Chapter 50: Minor Sect

Kivara led to where the initial catacomb was found to check if it was still active and if her master was still around, but the place was silent and deserted.

She cursed her master for leaving her behind like that, and then she told Riven to try his best to keep up with her. At first, he thought she was joking.

Why wouldn’t he be able to keep up as a rank two?

They ran, and Riven learned that she wasn’t joking. She was like a dotting shadow, here now and gone the next instant. Even with his speed increased, Riven couldn’t catch up or keep up.

But she left enough trail for him to follow her. By the time the sun was higher up in the sky, they had long left Shadowwood and the surrounding forest far behind and passed lots of villages and small towns.

When they stopped by a town to rest, Riven’s shoe had been worn so smooth there was no reason wearing it at all, so he took them off and walked barefoot into the village.

The only thing that let him keep his dignity was that Kivara stopped four times during their trip for resting, and even she had to acknowledge his stamina that his Sigil provided.

Now, standing in a town barefoot and staring at everything and everyone like a kid from the backwater that he was, he felt like he’d stepped into a new world.

“…this…is so advanced!…” Riven thought as he swallowed the saliva that had gathered in his mouth. Of course, his measurements for advancement were because he saw food of different kinds being sold at the open stall, and the smell kept his eyes wide.

Also, everyone was dressed in clothes that were neat and not torn and dirty. In his village, they were so poor they had to starve sometimes, and clothes? Some clothes had been passed for generations, getting patched over and over.

Kivara led him through the crowd and explained to him on the way that this was just a normal town. There was no practitioner presence there, no sect or clans and such.

Riven took his time to look around before he was led into a building that smelled so good he almost started drooling. It wasn’t a big inn, but it was warm and there weren’t a lot of people.

“We will eat here,” Kivara declared.

And they did. Practitioners have to eat more than ordinary people, and they proved it with the amount they ate. Honey-fried ducks with its eggs gently boiled, soft bread and wine.

By the time they were done, their table was piled high with dirty plates, but the people in the inn didn’t bat an eye. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time they would be seeing such a scene.

After paying for their food, they left and began their journey again.

This time, Kivara was even faster than before. They sped down open lands and up small hills before climbing mountains and jumping small chasms.

But even then, they didn’t reach their destination that day. They camped in a cave in the mountains.

“This time we are entering the lands where practitioners are very much present. Although we are still far from the central plains of the Old West, this place is still filled with different sects and clans, organizations and free practitioners.”

That was what she told him before they slept.

The next day, more of Riven’s aura had regenerated, but it’s not compared to if he were to cultivate where there’s death aura. They didn’t eat, but they washed themselves from a small pool formed from the trickle of snow higher up in the mountain.

They began the second round of their journey, and this time, Kivara stuck to some invisible path and didn’t just speed across different open grounds.

But suddenly, she stopped and led him off a path. They sped through an open space like dotted shadows. Her steps were cautious, and she covered the two of them with her void aura.

She stopped at a hill and then pointed at a city Riven could see in the distance. The hill provided a more broad overview of the ground below.

The city stood in the middle and was surrounded by towns and countless villages.

“The Crouching Mantis Sect have their base in that city. And all the surrounding areas is their territory, including the place we are standing on. They are a minor sect that focuses on beast taming. They are one of the strongest in the Wild Province.”

Riven wasn’t listening. His eyes were glued to the city. It was close enough that he could see it from his place. It was big, so big that Riven’s concept of living in the Shadowwood couldn’t easily comprehend what he was seeing.

And it was encircled with thick stone walls. Even from so far away, he could see the different ancient words written on the face of the wall that glowed and sparked with power.

And then above, the city was filled with different types of flying practitioners. Most of them were made up of flying beasts. He saw a beast that had the head of a lion and the body of a horse that was red-striped and had eagle wings. He saw sparrows that were twenty meters big, their shrill cries rending the air.

“W…what is that?” Riven said. He pointed with dry mouth at something so bulky and yet smooth that was gliding in the air above the city.

“That’s a flying ship. It’s made by enchanters. Enchanters are those that can refine monsters and also make things like relics… there’s a lot that goes into it, different types of enchanters and…”

Riven wasn’t listening. He was starting to take it all in, his eyes were wide as if to soak in the whole thing. His blood began to boil, and his heart moved so much so that he opened his mouth without speaking. “I want it.”

Kivara turned to him. “What?”

Riven blinked. He didn’t even know that he had spoken out loud, but he didn’t feel shame. Instead, his eyes glowed with greed and naked hunger. “I want that kind of power. I want to be the one that rules over that kind of city.”

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