Yasuo strolled into the Guild of Alverus with the dragon egg in his hands. Everybody there went quiet, staring and whispering about it.
Yasuo went up to the desk and slapped the quest page down on the table.
The woman looked at the page. "If I'm not mistaken... this request was for the legend Uwibami. There's no real proof that the dragon exists..."
Yasuo slammed the dragon egg on the counter. "See this? This is Uwibami."
Everyone in the guild burst out laughing. "Uwibami?! That little egg?! Yeah right!"
Yasuo rolled his eyes. He pulled out the roll of paper that the knight gave him and handed it to the woman.
She unrolled it and read the note. Her eyes bugged. "Northwind!" She took a bow. "I am truly sorry for the inconvenience. I will prepare your reward right away."
"What was written on the paper?" Rieko asked Yasuo.
He shrugged. "I dunno." ("I didn't have to read it. It was an event drop after all.")
The woman came back with a card. "Your reward is on this card. 500,000 gold."
Rieko gawked at the card. It was black with gold trim. Yasuo put it in his pocket.
Everyone in the guild went silent.
Mogi came from downstairs. "Lord Yasuo! You did your first quest already?"
Rieko raised an eyebrow. "Lord…?" she thought, "She's really kissing up to him…"
"Yeah, and I got this dragon egg!" Yasuo showed Mogi the dragon egg.
She took a good look at it. "So you defeated a dragon? As expected of someone of your stature! If you plan on hatching it, then keep it warm. Dragons are cold-blooded monsters, so you can't leave it out in the open for too long."
"Okay, no problem. I'll take good care of it!"
Mogi nodded. "Got a place to stay? You should find somewhere before it gets dark."
-
As they left the Guild, Yasuo looked at Rieko. "I just noticed, you didn't get a cut of the reward, did you?"
"Huh? Oh, I don't need anything. Besides, I wasn't the one who took down the dragon." she said.
Yasuo grinned. "Don't worry about that. We're in a party, so it's only right that you get at least something right? Dinner's on me!"
-
Yasuo and Rieko found a tavern to eat at. They sat down and ordered their food.
Yasuo looked at another table across the room. A family was sitting down enjoying their food, talking and laughing. But there was a kid under the table who looked sad and lonely. He was dressed in dirtied clothes and stared at other table's food.
Yasuo stood.
"Yasuo? Aren't you going to eat?" Rieko asked him.
"Wait here a minute."
Yasuo walked up to the family's table and bent down. "Hey, why are you sitting down here? Get something to eat."
A middle aged man that was sitting at the table scowled at Yasuo. "Excuse me? What are you doing?"
Yasuo looked up at him. "There's a kid underneath your table. He looks hungry."
"Yeah I know he's down there. That's my worthless excuse of a son. He can't do anything right, not to mention he has zero aptitude for cultivation. Zero! His soul force is as weak as they come! He sits down there where he can't embarrass me."
His family started laughing.
Yasuo frowned at the man. He looked back at the kid. "What's your name?"
"K-Kofi." he said shyly.
"You hungry?" Yasuo asked. ("This is my chance. If I nurture him properly, I'm sure that he'll become a worthy disciple of mine!")
Kofi nodded slowly.
"Come, sit at my table, we've got more than enough to go around."
The boy's father stood up. "Where do you get off, trying to take him away?"
Yasuo stood, looking up at him. "It's not like you care about him anyway right?"
"He's still my son! I will decide what happens to him! Not you, you little runt! Now get lost before your head finds itself under my heel!!"
Yasuo was starting to get angry. He jumped up and kicked the man out of his chair and into the wall. He slumped to the floor completely unconscious.
Everyone in the tavern was now staring at Yasuo. He held out a hand towards Kofi. "Come on, up."
Kofi hesitated, but he came out from under the table. They both sat with Rieko.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Rieko quietly shrieked.
Yasuo took a bite of an unidentified meat. "I'm eating."
Kofi started wolfing down food as if he hadn't eaten in months.
Rieko rolled her eyes. "No I mean him!" She pointed at Kofi.
Yasuo took another bite. "He looked hungry so I offered him something to eat. What's the problem?"
"You're making enemies with random strangers! That's the problem!"
Yasuo looked at Kofi. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen." Kofi said with a full mouth of food.
"They said you can't cultivate, is that true?"
Kofi swallowed. He slowly nodded, contempt all over his face.
On the other side of the room, Kofi's father came to. He scowled at his son. "Kofi!! Since you want to be with them so badly, don't bother coming back to us!! If I see your lowly face again, I'll have you sold off you hear?!!"
Kofi shrunk in his seat.
Rieko groaned. "Now we're stuck with him..."
Yasuo chuckled. "Well Kofi, you might as well join our party!"
"Party? B-But I won't be of any use..."
"Sure you will! If you can't use any spells, then we'll get you a weapon!"
Rieko looked at her storage ring. "I might have a wooden sword in here somewhere..."
While Rieko looked for that, Yasuo talked to Jishi.
< "Jishi."
"I am here."
"What's soul force?"
