"Hello, i would like to buy some Flux stones". Khaos said to the clerk. He was partly disappointed that it was not the one who served him last time.
"Certainly, it's five gold a stone", the clerk smiled.
Khaos was surprised, "I bought Flux stones here about 3 months ago and their price was four gold", he said.
"I apologise sir but the price has gone up", the clerk replied.
"Fine, how much with silver?" Khaos asked.
"We do not accept silver coins here anymore". The clerk stated. Khaos did not even want to ask for an explanation since knowing the reason would not change anything at all.
"Okay, can i get four stones", he handed over the 20 gold. 'I should have asked for more money from Gother back then', he thought as he felt the single gold coin he was left with.
"Here you go" ,the clerk handed over the four stones with a smile. Khaos nodded and walked out of the shed before shooting into the distance. With his breakthrough into the fourth stage, he was faster than before and could fly for longer.
After flying for about 100 kilometers, Khaos was running out of Wind Flux, luckily he had arrived at his destination. Below him was a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest. The clearing was circular with a diameter of about 100 meters. Large green trees surrounded it, making an almost perfect circle.
Short green grass covered the ground with isolated flowers swaying in the wind. Khaos softly landed and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, the rich smell of nature invading his nostrils and filling his being with peace.
Then he sat down underneath a tree on the edge of the clearing and assumed a lotus position before taking out a Flux stone.
Khaos had estimated that he would need five more stones to reach the fifth stage, however due to the surprise price increase, he could only afford four.
Hopefully i won't need to use plan B', he thought as he absorbed the first Flux stone. Plan B was killing the clerk at the mine and stealing more Flux stones.
Killing was generally frowned upon on planet Zylon. Not because killing was bad, but because killing a human slightly reduced the chances of survival since it would mean one less human to fight.
Stealing was also unadvisable because if you fail, the owner of the goods might kill you, therefore reducing humanity's chances yet again. However, if you are confident in stealing and getting away with it, then go right ahead.
Due to the fact that Zylon had lived in peace for a long time, the concept of law enforcement did not exist. There were no laws at all outside the Academies. Almost every single human was a Cultivator and they could fend for themselves.
The only form of justice for crimes was when family or friends of the victim revenged their loved ones personally, or by hiring Cultivators from the Academies to do so, which was more reliable since there was no risk of failure.
There was also no chance of Academy cultivators being bribed since Academies used a completely different currency.
The next day, just as the sun was peeking through the trees. Khaos opened his eyes with a smile. He had broken though to the fifth stage and still had about half a Flux stone to spare. After absorbing the remaining energy in that stone, Khaos frowned a little bit.
Absorbing half of the stone had only contributed less than 3% of the energy needed to advance to the sixth stage. Khaos did not need to advance anytime soon since he already met the requirements for the Black Academy, but it was still concerning how little Flux he had gotten from the stone.
"Huh, i feel stronger". Khaos mumbled as he opened and closed his palm. Feeling one's strength rise after breaking through was normal. However, usually when Cultivators advanced the stages, they did not actively feel the rise in strength.
Like when Khaos advanced to the fourth stage, he knew that his Flux quality had risen and that he was stronger, but he did not feel it. After breaking through to the fifth stage instead, Khaos could feel himself grow more powerful.
He then started levitating while still in his sited position before standing straight in the air. Then he slowly, descended until he stood on a blade of grass without making it even bend. "My control has at least doubled", he said with a smile.
Khaos looked at a tree in the distance, then he swiped his hand in a quick motion and a wind blade in the shape of a crescent shot out before flying through the air and creating a 30 centimeter deep crevice in the tree.
"Nice", he smiled. "It's not only my control that has risen, my...."
Khaos' thoughts were interrupted as a high pressure stream of water shot at him. Luckily he had noticed it in time and he quickly erected a 15 centimeter thick wall of earth to defend himself before dashing to the side.
It was a good thing he moved aside, because his earth wall only held for a second before the water punched right through. Sending wet blocks of earth flying in every direction with explosive force.
Khaos looked in the direction were the attack had come from and standing about fifty meters away was a man. He wore grey pants and a black sleeveless shirt. His long blue hair danced in the wind unabated. He had pale white skin and a small nose while his eyes were ice cold blue.
"Why are you attacking me!?" Khaos shouted with his eyes narrowed, he could not feel the Cultivation stage of the man in front of him.
Instead of replying, the man shot towards Khaos while a dozen earth spears appeared above him. Khaos grit his teeth and flew backwards while summoning another earth shield in front of him, which broke apart a second later as the earth spears arrived.
Like the last time, Khaos had dodged after blocking the attack, and he immediately sent out over a dozen small fireballs at his attacker while flying closer to him.
The man blocked the fireballs by conjuring a wall of water in front of him, and a cloud of steam hid him from the approaching Khaos.
When he lost sight of his opponent, Khaos flew upwards and lightning began crackling across his body, with a shout he unloaded all of it into the steam cloud before immediately following up with two wind blades.
The wind blades had also served to blow away the steam and they did so, revealing an earth sphere where the man used to be.
Khaos' eyes suddenly opened in shock as he crossed his arms in front of him, but it was too late. A punch landed on his jaw and he was sent flying through the air before creating a meter deep gorge with his body when he hit the ground.
Khaos tried standing as soon as his momentum stopped, however a shoe was already pressed against his chest while a blade made of earth was a few inches from his forehead.
The icy blue eyes of his attacker looked down on him as Khaos struggled to breathe due to the weight of the man's foot on his chest.