Chapter 35: Completely Healed
Damon sat in contemplative silence at his desk. The sun had set, and now the pale moonlight was the only source of illumination, draping his room in shadows. He fiddled with a strange metallic disc in his hands.
With this, I should be able to get enough Arcane Rejuvenation Potions to completely heal my node in a short time. However, this communication disc… What should I do?
Inside the pouch, Damon had found 784 first-tier and 6 second-tier essence stones. He also found numerous mysterious supplies, a communication orb, multiple first-tier and second-tier spell scrolls, and several first-tier artifact weapons. One other thing stood out to him. It was a strange circular metallic disc with intricate runic patterns engraved into it. When he grabbed it, it began flashing with a subtle white light.
After Damon channeled his power into it, he heard a voice transmitted directly into his ears. He jumped back in shock and looked around; however, there was nobody there. It appeared to be a communication-type artifact. He focused on the contents of the message, and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Damon Fletcher. I am Arthur Williams, the Law Enforcement Hall Leader of the Arcane Tower of Argent Flame. I’m impressed you managed to defeat my Deputy. I knew you would have claimed his possessions and left this message for you. I assume you made it to the Tradehaven. Good. I have a matter to discuss with you. I will be waiting at the Sleeping Fox Inn in East Tradehaven. I cannot remain for long, only a few days at most. If I do not see you, I will leave and come back during the quinquennial tournament the Assembly will host in around a year. I will be at the same location every night. It is imperative that we meet.”
Damon had been ruminating about the message for several hours. It was now deep into the night, yet he still could not ascertain any reason why the Hall Leader would want to meet him. It was unlikely to be a trap, as he had offered to meet within the city.
“What to do… Well, it has been a long time since I picked up this pouch, so he is no longer there. Even if I do meet him, it will be in a year's time. I haven’t heard about this tournament before, but I can probably just ask Dylan or Claire, and I’ll find out all about it. Tomorrow I will head back to the Pavilion to purchase as many Arcane Rejuvenation Potions as I can.”
Damon stopped thinking about something he had no control over. He went and lay down in his bed to rest for a few hours. Starting tomorrow, he would not allow anything to interrupt his recuperation.
Time passed like the drifting clouds. Laughter ringing in the halls, the explosions of spellcraft resounding from the distance, and the incessant chatter of a lively blonde girl. Damon maintained a steady schedule of work, rest, and his compulsory classes. Nothing untoward happened, allowing him to gradually recover his injuries with the assistance of the potions.
Five months later.
Damon sat atop his bed, examining his Arcane Node. Lying next to him atop the bed was an empty crystal vial. The seasons had changed, yet the temperature and environment remained steady. A cool, refreshing breeze blew past his face, billowing his hair. The indistinct chatter of apprentices could be heard, along with the melodic trilling of passing songbirds. The faint aroma of barbecued meat could be smelled; the smoke causing the drifting scent visible in the distant sky.
At last, my Arcane Node is completely healed. My power has increased during this period of peaceful healing and cultivation. I should be nearing the peak of the early stage of Node Awakening. In a couple more months, I’ll be able to break through to the mid stage.
Damon let out a contented smile as he examined the Arcane Node in his body. It was brightly radiating with a powerful light, the energy contained within rotating in a steady rhythm. However, his face grew pensive as he thought of his original path.
My mind cultivation has stalled at the late stage… I need to find a way to gather more resources for my breakthrough into the Channel Weaving realm. To do that… I need essence stones. To make essence stones, I need to create scrolls. Let’s begin.
Damon moved over to the desk. The desktop was still neatly organized with piles of materials for crafting scrolls. He sat down and picked up his quill. He immediately channeled his power into it and began drawing the rune on the parchment.
An hour later, Damon let out a breath and inspected the parchment. It had a perfectly copied Flash spell rune inscribed. It had taken around a quarter of his total arcane power reserves.
It will take me around an hour of meditation or two hours of passive regeneration to gather the depleted power. That means I can craft four scrolls every six hours. If I don’t meditate and go about my daily business instead, it will save me time. That way, I can fit in a crafting session every morning and evening. That’ll give me a total of eight scrolls per day. Sold in bulk to a merchant business, that’s 24 stones… Subtracting the costs, that will net me around 23 stones per day.
Damon completed his calculations and then immediately began planning out his business.
Although it does not generate large sums at a fast pace, over time, it will generate a huge fortune. However, I will need to quickly move on to second-tier spell scrolls or find some rare or unique spell runes to copy. That way, I’ll be able to earn a lot more per scroll.
Upon reaching this point in his thoughts, he paused as a major issue sprouted in his mind.
