Chapter 0162
While Bei Ting Mao was throwing himself into the fight, the rearguard wasn¡¯t slouching either.
Fenix was insane on the field. Imagine a burst type attack but instead of shooting in one direction, it has a homing component to it. Each spell circle Fenix cast shot out seven Fireballs and each Fireball hit a vital point on the magical beasts.
Tempest had belittled Fenix before for avoiding her backlash issue previously. She had told Fenix to increase her resistance to the fire backlash while covering her weakness with misdirections and her handy charms.
Fenix took Tempest¡¯s advice to heart. Fenix made it look like she was casting Wind Blade interspersed with her Fireball spells, giving the other mages the impression she was a fire wind mage. No one could tell her Wind Blade was due to the charm she leeched off Tempest previously. Tempest was right next to her and she knew Fenix was only a single element fire mage and she can¡¯t tell if Fenix was a fire mage or a fire wind mage.
Fenix sneakily using the water charms Tempest gave her to calm the raging fire surging through her body was also done discreetly. So much for trying to build resistance to the fire backlash.
Others couldn¡¯t tell, but Tempest could. She made the charms so she can sense their use within a certain area. She made a note to remind Fenix about this aspect of her charms.
Tempest had a chance to see what immense raw power combined with absolute control and precision was like. Each Fireball or Wind Blade killed its intended target. Bodies started to pile as high as a small mountain in front of Fenix.
The small mountain would have turned into a big mountain if Fenix didn¡¯t send some of the more valuable magical beast corpses into her mage robe. Feeding the greedy bottomless depth that was Tempest backed by the demands of Fenix¡¯s power was going to be expensive.
Fenix has money.
Her mother was never stingy with her in the material and resource department. With all the resources her mother provided her, Fenix knew it wasn¡¯t going to be enough the bottomless hole up.
Graden, protecting their rear, wasn¡¯t as aggressive as Fenix. His job was to kill any magical beasts coming from behind them and any magical beasts stupid enough to try and sneak attack them.
As a fire wood mage, Graden was terrible. Tempest had reminded him to utilize his fire spells along with his wood spells but the passive-aggressive guy didn¡¯t listen. He continued to primarily used his wood spells as his main attacks.
There were reasons why Graden focused on his wood type attacks instead of his fire type attacks, reasons Graden wasn¡¯t sure how to explain. So, in his kind sweet way, he¡¯d listen to Tempest¡¯s ranting, taking all the care and concern in the lecture but ignoring the message completely.
Graden may be terrible as a fire wood mage, but as a wood mage, Graden was deadly. Graden set up a perimeter using poisonous vines, thorny poisonous shrubs, and trees secreting poisonous sap.
A level two magical beast got scratched by one of the plants and died within 15 seconds. A level three magical beast got scratched by one of the plants and died within 10 seconds. A level four magical beast got scratched by one of the plants and died within 5 seconds¡
Yeah, Tempest wasn¡¯t going to even think about what type of poison could kill magical beasts faster as their levels increased.
Poison users are scary.
Never irritate the poison user.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Never irritate the poison user who is also the cook.
Scary!
Hmmm¡ poison user who is also the cook was collecting the corpses of the magical beasts he killed.
Poison rendered delicious through the cooking process. Greater yumminess because of extra spice. The added kick of chili.
Besides, didn¡¯t Ventus mention Tempest was immune to most poison. Deliciousness heading her way. Gobble gobble.
Seeing the drooling Tempest, Ventus knew what Tempest was thinking. Although Tempest may be immune to most poison, the poison Graden was using to kill the magical beasts were a special type of poison that could harm Tempest.
Tempest, pay attention to the fight.
¡°Honey glazed ham.¡±
Tempest, repeat after me - drugs are bad!
¡°What? What drugs?¡± Tempest immediately pulled herself out of her imagined food-induced trance.
Graden is using a type of drug that is as dangerous as a drug to kill the magical beasts. Ventus wasn¡¯t lying to Tempest. She just skirted the truth a bit. The poison Graden was using to kill the magical beasts was much worse than drugs.
Tempest turned to look at Graden like he was a kidnapper offering her a piece of candy to get into the van.
¡°Lowly scum!¡± Through Ventus¡¯ misdirection, Tempest¡¯s opinion of Graden went down to the bottom of the gutters. She ignored the slimeball in favor of the other members of her group.
Li Ming.
Ah, that girl was getting weirder and weirder on Tempest.
At first, she was the jilted fiancee, then did a 180 and became someone completely different. It started with a name change. Slowly, her personality changed as well. Tempest wouldn¡¯t have noticed the change in Li Ming if she wasn¡¯t going psycho on her right now.
It started with a little sunshine and gentle drizzle.
Sunshine in the middle of a dense forest made up of tall trees with long intersecting branches that block out most of the light. Gentle drizzle, again, they were in the middle of a dense forest made up of tall trees with long intersecting branches that provide ample shade from the rain.
¡°Rain of Sunlight.¡± Li Ming ignited the spell she cast. Rain of Sunlight was not a one or two circle spell. It was a combination of spells. Combination spells were spells that combined or crashed - depending on the effects the caster desired - two different elemental spells.
Rain of sunlight shone from unknown sources and burned all the magical beasts within a five-meter radius in front of Li Ming. Did Li Ming copy Rimuru¡¯s spell or did she learn the spell from her spirits?
Cause it sure seems like she copied Rimuru.
The principal of the spell remains the same. The raindrops were similar to a high powered magnifying glass, controlling the direction of the sunlight while intensifying the heat. The theory doesn¡¯t sound impressive but keeps in mind lasers follow the same principals and it can cut through diamonds.
In this case, Li Ming¡¯s sunlight had was about a thousand times stronger than a laser weapon. It had to be since the hides of the magical beasts were stronger than steel. Each ¡®sunlight¡¯ sliced the head off of its intended target.
As a fellow storm, Tempest wanted to stand up for compatriots. Tempest, Rimuru Tempest. They are both Tempest.
Tempest wanted to slap Li Ming and tell her not to rip off other people¡¯s attacks. It had nothing to do with the fact that Li Ming remained alert and vigorous after casting her combination spell while Tempest had to lay flat on her back after she cast her and killed all the bandits that were chasing her for the Brilliant Yin Sect Disciple Token.
It also had nothing to do with the fact that Li Ming was better than her using her water spells. She even made more money than Tempest with their Water Spheres.
Nope, Tempest was not feeling inferior to Li Ming.
The person who was giving everyone an inferiority complex was Starm. She had no idea what type of spell he was using, casting or maintaining but anyone who gets in within three meters of the group dropped dead. There were no visible wounds on the magical beasts. They simply dropped dead.
Starm was indeed a five-thousand-year-old monster. He knew wondrous, strange and complex spells that require little mana to jumpstart but could maintain the effects by absorbing the surrounding energy to feed itself.
He cast his spell and wait for the magical beasts to die when they entered his trap. The little brat was able to leech massive amounts of mana from Tempest and he used less than 0.001% of the mana to kill the magical beasts coming their way.
Starm spent most of his time bagging the magical beast corpses.
On one hand, Tempest applauded him for his thrifty nature while on the other hand, Tempest wanted to smack him for his shifty ways.
¡°70% of the loot is mine.¡± Tempest consoled herself while she killed the magical beasts the old fashion way, one hit ko. It wasn¡¯t as fast as Fenix with her seven death per spell cast, Graden¡¯s scary poison wall, Li Ming¡¯s AOE kill spell or Starm¡¯s trap type spells but it got the job done. She didn¡¯t forget to nab the loot either.
¡°Keep up the good work. We are pushing the magical beasts back!¡±
Whoever said that was a damn jinx because the second after said that a spatial rift open and spat out a level six magical beast
Chapter 0163
Chapter 0163
Dodgeball is the stupidest game ever. Adults separate children into groups and somehow one side always has the athletically inclined children while the other side was composed of the rejects. Meh, if you aren¡¯t in the ¡®in¡¯ crowd then you could be considered a reject.
Anyways, one side throws the ball and the other side has to dodge it.
Now imagine some of the balls those gifted children were throwing were not the soft inflatable kind but the rock hard magnets and you are the metal it was attracted to.
That was the sensation Tempest felt when the chaotic rift opened.
Tempest knew she was more sensitive to the power of chaos. It was how she traversed the weird space above the Eternal Spirit Guild Headquarters and Cardis couldn¡¯t. When the chaotic rift opened, the power of chaos charged out and headed straight for her.
Like those poor unfortunate souls who became victims of the stupid game previously mentioned, Tempest¡¯s first instinct was to dodge it.
That didn¡¯t work.
Trying to dodge the chaotic power was like trying to dodge eddies of air, stupid and impossible to do. The chaotic power swirled around Tempest like a swarm of butterflies fluttering in the wind. Once it was done with its initial greeting it swamped Tempest like a gigantic wave, knocking Tempest onto her butt with everything they had.
Tempest was not appreciative. Anyone who had a bad fall or was knocked on down knows the pain associated with a bad fall. Children pick their butts right back up and go one with life as if it was an everyday occurrence. Adults suffer a few scrapes and bruises, get the wounds tended to, hopefully, learn from their mistakes and go on with their lives. When senior citizens fall, they get sent to the hospital for surgery. Recovering from surgery is not fun.
No one wants to suffer from a fall.
Well, except that one old dude Tempest knew who was glad he did fall. They found a tumor in his body when they were doing all the tests to see if he suffered any internal injuries from the fall. He was glad he fell.
Tempest was never gracefully by any stretch of the imagination. Her fall was an unwieldy mass of arms and legs tangled with her mage robe. Worse of all, Tempest landed on a rock.
¡°Damn One Thousand Years of Death,¡± Tempest screamed then unleashed her powerful combination attack to ease her pain. ¡°Chaotic Storm.¡±
Tempest was reluctant to use her combination spell because it destroys everything in its path, loot included. Every time she thought about all the treasures she could have gotten from those destroyed bandits, her heartaches.
This time Tempest was forced to use the spell.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
There was a limit to how much chaotic power Tempest¡¯s body can withstand. The amount of power surging into her was too much even for the chaotically inclined Tempest. She could either explode from the crazy power inside of her or she can channel it into a spell. Tempest chose the latter.
The location where she landed when she fell helped spurred her decision.
Mini raging storms formed, whipping both the mages and the magical beasts alike with sharp blades of wind, piercing ice shards and bolts of lightning.
Due to Cardis¡¯ training, Tempest was able to control her powers better. Before, Tempest relied on brute force, instinctive control and a little bit of ingenuity to get by. Now she relies on brute force, cognitive control and a lot of ingenuity to get by.
The last time Tempest cast Chaotic Storm, she created one gigantic storm to destroy the bandits. She didn¡¯t understand how the spell worked nor did she understand how to control the spell.
She still didn¡¯t understand how the spell work, however, her control got better.
Instead of creating one gigantic storm, Tempest created multiple mini storms to attack her enemies. This time, she made sure the bodies of the magical beasts were salvage. Tempest wasn¡¯t skilled enough to kill the magical beasts in a clean and efficient manner using Chaotic Storm.
As for the mages caught up in her spell, she was able to weaken the damage of her spells by applying her understanding of Aspects of the Storm: The Eye of the Storm.
Combined spells are exponential more powerful than regular one element spells given the same amount of mana used.
Aspects are the next level of combined spells. Aspects vary depending on the elements used. The combined elements of wind, water, and lightning create storms. The Aspects Tempest used has to be the Aspect of the Storm.
There are five Aspects of the Storm: The Calm Before the Storm, A Touch of Storm, The Eye of the Storm, The Lingering Storm and The Aftermath of the Storm.
Tempest touched the surface of the Aspects of the Storm when she crossed the weird space above the Eternal Spirit Guild¡¯s headquarters. She didn¡¯t completely grasp the underlying concepts of the Aspects, but she understood enough to apply it to her spell.
Therefore, most of the mages were able to escape the brunt of the spell.
Tempest was not charitable enough to let Hannah Trellis off when she had a perfectly good chance to strike at the thief. Sadly, again it was not meant to be. The scheming two-faced snake blocked Tempest¡¯s attack by using the two mages closest to her as a shield.
Damn it.
Tempest consoled herself with, ¡°At least I got the loot that came out of the chaotic rift.¡±
The chaotic rift did spit out treasures. The chaotic power carried those treasures to Tempest when they rushed her. When the chaotic power knocked her down with everything it had previously, the treasures were included with everything it had.
Tempest cast her combined spell to kill the magical beasts but she also intended to use the effects as a smokescreen, blocking everyone¡¯s view of her.
The sequence of events happens so fast that only the mages closest to her noticed the anomalies. Her group members were smart enough not to say anything yet.
Once the effect of her spell wore out, Tempest started fighting the magical beasts like nothing out of the ordinary happened.
¡°Ahhhh!¡± A mage screamed as his arm was bitten off by a dark malevolent creature oozing evil and hatred.
¡°Run! It¡¯s a level six chaotic beast, Abyssal Chimera.¡±
As one, all the mages scattered in different directions, praying the Abyssal Chimera didn¡¯t follow them.
Tempest had to hand it to her group members. Those guys were no slouches. Even though they only been a group for a couple of days, they had a tacit understanding. Tempest¡¯s group immediately cast all the movement spells they know and burned all the As Swift as the Wind and Flash Step charms they got from Tempest and flee in the opposite direction of the Abyssal Chimera.
During their mad dash for safety, Tempest heard the maniacal laughter coming from a man observing the entire situation from high above.
Chapter 0164
Chapter 0164
Tempest was able to catch her breath once she was inside the cave.
The cave the mages squeezed into was long and narrow; only two mages can enter at a time. Furthermore, the entrance of the cave was well hidden among an outcropping of large boulders and rocks.
If Ventus didn¡¯t lead Tempest towards the cave, she wouldn¡¯t have known it was there. Once the other mages saw Tempest and her group enter the cave, they followed suit.
Bei Ting Mao, sensing they were safe, sat down to meditate. He needed to regain his mana as quickly as possible. There was still a chance for the magical beasts to find the cave they were hiding in and attack them.
When he was meditating, he also sent out his senses to map the cave they were in. His interest peaked as he realized they can escape the magical beasts outside if they went deeper into the cave since the cave is not simply a cave but one of the many entrances to a series of labyrinth-like tunnels that spreads throughout the entire Emblemic Mountain Range.
Li Ming tried to give Bei Ting Mao some pills to recover his mana and heal his wounds but he refused and continued exploring their surroundings with his senses.
Li Ming was worried about Bei Ting Mao¡¯s wounds as his clothes were torn in several places and dyed red with blood until she realized the blood wasn¡¯t his. She visibly relaxed, only to realize she was also covered in blood. She was about to cast a spell to clean the blood off her self repairing mage robe when Graden stopped her by nudging her with his foot.
She looked at him while he glanced at the other mages in the cave with them. Li Ming understood his message and started to mediate to regain her mana, leaving the blood on the mage robe.
Once Graden saw Li Ming got the message, he turned his attention towards Fenix.
The battle was a harsh one where it pushed them to their limits. Graden was worried about Fenix and Starm. Their affinities limit the amount of mana they can use or they suffer for their rash actions.
Graden worried Fenix burned from the backlash of her spells, but the redhead gave him a cheeky wink, silently shook the water charm in her hand and continued her mediatization. A load immediately fell off of Graden¡¯s shoulders.
Fenix¡¯s experiment the other night did bear fruit. She was able to use the mana in Tempest¡¯s water charms to control the backlash of her fire spells. The charms also told him Fenix didn¡¯t use as much mana as he thought she did. Instead, she limits her mana consumption by supplementing it with the wind charms, thereby giving the illusion she is a fire wind mage.
As for the other problem child in his group, he needn¡¯t worry. Starm was fine form. He looked better than anyone in the group. He was also attending to Tempest, who was lying on the floor panting.
Graden rushed towards Tempest asking, ¡°Tempest, are you alright?¡±
¡°Let her rest.¡± Starm replied for Tempest, ¡°She took more damage than we realized. Her body needs time to heal.¡±
¡°I have pills.¡±
¡°This isn¡¯t something your pills can cure,¡± Starm said solemnly.
Graden judge Tempest¡¯s situation to be severe but not life-threatening from Starm¡¯s reaction. He can¡¯t tell what was wrong with Tempest but he knew Starm can. If Starm said Tempest needs rest then he¡¯ll let her rest.
As for Tempest, she was glad Starm was keeping people away from her because she needs to focus all her attention on her body.
Even now, the chaotic power created havoc throughout her body. Her heart was pumping at an alarming rate, trying to dissipate the power. Tempest heavily pant as a sense of suffocation pervade her body as her wind power tried to expel the invader with each breath she took. A feeling similar to ants crawling all over her body told her Astrapi was also working hard trying to discharge the power through rapid electrical impulses.
Tempest tried to cope with the demands of her spirits made on her body by focusing on taking deep breaths. She figured the deep breaths would slow her heart rate down as she satisfies her body¡¯s need for oxygen and her intense concentration would block out her hallucinations. It worked in the movies.
Then the screeching started.
¡°What was that?¡±
Tempest believed she was somewhat tolerant of the hysterics of others (not really, but Tempest convinced herself she has the patience of a saint and there was no one to tell her otherwise) except now wasn¡¯t the time for it.
Tempest cast a Silence Barrier at the entrance of the cave before another wave of chaotic power rioted through her body. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate but the intense shrill wouldn¡¯t let her focus.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°I have a right to know what is going on!¡± Hannah Trellis belligerently demanded. ¡°You guys know something. I demand you tell us everything.¡±
Graden ignored Hannah Trellis¡¯ demand in favor of watching over Tempest from a distance. The others did a good job of faking their injuries. Tempest was really injured, though from what Graden couldn¡¯t say.
Hannah Trellis grabbed Graden¡¯s mage robe and forced him to face her. ¡°I asked you a question.¡±
Graden notices the loud noise causes Tempest to spasm. He slapped his hand over Hannah Trellis¡¯ mouth and silently warned her, ¡°Shut up or I¡¯d throw you out there to be food for the magical beasts.¡±
¡°Now, don¡¯t be so hasty. We just wanted to know what is going on and you seem to have the answers.¡± Mark Aventil intervened. He didn¡¯t agree with Hannah Trellis¡¯ behavior since there were still magical beasts lingering outside the cave entrance and they needed all the manpower they can get if they were to get out of here alive. It was no time to pick a fight.
However, he did agree with Hannah Trellis¡¯ assessment. Graden seems to know something about the ambush and he¡¯d rather get it out in the open rather than fight with scum at their back.
¡°She needs to learn there are a time and place for things and now isn¡¯t the time for it,¡± Graden growled out.
Mark Aventil took the opportunity when Graden¡¯s attention was on him to cast a wind spell, pushing Graden away from Hannah Trellis.
¡°And you need to tell us what is going on!¡± Hannah Trellis yelled when she could speak again.
¡°Not now Hannah.¡± Mark Aventil tried to calm the annoying woman in front of him.
¡°I¡¯d rather start now than enter another battle with them using us as cannon fodder. They knew there was an ambush up ahead. They knew there was more going on and they didn¡¯t tell us. What is that if not using us as pawns?¡±
Hannah Trellis grew up in the royal court of the Augur Kingdom. Anyone who lived in any royal court knows how to discern danger, sniff out schemes and use their gift of the gab to their own advantage.
Hannah Trellis'' statement riled up the eight mages in the cave. Mark Aventil¡¯s expression changed from mild annoyance to serious consideration before going towards anger. Flunky One and Flunky Two stood beside Hannah Trellis, silently supporting her.
The other five mages considered Hannah Trellis'' word before they too sided him. They started to eye Graden with suspicion and hostility.
¡°What makes you think we know what is going on? Why don¡¯t you go ask one of the three mages leading you?¡± Graden countered. A few of the mages shrunk their heads back. What Graden did make sense but most of the mages here were weak both in personality and potential. They knew how to follow the strong and stomp on the weak. They don¡¯t question the strong.
¡°I saw you sneaking around the camp last night!¡± Hannah Trellis falsely accused Graden. There was no sneaking around. Graden openly and justly bargained for information from the other mage groups. If it was Hannah Trellis sneaking around, then she was either patrolling the area or monitoring situation. However, if anyone else was doing the same thing she was doing, then in her mind, it was sneaking around.
¡°We were doing what every other mage groups were doing, sharing information.¡± Graden sneered at the sheer ignorance of the girl in front of him.
¡°How come we weren¡¯t included? We were in the group too. We have a right to know.¡± Hannah Trellis righteous stance emboldened the other mages. Most of the time the other mages - Mark Aventil excluded - lived with their heads down and they followed orders of the more powerful members of their group.
Flunky One and Flunky Two strove their best to cozy up with Mark AVentil and Hannah Trellis due to their status. Mark Aventil is the sixth prince of Solen Kingdom. Hannah Trellis had Skylar Sedonis¡¯ backing, and since Skylar Sedonis¡¯ position in the Augar Kingdom is high and honored, Hannah Trellis essentially had the backing of the entire Augar Kingdom. Flunky One and Flunky Two bowed their heads and flattered the two powerful people in their group, hoping they would support the two in the guild once the five year trial period was over.
The other mages lived their lives similar to Flunky One and Flunky Two, by flattering the strong and stomping on the weak.
Their method of surviving the cultivation world might not be the best, but it instilled in them a strong sense of survival.
When their lives were threatened, then they brought up the meager courage they had to demand answers. Their lives might not be worth much to others but it''s all they have. Why would they flatter the strong if not to live?
¡°That¡¯s right. We have the right to know.¡± One mage jumped in.
¡°You¡¯re being selfish withholding vital information that could affect the whole group.¡± Once one mage started throwing stones at Tempest¡¯s group, another jumped in.
¡°How can you so shameless.¡±
¡°You are nothing but cowards.¡± Fenix sneered at the pathetic display of courage. ¡°If you wanted answers, you could have asked the three bastards who lead us here. Why didn¡¯t you? Because you are nothing but sniveling sheep who follow the crowd. Sheep who follow the crowd like you guys get slaughtered. What else did you expect?¡±
Fenix was right and they knew it. They shrunk back at Fenix¡¯s verbal onslaught, all but one foolish woman who thinks she is entitled to everything. ¡°We¡¯re not cowards. It¡¯s you who''s shameless. You knew there was an ambush and didn¡¯t warn anyone.¡±
¡°Why would we walk into a trap along with you useless bunch?¡±
Tempest noted Li Ming finally got a backbone. Yet it was all Tempest could note of her surroundings. Throughout the entire argument, Tempest was still trying to calm the raging chaotic power in her.
No matter what she does, it won¡¯t dissipate. The power pullbacks as Tempest push forward. Once there is a pause in Tempest¡¯s effort, the power pushes forward, forcing Tempest¡¯s power back.
The fight between Tempest and the foreign invades goes to and fro with Tempest slowly gaining the advantage. Yet, Tempest doesn¡¯t have all the time in the world to fight the power. She knows they have to move sooner or later.
It is only a matter of time the magical beasts outside would find them.
As Tempest tried to calm the raging power, the argument around her continued to heat up.
¡°You followed ¡®us useless bunch¡¯ for treasure. You knew you couldn¡¯t get it yourself, so you set up the whole scheme for use to weakened the magical beasts for you.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have the prestige or the power to do so. Have you considered it was the three mages who were using us as cannon fodder?¡± Fenix countered.
¡°I was considering it until I saw that midget over there hiding treasures from a spatial tear in her mage robes.¡± Hannah Trellis said triumphantly.
When eyes filled with greed turned towards Tempest, Tempest snapped.
Chapter 0165
Chapter 0165
Tempest felt herself floating in a bubble of water. After what the chaotic power put her through, she found immersing herself in its fluid touch soothing. The water pressure massage her aching body, loosening tense muscles and easing the tension she didn¡¯t know she had. Her group members called her a lazy slug. When she was sleeping previously, she was not a lazy slug. This is the epitome of being a lazy slug. She doesn¡¯t have to be wrapped up in layers and layers of bedding to be comfortable. She just has to lay her aching body down and rest.
¡°This water bed is so comfortable.¡± Tempest tried to snuggle deeper into the water bubble like she would a real bed but that wasn¡¯t possible. ¡°Noise, go away.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t think we believe you do you?¡± Tempest suddenly sat up, or tried to as she was proficient in maneuvering in water. She floundered in the water bubble until she got her bearings then she stared at the scene before her.
Hannah Trellis was accusing them of set up a trap.
Without thought, Tempest swam to the image and tried to smack the haughty brat only to hit on air.
¡°Wah?¡± Tempest stared at her fist, puzzled. Tempest was not a morning person. Fenix and the rest of the group found that out the hard way. Graden¡¯s method was by far the easiest and the gentlest since it works on one of Tempest¡¯s needs instead of the abrupt shove into alertness. Tempest don¡¯t do that.
The lazy slug rubbed her eyes a bit. She was sure she had her eyes open.
Look to the left - blackness.
Look to the right - blackness.
Look straight ahead - Hannah Trellis¡¯ arrogant face was displayed front and center.
Tempest looked at her fist then look at the movie before her. Fist, movie, fist, movie.
If one doesn¡¯t learn their lessons, given the same situation, one could easily expect the same reaction. Tempest flew, swam, up to the movie and tried to smack it. Nothing but air.
Now that Tempest was awake and more alert she began to notice the abnormal situation she was in.
¡°What is going on?¡± Tempest yelled into the emptiness. Nothing. Not even an echo.
Tempest didn¡¯t like this feeling. It was like she was the only person in a dark theater watching a movie. Worse, the movie she was watching was what her body was doing right now.
¡°Ventus! What is going on?¡± Tempest yelled into the dark room. No one answered Tempest. ¡°Mizu, Astrapi, answer me!¡± Still nothing.
¡°So this is how my mind looks like. Kinda empty huh.¡± It was the only conclusion Tempest could come up with. Since she tried contacting her spirits without getting a response, she realized she was in a place where the spirits can never enter, her mind.
¡°I will get you for this.¡± Tempest swore. Once she was done expressing her anger, sadness overwhelmed her and Tempest cried silently, looking incredibly pathetic and forlorn. She had always valued her freedom. Only someone who had been imprisoned would realize how precious freedom truly is.
She doesn¡¯t want to be locked up again and it was done by the very being she was starting to trust. The betrayal stabbed Tempest deeply.
Betrayers must¡
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
_______________________________________________________________
While Tempest was feeling sorry for herself in the deep recesses of her mind where even the spirits can never touch, Astrapi took control of Tempest¡¯s body.
The spirits were capable of taking over their mortal¡¯s body. They generally don¡¯t do so because they can die while they possess their mortal. Most mages knew about the possibility as well. They were confident their spirits would never take the chance to wrest control of their body away from them for long periods of time unless they become immortal because a mortal¡¯s body is too fragile for them and there were better alternatives for the spirits if they want to manifest on the physical plane.
One of those alternatives is to have their mortals make clones of themselves when they become immortal and the spirits would use the clones to act on the physical plane. With the cloning method, should the clones dies, the spirits does not have to die with the clones. Should the spirits directly possess their mortal, should the mortal die then the spirits dies with them.
The spirits can possess their mortal for short periods of time. During the time the mages were possess, they become extremely emotional and their mood swings are the stuff of legends. PMS and bipolar got nothing on the emotional instability when a mage was possess.
Contrary to Tempest¡¯s belief, Astrapi did not want to possess Tempest but rather, she was forced to.
Tempest couldn¡¯t disperse the chaotic power running rampant in her body fast enough. It was ravaging her body faster than the spirits ability to heal her. Eventually the pain would drive Tempest insane. Astrapi had to do something or they risk losing Tempest.
Tempest is their darling. She never realized how much her spirits loves her and the spirits don¡¯t tell her because they knew she wasn¡¯t emotionally stable enough to understand. Parents would rather take the pain onto themselves if they could rather than let their child suffer. They don¡¯t have the ability but the sentiment was there. The spirits does have the ability to ease Tempest¡¯s suffering, so they did it.
They knew Tempest would blame them for their actions even though it was done with good intent. It is the nature of children to blame their parents when they are hurt or confused.
Another reason was Hannah Trellis.
The damn slut was out to get their darling. She had harassed Tempest over and over again. Tempest did try to retaliate against Hannah Trellis but circumstances weren¡¯t ideal to kill the damn woman.
Well, Astrapi was going to change that.
Astrapi cast Paralysis Cage, a four circle area trap type spell that paralysized anyone in the cage unless specified. Only high level mages know how to create an exception within an area type spell. Astrapi is the spirit of lightning. She knows all lightning type spells like she knows the back of her hand. Creating exceptions to her own spells takes no more effort than a mere thought.
After Astrapi subtly wove her spell, she cast several other spells back to back.
Heart Spark, a complex three circle spell that affects the electrical impulses that regulate the heart. Heart Spark cause the heart experience symptoms associated with arrhythmia: tachycardia (racing heartbeat), bradycardia (slow heartbeat), chest pains, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, dizziness or fainting. The symptoms might not sound dangerous but in the middle of a fight, even the slightest distraction can lead to death. The best thing about the spell is how hard it is for cultivators to detect. Only the most skilled lightning and earth mages can detect the spell. Other cultivators can sense the spell at all.
Static Shock, a five circle spell that electrocutes the target. The beauty of Static Shock is the angle of attack. The spell attack from the ground. Cultivators know earth type spells can disperse lightning attacks. Most cultivators don¡¯t realize the imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material can be harnessed to create static electricity and with a little extra mana from a skilled lightning mage, the static electricity can create an electrical charge strong enough to kill a mortal. The body of a cultivator is much stronger than a mortal. Static Shock might not be able to kill them, but the damage is nothing to scoff at.
And finally, Atomic Fission, a six circle spell that attacks the cultivator at the atomic level. Atoms are composed of particles called protons, electrons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged; electrons are negatively charged and neutrons are neutral. Atom Fission breaks the charges between the protons and electrons, thereby the target at an atomic level.
Astrapi grinned evilly. She was going to kill the little nuisance for her little darling. Hannah Trellis won¡¯t know what hit her.
All of the spells Astrapi cast were one circle lower but Astrapi added conditional triggers to the spells, making each spell a circle higher.
Many people thought lightning mages are flashy mages only capable of powerful but direct attacks using lightning. They never considered lightning mages had a more subtle side.
Astrapi¡¯s target never put Tempest in their eyes or they would have seen the maniacal evil smile on Tempest.
Chapter 0166
Chapter 0166
¡°Greed and foolishness go hand in hand.¡± Graden thought to himself before perking up at the thought of his little beauties dining on mage flesh as dessert. Ah, he had been very careful with his power that he hadn¡¯t let them come out and a feast for a while. The magical beasts they ate previously only whet their appetite for more. ¡°I¡¯ll show them we aren¡¯t weaklings who they can bully at any time.¡±
Graden turned to look at his group and realized why Hannah Trellis chose this time to pick a fight.
Their group has a bloody and wounded Bei Ting Mao, Li Ming and Fenix who were exhausted and can barely fight, useless Starm, twitching on the floor Tempest and Graden, a weak fire wood mage.
Hannah Trellis had Mark Aventil, Flunky One and Flunky Two here. They were all in good health, had plenty of mana and could still fight.
The unpredictable variable were the five mages in the cave with them. They look to be a rag tagged individualist bunch who would turn on each other at the first sign of temptation. They¡¯d also be easy to take out after Tempest¡¯s group was taken care of as they were all wounded in various places from the previous fight.
Unobservant little fool.
The blood on Bei Ting Mao wasn¡¯t his own. He was in good condition to fight. As for the two starlets, they were in better condition than Bei Ting Mao. Li Ming might be a little slow on the uptake but Fenix understood the situation with just a glance and started faking being wounded the second they entered the cave. Starm looks useless but he¡¯s the deadliest among them. Graden didn¡¯t have a chance to fight. His little beauties were very fast to collect fertilizer. They didn¡¯t give him a chance to lift a finger.
The only one who was incapable of fighting was Tempest and she had long since recovered, judging from the malicious grin she wasn¡¯t trying very hard to hide.
¡°All the complaining before was just to rally people to your cause. You were aiming for our treasure in the first place.¡± Graden sneered. ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a bunch of greedy fools.¡±
¡°So you admit you used us to get the treasures from the chaotic rift.¡± Hannah Trellis immediately pounced on Graden¡¯s evasion as an admission of guilt. She looked down up Graden with a smug expression. All she needed was an opening to pull the other mages to her cause and Graden has given her one.
¡°Damn shameless bastards, using us as your pawns!¡±
¡°How dare you scheme against your own guild! Wait until I get back. You¡¯d have to answer to our Mercenary Captain.¡±
¡°Will your greed know no bounds? Your shamelessness disgusts me. I was fighting until I nearly exhausted my mana out there. If I knew I was wasting my mana protecting a group of backstabbing bastards, I wouldn''t have tried so hard.¡±
The variable mages were quick to jump in to admonish Tempest¡¯s group. They were angered at the idea of a bunch of new recruits who don¡¯t know how high the sky was dared to scheme against them. They were united in their purpose to teach the bastards a lesson and if they took a few resources for their trouble, well, they can only say their luck was bad.
¡°Pathetic ignorant fools. Chaotic rifts occur by chance. If we knew ahead of time one was going to open at our location, we would have snatched all the treasures for ourselves instead of trying to organize a bunch of useless mages as cannon fodders. Once the news got out that we have a treasure from a chaotic rift, we will be the subject of a manhunt. The more people who know the worse our situation is going to be.¡± Graden explained while subtlely warning the other mages not to get ideas. They won¡¯t be able to hold onto the treasure from the chaotic rift if word gets out.
¡°Yet you aren¡¯t denying it.¡± Hannah Trellis pushed the issue, completely ignoring Graden¡¯s warning. The other mages didn¡¯t bother to hide their evil intent either. Everyone slowly positioned themselves to gain the best advantage.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
¡°The one you saw snatching the treasure is spasming in pain on the ground. Do you really think she¡¯s capable of snatching treasures in her condition.¡± Graden pointed to Tempest who was really spasming on the ground.
Astrapi, who was in control of Tempest¡¯s body, allowed the spasm to wrack Tempest¡¯s body throughout the entire argument because it was one of the easiest methods for Astrapi to convert the chaotic power into mana.
All the mages gave Tempest a quick glance before focusing their attention on Graden, whom they perceived to be the greatest threat. `
¡°She being incapacitated only proves my point. She looks to be a victim of chaotic power overload.¡±
The other mages silently agreed with Hannah Trellis.
¡°You aren¡¯t going to believe us no matter what we -¡± Graden got cut off mid-sentence and one of the variable mages sent a Fireball his way.
The Fireball act as a signal for the three sides to attack each other.
Hannah Trellis affected a stunned expression as if she couldn¡¯t believe someone would attack Graden without waiting for his explanation. In actuality, Hannah Trellis wasn¡¯t stunned at all by the sudden attack. She merely acted stunned to give time for other mages to rush in and attack Tempest¡¯s group. She wanted the two sides to weaken each other first then she¡¯ll finish everyone off.
The variable mages aren''t stupid either. They figured out what Hannah Trellis was going to do, so they took the chance to attack Graden when Hannah Trellis was closest to him so Graden would attack her first thereby weakening her faction.
Li Ming was the first to react. She shot a Water Ball to intercept the Fireball headed towards Graden. The two spells clashed and created a mist cloud.
Bei Ting Mao took advantage of the situation to launch his attack, ¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Daunting Chiasm.¡± Bei Ting Mao was able to cut off one of the variable mages head before another mage engaged him a sword fight.
Mages tend to favor long-range fights where they can lob spells after spells on their enemies. Attacking from range is ideal, however, more and more mages find themselves forced to engage in close combat. Mages who live long enough becomes proficient in both long-range attacks and close combat.
This variable mage had lived for over three hundred years. He had to learn a few skills to supplement his small mana reserves. Sword skills were one of them. ¡°Sword Skill: Scarlet Fire, Blazing Might.¡±
¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Might of the Mountain.¡± The weight of Bei Ting Mao¡¯s attack shattered the variable mage¡¯s sword skill.
Still, the mage didn¡¯t live for three hundred years for anything. ¡°Smoulder Waves, Sword Skill: Crimson Slash.¡± Smoldering Waves was a combination spell of earth and fire. The variable mage fused the combination magic with his Sword Skill: Crimson Slash to amplify the already potent attack.
¡°Gravitational Vortex.¡± Bei Ting Mao used Gravitational Vortex to change the angle of the combination spell sword skill attack. Instinct and his spirits told him it was a high-level ability his opponent was using. Bei Ting Mao knew he couldn¡¯t easily dodge the attack so he used his own spell to tilt the angle of attack. ¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Defense of the Earth.¡±
¡°No wonder you dare covet the treasure from the chaotic rift. You aren¡¯t without skill.¡± The mage was impressed. If he didn¡¯t know for a fact these guys were new recruits he¡¯d thought he was fighting one of the old ones or even an Elder of the guild.
A combination spell fused with a sword art allows the mage to kill another mage two levels higher than him. Sadly, the man had been able to exert the power of a yellow mage. He¡¯d never been able to cross over to the Inner Stage of a mage¡¯s cultivation.
Bei Ting Mao barely survived the attack as it was. He was lucky the previous buff he cast was still in effect. Iron Skin was able to drastically reduce his opponent¡¯s attack power. He¡¯d come out of the clash with a minor burn on his shoulders.
Bei Ting Mao grinned happily and got into his fighting stance.
When his dan tian was destroyed, the only option he had was to cultivate as a mage. He was lucky since cultivating the heart didn¡¯t require much on his part, yet a part of him chafed at the idea of throwing away all of his previous effort as a body cultivator.
Tempest mentioning the spirits could heal him gave him hope. He knew he had to continue cultivating the heart as his immortal path but he can still fight using the sword. He was a swordsman at heart and throwing away the sword was like throwing away his right arm. When he learned he could cultivate both, he picked up a sword once more.
When his group was getting to know each other, he deliberately attacks using the sword. Yes, he must cultivate the heart. It doesn¡¯t mean he has to fight like a mage. He just had to figure out how.
When he was attacked by the sword art fused with spells, it showed him a path he could take. He wanted to fight more, see more, learn more. Bei Ting Mao fought with his life on the line. It was the only way to force this mage to show a few more of his trump cards.
Chapter 0166 Revised.
Chapter 0166
Astrapi assessed Tempest¡¯s companion from the sideline as she supplied mana to the spells she cast.
The spells Astrapi cast can be sensed by mages if they knew what they were looking for, except mages, never had the best sensing abilities even when another mage was sneakily casting right in front of them, much less a spirit who was possessing their mortal.
Of course, Astrapi was confident the mages arguing with Graden can¡¯t sense the spells she cast. The spirits have better control over mana and the underlying theories of their spells, more so than their mages can ever comprehend. The spells cast by the spirits themselves contain the underlying law of their elements. Unless a mage is completely attuned to the same element, in this case, lightning, they have no chance of perceiving the spell Astrapi cast. Even an immortal will have a hard time sensing her spells much less the weak mages arguing with Graden.
Speaking of which, that Graden boy was a good choice for Tempest. Even though it was they who chose Tempest¡¯s companions, they did so through their connections on the spirit plane. They know the particular traits, quirks, and personalities of the spirits attached to the mortal but they don¡¯t know about the mortals themselves.
Astrapi wondered if she should give Graden a warning about making any moves against Tempest.
Not a sexual move.
The two children are not that stage yet and Tempest rarely shows an interest in the opposite sex.
Astrapi was thinking about sneaky retaliation for slights Tempest might dish out to him. The boy is black bellied through and through. Astrapi can tell by the slight perk in the boy¡¯s demeanor he was thinking of something horrible and given his fire and wood affinities it would be something along the lines of ¡°My beauties, let¡¯s show them we aren¡¯t weaklings who they can bully at any time.¡±
Of course, the fact that the entire group looks like they were on their last leg gave the impression to their opponent that they can be bullied. Their group has a seemingly bloody and wounded Bei Ting Mao, Li Ming and Fenix who were faking exhaustion, a useless Starm, a fire wood mage who was too gentle for his own good and Astrapi possessing Tempest lying on the floor twitching from the electrical currents running through Tempest¡¯s body.
The other group has Hannah Trellis, Mark Aventil, Flunky One and Flunky Two. They were all in good health, had plenty of mana and could still fight.
The unpredictable variable were the five mages in the cave with them. They look to be a rag tagged individualist bunch who would turn on each other at the first sign of temptation. They¡¯d also be easy to take out after Tempest¡¯s group was taken care of as they were all wounded in various places from the previous fight.
¡°All the complaining before was just to rally people to your cause. You were aiming for our treasure in the first place.¡± Graden sneered. ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a bunch of greedy fools.¡±
Astrapi grinned. So Graden wasn¡¯t a spineless wuss after all. He¡¯s acting more like a dangerous vine hanging on the tree, waiting for prey to fall into his trap rather than an intense blazing sun.
¡°So you admit you used us to get the treasures from the chaotic rift.¡± Hannah Trellis immediately pounced on Graden¡¯s evasion as an admission of guilt. She looked down up Graden with a smug expression.
Astrapi could tell Hannah Trellis was trying to pull the other mages to her cause and Graden has given her one. Birds die for food, humans die for treasure. Hannah Trellis preyed on the greed of the variable mages perfectly.
¡°Damn shameless bastards, using us as your pawns!¡±
¡°How dare you scheme against your own guild! Wait until I get back. You¡¯d have to answer to our Mercenary Captain.¡±
¡°Will your greed know no bounds? Your shamelessness disgusts me. I was fighting until I nearly exhausted my mana out there. If I knew I was wasting my mana protecting a group of backstabbing bastards, I wouldn''t have tried so hard.¡±
The variable mages were quick to jump in to admonish Tempest¡¯s group. Astrapi had seen millions if not billions of their kind before. They are nothing more than easily swayed herd of sheep who does nothing more than follow where the sheepherder leads them, even if it was to their death. Of course, those cowardly fools value their lives, yet they were so short-sighted they can¡¯t sense the dangers up ahead even if it smacked them right in front of their faces.Stolen novel; please report.
¡°Pathetic ignorant fools. Chaotic rifts occur by chance. If we knew ahead of time one was going to open at our location, we would have snatched all the treasures for ourselves instead of trying to organize a bunch of useless mages as cannon fodders. Once the news got out that we have a treasure from a chaotic rift, we will be the subject of a manhunt. The more people who know the worse our situation is going to be.¡± Graden explained while subtlely warning the other mages not to get ideas. They won¡¯t be able to hold onto the treasure from the chaotic rift if word gets out.
Astrapi could have told Graden his effort was useless. Reasons do not work on mob mentality.
¡°Yet you aren¡¯t denying it.¡± Hannah Trellis pushed the issue, completely ignoring Graden¡¯s warning. The variable mages didn¡¯t bother to hide their evil intent either. Everyone slowly positioned themselves to gain the best advantage.
¡°The one you saw snatching the treasure is spasming in pain on the ground. Do you really think she¡¯s capable of snatching treasures in her condition.¡± Graden pointed to Tempest who was really spasming on the ground.
Astrapi allowed the spasm to wrack Tempest¡¯s body throughout the entire argument because it was one of the easiest methods for Astrapi to convert the chaotic power into mana. She didn¡¯t appreciate Graden directing the attention towards her while she was setting up a trap.
All the mages gave Tempest a quick glance before focusing their attention on Graden, whom they perceived to be the greatest threat.
¡°She being incapacitated only proves my point. She looks to be a victim of chaotic power overload.¡±
The other mages silently agreed with Hannah Trellis.
¡°You aren¡¯t going to believe us no matter what we -¡± Graden got cut off mid-sentence and one of the variable mages sent a Fireball his way.
The Fireball act as a signal for the three sides to attack each other. It was also a signal for Astrapi to hurry the hell up.
Astrapi watched as Hannah Trellis affected a stunned expression as if she couldn¡¯t believe someone would attack Graden without waiting for his explanation. Her stunned expression lasts long enough for the variable mages to rush in front of her to attack Tempest¡¯s group.
