The two cultivation manuals in front of him were both quite straightforward. They each provided guidance on how to purify six of his twelve meridians, store qi, and harness and burn internal qi. The key differences were in the quality, or type, of qi that he would primarily use.

  With some discussion with Elder Goro, he was able to pick up on all the differences and get some idea of what they might meant. The first manual focused on opening the stomach, large intestine, small intestine, urinary bladder, triple heater, and gall bladder meridians. In other words, the yang meridians. It dictated methods of consuming demonic meat infused with certain spiritual herbs to help in the process of meridian purification. Tsem would have to use valuable contribution points on the spiritual herbs assuming none grew in the wild, but the demonic meat was something he could likely get himself.

  The second manual opened the yin meridians of heart, lung, spleen, kidney, pericardium, and liver. It focused much more heavily on movement-based cultivation and required the cultivator to focus on a particular affinity of qi or combination therein. It was a somewhat cheaper method though it took its price by forcing the cultivator to take on a qi aspect from the very start of their journey, something that Tsem was uncertain about.

  The far more important differences to consider were those between yang and yin qi themselves. Yang qi was like a forest fire, wild and powerful, though quite difficult to control. Cultivators who focused on it had significant difficulty using their qi at long distances, usually specializing in skill and techniques formed, and used, in close proximity with their body.

  Yin qi, in contrast, was closer to the water of an aqueduct, easily controlled, but harder to rile up. Its cultivators focused heavily on cultivating only a specific elementally balanced type of qi. They needed to use insight into the world and their specific elemental affinity in order to match the innate strength of yang qi, but control was a specialty of theirs, coming naturally.

  Both types of qi could be highly useful, so, the choice was more about which Tsem thought would work well for him. In the end, he put his hand on the yang qi manual. Choosing an affinity to focus on from the very start seemed a high bar to Tsem. He had no idea what choice might suit him. In addition, he had no idea how he’d gather the kind of insight he’d need to effectively use yin qi.

  Elder Goro gave him a nod and a smile at the choice, and Tsem couldn’t help but feel he’d made the right decision.

  With his decision made, the first order of business was to gather what he would need to practice the meridian purification. The demonic beast meat was something he could and would get himself. He hadn’t come across any of the spiritual herbs the manual described though. Fortunately, the Da clan hall had a healthy supply of them.

  He decided to purchase about a month’s worth of what he would need. He could return to the city again when his supply ran dry. That only cost him 500 of his contribution points, so he began to look through the hall to see what else he could make use of.

  The weapons were the obvious choices, his little knife had done him some good, but its short range and small blade were hardly ideal against a demonic beast. Of the weapons on display, Tsem discarded the swords and metal shields right away. For one thing, they were all out of his price range, and for another, they were just less practical in untrained hands like his own. There were a few martial manuals that might have been able to instruct him, but they were each far beyond what he could afford, most of them priced in the tens of thousands of points.

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  What was left was an assortment of bows, spears, slings, and awls. Of those, Tsem focused on the bows and spears. For both types of weapons, he could only afford the most rudimentary at 650 points. Along with the bows, various arrows were displayed. A bundle of fifteen would cost around 50 points while those one tier up that made use of ghalri raptor feathers would cost him 500 points. Obviously the second option was off the table, but he did consider what it might take for him to make such arrows himself.

  Tsem changed his focus, looking over the spears. These were the same price as the bows, but if he were being honest with himself, they looked more immediately useful to him. He would need to practice with a bow, but with a spear he just needed to stick whatever demonic beast he was hunting with the pointy end.

  Nodding to himself, Tsem picked up a promising looking spear and left to pay. On his way though, he stopped to look at some basic hunting leathers. He couldn’t afford anything particularly nice, but he did find a set made from mundane leather that fit him well. He considered for a moment before taking them. They would only serve him marginally better than his current clothes against a demonic beast, but he would gladly take any improvement on that front.

  If he had more points to spend, Tsem would have purchased a dozen more things. The manuals in particular called to him, and leaving behind the bows physically hurt. Being able to hurt or potentially kill a demonic beast before it could get close to him would have been a massive boon. Still, the gear he had gotten would serve him well.

  Tsem thanked Elder Goro for his help, and paid for his herbs, spear, and leathers with a few sigils marked in a book the elder kept. He left feeling above the world, his dreams were no longer just childish fantasies. Sure, he had a long path in front of him, but for the first time, he had some idea of what it actually might look like. He knew it existed.

  “Ho Tsem! The elder didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”

  Tsem swiveled around, finding Da Kanuk leaning against a nearby building. He waved, embarrassed by all the heads turning and the whispers of those around. The east side of the city could best be described as Da town, and from the reactions, it seemed that Kanuk was a well-known member.

  “Elder Goro was extremely helpful.” Tsem bowed.

  Kanuk grinned, throwing an arm around Tsem. “Then its time I take you to our healer.”

  “What…” To be honest, Tsem had mostly forgotten about going to the healer. His arm was mostly recovered, or at least he’d learned to get by without it.

  Kanuk shook his head. “When I heard rumors about a boy walking around with a ruined arm, I had a feeling it might be you.” Kanuk shook his head. “At least you seem to be in better shape than the rumors made you out to be.” He put his hand out. “That does not, however, mean that I’m going to make the same mistake again and let you run back out to the wilderness without even being looked over.”

  Tsem grimaced but let Kanuk drag him to the clan healer. As it turned out, he wasn’t made to pay. Apparently, that was one of the perks of the pin Elder Goro had given him. Kanuk had just smirked at the surprise on Tsem’s face, giving him a lecture on how the Da clan took care of its own.

  Tsem was fairly sure Kanuk had no idea how much that meant to Tsem. In his old village, healers had been nearly unaffordable. He’d known more than a few families had lost sons to illness because they’d had a poor harvest and couldn’t pay the fee. It was only in good seasons where the village had big harvests when healers could be called upon, and even then the whole village had to contribute.

  No, the Da clan seemed to treat their way of doing things as nothing special, but Tsem knew better. What they were doing was giving opportunity where there was none. It was the sort of clan that made him proud to wear his pin. Even if he was just an insignificant hunter, barely even connected to them, Tsem wanted to do his part.

  His interaction with the Sona clan at the sun’s light pavilion later that day cemented his high opinion of the Da clan. He felt cheated upon leaving after selling the bladebear core, and that was after Kanuk, who insisted on accompanying him, had negotiated to get a better price.

  As the day wore on, Tsem visited a leatherworker shop that Kanuk highly recommended to purchase a new pack that would be able to hold a great deal more than his clumsily woven handmade contraption. The proprietor, a young craftsman by the name of Lyung, even told him he’d personally make him custom orders in the future if he brought any demonic beast skins directly to him.

  Before Tsem could leave to start on the couple day trek back to Valesin’s lair, Da Kanuk offered his own home, and his guest bedroom up. Tsem gratefully accepted. Spending the evening sleeping in an actual bed was a blessing that almost brought him to tears after the metal of Valesin’s lair.

  In just one day, Tsem’s whole life had changed. He couldn’t wait to begin cultivating, really cultivating, it was like a dream, and the bed let him have actual dreams.