Martial Arts Encyclopedia - Chapter 13

Paradign Shift (2)

After feeding the Lion I take the free time to check on our finances, going through the Accounting Ledger of our Familia. Thanks to the gods' influence, the double entry bookkeeping is not only known, but the Guild has several books and courses for the proper fiscal responsibility of the aspiring Familias. Most gods don’t bother since “it reminds them of work” and push those aspects of Familia management to their captains. For Artoria the concept is after her time, and while she’s good with the practical aspects of resource management, both as a Knight, General and King, she probably left the details to her subordinates.

After carefully examining the cash flow, I realized that our current strategy needs to be redrafted. I had calculated my potion costs to advance together with the speed of my exploration, and while I calculated my delving with a level of risk higher than the recommended by the Guild, nobody could predict a Pass Parade followed by an Irregular Monster followed by some high-level adventurer Smurfing on the upper floors when Evilus had supposedly been disbanded.

Another issue that’s a genuine failing on my part is that I didn’t expect to buy so many martial arts from the blue book, and it will take some time to digest everything and integrate into my personal fighting style. There’s also the time required to retrain my body to follow the cultivation scriptures in such a way that it won’t clash with my various martial arts. After accounting for my current talent, I need at least a month of uninterrupted training to do that, the so-called “closed door cultivation”. It honestly reminds me of the time I was cramming for college assignments.

Looking over the current data, I tidy everything and change into a fresh set of clothes before going to the Guild.

…

“Why are you here, you damn brat? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“The world stops for no one,” I reply to him in a level tone, “besides, I’m not so reckless to dive into the Dungeon in my casual clothes.”

He looks at me up and down before nodding. “I almost forgot you’re only a level one. So, what do you want?”

“If you’re free, I want to have a meeting regarding my current situation.”

Without saying anything else he motioned me to follow him towards one of the special rooms, often used to attend the gods or to discuss information with the more important adventurers and asked me to wait inside. I took the available refreshments in the room and made myself some sweet latte while I patiently waited for his return. 

Much to my surprise the same adventurer that accompanied Lord Ganesha before also accompanied Cornell.

“Do you want anything before we start, Kshema-san?”

“There’s no need, we can begin immediately.”

I place my cup down and focus on what the pair has to say.

“Let me start then,” said Cornell, “it is a good thing that you didn’t dive into the Dungeon today, though we didn’t expect you to be up and running so soon even with the Elixir you drank. After finishing the details, the Guild would call your goddess to give her the news, but since you’re here we can tell you directly.”

“First, the official announcements. The Guild officially sanctions your Familia, forbidding its adventurers entrance into the Dungeon for thirty days, alongside paying a fine of twenty-five thousand Valis. The penalty is for leaving a large amount of monster corpses in the open, which led to irregular monsters spawning.”

I give him a nod. “I was afraid of that. I didn't have the time to harvest the fallen monsters, for obvious reasons.” Of course, a thirty-day ban and a fine of twenty-five thousand Valis is a mild reprimand compared with the normal regulations set by the Guild. “Is that all?”

“Upon further review, the Guild also determined that your credit limit won’t change, with no further loans authorized past that limit.” He gives me an account statement of the previous transaction. According to the document, I accessed an Emergency Loan to buy an Elixir, and used a Jack Bird Golden Egg as collateral, with both items having the same value. An amateur might think my Familia can’t seek further aid from the Guild, while in practice nothing changed on my end. It’s a low level of obfuscation meant to appear like a sanction when it isn’t even a misdemeanor.

“I see, thank you for telling me that. Where do I sign?” Cornell brought an official notice, and once confirming no discrepancies I signed the document as the Captain of the Rhongomyniad Familia. “I will inform my goddess to come to the Guild to sign it later.”

“Good, now that formalities are out of the way, here is the unofficial news: after your debriefing we feared that many irregular monsters would be roaming the first few floors, so we the Guild requested several adventurers to patrol the first few floors, but we were unable to find any trace of the irregular monsters. We also interviewed a couple of adventurers returning from the Dungeon that day, and no one reported anything unusual.”

