Chapter 7

“Before the Broken Age began there was a massive empire that conquered most of the land. They kept afloat solely using slaves. They were a social class that you were simply born into, and could never get out of. No one worked, only the slaves. This might sound pleasurable of a thought, but it led to serious social decay. Responsibility diminished, parenting was pathetic, and everyone wasn't intelligent. Why would they better themselves if there was nothing to work for? The slaves found a way out of their fetters and rebelled, and because of how unprepared the higher classes were they quickly spiraled into the Broken Age.”

-Words of a professor

Kagu watched his sons walk away upon returning from their trial. He was glad that they came back as successfully as they did, he knew that they would. The crowd that once gathered had dispersed and resumed their everyday lives. His wife Etsuko looked at him in curiosity, “Kagu, isn’t your northern clan meeting today?”

Kagu looked at her with a blank stare, as if he wasn’t concerned. “Come to think of it, it almost started fifteen minutes ago,” Etsuko reminded.

“Yeah I should probably go make an appearance,” Kagu sighed.

Minutes later Kagu arrived at the embassy where the meeting was taking place. As he walked in a secretary greeted him, “Good morning sir, the others are waiting for you in room fourteen.”

Kagu didn’t respond as he walked past heading for the room they were in. The floors of the embassy were a heavily polished light gray marble, to where you could see your own reflection. Matching the floors the walls were also made of a similarly colored marble except the walls had small gold flakes infused inside them, making them shimmer as Kagu walked by. Lighting the hall was an orderly row of golden light fixtures emitting a small orb of light, gracefully illuminating the hall on both sides.

Kagu arrived at room fourteen and entered without knocking. Awaiting his presence three men sat at the large marble table within the room. “It’s about time you showed up, I should have never let you marry my daughter,” one of the men said to Kagu.

“Namba, you say that every time,” Kagu said sitting down at the table.

“The Wardog can take down a continent, but can’t show up on time to a meeting,” Namba remarked.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, let’s get this over with,” Kagu said unimpressed. “Let's start with the Elano.”

“Hi Kagu, how are you? Nice of you to show up,” one of the other men said to Kagu with an obviously fake smile.

“Hello Vekail, you’re killing more time than I did,” Kagu replied with sarcasm.

Vekail chuckled as he rustled through the papers he brought. “Let's start off with the increase in pirate activity. The past couple of months we have seen a pretty steady increase in activity that we have traced back to the Jasmine Empire.”

“Have they stolen anything or caused any collateral damage?” Namba asked.

“No, not yet, we have been steering them off pretty well. But I’m sure that they will send more,” Vekail replied.

“I’m not even going to comment on this,” Kagu said leaning back into his chair with folded arms.

“Why?” Namba asked.

“Because I suggested we flatten them years ago, I’m not going to take part of this soft discussion,” Kagu replied.

“Well I will send a couple squadrons of my troops to the Elano Clan to help you, seeing how you are going to be the main ones fighting these pirates,” Namba said.

“Alright, that sounds good. Also Svolik, you should probably fortify your western border just in case if Jasmine does anything stupid,” Vekail suggested.

“Oh yes, that’s a good idea,” Svolik said snapping out of his daydream.

“The last thing that I want to tell everyone is that there is a big storm coming in from the Crystal Ocean, so make sure your cities main artifact is powered up enough to push the storm around your cities,” Vekail said.

“Namba?” Kagu said to his father in law.

“No, I have nothing to report. The Beeajii as always is doing good,” Namba answered.

“Svolik?” Kagu said looking over at the Tokanoba leader.

“I do have something to bring to the table, I have concerns about Verkarion,” Svolik said.

“Pssh, who doesn’t? What’s the problem,” Kagu said.

“They have been forcing businesses to go bankrupt and then buying them, they have eaten up multiple Tokanoba franchises,” Svolik said.

“Yeah, come to think of it I’ve been seeing that too in Beeajii,” Namba said.

“Well it’s settled then, we will just make all other countries stop business with them, and then buy their bankrupt land,” Kagu suggested.

“Kagu, we aren’t trying to have another broken age on our hands. How about we just limit their business in our nations to where they can’t buy our companies,” Vekail said.

“So we all would be in agreeance with that?” Svolik said looking around the table.

All the men nodded and scribbled on a pad in front of them. “Anything else Svolik?” Kagu asked.

