After Colin woke, and Gabe was healed enough to move around without wincing, Gabe began to travel all over the city, moving along the roads from one alchemy shop to another, then from one Healer’s clinic to another, searching for artifacts he could use his new beast trait on to make some money. And also asking around about the rare plant he had found. but no’one knew of the red plant he had discovered. One of the nicer alchemists even brought out a giant Book listing over one hundred thousand plants and herbs of value. But the blood red plant was not listed no matter how long gabe sat in the corner and searched. What was even more odd was that none of these people had ever even seen the plant. Even though Gabe had found them just a little ways away from the city. No’one who ventured out had ever brought one back, or found a single one. This mystery was growing every time he tried to figure it out. Some of the shops he went to were less than kind about him wasting their time with what they perceived as weeds, But Gabe was certain that these weren't just ordinary plants. Not after seeing them standing in such an explosion. One curios shop owner offered to buy the plants for cheep simply because he also wondered what they were, but he thought that Gabe had found them in some far off place, not just outside the city. Gabe thought the offer over since money was better than treasure he couldn’t use, but declined, and decided to keep the plants for now, at least until he could find a higher authority who knew more about herbs. Inside his Space pouch they wouldn't decay, as time was almost at a standstill, so he could keep them indefinitely if he liked. Him and Colin had already spent three weeks in the city by the time he gave up with the plants, and to make enough money for their living expense they had sold some of the beast blood and herbs they had found on their journey to keep afloat. All they needed was a room at the inn, and a few loafs of bread a year could keep them alive if they just cultivated for energy instead of eating but they would still be hungry constantly so even master Channelers ate somewhat frequently. Gabe was still sad about Losing the Gold fairy dust he had left… such a heavy blow as just the tiny amount they had, would have been enough to satisfy them for fifty years in the city if they sold it. and also allow them to buy a short distance Teleport scroll, for their travel. Teleport Scrolls were a difficult thing to make unlike space pouches, and cost more then just an Apprentice Channeler could make in a year or two. Some scrolls could make four or five jumps before they crumbled to dust and others could make fifty or sixty. But only the wealthy could travel that way, it was like riding on a cloud of money. Meanwhile Most poor traveled in flying caravans with great numbers for safety, but even those were expensive. And would only fly from one city to the next one over, Meaning it would also cost large funds to travel very far with them. But the best way to travel were the Spacial Element Channelers. if a person was rich enough and had enough influence he could sign a powerful enough Space Channeler to be his personal teleport scroll. Space channelers couldn't all teleport, it was a Beast trait they would have to acquire. and the ones that got that beast trait were made instantly rich by it.
Primeway was big, too big to walk on foot all the way around even if you had a million years and no obstructions. There were some portal gates, that would allow you to leap long distances through a powerful archway built by master Channelers, but those could only work in the most high quality Energy lands where There was Enough spirit energy to power it. And all of them were owned and exclusively used by the Largest most powerful families and leagues.
Gabe turned Seventeen on his third month in the city. he had already gained another five levels In his cultivation, from spending most of the time meditating. This speed was astounding and He couldn't believe it. he was moving faster then anyone would think possible. Even the most powerful Channelers took about a year or two to pass through the tyke realm. And they were using powerful or rare beasts that cost countless gold rings. He was still behind most his age, but that was soon about to change. And would change even faster if he could get his hands on some better soul beasts. In between Gabe’s cultivation He would buy small low grade artifacts and weapons from shops and begin to transfer some of his Perfect Spirit energy into them. The process took weeks to even accomplish one Grade level for the artifact. But it would have taken months for anyone else at his realm who only had One spirit beast purifying their Energy. The money Gabe made by this he used to keep them afloat in the city. Which Gave him more time to cultivate. Now that he could actually move his power level along, he felt more and more prone to work hard on his Channeling. He even used some of their sparse money on a few Move tombs. Books that taught abilities for each channeler's element through the laws of the universe and heaven. The first he bought was an ability called shrunken head. A death element move that would create Faces out of pure death energy that would bite onto the enemy and begin to suck away his life force. Life force was a souls connection to the mortal world, if it was diminished the souls reaction time and movements would slow. If it was cut completely, a very difficult thing to do, the person would drop dead instantly. This was a strong move, but only if the channeler had plenty of time in the fight.
Another move he bought was the Fear dagger, a dagger he could summon from his fear energy that could be lodged into his enemies and would cause them to feel incredible fear. If they were powerful enough they would be able to overcome it and pull the blade out, but if they were weak of mind then they would be too terrified to even touch it. The longer it was in the Channeler's blood stream the more the fear would build until they ether ran, or curled up on the ground shaking.
