NOVEL WEB Chapter 19: Decisions, Decisions...
Though he didn't wake to find her sleeping next to him, Yui's stirring caused Nobu to awaken two hours earlier than usual. He could have easily gone back to sleep, but, after lying in silence for a few minutes, he ultimately rolled to a seated position, suppressing a yawn as he asked, "Do you get up this early every morning?"
Hearing the question, a tired sigh escaped Yui's mouth as she momentarily set aside her comb and answered, "A structured routine serves as the foundation for a disciplined mind. It also takes a long time to comb my hair. If I don't care for it properly, it would only take a few days for it to become a hindrance and a liability..."
Having heard something similar in his previous life, Nobu nodded his head without pressing for a more detailed explanation. He had about two year's worth of growth on his own head, and, due to the way he had been living, it wasn't exactly pleasant. As for Yui, her hair was longer than any of the women he had encountered in his past life. The longest strands were only an inch or two away from touching her ankles. Had they been back on Earth, she could have easily made a career modeling various hair care products...
Feeling Nobu's unabashed gaze linger on her for far longer than most would consider appropriate, a slight frown marred Yui's face as she asked, "Was there something else...?"
Though he shook his head, Nobu, without averting his eyes, casually answered, "I was just thinking that I've never seen someone with such long and healthy-looking hair. I bet you make a lot of other girls envious, right?"
Unsure of what to make of his 'compliment', Yui stared at Nobu in contemplative silence for several seconds before asking, "You really have no idea, do you...?"
With a slightly annoyed look on his face, Nobu asked, "About what?" in an audibly defensive tone. If she intended to insult him, he wasn't just going to take it lying down.
Taking note of the sudden 'resolution' contained within Nobu's eyes, Yui's feelings of exasperation began to increase. Nothing good ever came from arguing with him, so, after carefully considering her words, she patiently explained, "Tradition dictates that an unmarried woman should not cut her hair before the even of her twentieth year. In this way, we pay our respects to Ōhirume-no-Muchi-no-Kami, the Great Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu-sama..."
Though she wanted to follow up by saying she shouldn't be the first woman he had seen with hair of this length, Yui allowed her words to trail off as she observed Nobu's reaction. He reacted like a child learning something new for the first time, his face and body language utterly devoid of deceit or subterfuge...
Realizing she hadn't been trying to insult him, the tensions in Nobu's body gradually relaxed as he replied, "Cool. I'm not fond of traditions and all that other complicated bullshit, but this is one I can get behind. Chicks with long hair are pretty cool. I bet you could even weaponize it if you attached a weight or something to the end."
Blinking in surprise, Yui was about to comment about the foolishness of such an idea, but, realizing it wasn't a 'serious' suggestion, she chose to remain silent. It was gradually becoming apparent that Nobu didn't actually mean anything when he spoke. He was just making conversation, and, so long as she didn't take his words at face value, she could spare herself a number of headaches.
("He really is just like a child...")
As that sentiment became stronger within her mind, Yui shook her head before promptly resuming the long and arduous process of combing her hair. This time, she completely ignored Nobu's gaze, as, despite her initial impression of him, he didn't seem to have any ill intent. His eyes were devoid of the possessiveness present in the gazes of the many men who had covered her. Instead, the way he looked at her was filled with genuine intrigue, and, though she didn't want to admit it, boredom. In other words, he wasn't looking at her because he desired her body...he simply had nothing better to do...
After watching Yui for the better part of twenty minutes, Nobu's boredom eventually got the better of him. He alleviated this by pulling out the stone tablet and proceeding to make some headway on his stockpile. From Yui's perspective, however, he appeared to be fidgeting like an unruly child who had grown impatient waiting for their mother to prepare breakfast...
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While they weren't exactly on good terms, the tensions between Nobu and Yui gradually waned from the moment they started sharing a bed. They still didn't talk very often, but, after a few days had passed, Yui began delaying her trips to the outside in order to oversee Nobu's training.
Though the advice she offered sounded extremely archaic, Nobu was unsurprised to discover that her methods were remarkably effective. This was, after all, a fantasy world with a cultivation-based power system. Unlike the self-proclaimed and consistently ridiculed Grandmasters of his world, this was a place where children as young as four could gather Aura into their hands before shooting it off like a character in DBZ. Thus, while it made him feel like a complete tool, Nobu closely followed Yui's instructions even when she forced him to pose and hold a squat for a full thirty minutes.
Unfortunately, even after several days had passed, she vehemently refused to teach him anything related to Aura. This was pretty annoying, but, so long as he had the stone tablet, Nobu knew it was only a matter of time before his familiarity with the Ki-like energy increased. This sentiment became even stronger when his total Aura increased to 1000 points...
"Rank Progression Tab...?"
