Tsem wasn’t sure where to look when he approached the city. The walls, made from pale wood, were put together in a way that spoke of far greater skill in carpentry than his village had ever known. The river that rolled through the city, the final destination of the stream he’d lived alongside, was filled with barges that moved in and out, carrying great loads of timber. The gate, which he was approaching, was guarded by cultivators.
There were two guards, one clad in blue, the other in orange. Both looked the part of affluent cultivator, and Tsem found himself wondering what value he could really bring to a city that could afford such guardsman.
As he approached, the line for entry was quite short, mostly some few foragers returning with plants gathered from nearby. There didn’t seem to be any of the fields Tsem was used to seeing here. He supposed that was to be expected. This wasn’t the northern continent where he’d spent most of his life. It was the frontier; few could protect a farm from roving demonic beasts.
“Reason for entry?” The bored guard in orange combat robes asked.
“I was fortunate enough to hunt an uvarian bladebear. I come to sell what I was able to gather, and some few feathers of a ghalri raptor as well.” He’d kept the feathers at Da Kanuk’s insistence.
“Oh.” The guard leaned forward, suddenly curious. “My Sona clan, the most powerful in the whole city, would make a generous offer for such materials. Visit the pavilion of the sun’s light and someone will help you.” He started to wave Tsem through, but a loud cough interrupted him.
The other guard, ignoring one of the foragers, wandered over. “My Mond clan is just as powerful, and you will surely get a better price at the pavilion of the moon’s glow.”
Tsem bowed low in both directions. “I thank you for your advice, but I was hoping to find my way to the Da clan. I have heard that they are in need of such materials.”
“Oh.” The Mond clan cultivator shook his head ruefully. “You’re one of those wildlings. I should have known.”
The Sona clan member was not so offput, giving him directions to where he could find the Da clan. Apparently, he just had to cross the river on one of the city’s three bridges and he would have no trouble finding them. “Make sure to return to sell the demonic core though.” He winked at Tsem. “The Da clan has no alchemists. We, on the other hand, are connected to the prestigious blossoming sun sect. For that, at least, you will have to sell to us.”
Tsem entered the city in higher spirits, it seemed that he would be getting decent payment for his efforts. The guards he’d met too, while not as kind as Da Kanuk had been, were a far cry better than those few who had visited his village.
Tsem’s head was on a swivel as he moved into the city’s main square. He spotted the two pavilions the guards had mentioned, each ostentatiously large, bigger than even the magistrate’s home, the largest building he’d seen before this, had been. A few high-class restaurants caught Tsem’s eye too. He was sure they catered to the needs of only the wealthiest cultivators, but the mouth-watering scents coming from them set his imagination ablaze. The real point of note though sat in the square’s center under tight guard by more cultivators of the Sona and Mond clans.
It was a gateway made of high-quality metals and engraved with copious amounts of runes. The whole structure positively thrummed with qi, but Tsem couldn’t figure out what it was intended to do. It didn’t look like the gate led to anywhere after all, it just seemed to sit there in the square.
As much as Tsem wanted to take in more sights, he was eager to visit the Da clan and see what business he could do with him. He moved away from the city square, trying to make his way through the city in the direction of the river.
The bridge was a simple construction, as was everything on the other side of it. The difference between the two banks of the river was night and day. Where the west bank housed buildings almost exclusively above three stories, there were only two buildings that met that description on the east bank. Where the west bank’s population was dressed in finely tailored coats and robes, those on the east bank weren’t far from Tsem’s own fashion of heavily worn clothes made from the cheapest materials possible.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Tsem walked over, noticing the higher than usual population of the young. It was so disproportionately skewed that there was simply no way it could be coincidence.
“Ho there!” A voice called and Tsem turned on instinct. “Care to buy a new set of sturdy gear? I’ve got the perfect attire for gatherers and hunters. Get yourself some protection from the demonic beasts.”
Other voices called out as well, and Tsem looked around with amusement. What the east bank may have lacked in glamour, it more than made up for in liveliness. Products were strewn across the street, vendors hawking their wares. It was a more familiar setting for Tsem, reminding him of the village market albeit quite a bit larger.
He made his way through the various enterprises going on around him, heading for the two larger buildings. If those weren’t the Da clan’s property, he’d eat one of Valesin’s sword spines.
Sure enough, sigils on well-kept signs marked the buildings as the Da clan training grounds and the clan trade hall. Tsem walked into the trade hall where he found much of the same products he’d found outside, but each was of a far higher quality. Countless racks and shelves held finely crafted spears, bows, bundles of arrows, and hide-armor. He saw a number of oddities as well: a few glowing plants, a handful of well-used ornate instruments, and a small shelf that held a number of scrolls.
