97 Chapter 97 : : Fallen Unicorn City
A while ago…
Elza followed by Xaxa and Zalie were heading towards Kale's guestroom.
"Senior sister, how do you think he got such techniques?" Zalie asked from Elza.
"How else, probably blackmailed or stole from someone else," Xaxa said in a bad tone.
Elza waved her hand signally them to be quiet then she spoke.
"I am not sure, but considering his display from back then, one thing I am sure of is, his appearance is fake, there is no way he is that young, it's probably due to something else that he looks like that. Did you forget that there is that Aristocrat Family, who carries the curse of younger appearance every single generation, in this kingdom? It may be something similar or the side effect of some potion.
As for those techniques, I can tell that they are all high grade, if someone had used them before then they would be a famous entity, but I don't remember hearing about anyone like that so he is either from a faraway place or a hidden sect, though that's just an assumption without much logic to support it, for now, we will do as what he says, it will also benefit us to some extent," Elza said while she inwardly thought 'It's not like we have another choice either,'
Both Xaxa and Zalie nodded at her words, they were very obedient to her words because they trusted in her.
Soon, they arrived at the front of the door of Kale's guestroom.
"Come in,"
Elza was about to knock on the door but the second she heard the words "Come in," She stopped herself from doing that and slowly pushed open the door.
A gust of cold chilling air came out of the small opening as the door made way for them to enter.
Elza stepped in with the slightest hesitation, Xaxa and Zalie also followed behind her.
Kale was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed.
Elza was going to speak but Kale opened his mouth and interrupted her "Just mention the name of the one you chose, followed by the reason for choosing it,"
Elza nodded and replied "I chose a movement technique, ‹Hundred As One Step›, my speed as lizardmen is quick but I have trouble taking sharp turns and this moment technique especially focuses on changing directions with minimal movements while using the inertia to our advantage, so this suits me well I think,"
"Hmm… There was also ‹Shadow Sword Step› with similar properties and was of higher grade, then why this?" Kale asked.
"About that… The description said, ‹Shadow Sword Step› was a complete martial art with two chapters, but ‹Hundred As One Step› has further versions…" Elza said in a slightly low tone.
'Sharp girl, she considered future events and expects me to hand her the later versions in the future,' Kale inwardly thought. He then nodded indicating that it was fine.
Unlike Fynn, Kale only allowed them to choose one technique as starters, moreover, he told them not to influence each other's choice, so even they didn't know what technique did the other two beside them chose. Kale knew that with Elza, the trio was not as docile as Fynn, so he decided to first show them the difference between him and them, then use the other techniques as task rewards later on.
Zalie stepped forward and spoke "I chose ‹Moon Fairy Dance›, it's a soft sword art supplemented by a movement within, and the ribbons I use to fight can be used as soft swords after my mutant trait is used,"
Kale nodded then spoke after a moment of pause "Don't ponder that being a Mutant Martial Artist was really the right decision or if you should switch to pure Martial Artist. You still haven't recognized the worth of the trait you have, as for the Astral Energy Purity, those matters are not impossible to solve, I, myself have all three professions, you should already know about that.
Always remember there are no right or wrong decisions in such matters of life, you need to take the risk and make it right yourself," Kale said.
Zalie looked at him in slight surprise, only when Elza tapped her shoulders did she nodded and backed off.
After her, Xaxa came forward and said "Auxiliary type martial arts, ‹Spirit Butterfly Three Transformations: First Transformation›,"
Kale's eyelids slightly twitched 'Interesting, I casually put First of Three Transformations of Spirit Butterfly, the description was vague, I didn't expect her to see the hint in it, I thought she would choose ‹True Earthen Body Cultivation› that was good enough for her but if she can see farther then it's better,' Kale thought. Only he knew that the true treasures in ‹Spirit Butterfly Three Transformations› were the later two chapters.
Kale didn't show his thoughts on his face and asked in a casual tone "Hmm, continue, why did you choose that?"
Xaxa narrowed her eyes at him in dissatisfaction "What why? The description said if I master it fully, I can have butterfly-like eyes,"
"…" Everyone.
Kale snapped open his eyes and stared at her.
Elza felt somewhat embarrassed and Zalie looked at Xaxa, seemly wanted to say something but couldn't really do it.
"What?" Xaxa looked back at them, she snorted inwardly 'Why do sisters believe so much in his words, it's an auxiliary martial art for eyes, can he really have something like that which only comes in rumours now?'
Martial arts were easiest to find compared to the equipment needed for Mutant and Spells for Mages, but it was only true for low-grade martial arts that use punches and kicks, as for those that can make use of eyes, sound or puppets like Mikol, all of them were very rare to find.
She didn't believe that Kale really had such a thing, after all, if he did then why didn't he learn it and if by any chance it was real, she was genuinely attracted to a martial art type that she had only heard stories about.
Kale had his own reasons for learning the martial arts of his choice alone instead of just sorting out the strongest ones. He had the vision of a Martial Venerable, it was given that others could not understand his thoughts.
Kale lost the motivation to scold after hearing her words, he just lightly shook his head and motioned them to leave "Burn down all those descriptions, you will have the martial arts of your choice by tomorrow noon,"
Elza nodded. She then took both of them with her and left the room.
