24 - New City, New House, New Life - OCIEN (2)

 

After eating I let her sleep alone on the bench and sat in the lotus position with my staff on my lap. I was not meditating breathing techniques but studying the Skills that accompanied the technique manuals.

So far I had managed to study the control of all the basic elements of magic and could execute them freely or concentrated in the form of a burst or globe with ease.

As a Warrior the only thing I hadn't mastered was the Tiger Step, a movement skill like this needed to be practiced extensively and acting as a mage I didn't have many opportunities where the risk of error was negligible.

My concentration now was on integrating Aura Imbue and the Mountain Breaker Fist. If I manage to integrate the two, it will be possible to cause the fist effect with my staff.

When the first rays of sunlight touched the carriage I felt the difference in my staff.

The wood vibrated in my hand and the tip of Cold Iron sounded faintly.

I opened the system and observed the results of my night.

 

[Library]

 

Historical knowledge.

 

Equalant;

Divine;

The game;

 

Techniques

 

Chaos Energy Equalizer Manual;

Basic Warrior Breathing Complete;

Basic Mage Breathing Complete;

 

Skills

 

[Mana Impact]

[Tiger Step]

[Fist breaks Mountain]

[Palm of waves]

[Imbue Aura]

[Mana Manipulation]

[Create element]

[Elemental Globe]

[Elemental Burst]

 

[Nameless Skill]

 

A fusion of the Imbue Aura and Mountain Breaker Fist skills.

The attack carried out by the user with a weapon will have its impact multiplied by three.

Cost: 10 Aura

 

Being uncreative, I named the skill Titanic Crush and went to review my general stats.

 

[Status]

 

Name: Ocien Debulis / Ocien Equalante

Age: 18

Title: Equalant

Cultivation:

Warrior: 1st Circle / 7 Star

Wizard: 1st Circle / 7 Star

Hunter: None

Walker: None

Charming: None

Elementalist: None

Dreamy: None

 

Techniques: Basic Warrior Breathing Complete / Basic Wizard Breathing Complete

 

Affiliation:

Debulis (disinherited)

Paales Academy (expelled)

Almage School (expelled)

 

Life: 240

Aura: 108

Mana: 112

Strength: 18

Dexterity: 15

Constitution: 12

Intelligence: 16

Will: 13

Wisdom: 14

Charisma: 8

 

Buy Points: 12,300

 

Seeing my strengths and weaknesses again I understood that it had been a really good idea to create this new skill.

I prepared breakfast and waited for Reina to wake up.

After a whole night awake I decided to take it easy for the rest of the trip, I meditated during the day and slept at night on my separate bench from Reina.

She still had trouble sleeping, but every day she fell asleep earlier. The question was whether the cause was accumulated tiredness or whether the fact that she didn't sleep with me was improving the situation. One way or another, neither option was positive for me.

We disembarked at the entrance to Aden and were greeted by the white walls of Marmarite, a cousin of marble but ten times more resistant than the walls of Almage and Quakan.

“Time to buy our house.” – I said, still admiring the city.

Reina linked her arm with mine and we continued on our way.

It took us about two hours to get to the Aden Urban Planning Office. One of the rules that the county imposed is that properties within cities must be negotiated directly with the government if the owner wants to get rid of them. Personal rentals could be managed by owners, but sales could not, this was to have control over the number of empty buildings in the city.

In reality, selling is almost like renting.

If the house remains unoccupied for more than five years, the city contacts the owner to acquire the place; if contact is not possible, upon completion of six years, the house automatically becomes the property of the city.

Upon entering the Urban Planning Department we went directly to the reception desk.

“Good morning, we just arrived in the city and would like to buy a house.” – I said in an optimistic tone.

The attendant looked me up and down, which bothered me deeply.

“Do you already know how much you would like to pay for the house?” – she asked in an arrogant tone.

I smiled as best I could.

“Something between a thousand and fifteen hundred gold coins, please.” – I replied with confidence.

The attendant was surprised, apparently it was not common for someone who had recently arrived in the city to buy a house.

Even though our cultivation is extremely fast, we don't spend a single coin on it, while even Talents need to spend tons of money to have the same cultivation speed as us in our region.

The County of Ulysses where we live is one of the regions with the lowest concentration of energy on the entire continent, so after the 3rd Circle it becomes null for cultivation. The normal thing for a Talent is to reach the 8th Stars at the age of eighteen, we have 7 Stars on two paths with less than six months of cultivation.

“Do you plan to settle in the city until you reach the 2nd Circle to register with the Aden Adventurers Guild?” – she asked curiously.

Not knowing the reason for this curiosity, I simply nodded my head, confirming her deduction.

“We have a great house less than a kilometer from the Adventurers Guild, it has easy access to the market and shopping district, just thirteen hundred gold coins.” – she suggested with a twinkle in her eye.

Before she judged us as beggars, now that she knows we can buy a house she has become a completely different person.

“Could you give me more information about the house?” – I asked politely.

“Of course! Of course! It has three bedrooms, kitchen, living room, full bathroom, running water, light orbs and a garden in the back.” – She recited excitedly.

The only thing I could think of was that this house must have some problem, so I looked at Reina for her opinion.

“What's wrong with this house?” – She asked when she saw me looking for her opinion.

The receptionist was taken aback for a moment, but soon recovered.

“It is part of the last batch of houses “collected” by the Secretariat, the owner died last month and the city's inhabitants say it is bad luck to buy a house that has not been unoccupied for at least a year.” – she explained.

We nodded, signaling that we understood, but we needed her to continue.

“I earn 10% commission per sale and this is the most expensive house in the price range you want.” – concluded the receptionist.

We looked at each other again and agreed that it didn't really seem like a problem. The location was good and a few dirty looks from the neighbors wouldn't make much difference since we will spend most of our time farming.

“We will take it.” – I said pulling out my money bag.

With the house paid for, key in hand, it was time to drop our luggage and start buying the things we needed to furnish the house.