Senseofbeing
patreon
Chapter 35 - Exploring the City
🕑 Added 2025-01-23 15:09:57 +0000 UTCAlaric and his group of friends were currently outside “The Argent Flask,” one of the reputed alchemist’s guilds in the city. George’s father was a local healer and he frequently procured a plethora of ingredients from The Argent Flask to craft minor healing potions.
He scanned the sturdy stone building with stained glass windows that shimmered in the hues of gold and green. As they entered the large building, Alaric detected the scent of herbs and faint traces of metallic compounds in the air.
The entrance area was bustling with people who were inspecting and handling flasks filled with different colors of glowing liquid, powdered dusts, and other unusual things.
In the distance, Alaric noticed a line of people waiting for their turn at the billing desk where an employee was efficiently processing transactions.
Beside the billing desk was the reception desk - likely for addressing queries - and receiving custom orders. A blonde with a deep blue iris and rose-tinted cheeks was currently engaged in a conversation with a few people.
“There,” George pointed in that direction, “That is the girl.” Alaric and Rowan casually eyed the girl without trying to make it too obvious. Gareth, on the other hand, approached her with a huge grin on his face.
“Wait. Stop…” Rowan called out behind him. “Don’t stir up trouble.” Gareth stuck his tongue out at Rowan but didn’t stop. Alaric and George simply smirked, eager to witness what would unfold.
Without any other option, all of them trailed behind Gareth. When it was their turn, Gareth boldly approached the counter. A badge on her chest identified her name - Elisa.
“How may I assist you, Sirs?” Elisa inclined her head slightly.
Gareth combed his fingers through his hair, flashed a smile, and propped his elbow on the counter. Elisa immediately scrunched her brows but waited for a response.
“Oh, you’ve already assisted us plenty,” Gareth remarked, “By slapping Therin yesterday.” He chuckled.
“Who?” Elisa’s face twisted in confusion, but then she exclaimed when she finally connected the dots. “Have you come to seek revenge?” She placed a hand on her waist and continued. “Let me warn you, noble or not, I will report to the guild master. He knows the count.”
“Haha…the count’s son is —” Rowan interrupted Gareth before he could make matters worse by creating a misunderstanding.
“We are not his friends,” Alaric stated calmly. “And, we are not seeking revenge.”
Elisa examined all of them with suspicion and responded. “I don’t care.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Just don’t ask me to supply you with the forbidden ingredients.”
Alaric and the other exchanged glances. Now, this is interesting. He leaned forward and inquired, “What forbidden ingredients are you referring to?”
“Arrgh…” She released a sigh. “I cannot accept orders for Widow’s Veil, Stilled Hemlock Sap, and Shade Lotus Petal without the guild master’s express permission. You have to contact him first.”
“So, Therin was not pestering you because he liked you?” Gareth muttered.
“What! No, of course not…” Her eyes flashed anger. “He tried to bribe me. When I didn’t accept, he had the nerve to threaten me and insult my family.”
Well, that was a completely different story than what George had recounted to them. When Alaric glanced at George, he simply shrugged his shoulders.
There was nothing else to pursue at The Argent Flask, and so all of them exited into the street. Elisa had explained that these ingredients were used to concoct highly potent sleeping potions that were utilized by adventurers for hunting monsters.
However, they would need a license to purchase them. And, the ingredients were costly.
So, why was a 15-year-old kid eager to purchase these ingredients and where did he get the money? All of them deduced that Therin and his friends were scheming something suspicious.
That’s why Therin couldn’t allow this information to spread and reach the ear of the count or anyone else for that matter. That’s why he attempted to intimidate George into staying silent.
Unfortunately, his entire plan backfired on him. Alaric chuckled. I wonder what the Knight Commander or the Guard Captain will say when they learn of this information.
“Should we notify someone?” George inquired.
“Yes, Of course.” Rowan scrunched his brows. “I will inform my father when I return home.” With that, Rowan pivoted and draped a hand around Alaric’s neck, grinning. “Enough of this. Now, let’s get you acquainted with the city.”
***
Alaric and his friends arrived at “The Sunlit Plaza”. It was the city’s bustling heart - the market square - where various stalls lined the streets selling ripe fruits, colorful trinkets, street food, garments, and more.
