Proliferation

Having explored the town for a few hours, it was now about mid afternoon, and the streets were truly bustling. Thirteen, along with Ten and Nine were currently walking down a dirt road within the town of Beckton, following directions they had received for a cartographer.

"Is that it?" Ten asked as they approached a two story building.

"It looks more like a house than a store"

The building was made of timer, aside from a stone fireplace that ran along the left of the front wall. It had a hanging sign with a logo, or insignia like most stores. This one in particular being a quill and map.

Exchanging a glance with his companions, Thirteen approached the front door of the store, resting a single step above the ground, and tried to open it. It was locked.

Again getting the distinct feeling that this was in fact a home, Thirteen tried knocking loudly.

Perhaps he had knocked for a bit too long, or too loudly, as an impatient voice called out from within. "I hear ya, I hear ya. Give me a second." The voice was old and croaked, evidently belonging to an elder.

It took far longer than Thirteen would have liked for the man to reach the door, where Thirteen could hear him struggling to lift a wooden bar on the other end.

Finally, the door swung inwards, revealing a man who must have been in his seventies, an incredibly rare age for most. His back was slightly hunched and he looked to have just woken up, though he wore fine and clean clothes.

"Whaddya want?" The elderly man asked quickly.

"I'm, sorry? Is this a store?" Thirteen hesitated.

"Aye, as much as any other. You need something written kid?"

"Not written. I need a map."

"Oh. Well, I certainly have a few lying around, been collecting dust, the old things… But whaddya need a map for?" He asked, both curious and suspicious as he looked at the three.

"Just something simple. My family will be travelling southeast soon, and they sent me to get the map. I need village locations, waterways and places of caution."

Thirteen had learnt in his interaction with some of the shopkeepers that things moved far simpler if he claimed to be running errands for his 'family'. Which, he supposed, wasn't completely untrue. He, Ten, and Nine were indeed heading southeast, and they were probably the closest thing to family he had.

"Oh…" The elderly man paused in thought. "How far southeast?"

Thirteen opened his mouth to reply, but for a moment failed to recall the names of the towns he had to cross through. Luckily, Nine picked up the conversation "We're heading for Helbeck, but even just a map to the towns of Grondsil or Lanwick would be helpful."

"Hmm… I should have something like that. Come in."

"Thanks," he said quietly to Nine, before following the elder inside.

'I was beginning to think he would never let us in.' He thought.

"Take a seat by the hearth, i'll go see what I can find."

The inside of the building was very homely. To their immediate left were couches and chairs around a coffee table and hearth. The floor was covered in a fur rug, and on the walls hang paintings and framed calligraphy.

"Are we sure this isn't a home?" Thirteen asked his friends.

"It has to be"

"It probably serves him just fine as a store as well" Nine said.

The three sat down around the coffee table and waited. Quite a long time passed, until they heard the man approaching from another room.

"Here we go, one for each of ya" he said, placing cups of warm tea on the table.

"Umm.. thank you."

"My pleasure young ones." the man responded. "Now, what can I do for you?"

…

"The maps?"

"OH! Of course, one moment."

Thirteen directed a confused face at his companions as Ten stifled a laugh. Nine meanwhile was blowing gently on the tea.

Grasping his own cup, Thirteen mimicked Nine. In truth, none of them had ever had tea before, though they all knew what it was.

While Thirteen tested the waters, so to speak, and was finding the drink both strange and enjoyable, the elderly man returned once more. This time with a few rolled parchments under his arm.

When he reached Thirteen, the man shooed him away, taking the seat for himself and forcing thirteen to find another.

"All right, here we go now. I've got three here, already drawn. One is of the surroundings of Beckton in all directions, reaching no further than Grondsil, while the other two focus on the southern and eastern directions. All of them list village locations, major waterways, and the main road." As he introduced them, he laid out each map on the table.

"The latter two will get you to Helbeck, but don't stretch much beyond that."

Looking at the three maps, Thirteen immediately realized something was wrong. He had seen many maps in Theory hall, and had been required to remember the locations of towns and cities, as well as any major geographical landmarks. In fact, all three of them could find their way to Helbeck without a map. The reason they needed one was to find the villages and water sources on the way, and to steer clear of any rumored monster grounds, but…

"Aren't these a bit too simple?" He muttered out loud by accident.

"Aye, stupidly so. Speaks little of terrain and is about as barebones as can be. But anything more detailed than this and it's me the authorities have a problem with."

'Ah, so that's it' He realized. It's not that the old man couldn't do a more detailed map, but rather, he wasn't allowed. 'Even if things are somewhat calm at the moment, we're still at war, and any highly detailed maps would have to be recorded and controlled by the authorities.'

"We need to know where to steer clear of though" Ten spoke up, leaning in to look past Nine who sat adjacent to her. "What if we set camp next to a monster den?"

"Aye, I could see that being a problem. I can mark for you whatever I know, and whats been rumored if you like, but the main roads are patrolled regularly, you shouldn't have much trouble if you stick close by them."

"We'd appreciate it," Nine said.