Tsem moved around and through it all, coming to a counter with an old man sitting behind. Or at least, older. The man looked to be in his fifties, his qi moved smoothly, indicating some considerable strength as a cultivator. His feet were thrown up on the counter, and when Tsem approached, the man gave a crooked grin. “Now what do we have here?” There was one more thing about the man that Tsem couldn’t help but notice. He looked a little…mangled.
One of the man’s eyes was covered by a patch, the nearby scar making it clear it was not for show. One of the legs he was resting had a wooden foot attached to the end too. It was on the opposite side of his body as the patch, and the man drew attention to the fact by his jacket which was designed with an odd diagonal cut that seemed to connect the injuries together
Tsem ignored all of that, giving his customary bow, and making sure it held no less respect than usual. “Greetings elder, I thank you for your time. I have come to sell some materials I harvested from an uvarian bladebear.”
The elder threw his feet back to the ground with two thuds. “Well then, lets see what you’ve got. Quick, boy.”
Tsem pulled the pelt and various other materials from his makeshift pack and placed them on the counter. He set the small pile of ghalri raptor feathers down too.
The Da clan elder looked through the prizes, examining each closely. With each item he looked at, his crooked grin grew wider. “I’ve not seen you before. Is this your first time dealing with the clan?”
Tsem nodded.
“And you’re not some cultivator’s messenger are you?”
Tsem shook his head.
“Interesting. Good!” The elder laughed. He stood and reached around under the counter for a little while before he pulled out a jar covered in a thin sheet of dust. He pulled a simple wooden pin from it, the letters ‘DAH’ carved on it.
“Thank you, elder. What is it?”
A slight chuckle. “Do you know nothing of our hunter program?”
Tsem shook his head again, feeling mystified.
“Our Da clan is not some great clan you might find on the northern continent, nor are we connected to a prestigious sect like the Mond or Sona. We’re tolerated here and allowed to grow because we’re useful.” The elder put a hand to his chest while Tsem pointedly ignored a deep scar on his neck he revealed with the motion. “The clan’s basically run by myself, Elder Goro. I handle day-to-day affairs and the training of our disciples.” He shook his head from side to side, clearly annoyed by the state of affairs. “There is one other elder and the patriarch, but they spend all their time in the wilderness, personally earning the capital we need to keep going. We don’t have some pool of subfamilies to get our disciples from, and we certainly have need of some good ones if my buddies ever want to retire.”
Tsem wasn’t sure what to say to that, to be honest, he had no idea what any of this had to do with him.
Elder Goro sighed. “The pin marks you as Da clan hunter. Prove yourself, and I’ll take you as a disciple.”
Tsem looked at him, his eyes wide, his heart beating a thousand times in a breath. “Do you mean that I could become a cultivator.”
Elder Goro rolled his eyes. “Don’t look at me as if I’m giving you some incredible deal. It’s a bloody lousy one. Emphasis on that blood probably being yours. You need to prove your worth, and we’ll be taking that in installments of beast parts, pelts, and meat. Something you’ve gotten a healthy start on.”
Tsem nodded, suddenly very eager to please. “I had the fortune of meeting Da Kanuk in the forest. He gave me some instruction on how to hunt and a manual besides.”
Elder Goro stretched a little, slowly getting to his feet. He hopped over the counter and headed to the shelf of scrolls, mumbling something to himself about useless disciples stealing all his favorite parts. He took a moment before extracting two scrolls and unrolling them on the counter.
“As part of the program, there are two milestones in which you’re allowed to select a cultivation manual.” He gestured to the scrolls on the counter. “After earning 1,000 ‘DAH’ contribution points, we give you a choice between our two basic meridian cleansing exercises. Either one will let you strengthen your body and allow you to begin harnessing qi internally, though they each have their particular quirks.” Elder Goro shrugged his shoulders. “The second milestone isn’t until 100,000 points. If you live that long, I’ll give you a cultivation manual I like to call the thousand skins of Da. From there, if you pass one final trial, I’ll take you on as a disciple.”
Tsem bowed deeply. “I am honored, elder.”
Elder Goro loudly snorted in an over-the-top sort of mockery. “I’d put your odds of getting to the second milestone as quite low, but who knows, kid. I wouldn’t mind instructing you if you make it.”
Tsem grinned, then realized something. “How many points did I earn with my contribution.”
“1,250. Of which 1,000 are from the pelt. Uvarian bladebear’s are technically a low grade 2 demonic beast since they use external qi, albeit simplistically. I wouldn’t normally recommend you go after something like that, but we’re not exactly going to turn down your contributions either.”
Tsem looked at the two cultivation manuals laid out before him. “Then?”
Elder Goro rolled his eye. “Yes, you may choose one of the manuals. I’d recommend you also pick up some better equipment while you’re here. You can trade your contribution points for anything in here, and still have them count towards the milestones, but you won’t get as good a rate as you would if you were properly selling.”
Tsem examined the sigils on each of the scrolls in front of him, taking his time to decipher each before he made his decision.
