The First Peak of the Force

by Yuri Ajin

  Lei Wang frowned. He didn’t like that. He wanted to win but not like this. He knew that Kai wasn’t weak. He couldn’t be. Not after what the first two tests showed.

  What’s going on there? he wondered.

  The audience, unlike him, didn’t care much for technicalities, just gossip.

  “A-ha-ha-ha! Lei Wang’s rival is an idiot as well. Did he get so scared that he’s hiding in the simulation?”

  “Hilarious! These two are a perfect match.”

  The scoreboard dinged. Kai’s score changed and then stagnated again. For about three minutes, the board showed that he had one point and then the number changed to sixty in an instant. Kai left the soul world, completing the test. He didn’t want to overdo it because he didn’t know how the people would react if his score was too high. Lei Wang’s was fifty-two, so he didn’t want to stray too far from his result.

  Glancing around, Kai smiled. Judging by the people’s faces, he had done everything right.

  “But… But… But how?” Lei Wang cried out. “Why didn’t your score rise gradually? Why did it jump up so sharply?! I don’t understand!” He grabbed his head.

  “I just waited until a lot of opponents appeared and killed them all in one go,” Kai explained. He couldn’t really tell him about how he could control what happened in his soul world. It’d be unwise to reveal his secrets just like that. And in front of so many people. He was certain that he’d be accused of cheating.

  “Ah… But… I… This…” Lei Wang was at a loss for words. He fell silent, turned around, and limped away.

  ***

  Five days later, the Temple of the Thunder Serpent became the most crowded and noisiest place in the entire city. All of the inner-circle students had flocked to it, eager to get their resources. Luckily, since everything had been prepared in advance ― students were given queue numbers and communication between the disciples and the elders was carried out through their tattoos ― the representatives of the clan managed to distribute all the resources in just a day. Everything went smoothly.

  Having received what he wanted, Kai left the Purple Palace. Looking into his Ring, he examined his set of resources.

  The first and most eye-catching item was the box with the Energy Stone, which he had heard about back in Namesh before the test. This artifact was a resource more valuable than the finest pills or Spirit Fruits. There was so much power in it that it’d be enough for a dozen breakthroughs, similar to the ones he had experienced near the Shadow in the dungeon.

  The Stone was by far the most expensive of the resources he had received but there were other valuable things as well. For example, a set of twenty pills that consisted of ten Healing Pills and ten Temporary Strength Boost Pills. He also got Energy Restoration Potions, which were many times more useful, and therefore more expensive than other similar pills, since they acted instantly upon ingestion and didn’t have an explosive effect. It always required time to crack open the shell of the pills, not to mention that the energy tried to break free during absorption, which made their use in combat rather impractical.

  In addition to all this, he also received a rare Spirit Fruit that could permanently increase his physical stats by several percent. There was only one condition — such a Fruit could be eaten only once a year.

  He also got some pills that contributed to the development at the Soul Stage. He decided to save them for later.

  The value of these resources was impressive. In Rivertoon, for just a couple of pills from this set, one could buy a luxurious mansion near the imperial castle or even on the territory of the Fallen Star Sect. The total value of this set would allow one to buy a whole aristocratic family of Alkea, except, probably, the first four families. Or, at least, that was what he thought.

  But, no matter how good the reality might have seemed, all of this was just crumbs from the master’s table. After all, ninety percent of the clan’s resources went exclusively to apprentices, Exorcists, and Elementalists. What the inner-circle students received could be called day-old leftovers. But they still enjoyed them. After all, even crumbs were better than nothing.

  Feeling someone’s gaze on him, Kai raised his head. Lei Wang was standing nearby. Pale, with red eyes and disheveled hair, the young man looked like a ghost. Did he finally realize that he had lost something extremely valuable? Kai didn’t know but he suspected this was the reason Lei Wang looked so upset. Without the resources, he’d develop much slower this year and end up lagging behind other, even less talented inner-circle students, dropping even lower in the eyes of his family.

