He quickly dressed himself up and decided to try the cultivation technique. Though he could recollect every part of it, he had little practice or understanding of it. So, practice was necessary part of it. It wasn't his first time cultivating. As a prince, he had extensive practice and tutors which allowed him to easily comprehend quite a bit. As an agent in his past life, he had extensive knowledge of the human body and its anatomy.
In this world, according to his knowledge as a prince, cultivation was mostly divided into two types. Body strengthening and Mana refinement cultivation. Body strengthening mostly included directing of mana into the body through breathing or consumption and then having various parts of the body absorb the mana, elevate the body cells and make them stronger. Mana refinement involved the refinement of the ambient mana to a form and nature more suited to the individual, store it inside the body so that one would be able to efficiently use it when required.
Every technique in this world required one to first refine their body as it was necessary for the body to be able to have a minimum amount of strength if it was to store mana in one's body. So, even one wanted to only stick to mana refinement one needs to learn body strengthening first. As he had previously cultivated before even though his mana core was destroyed and his cultivation crippled, he had his body strengthened. Though as a side effect of the attack, his body was affected and his strength was not as good a before. Due to all of this he had a good understanding of his current situation.
His knowledge of human anatomy allowed him to realize that circulation of mana in the body is done through the circulatory system and the lymphatic system. These two cover each and every living cell of the body and thus are very effective for this purpose. He realized that in this world, the people had a certain amount of control over these circulation systems. It was like the mana environment managed to somehow make these autonomous systems to be able to be partly controlled and thus allowing them to cultivate.
The cultivation technique was quite confusing to him. The technique told to him, allowed him to both strengthen his body and refine mana. Usually one would strengthen his body, most techniques wouldn't focus on improvement of the body after initial training which allowed them to start mana refinement. The later improvements in body are usually a side effect on continued mana refinement. But this technique allowed him to actively do both for him to go to higher levels.
The most confusing part was the process of elevation of soul which he had never heard of. The technique given by the spirit also accumulated mana at the head which was quite dangerous. This was apparently to induce mana presence near the soul which resides near the head and thus allow the soul to improve due to it.
Also, he was supposed to exercise during the breathing and refining technique which was quite different to the one he practiced before where he used to sit down still in meditation when he used to refine mana.
Even during body strengthening stage, the ones he previously learnt have all had to exercise first and then meditate, not both at once. That made sense to him as it was similar to consuming protein and food after intense exercise which was the norm even in his previous life, but this manual was like eating while exercising which anyone would consider stupid. But supposedly, it gave its best effects if one exercised and stretched according to the manual while using the breathing technique.
He also realized focusing on all three aspects is usually not possible for a person if he hadn't cultivated to higher level using some other technique before, as one wouldn't have enough control and experience to direct mana as required. This technique was like it was specifically made for people who had previously cultivated and then given up their mana technique or have been crippled.
"This is way too complicated for me to start trying now. Moreover, cultivating while working out is much harder to control," he thought. "I will first deal with the issue of the job and basic body strengthening before the trying to refine mana."
Thinking that Ajax got out of the room and went out to the canteen of the motel to have some breakfast. After all the thinking and plans he was famished.
As he opened the door, he found a note stuck outside with directions to the mess. The motel had a mess l in the ground floor. He quickly made his way there and, on the way, he realized that it was already evening.
"Damn, I missed lunch," thought Ajax as he made his way to the mess.
As he was walking towards it, he suddenly stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Shocked he turned around and found himself in front of a blue-eyed pretty, blond woman dressed in a long embroidered green gown holding a wooden fan which she kept waving with her other hand. She had a face filled with makeup, body filled in the right places and looked exactly like high-end beautiful escorts in old movies.
"So, you finally came out," she said holding his shoulder.
"Do I know you?" asked Ajax stuttering. The look of the woman coupled with the way she held him and asked him so casually made him think that he had him confused with someone else that had used her services. He decided to stutter as any kid his age would if he was opposite such a woman.
"No, you don't. But I was asked to look after you by the general. Something about you wanting a job. I was specially put here to wait for you," said the woman in a haughty tone.
Ajax had nothing he could say in response. "Couldn't this general fine anyone else. What kind of job can she give me. Does he think that I can't do anything useful and is suggesting me to be a gigolo. He is definitely toying around with me," thought Ajax.
"I am surprised that you didn't come out so long? Don't you feel hungry?" she continued looking a bit concerned.
"I was just tired," replied Ajax looking relieved and his voice more normal. "Regarding the job, I don't have much experience in anything. So, I was thinking about a cook or find some work in kitchen."
"A cook? You are pretty enough. You can would have much better options," said the woman as she moved her hand off his shoulder and used to stroke his chin while having a better look at him. "It would be a waste of good features."
Ajax felt a chill from the point she touched him all the way to his back. "My god! She is really asking me to be one," he thought frightened by her gesture.
"Yes," he said taking a step away from her. "Definitely something in a kitchen. I am sure that I could make myself useful there."
After that he left her as picked up speed running back to his room. The little incident with the woman made him all excited and then frightened with some body parts responding in an unwanted manner. His teenage body and hormones were a bit out of his control and he decided to head back to his room to control himself before he comes out again.
"Cute boy," said the woman aloud to herself as he moved into the mess. "I wonder why the general made me dress in this manner," she wondered as she went to out of the hotel to report to general.