Street performers adorned the streets, juggling flaming torches and playing lively tunes on unique musical instruments.
A small stone fountain served as the centerpiece inside the market square, encircled by benches where Alaric observed many people congregating. George led Alaric to his favorite snack shop, and all of them proceeded towards it.
“Ooh..what is that smell?” Gareth remarked. Alaric patted him and directed his attention to the vendor who was preparing skewered meat and vegetable kebabs.
The vendor was busy brushing wooden skewers - loaded with grilled chunks of seasoned meats, onions, and bell peppers with a spiced sauce - as they sizzled over hot coals.
Alaric practically salivated at the sight and smell. This smells delicious. He made up his mind to grab a bite and so did all his friends. They also sampled small fillets of river fish - coated in seasoned batter and fried until crispy - served with tangy herb sauce on the side.
George practically devoured food worth all of them combined. Alaric elbowed him, “Slow down, you glutton,” he quipped, “Let us keep up with you.” He chuckled.
“Yes, street food is not good for your health.” Commented Gareth as he bit into crispy herb potato wedges. Rowan simply chuckled, opting to stay out of the squabble.
George narrowed his eyes. “Huh...as if you’re one to talk?” he retorted to Gareth. All of them laughed together.
After a while, they left the market square to wander through a few other sections of the city.
***
It was quite late when Alaric and his friends returned to the mansion. They hadn’t managed to explore all the fascinating hangouts in the city, but Alaric was satisfied.
The market square alone had been highly entertaining, where they had spent most of their time. However, Alaric had also glimpsed the local branch of the Church of the Radiant Flame and a popular adventurer’s guild - The Bronze Griffin Hall.
He resolved to explore the two places in greater detail sometime later. But he was most intrigued by the vast forest that lay beyond the city walls - The Whispering Woods.
Apparently, it was a forest teeming with various types of monsters, and the city guards along with numerous adventurers regularly cleared monster nests to mitigate the risk of monster infestation that could endanger the city.
There were rumors of a rift deep within the heart of the forest, but all information about it was concealed from the common people. Perhaps I’ll have an opportunity to investigate it someday.
***
Alaric lay on the central meditation ground of the solar plexus pagoda. It had become his favorite spot for mana meditation. His current goal was simple - to absorb ambient mana and condense it inside his core as much as possible before delving into the next zone of the Tutorial Rift.
He used his [Mana Manipulation] ability to draw the ambient mana into his mana core. However, it was not until Alaric began harnessing the purified energy of his solar plexus chakra that he managed to accumulate more ambient mana within his already full mana core.
His solar plexus chakra and the dense, foggy mana within his core rotated in harmony, pulling in more mana with each rotation.
At this stage, it was easy to overcome the resistance within his core, and he perceived tiny droplets of liquid mana condensing on the walls of his core.
After a while, Alaric ended his cultivation session. It would likely take him a month at this pace to form a liquid mana core. A smile crept into his face. He was just starting to build the foundation of his cultivation journey.
Alaric released a sigh. There is so much to accomplish before I advance to Tier 2. Perhaps I’ll even receive an invitation from the system for the Tower of Trials.
Alaric shook his head. He dismissed those thoughts and focused on his short-term goals for now.
Tier 1 was centered on body reforging and physical enhancement. Typically, cultivators at Tier 1 pursued three major objectives - to expand the size and density of their mana core, reforge and fortify the body through mana cultivation, and acquire as many physical enhancement skills as possible.
Well, the last part was not a priority for noble scions who had powerful bloodlines. Their primary goal was to develop a strong foundation so that they could get an invite from the system for the Tower of Trials and climb the highest floor possible.
Climbing higher floors granted better rewards, but the most sought-after prize was the opportunity to forge a bond with a powerful entity.
Once a cultivator forged a bond with a powerful entity, they could share their powers. In return, they gained special skills and abilities based on the entity’s powers. This also included physical enhancement skills.
Most cultivators simply aimed to advance through the tiers as quickly as possible. However, if a cultivator lacked proper education, talent, or access to cultivation resources, they could stagnate and remain trapped in a single tier for years, their cultivation path cut off forever.