If I sell these to the Pavilion, they will notice my outrageous output. To deceive the vendors, I may need to sell to multiple merchant groups. However, that will eat into my time. I will need to hire someone to do business on my behalf. I guess… Dylan is the only viable person. He is quite informative and clever, and definitely trustworthy and loyal. I’ll meet him tomorrow to discuss the topic.
Damon placed the scroll he had just created into his storage pouch and took out his communication orb to set up a meeting with Dylan.
In a grand dining hall, endless rows of benches and dining tables could be seen lining the ground. Along both the longer sides of the hall were counters filled with countless dishes. The hall was a hubbub of noise as numerous cultivators walked around and bought the food they wanted. The entire area was filled with the scents of so many dishes that it just intermingled into one; the smell of delicious food.
There were also apprentices behind the counters, refilling the gaps with new platters of colorful dishes, and advertising their wares. These were cultivators from the Material Handling department, or rather, the cooking major of that department. They were charging either essence stones or merit points in exchange for their craft.
Damon and Dylan sat down at a table in the corner of the Mess Hall, holding a platter of food each. They cost an essence stone or merit point each, as they were made of first-tier beasts or plants.
In front of each of them was a plate filled with thick slices of roasted meat, along with sauteed vegetables and a bowl of essence rice. The roasted meat glistened with natural oils as the fat within them had been melted at just the right temperature. The steam rising from this meat released a hearty aroma, filled with the robustness of the beast it was made from. The sauteed vegetables were lathered in a special mushroom sauce, causing every bite to explode with a rich, savoury flavour. The essence rice was standard first-tier rice; however, it was cooked slightly plump and dry to complement saucy and heavily seasoned meat and vegetable dishes.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Dylan’s mouth salivated at the sight and smell of the food in front of him. He continuously swallowed the pooling saliva before it escaped his lips.
“Older Brother Damon… Can I really eat this? It cost an essence stone, didn’t it? I normally have to buy rations from the mortals in East Tradehaven and store them in my pouch…”
“Eat up! Eat up! This is my treat to you, so don’t hold yourself back!” Damon laughed and gestured for Dylan to start eating. Once Dylan began digging into his meal, Damon looked left and right before leaning forward in a secretive manner. He then whispered, “Don’t worry, there is plenty more where that came from. I have a business to discuss with you. If you join me, we will be able to make a lot of essence stones in the future. What do you think?”
With his cheeks bulging like a squirrel, Dylan looked up from the food and looked at Damon with shining eyes.
“Mmph, ifff it's foo you, I’ll doo anyfffing,” he mumbled, a piece of meat flying out of his mouth.
Dylan hurriedly chewed and swallowed his food in a large gulp, the bulge visible as it forced its way down his gullet. Immediately, he started coughing due to the excessive amount of food swallowed at once. After a minute, he managed to regain his composure, looking up at Damon sheepishly.
“Sorry, Older Brother…” he said apologetically.
“It’s fine. Anyway, back to business. So I’ve got a secret that you cannot tell anyone else in the entire world. You understand?” Damon became very serious and looked at Dylan solemnly.
“Ah… Okay, Older Brother. I promise I will never tell another person...” Dylan became timid from the gravity in Damon’s expression and voice.
“Good. So, I have an ability that allows me to create scrolls at an incredible speed. Using this ability, I plan on mass-producing scrolls and selling them for profit. However, it will be suspicious if such large quantities of scrolls are sold suddenly. So your job will be to visit all the various merchant groups in East Tradehaven and strike a deal with them. You will tell them you are the broker for numerous Runemasters from the Academy who have banded together to sell scrolls in bulk. You will rotate through these merchant companies, delivering the scrolls and collecting the payment. We will share the profits four to six. You will take four, and I will take six. How does that sound?” Damon whispered into Dylan’s ear as he focused his Mindsense on all nearby apprentices in case they showed a reaction.
Dylan was initially shocked at Damon’s revelation, but soon settled into deep contemplation. After a few minutes, he replied, “Brother Damon, that is an incredible ability. I believe I should be able to accomplish the task you’ve set for me. I am very good at gathering information and negotiating! It’s just the payment…”
As Dylan hesitated, Damon asked, “Why? Is it too small for you? Do you want half the share?”
“No! I meant the payment seemed like too much! I am willing to do a nine-to-one split…” Dylan quickly waved his hands and shook his head in denial.
“Dylan, listen up. You need to be paid for your work. If you spend your time and effort, you must be rewarded with an equal amount of compensation. I offered the four-to-six split as I believed it to be a fair share. If you don’t agree to take it, we won’t be working together at all.” Damon frowned and admonished Dylan.