“No that’s all,” Svolik replied.

“Kagu do you have anything you want to add?” Vekail asked.

“No, everything is taken care of here,” Kagu said.

“Well, I think that this is a wrap,” Namba said getting up.

The rest of the leaders stood up and left the conference room heading back to their respective nations. “Vekail, why don’t you stay here a little longer and get a drink with me?” Kagu suggested.

“That sounds good, plus it will help out your economy with the novals I’ll spend,” Vekail sarcastically said.

“Shit, since when has the Atomo Clan needed help?” Kagu said laughing.

__________

Nivra silently slipped away from the dispersing crowd with his large pack of loot. He was heading towards the market district eager to sell off his items and make his novals. Thank the laws that stupid trial is finally over, I can now enjoy the easy life Nivra thought to himself as he slowly walked along the clean and pristine streets. Enjoying the leisurely walk, Nivra admired how rich and beautiful the city was compared to most other cities. The Atomo clan was truly prosperous mostly due to the near monopoly on marble and building stones, too bad the clan had a rule that to Nivra was frustrating to the extreme. The rule was simple, all direct Atomo decedents would have to make their own money starting from the age of thirteen. Those stingy old men would not spare even a little amount outside of providing a place to live, Nivra cursed them silently.

After walking for a few dozen minutes, Nivra entered into the bustling market district. He smiled seeing all the colorful signs and many roadside stalls. One of the merchants sitting at a stall noticed Nivra and his large bag filled to the brim.“Young sir over here I will offer you an amazing deal on your items,” The street merchant yelled loudly.

Nivra looked at the merchant with disdain and annoyance, the intensity of the glare caused the merchant to shut his mouth and recoil. Damn peddlers trying to take advantage of me do they realize who I am, Nivra fumed internally. Looking down he noticed his tattered and dirty cloths he realized he must look almost like a beggar. Nivra walked for a few more minutes before arriving at a large shop almost in the center of the district.

As he walked into the shop threw a large wooden door Nivra was greeted by a receptionist, “Hello sir are you lost?” The man asked Nivra in a condescending manner.

“I am here to sell some things,” Nivra explained in an annoyed tone.

“Sir I'm sure you have certain things to sell but it's getting dark soon if you don't find a place to stay the guards will arrest you and kick you out of the city,” the receptionist responded in an outright rude manner.

“I am not a beggar, get the owner of this shop now!’ Nivra nearly roared at the man in agitation. The man became pale finally noticing the very light glow of Nivra’s eyes.

“Right away,” the man said his jaw chattering from fear, he rushed off into the back of the store. Nivra looking around the store noticed piles of various materials like cloth and metal some of the materials being very rare.

“Looks like coming here was the right choice,” Nivra said admiring the great amount of wealth the shop contained.

“I am glad you are enjoying my shop, please excuse my receptionist behavior he will be severely disciplined,” a middle-age woman emerged from the back of the store. The woman's light blond hair along with her dark green eyes made her look like a typical northerner.

“It's not a problem I do look like a beggar, so it's understandable, but he should be more careful in the future,” Nivra smiled as he replied.

“What can my humble shop help sir Nivra with?” the woman said recognizing Nivra.

“I am here to sell some items,” Nivra said showing the crammed packed bag.

“Let me see the items I promise to give a satisfactory price,” the woman said smiling.

“After the way, I was treated the price is only going to be satisfactory,” Nivra said frowning.

“Is it really becoming of an Atomo to haggle over a few links?” the woman quipped.

“Shopkeeper Sai, it's not good business to insult your customers,” Nivra said in a dull tone.

“Go ahead and take out the items no other shop will give as good a deal as me,” Sai confidently said.

“Your right, no one else can be as frivolous as you,” Nivra said as he emptied out the bag onto a counter. Sai started looking through all the items sorting and organizing them. After doing some calculations, Sai finally gave a price.

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“With all this, it will be eight hundred novals,” Sai said giving a price.

“You're crazy! these items are worth at least twelve hundred in the market,”Nivra replied declining the offer.

“Come now esteemed customer my poor little shop needs to make a decent profit in order to stay afloat,” Sai pitifully said

Nivra looked around at the opulent shop that was covered in excess wealth. Poor? Little? Nivra thought to himself self before bursting into laughter. “Make it an even thousand, and you got a deal,” Nivra replied with a counter offer.