Both these moves depended on the power of the user, and would take years to fully master. Gabe spent hours just learning the basics. Colin spent his time after he healed cultivating and watching Gabe take care of everything. He'd never seen the kid work so hard, It was a wonder to see. Gabe never stopped even for a moment, he seamed so driven to cultivate and become stronger. Now he was always training or working while In the past Colin had been forced to take care of everything while Gabe just sat around thinking up ways to risk their life. but everything was changing. and Gabe was like a machine, only resting when he had to. Maybe it was all those years of being weak, or maybe Gabe had always been a hard worker he just couldn't get anywhere with what he had. In ether case Colin was seeing a new side of the kid, a good side he never would have guessed was possible. All the while Gabe was unfazed, not noticing just how much he had changed. This both impressed Colin and scared him at the same time. Gabe had stumbled upon something with more possibilities and opportunities then Colin had ever thought possible, and was probably the most talented low level Channeler in the whole world. After all, the kid could channel his perfect Spirit energy into external objects!! He wouldn't say how he was doing it, but Colin had a feeling it had something to do with His unmoving Channeling mark. With Ten beasts the kid should have gained a level months ago! Colin could tell Gabe was not at the level his mark showed.
The North continent was not a good place to channel Life energy, as Life was one of the Celestial elements. So Colin had only gained two levels since coming to the Chaos lands. His parents had sent him here to utilize some of the High Treasure lands The Hellvine family had near its main branch. He was originally from the south continent. Or the Celestial lands, but that was before he was caught stealing from a head of the Family counsel. Time had shown what a fool he was for that mistake, but he had been too hotheaded to let that Bastard get away with hurting his friends. Colin had always thought he would die out here with Gabe, and never get a chance to return to his parents, after all this world was not kind to the weak, and it was already astounding that two low level channelers had survived for this long in the wild without holing up in a farming city somewhere and living drab lives before Gabe past away from not being able to cultivate out of the embryo stage.. but a spark of hope was lighting up in Colin’s heart, and he prayed they would somehow make it in this world. So he could see his mother again one day and apolagise for shaming her.
Time passed quickly in the city. With colin doing nothing but cultivating for days while Gabe worked his ass off training and honing his moves, cultivating, and channeling spirit energy into weak weapons and even plants making a profit when they advanced in quality. If just advancing artifacts was all he did they would be swimming in wealth by now. But Colin admired Gabe's focus with his Channeling which he spent the most time doing, if the brat didn't risk his scrawny neck one to many times in the future, he would become an unstoppable Channeler some day. Probably sooner then ether of them could guess. Colin wanted to help with the money and work he really did, but he figured Gabe would tell him when he was needed and he liked the idea of the kid gaining some responsibility skills. It was also nice to be the one taken care of for a while.
Gabriel didn't let himself slow down, at his age he should have already been an Apprentice Channeler like Colin. Maybe even further then that with his extraordinary potential as a child. He refused to stay behind. And though he wanted to make it to the Yellow back mountains and find that store of treasures, he knew he'd be better off in the city for a while. He was already moving so fast if he kept this up he would surpass colin in a year or two. Which was almost unthinkable as the Man had always been more powerful then him. Like a father figure even. He grinned at the thought though.
The room they stayed in was barely large enough for his martial art practices, and with some of the old junk he was collecting to upgrade cluttering the floor, he had to work on his Precision and form instead of his raw power. In the city he had bought a couple new soul beasts from various low blooded breeders. Nothing very powerful just a few Hell Hounds that were stronger then the Undead zombies he was using before. And a champion realm spirit of Darkness. That had really helped his cultivation. Something he was glad to find out was that even though he Got rid of the soul-beast. He still kept the Trait it had given him, this was very good news as it meant he could pick up a variety of traits in his cultivation, and once he became powerful enough he could pick and choose the Beasts he wanted traits from. He shuddered slightly when he thought of reaching the elder realm, most at that realm had only five beast traits… but when he got there he would have over fifty. There could not be a more astounding feat done in all of primeway. It made him grin endlessly.
Stolen novel; please report.
More Days passed and Gabe fell into a pattern of training. Train until he was tired, cultivate for three days. Train again, push Perfect spirit energy into a Death barb, or Low grade Poison blade for a week to advance the artifact. Then train and repeat. Sleep only when necessary. He enjoyed his training the best as even while he was honing his new abilities the Giant's tear around his neck was cultivating for him. It couldn't do that when he was pushing all his Perfect spirit energy into an object instead of his soul.