'What am I going to do with her,' Kale thought as he rubbed his forehead.
***
Two days later…
Five carriages were stationed at the entry gate of Carran Town, Kale with his group was present there altogether with Enan and Dale.
This time there were no White Doves to accompany them, Enan had instead, hired a total of three teams each housing a Gold Rank adventurer to accompany them, whom Kale had never met before.
It was obviously his precaution towards Kale, it was not hard to guess that the adventurers weren't meant to just protect them from monsters but also take care of Dale from Kale and his team.
The route they chose to head to Fallen Unicorn City was although longer but safer, Kale also had enough time before the competition would start so he didn't mind it.
Kale didn't argue about any more condition with Enan and left Carran Town with the group.
It was not that he couldn't suck more benefits from Enan, he just wanted to leave a way out and not make it unbearable for him until he himself has gotten stronger enough.
After the trip started, Kale had all the free time in the day he wanted, due to three different adventurer group protecting them, it was like a walk in park for them as they passed through the explored jungles which were now used as hunting zones.
There was no unexpected scenario that needed his attention. The trip was supposed to take 4 days, although it eventually took 5 days instead-but in all that time, Kale didn't even have the opportunity to even talk to Dale.
Enan had instructed Dale strictly before the trip to not get in contact with Kale under any circumstance, even during lunchtime, he didn't head out of the carriage and got his food delivered inside, Kale didn't mind it either because he really had not planned to deal with Dale in any way for now.
During the five days of travelling, Kale focused on learning the Plant Element Spells, because of his deep interest in them, he didn't even care about time as he devoted himself to studying them even going as far as to miss his lunch and dinner. Except studying them, the other thing he did was clear some doubts of Elza and others they had when they started comprehending the technique of their choice.
After the first two days, Kale had also handed them the sound transmission technique, it was so that he could communicate with them silently in the future if the situation in future asks for it.
***
5 days later…
Blazing Sun Kingdom, Fallen Unicorn City.
Unlike Carran Town, which was just considered a town and was famous for its location, Fallen Unicorn City was a big city with a legend behind it. Sturdy large city walls were surrounding it from all sides, supported by several immovable tall pillars present at equal distance from each other, all having an automatic battery on their top capable of producing firepower lethal enough to wipe out the ground with any average Tier 3 Practitioner before they could even react.
The batteries were obviously not a normal weapon that could be used by mortals but just another device made for Mutants who have Psychonic Energy, science was always the biggest backer of Mutants who were limited by their trait.
After an identity check at the main door, the carriages carrying Kale and the group heading inside the city, Fynn, Elza and dwarf sisters didn't have a citizen ID but their guild badge itself served as their ID.
Following the normal procedure, the carriages were taken to the Adventurer's Guild or quest completion confirmation.
Once they reached the Guild, Kale saw Dale coming out of his carriage, but he also noticed that even after the accompanying quest was over, the three adventurers' group didn't leave his side. Kale just faintly smiled and bid farewell to them, walking away with the four people following him.
Fallen Unicorn City had a great infrastructure due to advanced architecture used in its creation, one could see drones flying in the sky carrying packages with them, cars and bikes passing on the road, tall buildings with numerous flats.., etc, compared to Carran Town it was like they travelled in time.
Whether it was Elza, dwarf sisters, or Fynn they were keenly staring at every detail around them, unlike Kale who saw these things every day in Imperial City, there were very new to them.
Fallen Unicorn City is without a doubt one of the greatest city in the whole Blazing Sun Kingdom, due to its worth, the Aristocratic Family managing and controlling it was also not normal, it came under the rule of Duke Banut.
Kale was walking on the side of the road when he noticed that Fynn, Elza and some people walking around had all stopped in their tracks and were looking in a certain direction.
Kale turned and saw that the news channel was active on an enormous LED screen outside a building that usually only gives advertisements, he focused on the headline and realized it was about the competition Layla mentioned.
A short-haired woman wearing a black coat and glasses was hosting the show together with a bald middle-aged man with a dark skin complexion, Kale easily recognized the man the second he saw him, he was the organising manager of the competition.
The woman looked at the camera and spoke "So Mr Wayne, our sources told us that the Rookie Torchbearer Competition this time will be completely different from before, I wonder if you can enlighten us about some notable details here,"
The man lightly laughed at her question then replied "It's been ages since the Heroes of four different kingdoms has decided or accepted to meet together like this, it's a given that the competition won't be the same as before anymore. Most people here might not have seen even a picture of all those Heroes but I bet you all have heard about the stories of their deeds in recent years.
Daemon from the Evander Kingdom is now known as Gifted Investigator because of his ability to solve the tricky cases that almost resulted in punishing the innocents, Mu Shen: The Sword Genius from the Soaring Dragon Kingdom whose understanding of sword goes beyond common sense, The Little Hawk Silvia from the Brilliant Sky Kingdom that never seemed to miss a single target, and finally, the new generation Hero of our own kingdom, Xender also knows as The Blessed Child due to having the highest number of blessings in his peers.
These are definitely the four people who would shape the future of our four kingdoms in the future, so it's normal for any move they made together to result in such changes,"
