‘’...’’

‘’Senior brother, you look quite fancy today.’’

‘’Would you like to die?’’ Gaobun grumbled from the bed he laid on. The fancy bandages wrapped around his chest and shoulders carried traces of blood from the battle two days ago.

‘’Of course not,’’ Ubel smiled and sat on a chair across the bed. He brought two pies from the only working bakery of the city as presents. Gaobun didn’t seem to like them though, he eyed them as he would look at a degenerate. Or maybe he was looking at Ubel, who could know?

‘’Senior brother?’’

‘’What?’’ Gaobun turned around to look away.

‘’I thought you were fine by now. Shouldn’t the process be faster?’’

‘’Why should it be?``asked Gaobun. ‘’The greater your power, the more energy you need to rejuvenate. Why do you think elders of the sect almost never leave the mountain?’’

‘’Because they are old?’’

‘’Because they are wounded-wait old? Don’t tell that in front of an elder.’’ Gaobun warned. His grimacing face told of a painful past, indeed. They said his master, Elder Windblade, was also some old fellow with thousands of wrinkles on his face.

‘’I won’t ask about that, but alright.’’ A piece of genuine advice from a senior generation was almost always beneficial and had to be heeded. Ubel heard about this, and other sayings resembling each other, many times both in and out of the mountain and the city. Though he doubted the validity of that, with the exception of his father.

‘’So how long do you think it will take?’’

‘’Hmm-’’ Gaobun mumbled to himself something about herbs, Qi, cells, and life power. Ubel waited until his self-discussion ended.

‘’About two days. Quan’s herbs helped quite a deal, so it might be sooner.’’

‘’Quan? Senior brother, isn’t it inappropriate to address him like that?’’

‘’It is appropriate-’’ At that moment Quan appeared right beside them, wearing an ordinary blue robe with a black tie around the waist. ‘’No, even his right.’’

‘’His right?’’

‘’Ubel, seniority never was about age in the cultivation world.’’ He said as he fell down on a sofa across the room. His voice sounded tired, even wounded for some reason. Exhaustion dripped from his eyes as he looked around the room, and his non-existent effort to hide it didn’t escape from the duo’s attention.

‘’It is about power or authority. Latter comes with former, too, so either case it is ruled by an individual’s strength. When we departed, Gaobun still had to conform to the traditions. Yet he broke through the path opening right before we reached, and this put him on an equal level as me.’’

‘’But isn’t this contradicts with what you are saying, senior master?’’ Ubel questioned. He took down the monster Gaobun struggled to keep up with one move. If this wasn’t the clearest evidence of the difference of their strength, then what would be?

‘’Ubel, Gaboun is strong. He is much much stronger than me.’’ Quan let out a weak sigh. ‘’My power is temporary, I can’t use large amounts of Qi for long periods of time.’’ Quan pulled the as always long sleeves of his robe, then pointed with his head.

‘’Let me show you-’’ Quan’s Qi started to revolve, but something seemed off. The first revolution was slow, way too slow. Then the second revolution came and ended much faster. Then the third, and the fourth revolutions. As the speed of the Qi shifted, some blue streaks of light appeared on Quan’s skin.

‘’This is a disease.’’

‘’A disease? I thought immortals were immune to diseases?’’

‘’We aren’t, Ubel.’’ Quan shook his head and closed his sleeve again as the streaks of light started to diminish. ‘’To simple diseases like cold, yes. But epidemics aren’t the same. They evolve over time, they get stronger and more deadly. This-’’ He clenched his fist while saying that.’’-was a disaster called Judgement.’’

Judgment, a befitting name to a calamitous epidemic. It swept over tens of empires, grasped millions from the clutches of life and dropped them at the hell’s bay. ‘’Back then...I was known as the Hero Of Kryostria. It was one of the strongest frontier cities of the continent border.’’

‘’I heard of that place,’’ Ubel remembered the city. It was once the most prosperous city of the whole continent border, a pub of culture and a place that carried at least a thousand-years-old relics in its vicinity. ‘’It fell down after a strange event, followed by the attacks of evil sects a hundred years ago.’’

‘’That strange event was The Judgment.’’ Quan sat straight again, his expression seemed a bit healthier than before. ‘’It spread from a plant imported from the northern continent, at those times there were no evil-righteous sects so trade was actually a famous and profitable job.’’

