Travellers - An Isekai, Cultivation Fantasy

Drake knew this was coming. Just like how most people began cultivating mana at the age of seven, it was also a good time to begin martial arts cultivation. Both Elwin and Holt also practised basic swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat from the age of five, and at seven years old, they picked a martial cultivation technique and began cultivating it.

Unfortunately, there was no martial cultivation technique in the village repository that was suitable for Astoria and Hazezel so they could not cultivate anything.

This was a common situation. As with mana cultivation, there were an uncountable number of cultivation techniques that martial artists could use, but not all would be suitable for everyone.

Drake nodded in response.

Holt took out nine different scrolls.

"These are the best martial arts cultivation techniques we have, see which one suits you. If none of them does, I can bring out more, but they will be less effective."

Drake looked at the scrolls one by one.

Although they were rolled up and he couldn't read them, he could sense the great amount of mana that they were infused with. Some of them rejected him and some were neutral.

Drake's eyes were drawn to one particular scroll. The mana around this scroll was the densest by far, but it was also flowing towards him as if there was something in Drake that was tugging at it.

He took that scroll and opened it up. Immediately, the mana of the scroll burst forth. Images appeared in his mind of a shadowy figure sitting in a meditative pose while absorbing the world's mana. The mana was flowing through the figure torrentially, creating blue streak lines in the otherwise dark body.

A huge amount of information flooded his mind as he learnt the essence of this cultivation technique. After a long time, Drake opened his eyes.

Holt was surprised. "This technique definitely suits you," he said, but had a strange expression on his face.

"Is there something wrong with this technique?" Drake asked puzzled.

Holt shook his head.

"This is the Twelve Star Supreme Body Transformation Arts. It is the cultivation technique used by the founding ancestor of the village over a thousand years ago. He was… a mage emperor… and an astral body martial artist," Holt explained.

Drake was shocked about this cultivation technique's background. And the founding ancestor cultivated both magic and martial arts to such a high level? While mages normally did cultivate martial arts in the beginning, in the later realms it was too hard to cultivate both. Most people would choose to specialise in one based on their talent. It was rare to see someone reach the peak in both cultivation streams.

Holt continued.

"It is an extremely powerful technique but no one has been able to use it after him. It seems to have a strong resonance with your mana. So, I am pleasantly surprised that's all."

Drake was speechless. Maybe my true talent lies in martial arts instead of mana cultivation.

Either way, he had to cultivate both for the time being before specialising in one.

Martial arts cultivation was extremely painful and dangerous. If you absorbed too much mana, you may accidentally break down more of your body than intended, resulting in severe, often irrecoverable injury. In the worst case, you could even die.

However, with pain comes gain. When one cultivated properly, martial artists were very powerful.

Still, Drake didn't care much for power. Previously he never liked the idea of risking his life just for trying to cultivate and gain more power. But given the strange occurrences in the Beast Woods, Drake had an ominous feeling in his heart. He had to increase his strength so that he could at least protect himself and those around him.

Hazezel left Drake and started walking down the yard. Out of the four siblings, both Elwin and Drake were the most talented in their own ways. Hazezel and Astoria were average in most things. However, Hazezel used to have a problem which even most of his family didn't know about.

No one except Drake.

…

Last year.

"Noooo!" Hazezel screamed, standing up. All the money had had won, and all the money had had borrowd from people, all of it was lost! His whole body was shaking and his mouth was open in shock. On the other hand, the man he had played against was extremely joyful and laughing his heart out.

Having silently observed all of this, Drake could not contain himself anymore. He barged into the inn.

"Hazezel! What are you doing!?"

Hazezel was dismayed. This was the worst possible outcome!

…

Back in the present.

Hazezel remembered that time from a year ago. Drake had saved Hazezel from financial and reputational ruin.

He was grateful to Drake for his help, and happy about his success, but at the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little… jealous. Jealous that he wasn't as talented as his brothers.

'Little brother,' he thought to himself. 'How times are changing…'

…

At this moment, a young girl carrying a small backpack was trekking through the grassland. From the direction she was headed, one could deduce that she was going to the village of Leon. This girl was, of course, Astoria.

"I can't believe you caught it Drake!" exclaimed a young Astoria, holding and petting the rabbit.

"Don't underestimate your brother," Drake smirked, rubbing his nose and admiring his makeshift trap. "But it's getting late, we should leave."

"Yes, you're right, lets g-"

"ROAAARRRRR!!!!"

Astoria froze. Terror overwhelmed her.

Drake grabbed her hand. "Snap out of it! Run!"

'Drake…' She thought, remembering the day from two years ago again. The day which had left a deep impression on her. 'Please wait for me, I will do this!'

…

After receiving the martial arts cultivation technique, Drake went to find Ray Dragmoor.

He was in the garden, sitting in his usual spot underneath the umbrella. Ray was cross-legged on the ground and didn't seem to notice his arrival. Drake hesitantly stopped when seeing this as he didn't want to disturb his master and make him suffer a backlash.

