Kapitel 2: Chapter Two
In a forest filled with large trees and many small rivers and ponds, a young boy slowly chopped down a tree. His chest was bare as sweat poured down his face. His body had a fair bit of muscle, but it didn't bulge and make him look large.
"This should be the last tree for the day." Celius kept telling himself this as he continued to attack the tree with the ax. He was very efficient with his method and didn't have any excess motions, showing that he had done many times in the past.
"Celius, hurry the hell up with that one. The sun is starting to set!" A harsh voice came from a few meters away. It was a middle-aged man with a thick mustache. He had a very robust and buff body, and his facial features were rowdy, making him hard to look at, but for some reason many women still found themselves being attracted to this man.
As the man's voice entered his ears, Celius began to chop at faster speed, ignoring the pain and numbness that he was feeling in his arms. Finally, after a few more swings, the tree crashed onto the ground, lifting a cloud of dust.
The rowdy faced man walked over and lifted the large tree with ease as if he was carrying a small stick. "Good, at least you're able to do something for the clan, unlike your useless father." His words were sharp, especially for a young boy like Celius, however, the latter didn't show any reaction. His expression was filled with only tranquility and a small amount of fatigue.
Seeing that Celius didn't retort, the rowdy face man put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a few silver coins. They totaled five, however, they were a little dirty and slightly oily. He tossed them onto the ground in front of Celius. "Here is your payment." The rowdy faced man then walked away with the cut tree on his shoulder.
Celius tightened his fists until a bit of blood began to flow out when the man finally left. "You old bastard, you're lucky I have people to care for. If not, then I would have slaughtered you years ago." He gritted his teeth as his eyes flamed. Crouching down, he picked up the five silver coins and shoved them into his pockets.
Picking his shirt up from the ground as well, he began to walk towards the nearest river. His body was covered in sweat and he was completely fatigued. He had been chopping trees for the past ten hours. Although he had a few breaks in between, he was still extremely tired. A normal person would not have been able to do what he did unless they were cultivators of at least Physique Purge - Heaven. Only people who were in the final stages of purging the impurities and ridding the organs of any impurities would be able to last as long as him.
Srrrrrrrrr
After walking for ten minutes, he finally heard the sound of water flowing. His fatigued eyes brightened as he walked towards the sound at a quickened pace.
Finally reaching his destination, he left his ax and shirt on the luscious grass before jumping into the water with his pants still on. "Ah, this is the stuff." He felt his whole body become relaxed under the warm water. Although it wasn't super warm, it was enough to allow him to relax his muscles.
"Since I am here, I should catch some dinner for those three and grandpa. They're probably hungry." He began to search for fish and other underwater creatures. If he found anything, he would quickly kill it and throw it on the ground beside his shirt. While he was doing this, he didn't forget to clean himself as well.
An hour went by quickly and the sun was already halfway dipped into the horizon. Celius got out of the river and looked at the different creatures he caught. There were three large fish which were blue and green in color. There were also some purple frogs and even some clams. He went to a tree and pulled off a few long leaves and also tore a large piece of bark before placing his food onto it. He wrapped them tightly to prevent them from falling. He placed his shirt on his shoulder and lifted his ax before rushing in the direction of his home.
���Come here you little brat." Grandpa Amlenor chased behind the three-year-old Rislia who ran around the grass while giggling with her small voice.
"You can't catch me, grandpa, hehehe!" She was always getting close to being caught, but she would turn suddenly and grandpa Amlenor would fall onto the ground. Whenever this happened, she would burst out into a giggling spree.
"Grandpa, chase me too. Chase me too." Alura also ran around with Rislia.
"Haha, I caught you, grandpa!" Suddenly, Elrith jumped onto the back of his fallen grandpa. In his hand was a small stick which he swung around like a sword.
"You brats, don't let me get up, or else all of you will be eaten." He smiled as he looked at the three kids.
Hearing his words, the three of them suddenly stopped. Elrith, who was already on top of Grandpa Amlenor, looked at his sisters as his eyes glinted mischievously. "Both of you, quickly jump on him. Don't let him get up!"
Rislia and Alura laughed and rushed towards their grandpa with their small bodies and pounced at him. "Ah! You got me." Closing his eyes, Grandpa Amlenor pretended to die.
"Haha! We're the strongest! Grandpa is nothing compared to the three of us." Elrith jumped off and raised his stick to the sky with a heroic smile plastered on his face. "High five Alura, Rislia."
All three laughed loudly as they played their games with the old man.
Swish
Suddenly, they heard the sounds of leaves moving. They all turned around and saw a young man with long black hair moving towards them. He was shirtless and carried an ax in one hand and a bark plate in the other.
