Hard Work

That was a joke. Gerald liked to sleep, so waking up at dawn was out of the question. Some people didn't appreciate his style of humor, but then again, that was their problem.

Now he sat alone in his room, surrounded by beautiful gems and mountains of paper. All the requirements for making plentiful spell scroll.

Sebas Tian truly outdid himself this time. He scoured the entire city and bought piles of Ether Crystals of all kinds, though some were more numerous than others. The great majority of them were Earth Crystals, something he had plenty of by himself, and also something he needed the least.

But such was life. Every city mostly had what was in its immediate surroundings, or the few things that traveling merchant caravans brought from afar. There was no such thing as buying an item from the other side of the world and it arriving at your doorstep the following day.

Only after experiencing the scarcity could he could finally appreciate the amazing advancements of modern transportation technology.

"Welp… Back to work!"

He began by emptying his Ring of most junk he had gathered in recent time.

So many weapons and broken pieces of armor found themselves in his storage. Most of them he didn't even remember collecting. But metal was valuable so he most likely picked it up in case he needed it later. Though with a chest of gold he received every week from the Auction House, money wasn't a problem anymore.

He just piled those things in a corner of his room and left them there.

Torn clothes, tools, and dirty containers were also tossed out to make space. Although the ring could contain 100 square meters of stuff, the great majority was taken up by countless corpses of wild beasts and monsters. And food, we can't forget about food and water. Gerald had quite a bit of that as well.

He had plans for all those Ogres and Orcs as well as smaller beasts, he just didn't yet get the opportunity to do so.

And now that most of the junk was piled up in a corner, he began preparing the ink for the scrolls. The actions required quite a bit of attention and he couldn't be distracted. Especially when working with the Light Crystal. He only had one left and couldn't afford to waste it.

And as far as the other stuff was concerned, he could just order Sebas and the maids to take care of it, and to sort it out and store it in the underground wine cellar or something. That place wasn't getting used much anyway.

Other than that, he completely focused on spell scroll creation. Thorns, Fireballs, Wind Blades, Ice Shields… Anything and everything that fell to mind, he made it. He never imagined his magic could disappear for so long and he felt extremely vulnerable in the meantime.

Though now he could use it again, he didn't dare to be too aggressive with it just yet. And in case something like that happened again, he wanted to make sure he could fight at full power despite his disability.

Like that he spent most of the day in his room, drawing and creating hundreds of scrolls and filled his Ring to the brim with them. Well, not really, but it was close.

The following day after breakfast the gang gathered at the front gates of the mansion. Gerald rode on top of Toby while everyone else was on foot.

"Why do only you get to have a mount?" Sera pouted.

"Because I'm the boss… And because you need to train your Rockslide. Admit it, you didn't train it at all this month, did you?" Came Gerald's less than encouraging reply.

"Hmph!" Of course, she didn't, but she would never admit to it. And so they went at a slow pace until they came out of the city.

"Oh yeah, Warren, catch!" Gerald said and tossed a small book to the guy.

The latter caught it and looked back with a questioning gaze.

"It's something I learned from a nomadic tribe called Wind Walkers on my last expedition. It's a series of movements that are used to confuse the enemy and make it so that you become unpredictable with your attacks. I've named it Wind Walk. Yeah, yeah, the name isn't that creative, I know…" Gerald added before anyone could say anything.

"I didn't say anything…"

"Hmm, alright… I'll teach it to you when we get back. For now, just keep it safe and make sure to remind me later."

Afterward, Gerald kicked his mount and made it speed up. Toby was even bigger than a few weeks ago, noticeably so. He was at least another half the size bigger than an average Warg, and significantly chunkier too. Still looked like one though. Gerald didn't know where the evolution was going to take him, or even if the change was already recorded in some obscure book somewhere.

Since he didn't know, he decided to just wait and see. Moving up and down as the Warg ran at a slow pace, he squeezed his calves and heels, forcing it to hasten its speed once more.

The rest of the group had to quickly form their own Rockslides and do their best to follow him. Yes, all of them. Every single one was capable of using the rudimentary movement spell, though the competence in sustaining it varied greatly.

Still, having the threat of being left behind in the dust was a great motivator for them to improve rapidly. And Gerald had so many Earth Crystals in his possession, Mana wasn't a problem at all! They did have to rest quite often though, since, unlike him, the rest couldn't just spew out magic spells without a care in the world.

