"For a word?"
Spark asked the jolly man smiling next to him.
"Sure!"
Joey sung in happy notes, reflecting his festive mood.
He seemed to be at peace seeing the kids let go of decorum and hesitation. The sight of Lily earnestly playing with the other kids made his heart jump high arches of delight.
A feeling only he could understand.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, still struck with an innocent smile, he faced Spark's mischievous grin which was bent in the most upward curve his young facial muscles could endure.
Spark leaned against the preparation table, which was mounted to the middle of the kitchen, as an island of sorts, and tapped the table lightly.
"Joey, my friend!"
A merry tone tinged his voice.
Joey glanced at him with a smile, and greeted back happily.
"Hahaha, yes Spark, my boy!"
"Hahaha old friend, you seem to be in a good mood."
"I don't think I've felt better in my life!" Joey revealed with a roaring laugh which threatened to collapse into an croaky wheeze.
Spark also joined him into innocent laughter, for absolutely no apparent reason. They spent some moments of delight, like two old friends who reunited after not seeing each other for over 10 years.
Pretty strange considering they only knew each other for two days, and had almost 15 years of difference in age!
The loud laughter caught the attention of the three adults at the counter outside, who pondered and puzzled over what sophisticated, ingenious joke could produce such a reaction.
"But your attitude betrays you are in quite the joyeous mood, too, young friend!" Joey remarked.
"Hohoho, that might not be wrong!"
Spark gave many nods unceremoniously. His laughter was cheer- and gleeful like Santa's.
"It feels like Christmas! Hohoho... You know what time it is, don't you?"
Not being thrown off his mood by the unkown term of Christmas, Joey replied in honest delight.
"Hehehe why, yes, of course I know!"
"How would I not, young friend? ... I waited all day for this!"
Spark grinned in acknowledgement.
"Hm, hmm! So you were the same!"
"Come on, show me the presents, old sport."
Hearing the cue, Joey took a couple steps to the wooden shelves, where he stored all sorts of booze. Old whiskey bourbons, Scotches and Wines stood neck to neck above big barrels of beer, creating a picture of a drunkard's dreams.
First, he grabbed his oldest and finest Bourbon which stood on the highest shelve. It already caught dust and grime over time, and clearly wasn't meant for the masses. The creamish brown glass was stuffed with sealing cork, an elegant lable refining its ancient looks.
Joey brushed the dust away and revealed the name.
'Fairy-brewed Golden Meadow Bourbon' it read, with the words flowing off into ornate, intricate curves. Golden veils in the background made the bottle picturesque, easy to remember, and impossible to forget.
"Heh, hehe, I saved this one for when my daughter turns 18, but it seems I'll have to go buy a better one."
He added an enunciated, "Now that I can!"
Joey and Spark let out a snobby, cheeky 'heh' in unison and looked at each other when they heard the other person doing the same.
"Well then, I think... I'll order one glass of this fine whiskey."
Spark emphasized his next words flauntingly with the same energy.
"...Now that I can!"
Their eyes met with a meaningful gaze and they couldn't stop another spoiled 'heh' from escaping their lips. They still had the big smiles from earlier imprinted on their faces and it seemed like they were frozen solid, cheaply programmed to only showcase this single expression.
But it was not like they could stop it! Their joy was in need of an outlet or else they'd burst apart!
Joey filled a couple of delightful gulps into the whiskey glasses, before sliding one over to Spark who nodded at him gratefully.
But Joey's face contorted into a skeptic expression after he did.
"Wait... aren't you too young for this? We've been through this before!"
"W-What?! Don't worry bout' it" Spark spat out while cradling the cup in one hand, not willing to give it back.
'You fool! I'm older than you, what do you mean, too young!'
Joey slapped his head in frustration.
"Argh, it's your fault for acting like a geezer damn it, I forgot you were a brat for a moment!"
Spark howled with a scowl.
"D-Did you just say geezer! You're the fucking old man here."
"Ah–... shouldn't you be complaining about me calling you brat?!" Joey tackled back with a glower.
"And I just turned 29 the other day, what the fuck you mean by old man!?"
"29?"
Spark twitches. This guy seemed a bit older.
"Hah~This fool...'
Spark mustered the willpower not to explode into a frenzy.
