came to a compromise. Sebastian was led to the Inspection Office by one
of the guards and asked to wait as the other one brought a healer. Even
just some basic medical attention was a huge relief, even after a few days worth of natural healing. It didn’t regrow
the arm, but it fixed the shoulder and set the wound. The rest would be
up to himself.
Next, he was brought before a middle-aged woman wearing
more of a business-casual style than the light armor the guards had been
wearing. She smelled vaguely of fish, as if someone had microwaved
leftover tuna nearby, except it emanated off of her directly. Her face
was stern, and Sebastian’s spiritual sense made it clear that she was
stronger than the two guards. She had a confidence which made him think
that any resistance or mischief was a bad idea.
She led him to her desk. It was a small wooden desk in
something akin to an open-plan office. Hers was one of four in the room.
There were cabinets by the walls and a few shelves used as separators
between work spaces. A stark contrast to the otherwise medieval feel of
the town, and the world at large.
They sat down, and she immediately said, “Just so I’m
clear on your story—you were lurking around the woods outside town.” Her
eyes glanced at Sebastian’s shoulder. “Got caught up in a monster
encounter and lost your arm, and then you wandered here in search of
medical attention?”
Her serious tone and no-bullshit attitude flustered
Sebastian, like when he was sent to the principal’s office back in
school. “Yes,” he said. “I mean, I wouldn’t say I was lurking but—“
“And why were you lurking outside town, without an identity token?”
Identity token? Wait, could it be?
Sebastian remembered the pouch Bishop had given him, before he took on
the troll to buy time for their escape. Having miraculously kept his bag
with him throughout the whole ordeal, he still had it. He reached
inside and pulled out a round token, the size of a silver dollar
pancake. The metallic token was cool to the touch, but he felt a small
surge of energy from some enchantment within.
“I do have this,” he said, uncertain yet hopeful that Bishop could help him out, one more time from beyond the grave.
She sighed as she accepted it. “Why would you put us
through all this if you had an identity token all along?” She placed it
on a metal surface on her desk. It buzzed, and a projection appeared in
the air above the token. It faced away from Sebastian, so he couldn’t
see what it said.
Her previous stern expression melted away, and she turned
to Sebastian with a soft, sympathetic look. “You lost more than an arm
in that encounter, huh?”
It took Sebastian by surprise, making him lose whatever composure he had. “How did you know?”
“The token is recently wiped, and you are freshly bonded
to it. While it is possible that you coerced someone to wipe their token
and surrender it to you, there are fail safes and measures installed to
prevent that. I’d venture a guess and say that you lost someone who
handed this down to you, is that right?”
A sense of relief washed over Sebastian, mixed with the
pain of the loss. At least this wasn’t another lie he would have to keep
track of. “Yes. Yes, I did.”
She smiled and asked, “Do you have anywhere to stay in town? Are you just passing through or here to stay?”
“I’m here to stay, at least for a while. And yes, I do have a place in town.”
Though I don’t exactly know where it is.
“Well alright then, we just need to do a quick inspection to register you and you can be on your way.”
Unlike identification back on earth, the token was just
that, a token, rather than proof of your personal identity. It provided
some legitimacy to your social status and origins.
They got up, and he was led to a room down the hall. It
was small, almost like a janitor’s closet. Inside was just one thing, a
glowing blue orb, not unlike the one from his first day in this world.
This orb, however, was about the size of a soccer ball.
“This should only take a moment. Just place your hand on the orb and let it do its thing.”
Luxendorf, a major city in the
kingdom, had simple machines that estimated levels. I guess the Calindor
Federation really is more advanced when it comes to this stuff, since
they have an actual inspection crystal in a regular town. Verrill, back on the train, once called Calindor, “The Land of Swords and Magic.” Guess there was some
truth to that.
Sebastian followed her instructions. It wasn’t his first
time being inspected after all, he knew what to expect. He only hoped
that his unusual Status would hold up.
There was a buzz and then a screen was projected onto the wall.
Name: Sebastian Moore
Level: 43
Titles
- Swordsman
Skills
- ★Mind's Eye
- ★Swordsmanship
- ★Quickstep
It worked perfectly.
His Cultivation Status was completely hidden, and the inspection only displayed his System Status.
“Sebastian Moore, level 43. A swordsman, huh?” She
glanced at Sebastian, looking at him in a new light after seeing his
level. “Just a generic [Swordsmanship] Skill? That’s unusual.
[Quickstep] is impressive. What’s really interesting is the other Skill,
[Mind’s Eye]. That’s not unheard of for swordsmen, but it’s rare, very rare.”
They stepped out of the inspection room and returned to her desk.
