William was currently standing in a rocky field with a few shrubs and other hardy plants growing. This was a area where little grew simply because it was to close to the area designated by the clan as the Experiment Zone, making the Qi in the surrounding behave strangely. But William wasn't here to experiment, even if he wanted to experiment his cultivation was to low to affect the ambient Qi in any lasting way. No he was leaving the clan with his grandfather.
William had asked his grandfather why they were walking up the mountain instead of down it when they had left the house, his response had been that it would be annoying to go through or close to the Nama city that sat at the foot of the mountain. Victor was just too famous and since this was right next to the clan grounds the citizens of the city knew how he looked.
William doubted that was the complete reason since Victor could hide his appearance with a illusion talisman but William didn't argue. Leaving through a hidden path was kind of exciting.
William was doing his last check to make sure he didn't forget anything.
He had a rucksack made from a mix of brown leather from some low class Qi beast some fine green cloth. Inside were different compartments, the bag was filled with the basic set of equipment and other things that each clan member got outfitted with when they left the clan grounds. On one side there was a small wooden cylinder. Inside were pellets half of the size of his pinky tip. These were fasting pills, fifty of them, each one would let his survive a single day. They were meant for emergencies if he found himself incapable of finding any food or drink. Besides it was a small metal pole that would fit nicely in his hand. It was an multipurpose tool that held a few basic conjuration spells. It would help when starting a fire or wanting smaller quantities of water, or purify a small surface. Besides that was a small metal pot that could also function as a pan. There was also a smaller compartment that was secured somewhat more, in it were some coins to help the traveller resupply if they found themselves in a city. There were also Qi stones from different alignments, his own personal items.
Next were the most important items in Williams mind. Secured around his waist was four different leather containers, each one held ten talismans. There were for, attack, barrier, boost, healing. He also held a well made knife, there was nothing special about it, it was just well made.
At his left hip hanged a longsword. This was his treasured personal sword. It was a low-spiritual grade artifact given to him as a gift from his grandfather, Blaz. It helped him channel Qi into it easier and you could also insert a Qi stone with a certain element into the pommel, this would change the alignment of the Qi in the sword to the corresponding element, essentially changing the swords Qi to boost it into different ways and also give it a special effect. Williams current favorite being inserting a fire elemental stone which would make the swords attacks carry more force and also burning things it cut. It also helped that since he couldn't currently purify his Qi into being without any alignment that his forest alignment would further boost the fire element, effectively almost doubling the power that the fire stone gave.
William was wearing clothes made from a tough fabric, over those clothes he wore dark brown leather armor, he didn't know what the leather was from since he had just gotten them this morning but it looked like very durable, he tried to insert Qi into it which he succeeded in doing, but it had no visible effect. The easiness of inserting Qi made him believe that it came from some kind of Qi beast. Over this he was wearing a dark green cloak made from some high quality fabric. It was both soft and durable. From a first look you could tell that this was something a noble or mid realm cultivator would wear. It stood out of place with everything else that was made from high quality material but had the look like it was made of normal but hardy material.
William should normally be carrying more but Victor had taken it and thrown it into his spatial storage. William gave a look towards Victor. Victor was wearing strange clothes made from reddish leather that had what looked like small 'plates' all over it, and a coat made from the same material, if it wasn't for the black lines which accented his outfit then he would be wearing nothing but red. Not that his own current outfit didn't look like an outfit for a monster hunter, but at least it wasn't completely unicolored. Victors outfit looked like it had just been cleaned with something to make it look like it was almost shining. William hadn't studied different materials yet but he did have an idea of what it could be made from.
William had heard that in the past, after the war but before the clan had been formally created and settled down here, Victor and a few other elite powerhouses who had survived the war had traveled around the country to clean up things. This clean up focused mostly on especially destructive creatures to prevent disasters from happening in the future and ensure the stability of the country. No one except the ones involved know exactly how many creatures had been hunted down during that period or what creatures were hunted down. But there were legends and everpersistent rumors abundant, after all, the masses and bards loved stories about noble monster hunters. One particular legend was about how Victor had fought and eventually slayed an ancient dragon. But there were all kinds of stories going around. One even stated that his grandfather had once killed a genuine Heavenly God, from the current ruling pantheon, which didn't make any sense, since the last time a Heavenly God from the current pantheon had died was more than two hundred years ago. So while William assumed the equipment was from an ancient dragon he had no confirmation yet. William had even asked Victor about it when he was younger but had only gotten vague responses back.