"Brother, you're back!" All three of them cheered and rushed towards him. Alura was in the lead, with Elrith following closely behind. Rislia was the slowest of all three, but she kept running.
As he reached his house, he heard his siblings and saw them rushing towards him. He couldn't help but smile. Dropping his ax behind him and placing the bark plate with all the food on the ground, he walked forward and knelt on the ground, ready to grab them.
"Hehe, come here you three." He opened his arms wide. Alura was the first to enter his embrace.
He kissed her forehead gently as he grabbed the incoming Elrith as well. "Why are you holding a stick?" He looked at the somewhat pointy stick in his brother's hand and asked with a slight laugh.
"I was just beating grandpa up. He's so weak, all three of us were able to beat him. Hehe!" Celius shook his head and smiled at the slowest of the three. She had an exhausted look on her face, but was still smiling the brightest.
"Brother! You're back!" Celius let the two older ones go and lifted Rislia up and gave her a big hug. Although he loved all of them equally, Elrith and Alura were older than Rislia so he had to treat Rislia with more care.
Picking up Rislia in one arm, he put Alura on his shoulder. Elrith didn't like to be carried too much so he just held onto his hand.
"Hey, grandpa. Thanks for looking after them." Celius smiled at his grandpa. Other than his siblings, he only had a few others in the world that he truly cared for, and his grandpa was one of the few.
"Don't say that. They're my family as well. The more time I spend with them, the better I feel." Grandpa Amlenor smiled as he walked behind Celius and picked up his ax and the bark plate. "What is this? Did you catch these?"
"Yeah, I went to a river and cleaned up. Since I was already there, I decided to catch something for dinner. I will get changed and help these three get ready. Can you start a fire for me?" Celius didn't feel any sort of hesitation when asking something from his grandpa. Even before his parents died, he was really close to his grandpa.
Amlenor nodded his head. "Go ahead and change. Also, bring some wine out for me." Although grandpa Amlenor didn't live with Celius because of the lack of rooms, he visited so often that it could be considered his real home. He was at Celius' house more often than his own. Since this was the case, he would often store some wine for himself so that he wouldn't have to go back and forth when he wanted some.
Nodding his head, Celius took his siblings inside to help them change.
"Celius, are we eating fish again today?" Sometimes Elrith and Alura would call Celius by his name to seem more mature, but Celius would ignore them if they did, at least most of the time.
Seeing that Celius wasn't replying to him, Elrith asked again. "Alright, brother. Are we eating fish again?"
"Do you not want fish?" Celius turned his head and looked at Elrith.
"I like fish and all, but we had fish yesterday, and the day before that, and before that. We always have fish; I want to eat something else. Can we have something else today?" Celius thought for a moment before nodding his head helplessly. He looked at Alura and Rislia as well.
"Do you guys want something new as well?" Both of the girls nodded their small heads. "Alright, what do you guys want?" Since he had money, he could spare to get them some new food. Plus, he could use the fish for the next day or even eat it himself.
Elrith and the two girls smiled widely. Alura was the first to speak. "Can we go and get some candy? I really want some more." Hearing this, Elrith and Rislia also nodded their heads.
"You brats. Pick something else, I will bring candy tomorrow, but for now, pick something that will fill you up." He looked at Alura with a smile.
Alura put on a pondering look before her eyes suddenly brightened. "I know, what about getting Grey Tiger meat? My friend's mom lets her eat it sometimes and I never had it before. Can we get some?" Elrith began to drool slightly when he heard the mention of Grey Tiger meat. Rislia didn't know what it was, but seeing her fellow siblings get excited, she also got excited.
"Me too, I want some too." She yelled happily.
Hearing their request, Celius' face paled slightly. He knew of Grey Tiger meat. Not only was it delicious, but it was also very expensive. Just getting enough for five people would cost him two silvers, which was forty percent of his earnings. The average family in the clan earned about ten silver every two weeks, while he earned only five. A single silver equated to a hundred copper, so a single meal of Grey Tiger meat cost about two hundred copper.
The reason it was so expensive was because of how strong a Grey Tiger was. They usually had two horns on their heads and were double the size of a normal tiger, plus all their fur was grey, thus their name. Only the strongest cultivators in the clan could kill a Grey Tiger. Not even a hundred Physique Purging - Heaven cultivators could match a single Grey Tiger.
Celius knew that getting such meat for his siblings would be very problematic for him. He had many other expenses which he paid for. His grandpa handled his siblings' educational fees and cultivation classes, which already cost his grandpa a huge amount. He himself had to pay for everyday clothing, food, and other minor luxuries.
