The next day, Kyril woke up before the sun had risen - a habit he picked up from his previous life. After fixing up his clothes, he took a small handful of dried yellow grass and crushed them before mixing them with water to form the thick soup he usually ate.

Last night, after obtaining the six copper coins from Zalea, he directly exchanged all the copper coins for two handfuls of dried yellow grass and three earth nuts.

Five minutes later, Kyril finished the soup and headed outside to the back of his shack with the metal pail in his hands. Flipping the metal pail upside-down, Kyril sat on it and stared into the vast blue sky.

“The importance of power… If I want to achieve my goal of understanding the universe, then I need to survive in this world…” Kyril said quietly.

Reclining back a little, Kyril recalled what had happened last night and how we was close to being severely injured by Alek.

“If it weren’t for Zalea protecting me, my lack of power would have sent me straight back to my grave,” Kyril said with a sigh, “if I want to survive I need to somehow become stronger.”

Kyril closed his eyes and folded his arms.

“Back on earth, the most obvious meaning of power was by having high personal strength. But there are also many other meanings. One can obtain power from being extremely wealthy or by connections with a vast number of people…”

However thinking of money and connections, Kyril quickly dispelled this thought. Kyril did not want to survive off of having an abundance of materialistic items, but even if he did, Kyril did not have the means to gather enough money. Similarly, Kyril knew that forming a vast network of connections with other people was but a dream. With his body crippled, there would not be many people who would lend helping hands to him.

“I guess the only way I can survive is by finding out a way to fix my crippled body.”

Previously, Kyril did not think too much of not being able to cultivate, although he was saddened by it a little, he saw it as something he didn’t need. He survived on earth without cultivating, why should it be different here?

But that was just wishful thinking.

Kyril had only known the power of Practitioners through words. He had never actually seen any demonstration of the power of Practitioners in person, and when he eventually experienced it first hand last night, it forced him to broadened his outlook on the world.

“I’ve been too naive. In the Hundred Sky World, cultivation is basically synonymous with survival. If I want to survive, I need to find a way to fix my crippled body quickly,” Kyril said as he opened his eyes and unfolded his arms.

Kyril picked up the pail from the ground, which left a circular imprint on the ground, and headed off into the street of Vale Town. Since it was still early morning, it was still a bit cold from the night. Despite this, around the streets, men and women were coming in and out of their stores, setting up stalls in the front to prepare for the day to come. Occasionally children were helping as well.

“First, I need to go to the library. Before picking up herbs again, I need to know where to find them, otherwise I would end up just wasting my time unknowingly looking at places where herbs can’t grow,” Kyril said, “I might also be able to find something about my body.”

Around twenty metres in front of Kyril, there stood a building that was bigger than most of the other houses around it and was located between the houses of the wealthy people and commoners’ houses. The library was a building that was decorated like the wealthy houses around it. It had designs carved into the stone pillars that supported it and a door that appeared impenetrable, yet despite the design, it still gave out the air of a humble man.

It was a rule set by the Town Head that the library was open to all people and that any form of discrimination was banned within the library. The library was a place of knowledge, banning people people from entering it just because of status would be the equivalent of preventing someone from learning. This would be extremely shameful!

Because of this, Kyril viewed the Town Head in a new light. Kyril held the same view as the Town Head. Even on earth, there were not many people who valued learning as much as Kyril did.

When Kyril arrived in front of the library door, two guards dressed in pads of leather armour blocked Kyril from entering. Looking at these guards, Kyril felt a pressure coming down on his body. The guards stood firm and straight, as if a pole was stuck to their backs, with arms that were exposed and looked almost as thick as Kyril's thigh!

“If you want to enter the library hand over the metal pail!” the guard to the left said with an imposing manner.

Furrowing his brows, Kyril looked at the guard with a confused face, but didn’t say anything.

“Kid, don’t you know the rules? Anything that can carry items are forbidden in the library. Weapons are also forbidden!” the guard to the left said, slightly annoyed.

“Hey, relax,” the guard to the right said to his partner, “I haven’t seen this kid before so he probably doesn’t know the existence of the rules never mind knowing what they are.”

Both guards then looked at Kyril. The guard to the right said, “Kid, the reason why we take those items is to prevent anyone from hiddenly stealing books from the library. As for weapons, it’s obvious. Sometimes youngsters would end up arguing over Martial Scrolls which would lead to disputes. We don’t want anything serious happening in the library.”

“Martial Scrolls…” thought Kyril.

From his memories, Kyril knew that Martial Scrolls contained techniques used by Practitioners. To Practitioners, Martial Scrolls were extremely important. It not only provided ways for Practitioners to use their strength, but also acted as a guide to help them cultivate.