‘’When turned into powder, it could heal light injuries in a blink. When made into meals, it could give energy. If used as a catalyst in medicinal pills, it could purify and increase their grade by a large boundary. Simply a miracle, something from the sovereigns’ own blessings some people said. So it was named Sovereign Grass’’

‘’It soon spread to all of the continent, some disciples even snuck a bit of them into the sect. Yet, when an alchemist tried to use the Sovereign Grass to create a poison everything started to crumble. His residence exploded and the poisonous smoke of the grass spread to the city. By that time, almost every soul in the Kryostria came into contact with it once, and in the continent very few didn’t know of its fragrance.’’

Quan stopped and grumbled a bit. He caressed his throat, then took out a gourd filled with wine to take a sip. Now distracted, Ubel looked at his side to find Gaobun looking away from both, his eyes closed. He must have known of the story, perhaps things more than told to him by now. So, he looked uninterested, even relaxed to a degree. Thinking of relaxing, Ubel felt his back ache from sitting down on the wooden chair, but Quan spoke at that time so he couldn’t do more than complain in his heart.

‘’As I said, almost everyone knew or touched it. And the poisonous gas had some strange property that could track down the aura of the Sovereign Grass. It soon spread, faster than we could intervene, and afflicted people it came into contact with.’’

‘’It had three stages, at the first stage one couldn’t use the Qi freely. At the second, they were crippled, and at the third stage they would die from getting their meridians torn apart.’’ Quan stopped, meddling with the bottle in his hand. ‘’We...we saved eighty-seven thousand people in an hour. Eighty-seven thousand. Such a huge number. Yet, we still failed. Evil sects ambushed at that time, then It spread. After that, for two whole decades, the continent fell into chaos.’’

Ubel stood silent. He thought, or knew, from Quan’s complicated gaze that there was more into it. But he didn’t question. He didn’t seem willing, and him rushing over the last part talked about it enough. Then all three sighed at the same time.

‘’Mentioning saving, Ubel.’’ Quan let out a smile and looked over at Ubel. ‘’I heard you took care of some people at the northern section of the city today?’’

‘’Took care of? Did you join the aidmen or something? Why didn’t I hear of this?’’ Gaobun turned slightly over to peek at him.

‘’Oh- it was something out of impulse.’’ Ubel didn’t know how to explain himself. ‘’I just said I would, and showed Cindersnow emblem so they would follow. But I regret it a bit, using medicine would be faster to help people.’’

‘’Medicine has its shortcomings as well. Over time you will gain resistance to it and your wounds won’t heal, and it will either way leave remnants of impurity inside your body. So don’t worry, you actually made a better choice.’’

‘’Oh...when you put it that way I feel proud, senior master.’’ He let out a breath and smiled. ‘’This feels great. Senior brother, won’t you praise me too?’’

‘’Good job, don’t do it again. Also, I'm sleepy, can you two leave for a bit and continue your talk outside?’’ Gaobun seemed irritated, and Ubel felt an evil side of him wanting to bully the man more. But he constrained that little devil and lightly grinned.

‘’Won’t you eat the apple pies before leaving, senior brother? I spent my allowance for them, you know?’’

‘’Would you like to die?’’

‘’Of course not,’’ Ubel replied and stood up. He didn’t forget the apple pies though and sliced one half and put it on the side of the bed. ‘’But still, a meal is a meal. My grandma always said it is better to eat when injured.’’

‘’Ubel’s grandmother is right, Gaobun.’’ Quan agreed as well and stood up from the soft sofa. He had a longing gaze for the smooth cushion, and a trace of greed for that didn’t escape from the paralyzed Gaobun. ‘’Eating when injured always tastes better.’’

‘’Can-you-not?’’

Ubel flinched at the blazing eyes of Gaobun and took a step back. He quickly gave a bow and said ‘’Take care senior brother, see you soon.’’ Then rushed out of the room. Quan giggled and looked over at Gaobun, who took the slice of pie in his hands. With a swift motion, he stuffed the entire thing inside his mouth and swallowed it whole.

‘’Then when shall we depart?’’

‘’For the woods?’’ Gaobun wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then stood up from the bed. ‘’Give me fifteen minutes. I will prepare now.’’

‘’Alright, I’m going to inform the city lord then.’’ Then Quan disappeared from the room.

Gaobun, likewise, got out of the bed and stretched a bit. Looking over at the setting sun, he pondered the taste of the pie and took out a crimson robe to wear.

I should learn the recipe...

*********

‘’So she was fine when you found her?`` asked Ubel.

‘’Fine would be underestimating, she was even laughing like a lunatic. Her friends were terrified-my dad also got out unscathed too.’’ Kowalski hung his head a bit low, a bitter smile spread thin on his mouth. He even stumbled on the dislocated pavements’ stones whilst wondering about what to do.