With a nod, and a small affirmation, the man wandered back into another room with small steps, returning some time later with liquid ink and a quill.

Taking his seat once more, he asked "So which of these are you after? I'll take 3 Crowns per map, and highlight the hazards for free."

'3 Crowns?!' Thirteen thought in shock.

"We'll take the southern focused one, thank you" Nine replied immediately.

Thirteen and Ten, each as shocked as each other, simply exchanged looks. 3 Gold Crowns was a lot of money for the likes of them.

To give some perspective, using food for comparison, an average meal might cost a person 10 Copper Pits—or 1 Silver Sail. 10 Sails made a Gold Crown, which meant one map cost the equivalent of 30 meals. And that was if one ate out!

Thankfully, they each had been given a very large amount of money before leaving the estate. In their coin pouches, they each held the equivalent of one Platinum King, worth 10 Crowns. Few commoners just "had" a Platinum King, as they were more often used to store wealth or trade between businesses.

The old man had immediately set about marking a few areas on the map. He did so in broad, vague circles, and then marked each with a legend that he explained to the children. "Anything marked M or S means monster or spirit beast respectively. If it's followed with a C then it has been confirmed to my knowledge. An R means a rumor.

"Anything marked an X is a recent bandit attack. I don't know which of these are true or false, so treat them all with caution.

"You should be fine with that" He finished, putting away his quill, and stretching out his hand towards Nine who had agreed to the price.

After exchanging currency, Nine took the map, while they all made to stand.

"Thank you very much." Thirteen said

"You're welcome. Give your parents my best and remember what I said about those markings."

Leaving the house of the scribe, Thirteen confirmed that the afternoon would draw to an end soon.

"Anything else?" Ten asked

"No, we should be fine tonight."

"Then let's go back already, I still haven't had a chance to cultivate today." Thirteen said impatiently. He always felt uncomfortable if he missed his chance to meditate.

When they returned to their room at the inn, Thirteen first went through his packs to ensure everything was accounted for, before withdrawing his box of resources. They weren't allowed to bring their cultivation manuals outside of the estate, but Thirteen had memorized anything he would need to know for his current stage.

Having completed the fundamental realm, his entire body had been both refined by qi and enriched by lifeforce. The stage he was in now was broadly referred to as the Energy Accumulation realm, or as it was titled in the Grand Life Tome, the Proliferation stage.

In the Proliferation stage, Thirteen no longer directly strengthened his body, as it would do that itself naturally. Instead, the entire stage of cultivation was defined by the simple accumulation of lifeforce. He would use his expendable life force, and any that he absorbed from natural resources like the lifeblooms, to expand his baseline—that core and integral source of life that should never be expended.

By expanding his baseline, the amount of expendable life force he generated naturally, and how quickly he generated it, would increase as well. In fact, it would increase so much that Thirteen's body would become unable to contain it all.

Sitting in meditation, Thirteen opened his eyes and looked at a dying flower grasped in his right hand. He had withered it earlier to reduce it to this state, but now, as he cultivated, he watched as that flower slowly regained its colour and stood once more. Its petals filled with renewed vigor.

This was not a conscious bestowal of lifeforce, as employed in the Lifebringer technique, but rather, the result of a constant aura that now emanated from Thirteen.

When the baseline of life is cultivated so much that the expendable lifeforce generated is too great to be contained in the body, it begins to seep outwards, becoming an aura of life. When he cultivates, this aura becomes more pronounced, hence the visible re-invigoration of the flower.

When his aura becomes so strong that he revives dying flowers even when not cultivating, that would mark the end of the Proliferation stage.

——

The next day, Thirteen woke before dawn, as he was used to. Ten woke after him, while Nine continued to sleep.

'Why is it the straight-laced Nine that can never rise on time?' Thirteen thought. It had been the same ever since their first day in the estate.

'Well, it can't hurt this time I suppose. This isn't the estate after all.'

Doing some morning exercises and cultivation, Thirteen and Ten both set out to find some breakfast.

It was two hours after dawn that they left the town of Beckton, once more riding atop their three mounts, saddle bags and the like attached.

They were again required to give their names to leave the town, but there was no tax on exiting. When he had given numbers rather than names, the guard seemed oddly accepting and simply nodded at the three, allowing them past.

Thirteen didn't dwell on it. He suspected that the Clarke Institute had significant control over the town. After all, it was very close, and the estate was an important institute of the King himself, it would be foolish to leave the town completely self controlled.

The three continued to ride on for many, many hours, moving at a relaxed pace.

By then, Thirteen was shifting his posture every few seconds. "Damn it." He swore, "How do people ride these things all day? I feel like my cheeks are going to fall off."

"Just get used to it," Nine replied matter-of-factly.

"It's not that bad" Ten chimed in. "Maybe your horse just doesn't like you?"

Thirteen looked down to his horse, which—he hoped by coincidence—turned its head to look back at him at the same time.

""Hmph!"" They both snorted and returned their gazes to the road.

And so they continued on towards the first village and next resting place on their journey.