22 Towards the capital (2)

Filon, one of the most heavily fortified cities of the  Buraford kingdom, situated at the southeast boundary of Buraford kingdom.Surrounded by 40 meter tall walls with magic runes on them.

Giant crossbows and catapults lay ready to be used at a moments notice.At any given time there are 200 guards on lookout on the wall armed to the teeth. There were 4 gates in each of the 4 cardinal directions.

The gates were also covered in runes. The pattern seemed to change every time you look at it.Kai and Alfred walked towards the sentinel at the gate and showed their papers. 

Soon the two of them entered the city.

The atmosphere inside the city was completely different from outside the gate.

The duo had reached the city at sun down and by the time they were inside the sun had set.

Kai who had till now spent his life only in the village and the forbidden forest where everyone went to their homes after sun down. Kai expected to see empty streets and closed shops but to his surprise the streets were filled with people. He could hear hawkers trying to sell their wares. He saw scantily women in the dark corners welcoming their 'customers'. The smell of frying meat entered his nostril. What surprised him the most was that the road wasn't pitchblack but was well lit.

Seeing Kai's surprised looks, Alfred laughed and explained,

"Relax, all of this is normal. See those lamps, they contain a globe which absorbs sunlight during the day and emits it during the night."

The two of them walked on for a while more when they reached the area of the city which was flocked by a little more affluent crowd. Alfred led the way and they finally reached the hotel where they would be living.

A four-storey building situated between a brothel and a gambling house.

As they approached the hotel they could hear the women calling out to them,

"Heyy sweetie. Come along…. let big sis take care of you. Only 20 silvers for the night….hehehehehe".

Kai and Alfred entered the hotel as they saw a blonde lady behind a counter.

Seeing the two of them enter, she said "Welcome sir's. How may I help you?"

"Two rooms for the night please." Alfred said as he removed a wooden token with a crossed sword and staff with a pair of wings and a number carved on it.

The lady removed a register with the same symbol on it. She flipped through it until she opens the page with the same number as that on the token.

After this the blond woman placed the token on a magic circle which glowed up. The lady opened a drawer and removed two keys from it and took a card.

"Sir, here are your keys. This is an invitation to the city lord's daughter's birthday."

The lady said as she handed the objects to Alfred.

Alfred nodded and headed upstairs.As Kai opened the door to his room, a sweet fragrance entered his nose putting him at ease.

Relaxing, he looked around the room. There was a single bed with a nightstand on the side. There was a door on the side which led to the bathroom.

Kai left his bag at the side of the bed and went to the bathroom to have a bath. He came outer after a while.He saw Alfred seated on a chair in his room.

Alfred had come to take Kai to a tailor and get a gift for the city lord's daughter.

"Come on, Lets go." Alfred said as he shooed Kai into getting ready.

"It's already time to go. Wait I'll get changed." Alfred rolled his eyes and said,

"We still have a while till the party. I'm here to take you to a tailor to get you some decent clothes."

Before Kai could reply Alfred pushed him out of the room and dragged him out. They got out of the hotel and headed down the street. They kept on walking down the street till they reached a shop named Raymon. They went in and saw an old man with a measuring tape on his neck.

"Old man, I got a guy. Party clothes, something good."

The old man looked up and looked at Kai. "Dressing room 2. I'll come."

Before Kai could say anything he was pushed inside by Alfred.The old man came and took measurements of his body.

After poking and prodding Kai all over he asked Kai, "Anything you want me to do with the suit?"

"Ummm, black is fine. Something comfortable please."

"Hmmm. Good choice kid. What's your name?"

The old man asked."Kai.. Kai Seft"

"Huh"

"Give me fifteen minutes. Stay here."

Saying this he went out and closed the door.

Kai sat on the stool in the room and fiddled with his thumbs.

[Fifteen minutes later]

The old man headed in with a suit and came out. He and Alfred were waiting outside for Kai to come out.

"What do you think Alfred, how good will he look? " the old man asked."Not too great." Alfred said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think so." the old man said as he chuckled.

The dressing room's door opened  and Kai came out. He had always been of above average looks. When he was a kid, he was always popular with the women of the village. When he came back, he became handsome brooding villager.

But now with the clothing he was wearing he looked like a lady killer. He was wearing a black shirt on grey trousers with a long collared cloak on it. His cloak and shirt had a K embroidered on the left in velvet and gold.

Alfred was dumbstruck while the old man was sniggering.

"Thank you sir."

Kai said as he pulled out his purse to pay for his clothes.