Though he had also unlocked an Achievement, Nobu had grown weary of thumbing through the seemingly endless list in search of specific achievements. Thus, without any hesitation whatsoever, he opened up the brand new tab to find what could best be described as a Skill Tree.
"Holy shit...and here I thought Path of Exile had a massive fucking skill tree. Are each of these a different cultivation method...?"
While the path of Metal Infusion was the default method listed, there was a total of 108 different empty nodes branching from the point at the exact center of the screen. Clicking on these nodes caused a metric shit ton of other nodes to pop out, each branching into a mind-boggling number of cultivation paths. The only real limit seemed to be that you could only upgrade to a major realm, each possessing ten Ranks, a total of ten times before the branches disappeared into a mysterious fog...
"What's the point of being so mysterious? It's obvious that fog is the realm beyond what mortals are able to achieve...how dumb..."
Shaking his head, Nobu decided to pointless to think about the various cliches he had encountered in this world. Every time he attempted to dodge a flag, he ended up being beaten into a near-death state or having his ass handed to him by fate. He needed to get a lot stronger if he wanted to avoid being the plot's bitch, so, after a bit of deliberation, he clicked on the node representing the Copper Metal Infusion Technique.
Though he had already noticed it while clicking through random nodes, Nobu was surprised to see there were more than a dozen different methods to advance to something as mundane as Copper Rank 1. The simplest method required absorbing the essence contained within 100kg of unrefined Copper Ore. As for the most difficult, one tasked him with obtaining the Reverse Scale of a Copper Dragon while another required him to find a material known as 'Essence of the Mountain God'.
Based on this information, Nobu could infer that there were drastic differences between cultivators even at Bronze Rank 1. After all, there was no way someone who had obtained the Reverse Scale of a dragon would be weaker than someone who had used unrefined ore to advance their cultivation. If that were the case, there would be no need for Heavenly Treasures as everyone could become the strongest in the world by sucking stone...
Unfortunately, even if he wanted to pick the best possible route, Nobu wasn't exactly in a position to be picky. His savings were probably enough to purchase the requisite amount of copper ore, but, without connections, it was unlikely anyone would be willing to sell him the refined material.
Even without Yui's behavior to serve as a foundation to derive conclusions, Nobu could guess that mines and refined materials were heavily regulated. There was no way the government would allow peasants, farmers, and other common-folk to freely trade materials that could be used to produce weapons or empower loose cultivators. Commoners weren't even allowed to carry weapons without a permit, so, with the exception of talented youths, conscripted as early as eight years old, everyday citizens were forced to rely on the Feudal Lords and their forces for protection.
Shaking his head, Nobu backed out of the Metal Infusion Path and began cycling through the other 107 basic paths. Aura seemed to be able to acquire the properties of anything it had been exposed to. The only reason people adhered to the Metal Infusion Path was because they simply didn't know the proper route to follow a different path. After all, you couldn't simply start off with Orichalcum as your first infusion. Every path had a specific set of requirements for ascending to the next Realm, so, unless you belonged to a lineage that had developed their own method over thousands of years, it was utterly impossible to pursue an unorthodox route.
"If I compiled a few of these methods into a book, I'd probably go down in history as a Great Sage or some shit..."
Shelving that idea for a time when he could actually defend himself, Nobu continued to filter out cultivation methods until he was left with only three options. From what he could tell, these were the easiest, and, as a result, the best options available to him. He would probably be a little weaker than cultivators of the same Rank, but, unless his hand was forced, it wasn't like he was intending to go around picking fights. Only idiots, fools, self-righteous prick, and bloodthirsty psychopaths went around starting fights with Clans, Sects, and other organizations. Since the thought of killing people didn't exactly give him a raging boner, Nobu would rather just stick to becoming a merchant or an advisor to some rich asshole willing to pay for the 'knowledge' he could provide.
"So my options are to basically become a Priest, a Bard, or a Hippie..."
Though the methods were known as the 'Nine Divine Sacraments', 'Ten-Fold Path of Entertainment', and 'Breath Progression Technique', Nobu believed his own descriptions were spot on. As for what made them easy, well, the first simply required him to pray and offer donations to a God known as the Divine Dragon, Albion. As for the other two, the Ten-Fold Path of Entertainment required him to have fun while the Breath Progression Technique, as the name implied, literally only required him to breathe a specific way for a set period of time.
While others might find it difficult to become stronger using such methods, Nobu could circumvent the more annoying aspects of cultivation thanks to his stone tablet. He could literally just laze about all day, and, so long as he continued to click its surface, his strength would gradually increase. Sure, he could probably benefit from some actual training, but, even after pushing himself for the last five days, his points hadn't increased in the slightest. Since his parents had also shoved hundreds of rare and expensive herbs down his throat, many of which were supposed to help increase his cultivation base, there was a very real chance that his Aura could only be increased using the stone tablet...
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(A/N: Which path will our beloved asshole choose? Let me know what you think in the comments section~)