Rein spent the rest of his day orientating himself in the city-- identifying the locations of various goods and services he might need during his time here.
By the time Rein had returned to the inn, it was already time for supper, and he once again shattered a beast core and swallowed the crystal sand. He did not necessarily need to consume normal human meals anymore, unless he desired the taste.
One might wonder why Rein would continue to consume this disgusting crystal sand when he was surrounded by human stores. It was simply a matter of convenience, and cost.
He returned that elegant ring-hilted dagger back into his travel sack. He had hid it in his leather boots-- brought along with him to prevent a potential theft. Mortal-owned inns did not exactly have much protection in any shape or form.
He gave the dagger nothing more than a cursory glance. He had, for quite some time, considered whether it would be more of a relief for this thrown dagger to have found its mark. Only the scriptures that he recited nightly kept his mind occupied.
He had barely gained any depth of insight into those scriptures after all this time, but what he had managed to perceive was enough for him to compose his mind. Many of these scriptures would remain useful and provide insight into progressing in the higher advancer power realms.
Anyhow, he had finally taken a few steps forward today. The Hall of Heroes was undoubtedly the right place to be in order to hunt devils-- endlessly. He would be a fool to feel any sense of defeat now that he had finally taken a tangible step forward.
Laying down on the hard bed only somewhat mitigated by a thin mattress, Rein stared at the wooden ceiling lost in thought. The Halls of Heroes have always been lenient on allowing entry, but comparably lethal in nature. Still, it felt too easy. He couldn’t help but wonder if the Hall of Heroes had encountered some problem out west.
His thoughts turned to examining the events of the day. One habit that Chenhr had ingrained into Rein was night time reflection to ensure a strategic competence.
As of now, his main risk lies in his affinities being known to the Hall of Heroes. Spatial, wood and lightning. If those pursuers of that draconic metamorphose bead were to become aware of this, he might very well become an identified target.
Whether that would occur depended on if the pursuers were actually aware that the draconic metamorphose bead was of wood and lightning. Blacksmith Tiehr had been despondent upon discovering that the bead was only of these two affinities-- the dragons were meant to at least have elemental affinity with all major elements! Perhaps the spatial element would give him cover as well.
It was highly unlikely that these pursuers would be able to identify him due to the oddity, or rather, flaw of the draconic metamorphose bead he absorbed.
What else? The Hall of Heroes, if not associated with those pursuers, is unlikely to make any knowledge of that public. And this information may very well be buried under the information of every single newcomer entering the Hall of Heroes.
And Baejenh, the elder of the Fusion Sect? It was highly unlikely that she would be able to draw any conclusions just from visiting that small pond where he had met that dragon. So far, she had now even strong-armed him into spying for her as well. He was more than happy to give her his daily diary.
He was, in fact, rather confused about the whole deal. As a newcomer to the Hall of Heroes, he wouldn’t be privy to any secrets. Chirh had even called them ‘meatbags’.
On the whole, the situation seemed stable. A few small holes here and there, but nothing major that would be easily noticed and identified. The biggest risk really lay in whether those pursuers actually knew of the flawed nature of his draconic metamorphose bead.
He closed his eyes, weary from his return to civilization. For the first time in a long while, he slept like a dead log.
A few days had passed. There was still a day before the official entrance ceremony. Naturally, Rein sought to further accustom himself to the layout of the Green Trout City.
Many of the buildings within the city were built using light colored stone of the creamy yellow to gray spectrum, whether they be patterned or not. The more wealthy had significantly larger plots, most of them of the quadrangled design similar to the now burned-down Hehr Mansion.
Naturally, this is a much larger city, and thus the mansions too are of a grander scale. Some of the mansions Rein strolled past likely had multiple gardens inside that were expertly designed to look ‘natural’, such that any visitor lucky enough to be invited in might be none-the-wiser that these gardens were in fact man-made, provided they were not versed in the means of local architecture.
Other houses within the city were crafted from various types of wood, also of lighter tones. These houses made up the less wealthy district. Rein, looking from afar, even noticed some buildings in the slums at the outer edges of the south side were being held up by rotting wood.
Naturally, he did not dare enter that region of the city. He had no desire to put himself at risk in a region that the city officials clearly neglected-- no doubt, the unsavory types intentionally took advantage of this fact in said region.
As for the city districts, it would be inaccurate to claim that there was a clear cut division of any kind. However, the city was laid out in rings, and each ring into quadrants. The inner rings were obviously safer from external threats and the wealthy and business districts existed here. Each ring itself was an extra defensive wall layered with inscription magicks.