  “I see you haven’t run away.”

  “I never run away or give up!” Lei Wang waved his hands angrily. “But I... I mean...” He bit his lip and closed his eyes. “I lost,” he managed to utter. “You won, so… Here.”

  He held out a low-quality, Silver-rank Ring. In the clan, it was considered nothing more than an expensive bag. However…

  “Just give me back the Ring… Please…”

  Kai glanced at him. There was no trace of arrogance on his face anymore. He immediately remembered the disgusting comments about Lei Wang. People thought that he was a freak, a fool, someone to point fingers and laugh at… They thought it funny that his family considered him a disgrace and a failure. And sure, Lei Wang was arrogant, rude, weird, and pretentious, but he was also a very stubborn and, most importantly, honest man who only wanted to prove his worth and prove to himself that he wasn’t all the things people called him.

  For the first time in a while, Kai felt a pang of pity and guilt. In the past, he’d crossed paths with many real assholes so he had long stopped taking insults seriously. For some reason, he was no longer glad that he had defeated Lei Wang. After all, he had known in advance that he’d win.

  But despite all of that, he still transferred the resources to himself. He did, however, return the Ring.

  “Next time, perhaps, try not to bump into people. You aren’t a mountain that everyone needs to bypass,” he added, nodded him farewell, and left.

  Once Kai was gone, Lei Wang looked at his Ring. He was surprised to see that all Kai took was the Energy Stone. The rest, including the pills contributing to development on the Soul Stage that were so important for him, remained untouched.

  Having received his resources, Kai found Lily and Ivsim. The trio agreed to start earning the coin they all desperately needed. In order to do this, they had to go to the Middle Wasteland to complete several recently selected tasks.

  Unfortunately for him, Ivsim was the only one who didn’t know that they were doing this not only for the sake of coin, but also to lure out Kai’s and Lily’s mysterious enemy.

  Chapter 11

  COLLECTING SPIRIT HERBS

  The eastern area of the Thunder Serpent Clan’s lands bordered the Middle Wasteland. The only thing that separated these two territories was a huge wall, stretching from the very south, where the Celestial Plateau began, to the north, ending at the lands of the Flame Salamander Clan, the nearest neighbors.

  The huge wall wasn’t the only defense against the dangers of the Wasteland. Along the border, the clan’s largest defensive array was constantly active, scaring away monsters.

  On this early morning, a long line of people wishing to travel to the Middle Wasteland gathered at the central gate. Kai, Lily, and Ivsim were among them. When their turn came, they showed their clan marks to the guard. He used a special monocle that allowed him to read information from other people’s tattoos. Having checked theirs, he nodded, made an entry in his journal, and asked for how long they were going to be absent. Then he waved to another guard, after which the trio was allowed to pass.

  A few feet away from the gates, they felt a strange force touch them for a moment. It was the array, which deactivated after detecting their marks.

  Among the information Kai had bought from Dee was a detailed map of the Celestial Plateau, which opened in a convenient and adjustable System window. After checking the planned route, they headed
southeast.

  ***

  Due to the fact that the territories of all seven clans stretched along the western edge of the Plateau, everyone had access to the Middle Wasteland. However, these lands weren’t homogeneous, and there were many differences between them. In certain areas there were more monsters, in others, there were more Spirit Herbs, and in some, there were rare materials.

  The part of the Wasteland closest to the Thunder Serpent Clan’s border was divided into three zones, one of which was called the Hidden Blossom Field. That was where Kai’s group was now going. This place got its name after many precious Herbs and Spirit Fruits that sometimes grew there. A long time ago, a natural array was formed on the Hidden Blossom Field, the origins of which no one had figured out to this day, which confused both people and monsters, making the search for useful plants much more difficult. Because of this, one could easily pass by a rare Fruit and not even notice it.

