“Master Vaine, I need to thank you once again for your help. If you need any help, feel free to message me or visit the Aubrey mansion.”

The train had already halted, but Thurain was still inside, shaking hands with Mr. Aubrey.

“You won't be getting off, Mr. Aubrey? It's the last stop.”

“Only for normal people,” he winked. “The train will drive on, into the city's southern industrial district. I'll be able to get to my family's property right away, though everyone else has to get off here. A special permit is needed to ride into the city's center. However, I'm sure the staff would make an exception for you if I put my word in.”

“That won't be necessary, Mr. Aubrey. I would rather see the city for the first time the same way everyone else does. Have a pleasant day, and I hope we meet again.” With those final words, Thurain turned and left towards the train's exit. Although the promise of a fast and painless entry into the city was tempting, he still decided to get off with the other passengers.

For one, he didn't want to waste the favor he had with Mr. Aubrey on something so trivial. Most importantly however, he had come to the city under a fake name, so entering with special status would only draw attention. For now, he would need to lay low at least until he had entered the Elemental Path Sect. Only then could he start to gather information about his master's fate.

His head filled with his future plans, he stepped out of the train. At last, a new world was before him and broke his thought. The train station itself was nothing special, but still unfamiliar to someone from the countryside. When he stepped down from the train, he was greeted by a cracked stone platform that looked like it had been around for centuries, even though the train tracks couldn't be more than a decade old. On the other side was a cheap, wooden building the passengers would file through. Once they passed the building however, they would finally reach the marvel of a city beyond.

At the back of the queue for arrivals, Ria was waving to him. He readjusted the pack on his back that contained all of his belongings and made his way over. Glad for some company, they continued to talk while the line moved inch by inch.

Not long after, the sun fell through the open roof and hit them in their faces. Both stopped their conversation on the spot, since their breath was taken by the sight before them.

From the edge of the train station, Thurain could see Heliana, the great city where he would find the truth about his master's disappearance, and the place where he would spend the second portion of his life.

The city itself was a bit apart from the train station and built in a basin, where heavy qi would gather and concentrate into ethereal clouds. The city's incredible structure was designed to take full advantage of this fact. Houses stood wall on wall in a shallow, thin arc that ran from the edges of the basin all the way to its center, to meet up with five other spirals just like it. Large swathes of farmland in all kinds of colors made good use of the empty space in between the arcs and fed the city's never-ending hunger for resources. This would be where the train would carry Mr. Aubrey and the rest of its cargo.

Along the spirals, yang qi gathered and supported the people and the factories, while the places between the arcs gathered yin to support the growth of the plants that fed the population. Even without any qi sense, the big factories were as easy to spot as spires in the distance, even through the green smog produced by unclean qi extraction. Though of course, most of these spires stretched into the air in the center, where all of these qi streams would come together to for a holy land of cultivation: The Elemental Path Sect, which sat in the city's center and controlled the fates of everyone who lived within its borders.

Under the sect's guidance, the people had been given modern technologies that promised a better, easier life for everyone. Compared to Thurain's own backwards home in the mountains, this was the future, a place where everyone could find work and be important, whether or not they knew cultivation. As a result, the city attracted new mortals from the surrounding countryside every day, which meant he was stuck in a queue long enough to stretch the entire length of the train station.

A deep breath made him aware of the ozone smell that had become synonymous with the city atmosphere, and he already felt much closer to the spirals in the distance. Thurain was convinced he was ready for the city, but whether or not the city was ready for him really couldn't be said yet.

There was an entrance to the city on the sharp edge of every single spiral. However, due to the city's lengthwise nature, these checkpoints still weren't nearly enough to accommodate all newcomers. Thus, the wait times were horrendous. At least NAME was a cultivator himself, and thus not afraid of the cold or hot, and neither of hunger. Still, the wait was as boring as it was annoying.

Even worse, these modern cities had not only brought about positives. This many people in one spot would always attract the less desirable elements of society. Since the line was so long, many of the city's people were eager to sell them anything from food and drink to guided tours of their home. However, among them were also those who tried to take advantage of the ignorant newcomers, and one such individual was currently coming towards him and Ria.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“Come here come all, and witness the great talents of Theodoro DeVarisse, Grand master of cultivation! Tinctures to cure your life-long ailments! Future readings! Tours of the City! Want to learn the ancient arts of cultivation? This master can make it possible, and more! Fear not and step up, or miss the chance of a lifetime!”

A man with all the trappings of a trickster was moving his rickety cart along the line of people. The thin beard around his mouth made him seem just as fake as the cheap, gaudy robes. Only the fancy walking stick to his side even hinted at his supposed identity as a master. Of course, Thurain knew much better than to trust that self-titled master.