Five silver was barely getting them by, but if he spent two silver just like that, he would be in deep trouble. He knew he couldn't do that, but he also knew that his siblings rarely asked for anything. It wasn't because they were mature, nut instead it was mostly because they had very small desires. However, as they grew, they began to have many more needs and wants.
'It's just two silver, I can spare it. I will just try and get some extra work, that should help me out. I can also cut off the expenses for my cultivation classes. Right now, it is just a liability.' He sighed a little. Since his grandpa was paying for many of his siblings' needs other than food and clothing, he had to pay for his own cultivation classes as his grandpa just couldn't afford it.
As an elder, he would normally be able to pay for everything easily, but because of the problems in the past, his salary every two months was only slightly more than his own.
"Alright, let's get some Grey Tiger meat." He sighed but reluctantly agreed. He couldn't keep restricting them from enjoying such things, or else they would begin to feel left out in their friend groups. 'They already have no parents; I can't let them lose their friends as well.'
"Really? Yay! I'm gonna tell all my friends about this. Hehe." Alura cheered loudly as she quickly hugged Celius before dancing around in the room.
"I'm gonna go and tell grandpa, hehehe!" Elrith ran out of the room and quickly found his grandpa. Celius sighed before looking at Rislia. Her big green watery eyes stared back at him and he felt his heart become light.
"Rislia is gonna eat Grey Tiger meat today, are you excited?" He looked at her warmly before asking quietly.
She nodded her head quickly before running off to find Alura. "Alura, Alura, what's Grey Tiger meat?" Her cute voice entered Celius' ears and he shook his head with a small laugh. He watched Alura and Rislia converse excitedly before getting up and walking to his small closet. He pulled out a grey tunic and some white trousers.
"Celius, what are you doing?" As he was getting changed, he heard the voice of Grandpa Amlenor come from behind him.
His expression didn't change, and he didn't turn around. "I know what you're thinking. I know that I make too little and getting them, this will make my life more difficult, but why should that matter now? My siblings want something and I, as their older brother, have a responsibility to get them what they want. Any future problems will be settled by me one way or another." His stance didn't budge. To him, making his siblings happy was more important than anything. He lived for them.
"You should think more about this. If you get them this now, what are you going to do about their next meal? Their clothing and other needs? I am helping you the best I can, but you already know that I earn only a little more than you. Those old bastards don't even treat me like an elder anymore. Celius, what about your own needs? You still have to attend educational and cultivation classes as well. You can't afford to be so lux--" Celius suddenly turned around and looked straight into his eyes.
"My siblings will grow up without knowing the love of a mother, can I fix that? No. My siblings will never understand what it is like to be protected and taught by a father, can I fix that? No! They will grow to never understand such relations and will yearn them even more. If I can reduce that for them even a little by giving them what they want, why wouldn't I? This is just one meal for them, and I will gladly get it. If they want more later, I will get them more. If money is a problem, I will find more work. If that doesn't work, I will sell myself. To me, my siblings are a responsibility my parents left behind. I will make sure to never disappoint my parents or my siblings." His expression was firm. He didn't waver in his own convictions. His siblings were all his family that his parents left behind. If he couldn't support them, who would?
Listening to his words, Grandpa Amlenor sighed heavily. "I get what you're feeling; I am a father who lost both his sons. I only have a daughter and you guys left. To me, giving you guys happiness is the priority, but still, Celius, you're only hurting yourself if you do this. It may just seem like a meal to your siblings, but you and I know very well that this meal can affect your whole life negatively."
"My mind is set. I will begin looking for work early tomorrow. I just hope that you can care for them a little longer than usual from now on. Leave these problems to me, I can handle them. My father taught me well." The last sentence was said quietly, but grandpa Amlenor's body shook slightly when he heard those words.
"Yes, he did. He did teach you well." Grandpa Amlenor walked away with a bitter look on his face.
After changing his clothes, he walked out of his house with his siblings and Grandpa Amlenor in tow. Although it was night, lots of people were still out and about. Some were just walking under the dark sky with their other half, while others were going out to eat with their families just like Celius.
While he walked, people would give him weird stares and others even showed bits of hostility. The three children didn't notice this as they were distracted by their own conversation, while Celius and Amlenor ignored it completely. They had gotten used to it over the past few years.
As they progressed deeper, the crowd became a little denser. There were lights everywhere and shops were bustling with people. Rislia was in his arm looking around curiously and pointing to random places.
"Wow! Brother, what's that? Oh, what's that?" She would scream at every little thing. Celius was helpless as he continued to answer her questions. Grandpa Amlenor wasn't any better off as Alura and Elrith did the same thing. They would point and then ask, and then he would explain patiently.