'The wise person gives in. The wise person gives in ...' he repeated inside his mind to calm himself.
"Whatever Joey. Come on, what are you waiting for! Bring it out!"
"Fine, fine." Joey turned his back to the bratty geezer and fell to his knees when he arrived at the wooden shelve. He lowered himself to the floor and swiped his arms in the gap of the first shelve-deposit and the ground until a soft thump ringed into Spark's ears.
'Ohh~ The wonderful sound of money!'
His heart leaped in step with melodies of harmonious compositions when he saw the wooden casket that Joey pulled out from under the shelve.
It was unknown, when exactly Joey transferred the 'presents' into a wooden casket, but now that he did, it gave off more impressive and illustrous feeling.
Both their eyes glimmered with the treacherous glimmer of greed, when Joey opened the box and appreciated– what was a sight to behold.
Four crystalline stones, brimming with mysterious light were in the upper left corner.
Right next to them lay a brown leather pouch climpering sweetly with just a stare!
A small and ordinary rectangle wooden box pressed on the upper right corner of the box, looking as average as can be, but if you'd know what it held, you'd make backflips till' you hurled!
The Bone Marrowing Pill!
Under all these already invaluable treasures were countless greens, shabbily thrown into the mix. But even an untrained eye could see the vitality brimming inside the bright rainbow-coloured sortiment.
All the Spiritual Plants oozed out a fresh heavenly scent, smelling better than the best lilac you could find in summer.
Spark and Joey gulped heavily.
Joey's hands were trembling with excitement, as he blurted out a subconscious thought.
"T-This is better than sex!"
Spark almost spat out his drink when he heard Joey's rumbling.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
He glanced at the doorframe and whispered, "Your wife will slap you to death if she heard."
Joey realized his mistake in cold sweat, and anxiously shifted his gaze towards the door in the speed of a meandering thunderbolt.
It's important to note that there was no real door severing the bar room from the kitchen. It was just an empty doorframe. An open-style passage.
Luckily, the pillow fight still raged on, judging by the loud, playful screams combined with joyful laughter coming from the main room.
Joey wiped the sweat off his forehead when he concluded he was safe, and muttered quietly.
"Puhh... I-I must have gone insane!" he stammered before faintly adding, "...Almost died there."
Spark shook his head in embarrassment, but he understood Joey's sentiment perfectly well. This really was a sight for sore eyes. This casket ... contained dreams made of shiny gold.
Spark took a sip of the bourbon and avoided a twist of his expression skillfully.
"Woah, you hold your liquor quite well... You-You... sneaked some of daddy's stuff?" Joey tried to shift his embarrassment to Spark with a witty taunt.
"You–... You must have really gone insane!"
Spark almost spat his drink out for the second time.
"T-That's it! ... I think I have something to tell your wife!"
When he jumped up and went for the door, Joey panicked and hold him by the sleeve before it was too late, whispering quietly, like a charlatan in a dark side-street promising to divine your fate by reading some lines on your hand.
"Hey hey hey, I was j-joking, joking, come back here damn it!"
"You can choose the first item, so we're good right?" Joey pleaded with a sour face.
Spark sighed and shrugged his shoulder in a defeated tone.
"Hahh... Fine then."
"And I thought you were a good fellow. Tsk tsk, can't trust anyone these days. Brats will be brats."
Feeling a vein bulging from his forehead, Spark meditated inwardly.
'The wise person gives in. The wise person gives in...'
Joey truly had a gift to itch his sore spots. Or rather scrape them bloody! Spark realized that Buddha must have felt the same difficulty when severing himself from all worldy emotions under the bodhi tree.
Shifting his focus to the wooden casket on the table, he quickly picked out the small wooden box and slided it over to his side.
"You have no use for this you said... right?"
Joey looked at the box, hesitated a bit, but nodded.
"Right, you take it. It's a pity but the Bone Marrowing Pill is only useful for people under the Qi Realm."
"...Are there any requirements or can I just eat it like this?"
"As far as I know you should be able to eat it now. But if you want my advice, eat it after reaching at least the Lesser or the Middle Body Foundation Realm."
Spark arched an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because the Bone Marrowing Pill cleans out your meridians and reforms the bones. An appropriate body to withstand the pain won't be a bad decision."
