Lord Fallar was one of the first true allies that we found among the noble families and he has been steadfast and helpful ever since. When Gerry and I first met Fallar I was a little bit worried because of how rough Urlan town was. But I quickly realised that there was an incredibly low number of citizens who were without a job or place to stay and not for the reasons that some cities had low numbers of these people either but because Fallar had somehow managed to make sure that there was a job for almost everyone in Urlan. Not all of them were pleasant jobs of course, but they were necessary for a place that primarily functioned off the backs of hunters and Beast Tamers like Urlan did. Not only has Fallar proven himself to be a good leader of men but he’s also a wise and powerful cultivator in his own right. Which makes sense, because if he weren’t then there would be no way for him to keep control over a town like Urlan which is highly coveted by other nobles.
-Excerpt from Telram’s notes of Lord Fallar and Urlan Town.
“Let us begin with the winner of the tournament,” Fallar once the servants had finished bringing the items into the room. “Master Ryu you have 100 points that you can use. Please step forward and choose your rewards.”
“Telram you wanted that Forest Pixie for your student, didn’t you?” Ryu asked as he eyed the small cage with the number 75 on it. This number was the number of points that you needed to exchange for the reward and Telram blinked in surprise.
“Uh, yeah, but you don’t need to get that for Iris,” he replied but Ryu shook his head in response.
“Well, I’m going to do it anyway,” the Divine Beast told Telram as he gave him a small smile. “I need to earn my right to learn from you.”
“No, you really don’t,” Telram hissed back. “You and I both know that I’m going to learn as much from you as you’re going to learn from us.”
“Then accept it as payment for staying with you,” Ryu said insistently before turning towards Fallar who was watching them interestedly. “I’ll take the Forest Pixie and a couple of Rain God pills.”
“Interesting choices,” Fallar noted as two of the servants marked the items that Ryu had requested. “I will have them delivered to your room later. Next is Garren’s representative who has 80 points that he can use. How is he by the way?”
“He will be fine with a few days’ rest,” an older man replied as he turned to bow at Ryu respectfully. “My young master would like to send his congratulations to Master Ryu for winning their fight and thank him for not going too easy on him.”
“He was an interesting opponent,” Ryu replied. “I’m glad to hear that he’s doing okay. I hit him pretty hard.”
“He’s doing fine,” the man replied before turning back to Fallar who was watching them patiently. “Garren would like to take one of the meteoric iron swords and this list of medicinal pills.”
A servant took the list from his outstretched hand and after perusing it handed him several small boxes or jars of pills.
“Alright next up is Telram who has 50 points that he can spend,” Fallar said. “And if you wouldn’t mind waiting. I’d like to speak with you after the others have received their rewards if that’s alright with you.”
“That would be fine, but we do have to get the kids who are with me back to their parents as quickly as possible,” Telram agreed. “We’ve already stayed in town longer than we’d planned.”
Fallar nodded in agreement and Telram started to examine the items that remained. In the end Telram decided to take some of the more interesting ores that were on offer which he hoped Dale would be able to turn into some weapons for his students. Fallar seemed surprised by his decision but chose not to mention it and instead moved onto the next person.
The whole rewards ceremony took about another hour by Telram’s reckoning. After everyone who wasn’t getting the basic rewards for participating in the tournament finished Fallar spent a few moments thanking everyone who’d participated and helped organise the event and the rewards before allowing them to leave.
Once everyone else except for Telram ‘s group and Ryu had left Lord Fallar seemed to deflate lightly as he pressed a hand to his face before sighing heavily.
“Sorry about that,” he said eventually. “Sometimes being a City Lord requires a certain level of ceremony.”
“I understand,” Telram nodded. It had actually been interesting to see how Lord Fallar treated the people under his rule in its own way, but he also liked seeing this side of the City Lord. “May I ask what you wanted to talk about?”