Soon, they made it to a slightly larger shop. There was a sign in front of the shop which made Alura and Elrith go crazy with excitement.
"Grey Tiger!" They both screamed happily. Elrith walked over to the sign with the Grey Tiger picture and smacked it with his stick. "Destroy the Grey Tiger!"
"Elrith, stop that. Come here." Celius looked at him speechless before calling him over with a slightly deep tone. It was a tone he reserved only for Elrith. Alura and Rislia would never really get berated by him since they never did anything bad.
Hearing his brother, Elrith lowered his head and walked over, but his eyes never left the Grey Tiger. He kept looking at it as if it was his mortal enemy.
"Alright, let's go in." He smiled before pulling Alura with one hand and walking in. Rislia excitedly moved around in his arms, while grandpa Amlenor grabbed Elrith's hand and pulled him along.
When they entered the place, they found that it was actually filled with quite a few people. There were many ground level tables, standing tables and also tables with seats; each had their own appeal. For people just dropping by quickly, they would tend to use the standing tables or tables with chairs. For families coming for a long meal, they would sit on the ground level tables.
Celius walked over to the front desk and was received by an old man. The old man smiled at Celius. Of course, it was a professional smile and didn't show any hostility like the others. "How can I help you, young man?"
"I would like a table for five, please. Preferably the ground leveled ones." The old man nodded his head and walked out from behind the desk.
"Please follow me." Celius and his group followed the old man to a corner table which had an alright view of the dark sky. The table wasn't large, but it was enough for five people. It was away from many of the other tables, leaving them with a quiet atmosphere. The old man then handed Celius and Amlenor a parchment made from animal skin. "Call me when you are ready to order your food."
Celius nodded and thanked the old man before looking at the parchment which listed the many foods and their prices. Of course, the most expense and popular dish was the Grey Tiger meat.
"Alright you three, other than the Grey Tiger meat, what do you want? Let me tell you what's on the menu." He began to slowly read out the different dishes. Since he was already here, he didn't mind spending a little more than two silver for his siblings. Plus, other than the Grey Tiger meat, the rest of the dishes were fairly cheap, sitting at five to thirty copper.
"I want some cream buns." Alura was the first to call out. "I want that too." Elrith chose the same item. It was a popular dessert for the kids and so both of them wanted it. It was a soft bread filled with sweet cream. A very nice dessert. Plus, it was only six copper each.
"Rislia, do you want to taste the Grey Tiger milk?" This was another product that the shop was famous for, however, it was significantly cheaper than the Grey Tiger meat since it was actually easier to obtain. It was called Grey Tiger milk, but it wasn't actually from a Grey Tiger, rather it was a mixture of milk from a normal tiger and some other unknown ingredients. It tasted just like Grey Tiger milk, which was the reason it was called as such. It costed only fifteen copper.
Rislia was still drinking milk so she happily agreed. "Grandpa, what about you? Just order whatever you want, do not hesitate." He smiled gently as he knew that his grandpa was not willing to get anything and waste his money. "I will order some Tiger Heart Wine for you, so please."
He knew that his grandpa really loved wine and Tiger Heart Wine was something that was considered very tasty. Although it was slightly expensive, sitting at twenty-one copper, Celius didn't mind. If he was going to use two silver, then what did it matter if he used another? Either way, he was going to find more work.
"Celius, you don't have to get that. I already have enough wine; I am ok with something else. Here, just get me the--" Grandpa Amlenor panicked slightly before looking at the cheapest products in the menu.
"Grandpa, please just order what you want. If you act like this, I will only feel hurt. Order anything, trust me. Everything will be alright." Celius gave him a reassuring smile. The latter smiled helplessly before picking the rice and beans dish. It was only ten copper, so nothing too expensive. Celius helplessly shook his head and called over the old man who helped them to the table.
"Are you ready?" He had a very professional look. Although Celius was young, he could tell that Celius was going to be the one calling the shots, so he didn't treat him like a youngster.
Nodding his head, he began to recite the order, "I would like three cream buns, Tiger Heart Wine, Grey Tiger milk, a bowl of rice and beans, and Grey Tiger meat for five." He added an extra cream bun for Rislia. Although she was young, she was able to eat such foods.
Hearing the order, the old man nodded his head. "Sir, can you follow me to pay for the meal first. The total is two silver and seventy copper." Celius passed Rislia over to his grandpa before heading over to pay.
"Thank you, the dishes will come to your table as soon as they are ready." Celius nodded his head, and just as he was going back to his table, he felt someone hold him back.
"Look who it is, the grandchild of that old bastard, elder Amlenor."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein