Mardōk

'Well, should I start?' Alonn thought as he sat on the floor in the center of the garden.

According to the first book, to begin cultivation the practitioner needs to be in a place with spiritual qi in order to be able to absorb it through special breathing techniques.

Alonn recently learned that spiritual qi has returned to the world, but he does not know if it is already present everywhere.

Closing his eyes, Alonn began to control his own breathing in meditation

Normally, the practitioner needs to practice the body and mind before starting to absorb spiritual qi, but due to the routine of the past year, Alonn thought he could do this directly. The technique taught by Ronn involves meditation, internal control and physical movements.

As a matter of fact, the breathing technique to absorb spiritual qi is not very special. You just need to hold the air inside your lungs for as long as possible and exhale naturally. The secret of the technique is that you need to be aware of the presence of spiritual qi, only then will someone be able to perceive the changes taking place within one's body.

But how hard is it to believe in something that you can't feel or see? This is the first challenge for a cultivator, more specifically for one who has never seen others cultivators or spiritual beings before.

Alonn has only two advantages, the fact that he attended the Elders meeting and witnessed the announcement himself as well as watching seven books and a letter magically turning to ashes.

These events, as well as the disappearance of his parents, made him tend to believe in the existence of Spiritual Qi.

But the reality is much more cruel than any fantasy books. Alonn spent several days trying to feel some change within himself, but he was never successful. No matter how hard he tried, the only thing he felt in the middle of the meditation was the air coming in and out.

"Damn... I've been doing everything as the book described, why am I failing?" after one more attempt, Alonn murmured. Perhaps the place where he was practicing had no spiritual qi?

Looking up at the sky, Alonn realized that the sun was already setting. Suddenly, he remembered something he read in the second book.

Even in places with low levels of Spiritual Qi, sunrise and sunset are phenomena that generally stimulate the generation of spiritual qi between heaven and earth.

But he has already practiced during both and has not felt any changes. Perhaps the problem is really in the place where he has been practicing.

'Stopping to think, if spiritual qi has only recently returned to the world, it's more than normal that it is not evenly distributed throughout the world.'

But if that is really the case, how can Alonn cultivate? How can he discover a place with spiritual qi?

At that moment, Alonn remembered an important piece of information. The spiritual beast was located in the dwarf kingdom, right? This means that there is a great possibility that there's spiritual qi in that region.

"It looks like I'm going to have to leave my home for a while... This is going to be my first time going out of the republic," Alonn murmured and started to prepare for the journey.

First of all, he needs to apply for a temporary leave of absence from work, he achieved it after arguing with his immediate superior for several hours.

As a price, Alonn won't receive wages for the next three months, and he must return to work as soon as the temporary leave period expires.

Fortunately for Alonn, he had saved quite a bit of money during the year. So he won't have to worry about running out of food.

Since the currency of the republic is the most valued among the three races, going to the dwarf kingdom will probably be very carefree.

After packing some clothes in a suitcase, Alonn left the house in the direction of a travel agency.

There are several travel agencies throughout the capital, but the one with the best reputation is undoubtedly Star Travel.

Although the travels of this agency are a little more expensive, the safety and comfort of the carriages are undoubtedly the best among the competitors. In addition, several security guards escort the entire caravan to ensure the safety of customers.

After paying a few silver coins, Alonn easily got a ticket in one of the carriages.

"Here we go!" the coachman shouted.

For the first time, Alonn would leave the comfort of the shadows of the forest to a world unknown to him.

The journey from the capital Fjörd to the capital of the dwarf kingdom, Mardōk, takes a three-day carriage ride, which is fast due to the good roads built and the proximity between them.

A journey from Fjörd to the capital of the human kingdom would take more than two weeks, even with the good roads.

Accompanying Alonn in the carriage were two dwarves in heavy armor and a blond elf with a bow.

From what they were equipped, Alonn thought they might be adventurers.

The dwarves noticed Alonn's vision and smiled widely.

"Boy, you smell like milk. What do you plan to do in the glorious dwarf kingdom?" one of them asked.

"...Hunt a spiritual beast," Alonn said casually.

"Hahaha, but what a bad sense of humor you have. With your current gear I believe you are just an ordinary person who has never fought a life and death battle."

Hearing this, Alonn frowned. This is why elves normally hate dwarves, these small, brute beings like to meddle in other people's affairs and tease others.

Suddenly, the blond elf in the carriage threatened, "Shut up, dwarves. I don't want to spend the whole trip listening to your stupid voice."

"Hah!? The hell do you think you weight? Do you think that just because you know some tricks with a bow you can talk to me like that?" the dwarves were visibly irritated.

Seeing that his fellow travelers began to argue almost mortally, Alonn sighed and looked out of the trip.

"This is going to be a long trip," he murmured.

After two days of travel, the caravan finally left the territory of the republic and entered the dwarf territory.

When night came, the caravan decided to take a short rest break in a small village on the way.

"Hey black elf, do you want some Rok?" Ugly Ox, one of the two dwarves, asked Alonn.

"No, it is stupid to drink on a trip with strangers," Alonn answered directly.

"Hah!? But I thought we were already friends!" Ugly Ox exclaimed.

"Ugly Ox, stop irritating the child who stinks of milk. See that? The bow elf is already fully drunk. Let's steal some of his arrows while he's not seeing!" Ugly Bull, which is the other dwarf, said while pointing at the drunken blond elf.

While the dwarves were having fun, Alonn began to meditate in a corner near the caravan.

While trying to feel some internal change, Alonn also paid some attention to the surroundings, for fear of being robbed by some bandit.

Unfortunately for him, no matter how hard he tries, he doesn't get any results.