For that reason, it took them nearly three days to reach the western border of the Kingdom. Still quite fast according to common standards, but excruciatingly slow if one used Gerald as a comparison.

***

Yung Lin was an ambitious man. Ambitious and hard-working since the day he joined the sect. His peers teased him about it, but he didn't take it to heart. They were just envious of his achievements and the small wealth he had gathered over the years. But he didn't blame them as he was once just like them.

He came from a humble background, mildly speaking. He was an orphan, a small child in a wide world. For nearly a decade he had to survive on his own until he could finally make an attempt at joining a sect at the young age of fifteen.

He had fond memories of that time, how he showed the world how great he was! The reality was a bit different though. He just barely reached the minimum requirement of the test, and even then he was only accepted because one of the Elders took pity on him. Since that day he has been working hard, harder than anyone else, to repay that kindness.

His talent was trash. Not in an absolute sense, as countless mortals didn't even have what it took to cultivate, however in the sect, he was the lowest of the low.

The lowest grade of Mortal talent, just barely acceptable to be a servant, Yung Lin worked and trained for nearly ten years just to get a slim chance of success. His benefactor once again extended an olive branch to him and gave him a chance, a chance to change his fate. And he took it!

He bought pills and medicines required for the transition, and even then he only had just above a 50% chance of success. If he failed… Well, then he wouldn't need to worry anymore, so what did he have to lose?

That fateful night, after weeks of physical and mental preparations, having drunk elixirs and eaten pills, he did it. He used all of his accumulated cultivation during the last decade to forcefully push his soul to a higher grade, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to push his talent from a lowly Mortal to the bottom ranks of Earth grade. And he succeeded!

That night he did not sleep. That night he cried in happiness!

But then he was back at square one. He had to once again cultivate from the beginning. He went from the Foundation to Spirit Accumulation and then pierced the bottleneck through to the Nascent Soul. It took him nearly another decade, but this time he was stronger!

It has been a long time since then. He had worked hard all the while, reaching the Nascent Soul VI year 40 of his life. And yet he looked like a handsome 30-year-old.

And despite not being a Core Disciple, with his hard work, reliability, and amicable nature, he had gained the support of many Elders of the sect, allowing him to take charge of an important project initiated more than ten years ago.

"Young Lin, congratulations! It seems the project is nearly complete! I knew I was right to pick you all those decades ago! You did not disappoint! Haha!"

Yung Lin bowed and cupped his hands as it was custom. However, his bow was much deeper and more sincere than usual, for this man was the one that allowed him to do all of that. He could barely keep back his pride and happiness from showing after getting praised by his benefactor.

But he was strong and kept to the courtesy, "Yes, Elder! Another week or so and the Portal Nexus will be complete! We have been working day and night to assure the absolute best use of the sect's resources! Not one Spirit Stone was wasted!"

After the official words were exchanged, the Elder sighed and took a step closer, lifting his junior by the shoulders.

"Yung Lin, my boy, I'm so proud of you. You have achieved so much with so little. It is a real shame you weren't born as my son…"

"Elder, despite what nature decided, I'll always consider you my father!" Yung Lin replied, barely holding back his emotions.

"Good, good!" the Elder laughed, but then became extremely serious. "Yung Lin, I shouldn't be saying this, but… The other Elders have been talking…"

Yung Lin swallowed hard. Rarely did anything good come from the Elders talking. He prepared himself for the worst.

"After this project is complete, they were talking about making you an honorary Core Disciple!" the Elder spilled the secret, nearly making his disciple faint in the process!

He could barely keep his excitement at bay, "Thank you, Elder, thank you! I'll never forget all that you've done for me!"

"Haha, no worries! But now shush! Don't let anyone hear what I've told you, it's not yet official. But, I'm certain that nobody will complain after seeing what a marvelous job you did! I'll even visit the Patriarch!"

That conversation still echoed in Yung Lin's mind. After working hard all his life, it was nearly time to harvest the fruits of his labor. His future was basically set! He would become a respected Core Disciple and could finally take a girl for himself, maybe even two…

He could cultivate in the best spots, only under the Elders and the Patriarch himself, and keep growing stronger for centuries to come. Life was going to be good!

Or, at least that's what he thought… Until an earth-shattering explosion ruined it all.