Awakening the Divine Spark

After leaving the Mission Hall, Lee stacked up on supplies, spending close to fifty contribution points, and they left.

Xiao Lian couldn’t understand why was he spending so much since they earned only ten contribution points from the girl in red and five more after the main mission was over. Lee’s arguments that they had to have proper meals on the way and he needed writing utensils, didn’t seem too persuasive.

Fortunately Xiao Lian was too busy fantasizing about the girl whose letter was in his backpack, and only Lee’s presence prevented him from taking the letter out and smelling it one more time. The girl’s sweet, but at the same time slightly bitter scent was still lingering on the paper, and even a memory of it made his mind spin.

With how muddleheaded Xiao Lian was, Lee managed to hide a pile of useful items in his spatial bag unnoticed. Currently it acted as a secret compartment in his backpack and the more he thought about it, the more he was certain he could’ve put in there everything that was in Lunax’s treasury.

He had no clue how exactly the thing worked, but he was not in a rush – there were too many things to learn. And he started with the most important – reading and writing.

Xiao Lian became his first teacher and on the way began to draw words and explain their meanings. To his great annoyance, Lee found that the writing was in a way similar to Mandarin, except a mix of both simple and traditional characters. It was an unnecessary headache, but there was no way around it. If he wanted to study cultivation techniques, he had to learn it.

Another troublesome thing was that for some reason cultivators didn’t use horses. While it was understandable choice for elemental masters and lords, regular outer disciples weren’t as fast on their own. It also explained why the dispatch missions weren’t particularly popular.

According to the map Lee purchased in the sect, there were few towns on the way to the Azuremist sect. But even though he had a load of contribution points, he had no regular money to buy anything. He wasn’t desperate enough to steal a horse, but even if he was, he would’ve thought twice before doing it.

The laws here were harsh, and the enforcers strong. It was likely he would’ve been beheaded without a trial if caught in act.

According to Xiao Lian, there were more adventurous people in the mountains who weren’t as bothered by law. One could stumble across a roaming bandit group if they were unlucky enough, but the sects periodically purged their territories making it safer.

In addition, they used the opportunity to expose their disciples to real life and death situations by making the Wanted! missions among the most lucrative.

The route Lee picked was relatively safe, and besides a rare traveler they only met occasional stray dogs. There was no danger, though, and for the first three nights they comfortably camped in the woods.

Xiao Lian was in awe of how boundless Lee’s knowledge seemed. Apparently, the only thing he didn’t know was how to write, but camping in the wild, hunting and cooking came to the boy who looked younger than him with a surprising ease.

The next part of the trip was going to be more exciting. They were about to enter a mountain range that separated the territories of the Azuremist and Nethermoon sects and it was much richer with wildlife, including packs of wolves which they already met on a couple occasions.

Lee wasn’t worried about those. He wasn’t as helpless as back then when an old wolf scared him and Ingrid to death. And besides his new hidden sword, he had a buddy who had a similar weapon.

***

Lee might’ve not been afraid of trouble, but it managed to find him nevertheless. It was before midnight when he was about to end the late learning lesson and let Xiao Lian sleep, when a the sound of a distant branch breaking in the still night caught his attention.

Their campfire was right next to the road, approximately ten yards from the forest line. It was an open and relatively safe spot, but as it turns out – the latter part turned out to be an illusion.

When Lee noticed the three tall shadows leisurely coming their way, he immediately jumped to his feet and pulled Xiao Lian away without a word. His friend also didn’t say anything, relying on Lee’s judgment, but neither were particularly thrilled to find out that two hundred yards further down the road there were more than ten people on horses riding their way.

"The forest!" Lee whispered, and they changed the direction, rushing into the trees.

Neither could see much, but judging from the sounds they heard in the distance, the people didn’t intend to let them go.

"I don’t want to die because of five lousy points!" Xiao Lian said, and Lee found it tragic and amusing at the same time. It really might’ve been much safer to get bullied inside the sect.

He suddenly stopped, pulled Xiao Lian to a larger tree, and said, "Climb up. Silently. Afterwards go back to the sect and call for help. If they catch me, I’ll wait for reinforcements. If not, we’ll meet back home."

Lee didn’t give Xiao Lian time to reply and rushed to the side, making distinct noises to attract attention. All the boy had to do now was to hide like he did back in the day.

Lee ran for a while. After making a longer detour, he returned to the road and ran for at least another two miles until he noticed a larger bonfire, with many people around it. There were horses and wagons in the vicinity, indicating these were normal, regular people, probably merchants or farmers.

Heaving sigh of relief, Lee verified there was no one directly behind him and, trying to catch his breath, slowly approached the group, pondering whether he should go back looking for Xiao Lian.

Unfortunately, it was already too late when he noticed the stench of blood coming from the group. Lee attempted to escape again, though, but it turned out to be futile.

There were a couple sentries hidden next to the road whom Lee had already passed. The moment he turned around, he was grabbed by one of them.

"Bring him to the rest!" Was the last thing Lee heard before he lost consciousness. The guy who caught him decided to neutralize the boy, just in case.

***

’Still alive, huh?’ Was Lee’s first thought when he opened his eyes. The only regret last night was to die before learning a proper cultivation technique, but from the looks of it, he was still going to get a chance.

The sobbing women next to him probably didn’t think so.

Lee slowly looked around and sat up. He and few others were in a cage, literally. Three sides as well as the ceiling were made of stone wall. The fourth, however, was made of thick wooden beams set vertically with narrow gaps between them.

Besides him there were close to twenty people here, but he couldn’t tell whether all were alive. The place smelled like a pigsty and it was clear that no one was bothered by the condition of the captives. Most were women, however there were few young teenagers like him.

The sun was already up, and, from the looks of it, Lee was brought to some kind of old fortress. Through the gaps between the beams he couldn’t see much, but the damaged walls and buildings, partially lying in rubble, made him think these were some kind of a fortress ruins.

"Where are we?" Lee whispered to the people squatting nearby.

Instead of them, a deep and irritated voice from the other side of the wooden beams barked, "Shut up!"

Only now Lee noticed the bearded man, dressed in a crude leather gear, sitting in the shadow next to their cage.

"Excuse me!" Lee said, "May I have some water, please?"

"Sure? How about I cut your head off and throw in the river?" The man laughed in return, and the previously sobbing women began to hysterically cry.