Tsem stepped foot inside the trade hall, laden pack on his back. It had taken another day of waiting, but Elder Goro had returned. He was feeling good, a night spent in Kanuk’s guest bed did a lot to help him recuperate from what had turned out to be a more emotional and eventful trip than he’d planned for. Da Waska had taken care of delivering the prey’s hearth to the sect representative and had reported that they’d shown great interest in the evidence.
Moving deeper into the warehouse of a building, Tsem found he was not the only customer here. The elder was working to weigh a pile of pelts and other materials. A boy wearing a ‘DAH’ pin, much like Tsem’s own, waited.
The boy looked roughly the same age and had a wiry but strong build. His dark hair was trimmed down to little more than stubble. Judging by the faint smell of qi, he was a cultivator, but quite weak, likely only working on his second or third meridian. He had a bow of decent quality on his back and a quiver of arrows that looked homemade.
Tsem immediately respected him for that quiver. He’d had the idea of making arrows from scratch himself, down to the ghalri raptor feathers adorning them, but the few attempts he’d made had ended in poor imitations. This boy already had to have saved a significant amount in contribution points by learning how to make those.
“Five-thousand points in all.” Elder Goro consulted his records. “That brings you up to eighteen-thousand contribution points. Well done, Raej, I hadn’t expected you back so soon.”
Tsem knew that name. Da Waska had talked his little brother up plenty on the trip, so much that his claims had stopped sounding entirely believable. Yet, here he was, far ahead of Tsem in contribution points. Already, it sounded like he was nearly a fifth of the way to the second milestone. That was…Tsem looked up at the prize for the second milestone. Just like he’d feared, there was only one manual sitting there.
Raej excused himself, moving into the shelves, no doubt to spend his contribution points. Tsem stepped up to the counter, unpacking his spoils and placing them in front of the elder. “Elder Goro.” Tsem gave a bow of greeting while still unloading his goods. He decided to give voice to his worries. Better to know something, even if it was bad news, especially if it was bad news. “If more than one hunter achieves the second milestone, they’ll both be able to learn from the manual of a thousand skins, and be tested to become disciples, right.”
The elder gave a chuckle, his remaining eye moving to the shelf that held the manual, Tsem’s eventual goal. “Do you think I can take on so many disciples, so quickly?” The old man shook his head. “We need quality, not quantity. I only take one new disciple every year. A new manual gets made at the start of summer. First hunter to claim it, claims it.”
A weight dropped on Tsem’s shoulders. Next summer. It was just summer now. He’d be ready to move forward with his cultivation long before then. He glanced back, finding Raej watching him. The boy looked to hold the same determination Tsem held within himself. Already, he was so far behind. It wouldn’t be easy to catch up.
“Four-thousand points.” The elder looked at Tsem, probably knowing his words would ring hollow. “That brings you to five-thousand two-hundred and fifty points in all.”
Tsem’s mind did the calculation. Less than a fourth of what Raej already had. He bowed to the elder, thanking him, and moving into the shelves to make his selections. He first ventured over to the manuals. His recent fights alongside Kanuk and Waska had made it clear his skill with the spear was lacking. He needed some form to follow, even a basic one might prove the difference between life and death in combat with a demonic beast.
Such manuals were unfortunately outside Tsem’s current price range, the cheapest costing twelve thousand contribution points, three times what he had now. Raej walked up beside him, giving him a respectful nod and reaching for one of the manuals for the bow. Tsem let him, feeling more than a little envy.
Raej left soon after, leaving Tsem to think. He considered purchasing a bow of his own, but one weapon he barely knew how to use was enough to take up his time. In the end, he decided to save up the majority of his contribution points, only bringing a bundle of herbs up to the counter. He would need them to continue purifying his meridians.
“Is there anything I can do to increase the contribution points I earn, elder? Any specific demonic beast whose materials the clan needs.”
The elder grinned, a scar near his mouth expanding. “Clever. We do have such a list.” He pulled out a listing from behind the counter. “Anything on here we’ll pay significant amounts for. The bounty list will change every four weeks though, so, you’ll need to return by then to be sure you can claim the bonus.”
Tsem looked at the list carefully, searching for targets he might be able to take down. Most were beyond his ability though. Only a few even sounded like potential options, the golden pinfish and the dusento. The first was a legged fish that Tsem had stayed well clear of before now. He’d seen one in the stream near Valesin’s lair, lurking in the deepest pools. They had a tendency to eat any interella that drew near and would accordingly be very dangerous to hunt. The dusento, snakes with heads on either end of their body were no better really, their propensity to curl their bodies in the upper reaches of trees and strike at their prey from above was already difficult to deal with, but that was paired with venom strong enough to kill Tsem outright.
Not good choices, but that was to be expected. It would be unusual for the clan to be running short of something easy and safe to gather. He doubted the bounty list would ever include anything much easier to hunt either. Still, he would have to think carefully before selecting his target.
Tsem left filled with nervous energy. Part of him wanted to get back to the wilderness and begin hunting, but he wasn’t quite done in Sumoon just yet. The commissions he’d ordered from Lyung were ready, he’d been brought a note indicating that early in the morning. The shop was on his way out of the city anyway, so it was easy for him to stop by.
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He couldn’t deny some amount of excitement. Back before he was a cultivator, getting a new set of clothes had been an event, something that marked a new stage of his life. They were proof he had outgrown his old ones. Considering he’d just picked up a pair of mundane hunting leathers weeks ago, it was all the more gratifying. This was part of being a cultivator too, he supposed, growing far faster than he had before.
Tsem broke himself from his thoughts, giving a wave. “Ho, Lyung.”
The proprietor grinned nervously, glancing back and returning the greeting. “I’ve got your new hunting leathers ready. We used the interella hides you gave us, and I think you’ll be satisfied. He looked scathingly at Tsem’s current getup. “They’ll offer quite a bit more protection than your previous gear.”
Tsem grabbed the leathers from the man, testing them with his hands. The leather was indeed far tougher than what he’d been wearing. He could tell that right away. Beyond that though, the leather was flexible, moving with far greater ease than he would have expected for it being so tough. It seemed Lyung’s reputation was well earned.
Tsem gave the man his praises, feeling more than satisfied, but Lyung still seemed to be nervous for some reason. It made him realize what hadn’t been presented. “What about the net?”
Hands twirled around each other, releasing tension. “It’s done, but my little sister, the employee who I mentioned before, she insists on meeting with you inside. She wants to personally showcase the product.” Lyung looked down at his feet. “Don’t take anything she might say personally, please. And…uh…keep an open mind. She’s very passionate about her work, but she’s doesn’t really take to people well.”
Tsem nodded, somewhat confused, but not really bothered. “That’s fine. I never really trusted merchants who are too slick anyway.”
Lyung rolled his eyes. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tsem smiled at the light banter. He found Lyung extremely easy to talk to and had to admit he enjoyed his visits to his shop quite a bit. He was fairly sure he’d be back.
When Tsem was led into the building portion of Lyung’s shop, he wasn’t expecting to find much of anything he hadn’t seen outside. The operation on the street far outsized the building itself after all, and those working in The Spiced Brook didn’t bother hiding their process. His assumption was only half right.
The building was split in half, one side, clearly Lyung’s workshop, was tidy, organized, and filled with notations made in a crisp firm hand. The other side was the surprise. To put it generously, it was a mess. Materials were strewn about the place, and a dozen odd half-complete experiments hung from hooks attached to the ceiling.
Amidst the messy side, Lyung’s sister waited. She shared some of Lyung’s handsome looks, but where he took care of his and flaunted them, his sister’s looks were marred by her unkempt hair, shavings from a dozen materials that coated her, and more than anything her gaze which was filled with wild frenetic energy.
“Net boy!” She exclaimed, running up to Tsem, taking his hand and drawing him over to a leather net that was hanging from one of her hooks. “I started by trying out various weights around the edges. I heard it needs to open wide when you throw it, you see.”
Tsem nodded. He’d been able to make that happen through practice, but no matter what he did, his needleroot nets had never been able to open fully like he’d wanted them to. The best he could get was a ‘good enough’ result. If this girl had managed to figure out how to keep them open…
“I quickly got bored with that and moved on.”
Tsem’s face fell as she led him to another net. “I realized it would be far more exciting, and indeed effective, if the net didn’t just open every time it was thrown. Sure, well-fit weights around the edge, segmented metal perhaps, might achieve my initial goal, but I had more vision than that.”