While she registered Sebastian as a new citizen of
Celder, he asked about the house. Bishop gave him the key, along with
the identity token, but he could use some directions to find it.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
With everything settled, she shook his hand and said, “Welcome to Celder, Mr Moore.”
Sebastian stepped out of the Inspection Office and took in the town of Celder.
It was in many ways similar to Blackoak in Lumeria. The
biggest difference was that while the individual parts of Blackoak were
built with precision and skill, the town itself was chaotic. The streets
meandered and twisted around, barely a straight line in sight. Celder
on the other hand, seemed structured and well thought out. The streets
were mostly straight lines, except when something forced their hands or
it simply made more sense to curve around something.
The architecture as well was similar but more uniform.
The facades weren’t as detailed, as though they had prioritized making
functional buildings rather than beautiful ones—although they were
certainly beautiful in their own right.
As he walked through the town, a mix of emotions swirling
around inside, he was constantly circulating his essence. It took some
concentration to multitask but Sebastian considered it training. The
Techniques he wielded as a cultivator weren’t the same as System Skills,
after all. He needed to intentionally move his internal essence along
certain paths throughout his meridian pathways in order for them to
work.
His [Mind’s Eye] Skill took care of that automatically,
but his [Quickstep] Skill didn’t. [Quickstep] as a Skill worked
similarly enough to his [Fleeting Cloud Step] that the [System]
considered him to have learned it, but it was fundamentally different.
The Skill made him move quickly in short bursts, but the Technique
allowed him to move as though he was unencumbered by reality. Which
meant he had to circulate his own essence in order for him to properly
use the Technique.
Circulating his essence would slowly but surely heal him,
restoring his arm back to normal. He would have to do some experimenting
to see what kind of recovery rate he could expect.
That would be a matter for another day, however. For now,
it was time to find the house. The house that the hunters called their
‘home away from home’. For Sebastian, it would become his true home for
the foreseeable future. He had no real plans in the short term, beyond
settling down and cultivating, after all.
With a little luck, the house would have everything he would need.
He still didn’t know the value of his coins in the
Calindor Federation, but he did at least know that they used the same
currency. The fact that nations that weren’t exactly friendly would use
the same currency was strange, but the fact that there was no
centralized value for each denomination meant that it didn’t really
matter. Something worth a silver in one place could be worth a gold in
another. He hoped he had enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about
money for a long time.
Finally, he arrived at a nice looking
house. All houses here were made by people guided by an omnipotent,
godlike System so they all looked nice, but this one was… theirs. Now it
was his.
All he could see from the outside was a limestone wall,
taller than he was, and a large wooden door. He used Bishop’s key to
open the gate and walked in. Inside was a large L-shaped house with an
enclosed courtyard. It was almost Greek revival, painted white with
sections of exposed brick.
There was a seating area, centered around a fireplace, on
the left side, connected to the patio. Beyond that was the main
entrance into the house itself. The house wrapped around the courtyard
on the left while the right side was mostly just a wall. Directly to the
left of the gate was a small garden with bushes and a small tree. To
the right of the walkway, sort of in the middle of the courtyard, was a
platform of stone tiles. Behind the platform, in the far right corner,
was a second little garden.
He entered his new home. It was much larger than anything
he had expected to find. The intricate wooden door closed behind him,
and he walked into the dimly lit entry way. The faint aroma of dust,
alcohol, and old books greeted him. Sunlight illuminated the grand
marble staircase which led to a second floor.
He ambled around for bit, examining the kitchen, the
dining room, and the living room. His favorite room upon first
inspection was the library. When he opened the double doors, the mid-day
sun poured through the windows and made the library, with its tall
ceiling and indoor balcony which wrapped around the entire room to make
up the second floor, feel more like magic than the actual magic he had
seen.
The entire house was surprisingly clean. Although the
hunters never seemed like they were particularly sloppy or messy, he did
expect the place to more resemble the church. It had never been too
bad there either, but there had been things all over the place.
Furniture thrown in piles in the corner, for one. Here, there was barely
anything out of place.
It made him feel like they considered this to be their
true home, and the church was just a place where they stayed. They had
called this their vacation home, but Sebastian could feel the love they
had for this place, and he knew he would love it the same.
After getting cleaned up, Sebastian found a bottle of
alcohol. It was one of the few things that was left standing on a table.
They likely left it there to enjoy once they returned. Grabbing a
glass, he walked outside to the fireplace in the courtyard.
Exhausted, both physically and mentally, Sebastian slumped down onto to the seat.
