Lind had always thought he had a healthy appetite at the age of 19 but the slim boy in front of him put his record to shame. The boy seemed like a bottomless pit. Lind noticed the boy often would glance at him before grabbing a plate of food, but Lind never made a move. Even with the massive consumption, the bill was still only a few midgrade Soul Stones.
The low cost likely had to do with the rundown state of the tavern but the jovial man behind the bar seemed like a force of nature. If he was also the cook, Lind would rate him very highly and wasting his talents here.
Lind had only sampled the food to make sure it was safe but likely the boy had been fed little based on his physical state. Malnourished, beaten, and exhausted from what Lind could recall when his mother taught him how to evaluate a cultivator.
The process of cultivation made the human body quite resilient, but until the World Realm it remained little different from mortals. Less sleep and food were needed at the World Realm, especially as one faced tribulations to the Gold or Diamond tiers.
After the 3rd round of food, the boy was finally satisfied. Lind's Eyes even showed his dantain was nearly ready to break through! Could someone cultivate by gorging on food?! Lind smiled and let the boy nearly nap the afternoon away while he drank a few light ales.
The yellow eyes suddenly bolted open as his head swiveled around and saw Lind sitting across from him. Fear crossed his face but Lind smiled and waved it off.
"If I had eaten that much, I would need to rest too. Do not worry about it." His gentle voice and face made the boy relax. Lind let him settle before getting to business. "I am looking for a reliable boat ride to Indelia but I do not want to use my grade 3 status. Is there a way to do this?"
The guard went back up at first, but then the small boy relaxed as the question was actually quite normal. He screwed up his face as his hand instinctively kept picking up the yellow chips still on the plate between them. Lind nearly laughed but did nothing to make the boy jump.
"Ummm, I don't think that will work." His voice was surprisingly deep, but Lind knew that while cultivation slowed down aging in many ways, a developing body would be pushed to maturity the more one broke through.
"There is no one that will take a Soul Realm with them?" Lind flared his aura to show what it was, but the boy instantly shook his head. His hair seemed to shed things best left to the imagination. Lind's hands itched to order a bath but there was a limit to his indulgence. He wished to save the boy, but then what about all those slaves clearly locked up so wrongly?
"The bad ones will take you but then you will never see freedom until they find the badge. Might kill you instead, mister." Lind grew concerned at his vocabulary, or lack of structure but internally swallowed his worries. Lind's brow furrowed on his woes but then he saw the smirk of the boy.
"What?" The boy pointed at the food and Lind nearly laughed. If only others could be bribed with food! He waved over the large tavern master and let the boy order even more food. Both older men laughed as the boy went with gusto despite just eating so much earlier.
Lind was stunned when the boy did break through while eating!!!
"Well?" Lind would not let him nap this time as the sunlight was not infinite. While Lind could safely walk through the harbor during the day, at night he would be asking to be attacked. The boy got up and waved for him to follow.
Lind tossed a bag of high grade Soul Stones to the tavern keeper. He had no doubt the money was much higher than needed, but Lind felt like being generous. It also was very much not like his usual frugal activities that were no doubt well documented during his time in the Lotus Empire.
Lind noted that a few of the sloppily dressed patrons followed them out but then froze when the toughs from earlier waved them off. He nodded and pointed to the boy nearly skipping ahead of him. The 2 men seemed to understand and melted back into the crowd.
Lind did not need to be told to know he was still being watched but the broken down boards and buildings gave way to moderately better structures. Lind had been past these buildings before but the boy turned down a rather open roadway he had avoided before. It was packed with people but there were far less stalls than the main thoroughfare.
The boy squirmed and twisted easily enough to show he was used to making his way through crowds. Lind was locked on to him, otherwise he would have lost the boy long ago as he had to make his way far more slowly. World Realms had some respect on sight and could make their way through, but Soul Realms, even at the peak, were basically treated as air.
Lind suddenly realized how much the structure of cultivation society had a bare minimum threshold for respect in regards to the realm. In the Lotus Empire, Soul Realms were considered promising youths and peak Soul Realms were powerhouses to be feared, but Body Refining Realm was nothing. In Veritas, as it was part of the larger power of the Saint Kingdom, treated anything below the World Realm as nobody.
Lind sighed internally, something he seemed to be doing a lot, as his senses told him the boy had stopped not far ahead on the left. Lind made his way and suddenly a gap appeared. He used it to cross out of the main traffic to find the boy leaning looking for him.
"MISTER!" Lind waved and finally found himself in front of a building that anyone who knew anything about video games or fantasy novels would recognize, but Lind had never heard of it in this world. It looked like an oversized tavern at 4 stories but the sign out front had a sword piercing a beast on the area above the door.
The panel of text was barely legible but Lind was not as good at reading other languages as he was speaking them. The boy pointed and smiled.
"The Marina Adventure Guild can help you!" The boy smiled in pride as Lind looked stunned at the building. An Adventure Guild? Really?! Lind felt his veins twitch as George appeared in his mind talking about Gundams and some iski stories or something like that. If George was here, he would be whooping with joy.