‘’That’s good news then.’’ Ubel passed in front of him and opened his arms wide. ‘’What about your mother? How did she react?’’ He waved them around like an excited child.

‘’...do you want a hug or something?’’ Kowalski sent a sheepish glance and covered himself.

‘’What? No-ugh..’’ Ubel sighed and restrained himself further. ‘’Just forget it.’’

‘’Well, she was only surprised.’’ The shameless fellow started speaking. ‘’She said he looked quite handsome with that huge physique, she even gave him a cup of tea.’’ His expression darkened a bit as he said the next part. ‘’She said I would better try to get a body like that If I wanted to seduce some lady.’’

‘’Wait, do women like men with huge muscles?’’ Ubel was baffled.

‘’Of course not!...I don’t know. Class pres’ boyfriend is also some skeleton, so maybe-’’

‘’Who are you calling a skeleton?’’ An angry voice boomed in Kowalski’s ears as he sent himself to the front. He couldn’t escape the sonic slap, however, as it struck his nape and sent him rolling on the ground. Horrifying! Ubel took a few steps to the side subconsciously and looked at the fuming woman.

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‘’Don’t you dare to talk behind people’s backs!’’

‘’Then I’ll say it now too, he is a skeleton! You can even see his eye sockets!’’

‘’...aren’t you going to the smithy anyway? Why are you fooling around like this?’’ She snorted and helped Kowalski stand up. ‘’Ubel too. You are a disciple of Cindersnow, you should be more dignified. Your stature has to be nobler than others.’’

‘’Why? Isn’t it fine with what it is right now?’’ Ubel asked rightfully. ‘’Who said those things to you people anyway? Everyone in the Cindersnow is like me and senior brother.’’ Ubel found it strange, inexplicable even. Everyone assumed him, or Cindersnow’s disciples to be fellows high and mighty in status and stature. Hell, there wasn’t even one disciple in Cindersnow who walked properly like a noble of the empire, specifically the City Lord.

Drunkards? They were at least a dozen times more frequent than Yadratafos’ pedestrians. Fights over debts? He couldn’t pass a day without seeing a disciple or two getting smacked by a Combat Master in the borough seven. For two whole years, he saw and interacted with the rumored Sacred Immortals, and the only sacred thing of those people were their mothers and the business their mothers were up to.

The class president, from her shocked expression, must have read all the thoughts passing inside Ubel’s head from his twisted expression so she just didn’t respond. She turned to look at Kowalski, who in turn looked at Ubel. After a moment passed, Ubel sorted his thoughts and returned back to walking. Kowalski followed after, then class president of the now-closed college.

‘’So what are you guys going to get?’’ she asked. ‘’I want to get a halberd, or a glaive would do too.’’

‘’Not interesting huh? A shortsword or dagger would do better.’’ Kowalski commented.

‘’No-’’ Ubel instantly disagreed.’’A spear is the best weapon in a siege battle. It has a long range and can do a multitude of attacks like sweep, slash, or stab. It can be pretty handy.’’

‘’You can do the same with a sword, no? If you have the expertise, a sword can be more lethal. I suppose a lethal weapon would fare better than a handy weapon.’’

‘’Well, it sounds right but we are all amateurs. So who knows? Maybe the blacksmith will care enough to tell us.’’ Ubel said, but his experience from hunting told different. Since he wasn’t going to be on the walls to fight against the beasts directly, as City Lord’s assignment showed that only he and a handful of students from medical course stood behind the walls as aidman, it didn’t matter much what he chose. What mattered was experience, and he had the most experience with his hands, hatchet, and bow. He also had some proficiency with the dagger, too, but it all came from skinning animals, not killing them.

Considering his role as an aidman, unless something like a breach of the walls or a swarm occurred he wouldn’t even lift a finger against an enemy. Speculations were speculations though, so not getting anything to protect himself would be a waste. But the matter was different for Kowalski and class president, and their choice of tools would affect whether they managed to survive or not.

Mentioning surviving, Ubel also wondered what material the tools were made out of. They said making armors with metal would be impossible since the reserves were too low and it would take too much time. If one wanted, they could only get enchanted robes. Yet for weapons, it was essential to get something useful. As a path finding cultivator, although not necessarily immune, steel weapons could only create light cuts on his skin unless he didn’t use a Qi barrier. If he used, however, they could only hope to break through the barrier only after a dozen strikes.

And their opponents were beasts, lightning imps with the lowest prowess and things stronger than them. Materials such as iron and steel were out of consideration. Beasts’ skin and flesh were harder and tighter, sometimes they could be even tougher than his own Qi barrier. In such a situation, what could they hope to achieve with simple materials?

