Tired of Living? (2)

"As for the tasks, it's all simple. It's probably easier to show," Aina continued and led me back through the central square of the fortress to a large spacious hall.

"Here, this is the dining room. Do you see the jade tablet at the counter? It has a special formation. When you place an order, just bring your disciple token to it and points will be deducted from you. There are such tablets in all places where points are required." Wow, the local cultivators have figured out credit cards and cashless payments. Next thing you know, they'll invent a local spiritual internet.

"So what about the tasks," I reminded.

"Right," she slapped herself on the head. "Do you see the board on the wall? It has tasks available to you. Since you're at the cultivation stage, it will be difficult for you. Mostly hunting, gathering, or patrol tasks. I would advise taking something simpler. Cleaning or cooking, for example."

"Do you have so little faith in me?" I sighed. The girl clearly didn't want to offend me, but her words somehow hurt me.

"You know why there are only two fire practitioners in the fortress now? The rest died without living even ten years... In the last batch, there was a boy at the peak of the high stage of meridian tempering. He boasted about his strength, but died from an ordinary ice worm when he ran out of Qi during patrol. Do you understand?"

"I understand," I nodded. "So what, should I spend the rest of my life in the kitchen?"

"A good cook is sometimes more valuable than a mighty practitioner," she smiled. "Let's go on."

For the next half hour, she showed me around the fortress. I looked at the spacious library, visited the training ground, shuddered from the memories that flooded me in the alchemy laboratory, and even managed to admire the exhibition of various artifacts, under the watchful eye of a grumbling old man. Master Fan was something like a local supply manager and gave me the local version of a set of washing accessories. I was about to put it in the ring when Aina used a technique and created an ice floe hovering in the air, immediately putting my new things on it.

"So you don't get them dirty," she explained. Heh, using what's clearly a combat technique as an analogue of a flying shopping cart from a supermarket—smart.

By the way, I also bought a change of clothes from him—I simply didn't have time to take anything from the sect with me. At the same time, I tested the token payment on the purchase. In total, I became poorer by five points. Five left. And it was stressful.

In the Fort, there was obviously an unspoken rule—who doesn't work, doesn't eat. So these precious points were required for every sneeze. I wonder if Belozar remembers that he still owes me a tenner? If not, I'll remind him. I just need to find him.

Aina was leading me somewhere deep into the fortress, and the lower we descended, the more distinctly I felt the warmth. The ice walls were replaced by stone vaults. At some point, a lonely spark of fire Qi even floated past me. I immediately absorbed it under the chuckle of my companion.

"Just a little further to go. You'll like it," she smiled. And a couple of minutes later, we were standing near a massive door with a familiar green tablet hanging on it.

"Consider this a gift," she said and applied her disciple token to the door. "A gift to celebrate our acquaintance."

Entering inside, I was amazed. This was something unreal! Hot springs in the middle of icy mountains! Several dozen depressions in the rock were separated from each other by screens with images of mountains. Particles of fire Qi were flying in the air, which I immediately absorbed.

"Will you rub my back?" she giggled. I felt myself blushing. "Come on, Kai, you understand that I'm joking, right? You're so funny. Go to the cubicle, you have an hour."

"Thank you," I nodded gratefully.

"And Kai," she stopped me. "Wash yourself thoroughly, the blood of frost bugs smells incredibly bad the next day."

I just laughed and closed the screen at the entrance to the bath. Quickly undressing, I plopped into the water with pleasure. Hot! How little a person needs for happiness. Several water streams were beating directly from the floor, occasionally bringing sparks of fire spiritual power with them. Could this Qi be coming from the very center of the earth?

But I didn't dwell on such questions at that moment, I just enjoyed this natural jacuzzi. After thoroughly enjoying the warmth of the spring, I put on a new set of clothes. Sure enough, I wasn't imagining things. The runes embroidered on it were not just decoration, but a weak formation protecting from the cold. Moreover, with a drink from external spiritual power! I'll need to learn more about runes.

When I came out of the bath, I continued to squeeze a pile of dirty clothes in my hands. Aina met me with a satisfied smile. Judging by her wet hair, I wasn't the only one who had just been basking in the warmth.

"There's a laundry here. One point for washing," she answered my unspoken question.

"Now let's go, I'll show you the room."