At Victors left side hung a longsword. William couldn't see the main body of the sword but the sheath was from the same material as the rest of Victors outfit. The pommel and guard of victors sword was made from some dark, almost black metal. The handle was covered with some white cloth.
William continued study Victors equipments for a moment before being shaken from his observation by the man himself.
"Jealous? If your performance is good during this trip then you might be able to get enough decent material to upgrade your equipment somewhat."
William smiled from his grandfathers half encouraging and half teasing words. He then answered while trying get some information from Victor.
"Yes, I'm very jealous. What kind of creature would your admiring grandkid need to hunt down if I wanted to upgrade my equipment to the same quality as yours?"
"Hahaha. Well every journey needs to be taken one step at a time. Besides this equipment is a little out of your reach, but don't worry, your very generous grandfather will gift you the material needed when you become a celestial."
"Well the earlier one can prepare for a journey the better. So if you tell me what material it is then I can start preparing and researching what do it with it now."
"That's not called preparing. That's dreaming about what you would do if you became a God while playing in the mud."
"God huh?"
Victor just chuckled a little before changing the topic.
"Are you done with your last confirmation? We won't be visiting any large town or city for a few weeks, so stocking up wont happen soon, so you better have everything."
William confirmed that he had everything while asking why Victor couldn't carry the rest of the tools in his spatial storage.
"I won't carry it since what you are carrying is for emergencies, if we ever split up you will need those things."
William got a bit worried when he heard about the possibility of them splitting up but Victor calmed him by ensuring that it was just standard procedure to always keep some emergency things with you when going adventuring.
William was talking with his brother while Victor was saying his goodbyes to Amelia and Sigmund.
"Adalgar. You never properly said what happened on your travel. Do I need to watch out for something?"
Adalgar smiled a little. But to William it looked more like a smile to hide the pain while ensuring the one you talked with that nothing was wrong. He had seen his mother wearing that smile while talking about her cultivation.
"Don't worry to much. Grandfather will just have taken some tasks that need to be done. But you will need to fight for real so make sure to judge your opponents properly. Don't underestimate them and don't overestimate yourself, as long as you follow those words than you will be alright."
Then Adalgar said something barely perceptible to William.
"Those are the only challenges you can do anything about anyways."
William didn't know if Adalgar even meant for him to hear those words but they made him a bit worried. Unfortunately his parents came over as he tried to press for more information, making Adalgar end the talk there.
"Don't worry so much. Anyways, good luck."
It was Sigmund who spoke first while giving a pat on Williams head.
"Remember to listen to your grandfather. Don't overexert yourself and don't over thinking things. Just take things as they come and enjoy the outside."
Amelia gave William a hug before encouraging William a little.
"I hope you enjoy the trip. Don't worry about things to much, you can rely on the older members, both your grandfather and your senior will help you. Now take care of yourself and enjoy the trip, alright?"
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Okay mom."
William didn't know what to say since he lost his opportunity to grill his brother for answers and he doubted his parents would break tradition to inform him since they hadn't said anything about the matter.
William followed Victor towards a spot where the ground shot out a bit and created a small wall. Not that such a spot was rare. The whole area was very uneven, with boulders and such also sitting around the area.
Victor placed his had on the stone wall. The stone split up and revealed a corridor being angled down, from what William could tell it was going north, maybe a bit northeast, away from the mountain.
He waved goodbye to his brother and parents while walking into the corridor. The wall closed up behind him, leaving him in the dark.
He rummaged in the backpack for the little multi tool pole. He found it easily since the back was quite empty. As he was about to channeled a bit of Qi into it he realized that he couldn't see the runes which meant he wouldn't know were to press on it. He tried to look towards his grandfather but it was pitch black so he could only guess his location. Luckily, the corridor was quite small and straight meaning he was pretty sure he was looking at the right spot.
He heard a quiet chuckling before a ball of soft white light appeared. He heard his grandfather's voice soon after.
"You are holding the multi tool on the wrong side."
William looked at the tool and saw that he was indeed holding the end of it, where the effects would be created. Victor then informed him how to use it in the dark.
"The runes have been engraved into the metal. In the dark you can press your finger on the runes to feel the shape of them, this is important to know if you find yourself in the dark again."
William simply nodded before putting it inside the rucksack at Victors instructions, as he would light the way.
