10 Conscription
Dragon Continent, Imperial Capital, Dragon City.
A multitude of people are forming a line, just to get inside the city. The road was filled with the carriages of merchants.
Caol, Xin, and Xiong dismounted from their horses while they were in lines. They stood there honestly and patiently waited for their turn. As they were waiting, Xiong was introducing some things they will see in the capital.
"Young Master, there are only 2 gates to enter and exit from the city, the North and South gates. The North gate is only opened for the army and the nobles of the Empire, whereas the South gate is the passageway accessible by the masses and the merchants. We will have to pay a toll of one silver each." Caol nodded.
"The city itself is divided into three parts. The first and outer part is the Common District. This is where we'll be when we enter the city. A lot of peddlers and some merchants will be selling their wares here. The second part is where you can see most of the martial practitioners and is called by the people as the Martial District. A big difference between the Empire and our sect is that the Empire relies mostly on martial practitioners. A majority of the soldiers in the army are martial practitioners while a small percentage of mortals join because of the benefits of being in the army. It is known that the Emperor is a martial practitioner and is rumored to be in a realm comparable to or stronger than most elders and sect leaders of a sect. This second part is a haven for martial practitioners. Now, the third and last part is where the palace and the nobles reside. It is forbidden for commoners and martial practitioners to go here." Xiong patiently explained the different divisions within the city and its complexity. As Caol is here for his martial journey, Xiong is reminding him not to provoke people and be cautious as you may be standing next to a martial expert.
Caol wasn't dumb enough to provoke everybody. He knew his limits and was only here to complete his quest and open his mind about the world he lives in.
They waited for quite a while before it was their turn to enter. The guards asked them to pay for the entrance and after that, they entered the Common District. Caol was amazed by the human traffic in the district. It was loud as peddlers tried to persistenly sell their wares to every people passing by. Merchants shouted as to attract people with their business. The liveliness of the Common District surpassed the busiest cities he had been to on Earth.
As they had no business in this place, they headed to the Martial District under Xiong's guidance. The Common and Martial Districts are divided by a moat and they had to walk through a bridge to get there. They also had to pay five silver each to enter the district.
There was a huge difference when they entered the district. It wasn't as loud as the Common District, but there were still noises. Almost everyone here is a martial practitioner. The first thing they had to do was look for a place to stay. Since Caol was given money by Granny Yu, spending wasn't a problem. Granny Yu spoiled Caol, and just imagine an immortal's wealth. Xiong led them to the very best inn, 'Rising Clouds Inn.'
"Welcome to Rising Clouds Inn, how may I help you?" A man in his middle ages greeted the group.
Feeling his lack of help throughout the journey, Xin started to talk to the man in charge. "Hello, we would like to get three rooms please."
"That will be 50 silvers a night. How long would you like to stay?"
"We will be paying for a month's worth of stay." As Xin said that, he handed a pouch to the man. The man opened it and saw forty-five gold inside the pouch. He took three tablets with inscriptions on it and handed it to them. He also asked for some maidservants to accompany the trio. Seeing this gesture, Xiong declined.
Caol and the duo went ahead into their rooms. While they were walking, Caol asked a question. "What is the use of this tablet?" Xin immediately answered, "Young Master, these tablets are keys. Every room in this inn has defensive and noise-cancelling formations attached to them and this key is unique to each room and only reacts to a particular room, so others will not be able to casually enter. The Rising Clouds Inn is a very prestigious business, not just in the Dragon Continent, but the other Continents as well. We can be assured of the safety and quality of our stay."
The three of them entered separate rooms and rested for the day, as they were physically and mentally tired from their travels.
The next day, they got out and ate breakfast at a restaurant adjacent to their inn.
As they were eating, Caol noticed a lot of people, mostly men, going towards a certain direction. This piqued his interest and immediately stood up and followed the crowd. Xin and Xiong could only helplessly put their payment on the table and followed Caol. As they were nearing the source of the commotion, they saw tables after tables, with about one hundred soldiers. At the front, a huge man, about 2.5 meters in height, shouted at the crowd, "Everybody! You need to arrange yourselves and form a line for the conscription, we will accomodate each and everyone of you. No need for cutting lines, I don't want any disorder here or else." The man made a gesture with his fingers slitting his throat.
The majority of the crowd couldn't help but nod and stand honestly in line. Caol was watching this and quickly understood the motive behind the conscription. According to Granny Yu, the Dragon Emperor was going to launch the war against the Tiger Continent in less than five years. The army was starting to recruit huge numbers of people so that they can train them to be part of the army.
Caol thought, 'I don't like the concept of killing people, however I'm in another world now and not on Earth. This world is more brutal. The battlefield is a very good place for me to hone my skills. The Tiger Continent is also preparing for the war, and since there are rumors about the Emperor being in a critical state for a breakthrough, and if I was the Tiger Emperor, I would launch the war before that happens. The war might be next year, or the year after. I will also be able to finish my quest earlier than expected. The question is, should I join the army?'
Name: Caol Gwynt
Age: 10 years old
Race: Saiyan
Strength: 46.1
Agility: 51.8
Intelligence: 45.0
Will: 49.6
System Currency: 213
Power level: 35,000 (IT'S OVER 9000!)
*Author's note: So, how did I get 35,000 as the MC's power level? Isn't it a little bit too high and overpowered at this stage? To get a more detailed and accurate information about power levels, I re-read parts of the manga yesterday, watched a couple of episodes of the Frieza arc, and read some articles online, which is why I wasn't able to post the chapters (half-truth as I also spent some time personally as it was my day off).
Before Nappa and Vegeta came to Earth, Goku was killed and trained with King Kai. King Kai's planet was about 10x the gravity of Earth. After he went back to life, Goku was angered (Zenkai) and broke through about the 8,000 power level. As our MC didn't have any teacher to train him with the Kame Style Martial Arts and could only learn it by the book, he wasn't as proficient in martial arts as Goku. Hence, Caol mainly focused on physical training and battle experience. Now, when Goku was on his way to Namek, he trained under 100x gravity and confronted the Ginyu Force with a power level of about 90,000.
So under some mathematical, (who am I joking?) theoretical, and just picking out a number, it pointed to about 35,000. Remember, Caol is training at 50x gravity only mornings during his physical exercise and about 20x during everyday life (he took it off when he was riding the horse because of some reasons.) As Caol hasn't experienced Zenkai yet, or any of the essential trainings from DB, I thought that this number was just about right. I'll also put a comparison of different realms and power levels.
Guys, if you have any questions or you see any mistakes, just put it in the comments and we'll figure this out.
Thanks,
Kiel Reniel (Kyle Ranielle)
