“I am here to offer a truce, your grace, a Wilderness Zone in exchange for a three-month relief from taxes for my clan while we work to…limit our expenditure.” the City Lord said.

And what exactly was this Wilderness Zone that he was talking about?

“And what is this Wilderness Zone, City Lord, that it is worth more than three months of your taxes.” I asked.

The City Lord looked surprised by my answer, saying, “Ah, I am sorry, your grace, I presumed you knew about them… The Zones, your grace, are areas within the wilderness occupied by powerful beasts. Long ago, the Clans divide them among themselves. My Clan has two.” the City Lord replied.

“I see, so you are offering me the lair of a powerful beast in exchange for three months of taxes.” I said as I began walking in the city gate’s direction. Standing around in full view from the road was awkward. Walking? Less so.

“Ah, not quite, your grace,”- the City Lord moved to follow- “As you know, hunting higher level beasts is the only real way for the Commoner seed or the Soldier seed to level, but doing so is sadly not easy. The training zones are places where the beasts hunt. Though the beast often did just eat its prey, sometimes it would even leave a wounded foe around. Those are what we use to level” the City Lord answered.

So their seeds were Commoner and Soldier? Good to know. “That is quite informative, but can you tell me how these areas are useful to me? I have little need for that. Aswelth can injure the beasts for me if needed, and I don’t have any particular need for beasts.” I replied.

“But the children may, your grace, though it is impossible to tell before they germinated their seeds, I suspect that most, if not all, of them will be commoners of some kind.” the City Lord said.

Ah, misinformation…the classic control tactic. What was normal back in the capital of the Kingdom was held as impossible here. It did explain how Kerrin had gone under the radar for so long with his weird seed.

“I see… I fear that I will not be confirming any deal at the moment. The deal shall have to wait for after I return from the trip. It should be a few hours at most, but you never know in the wilderness.” I replied, the only thing I could see that would be gained by accepting this deal was the lowering of tensions between me and the Clans.

By this time we had arrived at the gate, the children having somehow arrived there before us. Was this where they had gone?

“I think, City Lord, this is where we part. I shall have an answer for you when I return.” I said as I went to join the…what did I decide on calling them? Housemates. Yes, I went to join my housemates.

The City Lord nodded and then sped off, presumably back to the City Hall.

“So, excited about the trip?” I asked, turning to the…housemates.

“Yes, your grace, we are very happy to be given the opportunity to cultivate. But um, could you please tell us how it works. I fear we are…not very informed on that.” Viona said as my housemates all nodded. Was this an ambush? No, they weren’t aggressive enough for that, it was a power in numbers thing, wasn’t it?

“Yes, I did plan to, but I think someone is better suited to explain it.” I replied, looking at Aswelth who had been silent the whole time we travelled here.

Aswelth looked positively miffed at the prospect but complied.

“Very well, your grace, it shall be done. But perhaps we shall do it on the way? It would be best if “- Aswelth looked at the people milling about in the city pointedly- “people didn’t overhear.” he finished.

“Very well” I replied

The group moved out into the Wilderness, back in the same direction we came in. After we had crossed some distance, Aswelth began explaining.

“In cultivation, the first, and most important thing is the Seed. Every person is born with one. But most only have subpar quality seeds, seeds like commoner and soldier. These will still allow you to cultivate, but won’t make it particularly easy.”

“Now each person may cultivate only a single seed at once. Why do I say it at once? Because, people with more than one seed can donate seeds to others. The seeds can then replace the old one. According to research, about 70% of a person's Qi can be transferred in such a case. Since most of the time, the receivers are already at an unbreakable bottleneck, this is not a problem.”

“Seeds can also be received from the recently deceased, the conversion rate however is between 30-50%, making it a less favored method reserved for the desperate. Then we come to the elements.”

“Elements are the very core of your power. There are five main elements. Fire.”

Aswelth let a small string of fire twirl around his finger, letting it glow in various colours.

“Water”

The fire was replaced by the water, glowing drops twirling around making random shapes. Granted, my housemates did seem to find the theatrics more interesting than the initial lecture.

“Air”

A gust of wind blew, making strange noises and playing with my hair. My poor hair, it did not deserve to be ruined.

“Earth”

Rocky formations jutted upward from the ground, shiny ones, of course.

“Lightning”

Electricity crackled in the sky, falling down to burn a tree to dust.

“Every person is born with at least one of these attuned, some with two”- Aswelth looked at me pointedly- “But everyone gains access to all five when the cross to Plant level, though their natural affinities always remain the strongest ones.”

“Now there are subsets to these elements that vary based on your personality, but each subset is unique, and you shall have to discover yours yourself. Besides, the hoard of Lightning snakes that are coming look like hopeful targets.” Aswelth finished.

Aswelth waived his hand, tearing trees away to reveal a bunch of slithery creatures. But I wouldn’t call them snakes, more like someone stuck a frog eye on an electric rope, and it came alive.

“So, would any of you like to try?” Aswelth asked, looking at my housemates.

To their defense, they didn’t seem very frightened. I suppose dealing with life and death was an everyday matter for them.

“I’ll go first, as her grace’s retainer it is my duty” Kerrin said, stepping forward.

Oops. I had completely forgotten the MC, hadn’t I? But what was with him? Even if he hadn’t awoken yet, he ought to be more of a standout, right? Not the quite meek thing that hadn’t even asked me what a retainer was.

Or…it was the calm before the storm. Oh no, didn’t the MC awaken in a few days from now in the book? Not even a few days…tomorrow. Oh no, the same guy that had just volunteered to be the first to level up was supposed to awaken soon.

I needed a plan. Stopping the MC from leveling up was foolhardy. MCs had plot armor, they would level up no matter what. But one could help them. Guess I was going to help? I didn’t have another plan anyway.

“Very well, but be careful, your life comes first. “ I said, “If you can’t deal with it then call for help, someone will help.”

“Yes, your grace.” Kerrin replied, not looking at me as he walked toward the ‘snakes’.

Kerrin

Kerrin felt ashamed. When the Archduchess had called to recruit Viona and him, he’d presumed he was trading one tyrant for another. Even now, he wasn’t sure it wasn’t the case. The Archduchess, for all her apparent kindness, had barely spoken a word to him.

The only time she had really spoken to him was when she made him her retainer. And that was another thing entirely, it would be an understatement that he was surprised to be a retainer. Kerrin was poor, not dumb, he knew what being a retainer meant.

Retainers were called ‘nobles in training’ by the people, any of the Clans would gladly give away all of their wealth to give one of their heirs even a chance at being a retainer. And the Archduchess had just given it to him. In a second, a life of misery and abuse was replaced by one of hope and luxury because an Archduchess decided to say a few words.

But Kerrin also remembered what she had said with them-That he was in charge. And yet he had never taken charge, he would like to deny it,, but the truth was that Viona intimidated him. Viona was always the best at everything, the best of the handmaidens, a wonderful cook and someone that was natural at leadership.

And he was bad at everything, preferred to not talk to anyone, and no one ever listened to him. Not only that, but the Archduchess knew it. Life comes First. Didn’t that mean that she wasn’t confident that he would beat what was a small, weak beast?

No, he wouldn’t fail now. Not today, he would show them all. Kerrin may be weak, but he wasn’t useless.

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name) (landed)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (Seedling-Mid(149.95/150)), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

9

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

13

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

11

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

9

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

12

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

13

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

14

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

13

Retainers

Kerrin

No cultivation. Nascent Unknown Constitution