However, he didn't have to worry as Ray soon opened his eyes slightly without suffering any backlash.

Drake was wondering how he could be so in control but figured that he could also do it with enough practice.

"You seem to have something interesting in your hands," Ray said slowly with half-closed eyes.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Drake looked at the scroll in his hand and replied, "Father gave me a martial arts cultivation technique. It's called the Twelve Star Supreme Body Transformation Arts."

Ray's expression didn't change at all, he just closed his eyes and continued cultivating but his voice echoed in his ears.

"That is no ordinary cultivation technique. Be careful when you cultivate it."

Drake bowed to Ray before taking a seat. He cleared his mind and started concentrating.

He wanted to cultivate the Return of Spring Arts for some more time first. Martial cultivation was more painful and dangerous than mana cultivation. The cultivation technique he had chosen seemed extraordinary as well. Therefore, he didn't want any mistakes to occur when cultivating it.

He first wanted to cultivate mana to improve his concentration and willpower and just get used to cultivating before beginning to cultivate martial arts.

Thinking this, he calmed down once more and cleared his mind. This process still took him over an hour.

Finally, he began cultivating the Return of Spring Arts.

…

The route to reach Leon was safe as most of the demons and onis nearby all resided in the Beast Woods.

So, Astoria made quick progress. By sunset, the clouds started drizzling, but Astoria reached the village.

Her blue, hooded cloak was drenched. She had slightly drawn her hood back, revealing some of her gorgeous black hair which quickly became wet. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked at the gate.

It wasn't too large and surrounding it was just some wooden fence. At the gate, two guards in plated armour were stationed. Some people often entered and exited at will, they were those who worked in the surrounding farms or had left for hunting.

She was tired from carrying her heavy luggage all the way so she took a deep breath before walking forwards.

One of the guards was half asleep while leaning against the gate. The other guard looked around with the utmost boredom, showing that nothing interesting ever happened here. He gave a passing glance to Astoria and held his hand out. He was asking for the entrance fee.

Astoria knew this as it was collected in her own village as well. Apart from licensed farmers and hunters, people who crossed the gate would have to pay one bronze. It was like a toll.

After taking the money, the guard didn't spare her another glance. Astoria had prepared a range of lies and excuses to deceive the guards if they asked for her background but unexpectedly, it was very easy to enter this village.

Generally, people always stayed in their own villages. Only some people like Ray, or those with high statuses like village elders would leave and interact with other villages. So, the guard would have assumed that Astoria was from Leon.

Astoria entered the village to find quiet streets with shops closing for the night. Many were hurrying away before the rain became stronger. The shops here just sold everyday items ranging from food, clothes, accessories, kitchenware, weapons, and so forth. There was no way she would find the pill recipe here.

This pill recipe was developed by the village chief of Leon from three generations ago. Not only was it useful for mages cultivating mana, but it was also useful for martial artists for the same reason. As a result, this pill was extremely popular from the moment it was discovered.

After beginning the production of the pill, the number of high-quality martial artists in this village also started increasing which increased their military might. If not for the fact that Jain village had existed since long before Leon, they might have even surpassed Jain in terms of military strength.

Naturally, this pill and its recipe were a very closely guarded secret of the village. The other villages had asked them for it, but they sternly refused. They didn't even sell them the pills as someone might be able to reverse engineer the recipe using it.

She had no plan on how she was going to obtain it.

'First thing's first, I need to find a place to stay,' she thought to herself, and started to look for the nearest inn.

The maps she had on hand only showed the route to the village and not the inside. She was hesitant to ask people as it may reveal that she wasn't from the village. So, after an hour of mindlessly walking around, she finally arrived at an inn.

At this point, she was completely drenched as the rain had reached its peak.

Many people were walking around, laughing, drinking, arguing, and sometimes even fighting. However, she ignored all of them and directly went to the innkeeper to book a room.

It was worth mentioning that in this world, the currency was just bronze, silver, and gold coins. One silver was worth one hundred bronze coins, and one gold was worth one hundred silver coins. For two bronze coins, one could stay at a basic inn for a night, and for five bronze, they could stay for a whole day, all meals included. In other words, one and a half silver was enough for one person for a month.

She booked a room for a week with all meals included, paying thirty-five bronze in total. After this, she didn't immediately leave. She was hungry so she ordered dinner from the innkeeper and sat at a table by herself.

Some people noticed her and were glancing at her curiously. They were all locals and didn't know who she was. But judging from her looks and outfit, she didn't appear like a commoner.

Astoria ignored their gazes and had her meal while also trying to eavesdrop on the nearby conversations, wondering if anyone was talking about the zenith pills. However, she had no luck.

So, she quietly retired to her room after eating.

The room was very shabby, with creaky floorboards and one window, next to which was a bed, a table and a chair. There was a shared bathroom on the outside for her to use.

After her long journey, Astoria was very tired.