“About a week ago and odd rumour reached my ears about something strange happening in a small village nearby,” Lord Fallar replied as he leaned forwards to look Telram and the other adults directly in the eyes. “As I’m sure you’ve already guessed that village was Yulis and the odd occurrence was that almost every cultivator in Yulis had started raising their cultivation levels faster than they ever had before.”
“I see,” Telram sighed as he ran a hand across his face as the others suddenly went on alert. “And what do you plan to do with this information?”
Telram and Fallar stared at each other for about a minute as they both tried to figure out what the other was thinking. Then Fallar let out a bark of laughter as he sat back in his throne.
“Nothing,” he replied after a few moments watching their reactions. “I just wanted to see if you were planning anything that might threaten my own interests. But, I’d be more interested in working with you.”
“Interesting,” Telram muttered to himself before raising his voice to respond to Fallar’s offer. “Well, I would admit that having the backing of a noble family would be very useful to us, I’d like to why you want to help us.”
“Oh please,” Fallar chuckled. “Like I couldn’t figure out that increasing the average cultivation level of the cultivators in Yulis has increased the town’s growth dramatically. I want you to help me do the same thing here.”
“I see and what specifically did you have in mind?” Telram asked. He was quite interested in what Fallar’s support could offer him and the school, but he wasn’t ready to hand over his secrets without some assurances.
“I simply want to send my son to learn what you are teaching the cultivators in Yulis,” Fallar explained. “You may teach him as much or as little as you want or even put limits on what he’s allowed to teach the other guards and the citizens that I choose when he returns. This is partially his idea anyway and I’ve been meaning to give him a bit more freedom anyway. This seems like it would be a good opportunity to do so.”
“Then we accept your offer,” Telram replied after glancing back at Gerry who nodded his head slightly in agreement. “I will make sure that Lelland’s growth will give you a good reason to support us in the future.”
“I look forward to seeing the results myself,” Fallar nodded as Lelland grinned at Telram excitedly. Even though Lelland was a powerful cultivator it was rare for him to get out of Urlan often and he was always accompanied by his father’s men when he managed to do so. As such he was really looking forwards to spending some time outside of Urlan where he could be somewhat independent of his father.
“Did you want Lelland to return to Yulis with us or do you have to organise a replacement for him first?” Telram asked and Fallar stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds before turning to look at his son who looked back at him hopefully.
“Well, Lelland?” Fallar asked. “Is your second in command ready to take over now or does she need some more time? I know that you’ve been training her to take over your position for months now.”
Lelland blinked in surprise but then shook his head and chuckled. Of course, his father knew that he had been training his second in command to take over. He had been planning on leaving Urlan and spending a year or two travelling around and learning more about the world for a couple of years ow but that was before he learned about what Telram had been doing in Yulis. As soon as he had learned about it Lelland had seen it for the opportunity that it was. Yes, he might not be able to travel as much as he would like but his father was much more likely to allow him to leave if he told him that he wanted to visit Yulis to learn what he could from the people there. And then, something truly unexpected happened that allowed Lelland to firmly plant the idea in his father’s mind; Telram and the others showed up and started taking part in the tournament that his father had set up to start building relationships with the younger generation. However, it had surprised even Lelland when Telram, who seemed to be one of the weakest participants in the tournament in terms of cultivation level actually performed well. He even managed to defeat multiple opponents whom Lelland thought he should’ve stood no chance whatsoever against which had only served to increase Lelland’s interest even further.
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“Yes, Varla is ready to take over,” Lelland replied and his father chuckled in amusement before turning back to Telram and the others who were watching them with barely disguised amusement. “And I would like to take this opportunity if that’s alright with all of you.”
“Well, there you have it,” Fallar said with a grin that looked quite out of place on the stern looking City Lord. “I will of course provide him with funds to ease the burden of having him on the village as well as some cultivation resources as thanks.”
“That would be very welcome,” Telram replied as he bowed his head respectfully. “However, if I may say; backing us is risky for you. Are you sure that this is a good idea?”
“That is a good point,” Fallar admitted. “But I get the feeling from looking at all of you that you are going to bring change to this world, and we have been stagnating for far too long. I want to see what happens if your organisation is able to grow and I want to help.”
