Orefine City - Next Step

Orefine city was a large sized city that rested near the central areas of the Steel region, it was a central hub for mining activities, trading, crafting and metallurgy, the city was situated of the side of a wintery mountain that stretched as high as the clouds, it seemed as if someone had taken a slice of the rockface and made a plateau for it to exist on, there were many grand buildings made out of finely crafted bricks and metallic shapes, as many craftsmen gathered here there was no shortage of hands for expanding the city or the surrounding areas.

Orefine also had a close relationship with Rockfell city from the Earth region due to their similarities in specialities, however Orefine held the crown for the specialisation in metal; In many corners of the city, you could see clouds of smoke rising from large buildings at any time of day, there were blacksmiths and researchers at work with their blast furnaces alight shaping and researching metal like mad men.

In the centre of the city's circular plateau was the largest furnace- the Grand Blast Furnace stretching nearly as high as a kilometre, it was active 24/7 yet not many people were allowed inside, only the permitted, and only the ones allowed knew why, it was the marvel and desire of many craftsmen in the city, they all wished to be granted permission to visit and use it.

Of course, that wasn't all there was to this city, after all it wasn't just a massive workshop, people lived here as well, the population was in the hundreds of thousands all bustling about their daily live filling the paths and roads with the hustle and bustle of daily life, there were plenty of smaller shops and buildings providing the various services one might want or need from food shopping to relaxation, it was an entirely different world compared to the smaller villages that lived in the outskirts.

And there was one such place, just near the outer ring of Orefine, a smaller but fine-looking three-story building with clear glass windows and white stone bricks, resting outside was a simple board that advertised a list of meals available and a simple greeting.

...

Inside the restaurant about half the seats were filled with some customers happily chowing down on the food as they spoke amongst one another, while there were others quietly savouring their meal keeping to themselves, the food was fairly varied from simple meat skewers to noodle bowls and pies and everything in between, the staff members were rushing about taking orders and delivering food with a few drops of sweat growing on their brows.

Today was a busy day for the Gleeful Lion.

*Sluurp*

Over in one of the corners, seated at a wall facing table, a youth was happily drinking down the broth in a bowl of noodles he was eating before he picked up a twirl of fresh noodles with his chopsticks and sucked them up.

He was wearing a simple grey robed attire without any adornments, his bronze hair had that had just reached past his neck was tied at the back and his golden eyes glimmered as the taste of the deliciously full beef broth filled his mouth.

He took a second to breath in satisfaction before breaking the egg and letting its yolk soak the contents before he picked it up for another bite.

He had been eating better food for just over three years now, but this place always had the best to him, so he had been taking every chance he had to come here and savour it.

In his opinion, he could rarely find a place that respected cooking enough, too many pubs or smaller restaurants just cooked food without much processing, or just simple seasoning, which would allow you to get by, but nothing compared to properly cooked food!

He also enjoyed the atmosphere here, it was genuinely jolly as most of the folks that come here are food apprecianados, he could eat in peace without being disturbed.

However, just as he lifted his chop sticks to take another mouthful the door was burst open.

'?' He stopped eating and looked over, as did many others due to having the calming atmosphere disturbed.

In walked a younger man with short black hair, his clothes made of fine silk and his neck and hands adorned with fine jewellery.

'Well, that's a young master if I've ever seen one' The bronze haired boy thought as his expression dimmed slightly.

The black-haired young man walked up to the counter, multiple other youths in tow along with a couple of older men and women.

"Proprietor, I'd like the best seats, and I'd like us to be alone!" He ordered the young lady stood behind the encounter.

"Uh- Ehm-" She stood like a bird and headlights, confused as she never expected to have this type of customer, this wasn't a high-end establishment after all.

"What's wrong, the young lord is asking you to clear a space!" One of the youth's companions harked on from the side.

"Ah, if the guests would please follow me I'll guide them to their seats" An older man walked out from the back, his clothes were that of a chef's, apron and cloth holding his hair back.

"You are?" The young man asked.

"I'm the owner of this humble establishment, It brings me joy that a young man of your stature would visit here".

"Hmph, so you know well? Alright, take us to our seats".

And with that, the old man guided the rich boy and his company to an upper floor.

