Earthling in Uncharted Dimensions

Chapter 120: Piscerent City's Tri-annual Tournament

'D, any idea where he might be taking us?'

[I did a quick survey through the city and found that cultivators and adventurers go to three places for training themselves. One is the Folx forest of the north, second is the Herin grasslands to the west and third is the Ora coastal plains to the east. All these three places have their own distinct features. I have no idea as to where this Tubian is taking you all!]

'Copy that.'

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7 A.M.

28384 Essence harvested.

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[And I used your Essence reserve to upgrade the Sand affinity.]

'Depleted?'

[Nope, 74 points more to go. And I had left 10 Essence left in the reserve.]

Lee was standing near the reception desk with a dejected face. He did not know where Gauthama was going to take them, and felt speechless as the Perrafin kept staring at the door behind the desk. The Tubian had gone inside and it had been a while. An and Tera stood by the door and talked to each other, whereas Mia and Ruella were outside the inn. The antelope was joyfully hopping on the empty streets that were slowly brightening up. With his head leaned on the left arm which was supported by the elbow on the desk, Lee's bend over figure showed an annoyingly amusing posture.

"Sorry, took some time!"

Gauthama spoke as he exited the door. Lee stared at him as he saw noticable changes in him. The hair was combed backward, yet some of the less obedient strands were misplaced, and added beauty to his face. The pale greyish green coloured traditional mandarin-collar long robe he wore had black cuffs, and was the epitome of grandeur. The attire outlined his lean and optimum stature. Unknown to Lee, his lower jaw was hanging down.

The Perrafin felt an intense attraction from this person. It extended its neck over the desk and reached Gauthama's torso. Gauthama rubbed its forehead and came around the desk and walked past Lee with a smile. Lee glanced at Tubian's feet and saw a pitch black loafers that simply was 'WOW'.

"Let's go."

Gauthama patted Lee's right shoulder and walked towards the door. Lee spontaneously followed and was astonished inside as he just did that involuntarily. D gave a notice to stay alert at the presence of Gauthama.

An and Tera saw the men walking towards them and walked out of the inn, and gave them way. Lee followed Gauthama and reached outside. Just like how the Perrafin felt, the antelope and Fero, who was lying on the ground, too felt the same way. Buddha patted their heads and turned and looked at the four ladies.

"Please follow me."

Saying this, he began to walk. An and Tera followed him as they talked about something, and Mia joined by their side. Ruella followed behind them and Lee selected the last position. The daylight was colouring the sky with faint red hue, and the streets were getting visible. Lee did not feel that letting Perrafin walk through the streets was not a good idea, so he absorbed her into the EsGen. He did the same for Fero,but after contemplating on the necessity of doing so. His reluctance was overruled by D and sucked Fero inside EsGen.

[I have to comment that though he is a Tubian, he looks more handsome than you.]

Lee took a moment to glance at what he was wearing. The brown leather armour worn over his off-white tee was sleeveless. Considering D's suggestion, he had brought a cotton underwear and a copper-lined pants made from the hide of a troll, to wear. Though that was not the flashiest looking outfits in the Shop, D told to stay low, and I quote 'for fuck's sake!'.

"Good morning boy!"

"Good morning Gautha!"

People greeted Gauthama as he walked, leading the group. Lee gave a warm smile and an appropriate response as he paused his steps to greet them back. The shops were all in the process of opening, and many missed him passing by. Lee scanned the neighborhood as he walked, with the simultaneous usage of the Map and Foresight. Other than the interface upgrade, Lee found that the Foresight can be activated whenever he wants. Lee found that as the best addition to that skill.

'D, anything?'

(A.N. I mistakenly typed Tycoon instead of Typhoon in a previous chapter. I apologise for the mistake.)

[I am as clueless as you. Rather than going to the outside of the city, we seem to be walking towards the Typhoon clan, one of the five giants.]

'What?'

Lee pulled up the Map in his mind and confirmed what D just dictated. His brows knitted together with surprise and perplexion.

[Are you sure about this Buddha character?]

'I have complete faith in him. He is benevolent and is the only enlightened one my dimension, till date. If he was to do something malicious, neither me nor you can even raise a pinky against his will!!'

Lee gave his complete conviction in Gauthama's character. He refused to think the other way about someone who was titled as the 'Tubian of Serenity'. Not that he did not want to, but he simply had no reason to think so.

[Okay. I hope you are right. I will go and take a thorough scan throughout the city. Maybe I can find something useful.]

Lee nodded internally and D went silent, and began to analyse the Map. The Map was able to show the city as a whole, but could not show that one tiny clue. It took Lee some time to notice those pieces of papers stuck on the buildings here and there. Lee froze in his tracks for a second and stared at the wall to his right.

"Tournament?"

Lee was filled with surprise and curiosity that he did not notice the loudness of his own voice. His words caught the attention of the ladies. They halted and turned around to see Lee staring intensely at a piece of paper stuck on the wall. It was then they realised the existence of these papers all around them.