"What is this place, exactly?" Lind's displeasure was clear but the boy did not seem surprised by it. He pushed on the door and it swung inward to a raucous crowd. There were 3 areas from what LInd could see with a surprising level of formations. His Eyes saw mid Gold Tier level Qi flowing in profound arrays. They were well maintained as well.
One area, as expected, appeared to be having an arm wrestling tournament of some kind, but instead of muscles, cultivation aura was used to enhance 2 artifacts made for the purpose of the contest. If one aura overcame another, they would win when the artifact was knocked back. Lind was itching to look over the artifacts themselves as he wanted to know how they worked. The bar had drinks of all realms from what Lind could see.
The other area was a row of reception windows manned by both pretty women and handsome men. Their pale blue vests with a white blouse for the women were quite attractive on the tanned skin. The lines were orderly but the bragging was just as loud as the cheering from the first area.
The final area was the odd man out. It was a massive open area with boards holding jade slips or scrolls. Lind could see there were 4 of them and at the top of each were words he could work out in the language of the Saint Kingdom.
[Body Refining Realm]
[Soui Realm]
[World Realm]
[Sky Realm]
Understanding finally came to Lind. It made perfect sense for a trading hub. The Saint Kingdom did not like the small to medium sects holding too much power in their cities of importance so a state run facility would allow the sects to benefit while the Saint Kingdom retained their power.
Consequently, the jobs and offers here would require open details and no trickery, but there had to be a restriction. Lind glanced at the boy and pointed to one of the lines at the reception section. Lind sighed but tossed a bag to him and nodded.
The wide smile was sure to have a short life as the toughs would no doubt take their cut, but then Lind caught the slim arm and pressed one more bag into his arms. A firm look into the yellow eyes got a solemn nod before Lind let him go. Hopefully his life in the harbor would get him to hide one of the bags.
The small boy slipped out as if he was a ghost and Lind could only hope he would be ok.
Lind got in the line indicated and saw a rather well endowed woman running it. The line was longer than the others but Lind noticed it was the quietest as well. He patiently waited but the Fates did not seem to be as ready to wait.
"What is a weak northerner in line to register?" Lind was mystified but again, this struck a bell in his Earth memories. Praying to any merciful deities, he turned towards the voice and nearly fell over.
A bright red haired man with an open vest exposing his abs was standing near the entrance with a woman under each arm. They were fawning on him and looking in ridicule at LInd. His blue robes and dark hair did combine with his pale skin to mark him as foreign to the harbor, but the style gave away the source.
His robes were engraved with protection and deflection arrays that only needed him to bind them and send some spiritual Qi to activate, but each area had their own patterns and placement choices. The open arrays on his robes were in stark contrast to the plan colors all around him.
"I have just arrived and was informed this is the best place to find a way to cross the Fortune Way." The audacious name for the shipping lanes had made Lind roll his eyes but it had been at least practical compared to everything else in the Saint Kingdom.
"HA! HA! HA! A mere tier 7 Soul Realm thinks he can book passage at our honorable Marina Adventure Guild?! Do we look so kind to you?!" Lind could have sworn George was reaching across the cosmos at that very moment to switch with him.
"I mean no offense senior, I am merely trying to cross safely." Most nodded at Lind's respectful tone and bow towards the loud man, but the red haired man only sneered as his mid-Sand Tier aura pressed onto Lind. If it had been before Younger Twin and so much else in the last 3 years, Lind would have been sweating, but this meager aura did nothing.
"I am the Young Master of the Octo Clan! You will leave this place and never return!" A vein pulsed once more on Lind's forehead. The 8th Clan? Seriously?! What is wrong with this Kingdom?
"I beg pardon, senior, but do you have the authority to remove me from this place?" Lind was no longer humble but he would rather not make a ruckus that could be tracked to his distinctive fighting style.
A dark look crossed the man's face as he let go of the girls. The glee on their faces at what was to come told Lind this man was a bully quite often. He was about to summon his staff when a fist came out of nowhere to hit the red haired man.
"FOOL! This is not your Clan nor your Sect. If I catch you throwing your weight around again against our customers or members, I will revoke your badge. Now get out!" A well muscled woman in a tight wrap stood over the laid out young master.
The 2 women from before seemed to fade into the background with practiced ease. LInd almost felt sorry for the man but was not displeased at the current results. Rubbing his jaw and glaring at Lind, he simply got up and left.
"Many thanks, senior. I am Taren Cord. How may I address you?" The silver haired women looked hard at Lind but nodded at his manners at least. Her eyes were a burnt orange at times to dark brown depending on her position. They reminded Lind of autumn.
"I am the Sub-leader of this guild. Moreth is an idiot that is proud of his pill induced cultivation but plays around too much. Pay him no mind. Please resume your place." Lind bowed but he noted the Sub-leader was watching him as the line progressed.
An internal sigh, far too common of an event, made Lind realize this woman knew more about him than she let on. She was seeing what he would do and what he was after. Hopefully, it would not become a massive incident.
Wishing he could really switch with George for the next few days, Lind finally made it to the front of the line.