CHAPTER 5

Being assured that they will not be stopping until they reach the city, Nanea led the way. But throughout the way, there was an awkward silence. So, to break up the silence, Astra thought of starting the conversation.

"Umm… Nanea you just said you were from the Heavenly Sword Sect, could you tell me more about this sect of yours." [Astra]

"To begin with, the history of the Heavenly Sword Sect dates from a few hundreds of thousands of years. One could say that it has existed since the time the people became conscious of the effects of Qi. And it was found by one of the people who found the ways to cultivate the said Qi to gain strength.

It is stated in the records that those times were real ominous for human civilization. We, the humans, did not have any means to fight back against the rampaging demon beasts who would go to any lengths to eradicate the humans. The entire existence of Humanity was in peril.

So, in search to find some means to preserve the existence of the human race as a whole, a group of people got together and began researching ways to gain strength.

During one of their researches, they came to find about weird energy that the demonic beasts used to cause havoc, and luckily they were able to get their hands on a mortally injured beast who was caught in collateral while they were attacking a human settlement.

After a lot of research, they came to the conclusion that even humans can harness the same energy and increase their strength to fight back against the demon beast horde.

And since then it has been standing among the top sects, because of this a lot of people come from all around the continent to join this sect.

Like all other sects out there the disciples of Heavenly Sword Sect are also categorized as Outer Sect Disciple, Inner Sect Disciple, and Core Disciple.

The people who are admitted in the sect naturally become the part of Outer Sect Disciple but there is a strict rule for the selection of disciples, and that is they should all be under the age of 16 and at the same time possess the cultivation of Middle stage of «Spirit Qi Foundation Establishment Realm».

In short, you could say that they should at the least have a «Dark Blue» level of talent. But outer sect disciples are not much valued and are provided very few resources to cultivate. And are made to carry out manual labor works along with cultivating if the daily quota of work is not completed then the punishment of no food is given to that disciple.

They can only have access to more of the resources that they need only by them spending their hard-earned money, either in the sect resource distribution hall or the market in the city.

After they have become part of the Outer sect you can advance to the Inner sect if you reach the minimum cultivation of the Middle stage of «Spirit Qi Core Formation Realm» and you will be provided with resources for better improvement of your cultivation base, the resources are more than those given to outer sect disciples but still they are limited. The advantage is that they are free from doing manual labor. And they also get paid some money for their expense, though not much but enough that could buy an average family the basic need for a whole month.

Next is the Core Disciple, they are given the most attention, be it regarding cultivation resources or guidance from the elders or the Sect Leader, they are provided with everything, enough money to spend, more than enough resource to cultivate with, and many more. One could say that they are the Elite of the Elites in the sect.

And I can feel that you have achieved quite the cultivation for your age. You are already on the brink of breaking through to the «Spirit Qi Foundation Establishment Realm» which already tells a lot about your talent. If I had to guess, you have the talent somewhere between «Dark Blue» and «Purple». But, I am not too sure." [Nanea]

Hearing this a smile appeared on Astra's face while Leilana was speaking in Astra's consciousness that, Nanea would begin to doubt her existence and the meaning of her life till now if she came to know for how long Astra was cultivating.

They knew that Nanea was somewhat closer to the truth, but it was not entirely true, and as Astra's Talent was among the top so, he would surely reach greater heights given time and proper resources. Astra didn't say anything and walked behind her closely.

After walking through the Forest for around half a day, they finally exited the forest.

After exiting the forest, Astra could see a long pathway that leads to someplace surrounded by huge walls, which he assumed was the city they were heading to.

"Nanea… Is the city behind those walls?" [Astra]

"Yes. It is there so that the city is protected from Demonic Beasts. And guards have been stationed there to ensure the security and check the peoples entering the city." [Nanea]

Astra, on seeing the wall made for the protection of the city, appreciated the leader and the guards of the city for showing such dedication to protecting the people of the city from threats like Demonic beasts.

They walked through the pathway for around half an hour till they reached the gates of the city. There were two men guarding the city gate.

"Welcome back, Miss Nanea!" [Guard 1]

Nanea replied to the treating of the guard with a nod.

"Um... This person here is a friend of mine whom I found lost in the forest. He is on a journey to get enrolled in a prestigious sect. So, I brought him here to show him around the city as well as the sect." [Nanea]

Hearing this the guards looked at Astra and motioned him to follow them. Astra was confused at the beginning but seeing Nanea motion him to follow them, he went along with the guard to a small shack where they inspected the people and their goods.

The guard then took out an orb from a drawer and motioned him to place his hand on the orb and channel his Qi in it. Astra obliged and followed the instruction. When he channeled his Qi in the orb, it began to shine a golden light.

Once the light died down, the guard placed the orb back in its drawer and asked Astra to follow him back to Nanea.

After they reached the city gate, the guards then opened the gate that led into the city.

"Care to explain what was that for? And what was that orb?" [Astra]

"Oh, that was an inspection to determine what kind of person you were. And the orb is something that reads the soul, whether the soul of the person is malicious or not.

If someone with a malicious soul enters the city they are kept under observation to ensure that no one is harmed." [Nanea]

While walking through the gate Astra was quite stunned by the beauty of the city. The houses and buildings were similar to those found in the Edo Period. The streets were well decorated, and the market was busy as hell.

The moment they walked into the city Astra was looking around the city like a curious person brought in an entirely different world where everything around him is new and a first experience.

Seeing Astra's such expression, Nanea asked.

"Is it your first time in a city?" [Nanea]

"Yes, as well as No… I've seen small cities, but I've never seen such a city that I came across during my journey." [Astra]

Astra said it with shining eyes. Nanea was surprised and also bore a smile seeing Astra's childish expression and behavior.

The people in the market seemed to be buying and selling goods with money that seemed like copper, silver, and gold. While looking around in the market, Astra could somewhat guess that 1 copper was like 100 Yen and 100 copper made 1 silver and 100 silver made 1 gold.

After roaming around the market for some time, dusk was already on them so the duo finally decided to book lodging as it had taken them the entire day to reach the city and roam around the market.

So, they walked around searching for an inn. After searching for some time, they found an inn with the name Silver Wings which was decent than the other ones they had seen so far. They went in and booked two rooms, but since Astra didn't have any money on him Nanea had to pay for his lodging and this really made him feel disappointed in himself 'So much for the first impression towards the first woman I met.'

After the booking was done, both Astra and Nanea ordered their dinner and went towards their room to spend the rest of theirs night.