The Wheel Of Samsara

There were small streams of clear water and large expanses of farmland in every direction he looked. There were people working everywhere, be it small girls and boys gathering water in the streams or adults taking care of the crops and feeding the livestock. The sounds they made together with the rustling of the gra.s.s and trees, the flowing water and the chirping of birds only added to the scene of the always lively Outer Sect.

It took more than an hour of walking until Amon started seeing the first few buildings of the Northern Station. It was nothing but an agglomerate of administrative buildings and stores. People of the northern reaches of the Outer Sect could come here handle almost anything, including exchanging contribution points and taking new jobs. It served as a central hub for those that didn"t want to waste almost a day to reach the headquarters at the foot of the mountain.

If going to the mountain was indeed necessary, anyone could ride a carriage from any of the four stations in the Outer Sect and arrive at the mountain in a few hours if they paid a reasonable price in contribution points.

The four Cardinal Stations consisted the Middle Ring of the Outer Sect. All one had to do was draw an imaginary line in a map of the sect around the mountain and connect the stations to have an idea of its size. The Outer Ring naturally was the boundaries of the sect"s living area, while the Inner Ring was the whole area at the foot of h.e.l.l"s Keeper Mountain.

Amon quietly made his way into the station. There were no gates, wall or fences. The outermost buildings delimited the boundaries of the Northern Station. He quickly arrived at the main street, which was just a bit wider than all the other streets. It was paved with square slabs of stones and was surprisingly clean.

Soon enough, Amon saw the Northern Exchange Pavilion at the end of the street. It was a three-storied building made with green jade that glistened in the sun, almost coming alive in a light-green fire. The thick, white doors were already open, and the ground floor was bustling with activity.

There were wide windows letting the sun light the inside of the pavilion. The inside walls were of the same green as the outside, but the floor and the pillars were pure white like the main door. At one side a set of stairs could be seen leading to the next floor, and further along a few counters made with the same green jade where the clerks could attend were placed.

People made long lines in front of the clerks that stood in the counter and patiently awaited their turn. Anyone that caused a ruckus was thrown out by white robbed guards that stood in the corners with their backs to the wall and golden spears in their hands.

Amon chose what seemed to be the shortest line and waited for his turn.

"Have you heard? It seems like Jake managed to kill an Earth Dragon in his last mission. That kid is only sixteen and can already kill a cla.s.s 4 monster."

"The son of the Second Protector? Of course he would be able to do something like that. Even if we ignore his father, he still is the direct disciple of Sect Master Borgin."

"There he is, slaying monsters left and right while the most dangerous thing we do is face this terrifying line."

"If you want to go in a hunt mission you can always finish your Body Tempering and reach Elemental Purification to get into the Inner Sect. Just remember to send me a picture from the dreamland you will be visiting at the time."

People were gossiping everywhere in the pavilion, bored by the long lines. Amon stood in silence, mechanically walking forward whenever needed, thinking on how many contribution points he would end up spending.

"Found you!" When it was almost his turn, a familiar voice dragged him back to reality.

Amon turned around to see a young man looking at him. He seemed to be in his twenties, had black hair and eyes and a handsome face punctuated by a sharp nose. He was a bit short and somewhat slim, but one could see his well-built muscles bulging slight from his blue clothes.

"Hey Daniel. What"s up?" Amon asked with a smile. Daniel was one of his few friends. Maybe the only one he could really count on. Daniel, on the other hand, had a annoyed look on his face.

"Nothing much. I was sure you would be still sleeping when I visited your house, but, to my surprise, you were already up and had even left without me. I thought we had agreed to come together and discuss our plans for the Scavenging."

"Sorry about that." Amon had a look that said "not really sorry" as he said that, which made Daniel even more annoyed.

"Forget it, we"ll talk later. Look, it"s your turn." Amon saw that indeed there was no one in front of him anymore. He walked to the counter and took a purple card from his clothes. He faced the clerk, a pretty woman wearing neat purple clothes and a somewhat stiff smile.

"I"ll need three bags of rice, one of onions, one of carrots and ten black nuts. Add a bottle of Nourishing Pills too." He said, while offering the card in his hands.

The clerk nodded and took the card from his hands. She took a crystal ball from behind the counter and her hands glowed for a moment. The crystal ball slowly float above her open palms and a stream of white words flowed from it, gathering in the air in front of her.

She pressed a few of the words with amazing speed, and a number popped out from the ball.

"It will be two hundred contribution points." The woman said with an indifferent voice.

"Two hundred? Are you kidding me? Last week it only cost me one hundred and seventy points!" Amon was surprised. There is no way the price could increase so much in a mere week.

"I"m sorry sir, but this week we received fewer supplies than normal. Except for the pills that are made by the sect, everything had a slight increase in price. I would say that it is thanks to the Scavenging, as many of our providers are busy with their preparations and are selling less than usual."

The Scavenging was a big event for the Outer Sect; people would naturally reduce their workload as they made time to prepare for it. They would in turn have less things to sell to the Exchange Pavilion. Since everyone still had to buy food and supplies, the prices would rise as the amount available lessened.

Amon calmed down and thought for a while before making a decision. He gave a long sigh, unconsciously running his fingers through his hair.

"Forget about the black nuts, then." He had a sad face as he spoke to the clerk.

The clerk nodded and waved her hands. The numbers disappeared and the words scattered in fragments of light before joining again. She tapped a few of the words again and a new number popped up.

"It will be one hundred and seventy contribution points." It was the same price as last week but he didn"t take any of the black nuts now. Things were indeed much more expensive.

"I"ll take it."