  In order to look for Herbs here, one had to be either a very experienced gatherer who wasn’t easily misled or possess an expensive amulet that could deactivate the array’s influence. Or just be incredibly lucky. But the trio was none of those. However, for some reason, the Herb-collecting task was their first choice.

  Kai’s and Lily’s reasons were partially understandable. The young Wayat had an incredible instinct, which grew stronger as she developed, and Kai had energy vision. But why Ivsim chose this task remained a mystery. Whatever the case might’ve been, in five hours, the trio got close to their destination. Of course, as these stories go, getting there without a problem would’ve been too easy.

  The trio took great care to tread carefully, trying their best not to linger anywhere for too long and to avoid encounters with monsters whenever possible. Even so, one of the dwellers of the Wasteland managed to find them ― a Dragon Turtle at the Soul Stage.

  Twenty feet tall and with a huge shell that covered almost all of its body, the Dragon Turtle possessed tremendous physical strength. In addition, it was capable of spewing bolts of energy imbued with Fire Force, which made it a very dangerous opponent.

  Unfortunately, no one managed to notice the monster in time, because Dragon Turtles loved to hide underground, where they could lay in wait for months or even years. Its appearance was a surprise not only for Lily, but also for Kai, who hadn’t thought to look for energy flowing underneath his feet. Its disguise was so powerful, that even Ivsim, with his exceptional hearing, failed to sense the danger.

  Splitting up, they played hide and seek with the Turtle until it roared, releasing three fireballs at once. It had chosen Lily as its first target.

  Luckily, she dodged immediately and retaliated with one of her Air techniques. The Turtle turned rather quickly, exposing its shell to the blow. Unfortunately, it was as strong as a high-quality, Silver-rank armor. Lily didn’t manage to so much as scratch it.

  Kai aimed for the head. Having wrapped his blade with sword energy, he intended to hit the Turtle’s neck. Unfortunately, it managed to hide its head under the shell before he could get to it.

  A moment later, it was all over.

  Having had time to prepare, Ivsim jumped on top of the shell, piercing it with one of his swords as if it wasn’t even there. There was a loud rumble and something exploded inside the monster. Blood spurted from the head and leg holes, and the Turtle collapsed to the ground with a crash. The shell began to crumble.

  “Pity,” Kai said. “We could’ve sold it if it.”

  “It is.” Ivsim nodded. “But it wouldn’t be easy to kill it then. It was at the Source Creation level so it must’ve had some sort of a defensive ability. We’re just lucky that it underestimated us.”

  The mentioned level was the third and last level in the development of the soul. The first two were the Opening of the Acupuncture Points and the Meridian Formation levels. In order to reach the higher levels, you had to prepare and strengthen your soul (after reaching a new level, you couldn’t go directly to the next one as the soul could get damaged), after which the cultivator either advanced further or became disabled for life, and sometimes even died. All this was done in accordance with a meditation technique.

  As for beasts, they didn’t know about meditation techniques and didn’t even understand how to develop (after all, on the Body and Mind Stages, everything happened by itself, as they absorbed energy from other beasts and herbs), but their Energy Crystals, which they cultivated in themselves, compensated for this in a way unknown to those who studied them. Therefore, it could be said that, to some extent, beasts were luckier than people, since cultivation came naturally to them. Due to this, they could easily become stronger than human Exorcists.

  “Was that its weak spot?” Lily pointed to where Ivsim had hit. Remembering that the young man was blind, she added, “I mean, where you hit it.”

  “No, the shell is the same everywhere,” Ivsim replied with a shrug. He was either used to people forgetting he was blind or didn’t particularly care about it.

  For the next couple of hours, they were busy harvesting the Dragon Turtle for useful materials. It was especially difficult to remove the larger parts of the shell and extract the Energy Crystal. Fortunately, no other monster attacked them, so when they finished, they continued on their way to the Hidden Blossom Field, which they reached in an hour and a half.