They walked a bit with William quickly growing bored as there was nothing to see. Suddenly they were plunged into darkness again. William waited for Victor to create a new light but after almost a minute of nothing he became a bit worried that something had happened.
"Grandpa are you alright? Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened. I just wanted to give you a second chance at creating a light."
William was a bit confused before he started searching his pack for the tool. He found it and as mentioned earlier he felt the bottom of the tool for the runes. They were easily noticeable and he quickly found the rune which meant light. He pushed a bit of his Qi into the tool.
A soft white light appeared at the tip of the tool. The light revealed Victor looking at him.
"It took quite a while. You will need to be faster if you ever find yourself in an emergency situation."
"What kind of an emergency situation would it be if a light could save me?"
"Who knows. Maybe someone is trying to kill you and the area is too dark for you to see your surroundings. Anyways, lets continue. You can put the light back now?"
Victor created the same ball of light before waiting for William to get ready.
William put the tool back and got ready to leave.
At least William was no longer bored. Every few minutes Victor would kill the light and take the time it took for William to create a light. Making it into a little sport. William tried to keep the tool in a pocket in his clothes once but had been told that it wouldn't serve as good training if he tried to cheat. Protesting that sometimes he would have the tool in his pocket and not in his backpack did nothing to change Victors mind. So now William was focused on his grandfather, trying to see if there were any signs of Victor getting ready to stop the light. He had no luck in this endeavour. But he did get much faster at finding the tool and creating a light. Even if it did come at the cost of him becoming somewhat tired. But at least it wasn't boring anymore...
William could now see that the tunnel was coming to an end.
Victor pressed his hand on the wall and it split into two, opening outwards.
William and Victor came out of the other side of the hidden path. This door was hidden next to a tree.
William looked around but could only see the forest surrounding them. Even if he knew where the door was located, now that it had closed he couldn't perceive it at all. According to Victor it was a combination of spell, formation, and natural camouflage. It was built in this way so that even if one could see through the magical affects the natural would still hide it. And if someone saw through the natural camouflage than the spell and formation would hide it. It also helped that it was in the forest with nothing of interest around it.
William believed it was still risky as it could lead someone into the clan grounds.
"Isn't it still risky having a path leading directly to the clan grounds?"
"Yes, and no. It's a risk but sometimes you need to take risks, and having hidden paths that one can take is a necessity. Besides, that path is protected. All the hidden paths to the clan are protected. It would be easier to try and infiltrate the clan by taking the main entrance."
William had to take Victors word for it since Victor had been there when they planned out how to build the clan grounds. Therefore would have more information about the various defenses of the clan. And his mind had side tracked slightly when he realized that they where inside a forest. So he asked his grandfather where they were.
"Grandpa, are we in the Soh forest?"
"Yes we are. But don't worry, we aren't technically inside the forbidden zone. We are on the outskirts of the forest. If we walk for a half hour we will get to the road."
William had read about various creatures that lived in the Soh forest, and he was searching their surroundings for the creatures he had read about.
Victor gave William a look before he raised the hood of his cloak to hide his face. He asked William a question after walking for a few more minutes.
"William. You have read about forbidden zones right? Tell me what you know about the Soh forest and forbidden zones in general.
William tore his eyes from a particular bird that he had noticed was staring at them as they walked past it. He thought about how to formulate his answer before starting.
"First of all are the type of zones. In order of least dangerous to most dangerous they are. Danger zones, forbidden zones and cursed zones. They are all divided into the same areas, core, inner, outer, edge, and external. The Qi becomes more intense closer to the core of the zone. Different zones have different dangers. The most common being, the intense Qi itself, natural formations inside the zone, and the many different creatures that are attracted to more Qi for their own reasons. The reason zones are created can be very different. The most common cause being a clump of Qi which starts a feedback loop, which over many years change the land itself. Zones can also disappear for various reasons."
William looked towards Victor to see if he was correct, unfortunately Victor had hidden his face and only his smile was visible from Williams perspective.
"That's good. But you didn't say anything about the Soh forest."
William continued his explanation after getting a positive feedback.
"The Soh forest is a forbidden zone, it's almost considered a cursed zone. The core is mostly unexplored since while forest Qi is mostly beneficial and won't harm anyone, this makes it even more attractive to dangerous creatures, even ones not of the forest alignment. This attraction has made the deeper parts filled with various nests. There are also many different plants which grow from the Qi and further attract creatures with many different attributes. These plants will also sometime cause natural formations to appear around them. There are ruins inside the inner area of the zone, these ruins are patrolled by various automatons and it's theorized that these ruins continue into the core area and hold the cause for the intense Qi."