“Well, I appreciate that and welcome Lelland as a student in the school that we have created,” Telram replied. “That’s what we’re calling the organisation by the way.”
“Yes, I was planning on asking about that myself,” Fallar nodded. “I suppose that I should ask as well; how far are you planning on taking this?”
“I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking.”
“I’m asking whether you’re planning on letting anyone who wants to learn become a student at your school,” Fallar explained.
“Provided that they promise not to spread our secrets without permission,” Telram nodded. “Education is something that should be open to everyone who wants it. And that goes double for basic cultivation techniques. Can you imagine how much better life could be if everyone could cultivate?”
“Productivity would increase dramatically,” Fallar replied easily. “But wouldn’t that make it harder to deal with criminals or rebellion?”
“Well for starters,” Telram sighed. “If people are rebelling then maybe you should be wondering what you did wrong not them. Other than that, you’re absolutely correct. It will make it harder to deal with criminals, so we’d have to make sure that the guards are an elite force who are much more powerful than the average cultivator and I’m willing to help make that possible. In fact, I have several techniques that would be extremely helpful for this, but I’d have to be sure that I can trust you.”
“I see,” Fallar mused. “I have one last question then; why are you the one in charge? Surely the adults with you are more qualified to speak on all of this?”
“Because this whole thing was his idea,” Gerry replied. “While I admit that my student is inexperienced when it comes to a lot of things none of us could do this.”
“So, he’s your student?” Fallar asked interestedly. “May I ask, was it you or him that invented those techniques that he was using?”
“Him mostly,” Gerry chuckled. “Telram is a very smart and talented young man. But we’ve all helped him with creating his techniques to some degree.”
“I see,” Fallar nodded. “How interesting.”
“Dad, I think that Telram and the others would like to be on their way now,” Lelland pointed out. “Like he said he’s got kids with him and I’m sure that they’d like to get back to Yulis.”
“Alright Lelland,” Fallar chuckled. “How about you go and get ready and we’ll meet Telram and the others at the gates.”
“Alright dad,” Lelland nodded before quickly taking his leave.
“He seems excited,” Telram chuckled and Fallar nodded in agreement.
“He’s lived a sheltered life,’ the City Lord sighed. “Ever since his mother died, I kept him close and he always resented me for it. Hopefully going with you will teach him some lessons that he needs to learn and I’m not just talking about cultivation techniques.”
“I understand,” Telram sighed. “May I ask what the limits of what I’m allowed to do are?”
“What do you mean?” Fallar asked. “Because I have no problem with you teaching him that body strengthening technique that your students have if that’s what you mean.”
“Ah, no that’s not what I was referring to, but it’s good to know,” Telram replied making Fallar frown slightly in confusion. “What I was actually talking about was that I was planning on taking my students into the Beast Lands in the not-too-distant future. Also, there is a certain place near Yulis that I wish to visit. I believe that I will find some ruins that I call The Cradle of the Daughter of the Moon there. If you allow me to bring Lelland with me on that trip I will make sure that he receives a portion of the treasure that I expect to find within.”
“Interesting,” Fallar murmured to himself before raising his voice once more. “If you let me know when you wish to go to these ruins that you speak of then not only will I allow Lelland to accompany you I will provide some of my guards to aid you.”
Telram blinked in surprise. He had hoped that Fallar would let Lelland visit the ruins with him despite the dangers that often lay within because of the various treasures that ruins like this usually held. However, he hadn’t expected Fallar to offer to send guards as well. While this did make sense to Telram he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of bringing too many people to unknown ruins. For all he knew there could be something there that prevented more than a certain number of people from entering or any number of other safeguards to protect what lay within.
“Just as long as they are trustworthy,” Telram replied as he met Fallar’s gaze. “And I reserve the right to send them away at any time. This is my discovery and I’m not going to let anyone take it from me.”
Fallar looked a little taken aback by Telram’s words but nodded in agreement.