"Relax kid. Alfred is paying for you. Here take this." the old man said as he gave Kai the packed clothes.

"Thank you."

Kai said as Alfred took out a gold coin to Raymon and left the store as Kai follow behind him

"Kai, now you have to get a gift for the little girl." Alfred said.Kai nodded and went towards the other shops.  

While he was walking about thinking about what to buy, a little girl bumped into him and she fell backwards. Kai quickly extended his hands and caught her hand and balanced her.

The girl looked like she was eleven with fiery red hair with blue eyes. She was wearing a golden bracelet on her left hand

"Sorry little miss."Kai said.

"It's okay mister." the girl said as she flashed him a dazzling smile.

"You should be more careful mister." said the little girl as she berated Kai.

When Kai didn't reply, the girl worriedly asked,

"You okay mister ?"

"I'm fine. I was just thinking how you might be able to help me." Kai said.

" What happened mister ?" the little girl said as she sat down on a bench as she patted the seat next to her signalling Kai to sit next to her.

"See the thing is I have to buy a gift for a little girl from a noble family. But I don't know what to buy."

Kai said as he sat next to the girl.

"Easy peasy. Just buy something which she will remember. Since she is from a noble family she will be getting an endless amount of fancy gifts.Get her something practical which she would remember." The girl said.

"That's a good idea. Thank you little miss." Kai said.

"What's your name mister ?" the girl said as she saw Kai's back disappear into the crowd.

Suddenly a loud voice sounded over the market.

"Kai Seft, remember the name. Lets hope we meet again little miss."

The little girl giggled as she headed towards the city lord's mansion.

Kaibrought a small jade ring and under the ring's spirit's and Daoma's supervision, he engraved runes on it. The runes would make the ring increase cultivation speed, store magic power, generate a magic barrier which would last for fifteen minutes and regulate body temperature.

After finishing the engraving Kai headed back to the hotel.When the clock struck nine, Kai and Alfred headed towards the city lord's mansion. As they reached there they saw some young nobles outside the gate. Seeing two unknown people walking towards the city lords mansion one of the young lords walked out to stop them.

Before he could do anything both Kai and Alfred's auras crushed him into the ground. Seeing their friends state they knew better that they should better not provoked these two.

WhenKai and Alfred entered the banquet hall, the whole hall became silent when they felt the two newcomers aura.

They went to a table in the corner and sat down.

"The girl's name is Lily make sure you speak with her respectfully Kai" Alfred said when they sat down.

Suddenly the lights dimmed as the city lord came down the stairs accompanied by his daughter. His daughter was wearing a red dress which complemented her fiery red hair. She was looking around as if expecting someone.

The crowd started whispering when they saw that there was someone the cold and aloof daughter of the city lord was looking for.

The little girl was known to not pay attention to anyone other than her father and her personal maid.

Whenthe father daughter duo sat down on the table the guests started offering their gifts.

The city lord thanked the guests while his daughter just coldly looked on.

Finally, it was time for Alfred and Kai to offer their gifts.

After Alfred gave the girl a small silver pocket watch as look at Lily and said"May this watch guide you so that you never be late or early and know the importance of time and never miss the moment and opportunities to advance"

Hearing this Lily nodded as she held the pocket watch and looked at the words carved spoken by Alfred.Ronald smiled on hearing Alfred words as he look at his sweet daughter looking at the pocket watch"Lily is a child currently too understand the deep meaning of Sir Alfred words but hopefully she will understand someday"

When it was Kai's turn to give his gift, he came ahead and crouched down till his face was on the level of the girls. The crowd froze as they saw this. What happened next just shocked them more.

"Hello mister looks like you came." the girl said. The crowd started whispering as they tried to guess who the young man was and what was his relationship with the proud and aloof girl..

"You said you wanted a unique gift. Here it is, little miss."

Kai said with a light smile as he gave a wooden box to the girl.

When the girl opened the box, she saw a small jade ring with inscriptions on it.Even though she was the city lord's daughter and had quite a bit of knowledge on runes, she still couldn't identify the runes.

Puzzled, she looked at Kai for an explanation

"This ring increases cultivation speed, stores magic power and when you are in danger it generates a magic barrier which would last for fifteen minutes and regulates body temperature.

If you want anything else tell me I'll change the inscriptions. After all I have created it specifically for you"

The crowd froze as they heard what he said.  

'THIS IS CRAZINESS' they all thought.

Items which increased cultivation speed were super rare and no means of finding them on a street.Not to mention this ring had other functions too.

Seeingthat Lily was not saying anything he said, "You don't like it? Fine, I'll take it back".

