A Nascent Sect(2)

The rest of the trip over the mountain was relatively uneventful though I was at one point attacked by a bear covered in spikes with my recent advancements, it wasn't much of a challenge, and I was able to kill it without even using either of my techniques.

So, I slowly crossed the mountain as I dragged the bear behind me painfully remembering how each beast's parts can be worth. As I slowly came into view of the city, I stopped in shock, I had thought the last town I had been in had been massive, but this one put it to shame. Its' walls were made out of some kind of green rock that had been polished until they sparkled.

The most impressive part of the city I could see from far away though wasn't the wall but a statue that loomed over the wall in a physically defying way. The figure resembled a man clad in heavy armor wielding a war hammer that was strikingly similar to the one I had seen my Master wielding.

Between the legs of the statue was the gate to the city and a torrent of traffic rushed in and out of the entrance. In fact, there was an entire lane devoted to mounted traffic in which you occasionally would see extremely exotic traffic. One carriage had two lions attached which whenever they would roar fire would spew forward nearly roasting one of the carriages in front of them.

As I approached the gates, people started giving me weird looks until I passed one man who instead of just staring at me strangely actually stopped. The man that stopped me was getting nearly as many odd looks as I was due to his what you might call interesting clothing choices.

He was wearing clothes with almost every color weaved into part of his shirt. His shirt was filled with pockets covering nearly every inch of the fabric. When he came up to me, he said,

"I see you dragging around that thorn bear, you must have killed. Very impressive, you must be a strong coremaster to have managed that. But I must say there are easier ways of carrying it around. Let me introduce you to the space ring."

As he said this, he reached into one of his many pockets and with a practiced flourish drew out five different rings of different colors all with the same patterns of runes. "As you can see, I carry varieties for nearly every coremaster element. Each one has a guaranteed storage space of one-hundred meters."

Still not entirely sure what he was trying to sell me, I asked "Where is this storage space you are giving me? Is it in the city? What does the ring have to do with it?"

Before I could finish my barrage of questions, he interrupted me and said, "I can see you have obviously yet to experience the magnificence of a space ring. Here, what is your element? I'll let you give the ring a try. It'll be easier for you to understand that way."

I told him my element was lightning and he handed me a purple ring saying, "now run the elements in your core through the ring. Then touch the thorn bear with your hand to store the corpse."

Following his directions, as soon as I touched the corpse, it disappeared. Looking around, I couldn't see the corpse anywhere. Shocked, I looked back at the man who had given me the ring wondering what the hell had just happened, seeing my confusion he said with a giant smile, "Now, run your elements through the ring again, and you should understand the ring's function."

Doing as he said, I suddenly saw what seemed to be a small box and in the corner was a miniature version of the bear. Focusing on it, the cube disappeared, and the bear appeared back at my feet. Realizing the usefulness of the ring, I was barely able to restrain my desire for it.

Apparently, I didn't suppress it well enough because the strange merchant said, "I can tell you are interested, so I'll sell you one for one green coin. A price I'd only give to you because lightning is my favorite element."

Too excited to worry if I was getting a good deal, I immediately handed over one of my green coins and grabbed the ring storing all my stuff in it immediately. Excited now, I nearly danced into the city adding on to my list of things I should do in the city to visit someone that could tell me about the runes. I finally reached the gate when the guards stopped me, and one of them held out his hand saying,

"City ID or Pass to Enter."

I immediately asked him how I could get either one of them. As if he had gotten the question many times before, he responded quickly, "If you are a coremaster, I can take you and have a quest pass issued for free. Otherwise, you'll have to wait in that line for further instructions."

The line he pointed to seemed to snake for miles. Immensely thankful I could skip that line, I turned to the guard saying, "I am a coremaster, no need for that line."

Hearing this, there was some surprise on the guard's face but nothing like the reactions I got outside the mainland. Turning around he said, "Well, since you are an honored coremaster, please come with me to have your guest pass issued."

I followed the guard to the side of the gate entering in small door and walking down a downwards sloping path until we reached a room which had a pedestal with two handprints in it facing a giant rock column. Seeing me look at the place in confusion, the guard stepped into the room and said, "This is one of our city's pride and joy. It can measure the phase and element of any coremaster below the fourth phase. It's also simple. All you have to do is place your hands in the handprints and circulate the elements of your core. It's that easy."

Not wanting to disappoint the guard, I walked to the pedestal wondering what kind of reading I would get considering the method I used to cultivate was a little different than the average method. I placed my hands in the handprints and started to channel my core.

As soon as I did, the pillar turned purple half-way up its' length. When the guard saw this, his eyes bugged out, and he stuttered out, "Pure lightning core and mid-second phase. Are you from a sect, if so, you could have just shown your insignia to get in."

As I heard the level it measured me at, it made me wonder just how strong it would have measured me if I had been able to get to the ninth step of the method. Realizing the guard was still waiting for me to respond, I turned to him saying, "Yeah, I'm part of this sect."

As I said that, I brought out the flag my Master had given me, the guard squinted at it in confusion. He even opened up a book and leafed through it comparing whatever was in it to my flag. After a small bow, he said, "I'm sorry sir, but your sect was not listed in our records. We will need to finish your guest pass. Once you are in the city and if you have the money to spare, you can register your sect in our records for one green coin since you have at least one founding member of a second phase coremaster."

Secretly happy that I had found a way to start on founding my sect, I followed him out of the room as he indicated. As I followed, he started asking me questions while pulling out a scroll and writing down the answers. After we got through various personal questions, he rolled up the scroll and placed it in a strange pouch I hadn't noticed earlier.

After he placed it in the pouch and pulled out a square tablet that now had all the information I had given to the guard earlier. Staring at the tablet, marveling at how that pouch worked, we arrived at the gate where the guard issued me through saying,

"If you wish to go to the Ruler's mansion, I'll inform them of your presence. I'm sure the governor would be more than happy to meet with you. Just ask any guard in the city."