Sarah Davis
Stories
10
Chapters
3,751
Words
1.8 M
Comments
0
Reading
6 d, 3 h
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The incident with the other cultivator left Zae Zin Nim disturbed for almost a week, even though she refused to admit it. Instead of going with him anywhere she spent all her time cultivating, despite the fact that she seemed to believe that reaching the next stage in the near future was impossible. Since the encounter had troubled her so much, he hadn't pressed. Kai wasn't going to let her stew in her room the entire time, though, and finally found something that could draw her out: a duel between two of…-
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During their first week in the city Kai had gone off to engage in random activities, because of course he couldn't contain himself. Zae Zin Nim had been a bit annoyed by his tendencies at first, but now she thought of them as a fond oddity. It just seemed to be in his nature to seek out miscellaneous adventure, and considering that he usually came out of it with some more power and resources, she wasn't going to complain. For her part, she remained focused. She was a cultivator, which meant she was a…
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In stories winning came down to passion and believing in yourself really hard. In reality, it often seemed to come down to math. According to Zae Zin Nim, it would cost him 100,000 Goralian Eagles for a perfect breakthrough in his cultivation. He had just over twenty eight of those thousands, so at his current salary from Orillia, it would take him six months to achieve that amount. He'd mark his progress by how much faster he could pull it off. Normally his first thought would have been monster…
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Since Zae Zin Nim wanted to freshen up before they left, Kai had a moment to stretch and prepare. He decided to take that time to learn a little more about who they were going to meet, since the first meetings hadn't gone particularly well. Guessing that the servants at an inn this fancy would be as servile as Krainuun, Kai just found the valet assigned to them and asked. "Dowager Orillia was actually a crystallier in her youth," the woman told him. "By all accounts, she was a relatively average fighter,…
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The next day they decided to start off immediately by inquiring with the top merchants. Zae Zin Nim was adamant that they should start with one of the wealthiest, a man named Suortril who apparently controlled trade from Cloudspire. Since Kai had no strong opinions and could use a bargain on cultivation resources, he went along with her. Fortunately, it turned out to be easy to get an invitation: there might be a hundred crystalliers in the city, but in a city with hundreds of thousands of people, that…
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No one came to greet them at the gates of Yulthens. Their sapphire crystallier badges got them in with no trouble, but they saw no sign of being scouted as they explored. Most likely the greatest city in Krysal thought that it was too good to get worked up over visitors with 100 Power. Though the cloth wraps, the awnings, and the streets looked similar to Romastir, Kai immediately noticed differences. The most obvious were the floating crystals: they shimmered above store openings and some were even…
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As the horde of monstrous wolves rushed closer, Kai took a deep breath. Far deeper than he should have been able to, his lungs swelling and swelling until he felt as though his chest should have been inflating. His body might have shifted slightly, but thankfully he didn't bloat up like the Infernotoad. The flaming mass of stone definitely worked, though. Kai finished expelling it and watched as his technique obliterated the majority of the pack. Even after practice, he couldn't expel quite as large or…
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Despite the fact that it concluded with a brawl, Kai's time in Romastir resolved mundanely. He spoke briefly to Unklian, who was disappointed to see him go but paid him for the fraction of the next month he'd worked. That left Kai with twenty seven thousand Goralian Eagles, which was still a mind-boggling number to him. Or it would have been, if he hadn't known that Zae Zin Nim planned to spend nearly all of her Eagles just on transportation. The most emotional part of leaving was actually Krainuun. When…
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Kai grimaced in pain and instinctively grabbed for the hand holding the knife, but he missed. Naellia took a step back and smirked at him. "You too?" Kai asked. "What did I do to offend you?" "Rejecting me. Thinking you're better than everyone else. Ruining a lovely evening." Naellia manifested a second knife in her other hand and flipped both into stabbing position. "Take your pick." He had barely even remembered the rejection, and definitely hadn't considered it as part of the social balance. As…
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Another week passed simply enough, and Kai was glad because it gave him more time to train. He finished mastering his shroud well enough that the other crystalliers couldn't sense anything about him and drained qi crystals until he reached 99%, then right up to the breaking point. Sometimes he felt like his body was surging with energy, ready to go over the edge, but he held himself back. With no emergencies on the horizon, the crystalliers appeared to be relaxing. Half of the group was going to deal with…
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