Aimless Ascension

Gale went through the gates of Wang's Inn, accompanying him was Vale in his ever-cheerful mood.

The Inn wasn't anything fanciful that one could find in great cities, but it had its charm with generous decoration and cleanliness, followed by a small garden with blooming night flowers. A fine pond held on the side, as gusts of wind blew fragrance and flower petals. Each petal stirred the water a little, but it remained still mostly.

Gale found himself staring at the water until he sensed the young lady behind him. He turned his head and met her eyes.

Xiaolin halted instantly and found his questioning look. "I work here," she told him, bowed, and crept into the inn in a matter of a few seconds.

Gale perked his eyes at Vale while the beast shrugged intelligibly. They went inside as well.

The door creaked open as the bell rang. The sweet odour of wine drifted through the air, and a few pairs of gazes darted towards the newcomers that entered the inn. They gave Gale a good stare, as a few exchanged slight nods with him. Their gaze lingered on Vale for a little longer before they went on with their business, which was, of course, drinking.

"Be seated, stranger," a man told him, half drunk. "The Wang wench will come in her time."

Gale moved towards the empty seats facing the counter. He seated himself in one while his buddy remained near his foot.

The room was wide enough to hold fifty people easily as over a dozen softwood tables spread in the hall. A handful of folks drank, played, or bickered at a couple of tables, confirming they were the regulars. As the sun was coming down, the artificial light constructs on the ceiling and walls stirred, brightening the entire room.

A lady came in from behind the door of the counter soon after. She had loose purple robes on, fair-skinned like most people in the eastern domain, and was of medium height. Her hair in braids, though, looked slightly dishevelled after a long day of work.

"Fresh face," she said, giving him a look. "What can I get you?"

Instead of waiting for his reply, she proceeded to move the glasses and other containers and started wiping the counter. Something about her told Gale she was the Woman of this place. Wang Wench, according to that drunk Oldman.

"Um, for starters, how about a drink?" Gale said. "Something sweet, strong and seasoned. Oh, it also needs to be at least of iron rank."

The last statement piqued an eyebrow from the woman as she turned towards him. "Are you sure?" she asked. "At your copper rank, even a simple gulp of iron-rank alcohol will make you completely tipsy. Then I'll have to call folks to carry you. That's not really the best impression to make on the first day."

"Thank you," Gale said, meeting her gaze, "but I'll be fine."

Anything of copper rank could hardly intoxicate him, even when his Qi was suppressed. Well, there should be a few bottles of good wine left in his spatial storage, but it's better to check out the local stuff, lest he needs to prepare better stuff for himself. Besides, it wouldn't advisable to drink from his stock when most of his Qi was suppressed.

The lady still looked conflicted about wasting good iron-ranked liquor on him. To ease her spirit, he brought five iron marks out of his vest pocket, each of them full of worldly energy, glowing in white light. He put them on the counter and pushed them a little. "For my drink."

"Well, if you want to make a spectacle of yourself," the lady said and proceeded to prepare his drink.

"Oi, Wang Li," an old drunkard yelled from one table in the back, "our jugs ain't gonna fill on their own. Stop messing around and fill my jugs."

The Innkeeper clicked her tongue. "Old Shi," she yelled back, "before ordering more, you better clear your tabs. You owe over four iron marks already."

"Huh, what are you talking about?" the old drunkard shouted. "I cleared my tabs last night to that husband of yours. Now, stop fooling around and give me my booze."

Wang Li frowned, cocking her head towards the old drunkard. "How did that happen?"

"The usual," Old Shi told her, giving a toothy grin. "He lost a gamble."

Wang Li clenched her jaws as veins popped on her temple.

"Now, come on, bring me booze."

Wang Li exhaled audibly, reconciling her ire. "Looks like I'll need a drink for myself as well," she muttered and turned towards the door behind the counter. "Xiaolin, what's taking you so long? Leave Little Rong to his Grandma and come in."