Kyril gave the metal pail to the guards and then took out the rusted knife out of his inner pocket. When the guards saw the rusted knife, they both raised an eyebrow. Kyril noticed this, but as he was already expecting it, his mood didn't fluctuate. Furthermore, he has already seen all the reactions of others towards him so he was practically numb to it all.

The guards took another look at Kyril and saw just how poorly dressed he was. Only then did they realise who this boy in front of them was, but they said nothing of it.

The two guards pushed the door open. Veins appeared on their thigh thick arms. Just from seeing this Kyril was able to get an idea of how heavy this door was. It might be as heavy as an elephant!

“You may enter. When you're done you can collect your things from us,” said the guard as he gestured his hand to point at Kyril's belongings.

The guard continued, “And since this is your first time in the library, I'll explain it's layout. There are five floors in the library. The first three floors are open to everyone and only contain general knowledge books. The fourth and fifth floor are open to only those who have passed the Cultivation Admission Test. The fourth floor contains basic Martial Scrolls while the fifth floor has advanced Martial Scrolls. There is an additional test required to enter the fifth floor. This is to stop overly confident youngsters from wasting their time by overreaching themselves.”

Kyril nodded at the guard’s explanation and then walked into the library. With regards to the Cultivation Admission Test, Kyril did not bother with it for now. He wanted to be able to cultivate first before taking any sort of test.

The first thing Kyril wanted to find was information about herbs. He followed the labels on the shelves which led him to the second floor where he finally found several books about herbs.

Taking the first book, titled ‘General Information of Herbs,’ Kyril began reading through it. There was an obvious excitement in his eyes.

“Herbs, unlike other types of plants, are a type of plant that survives by absorbing Martial Essence. By absorbing Martial Essence, herbs are able to live longer and may also develop the ability to move on it's own. Upon further growth, herbs may be used to help Practitioners cultivate or to treat injuries for faster healing…

Compounded herbs. Several herbs can be mixed together to create a single herb which has higher quality effects than normal herbs. Compounded herbs do not appear in nature and so it has to be specially made by alchemists. However there are risks of creating a compounded herb. If done incorrectly, the final result may end up being worse than its ingredients…

Grades. Herbs and compounded herbs are classified into different grades based on the quality and amount of Martial Essence the herb has absorbed. For compounded herbs, it is based on the amount of martial essence the compounded herb has in it. There are only two grades of herbs: gradeless and Earth grade. Herbs with no grade have not absorbed enough Martial Essence to form crystals beneficial for Practitioners, they can only be used to treat minor wounds. Earth grade herbs are able to aid cultivation and treat deeper wounds, but are very rare to find. Grades are further split into three different levels: low, medium, and high…”

Kyril’s eyes were glued to the book and every single word was read by him. It was as if missing a word would cause him to lose his life.

…

In a large room that was filled with gold and silver decorations, two boys were kneeling on their knees in front of another boy of similar age.

“Alek and Silas… You're telling me that that cripple was able to pick up herbs even though there were twelve of you who scavenged the Mountains for herbs?” the boy asked as he twisted a bronze ring on his finger.

“Ye-Yes boss,” Silas stuttered, “But it wasn't that we weren't able to pick up all the herbs, it was just that Kyril had gone deeper than we expected…”

“Oh?” the boy raised an eyebrow, “how deep?”

“Two hundred metres boss…” Silas said.

“Two hundred metres?” the boy furrowed his brows, “before he goes to pick up any herbs, go and gather all the herbs within two hundred metres. This time take fifteen people with you.”

“Yes, boss!” Alek and Silas said together and then rushed out of the room.

Back in the room, the boy stayed standing and watched Alek and Silas rushing from the window. The boy's face gradually distorted and his fists clenched. A faint grinding sound filled the room.

“Kyril… I really don't know what Airyn sees in you, but I'll make sure she never sees you again…”

…

In the library, a pile of six books were stacked neatly on top of each other.

“I’ve really made the right decision to come here. With the information I’ve gathered from these six books, I should be able to manage to gather around ten herbs. If I’m lucky, I might be able to gather more! Other than that, I’ve also been able to learn more about this world. Before, I thought that this world was similar in size to earth, but now I know that it’s actually a hundred times bigger!” said Kyril.

Picking up the books, Kyril put them back into their respective shelves.

“Today has really been an eye opener for me…” Kyril said with a smile.

After putting the books back, Kyril went to collect his belongings from the two guards

“Kid, you’ve finally come out. There’s never been anyone your age stay in the library for as long as you did! You’d only see those old bag of bones staying in the library for several hours. If you came out any sooner, we would have thought you’d fallen asleep!” The guard to the right said.

“Haha…” Kyril laughed and rubbed the back of his head. Seeing these guards’ reactions made him feel quite amused because in reality, he actually was one of those ‘old bag of bones!’