"Good, good. When we get back I want you to read up a bit more about the Soh forest since in the future it will be partially your job to thin the amount of creatures inside the zone so that they don't spill over and attack the Nama city."
William and Victor had now arrived at a road. It wasn't the most well made road but it was still well kept. They then proceeded on the road further north. Victor was also unwilling to say anything more about how it would be his job to thin out the Soh forest, simply saying that he would know when it was time.
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William was tired. He was used to training for hours on end but this constant walking was wearing him down, especially since nothing happened making it very boring for him. The only thing keeping him going was that he could see that the sun was soon setting and they would soon stop to set up camp.
William had collected some rocks and wood to start a campfire. He had been observed and instructed by his grandfather the whole time, what rock looked good and what fallen branch would function as kindling.
William really wanted to eat now and so he took out his little pot and his multi tool. He saw Victor take out a similar pot. William pressed the rune for fire while channeling Qi into it. A small flame quickly appeared on the edge of the tool. The fire was barely bigger than that which would come from a matchstick and William had some slight difficulties starting the fire until he channeled even more Qi into it, which made the fire grow bigger. William was slightly embarrassed that he had failed in starting a fire without increasing the amount of Qi he fead the tool, he had thought his forest Qi would help the fire more that it had.
Victor simply calmed him down.
"Don't worry about it. Everything that happens during this journey is meant as a learning experience. Now you know, these multi tool aren't the most effective. The main goal of these tools is to help in travels while also being affordable, otherwise they wouldn't have a spot in the standard kit of an adventurer. Too good and the materials needed make it too expensive, but if the materials are too bad than the tool will be useless. It's walking a fine line of being affordable but still good enough to be wanted."
Williams eyes lit up a little. Adventurers, they were the focus of most books simply because the freedom they enjoyed. It was also a secret between the brothers that his brother, Adalgar, wanted to become a high ranking adventurer and travel around the continent and possibly other continents.
"Grandpa. If this tool is in the standard adventure pack than that means that the average adventurer is at least of the 'Qi stream realm', what is the stronger adventurer realm at?"
Victor was a little surprised by the question but answered anyways. Better keep his grandchild in a happy mood for as long as possible. This journey was going to be a long trial for William, better to start it with a good morale, he had learnt in the war that a good morale could help immensely, even if it would eventually be worn down.
"The highest realm of the adventures is probably Divine celestial. Remember the adventurer guild has a long history and it also has branches among most of the continents meaning while the standard adventurer might not be strong the guild probably have more members than any other faction or power in the world. But the normal adventurer would probably be around the 'Dantian expansion realm'. After all, that is were the common person will stagnate and have problem continuing."
William lost his interest after that. He was currently at the 'meridian expansion realm'. Wait wasn't that wrong. He had perfected his techniques yesterday so why was he still at the same realm. He had gotten used to this realm and had forgotten to advance with all the things happening. This needed to be fixed. William put up his best puppy dog eyes.
"Grandpa. I need to enter the next realm, can you fix the food while I advance?"
Victor gave of a booming laugh.
"I wondered when you would realize. I will handle the food tonight but it's your turn tomorrow night."
William changed his eyes to give his best death stare when he realized that his grandfather hadn't told him anything about his realm even when he knew about it. He saw as his grandfather ignored his stare and simply took out a wooden cylinder before pouring some of the powder from it to their two pots.
William focused on cultivating so that he could quickly enter the next realm and then eat.
He moved his Qi into every single part of his meridians before pushing even more Qi into them. The 'Meridian expansion realm' was as it said, focused on expanding and strengthening your meridians by pushing their limits with Qi. Williams whole body felt like it was being pricked by needles while his temperature spiked. Luckily because he had been pushing on the wall of the realms for a long time he didn't need to withstand the feeling for long before he entered the next realm.
He felt his meridians expand enough that the previous amount of Qi couldn't push it anymore. Then he felt the effect of them being strengthen by absorbing the Qi that had previously pushed them to their limits. A side benefit to this expansion and strengthening was that his Qi control became better and he would lose less Qi as he moved Qi around them. They felt new and fresh, and soon this feeling spread to the rest of his body.