She changed out of her wet clothes into some clean pyjamas and immediately fell asleep on the bed. It was nowhere near as comfortable as her own bed, but she was too tired to complain.

The next morning, Astoria woke up refreshed. She quickly brushed her teeth, got dressed, and headed down for breakfast.

While eating, her ears picked up an interesting conversation.

"Hey, did you hear what happened last night?" a burly man asked his yellow-haired friend.

"Hear what?" the yellow-haired man replied.

"Jin Tong won against the Dave!"

"What? The Dave who has already cultivated the early stage steel body?"

"Who else? That Jin Tong is really unbelievable. He should have already cultivated the middle-stage steel body now. He only became a martial artist recently, but he has already surpassed Dave who is his senior. Such progress is unheard of!"

"Sigh... We should be glad. Our village has yet another genius. We should go past the dojo this afternoon, maybe we can catch a glimpse of this Jin Tong. I really want to know what he looks like."

'Dojo?' Astoria wondered.

If there was a dojo, there must be many martial artists there. So, there might be some zenith pills too. She might even be able to get her hands on some!

Thinking so, she finished her breakfast and quickly left the inn.

Astoria closed the door and looked at the relatively quiet streets and realised something. She still didn't know any directions!

'It's fine. It'll be good to explore the village first. I should be able to find it eventually.' Making up her mind, she walked away from the inn and turned down an alley.

Suddenly, two men approached her from behind.

"Hey, miss, you seem lost. Is there anything we can help you with?" one of them asked.

Astoria was startled and she immediately turned around. One was tall and skinny and the other was small and fat. They were both drunk and wore ragged clothes.

"Yeah!" the fat man continued with a rough voice. "Don't worry, you can ask us anything and we'll definitely satisfy you!" he chuckled while looking at Astoria with a lecherous gaze.

Astoria was only twelve years old, but in this world, it was already old enough to get married, similar to Ancient Rome or the Middle Ages on Earth.

She felt disgusted and immediately stumbled backwards.

"Ah thanks for your offer, but I'm fine!" she forced herself to hold back her disgust and avoid saying anything rash so as to not anger them. She immediately turned around and started walking away but they quickly jogged to catch up.

The tall man pulled her backpack, forcefully stopping her.

"Wait! There's no rush. We were ju-st having such a ni-ce conversa-tion!" the man hiccupped. He was extremely drunk.

"Yeah, it's rude to leave so suddenly like that!" the other one grumbled.

They were both approaching very close to her now and she could no longer remain calm. She immediately started running. However, they were both much older and faster than her and they soon caught up.

One of them pushed her from the back and she fell on the floor.

Her mind churned and her heart was in turmoil. She had grown up in such a safe environment, that she didn't know how dangerous the world could be.

This wasn't part of her plan!

The two men laughed wickedly with wide grins as they approached her.

Astoria's heart was thumping so loud and she was sweating buckets.

Suddenly, a loud voice sounded from behind the two men.

"You two! You dare to attack a woman like this in my presence!"

The two men turned around to spot a guy, around fifteen years of age, standing behind them. Their expressions turned ugly.

"Who a-re you? This no-ne of your bus-iness!" the tall man hiccupped again.

"Yeah! This is no place to play hero!" the fat man added.

But the young man didn't move, he just stood there with a condescending look, causing them to become annoyed.

"Take this!" the fat man yelled as he ran towards him, his fist raised to throw a punch.

But the young man chuckled as he dodged agilely, before striking him on his neck and instantly knocking him out.

The tall man was aghast, "You're a martial artist!"

The two were just ordinary people so they stood no chance against martial artists. Fear sobered the tall man up. He instantly turned around and disappeared in a flash.

The young man didn't try to chase after him and turned his attention to Astoria.

Astoria heaved a sigh of relief. It was only now that she could properly see the face of her saviour.

The man had a youthful look with a tanned complexion. He had black, scruffy hair with a piercing gaze.

"Are you okay miss?" he asked with a handsome smile as he held out a hand towards Astoria.

She thought he was cute and blushed, but soon remembered what she had come here to do and returned to her senses. Astoria gratefully took his hand, and he pulled her up. She quickly dusted off her clothes before facing him.

"I'm good, thank you very much," she said respectfully with a slight bow.

"No problem at all," he replied, waving his hand as if it was no big deal. "May I know your name?" She hesitated slightly before deciding to use her real name.

"Astoria…" the man said to himself. "What a pretty name, it suits you well," he said with a smile again.

Astoria blushed slightly before asking for his name.

"I'm Sam. Sam Ashford. You better remember it!" he laughed, and then asked something unexpected. "How about I buy you a drink?"

She hesitated before shaking her head. "I would love that but I'm actually going somewhere now."

"Oh, where are you off to?"

She thought about it for a moment before deciding to tell the truth.

"The dojo".

"That's interesting, what business do you have there?" he asked curiously, before adding, "If you don't mind me asking."

Now she hesitated. She couldn't tell him the truth.