The variable mages figured out what Hannah Trellis was going to do, so they took the chance to attack Graden when Hannah Trellis was closest to him so Graden would attack her first thereby weakening her faction, however they didn¡¯t realize Hannah Trellis was skilled enough to take advantage of the situation and force them to rush in instead of her.
Li Ming was the first to react. She shot a Water Ball to intercept the Fireball headed towards Graden. The two spells clashed and created a mist cloud.
Bei Ting Mao took advantage of the situation to launch his attack, ¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Daunting Chiasm.¡± Bei Ting Mao was able to cut off the head of the variable mage leading the charge with his first attack. When he went to engage his second opponent, his attack was countered by the sword skill of his opponent.
Mages tend to favor long-range fights where they can lob spells after spells on their enemies. Attacking from range is ideal, however, more and more mages find themselves forced to engage in close combat. Mages who live long enough becomes proficient in both long-range attacks and close combat. Astrapi intends for Tempest to be skilled in both melee combat and spells.
Astrapi knew of this variable mage. Given different circumstances, Astrapi wanted Tempest and Bei Ting Mao to observe his fighting style. This variable mage had lived for over three hundred years. He had to learn a few skills to supplement his small mana reserves sword skills being one of them. ¡°Sword Skill: Scarlet Fire, Blazing Might.¡±
¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Might of the Mountain.¡± The weight of Bei Ting Mao¡¯s attack shattered the variable mage¡¯s sword skill.
Still, the mage didn¡¯t live for three hundred years for nothing. ¡°Smouldering Waves, Sword Skill: Crimson Slash.¡± Smoldering Waves was a combination spell of earth and fire. The variable mage fused the combination magic with his Sword Skill: Crimson Slash to amplify the already potent attack.
¡°Gravitational Vortex.¡± Bei Ting Mao used Gravitational Vortex to change the angle of the combination spell sword skill attack. A change of a few degrees can make a bullseye become a dud. The attack didn¡¯t miss completely but Bei Ting Mao took the time to enhance his defense with Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Defense of the Earth, a sword skill used to augment the swordsman defense.
¡°No wonder you dare covet the treasure from the chaotic rift. You aren¡¯t without skill.¡± The variable mage sounded impressed. A combination spell fused with a sword art allows the mage to kill another mage two levels higher than him.
Bei Ting Mao grinned happily and got into his fighting stance.
Astrapi nodded to herself and held back on launching her spell. The spirit knew of Bei Ting Mao rollercoaster experience. He was on top of the world with his earth and metal spirit veins. Then he fell to hell when his dan tian was destroyed. He was able to pull himself together and seek another path towards the summit that is immortality. As he continued to walk this path called cultivating the heart, Bei Ting Mao would always glance back at what he had to give up - his sword.
He was a swordsman at heart and throwing away the sword was like throwing away his right arm. When he learned he could cultivate both, he picked up a sword once more.
When his group was getting to know each other, he deliberately attacks using the sword. He must cultivate the heart. It doesn¡¯t mean he has to fight like a mage. He just had to figure out how.
Astrapi smiled. The path to cultivating both the body and the heart has opened up for him when he was attacked by the sword art fused with spells. Bei Ting Mao fought with his life on the line. It was the only way to force this mage to show a few more of his trump cards.
Straddling two cultivation path, the heart and the body aren¡¯t easy for a cultivator. Astrapi can wait a bit for the boy to learn. He is, after all, one of the companions she has chosen for Tempest.
Chapter 0167
Chapter 0167
Astrapi watched Bei Ting Mao fight the Page Mage with deep consideration.
Millenniums ago, a low affinity mage by the name of Louture Marshal couldn¡¯t accept the hand dealt to him by fate. He didn¡¯t have any spirit vein nor mental powers. His soul wasn¡¯t that great either. The only immortal potential Louture Marshal could pursue was the heart. Cultivating the heart was mostly dependant on the spirits. Unless they have great luck or an amazing treasure, most low affinity mages were destined to get nowhere.
Louture Marshal didn¡¯t have great luck or an amazing treasure. Even if he had the luck to find the treasure, he couldn¡¯t hold onto it because resources for mages were really scarce. The fight for resources as a mage was more vicious and dangerous than any other cultivators out there.
Therefore, Louture Marshal needed an edge over the other mages. The edge he came up with was to combine a mage¡¯s spell with melee combat. Louture Marshal was a spear user so he combined spells with his spear art.
Louture Marshal proceeded to fight and gain the resources he needed to become an immortal. He later created his own guild and pass down his method of fighting any mages willing to learn.
His story brought hope to many of the low affinity mages.
Traditional mages looked down on his fighting style. Louture Marshal method of fighting was more suited to low affinity mages, the same low affinity mages the traditional mages looked down upon. To hold their superior outlook as the chosen mortal of their spirits, they coined the name Page Mage to mages who fought by combining their spells with weapon.
Louture Marshal shrugged his shoulder and adopted the name Page Mage. Although he was strong, he couldn¡¯t fight against the entire Magus Alliance. He also saw no reason to fight against them. The strong trample over the weak. That is a fact of life. Then he proceeded to create a whole new cultivating ladder for his disciple.
Mages needs steps to measure their progress. A Page Mage need those steps as well. Therefore, a whole new subset of mages were created. They were called the Marshal Mages. Their ranking goes Page, Journeyman, Knight, Captain, General then Marshal.
Astrapi was pleased when Louture Marshal came up with another method for mages to cultivate.
Spirits can be a stubborn lot. They are old and have seen the vicissitudes of life. They tend to stick to their way, uncaring of the damage their behavior brought to their mortals.
Astrapi believes the spirits should not allow their issues to affect their mortal, yet their separation from the main collective did just that, weaken the potential of their mortal.
A mage¡¯s potential was completely determined by their affinities. Few low affinities mages ever had the chance to overcome the restriction placed upon them by their spirits. Astrapi was all in favor of mortals finding a way to increase their independence from the spirits. Mortals should be treated like children. Someday they must leave the nest. Parents should encourage their children to be as independent as possible.
¡°Quit messing around with the Page Mage and kill him. We need some help over here. It¡¯s still 8 verse 4 here.¡± Fenix yelling caught Astrapi¡¯s attention.
The pure fire mage was quite an unusual character. Astrapi didn¡¯t hate the girl but she did not want Fenix to be in Tempest¡¯s group. Secrets are too hard to keep. Once others learn about the girl¡¯s Aspect of the Phoenix, she would be targetted by everyone. She would embroil Tempest in a manhunt spanning the entire Cardinal Realm and beyond.
It¡¯s best to nip the issue in the bud.
Sadly, the others didn¡¯t agree with her. They accepted her into Tempest''s group so now they have to take care of the girl.
"Oh good. The yelling was a diversion." Astrapi thought to herself as she watched Fenix attacking a mage in red with one of her trump card, ¡°Spontaneous Combustion.¡±
Spontaneous Combustion can be a two-circle spell or it can be a three-circle spell depending on how the mage arrange the rune words. Spontaneous Combustion simply burns fast and furiously inside the opponents body. The first circle of the spell calls for a high temperature fire. The second line of the spell calls for oxygen to be fed into the fire. Note, the second line states oxygen, not wind or air. Oxygen is a component of wind but it can be manipulated by a fire mage if they know how it works. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Spontaneous Combustion requires coordinates to work. The coordinates can be written into the first circle or specified in a third circle. Coordinates written in the first circle has a speed advantage. It doesn¡¯t require the mage to wrap another circle onto the spell circle. Wrapping a third circle onto the spell circle allows mages more flexibility in their casting.
Tempest can do both but opts to add the coordinates within the first spell circle for speed.
Spontaneous Combustion also requires the coordinates to the location of their opponents head.
Cultivators of any immortal path have strong physical defenses with body cultivators having the strongest physical defense given the same elements. Trying to kill a cultivator from the inside out requires the mage to bypass the cultivator natural defensive ability as well as overcoming their regenerative ability. Furthermore, if the mages doesn¡¯t kill the cultivator right away, the cultivator can heal the damage done by taking pills.
My mortal is good. You don''t have to worry about her. It took her a while but she was able to figure out the best place to cast Spontaneous Combust was the brain. Fenix''s spirits whispered to Astrapi.
The fire inside the brain burns faster and longer than anywhere else on the body and if the brain is attacked, the cultivator doesn¡¯t have the mental capacity to react to the attack fast enough.
Most mages are aware of coordinate type spells. They way to counteract coordinate type spell is by moving. Good mages can cast spells while on the move and the variable mage Fenix was targeting was an experienced fire lightning mage.
The moment of inattention cost him his life. The fire started inside his head and became a full fledged inferno, spreading throughout the rest of his body within seconds. After his first scream, he was nothing more than ashes.
My Fenix is good.
Astrapi grinned at Fenix, please by her display of power. Yes, she is good.
You don''t have to worry about My Fenix dragging Your Tempest''s hind leg.
I''m not worried about that.
Thankyou.
You''re welcome.
¡°Leave me some corpses. I¡¯m bringing out my beauties now.¡± Graden chided Fenix then brought out his three beauties, a rose bush, a vine and a strange sapling.
Heh. Fenix spirits said. That one will cause you more trouble than my little Fenix.
Astrapi ignored Fenix''s spirits in favor of watching the battle.
Once the plants appear, one of the variable mages died.
¡°7 verses 4 now!¡± Fenix crowed as Mark Aventil yelled, ¡°These plants are poisonous.¡±
The variable mages and Hannah Trellis¡¯ group pulled closer together.
Astrapi continued to wait for the mages to all group up. The spells she cast requires all the mages to be within the spell circle.
Graden was skilled enough to summon his beauties in strategic locations, blocking off all of their escape routes. Slowly, the plants began to herd the mages into the trap Astrapi set.
¡°Yay Graden.¡± Starm cheered from the side.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you do this earlier.¡± Li Ming complained.
¡°Women, can never satisfy them.¡± Graden grumbled under his breath before quickly explaining, ¡°The fire lightning mage can easily kill them.¡±
¡°You should have brought them out earlier. They are nothing but plants.¡± Li Ming grumble.
¡°Less talking, more casting.¡± Graden said sweetly now that the pressure had lesson. Astrapi noted his expression and smiled serenely. The blackbellied boy was making a noting down Li Ming¡¯s transgression in his little black book.
Teams tend to squabble here and there. As long as each members didn¡¯t cross the line Astrapi set for them, she couldn¡¯t care less if Graden was going to ¡®prank¡¯ Li Ming or not. Pranking Tempest on the other hand is a big NO NO.
Astrapi noted the position of her enemies and immediately activate her trap. Paralysis Cage and Heart Spark paralyze the mages then a round of electric spark came out of nowhere and zapped the group, causing them to turn black from the resulting burn.
¡°Ahhh.¡± The screams of trapped mages echoed through the cave. The Sound Barrier was quite handy. Astrapi noted the condition of her enemies as well as the guarded expression on her current allies. She didn¡¯t want careless or weak teammates for Tempest. Her beloved daughter deserves better.
Astrapi loath to admit the others were right. This group had potential.
They were able to note the elements their enemies were using. After Fenix killed the fire lightning mage, they knew there wasn¡¯t another lightning mage among them. However, the spells cast belong to the lightning element.
They were immediate cast their most powerful defensive spells. Astrapi was pleased to note they stood protectively around her and Starm.
¡°I guess it is time,¡± Astrapi muttered before popping up from her position on the cave floor and rushing towards her enemies.
Chop.
Chop.
Chop.
Chop.
¡°Wait! I¡¯m the sixth prince of the -¡± Chop.
Chop.
Then Astrapi walked up to Hannah Trellis.
Chapter 0168
Chapter 0168
¡°You shouldn¡¯t have picked on my beloved,¡± Astrapi said as she walked towards Hannah Trellis, like a god looking down on the world and judging it unworthy. Her steps were silent and heavy, very similar to the tone of her voice, quiet yet clear.
The godly oppression and muted murderous intent Astrapi exuded nearly force Tempest¡¯s group members to their knees. As for Hannah Trellis, the target of the Astrapi¡¯s anger, needlessly to say she was on the ground foaming in the mouth. Part of her condition was the result was due to the spell Astrapi cast and the other part was due to Astrapi unrestrained power.
Spirits rarely possess their mortal for long periods of time. It was almost impossible to kill a spirit. The cultivator has to make their way to the spiritual plane, a highly improbable feat in itself, and kill an almost all powerful spirit in their home turf, again another highly improbable feat.
When a spirit possesses their mortal, the mortal body gains additional power imbued by the spirits, but the spirits also gain the weakness of the mortal. If a mage in the Mastery Realm were to show up and kill Tempest right now, the Astrapi collective would have 99 spirits instead of 100.
Due to this vulnerability, the spirits were careful when they possess their mortal. Yet when they do possess their mortal, the power leaks out to the surrounding area, nearly crushing everything within the vicinity.
Tempest¡¯s group members were nearly forced to the knees and this was Astrapi being kind.
Hannah Trellis didn¡¯t receive said kindness. It suited Astrapi just fine.
¡°Itch.¡± Astrapi stared at Hannah Trellis as if she was a bug to be squashed when she cast her spell. Itch is a one-circle spell that caused the synapse in the body to send an ¡°I¡¯m very itchy,¡± message to the brain. Itch wasn¡¯t a dangerous spell. Its function lies in torture. If the spell was held for a prolonged period of time, the target suffers an excruciating sensation. It wasn¡¯t pain, but painful nonetheless. Itch came about as a torture method when Astrapi witness a master torturer coating her victims in honey and throwing them onto an anthill. Astrapi wasn¡¯t fond of watching millions of ants eating the victim alive but she was intrigued by the torture method. Over time, Astrapi was able to replicate the sensation through a spell and she wields the spell with finesses only a master could understand.
Astrapi stopped the spell after a minute. ¡°What do you have to say for yourself?¡±
Hannah Trellis glared defiantly at Astrapi. Even under torture, her sense of pride ever remains strong. Her pain filled eyes held strength and determination, not to live - she knows she¡¯s going to die - but to uphold her pride as a mage.
¡°Intense Pleasure.¡± Astrapi knows most cultivators are indoctrinated to pain. Pain tempers the mind and body. Pain was meant to be overcome. Pain was meant to be conquered. What about pleasure? Many cultivators could endure intense pain but they can¡¯t endure intense pleasure. They desire pleasure. It feels good. It¡¯s enjoyable. So, few cultivators know how to resist pleasure. Pleasure to its extreme can be another form of pain.
¡°Kkkill...mee.¡± Hannah Trellis said through gritted teeth as she writhes in pleasure. Waves after waves of orgasm wracked her body, pushing her to new heights, new sensations, before dropping her back down to hell. The cycle would then repeat itself over and over again.
Astrapi stopped the spell. ¡°Still proud I see. I wonder on what premise is your pride built upon?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Hannah Trellis glared hatefully at Astrapi. Her anger shone brighter than the moon on the darkest night, illuminating her pride.
¡°Stripping you nake and hanging you up on the wall is so cliche.¡± Astrapi murmured.
Hannah Trellis said nothing to Astrapi¡¯s demeaning plan. She knew Astrapi wasn¡¯t going to do it. Her tone of voice was too whimsical when she spoke about her plans.
¡°Kill me and be done with it.¡±
¡°Still defiant until the end.¡± Astrapi cocked her head to the side, thinking deeply. She wanted to humiliate Hannah Trellis in the limited time she had, yet she was surprised by the bone deep arrogance. Most would be groveling at her feet after they experience Itch and Intense Pleasure.
¡°There¡¯s nothing to fear. We¡¯re going to see each other again in hell.¡± Hannah Trellis smirked even though it hurt.
¡°Who¡¯s would take revenge for an idiot like you?¡± Astrapi asked.
Hannah Trellis smiled smugly, confident Astrapi would eventually join her in hell. The pain and suffering she was experiencing now would be a joke compared to what Astrapi would go through.
¡°Mark Aventil is already dead. The only person alive linked to you is Skylar Sedonis, but she thrice the price, cutting all karma among us.¡±
¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Hannah Trellis screamed. ¡°Skylar won¡¯t abandon me. She definitely won¡¯t let my death go unavenged.¡±
¡°Ah, it was Skylar you were depending on? Yes, she would be a worthy adversary if were to truly commit a grave sin against her. Pity.¡±
¡°Shut your filthy mouth, slut. Skylar would never abandon me. She isn¡¯t that kind of person.¡± Hannah Trellis struggled to move her body. She wanted to hurt Astrapi. She wanted to beat Astrapi for besmirching the friendship she had with Skylar Sedonis. Theirs was a bond built on the deepest love and trust.
¡°She might not be a person who would turn her back on her friends, but are you worthy to call her friend?¡± Astrapi taunted Hannah Trellis. Now that she caught on to Hannah Trellis¡¯ weak point, she¡¯s going to use it to break the girl before killing her.
¡°You don¡¯t know what we¡¯ve been through. I know Skylar would avenge me.¡± Hannah Trellis coughed. She was slowly bleeding out and her struggle wasn¡¯t helping any. It was fine. She was going to die anyway. She¡¯d come to terms with her death the moment she started cultivating.
¡°People change. She may not have changed, but you have.¡± Astrapi channeled the mana through her body, trying to gather the water elements. Mizu saw what Astrapi was going to do and immediately stopped her.
It was already dangerous enough for Astrapi to possess Tempest¡¯s body, but to attempt to use a different other than its own put a greater burden on the already exhausted body.
I¡¯ll do it. Don¡¯t burden Tempest anymore than necessary. Mizu mobilized the mana outside Tempest¡¯s body and cast Mind Reflection.
¡°Mind Reflection,¡± Astrapi said to give Hannah Trellis unquestionable proof of her words. Mind Reflection, a three-circle spell, can fall under light or water element although some earth mages can use the spell if they know the exact earth properties applicable to the process. The spell transmits the memory of the caster into the mind of the target. There are stringent requirements one the caster¡¯s part for the spell to work. It is not recommended for the caster to cast the spell on someone stronger than them or its the caster¡¯s mind that is invaded. It is also not recommended to use the spell on those who cultivate the mind as mind cultivators know their mind inside and out and know how to block the spell.
Astrapi mentions the name of the spell to break Hannah Trellis¡¯ will since it can only show what the caster saw.
Hannah Trellis closed her eyes, trying to block the image, but her actions further emphasize the memory. She shook her head in denial, trying to rationalize the image as nothing more than a trick on Astrapi¡¯s part, but she knew in her heart the memory was real.
Actually, Mizu knows a way around the spell but it requires time and careful planning, something they don¡¯t have much of right now. Besides, Tempest doesn¡¯t need to go through the effort for trash like Hannah Trellis. The trick was more suitable for Skylar Sedonis if Tempest were to become her enemy.
¡°See. I didn¡¯t lie to you. You are truly blind to the changes around you.¡± Astrapi pours salt on to Hannah Trellis¡¯ wound. She solemnly watches at the bone deep dignity Hannah Trellis had dissolved into a puddle of goo. Despair dimmed the once defiant eyes and the proud haughty composure disintegrated into a dirty husk.
Hannah Trellis glance at Astrapi and within that one quick look, she saw everything she needed to. ¡°We died during the magical beasts ambush.¡±
¡°You died during the magical beasts ambush,¡± Astrapi confirmed then chopped off Hannah Trellis head.
Chapter 0168.5 Hannah Trellis
Chapter 0168.5 Hannah Trellis
¡°Where did it all go wrong,¡± Hannah Trellis thought as she viewed the memory Astrapi kindly ¡®bestowed¡¯ upon her.
Perhaps, their friendship started off wrong in the beginning.
Skylar Sedonis was the precious pearl of the Augar Kingdom. She was the only child born in the current generation with high affinities.
Hannah Trellis was the twelfth daughter of a greedy merchant.
Their meeting, no matter how innocent was, was surrounded by schemes, plots, and greed. Each time the girls met each other, the people behind them tried to position themselves to receive the most benefits from their friendship. They both knew what was going one. Hannah Trellis tried her best to be a true friend to Skylar Sedonis. She tried, yet her effort only resulted in a friendship marked by greed. It was her shame. It was one of the stigmas she tried so hard to erase.
Hannah Trellis thought it got better when she was grouped with Mark Aventil, the sixth prince of the Solen Kingdom. She was overjoyed with her grouping. She could act as a bridge between the Augar Kingdom and the Solen Kingdom. Finally, she could bring something to the table. Finally, she could stand on somewhat equal grounds with Skylar Sedonis.
She rushed toward Skylar Sedonis to share her good fortune. Then she met a rule breaking little mage selling her charms. What the annoying mage was doing was wrong. Conscious of Skylar Sedonis¡¯ position in the Disciplinary Hall, Hannah Trellis went to confront the little outlaw.
Hannah Trellis easily admit, she got her butt kicked. Anyone who breaks the rules has to have the power to back her up or they have a powerful backer. Realizing this, Hannah Trellis redouble her effort with Mark Aventil. She had Skylar Sedonis but she wanted the backing of the Solen Kingdom as well.
Her effort only caused her to clash against the little outlaw again. This time it was over a magical beast corpse.
Hannah Trellis didn¡¯t know the cause and effect. She didn¡¯t want to know. She had her prioritized, to be a bridge between the Augar Kingdom and the Solen Kingdom. With the thought in mind, she chose her side.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Everything leads her to now.
Hannah Trellis had a good view of the little outlaw. She knew they were up to something. Their movement in the camp the night before was too suspicious. Therefore, Hannah Trellis kept an eye out for the little outlaw and her effort paid off.
They were using the other mages as a smokescreen to take the treasure from the chaotic rift for themselves.
Hannah Trellis wasn¡¯t going to allow them to use her and her group as cannon fodder. So, when it looks like she had the advantage, she confronted them.
It had led her to this.
Skylar¡ Skylar Sedonis, her friend, had given up on her.
Hannah Trellis wanted to blame the little outlaw for getting her in this predicament but she knew it was all her own doing.
Hannah Trellis was going to die. She took a quick glance at the one who was the cause of everything¡ and saw not the person she offended but the spirits behind her. Suddenly she understood what ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have offended my beloved,¡± meant.
To be loved by the spirits to such an extent, the little outlaw was not an ordinary person.
She was so blind. She was so blind she couldn¡¯t see the signs all around her. She didn¡¯t realize why no one was bothering the little outlaw with her makeshift store. She didn¡¯t see how arrogant the little outlaw was despite knowing the status of the other person. Hannah Trellis was so confident Skylar Sedonis was going to take revenge for her she closed her eyes to the obvious.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid...
Skylar!
Even though she knew Skylar Sedonis cut all ties with her, in her heart, she still believed in her friend. Skylar Sedonis won¡¯t take action for her death. She said she won¡¯t, so she won¡¯t. It doesn¡¯t mean she won¡¯t find trouble for the little outlaw for other things and mix in a little repayment for Hannah Trellis. She¡¯d seen Skylar Sedonis do it before. She can¡¯t let that happen. Hannah Trellis knew Skylar Sedonis might get away with taking a little payback here and there from the little outlaw but it would eventually get her into trouble.
Skylar Sedonis had already abandoned her as a friend, but Hannah Trellis won¡¯t abandon Skylar Sedonis as a friend.
¡°We died during the magical beasts ambush.¡± Hannah Trellis said before closing her eyes and accepting her fate.
¡°Friends until death.¡± Hannah Trellis thought of the vows they made so long ago. ¡°I¡¯ll be going first, my friend. I love you, but I¡¯m sorry too. I hope we don¡¯t meet each other in our next life. I won¡¯t be able to live with the pain and karma if we do...¡±
Chapter 0169
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Chapter 0170
Chapter 0170
Astrapi walked a couple more kilometers before accepting the fact. She was completely and utterly lost.
It was not surprising, at least to Astrapi herself, why she got lost. Astrapi is one of the spirits of lightning, under the collective known as storm. She belongs underneath the bright blue sky, her power herald by wind and rain.
The earth, little bastard that it is, can withstand or outright disperse the power of lightning. As such, Astrapi was never good with earth. She had acknowledged and accepted it.
¡°Tempest, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Bei Ting Mao was the first to notice the change in Astrapi. When they started moving, Tempest¡¯s stride was big and filled with confidence. As time progresses, Tempest began to slow down her stride. The others might not have noticed it but Bei Ting Mao had earth and metal affinities. Combined with earth and metal spirit veins, his senses were much more attuned to his elements.
¡°I¡¯m lost,¡± Astrapi answered simply.
The others glared at Astrapi as they relaxed their guard.
¡°How can you be lost on a straight road? You can forward and you can go back. How can you get lost?¡± Fenix berated Astrapi. Astrapi couldn¡¯t fault her. There were no forks in the underground tunnel. They could go only one way. There wasn¡¯t a chance for Astrapi to get lost yet she said she was lost. It didn¡¯t make sense. It was also something silly Tempest would say.
¡°Ask bastard earth and metal over there. He is in his elements. He should know better than me.¡± Astrapi passed the buck to Bei Ting Mao, her dislike for the earth spirits making itself known.
¡°There is a block in the Emblemic Mountain Range. I¡¯m not attuned enough to the earth elements to overpower the block.¡± Bei Ting Mao replied.
¡°That¡¯s probably Cardis Gourd¡¯s doing. His magic saturated the Emblemic Mountain Range, creating volcanoes from regular mountains. Rumour has it, the Emblemic Mountain Range has a cyclic relationship with Cardis. The volcanoes supplied Cardis with mana and he, in turn, change the nature of the mana to a more suitable one.¡± Fenix explained. ¡°How much of it is true, I don¡¯t know. Earth mages have reported they have a harder time attuning themselves to the earth elements in the Emblemic Mountain Range.¡±
¡°Starm, you explain.¡±
Starm gave resentful glances toward Astrapi before pouting adorably for a bit before explaining. ¡°Space has been distorted.¡±
¡°When?¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°Why couldn¡¯t we sense it?¡±
A jumble of question was tossed to Starm. ¡°We¡¯re mages. We can¡¯t sense nothing unless it hits us in the face.¡± Starm chose to answer the easiest question first. ¡°As to when, I think the space in the entire area was distorted when the Abyssal Chimera was summoned. Creating a tear into the Primordial Chaos and summoning an Abyssal Chimera isn¡¯t easy. As for the how, space cultivators can do it.¡±
¡°Can we break out of the space distortion?¡±
Starm thought about it a bit before answering. He made sure to express his displeasure known through his hand gestures and disgruntled facial expression. Astrapi ignored it. ¡°The easiest way is to allow time to gradually fix the distortion.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
¡°It would take too long,¡± Astrapi said.
¡°Yeah, it would,¡± Starm said in a defeated voice. ¡°Whoever summoned the Abyssal Chimera also has the ability to manipulate time. It would take a hundred years for the space distortion to fix itself.¡±
¡°We can¡¯t wait that long.¡±
¡°I know,¡± Starm replied while mournfully staring at Astrapi. ¡°Space distortion sends a ripple through space. The Elders in the Eternal Spirit Guild should be heading towards us. We can wait for them to break the space distortion.¡±
¡°Give us an option within our ability,¡± Astrapi ordered Starm. Waiting isn¡¯t an option for Astrapi.
¡°Beat up the guy who summons the Abyssal Chimera.¡±
¡°Again, not an option. Anyone strong enough to summon an Abyssal Chimera isn¡¯t someone we can defeat at our current strength.¡± Astrapi glared at the token bun. She knew he was mad at her for taking over Tempest¡¯s body when she was otherwise indisposed. The others might suspect but they don¡¯t know what was happening to Tempest, but Starm knows for a fact Tempest wasn¡¯t in control right now. He was throwing a tantrum in protest.
¡°You can use the power of chaos to create a break in the space distortion. It won¡¯t destroy the space distortion in its entirety but it can create an opening large enough for us to slip through, but you can¡¯t do that right now can you?¡± Starm challenged Astrapi.
¡°I can,¡± Astrapi replied.
¡°But not without harming yourself.¡±
¡°All I need to do is to release the chaotic power I¡¯m trying to convert inside me in its natural state. It will ease the burden my body is going through right now.¡±
¡°It¡¯s better to disperse the chaotic inside the body. Big Sis Tempest can utilize the energy to promote her cultivation.¡±
¡°The body is too fragile. It is better to slow down the rate of cultivation rather than speeding it up.¡± Astrapi hinted at the problem Tempest faced. As a True Daughter of Storm, Tempest had to worry about progressing too fast not progressing to slow. The spirits tried to limit the amount of elemental energy they pump into Tempest but they can only limit it to a certain extent. It was up to Tempest to handle the rest.
¡°So you¡¯re running away.¡±
¡°Tactical retreat.¡± Astrapi clipped response told Starm not to pursue the issue. ¡°Everyone back up. When I discharge the chaotic power inside of me it would run rampant in the surrounding area before I could guide it to a singular point for it to open a crack in the space.¡±
Everyone backup per Astrapi¡¯s request.
Astrapi closed her eyes and search through Tempest¡¯s body for the chaotic power they were trying to tame. She found the power easily enough. There was only so much space inside of Tempest for it to hide.
Evicting the chaotic power is another story. The stubborn power doesn¡¯t want to leave.
Astrapi trying to kick out the chaotic power is like a landlord trying to kick out a squatting tenant. Not only are they taking something that doesn¡¯t belong to them, over time, but it will also be on their side and they have the law to back them up. It takes a lot of time and effort to kick out a squatter. Astrapi was learning first hand how hard it was.
Damn bums, get the hell out of Tempest¡¯s body. Astrapi yelled at the chaotic power inside of Tempest.
Nah. I like this body. It was made for me.
I will kill you if you don¡¯t get out.
You are going to kill us anyway, so why does it matter?
Astrapi closed her eyes and gathered her power. Astrapi worked differently from Ventus and Mizu. Ventus¡¯ strength increases the more resistance she encounters. The more powerful the enemy, the more powerful Ventus becomes. Mizu increases her strength through apathy. The less inconsequential the consequences are, the more powerful Mizu becomes. Astrapi increases her strength through judgment and killing intent. The more she judges something as unworthy and she has to dirty her hands to fight it or the more she wants to kill someone, the more powerful she becomes.
The chaotic power taunting Astrapi made her want to kill it. The more she wants to kill it, the more powerful she becomes.
¡°Get out!¡± Astrapi yelled while using all of her powers to evict the intruder.
The squatter was kicked out of Tempest¡¯s body like trash being thrown out. It raged around Astrapi, making its displeasure known.
Astrapi didn¡¯t care. She gathered the raging chaotic power with her mana and forced it to focus on a single point then used it to cut an opening in the distorted space.
¡°Everyone in, now!¡±
Tempest¡¯s group members didn¡¯t need to be told twice. They jumped into the space tear without a moment''s hesitation. Astrapi went into the space tear then release her control over Tempest back to the original owner.
Chapter 0171
Chapter 0171
Tempest wanted to curse when she behind landed on the cold hard ground, but before she could even get a sound out a hand covered her mouth. She was about to complain when she noticed Fenix had her mouth covered by Starm, who had his mouth covered by Graden, who had his mouth covered by Li Ming, who had her mouth covered by Bei Ting Mao, who was looking into the cave with a tense expression.
Tempest knew the let¡¯s-play-being-one-of-the-three-stooges wasn¡¯t meant to be funny. They were in serious trouble.
At first, Tempest couldn¡¯t see what the problem was.
Everyone was looking at a strange man practicing his sword skill in the lava pool below. The youngish looking man - Tempest can tell the age of cultivators because at two-hundred-year-old cultivators might look like an old grandpa while a thousand-year-old monster might look like a teenager - could be considered handsome if he cleans up a bit. Right now, he looked like a beggar, bloody clothes, messy hair, dirty face, and glazed black eyes. Change that, he looked like one of those runaway teens addicted to drugs.
Then she saw the trouble.
Madness.
It was the only word Tempest can use to describe the crazy cultivator slashing at the shadows below.
His movements were nimble and skilled; his sword skills were elegant and wild; his attacks were controlled to a precise degree. Despite his brilliant fighting style, he was attacking at demons only he can see.
The inhuman screams coming from him ricocheted off the cave wall and burrowed its way deep into Tempest¡¯s bone, chilling her to the core.
The following conversation felt so wrong to Tempest.
¡°What kind of man are you? Can¡¯t even protect the one woman you love.¡±
¡°I will kill anyone who does her wrong. Including you!¡±
¡°You don¡¯t even know how she died, much less take revenge for her. You¡¯re so inept you created me to lash out for your weakness.¡±
¡°I am not weak! I am strong. Strong enough to be her shield, to be her protector.¡±
¡°What shield? What protector? You left her to pursue your own goals. You left her unprotected!¡±
¡°It is what she wanted!¡±
¡°You could have taken her with you.¡±
¡°I¡¡± Here the man faltered.
Tempest wasn¡¯t sure it was a good thing or a bad thing. All she knew was that she couldn¡¯t listen to the conversation anymore. The voice of the cultivator was enchanting. Even a siren couldn¡¯t compete with the hypnotic quality of the voice. Furthermore, as a wind mage, Tempest knew it was all voice. There were no enchantments used when the man speaks. It would have been fine if the man spoke about everyday mundane things, yet he spoke about failure and heartbreak. The sadness and despair in his voice burrowed deep into Tempest¡¯s bones, making her heartache for the man below.
The voice that answered the man emanate a domineering aura filled with hatred and mockery. It wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say the voice belongs to the devil himself.
Worse of all, both voices came from the same person.
She cast Sound Barrier before ripping off Fenix¡¯s hand from her mouth and mumbling to herself, ¡°How can a man hold a conversation with himself and sound like two different people. If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d say he was being tormented by the devil.¡±
¡°Is it safe to breathe?¡± It might sound like an exaggeration from Bei Ting Mao, but Tempest knows the man doesn¡¯t exaggerate. He must be truly scared out of his bones to say those words.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
¡°I cast Sound Barrier. Unless the guy below is a stronger wind mage than I am, he should not be able to hear us.¡±
¡°Oh good.¡± Li Ming said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the target of a deranged cultivator fighting his inner demons.¡±
¡°He¡¯s just insane. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Tempest asked in a confused manner. She knows no one wants to fight with an insane person. They are unpredictable in their moves and actions. One minute they might be hacking away at you like their life depended upon it and another they might be smiling at you like you were their long lost friend. Their thought process follows no logical explanation.
¡°He¡¯s not insane. He¡¯s fighting his inner demons. There is a difference.¡± Bei Ting Mao spoke softly, all the while never taking his eyes off the mad cultivator below.
¡°Care to explain for the mages and the clueless?¡± Fenix asked. Tempest figured she was the clueless Fenix was referring to. She didn¡¯t protest because it was the truth and she wanted an explanation more than she wanted to debate her knowledge or lack thereof.
¡°It is not obvious at the early stages of cultivation, especially for those cultivating the body as their immortal potential, but it takes a strong mind and a tranquil heart to break through from one stage of cultivation to the next. And before you say anything otherwise Tempest, I don¡¯t include mages in that assessment.¡±
¡°I wasn¡¯t going to say anything.¡± Tempest protested. She really wasn¡¯t!
¡°Inner demons can be the regrets, unconscious longing or unfulfilled love the cultivator experiences during their lifetimes. Most of the time, inner demons come into play when cultivators try to breakthrough from one realm to the other, although it is most notably important when a cultivator is forming their nascent soul or when they are deciding their cultivation method when they are on their Dao Path.
¡°During these times, the inner demons of a cultivator makes itself known and tries to take over the cultivator. Should the cultivator lose to their inner demons, they become what we call demonic cultivators. From there on out, they cultivate a different path from the so-called orthodox cultivators.
¡°Demonic cultivators are much stronger and more vicious and cruel than orthodox cultivators. They recognized no bonds of loyalty, friendship or love. All they seek is to accomplish what the original personality desired and once they do, their hold over the body is complete and they become the new owner.¡±
Tempest thought about Bei Ting Mao¡¯s explanation and the situation with transmigration. Doesn¡¯t the new, better person takes over the body and accomplish the wish of the original body then they have complete control over the body? Well, Tempest was glad she didn¡¯t have the original''s personality or she would doubt herself.
¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like much,¡± Fenix commented.
¡°A cultivator fighting their inner demons can erupt in power. They can easily kill a cultivator two realms higher than themselves. Since most cultivators fight their inner demons when they are forming their nascent soul, it means they can kill an immortal quite easily.¡±
¡°Oh.¡±
¡°Yes, oh.¡± Bei Ting Mao sneered at Fenix. Still, he never took his eyes off the man below. It was almost like he was compelled to watch the man below until the bitter end.
¡°Is he a nascent soul cultivator?¡± Tempest asked.
¡°No, he isn¡¯t.¡± Bei Ting Mao responded.
¡°Then what are we worried about? Let¡¯s just get out of here.¡±
¡°We can¡¯t!¡± Bei Ting Mao whispered frantically. ¡°Interrupting a cultivator fighting with his inner demons is almost like suicide.¡±
Tempest stared at Bei Ting Mao for a moment before making her statement, ¡°You nearly got taken over by your inner demons before.¡±
When Li Ming heard Tempest¡¯s statement, she reared back, trying to get as far away from Bei Ting Mao as she possibly could. Li Ming knew Bei Ting Mao left a lot out of his explanation, the most important being demonic cultivators grow by acting as a disease. They plant inner demons in other cultivators and takes their cultivation when the cultivator succumbs to the inner demons.
¡°I¡¯m not a demonic cultivator.¡± Bei Ting Mao said, his eyes beseeching his group members to believe him. He didn¡¯t realize how much he had grown attached to this odd lot in just a few short days, but he truly did consider them people who would have his back.
¡°Well, yeah, you aren¡¯t.¡± Tempest said like it was obvious, ¡°You cultivate the heart now. Your spirits won¡¯t tolerate inner demons.¡±
Bei Ting Mao stared at the people who are becoming more than just group members. He saw acceptance in their eyes, even Li Ming accepted him after she got ahold of herself after her instinctive reaction towards demonic cultivators. It made the next part easy to confess. ¡°I did fight with my inner demons after my dan tian was destroyed. I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but I was going to lose to my inner demons.¡± Pause. ¡°Then the spirits should up and ate my inner demon like it was the most delicious meal it had in a long time. That was when I found out I could cultivate as a mage. It is also the reason why I¡¯m more attuned to my elements than normal mages.¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah. Nice sob sorry, but get to the point. How are we going to get out of here?¡± Tempest turned to survey her surroundings. She can¡¯t see a way out of their predicament.
¡°What?¡± Tempest asked when she saw the weird stares everyone was giving her.
Chapter 0172
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Chapter 0173
Chapter 0173
Never trust a man.
Tempest¡¯s mother had always said those four words when she was drunk, depressed or in between boyfriends. Tempest had always thought that statement was merely words of a disgruntled woman beaten down by the hardship of life. She should have realized those words did have a basis in fact. Given the right conditions, a man will sacrifice things to save himself.
When the madman charged towards the group, Graden yelled, ¡°Scatter!¡± He brought out his beauties and tossed them towards the man to buy them time to escape.
Everyone started running in two directions. There were only two possible exits so Graden, Starm and Li Ming ran towards one exit while Fenix and Tempest ran towards the other.
¡°We¡¯ll meet back at the guild.¡± Bei Ting Mao yelled while charged the madman. Bei Ting Mao knew he wasn¡¯t the madman¡¯s opponent. He was less than an ant in front of a giant. His attack could buy at most ten seconds for his companions but he still chose to fight.
A small part of the reasons for his actions was his growing attachment to the group. They never judged him for his past, especially when he admitted he fought his inner demons and lost. They accepted him for who he is. Even after knowing his potential as the same element body and heart cultivator, it didn¡¯t change how they treated him. It might be because he was a disabled same element body and heart cultivator but that¡¯s what makes them more endearing. They never treated him as a waste. They treated him as a man. For that, he¡¯d fight a madman for them.
The biggest reason why he challenged the madman was his inner demons. He fought and lost to his inner demons. If his spirits didn¡¯t show up and gobbled up his inner demons he¡¯d be the same as the madman.
He was grateful for their intervention but at the same time, mental oppression was formed in his mind. Bei Ting Mao feared his inner demons and he was scared he¡¯d become a weak and pathetic man who had to rely on his spirits to fight for him instead of standing on his own two feet.
He needed to reaffirm his sense of self. He needed the self confidences, the knowledge that even though he lost against his inner demons, he will stand up and fight, that he can stand up and fight.
If he ran away from the madman now, he knew he would become the weakling he despised.
Therefore, he charged the madman.
¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Laden Earth.¡±
¡°Astral Void Sword Art: The Emptiness of Space.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Bei Ting Mao¡¯s eyes widen. The Astral Void Sword Art: The Emptiness of Space perfectly negated the gravitational pull of his Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Laden Earth.
¡°Spiritual Earth Sword Art: As Heavy as a Feather, As Light as a Rock.¡± Spiritual Earth Sword Art: As Heavy as a Feather, As Light as a Rock was one of the six Spiritual Earth Sword Art he hadn¡¯t completely mastered but it was the only sword art in his arsenal could counteract the space attacks used by his opponent.
¡°Astral Void Sword Art: Space Negation.¡± Again, the madman¡¯s sword art negatived Bei Ting Mao¡¯s attack. With two attacks, Bei Ting Mao finally understood why those with space spiritual vein was heavily recruited by the sects in the Heavenly Mountains even if the quality of their spirit vein was low. Space-based attacks are overpowered.
It took only two attacks to show the differences in their fighting abilities. Bei Ting Mao knew the madman was subconsciously limiting his cultivation base to Foundation Establishment to fight with him. Bei Ting Mao would already be dead if the madman went all out against him.
Bei Ting Mao knew he had to go all out. ¡°Body and Heart as One: Sturdy Earth, Sharp Sword.¡± The Body and Heart as One sword art was a technique the spirits imparted to him when he regained his consciousness after his battle with his inner demons. It was a technique used to call upon the power of the spirits to unleash their power through a sword art.
The madman showed no reaction to Bei Ting Mao¡¯s strongest attack. ¡°Astral Void Sword Art: Spatial Disruption.¡± Astral Void Sword Art: Spatial Disruption was a sword technique that ripped open space itself. It was also the same method the madman used to summon the Abyssal Chimera except for this time he used his sword technique to send Bei Ting Mao to another location along with Graden¡¯s beauties.
Speaking of Graden, he, Li Ming and Starm didn¡¯t get very far in the six seconds it took for the madman to handle Bei Ting Mao.
Sensing they couldn¡¯t get away, the three change their method. Instead of running away, they chose to fight, hoping they could buy enough time for Fenix and Tempest to getaway.
¡°Rain of Sunlight.¡±
¡°Fireball.¡±
¡°Space Distortion.¡±
While Li Ming used her most powerful spell, Graden could only cast Fireball. It was his most powerful attack spell since he learned wood support spells and relied on his beauties to fight.
¡°If we get out of this situation, I¡¯m going to learn some fire attack spells as Tempest told me to do,¡± Graden swore in his heart. He might even go so far and say Tempest was right and he was wrong. Maybe.
Starm tried to use the madman¡¯s specialties against him but came out laughable at best. Starm is a generalist. His advantage is his versatility. His disadvantage is his proficiency. When a generalist fights with a specialist in the same elements as the specialist, the generalist will have his butt handed to him by the specialist. What a specialist lacks in versatility, they make up having a deeper understanding of the underlying theory of their elements and higher attack power.
¡°Astral Void Sword Art: Spatial Disruption.¡± The three mages were handled just like that.
Then the madman turned his attention towards the two fleeing girls. A ten seconds head start against a space cultivator who could bend space to his whim was not enough.
Fenix knew they couldn¡¯t get away even with Tempest using multiple movement charms from three different elements and trying to stack the effects with the spells she was casting.
Fenix slapped her Propulsion charm on to Tempest and yelled, ¡°Get out of here idiot. I¡¯ll hold-¡±
Fenix didn¡¯t get to finish her sentences when the madman sent her off as well.
Chapter 0174
Chapter 0174
Fenix¡¯s sacrifice pushed Tempest into an enraged state. She didn¡¯t completely succumb to her anger since she didn¡¯t know her group members very well. The few days she spent with them was memorable but not as deep as the bond she had with her sisters. She didn¡¯t even like them that much and thought they felt the same towards her.
