Aimless Ascension

In the end, Gale refrained from disclosing any information regarding the fate-lock. His priority was peace, not throwing around weight. Besides, Gale liked to have a mysterious air around him.

Vale seemed to like this place quite a lot. Gale hadn't seen him once after he ran off after some butterflies. The link told him he was in the woods too, but in a different direction.

From the master crafter, Gale found the wood was full of ironwood trees and there weren't many restrictions on the free use of the mountain resources. Ironwoods were a top-grade material for infrastructure and furniture. Probably the best thing the mountains could offer him.

So Gale decided he wouldn't be missing out on the free supply of ironwood. He left for the woods with the master crafter and his crew. He hadn't really thought they would be so efficient on the job when Shi Jun mentioned picking ironwood from the woods. It was only noon of the first, and they had already made such progress.

Spirit artists were just too efficient.

Ironwoods were like oak trees, only sturdier and smaller. They grow only about a couple of dozen metres and bore fruits of no renown, but the wood compensated for everything.

Gale stood on a branch of an ironwood tree, getting ready for work. He had no chainsaw, but a sword would suffice. The rest of the crew had huge axes as their tools. They divided themselves into teams of two, each team taking one single tree. Only Gale and the Master Crafter were on their own.

A longsword appeared on Gale's arm, not even the best weapon in his arsenal, but on the prospect of woodcutting, it would suffice. Then again, Gale wasn't in the shape of using his best weapons.

Qi surged through his body as Gale unlocked his second fate-lock, the Guardian Emblem. Within a couple of seconds, Gale's physical strength became herculean, his veins sticking out more than usual. The power of the guardian pulsed through his arm to the weapon.

Gale forced a substantial amount of the guardian's uniqueness to the sword, enhancing all of its functions: sharpness, toughness, and Qi sustainability.

After a few more seconds, the mad surge of power calmed and Gale was ready to chop off trees.

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One by one, he chopped off all the branches in clean strokes, leaving the naked trunk stuck to the earth. Gale came down to find a bunch of the crew members staring at him with complete puzzlement, axe in their hands.

"What?" he asked, curious. "Never seen trees chopped off?"

"The ironwood's as hard as raw iron," one man asked. He's bulky and red-faced and looked kind of like a bandit with the huge axe in hand. "How did you chop off the branches so easily?"

"How, indeed," Gale said, turning to the huge stem remaining. "I had a lot of practice, I would say."

The man, who asked, snorted. His companion next to him added with incredulity, "I bet it's the sword. Don't you see how it's shining?"

"Yeah, I bet it's an artifact."

Gale smiled. "True," he agreed, "it's an iron-ranked artifact."

"Must have cost a small fortune to make it, huh," said the red-faced man.

Gale took a position, shoulder slumping, his grip tightening on the hilt of the long sword. He stood on the front foot forward, the back foot giving an extra elevation to his stroke.

"What are the chances he would chop the tree in one clean stroke?" the red-faced man asked.

"I'll bet you ten marks, Shang," said his companion. "He won't make it."

"Iron?"

"Copper," snorted the companion.

"But he has an artifact," shouted another voice up on a tree at the back.

"If it's any other tree, I would've bet against Kongmin," Shang said. "But not with ironwoods. I fear even the Boss won't make it with the sword."

"Boss ain't no fighter."

Gale bit his lips quietly, concentrating. More Qi pulsed through the weapon as it beamed in faint blue light. He took a deep breath and swung, sword flashing downer in a quick clean flash that eyes couldn't follow.

The stroke ended, but the stem still stood. Gale didn't utter a word, poised in his position.

"Told you--" the red-faced Shang couldn't complete his phrase when the huge trunk moved, coming down to lean on the trees on the path.

Gale remained calm and poised. If he had a sheath on his hips, he could've posed like an anime character, but alas! He didn't consider he would have a chance to show off.

"So who's giving money to whom?"

The red-faced Shang was flabbergasted, and so were the others who were watching. He crept from his tree to the one Gale chopped, staring at the clean sweep where the sword moved. His eyes moved from the cut to the sword multiple times.

"Would you like to try?" Gale said, holding the sword towards the red-faced man.

Shang threw him an incredulous look, but took the sword. He applied all the Qi he could muster with his iron-ranked strength as the sword flashed in a red glow, far more vibrant than when it was with Gale.

A brilliant smile crept on his lips as the power coursed through the sword. With the sword, Shang was like a child who tasted the sweetness of candy for the first time.

He swung the longsword in a few mock moves, drawing a few snorts from his companions.

"Shang, that ain't a toy," the man in the tree reminded.

But Shang had better things on his mind than to notice anyone. He cut a few branches of the Ironwood with little effort, each one making him laugh louder than before.

The thrill was inevitable. Gale had to admit, there was really something about chopping something off. It was so hard with your bare arms, yet effortless with proper tools.

Next, Shang positioned himself in front of the trunk of the ironwood he was supposed to chop off. Others watched and wagered, maintaining a safe distance. They had all seen artifacts on many occasions, but such tools were way expensive for them to have. Besides, artifacts were dangerous.

"I bet an iron mark he won't make it," Kongmin laughed. "Who's going to bet against me?"

"I will," Shang said, his voice brimming with confidence.

"I will ask advice from the sword owner," said another man, drawing his gaze at Gale, who was watching everything. "What do you think, Young Master? Will Shang make it?"

Gale refrained from speaking at first, inspecting Shang's stance. Shang had been taught swordsmanship at some point, though it should have been decades ago. Despite him keeping his composure and balance steady, Gale could tell the years-long inactivity with weapons had dulled the man. His stance was good enough, but his intent wasn't clear.

"I'm no seer," Gale said quietly. "He's applying everything he can in the weapon, but the years-long passivity with a weapon did him a great disservice. Let's see what happens."

Shang swung almost at the same time Gale finished and also almost the same way Gale did, forcing his weight forward with the sword. But the result was different. Where Gale's stroke was clean and invisible to the eye, the sword slowed down halfway into the trunk in Shang's case.

But the burly man wasn't ready to give up. Shang pushed more energy into it as smoke came out, but the sword barely moved any further.

"Haha, I won," Kongmin snickered.

Shang was still at it for several seconds, almost at his last shred of Qi. Only when he learned, he won't be able to move any bit did his shoulders sag as his legs gave away. He exhausted his power a little too much, but would be fine after a few minutes of break.

"It seems you lack a bit of practice, my friend."