The Preparations

A few hours had passed since Aster had slayed the Elemental Wolf, has he was now arriving at the edges of the city.

He was mostly covered in blood, both his own and from the beasts he had killed. He was wrapped in bandages and on his left shoulder was a rope which he was pulling.

At the end of the rope were some makeshift planks of wood being dragged on the ground. On top of them were the body of the Elemental Wolf, along with Aster's backpack.

The Wolf had a piece of cloth covering its head yet its body was still covered in blood, and grievous wounds.

On his way back he had crossed paths with a couple of travelers whose eyes simply opened wide at the sight. Elemental Beasts were just like humans. Where beasts who had "affinity" to a certain elemental energy tended to be far stronger and more powerful than their non-elemental counter parts. Yet just like humans they weren't that uncommon. Its was a matter of which type of animal awakened and if the animal itself was strong to begin with or aggressive.

Even if a rabbit awakened it usually didn't pose much if not any threat whatsoever. The type of animal doesn't necessarily indicate how much energy it has at its disposal, but generally speaking it's what would happen. A mouse having more energy than a bear was theoretically possible but not very likely to happen.

The second reason a sight like this was rare at Initium was because, like Central Island, locations far away from the Four Great Temples tended to have less awakened entities. So in one way, cities near the temples tend to have more Elementalists but more problems to deal with as well.

Aster was now about to enter the city.

"Hold up buddy! Mind telling me what on... well mind explaining the situation here?" Said a guard.

Initium didn't have any walls surrounding it or anything. But as most places it did have a couple guards patrolling the borders of the city as well as the city itself. The one in front of Aster was one of those.

"No offense or anything but if you enter the city looking like you just took a bath in a pool of blood with a wolf of that size behind you, you are at best going to raise a commotion and at worst give the elders a heath attack." Explained the guard.

"I'm sorry I just finished hunting and was going to take this to a butcher. I don't really see any other way to do that or clean myself without entering the city."

"Well were the hell is the rest of your party? Where did you even hunt that?"

"Its just me. I hunted it in the forest. I heard there were some wolves giving travelers some issues."

"Just you?!" He takes a closer look at the wolf. " Damn Elementalists. Some of you guys make us look bad." He said while laughing to himself a bit.

'I guess a regular person killing that does sound unrealistic. I guess no point in correcting him'

"Well then, how about a deal. My sift is ending, so I will borrow a cart and take you to the butcher that way you won't cause people to shit themselves, and I won't get the captain complaining that I didn't do anything. As compensation, you pay me enough to get hammered tonight deal?"

*giggles* "Sounds good" Aster said barely containing his laughter.

'I guess even guards can be easy going sometimes'

...

...

They make their way to the butcher and Aster enters the shop.

At the store there was a middle aged lady slightly on the heavier side chopping pieces of meat in the back.

"Excuse me miss."

"What can I help you with young man. Selling I suppose, right?" She said while taking a look at Aster. She then took a look outside and saw the cart parked at the entrance.

"I will close the shop and open the back. Take your game over there I will be there in a minute."

Without even replying Aster just left the shop and moved the cart to the side with the guard's help. They then moved the wolfs body inside the building to a table. The woman soon arrived.

*whistling* "Well, well, what do we have here? It's not usual for me to get my hands on an Elemental Beast." She said as she moved herself closer and started to check the game, Ignoring the two other individuals.

"The fur is surprisingly resilient, considering that he looks like he went trough a blender. I didn't expect that. The meat is filled with essence, must have been a hell of a beast hu? Overall great quality." She said with an excited tone.

"Want me to just skin it and chop him or are you selling the body to me? I have a few acquaintances, so I wouldn't mind." She asked no one in particular. "I can offer 2000 credits."

Aster accepted the offer. He then gave the guard 100 credits for the help and proceeded to go to the Inn.

...

...

...

At the Inn Aster was entering his room and started to remove his clothes and bandages.

"Mostly dry blood, the wounds closed up. It's still gonna hurt like hell for a few days thought. And I'm gonna have a scar in my chest and arm until I use a Light Crystal. But hey overall I see his as a win. No members lost and I'm alive so... ye."

A couple minutes pass as Aster reflects.

"I need to get stronger."

He then summons the sword.

"If I'm planning on following this lead. I need to get stronger. He was powerful enough that I had to get used to his aura before I could even stand. How the hell am I suppose to hold my ground when a simple Elemental Beast almost killed me."

He then moved his gaze towards the blade.

"I'm gonna find a path. And this is going to help me cross it."

...

...

...

It was dawn when Aster woke up. He packed his stuff and made his way to the market area.

Once he was there he bought some extra clothes, bandages, food, a map and other necessary supplies. All common stuff one would regularly carry while travelling. Then he made his way towards a slightly different shop.

"Morning."

The owner of the shop was a middle aged man with no particularly unique features. The shop was full of all sorts of devices on the walls and crystals of different colors on a glass case where the owner was leaning over.

*yawn* "Morning young man what can I do for you?" The owner said while covering his mouth."

"I need a small lantern and a fire crystal along with it. A lighter as well."

The owner nodded and went to the back bringing a small lantern similar to the one I previously had alongside a small metal block. Then he opened the glass case and took out two red crystals putting them inside the 2 devices.

"Including the low quality crystals that would be 120 for the lantern and 80 for the lighter. Anything else I can get you?"

Aster thought for a while before answering.

"Yes do you have any Light Crystals?" Aster asked.

"Low or mid quality?"

"Low."

The owner then moved to the back once again. Soon what sounded like a safe being opened could be heard.

"300 Each. How many?" yelled the man from the back.

"Two of them."

The metallic sound could once again be heard. The man soon after appeared once again while placing two nut sized whitish crystals on top of the glass case.

"800 credits total then."

Aster paid and left the shop.

'I should have about everything I need to travel. The question now is on how will I do that. I could join a group of travelers or merchants but if I want to train on my way I think its best to do so away from prying eyes. All things considered its probably best to just travel by foot.'

And so after checking his map, he left the city after coincidently bumping into yesterdays guard who was completely hung over.

...

...

...

It was now noon and Aster was about 30 Km (18 miles) away from Initium. The path was now mostly empty except for the occasional group of merchants.

"Well I guess I should start training as I walk." As he said that, he had already summoned the Sword and started to flow energy trough this body. He then also started to focus his energy on his Sword in a similar way as when he was fighting the Elemental Beast. The moment he finished doing that he was already gasping for air.

"This is going to be tough."