"That makes sense ... Thank you."
"Mhm..." Joey ignored the thanks and looked at the items in front of him while taking a big gulp of the Fairy-Brew and finally picking up the leather pouch. He dumped its contents on the table and counted 27 golden coins.
"We should split this," he said while sliding 13 gold coins towards Spark and 13 to himself, leaving a single coin in the middle.
"Let's buy some neccessities for the children tomorrow with the change."
"I was just about to propose that," Spark nodded.
Joey pondered in silence before taking out the Spirit Crystals, and sliding all four of them towards Spark.
"What are you doing?" Spark asked in a curious tone.
"Hahh- do you really think that I have forgotten that I owe you three of these things?" Joey shaked his head and stared at Spark with a meaningful gaze, showing a sign of silent gratitude if Spark didn't misread.
"That's not even counting the opportunity of the Clearing Cloud Arts and the Skill I received from Celas. You are the biggest reason I reached the Qi Realm... and that is a fact."
"That's misguided gratitude Joey! This is this, and that is that. How can you say I'm the reason you received a Skill!"
"As you said, it's decided by the Grand Dao as you said, and furthermore... You won the fight! Not me.
"What's next? You want to thank me for your mother giving birth to you?! Don't be such a damn pushover!"
Joey popped a vein at the youngster's reply and hissed back.
"What the fuck? Just accept my goodwill, are you too embarassed or what's wrong with you!"
"I took the Bone Marrowing Pill for myself and I assume its worth can't be compared with ten times the amount of the Spirit Crystals combined!"
Joey shaked his head in irritation.
"As you said. This is this and that is that! I wouldn't be able to use it anyways!"
"But your daughter can!"
"She's nine years old! What can she use?!" Joey almost shouted, "and you need these for your breakthrough in the future! Three were enough for me because I've been in the Peak of the Body Foundation for a long time and my realm was fully saturated. You will definitely need more than me."
"But at the moment they are more vital to you!"
Spark adopted a serious bearing.
"How can you protect us from incoming danger if you're not strong enough? There is always the possibility to earn more in the future!"
The two bickered around for a while, before coming to the conclusion that 3 will go to Joey, and one to Spark, to reach the Body Foundation Realm.
"Fine, choose what herbs you and Lily need, and I'll take the rest."
Spark proposed shortly after and Joey accepted with a nod.
They found 11 Lesser-Tier herbs and 2 Normal-Tier ones in the hideout. So in the end 5 Low-Tier herbs and 1 Normal-Tier medicine went to Spark and the other half went to Joey.
"Also you can have 8 of the Moonstones, I'll only take two. But the weapons of the Mad Dog belong to me!"
One moonstone the size of a ping-pong ball was worth as much as a gold coin, depending on where you sold it. But for him, it was nothing but a pretty stone without much value, other than the few gold coins or acting as a night lamp.
Spark rather be equipped with the longsword and the dagger, which he assumed were of quite high-quality on first sight.
The blades were incredibly sharp, and the handles looked good, too, almost flauntingly good.
The stones had no direct use for Cultivation, therefore he wasn't too interested in them. Also, he felt quite bad for taking the better part of the loot already.
The businessman was objectively fair, especially with grounded and mostly... pleasant people like Joey.
Seeing the empty casket in front of them, both knew that every piece of loot has been divided successfully.
Spark took the leather pouch since Joey had his own and filled it to the brim with 13 golden coins, the Crystal and the small wooden box before tying it tightly to his trousers.
As for the Spiritual Medicines, he bundled them up with a rope and hid them under a white cotton cloth.
They stared each other again, before giving sound to cheerful laughter.
The feeling of getting rich overnight can't be beaten! They were now affluent gentlemen, ready to take on the world!
Spark remembered something and finally asked the thing that had been on his mind for a long time.
"Ah— right, I almost forgot... Joey, what Skill did you actually receive by slaying Celas? And remember our talk about Beast rankings and Skills? Don't leave me dangling on the rope here man, I'm curious!"
"Gahahaha right, right! Good that we pick up on that again! Ahh~ My lovely, sweet Inherent Skill. I can read it for you if you insist on it that much."
Joey guffawed loudly and offered with a boisterous, playful tone.
