The journey back to Frostwood town was easy. He didn't encounter many beasts, and the ones he interacted with were only Tier-2 beasts. All the special items harvested from the corpses of the beasts he had killed, were stored in the system space. Other adventurers or hunters had to do manual handling of their items, a great inconvenience for them when returning to civilization.
These special items were mostly some unique alchemy or medical ingredients. Sturdy parts of certain tiered beasts were used for making weapons, some items were used as nutrients, others for poison etc.. the value of these items varied greatly depending on its Tier.
Tier - 1 = 100 gold coins
Tier - 2 = 500 gold coins
Tier - 3 = 1000 gold coins
Tier - 4 = 1 Enos crystal
Tier - 5 = 10 Enos crystals
Tier - 6 = 50 Enos crystals
Tier - 7 = 100 Enos crystals
Azrael had amassed many such items during this trip to the Sylvaran Woods. For his plans to move forward, he knew he needed to dirty his hands in the flow of commerce. Because that was what would truly make him independent of the Vaeloreth Dukedom.
He made his way through the town and reached the inn. It had been almost 3-4 days since he had departed for the Woods. Including the first day of his arrival, he had a little over two days left of his time in the inn.
In the room,
"So, what's our next move?" Azrael questioned, Master White materialized but didn't answer immediately. He walked over to the room's window, staring at the Sylvaran backdrop they had just returned from, contemplating about their next destination.
"TradeHaven." Master White answered after a long pause.
Azrael immediately perked up, because of the place Master White just mentioned.
TradeHaven was the buisness capital of Terralon, situated right at the centre of the World, below The World's Spine. All the four Kingdoms were either separated naturally by dangerous terrains or have no contact due to personal humane diplomatic conflict. But TradeHaven was the exception. It was the only neutral spot where all the Four Kingdoms came together to trade, and fighting was strictly prohibited in the city of TradeHaven.
Top merchant groups hire strong cultivators for protection and tread their way to the city of TradeHaven and conduct buisness accross the four Kingdoms, to a larger and diverse group of people. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that all the money of Terralon originated and flows through TradeHaven.
"Are we really going there this early?" Though Azrael was excited, he was more practical and quickly started thinking about Master White's decision. He knew that they had plans to visit TradeHaven but that was much later in their journey, close to the time of their return, to sell all their goods in one go and earn maximum profit. This sudden change in the plans was unexpected.
"The change in plans is due to the Silver Owl." Master White explained his reasoning. "We never planned or anticipated an encounter and killing of a Tier-5 beast this early. We have a Tier-5 item, which is enough for us to handle our expenses for a long time. And after our trip from TradeHaven, we will return to the Woods for more training. So, nothing much changes from our original plan."
Azrael thought about it for a while and agreed. "When are we leaving?"
"Two days later."
"We will cultivate and rest for the next two days. After we have recovered to our best condition, we set off to TradeHaven." Master White replied.
Azrael, lying on the bed looked up towards Master White and simply nodded his head. He understood it better, that they needed some time to rest and recover. So, he agreed without much refusal.
Master White also nodded back in reply, and dissipated. He returned back to the mind space provided by The Veil. Azrael stood up, walked to the window, and looked at Sylvaran Woods one last time before closing the curtains. He lay down on the bed and dozed off to dreamland.
For the next two days, Azrael didn't leave his room. He cultivated in the morning and slept soundly at night to rest and relieve his exhaustion. The waiter of the inn noted that Azrael had returned and tried knocking on his door for food on the first day, but after no response from Azrael, he stopped. This was not his first time interacting with a cultivator. So, he knew that cultivators are eccentric people who rarely eat and mostly cultivated behind closed doors.
************
Azrael woke up feeling refreshed. The continuous cultivation sessions and by incorporating the battle experience his foundation in the First Realm was solidified. He was very close to breaking through the next realm : [Visceral transformation].
"Status"
[Name - Azrael Vaeloreth (Master White)]
[Age - 17]
[Existence - Beginner Layer-1]
[Realm - Blood revitalization]
[Rank - High]
[Battle power - 9700]
[Soul power - 0]
[Law (incomplete) - Life and death(active)]
[Affinities - Fire, water, earth, wind, metal...]
[Passive abilities : Super strength, Energy circulation, poison immunity, curse immunity, Elemental overlord..]
[Active ability : Force manipulation, Energy manipulation.]
[Items - The veil(ultimate), Bracelet of restraint(Layer-1).]
[System store] (unlocked)
[Legacies] (locked)
From his status we can see that his battle power wasn't restrained anymore as he was hunting in the woods. Now, however when he travels to TradeHaven, he decided to wear the bracelet once more to appear inconspicuous. Anyone who flaunts power before fully maturing is stupid. You can train and develop your strength away from the people's eyes so, that when it is actually needed you can save yourself without having to submit to anyone.
After checking his status, which except for the battle power hadn't changed much. He entered the bathroom for tidying himself as it will be a long journey.
And not for any particular reason, but he and Master White both decided to travel mostly by foot. Azrael just wanted to explore the new world and it's different cultures, whereas Master White was interested in the functionality of the Sylvanus Kingdom.
Master White had inferred that the Sylvanus Kingdom was an anarchy governed by a feudal system. The rules and policies set by many Fuedal lords satisfied their own needs instead of looking out for common people and the Kingdom, makng Sylvanus a fragile and hollow machine that could crumble anytime from the inside.
But now as he was out exploring the world he wanted to experience it first-hand. He also wanted to map out a general outline of the political inclination of many lords, and the best way to do that is to understand the hatred of the common populace and connect the dots to see the pattern in the actions of a certain lord benefiting a particular higher noble.
He left the inn after having a simple meal. He arrived at the entrance of the Frostwood Gate. It was a month-long journey to TradeHaven from where he was, that is the border between two kingdoms. So, for a smooth start he searched for a caravan to temporarily tag along with, then he would leave on foot to TradeHaven.
He found the same caravan that he had accompanied before. The hunters hired by the caravan merchants had collected many special items from the Sylvaran Woods and they were on their return journey with new and valuable goods to sell.
He met the same irritated scribe again and paid the fee for half the journey. The scribe was displeased seeing him again, but Azrael paid the fee so, he had to accommodate him. He reluctantly moved Azrael to one of the carriages carrying Tier-3 goods, and assigned him to protect it.
Azrael agreed without argument as he was good doing anything. Instead of new set of people, he found the old predictable ones more easy to deal with. He maintained the usual silent and cold persona, which went perfectly as he was considered a rogue.
He traveled with the caravan for five days. When the caravan stopped at Vinyarc, a town famous for its wine, he left the caravan and also exited the town. It was a pity, that he didn't get to taste the wine.
Master White was very adamant and was constantly reminding Azrael against the consumption of alcohol this early in their journey without any security.
Master White was generally against the idea of consuming any psychedelic substances. "it is useless and unnecessary." He had said. "Except for providing a temporary escape, it does nothing else." So, it will be very hard for Azrael to get any even in the future.
As Azrael left the town it was mostly wilderness. He didn't see any human settlement for a whole day. All he found was dead trees and wild animals feasting of each other. Moving forward he entered a lush forest, different from the Sylvaran Woods. This was just a normal forest, a terrain formed naturally with green canopy of trees loomng over everyone's head.
Finally, after two whole days of trekking through the forest, he saw it.. The World's Spine!