So Ubel felt quite excited as well, getting to know about some new material he never heard of was quite a fond feeling.

So they arrived in front of one of the seven smithies of the city. There wasn’t any line nor people waiting in front of the small oaken door, not out of expectations as they came a bit early in the morning. Kowalski pushed the door open and they entered into the place.

The first thing they felt was a burning heat, not unbearable but still disturbing and tickly. The smell of ash and sweat, both of which Ubel knew from the mountain and his own, infiltrated the nostrils and seeped out of the door. A huge forge laid in front of their sight, and a middle-aged man with greyed beard hammered a piece of hot metal above the flames of the same forge. Rows of empty weapon holders and hangers decorated the mossy walls and corners.

‘’Most were given off already-’’ The blacksmith explained, ‘’So count yourselves unlucky.’’

‘’Oh, that is unfortunate.’’ Kowalski didn’t seem a bit upset at all. ‘’Then are we going to place orders and take them later?’’

‘’You are a genius boy.’’

‘’My mom says the same thing-wait!’’ Kowalski seemed a bit upset after all.

‘’Senior-’’ Ubel clasped his fists in greeting, as he could feel an overbearing aura from the man. From the fluctuations, he was, at the lowest, third path finding or first path establishing. Seniority comes with power...how sad. ‘’May I ask when can we take our weapons?’’

‘’First, tell me what you want. Only then I can tell.’’ Blacksmith stopped hammering and left the unrefined piece of iron on the small platform above the forge.

‘’Let me tell you these things first: We don’t have any elemental metal or divine metal, we have Black Steel and Green Steel. I won’t make any stupid weapons like twin-blades, too. I recommend you youngsters to use spears and halberds, they will be the most useful if you haven’t used any weapon in the past.’’

‘’And for you-’’ He turned to look at Ubel, his gaze slightly lingered on his hands. ‘’We don’t have any good material for a strong bow, but I can enchant it. Do you want anything else?’’

‘’Then...a gauntlet will do.’’

‘’Gauntlet?’’ Blacksmith frowned.

‘’Yes, a kind that protects palms and forearms. If it could be flexible around the fingers, it would be better.’’

‘’You want too much...but count yourself lucky this time. Green steel might do.’’ He nodded then turned to class president. ‘’You girl? You seem to be experienced too.’’

‘’Oh, yes senior. I used polearms, our family’s heritage is all about spears and poles.’’ She answered without any hurry. Talking about stature, her stance seemed quite strong. Ubel thought it was a pretty good ability to have discerning eyes. ‘’I would prefer a heavy spear if it is possible.’’

‘’It is possible, that is why Black Steel is here for.’’ He nodded again. ‘’And the genius, what would you like.’’

Kowalski fell silent and clenched his fists. It was pretty obvious that he wanted to say something, but felt reluctant. Still, under the blacksmith’s fearsome gaze he didn’t hold much longer.

‘’A...a halberd senior.’’

‘’Good. Come back early tomorrow.’’ He said and turned his back. The door opened a second after and another group of disciples entered, some with familiar faces. The class president struck a conversation with them while Ubel left with Kowalski and went on their way towards a random path.

*********

Brrrrr- Why is it this cold?

Laila rubbed her leather gloves together. Though snowflakes never reached the city, and in case they reached they would be swept away in a moment’s notice, the cold managed to affect nonetheless. She didn’t know whether because their castle had a kind of ventilation or temperature adjuster like those in the guild halls of the Cindersnow city, but sweating was a normal occurrence even with a strap of cloth.

And these people are working with just those in this cold? She looked over at the almost finished building and people carrying huge bulks of wood inside with nothing but a loose robe. A four-story high factory with a slanted pier towards the sky. It donned the sides of the pillars with unrefined soulstones to feed the new constructed puppets and pieces of machinery with energy. Also, it looks pretty in the night sky.

Completing a building like this, and dozens of other houses, in a span of four days was an impressive feat wherever you went. Especially when it was getting done with limited resources, mostly overdrawn from her father’s own treasury, and manpower. Though people creating more complex monuments and ten or eleven-story department buildings in a day- they couldn’t even hope to compete with that. Cindersnow’s way of doing things was simply too crazy, yet effective.

Of course, their manuals allow them to operate in a larger width of time with less focus and effort. In contrast, our state manuals are just rubbish. The constant breathing and adjusting the body to the irreplaceable attributes of the technique made it impossible to learn other manuals. Even after furthering their cultivation, they had to abide by the rules of the sect and use whatever it deemed them appropriate. Seeking other sects for manuals? Even they had to inquire the sect about who to grant and whom to take from. So in one way or another, even the path of martial arts was under the monopoly of the sect.