The way back led to one of the fortress towers. Along the wide corridor stretched many doors, with a tiny jade tablet on each.

"These are all free rooms, choose any."

"Each practitioner has their own room," I was surprised.

"Of course. The Dao does not tolerate fuss," she clearly quoted someone. "And besides, there aren't that many of us in the fortress. Now there are just under seven thousand disciples here. Not many would voluntarily dare to live in a mystical realm."

I was a bit stunned by the numbers I heard. Seven thousand battle mages? Is that a small number? However, the fortress was indeed huge, so this number fit here easily.

Inside, the room was a tiny cell. The walls were made of ubiquitous ice, thankfully opaque, and a plank bed covered with slightly shabby skins served as a bed. There was also a table, a chair, and a chest.

"You can leave your things here. You don't have to walk around everywhere with a blade," she nodded at my belt. Yes, I still hadn't put the sword in the ring and it continued to hit me on the legs with every step.

"It doesn't bother me," I pretended as if it was supposed to be that way. "Thank you for showing me everything."

With that, my tour came to an end. Thanking Aina, I headed to the dining room. I had already forgotten when I last ate properly. The choice of dishes was overwhelming. The guy at the counter looked at me with a tired gaze and patiently waited for me to choose my lunch.

"What's the frost lizard stew?" I saw a dish that cost fifteen points.

"Stewed lizard meat with vegetables. Helps in cultivation," he replied irritably. "If, of course, you practice ice technique."

"I see," I drawled and continued studying the menu.

"Listen, boy, you're new here, so you obviously don't have points. Just take the fried rice with egg for one point, you won't regret it. At least you won't leave hungry."

"Thanks for the advice," I nodded and applied the disciple token to the formation. "Hm, how do you know how many points you have left?"

"Just apply some power to the token," the guy advised. I immediately did as he said and a character appeared above the piece of jade, denoting three.

"You'd better take a task quickly," the guy commented. "Your food, by the way."

Taking the plate with fragrant rice, I sat down at the nearest table. As soon as I picked up a lump of rice with chopsticks, I almost groaned with pleasure. How delicious! I think I'm starting to believe Aina's words about a good cook being more valuable than a strong practitioner. I didn't even notice how the plate emptied. The guy didn't lie, the feeling of hunger receded, and I decided not to put off an important matter for long.

There were no people near the task board, so no one bothered me as I studied the announcements. Fortress cleaning—two points. Cook's assistant—two points. It seems that during our first meeting, Belozar had made me a truly magnificent gift.

There were more serious tasks here, like "Hunting the snow guar" for fifty points. However, I didn't know the strength of the guar, nor where it lived, nor even what kind of beast it was, and I wasn't ready to go into the snow wastelands at random.

In the end, I settled on an announcement labeled "Evening Patrol". For ten points, I needed to patrol the wasteland near the fortress, and in a group of three people. Perfect for a start. After accepting the task, I returned to my room and crashed to sleep. There was plenty of time until evening, and the nervous tension of the past few days was taking its toll.

Just think, did I really survive? Unfortunately, this was only the first round, and it was more of a draw. I won myself a ten-year reprieve, during which I must become stronger, but in this place there's no spiritual power necessary for me. Okay, I'll definitely figure something out. Later. But for now, sleep.

"Am I late?" I asked the two guys standing at the gate. I had run here through the entire fortress because the treacherous bed didn't want to release me from its embrace.

"Are you Kai?" one of them asked me. His face was completely covered in tattoos. Both were in the meridian sphere. "What the hell are you doing at just the initial sphere? Tired of living?"

"He's a fire user," the second one drawled, looking somewhere past me. "The ice spirits say he burns."

"Oh, Heaven, what did I do to deserve this? One weakling, the other is crazy. Okay, but if you die, it's your own fault, got it? Is this your first patrol? Can you even fight?"

"I don't carry this sword for beauty," I patted the sword. "And yes, I'm new here. Ready to heed the wisdom of experienced comrades."

"Well, at least that. My name is Li Yuan, and this is my brother-in-arms Ryu He, but on patrol, call me senior. So you listen to me in everything. I say jump—you jump, I say run for your life—you run and don't look back. Got it? Then don't fall behind!"

And we set off beyond the fortress. An adventure for a couple of hours, there and back. And what could go wrong? Also, does it seem to me, or did I forget something?