'Read? How would you read it, you insipid fool?' Spark lampooned Joey inwardly for not making sense.
Joey then closed his eyes to enter a tranquil cogitation, before opening them again and... actually reading out loud:
–––––––
[Skill Name: Calculated Fury]
[Category: Inherent]
[Rank: Normal]
[An Inherent Skill that Being 'Joey Zeal' acquired by slaying Peak Body Foundation Realm 'Celas'.]
[The Skill Calculated Fury allows the User to descend into calculated serenity when in the state of seething anger. The consequent enhanced perception, and perspicacity increase the odds of adept and expedient decisions.]
––––––––
"Heh.. What do you think?" Joey asked with a smug face.
Spark was stunned.
'He really read it like a book...''
Recovering his thoughts, he scoffed venomously'
"Truly a gift of fate, to present you with a method that you desperately needed indeed..."
Joey almost choked on his drink.
"Wh-What did you say?"
"Uhm– a wonderful skill Joey, really awesome," Spark gave him a thumbs-up before changing the topic, "How could you read it like that? Do you see the description written in the air or how..?
The bartender glowered at the young man for a second, but pretended to not have heard his earlier sentiment.
"When you reach the Qi Realm you will see what wondrous changes it manifests... If you cogitate and wish to view the Skills you acquired, just address the Grand Dao, and runes written in a language you understand will levitate in front of your eyes."
'Just what is the deal with the Grand Dao?' Spark tried to contrive inwardly.
"At first, you'll be able to view your Soulslate which records the information of your soul. Of course, it will be only visible to you. Focus on the hovering Skill you wish to inspect and voila, done!"
Not understanding any of it, Spark decided to just see for himself when the time was ripe.
"...I think I get it. What about the Beast Ranks... and your skill had a Normal Rank if I remember correctly? So Skills are also categorized in Ranks?"
Joey nodded and turned staid.
"Everything is tabulated and rightfully categorized... But not by humans like you might have thought. This knowledge is directly derived from the Grand Dao. It differentiates the ranks of the beasts you slay, and it bestows all names to every matter Bound to the Soul."
"What... How could this possibly be?"
Joey smirked and exclaimed fanatically.
"Praise the Grand Dao!"
'Could this this be the so called Akashic Record, which was philosophized about back on Earth?'
'The omniscient, mighty compilation of all existing knowledge? But why do we not have it on Earth and why is our planet devoid of Mana... Are these two things connected or could it be... that I'm in a different existential dimension altogether?'
Spark shocked himself while trying to weave bits and pieces of information together.
However it was futile, he felt like an agnosiac, without the proper information.
'No wonder everybody praises the Grand Dao all the time... This is simply too much too understand. It might be better to just go with it...'
Spark hesitated a bit before he also gave voice to a faint.
"Truly baffling... Praise the Grand Dao "
Spark recalled the interrupted dialogue they had in front of Celas' charred corpse.
"So the Grand Dao bestows names and types to those Beasts, too... Was it the Budding Realm and Awakening Realm and... Fiends and Deuces?"
The brown haired Joey succinctly replied.
"Exactly."
"Can you give me a quick rundown?"
"Well, it's better to read about it in detail, but in short, Beasts have Cultivation Realms which resemble ours. The Body Foundation Realm is the Budding Realm.
"The Qi Realm or Element Awakening Realm translates into the Awakened Realm, and subsequently, there is the Element Stimulation Realm, which equals into the Depravity Realm for Beasts."
But the explanation didn't stop there.
"Furthermore, the Grand Dao differentiates the Beasts of each Realm in five different types, according to the amount of Core Fragments they possess. They range from at least one to a maximum of five Fragment Cores.
"Humans have given each type an apt description. Just look it up in a book sometime. You see... in summary, the more cores a Beast possess the more frightening, and mighty it is."
"One core constitutes a Fiend, whereas two make up a Deuce. Three cores makes the beast a Hazard and four... a beast with four fragments is termed a Behemoth."
Joey took a quick break, indiscernibly shuddering a bit before being woken up by Spark.
The young man's eyes widened at the terrible terming that has been given to the beasts. He felt like that it somehow made them more intimidating.
"You stop there? Joey... What's a beast with five fragments termed?"
"The fifth... a beast that possesses five core fragments... is called a Horror."