Seeing this Lily shakes her head and smiled

"I really like it. I was just astonished and amazed that you will be giving me such a precious item".

"I made it for you so don't worry. If I had better materials I could have made a better one. For now you can have this, in future I will give you a more improved version of it"

Kai laughed and patted Lily's head.

He turned around to see the crowd, Alfred and the city lord's flabbergasted expressions.The city lord was the first one to recover and he asked Lily,

"I didn't know you knew the young man here Lily?"

"I also didn't know him until today.We just happened to bump into each other in the marketplace." Lily said.

"Nice to meet you Kai." th city lord said.

"The pleasure is all mine." Kai replied courteously.

The city lord turned around to the crowd and said,

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen for attending my little girl's party today. We will be starting with our entertainment now, please enjoy yourselves."

The crowd mumbled in assent and people started moving about. There were many gazes in the crowd which were focused on Kai.

The women were gazing at him with desire. The men with hatred.After exchanging a few pleasantries with the guests, the city lord pulled Alfred aside.

"Alfred what kind of person is Kai ?"

"To tell the truth even I don't know, he is already at the peak of the grandmaster stage at such a young age and I am also astonished after knowing that he is also a rune master" replied Alfred

"Peak of the grandmaster at such a young age without the help of elixirs, no one in the kingdom is such a blessed talent." said the city lord in surprise.

For someone to become a grandmaster would take 18 years with the help of rare elixirs. For someone to become a grandmaster at 18 without the help of cultivation resources , the person would be considered a heaven sent talent.

Kai could only be considered an abnormality.

"Not only is he a genius, he is better than an average Grandmaster and has a bright future ahead of him. I'm pretty sure he is not going to have an ordinary life."said Alfred.

He knew that Kai had unlimited potential with his talent and a magic user above the magic champion stage guiding him.

"Alfred, I have a favour to ask from you. Lily is studying at the royal academy and she has to return in a few days.Can I trouble you and Kai to escort her to the capital. I'd feel more comfortable if she was with you. You can protect her and it seems like she likes Kai." Ronald asked hopefully.

"Sure, but just so that you know we'll be taking another stop." Alfred said.

"It's fine. As long as you're willing." Ronald said happily.

While Alfred and Ronald were talking, Kai and Lily were sitting in the corner talking about random stuff.The party ended late at night but even then Kai and Lily did not stop talking to each other.

As the crowd started dispersing the ladies glanced one last time at Kai hoping that he would take notice of them but to their disappointment he wouldn't stop talking with Lily.

On Ronald's persuasion Kai and Alfred stayed over at the city lord's mansion.

[Unknown part of Northern lands]

A man wearing a bronze pendant was looking at the crystal ball.

'I didn't think that Kai will meet Lily one day. Well, it's it's a good thing, Kai can help her progress faster and improve her potential by using Daoma knowledge'

A wide smile appeared on the face of the man.

'But, if thinking so like this Kai and Lily will just be ordinary friends in the future nor does he has any reason to help her'

He looked at the image and narrowed his eyes with a mischievous smile on his face.

'Sorry, but I have to connect both of guys. It's is the first and last time I am manipulating both of your thoughts. But you will realise that it's for your own good'

[Filon City Lord Mansion]

At the terrace of the mansion, Kai sat on the ledge while Lily sat on a chair manipulating the fire in her hand to fly around in the form of a dragon. "Kai you are just like an elder brother to me. Even though we've known each other for only a short while, you've given me such a valuable gift." Lily said happily while looking at the ring on her finger.

"You know I've never had a little sister, but when I look at you I feel that I should protect you and pamper you." Kai said as he bopped her on the nose.

Lily giggled while enabling the magic barrier from the ring which did not allow his hand to go any further.

"Don't use the barrier like this little sister. It takes time to get charged." Kai said as he teased Lily

"I've always felt lonely wherever I've been. During my early years in the village I was always alone because I would always focus on opening my mage root. Then when I fell through the space crack and landed in the forbidden forest I was always the only human there. It was only after I reached home did I finally feel that maybe I'm not alone. But as soon as I get home, Alfred dragged me out to take me to the capital. But then I reach here and I meet you. And when I see you I feel like I've finally got the sibling I've always wanted."

"Thanks Kai."

"Why are you still awake? It's two in the morning. Go to sleep."

Alfred came to the terrace and said.

"I think we should go to sleep Kai.We have a long journey tomorrow" Lily said as she took a big yawn and walked down to her room.

Hearing Lily, Kai laughed and proceeded to go down to get back to his room.