Gleam Karma Cultivator Isekai

Leaving the Whiteheart house didn’t take long, but settling on a restaurant did. Yeo wanted to return to Hound’s, but the others wanted to try something new. Neither she nor Chance really wanted to return to the restaurant they’d run into Vex at, so the three of them eventually settled for a medium sized, slightly fancy location. The windows glimmered with golden light from the lanterns within, and Chance could see an assortment of meals on the tables in front of patrons.

All the tablecloths were white and red checkerboard, and black iron chandeliers hung from the ceiling, although they weren’t lit. Dull chatter filled the restaurant, breaking out into the street as they walked in.

A well-dressed waiter smiled at them and swept three menus from beneath his podium. “Will there be any more in your party?”

“No. It’s just us,” Yeo said.

“Splendid.”

The waiter led them to a table in the corner of the room and sat them down. He disappeared for a minute, returning with an iron basket full of bread rolls along with a small platter of butter.

After setting everything down on the table, the waiter grabbed several glasses of water and set them down before them before distributing the menus.

“I will return shortly. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you,” the man said, bowing slightly before returning to the front, where another group had arrived to be seated.

“Nice place,” Chance said, looking around while trying not to look too starstruck. It reminded him of an Italian restaurant from back home, and the steaming breadrolls looked delicious.

He waited for Yeo and Bella to each claim one before he took a roll for himself.

“It really is,” Yeo agreed. “I haven’t had a chance to eat anywhere like this before. It’s so… spacious. And colorful.”

“That’s right. You aren’t from Gleam, are you?” Bella asked. “I’ve been to this spot once or twice. It’s nice. A little pricy, but considering our line of work and the test we’re about to get done with, more than within our budget.”

“I’m from a small town called Ruddbrook,” Yeo said. “We had some restaurants, but nothing like this. Really not much of anything of interest there, to be honest.”

“And you still got into Gleam as a fledgling Shikari?” Bella raised her eyebrows. “That’s really pretty impressive.”

“You did the same,” Yeo pointed out, somewhat reluctantly. He took a bite of bread and chewed for a moment. “Actually, you did more. You became a solo Shikari as well. I didn’t even know they allowed that kind of thing.”

“I had special circumstances,” Bella said, her eyes darkening. “Luckily, Gibson was willing to work with me. At the start, at least. And even with them, I barely managed to convince them to let me stay in Gleam.”

“Is it that difficult to get into the city?” Chance asked.

“You’ve got it easy as a new arrival from Earth.” Yeo wiped his mouth with a napkin and shook his head. “My parents have been trying to get in for years, but no go. When I got the offer, I barely believed it myself. Gleam only accepts the best of the best from application requests.”

“I did hear they were loosening restrictions up a little bit as of late,” Bella said. “Hopefully, the local towns can be pulled under Gleam’s protection soon.”

“What do you mean? Is there a reason Gleam is so selective?”

“Bandits and general bad experiences with rogue cultivators.” Yeo’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t safe outside the scholar-cities. Many small towns, even ones not too far from Gleam, are under constant threat from groups of cultivators that roam around. And, even if you disregard them, there are monsters. Ones far larger and more dangerous than anything in Gleam. Shikari are of equal use inside and outside the city.”

“When you say danger…”

“Let’s just say new towns crop up from the ruins of the old ones pretty frequently,” Yeo said. “Most powerful Shikari don’t want to hang around a town, where there aren’t many resources and the danger is so high, so they migrate to one of the scholar-cities like Gleam. If someone who migrates gets really strong, the scholar-city occasionally puts the area under its protection as a down payment to keep the Shikari around.”

“That’s awful,” Chance said.

“Well, that’s what we’re training for,” Bella said. “Once we get higher ranked, many of our jobs will be outside of Gleam. Nobody wants the towns to get destroyed. There are just too many monsters and bandits outside the walls.”

“Enough of this topic,” Yeo said. “We’re supposed to be enjoying this. It’s a celebratory dinner, after all. Think about something happier.”

Bella and Chance exchanged a quick glance, then nodded. The waiter returned shortly after, getting their orders and setting off to the kitchen to get them started.

Their meal was fantastic, but Yeo’s words stuck with Chance. Part of him had to wonder just how much of Yeo’s desire to be famous was actually true, and how much was just the boy wanting to be strong enough to ensure the protection of his village.

