Arrival

The voyage from this obscure, impoverished region to the glorious place where the mighty Myriad-Arm Sect had settled down was a fairly lengthy one, especially when travelling in a carriage, the beginning was the hardest though, as the roads were rather bumpy and left to the elements for the most part, hardly kept in good shape and also where one was most likely to run into bandits.

Bandits that skinnier than twigs and wielding things that barely passed as weapons but bandits nonetheless, these sort of areas were the scarier places the coachman had to go through whenever he had some business, but for this particular course however, he felt like it was the bandits who were keeping themselves safe by not showing up.

After his rather imposing client had left the shop, he had checked with others just in case and realised that he was making business with none other than Edrick Lucien Anoteros, nicknamed a bunch of titles that did not inspired confidence in the least, the lord of the dump-town next door was a bit of a mystery as he had showed up in place of the previous lord, who had never showed his face anyways and begun to lay waste to the defenceless folks in the most awful of ways.

No one had been spared, he had set his sight on literally every type of person without an ounce of mercy even for the elderly or young, having naturally been scared of him since the moment he had noticed the bloodied cane, the middle-aged man was tense, but it wasn't like he could cancel the ride.

Who knew what would happen to him if he did, the mayor could not do anything against the next-door lord, there was only a single guard around and that alcoholic wasn't going to be doing anything substantial.

They had to stop when night came, allowing the horses to rest, drink and eat as well as the coachman to do the same, as for his customers, the lord and the two women he called his wives seemed to be spending the majority of their time into two distinct state, either as silent as corpses, or getting shamelessly raunchy right behind his back, Anoteros's two partners being the rather expressive sort even as they seemingly tried to keep it down.

That attitude would continue even as they set up small camps for the night, honestly, the coachman would have never suspected that anyone could have such strong libido, or rather, it was impressive that he had found himself two ladies willing to do it at any time, the middle-aged man certainly didn't have such an easy time convincing his wife to do the deed.

'Does this man intend on joining the Myriad-Arm Sect? I doubt they would accept someone so depraved and with such a distinct lack of morals…' he knew the sect rather well, and they abided by a knight-like code of conduct, believing that strong rules set upon oneself were the key to superior strength, only with discipline and restrictions could one wield their power efficiently.

The coachman had no clue if that was really how it worked, but he had heard enough about this sect to know that they weren't big fans of those who casually abused their power and influence.

'I suppose he'll just act more honourable once he gets there…'

Every night, he closed his with a bit of difficulty, not only due to the incessant activities nearby, but also because he feared that he wouldn't wake up, every time however, day would rise and so would he without problem, continuing on this journey.

"Ah, we are exiting the poor regions" he announced after making sure that he wouldn't disturb anything.

"Good to hear" simply responded Edrick.

"Stop right there and give me your money!"

The coachman turned back to face the front and saw just a single person blocking the way.

"Oh, you better run off quickly, I am not transporting anyone this time- And besides, I thought you were dead!" shooing away the bandit whose teeth were either gone or blackened so much that they might as well just fall, the coachman had seen that guy quite a few times when making a trip through here.

"Ah! I am resilient because I am a quarter goblin, three quarters vermin and one quarter green vermin, no disease can kill me!" trying to laugh, he just spat out other teeth.

"Urgh… Though I really need some money for treatment this time, all my hair fell out and I am emptying my guts on the daily" in fact, his fingernails had turned a stark yellow and were beginning to peel off as well.

"Listen, if you value your life so much, you really should consider leaving right now-" the carriage's door swung open.

"Mister, didn't you hear him? He needs treatment, the poor little halfbreed… He is clearly suffering, and I just happen to know what to do about it" Anoteros spoke like he was going to pull out some sort of miracle pill, but all the coachman was seeing was the now cleaned up cane tapping against his palm.

The bandit meanwhile, took a good look at the passenger's looks and clothing, beyond just looking like a child in front of this guy, it was clear that this was the sort of people he shouldn't even be thinking of robbing.

Audibly gulping, he mustered his best smile and tried to take a step back.

"Oops, I guess I got the wrong carriage! I can be such an airhead sometimes, ahah! Ah… Fuck" not even having the time to transition from smiling to screaming, Edrick just hit the sickly bandit on the side, pushing him into the nearby bush as a twitching mesh of broken bones.

"Road is cleared" he announced, the middle-aged man waited for his client to get back in before wiping his forehead and continuing ahead, doing his best to ignore the whimpering bandit just there.

The poor guy wasn't even graced with death, left to die in agony here, in a bush to be presumably never even discovered by anything other than wild animals, this so-called bandit had never even managed to actually rob anyone.

Breathing in and out through his nose, he did his best to forget about that rather violent display and just kept going, as they arrived in places where the Myriad-Arm Sect did regular clean-ups of any danger, the rest of the travel went without a hitch, arriving in line to get through the gates of Oie, the great city housing the cultivation sect.

"Sorry for the wait, but since it is the time for youths to try and get into the sect or otherwise make something of themselves in a big city, the entrance is a bit crowded" feeling the need to justify the slowness, he didn't even get a response this time.

At last, he had arrived at destination, and was subsequently safe as the city guards were right there, not simply standing around at the gates but going through everyone waiting, be they on foot or carriages to collect the entry toll and then hand out a small piece of wood signifying the authorisation to get in.

This not only fluidified the heavy traffic but also ensured the safety of everyone as guards could be anywhere, considering that Oie was the residing place of a great cultivation sect, the guards also had a rather high status by simple virtue of this fact.

"Good day sir, how many people are you transporting?" a duo of guards approached the carriage, the eldest of the two by more than a few years taking care of the speaking.

"Three, Sir"

The youngest knocked on the carriage door and swiftly checked inside, spotting nothing suspicious.

"Damn…" he muttered under his breath.

"What is it with you?"

"It's nothing, I just wasn't expecting such rich-looking fellows" 

The older guard just shrugged and asked for the toll, which he immediately received, handing out the necessary piece of wood to get through, a few simple words written upon it.

"Good day to you" both of the guards said, the older one looking at his younger colleague.

"Rich you say? It's probably the scion of a noble family or something coming with his entourage to try and get into the Myriad-Arm Sect, they are usually annoying little bastards, what did they look like?"

"A big fella, but like, muscular big, not fat big with two gorgeous ladies in his arms! Ah, those rich guys I swear, I wish I could have a cute girl like that blonde for myself as well…"

"Tch, just get yourself a peasant girl with wide hips and stop looking up at those delicate little things, a real woman works in the fields and has the material to produce more milk than a cow-"

"Alright, alright! I don't know why I try to speak women with you…" both of them shook their heads like the other was an absolute moron before getting back to their job.