Arcadia I Chapter 2: The City of Ort(1)

Read chapter 2 of Arcadia I by I_live_in_your_walls on NovelPedia.

The frontier city of Ort was less of an imperial territory and more of an outpost due to its location. It was the stone and metal mining hub for the empire’s southernmost trade capital, north-west of it. With its back to the mountain range to the east, past that range being the Handel Union, empire territory to the north, and facing the western forest, the safe geography made awakened presence and security scarce. As for how I knew all this? I had pieced together the information from the crowd around me with some info from my new companions. Entering the market square, its chaotic cacophony hit my ears. “Haven’t you heard? They found a massive deposit of spirit stones at Hayes Mountain quarry. People from the eastern continent will flood the area once they catch wind of it! You have to buy as much as you can before the prices go through the roof!” “I don’t know, it seems risky-” Nearby, a goggled merchant gestured wildly as many of his clanking contraptions released puffs of smoke and steam. “Selling brand-new Handel Union technology! This steam engine can do your tedious work for you from pumping water to-” “Has anyone seen my children?” the wails of a mother pierced the crowd, “Someone? Anyone?” Keeping my head level as I walked through the city in the simple peasant clothes I had come to this world with, I finally asked the mage. “What are the paths of people in this world?” “Ah, I was wondering when you were going to ask!” the mage said, smiling as his form phased through the crowd. “Where we are now, the central continent, the mainstream path is split into two: knights or mages, each having 8 ranks.” With a dull tone, “Anyone can become a knight through rigorous training. By infusing natural mana with their intent into the body, they form aura, fueling their techniques. They go from the first step to the eighth step.” Moving to the topic of mages, his face brightened, “Mages are born with the ability to manipulate mana to control the world around them! Mages awaken during childhood and cannot form aura, unfortunately.” A flash of sorrow graced his face before promptly leaving it. “Similar to knights, they also have 8 ranks, from the first circle to the eighth.” “Then what is a soul transmuter?” I asked, keeping my voice low to avoid attention even in this bustling crowd. “A soul transmuter is someone able to manipulate and transmutate souls. They belong to a group called ‘gifted’.” He said with a glint in his eye. “Do all the ‘gifted’ have some ability like mine?” “No, all gifted have gifts, but the quality ranges from being able to start a fire without mana to being able to control the laws of this world.” “And mine falling into that second category.” “Precisely! Soul transmuters are weak due to their extremely slow growth, lack of defensive ability, and inability to form an aura or manipulate mana. To get stronger, you must collect the ‘dust’ of souls in the atmosphere and use it to reinforce your soul.” ‘Given these two have been looking for a soul transmuter for so long, they must be an extremely rare or extinct gift type. It would be best if I disguise it as some other ability.’ The fact that I could only use ‘dust’ was dubious. Due to my suspicions, I questioned him again: “Are you sure I can’t use the souls of those around me?” The mage glanced at the silent knight before shaking his head, “Of course I am. When I was alive, your kind were very common, and even the best of them couldn’t do that. It’s just not part of the ability.” “I see,” I responded with doubt still in my heart. Before this duo started following me, I had run a few experiments of my own. I had discovered I could exert a weak push-pull force on the lost souls surrounding me. Nothing had dictated whether I could absorb them or not. “For now, your best bet would be simply staying safe and alive in crowded areas to collect ‘dust’. Don’t worry about time either, as long as you don’t stop collecting ‘dust,’ you won’t age. It should only take a few hundr