2 Chapter 2: A Terrible Day (1/2)

”That will be 3 slate pieces,” Nadran monotoned, handing the herb to the customer and receiving three flat pieces of slate in return.

In this world, the currency mirrored the realms of cultivation, with a difference of 1,000 times between each tier.So, one piece of marble, the second tier, was worth 1,000 pieces of slate.

After the customer left, Nadran held the slate pieces in his hand while slowly tracing lines with the other, making sure to do it behind the stall so it wasn't visible to passerbys. This was more complicated than even the shadow sigil cast by Kalio earlier, but it was clearly a struggle for Nadran to complete, his fingers faltering over and over as he tried to remember the large number of seemingly random steps.After nearly half a minute, he finally completed the sigil, wiping the sweat off his brow. He let go of the stone coins, and they vanished into the air.

It had taken him over 2 years of hard work to learn the dimensional storage sigil after he had managed to copy it down on paper when he snuck into a more advanced sigil lecture.But despite its difficulty, it had proven to be an invaluable tool.

Nadran's gaze suddenly sharpened as he saw an approaching figure, knowing instinctively that trouble was coming.The man looked to be about as old as Nadran, but he was dressed in fine clothing and had an inherent air of wealth and arrogance to him.”Do you have any red fern?” he asked in a tone that was more command than question.

”Yes, we have a piece of red fern,” Nadran replied in a flat tone, picking up one of the more valuable herbs on the stand.”It is worth 10 slate pieces.”

”Ha, you think I'm paying you for this?” the man asked mockingly.”I don't think you understand what position you are in.”With that, he lifted his hand and began tracing lines in the air, leaving a milky white trail in their wake.This was a hallmark of the marble tier, the second major cultivation tier.All five of his fingers moved in concert, each one tracing its own independent path, looking much like a spider doing a complex dance.Within a second, a complex sigil had formed in the air.Sneering, the man released the sigil, releasing a wave of force that smashed into Nadran, launching him into the air.

He hit the ground hard, bruising his upper back, but managed to curl his head upwards before it could hit the hard dirt road, avoiding worse injuries.Nadran rolled over, ignoring the excruciating pain, then coughed violently, blood dripping out of his mouth.[This is bad, I must have suffered internal injuries too,] Nadran thought with concern.Bracing himself with his arms, he tried to get up, but instead felt a sharp kick to his ribs, causing him to get sent rolling across the ground.After a second, he stopped rolling, now lying face down in the dirt.

Next, he felt a heavy weight descend on the back of his head, and his face was shoved heavily into the dirt, his mouth filled with the mixed taste of dirt and blood.”You think a weakling like YOU can demand money from ME?You can't even defend yourself, you should be glad I don't just kill you now,” a voice called out smugly from above him.”Lucky for you, I am a considerate and generous person, so I will leave it at this.Hahahaha!”He laughed uproariously as though he had just told an incredible joke.

Nadran felt the man lift their boot off his head, then heard footsteps as the man walked away.Nadran slowly pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head to try to dispel the ringing in his ears.He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision, then looked up at his herb stand, only to find that all of his herbs were gone.He saw the man swaggering away as two attendants walked over, taking flanking positions next to the young noble as they departed.Nadran managed to hear them talking as they slowly and calmly walked down the street.

”Young master, why waste your time on such a weak cultivator?We need to be at the meeting in fifteen minutes,” one of the attendants said disapprovingly.

”We'll still make it in plenty of time,” the man responded casually.”Crushing people underfoot is just so exhilarating, I had to do it.Besides, red fern has a nice smell when burned, so I figured I might as well get a little extra something for tonight's bath.”

”Alright, just try to avoid more detours please,” the attendant pleaded.”The master will be unhappy if you are late again.”

”Whatever, it's not my problem if you get punished by my father again,” the man said flippantly, and they moved out of sight around a corner.

Nadran sighed and moved slowly toward the barren stand, wincing as he moved a particularly injured muscle.He made it back to the stand and looked out over the still-busy street.He got a few sympathetic looks, especially from other stall owners, but nothing else.Nadran wasn't surprised, though. In a world where strength was everything, cruelty was often rewarded, and compassion punished.Selfless people were truly few and far between.

Although every part of his body felt like it was on fire with pain, Nadran grimaced, clutching his side, and slowly began to create a sigil behind the stall.The intense pain made it hard to concentrate, and a large jolt of pain from his side caused his hand to tremble, causing the sigil to fail, fizzling into nothing.Nadran grimaced, clenching his teeth, and when the burst of pain subsided, he started again from the beginning. Nearly a minute later, he managed to succeed, and his dimensional storage space opened up.

Nadran reached into the air in front of him, and his hand disappeared into the space.He pulled out a couple bandages, which he wrapped around some of the openly bleeding wounds.Next, he reached in again and began pulling out herbs, which he began placing on the stand to replace the ones that had been stolen.[This is exactly why dimensional storage spaces are so useful,] Nadran thought dryly.[At least I still have herbs to sell.]

The dimensional storage space that Nadran had created was the lowest tier of storage space, and there was only one cubic foot of space within it.A surprising number of things can fit in such a small space, though, and Nadran had it packed to the brim with backup herbs, bandages and other daily necessities, and whatever money he managed to earn in that day.After he was done, although there weren't as many herbs as before, he was able to keep selling herbs, earning more money so that his family could eat as he tried to let his wounds heal.

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”This is the diagram for a basic defensive sigil, called the chi shield,” the lecturer explained, showing a picture displayed on the wall behind him by using a projection sigil.The picture was complex, being composed of over 30 different line segments, some straight, some curved, all connected end-to-end in a single, very long path.”This technique creates a transparent barrier around your body, and it is able to block both physical and energy attacks.Of course, its simplicity means that while it can be created very quickly, it is not very strong, and is generally used as a reaction to lessen the impact of a blow.With a bit of training, you should be able to execute this in less than half of a second.After all, that may be all the time you have to defend yourself in a fight.” The lecturer continued to talk about the uses of the technique and its pros and cons as Nadran worked to copy down the picture on a piece of paper.

Nadran was watching the lecture from up in the rafters, holding a support beam as he drew.Although he was still injured, his internal energy had helped to heal the worst of the injuries, and he wasn't in any danger, so he decided he would still attend the lecture.[I'm not about to let some random noble stop me from learning more about sigils,] Nadran thought with resolve, ignoring the pain that still coursed throughout his body.