They had no say in the matter though, and she didn’t think they would have unless sect disappeared.

‘’Laila.’’ A hand grasped her shoulder. Laila flinched for a moment before she recognized the voice.‘’What are you thinking about?’’

‘’It shouldn’t take more than a few hours for the first cannon to make.’’ She said and sent a glare to her father. ‘’But dad, can you not come up so suddenly?’’

‘’You avoid my question, but alright.’’ Sid sighed and put a scarf around her neck. It also covered her reddened nose and ears together with her braids. ‘’Didn’t your mother say to visit her before departing? She was going to give this to you herself.’’

‘’Mother knotted something? Isn’t that an achievement?’’

‘’It is, and she was very proud of herself. Though you might have upset her...a little.’’

A little...That little was probably going to be Laila apologizing to her for hours until her motherly instincts couldn’t bear more. Ugh- forget it.

‘’Anyway, dad. Did you come to inspect or to look out for me?’’

‘’Nope, I came to inspect some of the woods for a request.’’ Sid said and looked over at the large heap of woods, extracted from the foot of the mountain by the Cindersnow fellows two days ago. ‘’They just wanted a piece, though prefer them to be better than the norm.’’

‘’What is that for?’’ She asked.

‘’I’m not sure myself,’’ Sid admitted. ‘’ But it might be for some experimentation.’’

‘’Or just a souvenir,’’ She commented.

‘’It might be, or it might not. Does that pose a problem to you?’’ He seemingly didn’t want anything to go wrong with things. To be honest, Laila’s father was only good at soothing people and fighting, and he never used both. His concern, however, was somewhat cute.

‘’No, of course not. Currying favors with someone of Cindersnow is a better choice. Though I don’t think they all differ much in quality...oh wait.’’ She stopped for a moment and paced around her father for a bit. ‘’Dad, I think I have one of good quality.’’

‘’Good quality?’’

‘’Sorry- it is actually better than that. I don’t know how it ended up with others but they couldn’t chop it into smaller pieces before. I told them to put it over somewhere for later.’’

‘’Good choice, may I take a look?’’

‘’Of course, dad. Hey, can you look over a bit?’’ She called out for one of the guards around the perimeter and sent him off towards the large pile of wood stacked alongside the road. In a minute, he came back holding a long trunk with pristine white color on his back. He huffed and puffed as he left back after dropping it at their feet.

‘’This...it indeed looks good. How did it manage to improve itself this much around the others?’’

‘’Dad, didn’t you say that they solidified the Qi around them constantly? It was just a matter of time until one like this popped out, no?’’

‘’Well, that is true unless you don’t include the devouring instincts of awakening trees and the innate potential of the said plants. In the first place, no colony of half-sentient trees would allow a member among them to improve rapidly. Once there is a big enough difference between their sturdiness and power, a lone tree could devour all of its kind and turn into a sentient demon.’’

‘’Wait, these trees were half-sentient in the first place? And I never heard of plants turning into demons.’’

‘’Well,’’ Sid scratched his head,’’ You can’t because sect eliminates them in the first place. By their nature demons devour all they see, and human immortals are generally beneficial to their cultivation and lifespan. Theoretically, demons can live indefinitely if they devour enough people. So you can imagine what horrors we would face if one managed to grow.’’

And Sid left out some worrying points, Laila thought. The changes seen in these trees, if her father didn’t lie about it, only happened around after declaration. Then this meant the process of turning into a demon wasn’t long, at most two months if a single member of half-sentient colony turned out to be smarter than others of its kind. She had confidence, a type that she wished she didn’t have, that there were more of these types of plants other than trees. If so, then the number of demons that could pop out could be devastating if they weren’t eliminated soon enough.

‘’Sect has its hands full already,’’ Sid continued, ‘’So some problems might arise within other cities with their lack of manpower.’’ Then he smiled. ‘’At least those two from Cindersnow acted quick and cleared most of the half-sentients around the foot of the mountain.’’ And this statement addressed to her worries for now.

‘’Well- that’s it all. So don’t worry about that.’’ He patted her hair under the pointy hat. ‘’I’m going to deliver this to them, then. Do you want to come?’’

‘’Oh, we are going to fly? Of course I’m coming!’’ Laila grabbed Sid’s waist tight with ecstasy. ‘’Let’s go.’’

‘’Alright.’’ Sid propelled himself from the ground whilst holding his daughter and flew over towards the residential area of the Quan and others.

''Dad...'' Laila whispered.

''What is it dear?''

''I think we forgot the wood...'' Then sid returned back to the working site.