Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Having the chance to cultivate with Isa almost every day, for the first time since the beginning of their strange relationship, helped Liam a lot. On the penultimate day of their journey to Irondom, they advanced together!

Liam reached the 2-Star, while Isa reached the 8-Star of the Spirit Sky Realm on a night when the group rested.

Before achieving it, they had already trained against each other, something that Liam had discovered helped the cultivation of both of them, but also to mitigate the damage to his partners' cultivation base.
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As he left his tent that night alongside her, his and Isa's cultivation was hidden; only they were aware of what they had done and achieved.

The men in the camp, however, had almost no doubt about the thing Liam was doing with Nance and Isa. They did not know about cultivation, but sexual relations between Demon Gate members were too normal for them not to consider the possibilities.

Some envied Liam, but others merely noticed what was happening and didn't care any more than they should have.

Isa wasn't someone easy to get along with, so it wasn't as if any of them were missing out on anything because of how impressive Liam seemed to be. And as long as this relationship didn't impede the mission, that was just the lovers' problem.

Toby continued at his observation post, having already rested and now taken over the group's western surveillance post.

He saw Isa going to her tent from a distance, while Liam went next to the camp's soup pot. 'The chief and Commander Isa finished their business late today... We only have three more hours until daybreak.' He pondered before turning his gaze to the surrounding forest. 'We'll reach Irondom this afternoon. It looks like we won't have any problems until we reach the city.

Despite the dangers on the continent's roads, it wasn't entirely alien to get through an entire journey without major problems. There were so many traveling around the continent at the same time, and the continent was so big, that short journeys like this were the most common occurrence.

But Toby was sharp. It wouldn't be entirely unexpected for them to be surrounded by bandits minutes before they reached Irondom.

Liam knew this too and as soon as he had eaten, he returned to his resting place to use the final hours in this camp to practice his trade.

'I'll try a new Fourth Class rune today.'

...

At daybreak, the chief guard on duty rang the warning bell, waking up those who had been resting until then.

Half the group was already preparing their vehicles for departure, with the animals in place, when the rest of the group woke up, joining in the pre-departure disassembly.

Liam finished packing up his tent, giving one guard the materials wrapped in a bag to be added to the luggage compartment of the vehicles.

Spatial rings weren't such rare items among cultivators, but keeping simple tools and tents in such devices could be a waste. Most cultivators in this world didn't have enough space reservoirs to carry valuables and small items.

Apart from the formations he used in his tent, Liam left everything else with the group to be transported by carriage.

In five minutes they were ready, leaving behind only the trail of campfires, and setting off slowly for the start of hours more of carriage travel.

"How was the evening? Productive?" Nance asked Liam, having only rested the night before.

Whenever he cultivated with Isa, Liam could not cultivate with other women for the next few hours. That's why he hadn't been with Nance yesterday.

"Have you mastered any new Fourth Class runes?" Nance improved her question, while Toby and Isa were curious about it.

"Yes, I've mastered a new rune," he said with a proud smile.

Ever since he had absorbed the gift left by Elder Neill in the Treasures Hall, he had found it very easy to advance in his profession. Having advanced in level the night before had helped him too, allowing him to have greater magical resistance than he'd had before.

"But I still won't be able to form a Fourth Class inscription until we get to Irondom. I'll have to do some shopping in the city and try out some training before I can determine whether I'll be able to be competitive in the promotion exam," he explained.

Their basic plan was to arrive in Irondom, find a place to stay and go to the Runemasters Association to pay for an appointment to take the Third Class promotion exam.

According to what Liam had heard from Eliakim, tests for Runemasters took place when a minimum number of candidates met the requirements. There was no elimination factor in these promotion exams, as there was in the sect, meaning that the candidates in the exam were not competitors. But the tests didn't take place on specific dates, which meant they might have to wait a while.

But Eliakim had told Liam that it usually took only five days for the number of candidates to reach the minimum threshold for the Third Class Runemasters exam.

There weren't that many cities with association posts capable of carrying out the test, so it was common for Second Class Runemasters from various cities in the region to come to Irondom for the exam.

Things were more complicated for the Fourth Class test, as there weren't as many Third Class Runemasters as there were Second Class Runemasters. Even so, it was possible to take the Fourth Class promotion exam in Irondom.

Beyond that, however, one would have to go to bigger and more important cities!

The exam to reach Fourth Class had lower requirements in terms of numbers of candidates, but even so, he might have to wait up to 30 days to have the chance to register for the exam.

Liam thought he could learn what was necessary in 30 days, but his departure permit from the sect wouldn't accept all that time, even with the justification of the promotion exam. His limit was around 15 days in Irondom, so he wasn't sure he'd be able to complete all his plans in the city.

Toby said to Liam, trying to be optimistic, "There are several stores and places to study and train for Runemaster in Irondom, chief. You'll probably advance in your understanding faster than you realize."

"That's true," Isa agreed with Toby. "Irondom is a city that specializes in the professions of Runemasters and Blacksmiths. Almost the entire local economy is geared towards these two professions, which makes it the desire of many Runemasters and Blacksmiths of up to Fourth Class in the region."

"Well, I'm looking forward to finding out what my chances are there. Luckily, I've gathered a good amount of gold so far." Liam smiled as he looked at these two.

Isa and Toby would tell Liam and Nance some of what they knew about Irondom over the next few minutes until the group settled into a good rhythm by finding a less bumpy piece of road.

There were paved roads in Twin Land, mainly near the biggest cities, in the richest and most powerful states. But in most of the continent, the best one could find were dirt tracks well separated from the vegetation. In certain regions, there weren't even any, and any group traveling would have to make their way through the forests as they went.

At this less bumpy point in the journey, Liam took the opportunity to refocus his time on studying his profession, with Nance doing the same, while Toby and Isa monitored the surroundings, fulfilling their mission to protect the group.

...

The hours passed, and soon the end of the afternoon had arrived.

In that part of the day, when the sky was beginning to darken, and the horizon was orange in one corner, Liam, and his group came across the first human city they had seen since leaving the sect.

In front of them was a city built on a hill, from where they could see from afar how big this place was, in the shape of a square, with several buildings of sharp architecture, rich in pointed corners and straight lines.

The place reminded Liam of his idea of medieval cities on Earth, but with a higher quality, more organized, paved with stones and cleaner. There were plenty of trees to be seen in the central parts of the city, with public and private gardens, and a good flow of people and carriages on the streets.

From where he was standing, Liam could even see something he hadn't expected to find, a small cable car circling the city.

With surprise and curiosity visible in their expressions, they entered the city after paying the entrance fee to the guards stationed at one of the few local entrances.

Liam observed the surroundings attentively, seeing magical beasts walking among the inhabitants, but also ordinary people, with no apparent cultivation.

He hadn't seen anyone like that for months!

This was a common sight, however. Even in cities dominated by cultivators, ordinary people could be seen everywhere. They were the ones who usually carried out the most common local activities.

But Liam also saw people of different levels of cultivation on his way, from the richest to the most ordinary, mostly guards.

Some parts of the city had as much mana as the sect's headquarters, but in most of it, the mana wealth was lower than what one would find in Demon Gate, even in the outer cities.

The sect was a force composed only of cultivators, so this was normal to realize when comparing the sect to cities where ordinary mortals also lived.

But some buildings, near the center of the city, stood out for having mana density and elemental concentration as strong as what one would find in City One!

Liam soon set his eyes on one of these buildings, the Irondom Runemasters Association building!