It seems they felt a greater sense of affection towards her than Tempest realized, enough affection to attempt to fight off a deranged cultivator to buy her enough time to escape.
The entire situation reminded Tempest too much of the time Kaia sacrifice herself for Tempest.
Tempest silently cried as she increases her speed. It seems like all she could do was run.
Even with the extra talisman, Fenix slapped on her, Tempest knew she could not outrun the madman. Teleportation is much faster than any movement techniques, skills or spells, no matter how many layers Tempest slapped on herself. The madman easily kept up with Tempest¡¯s combined Levitation, As Swift as the Wind, Flash Step and the added bonus provided by Fenix¡¯s talisman.
Tempest knew once the power of the talisman runs out, she¡¯d be a sitting duck. She might as well do something while she has an advantage. With the thought in mind, Tempest turned around and shot out Ice Bolt, Wind Blade and Lightning Strike in rapid succession then continued escaping.
Tempest knew her spells wouldn¡¯t do much damage to the madman. She shot those spells to probe him.
Wind Blade slowed the madman by 0.2 seconds, Ice Bolt 0.4 seconds and Lightning Strike did nothing. The spells should have slowed the madman by more than two seconds if he chose to dodge the spells. He didn¡¯t. Instead, the madman chose to save time by taking on the spell head on, either that, Tempest¡¯s spells were so weak the madman never saw them as a threat in the first place.
Furthermore, Tempest is literally out of her elements. The heat from the lava reduces the effectiveness of her Ice Bolt by 30% while the earth negates the power of her lightning attacks by 25%.
Wind seems to be the most effective against the madman but that isn¡¯t saying much. Wind doesn¡¯t have any advantages while fighting in a lava chasm although it doesn¡¯t suffer any adverse effect.
Tempest thought she might be able to challenge him in melee combat for a nanosecond. Cardis tried to teach her how to fight with her swords, Cloud Sword and Lightning Twist. The operative word was tried.
Tempest is at the age (10 physically) where she is quite awkward with her growing body. Her assessment abilities such as judging speed, power, angles, and distance are less than spectacular. Trying to parry a sword, because Cardis was going easy on her so he decided to use a sword instead of his specialty saber, was trying on both of them. Tempest has scrawny arms and nonexistence muscles. Don¡¯t even mention grip! Tempest could parry Cardis one out of every three strikes but she¡¯d lose her grip on her sword and it ends up flying somewhere.
Cardis gave up melee fighting for now. He decided to train her dodging and escaping abilities. Tempest could dodge obstacles while moving at high speeds was thanks to his training though they both acknowledged she needs more training.
Right now her only chance to survive against the madman is her combination spell, Chaotic Storm.
Tempest knew Chaotic Storm might hold him off for a minute at most. The madman was able to get rid of Li Ming, Starm and Graden despite Li Ming casting her combination spell, Rain of Sunlight.
A combination spell by itself won¡¯t do the trick. Tempest needed to cast Chaotic Storm and strengthen it with an Aspect of the Storm: Touch of the Storm.
Preparing and casting Chaotic Storm while strengthening the spell with an Aspect of the Storm: Touch of Storm takes time.
Trying to slow him down with 1-circle or 2-circles spells won¡¯t work. He¡¯d just smash through the spell with his formidable body and come out angrier than before.
Hatred burns deep in Tempest¡¯s miserly heart as the only viable option came to mind. ¡°It¡¯s the only way,¡± Tempest told herself. ¡°I¡¯ll make him pay ten times what I will spend today.¡±
After the pep talked, Tempest turned around to face the madman and started throwing out every worthless junk she had stored in her mage robe.
Unlike her spells which the madman bulldozed his way through without a pause, the physical items Tempest threw out can damage him. Junks like pens, charm papers, ores, Graden¡¯s beauty seeds, and magical beast corpses can¡¯t harm him but the various knick-knacks did give him pause. The items were too eclectic and weird for anyone not to pause.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Cultivators running away for their lives throw out defensives talismans, charms or other life saving trump cards they were saving for the occasion. They don¡¯t throw out cheap junk as Tempest did.
The ¡®cheap junk¡¯ was another ploy on Tempest to lower the madman¡¯s guard. Once he realized the items thrown out were literally garbage he¡¯d lower his guard and then Tempest would attack.
¡°Attack!¡± Tempest yelled while she unsealed the five level 10 to 13 weapons with weapon spirits. The sword, guided by the weapon spirits started to attack the madman on his own.
Even a cultivator powered up by fighting his inner demon would pause when level 10 to 13 weapons with weapon spirits were thrown his way. Of course, he¡¯d only pause. Cultivators fighting their inners demons have a dangerous reputation for a reason. Not only were their cultivations pushed to the extreme from their fight with their inner demons, but the cultivation was also further bolstered by said inner demons, allowing them to kill cultivators two realms higher than they are.
The madman was never someone of Tempest¡¯s group could handle. Only a mage capable of casting at least a blue 3-circle or 4-circle spell. Tempest and her group could cast red or orange 1-circle or 2-circle spells.
Tempest knew the swords she¡¯d thrown couldn¡¯t kill him. They did what she intended for them to do. They bought her time.
¡°Chaotic Storm!¡± Tempest cackled like an evil villain who got the jump on the hero.
Chaotic Storm was able to harm the madman but it was only superficial wounds. Tempest grinned evilly as she weaved in Aspect of the Storm: Touch of Storm into her combination spell.
¡°Taste my Chaotic Storm fueled by my Aspect of the Storm: Touch of Storm.¡± It sounded stupid but Tempest was happy she finally got the upper hand against the bastard.
Wind lashed out against the madman, cutting him over and over again. Ice shards come out of nowhere and pierce the madman while lightning strikes mercilessly. Normally, the madman can shrug off spells cast by most mages due to his strong, robust body, even combination spells. Combination spells fueled by an Aspect has another dimension to the spell. In this case, Chaotic Storm superficially damages the madman but the chaotic elements fueled by Aspect of the Storm: Touch of Storm enters his body and causes the Qi in his body to run amok, destroying him from the inside out.
Seeing her efforts were working, Tempest pumped more mana into her spell. She was determined to kill the bastard.
Just as her spell was ramping up the destruction, Tempest heard a maniacal voice filled with hatred and torment yell out, ¡°Space and Time Distortion.¡±
Before Tempest could make out what was going on with her spell, a sword flew straight at her. Tempest tried to dodge but the sword had a mind of its own and followed Tempest.
Tempest was quick at running, the training Cardis gave her wasn¡¯t a joke, but the sword was much faster. The closer it got to her, the more she panicked. This was the first time since she transmigrated that she was going to die. The fight with Iron Clawed Wolf Pack didn¡¯t count as she was confident she could at least escape the Iron Claw Wolf Pack, worse comes to worst and she did lose her senses towards the end when there was a chance she could die.
Tempest chose to release her spell, Chaotic Storm in favor of taking care of the current threat.
This was a mistake. The moment between releasing Chaotic Storm and casting Spiraling Ice Bolt the madman was able to attack. He teleported to his sword, grabbed and handle and charge towards Tempest in fury.
¡°Ahh,¡± Tempest screamed as ¡°I¡¯m going to die,¡± repeated in a loop in her head. The madman was too strong and she was too overconfident in her fighting abilities that she completely misjudged the situation.
As the sword was about to pierce her neck, a powerful gust of wind came towards them, sending both Tempest and the madman crashing towards the wall of the chasm. Tempest land flat on her back on a ledge with the sword two inches from her neck.
Even though the gust of wind caught the madman by surprised, he recovered very quickly. He teleported to his sword before he was about to hit the wall.
Looking at the madman holding his sword two inches near her neck, Tempest feared Cardis wasn¡¯t going to be quick enough in saving her this time.
Tempest didn¡¯t know Cardis was watching over her during her foray into the Emblemic Mountains, but when she truly thought about it, it all makes sense. If she was a teacher or trainer, she¡¯d sneakily followed her students on their first journey as well. The gust of wind that separated her and the madman was Cardis¡¯ doing. She ran from Cardis¡¯ spell enough to recognize his spell anywhere.
Fear gripped Tempest¡¯s body as she stared into the madman¡¯s bloodthirsty eyes. Tempest regret she didn¡¯t train harder, didn¡¯t prepare for this excursion better, didn¡¯t bring any trump cards with her and most of all, Tempest regrets choosing to fight the madman instead of running away.
Tempest ran away when Kaia sacrifices her life for hers. Tempest ran away, recouped her strength and slowly hunted those bastards down one by one. It might have gall her to do the same this time but Tempest regrets not running away.
Cardis trained her to run away, not to fight.
She could have run away and bided her time. 100 years isn¡¯t too late to get her revenge.
Now, she was going to pay for misjudgment.
Tempest cried silently as she stared death in the face.
Except those murderous eyes soften he continued to stare at Tempest in sadness and wonder. The crazed blood-thirsty aura surrounding the madman slowly faded as reason fought to control the body. Pain, regret and distress laced his voice as he said, ¡°Asa-¡±
Bang.
A gust of wind knocked the madman backward as a pillar of lava sprang up to engulf madman before hardening and sealing him.
Tempest got up, made sure the lava cage would hold the madman before grabbing all the loot that came out of the strange rift the madman created to get out of her Chaotic Storm before running away.
Chapter 0175
Chapter 0175
¡°Cardis, come out!¡± Tempest yelled after she was reasonably certain she got away from the madman. ¡°Cardis, come out! We have to talk!¡±
¡°What do we have to talk about?¡± A breeze blew by Tempest as Cardis emerged from it.
¡°Cardis!¡±
¡°I¡¯m here my silly little Successor.¡±
¡°Tell me Cardis, what the hell was going on back there?!¡± Tempest snarled, her anger leaking out. Confronting Cardis and demanding answers weren¡¯t the best methods right now, but Tempest was too angry to go for circumspect.
¡°That my dear was your lightning spirit taking over your body.¡± Cardis knew Tempest was referring to him not helping her teammates when they encountered the madman but he took exception to her tone. She is his student, not the other way around. She should show respect a student had for their teacher. The main body was too lenient with her.
¡°What?¡± Tempest gasp, not understanding Cardis¡¯ answer.
¡°Didn¡¯t you blanked out in the cave? That was your lightning spirit taking over your body.¡±
¡°What, who, how?¡±
¡°You were quite quick to kill the annoying girl back there,¡± Cardis said, getting to the heart of Tempest¡¯s problem.
¡°That wasn¡¯t me Cardis. I...I¡¯m not usually that quick to attack. I can kill if I¡¯m pushed to a corner, but I don¡¯t kill people because they irritate me. That wasn¡¯t me!¡± Tempest shouted, trying to block out the memory of killing the idiotic girl with a qualm.
Tempest felt Cardis¡¯ piercing gaze probing her yet she refuses to acknowledge it. She refuses to acknowledge what she did. It was her body, but she wasn¡¯t in control. Someone possesses her body and used her body to kill. It wasn¡¯t Tempest who killed the girl!
¡°You keep insisting it wasn¡¯t you who killed the girl. If it wasn¡¯t you, then who was it?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not like that! I don¡¯t kill people arbitrarily!¡±
¡°You keep saying it wasn¡¯t you, that you aren¡¯t a cold-blooded killer. Then who are you?¡±
¡°I am Tempest Arashi Kataigida.¡±
¡°What is Tempest Arashi Kataigida like?¡±
Tempest was stumped at the question Cardis asked. She has always been saying she is Tempest Arashi Kataigida, yet she never once stopped to consider who Tempest Arashi Kataigida is. Tempest wanted the power to determine her own fate. Becoming Tempest is a part of taking control of her destiny. No longer will she be helpless Athena or the naive Asalia.
Through it all, Tempest realized what she didn¡¯t want to be but she never defined what she wants to be or become.
Tempest closed her eyes and imagine the person she wants to be.
¡°I want to be free,¡± Tempest said as she thought about her previous life where she was always restrained in one form or another. She held back, allowed herself to be imprisoned, allowed others to define who she was, allow them to manipulate her, allow them to control her. Well, no more. Athena was restrained, imprisoned, manipulated, controlled, a shell of who she was meant to be. Tempest will be free. Free to be who she wants to be.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
¡°I want to live my life as it was meant to be lived.¡± Athena never had a childhood, never had friends, never had love. Tempest wanted everything life to promise her. A chance to be a child, a chance to grow up, fall in love, have babies, grow old¡ uh, a chance to be a child, a chance to grow up, fall in love and live happily ever after.
¡°I want to destroy anyone who gets in my way.¡± It was Athena¡¯s weakness that was the root cause of the tragedy. Tempest will not be weak.
¡°Carefree as the wind, going with the flow as the water and deadly as lightning.¡±
¡°What? No.¡± Tempest shook her head to emphasize her denial.
¡°Then what? Mortal women want to marry, have children, raise said children with their husbands until they die. Cultivators want strength and power. Female cultivators want strength, power, youth, and beauty. These are the things most women yearn for, yet I don¡¯t hear you mention them at all.¡±
¡°How would you know? You¡¯re not a woman!¡±
¡°I¡¯ve gotten to know enough women over my long life to know what they usually want, yet you never asked for any of those.¡±
¡°What are you implying Cardis?¡± Tempest knew he said those words specifically. Wind, water, lightning. Her elements. She understood what he was trying to say, but she wants a direct clear answer instead of running around in circles.
¡°When I was a young man -¡±
¡°Yeah, like six thousand years ago,¡± Tempest said to poke fun at his age.
¡°When I was a young man, I wanted to marry, have children and raise my family. I knew nothing of the cultivating world nor did I want anything to do with it. Fate has a way of changing one''s view. I fell in love with a powerful cultivator which propelled me into the immortal world. I didn¡¯t handle it well after she was gone. I became a very lecherous man, sleeping with any woman who was willing, doing things you wouldn¡¯t believe and basically being an idiot of epic proportions.
¡°However, time changes a person. I slowly grew up and matured to become the man I am today, a very passionate, very flirtatious man who can be counted on when responsibility is thrust upon him. Like a child who asked to become my student.¡± Here Cardis smiled genial at her, taking away the stings of his words.
¡°Get to the point.¡± Tempest snarled. She did throw the responsibility of taking care of herself on to him. He didn¡¯t have to take her as his disciple and later his Successor, yet he did so. She is truly grateful to him. Still, his roundabout way of explaining things is irritating her.
¡°I am a passionate fire burning brightly, carefree as the wind, and stable as the mountains.¡±
Tempest immediately understood. Mages take on the personality trait of their elements.
She understood Cardis¡¯ implication, yet she didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it. To acknowledge it means she never had control over herself in the first place. The spirits dictate who Tempest Arashi Kataigida is supposed to be and not Tempest Arashi Kataigida herself.
Cardis continued as if he wasn¡¯t aware Tempest wanted to play ostrich and stick her head in the dirt. ¡°You and I are in the minority who notice the correlation between our elements and our personality. Due to the previous behaviors of mages throughout the ages, many people are aware mages have personalities that correlate with their elements. Since affinities are tested at birth, future mages are stereotyped with the personality traits. When they do start cultivating, they don¡¯t realize the influence the spirits have on their personality. They simply grew into those stereotypes since those personality traits help them cultivate faster.
¡°My personality was completely different than what it is now. I was a responsible man who had no time for frivolities, even during my free time, I become the embodiment of personality traits associated with my elements. Granted, the changes can be associated with the upheaval in my life at the time and how I cope with the consequences of my actions, but I don¡¯t think so.
¡°The person I am now is the type of person my past self looked down upon. I would never become who I am today, no matter what happens to me, yet here I am.¡±
Tempest trembled in fear at Cardis¡¯ revelation. If what he said is true, then the spirits influence them more than they realized. Cardis, who went through a myriad of trials and tribulations to get to where he is now couldn¡¯t withstand the influence of the spirits, then Tempest, who had little to no experience whatsoever, had no chance at all.
¡°Afterall,¡± Cardis murmured, ¡°nothing is ever truly free.¡±
Chapter 0176
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Chapter 0177
Chapter 0177
In the middle of the lava cavern, a tear in space opened to reveal a handsome middle aged man with thick disheveled black hair, pale white complexion marred by two black panda eyes caused by fatigued and worry.
The wind in the caverned whipped his black robed around his body, slightly pushing him back towards the space tear. It was a warning from Cardis, telling the man to go back to the Heavenly Mountains, that he doesn¡¯t belong in the Magus Alliance and especially the Emblemic Mountain Range.
The black robed man disregard the warning and set out to search the area, scanning the area with his divine sense.
The black robed man wrinkled his brow, a worried look marred his handsome visage. ¡°My disciple fought a battle here.¡±
¡°I know.¡± Cardis emerged to confront the black robed man. ¡°I also know it wasn¡¯t an accident your disciple showed up here. Your Heavenly Spirit Sect is despicable as always. Any trouble you can¡¯t handle, you send it to the other realms and become the fisherman in troubled water.¡±
¡°My disciple appearing here was an accident. He is capable of creating space tears. His inner demon took advantage of my inattentiveness and escaped here.¡±
¡°Xi An Kong, your excuse can¡¯t convince a five-year-old.¡± Cardis sneered. How often have the Heavenly Mountains pawned their problems on the other realms, Cardis knows all too well.
Xi An Kong couldn¡¯t meet Cardis¡¯ jeering gaze. He above else knew all too well the sects in the Heavenly Mountains propensity to ¡®export¡¯ their problems to other realms as he is the medium they used to do so.
For a long time, he tried to justify his actions through false righteousness and bravado. He had saved lives, that much was true. He saved the lives of the cultivators of the Heavenly Mountains. He had not considered the lives of the people who received his ¡®package¡¯ at all. In fact, Xi An Kong thought he was sending the evil beings back into the chaotic void where they belong. It was this man who opened his eyes to the truth of his actions.
Those ¡®packages¡¯ he sent out to the other domains were sent back to him en mass, healed, stronger and tougher than ever before.
Thousands of cultivators from the Heavenly Mountains died when the demonic beings suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slaughtered everything in their wake. Millions of mortals died and entire sects were wiped out.
The cultivators in the Heavenly Mountains were helpless against their onslaught.
The issues only settled down when the hidden Ancestors of the major sects appear to hunt down the demonic beings that some sort of peace was restored, though not without its cost. Four of the hidden Ancestors died in the process while six of the demonic beings died and the other seventy escaped to the other realms.
The Heavenly Mountains tried to pursue the issues but the other domains weren¡¯t having any of it and fought back with revenge as the excuse. They provided irrefutable proof of the sects¡¯ wrongdoing and demanded justice for the people who died because of the sects too inept to handle their own problems.
The sects denied their wrongdoings and did everything in their power to suppress the incident and they succeed. The other domains didn¡¯t pursue the issue considering the damage the demonic beings did to the Heavenly Mountains and the fact that those demonic beings were actually legitimate cultivators in the other domains.
Afterward, the sects continued as if the attacks never happened.
The entire event was known as the Disgraced Secret.
Xi An Kong was never persecuted for the part he played.
No one wanted to admit they created the demonic beings with their false justice and hypocrisy so no one investigated the background of those demonic beings, except the man before him, Cardis Gourd.
Cardis Gourd ripped the blinds off his eyes and made him face the consequences of his actions.
Xi An Kong had repented, never showing his face to the outside world unless it was an emergency.
He could not face the people of the other domains until his beloved disciple disappear while fighting his inner demons.
¡°It was not intentional.¡± Xi An Kong murmured softly. It wasn¡¯t soft enough as Cardis caught the excuse.
¡°Does intent matter after one is dead?¡±
¡°Cardis, I did not come here to fight you or cause trouble. I only want to take my disciple back.¡±
¡°Your disciple is precious but my Successor isn¡¯t?¡± Cardis¡¯ statement put Xi An Kong on edge. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
There were rumors about Cardis taking a Successor. The girl was said to be a True Daughter of Storm. Her potential was better than even the Dao Child groomed by the big sects. As long as she lived long enough, she was guaranteed to become an immortal.
Due to her elements, even the heavenly tribulation all cultivators must undergo to become an immortal was nothing to her.
Xi An Kong scanned the area again with his divine sense.
¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Cardis spoke harshly. ¡°I intervene in time.¡±
Xi An Kong exhaled in relief. He would risk his life to kill the bastard to harm his disciple. There is no telling what Cardis would do if his Successor was harmed. The entire Heavenly Mountains might have to change its name to Volcanoes Mountains instead.
¡°I understand harm was done and I am willing to pay recompense.¡±
¡°Two chaotic rifts.¡± Tempest would pitch a fit if she was present. Her life was worth more than the treasures from two chaotic rifts. She had the treasures of an entire chaotic rift in her mage robes, thank you very much.
Tempest would beat Cardis half to death for valuing her so little. She would have demanded all the treasures often chaotic rifts before she was satisfied.
¡°Done.¡± Xi An Kong immediately agreed to the conditions set forth by Cardis and opened two chaotic rifts. Once he did so, he freed his disciple from the lava cage and opened a space rift to his home.
¡°Master?¡± the madman whispered.
¡°You won against your inner demons?¡± Xi An Kong asked in surprise when he set foot in an immortal abode.
The Heavenly Mountains has a list of over 24 million names of cultivators who fought with their inner demons. Only 326 people had fought and won against their inner demons. 326 out of 24 million people! That is less than a 1% survival rate! Yet his disciple was awake and coherent. Xi An Kong was overjoyed he nearly cried.
Xi An Kong never held any hopes his disciple would against his inner demons. He couldn¡¯t kill his disciple while he was still fighting against his inner demons, but once his inner demon took full control of the body, Xi An Kong knew he had no other choice.
Despite the odds, his disciple won. He won! The burden in his heart was finally lifted.
¡°I saw her, master. I saw my wife. She was crying. I¡¯ve never seen her cry before, not even when she got stung by a Tormented Bee. She got right back up the next day, ordered me to bait the Tormented Bees out while she stole the honey. Tormented Bee stings are very painful, master. I¡¯ve cried when I was stung but she never did.
¡°I saw her crying. I saw her crying because of me. She ran away when she saw me like I was a high-level magical beast out to eat her. Her tears pierced my heart so painfully. It hurts so much master. Moreso because I was the cause of her tears.
¡°How much of a monster must I be for her to cry at the very sight of me? I don¡¯t want to be the monster that scares her, master. I would never harm a single hair on her silly little head.
¡°It¡¯s how I won my inner demons. I couldn¡¯t let it win because if it takes over my body, I¡¯d look like a monster and my silly little treasure hates ugly monsters. She¡¯d beat me until I look like a pig. She doesn¡¯t like how a pig looks but she said she¡¯d make an exception because she likes to eat pork belly and she can¡¯t hate the pig that gave her delicious pork belly. If I became ugly because of my inner demons then I¡¯d be beaten every day. I can also forget about my wedding night. My silly little treasure won¡¯t be sleeping near an ugly man or a pig man.¡±
¡°You had your wedding night already.¡± Xi An Kong hastily pointed out, trying to divert his beloved disciple¡¯s attention. The boy doesn¡¯t like to talk much. Although he wasn¡¯t cold to his senior brothers and sisters, his actions couldn¡¯t be considered warm or friendly either. Luckily, his beloved disciple spent most of his time cultivating. This is the first time in a long while Xi An Kong had heard his disciple ramble so.
It lightens his heart to hear his disciple talk freely. It meant his disciple did defeat his inner demons.
¡°Master!¡±
¡°Yes, disciple?¡±
¡°You know I haven¡¯t done anything to my silly little treasure. She¡¯s too young.¡±
¡°That is to say you¡¯d do something to her when she¡¯s older.¡± Xi An Kong teased his disciple.
¡°Of course,¡± said disciple righteously replied. ¡°My silly little treasure is very beautiful. If I don¡¯t make her mine right away, she¡¯d be lured away by that bastard merchant. He¡¯s been eyeing my silly little treasure for as long as I¡¯ve known him. Like hell will I give him the chance. The first thing I¡¯d do is kill¡¡±
Xi An Kong¡¯s disciple started bawling his heart out.
¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± Xi An Kong repeated over and over again as he tried to console his disciple. Xi An Kong knew his disciple never got the chance to mourn her.
All he knew about the incident was from his disciple¡¯s incoherent rambling as he asked what it meant if a Jade Life Token broke.
The subsequent screams of denial shook the Shattered Space Peak and his disciple''s rage made a mess of the twelve peaks of the Heavenly Ascension Sect.
His beloved disciple stretched his divine senses to its utmost as he portal himself to Orinet through a space tear but it was all to no avail. He couldn¡¯t find his little wife anywhere.
The people of the town mentioned his missing mother-in-law disappearance and the subsequent trek the little girl made with a merchant friend she knew but that was all they could tell say about the family.
His beloved disciple flew into a rage than his inner demon manifest. Xi An Kong had no choice. He imprisoned his beloved disciple and watched over him with a heavy heart.
¡°Master, she is dead, isn¡¯t she?¡±
Xi An Kong couldn¡¯t completely destroy his beloved disciple¡¯s spirit so he said, ¡°There are other reasons why the Jade Life Token broke. No one said she died and you haven¡¯t found a body, so there could be a chance, albeit slim, that she is alive.¡±
¡°Thank you, master.¡±
¡°You must not lose hope. If she is alive, you can find her. If she is dead, you can find a way to resurrect her. If you can¡¯t resurrect her, then you can find her soul and she cultivates as a ghost. There are ways to find the living and the dead. You need time and resources, beloved disciple, and resources are something our Shattered Space Peak can easily get!¡±
¡°Master is right. I mustn¡¯t lose hope.¡± Xi An Kong wiped the tears from his beloved disciple''s eyes and saw despair replaced by determination.
He knew his beloved disciple¡¯s inner demon had completely vanished but now he had another problem to worry about - how far would his beloved disciple go to reunite with his wife?
Chapter 0178
Chapter 0178
After her conversation with Cardis, Tempest searched for a safe place to meditate and have a heart to heart talk with her spirits.
Cardis was right in that they shouldn¡¯t completely trust anything they don¡¯t understand and at the same time he pointed out how little she understood her spirits.
Tempest jumped to the worst conclusion about her spirits given a little bit of provocation.
Mages cultivate by working with their spirits. The spirits channel energy from their plane and merge with the ambient mana in the Cardinal Realm and infuse it into the body of their mortal. The mortal receives all the benefits in this case. The mortal also receives teaching from the spirits if they effectively communicate with each other.
The mage entrusts their bodies to the spirits.
Tempest doesn¡¯t trust the relationship where one side does all the giving and one side does all the taking. If it were to continue as such, then the giving side will break.
As she was on the receiving end of the benefits, it is she who would suffer should the spirits withhold or stop giving her the energy to grow. Tempest wants to be in control of her fate. She wants to control her own life, do what she feels like doing, going where she feels like going, living the life she wants to live. She doesn¡¯t want to be dependant on anything, not even the spirits.
Tempest likens the mana the spirits provide their mortal a form of the drug. Mages need the mana provided by the spirits. They might go into withdrawal if they were cut off from the mana. Tempest hates drugs with a passion. She hates the control drugs had on her life and by subconsciously likening mana to drugs, Tempest views mana as a necessary evil, to be used cautiously.
Tempest knew she had to change. As to what she needs to change, she doesn¡¯t know. That¡¯s why she is going to have a good long talk with her spirits. She needs answers and knowledge, knowledge the spirits are withholding from her.
Once she found a good spot to meditate, she set up the formation Cardis gave her for her protection and started to meditate.
Tempest closed her eyes and searched for her connections with her spirits. She found the connection easily and sent her consciousness towards her spirits.
¡°Hello, Tempest. It is good to see you here.¡± Ventus. Only Ventus had that gentle, soothing cadence that calms the listener.
Tempest was about to say, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be here so tell me everything I need to know so I can get back to living my life,¡± but she realized she was acting like a petulant child demanding answers from her parents. Being a brat wasn¡¯t the right way to start a relationship, although what kind of relationship Tempest wants with her spirits, she doesn¡¯t know.
¡°Where are we?¡± Tempest asked neutrally as she tried to assess Ventus but it was hard to assess air. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
¡°We are at the border of your sea of consciousness and the spiritual plane.¡±
¡°Mizu.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I figured it was you. Your voice always sounds like a gentle stream lazily meandering its way through the land.¡±
¡°And I am Astrapi.¡± A booming yet feminine voice echoed through Tempest''s sea of consciousness. Tempest instinctively claps her hands over her ear to try and block out the sounds but it does nothing since they are in her sea of consciousness. They are speaking directly to her mind and their voices take on their individual characteristics.
¡°You are all here. Why don¡¯t you take visual form? It makes it easier to talk to you guys.¡±
¡°We exist like this because you have not let us enter your mind.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a thin line. I¡¯ve no doubt you could cross it at any time. No need to wait on my account.¡± Tempest said sarcastically.
¡°It may be a thin line to you, but it is a chasm to us. We could forcibly cross the line and enter your sea of consciousness but that would destroy the trust between us.¡± Although Ventus did not outright scold Tempest for her sarcasm, she can feel the rebuke in Ventus¡¯ words.
¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Tempest apologized and she meant it. Old habits die hard and it was ingrained into Tempest not to trust in the supernatural. Even when she came to the Cardinal Realm, she never fully trust the spirits. She made use of them when she needed to but complete trust wasn¡¯t going to happen anytime soon.
Trust has to start somewhere. The spirits already gave her their trust and it was up to Tempest to reciprocate.
¡°I invite my spirits, the collective known as Ventus, Mizu and Astrapi into my sea of consciousness.¡±
There were no fireworks, raids, battle for dominances or World War III when all of Ventus, Mizu and Astrapi entered Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness. There was a sense of completeness and a calm soothing aura spreading through Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness, enlarging the area by at least three times.
¡°Welcome home.¡± Tempest felt tears trailing down her face and she viciously wiped them away. The sense of disconnect she had long felt vanished as if it had never been. She finally felt complete.
Still, a feeling at the back of her head told her something was not right. Tempest took the time to inspect every inch of her sea of consciousness to appease the strange behavior.
Aside from the enlargement from the welcoming the spirits in, there was nothing wrong with her sea of consciousness. Tempest closed her eyes and inspect her body. Again, nothing was wrong. Still, the feelings persist.
¡°Tempest, what is wrong? Do you regret inviting us in?¡± Ventus ask, worried about Tempest¡¯s strange behavior. They didn¡¯t want Tempest to regret inviting them into her sea of consciousness. Tempest had been and will always be their top priority. ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, we can leave.¡±
It was a generous offer of the spirits¡¯ part, one Tempest refused. ¡°You are already here. No need to leave.¡±
¡°Then what is wrong? You seem to behave strangely since you invited us in.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know what is wrong with me either. I¡¯m happy you guys decided to take up residence in my sea of consciousness but at the same time there is a nagging feeling at the back of my head telling me I¡¯ve somehow been tricked.¡± Tempest guilelessly told the spirits her feelings. Once Tempest decided to trust someone, in the spirits'' case something, then she trusts them wholeheartedly.
Back in the spirit plane, a ripple of uneasiness spread through the collective. ¡°I see you are still uneasy about us. It is alright for you to feel that way. We will prove to you you¡¯ve made the right decision.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not that Ventus. I don¡¯t like this feeling without knowing the cause.¡± Tempest tried to explain her feelings yet she was stymied by her inability to articulate her emotions. ¡°Anyways, we have to talk, you guys. So start explaining.¡±
Ventus smiled gently as she started her explanation, while the main collective on the spiritual plane settled down as if they dodged a bullet.
Chapter 0179
Chapter 0179
¡°First of all Tempest, let us assure you, we aren¡¯t here to take over your body without your permission or scheming something behind your back. From now on, we will only move with your express permission.¡±
¡°So that means you have moved without my expressed permission.¡± Tempest drawled out casually.
Astrapi looked away in guilt. They all knew Astrapi did took over Tempest¡¯s body and she was the one who killed Hannah Trellis. It is one of the catalysts that forced them to have this conversation in the beginning.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, beloved, but I can¡¯t stand the idea of you suffering as the chaotic power run rampant through your body.¡± Astrapi was sorry Tempest had to suffer under the chaotic power and she was angry at the madman for opening a chaotic rift in the first place, but there was not an iota of guilt for taking control of Tempest¡¯s body.
Astrapi knew what she did was not right. It wasn¡¯t wrong, but it wasn¡¯t right either.
¡°Hehehe, we¡¯ll get to that later.¡± Tempest grinned evilly. Recompense must be given to right a wrong and Tempest was going to extract all the benefits she can get from Astrapi before she will forgive her.
Ventus and Mizu tossed Astrapi a sympathetic look. They knew Tempest well enough Astrapi was going to be put through the wringer before forgiveness was granted. They pitied Astrapi but not enough for them to take her place.
¡°Right now, only our representative is in your sea of consciousness while the main collective remains on the spiritual plane. We are present as observers, teachers if you allow us and friends when you trust us enough. Our current projection in your mind is here to act as a communication facilitator. Ah, Tempest, I know you were going asked why do we need to be here if we communicate with you just fine, so I¡¯ll tell go ahead and tell you,¡± Ventus said, demonstrating her knowledge of Tempest¡¯s behavior. ¡°Previously, we communicate with you by manipulating the elements in the realms. It requires a massive amount of energy to do so. With our presence in your sea of consciousness, we can speak directly to you with minimal effort.¡±
¡°Okay, good to know you aren¡¯t all powerful.¡± A little bit of sarcasm leaked out but the spirits ignored it.
¡°Tempest, instead of explaining about ourselves, let us show you.¡± This time it was Mizu who spoke.
Tempest hesitate a bit then nodded.
Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness went black all of a sudden. The darkness was not like anything Tempest ever experienced, and she was put into solitary confinement. No, this darkness contains a vastness beyond human perception. It also contains a yearning Tempest couldn¡¯t understand, loneliness that would drive anyone mad and a sense of self sacrifice that even put a mother¡¯s love to shame.
It was only for a moment, but Tempest sense there was more to the void, darkness, chaos, or whatever people call it.
A moment is a moment, fleeting and forgotten as one experiences the next moment in life.
Bang.
There was light.
The creation of the world.
This was a memory of the creation of the world from the spirits'' perspective.
The scientists were right. Big Bang did happen.
Tempest witnessed life coming into creation and experience rebirth. Okay, she experienced rebirth since she did transmigrate to this new world, but its nothing like coming into existence for the first time.
One moment there was nothing and the next moment there was light and life.
The spirits were one of those lives.
Of course, coming into existence didn¡¯t mean anything. Life was created, so what? Like a baby who had no consciousness and lived on instinct, the spirits floated around the void, unconcerned about the matters around them. They touch nothing and nothing affected them, as if they were merely viewers in a movie. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Then suddenly, something came into their view, something so dazzling and beautiful they could not help but want to touch, to obtain, to capture, to possess, to make it theirs and theirs alone.
Tempest acknowledges she is a money grubber, a greedy miser who likes to take things. She believed it was part of human nature to be so. As much as she knows who she is, she had set limits for herself. Tempest knew how time, power, money, success and fame change a person. She never wanted to be a tyrant who abuses the weak for a powertrip. She would lose herself to the high and not be Tempest anymore.
Tempest had fought to be Tempest. It was why she reacted so violently when Cardis insinuated her being a puppet for the spirits. Tempest is Tempest Arashi Kataigida and she will continue to fight to be Tempest Arashi Kataigida as defined by Tempest Arashi Kataigida. She will be herself, and no one else because it was expected of her.
Except for this thing¡ this beautiful thing she saw tempted her beyond imagination. She was willing to lose herself in madness and obsession to obtain it. Tempest doesn¡¯t even know what it is but she knows she wants it.
¡°You desire it, don¡¯t you?¡± Ventus asked Tempest.
Tempest nodded. ¡°More than anything else, I want it. Pride, honor, dignity, self respect, I¡¯d throw it all away to obtain it.¡± Even as she said those words, she never took her eyes off the things the spirits showed her. Tempest knew she wants to obtain that thing at all costs, even if the cost was Tempest Arashi Kataigida.
Fear for herself gripped her. She was scared to pay the price, scared she was going to pay the price and scared to see what she becomes once she paid the price.
¡°Us too. Pride, honor, dignity, self respect, what is it? Can you eat it? Is it something we can lay at the feet of the being so it can pay attention to us? You can sense it right? Our obsession?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Tempest replied in a trembling voice. Even though the memory, Tempest can sense the intense desire of the spirits. It was a madness haunting their everything.
¡°We did everything we could to obtain it. And by everything, Tempest, we meant everything. I won¡¯t go into particular details. I don¡¯t want to show you how low and desperate we were in our pursuit. Even now Tempest, we will do everything in our power for it.¡±
¡°What is it?¡± Tempest asked, tamping down the greed in her voice. She wants it. The spirits want it. They are competitors. They are enemies and Tempest isn¡¯t going to show her weakness to her enemies.
¡°It is your soul.¡±
¡°What?!¡± At Tempest¡¯s outburst, the images disappeared, showing Tempest her sea of consciousness. Tempest ached at the lost, but she was more concerned about Ventus¡¯ answer.
¡°What you saw was your soul as we first met Tempest,¡± Mizu said with a wistful expression.
Relief flooded Tempest as she sank to her knees. She didn¡¯t have to sink into depravity for her own soul. It was hers. She didn¡¯t have to lie, cheat, steal betray her very sense of self for it. She had it all along. It was hers.
Thinking about it made sense. The spirits are aloof creatures who lived on the elemental plane and watch the world go by. Tempest knew her spirits are very powerful. She was only channeling a fraction of their power yet she can barely handle it. At one time, Tempest asked how powerful they were and Ventus replied, ¡°We don¡¯t know because an entire plane disappeared when we tried to find out.¡±
Tempest sweated buckets when she heard the reply. She was asking because in the back of her mind she was trying to create a backup plan to handle her spirits should they betrayed her. She was lucky she didn¡¯t voice out the thought and she did scrap the plan.
Yes, indeed, it all made sense. Only something as beautiful as an untainted soul like hers could move the spirits.
¡°Mine. Mine. Mine. All mine.¡± Tempest said in a sing-a-song manner. Pause. ¡°Is my soul still as beautiful as the time you guys saw it?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± All the spirits spoke in unison without hesitation. Their reaction gratified Tempest. She was beautiful inside and out.
¡°Hahaha. My soul is beautiful. Of course, it is. See this long black hair, it is soft and silky. I¡¯ll have you know, I secretly ran my hand through my hair just to feel the fine tresses. This pair of black eyes, they are so pure and clear anyone would lose themselves in it once they take a good gander. My skin, ah my skin, porcelain doesn¡¯t do it justice. These lips are plump and red. See, see.¡± Tempest made kisses sound to emphasize the shape of the lips. ¡°They are perfect for kissing. This body may be petite right now, but I¡¯m sure I¡¯d grow up to be a little beauty.¡± Tempest bragged to the spirits.
¡°Of course you will. We¡¯ll make sure of it.¡± Astrapi reassured Tempest.
¡°Of course.¡±
¡°Are you reassured about our intentions, Tempest?¡± Ventus tried to sneak the question in while Tempest was in a good mood.
¡°Not really.¡± Tempest¡¯s casual reply worried the spirits. Really, did they think they could excuse their past actions with a little bit of explaining?
Granted, their show did explain why they were attached to Tempest as they were. It doesn¡¯t mean Tempest would allow them to take advantage of her.
¡°I know why you are attached to me, but it doesn¡¯t excuse your recent behavior nor does it explain anything about mage cultivation and its ties to my behavior. I now know the source of your affection and I am somewhat reassured you won¡¯t try to take over my body since you never wanted in the first place, but it doesn¡¯t explain anything.¡±
¡°Indeed it doesn¡¯t.¡± Ventus walked closer and Tempest gasped in surprise.
She hadn¡¯t noticed it before but Ventus looked like an older version of her!
Chapter 0180
Chapter 0180
¡°Surprised?¡± Ventus asked gently.
¡°Yes, but it isn¡¯t outside the realm of possibilities,¡± Tempest replied honestly. How many people go under the knife to look like their favorite stars? Too many to make it almost mainstream.
Tempest saw a man made it to the 10 o¡¯clock news because he made himself look like Tom Arnold. Tempest never professed to be knowledgeable in psychology. She did wonder if this kind of obsession falls under normal psychology or abnormal psychology.
Given the spirits¡¯ obsession with her soul, it should be too difficult to infer the spirits would mimic¡¯s Tempest¡¯s appearance, although an older version of her with different colorings.
Tempest examined Ventus very closely. Tempest was pleased with the face she saw. It was a nice oval face with a straight nose, thick full lips, pale white complexion, and a silvery green eyes. Ventus¡¯ hair was the same color as her eyes, silvery green.
Mizu and Astrapi looked the same but with different colorings. Mizu has dark blue hair and eyes while Astrapi had silver hair and eyes.
¡°Astrapi is silver? Not yellow or white?¡± Tempest asked puzzled. Yellow has always been used to represent lightning. The Flash has a bolt of yellow lightning on his suit. Shazam has lightning on his suit as well. So why is Astrapi a silver goddess instead of a yellow goddess?
¡°Have you seen real lightning?¡± Astrapi answered with a question of her own.
Now that Tempest thought about it, real lightning is more white or silver instead of yellow. ¡°Point taken.¡±
Tempest continued inspecting the spirits. Her eyes landed on the two mounds on their chest. Tempest rubbed her chin and nodded her head like an art connoisseur seeing a well crafted sculpture.
The boing boing factor was there. Those mounds weren¡¯t mountains but it can¡¯t be disparage as flat as an airport run away either. When the spirits move, there was a slight bounce to them, enough to make its presence known, but not enough to get in the way of fighting. All in all, she was pleased with what she saw.
Mizu and Astrapi ignored Tempest¡¯s strange bouts of vanity.
Ventus smiled serenely before continuing with her explanation. ¡°When you see your soul from our point of view, it isn¡¯t strange for us to try and possess you.¡±
Tempest nodded in agreement. She¡¯d try to possess her soul too.
¡°We tried different ways to obtain your soul. It didn¡¯t work too well. You¡¯d escape, die and reincarnate or your brilliance slowly fade until we had no choice but to let you go. Then we saw the other spirits attaching themselves to their chosen soul but instead of trying to imprison their mortal like we were doing, they tried to integrate themselves with the body.
¡°The human body rejects us and our power. Over time, we learned how to combine energy from the elemental plane and the ambient mana around our mortal then infusing it into our mortal. The changes from infusing mana into the body allow us to combine with our mortal.
¡°Over time, the mortals learned how to communicate with their spirits and the spirits taught them how to manipulate the mana and elements around them. This was the beginning of the mages and mage cultivation.¡±
¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Tempest was very disappointed. In all the stories she read, the main character has to undergo trials and tribulations to power up yet as a mage all Tempest has to do is live long enough.
¡°It isn¡¯t as easy as it sounds. How long do you think it takes for a mage to learn how to harness the mana in their body? How long do you think it takes a mage to conform their sea of consciousness in order for us to enter? How many hours and how much effort does it take for a mage to learn the language of the spirits? How long does it take -¡±
¡°Alright, I get it. Don¡¯t disdain the effort of others because I have a cheat that handed me all the knowledge on a silver platter.¡± Tempest grouched. Ventus¡¯ explanation was beginning to sound more like a lecture rather than an explanation.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
¡°Tempest, I¡¯m saying this to make a point. Yes, you have a cheat that bypasses all the efforts most mages must put into for them to improve their cultivation, but your cheat has side effects. Because you have your cheat, you have to work harder to improve your physical and mental abilities along with your soul.
¡°Mages first learned how to absorb the mana in the air and fused it into their bodies. The process tempers their bodies. The stronger their bodies become the more mana they can handle. The more mana they can handle, the more power they can use.