“That’s worrying,” I admit to him. There were too many monsters from the Pass Parade, and I couldn’t extract their stones, so at least one or two irregular monsters should have spawned by now. If we heard absolutely nothing about it that means someone got to them first. “Are you telling me that no adventurer group came with an unusual number of magic stones or drop items?”

“Nothing that caught our eye yet, I’m afraid. We will check for two more days if there is any discrepancy or if any rumors appear, but until then I suggest you lay low for a while. We’re also still investigating the mysterious masked man, but we have no leads for the moment, either.”

I wasn’t expecting them to have anything yet, but I’m happy that they’re still trying. “I understand. Thank you for the notice.”

“With this your business with the Guild is concluded. Kshema-san also wants to talk with you in private, so please enjoy your refreshments while you talk. Have a good day.”

Cornell quickly leaves with the experience of a tired bureaucrat, leaving the two of us in the room. Kshema doesn't hesitate and takes a large coin purse from his hip and pushes it to my side.

“Here, this is yours.”

Taking the bag I find ten Platinum Valis, each coin being equivalent to a hundred thousand Valis, the exact amount of the Jack Bird Egg.

“I don’t understand, I’m glad for the money but I’m not sure why you’re giving this to me.”

“When you received the Elixir, Lord Ganesha said it was a ‘gift’, only later he realized that he kept the Jack Bird Egg for himself. He felt ashamed for proclaiming a gift while still taking your money, so my Lord asked me to ‘invest’ in your recovery for the sake of making closer ties between our Familias.”

Despite the innate control of my body, I still felt emotion rush to my eyes for the gesture. “Thank you, Kshema-san. You can tell Lord Ganesha that neither I nor the Rhongomyniad Familia will forget this gesture.”

“You’re welcome, now, if you excuse me, I have other business to attend to.” Once again he extended his hand, and we shook on it.

“I see”, he muttered under his breath before nodding, leaving me in the room.

With this windfall I can train for the whole month without worrying about daily expenses or missing the payment on our loans. I can’t wait to tell the good news to Artoria!

…

At night we’re still eating yesterday leftovers, but this time I made a stir fry with the meat and some vegetables, eaten together with fresh rice.

“It was very kind of Ganesha to give you this much,” my goddess says after finishing her first portion, “though it doesn’t sit well to receive an official sanction from the Guild, our… Familia can’t afford to be seen as weak after your personal attack.”

“’When strong, appear weak. When weak, appear strong’, huh? I understand your position, though there’s something you didn’t consider. Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful concept of ‘closed doors cultivation’.”

I explain to her how the cultivation process requires three things: accumulation, insight, and experience. Accumulation comes from repetitive processes done over a long period of time, such as building your body or absorbing the Heaven and Earth Qi, while Insight requires understanding of greater principles, while Experience refers to worldly experience. While all three aspects require some time, usually Accumulation can’t be skipped unless you have tons of resources to speed up the process.

The third stage, Qi Directing Stage, will necessarily take some time to complete, even if my various martial arts and higher quality scripture will help me breeze through the early, mid, and late stages. If my calculation is correct, I can reach the peak of the Martial Artist Realm within this month, and then afterwards I can consolidate my gains.

“There’s a risk involved though, isn’t it? Otherwise, it won’t be any different from you staying home to train.” She quickly points out the crux of the matter.

“At some point I will need to focus and remain free of distractions, otherwise I might fall into a phenomenon called Cultivation Deviation, which carries grave consequences. Sadly, the risk of Deviation is always present while cultivating Immortally through Martial Arts.” At this, my expression shifts from serious to mischievous as I give her a knowing smile, “that’s why I wanted you to guard my training. I would feel much safer knowing you have my back.”

“Of course, I will protect you while you’re vulnerable! I would never let anyone come a single step close to your body!”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” I say with a smile, “how could I mess up with you at my side? It’s going to be fine, Artoria. Please trust me.”

She pauses for a moment, searching for something in my expression, until she relents. “That’s not fair, you know?”

“Hm?”

“You owe me another date, separate from the one of Monsterphilia, right after you finish this ‘closed door training’ of yours, otherwise I won’t forgive you for playing with my feelings like this.”

I take in her lightly colored cheeks and those big eyes firmly staring at me with warmth. “Thank you, Artoria.”

“More!” She pushes her plate towards me, and I give the hungry dragon another large serving.