“How can you be so heartless and greedy to a poor woman,” Sai whined almost in tears.

“Stop the fake tears they won't work on me,” Nivra said coldly

“Alright a thousand it is then,” Sai said with a sigh as she pulled out a string of novals. The novals were silver in color with a hole punched in the middle allowing them to be strung together with a string. These specific novals had ten notches on the edge indicating their denomination, with each notch equal to ten novals, so each noval was worth one hundred novals. Sai handed over the string of ten novals to Nivra completing their transaction.

“I am glad we could come to an agreement,” Nivra said greedily snatching the noval string. Nivra turned to leave the store to continue with his errands before being interrupted by Sai.

“Wait, you still have more to sell,” she said pointing to the bundle of boar pelt on Nivra’s back.

“ Sadly I have a use for this, it is not for sale,” Nivra said shaking his head.

“Off with you then,” Sai said with a sniff walking into the back of the store. Nivra walked out of the shop back into the market street. The noise of the street hit him like a wall, with the shop being solid stone it was quiet even though it was in the busy market. After a brief moment of adjusting to the crowded street, nivra walked for a few minutes before arriving at an armors workshop. As Nivra walked in as a wave of heat washed over him as he entered the shop. Inside the workshop were many workers busy moving materials and creating different types of armor.

“ Sir, can I help you,” a young boy of about fourteen asked Nivra who had just walked in.

“Yes, can you get master Shian tell him Nivra has come to pay him a visit,” Nivra answered the boy.

“I will go grab him right away,” the boy said as he sped off to find Shian. This workshop has made pretty much all of my equipment since I was a kid Nivra mused to himself. Master Shian has personally made my weapons for me and has treated me very well since I was a child Nivra thought nostalgically as he waited for Shian. Across the shop, Nivra smiled as he saw a bald man wearing a scarred leather apron walking towards him. The man was master Shian one of the best craftsmen in the entire Atomo clan. Shian was a tall man with a stocky build and a bushy dark blond beard.

“Well if it isn't little Nivra paying me a visit,” Shian said with a wide grin

“How have you been master Shian?” Nivra asked returning the smile

“Been good, got myself plenty of help around the shop now to do the grunt work for me,” Shian said with a laugh. Seeing the young boys stop working to look at him laughing Shians face turned red. “Get back to work you slackers, or by the laws, I'll have you strung up by your feet,” Shian roared crazily at his workers. The workers quickly got back to work not daring to anger Shian again. Taking a deep breath, Shian calmed down before addressing Nivra again.

“So, what can I do for today,” Shian asked Nivra

“I need you to make some hidden leather armor using this,” Nivra said showing Shian the boar pelt. Upon seeing the boar pelt, Shians eyes lit up as he took the boar pelt and began to examine it.

“This is a great coldcrown boar pelt! How did you get ahold of this?” Shian said in excitement.

“I and my brother killed it during our trial in Coldcrown,” Nivra explained.

“You two sure have some kind of luck. This is some of the best leather making material, it's just too bad you can't buy it since there is no supply,” Shian explained.

“We were quite lucky in the fact we had some small village distract the boar so we could kill it,” Nivra informed.

“Makes sense, Great coldcrown boars are highly aggressive and territorial,” Shian stated.

“So, I would like to use some of the pelt for the armor and sell the rest,” Nivra requested.

“Alright, let's see how much you have,” Shian said as he began measuring the boar pelt. “After subtracting the amount for your armor the rest would be worth eight thousand six hundred novals,” Shian said after doing some calculations.

“Good, that sounds like a reasonable price,” Nivra said in excitement of the sudden wealth.

“Would you like it in coin or have it transferred?” Shian asked.

“Go ahead and do a transfer that much coin would be a burden,” Nivra replied.

“Alright, I will head to the Verkarion bank and do the transfer in a few hours,” Shian responded.

“When will the armor be done?” Nivra questioned.

“Give it about two weeks for it to be done,” Shian answered.

“Good, contact me when it's ready I have some more errands to run,” Nivra said before turning around to leave.

“I will send you a message when it is complete,” Shian said was a waved goodbye

Nivra walked out onto the market street enjoying the fresh cool air. I just got to sell the carriage before I can head home, Nivra thought to himself as he walked back to the carriage. Arriving at the carriage Nivra got in and began to operate it. The carriage began to move slowly through the street heading towards industrial district. People stared at the carriage in shock as it drove by. The people were surprised to see a blood-covered carriage going through the streets until they saw the Atomo symbol. Seeing the symbol the citizens understood and carried on with their tasks.

