Chương 11: Bonfire

Following his acceptance into the Adventure Society, Kite got to work thoroughly exploring the adventurer lifestyle he had heard so much about. While he had gotten quite the introduction to it during his training and travel with Uncle Walker, taking a contract and traveling out into the more sparsely populated wilds really drove home how much freedom, and danger, that lifestyle had to offer. As an iron-ranker, there were no special expectations thrust upon him by the society.

On the contrary, he seemed to be expected to keep his head down and focus on completing contracts without making too much of a stir. For the moment, Kite was quite content with this arrangement, and there certainly weren't any shortage of contracts for him to complete. For the first few weeks he consulted Uncle Walker, or Master Force if the former was unavailable, before taking on each contract.

On their advice, he had also purchased a magical index of monsters from the Magic Society to help him better understand the beasts of the area. Some he completed together with Dragonfly, and some he did alone. So far they were all simple monster hunts of rather well-known iron rank monsters, and he had so far avoided any unpleasant surprises along the lines of the unexpected bronze rank bandit. Overall he had fallen into a comfortable rhythm as he tried to find his place in this new life of excitement and travel.

Between traveling between contracts, weapons training with some extra archery practice he barely had time for more pleasant distractions, such as reading. Kite had been an avid reader during childhood, and had reunited with the literary world now that he had the money to purchase his own books and scrolls. In addition to novels, he had also bought a collection of manuals on aura training and meditation, which had belonged to a deceased adventurer and was sold off by his family.

He tried taking some time for reading and practice every evening, but it was one thing to do it in the comfort of his own bed and another entirely while lying in ambush for a nocturnal monster. One evening, Kite entered the small apartment to find that his uncle had returned from his latest excursion. His contracts usually lasted at least several days or even weeks, so it was a happy coincidence the chance upon him these days when Kite operated quite independently.

"Little Kite! Welcome back!" greeted his uncle, and as they sat down to eat at the small table he had Kite tell him everything he could recollect from his last couple of contracts. He mostly nodded approvingly, throwing in some bits of advice here and there.

"It looks like you are coming along well, youngling. If you can keep it up, I'm sure you'll have opportunities to earn some more awakening stones soon enough, if not only through tenacious gathering of funds. My last contract took me northward, so I made a slight detour to give the good news to your aunties. They both send their regards and are very proud of you. Dove also gave me some more pills to replenish your stores," Walker finished as he slid a small bag toward Kite.

The young man felt warm inside as he held the bag to his chest. While the freedom of his current life suited him well, he still longed to travel back to Starberry Peak and visit them. Soon enough, he quietly vowed to himself.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Remember the young master we met at the waterfall? Whom you faced in your first clash of paths?" Walker asked suddenly.

"Young Master Providence, was it?"

"Indeed. And remember the evaluation I sent them?" the older man continued, Kite nodding affirmation.

"His family seemed to have received it, and even sent a reply. Ostensibly, it was the usual overly formal thanks for teaching their young scion, but it seems like me saving him from the monster became a bit of a nuisance for their collective pride." As he talked, he produced a small, rather pretty wooden box which was bound shut with bright red string.

"Apparently, they felt the need to sever the karmic debt they felt connected us, so I had this waiting for me at the Adventure Society. Go ahead, open it." Kite obeyed, untying the knot and flipped open the lid. Inside lay a beautiful jade token with iron engravings depicting a sky, complete with sun and clouds. Kite regarded it for a while but came up blank as to what the token may be.

"That, young Kite, might be the most convoluted hidden insult I have heard of. This is an iron rank Jade-Sky token." As Kite's expression remained blank, Walker continued.

"You have probably heard of the Queen of Jade and Sky?" Kite had indeed heard about her. She was a mythical figure in Hua-Xi's history as the last ruler since the kingdom's founding who had managed to reach diamond rank. Apparently she had abdicated the throne over six hundred years ago, but not without leaving a legacy.

One such legacy was a code of law which guaranteed that everyone had the right to claim naturally occurring treasure regardless of territorial claims, and she instituted the clash of paths to resolve such disputes. Another legacy, more pertinent to their current conversation, was the Jade-Sky Gates. These were powerful artifacts in the shape of round gates of heavenly jade, which were rumored to possess some kind of spirit of their own.

They would apparently descend from the skies of Hua-Xi to stabilize proto-astral spaces, which formed rather frequently in this part of the continent. Usually these kinds of dimensional spaces destabilized and vanished after some a few days had passed, but these artifacts apparently had the power to change that. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

No one but the queen knew why certain spaces were chosen, but it was confirmed that the gate both stabilized and changed the space within, turning them into trials of worth. The space became inaccessible to someone without the corresponding token matching the individual's rank, and was rumored to contain great treasures with even greater dangers. She had declared them arbiters of the strength of one's path, which one could only enter alone.