By the time he was out of his room again, there was no sign of the woman and he went to the mess. He quickly found a table and the waitress brought him a plate of potatoes, beans and carrots along with some orange juice. Apparently, his meals where fixed. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and anything else he asked was apparently subject to restrictions and fixed as his stay was being financed by the general. He was subject to similar meal that a trainee would be given in their first week. He couldn't order any alcohol or anything else even if he had the money to pay for it.
Ajax just took the food he was offered and quickly consumed it. He found it decent and fulfilling. Though it wasn't the same delicious food that he as a prince had consumed all his life, after the meeting with the spirit in his dreamscape, he had developed quite an appetite and the meal felt delicious. He actually wanted to have more, but was denied and the waitress told him that overeating wasn't also allowed by the general as per the military trainee code.
Ajax had initially planned to get back to his room after dinner and work on his cultivation, but being still hungry he decided against. He was taught, it was not best to cultivate when a person was hungry or injured as without nutrition it would not help him and might cause issues in long run.
So, he went out of the hotel to acquaint himself with the fort city. As he was leaving, he asked the waitress about the fort and was given a quick review. Most of the city was restricted. The restricted areas were either that of the military or those that were owned by nobles and those with political clout. Even among those that were accessible, most of the shops and buildings had security which wouldn't allow anyone dressed as a trainee into them.
A person dressed like him would at least need to show the guards a building specific id or enough money to be able to enter many of the buildings. This included hotels, mercantile organizations and military affiliated organizations. Thus, there were only a few places that Ajax could actually visit. These places are market areas where small travelling merchants would sell their wares and tried their luck. Other than them, few young novice smiths, weavers and other low-level professionals would sell their services in small temporary stalls in those areas.
Though he had no money or wares to buy or sell anything, Ajax decided to take a look over these small-scale markets. He could observe and get a good idea of the different services and their prices. Every year at the time when a new batch of trainees were about to join, a lot of travelling merchants came with their wares and set up small stalls during this time.
Apart from these, one could always spot a lot of people always walking around on the streets. This was not just a fort but a city, the families of a lot of members of the guards resided in this place. The children were playing in the streets and one could always find one of the carriages drawn by oxen or horses. It gave the place a kind of rural and older feeling to Ajax who had too many memories of living in an urban city.
Walking through the market, he noticed the behaviour of the merchants, customers and the security personnel. Most of the merchants were haggling and yelling, but there were no serious quarrels. Many people just formed groups while buying food from various temporary stalls as they talked with one another.
Occasionally one could see small performers doing various tricks and stunts. There were armed men patrolling at various locations making sure that a certain amount of order was maintained in all the chaos. It was exactly like a black market in his past life with different kinds of people with one significant exception.
Here, everyone was armed including the merchants. They wore swords, daggers, maces and different types of weapons openly on their body, while asking and haggling for various goods. Such a blatant display of weapons while haggling would be considered a threat and robbery in his past life, but here it was just everyday life. Still, he didn't find any who would try to use their weapons or even hold them in a threatening stance. Even if one accidentally used their mana unintentionally on a merchant or another bidding customer due to any bout of anger, the patrolling soldiers usually smack them or tap them on their backs after which they would immediately calm down.
This was a perfect place for a trained person like Ajax to gather information. He was a 13-year-old boy and though he had good education and nutrition all his life, he was only about 5 feet tall and this gave him the appearance of some 15-year-old teenage boy. Most didn't care about him. They just considered him to be another youth who is just enjoying his first time in the fort city as he came to join the border guard. This was a common occurrence.
His behavior might be appearing like that of a common youth, but Ajax was not. Unlike normal youth, he kept track of different wares their prices, etc.,. Many people let out pieces of information during haggling. They compared the prices and quality of different weapons, potions and other items in the stalls to the ones present standardized military surplus, organized merchant stores, etc., Listening to these, he was able to slightly increase his knowledge of the world.
Though it wouldn't gain him any professional knowledge in inspection, it was good enough. He was a complete novice in his previous life and as a prince he only received the best items. He didn't need to check for any issues personally and everything was done for him. He only practiced his fighting techniques and cultivation as a prince along with a little basic knowledge of the political structure of different parts of the kingdom and a bit about the empire it was a part of.
Apart from that, he was also able to gather bits and pieces of information about other things like the cheapest places to eat or lodge, the changes of the kingdoms policies after the coup, news about bandit attacks, bounties, items sold, feats of some guard captions beyond the walls, etc. He was sure that most the things that he heard end up being exaggerated, but still all rumours were usually founded in truth. So, he expected at least a bit of truth to be in them. This information mostly is useless in his current situation, but it would increase his knowledge and allow him to converse with others like any other young boy which he considered essential to keep up his cover as an orphan youth who was supported by the general.
He also came to know that the bounty on his whereabouts was also doubled. It one of the most discussed items. Apparently, his uncle Vikram was highly motivated to capture him. There is apparently a certain trend of kidnapping boys between 13 to 15 years due to this bounty. It became so frequent that even the soldiers were asked to take special care to prevent those occurrences within various military establishments across the border. He even heard of there being pressure on Vikram from the emperor to remove that bounty due to high frequency of these kidnappings.
After some time, Ajax noticed that a few of the people were discretely trailing him. They always maintain a certain distance from him and from each other and involved themselves in haggling and other activities, but the kept looking at each other and one of them was always close enough to make Ajax concerned. They were good enough, but their frequent looks at their companions and the movements of the group mimicking his, Ajax could easily notice that they were tracking him.