Nivra pulled up to a warehouse filled with many different types of carriages. He exited the carriage when a man aggressively approached Nivra

“That's our carriage you thief!” the man screamed at Nivra as he charged over.

“What are you going on about?” Nivra looked at the man in confusion.

“That carriage is our merchant groups, it got stolen by bandits a few weeks ago,” The slightly pudgy man explained.

“If that's the case I can sell it back to you then,” Nivra said with a grin. The merchant's fat face turned red in rage.

“How dare you! The carriage is our property, our mark is on it,” The merchant screeched

“So, it's in my possession now if you want it you will have to fork over some novals,” Nivra said with a shrug.

“Shameless! Do you even know the meaning of shame?” The merchant roared making his fat jiggle.

Looking at the merchant with disgust Nivra ignored him began to walk past him to enter the warehouse. The merchant began shaking in anger as he yelled at Nivra “If you don't hand over my carriage I'll call the guards and have you arrested for being a thief.”

“Call the guards then, I will wait right here,” Nivra said with a sly smile. The merchant began screaming for guards causing a crowd to form due to the ruckus. A squad of guards quickly showed up to the scene to handle the situation. “ Whats going on here,” one of the guards asked.

“He stole my carriage and refuses to return!” The merchant yelled pointing at Nivra. The guard turned to look at Nivra and was about to say something when the words got stuck in his throat.

The guard then straightened up and put his fist to his chest in a salute “Captain it's good to see you,” the guard said respectively

“At ease, it's good you showed up this person is trying to slander me,” Nivra said in a serious tone.

“Who would be so bold as to try and slander the young master of the Atomo clan?” The guard said in confusion. Hearing this, the merchant's angry red face instantly turned pale in fear.

“It was him, he is claiming I stole his carriage when I risked my life killing some bandits that had been preying on merchants,” Nivra said in a hurt voice pointing to the merchant.

“How dare he try and slander the captain. Men take him and teach him a lesson then toss him out of the city,” The head guard commanded.

“No! Please have mercy,” the merchant began to beg.

Nivra looked at the merchant with deepening disgust. “Men make sure I get my compensation from him. Also, find out which company he is from and get them to pay me reparations for the damage to my reputation,” Nivra commanded.

“Yes sir we'll get on that right away,” the guard responded as they dragged the screaming merchant away. Nivra chuckled as he saw the merchant be pulled away by the guards, as he thought how lucky he was to get some easy novals. Feeling a bit happy Nivra finally found a carriage dealer to sell his carriage to.

“This is the carriage you want to sell,” the dealer said appraising it.

“Yes, it runs good and is made if some good materials,” Nivra said talking the carriage up.

“True, but it's covered in blood. It will take us forever to get it cleaned up,” the dealer explained.

“It would only take an hour or two to clean it, besides that, there is nothing else wrong with it,” Nivra said refusing to give up.

“I can give you sixteen Thousand for it,” the dealer said giving a price

“Only that much? It's worth at least double that,” Nivra rebuked.

“Take it or leave,” The dealer said with a shrug.

“I’ll take it. I suppose,” Nivra said feeling suddenly exhausted.

After completing the transaction, Nivra decided to head to his estate for well-deserved rest. He arrived at the gate to the Atomo clan compound, seeing the guard Nivra simply waved his hand at the guard. The guard seeing Nivra nodded his head and opened the gate for Nivra. Nivra quickly found his estate in a secluded corner of the compound. The entrance to his house was a large stone door set between two marble pillars that were holding up a front balcony. Nivra walked up to the door and felt a pulse of nimora before he heard a crisp click. He then pushed on the door making it swing open. Nivra then proceeded into the house and what greeted him was a large mostly empty room besides some wooden weapons hung on the wall.

