The Shovel System

The young man walking shamefully ahead of Jackie Lewin stands 1.65 meters tall. His shoulders are broad and carry power. He has a strong jaw and a square nose, his face is framed by midnight black hair that cascades over his shoulders, swaying down to the middle of his back, just above his red pumpkin-sized swollen booty cheeks.

His name is Silent Wolf.

Silent Wolf is fifteen years old, and he's married to Quiet Bear, thirteen years old. He's the father to the one-month-old baby boy, Solemn Wolf.

Hunting and working the fields has filled out Silent Wolf's body magnificently, his tanned skin and well-defined muscles are the results of long hours spent under the sun chasing pray and helping in the fields.

He wears purple giant-boar raw-hide armor. Two large boar tusks line his collar.

His breath catches in his throat, the piercing gazes and gossip from the villagers burn his pride painfully as he leads the foreigner to the chief's home at the center of the village.

Silent Wolf's heart pounds, making it hard to think or concentrate as he occasionally stumbles, his qi condensation level 2 cultivation not helping him much amidst his confusion. Tear trails stain the young man's face, and his stuffy nose causes him to sniffle here and there, while his heart hangs in his throat, the immense pressure keeping him quivering just on the edge of bawling.

Jackie and Silent stroll through the village. The pair arrive at the largest house in the time it takes to eat a meal.

Two middle-aged people are standing outside the courtyard of the house, bowing deeply at the waist towards the approaching pair.

Silent's eyes quiver when he sees this, and he chokes back an alarmed sob. His eyes dart between the woman and man before he sprints over to the man and grabs his shoulder and tugs at him, trying to lift him.

The man refuses to leave the deep bow, while Silent cries out, "No no no! Raise your head, Roaring Bear!"

Silent Wolf keeps tugging, but Roaring Bear shakes his shoulders, shrugging off Silent's grip.

Roaring Bear's deep, determined, bassy voice rumbles out, "Esteemed guest from afar, we have wronged you! Please, we beg forgiveness for our transgressions. My wife and I beg for your eminence to spare our village your terrible wrath! We humbly sacrifice our lives for our brethren! Please take us instead!"

The sound of pattering tears echos alongside quiet, fearful sobbing from Roaring Bear's wife. Her tears splatter on the ground beneath her deeply bowed head and long, shimmering black hair.

Jackie watches them and rubs his glabella and then strokes his fluffy white beard. He narrows his eyes, and a calculating glint flashes through them.

The towering old man looks down on the groveling couple and commands, "You will do three things for me if you value the lives of your brethren and yourselves."

The couple's breath pauses, then speeds up expectantly, and Silent Wolf sniffles before sneaking a glance at the frightening cultivator.

Jackie Lewin "First, tell me which sect you answer to?"

RoaringBear scrunches his eyebrows, "Your Eminence, the Dark Tribulation sect vanished over one hundred years ago, my people answer to no sect nor higher authority."

Jackie pauses, stroking his beard. 'No sect protecting them could explain why mostly young folks fill the village. Warring against magical beasts is eroding their war power, and the elderly are the first to sacrifice themselves for their children and grandchildren. This village has evidence of deep decline.'

'I need to gather materials to practice my Shovel Alchemy Dao; the villagers have good constitutions and talent for cultivation. I should take a few as students; they will help me to gather materials and resources while I work to advance through my alchemy cultivation.'

Jackie then says, "You will collect this selection of materials..." He lists dozens of herbs, minerals, and mysterious occult items. He then purchases a sack from the system store and then dumps the spirit stones from earlier into it, slapping it down at Roaring Bear's feet. "Use these to pay for them."

He then says, "Three of your people will become my students, they have until noon tomorrow to seek me at the lake. Do these, and we cut our Karmic Debt!"

Jackie eventually leaves the village and its many prying eyes. He walks for some time then freezes, "Dadgummit! I forgot to ask where in the heck we are. I must be getting old."

He sighs, "Well, I can't go back now, or my image of mean bully cultivator will transform into doddering old man cultivator. I'll have to get the answer from my students tomorrow." Jackie makes his way back to the lake to contemplate the shovel dao.

Back in the village at the chief's house.

Roaring Bear finally raises his head and stands up to his full 190 cm height. His bushy mane of hair frames his square jaw and thick eyebrows. His eyes flash with cunning and intelligence, but his intense and domineering presence is muted.

Roaring bear rumbles, "Cloud Bear, stow that sack in the house. Silent Wolf, gather the villagers at the fountain, everyone that is able must come. This is a life or death issue."

The village fountain square gradually fills with people until its crowded and buzzing with gossip. Roaring bear arrives and opens the discussion, telling the crowd about Jackie Lewin's demands.

"...There you have it." Murmurs, discussions, and conspiracy-minded folk spread throughout the square.

"Who should go?" becomes the primary topic of discussion. Jackie's domineering actions earlier suppressed the rebellious teenagers filling the crowd. Many of them are covered in purple sap that boosts recovery.

No one volunteers to be a student to the foreign alien cultivator. "We won't go! Who knows what he wants to do to us? Anyways, we didn't instigate him!"

"Yeah! Yeah, not us!"

"Who should we send?"

All of the gazes snap and narrow as they zoom into one family in the crowd, the murmuring growing louder and more pointed.