Chapter 12 - Cultivation Centre

Kane`s voice was recovering at a rapid pace, and in just a week he could utter the first words in months, albeit with great effort. He had decided not to yet reveal that he could speak, and he continued pretending that he was a mute.

During this period, a shocking news quickly spread throughout the Zafisi Clan. The 2nd strongest servant of the clan, Clinton, suffered the misfortune of being wounded by a wild animal. The injuries he suffered were so severe that he was forced to retire from the Tournament. Of course, Clinton hid the fact he suffered defeat from Kane, otherwise he would have ended up being the laughing stock of the clan. Monica, who also knew the truth, didn’t reveal anything, because she felt that it wouldn’t be a wise idea to annoy Clinton any further. Even Kane didn’t reveal anything to others, for a different reason than Monica`s. He just didn’t give a damn about the whole affair!

Time kept passing by slowly. There were now only four months remaining for the start of the Servants Sword Tournament. Kane was already getting excited for it, and he couldn’t wait to test his newly found sword skills against powerful fighters from other clans. He now felt some attachment to the Zafisi clan, and wanted to do all the best he could to obtain a good result. Who knows, maybe with some luck, he might actually be able to win the whole tournament!

Today happened to be a sunny day, and the weather was very warm. The sky was clear from any clouds. All of this encouraged Kane to leave the palace and go for a stroll. He had obtained permission from Colin to take a temporary absence from his duties.

Kane calmly walked through the clan`s streets, and after walking for a while, signs of sweat began to appear on his face. He noticed that the atmosphere was very lively today. It was the annual market day of the Zafisi clan, where various merchants from within and outside the clan gathered inside the clan`s territory to sell their goods. They set up their market stalls next to each other in a long line, and a large mass of people had gathered up in front of them. Competition between each Merchant was intense, and they tried their best to attract as many customers as possible. Their cries echoed all over the area.

“Very nice weapons made directly by our Wupan clan, very cheap!”

“These cultivation pills are of 15% purity! You will not find any better around!”

“Food exquisites directly from our “Chop Shop” butchery! We kill, you cook!”

“Your husbands losing their desires?! You can’t seem to motivate them after they come back from a hard day at work?! No more worries!!! Our new series of sexy lingerie will guarantee you countless of sleepless nights! It worked with my husband!”

Kane was bombarded by other similar shouts, but he just smiled bitterly and hurried his pace. He was still impressed though; he never imagined that this market would have such a wide variety of goods!

He finally arrived before the door of a small wooden house that was located near the outskirts of the clan`s territory. He knocked three times on the door and waited patiently. Shortly after a woman opened the door.

“Oh. It is you kid. Are you here to meet Oliver?” Tania casually asked.

Kane nodded smiling in agreement.

“His currently slacking in his room; just head straight up the stairways and knock on the first room you see on your right. He should invite you in, unless he isn’t sleeping.”

Kane nodded to her and left straight upstairs. He knocked on the door of Oliver`s room. Shortly after, an irritated hoarse voice was heard.

“Come on Tania! I already told you I am not in mood for anything! Leave me alone. I want to be left in peace.”

Kane was startled, and became a little confused. He thought for a moment, then he decided to knock again. That way Oliver will suspect that the one knocking isn’t his wife.

When he heard the second round of knocks, Oliver was a little surprised as he whispered into his heart, “What? It isn’t Tania? Could it be the children? Err…”

He lazily woke up, then he opened the door of his room. Upon seeing Kane, Oliver let out a laugh, “Ha ha so it was you! Come! Come! Help yourself, sit, sit!”

“Apologies for earlier! I thought you were my wife… she has been pestering me too much lately!” Oliver spoke like he was arguing with himself.

Kane sat around the small table that was located in the middle of the room. In the meantime Oliver started preparing some drinks for both of them.

“It has been quite some time since we met young man. A lot of things happened since then hehe. Of course, my wife is still as annoying as ever. That`s something that unfortunately will never change hehe.”