Only after someone managed to overcome the trial did the gate leave, ascending once more into the sky and the space broke down as usual. Kite looked at the token with newfound reverence.

"But uncle, how is this an insult? Why would they give away such an opportunity?"

"Why indeed, little Kite? Why wouldn't they have kept it for one of their own family? Ostensibly, this is a valuable gift worthy of one who saved a life. If I told you that only about one in four have been rumored to survive the gates when undertaking them at iron rank, how would you think that would affect the attitude of the noble families and sects who are usually the ones to possess such tokens?"

"Only one in four…" Kite mumbled, before he stopped to think it over.

"Oh I see. It isn't worth the risk for them."

"Why not?"

"They probably work hard and put a lot of effort and resources into raising their essence-users. Why risk such investments for treasure, which they would probably accrue anyway given time?"

"That is the assumption the rest of us outcasts are working under as well. See, little Kite, how much you understand if you take the time to think and look beyond the obvious. Families like Providence usually have a lot of pride, and one of their own being outmatched by an unknown outcast shortly before being saved by another probably is a stain on that pride."

"Even after you saved his life?"

"Especially after saving his life. Therefore, I've come to the conclusion that this token is a way of saving face and ostensibly giving me a great gift in return. By now they probably know of our connection, and by giving me this iron rank token is almost the same as giving it to you. And due to the danger, most iron-rankers would suffer a high risk of perishing if they used the token."

"So… They're basically telling me to go and die? Disguised as a gift?" Kite asked incredulously.

"Welcome to the world of pride and nobility, young Kite," Uncle Walker said, raising his cup in mock salute.

"Well, you at least got another piece of pretty memorabilia," Kite said, leaning forward to close the lid. He stopped as his uncle had raised his hand, eyes twinkling.

"Not so fast, my young protegé. I only told you that the gates were very dangerous, but did I ever tell you why?" he said, still grinning mischievously.

"I just assumed that the monsters were powerful and numerous." Kite answered, quite curious of where his uncle was going with this line of thought.

"In a way, but not the one your thoughts are wandering along. But first, time for a moment of imparting my vast knowledge unto your young mind. Do you remember why higher rank monsters are considered such a danger?" This one Kite knew by heart, drilled into him over multiple impromptu lessons such as this.

"Due to their superior inherent capabilities, but only in part. The majority of the increase in danger comes from greater complexity, with more exotic and potent abilities."

"Correct again. Good to see that the rain that is my wisdom has watered such eager soil. According to those who have prevailed in the trials, that seems to hold true for every trial regardless of rank. Which means that even the iron-rank trial will have monsters whose complexity is quite rare for their rank. And I know of a certain, up-and-coming young iron ranker who happens to be even more effective the more complex his enemy…" he said while giving Kite a meaningful look.

Kite had started to catch on as his uncle spoke, nodding along in part disbelief and part excitement.

"You really think I could pass the trial of the gate?"

"I do, little Kite. I believe you have both the powers and level head to see you through such a challenge. But I must be very certain you understand three things: First, while I feel very optimistic about the prospect of you receiving the prize from such a challenge and making the Providence family choke on their poor choices, the choice is ultimately yours. I do not doubt that the trial of the gate would be supremely dangerous for anyone, and you know that I care about you like a son.

I want you to know that I will be as proud of you even if you choose not to go through with this. Second, you are not ready as you are. I would only recommend you to enter the challenge when you have awakened all your abilities and are able to actually advance toward bronze rank. All of you, mind, body, soul and powers, would need to be ready for such a challenge. Third, your aunties might do quite unpleasant things to me if they found out that I pushed you toward this kind of danger.

If you have to tell them, I would hope that you keep your poor uncle's health in mind when choosing how you phrase it." Kite chuckled, before closing the lid of the box. He held it up before stowing it away in his dimensional bag, eyes mirroring his uncle's excitement.

"It looks like I have a lot of work to do then. Those awakening stones will not earn themselves," he said as he stood.

"Thank you uncle, both for the gift and your trust. This just became a worthy bonfire to direct my path towards." That night, he fell asleep thinking about unknown trials as he swore resolutely to work even harder. While the freedom so far had been exhilarating, having an additional goal was just what he needed to continue along his path. He didn't know if the path led toward the heavens, but he thought he could see the hint of stars on his horizon.