an instant fell upon her kowtowing form.
Then, his voice, though spoken at a regular volume, thundered in her ears, “Winona Argyle. I must say, you have disappointed even the lowest of my earlier expectations for you.”
Tears threatened to stream from her eyes the instant the man’s incontrovertible judgment was issued, condemning her to forever be viewed as pathetic in the eyes of every cultivator in the city.
“This Dune Serpent Sect took you in when you were but a foolish girl begging for scraps. We gave you a home, our elders taught you our technique, and I vouched for your talent before the city.”
Winona flinched as he heard the man suddenly rise to his feet before he bellowed, “And what do we receive in return for our benevolence?! A talentless wench who wastes our resources?!”
Winona’s whole body began to shake as tears streamed down her cheeks. The man’s words were infused with such power that they even managed to penetrate her body and inflict grievous wounds onto her very soul.
Her silent sobs soaked into the wooden floor of the sect master’s hall as the room fell quiet.
Winona had no idea how long she spent crying there in the deathly quiet before she heard the odd creaking of wood as the sect master retook his seat.
Then, he sighed, and continued, “Needless to say, I shall not allow this insult to my Sect stand. I’m hereby suspending you, Winona Argyle, from this sect indefinitely.”
The words came like a final hammer crushing what hope lay in her chest before the killing blow was dealt a second later.
“You thus have two choices if you wish to leave this room alive. Swear the system oath of secrecy and forgo any pretense of honour, or work to repay your debts as a thrall of this here sect.”
Winona had to muster all of the strength in her body to reply in a cracked and broken voice, “I will take the oath of secrecy, master.”
The mighty black robe wearing man scoffed, before rising to his feet and spitting in her direction as he turned around before walking slowly out of the room.
A sect elder bearing a blood-coloured scroll then walked into the room with a cold expression, then threw the scroll at her feet and ordered, “Sign the scroll with your blood, mongrel.”
With jittery hands, she unfurled the scroll before her, and after biting down hard on her thumb, she imprinted the blood that came pouring out of her mangled finger onto the scroll and felt an unbreakable bond form around her soul.
The elder sneered at her before simply ordering, “Now get out of this sect or die.”
Trembling as she rose to her feet, Winona couldn’t even meet the elder’s gaze as she ran, her eyes coated in tears, her vision blurred with the consequence of her failures.
And, as she suffered the glares of her former junior and senior disciples, she couldn’t help but feel as though she were once more the helpless girl that the sect had found back then.
A beggar’s daughter sold to a merchant so that her mother could afford to travel to the land that lay beyond the black mountain and escape the streets of Narses.
Yet, somehow, she began to feel worse as her mind tortured her as only it could. As, at least back then, though she’d not known it, there had been hope at a better life just waiting for her. But, now, she had just scorned her one hope of a happy life.
And, if there was one saying that now raged in her mind as she scrambled out onto the streets of Narses, it was: “Heaven never grants the same blessing twice.”
In other words, her life, which had never been great to begin with, was already over.
----------------------------------------
Sven let out a satisfied sigh as he hopped down from the roof of the building he and the crew had just been working on, and he was met by a beautiful sight.
A bowl of cool oasis water had been left out on the wall by the adorable daughter of the man who they were currently building a house for.
Sven happily splashed his face with the cold water, washing away the sweat while at the same time trying to get any rubble out of his messy white hair.
However, a sort of sadness welled up within him as he finished washing up, as it was finally time.
He’d spent the last 4 or so months hard at work, not only at his job but at the task of gathering all of the information he needed to know about this new world and it’s inhabitants.
This had allowed him to quickly come to a good understanding of the layout of the city, a working knowledge of this land’s culture and people, as well as what mana-based job appealed to him.
He’d managed the latter two things by spending almost all of his weeks pay visiting the city library which housed a great number of books on a whole variety of subjects.
Including, much to Sven’s pleasant surprise, magic and magical theory.
It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise, though, as the fee to enter the library was bordering on the extortionate, and that was for Sven who didn’t have to buy food or water every day.
Thus, for the most part, the library seemed to be the preserve of the city’s middle to upper classes, who nearly all, to a man, possessed some kind of magic and therefore cultivation.
Sven truly meant to say “to a man” as while there were plenty of women in the library at any given time, it was rare that they displayed any kind of magic or exuded any kind of aura.
He didn’t know if that was because they were just being more considerate or what, but noticing it had gotten Sven to try and be more perceptive of the cultural norms of the city regardless.
And, before long, he had come to a simple, obvious, conclusion.
This world was fully medieval, and not just in the technological sense. A reality that he felt somewhat uncomfortable with due to his modern, ish, sensibilities, but that he had no real ability to change.
At least, not yet.
Thus, he had mostly stuck to himself while in the library, reading as much as he could on a subject that had captured his attention ever since he’d walked along the Oasis District’s promenade.
That being, of course, alchemy.