“Ever since I heard that Clinton suffered that unfortunate accident, I became worried for you. There is only two left from our clan competing, so your role in the tournament is now even more crucial for us. I just hope that you will find a way to handle the pressure.”

“Anyways, this is the first time you have decided to come to my house during your entire stay at our clan. Is there something that`s bothering you young man?” Oliver asked curiously.

Kane coolly replied, “Actually there is an important matter that I wish to discuss with you.”

“Oh is that so? Give me some more time until I prepare…” Oliver stopped halfway of his speech, as he turned to look at Kane totally stunned.

“W…what…you can talk?!!”

Kane coolly replied again, “It is a long story Oliver… please prepare the drinks and come next to me so that I can explain better to you. I didn’t deceive you back then, I really wasn’t able to talk. It was only lately that my voice started returning.”

Oliver hastily prepared the drinks, then he sat around the table next to Kane. Still stunned, Oliver curiously asked, “What is your name?”

“Kane Barker,” Kane softly replied.

“Kane… Barker… Barker clan… I have never heard of such a clan… is it a minor clan on another planet?” Oliver asked again. However, Kane stood there staring depressively, without replying.

Oliver noticed that he shouldn’t have asked this question and quickly changed subject. “Kane, you made a mistake by not informing us about your identity any sooner. I know we don’t have any writing equipment here in the clan, but you could have used other forms of communications. You could have used any liquid to write down the words...”

Kane turned his gaze towards and quickly interrupted Oliver, “After what I experienced, I decided not to trust anyone. It was for the best of me to keep a low profile and not reveal much information about myself. Otherwise you would have viewed me suspiciously.”

Oliver sighed, “Damn it. We should have obtained more information about you. I can’t believe that we didn’t enquire about your identity!”

“Maybe because I am a cripple, someone so useless that the clan doesn’t even require to know my name? I also cannot fathom why you are so distressed about this matter,” Kane replied expressionless.

Kane`s statement left Oliver completely speechless. That is because he knew that Kane was right! If he was a fighter, the clan would have definitely investigated his identity. But why would the clan even bother about investigating the name of a useless servant?

“I am not mad at you Kane… it isn’t about you… As an elder of the Zafisi clan, I feel that we were a little lax… What if a rival clan decided to send servants to infiltrate us in the future? I believe that the time has come for us to review our recruitment procedures…” Oliver worriedly replied.

Kane then turned his gaze towards Oliver and promptly asked, “Oliver, I wish to ask you something. What exactly is a cultivation centre? I had searched the library of the clan in the past, but all the books were written in weird symbols, and I couldn’t understand anything.”

Oliver calmly replied, “All academic books are written in a different language. It is the language academics use to write down information. They use a different language in purpose so that parents send their children to the various academic centres to learn it. You know, it is a kind of business for them.”

Oliver then paused for a while to drink, then he continued speaking.

“The Cultivation centre is the source of power of all human fighters. So far in this galaxy, only we humans developed a cultivation centre. It is made up of three powers as follows: Magnetic Power, Elemental Power and Dimensional Power. The cultivation centre is basically the place where these three powers reside. The stronger your cultivation centre is, the larger is your aura. Once your aura reaches a certain height, you will be able to fly, and also crush weaklings without even lifting a finger.”

Kane was satisfied with this explanation. His eyes were now full of desire, as he asked, “Is it possible for someone like me to have a cultivation centre?”

Oliver laughed as he replied, “Actually, every human is born with a cultivation centre. The problem with you cripples is that due to a birth defect or misfortune, you are born without the base of the cultivation centre.”

Kane curiously uttered, “The base?”

“The Magnetic core is the base of the cultivation centre. Let me explain. The cultivation centre looks like a star system. At the centre of the system is the Magnetic core, and it represents the first form of power. The larger the Magnetic core is, the stronger the first power is. The other two powers orbit clockwise around the Magnetic core, similar to planets orbiting their parent star.”