The bronze haired young man went back to sipping on the noodles, yet his interest was piqued and his eyes seemed to glimmer slightly.

It was to be said at this point, this youth is Shu He, he had grown quite a bit over the past 3 years, he was now 12 years old! It wasn't just that though, after the incident in Greengate village he had changed, visually, he still doesn't understand the reason himself fully.

His bronze eyes had turned a deep gold, his hair had received a glimmer it hadn't before, in a way he was glad he wasn't surrounded by people who knew him before, because they'd be questioning those changes.

Though the people he has met before certainly realised, luckily they weren't a problem for him.

The cause of the change was obvious to him- The golden core flame, but the 'why' was what he didn't get.

Nether less, right now that wasn't important.

The glimmer on his eyes was unnoticeable, he had been able to use his 'Keen Sight' far more easily than before, now it feels like a natural function of his body rather than something he activates, even the process feels natural rather than an out of body experience.

His 'vision' closed in on the group upstairs, located on the second floor.

It appears the owner had sectioned off a large area with partitions blocking their gathering from view, but that wouldn't do much to block the voices, never mind Shu He.

".. That was so cool, you got him to set all this up for us!" A young boy said, his clothes and face simple.

"Yeah, you didn't even need to tell him who you were!" Another chimed in.

"Of course, my charisma won him over with ease!" The black-haired boy boasted to his friends as he looked around enjoying their amazed expressions.

'What an idiot' Shu He muttered in his mind.

If someone wearing gold came before a beggar it would be easy to tell of their high status, especially if there was only one youth that fit the bill in the city.

Shu He knew it too, who this child was.

He was the 2nd son of the city lord, Wei Yu.

The city lord had three children, two sons, the 1st and 2nd son, and the youngest, the 1st daughter.

The 1st son, Wei Zhi will be inheriting the position as city lord when his father retires, so the 2nd son and daughter are free to do whatever they want, Wei Yu spends most of his time flaunting wealth and wasting his time with indulgences, whereas the daughter usually keeps to herself, this is the common knowledge among the citizens of Orefine.

"But why did we come here today? It's different from the usual place and it's smaller…" A girl spoke with complaint as she hugged his arm.

"Ah- Ahem, there's a good reason!" He cleared his throat as he slightly moved away, he wanted to make himself seem serious at this moment.

"First! I have heard a lot of good things about this place, some of the servants at my father's place said it's even better than the high-class places so I had to come and check it out!"

Everyone around the round shaped table looked at each-other, their eyes being a bit confused but accepting.

"And secondly, I had something I need to talk about with you people- I gathered my closest friends for this!"

He spoke, causing everyone in the room to look excited.

"What is it?"

"It's-"

Before he could talk, one of the men guarding them lent over to whisper into his ear, but of course Shu He could still hear it.

"Young Master, I don't think it's a good idea… you Father told you not to-"

"Oh, shut up! It will be fine!" He shooed away his guard then turned back to the crowd.

"Today, I will become a cultivator!" He stated, waiting for applause and cheers, yet everyone stared at him in dead silence.

"…"

"What's a cultivator?" one of the younger boys asked.

"Huh? You don't know?!" Wei Yu looked at him like he'd seen a ghost.

"I don't either" Another spoke with his hand up.

"Really…?" Disappointment grew on Wei Yu's face.

"I do" The girl next to him spoke, a slightly awkward look on her face.

"You do! It's great right?!"

"But- I'd heard if you become a cultivator as a child of the city lord, you lose all of your assets so…" She shifted awkwardly.

"That's fine, I'll earn way more with my skills and talent as a cultivator" Wei Yu brushed off her comment like she'd told a joke.

"Uh.. Yeah" She too, brushed off his comment as she inched away.

"Anyway, I can't say much more but today a certain sect will be holding an entrance test, so i wanted to see who else wanted to join!"

"…"

No-one replied.

Shu He physically cringed his brows as he watched on.

'This- this is hard to listen to'.

He blinked and his vision returned to normal, the near empty bowl now seated in his vision.

He sighed, shook his head and then finished off the broth before standing up and heading to the counter and placing a small silver coin, a tip and walking out.

