Nine Paths of Asura-Original Wuxia

Chapter 1: Lineir

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The day started out so very ordinary. A clear blue sky gave no hint of the auspicious adventure to come. A small youth walked carefully along the broken steps of an crumbling ruin. Every winding path in the old city could be a challenge to an unfamiliar explorer. However, to this youth's knowing step, it was the same as walking on a brand new road. His steps were sure and steady.

Tap Tap

Like a cat on a high-rise, he had no fear of falling into the many holes which could easily break horse's legs. He was so familiar with the path that he clambered boldly through ditches which others would be scared silly of! The boy made his living every day by sneaking into these forgotten ruins and picking out pretty scraps to sell for a living. Sometimes he was lucky and he found enough to sell for a week's worth of food or more. Other times he was forced to rely on his older sister to avoid starving.

Toc Toc Toc

He walked steadily as he reminisced on the past. One time, he had gone hungry for so long that he fell ill, and couldn't get up again to keep searching for food. In the end, his sister had found him a hearty meal and medicine though he knew that she had only a few coppers left in her purse. How had she gotten the money? She couldn't have made enough working as a waitress to afford such costly traditional medicines. He never did ask where his sister got the medicine. The boy was afraid of hearing things he didn't want to hear. From that day on he vowed to never let himself get so hungry that he couldn't take care of himself.

"Damn I'm hungry" Lineir mumbled.

In order to avoid a situation like that ever happening again, Lineir often reached into the upper class's pockets. His favorite prey was the crowds which gathered beneath the execution stand. Nobody, noble or guard, paid attention to their purses when the guillotine came down. Silk-pants were easy pickings for someone who had a mind to help himself to coin rather than an eyeful of blood. Of course, such gains came with risk as well. One mistake and it would be his head on display the next day.

Things had been looking up recently, Lineir's sister had been promised another year of work. The inn which she worked at was doing a brisk trade in Brackenrock City and she was guaranteed a position until trading caravans were forced away by the winds of fortune again. That meant Lineir always had bread on the table and sometimes even meat, though he preferred to stockpile rice whenever there was extra. If he had his way he was never going to be without food again.

Sometimes, he wondered what would happen if he had enough food to last a lifetime. But then he always dismissed the idea.

It was useless to dream.

*Tap*

Lineir's usually sure feet almost got caught on an upturned cobblestone and he quickly returned his mind to the task at hand. This time, he was looking for a new stash to search. Over the past few months, he had dug out all his old haunts. They had ceased to yield anything but dust. Now he was doing the dangerous work of scouting out a new site to dig and search for valuables. This was the most important part of the job. Soon he'd be wandering outside of familiar territory and every step would be a potential hazard. If he didn't find a good spot then all his efforts for the next few weeks would be a waste. He'd only dig up trash.

As he walked, the landscape changed. Tombstone after tombstone appeared, chipped and smashed, but the majority were still standing, a testament to the idea that the living still cared about the dead. Lineir had reached a place he had never dared to venture before. It was at the edge of the old city, a mass burial ground for millions of citizens. The tombstones cropping up here were but the beginning of a vast expanse of land which now belonged solely to the dead. It was a well-known fact that inside lurked hideous undead and worse...constructs of old magic gone horribly wrong. These intertwined combinations of flesh and magic, which could not be touched by ordinary steel, were the nightmares of every child in Brackenrock City.