The road was bustling with activity, and both sides were cramped with people. Hundreds of faces past, and most were unremarkable commoners, in the low Nascent stages. A few low True levels here and there, but experts are fairly rare. One young man especially stood out on the road. He was around 1.5 meters, but one couldn’t make out much more than a little bit of hair that peeked out of his hood, flowing a crisp brown.

The young man’s hood was attached to a long coat, which was left unzipped. He had pants, which were stretchable, but tight enough to not get in the way. The shirt was the same. Both were a medium brown, the color of wood almost. The coat itself was made of an animal's leather, and could warm him or cool him depending on how he made the ki flow.

The young man was Audun of course, whose leaps in cultivation allowed his body to begin reaching maturity at a younger age. Only a year and a half had passed, and he was only twelve yet if one took a close look, they would see he was young. With his face hidden, he could masquerade as a young man.

He paid extra attention to the voices around him, attempting to pick up on where he was headed, and some local news. His first objective was to take on the bandit that devastated his cultivation, but that would take a whole new set of skills.

Listening to idle conversation allowed him to learn that the town he was going to was a small merchant town, one that had coincidentally been having bandit problems. Avera. It seemed that this was where Audun’s next step was.

There wasn’t much of a transition between the road and the town, before now there was never a need for a wall or any kind of checkpoint, so the town just slowly built up, with buildings appearing closer and closer together. The building’s quality increased the closer you got to town, from wood and mud into solid stone. The look of most the buildings were very plain, showing that even though local experts cared enough to create a solid foundation and maintain it, they were not doing it for favors.

Audun figured that he had gone far enough to have left Baste territory, the meadow had already been fairly close to a border, but he knew nothing about the more chaotic southern region he was in. He had been deemed non important before he was given this knowledge. Deciding to fix his ignorance, he walked towards a building that bustled with life, and the doors left wide open. The smell of drink leaked out, and the wooden sign above had the words ’Avera’s Tavern’ painted across.

A rare smile touched his face, all the stories that he had read had heros finding out more information about their quests from taverns. He began to walk towards it when he saw some fairly haughty looking men with a mid True rank cultivation begin to bully a young girl of about 16. Audun paused a moment, gathering information on what was going on.

“Now little miss, I heard what you did to poor old Natsu. That little Nascent bugger can be troublesome, but there was no need to leave him of his manhood.” The lead of the men was a medium height, with a slight muscular build. He had a handsome face, albeit it had a hinge of gruffness. He had on a loose fitting cloth top without sleeves, and light black pants with open toed shoes.

“Well Natsu should learn to keep his hand off people to tell him to get away, especially people who are obviously stronger. I would advise you learn from him.” The girl herself was completely different than the noble and girls Audun was used too, she was dressed in men's clothing. She wore a shirt that she must have half made herslef. It was light blue, and clashed with her green shorts that extended to her knees. Her long, black, wavy hair was kept tamed by a knot used to keep it in a pony tail. She was around Audun’s height, and he could clearly see her bright green eyes.

“I was going to keep this nice and civil, but now I have to teach you a lesso…” Mid sentence, the girl lashed out, and punched him. Yet, when the punch landed, it appeared light as a feather. Her cultivation base went out in waves, being of the ninth stage in the true realm. Audun found himself impressed, and somewhat taken by her looks.

Although it was clear she needed no help, he decided to show off a bit. With a special footwork movement, he was almost instantly upon the second strongest of the bunch, finishing him with a tap to the pressure point on the back of the neck. Turning, Audun launched a kick to the last man’s throat. From the way the man crumpled, he appeared to be dead. A tinge of sadness and guilt hit him.

“Let's get away from here, wouldn’t want to cause too much of a scene.” Without hesitation, he walked into the loud tavern. It was a bustling place, with characters of all walks of life in every corner. Audun looked around, feeling a sense of adventure hit him, before he found his way to a somewhat private corner.

“I wasn’t in need of any help you know.” Her lavish scent made her all the more appealing to him, reaching over the rough smell of alcohol.

“I know you weren’t, but seeing people act so arrogantly without the ability to back it up, I couldn’t help myself. Plus, I thought maybe I could convince you to help me gather some information.”