"Soul force is the power of one's soul. This strength is what allows people to utilize martial skills, status spells, and martial arts."
"Hmm... how does someone train their soul force?"
"The most common way is by drinking elixirs and deciphering rune scripts. Those who have higher budgets may also indulge in medicinal pills to further boost their progress. Alchemists are especially skilled in procuring elixirs and medicinal pills."
"Rune scripts? There's too much I don't know. Jishi, I've got an idea. Teach me everything about this world when it comes to alchemy. Even the unknown. I want to know everything."
"I can do that for you." >
Reiko shook her head. "Nope, no sword in here."
Yasuo's eyes glowed bright blue for a second.
Kofi and Rieko looked at him oddly.
"You okay over there?" Rieko asked.
Yasuo nodded. "Perfectly fine." He looked at Kofi. "I'm going to help you get stronger. Stick with me and I'll have you at the Basic Earthly Realm in no time."
Rieko froze mid-chew. "Basic Earthly Realm?! Do you know how strong you have to be to get there?!"
Yasuo shrugged. "It's the lowest tier, so no big deal." ("Don't tell me… am I surrounded by weaklings?")
Rieko pulled out an empty soul crystal. "Yasuo, hold this and pour your soul force into it."
Yasuo took the crystal and charged it up. A light shone from inside the crystal that was colored green.
Yasuo frowned. "Master Profound Realm, tier one. That's it?!" ("I'm not able to read my own levels of soul force yet, much less anyone else's. Uwibami must've been around the same rank.")
Rieko and Kofi were quite shocked. Their eyes bugged at the crystal.
"You're a Master Profound Realm?!" Kofi exclaimed.
Everyone in the tavern was paying attention. They whispered amongst themselves, many already afraid of Yasuo.
-
The Soul Cultivation Rankings in the world of Oh! are as follows:
Basic Earthly Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Lower Earthly Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Higher Earthly Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Master Profound Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Saint Profound Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Grandmaster Profound Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Sage Profound Realm (Tiers 1-3)
Divine Profound Realm (Tiers 1-3)
-
"No wonder you're so strong..." Rieko said in wonder. "You're already a master at such a young age…!"
< Yasuo's expression was more disappointed than anything. "Hey, Jishi."
"Yes, Yasuo?"
"Why am I so low on the rankings?"
"Well you didn't expect to start out at the top, did you?"
"I mean... I'm a god, aren't I?"
"Yes, but not full-fledged. While you can use skills above your realm, your total soul force is indeed Master Profound Realm."
Yasuo sighed. "So I've gotta train myself as well... that's not too bad I guess... at least I won't be bored." >
Yasuo looked at Rieko. "What rank are you again?"
"Me? I'm Tier 1 Basic Earthly Realm. Only talented people are ranked practitioners."
Yasuo found that hard to understand. "Are you serious? I didn't know it was that rare..." ("I was right!! These guys are complete trash!!")
Kofi chuckled in a depressing manner. "I don't have the potential to reach the Basic Earthly Realm. I appreciate the thought though."
Yasuo frowned. "No, I stand by what I said. You'll prove everybody wrong by reaching it."
Kofi let out a small sigh. "If you say so..."
When everyone finished eating, they left the tavern together.
Yasuo looked up at the sky. "We have just a shred of daylight leftover. I need you two to do me a favor."
"What is it?" Rieko asked.
Yasuo pulled a sheet of paper from what seemed like nowhere. "I need these items in bulk. As much as you can find." He handed them his black and gold card. "Use this to pay for it."
Rieko looked at the list. "But these are pretty basic ingredients. What use will these have?"
"Just get them for me, no matter the price."
Rieko and Kofi nodded.
Yasuo went ahead to the inn he was staying at. He walked into the room and looked at his egg, which he already had wrapped up in blankets inside of a straw basket.
"Well, I'd better get started." He sat down on the floor and began meditating. "With the right breathing techniques, one can speed up the cultivation process. But I don't know of any." A soft blue glow emanated from his body.
"What are you doing?" It was Pixie.
"Meditating. In this world, training one's soul force is the best way to get stronger."
"Ah, I see. I heard that you were going to help Kofi reach the Basic Earthly Stage. But you realize that cultivating your soul force is likely exponentially easier for you than others right? master or not, you're still a god."
"I understand that. That's why I'll become an alchemist." Yasuo smirked. "Things like elixirs, pills, scrolls, and scripts make cultivating soul force way easier. If I can make divine stage items, I know that Kofi will be able to reach the first realm." A mischievous grin formed on his face. "And it'll be good money."
Pixie crossed her arms. "I can't tell if you're doing this out of the good of your own heart, or if you have some ulterior motive."
"If I can make someone with almost no potential like Kofi reach the first realm, it'll serve as a testimony to my greatness!"
Pixie smiled. "There it is."
Yasuo looked at her out of one eye. "I don't do anything for anyone unless I benefit from it. No matter what I'm doing, I have to be the best. If I'm gonna be an alchemist, then I'll be the greatest one there ever was!"
"I'm sure you will."