While Thurain tried his best to look uninterested, his travel companion seemed overexcited as always. It was no surprise when the scammer glanced past all the people in the line until his eyes fell onto Ria next to him.

“You, dear lady, you seem to have the bones of a martial artist, strong yet supple! For only seven Rai, you as well can come to witness this great master's personal techniques, created exclusively for future masters like you! Come and meet fate, before fate forgets you!”

“Thank you, great master,” Ria replied in a shaky tone. “But I have no money to pay you.”

Although the young girl was already tricked, Thurain preferred to avoid a conflict. From their earlier talks, he knew that she really didn't have much money to spare, and that she couldn't buy anything even if she believed the scammer. Unfortunately, the scammer didn't know, so he hung on like a leech.

“Then in that case, the world will have to live without another great master. What misfortune.” While he sighed and covered his eyes in a dramatic gesture, he lamented Ria's fate. At the same time, a thin pamphlet jumped up from his dingy cart and began to hover between the 'Master' and Ria in spurts and stutters. To Thurain, the 'master's' operation of qi looked laughably incompetent, like a leaf in the wind that could drop at any moment. Just as it was about to fall and expose the fraud, Ria caught the cheap paper in her hands. With a glint of wonder in her eyes, she stared up to the scammer.

“Well, would you look at that!” the fake master cried out in fake excitement. “It appears as if you truly are fated, young miss! There must be some kind of spirit within this manual that has chosen you as its new master! Although it hurts my heart, I will let you have this treasure for no more than three Rai, as you clearly are destined. Please understand, young lady: I will already run a loss on the manual by offering such an outrageous price. But you truly are fated for great things. How could I, as a master myself, sleep at night if I were to deny another great expert's future?”

Great masters don't need sleep, Thurain corrected in his head.

While the cultivator was dismissive, Ria was weighing her options just like she weighed the flayed pamphlet in her hands. Of course, Thurain needed no more time to judge the fake master's prowess. While the floating pamphlet might have seemed like magic to the naive mortals around them, it was nothing more than a cheap trick almost every cultivator would be capable of.

Even more, only those without proper practice would make a light piece of paper float in such an unstable manner. As a cultivator himself, he could feel the scammer's true strength. At most, there was a sliver of qi hidden within the stranger's body, nowhere near enough to consider him a 'great master', or even a little master. At best, he would be at the waygate stage, just barely enough to trick ordinary people who had never seen true cultivation.

While Thurain still scoffed at the obvious fraud, he saw Ria reach into her pockets, with pain on her face. Annoyed, he grabbed her shoulder and stepped between the girl and the scammer. Although they hadn't known each other for a long time, he really couldn't watch some innocent girl get tricked out of the little money her parents had sent her off with. He had never been good at ignoring the troubles of others anyways, and would fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves. That was how his master had raised him.

“Stop!” he shouted, and faced off against the scammer who already looked annoyed. “I know what you're doing. Don't think we're all idiots just because we are from the countryside.” He turned to face Ria. “Don't believe his nonsense. He's trying to trick you. That 'secret manual' is most likely just filled with some made-up breathing methods that won't get you anywhere. If you practice it, your best case is that nothing will happen. Worst case, you will end up with qi-derivation and die.”

“Young man, is there a need to butt in like this? Why meddle in the fate of others?”

When Thurain turned around again, the scammer had found his voice and looked at him like a dog who had his food taken off his plate. No wonder, since that was exactly what Thurain had done. He had no intention of returning it.

“I'm serious, don't play with me. You won't trick anyone so long as I'm here. If you don't stop now, I'll call for the city guard.”

“I have never tricked anyone in my entire life. Why make things difficult for me? Rather...” In played surprise, the scammer's eyes turned large. “Young master, would you mind me reading your future?”

Riven's eyes moved down to the scammer's rickety cart, where he had denoted his services as 'doctor, cultivator, miracle tinctures, dentistry, ghost catcher, story teller'. With a sneer, Thurain looked back up, into the man's passionate eyes. No doubt they could see the money in his pockets already, but he would be disappointed.

“Looks like you're a fortune teller too, are you? Why not put it on your cart, together with all the other nonsense titles?”

“Ah, I no longer read fortunes. The consequences of my revelations can be quite severe. It's rarely worth the hassle. However, your case is a special one. You truly deserve to be read. I can feel a strong aura of yin and yang from you, a powerful conflict will center around you in the future, one that will affect the lives of many. You stand upon a precipice of great importance, and you should be prepared for it before fate has come too close to be changed.”

“That so, huh?” In response to the scammer's words, Thurain's sneer only got more pronounced. His master had taught him about the various strains of cultivation, and also about the rarest and most elusive among them. Fortune telling was as close to a hidden art as one could get in today's age where every cultivation method past and present was categorized and analyzed.