“If you are born without a Magnetic core, even if you have the other two powers, they will remain static and you will not be able to rotate them. They will eventually decay after a few years, and then completely disappear from your body. You will then be left with a useless and empty cultivation centre.”

Hearing this, Kane became a little hopeless as he asked, “Is it possible that I was born with a magnetic core? If not, how can I obtain one?”

Oliver let out a sigh. “Back then Patriarch Titu had scanned your cultivation centre. His a Kanklar, so he should have been able to sense if you had a magnetic core or not… I am sorry Kane…”

“There is no way to form a Magnetic core if you don’t have one. Either you have it, or you don’t. You have no other choice but to accept the truth...”

Kane forcefully nodded, his mood now completely ruined.

Oliver then gave him a friendly hug. “You want my advice Kane? Whatever happens, don’t you dare to give up! I don’t believe in miracles, but if you give up nothing will ever happen! Only by working hard and train you can achieve your goals. Always do your best, and if you fail, then just accept that it wasn’t meant to be. But at least you tried your best! Who knows, maybe one day you will find your own special path of cultivation!”

“Now go and work your ass for that tournament, you got some beating to do in a few months!” He continued encouraging Kane not to lose hope. Oliver knew that Kane was probably feeling like shit at the moment. That`s why Oliver tried his best to cheer him up.

“You are right Oliver… I can’t give up…not now… I must keep training… I must become stronger! This tournament shall be my first stepping stone! Thanks for everything Oliver. I’ll be leaving now.” Kane said as he stood up and started walking towards the door.

Oliver was about to stop him and ask him why he was already leaving, but on second thoughts he changed his mind and let him leave.

Kane was now in a slightly better mood. Before he left the house, Kane smiled towards Tania, who was busy cleaning the front door.

“Thanks for the hospitality Ms. Zafisi. I encourage you to go visit the market today, maybe you will find something of interest… who knows, you might be able to find a product that will help you reignite the passion between you and your hubby.” Kane said as he ran away laughing.

Tania looked at him completely dumbfounded. “Since when this kid talks? What…? A product that will help reignite our passion…?”

The rest of the day passed away slowly. The next day, another shocking news circulated throughout the clan. The news concerned a servant that everybody thought he was a mute, the other participant of the Servants Sword Tournament. The name of Kane Barker resonated all over the clan, and was on everyone`s lips. Unfortunately for him, the phrase Mr.Gululu also made the rounds along with his name.

This revelation didn’t really affect Kane`s life by that much. He kept training with his sword every day. The only difference from before, was that he sometimes spent some time speaking with the other servants in the main servant`s room. On orders of the Matriarch, Kane was also temporary released form his daily duties until the tournament was over.

As the saying goes, time flies. The following months passed away quickly like a breeze. There were now only two days left for the beginning of the tournament.

At the gate of the Zafisi clan, there were five elders happily chatting with each other. The old woman standing next to Oliver teased him. “I noticed that lately you have been in a very high mood Oliver. Did something happened that we aren’t aware of?”

Oliver shook his head in embarrassment as he replied, “Ha ha nothing much, nothing much… it is just my wife, have been behaving strangely lately… and I would add a little wildly too!”

The other elder laughed out when she heard this, then she turned her head, “oh oh… our hero has finally arrived!”

A man could be seen into the distance, as he slowly became more visible. He had red hair and a thin muscular body. He was shirtless and on his chest were numerous scars. On his back there was a large two-handed sword, with a big blue crystal embed in it. He arrived before the elders, as he nodded respectfully, with a wide smile on his face.

“How was your trip Charles? We were worried you will not be arriving in time for the tournament. Ha ha… We are so glad to see your face after all this time.”

Charles kept smiling whilst he walked through them, then slowly started walking away from them.

“The trip? It couldn’t have been any better than this!” He then raised his head to the sky and uttered to himself. “Just wait for me Yakov… it is time that you taste your own medicine. Payback is a bitch!”