The rest of the night passed without incident, as did the following day. Mercifully, Yamish did not come to collect Chance that night or the next. When the sun dawned on the day of the ranking exam, Chance awoke feeling equal parts refreshed and nervous.

Pete gathered them all at the front of the house an hour after the sun rose, poking through the cracks of the towering skyscrapers of Gleam.

“You’ve all got more than enough training to ace this,” Pete said. He glanced at Bella, then chuckled. “Oh, who am I kidding. One of you has already passed it, and I have no doubt that everyone will be coming home today with a smile on their face. Really, your goal shouldn’t be to pass. You should see how highly ranked you can get.”

“Shoot for the moon, huh?” Yeo asked. He smirked confidently. “Well, that was my plan anyway. I’m going to crush anyone that tries to stand in my way.”

“Don’t forget that this is mostly a team exam,” Bella pointed out. “We’ve barely done any team exercises. Make sure not to do something stupid that puts the rest of us at risk.”

“I won’t,” Yeo promised. “We have to hit the top together – so I can crush both of you once we’re there.”

Chance and Bella rolled their eyes. Before they could say anything else, there was a curt knock on the door. Pete opened it to reveal a balding, heavily muscled man.

“Team Whiteheart,” the man read off a paper, glancing up at them. “Signed up for the ranking exam and tournament today?”

“They are,” Pete said.

“Good,” the man said. “My name is Johnathan. I’ll be your team’s proctor for today. Follow me.”

They waved to Pete, then followed Johnathan down Shikari Lane and toward the training fields. Johnathan pushed the metal gate open and led them up to an open area.

“If you pass the exam today, you’ll be qualified to start taking jobs,” Johnathan said, still reading off his paper. “I am the sole judge of your success. If you have any complaints with my judging methods, you may take them up with Gibson. Today’s exam will have two parts. The first will determine your ability as a team, and the second will be the individual rankings. Do you have any questions so far?”

He paused a moment, then continued.

“In that case, we will begin by identifying your abilities. Please identify them, along with your names.”

“I use the Essence of Metal,” Yeo said. “And my name is Yeo.”

Johnathan scribbled on the paper with a quill, then looked back up at Bella.

“Undisclosed Essence, and my name is Bella.”

Chance hid his surprise. He’d been hoping to find out what her Essence was, but evidently that was an acceptable answer as Johnathan didn’t even blink. He just wrote something on the paper one more time before turning to Chance.

“I’m Chance. I cultivate Karma.”

Johnathan paused for a moment before writing one last thing and lowering the paper. “Understood. As this is your first exam, I will explain some of the rules. In this exercise, I will be taking on the role of a powerful opponent. You will work together to attempt to subdue me.”

“How much force can we use?” Yeo asked.

“As much as you can bring to bear, unless you have cause to believe that your abilities have not been reported accurately and you pose a threat to me. I am a Knight ranked Shikari,” Johnathan said, completely serious. “Do you believe this may be the case?”

“No, probably not,” Yeo admitted. “Sorry. Please continue.”

“I have a question, actually,” Chance put in. “Why are we fighting?”

Johnathan blinked. “I’m sorry? This is the exam.”

“I should clarify. You’re taking the role of a powerful opponent, right? Wouldn’t the wisest call in situations like this to be retreat?”

To Chance’s surprise, the proctor’s face wrinkled with the faintest beginnings of a grin. “Not a bad question at all. Yes, that is a very valid strategy in many scenarios. Your life is more important than defeating a random monster. However, for the purpose of this exam, assume that retreat is not an option.”

“Okay. What about bargaining?”

Johnathan paused. “Bargaining? With a monster?”

“They could be intelligent, right? If a monster is trying to attack something that we’re trying to protect and it’s smart enough to communicate with, wouldn’t the best case scenario be if we could get it to leave before it could hurt someone?”

Johnathan’s forehead wrinkled. “I – no. I mean, yes, but that’s going to be a pretty rare scenario. Don’t try to bargain with the monsters. Just kill them. You’re a Shikari, not a negotiator.”

“Let’s just get this on with, yeah?” Yeo asked, pulling his kusarigama from his side and giving it a lazy twirl. “Not to say your questions are lame, Chance. But they are.”