"Oh! That one's a bute!" The old gray shop keeper said as Gabe slapped a Harmony Channel bell on the hard oak counter. The shop keepers name was Burnlock, he looked like one Of Gabe’s favorite uncles as a kid with his long silvery beard that went down to his stomach and a wrinkled kind face. He was a Tyke Realm channeler who didn't have enough talent to get past his block, and had begun to age at only 48 years old. He maybe had ten years left before his body would give out completely. The shop was a small stone building with a second story living quarters and plenty of Treasures and artifacts laid on shelves in the main room. It was actually cluttered with low grade Treasures that only the weak and poor would buy, which made it one of Gabes favorite Shops to buy from. Today however he was selling. The kind old man had given him really good deals in the past and hadn't been trying to shaft him or over sell him like the other shop owners in the city. Even tough his wares had been the very bottom of goods And almost too cheep to live off of.
Gabe had gotten pretty good over the past five months at knowing the value of what he had. He'd bought scrolls and books on Rare treasures and had become an expert on the cheep trash that could possibly be valuable if someone spent enough time channeling power into it. The bell he'd laid before Burnlock was a mid grade Rare treasure worth more then anything else in the shop he was in. It had been busted and weak when he got it, barely useful as scrap. But he'd spent the last mouth and a half working on the thing. The Harmony Channel bell was a treasure that when Rung would project a three hour aura of Open Channeling. Meaning spirit energy could be Absorbed by the Channeler's body at twice his full potential. A Channeler's potential to absorb energy into his body to go through his Soul beast was Called his Draw, and it was directly linked to the size of the beast his soul room could hold. As such Gabes Draw had always been more then enough to supply his Spirit beasts as long as he was in an area with plenty of energy. In fact he was fairly certain that the people aroud the Inn he was staying at were suffering because he was absorbing the Choas spirit energy from nearly a mile in all directions. "I don't think I can buy this off of ya." Burnlock said pushing it back across the counter. "I run a low grade shop for a reason. Ain't got the funds for some’n like this." Gabe could see that the man wanted it, and he wasn't just down playing the item he really couldn't afford it. Gabe smiled. "Well, I really didn't pay that much for it to begin with." Gabe lied, even in the condition it was at when he found it the piece was considered valuable. He looked at the kind shop owner who had been the only nice person he’d met in the whole blasted farming city. In Gabes mind Burnlock was a much rarer treasure than this bell. "how much do you think you could offer me at your highest?" Burnlock grimaced. "Aaaa.... maybe a pair of Silver rings. But you should take this to the shops on the higher end of town. I know for a fact They'll pay almost twice..." "done!" Gabe said loudly, grabbing Burnlocks hand and shaking it. The old man looked at him with wide eyes. "What?" He rose an eyebrow. Gabe held out his hand. "two Silver rings. That’s more then I paid for it." Actually he was coming out even. But this took priority over money. Like he was in a daze Burnlock nodded slowly and handed Gabe the entire money pouch he had at his side. Gabe took it and didn't even look inside. But it felt like a hundred copper rings, so he trusted it. "Make sure to use it at least once." He told the shop keeper with a grin. "You know, before you sell it." The old man snapped out of his shock looked down at the bell and suddenly realized why Gabe had given it to him. It could help him get past his block. "You... you wait right there." He said grabbing the bell and running to the back. Gabe started for the door, but Burnlock came back in time to stop him and give him two low grade treasures. One was a rusted Shrinking dagger that could shrink down to the size of a straw allowing someone to hide it easily on their being. The other was a Sticky Fire doll. A small creepy looking doll that when activated could be thrown onto your enemy and if it hit would burn with a searing flame that might burn even an elder level Channeler of the doll was good enough quality. This one was the lowest possible grade. Burnlock shoved the items into his hands without asking and thanked him profusely. Then closed up his shop when Gabe left, probably to begin a Cultivation session. The items Gabe had gotten were decent, but still not worth half of what the Channel bell was. Gabe put them in his Space pouch, he would turn both of them into dangerous weapons. He'd already been looking for items that could help him defend himself in a pinch. And that doll would be perfect with his hand eye coordination. He could probably hit an elder realm channeler from half a mile away. As long as his target was holding still.
Walking down the street a group of three Channeler's wearing hoods began to follow him. Gabe whispered a curse word, this was the second time today. All three of them were the bottom this city had to offer just low level Tyke realms. Seven levels beneath him now since he had reached the finale stage of the tyke realm. though they wouldn't know that with his messed up Channeler's mark that still showed him as a stage nine embryo. he couldn't complain about It to hard however, so far his mark and seemingly sad low Level of power had kept bigger Thugs from trying to rob him as he walked the markets. Anyone as weak as he was couldn't have anything worth the time of a powerful channeler. It was one of the reasons Gabe didn’t let Colin out on the streets much. But these small time thugs who were struggling to even make it out of the tyke realm would hit anyone with lower power then them for scraps. Gabe had fended off dozens of them in the lower parts of town. And only one had ever been able to take something from him. A quick little bastard who just snatched a hand full of rings right out of his hand before taking off. Since then Gabe had taken to being very diligent when walking the streets or talking to vendors. The streets were dingy here, and only a few citizens were out. The hooded thugs were getting ready to strike, but Gabe wasn't as sloppy as them. He wanted no witnesses at all. For a second he almost felt sorry for the Lot as he turned the corner of a Cheep alchemy shop that sold weeds claiming they could help you cultivate, and headed to the back of the dark ally behind it. They were only trying to get the means to cultivate. Most low level Channelers in the city didn't have many other options. It was dangerous in the wilderness, and only those with a high enough cultivation could really make a living for themselves. Just a little bit of money could buy an item that might help a small block and save you months of hard cultivation.