¡°As a part of your so called ¡®cheat,¡¯ you have a body that does this automatically. Unless the other mage who spend time and effort to strengthen their bodies with mana, you infuse mana into your body just by breathing, but because the process has become automated, your body is much weaker than other mages. So, unlike regular mages, you actually start off with a weaker body that needs to be tempered.¡±
¡°I thought the spirits do all the work for me in this regard?¡±
¡°No, we provide the energy from the spiritual plane and mix it with the ambient mana. It is up to the mortal to absorb the mana and fuse it into their body. The process is similar to all the cultivation books you read on Earth. You didn¡¯t notice it or assume we performed the task for you because your body is special.¡±
¡°Okay, that makes sense. You provide the energy and I do the work.¡± Tempest was somewhat relieved.
¡°Some work. All you have to do is breath and your body does the work for you.¡± Astrapi snorted. Really, their mortal hit the cultivation jackpot this time. Although her ¡®cheat¡¯ was somewhat arranged by them, they didn¡¯t realize how well her body was suited to cultivate as a mage.
¡°Breathing is hard,¡± Tempest said with the wise air of an immortal sage.
Mizu took the chance to cuddle up against Tempest, lovingly holding her in her embrace, as a mother would. ¡°Breathing is indeed hard.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t coddle her Mizu.¡± Astrapi tried to scold Mizu but she should have known her words won¡¯t have any effect on her companion.
¡°Breathing is hard. Do you know how many people die by drowning each year? Do you?¡± Mizu glared at Astrapi before turning her attention back at Tempest. ¡°Still, Tempest, you understand that things obtained easily aren¡¯t as valuable as things obtained through hard work. Most people take for granted things given to them for free. They don¡¯t know how much effort the giver expends to be able to give the time to them.¡±
¡°Thanks for the reminder,¡± Tempest said dryly before segueing into her point. ¡°What do you get out of this? I don¡¯t buy it when you say it is because you love me.¡±
¡°You would trust us more if we said we could eventually obtain your soul if you cultivate through this method.¡± Astrapi¡¯s cynical reply actually had Tempest nodding her head in agreement. She would believe the spirits more if they told her this cultivation method leaves a window for them to obtain her soul. ¡°What do you take us for? A soul sucking corporation?¡±
¡°Now that you mention it¡¡±
¡°Tempest, can you not view us in an evil light?¡± Astrapi asked.
¡°I see you as an alien. You have your own physiology, language, culture, and reasoning. You are too strange for me to understand and what I don¡¯t understand, I will mistrust.¡±
¡°That sounded logical.¡±
¡°I am logical.¡±
¡°Not really,¡± Astrapi said dryly.
¡°I don¡¯t think it is mistrust.¡± Ventus cut in. ¡°I think you don¡¯t like to owe anyone anything.¡±
Tempest remained silent. Ventus is partially right. She did mistrust the spirits because she doesn¡¯t understand them. Their one sided affections towards her is an alien concept. Perhaps if she had a different mother, she¡¯d understand what it meant to be loved unconditionally. At the same time, she didn¡¯t want to owe the spirits anything. Tempest didn¡¯t want a large obligation chaining her down.
¡°Tempest, you don¡¯t have to worry. Mage cultivation is about an equal exchange. When a mage infuses their body with mana, a portion of the mana is made available to us for use. For us, cultivating with energy from the spiritual plane isn¡¯t as good as cultivating with the mana we get from our mage.¡±
Tempest¡¯s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as she grinned with satisfaction. ¡°So, if I don¡¯t cultivate, you guys don¡¯t cultivate.¡±
¡°No. We cultivate and grow but at a slower rate.¡± Ventus corrected Tempest as her other two companions glower at her. While Mizu has tried her hardest to please Tempest and Astrapi acted unobtainable and distance all to attract Tempest¡¯s attention, it took only a few words from Ventus to appease the cynical side of Tempest. They envied Ventus¡¯ ability to soothe Tempest. Really. Envy.
¡°I see. You do get something out of this deal.¡± An unequal exchange bothers Tempest. If the spirits, the side getting gipped, decided they don¡¯t want to be a part of the exchange anymore then there is nothing Tempest could do to change the fact. The scenario changes if the spirits had something to lose if the dissolve the exchange. It makes the exchange more binding since both sides lose if the exchange doesn¡¯t go through.
¡°Okay, let me summarize the lecture so far. One, I have a cheat that allows me to cultivate just by breathing. Two, due to my cheat, I am physically weaker than most mages. Three, the benefits you receive from mana is greater than the energy from your plane.¡±
¡°Correct on all three counts.¡±
¡°Okay, then what does all of this have to do with the changes in my personality that Cardis hinted at?¡±
Chapter 0181
Chapter 0181
The spirits have mastered the ability to remain calm in any given situation. Their expression didn¡¯t change one bit when Tempest asked about their influence over her personality. That doesn¡¯t mean they don¡¯t feel uneasy due to the topic.
There were ripples and fluctuation in the spirit plane as the Tempest¡¯s spirits communicated with each other at a speed humans can¡¯t perceive.
There is always a bit of lingering guilt when the spirits have to broach the subject. Their desires overcome their guilt all too quickly. Ventus was the one to answer as she actually had this conversation many times before. Tempest dying and reincarnates happen all too often.
¡°There are three causes or possible explanation for the personality issue.¡±
¡°So very being is merely an issue to you guys huh?¡± Tempest took exception to how Ventus phrased her answer.
The problem is a serious one in her view. Her personality, her very sense of self was, no is, subtly influenced by the spirits. Give an inch here and inch there and after a time, she¡¯d have nothing of herself left. All the pieces of her, Tempest Arashi Kataigida, would be in the hands of the spirits, clay for them to mold however they wish.
Tempest didn¡¯t want her very being to be a product of conditioning or worse, brainwashing by the spirits.
¡°I understand you feel violated by what you perceive as our deception. Please let us explain first.¡± Ventus wanted to hold Tempest in her embrace and ease the pain and fear she saw in her expression. She tightly controlled her image in Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness. Ventus knew Tempest would not welcome her touch right now.
Mizu already strikes first by cuddling up to Tempest and even now she clings to their beloved daughter. Adding her caress would prod Tempest¡¯s temper and mistrust. Still, Ventus couldn¡¯t help herself.
Back on the spiritual plane, one wind spirit went over to smack a water spirit in the back of the head. The water spirit glared back at the wind spirit but did nothing.
¡°You may start,¡± Tempest said like a queen allowing her subjects to plead and prostrated before her.
Back on the spiritual plane, all the wind spirits sighed in relief. Tempest might notice her how each aspect of her behavior mimics aspects of her elements - carefree as the wind, easygoing as water and lordly like lightning - but the spirits, who was always watching Tempest, notice each shift.
Tempest is hardest to deal with when she acts carefree. The spirits have nothing to entice her when she acts like a silly little goofball. In almost all of her incarnation, Athena is one of the exceptions, Tempest like to eat. When Tempest is being a silly little goofball, the best way to get her attention or to soothe her is to present her with a plate full of delicacy. Tempest is easy to persuade when she is easy going but she is easy going when things are going her way. Change the course of action she settled on isn¡¯t easy but doable as long as one present her with greater benefits. When she acts like a high and mighty lord of the realm is when she is in her most analytical state of mind. Tempest is the most unbiased and fair in her analytical state of mind. She considers the situations, the causes and effects, and the consequences before deciding on and implementing her judgment.
As such, Ventus knows Tempest will look at the facts presented to her with a clear mind.
¡°As I said before, there are three factors influencing your perceived shift in personality. The first factor we believe to influence a mage¡¯s personality is the outside factor, mana. A nature versus nurture dilemma. You are born with an innate nature, your genes so to speak. Then there is your upbring which plays a role in your behavior. We believe that when a mage takes mana into their body, the elemental characteristic of the mana influences the mage¡¯s personality.
¡°For example, if a child gets enough food and nutrient growing up like most industrialized nations, then they tend to grow taller, stronger and generally healthier. If they don¡¯t get enough food like the children in third world countries, they tend to be shorter, weak and frail. Mana will replace food as the factor which influences growth. The more mana a mage infuse into their body, the healthier, prettier, stronger, etc, etc, etc, they become. And like food, mana will affect a person¡¯s behavior, more so their personality. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°The second factor is influence by proximity. The sea of consciousness houses the mage¡¯s personality, core or however you want to call it. Spirits enter their mortal''s sea of consciousness to improve communication between the spirits and their mortal. Once we take up residence in the mage¡¯s sea of consciousness we indirectly influence the mage¡¯s personality. I call it to influence by proximity. I believe the idiom ¡°He who stays near vermilion gets stained red. He who stays near (black) ink gets stained black,¡± best describe the second factor.
¡°The third factor is like attracts like. We desire your soul Tempest but have you ever question why we desire your soul so much?¡±
¡°My soul is beautiful. Of course, you desire it.¡± Tempest answer narcissistically. Tempest knows she was going to grow up beautiful. The spirits almost guarantee that. All the Elders in the Council of Elders in the Eternal Spirit Guild is supermodel beautiful. Tempest didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be so beautiful she can cause the downfall of a nation but she thinks she can hold her own or that she¡¯d make it to the cover of Cosmopolitan once or twice.
Her soul, in its pure form, is a different story. Tempest thought fireworks took over her vision when the spirits shared with her their memories of her soul. It was a kaleidoscope of colors, more dazzling than the brightest diamond shining under the sun and purer than freshly fallen snow. It was more of everything beautiful in Tempest¡¯s life.
There was no question in Tempest¡¯s mind how desirable her soul was.
¡°Although your soul is brilliant, there are other souls just as beautiful as yours.¡±
¡°Hey.¡±
Ventus shrug while Astrapi threw out Tempest¡¯s favorite phrase to her face, ¡°Truth hurts. Live with it.¡±
¡°At the time of creation,¡± Ventus continued with her explanation before the relationship between Tempest and Astrapi can get any worse, ¡°there many souls as beautiful as yours, Tempest. Despite it, it was your soul that fascinates us to this day.¡±
¡°Even now, your soul holds us in thrall,¡± Mizu spoke earnestly, trying to convey her feelings to Tempest.
¡°It was everything we are, everything we want to be. It was our everything.¡± Astrapi had a dreamy look as she reminisces about the first time she saw Tempest¡¯s soul.
¡°We think the core nature of your soul was completely in line with our elements, hence the immense attraction we felt towards you.¡±
¡°So basically you are attracted to how I am and everything else enhances those same qualities and ignoring everything else, which results in a sense of manipulation on my part,¡± Tempest spoke the words as a statement but her tone held a hopeful note.
¡°No,¡± Ventus denied. ¡°We are attracted to the main qualities of you and held it as our ideal. We took advantage of the situation to attempt to preserve our ideal in you. We tried to keep your soul in a static state, hence your feeling of manipulation on our part. We have long since acknowledged that things change, especially the soul. We acknowledge and accept those changes but by the time we did so we already set into motion the forces which try to preserve the soul in its static state. Once the forces were set in motion, we can not stop it. I¡¯m sorry you suffered because of our stubborn insistence.¡±
Ventus sounded sincere and apologetic. They acknowledge their mistakes and tried to fix it, yet once a precedent is set it is hard to reverse.
Tempest sat down in thought. She shifted through all the information the spirits gave her, trying to find loopholes or fallacies in their logic. When she couldn¡¯t find any glaring problems with their explanation, she began to sort out her emotions.
Just because they have logic on their side doesn¡¯t mean they can discount her feelings. Aside from the leftover turmoil she experienced as Athena and the part where she was possessed by the spirits, she didn¡¯t find the spirits objectionable.
Athena is Athena. Tempest has decided she is Tempest Arashi Kataigida. Tempest let go of Athena¡¯s resentment towards the spirits.
Carefree as the wind.
Easygoing as the water.
Lordly like lightning.
This is how Tempest thought she should be. This was how she wanted to live.
The spirits brought out the better side. She can¡¯t blame them for it. Okay, she can and will blame them. She would hold their past mistakes as a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads and take it out whenever she needed to force¡ ah no, persuade them to do what she wants.
Hmph, hmph. See if I don¡¯t work you guys to the bone! Tempest grinned evilly at her spirits. Tempest thought she was menacing when she put on her ¡®evil¡¯ face, but she looks like an adorable baby trying too hard to be an adult. She was so cute the spirits have to actively restrain themselves from going over to her and coddling her.
Then out of the blue Tempest pronounced, ¡°No possessing me!¡±
Chapter 0182
Chapter 0182
The spirits were used to Tempest weird change in topics. It is a part of what they are and who Tempest is. ¡°Ah, that,¡± Ventus said then turn towards the culprit.
Astrapi squirmed under everyone¡¯s silent condemnation.
This was a rarity for Astrapi. Ventus and Mizu savored the situation as much as they could for as long as they could.
Astrapi is a part of their collective but her element was the means the Greater Creation or as the cultivators from the Heavenly Mountains calls refers to it, the Heavenly Dao, use to judge. She is the means and a part of the will of the Greater Creation. Therefore, Astrapi¡¯s status among the spirits is very high. Only the three primordial spirits have a higher status than her.
Astrapi maintains a silent aloofness, even among the spirits. She was the impartial judge who stands above everyone else, a messenger of the Greater Creation. She has the might and prestige to look down upon everyone and kill anyone she deems unworthy.
It was interesting for Ventus and Mizu to see Astrapi being put upon the spot. It rarely happens since Astrapi had little care for the world around her. Basically, there were few things which could make her move.
Tempest was one of the few people Astrapi would move for...sort of. There were a few times where the person Tempest was reduced to the lowest of the low and Astrapi could have saved her but she didn¡¯t.
¡°It was done to save your life. Your body could not handle the chaotic power coursing through your body and you need to be in the best physical condition possible given the circumstances.¡± Astrapi justified her position with solid reasoning and logic.
She forgot Tempest may be logical most of the time but when it involves something important to her, she can be downright obstinate. ¡°Uh-huh. You were helping me out of the goodness of your heart, and not for any other reason.¡±
¡°You could have died without intervention.¡±
¡°And who gave you the right to make that call? I¡¯ve felt the power of chaos coursing through my body and I was handling it. The situation in no way shape or form called for your intervention. I could of handled one stupid idiot with both hands tied behind my back. The moron was not a threat. You had no reason to interfere, much less take over my body. You stole the right to decide from me!¡± Tempest angrily berated Astrapi. ¡°Not only that, you made the situation worse. Everyone knows I have beef with the girl and she died during a beast tide with me conveniently present. The people behind her aren¡¯t stupid!¡±
¡°She knows too much. She must die. The treasures you got from the chaotic rift is too valuable to let even a hint of the news to get out. The people chasing you for your treasures won¡¯t care if it was a rumor. They will hunt you down, rape and kill you and then take your treasure. Cardis maybe strong but even he can¡¯t protect you from the besiegement.¡±
¡°Ventus can easily control the flow of information. It won¡¯t get out.¡± Tempest was right. Ventus could have made it so the girl never spoke of the matter. Either that, Mizu could have brainwashed them into forgetting the incident completely. What she did was the extreme option.
Still, Astrapi didn¡¯t regret her actions. She did regret the mistrust Tempest felt due to her actions, but for the actions itself, nope, Astrapi didn¡¯t feel an iota of remorse.
Astrapi couldn¡¯t say that to Tempest. She didn¡¯t know what to say to Tempest. She wasn¡¯t Ventus, created with the skill to talk her way out of anything and everything.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ventus.
Ventus has the best chance of getting Astrapi out of her current predicament.
Astrapi turned beseeching eyes towards Ventus. Ventus turned her head away, pretending not to notice the clear silvery eyes begging for help.
Even though Ventus could ignore Astrapi in Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness, she couldn¡¯t ignore Astrapi on the spiritual plane.
On said spiritual plane all the lightning spirits were cozying up to the wind spirits so Ventus can put in a good word for them. When that didn¡¯t work - it was too amusing to see Astrapi squirm - the lightning spirits began to beg and plead. They would have tried threatening the wind spirits but they knew from experience the wind spirits are much more sneakier than they are.
Mizu took pity on Astrapi so she put in a good word for her. ¡°Astrapi took over your body with good intentions.¡±
¡°The road to hell was paved with good intentions.¡± Tempest retorted.
Ventus lamented. How could they not know what Tempest is like after watching over her for so long?
¡°What to want in exchange for forgiving Astrapi?¡± Ventus asked straight out.
Tempest perked at the question. Finally, now they were talking. Tempest was angry at Astrapi for possessing her but the situation was complicated. Did it call for possession, no, but it was dicey.
¡°I want you all to promise me to never do it again without my permission.¡±
¡°Oh, so we can possess you as long as you give us permission eh?¡± Ventus teased.
¡°My life is important, but so is my sense of self. I don¡¯t want to lose either one.¡±
¡°¡°¡°Agreed.¡±¡±¡±
¡°You can¡¯t intrude on my personal thought.¡±
¡°That part is a bit too late.¡±
Anger clouds gathered above Tempest¡¯s head. They dare!
Tempest''s sea of consciousness began to react to Tempest¡¯s intense anger. Strong eddies of wind, giant waves and small bursts of lightning appeared, ready to unleash hell on the spirits.
¡°Wait! Listen to me explain!¡±
¡°Explain!¡±
¡°Your sea of consciousness reflects your mind!¡±
¡°So what?¡±
¡°Your every thought is reflected in your sea of consciousness. Just now when you were truly angry, a storm started brewing. We are in your mind right now. We can not not intrude on your personal thought.¡± Ventus hurriedly explain.
¡°How do I keep you out?¡± Tempest hissed.
¡°Build a Jade Palace in your sea of consciousness to house your core self. It would protect you from mental intrusion as well as the side effects of absorbing mana.¡±
The storm died down as fast as it started up.
¡°Go on.¡± Tempest urged Ventus.
¡°A mage¡¯s sea of consciousness is different from the sea of consciousness of other cultivators. Unlike the cultivators in the Mysterious Wasteland who use their sea of consciousness to store their mental powers, a mage¡¯s sea of consciousness is more of a home or a fortress. This is where mages can interact with their spirits and learn the underlying law of their elements and tell out the spells they learn. It is more like a home with a built-in laboratory, gym and classroom all rolled into one.
¡°And just like a home, it has many rooms. Any private thoughts you have, you can keep in your room while we keep our private thoughts in ours. The thoughts you wish to share with us can be placed in the shared living spaces.¡±
¡°How do I go about doing that?¡±
¡°That, you have to ask Cardis. The mind is not our forte.¡±
¡°You do realize that since I don¡¯t have to spend time cultivating, I can spend time building my Jade Palace. All palaces have jails.¡± Tempest indirectly threaten them.
¡°Yes, Tempest.¡±
¡°Just you wait. I¡¯ll go to Cardis and ask for a high-level mental power cultivation method and build my Jade Palace. You won¡¯t be reading my thoughts that easily!¡±
¡°Yes, Tempest.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t patronize me!¡±
¡°We aren¡¯t.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to go find Cardis right now for a high-level mind cultivation technique and restrict you all, just see if I don¡¯t,¡± Tempest yelled before stomping back to her body.
Mizu and Astrapi looked at the demure Ventus with an indescribable feeling. They have to watch out for Ventus after this!
Chapter 0183
Chapter 0183
Tempest woke up with an intense pain in her head. She swore she was going to take precautions next time she meets the spirits in her sea of consciousness.
¡°Tempest, you are awake!¡± Graden¡¯s voice called from outside the barrier Tempest placed around her.
Tempest stared at Graden, wide eyed and confused. After a moment, Tempest yelled, ¡°Graden¡¯s ghost, I¡¯m sorry you died. I swear I¡¯ll avenge you. I¡¯ll burn paper money for you. I¡¯ll do whatever you want but for god sakes, don¡¯t come closer!¡± Tempest curled herself into a ball and made herself look as small as possible. If Graden didn¡¯t know she was afraid of ghosts before, he does so now.
Tempest¡¯s fear of ghosts was all due her sisters. They like horror movies. A lot. The freaking horror fest they put her through was hell on her nerves. It was already hard enough to cope with the strange phenomena happening to her, now they want to add another unexplainable spiritual aspect her already messed up life.
They didn¡¯t see it that way. Popcorn nights, cheap movies and making fun of the actors making stupid decisions. Tempest didn¡¯t see the fun in that. The others did, but not her.
¡°I¡¯m not dead you silly twat.¡± Graden replied dryly.
¡°But I saw the madman slice you.¡±
¡°He is a space cultivator. Instead of killing us, his attack transport us to a different place.¡±
¡°Really?¡±
¡°Really.¡±
¡°Really, really?¡±
¡°Really, really.¡±
¡°Really, really, really?¡± Tempest asked for the third time.
¡°Really, really, really.¡± Graden answered for the third time.
After getting the confirmation, Tempest did something she normally wouldn¡¯t do. She took down the array protecting her and ran into Graden¡¯s arm. She proceed to bawl her heart out, ¡°Wahhh. I thought you guys died under the hands of the madman. It was so scary. He was so strong. He nearly killed me. His sword was so close to my throat. If Cardis didn¡¯t help me in time, I would have died.¡±
Tempest didn¡¯t realize how much the fight affected her nor did she realized how much she valued her teammates. It happened too fast for Tempest to process their supposed death as she was too busy trying to survive herself. Afterwards she was too angry at Cardis for intervening too late then she had to speak with her spirits.
Once all the pressing matters were resolved, the presence of an alive Graden toppled her emotional fort. Tempest cried her eyes out.
Tempest crying has never been like those main characters in a drama, silently and beautifully. Tempest cried like the kid she is, all with dripping tears and snot. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Graden rolled his eyes at Tempest¡¯s dramaziation. He was alive and in front of her wasn¡¯t he! There was nothing to cry about. Still, Graden was gentle enough to let Tempest cry, unbothered by her mess she left behind.
¡°There there. I¡¯m here aren¡¯t I?¡± Graden soothe her.
¡°What about the others?¡± Tempest asked after she shed enough tears to soak the front of Graden¡¯s shirt.
¡°They are alive as well.¡±
¡°What happened?¡±
Graden didn¡¯t know what to say as they themselves don¡¯t know much. There were plenty of speculation but it all remains that, speculation.
¡°We¡¯re only guessing at this point.¡± Graden said.
¡°A guess is better than nothing.¡± Tempest retorted.
Graden smiled sweetly before he explained what happened to the rest of the team.
¡°Starm, Li Ming and I cast our most powerful spells so we could buy you and Fenix time to run. As you can see, we did nothing to the madman. He could have killed us with his attack, but he didn''t. Instead he teleported to the same place where he teleported Bei Ting Mao, a large clearing slightly deeper into Emblemic Mountain Range. Fenix soon followed. She was teleported onto Li Ming, where she proceed to glomp Li Ming for water mana.
¡°We waited a bit longer for you to show up. During that time we discussed the motives behind the madman¡¯s actions. Actually it was more like Bei Ting Mao rambling his thoughts. Ever since he had lost to his inner demons he always wanted to know how to -¡±
¡°Hey wait a gosh darn moment! Bei Ting Mao fought against his inner demons and lost? Why isn¡¯t he insane then?¡± Tempest interrupted Graden¡¯s narrative to clarify her confusion.
¡°Bei Ting Mao fought his inner demons and lost but before his inner demons swallowed him up and take over, his spirits intervened. They ate his inner demons as a snack and told him about his potential to cultivate the heart as his immortal path. Ever since, he had an interest with inner demons, namely how one can win them.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. Given his history and potential, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised his inner demons show up.¡± Tempest said casually. ¡°The spirits can do that? Eat inner demons?¡±
¡°Yes they can.¡± Graden answered.
We can eat your inner demons. Love and the feelings of the heart are the basis of a mage¡¯s cultivation. Obession, hatred and jealousy have no place in true love. We would never tolerate an outsider coming between us and our mortal, not even their inner demons.
¡°Do mages suffer any potential backlashes? Cause cultivating as a mage seems too easy peasy.¡±
Graden gave Tempest a sour look. How easy does the silly little brat think it is to cultivate as a mage? If it was easy as she made it out to be, there would be more mages than any other cultivators out there!
Ventus also answered the Tempest¡¯s question as she sense the it was directed more towards her rather than Graden. Most of the problem a mage experience is trying to increase their cultivation rate. Not all spirits love their mortals as much as we love you Tempest. They give only a small portion of the mana to their mortals and keep the rest. Therefore, most mages can¡¯t control their cultivation speed. Furthermore, mages need to learn the underlying laws of their elements. You have to learn the language of the spirits before you can communicate with the spirits. Our language is very complex. It is trying to decipher ancient Egyptian without the Rosetta Stone.
¡°Hmph,¡± Tempest grunted, ¡°Then what happened?¡± The last part of the sentense was directed towards Graden.
¡°After we realized you weren¡¯t going to be teleported, we started to make our way back to the guild. We figured you¡¯d head back there and meet up, except we couldn¡¯t find or tails of you so we separated to search for you.¡±
¡°How long was I gone?¡±
¡°Not long. Just over four days.¡±
¡°Four day? I was out for that long?¡±
¡°That¡¯s long it was since we last saw you.¡± Graden searched his mage robe for a bit before pulling out a weird contraption. ¡°I need to tell the others I¡¯ve found you. They will come to us once I release the signal.¡± Graden explained then launched the fireworks.
Temepst hugged Graden and said, ¡°Thanks. Thanks for caring.¡±
¡°We are a team. This is what teammates do.¡± Graden returned shyly.
Chapter 0184
Chapter 0184
Tempest stared thoughtfully at Graden.
Almost all of her teammates follow the stereotyped personality associated with their elements. Fenix is passionate. Bei Ting Mao is steady as the mountain and sharper than a sword. Li Ming, that idiot, is an easy going fool that got tricked into coming to the Magus Alliance. Her sunny light side was slowly working its way through her depression.
Then there is Starm. He doesn''t count.
So, out of all of Tempest¡¯s teammate, Graden¡¯s personality doesn¡¯t fit the stereotype. She wondered about it.
It could be his wood side showing up but somehow Tempest doubts it.
¡°Hey Graden, can I ask you something?¡±
¡°Of course.¡±
¡°Why are you so gentle when your predominant affinity is fire?¡±
¡°You noticed it didn¡¯t you? As expected of a True Daughter of Storm. I guess the issue would affect you faster than most.¡± Graden mused.
¡°You do know about affinities affecting your personality,¡± Tempest said excitedly. She was glad she and Cardis wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed the problem.
¡°Well yes,¡± Graden said almost apologetically.
¡°So, tell me, tell me, tell me.¡± Tempest wheedle. Tempest did stomp away from the spirits, vowing to ask Cardis for a high-level cultivation technique for the mind. However, after some consideration, Tempest felt like she was being led by the nose by Ventus. It wasn¡¯t outright manipulation but Tempest still felt like she was the sheep being led to slaughter. It didn¡¯t sit well with her to go along with other people''s plans without knowing her role in it or if the prize was worth the sacrifice.
¡°I¡¯ll tell you if you tell me what is the big secret you have over me.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Tempest asked, confusion written all over her face.
¡°Back when we first met, you hinted that you didn¡¯t worry about us spilling your secrets because you have something on us.¡± Graden patiently explain. He didn¡¯t think Tempest was faking her confusion. Given her silly personality, Graden figured she threw the issue out of her mind after someone mention money.
¡°Oh.¡± Tempest stared at Graden.
It¡¯s no skin off her back telling Graden his secret. It might be beneficial for him to know about it so he can guard against it rather than keeping him in the dark. If it was Fenix¡¯s secret then Tempest definitely won¡¯t consider it. However, Graden¡¯s secret needs to be guarded against lest someone targets him. Fenix can go her entire life without knowing. Once Graden¡¯s cultivation is high enough, his secret would come to light. If he didn¡¯t have enough preparation then instead of a light secret it might become a dangerous secret.
Tempest grabbed his hand, slip her hand under his sleeves and wrote, ¡°Eternal Flame Tree.¡±
Graden gave Tempest a stiff nod, the only indication he understood what Tempest wrote before explaining, ¡°I see you notice a mage¡¯s personality resemble the stereotypes associated with the elements but have notice mages acting to the extreme? Granted, mages tend to be emotional but that is actually a side effect of this issue.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Tempest thought back to the Elders of the Eternal Spirit Guild. She did notice them acting like the stereotype associated with their affinities but most of them weren¡¯t out of line. A few mages toed the line but they didn¡¯t cross it.
¡°Now that you mention it, yes, I do notice mages being emotional but not to the point where their emotions completely take over with cause.¡± Yelin did try to kill Mac Divdiel but Tempest felt her attacks were justified. It¡¯s not every day you realize who your scum father is.
¡°If mages act like their stereotypes, then you¡¯d see more fire mages propositioning everyone or fighting at the drop of a hat. The water mages would be so easy going they would be bullied to death. The earth mages would be overburdened with responsibilities and the wind mages won¡¯t care about anything unless it affects them. But you rarely see the extremes of an affinity affecting the mages because most mages learn how to control the effects mana has on them.
¡°It is more like they learn how to control the impulses their affinities have on their personalities. People set boundaries. There are some things you should never do, although each boundary varies from person to person. I won¡¯t seduce a young girl or go into a rage and attempt to kill a bratty child just because he or she is an irritating little snot. If he or she comes at me with intent to kill, I¡¯ll kill them but I won¡¯t kill them for being an annoyance. This is the boundaries I have set.¡±
¡°Let me rephrase it in my own words. You set boundaries and never cross it thereby limiting the effects of mana on you.¡± Tempest gets the gist of what Graden was trying to say but she can¡¯t seem to fully comprehend it.
¡°Hmmm¡ not quite. Let me explain using an example. The fire mages have two sides, ah intensity if you will. They range from simmering to full blown inferno. Mages can¡¯t be mad all of the time nor can they be simmering all of the time, just like a human can¡¯t be either sad or happy all of the time. What mages do is limit themselves within boundaries they are comfortable with. After a while, the boundaries become a part of them. Once it does, the effects of mana on a mage can¡¯t change those boundaries easily. It might move the boundaries an inch every century or so. It¡¯s like boiling a frog in warm water. However, if the boundaries are moved, then a good mage in his normal state of mind would notice it. They could move the boundaries back or leave it as it is. Most mages chose to move it back.
¡°As to the effect of mana, well, mages are emotional for a reason. When a mage feels something, they act on it, be it love or obsession. Once they act on it then they can disperse some of the effects of the mana. They do it this way to avoid extreme emotions or as some refer to it, they avoid letting their emotions take control of them.¡±
¡°So I have to see who I want to be and set boundaries accordingly and act on my emotions to avoid being controlled by my emotions.¡± Tempest was trying to grasp the nuances of Graden¡¯s explanation. She really is. Sadly, Tempest¡¯s EQ isn¡¯t the best.
¡°It can be put in those terms.¡±
¡°Hmmm¡¡± Tempest considered the information Graden gave her. It made some strange sort of sense. Confine yourself to a cage and act however you want in it. If the cage broke, then you know you went overboard.
Tempest didn¡¯t like the idea of confining herself to boundaries considering her carefree nature but at the same time labeling herself as carefree was confining herself to set of reaction in line with being carefree.
¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit stifling?¡± Tempest asked. It was an important question for her. She hates cages and prisons. Confining her true self with boundaries is like a caging herself.
¡°Would Tempest kill an innocent baby?¡±
¡°What? No, I won¡¯t!¡±
¡°Would Tempest kill a man because he is ugly and dirty your eyes?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Would Tempest destroy an entire nation because Tempest thought their custom was stupid?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Then how are these boundaries stifling? You should not see these boundaries as boundaries but strokes of a paintbrush. A stroke of paint is a stroke of paint. It is simple, ordinary and uninspiring. It is only when you pull back to see the whole picture do you realize how each stroke of paint together creates the picture that is you.¡±
¡°Thanks, Graden.¡±
¡°Uh¡ about my ummm¡¡± Graden starts to say but halted his words.
¡°Oh that. Not a word. I promise.¡± Tempest assured Graden.
Chapter 0185
Chapter 0185
Graden closed his eyes sighed in relief. He knew from an early age his spirits were not like the other spirits.
Whereas the other spirits tried to communicate with their mortals in one form or another, his spirits remain silent.
If he didn¡¯t test for his affinities, he wouldn¡¯t have known he was a mage. The other mages in his family have a close bond with their spirits. His family members always talk about what the spirits said, what they learn from the spirits, how the spirits love and guide them.
Aside from the first meeting he had with his spirits, all he got was silence. Graden didn¡¯t understand why. Why his spirits didn¡¯t his spirits speak to him? Why was his combination of affinities so strange? Why was he the way he is?
Graden noticing the effects of mana on mages wasn¡¯t an accident. He delved deeply into the effects the spirits or mana had on their mortals. He kept a journal of his observation. Over time, he saw a pattern emerging.
During childhood, mages experience periods of extreme mood swings. The period of time the mage spends during their lows and highs become longer and longer unless they made an effort to curb their emotions. Mages taught to control their emotions were able to curb their bipolar tendencies, however, their cultivation also drops. Those who let their feelings reign experience a marked increase in their cultivation. The trade-off was their inability to control their feelings.
Graden had also noticed the emotional outburst occurs more often in mages with higher degrees of mana absorption. After years of careful observation, Graden concluded the emotional outburst correlates with mana. The higher the mana absorption rate a mage has the higher the chance he or she experiences an emotional outburst. Conversely, the lower the mana absorption rate a mage has, the greater the control they have over their emotions.
It isn¡¯t to say the mage¡¯s personality isn¡¯t affected by other variables such as education, status, wealth, or family circumstances but the general trend was there.
Then there was him. Graden was one of the few outliers in the massive amount of data that can not be explained. He is an 89 fire 51 wood mage who acts more like a wood mage instead of his predominant affinity, fire. His mana absorption rate is higher than an 89 fire 51 wood mage should have.
Graden¡¯s affinities marked him as a low to medium level alchemist. He simply doesn¡¯t have a strong enough understanding of plants to be able to create high-level pills.
Pills are given 2 designations in the Magus Alliance. The first designation is a numerical one represent the overall difficulty of the pill. The higher the number, the harder it is to create for the alchemist. It doesn¡¯t take into consideration the rarity of the materials.
To a mage with wood affinity, finding and growing plants is as easy as breathing. Finding those legendary rare herbs is nothing to an alchemist mage. Herbs with the slightest sentience come running to wood mages.
Those beauties Graden was raising, taking them to any auction house in the other three realms and they should fetch an astronomical price. Yet in the Magus Alliance, they were treated as low-level plants used for fighting.
The second designation is used to measure grade. The grade is divided into poor, low, mid, high and perfect grade.
The number one pill recognized by all alchemist is a level 23 perfect grade Soul Recall pill.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Graden can make a level 9 perfect grade pills.
Everything about him points to a high wood affinity, not the measly 51 the test showed. Graden tested himself several times with different stones and he still got the same result.
The only explanation he came up with was deliberate manipulation by the spirits themselves. Graden didn¡¯t know what the spirits were up to but he wanted to know why. Why did they make him the odd mage out? Why did he feel as if he was a stranger in his own skin?
There were so many questions Graden want answers to but his spirits barely made any time to speak to him. No matter how often he meditated, there was no response from the spirits.
It wasn¡¯t to say he was short-changed by the spirits or anything like that. They did their job converting providing his body with mana but that¡¯s it.
Graden has no access to basic spells because his spirits barely communicate with him. One of his relatives took pity on him and gave him a few low-level fire spells or else he would be a mage who doesn¡¯t know any spells!
Graden knew he couldn¡¯t rely on the generosity of his family for the rest of his life. If he learned everything by rote memory, then he won¡¯t understand the underlying theories or laws. Mages need to understand the underlying theories or laws to go further with their spell casting.
At the same time, he couldn¡¯t remain defenseless in a cruel world. Graden needs a method to fight without the need to understand the theories or laws and luckily his wood affinities gave him just that.
A gardener needs to know properties associated with the plant, what kind of soil, water, temperature, sunlight the plants needs to grow.
All this information, Graden has access to. So, instead of being a fire wood mage, Graden practically abandons the fire aspect of his affinities and focus wholeheartedly on his wood affinities.
Still, a seed of confusion remained in his heart.
When Tempest mention she wasn¡¯t worried about her secrets leaking out because she knew about their secrets and it was much more dangerous if the information was to leak out, Graden felt his heart rate increase. Did she truly know the secrets his spirits hid from him? He wanted to ask. He wanted to demand Tempest tell him the secret. Graden held himself back because he knew now wasn¡¯t the time and if his secret was as dangerous as Tempest implied, he wants to ask when no one was around.
Graden knew where Tempest was all the time. He knew she wasn¡¯t at the guild. He didn¡¯t tell anyone about it and schemed to send them in to search for her in a different direction to create the chance for him to speak to Tempest alone.
The others suspect he was up to something but they were kind enough to ignore his weak attempts at scheming.
Graden had his answer now. He wished he didn¡¯t. He wished he remained ignorant.
Tempest might not know how alluring the Eternal Flame Tree is to an alchemist. A rumored map to the location of a small leaf from the Eternal Flame Tree had all the alchemist foaming in the mouth hankering after it.
One can imagine the lengths an alchemist would go to get their grubby paws on a living Eternal Flame Tree. Even hearing the name sent an intense desire to obtain it through Graden and he was the one who had it! The Eternal Flame Tree was that alluring.
The dawn of creation was a whirlpool of diverse forms of energy colliding with each other, giving rise to the Primordial Chaos. From the chaos emerged strange creatures of unfathomable powers and unimaginable strength. One of these creatures was a tree.
The tree was different from the rest of the creatures existing in the Primordial Chaos in that it absorbs all the different types of energy in the Primordial Chaos into its body and converts it into fire energy.
The plant grew in its corner of the Primordial Chaos, guarded by three birds who later became the first phoenix, vermillion bird and golden crow. The tree was called the Eternal Flame Tree by the three birds because they hope the tree would stand strong eternally. As long as the Eternal Flame Tree lived, the three birds would always have a place to call home.
From time to time, the Eternal Flame Tree would bear fruit. After dining on the fruit, the birds would fling the seeds into the Primordial Chaos. Some of the seeds would mutate as it came into contact with chaotic power, but the majority of the seed would burn. It would burn brightly for eons upon eons as it waited for the right conditions to germinate. The burning seeds would later mutate and became what humans know as the sun.
¡°Found you!¡± Fenix yelled, breaking Graden¡¯s reverie.
Chapter 186
Chapter 0186
Tempest saw the excitedly screaming Fenix charging towards them with the rest of the team hot on her heels and braced for impact.
¡°Damn it Fenix! Have you been binge eating? I swear you gain a couple of pounds since I last saw you!¡± Tempest complained as she was laid flat on her back with a happy Fenix above her.
There are reasons why Tempest¡¯s teammates didn¡¯t think Tempest was female. Even though Starm calls Tempest Big Sis Tempest, he was strangely enough agreed Tempest was asexual from his point of view. All men know to never mention a woman¡¯s weight. All women know to never mention their weight. How can Tempest not know to not mention a person¡¯s weight? Losing weight, maybe it can be mentioned. As for gaining weight¡
¡°Ouch. Damn it Fenix, that hurts.¡± Tempest yelled as Fenix sent burst energy throughout Tempest¡¯s body, making her feel as if she had a mild sunburn.
¡°You deserve it your foul mouth jinx. Do you know how worried we were about you?¡± Fenix countered with concern and another glomp which leads to her sucking water mana from Tempest.
¡°People who worry tend to lose weight, not gain it!¡± Dunce Tempest complained. ¡°Ouch, quit it!¡±
Graden and Li Ming look on the duo with indulgence. The previous event opens its eyes to the stark reality of being weak. They all had very high potential but they must be alive before they can reach their potential. Fenix worrying and taking it out on the silly Tempest alleviate some of their anxiety.
Bei Ting Mao looks thoughtful at the Tempest. He wondered how Tempest was able to defeat a madman fighting his inner demons when he couldn¡¯t. He wanted to know. Although he wasn¡¯t obsessed with the subject as much as before, curiosity got a hold of him.
Starm was eyeing the duo intensely. He was waiting for a chance to insert himself in and when it presented itself, Starm jump right between them. Starm got in a ¡°Big Sis Tempest is mine! Interloper, go away,¡± before Tempest instinctively tried punted him away but the sticky little bun held on tight.
Once Tempest realizes what she was doing, she held back and let the sticky little bun circulate his mana through her. He needs to recharge just as much as Fenix does.
After everything was settled, Tempest answered the question that was on everyone¡¯s mind, ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°I fought the madman and nearly got killed. Luckily, Cardis intervened. I grabbed the loot and ran. Afterward, I set a protective formation and had some words with my spirits.¡± The answer was succulent and to the point.
¡°I missed a perfectly good chance to see him! Damn!¡± Tempest had forgotten Cardis was Fenix¡¯s idol. The enthralled girl was attentively eyeing Tempest up and down.
Before Fenix could ask Tempest a thousand and one questions about Cardis, Li Ming asked the question everyone overlooked. ¡°Did you actually have loot from a chaotic rift like the girl claimed you did?¡±
Everyone stopped what they were doing and as one turned towards Tempest like they were cats and she was the kitty crack.
It was not a joking matter. Claws, scratches, kitty bites, blood, and extreme harassment are involved with cats and kitty crack. Tempest experienced it first hand! She barely lived to tell the tale. She swore she was like Sasaki from Azumanga Daioh. Cats go out of their way to bite her.
Running was not an option.
Surrender was the only option.
¡°I got these loots.¡± Tempest started tossing out all the loot she gathered when she was fighting the madman in a bid to divert her teammates¡¯ attention. If she didn¡¯t know how precious the treasure from the chaotic rift was before, she sure does know now!
Tempest was sure they weren¡¯t going to believe her when she says she doesn¡¯t have any treasures from the chaotic rift. She can¡¯t convince herself much less the others.
They would continue to pester her for treasures if she hid it from them, or worse yet, try to search her mage robes.
Therefore Tempest picked the lesser of the two evils. She tossed out everything she looted after the madman was imprisoned in a lava ball and a small portion of the treasures she got when the chaotic power bum-rushed her.
Among the odd and ends she tossed out, a few of them were plants. More precisely, it was the plants that grew from the seeds she took from Graden.
¡°Ah, my little beauties!¡± Graden yelled as he threw himself on a pile of plants, ¡°You survived and thrived! Look at how big you have grown!¡±
In normal times, everyone would have been shocked by Graden¡¯s change in behavior and sneered at the love obsessed fool. No one had the time to jeer at Graden. They were too busy trying to snatch the best treasures Tempest tossed out of her mage robes.
¡°I get 70% of the loot! Mine, mine, mine!¡± Tempest went from one team member to another, snatching the treasures in their hands and stuffing back into her mage robe.
¡°By your reasoning the other 30% of the treasure is ours.¡± Fenix tried to reason with Tempest since the treasure she wanted was snatched back by the money grubber.
¡°Mine. Mine. Mine.¡± Tempest stuffed the treasures she took out back into her mage robe.
¡°We¡¯ll give you 70% of the treasures we collected while you give us 30% of your treasures.¡± Bei Ting Mao phrase his offer using logic and lure. They made an agreement that Tempest get 70% of all the treasures they collected from this expedition and they get 30%. Bei Ting Mao subtly reminded Tempest of their agreement while trying to lure Tempest with her portion of the treasures they collected.
¡°Hmph. I think you got it wrong. My treasures are mine. 70% of your treasures are mine. I¡¯m not trading my loot in your hands for my loot in my hands. That¡¯s just stupid.¡± Tempest blatantly twisted the original agreement to her advantage and short of killing her and stealing the treasures, they can¡¯t do anything about it.
Tempest knew the few treasures she took out would tempt even the most strong willed principal mages to betray her. She was happy to note while her teammates might try to snatch the treasures, there was no killing intent in their actions. It never entered their mind to simply kill each other and hoard the treasures for themselves.
¡°Tempest, be reasonable. You can¡¯t use everything you have. So why not give us a little.¡± Li Ming entered the conversation when she saw Bei Ting Mao¡¯s method didn¡¯t work.
¡°Mine. Mine. Mine.¡± Tempest said while she eyed Li Ming and Bei Ting Mao cautiously. They could only helplessly watch as money grubber Tempest turned into dog Tempest, complete with sharp fangs and a strong jaw that would never let go of the bone in her mouth.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Fenix decided on a different approach. ¡°Graden quit sucking on the stigma. Get your head out of the pistil and talk sense into Tempest.¡±
Bei Ting Mao and Starm took an instinctive step back as Fenix¡¯s words reminded them of Graden¡¯s ambiguous preferences.