“Alright kid,” the guard to the right said, “here’s your stuff. Next time you come here, you know what to do.”

The guards handed Kyril his belongings and after expressing his thanks, Kyril walked away from the library and began heading for the Grassy Mountains.

“It’s already past noon, so if I start picking up herbs now, I should be able to finish by sundown.” Kyril said to himself. He was looking forward to the number of herbs he was going to gather.

However, as he entered the Grassy Mountains, in the distance he noticed almost twenty people rushing back and forth. And upon closer inspection, Kyril knew who these people were.

“Alek and Silas again… And they’ve brought more people with them, there’s a total of seventeen of them. Moreover, it looks like they’re going deeper into the Grassy Mountains as well. They must have found out that I went deeper into the mountains yesterday in order to gather herbs. I may have to go deeper into the Grassy Mountains now if I want to gather herbs without being discovered,” Kyril said as he furrowed his brows, “but if I go in too deep, I may encounter a wild beast…”

From the new information he picked up in the library, Kyril knew that if one went too deep into the Grassy Mountains, they would mostly encounter wild beasts and perhaps even magical beasts. According to the books that he read, wild beasts were beasts that could not cultivate. Magical beasts on the other hand were beasts capable of cultivating just like Practitioners.

“If I analogise it, then wild beasts are like the wolves and tigers of earth, while magical beasts are like dragons and mythical creatures. If I were to accidentally encounter a wild beast, then there’s some hope of running away and even possibly injuring it. At least wild beasts have regular bodies. But I were to encounter a magical beast, then I’m dead for sure. With their bodies being as hard as steel, I’ve got no hope. Luckily Magical Beasts only appear roughly after five hundred metres so I should be safe by two hundred metres if I enter three hundred metres in.” said Kyril.

With light steps to make as little sound as possible, Kyril started running in between the trees to hide himself from Alek and Silas. During his run, he was listening in on the barely audible conversations between the several boys in the distance.

“Alek and Silas are making us go deeper into the Grassy Mountains, don’t they know that there’s been rumours of a beast roaming around these parts of the Grassy Mountains.”

“Mmm… We don’t even know if it is a magical beast or not! Hopefully it’s just a wild beast, but if it’s a magical beast then how can we deal with it? We might end up dying!” one of the boys shouted.

“Beast?”

Kyril stopped running. He looked into the distance with a complicated look.

“If there really is a beast, then today is going to be quite difficult…” thought Kyril.

“Hey!” Kyril saw Alek pointing at the several boys who were talking, “Stop talking and get moving!”

As if a cold bucket of water was poured over them, the group of boys immediately started running in all directions, some even ran towards the direction of Kyril.

Seeing this, Kyril immediately started running as lightly as possible again between the trees.

After around ten minutes of running, Kyril finally was able to reach a safe distance of about three hundred metres away from Alek and Silas.

At the three hundred metres mark, the number of trees started increasing, making the ground somewhat dark by blocking the sunlight. The colour of the grass also changed from a light green to a dark, almost black green colour.

Changing to a walking pace, Kyril began treading carefully. Due to the rumours of the beast, Kyril made sure to stay vigilant of his surroundings.

As he walked, Kyril remembered what he read in the library.

“According to the books, the deeper one goes into the Grassy Mountains the more herbs they’d find. It also said that more herbs are found in areas where there are lots of plants surrounding it since herbs tend to also absorb the innate martial essence from other plants,” Kyril said to himself, “in that case, then I’ll have to look for concentrated areas of plants.”

Walking for a few breaths of time, Kyril saw an unusual amount of trees gathered together. But unlike the healthy trees that were a few metres away from the gathered trees, the gathered trees’ leaves were slightly yellow and one by one fell to the ground. Kyril instantly realized this as a sign for a growing herb.

“There must be a herb growing somewhere here!”

Once again, Kyril ran towards the gathering trees and just like he expected, a sparkling herb much brighter than those he previously found appeared.

“Such a pure glow…” Kyril said, but as he looked closer his eyes suddenly widened.

“This… This is an Earth Grade Low Quality herb!”

Kyril’s body trembled. Unlike gradeless herbs Earth Grade herbs were purer and had richer Martial Essence within the crystals. Kyril never had the chance to obtain an Earth Grade herbs ever in his life. They were just too rare!

“Earth Grade herb can aid cultivation… Perhaps with this I can fix my crippled body!” Kyril said. A surge of excitement rushed through his body.

But before Kyril approached the herb, a vicious growl resounded in the air.

Growl!

Kyril’s pupil shrank to the size of a pinhead as he looked at the source of the sound.

thump thump thump!

Kyril’s heartbeat became erratic. A sense of urgency rushed through his veins.

“There really is a beast roaming around!”

- END -

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