With all these loud exchanges, Gale got the impression that this wasn't some high-class inn, but exactly what it showed. Life was hard here, but troubles were more earthy than what Gale had to deal with.

Wang Li prepared the drinks as the pretty young woman with a dark purple apron worn above her robes came in. Xiaolin had a thin frame, average height—five feet and nothing, but her face was a pretty one, which seemed to cause all the trouble with that young master.

She found him seated at the front and bowed strictly. Wang Li raised an eyebrow at that, but asked nothing. She merely gestured towards the table and Xiaolin crept to work with no-question-asked.

"Here you go." Wang Li held a glass jug full of pale yellow wine. "Not our best stuff, but good enough."

"Thank you." Gale took the jug, smelt it, and gulped down. It was sweet, but not particularly strong. The innkeeper's incredulity to his claim provided her with sound reason to give him this. Well, he would not start trouble for this small matter.

In between his swallowing, he found Wang Li gawking at him as if waiting for him to fall off the seat. Gale betrayed her expectations completely, gulping down half the content in one go. A slight intoxication prickled his senses. Gale let it.

Wang Li almost looked hurt. "Looks like I don't need to call folks to carry you around," she told him, and poured herself a drink, a copper-ranked one.

Xiaolin came back with an empty tray, based herself on the side, watchful like a soldier, albeit clumsily.

Wang Li sipped her drink quietly, mindful and weary. She turned to him after a moment, recalling the chance to do business here. "So, you're new here?"

"Yeah," Gale said and curtsied with a traditional bow. "I'm Gale, and will probably stay in Wayshire for some time."

Vale took advantage of the moment, thrusting up a little from his place to show his face, giving a curt woof.

"And this is Vale," Gale added.

"A tamed beast?" Wang Li said. "Most practitioners tend to tame more ferocious ones."

"Vale can be ferocious," Gale said and in response, his buddy tilted his head and gave an adorable look that was just too hard to resist.

Wang Li gave a flat look.

"Only to bad people," Gale added, smiling briskly.

Vale woofed, agreeing. But that's hard to believe with how adorable Vale looked. Wang Li even raised her palm to pat him.

"We would like to book a room for the night."

"This is going to cost you more," Wang Li said. "We have services to take care of tamed beasts. Are you sure you don't want to leave him there?"

"Money isn't a problem." Gale finished his drink. "I would like to have a bath, too. With warm food, we'll be set to rest."

"How long are you going to stay?"

"Until I have a place of my own." Gale frowned, bobbing his head at her. "Do you know where I can buy a piece of land?"

"I don't think anyone would like to sell their land anytime soon." Wang Li considered it for a moment. "You should check in at the Mayor's office. They have land to dispose of, but I'm telling you, they ain't gonna be peachy."

"Well, as long as it has fresh air to breathe and enough room to work, I won't complain."

"What are you looking to do?" the innkeeper asked. "I don't see many young practitioners sequestering in a place for long. They are all about adventure, advancement, and chasing after immortality."

"Once they were my goals, too," Gale said, pushing the empty jug on the counter.

"What happened?"

"I grew out of them."

"Well, that's not a good attitude to have for a young practitioner," Wang Li murmured. She sighed and moved on to business mode. "The best suite available here will cost you fifty copper marks for a night, including three meals. Ten extra marks for your pet. Also, you eat what we make. Additional cost to fulfil your acquired taste. Other service charges accordingly. No haggling. What do you say, or should I go lower?"

"That will do,' Gale said. "Thank you. Now about the bath--"

"Public or Private? Public is free with the rooms."

"Private," Gale said without thinking.

"Four copper marks for a herbal private bath."

"That seems fair," Gale said.

"The drink cost you one iron and twenty copper marks."

"Good, keep the change as advance. I'll need more of them so long as I'm here."

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It seemed most of the format doesn't support here. So if you find any sentence starts with 'I' without any quotation, think of them as thoughts or inner-monologue.

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