Tsem shook his head. He would have loved to have the very net she’d just described. It sounded perfect, exactly what he needed.
The girl swung her arm open, smacking against the second hanging net, seemingly by accident. “I treated this one with peach tree pulp, some of the supply that Kanuk sold us the other day. I had hoped it would respond to qi but then realized you probably can’t use external qi.” She paused for a moment, rubbing the back of her head, causing even more chaos in her hair, and throwing an odd lock over her face.
Without really pausing, she swept her way towards her workbench where a final net lay in place. “By that point, my brother insisted I was running short on time and money, so I made this.” She looked back up. “What do you think, net boy.”
“Um…I’m Tsem.” He gave a slight bow.
The girl gave a hasty bow in turn, seeming to realize her error. “My apologies. I’m Esara—no Esa. So, what do you think, net boy.” Maybe she hadn’t realized then.
Right. Lyung’s warning made some sense now. Tsem could move past this level of oddity though. He took a look at the net, Esa’s eyes were nearly popping with sparks. Clearly, she was waiting for his reaction. The net looked different than the other prototypes. The leather on the others had been mundane, simple tests that they were. This leather though. It was better than even the hunting gear Lyung had made. Esa’s work was extremely impressive.
Just with the quality, Tsem would have considered his investment worthwhile. There was much more going on here though. The edges looked heavier, bulkier than the rest. There seemed to be hooks on it too, not ones that looked like they’d do damage to a demonic beast. Instead, they looked like they were meant to attach to something.
“I’m not sure I fully understand everything.” Tsem admitted. “It looks high quality though.”
“Yes.” Esa answered. “It would be even better if the pelts you’d supplied weren’t so torn up.”
Tsem grimaced. His butchering work was far from the most professional. He would have to work on that.
“I made the edges with a bunch of contained pockets. Each pocket is filled with bale sand. It’s a little heavier than normal sand. Basically, it serves the same purpose as the segmented metal I mentioned, letting the net open properly and weighing down anything you catch in it.” She coughed lightly. “Its much cheaper though. Metal costs a small fortune here.”
She grabbed one of the hooks. “These are attachment points. Sometimes you might want to retrieve the net easily and these will help with that.” Esa held up a rope that had loops at both ends. “I had Lyung add an attachment point to your hunting leathers too, on the left arm.”
Tsem started. He’d seen the little hook there, but had thought it was just for decoration. He noticed that Esa was only showcasing the use of one of the net’s hooks. He supposed they could all be used the same way. They could be useful for different grips or such.
Esa drew one of the loops around the net’s attachment point, and the other around one that was on her glove. With difficulty, she threw the net through the air, right onto Tsem. Sure enough, it opened in the air, wrapping around Tsem. The tough leather held him closely, interfering with his every movement.
He took his time, squatting down and lifting the edge up and over himself until he was free, it took more strength than he’d expected. When he finished, and was finally free, Esa gave a yank, and the net was pulled back into her hands. Tsem couldn’t help but be surprised at the slight tang of qi that came from her. Burnt qi. She was a cultivator.
He turned his focus back to the net. “That’s incredible!” He meant it too. This was far better than what he’d been expecting. Already, he could see ways he might slip the loops from either attachment point if he needed to lose the net in combat. Just the idea of being able to retrieve it after he missed a throw though. That would change the whole way he could approach fighting with it.
Esa shook her head, her hair swaying along with her, that odd lock thrown back into place. “It’s barely a start.”
Tsem looked at her confused. This was all he had paid for. The project was done. He tried to explain as much to Esa, but she cut him off. “You will bring me more materials, right? I like this project and still have plenty of ideas.”
Tsem eventually agreed. He wasn’t sure that he’d need a better net than this any time soon, but then again, he hadn’t expected more than a decent leather net. Already, he could see value in Esa’s work that he hadn’t even considered. If she truly had more ideas for improvements, he’d be a fool not to supply her with materials and what money he could get from selling cores.
With the net and new hunting leathers in hand, he left Lyung’s shop feeling very satisfied. Already, he was considering how to close the gap between his own points and Raej’s. The bounty list was the obvious choice, but he’d have to approach those hunts very carefully.
