As they made their way to the fights, Cain reiterated the reason that they were attending the competition in the first place because he knew that at least one of his Disciples had a very short attention span when the topic wasn't food.
"Alright, as you watch the various techniques, keep in mind any that might fit well with your style. We want to get everyone their optimal advancement path based on what you like, and I will be making you all custom skill books later, so pay close attention to the matches." He reminded them.
Elder Ling thought that was a bit overboard, custom creating skill manuscripts for every disciple, but in retrospect, it wasn't that much different than their practice of letting the Disciples pick something they liked from the library. It was just done in real-time instead of collected over the centuries.
"Now that I have my crown, I want something really cool. Neffie got to be the overlord of Port Nefheim, so being a mere Princess of War forever wouldn't be a great story to tell her when we meet again.
Plus, who knows what sort of cool things she's gotten to do since we left? She might have managed to get an even cooler title than Overlord by now." Luna declared.
"The daughter of my best friend and a close friend of Luna's. She has a particular knack for military leadership and city operations, so she is in charge of a port city back home." Cain explained to the confused Cultivators of the Lotus Blossom Sect.
"Oh, that is too cool. Were her parents the leaders of the city before her?" One of the disciples asked Luna.
"Nope, Sect Master Cain built the city so that he would have a trading port on that continent for his vessels to land at and a place for his members to sleep before they went into the forest to fight the giant reptiles," Luna told her, causing even more confusion.
"You really don't do things in small measures, do you? How do you even establish a new city on a whim?" The disciple asked Cain.
"When you have thousands of people following you, it's easy. Plus, there wasn't another friendly port for the sailors because of the danger of the wildlife in the area. They might not breathe fire or fly, but the local wildlife was nearly as dangerous as a dragon the same size. Because of that, there weren't a lot of ports open, and the ones that were open were very picky about who they let in, so some sailors couldn't trade with the continent at all." Cain told her.
"Oh, I get it now. It's like setting up a branch location of a sect near the beach and letting the city grow up around it. That's what the Blue Crush Sect did with their Ocean Branch. They just set up a training location that stayed for years, and it turned into a city, with docks and trading posts and everything, because they were there to protect the mundane humans from danger."
The timeline was different, as Cain used Golems to actually build the city, but the concept was the same. It was empty until people who saw the opportunity started to show up and fill it in and expand it.
"Not a bad analogy. Now, what will we be picking for today's snack? I know everyone is partied out, and I've got a lunch packed, but there is always a need for an afternoon snack when the matches start to drag on." Cain asked, diverting the topic away from his past.
Elder Ling smiled at him, then took out a small bag from her storage ring. "I came prepared today. I managed to obtain a large amount of peanut brittle for the evening, a good mix of sugar and protein to keep the Disciples' attention on the matches.
As you said, there is a lot to be learned by watching the other Sects fight. Even if they are not quite your own style, you can pick up tricks that might help your own fighting technique or teach you to defend against others."
"Oh, nice call. It looks like the lineup for this arena is shorter as well. The streets aren't nearly as crowded as the ones by the other arenas we have passed. The vendors are different as well. More accessories, pretty things, and not nearly as many sketchy get strong quick schemes." Cain observed.
Elder Ling nodded. "Getting things done is important, but every woman knows that it is also important to look good doing it."
Cain pondered that advice for a while, then handed Penny a bag full of coins and motioned his Disciples toward the stalls. "Go, pick something for yourselves within that budget. It seems I have been neglecting the smaller details."
That made the girls laugh. Cain might not understand a woman's heart, but he was always generous enough that they didn't lack any of the basics.
The area that they were in had a wide variety of things that a cultivator would like. Inscription books with fancy covers, ornamental sword sheathes and covers, clothing with hidden pockets, hair accessories that doubled as weapons, storage rings, and comfortable shoes with hidden weapons.
Hidden weapons were definitely the prevailing theme of this district, but the craftsmanship was amazing, and they would all pass as daily worn items. Cain wondered if that was simply due to the nature of the cultivation style that the locals preferred, where sneak attacks and seduction replaced physical strength as the dominant battle technique.
He had seen them fight, and thanks to their cultivation, it wasn't necessarily true that a female cultivator would be physically weaker than a male near her own rank if they were training in similar styles.
They were almost to the arena when an item caught Cain's attention. According to his scan, it was a [Tome of Wholistic Body Refining], a rank S skill that should be able to help a transfer or cultivator increase their body quality up to Mythic with repeated use.
"Shopkeeper, how much do you want for that book on the shelf?" Cain asked.
It was dusty and half tucked under other items, looking forgotten, but thanks to the System identifying it as a usable item, Cain had noticed it right away among the trinkets.
"That? It's the ravings of a madman, not a cultivation manual. Plus, it's written in a foreign language. But it's got a hint of magic to it, so I can't bring myself to let it go for nothing." The man at the counter rambled.
"Then how about we trade? You have a fine collection of blade accessories, so I will offer you one Magical blade for the book." Cain proposed, then placed an Epic Quality katana on the counter.
It was well suited to the nimble style that many of the sects used, so it shouldn't be hard for the shop to sell such a blade. They could even deck it out with their fancy trinkets and mark them way up when they sold them with it.
The shopkeeper looked suspiciously at the blade, then the book and Cain could hear her mind trying to decipher if Cain knew something about the book that she did not.
"It's not as high of a price as you think. I make this sort of blade myself, so it costs me far less than an item I had traded for." Cain explained.
That was a lie. It was one of the random items he grabbed from the Guild Bank to practice advanced Rune Crafting on before they left the Library. But it was still good enough to serve the purpose and trade for the Skill Book.
"In that case, I won't hold back. The book is yours for the taking." The shopkeeper offered, handing Cain the dusty tome, which he immediately put in his inventory to prevent damage to the aged manuscript.
It wouldn't do him any good, as he was already at Spirit Quality in body and Awakening, but this tome was a treasure trove for the Disciples. They were all regular humans with regular human modifiers, and advancing them to Mythic, even if it took time, was going to be a huge power increase for their combat skills.
Even for Sabbat, who was entirely a ranged caster, it would be an improvement, as a Mythic Body got a higher modifier to the total Mana stored.
Cain looked around before he left, not finding anything else of interest, but there was a rather unique shop next door where all of his Disciples had gathered.
They sold nothing but hair accessories, mostly enchanted and sold with a gimmick. They were arranged by design and color only, and it was up to the buyer to determine the quality and effect of the item by analyzing its aura, among thousands of others.
They also weren't allowed to pick it up and make the task easier on themselves, so Cain was certain that most were simply guessing, but for his Disciples, with the System, it was a much easier task. They only had to find the good items among the thousands of them displayed.
The woman running the shop looked suspiciously at Cain as he entered, wondering if the Elder was going to help his disciples, but Cain only looked around for a moment, then picked out a pair of hair sticks that were carved in the shape of a Lamia.
A simple uncommon quality magical item that had the additional effect of restoring tousled hair to the state it was in when the hairpins were worn. But to Cain, this was the true prize of the shop. The long white sticks with red markings and red hair for the Lamia's upper body looked remarkably like Cyrene. If he hadn't found them first, there was no doubt that Luna would have picked it herself.
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