The Great Crestmaster

The training today was split into three parts, first was the seventy laps and second was the twenty eight sword forms practice. Finally he had hand to hand combat with Gazeff.

Aldrich guessed that Gazeff added the hand to hand combat to create a suitable excuse to beat him up. Which he did. That was a blow to Aldrich who thought that he was getting good as a fighter.

Gazeff told him that this style was called the bone breaker art by the monks that taught him. Aldrich could indeed attest that this art was not named in vain.

After the training was over it was almost sunset, so Aldrich decided to leave with Gazeff. No matter how confident he had gotten he wasn't going to risk it in here for a bit of essence and some coin.

"Oh, yeah since you clearly decided to take me as your mentor you before pay up. I want the money up-front each week." Gazeff demanded as they walked back.

"In your dreams," Aldrich sneered, "I'm going to give you three silver coins at the beginning of the week and two at the end."

"We have a deal." Gazeff replied seemingly unbothered by Aldrich's rude tone, "By the way I will increase the time of your hand to hand training starting tomorrow."

"Do you think I'm afraid of you, old man? I'll learn that bone style or whatever and kick your ass. By the way that name is so lame."

"Hahahah I like that spunk, it's boring to beat a lifeless dummy after all."

"Laugh all you want now, but don't beg for mercy when I break your back." Aldrich actually wanted to back out but he was in too deep to back out.

After they got back to town Aldrich went back to return his rented items as usual but today he bought an eight-wheeled foldable cart.

This was going to be the first item he carried things to the nightmare realm from the real world. Consciously at least.

Aldrich was very excited about the prospect of bringing items back and forth between the nightmare realm and the real world. The potential behind this was simply too great.

Unfortunately that potential was shackled by the necessity of essence orbs to do anything.

Ever since he had become entangled with the nightmare realm essence orbs had become his bread and butter. Simply put, the growing uses he had for essence orbs was basically replacing air. And it looks like this is only the beginning.

Aldrich returned back to his apartment and cleaned himself up before cooking himself a heavy meal for dinner. These days he probably won't have time for lunch so he had to make the difference in breakfast and dinner.

He had been eating more and more ever since he increasing his attributes but he wasn't worried since he knew that some Crestmasters ate more than normal.

Just for dinner he had one and a half chicken with an entire plate of rice. To be honest part of it was his own gluttony, back in Wakefield he had to eat very little since money was short.

His cooking skills had developed over the years to reach a decent level, naturally when he finally got his hands on some coin he wasn't going to be stingy on himself. Even more so knowing that his body need the food to properly grow.

Aldrich wanted to go and visit Tarzin but he was too worn out to do that. Besides he actually had a another class in an hour so he decided to rest up before that. This class was about charms and wondrous items so of course Aldrich was beyond excited to attend.

Aldrich attended the class in a classroom that looked very similar to the dungeons class classroom. The information and delivery of the professor was superb. This class was attended by many more people than the dungeons class.

Aldrich asked one of people sitting besides him and apparently most people had no intention of becoming adventurers so they had no need to venture into dungeons, this meant that they didn't have to waste their time taking a class they wouldn't need.

This answer was very logical in a sense, but it still bothered Aldrich for some reason. The image he had of initiates who were about to become Crestmasters was different than the reality he found himself face with.

Aldrich looked up to them as aspiring heroes who couldn't wait to conquer the world, alas he himself wouldn't want to risk his life if he didn't have to, so he could at least understand where they came from.

Back in his apartment Aldrich took out the foldable cart and placed it on the bed with him. He realized that he had no idea on how to bring things from the real world to the nightmare realm.

When he wanted to bring items from the nightmare realm to the real world he uses the Tindalor seal to exit willingly. But in the real world he always went to the nightmare realm when he went he went to sleep.

Aldrich was out of ideas so he decided to just hold it while he slept and hope for the best.

****

Aldrich awoke in the nightmare realm as usual, he looked around for his foldable cart but unfortunately he didn't see it anywhere.

He could only sigh in disappointment, and yet this result was not unexpected.

This idea was random to begin with, so he didn't bother to think about the failed attempt too deeply. He planed to try different things next time.

He went to carefully examine the seal of Tindalor that was carved on the wall by the fireplace in the-now clean common room.

After a bit of that he decided to go back to the basement to check on things, it had been a while since he last came here. The basement was still the most mysterious aspect of this house.

Aldrich believed that the secret of this house could lead him out of this miserable town to the shattered divine city where he could get to the light blue gate.

The hard metallic gate was as unmoving as ever and the curiosity he had about what lay beyond this gate was truly captivating. Aldrich payed attention to the hole in the middle of the metallic wheel.

If his speculation was correct then he should open the gate through this wheel, if the wheel was like a lock then wouldn't the hole in the middle by a keyhole? Perhaps that was the case.

If so the a key must exists somewhere in this house, hopefully at least. Currently there was nothing else he could really do about it besides hoping that the key was somewhere in the second or the unexplored third floor.

He didn't get much time to explore the second floor either before he was expelled by the armored husk above.

He did have many chances to go take a look at the third floor but he wanted to make sure not leave any latent threats in the second floor.