  Despite being called a “field,” it had a diverse landscape, ranging from dense woods to large lakes, in which Spirit Herbs could also be found hiding underwater.

  They were quick to find a convenient place to set up camp as they were eager to explore the area a little. They had about three hours before nightfall so they had to use their time as best they could. And although they could see as well during the night as they did could during the day, they didn’t want to risk running into nocturnal beasts as they were far more dangerous than their sunlight-loving cousins.

  The trio split up. Kai headed east. If he was to believe Dee’s information, then on average, an experienced gatherer with an amulet could collect about forty to fifty Herbs in a week and, if they were lucky, they could even find a Spirit Fruit. Kai wanted to test whether he could beat this score with the help of his energy vision.

  Within six minutes, he found his first Herb, hidden under the tree roots. Someone else would’ve passed it by, but it had attracted his attention with its glow.

  [Wei-Kang Grass]

  Rank: Silver

  Quality: Low

  Like most Herbs, it had no description. To find out its properties, one had to study medicine, herbology, and alchemy. The effect of products made from any type of Herb or Fruit depended on how well one handled and used the ingredients.

  Kai had only recently learned about the value of Herbs. He had never understood why alchemists didn’t just use their ki to create pills and potions. It turned out that Herbs were much more powerful than that for two reasons.

  The first reason was their various types of energy. There was a huge number of them in the world, and it took a lot of time to master the transformation of at least one. For example, it had taken Kai almost a year to learn how to turn ki into sword energy. However, an Herb could easily convert and accumulate the energy of various elements.

  Secondly, Herbs were very convenient carriers of prana and ki. In the world of cultivation, there was no universal energy storage. It existed in the air, but one couldn’t touch it or trap it into a bottle. That was why Herbs were used as the most wide-spread carriers of it. Occasionally, monster parts were used to make pills or potions, but they weren’t as widespread. Beasts were more difficult to hunt down, after all.

  As for the human body, it was usually a taboo topic; however, there were still very rare and forbidden potions, for the creation of which some alchemists didn’t shy away from using corpses.

  ***

  Kai was the last to return to the camp.

  “You were gone for so long... Have you found anything?” Lily asked, taking a spoonful of some kind of porridge.

  “No
t much.” He smiled slightly, deciding to also have some of the food. Ivsim and Lily had worked hard on cooking it, after all. Unlike those who hadn’t reached the Exorcist Stage, due to his bloodline, Kai didn’t need food. However, he didn’t want to give up such a pleasure especially since the porridge smelled wonderful.

  During those few hours that he was gone looking for Herbs, the sun had already set, giving way to the new moon and clusters of glittering stars. He had, in fact, managed to find almost twenty different Herbs. They had been placed into his Ring for safekeeping.

  In comparison, Lily was able to find five during the same time, and Ivsim only three. Although they lagged far behind Kai in terms of efficiency, their results were also impressive. Typically, when they first arrived at the Hidden Blossom Field, many disciples couldn’t find even one Herb for days.

  Having woken up early in the morning ― he no longer needed anyone to wake him up at this point, his body and mind were already programmed to an early rise ― Kai got up to stretch and wash his face. As he was doing so, Ivsim and Lily got up as well and even joined him. They talked about the day’s plans over breakfast and then split up again. They had decided to spend the whole day looking for and collecting Herbs. To make sure that no one found them or stole anything (there wasn’t anything valuable in the camp, but still), Ivsim left a small artifact in one of the tents. It, as he explained, worked as a Distorted Perception Field and would mask their presence from anyone.

  This was the second day of their well-paid job, and the beginning of their three-week-long adventure.

  Chapter 12

  THE MISTY TREE

  Kai, Lily, and Ivsim returned to the clan lands after almost three weeks. The time flew by unnoticed, and they were able to fill their Rings with Herbs. Kai had gathered about six hundred different Herbs and as many as nineteen Fruits, four of which he decided to keep for himself.