Starlight Life Of The Sage

Cara explored the city but soon found her stomach rumbling. Her face went red when she noticed Zara snickering off to the side.

"Let's find an inn," said Cara with a sheepish grin.

"Sure. We also need to plan what we're going to be doing in the city here," said Zara in reply.

-

The two traveled through the main streets, avoiding the seedier looking ones. Recommendations from random citizens pointed them towards the 'Wide District', the street where the carriages entered the city from. It was called the 'Wide District' because the main street was wide enough for three carriages to move ab.r.e.a.s.t.

Cara slowly mapped the city's layout in her mind. There were four main sectors, as far as she could tell. The 'Wide District' was the largest public sector, accompanied by a myriad of businesses and culminating in the center with the Twin Birds Auction House.

The second sector, the 'Barracks', was home to the City Guard and their families. A small residential district bordered it, where most of the citizens lived.

The third sector, the 'Four Families', housed the estates to each of the clans that kept the peace in the city. The estates were vast, varied, and overflowing with powerful mana. They were closed to the public and heavily guarded.

The final sector was the 'Palace District', the place where the most expensive homes and the unaffiliated nobility lived. The Palace District ran in concentric circles around the Northmost end of the city where it surrounded the largest monolith visible from almost all parts of the country of Tin, the City Lord's Tower.

-

The Wide District was bustling with activity. People moved in and out of buildings like worker bees in a hive, and the constant chatter and noise filled the air like a background static. Ruddy children were running about, several working as guides to tourists, but most were stalking prey as pickpockets.

Cara released a bit of her aura whenever one of the children targeted her, and it would usually knock the child to the ground or send them outright running away.

Three times different pickpockets targeted Cara and three times she sent them squealing back to their friends. She thought their fl.u.s.tered faces were rather cute and, if she were still in her first life, she would probably scout out among them for proper talents to raise.

Unfortunately, in a world Cara didn't know well, she couldn't afford to be picking up loose baggage like more disciples… Though, if she did end up coming across a child with the talents of a Paragon, she wasn't certain if she could hold herself back.

-

After mucking about down the street and dodging both carriage and horse, Cara and Zara found themselves in front of a lively inn. The building, faced with painted blue metal sheets, didn't carry the aura of rust the rest of the city had. The smell of baked goods wafted out the front door and, around the place, Cara couldn't find a single sign of drunken debauchery. There were no loose bottles, filled dumpsters, or homeless men strewn about.

It looked like an upright establishment, and it also looked expensive.

Cara considered all the loot she won from the bandits years ago. She had packed a bunch of it, using Zara's space ring to hold it all, but she wasn't certain if she wanted to spend it. The coin, gold, and silver she had found were marked and minted, meaning they could be tracked.

If she spent stolen gold would The Families let her off the hook? Cara shrugged. From what she heard in the forest during her first confrontation, she was probably a member of the Four Families… Though she wasn't particularly inclined to visit them to test that notion.

Cara loved her family from her first life, and her current body loved her family from this life… But she had no memories or ties to the 'Stonelight' family…

Though she was curious. The past conversations alluded that the Four Families possessed Bloodline Refining Cultivations, or something similar, and that they were hereditary. That meant that, within Cara's current body, there was probably already a bloodline base.

If that were true it would explain why her copying the Wyvern's breath attack so long ago felt natural, as if it were within her capabilities all along…

"We're probably going to have to visit the Four Families, at some point," said Cara.

Zara looked down and tilted her head to the side. "That's a bit off topic," she replied, "but whatever. Teacher, for now, let's see if we can offer to trade some pelts and other goods for a stay at the inn."

"Sorry, I was distracted by my thoughts," Cara smiled. She realized she had gotten off topic.

The door to the inn opened up into a wide foyer. Paintings and other decorations were hung over white walls. Chairs, tables, and upholstered furniture were scattered about in a luxurious manner. A carpeted staircase was in the back of the room and lead up to a second floor atrium of sorts. A long bar stretched from the underside of the staircase and wrapped around the north side of the room. Several doors lead to what Cara assumed was the kitchen. A large hearth burned opposite the bar.

Patrons were drinking and eating fine foods. Two young waitresses, no older than Cara's current body, were carrying trays and taking orders. A middle-aged woman wearing a gaudy pink uniform stood by the door and greeted Cara, "Hello you two! Welcome to the Dancing Fire Inn. Are you here to eat or are you looking for rooms?"

"We do want a room," said Cara, measuring her words carefully, "But we wanted to know if we could offer goods in trade for it rather than gold."

The pink-uniformed woman frowned. "I'll have to call on the Mistress of our Inn, then," she said.

"If you could, that would be great."

"Tsk. Please wait here. I'll be right back," said the Pink Woman as she ducked through one of the side doors into the back.

"She wasn't very pleasant," said Zara with a frown.

"We're making her do extra work," Cara replied. "If we just handed over some coin she'd probably treat us like queens."

"She should treat you like a queen anyways…"

"Don't start."

The woman in pink returned with another woman in tow. The new arrival was a gorgeous, dark-haired woman in her late thirties. She had a narrow waist and large curves, putting Zara's tall body to shame. The woman wore a dark sequin dress; the patterns on it looked like a night sky shining with stars.

"Morning," said the woman. "I'm the proprietress of this establishment, Marla Brown. I heard you two want to offer goods in trade for a room?"

"Yes," said Cara. "We have numerous pelts from the Crocodile-Apes from the Soldier Garden as well as spices and salt."

"Oh my! That's actually wonderful. You see, I run a small tailoring shop on the side, and I happen to be in need of beast pelts for my newest line. Would you two care to follow me in the back?"

"We'd love to."

-

The negotiations were simple and quick, a testament to the good nature of Marla and her stores. Though the only downside was there only being a single room available, forcing Cara and Zara to share.

For some reason that fact rather intimidated Cara. Her disciple was acting awfully strange, after all. She feared a bit for her chastity.

-

Zara went to deliver the pelts while Cara moved to their rented room. Alone in the room, Cara pulled out the small black Magicite Ore she obtained from the bazaar outside the city limits. She set it on a desk and eyed it carefully. Her lips curved into an upwards arc.

"This is a good material," she said to herself. From the ore she could sense the power of lightning mixed with fire and wind. It was a holistically destructive power.

The ore would make a great base for a spear or poleaxe. It was too violent for a sword. Cara measured the weight with one hand, and guessed it at only about 10 or so ounces.

She decided to use the Magicite for the blade of a poleaxe, though she'd only be able to coat the edge with it.

"If I have a complimentary material to forge the rest of the blade, I could use the bones from the Great Ape's arm to form the haft…" she said to herself in a quiet voice. "Though the materials for the blade would need to to be of the wind element for the best possible fusion."

Cara nodded her head a few times. She didn't think she'd find another lucky break like the Magicite by wandering random markets again. She'd need to visit specialized stores, then.

She decided her destination, for the afternoon, would be the stores around town. She wanted to avoid the Two Birds Auction House if she could help it. She had a bad relationship with them, after all. Every time she met someone wearing that insignia she ended up wanting to kill them, after all.

Cara grinned. She thought, for a moment, that she could always go cause a bit of trouble. She hadn't had a chance to test out her cultivation at the First Rung of the Zong realm, yet. There were a few people in the city she could have a good fight with…