Saland

"Death's Physique. It seems to be something amazing, but the conditions are really harsh...", Beta thought to himself.

What the orb revealed to him was a body cultivation technique and some related skills. He knew for a fact that this cultivation technique definitely wasn't anything common. Although its effect is extraordinary, it requires the cultivator to experience near-death experiences over and over again. That is not a condition just anyone would be willing to endure. The other condition for it was that the person must have visited Death's Void beforehand. According to the orb, this is the name of the space of darkness with the soul river is called. "Hmm…If I need to experience near-death situations in order to cultivate this, then so be it! I've never been afraid of death, so why should I start now?", Beta thought with a creepy smile on his face that startled Brian once again.

"Are you alright? You keep making creepy expressions!"

"Haha, don't worry. I'm just thinking of something nice!", Beta said with a gentle smile.

"By the way, we need to leave soon, so pack your things and let's go!", he added.

Brian didn't dawdle around and directly went to pack his things. Since Beta was already prepared for this, he just grabbed his backpack and waited for Brian to finish. After a few minutes he saw Brian with a few things in his hands, looking at him happily.

"What are you so happy about?"

"I've never left the village before, and now, finally will I experience the outside world!"

"I hope you're prepared then! We will have to go through the forests and avoid walking on the streets. We don't know if there are bandits, and it'd be better if we don't meet any for now!"

"What if we meet any beasts?"

"Then we'll have a problem!", Beta said while laughing.

"How can you laugh at something like that? We're not strong enough to beat a beast right now!"

"But isn't it exciting?"

Brian stared at Beta in shock. But he didn't say anything further, because he himself was itching to use his new weapon. As they left their home, they couldn't help but look back once more.

"I'm finally leaving, mother, father, Zeta. Even if you did many horrible things to me, I still thank you for your guidance.", Beta muttered in an inaudible voice and then walked away filled with determination.

On their journey to the city, the both of them, of course, didn't slack. Brian trained with his saber and Beta practiced in Death's Physique. When Beta executed the movements of the technique he was exhausted after only three of the originally 62 movements, and after the 4th one he fell to the ground, half dead. When Brian saw this, he almost flipped out, but when he saw Beta getting up again after a few seconds, looking more energetic than ever he only stared in doubt. After Beta got into the near-death state, he felt a cool current flowing through his body. It was as if the river of souls was flowing through his veins, reaching every part of his body. The feeling made him got cold sweat on his back, but it was worth it. He already felt the improvements to his body, and was able to tell that he would get much stronger if he continues practicing Death's Physique. Right after finishing it, he started exercising the other techniques the orb let him know of - Reaper's Touch, Phantom Kicks and Dark Scythe. The latter was one of the reasons he picked the scythe as his main weapon. But it's not something he can just use casually. After all, it is a method purely meant to kill his foes. If he planned to go to school and learn more about the world and its martial arts then he can't just kill everyone in a match. He also wanted to have a hidden card in times of danger.

It was a long and arduous journey, but their improvements were obvious. One time, Brian wanted to imitate Beta's movements when he trained, but he found out that he was unable to feel anything at all nor notice any changes in his body. So, he deduced that it only works for Beta and simply continued with his own original training, swinging his saber around, trying to get a good feeling for it. Even though he didn't have a proper method to train with and only a little bit of Beta's guidance, his improvements were scary. Beta couldn't help but nod every time he saw Brian improve, swing after swing. He used that as a motivation to exercise even more. Due to his parents' tutelage, his mindset was set to never let someone else be stronger that himself, neither friend nor foe.

Two weeks passed by in a flash. Beta and Brian now looked at the city in front of them. It was surrounded by high walls, making anybody unable to see anything from the outside. That didn't lessen its greatness even a bit though. Instead, it gave off a feeling of power and superiority. When they arrived next to the gate, they got in line to enter the city and attracted a lot of attention, rousing hushed murmurs and mockery. They weren't surprised at all, since they are kids wearing self-made clothes that were a little worn out from travelling, in front of a big city. Though Beta made sure that both of them look clean enough, they still couldn't help but be less presentable due to lack of materials for casual clothing. Beta only managed to craft leather clothing to serve as their armor, hence at the moment they both look like separated children of wandering hunters. Beta and Brian didn't take their words to heart at all, and just ignored the others.

When it was finally their turn, they got up to the guard, who didn't even spare them a glance and just let them pay three coppers each. That may not sound like a huge amount, but imagine hundreds of people entering the city every day, bringing in a constant flow of money. Once they paid their fees and entered the city, they couldn't help but gawk.

"Saland is amazing! It's so big!", Beta said while looking at the stone houses that covered his vision.

"This truly is a big city..."

Both had only seen the small village so far, so when they arrived at a real city, they made big eyes at every new discovery they had.

"So, what are we going to do now? Go to the school?", Brian asked Beta, excited about their next plan.

"Not today. First, we must find a cheap inn before it gets dark. After that, we should gather information about the city, school, and whatever else we can find here. We don't want to apply at the school and only then find out that we can't afford the school fees, right? We don't need to unnecessarily embarrass ourselves and waste time by lining up. Also, what about our clothes? Will they even allow us to get near with the clothes we are wearing? I doubt that. So, we should first go to the Explorer Union to earn some money for our necessities there."

"Oh, I didn't think of those things... Let me handle the information! I'll go around and ask some beggars about what they know. Never underestimate them! They sit on the street the whole day, so there's tons of time to hear a thing or two about what people say."

Beta nodded and then they started searching for the cheapest inn in the city. It took them until it was dark to find one that seemed affordable. They had to pay four coppers for two nights and a copper each for every meal. When they entered their room, they had a wry smile on their faces.

"No wonder this inn is so cheap... Even our cave is better than this dump!"

"This is just... We really need to earn money!"

What they saw in the room was just an old moldy mattress that laid on the ground. The walls had holes in them from which you could see the streets outside. As they stood there, a cold breeze assaulted them and they shivered.

"It may not be the most comfortable, but looking at the bright side, at least we're not sleeping on the streets!", Brian said with a bright smile.

"You're right. For now, we take what we can get. Soon, we should be able to live in the school's dormitory anyway."

"That's right!"

After a cold, uneventful night, Brian left the inn to gather information, while Beta closed the door to the room and continued practicing his skills. He couldn't let a single minute go to waste. There was the probability that the school tests them before they are able to enter, so he didn't want to slack.

After two and a half hours, Brian came back with the information Beta had wanted.

"The school does indeed need an entrance fee to be able to apply for it. We will both need four silver each and proper clothes too, otherwise the examiners will just mock us and send us away. Also, they will test our strength before we can enter. I'm really glad we didn't just run there right after arriving here..."

"Alright, it's nothing that I didn't expect. But the amount of money sure will be troublesome. What did you get about the Explorer Union?"

"The only way kids are able to get a job there is by having graduated a school beforehand..."

"So, that's not an option to earn our money. Did you get anything about underground organisations?"

"Yes. There's a group of thieves and an organisation that calls themselves, The Dark Nacht. They seem to be killers."

"Hoh? We can't go to any of them, but I have another Idea!", Beta said with a sly smile.