The outer rings were basically occupied by the lower class-- after all, how could they afford the significantly more expensive safe inner rings?
As for the Hall of Heroes that Chirh had brought Rein to through the winding streets? It was in the northwest most exterior ring of the city, and the Hall of Heroes entrance supposedly led to a range of mountains that laid on the northeastern bank of the Golden Gilded River. These mountains belonged to the Hall of Heroes, gifted by the Dingien Clan for the Hall of Heroes to use as a bulwark against what they viewed as the rebellious great sects in the Evergreen Mountains.
This made the northwest quadrants of all rings into special districts meant for advancers.
Rein gave his newly obtained straw hat a slight adjustment. He had easily purchased this from a mortal shop.
He scrutinized the occupants of the tavern as he swallowed a mouthful of white liquor. A pair of gray-cloaked figures, a boisterous and muscular lion-like man, a short and masked woman.
This was no normal tavern. It was supposedly the mortal branch of a bounty hunter guild. As for why Rein had come here? His gaze searched the flyers pinned to the board behind the attendant. It was just curiosity during his wanderings of the city.
This bounty hunter guild called Bloodhunt might be useful in the future. If he were to become a true advancer. As an inner advancer, he lacked the strength to capture or kill any of the targets on the flyers.
He slung his staff back across his shoulders as he took leave of this tavern, momentarily blinded by the beaming sun once he stepped back onto the cobblestoned streets.
The streets were filled to the brim with people, and Rein had no choice but to lower the staff from his shoulders in order to not aggravate the others.
That meant Rein had to walk around with the staff as a crutch like an old man. His internal grumbling at having to position the staff as a walking stick definitely exuded an old man vibe.
Finally, after a bit of jostling, Rein reached his desired location-- a store that supposedly sold ‘high-end’ advancer techniques. This was a place he had visited a few times the last few days, just to get a better idea of the numerous advancer magical arts.
The arts he observed had a clear pattern based on the level of the advancer. Shell advancer arts mostly focused on ways to manipulate the aurae skin to create desired effects.
And outer advancers? Though few and far between, the outer techniques focused mostly on ranged manipulations and effects.
All of this was in line with the base concept of advancer arts. Those of shell realm strength have yet to develop the ability to reach out with their aurae, and could only surround their body with it.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Rein noticed a shadow of a gray-hooded man. The very same one he had seen in the Bloodhunt tavern.
Rein immediately put two-and-two together. He must be being followed. It must be Beincen and his House Larne. He had no other enemies!
Wanting to avoid the trouble, he immediately placed the scroll he was skimming back into its place, and dashed towards a side alleyway.
He quickly mapped out his surroundings. He was in a relatively wealthy advancer business district. In order to return to his inn, he needed to pass through the adjacent living zone containing numerous quadrangled mansions. He needed to gradually follow the rings outwards then head south to return to his inn down in the northern area of the southwest quadrant.
He sprinted away, hopeful that he could leave his ‘ardent’ followers behind-- it wouldn’t be long before he joined the Hall of Heroes and would likely have a place in the mountain ranges owned by the organization northwest of the city, which would further dissuade these kinds of interference… in theory.
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Rein saw no shadow of that gray-hooded man as he flitted through the alleys, but as he entered the living district, a gray-hooded figure appeared to block off the alleyway. Then behind him, a second gray-hooded man trapped him in the middle. This was none other than the pair of gray-hooded figures he had noticed back in the Bloodhunt tavern!
He initially felt somewhat of an idiot as he had a bit of a realization. In hindsight, he could have put on a hood and melded into the busy crowd of the business district. On second thought, that would just be delaying the issue. Rein remembered the deep grudge within Beincen’s eyes over the incident.
“House Larne, is it?” Rein let out an exasperated sigh.
The two gray-hooded figures’ replies were a simultaneous metallic unsheathing echo of shortswords.
Rein knew he would have to engage these two gray-hooded men to dissuade them from being future hindrances to him. But he would be an idiot to fight in this narrow space with a staff.
With a single tap of his boots, he leaped across the wall, right into the garden of a quadrangled mansion. His staff would serve him well in this open space, even should there be multiple opponents.
Even though Master Yirn had forced Rein to focus on the staff, he had eventually explained the strengths of the staff, such as being able to fight multiple opponents, as well as the fact that mastering the staff would contribute to learning future polearm weapons.