“I don’t actually know what customs you have here,” he
said aloud, to no one but the memory of his friends, “so I’ll have to
settle for one from back home.” He poured himself a glass and then
poured out about five glasses worth into the fireplace. “Thank you guys…
for everything. And I’m sorry. If I hadn’t dragged you guys into my
mess, you’d all still be alive.” Sebastian took a breath and shook his
head. “I’m done being a victim. Although I don’t know how long it will
take for me to become strong enough to take them down, I will do
whatever it takes.” He raised his glass, and he downed it in one. Then
he sat there in silence for a good minute, or ten.
He took a deep breath, and he continued his tour of the house.
In the basement was a training room along with a few
other rooms that seemed to be mostly for storage. Most importantly, a
vault. At the end of the basement corridor was a large metal door that
was utterly undecorated. Just plain metal. The only things it had was a
large handle and a small indent.
It took a few minutes until he realized that the indent
was made for his, or rather Bishop’s, identity token. He pushed it into
place and bright, glowing, blue lines spread from the indent and
followed a pattern throughout the previously unadorned metal door.
Once it settled down, he tried the handle. It opened with
a pop. A crystal light lit up the vault room. It wasn’t filled with
piles of treasures or ancient relics, but there was a chest filled with
coins of different denominations and various equipment, matching the
ones each of the hunters used.
Sebastian felt a twinge of sadness, guilt, and gratitude as he looked around at the life savings of his now lost friends.
The hunters’ savings, combined with his own collection of spirit coins, made him quite well off.
He had considered using some of his new wealth on healing
elixirs but wasn’t sure if it was worth the cost. Anything they could
do for him, he could achieve in due time. Although he didn’t know how
long it would take to regenerate his arm, for the first time in a long
while, he had nothing but time. Especially given the fact that
cultivation increased his lifespan. Besides, dedicating a couple of
months on healing would allow him to settle into his new home, both the
house and the town.
So that’s what he did.
A month passed by as he cultivated, read books from his
new library, and familiarized himself with the town. In the process he
learned a lot about not just the town, or the federation, but the entire
world he now called home.
During that month, Sebastian also tried to expand his
repertoire of Techniques in the training room and using the equipment
from the vault.
Since he devoted most of his time to cultivation, he only
managed to learn one more Technique from the manual, but it was a very
effective one. It was also the only one thus far which the [System]
didn’t acknowledge as a Skill. The other two shared enough similarities
with existing Skills that learning the Technique also meant gaining a
Skill. His [Cloud Shadow Slash], however, was a pure Technique.
Sebastian guessed that it was mainly because he learned
it, and used it, through his swordsmanship. Even though it was its own
Technique, as far as System Skills go, the [System] considered his
current usage of it as just another manifestation of wielding his sword.
A part of the [Swordsmanship] Skill. He suspected that if he applied
the Technique to other forms of attack then the [System] might
reevaluate.
For now, having another Technique to use in combination
with his Sword Art was good enough. His sword was his main weapon, after
all, and he had every intention of improving in that respect as well.
He felt confident that he could bring the first stage of his Sword Art
all the way to Peak by training on his own but taking the next step into
an unknown second stage was another matter entirely. He figured he
would probably need some guidance for that.
What form that guidance would take was another question.
The Calindor Federation was the Land of Swords and Magic,
and as far as Sebastian knew, there was no better place to learn how to
properly wield the sword. The only issue was that most of those
resources, whether that was schools or instructors, were likely
dedicated toward the young. Sebastian was in his mid-twenties. He felt
confident that there were some institutions for adults as well, but he
was less confident about their quality. His ambition was too great to
settle for anything generic.
Any personal teacher would most likely want to teach
their own style as well, rather than develop his [Intergalactic Sword
Art]. Learning from books on the other hand wasn’t as efficient as
having someone around who could help guide you.
Sebastian thought about it for quite some time but
ultimately decided to pave his own way, for now. His was the path of cultivation after all, the Sole Cultivator. Most of the guidance he could
get from a teacher would be based on the Skill System, not his own
Technique System. Still, he remembered just how valuable the guidance he
received from Silas was, so he would still need to find some way to
interact with other swordsmen.
For the moment, he decided to stick to books.
The library in the house had a few books on the topic,
likely books that Silas had collected. If he could find something
worthwhile in there then maybe he could find what he needed for his
second stage. His hope was that the [System] would help show him when he
found the right path as it had before.
It might be because of him being a ‘Blessed One’ or it
had something to do with his Talent [Akashic Connection], but he felt
like the [System] was kinder to him than to most locals. They needed to
do all the work themselves before finally gaining the [System]’s
acknowledgment whereas he seemed to only need to be on the right path
for the [System] to help guide him through the final step.
Sebastian gladly accepted the help. He would need it to become strong enough to take down the Lumerian Kingdom.
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