“Ah… Okay… Then I guess I can agree to that…” Dylan was moved and began to tear up as he looked up at Damon’s face.
“Enough with that. Let’s do well and get the resources we need for our cultivation. We are still little hatchlings currently. We have a long and incredible journey ahead of us. Let’s walk it together.” Damon grinned and ruffled Dylan’s hair. He then sat down and began cutting his food.
Damon placed the food in his mouth, upon which the rich, flavourful juices exploded and filled his mouth with joy. He happily chewed on his food for a while before a thought popped into his head.
“Hey Dylan, you said you were in the Material Handling department, right? What is your major?”
“Oh, yes, I am! My major is in dismantling… I swear I’m quite talented, but the Mission Hall won’t give me any missions relating to it because I’m ‘too small’ as they say…” Dylan looked down in dejection upon remembering the countless times he had been rejected.
“Dismantling, huh? Taking apart the corpses of essence beasts? That’s a very useful skill to have. I believe that you are good at it. If I get the chance to hunt any in the future, I’ll be relying on you then.” Damon reassured Dylan with a genuine smile.
“Thank you, Older Brother Damon. For everything.”
Damon sat in his room, the last rays of the evening just barely peaking over the distant city walls. A flame was flickering within a lamp, slowly devouring the oil within, as it illuminated the room with a warm glow. Damon was at his desk, a stack of completed scrolls piled up in a small mountain next to him. However, his focus was not on crafting scrolls. He was looking at the five tomes on top of his desk, pondering deeply.
These five tomes were his recent discoveries from his custodian duties at the Legacy Hall. One was ‘The Art of Light’ he had discovered first. The others were: ‘The Way of Water’, ‘Codex of Shadows’, ‘Blazing Gale Arts’, and the ‘Earthen Bulwark Manual’.
The Art of Light was a high-grade second-tier light elemental art.
The Way of Water was a high-grade second-tier water elemental manual.
The Codex of Shadows was a mid-grade second-tier shadow elemental cultivation method.
The Blazing Gale Arts was a low-grade second-tier fire and wind dual elemental art.
The Earthen Bulwark Manual was a mid-grade third-tier earth elemental art.
Damon was finding it difficult to choose his arcane cultivation path.
“I am currently cultivating a fire elemental method, meaning the Blazing Gale Arts is most compatible with me… It will also provide me with the strongest combative strength… However, it is a dual elemental art, and it would be much harder to find a third-tier art with the same elemental fusion in the future.”
If Damon had to switch after cultivating to the peak of Channel Weaving with this manual, he would have to attune his Arcane Node to the new elements, delaying his cultivation progress in the process. If he had to switch his elemental attunement, it was better to do so now at the Node Awakening realm. It would also be much easier to cultivate a single element.
With that in mind, Damon removed the Blazing Gale Arts from the desk, leaving the other four behind. He also removed the Codex of Shadows, as he didn’t see the point in choosing a lower-grade cultivation method when he had plenty of other choices.
“Now three remain. The light element is usually a supportive type, rather than being directly involved in combat. Though it would be useful, my priority is to have the strength needed to protect my loved ones and continue to cultivate and accumulate more knowledge. So this has to go as well.”
Damon removed The Art of Light as well. On the desk, only two cultivation arts remained.
“The Way of Water is a high-grade water elemental method. Water is very flexible, good for both defense and offense. The versatility will synergize very well with my mental abilities. However, the Earthen Bulwark Manual is a third-tier cultivation art. I can’t believe I managed to find a third-tier manual on the second floor. Hall Leader Tidus said that anything above the second tier would be on the upper floors. It must have been missed…”
Damon stroked his chin as he continued talking to himself.
“Though I am currently only in the Node Awakening realm, I must think ahead for the future. There is no guarantee I will be able to find a water elemental manual of the third tier. Yet, the Earthen Bulwark Manual is only a mid-grade, so the progress of my cultivation will be slowed slightly, and my power output will be faintly reduced. The earth element is quite rigid, meaning it is more difficult to combine with my mind path…”
Damon placed his hands atop each book. He could almost feel the fluidity of water from the cold, yet soft cover of The Way of Water. On the other hand, the Earthen Bulwark Manual felt like a solid block of hard stone. It felt like it was pulling his hand down from the sheer force it was exuding.
Damon ruminated over his decision for a very long time before finally deciding.
“This one. I will choose this one.”
Happy New Year for the rest of the world!
Damon has finally become completely healed! He can now advance in cultivation and use arcane power!
ultivation method do you think he chose, and why?
If YOU were a cultivator, which manual would YOU choose?