The poster was a four inch square paper. The word 'Tournament' was written big enough to catch anyone's eyes. Below that was given the venue of the event, the Typhoon sect. A few conditions regarding the Tri-Annual Tournament were also enclosed with it. The convoy read the posters and got a grip of the situation.

"I was trying to keep it as a surprise, but the posters spoiled it!"

Gauthama spoke while shaking his head, and distracted them from the posters. When the attention was completely on him, he paced forward and continued to walk. Tera followed his brother and gave a glance at the trio. They briefly scanned the conditions and continued their strides. Lee also walked side by side with them, while asking D to let him know of anything important.

[I got ya back covered, boy.]

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The Piscerent City was more than 6.5 kilometres wide and almost 6 kilometres in length. As a coastal city, the presence of harbours and shipyards were a major attraction. A major source of income came from long range marine navigation and commerce done via it. The prestigious existence of Alaqvier Mana Academy attracted attention from the nearby villages and settlements. The Cultivator's Guild acted both as a tutorial centre for blooming Qi affinity children, and a place for earning income through quests. The Alaqvier academy also supported earning of income through various missions, but still gave prominence for learning and mastering magic.

The presence of these two gigantic pillars of education were always a reason of dispute. The students of Guild would claim that Qi is much better than Mana, and students from Academy would shout vice-versa. Both of these establishments came into existence at the same time. For the first decade there were no frictions, but after that period of peace, some stupid but precocious children sprang up and gave a boon to both institutions. This rise on both sides sparked a struggle to claim the higher position of power, and the source of that friction is unknown even after almost completing one third of a century.

The rise of the four powerful cultivator organisations inhibited the growth of the Alaqvier Academy indirectly. The equilibrium between the Guild and the Academy for about 30 years were shattered when the two sects and clans arose to power. They did not rise as mere political powers, but were pioneers in certain areas of cultivation. But how they became giants of Piscerent City within a time span of almost two years after establishment, is often narrated to children as a story of success!

The Long Sect was known for their proficiency in puppetry. The term 'Long' was actually used to denote the sect founder's dream, to live long. The puppetry of the Long Sect was initially used to extend the life expectancy of the already centuries old geezers, and to give them a much stronger and eternal body. They were successful in such repulsive and painful techniques for about a decade, until the puppet in which their sect founder's soul was kept, exploded and disintegrated the soul and everything in a radius of 25 metres.

The sect elders came up with a solution after many hours of discussion and contemplation. They decided not to extend their already possibly long lifespan, but to increase their strength with soul imprinted puppets, with Qi energy batteries. The idea faced repulsion until it was proved to be easy and less harmful than the sect founder's greedy thought. Soon puppet cultivators became the iconic figure of Long Sect. The name remained so, to commemorate their sect founder who worked hard to raise the sect to the level it is now!

Iron Shadow is a clan where brute strength coupled with agility are given importance. The Clan nurtures cultivators which are weapon wielders of any metal. According to their doctrines, a Cultivator's weapon is the cultivator himself. Through years of knowing each other, the weapon and cultivator forms a bond, which empowers the cultivator's overall performance. The cultivator always stays close to his weapon and slowly imprints his soul into it. The Clan gives importance to strength and agility which when combined, can throw the toughest opponent into despair.

The Moon Water Sect has very strict entry rules. Though a female majority sect, men can also join, but if only they castrate themselves. This is due to a deep rooted hatred to men. The sect founder, who was a woman, barely escaped from the hands of a group of bandits who chased her for a whole day. You know why they capture women, don't you? This near-death experience made the sect founder establish a sect for the empowerment of women. It also passively sowed seeds of hatred in their disciples. Thus the disciples and members of Moon Water Sect stay unmarried till they die.

As a feminist sect, it was a success. After a few months of relentless poking from other sects and clans, they made their stand firm as the sect founder turned a perverted rogue cultivator to pulp, on the streets. This marked their history in publicizing their strength, which coincidentally rivalled that of other sects and clans. Soon, the other three requested the Moon Water Sect to join their alliance. It must be mentioned that whatever cultivation techniques they are using at the sect, it makes even the ugliest of women to the beautiful. The women are noticed to grow their assets to a level where men have troubles to pluck their eyes off those melons! Many had tried to snatch or kidnap the members of the sect, only to get beaten and castrated ruthlessly, and in the most painful way possible!

The Typhoon Clan is an exclusive clan which migrated to Piscerent City from a far off place. That one thing which makes them different from other cultivators and organisations are their affinity. As the name indicates, their unusually stronger affinity to Air is quite astonishing. The elders of the clan claim that they are the descendants of the mystical skyfolks, and through their blood flows the essence of the winged predecessors. They use their Air affinity to substantiate their claims. Some of the city dwellers are said to have seen ascending winged figures from the sky at the most unexpected times of the day.

Like their high Air affinity, their agility is also off the charts. The clan teaches about harnessing the air around them and using it as their invisible and all-powerful weapon. In the past decades, some prodigies of the clan have exhibited their truly exceptional and delicate air control. When it comes to tournaments, this clan is the most dangerous and many pray to avoid them in a one-on-one battle!

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