Sam felt a bit overwhelmed thinking about all of this.
On top of that, he started feeling the raging hell’s corruption in his body. He could feel the energy running rampant and hurting every single cell in his body. Every body part suddenly became painful to extreme.
They also became very sensitive.
In fact, as he is walking, his body is hurting with every step and his feet felt like they are being pierced by a thousand hot knives at the same time.
He gritted his teeth and endured the pain as he slowly reached the city, even though it would have taken much lesser time if he used his spiritual energy.
But he didn’t do that, because he didn’t want to find out what will happen, if he uses his energy with all the corruption running rampant. With the way things are, he only wants to use the energy whenever it is absolutely needed, which he assumed is going to be a lot.
By the time Sam reached the city, it has already been a couple of hours since he came and the challenge started.
And as soon as he arrived, he saw that the whole city is in chaos. Everyone is running around. Except for some regular citizens and some shopkeepers, most people are running toward the most luxurious estate in the city.
The estate of Sura Clan. The place where Sam needs to go and find a way to get in touch with the star of that clan Brig. He doesn’t know how he can do that though. He needs to get more information before he can do that.
He slowly made his way towards the inn to see if he can fish any information out of a waiter. But when he estimated the costs, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to afford the price for the information.
He can barely order a meal. For a waiter to give out the information, Sam needs to appear a bit wealthy, carefree, and powerful. And that image only comes when Sam can order a table full of food and be able to leave a generous tip.
With his current state, it is impossible.
But he still wanted to try his luck. He wanted to see if there is any inn where he doesn’t have to spend much money but could still get some info.
There are basically two options for that. An inn with too many people that it would be impossible for people to not slip some info, or an inn that is way too cheap. His preference was the latter one, which seemed to be an impossible thing to find.
So, he moved to the former one.
He went to the inn that was closest to the estate. The restaurant of the inn is bustling with the crowd. There are many people who went in and came back with a disappointed expression. Sam got in. He walked around a couple of times as if he is trying to sneak in as soon as the seat is available. But he couldn’t find any.
He came out and along with some basic info.
One of the pieces of information that could help him is that the clan has gathered for an emergency meeting. Every clan member in the surroundings of the city has rushed for this meeting and it was announced two hours ago.
He has a feeling that this is related to the technique and the task. The second piece of information is the reason that all the people gathered here is also to gather info.
They want to know what the emergency meeting is about. Apparently, the Sura clan has different types of energy meetings. They are categorized based on how they are handled and how secret they should be and how important they are.
The meeting that was announced right now is a very important one, but it doesn’t need utmost secrecy, it is good news and there is a possibility that they might announce this after the meeting is over.
When these kinds of announcements are made, even if people don’t get all the information, there is always something they could get from the people that exit the clan immediately. Particularly the young masters.
If the announcement is about some task, treasure, war, expedition etc, the young masters will need some extra personnel, the clan might recruit some new members, and these kinds of offers might just fly in.
So, for that reason, people don’t want to miss the opportunity. They just come first and try to occupy the nearest place for the estate.
The only reason they are not blocking the road and the front gate of the estate is because the clan made very strict rules about it.
Sam pieced this all together from just a couple of rounds around the restaurant. He understood one thing from this. As long as the information is top secret, he can get almost anything he wants to know, based on these people’s reactions.
The last piece of information that helps him at the moment was the information regarding the gathering spot for the late comers and the poor people who cannot afford the restaurant and other establishments around the estate.
It is an alleyway right beside the road leading to the estate. They stay there and swoop into the main road as soon as the young masters come out.
Sam went to that spot as soon as he learned and tried to find some people who might just slip some information to him.
He scouted the location of the whole alleyway before he went to a corner. There is a guy who seemed to be in his late teens standing with a sword in his hands. He is extremely nervous and looked around all the time.
He is fidgeting his fingers over the sword handle. He is trying to calm down and might have thought that his sword helps in that.
Sam could sense a very refined sword aura from him. He could also see that the sword is a work of art.
He walked towards him casually. But his body is emitted a faint sword aura that is refined, pure and sharp to the extreme.
The young man noticed Sam instantly and was dumbstruck for a while.
Sam looked at the young man and the sword.
“Nice sword.”
Sam said casually and stood beside the young man.
“Th,, Thank you.”
Sam nodded without saying anything.
“It seems like you are interested in swords, do you have one yourself?”
The young man asked. His nervousness has died down a lot. He looked a bit calmer and more natural.
“I am pretty sure, you know the answer to that. Sam said as he waved his hand and took out Reaper.”
The young man looked at the reaper sword in awe. Not just him, there are a few people in the surroundings who came to take a look at it.
“Oh my god. Is that blood iron and meteorite sand? Where did you get your hands on those? They are very rare and expensive to afford.
Are you one of the six clan members?”
The young man’s voice went really down to the point that it seemed like he doesn’t want anyone else to hear it.
Sam smiled and shook his head.
“No, no. I am just a wandering cultivator. I came here to rest for a few days, but it seems like the town is going through some commotion. So, I just stopped by to get some info. At first I went to the inn near Sura estate. But it was full and I came here after I heard someone saying that many people gather here.”
“Oh, so you are new to all of this? You don’t know about the Sura clan traditions?”
“Sura clan traditions?”
“Yes, the clan has a very rich history. The tradition of the clan is that no matter what new thing they are doing, starting new businesses, expeditions, hunting, war, or anything else that impacts the clan, the rule is for the clan to send out the youngsters to take the lead and finish the tasks to make the Sura clan’s name proud.
All of the youngsters need to find some people that are needed for the task. They have common core teams of course but based on the terrain, speed, and risk of the mission, they always hire some external people.
The reason why people hold on in the inn is that there is more than likely a chance that most of the youngsters are there.
The youngsters are likely to go there to clear their minds and get some chance to meet some new people who might be helpful.
The second ground is the place we are right now. The place where people get access to the main road. They will look at the path taken by the youngsters and guess where they might be heading.
After getting some idea about that, people will try to fix some appointments and butter them up.”