It sure is good to be home Nivra thought to himself as he looked around his training hall. Proceeding upstairs Nivra walked into a room with a big cozy looking bed and a few wooden cabinets. Going to one of the cabinets he opened its bottom door revealing a dark metal safe. The safe did not seem to have any mechanism to open it with. Placing his hand on the safe Nivra poured nimora into the safe. After a few moments, the front of the safe seemed to dissolve revealing the contents within. The only thing in the safe was a silver pendant in the shape of a coin. Picking up the pendant Nivra channeled nimora into the pendant sensing the separate space inside of the coin. Inside was a few items like novals and cloths but what Nivra was really checking was the two weapons that were at the center. One was a spear with a black shaft and a translucent ice-like head that emanated frigid air. The other was a massive axe that was solid metal with a vicious crescent moon blade on one side, and a four prong hammer on the other.

Nivra sighed in relief upon seeing the two weapons, these weapons were the fruit of his labor. These weapons have had all of my wealth poured into them I am not sure I could keep living if they were stolen, Nivra mused as he slipped the pendant around his neck. Nivra then headed back downstairs and walked to the back of the large room he opened a large double door to his courtyard. The courtyard was spacious with a hot spring by a corner of a stone fence and a few shrubs and a single tree. Nivra quickly jumped into the hot spring and began to soak his weary bones. I wonder when they will have me go out on another task Nivra pondered as he soaked in the hot water. The old man is always telling me to go do things like wipe out this pirate group, hunt some giant snakes, or raid the Jasmine empires shore, Nivra thought as he relaxed.

After cleaning himself, Nivra walked to his bed and heavily fell onto it. Before he could even think of anything else, he was already asleep.

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Nivra awoke from his slumber feeling refreshed and rested. It had been two weeks since he returned from the trial and he was feeling completely recovered. Guess it's time to get some of the slackers to train, Nivra thought to himself as he rolled out of bed. He left his house and began walking along the Atomo compound until he saw a group of teens walking at the edge of a lake. Nivra approached the teens with a wide smile.

When the teens saw Nivra approach their faces blanched in fear. They turned away and began to walk away as if they did not see Nivra.

“Get back here you lazy slugs,” Nivra sneered slightly upset.

“Please have mercy Nivra,” one of the youths said with a bow.

“If any of you can land a blow on me I'll let you off,” Nivra said as he took out a polished wooden spear from his pendant.

“Let's gang up on him,” another youth said as they all charged at Nivra. Nivra smiled as he whirled his spear and darted towards the teens. After a few moments only one youth was left standing. The youth was a young girl that was surrounded by glass like bamboo that was warping the light making it hard to see her.

“You can't keep running like that Kreya, it will only lead to defeat in the end,” Nivra said as he thrust his spear striking her in the ribs, causing her to let out a light cry as she fell to the ground. As the glass bamboo faded away, Nivra put the training spear into his pendant.

“You guys need to train harder in order to support yourselves in the future,” Nivra reprimanded their poor performance.

“We're just not freaks like you and your brother not to mention your psychotic father,” one of the teens complained.

“Be glad for that, besides I gained this strength through hard work,” Nivra continued his lecture. “I will see you guys in a few days to see if you make any improvements,“ Nivra said as he walked away from the battered youths.

My armor should be about done, I should go check up on it Nivra thought as he headed out of the Atomo compound. He entered the as usual busy market district and headed for the Shians Armory. He entered into the armory and was greeted by the same boy as last time.

“Master Shian was looking for you just wait a moment,” the boy said bolting off to the back of the shop. Shian quickly emerged from the back holding a what looked like folded leather.

“Here is your armor you requested go ahead and try it on,” Shian said handing over the package. Nivra took the package and unfolded it revealing the leather armor. The armor was pristine white with a slightly metallic luster. It covered both front and back with thin straps at the shoulder area it also had laces on the side. Nivra took off his shirt and put the armor on to try it out. It fit snugly to his body and would not be noticed underneath his normal cloth.

“I like it! Yet another masterpiece from Master Shian,” Nivra praised

“Glad you like it. I already refined it so you just need to have it stamped and soul seeded to have a complete artifact,” Shian said proudly. Nivra and Shian made some small talk before Nivra left back to his estate.

It was dark by time Nivra returned home. He was relaxing in his courtyard reading a thick book about tapping theory. It was completely dark so Nivra had created a light orb to read. Suddenly a sky shattering explosion rang out startling Nivra. What in the world was that? Are there two origin level tappers fighting Nivra’s mind raced as he jumped on top of his house. What he saw left him stunned. The huge impregnable wall had a smoking hole blown in it. Fearing the worst Nivra took out his spear and rushed out of his house.