Aimless Ascension

Gale had a peculiar feeling looking over all the land owned. Vale, his buddy, looked at him fondly and ran away, chasing after a couple of butterflies in the soothing sunshine, ignoring all the unfamiliar feelings his friend was having.

So this will be my legacy, Gale thought. Gale couldn\'t describe the emotions he was feeling inside. It was new and vulnerable.

How pitiful!

Gale ignored the voice in his head. He left the craftsman and his crew to their work and proceeded to check on the farmhouse. It was as Gale imagined Shi Fan was nowhere to be seen, though he found a lot of his things spread around the room. Shi Fan left those behind, though Gale reckoned he would be coming soon to take them back as they hold substantial value, though not as earth-shattering as pure crystals. Gale left it as it was for now and rested his bottom on the couch.

He should be living here. Guess he should clean this up before that. The house wouldn\'t take long, but the entire farmlands? Yes, that would need some time and work. Well, he had the former in plenty and no problem with the latter. Besides, his power was a good fit for cleaning.

It didn\'t matter if it was underbrush, waste or evil practitioners.

With that in mind, Gale started working, drawing power from his third fate-lock, Stormsong. Wisps of wind rose around his feet, blowing away all the dust and dirt slowly as Gale guided them out of the house.

It was the second time Gale was using his third fate-lock after coming to this small town. First, it was during his trick to shut up the young master Han on the very first day. Tricks like those look effortless from the outside, but in practicality were way more complicated. Gale needed to have fine control and precise intent to perform something like that, or he wouldn\'t be able to affect the air to make him feel confined and out of air.

In contrast, conjuring the wind to sweep the floor was way easy and effortless, to be honest. Gale barely needed to part with a simple intention and the dust was gone.

I\'m a walking-talking vacuum cleaner, Gale thought, much to his amusement.

Well, he wasn\'t storing the dirt inside his void lock. If he did, that would simply be too efficient. But his void space had better use than being a glorified vacuum cleaner. Practitioners were simply too efficient in everything. Perhaps that\'s why artisans didn\'t find the necessary to create too many sophisticated devices.

Gale guided all the dust, dirt, and waste from corner to corner, one room to another, leaving a dust-free and relatively clean floor. It took him a little less than a quarter of an hour to clean all the floor and walls.

The builders weren\'t nearly done yet, currently measuring and calculating where Gale left them. Finding him looking with interest, Guo Zong, the apprentice artisan, jogged his way towards him, a merry smile glued to his lips. He really didn\'t need to be there, as the framework and planning were the portions the master craftsman was in charge of.

Moreover, even though he was an apprentice, his importance didn\'t lose out to that of a master crafter. Scripting might be a hard path to walk, but it sure was rewarding.

Consider, a computer as the work of a craftsman, then the operating system would be the work of an artisan also known as a scriber. Well, most scribblers tend to have some speciality in crafting as well, and then they were called artisans.

Also, it was merely an example; they weren\'t software engineers or coders. An artisan was capable of strengthening, adapting or even sharpening an item by scribing a few scripts on them. These were the basics. There were plenty of other magical scripts that could literally pale any twenty-first-century artillery of the earth in comparison.

"Master Gale," Guo Zong said, joining him, "the mansion will look good up there, like an abode for an old master, not that you\'re old."

He let out a joyous chuckle which made Gale reconsider the reason behind his presence here. Guo Zong truly had no business being here unless he wanted to know more about the artificial fate-lock core.

Gale had divulged no answer regarding the item, save for the tests he demanded on it. Guo Zong didn\'t even know he was standing next to an actual Master Artisan, no matter how much of a slacker he was.

Gale considered disclosing that, as it would give him enough weight to throw around in the guild. He could have many privileges with the many contacts he wanted. But wealth was well enough substitution for him.

Although wealth wouldn\'t make him a respectable figure, it could solve most of the problems. Besides, disclosing the matter of being a master scriber could create unwanted attention and complication which he was strongly against. His seniors back at the central domain would have an easier time finding him if he slipped out these little uniquenesses here and there.

Well, Gale wouldn\'t really be able to hide forever, nor would he want to. They would eventually find him. His clever false trail would come to an end one day, probably within a year or two at best.

And if it\'s his master who finally has time to be disappointed in him, then that old shit would probably be in the Wang\'s Inn now, preparing all the insults he would like to throw at him.

Gale shook his head and turned to the overly enthusiastic middle-aged apprentice. His spirit arts weren\'t anything unique, nor was his Intent anything special, albeit rather refined than most apprentice artisan Gale had come across. Well, he had time.

If Gale had that many years, he would be a Gem-heart expert and a sage of something.

Probably a sage of shit-talking, but a sage, nonetheless.

This person had thirty years at the very least, yet his art remained unimpressive and obtuse. Gale hadn\'t seen his work, but he could tell many things from the look of it. Guo Zong didn\'t have or lost the zealous hunger that drives most practitioners to reach for the peak. Probably another side effect of staying in this backwater town.

Well, who am I to criticise? I\'m sure he did his best with what he had.

Besides, scripts were highly guarded secrets that all artisans, sects, or clans treasured, like how Gollum treasured the ring. It had been going down for generations. One simply couldn\'t hope to break it through sheer talent and potential.

Guo Zong seemed to have made peace with himself and was satisfied with where he was now. Gale strongly needed to learn that, the former to be honest.

"Well, Senior Zong," Gale addressed, not sounding any bit condescending. He didn\'t really have to try as Gale hardly looked down on people unless you\'re an imbecile like Young Master Han. "Do you have any instructions for me?"

"Oh, Youngman, there\'s no need to act so ceremonially with me," the apprentice said. "Everybody knows me as Old Zong in this town. Feel free to discuss any problems regarding your contracts. I\'ll be the first to look into it."

"Much appreciated, Old Zong," Gale smiled. "You don\'t look that old, though."

"Haha, I may not look like it, but I lived twice of your age, Youngman."

"Well, Senior Zong, did your guild find out anything regarding the core?"

"Unfortunately, no," Senior Zong said, shaking his head in regret. "Sadly, our little branch could neither afford a high enough ranked artisan nor the constructs for proofing."

Gale raised an eyebrow. "But you took the fate-lock too easily."

The apprentice coughed twice into his fist, looking rather embarrassed. "The receptionist probably mistook the artificial fate-lock for something else," he said, though he himself didn\'t believe his words.

"So now what?"

"We\'ll be sending it to the branch at Azure Park, where Master Artisan Huan Kelvis resides. It may take a while, but you\'ll have your core back with all the test results you wanted."

"How long do you think it will take?"

"A month, at the very least."

________

The third fate-lock name \'Stormrider\' has been changed to Stormsong. I think I have only mentioned the name once, you guys probably forgot about it.

And I\'ll ask for power stones and reviews again. Shower me with them if you can.