The mansion he had entered was completely empty. Was this lucky? Perhaps. Rein knew not. For all he knew, the one who owned this manion might very well have connections to House Larne. Then again, if they were political enemies of House Larne, he could instead get a helping hand.
Regardless, the two gray-hooded men, both brandishing short bronze swords, now too stood in the garden, having followed Rein over the walls.
Rein calmed himself with a deep exhalation. This was but an opportunity to test his skills. All of the teachings that Chenhr had passed down to him flooded through his mind. He had sparred often against Chenhr, but Chenhr had been trained for many years. He then had to run around like a headless chicken while being pursued by that ‘weak’ outer realm corpse-man advancer. This would be the first time he would face someone truly at his level…?
“Youngster. You really should just give up on your life. Us two, with our shell realm, will maim you for good.” One of the gray-hooded men, with his muffled voice, dished out a warning.
For a heartbeat, Rein nearly panicked. He was only an upper-inner advancer. Would he have to reveal his origin skill this early to protect his life? Then he recomposed himself.
“Pathetic,” he snorted. “House Larne isn’t even an advancer clan yet. To hire two shell realm… assassins for a small insect like me?”
He spun his staff from his left to his right, before slamming the end of it into the garden’s soil.
Thunk!
“The two of you are no doubt still in the inner realm.”
The two gray-cloaked men began their attack in reply, instead going into a slight crouch as they crept forward, in an attempt to pincer Rein.
Their bluff had been called, and Rein was confident of his assessment. Neither of the two had even activated any type of aurae skin magics at this juncture. The gray-hooded man must have wanted to gain a mental edge and perhaps even scare him into capitulating!
And Rein was not about to sit still and wait. His hand gripped the center shaft of the soak staff, activated the power crystals-- he had no desire to draw energy from the surrounding environment and make enemies of these estate owners.
The power crystals supplied less aurae to activate the art, but it was still substantial. He felt his body’s strength, power and endurance rise as the wood-based inscription on the soak staff augmented his physical function.
He then immediately charged at the gray-hooded man behind him with no hesitation, abusing the length of his staff to dominate the assassin.
Gray man one was instantly put on the defensive, and Rein made sure to keep it that way, throwing a varied combination of quick thrust and swings that focused more on precision rather than generating power.
In combination with each blow, Rein, too, constantly sidestepped in a curved line, in order to shift his position such that he would no longer be in between the two gray-hooded men, and instead have the two, both in front of his eyes.
Although the other gray man attempted to prevent this from happening, his feet were more akin to being stuck in mud. With the wooden inscription on the soak staff augmenting all of his body’s vitality, Rein was infinitely quicker, and easily responded to every attempt of the other gray man to circle behind him!
The two gray-hooded men’s expressions darkened, and they both gripped their shortswords, causing a glinting inscription along the blade to light up.
Rein squinted at the two men’s shortswords in front of him. Those inscriptions were too small for him to comprehend, even though the two were only around ten feet away.
A useless thought. Small inscriptions are unlikely to have as significant an effect as larger ones. It mattered not. Rein assaulted the same gray-hooded man again-- that man was already in a grim mood due to their earlier trading of blows.
He maintained a similar approach, constantly sidestepping as he circled this gray-hooded man, keeping the second man directly in front of him. This led to the situation of one of the gray-hooded men constantly shielding Rein from the second.
Although the shortswords had their etched spells activated, the only difference Rein could detect was a high-pitched ding sound every single time those blades came into contact with his soak staff.
He did not worry about the soak staff-- he knew that the inscription augmented the durability of the staff as well.
In frustration, the gray-hooded man being focused by Rein leapt backward, hoping to draw Rein forward, which would ultimately allow the other gray-hooded man to assault Rein from behind.
Rein rolled his eyes, and instead of leaping forward to chase that man, he quickly switched targets, circling to the other gray-hooded man, and thus both of his enemies remained in front of his eyes.
To his surprise, within a few jabs and swings, Rein found his staff connecting with the wrist of this other gray-hooded man, completely shattering the bone, causing the shortsword to fall onto the grass, now flattened by the movement of the three combatants.
Rein had to wonder. Did this other gray-hooded man miscalculate his speed, augmented as he was by the wood inscription of the soak staff? Or did he gain mastery of movement while under the augmentation? Rein swung his staff at his opponent’s head for a final blow, only to leap to the side as he dodged a flying shortsword that pierced through his shadow.
