Stars freckle the velvety curtain of the night hanging in the heavens. The stars cast across the void like sand scattered at the beach, twinkling in myriad colors. Inky clouds drift through the sky, blotting out constellations here and there while bringing the scent of fresh rain.
Grassy plains roll to the horizon, dim starlight revealing them as though they are sketched from charcoal. A gentle breeze brushes across the grass in long waves, the grass's shiny surfaces reflecting the heavens like a vast sparkling sea. Small balls of light drift up from the grass and are blown away in swirling gusts by the chilly night winds.
An old man stands like a lone island towering in the endless shimmering night. He takes steady breaths while stroking his beard, his eyes glued to the sights around him, his worries forgotten for a moment.
Jackie Lewin drifts through the plains, smelling the crisp air and listening to the sounds of the monsters while they hunt or hide under the stars. He feels the heavy tension in his chest lighten little by little, washed by the midnight serenity.
The inky blotches of clouds swell, painting the sky black in the time it takes to eat a meal. The scent of rain grows. The pitter patter of fat raindrops sound and then crescendo into a torrential icy cold downpour.
Jackie saunters under the rain, strolling along. Rivulets of water pour down his hair and beard, between his roped muscles, turning darker as they wash the dirt and debris from his time underground. He feels the chill poke a hole in his stress, his mind sublimating as his confidence blossoms once the weight of his worries erode under the gentle washing of the downpour.
'Now I recall how much of a hooligan I've been acting. I suppose that I was frightened and feeling insecure. The twilight sect robbed my dignity from me, their strength suppressing me and I could only go along with whatever they said, or face being pinched and getting popped like a mosquito. '
'Following that, I had to dig my way out of the earth, facing the constant threat of death should I have let up even a little. Later, I saw that the village had no one strong, and my insecurities acted up all at once, I wanted to be the man in charge, show them how rich and strong I am. Naturally, I turned into a bully.'
'I'm just an old man with a magic shovel. I don't need to be competing to be the man in charge, that is for the young. I should apologize to Silent Wolf and Quiet Bear. At the time when they asked me to leave, I should have departed for a different village. I'm sure that I would have found a welcoming one eventually. Instead, I acted the fool and humiliated the young man in front of his cohort.'
Jackie strokes his wet beard. He pauses his stroll through the plains and lifts his old, wrinkly face to the sky, letting the rain fall freely down his body.
'That dream that I fell into from the mission... I believe I was looking into my subconscious worries. Maybe, even an old man like me needs to take time to reflect. Perhaps that is what the system was aiming for with that task.'
'Sorry doesn't make a thing right. I should prepare something as compensation. The fellow is young, vibrant and adventurous. '
Jackie opens his eyes, glancing at the system and then the system store. He scrolls down through the store and spots some simplified cultivation manuals based on his various cultivation techniques.
'Hmm, Spade Dao, simplified form of Entrenching Array Dao, specifically a Spade Cultivation Weapon Art that combines the Spade Self Defense martial art with cultivation.
The cultivator cultivates Spade Qi in the Qi condensation stage by drawing in wisps of spiritual qi in the air through a held Spade and forming the spiritual qi into spade qi before passing it through his meridians and then into his Spade Qi whirlpool.
This practice also gives the held spade a bit of spirituality, refining it into his Daoist weapon, allowing him to project Spade Light once he reaches Qi Condensation level 4. Spade Light sharpens the edge of the weapon and makes it much more dangerous. Qi Condensation level 8 will allow him to project spade beams, giving him a ranged attack with his spade qi.'
Jackie pats his wet forehead, eyes wide, 'Wait, I can project Shovel Energy from my shovel and make ranged attacks?!'
He turns over his assault spade and spins his shovel energy whirlpool in his Entrenching array dao cultivation. The energy spins and rushes through his Vessel's meridians and then through his hand and into his assault spade. The power pushes through the spade and forms a massive phantom assault shovel that is a perfect match for Jackie's three-meter tall height.
Jackie adjusts his pose to one of the Shovel Self Defense forms, drawing back and then leveraging out a sweeping swing. The shovel glows brightly for a moment before a wide arching beam of shovel energy rockets out into the darkness, blowing the rain away before it dissipates around thirty meters away.
The old man's jaw drops, his wide-open mouth flooding with rainwater, eyes bulging. "I've been bumbling around this entire time! Dadgummit, I would have escaped from that pit months earlier back then if I knew I could do that!"
He stomps his feet a few times and pouts, then sighs and tucks his spade away.
'Hmm, that manual will set me back 15,000 shovel points. Oh dadgum, well, it was my mistake anyway. I'll buy this and that 1,000 point tea, and a set of new robes.'
'Arg, I'll have only about 5,000 points left!'
Jackie clenches his teeth and makes his purchases. The old man expects them to appear, but notices that they sit on the side of the system panel as icons, alongside that coffee he won earlier. 'Well, I suppose system items can sit there until they are needed. Good system, mhmm. Yet, how did the coffee get there? I took it out?'
He changes out from his tattered robes in the rain, putting on a brand set of similar robes. The old man strolls through the rain filled night.
Some time passes, and he sees the warm firelight of the Yurt in the distance, flickering through the leather door.