Graden¡¯s face smeared with nectar didn¡¯t help the situation any further.
Tempest would have laughed at the strange situation if she wasn¡¯t acting like a rabid dragon guarding her hoard.
¡°Ah, what is going on?¡± Graden asked as he pulled out a cloth and wiped his face.
¡°Once you are into your beauties, you forget your friends.¡± Fenix vented her frustration at Graden. It wasn¡¯t the best move on her part but her hand itched to beat Tempest silly. Since she can''t, she might as well take out her frustration on a suitable target and Graden happened to be that suitable target.
¡°Tempest is being her treasure grubbing self.¡± Li Ming explained with a few simple words.
¡°Ah, I see. And you select me as the representative?¡±
¡°We can¡¯t handle her.¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s simple words spoke volumes.
¡°Then you¡¯d abide by the outcome of my negotiation?¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±¡±¡± They all agreed, even Starm.
¡°Okay.¡± Graden turned towards Tempest and sighed in his heart. When Tempest adopts her dog in the manger stance, it is harder to profit from her than a business minded cultivator from the Mysterious Wasteland.
Graden didn¡¯t waste time and made his best offer. ¡°We¡¯ll give you everything in our mage robes right now except the weapons you gave us in exchange for one suitable treasure from you. We¡¯ll also use all of our connections to help you with your sisters.¡±
As Tempest had pointed out, she doesn¡¯t need to trade her treasures in their hands - the weapons they are using were from her - for her treasures in her hands.
¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯d settle for just one treasure.¡± Tempest pointed out.
¡°Well, yes we don¡¯t want to settle for one treasure but I figured we can trade for some more down the road,¡± Graden said to Tempest but his words were meant for the others.
The others were satisfied with Graden¡¯s words. It gave them the option to obtain more things from Tempest in the future without compromising their integrity.
¡°Okay.¡± Tempest immediately agreed. This odd lot she was stuck with have their issues but Tempest knows they won¡¯t stab her in the back. If they were like that, they would have done so. The treasures from a chaotic rift was that enticing to mages. She wouldn¡¯t mind strengthening them up.
¡°Fine. We¡¯ll start with Fenix since I already gave you your treasure.¡±
¡°What! I didn¡¯t get anything!¡±
¡°What do you call those ten plants you were rolling around in?¡±
¡°Compensation for the sacrifices I¡¯ve made,¡± Graden said seriously. ¡°My beauties didn¡¯t survive the madman¡¯s attack. It¡¯s only fair you compensate me for my sacrifice.¡±
¡°Your sacrifice? Don¡¯t you mean their sacrifice?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve planted them with all my expectations, water them with love and nurtured them with my blood, sweat, and tears. Of course, it is my sacrifice!¡±
¡°Just like a man to claim credit at the expense of others,¡± Tempest grumbled, then paused. She stared at Graden speculatively.
Graden¡¯s attack power is pathetically weak. Fenix is the epitome of a powerful fire mage. She has a variety of spells at her disposable and knows how to adapt each spell to the situation at hand. She also has a strong understanding of the laws her magic was based on. Graden....aside from the commonly known spells, he uses his plants to attack. Even then he tosses them out and commands them to fight using the special connections he has with them. It was as if he hadn¡¯t learned anything from his spirits.
If that was the case, then he did indeed sacrifice much when they fought with the madman.
Tempest may be greedy but she knows how to repay kindness. Having experienced little of it in her life, Tempest learned to treasure the acts of kindness shown her.
¡°Fine! I feel like I¡¯m getting the raw end of the stick here. The madman uses a technique and aged them, what a thousand years in a slash? You¡¯ve only raised your beauties for a little bit but your getting several plants over a thousand-year-old and your getting a treasure too.¡± Tempest tossed out several treasures and waited patiently for Graden to make his pick.
Graden lowered his head to peruse the treasures Tempest tossed out all the while hiding a sweet smile. He didn¡¯t want Tempest to know the seven plants she gave him were not a thousand years old but ten thousand years old. She¡¯d vomit blood and start to make outrageous demands. Although he cares for the silly girl, he can¡¯t give up a treasure from the chaotic rift. He, more than anyone here, needs the treasure in Tempest¡¯s hands.
Take the Soul Sunfire Weave and give it to the Golden Flame Vine.
Resentment filled Graden¡¯s heart.
The cultivators from the other realms won¡¯t openly say it but they thought mages were merely puppets of the spirits. Graden had never felt like he was pawn until today. They ignore him when he was worthless and order him around when he has something they want.
Graden¡¯s hand trembled in anger but he still reached for the Soul Sunfire Weave.
¡°It¡¯s warm. It¡¯s not hot, but warm.¡± Graden thought to himself as he held the Soul Sunfire Weave. He rubbed his face against the fur like a baby cuddling under his blanket. A sense of nostalgia touched Graden along with pain, loss, and love.
The soul of the Sunfire elemental was calling out to him, soothing his soul and easing his heart.
Graden knew the soul of the Sunfire element had accepted him.
Sunfires are not beasts like phoenixes or dragons but a creature born out from the purest fire elements found in the Primordial Chaos.
Chaotic power is known for being hard to handle and extremely destructive yet few knew chaotic power can give rise to sentient of the energy itself. Elementals are a manifestation of the paradox that is chaotic energy. Sunfires are mid-tier elements born from the concentration of fire energy.
In the Primordial Chaos, elementals are among the top ten most powerful creatures. They are immune to physical attacks since they are a creature of pure energy. Mental attacks work on them if the cultivator is stronger than them but even an immortal who cultivates the mind as their immortal path are hard pressed to even scratch the surface of a low-tier elemental much less one as powerful as the Sunfire.
Soul attacks are particularly harmful to the Sunfire creature but no soul cultivator would dare fight a Sunfire elemental because Sunfire can devour soul force.
The Soul Sunfire Weave is a fabric made out of the condensed soul of the Sunfire at the time of their death. In a way, the Soul Sunfire Weave can be considered the soul of an elemental.
A soul has a personality. It has its likes and dislikes.
Graden was pleased it had taken a liking to him.
The Golden Flame Vine sensed the power of the Soul Sunfire Weave and made its way over to Graden. It undulated cutely while inching its vine towards the Soul Sunfire Weave.
The Soul Sunfire Weave took exception to the Golden Flame Vine taking Graden¡¯s attention from it and lashed out, trying to burn the Golden Flame Vine.
The Golden Flame Vine thought the Soul Sunfire Weave took a liking towards it and wanted to play. It used one of its vines to poke and prod the Soul Sunfire Weave.
¡°Seriously, you¡¯re trying to imitate the Eternal Flame Tree as your avatar?¡± Fenix asked, surprised at the route Graden was taking.
¡°Wah?¡± Tempest yelled, puzzled and worried about Fenix¡¯s remark. She was sure she never mentioned the Eternal Flame Tree to anyone except Graden. Did she let the cat out of the bag somehow?
¡°The Soul Sunfire Weave can unravel itself and merge with a vine type plant. Now if it should merge with the Golden Flame Vine, it becomes the Golden Sunfire Vine, the plant that is said to most resemble the Eternal Flame Tree. Power wise, the Golden Sunfire Vine can¡¯t even touch a root of the Eternal Flame Tree, but people often have mistaken it for the Eternal Flame Tree due to its uncanny resemblance.¡± Fenix eyed Graden knowingly.
All the alchemist Fenix came in contact with speaks longingly about the Eternal Flame Tree. They all said it was the ultimate fusion of fire and wood, the ultimate avatar. Alchemists are willing to go to great lengths to obtain even an imitation of the Eternal Flame Tree.
Fenix wasn¡¯t surprised by Graden¡¯s choice. If she was an alchemist, she¡¯d try for an imitation too. The real Eternal Flame Tree was unobtainable. The original Eternal Flame Tree died a long time ago and its seeds scattered throughout the Primordial Chaos were snatched up by powerful creatures lurking there.
The first phoenix, vermillion bird and golden crow have seeds of the Eternal Flame Tree but they have never been successful in their endeavors to grow another tree.
¡°Hey, the loot is running away!¡± Tempest yelled as the Soul Sunfire Weave and Golden Flame Vine slowly disappear before her eyes.
Chapter 0187
Chapter 0187
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Fenix held Tempest back as she tried to reach the disappearing loot.
¡°How can I not worry? I might have gained a hoard of treasures from the chaotic rift but that doesn¡¯t mean I have enough to spare for Graden!¡±
Hoard. Everyone¡¯s eyes twitch. They finally understood the logic behind Tempest¡¯s generosity. It seems the benefits she received weren¡¯t small. For Tempest to refer to her treasure as a hoard meant she got more treasures than she was telling them, definitely more than she took out previously.
The silly brat did have a brain!
Then it fully hit them.
¡°Ah, that¡¯s her true motive.¡± Everyone thought in their hearts. They didn¡¯t say it out loud. They aren¡¯t stupid. They aren¡¯t going to run their mouths and lose their treasure in the process. At the same time, they were relieved. Once a miser, always a miser. They felt it was strange Tempest was willing to give up a treasure from the chaotic rift. It was very uncharacteristic of her.
Her ¡®sharing the loot¡¯ was merely a diversion. She was showing them a small portion of the true loot.
Tempest¡¯s comments gave her away. The rest of the group was determined to con the brat out of more of her hoard.
¡°Hey take it easy. Graden is just making the Golden Sunfire Vine his avatar. It isn¡¯t running away.¡± Fenix explained the situation. ¡°High-level alchemist undergoes lightning tribulation every time they create a high-level pill. Before alchemist gets to that level, they have to prepare countermeasures against the lightning tribulation. Mage alchemist resists the lightning tribulation by creating an avatar out of a plant they grew.¡±
¡°Not exactly.¡± Graden cut in. ¡°Do you know why aside from natural born elements very few things can increase a mage¡¯s cultivation?¡±
Everyone shook their heads no. Even the knowledgeable Fenix didn¡¯t know the reason either.
¡°Our spirits nurture the natural born elements inside of them. It is one of the ways they can grow and if they grow, they pass on more mana to us.¡±
¡°Ahh, so that explains it,¡± Fenix exclaimed. She was always puzzled at this point.
¡°Wood spirits are the exception because there aren¡¯t any natural born wood spirits. Instead, wood spirits take rare herb into themselves and grow them.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Fenix nodded, acting like she knew everything when she didn¡¯t.
¡°Haven¡¯t you notice when you communicate with your spirits you communicate with only one of them and not the entire collective?¡± Graden asked the group.
¡°Yeah, I noticed. It is overwhelming to talk to the entire lot at the same time. They swarm you all the time trying to get a word in that you feel like you were being attacked by a mob. They only stopped when I fainted! And you know, I have to weed out the information I asked them to collect. They are so literal. Give me information about A and they only give me spoken information about A. Whether or not it is true, they don¡¯t care. All they care about is getting the information then mobbing me with it. A little accuracy, please! The value of information lies in its accuracy!¡±
¡°We get it.¡± Fenix interrupted Tempest. Tempest glared at Fenix for her interruption. She got a belly full of complaints that she finally gets a chance to air out and Fenix had to interrupt her. Damn it!
¡°The point,¡± Graden said before Tempest can continue with her rant, ¡°is that you mainly speak to one of your spirits for each element. For an alchemist, it is important because the wood speaker houses the avatar of the alchemist. The avatar of an alchemist is the plant refined for the sole purpose of taking the lightning tribulation caused by going against heaven when creating high-level pills. My wood spirit is taking the Golden Sunfire Vine into itself and nurturing it.¡±
Tempest stares intensely at Graden before nodding her head in acknowledgment. She doesn¡¯t know how much of it were lies or truth or if Graden knows the entire truth either. Tempest knew his spirits kept secrets from him for his own good. It might be valid in the past but now they should come clean. At least Graden would know what to expect or prepare for the unexpected. Still, the problem is for Graden and his spirits to work out. Tempest hopes with a fake Eternal Flame Tree, ah she means the Golden Sunfire Vine, as a cover for the real Eternal Flame Tree, a channel of communication that can be opened between Graden and his spirits.
¡°Congratulations, Graden.¡±
¡°Wah? Did the sun rise from the west? Our silent and stoic Bei Ting Mao has congratulated someone for their achievements!¡± Tempest half mocked half teased Bei Ting Mao.
¡°I can give credit where credit is due.¡± Bei Ting Mao said solemnly.
¡°Actually, he just wants to get on Graden¡¯s good side because he has the potential to be a high-level alchemist in the future. It¡¯s easier to ask for pills if we¡¯re close now.¡± Li Ming revealed Bei Ting Mao plan.
Bei Ting Mao glared at Li Ming. ¡°What? It is best, to be honest in the beginning. We¡¯re all in this for the long haul anyway. It is stupid to start our relationship with ulterior motives and schemes.¡±
Bei Ting Mao blushed at Li Ming admonishment but said nothing. They all knew it was better, to be honest with each other. Lies, schemes and ulterior motives would rot their budding friendship.
¡°I thought mages don¡¯t need pills,¡± Tempest asked dubiously.
¡°It¡¯s not that mages don¡¯t need pills for cultivation, it just that the pills they do need is hard to make.¡± Graden clarified Tempest¡¯s misconception. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°Well, you can keep your drugs. I won¡¯t need any and I won¡¯t take any. Too many people use drugs to control me. I don¡¯t want to be controlled.¡± Tempest stated her stance on pills to the group.
¡°All the more for us.¡± Li Ming said to lighten the mood.
¡°You can have your drugs!¡±
¡°Okay, okay. All the pills are for us. None for Tempest¡¯s personal use. Now let us get back to the original topic, claiming our treasure from Tempest¡¯s hoard.¡± A bright smile lit Fenix¡¯s face. It seems when she was holding Tempest back, she also caught on to Tempest¡¯s blunder.
¡°Okay, sheesh. Greedy bastard. Take your pick!¡± Tempest grumbled.
¡°Me next,¡± Fenix yelled before heading to the pile on the ground to pick her prize.
¡°Wait!¡± Graden interrupted Fenix.
¡°What?¡± Fenix whined. She was itching to get her hands on her treasure and Graden¡¯s interruption annoyed her. She held herself back from slapping Graden silly because it was Graden. Sweet, gentle Graden understood Tempest best. It would be their benefit if he was able to pry more treasure out of Tempest¡¯s hand. Everyone else can follow suit.
¡°I wish to bargain.¡± Graden turned towards Tempest with an unusually serious expression, ¡°I want another treasure from you right now.¡±
¡°No way. We agreed on one per person!¡± Tempest refused. Give these bastards an inch and they¡¯d take a mile. Well, they aren¡¯t going to fool her, no siree they ain¡¯t!
¡°We agreed on one per person and if we want more we can negotiate with you.¡± Graden corrected.
¡°Hmph! What do you have to bargain with me? Everything in your mage robe belongs to me. Speaking of which, hand the loot over.¡± Tempest stuck out her hand for the loot promised her. Graden didn¡¯t hold back. He completely emptied out his mage robe. Tempest stuffed the loot into her mage robe right away. She¡¯d sort them out later. ¡°Now that I have everything you have, what do you have to bargain with me?¡± Tempest said like a snotty little princess lording her might over her subjects.
The others really wanted to laugh at her behavior because instead of coming off as a mighty cultivator she came off as cute brat. A cute silly brat. Of course, everyone held back their laughter. They¡¯d tease her after they got their treasure.
¡°Fenix give me 500 jade token please.¡± Fenix gave Graden the requested jade token which he used his fire spell to engrave his name and number on the token. He showed the token to Tempest.
¡°What is so special about these tokens you made yourself. My charms are better than those.¡±
¡°Each token can redeem one pill in my hands or one plate of food personally cooked by me. I¡¯ll give you all 500 hundred for one treasure.¡±
Tempest¡¯s eyes sparkled like the miniature sun at the offer. She may not care about the pills Graden can make in the future but she loves the food he can make now. Tempest¡¯s mind began to race. If she eats three meals a day, 500 plates of food can last her about 167 days. If she were to eat more than one plate of food per meal then the tokens won¡¯t last even three months. 500 tokens aren¡¯t enough!
As Tempest was thinking about Graden¡¯s bargain, the others were keenly observing Tempest''s reaction to Graden¡¯s offer. They didn¡¯t miss the Tempest¡¯s audible swallow or how her eyes sparkled nor did they miss how her entire demeanor changed from a silly brat to a calculating merchant trying to get the best deal for her wares.
¡°10,000 tokens.¡± No one was surprised by the amount of Tempest demand from Graden. 10,000 token might represent a lot of pills but everyone here knew Tempest wasn¡¯t thinking of pills when she made the demand.
The little glutton was thinking about food and only food!
Thinking from a foodie¡¯s perspective, 10,000 plates of food wasn¡¯t much. It might not last her the supposed five years they are to spend together as a group.
Of course, everyone here knew they were going to stay together as a group for longer than five years.
¡°1,000. The pills I make will be rare and valuable.¡±
¡°9,000. You can keep your stinky pills. I just want the food.¡±
¡°2,000. My cooking skill is that good.¡±
¡°8,000. There is room for improvement in your cooking skills.¡±
¡°3,000. Don¡¯t you dare disparage my cooking skills when you gobble it all down.¡±
¡°7,000. Fine, I won¡¯t disparage the chef. The ingredients are bad!¡±
¡°4,000. You supply the ingredients then!¡±
¡°6,000 -¡±
¡°Ah hell, can the insult and settle with 5,000 tokens.¡± Fenix interrupted them.
¡°Hmph. 5,000 it is then.¡± Tempest reluctantly agreed. So what if she was going to settle at 5,000 jade tokens in the first place. It wasn¡¯t like her to smile and amicably agree to the bargain. That wasn¡¯t Tempest and everyone knew it.
Fenix hand over 4,500 jade token for Graden to inscribe. Once he was done, he gave the jade token to Tempest and picked out a treasure for himself.
This time, Graden chose the Ferocious Frost Fire Flame as his treasure of choice.
¡°Oh, nice choice, a yin type flame.¡± Li Ming said.
Tempest looked towards her for an explanation. She read cultivation novels back when she was locked¡ ah no, back when she was¡ ah, forget it, back when she was locked up in the mental institution. She knew about yin type flame and yang type flame but she doesn¡¯t know how it would apply to in the Cardinal Realm.
¡°A yin type flame has a cold attribute in it which can be used to balance out the extreme yang type flame Graden just acquired. I don¡¯t know much about alchemy or mage flame type but in the Heavenly Mountains but I¡¯ve heard that certain plants get destroyed during the purification process when making a pill. Therefore, some alchemist desire a ¡®cold¡¯ or ¡®yin¡¯ type flame to balance out their yang type flame.¡± Li Mind tried to explain the concept but since she didn¡¯t understand the mechanism or method of alchemy, her explanation further confused the confused Tempest.
Tempest looks to Fenix for a better explanation since she is a fire mage.
¡°Don¡¯t look at me. I¡¯m not an alchemist.¡± Fenix protested.
¡°You¡¯d do a better job than Li Ming.¡± Tempest pointed out.
Fenix shrugged her shoulders in acknowledgment then thought for a bit before explaining the concept of a ¡®cold¡¯ type flame. ¡°The phrase, ¡®it is so cold it burns,¡¯ best describes a yin type fire. It is still a fire, but instead of giving off a hot sensation during the burning process, it gives off a cold sensation during the burning process. Some herbs get destroyed if they are subjected to the hot sensation during the pill refining process. However, if they were to be refined using a yin type fire to refine the herbs, it won¡¯t be destroyed because the hot sensation isn¡¯t there during the refining process. Instead, it is a cold sensation, which they don¡¯t react to. For the alchemist, it means they can handle a wider range of herbs. For mage alchemist, it can be used to understand the fire laws from a different point of view. It is best for mages for those who have low fire affinities, or in Graden¡¯s case, mages who spirits barely communicate with them. The Ferocious Frost Fire Flame allows a mage to comprehend the fire laws from a different point of view from the way the spirit teaches us the fire laws, therefore lessening the reliance on the spirits and increasing the emphasis placed on the mage¡¯s own effort.¡±
Tempest looked at her polar opposite with sympathy. Her spirits talk to her too much. His spirits don''t speak unless necessary.
¡°Can spirits be switched?¡± Tempest asked Ventus.
A resounding ¡°No¡± rang through her head, making Tempest quite dejected.
A yin type of fire gives Graden the tools to cook a greater variety of food.
Tempest immediately perked up at the thought of food, especially her 5,000 dishes!
Chapter 0188
Chapter 0188
Once Graden was finished integrating the Ferocious Frost Fire Flame into himself, it was Fenix¡¯s turn to choose her treasure.
Instead of choosing a fire type treasure like Tempest thought she would, she chose a water type treasure, much to Li Ming¡¯s displeasure.
Tempest heard the grumbling loud and clear. She ought to remind Li Ming no matter how low or under her breath her grumbling was a wind mage can hear her loud and clear.
Meh, she¡¯ll remind Li Ming after her grumbling gets her into trouble with another wind mage. Lessons aren¡¯t learned from nagging. The impact is greater if they learned their lessons after they messed up.
Fenix chose the Tear of the Soul of the World, a water treasure created from the tears of the realm consciousness before it dies.
All realms have a consciousness, a will so to speak. It is how mana, qi, soul force, mental power and everything else is regulated.
The realm will isn¡¯t an active thought process. It can not think. Something along the lines of ¡®I¡¯ll make x life miserable because I don¡¯t like him¡¯ isn¡¯t possible. The realm will simply is, like the breathing mechanism in the human body. It has a function and it carries out the function religiously.
As a realm will, it can be taken over by cultivators but few if any cultivators were willing to do that. Once a realm will get refined by a cultivator, that cultivator has to stay in the realm forever. They can¡¯t leave. They can¡¯t ascend. Their potential remains at the level of the realm.
Some might think it is better to be a god in a small realm than to be a slave in a higher realm.
Tempest wouldn¡¯t mind refining the realm will and play Sim City or one of those world building games as the realm will but the realm will is confined by heavenly laws. The realm will can¡¯t overtly interfere with the progress of mortals in their realm. With many limitations and little benefits, cultivators would never choose to refine the realm will even if it was handed to them on a silver platter.
Tempest was curious about Fenix¡¯s choice.
¡°Yo, firework, why did you choose a water type of treasure.¡±
¡°Firework? Is that meant to be an insult?¡±
¡°No. It just came out.¡±
¡°Fine, money grubber.¡±
¡°I resent that. I won¡¯t be a money grubber, not after I¡¯ve redeemed my sisters, I won¡¯t be.¡± Tempest protest good naturedly. She won¡¯t need money after she redeems her sister so the adjective won¡¯t fit her anymore.
¡°Glutton. Foodie. Lazy slug. Pig.¡± Fenix dished out.
¡°Hey! I¡¯ll accept glutton, foodie, and I¡¯ll reluctantly accept lazy slug, but how is this slender petite body resembles a pig?¡±
¡°Lazy glutton it is.¡±
¡°Hmph.¡± Tempest pouted. It was just a slip of the tongue. There is no reason for Fenix to pick on her for it.
Fenix didn¡¯t pursue the issue about her nickname although she kind of like it. ¡°With my affinities, I¡¯m almost guaranteed to become an immortal, the caveat being I live long enough for the spirits to temper my body enough to become an immortal. Single affinity fire mages have their set of issues, one of them being we suffer a backlash from out power in the forms of burns or high fever. I don¡¯t glomp you and Li Ming for the fun of it. I need your water mana to manage the backlash to my fire spells. The Tear of the Soul of the World can help me manage my backlashes. I won¡¯t need much water mana from you guys once I refine the Tear of the Soul of the World into my body.¡±
¡°Does that mean I don¡¯t have to suffer under your pig hands anymore?¡±
¡°You won¡¯t suffer as much.¡± Fenix absentmindedly agreed.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
¡°So you admit you are a pig. Every act as a witness. Fenix is a pig!¡± Tempest crowed, feeling happy she got one over Fenix.
¡°Shut it lazy glutton.¡±
¡°Pig.¡±
¡°Gluttonous slug.¡±
¡°Hey!¡±
¡°What? Can¡¯t handle the heat?¡±
¡°Enough you two. Others are waiting in line here.¡± Li Ming had to cut in because Bei Ting Mao and Starm wouldn¡¯t. Bei Ting Mao didn¡¯t care for the conversation between Fenix and Tempest as he was busily analyzing the treasure in the pile. Starm stood to the side and smiled mysteriously.
¡°Well wait your turn. I¡¯m not done yet.¡± Fenix snarked back at Li Ming.
¡°Speaking of which, hand over the payment first.¡± Tempest didn¡¯t forget to demand her payment from Fenix.
¡°Money grubber,¡± Fenix grumbled but hand over everything in her mage robe.
Tempest happily swept everything into her mage robe before saying, ¡°Now that I have all your valuables, what do you have to bargain with me?¡±
Fenix looked at Graden. Graden looked at Fenix. Graden looked at Li Ming who handed him 5,000 jade token. Tempest''s eyes widen. She would always accept more food.
As her second treasure, Fenix chose Slash of the North Wind. She launched into her explanation before Tempest had to ask.
Fenix¡¯s affinities are high enough that she doesn¡¯t have to worry about her cultivation. As she said before, as long as she lives long enough she would become immortal.
Increasing her firepower or enhancing her firepower doesn¡¯t help her at this stage. She doesn¡¯t need an increase in attack power. What Fenix needs the most is something to manage her backlashes.
Therefore, Fenix chose the Tear of the Soul of the World.
Her second choice of treasure was the Slash of the North Wind. Wind can indirectly amplify firepower. Fenix can use the treasure to amplify the firepower she currently has as well as use it for the wind properties. Indirect amplification of Fenix¡¯s fire spells doesn¡¯t amplify the backlash she would receive while a direct amplification would increase the severity of the backlash.
Furthermore, Slash of the North Wind allows Fenix access to some of the wind spells. She going to spread rumors about her abilities from only fire affinity to fire and wind affinities. Slash of the North Wind would give credence to the rumors she was going to spread.
The treasure Li Ming chose was called Rainbow Bridge. It suited Li Ming to a T. What is a rainbow if not rain reflecting light?
Rainbow Bridge allows Li Ming to traverse large distances with just one step. Li Ming can¡¯t explain the underlying law used by the Rainbow Bridge to accomplish the task. She isn¡¯t knowledgeable enough to know. She knows enough to use it but that is it.
Tempest lost interest in the Rainbow Bridge after she learned about it. She has flight. What does it matter about a measly little bridge?! If there were hints of violence in Tempest¡¯s tone, then Tempest would vehemently deny it. Li Ming has nothing on Tempest. Nothing.
Li Ming was smart enough to say nothing.
She sat down and started to integrate the Rainbow Bridge into her body.
Now, the is was something that puzzle Tempest. Integrate with the spirits and integrate with the body, what is the difference?
Graden was doing both so Tempest can¡¯t ask him. Fenix and Li Ming were integrating their treasure so they are out. Bei Ting Mao was still agonizing over his treasure of choice so he is out. That left Starm¡
¡°Big Sis Tempest, ask what you will. I¡¯ll answer to the best of my ability.¡± Starm said cutely. No matter how cute he is, Starm grated on her nerves. It wasn¡¯t the incongruity with his age and appearance. He was five thousand years old and he looks like a five-year-old.
No, it wasn¡¯t his age. It was more. His secret involved her in a big way and she didn¡¯t want the secret to bite in the butt down the road. She can¡¯t pry the secret from his mouth. She would if she could. Hence, she kept her distance from him.
Still, he was her only choice right now. ¡°What is the difference between integration with the spirits and integration with the body?¡±
¡°Integration with the spirits means the spirits come into the physical plane for a moment, take the treasure into themselves and bring it back to the spiritual plane where the spirits would nurture it as a part of themselves. Integration with the body means the mage takes the treasure into themselves and merges it with their body, making the treasure a part of themselves. The treasure is then nurtured by the mage instead of the spirits. Treasures nurtured by the spirits increase the cultivation of the spirits and indirectly the cultivation rate of the mage. Treasures nurtured by the mage can be used directly by the mage. Treasures nurtured by the mage may or may not increase the cultivation rate. It is more of an auxiliary tool that grows with the mage. The mana needed to nurture an auxiliary tool is no laughing matter. Hence mage is very picky with the treasure they choose to nurture.¡±
¡°Ah, so that is why Bei Ting Mao over there is agonizing over his choice of treasure?¡±
¡°His cultivation path does depend on it.¡±
¡°Then why doesn¡¯t he ask his spirit for input considering they are a major reason why he can cultivate?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. He¡¯s dumb?¡±
Bei Ting Mao was enlightened when heard Tempest¡¯s question. He sat down, closed his eyes and started to meditate.
¡°Oh boy, this is going to take a while,¡± Tempest complained but she still set up the array Cardis gave her around her teammates.
Teammates.
They aren¡¯t friends...yet.
Friends don¡¯t steal from friends!
Chapter 0189
Chapter 0189
It only took a minute for Bei Ting Mao to enter his sea of consciousness.
His spirits were always welcoming him before kept their distance.
¡°It has come to this hasn¡¯t it?¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirit asked. Although this tone of voice was steady as a mountain, Bei Ting Mao can sense a hidden sadness underneath the calm exterior.
¡°I made my choice back then. It hasn¡¯t changed now.¡± Bei Ting Mao refuted.
Bei Ting Mao was not an ungrateful person. When his dan tian broke, everyone turned their backs on him. His parents never tried to find a cure for his broken dan tian. They switch their expectations from him to his brother. His brother took the chance to shine under the limelight. He never thought how blindingly bright the light could be. His clan pushed him down, bullied and demeaned him.
His friends. When his cultivation was destroyed, his friends were the first to run. There is no need to mention his master and his sect.
They raised him up when he was a genius and pushed him down when he became a waste. No one extended a helping hand when he needed them the most.
When he fought and nearly fell to his inner demons, it was his spirits help him, pull him out of hell and shown him another way.
Bei Ting Mao made his choice to cultivate the heart as his immortal path then and he had never regretted it.
¡°You never made a choice. It was forced down your throat. You either had to swallow the humiliation or take a chance with us.¡± The words were acerbic and cutting. Bei Ting Mao¡¯s metal spirits always had a sharp tongue and vicious words to accompany it. Though his words hurt more than a knife to the heart, it was painfully true.
¡°It was a choice and I¡¯ve made it then.¡± Bei Ting Mao insisted.
¡°But now you have another choice.¡±
Bei Ting Mao remain silent. Tempest told him his spirits were repairing his dan tian. He could cultivate the body as his immortal path once again.
¡°You are wavering.¡± Truth truthfully hurt.
¡°I am not wavering. I am lost.¡± This time it was the spirits who showed a hurt expression. It is their solemn duty to love and guide their mortal on their cultivation path. It pains them more than anything to hear their mortal say they hate them or they are lost. It means the spirits weren¡¯t doing their duty, serving their purpose.
¡°How are you lost?¡±
¡°You never told me it was possible to combine mage spells with swordsmanship. You told me I need to understand the laws of metal and earth but you never told me why or how to apply the laws. You told me to enter the Eternal Spirit Guild but you never told me why. I don¡¯t know why I am here or what path I should take to proceed forward. What am I if not lost?¡±
Bei Ting Mao learned a lot from his teammates. He learned the spirits love their mortals but they are not without their own goals and agendas.
Bei Ting Mao needs to dig for those goals and agendas and see if they aligned with his own wants and needs. He would only be a puppet under the spirits¡¯ control if he followed their instructions mindlessly.
Although they grant him grace, he shouldn¡¯t sacrifice his entire life to their cause. He¡¯d be nothing more than a tool if he did.
¡°What do you wish to know?¡±
¡°What do you want from me? Graden, Fenix, Li Ming and maybe Tempest¡¯s spirits kept secrets from their mortal. The only mage whose spirit was completely honest with him was Starm and that is because as the Son of Origin no secrets can be kept from him.¡±
¡°Their spirits kept secrets from their mortal for their own good. Have you considered that?¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirit asked.
¡°I have and I acknowledge that some secrets should be kept but that is their relationship. It is not the relationship I want with you. So I ask you again, what do you want from me?¡±
¡°A chance.¡±
¡°A chance?¡±
¡°Have you ever wondered why there aren¡¯t more Match Body and Heart cultivators?¡±
¡°Is that what you call cultivators with the same affinities and spirit veins?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I thought it was just rare.¡± Bei Ting Mao answered honestly. There were no reasons to lie with his spirits.
¡°It was not rare. We, the spirits, made a choice not to appear in front of our mortals should he or she have the same spirit veins as his or her affinities, or at least not in the domain where cultivating the body is the immortal path of choice.
¡°You felt it haven¡¯t you? The pain of being thrown aside.¡±
Bei Ting Mao nodded. He experienced first hand how his family, clan, friends, and master threw him aside once his usefulness was gone.
It hurts. It hurts more than being cut by a thousand knives. He can heal from those wounds. The wounds of the heart are harder to deal without. If he didn¡¯t fight with his inner demons, the wound in Bei Ting Mao¡¯s heart would have never healed.
¡°When a cultivator chose their immortal path, they rarely chose to cultivate the heart if they didn¡¯t have to. It was too unpredictable and stupid to depend on the whimsy of the spirits for their cultivation.
¡°In a Matched Body and Heart cultivator, they would cultivate the body and use us to boost their cultivation. When we become useless, they throw us away, lock us in the deepest darkest corner of their minds and throw away the key. It might take centuries, millennia or eons but they did it. They could never stand to have their cultivation control by sentient spirits outside of their control.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°We love you but we can¡¯t live like that. We can be friends, mentors, masters, guides, allies¡ but we will never be a tool. You mention us using you as a tool, but have you ever thought about the other way around, where the humans use us as their tools?¡±
Bei Ting Mao can sense his spirits¡¯ pain. They weren¡¯t lying. He can sense in the depths of his heart. They weren¡¯t lying!
¡°I used you didn¡¯t I? In one of my lifetimes, I was a Matched Body and Heart cultivator and I used you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Shamed washed over Bei Ting Mao as the thought of the pain he inflicted on his spirits, the beings that love and care for him the most.
¡°No. We left her. We left her and vow to never be a tool for our mortal again. It is why we hid when your family tests your affinities. We knew you were going to be a Match Body and Heart cultivator and we didn¡¯t want to be second class. If your dan tian wasn¡¯t destroyed and you were suffering, we would have never made ourselves known.¡±
¡°And now? What do you want now?¡±
¡°You have a choice now. You can go back and cultivate the body as your immortal path. You can go back to being the cultivator you always envision yourself to be. We would never take the choice away from you.¡±
¡°What would happen to you if I chose to cultivate the body as my immortal path?¡±
¡°We would return the spiritual plane.¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirit said resolutely.
Many cultivators thought the spirits were almighty, all knowing and all powerful.
The spirits exist at the dawn of creation. They have enough wisdom and knowledge to run circles around a newborn cultivator. They also control the rate of a mage¡¯s cultivation. With the odds stacked against them, mages tend to follow the spirits'' guidance.
The few mages who realized the extent of the affections the spirits had for them use it against them. They knew the spirits loved them too much to truly harm them so they take advantage of that love and imprison the spirits or worse yet, use the spirits as their personal energy source.
They drain the spirits of their energy even after being repeatedly warned that cultivators, immortal or not, can¡¯t handle raw elemental mana.
The initial boost in power gives the cultivator a high, similar to the drugs Tempest fears, and they get addicted to the power. It was only much later did they realized how much damage the raw elemental mana they took did to them. By then it was too late.
Love can reduce the most stalwart intelligent beings into putty.
¡°And what if I cultivate the heart as my immortal path? What would you do?¡± Bei Ting Mao pressed. He had to know. They are asking him to make a decision that might affect all of them. He had to know.
¡°Then you cultivate the heart as your immortal path. Everything will remain as it is now.¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirit said simply.
Although his earth spirits may act as if he doesn¡¯t care about the choice Bei Ting Mao made, Bei Ting Mao notice the subtle signs of tension.
Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirits tried to hold himself casually, steady, as earth spirits were renowned for. He could not keep the tension out of his too straight back or stop his hand from clenching.
As for Bei Ting Mao¡¯s metal spirit, it was dull, subdued. Oh, the sharp intent and biting words were still there, but it was all a mask.
Bei Ting Mao berate himself for not noticing the signs of their anxiety. He was depressed his observational skills were lacking and at the same time, he was pleased. The spirits cared for him in their own way and calm and stoic as he might be, he still wants some signs they care for him. He doesn¡¯t want to be betrayed again.
Bei Ting Mao regret he put them through this but he has to know.
¡°And what if I do both?¡±
¡°¡°Do both?¡±¡± Both Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth and metal spirits asked with a confused expression.
¡°You two are so stupid and set in your ways. Have you ever considered a mortal that can cultivate both the body and the heart as equals? The body can¡¯t function without the heart and the heart needs the body to fulfill its purpose.¡± Bei Ting Mao admonish the two old dogs who can¡¯t learn new tricks.
¡°...no?¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirit tentatively said.
¡°Then consider me the first. I¡¯ve already thought of away. You¡¯ve seen me combine spells with my swordsmanship. I can go further if I learn how to combine qi, mana and my sword technique together. For this, I need your guidance.¡± Bei Ting Mao passionately implored his spirits.
¡°... do you mean it? To cultivate the body and heart at the same time?¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirits asked in the same humble disbelieving tone. It was as if they couldn¡¯t believe Bei Ting Mao¡¯s words. Hope and doubt mixed together as the spirits looked at their mortal.
¡°I mean it.¡± Bei Ting Mao reaffirmed.
¡°Then get the Firworn Sand, Trialis Ore, Fertile Soil of Zen and the Blood Crystal Ore.¡±
¡°That¡¡± Bei Ting Mao hesitates. He knew it was a good chance to get treasures from the chaotic rift and he should take advantage of it as much as he can, but given Tempest¡¯s personality, getting his hands on four treasures might be a bit hard.
¡°We know it is hard. Cultivators need two earth type treasures and two metal type treasures of the same strength if they want to train both the body and heart at the same time. It is part of the reason why cultivators find it hard to maintain the equality between body and heart. It is also one of the reasons why many would abandon this path.¡± Bei Ting Mao¡¯s earth spirits explained.
¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡± Bei Ting Mao said with a firm resolution. The spirits had given him too much. Walking the difficult path cultivating both the body and heart equally is a small price to pay for their efforts.
¡°It is hard.¡±
¡°I know.¡± Bei Ting Mao said those words and left his sea of consciousness. He didn¡¯t hesitate once he made up his mind. He was going to get the four treasures mentioned and cultivate the body and heart at the same time.
When Bei Ting Mao came to he realizes getting the treasure from Tempest wasn¡¯t a hard thing to do after all. It was because of Graden and Starm.
¡°I want this and this and this. That red orb looks nice. I¡¯ll take that too. This black rock is ugly and probably isn¡¯t worth anything. I¡¯ll take it off your hands, Big Sis Tempest.¡± Starm spoke in a saccharine sweet voice anyone would give into. Except for Tempest.
¡°Like hell do I believe your bullsh*t. Give me those treasures back you little thief.¡±
¡°Big Sis Tempest, how can you call your little Starm a thief?¡± Starm asked with teary eyes, looking worse than an abused puppy tossed out in the rain to die.
Sadly, Tempest isn¡¯t one to care about cute and cuddly things if that cute and cuddly thing is Starm. ¡°Taking without paying is called stealing.¡±
¡°Who says I am not paying? Here.¡± Starm hand Tempest 12 jade token with his name on it for the 13 treasures he took. ¡°These tokens are good for one appraisal from me.¡±
¡°Like hell, I need your services!¡± Tempest yelled.
¡°You are going to need my help,¡± Starm said with a seriousness of a sage predicting the future. ¡°Maybe not now, but in the future, you will need my help. By then I might not be able to move without a valid reason or maybe I¡¯m not inclined to move without a reason. This will be your reason.¡±
It was eerie how Starm spoke. He was like a wise sage handing out advice, a real fortune teller predicting the future, a god reading the plans of heaven.
Tempest shut up and took the tokens. She dare not in front of this side of Starm.
Bei Ting Mao leaped up and grabbed the treasures he needed, the Firworn Sand, Trialis Ore, Fertile Soil of Zen and the Blood Crystal Ore.
¡°Hey!¡± Tempest yelled, angry that another thief had robbed her.
Bei Ting Mao inscribed his name on three jade tokens and handed it to Tempest. ¡°This is my payment for the treasures I¡¯m taking. You might not need a skilled crafter right now, but you will in the future.¡±
¡°I already have a good weapon. In fact, your weapon came from me!¡± Tempest growled out.
¡°Then what about talisman, auxiliary gear or armor? Do you not need them?¡±
¡°Ahhh. Hell. 30 jade tokens! You don¡¯t have a fire for crafting so your potential is crap! I¡¯m losing out asking for only 30 jade tokens.¡± Tempest growled in frustration as she saw four treasures slip out of her grasp.
¡°Done!¡±
That is how Bei Ting Mao was able to get the treasures he needed to cultivate the body and heart at the same.
Of course, how much he later regret the deal he made today, only he would know.
Chapter 0190
Chapter 0190
¡°Before we head out to redeem your sisters, I want Tempest to clarify the situation,¡± Fenix said as everyone gathered around the table in the small courtyard they were assigned in the Eternal Spirit Guild.
Tempest had her own home in the Serene Spirit Lake but if everyone were to gather there, then Tempest¡¯s identity as the True Daughter of Storm would leak out. Everyone agreed it was better off for Tempest to maintain her status quo as the Resonance Bond with the Kataigida instead of being Kataigida.
Everyone decided to meet up in their small little courtyard to prepare for the trek to the Central Domain where Tempest was going to redeem her sisters.
Tempest was anxious to set out so the delay was unwelcomed.
Fenix, on the other hand, thought they should have as much information as they could get since she was the one gathering the forces to safeguard them during the entire process. She¡¯d rather not anyone die needlessly.
¡°What is there to clarify? I want to redeem five women from a brothel.¡± Tempest whine as the delay chafed at her nerves. She was more like a child before a field trip only to be told by the teacher the trip was going to be delayed for a bit.
¡°What are their names and how are they related to you? I don¡¯t believe for a minute they are actually related to you even though you call them your sisters, so spill the entire story.¡± Fenix was quite militant in her quest for answers. All Tempest told them was that there were five people she wanted to redeem from a brothel. No name, no description or location or anything.
Tempest eyed Fenix consideringly before asking, ¡°How much do you want to know?¡±
¡°Everything.¡±
¡°Okay, let¡¯s start with me waking up on a cliff with no memory of this world whatsoever.¡±
¡°Are you kidding me? You are telling me you have amnesia?¡± Li Ming interrupted with exasperation. Tempest¡¯s story was like one of those dime novels written to entertain the masses. Amnesia, really? Who gets those anymore? The Mysterious Wasteland cultivates the mind. They can heal amnesia.
¡°Yes,¡± Tempest answered, deadpanned.
¡°Why don¡¯t you go to a healer to get it fixed?¡±
¡°If you don¡¯t know anything, you won¡¯t know if it can be fixed.¡±
¡°Uhhh.¡± Li Ming stuttered. She did forget an amnesiac don''t know anything about well, anything.
¡°Moving on.¡± Graden gently prodded Tempest to continue with her story. He was curious how Tempest came to be as she is and having amnesia explained her lack of knowledge concerning the Cardinal Realm.
¡°I learn some skills from my spirits, and before anyone says anything, yes, I could speak to them right away.¡± Tempest glared at the others, daring them to interrupt her story. When no one was going to say anything, Tempest continued with her tale. ¡°I got off the ledge and went to the nearest town to learn the lay of the land so to speak. The spirits told me to head towards the Magus Alliance for formal training so that¡¯s what I tried to do. Well, I couldn¡¯t go on a trip without money right, so I joined an all female mercenary group to hunt down some magical beast to earn money for my trip.