The clerk touched the ball with the purple card. The words dissolved and the card lit up with a faint light before dimming again. The clerk offered Amon his card back.

"Done. Your balance is seventeen contribution points." As she spoke, a tall man wearing purple clothes appeared from the back, carrying five bags of food.

He dropped then on top of the counter. Amon took the heavy bags and thanked the man and the clerk before leaving. Daniel followed him outside.

As they left, Daniel took the bags from Amon"s hands and signaled him to stop by a small tree in the shade of two buildings.

They sat under the tree and Daniel put the bags on the floor. He then retrieved a small leather pouch from his clothes. He carefully opened it before sticking his hand inside, looking for something.

His brows furrowed as he couldn"t find what he wanted, so he pushed his whole arm inside the tiny pouch, creating a bizarre scene.

It took him a good while searching inside the pouch, making Amon laugh at the sight. Daniel finally retrieved a tiny bottle and a bundle of cloth from the pouch before closing it and putting it back in his clothes. He then offered the bottle and the bundle to Amon. "Here. Aunt Becca asked me to give you these. She said you didn"t have breakfast and didn"t sleep very well, so she was worried."

Amon"s face sank. He couldn"t fool his mother in the end. Still, he couldn"t accept Daniel"s things. He refused the objects extended to him. "No, thank you. My mother worries too much. I can handle it."

Daniel didn"t waver. "It is just a piece of cheese and a drink, nothing much. I got these for free from a friend and didn"t have to pay a single point."

"No thanks." Amon was resolute.

"Just take it. I don"t care of what you want, what I don"t want is auntie nagging me because I didn"t take care of you properly." Daniel pushed the objects into Amon"s arms despite his protests. He then put a satisfied expression on his face as he leaned against the tree and closed his eyes, enjoying the refreshing shade.

Amon pouted for bit, but was completely ignored. He then sighed and opened the bundle. There was a piece of strong smelling yellow cheese inside. He then used his mouth to rip off the cork of the bottle and a sweet and delicate smell invaded his nostrils. A clear red liquid was churning inside the bottle.

"Thank you." He said. Daniel waved his hands dismissively at his words. Amon then turned his attention to the food.

He ate the cheese in one bite and took a gulp from the bottle to get rid of the sour taste in his mouth. The drink was sweet and acid, leaving a strong aftertaste. It was cold, but seemed to turn hot as it went down his throat. Amon liked it quite a bit, but as the bottle was small, he could only drink so much.

After he finished he left the bottle and the cloth beside the bags of food and leaned on the tree like Daniel. He was still somewhat stiff from the uncomfortable night, but he managed to relax. He was starting to feel drowsy as he close his eyes.

"Hey, don"t go sleeping now." Daniel"s voice woke him up. Amon opened his golden eyes, giving him a reproachful glance.

"Don"t look at me like that, we still have plans to discuss." As Daniel said that, he out his pouch and retrieved a tightly bound piece of parchment. He opened it in the floor, revealing a detailed map. Amon"s face fell.

"I said to you before, I"m not going."

"Is that why you left without me today? To avoid me?" Daniel narrowed his eyes, asking with a suspecting expression.

"If you really want to know, yes." Amon didn"t hide it. It was Daniel"s fault if he didn"t take him seriously before.

"You hurt me." Daniel put on a disappointed face a lowered his head. Amon didn"t buy the act as Daniel loved to mess with him.

"Oh please, you have twice my age, act like it."

"Aunt Becca was right, p.u.b.erty is indeed starting to act up, mister grown up." The counter attack was swift and fierce. Amon couldn"t take the blow.

"Not you too!"

"Hehehehehe." Daniel reveled in victory, his fake sad expression of a moment ago completely gone.

"Anyway, the Scavenging is in a week and you are going with me."

"I refuse. Even if you drag me there I won"t go."

"Oh, really? Then how are you going to make it through next week?" Daniel struck a weak point. Amon was basically broke, and because of the Scavenging it wouldn"t be easy for him to find work that could pay for the weekly expenses of him and his mother.

"I"ll manage somehow. Even if I do go, chances are we will return empty handed and I would have wasted four days without getting any contribution points." His reasoning was sound. The Scavenging was nothing short of a bet. A bet that people lost most of the time. It was never a big loss, but few could spare the days with no work without carefully planning for months, saving enough to make up for it.

Hearing that, Daniel put a smug smile on his face. "True. But only if we go in blind, just turning every rock we find and praying to find anything worth a few points."

His words didn"t match his expression. Amon was suspicious. "Yes, it"s obvious. What"s your point?"

"What if I have a commission to investigate a certain place?"

"What!?"

Commissions were one of the faster ways to gather contribution points in the sect. Someone filed in a request in the Commission Center and after processing it, the sect would divulge it to anyone interested. Some of them were for hunting monsters; others were for gathering materials or herbs. Even if the difficulty was low, the pay was always good.

Most of the commissions were directed for members of the Inner Sect, but a few managed to get into the Outer Sect, causing people to fight over them as if their lives depended on it. Commissions issued by the sect itself were exclusive to Inner Sect members and were treated as official missions.

"I"m not joking. One thousand points to search in a specific place. We"ll get paid even if we find nothing. If we do find something, the client will have seventy percent of the points. We"ll get thirty percent plus the thousand points he will pay anyway."

Amon was surprised. He couldn"t even begin to understand who would be insane enough to spend this many points in a such a crazy way. The only explanation would be that they were reasonably certain that something was there.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to read Daniel"s expression.

He had a many questions. Why Daniel? Why now? Why this absurd pay?

This commission sounded awfully suspicious to him.