To progress to Tier 2, a cultivator had to reforge at least one aspect of their body to average quality. Depending on the aspect reforged, they enjoyed different benefits.
Body reforging aspects and their benefits included:
Bones - Improved endurance, shock resistance, and power
Blood - Accelerated healing and poison resistance
Main Organs:
Heart - Improved blood circulation and recovery speed
Lungs - Improved breathing efficiency and stamina
Brain - Enhanced mental agility and resistance to mental attacks
Skin - Greater durability against cuts, fire, and abrasion
Muscles, ligaments, and tendons - Improved strength, flexibility, and agility
The reforging quality levels were divided into different grades:
Average - Basic improvements
Mid - Noticeable enhancements
High - Exceptional development
Peak - Tremendous refinement
Supreme - Perfect reforging that granted unmatched power.
Reforging any of the main organs - heart, lungs, or brain - could be considered reforging a single aspect. However, there were mentions of prodigies being able to reforge all three of their main organs - a perfect main organ reforge.
At Tier 1, most cultivators could only reforge one aspect of their body to average or mid-quality. Talented cultivators, with proper guidance and resources, could reforge two to three aspects to mid or high-quality.
Geniuses with powerful bloodlines, exceptional guidance, and unparalleled resources at their disposal managed to reforge three to five aspects at high to peak quality at Tier 1. It was customary to strive to reforge additional aspects of the body at higher Tiers, but that ambition is what distinguished prodigies from ordinary cultivators.
Geniuses could fight above their weight class due to their excellent foundation and early advancement.
At Tier 3 and beyond, cultivators who had reforged at least three aspects to peak quality strived to reforge two additional special aspects, which were far more challenging to reforge:
Mind - Heightened mental fortitude, emotional regulation, and augmented willpower. Additionally, it facilitated grasping Daos and controlling summons.
Soul - Improved resistance to soul-based attacks. It also acted as a prerequisite for wielding powerful advanced abilities and rare skills.
Alaric aimed to reforge all aspects of his body at the supreme quality - the highest quality possible. He would settle for no less. Achieving superior reforging quality across multiple aspects early on would grant him a significant advantage at his tier level.
He resolved to reforge all five aspects of his body before advancing to Tier 2 and to reforge his mind and soul before ascending to Tier 3.
However, his most immediate objective was to develop a liquid mana core and, eventually, form a solid mana core before reaching Tier 2. Advancing his mana core beyond the solid stage would require him to bloom his Solar Plexus Chakra, which was not possible in the near future.
Typically, only geniuses succeeded in forming a liquid mana core at Tier 2 and a solid mana core at Tier 3. Beyond that point, his knowledge was somewhat limited. Most individuals failed to advance their mana core beyond the solid stage.
He suspected that many noble scions or sect prodigies had access to resources comparable to, or perhaps surpassing his cultivation sanctuary. Well, at least, they might have access to cultivation chambers saturated with significantly denser ambient mana.
However, Alaric had a significant advantage - chakra cultivation. He chuckled. I cannot let my guard down just because I’m improving rapidly.
That’s why he resolved to undertake something considered exceptionally reckless and potentially ruinous to his cultivation journey if he failed.
Comments
Subhojit Chakraborty
Chakra cultivation is specific to Alaric and is a little different. Body Reforging is common to all Tier 1s
lenkite
But [Chakra Cultivation] already appears to do this reforging right ? So what is the second reforging for ?
Subhojit Chakraborty
Yes, you are correct. Also, the Muscles/Ligaments/Tendons are a packaged deal!
Nicole Cloud
So it's more like Bones, Blood, Heart/Lungs/Brain, Skin, Muscles/Ligaments/Tendons. 5 aspects. Alright.
Subhojit Chakraborty
Reforging any of the 3 main organs - heart, lungs, and brain could be considered forging a single aspect. That is why there are a total of 5 aspects instead of 7. I added a sentence after the list so that it makes more sense.
Nicole Cloud
"He resolved to reforge all FIVE aspects of his body before advancing to Tier 2 and to reforge his mind and soul before ascending to Tier 3." Bones, Blood, Heart, Lungs, Brain, Skin, Muscles/Ligaments/Tendons. That's 7 not 5? Unless I'm failing to understand something about bones&blood with its separation from the organs.