¡°Let me tell, that was my biggest mistake ever. I met an insane psychopath by the name of Aria Se Jivock.¡±
¡°The Soul Liner! You got involved with a Soul Liner?¡± Li Ming shrieked. At first, Tempest was going to dismiss her behavior as an overreaction but when even steady Bei Ting Mao was alarmed, Tempest knew she was in trouble.
Graden notices Bei Ting Mao¡¯s reaction as well. ¡°What is the problem with Soul Liners?¡±
¡°Soul Liners are manipulative cultivators renown for their schemes and plots. They have the ability to see karma lines and to a large extent manipulate it to their own advantage. Some skilled Soul Liners can predict the Will of Heaven by looking at the overall karma connections between cultivators. They take advantage of their ability to affect the outcome to their advantage. Worst of all, they never take the direct route. Most cultivators never know when or how they fell into a Soul Liner¡¯s trap.
¡°It is very hard to counter the actions of a Soul Liner. There is a saying in the Ethereal Depths that say ¡®Only a Soul Liner can counter another Soul Liner.¡¯¡±
Bei Ting Mao grimace. Nothing good comes out of it when a Soul Liner as an interest in someone.
¡°That¡¯s it? They manipulate karma? Big deal! The spirits can eat karma.¡± Fenix scoff at the fear she saw on Bei Ting Mao and Li Ming¡¯s face.
¡°Not quite.¡± Starm jumped into the conversation. ¡°The spirits can eat karma, but they can¡¯t differentiate between the different karma attached to their mortal, so they can only eat all the karma on their mortal. The spirits aren¡¯t willing to do so unless it is the last resort and I mean last resort. Remember, death isn¡¯t the end all be all for the spirits like it is for the cultivators.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
¡°Ummm¡¡± Fenix stuttered a bit before saying, ¡°Move on with your story Tempest.¡±
The others were appeased by Fenix¡¯s reaction. Soul Liners are nothing to be trifled with.
¡°As I said, big mistake. It turns out the gathering was a test to enter the Brilliant Yin Sect. The ending turns out to be a bit weird. One of the girls finds out she was a six lifetime star crossed lover and her soulmate is Verack DeNunick.¡±
¡°Oh hell. This is going to be the seventh lifetime? Is she trying to create another Soul Schism?¡± Starm asked. Soul Schism was an event in a very distant past were the bonds between soulmates/life companion/true love breaks and reforms with another soul. The consequences so were encompassing that many believe it affects of the first and only Soul Schism hasn¡¯t settled yet.
It rattled the very foundation of humanity and their belief in the soul and soulmates/life companion/true love. It also created the foundation of multiple dao companions practiced by the Heavenly Mountains. It isn¡¯t a sacred bond if it can break. Furthermore, how can they be certain the soulmates/life companion/true love is the real bond? The Soul Schism broke the bond between souls and recreate the bond with a different soul, therefore their current soulmates/life companion/true love isn¡¯t the true soulmates/life companion/true love.
Starm was more sensitive to the effect of the Soul Schism than most cultivators because he was the Son of Origin. He once tried to look at the origin of the Soul Schism and his soul was nearly torn apart for merely thinking of looking. The fear from that venture left a scar on his soul. At the same time, he isn¡¯t worried about the effect of the Soul Schism.
For every action, there is a reaction. Starm knows the right reaction to right the Soul Schism as if it never happened.
¡°Nope. She¡¯s trying to prevent it.¡± Everyone took a deep sigh of relief at Tempest¡¯s answer. ¡°Besides that wasn¡¯t the only interesting thing that happened. Another guy, Base Avon-Ying found his soul mate.¡±
¡°Tempest, you are completely and utterly screwed.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Two true love meeting at the same time doesn¡¯t happen. It just doesn¡¯t. At least not without intervention.¡±
¡°I take it Aria Se Jivock manipulate the entire situation to her advantage?¡± Tempest asks sardonically.
¡°Yep.¡±
¡°I already figured that out because she when she presented me with Brilliant Yin Disciple Token in front of everyone she did something to the token. I caught a glimpse of the past and karma lines that binds me. I followed the karma lines and found them, the friends so close to me I lovingly call them sisters and meant it. I loved them more than I did my real sisters in my previous life.¡± This part Tempest prevaricates a bit.
Tempest had memories of her previous life yet she didn¡¯t want to blurt out her secrets to her teammates. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t trust them. They were willing to sacrifice their lives for her so there was never any doubt in Tempest¡¯s mind they are trustworthy. Some secrets are too personal to be shared. Athena¡¯s memories belong to Athena. They were too precious and too private for Tempest to share with anyone else, including the people in her memories in a different form.
Since Aria Se Jivock jump started the whole mess, Tempest figured she might as well take the blame for the consequences of her actions.
¡°You became a willing pawn for a Soul Liner for them.¡± Bei Ting Mao softly spoken words drove home the importance the women Tempest called sisters are to Tempest. If the position was reversed and it was they who had to become a pawn for their friends, then they won¡¯t know if they dare to do it. Dying is easy. Living is hard.
¡°I became a player on a chessboard with Aria Se Jivock. Whether I¡¯m a pawn or a king is yet to be seen.¡± Tempest replied in her carefree manner.
¡°You¡¯re still a piece in a game and not the player.¡± Li Ming pointed out.
¡°It just means I have a different perspective of the game.¡±
¡°All this for people not even related to you in this lifetime. Is it worth it?¡± Bei Ting Mao asked seriously. His past predisposed him to think the worst of people and she comes to Tempest who goes above and beyond for other people due to their past lives. Bei Ting Mao envies Tempest¡¯s ability to trust and at the same time, he worries about her.
¡°Wait a minute. You aren¡¯t related to each other in this lifetime?¡± Fenix asked.
¡°We were never related. They were people I love more than my family in this and the last lifetime.¡± Tempest clarified. ¡°I called them sisters because that is what they are to me.¡±
¡°What would you do if they deny any relationship to the you right now?¡± Fenix worded her question in a way that won¡¯t intrude on Tempest¡¯s personal space.
¡°I¡¯ve accepted the fact the them right now isn¡¯t the person they were in my last lifetime. Their personalities might be vastly different from their previous lifetimes. I know and accept it. I just want them to have a better life this time around. I don¡¯t have to be in their lives to be happy for them.¡± Tempest said sadly. Everyone can see she truly meant what she said. She wanted to help them, was willing to go to great lengths to do so and she did accept their decision, whatever it may be. They just those girls won¡¯t disappoint Tempest.
¡°Okay, I got a good estimate on the forces I have to call up for your rescue. I have to warn you though, it is going to be expensive. It¡¯ll cost you three to six items you got from the chaotic rift.¡± Fenix interrupted the depressing atmosphere to warned Tempest.
Tempest shrugged her shoulders. Fenix and the others might value the items from the chaotic rift but to Tempest, they are not really valuable. The difference in value is due to the difference in ability. There is a permanent chaotic portal to the south of the Eternal Spirit Guild.
Most cultivators can¡¯t get within 1000 km of the portal. The chaotic energy would rip them apart. Cardis, with all his power, can get within 10km of the portal.
Tempest, on the other hand, can not only get close to it, but she can also enter it. For her, getting the treasure from the chaotic rift is like walking into a garbage dump to pick up trash.
Tempest immediately perked up. ¡°Okay. Can we head out now? I don¡¯t want them to stay there longer than they have to.¡±
¡°Let me contact our reinforcement then we can head out.¡±
¡°Slowpoke,¡± Tempest grumbled but stay put. Despite her desire to redeem her sisters'' posthaste, her desire to have them safe and sound outweighs it.
¡°Stupid amnesiac idiot.¡± Fenix tossed out before heading out, leaving Tempest glaring at the redhead.
Did she have to get in the last word?
Chapter 0191
Chapter 0191
¡°How unusual to see you here seventh brother,¡± a lackadaisical woman with black hair and dark blue eyes said an eerily cheery man with light blond hair and opaque eyes only very powerful Soul Liner has.
It was hard to believe the lazy indolent woman sipping tea in the cheap inn was Dilien Amerton is the heiress of the Amerton Conglomerate, one of the biggest merchant groups in the Cardinal Realm.
Dilien Amerton is called the Amerton heiress but that is merely a facade she created for the outside world to see. Her father, Bennett Amerton, is the current leader of the Amerton Conglomerate but all the power rested in her hand. It was she who expanded the Amerton Conglomerate from a tiny store in the Mysterious Wasteland to the mega powerhouse it is today. Bennett Amerton was smart enough to leave the running of the company to his brilliant daughter and be content with what he received from her hard work.
Dilien Amerton¡¯s half siblings on her father¡¯s side took various posts within the company and remain content with their lot, the ones that were alive anyways. She can be kind to her relatives as long as they know their place and never challenge her authority. To them, she is the unspoken leader of the Amerton Conglomerate.
To her siblings on her mother¡¯s side of the family, she is Dilien Amerton, a languid, laid back, little lioness who was indulged by her older half siblings to the point where she becomes too lazy to do anything.
Her siblings on her mother''s side of the family didn¡¯t need nor want her extensive resources. Aside from the few inquiries for information, they never asked her for anything.
As for Arlan Ben Tivock, the blond hair teen she addressed as seventh brother, him appearing in a mid-sized city in the Central Domain was nothing unusual. Soul Liners traveled from one domain to another to meddle with karma to their favor.
Now his eerily cheery expression was a different story. Dilien Amerton rarely sees her overly somber seventh brother please with anything that he couldn¡¯t control his smile.
¡°Our youngest sister called. How can I refuse?¡± It was an answer but there was more to it than Arlan Ben Tivock was willing to say. Dilien Amerton left it at that. She doesn¡¯t care to pry into the affairs of a wily Soul Liner with strong karma bonds.
¡°Say no. It is as simple as that.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see you refusing her request.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have the leeway you do seventh brother. Mother has control over my inheritance rights to the Amerton Conglomerate. She wouldn¡¯t hesitate for a second if she caught wind of my refusal.¡± Dilien Amerton didn¡¯t hesitate to place the blame for her overly doting behavior on her mother¡¯s feet.
¡°You say that as if you can¡¯t refuse her.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock snorted at 8th sister blatant lie. It isn¡¯t to say that Dilien Amerton couldn¡¯t handle her mother, Llyana Arosis, interference in the Amerton Conglomerate. Dilien Amerton simply didn¡¯t want to.
She loves to dote on her younger siblings because they didn¡¯t want anything from her. Dilien Amerton can be herself in front of her half siblings on her mother¡¯s side.
¡°I have my reasons for being here. What about you? I know for a fact you can and did refuse a few of Fenix¡¯s request and mother did nothing to you.¡±
Arlan Ben Tivock smiled mysteriously. ¡°One search far and wide fruitlessly only to have it fall in one¡¯s lap.¡±
¡°Ugh, Soul Liner rhetoric.¡± Dilien Amerton might grumble over her 7th brother¡¯s evasive answer but she knew he meant well.
Unlike the young Aria Se Jivock, where fear and wariness was accorded her because of her power and her power alone, Arlan Ben Tivock was feared because of his wisdom and connections in addition to his power.
The older the Soul Liner is, the more time they have to manipulate the karma of the people around them, the more connections they have to call upon.
Most cultivators would be wary of the Soul Liners except the number of Soul Liner who can affect the karma of a cultivator can be counted with one hand.
Arlan Ben Tivock is one of the Soul Liner who can directly change the karma of a cultivator and he is old, over two thousand years old. He had plenty of time to lay his foundation and build his connections with cultivators all around the Cardinal Realm.
Dilien Amerton remembered the many mistakes Arlan Ben Tivock had made it past when he was learning how to control his power. Luckily, no one important died during the time he was learning how to gain control of his power although she didn¡¯t speak to him for a long time when she thought one of her siblings on her father¡¯s side died due to his manipulation. The sibling came back hale and hearty so Dilien Amerton had to accept that sometimes the end justifies the means.
¡°My, my, the little baby must be involved in deep sh*t to call the two of you here.¡± The sweet demure voice came from a black haired woman wearing a light blue robe. The newcomer has a pair of clear bright eyes dancing with mischief, white porcelain complexion no makeup can achieve and soft gentle aura that invokes a man protective instinct. If she didn¡¯t open her mouth, she would have been the perfect woman all men dreamed about.
However, once she opens her mouth, course language spews out like a raging volcano belying her gentle, sweet image.
¡°We didn¡¯t ask you to come, 10th sister.¡± Dilien Amerton grouched.
While Dilien Amerton dotes on her younger siblings and adores her older siblings, she has trouble with her 10th sister, Xue Lian Hua.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
It isn¡¯t her foul mouth that offends Dilien Amerton. In her line of business, a few foul words are nothing. It¡¯s Xue Lian Hua insane personality that gives Dilien Amerton and the rest of their family trouble.
Xue Lian Hua was born as a pair of dragon and phoenix twins. She has fire and darkness heavenly spirit veins. Fire and darkness are elements somewhat at odds with each other in nature but both elements can and do exist together.
The younger twin brother, Xue Yan has water and light heavenly spirit veins. Again, nothing interesting to note.
Separately, the twins are decent people. Xue Lian Hua is a kind and gentle girl. She is the considerate girl everyone loves to hate yet can¡¯t because she is too damn nice. It is hard to find fault with Xue Lian Hua. She is almost perfect.
Xue Yang is the happy go lucky cultivator everyone envies. He comes from a wealthy background, has a good master, is friendly to everyone and seems to have connections everywhere. He is almost perfect.
Separately, the twins can be considered perfect. Together, well, each twin brings out the worst in each other. Xue Lian Hua becomes a coarse and vulgar female and Xue Yang becomes the smiling black bellied bastard everyone keeps a wary eye out for.
Because Xue Lian Hua and Xue Yang are twins, they have a unique bond which allows them to increase the cultivation at an alarming rate when they are near each other, however, when they are near each other, their elements repel each other.
Fire clashes with water and darkness clashes with light.
The personality shift can not be blamed on their spirit veins. Unlike mages where their affinities affect their personality, spirit veins determine the elements a cultivator can use. It has been proven over and over that spirit veins do not affect the personality of the cultivator.
As to why the twins act as they do when they are near each other, no one knows, not even the twins themselves.
As such, the twins give a major headache to their doting siblings when they are near each other.
¡°You might not have asked us to come here but our beloved baby did.¡± A jovial voice answered Dilien Amerton.
¡°And I have to question her logic. What was she thinking of asking both of you to come here?¡±
¡°She didn¡¯t,¡± the jovial man happily replied, ¡°She asked 5th brother to come but he was too busy so he sent us in his stead.¡±
Dilien Amerton and Arlan Ben Tivock both shuddered when Xue Yang mentioned their 5th brother.
¡°Please speak no more.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock begged his younger brother. ¡°I do not want to hear about his fur and feather fetishes nor do I want to hear about the shenanigans he and his motormouth friend are up to.¡±
¡°It isn¡¯t bad. They created a cult and a cultivation method to go with it. I heard his followers increase their cultivation quite drastically every time they recite the mnemonics. All hail Lord Fif-¡±
Xue Lian Hua slapped her soft white hands over Xue Yang¡¯s mouth. ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough of that already. Do you want me to lock you up with Mouth? The bastard would talk your brains out. I¡¯ve already handled the aftermath of that once with you. I don¡¯t want to experience it for myself, thank you very much.¡±
Xue Yang nodded his head and Xue Lian Hua removed her hand.
¡°Good. I¡¯d rip you a new asshole if I had to listen to Mouth, then I¡¯d change you into a bird with beautiful feathers and present you to 5th brother. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d appreciate all my efforts.¡±
Xue Yang paled at his twin¡¯s threat. He stared at his twin with tear glistened eyes, a pitiful expression on his face making him look like a young lady who was harassed by a pervert.
¡°Sister, you wouldn¡¯t.¡± Xue Yang¡¯s voice was filled with misery and sadness at his twin¡¯s betrayal. A soft sob can be heard towards the end of the sentences.
¡°Oh man the hell up, you wimp.¡± Xue Lian Hua was used to her brother¡¯s theatrics. ¡°Acting like a woman who was kidnapped and raped before her wedding day by the bandit king! What kind of cultivator are you? Hell, for that matter, what kind of man are you? Pathetic.¡±
¡°But sister,¡± Xue Yang wailed like a woman whose husband had died, ¡°You should listen to your threats. They are truly horrendous.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t you a powerful cultivator? A little threat like this should be nothing to you.¡± Xue Lian Hua jeered at her weakling of a brother.
¡°I hate to interrupt this interesting play you two are enacting, but I have to side with 11th brother this time. Your threat could make a grown man cry.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock jumped in to defend Xue Yang. In the normal course of things, Arlan Ben Tivock would have sit on the sidelines and enjoy the show the squabbling twins put on but he had to side with his 11th brother in this case. Their 5th brother should not be mentioned, even in jest.
¡°Hmph, male solidarity. Your male chauvinism -¡±
¡°Actually 10th sister, even I have to side with them in this case.¡± Dilien Amerton interrupts the rant she knew was coming. ¡°Your threat was out of line.¡±
¡°What it really now?¡± Xue Lian Hua asked rhetorically.
¡°Fifth brother, hole, hole, feather. What do you think?¡± Dilien Amerton snapped back.
Xue Lian Hua took a moment to think about it and shivered. She was out of line. She went to her knees, hugged her twin¡¯s thighs and started crying. ¡°Dearest beloved brother, do forgive this momentary lapse in judgment. I was out of line. 8th sister is right. Some things should not be mentioned in the same sentence with 5th brother.¡±
¡°Oh beloved twin,¡± Xue Yang elegantly pulled his twin to her feet before gently holding her hand to comfort her, ¡°Your momentary lapse in judgment is understandable. I forgive you.¡±
¡°Thank you, brother.¡± Xue Lian Hua said in a sweet voice filled with repentance.
¡°Oh, no beloved twin. Think nothing of it. We both are under a lot of pressure to become an immortal. I, for one, understand how you feel.¡±
¡°Indeed, I am under a lot of pressure. Master has been nagging me to undergo the lightning tribulation even though I¡¯m not ready for it.¡± Xue Lian Hua tearfully wept her anguish against her brother¡¯s embrace.
¡°Indeed we do many things we regret under pressure. I, myself, have done so.¡±
¡°Oh brother, thank you for understanding.¡±
¡°Think nothing of it. I ask for your understanding when I make mistakes.¡±
¡°Of course I¡¯d give it to you, brother.¡±
¡°Oh thank you, beloved sister, for your understanding. Please be careful around Mouth as I accidentally told him about your weakness against earth type attacks. He¡¯s has already prepared an array to hold you for the lecture he¡¯s going to deliver to you about covering your weakness.¡±
Xue Lian Hua pushed her brother aside, ¡°YOu did what?¡±
A few of the spectators ran as Xue Lian Hua yelled at the last sentence. Demons from the depths of hell sound better than her.
¡°Ah, there they are.¡± Fenix grabbed Tempest by the arm and pulled her towards her siblings. She took one look at the raging Xue Lian Hua, the tearfully crying Xue Yang, the amused Arlan Ben Tivock and the resigned Dilien Amerton and pushed Tempest into the middle of the fray before running out of the inn faster than the speed of light.
Poor Tempest was left to handle the mess Fenix inadvertently created.
Chapter 0192
Chapter 0192
Tempest¡¯s group and Fenix¡¯s siblings settled down in a private room Dilien Amerton book for the occasion.
She was an old hand at dealing with her family¡¯s drama and was unperturbed by the event downstairs.
As for the culprit, Fenix was sulking over the turn of events as she slouched in one of the comfortable chairs.
Tempest, on the other hand, acted true to her nature. She started gobbling down food the second the plate touched the table.
¡°Fenix dear, since you strongly request our presence here, you might as well perform the introductions.¡±
¡°I never asked for the twins.¡± Fenix continued her sulk.
¡°No asked for the twins, yet here they are.¡± Dilien Amerton retorted.
¡°¡°Hey!¡±¡± The twins protested what they perceived as an insult.
Dilien Amerton ignored them, choosing to focus on Fenix instead.
Fenix knew she could continue her snit but it wasn¡¯t conducive to her agenda so set aside her misgivings. ¡°Teammates let me introduce you to my siblings in order of age. The blond hair guy with the weird eyes is my 7th brother, Arlan Ben Tivock. He may be one of those annoying Soul Liner but he¡¯s our Soul Liner. You don¡¯t have to worry about him messing around your karma.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock smiled gently at Fenix¡¯s teammate, trying to give the impression of the good brother living next door. It might have worked if his expression highlighted the opaque eyes that marked him as a very powerful Soul Liner.
Li Ming, Bei Ting Mao, and Graden were on edge around him although they tried not to show it in deference to him and Fenix. They shouldn¡¯t have bothered hiding their anxiety as Arlan Ben Tivock had eyes only for Tempest, who was wolfing down the food as if she hadn¡¯t eaten in days instead of the three hours it was since breakfast.
¡°The black hair blue eyed girl over there is my 8th sister, Dilien Amerton.¡± Fenix cocked her head to the side in deep thought before adding on, ¡°Li Ming and Tempest, I permit you to kill her if she gropes you. Unlike when I grope you for your water mana, this pervert does it because she¡¯s a horny slut who prefers women over men.¡±
¡°Awww Fenix,¡± Dilien Amerton threw away her cool beauty image to whine like a baby to Fenix. ¡°I¡¯m not a pervert and I don¡¯t need to grope strangers for kicks.¡±
¡°Uh huh.¡± The bland expression on Fenix¡¯s face spoke volumes.
¡°Of course. Paying a beautiful but discreet courtesan is much better than groping a random stranger on the street. No fuss, no mess.¡±
Everyone, ¡°....¡±
Li Ming slowly edged her way behind Bei Ting Mao while Graden smiled serenely at Dilien Amerton. It was nice to have the pervert label slapped on another person.
It would be better if Dilien Amerton targets Tempest. The little brat deserves it seeing how she insinuated he prefers men to women. Being the target of a female pervert was her just desert.
¡°What? Men can visit a brothel and woman can¡¯t?¡± Dilien Amerton affects a look of surprised when she said that.
¡°It simply isn¡¯t done.¡± Li Ming said behind Bei Ting Mao. Of all the people here, Li Ming had the most conservative mindset.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
¡°Let me tell you, little girl, as long as one has resources and power, one can do anything. A woman can have six or seven husbands if she can afford it and likewise, a man can have six or seven wives if he can afford it.¡±
¡°But that is wrong.¡± Li Ming continued to insist. Everything Dilien Amerton said goes contrary to her belief, yet it sounds so tempting.
¡°And how is it wrong?¡± Dilien Amerton challenged Li Ming¡¯s assumptions.
¡°A woman must¡¡±
¡°Li Ming I think you should stop right there and accept the fact that you are a frog living in a well. There is a greater world out there. The beliefs of the Heavenly Mountains do not apply to the other three realms and you should not enforce your belief on them in their realm.
¡°There is a proverb where I came from that said ¡®Do as the Romans do.¡¯ It means you should follow the customs and morals of the country you are in or gather enough power to conquer the country then enforce your belief on to them. If you can¡¯t beat them, well, then you have to do what they tell you or you would get beaten. Who knows, someday, the other three realms might join hands to beat up the Heavenly Mountains.¡± Tempest stopped her feeding to add in her two cents.
Li Ming knew when she was beaten. She snapped her mouth shut.
¡°Bei Ting Mao, what is your take on this?¡± Tempest asked. She was curious about Bei Ting Mao¡¯s opinion since the Heavenly Mountains is a patriarchal society and Bei Ting Mao was strangely silent on the subject.
¡°Strength is everything.¡± Bei Ting Mao said simply. For him, who was a fallen genius, the morals of society are hypocritical and bias. He felt that way towards all society, not just the Heavenly Mountains. The Magus Alliance carries the same hypocritical bullsh*t as the Heavenly Mountains. Humans are the same everywhere. Who cares if they are men or women? As long as they are strong then they can rule. The rulers make the rules. Strength is everything.
¡°Okay enough of the philosophical conversation. Moving on. The black hair black eye girl over there is Xue Lian Hua, fire darkness heavenly spirit veins. Her twin brother is Xue Yang, water and light heavenly spirit vein.¡± Fenix continued on with the introduction.
¡°Please to meet you all.¡± Xue Yang, the younger twin smiled at the group his younger sister brought along with her.
¡°Likewise.¡± Xue Lian Hua tossed out then clamped her mouth shut before she can say more and offend Fenix.
Tempest stopped her feeding for a moment to peer at the twins above the rim of her bowl.
¡°A Soul Liner, a cultivator from the Mysterious Wasteland and two from the Heavenly Mountains. Damn Fenix, your mother got around.¡± Tact was never one of Tempest¡¯s strong suit. She blurted her thoughts out without considering the consequences. Tempest¡¯s teammate flinched at Tempest¡¯s comment then turn to see Fenix¡¯s reaction.
¡°Well, yeah. My mother is a single affinity water mage.¡±
¡°Is that supposed to mean something? Cause I don¡¯t get it.¡±
¡°Higher the cultivation, the lower the fertility rate of a cultivator. It is the reason why large clans urge their children to marry young. When they become powerful, they might find out it is too late for them to have children. Even then there is no guarantee their children have good immortal potential. Single affinity water mages have the ability, ah um, well guide a man seed once he ah umm¡¡±
¡°Shesh Graden, for a mage you talk like a prude.¡± Fenix interrupts Graden¡¯s explanation as she figured he¡¯d be too embarrassed to continue. ¡°My mom has the ability to choose the most suitable seed to impregnate her. This guarantees the immortal potential of the child is higher. Of course, she can only guide the potential for body, mind and strangely enough, soul. She can¡¯t guarantee her child would have high affinities as that is determined by the spirits which is why it took her 14 tries before she had me.¡±
¡°Ah, you come from a family of overachievers who were born with a golden spoon in their mouth huh? That must be hard trying to compete with them.¡± Tempest sympathizes with Fenix. The worst thing a parent can do is to compare one child to another and find one of them lacking. They never realize how their casual words hurt even when they hurt when their parents do it to them.
¡°Oh no, not really. I was the baby mother always wanted. Anything happen to me and my siblings have to face my mother¡¯s wrath. Hehe. Mom can be scary.¡±
¡°Keep telling yourself that.¡± Tempest remained unconvinced.
¡°Anyways, from our side, we have Bei Ting Mao, he¡¯s the stoic guy holding up the wall. Li Ming is the girl trying to hide behind him. Graden Murkeiel is our resident cook-slash-alchemist. The shorty is Starm Mi Viediel and lastly Tempest. Hey Tempest, what is your full name?¡± Fenix asked awkwardly. She just realizes she didn¡¯t know Tempest full name.
¡°Amnesia here. Tempest is a name I gave myself. Everything else, I forgot.¡±
¡°Okay, Tempest no last name. Now that everyone has been introduced, let¡¯s get down to business.¡±
Chapter 0193
Chapter 0193
¡°Okay, now that the introductions are done, let¡¯s get down to the business at hand,¡± Fenix said. ¡°8th sister do you have the information I¡¯ve requested?¡±
¡°I do, but I don¡¯t see anything that warrants all of our interests.¡±
¡°That is because you can only see through the eyes of a merchant. Not all profits are visible.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock indirectly reminded his sister that the situation isn¡¯t as clear cut as she thinks it is. He wouldn¡¯t be here otherwise.
¡°The people I asked you to inquire about isn¡¯t really the issue right now. It¡¯s the people who might be involved with them that are a cause for concern. It is also why I ask for your help.¡±
¡°Ohh, I¡¯m all ears baby sister.¡± Dilien Amerton cooed, partially because she wants to see the adorable side of Fenix and partially because she was curious about what kind of person could intrigue her 7th brother. It may not seem like it considering Arlan Ben Tivock came her quite easily at Fenix¡¯s request but the truth is very different.
Arlan Ben Tivock is a stubborn bastard who does what he wants to do. No one can move him when he sets his mind to it, not even their mother. So who can move the annoyingly reclusive stubborn bastard?
¡°Aria Se Jivock.¡±
¡°The reputed second most powerful Soul Liner of the Se clan?¡± Xue Yang asked. He made sure to be informed of the general movements of all the powerful people in the cultivation world. This includes all Soul Liner, no matter their age.
¡°Yes, that one. Aria Se Jivock had taken enough interest in the situation to manipulate the outcome directly.¡±
¡°Technically,¡± Tempest jumped in to explain, ¡°she was there to conduct the entrance test for the Brilliant Yin Sect, but she used the token she said I won as a karma conduit and lead me to the brothel.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know what Aria Se Jivock¡¯s intents are so I need 7th brother here to intervene if necessary.¡±
Arlan Ben Tivock stared at Tempest for a bit before he spoke, ¡°I know what Aria Se Jivock¡¯s is after. I can¡¯t say it since I don¡¯t want to create a karma line with her, but I can safely say she has no intention of harming you or your sisters.¡±
Arlan Ben Tivock won¡¯t say Aria Se Jivock wants to create a karma line between her and the Heaven Defyer and is using Tempest here as a medium. He wants to create a karma line between him and the Heaven Defyer and is taking advantage of the opportunity his sister handed to him on a silver platter. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Heaven Defyers are a strange lot. Karma, coincidence, fate, heaven¡¯s will and all that doesn¡¯t work on them unless they allow it. Creating a karma line with them is nigh impossible unless there was a karma line between them before they became a Heaven Defyer. As to how they became a Heaven Defyer, that secret is highly guarded by Heaven. No amount of prying reveals it.
Soul Liners don¡¯t reveal information about Heaven Defyers, ever.
Still, Arlan Ben Tivock benefitted from Aria Se Jivock¡¯s actions. It wouldn¡¯t hurt him to put in a good word for her.
Fenix looks skeptically at her usually vague brother. ¡°Are you sure she wasn¡¯t there to cause harm?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve already checked into the matter.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock smiled mysteriously.
¡°Then what does she want?¡± Tempest asked. Aria Se Jivock was too weird for Tempest to ignore.
¡°Soul Liner secret.¡±
Tempest grunted but knew she wasn¡¯t going to get any more information out of Arlan Ben Tivock. She let it go since he was on her side.
¡°Since you are here 7th brother, you might as well handle the issue with Verack De Nunick and his soul mate.¡± Fenix decided to toss more work towards her strange 7th brother.
¡°That is a tricky one. Star crossed lovers are like that.¡±
¡°Well yeah, but the coincidence is too much.¡± Tempest expressed her worries. ¡°How often do you see two soul mates meeting each other at the same time?¡±
¡°With Soul Liners in the mix, as often as it benefits us.¡± Arlan Ben Tivock said, ¡°but I¡¯ll keep an eye Verack De Nunick for you.¡±
What Tempest hadn¡¯t realized was all Soul Liners were keeping an eye out on Verack De Nunick. Arlan Ben Tivock¡¯s promise to Tempest was something he was already doing. Arlan Ben Tivock was quite pleased to get a lot of goodwill for something he was already doing.
¡°Oh, oh, don¡¯t forget Base Avon-Ying and his soulmate or life companion or whatever you call it.¡±
¡°He¡¯s the other guy who found his soul mate under Aria Se Jivock¡¯s watch,¡± Fenix explained Tempest¡¯s comment. ¡°That¡¯s why I asked you to come here, 8th sister.¡±
¡°The Avon-Ying huh? This is an interesting problem you presented at my table 14th sister.¡±
Fenix grimace. ¡°I know. Will you help?¡±
¡°Of course. Anything for my little sister.¡± Dilien Amerton happily agreed although Fenix knew her sister wasn¡¯t helping her out of the goodness of her heart.
Dilien Amerton was already considering how to handle the Avon-Ying as they presented several lucrative proposals to the Amerton Conglomerate. Their ideas were intriguing and if it could be executed, then it becomes extremely profitable for both sides, yet at the same time, the risk associated with the proposal corresponds to the potential profits.
¡°And don¡¯t forget about the Brilliant Yin Sect.¡± Ever so helpful Tempest added. ¡°Aria Se Jivock used the Brilliant Yin Sect Disciple Token as bait for me.¡±
¡°I take that is where we come in?¡± Xue Yang asked.
¡°Yes. I¡¯m not sure how to handle the Brilliant Yin Sect as they aren¡¯t directly involved in the situation but their name was used.¡±
¡°I have connections with the Brilliant Yin Sect. I¡¯ll handle them if necessary.¡± Xue Lian Hua offered her services to her youngest sister.
¡°Okay, thanks.¡±
¡°Now for the actual situation itself, 8th sister, do you know what is going on and the major players involved?¡±
Chapter 0194
Chapter 0194
Although Dilien Amerton seems unreliable at first glance, she did a good job getting the information they all needed.
The brothel was owned by the Vase-Sunge-Bringe-Markeet-Varent-Team-Juiel-Crim Conglomerate, an eighth rate company in itself but it has ties to the Sili-Ying-Bringe-Markeet Conglomerate, a fourth rate conglomerate, who has ties to the second rate conglomerate Avon-Ying.
Before Tempest and the other had to ask, Dilien was already explaining the family structure in the Mysterious Wasteland.
The Mysterious Wasteland is the capital of capitalism. Everything is driven by wealth and greed. Oh yeah, she forgot to mention the contracts. Everything is driven by wealth, greed and contractual obligations.
As the capital of capitalism, the core unit of the Mysterious Wasteland is a shop. More than one shops make it a chain shop. Above the chain shop is a company than a conglomerate.
To put it into terms the people from the other domains can understand, a shop is a nuclear family, consisting of father, mother and their children. Add in the extended family such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews and the shop becomes a chain shop. Extend the family ties a bit further and you get the company. If it is a big clan then it becomes a conglomerate.
A linked company is used to create an alliance between two conglomerate.
Every child born in the Mysterious Wasteland takes the name of the middle name of their parents as their own, with the father¡¯s middle name being first, up to seven generations.
For example, Mary 1-2. Her father is John 1-3 while her mother Nancy 2-4, so Mary is Mary 1-2, except names, are a status symbol in the Mysterious Wasteland. The less name a person has, the closer they are to inheriting their parents or family¡¯s conglomerate.
Therefore, the law states that a child has to take the family name up to seven generations. So Mary 1-2 turns out to be Mary 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14. The 3 comes from her paternal grandfather and 4 comes from her maternal grandfather.
Paternal grandfather is Abel 1-5 and maternal grandfather is Jack 2-6. Then it gets up to the next generation and the next generation.
Such a long name isn¡¯t used in everyday life. Mary would use Mary 1-2 most of the time. However, should Mary engage in any trade she would be required to sign her entire name.
It is annoying, repetitive and exhausting. It is meant to be this way.
First, identity is almost guaranteed. How easy it to give birth to a child named Mary 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14? Not every easy. This naming method is almost like a social security number of an American.
Second, it is used to bully and demean the weak and the poor. Active bullying of the weak and the poor is frowned down upon. It is seen as uncouth and beneath them.
Swindling people with wit, loopholes in the contract or a good scheme is praised.
Swindling an ignorant person because they didn¡¯t take the time to learn their full name is the first thing the rich teach their children to do.
Third, the name is used to make a person mediocre, therefore easier to control.
However, the name is also a method used to encourage the child. A child who achieves certain milestones or goals set by the ancient ancestor of the governing body of the Mysterious Wasteland has the right to shave off the last name of their name. Mary 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14 would be Mary 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13. As Mary achieved more, she can take off more of her names.
There are advantages to having a shorter name. For example, there is the 1-2-3-4 conglomerate or linked company. If Mary has enough achievement to shorten her name to Mary 1-2-3-4, then even though she has distant blood ties to the original people who establish company 1-2-3-4, she has equal rights and obligations as an heir of the company.
As such, all large conglomerate keep an eye out on anyone of interest who might earn the right to inherit their company.
¡°You can tell by my name alone that I am the heir to the Amerton Conglomerate, a first rate conglomerate in the Mysterious Wasteland.¡± Dilien Amerton said proudly.
By this time, Tempest was so confused by Dilien Amerton explanation, she can¡¯t make heads or tails of the situation at all.
Tempest desperately turned to Fenix for a better explanation.
Fenix took pity on Tempest and the rest of the teammates. They might not look like it but they are as confused as Tempest. They just have a better poker face than Tempest.
¡°The owner of the brothel is a small fry, but they have decent backing and connections to a more powerful backer.¡±
¡°Ah, so that¡¯s it. Why couldn¡¯t she say that in the beginning.¡± Tempest said what was on everyone¡¯s mind but they were smart enough not to say anything about it.
¡°I did you ignorant plebeian.¡± Dilien Amerton retorted with all the arrogance of a rich heiress used to dealing with uninformed fools.
¡°Sure you-¡±
Fenix slammed a hand over Tempest¡¯s mouth. She was sure the fool was going to say something stupid and her sister would find it offensive and then they would lose her help. ¡°Please excuse the silly little girl. She knows nothing of the Mysterious Wasteland.¡±
¡°Fools are easiest to swindle. Make sure she never enters the Mysterious Wasteland alone.¡±
¡°Duly noted.¡±
¡°Speaking of which,¡± Dilien Amerton spoke casually but her eyes were trained on Tempest like a hawk on a mouse, ¡°what is the full name of the girl I¡¯m making a bargain with?¡±
¡°Amnesia here.¡± Tempest pointed it out.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°You may have amnesia but you did give yourself a name. I¡¯d like to know that name so I can create a proper contract.¡±
Tempest hesitate a bit. Tempest Arashi Kataigida isn¡¯t really known, but Tempest gave the puppet she was using to pretend to be her her last name, Katiagida. By now everyone should know the name Kataigida, Cardis¡¯ Successor.
¡°I am called Tempest Arashi Kataigida, the holder of the Resonance Bond of Cardis¡¯ Successor, Kataigda.¡± Tempest decided to distort facts. Tempest Arashi Kataigida is the name she chose for herself and her bond with Cardis¡¯ Successor is the truth. She has a bond with herself. She wasn¡¯t lying. She just didn¡¯t tell them she was Cardis¡¯ Successor. She wasn¡¯t going to spread that fact around. Tempest had already pissed off a lot of women when she was traveling with Cardis previously. Let it out that she was Cardis¡¯ Successor and who knows what kind of trouble those women infatuated with Cardis might come up with.
¡°Alright, Tempest Arashi Kataigida, Resonance Bond Holder of Kataigida, I, Dilien Amerton is willing to go into a contract with you, provided your payment is enough to cover any and all costs associated with the stated task.¡± Tempest jumped behind Graden and shamelessly used him as a shield. Dilien Amerton is scary, shark lawyer scary.
¡°Moving on, the brothel may be owned by the Vase-Sunge-Bringe-Markeet-Varent-Team-Juiel-Crim Conglomerate but they don¡¯t operate it. They own the building but they lease it to the Domain Management Guild. So all personnel, as well as the slaves, belong to the Domain Management Guild.¡±
¡°Interesting.¡± Fenix grinned evilly.
¡°Indeed.¡± Dilien Amerton grinned evilly.
¡°Mother would be most pleased.¡± Xue Lian Hua grinned evilly.
Tempest has no doubt they were sisters. They have different fathers, look different, act different, but they are definitely sisters.
The sister¡¯s smile was so alike Tempest could have sworn someone back on Earth came to the Cardinal Realm and took a picture of Fenix and cut and copied her evil grin onto Dilien Amerton and Xue Lian Hua.
It wasn¡¯t just the physical expression, that slightly tilted lips with a bit of tooth showing, but also the aura of the smile was the same. The spine tingly sinister smile scared everyone into nearly wetting their pants. Okay, Tempest was scared into nearly wetting their pants. She can¡¯t say that about anyone else or they¡¯d beat her into a panda pig head but she was sure her statement applied to them as well. Even that crazy guy, Arlan Ben Tivock, was bothered by his sisters¡¯ malevolent smiles and Soul Liners was supposed to be the crazy psychos no cultivators would want to mess with.
Tempest shivered behind Graden as the three sisters shared a touching moment and prayed for the moment to pass.
Li Ming hid behind Bei Ting Mao. It might do her good to see Fenix in a new light. Li Ming had a kind of holier than thou attitude towards Fenix, like she was better than Fenix. Fenix pretends not to see it because she needed Li Ming¡¯s water mana and for group cohesiveness. It isn¡¯t a good attitude to have. Tempest was happy Li Ming was slowly changing her attitude towards the rest of the group. She didn¡¯t want the cause of Li Ming¡¯s change to be Fenix¡¯s evil side.
Tempest turned her attention towards the Arosis men. The longer the sisters smiled, the closer Xue Yang was towards the door. It seems he doesn¡¯t know about this side of his sisters. He is a man. He doesn¡¯t know the mind of a woman.
The scary thing about this scene is Arlan Ben Tivock. Didn¡¯t people say Soul Liners are the bogey man of the cultivation world? Weren¡¯t they insane psychopaths that manipulate the karma of a cultivator that they can die in a ditch without realizing why or who was the cause of their death? Then why in the world would scary, insane Arlan Ben Tivock slowly edge towards the window like he¡¯d make a break for it at any moment?
Tempest turned her attention towards the sisters in question and got her answer. They are scary. Women are scary. Yes, Tempest realizes she made the statement when she herself is a woman.
As for Starm¡ he¡¯s sitting in the chair, more preoccupied with the toy in his hand than the situation at hand.
¡°Hmmm¡ the Domain Management Guild huh? It might not count for much but you can call on the Morcean family for support if you need it.¡± Graden did his part and offered the services of his family to the trio.
¡°Whoa, you have ties to the Morcean family?¡± Fenix asked surprised.
Graden introduced himself as Graden Murkeiel. Fenix had never probe further because she didn¡¯t want to cause a rift in their budding friendship and she didn¡¯t want family drama to interfere with their relationship so she didn¡¯t know Graden has relations to theMorcean family.
The Magus Alliance worked on the quasi guild slash sect model in their cultivating structure. Mages found this structure most suited to them. It allows the poor and the weak but high affinities a chance to grow and free up time for the higher ups to learn from their spirits. It also doesn¡¯t put many constraints on the mages, especially considering most mages have¡ unusual personalities.
While most of the focus was placed on the big guilds in the Magus Alliance, the importance of the big clans can not be discounted. It more of the importance of the big clans that should not be discounted. After all, there are only four big clans in the Magus Alliance: Talenski, Arnist, Morcean, and Yoresteven. Everyone one of the big clans has a Child of the Spirits as their backer.
If Cardis had family then he could have backed his family to grow into a big clan. Sadly, Cardis was an only child. His parents died a long time ago and he didn¡¯t have children on account of his disappearing wife who he still held a torch for.
As for the Morcean that Graden mentioned, it had Miretta Morcean, Daughter of Nature, as its backer.
¡°How close are you to Miretta Morcean?¡± Fenix asked.
¡°Not too close,¡± Graden answered sheepishly.
¡°We¡¯re all friends here Graden. Spill the beans.¡± Fenix wasn¡¯t buying his humble act. His last name isn¡¯t Morcean yet he dares offer to use the Morcean name! He had better be close to the immortal in the Morcean family to offer the use of their name like he did.
¡°My mother is the great great granddaughter of Miretta Morcean.¡±
¡°You¡¯re what? Sixth generation down?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t Miretta created a matrilineal kingdom, naming her daughter as the queen?¡±
Graden sighed out a yes.
¡°No wonder you are so gentle despite your fire affinities. You were influenced by the woman in your family. Am I talking to a bona fide prince here?¡± Fenix ribbed.
¡°My dear Fenix, you are completely out of the loop here. The Morcean Kingdom is a matrilineal kingdom. Males aren¡¯t in line for the throne. In fact, males with royal blood are exiled from the kingdom after a certain age.¡± Dilien Amerton stared at Graden.
¡°If Graden is exiled from the kingdom, how can he offer to use the Morcean name?¡± Tempest asked.
¡°The Morcean Kingdom considered a person an adult at 40-years-old. I won¡¯t be able to use the Morcean name after I become an adult, but I am not an adult yet, hence I can use the Morcean name if I need to.¡±
Tempest pat Graden on the back to comfort him. Being disowned by his family once he reaches adulthood has got to hurt. It¡¯s like being tossed out of the house when a child reaches 18 and left to fend for themselves.