“Very well I can agree to that,” he nodded. “Lelland is old enough to look after himself. I merely wanted to make things safer for everyone.”
“I believe you,” Telram replied. “I just know that the treasure that can be found in these ruins can lead even the best cultivators astray.”
“That’s a good point,” Fallar agreed. “Very well I will make sure that I only send people that Lelland trust implicitly and make sure that they know that you are the one who is in charge.”
“Honestly, I don’t even know that they will be able to help,” Telram sighed. “I only learned about these ruins from translating an ancient tablet but even I don’t know much about these ruins. For all I know they might not even exist or be something else entirely.”
“Well, it’s probably still worthwhile to bring them along just in case,” Fallar pointed out and Telram nodded in agreement. “Anyway, you should probably start getting ready to leave. I’m sure Lelland wouldn’t be impressed if he had to wait around for you.”
“Fair enough,” Telram chuckled. “Then we shall take our leave Lord Fallar.”
“Good,” Fallar nodded. “Thank you all for being patient while Telram and I talked. I’m sure that it must have been boring for you.”
“Not at all,” Fergus said quickly as they all gave the City Lord polite bows. “I am sure that this will prove to be beneficial for all of us.”
Fallar smiled pleasantly as the whole group exited the room. Once they were gone, he sighed heavily and slumped in his throne again. Telram was certainly one of the more interesting individuals that he had ever met. He had never heard of cultivators as powerful as the three who were travelling with Telram listening to someone as weak as Telram was much less letting him speak for them but none of them had even looked slightly annoyed by him doing just that.
“Just who is that kid?” Fallar mused.
About an hour later Telram and the others had packed up all their gear and had collected the Mana Beasts that they had bought. As they approached the gate Telram waved at Lelland who walked over and gave the group a smile. Telram hadn’t realised this before since Lelland had been wearing a helmet the entire time that he had known him but Lelland actually had curly blonde hair which was incredibly unusual on Nerrus.
Telram was also pleased to see that Lelland had a Mana Beast of his own. The Mana Beast was a small grey weasel like creature that Telram identified as a Spine Weasel. Spine Weasels were highly intelligent and incredibly quick and had the ability to harden their fur into razor sharp spines which was where they got their name.
“How is it going everyone?” Lelland asked as Telram helped him up onto the wagon. “Are we ready to head out?”
“We’re just waiting for you father,” Ryu replied as Lelland took a seat next to him.
“Ah, I see,” Lelland nodded as he stroked his Spine Weasel which was currently draped over his shoulders and very obviously asleep.
“Look,” Telram said. “There he is now.”
Sure, enough Lord Fallar and a young woman who was wearing armour that resembled what Lelland had been wearing earlier and Telram guessed that this was Lelland’s former second in command.
“Hey dad, Varla,” Lelland greeted them as they pulled up beside the carts.
“Be careful out there, son,” Fallar said to his son before turning his attention to Telram. “Take care of him for me.”
“Of course,” Telram replied. “I will do my best to ensure that he returns to you unharmed and stronger than he is now.”
“Good,” Fallar nodded before glancing sideways at Varla who was glaring at Lelland angrily.
“So, you’re just going to shove all the responsibility on me and run off to some village on the border lands, are you?” she asked.
“Look, I’m sorry Varla,” Lelland sighed. “But I have to do this.”
“Do you really?” she asked meeting his gaze. To her surprise Lelland refused to look away and she sighed irritably. “Well alright then. Make sure that you come back though.”
“I will,” he nodded.
“Right then,” Fallar said with a smile. “I guess that you’d better be off.”
“Okay dad, I’ll see you soon,” Lelland said as Gerry snapped the reins and the wagon started moving. As they drove out through the gates the guards all saluted and Lelland clambered to his feet to salute them in return.
“So how does it feel to be free?” Telram asked as Lelland sat back down.
“Pretty good,” the blonde man laughed. “I can’t wait to see what Yulis is like.”
“It’s just a small village,” Telram shrugged. “Not a lot there but I’m sure that will change soon, and you’ll be helping us do that.”