Climbing the Ranks - Chapter 18 preview (Patreon)

Days passed, with Arthur snatching quick moments of rest late in the evening, cultivating the various cores he acquired during the day before snatching moments of rest. He headed for the looming mountains he noticed in the distance, picking his way parallel to the river he had found. It would lead him to the mountains where the greater density of energy would increase his cultivation speed, provide fresh water – useful for keeping his body hydrated, which while not entirely necessary thanks to the Tower still felt refreshing – and ensured he had ample hunting opportunities.

If there was one negative of moving close to the river, it was the lack of locations to rest. His best options were under fallen logs and small overhangs where he managed to build a temporary abode. It was on his third night after exiting his latest cultivation spree that Arthur stumbled – literally, as he put a foot through rotting branches – onto another construction like his own.

After extracting himself with curse words in three languages and some difficulty, Arthur spent a little time reviewing the construction of the tiny house. There were numerous little tricks in the construction of the small lean to that he drew upon, from the use of stripped down vines as a binding material to keep branches together to the addition of multiple branches of cut leaves to help shelter the insides.

He was particularly happy he had not walked into the lean-to from the side for there were was a hastily constructed and rotting set of wooden spikes pushed that way. He had nearly impaled himself on it when he extracted himself earlier. Just as interestingly was the yellow-grey sap on it, a colouration that was unusual to the vegetation around.

“Poison? Which kind of orang bodoh leaves things like this lying around?” Arthur pushed the stakes away, breaking them down and shoving the ends into the dirt. He had, briefly, considered carrying the spikes with him – but not knowing how old the poison was, if it was still effective and the lack of easy methods to carry it safely had him dismiss that idea.

More interestingly was the gleam of glass on the ground. Rummaging a bit and extracting it from the earth, Arthur turned the pill bottle over in his hand. A peek into the opening showed that it was empty, a discarded remnant.

“Now I really wish I joined the boy’s scouts,” Arthur sighed. No way of telling how long this had been. A week? A few months? Someone with wilderness knowledge would know, maybe. His own understanding extended to learning how to survive and travel through various outdoor environments. Not the extent of knowing how long makeshift residences lasted.

And how much that changed due to being in a Tower, he had no clue either.

“Still…” Arthur rubbed his chin. Maybe he could follow along. Other than the foot sized hole in this residence, it was not too shabby. It would save him a few hours, to make use of these. And since it was on this side of the river, there might be more. If he watched for it, followed the same deer path that the cultivator had been using; perhaps he might stumble upon it again.

Preferably not literally.

***

His staff whirled, striking once, and then again at the kucing hitam. It pushed the monster back, but did not break bones or throw it aside. This particularly beast was nearly twice the size of the previous kucing he had fought before, its claws shaving edges off his staff whenever the two came into contact.

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty…” Another spin, the top of his staff dipping down to crash into the earth. The cat had managed to skip aside, just enough to dodge it before it pounced forward. Unfortunately, Arthur had been waiting for that and threw a Focused Strike snap kick right into the body, sending the body flying back in return for a few light scratches.

Bones cracked under his feet and the monster spun through the air, managing to get its feet underneath it just before it landed and collapsed. Struggling to its feet, it met the thrust of a full speed thrust that caught it on the top of its head, cracking it open and leaving the monster reeling. Another full speed strike broke it at last, leaving the body to disperse into light.

“I might have gone too far…” Arthur muttered to himself, tearing the sleeve off his shirt. He wrapped the stained bandage he pulled from his backpack around it, tightening the wound and sighed. Rather than throw his bandages away, he had been washing them after his wounds had healed, but even that cost saving measure was coming to an end.

Scooping up the crystal, he turned it over, marvelling at the pulse of energy he could feel. Much stronger than before. Not quite double, but he was certain it would be at least half again as strong as the crystals found from monsters close in.

“Forward or back?” Tapping his foot, Arthur breathed. The monsters out here were a bit of a challenge. The last babi ngepit he had met, alone by itself, had nearly destroyed the tree it had impacted when Arthur had led it to charge him. Only Focused Strikes had worked to kill it, and the ending of the battle had left Arthur panting, exhausted and sweaty.

On the other hand, each crystal was worth so much more. And just as intriguingly, he had found more signs of the mystery cultivator as they had travelled deeper into the mountains as he followed along in the last two weeks. Stories of finding hidden cultivation caves and secret manuals had driven Arthur along, but now the danger of continuing was growing.

For a long second, he waited, debating one way or the other. Then, glancing up at the sky, he nodded to himself. It was the afternoon now, he was closer to where the cultivator had likely built his abode for this evening if he went forwards rather than back.

He would take rest there, and then perhaps even stay long enough to finish off the monster cores he held. After which, he would return to a less dangerous area.

Nodding to himself, Arthur returned to the deer trail he had been on and started walking, keeping a wary eye out for additional problems.

***

“Good luck or bad?” Arthur could not help but wonder out loud as he bent over the remains of the corpse. He had caught a glimpse of metal as he had walked and crept forward, only to be confronted by the torn remnants of the cultivator. Bones had been stripped clean by scavengers, portions of it pulled away or gnawed upon. Only the belt buckle and the ripped backpack lay testament to his death.

“Don’t mind me, you don’t need these, right?” He muttered to the corpse, as he pulled at the broken backpack to poke within. Most of the clothing and other sundry goods had been scattered or tarnished, though he did pick out the eating utensils, a knife and compass from within.

To Arthur’s greatest surprise, there was also a manual lying there, untouched by the dirt. Magic must have kept it pristine, though the fact that he could open and read it meant it was not a manual purchased at the Tower Store.

“Good thing I guess?” Arthur mused. “Then again, untested cultivation exercises can also be pretty… well… lousy.”

On the other hand… “Beggers can’t be choosers.”

He slipped the manual away first, before taking a longer walk around. Food, drink, all those were spoiled or tossed aside. Clothing was no use to Arthur, though the first aid pack had some bandages and basic items he could scavenge. However, one rather important thing was missing…

“Pantak busuk!” Cursing, Arthur spotted not what he was looking for but something he had hoped to find since he saw the corpse and the first pill bottle. But the creatures that had killed him had torn open the bag, shattering the pill bottles within and consumed them all.

Not willing to give up, he bent down and started digging around the dirt, moving away glass shards. After all, pigs or tigers or cats, it didn’t matter – they had no fingers for delicate work.

Fingers pushed aside earth and leaves, eyes squinting low. It was, to his surprise, not the area around the glass that gave him what he needed; but underneath a tree root a short distance away. Something glinted, revealed as he swept the ground before him, a little bit of dirt knocked aside.

Turning his head more fully, Arthur squinted, the outline of a pill bottle – one so small that it could only contain a single item was revealed. Fingers scrabbled and he gently extracted it, the noise of a single pill rolling within making him grin.

However, he did not open the pill yet. Cognizant of potential trouble and seeing nothing else in the vicinity, Arthur made a circle of the surrounding area. He finally found what he had been looking for, a short distance from the body.

Sword and sheath, the weapon half-drawn. Soil, moisture and rain had marred the half-drawn steel and even a quick cleaning was not going to fix the problem. Still, attaching the sling and sheath to his backpack and sheathing it firmly, Arthur chose to take it.

A free weapon was free.

Then, looking around, he turned right around and chose to leave. Whatever had killed the other cultivator, he definitely did not want to meet it.