Li Ming and Xu Lian Hua tried to express her goodwill toward Graden as well. Being born female in a patrilineal society, they understood what Graden was going through.
Graden smiled softly, please at the outpouring of care and concern he felt from them.
Fenix finally senses Graden discomfort so she shifted the topic back to the issue at hand. ¡°No need to use the Morcean name. The Arosis name is good enough. Mother would be happy to tackle the Domain Management Guild for us.¡±
Tempest pinched Graden on the side and tried to get Graden to ask, ¡°What is the issue with their mother and the Domain Management Guild?¡±
Graden got the message loud and clear. ¡°What is the issue with their mother and the Domain Management Guild?¡±
Fenix grinned evilly.
Dilien Amerton grinned evilly.
Xue Lian Hua grinned evilly.
Tempest jumped behind Graden and used him as a shield again. She wondered if this was a subject she should not have touched.
Author: You finally realize you should have shut the trap you call a mouth.
Tempest: Who¡¯s talking. Ventus, did you hear anything?
Ventus (silencing the author): No one is talking dear.
Chapter 0195
Chapter 0195
The situation with Llyana Arosis and the Domain Management Guild isn¡¯t a secret. Anyone can find out about if they dig a little.
The Domain Management Guild tried to hide it but after Llyana Arosis stepped into the Mastery stage of a mage cultivation, the Domain Management Guild couldn¡¯t do anything to cover it up and Llyana Arosis didn¡¯t allow them to cover it up.
Llyana Arosis is a single element high affinity water mage. As Fenix mentioned before, single element water mages can choose the quality of their children, as in, any children born to a single element water mage is almost guaranteed to have high potential. The higher the affinities a single element water mage has, the higher the potential his or her children are born with.
Llyana Arosis was born in a small clan in the Heavenly Mountains. She didn¡¯t have good spirit veins or high potential for cultivation so she was used by her clan as a pawn. The clans in the Heavenly Mountains tend not to test the females in their clan for affinities as female mages are seen as immoral and loose.
So Llyana Arosis was married off to a partner that could benefit her clan. She did alright. She managed to give birth to a son even and everything was going well for her for a while until a woman in high position fancied her husband. So the other woman and her husband¡¯s clan schemed to get rid of her and welcome a new member, one that could give better benefits to the clan.
Somehow, Llyana caught wind of the situation and fled with her son in tow. She survived the combined onslaught of her inlaws and the other woman and made it to the Magus Alliance.
She changed everything about herself, even her name, and created a new identity for herself. Even if she didn¡¯t train as a mage, she could become one with only a little bit of training as the spirits were already changing her body.
Llyana Arosis¡¯ son, Van Arosis had heavenly fire spirit veins and heavenly wood spirit veins. Knowing how valued an alchemist is in the Heavenly Mountains, Llyana Arosis sent her son to train in one of the large sects in the Heavenly Mountains, the Primordial Lake Sect. He quickly rose to fame and got revenge for his mother, destroying both his maternal, paternal and other woman¡¯s clan and sect.
Before Van Arosis became strong enough to protect him and his mother, the Domain Management Guild found out about Van Arosis¡¯ dual heavenly fire wood spirit veins.
They dug up Llyana cultivation history and seeing the high potential in Van Arosis, they figured Llyana Arosis was a high affinity water mage.
The Domain Management Guild pressured Llyana Arosis into being their breeding mare. They contacted other powerful people in other domains and bred her with them to give birth to high potential children. They said they were doing this for the benefit of the Magus Alliance.
When Van Arosis became strong enough, he came back to protect his mother but she had already given birth to four other children by then.
Her fifth child¡¯s inclination might have assisted in her bid for freedom.
Llyana Arosis wanted revenge for her humiliation but the Domain Management Guild had ties to the other domains that were further strengthened through her children so the Magus Alliance couldn¡¯t do anything for her.
Also, as women in the Magus Alliance were particularly promiscuous, most mages didn¡¯t understand Llyana Arosis¡¯ grievances.
Llyana Arosis has been trying to cause trouble for the Domain Alliance Guild ever since, but those bastards were like slippery eels. She could never get a solid hold on their weaknesses.
Until now.
The Magus Alliance never forbade prostitution or opening a brothel.
It¡¯s the opposite.
When a mage sleep with a person with the same element as them, they can suck up the mana in their bodies and the ¡®donor¡¯ would be none the wiser. The spirits still temper the cultivator''s body even though they chose a different immortal potential to cultivate. If the person doesn¡¯t cultivate the heart as their immortal potential, only a little bit of the mana is used by the cultivator. The rest of the mana was stored in the body. A mage can copulate with the cultivator and drain the person of their mana. The cultivator won¡¯t even notice the mana is gone.
With a beneficial side effect to physical intimacy, the Magus Alliance encouraged free love. Brothels are there to lure ¡®donors¡¯ for the mages.
So leasing a building to manage a brothel is fine, even good by their standards.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Managing the brothel with slaves controlled by slave collars is a different story.
Debt servants, fine, if you can prove the debt was incurred by the debt servant. Parents selling their children into slavery for money doesn¡¯t count and is illegal. The children selling themselves off into slavery because it is a better alternative to starving is fine. What the child does with the money is their choice.
Holding someone hostage to force a child into slavery is a no no.
How the Magus Alliance determines what is legal servitude and slavery is a mystery to the other domains. What is clear cut is this - no slave collars are allowed. Period.
As to why the Magus Alliance pitch a particular fit to this issue involves the spirits.
Tempest asked Ventus about this and Ventus explained that the slave collar interferes with the spirits absorption of ambient mana and changing it into mana. It not only affects the wearer, but also an area around the wearer.
Hence, the slave collar can be used to deprive a mage of their mana. The other domains can invade the Magus Alliance by equipping enough people with slave collars and sending them to debilitate the mage. Powerful mages are immune to the effects of the slave collars but the Magus Alliance would not allow such an obvious weakness to be exploited so they forbid any guild from using, or engage in business involving the slave collars.
For the Domain Management Guild to manage a brothel within the borders of the Magus Alliance is a huge slap to the Magus Alliance.
The Magus Alliance might be lenient if it was outside their borders as they have no jurisdiction there. However, the Magus Alliance rules are sovereign in its borders. It enforces its rule worse than zealous fanatics. Part of the reason why the Magus Alliance was so strict in enforcing its rules within its border was that it had few rules.
Fenix was hopping from one foot to the other in excitement. ¡°Please, tell me, oh please tell me you got enough evidence to incriminate them, covered all your tracks and sent out your people to monitor them.¡±
¡°Of course. I¡¯m not going to be careless since it is a subject near and dear to my mother¡¯s heart. Those bastards will pay and mother could finally remove the thorn in her heart.¡± Dilien Amerton casually boasted.
¡°Yay. I can¡¯t wait to see those bastards suffer! Remember to record everything in a memory stone.¡±
¡°Who do you think I am? Done and done!¡± Dilien Amerton puffed up her ample chest. The look of adoration on her baby sister¡¯s face was stroking her already inflated ego to a whole new level.
¡°When can we start? Oh oh, tell me we can start soon.¡±
¡°Soon, Fenix.¡±
¡°Ah not to burst your bubble or anything but did you do the most important thing of all, inform mother?¡± Xue Lian Hua asked the dofus duo.
Dilien Amerton smiled was wider than the Cheshire cat. ¡°I got a reply from mother. She¡¯ll be here tomorrow. We¡¯ll start then.¡±
¡°Won¡¯t all your presence here alert them?¡± Tempest didn¡¯t want to say anything to snagged their attention. They are creeeeeppppyyy. Tempest had been shivering nonstop from their disturbing behavior ever since they started grinning maniacally. Still, she had to bring their focus back to the important issue, freeing her sisters.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have it all covered. I called you all here because I heard there were traces of a natural fire element in the area. Knowing how much our mother love our youngest sister, us siblings had to rush here to snatched it.¡±
¡°Oh, mages far and wide would come here with their forces to fight for the natural fire elements. It is a perfect rumor to spread in our situation. No one would question why powerful mages are congregating in the area.¡± Fenix said jubilantly.
¡°It¡¯ll also provide the perfect excuse for the Governing Board of the Magus Alliance or their enforcers to appear here. After all, no mages can withstand the lure of a natural fire element. The best part, I didn¡¯t even make up the rumor.¡± Dilien Amerton smirked. ¡°We can try to snatch the natural fire element for you, baby sister.¡±
¡°No need.¡± Fenix refused her sister¡¯s offer. ¡°I want all your attention on the brothel.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure. I got a big harvest from our foray into the Emblemic Mountain. That¡¯s what we are using to pay for your assistance with the brothel.¡±
¡°Hey! Why am I paying you guys when you guys benefitted from my situation?¡± Greedy Tempest tried to argue for her benefits.
¡°Because we agreed this is what you would pay regardless of how dangerous the situation is. If the odds were stacked against us now, we¡¯d still do what you asked for the same pay.¡± Fenix outright lied to Tempest.
Treasures from a chaotic rift are priceless. Tempest need only pay one of the treasure she has on hand and cultivators would fight each other for the chance to take her assignment.
Fenix kept everything ¡®in house¡¯ because she knew the value of the treasures Tempest has and she knew to what lengths people would go to get it. The rest of their team knew the inherent problem with Tempest¡¯s payment as well. It goes to show how much they trust Fenix when they allowed her to handle this.
¡°Can¡¯t we lessen the amount?¡± Tempest tried to wheedle.
¡°Look, I know you are overpaying my family for this assignment but the money is worth it. We are casting a large net so we can get everyone involved. They can run but they won¡¯t be able to hide. We have cultivators from all domains here. No matter where they go, we can get them. However, if you want to have a hole in our tight net, then yeah, you can pay a little less.¡±
¡°I want everyone in the brothel!¡±
¡°The use of slave collars is illegal in the Magus Alliance,¡± Fenix warned Tempest.
¡°I don¡¯t need slave collars for what I¡¯m about to do.¡± The grim expression on Tempest¡¯s face made her teammates reevaluate the Arosis sisters. The Arosis sisters looked evil and menacing but Tempest looks downright chilling.
Fenix grinned evilly in response.
Dilien Amerton grinned evilly at her sister¡¯s schemes.
Xue Lian grinned evilly at the promised payment.
Starm fiddle with a talisman while he sat in the chair.
Everyone else in the room tried to subtly edge closer to the exit. They pray this would be over soon or they¡¯d die from the combined pressure of four cruel women.
Chapter 0196
Chapter 0196
¡°Mommy.¡± Fenix turned opera singer yelled in a high pitched voice and ran into her mother¡¯s embrace the moment the group of powerful mages landed in the clearing at the skirt of town.
Tempest slammed her hand over her ears and squat down to avoid being seen by the embarrassing mommy¡¯s little princess and covertly sized up Llyana Arosis.
What is wrong with her? Tempest seriously thought the woman walked into a car paint shop without her car. Everything about her boiled down to one word - blue. Dark blue hair, light blue eyes, flawless white complexion with a tint of blue undertones and a blue halo hanging around her.
¡°Mommy.¡±
¡°Mommy.¡±
Xue Lian and Dilien Amerton squealed their happiness and threw themselves into their mother¡¯s embrace. It was one pile of the family happy fest.
¡°Ancestor.¡± Graden shyly called out to a brown haired woman with green highlights. Miretta Morcean, Daughter of Nature, the ancestor Graden was talking about yesterday when they first meet.
Miretta Morcean was not what Tempest expected. Tempest expected a staunched masculine female with a stocky body, wide shoulders and big hips. She didn¡¯t expect a caramel nature goddess that was the epitome of an earthly female.
Tempest notice Miretta Morcean has light hazel eyes, a straight nose, luscious lips Tempest swears she sees all the time outside a botox clinic, flexible waist, round hips and much to Tempest consternation, big double D breast.
¡°Aren¡¯t these women taking their elements a mite too seriously Ventus? I mean, I can understand if a young person does it. Conformity, rebellion, soul searching, whatever you call it, young people will do stupid stuff for the experience. But these women are experienced. I¡¯d think they are comfortable in their own skin not to change it just for the sake of appearance.
You forget a mortal¡¯s body is changed during the cultivation process to allow him or her to use mana.
¡°Huh?¡±
You¡¯ve noticed before there are no ugly mages. A mage¡¯s physical appearance is altered the mana they absorbed during the cultivation process. Remember, the spirits combined elemental energy from the spiritual plane with the ambient mana in the air and fuse it into their mortal¡¯s body. During the process, the appearance of the mortal would change. Water mana changes the mortal¡¯s coloring to blue. Lightning changes the mortal¡¯s coloring to silver. Wind changes the mortal¡¯s coloring to green. When you grow up, your hair and eye color will change to reflect this.
¡°So Llyana looks like an ideal single element water mage while Miretta looks like the ideal wood earth mage?¡±
Yes.
¡°Do you know how I would look? Especially the chest area. I want boing boing. Not too big but big enough so no one could mistake me for a man.¡± Tempest half asked half pleaded. Tempest knew she was going to be pretty. She had never seen an ugly mage. What she saw was a flat chested mage. Granted the mage was still beautiful but Tempest would rather be both beautiful and have a nice rack.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
You won¡¯t be flat chested.
¡°Yay.¡±
After having received assurance she would have nice boobies, Tempest turned her attention back to the group just in time to hear Fenix say, ¡°Wow, mother, you work fast. You were able to get five of the 13 Magus Alliance Council Members and three Elders to judge those bastards.¡±
Before Tempest had to ask what Fenix meant, the information gave given to her.
The Magus Alliance is ruled by a governing board of 13 mages and currently five Elders.
The 13 seats on the Magus Alliance are determined by the guild¡¯s position during the fight against the devils in the Battle of the Realms held every one hundred years in the Central Domain.
The position of Elders on the Magus Alliance Governing Board is determined by the spirits. Only a Child of the Spirits or a True Child of the Spirits can be an Elder.
And with Llyana Arosis stands 5 of the 13 Magus Alliance Council Members and three Elders, Cardis, Miretta and Valstein.
¡°We¡¯re here for the natural element, not to settle the enmity Llyana Arosis have with the Domain Alliance Guild.¡± One of the Magus Alliance Council Members spoke stiffly.
Being on the Governing Board of the Magus Alliance might be due to the influence of their guild but the Magus Alliance Council Member still had to be strong in their own rights.
No one would listen to them if they were weak.
Each of the Magus Alliance Council Members is at least in the Mastery stage of their cultivation, capable of casting a purple five circle spell and they¡¯ve fought in all Battle of the Realms.
The Battle of the Realms is held every one hundred years and it is fought against the devil seeking to invade the Cardinal Realm.
The Battle of the Realms differs from most competitive battles in that it doesn¡¯t separate the various tiers by cultivation but by age.
Each domain has its method of separating the various level of cultivation and it doesn¡¯t have its equivalent in the other domain.
For example, mages use two methods of determining their cultivation level, how far the spirits have modified their body and how much power a mage can generate. The first one being skin, muscles, bones, blood vessels, hearts, organs, the five senses and everything else that needs to be modified.
The name is anatomically correct but it doesn¡¯t sound good. Also, physical modification done by the spirits isn¡¯t a good indication of power. Besides, aside from the mage themselves and their spirits, no one can tell at what stage of tempering a mage is at.
The other method of measuring a mage¡¯s power is to go the amount of mana they can infuse in their spells. The color indicates the amount of power the spells have going from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple.
Although this is the commonly accepted form of grading a mage¡¯s power in the Magus Alliance, no one is sure where its equivalence is in the other methods of cultivation.
As such, instead of cultivation level, the tiers in the Battle of the Realms are separated by age.
Each member of the Governing Board of the Magus Alliance had to have fought in all tiers of the Battle of the Realms.
They have proven their power and their strength to the whole realms.
Each of these Magus Alliance Council Members is lofty in position and disposition.
Fenix¡¯s word implied they were here as Llyana¡¯s henchmen and not the proud Magus Alliance Council Member they are.
Having their pride tarnished, of course, they were going to be contrary and testy.
Fenix¡¯s comment already raised their hackles. It wasn¡¯t a good time for Tempest to add in her comment but Tempest wasn¡¯t one to hold back.
¡°It¡¯s not like you have a chance to obtain the natural element anyways. Resolving Llyana Arosis disagreement with the Domain Alliance Guild is a better use of your time.¡±
Everyone stiffen their spines, readied their spells and glared at the stupid offender. Tempest¡¯s comment not only squashed on their pride but it touched their benefits. They were going to teach Tempest a lesson and no one can stop them.
Graden was about to slap his hand over Tempest¡¯s mouth and pulled her to the side but Tempest mouth was faster than Graden¡¯s movement since Graden didn¡¯t have a moment spell to get to Tempest.
¡°What did I say wrong? It¡¯s not like you guys can beat Cardis in a fight since he¡¯s the one who set the natural element free.¡±
Everyone turned to Cardis to judge the validity of Tempest¡¯s announcement from his reaction.
Cardis didn¡¯t change his expression but everyone can tell he was angry when he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to teach you how to shut your mouth when we get back to the guild!¡±
Chapter 0197
Chapter 0197
Tempest grinned impudently at Cardis¡¯ word, showing everyone she wasn¡¯t scared of the legendary mage. ¡°Now, now, Cardis, don¡¯t you forget, I¡¯m the Resonance Bond Holder of your new Successor. A little gossip between friends isn¡¯t much.¡±
¡°There is a difference between gossip between two friends and spilling the teacher¡¯s secret in public.¡± Cardis gritted out.
¡°Hmph. It¡¯s not like you could keep it a secret for long. The other side was already spilling the beans about you forcing him to open two chaotic rifts as payment for him accidentally trespassing into the Emblemic Mountian Range.¡±
Every had an ¡°Ahhh,¡± moment when Tempest continued to spill Cardis¡¯ secret.
They had heard rumors that a chaotic rift was opened somewhere in the Emblemic Mountain Range. A few had already made discreet inquiries on the subject as the Emblemic Mountain Range is official under the jurisdiction of the Eternal Spirit Guild. Unofficial, the entire Emblemic Mountain Range is Cardis¡¯ domain.
Once a Child of the Spirits crossed the immortality threshold, their power expands several folds. They have to release the power inside of them or they would explode from the excess mana.
Long before a Child of the Spirits becomes an immortal, they claimed a place in the Cardinal Realm as their own. Once they become immortal, they would retreat to space and release their power, changing the area to reflect them.
Cardis set ablaze an entire mountain range and claimed it as his own. The mountain range was named the Emblemic Mountain Range.
Miretta Morcean did the same thing. Instead of a guild handling the jurisdiction over the Avalin Forest, the domain she created when she became an immortal, she handed the jurisdiction to her daughter and created the matrilineal kingdom of Avantsdale.
Therefore, the Magus Alliance Council Members had to be completely sure a chaotic rift opened in the Emblemic Mountain Range before they made their move.
¡°Secrets are meant to be kept.¡± Cardis was still harping about Tempest spilling the beans.
¡°Please. There is no reason to keep it a secret since the other side already blabbered about it.¡± Tempest rolled her eyes in disdain.
¡°There should be confidentiality between teacher and Successor,¡± Cardis yelled. He was truly infuriated at this time.
¡°Kataigida is your Successor. I¡¯m her Resonance Bond Holder. You can¡¯t do anything to me. Besides, we both know you don¡¯t like me. You only tolerate me because of Kataigida. The second she went into seclusion, you tossed me into the Courtyard of the Sphere of Spiritual Influence.¡± Tempest was fearless as she aired out her grievances about the legendary mage to a rapt audience. Cardis truly loved his Successor, enough to let a little runt of a girl disrespect him in front of them and not immediately teach her a lesson. He had to save the dignity of his Successor.
¡°That was a guild¡¯s tradition.¡±
¡°Pfft. You just want to get rid of me. Well, you got rid of me. I¡¯m the responsibility of my teammates now.¡±
¡°And I am still and Elder of the Eternal Spirit Guild. Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t teach you a lesson.¡±
¡°Cover it all you want. Paper can¡¯t contain fire. You used the treasure you got from the chaotic rift to upgrade your natural element. Instead of having three elements, it has four now. Four elements! It¡¯s powerful enough to have intelligence. How long can you hide it in the Emblemic Mountain Range? Hah! You can¡¯t. The news already spread and the other mages are already after him. Might as well announce he¡¯s yours so they would think twice before coveting him.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have to announce it now. You¡¯ve done it for me!¡± Cardis yelled and Resonance Bond Holder or no, he headed straight for Tempest. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Tempest may be an emotional dunce, but she can read the mood when it was so obvious it was smacking her in the face.
She cast her movement spells and made a run for it.
Cardis chased after her, leaving the other mages in silent contemplation.
After a moment of silence, Llyana Arosis showed everyone why her children love her so much. ¡°Fenix, mommy is sorry mommy couldn¡¯t get that natural fire element for you.¡±
Instead of focusing on her long awaited vengeance against the Domain Management Guild, Llyana Arosis focused on the needs of her daughter first.
¡°It¡¯s alright mother. I¡¯ve barely learned how to combine my fire spells with my wind spell. Assimilating a natural fire element with my spirits right now would cause me to lose control of my fire abilities instead.¡±
Llyana Arosis stiffen for a moment Fenix¡¯s words but ultimately, she is a mother who put the wellbeing of her child over minor things such as a public lie so she acted along with her daughter in the play she wrote. ¡°You¡¯ve finally managed to control your wind abilities? Darling, that is great. Just because you can control your wind spell doesn¡¯t mean you should neglect your fire spells. Wind spells strengthen fire spells after all. You must be careful.¡±
¡°I will, mother,¡± Fenix said as she hugged her mother.
As one play was winding down to the end, another has started.
Graden stood before his great great grandmother with his head down and his shoulders bent, like a child who knew he was wrong as was waiting for the scolding to come.
Miretta Morcean sighed in helplessly and exasperation. How did her great granddaughter raise such a meek boy?
¡°Stop acting like the husband who was bullied by his wife. It doesn¡¯t become you, Graden.¡±
¡°But Ancestor, I¡¯ve inconvenience you to come all this way for nothing,¡± Graden said in a sad pitiable voice anyone who heard would want to comfort him.
His meek demeanor and subservient attitude only made Miretta Morcean feel worse.
¡°Boy, was this how you were raised? Weak? You¡¯ve wasted all the care and affection I¡¯ve lavished you with. Buck up and grow a spine. The members of our Morcean family are fighters, not weakling anyone can trample over!¡±
¡°But Ancestor, I¡¯m not a Morcean. Only females can call themselves Morcean. I¡¯m a Murkeiel.¡± Graden reminded Miretta Morcean gently.
¡°If I say you are a Morcean then you are a Morcean. Who would dare say otherwise?¡±
¡°Empress Angelica Morcean. She said since I¡¯m male, I won¡¯t be entered into the Morcean genealogy and I will be banished from the kingdom once I become an adult, like all the other males of the royal family.¡±
Miretta Morcean remained silent. It was a touchy issue between them. Miretta Morcean love this descendant of hers. He was adorable when he was born, sensible growing up and he¡¯d retain a sweet kindness while growing up in the viper pit everyone calls the palace.
Miretta Morcean wanted to help him. She truly did.
She regretted the words she said in hatred all those years ago. At the time, it was all she had to push her forward. Time had tempered her mind and ease the hatred she felt towards her husband. Time had also shown her the folly of her youth.
It didn¡¯t hit her how stupid she was back then until she realizes she had to let go of this beautiful little boy because her daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter had distorted her words.
She had never mention exiling her grandsons from the kingdom, but her granddaughter wanted the power that comes with the throne and what better way to eliminate the competition was thereby denying their right to due to gender. She did nothing then and set the precedent, the tradition, of exiling the princes of her kingdom once they become an adult and now she can¡¯t change it.
¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±
¡°I know. Old willow told me all about it.¡± Graden¡¯s understanding made the pain in Miretta Morcean¡¯s heart all the more painful.
¡°Before you become an adult, I¡¯ll make sure to equip you properly.¡±
¡°You came for the natural fire element because of me?¡± Graden asked, astonished.
He, more than anyone in Avantsdale, knew about his Ancestor¡¯s painful past. He sympathizes with her pain and never blamed her for what she did. Graden had never realized how much his presence went to helping Miretta Morcean heal from her ordeal.
Miretta Morcean snorted. ¡°Who else, if not for you? It''s not like I can use it.¡±
¡°Grandmother-¡±
¡°Forget about that selfish woman.¡± Miretta Morcean interrupted Graden in disgust.
¡°Okay.¡±
¡°Tell me what have you been up to after you entered the Eternal Spirit Guild.¡±
¡°Ancestor, it was the best decision I¡¯ve made in my life,¡± Graden said excited like a little boy hopped on sugar. ¡°I¡¯ve made some good friends and went on a grand adventure. I¡¯ve even got some good treasure. Fenix, over there is a good friend and the mouthy girl Cardis was chasing is also another good friend. There¡¯s also Bei Ting Mao, Li Ming, and Starm.¡± Graden pointed out his teammates one by one to his Ancestor, who listen to him with surprising impatience. She wanted to know about his well being, not who he befriended.
Before Miretta Morcean could say anything a loud bang announced Tempest¡¯s return.
Chapter 0198
Chapte 0198
¡°Damn it, Cardis, it wasn¡¯t my fault things went the way it did. Why the hell do you have to blame me?¡± Tempest yelled as she got up from the small crater her body created at impact. The spirits were doing their part in changing her body. She would have died from the impact if she was the squishy little girl who first arrived in the Cardinal Realm.
¡°That was nothing compared to the punishment I¡¯ll dole out once we get back,¡± Cardis growled.
¡°Cardis, what was spoken can not be unspoken. Tempest was rash in her actions but she meant well. There is no point in hiding so you might as well announce it to the whole and give it your protection.¡± A melodic voice cut through the banter between Cardis and Tempest. A veiled woman with blue black hair, garbed in a high rank defensive mage robe emerged from a dense mist no one noticed.
The arrival of the woman put the group on edge. Regardless of how terrible their sensing abilities maybe, they shouldn¡¯t miss something that smacks them right in front of their face.
Cardis opened his mouth to retort to Kataigida but unlike the socially dense Tempest, Cardis was quite aware of his surroundings and he can read the confusion on their faces.
Cardis chuckled softly before going into full blown laughter.
These bunch of fools. They were fooled by a simple trick.
Most of the cultivation world envy high affinity mages as they don¡¯t suffer bottlenecks as other cultivators do. The road to immortality was smooth sailing for them. High affinity mages were supplied plenty of mana by their spirits. Their bodies were tempered by their spirits. They were taught the underlying laws of their elements by their spirits. Everything was handed to them on a silver platter by their spirits!
This line of thought was promoted by the Magus Alliance to attract cultivators to cultivate the heart as their immortal potential.
The Magus Alliance doesn¡¯t advertise the fact that mages have the hardest time crossing the threshold to become an immortal.
Other cultivators have small bottleneck along with their cultivation. Mages have to break their huge bottleneck at the Mastery stage of their cultivation.
The Governing Board of the Magus Alliance doesn¡¯t allow the knowledge to spread about the Mastery stage of cultivation for a mage because they would lose most of their disciples if they did.
The Mastery stage doesn¡¯t mean mastery of their body or sense after the spirits temper it but mastery of their elements. In the Mastery stage of mage cultivation, the mages become their elements.
Cardis is the Son of Volcano. He can become a living flame, a part of the earth, the wind itself or any or all combinations of his elements.
When Kataigida emerged from the mist previously, everyone thought she was another mage at the Mastery stage of cultivation instead of a puppet being controlled by one of Tempest¡¯s water spirits.
When one of Tempest¡¯s water spirits took control of the puppet, Cardis was worried Tempest¡¯s water spells would lag behind her wind and lightning spells since the spirits have to exert their mana to control a puppet.
Cardis needn¡¯t have bothered. Although the spirits very unified in their collectives, they can act independently when they want to. One spirit can control the puppet while another teach enter Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness to teach Tempest.
Tempest forgot her previous aggravation in the face of Cardis¡¯ humor.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
¡°Care to share what so funny?¡± Tempest asked when Cardis¡¯ laughter died down.
¡°Ah, a bunch of grown adults fearful of a little girl wet behind her ears.¡±
¡°Cardis, who are you calling a wet behind the ear little girl?¡± Kataigida asked sweetly but everyone present can hear the underlying steel in her tone. Everyone here thought the same, the veiled woman should be underestimated.
Cardis heard the honey coated poison in Kataigida¡¯s voice and went to damage control mode. ¡°Kataigida, love, sweetheart, Successor. I was referring to Tempest. She shows a little spine against me and everyone thinks she¡¯s a powerful mage when she is only a stubby red mage -¡±
¡°I¡¯m a yellow mage now.¡± Tempest interrupted.
¡°-who is only valiant because she knows I can¡¯t don¡¯t anything to her because of you. The two faced fox is using you to blackmail me.¡± Cardis expertly shifted the blame to Tempest. His years of experience flirting dealing with the jealousy associated with his flirting allowed him to appease a woman as fast as he gets into trouble with them.
¡°Who are you calling a two faced fox?¡± Tempest protested, ¡°You are the two faced fox, not me. See, see, Kataigida. Did you see how he changed his tune the minute he realize he¡¯s in trouble? What is that if not being a two faced fox?¡±
Kataigida couldn¡¯t help herself. Tempest looks so cute when she acts like an elementary student tattling on the school bully to the teacher. Her small body shivers with excitement as her clear bright eyes shine with joy as she sought to gain her, Kataigida, approval.
With a squeal, Kataigida bundle Tempest into her embrace and started giving her the snuggle snuggle and the cheek-to-cheek kisses Tempest hates so much.
¡°Kataigida! Unhand me, you unscrupulous knave!¡±
¡°Just a bit more.¡±
¡°Cardis help. I¡¯m being molested by a pervert.¡± Cardis turned to address the rapt viewer watching the play being performed before them, all too happy for Tempest to distract Kataigida with her shenanigans. ¡°The veiled mage cuddling the runt over is my acknowledge Successor, Kataigida.¡±
The Magus Alliance Council Members nodded as if they knew all along.
¡°Congratulations are in order Cardis. You accepted a fine Successor.¡±
¡°So young and so skilled. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d surpassed even you one day.¡±
¡°Of course she¡¯d surpass him. With her status as a True Daughter of Storm and a Resonance Bond Holder to share her burdens, unless she is a brain dead idiot, she guarantees to surpass him.¡±
¡°Dear sir, what are you implying with the brain dead idiot comment?¡± Tempest had broken out of Kataigida¡¯s hold and ran behind Graden, expertly using him as her human shield.
After having her fill snuggling with Tempest (for now) Kataigida was in no hurry to grapple with Graden for her runaway child. She made her way to Cardis¡¯ side just in time to hear the tail end of the last comment.
Mizu, controlling the puppet called Kataigida, took an exception to the statement. Tempest¡¯s 98 water spirits back on the spiritual plane also took exception to the remark. The Mizu in Tempest¡¯s sea of consciousness didn¡¯t care because a puppet is a brain dead thing animated by mana supplied by the spirits.
Kataigida smiled at the flustered man before her.
As a water spirit, Mizu tends to be easy going. It is a part of her nature. That said, Mizu is only easy going when she is around Tempest. The same applies to the other spirits. They act like their stereotypes around their mortals. With everyone else, they can be as unbridle or shameless as they want.
And Mizu wants to be unreasonable. ¡°Please elaborate on your comment.¡±
¡°I said,¡± the man was about to repeat his comment but noticed the malicious intent Kataigida made no attempt to hide and decided prudence is better than valor. Even though he is on the Governing Board of the Magus Alliance, Cardis is an immortal who can kill him as easily as breathing. There is no need for him to break relations with Cardis and the Eternal Spirit Guild over a miscommunication. ¡°Ahem, I said even a brain dead idiot can tell you will grow up to be a magnificent mage.¡±
¡°Thanks for your compliment.¡± The mouth says one thing, the mind thinks another. No one was fooled by Kataigida generous acquiescence, not even the socially inept Tempest.
The group lapsed into an awkward silence. No one wants to step in to help their fellow Magus Alliance Council Member. They gain the enmity of Cardis and his Successor while receiving nothing in return.
Tempest looked around like a lemming hopped up on stimulants, wondering what she should do to get this group moving along. She had sisters to save and the faster they move out, the better it is for her.
Just as she was about to open her mouth and move things along a masculine voice filled with the vigors of youth called out, ¡°Master, I¡¯ve finally found you!¡± followed by a boy about 12 or 13 years old throwing himself at Cardis.
Everyone looked at Kataigida, then Cardis and finally at the exuberance boy speaking a mile a minute with him.
They relaxed and decided to wait to see the show.
Chapter 0199
Chapter 0199
The audience was expecting blood-filled drama enacted by Cardis, his Successor and the new student he is currently favoring.
That didn¡¯t happen.
Kataigida has shown herself to be a gentle if not courageous woman who was fond of her Resonance Bond Holder. It was highly unlikely for her to cause a scene once she realized that another student had obtained the affection of her teacher.
Then again, Cardis was a renowned flirt who had women all over the world going to the extreme to gain a glimmer of his affection. Scenes of droves upon droves of women fighting each other was the norm around Cardis.
So it was to everyone¡¯s surprise when Tempest glomped on the boy. Once Tempest teammate heard her yell of ¡°4 natural elements,¡± they figured out the boy was the natural element everyone came here for.
¡°Mine, mine, mine,¡± Tempest yelled at the top of her lungs to declare her ownership.
¡°This sister, please let go.¡± the newcomer tried to get out of Tempest¡¯s death grip but failed to move her. Instead, the glomp becomes tighter and tighter, like an anaconda squeezing the life out of its prey.
Starm, seeing his position as Tempest¡¯s darling being usurped, rushed to the cheating duo and the three fell in a tangled mess of limbs.
¡°Big Sis Tempest is mine!¡± Starm yelled while trying to beat up the newcomer and reclaim his position as Tempest¡¯s beloved brother.
¡°The bag of gold is mine!¡± Tempest yelled, glomping harder onto her treasure while trying to fend off a handsy Starm.
¡°Master help!¡± the newcomer yelled while trying to get away from both Tempest and Starm.
Tempest¡¯s teammates were used to her silly actions. They ignored the stupid trio grappling on the floor.
The same indulgent if nonchalant attitude can¡¯t be applied to the rest of the group. Each mage put up their guard and was keeping one eye on Cardis, another eye on the natural element and an eye on everyone else.
Even though they can¡¯t use a natural element different from their affinities, they still want the natural element. Give them and their spirits enough time and they were sure they could rip the 4 elements natural element back down to its singular form and by then they would have 4 natural elements instead of one natural element with four elements.
They were willing to share the natural element with the other mages as long as they get a share.
Their major obstacle is Cardis.
Tempest blabbed out the information previously. The 4 elements natural element belong to Cardis. Instead of using it to bolster his cultivation, he decided to grow it instead. He would not allow them to take away the natural element easily.
Valstein Yoresteven and Miretta Morcean might be a problem for them as well. Valstein Yoresteven has a good relationship with Cardis and Miretta Morcean¡¯s beloved descent was in the Eternal Spirit Guild.
Before they could consider it further, the natural element let loose his power.
Fire blaze.
Earth erupt.
Lightning struck.
Ice bombarded.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The display of power dispels any notion of coveting the 4 elements natural element. Instead of bolstering their cultivation, it might take over their affinities when they merge it with their spirits. No one wants a vengeful spirit haunting them for the rest of their lifetimes. Yes, lifetimes! Spirits are attached to the soul. They can¡¯t get rid of the 4 elements natural element even through death!
While the high-level mages were planning out the best method to profit off their excursion, Tempest¡¯s teammate pretends they didn¡¯t know Tempest.
When the fire blazed, Tempest put it out with water. When the earth erupts, Tempest¡ sank into the ground as if she was stuck in quicksand. Either by intent or dumb luck (Tempest¡¯s teammate all thought it was the latter), Tempest was able to use the earth surrounding her to disperse the power of the lightning. As for the ice attack, Tempest would have to suffer through it but Starm wanted to cement his position in Tempest¡¯s heart so he sent the ice attack away with his space spell.
¡°Really Tempest! What are you doing trying to snatch Cardis¡¯ natural element?¡± Kataigida asked Tempest as she pulled her out of the sinkhole.
¡°I¡¯m going to sell him, what else?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not like you can guard him until you sell him. And what do you need the money for?¡± Kataigida asked in exasperation. Really, the things that go through Tempest¡¯s mind!
¡°To buy food! What else should money be used for. I already have enough to save my sisters. If I sell him, I¡¯d earn enough money to feed me a lifetime.¡± Tempest explained her reasoning in what she believes to be a quite logical manner.
The other mages, however, question her thought process.
Llyana Arosis in particular worried about Tempest as she was a part of her daughter¡¯s group and it was Tempest insistence that brought the situation to Dilien Amerton, which brought the situation to her attention.
¡°Fenix, is the little girl going to be alright challenging Cardis¡¯ bottom line as she is?¡± Llyana Arosis asked her daughter seriously.
Fenix waved away her mother¡¯s concern like it was air. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that silly brat mother. It would be more surprising if she didn¡¯t get into trouble every day.¡±
The rest of Tempest¡¯s teammate aside from Starm nodded in agreement.
¡°I heard that Fenix!¡± Tempest yelled.
¡°Then you would know that treasure you were trying to sell belong to Cardis,¡± Fenix yelled back.
¡°Of course it belongs to Cardis. That¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to sell it. I gotta get back at Cardis somehow.¡±
¡°And pissing off your backer benefits you how?¡±
¡°Kataigida is my backer, not Cardis. Cardis is the annoying fly in my otherwise yummy delicious food.¡±
¡°Cardis knows has a million and one ways to erase you without anyone knowing.¡±
¡°That manwhore? Really?¡± Tempest asked incredulously. Aside from seeing Cardis flirt, Tempest has never seen Cardis in action before. The image she has of Cardis is a carefree rich second generation ancestor. She can¡¯t match up the Cardis in her mind to the legendary mage Cardis Gourd, Son of Volcano that everyone fears. Or is it Son of Inferno as not everyone knows he pushed his earth affinity to 90.
¡°Tempest.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be known as a slut when I grow up. How strong do you think I¡¯ll be when that happens?¡±
¡°Very strong,¡± Tempest answered immediately. All of her teammates have high potential. With the treasures they got from her, they were almost guaranteed to make waves in the cultivation world as long as they live long enough.
¡°Expound the thought onto Cardis,¡± Fenix instructed.
¡°Eeeekkk. He¡¯s super duper strong!¡± Tempest finally got into her head Cardis¡¯ power level.
¡°Yes. Now you understand why it isn¡¯t wise to provoke him?¡±
Tempest glance at Fenix then at Cardis then back at Fenix. ¡°Despite his strength and personality, Cardis has a stronger sense of responsibility than you. He won¡¯t hurt me.¡± Tempest spoke the last sentence with a conviction.
Fenix quite trying to reason with Tempest. It wasn¡¯t going to work and she doesn¡¯t want to bang her head against the wall that is Tempest obtuseness. ¡°Cardis, what would you do if Tempest sold that 4 elements natural element you¡¯ve been nurturing for who knows how long?¡±
¡°I¡¯d take her into the Mysterious Wasteland and sell her as debtor slave,¡± Cardis answered seriously.
¡°But that is a treasure!¡± Tempest heartfelt wailed resounded in the hearts of all the high-level mages here.
¡°A treasure that belongs to me. I take exception to those who would try to steal from me.¡± Cardis¡¯ feral grin made everyone aware of what kind of ¡®exception¡¯ he doled out to those who stole from him.
¡°Hieek.¡± Tempest ran to Kataigida and tried to hide in her billowing robes. It didn¡¯t do much good but this was Tempest they were talking about. She probably thought she was hiding behind the biggest fortress ever created.
¡°Now do you understand the seriousness of your actions?¡± Kataigida chided.
¡°4 elements natural element wouldn¡¯t have sold that much money anyway. It''s not like anyone can use it.¡± Tempest consoled herself, not willing to admit her mistake.
Everyone pitied Kataigida and Tempest¡¯s teammates. Keeping Tempest out of trouble is a full-time job!
Chapter 0200
Chapter 0200
¡°So now that blabbermouth told everyone the 4 elements natural element belongs to me, I¡¯d like to introduce everyone to Kain Gourd.¡± Cardis grinned ferally. ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t tell you his full name as he is protected by a True Blessing bestowed by me.¡±
The name says it all.
The 4 elements natural element, no, Kain Gourd now, are under Cardis¡¯ protection.
They couldn¡¯t do anything to him even if they could get their hands on him. He has a name. Not just any name, but a name is given under the protection of a True Blessing.
¡°Hey, I thought Blessing is used to fooling the masses. What does a True Blessing have to do with a natural element?¡± Tempest cast a True Blessing on the child after she performed a Cesarean and cut him out of his mother''s belly. She knows about it but doesn¡¯t believe it works. She also doesn¡¯t know how a True Blessing works on a natural element.
¡°Idiot, don¡¯t you know anything?¡± Fenix hissed at her obtuse teammate though everyone wondered why she even bothered. They know of Tempest¡¯s temperament by now.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t be an idiot if I knew everything.¡±
Fenix opened her mouth and tried to retort but she couldn¡¯t refute Tempest¡¯s logic. No, not Tempest¡¯s logic, a fool¡¯s logic. She¡¯d only lower her intelligence level down to Tempest¡¯s level if she continued to converse with her.
Graden took pity on Fenix as Fenix needed a closer relationship with Tempest and Li Ming than he did.
¡°True Blessing invokes divine retribution on anyone attempting to harm a spirit without knowing their true name and before you try to nitpick, once a natural element gain sentiences, they are close enough to the spirits for a True Blessing to apply to them.¡±
¡°Uhh¡¡±
¡°Basically, no one can harm Kain Gourd without pissing off Heaven unless they know his full name. Cardis is the one who bestowed the True Blessing onto Kain, so he is the only one who knows Kain¡¯s true name. So if they want to use Kain for their cultivation, then they have to go through Cardis to get it.¡±
¡°Oh, identity theft protection, got it,¡± Tempest said.
Everyone eyed Tempest strangely.
Indeed, mages are weird. They are weird in the eyes of the other cultivator and Tempest is a perfect example of their eccentricities.
The fact that she was throwing their eccentricities to their face by her actions rubbed a sore spot in the hearts of the mages.
¡°Come out Kain and introduce yourself to everyone here. Don¡¯t forget to remember their faces, especially the old men in the mage robes. You can go to them for help if you need it. They will lend a hand if they know what is good for them.¡±
¡°That¡¯s going too far!¡± a black haired man with red highlighted vehemently protested.
¡°Ah ignore that guy Kain. Remember everyone else here.¡± Cardis said sweetly at Kain Gourd. Kain Gourd nodded eagerly at Cardis, his innocent doe eyes stared adoringly at Cardis.
¡°Since I dare offered your assistance to my little boy here, I¡¯m willing to pay the price accordingly. Everyone heard blabbermouth over there a chaotic rift opened in my domain recently. The little fishwife was spouting off incorrect information. There were two chaotic rifts that opened in my domain.¡±
Everyone hissed as Cardis clarified the rumors. One treasure from a chaotic rift would cause all the mages here to fight each other to death to obtain it and that¡¯s only one treasure out of who knows how many that come out of a chaotic rift.
Now Cardis said not one chaotic rift opened but two! Treasure from two chaotic rifts.
Everyone who knows anything began to turn red eyed with greed. If it wasn¡¯t Cardis who revealed the information then everyone here would have pounced. Sadly, the treasure from the chaotic rift was in Cardis¡¯ hand. Unless Valstein Yoresteven and Miretta Morcean joined hands with them, there was no chance of them harming a hair on Cardis¡¯ head.
Miretta Morcean could be swayed but Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s friendship with Cardis goes a long way back and it has been tested again and again and it hasn¡¯t broken yet. It won¡¯t break now.
Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s appearance here wasn¡¯t an accident nor was it him coveting the natural fire element. Cardis invited his best friend here to back him up. Naturally, Valstein wouldn¡¯t covet Cardis¡¯ treasure. He probably got his portion already.
¡°I¡¯m willing to use three treasures from the chaotic rift as collateral for a Spirit Oath Contract.¡±
Before Tempest could open her mouth Graden started the explanation. ¡°A Spirit Oath Contract, as the name implies, is a contract enforced by the spirits. If either side breaks the contract, their cultivation would stagnate, the collateral in question would be broken and the mage would stink.¡±
¡°Stink?¡±
¡°Stink. It¡¯s not just any foul smell either, but the worst one you could think of. Even brimstone, sulfur and the spray of Swamp Side Skunk can¡¯t compare to it. It is the spirits method of telling the world the mage in question broke a Spirit Oath Contract.¡±
¡°Kinda childish of you guys,¡± Tempest said to her spirits.
Surprising as it might seem, we spirits take the oath seriously, especially one taken under our supervision. And the punishment is highly appropriate, don¡¯t you think?
¡°Appropriate no, effective, yes,¡± Tempest answered thoughtfully. The oathbreaker won¡¯t be given another chance to break another contract since no one wants to be near them if they didn¡¯t have to.
Tempest ear¡¯s perked right up when she heard a mage with bright blond hair faded to blue at the ends hesitantly asked, ¡°Your conditions?¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
It was as if he didn¡¯t believe Cardis¡¯ offer. No mage in their right mind would take out a treasure from a chaotic rift and use it as collateral for a Spirit Oath Contract without demanding an unreasonable amount of benefits in return.
¡°The guilds who accept collateral will join hands and punish any guild and their associates when reasonable proof is found leading them directly or indirectly harming the person whose essence is tied to the contract.¡±
Cardis was careful with his words. His phrasing indicates that the guild accepting the contract must help punish everyone who was found to harm Kain Gourd and their associates. It allows Cardis to pursue all possible avenues of investigation should Kai Gourd be harmed and it would punish them if they were found colluding with the perpetrator.
There is some leeway on the guild¡¯s part as Cardis only requests they take action when an incident is made known to them and reasonable proof is provided to them. It allows the guild some loophole to work around as every mage here knows there is going to be some underhanded method used to obtain the boy, contract or no. The consequence is dire if they get caught, but they have to be caught in the first place.
The mages present aren¡¯t stupid. They are going to make the contract then think of a way to obtain Kain Gourd without violating the contract.
Afterward, the mages turn to the collateral Cardis was offering. Three treasures split among the six of them. They outright disregard Cardis since he was the one offering the treasure as collateral and Lurnel Ye Tiendo, the Magus Alliance Council Member representing the Eternal Spirit Guild.
Cardis no doubt offered a portion of the treasure to the Eternal Spirit Guild and Lurnel Ye Tiendo already got her share. She probably got dragged here by Cardis to back him up.
The same can be said for Valstein Yoresteven. Cardis and Valstein Yoresteven go a long way back. They¡¯ve been friends for a long time, long enough for Cardis to offer a portion of the treasure he got from the chaotic rifts without Valstein Yoresteven even asking.
After the elimination, there were only four Magus Alliance Council Member, Miretta Morcean and Llyana Arosis who had a valid claim to the offer.
Three of the Magus Alliance Council Member gave each other a meaningful glance before splitting up to fight for their benefits.
¡°Ah how fast they turn on each other.¡± Tempest thought in her heart as she watched one of Magus Alliance Council Member trying to exclude one of his brethren from the Spiritual Oath Contract.
Then she promptly ignores the two as she would not gain any benefits from the outcome of their negotiation. Tempest turned her attention towards Llyana Arosis and the Magus Alliance Council Member talking to her nearly wanted to facepalm herself when she heard Llyana Arosis¡¯ demand.
¡°I want to openly and fairly investigate the Domain Management Guild and properly punish the appropriate party without any bias. In return, I¡¯ll waive my portion of the treasure Cardis offered.¡± Llyana Arosis opened with her demands and it was immediately accepted.
Tempest lamented. Fair? Just? Bullshit. She should have asked them to investigate then give the harshest punishment possible for even a hint of wrongdoing. Tempest made a note to have a word with Fenix and her sisters even though she does not want to be alone with any of them right now. Ah, shesh, Fenix¡¯s mother already made her demands and it was accepted. It was too late for Tempest to intervene.
Tempest was not saying that because of the scary smile she saw on the three sisters¡¯ faces. She definitely didn¡¯t fear the vibes they were putting out. She definitely wasn¡¯t shaking in her boots just now. Ah hell, she was. Graden, where are you?
Tempest saw her shield off to the corner and she slowly made her way towards him lest the three monsters in human skin notice her.
Once she was safely behind Graden, she turned to look at what caught Graden¡¯s attention. It was the conversation Miretta Morcean was having with her Magus Alliance Council Member negotiation with her.
Miretta Morcean smiled gently and the two mages put up their guard. ¡°My request isn¡¯t something you can fulfill.¡± She turned toward Valstein Yoresteven and her the brightness of her smile increase by a thousand watts. ¡°As you know, my kingdom produces a variety of herbs and plenty of alchemists to go along with it. Alchemists are good but too dependent on outside forces to defend themselves. I want my kingdom to be self sufficient. For that we need weapons, strong weapons to give us an edge over the invaders. We¡¯ve been buying weapons but that is another dependency. I want to be able to forge our own weapons. I want Valstein Yoresteven to trains a few of my descendants in the art of forging.¡±
Tempest could tell Miretta Morcean had put a lot of thought into her request. She had to hand it to Graden¡¯s Ancestor. Not many people can forgo personal gain for the benefit of all. At least Tempest wouldn¡¯t make the deal.
Tempest was eager to hear Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s answer.
¡°Hmph, you¡¯ve ignored me this whole time and yet when I can bring you benefits do you come to me.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not -¡±
¡°That is what you are doing.¡± Valstein Yoresteven interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t care to hear your lies or your excuses. This contract, I¡¯d rather wash my hands of it if Cardis hadn¡¯t asked me to lend my presence here.¡± Valstein Yoresteven addresses Miretta Morcean directly. ¡°I would have accepted your request, no strings attached. I¡¯ve been looking for a Successor for the last three hundred years and I don¡¯t mind imparting my craft to skilled mages. I do warn you, my requirements are high. I just won¡¯t accept anyone.¡±
¡°If my descendants can¡¯t meet your requirement, then it is their own loss. Toss them into the forge if they irritate you too much. I don¡¯t mind. I rather have no descendants than descendants who squanders all of my hard work.¡± Miretta Morcean confidently replied.
Tempest poke Graden.
¡°What?¡±
¡°How much of your relatives are going to die?¡±
¡°Valstein won¡¯t -¡±
¡°Graden, Valstein is a master here. He¡¯s a perfectionist by nature. Craftsman doesn¡¯t get as good as they do by settling. Valstein won¡¯t toss them into the forge right away, but if they continue to pester him after he judged them unworthy then, yeah, into the forge they go. A kingdom with women in power is no different from a kingdom with men in power. Men and women are both humans, so there got to be a bevy of useless second generation idiots leeching off the kingdom Miretta Morcean founded. I don¡¯t think Miretta Morcean mind the leeching so much as being stupid and dragging the name of the kingdom she creates through the mud. Those stupid arrogant fellows are the ones she is targetting. They¡¯d get themselves kill without a powerful backer and they won¡¯t know Miretta Morcean isn¡¯t going to back them up, at least not in front of Valstein Yoresteven. So how many of your relatives will die?¡± Tempest asked with a strange glint in her eyes.
Graden wanted to refute Tempest. He really did. He wanted Tempest to have a favorable opinion of his Ancestors who came all the way over here to fight for his benefits until he realized Tempest¡¯s assessment of Miretta Morcean wasn¡¯t all that wrong. ¡°Uh.. at least half. I think. It might be more.¡±
¡°Your Ancestor is quite a vicious woman. Truly a Daughter of Nature. Only the strongest survive and if you can¡¯t prove your mettle, then she would righteously get rid of you.¡± Tempest nodded her head. That''s the conclusion she came up with.
¡°Ancestor isn¡¯t like that,¡± Graden said, trying to maintain some dignity for his Ancestor.
¡°Then what do you think about the deal she made with Valstein. If she isn¡¯t the lion throwing her cub off the cliff to make him stronger, I don¡¯t know what is.¡±
¡°Ancestor has her reasons.¡± Graden was grasping at straws here since he knows how Miretta Morceans about some of her descendants.
¡°Yeah, and one of those reasons is getting rid of the useless descendants leeching off of her.¡±
As Tempest was arguing with Graden, the negotiation among the mages came to a close.
¡°We accept your offer Cardis.¡± Griel Anvolt, representative of the guild Elementalist on the Governing Board of the Magus Alliance and self-appointed spokesperson of the group said.
¡°You¡¯ve wasted no time fighting for your benefits.¡± Cardis smiled as he glanced at the downtrodden Magus Alliance Council Member who was no doubt strong-armed into excluding himself from participating in the Spiritual Oath Contract.
Just when Cardis was about to take out the treasures he was using as collateral, Tempest jumped into the conversation. ¡°Just a gosh darn minute here. Where are my benefits?¡±
Chapter 201
Chapter 201
¡°What do you want?¡± Griel Anvolt asked.
¡°Nothing much, just the ownership of the brothel in question and all of its workers.¡± Tempest wasn¡¯t interested in the workers of the brothel but the ownership of her sisters. She didn¡¯t know what will happen to her sisters once the Magus Alliance Council Members take action and Tempest can¡¯t leave their fate to chance. Therefore, she directly asked for the right to manage all the brothel¡¯s personnel.
¡°That is easy enough.¡± The Magus Alliance Council Members immediately agree. Tempest¡¯s request was very easy for them to fulfill.
¡°Okay then.¡± Tempest turned towards her teammate, ¡°You guys want anything?¡±
Bei Ting Mao and Li Ming were about to refuse when Graden spoke up. ¡°Ancestor negotiated an apprenticeship deal with Valstein Yoresteven. With my affinities, I would never measure up to the strenuous requirements placed by a master craftsman. Nonetheless, observing a master''s work would allow me to gain insight into the crafting process, insight that I might be able to adapt to my alchemy. I would appreciate it if my teammates and I could study with Master Craftsman Valstein Yoresteven.¡±
The Magus Alliance Council Member glanced at each other then turned towards Valstein Yoresteven for a response. It was ultimately his choice if he wished to fulfill Graden¡¯s wish or not.
¡°Miretta, I can see why you value this descendant of your over the others. A polite little boy with neither the pride or arrogance you see in those entitled rich brats everyone wants to shove into my forge. He would benefit your kingdom greatly. Pity your shortsighted daughter and power hungry granddaughters. I¡¯ll take you all on, but as I¡¯ve said before, I¡¯m quite strict with my students.¡± Valstein Yoresteven magnanimously offered to take on Tempest¡¯s teammates.
¡°Thank you.¡± Graden waited for the other two to express their gratitude, and when they failed to do so, he smacked both Bei Ting Mao and Li Ming in the side.
They mumbled their gratitude all the while wondering what Graden was up to.
Starm looked at Graden. Graden looked at Starm.
Starm looked at Valstein Yoresteven, who turned his head away as if he was afraid to meet Starm¡¯s ever changing eyes.
Starm will go where he wants to go. It was settled just like that.
Fenix and her sisters graciously bowed out, citing the need to stand by their mother.
With that, the terms and conditions of the Spiritual Oath Contract were settled.
The ceremony for the Spiritual Oath Contract itself was anticlimactic and a bit of a disappointment to Tempest.
For something as binding as the Spiritual Oath Contract, Tempest expected clouds to gather, thunder rumbling, rain drizzling and lightning to strike the contract thereby giving the contract an official seal of approval by the spirits.
Barring a worldly phenomenon, Tempest thought as least the Magus Alliance Council Members would consult their guilds and make a fanfare production out of the whole thing, announcing to the world the terms of the contract so their guilds would be held liable if someone breaks. They can¡¯t plead ignorance should they be put on trial.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
That didn¡¯t happen either.
What did happen was everyone present, Tempest included, signed a pre written contract with their blood and it disappeared into the great beyond.
¡°Ummm¡ did anything happened?¡± Tempest asked, feeling let down by the dramatic build up. She should have figured. In the movies, all the businesses sit down on the negotiation table and hash out points after points, wording after wording and after they are done, they shake hands and go their separate ways. Rarely does the movie shows what happens afterward, as in how the contract was put into effect.
¡°You don¡¯t feel it?¡± Griel Anvolt asked.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t be asking if I didn¡¯t feel anything.¡± Tempest retorted with impudences, not putting the Magus Alliance Council Member in her eyes. With Cardis right next to her, she has nothing to be afraid of.
Griel Anvolt would have taken exception to her attitude except her nonchalant combined with the previous question made him cautious in dealing with the little brat.
¡°It is standard practice for all new recruits to sign a guild entry form with their blood, binding them to the guild. Once the contract is signed, they gained all the information related to contracts and treaties made under the guild name and they must abide by the treaties or contract or the spirits cuts off their cultivation.
¡°The guild leader, Elders or authorized representative of the guild are allowed to make a contract under the guild name and it becomes effective for 90 days. During the 90 day trial period, for the contract to become a permanent binding contract on all guild members, the guild leader and more than a quarter of the Elders have to agree with the terms of the contract or it becomes invalid. The collateral must be returned during a reasonable amount of time - reasonable is determined by the spirits - or the penalty in the contract comes into effect. How is it that you aren¡¯t bound by the terms of the contract you signed?¡± Griel Anvolt asks the last question cautiously.
¡°I can answer your question Magus Alliance Council Member.¡± Kataigida stepped in, ¡°Tempest never signed the guild entry formed as she entered the guild through personal recommendation. She is my Resonance Bond Holder after all and I am Cardis¡¯ Successor. Some allowances were made. All of Tempest¡¯s actions would be reflected in me.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Griel Anvolt replied, not bothering to hide his unease. All the experienced mages understood Griel Anvolt¡¯s feelings.
They¡¯ve all heard rumors Cardis received a True Daughter of Storm as his Successor. Since guild contracts and treaties are enforced by the spirits then all the liabilities and obligations of the guild are nothing but a piece of blank paper in the eyes of a True Child of the Spirits. Trying to force a fanatically overly doting mother who put their child on a pedestal to punish their child because others made a promise on their behalf that may or may not be beneficial to the child is almost impossible.
You can¡¯t reason with a mother who thinks their child can do no wrong and substitute the word mother for spirits and you have a True Child of the Spirits.
Therefore, any contracts and treaties are not binding on a True Child of the Spirits.
The Governing Board of the Magus Alliances knows this. They allowed the exception to remain because it is hard enough for a True Child of the Spirits to live to adulthood much less cultivate into a powerful mage and one who does isn¡¯t someone they want to alienate.
¡°I see that you do understand.¡± Griel Anvolt can feel the chilling smile on him even though the veil Kataigida was wearing when she made the comment.
Griel Anvolt made a note to tell his guild not to mess with Cardis¡¯ Successor or her Resonance Bond Holder.
¡°Just tell me if the terms of the contract are binding on them or not? I want my brothel, Kataigida.¡±
¡°It is binding on them Tempest. If you mess up on your part then effects are rebounded on me. Please keep that in mind.¡±
¡°Okay.¡± Back then when Fenix and her sisters mentioned the Domain Management Guild, they set everyone who saw them on edge. Tempest was so unnerved she had to use Graden as a shield.
Tempest and Kataigida¡¯s grin was scarier than the Arosis sisters¡¯ grin back then and it unsettled even the powerful and experienced mages present.
They all threw flimsy excuses and fled the area.
Cardis, Valstein Yoresteven, Kataigida, and Kain Gourd held in their laughter until the last of them left the vicinity before bursting into a laughing fit.
Chapter 0202
Chapter 0202
Tempest waited patiently for the laughter to die down. She got the feeling they were laughing at her expense but she can¡¯t pinpoint the source.
Once Cardis finished laughing at the comedy he witnesses, he set up a barrier so they can talk.
The second Cardis finished setting up the barrier, Tempest pounced on him.
¡°Damn bastard, making me act like a fool!¡± Tempest tried punch Cardis but it came out as quick girly attacks that do absolutely no damage at all.
Cardis didn¡¯t even bother to dodge as he retorted, ¡°You already are a fool. Playing a clown is no different than how you would normally act.¡±
¡°I may be silly but I¡¯m no fool. That was just bbbbaaaadddd.¡±
¡°Now you know the pains your teammates have to deal with.¡±
¡°Pfft. What pains? I¡¯m all sweetness and light.¡±
¡°And the trouble with a capital T right behind you.¡±
¡°Puhlease.¡± Tempest rolled her eyes at Cardis. ¡°Trouble does not follow me around.¡±
¡°It¡¯s more like you invite trouble with your stupidity.¡±
Tempest glowered at Cardis, ¡°How about I invite trouble right now by stupidly opening my blabbering mouth?¡±
Sensing the squabble was going in the wrong direction, Kain jumps in to mediate between the two. ¡°Master, Big Sis Tempest, please don¡¯t fight. If anyone is to blame, it is me.¡± Kain Gourd said with an aggrieved voice.
Tempest set aside her difference with Cardis to reassure Kain Gourd. ¡°Nah, it isn¡¯t your fault.¡±
¡°It is Big Sis Tempest. As they say, treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime. It is my fault you and master have to create the Spiritual Oath Contract and put out three precious treasures as collateral for my protection.¡± Big fat drops of tears slid down Kain Gourd¡¯s face as he mourns the price they paid for his freedom.
¡°Hmph. If blame should be placed then it should be firmly placed on the shoulders of those greedy bastards. It isn¡¯t your fault you are money.¡± Tempest pat Kain Gourd¡¯s shoulders in consolation.
¡°Big Sis Tempest, thank you for all you have done. If it wasn¡¯t for you, my safety could never be assured and I¡¯d have to hide in the Emblemic Mountain Range for the rest of my life.¡± Faced with a teary-eyed little cherub staring adoringly at her with heartfelt sincerity, Tempest could only look away in shame for complaining over her part in securing the boy¡¯s safety.
It was strange considering she never had any trouble with Starm and yet it was hard for her to refuse the innocent teen.
Given their appearance, with Starm looking like a five-year-old and Kain Gourd looking like a preteen, Tempest should have a stronger aversion to Kain Gourd except it was the opposite. Tempest had to actively stop herself from punting Starm every time he tries to get close to her yet she makes allowances when Kain Gourd hugs her.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
It wasn¡¯t their age either. Starm was a fake five-year-old boy. He¡¯s five thousand years old, with all the experience of a five thousand years old monster to match. No matter how much Starm tries to fake it, there is no innocence in his eyes.
Kain Gourd¡¯s estimated age was around eight thousand years old but he has the mind of a young child. He may be old but he spent most of his time in the Emblemic Mountain Range, not daring to take a step out of Cardis¡¯ protection lest mages kidnap him for their nefarious purposes.
¡°Hmph. Although Cardis is a worthless human being and a horrible teacher, he has his uses. I¡¯m sure he could have promoted you to a three elements natural element sooner or later.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not the promotion that guaranteed my safety but the True Blessing you gave me last night. That is the biggest protection anyone could give a natural element.¡± Kain Gourd snuggled against Tempest. Despite him being physically bigger than Tempest, when he hugs her like that, it makes him look small.
Tempest was helpless against innocent gratitude, especially when she didn¡¯t set out to cast the True Blessing in the first place. It was an accident, albeit a happy accident.
As to how it happened, one must know the events leading to it to get a better understanding of the conversation at hand and the gratitude Kain Gourd felt for Tempest.
______________________________________________________
Flashback to last night.
All of Tempest¡¯s teammates know Tempest perfected qualities of a lazy slug mimicking a corpse. Once she goes to sleep, unless there was an imminent danger or the lure of food, Tempest would not wake up.
That wasn¡¯t to say she slept like a stone rock. Okay, she generally sleeps like a stone rock, hence the lazy slug mimicking a dead corpse impression she gave her teammates. However, when Tempest sleeps with something other than a sound mind, she tossed and turned worse than a ship sailing through a category three hurricane.
It was easy for Cardis to sneak into her room, snatch his little Successor and tossed onto the ground three hundred kilometers away from the inn Tempest was staying at without alerting anyone.
Cardis knew the spirits were protecting Tempest while she slept but Tempest shouldn¡¯t solely rely on the spirits for protection. The fact that he didn¡¯t teach her how to protect herself while she slept escaped his mind.
Him throwing Tempest on the ground was to wake her up. Cardis is stronger than Li Ming and Fenix and can escape the damage inflicted by the spirits but that doesn¡¯t mean he wants to suffer their pesky pranks.
Hence the throw.
Tempest wasn¡¯t hurt by Cardis¡¯ rough handling. She didn¡¯t even felt it since Mizu protected Tempest from harm by creating a Water Sphere to cushion her.
The jostling did rouse Tempest from her fitful slumber.
¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on? Where am I? This isn¡¯t my comfortable bed.¡± Tempest said groggily.
¡°Would it be surprising if I expressed disbelief at my Successor¡¯s survival ability until now?¡± Cardis asked the man next to him.
¡°My friend, you know even an idiot with the intelligence of Mavein Sea Slug born from a cracked shell would be able to thrive with the help of the spirits much less your Successor who has slightly higher intelligence, no doubt due to your hard work.¡± A masculine voice filled with testosterone and a bit of indulgence range out.
Tempest wants to melt into a pile of goo. That voice was deep and inviting and oh so sexy. It was like Peter Cullen doing the voice of Optimus Prime with a soft Russian accent.
Tempest plastered herself to Mr. Tall, and Handsome¡¯s thigh because in her semi-lucid state she doesn¡¯t realize she is a child. ¡°Hello, handsome. Where did you come from?¡± Tempest said with a sweetly sensual voice as she gazes adoringly at the man.
The man froze at Tempest¡¯s action as if he couldn¡¯t believe a child would throw herself at him. Then he turned to ask Cardis for help but thought better of it since the man¡¯s dark expression said he better handle the situation to his satisfaction quickly or he¡¯d be killed in the most horrible fashion possible.
With hands trembling with fear, the man pried Tempest off his thighs and threw her to Cardis. He grabbed the preteen boy next to him and held him out like a protective amulet.
¡°Go away! I already have a lover!¡±
Chapter 0203
Chapter 0203
Tempest was in a grumpy mood when she was jostled awake. The screeching banshee near her didn¡¯t help the situation.
She stared at the red-haired man with contempt. A grown man using a child as a shield is pathetic. Tempest would have given the cowardly bastard a beating if she didn¡¯t notice Cardis off to the side laughing his butt off at her current predicament.
Tempest wrinkled her brow as she assesses her current situation. She could have sworn she went to sleep on a soft bed in a nice room yet she ended up on the ground in the middle of a forest.
Obviously, Cardis brought her here. As to why, well, she wanted to ask the man himself but he was still in his fit of laughter. Tempest didn¡¯t believe she¡¯d get a straight answer from the cowardly dumbass so that left the preteen boy.
With speed augmented by two movement spells, Tempest snatched the preteen out of the cowardly dumbass¡¯ hand sending the fool flying with a powerful punch.
¡°Since you¡¯re the only one who has any sense, could you tell me what is going on?¡±
Tempest should have known better. Cardis is the flirtiest frivolous flibbergit known to man. The people around him are not normal. They might seem normal but they aren¡¯t. They are faking it. Tempest was sure of it.
Despite reaffirming her convictions everyone around Cardis were perverts and swearing she put her guard up she end up being fooled by appearances. The preteen she ¡®saved¡¯ from the cowardly dumbass jumped her the first chance she got.
His hands wrapped around her waist to hold her steady while his mouth went after her nonexistence breast. He nuzzled her flat bosoms, using his teeth to gnaw on them through her thin layer of clothes.
Tempest became furious. Never in her life had she be sexually molested. Never. Even when she was in a dubious institution, she was wary enough to avoid being taken advantage of.
Tempest felt like a fool. As the wave of humiliation crested, anger followed right behind.
Tempest smack the daring bastard away. She followed up her attack with Spiral Ice Bolt and Vibrating Wind Blade. Tempest was going to teach the lecher a lesson and no one was going to stop her.
Except for Cardis.
He pushed the preteen behind him and blocked all of Tempest¡¯s attack with a wall of earth. Angered beyond reason, Tempest continued her onslaught and Cardis let her wear herself out.
Cardis¡¯ defense is no joke. Even ten of Tempest at maximum output can¡¯t break through his wall of earth.
¡°Are you done venting?¡± Cardis asked, mildly amused. He found the whole situation hilarious and went to another bout of laughter behind his defensive spell Earthen Shield. Cardis asked his question when he was assured he got his laughter under control.
¡°I should have known no one around you was normal.¡± Tempest ground out behind clenched teeth. She wanted to continue her attack against the preteen but knew she can¡¯t win against Cardis. She might as well save her strength.
¡°You spoke as if you are the exception. You should include yourself in that generalization as well.¡± Mouthwatering chocolate-covered strawberry said.
Tempest glared at cowardly dumbass who had found enough spine to stand up to her. She was going to get them back. They say a gentleman¡¯s revenge for ten years isn¡¯t too late. Well, she¡¯d let them know about the proverb hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. Wait a gosh darn minute. Tempest was never scorned! Shesh. She needs to think of better lines.
Anyways, she was saying the Grudge has nothing on her. All it did was turn into a ghost and killed everyone. Tempest would do better. Tempest would teach them a lesson they would never forget. Just not now.
¡°Now now, Tempest calm down and let me explain.¡±
¡°Explain,¡± Tempest said tersely to Cardis. There was none of the Teacher-Successor respect at all in her tone.
¡°This muscle bound idiot beside me is Valstein Yoresteven, Son of Forge.¡± When Cardis said the red hair man was a muscle bound idiot, Tempest wholeheartedly concurs.
Muscles upon muscles graced his upper body tapering into a lean waist and strong longs legs. He looked like a young red hair Schwarzenegger but hunkier and better proportion.
¡°Who are you calling a muscle bound idiot?¡± Valstein Yoresteven protest only to be ignored by Cardis.
Oh, that voice. Chocolate laced with crack. Tempest could get addicted to that voice. It was a deep dreamy baritone filled with masculine virility and vitality that captures Tempest the moment the sound hits her ears. Tempest nearly melted into a puddle of goo if an electric shock didn¡¯t knock her out of her daze.
¡°Thanks, Astrapi. Ventus, muffle that voice so I don¡¯t become a mindless zombie in front of that man.¡± Tempest hasn¡¯t forgiven Astrapi for taking over her body but she has started to soften.
A horny zombie slut you mean.
¡°Don¡¯t tease Ventus. This is serious. My body shouldn¡¯t feel sexual attraction yet I want to jump the man¡¯s bones the minute he opens his mouth. That¡¯s not right.¡± Tempest bite her lip in worry. Tempest had her mental issues, but she was never a nymphomaniac. It was the opposite. She had no sexual desire at all.
I¡¯m sorry to say but your conjecture is completely wrong. He isn¡¯t using any charms or mental compulsion. It is pure voice.
¡°You too huh?¡± Tempest said knowingly. It feels good to know the spirits aren¡¯t stronger than she is.
¡°If Ventus wasn¡¯t a spirit, she¡¯d drop her panties and jump the man.¡±
¡°Mizu?¡±
¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡±
¡°How are you talking to me?¡± Tempest asked, perplexed at the new development.
¡°We can speak directly to you after you invited us into your sea of consciousness.¡±
¡°Ahhh,¡± Tempest said grimly. She knew there was a trick. She didn¡¯t realize it was this.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. We are constricted to speaking to you after you address one of us first.¡± Mizu said lyrically, a soothing creek meandering through a lush valley. To get Tempest¡¯s mind her new communication channel, Mizu didn¡¯t hesitate to sell Ventus out. ¡°Ventus secretly record Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s voice whenever she gets the chance. There is this one where -¡±
Enough!
¡°Uhhh?¡±
¡°Ventus prefer to use the wind to speak to you,¡± Mizu smirked.
Tempest was about to ask about Ventus¡¯ collection of voices when the preteen was shoved into her face. She got a good look at him before shoving the boy back.
Tempest wanted to slap herself forever mistaking the preteen as anything other than normal.
Bright fiery red eyes glowed under the moonlight, except instead of sinister intentions coming from those eyes, a childish innocence can be seen. Then there was the adorably chubby face that belongs to the poster boy for the mental handicap. The perpetually silly expression on the preteen¡¯s face scream ¡®I¡¯m dumb and I¡¯m happy about it¡¯. The drool didn¡¯t help either. It wasn¡¯t the lascivious drooling a man does when he sees a hot woman but the drooling of a baby hungry for milk. The poor boy was probably hungry for milk, hungry enough to mistake Tempest¡¯s chest as something other than the airplane runway that is.
All and all, the preteen screams dumb and dopey. Definitely not normal, though this time it was more towards the not normal stupid variety instead of the not normal perverted variety.
¡°And this guy here is the natural fire element everyone is after.¡± Cardis cuddled the preteen like a baby in his arms.
Again, Tempest stupidly relaxed her guard. She was getting the homosexual vibes from the guys and figured they weren''t interested in her. Not Cardis. That man is as straight as a ruler. He¡¯s so in love with that Eva woman it wasn¡¯t even funny anymore.
¡°Oh, dear. I think you need to get your eyes checked because you got the wrong person. I have black hair. I shouldn¡¯t be at the ginger party.¡± Tempest said flippantly.
For an insult, it wasn¡¯t insulting at all. It was, however, accurate. Cardis has dark red hair with brown undertones and a slightly green tint while Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s red hair leaned towards the coppery side with a shiny tint to it. As for the natural fire element, his hair was so fiery red if a stranger thought someone lit the kid¡¯s hair on fire, Tempest would have cast a water spell to put it out.
Cardis¡¯ lip twitched but he held back his laughter. ¡°We aren¡¯t gathered here for a party.¡±
¡°Then what are you here for?¡±
¡°For the boy here. You see, he isn¡¯t a natural fire element anymore. He hasn¡¯t been for a long time. He was a natural fire earth element, but I gave him a treasure I got from the chaotic rift, and it allowed him to upgrade himself to a natural fire earth thunder element.¡±
¡°Congratulations,¡± Tempest said, deadpanned.
¡°It is indeed a good thing as now it has more protection since only a fire earth lightning mage can make use of it and its power is nothing to scoff at. It won¡¯t protect him from the encirclement by a group of mages. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here.¡±
¡°Go on,¡± Tempest said magnanimously. Tempest couldn¡¯t care less about the preteen but she figured she owed Cardis enough to hear him out.
Cardis¡¯ eyes twitched at his Successor¡¯s attitude but he continued with his explanation. ¡°It sensed a True Blessing cast within the vicinity recently and insist on investigating. Actually, I was heading here to investigate the situation when I met you.¡±
¡°I thought Blessing or True Blessing is issued by a cultivator by drawing mana into their bodies then transforming it into a special power with their intent and fuses it into the child, slowly shaping the child physically and/or mentally,¡± Tempest asked cautiously.
¡°It is for normal mortals. There are additional effects if the recipient has the blood of the spirits in their veins or is a natural element. A True Blessing bestowed upon them a true name. Without knowing the true name, it is hard for a cultivator to track down the recipient. The benefit I want from a True Blessing is the added effect of divine retribution. Should the recipient be used as a tool for cultivation without invoking the true name, then divine retribution is invoked. The cultivator has to withstand the wrath of the heavens before they can ¡®refine¡¯ the spirit or natural element.¡±
Cardis thought it would take a while for Tempest¡¯s small mind to digest the information given so he silently waited.
Tempest kept an impassive face but she was screaming up a storm at her spirits inside her sea of consciousness.
¡°You damn liars! You set me up!¡±
¡°We did not.¡± Mizu righteously refuted but Ventus and Astrapi couldn¡¯t look her in the eyes.
¡°Really? The True Blessing I cast on Nicholas Bravon Kataigida was an accident then?¡± Tempest countered icily.
¡°You wanted to protect the mother and child. A True Blessing was the most efficient method available at the time.¡± This was from Astrapi. ¡°Drawing Cardis¡¯ attention was an added bonus.¡±
¡°Can you say you had no part in maneuvering the situation to the outcome you favored?¡±
¡°Yes, we can.¡± Ventus quickly stepped in. If it was left to either Mizu or Astrapi then they would all be thrown into the pit they dug for themselves. This wasn¡¯t something wanted to see no matter despite her desire to monopolize Tempest all to herself. ¡°Aria Se Jivock ignited the karma link between you and your sisters to lure you here. We had nothing to do about it. We do admit we did cast the True Blessing, but it was in response to your desire to protect the mother and child. You might not know this but the mother is half human half spirit. Without a True Blessing protecting her child, the boy would be hunted down and refined into a tool for unscrupulous mages.¡±
¡°What? The mother was half human half spirit? How did it happen?¡± Tempest asked, trying to find fault in Ventus¡¯ logic.
¡°Sex with a natural element.¡±
Tempest knew there was more to the story than the spirits were willing to share. More precisely, they gave the impression there was more to the story so Tempest would press them for answers and get sidetracked from the issue at hand, namely, using the True Blessing to lure Cardis here.
¡°More like you took advantage of the situation to lure Cardis here.¡± Tempest accused them.
¡°Not Cardis,¡± Ventus insisted. ¡°Valstein. Despite the shared wind element between you and Cardis, I wanted Valstein as your teacher.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Tempest asked sharply. She hadn¡¯t forgiven the spirits for manipulating her and she won¡¯t for a long time. They have to be aware that although she doesn¡¯t have the power to control her fate now, it doesn¡¯t mean they would get away with their scheme when she finds out about it.
Ventus chewed on her lips as if she didn¡¯t want to say what she was about to say but knew she had to say it to appease Tempest.
¡°My god, you heard is voice,¡± Ventus blurted out in a rush. ¡°That voice is the manliest man voice I¡¯ve ever heard. It is a nice deep timber with just the right pitch and tone it makes even the iciest feminist wet the panties. Ahh, I can¡¯t listen to that man talk all day.¡±
¡°Eeeeewwwww.¡± Tempest squealed because Ventus had to look of a hardcore fan, all bright eyed bushy tailed, ready to attack her idol at any given moment. Those people are crazy. Never mess with a hardcore fan. Ventus went beyond hardcore though. She went into slutty hardcore.
When she was talking about Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s voice, she squeezed her thighs like she was a horny slut. It reminded Tempest of the rock star groupies, the ones who would have sex with said rockstar at the drop of a hat.
Tempest slapped her hands over her eyes. She saw something she didn¡¯t want to see. She also realized the spirits are very human.
Before, Tempest had thought the spirits were above earthly desire, that they were intelligent beings who act with rationality instead of being driven by their hormones. That their thought process was so different that humans couldn''t guess their reasoning. Tempest had always put them high above her. She had thought they were omnipotent supreme beings watching humans scuttling like ants.
Well, there goes that thought.
¡°Ah, my eyes, my eyes. I¡¯m blind. Hurry, I need to wash out the image with soap and water.¡±
Smack.
¡°Damn it Tempest. I tell important information and your mind goes down the gutter although how the hell information about a True Blessing can pollute your eyes, I¡¯d never know.¡± Cardis complained.
¡°Awaaaaah,¡± Tempest hugged Cardis and started crying. ¡°I saw something horrible.¡±
Cardis let his little Successor cry on his manly chest all the while regretting his perfectionist nature. He wouldn¡¯t be in this predicament otherwise.
Ventus commiserated with Cardis as she too was lamenting her plight. ¡°You two owe me big time!¡± Ventus growled. Ventus finally realized why cultivators would rather face a strong enemy rather than have a pig teammate. Forget wishing for a hole to swallow her up, she can go invisible!
Chapter 0204
Cardis didn¡¯t know what to say to the stupid idiot who was crying in his embrace while trying to washing her eyes with water that came from who knows where.
¡°Cardis, I realized something very scary.¡± Tempest wailed her heart out.
Cardis smiled gently even as he tried to calm Tempest. ¡°What is so scary about a True Blessing?¡±
¡°The implication!¡± Tempest answered on another wail.
Cardis was confused but he held still, allowing Tempest to calm down at her own pace.
¡°Are you two done playing family?¡± Valstein Yoresteven asked when it doesn¡¯t seem like Tempest was going to stop anytime soon. ¡°The person who cast the True Blessing might be long gone by now.¡±
¡°Why do you have to find someone to cast the True Blessing for you? Can¡¯t you cast it on yourself?¡± Tempest got out of Cardis¡¯ embraced and asked the question that was on her mind since they mentioned the True Blessing.
Tempest was slowly getting used to Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s magnetic voice, at least enough to get her wits about her. There was still an unconscious impulse to jump the man but it wasn¡¯t as strong as before. As long as she was prepared, she was sure she wouldn¡¯t make a fool of herself.
¡°My spirits refuse to cast the True Blessing,¡± Cardis said with tired resignation. Tempest got the feeling Cardis went row after row with his spirits for the True Blessing yet the other side dug their heels in and refused him over and over. Tempest sympathized with the man.
It isn¡¯t easy to ask a favor from the spirits whom he doesn¡¯t trust.
Tempest wonder how much his pride was trampled in the process.
¡°I can cast the True Blessing for the natural fire earth lightning element but my True Blessing won¡¯t invoke divine retribution that Cardis wants. Due to my fire and metal affinities, when a cultivator tries to use the natural fire earth lightning element for nefarious purposes it would invoke the Burning Metal divine retribution. The Burning Metal divine retribution isn¡¯t as impressive as lightning retribution nor it is as hard to overcome.¡±
¡°So¡¡±
¡°So we are looking for a mage with lightning affinities able and willing to cast a True Blessing for a natural fire earth lightning element without ulterior motives,¡± Cardis explained.
¡°That¡¯s a tall order.¡± Tempest already sense the immense temptation the natural fire earth lightning element present. Asking for a True Blessing for it was like giving the key to the kingdom¡¯s treasure vault and demanding the person not to even look at the treasure in there. Few can resist the temptation.
¡°Yes,¡± Cardis admitted simply. ¡°That¡¯s why we are here. We figured the person a hybrid spirit would entrust her child to would be a good candidate to cast a True Blessing for a natural element.¡±
¡°How did you know the half-human half-spirit gave birth to a child?¡±
¡°The hybrid spirit? Most Child of the Elements can sense her no matter how hard she hides herself.¡± Cardis wrinkled his forehead in confusion. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you sense her?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°I figured.¡±
Tempest gave Cardis a disgruntled look for that comment but didn¡¯t comment on it. Instead, she asked, ¡°So you are looking for someone with high affinities who was in the area slightly before you met me who unwittingly cast a True Blessing on a spirit hybrid child without asking for anything.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Tempest waited for Cardis to realize her insinuation. When the lightbulb wasn¡¯t lit in his head, Tempest said, ¡°A person whose spirits loved her so much they cast the True Blessing just because she wanted to save a helpless mother and her child.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°You are looking for someone so loved by the spirits they won¡¯t need to use the hybrid spirits for her cultivation so she can be trusted to cast a True Blessing.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
¡°Yes,¡± Cardis said simply.
Tempest looked at Cardis.
Cardis looked at Tempest.
One minute later¡
Five minutes later....
¡°And you call me a muscle bound idiot. Your Successor is saying the person who cast the True Blessing was her.¡± Valstein Yoresteven said in exasperation. His good friend was generally smart but he can be complete dense when certain topics were brought up.
¡°You?!¡± Cardis said in disbelief. You can¡¯t blame Cardis for his surprised. Cardis had known Tempest to be a powerful and much loved mage, but generous and selfless are not adjectives used to describe her. Greedy, silly and selfish were better adjectives. He can¡¯t see Tempest doing anything without expecting anything in return.
¡°Just how do you see me?¡± Tempest growled.
¡°A greedy money grubber who would do anything to achieve her goals.¡± Cardis spit out without thinking.
¡°Well then, this greedy money grubber who would do anything to achieve her goals will remember the words of her teacher and she would make sure anyone seeking her services would pay an outrageous amount before she would consider helping!¡±
¡°Ah my friend, you stuff your foot in your mouth this time.¡± Valstein Yoresteven said in amusement. He was enjoying the discomfort his usually smooth and suave friend was experiencing.
It was he who generally put his foot in his mouth. Time after time, Cardis had to save him from his foibles and now it was his friend turns to verbally stumble. Valstein Yoresteven was going to enjoy it for all its worth.
¡°How can it be you?!¡± Cardis exploded because he can¡¯t believe the person he placed his hope on was his Successor.
¡°How can it not?¡± Tempest retorted. ¡°The place and timing was right. Why couldn¡¯t it be me?¡±
¡°Ummm.¡±
¡°Hmph.¡± Tempest turned away in contempt. Tempest admits she came across as a money grubber, but whose fault was that? If Cardis agreed to help her with her sisters in the first place, Tempest wouldn¡¯t have been desperate to earn money to redeem them. Cardis was a major contributor to her negative image. He only had himself to blame.
Finally realizing the huge mistake he made, Cardis implement damage control. ¡°Sweet Tempest, please forgive this teacher for his stupid mistake. My desperation blinded me to your true generous nature. The problem has been plaguing me for millenniums that I lost sight of the solution when it was closest to me.¡±
¡°So I¡¯m a matter of convenience!¡±
¡°No, no, no. You¡¯re not a convenience. You are the savior the heavens gifted to me for my hard work. You are the answer to all my prayers, the brightest jewel in a dragon¡¯s hoard, a gift of hope shining brightly in the darkest pit of despair.¡±
Cardis¡¯ words only further infuriate Tempest. It served as a reminder that Cardis is the greatest flirt in the world.
Her mother always said a man¡¯s word should never be taken seriously. Tempest had never taken it to heart since she always said it after a breakup and Tempest had a few good brothers.
Cardis¡¯ words were like a slick con man trying to coax a child of her piggy bank. It was not going to happen.
Valstein Yoresteven, watching at the side, took pity on Cardis. He knew how much time and effort Cardis put in trying to protect the natural element.
¡°Tempest was it?¡± Valstein Yoresteven interrupted the strange groveling. Cardis didn¡¯t know how to grovel anyways. He knows how to coax a woman out of her fit or a child out of her tantrum but Tempest didn¡¯t fall into either of those categories.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s ignore the fool over there for a minute and focus on the fool he is trying to save.¡± Valstein Yoresteven pushed the natural fire earth lightning element into the limelight.
Through the conversation that determines his fate, the natural fire earth lightning element maintained a silly expression. He stared at Tempest as Tempest stared at the food Graden cooked, a looked filled with anticipation and longing. Yummy.
¡°You do understand how tempting he is to mages, right?¡± Tempest nodded while staring at the foolish boy before her, not realizing she had been mesmerized by Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s voice.
¡°Then you also know how much effort it takes to nurture him until he can stand on his own.¡± Again, Tempest nodded without realizing what she was agreeing to.
¡°Then could you put aside your disagreement with Cardis for a moment and cast a True Blessing on the boy?¡± Tempest was about to nod in agreement but she stopped herself in time. She slapped herself awake before giving Valstein Yoresteven a complicated look. Tempest knew he wasn¡¯t trying to mesmerize her. His voice alone was enough to enchant Ventus, the scheming old monster on the spiritual plane, much less an inexperienced Tempest.
Tempest only snapped out of her strange state because she couldn¡¯t accomplish Valstein Yoresteven¡¯s request.
Although she previously cast the True Blessing, she didn¡¯t know how she accomplished it. She wanted to name a boy and the name popped into her mind.
¡°I didn¡¯t know how I cast the True Blessing the last time,¡± Tempest admitted. Tempest may not like the effect his voice had on her but she couldn¡¯t blame the man for a trait he was born with and was not consciously using. ¡°I wasn¡¯t even sure it was me who cast the True Blessing. I do know the True Blessing happened because the spirits wanted to lure either Cardis or you here.¡± Tempest admitted then immediately want to slap herself awake. It seems she wasn¡¯t much better than Ventus.
¡°Try.¡± Valstein Yoresteven said firmly before shoving the preteen towards her.