Devil's Rise 9 The Felweed

James wondered why his Devil Ancestor never bothered to come get him after he escaped. He'd rather be learning blacksmithing than getting so many beatings! James decided it was time to check out his snazzy new property since he had regained his freedom.

He had worked hard the past few weeks gradually increasing his amount of Devil qi and breaking into the mid level of Esquire. His body was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with Devil qi and his vision was better. It was time for him to build his young master foundation.

When the Devil Ancestor returned to his mansion he found James missing. After learning he had begun training with Diana he swiftly decided to go back to forging. He had no want to deal with such an unreasonable devil woman. She was one of the few frequent visitors of the Hudson Estate that never gave him any face as a Devil Ancestor.

James found his way to the property. From the outside it looked dirty, rough and gloomy. Bricks and soft wooden tree trunks make up most of the buildings outer structure. It is nearly impossible to see through the darkened windows, so he could not see what laid inside. As he entered through the heavy, wooden door he was welcomed by dirt and dust all over the place. This place had not be occupied for quite some time.

It was as gloomy inside as it was on the outside. Rounded, stone beams support the upper floor and large, molten candles attached to them. The walls are covered with photographs of what were undoubtedly better times for this tavern. They're now more of a painful reminder of what it had degenerated to.

The tavern had been completely abandoned. From his fathers words it used to be infamous for something but he can't remember what it was. From the dirt and unhygienic circ.u.mstances, it was probably food poisoning.

This dilapidated tavern in the slums of Hudson City was something James could call his own. It would be his base of operations in the future. James needed to find his first loyal followers to get this place back to working order.

He would have to hire some good help to get this place to turn a profit, generating fel shards for him. Cultivators within the first three realms of cultivation would use fel shards in the Abyss. Fel shards were used by all races as they had energy that could be converted to qi for all types of cultivation.

Devils were not the only race in the Xertzul Abyss, they were simply the ruling cla.s.s. There were many people of various races in the first and second realm of cultivation within the slums of Hudson City. Anyone at the third or fourth realm would not live in such a place.

To get this tavern running properly James needed someone to manage the establishment. As a n.o.ble young master he obviously could not sit at a tavern all day taking orders.

While thinking of how he was going to find some good help he happened to see farmer Kyle outside. Kyle looked like he was having a rough day from his appearance struggling with a wheel barrel of something.

"Kyle remember I said I might have a job for you. Do you know anything about running a tavern?"

"I could definitely manage a tavern for young n.o.ble!"

"Good you're only at the Esquire level but that will have to do for now. We will have to get a good product to to drive in clients. We will call this place "The Young n.o.ble Lounge". It must become the most fabulous place in all of Hudson City!"

"I have just the thing young n.o.ble! I am a felweed farmer by trade. My Duranta Abies strain here would be the perfect central product to serve in the tavern. I just had a distributor deny purchasing my latest crop. So there's plenty of it to fill the taverns stores."

"Let me try some first. This young n.o.ble can't put his name behind a bad product."

Kyle quickly got James a pipe filled with his strain of felweed. Denizens of the Abyss loved felweed, it would help them relax and stabilize their cultivation, they could even gain new insights into Daos while enjoying the high. It was a typical pa.s.s time for cultivators to group and smoke felweed.

James felt this strain looked pretty good. It had wide, kidney shaped leaves that were light orange with many stinging hairs like a nettle.

"This is a Tier 1 strain it should give you a nice relaxing high filled with insights of the Daos you've studied."

James sat down in the bar with Kyle partaking in the felweed as he gleamed inspiration into his Dao. For the first time in a while he felt relaxed. He had been so worked up lately with dealing with the awakening ceremony, his devil ancestor, and his mother he had not taken a breather. This was not the calm and relaxed life he wanted to live as a young n.o.ble.

It seems his burdens had been lifted. He thought about the practice of the Flint u0026 Timber Art as well as the Fire Dao. He still had not stepped into the Fire Dao after practicing the Flint u0026 Timber Art for so long.

He now understood that stepping into a Dao was a difficult process, that was why the ceremony was so important. He had worked almost two months on a technique that dealt with Soul and Fire Dao and not reached initial mastery of the Fire Dao. James felt he had a sudden inspiration. He brought a bit of devil qi into his hand and stared at it, he slowly attempted to change the Devil qi into Fire qi with his understanding of the Fire Dao. A match sized flame formed in his hand.

James had done it! After two months of hard work on a technique he had stepped into the initial stage of his second Dao the Fire Dao! With entry into the Fire Dao he could officially become a Tier 1 Blacksmith or Apothecary since he could create Fire qi. James was very happy, this felweed was amazing his clients would definitely pay top dollar to enjoy this in his bar. He could also have a counter where they could buy it to go.

"Good stuff Kyle, this young master fully supports you with this product. Do you have interest in becoming my contracted follower? You would handle my production of felweed and manage this tavern. As this young masters first follower your prospects are boundless!"

The devil was in the details. Devils loved contracts. Any time that a devil had an interest in something a contract would be made. Contracted followers had obligations to the devil they followed, but they also had things that were to be provided to them such as a salary, a place to live, cultivation resources, and cultivation techniques.

[Mountain Shadow] was the organization of the Devil Ancestor's contracted followers. It had several different divisions and was comprised of members of various races. [Mountain Shadow] was the most powerful organization affiliated with the Hudson Clan and handled disciplinary affairs. The Devil Ancestors followers were simply stronger than his children.

The best way to tell the influence of a devil was what type of organization they managed. Devils even joined other devil's organizations if they weren't the leading type. There was no shame in being a contracted follower to a powerful devil. Many organizations would be stronger than Devil Clans. An organization helmed by a Devil King obviously would be much more powerful than a Count Clan.

Kyle didn't have any backing in the Abyss, if he did his crops wouldn't have been denied when he tried to sell them earlier. He was a dark elf just trying to make an honest living in the Abyss.

"I would be glad to serve young n.o.ble!"

"Good I will work out the contract after thinking it over for a bit. This place is in your hands for the next few months. I hope to see a prosperous bar when I return. Don't let this young master down!"

James gave Kyle enough fel shards to get the business going and to purchase the felweed crop Kyle had with him. James didn't know anything about writing devil contracts so he would have to get an official contract with Kyle later. He didn't think Kyle was so lowly as to swindle a member of the Hudson Clan in Hudson City.

I guess I need to head back to Devil Ancestor now, I've solved the problem of setting up my business so I will have a healthy stream of fel shards coming to me when I get back if Kyle does a good job. I believe in his product and with my seal this bar will not be bullied in Hudson City.