"Thanks for coming!" A cheerful voice came at him from behind as the door closed.

…

As Shu He walked through the streets of Orefine, he couldn't help but begin comparing it to Greengate's, the difference was overwhelming, he couldn't see an inch of greenery, there were no farms or animals here, the food here is produced from the surrounding areas, the population is hundreds of times greater as well, and the large variety of facilities was an entirely different beast.

All of this and yet Shu He still somehow had become to feel at home here even though he had only been here just under three years, when they first set off they had travelled between many different small villages and towns in their tiny carriage letting Shu He see the world for the first time, yet nothing compared to this city in terms of scale and surprise, it took them just about three months to arrive here from his home village.

In all honesty Shu He had an idea of why he felt at home here.

'All of this hustle and bustle, it reminds me of where I lived in my previous life'. He thought as he stared at the brightstone lamps gently illuminating the stone slabs on the pathway, it certainly wasn't a metropolis full of skyscrapers, but it definitely felt close to one, far closer than a small outskirt village.

He looked up to the mountain that towered over the city, it was a true spectacle as it rose far higher than any mountain he'd seen in his previous life, he genuinely wondered how it hadn't collapsed, and he didn't know how far it even went up since the upper half was obscured by a layer of fog.

The mountain was so tall that it'd cover the sun in the later half of the day, essentially making nighttime for the city longer than normal, but it didn't matter much due to the constant light from workshops and the brightstones.

In fact, the direction Shu He was heading was straight towards said mountain, the closer he got the more nervous he felt, the mountain felt like it was pressuring him more with each step he got, his heart steadily beat faster.

'The directions were, "Towards the west side of the city at the base of the mountain, the entrance awaits sitting beneath the founder's gaze"'.

He guessed that the founder referred to the only statue of the city's founder, it laid among a simple park, one of the few areas of greenery in this city, it took a good 10 minutes of walking for him to make his way over there, and he noticed a few others heading over as well, when he arrived the statue he was looking for towered over some trees and a large pond, a few benches strew around.

He didn't know whether it was crafted this way or if time wore the features away, but the statue just resembled a shape of a person with visible shapes for eyes, it was hard to identify whether it was meant to be a man or woman let alone their features.

'Its gaze…' He looked at the statue's face.

If he were to follow its gaze, it overlooked the entire park and looked off far in to the distance, so he doubted they'd want him to go on a wild good chase.

He pulled a small token outside of his robe, barely the size of his palm and tied it with string around his waist, it was the token that Chao Shi had given him way back then!

Today, he was going to enter the Titanic Steel Sect, he was heading towards the exam.

He didn't know what it entailed, all he knows is that he wasn't allowed to bring his own equipment, so he had left his bow at home.

He had heard from Bai Shun that there was a preliminary examination which granted the token which he didn't need to attend, so he was pretty happy about that.

Shu He looked over the park a few times, not being able to find any obvious entrances before his eyes glimmered slightly, and quite soon after he found what he was looking for- On the rockface of the mountain, barely inside of the statue's vision, there was an outpour of blue qi in the shape of a large door.

'Got it' He couldn't help but smile while also feeling like he was cheating, it was likely some sort of illusion technique they were using to hide the hole.

But of course, he wouldn't just head straight there, that'd make him incredibly obvious, he had learned quite well that his sight wasn't something normal so he shouldn't gloat or share about it carelessly, and he should hide its use.

Instead he began searching around like a few other's in the area were doing, putting his hand on rocks and parting bushes and going up trees searching around, putting on a show, he didn't know if anyone was actually watching but it was better to be safe.

Eventually, after he had both approached and got further away from the area multiple times, he placed his hand near the opening and-

*Shiiiiiiiinnnnn*

The token tied to his waist began to glow slightly covering him in a thin blue aura, his brows rising as his hand sank in to the rock.

"So that's it!" He spoke lightly as he passed through the rock fully, coming upon a long-pathed passageway.

'It's a combination of an illusion and a barrier, the token allows you through the barrier while the illusion remains!' He felt happy figuring it out, then staring at the long tunnel.

*Gulp*

He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

'It'll be fine' He reassured himself before he began to walk in to the dark.