My Clan Cultivation System: Only My Clan Can Cultivate

Chapter 83: The Penalty

In the streets of Wiltshire Town, even though it was a small town. It was still filled with many people in the streets.

"Why ain’t you celebrating?! Isn’t this exactly what you came here for?!" Zena yelled at both Ian and Isaac. They were sitting at a table outside the inn, and Ian was casually holding his newly issued Adventurer’s Guild card, which clearly displayed a solid B-Rank.

"Well, I am thankful, but I don’t think it needs that much celebrating," Ian said, calmly sliding the card into his pocket. "And besides, I don’t even know the real uses of these cards anyway. It’s not like I’m actually gonna use it to adventure out in the future."

"Yeah, he is right about that. Adventuring doesn’t reliably put food on the table these days," Isaac agreed, leaning back in his chair.

"If anyone is truly powerful, they don’t want to go randomly hunt monsters in forests or even unknown dungeons it’s too much risk. They would much prefer working for a wealthy and high ranking Noble, where they would only have to put their life on the line only during actual wartimes and even if they die protecting a noble the guard will know his family is well compensated for their death. And with the past decade of peace in the Kingdom, who would be crazy enough to hunt monsters for a living, where at any time you could encounter a rare or unique powerful beast that could kill you on the spot?" Isaac said while remembering those red orcs.

Everybody at the table just stared at Isaac, struggling to find the right words to complain about his bleak logic.

"Sigh... maybe you are right about that locally," Sarah finally admitted. "In this Kingdom, since the Magic Empire put those Blockade Towers in the Great Forest, there are definitely no high-paying hunting jobs left. But you are wrong about other domains. Places like the Obsidian Empire and the Vironian Empire actively offer massive amounts of gold to Adventurers willing to travel to the Demon Continent. I heard that is where all the real Adventurers are flocking these days and finishing one job will make you not have to work for like 10 years straight."

"Whatever," Isaac said, looking away dismissively.

"Ha-ha-ha! Well said, Sarah! You really put this arrogant jerk—who absolutely thinks he knows better than anyone else—in his place!!" Zena laughed loudly, chugging down a large mug of alcohol.

Isaac didn’t even retaliate. He only stared blankly at Zena, who was clearly starting to get drunk.

"Hey, don’t you think you have had enough?" Sarah asked, looking at Zena with genuine concern.

"I’m not even that drunk yet! Do you guys even know the sheer pain of drinking completely alone while my supposedly good friends are all sitting here completely sober?!" Zena complained, standing up from his chair.

"But you are not drinking alone, though. Ian is also drinking," Sarah pointed out, gesturing at Ian. Ian was sitting quietly, watching everything with dull eyes, taking slow sips of his beer while constantly scratching his neck. "And you know I hate the smell of beer, that’s why I don’t drink. And Isaac explicitly said he just dislikes getting drunk."

"What do you kids even know?" Zena said then he threw glances at Ian. "Ian you were talkative before we went into that damn forest! But now... it just feels like I’m talking to a another Isaac! And you became even more quiet ever since we started drinking," Zena slurred slightly sitting back down.

"You noticed too, huh?" Isaac said softly, looking over at Ian.

Ian was just about to take another sip of his beer when he suddenly froze. The wooden cup slipped completely from his grip.

Splash!

The cup hit the table, heavily spilling beer all over Sarah’s legs.

"Heyy!!! What do you think you’re doing?! Didn’t I just say I hate the smell of alcohol, now look...." Sarah started complaining.

Ian wasn’t listening to her at all. He was staring blankly at the empty air in front of him, his face completely pale as he read a sudden System notification.

[DETECTED THAT DION THORNE HAS DIED AN UNNATURAL DEATH. INITIATING PENALTY]

[DETECTED THAT SHE DIED AT THE MIDDLE STAGE OF SKIN CULTIVATION AND WAS AN EXTERNAL MEMBER. PENALTY: 50 PROSPERITY POINTS DEDUCTED]

[NOTE: PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR CLAN MEMBERS CAREFULLY NEXT TIME]

Ian just stared at the glowing blue text in absolute shock.