"Why is it so hard? Has spiritual qi really returned to the world?" Alonn began to question the existence of spiritual qi.

The journey continued after the break was over, and after a day's journey the caravan arrived in the dwarf capital, Mardōk.

Looking out the window, Alonn was astonished to see the immense defensive wall more than a hundred meters high and wondered how the dwarves managed to build something like this.

The wall protect the entire capital, and even cross the great river that cuts the city in two.

At the top of the wall, there were several pillars that seemed to try to reach the sky and held fire bowls on their tops.

The smoke from the bowls formed a circular smoke corridor across the sky, giving an imposing appearance to the entire capital along with the wall.

After undergoing a brief inspection, the caravan passed through the wall through its huge steel gate.

The interior of the city is even more imposing than the walls, with large ancient temples, buildings of all kinds and even imense sacred pyramids. For some reason, there were fire bowls like those in the wall in all temples.

The temples are built with several monumental pillars supporting the stone roof. And there are many statues and drawings of gods within them.

"Wow..." Alonn was charmed by seeing the interior of the capital, everything was so different from Fjörd.

"Hahaha, do you see it? Arrogant elves. This is our capital!" Ugly Ox shouted and jumped out of the carriage along with Ugly Bull, disappearing quickly among the crowd of dwarves on the street.

"Hmph!" the blond elf didn't seem surprised by the scenery, and he jumped out of the carriage without even saying a word.

After the carriage where Alonn stopped on a square with the rest of the caravan, Alonn got out and said goodbye to the coachman.

"I'm selling a pair of new, superior quality elf daggers!"

"I'm selling two golden chickens from the elden forest."

"I'm selling medicinal pills made by a great human alchemist!"

"Hey, you! Come here in this corner, I have something interesting that I'm sure you will like," a suspicious man in an alley seemed to be calling a young man.

While walking through the busy streets of Mardōk, Alonn saw many new and interesting things.

The food sold is more or less the same as that of the Elven republic, but many metals that are difficult to find in Fjörd are sold casually here.

After searching for some time, Alonn finally found a good hotel for him to stay.

After paying to stay in a room for a week, Alonn received a key from the receptionist and went up the stairs of the hotel to the second floor.

After opening the door to room number '33', Alonn entered and scanned the interior.

There was a simple bed and a desk, as well as a bathtub with piped water in the corner for him to bathe and a mirror on the wall.

"Simple, but good," Alonn murmured and took off his clothes to take a shower.

After taking a good shower to get the sweat the bad smell off his body, Alonn put on fresh clothes and tied his hair in a manbun behind his head, leaving small loose bangs falling on the sides of his face.

After looking at the mirror for a while and reflecting a little on what he should do, Alonn left the room and went to the hotel restaurant.

"What are you going to want?" Whoever attended him at the restaurant was surprisingly a human woman.

For personal reasons, Alonn doesn't like humans very much, but that doesn't stop him from at least treating them with the minimum of respect.

After looking at the menu for a while, Alonn replied, "I want a standard meal with meat, rice and vegetables and a glass of dragon fruit juice."

"...All right, it won't take too long," the woman said and left for the other customers.

After a few minutes, a waiter brought Alonn's order to the table where he was.

When Alonn thought he could eat in peace, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, there he is!" Ugly Ox had arrived at the hotel restaurant with Ugly Bull, and the two went to the table where Alonn was.

'Oh no!', Alonn almost lost his appetite when he saw the dynamic duo. How did they find him?

"It has been a long time, Blackie," Ugly Bull said while he sat next to Alonn with Ugly Ox.

'It has been a long time? What bullshit is it?' Alonn almost cursed.

Fortunately, the dwarves did not seem interested in Alonn's food.

"What you guys want from me?" Alonn asked while trying to eat.

"How cold! Can't you greet your friends appropriately!?" Ugly Bull said while slapping Alonn on the shoulder, making him almost spit the food out of his mouth.

'You damn guys aren't my friends!' Alonn thought bitterly.

"If my memory is not defective, you said you're a smith, right?" Ugly Ox asked.

"Yeah, do you want me to forge something for you?" Alonn didn't want to waste time with the pair.

"Hahaha! That's why I like you more than the bow elf, that jerk! You are really a straightforward person!" Ugly Ox laughed.

"We want a pair of great axes, can you forge it for us?" Ugly Bull asked.

"It depends on how much you are willing to pay for my work, if you have the necessary metals and whether you find a smithy with suitable tools so that I can forge."

"Hmm, is it so complicated?" Ugly Bull seemed surprised to hear Alonn's response.

Alonn contorted the corners of his mouth at that. How can that be simple? Does he carry a smithy on his back by any chance?

"Oh... Yeah, we can arrange those small things, don't worry," Ugly Ox said with a smile.

Ugly Bull looked at Ugly Ox strangely but stayed silent.

"Since you accepted our offer, I hope you don't change your mind later. After a few days we will return to this hotel to find you, are you okay with this?" Ugly Ox asked.

Since Alonn was planning to stay at the hotel for at least a week, he agreed.

'Those guys... are definitely planning something interesting, since they want two great axes. They already have good weapons, if they want new ones it's because they have a very good reason,' Alonn thought.

"I'm staying in the room number 33," Alonn said and waved his hand to the duo.

After the pair left, Alonn was able to finish his meal calmly. After paying for it, he returned to the room itself.

After sitting on the bed, Alonn started to practice.

'The distance from the capital Mardōk to the place where the spiritual beast was found is not that far, it would take a day's carriage ride to get there.'

'I don't have enough skill to venture into that region, and I don't have enough money to hire mercenaries... I can only hope that there is spiritual qi here'

'I need to succeed here and now!'