Just like he thought the Thugs followed him into the ally. Stealing, mugging, and killing in the city were illegal. But unless their were witnesses, or the victim was a member of a powerful Family or faction it was rare that anyone would get caught. Power was law, and if you were weak then most believed you should also be dead. "Looky, Looky!" One of the hooded thugs said. His face was cast in shadow under the Grey cloak, but Gabe could see him well enough with his soul sense. He was a bit pudgy and stood to the right of a blonde pretty boy who was snarling. The third thug stood at the entrance blocking any path of escape. Apparently none of them were asking themselves why this low leveled Embryo Realm Channeler had led them to a place where no'one would be watching. "What ya got kid?" The blonde one said. They were all much older then Gabe most likely by a decade or two, but he still didn't like being called kid. "I've got death and despair for those foolish enough to try to rob me." Gabe said with anger. The pudgy thug with the beer belly laughed. "Thats a good one. Because we also have some Death and despair. Perhaps we should trade?" The blonde let out a single "Ha!" Once they were close enough Gabe rose his hands and took the stance he’d been practicing for the past five months. To his own surprise he’d shown unprecedented growth with all of his martial arts, enough for him to be labeled a Genius talent, perhaps a genius of genius. Before the would be thieves could react, three Faces made of Death energy appeared next to them and bit their arms. Latching on and immediately beginning to suck away life force. The one in the back was so surprised he let out a shout before they all tried to pull the evil looking faces off. But they weren't strong enough, Gabe was already a Tyke level nine. He could beat them with his bare hands if he wanted to. But he preferred to practice his Channeling. Even though it was a bit cruel. What else could be expected from a disgraced member of the Hellvine family. The thugs were instantly slowed as they soon started to hit and beat and punch at the faces latched on their bodies, but their blows just bounced off. One channeled darkness into a knife and started stabbing at the Face's eyes. But the knife glanced off, he changed tactics quickly and started trying to pry the Face off with it instead. "That's the spirit!" Gabe cheered them on watching as their actions slowed and one started banging his arm against the wall yelling. "What did you do!" The one in the back yelled. Another shouted. "It's suckling on our life force!" After another minute of frantically clawing at the faces and steadily slowing down. All three were sweating. "If we kill him we don't have to worry about the Masks!" The blonde finally shouted. Gabe was impressed with just how slow in the head this batch of thugs was. The others looked at Gabe and snarled then they all three charged at him. It was the most hilarious thing Gabe had ever seen. The all drug their feet as they tried to run but didn't have the strength, then they all fell on their faces and grunted as they tried to get up with shacking arms. They were moving so slow now. Soon they each went still one by one, and then their breathing stopped. The Energy Face's disappeared as all the life force of his enemies was gone.
It was probably one of the worst ways to die Gabe thought. Not the slow cruel death he put them through, no he'd gotten over that the first time he did that to a Mugger on these streets. But to die while trying to rob someone. There was no honor for those whose death came when they were doing wrong, but he could not spare the lives of thugs that would surly attack him again if they got the chance and thought they could win, and likely with more people behind them. Gabe also thought of the other lives these thugs would have taken in the future if he hadn’t ended their career here. He waved the thought away though, no point in getting self righteous about killing. Quickly he searched the criminals bodies for anything of value. He found some space pouches filled with small almost worthless treasures. A purse with about three on silver and a couple copper rings in it. And a necklace with a tiny metallic Sphere on the end. This was interesting. It was an alchemist Ball. Made from a mixture of rare metals, spirit energy, and iron honey a type of rare sap from a spirit tree. This wasn't very much, but when used the alchemist would chip off tiny pieces into his recipe and it would make certain pills or medicines that would increase bodily toughness. Even a small low grade ball like this was worth a silver ring or two, but they weren’t sold to anyone without an alchemy permit in the city so normal Channelers couldn’t get their hands on one. Gabe took his loot and hurried back to Colin waiting at the inn, this was a good find and must have belonged to some poor sap who got robbed today.