After proving that he met the requirements, Shui was given a card that showed his related information.
[Name: Shin
Age: 16
Rank: Iron
Titles:
Achievements:]
There was no rule that one's real name had to be used and majority, especially those with touchy pasts, used fake names.
The Workers' Association ranked their members, workers, by their achievements and strength. Therefore, even if one had a lot of achievements, without enough strength they wouldn't be able to rank up and vice-versa. The ranks from lowest to highest were iron, copper, silver, gold, black gold, diamond, mythril but there were no workers of diamond or mythril rank in the Alterna Kingdom's history.
His blood was added to the card so only he would be able to see the information on it, but the association would keep its own copy. Once he finished registering, the receptionist told him the four main rules of the Workers' Association.
1. Once you accept a task, complete it unless it would result in your death.
2. Do not kill another worker unless the said worker interferes with the completion of a task or you are attacked first.
3. Do not harm the client of a task you have received unless there is evidence that they mean you harm.
4. In the case of any conflict between rules, the rule ranked higher has priority.
For convenience sake, the rules were simple, but apparently there was a more detailed version held by the association. From the rules, it seemed that the Workers' Association put its members' lives first, but that would come under doubt when one considered the most likely death of a worker, behind being killed by an enemy during a task. Even though they were in the same organization, the bond between workers was weaker than in sects, and even sects had several cases of sect disciples killing each other.
After he completed his objective, Shui left Cyrus and went back to the clan. Once he arrived, he first went to Bartos.
"You're back already, huh?"
"Yeah, I just did some sightseeing today."
As he looked at Bartos' back while he continued to hammer a slab of metal, Shui stifled the feeling of guilt he felt. Being a worker was anything but safe, so Shui knew that not to mention Lilia, even Bartos wouldn't allow him to do it. However, neither of them knew how much danger he was in, and he wouldn't tell them either. He had already confirmed that the gazes watching him would withdraw once he was near Bartos or his fellow apprentices, so it would be fine as long as he stayed near them as much as possible. However, that would only postpone a tragedy. If his guess was right, then even if he told Bartos about his recent near-death encounter, it wouldn't help the situation, instead, it might actually hasten the danger.
Shui was sure that since the spy dared to take action, it wouldn't be too long before something terrible happened. Even if he couldn't breakthrough to the Soul Realm in time, he needed to at least be able to keep his life.
Before his next trip to Cyrus, Shui consolidated his cultivation and made more talismans. Though he was a forge master, without entering the Soul Realm he wouldn't be able to use any of his artifacts to their full abilities so he preferred talismans, which the current him could use properly.
Shui had reached the peak of one-star saint body so he only needed to wait for the right oppurtunity for him to reach two-star saint body. As long as he reached two-star saint body, he would be able to face an early Soul Realm cultivator with just the strength of his body. This was the kind of power he desperately needed.
Although his soul cultivation was stagnant as usual, he believed that it wouldn't be too long until he reached the eighth level in the Mortal Realm. This speed might have made his foundation unsteady, but that was only a problem if Shui didn't have excellent control over his nature energy and an almost perfect comprehension of the Mortal Realm. Shui even preferred to withhold his advancement until he couldn't see the possibility of an further improvement.
While Shui steadily improved, there was an uproar occurring in a faraway location.
"Dead?! Are you sure?"
Kalos along with the elders he trusted, were shocked and frightened by the news they heard. The one they had ordered to kill Shui had been found as corspe without a head. Only the seal he carried with him and the residual aura could be used to identify him. None of them felt sad from this news, only thinking that it would be better if they had gotten more information. Such calm and cruelty was essential for them.
"Do we know who killed him?" Kalos asked the elders before him.
"No, he seems to have fired several attacks at someone, but only his blood was found in the area. It's only a guess, but we think he was attacking the boy before being killed suddenly."
After hearing the elder's response, Kalos nodded his head and asked another question.
"What are the chances that the boy was the one to do the deed?"
"His aura is never left behind so we couldn't use that to check. However, the attack that blew up the head seemed to be from an explosion of energy so it's unlikely that he did it."
"Then, that mysterious master of his, huh?"
"Most likely, Patriarch."
Only after reaching the Soul Realm could one's nature energy gain offensive properties, and they didn't think that Shui could have become a Soul Realm cultivator in such a short amount of time. Even Shui's trick of overworking the internal organs only worked because nature energy could invigorate one's body and increase blood pressure to a harmful degree. However, that wouldn't be enough to explode a human head. They considered another attempt but, Kalos knew that they couldn't be too reckless lest their secret maneuvers be exposed.
"For the time being, limit the surveillance on Shui and focus on the other objectives."
With only a small guess as to the danger he had gotten wrapped up in, Shui soon returned to Cyrus. On this day, he was planning on taking a task so he took out two swords he had bought in an auction and placed them on his back. He was too weak to use them perfectly, but there was no problem with using them to swing, strike and thrust. In addition to studying sword techniques while he studied martial arts, mastering the path of martial arts also gave him the innate ability of understanding the basics of any weapon he laid his hand on. Even if he had never read about it, as long as it was in his hands he would know how to use it in battle. However, he would first have to recognize it as a weapon.
With a dagger he forged himself on his waist, Shui lowered the hood of his cloak, exposing his black hair but still hid his face behind the white mask he used to fool the Glaize. Additionally, Shui had lowered the effect of the 'Confuse' inscription on his cloak. Although staying concealed was important, if he was too suspicious there would be more problems caused than those solved. Though this would be impossible for Yur, since Shui understood how his inscription worked and had excellent control over energy and aura, he could do it with limited stress on his mind. In his current state, he would come off as a mysterious short male with a cultivation vaguely in the late Mortal Realm.
When he entered the Workers' Association building, he was still recognized by those who had seen him register due to his height even though he gave off a slightly different impression. Without paying attention to anyone else, Shui walked to the board with several pages nailed to it. This was the notice board where tasks and important announcements were posted. Though it was rare since cultivators, even in the Mortal Realm, could easily pick up a new language, those who couldn't read could ask the receptionist what sort of tasks were available.
The tasks were ordered by rank so it was simple for Shui to find the ones he was eligible for. There were a variety there; from picking mutated herbs to hunting evolved beasts and even construction jobs were included. Since Shui's purpose was to gain fighting experience, he focused on the hunting tasks and examined them carefully. While he was doing this, two presences approached him but he didn't turn around. Only after being spoken to did he finally take a look.
"Um, you're the new worker right? I'm Lily and this is my brother Ryan."