Worker (2)

If he had been prepared for it then he might have lived. Even so, that was merely one possibility out of many, the actual result was his head exploding and leaving a rusty iron smell in the area.

"Ugh, I hope this doesn't stay long."

Despite how unflustered he tried to appear, Shui was internally ecstatic due to the fact that he managed to kill someone in the Soul Realm. The blood and gore was a minus, but as long as he pretended it wasn't there then he was mainly happy. He had no injuries so it have seemed like an easy win, but Shui was aware that he only managed to win because his opponent was overcautious. If he was given no time to use his talismans then he would have been killed in under a minute.

"Speaking of talismans,"

Recalling the disadvantage of using talismans on himself, Shui dashed to the waterfall before the effect ran out. Due to his one-star nebula soul, he had gotten used to his new speed during the battle so he made it to the waterfall in a short time.

"Arghhh!"

Right after he made it to the cave behind the waterfall, he screamed due to the pain striking him from all over his body. The problem with using talismans to break his physical limits was that it resulted in intense muscle pain after the effect wore off. The backlash from using the 'Haste' talisman had him paralyzed in a state where even a twitch would be accompanied by pain ten times worse than numb legs, while the backlash from the 'Perceive' talisman gave him a banging headache. Luckily, the strength of his soul made the headache more endurable.

After little over an hour, his headache went away but the muscle pain was still there. He had hoped that his recovery would have surpassed his expectation, but the world wasn't that convenient.

'Looks like I should really keep this as an absolute last resort.'

Though he still couldn't move, Shui could use his martial intent to get a ointment he made for this exact purpose. Since he had only recently found the recipe there was only one jar of it, but he felt that it should work. Shui used his martial intent to spread the ointment on portions of his limbs and finally felt the pain decrease.

In preparation for what he would be doing in Cyrus, he studied more about medicinal herbs and their properties, and so he came across this ointment and decided to try it out. Since the materials were common-grade, he asked Yur to buy them for him and the recipe was easy enough for him to succeed on his first try.

Alchemy had also become a frequent topic for him to read on but he didn't plan on devoting his time to it. Though he could use it to make pills that could further increase cultivation, he would have to sacrifice lots of time to do so. Not to mention whether or not he actually had the talent for it. Rather than trying to learn everything, he just wanted to learn what he needed, along with a few topics for entertainment of course.

He mostly lied on the ground while waiting for the pain to become bearable so this was likely the most wasteful period he had experienced recently. Once one more hour had gone by, Shui struggled up to his feet and checked the condition of his body.

"Not bad."

He wasn't in peak condition, but it would be enough for the day. He ran to Cyrus and was able to make it before noon. Since they couldn't have Lilia finding out, only Bartos was aware that he would be gone today and only told the rest of his apprentices that Shui would be forging by himself. Since Shui normally did that no one suspected anything.

Shui had bought his own permit so he only needed to show it to the guards to get inside the city. Only after he entered the city did he put on a cloak with the 'Confuse' inscription. If it was before he entered then he would have obviously looked suspicious. Then again, letting in a child who was by himself into the town was also a bit questionable.

As he looked at the town, Shui recalled his past trips. This was his first time in Cyrus by himself, so not only was he excited, he also had to be cautious. On his second trip, he got wrapped into something dangerous so he had no idea if he might get wrapped into something dangerous again. And unlike last time, he might not be fortunate to meet a cute girl like Alice.

While carefully walking to his destination and reminiscing, Shui internally apologized to Bartos. What he was planning on doing in Cyrus was probably far removed from what Bartos was thinking. Far more dangerous as well.

"Here we are."

After ten minutes of walking, Shui made it to a building with a bar door and a symbol painted above the door. The symbol was of a sword and a hammer in the shape of an 'x' enclosed by a circle. This was the emblem of the Workers' Association.

Although there existed many sects and powerful forces, not all cultivators were included in them. These cultivators, often called vagabonds, usually found it very hard to gain resources and so would also find it harder to improve their cultivation. Though most of these vagabonds would be capable of entering a sect as outer sect disciples, they refused to do so either because the resources they would gain wouldn't be worth it compared to the rules they would be forced to follow, or because they simply didn't want to join any force. For such people, the Workers' Association was the best option.

There were many stories related to the birth of the Workers' Association but none were verified to be true. But what all of them have in common was that the Workers' Association was formed to give vagabonds a chance to work for cultivation resources and interact with those from cultivation forces without being a part of them.

Even without entering, the rambunctious noise coming from within proved that it wasn't a place fit for a child; exactly as Shui expected. When he entered, numerous eyes turned towards him in curiosity as he made his way to the receptionist. Luckily, by the time he reached the counter there was no one else in line so he didn't have to wait. The receptionist had the charm of a kind big sister that was surely a reason for her popularity, and any man who talked to her for too long would be stabbed by the sharp gazes around him. However, none of them were wary of Shui for he was even shorter than the receptionist. Instead of being wary they were wondering who brought their kid to work.

The receptionist was also wondering the same thing as the spectators while Shui approached. With his cloak on, only his height gave away any information about him, so she was interested in this breath of fresh air.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"I'm here to register."

Unlike Yur, Shui could easily change the sound of his voice as well by wearing a necklace with the symbol for 'Confuse' inscribed onto it. The image he used for this inscription made it hard for anyone to properly remember the sound of his voice, only his words would be in their mind.

The receptionist was bewildered by the indescribable voice of the person in front of her, but she had grown accustomed to suspicious people so she quickly regained her composure.

"Then you must pay an admission fee of twenty silver, be 14 years and older and have a cultivation of at least fourth level in the Mortal Realm."

Since he had heard about the requirements to enter the Workers' Association from an employee at the Coin Storm auction house, Shui wasn't surprised by them. The only one which would prove a bit of a challenge was his age. However, he had already prepared for it.

After giving her a bag containing twenty silver, the receptionist took out a clear orb the size of an adult head.

"Please place your hand on this."

The orb was an artifact with the ability to tell a person's age and cultivation from their aura, something Shui could do with just his senses. He wasn't impressed by the orb, but he was wary of it. Although he had come up with a way to fool the detection ability of the orb, it wasn't absolutely guaranteed to work.

Since he didn't want to show any of his skin, Shui purposefully kept the cloak over his arm as he reached towards the orb.

[Cultivation: 7th level MR

Age: 16 y.o. ]

Not only the receptionist, everyone who saw the result from the orb's analysis stared at Shui with their eyes wide open. They had previously snickered inside when they saw him trying to register, even when he placed his hand on the orb only a tiny bit of doubt sprouted in their hearts. However then they saw it, they saw the orb showing that the midget was actually sixteen!

After the result was displayed, Shui took his hand off the orb and internally sighed in relief. By taking advantage of the cloak's 'Confuse' inscription, he decreased the accuracy of the orb and then copied the aura of a young woman in his clan who had the same cultivation as him. A guy would have been a better choice just in case the orb could detect his gender as well, but he was more familiar with the women in his clan than the men.

'It was a pain in the neck to be hugged for so long though.'

The ability to copy someone's aura was something that Shui came up with as he continued experimenting with aura control. Although it was only surface level, he was even able to use it to trick Bartos into thinking he was Yur for a moment. With this ability he thought it would be possible to trick the orb as well. He felt proud of himself for pulling off his trick and mocked the orb for not being to detect it.