’Dion died?! How?! Isn’t she safely at home?! Home... did something happen at home?!’ Ian thought frantically. Staring at the system prompt, his hands started to tremble violently. He didn’t even care about the loss of points. The only thing echoing in his mind was that his family was in danger.

"HEY!! Are you even listening to me?!" Sarah called out, waving a hand in front of his face.

Suddenly, Ian forcefully pushed his chair back and stood up. "I need to go home right now," he said, a deadly serious look returning to his eyes.

"Huh?!" Zena and Sarah were completely shocked by his sudden change in demeanor.

Isaac just stared at him calmly. "Did something happen?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah. One of my personal guards just died... and I’m positive she was killed by someone," Ian stated rapidly, not even stopping to explain further as he headed quickly inside the inn.

Isaac carefully studied Ian’s terrified expression to check if he was telling the truth. Seeing the genuine panic in his eyes, Isaac stood up. "I see... then I should also go too. Who knows, maybe there are people actively attacking the Main House too... where my mother is."

"Huh? What are you guys on about?!" Zena asked, blinking through his drunken haze in total confusion.

"Hey, can we borrow some fast horses from your family?" Isaac asked, turning to Zena.

"Yeah, I can give you some, but I need you to tell us what is going on first! I’m completely confused!" Zena demanded, slamming his hand on the wooden table.

"It’s exactly as he just said. Someone, or something, is attacking our home right now, and we desperately need horses to get there fast," Isaac said with a dark, serious look.

"That we know, but what Zena is trying to ask is how he knew about it while just sitting here with us!" Sarah pointed out.

"I don’t know either, I’m kinda curious too" Isaac admitted bluntly.

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed. " Then how..." before she even finished Isaac cut her off.

"But I trust him when it comes to the safety of our family. I don’t know exactly how he knows, but I am entirely sure what he is saying is true, with the way his face was showing. So, can you please lend us some horses?"

Zena and Sarah looked at each other for a tense moment. Then, Zena suddenly stood up straight, completely dropping his drunken act. "I will go and grab the fastest horses we have."

"Bring four of them," Sarah suddenly ordered as Zena was leaving.

Zena just nodded sharply and left in a hurried sprint.

"What?! Are you guys actually planning on coming with us?!" Ian asked, rushing back out the inn’s front door with a small travel bag over his shoulder and his sword strapped tightly to his waist.

"Of course," Sarah said with a calm, determined look. "We wouldn’t want our new allies to fight alone if your family is in danger. And I’m pretty sure you guys would do the exact same thing if our family were the ones getting randomly attacked."

"I see... then we really should get going. It will get dark soon, so the faster we move, the better," Ian said gratefully.

"Let’s head to the town gates. That’s exactly where Zena will meet us with the mounts," she said, quickly leading the way down the street.

...

Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of a nearby alleyway across the street, four individuals could be seen quietly hiding in the darkness. They were all wearing dark cloaks and featureless masks.

"Finally. I thought they would absolutely never leave this damn town," one of them whispered. Engraved on the top of his mask was the number 20.

"But sir, they seem to be leaving with the two children of the Wilson family as well," another masked assassin noted, watching Zena meet up with Ian, Isaac, and Sarah at the town gates with four horses.

"Our team is full of Third-Stage Aura users, and only you are at the Fourth-Stage, sir," a third assassin cautioned. "So I really don’t think it is wise for us to openly attack them right now, especially with that Mage girl and the Aura user boy with them."

"You don’t have to worry about that," Number 20 sneered under his mask. "It is going to get dark soon. That is exactly when we will make our move on them. So for now... let’s just quietly follow them."

"97, go and get our horses ready," Number 20 ordered.

A small, masked girl, no older than a young teenager, immediately stood up from the shadows and sprinted toward the town stables in a hurry.

’Mom... Emma, Emily... please be safe,’ Ian prayed in his thoughts. He spurred his horse forward, galloping desperately out of the town gates with Isaac, Zena, and Sarah trailing closely behind him into the fading light.