“Split and leave!”
In a flash, one gray-hooded man escaped to the east, while the other, to the west.
Rein had a mind to pursue one of them-- the one with the shattered wrist would make an easier target, but he wasn’t sure if it was worth it. These men might have connections within the city that would assist them, and Rein wasn’t sure how long the power crystals that powered the soak staff would last.
As for using his origin skill? That would be madness. In this city where the next street could be filled to the brim, not to mention, the agents of those mad organizations surely had scouts here. Rein knew not if he could truly remain undetected. Rein had quickly developed an instinctual fear of these organizations that hunted those with origin skills from reading the research journal entries that Master Yirn had collected.
Still. Rein smiled as his gaze settled upon the two shortswords left behind in the garden. These two shortswords would be his prize. He wasn’t about to use them for himself-- who knew if they had protection magics woven onto them, similar to that of his soak staff?
But, he could still get a reward from them. A blacksmith could simply wholly destroy these two weapons and use the raw materials for other crafts. Without the physical form of the sword or power crystals as a source of aurae, the inscriptions on it, including the protection magics, would simply unravel.
Plus, he might be able to track down those two gray-hooded men’s abodes if they directly purchased the two weapons from a blacksmith.
__________________________________________________________________________
At Beincen’s courtyard within the Larne mansion cluster.
“Young Sir. We have failed you.” The two gray-hooded men kneeled on the ground and pressed the foreheads against the ground before a rectangular wooden building lined with silvery inscriptions.
Beincen stood in front of his quarters and squinted his eyes at the gray-hooded man with the shattered wrist.
If one thought he was concerned about these underlings, they would very soon discover this was not so. Beincen raised his foot and stepped directly down onto the kneeling man’s broken wrist!
“Ahhhrgh!”The man screamed in agony as he further pressed his head against the dirt ground in an attempt to stifle his pain.
The middle-aged scholar that shadowed Beincen whispered into his ears, and the young Larne scion stepped back to give the tormented man a moment of reprieve.
“Tell me,” Beincen pondered. “How did the two of you, peak-inner advancers, return to me defeated, with your weapons lost? The target is but an upper-inner advancer!” He had managed get a hold of such information through his connections within the Hall of Heroes.
The two gray-hooded men remained silent.
“Tell me!” Beincen bellowed as he spitted onto a gray-hooded man’s head.
“Sir.” The uninjured gray-hooded man was the one who spoke, wishing to prevent his companion from being further injured by Beincen’s rage. “The target had an odd set of staff techniques. A slightly altered style that created an uncomfortable flow. And… the target was faster than us. Tired less slowly than us. Never allowed us to encircle him from different directions.”
The middle-aged scholar muttered into Beincen’s ears again. Beincen nodded and with a final kick to the head that sent the gray-hooded man sprawling, he briskly strode out of his own courtyard.
“Get up and heal yourselfs,” stated the middle-aged man and then he followed after Beincen.
__________________________________________________________________________
Back in his room within the inn, Rein found himself thinking back to the straightforward battle. Were his opponents weak? He couldn’t tell. The body augmentation effect from the soak staff certainly helped.
His combat experience mostly came against Chenhr. Often, Chenhr would use his origin skill, that aurae cloud against Rein. Rein always felt his movements slowed under such conditions. Frankly, whenever he fought against Chenhr, it always felt like he was wading through mud, fighting with heavyweights that limited his ability to move quickly.
He had also begun training in the draconic magical arts given to him by Master Yirn. The body tempering magic was rather simple-- he had to use the lightning spark from the draconic metamorphose bead to electrocute his own body.
The concept was that his body would develop a durability over time while being infused with the lightning element. He would then have to use the wood affinity to heal and recover his body. This was something he had begun practicing over the past few months, once he had mastered the dragon fists art altered by Master Yirn.
Supposedly, that lightning spark had a unique nature of the dragon race, and was very much the source of the dragon’s world-renowned strength in flesh. Every dragon is born with one.
Rein began realizing an uncomfortable truth that he could not deny. Perhaps, it was Chenhr’s stringent training and methods that had strengthened him to this degree. He had developed a grudge against Chenhr and his verbal jabs over the months. Should he be thankful to his half-senior? Ugh. If Chenhr wasn’t there, Master Yirn would have trained him just as well, if not better!
He resolved to continue the same diligent approach in the future. He needed to recreate that feeling of being suppressed by Chenhr’s thick aurae during his training!