“You presume much, stranger whose name I do not even know.”

“Call me Arimasen.” He didn’t want his true existence to be commonly known. Amstria had many powers who worshipped the heaven as sacred, and those powers would crush him into nothingness if they knew who he was.

“Hmph, you are a forsaken one then. And you would think that someone of my stature, that Avari Joka would deal with a forsaken.”

Audun’s eyes widened, she was a core member of the Joka clan, a clan of legendary Wind cultivators. They were backed by two peak level saint cultivators, with an elite guard of fifty sky level experts each. They were one of the strongest clans in the land, second only in power to the Sero clan of light cultivators. Who would’ve thought their influence would expand up through the chaotic southern lands.

More pressingly, the oppressive Church of Heavens held a huge amount of influence in the Joka Clan. Audun felt eternally grateful that he had the foresight not to reveal himself. He was sure his clan would not give out what truly happened to their prodigy child, but all information could be bought.

“I hoped a noble would be willing to help people in need! Especially someone willing to help them!”

At first, Avari’s brow furrowed in confusion, before she bursted out into laughter. A sweet laughter, that annoyed Audun to his core.

“Why are you laughing at me!"

“It’s just, you are so childish. I can’t believe that someone like you is at the peak true level, when you act as a ten year old.”

“I’M ACTUALLY 12, ALMOST THIRTEEN!” Oh no, that wasn’t supposed to come out.

“Wha… What, there's no way… Even I… A genius born at the almost peak of the Nascent realm… Needed 16 years to reach the ninth rank.” Audun sensed out around, making sure his outburst wasn’t noticed. When it appeared no one else noticed, he prepared on how to deal with this gorgeous lady. What if he had to…. kill her?

He let out a nervous laugh. “I was born at the peak of the Nascent realm at birth, a step away from the True realm. With the help of some special items from my family, I was able to reach such a level at this young age.”

“But then why would you be Arimasen. Furthermore, why would a genius such as yourself be named such a despicable thing.”

Oh no, how could he explain that. “Well, uhm… M.. My family was killed by bandits early in the year, and my clan wouldn’t take action. So I forsook myself.” He let himself feel some of the feelings he had been keeping within himself, as to make it more believable. His whole story was not a lie.

“I’m sorry for your loss, but what clan would be so weak and despicable as to turn their back onto a genius such as yourself?” She knew she had to bring this young man to her side. A genius such as him will no doubt reach the Sky level, maybe even the Saint level! It was only a matter of time and resources.

Audun thought for a moment, the Baste and Joka clan were enemies since that dispute ten thousand years ago. He could use them, if he showed them his unrivaled talent. It wouldn’t take much persuading. But he still felt a longing, a hollow love for his clan. Yet, he could still talk his way in, and maybe even help his clan see the error of their ways.

“It’s a small southern land clan, the Jeronka’s. Our elder was only a middling Sky expert, but he had enough connections to provide me with decent cultivation methods. Not nearly as good as the training you must have received though.”

Avari smirked inwardly, she had him hooked. “While I undoubtedly had better training than a small clan such as yourself could offer, you too could have the same training, if you join us.”

Audun almost jumped with joy. He could join a powerful clan, and receive their techniques. Maybe even have the resources to discover what he truly was. He would have to be careful, sure, but this was an opportunity he wouldn't deny. But their was still the bandit matter.

“I would love to join Miss’s clan, but unfortunately, I don’t know about your clans temperament. From what I’ve seen, you are not too disposed to helping those in need.”

“No, no, no. That was merely a misunderstanding, I would have no problem helping you in your task.”

“Oh miss, you are too kind. If your whole clan is as helpful, I can join with no qualms. All I need is to be told where the bandits who attack this town hide, and some help in defeating them.”

“You ask for…”

An old man bursted through the door of the tavern, looking haggard and scared. “The bandits are here! You must all flee!”

“Well miss, looks like our first issue is solved. Let’s go greet those no good ne’er do wells!” Running straight outside, Avari was left to gape in his wake.

"This surely is a strange child," she muttered to herself. She had always acted with caution and the utmost care, yet she just ran after him, not even thinking twice.